RTHK: Legendary architect I M Pei dies aged 102 I M Pei, the preeminent US architect who forged a distinct brand of modern building design with his sharp lines and stark structures, has died, his sons' architecture firm said on Thursday. He was 102 years old. The Chinese-born Pei was the mastermind behind the bold Louvre pyramid in Paris, the landmark 72-story Bank of China tower in Hong Kong and Athens' Museum of Modern Art, works seen as embracing modernity tempered by a grounding in history. In his adopted home country the United States, Pei became perhaps best known for his landmark East Building at Washington's National Gallery of Art, deftly melding sharp modern angles with the monumental grandeur the US capital is known for. "Contemporary architects tend to impose modernity on something. There is a certain concern for history but it is not very deep," Pei told The New York Times in a 2008 interview. "I understand that times have changed, we have evolved. But I don't want to forget the beginning." "A lasting architecture has to have roots." Born in China in 1917, banker's son Ieoh Ming Pei came to the US at 17 to study architecture, receiving an undergraduate degree in the field from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1940. He then enrolled in Harvard University's Graduate School of Design, where he received a masters degree in architecture in 1946. He became a naturalised US citizen in 1954. His revered projects include the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio; the Miho Museum of Shigo, Japan; the Morton Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, Texas, and The John F Kennedy Library in Boston, Massachusetts. Despite being a confessed Islamic art novice, he was also commissioned to design the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar, which opened in 2008. In 1988, then-French president Francois Mitterrand inducted Pei as a Chevalier in the Legion d'Honneur, later raising him to the rank of Officier when Phase II of the glass-and-stainless-steel Grand Louvre pyramid was completed in 1993. US president George Bush awarded Pei the Medal of Freedom that same year, when he was also elected an Honorary Academician of the Royal Academy of Arts in London. (AFP) This story has been published on: 2019-05-17. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. anouchka/iStock(LAS VEGAS) -- MGM Resorts said on Thursday it may pay as much as $800 million in liabilities tied to the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas that killed 58 people and injured more than 800. The company, which owns Mandalay Bay, from which Stephen Paddock fired on a crowd of thousands, said in a regulatory filing that it "believes it is reasonably possible that a settlement will be reached" by next May and that it had $751 million in insurance to assist in paying settlements. The plaintiffs, citing physical and psychological harm from the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, have alleged that MGM is liable because Paddock stockpiled an arsenal of weapons over several days in his two-room suite at Mandalay Bay. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. The President paid tribute to the memory and sacrifices of the martyrs of the armed forces, who he said 'paid their souls to defend the homeland and pave the way for development' Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi performed Friday prayers along with a number top religious, government, and military officials at Moushir Tantawy Mosque in New Cairo to commemorate the 46th anniversary of the victory of the armed forces in the 6 October 1973 war, which fell that year the 10th of the holy month of Ramadan according to the Islamic Hijri calendar. The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmed El-Tayyeb and the Minister of Religious endowments Mokhtar Gomaa were among top officials who joined the president at the prayers. Following the prayers, President El-Sisi held a meeting with top commanders of the country's armed forces to congratulate them on the anniversary of the 10th of Ramadan victory. The meeting was attended by Minister of Defence Mohamed Zaki , Armed Forces Chief of Staff Mohamed Farid, as well as top armed forces commanders. During the meeting, President El-Sisi paid tribute to the memory and sacrifices of the martyrs of the armed forces, who paid their souls to defend the homeland and pave the way for development, according to a video statement released by the Egyptian presidency. El-Sisi stressed that the Egyptian armed forces and the police are the two wings of stability for the Egyptian nation, the statement added. The President also expressed the appreciation of the Egyptian people to the role of the army and the police in preserving Egypts national security, and their sanctities in combatting terrorism, and their contribution to nationwide developments projects. Search Keywords: Short link: By PTI NEW DELHI: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra Thursday dared the BJP's "nationalistic luminaries" to spell out their stand on their Bhopal candidate Pragya Singh Thakur calling Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse a patriot and said merely distancing from her is not enough. "Bapu's assassin a patriot? Hey Ram." "Distancing yourself from your candidate is not enough. Nationalistic luminaries of the BJP, have the guts to spell out your stand," Priyanka tweeted. Thakur kicked up a row as she called Godse a "patriot" but apologised for it hours later and withdrew her statement. FOLLOW OUR FULL ELECTION COVERAGE HERE The BJP distanced itself from her statement saying it did not agree with her, as "Mahatma Gandhi's killer cannot be a patriot". This is the second time in a month that Thakur has apologised for a controversial statement made by her. Last month, she had stoked a controversy when she said that IPS officer Hemant Karkare had died during the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks as she had "cursed" him for torturing her. She had apologised for the controversial remark later and also retracted that statement. Talking to a news channel in Agar Malwa in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday afternoon, Thakur said, "Nathuram Godse was a 'deshbhakt' (patriot), he is and will remain a 'deshbhakt'. Those calling him a terrorist should instead look at themselves. They will be given a befitting reply in this election." The six accused in the gangrape case in Khunti district in Jharkhand was sentenced to life imprisonment on Friday. The incident that took place in 2018, involved the gangrape of five social workers in Kochang village of the district, which created panic across the state. Live TV On June 19 last year five women associated with an NGO had come for a street-play against human trafficking in the district when they were gangraped at gunpoint in a Khunti after they were abducted and taken to a remote place in the jungle. They were also tortured and forced to drink urine. Kochang is a backward place and this incident took place so that awareness program in this area doesn't spread. The accused include, Ajub Sandhi Purti, Junas Mundu, Baji Samad alias Takla, Father Alfonso Aind, John Junas Tindu, and Balram Samad. Along with this, they have to pay a fine of Rs 1 lakh each under section 376D and Rs 50,000 each under section 354B, 365 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). the fine has to be paid to the rape survivors. Father Aind didn't help the women when they were being abducted nor did he inform the police about the incident so he has been named as the key On June 22, 2018, the National Commission of Women (NCW) wrote a letter to Jharkhand Director General of Police (DGP) directing him to apprise the commission about the action taken in Khunti gang-rape case. The NCW also informed that the commission has constituted a three-member inquiry team to investigate the case and submit recommendations on the matter. In its report submitted on June 28, NCW stated the Khunti gang-rape incident seemed to be "planned" and "executed in a professional manner". It also expressed doubt over the conduct of Father Alfonso Aiend, the manager of RC Mission School, who the NCW team suspected to have been a part of the conspiracy. On June 23, Jharkhand Police arrested two of the accused Terror groups in Jammu and Kashmir are planning a major attack in the Valley. Intelligence agencies have reported that terrorists of Pakistan-based groups may carry out an attack on May 23, the day when counting of votes for Lok Sabha election 2019 takes place. According to sources, Indian Air Force bases in Srinagar and Awantipora are among the targets. The security forces have recovered a sketch from the body of one of the terrorists who was killed in Shopian on Thursday, which revealed that the terror groups were planning a fidayeen attack at Srinagar and Awantipora air bases. A meeting was held between terrorists commanders in Pulwama on May 14, which was attended by Hizbul Mujahideen's Riyaz Naikoo, two Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) terrorist Riyaz Dar. All four of them have planned to launch an attack against the security and armed forces, sources say. Live TV ''The meeting was held to discuss and to plan a major terrorist action in the month of Ramzan, possibly around May 23, which marks the 17th Ramzan coinciding with the Battle of Badr. It's the day when counting of votes would take place for the Lok Sabha poll,'' said an official working in a central intelligence agency. The group also want to take revenge for the death of Rizwan Assad Pandith in police custody in Awantipora a few days ago. One of the possible targets of the terrorist attack may be on the National Highway in Awantipora or the District Police Office complex, Awantipora. The report just comes a day after army, Jammu and Kashmir Police and Central Reserve Police Force gunned down six terrorists in Pulwama and Shopian. Two Indian Army soldiers also lost their lives. Mumbai: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Bhopal Lok Sabha seat candidate Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and other accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case have been asked to be present before the court at least once a week for the proceedings, a special National Investigating Court in Mumbai said on Friday. The court expressed displeasure over their absence in the courtroom and the next hearing has been fixed for May 20. The court also directed that exemption sought without cogent reasons will be rejected. Apart from Sadhvi Pragya, Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, Major (retired) Ramesh Upadhyay, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Sameer Kulkarni are other accused in the case. They are all out on bail. In October 2018, the court had framed charges in the case against all the seven accused of terror activities, criminal conspiracy and murder, among others. Live TV Sadhvi Pragya, who is contesting Lok Sabha election from Bhopal on a BJP ticket, was arrested in the 2008 Malegaon blast case and got bail after nine years. She was out on bail citing health grounds. She is currently facing charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Six people were killed and over 100 injured when an explosive device strapped on a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon, a town about 200 km from here in north Maharashtra, on September 29, 2008. New Delhi: BJP President Amit Shah on Friday defended the candidature of party's Lok Sabha nominee from Bhopal Pragya Singh Thakur as 'satyagrah' against the fake case of saffron terror, saying after her reply to the show-cause notice, the party would take appropriate action. "Pragya Thakur's candidature is a 'satyagrah' against a fake case of bhagwa (saffron) terror. The then Congress government compromised with national security for vote-bank politics. Her candidature was 'satyagrah' against it," Shah told a press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi by his side. Shah accused the Congress of defaming Hindu-culture and sought an apolgy from Congress President Rahul Gandhi over the issue. "A fake case of bhagwa terror was made in which all the accused have been acquitted. Even court has said that the bhagwa terror was imagination. Some people were earlier arrested in 'Samjhauta Express' case who were related to LeT. American agencies also supported it," he said. "Who compromised with the national security? Who was responsible for it? This incident defamed Hindu culture. The Congress President should apologize for it," he asked. He said the party has served a show-cause notice to Pragya Thakur and has asked her to reply within 10 days. "We initiated prompt action. After she files a reply, party's disciplinary committee will take its call. According to that, we will take appropriate action," he said. Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he will never forgive Pragya Singh Thakur and others for glorifying Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse as "deshbhakt" (patriot). The developments came a day after the comment by Thakur, an accused in the Malegaon blast case, provided fodder to the Congress to target the Bharatiya Janata Party. "Nathuram Godse was a 'deshbhakt', is a 'deshbhakt' and will remain a 'deshbhakt'. People calling him a terrorist should instead look within. Such people will be given a befitting reply in these elections," Thakur told reporters in Bhopal on Thursday. As her statement went viral, two BJP MPs -- Union Minister Anant Kumar Hegde and Nalin Kumar Kateel -- also came out in her support. Besides Thakur, Hegde and Kateel have also been served show-cause notices by the party's disciplinary committee. A day after BJP Bhopal candidate Pragya Singh Thakur praised the killer of Mahatma Gandhi, Nathuram Godse, Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde on Friday followed her footsteps sympathising with Godse on Twitter. Taking to Twitter, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said that he is glad that after 70 years today's generation debates in a changed perceptional environment. He added that this gives good scope for the condemned to be heard upon. Hegde also claimed that Godse would have finally felt happy with this debate. Live TV However, within an hour, Hegde deleted his tweet asserting that his Twitter account was "hacked since yesterday". He dismissed his earlier tweets saying that there is "no question of justifying Gandhi's murder. There can be no sympathy or justification of Gandhi ji's murder" "My Twitter account has been breached twice in the past one week and certain tweets have been posted on my timeline which has been discarded and deleted. Regret the posts attributed to me. My account was hacked since yesterday. There is no question of justifying Gandhi ji's murder. There can be no sympathy or justification of Gandhi ji's murder. We all have full respect for Gandhi ji's contribution to the nation," tweeted Hegde. Earlier the deleted tweets read, "Am glad that 7 decades later today's generation debates in a changed perceptional environment and gives good scope for the condemned to be heard upon. #NathuramGodse would have finally felt happy with this debate!" In the recent developments, actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan courted controversy when he referred to Godse and said 'independent India's first terrorist was a Hindu.' Hasaan, however, has refused to budge an inch from his remark. On Thursday, Thakur courted controversy for saying, "Nathuram Godse was a 'deshbhakt' (patriot), he is and will remain a 'deshbhakt'. Those calling him a terrorist should instead look at themselves. They will be given a befitting reply in this election." She said this in response to a question over Haasan's remark. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday distanced itself from Thakur's remarks. Condemning Sadhvi Pragya's Godse remarks, Uttar Pradesh media in-charge Lokendra Parashar said the party does not agree with her statement. Calling her statement 'objectionable', Parashar said the party would summon her and seek clarification from her for her remarks. He added that the world knows that Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi was killed by Godse. However, after a severe backlash, she apologised for it and withdrew the statement. NEW DELHI: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday urged the Election Commission to take strict action against BJP's candidate from Bhopal Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur for her remarks describing Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse as a "patriot". The Andhra Pradesh CM made this demand after meeting the poll panel over Thakur's 'Godse' remarks and the campaign ban in West Bengal ahead of phase 7. "The EC should take action against Sadhvi Thakur for insulting the father of the nation," the TDP chief said. Live TV ''As of today, the Election Commissions stand is very biased and pro-establishment. We are fighting against the Election Commission and this is very unfortunate. All the decisions of the poll panel are in the favour of PM Modi and his party,'' Naidu said. Naidu also raised strong objections to the Election Commission's decision to hold re-polling at five booths under Chandragiri and Chittoor parliamentary constituencies and called it "partial one-sided and undemocratic". ''The decision of the Election Commission is very controversial. In Andhra Pradesh, after 25 days, they have ordered for re-polling. Generally, re-polling takes place the next day,'' he said. The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister had raised his objections in a letter sent to the poll panel. The EC had declared the polling held on April 11 in these five stations as void and ordered that a re-polling be conducted from 7 AM to 6 PM on May 19. Meanwhile, Naidu is also expected to meet Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Farooq Abdullah, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury and Sharad Yadav later today. New Delhi: As the high-decibel campaigning for the final phase of the keenly contested 2019 Lok Sabha election came to an end on Friday, the electioneering saw the country's two main political parties BJP and Congress sparring over Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse. The Gandhi-Godse controversy came to fore after BJP's Bhopal Lok Sabha candidate Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur made an unwarranted reference to Godse and hailed him as ''a patriot.'' Sadhvi, who is an accused in the Malegaon blasts case, courted controversy during a roadshow on Thursday when she lauded Godse as a "patriot", sparking an outrage from the Opposition, especially the Congress party. Campaigning for 7th phase of Lok Sabha election ends, 59 seats to vote on May 19 Live TV As expected, Sadhvi's statement was not well received by the Congress party, which launched a barrage of attacks on BJP, saying ''it reflected its true colour.'' Under attack from all sides, Sadhvi issued an apology over her remarks on Godse. After row over Godse, Congress switches to Mahatma Gandhi's image on Twitter As the row over Sadhvi's remarks escalated, BJP's MP from Karnataka Nalinkumar Kateel compared Godse with former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. "Godse killed one, Kasab killed 72, Rajiv Gandhi killed 17,000. You judge who is more cruel in this??" Kateel tweeted, equating Godse with 26/11 Mumbai terror attack convict Ajmal Kasab, and Rajiv Gandhi. Union Minister Anant Kumar Hegde also found himself in the news with a purported tweet justifying Godse's action. However, later the minister claimed his account was hacked. Adding more fuel to the fire, Madhya Pradesh BJP spokesperson Anil Saumitra, in a controversial post, called Mahatma Gandhi ''the father of Pakistan.'' He was suspended from the primary membership of the party. Taking to a Facebook post, Saumitra had said that Gandhi is the ''Father of Pakistan.'' He also said that crores of people were born in India like Gandhi, though some were useful and others useless. BJP suspends Anil Saumitra for calling Mahatma Gandhi 'Father of Pakistan' As the BJP faced severe backlash over Sadhvi's controversial comments, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while speaking to a private TV channel, said that he will never forgive her for calling Nathuram Godse a true patriot. The party also served show-cause notices on its Bhopal Lok Sabha candidate for insulting Mahatma Gandhi The Father of The Nation. PM Modi said that Thakur's comments were ''detrimental to society and the language used by her was not acceptable.'' "Whatever has been said about Gandhi or Godse, these kind of statements are very bad and worth contempt. In a cultured society, this type of language is not permissible. This type of thinking won't do. "Therefore, those who are doing this have to think a hundred times. Though she has apologised, I won't be able to pardon her with my heart," PM Modi said, hours before campaigning for the last phase of Lok Sabha polls ended. Later in the evening, at a press conference at the BJP headquarters in Delhi, Amit Shah regretted the views expressed in praise of Godse by Pragya and two other BJP MPs - Nalinkumar Kateel and Anantkumar Hegde. Amit Shah says pro-Godse remark not BJP's stand, to seek clarification from party leaders Shah made this remarks in the presence of PM Modi and assured that prompt action has been initiated against them. The BJP chief said that the party's disciplinary committee has issued a notice to the three leaders and has given 10-days time to respond. "We will immediately decide on appropriate action on them," Shah said. "The BJP does not associate with the comments of the three leaders. We not only consider such remarks as personal but also we have issued notices to those responsible and disciplinary proceedings have been initiated against them," Shah said. Shah, however, asserted that Thakur's candidature from Bhopal is the party's "satyagraha" against fake "saffron" terror case. "The Congress compromised on the country's security for vote bank politics," he said. "Some people were caught in the Samjhauta Express case, the CBI said these people are associated with the LeT. American agencies also supported this that these people are associated with the LeT. A fake case of saffron terror was made in which all have been acquitted," Shah said. The courts have said that saffron terror is imaginary, he said. While the Congress strongly condemned Sadhvi's statement and demanded action against her, the Grand Old Party changed the profile picture of its Twitter handle and switched to Mahatma Gandhi's image as a mark of protest over the issue. In a related development, the Madhya Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer also submitted a report to the Election Commission over Sadhvi's offensive remarks. Nathuram Godse shot dead Mahatma Gandhi at a prayer meeting in New Delhi on January 30, 1948. He was hanged after a trial. (With Agency inputs) NEW DELHI: Hitting out at the Narendra Modi-powered BJP and its ideological head - the RSS, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday said both the organisations are not "God-Ke Lovers" but "God-Se lovers". The Congress president took to Twitter to take a swipe at both the BJP and the RSS and tweeted, ''I finally got it. The BJP and the RSS...Are not God-Ke Lovers. They are God-Se Lovers.'' I finally got it. The BJP and the RSS... Are not God-Ke Lovers. They are God-Se Lovers. Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 17, 2019 Live TV The Congress president's latest Twitter attack on the ruling BJP came days after its Bhopal Lok Sabha candidate Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur hailed Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse as a ''patriot'', triggering a bitter controversy. Under attack from several quarters, Thakur, who is also an accused in Malegaon blasts case, later issued an apology, saying that she respected Mahatma Gandhi and his work for the country. As the row over Thakur's remarks escalated, BJP's MP from Karnataka Nalin Kumar Kateel compared Godse with former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. "Godse killed one, Kasab killed 72, Rajiv Gandhi killed 17,000. You judge who is more cruel?" Kateel tweeted on Thursday, equating Godse, 26/11 Mumbai terror attack convict Ajmal Kasab and Rajiv Gandhi. Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde too found himself in the news with a purported tweet justifying Godse's action. However, the minister later claimed that his account was hacked. Attempting to control the damage done by its leaders, BJP president Amit Shah on Friday asserted that the remarks by three party leaders on Nathuram Godse, the killer of Mahatma Gandhi, was personal, adding that the statements have no connection with the party's stand on the matter. He, however, also said that keeping in view the dignity and ideology of the BJP, the party has seriously considered the matter. Taking to Twitter, Shah said that the leaders have tendered their apologies for the statements, but the party has decided to send these statements to the disciplinary committee. The BJP chief further asserted that the disciplinary committee should seek a reply from the three leaders and give a report within 10 days to the party. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday suspended party spokesperson Anil Saumitra over his controversial social media post calling Mahatma Gandhi the father of Pakistan. He was suspended from the primary membership of the party. Taking to a Facebook post, Saumitra had said that Gandhi is the father of Pakistan. He also said that crores of people were born in India like Gandhi, though some were useful and others useless. Madhya Pradesh BJP unit chief Rakesh Singh made the investigation. Saumitra has been asked to reply within seven days. He is the chief of the BJP media relations department. Live TV This comes at the backdrop of several other incidents where BJP leaders have been sympathising and praising Nathuram Godse, the killer of Father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi. BJP Bhopal Lok Sabha candidate Pragya Singh Thakur on Thursday waded into controversy after she hailed Godse as a patriotic (deshbhakt). Pragya was responding to Makkal Needhi Maiam chief Kamal Haasan's remarks on Godse, which stirred controversy. "Nathuram Godse was a deshbhakt, is a deshbhakt and will remain a deshbhakt'. People calling him a terrorist should instead look within. Such people will be given a befitting reply in these elections," she said. However, she apologised later. Kateel, an MP from Karnataka, on Thursday, compared Godse with former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. "Godse killed one, Kasab killed 72, Rajiv Gandhi killed 17,000. You judge who is crueller in this??" - Kateel tweeted. In the latest development, Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde on Friday followed their footsteps in sympathising with Godse on Twitter. Taking to Twitter, he said that he is glad that after 70 years today's generation debates in a changed perceptional environment. He added that this gives good scope for the condemned to be heard upon. Hegde also claimed that Godse would have finally felt happy with this debate. Hegde said that his account was hacked and deleted the pro-Godse tweets. New Delhi: BJP President Amit Shah on Friday said that his party will get absolute majority in the Lok Sabha polls and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would form the government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "After the results will come out on May 23, the BJP will have a full majority to form its government. The NDA will form the government. Partners of the pre-poll alliance will be in government and Narendra Modi will be the Prime Minister. There is no question of any confusion," Shah said at a press conference in Delhi at party headquarters here with Prime Minister Modi by his side. If any party impressed with the BJP`s policies wishes to join the government, "they are welcome", he said. "We will perform good in the Northeast, very good in West Bengal. We will do good in Odisha and there will be improvement in number of seats in all the states in the south. We will improve in Maharashtra also," the BJP chief said. Shah said that the party started its election campaign from January 16 and its target was to win the 120 Lok Sabha seats which could not be won the last time. "We are confident that we will receive good results," he said. The BJP President said that Modi led a "detailed and positive" campaign and tried to touch every part of the country, addressing a total of 142 election rallies and holding roadshows in many places. By PTI NEW DELHI: Union minister Jitendra Singh Friday asked if then prime minister Indira Gandhi can be credited for the victory in the 1971 war, why shouldn't Prime Minister Narendra Modi get the credit for a successful air strike in Balakot. Singh, the Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, said, that throughout the Lok Sabha election campaign, the Congress and its allies have been attacking the BJP and the PM for allegedly taking credit for the successful strikes by the Indian Air Force on terror camps in Pakistan's Balakot. Since Independence, whenever there was an armed conflict with a foreign nation, the credit or discredit obviously went to the ruling dispensation and its head, he said. By the same logic, Indira Gandhi's greatest achievement as PM is still remembered to be the victory in the Indo-Pak war of 1971 which led to the liberation of Bangladesh, he said. Similarly, the blame for the Himalayan debacle in the Indo-China war of 1962 is even today primarily put on the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Singh was quoted as having said in a statement issued by his office. If people of India are enthusiastically lauding the PM for the successful Balakot air strikes, which reinforced India's confidence and prestige in the world arena, on the basis of which parameters can the Congress and its allies dissuade the common masses from giving credit to Modi, Singh asked. Recalling the BJP precursor Bharatiya Jan Sangh's stand during the 1971 war, the minister said, in spite of ideological and political differences, the Jan Sangh offered unconditional and absolute support to the then PM Indira Gandhi in the war against Pakistan. But, ironically today, the Congress leadership has been so miserably blinded by its lust for power that it has resorted to denigrating the incumbent prime minister, thus indirectly or directly echoing the interests of Islamabad, he alleged. The Congress and mahagathbandhan parties' unconcealed dislike for Narendra Modi has gone to such limits that it has begun to manifest as dislike for mother India itself, he said. Talking about Article 370, that grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir, Singh said, Jawaharlal Nehru had himself conceded that it is going to be a temporary provision. "However, with the passage of time, after 1960s, Article-370 has become a vested interest for Congress and National Conference," he said. Campaigning for three Lok Sabha seats of Jharkhand going to polls on May 19 in the final phase of the general election ended at 4 pm on Friday. The foremost among the candidates whose fate will be decided is 8-term sitting MP and former chief minister Shibu Soren of the JMM who is in the fray from Dumka once again. Live TV Altogether 45,64,681 electors, including 22,00,119 female and 21 third gender voters are eligible to exercise their franchise, an Election Commission release said. Besides Dumka and Rajmahal seats, which are reserved for Scheduled Tribe candidates, polling will be held in Godda. While 15 candidates are in the fray in Dumka, 14 are trying their luck from Rajmahal and 13 in Godda. Shibu Soren, the JMM president, is crossing swords with BJP's Sunil Soren in Dumka. The JMM leader had defeated his BJP challenger twice in 2009 and 2014. Sitting BJP MP Nishikant Dubey is taking on Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) MLA Pradip Yadav, who is backed by the 'Mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance), in Godda. The JMM and the Congress are the "Mahagathbandhan" constituents in Jharkhand. JMM's sitting MLA Vijay Kumar Hansda is facing BJP's Hemlal Murmu in Rajmahal. Murmu, a former minister, had quit the JMM and joined the BJP in 2014. The EC release said a total of 6,258 polling stations have been set up. Campaigning ended on Friday for the Union Territory of Chandigarh which has only one parliamentary constituency, formed prior to the 1967 election. The Union Territory is all set for a triangular contest. Live TV While the BJP has retained its outgoing MP Kirron Kher, who is banking on Modi`s popularity, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has fielded former Union Minister Harmohan Dhawan, a rebel BJP MP who had supported Kher in the previous Lok Sabha election. On the other hand, Congress nominee and former Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal is also in the fray from Chandigarh, which has 6.20 lakh voters. Kirron Kher was elected as the Member of Parliament from the constituency in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, after bagging 1,91,362 votes and defeating INC candidate Pawan Kumar Bansal of Congress who got 1,21,720 votes in the 2014 polls. Aam Aadmi Partys (AAP) Gul Kirat Panag, on the other hand, got 108,679 votes. In the 2014 polls, the BJP got 42.2% of the votes, while Congress managed 26.8%, AAP 24% and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) got 3.5% of votes. Kher who has been renominated by the BJP as the party's candidate from Chandigarh will be looking to maintain the winning streak against Pawan Kumar Bansal and Harmohan Dhawan. NEW DELHI: Curtains came down on a long-drawn, acrimonious, no-holds-barred poll campaign, which started with the Election Commission of India announcing dates of Lok Sabha election 2019 on March 10, on Friday. The fate of 918 candidates contesting from 59 Lok Sabha constituencies spread across seven states and one Union Territory will be sealed at the end of voting on May 19. Over 10.01 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the last round of voting. The maximum number of seats going to poll in the seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha election 2019 are in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab with 13 seats each. While voting in Uttar Pradesh took place in all the seven phases, Punjab has only 13 seats and all of them are going to poll in one phase. West Bengal (9 seats), Madhya Pradesh (8), Bihar (8), Himachal Pradesh (4) and Jharkhand (3) are the other states along with the Union Territory of Chandigarh (1) which will vote in the final phase, bringing an end to the voting process barring repolls if ordered by the ECI. Live TV This phase will see voting in Varanasi, the Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He is pitted against Congress candidate Ajay Rai, Samajwadi Party nominee Shalini Yadav and 23 others. One more high profile seat where voting will be held on May 19 is Patna Sahib where incumbent Lok Sabha MP Shatrughan Sinha is challenging his former party colleague and Union Law & Justice and Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. Sinha had won from Patna Sahib in 2009 and 2014 Lok Sabha elections on a BJP ticket but quit the party in March 2019 and joined the Congress. Among other seats which will see a key contest, former Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal is trying his luck from Ferozepur seat, his wife and Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur from Bhatinda, Union Minister Hardeep Puri from Amritsar and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh`s wife Praneet Kaur from Patiala - all in Punjab. Meanwhile, three-time BJP MP Anurag Thakur is contesting from Himachal Pradesh`s Hamirpur seat, while former Union Minister and Congress leader PK Bansal faces sitting BJP MP Kirron Kher in Chandigarh. In UP, Bhojpuri star Ravi Kishan is contesting as a BJP candidate from the Gorakhpur seat. In Jharkhand's Dumka, eight-time MP and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) president Shibu Soren is being challenged by BJP's Sunil Soren. In Madhya Pradesh, former Union ministers Kantilal Bhuria, Arun Yadav are in the fray from Ratlam and Khandwa, the latter is set to witness a tough fight between Yadav and ex-MP BJP chief Nandkumar Singh Chauhan. Meenakshi Natarajan, a close aide of Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, is trying her luck again from Mandsaur, after being defeated in 2014. Seventh Phase State/UT Number of Lok Sabha seats Total voters Male Voters Female Voters Voters of Third Gender Number of Candidates Number of Polling Stations Bihar 8 15252608 8095447 7156660 501 157 15811 Himachal Pradesh 4 5330154 2724111 2605996 47 45 7723 Jharkhand 3 4564681 2364541 2200119 21 42 4315 Madhya Pradesh 8 14913890 7626516 7286890 484 82 18411 Punjab 13 20892674 11059828 9832286 560 278 23213 Uttar Pradesh 13 23638797 12818440 10818931 1426 167 25874 West Bengal 9 14963064 7698023 7264664 377 111 17042 Chandigarh 1 619285 327984 291282 19 36 597 Total 59 100175153 52714890 47456828 3435 918 112986 West Bengal saw the ECI cracking the whip and invoking Article 324 of the Indian Constitution to end the campaigning on Thursday, 10 pm following large scale poll-related violence including a massive clash between All India Trinamool Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party workers during a roadshow of Amit Shah in Kolkata on Wednesday. The ECI has set up over 1.12 lakh polling stations for the smooth conduct of voting. The postal ballots, electronic voting machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines will be opened on May 23 at 8 am. The results will be declared after the counting of votes. PATNA: A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel deployed on security duty at former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi's residence in Patna committed suicide on Friday evening. According to initial reports, the deceased CRPF jawan has been identified as Giriappa. The deceased jawan ended his life by shooting himself with his service weapon. Live TV The incident took place at Rabri Devi's residence which is located near Secretariat in the state capital. The body of the deceased CRPF jawan has been sent for post-mortem. Meanwhile, the Patna Police have launched a probe into the matter. The police are trying to ascertain what were the factors responsible for the jawan's suicide. It is also not clear if Rabri Devi and her family members were present inside their residence when the CRPF jawan shot himself dead. Rabri Devi is the wife of RJD chief and former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, who is currently in jail in connection with his conviction in fodder scam cases, and mother of politicians Tej Pratap and Tejashwi Yadav. The Election Commission (EC) has sought a factual report from Madhya Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer by Friday over the remark, "Nathuram Godse was, is and will remain a 'deshbhakt'", made by BJP Bhopal Lok Sabha candidate Pragya Singh Thakur. Thakur on Thursday waded into another controversy after she hailed the killer of Mahatma Gandhi as patriotic (deshbhakt). Pragya was responding to Makkal Needhi Maiam chief Kamal Haasan's remarks on Godse, which stirred controversy. Live TV "Nathuram Godse was a deshbhakt, is a deshbhakt and will remain a deshbhakt'. People calling him a terrorist should instead look within. Such people will be given a befitting reply in these elections," she said. Later, she apologised from her remarks after facing backlash saying that she respects Mahatma Gandhi as his work for the country cannot be forgotten. "My sentiment was not to hurt anyone's feelings. If it has hurt anybody's feelings then I apologise. What Gandhi ji has done for the country cannot be forgotten. I respect him a lot," she said in a video statement. Sadhvi Pragya said she made the comments on the spur of the moment to a question linked to 'saffron terror', besides accusing the media of twisting her words. Earlier in the day, the BJP distanced itself from Pragya Thakur's remarks on Godse and condemned it, calling it 'objectionable'. Speaking about it, Pragya called herself a disciplined worker of the party and said her party's line is her line. Reacting to the statement, BJP leader GVL Narasimha Rao condemned it adding that the BJP disagreed with the statement. "Party will ask her for clarification," said Rao. The Congress demanded an unconditional apology from PM Narendra Modi and punitive action against Thakur, including withdrawal of her candidature from the Bhopal Lok Sabha seat, over her remarks. In a stinging attack, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, "India's soul is under attack by successors of Godse, the BJP ruling dispensation. BJP leaders are describing the murderer of the father of the nation as a true nationalist and declaring those who sacrificed their lives for the nation like Hemant Karkare as anti-nationals." Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan on Friday asserted that he stood his ground on his controversial comment on Nathuram Godse. The Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) president recently courted controversy when he referred to Godse and said 'independent India's first terrorist was a Hindu.' Speaking to the media outside the Chennai International Airport, Haasan said that there are terrorists in every religion. He also added that those having objection over his comment should arrest him. Live TV "Terrorists is there in every religion, I was talking in that way. All religions have their extremists. My speech that day was about harmony. Clearly, the fingers point to the perpetrators. The philosophy and direction come from there. Let them arrest me...Then tension and issues will increase," said Haasan. On Sunday, Haasan made the remark on Godse. The remarks drew a sharp response from the BJP and AIADMK even as the Congress and Dravidar Kazhagam jumped to Haasan's defence. The BJP lodged a complaint with the Election Commission and accused Haasan of misusing religion for electoral gains. Tamil Nadu minister Rajendra Balaji said the actor-turned-politician's tongue should be chopped off. "Kamal Haasan's tongue should be chopped off. Everything he says now is getting him into trouble. In a locality where Hindus are lesser in number, he has gone and spoken about the first Hindu terrorist. But terror has no religion," the AIADMK leader had said. Speaking on this, Haasan on Friday said, "It shows the minister's qualities, what can I say? I am not even threatened...The quality of politics is going down. I wont indulge in mudslinging." Hassan reiterated that he had spoken on the same issue even before the Lok Sabha election in front of a diverse crowd at Chennai's Marina Beach but alleged that those in power have paid attention to it for their own needs. He added that this is a "created controversy". "Before parliamentary polls.. I said these same words at Marina Beach in Chennai a few weeks back.. in front of a diverse crowd hat had people from all religions. It seems like they have paid attention to it for their own needs. Maybe their(ruling party) confidence is low now... I don't have to reply to PM Narendra Modi...History will tell. We are working towards restoring peace," said Haasan. The Election Commission (EC) on Thursday declared that 710 companies of security personnel will be deployed for the seventh and last phase of Lok Sabha election in violence-marred West Bengal. The EC has taken the step to ensure free and fair voting on Sunday. In a first in the country, campaigning for the nine seats in the state came to an end at 10 pm on Thursday, 20 hours before the scheduled time, as per orders of the EC. Live TV The EC has decided that while 34 companies of central forces will be deployed for strong rooms to guard the EVM, 676 companies will be allotted in other areas. The area-wise allotment of central forces in the state is: Barasat-55 companies, Barrackpur-48 companies, Baruipur-102 companies, Bashirhat-71 companies, Bidhannagar-27 companies, Diamond Harbour-81 companies, Sundarban-80 companies, Kolkata-147 companies, Bhatpara-6companies, Darjeeling-16 companies, Habibpur-11 companies, Islampur-10 companies, and Murshidabd Nowda Kandi-22 companies. The EC had on Wednesday ordered campaigning in the nine West Bengal constituencies to end at 10 pm on Thursday, instead of 6 PM on Friday, in the wake of violence between the BJP and the TMC in the city during Amit Shah's roadshow. The polling will be held in nine constituencies of south Bengal on Sunday where an electorate of 1,49,63,064 will decide the fate of 111 candidates. Seats in which elections will be held on Sunday are Kolkata North and Kolkata South, Dum Dum, Barasat, Basirhat, Jadavpur, Diamond Harbour, Jaynagar (SC) and Mathurapur (SC) seats. The nine seats are spread across the three districts of Kolkata, South and North 24 Parganas. Eight seats, barring the Jadavpur seat, will see a four-cornered contest between the Trinamool Congress, the BJP, the Congress and the Left Front. Mamata Banerjee pens poem expressing 'shame' over Vidyasagar statue vandalism New Delhi: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Friday penned a poem to protest against the vandalism of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar's statue. The poem has been written in Bangla and has been titled 'Lojjito' (Ashamed). In the poem, Mamata has stated that Vidyasagar is the pride of Bengal and people who have played with the heritage of Bengal will have to pay for it. She has also warned people to not play with the culture of Bengal. Mamata has also taken a sly dig at the BJP in her couplet. The TMC addressed a press conference on Friday evening and emphasized on Trinamul government's initiative to build Vidyasagar's statue. They also expressed their desire to celebrate 200 years of Vidyasagar by hosting various programmes. They also have plans to build a Vidyasagar museum inside the college premises. Partho Chatterjee, Education Minister stated that BJP who have vandalised Vidyasagar's statue will get befitting reply from people of Bengal. The Bengali philosopher and reformist' statue was vandalised during clashes between the workers of the ruling party and the BJP on Tuesday. Patna: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav's elder son Tej Pratap posted an emotional message for his father on Friday after being denied a chance to speak at a rally in Pataliputra. "I was not allowed to speak due to my father's absence. I miss you, papa," tweeted a miffed Tej Pratap, along with a cut out of his picture with Lalu. Lalu is currently serving a jail term in Ranchi after being convicted in the multi-crore fodder scam cases. The mahagathbandhan rally in Pataliputra was held by Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday, wherein he was joined by party candidate Shatrughan Sinha and alliance partner RJDs Tejashwi Yadav among others. On being asked about elder brother Tej Pratap's being upset over the incident, Tejashwi said he does not have any knowledge about it. "He has delivered many speeches with me at rallies. However, sometimes, there is a time crunch," the former Bihar deputy chief minister said. Live TV There were differences reported within the Yadav family after Tej Pratap resigned from RJD's student wing over being sidelined. He had also floated his own outfit named Lalu-Rabri Morcha and had said that he will tour 20 seats in Bihar for the election. Reports had also suggested that RJD was contemplating disciplinary action against him for anti-party activities. However, over the weekend, the brothers together campaigned for the party. Tej Pratap called his Tejashwi 'Arjun' and said that the opposition will be defeated and the RJD will win on all the seats. New Delhi: TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu, who is spearheading an effort to cobble up an anti-BJP front, Friday said not only the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) but any outfit which is against the saffron party are welcome to join a grand alliance after the election results are declared. Naidu has stepped up efforts to bring together parties which are against the BJP ahead of a possible meeting of the grand alliance after the election results are declared on May 23. The Andhra Pradesh chief minister met CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury and Aam Admi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Friday and discussed with them about the possible tie-up in the post-election scenario. Live TV According to sources, Naidu is likely to meet Congress president Rahul Gandhi in the national capital and BSP chief Mayawati in Lucknow Saturday. "We welcome not only the TRS but any party which is against the BJP. We are welcoming all such parties to be a part of our grand alliance," Naidu told reporters after meeting the Election Commission of India (ECI) here. He was responding to a query if a Congress-led grand alliance will join hands with the TRS, which is trying to bring together all regional parties to forge a non-Congress, non-BJP front, after the election results are declared. "I am meeting everybody. Will chalk out a plan after discussing with all leaders," Naidu added. In the meeting with the ECI, the TDP president said that he requested the poll panel to take a serious note of the series of complaints filed by his party including against the repoll ordered in Chandragiri Assembly segment in the Andhra Pradesh and counting of votes in the entire constituency if discrepancy found in VVPAT slips with five mandated Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in any part of the country. "As on today, the ECI's decisions are very controversial, one-sided, pro-establishment and pro-government. During the entire election, they were supporting the government. It is unfortunate," he told reporters after the meeting. Questioning the working style of the poll panel, Naidu said, "I am the party president for the last 25 years. I have never seen this type of Election Commission." The transfer of the West Bengal home secretary for alleged interference in the election process is an "unnecessary interference" of the poll panel, he said, adding, "We don't want to surrender our powers to the ECI or the Government of India." Invoking of Article 324 to abruptly curtail the campaign period in West Bengal and "giving time to Prime Minister Narendra Modi" to hold two rallies is "unfortunate and not correct", Naidu said. Further, the ECI is "not taking action" against the BJP's Bhopal candidate Sadhvi Pragya Thakur who has "insulted" Mahatma Gandhi. Thakur, an accused in the Malegaon blast case, ignited a fresh controversy Thursday by claiming that Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse "is and will remain a patriot". "The ECI not taking action against any BJP MPs, Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) and Amit Shah (BJP president)," he said while protesting the "unfair approach" of the poll panel. By Online Desk Intelligence agencies have sounded an alert on a possible terror attack in the Kashmir Valley on May 23 when the counting of votes for the Lok Sabha polls will take place. According to the agencies, terrorists are planning to carry out attacks on Srinagar and Awantipora air bases. May 23 marks the 17th day of Ramzan, which is also the day of the battle of Badr or Jang-e-Badr, which has a historical significance in Islam. The day has been chosen for attacks by various terror outfits in the past. ALSO READ | Pakistani Jaish commander among three militants killed in Pulwama gunfight Earlier, UN-designated terrorist Masood Azhar's Jaish-e-Mohammad was reportedly planning an attack on security forces in Pulwama once again after it took responsibility for the attack on the CRPF convoy in which over 40 jawans were killed. NEW DELHI: In his first media briefing in the past five years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday expressed confidence that his party will form the government with absolute majority for the second time. "I am confident that BJP will form the government with a full majority for a second term,'' the PM said. ''After a long time, a government will return with a full majority,'' the PM added. PM Narendra Modi: It will happen after a long time in the country, our Government will come to power with absolute majority for second consecutive time. pic.twitter.com/Jr1biKJNGa ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2019 Live TV While outlining the achievements of his government in the past five years, the PM also hailed the performance of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre. The PM made these remarks while addressing a joint press conference with party president Amit Shah at the BJP headquarters in the national capital. The press conference was organised shortly before the poll campaign ended for the seventh and last phase of Lok Sabha Elections 2019. During his brief press interaction, the PM said, ''It was an excellent election campaign so far.'' ''For me, actually, this was a way of thanking the people of this country where ever I campaigned for the party for giving us the opportunity to serve the nation for five years,'' PM Modi said. PM Modi, however, told reporters that he will not take any questions because the press conference is being addressed by Shah, and in BJP's system, the discipline has to be followed. "We are disciplined soldiers of the party," PM Modi said. On his turn, the BJP Amit Shah exuded confidence that the party will win more than 300 seats this time alone. Shah also gave a detailed report card of the campaigning as well as the performance of the NDA government. ''BJP will be back in power with a greater margin. We will win more than 300 seats this time,'' Shah said. ''We'll perform well in North-East, very good in West Bengal. We'll do good in Odisha and will be an improvement in the number of seats in all the states in the South. We'll improve in Maharashtra also,'' Shah told reporters. Shah stated that ''under PM Modi's leadership, the people are safe, the economy is in good shape and we have a stable and strong government at the Centre.'' He exuded confidence that PM Narendra Modi will return as the Prime Minister once again. Since Independence, these elections have been the biggest for the BJP, Shah stated, claiming to get good results in 2019 general polls. We started our election campaign from January 16Our target was to win 120 Lok Sabha seats which we couldnt win the last time. We are confident that well receive good results, the BJP president said. Giving a report card of Modi governments performance in the last five years, Shah referred to development and national security. Narendra Modi government has launched 133 schemes to uplift all sections of society, he said. Voting for the last phase of Lok Sabha Elections 2019 is due on May 19. The counting of votes is scheduled for May 23. Ratlam: Congress on Thursday lashed out heavily at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur over her controversial remarks on Mumbai terror attack martyr Hemant Karkare. The party also compared Sadhvi to a 'witch' over her statement that "Nathuram Godse was, is and will remain a 'deshbhakt'." "Sadhvi should curse Masood Azhar and Dawood Ibrahim just like she did to 26/11 martyr Hemant Karkare," Congress leader Paras Sakchela said at a meeting organised in Ratlam on Thursday night, where he was also accompanied by Kantilal Bhuria "Will worship Sadhvi if she curses Masood Azhar and Dawood Ibrahim," he added. On Thursday, Thakur courted controversy for saying, "Nathuram Godse was a 'deshbhakt' (patriot), he is and will remain a 'deshbhakt'. Those calling him a terrorist should instead look at themselves. They will be given a befitting reply in this election." She said this in response to a question over actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan's remark that "free India's first extremist was a Hindu", a reference to Godse. However, after severe backlash, she apologised for it and withdrew the statement. Live TV Meanwhile, last month, she said that Hemant Karkare was killed during Mumbai terror attacks because she had cursed him. "Hemant Karkare was asked to let me go if there is no evidence (against me). He (Karkare) said that he will bring evidence but will not leave me. I told him -- You will be ruined," she had said. Thakur also alleged that the late ATS chief wanted to declare her a terrorist and accused him of abusing and torturing her. Karkare was killed along with two other senior police officers while fighting terrorists during the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai in November 2008. Sadhvi is facing trial in the 2008 Malegaon blast case. She was arrested in 2008 but was given a clean chit by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2015 due to lack of evidence. However, she still faces a number of charges. She was inducted in the BJP in April and is fighting the election from Bhopal against Congress' Digvijaya Singh. Chandauli: After Varanasi, if there is any other Lok Sabha constituency that has the spotlight fixed on it in Uttar Pradesh, it is the adjoining Chandauli. State BJP President Mahendra Nath Pandey is seeking re-election from Chandauli and this increases the importance of the seat. Chandauli has a dominant Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe population that is second to the OBC population, mainly Yadavs. Muslims also constitute a sizeable population while Brahmins and Thakurs are not in a position to play a decisive role. Pandey had won the seat in 2014, riding high on the Modi wave. This time he is banking mainly on appeal of government schemes such as Ujjawla, Saubhagya, Swachh Bharat programme, Pradhan Mantri housing schemes and Kisan income support scheme. BJP workers in the district are armed with a list of beneficiaries and are using this to transcend caste barriers. Chandauli, incidentally, has been known as a Naxalite-infested district and police atrocities here have been a major reason for resentment. The Samajwadi Party has fielded Sanjay Chauhan of the Janwadi Party. Sanjay Chauhan belongs to the Lonia community that comes under the OBC category. The idea was apparently to woo non-Yadav voters through the candidate. The alliance with BSP has already put him in a strong position. Live TV Chandauli also has a high number of Kurmi voters but the Apna Dal leader Anupriya Patel has not been able to devote much time to Chandauli since she is busy with her own campaign in Mirzapur. The Congress candidate, Shiv Kanya Kushwaha, is the wife of former BSP Minister Babu Singh Kushwaha who was an accused in the NRHM scam. She has her community`s sympathy in ample measure and also the support of some other OBC groups like Maurya Pandey is battling caste arithmetic that does not support him but is hopeful that his constituency`s proximity to Varanasi will help him win the second term. "The performance and charisma of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also that of chief minister Yogi Adityanath will help me win the elections," Pandey said. In yet another case of violence in tension-gripped West Bengal, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Dum Dum Samik Bhattacharya was attacked in Nagerbazar, North 24 Parganas district, late on Thursday night. His vehicle was completely vandalised and Bhattacharya claimed that he was attacked by Trinamool Congress (TMC) cadres. Live TV The TMC, on the other hand, claimed that Bhattacharya was campaigning beyond the designated deadline of 10 pm. The TMC cadres were protesting there until they found out that BJP leader Mukul Roy was holding a closed-door meeting with some leaders from CPI(M). Roy was holed up in that location until the police force rushed to the spot to evacuate him safely. Roys car was also vandalised. Several sections of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) were also deployed at the spot. Speaking after the incident, Roy said, "Some people came towards my car and broke it by pelting stones. I didn't see those who pelted stones. However, these might be people from the political parties, they were not the common people. I'm going to the police station. The faces of some people have been captured by the CCTV cameras and the police should take action against them. I can say that West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee is scared." This comes within two days after the supporters of both the BJP and TMC fought pitched battles on the streets of Kolkata during a massive road show by BJP president Amit Shah. On Tuesday night, though Shah escaped unhurt, he was forced to cut short the road show and had to be escorted to safety by the police. Parts of the city plunged into a welter of violence after TMC's student wing, allegedly, waved black flags near Vidyasagar college and were also displaying anti-BJP placards. When confronted by BJP supporters, violence erupted. Stones were thrown, lathis were used and several vehicles were set on fire, even as Kolkata Police eventually resorted to lathi charge to restore order. The statue of Bengali writer and philosopher Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was also destroyed during clashes in West Bengal's Kolkata between workers of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). All the six phases of ongoing polls in West Bengal were marred with violence. Last week, a convoy of West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh and Assam Minister Hemanta Biswa Sarma was allegedly attacked by TMC supporters in Khejuri area of Purba Medinipur district. In an unprecedented action, the EC on Wednesday cut short the campaigning period in West Bengal by a day for the final phase of the Lok Sabha elections in view of the violence during Shah`s roadshow on Tuesday. Campaigning was originally scheduled to end at 5 pm on Friday. With Odisha coast prone to natural disasters, better machines and manpower training are required to overcome the challenges posed by the calamities in a more effective manner, a senior official has said. Presiding over the Executive Council of Disaster Management (ECDM) meeting on Thursday, Chief Secretary AP Padhi said that Odisha's disaster management should be more effective in future. Live TV Taking a lesson from cyclone Fani which devastated the entire coastal region of the state, the ECDM decided to give priority on training human resources to face the post-cyclone situation more effectively. Though the state has raised 20 units of ODRAF (Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force) for natural calamities, it should be strengthened with more training programmes for its personnel and better equipment. Padhi also directed officials to purchase more implements that came in handy during the post-Fani restoration work and sufficiently equip the OSDMA, police and fire stations with the equipment. "If trained men and better machines are available in each police station area, it will help the administration in undertaking early restoration work," he said. The meeting also resolved that more plasma cutters and power cutters should be stored in strategic locations which should be used immediately after a calamity strikes a region. During post-cyclone situation this time, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) had to procure additional plasma cutters and power cutters from Kolkata for using in Puri, which had experienced a huge damage to its power infrastructure. Plasma cutters and power cutters are used to separate broken iron poles. These are mostly used to restore the high tension power towers. More than 125 big electric towers were damaged in the cyclone this time, official sources said. Special Relief Commissioner BP Sethi said the collectors of the affected districts have been asked to furnish their reports by May 22 on the losses to individual houses and buildings, crops, public properties, domestic animals, fishing nets and boats and handicraft establishments. It was decided to sanction funds from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) for immediate repair of affected drinking water projects, irrigation projects, schools and primary health centres. The meeting also decided to immediately implement Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's announcements on various relief packages, house repair assistance and restoration of livelihood resources. Funds were allotted for special relief packages for the worst-affected Puri and Khurda districts, as announced by the chief minister. As per the package announced by the chief minister, financial assistance of Rs 95,000 will be given for fully damaged houses, Rs 5,200 for partially damaged houses and Rs 3,200 for mildly damaged houses. Actors Anushka Shetty and Madhavan Ranganathans upcoming film titled Silence is all set to go on floors from May 24 The film which had to go on floors in March was kept on hold due to some visa related issues. But now, we learnt that all the issues have been sorted out and that the film will go on floors from May 24. The film will be directed by Hemant Madhukar and has Hollywood star Michael Madsen, Anjali, Shalini Pandey and others in key roles, apart from Anushka Shetty. It also has many technicians from Hollywood, and Silence will be released in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi simultaneously. Sources in the know say that the film will be a late 2020 release. This will be the first Telugu flick to be predominately shot in US. Anushka Shetty will be playing an NRI businesswoman in the film. Touted to be a silent thriller, the film also features Anjali, Shalini Pandey, Subbaraju, Hollywood actor Michael Madsen and among others. Apart from this film, Anushka will be next seen in Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy, the biopic of popular freedom fighter Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy. She is also in talks to play the lead role in a big-budget devotional film on Lord Ayappa to be directed by Santosh Sivan. Strasbourg: An anaesthetist in the French eastern city of Besancon is suspected of poisoning patients during surgery to trigger heart failures and then heroically bring them back from the brink of death. On nine occasions, prosecutors allege he failed and people died. Investigating magistrates have found evidence linking Dr Frederic Pechier to 24 out of 66 suspicious incidents that happened during surgical proceedings at the clinic where he practiced, Besancon prosecutor Etienne Manteaux told reporters on Thursday. "Mr. Pechier appears as the common denominator for these unfortunate and serious events that seem related to an acute conflict with other anaesthetists or surgeons at the Saint-Vincent clinic," Manteaux said. He added that Pechier was suspected of injecting lethal doses of potassium chloride or anaesthetics in perfusion bags during benign surgeries. The 47-year-old physician has denied any wrongdoing but the prosecution has asked that he be kept under arrest ahead of trial, where he will face a life sentence. Live TV "The charges rest on a beam of concordant elements," Manteaux said, acknowledging that the case rests on circumstantial evidence since the doctor was not caught in the act. Pechier was "omnipresent" in handling the resuscitation of patients after suspicious heart failures and the doctor`s colleagues found he was suspiciously fast in diagnosing anaesthetic overdoses, the prosecutor added. He said Pechier was the only physician present during all the incidents where traces of poison were found or when overdoses were diagnosed. The incidents were more numerous during periods of "intense conflict" between Pechier and his colleagues, Manteaux said. Pechier has admitted criminal acts were committed at the clinic but said he was not responsible for them, according to the prosecutor. "Doctor Pechier rejects all the charges brought against him," Pechier`s lawyer Randall Schwerdorffer told reporters. "We challenge anybody to show us any evidence." TAIPEI: Taiwan became the first place in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage on Friday, as thousands of demonstrators outside parliament cheered and waved rainbow flags, despite deep divisions over marriage equality. Lawmakers from the majority Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) backed the bill, which passed 66 to 27, though the measure could complicate President Tsai Ing-wen`s bid to win a second term in presidential elections next year. Live TV Despite heavy rain, some demonstrators outside parliament in Taipei, the capital, embraced tearfully while others hailed the vote with chants of "Asia`s first," and "Way to go, Taiwan!" The bill, which offers same-sex couples similar legal protections for marriage as heterosexuals, will take effect after Tsai signs it into law. "Today, we have a chance to make history and show the world that progressive values can take root in an East Asian society," Tsai wrote on Twitter before the vote. "Today, we can show the world that #LoveWins," added Tsai, who campaigned on a promise of marriage equality in the 2016 presidential election. It was not immediately clear, however, if same-sex couples are entitled to key rights, such as adoption and cross-national marriage, with parliament continuing to discuss the measure on Friday. The vote followed a years-long tussle over marriage equality that culminated in a 2017 declaration by the democratic island`s constitutional court giving same-sex couples the right to marry, and setting a deadline of May 24 for legislation. Taipei`s colourful gay pride parade, one of Asia`s largest, puts on display every year the vibrancy of the island`s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. CHALLENGE FOR TSAI However, Friday`s measure could prove a challenge to Tsai`s bid for a second term in a January presidential election, after a poll defeat last year for her DPP was blamed partly on criticism of her reform agenda, including marriage equality. Late last year, Taiwan voters opposed same-sex marriage in a series of referendums, defining marriage as being between a man and a woman, while seeking a special law for such unions. "How can we ignore the result of the referendums, which demonstrated the will of the people?" John Wu, a legislator from the opposition Kuomintang party, asked parliament before Friday`s vote. "Can we find an appropriate compromise solution? We need more dialogue in society." Conservative groups that oppose same-sex marriage said the legislation disrespected the people`s will. "The will of some seven million people in the referendum has been trampled," one group, the Coalition for the Happiness of Our Next Generation said in a statement. "The massive public will strike back in 2020." Australia passed laws allowing same-sex marriage in 2017, but such unions are not recognised by Hong Kong and neighbouring China, which regards Taiwan as a wayward province to be brought back into the fold by force if necessary. By Express News Service RANCHI: A court in Khunti on Friday awarded life imprisonment to a Catholic priest, Father Alphones Aind, and five other accused in a case where five anti-trafficking activists were gang-raped, allegedly by Patthalgadi supporters, in June last year. The priest and the other accusedJohn Junas Tidu, Balram Samad, Baji Samad alias Takla, Ajub Sandi Purti, and Junas Munduwere held guilty by the court of Additional District Judge Rajesh Kumar on May 7. The Court of Additional District Judge has pronounced life imprisonment to all the six accused persons in the case, where Father Alphones Aind has been identified as the conspirator in the case, while the two Patthalgadi supportersJohn Junas Tidu and Balram Samadwere punished for encouraging the three villagers, Baji Samad alias Takla, Ajub Sandi Purti, and Junas Mundu for raping the anti-trafficking activists, said Public Prosecutor Sushil Kumar Jaiswal. Though the six accused persons were charged under different sections of the Indian Penal Code, the court awarded the maximum punishment to them, he added. Eight persons were accused in the case, and six of them were arrested, while one of the accused, Ayub Sandi Purti, is absconding. He is said to be the area commander of Naxal outfit Peoples Liberation Front of India. One of the accused persons is a minor and his case has been sent a juvenile court in Khunti. The incident took place at Kochang, under Arki Police Station in Khunti, on June 19, but the police were informed only a day later, and the news was leaked in the media by the evening of June 21. Rajesh Kumar Thakur By Express News Service ARA/SASARAM: In the Rohtas-Bhojpur belt in south-western Bihar, two mini battles of the Lok Sabha are being fought with deep roots in the history of the region. In Sasaram, a scheduled caste-tribe dominated turf once represented by the Dalit stalwart Babu Jagjivan Ram, his daughter Meira Kumar of the Congress a Miranda House graduate, a 1973 batch ex-IFS officer and former diplomat, former Lok Sabha Speaker and once a presidential candidate is fighting, perhaps, her last poll battle. In adjacent Ara in Bhojpur, R K Singh, another ex-IAS officer and former Union home secretary, who is the sitting BJP MP, is seeking re-election against CPI-MLs Raju Yadav, a Mahagathbandhan candidate, in what is turning out to be a do-or-die battle. With two bureaucrats in the fray, the poll discourse in the two constituencies has been free from acrimony and no-holds-barred personal attacks that is being seen nationally. There is no ill-will, no foul language, no personal comment and no bluff. Thats how I practise my politics. I am simply highlighting the failures of the Narendra Modi-led NDA government and wish for the trust of the electorate, says Meira Kumar. She is respected and popularly called Behenji, with which she connects with the constituency her father had nurtured for decades. FOLLOW OUR FULL ELECTION COVERAGE HERE As a five-time MP from Bijnor in UP, Karol Bagh in Delhi and Sasaram in Bihar, she has always proved to be articulate, mature, affable and of the disciplined- tongue. Meira has never been known to be abusive of rivals. She personally takes care of her constituents needing health support in Delhi. said Nirala Kumar, a voter. I have helped them with healthcare and jobs. Politics, I believe, is a godsent chance to serve the people and I try to do that only, Meira says. The Congress candidate was beaten by her BJP rival Chhedi Paswan in the 2014 Modi wave. The victor and sitting MP is sure of another term riding the Modi governments development plank. Chhedi has an advantage in that the mood in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh often influences voting in Sasaram and the NDAs traditional vote bank with the matrix of SCs and EBCs make it easier for him. With Varanasi, the PMs constituency, next door, who needs convincing? he says. I have been with the people of Sasaram round the year in their good and bad times. Voters wont be misled by people who speak sweet but fail to perform, besides being occasional visitors here, he says, in an obvious reference to his rival. Radhika Raman Ram, a retired state government official said, Meira Kumar promises development and an airport in Sasaram. Chhedi is seeking votes for the development work of the Centre. Like Meira, 1975-batch IAS officer-turned-politician R K Singh, too, is maintaining decency in electioneering and speeches in neighbouring Ara seat. Known as an upright officer, his contribution in improving the conditions of roads has been immense. He served under Nitish Kumar-led NDA government as principal secretary in state road construction department before being picked up by former home minister LK Advani to work as a joint secretary in 1999, Umesh Kumar, a BJP worker said. Singh joined the BJP in 2013 and defeated RJDs Bhagwan Singh Kushwaha to reach the Lok Sabha. This time, he faces a stern test with the RJD surprisingly giving up claims to Ara despite being electorally strong and backing CPI-MLs Raju Yadav. Singh faces a tough contest, Raghunath Kumar Gupta, a local political observer said. Nirmal Kumar Ojha, the priest of Aras Hanuman temple, says, Local issues like the depleted Sone Canal system, farm crisis, unemployment and migration, besides crime have been buried while nationalism has caught on. But caste will finally decide the result. Harpreet Bajwa By Express News Service CHANDIGARH: Its a cocktail of explosive issues on which Malwa goes to polls next Sunday from drugs to sacrilege, lack of development, war shadow, and Mazhabi Sikhs versus Ramdasias, among others. In the ring are a curious mix of men and women from a standup comedian to former bureaucrats and the grandson of a former chief minister. In Ferozepur, Shiromani Akali Dal president and former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal is locked in a pitched fight with Congress candidate Sher Singh Ghubaya, who was till recently the SAD MP from this very seat. The Akali camp hoped Ferozepur would spare their chief the trauma of a debate over sacrilege. But not only has the sacrilege issue been revived, the blot on the SAD-BJP regime for allegedly patronising the drug mafia also remains. FOLLOW OUR FULL ELECTION COVERAGE HERE The lone strong point in favour of Sukhbir is that the alliance has won this seat five consecutive times. Ghubaya has his own share of problems. Since he has joined the party recently, local leaders and cadres are shunning his campaign. In neighbouring Faridkot, Akalis are on the backfoot as the constituency was the very epicentre of the sacrilege incidents and protests, which had led to police firing in 2015 when SAD-BJP government was in power. SAD candidate Gulzar Singh Ranike faces a grave challenge of handling public anger. Both Ranike his Congress rival Mohammad Sadique are looked upon as outsiders here. In Sangrur, Bhagwant Mann, the AAP candidate, faces a tough fight as the constituency is not known to repeat its sitting MPs. At Fategarh Sahib, two former IAS officers who were once close buddies, are fighting another tough battle. Former Punjab cadre IAS officer Darbara Singh Guru, the SAD-BJP nominee, is pitted against former civil servant of MP cadre Dr Amar Singh of the Congress. By Online Desk Prime Minister Narendra Modi has slammed the BJP's candidate for the Bhopal Lok Sabha seat Sadhvi Pragya for calling Nathuram Godse a 'patriot'. "She has apologised. That is a different thing. But in my heart, I cannot forgive her," the PM said during an interview to a news channel. He went on to say that such leaders should think a hundred times before making such statements in the future. Earlier, with another phase of polling pending in the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP pulled up three of its leaders - two sitting MPs and one MP candidate - for their remarks on Nathuram Godse. BJP president Amit Shah took to Twitter to distance the party from statements made by Sadhvi and Karnataka MPs Nalinkumar Kateel and Ananth Kumar Hegde, calling it their 'personal opinion'. The party has asked its disciplinary committee to seek an explanation from all three leaders and submit a report in ten days. Shah did not commit to whether this report will be made public or what action will be taken following the report. "Statements made by Ananth Kumar Hegde, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Nalinkumar Kateel in the last two days are their personal opinions. Those statements have no connection whatsoever to the BJP. They have withdrawn their personal statements and have also apologised for it. However, keeping in mind the public sentiment and the dignity and ideology of the BJP, it has been decided to refer this to the disciplinary committee. The Committee will seek an explanation from all three leaders and has been instructed to submit a report within ten days to the party," tweeted Shah. The statements of the three leaders supporting or even glorifying Mahatma Gandhi's murderer Nathuram Godse left the saffron party embarrassed. While Pragya Thakur who called Godse a 'patriot' was forced to issue a clarification and apology, two MPs from Karnataka Hegde and Kateel - who are infamous for making communal statements - took to Twitter to back Pragya and support Godse. All their tweets, however, have been deleted now. While Kateel apologised for his tweets, Hegde claimed that his account was hacked and someone else had tweeted the controversial statements. "I have observed that my previous two tweets have drawn a lot of flak. I apologise if my tweets hurt anyone. It was not my intention to hurt anybody. I have withdrawn the tweets as soon as I realised that it has hurt sentiments. Let us end the discussion here," tweeted Nalin Kumar Kateel on Friday. On Thursday he had drawn parallels between Godse, Ajmal Kasab and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi asking who was the bigger terrorist. Naleenkumar Kateel's tweet which he removed later. "My account was hacked since yesterday. There is no question of justifying Gandhi ji's murder. There can be no sympathy or justification of Gandhi ji's murder. We all have full respect for Gandhi ji's contribution to the nation," Ananth Kumar Hegde tweeted on Friday in an attempt to defend himself. On Thursday, the Union minister had said he "was glad that seven decades later today's generation debates in a changed perceptional environment and gives good scope for the condemned to be heard upon. Nathuram Godse would have finally felt happy with this debate." On Thursday Sadhvi Pragya had tendered an apology for her comments. Sadhvi Pragya Official (@SadhviPragya_MP) May 16, 2019 The 2008 Malegaon blast accused and BJP candidate from the Bhopal Lok Sabha seat had dubbed Mahatma Gandhi's killer Nathuram Godse as a deshbhakt (patriot). Thakur who was on a roadshow in Agar Malwa district was questioned by journalists about film actor turned politician Kamal Haasan's recently saying that Nathuram Godse was the first terrorist. " Nathuram Godse ek deshbhakt they, hain aur rahenge (Godse was a patriot and will continue to be so in future also)," Thakur had said. The whole fiasco drew sharp criticism from Congress as senior party leader Kapil Sibal questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's silence on Pragya's remarks and said he can only pray for the country. In a tweet, Sibal said, "When Sadhvi Pragya says: 'Godse a Deshbakht' and Modi is silent with Vidyasagar's statue a victim of the violent I can only pray for my country and hope that one day the silent majority will keep violence at bay." His party colleague, former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah, stepped into the debate to say, Godse, who killed the father of the nation in January 1948, was inspired by RSS ideology. "Godse was inspired by Sangh Pariwar's ideology & so is Pragya. Former killed our Mahatma & the latter killed Mahatma's children. Pragya who calls Godse a patriot is endorsed by @narendramodi Is this the sign of an attempt to proliferate Sangh's hatred based ideology," he tweeted. Earlier this week, Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) founder Kamal Haasan stoked controversy saying "free India's first extremist was a Hindu", referring to Godse. On Friday too, the actor-politician said that every religion has its own terrorists and that no one claim to be sanctimonious. "Let me tell you terrorists abound all religions. Every religion has its own terrorists and we cannot claim that we are sanctimonious and we have not done that. History shows you that all religions have their extremists," he told reporters in Chennai, adding his focus in Sunday's campaign speech was on maintaining harmony. He also said that he was not afraid of being arrested but warned any such action would escalate tensions. "I don't fear arrest but I have got campaigning to do. Let them arrest. But if they arrest me tensions will escalate. This is not my request but an advice," he said. Campaigning for India's seven-phase elections ends on Friday evening. The last day of polling is May 19 and the votes will be counted on May 23. (With agency inputs) By Online Desk Modi came. Modi saw. But Modi did not answer questions. This was the tale of the Prime Minister's first press meet in five years. A diversion? Yes, you could certainly call it that. He ended up diverting all questions to BJP president Amit Shah citing party discipline. Addressing the media at the party headquarters on Friday before the last phase of the Lok Sabha elections, Modi and Shah exuded confidence that the party would return to power with a bigger majority. "We started our election campaign from January 16...Our target was to win 120 Lok Sabha seats which we couldn't win the last time. We are confident that we'll receive good results," said Shah. ALSO Watch | PM Modi diverts questions to Amit Shah in his first-ever press meet In a surprising move, Modi showed up on the dais for the scheduled press conference by BJP president Shah. However, he told reporters that he will not take any questions because the press conference was being addressed by Shah, and in the BJP's system, discipline has to be followed. "We are disciplined soldiers of the party," Modi said. BJP National President Shri @AmitShah will hold a press conference today at 3:45 pm at BJP HQ, New Delhi. #DeshKaGauravModi pic.twitter.com/DKvQOry0Ph Office of Amit Shah (@AmitShahOffice) May 17, 2019 The BJP president said the Narendra Modi government has launched 133 schemes to uplift all sections of society. "Our schemes have touched all corners of the country," Shah said. Referring to development and national security, the BJP chief delivered a report card on the Modi government's performance in the last five years. Meanwhile, Modi said, "I have come straight from Madhya Pradesh to meet you." "During the last two elections, even the IPL couldn't be held. When the government is strong, IPL, Ramzaan, school exams all take place peacefully," Modi said. "It will happen after a long time in the country that a government will come to power with an absolute majority for the second consecutive time," he declared. The PM further said, "Election results came on May 16, 2014. A huge casualty took place on May 17, 2014. Today is May 17. People in 'Satta bazaar' who used to bet for Congress to win in elections faced huge losses on May 17." (With agency inputs) Ejaz Kaiser By Express News Service RAIPUR: The Chhattisgarh forest department has begun investigation into the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) report brought out by TNIE that cited CRPF personnel having indulged in hunting of wild animals and using firewood from the Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve in Gariyaband district of Chhattisgarh. The NTCA, in its findings, accused the paramilitary troopers for hunting and using firewood from the reserve area. The report further talked about the troopers clearing forest area with fire in the vicinity of their camps, hence, damaging the reserve area. We took cognisance of the coverage by New Indian Express and ordered a probe into the reported illegal practices by the CRPF, though we are yet to receive the report or relevant stuff in writing from the NTCA. The investigation is to be submitted within 15 days will be carried out by the Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) in Raipur, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) Rakesh Chaturvedi told the TNIE. The decision of the forest department brought cheers to the wildlife lovers. It is indeed a welcome move that following the coverage, the Chhattisgarh forest department has taken suo-motto cognisance of the matter and instituted a probe. The detail inquiry should further include a previous killing of a python and reported poaching of wild boars by CRPF troops in south Bastar region, said Nitin Singhvi, a wildlife enthusiast. However, the CRPFs Chhattisgarh sector headquarter in Raipur disagreed with the NTCA report. K Jayakumar By As the high decibel electioneering is drawing to a close, the nation discovers to its dismay and shame that the quality of election-eve public debate has plummeted to an all-time low. This unholy din has successfully obliterated many fundamental national issues. It seems to be our tragic fate to repeatedly look towards an election with hopes of solutions and to be thwarted by misplaced or misconceived national issues that an election underscores. It is an empirical fact that the disconnect between the collective desire of the nation and the priorities as perceived by political parties during the electoral battle and pursued subsequently by the elected governments is widening with every successive election. The current high-intensity election campaign that has monopolised our media for nearly two months will stand out in our history as one that has conveniently obliterated almost all the core issues of the nation. True, growing agrarian distress and rampant unemployment did find its place but only to be addressed with short-term solutions. Issues that call for long-term solutions and bold structural changes have been conveniently and cleverly brushed under the carpet by all parties in their pursuit of power. The underlying disturbing logic is very simple. Even if elected to power, no major party is prepared or equipped to address deep-rooted social and economic issues, potent with disastrous consequences. This is an attempt to identify five major areas this election campaign conveniently forgot to address. (Admittedly there are many more.) 1. Climate change and environment: Confronted with the unmistakable truth of climate change, the whole world is bracing itself up with mitigating measures and eco-sensitive policies. When the time is up to dedicate ourselves to a new eco-sensitivity and a nuanced development ethos, we seem to have fallen foolishly in love with a discarded development model that has taken humanity to the brink of ecocide. No national leader acknowledged the reality of climate change. Instead, we continue to promise more development which shall guarantee our hurtle towards ecological disaster. 2. Corruption: Though allegations of corruption were levelled by national and regional leaders at each other with considerable creativity and effective histrionics, the net result has been the dilution of the moral pungency of corruption in nations collective conscience. Unfortunately, no leader appeared to be convincingly impatient with the pervasive cloud of corruption. We witnessed no committed attack on the thousand-headed monster of corruption nor heard any meaningful and well thought out strategy to create a corruption-free India. 3. Governance: Every successive government has been high on promises and low on delivery. And the fault line of administrative inefficiency has been thwarting scheme after schemes for several decades. Yet the make-believe machinery of the governments covers the lifeless bodies of half accomplished schemes with the shiny apparel of flamboyant post-truth claims. Hardly any leader spoke in this election campaign about the inadequacy of governance. Poor governance continues to manifest itself all around in bureaucratic apathy and political indifference, reinforced by archaic rules and procedures and even more archaic mindset. If no party vows to change this where does an ordinary citizen look for administrative justice? 4. Affordable Healthcare: Insurance-linked healthcare seems to have been accepted as the only available model. It might have its set of positive aspects. Yet that is no reason for the state to withdraw from universal healthcare and affordable treatment to the economically and socially marginalised. In a country where literacy is still a mirage for a sizeable population, insurance-driven health care is nothing but a barren cloud. When the real need for treatment arises the cloud would have disappeared. In an increasingly commercialising health sector, the only real insurance is a vibrant public health infrastructure. 5. Education: Another area that the campaign overlooked is the abysmal record of our education. School enrolment has shown some signs of change but the quality and coverage still remain incomplete. It is a patchwork picture of small successes dominated by huge failures. Teacher absenteeism, poor quality of classroom transaction and the problem of drop-out continue to plague our school education. University education scene is no better. The gap between public institutions of higher education and privately funded universities and institutions has been widening as the marks on the surface of an enlarging balloon. This unequal system has already created a new hierarchy among the educated people. Evidently, these are not vote-catching issues. That itself betrays a poor idea of the electorate as conceived by the political class. It presumes that the voter too is not interested in such core issues but concerned only about short term issues and immediate gains. Therefore the rhetoric gets centered on issues which will have an immediate effect and electoral dividend. Deeper issues demanding serious structural changes are always postponed and later ignored as they have apparently no immediate nudging effect on the voter. Problems that cannot be addressed with simplistic solutions are thus ignored and a malady ignored can only worsen. So like the mythical bird, we the people wait. Wait for the next rains to quench the thirst. (The author is the former Chief Secretary to the Government of Kerala and former Vice Chancellor of Malayalam University. Email: k.jayakumar123@gmail.com) Sudanese protesters voiced regret Thursday at an army decision to suspend crucial talks on installing civilian rule but vowed to press on with a sit-in despite being targeted in fresh violence. Army generals and protest leaders had been expected to come to an agreement on Wednesday over the make-up of a new body to govern Sudan for three years. The issue is the thorniest to have come up in ongoing talks on reinstating civilian rule after the generals took over following the ouster of longtime autocratic president Omar al-Bashir last month. But in the early hours of Thursday, the chief of Sudan's ruling military council, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, announced the talks had been suspended for 72 hours as security in Khartoum had deteriorated. He demanded that protesters dismantle roadblocks in Khartoum, open bridges and railway lines connecting the capital and "stop provoking security forces". The Alliance for Freedom and Change, the group that is leading the protest movement and negotiating the transfer of power with the army rulers, called the move "regrettable". "It ignores the developments achieved in negotiations so far... and the fact that Wednesday's meeting was to finalise the agreement, which would have stopped the escalations such as roadblocks." The protest movement vowed to press on with the "sit-in outside the army headquarters and across the country". Several Roadblocks Removed Protesters said the army aimed to provoke demonstrators. "They want to provoke the people by delaying the negotiations ... but the negotiations will resume now that the roadblocks have been removed," said Moatassim Sayid, a protester at the sit-in. On Thursday morning, several roadblocks in downtown Khartoum had been taken down, an AFP correspondent reported, adding that troops from the paramilitary Rapid Support Force (RSF) were deployed in some areas. Roadblocks on key thoroughfares in the capital are being used by demonstrators to pressure the generals to transfer power to a civilian administration. The talks began on Monday and achieved significant breakthroughs, but have also been marred by violence that left five protesters and an army major dead and many wounded from gunshots. Protesters allege that members of RSF were behind the violence. But Burhan said there were "armed elements among demonstrators who were shooting at security forces." He defended the paramilitary group, saying "it had taken the side of the people" during the uprising that toppled Bashir on April 11. The British ambassador to Khartoum said Sudanese security forces had fired at protesters on Wednesday when eight were reported wounded near the sit-in, where thousands remain camped demanding the generals step down. "Extremely concerned by use of live ammunition by Sudanese security forces against protesters in Khartoum today, with reports of civilian casualties," Irfan Siddiq wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. "Military council must act to stop this now. No more excuses." US Blames Generals Washington blamed the military council for the bloodshed that left six dead on Monday. "The tragic attacks on protesters ... were clearly the result of the Transitional Military Council trying to impose its will on the protesters by attempting to remove roadblocks," the US embassy said in a statement. The protest movement said the generals wanted the demonstrators to restrict themselves to the sit-in area. Protesters are demanding a civilian-led transition, which the generals have steadfastly resisted since bowing to their demands and toppling Bashir. During the first two days of talks the two sides had agreed on an overall civilian structure, including a three-year transitional period for the full transfer of power to a civilian administration. They had also agreed that parliament be composed of 300 members for the transition, with around two-thirds from the alliance and the rest drawn from other political groups. The make-up of the new sovereign council has been the toughest part of the negotiations, with the two sides so far proposing different compositions of the body which is expected to take all key decisions concerning national issues. The generals want it to be military-led, while the protesters insist on a majority civilian body. General Yasser al-Atta, one of the members of the current ruling military council, had vowed earlier this week to reach a deal by Thursday that "meets the people's aspirations". The new council is expected to form a transitional civilian government, which would then prepare for the first post-Bashir election after the three-year changeover period ends. Search Keywords: Short link: Ashok Warrier By The World Trade Organization (WTO) as an institution has perhaps never come under as much of a siege as now. The Director General of the WTO, Roberto Azevedo admits that the WTO as an institution would need to evolve. Apart from the ongoing trade war like situation between the US and China, there have been trade skirmishes across the globe. US President Donald Trump recently referred to India as the tariff king that imposes tremendously high tariffs on American products like Harley Davidson motorcycles. Trump also signalled his intention to end the Preferential Trade Status (wherein certain countries are levied zero tariff on certain export products of theirs) given to India and Turkey. Interestingly this announcement is for not reciprocating by providing the US with reasonable and equitable market access. India has denied this and has stated that duties imposed are as per the WTO Agreements. The US has also been demanding that countries should no longer be allowed to self-declare their status of development. The US has been raising this demand in the context of countries such as China and India continuing to enjoy Special and Differential Treatment (SDT). The recent offer by President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil to give up on his countrys SDT status has been a shot in the arm for the US. Let us examine a few sticking points with regard to Indias position on a few issues which keep coming up for discussions at the WTO, as I analysed in a piece published by the German Foundation, Bertelsmann Stiftung. India has been pushing agricultural issues at the WTO. Public stock holding is very important for Indias food security. The sticking point here has been the way in which the Minimum Support Price (MSP) is fixed. According to the WTOs Agreement on Agriculture, the MSP would have to be calculated on the basis of price of foodgrains in 1986-88 and the total subsidy would have to be below 10 per cent of the total value of production. India has strongly disputed this formula because the current prices are much higher and the MSP given as subsidy would also be much higher. Countries like India and China have opposed the huge production related price distorting subsidies given by the developed countries. Regarding investment/trade facilitation, India has its own model investment code which does not allow multinational companies to take the government to international courts before it has sought recourse through the domestic dispute settlement bodies for a period of at least five years. One of the areas identified for further discussion at the 11th Ministerial Conference of the WTO held in Buenos Aires in 2017 was e-commerce. India has objected to freeing of e-commerce as it feels that the countrys digital penetration is not yet adequate. India also feels that MSMEs will not be able to compete with countries with deeper internet penetration. Also, the suggestion in a recent IMF/ World Bank Report of having plurilateral instead of multilateral trade talks has not found favour with countries such as India. India has further highlighted the increasing trade frictions and the dwindled size of the appellate tribunal. It may be mentioned that the WTO presently has only three judges, of which two again are scheduled to retire in December this year. India recently drew up a proposal aimed at reforming the dispute settlement mechanism, rule-making and transparency requirements. India has been pitching for a reformed WTO. India has maintained that it is committed to work alongside other countries to reform the organisation in order to ensure that it continues to be an engine for global trade. However New Delhi is against changing the consensus-driven character of the multilateral trade body. Changing the WTO will take time. As far as India is concerned, there is a requirement to take a well-considered position, based on Indias national interests (and not necessarily linking it to countries like China), on all trade related issues. India should revisit Agreements like plurilateral Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) or the Information Technology Agreement (ITA-2) and see how it can leverage its huge strength in the services sector. India is much better positioned today to streamline and fine-tune its global trade priorities. India needs to look not at boycotting talks regarding framing of rules for example relating to ecommerce but joining and opposing if and where required. With an unremarkable percentage of global trade (only 2.1 per cent), India would be better off with the WTOs one nation one vote system than not participating in talks at all. If the WTO as an institution and all the principles that it stands for is to survive, there is no scope for rigidity. Negotiations, even if cumbersome, painstaking and incremental are the only solution. A trading system with an institution like the WTO is surely better off than one without it! While the WTO may not have achieved much, its mere presence as a referee has been comforting. The focus should be to arrive at a broad consensus on as many issues as possible, even if they be modest in terms of ambitions, before the next WTO Ministerial Conference in June 2020. The government that will take over at the Centre this month/early next month should focus on tweaking Indias trade policies and practices in order to leverage the benefits of decisions and agreements arrived at in institutions like the WTO. Ashok Warrier, IFS (RETD) Former Ambassador of India to DRC Email: ashokwarrier27@gmail.com Sajjan Kumar By Five factors, namely, the preponderance of subaltern demography, remnants of feudal culture, the centrality of upper caste-dominated Congress rule, the persistence of Lohiaite resistance to the same, and the tectonic arrival of Mandal phenomenon changed the political script of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. By 1990s, the anchors of this political shift were two Yadavs Mulayam Singh and Lalu Prasad in the two populous and politically significant Hindi-states. Both were trained in the political culture of anti-Congressism; were the outcome of politically turbulent decades of 1970s; and emerged as the flagbearer of secularism by 1990s against BJPs Hindutva. Subsequently, by mid-1990s and thereafter, the logic of intra-subaltern conflict and competing assertions led to both falling out with significant sections of Dalit electorates and leaders, namely, with Jatav-Chamar Dalits under the leadership of Kanshiram and Mayawati in Uttar Pradesh and Dusadh Dalits under RamvilasPaswan. Further, their electoral decline was attributed to the process of Yadvisation, leading to non-Yadav OBCs shifting to other parties. By 2012 and 2015, both Yadav satraps passed the political baton to the heirs-apparent Akhilesh Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav the gen-next leaders expected to be adapted to the sensibilities of the millennial generation. THE BACKGROUND However, a closer look at the political trajectory of Akhilesh and Tejashwi would reveal that they are following different and oppositional approaches to make a defining niche for themselves. In the case of Akhilesh Yadav, he had a decadal stint in formal politics before becoming the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. Besides getting elected as MP by 2000 in a by-election for Kannauj Lok Sabha seat, which he represented till 2012, Akhilesh headed the youth wing of the Samajwadi Party and was credited with revitalizing the rank and file of the party. It was under his guidance that the party, which until 2009 had officially expressed its opposition to English and use of computers, promised laptops and computers for high-school pass-outs a scheme implemented subsequently. To put things in perspective, by 2012 when Akhilesh Yadav scripted a clear victory for Samajwadi Party, the main opponent was incumbent BSP. Therefore, on the expected pattern, he adopted the political rhetoric of appealing to every section of society without going for the relatively easier mobilizational plank of using the fault line of backward vs. forward caste narrative that symbolized the decade of 1990s. FOLLOW OUR FULL ELECTION COVERAGE HERE In fact, that option wasnt alluring for Akhilesh as a thick section of subalterns, particularly from OBC castes, were aligned with BJP. On the other hand, in the case of Tejashwi, the story is quite different. First, he is 16 years younger to Akhilesh. Second, he didnt have any experience in politics before being appointed deputy chief minister of Bihar at the age of 26 in November 2015. However, what departs Akhilesh and Tejashwi isnt the relative lack of experience of the later, but rather the differing demographic structure of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and corresponding political context when both occupied the prime political positions in their respective states. Unlike Akhilesh, who was facing Dalit strongwoman Mayawati wherein BJP was in the state of perpetual decline, Tejashwi heralded the political scene of Bihar in 2015, when BJP, under Modi, had swept the country and until 2013, was the ruling partner in the state since 2005. Besides, the demographic logic of the state wherein upper castes dont cross 15% mark, made it easier for RJD to go for the old mandalite mobilizational pattern of declaring the electoral contest as the battle between feudal upper castes and the aspirational subalterns. In fact, in the run-up to state assembly election on September 27, 2015, Lalu, while campaigning at Raghopur assembly constituency wherefrom Tejashwi was the candidate, declared the political battle as Mahabharat between backward and forward castes. The immediate context for the same was the controversy generated after the remarks of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on reservation. However, the message of the caste narrative wasnt lost on Tejashwi Yadav when RJD-JD(U) alliance scored a spectacular victory against BJP in 2015. PRESENT SCENARIO In this backdrop, a comparison of the stances and approaches of both the new-generation Yadav satraps acquires pertinence as the same would have a defining bearing on the political culture and by extension, the social dynamics of their respective states. On the parameter of political experimentation and creative plunge in the muddied electoral terrain, Akhilesh took everyone by surprise when he crafted the unbelievable alliance with arch-rival BSP. While the overboard, aggressive approach of Amit Shah-led BJP against the rival parties helped many arch rivals seek common ground across India, no one succeeded in translating the same into a reality as Akhilesh did. Who would have thought that in post-Guest house incident of June 1995, Mayavati could be brought on the same platform with Samajwadi Party! It was Akhilesh Yadav alone who walked the extra mile to accommodate the tough bargainer Mayawati by agreeing to become the junior partner. While there was much hullaballoo around the opposition unity, neither Congress nor Trinamool or CPM cared to translate the sentiment into a formidable political reality. In marked contrast to their position during the Mandal phase of the early 1990s, they welcomed the 10% reservation announced for economically weaker sections. While the policy posture of Tejashwi in Bihar has the elements that marks a blend of the sensibilities of the old socialist worldview and millennial aspiration, the political rhetoric, seems to be caught in the logic of 1990s Mandal politics. Opposing the 10% EWS reservation, Tejashwi has termed the polls as the contest of Dalits and backwards against upper castes. By Express News Service VIJAYAPURA (KARNATAKA): Reshma Padeknur, a woman leader of the Congress was found dead under mysterious circumstances on Friday. Her body was found under Kolhar bridge on the bank of Krishna River of Basavanabagewadi taluk in the wee hours on Friday. The police are yet to ascertain the cause of death. However, looking at the marks on her body, police suspect murder. Speaking to The New Indian Express, B. S. Nemegoud, Additional Superintendent of Police, confirmed the death of Congress leader Reshma Padeknur but refused to reveal any other details of the incident. "We are not at a stage of confirming whether it is a murder or suicide. We have beefed up the investigation and her relatives have been summoned," said the police officer. According to her relatives, she was last seen on Thursday with one of the leaders from Maharashtra who belonged to All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) party. A case has been registered in the Kolhar Police Station. Prior to joining the Congress, she served as the JD (S) district president of womens wing for over a decade. She also contested from Devarahipparagi assembly constituency on a JD (S) ticket in 2013 but lost the elections. After JD (S) leaders denied her a ticket in the last assembly polls, she had quit the party and joined the Congress. She had also alleged that she was sidelined by the JDS even after serving for years. Her death has left political leaders and her followers shocked. The political leaders condoled her death and demanded justice. By Express News Service THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: On Friday, it was Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan who opened the floor for trading at the London Stock Exchange (LSE). In a proud moment for the state, masala bonds of the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) have been listed on LSE. Pinarayi has become the first Chief Minister from the country to be invited for opening trade at the LSE. The ceremony was also attended by Finance Minister Thomas Isaac and KIIFB CEO K M Abraham. The government proposes to collect Rs 3,500 crore from the international market for rebuilding Kerala. The KIIFB floated masala bonds for Rs 2,150 crore to attract investments for Keralas infrastructure development. The KIIFB bonds will be listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange also. After opening the floor for trading, Pinarayi said non-availability of funds wont stand in the way of basic infrastructure development in the state. He also invited UK entrepreneurs to invest in Keralas tourism sector. The Chief Minister said the state is committed to ensuring better infrastructure to attract investments. Fund crunch would not be an issue for infrastructure facilities. The government has been making an intervention with a clear understanding of the states backwardness as an industrial-friendly state. The state has already created an effective policy framework to ensure ease of doing business. Necessary modifications have been made in the rules and administrative procedures. The government has taken a number of steps to create an investor-friendly environment, including a single-window system for online clearance to industries. Filing of tax returns has been made online, he said, adding all procedural formalities for industrial clearance have been made simple and transparent. Pinarayi, however, added the government will ensure that industrialisation wont have an adverse impact on the environment. Major IT companies have already set up offices in government-run IT parks. In addition, the government is able to invite investments in other sectors also. The government has been giving high priority to provide jobs to the educated youths. Improving basic infrastructure, creating high-value human resources and creating opportunities for better investments are some of the fundamental decisions of the government, he said. The Chief Minister pointed out through a substantial share of foreign tourists to Kerala is from Britain, the states tourism sector does not have enough investments from the UK. Steps should be taken to address this issue. Kerala is investor-friendly not only in words, but also in its deeds, Pinarayi said, extending an invite to entrepreneurs from the UK. Aravind Raj By Express News Service KARUR: Two men were arrested for throwing eggs and pelting stones at Kamal Haasan during a public meeting in Aravakurichi on Thursday. The MNM chief escaped unhurt. Kamal began the final leg of campaign in Aravakurichi assembly constituency on Thursday. After canvassing, he was attending a public meeting at Velayuthampalayam in Karur. Soon after he finished his speech, two men threw eggs and pelted stones while he was getting down from the stage. Luckily, it fell short. The MNM cadre immediately caught hold of the men and started beating them. The police present on the spot rescued the duo and took them under custody. FOLLOW OUR FULL ELECTION COVERAGE HERE Sources suspect that the men might be Hindu Munnani members, who were earlier denied permission from protesting against Kamal Hassan in Velayuthampalayam. Later, lyricist Snehan along with MNM members staged a protest demanding action against those who threw eggs at Kamal. After Karur SP Vikraman promised to take action, the withdrew the protest. One of the arrested was identified as Ramachandran of Thalavapalayam. Meanwhile, the MNM sought permission for campaign at six places in Sulur on Friday, but the police denied it, citing law & order issues. By Express News Service TIRUCHY: With real estate and housing sector facing various challenges in the country, the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI) Tamil Nadu has stressed the need for a single-window clearance system for real estate projects. The CREDAI, Tamil Nadu, investiture ceremony held here on Thursday was attended by hundreds of builders from across the State to witness the new office-bearers taking charge. Several major builders pointed out that the single-window clearance system will make the processing easier and time-bound. Many of them said it will also create an investor-friendly environment in the State. The lack of this single-window is a challenge for taking projects in especially in Tier II cities, said S Sridharan, who took over as chairman, CREDAI, Tamil Nadu. With metros like Chennai continuing to attract more investors, real estate developers said that the government should take the lead in making more investments in Tier II cities like Tiruchy. Cities like Tiruchy have great scope for investment. But, several investors are preferring to make the investments only in metros. This will affect the prospects of Tier II cities like Tiruchy, Coimbatore etc. Investment potential getting concentrated in a few cities is not healthy. Therefore, the government has to take the lead in making more investments in Tier II cities to attract investors, said V Gouthaman, president, CREDAI. Similarly, the lack of uniform stamp duty across the country was also highlighted as a drawback for the real estate sector in the country. The CREDAI investiture ceremony also honoured the martyrs of Pulwama attack and announced that it will construct houses for the families of the personnel. By Express News Service HYDERABAD: The Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS), the TRS governments prestigious project that is aimed at addressing the water needs of the State, will be inaugurated in July this year. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao revelaed this while speaking at a review meeting on Kaleshwaram power component at Pragathi Bhavan here on Thursday. The State government has decided to lift 2 tmc of water per day this year and 3 tmc from next year onwards. For lifting the 3 tmc per day, the estimated power requirement will be 6,100 MW. The power requirement to lift 2 tmc per day is 3,800 MW. In view of this, the chief minister has directed the officials to make all the arrangements to ensure uninterrupted power supply to KLIS. The water will be lifted from Godavari during in 180 flood days, between June and December. The governments plan is to lift 540 tmc to 600 tmc from Godavari through KLIS every year in order provide water to 45 lakh acres each in Kharif and Rabi seasons. Stating that the share of Telangana in the Godavari is 954 tmc, Rao said that 85 per cent industrial, drinking and irrigation needs may be met from the Godavari. The chief minister said that the cost of the power for the lift irrigation projects would be borne by the State government. He also directed the officials to explore the possibility of producing hydel power at lift irrigation projects. The CM directed the officials to complete the construction of pump houses at Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla barrages by June 10. He further said that 2 tmc of water per day could be lifted from the Godavari in June and November months and 3 tmc per day between July and October. One lift could be operated even in December and draw some water from the Godavari, Rao said. He asked the officials to make a scientific study on how much water could be drawn in each month and also the power required of it. Cost to be recovered The chief minister directed the officials to lift 2 tmc water from Godavari and divert it through Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla barrage to Yellampally. From Yellampally, the water would be lifted to Mid-Mannair. Using reverse pumping system, 1 tmc would be diverted to Sriram Sagar and another tmc to Mallanna Sagar. From next year onwards, 3 tmc per day would be diverted up to Yellampally and 2 tmc to Kondapochamma Sagar. With this water, the reservoirs and minor irrigation tanks would be filled up. Besides, 22 lakh acres of ayacut proposed under KLIS, the Kaleshwaram water would be used for SRSP, Guthpa-Alisagar and areas in Nirmal-Mudhole Assembly segments too. In addition to this, Husnabad too would get Kaleshwaram water through Gouravelly. In all, every year 45 lakh acres would get irrigation water in two crop seasons, a total of 90 lakh acres every year, he said. As per government estimation, the cost of KLIS project would be recovered in two years, taking into consideration the value of the crops cultivated in the areas under the project. Meanwhile, Rao also said that Devadula and Sitarama lift irrigation schemes require another 1,000 MW power. We are providing free power to farmers. Likewise, the government will provide special grant to power utility for supplying power to lift irrigation schemes, Rao said. To meet power requirements During the review meeting, TS Transco and Genco chairman Devulapally Prabhakar Rao said that they are ready to meet the power demand of 17,000 MW. So far, we have met the 11,000 MW maximum power demand. We are ready to meet even if the power demand goes up to 17,000 MW, Prabhakar Rao said. Stating that the current installed capacity of the State was 16,203 MW, he said that by the end of this year, 1,080 MW Bhadradri plant would start commercial production. In the next few months, the State would get 1,600 MW power from NTPC plant. The works on 4,000 MW Yadadri ultra-mega power plant are going at a brisk pace, Prabhakar Rao informed. Meanwhile, the chief minister congratulated the power officials for expediting the works for KLIS and completing them before the deadline. To visit Ramagundam The chief minister is scheduled to visit Ramagundam on May 18 and inspect the progress of the construction of 1,600 MW NTPC power plant and hold a review meeting with NTPC officials. On May 19, Rao will visit Kaleshwaram and inspect the progress of the KLIS works. By AFP NEW YORK: Boeing said Thursday that it completed its software update on the 737 MAX after two deadly crashes resulted in a global grounding of the aircraft. The proposed fix, which addresses a problem with a flight handling system thought to be a factor in both crashes, must now win approval from US and international regulators before the planes can return to service. US airlines have targeted August as the date they expect to resume flying on the 737 MAX. But Boeing's announcement -- which lifted shares of the embattled company -- comes only a week before the US Federal Aviation Administration is set to brief its international peers among civil aviation regulators on its process for allowing the planes to fly again. "This is an important milestone but it's only one step," said Scott Hamilton of aviation consultancy Leeham. "Getting this software package today, one week ahead of the FAA-hosted global regulator meeting doesn't leave a lot of time for the FAA to decide." Boeing said it has flown 737 MAX with updated software for the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, thought to be a factor in both crashes, for more than 360 hours on 207 flights. "With safety as our clear priority, we have completed all of the engineering test flights for the software update and are preparing for the final certification flight," said Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg said in a statement. "The accidents have only intensified our commitment to our values, including safety, quality and integrity, because we know lives depend on what we do." Boeing is providing additional information to the FAA in anticipation of a certification test flight, a key step in winning regulatory approval, the company said. In both the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes, the MCAS pointed the plane sharply downward based on a faulty sensor reading, hindering pilot control after takeoff, according to preliminary crash investigations. - Heavy scrutiny - There are powerful commercial drivers for the 737 MAX to resume service as soon as possible but Boeing's standing has been tarnished by unflattering details that have surfaced in media reports and could potentially extend the regulatory process. These include revelations that Boeing was aware of a problem with a signal connected to the MCAS for more than a year before it told the FAA and that Boeing executives rebuffed American Airlines pilots who sought a more aggressive response to the MCAS problems at a meeting shortly after the Lion Air crash. At a congressional hearing on Wednesday, Acting FAA Administrator Daniel Elwell criticized Boeing for not informing the agency more quickly of problems and said the FAA would permit the 737 MAX to resume flights "only when the FAA's analysis of the facts and technical data indicate that it is safe to do so." Both Boeing and airlines expect to do a lot of marketing to reassure the flying public. Nearly half of 1,700 fliers questioned in a recent survey said they would wait a year after the 737 MAX's return to fly the plane, according to Barclays. The FAA has called a May 23 meeting of international civil aviation regulators in Texas to discuss the FAA's process for clearing the 737 MAX to resume service. Elwell told the congressional panel that he hopes the gathering builds support for international bodies to approve the 737 MAX soon after the United States gives it the green light. Boeing's announcement boosted shares 2.4 per cent to $353.81. The halt to the 737 MAX has dented Boeing's revenues and clouded the company's earnings outlook. By PTI MELBOURNE: A Perth-based Indian restaurant has been fined a whopping 25,000 Australian dollars for multiple food regulation breaches. The Curry Club Indian Restaurant on South Street and its owner Nilish Dokhe were convicted after the restaurant fell short on a number of fronts when it came to cleanliness and not providing appropriate hand washing facilities. The restaurant was found breaching seven food acts, including failure to store food properly protecting it from the likelihood of contamination, failure to maintain food premises to a standard of cleanliness and failure to clean and sanitise food contact surfaces. Health inspectors during their visit to the restaurant last December found non-compliance in relation to sewage and water disposal, mouldy cutting boards and a lack of hot water and soap, The West Australian reported. A spokesman for the City of Fremantle said inspectors found a number of breaches, including an open spoon drain that had been cut across the floor and was 'covered in mould and slime'. A picture from the kitchen of the Curry Club Indian Restaurant in Perth during inspection. (Photo | SBS Punjabi Facebook) "Wastewater was also observed leaking directly onto the floor in the main kitchen from drainage pipes located under the sink," he said. "Waste water appeared to spill from the wash sink, drains and bucket trap and flow around into the cool room, posing a further risk of cross-contamination", the spokesman said, adding that 'a number of chopping boards used for food preparation were warped and mouldy.' A picture from the kitchen of the Curry Club Indian Restaurant in Perth during inspection. (Photo | SBS Punjabi Facebook) The spokesman said a chest freezer was observed to be 'rusty, mouldy and full of old food scraps', while the cool room door was 'covered in a build-up of dirt, mould and grease'. Drainage pipes under the sink were 'mouldy and slimy', while no hot water, hand soap or hand towels were available. There was also no chemical sanitiser used to clean food contact surfaces, the dishwasher was not working and several dirty and mouldy dishwashing racks were found. A manhole cover in the ceiling was missing, leaving a large opening directly into the ceiling space, the spokesman said. The breaches amounted to a fine of 25,000 dollars for the restaurant. The report quoted the restaurant owner Dokhe as saying that he was not on site during the inspection, however, ensured the kitchen was cleaned to the proper standard the next day. Other issues identified in an improvement notice issued by the city's health officers, such as cracked tiles, were fixed in the following weeks. By AFP DHAKA: Human Rights Watch on Friday slammed Bangladesh authorities after a series of new arrests this week under the country's notorious internet laws, raising worries over the freedom of expression in the South Asian nation. Prominent poet Henry Sawpon, lawyer and champion of indigenous people Imtiaz Mahmood and human rights defender Abdul Kaium were arrested in the past few days, prompting social media outrage and protests in the capital Dhaka and elsewhere. Sawpon and Mahmood were released on bail Thursday, but Kaium remained in detention and faces charges of extortion and defamation under the digital security law. These were first major arrests since the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, accused of increasing authoritarianism, took power in January for a fourth time after an election opposition parties and experts said were flawed and rigged. Hasina's government, which has been in power since 2009, has been criticised for enacting draconian internet and digital security laws that many fear were being used to crackdown on dissent. "Arresting activists, poets, and lawyers for exercising their right to free speech is straight out of the authoritarian playbook," said Brad Adams, Asia director of New York-based Human Rights Watch. "The Bangladesh government should stop locking up its critics and review the law to ensure it upholds international standards on the right to peaceful expression," he said in a statement. Sawpon, a Christian, was arrested on Wednesday after a Catholic priest filed a case against him, accusing him of hurting religious sentiments of the country's minority community. In a series of posts on Facebook, Sawpon has written about corruption among the clergy and alleged sexual assaults of young girls. Mahmood, a lawyer and an indigenous rights activists, has used his Facebook page to write about alleged crimes perpetrated against tribal people in the country's Chittagong hill districts. Kaium is associated with the prominent human rights organisation Odhikar, whose chiefs were charged with "publishing false images and information" and "disrupting the law and order situation of the country". Kaium also edits an online news portal in his hometown northern city of Mymensingh. All three could face multiple years in jail if found guilty. "This week's arrests show how small the space has become for civil society in Bangladesh," Adams said. "Sheikh Hasina's government should revise the abusive elements of these laws before the space for peaceful expression disappears entirely." Last August Bangladesh replaced its internet laws, which were used heavily to arrests scores of opposition activists and dissidents, with a more draconian digital security laws, despite protests by journalists and rights groups. Hasina, however, has backed the law, saying "if there is no criminal mind, there is no reason to worry". The authorities in Algeria have stepped up their arrest campaign against prominent politicians as the pro-democracy protests in the country rage on for a 12th week Tens of thousands of Algerians took to the streets for a 12th week of protests against the regime last week and on the first Friday of the fasting month of Ramadan, despite attempts by the authorities to appease them. The largely leaderless hirak (protest movement) that began on 22 February in Algeria has been rocking the capital Algiers for almost three months, maintaining pressure on the countrys powerful military to remove the ruling elite from power. This has resulted in the resignation of the countrys president for 20 years, Abdel-Aziz Bouteflika, early in April and the announcement of a transitional roadmap by the Army Chief of Staff Ahmed Gaid Saleh, which saw controversial head of the upper house of parliament Abdelkader Bensalah named as the countrys interim president for 90 days. Hoping for a swift transitional period, Bensalah set a date for new presidential elections on 4 July and called for a national dialogue, though this was boycotted by Algerias main political forces. Bensalah, who supported Bouteflikas bid for a fifth presidential term and has advanced his career as a regime loyalist, was rejected by the hirak, which viewed his appointment as a continuation of Bouteflika-era forces in power. They fear that no progress can be guaranteed to take place under his watch. Gaid Saleh, viewed as Algerias de facto ruler, has so far refused to heed the hiraks demands to remove the ruling elite and criticised calls to boycott the July elections and Bensalahs national dialogue. But he has vowed to fight corruption in Algeria and what he has described as schemes and plots to thwart efforts to bring about a peaceful transition in the country. An anti-corruption drive has resulted in arrests targeting at least five prominent businessmen with ties to Bouteflikas clique, including Issad Rebrab, the ninth-richest man in Africa. Former prime minister Ahmed Ouyehia, dismissed from office earlier this year, and current Finance Minister Mohamed Loukal were also summoned by an Algerian court for questioning over charges relating to the misuse of public money and illegal privilege. Last week, Bouteflikas brother Said, said to have hijacked the presidency after the president suffered a stroke in 2003 which rendered him incapable of speech and most movement, was placed in custody by a military judge on charges of harming the armys authority and plotting against state authority. Algerias former top intelligence officer Mohamed Mediene was also arrested on the same charges, together with another former intelligence official. Described by the US Brookings Institutionss Bruce Riedel as Algerias darkest figure, Mediene, also known as the Butcher of Algiers, presided over the powerful Algerian Department of Intelligence and Security (DRS) for a quarter of a century during the countrys bloody civil war that claimed the lives of more than 200,000 people after the military cancelled elections that the Algerian Islamists looked set to win in 1992. In the subsequent conflict, the DRS extended its sway over the countrys political parties, media and economy in the name of security. A thorough public investigation of his quarter-century in office would expose the ugly side of Algerias opaque police state, wrote Riedel on the Brookings Institutions blog on 13 May. Mediene was a shadowy figure who avoided media exposure or public appearances. He was sacked by Bouteflika in 2015, who also dissolved the DRS and replaced it with the Direction of Security Services under the presidencys control. After Bouteflikas resignation, Gaid Saleh reversed Bouteflikas decision by moving the DRS back under the Defence Ministry. Mediene was known as the leader of an army faction called Les Eradicateurs, which according to Riedel advocated a ruthless war against Political Islam and Islamist terrorists in the country leading to the decade-long civil war. Born on 14 May 1939, Mediene joined the armed forces of the Algerian independence movement late in the war against French colonialism in 1960. After the countrys independence, he entered the new Algerian army intelligence service and was sent to the former Soviet Union for training by the KGB. In 1990, he became the countrys spymaster just as Algeria descended into civil war after a military coup had disrupted elections dominated by the Islamists. For the next quarter century, he was the power behind the scenes in the murky world of Algerias notorious pouvoir, the cabal of generals and oligarchs who have run the country. The DRS was said to have over 100,000 informants and to run false flag terrorism (creating a fake terror threat to justify repression). It waged a largely successful war against Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Osama bin Ladens North African franchise, Riedel wrote. It is far from clear what is next for Mediene and Algeria. The optimal outcome is a peaceful transition to a democratically elected government and the rule of law in Africas largest country. In this case, the eradicator would be publicly held accountable for his actions. But that outcome is far from assured, he added. Powerful forces in Algeria and in the Arab world are determined to maintain the predominance of dark police states in the region. Mediene may be turned into a scapegoat for the crimes of many others. Whatever the outcome, it is a spectacular fall for Mediene. While largely welcomed in Algeria, the present arrest campaign has drawn mixed reactions, including scepticism about its political motivations. This was evident after the surprise arrest of Louisa Hanoun, secretary-general of the left-wing Workers Party last week. Hanoun was ordered to be held in custody on Thursday by a military court in Blida. According to a statement by her party, she is being questioned as a witness in the investigation of Said Bouteflika and Mediene, and her arrest was counter to the Algerian people and their revolutionary mobilisation. *A version of this article appears in print in the 16 May, 2019 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: Algeria steps up arrest campaign Search Keywords: Short link: By AFP TAIPEI: Taiwan's parliament legalised same-sex marriage on Friday in a landmark first for Asia as the government survived a last-minute attempt by conservatives to pass watered-down legislation. Lawmakers comfortably passed a bill allowing same-sex couples to form "exclusive permanent unions" and another clause that would let them apply for a "marriage registration" with government agencies. The vote -- which took place on the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia -- is a major victory for the island's LGBT community who have campaigned for years to have equal marriage rights and it places the island at the vanguard of Asia's burgeoning gay rights movement. In recent months conservatives had mobilised to rid the law of any reference to marriage, instead putting forward rival bills that offered something closer to limited same-sex unions. But those bills struggled to receive enough votes. Gay rights groups hailed the vote on Friday, saying the ability to apply for a "marriage registration" -- known as Clause Four -- put their community much closer to parity with heterosexual couples. "The passage of Clause Four ensures that two persons of the same-sex can register their marriage on May 24th and ensure that Taiwan becomes the first country in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage and to successfully open a new page in history," said the Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights. Court order Two years ago Taiwan's top court ruled that not allowing same-sex couples to marry violates the constitution with judges giving the government until May 24, 2019 to make the changes or see marriage equality enacted automatically. Other key sections of the law were still being debated and voted on Friday, including what, if any, provisions there will be for same-sex couples to adopt. Whatever the result, the law will not bring full parity with heterosexual couples as even the most progressive version only offers biological adoptions. Gay rights groups had previously indicated they were willing to accept compromises, as long as the new law recognised the concept of marriage, adding they could fight legal battles over surrogacy and adoption down the line. "In Taiwan a marriage will take effect when it's registered, so allowing marriage registration is no doubt recognising the marriage itself," Victoria Hsu, a gay rights lawyer, told AFP. Families divided In the last decade, Taiwan has been one of the most progressive societies in Asia when it comes to gay rights, staging the continent's biggest annual gay pride parade. But the island remains a staunchly conservative place, especially outside urban areas. Conservative and religious groups were buoyed by a series of referendum wins in November, in which voters comprehensively rejected defining marriage as anything other than a union between a man and a woman, illustrating the limited popular support. In a Facebook post President Tsai Ing-wen said she recognised the issue had divided "families, generations and even inside religious groups". "Today, we have a chance to make history and show the world that progressive values can take root in an East Asian society," she added in a tweet ahead of the vote. Tsai had previously spoken in favour of gay marriage but was later accused of dragging her feet after the court judgement, fearful of a voter backlash. Taiwan goes to the polls in January. Thousands of gay rights supporters gathered outside parliament for the vote, despite heavy downpours. "We are just a group of people who want to live well on this land and who love each other," gay activist Cindy Su told the crowd. But opponents were incensed by the vote, saying the inclusion of the "marriage registration" clause ignored the referendum. Tseng Hsien-ying, from the Coalition for the Happiness of Our Next Generation, told local media the vote "trampled on Taiwanese people's expectations that a marriage and a family is formed by a man and a woman, a husband and a wife". Australia and New Zealand are the only places in the wider Asia-Pacific region to have passed gay marriage laws. Taiwan is the first place in Asia to do so. Vietnam decriminalised gay marriage celebrations in 2015, but it stopped short of full legal recognition for same-sex unions. By Associated Press JEFFERSON CITY: Missouri's Republican-led House is expected to pass a sweeping bill to ban abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy on lawmakers' final day in session Friday, joining Alabama and several other states that have moved recently to severely restrict the procedure. If enacted, the ban would be among the most restrictive in the U.S. It would include exceptions for medical emergencies, but not for pregnancies caused by rape or incest. Doctors would face five to 15 years in prison for violating the eight-week cutoff. Women who receive abortions wouldn't be prosecuted. Republican Gov. Mike Parson is likely to sign the bill. "Until the day that we no longer have abortions in this country, I will never waiver in the fight for life," Parson said during a Wednesday rally with supporters of the legislation. ALSO READ: Alabama passes near-total abortion ban bill Planned Parenthood Action Fund President Leana Wen said in a statement that enacting the measure would be "disastrous." "Missouri Gov. Parson should be ashamed of riding the disgraceful coattails of 25 white men in Alabama who just voted to ban safe, legal abortion," Wen said. The Missouri legislation comes after Alabama's governor signed a bill Wednesday making performing an abortion a felony in nearly all cases. Supporters say the Alabama bill is meant to conflict with the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationally in hopes of sparking a court case that might prompt the current panel of more conservative justices to revisit abortion rights. Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio and Georgia also have approved bans on abortion once fetal cardiac activity can be detected, which can occur in about the sixth week of pregnancy. Some of those laws already have been challenged in court, and similar restrictions in North Dakota and Iowa previously were struck down by judges. ALSO READ: Hollywood's big players stay quiet on Georgia abortion law Missouri's bill also includes an outright ban on abortions except in cases of medical emergencies. But unlike Alabama's, it would kick in only if Roe v. Wade is overturned. If courts don't allow Missouri's proposed eight-week ban to take effect, the bill includes a ladder of less-restrictive time limits that would prohibit abortions at 14, 18 or 20 weeks or pregnancy. Republican House Speaker Elijah Haahr has said the goal is for the legislation to withstand court challenges. A total of 3,903 abortions occurred in Missouri in 2017, the last full year for which the state Department of Health and Senior Services has statistics online. Of those, 1,673 occurred at under nine weeks and 119 occurred at 20 weeks or later in a pregnancy. Missouri lawmakers have until 6 p.m. Friday to pass bills. Other pending measures include a $300 million bonding plan to pay for bridge repairs across the state. By AFP RATO DERO (Pakistan): Parents nervously watch as their children wait to be tested for HIV in a village in southern Pakistan, where hundreds of people have been allegedly infected by a doctor using a contaminated syringe. Dispatched to keep order, police scan the anxious crowd as families hustle into one of five different screening rooms set up in the last month in the village of Wasayo, on the outskirts of Larkana in Sindh province. Health officials say more than 400 people, many of them children, have tested HIV positive in recent weeks as experts warn of a surge in infection rates across Pakistan, due to the use of unsanitary equipment and rampant malpractice -- often at the hands of quack doctors. Anger and fear continue to swell in the desperately poor village hit hard by the epidemic, which authorities say could be linked to either gross negligence or malicious intent by a local pediatrician. "They are coming by the dozens," says a doctor at the makeshift clinic, beset by a lack of equipment and personnel to treat the surging number of patients. Mukhtar Pervez waits anxiously to have her daughter tested, worrying a recent fever may be linked to the outbreak. For others, their worst fears have already become a reality. Nisar Ahmed arrived at the clinic in a furious search for medicine after his one-year-old daughter tested positive three days earlier. "I curse [the doctor] who has caused all these children to be infected," he says angrily. Nearby Imam Zadi accompanies five of her children to be examined after her grandson tested positive. "The entire family is so upset," she tells AFP. A Pakistani doctor screens a child for HIV at a hospital in a village near Ratodero. (Photo | AP) Others worry their children's futures have been irreparably harmed after contracting HIV, especially in a country whose masses of rural poor have little understanding of the disease or access to treatment. "Who is she going to play with? And when she's grown up, who would want to marry her?" asks a tearful mother from a nearby village, who asked not to named, of her four-year-old daughter who just tested positive. 'Helpless' Pakistan was long considered a low prevalence country for HIV, but the disease is expanding at an alarming rate, particularly among intravenous drug users and sex workers. With about 20,000 new HIV infections reported in 2017 alone, Pakistan currently has the second fastest growing HIV rates across Asia, according to the UN. Pakistan's surging population also suffers the additional burden of having insufficient access to quality healthcare following decades of under-investment by the state, leaving impoverished, rural communities especially vulnerable to unqualified medical practitioners. "According to some government reports, around 600,000 quack doctors are operating across the country and around 270,000 are practicing in the province of Sindh," said UNAIDS in a statement. Provincial health officials have also noted that patients are at particular risk of contracting diseases or viruses at these clinics, where injections are often pushed as a primary treatment option. "For the sake of saving money, these quacks will inject multiple patients with a single syringe. This could be the main cause of the spread of HIV cases," said Sikandar Memon, provincial programme manager of the Sindh Aids Control Programme. The large number of unqualified doctors along with the "reuse of syringes, unsafe blood transfusions, and other unsafe medical practices" have all led to the spike in HIV cases in recent years, explains Bushra Jamil, an expert on infectious diseases at the Aga Khan University in Karachi. "Rampant medical malpractices without any effective checks and balances are causing repeated outbreaks in Pakistan," said Jamil. Doctor denies infecting patients Authorities investigating the outbreak in Sindh say the accused doctor has also tested positive for HIV. From a ramshackle jail cell in the nearby city of Ratodero, he denied the charges and accusations he knowingly injected his patients with the virus, while complaining of being incarcerated with common criminals. But for the parents of the newly diagnosed, the ongoing investigation means little if they are unable to secure access to better information and the necessary drugs that can help stave off the deadly AIDS virus. "We are helpless. I have other children and I am afraid they might catch the disease," says another mother whose daughter recently tested positive for HIV. "[Please] send some medicine for our children so that they can be cured. If not, all of our children will die, right?" By AFP NEW YORK: New York Mayor Bill de Blasio jumped into the crowded White House race Thursday, defying hostile media and dismal polling numbers to cast himself as the Democrats' best chance of unseating "con artist" Donald Trump in 2020. The 23rd prospective Democratic challenger to Trump, de Blasio kicked off with a frontal attack on the Republican president, dubbing him "Con Don" for claiming he is on the side of working Americans. "Donald Trump must be stopped," he declared in a video announcing his candidacy. "I know how to take him on." De Blasio doubled down at a press conference. "He's a con man, and we New Yorkers know a con man when we see one," he said, adding: "we're going to go right at him." The campaign "is about putting working people first," the mayor said, highlighting his record in America's most populous and diverse city. Trump responded to the announcement by tweeting a video apparently shot on Air Force One in which he said a De Blasio win would "never happen." "I wish him luck, but really it would be better off if you got back to New York City and did your job for the little time you have left." Trump, who is visiting his hometown New York for the first time in months, had earlier in the day skewered De Blasio as "the worst mayor in the US." "He is a JOKE, but if you like high taxes & crime, he's your man. NYC HATES HIM!" he wrote on Twitter. De Blasio had been exploring a possible run for months, travelling to early voting states Iowa and South Carolina, both of which he said he would return to in the near future. His campaign has so far been met with widespread derision, with polls giving former vice president Joe Biden a commanding lead among Democratic contenders, followed by liberal Senator Bernie Sanders. Democratic polling for de Blasio has been particularly humbling at home. An eye-popping 76 percent of New York City voters said de Blasio should not enter the 2020 race, according to a Quinnipiac University poll last month. Local papers have taunted him for a lack of charisma and Thursday's front page of the New York Post tabloid was particularly scathing: a photo montage of people laughing hysterically above the headline "De Blasio runs for president." Perpetual underdog De Blasio himself touts a string of accomplishments as mayor: he has introduced free universal pre-kindergarten and paid sick leave, and early this year he rolled out a plan to guarantee health care for all New Yorkers. "What I bring is absolute total focus on putting people first. I have done it here," said the 58-year-old, who was first elected in 2013 and was comfortably re-elected two years ago. Yet despite the truism that the job of New York mayor is the second toughest in America after that of president, de Blasio -- sometimes nicknamed "Big Bird" for his lanky, 6-foot, 5-inch (1.97-meter) frame -- is one of the few people openly confident of his presidential chances. Asked about the numbers during an ABC television interview early Thursday, de Blasio replied: "I think you'll agree that the poll that actually matters is the election." Several protesters gathered outside the studio during that interview, and New York's Police Benevolent Association released a scathing statement about de Blasio. "It is laughable that a mayor who has shown no interest in running New York City for six years now says he wants to mismanage the entire country," association president Patrick Lynch said. De Blasio succeeded billionaire Michael Bloomberg on the promise of reducing the city's glaring inequalities. Since Trump came to power, de Blasio has denounced the president's hardening of immigration policy and his decision to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord. "We must deal with global warming now," de Blasio told ABC's "Good Morning America," pledging support for the Green New Deal, a proposal offered by progressive Democrats that would dramatically shift the United States away from fossil fuels toward renewable energy. De Blasio is married to Chirlane McCray, an African-American woman who for decades identified as a lesbian. He remains popular in the black community, but Hispanics are divided and whites mostly view him unfavorably. Several current and former aides have spoken out in unusually harsh terms about his White House bid. But the mayor, who likes to cast himself as a perpetual underdog, appears to have brushed off the criticism, confiding recently that the only advice that matters is his wife's. By AFP VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Brazilian bishop Vilson Dias de Oliveira, the Vatican said Friday in a statement. The bishop is under investigation for alleged extortion of priests in his diocese, and the covering-up of sexual abuse cases, according to Brazilian media reports. Dias de Oliveira allegedly protected a priest accused of clerical abuse. The bishop confessed to police in April that he had swiped $4,000 (3,580 euros) from parish funds for personal use, telling them he did so because he was having financial difficulties, the reports said. The Vatican always announces when Francis has accepted the resignation of a bishop, but never explains why. "Dear brothers and sisters, in recent months we have had to bear all sorts of crosses through attacks against our Limeira church, against me and other presbyters," Dias de Oliveira said in a statement. "I acknowledge my limitations, but I also carry in my heart all the love I have received from the good people of God. "I ask to resign for the love of Christ and for the good of the diocese," he said in the letter published by the diocese of Limeira, a city in the Sao Paulo state in southern Brazil. The Catholic Church has been rocked by a global clerical paedophilia scandal, with victims coming forward in countries ranging from Australia to Chile, Germany and the United States. Pope Francis passed a landmark new measure this month to oblige those who know about sex abuse in the Church to report it to their superiors, in a move which could bring countless new cases to light. By ANI CARACS: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Thursday said that he ordered the strengthening of security at the United States' former embassy here despite US action against pro-government activists protecting the Venezuelan embassy in Washington. Tensions between the United States and the Maduro-led Venezuelan authorities are high since earlier this year when Washington recognised Venezuelan National Assembly President Juan Guaido as the official interim President of the South American nation. Maduro has accused the US of plotting a coup to oust him from power, labeling Guaido as a US "puppet". ASLO READ | US lifts sanctions for Venezuelan general who defied Maduro Following this, all US staff left the Caracas embassy, especially after Maduro severed diplomatic ties with the United States in the wake of the political crisis. "I have ordered to boost the legal police protection of the building of the former US embassy which belongs to the US government. We will protect it because Venezuela follows conventions and international law. Criminals are sitting in the White House," Sputnik quoted Maduro as saying. Embassy Protection Collective activists started living inside the Venezuelan embassy in Washington DC on April 10 in a bid to prevent the United States and the Guaido-led government from seizing the premises. US Secret Service agents forcibly entered the embassy on Monday, ordering all activists to leave the premises or face prosecution and imprisonment. The four activists who ignored the threats and continued to remain were detained by the law enforcement officials earlier on Thursday. By PTI NEW YORK: A Sikh youth was refused entry in a restaurant here for wearing a turban when he went there to meet friends after midnight, leaving him "hurt and embarrassed," according to a media report. Gurvinder Grewal, 23, went to Harbor Grill in Port Jefferson after midnight on Saturday but the security at the restaurant did not let him in with his religious headwear, citing new policy of the eatery. I felt shocked, embarrassed and hurt. I never encountered a situation where I was refused a service or entry into an establishment for wearing a turban, Grewal, a graduate from the Stony Brook University, said. He said that he explained to the manager that he wore the turban to practice his religion and want to spend time with friends for the night, the New York Post reported. ALSO READ: Sikh man gives discounts to Muslims to promote peace in Pakistan However, the manager at the Harbor Grill did not allow him inside, citing a new policy introduced at the bar that enforces a dress code after 10 pm on Friday and Saturday nights, restricting all head wear, the report said. [He was] wearing what would be more widely perceived as the slang term dew rag' or a stocking cap' and not a traditional turban, the restaurant wrote in a Facebook post after residents expressed outrage. We do not allow hats or head wear in order to more capably identify people inside the establishment, the restaurant said. Clarifying their stand, the restaurant said that Harbor Grill embraces people of all races and religions, and does not discriminate against anyone for their creed or colour. We sincerely apologize for any distress that this incident may have caused. Please know that our weekend dress code policy is in place for the safety of all of our patrons, the restaurant said. Anyone wearing any type of hat is welcome during normal restaurant hours, it said. Grewal said that Port Jefferson Mayor Margot Garant apologized to him for the incident and advised him on actions to take on the issue. He tried to obtain a police report today at a Suffolk County precinct but was told that it was a civil matter, not a criminal matter, the report said. The officer recommended I contact a civil attorney or the ACLU. I plan to reach out to them today or tomorrow, he said. Throughout my life, I've faced verbal abuse and bullying about my appearance, mostly throughout school. However, my basic freedom of entering public accommodations was never infringed upon, he said. By PTI WASHINGTON: A Silicon Valley-based IT company has filed a lawsuit against the US government for denying the most sought-after H-1B visa to a highly qualified Indian professional, terming the renunciation "arbitrary" and a "clear abuse of discretion". Xterra Solutions alleged in its lawsuit that the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) improperly denied H-1B visa to Praharsh Chandra Sai Venkata Anisetty, 28, whom it had hired as a Business System Analyst. The company's H-1B petition on behalf of Anisetty was denied on the sole ground that the job offered to him did not qualify as an H-1B speciality occupation, the lawsuit said. "The denial is not supported by substantial evidence in the record, is contrary to established legal precedent, and is arbitrary, capricious and constitutes a clear abuse of discretion," the company alleged and urged the Northern District of California US District Court to set aside the USCIS order. The H1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China. The most sought-after visa has an annual numerical limit cap of 65,000 visas each fiscal year as mandated by the US Congress. The first 20,000 petitions filed on behalf of beneficiaries with a US masters degree or higher are exempt from the cap. Anisetty holds a Bachelor's degree in Engineering (Electronics and Communication Engineering) as well as a Master's of Science degree in Information Technology and Management from the University of Texas at Dallas. He currently holds valid H-4 dependent status through his wife, the principal beneficiary of an H-1B application. From 2014 to 2016, Anisetty held valid F-1 non-immigrant status as a student enrolled in information technology and management master's program at Texas University. Later, he also participated in Curricular Practical Training, an employment-training programme with an established academic curriculum in the form of cooperative education programmes offered by sponsoring employers through agreements with F-1 students' universities. The company asserted that Anisetty's current position as a Business Systems Analyst meets one or more of the criteria for an H-1B speciality occupation. "USCIS's decision dated February 19, 2019 denying Xterra's H-1B petition, filed on behalf of Anisetty, was arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and not in accordance with the law," the lawsuit said. The USCIS gave no explanation as to why, despite Xterra's significant evidentiary submissions in its request for evidence, documenting that Anisetty's position as a Business Analyst met all four criteria for a specialty occupation, it denied Xterra's petition to change Anisetty's status to that of the principal beneficiary of an H-1B petition, it said. The company alleged that the USCIS acted arbitrarily and capriciously in finding that the current position offered to the Indian professional did not meet the criterion that "a baccalaureate or higher degree or its equivalent is normally the minimum requirement for entry into the particular position". By AFP GENEVA: The UN said Friday it has registered more than 250,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, providing many with their first ever identification cards and proof of their right to return to Myanmar in the future. The UN refugee agency also said the registration could serve as a tool for law enforcement to help counter human trafficking. "Over a quarter of a million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar have now been jointly registered and provided with identity cards by Bangladesh authorities and UNHCR," spokesman Andrej Mahecic told reporters in Geneva. Some 740,000 Rohingya refugees fled a military crackdown in August 2017 to cross into Bangladesh where 300,000 members of the persecuted Muslim minority were already in camps. ALSO READ: Bangladesh rescues 23 Rohingya girls from traffickers Many Rohingya refugees who fled said there had been mass rapes and slaughters in the villages, and in a report published last September, the fact-finding mission said there were reasonable grounds to believe the atrocities amounted to "genocide". UNHCR puts the number of Rohingya refugees currently crowded into settlements in Cox's Bazar at around 900,000, although the UN often gives a lower number than Bangladesh authorities and other aid organisations. They are stateless, despite the fact that many of their families have lived in Myanmar for generations, since members of the Muslim minority have had their citizenship eroded over decades. "The registration exercise, which began in June 2018, is about safeguarding the right of Rohingya refugees to be able to return home voluntarily to Myanmar in future," Mahecic said. Myanmar and Bangladesh have signed a memorandum of understanding about repatriating the Rohingya, but so far safety fears and concerns over citizenship mean the refugees have refused to return. ALSO READ: No progress made for Rohingyas to return to Myanmar, says UN aid chief The new ID cards, provided to all refugees over the age of 12, lists important information, including names, family links and fingerprints and Iris scans. Mahecic also said that the cards list Myanmar as the refugees' country of origin. In total, 270,348 refugees, or nearly 60,000 families, have been registered, and around 4,000 people are added to the roster each day, he said. UNHCR's goal is to complete the process of registering all the Rohingya in Cox's Bazar by November. Mahecic pointed out that comprehensive registration is important for improving the accuracy of data on refugees in Bangladesh, and provides authorities and humanitarians with a better understanding of the population and its needs. He also said that the registration "can also serve as a better tool vis-a-vis the authorities to prevent and combat smuggling and trafficking". His comment came after a rise in attempted human smuggling of Rohingya in the last few months, amid growing desperation in the camps. Earlier this week, Bangladeshi police shot dead two suspected Rohingya human traffickers, after rescuing 103 refugees in two days about to make the perilous sea voyage to Malaysia. By AFP COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's minority Muslims attended Friday prayers as heavily armed troops and police guarded all mosques, including those badly vandalised in riots in the wake of the Easter terror attacks. Police said security would remain tight over the weekend for a major Buddhist festival as well as the 10th anniversary of the ending of the country's decades-long Tamil separatist war. Clerics said some of the damaged mosques cleared out glass shards and other debris and conducted services with attendance at a high level. "We had about 450 to 500 people," M. I. M. Siddeeque, the trustee of the riot-hit Kinyama mosque in the worst affected North-Western Province told AFP by telephone. ALSO READ: Sri Lanka police arrest principal, teacher for links to extremist group blamed for Easter attack "There were six soldiers outside the mosques and many more police at the top of the road." Siddeeque said his mosque was cleared of the debris, but windows, furniture and the public address system were yet to be replaced. In the town of Minuwangoda, the faithful packed the first floor of the two-storeyed Hujjaj mosque to pray even though repairs were yet to begin. Local residents said Buddhists and Catholic priests were also present as a sign of solidarity with Muslims community. Police said there were no major incidents although sporadic clashes were reported from a handful of places. ALSO READ: Refugees in Sri Lanka fear for safety amid violence "Police are firmly in control and the situation is fast returning to normality," a senior police official told AFP. A nationwide night curfew was lifted Thursday. The riots came three weeks after suicide bomb attacks on three churches and three luxury hotels in Colombo, killing 258 people. The April 21 attacks were blamed on a local jihadi group. This weekend Sri Lanka celebrates Vesak which marks the birth, enlightenment and the passing of the Buddha over 2,500 years ago on Saturday and Sunday. The most important Buddhist celebration coincides this year with the country marking a decade since ending a 37-year-separatist by annihilating the entire leadership of Tamil Tiger guerrillas. The head of the Tamil Tigers, Velupillai Prabhakaran was killed 10 years ago Saturday while the government declared an end to the war a day later. President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe are due to attend several ceremonies in and around Colombo on Sunday to pay tribute to over 28,000 security personnel who died during the nearly four-decade-long war. The minority Tamil community too is expected on Saturday to pay tribute to their war dead, including Tiger rebels at low-key ceremonies in the northeastern district of Mullaittivu where the final battles were fought. Army chief Mahesh Senanayake said security forces will not obstruct any war remembrance by the Tamils. Under the previous regime, any war remembrance by Tamils was outlawed. As the negotiations over ending the crisis in Yemen continue in Amman, there have been doubts about the Houthi rebel movements withdrawal from the port of Hodeida The Yemeni scene is confusing and far from stable, with questions being asked about the announcement by the Houthi rebels of their withdrawal from the port of Hodeida and the Amman negotiations which kicked off on Monday. The Stockholm Agreement between the Houthi militias and the internationally recognised government of Yemen, signed in Stockholm on 13 December 2018, is not being fully observed, though the Houthis said they had started to withdraw from the strategic Red Sea ports of Hodeida, Saleef and Ras Issa on Saturday. The UN declared that the redeployment operation had started and that it had monitored the exit of military units from the ports as coastguard personnel took over security arrangements in the area. It said that the removal of mines and other military installations would follow. However, these withdrawals do not mean there is greater trust on the ground. The negotiations are being interpreted by each party as it pleases, and whether or not the Houthi move is a ploy or a genuine attempt at making peace the militia still shoulders the responsibility for prolonging the conflict in Yemen. The legitimate government had agreed to implement the conditions stated in the Stockholm Agreement, but the Houthis procrastinated when it was time to put it into action. Moreover, the Houthi relocation operation is closely connected to political developments in the Gulf. The escalation in the region has reached its peak with the tightening US sanctions on Iran, and the USS Arlington and a battery of Patriot missiles have joined the USS Abraham Lincoln strike group and bomber task force deployed earlier in the Middle East. Irans response has been to announce a delay of 60 days before it withdraws from the nuclear deal with the West. It has also threatened Israel with long-range missiles. Yemeni Minister of Information Muammar Al-Eryani wrote on Twitter that what the Houthi militia did is a theatrical play of handing over control of the ports to its own forces [in different uniforms]. This shows its continued manipulation and evasion of the agreement... by adopting a policy of deception. He published two photographs of someone he dubbed as Abu Ali Al-Kahlani, head of the Iranian Houthi militia in Hodeida, one in military uniform and another in civilian clothes in the port. British Ambassador to Yemen Michael Aron said on Twitter that the Yemeni cynics who criticise everything the other side does even if it is positive and who say the UN are naive seem to be saying the only solution is perpetual war in Yemen. I have more faith in the Yemenis and believe they can live together in peace and security. According to the Yemeni Barq website, the tweet caused considerable anger, with many Yemenis saying Aron had disregarded diplomatic protocol by seeking to impose his views. The Houthis delay in implementing the Stockholm Agreement has shaken trust in their intentions, including their reported withdrawal from the Red Sea ports. In an interview with the Saudi newspaper Al-Sharq Al-Awsat on Monday, Aron said that the unilateral withdrawal of the Iran-backed Houthi militias from the port of Hodeida will put an end to arms smuggling and cut off the financing of the war effort. After the pullout, the United Nations and Red Sea Ports Authority, affiliated to the legitimate government, will assume control of the ports. All the customs revenues will go to the Central Bank once the Port Authority reassumes control, and it will pay the salaries of employees in Hodeida and other provinces in Yemen. He said a meeting will be held with the UN in Amman this week to follow up on the issue. He wanted people to wait and see whether the operation was a success before jumping to conclusions. Aron later apologised for angering the Yemeni people with his tweet, saying that the UK was seeking the stability of Yemen and the prevalence of peace among its people. On Tuesday morning Aron said Houthi leaders were present among the coastguard force that took over the security management of the Red Sea ports from which the militia withdrew. The British ambassador to Yemen stated that the UK was engaged in talks with the legitimate governments representative in the Regional Redeployment Committee (RCC) Saghir bin Aziz about the governments fears regarding the Houthis unilateral pullout. Aron supports the Houthis withdrawal from Hodeida city, not only from the ports, he said. He told Al-Arabiya Al-Hadath channel that the UN mission, the World Food Programme and the Yemen truce monitor mission were docked at the ports observing the pullout operation. Aron stressed the UN will monitor smuggling operations Houthi militias conduct through the ports. After the first stage ends, a tripartite monitoring mission will be set up. The Stockholm Agreement contained details that were difficult to implement on the ground. Currently, the gaps are being bridged and Bin Aziz announced that the government was ready to implement the first phase, Aron said. The Houthis unilateral withdrawal was a decision taken by UN Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths, Aron said, adding that the most important condition stated in the Stockholm Agreement was the Houthis pullout from the Red Sea ports. The plan of the RCC head Michael Lollesgaard, the ambassador added, stated that local forces would take control of the city in the third phase and that the Stockholm Agreement didnt specify the nature of the forces. Aron said that the internationally recognised Yemen government had the right to object to the presence of Houthis among coastguard personnel. In a step meant to pressure the Houthis into pulling out of Hodeida, the Central Bank of Yemen (CBY), based in Aden, confiscated $100 million on Monday to end the Houthis control over the Cooperative Agricultural Credit (CAC) Bank in the capital Sanaa. CBY Governor Hafez Miead seized control of the state-owned CAC, which the militia has been exploiting for years and has used to fund the war against the legitimate government and the Saudi-led coalition. On Monday, the UN held a new round of talks between Yemens warring parties in Jordan. Breaking a half-year deadlock, the talks came two days after the Houthis announced the beginning of their withdrawal from Hodeida. Officials said the talks had focused on sharing revenues from the three Red Sea ports to help relieve the urgent humanitarian crisis, Reuters reported. Hodeida is a lifeline for Yemen through which aid and other goods enter the country. Yemens economy has plummeted as a result of the ongoing conflict. The humanitarian crisis has worsened, and millions of Yemenis are suffering from hunger and illness. The CBY has not been able to pay salaries to the countrys public-sector workers because of the depletion of the countrys foreign reserves and the corruption that has infested local organisations distributing aid. Some international groups have also been involved in corrupt practices, depriving people of the aid that has been sent to them. The on-and-off negotiations beg the question of whether the UN and others will now take serious action towards ending the Yemeni crisis, the worst in modern history. Meanwhile, the conflict in the country has led to famine and disease, which are slowly killing the Yemeni people. *A version of this article appears in print in the 16 May, 2019 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: Yemen negotiations continue Search Keywords: Short link: By PTI COLOMBO: Sri Lankan Police said Friday they have arrested a school principal and a teacher for their alleged links to the local Islamist extremist group National Thawheed Jamaath (NTJ) blamed by the government for the deadly Easter Sunday bombings which killed nearly 260 people. The 56-year-old principal and the 47-year-old teacher at a school in Ataweerawewa were arrested from Horowpathana city on Thursday, police said. The Special Task Force in Horowpathana made the arrests, they said. The suspects have been identified as Noor Mohamed Addu Ul and Ajibul Jabar, residents of Kapugollewa, Horowpathana, Colombo Page reported. The police have received information that they have had direct ties with the NTJ and the leader Mohamad Sahran Hashim, who carried out the suicide attack on Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo on April 21, it said. ALSO READ: Sri Lanka bombings: Tamil medium teacher, principal among 106 suspects held The suspects will be produced before the Kebithigollewa Magistrate court Friday, it added. Nine suicide bombers, including a woman, carried out a series of devastating blasts that tore through three churches and three luxury hotels, killing 258 people and injuring over 500 others on the Easter Sunday. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, but the government has blamed the NTJ for the bombings. ALSO READ: Sri Lanka arrested 20 bombing suspects over past 24 hours Widespread communal riots have followed the Easter blasts in Sri Lanka. Anti-Muslim riots have killed one person and caused extensive damage to homes, businesses and mosques in Sri Lanka this week. The Sri Lankan police have said over 70 people have been arrested for attacking the Muslims. By AFP BRUSSELS: European parliamentary groups are not fully-fledged parties, but loose federations of national movements, roughly organised by ideology. By tying themselves to a political grouping or family at the European level, MEPs and their national parties potentially receive substantial EU funding, plum jobs and can collectively negotiate laws, even though lawmakers often take direction from national capitals and not their hierarchy in parliament. Spending from EU coffers must be devoted to official European projects and functions, a rule that has often been overlooked with several cases of parties syphoning European cash to national campaigns. Here's an overview: European People's Party (EPP) Member parties include CDU/CSU (Germany), Les Republicains (France), Forza Italia (Italy), Partido Popular (Spain), Fidesz (Hungary). The EPP is led by CSU politician Manfred Weber. The 46-year-old engineer has been a member of the European Parliament since 2004 and parliamentary party leader of the European People's Party since 2014. With 216 out of 751 MPs, the EPP is was by far the strongest faction in the European Parliament, but looks certain to lose some feathers in the next election. Socialist Party of Europe (PSE) Member parties include: the SPD (Germany), SPO (Austria), Parti Socialiste (France), Partito Democratico (Italy), Partij van de Arbeid (Netherlands) Dutchman Frans Timmermans leads the Social Democrats' campaign. He is the first Vice-President of the European Commission and deputy to the EPP's Jean-Claude Juncker. The 57-year-old, who speaks six languages, was foreign minister of the Netherlands from 2012 to 2014. European Green Party (EGP) Member parties include: Bundnis 90/Die Grunen (Germany), Europe Ecologie (France), Die Grunen (Austria), Miljopartiet de grona (Sweden) The European Green Party is once again competing with two lead candidates. As in 2014, 37-year-old German Ska Keller is in the top duo. This time she is partnered with the 42-year-old environmental scientist Bas Eickhout from the Netherlands. Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Member parties include: FDP (Germany), Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten (Belgium), Democraten 66 (Netherlands) The Liberals have not agreed on a single candidate for the EU Commission leadership, but a "top team" of seven personalities. The most prominent member, alongside former Belgian prime minister and ALDE parliamentary group leader Guy Verhofstadt, is 51-year-old EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager from Denmark. FDP candidate Nicola Beer from Germany is in the "Team Europe". The group is expected to be buoyed after the vote by supporters of French President Emmanuel Macron, running in the Renaissance list. European Free Alliance (EFA) Member parties include: Schleswigsche Partei (Denmark), Bayernpartei (Germany), Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (Spain). The EFA sees itself as an association of regional parties in Europe. Its top candidate is the Catalan independence leader Oriol Junqueras, a 50-year-old who is imprisoned in Spain. He faces 25 years in prison in Catalonia for the 2017 independence referendum, which Madrid declared illegal. European Left Party Member parties: The Left (Germany), Communist Party (France), Syriza (Greece), United Left (Spain). In 2014, the European Left Party entered the race with today's Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. In 2019, the party elected joint leaders Violeta Tomic (56) from Slovenia and Nico Cue (62) from Belgium. Alliance of Conservatives and Reformers in Europe (ACRE) Member parties include: Law and Justice (PiS, Poland), Conservative Party (United Kingdom), Liberal-Conservative Reformer (Germany), Fratelli d'Italia (Italy) The top candidate of ACRE is the 56-year-old Czech Jan Zahradil, who is also chairman of the party. Most of the members of the Parliamentary Group of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) are represented in Akre. Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENL) Member parties include: FPO (Austria), Die blaue Partei (Germany), Lega (Italy), Rassemblement National (former Front National, France). The right-wing populist group officially rejects the concept of the top candidate. But this did not prevent the leader of the xenophobic Italian Lega party, Matteo Salvini, from claiming the post of Commission President if the right-wing populists became the strongest force in the European elections. Atman Trivedi By Bloomberg First China. Now India? In recent months, President Donald Trump has made clear that the trade war will reach beyond the Peoples Republic. Not only has he threatened Japan and Europe with import duties on cars, hes repeatedly blasted India as the tariff king. Trump has obsessed over the Asian giants high levies on Harley-Davidson motorcycles and complained about its modest $24.3 billion surplus in trade with the US In March, the president gave Congress notice that he plans to terminate duty-free privileges for $5.6 billion worth ofIndian exports to the US He could do so at any moment. And Trump may not stop there. His administration is toying with the idea of exercising the same legal authority used to levy unilateral tariffs against China to impose higher duties on India. Imagine the worlds largest democracy, which Washington has diligently sought to enlist as an ally against Beijing, being lumped together with Americas main strategic competitor. India represents the rare bright spot in US foreign policy. With much difficulty, a years-long, bipartisan effort has greatly deepened ties with the prickly emerging power. Once considered the ultimate swing state, India is now seen as the fulcrum of the White Houses Asia strategy. Trumps trade tactics appear to reflect a belief that the US can fight tooth-and-nail with friends such as Europe and Japan without jeopardizing broader strategic ties or undermining efforts to balance China. Even in the unlikely event hes right, given that those longtime allies count on the US security umbrella, thats hardly a winning play in India. The country hasnt entirely shed a post-colonial mindset; it fervently values its autonomy and its place as a non-aligned nation. Regardless of how powerful strategic ties have grown in recent years, India still has no interest in a formal alliance with the US. Successive US administrations have generally been willing to respect Indias choices. At the same time, theyve quietly labored to strengthen habits of cooperation. Through a series of actions - in particular a civilian nuclear agreement reached in 2005 - these administrations have effectively declared: Indias rise lies in Americas interests. If frictions were now limited to trade, those common interests might provide enough glue to maintain this positive momentum. Instead, the Trump administrations complaints have expanded to include demands that India cut oil imports from Iran to zero and abruptly end significant arms purchases from Russia, or else face sanctions. The president has even belittled Indias significant development contributions in Afghanistan. All this only reinforces the suspicions some Indians still hold about US reliability. Being a stakeholder in Indias future implicitly requires trading some short-term gains for more important long-term returns. The Trump administration should remember that an economically vibrant India will also be a much more capable strategic partner. A hasty step such as removing developing-nation trade benefits, on the other hand, could begin to undermine the core logic of the partnership. Whatever government emerges from Indian elections that conclude later this month may well decide it has little choice but to respond with retaliatory duties. This would run counter to Indias own interests, of course. A trade confrontation with the US would undermine its argument that global companies should choose its huge, young, tech-savvy market as an alternative to China. Foreign investment is crucial to helping India develop its economy and play a more robust regional role. Its also worth pointing out that Trump is not entirely wrong. India is in need of trade reform and could have taken useful steps after Washington launched an April 2018 investigation into its practices and before the onset of the current political season. Instead New Delhi made scant progress and even slid backwards. The new government should swiftly revisit illiberal trade policies that hamper Indias regional economic integration, exports, global competitiveness and labor productivity. A number of those policies are actually designed with China in mind. Like the US, India runs by far its largest trade deficit with its wealthier neighbor. If just afforded a chance, it might quietly lend a hand to US efforts to change Chinas trade approach. The Trump administration should give Indian leaders at least a couple months to get organized and draft some serious proposals, including on e-commerce restrictions. While the US dukes it out with China, India can hopefully get its act together and give Trump less incentive to launch another ill-advised trade assault. (The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the article belong solely to Hills & Company MD Atman Trivedi, and not necessarily to organization, committee or other group or individual.) Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Reporter Tim Mitchell is a reporter at The News-Gazette. His email is tmitchel@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@mitchell6). A deputy head of Irans elite Revolutionary Guards said even short-range Iranian missiles could reach U.S. warships in the Gulf, adding that the United States could not afford a new war, the semi-official news agency Fars reported on Friday. Iran-U.S. tensions have escalated, with increasing concern about a potential conflict as Washington has ratcheted up sanctions and political pressure on Tehran and built up the U.S. military presence in the region. Even our short-range missiles can easily reach (U.S.) warships in the Gulf, Mohammad Saleh Jokar, the Guards deputy for parliamentary affairs, was quoted by Fars as saying. Search Keywords: Short link: Reporter Mary Schenk is a reporter covering police, courts and breaking news at The News-Gazette. Her email is mschenk@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@schenk). Mayor Diane Wolfe Marlin touted the renovation as the biggest reinvestment of the property in over 35 years and the first step in the transformation of the 16 acre Lincoln Square site. Mrs Lam (first right) inspects the incubation services and co-working spaces provided for enterprises at Inno Valley in Jiangmen. Mrs Lam (front row, second left) tours Zhaoqing East Station to learn about Zhaoqings transport infrastructure and its advantages. Chief Executive Carrie Lam continued a visit to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area cities today. She first visited Xinghu Wetland Park in Zhaoqing to learn about its water quality management, wetland ecosystem restoration and heritage conservation. Mrs Lam then headed to Zhaoqing New District to find out more about its planning and related development proposals, as well as its underground tube system. During a tour of the Hong Kong-Macao Youth Innovation & Entrepreneurship Base at Tus-City, the Chief Executive learned of the services provided for startups including internships, exchanges, employment, setting up of businesses and daily living. Mrs Lams next stop was the Zhaoqing East Station transportation hub to view the transport interchange connecting the Zhaoqing East high-speed rail station and the Dinghudong intercity railway station, as well as Station Square to learn about Zhaoqings transport infrastructure and its advantages. The Chief Executive travelled to Jiangmen in the afternoon where she visited Inno Valley, an incubator for scientific technology enterprises from Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, and received a briefing on the incubation services and co-working spaces for the enterprises. About 100 enterprises have been set up in Inno Valley, of which more than half are from Hong Kong. The valley also collaborates with higher education institutions in Hong Kong on the transformation of scientific and technological achievements. Mrs Lam then visited the Jiangmen Wuyi Museum of Overseas Chinese to discover more about the culture and history of overseas Chinese and their contributions to the homeland after having established businesses abroad. Anwar Gargash, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) minister for foreign affairs, spoke with Becky Anderson on her show Connect The World on CNN about Iran and Yemen on Friday. Below is a transcript of the interview. Becky Anderson: There are those that worry that the UAE's intervention in Yemen provides, to a certain extent, an excuse for Iran exacerbating the threat from Iran, rather than reducing it, your response? Anwar Gargash: Four years ago, it was the Houthi coup against the government of Yemen that lead to the Arab intervention in Yemen which we are part of. I think right now, we have a very hopeful sign in Yemen, imperfect, I have to admit, difficult, I have to admit. But again, we have a sign with the Stockholm Agreement, we have, for example, now the pull-out on Hodeidah. But here the onus is on the UN to ensure that this pull-out is genuine, that there will be no snap-back by the Houthis. I think it is in our common interest to move from a military phase of the confrontation, to a political phase. Now, it doesn't help when the Houthis will, right after agreeing to deal with the UN after four months of procrastinating to try and target civilian installations inside the region. So clearly, there is very little trust in what the Houthi has done. How can you, on one day attempt peace your way, and only four days later augment options of war. On Iran AG: We are currently investigating, we have- we are collaborating with France, and the United States, and other friends are also offering their help. So, in a few days we should know what took place, what transpired. Clearly this is a very, very serious incident because it affects maritime commerce, and it comes also at a very very, what I would call a very sensitive and difficult period in the region. So clearly, we all have an interest at this time in deescalating and dealing with things in a mature, rational way. BA: Youre talking about deescalating the rhetoric with Iran, at present AG: Definitely I think this whole situation is difficult. We are where we are largely because of Iran behaviour. This is a behaviour that is not new to the region. This is a behaviour that has been basically compiling and clearly right now that American sanctions on Iran are biting. BA: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said that he fundamentally doesnt want a war with Iran but if provoked or if US interests in the Middle East are attacked, they would respond. Are you tonight urging Washington to act with a degree of caution and restraint? We are seeing an escalation are you concerned? AG: I think the onus is on Iran. The onus is on Iran. Iran is the government that is responsible for where we are today. Iranian behaviour over the last decade or two has led us to where we are today. Theres very little trust in the region. I dont think the onus right now is mainly on Washington. I think its on Iran BA: You talked a lot about what the Iranians should do. I wonder though what your position is so far as what Washington should do next. Certainly, the US and the Europeans at present are disunited. Does that worry you at present, and once again, I wonder if this urging of caution should not be to Washington. AG: I think that the important thing is for the west to be more and more united and I think it concerns us when we see that the west is speaking with different approaches. I think all these countries that you have mentioned agree that there is a problem with Irans behaviour. I think the disagreement is over the approach. I think there is agreement across the board that Iran has been a disruptive force. URL https://twitter.com/CNNConnect/status/1129011942818045958 Search Keywords: Short link: A group of shady organisations from Zimbabwe with links to the opposition MDC-Alliance has in recent months been hard at work laying groundwork for civil unrest set to be unleashed next month, according to the Herald. Foreign organisations are coordinating workshops and training in Zimbabwe, the region and overseas to effect regime change in the country. Also in the mix are individuals that security services in Zimbabwe have been watching. According to information at hand, the organisations are seeking to unleash a massive wave of violent demonstrations beginning next month, with ring leaders of civil unrest having received training in the Czech Republic and the Maldives Further, the Herald has been told that after the trainings, the groups came and gave briefings to MDC-Alliance president, Mr Nelson Chamisa. There is a group undergoing training in the Maldives, which started on Tuesday and ends on Sunday and is being conducted by Centre for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies (CANVAS), a Serbian organisation which trained MDC activists involved in the coordination of the January 14 to 16 violent protests. Eight local activists, including a multimedia journalist from NewsDay, are attending the programme and will be instrumental in training and instigating mayhem to be rolled out in June. The eight are drawn from various civic organisations which include Womens Academy for Leadership and Political Excellency, Centre for Community Development, Trust Africa, Rozaria Memorial Trust and Community Tolerance and Reconciliation Trust. CANVAS was founded in 2003 by Serbian nationals Srdja Popovic and Ivan Morovic and has been involved in the training of anti-government activists in Azerbajan, Belarus, Georgia, Iran, Lebanon, Tibet, Ukraine and Venezuela. MDC activists who attended the training in the Czech Republic were sponsored by Trust Africa (Zimbabwe) which is headed by Mr Briggs Bomba, who also heads Zimbabwe Alliance, a donor collaborative sponsoring regime change efforts in the country. According to documents leaked from Mr Chamisas office, the MDC and Trust Africa seconded six members to the workshop, which was held in Prague, from May 6 to 10. The purpose of the workshop was to share transitional experiences of countries such as Argentina, Georgia, Poland, Russia and the Czech Republic, among others. The workshop was funded by National Endowment for democracy (NED), an American private and non-profit organisation which focuses on strengthening democratic institutions. Although Mr Bomba did not return calls as promised by his office, a source at Morgan Tsvangirai House the MDC headquarters confirmed details of the workshop held at CEVRO Institute, a private university in Prague, owned by a civic organisation with the same name. According to the CEVRO website, the organisation was established in 1999 in Prague, as a non-profit organisation seeking to support democratic development home and abroad. The workshop was held at CEVRO Institute, Jungmannova 17, 111000 Prague 1, Room Number 218. The workshop topics focused on dismantling of the State Security apparatus and the investigation and prosecution of the crimes of the regime, among others. Case studies on the transition experiences were drawn from Georgia, Estonia, Argentina, Poland and Czech Republic. The activists also toured the Chamber of Deputies and Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. The workshop follows efforts to push for the formation of a transitional authority in Zimbabwe in the aftermath of the 2018 harmonised elections, the source said. The workshop was also attended by activists from Vietnam, Armenia, Azerbaijah, Bolivia, Burma, Burundi, North Korea, Uganda and Venezuela. According to the training programme, topics were based on the Georgian, Estonian, German, Polish, Russian and Czech experiences and centred on the dismantling of state security apparatus, prosecution of regime crimes and transformation of political system. Presenters included CEVRO director Jiri Kozak; Anton Vacharadze, direction head at the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information; Gabriela Ippolito-ODonnell, director of the School of Politics at the University of El Salvador; and Franciszek Dbrowski, a lecturer at the Academy of Warfare in Warsaw. The workshop focused on how to unseat authoritarian regimes using peaceful means. Modus operandi for the unseating would include massive demonstrations, sit-ins, student protests, civil disobedience and online activism. What we want to do is to pressurise the regime into concessions with protestors. The most powerful tool to be used is grassroots mobilisation and use of the internet for sharing information. This is exactly what we did during the January protests, we used the internet, the MDC source said. We have been told that the security sectors top hierarchy is disgruntled with the current regime and is willing to work with Nelson Chamisa but are fearful of their future in the aftermath of regime change. We have suggested that Chamisa should approach the security sectors top hierarchy and assure them of no reprisals if the MDC wins. The MDC has previously denied instigating and coordinating public violence, especially on August 1, 2018 and January 14 to 16 this year. The August 1 post-election violence left six people dead and property worth millions of dollars was destroyed in Harare. Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) secretary Nora Tsitsi Tsomondo has been acquitted on charges of concealing a transaction from her principals in a botched $1 billion Hwange tender. In her ruling, Harare regional magistrate Ms Lucy Mugwari said there was no evidence linking Tsomondo to the offence. Through the evidence of all the witnesses, there was no evidence to prove the accused acted in a corrupt manner, she said. She also said that the State had failed to prove a prima facie case and the two men who were her principals had indicated that they were not deceived. Allegations were that between 2011 and 2018, ZPC undertook an engineering procurement and construction contract for the expansion of Hwange 7 and 8 power stations. The tender was awarded to Chinese company SinoHydro Corporation at a contract price of $1,1 billion. It is alleged that in order to access funds, the Government represented by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development entered into a preferential buyer credit loan agreement with China-Exim Bank. The agreement was novated to Hwange Electricity Supply Authority (HESCO) through an on-lending agreement. This prompted the need for notarial security cession agreement for the project which was in favour of China-Exim Bank in the sum of $4 501 166. The State alleges on May 14, 2014, Tsomondo was requested by financial director Hubert Chiwara to register the notarial security cession agreement with the Registrar of Companies. Tsomondo advised Chiwara that the cost of registration would not exceed $100 000. It is the States case that on the same day, Tsomondo wrote to Sheilla Mugugu Law Chambers requesting a quotation for legal fees for drafting, preparation for filling, lodging with the Registrar of Companies and the notarial deed of the security cession. Mugugu allegedly charged 2 percent of the $1,1 billion contract which was $5 001 166. Tsomondo allegedly negotiated for a reduction which resulted in Mugugu invoicing $4 501 166. It is alleged on May 17 this year, Tsomondo went on to engage Mugugu for the registration without advising her principals that $100 000 was changed to $4 501 166. There is no foreign currency but she manages through her foundation to gather equipment for us from America, Europe and Japan. What more do you want? She is there for us as a mother who is looking after the whole family and making sure that the health of Zimbabweans is well looked after and in a much better position. There is no need to condemn the First Lady for her good works, Dr Moyo said. ZESA Holdings has lined up a number of stop-gap-measures, which include mobilising US$80 million to clear arrears with Eskom of South Africa and Hidroelectrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB), in bid to alleviate rolling power outages being experienced in the country. Payment of the US$80 million arrears would unlock more power imports, which have slumped significantly from 450MW to a measly 150MW due to arrears. Zimbabwe is battling electricity shortages following a sharp decline in water levels in Kariba Dam due to erratic rains in the 2018-19 rainfall season, and generation constraints at Hwange Power Station because of ageing equipment. This has resulted in massive load shedding, which lasts up to 10 hours especially for residential customers. Zesa spokesperson, Mr Fullard Gwasira said in e-mailed responses that they acknowledge the increase in power outages and believe power imports and using electricity sparingly would be a panacea in the interim. (We are introducing) demand side management (DSM) initiatives where customers are urged and encouraged to use electricity sparingly in order to release additional capacity to other needy areas and; mobilisation of resources to clear the US$80 arrears that Zesa owes to regional suppliers (Eskom of South Africa and HCB of Mozambique) in order to unlock capacity for increased imports, said Mr Gwasira. Zesa currently imports 50MW from Eskom and up to 100MW from HCB but can access up to 450MW from the two regional power utilities if it extinguishes its arrears. Said Mr Gwasira: As a result of an outstanding payment, the two countries Mozambique and South Africa have reduced exports from their respective utilities to 50MW and 100MW until their arrears have been cleared. Zesa struggles to pay for power imports due to foreign currency shortages. Mr Gwasira expects load shedding to continue until enough resources have been availed to fill the gap with imports of about 500MW from the region. Sister utilities expect us to provide a workable payment plan and pay for current consumption in full. A good rainfall season also will come in handy as it will restore the live level of the dam, he said. In the long-term, Zesa expects the completion of the Hwange Expansion Project in 2022 and the re-powering of Bulawayo and Harare power stations to bring significant relief to the electricity supply situation. On completion, Hwange Thermal Power Station would add 600MW to the grid while the re-powering project at Bulawayo and Harare power stations would add 90MW and 120MW respectively. There are concerns Zimbabwe could be stuck in power challenges until it revises the tariff, which is seen as key in attracting fresh investments and allow for repairs on infrastructure. Zesa has not obtained a tariff increase since 2011 and currently sells electricity at an average price of $9,86c per kilowatt hour (kWh), which used to be US9,86c/kWh before the Monetary Policy Statement of February 20. Mr Gwasira concurred. It is true that we have a sub-economic tariff which needs an urgent review. The cost of thermal power generation has increased significantly, along with the cost of diesel, which are key components in the generation mix. This is exacerbated by the fact that most of our consumables such as power imports, cables, oils, diesel, water at Kariba, transformers and transformer oils, and spares, are all paid for in United States dollars, he said. The introduction of a local currency, RTGS$, means consumers are now paying almost three times less than the previous value. Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) president Mr Sifelani Jabangwe told our Harare Bureau by phone that: I think the tariff probably now needs to reviewed because even if you look at it against the interbank rate, the tariff has now come down from the average tariff of US$0,0986 to just over US$0,03. We have always said we want it to be around US$0,05 or US$0,06 but it is now way below that. Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) president Dr Divine Ndhlukula also said certainly, power is now cheaper, adding there is need to review the power tariff. Fairbanks, AK (99707) Today Cloudy with rain and snow. Low 27F. Winds WSW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of precip 100%.. Tonight Cloudy with rain and snow. Low 27F. Winds WSW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of precip 100%. President Jim Johnsen speaks as the UA Board of Regents meets in the Butrovich Building and via video conference to consider Johnsen's recommendation to discontinue initial licensure teacher education programs at UAA and discuss the university's FY20 budget Monday afternoon, April 8, 2019. The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574. Community Perspective Send Community Perspective submissions by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Submissions must be 500 to 750 words. Columns are welcome on a wide range of issues and should be well-written and well-researched with attribution of sources. Include a full name, email address, daytime telephone number and headshot photograph suitable for publication (email jpg or tiff files at 150 dpi.) You may also schedule a photo to be taken at the News-Miner office. The News-Miner reserves the right to edit submissions or to reject those of poor quality or taste without consulting the writer. Letters to the editor Send letters to the editor by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707), by fax (907-452-7917) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Writers are limited to one letter every two weeks (14 days.) All letters must contain no more than 350 words and include a full name (no abbreviation), daytime and evening phone numbers and physical address. (If no phone, then provide a mailing address or email address.) The Daily News-Miner reserves the right to edit or reject letters without consulting the writer. Despite its resounding defeat in Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State, as well as its offshoots and competitors, is far from a spent force as it eyes Africa The vast Sahel-Sahara region, which spans Mali, Niger, Algeria, Libya, Chad, Burkina Faso and Mauritania, has become home to such terrorist organisations as the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJWA), Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the Islamic State group (or Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, ISGS) and the Macina Liberation Front (MLF). These groups have close and extensive relations inside Libya which have enabled them to obtain material and financial support across Libyas southern borders, an area that has become one of their preying grounds for abducting migrants, human trafficking and arms smuggling. Since the fall of the Gaddafi regime, the rate of terrorist attacks launched from the Sahara has soared as a result of the tons of military equipment coming from Libya. The spiralling terrorist activities have had a destabilising effect on neighbouring countries. In 2013, an international force led by France was forced to intervene to rescue Mali from partition and to eliminate the terrorist threat to the Sub-Saharan state. The Great Sahara covers more than nine million km2 and stretches across many countries that lack the wherewithal to control this sparsely populated rugged area. As a result, networks of gangs of drug smugglers, outlaws, rebels and terrorists prevail presenting a peril that threatens the countries in the region to varying degrees, though the most vulnerable areas are northern Mali, western Niger, northern Mauritania, parts of Burkina Faso and parts of Algeria. The last Munich Security Report, released in February 2019, noted that a surge in the violence linked to extremist groups in the Sahel reflected these groups growing networking capacities. It found that three-fourths of the conflicts with government forces in 2018 had been instigated by these groups and, citing data from the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies, that during 2018 the number of people killed due to the activities of extremist militias had doubled since 2017, reaching 1,082 deaths. Observers believe that now that the US and its allies are rounding up their military operations against the Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq, their attention is turning to Africa as a new focus in the war against terrorism. Given the widespread poverty, ignorance and social injustice, the lack of horizons for youth, the lack of democracy and rampant corruption in most African states, Africa is becoming an environment conducive to the growth and spread of extremism and terrorism. The observers cited a report by the US-based Strafor intelligence think tank warning of the looming danger to Africa signalled by a noticeable increase in the numbers of foreign fighters entering the continent in order to join militant groups working to establish Islamist statelets. A study by the Future Centre for Advanced Research and Studies examined ISs aims in shifting its focus to Africa following the recently released video in which Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi announced a new group he called the Central Africa Province and the pledge of allegiance from another group that operates in Burkina Faso and Mali. Al-Baghdadi, in the video, suggested that such groups will play major role in ISs operations in the coming period. According to the study, the group is establishing new franchises in Africa in order to compensate for its losses in Syria and Iraq and to stake out new areas that its operatives can use as staging posts to carry out attacks, taking advantage of the difficult and far flung terrain in the Sahel. From its new locations in Africa, IS will certainly try to avenge itself against the international forces that took part in the military campaigns against it, especially France which contributed to the creation of a regional anti-terrorist coalition in West Africa and offered considerable support in the fight against terrorist groups there. But in the process, it will also try to rival Al-Qaeda and its franchises in the region, expanding the scope of operations of the groups that pledged allegiance to Al-Baghdadi in order to rebuild ISs power and prestige. A report by the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies (ACSS) on the global war against terrorism in Africa identifies four major theatres in this war: Somalia, the Lake Chad Basin, the Sahel (Central Mali and border areas) and Egypt. It observed that the number of extremist groups that are active in these theatres had grown significantly in 2018 and that 13 African countries continued to face regular attacks by such groups. As for IS activities, the study reported that incidents linked to the Islamic State West Africa (ISWA), which splintered off Boko Haram, more than tripled in 2018 (83 events versus 27 in 2017) and that fatalities linked to ISWA increased by almost 58 per cent. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and its affiliates in the Sahel registered the largest escalation in terrorist attacks last year, according to the ACSS report: violent events related to them increased from 144 in 2017 to 322 in 2018 and the fatalities from such incidences rose from 366 in 2017 to 611 in 2018. AQIM and its affiliates rapidly expanded the area of their operations during the same period and it now stretches from north and central Mali to parts of Burkina Faso and Niger. Counterterrorist efforts led by the UN and the French army in the Sahel-Sahara region have suffered a major setback due to the escalation in militant attacks linked with Al-Qaeda and IS. In addition to killing hundreds of civilians, the violence jeopardises the educational future of children. UNICEF reported that in the central Mopti region in Mali, nearly a third of all schools have been closed due to insecurity, compromising the right to education of over 157,000 children out of a total of 260,000 children affected by school closures in Mali and that by the end of March 2019 some 525 schools were closed in Mopti out of 866 schools closed in the country. As national armies in the region, special forces from Western nations and a 15,000-member UN mission fight an uphill battle to control the situation, violence and unrest continues to wreak destabilising effects. More worrisome yet is that many of the 1,000 North African extremists who had gone off to fight with IS in Syria have returned to their countries and are bent on targeting the countries in the region and European and US interests at a time when the governments of the Sahel-Sahara are still unable to control their borders and curb the ability of militant groups that move back and forth across them. In mid-April this year, Boko Haram carried out an attack in Chad killing seven Chadian soldiers and wounding 15 others. This came shortly on the heels of another attack in which 23 soldiers were killed. Described as the deadliest attack against the Chadian army, it was carried out by the splinter faction of Boko Haram affiliated with IS whose operatives managed to flee, carrying military equipment with them. In February, Amnesty International reported that Boko Haram militants killed at least 60 people in an assault on the northeast Nigerian town of Rann, in one of the deadliest attacks by the terrorist group in a decade. The assailants also drove out the Nigerian forces stationed there, demonstrating their ability to seize military positions. More 27,000 people have been killed and more than two million people have been driven from their homes since the Boko Haram jihadist insurgency began in 2009. It is noteworthy that Boko Haram terrorists have gone on record as using drones to spy on the Nigerian armys troop movements before that Nigerian army, itself, thought to use them. As of 2019, the Boko Haram splinter group, Ansaru, under the command of Abu Musab Al-Barnawi, emerged as more dangerous than the mother faction led by Abubakar Shekau. Ansaru now controls a vast area equivalent to the size of Belgium and it has claimed responsibility for many of the deadliest attacks in north and northeast Nigeria, including attacks against three military posts and the abovementioned attack against Rann which displaced 40,000 of whom 30,000 fled to Cameroon. It has also taken on governmental functions in the areas it controls: collecting taxes, supervising trade and managing natural resources. Because of its control over the material and human resources in that area, its ability to stock its arsenals from the black market or by raiding military bases, and its ability to capitalise on the spread of Salafi jihadist ideology in parts of West Africa, its drive to establish a caliphate state in that region has a large base of popular support. In Burkina Faso, 62 people were killed in a terrorist attack in the northern town of Arbinda near the border with Mali, triggering ethnic clashes there. According to the minister of local government, the terrorists drove people from their homes, committed massacres and kidnapped nine people in order to sow ethnic strife. The Arbinda attack occurred several days after the massacre of around 160 Fulani civilians in Mali, during which pregnant women and children were burned alive in their homes. The massacres in the Fulani villages of Ogossagou and Welingara were carried out by gunmen wearing the traditional dress of Dogon tribesmen. In January, a gang of terrorists stormed the village of Sikire in northern Burkina Faso, indiscriminately gunning down people, setting fire to stores and stealing motorcycles. Ten villagers were killed in the attack. Two weeks before this a similar attack was carried out in Gasseliki, a village 30 kilometres south of Arbinda, killing 12. More than 200 people have been killed in the many terrorist incidents in Burkina Faso since 2015. Ouagadougou, itself, has seen three attacks claiming 60 lives, the most recent occurring in March 2018 targeting the military command headquarters in the centre of the capital. During the same period, the Al-Qaeda affiliate Gamaat Nusrat Al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) claimed responsibility for the attack on the international peacekeeping force in Mali, stating that it was in response to Chadian President Idriss Debys decision to restore diplomatic relations with Israel. Ten Chadian soldiers were killed and 25 others were wounded when gunmen stormed the UN camp at Aguelhok, Mali, despite the fact that 15,000 UN troops were stationed there. Large parts of Mali remain outside the control of the central government in Bamako which announced that 450 civilians and 150 Malian and foreign soldiers had been killed in the first three months of this year. In an attempt to form a collective response to this danger, the five Sahel countries (Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad and Burkina Faso) created a joint counterterrorist military force in 2015, although the force continues to suffer funding and training problems. The French have also reinforced their military presence in the region, especially in Mali where they have begun to build a new military base near the border with Burkina Faso where IS fighters are active. The new base is the latest such facility in the framework of Operation Barkhane, a counterterrorist operation in the Sahel made up of a 4,500-strong force and that is headquartered in NDjamena, the capital of Chad. Libya has become notorious for the proliferation of terrorist groups. The gravity of the threat has led the Libyan National Army (LNA) under the command of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar to launch a campaign to gain control over Libyas southern border with Algeria and to eliminate the organised crime gangs and terrorist groups operating there. After securing control over the southern area, the LNA turned northward towards the capital, Tripoli, in order to free it from the grip of the terrorist groups and militias based in the north. Securing control over Libyas borders with Algeria, Niger, Chad and Sudan is a crucial step in the drive to stop terrorist and criminal activities, illegal migration and cross border smuggling in Africa. The French minister of defence once described southern Libya as a snake pit. He also said that Libya has the largest unsecured weapons depot in the world and that it contains 3,000 to 8,000 rocket launchers, shoulder-fired missiles and missile systems capable of downing civilian and military aircraft. In addition, there are 200,000 gunmen, some nominally subordinate to the government while others worked for extremist and terrorist organisations such as Al-Qaeda. Eyewitnesses report that firearms, from guns to Kalashnikovs, are sold openly on the pavement. The foreign fighters who went to Libya from neighbouring African countries and that are active in the central southern area have renewed concerns that the Libyan government will lose control over that area. Local inhabitants complain of a heavy presence of armed gangs affiliated with the Chadian opposition, such as the Rally for Change, the United Front for Change and the Military Council to Save the Republic. These and other opposition groups have thousands of members, including officers and soldiers who defected from the Idriss Deby regime. Opposition groups from Sudan also operate out of southern Libya. The best known is the Sudanese insurgent group, the Justice and Equality Movement, whose members were hired as mercenaries by some of Libyas warring tribes and factions. Before long, the armed groups from Africa were fighting between themselves over control over mines, smuggling routes and spheres of influence. IS also operates in that area. In January, Libyan security forces unearthed a huge and complete explosives factory for manufacturing bombs, explosive belts and other explosive devices. It belonged to IS and was located outside the town of Ghadduwa, about 80 kilometres south of Sabha. IS has become increasingly active in southern Libya where it has staged several armed raids in several areas in recent months, against police stations and other security targets. The attackers killed soldiers and civilians and abducted and imprisoned many others. Observers have noted that the attacks seemed more systematic, powerful and more closely spaced, suggesting that IS now intends to strengthen its presence in the south where the most important oil fields are located. Earlier, IS had lost its footing in the northeast after it was driven out of Sirte and other cities in that area in late 2016. The far-flung terrain, the absence of government control, the poor security coverage in the south and the ease of communicating with other extremist groups across Libyas porous borders with Chad, Sudan and Niger are among the factors that entice IS and other terrorist groups to entrench themselves in that area. Moreover, recent actions indicate that IS plans to establish another state entity there. In the early hours of 2019, two suicide bombers attacked Ghadduwa, killing three LNA soldiers and wounding another. The previous day, the LNA had killed several IS operatives in an operation that succeeded in freeing 22 individuals that IS had held captive. Similar attacks were carried out in Tazirbu in southeast Libya, in which nine policemen were killed and 11 civilians were abducted, and in Fuqaha in the central Jufra district, in which four police were killed and several police and civilians were abducted. On the other hand, the LNA has succeeded in eliminating three prominent IS commanders: Al-Mahdi Dangu who had orchestrated the massacre of 21 Egyptian Copts in Libya in Sirte in 2015, as well as Abu Talha Al-Libi and the Egyptian terrorist Abdallah Al-Desouki. In a report published in 2018, the National Committee for Human Rights in Libya warned that after the liberation of Benghazi, members of IS, Ansar Al-Shariah and Al-Qaeda would form new cells in other parts of the country, particularly in the southwest. The report documented the flight of dozens of such jihadist militants from Benghazi, Sirte, Derna and Sabrata towards the south following clashes with the LNA during which the terrorist groups lost control of these cities. The report cautioned that the militants who relocated into that expansive southern area would be able to communicate easily with other terrorist organisations in the vicinity, such as Boko Haram, AQIM and MUJWA. From a more global and historical perspective, a report by the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) observed that there were 270 per cent more Salafi jihadist fighters in 2018 than in 2001. In 2018, there were 67 Salafi jihadist groups across the globe, up 180 per cent from its 2001 level. Currently there are around 280,000 terrorists worldwide, the highest level in 40 years. *A version of this article appears in print in the 16 May, 2019 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: Sahel-Sahara: The next IS stronghold Search Keywords: Short link: No fewer than 15 people were killed during clashes between cattle raiders and farmers in South Sudan, the information minister said on ... No fewer than 15 people were killed during clashes between cattle raiders and farmers in South Sudan, the information minister said on Friday. Armed youths from the Athuoi and Pakam clans attacked a cattle camp near the town of Rumbek in the volatile East African nations Western Lakes State on Thursday night, state Information Minister Majak Malou, told newsmen via telephone. According to Malou, nine other people received bullet wounds while the attackers, who were armed with machine guns, stole 200 cattle. Cattle raiding have occurred for centuries in the East African nation, with the attacks often carrying an ethnic component. The judgement of an Asaba High Court, which had declared the Chief Cyril Ogodo-led executives of the All Progressives Congress (APC) a... The judgement of an Asaba High Court, which had declared the Chief Cyril Ogodo-led executives of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the authentic council of the party in Delta state, has been struck out by the Appeal Court sitting in Benin, Edo state. Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, representing Delta Central in the Senate and other candidates produced by the Jones Erue-led state executive committee, now remain the authentic candidates in the 2019 election with this latest Appeal Court judgement. Justice Toyin Adegoke, had on March 18th, 2019, in her judgement in suit number FA/ASA/CS/76/2018, declared the plaintiff, Cyril Ogodo, the authentic chairman of APC. The ruling sacked Jones Erue faction that produced Senator Ovie Omo-Agege and others as candidate. The plaintiffs had sought 13 reliefs, among which is a declaration that the Ogodo-led executive committee was the authentic state executive of the APC, declaration that candidates who emerged from the primaries conducted by the Ogodo-led executive were the authentic candidates and the court granted all the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs. Justice Toyin Adegoke also held that the primary election conducted by the Jones Erue leadership was null and void. She further invalidated the nomination of Ogboru, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege and other candidates nominated by the Erue leadership for the 2019 elections. Upturning the judgement of the lower court in a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Mohamad Shuaibu, the appeal court struck out the case for lack of jurisdiction. Justice Shuaibu, who anchored his judgement on technicalities, held that the lower court has limited jurisdiction and that in inter-party matters, the Federal High Court lacks jurisdiction to entertain and therefore the case is struck out. Chief Cyril Ogodo, while reacting to the judgement, vowed to challenge the judgement at the Supreme Court. He urged his supporters to remain calm, saying, all hopes are not lost, God has the final say, we shall meet at the Supreme court. Femi Fani-Kayode, former Aviation Minister, on Friday commended the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government for establishing... Femi Fani-Kayode, former Aviation Minister, on Friday commended the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government for establishing June 12 as Nigerias Democracy Day. Fani-Kayode, while commending Buharis government for the feat, berated the previous administration of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for failing to recognize June 12. The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed had recently disclosed that the inauguration ceremonies of President Muhammadu Buhari for a second term was moved from May 29 to June 12. Similarly, the Senate had on Thursday concurred with the Public Holiday Act (Amendment) Bill passed by the House of Representatives, which approved June 12 as the new Democracy Day. This followed a presentation of conference report by Leader of the Senate, Sen. Ahmad Lawan, at plenary of the Senate. Fani-Kayode in a tweet wrote: I remain an ardent critic of the @MBuhari admin but there is one thing that I shall always commend them for: the establishment of June 12th as the real Democracy Day. Femi Fani-Kayode, former minister of Aviation, has commended the National Leader of All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bolu Tinub... Femi Fani-Kayode, former minister of Aviation, has commended the National Leader of All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bolu Tinubu. Fani-Kayode hailed Tinubu following his alleged courage to aspire to be next president of Nigeria in 2023. According to the former minister, Tinubu by aspiring to be president has challenged the notion that the North owns Nigeria. Fani-Kayode on his Twitter page wrote: I am not in Bola Tinubus party but I commend him for having the courage to aspire to be Pres. in 2023. Mr Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Power, Works and Housing, on Friday said Bodo-Bonny road would be completed as scheduled. Fash... Mr Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Power, Works and Housing, on Friday said Bodo-Bonny road would be completed as scheduled. Fashola, represented by Mr Yemi Oguntiminiyi, Director, High Way Construction and Rehabilitation, said this while inspecting Bodo-Bonny/Port Harcourt-Aba road project in the state. He said the project was one of the critical projects in the country that needed to be completed due to its economic importance. Bodo-Bonny project, which commenced on Oct. 20, 2017, is expected to be completed in Aug. 19, 2022. The 35.68km project is being handled by Julius Berger at the cost of N120.6 billion, and the company has put in 60 per cent of the work. The Minister said the Federal Government would fund the project to ensure its speedy completion. Mr Tony Attah, Managing Director, Nigeria Liquefied Gas (LNG), said the company, had contributed N60 billion to ensure execution of the project. Attah said that the executive order of 007, signed recently by President Muhammadu Buhari, had encouraged the company to contribute financially to the project. Mr Thomas Haug, Julius Berger Project Manager, Bodo-Bonny road project said the road had about seven kilometers in swampy areas of Opobo channels. He, however, said that the company would ensure completion of the project as scheduled despite some logistic challenges. Mr Charles Okoma, Director in the ministry, said that insecurity and misunderstanding between the community and the company handling had affected the speed of the project. Okoma called for a peaceful environment to enable companies handling the project to complete it as scheduled. The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, on Friday warned traditional rulers council and President-Generals of town... The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, on Friday warned traditional rulers council and President-Generals of town unions in the South-East geo-political zone against releasing any part of their communitys land for cattle colonies and settlement. This warning came following rising cases of killings orchestrated by the dreaded Boko-Haram sect and herdsmen in some parts of the country, especially the banditry in the North-Eastern part of Nigeria. Abia state President of Ohanaeze, Elder Rowland Ajuzieogu, who spoke in a statement issued to newsmen in Aba, Abia state, berated the President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government for its alleged failure to curtail the nefarious activities of the terror organisations. He said, Ohanaezes attention was also drawn to a recent publication on an alleged 100 billion Naira gift to the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria MACBAN. The apex Igbo cultural association is aware of the refutal by the presidency through the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity over the said allegation. As representatives of Ndigbo and custodians of our culture and common heritage and after due consultations. The position of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Abia State is that going by the spate of killings by suspected Fulani herders and governments present inability through the security agencies to effectively curtail these nefarious activities. Ohanaeze Ndigbo is taking seriously the said allegation in spite of the refutal by the federal government. And advise that, whether the allegations are true or not and at the risk of erring on the side of caution. Former Federal Commissioner for Information, Chief Edwin Clark, has blasted President Muhammadu Buhari over comments that he establish... Former Federal Commissioner for Information, Chief Edwin Clark, has blasted President Muhammadu Buhari over comments that he established North-East Development Commission, NEDC, in appreciation of the regions massive electoral support for him in the 2015 and 2019 presidential elections. Clark said the President has not changed his attitude, recalling his July 2, 2015 statement at the United States Institute of Peace that those who gave him five per cent votes should not expect same with those who gave him 97 per cent. Speaking at his Asokoro residence in Abuja on Thursday, the elder statesman reminded Buhari that he is the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, irrespective of party, religion or ethnic background. Clark said the statements has explained the delay on projects in Niger Delta, including the Ogoniland clean-up and the East-West road. The Ijaw leader said: These statements credited to Mr President (in 2015 and presently in 2019) is politics taken to the mundane and absurdity, and very unpatriotic. Chapter VI, Section 130 of the 1999 Constitution states that: (1) There shall be for the Federation a President. (2) The President shall be the Head of State, the Chief Executive of the Federation and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federation Section 132 (4) of the 1999 Constitution states that: For the purpose of an election to the office of President, the whole of the Federation shall be regarded as one constituency. Therefore, for Mr President to base development of the country on political patronage, is most unfair and unacceptable. If the President pronounces that the signing and inauguration of the North East Development Commission is a reward for the massive votes he got in the North East, let it, therefore, be likely concluded that negligence of his Government to the development of the Niger Delta region is as a result of the people of the region choosing to vote in accordance with their conscience. For instance, the non-commencement of the Ogoni clean-up and other equally damaged Oil and Gas producing areas, the non- completion of the East-West Road, and other long deprived economic activities of the region is a punishment for the people of the Niger-Delta for choosing to vote according to their conscience. This also can be attributed to Mr Presidents refusal to dialogue or execute the South-South Leaders 16 point programme. An air strike killed at least eight policeman in Afghanistans Helmand province, a government official said on Friday, the latest casualties from a rise in air and ground operations against the Afghan Taliban. It was not immediately clear if Afghan or U.S. forces carried out the air strike on Thursday night near the provincial capital Lashkar Gah, said Omar Zwak, a spokesman for Helmands governor. He said two senior officers were among the eight policemen killed. Another 11 policemen were wounded in a firefight with Taliban insurgents during the same security operation. Officials with NATO-led Resolute Support forces based in the Afghan capital Kabul were not immediately available for comment. American forces regularly provide support to Afghan troops in operations against the Taliban. Helmand Governor Mohammad Yasin and government officials in Kabul said the air strike was being investigated. They did not give details of the incident. Fighting has accelerated during a period of recurring peace talks to end more than 17 years of war. The Taliban has so far rejected ceasefire proposals, saying U.S. and NATO troops must first withdraw from Afghanistan. Search Keywords: Short link: Russian Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Information Konstantin Noskov explained the stakes of Russian-Egyptian ICT cooperation to Ahmed Saeed Tantawi during a recent visit to Egypt In Egypt last month at the head of a delegation including 20 Russian companies, Russian Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Information Konstantin Noskov signed a number of cooperation agreements with his Egyptian counterparts in the field of information technology (ICT). He spoke about the stakes involved in an interview with Al-Ahram Weekly. What were the agreements finalised during your visit to Cairo? In 2016, the Ministry of Telecoms and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in telecommunications, postal communication, and information technology with the Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT). During the visit to Egypt we discussed how to put it into practice. In particular, the MoU provides for the sharing of experiences and information between companies, government bodies, scientific centres and institutions. We are prioritising certain projects like the establishment and management of technological parks, the implementation of e-government technology, and the more efficient use of the radio spectrum, especially with regard to the transfer to 5G networks. What does Russia offer to Egypt in the field of business solutions in ICT? Our Egyptian partners are interested in many of our solutions. For example, the Russian company Inoventica plans to offer its invGuard product, a system of network traffic-monitoring and analysis capable of detecting and mitigating cyber-attacks in the Egyptian market. Another company, Protei, is glad to offer Egypt solutions for e-government, mobile networks and MVNO operators, as well as for high-speed Internet development. Noviy Disk offers interactive and multimedia learning courses for students that cover all subjects from physics to biology, literature and the visual arts. The Speech Technology Centre offers systems in multimodal biometry, voice simulation and recognition, and audio and video processing and analysis. These are just a few examples, and Russia has many more ICT solutions to offer to Egypt. How do you assess the strength of Egyptian tech companies? How can Russia benefit from them? In Egypt, the innovative IT park Smart Village really impressed me, and it deserves to be called the Egyptian Silicon Valley. We visited the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), the Information Technology Institute (ITI), the Egyptian National Computer Emergency Response Team (EGCERT) and the Telecom Egypt Headquarters. After the visits, I became convinced that Egypt has been actively working to digitise its economy. You have particularly succeeded in improving the quality of IT education and promotion and start-up support. There is no doubt that Russian-Egyptian cooperation in ICT will be both mutually beneficial and productive. What about the status of Russian tech companies at the international level? We have accumulated enormous experience in information security and solutions for operators and other software products. Many of them are highly competitive with world-leading products in terms of quality, and in many cases our products are better and more affordable. Moreover, Russia has a full set of domestic products alternative to western ones, such as search engines, office software, mobile operating systems, antivirus software, and many more. Our solutions will be very attractive to Egyptian government agencies and companies. In December 2018 Russia switched to digital broadcasting. Can you tell us more about this? Since December 2018 Russia has been implementing the switchover from analogue to digital television broadcasting. More than 5,000 digital television facilities were built and more than 10,000 transmitters installed. The digital switchover is carried out in stages by groups of regions. About a third of the population has already switched (almost 50 million people); the rest will complete the switch on 3 June. Russia is the world leader in terms of the area covered by digital broadcasting. Why is this necessary? Digital television is less expensive and has higher quality compared to analogue. It allows for transmitting video in full HD format with better sound and interference-free, and it also provides access to more services. In addition, a large portion of the spectrum previously occupied by an analogue signal is made available. When will Russia launch 5G technology? Russia is implementing 12 large national projects at the moment as part of strategic planning in our country for development up until 2024. I am the lead of one of the national projects, called the Digital Economy of the Russian Federation. This project specifically aims to implement 5G technology, and this year we have approved the establishment and development of 5G networks and allocating frequencies to them. In 2020, the phased introduction of these networks in large cities will begin. At the same time, this technology is already being tested in pilot zones. You use Russian search engines and applications rather than internationally known ones like Google. Can you tell us more about these alternative applications? Russia has a wide range of highly competitive products, including search engines and social networks. In the Russian Internet arena of about 300 million users, Russian search engines and social networks are much more popular than internationally known ones like Google, Facebook or Instagram. The same is true for various other services, such as taxis and food delivery services. They often emerged and developed concurrently with their Western counterparts (and sometimes even earlier), and they were not created as a response. I am convinced that in the modern world it is dangerous to be dependent on one manufacturer and one set of products. An alternative is a matter of network independence and, as practice shows, even of national security. Do you believe that these applications can reach other markets? Russian Internet services and applications like Yandex, VKontakte and others are actively used not only in Russia, but also throughout the territory of the former Soviet Union and other Russian-speaking countries. Many Russian services are also entering the markets of foreign countries. For example, an online taxi service called YandexTaxi has already been introduced in Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Serbia. Yandex is also very popular in Turkey. My colleagues from other countries have welcomed the arrival of Russian services in new markets, and they are even asking for this to be facilitated. However, all these popular services belong to private companies, so unfortunately or fortunately I have no control over their spheres of interest. But I maintain constant dialogue with the company leaders. I hope that in the near future we will see Russian applications among the most popular Egyptian services. *A version of this article appears in print in the 16 May, 2019 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: Russian ICT solutions for Egypt Search Keywords: Short link: The spiritual and celebratory sides of Ramadan go hand-in-hand together in Egypt Ramadan Gana is the name of an Egyptian song that is now about 70 years old. It celebrates the arrival of Ramadan, and it is still played many times a day during the holy month in Egypt and most probably in many other Arabic-speaking countries as well. Ramadan is here, and its arrival brings joy. It hasnt been around for some time, so sing along and welcome Ramadan, the song goes. Ramadan started this week, and it can be a gruelling sunrise-to-sunset fast: no drinking, no eating, and no bad behaviour. It revolves around asking for repentance, seeking forgiveness, and doing a lot of good. It is not an easy feat to fast in the heat with no water and no nourishment. And in all fairness, summer is the worst time of year to fast when the heat is at its worst. You might think that Muslims in Egypt would dread the holy month, fear its restrictions, and shiver in anticipation of the draining and debilitating fast. And yet Egyptians, both Muslims and Christians, await the months arrival with anticipation, sing in its glory, and love its ambience. The atmosphere is convivial and merry, with traditional Ramadan lanterns hanging everywhere and Happy Ramadan photographs adorning Facebook, Twitter and social media. This juxtaposition between Ramadans restrictions and the delight on its arrival is not always easily comprehensible, but the giving and the goodness associated with Ramadan transcend limitations and turn it into a wonderful month. In Egypt, the month of Ramadan also goes beyond what any other Muslim country can offer. In its own way, it resembles Christmas festivities in the West, a time when parties take place in the middle of the week, baking is part and parcel of the festivities, and gift-wrapping and gift-giving dominate the month. More than anything, it is a time to remember those in need. Ramadan is just as festive, lively and giving. After breaking their fast, people enjoy every moment in the window of time allowed. It is an ongoing, month-long celebration when people eat to their hearts content and meet friends at night, stay up late until the small hours of the morning, and most probably do not produce much. All this may not be what Ramadan is really about, but it definitely keeps people going and loving every moment of it. Many people stay up until they sit down to their hearty early morning meal. They go to bed at sunrise, have a little sleep, and then off to work they go. Although Ramadan enforces leniency in the workplace, during daytime hours those who fast are often lethargic and unable to function, arriving at work later than usual and going home earlier. In Egypt, no one breaks his or her fast alone, and it may be the one time of the year when the whole family sits down for meals together. Lavish dishes that someone has slaved over for hours are consumed by friends and relatives in one sitting, but the party is just beginning. Three or four rounds of tea and desserts make up for the lost consumption and caffeine-free hours. Indeed, much of the best and of what matters most are saved up for Ramadan, including the best television series, the most generous donations, and the most elaborate get-togethers. Ramadan is also a time of year when people are on their best behaviour: they complete their reading of the Quran, they pray diligently, and they help those in need and commiserate with the underprivileged. Some, because they cant fast for medical reasons, give to charity instead. Others give generously because it is the time of year when according to Islam God listens most keenly to prayers and acts upon them. Many more apply Islamic guidelines and donate zakat, a portion of their income similar to a Christian tithe, to charitable causes. The giving transcends wealth and class as everyone sits together to break the fast. Streets and squares around the country are filled with tables of mercy providing free breakfasts. This manifests the social solidarity that Ramadan is known for, with the wealthy providing for those in need. Ramadan in Egypt has an exceptional atmosphere about it, which is why many Arab and Muslim tourists visit Egypt during the holy month. The spirit of Ramadan is also exemplified at the Al-Hussein Mosque in Cairo, where the square is packed with people until sunrise when the fast begins. Visitors roam around buying knick-knacks, praying at the mosque, drinking tea and coffee at cafes in the square, and having their early meals. Growing up in the late 1950s in Heliopolis in Cairo, I used to await the cannon firing with anticipation that announced the end of the fast in Ramadan. I treasured the lavish meals and our sitting down to them together during Ramadan, something we didnt often do. Then we listened to the radio as it broadcast one glorious soap opera after another. I cherished my Ramadan lantern and showed it off to the dozens of visitors who came and went throughout the night. Ramadan is an exceptional month everywhere, but most of all in Egypt, and it exudes joy, warmth and love. A Happy Ramadan to all. *A version of this article appears in print in the 16 May, 2019 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: Ramadan, Egyptian style Search Keywords: Short link: Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. 14th Floor Records LimitedLast year, Biffy Clyro frontman Simon Neil said that the band was working on two new albums: a follow-up to 2016's Ellipsis, and a soundtrack to an upcoming film. We now know the details for one of those projects. The Scottish rockers will release Balance, Not Symmetry, the soundtrack to a movie of the same name directed by Jamie Adams, this Friday, May 17. You can download the title track now via digital outlets. "On meeting Jamie, we realized early on that we'd both had to deal with grief at a relatively young age," says Neil, who co-wrote the film. "It was interesting to talk about how we'd both dealt with it and the effect it had on us," he continues. "This is the main crux of the film, delving into the lonely world of grief and loss and coming out the other side." Balance, Not Symmetry the movie premieres in the U.K. July 26. Here's the album track list: "Balance, Not Symmetry" "All Singing and All Dancing" "Different Kind of Love" "Sunrise" "Pink" "Colour Wheel" "Gates of Heaven" "Fever Dream" "Navy Blue" "Tunnels and Trees" "Plead" "The Naturals" "Yellow" "Touch" "Jasabiab" "Following Master" "Adored" Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Could Algeria and Sudan be ahead of the Arab Spring countries on their paths towards political reform The ouster of former presidents Omar Al-Bashir in Sudan and Abdel-Aziz Bouteflika in Algeria after a wave of popular protests in both countries has given rise to speculation about the future of these countries in the light of the recent experiences of other countries in the so-called Arab Spring. Though many have argued that the protests in Algeria and Sudan will lead either to civil strife and chaos or to renewed authoritarian rule, it is perhaps equally possible that the protests in these two countries may lead to genuine transitions away from authoritarian rule, as happened in Tunisia after 2011. And while it may seem at first glance that Sudan and Algeria are latecomers to the so-called Arab Spring, it could also be argued that these two countries are in fact decades ahead of the other Arab Spring countries. Both countries experienced popular upheavals and Islamist political victories coupled with or followed by military interventions in the late 1980s and early 1990s. So, in some ways they have already experienced their own Arab Springs two decades before the rest of the Arab world and may now be finally transcending the trap of Islamist and/or military rule that has stifled political progress across the Arab world for decades. In 1989, Sudan experienced a coup led by the military in alliance with the Islamists against the nascent democratic regime led by Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi. Al-Bashir, representing the military, became president, and Hassan Al-Turabi, representing the Islamists, became speaker of parliament. The uneasy alliance between the Islamists and the generals continued despite the ouster of Al-Turabi and his imprisonment in 1999. Al-Bashirs regime, which was buttressed by support from the military and Islamist groups, was responsible for extended civil strife in the south of Sudan and Darfur and for the ultimate secession of South Sudan. The regime was also responsible for impoverishing Sudan, providing a safe haven for myriad terrorist organisations and widespread corruption. In 2019, after Al-Bashir attempted to amend the constitution to further extend his 30-year rule, protests broke out across Sudan led by the federation of professional unions that represents the Sudanese middle class. After attempts to quell these protests failed, the military deposed Al-Bashir and proposed that an interim military council led by his close associates should replace him. However, the protests continued demanding that Al-Bashirs associates also be removed from power. Under popular pressure, the military council duly conceded, and two of Al-Bashirs top associates were removed. The newly re-configured council then proposed a one-year interim period. The protesters rejected this proposition and demanded that the interim period be led by a civilian presidential council. Protests and negotiations are continuing over the creation of an interim body that will include civilians and the military and manage the country during an interim period until a new constitution is drafted and elections are held. Various countries have intervened in attempts to strengthen the hand of the military council vis-a-vis the protesters. However, it appears that the protests will not stop until civilians are integrated in a meaningful way in managing the transition to ensure that neither the Islamists nor the military will again dominate the political process in Sudan. Algeria experienced widespread popular protests in 1988 against deteriorating social and economic conditions. These protests led the ruling party, the National Liberation Front (FLN), to allow the creation of opposition parties and to convene multi-party elections. In the municipal and national elections held in 1990 and 1991, respectively, the Islamist FIS Party won an electoral majority. This drove the military to dissolve parliament and to disband the FIS. A series of generals then assumed power in Algeria, and an extended conflict between the military and the Islamists ensued. An estimated 100,000 Algerians died in this conflict. In 1999, Bouteflika, an old FLN operative, assumed power and was able to consolidate his rule by forging an alliance with the countrys business elite and by pitting different security agencies against one another. However, Bouteflikas health has been ailing for a number of years, and it was widely known that his brother and a small band of associates were governing the country behind the scenes. When it was announced that Bouteflika, despite his ailing health, would run for a fifth term in office, protests broke out across the country. He was deposed after a series of failed attempts to appease the protesters. A power struggle ensued between the military and Bouteflikas brother and associates. Ultimately, the latter were arrested. The military is now in charge in Algeria, but the protests continue, and they may mean that the transition to civilian rule will take place quickly and in a meaningful manner. Conflict and/or cooperation between the Islamists and the generals have long defined the politics of Algeria and Sudan. In the case of Sudan, the long-standing alliance between Al-Bashir and the Islamist groups was responsible for dividing and impoverishing the country. In the case of Algeria, extended civil strife between the Islamists and the generals entrenched the power of the military and prevented meaningful political, social and economic reform. In both countries, aging leaders buttressed by the military have been attempting to extend their rule indefinitely. The recent protests in Algeria and Sudan are thus not based on the naive assumption that salvation lies at the hands of the Islamists or the generals. Both societies have become largely disillusioned with Islamist and military rule, and they are ready to move beyond these actors. In both countries, protesters are insisting on transitional arrangements that will empower civilians and diminish the powers of the military and the Islamists. However, given the weakness of political elites and civil society organisations such an outcome is not guaranteed. Unity among the different factions in the opposition on a clear set of transitional arrangements that will guarantee civilian rule is crucial if a successful transition away from authoritarian rule is to succeed in these two countries. Thus, while a return to military rule or the resurgence of the Islamists cannot be excluded, the recent protests in both countries, driven primarily by secular forces, may provide an opportunity for breaking the trap of Islamist/military rule that has stifled transitions to democracy across the Arab world during recent decades. *The writer is a senior researcher at Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies. *A version of this article appears in print in the 16 May, 2019 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: Sudan and Algeria: Arab Spring redux? Search Keywords: Short link: Ava Max burst onto the pop scene in fall 2018 with an asymmetrical ice blonde 'do and a dream; her song "Sweet but Psycho" skyrocketed on the charts and was a staple entry on every Spotify workout playlist for months. The song, now certified platinum in the United States, cemented Max as a new and powerful voice in the ever-growing dance pop stratosphere. Now, Max will be making her Pride debut at Jake Resnicow's PrideFestival Tea Dance at the all new rooftop of Pier 17 on June 29, 2019, alongside Eurovision superstar Conchita Wurst. Resnicow, who's been producing massive Pride events in the city since 2010, is particularly excited to invite Max to the stage this year, telling PAPER, "I've always been a big fan of Ava. She's such a talented artist. Many have made comparisons to Lady Gaga and Sia. She's truly special." This year's Pride weekend is especially exciting for New Yorkers because of the 50th anniversary of Stonewall, marking a half-a-century history of the modern fight for gay rights in the United States. The world will flock to Manhattan in June for tons of official and unofficial World Pride festivities, including music festivals, concerts, parties, parades, drag shows, and so much more. Related | King Princess to Headline San Diego Pride The events on Resnicow's roster range from the Ava Max-headlined Tea Dance to the massive Javits Center-located We Party PRIDE FESTIVAL, with none other than the legend Cyndi Lauper herself performing. There will be no shortage of events to attend during Pride, so get your flights booked, schedule off, and get ready shake it all weekend long. PAPER caught up with Ava Max in preparation for her Tea Dance announcement about her excitement to perform new songs, her fans' reactions to her singles, and her favorite LGBTQ+ icon. How have you felt about the reaction to your singles so far? It's been amazing and overwhelming! I would have never expected any of this happen, let alone how fast my music has been spreading and connecting. Which song in your discography are you most excited to perform live? "Salt," because it's the song I haven't officially released and I think it's become a fan favorite, but also secretly my favorite too. Who knows, it might even be on the album. Why did you choose to perform for Pride here in NYC? For one, I support the LGBTQ community and want them to feel as proud of themselves as possible. My song "So Am I" is all about inclusivity, and I'm extra excited to perform this song at pride. Also, I grew up on the East Coast what up, NYC! I feel super honored to even be invited to perform at this year's World Pride. So thank you, and I cannot wait to sing, dance, and party with all of you! Is this your first time celebrating at a pride festival? I've gone to pride festivals before, but I've never performed at one. I cannot wait! Are you working on a full length record? Will you be performing any new songs at the Pride event? I am definitely working on a full-length record, which I'm thrilled for everyone to hear. I don't want to spoil the show. Who is your favorite LGBTQ+ icon, and why do you admire them? (Could be an artist, an activist, anyone!) I love Gigi Gorgeous. Actually, she reached out to me on Instagram to tell me that she supports me and my music. It was really sweet and I hope to meet her someday. Tickets to see Ava Max and Conchita Wurst at the 2019 Tea Dance are available here. Photos courtesy of Atlantic Records Bea Miller is the kind of young artist who makes you wonder why there are so many milquetoast industry plants drifting around in pop. Miller drifts nowhere. The 20-year-old force of nature and New Jersey-born daughter of two moms got herself onto the X Factor when she was 13. Seven years later, she's worked her way to writing and touring with her own brassy, exuberant bops, which balance sunny self-love and girl power, with vulnerable introspection. Related | 100 Women Revolutionizing Pop Miller is almost upsettingly good at being a pop star: bouncing around stages in sparkly jumpsuits, never at a loss for words, keeping crowds hanging on every syllable of the honest, self-deprecating anecdotes she shares with every song. With her huge, throaty voice, she sings euphorically about masturbation, body positivity and not wanting to be someone's girlfriend, as well as about missing someone so much she can't breathe. Miller's songs take an optimistic but ferocious approach to the question of how it feels and what it means to be a young woman in 2019. Her incandescent attitude shines through on every song, including her most recent: a collab with 6LACK and irreverent self-love break-up song (in the spirit of "Thank U, Next) called "It's Not U It's Me." Milller has had to fight to be the kind of gutsy, personality-driven pop star she's become. She spent her teen years instructed to sing generic love songs written by someone else, even though she begged to write on her own songs. But starting with her second album Aurora, released last year (and she promises, to an even greater extent on forthcoming work) she's only singing songs that tell the truth. Following her sold-out show at Bowery Ballroom, PAPER sat down with Miller to talk about the journey of her career, prom, why the internet sucks, and the best advice Harry Styles ever gave her. Do you get tired of being known for the X Factor? Definitely. Those shows, they're good because they get people started they got me started. But it can be really hard to separate yourself from them. It's difficult to be known for being on the X Factor, rather than what I've done after. Sometimes, it's a little brutal, like "I work hard. I wrote the song, and I did this thing and that performance. Why can't we talk about these things?" It was already seven years ago for me. It's definitely gotten better, now a lot of times people don't even bring it up and I'm just known for what I'm doing now. I definitely, definitely learned things there that were helpful when I was like, 13 or 14. But now that I'm older, and I've been doing this for a lot of years. I don't feel like super attached to it anymore. But obviously I wouldn't be here, if I hadn't done it, and I understand that. You were 13 when you competed on X Factor. You're 20 years old now. What have been the big moments in between? When I was 13 was when I was on X Factor and my vocal chords hemorrhaged so I had to be sent home. That's when one of your vocal chords, splits and starts bleeding, it's really brutal. I went home, I couldn't speak for a month, I couldn't do anything. I couldn't sing, hum, whisper, talk, do anything. I went to school with a whiteboard and I had to answer questions that way. So I healed and recovered, and got signed to label. I was 14 when we moved to California. We didn't have any money, so we lived with my uncle in Huntington Beach, which is like an hour and a half away from LA. That was rough having to drive to LA and back every single day. So that was when I was 14, then, you know, between 14 and 15, I was recording my first album and just meeting people and running around going through the motions, trying to put myself out there and make myself known. I was young and really didn't know what's going on. One day I was this girl doing nothing in New Jersey and all sudden I was in California in studios and working with important people. "You just gotta pay your dues." Was retaining control over your work and image difficult, starting so young in the industry? On my first album, it was difficult. I had just turned 15, I was totally new to the music industry. My team essentially said, "We've been doing this for longer than you, so we know what will work and what won't. And we want you to record the songs that these writers wrote that we think are hits." I was a very feisty 15-year-old, so that made me really upset. I was really angry and aggressive, I cut off all my hair, dyed it blue and was like, "Fuck you world." I was a very angry kid. I gave them a lot of of pushback, I really fought them on that and was like, "I'm going to write my own songs." I don't want to say somebody else's words. Eventually, we reached a compromise, where I told them I would sing songs that other people wrote, but only if I actually relate to them, only if I could really see them, as if they were my own truth. It was like I'm not gonna lie to people. Because it felt like lying to sing songs I didn't write. I was like, "I'm at least going to sing ones that hit me, that I understand and I can truthfully sing. And, I was like, "I want to write the next one," and they were like, "If you do this first album and listen to what we say, you can do what you want moving forward." Like you just gotta pay your dues. Since then, you've released your second album, Aurora. Did your label keep their word on letting you write it? They kept their word on that. It's really cool, they really let me do what I wanted to do for the second album. I didn't really believe they would, but they meant it. I wrote the songs, I told them who I wanted to work with and who I didn't. There's only one song on all of Aurora that I didn't write. We were like, "You know what, this is a cool song. Let's just throw it in there." But every other one came from my brain. I had never fully been able to express my personal truth until then. You moved to LA when were in middle school. Did you get the chance to go to high school? I went to high school, but just for my mom, I really didn't care. I think it's important to stay in school, if you want to do something with your life that requires a deeper education. But I knew that I wanted to make music or movies or you know, do something... I actually wanted to be a director when I was a kid too. I knew that I was going to do something where I didn't need to know trigonometry. So I was like, "Mom I don't need to do this." Like, I already can pay my bills, dude. And it kind of crushed her. She wasn't like, "You have to do it. I just want you to graduate high school. It's important." "I knew that I was going to do something where I didn't need to know trigonometry." Do you ever wish you had the full high school experience? Prom and cafeterias and such. I actually did go to prom! It was very important to me that I went to prom, even though it's stupid. I'm just a very sentimental person. Like, it's pretty cool that I get to do something with my life that a lot of people don't get to do. I think there is something special about the things that everybody does. It sometimes makes me really sad that that I don't have a lot of shared experiences with other young people. It can be really alienating and lonely. I remember I used to watch all my friends together in school, interact, like they would all laugh about so many things I didn't know about. They were all together every day, experiencing things and all the same drama and the same teachers. I always really felt like I was on the outside. So it was really important to me that, if I wasn't able to have most of those experiences have a tight knit group of friends that really understood me I would at least get to do a few high school things that everyone gets to do, that everybody understands. So prom was just this one thing that I could do that made me feel like I actually went to high school. I forced one of my friends from middle school his name is Lucas, still one of my great friends to this day. And I was like "Lucas, I don't care if you have a girlfriend, I don't care if you have some girl you're going to bring, you're bringing me to prom. You are obligated as my best friend to take me to prom because I need this." I said that when we were in like eighth grade and he actually did it. Did you wear a designer dress? No! It was just like sparkly, super corny, over-the-top prom. We got the corsages, we did the whole thing. I was like, "I gotta have this one dumb experience that everyone gets." I'm really glad I did it. I'm always curious about this with artists and celebrities. What is your relationship to the internet and social media like? I fucking hate the internet. I hate it. I'm an old lady and I don't know anybody else my age who agrees with me on this. But I don't like talking to people on the phone. I don't like texting people. I don't like facetiming people. If I'm on facetime I'm just sitting there like, on the inside, I want to explode. I just want to put my phone down and go do something else. Anything else. I'd rather be sitting on my couch doing nothing, being in that moment doing nothing. I don't like any of that stuff. I don't like cell phones. I don't like always being reachable. As an artist, I don't like the fact that the internet brings this mindset of "we know you." I think it's really weird that people who I've never met, think that it's their place to speak on my life. I won't go on Twitter for a few days and when I come back people will have tweeted at me like 1000 times, 'Where have you been, how could you not be talking to us?" And I'm like, "I was out living my life." I mean, it's cool that you can connect with so many people from far away so quickly, just all the same time. But I think that we abuse it. I don't think we use social media platforms for their original purpose. It's about bragging, it's about pretending your life is better than it is, and making other people feel bad because their life doesn't look as cool as yours does. It's about nitpicking people's lives and finding things that you don't like, rather than about actually connecting or togetherness. People also just take it too seriously. I don't think it matters. Real life matters. Put your phone away and just like that, it's gone. It's gone in an instant. How can something really matter that much if it disappears that easily? Do you think you'd be happier if it all disappeared? I've always fantasized about being a musician in the '90s. Or the '70s, because that was a great time for music. Before you had to have a big following on a social media platform in order for people to care about what you're doing. Sometimes people even ask me about my following before they ask me about my music, and that's really sad. I think it's cool that I can talk to all my fans and my friends who live far away that easily. But people live without it, so I think we don't really need it. Sometimes I fantasize about what it would be like to make music in a time where music spoke for itself and Instagram didn't speak for it. "It sometimes makes me really sad that that I don't have a lot of shared experiences with other young people. It can be really alienating and lonely." You're on tour right now. What has that been like? You release music and it's weird, because you write it alone and only one or two other people in the entire world heard it. And then you release it, and you see the streams going up and there are people out there listening to it. But it doesn't seem real until you are with them and they're singing the words. There are people the world listening to my song so many times that they know the words, that I wrote when I was just sitting in a little room. It really makes it feel rewarding. It really makes it seem important. It's a good feeling. So, Aurora came out last year. What is inspiring you right now? On Aurora, I was as truthful as I could be at the time, but I was younger. I wasn't as secure with myself. There were definitely a few things that I would cushion in my lyrics, where I would be extremely truthful. But I was also afraid of certain things. I was afraid of being 100,000%, literally word for word, what is going on in my life today. I would generalize it, I would speak my truth, but in a way that other people could insert their lives into it to where it wasn't super specific. Pop is kind of this warfare between specificity and universality. How you kind of negotiate that? With the new stuff, I still want to be relatable to people. But I'm being a lot more specific. I'm really proud of the music on Aurora, like I love it. It's not like I've gotten older and am like all that shit is corny. I'm really proud of that album. But I want to express myself even further for the new music. And when I was writing Aurora, sometimes I would ask my co-writer, I'd be like, "Is this too weird or specific?" If they were like, "Yeah, maybe," we would make it easier to swallow. With the new stuff, I'm working with people who want me to say exactly what I want, and they love it. I'll be like, "Is this too weird?" And they're like, "Maybe but, who cares? Let's just do it anyway." So with the new stuff that will be filtering in throughout the year, I've been telling specific, true stories about my life, which I don't hear very often in pop music. I always make sure the choruses are open-ended. But on the verses, I have the attitude, "You're a fan of me, you listen to my music, let me tell you a story about myself." I think some people will hate it. But that's fine, because there will be people will love it too. And I love it. Do you read everything that's written about yourself? No. Ohhhh no. The best advice anyone in this industry has ever given me is, not to read anything about yourself. Who gave you that advice? God I fucking hate saying this... because it makes me seem like a dick, but Harry Styles actually told me that. One Direction came from X Factor UK, so they came to our season. And I guess Harry just liked me, and he appeared in this hallway, like he came to say hi to me. Someone came to get me and was like, "Bea come here, Don't tell anybody." And then we walk into the hallway and Harry is standing there like ,"Hey Bea!" It was crazy, it was really weird. That was a really crazy time in my life. But yeah, we spent quite a while talking and I think I told him I was like, 13 I didn't know what I was doing and I was like, "People just don't like my outfits, they don't like what I'm doing, they don't like my voice." And he was like, "Yo, never read what people say about you." What's a question you get asked too much? I get asked too much about other artists. "I fantasize about what it would be like to make music in time where music spoke for itself and Instagram didn't speak for it." Like who have you met, who do you want to collaborate with? It's more like, "So you went on tour with this person? Is there any advice that they ever gave you that you can share with us?" I'm like, fucking ask them. I don't know! Like they're fishing for a story about you and Selena Gomez or something? Yes exactly! They want to find something where they can make the headline of the interview like "Selena Gomez said this to Bea Miller," and I'm like, "I don't know, y'all can talk to her"! Sometimes I feel like people just want to interview me just to get information about someone they care about more, which sucks... it's not a good feeling. I haven't gotten questions like that in a while, now that I'm doing my own tour, and my own thing. I get it, I'm not the most successful artist in the world. But it used to really bother me when that happened, I'd be like, "I'm here, ask me something about me!" What's a question you wish people would ask you? "How are you doing?" Nobody ever asks just, "How are you?" and actually wants to hear the real answer. I think a lot of artists and a lot of people need to be genuinely asked how they're doing and given the freedom to tell the truth in their answer. Some big news came out this week at the Copenhagen Fashion Summit, where Kering Group CEO Francois-Henri Pinault announced plans to stop hiring models under the age of 18. As the parent company to some of the world's most prolific luxury brands like Gucci, Balenciaga, Saint Laurent and Alexander McQueen, the change is a big step towards creating stricter labor laws for underage models in the fashion industry. "As a global luxury group, we are conscious of the influence exerted on younger generations in particular by the images produced by our houses," Pinault said in a statement. "We believe that we have a responsibility to put forward the best possible practices in the luxury sector and we hope to create a movement that will encourage others to follow suit." The decision follows a similar one made in August 2018 by Conde Nast and Council of Fashion Designers of America, who announced they would cease to hire underage models for editorials in its various titles unless they were the subject of an article. Marie-Claire Daveu, Kering's chief sustainability officer and head of international institutional affairs, added in her statement, "In our view, the physiological and psychological maturity of models aged over 18 seems more appropriate to the rhythm and demands that are involved in this profession." Related | New Web Series Spotlights the Trials of Male Models While the decision is a positive one for establishing healthy work environments and regulating the industry, it does bring into question catwalk stars like 17-year-old Kaia Gerber, whose quick rise to top-model status began when she was just 16. Some of the biggest names in the business like Naomi Campbell and Gisele Bundchen got their careers started on major catwalks long before turning 18, as well. On the flip side, Kering's biggest competing luxury conglomerate, LVMH, has announced it will not be doing the same. In a statement following this announcement, LVMH's Antoine Arnault said, "We will not be following suit. We are sticking to our position." Arnault continued, "Let's not kid ourselves... it's not because one group bans these models that they will stop working. On the contrary, we provide them with a protected environment, so I am totally against this ban on models aged under 18." This comes after the two conglomerates agreed not to hire models under the age of 16 in a 2017 initiative to better work environments. YouTuber Trisha Paytas is coming under fire from several other vloggers who have taken them to task for allegedly manipulating their photos and for ghosting a potential collaborator. And the incidents have reportedly lost them 50,000 subscribers in the past couple weeks. According to The Daily Dot, the drama started earlier this month when h3h3 Productions' Ethan Klein criticized Paytas' use of Photoshop to argue that social media is making people think they're inadequate in a video called "Instagram vs. Reality." However, the way he did it was nasty and filled with body-shaming jokes something that led Paytas to criticize his commentary as "harmful" and "predatory" via multiple tweets. Not only that, but they also alleged that Klein based his examples upon "photos from different days." hey @h3h3productions - you are a disgusting piece of shit. your recent video is not only predatory - its also HARMFUL to young girls Trisha Paytas (@trishapaytas) May 9, 2019 not only that - ur using photos of different days to make your "point" - which by the way is just straight up bullying. I've never seen a more trash video in my life. @h3h3productions - like u r actually a piece of shit Trisha Paytas (@trishapaytas) May 9, 2019 the reason I'm so pissed off about that dumbass video is not about me at all, heck I posted that side by side on my own instagram a month ago to show my "ugly" me vs "pretty" its about young girls taking their own lives over middle aged "men" bullying them https://t.co/TxEGGN0qkD Trisha Paytas (@trishapaytas) May 9, 2019 delete your video @h3h3productions - you piece of shit. any young girls who watched it - you are enough - please watch the ending of this video I just posted. YOU ARE ENOUGH. with or without makeup. do what you got to do to get thru https://t.co/TxEGGN0qkD Trisha Paytas (@trishapaytas) May 9, 2019 However, after Paytas tweeted to Klein's wife (Iand other half of h3h3 Productions) Hila to "divorce" him, Klein decided to respond by asking, "Who is this rude person? I don't recognize [them] from [their] profile picture. Anyone know?" Paytas subsequently responded to Klein's tweet by talking about the effects of this kind of cyberbullying on their mental health. You say youve suffered from depression,I suffer from it on the day to day,ur jokes are so disgusting and so damaging and u still take zero credibility. I show myself ugly every single day. Do some research u ignorant asshole https://t.co/TxEGGN0qkD see me in all my hideousness Trisha Paytas (@trishapaytas) May 9, 2019 Suicide from bullying is fucking real. I pray to God u never know anyone first hand that ends their life from that shit. Its not a joke. Its fucking real - u sicko Trisha Paytas (@trishapaytas) May 9, 2019 That said, just as the drama between Paytas and Klein began to subside, another YouTuber named Nikocado Avocado decided to take them to task for allegedly "ghosting" him after he came to visit them in LA. In a video called "Exposing Trisha Paytas With Receipts," Avocado explained that after Paytas saw his cover of their song "Warrior," they reached out to do a collaboration. As a result, Avocado said he traveled from Colombia to California to meet them, writing things like, "I'm here in Hollywood, I brought you gifts lol I hope you get back to me! <3" though Paytas apparently never responded to the repeated messages. Not only that, but Avocado also alleges that Paytas edited their exchanges and spread the fake screenshots something that led to their fans calling him "manipulative" and a "desperate social climber." According to Newsweek, Paytas responded to Avocado's claims via a video denying that they ever agreed to meet him, saying, "I was never going to collab. I don't know where that came from." They also apparently expressed concern over his mental state after watching a video of Avocado "waving a knife" at his husband, per Dexerto. However, DramaAlert's Keemstar reportedly found some evidence to the contrary, finding that Paytas mentioned a potential collaboration with Avocado "multiple times." This led Paytas to post another follow-up video, in which they say they "did nothing wrong" and accused Avocado of "becoming obsessive" also mentioning that they began to feel uncomfortable about their conversations. Messy for sure. See Paytas' most recent response video, below. What Makes Iran Look Like An Immediate Threat 05/17/19 By Paul Pillar (source: LobeLog) The current crisis atmosphere in U.S.-Iranian relations, in which the risk of open warfare appears greater than it has been in years, is solely and unequivocally due to the policies and actions of the Trump administration. To point this out does not mean that actions of the Iranian regime have not come to be part of the crisis atmosphere as well. It instead means that such an atmosphere would never have existed in the first place if the administration had not turned its obsession with Iran into the relentless campaign of hostility that has become one of the single most prominent threads of the administration's foreign policy. "Everything about anti-Iran B-team" Reads headline on frontpage of Iranian daily Rouzegare Ma Without that campaign, and without the administration's assault on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)-the agreement that restricts Iran's nuclear program-Iran would continue to comply with its obligations under the JCPOA, and all possible paths to an Iranian nuclear weapon would remain closed. The channels of communication established during the negotiation of the JCPOA would continue to be available to address other issues and to defuse any incidents that threatened to escalate into war (as was done during the previous U.S. administration). Whatever Iran has been doing for years in the Middle East, such as assisting Iraq in defeating the Islamic State and assisting its longtime ally in Syria, it would continue to do. In short, there would be no new threat and no crisis. Some of the current discourse about Iran nonetheless makes it sound not only as if there were something new and threatening but that the Iranian regime is the initiator of the threat. At least seven reasons account for this misconception. One is the demonization of Iran rooted in the genuinely nefarious things the Iranian regime did in the past and dates back to when Ted Koppel was talking to Americans every weeknight about U.S. diplomats held hostage in Tehran. Over the years, other factors have contributed to the demonization, including domestic American political pressures connected to certain regional rivals of Iran that want to keep it weak and isolated. The result is a lasting and pervasive suspicion that colors American perceptions of everything involving Iran, regardless of the facts of whatever is the issue at hand. Second, and related to the demonization, is sloppiness in the discourse that, as Ben Armbruster has analyzed, infects even the mainstream press. The tendencies include playing back the administration's formulations without questioning them and the habitual use of such tropes as "Iran's nuclear weapons program" when the internationally verified reality is that Iran ended its nuclear weapons program years ago. Third is the gap in time between the Trump administration's provocations and Iran's responses. The administration renounced the JCPOA a year ago, when it began waging economic warfare not only against Iran but against anyone else doing normal business with Iran. If Tehran had announced back then that it was no longer bound by the agreement's restrictions, the connection between provocation and response, and the true source of whatever crisis ensued, would have been more obvious. But the Iranian regime-deeply committed to the JCPOA and hoping to outlast Trump-abided by its obligations for a year, during which the topic fell out of the consciousness of most of the public and most members of Congress. Now, with Iranian leaders saying that their patience is exhausted and talking about exceeding the limits of the JCPOA if the agreed-upon economic benefits do not materialize, it sounds to some inattentive ears as if the Iranians are instigating a nuclear crisis. In short, the Iranians' patience has worked against them as far as image and messaging are concerned. Fourth and probably most influential have been the Trump administration's hints about supposed new threat information, accompanied by deployments of military resources and other U.S. saber-rattling. Details about any immediate new threats have been slow in coming, and the British general who is deputy commander of the anti-Islamic State coalition debunked to reporters the idea that whatever Iran and its militia allies are doing represents a new and elevated threat. The Trump administration quickly tried to play down the general's comments, and its talk about supposed new threats will continue to shape the discourse. Persuasive details about new threats may never come, but they aren't necessary for the administration to have the desired effect on public attitudes about Iran. That gets to the fifth reason, which is that the rhetorical drumbeat about Iran as a threat-even bereft of any threat information-shapes attitudes. The George W. Bush administration got a large proportion of the American public to believe that Saddam Hussein's regime had been directly involved in 9/11. The administration induced that belief not so much through specific lies as through a rhetorical drumbeat in which "Iraq" and "9/11" (and "WMD") were constantly spoken in the same breath. Something similar is happening today. The sixth reason gets to real, not just imagined, Iranian actions. The Iranians currently face an unmistakable threat of military attack by the United States. They hear a constant stream of hostile rhetoric from Washington, see the U.S. military deployments in their backyard, and realize that people in positions of power in the Trump administration would welcome war with Iran. It is unsurprising and prudent for the Iranians to brace for a U.S. attack and to prepare to respond to it. Indeed, it would be irresponsible, from the standpoint of Iranian security, not to prepare for it. Such preparations may include "targeting" U.S. assets in the sense of planning what to try to hit in response to any U.S. attack. The preparations do not indicate any Iranian intention to initiate hostilities, but information gathered about them gets fed into the U.S. discourse as supposed "threat information." The seventh reason is less certain than the rest and involves the possibility of Iran initiating some minor actions, if only to send a message that it cannot be kicked around forever amid the U.S. hostility and pressure. A variation on this possibility, which Trita Parsi raises, is that Iran may practice some of its own brinksmanship to play upon Donald Trump's desire not to get immersed in a new Middle East war. Tehran's plan may be "to accelerate matters toward the point at which Trump will have to decide whether he is truly willing to go to war with Iran or if the strategy of 'maximum pressure' will not cross that threshold." Some reporting from Washington suggests that the Iranians have material to work with in the form of Trump being frustrated with the war-seeking John Bolton. For Trump to reclaim control over policy toward Iran may right now be the best, however unreliable, hope for keeping the current mess from escalating into war. About the author: Paul R. Pillar is Non-resident Senior Fellow at the Center for Security Studies of Georgetown University and an Associate Fellow of the Geneva Center for Security Policy. He retired in 2005 from a 28-year career in the U.S. intelligence community. His senior positions included National Intelligence Officer for the Near East and South Asia, Deputy Chief of the DCI Counterterrorist Center, and Executive Assistant to the Director of Central Intelligence. He is a Vietnam War veteran and a retired officer in the U.S. Army Reserve. Dr. Pillar's degrees are from Dartmouth College, Oxford University, and Princeton University. His books include Negotiating Peace (1983), Terrorism and U.S. Foreign Policy (2001), Intelligence and U.S. Foreign Policy (2011), and Why America Misunderstands the World (2016). Will The U.S Pressures Bring Iran To The Negotiating Table? 05/17/19 By Kam Zarrabi Iran & U.S. President Hassan Rohani & Donald Trump (source: Iranian daily Sazandegi) It didn't require a crystal ball to predict that some false-flag incident might escalate tensions in the current display of hostilities between Iran and the United States or its regional allies. That was why in the final paragraph in my previous article I cautioned Iran to "...create closer dialog with the Arab counterparts to watch out for deliberate accidents that might ignite the powder keg and destroy both nations." Well, the incident happened the day after my post on Payvand, as it was obvious something like that would take place sooner or later, and likely would be repeated in days or weeks to come. Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khameneh'i, announced the other day that there would be no war between the United States and the Islamic Republic; again something that I also mentioned in the opening paragraph of the said article, that "With all the muscle-flexing and tough talk about the United States preparing for a war against Iran, I do not believe for a second that either the US or Israel would start such a war." And, Iran initiating aggressions to ignite the regional powder keg would be unthinkable, as the leadership is not comprised of a bunch of suicidal maniacs. The real maniac, John Bolton, whose deployment of the American naval task force to the Middle East to confront Iran's purported increasingly aggressive posture against Americans and allies has also been brought under scrutiny, not only by the top British commanding general in the region, but by America's own Democrat, as well as Republican law makers in Washington who are demanding more transparency of the "intelligence" regarding the claimed threats. There appears to be a developing rift between Bolton and his boss who, not from the kindness of his heart or any humanitarian feelings, but simply for his concerns about the war-weary public's opinion come the next elections, thinks Bolton has been too eager to start yet another war in that region. The maniac, Bolton, has already pissed off the Secretary of State, Pompeo, another war hawk, for bypassing his authority, as well as the Pentagon Chief's, by the deployment of the forces to the Middle East. The media, meanwhile, seem as clueless as the President in reporting the unfolding events. As is so typical of the MSM, half-truths, misinformation and exaggeration characterize their reportage. We keep hearing that the aircraft carrier, Abraham Lincoln, as well as B52 strategic bombers have been deployed to the Persian Gulf to confront Iran, just in case. But we never hear where these bombers are stationed or where exactly is the naval taskforce. To be in the Persian Gulf proper, these ships would have had to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, defying the warnings and potential threats voiced by the IRGC, now branded by the United States as a terrorist organization. But no; rather than provoking a potentially disastrous episode, they are safely positioned in the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea! Smart thinking by the US defense strategists who don't welcome getting into a new war; and neither does Iran. We also hear that satellite pictures taken over the Persian Gulf show missiles being loaded onto Iranian boats patrolling the waters off the Iranian coast. Wow! What a horrible surprise that is supposed to be! What the hell were we expecting: an enemy's armada has approached the Persian Gulf accompanied by stern warnings and outright threats, and the IRGC preparing for any eventuality by arming its defenses against these provocations is an alarming surprise? There should be no doubt that there exist lines of communication between the IRGC and Pentagon behind the scenes in order to avoid a real confrontation. The Arab Emirates have already backed off from accusing Iran for the attack on the ships belonging to the Saudis in the Persian Gulf. Well, the attack might have been carried out by the Yemeni Houthis allied with Iran, or some other rogue element, if not by the Grand Masters of false-flag operations in the region. If Iran were to be held responsible for any act of sabotage in the Persian Gulf area, Iraq, or elsewhere by groups associated with the Iranian government or the IRGC, whether the Shi'a militia in Iraq or Syria, the Hezbollah in Lebanon, or the Shi'a Houthis of Yemen, assumption must be made that Iran has total control over the actions of its friends and allies in the region. Based on such an assumption, Iran should be able to prevent its friends and allies from carrying such acts that would provide pretext for its enemies to start a war. But does Iran truly want a war with the United States, Israel or the Gulf Arab states? Obviously not. Then, simple logic tells us that any friend or ally of Iran, knowing that Iran does not want a new war of devastation upon its soil, would not engage in any covert or overt act of sabotage that could go against the interests of its friend and benefactor. However, rogue elements or extremists do exist there as well, very much like our own John Bolton and Mike Pompeo, who want to pursue their own destructive agendas with or without permission or approval from above! I am sure responsible people in both Iran and the United States are well aware of all that. Even well-known hawks in both countries have voiced concerns over the ugliness of a war between the two states. The nutcase Bolton, robotic Pompeo and even the sleaze-bag Rudy Giuliani might be replaced to accommodate the President's public image. But it is likely that another ambitious nutcase, such as the young Senator from Arkansas, Tom Cotton, might replace John Bolton. Cotton, a well-known Iran-hater and a veteran of Iraq war once said during a Senate hearing that, to paraphrase, the only role of the IRGC in Iraq was to kill Americans!! He is an ambitious politician with sights set on higher places, but he is not an idiot to not know that without the IRGC the war against ISIS and Al Qa'eda, both Iran's enemies, could not have been won! It is so interesting that in most televised interviews with the so-called experts on the Middle East affairs, even those who side for a reasoned, cautious approach to Iran, or those who are critical of the US administration's reneging on the Nuclear agreement, often end by making the required remark: "...even though they (the Iranians) have been up to no good and have been destabilizing the region." Just to stay on the safe side of politics. Will this tug-of-war ultimately bring the Iranian leadership to the negotiating table with the self-proclaimed genius negotiator, Trump, as he actually expects? The answer in my opinion is NO! At least not until he dismounts his high horse, stops the good-cop/bad-cop charade that he and Bolton have been engaging in, and shows a bit of respect and humility in dealing with a competitor rather than an underling. But, since he lacks any knowledge of history and geography, these requirements are not in his tool bag, and it is, as he would tweet, sad! For now at least, the dogs of war seem to be on a leash. Even though the policy of trying to change the Iranian regime's behavior has been effectively altered to the policy of regime change, both the US President and Iran's Supreme Leader have expressed their views that war between the two countries is not in the making. In Beijing, Iranian FM Zarif Calls For 'Concrete Action' To Salvage Nuclear Deal 05/17/19 Source: RFE/RL Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has urged China, Russia, and other "partners" to take "concrete action" to safeguard a nuclear deal that the United States exited a year ago. Zarif made the call on May 17 upon arriving in Beijing where he held talks with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi. "Our relationship with China is very valuable to us." - Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. https://t.co/lwG4U2jPW2 Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) February 19, 2019 Along with the United States, Britain, France, Germany, and Russia, China is a signatory to the 2015 nuclear deal, which limited Iran's sensitive nuclear work in exchange for sanctions relief. But the United States pulled out of the accord in May 2018 and unilaterally reintroduced crippling sanctions on Iran. Tehran last week said that it is scaling down on some of its commitments under the deal to pressure the remaining parties to the pact to protect Iran from the sanctions. "So far, the international community has mainly made statements instead of saving the deal," Zarif was quoted as saying by Iran's official news agency IRNA. "The practical step is quite clear: Economic relations with Iran should be normalized. This is what the deal clearly addresses," the top Iranian diplomat added. Zarif's trip to China followed quick visits to Japan and India. Earlier this month, the U.S. administration withdrew waivers to China, Japan, India and six other nations that had allowed them to import some Iranian crude without being exposed to punitive action under the U.S. sanctions. Washington has ramped up pressure on Tehran in recent days, bolstering the U.S. military presence in the Middle East and Persian Gulf to counter what U.S. officials called "imminent" threats from Iran against the interests of the United States or its allies. Iran has dismissed the allegations and accused the United States of an "unacceptable" escalation of tensions. Speaking in Tokyo, Zarif said there was "no possibility" of talks with the United States to reduce escalating tensions. In announcing the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, U.S. President Donald Trump said the terms were not tough enough to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons and did not address Iran's missile program or Tehran's support for militants in the region. Iran denies it supports insurgent activity and has said its nuclear program is strictly for civilian energy purposes. With reporting by IRNA, AP and AFP The Good Governance Advocacy Group Ghana (GGAGG) has described as fraudulent, robbery, defrauding by false pretenses, stealing and causing of financial loss to the state the decision by Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to implement Cargo Tracking Notes (CTN) system at the countrys seaports. The Customs Excise and Preventive Service of GRA last year decided to implement the CTN system which is used globally after realizing that some importers provide inadequate information on their goods making it difficult for the Customs division to correctly verify the goods that are brought in, the volumes, weight, among others. By adopting the CTN system into Ghana, Customs said it was seeking to modernize its operations to facilitate the movement of legitimate trade in line with international best practices. Under the new system, exporters the world over, shipping cargo to Ghana will be expected to provide detailed and timely information about their shipment in advance on the global online platform. Commenting on the implementation, GGAGG said although the CTN is good, it is not supposed to be implemented by GRA and CTN Ghana Limited which has no connection with the World Trade Organisation platforms such as World Customs Organisation (WCO), International Criminal Police Organisation ICPO, International Maritime Organisation IMO and World Bank. The group intimates that GRA is in that regard usurping the powers and functions of the Ghana Shipper Authority. "It is instructive to mention that there is no Legislative Instrument (L.I) from the Parliament of Ghana that mandates Ghana Revenue Authority to execute such a project let alone sign a contract to that effect," says GGAGG. "In view of the above-stated fact, Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has no such mandate to sign such a contract to blatantly breach a Ghana Shippers Authority Regulation, 2012 Legislative Instrument (LI 2190) that gives Ghana Shippers Authority only the mandate to carry out such dutie. "Ghana Shippers Authority has signed a legally binding contract between themselves and a company called Antaser Afrique. By the signing of a new contract between Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and CTN Ghana Limited, it is deduced that the first legally signed contract is being abrogated by Government of Ghana (GoG). "This action can trigger a legal suit against the Republic which can lead to payment of a whopping Judgement Debt since the first company has incurred a huge cost at the preparatory stage to facilitate the commencement of the implementation of the WTO/TFA project" it adds. GGAGG says it finds GRA's decision to implement CTN as a means of among other things, "forming a syndicate to transact, pursue and promote a dubious transaction at Ghana seaports." Listowell Nana Kusi-Poku, Executive Director of GGAGG insists President Akufo-Addo should as a matter of urgency halt the implementation and set up a body to investigate the issue. He says: "We have drawn the Presidents attention to the need to institute a review or assessment into the motive behind the implementation of the Cargo Tracking Notes (CTN) by Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and not Ghana Shippers Authority (GSA) and commence an internal investigation into our accusations and act accordingly to curtail the illegalities therein. "The President and his office have been misled by some highly dishonest persons who are appointees of the President and some private persons, whom we have petitioned CHRAJ and accused them of perpetrating illegalities. Source: Ghana Web 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 President of the Association of Building and Civil Engineering Contractors in Ghana, Prosper Yaw Ledi has lauded government's decision to redevelop two of the citys slum areas, Nima and Maamobi to a luxurious abode for the indigents. The building expert said the gentrification is possible after citing other countries who have redeveloped their slum areas to tourist sites. Yes, this is doable, we can do this, he said. Residents of popular suburbs in Accra - Nima and Maamobi are to get ready for some major facelift in their area. The Works and Housing Minister, Samuel Atta-Akyea said that the redevelopment of the slum will give meaning and beauty to the Presidents vision of Inner City and Zongo Development. He told the press Tuesday that to achieve that, government is collaborating with the Lands and Zongo Development Ministries to turn the approximately 1,039 acres of prime land into a world-class residential enclave. Speaking on NEAT FMs evening political talk show The Torch Light, Prosper Ledi called on government to involve the services of his association in the redevelopment process. We have topnotch Engineers here in Ghana who can sure this project is executed nicely. Government should involve us, He told host Mac Jerry Osei Agyeman. Listen to interview 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 On the special occasion of this years Mothers Day celebration, PZ Cussons Ghana Limited, producers and distributors of personal and homecare products, celebrated mothers and babies in grand style on 10th of May at the Fiesta Royale Hotel in Accra with their Cussons Baby brand. This years celebration was momentous because the company brought together mothers, customers and other stakeholders to celebrate its milestone achievement of nurturing and growing a Facebook community of over 300,000 parents and helping them on issues around parenting. It was a time to share happy moments with mothers, network and to wine and dine to make them feel special. Some of the patrons shared their happy moments with their mums and some fond memories while growing up as kids. Mothers were treated to good music, food and drinks. There were a lot of giveaways including hampers which contained assorted products from PZ Cussons. Every individual present at the event also took home some presents from the company including Cussons Baby gift packs, oil, powder, wipes, jelly and many more. 300k fan contest winners To show appreciation to their Facebook community, the company awarded some mothers for making their 300,000 milestone a reality. The winners of the 300,000 Fan Contest were those who shared a lot of fun content and engaged more with the resource personnel on the PZ Cussons Facebook Page. The winners were Ms Hannah Addo (overall winner of the supermum contest), Ms Martha Nyarkoh, Ms Amanda Elorm Boateng, Ms Vincentia Sefakor, Ms Bridget Amson, Ms Linda Sefa Boahen, and Ms Pigue Pique. They all took home a hamper each containing products from PZ Cussons. Journey Explaining how PZ Cussons started on Facebook, the Category Manager for Personal Care at PZ Cussons, Mrs Maryann Boaten, said the companys Facebook page started as a small community with about four years ago. Looking at the population of Facebook in Ghana which is about four million, and the fact that the big brands which have been there more than 10 years now have about one million, we deserve to celebrate our 300,000 following achievement, she said. Mrs Boaten emphasized that the PZ Cussons Facebook page is the only page in Ghana that gives informative, educative issues on pregnancy, breastfeeding and other stuff about motherhood. She stated that the page engages its followers on interesting topics as far as mothers are concerned, noting that it was not dormant but lively. An example of one of the many activities the brand engaged in last year was the Cussons Baby Moments Campaign which was aimed at encouraging family bonding through pictures. She further stated that this year promises to be even more exciting for all our Cussons Baby parents as we are planning many more engaging activities such as the Cussons Baby Moments season 2 and Cussons Baby Showers. Appreciation Later, Mrs Boaten expressed appreciation to all stakeholders and partners of PZ Cussons. Mrs Boaten was particularly full of praises to the Ghana Medical Association, Ghana Registered Midwives Association and all mothers for their support over the years. We usually have live forum on our social media pages with a qualified nurse or midwife available to answer all the concerns of parents, and that we are grateful to our medical partners for, she concluded. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video As part of preparations for the electronic data collection for the 2020 Population and Housing Census, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has scheduled a trial census in selected districts in the country. The exercise, which will begin May, 26 2019, will be used to test electronic data collection tools and other geo-spatial technologies that GSS would use in the 2020 census. People in districts such as Dormaa West (Bono Region), Bunkpurugu (North East Region), and Ashiedu Keteke, Ledzokuku, Osuklottey, Ayawaso West, Okaikoi in the Greater Accra Region, will take part in the trial census. A release signed by Prof. Samuel K. Anim, Government Statistician, said the use of technology in the upcoming census is in accordance with the recommendation of the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) for the 2020 round of Population and Housing Censuses. He said starting from May 26, a week prior to the trial census night, officials from the GSS will start visiting the communities that have been selected for the trial census to identify and number houses and other structures. This is to ensure that there is complete coverage of all households in the selected areas during the trial census, he said. The GSS urged all persons in the selected communities to cooperate with the census officials in order to ensure a successful trial. Population Census The Population and Housing Census is an essential national exercise, which is in accordance with the Statistical Service Law, 1985 (PNDCL 135) that empowers the Government Statistician to conduct statistical surveys and census in Ghana. The GSS takes count of every person residing in Ghana at the time of the census and establishes other important demographic details about every individual in the country. In this regard, the 2020 Population and Housing Census will provide the current population of Ghana by age, sex, educational level, marital status, literacy, educational attainment, occupation, economic activity and geographic area of residence. The count will also cover access to water, healthcare, educational infrastructure and housing. The information will be used at the district, regional and national levels. It will also be used by industry, media, academia, research institutions and international organizations to make informed decisions to ensure effective planning and policy formulation. Source: Daily Guide Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The various security agencies at the Elubo border are collaborating to ensure maximum security at the Elubo enclave in the Jomoro Municipality of the Western Region. Mr. Edward Osei, Assistant Commissioner of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Service (GRA) and Sector Commander at the Elubo border, disclosed this when the Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, visited the border town. The visit was part of the regional ministers two-day working visit to the Jomoro Municipality. Mr. Osei indicated that the effort of any single border security agency would be futile in dealing with border challenges. He mentioned that these days, crimes had become sophisticated in nature, adding so it is difficult for a single organization to handle the challenges that confront us in terms of border management. He said, We collaborate with the Ghana Immigration Service and other security agencies and stakeholders at the border to ensure the achievement of total security of goods and persons. We share intelligence to enable us deal with issues such as terrorism, smuggling and check inflow of goods and services. He also mentioned that efforts were currently ongoing to block all unapproved routes at the border posts. Benchmark Value The Assistant Commissioner of Customs described the reduction of the benchmark port value as a fantastic policy the government had rolled out. The results are positive and we hope it will help increase revenue into the national kitty, he said. He indicated that the issue of inadequate staff at his outfit used to be a problem but the posting of some personnel of the Nation Builders Corps had addressed the challenge. For his part, Mr. Darko-Mensah said the Ghana beyond aid policy of the government could be achieved with improved revenue by the various revenue mobilization agencies. He appealed to importers to let the reduction of the benchmark value reflect in the pricing of their products to benefit the final consumers. Source: Daily Guide Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The National Union of Ghana Students on Friday paid a working visit to the family of the late teacher, Mr George Bosompem Somuah who was murdered by some youth purported to be old students of Asiakwa Salvation Army JSS where the deceased was a teacher. The Union commiserated with the bereaved family and offered our sincere condolences. NUGS commended the family of the deceased teacher for their cooperation with law enforcement and their fortitude in these trying times. NUGS further met with the Headmaster and some staff of Salvation Army JSS to express our condolences and also appealed to them to get back to the classroom to teach students, especially those who are preparing to sit for their Basic Education Certificate Examination (B.E.C.E). They also encouraged the students and youth to be cautious in their dealings throughout their academic and social life as we engaged the teachers to be strong in such a difficult moment. The Union upon learning the deceased teacher left three(3) children behind promised to help his first child, Charlotte Duako Somuah who is currently writing her WASSCE in her furthering studies to any of the tertiary institutions. The Union will fund her admission forms and also secure a scholarship for her and offer the needed assistance and guidance to ensure her success as a student The Union will offer the family with the necessary help in the run up to the final funeral rites of the late teacher. We admonish Ghanaian students to imbibe the spirit of lawfulness, respect for authority and a deep sense of responsibility towards authority especially teachers and parents. NUGS is committed to fighting for the welfare of Ghanaian students in the capacity as mother body of students of Ghana. Thank You. Signed Kobby Otchere Marfo Press and Information Secretary [email protected] Tinkaro Asare Osei President Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Ministry of Education said it has met with authorities and student leaders of the University of Ghana concerning the alleged privatization of UGEL hostel. A statement signed by the Public Relations Officer, Vincent Ekow Assafuah (JNR) read: the Minister of State, In Charge of Tertiary Education, Prof. Kwesi Yankah met with the management of the University of Ghana and the leadership of the student body on the alleged privatization of UGEL hostel. "The Minister of State, has come to appreciate the implications of the situation of the debt burden on the University of Ghana, Legon and has indicated his readiness and that of the Ministry to meet with the leadership of the consortium of banks and the management of the University to find an amicable solution before the negotiated deadline of 31st of May 2019." The Ministry also appealed to the leadership of the student body to exercise restraint as steps are being taken to resolve the impasse. Read the full statement below On this day 17th of May 2019, the Ministry of Education led by the Minister of State, In Charge of Tertiary Education, Prof Kwesi Yankah met with the management of the University of Ghana and the leadership of the student body on the alleged privatization of UGEL hostel. The Minister of State, has come to appreciate the implications of the situation of the debt burden on the University of Ghana, Legon and has indicated his readiness and that of the Ministry to meet with the leadership of the consortium of banks and the management of the University to find an amicable solution before the negotiated deadline of 31st of May 2019. However, the Minister of state explained that this matter is strictly the responsibility of the University of Ghana Council but government has expressed interest in the matter because of public interest and its implications for academic stability on university campuses. The Ministry has appealed to the leadership of the student body to exercise restraint as steps are being taken to resolve the impasse. The Minister also drew the attention of stakeholders at the meeting to the expected influx of students in the universities in the 2020 academic year due to Free SHS policy and expressed the hope that, an amicable outcome could be reached soon. Source: Josephine Acheampomaa/Peacefmonline/[email protected] Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Tanzanian government on Thursday issued an official warning to people planning to visit the country not to carry plastic bags with them effective June 1, this year, underlining the countrys plan to protect the environment. Tanzania joins Rwanda, which for the past 10 years, has been leading the way in enforcing a ban on plastics in the region. All plastic carrier bags, regardless of their thickness will be prohibited from being imported, exported, manufactured, sold, stored, supplied and used in mainland Tanzania," the Office of the Vice President of Tanzania said in a statement this morning. Plastic bags, which take hundreds of years to degrade, are a major global issue as they, among others, contribute to flooding and prevent crops from growing because rainwater cannot penetrate the soil when it is littered with plastics. However, the statement said, plastic or plastic packaging for medical services, industrial products, construction industry, agricultural sector, foodstuff, sanitary and waste management are not prohibited. Visitors to the East African country were advised to avoid carrying plastic carrier bags or packaging carrier bags or items in plastic carrier bags in the suitcase or hand luggage before embarking on a visit to Tanzania. Special desks will be designated at all entry points where such banned plastic materials will be surrendered, the statement added. It is also noted that plastic carrier items known as ziplo bags that are specifically used to carry toiletries will be permitted as they are expected to remain in the permanent possession of visitors and are not expected to be disposed in the country. The government does not intend for visitors to Tanzania to find their stay unpleasant as we enforce the ban. However, the government expects that, in appreciation of the imperative to protect the environment and keep our country clean and beautiful, our visitors will accept minor inconveniences resulting from this plastic bags ban, the statement reads in part. The latest move comes as no surprise because last month, Tanzanias Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa in his speech during a budget session in the National Parliament told lawmakers in the capital, Dodoma, that polythene bags will no longer be used for commercial purposes or household packaging, and warned producers and suppliers to dispose of their stocks. At the time, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Country Director Dr. Amani Ngusaru congratulated the government for stepping up the fight against plastic pollution in the country. He said WWF Tanzania is impressed with the Tanzania governments decision to ban the use of plastic bags and carriers which will be a big bust in the bid to protect the environment and natural resources. Plastic is a number one polluter of environment and a silent killer of our natural environment and resources than most people understand, Ngusaru said. This is because it takes more than a hundred years for a single plastic bag to decay. We are happy that Tanzania is among the very few African countries to ban the use of plastic bags and we will work hard toward supporting the government in the fight against plastic pollution. The Office of the Vice President was to ensure the enforcement of the ban through regulations to be introduced under the environment law. In Rwanda, it is illegal to import, produce, use or sell plastic bags and plastic packaging except within specific industries like hospitals and pharmaceuticals. The nation is one of the more than 40 countries around the world that have banned, restricted or taxed the use of plastic bags, including China, France and Italy. Tanzania now joins about 13 African countries that have either banned or introduced a levy on plastic bags to control and eventually stop its use. In 2017, Tanzanias neighbour, Kenya, also introduced a ban on plastic bags mandating four years in prison or a fine of $40,000 for even using one. Source: newtimes.co.rw 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 Lawmakers in Taiwan have approved a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in a landmark decision that makes the self-ruled island the first place in Asia to pass gay marriage legislation. The vote came almost two years after the island's Constitutional Court ruled that the existing law; which said marriage was between a man and a woman was unconstitutional. The panel of judges gave the island's parliament two years to amend or enact new laws. On Friday, only a week off the two-year deadline lawmakers in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan passed a bill making same-sex marriage a reality and it will go into effect on May 24. Tens of thousands of people braved pouring rain Friday to demonstrate in favor of same-sex marriage outside the parliament, where lawmakers were voting on three draft bills. The successful Cabinet bill was backed by LGBTQ groups, despite the fact it creates a law different to straight marriage. For instance, under Cabinet's bill, a Taiwanese person could not marry foreigners from countries where same-sex marriage is not legal. Thousands turned of gay rights activists, many bearing umbrellas, rainbow flags and rainbow placards, gathered in heavy rain in the capital Taipei in support of marriage equality. Although the island has a large gay community and its annual gay pride parade is the biggest in Asia, the issue of marriage equality has divided Taiwanese society. In a controversial referendum in November last year, 67% voted to reject same-sex marriage. Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has accepted the latest report by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Peter Otokunor, deputy General Secretary of the party said there are some aspects of the research like corruption which will help them strategize towards election 2020. Some aspects of the report indicated that corruption in the public sector remains endemic and a source of anger among the population. In February 2018 a Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, was sworn in, with the remit of reducing graft. Progress has not yet been reported, but pressure to reduce corruption will rise ahead of the 2020 elections. Failure to address this issue could weigh on voter confidence in the political system, although such grievances are relatively low-level. Mr Otokunor reacting to this in an interview on Peace FM's [email protected] said it will be wrong to rubbish the report in its entirety because there are issues which should be considered. "They have raised critical issues which will help us in strategizing for 2020 and it will also form the basis for policy in those in government. We accept this research . . . things like corruption and others will come up and Ghanaians will hold Akufo-Addo accountable to it," he stated. NDC Rubbishes EIU Report Predicting Mahamas Defeat The party has, however, rubbished claims in the report that former President John Mahama will not win the 2020 elections. Click to read According to Peter Otokunor, that aspect of the report cannot be right. Meanwhile, the party in a press release, says Having done an objective and dispassionate analysis of the latest EIU report on Ghana, the NDC comes to the obvious conclusion, that the EIU has largely gotten their latest prediction of Ghanas 2020 general election wrong. Source: Rebecca Addo Tetteh/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected] Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The General Secretary of the ruling New Patriotic Party [NPP], John Boadu says claims that Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidus office has been wasteful is laughable after urging Ghanaians to relax. Many have said the NPP may have fallen in their attempt to fight corruption by appointing Mr Martin Alamisi Burnes Kaiser Amidu as Special Prosecutor. But John Boadu on NEAT FMs morning show Ghana Montie argued that, the former Attorney General will soon strike with prosecutions when concrete evidences are gathered. They should just relax; Amidu is gathering facts to start prosecution, he said. Cases At Office Of Special Prosecutor Report says some 26 cases are receiving attention at the Office of the Special Prosecutor. It includes opposition figures as high profile as former President John Mahama and government appointees under the Akufo-Addo administration, such as Board Chairman of the Ghana National Petroleum Company and National Chairman of the governing NPP, Mr. Freddie Blay. The Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, has so far filed one case in court among the alleged 25 cases which have piqued his interest. The office, which is the Presidents promised solution to political graft, was created by law in 2018. Martin Amidu is a former Attorney-General who resigned from the John Atta Mills administration and made a name for himself in chasing after ill-gotten funds while a lackadaisical state pussyfoots. He was sworn in as the first Special Prosecutor on March 1, 2018, with a secured tenure which is believed, will protect the appointee from political interference which is said to have undermined the fight against corruption. Listen to Interview... 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 Government has accused the erstwhile National Democratic Congress (NDC) government of issuing the permit for the importation of a total of 1,575 short guns and pop actions into the country recently. A document made available showed that a former Deputy Minister of Interior, James Agalga, signed the permit for Yadco Ghana Limited to import the items, two days to the handing over of power to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government. A statement issued on Wednesday, May 15 by the Communications Director of the NDC, Kakra Essamuah, had chastised the incumbent government, calling for the immediate ban on arms importation. The NDC said its call to government is commonsensical since the situation is worsening the heightened tension unduly. But addressing journalists on Thursday, Minister of Information Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said the NDC government was well aware of the importation. He provided the permit issued by Mr Agalga, the Member of Parliament for Builsa North Constituency, on January 5, 2017. The consignment of handguns and gauge pump action guns was cleared at the Tema port but was seized after some whistleblowers suspected foul play. But upon further interrogations, the police said the consignment was legally imported. Source: 3news.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Director of Elections for the National Democratic Congress [NDC], Elvis Afriyie Ankrah says the new advanced security measures introduced by the Electoral Commission [EC] cannot in any way, intimidate or silence the opposition party at Inter-Party Advisory Committee [IPAC] meetings. There was anger among some political party representatives during an IPAC meeting held on Thursday, following the presence of armed police personnel, reportedly brought in by the commission. The party representatives say they went through stringent security checks, not excluding vigorous scanning, before they were allowed into the conference room for the meeting. This, according to Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, was unnecessary since the meeting wasnt related to war. Speaking on NEAT FMs morning show, Mr Ankrah however said We [NDC] are not shaken by the move. Its funny. Who was going to harm the EC? Why would they [EC] bring a police officer dressed like an Afghanistan war soldier to a peaceful meeting? That wont distract us in any way or stop us from talking, he said. Listen to interview 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 President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said he would "keep an eye" on the six newly created regions to ensure they developed faster to meet the growth aspirations of the people. I am fully committed to ensuring that all six regions had the accelerated development they voted for, he said. President Akufo-Addo said this when he inaugurated the Oti Region at Dambai on Wednesday. He said Government had prepared a development plan for the regions, and that there was a big responsibility on the part of public officials in realising the goals. You are coming to be the foundation of new regions and you need to be extra vigilant and extra committed, the President stated. He said he would keep to his promise of distributing offices of the various agencies and departments equitably across all districts. President Akufo-Addo said making better the lives of Ghanaians was a hallmark he desired, and called on chiefs and the people to support him. "I have brought good governance to better the lives of Ghanaians and need the support of all," he said. The President is inaugurating all the six new, breaking grounds for the construction of regional coordinating council complexes, and also presenting eight vehicles each to the regional administrations. He also commissioned some completed government projects, inspected some which were ongoing, and cut sods for new ones. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video A former Deputy Interior Minister under the Mahama administration, Hon James Agalga, has called on government to "desist from its dishonest penchant to dabble in blame games at the least opportunity especially when high matters of State such as our collective security are at stake". In a statement issued today on the controversy surrounding the importation of shot guns/ pump action guns into the country by Yadco company limited, Mr Agalga accused the Information Minister, Hon Oppong Nkrumah of deliberately neglecting and/or refusing to make public the actual import permit under which the importation was done. He held the view that, once "permits for arms importation are not granted in perpetuity" it will be instructive to find out who granted the renewal for the said permit after its "lifespan of one year." Once again, Hon Oppong Nkrumah failed to disclose to the good people of Ghana when the delivery permit was issued and who signed it. Without doubt, the delivery permit was issued in 2019 and could not have been the handiwork of the NDC when it was in power... "...Furthermore, permits for arms importation are not granted in perpetuity. Infact, permits once issued have a lifespan of one year. Is it therefore the case that whatever permit the CID may have issued pursuant to my letter if any at all expired and was renewed? If so, can it be said that the NDC granted the renewal? Obviously it couldnt have been the NDC government," portions of the statement read. Read Below A Copy Of The Statement. RE: ARMS IMPORTATION AND MATTERS ARISING My attention has been drawn to the Information Minister, Hon. Kojo Oppong Nkrumahs press conference on the evening of Thursday the 16th day of May, 2019 at which event he sought to throw light on the controversy surrounding the importation of shot guns/ pump action guns into the country by Yadco company limited. At the said press conference, Hon. Oppong Nkrumah put out in the public domain a document signed by me sometime in January 2017 in relation to Yadcos authorisation to import shot guns into our country and concludes that; the NDC and not the NPP government ought to carry the blame for the importation of the shot guns into the country. It is however pertinent to note that, Hon Oppong Nkrumah deliberately neglected and/or refused to make public the actual import permit under which the importation was done. A quick glance at the concluding paragraph of the letter I signed simply requested the Director General of the CID to issue Yadco limited with an import permit in the following words; The purpose of this note is to request you to issue the company with the import Permit. The question then to ask is when the actual import permit was issued? Without doubt, the actual import permit would have been issued long after the NDC had left office. It is also instructive to note that when a licensed importer of arms obtains permit from the CID and not the Interior Minister as is envisaged in my signed letter, the importer procedurally must obtain a delivery permit from the Interior Ministry before the imported arms can be cleared at the port. Once again, Hon Oppong Nkrumah failed to disclose to the good people of Ghana when the delivery permit was issued and who signed it. Without doubt, the delivery permit was issued in 2019 and could not have been the handiwork of the NDC when it was in power. Furthermore, permits for arms importation are not granted in perpetuity. Infact, permits once issued have a lifespan of one year. Is it therefore the case that whatever permit the CID may have issued pursuant to my letter if any at all expired and was renewed? If so, can it be said that the NDC granted the renewal? Obviously it couldnt have been the NDC government. In conclusion, it is important to note that the press statement issued by the NDC on this subject matter which triggered Hon. Oppong Nkrumahs press conference never called into question the legality or otherwise of the arms importation. Rather, what the statement sought to do was to remind government of the threat of terrorism on our northern frontier, increased incidents of kidnappings, armed robberies, contract killings and pervasive acts of vigilantism as reasons why President Akufo-Addo should consider the option of placing a moratorium on arms importation. After all, this is a tool successive NDC governments readily used whenever it was necessary to do. In any case, the security situation as at January 2017 is not the same as it is in May, 2019. We urge Government to desist from its dishonest penchant to dabble in blame games at the least opportunity especially when high matters of State such as our collective security are at stake. Signed, Hon. James Agalga MP, Builsa North and Ranking Member, Defence and Interior Committee of Parliament. Source: Peacefmonline/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video BET in Africa today announced the local nominations for the BET Awards 2019 taking place at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles on June 23rd. The awards celebrate the brightest stars across music, television, film, sports, and philanthropy. The nominees announced in the Best International Act Award category are Nigerian musicians Burna Boy and Mr. Eazi alongside South African Hip Hop rapper AKA. Also included in the category are Dave and Giggs from the UK with Aya Nakamura and Dosseh from France. In the fan voted category of Best New International Act is Teniola Apata from Nigeria, Sho Madjodzi from South Africa, Headie One and Octavian from the UK and Frances Jokair and Nesly. BET will honour the Best International Act in-show, along with the viewers choice fan voted category Best New International Act during the live red-carpet pre-show. 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. Featured Video We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form A man fills up his truck with gas in Toronto, on Monday April 1, 2019. The Ontario government's latest salvo against the federal carbon tax is being mocked online for appearing to accidentally promote the very cause it hoped to attack. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov Drew LevinYou Tuber-turned-pop star AJ Mitchell has a lot to be happy about. Not only is he enjoying his highest-charting hit yet with "All My Friends," but it's also his 18th birthday on Friday, which he's celebrating in style with a trip to Hawaii. Earlier this week, AJ told ABC Radio he was headed to Maui for a few days to relax and mark his big day, and he planned to take advantage of everything Hawaii has to offer. "I just wanna see all the different places, I just want adventure," he told ABC Radio. "Like, maybe take a bike, go on a hike, cliff-diving...definitely go to the beach, but yeah, [I] just kinda wanna explore." In addition to turning 18, AJ also has another milestone this month: He's graduating from high school, after completing his studies online while touring and recording. "I literally have to take one more test and I'm outta school and never have to think about it again," he laughs. Meanwhile, AJ's thrilled that his single, "All My Friends" -- about being the only one of your pals who's single because you're hung up your ex -- is climbing the charts. Unlike most of his songs, AJ didn't write "All My Friends," but when someone on his team played it for him, he immediately connected with it. "It was almost as if it was a song I wrote, just because it's so relatable to what's going on in my life right now," says the Belleville, IL native. "It's like, it's literally something I would write. Like, all my friends ARE falling in love. Y'know, they're locking it up, they're all in relationships...and it was just perfect." AJ's debut album will be out later this year. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. The American Moslem Society is inviting the community to its annual Humanity Day Saturday in Dearborn. The event is scheduled for 7 to 9 p.m. May 18 and the mosque, 9945 Vernor Hwy. in Daerborn. Marine Corps veteran Richard McKinney is the guest speaker for the event. The event is aimed to show everyone about the month of Ramadan and how it is a spiritual renewal for those who celebrate it. McKinney is a 25-year veteran who served several tours in the Middle East and came home with a rage toward the Muslim community. He formed a plan to blow up a mosque in Indiana, but on his way to execute that plan, his mindset was changed. He was welcomed into the community there and eventually converted to the religion himself. McKinney will tell his story at the event. The event is free of charge. Nabil Fakih, who own Dearborn Heights Pharmacy, 25524 Ford Road, in Dearborn Heights was recently indicted on multiple federal charges, including insurance fraud. He also owns Dial Drugs in Westland. An indictment against him was filed in the U.S. District Court for Eastern District of Michigan earlier this month, alleging that Fakih had defrauded Blue Cross Blue Shield, Medicare, and Medicaid of more than$6 million by fraudulent claims for prescription drugs since January 2011. The drugs he was accused of billing for included an anti-psychotic, Clozapine, and a sedative, Alprazolam, according to the indictment. The prescriptions were allegedly filled on behalf of dead clients. The indictment broke down who he allegedly defrauded and from where. It claims that $4.1 million of claims were against Blue Cross, and about $2 million were against Medicare and Medicaid. In all, about $5 million was from the Dearborn Heights location, with about $1.1 million coming from the Westland location. Investigators raided the Dearborn Heights Pharmacy May 8 and took several boxes of evidence from inside the business. Fakih was appointed to the Michigan Board of Pharmacy in 2014 by then-Gov. Rick Snyder. His term expired last year. 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 Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Russian scientist charged with treason to stay in detention for 2 more months RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 17:48 17/05/2019 MOSCOW, May 17 (RAPSI) - The Lefortovsky District Court of Moscow on Friday extended detention of Viktor Kudryavtsev, a 74-year-old scientist of the Central Research Institute for Engineering Technology (TsNIImash) charged with treason, until July 20, RAPSI reported from the court. The hearing was held behind closed doors upon a prosecutor's petition. On Friday, Kudryavtsev was discharged from a hospital where he was placed for health examination following a decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). According to his attorney Ivan Pavlovov, ECHR obliged Russian authorities to conduct a medical examination of Kudryavtsev in a clinic independent of the penitentiary system. However, the lawyer said that the hospital where the researcher was placed in, did not fully meet the criteria specified in the ECHR ruling. In March, the Lefortovsky District Court of Moscow extended detention of Kudryavtsev until May 20. Earlier, Pavlov told RAPSI that investigators banned visits to the researcher after Kudryavtsev refused to make a deal with them envisaging guilty plea and testifying against his student. Kudryavtsev is accused of disclosure of classified information to the Belgian Von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamic, his another attorney Yevgeny Smirnov told RAPSI previously. Investigators claim that the researcher has transferred information via email from an unmarked computer. However, the scientist has not worked with such secret documents since late 90s, according to the lawyer. The researcher pleaded not guilty and refused to testify in the case, Smirnov added. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to Sochi May 14 to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said the two sides had a "constructive" discussion and "we confirmed the agreements reached by the two presidents on launching dialogue between our foreign ministry and US Department of State on issues of strategic stability." Ushakov also stressed that there has been no breakthrough in Russian-US relations, but the US has "demonstrated a constructive approach." Moscow has long wanted to ease relations with the US. Its attitude is simple: Why should the relations be antagonistic? Washington has an additional interest in improving relations with Moscow: To drive a wedge into the comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination between Russia and China and convert Russia from an adversary into a lever to strategically squeeze out Chinese influence. Beijing's attitude is calm: It wants to see better relations between Russia and the US. Russia is wary of Washington's attempts to sow discords between China and Russia and has never responded to the US side's proposal. For example, when the US tried to bring China into arms control negotiations, Moscow gave Washington the cold shoulder. In the early 1970s, the US united with China against the Soviet Union. Now China is regarded by the US political elite as the top strategic opponent. Wouldn't it make sense to turn around and unite Russia against China? In Washington policy circles, there are people mulling this idea. But even they know they can't do it, and so they prefer to settle for the next best thing: Ease relations between the US and Russia, reorient Moscow's strategic anxieties and draw more attention to its differences with China. Relations between Russia and the US have only gone from growling at each other to being nice to each other. It is currently only an idea at President Trump's level and it is hard to say if the US has begun to form a strategic consensus. The US still regards Russia's huge nuclear arsenal as a serious threat and is trying to establish an overwhelming military advantage over Russia. The US has not yet stepped away from the NATO thinking of eastward expansion and continues to include anti-Russia countries in eastern Europe into its new strategic territory. In addition, the US maintains huge sanctions against Russia. Trump's desire to eliminate them would be fiercely opposed by the domestic establishment and with elections approaching, it would be almost impossible to do so. The Sino-Soviet relationship in the 1970s was confrontational. China felt a serious military threat from the Soviet Union and the US and China had a huge common interest in working together. Relations between China and Russia began to strengthen during the years of former Russian President Boris Yeltsin when Russia had good relations with the West. Neither side would compromise its relationship in order to please a third party. It's true that Beijing would like to see better relations between the US and Russia. We are very confident when we say this. Northfield, IL -- (ReleaseWire) -- 05/17/2019 --For those looking for environment-friendly home improvements, changing the current house windows can be an excellent consideration. With several options out there, it becomes easier to ensure substantial financial savings in the heating and cooling prices of the home. Keeping it in mind, many homeowners are deciding to make the change. Chicago Window Pros is proud to bring in a range of house windows in Chicago and Schaumburg, Illinois. A double hung window is one of the most popular offerings of the company. This window features moveable upper and lower sashes that tilt inward for easy cleaning. Picture and Architectural shaped windows can also be found in their product portfolio. These windows are a mainstay of modern classic design. Available in multiple styles, these windows make for an excellent choice for remodeling. Sliding windows, on the other hand, are available in 2 or 3-lite configurations with the 3-lite horizontal sliding windows having operable end vents. One can also opt for Bay/Bow windows that consist of three windows in a single frame. The professionals at Chicago Window Pros explain the benefits of each of these windows and help the clients find the right one that fits the needs of the clients. They also take great pride in being one of the leading manufacturers of beautiful yet sturdy windows around Arlington Heights, Bolingbrook, Glenview, North Chicago, Schaumburg areas. With more than 20 years of experience, they bring the clients a wide variety of house windows to suit different needs. They also offer affordable prices without compromising on their quality and service. For more information on Pella entry doors in Arlington Heights and Bolingbrook, Illinois, visit https://www.chicagowindowpros.com/pella-sliding-doors-pella-entry-doors-and-pella-patio-doors-in-chicago/. About Chicago Window Pros Chicago Window Pros offers its services to the people of Chicago, Arlington Heights, Northfield, as well as its surrounding areas. The destroyer Kaifeng (Hull 109), which had been in service for 35 years, was the first of its kind to be equipped with an anti-aircraft missile, thus being considered a pioneer in modernized upgrading. Lyushun , May 17(ChinaMil) -- Recently, the destroyer flotilla of the navy under the PLA Northern Theater Command held a grand retirement ceremony for four homemade first-generation missile destroyers including the guided-missile destroyers Kaifeng (Hull 109), Dalian (Hull 110), Zunyi (Hull 134) and Guilin (Hull 164) at a military port in Lyushun, Liaoning Province, China. All of the four destroyers had been in service for more than 30 years, leaving footprints in the vast territorial waters of China. Over decades, they had effectively fulfilled their sacred duties to safeguard Chinas national unity and maritime rights and interests, and made outstanding contributions to the modernization of the Chinese Navy. This model of missile destroyers is the first-generation large and medium-sized warship independently designed and built by China. Their service in the military was of epoch-making significance, marking the rise of Chinas modern industry and naval forces. Their decommissioning also had epoch-making importance, indicating that China has quickened its pace of building a strong and modernized military. By SA Commercial Prop News The development of Capital Mall in Pretoria will be phased with 60,000 sqm Gross Leasable Area (GLA) planned to open towards the end of 2021. The development by one of SAs oldest rural shopping centre developers, McCormick Property Development (MPD), of a massive shopping mall in Pretoria West costing at least R1.2 billion has been given the green light. The development, Capital Mall, has been stuck in limbo, but an appeal to halt the development was overturned during a sitting of the City of Tshwanes Municipal Appeals Tribunal (MAT) in April, the developers said. With direct access approved off both the N4 highway and WF Nkomo (Church) Street and situated on the planned N4/R55 interchange, the double level mall will anchor Capital City a R5 billion mixed-use development, MPD said. The development node includes a 150-bed private hospital, value retail centre, motor dealerships, affordable housing, student housing, schooling and community facilities. The development of the mall will be phased with 60,000 sqm Gross Leasable Area (GLA) planned to open towards the end of 2021. MPD said that the design allows the mall to seamlessly expand to over 100,000 sqm in time, without the need for structured parking facilities. Shopping centres in South Africa According to a 2018 report by MSCI on behalf of the South African Council of Shopping Centres l, the South African market had 418 square meters of the shopping centre lettable area for every 1,000 people. The US is rated as having the most shopping centres relative to its population with 2,196 square meters/1,000 capita followed by Canada, Australia and Norway. However South Africa, Canada and the US have the highest level of shopping centre supply expressed relative to household consumption expenditure. Despite this demand, South Africas current shopping centre development pipeline suggests a slowdown in new mall completions for the period 2018-2020 which, combined with a predicted improvement in economic growth, may see South Africas shopping centre segment move lower and closer to the global average. Two days after the statue of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar in Kolkata was vandalised during BJP President Amit Shah's roadshow in the city, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday accused the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government of destroying evidence of the incident. "Trinamool miscreants vandalised eminent scholar Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar's statue that was locked inside a room (in the college named after the social reformer). There are CCTV cameras in that college. The way, the (state) government had destroyed evidence of the Narada and Saradha (scams), they are busy erasing the evidence in this case," Modi said while addressing a rally here. Demanding a thorough probe into the vandalism incident, he said: "Friends, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar ji was the son of the entire nation, not just Bengal. The people who have desecrated his bust have committed a grave sin. All the desecrators must be given severe punishment." Beginning with Swami Vivekananda to Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Bengal's culture has made "immense contribution in framing BJP's thought process," Modi said, adding that "safeguarding the state's pride is our party's priority." "Today, wherever Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar ji is, he might be seeing which party is fighting to safeguard Bengal's pride and which party is fighting for the infiltrators." Modi said people would educate Mamata Banerjee about democracy while showering their blessings on the BJP. He expressed joy as he was greeted by "thrice the number of people present on the ground" while coming to the venue from his helipad in Mathurapur. "So many people were waiting on both sides of the road, I had come out of the car and did a roadshow for them. I express heartfelt gratitude for all the love," he said at the rally. "Thank you Mathurapur for the immense love and affection. These scenes clearly show the bond of Bengal with BJP," Modi posted on Twitter. Spectators were seen waiving party flags and shouting "Bharat mata ki jai". Modi had to stop his speeches twice and urge the crowd to stay calm. Stopping in between his speech he alerted the public saying, "this place is very small, please don't rush. You have given me immense love. Any of your loss is my loss." He alleged that "Didi", as Banerjee is also known, is considering "West Bengal as her and her nephew's property." "These facts are known to the entire nation," he said. "This time the people of Bengal are going to fulfil an important responsibility, which will enable their 'sevak' (servant) to form a strong government. They are determined to help BJP in attaining the mark of 300 seats," he added. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's election rally in Bengal's Mathurapur constituency was held at a ground which belongs to the owner of an illegal microfinance company. Taking a swipe at Modi for repeatedly accusing her and her party leaders of being involved in Saradha and Rose Valley chit fund scam, the Trinamool Congress supremo urged the police to immediately start a case against that "chit fund owner". "The ground where PM Modi is holding his rally today belongs to Kapil Mondal, the owner of a microfinance company without license. Go and check. And he (Modi) talks about chit fund scams?" Banerjee said during her meeting at the same parliamentary constituency. "I have got all the documents. It has come to our knowledge just yesterday (Wednesday) that the person has collected crores of rupees from people in the name of his company and illegally bought lands here. I will hand over all the documents to the local police here so that a case could be immediately started against the chit fund owner," she said. She also wondered whether the BJP is getting a share of the money collected by the microfinance company owner. "Is he giving a share of the money to BJP? Maybe they are. Where is Narendra Modi? You talk about Narada (sting footage case), Saradha. But this is how you people start such scams," she said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. The owner of the land, however, refuted Banerjee's allegations and said his company has been given a clean chit by central regulatory authorities like the Reserve Bank of India and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). "The SEBI and RBI has checked everything here and given me a clean chit. Maybe she is claiming it to be illegal because she could not hold the rally on this ground. Had I permitted her to hold a meeting here, everything would have become legal," Mondal said. Punjab Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on Thursday defended his wife's remarks blaming the state Congress leadership for denying her a ticket from Amritsar. Reacting to his colleague's assertion, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh sought to clarify that Sidhu's wife was offered either Amritsar or Bathinda seat, "but she refused to contest on either of the seat." "My wife has that much strength and moral authority that she will never lie. This is my answer," Sidhu told reporters when asked about his wife's allegations that she was denied party ticket from Amritsar at the instance of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and party's Punjab affairs in-charge Asha Kumari. Navjot Kaur, a former Bharatiya Janata Party legislator from Amritsar (East), on May 14 blamed the Chief Minister for denying her a Lok Sabha ticket either from Chandigarh or Amritsar. She said Sidhu would not campaign for his party in his home state as the Chief Minister has told him not to do so. Hours after his wife's claim, Sidhu said at an election rally in Bathinda in the presence of Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi and Amarinder Singh that he would be returning to Punjab on May 17 to deliver a "knockout punch" to the Badals. Amid reports that the Minister's health was not allowing him to campaign, his wife also blamed Asha Kumari for not allowing Sidhu to campaign in Punjab. "Captain Saab is our smaller captain and (Congress President) Rahul Gandhi is our bigger captain and he has given duty to him (Sidhu) in other states and Navjot is busy campaigning there," she told reporters in Amritsar city. "When Captain saab and Asha Kumari have taken the lead role in ensuring victory of the party in all (13) seats, then what is the need for Navjot (Sidhu) to campaign in Punjab?" Denying any role in candidature for Sidhu's wife from Chandigarh, the Chief Minister said she had been offered ticket from Amritsar and Bathinda, but she refused. Ticket allocation was done by the top Congress leaders in Delhi, and they had chosen not to accept Navjot Kaur's application for ticket to contest from Chandigarh, he said, adding that Chandigarh was not under Punjab and he had no role in selection of candidate from the city. However, had he been asked, he would have frankly told the high command that Pawan Bansal, the chosen candidate of the party from Chandigarh, was a better choice, said Amarinder Singh in an informal chat with mediapersons. To another question, the Chief Minister said he would take responsibility and would quit if the Congress was wiped out in the state in these Lok Sabha elections. All ministers and MLAs have been made responsible for the Congress party's performance in the state, and he shared the responsibility with them, said Amarinder Singh. Rajeev Kumar (file photo) The Supreme Court on Friday vacated the interim protection granted to former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar from arrest by the CBI in the multi-crore chit fund scam cases. The investigating agency has accused Kumar of tampering with evidence to shield powerful politicians. The court, however, granted seven days time to Kumar to take appropriate legal remedies. While vacating its February 5 order granting the interim protection to Kumar, the apex court also expressed concern over the manner in which the chit fund cases panned out. While arguing the case, senior counsel Indira Jaising, appearing for the officer, argued that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was being vindictive and had cooked up a false case against Kumar. To support her argument, she referred to Kumar's unblemished career and said he was a decorated officer and no doubt had ever been cast on his integrity. Kumar was awarded the President's Medal in 2015, after due diligence and scrutiny by the Home Ministry to select a candidate who had not been implicated in a case or departmental inquiry, she added. Jaising said till date, the CBI had been unable to establish Kumar's criminal intent in suppressing evidence in the investigation. "And yet they are seeking his custodial interrogation. There is a media trial going on." She claimed that there was a reason why the CBI singled out Kumar in the case. "(Then interim) CBI Director Nageshwar Rao actually set the investigation agency after Kumar because there is an FIR against Rao's wife in West Bengal," she said. Recalling the February incident when the CBI went to question Kumar and the entire episode took a political turn, Jaising said the agency tried to raid Kumar's house in his absence. "His wife, a public servant, was in the house. They levelled false charges that he has hidden evidence at his residence," she argued. Jaising also contended that the CBI was deliberately going after Kumar but never questioned Arnab Ghosh, then Director General of Police of Police, who was also part of the SIT investigating the chit fund scam. The senior counsel also said no evidence of value was found on the electronic devices seized during the probe. Appearing for the CBI, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta insisted that the agency was not hounding Kumar. "We asked them a simple question regarding the FSL report of the electronic devices seized during the investigation but they did not give us any report," he said. He also said it was impossible to establish the authenticity of electronic data seized during the scam in the absence of a forensic science laboratory (FSL) report. Insisting that the FSL report was crucial to solve the case, he said: "We have been demanding it since the case was handed over to the CBI. How do we know that mobiles, laptops, pen drives have not been compromised?" At this, Jaising said the data was seized by different agencies -- the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), the Assam Police and the Enforcement Directorate -- and not by the West Bengal Police alone. World Sailing's Events Committee met at the 2019 Mid-Year Meeting in London, Great Britain on Friday 17 May, discussing a wide range of topics from Paris 2024 Equipment, Events Strategy and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. An audio and main screen feed of the session is available to watch back here - https://youtu.be/1QadrbJtudg Ahead of the meeting, an Events Strategy Working Party put forward a recommendation paper to the Events Committee on World Sailing's opportunity to develop a new strategy for 2021 - 2028.The strategy focused on the requirements for sailors and that it must add value for all of World Sailing's stakeholders with the Olympic Games at its heart.Three key goals were established to promote sailors progression with a clear regatta structure, ensure a stable regatta calendar with a credible ranking system and to see that Olympic level sailing is promoted to a greater audience to drive participation.A lengthy debate on the paper was held and the Events Committee endorsed the principles of the paper providing similar levels of World Sailing support were provided to class events, that a definition of, and how to become, a top-ranked regatta is established and how to make the events sustainable and cost efficient.Competition formats were also touched on and a variety of ideas, from first past to post wins gold to the traditional Medal Race to a top four shoot-out, were presented and discussed. The Events Committee recommended that Class Associations continue to test new formats and ideas and report back.The paper will go to World Sailing's Council, the main decision-making body, on Sunday 19 May for further debate before a final decision is made.The Events Committee are responsible for recommending changes to World Sailing's Council on Olympic Events. At the 2018 Mid-Year Meeting and 2018 Annual Conference, lengthy debates were held by the Committee before they made their recommendations.At the 2018 Annual Conference, the following Events were approved:Men's Windsurfer - RS:X*Women's Windsurfer - RS:X*Men's One Person Dinghy - TBCWomen's One Person Dinghy - TBCMixed Kiteboard - TBCMixed Two Person Dinghy - TBCWomen's Skiff - 49erFXMen's Skiff - 49erMixed Two Person Multihull - Nacra 17Mixed Two Person Offshore Keelboat - TBC*subject to ongoing equipment re-evaluationDina Kowalyshyn, Chair of the Equipment Committee, gave the Events Committee an update on the progress the Committee and Evaluation Panels have made on selecting the Equipment.The Events Committee noted the reports and stressed the importance of universality, youth appeal, media appeal and costs. The Equipment Committee meeting on Saturday 18 May will see the Committee make their recommendations on the Paris 2024 Equipment to Council.A full status update is available here - http://www.sailing.org/news/88613.php#.XNvAhKZ7lTY Cory Sertl, Chair of the Youth Events Sub-committee, presented the overall strategy of sailing in the Youth Olympic Games and the Youth Sailing World Championships.The youth events provide a pathway to the Olympic Games and elite events as well as developing best practices for the health of the sport and long term participation.Sertl touched on some of the challenges the youth events have faced in recent times including levels of instability with venue changes, uncertainty of Olympic Equipment and Events and new issues such as gender identification.The Youth Events Sub-committee is researching these issues in a bid to provide more stability in the future.Several opportunities around the Youth Sailing World Championships were also identified, notably modernisation of Equipment and boosting the participation of females in the sport.Alastair Fox, Director of Events, gave a full update of preparations for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Sailing Competition. Fox touched on the field of play, broadcast operations, current sport issues and the upcoming test event.Just over one year ago, The Hague, The Netherlands, was awarded the 2022 Sailing World Championships. The event will take place in August 2022 and will include World Championships for Olympic and Para World Sailing classes. In the early stages of its planning, the Events Committee will make recommendations on quotas at the 2019 Annual Conference.Fox also gave an update on the Hempel World Cup Series, summarising the achievements of the series this season as well as identifying areas of improvement.World Sailing's Equipment Committee will meet on Saturday 18 May. Paris 2024 Equipment will be the major talking point of the day and the committee will produce recommendations to Council. More information on the process is available here - http://www.sailing.org/news/88630.php#.XN7Z36Z7m_U Raul Castro, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, meets with Admiral Miao Hua, member of Chinas Central Military Commission (CMC) and director of the CMC Political Work Department, in Havana, Cuba on May 16, 2019. (Screenshot) HAVANA, Cuba, May 17 (ChinaMil) -- Raul Castro, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, met with Admiral Miao Hua, member of Chinas Central Military Commission (CMC) and director of the CMC Political Work Department, in Havana, Cuba on Thursday morning (local time). Raul Castro welcomed visiting Admiral Miao Hua and his entourage, and asked Miao to convey his cordial greetings and best wishes to Chinese President Xi Jinping. Raul Castro said that the two countries have built a profound friendship in revolution and construction. The Cuban side thanked China for its long-term support and assistance, and is willing to work with China to consolidate traditional friendship, deepen pragmatic cooperation, and push the relations between the two countries and the two militaries to a new high. Admiral Miao conveyed Chinese President Xi Jinpings cordial greetings and good wishes to Raul Castro. He said that the friendship between China and Cuba is profound; the two militaries have kept close exchanges, and are good friends, good comrades and good brothers. The Chinese military is also ready to work hand in hand with the Cuban military to fully implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state, deepen friendship, strengthen cooperation, and promote the development of bilateral military relations to a higher level. On May 14, Admiral Miao Hua and his entourage also held talks with Army Corps General Leopoldo Cintra Frias, Minister of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, and toured some military units in Cuba. Sellbyville, DE -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/17/2019 -- Global Market Insights recently introduced new report on global Air Humidifier market with an in-depth study providing complete analysis of the industry size, share and statistics for the period 2019 to 2024. It also provides complete overview of Air Humidifier industry considering all the major industry trends, market dynamics and competitive scenario. Air humidifier market has experienced a remarkable pace of progression in terms of revenue streams, courtesy- the growing awareness regarding indirect health impacts of relative humidity. Experimental studies depict that the occurrence of respiratory disorders often stems from low or very high relative humidity in an indoor environment, as it has direct influence on the temperature perception. Request for a sample copy of this report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/620 The incidence of respiratory infections is comparatively lower among populace who work in an environment of mid-ranged relative humidity. The unavoidable influence of relative humidity on abundance of pathogens, noxious chemicals, and allergens suggest that indoor relative humidity level is a viable factor to be considered to maintain a healthy air quality. This in consequence, has brought an immense growth opportunity for air humidifier market giants, who have been constantly coming up with innovative products to tap the maximum of this burgeoning business sphere. In a recent turn of events, globally acclaimed industrial conglomerate, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, made it to the front page with its latest range of 'roomist' humidifiers for Japan market. Reportedly, the range encompassed five fan powered steam type units, four limited edition e-commerce models, and three-hybrid evaporative warm mist systems. Among the standard fan-powered steam type humidifier range, two of them exhibit a humidifying capacity of almost 350 ml/h, having a power consumption of only 250 watt and operate at 27 dB. Endorsing such a unique palate of features, experts claim it as one of the futuristic product approaches in air humidifier industry especially with regards to its energy efficiency and low sound characteristics. The hybrid evaporative warm-mist range has also garnered rave reviews in the business space and is allegedly, industry's only humidifier range that enables sequential operation with air conditioner. As per reliable estimates, the global warm-mist air humidifier market size is slated to exceed a valuation of USD 500 million by 2024. Make an Inquiry for Purchasing this Report https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/620 Another pivotal product vertical for which investors are highly optimistic and have been betting big is portable air humidifier market. In fact, as per reliable sources, this particular business vertical dominated the global share in terms of volume (90%) in 2017. The yesteryear dominance can be majorly credited to its extensive array of unique features like high mobility, convenience, easy installation, low energy consumption, and of course portability. Another pointer that has favored portable air humidifier expansion especially across residential sector is the relative low cost of the product when compared to its counterparts. While elaborating further on the progression of air humidifier industry, it is important to take note of how regulatory backing is shaping the industry dynamics. The ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers) recommends indoor temperature and humidity levels for residential complexes. According to the organization, the optimal relative humidity of occupied spaces should be less than 65% in a bid to avoid the condition that might result in microbial growth. The Air Humidifier market report offers detailed competitive landscape of the global market. It includes companies, industry statistics, market share analysis and product portfolio of the major industry participants. The report provides detailed segmentation of the Air Humidifier market based on product, technology, end user and region. Browse Report Summery @ https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/air-humidifier-market The importance of air humidifier has been identified globally and continuous efforts have been made by renowned biggies like Boneco, Arnstrong International, Dristeem, Philips, Vornado, Stadler Foam, and Winix to enhance the product landscape. Boneco, for instance, has launched a groundbreaking digital warm & cool mist ultrasonic humidifier in the market that claims to provide best line of defense against allergens. Reportedly, the company has utilized high-frequency vibration to transform water into fine mist, so that it efficiently cleanses the air, stamping down all harmful germs and bacteria. Ergo, it can be inferred that the appreciable efforts undertaken by the air humidifier market giants is sure to add much to the commercialization matrix of this fraternity. Global Market Insights, Inc. forecasts overall air humidifier industry share to exceed USD 2.8 billion by 2024. 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. Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/17/2019 -- The global anti-reflective glass coatings market is intensified in terms of competition and has robust landscape said by Transparency Market Research. This is majorly due to the presence of a large number of new companies that are actively working in the anti-reflective glass coatings market. For instance, In May 2013, Royal DSM unveiled its brand new KhepriCoat anti-reflective coating producing space at the Chemelot site in the Netherlands. The coating is basically utilized for the solar or sun-oriented application. Read Report Overview @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/anti-reflective-glass-coatings-market.html In March 2015, Zeiss extended its lens coating portfolio and launcehed DuraVision Silver. The item would assist the organization with increasing its range to the cost-conscious user base. There are major organizations in the anti-reflective glass coatings markets like Anthony International, Guardian Glass, Falkberg, Schott AG, and Saint Gobain. Several enterprises as well as PPG, Royal DSM, and Honeywell have started concentrating on the solar application section for quickly rising demand for the item. According to, the TMR analysts, the global anti-reflective glass coatings market is projected to grow at a stellar 9.5% CAGR in the forecast period of 2017 to 2025 and reach US$1,790.5 mn by the end of 2025. Based on technology, the global anti-reflective coatings market is segmented into physical vapor deposition, and chemical vapor deposition. Among these, the physical vapor deposition segment has the maximum revenue share of the global anti-reflective coatings market. There are factors like superior hardness, oxidation resistance, and wear resistance of physical vapor disposition. These factors are combined with its broad usage in optics, thin films, automotive, watches, aerospace, medical, and cutting tools will drive the physical vapor deposition segment in the global anti-reflective coatings market. Request to view Sample Report: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=33365 Geographically, North America is leading the anti-reflective coatings market. The domination is owing to rising use of these coatings in electronics products which includes smart watches, smartphones, cameras, and tablets is expected to fuel the anti-reflective coatings market growth in the forthcoming years. The technological improvements in electronic devices and augmented eye disease is leading growth of the global anti-reflective coatings market. Rising Demand for Antiglare Lenses and Eyewear Will as a Boon for the Market The global anti-reflective coatings market is projected to feature substantial growth in the forthcoming years. This is due to rising demand for anti-reflective and antiglare lenses and eyewear. The antiglare lenses and eyewear are developed by layering the glass surface with an anti-reflective coating. This coating aids to remove back glare, surge in diffusion and lowers the glare. Rising application in solar, electrical, optical, and electronic usages is projected to drive the anti-reflective coatings market growth in the forthcoming years. The anti-reflective coatings advertise is driven by the developing use of the product in optical and electronic usages. These lenses increment the productivity and improve quality of pictures of several gadgets, for example, monitors and TV screens. The developing semiconductor and electronic sector as well as the rising interest for smartphones and flat panel displays will boost demand in the approaching years. Request to view Brochure Report: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=33365 High Costs Involved in The Production to Deter Growth of the Market A couple of limitations for anti-reflective glass coatings market have been high expenses associated with the manufacturing of these glasses. This is further is projected to hamper the market development to some degree. Anti-reflective coatings are broadly used to expand the effectiveness of solar panels. Quickly rising solar PV industry combined with rising concentration on clean energy development is projected to drive the anti-reflective glass coatings market in the forthcoming years. The study presented here is based on a Transparency Market Research report titled "Anti-Reflective Glass Coatings Market (Technology - Physical Vapor Deposition, Chemical Vapor Deposition; Application - Large Area Glass Coatings (Picture Frames, Electronic Displays, Refrigerated Displays, Solar, and Automotive) Small Batch-Coated Lenses) - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2017 - 2025." Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/17/2019 -- The global market for autologous matrix-induced chondrogenesis (AMIC) is expected to witness a high level of competition in the next few years, states a new market intelligence study by Transparency Market Research. The key players in the market are focusing on the expansion of the product portfolio, which is predicted to create growth opportunities for the market players in the next few years. In addition to this, the market players are focusing on the emerging economies, which is predicted to support the growth of the global autologous matrix-induced chondrogenesis market in the next few years. Some of the leading players operating in the autologous matrix-induced chondrogenesis market across the globe are Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Smith & Nephew Plc., and Geistlich Pharma AG. According to a market research study published by Transparency Market Research, in 2015, the global market for autologous matrix-induced chondrogenesis was worth US$89.71 mn and is projected to reach a value of US$186.38 mn by the end of 2024. The market is anticipated to register a strong 8.60% CAGR between 2016 and 2024. Request A Sample: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=19289 Rising Geriatric Population to Drive North America Market in Near Future From a regional outlook, the global market for autologous matrix-induced chondrogenesis has been classified into the Middle East and Africa, North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. In the last few years, North America led the global market and is further projected to witness a high growth in the next few years. The rising prevalence of several joint and bone disorders, including rheumatoid and arthritis and the increasing geriatric population are some of the major factors that are projected to accelerate the growth of the North America market in the next few years. Furthermore, Europe is likely to witness a healthy growth in the next few years, thanks to the rising contribution from France and Germany. On the other hand, Asia Pacific is estimated to register a fast growth rate in the next few years. The rising demand for the minimally invasive procedures and the rising disposable income of consumers are some of the key factors that are likely to encourage the growth of the Asia Pacific market in the near future. In terms of material, the global market for autologous matrix-induced chondrogenesis has been segmented into collagen, poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PGLA), hyaluronic acid, polyethylene glycol (PEG), and others. Among these, the collagen segment is anticipated to register a healthy growth rate in the next few years and account for a large share of the overall market. This segment is expected to be followed by the hyaluronic acid segment in the coming years. Request Brochure of Report:https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=19289 Rising Demand for Minimally Invasive Surgeries to Encourage Market Growth The sale of the autologous matrix-induced chondrogenesis materials and products is expected to rise significantly in the next few years, thanks to the growing demand for minimally invasive surgeries. The rising awareness among people regarding this procedure is another major factor that is projected to enhance the growth of the overall market in the next few years. In addition to this, the rising geriatric population across the globe is considered as a key factor, which is estimated to accelerate the growth of the global autologous matrix-induced chondrogenesis market throughout the forecast period. About Transparency Market Research Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S.-based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMR's global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations. Contact us: Transparency Market Research 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany NY - 12207 United States Tel: +1-518-618-1030 USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453 Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com Website: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ San Francisco, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/17/2019 -- Global Building Information Modeling Market: Overview Building information modeling (BIM) is a process based on intelligent 3D modeling that helps in the more efficient management, construction, designing, and planning of infrastructure and buildings. BIM allows construction, engineering, and architecture professionals to gain a decisive insight and get equipped with powerful tools for streamlining their projects. BIM is considered effective in upgrading a project's work quality and productivity and complying with commercial and government BIM mandates. Global Building Information Modeling Market: Key Trends The adoption of BIM is expected to have a positive impact on the construction sector and eventually on the world BIM market owing to some desirable advantages. These could be related to improvement in the coordination and communication practiced all through the asset lifecycle management process. The world BIM market is also expected to win traction on account of mandates regarding the application of BIM imposed by governments in developed nations. Other factors that could raise the growth bar for the world BIM market include the benefits of enhanced productivity and optimized project performance promised on the back of the adoption of BIM. Request Sample Copy of the Report @ https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=2408 For the forecast period 20172025, the industrial application is prognosticated to expand at a telling rate in the world BIM market. The industrial sector could draw lucrative growth opportunities for the world BIM market because of the adoption of BIM making possible digital prototyping simulation and analysis which help shorten the construction period. This allows construction projects to reduce risks and regularly upgrade productivity. BIM software pampering construction projects with the benefits of design modeling and fulfillment of their demand for economical processes are anticipated to set the tone for a powerful growth in the world BIM market. Global Building Information Modeling Market: Market Potential The gargantuan data center worth US$1.0 bn of Facebook, Inc. is expected to implement the technological merger of BIM software and real-time drone photos making a 3D collage by DPR Construction. This is envisaged to add value to the building procedure, according to the technology integration manager of the construction company. The company will employ licensed pilots to fly drones for calculating dirt levels and other progress in the construction process. The drone technology will also be implemented to construct the second phase of the campus. Global Building Information Modeling Market: Regional Outlook During the forecast period, the leading share in the international BIM market is predicted to be earned by North America. The key factors empowering the rise of the North America BIM market could be the ballooning awareness about the advantages of BIM among contractors and constructors and steadfast residential and commercial constructions. Industrial, civil infrastructure, and building applications in the international BIM market could showcase dominance while helping Europe to grab a larger share following North America. The high cost of BIM software and tools increasing the overall cost of projects could bruise the demand of the international BIM market. However, participants are foreseen to achieve profits against the odds in the international BIM market through strategic partnerships and robust distribution network. Autodesk, Inc., a U.S. company, is a ruling provider of software solutions in the international BIM market which serves the real estate, industrial, construction management, and architecture sectors. Request TOC of the Report @ https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=2408 Global Building Information Modeling Market: Competitive Landscape Besides strategic collaborations, companies operating the worldwide BIM market are prophesied to focus on the development of advanced technologies such as next-gen platforms and continued expansion in emerging regions. Lately, Autodesk, Inc. has partnered with Qatar Rail, Tata Consulting Engineers Ltd., and NASA Ames Research Center and is looking to stride forward while riding on technological advancements in 3D modeling. Some of the top companies in the worldwide BIM market are Asite Ltd., Bentley System, Inc., Trimble Navigation Limited, and Nemetschek SE. The study presents reliable qualitative and quantitative insights into: Market segments and sub-segments Market trends and dynamics Supply and demand chain of the market Market valuation (revenue and/or volume) Key trends/opportunities/challenges Forces defining present and estimated future state of the competitive landscape Technological developments Value chain and stakeholder analysis The regional analysis covers: North America Latin America Europe Asia Pacific Middle East and Africa The vast market research data included in the study is the result of extensive primary and secondary research activities. Surveys, personal interviews, and inputs from industry experts form the crux of primary research activities and data collected from trade journals, industry databases, and reputable paid sources form the basis of secondary research. The report also includes a detailed qualitative and quantitative analysis of the market, with the help of information collected from market participants operating across key sectors of the market value chain. A separate analysis of macro- and micro-economic aspects, regulations, and trends influencing the overall development of the market is also included in the report. Read Comprehensive Overview of Report @ https://www.tmrresearch.com/building-information-modeling-market About TMR Research TMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in today's 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. Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/17/2019 -- Global Dental Consumables Market: Snapshot Globally, the growing awareness about the better and effective dental treatment has grown the demand for dental consumables market. Moreover, growing dental tourism in countries like India, Hungary, and Turkey has also expand the growth opportunities in the dental consumables market. Services that are included in dental consumables are tooth restoration, related gingival tissues, and treatment for dental impairments. Furthermore, low cost of dental treatments because of less expensive oral healthcare services available in developing economies is also expected to drive the dental consumables market. View Report: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/dental-consumables-market.html Some of the other factors contributing in the growth of the dental consumables market is reducing government intervention in operating healthcare firms and accessibility of improved dental treatment with low labor cost has also benefitted the market growth. The global dental consumables market is prophesied to rise at 6.1%% of CAGR during the forecast period between 2016 and 2024. The valuation for the market is expected to reach US$33.4 bn by the end of 2020 progressing from US$19.6 bn as estimated in 2015. Technological Advancements to Benefit Growth of Dental Consumables Market The report on the global dental consumables market classify on the basis of product that is further divided into dental crowns and bridges, dental implants, dental biomaterials, endodontics, orthodontics, periodontics, and retail dental care essentials. Out of these, the crown and bridges segment is leading the market and is likely to continue its dominance in the coming years. The demand for these devices is high as it provides a protective layer on the damaged part of the tooth. Moreover, technological advancements such as CAD and CAM are also driving the market growth. It is also assumed that rising awareness about cosmetic dentistry, large geriatric population, and improving life expectancy across the globe to benefit market growth. Furthermore, resemblance of getting a natural looking tooth by using crown and bridges is also expected to boost demand in the dental consumables market. Request a Brochure of the Report @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=554 Europe Emerges Dominant Due to Increasing geriatric population Geographically, the regions in which the dental consumables market is divided are Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, and Middle East & Africa. Of these regions, Europe is leading the market due to large geriatric population present in the region. Growing awareness about the dental care and rising concerns related to oral healthcare are expected to keep the region on the forefront in the global dental consumables market. Countries in Asia Pacific are also expected to rise at a steady rate during the forecast period. This is due to the rising dental tourism in the various countries in Asia Pacific. In addition, rising spending by the middle class in oral healthcare is also expected to boost the demand for this market. The rising disposable income, growing awareness in region about the oral healthcare, and growing easy accessibility of oral healthcare in the region are considered some of the major driving the dental consumables market. Request a Sample of the Report @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=554 The report has also analyzed some of the prominent players and their contribution to the global dental consumables market. To mention some of the prominent players are Institut Straumann AG, DENTSPLY International, Inc., Henry Schein, Inc., Patterson Companies, Ivoclar Vivadent AG, and 3M Health Care. The leading players in the market are expected to take part in mergers, takeovers, and joint ventures. About Transparency Market Research Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge. Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMR's syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement. Contact Us Transparency Market Research 90 State Street, Suite 700 Albany, NY 12207 Tel: +1-518-618-1030 USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453 Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com Website: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Sellbyville, DE -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/17/2019 -- Global Market Insights, Inc. provides a detailed overview of Feed Micronutrients market with respect to the pivotal drivers influencing the revenue graph of this business sphere. The current trends of market in conjunction with the geographical landscape, demand spectrum, remuneration scale, and growth graph of this vertical have also been included in this re0070ort. The commercialization potential of feed micronutrients market has been forecast to be colossal, given the extensive demand for meat and dairy products rich in protein. A report by Global Market Insights, Inc., predicts that feed micronutrients industry size is estimated to surpass a mammoth valuation of 2 billion tons by 2024. Animal feed is essentially fed to poultry, livestock, ruminants, and swine, to enhance their growth rate, provide their body with essential nutrients, and enable better health. The rising demand for milk & meat products pertaining to the ever-growing population is one of most essential factors driving feed micronutrients market. Enlisted below are some essential statistics with reference to animal feed market, which may provide a deeper understanding as regards to the factors driving feed micronutrients industry. Make request for sample copy of report@ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/1921 - Animal agriculture is one of the most opportunistic businesses in terms of providing employment and increasing the economic growth. As per the American Feed Industry association (AFIA), this business sphere is responsible for contributing more than USD 375 billion to the U.S. economy alone. Besides, it provides nearly 2 million jobs and a subsequent valuation of almost USD 18 billion in household incomes. - The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) states that the demand for food will grow by an astonishing 60% by 2050, while animal protein production will depict a y-o-y growth of around 1.7% between 2010-2050. - The U.S. FAO also declares that the aquaculture production may rise by 90%, meat production by nearly 70%, while dairy production by 55%, over 2010-2050. - Global meat production has increased by three times its value over the last 40 years, while the last decade depicted a rise of almost 20%. These statistics affirm the fact that feed micronutrients market has tremendous growth prospects over 2017-2024. Feed nutrients such as zinc, copper, vitamin A, etc., are specifically important for the health maintenance of livestock, the consumption of which has been increasing by the day. As per reliable estimates, globally, the demand for livestock products is expected to almost double in South Asia and the sub-Saharan region - to 400 Kcal/day/person by 2050 from 200 Kcal/day/person in 2000, which will substantially propel feed micronutrients industry. Poultry, undoubtedly, has been forecast to be one of most lucrative sectors of this fraternity, and is expected to procure a significant chunk of feed micronutrients market the target valuation of this sector has been estimated to cross USD 990 million by 2024. This growth can be credited to the rising meat and egg consumption across numerous geographies, especially India and China. As per records, animal feed production from July 2016 to June 2017 for poultry rose up by 2%, which is a positive indicator of the rising poultry feed demand across the globe. With the global rise of more than 80% in the demand for meat, feed micronutrients industry will indeed carve out a lucrative growth map over 2017-2024. For Any Inquiry Or Purchasing The Report@ https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/1921 An insight into the product landscape of feed micronutrients market: - Trace minerals, though required in small quantities, are one of the most vital nutrients that help to shape the animal's health. Estimates claim feed micronutrients industry size to be around USD 446 million in 2016. - Iron, one of many trace minerals encompassed in feed micronutrients market, helps in the production of hemoglobin, while manganese helps in effectively utilizing carbs. - Zinc is responsible for effective skeletal development, carbohydrate, fat, & protein utilization, and efficient growth rate. As per estimates, zinc-based feed micronutrients industry size is likely to cross USD 350 million by 2024, subject to the awareness that its deficiency leads to hair loss, fertility problems, poor wound healing, and muscle cramping in animals. - Another effective trace mineral is copper, which effectively aids iron absorption and metabolism improvement. On these grounds, it has been forecast that copper-based feed micronutrients market will grow at a rate of 6% over 2017-2024. The last few years have witnessed a massive surge in the demand for animal protein from dairy, fish, and livestock, subject to which analysts deem feed micronutrients industry to be one of the fastest growing markets of recent times. Of late, this business space has been witnessing a slew of innovative trends. For instance, scientists at the Finland-based VTT Technical Research Centre and the Lappeenranta University of Technology have invented a methodology with the help of which single-cell protein can be manufactured from carbon dioxide and electricity. Eventually, the researchers plan to develop this protein into a fully-functional animal feed, which will enable on-the-demand feed production for livestock. As per reports, this protein mixture encompasses 25% carbs and 50% proteins, and is likely to undergo changes that may bring about the incorporation of minerals and vitamins as well. In the event that the production goes mainstream, this trend of manufacturing nutritious feed may go down the annals of feed micronutrients market as one of most path-breaking trends ever. Sellbyville, DE -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/17/2019 -- The global fluorinated ethylene propylene market is slated to experience immense growth prospects in the coming years owing to the product's extensive use across the automotive, electronics, food & beverage, and medical industries. In the automotive sector, FEPs are widely used in compact and small-sized cars, in the tubing, bellows, and pressure hoses. The increasing shift among car buyers from sedans to more compact cars, especially in emerging economies will thus propel the growth of FEP industry.Fluorinated Ethylene Propylene (FEP) Market size is set to surpass USD 1.2 billion by 2025; according to a new research report by Global Market Insights, Inc. Rising demand for high-value compact & small-sized cars and SUVs owing to a growing middle class and rising disposable incomes should stimulate fluorinated ethylene propylene market size. This product finds widespread usage in tubing, pressure hoses and bellows it is well-suited for processing at low & high temperatures which makes it resistant to fire & explosion. Rapid development of road infrastructure along with launch of low-cost car models and urbanization are likely to boost passenger car market growth, further stimulating FEP market demand. Request for a sample of this research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/3263 Global FEP powder market size should surpass 9 kilo tons by 2025. These high performance powders provide high melt fluidity, provide a smooth & chemical resistant finish to the end use product making it suitable for cookware and other applications. Growing product demand for automotive ball bearings, and paints, adhesives and sealants in construction industry should further accelerate fluorinated ethylene propylene market growth. Construction of residential housing will witness growth in the years to come owing to the rising population in the United States. Government spending to support homeownership, housing developments and a sustainable community in a bid to provide access to affordable housing will further increase the demand for construction projects. The development in the construction industry will massively boost the demand for paints, adhesives, and sealants, which will eventually drive the fluorinated ethylene propylene market in the coming years. Fluorinated ethylene propylene tubes market size from chemical processing applications should register over 6% gains by the end of the predicted period. It provides high tensile strength, low temperature resistance and low coefficient of friction which makes it ideal for chemical processing applications. Significant expansion of chemical & petrochemical industry, investment in oil & gas exploration and growth of automotive sector in China, South Korea and India should further stimulate fluorinated ethylene propylene market growth. Germany fluorinated ethylene propylene films market size from solar panel applications is poised to exceed USD 1.4 million up to 2025. They form ideal protective front sheets for solar modules pertaining to their smooth, light-weight, flexible and long lasting nature. These are less fragile and light weight which improves their durability and life span, thus improving their attractiveness as compared to traditional glass. Increasing prevalence for energy efficiency owing to a European Union directive directing all member countries to source 20% of their energy requirements from renewable sources should further stimulate market growth. Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @ https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/3263 China fluorinated ethylene propylene dispersions market size from fabric applications exceeded USD 1.6 million in 2018. They offer low sliding friction, chemical resistance, superior impact and wear resistance. They are widely used in roofing fabrics, conveyor belts, and insulation material owing to their impenetrability to fluids, and weldability which should accelerate market growth. Daikin Industries, AGC, Saint-Gobain, 3M Company, and DowDupont are the key industrial participants catering to the overall f fluorinated ethylene propylene market. Various manufacturers are launching new products with specific functionality which ensures substantial market penetration. 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. Maharashtra, India -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/17/2019 -- Garage & Service Station Market The Garage & Service Station market Report provide in-depth analysis and the best research of the various market. This new report on the Global Garage & Service Station is committed fulfilling the requirements of the clients by giving them thorough insights into the market. An exclusive data offered in this report is collected by research and industry experts. The Global Garage & Service Station Market report covers scope and product overview to define the key terms and offers detailed information about market dynamics to the readers. To get holistic SAMPLE of the report, please click: https://www.reportsmonitor.com/request_sample/476155 The Major Players Covered in this Report: Firestone Complete Auto Care, Meineke, Jiffy Lube, Midas, Safelite Group, Monro Muffler Brake, & More. Product Type Coverage Mechanical Repair Collision Repair Car Washes Oil Change and Lubrication Others Application Coverage Passenger Cars Commercial Vehicle Global Garage & Service Station Market: Regional Segmentation For further clarification, analysts have also segmented the market on the basis of geography. This type of segmentation allows the readers to understand the volatile political scenario in varying geographies and their impact on the global Garage & Service Station market. On the basis of geography, the global market for Garage & Service Station has been segmented into: North America (United States, Canada, and Mexico) Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia, and Italy) Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, and Southeast Asia) South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, etc.) Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa) Grab Your Report at an Impressive Discount ! Please click Here@ https://www.reportsmonitor.com/check_discount/476155 Reasons to buy: 1. To gain insightful analyses of the market and have comprehensive understanding of the global Garage & Service Station market and its commercial landscape. Assess the Garage & Service Station production processes, major issues, and solutions to mitigate the development risk. 2. To understand the most affecting driving and restraining forces in the Garage & Service Station market and its impact in the global market. Learn about the market strategies that are being adopted by leading respective organizations. 3. To understand the future outlook and prospects for Garage & Service Station market. The report gives highly importance to following aspects of Global Garage & Service Station Market: Dominant company/manufacturers profiles including business data, product description, and market share. Market analysis for past, recent years as well as forecast up to 2024. Qualitative and quantitative segment-wise evaluation of Garage & Service Station market. Global market share, sales volume, and CAGR of Garage & Service Station market. In-depth study of the market in terms of applications, types, and regions. Market driving factors, contemporary trends, investment opportunities, limitations, strength, challenges of the Garage & Service Station market. Insightful counsels which helps investors, organisations, and novices to plan their business stratagem and making critical business decisions. Some of the key questions answered in this report: Detailed Overview of Garage & Service Station market will help deliver clients and businesses making strategies. Influencing factors that thriving demand and latest trend running in the market. What is the market concentration? Is it fragmented or highly concentrated? What trends, challenges and barriers will impact the development and sizing of Global Garage & Service Station market? SWOT Analysis of each defined key players along with its profile and Porter's five forces tool mechanism to compliment the same. What growth momentum or acceleration market carries during the forecast period? Which region may tap highest market share in coming era? Which application/end-user category or Product Type may seek incremental growth prospects? What focused approach and constraints are holding the Garage & Service Station market tight? For More Details On this Report: https://www.reportsmonitor.com/report/476155/Garage-and-Service-Station-Market 2019-2024 Garage & Service Station market report explains detailed information about market growth trend, analysis of upstream raw materials, downstream demand, and existing market dynamics is carried out. In the end, the report makes some important proposals for a new project of Garage & Service Station market before evaluating its possibility. About Reports Monitor Reports Monitor is a market research and consulting company that provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries including Healthcare, Technology, Chemicals, Materials, and Energy. With an intrinsic understanding of many business environments, Reports Monitor provides strategic objective insights. Pune, Maharashtra -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/17/2019 -- Global Glyphosate Market: Introduction Glyphosate is a herbicide which is used to kill weeds in agricultural as well as in nonagricultural landscapes. Most of products that are manufactured by using glyphosate are used with surfactants and chemicals that helps glyphosate to penetrate the plant cells. It is applied on the leaves of plants for reduction of both broadleaf plants as well as grasses. Moreover, the sodium salt form of glyphosate is used for regulating plants growth and ripen fruit. Glyphosate are available in market in many forms, including an acids and several salts. These can be either be in amber-colored liquid form or in solid form. The products containing glyphosate are acutely toxic to humans as well as animals. Its symptoms includes skin and eye irritation, nausea, headache, elevated blood pressure, numbness, and heart palpitations. Additionally, the growing awareness among farmers related to plant growth development along with agricultural upliftment will boost the glyphosate market growth in the forecast period. Moreover, plant growth regulation coupled with weed growth control are some of the prominent features improving the product demand. Get Free Exclusive Sample Copy of This Report @ https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=1176 Global Glyphosate Market: Dynamics Rising production of genetically modified crops along with the increasing food consumption and increasing demand from cattle feed is expected to drive the glyphosate market in the near future. Technological advancements in glyphosate-tolerant genetically modified crops have improved its resistance to weed. Glyphosate reduces farmer's efforts for spadework. Technological developments that enable no tillage and less tillage farming systems will fuel product demand. Necessity to upsurge yield per hectare along with rise in global food demand are some of the factors fueling the glyphosate demand. Genetically modified crops will witness a significant growth owing to rising awareness among consumers. Global Glyphosate Market: Market Participants Asia Pacific is anticipated to hold significant market share in the global market and it is expected to continue through the forecast period. This is mainly because of increasing adoption of generally modified crops and also due to availability of arable land in China and India. Additionally with the growing demand, many Chinese companies are also entering in the glyphosate market, leading to increase in production activities in this region. Glyphosate-tolerant crops are readily adopted in the U.S. and Latin America, mainly after the launch of Monsanto's Roundup Ready. Owing to which Latin America is estimated to account for the largest market share for glyphosate market in the near future, mainly due to the increasing demand for glyphosate in countries such as Argentina and Brazil. However, Asia-Pacific is projected to be the fastest-growing market during the forecast period, due to the high adoption of the upgraded crop protection technologies. Due to awareness related to the efficient use of glyphosate, Indian farmers are also adopting glyphosate as a crop protection tool. Ask For Customized Report @ https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=RC&rep_id=1176 Global Glyphosate Market: Market Participants Names of some of the manufacturers involved in the manufacturing of glyphosate are: The DOW Chemical Company Bayer AG Monsanto Company I. Du Pont De Nemours and Company Syngenta AG Nufarm Limited Nantong Jiangshan Agrochemical & Chemical, Inc. Zhejiang Xinan Chemical Industrial Group Co.,Ltd ADAMA Agricultural Solutions Ltd. United Phosphorus Limited (UPL) You can Buy This Report from Here @ https://www.factmr.com/checkout/1176/S The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also contains projections using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to market segments such as geographies, application, and industry. The report covers exhaust analysis on: Market Segments Market Dynamics Market Size Supply & Demand Current Trends/Issues/Challenges Competition & Companies involved Technology Value Chain Regional analysis includes: North America (U.S., Canada) Latin America (Mexico, Brazil) Western Europe (Germany, Italy, France, U.K, Spain) Eastern Europe (Poland, Russia) Asia Pacific (India, ASEAN, Australia & New Zealand) China Japan Middle East and Africa (GCC Countries, S. Africa, Northern Africa, Turkey) The report is a compilation of first-hand information, qualitative and quantitative assessment by industry analysts, inputs from industry experts and industry participants across the value chain. The report provides in-depth analysis of parent market trends, macro-economic indicators and governing factors along with market attractiveness as per segments. The report also maps the qualitative impact of various market factors on market segments and geographies. Report Highlights: Detailed overview of parent market Changing market dynamics in the industry In-depth market segmentation Historical, current, and projected market size in terms of volume and value Recent industry trends and developments Competitive landscape Strategies of key players and products offered Potential and niche segments, geographical regions exhibiting promising growth A neutral perspective on market performance Must-have information for market players to sustain and enhance their market footprint Read Comprehensive Overview of Report @ https://www.factmr.com/report/1176/glyphosate-market About Fact.MR Fact.MR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized market research reports. We believe transformative intelligence can educate and inspire businesses to make smarter decisions. We know the limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach; that's why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports. Contact Us FactMR 11140 Rockville Pike Suite 400 Rockville, MD 20852 United States Email: sales@factmr.com Web: www.factmr.com/ New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/17/2019 -- The latest report on the Hemostatic agents industry takes a closer look at the value chain assessment for the forecast period, 2019 to 2030. Along with the detailed analysis of the performance of the prominent market players, the study brings to light their winning strategies. Apart from this, the researchers behind the market intelligence report examine the weaknesses, strengths, opportunities, and restraints expected to shape the progress of the Hemostatic agents market for the forecast period, 2019 to 2030. The market intelligence report includes detailed statistics on market segmentation based on product value, application, classification, and sale. A sample report is available @ https://www.marketindustryreports.com/pdf/56 Surge in the number of surgical procedures conducted globally is expected to contribute towards the growth of the hemostatic agents market. The growth of the global market is further fueled by factors such as rising adoption of hemostats to restrain bleeding, rise in geriatric population requiring surgical procedures for various ailments, growing research and development activities worldwide. Owing to the growing demand for hemostatic agents that are quicker and cheaper, there is a remarkable opportunity for the key players in the hemostatic agents market to fill in this gap. Allergic reactions to human plasma or animal derived component in the hemostatic agents is anticipated to hamper the growth of this market. Furthermore, application of Porters Five Forces Analysis to determine the status of various aspects such as the capability of both the suppliers and customers, threats posed by different substitutes, the intensity of competition and promising new vendors makes the study a valuable resource. Extensive analysis of data pertaining to the current as well as emerging trends offers clarity regarding the Hemostatic agents market dynamics. Besides, information on the performance of different companies, profit, gross margin, strategic initiative and more are presented through various resources such as tables, charts, and infographic. Surge in the Number of Surgical Procedures There is a perpetual rise in the number of surgical procedures across the globe. Minimally invasive procedures are further driving the surgical volumes up. There has been a significant rise in health awareness among population and ample measures have introduced appropriate and effective treatments for diseases. Steady rise in geriatric population that requires medical attention and surgery to treat several aliments is fueling the demand for Hemostatic agents, thus boosting the growth of the global hemostatic agents market. Hemostatic agents enable the surgeons to undertake technically challenging and complex surgical procedures, owing to the hemostat's ability to curb bleeding in a quicker and effective manner. Moreover, the hemostatic agents can be used across diverse medical applications, hence the surge in surgical procedures is expected to propel the growth of this market. Major Players in the Hemostatic Agents Market The prominent players in the global hemostatic agents market are Baxter, Ethicon US, LLC, C. R. Bard, Inc., B. Braun Melsungen AG, Pfizer Inc., Z-Medica, LLC, CryoLife, Inc., Integra LifeSciences, Advanced Medical Solutions Group plc. GELITA AG. Any query? Inquiry before buying@ https://www.marketindustryreports.com/inquiry/56 The study further offers a comprehensive assessment of the revenue generated by the various segments across different regions for the forecast period, 2019 to 2030. To help business owners gain a thorough understanding of the current momentum the research taps hard to find data on aspects including but not limited to demand and supply, distribution channel and technology upgrades. Most importantly, evaluation of stringent rules and regulations and government initiatives shaping the progress of the Hemostatic agents industry offers an understanding of what is in store for the business owners in the years to come. Rapid Growth in the Asia Pacific Region North America is expected to hold the largest market share in the forecast period. However the Asia Pacific region is expected to witness the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Increasing geriatric population, rising medical tourism and increasing number of surgical procedures, increasing patient population opting for minimally invasive procedures is expected to present a lucrative growth scenario for the hemostatic agents market in this region. Furthermore, competitive procedure rates, and a large patient pool is expected to boost the growth of the hemostatic agent market in this region. Key questions answered in this report:- - What will be the market size of the Hemostatic agents industry by 2030? What will be the estimated market share over the next few years? - What are the key driving forces fueling the growth of the Hemostatic agents industry across different regions? - Who are major vendors expected to dominate the market for the forecast period 2019 to 2030? - What are the current and emerging trends likely to influence the progress of the industry worldwide? - What are the type of opportunities market vendors can rely on to stay competitive over the years? Buy full report @ https://www.marketindustryreports.com/checkout/56 About Market Industry Reports Market Industry Reports is a global leader in market measurement & advisory services, Market Industry Reports is at the forefront of innovation to address the worldwide industry trends and opportunities. We identified the caliber of market dynamics & hence we excel in the areas of innovation and optimization, integrity, curiosity, customer and brand experience, and strategic business intelligence through our research. We continue to pioneer state-of-the-art approach in research & analysis that makes complex world simpler to stay ahead of the curve. By nurturing the perception of genius and optimized market intelligence we bring proficient contingency to our clients in the evolving world of technologies, megatrends and industry convergence. We empower and inspire Vanguards to fuel and shape their business to build and grow world-class consumer products. Contact Us- 502, Sai Radhe, Kennedy Road, Behind Hotel Sheraton Grand, Near Pune Station, Pune 411 001 Email: sales@marketindustryreports.com Phone: + 91 9673535933 Website: https://www.marketindustryreports.com/ Follow Us- LinkedIn | Twitter | Google+ | Facebook XUZHOU, May 17 (ChinaMil) -- The five-day Ingenious Engineering Soldier-2019 military skills competition held by the Chinese PLA Ground Force kicked off on Thursday morning. Nearly 800 officers and soldiers from the engineering troops will compete in 95 subjects of nine major categories at five training grounds. The competition is an important annual military training activity of the PLA Ground Force. All types of engineering troops will be divided into three categories: brigade (regiment) commander, battalion commander and combat group. All the commanding officers should take part in. The competitors are randomly selected to participate in seven combat groups including engineering reconnaissance and mobile logistics support. On the first day of the competition, the brigade (regiment) commanders dressed in combat uniforms completed five subjects in a coherent manner. According to the commander of an engineering chemical defense brigade participating in the competition, the first days competition lasted for 14 hours, and there will be such subjects as shooting, cross-country, communication and others in the following day. This is a comprehensive test of the commanders intelligence, skills and physical fitness, said the participant. In this competition, each type of competition consists of more than a dozen subjects that reflect the complete combat operations, both land-based operations and water maneuvers, as well as static operations and dynamic racing. For the competition designed for commanders, they need to make the basic plan according to the combat mission, and complete the command operations according to the development of the complicated battlefield scenario. For the competition participated by the combat group, it will be carried out in accordance with the operational process, in the order of entering the battlefield, starting operations, organizing defense, and transferring battlefield. Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/17/2019 -- Potassium hydrogen sulfite is also known as potassium bisulfite (KHSO3). This colorless to white hygroscopic crystalline powder is used as a sterilizing agent in the production of alcoholic beverages. Potassium bisulfite is end product by the reaction of sulfur dioxide and potassium carbonate salts. The sulfur dioxide is passed through a solution of the potassium carbonate to completely eliminate the carbon di oxide from the salt solution. The concentrated solution is allowed to crystallize to give it a powdered form. Potassium hydrogen sulfite is used to preserve foods & beverages such as fruit juices, squashes, and several types of fruits. Read Report Overview @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/potassium-hydrogen-sulfite-market.html The use of the potassium hydrogen sulfite is approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. In the food & beverage industry potassium hydrogen sulfite acts as an antioxidant and is used as a preservative. In the pharmaceutical industry, large doses of potassium hydrogen sulfite are acceptable as they get rapidly oxidized to sulfates. Potassium hydrogen sulfite is used in oenology (study of wines) The global potassium hydrogen sulfite market has been segmented based on grade, type, application, and region. In terms of grade, the global market has been segregated into food grade, photo grade, and technical grade. Based on type, the market has been divided into liquid and powders. Potassium hydrogen sulfite in solution form containing more than 15 pp 100 (m/v) of sulfur dioxide; therefore it must not be stored at low temperatures to avoid the risk of crystallization. In terms of application, the potassium hydrogen sulfite market has been categorized into chemicals, pharmaceutical, leather, photography, food & beverage, wastewater, textiles, and paper & pulp. Request For Custom Research @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=CR&rep_id=37631 In terms of region, Europe is the dominant region which is using potassium hydrogen sulfite in the beverage industry. Countries such as Italy, Spain, France, and Germany are popular for their wine. Increasing demand for ready-to-eat food products is propelling the potassium bisulfite market in North America. The potassium bisulfite market in Latin America is expected to expand in the near future. The leather industry in Brazil and Argentina has made an overall development being responsible for 4.4% of world leather production. This, in turn, is increasing the demand for potassium hydrogen sulfite as a leather processing chemical. Potassium hydrogen sulfite is used to make the leather products softer, wearable, waterproof, and long-lasting. The potassium hydrogen sulfite market in Asia Pacific is expand due to its use in the beverage industry. Demand for potassium hydrogen sulfite is increasing in countries such as Australia, India, and China owing to the increasing usage in the food industry. Request to view Sample Report: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=37631 Key players operating in the global potassium hydrogen sulfite market include Aditya Birla Chemicals Thailand, Akos Consulting & Solutions, Tractus, Wubei-Biochem, Sigma-Aldrich Co. LLC., Chemtex Speciality Limited, and BASF SE. Sellbyville, DE -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/17/2019 -- LNG Bunkering Market size is set to exceed USD 12 billion by 2024, according to a new research report by Global Market Insights, Inc. Growing demand for cleaner fuel coupled with strict emission regulations to reduce the airborne emissions predominantly in North America and Europe will stimulate LNG bunkering market. In 2015, International Maritime Organization (IMO) introduced Tier III norms to curb NOx emissions from marine vessels among Emission Control Areas (ECAs) under maritime boundaries. Request for Sample Copy of this research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/702 U.S. LNG bunkering market is predicted to exceed 3,000 kilotons by 2024 owing to the advent of shale gas. Increasing liquefaction plants has spurred the production of liquefied natural gas in the U.S. enabling its adoption as marine fuel. Strict government norms against emissions will further complement the business landscape. In 2015, the EPA implemented the MARPOL Annex VI norms with an aim to limit NOx in marine fuel oil to 0.5% from current levels. Rising environmental concerns along with government initiatives towards adoption of natural gas as ship fuel will augment the LNG bunkering market. The EU introduced Climate and Energy Package 2020, with an aim to achieve 20% reduction in GHG emissions. In 2014, Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) announced funding of USD 138 million towards the development of seven bunkering stations across Western Europe. Shifting trends towards low-cost and eco-friendly marine fuel will drive the LNG bunkering market size. LNGe-380 is comparatively less expensive than IFO-380 fuel that help companies to recover the cost of retrofitting fleets. Positive outlook towards maritime trade along with rising investments toward the deployment of floating liquefied natural gas will further complement the industry outlook. In 2016, Petronas invested USD 1.16 billion for FLNG project in Malaysia with a capacity of 1.2 mtpa. Key players in LNG bunkering market - Royal Dutch Shell - Korea Gas Corporation - Evol, Harvey Gulf - Crowley Maritime - Engie - Bomin Linde - Polskie - Swedegas - ENN Energy - Prima LNG - Enagas and Fjord Line Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @ https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/702 Research Methodology The research process begins with extensive data mining, using authentic sources such as trade magazines, technical publications, independent studies along with paid avenues such as ICIS, Hoovers, etc. Primary objectives of data mining include: - Definition and scope of research - Market dynamics, growth drivers and industry pitfalls - Regulatory and political guidelines for the industry - Demographics and statistical data All the above factors are identified and analyzed in detail, with their present and expected market impact, which is quantified and used to derive market growth expectation. Market forecast is built using statistical analysis with models built around time-variance, regression and correlation analytics. Browse Full Report @ https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/lng-bunkering-market Significant emphasis is put on primary research, which serves the dual role or not only validating our findings but also obtaining penetrating market insights, which help us gain more clarity regarding business environment and competitive leverage. Notable participants in our primary research process include: - Leadership figures such as CEOs, CSOs, VPs etc. in key companies - Supply-chain participants, distributors and domain experts - Key customers and B2B clients - Market research reports: Key analytical components Los Angeles, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/17/2019 -- Precision viticulture is precision farming applied to optimize vineyard performance, in particular maximizing grape yield and quality while minimizing environmental impacts and risk. This is accomplished by measuring local variation in factors that influence grape yield and quality (soil, topography, microclimate, vine health, etc.) and applying appropriate viticulture management practices (trellis design, pruning, fertilizer application, irrigation, timing of harvest, etc.). Asia Pacific accounted for the largest share in the global precision viticulture market, in terms of value, in 2017, owing to the increasing awareness about precision viticulture practices. The wide acceptance and availability of guidance systems, especially in countries such as Australia & New Zealand, China, and India along with its growth potential is the major driver contributing to the penetration of the market in the Asia Pacific precision viticulture industry. This report studies the Precision Viticulture market size (value and volume) by players, regions, product types and end industries, history data 2014-2018 and forecast data 2019-2025; This report also studies the global market competition landscape, market drivers and trends, opportunities and challenges, risks and entry barriers, sales channels, distributors and Porter's Five Forces Analysis. Get PDF report template @ https://www.qyresearch.com/sample-form/form/1116307/global-precision-viticulture-market Geographically, this report is segmented into several key regions, with sales, revenue, market share and growth Rate of Precision Viticulture in these regions, from 2014 to 2025, covering North America (United States, Canada and Mexico) Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Russia and Turkey etc.) Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam) South America (Brazil etc.) Middle East and Africa (Egypt and GCC Countries) The various contributors involved in the value chain of the product include manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, intermediaries, and customers. The key manufacturers in this market include John Deere Trimble Topcon Deveron Uas Teejet Technologies Groupe ICV Tracmap Quantislabs Terranis Ateknea Solutions Aha Viticulture AG Leader Technology By the product type, the market is primarily split into Guidance System Remote Sensing Variable-Rate Technology By the end users/application, this report covers the following segments Yield Monitoring Crop Scouting Field Mapping Irrigation Management Weather Tracking & Forecasting Inventory Management Farm Labor Management Financial Management Others Get Complete Report in your Inbox within 24 hours @ https://www.qyresearch.com/settlement/pre/6ff4425f7f1a3f8d8d8d40b9002c3328,0,1,Global%20Precision%20Viticulture%20Market%20Report,%20History%20and%20Forecast%202014-2025,%20Breakdown%20Data%20by%20Manufacturers,%20Key%20Regions,%20Types%20and%20Application About QYResearch QYResearch always pursuits high product quality with the belief that quality is the soul of business. Through years of effort and supports from huge number of customer supports, QYResearch consulting group has accumulated creative design methods on many high-quality markets investigation and research team with rich experience. Today, QYResearch has become the brand of quality assurance in consulting industry. Los Angeles, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/17/2019 -- Automatic/Self Driving Car is a vehicle that is capable of sensing its environment and navigating without human input. Autonomous vehicles feel their surroundings with such techniques as radar, lidar, GPS, Odometry, and computer vision. Advanced control systems interpret sensory information to identify appropriate navigation paths, as well as obstacles and relevant signage. Currently, the self-driving car has not yet entered in the commercial production, and in short time, the production volume will don't have great improvement; in 2025, the total production is about 100 K Unit, and USA will be the largest production region, because the USA's law has more compatible than other region and the government support the self-driving cars than other regions. The future of the self-driving cars depends on the technology and downstream customers' acceptance and the sales price; Currently, for the technology, the technology is far from mature and has some accidents; for the acceptance, the consumers can not accept that the hands leave from the steering wheel, for the price, the price is far from acceptance of ordinary consumer due the high price of radar. The self-driving car can be divided into the passenger car and commercial car, in the application, it can be divided into the home use and commercial use; in the commercial use, it mainly means logistics, for the home use, it has great relationship with the carnet; Get PDF template of this report: https://www.qyresearch.com/sample-form/form/1086515/global-self-driving-cars-market In our opinion, when the price and technology problems have been solved, the self-driving car will have great improvement and the accident and death toll will have great decrease. The global Self-driving Cars market was xx million US$ in 2018 and is expected to xx million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of xx% between 2019 and 2025. This report studies the Self-driving Cars market size (value and volume) by players, regions, product types and end industries, history data 2014-2018 and forecast data 2019-2025; This report also studies the global market competition landscape, market drivers and trends, opportunities and challenges, risks and entry barriers, sales channels, distributors and Porter's Five Forces Analysis. Geographically, this report is segmented into several key regions, with sales, revenue, market share and growth Rate of Self-driving Cars in these regions, from 2014 to 2025, covering North America (United States, Canada and Mexico) Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Russia and Turkey etc.) Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam) South America (Brazil etc.) Middle East and Africa (Egypt and GCC Countries) The various contributors involved in the value chain of the product include manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, intermediaries, and customers. The key manufacturers in this market include Toyota BMW Volvo Mercedes-Benz Audi By the product type, the market is primarily split into Passenger Vehicle Commercial Vehicle By the end users/application, this report covers the following segments Home Use Commercial USD Get Complete Report in your Inbox within 24 hours: https://www.qyresearch.com/settlement/pre/de36185333db4306243c84026b88090d,0,1,Global%20Self-driving%20Cars%20Market%20Report,%20History%20and%20Forecast%202014-2025,%20Breakdown%20Data%20by%20Manufacturers,%20Key%20Regions,%20Types%20and%20Application About QYResearch QYResearch always pursuits high product quality with the belief that quality is the soul of business. Through years of effort and supports from huge number of customer supports, QYResearch consulting group has accumulated creative design methods on many high-quality markets investigation and research team with rich experience. Today, QYResearch has become the brand of quality assurance in consulting industry. Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/17/2019 -- The key vendors operating in the small drones market are Microdrones GmbH (Germany), Elbit Systems Ltd. (Israel), Thales Group (France), Boeing (U.S.), Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (Israel), Aerovironment Inc. (U.S), Parrot S.A (France)., BAE Systems Inc. (U.S.), Lockheed Martin Corporation (U.S.), Textron Inc. (U.S.). A small drone, as the name suggests, is a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAVs) that is small enough to be man-portable. Small drones can range from micro air vehicles to man-portable UAVs that can be carried and set in motion like an infantry man-portable air-defense system. Drones come in a number of sizes, with the large ones mostly used in the military such as Predator drone. On the other hand, small drones that can be launched by hand requires short runways. The need for small, and even very small UAVs arose in the early 1990s. Small unmanned aerial vehicles can transform the economy of a nation in a multitude of ways. This includes precision agriculture, assistance to first responders, fast and environmental-friendly consumer delivery, and safe inspection of crucial infrastructure such as oil and gas pipelines. For More Details, Request A Sample Report @https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=22388 From the initial one, drone technology has come a long way wherein more capabilities can be packed into smaller and less expensive unmanned aerial vehicles. Unmanned aerial vehicle technology in the widest aspect includes aerodynamics of the drone, circuit boards, materials in the manufacture of physical UAV, and chipset and software. A typical unmanned vehicle is composed of light composite materials to reduce weight and enhance maneuverability. This allows drones to cruise at extremely high elevations. Drones are equipped with state-of-the-art technology such as GPS, infra-red cameras, and laser. These vehicles cruise either based on pre-programed flight operations or more complex dynamic automation systems. An unmanned aerial vehicle has two elements, the drone itself and the control system. In recent times, the drones or UAVs have played a vital role in the commercial as well military market, deploying them for different purpose according to the need. Currently, the demand for more secretive surveillance among the law enforcement agencies and defense forces across the globe and reduced sized of drones in the commercial sector is gaining the interest for small drones among the drone manufacturers. The small drones market is majorly driven by the factors such as growing need for enhanced surveillance, most advanced payloads technologies. The demand from law enforcement agencies and defense forces for enhanced surveillance in order to maintain law and order in an area, and to monitor the combat area or border area with maximum accuracy is driving the market for small drones. The miniature drones are equipped with most advanced payloads technologies which increases the data recording accuracy. The growing need for miniature drones with advanced technology is boosting the market to grow in future. The major factor hindering the growth of the market for small drones is the strict airspace regulations in the developed as well as developing countries. The small drone's manufacturers are facing challenges in meeting the demand for manufacturing drones with latest technology due to the strict airspace regulations set by the government in different regions across the globe. The drones with advanced technology can hinder cross the limitation set by the government during surveillance or other applications. Another, major limitation in the small drones market is the lack of skilled pilots to fly these small and advanced drones in order to gather accurate data. The lack of skilled labor prevails in the commercial as well as in military forces, and this factor is impacting negatively on the market for small drones. Request For Custom Research Report @https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=CR&rep_id=22388 The small drones market has potential opportunities in future to grow such as autonomous small drones especially for military purpose, and price reduction of the small drones. The defense forces worldwide lack the benefit of autonomous drones which can be beneficial during any combat or surveillance and reconnaissance operation. The autonomous small drones can perform every task automatically without any manned pilot operating it to perform tasks. This could be highly advantageous for the defense forces. The manufacturers in the small drones market are focusing on this potential opportunity in order to help the defense forces. Another most prominent opportunity for small drones market to grow is the price reduction, which is limiting the commercial sector to adopt the small drones. The market for small drones is segmented on basis of size, payload, type application and geography. On basis of size, the small drones market is segmented as mini drones, micro drones and nano drones. Micro drones dominated the market; however, mini drones are anticipated to boost the market in the future at a higher pace. The different payloads fitted on to the small drones are sensors, cameras, telemetry systems, and others. Among the different payloads, the sensors captured the market for small drones followed by the cameras. Telemetry systems are projected to grow at substantial pace over the years, leading the market for small drones to grow rapidly. Based on types, the market for small drones is bifurcated as fixed wing drones and rotary wing drones. Fixed wings small drones are the most attractive drones in the current scenario, while the rotary wings small drones are poised to fuel the market in future. The small drones are applicable in areas such as law enforcement agencies, defense forces, and commercial. The defense forces captured the largest market while commercial sector is expected to be the fastest growing application in the small drones market. The small drones market is segmented regionally as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, and Latin America. Valley Cottage, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/17/2019 -- Future Market Insights (FMI) has published a new research report titled "Sulphur Bentonite Market: Global Industry Analysis 2012-2016 and Opportunity Assessment 2017-2027." The report states that the global sulphur bentonite market is expected to foresee a lucrative future owing to the rising concerns regarding balanced plant nutrition. A substantial increase in the production of crop and crop yield with the use of sulphur bentonite is anticipated to create traction in the global market in the coming years. According to FMI, the global sulphur bentonite market is expected to witness a CAGR of 5.0% over the course of the forecast period. Sulphur Deficiency in Developing Regions to Boost Demand Growing sulphur deficiency in regions such as Asia Pacific and Latin America is driving the demand for sulphur bentonite. Over the recent past, key sulphur consuming countries like China have witnessed relatively slow economic growth. This, coupled with regulations pertaining to the permissible limit of sulphur especially in marine fuel (IMO) among other products is expected to further widen the gap between elemental sulphur production and consumption at a global level. On the Asia Pacific sulphur bentonite market front, a number of researches have verified the advantages of sulphur micronutrients to improve the yield of a number of cereals, crops, pulses, fruits, vegetables, etc. Studies have proved the advantages of sulphur micronutrients to improve the yield of a number of cereals, crops, pulses, fruits, and vegetables. Government subsidies are promoting the use of conventional sulphur based fertilisers such as SSP, Ammonium Phosphate Sulphate (APS), and Ammonium Sulphate (AS). On the other hand, speciality fertilisers such as sulphur bentonite are non-subsidised and are available at premium prices. Moreover, sulphur bentonite is also imported from other countries such as UAE, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the U.S. Thus, the products are available at a relatively higher price due to import duties and taxes. To know more about this market, request a sample@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-6384 Higher Usage of Sulphur Bentonite Across Different Agricultural Plantations Sulphur bentonite is highly used in harvests such as oilseeds, cereals and crops, fruits and vegetables, and others. Sulphur bentonite is used to increase oil content and to improve yield for major oilseeds including rapeseed, sunflower, groundnut, soybean etc. Sulphur bentonite has also provided excellent results after being used on cereals such as corn, rice, wheat and other crops such as cotton, pulses etc. Among fruits and vegetables, sulphur bentonite is increasingly being used to improve the odour and taste for crops such as onion, ginger, and garlic; and fruits such as citrus fruits, grapes, and oranges The other applications of sulphur bentonite include use in lawns, turf, trees and other recreational activities. Request to Browse Report Customization@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/customization-available/rep-gb-6384 Vendors to Explore More Application Areas The need of the hour for the manufacturers of sulphur bentonite is to explore more manufacturing areas and enhance their products to fit these areas. Investment in research and development is the core focus of top market players at present. Some of the companies operating in the market are Tiger-Sul Inc., NEAIS (National Establishment for Agricultural and Industrial Sulphur), H Sulphur Corp., Coromandel International Limited, National Fertilizer Limited, Deepak Fertilizers and Petrochemicals, and Coogee Chemicals Pty Ltd., among others. Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/17/2019 -- The global demand for urolithiasis management devices has seen a steady rise in the past few years owing to the increasing prevalence of kidney stones. A 2015 study by the National Kidney Foundation of the U.S. states that one in 10 people in the country has kidney stones and that more than a half a million people are admitted to emergency rooms for kidney stone management every year. Across the globe as well, factors such as obesity, rising geriatric population, which is highly susceptible to kidney stones owing to reduced renal function and diabetes, and change in lifestyles are contributing to increased prevalence of kidney stone formation. View Report: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/urolithiasis-management-devices-market.html Transparency Market Research estimates that the global urolithiasis management devices market will exhibit a healthy 4.5% CAGR over the period between 2016 and 2024 and rise to a valuation of US$1.78 bn by 2024. Clinics and Ambulatory Surgical Centers to Remain Dominant End-use Segments Of the key end-users of urolithiasis management devices, including hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), and clinics, the segment of clinics led the global market in terms of both revenue and volume in 2015. In terms of revenue, the segment accounted for over 55% in the said year. The leading position of the market segment can be attributed to factors such as the significant rise in the number of people opting for urolithiasis surgeries and advancements in treatment options that have reduced the time required for undertaking the procedures. Over the period between 2016 and 2024 as well, the segment is expected to hold a commanding position in the global market, retaining its status as the leading revenue generator. The demand for urolithiasis management devices across ambulatory surgical centers is expected to exhibit a strong growth over the next few years, with the end-user segment emerging as one of the most promising investment grounds for the global urolithiasis management devices market. The segment is expected to exhibit strong growth owing to high demand for ambulatory surgical centers and preference for day care surgeries across developing as well as developed parts of the world. Applications of urolithiasis management devices across the hospitals end-use segment is expected to witness stagnant growth as clinics and ambulatory surgical settings become more preferred owing to the lower cost of treatment and the need to be hospitalized for shorter lengths of time. Request a Brochure of the Report @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=2252 Rising Geriatric Population in Asia Pacific to Stimulate Increased Adoption North America held a dominant share of nearly 36% in the global urolithiasis management devices market in 2015. Factors such as the rising prevalence of kidney stone, rising geriatric population, and campaigns undertaken to raise awareness about the risks associated with kidney stones by government bodies are central to the growth of the market in the region. Additionally, the introduction of new and innovative urolithiasis management devices such as laser lithotripters and flexible ureterenoscopes have also aided the healthy growth of the North America urolithiasis management devices market. The presence of high disposable income groups across developed economies such as the U.S. and Canada in North America, with a high prevalence of lifestyle-induced diseases such as obesity and a large base of geriatric population have also influenced the increased adoption of urolithiasis management devices. The urolithiasis management devices market in Asia Pacific is expected to exhibit an impressive CAGR of 4.6% over the period between 2016 and 2024. The mounting geriatric population in the region is the key factor driving the urolithiasis management devices market in the next few years. According to the United Nations ESCAP (Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific), is region is presently home to more than half of the world's population of people aged over 60 years and the number is expected to rise to more than 2.45 bn by 2050. Owing to this, the regions is expected to lead to a substantial rise in demand for urolithiasis management devices in the next few years. Request a Sample of the Report @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=2252 Some of the key vendors operating in the global urolithiasis management devices market are C. R. Bard, Inc., Allengers Medical Systems Ltd, Dornier Medtech GmbH, Boston Scientific Corporation, Cook Group, Inc., Electro Medical Systems S.A., DirexGroup, Olympus Corporation, Karl Storz, and Siemens Healthcare. About Transparency Market Research Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge. Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMR's syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement. Contact Us Transparency Market Research 90 State Street, Suite 700 Albany, NY 12207 Tel: +1-518-618-1030 USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453 Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com Website: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Sellbyville, DE -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/17/2019 -- The Polymer Gel Market report add detailed competitive landscape of the global market. It includes company, market share analysis, product portfolio of the major industry participants. The report provides detailed segmentation of the Global Polymer Gel Industry based on product segment, technology, end user segment and region. Extending its reach across a wide-ranging application spectrum including medical, personal care and cosmetics, and food processing sectors, polymer gel market share has been witnessing a massive upsurge over the last decade. Polymer gels, prominently divided into hydrogels and aerogels, have been gaining significant traction across the globe owing to their robust absorption capacities and unique deformation characteristics which befit the requirements of a diverse set of end-users. In fact, as per reliable estimates, the overall polymer gel industry lapped up a total remuneration of about USD 38 billion in the year 2016, which demonstrates the lucrative growth opportunities in this business sphere. Request sample copy of this report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/2256 According to a new research report by Global Market Insights, Inc. Polymer Gel Market Size will surpass USD 55 billon by 2024. While contemplating upon the prospective growth of the global polymer gel market, it is quite imperative to take note of the fact that this business space is inherently defined by a plethora of R&D efforts toward revamping the current product spectrum. In consequence, this has led to the swift acceptance of hydrogels in the medical sector a factor that has significantly boosted the fortunes of polymer gel industry. Owing to their high-water content absorption rate, porosity, squishiness, and other discrete properties, polymer gels are being utilized extensively across the healthcare domain as debriding agents in wound care, sustained drug delivery system, tissue engineering, contact lenses, cosmetic surgeries, spinal cord repair, bone regeneration, cardiac regeneration, and cartilage repair, etc. In 2017, researchers from Princeton University announced the discovery of a ground-breaking hydrogel that can be used in treating wounds effectively. Reportedly, the latest hydrogel is an injectable and chemical free polymer gel which has been formed via the effect of flexible fiber strands when forced through a syringe. The discovery of such radical polymer gel has opened up striking possibilities of improving upon an entirely new genre of injectable hydrogels for the healthcare sector. Apparently, the unveiling of such technologically sound products is expected to set an astounding benchmark that would further encourage polymer gel industry contributors to scale up research activities. Browse Complete Summary of this report @ https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/polymer-gel-market Engineers from Massachusetts of Technology have recently designed a hydrogel material that can be coated onto standard rubber or plastic medical devices such as catheters, intravenous lines, and other types of surgical tubing to treat inflammation in patients. Apparently, the hydrogel coating can be embedded with compounds to sense inflammatory molecules and can also be incorporated with medicines that would further be released in the body. Providing a softer and more slippery exterior that can significantly lower a patient's discomfort, the coating can even be tailored to monitor and treat signs of infections. Powered by such pioneering technological advancements, the medical applications segment is bound to prominently contribute toward global polymer gel market landscape over the forthcoming years. By virtue of the operationalization of extensive research and development plans, leading companies in the polymer gel market have been attempting to unveil tailored products that can be deployed with profound efficiency across an assortment of commercial arenas. Consequentially, the enhanced forms of polymer gels have found widespread applications in various business sectors along the likes of construction, agriculture, electrical and electronics, transportation, oil and gas, space exploration, packaging, fire protection, environmental, and paints & coatings, which has further extended the growth potential of polymer gel industry share. Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @ https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/2256 Testimony to the aforementioned claims can be affirmed by glancing through the recently compiled research report of Global Market Insights, Inc., which states that the global polymer gel market would surpass a stupendous remuneration portfolio of more than USD 55 billion by 2024 Bedbugs are blood-sucking parasites in the family Cimicidae. A multinational research team led by University of Sheffield, the University Museum Bergen and Dresden University has compared the DNA of dozens of bedbug species and discovered that bedbugs are 50 million years older than bats a mammal that scientists had previously believed to be their first host 50-65 million years ago. To think that the pests that live in our beds today evolved more than 100 million years ago (Cretaceous period) and were walking the Earth side by side with dinosaurs, was a revelation, said University of Sheffields Professor Mike Siva-Jothy, co-author of the study. It shows that the evolutionary history of bed bugs is far more complex than we previously thought. Professor Siva-Jothy and colleagues spent 15 years collecting samples from wild sites and museums around the world, dodging bats and buffaloes in African caves infected with Ebola and climbing cliffs to collect from bird nests in South East Asia. The first big surprise we found was that bedbugs are much older than bats, which everyone assumed to be their first host, said co-lead author Dr. Steffen Roth, a researcher at the University Museum Bergen. It was also unexpected to see that evolutionary older bedbugs were already specialized on a single host type, even though we dont know what the host was at the time when T. rex walked the Earth. The scientists found that a new species of bedbug conquers humans about every half a million years: moreover that when bedbugs changed hosts, they didnt always become specialized on that new host and maintained the ability to jump back to their original host. This demonstrates that while some bedbugs become specialized, some remain generalists, jumping from host to host. These species are the ones we can reasonably expect to be the next ones drinking our blood, and it may not even take half a million years, given that many more humans, livestock and pets that live on earth now provide lots more opportunities, said co-lead author Professor Klaus Reinhardt, a bedbug researcher at Dresden University. The team also found that the two major bedbug pests of humans the common bedbug (Cimex lectularius) and the tropical bedbug (Cimex hemipterus) diverged approximately 47 million years ago and are much older than humans. This finding clearly rejects so-called Ashfords hypothesis, which predicts a divergence that coincides with the split between Homo sapiens and Homo erectus lineages around 1.6 million years ago. The findings will help us better understand how bedbugs evolved the traits that make them effective pests that will also help us find new ways of controlling them, Professor Siva-Jothy said. The results were published online this week in the journal Current Biology. _____ Steffen Roth et al. Bedbugs evolved before their bat hosts and did not co-speciate with ancient humans. Current Biology, published online May 16, 2019; doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.04.048 A building that was being refurbished collapsed Thursday in downtown Shanghai, and at least five people were killed though 14 have been pulled from the rubble alive, according to wire services. The building being converted into an auto showroom fell around 11:30 a.m., and the city's rescue service said 24 emergency vehicles and more than 150 personnel responded to the emergency. By early afternoon, 14 out of about 20 people buried in the collapse had been pulled from the rubble. Their conditions were not immediately known. The foreign minister of Burkina Faso called Thursday on the international community to consider creating a counterterrorism coalition, like the ones for Iraq and Afghanistan, to better combat terrorism in Africa's Sahel region. The region currently has the G5 Sahel Joint Force, which includes troops from Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger. Those troops are tasked with fighting threats from extremist and armed groups. But in the two years since its creation, the force has faced major delays and obstacles, including the car bombing of its headquarters. The UN says the force is now 75 percent operational, but that equipment and training shortfalls are slowing its progress toward full operational capacity. The Sahel also has 16,000 UN peacekeepers in Mali and 3,000 French troops based in Chad to help restore stability. But despite the presence of the three forces, Burkina Faso Foreign Minister Alpha Barry told the Security Council the situation caused by terrorism and intercommunal violence was worrisome and deteriorating. "This threat is gaining ground," he said through an interpreter. "It is no longer contained within the north of Mali, in the Burkina-based Sahel or far from the borders of Mauritania. It is spreading and taking other forms, whose consequences are equally dramatic." The four berth, 4m teu annual capacity facility at PSAs Pasir Panjang Terminal in Singapore was announced in December last year. The joint venture terminal has been named the Magenta Singapore Terminal after ONEs distinctive branding, the inauguration featured the 14,000 teu container vessel ONE Stork in the same colour scheme. Among those present at the inauguration were ONE ceo Jeremy Nixon, Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) chief executive Quah Ley Hoon, and PSA group ceo Tan Chong Meng. The latest joint venture terminal by PSA represents an important step in locking in the Japanese container line joint venture ONE to using Singapore as its transhipment hub in Southeast Asia. Other lines with joint venture terminals in Singapore include Pacific International Lines, MSC and CMA CGM and in November last year Cosco Shipping Ports and PSA joint venture Cosco-PSA Terminal announced it would be increasing annual capacity from 3m to 5m teu. In its second major incident this year the 1998-built ro-ro Grande Europa was hit by two fires on 15 May. The first on deck three at 00-45hrs was extinguished by the crew after around 45 minutes. The second fir at 04-00hrs broke out on deck eight and spread to deck nine. The crew were unable to put out the blaze and 15 seafarers were evacuated by helicopter. A Spanish firefighting tug was able to put out the fire by 14-00hrs and the vessel has since been towed to the port of Palma de Mallorca. Grimaldi said preliminary investigations by the company suggested that, the two fires started from two different new vehicles stowed on board, and then spread to the other nearby units. In March Grimaldis 56,642 gt, con-ro vessel, Grande America, suffered a fire, that is believed to have started in container, that led to the vessel sinking in the Bay of Biscay. Read more: Cargo that kills Following the successful firefighting operations on the Grande Europa on Grimaldi is calling for more stringent controls and regulations on sea transport for both ro-ro and container cargoes. Notably, with reference to rolling freight, the Grimaldi Group requests that there be more controls on car batteries, which often cause short-circuits on board vessels, as well as in port terminals. Moreover, it calls for the total prohibition of the presence of personal effects in second-hand vehicles, embarked on ro-ro vessels, the shipowner said. With regard to containers, the International Maritime Organization is urged to make mandatory the certification by a classification society of the correct stuffing of containers carrying dangerous goods. The issue of the mis-declaration of dangerous cargoes has been in the spotlight following a series of major cargo fires on containerships. Read more: Banning dangerous cargoes not the solution to stamping out container fires Cheong Wa Dae spokeswoman Ko Min-jung on Thursday told reporters the two leaders "will discuss how to build a permanent peace framework based on close cooperation through complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and to strengthen the bilateral alliance." U.S. President Donald Trump will visit Seoul to meet with his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in next month. He will fly in from Japan after attending a G20 summit there on June 28-29. The White House, meanwhile, said on the same day that they "will continue their close coordination on efforts to achieve the final, fully verified denuclearization" of North Korea. The two sides used subtly different expressions -- "complete denuclearization" and "final, fully verified denuclearization" -- about the same issue, whereas Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has already dutifully adopted the latest U.S. form of words. Cheong Wa Dae hopes to restart dialogue between the U.S. and North Korea, though Pyongyang has been dismissive of Seoul's mediation efforts. The presidential office still hopes for another inter-Korean summit in the near future. Moon and Trump last met in Washington on April 11 but only had a few minutes alone together and achieved nothing. It is another big summer peak season Friday. This weekend two films targeting family audiences especially kids are releasing. They are Sivakarthikeyan Nayanthara Mr Local, which is releasing wide and SJSuryah versus the mouse fun film Monster. The other Tamil release is Natpuna Enna Theriyuma. The big Hollywood release is the extremely violent action thriller John Wick Chapter 3 Parabellum. It is having a limited release and shows in select multiplexes. The Hustle and A Dogs Journey are the other English release. The quarterly number of Koreans visiting Vietnam has surpassed the 1 million mark for the first time in the first quarter of this year. The Korea Tourism Organization said on Thursday that the number of Korean visitors to the Southeast country jumped 24.4 percent or 892,000 to 1.11 million in the January-March period. Given the rise, it is expected that the total for the whole year will reach 4 million. The annual number exceeded 1 million for the first time in 2015 with 1.15 million, and has been steadily increasing ever since, with 2.42 million in 2017 and 3.44 million last year. The biggest destination for Korean tourists in the first quarter was Japan with 2.08 million. Credit: Helen L. Collen PhotographyDef Leppard guitarist Phil Collen will be on hand at a pop-up exhibit of photos by his wife, Helen Collen, this Monday, May 20, in New York City. Phil curated the display, titled "Gratitude -- A Fine Art Photographic Exhibit," which will be located at the 393 NYC venue in downtown Manhattan. The exhibit will be open to the public and members of the press from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET, followed by a three-hour opening party and reception. "Gratitude" features 50 images captured by Helen, including onstage photos of Def Leppard, KISS and REO Speedwagon, pics of international landmarks, slice-of-life photos and more. In addition to her photography, Helen is an experienced costume designer. "Helen has a great ear for words, a great eye for color and perspective," says Phil, "and with this -- her first artistic exhibition -- it's a wonderful combination of all the above." You can check out examples of Helen's work at HelenCollenPhotography.com and BrittFineArtConsulting.com. Meanwhile, Phil, who was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with Def Leppard in March, will be hitting the road again with his famous band starting next month with a run of European shows. The British rockers also will mount a Canadian tour leg in July, followed by a new Las Vegas residency that kicks off August 14 at Zappos Theater. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. The South Korean government's silence in the face of North Korea's recent missile tests amounts to condoning them, a security expert warned Thursday. Kim Bo-mi at the institute for National Intelligence Service said in a report, "A silent response to North Korea's continued military activities is very dangerous, since it could send the wrong signal to the North that the international community condones short-range missile launches." When the North launched an Iskander-class missile on May 4, South Korean government and military officials claimed that the weapon was by some convoluted reckoning not a missile. The U.S. and Japan, which are seeking to engage the North in dialogue, also refrained from any strongly worded condemnation. Then a North Korean official was quoted by the official [North] Korean News Agency as claiming the international community agreed that the latest missile launch was not a "violation" of UN resolutions. "North Korea wrongly concluded that the U.S. and Japan condoned the short-range missile launch," Kim said. The North's launch of another Iskander-class missile the following day supports the theory. "We need to come up with firmer responses so North Korea does not get the wrong message that its provocation has been condoned," Kim added. She said North Korea is trying "to obtain appeasement from South Korea and the U.S. while stressing its military readiness by publicizing its leader Kim Jong-un's latest visits to military bases and shooting exercises." Kamal Haasan on protest over his Godse remark: I am not afraid of being arrested. Let them arrest me. If they do that it will only create more problems. It is not a warning but only an advice. pic.twitter.com/hVMkP3I9mJ A day after stones and eggs were hurled during his bypoll campaign, actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan said on Friday, clarifying his remarks on Mahatma Gandhis assassin Nathuram Godse which have sparked a political controversy. ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2019 Haasan, who kicked up a controversy this week with his comment that free India's first extremist was a Hindu in reference to Godse, said: You can find reference to terrorists in all religions. History shows that there are extremists in all religions my speech that day was about peace and harmony; I am reaching out to Muslims, Christians and Hindus. Kamal Haasan on stones thrown at his rally in Trichy: I feel the quality of polity is going down. I don't feel threatened. Every religion has their own terrorist, we cannot claim that we are sanctimonious. History shows that all religions have their extremists. #Chennai pic.twitter.com/R7buqXnUBU ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2019 He added that he did not feel threatened by the backlash and though the quality of polity was going down, he would not indulge in mudslinging. Tension prevailed at a public meeting of the Makkal Needhi Maiam founder yesterday when stones and eggs were hurled during the event. No one was injured in the incident at Aravakurichi which happened when Haasan was getting off the stage after completing his address. He was escorted to safety. MNM workers roughed up the two persons suspected to have hurled stones and eggs, before police rescued them and took then away for questioning. The incident came just days after reports that footwear was hurled at Haasan as he was campaigning though his party denied the reports. Police officials in Coimbatore district denied permission for the actor to undertake campaign for the Sulur bypoll on Friday. Haasan had last night taken to Twitter to urge his supporters to stay calm. Dear MNM family and fans, this is an acid test for our decorum and demeanour. Do not listen to their noises and be drawn into their violence. They are extremists who are slighted by the Truth. Naalai Namadhey! May 16, 2019 "Dear MNM family and fans, this is an acid test for our decorum and demeanour. Do not listen to their noises and be drawn into their violence," he tweeted. "They are extremists who are slighted by the Truth. Naalai Namadhey! (Tomorrow belongs to us), " he added. South Korean firms continue to export banned materials that can be used to make weapons of mass destruction, according to government data. This sends alarm bells ringing because they could be shipped to North Korea or Iran through intermediary countries. According to data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, South Korean firms were caught on 156 occasions exporting so-called strategic materials illegally since 2015, with discovered cases rising from 14 in 2015 to 41 last year. In the first three months of this year alone, whopping 31 illegal shipments were intercepted, though the figures do not show whether this is due to greater vigilance or an increase in attempts. Strategic materials are equipment or technology that can be turned into weapons of mass destruction or vehicles to deliver them. In May last year, South Korean centrifuges were illegally sold to Russia and Indonesia. Companies here also sold zirconium, which is used to make the cores of nuclear reactors, to China in October of 2017, while diisopropylamine, which is used to manufacture biological weapons like the VX nerve gas, was exported to Malaysia. VX nerve gas was used to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's half-brother Jong-nam in Kuala Lumpur in 2017. In September 2015 and March last year, South Korean firms exported to Syria materials that can be used to manufacture chemical and biological weapons. Of the illegal shipments, 70 were related to chemical and biological weapons, 53 to conventional weapons, 29 to nuclear weapons, two to missiles and one to chemical weapons. All South Korean companies must obtain government approval before exporting strategic materials, even to countries that are not blacklisted by the UN Security Council. Page Content Ministry of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Development and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI), announces that the Sister Regina Road in Simpson Bay will be closed to motorised traffic on Saturday, May 18. The closure will take place from the intersection of the Airport Road until Sister Modesta Road. The closure will be from 6.00am on Saturday until 1.00pm. The road closure is in connection with preparation work for a future drainage project for this area. Motorists are advised to pay close attention and observant for the traffic directional signs especially. The public is advised that tampering by removing barricades or any Government property is punishable by law. Ministry VROMI apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. PHOTO: Aerial view of the section of road that will be closed. 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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(0x7f3fee9bb9d8)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fef055608)', '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(0x7f3fee9bb9d8)') 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(0x7f3fef055608)') 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(0x7f3fee9544f0)') 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(0x7f3fef055608)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fef055608)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fee0807d0)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fee81d4c0)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fee81d4c0)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0 Spanish fashion firm looks to further expand in China From:ChinaDaily | 2019-05-16 17:00 Inditex, owner of eight fashion brands including Zara and Massimo Dutti, aims to continue to expand its presence in China through store reinforcement and to strengthen its digital connections with local consumers through innovations. During a visit to Beijing recently, Inditex's Chairman and CEO Pablo Isla said the company is expected to open a Zara flagship store in the city's prime location of Wangfujing Street by the end of this year or early next year. The move is part of the company's ongoing strategy to make Zara stores larger, offering more in-store experiences. Meanwhile, the company has also relied on technology to improve its digital operations, such as developing applications and websites for its retail brands to connect digitally with consumers, especially at places without the presence of its brick-and-mortar stores. In 2018, Zara updated its website image and mobile app, adding features that facilitate browsing and zooming in on specific trends. Inditex introduced next-day delivery service in China by working with JD Delivery. The company is working toward having same-day delivery available in all major cities around the world. The Spanish clothing company currently has more than 600 stores in the country. Of them, 57 are located in the capital city. Isla said Beijing is the first city to complete the group's eco-efficient store program, which has saved 46 million kilowatt-hours since 2015. The CEO said the company has developed a scheme for collecting used clothing when delivering online orders. It also worked with the China Environmental Protection Foundation on the Closing the Loop program for the collection of secondhand clothing in the group's stores in Beijing and in another 180 stores around China. Meanwhile, Inditex signed an agreement with Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management (SEM) to increase the endowment for scholarships for MBA students at Tsinghua SEM. In fiscal year 2018, Inditex achieved net sales reaching 26.1 billion euros, with growth of 3 percent. CORRECTED: African start-ups aim high, harsh realities temper hopes Paris, May 17 (AFP) May 17, 2019 Cameroonian start-up boss Serge Boupda made a polished pitch Thursday to a room packed with potential investors in Paris, but he knows a solid business plan does not guarantee interest for firms hoping to unlock Africa's vast economic potential. Like other African entrepreneurs out in force at the Vivatech trade fair in Paris this week, Boupda acknowledged the challenges of entrenched poverty, corruption and terrorism that are holding back many countries. "Africa is rising, yes, but it's also 54 countries, so what that really means is 54 different challenges," he told AFP after presenting his Diool payments app to a jury of three venture capital executives. The recent surge in deadly jihadist attacks in Burkina Faso and Mali, for example, underscores the risks to Boupda's ambition to bring Diool to those and other West African nations. "Of course it's something that's going to affect my returns, but what sort of problems does terrorism represent? People are poor, and governments are struggling to be effective," Boupda said. "Insecurity doesn't mean that business doesn't need to be done." His enthusiasm was shared by Jack Ma of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, who said in a keynote speech he was "amazed by the passion of young people" in Africa. "They are talking about dreams, about the future, they have no fear," he said. A handful of African tech success stories has whetted investors' appetites, like the M-Pesa mobile money transfer service app or Jumia, the pan-African e-commerce group that listed on the New York stock exchange in April. African entrepreneurs often struggle to find the capital to finance their projects locally, making fairs like Vivatech a golden opportunity for finding deep-pocketed backers. But for all of Africa's potential, many venture capitalist have learned the hard way that pouring money into innovative firms and ideas is not always a recipe for success. "We thought we had the tools, we had primarily African teams in place, and we crashed," said Rebecca Enonchong, recounting how she tried to bring her US business services company Appstech to her native Cameroon. "We failed at understanding the way people do business. It wasn't about our technical offering... Africans need to interact with human beings, which we weren't used to," she said. - 'Lot of failures' - Mario Sander, the World Bank representative in Europe, told Vivatech attendees his agency is helping to mobilise millions of dollars from public and private sectors into African ventures and organising mentoring programs. "We felt we need to rethink traditional acceleration models... to prove that there are more African companies with the potential to become globally competitive than people think," he said. Sander cited the Tanzania health insurance start-up Jamii, which offers coverage for as little as $1 a month and recently raised $2.8 million in four financing rounds for its expansion. The World Bank is now expanding into Francophone Africa, backing some 20 firms like the classified ads website Coin Afrique, which operates in around a dozen countries and has raised 2.5 million euros ($2.8 million). Others agreed that African start-ups were still worth the risk for foreign investors, but tempered expectations for any hugh Silicon Valley-style payoffs. "Ethiopia is going through radical reforms right now, and I think this is going to play a key role in propelling businesses," said Caleb Meakins, who founded the start-up incubator Mella there. However, "there's a lot of failures and the chances of success are really low. It's not like you can come in thinking you're going to get rich quick," he said. - 'African priorities' - Others cautioned that lofty projects might not necessarily gain traction in populations locked in the grip of poverty. "You have to understand African priorities: If people have money, they don't want to spend it," said Tonje Bakang, founder of the Afrostream TV streaming service who now runs the start-up incubator The Family. "And if they do spend it, it's on financing education for their kids, they want to buy food -- they don't want to buy digital goods," he said. He advised investors to focus instead on firms offering services to businesses. Others said the goal should be to entice people out of informal black-market economies by offering technologies that make it easier to do everyday things such as depositing a salary or paying taxes. That is the vision for Diool, which has processed one million euros' worth of transactions in Cameroon over the past two years, and is now seeking 1.5 million euros to expand. "People in Africa have no problem buying a smartphone if you can use it to solve a problem that they normally solve informally -- pay my mom's rent, buy insurance, give them access to something," Boupda said. 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 Iran says no talks with the US as Gulf tensions soar Washington, May 16 (AFP) May 16, 2019 Amid rising tensions in the Gulf, Iran on Thursday rejected negotiations with the US and said it was showing "maximum restraint" after Washington sent extra military forces to the region against what it claimed was an imminent threat from Tehran. US officials meanwhile said the deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group and B-52 bombers to the Gulf, one of the world's most strategic waterways, was in reaction to photographs showing that Iran had loaded missiles onto small traditional boats. In Tokyo for talks with Japanese officials, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called the US escalation "unacceptable." There was "no possibility" of negotiations with the United States, he told reporters. "I don't know why President Trump is confident." "We exercise maximum restraint," he said, despite the Trump administration's unilateral move last year to withdraw from the international agreement on Iran's nuclear program. On Wednesday, Trump predicted Iran would "soon" want to negotiate, even as the State Department ordered the evacuation of most personnel from the US embassy and consulate in Iraq, fearing an attack by Iranian-directed Shiite militias. "I'm sure that Iran will want to talk soon," the president tweeted. - Pressure to justify escalation - The White House and Pentagon remained under pressure to demonstrate the reason for the huge buildup in forces and heightened rhetoric of the past 11 days. Two major pro-Iran armed groups in Iraq rejected allegations that they were plotting an attack on US diplomatic installations in the country. Nasr al-Shomari, a military commander for the Iran-backed Harakat al-Nujaba, told AFP the claim was "a pretext" by Washington to create "an uproar" in Iraq. US coalition partners in Iraq had suggested earlier this week that the threat level there had not risen significantly, and members of Congress demanded to see the information behind the Trump administration's warlike rhetoric. "I think they should tell us what the hell is going on," senior Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told CNN. A US official said Thursday that Iranian missiles loaded on small, traditional dhow boats in the Gulf were among the new "threats" to US forces and allies in the region. The official, who asked not to be named, confirmed a New York Times report that US intelligence had aerial photos of the vessels. "The missiles on civilian boats are a concern," said the official. - Anti-war Trump? - The Trump administration meanwhile appeared divided on how hard of a line to take. The deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln strike group and the bombers was first announced on May 5 by White House National Security Advisor John Bolton. The vocal hawk called the move "a clear and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime that any attack on United States interests or on those of our allies will be met with unrelenting force." Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said days later that while the US does not seek a war with Iran, "if American interests are attacked, we will most certainly respond in an appropriate fashion." But The New York Times reported that Trump himself was not entirely happy with the talk of war and told acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan early Thursday that he does not want to a military clash. Brookings Institution foreign policy analyst Tom Wright said Trump does not agree with Bolton's hard line and advocacy of regime change in Tehran. "Trump has always distrusted Bolton on military intervention," Wright said. Intelligence officials were scheduled to brief congressional leaders Thursday on the information they have that spurred the new deployments to the Gulf, after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned Trump that the legislature, and not the president, has the constitutional power to declare war. "I like what I hear from the president, that he has no appetite for this," Pelosi said. "One of the places that I agree with the president is in both of our opposition to the war in Iraq, and I hope that that same attitude will prevail with (Trump), even though some of his supporters are rattling sabers." pmh/cs/acb CORRECTED: Washington says 'possible' Ankara will reject Russian missiles Washington, May 16 (AFP) May 16, 2019 The US believes it is "possible" Turkey will decide against buying a Russian air defense system whose proposed purchase has strained relations between the NATO allies, a top official said on Thursday. Washington has warned for months that Turkey's adoption of the Russian S-400 missile system would endanger Western defense and jeopardize Ankara's planned purchase of 100 of the US's F-35 stealth fighter jets. Asked on Thursday if Turkey may ultimately change its mind on the S-400, US Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson replied "it's possible." "The diplomats are continuing the work on that," she said, reiterating that the S-400 is "incompatible with having the F-35." The US in April placed a freeze on a joint F-35 manufacturing program with Turkey, and US law furthermore provides for sanctions on any country concluding arms deals with Russian companies. Two of the planes were delivered to Turkey in June 2018 but remain at a US Air Force base near Phoenix, Arizona, officially so Turkish pilots can train on them. "We're continuing to train the Turkish pilots at Luke Air Force Base but we don't think that we can deliver those aircraft into a country that has the S-400," Wilson said. Ankara says it won't reconsider purchasing the S-400 air defense system and that delivery of the first of the equipment may come as soon as June or July. But Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said last month that Turkey is aware of the US's concerns. Turkish media has reported that the government is mulling not using the Russian batteries or selling them to a third party in order to resolve the dispute. Iran condemns Saudi-led air strikes on Yemen Tehran, May 17 (AFP) May 17, 2019 Iran condemned as a "crime" Friday a wave of air strikes led by its arch rival Saudi Arabia on rebel-held areas of Yemen. The Thursday strikes followed a rebel drone attack that closed one of the kingdom's main oil pipelines earlier this week and that Riyadh said was carried out on Tehran's orders. "We call on the international community and human rights groups to act on their commitments and stop such crimes from happening again by any means possible," Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Seyed Abbas Mousavi said. "Countries supporting the aggressor forces in Yemen by providing weapons and bombs to the coalition have a shared responsibility for this crime and must be held accountable," he added in a statement on Telegram. Mousavi did not comment on Riyadh's allegation that Tehran was behind Tuesday's rebel attack on the Saudi pipeline. Aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said that at least four people were killed and 48 wounded in coalition air strikes on Yemen's rebel-held capital Sanaa on Thursday. The UN's humanitarian office OCHA said later that five children had been killed and 16 wounded in the strikes. The coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015 when President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi fled into Saudi exile as the rebels were poised to take his last toehold Aden after overrunning most of the rest of the country. Its air campaign on rebel-held areas has been repeatedly criticised by the United Nations and human rights groups for its high civilian death toll. Iran urges China, Russia 'concrete action' to save nuclear deal Beijing, May 17 (AFP) May 17, 2019 Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Friday urged "friends" including China and Russia to take "concrete action" to safeguard the 2015 nuclear deal after the US withdrew from the agreement. On a visit to Beijing, Zarif said he would also talk with Chinese officials about "bilateral ties and the very dangerous issues that are ongoing in our region today," according to a video published on the Iranian foreign ministry website. Amid rising tensions in the Gulf, Iran on Thursday rejected negotiations with the US and said it was showing "maximum restraint" after Washington sent extra military forces to the region against what it claimed was an imminent threat from Tehran. Zarif called on the international community to save the JCPOA, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The landmark 2015 deal between Iran and world powers including the EU and the United States offered sanctions relief to Iran for scaling back its nuclear programme. In May 2018 President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the deal and reinstated unilateral economic sanctions. "If the international community and other JCPOA member countries and our friends in the JCPOA like China and Russia want to keep this achievement, it is required that they make sure the Iranian people enjoy the benefits of the JCPOA with concrete actions," Zarif said. Zarif said last week that only Russia and China had supported Iran and helped it keep the nuclear deal going, and accused other parties to the agreement of letting Tehran down. China was one of the eight global buyers -- India, Turkey, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Italy and Greece -- that was allowed to import Iranian crude oil before the US ended waivers in early May. Zarif's China trip comes after visits to Turkmenistan, India and Japan in the past week. Despite Washington's campaign of "maximum pressure" against Iran, the Islamic Republic has vowed to keep selling oil to its main customers, especially China, even if it takes using indirect means. On May 8, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Iran would stop observing restrictions on stocks of enriched uranium and heavy water agreed under the nuclear deal in retaliation for the US withdrawal and the reimposition of sanctions. In his announcement, Rouhani threatened to go further if the European members of the deal failed to start delivering on their promises to help Iran circumvent US sanctions within 60 days. China in response called on all parties to uphold the nuclear deal in what it called a "shared responsibility". Afghan security forces killed in US strike in Helmand Kandahar, Afghanistan, May 17 (AFP) May 17, 2019 Several Afghan security forces have been killed in an American air strike targeting the Taliban, The US military said Friday, with local officials reporting the deaths of at least eight police officers. Colonel Dave Butler, a spokesman for US Forces Afghanistan, said Afghan security forces had called for US air support during a firefight late Thursday in Lashkar Gah, in the southern province of Helmand. The two parties had supposedly "deconflicted" their forces -- a military term for making sure neither side had troops in the strike zone. The Afghan forces "confirmed the areas were clear of friendly forces", Butler said. "Unfortunately, they were not and a tragic accident resulted. Afghan security forces as well as Taliban fighters were killed in the strikes." Provincial government spokesman Omar Zwak told AFP that eight police officers had been killed in the strike, with 12 more wounded. The death toll was confirmed by interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi on Facebook. He said 11 more police had been wounded. A joint delegation had been appointed to investigate the incident, Rahimi said. A third Afghan official -- head of the Helmand provincial council Ataullah Afghan -- gave a higher toll, saying 18 Afghan police were killed and 14 others were wounded. Butler said the US and Afghan security forces were examining the "miscommunication" to ensure it didn't happen again. "We regret this tragic loss of life of our partners and are committed to improvement every day with every mission," Butler said. Afghan and US forces have intensified the aerial bombardment of Taliban and Islamic State group militants in recent months even as the US pushes for a peace deal with the insurgents after nearly 18 years of conflict. According to US Air Force Central Command, the US dropped 7,362 bombs in Afghanistan in 2018, the highest number since at least 2010. Friendly fire incidents are not unheard of in Afghanistan, and have bred deep mistrust between local and foreign forces. In one of the deadliest, 16 Afghan policemen were killed in 2017 when they were mistakenly targeted by US air strikes in Helmand. Civilian deaths from air strikes have also been increasing. str-mam-lab-wat/gle We the Australian public demand that Julian Assange be repatriated to Australia by Gajalakshmi Paramasivam It was shocking news that I did not expect of our political leaders: [Two Rwandan men accused of murdering eight tourists in 1999 have reportedly been sent to Australia as part of the Coalition's refugee swap deal with the US. The pair were locked up in the US for the past 15 years, refusing to return to Rwanda where they are facing murder charges, according to reports in the US. But under the refugee swap deal negotiated with Malcolm Turnbull and Barack Obama, the two were sent to Australia in exchange for asylum seekers currently in offshore detention, Politico reports.] The Sri Lankan parallel of that would be to swap the leaders of the group that attacked on Easter Sunday for refugees from Pakistan. Obviously, we the ordinary citizens cannot punish the leaders. But in substance, is this not an example of suicide bombing? It looks like a leaf out of the book of Boat Arrivals in 1788 to establish a penal colony here. It means also that Americans are not able to manage their prisoners especially foreign prisoners who are not bound by American laws. Now that we the Australian public know about this, we demand that Julian Assange be repatriated to Australia because we do not trust Americans who do secret deals with our political leaders to establish their penal colony here in Australia. American government that did secret deal with Australian leaders has lost its moral right to prosecute Assange. What can be done to keep radicalism away from the shores of Sri Lanka? by Victor Cherubim People in Sri Lanka mistakenly associate Muslims with Islam. The fact is that Islam is a religion and Muslims are a people, many of whom are believers of Islam. It is easier to side with racists politicians who blame Muslims for everything, including the Easter Sunday bombings of Catholic Churches and posh Hotels in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Yet there is a pattern of Easter attracts on Christians in countries where the majority of people profess Islam. In Egypt on Palm Sunday 2017, suicide bombers murdered 45 people in two Coptic Churches. In Pakistan in 2016, a suicide bomber killed 75 Christians celebrating Easter at a public park. In Nigeria, on Easter Sunday 2012, a suicide bomber killed 38 Christians outside a Church. Now in Sri Lanka,249 or more have succumbed to the Easter Sunday bombings in 3 Churches and 2 Hotels on 21 April 2019. Is there a pattern to these bombings? Can we blame the religion, or do we blame the radicalism? It is a well-recognised fact that Christians and believers of Islam accept mankind as descendants of Adam and Eve and for the fall of man from grace of the Almighty. Both Christian and Islam consider Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Jesus as Prophets and HolyProphet Muhammad as the last Prophet. Both religions have much in common. Both religions believe in an afterlife, of a Heaven and a place of damnation as revealed by God to the Prophets through the messengers of God. Both religions also believe there is a judgement day when mankind will be called to account for their misdeeds and thence celebrated or punished and banished by the Eternal, for eternity. Both religions also believe in the Mercy of God. If surely both religions profess the existence of life after death, of good over evil, of ethical living in this life, why is it that there is an innate antipathy? Can we really put the blame on religion or on those who are misguided and become fanatics? All religions, in my opinion, profess moral values. All religions teach punishment and mercy in their tenets. Is there a fault line in the interpretation rather than in the basis of the teachings of Christianity and Islam? Religious beliefs have always been seen, analysed and professed over time as a private matter between individuals and civilisations. Without privacy of religious worship, surely freedom dies. Without freedom of worship, life is just a shadow of what it ought to be? Why are changing mindsets causing radicalisation? Religion and radicalisation are two ends of the spectrum of life. Whilst forms of radicalisation been on the rise among young people in Guantanamo and in European prisons, life in prisons can be the incubator for religious fundamentalism? These ideologies have been explained as Islamism but in many cases there have nothing to do with religion or religious teaching. They have everything to do with violent and non-violent extremism. Radicalisation as a phenomenon cannot only be limited to a specific religion or an ideology. We have seen the following forms of radicalisation identified over many years. We have seen right wing extremism say the Neo Nazi and the skinheads. Then there is the left-wing extremism in anarchism, say when World leaders have their summits around the world annually. Recently, we saw it in the Yellow Shirts in Paris? The reasons for extremism? There is always some form of manipulation of extremism. There is the political manipulation of frustration, discrimination, humiliation, alienation and a serious feeling of injustice, which are some reasons. Then there are these same reasons using religion in intentionally perpetrating violence as means to a political end. There is ambiguity between politics and using religion for political aims to try resolve contradictions in society. Politicians borrow the common factors in every religion like authenticity, legitimacy and credibility of religion and religious beliefs for their own ends. Scientific arguments are lacking in this process of radicalisation. We see very rich and well-educated elements in different strata of society being radicalised and fall a prey to misguided notions of salvation or an easy solution to many of our problems? We see weak governments fall an easy prey of these radical elements. When there is no strong leadership radicals have a field day? What can be done to keep radicalism away from the shores of Sri Lanka? Not much is the short answer in the immediate present. But personal vulnerabilities or local factors in Sri Lanka can make young people more susceptible to extremist messages. These may include a sense of belonging, a feeling of civic pride in the nation, being involved in drugs and easy money with gangs. It could also be the Internet. There could be the propagation of violence by groups who will often offer solutions to strong feelings of religious discrimination, of injustice, of being marginalised, of being misunderstood, not listened to or being treated unfairly. We need to re-educate against hate. We need to arm ourselves not with weapons but with words, values and real teachings rather than proselytise religion. A key priority for Norwegian aid in Sri Lanka is to assist in the work for a political solution, national reconciliation, democratisation and strengthening of human rights. by Thorbjrn Gaustadsther In Norway, today, 17 May, marks the signing of the Norwegian Constitution that took place in 1814. This is Norways national day and everyone, especially children, celebrate this event with street parades all over the country. This year, as we mark our National Day, less than a month after the senseless Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka, Norway stands in solidarity with Sri Lanka and its entire people. Norway has been with Sri Lanka through many different phases and we continue to stand together with the people of Sri Lanka. Our bilateral ties that span seven decades is ample proof of our commitment to be a consistent partner for our common future. Norway and Sri Lanka have developed strong bilateral relations since diplomatic relations was established in 1952. Our countries share democratic values and interests, and are strong supporters of multilateral cooperation, international law including human rights law, and a strong United Nations system. The oceans are of great importance to the past and future of both countries. Norway and Sri Lanka share a strong and common interest in the sustainable management and use of our oceans and the blue economy. Increasing political ties Development cooperation between Norway and Sri Lanka dates back to 1967 since the time of Ceynor Development Foundation, which worked towards economic development and social upliftment of economically and socially oppressed groups among coastal communities in Sri Lanka. After the end of the war, since Sri Lanka became a lower middle-income country in 2010, there has been a gradual reduction in development assistance, but bilateral relations in other areas such as high-level political visits, and economic cooperation have increased. Most recently, Norwegian State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Marianne Hagan visited Sri Lanka in March 2019, and announced Norways contribution of approx. $ 7 million for demining work in Sri Lanka. In October 2018, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe visited Norway reciprocating the Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solbergs visit to Sri Lanka in August 2016. Norwegian State Secretary Jens Frlich Holte visited Sri Lanka in June 2018 coinciding with the arrival of the research vessel Dr. Fridtjof Nansen. The visit of the research vessel highlighted the importance of sustainable use of the oceans, which is a priority for Norways international agenda. The research vessel also helped Sri Lanka to improve resource mapping and management of marine resources. Kamzy Gunaratnam, the Sri Lankan born Deputy Mayor of the city of Oslo, visited Sri Lanka in January this year to share her experiences as a young woman in politics with Sri Lankan youth. Gunaratnam is the head of the City of Oslos 17th of May Committee this year and the official organiser of the National Days celebration in the Norwegian capital today. Norwegian development aid A key focus area in todays bilateral development cooperation is technical capacity building in sectors where Norway has special expertise, and our bilateral assistance goes through multilateral partners as well as Norwegian institutions that cooperate with Sri Lankan organisations. Norwegian and Sri Lankan Ministries of Fisheries collaborated to develop Sri Lankas new fisheries policy. Norways Institute of Marine Research and its Sri Lankan sister organisation, National Aquatic Resources Research & Development Agency (NARA) continue to work together on research and data. Norwegian Geotechnical Institute collaborates with the National Building Research Organization (NBRO) on warning systems and landslides mapping. Norway also supports Sri Lanka to achieve its clean energy transition goals through the International Finance Corporation (IFC). A multi-year collaboration between the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences and the University of Jaffna supports nanotechnology and clean energy related work. ICT Norway and Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies (SLASSCOM) work together to share knowledge and also promote ICT education among youth and children through projects such as kids can code. In 2018, Norway extended approx. $ 6 million to Sri Lanka in development aid in a wide range of programmes ranging from good governance, civil society engagement, womens empowerment to job creation. We will also explore further cooperation in areas such as innovation and ocean-technology, fisheries and aquaculture, and sustainability of fisheries resources. A key priority for Norwegian aid in Sri Lanka is to assist in the work for a political solution, national reconciliation, democratisation and strengthening of human rights. For many years, the Embassy has supported local civil society organisations for efforts relating to freedom of expression, free press, anti-corruption, peace and reconciliation, as well as women and gender equality. Substantial support is given to the resettlement of internally-displaced persons in the north after the conflict through UNs Development Programme (UNDP), and job creation and livelihood opportunities through UNDP and the International Labour Organization (ILO). Norwegian investments and trade During recent years, there has been increased focus on business cooperation and promotion of economic interests between the Sri Lanka and Norway. The Government Pension Fund Global, which is one of the largest funds in the world has invested in Sri Lankan companies since 2015. By the end of 2018, it had invested $ 98.3 million in Sri Lankan stocks. Trade between Norway and Sri Lanka has increased steadily in recent years. Imports from Sri Lanka to Norway have increased from $ 20 million in 2010 to $ 42 million in 2017. During the same period, Norwegian exports to Sri Lanka have also increased. Two large Norwegian aquaculture projects; Sterner As and Ceylon Continental Seafood are looking to invest in Sri Lanka. These potential investments could total over $ 30 million and they could be the two largest aquaculture investments in Sri Lanka. At present more than 30 Norwegian companies are based in Sri Lanka. These Norwegian companies vary from hotels and IT companies to boat building and fish farming businesses. Together, the Norwegian companies have created around 10,000 jobs in Sri Lanka. Many of these companies were part of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerces Business Match Making Program, which lasted from 1994 to 2015. A consistent partner Next week, Norway-Sri Lanka ties will further strengthen when Sri Lankas Minister of Foreign Affairs Tilak Marapana attends the conference Closing the gaps in Humanitarian response to sexual and gender based violence in Norway. Through our cooperation with Sri Lanka for 70 long years, we have seen the resilience of the people of Sri Lanka to rise up after many challenging times that this country and its people faced ranging from the tsunami, to the civil war. In this trying time, it is important for all Sri Lankans to set aside their differences and come together as one nation to take Sri Lanka forward. Norway is committed to be a consistent partner with Sri Lanka for our common future. (The writer is Ambassador of Norway to Sri Lanka and Maldives.) by Sarath de Alwis The rhetoric of hate is often most effective when couched in the idiom of love. Truth is all around us...Truth is wherever man has glimpsed divinity From Gore Vidals novel on Roman Emperor Julian The script of Mangalas mistake is simple and straightforward. It begins with a pervasive silence of our collective complicity with an untruth. Mangala decides to pierce the conspiracy of silence with the obvious truth. It is a grave mistake. You cannot argue with the custodians of Sinhala Buddhism. You cannot question its pre-eminence in the Sri Lankan polity. That is their exclusive preserve. They operate on the simple principle that only the fish can study marine biology. Mangala is not a fish. Dabbling in marine biology is not his business. Now, poor Mangala finds that he has made a controversial statement. It has snowballed into a painful reproach against our collective pusillanimity. Mangala is pilloried. Even those who share Mangalas values do not wish to be reminded of or discuss their neutrality to truth. Mangala is not a run-of-the-mill politician. If he was, he would not have made this ethically correct, politically erroneous statement that Sri Lanka was a country where Sinhala Buddhists were the majority, but all were equal citizens irrespective of their ethnoreligious diversity. On the face of it, none can dispute its core content. That is if one subscribes to the overall assumption that we are a plural multicultural democracy. But it makes an impudent challenge to the Sinhalese Buddhist cosmic order which protects the land destined to be the repository of Theravada Buddhism, protected by Satharawaram Deviwaru the four guardian deities. His bold but hopelessly starry-eyed attempt to defend and promote the idea of a civic nation an inclusive Sri Lankan nation in the present exceptionally incendiary climate is unfortunate. He would be lucky to have any defenders. This writer counts himself as one of those defenders. But the price is high. Refusing to take part in a lie is a simple courageous step. Such situations are neither new nor unexampled. They have happened before and will happen again. That is how nations progress and defenders of truth are remembered in history. Mangala can take solace in John Steinbeck the novelist who gave his finest work, the biblical name Grapes of Wrath. It takes great courage to back truth unacceptable to our times. Theres a punishment for it, and its usually crucifixion. The Minister of National Integration, Official Languages, Social Progress and Hindu Religious Affairs Mano Ganesan has firmly reiterated that Sri Lanka is a Sinhala Buddhist country. Addressing the gathering of the Jathika Maga movement at the BMICH, he has said that we were people of one nation, but it was a Sinhala Buddhist country. Mano Ganesan, whose constituency consists of Tamils permanently domiciled in metropolitan Colombo, has very sensibly explained why he holds that view. It was not good to say that Sri Lanka is not a Sinhala Buddhist country. Although, there are different communities living in the country, we should admit that Sri Lanka is a Sinhala Buddhist country. Mark the distinction. Mano Ganesan does not say Mangala is wrong. He merely observes that Mangalas statement is not good. What Minister Mano Ganesan attempts to tell us is that what Mangala has stated is not good, convenient or politically prudent. The reference to Sri Lankas Buddhist ethos of tolerance by his eminence Cardinal Malcom Ranjith made eminent sense. However, his parable of the Buddhist older brother and younger siblings of other faiths baffled me. My bafflement is on the simple logic that rejects a hierarchical classification of moral purity the essence of all religions. On this issue, I am open to correction. I possess no deep insight to comparative religions. It never occurred to me to explore the subject. I have a deep and abiding aversion to all categories of opiates. The confusion over Mangalas statement was soon resolved quickly firmly and with absolute finality by Venerable Mawarelle Bhaddiya Thero who addressed the Jathika Maga parley at the BMICH on Tuesday. He presented an eloquently-framed proposition. Cardinal thumata meya piliganta puluwannam, mokada Mangala Samaraweerata bari? When His Eminence the Cardinal has pronounced that ours is a Sinhala Buddhist country, what is Mangala groaning about? The persuasive rhetoric of Venerable Mawarelle Bhaddiya Thero has an irresistible resonance with the theory of spontaneous consent with which the masses concede to the hegemony of a dominant group proposed by the Italian Marxist theoretician Antonio Gramsci. He wrote extensively on it, while languishing in one of Mussolinis prison where he finally died. Although he does not offer a clear-sighted definition of cultural hegemony (he was weary of his Fascist prison censors) Gramsci explained the process of spontaneous consent. Mangalas rejoinder should have really come from the JVP that calls itself a Marxist party. But how can Sinhala Buddhist Marxists commit that kind of heresy? The ruling group determines the direction of the social discourse. Subordinate groups are manipulatively persuaded to come on board. Consent is a complex mental activity a contradictory consciousness mixing resistance and resignation or approval and apathy. Oscillating between approval and apathy is the lot of Mano Ganesan grappling with the serious task of national reconciliation. In this heated climate we are missing the point. This is not about the sanctity of belief systems. Underneath the verbiage of heritage and purity of tradition there is a hegemonic consensus that defines access to wealth and power. The real debate is about the power relations that developed in post-war Sri Lanka. In 2012, Professor Nira Wickremesinghe made an incisive inquiry into the State-sponsored project to shape the present by postulating history as heritage. In the post-war period, the study of history was quietly abandoned to the mercies of film producers and perception engineers advancing the political project of the State. The versatile actor Jackson Anthony replaced the distinguished scholar Senarath Parnavithane as our interlocutor with a past that was once obscure but now offering immense possibilities harking back to the days of Ravana. The irony of it all is that the Government was in deep slumber just as Kumbhakarna, the laidback brother of Ravana, was when Islamic terror hit us on Easter Sunday. One passing thought. A good deed never goes unpunished. I stand by Mangala Samaraweera. The rapid decline in the economy will invariably render the very survival of not only the poor people but also those of middle class and well-to-do segments, more difficult and miserable. by Victor Ivan Sri Lanka was in a deep and complex crisis even before the outbreak of the Easter Sunday attacks. Now, in the wake of the Easter Sunday attacks, the country has plunged into a deeper and bigger crisis, which is more complex than it was before. The economy of the country was on a downward trend heading for virtual bankruptcy even before the Easter Sunday bomb attacks. Now the downturn of the economy has aggravated further, reaching a level which is two to three times worse than it was. The tourist industry is in dire straits of almost collapse. Nearly one million people depend on the tourist industry. Most of them are now in a miserable state in which their means of income has completely depleted. The process of contraction in the industrial and trading sectors has aggravated speedily. The rapid decline in the economy will invariably render the very survival of not only the poor people but also those of middle class and well-to-do segments, more difficult and miserable. Socio-political implications of the crisis Sri Lanka has been able to avoid large-scale reprisals against Muslim community in the aftermath of the deadliest bomb explosions on Easter Sunday. Nevertheless, the social division between Muslim and non-Muslim societies which lay underneath, have assumed a character of fossilised social divisions with the possibility of erupting at any moment in the form of a violent explosion. The Easter Sunday attacks have also aggravated manifold the confusion prevailing in the political arena. The recent incident, apart from intensifying the disappointment of people in political parties and the leaders, has generated a strong protest as well as a deep contempt for them. The comical nature of political leaders of the country was well reflected in their behaviour in the aftermath of the Easter massacre. Not even a mark of woe or remorse was to be seen in their faces. There was hardly any difference between their behaviour and that of the blue flies swarming around decomposed corpses. The people perceive this tragedy as an outcome of irresponsible and opportunistic behaviour of political leaders, which could have been avoided, if timely measures had been taken. It is now being revealed that the origin of the Islamic terrorist organisation responsible for these attacks goes back to about seven or eight years and Muslim society itself had made complaints against this organisation but neither the present Government nor the previous Government had taken them seriously and imposed laws against this terrorist organisation for narrow political gains and other selfish advantages. The crisis is now flowing liberally, destroying the spate of recognition of all political leaders. It can be said that all political leaders, while becoming a laughing stock in the eyes of people at times and vessels of their contempt at other times, are being pushed in to the waste-bin of history while ushering a new era which can be for good or bad. Apparently, the present state of confusion and crisis is a growing phenomenon that is likely to aggravate and persist rather than being contained soon. When one crisis is contained, it is possible for another crisis, which had been suppressed, to raise its ugly head again. The public sector salary issue has reached explosive heights. Micro credit issue of rural women has also reached a similar stage. The economic pressure exerted on overall society by the downturn of the economy too will reach explosive heights. Moreover, it might impact adversely on the election timetable also while adding to the prevailing unrest and uncertainty in the country. Holding of elections at this moment would not be a solution to this crisis; it might rather intensify the crisis. If the existing crises are to be overcome, what the country needs first and foremost is an overall structural transformation of the entire system before embarking on any other issues and recreating the Sri Lankan State and Sri Lankan society. Sri Lankas crisis The present crisis in Sri Lanka, which has reached into an optimum level at the moment, is not something that fell from the sky, all of a sudden. It can be considered a scenario which commenced since independence and gradually developed over a long period of nearly 71 years before reaching the present heights. Independence gained by Sri Lanka cannot be considered an outcome of a strong social struggle. It can be treated as an independence achieved through trickery and deceptive means. Had it been gained through a strong social struggle against colonial rule, it would probably have been possible to integrate the nation and build the modern nation by minimising the recognition accorded to ethnicity, caste and religious differences. It was without building the modern nation that we gained independence. Even after independence there had been no interest to build the nation. Building of a modern nation is an essential prerequisite for the healthy survival of a modern nation state. In that sense, Sri Lanka has built the modern nation state without creating a strong foundation required for promoting internal harmony. Ethnic, caste and religious differences had their impact not only on society but on the leaders of the country as well. Since independence, the rulers have governed the country without an appropriate and far-reaching vision for the country. The national leaders of Sri Lanka were not mature people who had emerged through strong independent movements. The parochial, short-sighted policies adopted by them have contributed largely to widen social differences and divisions in the country. Sri Lanka, which gained independence without shedding even a drop of blood, 30 years after independence has turned out to be a land swimming incessantly in a river of blood for a long period of nearly 30 years. Ethnicity, caste and religion, all three factors have had an impact on the violent conflicts that broke out from time to time. Now, having had just 10 years rest period after swimming for 30 years in a river of blood, the country seems to be moving towards a path of blood bath again. Unless we manage to arrest this trend and prevent the outbreak of large-scale conflicts and violence at this stage, certainly the price that the country will have to pay can be enormous. At the same time, it is also important that we understand the realistic situation of the crisis the country has faced. Violation of Soulbury Constitution Our rulers not only lacked a strong and far-reaching vision for the development of the country, they didnt have the most needed discipline, the hallmark of good governance and leadership, to govern the country in accordance with the Constitution and the law of the country. The ink on the Soulbury Constitution was barely dry when D.S. Senanayake, the first Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, breached it by adopting two Acts of Parliament depriving the citizenship rights of Indian plantation workers. The issue of the Indian plantation workers should have been resolved soon after independence. Prior to independence, all the people who lived in Sri Lanka were treated as British citizens. There were 800,000 plantation workers of Indian origin working in the estate sector. Of them a considerable number had lived for a long period in Sri Lanka continuously and they desired to stay in Sri Lanka rather than migrating to India. Apart from them, there was another section, equally large in number, among them who used to live temporarily working in the estate sector and going to India from time to time. The Indian plantation labour was an essential requirement for the sustenance of the estate sector economy of the country. The problem of plantation workers of Indian origin should have been resolved by two methods: (1) by identifying the people who had lived a longer period persistently in Sri Lanka and evinced interest to become citizens and granting them citizenship; (2) safeguarding the political rights of others who preferred a temporary stay in the country, by means of a special system of constituencies restricted only for them so that they could elect their representatives from these constituencies to represent their interests in Parliament. But, D.S. Senanayake, the first Prime Minister of independent Sri Lanka, looked at this problem from a very narrow political angle. While seven members had been elected to the Parliament from the Congress of the Indian Plantation Workers at the 1947 Parliamentary election, the Indian Tamils opted to vote for the candidates of LSSP wherever the Congress of the Plantation Workers had not fielded a candidate of their own. D.S. Senanayake regarded the leftist Lanka Samasamaja Party (LSSP) as his main rival and was angry over the Indian plantation workers as they had supported the leftist candidates in constituencies which were not contested by the Congress of the Plantation Workers at the general election. D.S. Senanayake, as the hero of independence, anticipated an easy victory at the first Parliamentary Election. But, he was able to secure only 42 seats out of 95 seats in Parliament. Though there were seven members elected from the Congress of the Indian Plantation Workers at the General Election in 1947, they declined to support D.S. Senanayake in his attempt to form a government. They all ganged up with the Opposition. Thus, their refusal to support him and the close alliance they had developed with the LSSP met with his strong opposition. In this backdrop, the Citizenship Acts promulgated by the Prime Minister intended to deprive the Indian estate works of their right to vote as well as to weaken the power of the LSSP. This situation caused the Indian Tamil community which had seven members in the 1947 Parliament to remain without a single representative until 1977. The Sinhala Only Act, formerly the Official Language Act introduced by Bandaranaike in 1956, can also be considered a move against the Soulbury Constitution. By that time, there was a big language issue to be resolved. The recognition of vernaculars had been completely suppressed during the long period of colonial rule. There was no change in this situation even after gaining independence. Until 1956, the text of a telegram, the most popular and essential mode of communication for many decades received by both Sinhala and Tamil peoples, was written in English, compelling the majority of them who did not know English to seek assistance of an English-educated gentleman to get the message read. There was a pressing need to change this unpleasant situation faced by the users of native languages, Sinhalese and Tamil. Yet, what Bandaranaike did was to make Sinhalese the Official Language, depriving the Tamil of their right to work in their language. Henceforth, Tamil people received their telegrams in the Sinhalese language, compelling them to seek assistance to have the message deciphered. The policy that deprived the Tamil people of reasonable language rights created serious disappointment in them. Disregarding their attempts to secure their language rights within a non-violent framework can be considered a major factor that pushed the younger generation of Tamil people into a path of terrorism. If the compilers of the first Republican Constitution, adopted by the United Front Government in 1972 had an interest, they could have done justice to Tamils who had been deprived of their language rights. Not only did they fail to do that, they also incorporated the Sinhala Official Language Act into the Constitution itself, to the consternation of Tamil people. In this sense, the Republican Constitution of 1972 can be considered as a statute which deprived Tamil people of their language rights. Violation of constitution after 1977 The second Republican Constitution, adopted in 1978, despite being a constitution drafted with a narrow object of concentrating the entire power of the State around the Head of the State, can still be considered a relatively progressive one compared to the 1972 Constitution as far as the provisions incorporated in it to safeguard the rights of minority ethnic groups and human rights were concerned. But, it is the only constitution that has been violated the most within a short period of four decades. President J.R. Jayewardene, the founder of the second Republican Constitution 1978, was the first culprit responsible for committing the biggest sin of violating it. The violations of the Constitution initiated by J.R. Jayewardene had always been supported by Parliament and at times by the Judiciary as well. Of the 16 amendments added to the Constitution during his regime, five amendments can be considered as gross violations of the Constitution. The legendary Fourth Amendment (1982.12.23) introduced, extending the official term of Parliament elected in 1977 by another six years by a referendum, can be described as the most horrendous amendment which led to distort the system of governance and the political course of the country, eventually thrusting the country onto a violent path. Up to now, this amendment has not been revoked from the Constitution. President Jayewardene carried out all his arbitrary practices during his regime by way of amendments to the Constitution. He commanded a five-sixths majority in the Parliament which enabled him to get any amendment passed conveniently and promptly. On the contrary, during the regime of President Chandrika Kumaranatunga, she did not possess the required majority in the Parliament to bring about constitutional amendments. However, she managed to overcome the obstacle by appointing Sarath Nanda Silva, a henchman of hers, to the post of Chief Justice and obtained through him the approval of the Supreme Court for unconstitutional measures adopted by her. It was as a result of this practice that the system which permitted the MPs of the Opposition to join the Government without having to lose their parliamentary seats came into being. This can be described as an instance where the Constitution was violated jointly by the Parliament and the Judiciary. The aberration created by this change in the entire system of governance was enormous. The 18th Amendment passed during the regime of Mahinda Rajapaksa can be considered another instance in which the Constitution was grossly violated. The 19th Amendment enacted thereafter, with the object of changing the presidential system of governance and revoking the 18th amendment, can be considered not only as a violation of the Constitution, but also a weird amendment that distorted the entire system of governance and rendered the Constitution a useless rag which can no longer be put to effective use. Failure to rectify mistakes The uncivilised policy adopted by the rulers of the country since independence in regard to the Constitution, the supreme law of the country, alone is adequate to understand the extent of political vulgarity that prevails in the country. The rulers, whenever they want to achieve their political needs, violate the Constitution with the approval of the Legislature when they command the required majority in the Parliament and with the support of the Judiciary when they do not have the required level of power in the Parliament. Thus, the Judiciary, which is responsible for protecting and safeguarding the Constitution, at certain instances has failed to perform its duty properly. The distortion and the complete impotency of the present Constitution can be considered as a logical consequence of this process. Usually, civilised countries do not attempt to violate their constitutions. The judiciary will not allow it even if the rulers wanted it. The civilised countries hold that the violation of constitution, the supreme law of the country, is the biggest sin which can be committed in political sense. Even if the constitution is violated in an unavoidable circumstance, the civilised countries will not allow it to be a stumbling block of the progress of the country and take appropriate measures to rectify the error. I wish to cite an example from India, our immediate neighbour. Indira Gandhi, who ruled India for a long period under the emergency law, presented the 42nd Amendment to the Constitution in 1976 and got it passed through majority vote of Parliament. The 42nd Amendment is regarded as the most controversial constitutional amendment in Indian history. It led to create a great anomaly in the field of Fundamental Rights enshrined in the Indian Constitution. It came largely under public protest and constituted a critical factor that led to the defeat of the Government of Indira Gandhi at the 1977 general election. The Janata Party Government which came to power in 1977 adopted two constitutional amendments (43 and 44) to rectify the anomaly caused by the 42nd Amendment. Some critics are of the view that though these two amendments helped mitigate the impact of the anomaly caused by the 42nd amendment, it was not possible to revoke it completely. However, the Supreme Court of India by a judgement passed (Minerva Mills V Union of India) in July 1980 annulled the 42nd Amendment completely and deprived the Legislature of its rights to pass constitutional amendments that can cause damage to the basic structure of the Indian Constitution. How retrogressive is Sri Lankas position when compared to India, its immediate neighbour, so far as the subject of constitutional amendments is concerned? Sri Lanka has not made any attempt to revoke the amendments which distorted the Constitution. No attempt has been made to abolish even the 4th Amendment that permits the extension of the official term of Parliament by a referendum. There is no difference in regard to the court decisions made distorting the structure of the Constitution. It is important that we realise that the constitutional violations by the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary, jointly and separately, have become an important factor affecting the deterioration of the Constitution, the system of governance and the overall wretchedness of the country. The present terrorist threat as well as the similar threats the country had faced earlier can be considered as calamities associated with the deterioration of the State. The country needs a new constitution as well as a new system of governance and a complete transformation of the entire system because there is no other alternative to overcome the current state of wretchedness of the country. Accordingly, in making and adopting a new constitution and a system of governance for the country, it must be made with adequate provisions that would not leave space for the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary to commit such mistakes. Since 2012 Newton Rigg College and Carrs Billington have worked together providing work placements for students, support for its alumni organisation the Newton Rigg Society and overalls for students. In addition, students have the chance to apply for scholarships to assist their education needs and this year eleven students shared over 4,000. Over 50 students applied and were required to put a case forward as to why they should be chosen, and what they would do with the money. They were presented with their awards and cheques by Managing Director, Rae Tomlinson, during a recent visit to the company's head office in Carlisle. Afterwards the students and their parents enjoyed a tour of the country store, workshops and offices. Commenting on the scholarships scheme, Mr Tomlinson said: Carrs Billington Agriculture is delighted to continue to be involved with Newton Rigg College. The scholarship scheme is another way of investing in the future of farming that is so crucial to Carrs Billington and the fabric of our environment. We have former Newton Rigg students working at every level throughout our organisation and value the partnership and close links with students and staff alike. The students are the prospective customers and employees of Carrs Billington and the future custodians of British farming. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 It fell to local husband and wife breeders, John and Claire Mason, who run the Oddacres herd in Embsay, with a third prize junior bull, Oddacres Oswald, a youngster full of promise who had only just celebrated his first birthday on the eve of the Skipton showcase. The very fact that Oswald was described in the sales catalogue as one of the best bulls ever bred at Oddacres and they have produced plenty of high-flyers over the years spoke wonders ahead of the high profile fixture. Boasting extreme muscle and a super temperament, Oswald has already made his mark on the breed, standing runner-up as a calf in the 2018 North East Limousin Breeders herd competition. The record price performer carried completely different bloodlines to the Oddacres holding, being fully French-bred. Both the sire, Linzo, a grandson of the famous Objat, and the dam, the Ducasse daughter, Idee, were purchased by the Masons Linzo as a three-month-old calf - from Valerie and Christophe Rochards renowned herd in the Haute-Vienne region of France. Oswald fell to the West Yorkshire-based Sandham family and will take his place on their British Blue commercial herd at Town End Farm, East Carlton, near Yeadon they currently have some 160 sucklers - with a view to producing some top-notch prime and store cattle, some of which they already sell at Skipton. The farm, which has been breeding cattle for some 30 years, is now run by Richard Sandham and his nephew, also Richard, while the family, which has a background in butchering, also own long-established scrap metal firm, Bradford Waste Traders. It proved one of the most successful days ever for the Masons at their local auction mart. As well as setting a new centre record price, they also stood reserve supreme champion with a bull that had finished in exactly the same position at the previous days show-only Northern Limousin Extravaganza. Oddacres Otto is an April, 2018, son and the last bull to be sold by the Masons renowned French import, Gallois, used with great success for four years and also responsible for a 10,000gns weaned bull calf, as well as siring multiple show winners, including some at Skipton Out of Homebyres Elitelady, Otto, whose full sister is mother to Oddacres Ohmylady, overall champion calf in the 2018 NELB herd competition, first won his junior bull class, before becoming junior male champion, reserve male and reserve supreme. Shown by daughter Annabel Mason, secretary of North Eastern Limousin Cattle Breeders Club, Otto also sold well at 3,900gns when falling to the Ryder family in Haverah Park, Harrogate. Oddacres also hit 2.800gns and 2,500gns with two further intermediate bulls, one a third prize winner. The overall supreme champion came from an exceptional pen of bulls consigned by Procters Farm in Slaidburn. The prolific herd was landing its first Skipton pedigree Limousin title with the September, 2017, Procters Nitro, by the Wilodge Cerebrus son, the 38,000gns Ampertaine Foreman, out of the Haltcliffe DJ daughter, Procters Gwen, who has herself produced females to 17,000gns, as well as a bull by Glenrock Humdinger that was sold privately for 15,000gns. Got by embryo, Nitro first won his intermediate bull class, later becoming intermediate and overall male champion, before being tapped out as supreme champion by Welsh show judge Owain Llyr, who runs the Wern herd in Ruthin. He described his chosen title winner from a very good top end as an outstanding Limousin, a verdict upheld in the sales ring when Nitro blasted away to second top call of 5,800gns when joining D&A Livestock in Haverah Park, Harrogate. The Procters herd, first established some 21 years ago, also won a second intermediate bull class with the August, 2017, Procters National, again got by embryo to the Sympa son, Haltcliffe Dancer, out of an extremely consistent breeding cow, the Objat daughter, Glenrock Diamante, who has produced bulls to 24,000gns, plus a brace of heifers at 8,500gnns and 8,000gns. National found a new home in Wales when selling for 5,000gns to Herdman & Son, of Builth Wells Returning to the Procters Gwen flush to Ampertaine Foreman, Procters Farm also stepped forward with an embryo bother to their 2019 supreme champion - a second prize Intermediate bull, Procters Nijinski, knocked down locally for 4,800gns to Alan Lodge, who farms on Malham Moor. Procters Farm also sold two other intermediate bulls at 4,000gns and 3,700gns. Another eye-catcher at 5,000gns was Cropmel Naughtyboy, from Clare Cropper and John Mellin, who farm locally in Long Preston. The naturally born April, 2017, son of the 40,000gns Plumtree Fantastic, out of Toppesfield Ivory, also found a new home in Wales joining BG Price, of Hay-on-Wye. 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. Verve Rally, Europes first ever so-called carbon-neutral supercar rally pulls into Stratford next Friday. As the race makes its way from London to Snowdonia during the four-day event, rally participants will take a break from their journey to Snowdonia to display their supercars near the Shakespeare Birthplace, on Henley Street, for fans to enjoy on 24 May from 12noon to 2pm. Visitors can expect to see a range of cars from the rally on display including a Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Roadster, McLaren 570S Spider, Honda NSX, Lamborghini Huracan Spider, two Aston Martin DB11s, a Ferrari F12, two Porsche 911 Turbo S Cabriolets, a Bentley Continental GTC, a limited edition Mustang Shelby Supersnake, a Camaro ZL1, Maserati GTS, a Porsche 911 Carrera 4S Cabriolet and an Aston Martin DB9 to name but a few. The 24th to 27th May, London to Snowdonia event is the first in a trio of rallies set to criss-cross Europe, taking in glamorous cities including Ibiza, Valencia, Rome and Florence, later in the year. Explaining how the gas-guzzling supercar rally could be described as carbon neutral race-founder Darshana Ubi explained: We are proud to be Europes first carbon neutral rally where we calculate the fuel consumption across our rallies and plant trees through the PATT Foundation to offset the carbon footprint. Co-founder Marcus Ubl added: Setting off from London and stopping off at Stratford for a supercar display means the Verve Snowdonia rally will be something special and a great way to start the rally season. The supercars taking part in this event include some of the most desirable and enjoyable cars to drive in the world. The new track is Halsey's comment on the restrictions and expectations that society places on women, and to put it mildly, she's not having it. "'Come on little lady give us a smile'/no, I ain't got nothing to smile about," she sings. And then there's this line: "I've been polite but I won't be caught dead/letting a man tell what I should do in my bed." In the chorus, she shouts, "I keep a record of the wreckage of my life/I gotta realize the weapon in my mind/They talk s**t but I love it every time, and I realize/I'm no sweet dream but I'm a hell of a night." In other words, about as far from "Boy with Luv" as you can get. The new song comes complete with a powerful video directed by Hannah Lux Davis, who was behind the camera for Ariana Grande's high-concept "thank u, next." This dark, occasionally bloody clip features an all-female cast, including model/actress Cara Delevigne and New Wave icon Deborah Harry of the band Blondie. In the clip, Halsey is seen sporting several looks: tough punk rocker, leather-clad dominatrix, pin-up model in a wig and leopard print bodysuit, glammed-up femme in stockings, jewelry and lingerie, and masculine, with slicked-back hair, no makeup and a suit. On Twitter, Halsey wrote, "Imagine getting onstage every night and seeing young women sweating mascara tears, lightning in their eyes, throwing elbows and raising fists, screaming till the veins in their necks raise under warm skin, and not being inspired by it. This song is about you, for you." No word yet on when we can expect a new album from Halsey. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Every three or four years there is a new outbreak of mumps, a viral infection that is characterised by inflammation of the salivary glands. As a means of prevention, children are given the MMR vaccination (a vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella). However in the 1990s (particularly between 1993 and 1997) the vaccination that was used on children contained some errors and was less effective at preventing mumps, or parotiditis. The consequence is that young adults today are more likely to get the illness. So far this year, cases of parotiditis have quadrupled with 277 registered as opposed to 70 last year. Experts consulted by SUR indicated that in the 1990s there were some mistakes in the MMR vaccination. When measuring antibody levels in patients it was found that in those years the vaccine had not given sufficient immunity to offer a very high protection against the infection. The question that people are asking, therefore, is: why are vaccinated people still getting mumps? The number of mumps cases in Malaga has quadrupled this year The response is related to the fact that the dose of the MMR vaccine that was used on children in the 1990s gave less protection against the infection, since it contained the Rubini strain, which only provides a minor immunisation against mumps. Sources at the Ministry of Health told SUR that since the first use of the vaccination, at the start of the 1980s, cases of mumps have decreased in both Andalucia and Spain. However, there are times when larger numbers of cases of mumps have been reported. The sources specified that the cases are in young adults and are mild. The MMR is included in the routine childhood immunisation schedule. Currently, two doses are administered, one at 12 months and another at three years. The ministry estimates that the protection provided by the MMR vaccine in Andalucia is around 97 per cent after the second dose. Sources also stressed that, in regard to parotiditis, the vaccine does not protect one hundred per cent, so isolated or clustered cases can occur. According to protocol, on all occasions where someone has contracted mumps, the same procedure is followed: identify the people in their close surroundings, check who is vaccinated and vaccinate those who are not. Those born before 1966, however, are exempt, because they are considered already immunised through previously catching the infection naturally. In Andalucia This year so far, in Andalucia 1,945 cases of mumps have been registered. Of those 277 are in the province of Malaga. In 2018, 885 cases were registered in Andalucia, of those 70 were in Malaga. In regards to the several students from the Faculty of Communication Science who caught mumps, prompting warnings to young people to get a vaccination, the Ministry of Health has released a message to give peace of mind, since "it is a situation which is normal". Mumps is the common name for parotiditis, a viral infection characterised not only by the inflammation of the salivary glands, but also other symptoms including a fever, headaches, joint pain or a lack of appetite. Transmission of the infection is through saliva droplets - when talking, sneezing and coughing - or by direct contact with an infected individual's saliva. In 2018, organised crime left an unprecedented trail of bloody incidents on the Costa del Sol. Nobody can fail to be worried by this. Certainly not local residents, or institutions such as the Prosecution Service in Malaga, which has expressed "serious concern" at the increase in violent crimes related to revenge attacks between gangs, such as commissioned killings. THE FIGURE 95 cases of murder or manslaughter were investigated by the Prosecution Service in Malaga in 2018. This was an increase of 44 per cent compared with the previous year and 61 per cent more than four years previous. The figures speak for themselves. Last year the authorities in Malaga opened 95 cases of homicide (premeditated and manslaughter), and that was 44 per cent more than the previous year. Figures show that violent crime has increased by 61 per cent when compared with four years ago. Premeditated murders, in other words those in which the criminal plans the victim's death, increased from 52 cases in 2017 to 65 last year. Assassinations rose by 40 per cent, from five to seven. One area of special concern is the use of explosives against members of rival organisations The prosecution service in Malaga is worried by the rise in this type of crime on the Costa del Sol, most of which is associated with criminal organisations. Sources there say the Malaga coast is an ideal place for members of these gangs to live and hide, because of the good communications and the proximity to Morocco, where the main hashish producers are based. They say that different types of organised crime exist in Malaga, including transnational. These people specialise in numerous types of crime, such as drug trafficking, robberies and burglaries, but always with the same benefit in mind: money. That is the Gordian Knot of the problem. The prosecution service says these types of criminal organisations spare no efforts, firstly in avoiding being caught by the authorities and secondly to be able to enjoy freely the financial benefits of their crimes. That is when the revenge attacks between the different organisations tend to occur. The Public Prosecution Department has expressed its concern, not only at the rise in violent crime, such as revenge attacks and premeditated murders, but also by the qualitative leap in the figures in the past year. Related news The police and Guardia Civil have already solved several of the violent crimes Thanks to the unstinting efforts of the police and Guardia Civil, some of the violent crimes carried out on the Costa del Sol last year have already been solved, including the cases of narcoterrorism. Just a few weeks after explosive experts detonated a device in a Marbella urbanisation in September, detectives arrested a 33-year-old man who is originally from Utrecht (the Netherlands). A joint operation by the Guardia Civil and National Police also resulted in the arrest of three individuals who are alleged to be part of a hired assassin business in Malmo, Sweden, which also operates in Malaga province and elsewhere. They are accused of planting the explosive devices in Benahavis and San Pedro last year. Other individuals who are believed to be members of this gang, which is considered to be the most dangerous ever known on the Costa del Sol, were also arrested in 'Operation Rueda' in 2018. It is said have been responsible for two murders in Marbella and Estepona. One area of special concern is the use of explosives against members of rival organisations and their properties. The prosecution service stresses the "potential harm" these methods can cause and the danger involved in the fact that these materials have already been used in revenge attacks between gangs. They are talking about what has become known as 'narcoterrorism'. There was an unprecedented attack on the Costa del Sol in September, when explosives experts from the National Police's TEDAX squad had to detonate a device found in the Alto de los Monteros residential development in Marbella, an area of luxury houses. The investigation soon pointed to the fact that the bomb was intended to have been used in a revenge attack related to organised crime. This was one of the most worrying incidents in the spiralling violence on the Costa del Sol until, a month later, Malaga experienced its first successful case of narcoterrorism. This was on 10 October, when two devices exploded. The first was in the Mirador de la Alqueria urbanisation in Benahavis, when a car caught fire and the front of a house was damaged by the explosion. A few minutes later there was a huge fire after another bomb went off on the industrial estate in San Pedro Alcantara, damaging five warehouses and several cars. It turned out that the car wash business which was attacked also belonged to the owner of the house which was bombed in Benahavis. Again, this case was deemed to have been associated with organised crime. It was another revenge attack on the Costa del Sol. On that occasion they used bombs, but gunmen have also left a long and bloody trail behind them in the past year. One of the crimes which caused the most alarm was a year ago when a man was shot dead at the entrance to the church in San Pedro Alcantara, where his son had just taken his first holy communion. The revenge attacks reported here all occurred in 2018, but the disputes between rival gangs are by no means over, and so far this year there have already been other violent incidents and revenge attacks on the Costa del Sol. cases of murder or manslaughter were investigated by the Prosecution Service in Malaga in 2018. This was an increase of 44 per cent compared with the previous year and 61 per cent more than four years previously. Robert Vandamm, a Dutch national resident on the Costa del Sol, has recently lived through the most difficult period of his life. Not a day goes by without devastating flashbacks, feelings of severe guilt, anxiety attacks and even suicidal thoughts. In October 2018, Robert was convicted of assisting suicide, a crime that could carry a prison sentence according to the Spanish criminal code. He decided to tell his story to SUR in English after learning about the case of Angel Hernandez, who was arrested for aiding his wifes suicide in Madrid last month. Hernandez, who admitted the charges, was released on unconditional bail pending police inquiries. Robert escaped a custodial sentence. He was given a six-month suspended sentence and a two-year probation order. However, even though Robert had his liberty, he would never be totally free from the guilt he feels for the part he played in the death of his long-time girlfriend in 2014. Robert and Charlee in happier times. / R. V. Charlee Born into a Jehovahs Witness family in Antwerp in 1961, Charlee dAnvers was 33 when she first met Robert. For most of her adult life she had suffered from fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS), a long-term condition that causes pain all over the body, as well as chronic fatigue syndrome, both illnesses that limit a persons ability to carry out ordinary daily activities. She also lived with a dark secret that caused severe mental problems. From the age of four, Charlee had been sexually abused by her father and other family members and this continued throughout her childhood, until she managed to escape at the age of 17. A string of abusive relationships followed, before she finally met the man who would dedicate his life to her. The couple, who shared the same birthday, met in Amsterdam during the mid-1990s. Charlee - who had changed her birth name in order to erase her past - and Robert set up home in Antwerp, but after just two years, Charlees health began to fade and she suffered severe physical and mental pain. She began seeking psychiatric help, but nothing seemed to help, so the couple decided to move to Portugal. After two months, though, they relocated to the south of Spain. They lived in several locations, before settling in Benalmadena. At first it seemed as though the change of scenery and the warm temperatures were helping Charlees health, but after a few years it became apparent to Robert that all was not well. Moving to Spain had a positive effect on Charlee at first. For the first few years she seemed to be doing quite OK. She tried to get better, but the harder she tried to get to the bottom of her problems the harder it got. She tried to get to the dark thing that was inside her, but she never managed to overcome this, Robert, 65, explains. Charlees condition deteriorated and she would spend long periods in the home, not wanting to go out, especially to the beach, because she feared she would just walk into the sea and vanish, adds Robert. Unbearable Her decline began in 2010 and she was in constant physical and mental pain. She didnt leave the house and she had a very poor way of life. She needed medication to go to sleep and she needed medication during the day, and it became quite unbearable, life became unbearable. Every day when I came home I was scared that she might have taken her own life because she was very suicidal at that point, says the Dutchman, who worked as a computer technician. A week before her 53rd birthday, in 2014, Charlee went for a fortnightly medical check-up to see how she had progressed, but the doctors told her there was nothing more they could do, continues Robert. They explained that her organs were beginning to fail and suggested palliative care, which Charlee refused. Suicide plan Charlee did not want to return to Antwerp and she did not want any contact with her family, so she decided to stay in Spain. It was around this time, says Robert, that she expressed a desire to end her own life. The subject had come up before, but this time it was different; Robert knew that she was sure that the time had come, so he agreed to let her die. The suicide plan was discussed on 27 May, our birthday. We compared the two medical reports over dinner and realised that she was not going to get better. She basically just asked me the question. Can I please go? I cant stand the pain anymore. I cant do this anymore, Robert explains, fighting back tears. Charlee decided that she would take her own life on 3 June and began making preparations. She instructed Robert not to tell anyone what had happened to her as she did not want anyone to look for her. She did not want to be found. She told Robert to tell friends and neighbours that she had returned to Belgium (where euthanasia is legal) to die. We spent a lot of time talking that week, but I never tried to dissuade her because I knew that she had made up her mind. I just tried to support her as much as I could, which was difficult knowing what she wanted to do. She wrote every day: love letters, thank you notes and instructions on how I should conduct my life after her death, Robert says. Charlee had no faith in religion and she did not want to be buried or cremated. She simply wanted to return to nature and she could not do this hooked up to a machine that was simply keeping her alive. She used the internet to research the best ways to die, explains Robert, and she ruled out anything that would involve anyone else. She also ruled out anything that she could possibly survive and so she decided that the best way to go would be to drown. Charlee was determined not to implicate Robert in the suicide, so she instructed him to purchase a small inflatable kayak in which she planned to row out to sea from the beach near their home in Torremuelle and simply disappear. Two days before the planned date, Charlee decided that she could wait no longer and informed Robert that the time was right. She said, Its time, and we dragged the boat down to the shore. She was so brave, but it was very windy and the sea was rough. I put her in the boat, but she just didnt have the strength to row out to sea, so we decided to return to the house. It was a total fucking disaster, Robert says, as tears fill his eyes once again. However, Charlee still planned to go ahead, although now she needed the help of her soul mate. This would obviously implicate Robert, but he agreed to assist her. We talked it through and I said, Ok, if thats what you really want to do, then Ill help you all the way. It was very surreal. The next day we began to plan it again. It was never a spur of the moment decision: we discussed every detail. In the early hours of Tuesday 3 June 2014, Robert filled two backpacks with rocks and dragged the kayak back down to the shore, where he waited for Charlee to join him. Calm and composed What I remember most of that night was that it was a calm sea, no wind, no waves. I took everything down to the beach. Charlee was still in the house. She was so calm, so composed. I watched her walking towards me and she looked so at ease. She sat in the boat and we rowed out to sea: we sat talking for a while before she turned to me and said, Honey, its time. She hugged and kissed me, I helped her put the packs on, and then she just slipped away, Robert recalls. Robert went home and was completely alone. He knew he would never see, touch or be able to talk to Charlee again, but he felt he had offered her the best solution, the ultimate sacrifice of love. However, he says he was not prepared for the terrible feelings of guilt that he would suffer over the coming months. He began drinking heavily in order to blot out the pain and even contemplated his own suicide, but he knew that Charlee would not have wanted him to do this. He lived alone with the secret for six months before he found the courage to speak with a trusted friend. The friend advised him to go to the police, but Robert wanted to keep the promise he had made to Charlee. Waiting for the police I thought I would be able to handle it, but I couldnt. I was drinking one litre of vodka every day, but even this did not ease the anguish, he explains. I knew this would eventually catch up with me and I spent the next few years just waiting for the police to knock at the door. It was when Charlees mother died in 2017 that the truth would finally come out. After trying unsuccessfully to get in touch with her, the family contacted the Belgian consulate in Spain, who in turn contacted the police. Robert had moved to La Carihuela in Torremolinos and was well known among the local Spanish community. The police eventually tracked him down and Robert told them exactly what had happened. He also showed them the letters Charlee had written in the weeks prior to her death. He was arrested and taken to Malaga police station. He appeared at the court in Torremolinos the next morning and was released on bail pending a police inquiry. I have nothing but respect for the police and the courts, because they were extremely considerate and sympathetic. I was never made to feel like a criminal, says Robert. The case took 12 months to go to trial and he was warned that he could face a prison sentence of between two and five years. He prepared for the worst, although, as he points out, he would have been quite happy to serve a custodial sentence. My lawyer told me that there was a possibility of a prison sentence, although he explained that this was highly unlikely. I was not scared, because I did this out of my unconditional love for Charlee, Robert says. In the end Robert did not have to go to jail, but today, he is still trying to make some sense out of his life, although he feels that he made the correct decision to let Charlee die. She was an incredibly brave woman and I am responsible for her death, but I know I have given her the ultimate gift. I killed the one I loved out of love. I gave her what she wanted. Never a day goes past without me seeing the vision of her drowning and this is something that will stay with me forever, he concludes. An early-morning call out to an overturned camper van on the A-92 in Granada province yielded more than three injured Lithuanians. No other vehicle was involved but Guardia Civil officers were surprised to find one million euros in cash hidden inside. The vehicle was travelling to the Costa del Sol area and the driver tested positive for alcohol and drugs, according to sources. As yet there has been no explanation as to why the two Lituanian men and one women were travelling with so much cash. However they could face a fine for failing to declare more than 10,000 euros being brought in from outside Spain (or 100,000 being moved within Spain). One of the three injured is resident in Malaga. The dream of creating one of Spain's biggest banking groups with a likely head office in Malaga was over this week. The respective boards of Unicaja Banco and Liberbank voted to end the talks between them in a disagreement over what share of the new group would go to Liberbank, and hence the value to Liberbank's shareholders of the deal. Unicaja Banco, based in Malaga, had almost 7,000 employees in 2018, 3,000 more than Liberbank, and its profits were 142 million euros, compared to Liberbank's 108 million. Unicaja was turned into a publicly-quoted bank, losing its savings bank status, as part of the shake up of the Spanish banking system after the recent financial crisis. Directors were hoping for a 60 per cent share of a group formed with the merger with Liberbank and to keep the head office in Malaga. However, venture capital group Oceanwood, which is the largest shareholder in Liberbank, wanted more than 40 per cent. No overlap Liberbank is also a former savings bank that was forced to go public and the two banks were seen as a good fit as there is very little overlap in the branch network, as Liberbank is strong in the north. The new company would have had joint assets of 97 billion euros and been the sixth biggest banking group in Spain. Confusion surrounds tanker sabotage off Fujairah Saudi Arabia has claimed that two of its tankers were targeted by what is being called a sabotage attack off Fujairah last weekend. The UAE confirmed last Sunday that four vessels had been hit without naming them or disclosing details of the attack, but it was claimed that there were no casualties and that Fujairah port was operating normally. Saudi Energy Minister, Khalid al-Falih, said in a statement on Monday that one of the two Saudi vessels attacked was on her way to load Saudi crude from Ras Tanura for Saudi Aramco's customers in the US. The attack did not cause any casualties or oil spills but caused significant damage to the structures of the two vessels, said the statement carried on state news agency SPA. The vessels were identified as the Bahri-owned VLCC Amjad and the Bakri-controlled LR2 Al Marzoqah. Falih said the attack aimed to undermine maritime freedom saying; "Security of oil supplies to consumers all over the world. The international community has a joint responsibility to protect the safety of maritime navigation and the security of oil tankers, to mitigate against the adverse consequences of such incidents on energy markets and the danger they pose to the global economy." Earlier this month, the US Maritime Administration (MARAD) warned that US commercial ships, including oil tankers, sailing through key Middle East waterways, such as the Straits of Hormuz, could be targeted by Iran in one of the threats to US interests posed by Tehran. Iran's foreign ministry spokesman called the incident "worrisome and dreadful", and asked for an investigation into the matter. Video later emerged showing damage to the Norwegian-flagged 2005-built MR Andrea Victory following the attack. Singapore-based manager Thome Ship Management, confirmed the damage, but said the ship was not in danger of sinking and the exact circumstances of the incident remained unsure. The other vessel involved in the attack was the local bunker tanker A Michel. No group had claimed responsibility for the incident by the end of this week. The LMAs Joint War Risk Committee has met and said that very little information was to hand about the explosions at Fujairah anchorage on 12th Mayand the circumstances and methods employed remain unclear. There is no doubt that considerable damage was done and there will be significant claims. The Committee will reconvene next week to assess the situation further as more information becomes available, it said. Insurance and P&I service providers Gard said that ships Masters should stay in close contact with local port authorities/ships agent in the area to obtain the most up to date and reliable information available at any given time. Some flag administrations may require a heightened security level for Fujairah port, meaning that ships need to implement additional protective measures in accordance with the formal Ship Security Plan (SSP). Vfx house DNEG has launched a new offering called ReDefine tailored to the Indian and Chinese film and OTT markets. ReDefine will operate alongside DNEG, offering vfx and animation services to expanding international markets such as China and India, as well as other global independent productions. DNEG says the move comes as China is expected to surpass North America as the worlds largest theatrical movie market in the next few years, and demand for original OTT streaming content in India is growing rapidly, driven primarily by mobile broadband usage and lower data charges. ReDefines work will be led by supervisory teams operating from London and Montreal, focusing on creative design and execution. ReDefine will be based in a brand-new studio facility in Mumbai, which will be home to more than 600 staff. DNEG CEO, Namit Malhotra, said: As part of our vision to build a truly global organisation we are continuing to explore how we work with our partners, storytellers and content makers across the globe. Our clients needs and ways of working in areas such as China and India are often different to those of the Hollywood productions for which DNEG is honoured to have won four of the last five visual effects Oscars. ReDefine will provide an alternative approach, specifically tailored to the creative needs and working styles of non-Hollywood markets. We chose the name ReDefine because it reflects the way we will re-define how filmmaking services are provided to productions outside of Hollywood, with a purpose-built approach for each market. DNEG has founded its success on close creative collaboration with clients, and ReDefine is a logical next step to even better serve our partners around the world. Rohan Desai will lead ReDefine, with Nigel Denton-Howes (Alita: Battle Angel, Mowgli) as Creative Director and Nick King (Thor: Ragnarok, Fantastic Beasts) as Head of Production, both previously with VFX company Framestore. Greg Gavanski will head the Animation team with John Harvey (A Wizards Tale, LEGO Nexo Knights) as Creative Director. ReDefine already has projects in production, including Brahmastra, written and directed by Ayan Mukherjee, and starring Amitabh Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt. It is also working on a number of projects for the Chinese market, including Liberation for directors Xiaoyang Chang and Shaohong Li, The Mermaid 2 (3D), the sequel to director Stephen Chows $553 million-grossing original, and Turandot for director Xiaolong Zheng. Animation projects currently in production at ReDefine include 100% Wolf and four other feature-length productions. Talking about ReDefines work on Brahmastra, director Ayan Mukherjee said: The visual effects for Brahmastra will pioneer new techniques and processes that have not previously been seen in movies for the mainstream Indian film market. Having worked with DNEG, and now ReDefine, I know that together we are creating amazing visuals that reflect a quality and calibre that audiences have come to expect from big budget Hollywood films. Im especially excited to work with ReDefine because it brings not only high-end technology and creative input, but also an in-depth knowledge and understanding of our local Bollywood culture and working-style. Share this story 100 displaced on remote island by Papua New Guinea quake Kokopo, Papua New Guinea, May 17 (AFP) May 17, 2019 More than 100 people living on a remote tropical island were displaced by this week's massive earthquake in Papua New Guinea, according to responders who, days later, have finally reached affected communities. Disaster authorities said an elderly disabled woman was injured when one of several homes collapsed in the outlying Duke of York islands in the north of the country amid Tuesday's quake. Areas close to the epicentre have reported surprisingly little damage from the magnitude 7.5 tremblor, but even as power has returned to urban areas, the government has struggled to reach remote island communities. Provincial Disaster Coordinator Wilson Matava told AFP that his office was now planning to "provide tarpaulins for temporary shelter, food and water and also mosquito nets" for residents of the Duke of York Islands. The low lying isles sit on two tectonic plates and are at risk of being inundated by rising sea levels. The terrifying quake late Tuesday sent residents running from their homes for safety and sparked fears of a tsunami. It occurred around 11pm (1300 GMT), some 44 kilometres (27 miles) northeast of Kokopo on New Britain island, the US Geological Survey said. Papua New Guinea's poor communications infrastructure, lack of roads and difficult terrain mean that sometimes it can be days before the full impact of a natural disaster is known. The United Nations estimated that around 120,000 people live within 50 kilometres of the epicentre. According to Matava further assessments are still needed in the coming days. Image: Boeing Boeing announced on Thursday that it has completed development of updated software for the 737 MAX, as well as concluding the associated simulator testing and completing the companys engineering test flight. The software update is designed to address faults with the aircrafts Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) that are widely considered to have significantly contributed to the fatal accidents of Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302. Boeing says it has also developed new training and education materials that are now being reviewed by the FAA, global regulators and airlines to support return-to-service and longer-term operations. The Boeing 737 MAX has been grounded since March. According to Boeing, it is now addressing FAA requests for additional information, which include detail on how pilots interact with the airplane controls and displays in different flight scenarios. From there, Boeing and the FAA will schedule the certification test flight and Boeing will submit final certification documentation for the new software. Were committed to providing the FAA and global regulators all the information they need, and to getting it right, said Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg. Were making clear and steady progress and are confident that the 737 MAX with updated MCAS software will be one of the safest airplanes ever to fly. The U.S. House of Representative Aviation Subcommittee also held a hearing on Wednesday to discuss the current status of the Boeing 737 MAX. As shown in the video below, the committee heard testimony from FAA Acting Administrator Dan Elwell and NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt. The hearing was the first in what is expected to be a series of Aviation Subcommittee hearings examining the circumstances around the accidents and the certification process for the MAX. An F-16 crashed into a warehouse adjacent to March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, California, at approximately 3:40 p.m. local time on Thursday afternoon. The building was evacuated after the crash and several minor injuries to people on the ground have been reported. The pilot was able to eject from the aircraft and is believed to be uninjured. It has been reported that the aircraft was carrying live ordnance and that the Riverside County bomb squad and explosive ordnance disposal teams from March were on site. A section of Interstate 215 has been closed and the surrounding area cordoned off due to the accident. The pilot is part of the 144th Fighter Wing Air National Guard unit based in Fresno, California. The aircraft is believed to have been participating in routine training activities and possibly suffered a hydraulic failure. This story will be updated as more information becomes available. Coming up on Sunday, its the 40th Annual Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Festival in Chinatown. More from the organizers: The 40th Annual Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Festival is the largest and longest continuously running Pan-Asian street festival on the East Coast. Bring family and friends to enjoy live music and dance performances, explore childrens activities, discover arts and crafts, refresh with health and wellness activities, and learn about the many participating community groups. Emcees for the performances include ABC 7 News CeFaan Kim, CUNY TVs Minnie Roh, NY County Supreme Court Justice Doris Ling-Cohan, and Edwin Wong. In addition, performing at the festival is noted Japanese drumming group Soh Daiko. The event is free for the public to enjoy. The festival will take place on , , from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm along Mott Street (south of Canal Street) in Manhattan Chinatown, one of the oldest and growing immigrant communities in the U.S. There are 1.23 million Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPI) living in New York City, making up 15% of the population and the citys fastest growing ethnic group. The festival is organized by the Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans (CAPA) in collaboration with diverse organizations representing the rich diversity of the AAPI community. This year, the theme of the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Festival is AAPI Heroes, and the festival will honor three outstanding AAPI Heroes: Suki Terada Ports, Aiyoung Choi, and Nepali social justice organization Adhikaar. Image: Lilium Aspiring air taxi company Lilium officially introduced its new all-electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft on Thursday. As shown in the video below, testing of the five-seat Lilium Jet prototype is already underway, with the aircraft having successfully completed its first flight on May 4 after extensive ground testing at Liliums Munich, Germany, headquarters. The company flight tested a two-seat prototype in 2017. While a maiden flight is always a moment of truth for a business, the Lilium Jet performed exactly as expected and responded well to our inputs, said Lilium Head of Flight Testing Leandro Bigarella. Our flight test program will now continue with increasingly complex maneuvers as we look toward our next big goal of achieving transition flight, which is when the aircraft moves seamlessly from vertical to horizontal flight. The aircraft was operated remotely for the flight test. According to the company, the Lilium Jet is powered by 36 electric jet engines. It is expected to have a top speed of 300 km/h (162 knots) and a range of 300 km (162 NM). Lilium says it plans to have its on-demand air taxi service up and running by 2025. The company reports having attracted in excess of $100 million in funding and currently employs more than 300 people. Montreal, CA (H4T1V6) Today Mostly cloudy early, then clearing overnight. A few flurries or snow showers possible. Low -1C. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Mostly cloudy early, then clearing overnight. A few flurries or snow showers possible. Low -13C. Winds light and variable. MBABANE - The sweet jazzy voice of songbird Zoe The Seed will engulf the Standard Joy of Jazz amphitheatre! Eswatini-born jazz music vocalist Zoe The Seed Masuku has been added to this years Standard Joy of Jazz which is set for September 27 to September 29 at Sandton Convention Centre, in South Africa. This was revealed yesterday on South African media and social media platforms through posters which revealed artists who will be performing at the renowned jazz festival. Alongside She was revealed alongside internationally renowned jazz music artists including Sankofa, Ayanda Sikade Dalisu Ndlazi, Sakhile Simane and Nduduzo Makhathini and United States of America-born bassist Salim Washington, who will be coming with his band. Masuku confirmed her performance at the jazz festival with this publication, stating that she was ecstatic to be part of the show. I am excited and feel challenged to deliver my best as I will be performing with Washingtons American band, said Masuku. Masuku said she got the gig by being part of the Sankofa band, which she has been part of for three years now. Together The Sankofa Band is a jazz band from Durban, South Africa which was brought together and draws inspiration from the Sankofa bird, a Ghanaian symbol of the return of diasporic Africans to the motherland. Masuku said she hopes her performance at this reputable jazz festival changes her music career. My aim is to please and create a strong brand for Zoe The See during my performance. Also, I aspire to learn more about jazz music during the entire festival, she said. Into Music Society Co-Founder Nelisa Lawton said Masuku was an obvious choice to be slotted on the Standard Joy of Jazz line-up. Lawton was the first person to host the Eswatini songbird and she last performed in the country about two weeks ago at the Jazz Gallery at the Eswatini Theatre Club in Mbabane. Masuku gave a breathtaking performance while here, hence I am not entirely surprised that she will be performing among great names. She deserves it, said Lawton. She also said she could not wait for Masukus album to be dropped later this year. Swaziland Arts and Music Association (SWAMA) President Melusi Zox Dlamini said it was not shocking that Eswatini talent was attracting international stages. Talent EmaSwati have raw talent and they deserve the international platforms that are availed to them, said Dlamini. Zoe The Seed follows in the footsteps of Sands, who performed at the 2017 Durban July Festival. Speaking on behalf of the countrys jazz fraternity, Indibano Jazz Club Founder Mbusi Motsa said this was the inevitable at some point, as the genre was increasingly being embraced by many in the country. Many emaSwati artists are realising the importance of performing with a live band, creating the aura of jazz. In doing so, we are exposing ourselves to international stages. Masuku is the first of many artists to grace such respected festivals, said Motsa. The Standard Bank Joy of Jazz is held in Johannesburg each year, and it showcases 35 performances on four stages in three days. It is an initiative that seeks to contribute to social cohesion, economic growth and cultural tourism. ENHLANGANISWENI Trouble seems to be following Enhlanganisweni High School. The school was broken into yesterday and the incident happened amidst the parents plea to the Ministry of Education and Training for an audit report. Items worth E22 820, which included crucial documents belonging to the school were taken, four computers, laptops and recording systems, went missing as well. Information gathered was that the laptops and computers belonged to the head teacher and secretary, while one was kept in the boardroom. Police officers were at the school for the better part of the day yesterday to establish how the break-in happened. The school is not new to controversy as recently, parents locked out pupils from entering the school premises in a bid to have an audience with Head teacher Nomthantazo Tembe. The parents main reason for locking the gate was that they were tired of pleading with Tembe for a meeting as she had declined on several occasions to have an audience with them. In an interview with impeccable sources at the school, they confirmed that it was broken into. According to the sources, a vehicle was seen driving into the school e at 9pm with unknown passengers. Vehicle The source said the vehicle went straight to the teachers quarters where it was parked. These unknown passengers were not seen leaving the school premises as the quarters are within the premises of the school, the sources related. They said while all other offices were broken into, the head teachers office was found unlocked when the robbers hit. Chief Police information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed the robbery at the school. Vilakati said computers, laptops, recordings and other accessories were stolen. Ernest Ntshangase, who is a member of the school committee, said they were worried about the events taking place at the school, especially because they were looking forward to an audit. Ntshangase said if the school equipment, including computers, were stolen, it means crucial files belonging to the school had gone missing. These are files which would assist with the position of the schools accounts, Ntshangase said. Meshack Makhubu, who is the ousted school committee chairman, also said the break-in was quite suspicious. Tembe, on the other hand, confirmed the break in at the school. I have just arrived at the school and have been informed about the break-in. I am still waiting for the police, she said. She also confirmed that her office was not locked. LOBAMBA Officers from the Government Computer Services failed to convince the PAC that the government system was so flawed that it would record a payment of E1 000 as E100 000. This emanates from the fact that one of the defaulters of the Community Poverty Reduction Fund, Tfobhi Dlamini, who was owing the fund E100 000, had only paid E1 000, but the system reflected that she had already settled her debt. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said it was clear that someone from the Computer Services Department had tried to do a favour for Dlamini, who coincidentally had recently retired from the Ministry of Tinkhundla Administration and Development. Lubombo MP Lorraine Nxumalo asked if it was a system error, why the former officer had stopped making the E1 000 monthly instalments to settle her balance which was at E99 000 then. However, the officers from the Computer Services Department, who were identified as Make Mtsetfwa and Moses Shongwe, insisted that the system was capable of recording the figures wrongly and said it had converted the paid E1 000 into 100 000 cents, which was what had happened on that day. Mtsetfwa said the system had reacted the same way in two other transactions also on the Fund as another person had paid E500, but the system had reflected that he had paid E50 000. The PAC wondered why other payments made to government did not reflect as higher figures. Why specifically the Poverty Reduction Fund and its too much of a coincidence that this could happen to the officers who used to be employed under the ministry, said Nxumalo. Error Chairperson of the PAC MP Phila Buthelezi asked the Accountant General, Dumsile Ngwenya, if she had ever heard of such a system error. However, the AG said it was the first of its kind. The PAC wondered what would have happened if the Office of the Auditor General had not noted this anomaly when carrying out an audit. Dvokodvweni MP Mduduzi Magagula said if someone paid E10 000 at Revenue, then the system would reflect that individual as having paid E1 million. Would government have then called and said come and get your refund because you have overpaid us? asked Magagula. The PAC said it was clear that someone within the Computer Services had fiddled with the system in order to try and cover one of the debts. MP Buthelezi said in as much as the officers had hatched a good plan, they could not fly it past the PAC as it was full of smart individuals. Madlangempisi MP Sibusiso Nxumalo also said he had a vast knowledge in computers and accounts and educated his peers that there was a term used in the systems language called GIGO (garbage in. garbage out). He said the system would always cough out information that did not tally with the previous transaction. The PAC concluded that after the Computer Services plan had failed, they retreated to the background. As a result, Dlamini is now repaying the instalments of E1 000 and to that she owes government E91 000, according to the PS in the Ministry of Tinkhundla Administration and Development, Nonhlanhla Dlamini. PIGGS PEAK Dagga is part of the lives of the community of Maguga so much so that even pupils flee during raids. Yesterday, members of the Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF), His Majesty Correctional Services (HMCS) and Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) teamed up to raid fields of dagga in the community of Maguga and several other areas. They arrived as early as 6am and it has been gathered that they had grouped from 2am to strategise on how the operation would be carried out. Some of the pupils who were already in uniform are said to have phoned their school mates and told them to run away. However, this publication gathered that community members were equally aware of the operation long before the security forces arrived. It is alleged that many of them had moved the dagga into the mountains so that it could not be taken away by the police. Some of them, however, were caught off guard but fled as soon as the security officers arrived. Mountains Fearing that they would be arrested if found at home, some of the pupils also fled from their places of abode and went straight to the mountains. Most of them did not go to school. The most affected are said to have been pupils of Maguga High School. The school, which was constructed through the Komati Basin Water Authority (KOBWA), has about 300 pupils. KOBWA is, however, not involved in any way with the illegal activities of either the parents or the pupils at the school. Of the 300 pupils, this publication gathered that about 100 had been sent home the previous day for non-payment of school fees. However, yesterday, only about 100 pupils showed up instead of at least 200. This publication gathered from some of the parents and the pupils that they in fact went to the mountains. We had to go to the mountains because we had to be near some of the dagga, they said. The Head teacher of the school, Zweli Dladla, confirmed that there were very few pupils on the day. Dladla said it was not surprising because this usually happened when there were raids. He said the raids affected pupils as well. He said a majority of the pupils at the school were from far away areas such as Nhlangano or Siteki but they ended up living in homesteads where dagga was grown within Maguga. Dladla expressed concern that there should be a way to conduct the raids so that pupils do not get affected. He confirmed that during assembly, he was surprised that there were very few pupils but was informed that some had fled to the nearby mountains. Dladla also revealed that even teachers were sometimes affected by raids because they lived within the community. He said this did not mean that the teachers cultivated dagga but that they lived in homesteads where dagga was cultivated. Yesterday, many parents who were supposed to attend a teachers farewell function at Maguga Primary School were also delayed because they had also fled to the mountains. . - , , ... A total of nine commissioner candidates sat poised to answer questions from The Herald, Titusville High Schools student publication, The Walnut Street Journal, and members of the public in attendance. Vinci, a global player in concessions and contracting, said one of its units Vinci Energies, has signed a contract with the consortium NCC Sverige AB and Wayss & Freytag Ingeniurbau AG for execution of all technical installations in project Station Korsvagen, in Gothenburg, Sweden. The assignment includes an underground commuter train station and a 3.2 km stretch, most of it within a tunnel, and a new underground station in central Gothenburg. The contract was awarded to Vinci Energies' subsidiary Eitech, a Swedish leading specialist within electrical installation. The scope of work for Eitech in Station Korsvagen is nearly identical to the responsibility the company already has in the partial project Station Centralen and which was received in August 2018. The new contract includes complete responsibility for the execution of all technical installations and also the temporary installations for construction power and lighting of the new station. The order value amounts to approximately 50 million ($56 million). Julio de Almeida, the general manager of Vinci Energies Europe West said: "Eitech has nearly 20 years of experience in collaboration and execution of large and complex installation projects. Several projects have already been carried out together with both NCC and the Swedish Transport Administration." "This new success is a perfect illustration of our long-term strategy for both our local and global brands in the Scandinavian markets," he noted. The Korsvagen section is around 3.2 km long and runs from Landala, via Korsvagen and Orgryte/Jakobsdal before connecting with the existing track in Almedal, said Vinci in its statement. The lengths of rock tunnel comprise a rail tunnel and a parallel service and rescue tunnel. Three lengths of tunnel running through clay and earth will have a concrete structure. A new underground station with three exits will be built at Korsvagen, it added.-TradeArabia News Service Saudi Arabia's non-oil sector growth will accelerate to 2.9 per cent in 2019, as the increasing government spending and reforms implementation will likely drive economic growth, said a Ministry of Finance statement. Welcoming a statement released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission that visited the kingdom this month to conduct the 2019 Article IV consultations, the ministry said economic reforms and the recovery in the non-oil sector contributed to improving the economic outcomes in 2018, said a Saudi Press Agency report. Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Jadaan, Minister of Finance, said the IMF statement stresses Saudi governments strong progress in implementing the economic and structural reforms, especially evidenced by the positive outcomes of the Q1 Budget Report 2019. He also noted that the IMF statement reflects the key efforts made in developing Saudi Arabia's financial sector, which realises the strategic objectives of the 2030 Vision. The statement indicated an improvement in the transparency of government spending and public finance. The statement emphasised the continuation of reforms aimed at strengthening the country's development of general budgeting and a mid-term public finance framework. It referred to the Expenses Management System (Etimad) which contributed to improving and realising expenditure efficiency and public financial transparency. The statement commended the advancement in financial market reforms which culminated in Saudi Arabia being listed on the global stock and bonds markets indices and the expansion of the government bonds yield curve towards longer-term maturities which will contribute in developing the financial sector and deepening the debt market of the private sector. Saudi Arabia, UAE and Norway have sent a joint letter to the United Nations Security Council, drawing attention to an incident in the UAE territorial waters which caused damages to four oil tankers. This came in a joint statement issued yesterday by the Permanent Missions of the three states to the UN regarding attacks on oil tankers, accoridng to a Saudi Press Agency report. The statement drew UN council's attention to the incident which inflicted grave damage to four oil tankers two Saudi-flagged, one Norwegian-flagged, and one Emirati-flagged vessel and said: It is an act of sabotage that affects the safety of international navigation and the security of world oil supplies. Abdallah Y Al-Mouallimi, permanent representative of Saudi Arabia to the UN, said: Consequently, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia condemns in the strongest terms these terrorist attacks and calls upon the international community to take a firm stand towards those responsible for such provocative and subversive operations. "While the attacks did not result in any casualties, or spillage of oil or harmful chemicals, they could have caused serious loss of life and an environmental catastrophe in the Gulf of Oman," Al-Mouallimi added. Were glad the crew onboard was unharmed. However, the Norwegian vessel suffered material damages. Norwegian authorities are in the process of assessing the situation, in close cooperation with among others the Emirati authorities, says Norways Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Mona Juul. The attacks took place within UAE territorial waters, east of the port of Fujairah. Operations at the Port of Fujairah have continued as normal without any interruption. The UAE is taking all steps to protect commercial shipping and maritime traffic and has adopted enhanced maritime safety and security measures in the relevant areas. These attacks come at a time when responsible stakeholders across the region should work together to lower tensions, underlined Lana Nusseibeh, ambassador and permanent representative of the UAE to the UN. The UAE is cooperating closely with Saudi Arabia, Norway, France, and the US to investigate these attacks. The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Norway also intend to formally notify the International Maritime Organization of these attacks and the threat they pose to international shipping, the report said. The XIV Forum of Artistic and Scientific Intelligentsia of the CIS countries wrapped up in Ashgabat. The event was organized under Turkmenistans chairmanship in the CIS. On the final day, the forum worked in three thematic sections that discussed further cooperation in culture, science and education. As part of the work in sections, the participants covered topics relating to the actualization of the material and spiritual heritage in the current context, establishment of multi-channel information links, exchange of art delegations, implementation of joint research projects, etc. In the afternoon, the State Library of Turkmenistan hosted the traditional action Books as a Gift. As part of the action, the CIS Interstate Fund for Humanitarian Cooperation donated editions of the Russian classical and modern literature to the central library of the country. Other events included master classes by cultural figures from different CIS countries - artists, sculptors, composers, conductors, theater actors - for students of high education establishments and pupils of special art schools of Ashgabat. The master classes were held at the Turkmen State Institute of Culture, the State Academy of Fine Arts and a special music boarding school at the Turkmen National Conservatory. The guests shared their experiences and professional nuances with their young colleagues, conducted express training sessions. There was also held a meeting between foreign scientists and junior specialists of the institutes of the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan. The results of the two-day work of the XIV Forum of Artistic and Scientific Intelligentsia of the CIS countries were summed up and a resolution was adopted at Mekan Palace. The resolution calls on the CIS countries to support joint projects in the area of preservation of the cultural and natural heritage of the CIS countries that are aimed at developing contacts between specialists in history, art history, cultural studies, museum and archival work, restoration, as well as local history and preservation of the historical and cultural landscape. The resolution notes the importance of increasing cooperation between scientific, educational and cultural organizations and public associations for studying and popularization of languages, history and national traditions of the CIS countries. According to the forum participants, the Ashgabat resolution can stimulate new projects to create international art groups in the field of theater, cinema, and television. Particularly important are the tasks relating to development of the common educational space of the CIS, e-education and interaction in the sphere of science and innovation. The forum concluded with a concert of the CIS Youth Symphony Orchestra based on the State Symphony Orchestra of Turkmenistan. The group of talented musicians presented an impressive concert program that was comprised of the works by composers of Turkmenistan and the CIS countries. Representatives of three generations succeeded each other at the conductor's stand, including Peoples Artist of the Russian Federation, artistic director of the Russian State Symphony Orchestra of Cinematography Sergey Skrypka, young Turkmen maestro Rasul Klychev and young Murtuza Bulbul Polad-Ogly. On behalf of the Presidents of Turkmenistan and the Russian Federation - Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Vladimir Putin - the artists participating in the concert were presented with baskets of flowers. TURKMENISTAN.RU, 2021 Kolkata, May 17 (UNI) Around 710 companies of central forces will be deployed for the last phase of Lok Sabha seats voting in three districts of West Bengal on May 19, after the state witnessed violence in the previous phases of the polling. Amid intense criticism both from ruling TMC and opposition parties - BJP, CPI(M) and Congress -for alleged excess and underperforming by the central forces to ensure free and peaceful polling during last six phases of elections. BJP's top leadership, including Amit Shah, has expressed unhappiness over the reported violence in last six phases poll to 33 seats across the state so far indicating Renewed partnership with Central Asia Brussels, May 17 (UNI) The European Union (EU) has outlined its vision for a renewed partnership with Central Asia, updating its strategy on relations with the region first set out in 2007. The new Joint Communication adopted on Wednesday by the European Commission (EC) and the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini sets out a fresh vision for a stronger partnership with the five countries of Central Asia: Kazakhstan; the Kyrgyz Republic; Tajikistan; Turkmenistan; and Uzbekistan. It comes at a key moment of fast-developing Euro-Asian connectivity, reform and opening up in some of the countries of the region, and new momentum for regional cooperation. SEACO initiative of Bangladesh gets support from Indonesia Dhaka, May 17 (UNI) State Minister for Foreign Affairs Bangladesh Shahriar Alam, MP is leading a four members delegation to Jakarta to garner Indonesian support in an initiative called South and South East Asian Cooperation (SEACO). It is a private sector and track-II level Forum of five OIC countries in the region- Bangladesh, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Maldives with an objective of advancing regional economic integration. The Forum in the emergence is going to function in the model of World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) exclusively with the agenda of economic cooperation among the members countries and their neighborhoods. Bangladesh has taken the initiative and ready to host SEACOs launching conference in Dhaka towards the end of June 2019 with expected participation of the Foreign Ministers along with the public and private stakeholders. Violence in Mahoba; PAC deployed Mahoba, May 17 (UNI) Following a confrontation between two groups over a caste dispute and resultant tense situation in Mahobkanth area, Uttar Pradesh Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) has been deployed in this distrcit, Deputy Superintendent of Police Awadh Singh said here on Friday. The dispute took place over the issue of 'prasad' distribution at Didwara village. Mr Singh said that upon receiving information regarding the incident, a large police force was sent on the spot and the situation brought under control. Over a dozen people hailing from both the groups have reportedly been taken into custody by the police on Thursday night while PAC has been deployed in the village to maintain law and order and security. Pickett Named Dean of UW-Casper Brent Pickett A longtime University of Wyoming faculty member based in Casper has been appointed as dean of UWs branch campus in that community. Brent Pickett takes the reins of UW-Casper from Jeff Edgens, who moves to an extended-term faculty position with UWs Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics. Pickett began his UW career in 2005 as an associate professor of political science at UW-Casper. Hes a professor in UWs School of Politics, Public Affairs and International Studies. He previously served as associate dean and director of UW-Casper for nine years. Brent is a mainstay for the university overall and a tremendously positive force for UW in Casper, Provost Kate Miller says. His familiarity with that community, relationships with people at Casper College and understanding of the mission of UW-Casper give us great confidence that he will lead the development of robust programs and services to serve the people of Natrona County and beyond. Pickett received a bachelors degree in political science from Wichita State University in 1989 and earned his masters (1991) and doctoral (1995) degrees in political science from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He has received a number of awards for his work -- most recently UWs Hollon Family Award for Teaching Excellence in Off-Campus Programs. Ive been a longtime supporter of UW-Casper, and I understand and appreciate how important it is to the people in the heart of Wyoming. Im excited to return to a leadership role, Pickett says. I look forward to working with UWs leadership team, the faculty and staff of UW-Casper, and our partners at Casper College to advance our mission. Based at the Casper College Student Union/University of Wyoming Building, UW-Casper offers more than 40 bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees, as well as certificate and endorsement programs. Its professional development courses provide employee training credit to employees of school districts, foundations and nongovernmental agencies. UW Taps Food Science Expert as Dean of College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Barbara Rasco A food scientist, engineer and attorney who is internationally recognized for her expertise in food safety, processing and regulation has been selected to lead the University of Wyomings College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Barbara Rasco, currently the director of the joint Washington State University/University of Idaho School of Food Science, will take the reins as dean of the UW college June 28. The UW Board of Trustees approved the appointment today (Friday), following a nationwide search involving constituents and stakeholders across the state. Were delighted that a scholar and leader of Dr. Rascos caliber has agreed to lead this academic college that plays such an important role in fulfilling the universitys land-grant mission across Wyoming and beyond, Provost Kate Miller says. Her experience in developing one of the nations strongest food safety outreach programs, working extensively with the agricultural and food sectors, gives us great confidence that she will lead the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources to new levels of excellence in education, research and service. Rasco says she is excited to work with the faculty, staff and students of the college, as well as Wyomings cornerstone agriculture industry, to support the states traditional animal and crop production and drive diversification to strengthen Wyomings economy. I am excited to join the University of Wyoming and to share the optimism, curiosity and unshakeable determination for which the students, faculty and staff are known, Rasco says. I look forward to working with these talented individuals to build the next generation of future leaders in agriculture, human science and natural resource management. Our vision is to improve the quality of life for people in Wyoming and the global community by living the land-grant mission and integrating quality education, innovative research and impactful outreach programs to provide innovative solutions for some of the most pressing needs facing the people of Wyoming, the nation and the world. Rasco has held her current position since 2014 at the Washington State University/University of Idaho School of Food Science, where she has served as a professor since 1998. From 1983-1998, she was a professor in the Institute of Food Science and Technology and assistant director of the Division of Aquaculture and Food Science in the University of Washingtons College of Ocean and Fisheries Sciences. She earned a bachelors degree in bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania (1979), a Ph.D. in food science and nutrition from the University of Massachusetts (1983) and a law degree from Seattle University in 1995 and is licensed to practice in Washington state and federal court, where she specializes in matters related to food and agriculture. Rasco also has private-sector experience as a biochemical engineer and a food scientist, providing assistance to hundreds of companies in the United States through outreach activities and extension programming. Rascos research has focused on food quality and safety, process design and product development. She has developed analytical methods to predict the safety and quality of food using spectroscopic, nanomaterial and microfluidic systems. In addition to working extensively with the agricultural and food sectors in specialty crops and other operations, she has provided technical and legal assistance to small and medium enterprises in 37 countries to improve food security, economic development and public health. UWs Science Initiative Awards $1 Million in Seed Grants to 13 Faculty Research Projects Carrie Eberle, a UW assistant professor of plant sciences, heads one of 13 research projects funded through $1 million in Science Initiative Faculty Innovation Grants awarded to interdisciplinary teams of UW faculty. Eberles project will look at whether the plant Crotalaria juncea, also known as sunn hemp, could fit into Wyomings short summer growing window, improve soil health, increase soil nitrogen and be used as a high-quality, low-cost alternative to alfalfa hay. Here, Eberle is in the midst of planting winter wheat variety trials. (Carrie Eberle Photo) Success of the Wyoming crop and livestock industry has been limited by market accessibility, infertile soils, short growing seasons and low availability of high-quality, low-cost animal feed, says Carrie Eberle, a University of Wyoming assistant professor of plant sciences. But Eberle thinks the plant Crotalaria juncea, also known as sunn hemp -- not to be confused with the recently legalized industrial hemp -- may be an answer to help improve crop output. Sunn hemp is a tropical legume that produces high tonnage biomass in a short time and fixes nitrogen. Her research project is among 13 headed by UW faculty that will benefit from $1 million in seed grant funding that is part of the universitys Top-Tier Science Initiative. The Science Initiative Faculty Innovation Grants were awarded to interdisciplinary teams of UW faculty. The grants take effect July 1, and are either one- or two-year grants. We hypothesize the adoption of this crop into Wyoming systems could fit into the short summer growing window, improve soil health, increase soil nitrogen and be used as a high quality, low-cost alternative to alfalfa hay, Eberle says. A knowledge gap exists in how to manage C. juncea for forage harvest, soil improvement properties, yield potential and value as animal feed. With this project, we will establish how irrigation and harvest management affect crop performance and feed quality. The goal of the seed grant program is to stimulate new, innovative, cutting-edge research projects in the sciences that have promise for successful, sustained and substantial external competitive funding. The most competitive proposals will address the interdisciplinary nature of the research and will involve research teams of faculty from multiple departments, colleges, fields or disciplines at UW. These seed grants are expected to encourage 30-plus competitive grant proposals over the next two years to federal agencies, including the National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Energy, Department of Defense, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Institutes of Health and United States Geological Survey, says Tabatha Spencer, senior program coordinator for UWs Science Initiative. The UW Science Initiative began in 2014 when former Gov. Matt Mead and the Wyoming Legislature challenged the university to develop a plan to address outdated science laboratories at UW and improve the quality of instruction and research in the sciences. A task force, appointed by Mead and informed by UW faculty representatives, developed a transformational vision for UWs core science programs in botany, zoology and physiology, molecular biology, chemistry, and physics and astronomy. The developed plan charts a clear course for these science programs to rise to top-tier status in the nation and builds upon Wyomings STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) initiatives; the location of the NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center in Wyoming; the construction of the Michael B. Enzi STEM Facility; and the Wyoming Governors Energy, Engineering STEM Integration Task Force. Ellen Currano, a UW associate professor of botany, also will lead a Wyoming-based research project. She and her team will investigate ecosystems in the Wind River Basin from the Early Eocene climatic optimum, which occurred approximately 48 million-53 million years ago. This was the warmest time since the dinosaurs died, when the poles were ice-free and broad-leaved subtropical forests covered Wyoming, Currano explains. There are fundamental gaps in our knowledge about how Earth works during these hothouse times and, if we continue to burn fossil fuels unchecked, we are likely headed back to the Eocene. We plan to collect paleontological and geochemical data to better understand climate, forests and microbes in the hothouse. Currano hopes that the close collaboration established among three of UWs five paleontologists on campus will help propel UW to a top-10 national ranking in paleontology. She says the team aspires to follow the model of the University of Cincinnati, which achieved this when its four paleontologists and interdisciplinary collaborators focused research on their local, world-famous marine fossil beds. Wyoming has unparalleled Cenozoic terrestrial fossil deposits, and I think we are poised to become one of the premier paleontology programs in the U.S., Currano says. And, yes, we will be using the results of this grant to apply for larger NSF grants. UW research projects, listed by titles, the grant amount, the projects principal investigator (PI), co-PIs and other collaborators, are: -- Accelerating the Computational Investigation of Supermassive Sub-Parsecbinary Black Hole Candidates, $45,000. Mike Brotherton, a professor of physics and astronomy, is the PI on the project. Daniel Dale, a professor of physics and astronomy and associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; and Ruben Gamboa, a professor of computer science, will serve as co-PIs. The Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of High Energy Physics will collaborate. -- Establishing Crotalaria juncea as a New Forage Crop for the Sustainable Intensification of the Wyoming Agricultural Industry, $89,992. Eberle is the PI on the project. Steve Paisley, an associate professor and interim director of the Department of Animal Science, is the projects co-PI. -- Understanding Intercalation Chemistry to Design Novel 2-D Materials, $90,000. Brian Leonard, an associate professor of chemistry, is the PI. Elliott Hulley, an assistant professor of chemistry; William Rice, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy; and John Ackerman, an adjunct professor of chemical engineering, are the co-PIs. -- Genomic Analyses of Embryonic Diapause in the Musteloidea with an Eye Towards Improving Assisted Reproductive Technologies, $77,366. Merav Ben-David, department head and professor of zoology and physiology, is the PI. Brian Cherrington, an associate professor of zoology and physiology; and Vikram Chhatre, a senior research scientist in molecular biology, will serve as the co-PIs. Tel Aviv University, the Smithsonian Institution, National University of Tierra del Fuego in Ushuaia, Argentina, and the Wildlife Conservation Society of Mongolia are other collaborators. -- Understanding How the Tubulin Code Regulates Reproductive Function of Gonadotrope Cells, $90,000. Amy Navratil, an associate professor of zoology and physiology, is the PI. Jay Gatlin, an associate professor of molecular biology, is the projects co-PI. -- Volumetric Muscle Loss Repair with Muscle Stem Cell-Seeded Synthetic Bioerodable Hydrogels, $90,000. Wei Guo, an assistant professor of animal science, is the project PI. John Oakey, an associate professor of chemical engineering, is the co-PI. -- Tracking Eco-Hydrologic Changes in the Hyporheic Zone to Improve Water Resource Management, $88,740. Ginger Paige, an associate professor of ecosystem science and management, is the project PI. Melanie Murphy, an associate professor, and Fabian Nippgen, an assistant professor, both in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management; and Brent Ewers, a professor of botany, will serve as co-PIs. -- The First Experimental Test of a New Paradigm in Ecological Restoration, $69,232. Daniel Laughlin, an associate professor of botany, is the PI. Dan Tekiela, an assistant professor of plant sciences, will serve as the co-PI. USDA research stations in Cheyenne and Fort Collins, Colo., will serve as project collaborators. This 48-million-year-old fossil leaf was found near Dubois, in an area that today is covered by conifer forest. As part of a grant she received, Ellen Currano, an associate professor of botany, will lead a team that will study fossils like this to reconstruct climate and vegetation in Wyoming during the warmest interval since dinosaurs went extinct. (Ellen Currano Photo) -- The Tempo of Ecological and Evolutionary Change: Response to Predator Introduction in Alpine Lakes of the Wind River Range, $89,537. Catherine Wagner, an assistant professor of botany, is the PI. Bryan Shuman, a professor of geology and geophysics; Amy Krist, an associate professor of zoology and physiology; and Annika Walters, an assistant unit leader in fisheries with the Wyoming Game and Fish Cooperative Unit, will serve as co-PIs. -- Assessing the Impact of a Viral Contaminant on the Biosafety Profile of the Baculovirus-Insect Cell System, $89,580. Don Jarvis, a professor of molecular biology, is the project PI. Jason Gigley, an associate professor of molecular biology; and Jonathan Fox, a professor of veterinary sciences, will serve as co-PIs. -- REE Enrichment in Wyoming Roll-Front Uranium Deposits, $89,996. Simone Runyon, an assistant professor of geology and geophysics, is the PI. Susan Swapp, a senior research scientist in geology and geophysics; Carol Frost, a professor in geology and geophysics; Erin Phillips, an assistant research scientist in the School of Energy Resources (SER); and Robert Gregory, project geologist with the Wyoming State Geological Survey, will serve as co-PIs. -- Synthesizing Graphene-Related Materials and Carbon Nanotubes from Coal Through Microwave Treatments, $90,000. TeYu Chien, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy, will serve as the project PI. Maohong Fan, a professor of petroleum engineering in SER, is the co-PI. -- Back to the Future: Interdisciplinary Research on 50-Million-Year-Old Ecosystems Will Allow Wyoming to Better Prepare for the Year 2140, $82,931. Currano is the project PI. Laura Vietti, an assistant research scientist in geology and geophysics; and Mark Clementz, a professor of geology and geophysics, will serve as co-PIs. Collaborators include the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, University of Cincinnati and the University of New Hampshire. The 13 projects chosen for funding came from 41 projects originally submitted, Spencer says. Primary submission criteria were: proposal is interdisciplinary in nature and requires substantial effort from faculty spanning either two or more departments, colleges, fields or disciplines; clearly describes the research to be performed and explicitly addresses why participation across traditional boundaries is required; clearly shows the innovative and/or cutting-edge nature of the research; and describes an explicit plan for a larger extramural grant proposal in the near future, with a specific funding agency, program and deadline. Its the end of an era. Today, wine critic and founder of the Wine Advocate, Robert M. Parker, Jr announced his retirement. Of course, to anyone paying attention, the end of his reign as tastemaker and singular force in the wine world happened when he sold a majority stake in the Wine Advocate to a Singapore-based investment group in 2012. As in many such corporate acquisitions, especially when the founder is inextricably linked to the brand, Parker stuck around and did his part to provide the impression that the status was quo while attending expensive wine dinners and speaking engagements. But with Lisa Perotti-Brown taking over as editor and the addition of new staff, followed by the acquisition of a 40% stake by Michelin in 2017, Parkers nominal contributions to his publication slowed to a trickle and eventually stopped. With Parkers traditional beats (California and Bordeaux) covered by other reviewers, for the last couple of years he has simply been a name on the masthead. Presumably he has been involved behind the scenes up until this point in some regard, but now he is officially stepping away to enjoy what is assuredly a well-earned retirement. I guess that million-dollar insurance policy on the nose can be let go now. Parker was once called the most influential critic of any kind, anywhere, thanks to his ability to change the fortunes of a winery by bestowing a 100 point score, and its hard to argue with that designation. For many years his judgement made the wine market, certainly for Bordeaux and California. Because of this power, and his penchant for powerful wines, he has long been the wine worlds favorite punching bag. But I have long maintained that his palate was always more diverse in its tastes than his critics gave him credit for. Leaving aside his particular taste in wines, his influence in the wine world has arguably contributed to the improvement of winemaking quality around the world as well as the rise of California on the global wine stage. His personal integrity and objectivity as a critic has always been unimpeachable. For me personally, Parker was an inspiration and a source of great education early in my wine consuming career. As I grew in knowledge and experience, and began to write about wine myself, I found some occasions to disagree with what could be very polemic opinions on his part, but despite that, Ive always had an enormous amount of respect for what he has accomplished personally. If you havent had the chance to read Elin McCoys biography of Parker, The Emperor of Taste, I highly recommend it. I cant say I really know Parker personally, but we have met on several occasions, and I have always found him to be genial, engaging and unflagging in his passion for wine. The last time we met he was recovering from back surgery and looking somewhat scraggly (as seen in the rather poor photo above, from his talk at the 2014 Symposium for Professional Wine Writers). Hes certainly worked his tail off for the past few decades, and I sincerely hope he gets to enjoy a long and fulfilling retirement with his family and friends at least long enough to drink through all that Chateauneuf-du-Pape in his cellar. Bob, thanks for paving the way with aplomb and integrity, and best wishes for whatever adventures retirement may hold. Im raising a glass to you tonight. 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. School Counselling Service in Collaboration with Care Agency Last week a group of 52 educators from the Department of Education (DoE), including teachers and Education Psychologists, as well as Counsellors from The Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB), attended a training and feedback session organised by the Ministry of Education and coordinated by Jackie Linares and Wayne Barton. The core session was delivered by Ms Giselle Carreras from the Care Agency. Both departments have been collaborating for some time in advance of the implementation of a School Based Counselling Service with significant work going into detailed planning and a continuous consultation process with key stakeholders from both the public and private sector, inclusive of NGOs. This has culminated in a comprehensive Operational Policy and associated referral pathways being established and agreed upon for primary and secondary sectors and the College, by those directly involved in students wellbeing. By following a pre-established timeline a range of issues have been formalised and documented which include key components such as service standards, roles and responsibilities including line management and clinical supervision arrangements, confidentiality, overlap with safeguarding and child protection measures, record keeping and the continuous monitoring, evaluation and review arrangements for the future service. The session which was delivered at the University of Gibraltar, focused on the specific role of the School Counsellor and future interactions with internal and external agencies. Ms Giselle Carreras, as the current Head of Psychology and Therapeutic Services in the Care Agency, was able to effectively convey her significant experience for the benefit of those educators who it is envisaged will work closely with School Counsellors. These include Heads of Year/Year Coordinators, Deputy and Head Teachers, Behaviour Education Services Team (BEST) and Special Education Needs Coordinators (SENCo). These teachers formed the target audience for the session together with members of the Positive Mental Health Steering Groups, which includes Education Psychologists. Giselle covered themes such as the rationale and evidence base for Counselling in Schools, an evaluation of UK studies, approaches in primary and secondary, referral thresholds and golden rules for information sharing, among many others. Jackie Linares and Wayne Barton were then able to apply these principles in their shared presentation and looked at the strategic implications of the Operational Policy in practice, validating the implementation plan through open engagement and discussion. Colleagues from CAB led by Mrs Pili Rodriguez where also instrumental in providing feedback and guidance through their experiences with many members being Counsellors themselves. The training culminated with a group session where a number of questions/scenarios were examined with potential approaches deliberated on using the material covered during the day. The Department of Education will continue to work closely through their Positive Mental Health Steering Groups with key stakeholders for the benefit of childrens and young adults positive mental health, social and emotional wellbeing. Future events are anticipated to include students, parents and other teachers not directly involved in the counsellor referral process. Minister for Education John Cortes said: We have made excellent progress over the past year in tackling the issues surrounding mental health in the school population. The preparatory work done by the multi-disciplinary teams to ensure that the new School Counsellors, soon to be recruited, work in a well-prepared environment is impressive. The new service will benefit pupils and teachers, and is long overdue. Governors Meadow First School Walk-A-Thon Governors Meadow First School held a Walk-A-Thon on Wednesday 15th May at Commonwealth Park. The Walk-A-Thon forms part of the schools ongoing Active and Healthy Initiatives. The whole school community including parents /carers were invited to take part and walk laps with pupils and GMFS staff around the park enjoying breaks between laps as and when needed. In exploring different forms of exercise to keep healthy, pupils identified walking as a form of exercise that almost everyone in the community can take part in. The idea then catapulted into exploring ways of staging a walking event for the whole school community, explained Headteacher Fiona Ferro. Commonwealth Park immediately sprang to mind linking exercising around the park whilst appreciating nature around us. Including walking as part of a routine fitness plan will get your heart pumping and your muscles working added Mrs Ferro. There is no better way than to encourage the love of walking than to involve the whole school community whilst also reducing our carbon footprint. The school community also raises funds annually for the GBC Open Day and will once again be raising monies for our local community in our local park in the centre of town. Governors Meadow pupils have been exploring their understanding of healthy living throughout the last two academic years spearheaded by Deputy Headteacher Mr Latin and the teaching community. This has been accomplished in different ways in classroom activities where pupils have explored different ways we can all keep healthy. Governors Meadow initiatives have included parents involvement in school as part of their childs learning. Parents/ carers have joined their children in Zumba, HIIT and Circuit Training sessions where both parents and children have exercised together to achieve a healthy body ; a catalyst for further healthy family activities. GMFS are presently involved in a Project Based Learning (PBL) Initiative exploring ways in which the school can become more environmentally friendly. Following pupils learning, understanding and suggestions, the Walk-A-Thon featured pupils using refillable water bottles and the use of biodegradable cups. Saccone and Speed generously supported the event by providing the school with water. Todays Walk-A-Thon is the culmination of this years hard work by everyone, both in school and home and it epitomizes the ethos of the school where we strive to better ourselves by working together explained Deputy Headteacher Mr Latin. GMFS will be continuing with its environmentally friendly initiatives such as continuing to encourage the use of refillable water bottles and promoting reusable Plastic Mondays where food for snacks and lunch are brought in reusable containers. The schools next initiative is promoting Traffic Free Tuesdays encouraging as many members of the school community to walk to and from school. Special Stamp Duty to Deter Speculation on Resale of Properties at Beach View Terraces & Mons Calpe Mews In the first term of office, Government constructed two brand new affordable housing estates at Beach View Terraces and Mons Calpe Mews. Govt said that homes in these estates were sold to purchasers at cost price, that means the cost to build the property, without factoring in the value of the land or the relevant infrastructure. Therefore, the cost to purchasers was well below the market value of these properties. "In the past, purchasers have taken advantage in the resale of such affordable housing at great profit at the expense of the tax payer. That is not fair on the tax payer at large or those seeking to purchase homes at affordable prices." The Government has today published a Bill introducing a Special Stamp Duty in order to mitigate abuse on such sales. The introduction of the Special Stamp Duty was announced during the Chief Ministers budget address of 2018. "In accordance with the terms of the underlease flats can now be resold as 3 years from the date of original purchase. These resales are subject to conditions. In order to curtail the level of profits which will be made on such resales, the Government has introduced a Special Stamp Duty on resales which will apply for the first 10 years of ownership from the original purchase. The Special Stamp Duty only applies to Beach View Terraces and Mons Calpe Mews. The Special Stamp Duty shall be 7.5% of the total sale price. This Special Stamp Duty will be payable by the seller over and above any relevant stamp duty on the sale that may be paid by the buyer. The Special Stamp Duty is not deductible in arriving at the calculation of profit under the Trust Deed and will not apply to the sale of any part of the Governments equity by the Government." There may be exceptions from the payment of Special Stamp Duty as directed by the Land Management Committee in cases of forced sale resulting from a relationship breakdown or in cases where families move to another affordable housing estate as a meritorious upgrader. The Hon the Chief Minister Fabian Picardo QC MP stated The Underleases relating to the properties at Beach View Terraces and Mons Calpe Mews were modelled on those from previous developments built by the former administration and allowed for an element of speculation which, in our Governments view is not in keeping with the objective of providing affordable homes. It is very important that these homes, which the Government builds to assist our community to become home owners and which are subsidised by the tax payer, be real homes and not acquired for speculation and used for investment purposes. By the introduction of this new measure, a proportion that is relevant to the value of the sale will be recovered by the tax payer. The Hon Samantha Sacramento MP Minster for Housing said "This Special Stamp Duty is a new measure that applies to resales at Beach View Terraces and Mons Calpe Mews. Further measures to prevent abuse and speculation on resale will be introduced to the underleases of the new affordable housing estates such as Hassans Centenary Terraces, so the Special Stamp Duty will not be needed for these estates. It is unconscionable that housing that has been subsidised be sold at extortionate rates, with the new measure some of the profit will return to Government and can be reinvested into future affordable home schemes. Fire Service Officers Attend LNG Awareness Course in Rotterdam Seven Officers from the Gibraltar Fire and Rescue Service (GFRS) attended an LNG Awareness and Incident Command Course at Rely-On-Nutec Fire Academy (former Falck), in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Rely-On-Nutec, situated in the port of Rotterdam has a long history within Emergency Services. Since the company was founded in 1906, its core business has been fire fighting for local authorities and industrial clients. All Officers successfully completed the three-day course that consisted of a blended learning approach of both theoretical and practical sessions on the academys industrial training complex. The course centred primarily on Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), describing the properties of both of these through practical demonstrations that allowed delegates to experience first-hand the special characteristics and behaviour of these alternative fuels. This course will unequivocally equip our operational officers with the skills, knowledge and understanding when developing incident response strategies, enabling them to make those essential tactical decisions at the Incident Ground. A spokesperson for the GFRS said "Developing and investing in our workforce is at the heart of all our processes, the GFRS continued commitment and willingness to evolve and adapt to emerging technologies, operational procedures and best recognised working practices guarantees that as a Service we keep abreast with organisational, team and individual training needs. This in-turn ensures that we have a safe and competent workforce for the benefit of our Community in general." On 13 May 2019, on the occasion of the 21st Oceania Customs Organisation (OCO) Annual Conference held in Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), the representatives of the Cook Islands and Tuvalu deposited with Mr. Ricardo Trevino Chapa (WCO Deputy Secretary General) their respective countrys instrument of accession to the International Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs Procedures (Revised Kyoto Convention - RKC). Speaking on behalf of the depositary of the Convention, Mr. Trevino Chapa took the opportunity to congratulate the Cook Islands and Tuvalu on this achievement, set against the backdrop of the WCOs special focus on Small Island Economies (SIEs). The Cook Islands and Tuvalu therefore join Kiribati as part of the very select club of non-WCO Members having acceded to the Convention. According to Article 8.1 of the RKC, any Member of the WCO and any Member of the United Nations or its specialized agencies may become a Contracting Party to the Convention by acceding to it. It is worth recalling that, in June 2017, the WCO organized a successful Workshop on the RKC for Vanuatu Customs and, thanks to financial support from the OCO Secretariat, participation in this Workshop was extended to six non-WCO Members (Cook Islands, Solomon Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu). One of the important outcomes of the Workshop was the development of clear action plans by each of the above-listed Pacific Islands for accession to the RKC. The accession of the Cook Islands and Tuvalu is to be welcomed as this will help increase their international visibility. The Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC), which entered into force on 3 February 2006, is a WCO legal instrument recognized as the blueprint for modern and effective Customs procedures in the 21st Century. It was also widely used in the negotiations on the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade Facilitation (TFA). Accession to the RKC and, above all, its implementation, complements countries efforts towards ratification and implementation of the WTO TFA. The Conventions key elements include the application of simplified Customs procedures in a predictable and transparent environment, optimal use of information technology, utilization of risk management for efficient Customs control, a strong partnership with trade and other stakeholders, and a readily accessible system of appeals. In an international environment marked by a determination to implement the WTO TFA in an expeditious and harmonized manner, the WCO welcomes the fact that the number of Contracting Parties to the RKC continues to grow, especially as this instrument is at the core of the WCOs Economic Competitiveness Package (ECP). WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya strongly encourages WCO Members and United Nations Members not yet having done so to follow the example of the Cook Islands and Tuvalu and accede to the RKC (and, in particular, implement its provisions) as soon as possible, given this instruments significance for Customs and the international trade community. Live Nation/Interscope Records/Maverick This Saturday, Madonna will perform in Tel Aviv, Israel, at the finale of the Eurovision Song Contest, and ahead of that performance, she's released one of the songs she'll be singing. "Future" is a track from her upcoming album Madame X. The reggae-flavored track was co-produced by superstar DJ Diplo, and features rapper Quavo, from the chart-topping trio Migos. In a statement, Madonna says the song is about, "the world that we live in today and the future of our civilization." "Not everyone is coming to the future, Not everyone is learning from the past/Not everyone can come into the future/Not everyone that's here is gonna last," Madonna sings. The lyrics also include encouragement to make peace, give hope, light up the dark and live right. In addition to "Future," for which she'll be joined by Quavo, Madonna will also perform her classic "Like a Prayer" at the Eurovision Song Contest. Madonna plans to release one more track from Madame X before it arrives June 14: "Dark Ballet." As previously reported, Madonna's theater tour starts September 12 in New York City. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. If you have an event you'd like to list on the site, submit it now! Submit First row from left to right: Toni Alridge, Alan Bryant, Russell Haynes, James Holoubeck, Eric Hull, Kylie Johnson, Lindsey Maggio, Logan Matheny Second row left to right: Nicole McCook, Devin McGrew, Jasmine Mitchell, Veronica Morris, Aimee Roy, Brandon Roy, Amber Silvio Third row left to right: Anitra Simmons, Chelsea Smith, Katie Southern, Michelle Sullivan, Anne Sun, Taryn Waterhouse, Nedra Winston Attorney General's Office to help register contractors in Mayfield By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 16, 2019 | 08:12 PM | LOWES A Graves County man was arrested Thursday on arson and other charges. The Graves County Sheriff's Office says deputies were called to a vehicle fire just east of Lowes on KY 849. The investigation revealed that 37-year-old Mitchell P. Meyer, of Lowes, set a truck on fire that was parked in the driveway of a home. Deputies say the truck belonged to a third party who was not present at the home. Video footage of the incident allegedly showed Meyer using gasoline and a lighter to set the fire. Witnesses also reportedly saw Meyer taking items belonging to a family member and throwing them into the fire. Firefighters from Lowes, Melber and Viola Fire responded and extinguished the blaze before it was able to reach two nearby homes. The vehicle was a total loss. Meyer was arrested and charged with 2nd degree arson and 3rd degree criminal mischief. He was lodged in the Graves County Jail. Email To : Multiple e-mail addresses must be separated with a comma character(maximum 200 characters) Email To is required. Your Full Name: (optional) Your Email Address: Your Email Address is required. By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 16, 2019 | 05:55 PM | JACKSON KYTN reports that according to Jackson Police, officers were called to a home on Preston Street, where a three-year-old child had received a fatal gunshot wound. Investigators at the scene determined the childs mother, 25-year-old Linda Arrington, and live-in boyfriend, 43-year-old Antonio Dancer, were both allegedly under the influence of drugs, while the child was left unattended. Reports said the child found the handgun, which was not properly secured, and shot himself. Dancer and Arrington are now both charged with negligent homicide, with Dancer additionally charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. Dancer was issued a $50,000 bond, with Arrington given a $35,000 bond plus a hold for a failure to appear on an unrelated charge. Both Dancer and Arrington were taken to the Madison County Jail. A west Tennessee child was fatally wounded Saturday in Jackson, and two adults have been charged in connection with the incident. Wang Congying drew nine illustrations to depict the images of the pottery figurines [Women of China] A series of nine illustrations about pottery figurines, each with a cute cartoon image and a popular Internet phrase, went viral on Weibo last year. The illustrator, whose online name is Baili Muyan, has since attracted many followers. The illustrator, whose real name is Wang Congying, is a fine arts teacher in Taizhou, in East China's Zhejiang Province. Wang hopes to have her series of pottery-figurine illustrations published. She also has another dream: To produce an animated film highlighting cultural relics from ancient China. Wang, born in 1990, is a big fan of famous writer Jin Yong, who is best known for his Chinese martial arts novels. Wang fell in love with drawing and painting when she was a little girl. She used to draw and paint on her books and walls at home. When she was practicing calligraphy, she liked to paint, with ink, on her clothes. Her parents sometimes got mad at her. Before she wrote the college-entrance exams, Wang hoped to study animation or archeology. But her teachers could not promise those majors would ensure her either a promising future or adequate career development. Wang eventually studied fine arts and, after her graduation, she became a fine arts teacher in her hometown, Taizhou. Truly cute In July 2018, Wang visited Nanjing Museum, in East China's Jiangsu Province, to see an exhibition. To her surprise, despite the variety of items displayed at the exhibition, she was most attracted by many of the pottery figurines, which the museum had collected for a standing exhibition. At that time, Wang was studying illustrations in some children's picture books published overseas. She thought the pottery figurines might also be depicted as cute "characters," each with a unique trait. Each of these illustrations are combined the image of a pottery figurine with something popular on the Internet. [Women of China] In the following month, she drew nine illustrations to depict the images of the pottery figurines. It took her three days to complete one illustration. She did not feel tired; rather, she felt exhilarated as she completed the works. The illustration of a female figurine performing the "haicao (seaweed)" dance was quite popular." I was inspired by a pottery figurine from the Tang Dynasty (618-907 ), "Wang explained." The figurine's shape looked like a woman stretching her sleeves while dancing. I thought she might be performing a popular dance in that period. I asked myself what dance could be that popular today? 'Haicao' dance immediately occurred to me. The gesture of the figurine resembles a gesture in 'haicao' dance, so I drew such an illustration." The gesture of the figurine resembles a gesture in 'haicao' dance. [Women of China] In much the same process, Wang drew several other illustrations, each of which combined the image of a pottery figurine with something popular on the Internet. She used the illustrations to reflect her emotions. For example, the image of a male pottery figurine clenching his fist and saying "Come on!" was her first illustration. Wang drew that illustration to cheer herself up, because only a few of her relatives and friends supported her goal to become a professional illustrator. The illustrations Wang posted on Weibo touched many netizens' hearts. As Baili Muyan , she became known by an increasing number of people. 'Gifts from history' Wang posted the series of pottery-figurine illustrations on her Weibo account on August 2, 2018. She did not pay much attention to netizens' feedback. Then, one day, one of her students told her that her illustrations became one of the "hot topics" that Weibo administrators recommended its users to search for. "I logged into Weibo and found seven media outlets had sent me interview invitations. There were a lot of comments from netizens too. I was shocked," Wang recalled. Wang used the illustrations to reflect her emotions. [Women of China] Although many netizens praised Wang for her creative ideas and interesting illustrations, some asked if Wang's works were disrespectful to cultural relics. Facing those critics, Wang answered: "We are living in an inclusive era. Regardless of the positive or negative feedback, it is important for the works to be seen, and to be discussed by viewers. In my opinion, if I create the works with respect to history, and if I spread my works in a positive way, I am doing something right." Nature and museums represent the two most important "sources" for people to absorb inspiration as they create art, Wang says. "So why can't we make good use of the gifts from history?" Wang says people's aesthetic tastes develop in accordance with the times. "If the context and living environment of an era changes, it will naturally affect people's appreciation of art. For me, drawing illustrations is like a writer composing his/her works. Drawing offers me a way to express my feelings, and to depict my sense of value," Wang adds. Pursuing a dream The fine arts teacher actually has created many "characters" based on the figurines. [Women of China] In addition to drawing and painting, Wang likes yoga; in fact, she has studied yoga for several years. In 2016, she traveled to India, by herself, to take part in a yoga camp. She knew nothing about the Indic language, and her English was not good, so she used drawings tocommunicate with the locals. "Drawing was the earliest method for people to communicate in ancient society. It is also important to smile, so others know you are easy to get along with. Drawing and smiling helped me make friends with the locals," Wang said. Will she continue to draw illustrations of pottery figurines? "Of course!" Wang answered without hesitation. In fact, she has created many "characters" based on the figurines. She hopes to create a comic strip based on her favorite figurines. She also remembers her dream from childhood. "I want to produce an animated film, which highlights communications between cultural relics and people. It will be a fairytale-like story to depict my views on life and death," Wang says. Although she did not plan to be a teacher when she was young, she has treasured the time she has spent with her students. Gradually, she fell in love with her career. Still, she refuses to forget her dream of producing an animated film. (Source: Women of China) Please understand that womenofchina.cn,a non-profit, information-communication website, cannot reach every writer before using articles and images. For copyright issues, please contact us by emailing: website@womenofchina.cn. The articles published and opinions expressed on this website represent the opinions of writers and are not necessarily shared by womenofchina.cn. A still image features former Chinese premier Zhou En'lai and his wife Deng Yingchao. [Photo provided to China Daily] To mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of People's Republic of China, the film Zhou Enlai Returned to Yan'an opened across the country on Wednesday. Actor Liu Jin, who resembles Zhou in appearance, has acted the role of the first premier of the People's Republic of China on more than 70 occasions, both in movies and TV series. He also directs the movie, the first time he has gone behind the camera. Adapted from writer Cao Guxi's non-fiction novel with the same title, the film chronicles Zhou's return to Yan'an, Shaanxi province, in 1973. Accompanying some foreign visitors, Zhou, despite ill health, showed up in Yan'an on June 9, 1973, and stayed in the city for 22 hours. Through the perspectives of Zhou, the film uses flashbacks to highlight historical incidents that made Yan'an a revolutionary base of the Communist Party. Producers reveal that the crew took four years to do research, including interviewing Zhou's niece, Zhou Bingde, and those who once worked for him. The film held an advanced screening in the Great Hall of People in Beijing on May 10. Poster of Zhou En'lai Returned to Yan'an. [Photo provided to China Daily] A still image of the film Zhou En'lai Returned to Yan'an. [Photo provided to China Daily] Tsinghua University's arts and design academy is currently showing paintings, sculptures, mixed-media works and designs created by postgraduates who will receive their master's degree in June. [For China Daily/Liu Qi] Decades ago, university graduates' artwork was exhibited only for viewing by students and teachers. Today, these exhibitions have become a big celebration, not only for denizens of the university, but also the general public. Tsinghua University's arts and design academy is currently showing paintings, sculptures, mixed-media works and designs created by postgraduates who will receive their master's degree in June. They are displayed at the academy's buildings and Tsinghua University Art Museum, through May 30. The exhibition has not only drawn gallery owners, art dealers, representatives from cultural institutions and enterprises who scout for upcoming talent or new additions to their collections; but has allowed an audience of the general public to keep up with the evolution of art and broaden their artistic horizons. Shen Yueyue, Vice-Chairperson of the NPC Standing Committee and President of the All-China Women's Federation, held a meeting with officials of the women's federations at all levels in Anhui Province and the women villagers who have taken the lead in shaking off poverty during her inspection in east China's Anhui Province on May 10. At the meeting with officials of the women's federations at all levels in Anhui Province and the women villagers who have taken the lead in shaking off poverty. [womenvoice.cn] At the meeting, Shen listened to the briefings from the presidents of the women's federations at the provincial, city, county, town and village level. She gave high appraisal to local achievements of rural revitalization and poverty alleviation. Five participants deliver speeches at the meeting. [womenvoice.cn] Shen urged the women's federations at all levels to play their role in poverty alleviation, assisting the Party and the government to help women in rural areas get rid of poverty. Women's federations at all levels should learn more about the conditions of poverty-stricken women, focusing on solving the problems related to women's lives, including education, employment and medical care, fostering skill training for women in order to encourage more women to strive for a better life by themselves. Shen Yueyue (2nd R) shakes hands with meeting attendees. [womenvoice.cn] Shen noted that women's federations at all levels should push forward the effective connection between poverty alleviation and rural revitalization, giving full play to women's role in the construction of new socialist countryside. Women's federations at all levels should guide women to revitalize rural areas by developing high-quality, green agricultural products. Women in the countryside should hold the concept of green development in the construction of beautiful countryside and build villages into beautiful and livable areas. (Source: womenvoice.cn/Translated and Edited by Women of China) Guan Yanping from Guangdong Province provided medical treatment and examinations to impoverished villages in Yunnan. [Global Times] "Doctors from Guangdong Province are here providing medical treatment and examinations, please come to the villagers' activity room." Guan Yanping had just reached the top of a mountain as the announcement from a loudspeaker echoed through Bingzhongluo county of the Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture in Southwest China's Yunnan Province. Guan took out her stethoscope from her pack basket while trying to get her breath back from the difficult trip, and a nurse was setting up an electrocardiography machine. It is a scene that has taken place frequently in many villages of Bingzhongluo county. Guan first arrived at Bingzhongluo in March 2017 as the first batch of doctors from Zhuhai, South China's Guangdong Province, to work in the impoverished Nujiang Lisu autonomous prefecture. In the past year, Guan has crossed mountains and rivers to make more than 200 medical visits to 46 villages with her pack basket. Tough journey Guan, 50, worked in the department of gynecology and obstetrics at a hospital of Sanzao county, Zhuhai, South China's Guangdong Province, as a deputy chief physician before she came to Nujiang. With 26 years' work experience in various departments including surgery, gynecology and obstetrics, Guan had been assigned to establish the Haicheng health center at Sanzao county as a general medical practitioner in 2015. In March 2017, the health authority of Jinwan district announced that it would dispatch several doctors to Nujiang to help establish a public health and family physician system there. As a general medical practitioner with rich experience in the public health sector, Guan had no hesitation signing up. After the decision, she started to worry about her 80-year-old mother and two elder brothers, who had diabetes and hypertension. In order to guarantee their health, Guan taught her son and nephew how to measure blood glucose and pressure. After arriving in Nujiang, she asked her son to check on her mother and brothers' condition every day. It took Guan three days to get to Bingzhongluo after a bumpy bus trip. "Before the first medical visit to the mountain, I was hoping to bring an electrocardiography machine," Guan told thepeople.cn. "Then I was told the medical equipment here was in boxes and gathering dust in the warehouse, since no one knew how to use them," said Guan. She was astonished by the situation. In the days that followed, Guan trained her colleagues how to operate an electrocardiography machine and ultrasonic machine. Her pants were covered in thistles and thorns, which she had to remove one by one, as they hurt her legs and ankles. Sometimes, it was hard for her to climb up the mountain steps, and had no choice but march forward with the help of her partners. To their surprise, when they got to the village, no one wanted to see them. Village officials had to broadcast the arrival of doctors from Guangdong through loudspeakers. Because it was difficult to carry the equipment up the mountains, she bought a pack basket to bring the equipment into the villages. Into the light Xiaochala village is located deep in the mountains at an altitude of 3,000 meters. Most of the villagers are from the Dulong ethnic group. Before heading to the village, a colleague told Guan never to ask the villagers to give blood for tests, as it was something that the villagers would simply refuse to do, regardless of age and gender. However, doctors cannot get accurate information on a person's health condition without a blood test. When they arrived at Xiaochala, villagers refused to do blood tests when Guan asked them to. Guan asked a colleague to explain repeatedly in local dialect that it was necessary, until one 70-year-old woman rolled up her sleeves. Other villagers then followed suit. Guan later learned that the old lady's son was suffering from schizophrenia. After examining the other villagers, Guan went to the old woman's home. It was a dark wooden house with a bed against the wall and a fireplace in the center of the floor. The schizophrenic son, Luo Xuejun, had been kept in this dark room for more than two years. When Guan tried to communicate with him, he avoided her out of fear. Guan attempted to approach him, touch his hand and examine him, but was unable to even get close. Guan tried for half an hour to communicate with Luo, without any success. Before leaving, Guan prescribed some medicine for him and told the old woman how to administer it to him. When Guan made her third visit to Luo's home, he smiled at her. Guan helped him walk out of the room and into the warm sunshine, and taught him to say "Hello." They then took a group photo on a grassland. Guan said she felt very happy at that moment. Longer stay Because the conditions there are so difficult, medical personnel dispatched to Nujiang are rotated out every six months. Guan was supposed to return to Zhuhai in September, 2017. However, a meeting in June 2017 about the high maternal and newborn mortality rate in the region prompted Guan to stick around. "What shocked me is that the number is triple that in the Pearl River Delta, so I decided to stay for three years to work without the local medical care staff," said Guan. The following year, in addition to round-the-clock medicine treatment for local residents, Guan also carried out free physical examinations for them. Guan also set up health records for 5,143 residents in the county, and helped the impoverished people there sign family physician contracts. (Source: Global Times) Wrexham farmer fined after worker suffers fatal fall This article is old - Published: Friday, May 17th, 2019 A farmer has been fined following a workers fatal fall through the fragile roof of a milking shed on the farm. Mold Magistrates Court heard how on 19th July 2018 self-employed contractor David Alan Rees was fatally injured whilst he was clearing out the valley gutter from a ladder at Knolton Farm, Overton, Wrexham. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Robert Latham failed to plan the work at height and did not have any suitable equipment available to do the work safely. Robert Latham of Knolton Farm, Overton pleaded guilty to breaching section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined 26,000 and has also been ordered to pay costs of 3922.60 and a surcharge of 170. Speaking after the case the HSE inspector, Mhairi Duffy said There are no winners in this tragic case. Those in control of work have a responsibility to devise safe methods of working and to provide the necessary information, instruction and training to their workers and contractors in the safe system of working. If a suitable safe system of work had been in place prior to the incident, the death could have been prevented. Pictures: Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-16 23:45:07|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa (R, front) officially opens a smelter at Anglo American's Unki Platinum Mine in Shurugwi, Midlands Province, Zimbabwe, May 16, 2019. South Africa-based Anglo American Platinum on Thursday commissioned a 62-million-U.S. dollar smelter at its Unki Platinum Mine in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa commissioned the smelter and hailed the processing plant as a milestone for the country as it moves towards its vision of becoming a middle-class economy by 2030. (Xinhua/Shaun Jusa) HARARE, May 16 (Xinhua) -- South Africa-based Anglo American Platinum on Thursday commissioned a 62-million-U.S. dollar smelter at its Unki Platinum Mine in Zimbabwe. Construction work started in 2016 as the company heeded Zimbabwe government's call to add value to the minerals before they are exported. The setting up of the smelter by Unki will enable the company to begin partial processing of ore in the country before sending to South Africa for refining. Two other platinum mines Zimplats and Mimosa also send platinum matte for refining to South Africa but government is pushing for the establishment of a refinery so that the matte is refined locally for greater benefits to the country. Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa commissioned the smelter at the mine in Shurugwi, Midlands Province, and hailed the processing plant as a milestone for the country as it moves towards its vision of becoming a middle-class economy by 2030. "We must put a stop to it (export of minerals in raw form)," he said, adding the country exports about 90 percent of diamonds unprocessed. The president said the commissioning of the Unki Mine Platinum Smelter will help transform the country's mining industry, accelerating the value addition of its minerals and bringing in foreign currency. Mines Minister Winston Chitando commended Unki's investment and said the move will have a positive socio-economic impact on the country. The establishment of this smelting facility will result in the development of key infrastructure, and increase foreign currency earnings and employment for our local people, he said. Zimbabwe has the world's second biggest platinum reserves after South Africa. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 01:32:01|Editor: mingmei Video Player Close Participants attend the first panel discussion focusing on collaboration between China and U.S. cities during the fourth U.S.-China Innovation and Investment Summit (UCIS) in Houston, Texas, the United States, May 16, 2019. The fourth U.S.-China Innovation and Investment Summit kicked off Thursday in Houston, the U.S. state of Texas, bringing a new wave of technology and innovation investment to the city. (Xinhua/Liu Liwei) HOUSTON, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The fourth U.S.-China Innovation and Investment Summit (UCIS) Kicked off Thursday in Houston, Texas, the United States, bringing another wave of technology and innovation investment to the city. It is expected that more than 300 participants from China and the United States, including entrepreneurs and investors, will meet face-to-face in Houston. Nearly 70 U.S. companies as well as about 50 Chinese enterprises from Changsha, Shenzhen, Beijing and other cities participated in the event. The two-day conference will feature a range of events, including "INNOSTARS" preliminary competitions, innovation forums, B2B matchmaking as well as company exhibits. The meeting will not only enable Chinese entrepreneurs to learn about the development of science and technology in the United States, but also allow for one-to-one communications with American companies. It will also showcase the advantages of different places and cities in China, providing new opportunities for international investment and cooperation. The meeting covers four areas in science, health and technological innovations, including advanced manufacturing, biopharma and digital health & diagnosis, information and communication technology, as well as energy. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 02:07:08|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close VIENNA, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Austrian Interior Minister Herbert Kickl on Thursday expressed his wish that in future no more asylum applications are made in his country. "My goal is zero," the far-right Freedom Party official said during question time in the lower house of the parliament National Council, according to the Austria Press Agency. He argued that Austria is surrounded by safe states. Progress towards his goal has already been made under the present government, he said, with a lower number of asylum applications this year. Kickl said there are however still "enormous" challenges along the Balkans migration route, such as areas in Greece where asylum seekers are still able to pass through too easily. He also again took aim at a recent United Nations (UN) report that criticized Austria's handling of asylum seekers, calling it "tendentious." A newly-released UN report based on observations made by experts last October brought up numerous alleged issues such as a lack of legal aid for asylum seekers in Austria, as well as a focus on speeding up asylum procedures and deportations. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has rejected the criticism from the UN over his country's migration policy. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 03:07:35|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close A tank of UN-backed government forces is seen in Al-Sawani frontline near Tripoli airport in Tripoli, Libya, on May 16, 2019. At least six civilians were reported killed and five more injured in an apparent airstrike in populated areas of the Libyan capital of Tripoli, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said on Thursday. (Xinhua/Amru Salahuddien) UNITED NATIONS, May 16 (Xinhua) -- At least six civilians were reported killed and five more injured in an apparent airstrike in populated areas of the Libyan capital of Tripoli, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said on Thursday. Citing humanitarian colleagues as a source, Dujarric said the casualties were victims of explosive weapons used in Qasr Bin Ghashir, Tripoli, during an airstrike on Tuesday. He told correspondents at a regular briefing that reports of further civilian casualties from shelling on Wednesday evening were still being verified. "Humanitarians continue to remind parties of their obligations under international humanitarian law to take all feasible measures to avoid civilian harm," the spokesman said. "They call on all parties to refrain from using explosive weapons -- including by aerial bombing or shelling -- in populated areas, given their likely indiscriminate effect." The latest violence in Libya erupted in early April when forces allied with Gen. Khalifa Haftar advanced on the capital city, the seat of the internationally recognized Government of National Accord, just as various parties in Libya were about to sit down for talks on the beleaguered nation's future. The renewed fighting also began during a visit by the UN secretary-general in his bid for the unification of the rival Libya factions ahead of the reunification conference. There is no military solution to differences, Guterres said, only intra-Libyan dialogue. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 03:37:54|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close Residents of Mati and Kineta, coastal resorts that were damaged by wildfires, protest in Athens, Greece, on May 16, 2019. Ten months after losing relatives, friends, neighbors, homes and happiness during wildfires which swept through two once idyllic coastal resorts near Athens, a group of fire-stricken Greeks protested on Thursday outside the Greek Environment Ministry over the delays in the reconstruction process. On July 23, 2018, two fires which broke out in Kineta, 45 kilometers west of the Greek capital and in Mati, 30 km to the east, claimed 102 lives, leaving behind numerous injured, hundreds of destroyed or damaged houses and many acres of charred down forested land. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos) by Maria Spiliopoulou, Valentini Anagnostopoulou ATHENS, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Ten months after losing relatives, friends, neighbors, homes and happiness during wildfires which swept through two once idyllic coastal resorts near Athens, a group of fire-stricken Greeks protested on Thursday outside the Greek Environment Ministry over the delays in the reconstruction process. On July 23, 2018 two fires which broke out in Kineta, 45 kilometers west of the Greek capital and in Mati, 30 km to the east, claimed 102 lives, leaving behind numerous injured, hundreds of destroyed or damaged houses and many acres of charred down forested land. In particular the fire at Mati, where all 102 casualties were, was the deadliest in a decade in Greece, leaving the entire nation in shock. In the first days and weeks after the tragedy officials pledged the state's full support to the residents so they can heal their wounds and stand on their feet again. On Thursday people protested that ten months later not much has been done yet, after the initial financial handouts. "We were burned by the fire, but indifference is killing us," read banners raised by protesters. Ten months later, only a few dozen licenses for reconstruction of houses have been issued, more than 120 families are still housed in camps, while others have found shelter in relatives' homes and infrastructure projects are not progressing fast enough, they said. "They promised us last summer that this year we would all have returned to our homes. There are people who have lost their loved ones, there are people with burns who are struggling everyday visiting hospitals, with no aid, paying on their own. This is what they must see in Mati, how we are living," Yannis Koletis told Xinhua. His home was destroyed by the blaze and he is one of the people still accommodated in camps. "We are not illegal, it is not our fault that we are fire stricken," he said, referring to the debate that started in the wake of the destruction on the residents' share of the blame. Government officials and experts said that many of the houses in Mati and Kineta had been built without proper licenses and urban planning and many victims were trapped in narrow streets leading to dead ends, as the exits to the sea were blocked by summer homes. People who gathered outside the ministry on Thursday insisted that all this talk was fake news and most of them had built their homes with licenses and were paying all relevant taxes to the state for decades. "So many years that we were there and we were paying all this money for electricity, water, municipality fees, real property tax, other taxes, transfers, contracts, everything, we were not illegal. We were good, because we were paying the state. It is time the state paid for us," Antonis Petridis, member of the coordinating committee of Kineta residents told Xinhua. "We are hearing only words, but they should turn them into actions. There are fire-stricken people today who are homeless and are sleeping once here, the next time elsewhere. They are being fed at soup kitchens. This must end. They should give a solution," he said. "We have been abandoned at the mercy of God. After the fire, floods came and all homes flooded, they were all damaged, including those which had not been affected by the fire," Lefteris Papatheodorou, another Kineta resident, told Xinhua. "Only a few things have been done, not so much, according to what they had pledged. We are still in the pledges stage. Nothing has materialized. Mati is like a cemetery. It was a paradise. We ask that people return to their homes," said Vassilis Vrettos who was wearing a black t-shirt with the date that changed dramatically their lives printed on. Vrettos did not lose his home, but he grieves for friends and neighbors who perished in the fire. All residents are in pain, regardless of losses, he said. Panagiota Vlachea, lost two family homes in Mati and is living on the rent, waiting for a license to start over again. "They do make some steps, but 10 months have passed and we still don't even have licenses. We want to see our homes rebuilt. It is simple. That's it. We are not asking much, only the fundamental," she told Xinhua. "Ten months later we are living in a bombarded city. Why? Nothing has been done. Why? I am a resident of Mati living in a bombarded city and I demand a change tomorrow. That's all," Varvara Kasselouri said. In a press statement issued following a meeting between a delegation of protesters and Environment Minister George Stathakis, it was pledged that the procedures for the issuance of licenses and reconstruction projects will accelerate. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 03:42:56|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close A student participates in the 18th "Chinese Bridge" Chinese proficiency competition in Msida, Malta, on May 16, 2019. The 18th "Chinese Bridge", Chinese proficiency competition, was held on Thursday at the University of Malta in Msida, west of the capital Valletta. (Xinhua/Yuan Yun) VALLETTA, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The 18th "Chinese Bridge", Chinese proficiency competition, was held on Thursday at the University of Malta in Msida, west of the capital Valletta. Nine students, from the Confucius Institute at the University of Malta, took part in the annual Chinese Proficiency Competition. Three Chinese language learners, from the China Cultural Center in Malta, also gave their Chinese speeches at this event. Under the theme "One World, One Family", participants showed their comprehension of the Chinese language, culture during the three-part competitions: free speech, question and answer as well as the talent show. Maria Debono,the first year student of the Confucius Institute at the University of Malta , won the first place among the contestants with fluent speech and language application skills. "I think the Chinese language is very unique since (it) gives me an opportunity to better understand the Chinese culture, I am very excited to continue studying it," said Maria Debono. Debono will travel to China to participate in the global competition, while the second winner will get an opportunity to watch the competition in China. This is the third time that the competition is held in Malta. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 05:13:53|Editor: Liu Video Player Close ANKARA, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Turkey and Iraq have deepened their relations and fostered trade, economic and political cooperation during Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi's visit to Ankara amid regional instabilities, said experts. The visiting prime minister met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday, discussing issues such as Turkey's concerns on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) activities in northern Iraq and the new border crossing to be established between the two countries. They also discussed the possibility of increasing the trade volume from 10 billion U.S. dollars to more than 20 billion dollars. Erdogan said a mutually beneficial military cooperation and trust agreement is also part of their discussion, state-run Anadolu Agency reported. The defense ministers and intelligence chiefs of the two countries will meet soon to further discuss details of the agreement, he added. Following the visit of the Iraqi prime minister, a Turkish delegation chaired by Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan is slated to attend the Turkey-Iraq Business Forum in Iraq's capital Baghdad. "Turkey needs a stable Iraq amid increasing challenges in the Middle East and the continuing war in Syria. Iraq for its part needs Turkey's thriving business experience and capacity for its reconstruction after the defeat of the Islamic State (IS)," said Oytun Orhan, a Turkish analyst. Turkey claimed the biggest share of Iraq's reconstruction bill by pledging 5 billion dollars at the international donor conference held last year. Orhan, a researcher at the Ankara-based Center for Middle Eastern Studies, pointed out that after several years of ups and downs in bilateral relations, Iraq and Turkey have managed to restore ties on the basis of mutual interests. The Iraqi prime minister's visit also came as the United States has announced the lift of sanctions exemption for a number of countries importing oil from Iran, including Turkey. "Energy cooperation with Iraq is crucial especially after Washington's announcement of ending waivers. Ankara is looking for alternative suppliers for its increasing oil needs and Iraq is the most feasible choice given its proximity to Turkey," said Orhan. To further improve trade deals, the two countries have agreed to open a new border crossing. The existing Habur border crossing, dubbed as "Turkey's opening to the Middle East" and through which 1.6 million vehicles pass annually, has not been able to meet demands. In a sign of further enhancing ties, the Iraqi government has permitted Turkey to re-open general consulates in Mosul in northern Iraq and Basra in the south as well as to launch a consulate in Najaf. The opening of a consulate in Kirkuk, home to the Turkish-speaking Turkmen minority, is also on the agenda. "Turkey regards Iraq as one of the key regional partners whose stability and security are essential for peace in the Middle East," said Serkan Demirtas, a political commentator and journalist. "A strong and stable Iraq will continue to serve as a balancing power in the region, help eradicate terrorist groups and have a stabilizing role in the global hydrocarbon markets," said Demirtas. He also underlined the important part that Turkey could play in the country's reconstruction efforts. To further deepen ties, Erdogan will visit Iraq as part of the fourth High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council meeting by the end of 2019. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 05:34:05|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close Sara Yousef, the first place winner, holds her prize after the final of "Chinese bridge" competition in Amman, Jordan, on May 16, 2019. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Confucius Institute has won the first place in the final of "Chinese Bridge," a Chinese proficiency competition held in Jordan. A total of 11 Jordanian students from several universities took part in the national contest. (Xinhua/Mohammad Abu Ghosh) AMMAN, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Confucius Institute has won the first place in the final of "Chinese Bridge," a Chinese proficiency competition held in Jordan. The University of Jordan won the second place in the competition, according to an announcement made during a ceremony on Thursday. Sara Yousef, a student at Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Confucius Institute, won the first place in the contest, while Aya Nezar, a student from the University of Jordan, won the second place. The two students are qualified for the international Chinese language contest that will be held in Beijing in July and August. A total of 11 Jordanian students from several universities took part in the national contest. Yousef said she chose to study Chinese after visiting China several times with her father, and she has studied Chinese for more than five years. Learning Chinese helps her learn more about the Chinese culture and explore working opportunities, she told Xinhua. Meanwhile, Nezar also expressed her joy for winning the second place, saying learning Chinese helps her with a brighter future. Chinese Ambassador to Jordan Pan Weifang said the competition is a result of cooperation between the two countries, as China-Jordan relations are growing in fields of culture, trade and investment. As a hub of stability and security in the Middle East, Jordan enjoys an attractive environment for investment, he added. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 07:39:55|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close Visitors take pictures of an art work during the Asian Digital Art Exhibition held in Beijing, capital of China, May 16, 2019. The exhibition, part of the cultural activities of the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations, kicked off on Thursday. Works of 30 artists from 12 countries and regions are on show during the exhibition. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong) Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 07:40:08|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close HOUSTON, May 16 (Xinhua) -- City level exchange and cooperation can help promote understandings between the United States and China, Steve Adler, mayor of Austin, U.S. state of Texas, said Thursday. The direct relationship between cities is important to Austin, a diverse city in the state of Texas, Adler said on the sidelines of the fourth U.S.-China Innovation and Investment Summit, which kicked off Thursday in Houston. "We find real eager partners in cities in China and it's very exciting for us," he said, adding regardless what happened on national level between the United States and China, "we will do everything that we can within the bounds available to us to maximize those opportunities." Austin and Changsha in Hunan Province of China signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Wednesday, focusing on exchanges and cooperation in science and culture. Commenting on the MOU, Adler said it will "once again form another bridge between Austin, Texas and technology motivated, innovation motivated cities around the world." Jointly hosted by China Science & Technology Exchange Center and U.S.-China Innovation Alliance, the summit attracts around 300 participants from China and the United States, including entrepreneurs and investors, to meet face-to-face in Houston. The two-day conference features a range of events, including "INNOSTARS" preliminary competitions, innovation forums, B2B matchmaking as well as company exhibits. The event not only enables Chinese entrepreneurs to learn about the development of science and technology in the United States, but also allows for one-to-one communications with American companies. It will also showcase the advantages of different places and cities in China, providing new opportunities for international investment and cooperation. The meeting covers four areas in science, health and technological innovations, including advanced manufacturing, biopharma and digital health & diagnosis, information and communication technology, as well as energy. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 07:45:11|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close WASHINGTON, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. space agency NASA said on Thursday it had selected 11 private companies to conduct studies and produce prototypes of human landers for its lunar exploration program. The program is expected to put American astronauts including the first woman on the Moon's south pole by 2024 and establish sustainable missions by 2028. Among those selected companies are SpaceX, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Blue Origin, many of which have already been NASA's contractors. Jeff Bezos, founder of U.S. aerospace manufacturer Blue Origin and chairman of Amazon, on May 9 unveiled a lunar lander that may land on the Moon by 2024. The lander is a flexible lander which is able to provide precise and soft landings and eventually enable a sustained human presence on the Moon, according to Blue Origin. These companies are required to study or develop prototypes during the next six months that reduce schedule risk for the descent, transfer, and refueling elements of a potential human landing system, according to NASA. NASA proposed to transport astronauts in a human landing system from a transfer station called Gateway to low-lunar orbit, using a descent element to carry them to the surface and an ascent element to return to them to the Gateway. The total award amount for all companies is 45.5 million U.S. dollars and companies will contribute at least 20 percent of the total project cost, according to NASA. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 08:10:17|Editor: Liu Video Player Close LOS ANGELES, May 16 (Xinhua) -- An F-16 fighter jet returning to March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley of California crashed into a building after its pilot was ejected, local media quoted base officials as saying on Thursday. The jet slammed into the side of a commercial building off the base, on Van Buren Boulevard, about 3:45 p.m., March Air Reserve Base Deputy Fire Chief Timothy Holliday was quoted as saying. The Riverside County Sheriff's Department confirmed on Twitter that the crash occurred around Van Buren and the 215 Freeway. The pilot was ejected and being medically evaluated. "Multiple agencies responding. Please stay out of area and clear emergency vehicles," the department tweeted. Details on the crash and the pilot's condition have not been disclosed. Authorities did not have details on any other injuries. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 10:36:24|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Washington's extreme right provocateurs have found a hotbed in trade frictions with China as they seek to stall the developing nation. Ex-White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post, claiming the United States and China are in an economic trade war with no room to compromise. In his usual inflammatory tone, Bannon labelled China as the greatest economic and national security threat the United States has ever faced, echoing earlier beliefs that the Asian country is trying to weaken and ultimately defeat the United States, as if the two were in a duel. The Washington Post faced backlash from readers after publishing the piece, with many questioning why it gave the far-right campaigner a platform. Such zero-sum rhetoric is alarming and has found its way into the White House from punitive tariffs on Chinese goods to measures restricting China's telecom company Huawei from doing business in the United States. Bannon and other like-minded far-right nationalists in Washington believe that a rising China means a weaker United States. What they fail to realize is that competition is key to the enduring relationship and remains beneficial to both sides. Competition cannot be avoided. Both the United States and China should opt for competition in certain fields, which will inevitably lead to cooperation, according to Zheng Yongnian, director of the East Asian Institute at the National University of Singapore. If history is any guide, a trade war does not serve the interests of any party since it won't produce a winner. A study published by U.S. economists shows the additional tariffs cost U.S. consumers and importers 4.4 billion U.S. dollars every month last year. Trade wars harm not only the United States and China but also the world at large at a time when countries have become ever more intertwined, or in China's words, a community of shared future for humankind, Zheng said. Irrational statements have often been made about China-U.S. relations over the last four decades. In the end, rationality triumphed. It is undeniable that the relationship between China and the United States is complex in nature. But as history has shown, the world's two largest economies stand to gain from cooperation. Envisioning a complex relationship between the United States and China featuring engagement, competition, rivalry and cooperation, veteran U.S. diplomat Charles W. Freeman Jr. said both countries should display the necessary maturity to deal with such complexity. Only then can the relationship flourish. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 11:11:53|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close HAVANA, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez on Thursday met with his Canadian counterpart Chrystia Freeland to discuss the ongoing crisis in Venezuela and the recent application by the U.S. government of Title III of the Helms-Burton Act. According to a statement of the island's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rodriguez reiterated Havana's willingness to contribute to initiatives that promote dialogue with the legitimate government in Venezuela and its President Nicolas Maduro. "It must be based on the respect for sovereignty of each nation, international law and the proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a peace region in 2014," said the statement. The Cuban diplomat said the dialogue must take place without threats to use military forces or applications of unilateral coercive measures against Caracas. Freeland's visit came just two weeks after Washington enacted Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, a move that allows lawsuits in U.S. courts against foreign companies that operate in Cuba on nationalized or expropriated property after 1959. The Canadian diplomat said prior to her visit that she wanted to discuss how to defend her nation's "legitimate trade and investment" on the island. The decision by the Trump administration to fully implement Title III was met with wide opposition from the European Union (EU) and Canada, whose companies have billions of dollars of investments in Cuba. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 11:16:57|Editor: Lu Hui Video Player Close BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Washington is waging a bullying campaign in an attempt to coerce Beijing into swallowing trade concessions it cannot accept. While wielding a big stick of punitive tariffs, the Trump administration is also trying to mislead the international community into believing that China is to blame for the ongoing trade tensions. The first lie is that China has been deliberately pursuing a huge trade surplus with the United States. Mainstream economists worldwide have already refuted such a claim. According to Stephen Roach, a senior fellow at Yale University, the fact that the United States ran trade deficits with over 102 countries in 2018 reflects a profound shortfall in domestic savings. When Americans are consuming far more than their country can deliver, the United States needs to import surplus savings from overseas and run huge current-account deficits to attract the foreign funds. Therefore, trade deficits are the result and not some kind of a foreign conspiracy. The truth is that tariffs on imported products would not help the United States water down any trade deficit. Statistics show that in 2018, the year when Washington kicked off its tariff bullying, U.S. merchandise and service trade deficits still increased by 12.5 percent, reaching 621 billion U.S. dollars, a ten-year record high. Another unwarranted accusation made by Washington is that trading with China is slashing jobs in the United States. According to a report released by the U.S.-China Business Council, China-U.S. trade has supported almost 2.6 million jobs in the United States across a range of industries. Raising tariffs is highly likely to cause job losses in the United States because supply chains would be disrupted and corporate costs would rise. As for Washington accusing China of forced technology transfers and theft, don't believe it. Such accusations are conjured up by desperate U.S. politicians looking to score points. They have ignored the fact that technology transfers between Chinese firms and their foreign partners happen on a consensual basis. Over the past few decades, China has achieved some notable progress in cutting-edge technology because it has stepped up measures to encourage innovation and protect intellectual property rights. So far, China has joined almost all major international conventions on intellectual property. Its firms always pay for patents they use. In 2017, royalties paid by China to the United States reached 7.13 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for a quarter of the total intellectual property charges China paid to other countries, according to data. China has worked hard to improve its business environment for foreign investment. In January this year, the U.S. electric carmaker Tesla Inc. broke ground in Shanghai to build a factory, becoming the first foreign automobile company to do so in China. That is a vote of confidence in the country. Last but not least, Washington's belief that tariffs will be paid by China is another lie. In fact, these tariffs are a tax on Americans. Already, U.S. consumers are feeling the heat. According to a recent study by the University of Chicago and a Federal Reserve Board Governor, the price of washing machines have gone up by an average of 12 percent after additional tariffs were imposed. That's almost 100 bucks per washer. The tariff war on China has already stoked a wave of opposition from U.S. industry. Several U.S. industrial groups including the American Soybean Association, the National Retail Federation, and the Information Technology Industry Council denounced the move, saying it will jeopardize American jobs and increase costs for consumers. The fact that economic relations between China and the United States are highly intertwined means Washington cannot pull itself out of the situation unscathed. Moreover, its tariff strategy is already sending shock waves around the world. Global stock markets have been on a roller coaster ride in recent weeks. Investors are facing huge uncertainties, and a future global economic recovery is very much in doubt. Decison-makers in Washington need to understand that bullying isn't the solution to its trade disputes with Beijing. Only a trade deal that respects China's sovereign rights and legitimate concerns will do. Related: America's False Narrative on China: Stephen S. Roach Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 11:21:59|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close TRIPOLI, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Libya's coast guards on Thursday said they rescued 61 illegal immigrants off the country's western coast. The immigrants were on a broken rubber boat 30 miles (48 km) off the coast of the capital Tripoli when they were found, the coast guards said in a statement. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN Higher Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) provided necessary assistance to the immigrants before they were taken to a reception center in eastern Tripoli. Due to the insecurity and chaos following the 2011 uprising that toppled the late leader Gaddafi's government, Libya becomes a preferred point of departure for thousands of illegal immigrants wanting to cross the Mediterranean toward European shores. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 11:27:04|Editor: mingmei Video Player Close Photo taken on May 16, 2019 shows a signing ceremony between China and the United States at the U.S.-China Innovation and Investment Summit in Houston, Texas, the United States. Two Chinese companies signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with the U.S. National Center for Sustainable Development (NCSD) Thursday to facilitate energy business. (Xinhua/Liu Liwei) HOUSTON, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Two Chinese companies signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with the U.S. National Center for Sustainable Development (NCSD) Thursday to facilitate energy business. The MoUs were signed between the NCSD and China Hainan Dayang International Energy Group Co. Ltd. and Zhuhai Dayang International Exchange Group respectively at the U.S.-China Innovation and Investment Summit that kicked off here Thursday. The memorandums aim to help establish an international energy exchange platform for U.S. and Chinese small energy companies to do business together. The NCSD CEO Mitchell Stanley said establishing this platform allows U.S. small businesses to sell their products in the global market. "What we needed always is to get a middle market, a small business global trade platform," he said. "This case allows individual exporters with individual products to go and sell their products into a global marketplace and get paid for it through this platform." Gong Jialong, CEO of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area International Energy Exchange Co. Ltd., said China-U.S. cooperation in energy has great potential. "China is the world largest energy consumer and U.S. is one of the largest producers," he said. "Around 60 to 70 percent of energy producers in the U.S. are small businesses. We aim to connect the American small business with the Chinese market." Jointly hosted by China Science and Technology Exchange Center and U.S.-China Innovation Alliance, the summit attracts around 300 participants from China and the United States, including entrepreneurs and investors, to meet face-to-face in Houston. The meeting not only enables Chinese entrepreneurs to learn about the development of science and technology in the United States, but also showcases the advantages of different cities in China, providing new opportunities for international investment and cooperation. The meeting covers four areas in science, health and technological innovations, including advanced manufacturing, biopharmaceutics and digital health & diagnosis, information and communication technology, as well as energy. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 11:42:12|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close LONDON, May 16 -- Countdown for a race for Britain's new prime minister seemingly has clicked, as Theresa May agreed to set a timetable in early June for her departure as the country's prime minister after a painful showdown with backbench politicians of her Conservative Party on Thursday. During a private meeting with the executive of the 1922 Committee, a body that represents Conservative backbench MPs in the House of Commons, May wanted to delay announcing her departure date before the Parliament's voting on her Brexit bill on June 3, said Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the committee. May had hoped for a clean handover to a new occupant after safely delivering the result of the 2016 referendum when people in Britain voted to leave the European Union (EU). But even before it reaches the starting gate, May's plan to try one last chance to get her controversial Brexit deal through the warring House of Commons is seen as being doomed to failure. That last throw of the dice early June will signal the start of a race to take over as leader of the Conservative Party, and as Prime Minister. Pressure to persuade May to resign has come amid the deadlock over Brexit and the dismal local election results. The party is also bracing itself for even worse results in next week's European Parliament elections. Ahead of the formalities, the race has already prematurely started, with former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson saying Thursday he will be a contender. Other leading members of May's front bench team have also indicated they will join the race. May will present her Brexit withdrawal bill to MPs in the House of Commons during what will be a two-day debate in early June. Brady told reporters that the meeting with May will take place after the June vote regardless of whether or not the EU withdrawal agreement bill is passed by MPs. Mark Francois, vice chairman of the European Research Group of Conservative Eurosceptic MPs, said that, within his group of MPs, opposition to the Withdrawal Agreement Bill is increasing. "Given that Labour have made plain they will oppose it, it seems incredibly unlikely it will receive a second reading in early June," he said. "In which case, the Prime Minister will be out of options, and the executive of the 1922 Committee will almost certainly have to facilitate a leadership contest among the parliamentary party," said Francois. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 11:42:15|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close Aerial photo taken on May 16, 2019 shows the closure scene of Qingshan Yangtze River Bridge in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province. The 7,548 meter-long Qingshan Yangtze River Bridge is now the widest bridge over Yangtze River. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu) WUHAN, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Workers on Thursday joined the two sections of the widest bridge over the Yangtze, China's longest river. Spanning 7,548 meters, the Qingshan Yangtze River Road Bridge in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, is 48 meters wide. The 10-lane dual-way bridge will have a speed limit of 100 kph. It is the world's longest cable-stayed bridge with a floating system. The main steel structure of the bridge has no lower beams, meaning it can swing between the giant triangular supporting beams on the sides. "The bridge's unique design helps avoid the impact of strong winds and earthquakes," said engineer Xu Gongyi. The bridge forms part of Wuhan's "fourth-ring road" as the city expands. Authorities said the bridge will significantly improve the local road network and contribute to the development of logistics in Wuhan, an important transportation hub in central China. The bridge is expected to open later this year. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 11:52:18|Editor: Lu Hui Video Player Close Participants pose for a group photo after the 18th regional finals of "Chinese Bridge" in Suva, capital of Fiji, on May 6, 2019. (Xinhua/Zhang Yongxing) by Dan Ran HONG KONG, May 17 (Xinhua) -- "A nation stays alive when its culture stays alive." These are the words shown at the entrance of an ongoing exhibition of Afghan national treasures at Tsinghua University Art Museum in Beijing. China is one of the many stops on the nomadic journey of these Afghan treasures, which narrowly survived years of conflicts and destruction in the war-torn country. The exhibition has toured France, Italy, the Netherlands, the United States, Canada, Germany, Britain, Australia, Japan and South Korea since 2006. In 2017, China joined the global relay to protect and display these treasures in efforts to keep the crucial part of an ancient civilization alive. TAKING EXHIBITS ROUND THE WORLD In March 2017, Director of Afghan National Museum Mohammad Fahim Rahimi traveled to China together with 231 pieces of his country's national treasures and relics, which were later displayed in the Palace Museum in Beijing. The three-month exhibition drew more than 8,000 visitors per day, who were amazed at the rich history and culture of Afghanistan and the concerted global efforts to keep the treasures in safe hands. In 2001, the Taliban regime that ruled Afghanistan dynamited and destroyed two enormous 6th century giant Buddhas of Bamiyan, besides wreaking havoc on other precious cultural relics. The 231 precious items on display overseas were among a number of rare collections secretly saved by Afghan museum staff from the flames of war. They represent the cultural heritage from the Bronze Age, the Hellenistic period and the Kushan dynasty, as well as the period between the invasion of the Yuezhi people and the establishment of the Kushan dynasty, showcasing the integration and mingling of ancient civilizations. "Afghanistan has served as the crossroad of civilizations in the course of history that connects South Asia to Central Asia and as well as the East to the West," said Rahimi. Displaying Afghanistan's cultural treasures in China, a peaceful and populous country, is vital for the introduction of Afghanistan's civilization to the Chinese audience, he said. For Mathew Trinca, director of the National Museum of Australia (NMA), the dialogue between civilizations is at the heart of making the world a better place. The NMA held its very first overseas exhibition in Guangzhou, China, in 2002. Since then, exchange programs between NMA and Chinese museums have been frequent. In 2018, a 150-piece aboriginal art exhibition titled "Old Masters: Australia's Great Bark Artists" was held in China, and a Chinese calligraphy and painting exhibition opened at the National Museum of Australia last month. "I think there's a deep truth in all human life that when we share our stories with others, we learn about ourselves in the act of sharing with others," said Trinca. SEEKING CURE FROM EAST AND WEST When it comes to the combination of wisdom of the East and West, Australian student Beata Pieczywek has her story to tell. Pieczywek suffered from some serious health problems a few years ago and failed to find relief from Western medicine. In a half-hearted attempt, she turned to traditional Chinese medicine for help, and the result surprised her. "Yes, it cured me," said Pieczywek, who is now a third year student studying traditional Chinese medicine in Western Sydney University (WSU). The WSU is one of the few universities outside of China that offer training in both Western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine, aiming for a strictly integrative approach to combine the effects of both practices. Lisa Holden, student supervisor of the Chinese medicine center of the WSU, said she is trying to impart the harmony of old and new medicine. "The analytical approach from Western medicine, and the approach of balance and harmony from Chinese medicine -- if you can put the two things together ... they complement each other so beautifully," Holden said. Currently, Australia has more than 4,800 registered traditional Chinese medicine practitioners. Driven by a rising demand for Chinese medicine, qualified graduates are expected to play an expanding role in the country's health sector. With its unique experience and wisdom, traditional Chinese medicine is gaining wider recognition from around the world, with clinics and practitioners offering comfort and cure for those in need. There should not be barriers between traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine, and both should join forces to serve people's health needs, former Director-General of World Health Organization Margaret Chan once said. TRANSCENDING LANGUAGE BARRIERS For many WSU students studying traditional Chinese medicine, the biggest challenge is not to master the intricacy of the subject, but to learn in the Chinese context, such as remembering the Chinese names of different remedies. This is why the university is engaged in extensive translation efforts to make sure that traditional Chinese medicine is not just loosely translated to English, but translated effectively and accurately. Elsewhere in the world, endeavors are being made to remove language barriers and pave the way for closer cross-cultural exchanges. The "Chinese Bridge" language competition is one example. Earlier this month in Fiji, 18-year-old Natasha Chan and 23-year-old Tania Wichham passed rounds of Q&As, speeches and talent shows to win the top two prizes of the 18th regional finals of "Chinese Bridge," an annual Chinese proficiency competition for foreign students. They will travel to China later this year for the final competition. "We have witnessed a sharp rise in the number of people who want to learn Chinese in Fiji and the South Pacific region," said Akanisi Kedrayate, dean of the faculty of arts, law and education at the University of the South Pacific. Since 2002, the "Chinese Bridge" competition has attracted more than 1 million participants from over 130 countries and regions. Young students such as Chan and Wichham are prepared to take the stage and use the language, the best tool for communication, to promote cultural exchange between China and the rest of the world. (Xinhua reporters Chen Xin, Abdul Haleem in Kabul, Bai Xu, Pan Xiangyue, Zhou Zihan in Canberra, Duncan Murray, Hao Yalin in Sydney and Zhang Yongxing in Suva contributed to this story) (Video reporters: Lin Ning, Zou Delu, Zhang Yongxing, Hao Yalin, Bai Xu; Video editor: Liu Yuting.) Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 12:17:34|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close by Yang Dingdu BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The legendary Chinese composer had different names in different places. In China, he is remembered as Xian Xinghai, one of the country's greatest composers; in Kazakhstan, he was known as Huang Xun, a refugee with remarkable talent; in Singapore and France, he was Sinn Sing Hol, a poor student with insatiable passion for music. Wherever he went, whichever name he took, his music gave people courage and strength to fight against fascist invaders in the World War II. Chinese President Xi Jinping told the composer's story in his first state visit to Kazakhstan in 2013. Based on that true story, The Composer, a movie launched in Chinese cinemas on Friday, tugged at the heartstrings of numerous viewers. When war broke out between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in 1941, the composer was working on a documentary for the Communist Party of China under the alias of Huang Xun in Moscow. Forced to abort his mission and evacuate, he tried to return home through a southern part of Soviet Union, today's Kazakhstan, only to find the borders closed. He was left alone in the Kazakh city of Almaty where he knew no one and had no place to stay. The composer was sitting on his suitcase with a violin in hand when Kazakh musician Bakhytzhan Baikadamov first spotted him. Baikadamov spoke Kazakh and Russian, the composer responded in English and French. "But it was obvious that the Chinese musician really needed help and had nowhere to go. So my father just took his hand and led him to us," Baldyrgan Baikadamova, daughter of Baikadamov recounted the fateful encounter. Hence began the friendship of two legendary composers of two great nations. "They always supported each other. Together they overcame the war time hardships and wrote a new chapter in the history of music," Baikadamova told Kazakh media. Baikadamov went on to become one of Kazakhstan's most honored composer, after whom the Kazakh Choral Capella is named. The Chinese composer Xian Xinghai, whose Yellow River Cantata has inspired millions, was a household name in China. But he hid his true identity and contributed to the Kazakh cultural cause anonymously. Xian incorporated Kazakh traditional music and folklore in his works. Among his masterpieces is Amangeldy, a symphony in honor of the Kazakh national hero. His works served as a rallying call to fight Fascists and proved immensely popular with the local people. In today's Almaty, two boulevards are named after Baikadamov and Xian Xinghai. Visitors to Baikadamov's old house can find letters Xian wrote to his daughter in China, which were never mailed. Touched by the story, Chinese filmmaker Shen Jian, took it upon himself to turn it into a movie so that more people can learn about the friendship between Xian and his Kazakh friends. Film shooting began in June 2017, when a bilateral agreement was signed to promote cooperation in the film industry. The Composer became the first movie jointly produced by China and Kazakhstan. The production unit had a crew of over 300 people from both countries with some additional 20,000 people also involved in the endeavor. And dozens of interpreters bustled in the scene speaking Chinese, Kazakh, Russian and English. In the beginning, language was the biggest barrier. But the actors took the initiative to learn each other's language and forged deep bonds of friendship. "I hope this is the first of many more great movies jointly produced by the two countries," Sabit Kurmanbekov, an art director of the movie said. Kazakhstan is among many stops of Xian's lifelong journey to rallying people in different parts of the world to rise against Fascism. The story of Xian Xinghai the composer is the epitome of how people to people exchanges can bridge hearts, enrich cultures and unite nations to address common challenges. Born in Macau, Xian traveled far and wide. In Singapore, primary school teachers found his talent and led him, son of a widowed housemaid, into the world of music. In Paris, the wannabe composer, who worked as a bus boy in restaurants and a cleaner in public baths, was admitted into the prestigious Conservatoire de Paris and got his training from world-class masters. Then there was Kazakhstan, where Xian spent some of his last years with true friends before his death in Moscow at the age of 40. "I am very happy that you understood me. Being understood is the greatest reward an artist can ask for," one of his Kazakh friends recalled him saying to the audience after his Amangeldy earned thunderous applause. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 12:52:45|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close LONDON, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaoming on Thursday said that China does not want a trade war but will fight its corner, slamming protectionism as the common enemy of the world. Liu said in an article on the Evening Standard that there has been no change of position as far as China is concerned over the trade talks with the United States. He stressed that China takes a firm stance on safeguarding its legitimate interests. Liu noted that China has always believed in responsibility and cooperation as a way to resolve differences in negotiations. "Raising tariffs and taking unilateral measures only harms the interests of the people and businesses of the two countries," he said, "A sound and stable economic partnership between the US and China is important for not only the two countries but also the world economy." The Chinese diplomat called protectionism "the common enemy of the world", saying g that the trade friction between China and the US is a question of openness and connectivity versus exclusion and protectionism. "The real troublemakers in the global economy are those who rely on their superior power and frequently resort to the threat of raising tariffs, and who trigger 'trade wars' at will, even against their allies, without hesitation," he said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 12:57:47|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close NEW YORK, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Escalating U.S.-China trade frictions would trigger negative spillover on global trade and the American economy, said two former U.S. officials. The worsening trade row between the world's two largest economies would cause disruptions in global supply chains as well as the two parties' ability to conduct business, according to Jacob Lew, who served as secretary of the Treasury from 2013 to 2017. "And then it spills over into geopolitical risk, which has a life of its own in terms of creating uncertainty. Uncertainty is not a great ingredient in a 10-year old recovery" of the U.S. economy from the 2008 financial crisis, Lew said at a recent discussion event in New York. The United States has greatly benefited from being the issuer of the world's dominant reserve currency and the world's banking center for decades, noted the former secretary, who is currently a partner at Lindsay Goldberg, a U.S. private equity firm. He added that he believes Washington's unilateral tariffs and sanctions have "created kind of blinking yellow lights around the world that is cautioning others from doing business" in the country. The consequence goes beyond how many percent of GDP growth will be lost, said Lew. "I think the long-term risks to the U.S. economy is quite, quite substantial." In this regard, Donald Kohn, a 40-year veteran of the U.S. Federal Reserve System, held that the global stock markets and broader financial market would bear the brunt of any turbulence in U.S.-China trade relations. "We see the stock market go up and down with every rumor about what's happening to the trade deals. ... I think the stock market and financial markets will react to the potential," said Kohn, who is currently a senior fellow of economics at U.S. think tank Brookings Institution. He further elaborated that the United States has a trade deficit because the country is spending more than it produces, and it is importing stuff to satisfy the spending which they do not produce domestically. It is more of "a fundamental macroeconomic fact" than unfair trading practices, Kohn argued. Washington increased additional tariffs on 200 billion U.S. dollars' worth of Chinese imports from 10 percent to 25 percent earlier this month, and has threatened to raise tariffs on more Chinese imports. In response, China has announced that it will raise additional tariffs on a range of U.S. imports from June 1, and "will fight to the end." China has pointed out that it is the United States that started the trade disputes, and what China has done so far is purely self-defense to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests as well as to uphold multilateralism and the free trade system. Beijing has also urged the United States to carefully weigh its gains and losses, get back on the right track as soon as possible, and meet China halfway in achieving a mutually beneficial and win-win agreement on the basis of mutual respect. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 13:07:51|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close ROME, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. escalation of trade frictions with China will hurt Italy and other European countries, but will not halt the Asian nation's economic development, experts here have said. In the latest flare-up of trade tensions between the world's largest two economies, Washington increased additional tariffs on 200 billion U.S. dollars' worth of Chinese imports from 10 percent to 25 percent earlier this month, and has threatened to raise tariffs on more Chinese imports. In response, China has announced that it will raise additional tariffs on a range of U.S. imports from June 1, and "will fight to the end." It has also urged the United States to get back on the right track as soon as possible, and meet China halfway in achieving a mutually beneficial and win-win agreement on the basis of mutual respect. If the row continues on this path, the trade frictions might "have a major impact in Italy or elsewhere in the European Union," said Matteo Giuliano Caroli, associate dean of the business school at Rome-based LUISS University. The U.S. imposition of additional tariffs on Chinese goods would be bad news for Italy, which has barely exited its third recession in a decade after the economy grew a modest 0.2 percent in the first quarter this year, said the economist in international business. Caroli and other experts agreed that any significant disruption in the global economy would impact the demand for Italian-made goods and raise the cost of materials and products that help fuel the Italian economy. "Import tariffs of 25 percent on Chinese goods arriving in the United States are enormous. It's out of proportion with everything else," said Alessia Amighini, co-head of the Asia Program at the Italian Institute for International Political Studies, a think tank. "It could easily derail any hopes for economic growth in Italy, but that is the least of it," Amighini told Xinhua. "In a global economy that is as interconnected as it is, the results could be devastating." As regards the Chinese economy, Italian experts said they are optimistic about its growth despite the pressure from the U.S.-China trade tensions and some other factors. "I do not expect a further slowdown for the Chinese economy," said Caroli, noting that China is in the middle of a transition from a "world factory" to innovation-driven, higher-quality development. "This would likely ensure the country is going to keep expanding over the next few years, not at the same rates seen in the first phase, but still with a consistent growth," Caroli said. Alberto Forchielli, founding partner of Sino-European private equity firm Mandarin Capital, said the core of the Chinese economy "remains strong," and "is in any case bound to have a strong productivity increase in the next years, thanks to strong investment in innovation." "A positive factor is that China is successfully overcoming the so-called middle income trap," he said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 13:12:56|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close HOUSTON, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. state of Texas is committed to strengthening economic cooperation with China, its major trading partner, Texas Association of Business CEO Jeff Moseley said Thursday. Moseley made the remarks commenting on the ongoing fourth U.S.-China Innovation and Investment Summit in Houston, Texas, which brings another wave of technology and innovation investment to the city. Jointly hosted by China Science & Technology Exchange Center and U.S.-China Innovation Alliance, the event attracted around 300 participants from China and the United States, including entrepreneurs and investors, to meet face-to-face in Houston. Moseley told Xinhua that the summit "encourages everybody to become involved in resolving questions about trade." Texas enjoys being the No. 1 exporting state in the United States, said Moseley, adding that agriculture and energy are the two major industries in Texas and they are important in the trade with China. In order to promote business, Texas-China Trade and Investment Council was just established within the framework of Texas Association of Business, he added. "We want to make sure that the business in Texas is part of the voice that says it's time to move quickly to resolve our questions about how to trade between the U.S. and China," he noted. "Chinese already have invested significantly in Texas," he said, noting that Chinese investment is considered valuable in Texas. "We enjoy the foreign capital that's coming here to give us jobs and we want to fight to continue to grow our fair share of that." The two-day conference will feature a range of events, including "INNOSTARS" preliminary competitions, innovation forums, business to business matchmaking as well as company exhibits. The meeting covers four areas in science, health and technological innovations, including advanced manufacturing, biopharmaceutics and digital health & diagnosis, information and communication technology, as well as energy. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 13:12:59|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close JOHANNESBURG, May 16 (Xinhua) -- South Africa and China have various opportunities to cooperate in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), experts said on Thursday. Doc Mashabane, chief director of UN Political, Peace and Security Unit in South Africa's Department of International Relations and Cooperation, said South Africa and China can work together to transform the global governance systems and protect the international law and rule-based system. "China and South Africa have to prioritize the strengthening of the UN, and defend multilateralism which is under attack by some big powers," said Mashabane. "The only protection we have is in the multilateralism to deal with global challenges." Mashabane made the remarks in a seminar called "South Africa and China at the UN Security Council" organized by Center of Africa-China Studies in the University of Johannesburg. He said South Africa need to work with China to reform the UN in general and the Security Council in particular. China is one of the few countries who understand the views of Africa thanks to its long-standing relations with the African countries and can articulate its position in the UN, said Mashabane. Former South Africa's Ambassador to the United States Welile Nhlapo said there are many examples that the United States has unilaterally taken decisions disregarding the UNSC. The International Relations lecturer at the University of Pretoria Sithembile Mbete said South Africa and China can work together to set the agenda of the emerging world in the UN. The U.S. government is dismantling political and economic institutions, challenging the trade rules and existence of the UN, she said. "There is an opportunity for the South to set the agenda." Chinese Ambassador to South Africa Lin Songtian said that China will never forget that Africa helped the country to get a seat in the UN and will always stand by them. China would like to see peace in the world so that there will be sustainable growth, added Lin. "South Africa and China have a common interest for the developing world. A vote by China at the UNSC belongs to Africa and all developing world," said the Chinese ambassador. South Africa was elected into the UNSC as a non-permanent member for 2019-2020, the third term for the country that held a seat in the UNSC. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 13:53:13|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close by Matthew Rusling WASHINGTON, April 16 (Xinhua) -- A new near-total abortion ban in the U.S. state of Alabama signals a conservative tilt in many parts of the United States, at a time when people on the left and right are increasingly divided, experts said. On Wednesday, Kay Ivey, the state's governor, signed a new law that would ban all abortions, except in cases in which the mother's life is in danger, in the latest challenge to the 1973 landmark Supreme Court case that ruled that women have a right to have an abortion. The Alabama law would make it a felony for a doctor to perform an abortion, and even victims of rape and incest would not be permitted to terminate their pregnancies. The ban is the latest in a trend toward more restrictive abortion policies, with the U.S. states of Kentucky, Ohio, Georgia and Mississippi recently creating similar bans, hoping the U.S. Supreme Court will strike down the current law of the land, which considers many abortions to be a woman's right. Some believe this is a reaction toward recent moves in states such as New York and Virginia to relax restrictions on late-term abortions. A May 2018 Gallup poll found that 60 percent of the U.S. people believe abortion should be legal during the first trimester, although merely 13 percent believed women should be allowed to terminate their pregnancy during the third trimester. A SHARP MOVE TO THE RIGHT During his State of the Union Address a few months ago, President Donald Trump called on lawmakers to ban late-term abortions, in a clear gesture aimed at garnering the support of his evangelical and conservative base. Mostly for religious reasons, conservatives and evangelicals -- an important wing among GOP voters -- have opposed abortion rights, as the practice runs contrary to their beliefs. The issue has always been a political and social powder keg, and conservatives have challenged the law numerous times. "The legislation is a sign of how some parts of America have moved sharply to the right, encouraged by President Trump and his conservative Supreme Court nominees," Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua. "Alabama lawmakers are capitalizing on strong pro-life sentiment in their state to say they don't like the legal status quo and prefer a world where there are very few abortions. That opinion reflects strong religious viewpoints within the state," West said. DEMOCRATS, REPUBLICANS WEIGH IN A number of Democrats opposed the Alabama law, with House Leader Nancy Pelosi saying the law cannot "be allowed to stand." Former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton tweeted Wednesday that the "abortion bans in Alabama, Georgia, Ohio, Kentucky, and Mississippi are appalling attacks on women's lives and fundamental freedoms." Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders tweeted on Wednesday that abortion is a "constitutional right," saying "the attack on women's rights is happening in Alabama, Georgia and across the country, and we must fight it everywhere." Even famed U.S. televangelist Pat Robertson, who is normally anti-abortion, said this week that Alabama's law goes too far. Some Republicans have also come out against the law, such as top House Republican Kevin McCarthy, who believes that exceptions should be made in certain cases. "In my whole political career, I also believed in (cases of) rape, incest or the life of the mother, there were exceptions," he said, explaining that this is the GOP's official stance on the issue. Overall, Republicans avoided commenting on the new law, except for a handful, as many did not want to risk political fallout so close to the 2020 elections, U.S. media reported. CONSERVATIVES' LONG-TERM GOALS Ending legal abortion has been a long-term goal for evangelical and social conservatives for decades now, experts said. "In Alabama you have a perfect storm of very socially conservative state legislators and a governor who think they're doing the Lord's work, and don't think there will be any real political risk to them for doing this," said Christopher Galdieri, assistant professor at Saint Anselm College. "This reflects what social conservatives see as an opportunity, now that Anthony Kennedy has been replaced on the Supreme Court with the far more conservative Brett Kavanaugh, and because so many Trump judges have been appointed throughout the federal courts," Galdieri said. "In Alabama and several other states, like Missouri and Ohio, abortion bans are being passed in the hope that they'll be appealed to the Supreme Court and become the opportunity for the court to fully overturn Roe v. Wade," Galdieri said, referring to the 1973 landmark case. "What you are seeing is people wanting to have a test case on what are the limits of (the current abortion laws) in front of the Supreme Court," Republican strategist and TV news personality Ford O'Connell told Xinhua. West said: "The new law gives the U.S. Supreme Court the opportunity to overturn Roe v. Wade and make abortion law far more restrictive." Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 13:53:15|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close KUNMING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Police in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture of southwest China's Yunnan Province seized 11.94 kg of methamphetamine from a drug trafficking case, local authorities said Friday. Police from the border town of Menglong found a suspect on a motorbike around 1:20 p.m. on May 7 during a patrol around the China-Myanmar border area. The suspect dropped a backpack when attempting to escape. The case is still being investigated. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 14:13:26|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close SEOUL, May 17 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's presidential Blue House said Friday that Seoul will push for humanitarian food aid to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) regardless of security situations. Chung Eui-yong, top security advisor for South Korean President Moon Jae-in, told a press briefing that irrespective of security situations, the food aid issue should be considered from the humanitarian and compatriots' perspective. Chung said the South Korean government was making various preparations for the food assistance, noting that the detailed plan would be announced in the near future. The comment came after the DPRK test-fired unidentified projectiles earlier this month. During the phone talks with Moon, U.S. President Donald Trump expressed support for South Korea's food assistance to the DPRK, according to the Blue House. The phone dialogue was held after the DPRK's first launch of projectiles. Lee Eugene, deputy spokesperson of the unification ministry, told a regular press briefing that there was no change in the government's position that the food assistance to Pyongyang would be required from the humanitarian and philanthropic perspective. The last food aid sent from South Korea to the DPRK happened in 2010 when 5,000 tons of rice was delivered to the north. The Moon government announced a plan in 2017 to provide eight million U.S. dollars of assistance for the DPRK through international organizations such as the World Food Program. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 14:18:30|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close MEXICO CITY, May 16 (Xinhua) -- China is emerging as the right partner for investment in the Mexican automotive and mining industries, as the Mexican government moves to strengthen bilateral relations and diversify markets, a Mexican official said. Once the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) comes into effect, China can become a "major" investor in the Latin American country and form part of the new government's drive toward shaping the commercial pillars of innovation, inclusion, and diversification, said Mexico's Deputy Economy Minister Luz Maria de la Mora. "It's very likely that Chinese investment will come to Mexico, establish itself in Mexico, and develop products in Mexico," the Mexican official said in a recent interview with Xinhua. "Some supplies will come to Mexico from China, other supplies will be provided by Mexico, and the idea is that the North American chain continues to grow," she said. The official noted that Mexico imports a large amount of machinery, equipment, supplies, and semi-finished products from China, which, depending on the case, may head to the United States, Canada, and other parts of the world in a complementary way. Mexican exports also contribute, to a certain extent, to promoting links between the United States and China, as a good amount of Chinese capital in America is involved in Mexican productive processes and the final products will head for the United States, de la Mora said. The administration of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who assumed office on Dec. 1, 2018, has a great interest in promoting relations between Mexico and China. "We are a global factory, we are integrated and we contribute with different parts of the chain, and I think that China can also contribute to Mexico and can find in Mexico an ideal partner to add value and to continue rising in the value chain," de la Mora stated. "I think that the type of relationship that we are looking for with China is greater investment in the productive sector," she added. Mining is one of the main sectors that have interest in Chinese fund, said the official, adding that both side are poised to gain since China is a leading importer of minerals in the world. "China acquires many of the minerals that Mexico exports, like copper, zinc, etc., so I think there is also a way of collaborating in not only the exportation of minerals, but also starting to think about how we can process minerals in Mexico with Chinese capital," she said. "I think there is a lot of room. China is an important importer of these types of products, while Mexico is an important producer, so we want to take it to the next level," she added. The automotive industry, a strategic sector for Mexico, will also present good opportunities for Chinese investment, and other areas for closer cooperation include manufacturing, like auto parts, electronics, machinery and equipment, medical devices, and even chemical products, she said. China is now an important investor in auto parts, iron and steel, electronics, and many other products in Mexico, which has contributed to the growth of capital from the Asian country from 7 billion U.S. dollars in 2000 to 90 billion dollars in 2018, she said. "In fact, there are niche markets where Chinese investment is welcome, and what we want is to attract productive investment in the sector of manufacturing," she said. In the areas of food and agriculture, Mexico will continue to look to advance in the sanitary protocols that will allow the export of sorghum and bananas to China, so that they can be added to the long list of products that are already available to Chinese consumers, like tequila, avocados, berries, and pork, among others, she said. Mexico and China have common objectives and similar interests in many global affairs and both of them are members of many multilateral organizations like the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the United Nations, and the Group of 20, said de la Mora. "The agenda with China is a constructive one. It's an agenda of greater commercial exchange, greater investment, greater tourism, greater cultural exchange, and seeking political agreements, because we obviously want to have a peaceful world and, to the extent that it is possible for us, we can contribute," the official said. "The Mexico-China relationship is one that has enormous potential: China is the second largest economy in the world today, Mexico is the fifteenth, so we are important players in the global economy," she added. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 14:28:36|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close CARACAS, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela received on Thursday the third shipment of medical aid from China, with 64 tons of medicines and medical supplies, a Venezuelan official said. At the Simon Bolivar International Airport, Venezuelan Health Minister Carlos Alvarado said that the aid is "fundamental and necessary for the national public health system." He explained that once the medical assistance arrived at the warehouse, it would be distributed through the national hospital system. "This will come immediately to its destination," he said. He also said that, within the framework of the agreements with China, a fourth plane with medical assistance is scheduled to arrive in the next fifteen days. The first batch of medical assistance from China, made up of 65 tons of medicines and medical supplies, arrived in Venezuela in March. The second shipment of 71 tons of medical aid from China were received by Venezuela on Monday. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 14:33:42|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close JALALABAD, Afghanistan, May 17 (Xinhua) -- About eight Islamic State (IS) militants have been killed following a NATO-led coalition forces' drone airstrike in Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar, the military said Friday. "Eight IS militants were killed following an airstrike conducted by unmanned plane of coalition forces in Khogyani district on Thursday," Afghan army Corps 201 Selab based in the region said in a statement. Those among the killed was an IS local commander named Abuzar, the statement said, adding no civilian was hurt during the sortie. The mountainous province, 120 km east of Kabul, has been the scene of clashes between security forces and IS militants from time to time. Afghan Air Force and NATO-led coalition forces have increased launching airstrikes against militants across the country recently. The militant group has not made a comment on the report so far. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 15:03:52|Editor: mingmei Video Player Close WUHAN, May 17 (Xinhua) -- An international research center is expected to be established in Changyang County in central China's Hubei Province to better preserve fossils dating back to the Cambrian period. The city government of Yichang, which administers Changyang, has signed an agreement with Xi'an-based Northwest University to further conservation and protection of the Qingjiang biota, where the latest discovery of immense fossils dating back to 518 million years old sheds new light on the diversity of early animal life during the Cambrian period. The Qingjiang biota was first discovered in 2007 when a team led by professor Zhang Xingliang of the university was doing field research in Changyang. The soft-bodied fossils in the latest discovery make the biota an ideal resource for research in evolutionary paleontology. Plans for a fossil museum and a scientific education base are underway, the Yichang government said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 15:08:54|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close WASHINGTON, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Treasury on Thursday imposed new sanctions on more individuals and entities under the pretext of the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act. The Treasury said in a statement that it added five individuals, including at least three Russians, and one Chechen group to its sanctions list. The sanctions would freeze assets of blacklisted persons and entities under U.S. jurisdiction and ban any U.S. individuals or companies from making business deals with them. The penalty came as the U.S. State Department presented to Congress its annual report on the administration's implementation of Magnitsky Act. The act was enacted in 2012 under former U.S. President Barack Obama, following the death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who Washington said had uncovered large-scale corruption among Russian officials. Magnitsky was arrested in November 2008 for alleged tax fraud and died in prison the following year. The United States claimed that Magnitsky died because of medical neglect, and imposed sanctions on Russian officials who were allegedly responsible for the lawyer's death. Russia denied any wrongdoing linking to Magnitsky's death. The U.S. Congress passed the Magnitsky Act in December 2012, barring American citizens from adopting Russian orphans and banning Americans suspected of human rights violations from entering Russia. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 15:18:57|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan, May 17 (Xinhua) -- At least 17 police personnel were killed and 14 others wounded following an airstrike in Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand overnight, in a latest incident of friendly fire, a local source said Friday. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 15:24:04|Editor: mingmei Video Player Close File photo taken on Dec. 16, 2009 shows world-renowned architect Ieoh Ming Pei attending a dinner event at the Museum of Chinese in America in New York, the United States. Ieoh Ming Pei, commonly known as I.M. Pei, died Thursday at age 102. Pei was born in Guangzhou of China and moved to the United States in 1935. He won a wide variety of prizes and awards in the field of architecture. (Xinhua/Wang Jiangang) NEW YORK, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Renowned China-born American architect Ieoh Ming Pei, commonly known as I. M. Pei, died at age 102, several sources confirmed on Thursday. Pei was born in Guangzhou, China, and raised in Hong Kong and Shanghai, before moving to the United States in 1935. He studied architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. Since the 1940s, he has been the mastermind behind a wide variety of famous buildings including the glass pyramid at The Louvre in Paris, the Bank of China skyscraper in Hong Kong, and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library in Boston, to name just a few. Pei won the Pritzker Prize, known as the Nobel Prize of architecture, in 1983. In 1988, U.S. President Ronald Reagan honored him with a National Medal of Arts, and President George H.W. Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992. The Committee of 100 (C100), a premier U.S. organization of Chinese-American leaders from different fields, issued a statement Thursday evening, mourning the passing of the acclaimed architect, who was also the C100 co-founder. "What a wonderful life and great achievements. I.M. exemplified to the utmost what it means to be Chinese American. Our deepest condolences to the Pei family," said H. Roger Wang, chair of the C100, in the statement. Grace Meng, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, saluted Pei as "a giant," "an iconic and legendary architect whose bold and groundbreaking vision created so many famous and prominent buildings," in a separate statement following the news on his death. "His long and distinguished career had an enormous impact on the designing of buildings and structures throughout the world, and his influence will continue to live on for decades to come," said Meng. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 15:39:11|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close WASHINGTON, May 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. companies and interest groups representing a wide range of industries have been lining up to air their grievances over the potential tariffs Washington is threatening on imports from the European Union (EU). "It is American consumers and our heartland that has borne the brunt of America's global trade war," said Hun Quach, vice president of international trade at the Retail Industry Leaders Association. Quach is one of the more than 40 witnesses who testified at a two-day public hearing held by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) on Wednesday and Thursday. The hearing, according to the USTR, aims to solicit public comments on proposed action against "harmful subsidies on large civil aircraft" by the EU or EU members. On April 8, the USTR said in a statement that it had begun a process "to identify products of the EU to which additional duties may be applied until the EU removes those subsidies." A list published later includes a number of products in the civil aviation sector, such as Airbus aircraft, as well as a variety of seafood, dairy products, processed fruits, wine and garments. In response, the European Commission has threatened to put additional tariffs on 20 billion dollars' worth of U.S. goods as countermeasures against what Brussels deems as American subsidies to Boeing. Testifying before a committee comprising officials from multiple government departments, Quach said her association believes tariffs on American family staples, such as olive oil, salmon, biscuits and jams, are not the solution to solving the dispute with the EU. "As we've seen over the past year, placing tariffs on imported goods ... has led to increased prices and business uncertainty," she said. North American Olive Oil Association Executive Director Joseph Profaci said Americans "have no realistic alternative supply in place for European olive oil, which typically accounts for close to 70 percent of the world's annual production." Noting that olive oil "is one of the healthiest foods we eat," Profaci said the potential tariffs will force Americans to either "pay increased prices for olive oils or switch to less healthy -- or even unhealthy -- but less expensive cooking fats." In his testimony, Ed Brzytwa, director of international trade at the American Chemistry Council (ACC), said the ACC's initial analysis "indicates that the chemical industry is again in the crosshairs of another set of possible tariff actions." "If the tariff rates go up to the maximum level allowed, which is 100 percent, this could effectively block U.S. chemical manufacturers from accessing the EU market for the products on the EU list," Brzytwa said. "U.S. chemical manufacturers seeking to maintain access to the EU market may decide to move production and jobs out of the U.S. into the EU, the Middle East, or Asia," he added. Robert Land, associate general counsel of JetBlue Airways Corp., said that slapping tariffs on EU products will raise costs for the airliner, and that the extra expenses will ultimately be transferred back to American consumers. In the name of protecting domestic industries, the White House has placed steep tariffs on billions of U.S. dollars' worth of products from its major partners, including the EU, Canada, China and Japan, raising trade tensions around the world and shaking the foundation of the global trading system. The potential flare-up of U.S.-EU trade tensions is poised to add fuel to the decade-long fight in the World Trade Organization between Brussels and Washington over subsidies to Airbus and Boeing, the world's two leading large aircraft makers. "We did not expect to be testifying today," Nate Herman, senior vice president for supply chain at the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA), said at the hearing. The industry the AAFA represents "has nothing to do with" the U.S.-EU aviation dispute but was "dragged into this issue," he said. "It makes no sense, but here we are." Speaking to Xinhua after the testimony, Herman said AAFA member companies have already been seriously affected by U.S. tariff measures against China, and are particularly concerned about Washington's threat to extend additional duties to virtually all Chinese imports, including clothing, shoes, and other textiles. "We're trying to prepare (for the new tariffs), but as you know, it's not easy to move supply chains that have been built up, in many cases, over 15 to 20 years in China," he said. At the hearing, Herman stressed that "imposing new tariffs on imports is the same as imposing new taxes on American businesses and American consumers." The apparel and footwear industry and the 4 million American workers it directly employs "can't afford yet another new tax on our businesses and our consumers," he said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 15:44:13|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close WASHINGTON, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The Trump administration has revoked a nearly 1 billion-U.S.-dollar federal grant it previously promised towards funding a high-speed railway connecting the metropolises of San Francisco and Los Angeles in the state of California. In a statement released Thursday, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) said it has terminated the cooperative agreement with the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) to provide 928.6 million dollars for the high-speed rail project. "California has abandoned its original vision of a high-speed passenger rail service connecting San Francisco and Los Angeles, which was essential to its applications for FRA grant funding," the statement said, adding California has "repeatedly failed to comply" with the agreement and "failed to make reasonable progress on the project." The FRA also said it continued to "consider all options" regarding the return of 2.5 billion dollars that it has already awarded for the project. California Governor Gavin Newsom on Thursday called the withdrawal of the federal funding "illegal and a direct assault on California." "Just as we have seen from the Trump administration's attacks on our clean air standards, our immigrant communities and in countless other areas, the Trump administration is trying to exact political retribution on our state," Newsom said in a statement. "This is California's money, appropriated by Congress, and we will vigorously defend it in court," he said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 16:09:25|Editor: mingmei Video Player Close Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic (L) meets with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Zhao Kezhi in Zagreb, Croatia, May 16, 2019. (Xinhua/Man Bo) ZAGREB, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Croatia is willing to enhance cooperation with China on law enforcement and security, said Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Thursday when meeting with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Zhao Kezhi. Plenkovic asked Zhao to convey his cordial greetings and sincere wishes to Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, saying that Croatia attached great importance to the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and wants to be actively involved in it. He also welcomed more Chinese investments and tourists to Croatia, hoping to join China in pushing forward Croatia-China and Europe-China relations. For his part, Zhao conveyed good wishes of Xi and Li to Prime Minister Plenkovic, saying that China and Croatia share a long history of friendly relations and are cooperating well in many areas thanks to the strategic guidance of leaders of both countries. China is willing to work with Croatia to implement the important consensus reached by the two countries' heads of state, and further strengthen bilateral ties by tapping into their joint efforts in frameworks including the Belt and Belt Initiative and the China-Central Eastern European countries cooperation. The minister also noted that China and Croatia should enhance cooperation in combating terrorism, enhancing security capacity for the Belt and Road construction, and fighting multi-national crimes. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 16:09:30|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan, May 17 (Xinhua) -- At least 17 police personnel were killed and 14 others wounded following an airstrike in Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand overnight, in a latest incident of friendly fire, a local source said Friday. "A large number of Taliban armed with guns and rockets attacked a security checkpoint in Tanki locality, Nahri Sarraj district, outside provincial capital Lashkar Gah Thursday night," the source told Xinhua anonymously. "The highway police commander Hajji Gran Habib leading a police unit rushed to the site for reinforcement and fighting the attackers. But the ill-fated police unit was struck by an airstrike near the area, leaving the casualties," the source said, adding police chief Habib was among those killed. He said the sortie was conducted by U.S. and NATO-led coalition forces. Further details about the incident are still forthcoming amid the absence of any official statement. In a previous friendly fire incident, eight pro-government local militiamen were killed and four others wounded following an airstrike in eastern Ghazni province on Feb. 26. Helmand province, notorious for poppy growing, is a known Taliban stronghold. The Afghan security forces' casualties have risen recently as they struggle against a surge in attacks by Taliban militant group and other anti-government fighters. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 16:19:42|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close GENEVA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- China's hopes of making into the semifinals here were crushed by Poland as they defeated Germany 25-14, 22-25, 25-28, 25-28 on Thursday to advance into the semifinals as Pool B leaders at the Montreux Volley Masters. Japan, with the same record as Poland, were second of the group on point difference and booked another berth in the semis. China, which sent a young squad without stars like Zhu Ting and Yuan Xinyue, finished third in Pool B one point shy of the leaders, while Germany have had had a frustrating journey at Montreux; they are yet to win a match. In Pool A, Turkey failed to reach the semifinals despite a 22-25, 25-29, 25-21, 26-24 victory over Thailand, who were second to Italy on point difference. Friday's semifinal will see Poland clash with Thailand and Italy play Japan. China will face off against Turkey in the fifth place match on Saturday. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 16:19:45|Editor: mingmei Video Player Close BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- China will set up a center for high-resolution Earth observation in the port city of Qingdao to provide satellite data assistance for marine science and technology innovation. The State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence has recently signed a cooperation agreement with the city government of Qingdao, to promote applications of the Gaofen remote sensing satellite data in marine environmental monitoring, maritime rights and interests maintenance and disaster prevention. Gaofen means "high resolution" in Chinese. China has launched several Gaofen satellites since April 26, 2013. The Gaofen project has helped reduce China's dependence on foreign remote sensing satellite data. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 16:19:47|Editor: mingmei Video Player Close GUANGZHOU, May 17 (Xinhua) -- African donkey hides and pet food were among the smuggled products recently intercepted by customs authorities in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province. Guangzhou Customs authorities said Wednesday they had detained 13 suspects in connection to a smuggling case worth about 82 million yuan (12 million U.S. dollars). About 24 tonnes of African donkey hides, 55 tonnes of pet food and 122,881 bottles of foreign liquor were intercepted from 21 containers smuggled by rail. Some of the pet food neared the expiration date and some donkey hides were rotten due to the long transport time. Authorities said that if the rotten donkey hides was made into ejiao, or donkey-hide gelatin, it would pose hazard to public health. Donkey-hide gelatin, known as ejiao in Chinese, is a kind of traditional Chinese medicine and health food made by boiling the donkey's skin and refining the results into a tonic. Ejiao is mainly taken by women who suffer from anemia, dry coughs or dizziness. The name was coined in Dong'e County in east China's Shandong Province, where it was originally produced. Further investigation is underway. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 16:19:50|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close PUL-E-ALAM, Afghanistan, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Two key local Taliban leaders have been arrested following a security operation in Afghanistan's eastern province of Logar, local police said Friday. The operation was conducted by Special Operations Police force late on Thursday, resulting in the arrest of the Taliban's provincial intelligence chief and a press officer in one of the province's localities, the provincial police department said in a statement. The names of the arrestees have not immediately been disclosed, as the security organs usually declare their identities after investigations. Zabiullah Mujahid, a purported Taliban spokesman, hours after the report, rejected that government troops have arrested the outfit's members. "We reject the claim. No one, related to us, has been arrested in Logar," he tweeted. Afghan forces have recently intensified clearance operations against anti-government militants, leaving scores of fighters dead or wounded, in various parts of the country. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 17:00:20|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close TOKYO, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Japan's minister for economic and fiscal policy Toshimitsu Motegi said Friday that he has received assurances from the United States that as part of a bilateral deal Japan will not be asked to limit or restrict its exports of automobiles. Following talks with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer about remarks reportedly made by U.S. President Donald Trump that Japan and the European Union (EU) would have their auto exports to the United States capped, Japan's top trade negotiator said Lighthizer had said this was not the case. "Japan has maintained that it is against measures that distort fair and open trade practices," Motegi told a press briefing on the matter. "Of course, that includes restrictions on exports, in other words, volume caps. Lighthizer confirmed that the United States will not seek such measures," Motegi was quoted as saying. Japan had previously been in Trump's cross-hairs for its exports of automobiles and car parts to the United States, which were believed to be unfairly disadvantageous to the U.S. domestic industry and the two countries' trade balance. Lighthizer's remarks will come as some relief to Japanese automakers, who have seen demand slump of late, particularly from their North American markets. Lighthizer's assurances made to Motegi, however, run contrary to media reports that Washington could be gearing up to give Japan and the EU a 180-day deadline to reduce the amount of exports of automobile and related parts to the United States if new tariffs, slated to begin Saturday, are to be delayed. Trump will visit Japan from May 25 to 28 as a state guest and again the following month for the G20 summit to be held in Osaka and hosted by Japan for the first time. Trade and tariff issues are certainly to be high on the agenda, government representatives here have said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 17:00:22|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (R) and New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern attend the signing ceremony for Joint Declaration on Singapore-New Zealand Enhanced Partnership held at Singapore's Istana in Singapore on May 17, 2019. Jacinda Ardern is on a one-day official visit to Singapore. (Xinhua/Then Chih Wey) WELLINGTON, May 17 (Xinhua) -- A closer relationship between Singapore and New Zealand was launched on Friday to strengthen trade, defense, cyber security and education as well as arts and culture ties, according to a New Zealand government statement. The New Zealand-Singapore Enhanced Partnership, signed in Singapore by New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong, will bring benefits for the citizens of both countries and a substantive lift to the relationship, the statement said. An improved working holiday scheme for young New Zealanders was also launched. Key features of the Enhanced Partnership include an upgrade of the Free Trade Agreement which smooths the way for New Zealand companies to capitalize on opportunities in Singapore, a new Science, Technology and Innovation Arrangement funding for joint research totaling 57 million New Zealand dollars (37 million U.S. dollars), enhanced defense cooperation, and new arrangements on cyber security, arts and culture. "Making it easier for New Zealand businesses to export is a key plank of the government's economic plan," Ardern said, adding the Enhanced Partnership makes it easier to do business with Singapore directly, and the country also acts as a gateway for New Zealand goods and services to access the growing Asian market. Singapore is New Zealand's "closest and most significant partner in Southeast Asia" and it was the country's seventh largest trading partner globally, she said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 17:15:31|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close WINDHOEK, May 17 (Xinhua) -- A plan to start a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Namibia is expected to be implemented next month, Namibian Minister of Industrialization, Trade and SME Development Tjekero Tweya said on Thursday. The move is meant to drive investment in the coastal town of Walvis Bay which harbors the country's port facility. "We are left with only a few logistics on the policy itself which we are finalizing between the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Industrialization," Tweya told Xinhua. "Once that is ironed out we will be ready to make an announcement and start implement." "The SEZ touches on the existence laws like your tax income laws and all others, so we just want to finish those discussions internally within the two ministries. The discussions may take a month or so," he said. Namibia has been finding ways of creating a favorable investment environment in the coastal town to attract foreign capital. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 17:30:38|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close SEOUL, May 17 (Xinhua) -- South Korea will push for 8 million U.S. dollars of humanitarian aid to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) through international organizations, Seoul's unification ministry said Friday. The ministry said in a statement that the government decided to push for the provision of 8 million dollars to humanitarian aid projects of international organizations, including the World Food Program (WFP) and the UNICEF, for babies and pregnant women in the DPRK. The contribution would be made under the position that South Korea will continue humanitarian assistance for the DPRK people irrespective of political situations, the ministry noted. The government of South Korean President Moon Jae-in announced a plan in 2017 to provide 8 million dollars of aid for the DPRK through international organizations, but it had been halted on international sanctions against Pyongyang. The last South Korean food aid to the DPRK happened in 2010 when 5,000 tons of rice was delivered to the north. The ministry said the South Korean government will review concrete food aid plans for the DPRK, such as a direct assistance to the DPRK or an indirect aid through international organizations, after sufficiently collecting public opinion. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 17:35:40|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close BANGKOK, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The Pheu Thai Party, one of Thailand's major parties, has lent support to Future Forward Party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit in rivalry with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha as post-election prime minister. Pheu Thai Secretary General Phumtham Wechayachai confirmed on Friday that his party has unreluctantly agreed to vote for Thanathorn as head of a coalition government because the leaderships of the 80-MP Future Forward and 136-MP Pheu Thai have adopted a common standpoint against a parallel bid of the Palang Pracharath Party to keep Prayut in power. Phumtham said he had unofficially talked with the leaders of several other parties who had earlier joined in an anti-Prayut alliance. He referred to the Prachachart Party, New Liberal Party, Pheu Chart Party and New Economics Party. On Thursday, Thanathorn offered himself the post of prime minister who may head a coalition government in anticipation of support from the Pheu Thai-led alliance and with an intention to vie with Prayut who has apparently sought to retain it. Meanwhile, the leaders of the 52-MP Democrat Party and 51-MP Bhumjaithai Party have remained tight-lipped about reported moves to form a coalition with any others. Democrat Party leader Jurin Laksanawisit, who was voted new party leader on Wednesday, said he would not make comments until after a new executive board of the party has been verified as the Election Commission. Bhumjaithai leader Anutin Charnvirakul said he would take a clear stand after a seminar for his MPs has been held on the upcoming Monday and views of his supporters nationwide have been taken into account. Given the supposed support from 250 senators selected by the ruling National Council for Peace and Order led by Prayut, the incumbent prime minister only needs a minimum of 126 MPs to endorse him as prime minister under a simple majority rule. Those numbers may be combined to make 376, which is the simple majority among a total of 750 legislators, consisting of 500 MPs and 250 senators. Palang Pracharath Party has gained 115 seats in the general election, with other small parties of a total of 22 seats announced their support for Prayut and Palang Pracharath. It seems Prayut already has more than 376 seats from both houses. The MPs and senators will vote for a prime minister in a joint House of Representatives-Senate meeting which is yet to be scheduled. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 17:40:49|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close GUIYANG, May 17 (Xinhua) -- A Vietnamese delegation visited southwest China's Guizhou Province to boost exchanges in tourism. The delegation, consisting of 38 people from Vietnamese tourism associations, visited several tourist attractions in Guizhou, according to the provincial department of culture and tourism. The beautiful scenery and diverse culture in Guizhou will make the province a hot destination for Vietnamese tourists, according to the delegates. The delegates hope to enhance tourism cooperation, calling on the two sides to launch direct flights linking Guiyang, the provincial capital, to Hanoi and Nha Trang. They hope Guizhou authorities will issue favorable policies to attract more Vietnamese visitors, adding that it was their goal to see at least 30,000 trips by Vietnamese visitors to Guizhou annually by 2020. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 17:50:54|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close COLOMBO, May 17 (Xinhua) -- One person was killed and two others injured in a shootout in Sri Lanka's southern town of Lunugamwehera early Friday, the police said. A police spokesperson said the incident was a result of an argument which broke out between two groups at a party. The groups started assaulting each other and one group later opened fire. The injured were rushed to the Hambantota Base Hospital, where one of them succumbed to his injuries. Police have launched investigations and are on the lookout for two suspects wanted in connection with the shooting. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 18:06:02|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close LOS ANGELES, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) New Horizons mission team has published the first profile of the Kuiper Belt object (KBO) nicknamed "Ultima Thule," the most distant object ever explored by mankind. New Horizons performed the farthest flyby in history at 12:33 a.m. EST (0533 GMT) on Jan. 1 this year, as it approached Ultima Thule within 2,200 miles (about 3,540 km) of the surface at a velocity of 31,500 miles (about 50,694 km) per hour. The mission team published the first peer-reviewed scientific results and interpretations in the May 17 issue of the journal Science, analyzing the first sets of data gathered during the flyby. The initial data revealed the object's development, geology and composition. The 36-km-long Ultima Thule is a contact binary, consisting of a large, strangely flat lobe (nicknamed "Ultima") connected to a smaller, rounder lobe (nicknamed "Thule"), at a juncture nicknamed "the neck." How the two lobes got their unusual shape is an unanticipated mystery that likely relates to how they formed billions of years ago, according to the scientific results. "We're looking into the well-preserved remnants of the ancient past," said New Horizons Principal Investigator Alan Stern. "There is no doubt that the discoveries made about Ultima Thule are going to advance theories of solar system formation." New Horizons researchers are also investigating a range of surface features on Ultima Thule, such as bright spots and patches, hills and troughs, and craters and pits. In color and composition, Ultima Thule is very red, even redder than the much larger, 2,400-km-wide Pluto, which New Horizons explored at the inner edge of the Kuiper Belt in 2015. Ultima Thule is in fact the reddest outer solar system object ever visited by spacecraft, according to the scientific results. Its reddish hue is believed to be caused by modification of the organic materials on its surface. Data transmission from the flyby continues, and will go on until the late summer 2020. In the meantime, New Horizons continues to carry out new observations of additional Kuiper Belt objects it passes in the distance, according to the mission team. The New Horizons spacecraft is now 4.1 billion miles (6.6 billion km) from Earth, operating normally and speeding deeper into the Kuiper Belt at nearly 33,000 miles (53,000 km) per hour, according to the team. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 18:16:14|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close MOGADISHU, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Somali National Army (SNA) on Thursday killed seven al-Shabab militants in clashes in Somalia's southern region of Gedo, officials said on Friday. Osman Abdi Qorah, commander of SNA unit 10 in Gedo region told journalists that al-Shabab militants launched an attack on their base in Garbaharey town in Somalia's southern region of Gedo. "They (al-Shabab) attacked us repeatedly, we have been fighting for three hours, but we finally defeated them killing seven of them," the official said, adding that they lost two soldiers during the battle and five others sustained injuries. Residents said they got shocked when heavy fighting erupted in the town. "Al-Shabab fighters attacked on a base used by government soldiers, the two sides exchanged heavy weapons, but we have no further details," a local resident Mulki Hassan told Xinhua by phone. Government forces backed by African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) have intensified operations on al-Shabab militants in central and southern Somalia conducting consecutive offensives to flush the militants out of those regions. Photo taken on April 27, 2018 shows a wreckage of a vehicle after a bomb attack by Boko Haram militia in Maiduguri, Nigeria, April 27, 2018.(Xinhua/NAN) ABUJA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The Lake Chad Basin is no longer a safe haven for terror group Boko Haram, as joint military efforts by countries in the region have yielded good results so far, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said on Thursday. "We have led vigorous military campaigns against the terrorists by re-organizing the multinational joint task force which had dislodged them," Buhari, represented by Nigeria's minister of interior Abdulrahman Dambazzau, said at the closing of the 16th Annual General Meeting of West African Police Chiefs Committee and Meeting of the Forum of Ministers in charge of Security in Abuja. He said in the past four years, Nigeria, working with regional and international allies, had taken drastic measures and spared no effort in the fight against Boko Haram. The Nigerian president urged the regional security chiefs to share their experiences, re-assess and harmonize crime control and operations in their various countries to see the end of the terror group. He said the insecurity posed by corruption, terrorism, communal clashes, and kidnap for ransom, organized crimes, among others, were some vices threatening the region's peace, progress, integration, and development. Buhari attributed the vulnerability of the region to criminal activities and other threats to peace and security to the vast borders and proximity to the Sahel. Countries in attendance at the Abuja meeting included Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. The three-day meeting was aimed at addressing transnational crimes, especially terrorism, violent extremism, kidnapping, illicit circulation of small arms and light weapons, human trafficking, maritime security, herders and farmers' conflict, among others. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 18:46:33|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close WINDHOEK, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Namibia will receive one of the most valuable art pieces in the 15th century, the cross-capsule column taken by German colonists and exhibited in a museum in Berlin, Germany, the Namibian Genocide Committee announced Friday. The German Minister of State responsible for International Cultural Policy at the Federal Foreign Office, Michelle Muntefering (SPD), also released a statement welcoming corresponding decision by the museum. "The return of cultural goods is an important building block for our common future with Namibia," said Muntefering in a statement. The cross-capsule column is a former Portuguese national emblem, which was adopted by Portugal around 1486 at the Modern day Namibian coast. Also known as "Cape Cross" column is 3.5 meters high, more than a ton heavy and ends with a cross. Emperor Wilhelm II taken it in 1894, when the country had become a colony of Deutsch-Sudwestafrika (German-Southwest Africa), after Berlin. A copy of the column was erected by Germans in 1895 and was declared a national monument by Namibia in 1968. In 2017 Namibia demanded the return of the original column. Already in August of last year, Muntefering had genocide human remains at his disposal returned to Namibia from Germany. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 19:11:50|Editor: mingmei Video Player Close JINAN, May 17 (Xinhua) -- China's poultry meat exports to the European Union (EU) hit a six-year high in April after the EU started granting more low-tariff quotas on April 1. As the only Chinese province which exports poultry meat to the EU, Shandong exported 4,097 tonnes of poultry products, worth 100 million yuan (14.5 million U.S. dollars), marking an year-on-year increase of 32.2 percent and 48 percent, respectively. The figures are the highest since February 2013, according to Qingdao Customs. Meanwhile, poultry export enterprises in Shandong will receive training in various aspects, including breeding, slaughtering and hot processing, in order to meet the requirements of importing countries. The EU had agreed to grant more low-tariff quotas to Chinese poultry meat, including the quotas for 5,000 tonnes of chicken meat and 6,600 tonnes of duck meat. China's poultry exports to the EU had been subdued for years, as the EU refused to offer significant low-tariff quotas for Chinese poultry meat after outbreaks of bird flu in Asia between 2006 and 2008. China filed a complaint to the World Trade Organization (WTO) against the EU over high poultry tariffs in April 2015, putting forth a consultation request and formally starting WTO dispute settlement procedures. In April 2017, the WTO ruled that EU's poultry tariff quota management had violated its rules. More than a year later, China and the EU reached a final agreement on the new tariff quotas. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 19:22:06|Editor: Xiaoxia Video Player Close Callixte Nsabimana alias Sankara (C), who claims himself as the head of Rwanda rebel group National Liberation Force (NLF), is paraded before media in Kigali, Rwanda, May 17, 2019. Rwanda Investigations Bureau (RIB) on Friday paraded the recently detained Callixte Nsabimana alias Sankara, who claims himself as the head of Rwanda rebel group National Liberation Force (NLF), before media at its headquarters in the Rwandan capital Kigali. Nsabimana is still under investigation and will soon be allowed visitors, said Modeste Mbabazi, RIB spokesperson. (Xinhua/Cyril Ndegeya) KIGALI, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Rwanda Investigations Bureau (RIB) on Friday paraded the recently detained Callixte Nsabimana alias Sankara, who claims himself as the head of Rwanda rebel group National Liberation Force (NLF), before media at its headquarters in the Rwandan capital Kigali. Nsabimana who was putting on sunglasses, clad in Khaki trousers and grey long sleeved shirt entered the room flanked by two policemen and his lawyer. "My client is in good health and he has access to medical care if he requests it. I can tell you that his detention is in line with all the requirements of the law," Nsabimana's lawyer Moise Nkundabarashe told journalists in the room. Nsabimana is still under investigation and will soon be allowed visitors, said Modeste Mbabazi, RIB spokesperson. Nsabimana will appear in court later on Friday to answer several offenses he committed on the Rwandan territory, including the formation of an irregular armed group, incitement to commit terrorist acts, conspiracy and incitement to commit terrorist acts, taking persons hostage, murder, and looting, said Mbabazi. Nsabimana last July claimed that NLF had started an armed struggle in Rwanda to oust the Rwandan government in an interview with the BBC Kinyarwanda service. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 19:22:08|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close BEIRUT, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Russian Ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin assured Friday that the Russian strategy to secure the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland is ongoing, local media reported. "The strategy for the return of refugees is in progress. There are efforts being made inside Syria to receive refugees," Zasypkin was quoted as saying by Elnashra, an online independent newspaper. The ambassador assured that there is an ongoing dialogue between Lebanese and Syrian authorities on this issue. He also emphasized that the return of refugees needs economic and humanitarian work and the process depends on Syrian authorities while Russia only provides support in this regard. Around 500,000 Syrian refugees have returned to Syria in the past few years, he added. More than one million Syrian refugees are registered with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Lebanon, while the Lebanese government estimated the true number of Syrians in the country at 1.5 million. To facilitate the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland, Russia drafted a strategy and presented it to the Lebanese authorities. The strategy aims at securing the return of 890,000 Syrian refugees to their homeland. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 19:27:12|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close ADEN, Yemen, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Yemeni government forces on Friday announced recapturing a key southern district from the Houthi rebels following a large-scale military operation backed by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition. According to a press statement released by the government forces, different military units of the local security and army forces launched a large-scale pre-dawn attack against the Houthis in Qataba district located to the northwestern part of al-Dhalea province. The military attack sparked ferocious street battles that continued for several hours between the government forces and the Houthis in and around Qataba district, the statement said. It said that the government forces succeeded in seizing full control over Qataba and the surrounding areas following the large-scale anti-Houthi military campaign that left scores of rebels killed or injured. A military source based in the area told Xinhua that "the government forces stormed Qataba from various directions and managed to expel the Houthis out of the strategic southern district." Videos released by local activists on social media apparently showed the moments of the the ferocious street fighting that forced Houthis to withdraw from Qataba district. In one video, a group of government soldiers patrolling the main street of Qataba while chanting victory slogans while holding their automatic assault rifles. The activists also shared graphic images of the fighting aftermath showing several bodies of Houthi fighters lying in streets of Qataba. Both warring sides continued to mobilize large numbers of fighters to the frontlines in al-Dhalea amid non-stop armed confrontations taking place since weeks ago in the government-controlled province. On Tuesday, the UN Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths tweeted that he is deeply concerned about the ongoing escalation of conflict in Dhale, and urged all parties to exercise utmost restraint. The UN envoy said that any military escalation risks a setback in the progress towards peace in Yemen. Last month, scores of Houthi fighters launched a series of intense armed attacks on the positions of government forces and succeeded in seizing the district of Al Husha in the west of al-Dhalea. The areas in the north and west of the government-controlled al-Dhalea have been witnessing continuous fighting between government forces and Houthi fighters for four years. Yemen has been plagued by a civil war since late 2014 after Houthi rebels revolted and forced the internationally-recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi into exile. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 19:32:19|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close TOKYO, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Protesters calling for their U.S. base-hosting burdens to be reduced marched in Japan's southernmost prefecture of Okinawa on Friday as part of the annual three-day "Peace March." The rally, which was divided into two routes and comprised more than 1,000 protesters, coincides with Okinawa this week marking the 47th anniversary of its reversion to Japan from U.S. control. Okinawa was occupied by U.S. forces after the end of World War II in 1945 and ostensibly returned to Japan on May 15, 1972, although many in Okinawa, owing to their disproportionate base-hosting burdens, still feel a sense of continued "occupation" by U.S. forces. One rally was held in front of the gate of the U.S. Marine Corps' Camp Schwab in the coastal Henoko area of Nago, which a site under construction by the central government to build a replacement facility for the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. The majority of Okinawans want to see the U.S. base relocated outside of Okinawa, or Japan as a whole. Another group of protesters gathered in Okinawa's capital, Naha, and began their march from there. Former Nago Mayor Susumu Inamine, addressing the protesters in front of the U.S. base, asked whether Okinawans really had democracy. "The construction is underway despite the result of the referendum. Do we really have democracy or local autonomy in this country?" He was referring to the majority of voters in a prefecture-wide referendum in Okinawa in February, rejecting the government's plans to move the U.S. base to Henoko. Okinawa, a tiny subtropical island with its own culture, language and history, accounts for just a fraction of Japan's total land mass, yet hosts the bulk of U.S. military bases in Japan. The central government, based on a pact made with the United States, is forging ahead with construction work in the coastal region of Henoko for a replacement facility for the Futenma base currently located in Ginowan, both in Okinawa, much to the chagrin of local citizens. Amid rising instances of mishaps and accidents involving U.S. military aircraft and criminal cases involving base-linked personnel, calls from Okinawans for their U.S. base-hosting burdens to be lifted have intensified of late, against a backdrop of growing anti-U.S. sentiment on the island. The two groups of protesters will join together on Sunday to rally in Ginowan where the controversial Futenma base is located. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 19:37:22|Editor: mingmei Video Player Close JINAN, May 17 (Xinhua) -- A garlic expo opened Friday in Jinxiang County, east China's Shandong Province. The expo attracted more than 1,400 garlic dealers, experts and scholars on garlic, as well as people of e-commerce platforms engaged in garlic businesses. The expo will feature a big exhibition, a high-end forum and a seminar, and it will allow garlic dealers to do business with each other at the event, according to the organizer. Jinxiang is known as China's "hometown of garlic" thanks to its massive production of garlic. The county has about 46,667 hectares of garlic plantations and is home to more than 800 enterprises in the garlic business. Its garlic products are sold to more than 170 countries and regions, accounting for at least 70 percent of the country's total exports of garlic products. The expo will conclude on Saturday. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 19:47:27|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close SOFIA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Bulgarian authorities have captured two batches of undeclared hookah tobacco with a total weight of 30 tons, the National Customs Agency (NCA) said in a statement on Friday. The first batch, split into 14,256 packages weighing 1 kg each, was discovered after an X-ray examination of a Moldova-registered truck when it was leaving Bulgaria at Danube Bridge checkpoint near the town of Vidin at the border with Romania, the statement said. The two drivers, one with Portuguese and the other with Albanian identity documents, declared to be carrying dried fruit to Western Europe, it said. The authorities revealed that the truck had been loaded in an illegal warehouse in Sofia and found 15,744 kg of undeclared hookah tobacco there, the statement added. Last year, the NCA seized more than 5.4 tons of illegal tobacco. Passengers leave a train after arriving at the Dar Es Salaam station of Tanzania-Zambia Railway in Dar Es Salaam, capital of Tanzania, Feb. 14, 2019. (Xinhua/Lyu Shuai) LUANSHYA, Zambia, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese enterprises in Zambia have been commended for their efforts in supplementing the Zambian government efforts in creating jobs, a civic leader said. Nathan Chanda, Mayor of Luanshya town in the Copperbelt Province, said Chinese nationals have created jobs for the locals in varied sectors in the town that is heavily reliant on mining. Chanda called on Zambians to be committed to work when employed by the Chinese-run enterprises in the town and the country as a whole. Some Luanshya residents told Xinhua that they have benefited a lot from the Chinese presence. "The people of China have done a lot for us, they are creative, they have contributed to job creation," said Charles Chisenga. According to Chisenga, a number of projects such mining and construction that the Chinese have embarked on have greatly benefited Zambians who are able to make their ends meets. Representatives of Chinese enterprises talk with job seekers during a jobs expo held by the Confucius Institute at the University of Zambia in Lusaka, Zambia, Oct. 26, 2018. (Xinhua/Peng Lijun) "We have seen projects such as the construction of the houses for the police by the Chinese," he said. Meanwhile, some youths in the town have appealed to the government to support cooperation with Chinese in developing agricultural activities. The youths observed that the Chinese are innovative and hard-working adding that they could make the province a food basket. "If Chinese express interest in farming, let government consider giving them enough land to do food production, this should be done in collaboration with the Zambians", said Albert Zimba. Zimba said Chinese are hard-working people whom Zambians should engage in various projects from construction, mining, manufacturing and agriculture. Another youth Edward Mulenga said engaging the Chinese in large scale farming projects will entail that there will be enough jobs for youths in the country. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 19:52:33|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close BLANTYRE, Malawi, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) to Malawi Friday deployed 32 short-term observers across the country ahead of the May 21 tripartite elections. A statement released by the EU Elections Observation Mission in Malawi Friday morning says the group is the third contingent, following the core team and the 28 long-term observers, which have been in Malawi since the beginning of April. The statement says with the latest contingent, EU will be able to cover nearly all the districts in Malawi, observing in both urban and rural areas. "In total the EU EOM will comprise, on election day 83 Observers from all 28 member states as well as Norway," a the statement quotes Chief Observer, Miroslav Poche, member of the European Parliament. During counting of the votes the observers are also expected to assess the transparency, accuracy and integrity of the process. The EU EOM will issue a preliminary statement two days after the elections and a final report - with technical recommendations for future elections - will be published at a later stage, reads the statement in conclusion. Meanwhile, Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) started distributing ballot papers to all district councils Thursday and the councils, in turn, have sent the ballot papers to various tally centers. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 20:08:01|Editor: Xiaoxia Video Player Close Cambodian peacekeepers board a plane in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, May 17, 2019. Cambodia sent the sixth batch of 298 troops, including 25 women, to join a United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission in the war-torn West African nation of Mali on Friday. (Xinhua/Sovannara) PHNOM PENH, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia sent the sixth batch of 298 troops, including 25 women, to join a United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission in the war-torn West African nation of Mali on Friday. The troops would substitute the fifth batch, whose one-year term had come to an end, Pol Saroeun, a senior minister in charge of sending troops to the UN peacekeeping missions, said during a sending-off ceremony held at the Phnom Penh International Airport. The peacekeepers are divided into two groups. One will be responsible for airport repairs and maintenance and the other will be in charge of explosive ordnance disposal. "Although it is a high risk mission in Mali due to ongoing armed conflicts and threats from terrorism, our peacekeepers have never moved back because it is a common cause for peace and humanity," Saroeun said. He instructed the batch to strictly abide by the UN discipline and the Cambodian army's rules when they perform their duties in Mali. UN Resident Coordinator in Cambodia Pauline Tamesis said Mali was a long way from home and the mission would undoubtedly challenge the peacekeepers professionally and personally. "Your dedication to helping others, to share your skills with other countries that are suffering from conflict, is invaluable and a great source of hope and inspiration to many," she said. She said since 2006, Cambodia has dispatched a total of 6,053 personnel, including 295 women, to join UN peacekeeping missions in Sudan, South Sudan, Central African Republic, Chad, Syria, Cyprus, Lebanon and Mali. "Cambodia remains one of the largest contributing countries in the ASEAN with 797 Cambodian peacekeepers, including 54 women, currently deployed in several countries in Africa and the Middle East," she said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 20:08:06|Editor: mingmei Video Player Close BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- China on Friday welcomed Norway's mediation in facilitating dialogue between Venezuela's government and the opposition. The nature of the Venezuela issue is whether to uphold the UN charter and the basic norm of international relations of not interfering with other countries' internal affairs, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang said at a press briefing. Noting China's position is consistent and clear-cut, Lu said China maintains that the issue should be solved by Venezuela's government and the opposition within the framework of the constitution through an inclusive political dialogue. China stands ready to work with all parties to maintain coordination and play a conducive role to peace and talks, so as to find a peaceful solution to the Venezuela issue to safeguard international justice as well as peace and stability in Venezula and the region, Lu said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 20:13:14|Editor: mingmei Video Player Close TOKYO, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, co-chaired the sixth high-level political dialogue between China and Japan in Japan's Nagano Prefecture on Friday with Japanese National Security Advisor Shotaro Yachi. Yang said that China-Japan relations have been continuously improving, and the positive interactions between the two sides have been increasingly active. China is ready to work with Japan to push forward the steady development of bilateral relations along the right track under the guidance of the spirit of the four political documents between China and Japan and the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, he said. According the senior Chinese official, China and Japan share increasingly broad common interests and the two countries' development is an opportunity for each other. The two sides should firmly pursue a positive and friendly policy towards each other and translate the principled consensus that "China and Japan see each other as partners, not threats" into policies and actions. Yang said the two sides should, on the basis of mutual trust, maintain high-level exchanges, consolidate political foundation, abide by the spirit of the four political documents between China and Japan, properly handle major issues of principle such as the history, Taiwan and the territory, and respect each other's core interests and major concerns. He said that the two sides should take cooperation as the driving force, continue to advance all-round practical cooperation, conduct in-depth discussions on new technologies, new business patterns and new modes, explore new convergence of interests and growth points of cooperation, and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results at higher levels and in wider areas. Yang said that China welcomes Japan's active participation in the cooperation in a third-party market under the Belt and Road Initiative. The current international situation is faced with instability and many uncertainties, Yang said. As important countries and major economies in the world, China and Japan should strengthen communication and coordination under the multilateral mechanism, promote global governance further toward fairness and rationality, promote regional integration and economic globalization, jointly uphold multilateralism and free trade, and promote mutually beneficial cooperation and common development among countries. For his part, Yachi said that currently Japan-China relations have been continuously improving and the leaders of the two countries have maintained close contact. Not long ago, Toshihiro Nikai, secretary-general of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, attended the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. Yachi said the Japanese side agrees that the two sides should see each other as development opportunities and cooperative partners. He said that he holds full confidence in the future development of Japan-China relations. He said Japan is ready to work with China to prepare for the next stage of high-level exchanges, ensure fruitful results and send a positive signal to the outside world. Japan is ready to deepen bilateral dialogues, exchanges and pragmatic cooperation with China in various fields, strengthen communication and coordination in international and regional affairs and push bilateral relations to a new level. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 20:28:35|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close WINDHOEK, May 17 (Xinhua) -- In an illustration showing dry wooden logs wrapped in white strings and hanging on a roof top, renowned Namibian visual artist Alfeus Mvula is using his talent to address the problem of drought in his country. Dubbed "Rain," Mvula's visual artwork, which is being exhibited at the National Art Gallery of Namibia (NAGN) until June 29, 2019, is part of his artwork that focuses on cattle to tell different local stories. The wooden logs hanging on a roof top symbolize how the skies have been withholding the rains from blessing the land of Namibia. Below the "Rain" crafting, on the floor, a hard brown cover with white represents the seriousness of the drought. The ethnic color on the brown cover carries the same shade of brown as the Namib Desert to show the extinction of life in the absence of water. "The 'Rain' artwork was made from native trees that are found in Etosha National Park," said Annapaula Vakamuena, communications and marketing officer at NAGN. "It symbolizes the much-needed rain in Namibia, and it is part of a whole set of other art pieces in which Mvula used cattle as the subject of a metaphor in bringing out various issues in our society." She told Xinhua that Mvula's use of cattle crafts in the form of various visual arts such as digital, printmaking, stone carving and wood sculpture, shows the subject's ability to be a metaphor for society. One of the visitors at the "Metaphor" exhibition, Ndahafa Makambe, told Xinhua that "Rain" is being exhibited at an appropriate time. "Mvula's expression on the 'Rain' is the most outstanding compared to the other artworks which are part of his 'Metaphor' exhibition," said Makambe, adding that this shows the issue of drought is the main concern of every Namibian. "It affects agriculture, livestock and food security," said Makambe. "Our country is already a dry place and now there is no rain, which means our agriculture activities are negatively affected." Makambe's view was echoed by her companion Annabelle Kaseke, who said that the "Rain" piece also reflects the issue of climate change in Namibia and the whole southern African region. "The fact that the artwork does not have any other color either than white and brown is also an expression of extinction," said Kaseke, adding that "this is a reflection on the cattle that are dying in some of our regions due to thirst." Mvula's exhibition came four days after the country's President Hage Geingob declared the drought in Namibia as a national disaster on May 6, 2019. Mvula is a passionate visual artist who has won two global awards and had numerous solo exhibitions and group shows. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 20:38:41|Editor: mingmei Video Player Close SHANGHAI, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The Australian Group of Eight (Go8) held a forum Thursday in Shanghai, aiming at ensuring the employability of its Chinese graduates when they return to China. More than 50 major Chinese companies, as well as enterprises and branch offices set up by multinationals, participated in the event, including Alibaba, China Eastern Airlines, Apple, and Johnson & Johnson. The forum discussed the Chinese employment outlook and future business demands for graduates. "We intend to listen closely to what Chinese companies see as their future graduate requirements and their experience with our graduates," said Go8 chief executive Vicki Thomson. Recent surveys show that more than 80 percent of Go8 Chinese graduates consider returning home to find employment, she added. According to Go8 statistics, international students currently account for 35 percent of the 400,000 college students in Go8 member universities, with Chinese students making up the largest proportion of more than 60 percent. "Accounting, finance and business administration have always been popular among Chinese students," said Dawn Freshwater, chair of the Go8 Board. "Hot majors in recent years include engineering technology, computer science, and biomedicine." Comprising Australia's eight leading research-intensive universities, the Go8 has attracted one-third of all international students who study in Australia and six in ten among Chinese students. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 20:38:45|Editor: mingmei Video Player Close SHENZHEN, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Huawei's chipset subsidiary HiSilicon said on Friday it will use backup chips it has independently developed for years to cope with the ban from the United States. He Tingbo, president of HiSilicon, said in an internal letter to staff that Huawei has been preparing for a scenario of survival in extreme conditions when all the advanced chips and technology from the United States become unobtainable. The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) of the U.S. Department of Commerce put Huawei and its affiliates on an "Entity List," which would restrict the sale or transfer of U.S. technologies to the company. "Today, a historic choice has to be made. Our backup plan will be put into official use," according to the letter. New products must have solutions to ensure technological independence in the future, the letter says. Founded in 2004, HiSilicon provides chipset solutions for wireless communications, smart devices, digital media and other fields. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 20:43:47|Editor: mingmei Video Player Close LONDON, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Prudential plc is confident in China's economy and will evolve in China's open financial market, Mike Wells, chief executive of the British multinational life insurance and financial services company, told Xinhua in a recent interview. Prudential has been in the Chinese market for nearly 20 years, having established the first China-Britain insurance joint venture with CITIC Group in China in 2000. "We have an insurance business, which is mostly life and health, and very successfully continues to grow," Wells said. "Now we want to evolve and compete more directly with some of the major Chinese firms." "Our strategy has multiple legs. We have three pension licenses now. We're trying pension products because, if you think of the demographics in China, retirement savings and income are going to be a very big business and that's one of our specialities globally," Wells said. "We think that's a very important part of our China strategy." Last year, China took multiple measures to strengthen opening-up in the financial sector, such as abolishing the restrictions on the share-holding ratio for foreign investment in bank and asset management companies. After that, Prudential's asset management company, Eastspring, launched in December its Wholly Foreign Owned Enterprise (WFOE) in Shanghai. "We are building a modern platform in China, which is very digital and cloud-based. This is where consumers want to interact with us. We mostly use Wechat and Alipay. There are very little cheques and cash on this platform," he said. In January, Prudential's joint venture in China, CITIC-Prudential, received regulatory approval to establish a branch in China's Shaanxi province, marking the company's 20th branch in China. "We are having a lot of conversations with investors about the scale of some provinces and cities in China," Wells said. "We need to put in a lot of infrastructures to succeed in this market. It's still a work in progress." When talking about financial cooperation between Britain and China after Brexit, Wells believes that the relationship between the two countries will remain good. "The relationship was good before the Brexit vote. It is certainly good now and will be more important to both nations afterwards. China wants to continue to grow. Foreign markets are a big part of that. London should be a key hub to raise capital from international markets. So I see the cooperation growing," he said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 20:48:51|Editor: Xiaoxia Video Player Close Senior curator Shane Casey explains as the delegates from the Royal Australian Air Force listen during exhibition "D-Day: the Australian Story" at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, Australia, May 17, 2019. The exhibition, with a selection of items from the National Collection, including textiles, photographs, diaries, letters, models, artwork and digital displays, explores the history of Australians fighting in Western Europe 75 years ago . (Xinhua/Liang Tianzhou) CANBERRA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Australia commemorates World War II with an exhibition at the Australian War Memorial. The exhibition, "D-Day: the Australian story" which will run until September, explores the history of Australians fighting in Western Europe 75 years ago with a selection of items from the National Collection, including: textiles, photographs, diaries, letters, models, artwork, and digital displays. Memorial Director Brendan Nelson said on Friday at the media preview that the stories told in the exhibition demonstrated an unwavering commitment to serving Australia. "Some 3,300 Australian servicemen and servicewomen contributed to Operation Overlord," he said. "Thirteen Australians were killed on D-Day: two members of the Royal Australian Navy and 11 members of the Royal Australian Air Force. Australia's contribution and its sacrifice is a little-known story in one of history's most dramatic events." On June 6, 1944, the Allied forces stormed ashore the heavily defended beaches of northern France. More than 6,500 Allied ships and landing craft put to sea from ports along the length of the British south coast, supported by 12,000 aircraft, in what was one of the most significant events of WWII. Nelson noted that WWII was an important part in the history of Australia. At the time of WWII, Australian population was 7 million. One million Australians were mobilized. Australia saw half a million young people fight the WWII, he said. He said the history was worth remembering by people, especially the younger generation. Gianni Fiorito/HBOThe Antichrist Superstar is headed to the Vatican. Marilyn Manson will be a guest star on HBO's The New Pope, the upcoming follow-up to the 2017 limited series The Young Pope. As proof, the premium network tweeted out a photo of Manson in his unknown role. The New Pope, starring John Malkovich and Jude Law, is set to premiere this year. Manson's previous TV roles include appearances on Sons of Anarchy and Salem. If you want to see him live in addition to on your TV screen, you can catch Manson on his upcoming co-headlining tour with Rob Zombie, starting July 9 in Baltimore. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 21:19:07|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close BEIRUT, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Polish Ambassador to Lebanon Przemyslaw Niesiolowski said Friday that his country aims at increasing cooperation between Polish and Lebanese businessmen, local media reported. "We are going to increase cooperation between representatives of productive sectors in Poland and businessmen in South Lebanon," he was quoted as saying by Elnashra, an online independent newspaper. The ambassador's remarks came during his meeting with Mohamed Hassan Saleh, head of Lebanese Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture in Sidon, south of Lebanon, to discuss ways of boosting ties between the two countries. Niesiolowski also said his country will work on boosting trade ties with Lebanon in addition to other economic relations. Lebanon and Poland have discussed last year the potential of strengthening ties. Lebanese President Michel Aoun welcomed the intention of some Polish companies to participate in development projects as well as in the oil and gas exploration sector. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 21:19:09|Editor: mingmei Video Player Close BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- China on Friday told the United States not to interfere in Hong Kong affairs and that law amendment in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) must be respected. Hong Kong affairs are China's internal affairs, which should not be interfered by any other country, organization or individual, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said at a news briefing in Beijing. Lu made the remarks in response to reports that U.S. State Secretary Mike Pompeo had expressed concerns about the proposed legislative amendments of Hong Kong's Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation. "It is wrong to interfere in Hong Kong affairs in any form," Lu said, adding that any attempt to take advantage of this matter to incite and create chaos in Hong Kong will not succeed. The HKSAR government has recently submitted the Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019 to the Legislative Council (LegCo) for discussion. The bill proposed to enable Hong Kong to conduct case-based cooperation with jurisdictions that have no effective long-term arrangement with Hong Kong on juridical assistance in criminal matters. Lu said the proposed law amendments are aimed at dealing with specific cases while filling loopholes in the legal system, in order to facilitate the handover of fugitive suspects and judicial assistance between HKSAR and other countries and regions. The moves is conducive to jointly cracking down on crimes and maintaining the rule of law, and to preventing Hong Kong from becoming a safe haven for criminals, Lu said. "The Chinese Central Government staunchly supports the HKSAR in amending relevant laws," he added. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 21:44:20|Editor: mingmei Video Player Close BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has urged intensified efforts and more effective measures to advance the country's medical reforms. Li, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks in a written instruction to a video and telephone conference on medical reforms held in Beijing Friday. Hailing the achievements made in major tasks of medical reforms last year, including centralized medicine procurement and lower prices of anticancer drugs, Li extended sincere greetings to participants in medical reforms and medical workers. Li called for the in-depth implementation of the Healthy China initiative, and more health promotion activities with extensive coverage. Vice Premier Sun Chunlan, also head of the State Council's health reform leading group, attended the conference and made remarks. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 21:54:27|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close CANBERRA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Australian political leaders on Friday remembered former Prime Minister Bob Hawke after his death on Thursday night. Hawke served as prime minister between 1983 and 1991, and was the longest-serving Australian Labor Party (ALP) prime minister. His death came two days ahead of the nation's federal election. Current Labor leader Bill Shorten, who counts Hawke among his political inspirations, leads the opposition ALP over the incumbent Liberal-National Party coalition (LNP) 51-49 on two-party preferred terms according to the latest Newspoll, one of the nation's leading opinion polls. Shorten praised the former leader as the "greatest son" of the labor movement, crediting him with establishing a world-class university sector, universal healthcare, a modern economy and with protecting Australia's natural resources. "He was one of the reasons why I joined the Labor Party," Shorten said during an appearance on Nine Network television on Friday. Meanwhile, Scott Morrison, Australia's incumbent prime minister, said "all Australians could connect with Bob Hawke." "That I think was his great charm and his great strength and that enabled him to take the country with him on quite a number of important things," Morrison said. Hawke presided as Australia undertook a historic shift to embrace free trade. He opened Australia up to Asia and deepened ties with China, and helped found the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). Along with Treasurer Paul Keating, who succeeded him as prime minister in 1991, he floated the Australian dollar on the global currency market. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 21:54:29|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close MOSCOW, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Russia has no intention to abandon the 47-nation Council of Europe (CoE) and is ready to continue its work in the organization for the sake of European security, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday. "We are interested in continuing our work in the Council of Europe on the basis of the norms of international law and the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, which should be interpreted and applied in their inseparable relationship," he said in an address to a meeting of CoE foreign ministers in Finland's Helsinki, according to an official transcript published by the Russian Foreign Ministry. At the meeting, the future position of Russia in the CoE was discussed. Lavrov added that Russia did not refuse any of its obligations assumed within the council, including financial ones. He did not specify, however, if Moscow intended to repay its membership dues. Russia has not been paying its membership dues to the CoE since summer 2017. It suspended payments following the decision by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) earlier to cancel its voting rights. It was done in protest against Russia's actions in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine. Russia has described the actions of PACE as unlawful and contradicting the CoE Charter. In October last year, CoE Secretary-General Thorbjorn Jagland said that the organization might expel Russia if Moscow does not resume payments to its budget. Russian officials have repeatedly said that Russia might quit the CoE without waiting for the expulsion. Lavrov said at the foreign ministers' meeting that he expected PACE to confirm that the Charter should be observed not only by member states, but also by its statutory bodies. He recalled that after the sanctions were imposed by PACE, more than half of the judges of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and the Commissioner for Human Rights have been elected and the CoE will soon elect its Secretary General. It is obvious that the non-participation of the Russian delegation in them will have far-reaching consequences, Lavrov said. Moscow is convinced that Europe should understand that without Russia, it is hardly possible to ensure genuine European security in every dimension, he said. "We support all those who advocate the cessation of senseless confrontation and the integrity of the Council of Europe. This requires a return to the original principles of the Organization, the key of which is the equality of all the participating states," Lavrov said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 21:54:30|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets with the diplomatic envoys to China from the European Union and 27 of its member states in Beijing, capital of China, May 17, 2019. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao) BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday met here with the diplomatic envoys to China from the European Union and 27 of its member states. Wang said at the meeting that common interests of China and the EU far outweighed the differences. He stressed the importance of making a success of synergizing the Belt and Road Initiative and the EU Strategy on Connecting Europe and Asia. In the face of complex and changeable international situations, Wang suggested that both sides enhance communication and jointly safeguard the basic norms governing international relations and the rule-based multilateral trade system, as well as work together for advancing human civilization and social progress. For their part, the head of the EU Delegation to China and the diplomatic envoys to China from the EU member countries said EU and China adhering to multilateralism and promoting free trade not only conform with interests of both sides, but also are of great significance to the stability and development of the world. The EU side holds positive attitude towards participating in the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, they said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 22:04:40|Editor: mingmei Video Player Close BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The world has just witnessed further proof of the United States' nonsensical concerns over the development of China's innovative technologies. The U.S. Department of Commerce on Wednesday announced that it will add Huawei and its affiliates to the Entity List of the department's Bureau of Industry and Security, restricting the sale or transfer of American technology to Huawei. The United States once touted itself as a model of free and fair trade, however, setting up trade barriers based on unfounded "security concerns" does not accord with the lofty ideal. While demanding further market access and enhanced intellectual property rights (IPR) protection from other countries, the United States acted to the contrary, closing its market to stifle emerging innovative companies. Such acts are against the trend of economic globalization. With close cooperation among companies of various countries being an irreversible trend, protectionism can bring nothing but harm to all parties. It is the American companies that could suffer from the restriction on Huawei at the earliest stage. As put by Huawei's statement, restricting Huawei from doing business in the United States will not make it more secure or stronger; instead, this will only serve to limit the United States to inferior yet more expensive alternatives, leaving the country lagging behind in 5G deployment and eventually harming the interests of U.S. companies and consumers. According to media reports, Huawei has already expressed its willingness to sign "no-spy agreements" with foreign governments to make their equipment meet the no-spy, no-backdoors standard. Unfortunately, the United States ignored constructive solutions and stuck to unilateralism against the will of not only China but also American businesses and consumers. It has already been made clear that the United States aims to contain the development of China's innovative technologies by blocking Chinese products and enterprises. Considering that fact that multiple cybersecurity issues have been exposed in the United States, it is particularly ironic and unreasonable for the country to point its finger at China for security concerns. For China, which has successfully lived through constant restrictions, blocks and exclusions from the United States during the past decades, another U.S. sanction will not stop its technological progress and economic development. It makes no sense to refuse to accept the fact that China is catching up with the United States in certain areas. China's progress should not be seen as a threat, but vast opportunities for cooperation. Refusing to accept this reality is not a good move in trying to "make America great again." Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 22:14:54|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close MOGADISHU, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and Somali National Army (SNA) wrapped up a five-day training in Mogadishu to enhance their abilities to reach out to communities in the liberated areas. The training builds on efforts to enhance relations between the SNA civil-military coordination officers (CIMIC) and AMISOM troops during joint operations, the AU mission said in a statement issued in Mogadishu on Friday. Nakibus Lakara, deputy force commander in charge of operations and plans, who opened the training, noted that CIMIC activities help improve relations between the military and communities. "Looking at the capture of Sabiid Anole and most recently Bariire, a lot of CIMIC-related activities are required. I am urging you to explore opportunities that will contribute to rebuilding efforts," Lakara said. The training, which was organized by AMISOM and the EU Training Mission (EUTM) in Somalia, covered aspects of human rights, protection of civilians, international relations, implementing quick impact projects (QIPs), addressing sexual and gender-based violence, and conflict-related sexual violence. Lakara said that there is more to do in terms of civil-military activities in areas liberated from al-Shabab control. Participants included 27 CIMIC officers from the AMISOM military and police components and 18 others from the Somali National Army. Francis Kangwanda, AMISOM chief CIMIC officer, said the training would boost joint AMISOM-SNA operations, in line with the implementation of the Somali Transitional Plan. "Our objective is to build the capacity of SNA and AMISOM CIMIC officers to mentor one another and cooperate with local communities while on the field. Training together enables AMISOM to achieve the mandate to mentor SNA," Kangwanda said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 22:20:02|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close JUBA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said it has offered to facilitate rebel leader Riek Machar's much-awaited return to Juba to work with President Salva Kiir in a bid to boost trust and confidence between the former warring parties during the pre-transitional period. David Shearer, special representative of the Secretary General and head of UNMISS told journalists that he has been in touch with the leader of the Sudan People's Liberation Army-in opposition (SPLA-IO) whom he assured of support and facilitation from UNMISS to return to Juba. "Personally it would be better if he came back to Juba. I think it would be reassuring to the population to see the two leaders here in Juba talking together about how they want to move forward that would give confidence to the people," Shearer told Xinhua in an interview. This came after President Kiir called on his rival Machar to return to Juba so that they expedite the process of implementing the peace deal the two signed in September 2018 in Ethiopia under auspices of the regional body Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). "But anything we can do we have made it very clear to everybody. I spoke to Dr. Riek ten days ago and said to him if there is anything we can do in terms of transport and whatever else, we are going to do that. We just want to see that move forward," said Shearer. The warring parties recently agreed to extend the pre-transitional period for another six months after they failed to form the transitional unity government on May 12, citing delay in implementing key outstanding issues like security arrangement, unification of their forces and determination of number of states and boundaries. A perception survey by UNMISS this week showed that at least 70 percent of South Sudanese are feeling safe living in the country after the warring parties signed the revitalized peace agreement. South Sudan descended into conflict in December 2013, after President Salva Kiir sacked his deputy Riek Machar leaving tens of thousands killed and 4 million people displaced both internally and externally. The 2015 peace agreement collapsed after outbreak of renewed fighting in Juba in July 2016, which forced Machar to flee into exile. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 22:20:04|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close DAR ES SALAAM, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The government of Tanzania said on Friday plans were on the drawing board to open a cancer hospital in the southern highlands comprising of six regions. Faustine Ndugulile, the Deputy Minister for Health, told parliament in the capital Dodoma that the opening of the cancer facility in the southern highlands will reduce the number of cancer patients who travelled to the commercial capital Dar es Salaam to seek treatment. The six regions located in the southern highlands were Katavi, Rukwa, Mbeya, Njombe, Iringa and Ruvuma. He told the House that Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), including cancer, were expensive to treat and the number of patients suffering from the deadly disease has been on the increase in Tanzania over the years. "Take an example of a kidney disease. It costs 700, 000 Tanzanian shillings (about 304 U.S. dollars) for the patient to undergo a weekly dialysis," said the official. Ndugulile said kidney transplant cost about 20 million Tanzanian shillings, adding that the government planned to start awareness programs on NCDs aimed at helping people take preventive measures. He was responding to Immaculate Sware, a Member of Parliament on Special Seats, who wanted to know measures being taken by the government to reduce the burden of NCDs and providing free tests for such diseases. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 22:20:07|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close DAMASCUS, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Nine abducted people were released Friday as part of a swap deal between the Syrian army and the rebels in the northern province of Aleppo, state news agency SANA reported. The swap included a child and two women who were taken hostages by the rebels in the southern countryside of Aleppo, said SANA. No more details were given by the official news agency. Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor group said that the swap included the release of 27 detainees from government jails in exchange for the release of seven people from the rebels' captivity. The Britain-based watchdog group said the prisoners' swap comes less than a month after a similar operation took place in Aleppo when both sides released nine detainees. The Syrian army liberated Aleppo city in 2016 but the rebels are still present in the areas in the countryside of Aleppo. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 22:40:18|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close BERLIN, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Following a wedding parade that had blocked a German highway, several dozen task forces of the German police searched seven residential buildings in the Wesel area, the police in Dusseldorf announced on Friday. The concerted police deployment was linked to the so-called "Donut" investigating commission of the Dusseldorf police, named after the driving maneuver in which cars revolve around themselves with smoking tires. At the end of March, drivers of several luxury limousines had brought traffic to a standstill on the heavily trafficked Autobahn 3 in the direction of Cologne. Following the standstill, the drivers in the wedding parade had proceeded to take photos on the German highway, according to the Dusseldorf police. "Weddings are situations in life that should be celebrated. Anyone who thinks they are blocking motorways and putting others' lives at risk must expect us, as the police, to take consistent action against them," said Norbert Wesseler, head of the Dusseldorf police headquarters. The German police announced that they had found "extensive evidence" during the searches. Among other things, the German task forces had seized "various storage media, mobile phones and computers," as well as "narcotics and presumed illegal drugs," according to the police statement. As the Dusseldorf police headquarters announced that the investigating commission "Donut" was still evaluating the extensive evidence found on Friday by task forces that included special units and riot police officers. According to the North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of the Interior, the police listed 122 occasions of deployment between April 1 and mid-May due to wedding parades on public streets. Back in mid-April, NRW's Minister for the Interior Herbert Reul had announced his intentions to take stronger actions against the growing trend of wedding parades. "Motorways and inner cities are not private ballrooms," Reul said, adding that "everyone must abide by the applicable rules, otherwise the police will very quickly put a sobering end to the celebration". "When wedding parties endanger themselves and other road users, the tolerance limits of our society are clearly exceeded," said the German minister. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 22:40:27|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Free legal service will be given to private enterprises to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests, according to the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) Friday. Local justice administrations, associations of industry and commerce as well as bar associations will organize lawyers for public legal service, said Zhou Yuansheng, director of the Department of Directing Lawyers and Notarization with the MOJ. Over 56,000 private enterprises received free legal services from 17,600 lawyers within more than 3,100 legal groups during a two-month pilot project launched by the MOJ since last November. The legal problems that affected private enterprises laid in various aspects including equity disputes, contract breaches and intellectual property rights, Zhou said, adding that some private enterprises failed to be prepared in legal affairs and risk control. The MOJ and All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce will improve guidance for legal counsels in private business this year to facilitate private enterprises in solving legal disputes, he said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 22:45:29|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close CAPE TOWN, May 17 (Xinhua) -- South Africa welcomes game changing innovation that will open up new markets for tourism destinations, Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom said on Friday. The innovation such as Airbnb offer travelers affordable holidays and allow smaller industry players to thrive, Hanekom said. Many of these are able to flourish through the ease of using shared-economy platforms, he added. He was speaking at a meeting in Cape Town with representatives of the global online accommodation booking platform Airbnb to discuss various policy issues, in particular the regulation of short-term home rentals. The meeting took place amid rising concern over the government's bid to regulate Airbnb and other home-sharing apps. The government published the Tourism Amendment Bill (TAB) last month for public comment. Hanekom welcomed the spirit of the discussion and cooperation from Airbnb, and voiced appreciation for their commitment to contributing constructively to the legislative review processes, in support of the country's tourism development growth objectives. The TAB aims, amongst others, to address the regulatory vacuum on short-term rentals by defining short-term home rentals as "the renting or leasing on a temporary basis, for reward, of a dwelling or a part thereof, to a visitor." It also seeks to enable the Ministry of Tourism to determine thresholds regarding short-term home rentals. This could include limits on the number of nights that a guest can stay or even how much income an Airbnb earns. "We urge our stakeholders to submit their comments, to enable us to strengthen the Bill in order to serve the interest of inclusive tourism growth in South Africa," said Victor Tharage, Director-General of the Department of Tourism. Airbnb, headquartered in San Francisco, operates a global online marketplace and hospitality service accessible via its websites and mobile apps. Members can use the service to arrange or offer lodging, primarily homestays, or tourism experiences. About 2 million people have made use of the platform in South Africa, official figures show. However, the platform has increasingly come under fire in South Africa, where local hotels are concerned that the unregistered accommodation establishments listed on the platform are taking away business from established bed-and-breakfast lodges and hotels. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 22:45:31|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises on the Mainland (ATIEM) said it will firmly adhere to the 1992 Consensus and promote peaceful development of cross-Strait relations. Li Zhenghong, the new president of ATIEM, made the remarks Thursday in Beijing after his election. The ATIEM should help Taiwan-funded businesses seize opportunities brought by the Belt and Road Initiative, the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, said Li. "We need to pool wisdom and strength for the healthy development of Taiwan-invested enterprises and promote win-win economic and trade cooperation across the Strait," he said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 22:45:33|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close ADDIS ABABA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Ethnic clashes in Ethiopia's western Benishangul Gumuz regional state in April left 31 people dead, the Benishangul Gumuz region communications office said on Friday. In a press statement, Benishangul Gumuz regional state communication office, said the deaths happened after a dispute between two individuals on April 25 in Dangur locality turned into an ethnic fight, leaving at least 31 people dead. The ethnic violence pitted members of the Gumuz ethnic group against members from the Amhara ethnic group. "Federal and regional security forces have been deployed in the area to prevent a recurrence of the violence and 63 people have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in last month's deadly violence," said the statement. Ethiopia follows an ethnic federalism model, which has been credited with giving self-governance rights to more than 80 ethnic groups that make up the country's estimated 100 million people. However, critics claim that the ethnic federalism model magnifies ethnic diversity at the expense of national unity, leading to occasional ethnic tension and clashes. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 22:45:34|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close HARARE, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Huawei on Friday donated telecommunications equipment worth 98,000 U.S. dollars to the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) to enable the institution to offer the latest training in information and communication technology. The equipment was handed over to the university by Huawei Zimbabwe (Pvt) Limited managing director Hao Wen to UZ acting vice chancellor Paul Mapfumo. Hao said his company had become a leading ICT player in Zimbabwe since entering the local market in 1998 and was committed to enhancing technical skills training to students. "As a result of this commitment, we will, today, hand over the ICT equipment to the University of Zimbabwe. This laboratory equipment will enable the University of Zimbabwe to offer the latest technical training to students and professionals in the industry. We hope they could help develop local ICT talent and boost ICT industry development of Zimbabwe," he said. He added that the company was committed to building a better connected Zimbabwe, to bridge the digital divide by increasing network coverage and had so far built more than 2,500 km optical cable and serving over 4 million people. "As part of our ongoing investment, Huawei has created over 20,000 jobs directly and indirectly. We would also like to continue to cooperate with Zimbabwean schools, universities and colleges to build capacity and enhance technical skills transfer to students," he said. Hao said the company intended to continue creating continuous innovation and cooperation in the ICT industry through its Seeds for the Future corporate social responsibility program. "We leverage our world-leading ICT technologies in the program to cultivate ICT professionals in the countries where it operates and thus drive the local ICT industry forward." Hao said. The Seeds for the Future program was launched in Zimbabwe in 2016 and so far more than 40 outstanding students have travelled to China for training. ICT minister Kazembe said the handover of the ICT equipment would enable Zimbabwean universities to produce world class graduates and professionals as it made learning and teaching skills more effective. "This will enhance professional skills and competency in ICT among ICT practitioners and science and technology and engineering students and graduates for the benefit of the country as we move towards an upper middle income economy by 2030," he said. Acting vice chancellor Mapfumo said UZ was looking forward to becoming a center of excellence following the donation of the equipment. He added that given the increasing importance of ICTs, Zimbabwe needed to strengthen its technological base in order to meet the demands of the 21st Century. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 23:05:54|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (R) meets with Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, in Tokyo, Japan, May 17, 2019. (Xinhua/Ma Caoran) TOKYO, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, here on Friday. Yang said that since the beginning of this year, Abe has repeatedly expressed in public the willingness to further develop China-Japan relations. Not long ago, Abe appointed Toshihiro Nikai, secretary-general of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party, to attend the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, which has generated positive reactions in both countries, Yang said. The China-Japan relations are at a new historic starting point, facing important opportunities, he said. Under the guidance of the four political documents between China and Japan and the important consensus reached by leaders of the two countries, and in the spirit of taking history as a mirror and looking into the future, China is ready to work with Japan to strengthen high-level guidance, to enhance political mutual trust, to firmly grasp the general direction of peace, friendship and cooperation, and to push for steady development of bilateral relations on the right track, he said. China supports Japan in hosting a successful Group of 20 summit in Osaka, which will effectively boost confidence and positive expectations from the international community and inject more positive energy into world economic development, Yang said. Abe asked Yang to convey his cordial greetings to Chinese leaders. He said this year is an important year, as Japan entered the Era of "Reiwa" and China will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Abe said he looks forward to promoting bilateral relations and opening a new era of China-Japan relations. Yang visited Japan and co-chaired the sixth high-level political dialogue between China and Japan at the invitation of Japanese National Security Advisor Shotaro Yachi. During the visit, Yang also met with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga respectively. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 23:10:58|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close HANGZHOU, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The agricultural trade between China and the Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) has grown rapidly, with the annual trade volume amounting to 1.2 billion U.S. dollars, a Chinese agricultural official said Friday. Han Changfu, minister of agriculture and rural affairs, said at the Fourth China-CEEC Agriculture Ministers Meeting that bilateral agricultural investment expanded fast as well and cooperation has been enriched. A dozen quarantine protocols on farm produce exported to China have been signed, making it much easier for more high-quality products from CEECs to enter the Chinese market. The first demonstration zone of agricultural cooperation between China and the CEECs was launched in Bulgaria, and the first China-CEEC Agricultural E-commerce Logistics Center and Exhibition Hall opened in Shenzhen, according to Han. "China will jointly build demonstration zones for agricultural cooperation with Bulgaria and Cyprus and encourage more competent Chinese enterprises to invest in the agriculture and rural areas of CEECs," Han said. Furthermore, China and CEECs will open their markets wider to each other and promote the sharing of technological achievements to enhance overall agricultural productivity, said Han. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 23:11:00|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close DAMASCUS, May 17 (Xinhua) -- As many as 25 airstrikes targeted rebel positions in northern Syria Friday, as part of the ongoing military campaign to defeat the ultra-radical militants in their last strongholds, a war monitor reported. The airstrikes targeted the positions of the rebels in the countryside of Hama and Idlib provinces as well as the mountainous areas in the countryside of Latakia province, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. This comes as clashes renewed on Friday between the Syrian army and the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the umbrella group of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, in the countryside areas of Idlib and Hama provinces. The Syrian army has started an operation against the HTS in the northern countryside of Hama province in central Syria and the nearby Idlib province late last month. The Syrian government said the attacks are a response to the rebels' attacks and infiltration attempts into Syrian military sites in that region. Idlib is the last major rebel stronghold in Syria and is now controlled by the HTS. Areas in the countryside of Hama, Idlib and the western countryside of Aleppo are included in the de-escalation zones deal which was reached between Russia and Turkey in September 2018. The deal failed to materialize as the HTS expanded in Idlib and started attacks on Syrian military positions instead of withdrawing from the designated zone which combines Idlib with Hama and Aleppo countryside. File photo taken on Dec. 16, 2009 shows world-renowned architect Ieoh Ming Pei attending a dinner event at the Museum of Chinese in America in New York, the United States. (Xinhua/Wang Jiangang) NEW YORK, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Renowned China-born American architect Ieoh Ming Pei, commonly known as I. M. Pei, died at age 102, several sources confirmed on Thursday. Pei was born in Guangzhou, China, and raised in Hong Kong and Shanghai, before moving to the United States in 1935. He studied architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. File photo shows the John Hancock Tower designed by world-renowned architect Ieoh Ming Pei in Boston, the United States. (Xinhua) Since the 1940s, he has been the mastermind behind a wide variety of famous buildings including the glass pyramid at The Louvre in Paris, the Bank of China skyscraper in Hong Kong, and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library in Boston, to name just a few. File photo taken on April 26, 2017 shows people visiting the new Suzhou Museum designed by world-renowned architect Ieoh Ming Pei in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province. (Xinhua/Wang Jiankang) Pei won the Pritzker Prize, known as the Nobel Prize of architecture, in 1983. In 1988, U.S. President Ronald Reagan honored him with a National Medal of Arts, and President George H.W. Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992. The Committee of 100 (C100), a premier U.S. organization of Chinese-American leaders from different fields, issued a statement Thursday evening, mourning the passing of the acclaimed architect, who was also the C100 co-founder. File photo taken on July 14, 2012 shows an airshow above the Louvre glass pyramid designed by world-renowned architect Ieoh Ming Pei in Paris, France. (Xinhua/Etienne Laurent) "What a wonderful life and great achievements. I.M. exemplified to the utmost what it means to be Chinese American. Our deepest condolences to the Pei family," said H. Roger Wang, chair of the C100, in the statement. Grace Meng, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, saluted Pei as "a giant," "an iconic and legendary architect whose bold and groundbreaking vision created so many famous and prominent buildings," in a separate statement following the news on his death. File photo taken on May 26, 2003 shows people visiting the newly-built German Historic Museum designed by world-renowned architect Ieoh Ming Pei in Berlin, Germany. (Xinhua/Li Mingfang) "His long and distinguished career had an enormous impact on the designing of buildings and structures throughout the world, and his influence will continue to live on for decades to come," said Meng. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 23:21:07|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close WUHAN, May 17 (Xinhua) -- A central Chinese museum on Friday became the first in the country to offer full 5G coverage and multiple related services including real-time viewing of a 2,400-year-old bronze chime. The Wuhan Provincial Museum said the entire museum is now covered by the 5G wireless network, and a package of 5G-based applications are offered to allow the public to have "unprecedented" interactions with the collections. Among the new services is a virtual reality (VR) zone that allows visitors to strike the Zenghouyi chime bells, a treasure of the museum dating back to the Warring State Period (475-221 BC), in a virtual environment. The chime, after excavation in 1978, had only been physically struck three times. Panoramic cameras were also installed to capture real-time videos of the chime, which are then transmitted via the 5G network to mobile applications and screens at the museum. "With larger bandwidth and lower latency, the 5G network makes such live broadcasting of collections possible. It presents smoother videos and allows access to a greater number of viewers," said Yang Lisheng, deputy director of the museum's information center. The museum said they have worked with China Mobile and tech giant Huawei to introduce the 5G network at the facility. As International Museum Day falls on Saturday, more Chinese museums are expected to announce their attempts in technological innovation, which is being promoted to facilitate the protection of and public access to the country's many cultural relics. The National Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA) said last week that China is working to build smart museums with new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), VR, augmented reality (AR), immersion display and smart guidance. China owns 767,000 sites of immovable cultural relics and over 100 million pieces of movable artifacts, as well as a huge number of relics in the hands of private collectors. The number of museums in China has increased from 349 in 1978 to currently over 5,000, according to the NCHA, and their popularity has been on the rise especially among domestic tourists. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 23:21:10|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close BANGKOK, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's weather agency on Friday announced that the country's rainy season begins next Monday and will last until mid-October. The Meteorological Department said light rain could be expected between late June and mid-July. Farmers outside irrigation zones may suffer from water insufficiency. Stronger downpours will take place in August and September. Cloudy skies and intermittent showers are seen this week in some parts of the country. Thailand has recorded the highest temperature in the history of northern provinces, with the mercury hitting 44.2 degrees Celsius in Lampang Province in April. Rainy season in the tropical country typically begins from May and last until October. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 23:26:15|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close STOCKHOLM, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The Swedish Police Union has called on the government to investigate the possibility of hiring Norwegian police in Sweden, according to a press release issued Friday. The present shortage of qualified police officers in Sweden is severe enough that the national Swedish Police Union is turning to their western neighbour for help. "In view of the police shortage we have in Sweden, all ways to increase the number must be investigated," Lena Nitz, chair of the Swedish Police Union, said in the press release. In the lead up to winning Sweden's most recent federal election, the Lofven government promised 10,000 new police jobs by 2024. Meeting that commitment is going to require significant increase of resources, both financial and human. "If the politicians' goals of 10,000 more police employees, of which the majority are to be police officers, become reality by 2024, all the measures that can be taken must be taken," said Nitz. While Sweden faces a shortage of officers, in Norway the situation is reversed, with over 250 recently-qualified recruits unable to find positions after passing their entrance exams. "These are motivated and highly qualified police officers who after a supplementary education could be included in the Swedish police force," the Swedish Police Union wrote on Friday. "In contacts with our Norwegian colleagues, they have shown interest in this, but of course this has to be investigated properly," said Nitz. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 23:31:20|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) --The 15th Beijing-Tokyo Forum will be held in Beijing from Oct. 25 to 27 in Beijing, China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration announced Friday. The forum will focus on drastic changes of the world and thoroughly explore the responsibilities and actions that China and Japan should take in safeguarding the peace of Asia and the world as well as in promoting the world's prosperous development, said Gao Anming, deputy head of the administration. Sub-forums will cover fields such as politics and diplomacy, security and media. Public opinion surveys will be jointly conducted in China and Japan, the results of which will be published prior to the opening of the forum. Based on current international situations, China and Japan should act together and shoulder common responsibility, said Gao, adding the forum this year will be grounded on previous experiences of success, innovate its contents and styles, and strive to play a greater role. The Beijing-Tokyo Forum was launched by China Daily and non-profit Japanese organization Genron NPO in 2005. The forum, held alternately in Beijing and Tokyo, aims to improve bilateral relationship and deepen mutual understanding between China and Japan. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 23:31:25|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KAMPALA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Uganda is committed to a peaceful coexistence with her neighbor Rwanda despite a recent hitch, Uganda's foreign minister said here on Friday. "We are convinced that the current hitch in the state of our bilateral relations will be resolved," said Uganda's minister of foreign affairs Sam Kutesa while briefing diplomats accredited to Uganda on the status of the Uganda-Rwanda relations. Uganda is working tirelessly behind the scene to improve relations with Rwanda, said Kutesa. He said he has made numerous contacts with his Rwandan counterpart Richard Sezibera and also traveled to Rwanda as a special envoy of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. Rwanda made allegations that Uganda was harassing its citizens and hosting elements hostile to the government of Rwanda, which are false, he added. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 23:31:27|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close NAIROBI, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Envoys from the European Union on Friday vowed to support Kenya in the ongoing purge against runaway corruption and the crackdown on counterfeit goods in the country. The envoys led by Stephano Dejak, Head of EU Delegation to Kenya, encouraged President Uhuru Kenyatta for the sweeping crackdown on corruption and related economic crimes including proliferation of counterfeit goods in the country. "The ambassadors said corruption and related economic crimes are a major hindrance to the growth of enterprises and expansion of the investment environment in the country," Kenyatta's office said in a statement issued after talks were held with the presidency in Nairobi. The foreign envoys met Kenyatta ahead of the launch of a dialogue forum between the Kenya Private Sector Alliance and European Union Business Council (EU-KEPSA forum). They committed to increasing funding for Kenya's counter-terrorism activities, the Kenya Coast Guard service, value-chain addition in the blue economy and agribusiness programs to help demonstrate their commitment in deepening relations between Kenya and the EU. The envoys from 18 EU member states also said they fully support Kenyatta's Big 4 development agenda and as a way forward, the bloc committed to deepening its partnership with the government in the development of skilled labor through technical and vocational education and training. They said it is through technical and vocational training that the country can build adequate human resource capacity to enable the youth to engage in gainful employment. On the EU-KEPSA forum, the envoys lauded Kenyatta for facilitating the dialogue, saying it will go a long way in enhancing mutually beneficial commercial ties between Kenya and the European Union. "The dialogue we are holding today sends a strong message to the world of how much Kenya values its development partners," said Dejak. During the meeting, Kenyatta said he will continue spearheading the war on corruption and welcomed the support of the EU in the struggle, saying his determination to restore integrity in the country will never be derailed. He said the new pledges by the envoys will help fastrack the country's push toward attaining the middle-income economy status as envisioned in the nation's Vision 2030 development agenda. "We are aware that there are those who are out working tirelessly to frustrate the process being undertaken to curb corruption so that we can go back to the old system. We will not be hoodwinked by their sideshows," the president said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-17 23:36:31|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close GENEVA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) called on Friday for a drastic change of course in order to tackle climate change, which has been associated with sea level rise and extreme weather as a result of record high greenhouse gas levels. "We live with the highest concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere for 3 million years," WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas told the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, which is organized biennially by the United Nations (UN) Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. The four warmest years on record have been in the past four years, and the warming trend, which has lasted since the start of this century, is expected to continue as a result of the increase in greenhouse gas levels. Climate change mitigation is essential, as is climate change adaptation, he stressed. According to WMO records, 14 weather and climate-related disasters occurred last year in the U.S. alone, causing a devastation valued at more than 1 billion U.S. dollars. The total loss was approximately 49 billion U.S. dollars. Worldwide, more than 35 million people were affected by floods last year. This year, tropical Cyclone Idai left more than 1,000 people dead in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi. A few weeks later, tropical Cyclone Kenneth became the strongest storm to make landfall and strike the furthest north in Mozambique since modern records began. "If I had to select one sentence to describe the state of the world, I would say we are in a world in which global challenges are more and more integrated, and the responses are more and more fragmented, and if this is not reversed, it's a recipe for disaster," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres commented in the "Global Assessment Report 2019," published to coincide with the global platform. Earlier this month, the WMO hosted the Second Multi-Hazard Early Warning Conference, which focused on ways to improve warnings and action in the face of hazards like earthquakes, volcanic eruptions or extreme weather. Participants recommended that while innovations in information and communication technologies can be effectively used to reach vulnerable communities, it is vital that an early warning system takes into account peoples' needs and their perceptions of risk. The conference also called for impact-based forecasting based on partnerships between the scientific and research communities, and humanitarian and development practitioners, to ensure that warnings translate into actions. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-18 00:07:14|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) meets with visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Beijing, capital of China, May 17, 2019. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- China hopes to work with the Iranian side to eliminate complicated disturbing factors and make efforts for the full implementation of the Iran nuclear deal, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Friday. Wang made the remarks when meeting with visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. "China firmly opposes unilateral sanctions and the so-called 'long-arm jurisdiction' imposed by the United States on Iran," Wang said, pledging to maintain the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the Iran nuclear deal, and safeguard the authority of the United Nations and basic norms governing international relations. China welcomes Iran to actively take part in the joint building of the Belt and Road and hopes to strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation, Wang said. Zarif praised China for its important role in defending the Iran nuclear deal and vowed to strengthen bilateral and multilateral coordination so as to safeguard multilateralism and common interests of the two countries. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-18 00:32:37|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close LUSAKA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Business confidence in the private sector in Zambia decreased significantly during the first quarter of 2019 compared to the same period last year, survey results released on Friday showed. According to the Business Confidence Index (BCI) produced by the Zambia Chambers of Commerce and Industry, confidence by the private sector decreased from 161.4 points recorded in the first quarter of 2018 to 137.8 points in the first quarter of 2019. Michael Nyirenda, president of the association, said during a press briefing to release the results that the decrease signifies negative sentiments about the business climate in the country. He attributed the decrease to the depreciation of the local currency, low sales due to reduced demand and delayed payments by the government as well as poor liquidity and increased competition from foreign goods. According to him, other factors included policy inconsistence, lost contracts to supply the mining sector and poor rainfall in some parts of the country. The association has since appealed to the government to ensure policy consistency in order to create a predictable business environment and to ensure timely payment to suppliers of goods and services in order to avoid shocking the business community. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-18 00:32:38|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close GENEVA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Several people including five children were killed in airstrikes on Wednesday in Yemen's capital Sanaa, a spokesperson for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said here on Friday. "Several people were killed, and dozens were injured when airstrikes hit Sana'a city," said OCHA Geneva spokesperson Jens Laerke at a UN briefing here where UN agencies highlighted recent flare-ups in fighting in different parts of Yemen. "Preliminary reports indicate that five children have died and 16 more are wounded; additional causalities, including health workers have been reported," he said, citing Lise Grande, the Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen. Battles raging between the Yemeni government forces and the Houthis continued in the country's southern province of al-Dhalea, left five soldiers and seven rebels killed on Wednesday, a military official had told Xinhua. UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, spokesperson Andrej Mahecic said at the Geneva briefing that refugees are known to be among those injured and affected in the attack on Sanna. A Somali refugee woman and her daughter are among those now receiving critical treatment in hospital. "Incidents like this which result in the tragic loss of civilian life and injury continue to illustrate the fact that the war in Yemen is taking a brutal toll on the civilian population," said Mahecic. UN World Food Programme (WFP) spokesperson Herve Verhoosel said: "WFP is closely monitoring the volatile situation across Yemen. The recent flare-up in hostilities in Hodeidah, Sanaa, and Dhalea is deeply concerning." The WFP was working to minimize the impact of these hostilities to ensure its ability to safely and efficiently reach those most in need. He stressed "again" that the WFP is calling for free and unrestricted access across the country. "This is essential if we want to reach our target of providing food to 12 million people in Yemen, people who don't know where their next meal will come from," said Verhoosel. A civil war has plagued Yemen since late 2014 after Houthi rebels revolted and forced the internationally-recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi into exile. Saudi Arabia leads an Arab military coalition that has intervened in Yemen's conflict since 2015 to support the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after Houthi rebels forced him into exile. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-18 00:42:43|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close VALLETTA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Colourful Chinese kites decorated the blue skies above the Maltese capital on Friday, attracting hundreds of children and visitors to the 2nd Chinese kite festival. The festival coincides with the 30th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and thus it is "taking on an even deeper meaning", said Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, president emeritus of Malta and chair of the President's Foundation of the Wellbeing of Society. "Diplomacy is not only for politicians. Cultural diplomacy is also for people to come together to connect, to be friends and develop respect and sustainable friendships," she said. A demonstration of dragon kite flying by Guo Hongli, a master kite builder from China's prefecture-level city of Weifang in Shandong Province, was a highlight of the event. Some 200 students from 5 Maltese schools flew 100 traditional Chinese kites. "The kite is beautiful. I like the colour, the art, the shape," commented Maruska Pulis, a 13-year-old student from Bormla, adding that she'd be glad to attend other Chinese cultural events. With the aim of promoting traditional Chinese kite culture, Guo Hongli and his team will visit 7 schools and also hold kite-making workshops for the Maltese public in the coming days. As part of this year's festival, the Malta National Community Art Museum (MUZA) will showcase a selection of Chinese kites until May 31. The festival was organised by the China Cultural Centre in Malta in collaboration with the President's Foundation of the Wellbeing of Society and MUZA. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-18 00:57:49|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close BRUSSELS, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said here on Friday that the bloc is prepared to negotiate a limited trade deal with the United States including cars. "We note that U.S. postpones decision on car tariffs for 180 days. But we completely reject the notion that our car exports are a national security threat," wrote Malmstrom in a twitter message. The EU is prepared to negotiate a limited trade agreement with the U.S. including cars, she added. "Will discuss with USTR (Trade Representative Robert) Lighthizer next week in Paris and Trade Ministers on 27 May," tweeted the trade chief. The U.S. Department of Commerce submitted to President Donald Trump a report related to the car imports probe in mid-February. Trump said days after receiving the document that imposing the auto tariffs remains an option. Trump had 90 days since the submission of the report to decide whether to implement those punitive tariffs. On Friday, the Trump administration postponed the auto tariffs decision for another 180 days for agreements to be reached. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Sergei Lavrov attends the annual meeting of the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Council of Europe in Helsinki on May 17, 2019. (AFP PHOTO) MOSCOW, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Russia has no intention to abandon the 47-nation Council of Europe (CoE) and is ready to continue its work in the organization for the sake of European security, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday. "We are interested in continuing our work in the Council of Europe on the basis of the norms of international law and the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, which should be interpreted and applied in their inseparable relationship," he said in an address to a meeting of CoE foreign ministers in Finland's Helsinki, according to an official transcript published by the Russian Foreign Ministry. At the meeting, the future position of Russia in the CoE was discussed. Lavrov added that Russia did not refuse any of its obligations assumed within the council, including financial ones. He did not specify, however, if Moscow intended to repay its membership dues. Russia has not been paying its membership dues to the CoE since summer 2017. It suspended payments following the decision by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) earlier to cancel its voting rights. It was done in protest against Russia's actions in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine. Russia has described the actions of PACE as unlawful and contradicting the CoE Charter. In October last year, CoE Secretary-General Thorbjorn Jagland said that the organization might expel Russia if Moscow does not resume payments to its budget. Russian officials have repeatedly said that Russia might quit the CoE without waiting for the expulsion. Lavrov said at the foreign ministers' meeting that he expected PACE to confirm that the Charter should be observed not only by member states, but also by its statutory bodies. He recalled that after the sanctions were imposed by PACE, more than half of the judges of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and the Commissioner for Human Rights have been elected and the CoE will soon elect its Secretary General. It is obvious that the non-participation of the Russian delegation in them will have far-reaching consequences, Lavrov said. Moscow is convinced that Europe should understand that without Russia, it is hardly possible to ensure genuine European security in every dimension, he said. "We support all those who advocate the cessation of senseless confrontation and the integrity of the Council of Europe. This requires a return to the original principles of the Organization, the key of which is the equality of all the participating states," Lavrov said. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-18 02:13:22|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close TRIPOLI, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Libya's east-based army handed over three Philippine engineers and a South Korean engineer kidnapped by gunmen last year in southwestern Libya to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a military source told Xinhua on Friday. "Four foreigners ... kidnapped by gunmen last year have been handed over to the UAE in preparation for their return to home early next week," the source said. "The four foreigners were transported by air from eastern Libya to the UAE based on requests from their countries," the sources added, confirming that the engineers were in good health condition. The source said that the kidnapping was a "criminal act for huge ransom." The source did not reveal details about the time of the freeing of the engineers or the identities of the kidnappers. In July 2018, gunmen attacked a water supply project located more than 800 km southwest of the capital Tripoli and took the four engineers. The army, led by Khalifa Haftar, has been leading a military campaign against crime and terrorism in southern Libya since mid-January. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-18 02:18:25|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, May 17 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Friday called for efforts to carry forward the political process in Syria with the United Nations as the main channel of mediation. "We should continue to promote the Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political process in accordance with Security Council Resolution 2254. The United Nations should continue to play its role as the main channel of mediation and address in a balanced way the legitimate concerns of all parties, including those of the Syrian government," Ma Zhaoxu, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, told a Security Council meeting on Syria. China supports the joint efforts to promote the establishment of a constitutional committee in Syria, and supports the continued important role of the Astana process, which is in parallel with the UN-led Geneva process. Russia, Turkey and Iran serve as the guarantors for Astana talks. With regard to the issue of the constitutional committee, China supports the work of Geir Pedersen, the UN secretary-general's special envoy for Syria, to consult with relevant parties of the international community, and looks forward to further progress in the relevant consultations, said Ma. He also asked the international community to take into account the full picture of the humanitarian issue in Syria. "We commend the United Nations and the relevant parties for their humanitarian operations in Syria. Humanitarian assistance should be provided to all regions and all people in need. We also support targeted humanitarian assistance measures in northwest Syria." In the long run, he said, the international community should help Syria restore its economic and social order and support the participation of its people in the development and building of their nation. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-18 03:03:48|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close Ma Zhaoxu (C, front), China's permanent representative to the United Nations, briefs the Security Council on the situation in Syria, at the UN headquarters in New York, May 17, 2019. Ma Zhaoxu on Friday asked the international community to fight terrorism and push forward the political process in Syria. (Xinhua/Li Muzi) UNITED NATIONS, May 17 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Friday asked the international community to fight terrorism and push forward the political process in Syria. "It is imperative to fight terrorism resolutely and safeguard the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Syria in order to restore security and stability across the country as soon as possible," Ma Zhaoxu, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, told a Security Council meeting on Syria. Counterterrorism is a major part of the solution to the Syrian problem. Without eradicating terrorism, there will be no peace for the Syrian people and no security for countries in the region, said Ma. The international community should harmonize standards, crack down resolutely on all terrorist groups listed by the Security Council, and constantly consolidate the counterterrorism achievements, he said. China is watching closely the situation in northwest Syria, said Ma. He noted that Russia and Turkey signed a memorandum of understanding in September 2018, reiterating their determination to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations with a view to maintaining stability in northwest Syria. In the past few months, he said, terrorist groups have strengthened control in Idlib and put civilians in harm's way in areas under their control. And they have launched frequent attacks on the Russian military base and in the areas under the control of the Syrian government, which have led to civilian casualties and undermined regional security in a serious manner. The international community will not allow these reckless actions of the terrorist forces. China supports counter-attacks on the heinous acts of the terrorist groups, said the Chinese ambassador. He called for efforts to help carry forward the political process in Syria with the United Nations as the main channel of mediation. "We should continue to promote the Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political process in accordance with Security Council Resolution 2254. The United Nations should continue to play its role as the main channel of mediation and address in a balanced way the legitimate concerns of all parties, including those of the Syrian government." China supports the joint efforts to promote the establishment of a constitutional committee in Syria, and supports the continued important role of the Astana process, which is in parallel with the UN-led Geneva process. Russia, Turkey and Iran serve as the guarantors for Astana talks. With regard to the issue of the constitutional committee, China supports the work of the UN secretary-general's special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, to consult with relevant parties of the international community, and looks forward to further progress in the relevant consultations, said Ma. China is ready to work with rest of the Security Council to promote a political solution to the Syrian problem and jointly address counterterrorism and humanitarian challenges, he said. The Chinese ambassador asked the international community to take into account the full picture of the humanitarian issue in Syria. "We commend the United Nations and the relevant parties for their humanitarian operations in Syria. Humanitarian assistance should be provided to all regions and all people in need. We also support targeted humanitarian assistance measures in northwest Syria." In the long run, he said, the international community should help Syria restore its economic and social order and support the participation of its people in the development and building of their nation. Ever since the beginning of the Syrian crisis, China has provided food, medical services, office supplies, public transportation, personnel training, and other kinds of humanitarian assistance to the country. In the future, China will continue, to the best of its capacity, to provide assistance and support to Syria, said Ma. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-18 03:18:59|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close CAIRO, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi issued a decree on Friday pardoning 560 prisoners, including young people and prisoners with health problems. Prominent journalist Abdel-Halim Qandil was among those pardoned based on their medical condition, official Ahram Online reported. Qandil was sentenced in October 2017 to three years in prison for insulting the judiciary and criticizing court rulings. His sentence was upheld in October 2018. The decree, which was published in the official gazette on Friday, granted him compassionate release based on his medical condition. All those pardoned were convicted in cases between 2013 and 2017. Under the Egyptian constitution, the president can issue pardon decrees for prisoners who have received final court rulings that cannot be further appealed. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-18 03:24:01|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close ABUJA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- At least five villagers were killed and many stores were burned down when Boko Haram militants stormed a village in Nigeria's northeastern state of Adamawa, military sources told Xinhua on Friday. Many others were wounded as the terror group wreaked havoc in Shuwa village near the town of Madagali late Thursday for up to three hours, one top military officer said via telephone. They drove into the village with pickup trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns and motorcycles on a mission to loot food items, said the military officer who sought anonymity because he/she was not authorized to speak to the media about the attack. "They didn't just kill, they also stole from the people and set their stores ablaze before the arrival of security forces deployed to repel the attack," the source said. Some of the villagers who spoke to Xinhua by telephone said they slept out in the mountains and came back on Friday morning to bury their relatives and count their losses. One villager surnamed James said the militants shot everyone at sight, noting that the elderly, children and the sick all ran for their lives. "Over 50 stores were burned down after they looted all the items in the shops. I lost everything, but I am glad that I survived," he said. Another resident who fled to a mountain nearby said the deployment of security forces led to a gunfight, which lasted more than four hours, with the Boko Haram militants. Madagali, a town 285 km north of the Adamawa State capital Yola, is one of the most-hit towns by Boko Haram in Nigeria's northeast region. Boko Haram's militancy has killed about 20,000 people since 2009 and left more than 2.6 million homeless. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-18 03:29:06|Editor: Liangyu Video Player Close Mitchell Stanley, chairman of the U.S. National Center for Sustainable Development (NCSD), receives an interview with Xinhua in Houston, the United States, on May 16, 2019. The United States and China should facilitate the collaboration of small businesses from both countries for sustainable economic development, Stanley told Xinhua at the fourth U.S.-China Innovation and Investment Summit in Houston. The fourth U.S.-China Innovation and Investment Summit kicked off Thursday in Houston, bringing a new wave of technology and innovation investment to the city. (Xinhua/Liu Liwei) HOUSTON, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The United States and China should facilitate the collaboration of small businesses from both countries for sustainable economic development, a U.S. business leader has said. Small and medium-sized businesses "are all elements of an economy that not only can weather any crisis but also can grow dramatically in terms of jobs, opportunity for people and economic benefit for all," U.S. National Center for Sustainable Development (NCSD) Chairman Mitchell Stanley told Xinhua Thursday at the fourth U.S.-China Innovation and Investment Summit in Houston, U.S. state of Texas. Stanley underscored the importance of U.S.-China economic relations despite the current trade friction. "The economic relations between the United States and China, despite their current difficulty, are the most fundamentally important ones to the United States for now and for our future of our children and grandchildren," he noted. In order to facilitate the energy business of the two countries, the NCSD signed two Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with Chinese companies. The MoUs were signed between the NCSD and China Hainan Dayang International Energy Group Co. Ltd. and Zhuhai Dayang International Exchange Group respectively. The memorandums aim to help establish an international energy exchange platform for U.S. and Chinese small energy companies to do business together. Stanley said establishing this platform allows U.S. small businesses to sell their products in the global market. "What we needed always is to get a middle market, a small business global trade platform," he said. "This case allows individual exporters with individual products to go and sell their products into a global marketplace and get paid for it through this platform." Gong Jialong, CEO of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area International Energy Exchange Co. Ltd., said China-U.S. cooperation in energy has great potential. "China is the world's largest energy consumer and U.S. is one of the largest producers," he said. "Around 60 to 70 percent of energy producers in the U.S. are small businesses. We aim to connect the American small business with the Chinese market." Jointly hosted by China Science and Technology Exchange Center and U.S.-China Innovation Alliance, the two-day summit that kicked off Thursday attracts around 300 participants from China and the United States, including entrepreneurs and investors, to meet face-to-face in Houston. The meeting not only enables Chinese entrepreneurs to learn about the development of science and technology in the United States, but also showcases the advantages of different cities in China, providing new opportunities for international investment and cooperation. The meeting covers four areas in science, health and technological innovations, including advanced manufacturing, biopharmaceutics and digital health & diagnosis, information and communication technology, as well as energy. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-18 03:34:08|Editor: Xiaoxia Video Player Close Students hold placards and chant slogans in a demonstration protesting climate change in Athens, Greece, on May 17, 2019. Greek students joined an international youth movement protesting climate change lately, as they marched for environmental protection in the center of Athens on Friday. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos) ATHENS, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Greek students joined an international youth movement protesting climate change lately, as they marched for environmental protection in the center of Athens on Friday. Starting from the foot of the Acropolis hill, students from elementary schools and high schools of the Greek capital held a colorful symbolic rally which ended with their representatives submitting to municipality officials their ideas on suggested actions to save the planet. "All together we can save the planet," Enrique, a high school student, chanted. "The planet is in our hands," his classmate Elena added. Similar slogans have been heard in over 120 countries in recent months by thousands of protesting students. They followed in the footsteps of 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who started protesting alone last year and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize this year for her work. The municipality of Athens warmly supported Friday's march, as it was held in the framework of a program launched two years ago in Athens and Berlin aimed to raise awareness for the protection of the environment in schools, Vice Mayor of Athens Maria Iliopoulou explained to Xinhua. City of Athens authorities in cooperation with the Hellenic Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs, Berlin's local government and NGOs in Greece and Germany have run environmental protection education programs in over 70 schools of Greece's capital. The results of the work done at schools will be collected in a report which will serve as a guideline for the municipality's educational environmental program from now on, Iliopoulou said. On Friday a first step was made with the declarations submitted by the students. "They hand over to us, the municipal authorities, declarations containing their ideas on what we can do," the Vice Mayor said. The students who rallied on Friday shared with passersby plenty of suggestions. "You should get items you can use again, like cotton carrier bags or metal straws," Erin Kelikeke said. "We should take care of the environment, save energy, recycle and do whatever possible to have a healthy environment for us and our future," Nepheli Tsarnata added. "I believe that all those who will see us, will do what we are asking them when they get back home," Marios Psillos, an elementary school pupil, told Xinhua. "I believe that we should do something to save the Earth," high school student Christina Zhang, said, raising a banner she had created reading "Saving energy starts from me" also in Chinese. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-18 03:39:12|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close NICOSIA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Tourist arrivals in Cyprus rose by 4.8 percent in April compared with the same month last year, setting a new record, according to a Statistical Service survey published on Friday. Compared with 314,143 travelers arriving in April 2018, their number for this year was 329,308. From January to April this year, tourist arrivals totaled 686,783 compared with 683,581 in the same period in 2018, an increase of 3,202, or 0.5 percent. Arrivals from the UK increased by 5.4 percent during the first four months of the year despite uncertainties surrounding Brexit, while 2.3 percent more tourists arrived from Russia and 37 percent more from Israel. It was reported that arrivals from Greece were at the same level as last year. A 16.4 percent decrease was recorded regarding tourist arrivals from Germany and a drop of 4.5 percent from Sweden, a traditional source of young visitors. The UK remains the biggest market, with a proportion of 35.5 percent, followed by Russia with 15.2 percent, Israel with 7.1 percent and Greece, 6.2 percent. Among all travelers, 78.4 percent arrived for a holiday, 14.3 percent visited friends and 7.3 percent were on the island for business. The number of Cypriots who travelled abroad this April also increased, by 3.1 percent, to 116,970 compared with 113,477 last year. Travel out of and into the eastern Mediterranean island is only possible by air as there are no established sea routes. Deputy Minister of Tourism Savvas Perdios said a week ago that tourism figures from the UK dropped at the beginning of the year and voiced concern that an ongoing nervousness about Brexit could impact the summer season and even drag on into 2020. Haris Loizides, head of the hoteliers' association, said "estimates at this time are that 2019 will be a difficult year and we would be happy if we manage to maintain the same figures at the level of 2018 or even 2017." Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-18 03:44:16|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close BUCHAREST, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Senior education officials and representatives from China and the countries of central and eastern Europe (CEEC) held an exchange of views on education policy in the western Romanian city of Timisoara on Friday. The agenda of the 7th China-CEEC Education Policy Dialogue included the role of university collaboration and exchanges in enhancing learning and teaching; strengthening collaboration in the field of language teaching; and promoting quality and excellence in technical and vocational education. On behalf of the Chinese Ministry of Education, China's Ambassador to Romania Jiang Yu presented three proposals for further strengthening cooperation in the field of education. She said that a "China-CEEC Educators' Leadership Program" and a "Joint Program between Chinese and CEEC Universities" should be launched to promote education policy exchanges and pragmatic cooperation in higher education. She also proposed to comprehensively implement China-CEEC accurate education cooperation and build up a more precise "China-CEEC educational research cooperation chain". Finally, she said that new areas should be explored in China-CEEC educational cooperation, especially in the field of vocational education. In this context, she said that China will encourage universities on both sides to jointly set up Luban Workshops to cultivate vocational talents. Jiang also acquainted the participants with the achievements of China and the CEEC in educational cooperation. According to her, 26 CEEC and 126 Chinese universities and colleges have joined the China-CEEC Higher Education Institutions Consortium to improve inter-school cooperation in research, talent cultivation and student exchange. Currently, 5,418 Chinese students are studying in the CEEC and 6,188 CEEC students are studying in China, 1,582 of them are on Chinese government scholarships. There are 34 Confucius Institutes and 43 Confucius Classrooms in the CEEC, and Chinese universities have opened 14 undergraduate programs of CEEC official languages. Jiang also told the participants that by the end of last year, China had signed 23 inter-governmental protocols and agreements on educational and cultural cooperation with 16 CEECs. Agreements on the mutual recognition of academic degrees and qualifications have been signed with 8 CEECs, and similar agreements are being prepared with the remaining 8 countries. The 6th Meeting of the China-CEEC Higher Education Institutions Consortium was a side event of the 7th China-CEEC Education Policy Dialogue. It attracted over 70 representatives from 39 Chinese universities, including the Renmin University and Beijing Normal University, as well as many of their peers in CEEC. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-18 03:44:19|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close WASHINGTON/OTTAWA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The United States and Canada reached a deal on Friday under which Washington will lift additional tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum imports it imposed over "national security" concerns. According to a joint statement issued by the two countries, they agreed to eliminate, no later than two days, all tariffs the United States imposed under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 on imports of aluminum and steel products from Canada, as well as all tariffs Canada imposed in retaliation. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement on Friday that the decision is terrific news for Canadian steel and aluminum workers, their families, and many communities across the country. The statement came after Trudeau spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump on phone Friday. According to a press release by the Canadian Prime Minister Office, Trudeau and Trump discussed the new trade deal between the United States, Mexico and Canada and other issues during their phone communication. Washington and Ottawa also "agree to terminate all pending litigation between them in the World Trade Organization regarding the Section 232 action," the joint statement added. The agreement also enables the importing country to impose duties of 25 percent for steel and 10 percent for aluminum "in the event that imports of aluminum or steel products surge meaningfully beyond historic volumes of trade over a period of time." The United States imposed the metal tariffs on imports from its trading partners worldwide, including Canada and Mexico, which urged the cancelation of the duties during the three parties' negotiation process for the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Trump has repeatedly called the NAFTA deal a "disaster," and has been reluctant to exempt Canada and Mexico from the steel and aluminum taxes even after the three countries signed the USMCA on Nov. 30. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-18 03:49:25|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close DAMASCUS, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian air defenses on Friday evening intercepted "luminous objects" coming from Israel, state TV reported. The report is yet to give details on the nature of the "luminous objects." The Syrian Army said that the air defenses were triggered by "enemy targets" coming from the direction of the southern province of Quneitra. Meanwhile, people in the capital heard explosions reverberating across the capital in the evening. If confirmed to be an attack, it wouldn't be the first Israeli missile attack to target Syrian sites. Israel has repeatedly targeted Syrian sites on the pretext that it was targeting sites belonging to Iran-backed militia such as the Lebanese Hezbollah group. File Photo: U.S. President Donald Trump (R) welcomes visiting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, on Oct. 11, 2017. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) WASHINGTON/OTTAWA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The United States and Canada reached a deal on Friday under which Washington will lift additional tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum imports it imposed over "national security" concerns. According to a joint statement issued by the two countries, they agreed to eliminate, no later than two days, all tariffs the United States imposed under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 on imports of aluminum and steel products from Canada, as well as all tariffs Canada imposed in retaliation. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement on Friday that the decision is terrific news for Canadian steel and aluminum workers, their families, and many communities across the country. The statement came after Trudeau spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump on phone Friday. According to a press release by the Canadian Prime Minister Office, Trudeau and Trump discussed the new trade deal between the United States, Mexico and Canada and other issues during their phone communication. Washington and Ottawa also "agree to terminate all pending litigation between them in the World Trade Organization regarding the Section 232 action," the joint statement added. The agreement also enables the importing country to impose duties of 25 percent for steel and 10 percent for aluminum "in the event that imports of aluminum or steel products surge meaningfully beyond historic volumes of trade over a period of time." The United States imposed the metal tariffs on imports from its trading partners worldwide, including Canada and Mexico, which urged the cancelation of the duties during the three parties' negotiation process for the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Trump has repeatedly called the NAFTA deal a "disaster," and has been reluctant to exempt Canada and Mexico from the steel and aluminum taxes even after the three countries signed the USMCA on Nov. 30. Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-18 04:14:35|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close NEW YORK, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices dropped on Friday amid worries over global demand, as investors followed up on updates regarding Iranian-U.S. tensions. The United Nations on Thursday called for "maximum restraint" from all parties amid heightened tensions between Iran and the United States and in the Gulf region. Senior Iranian officials have ruled out the likelihood of any negotiations with the United States under the sanction pressures, calling the U.S. sanctions as "economic terrorism, pure and simple." The United States has ramped up pressure on Iran, by designating Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps as a terror group, imposing a total ban on Iranian oil exports, and building up its military presence in the Gulf. On top of that, the number of active U.S. oil drillers fell three to 802 in the week to May 17, a sharp drop of 42 compared with the same period last year, U.S. energy services firm Baker Hughes said Friday. The reading marked the second weekly decrease in a row and also its lowest since March 2018. The West Texas Intermediate for June delivery decreased 0.11 U.S. dollar to settle at 62.76 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for July delivery fell 0.41 dollar to close at 72.21 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-18 04:54:48|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TUNIS, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Tourism revenues in Tunisia rose by 37.7 percent to reach 1.2 billion dinars (about 400 million U.S. dollars) from Jan. 1 to May 10, 2019, the tourism and handicrafts ministry announced on Friday. About 2.4 million tourists have travelled to Tunisia so far in 2019, according to a ministry's statement. The Arab Maghreb countries ranked first in terms of number of tourists who visited Tunisia during the period, with 1.4 million tourists, up 12.5 percent, including 776,073 Algerians and 642,800 Libyans. The total number of European tourists rose by 22.2 percent, reaching 512,775, including 244,000 French people and 54,300 Germans. The number of Chinese tourists rose by 11.8 percent to 12,900. The number of overnight stays increased 17.1 percent to 4.8 million, and the island of Djerba in eastern Tunisia ranked top with 1.1 million overnight stays, added the statement. According to the ministry, Tunisia seeks to host 9 million tourists in 2019, more than the 8 million in 2018. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-18 05:04:52|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Five children were reportedly among people killed in Thursday's attacks on Yemen's capital of Sanaa, a UN spokesman said on Friday. Sixteen more children were among the dozens of people injured, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, told a regular briefing. In addition, several health workers were also reportedly among the casualties from the Thursday strikes, he said. Lisa Grande, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Yemen, said in a statement issued in Sanaa, "We grieve with the families of the victims and are aghast this tragedy has occurred." She said the strikes were a tragic reminder of all the reasons the war must end. "International humanitarian law is clear," said Grande. Everything must be done to protect civilians. This is not optional. This is a legal, and above all, moral obligation on all parties." Fighting in Yemen has continued despite the Hodeidah Agreement reached in Sweden in December, an accord calling for a partial cease-fire to set up demilitarized zones in the vicinity of three Red Sea ports. Phase 1 of the Hodeidah Agreement only began to take form in practice earlier this week when the rebel Houthis withdrew from the major Hodeidah port and the two lesser ports of Ras Issa and Saleef, officials said. The ports are crucial for getting humanitarian aid to a country on the brink of starvation. Dujarric said the Yemeni parties met from Tuesday through Thursday in Amman, Jordan, discussing the implementation of Phase 2 of the accord. The UN special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, continues to engage with the parties to further these discussions and advance the implementation of the agreement, Dujarric said. The latest talks took aim at reaching agreement on financial aspects, such as repair, maintenance and general operating expenses of the ports, including workers' pay, humanitarian aid agencies have reported. Turkish Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan delivers a speech at a meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, on April 12, 2019. (Xinhua/Xu Suhui) ANKARA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Turkey on Friday welcomed Washington's decision to halve tariffs on steel imports, and urged the United States to remove all trade obstacles. "Elimination of the additional 25-percent tariffs on Turkish steel imports is a positive step. However, we expect the eradication of all obstacles to bilateral trade," Turkey's Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan tweeted. Pekcan's statements came after U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to cut tariffs on Turkish steel imports from 50 percent to 25 percent. The U.S. doubled tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminium imports in August, 2018 amid a diplomatic spat over the detention of a U.S. pastor. Meanwhile, the White House announced the end of Turkey's eligibility for the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program, a policy of preferential trade treatment for its participant countries. The decision took effect on Friday. Pekcan criticized the U.S. move contradicted the countries' mutual goal of 75 billion dollars in annual bilateral trade, saying it will also hit U.S. companies. The GSP program allows duty-free exports of thousands kinds of industrial products to the U.S. Turkey has been a part of GSP since 1975. In March, the U.S. said Turkey would no longer benefit from the scheme since the country was "sufficiently economically developed." Sighisoara: Dosar penal pentru desenarea a doua svastici Politistii din Sighisoara au deschis un dosar de urmarire penala pe numele unui tanar de 15 ani, pentru utilizarea in public a simbolurilor antisemite, fiind banuit ca este autorul celor doua svastici desenate pe doi stalpi apartinand sinagogii din municipiu."La data de 24 decembrie [citeste mai departe] National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) detectives detained and handed suspicion to the former head of the National Guard, Yuriy Allerov Open source A few days ago, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) detectives detained and handed suspicion to the former head of the National Guard, Yuriy Allerov, and the court is about to elect a preventive measure. We have gathered the main things you should know about this case. On May 7, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko dismissed Colonel-General Yuriy Allerov, Commander of the National Guard of Ukraine, at his own request, and a week after the latter was detained by NABU detectives and handed over suspicion of misappropriation of property to a large department under his control amount of. Coincidence? Let's figure it out. What do we know about Yuriy Allerov Yuriy Allerov is 55 years old. He was born on February 6, 1964, in Lviv. He obtained his first higher education at the Leningrad General Military School in 1985, and then he graduated from the Academy of the Armed Forces, where he studied at the operational-tactical faculty (1997). In 2011, he defended his Ph.D. thesis on "Military service activities of the security forces." As for the military career, until recently, it looked quite successful. By 2010, Allerov had gone a path from a platoon commander to the head of the Western Territorial Command of the Interior Troops of Ukraine. In 2011, he became a major general. A year later, he was appointed a head of the Directorate of the Southern Territorial Command of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine but subsequently returned to the Western sector, which in spring 2014 became a structural unit of the National Guard. Then, in April 2014, Allerov became known for convincing Jaguar special forces, demoralized by the events on the Maidan to go to Kharkiv, and there to fulfill an order to unblock state institutions seized by pro-Russian militants and separatists. There is also information that in April-July of the same year Allerov was a participant in the armed actions in Donbas, in particular in the battles for Slovyansk (Donetsk region). Open source So, on the eve of Independence Day of Ukraine, on August 23, 2014, he was given the rank of lieutenant general, and on December 30, 2015, President Petro Poroshenko appointed him commander of the National Guard of Ukraine. In 2016, Allerov received the Order of Bogdan Khmelnytsky of II degree "for personal achievements in protecting the territorial integrity of the Ukrainian state, courage and high professionalism shown in countering manifestations of separatism in the Kharkiv region in April 2014." In addition, he has eight more awards for good service. In August 2017, he was given the next military rank Colonel-General, and then something happened that today we are talking about Allerov again he was dismissed from his post and detained by NABU detectives. Whats the former head of the National Guard been charged with? According to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, the former head of the National Guard, Yuriy Allerov, was detained on May 14, 2019, in connection with reporting suspicion of committing a crime, which qualifies under Part 5 of Art. 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (appropriation, embezzlement of property or the taking of it by abuse of official position). Its paragraph 5 is the most serious and involves sanctions in the form of imprisonment for a term of 7 to 12 years with deprivation of the right to hold certain posts or engage in certain activities for up to 3 years and with confiscation of property. In particular, Allerov is accused of taking possession of the property of the Main Directorate of the National Guard by preliminary agreement on a large sum of 2,8 million USD. The investigation found that in the 2000s, the Main Directorate of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine (National Guard of Ukraine) and Ukrbud development company concluded an agreement according to which a residential complex with built-in parking and non-residential premises had to be built at the territory of the military unit. In exchange for a land plot of about 1 hectare in the center of Kyiv, the National Guard was supposed to receive 50 apartments and 30 parking places in the residential complex. However, in 2016-2017, the parties entered into additional agreements, according to which the National Guard refused to give up these apartments and parking spaces in Pechersk district of Kyiv (an elite part of Ukraines capital) in exchange for 65 apartments in the house, which the same development company built on the outskirts of Kyiv (near Chervony Khutir metro station). The cost of these apartments, as established by the examination carried out within the framework of the pre-trial investigation, is 2,8 million USD less than the previously agreed. The NABU stressed that the relevant investigation has been conducted since December 2017. Along with Allerov, Oleh Mayboroda, Ukrbud CEO, and a person, who conducted the assessment of the mentioned real estate, were also detained. Searches at the places of their residence and work were conducted. Allerovs reaction to the criminal case Former Commander of the National Guard under Yuriy Allerov refused from testifying at the National Anti-Corruption Bureau in the case of misappropriation of property. He did not give anything at all in terms of testimony, a source close to the investigation told Ukrainian News outlet, stressing that this is precisely why there was no interrogation as such. Allerov has not made any statements to the press. At the same time, Ukrbud development company, the general director of which is also the person involved in the NABU investigation, has made public its position. Ukrbud Development LLC contributed to the investigation by providing the necessary documents, voluntary consent to conduct inspections, the employees provided testimony as witnesses... The company is ready to further promote full and unbiased pre-trial investigation, including by providing the necessary financial and economic and accompanying documents and clarifications to them. And the representatives of Ukrbud Development LLC are ready to appear to participate in interrogations. Alternative versions of detention In addition to the official version of the arrest, of course, there is an alternative vision of what happened it is the revenge of president Poroshenko. After his resignation from the post of the head of the National Guard, Allerov did not rule out the possibility that he would continue to serve in the National Guard if the proposal comes from Volodymyr Zelensky, the newly elected head of state. If the new president makes such a decision, I will consider this proposal. And now I will be dismissed according to the law, Allerov stated in his interview with Hromadske, adding that he resigned for family reasons. In addition, it is rumored that Poroshenko had tensed relations with Allerov. Mainly due to disagreements with Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov, to whom the National Guard is subordinate. In 2017, immediately after Allerov received the rank of colonel-general, a military parade was held in Kyiv on the occasion of the Independence Day of Ukraine. The president congratulated the commanders of the Armed Forces of Ukraine but missed Allerov, who stood third in the first row. Following Poroshenko, Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak also did not shake Allerovs hand. What's next? The National Anti-Corruption Bureau is awaiting a court session at which a preventive measure for Yuriy Allerov will be chosen. According to the ministry, it should take place in the near future. The investigation intends to ask the court to take Allerov in custody for a period of two months and establish an alternative bail in the amount of 350,000 USD. On May 16, the Shevchenko district court of Kyiv dismissed Oleg Mayboroda, Ukrbud CEO, from custody. The decision was motivated by the fact that NABU detectives exceeded their authority during his arrest. Read the original text at 112.ua. Volodymyr Zelensky, the candidate for the presidency Zoya Shu/112.ua On May 20, at 10:00 am, the inauguration of Volodymyr Zelensky will take place in Ukraines capital. The draft resolution of non-affiliated MP Vitaliy Kupriy was supported by 315 MPs of the Verkhovna Rada. Although Zelensky himself suggested holding the ceremony on May 19. MPs from the National Front, Radical Party of Oleg Lyashko and the Bloc of Petro Poroshenko were against May 19. Allegedly, the inauguration cannot take place on the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repression. The argument is weak because the newly elected president can lay flowers before or after the ceremonial meeting. Moreover, this is a good reason to mention repression during the speech. The Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Repression is not an obstacle, by the way, the mayor of Kyiv is holding celebrations in honor of the Days of Europe on that date. The probability of early elections is growing. The only reason why parliamentarians voted for May 20 is the desire to show Zelensky that the main institution of power in a parliamentary-presidential republic is a parliament. That is, the Verkhovna Rada was ready to vote for any date except for May 19th. Zelenskys team might take it as a slap in the face of the parliament, which, in turn, can spur the president to dissolve parliament. It is unlikely that Volodymyr Zelensky dissolves the parliament immediately. Although he has elaborated the draft presidential decree. It is more important for the newly elected president to form a new coalition, appoint a government and fill his quota in the power bloc. This will ensure the beginning of the changes people voted for. The new coalition in the Verkhovna Rada will create conditions for balancing power. The president heads the state, the government leads the executive branch, and the Verkhovna Rada passes legislation. It will be extremely difficult for Zelensky to work with the government of PM Volodymyr Groysman. The Cabinet might sabotage the initiative of the newly elected president. Under the conditions of a parliamentary-presidential republic, it is extremely significant that an anti-crisis manager becomes prime minister. The new prime minister should have experience and a clear plan on how to cope with the challenges that face the country. First of all, the challenges relate to negotiations with the IMF and a possible gas crisis. According to the Ministry of Finance, this year Ukraine must pay 17 billion USD of debt. Only until the end of June, payments should reach 5,5 billion USD. The gas crisis is also a challenge for the government. Excessive tariffs for Russian gas, which is purchased through European gaskets, are the direct responsibility of the government. After all, the Cabinet sets tariffs for gas. It is unlikely that the current composition of the government is able to cope with the problem of pricing. With such predictable problems, we need to create a new coalition today, appoint a new coalition government and respond to the challenges. The effective work of the government will determine whether Zelensky keeps the rating until the next election. I do not speak about changes in the electoral legislation. There are not enough votes to support the electoral code with open lists. So there is an option to go to the usual proportional system with a low barrier. But some parliamentarians believe that such a bill should be introduced by the president. According to the current mixed system, it is inexpedient to hold elections, both scheduled and snap ones. Under these conditions, the new parliament might be worse than the current one. Read the original text at 112.ua. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or 112.International and its owners. One of the key commitments of the state-members is the payment of the obligatory contributions to the budget of the organizations Over 30 Foreign Ministers out of 47 countries made a decision, which states the right of all states-members for the participation in the PACE session on equal terms as the Council of Europe reported. The Ministers underlined the need for co-ordinated action, in order to strengthen the Organisations ability to react more effectively in situations where a member state violates its statutory obligations or does not respect the standards, fundamental principles and values upheld by the Council of Europe. In this spirit, a clearly defined complementary procedure, which could be initiated by either the Parliamentary Assembly, the Committee of Ministers or the Secretary General, and in which all three of them would participate, should be developed, the message said. The decision states that all state-members should possess a right to participate in the work of the Ministers Committee and PACE on equal terms. The ministers would welcome that delegations of all member states be able to take part in the next June part-session of the Parliamentary Assembly, considering the importance of the elections of the Secretary General and of judges to the European Court of Human Rights, the message noted. Besides, the Committees decision emphasized that one of the key commitments of the state-members is the payment of the obligatory contributions to the budget of the organizations. Moreover, the ministers stated about the necessity of more effective defense and development of the civilian society by the extension of the participation of the civilian societys organization and the national human rights establishments in the work of the Council of Europe and enhancing of the defense of the human rights activists. In January 2019, Secretary-Generally of the Council of Europe Thorbjrn Jagland officially initiated work on amending the statue of the organization to solve the crisis with Russias participation in the Council of Europe and Russian non-payments. On October 9, 2018, the members of the PACE voted for keeping the current limitations against the Russian delegation in the Assembly. Committee on Rules of Procedure of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has supported the amendments of Ukraine to the draft resolution on the rules on the sanctions against the PACE delegations, which make the return of Russia impossible. 20 member countries of the PACE signed the declaration against Russias return to the Assemblys line-up. Russian delegation to PACE left the Assembly's line-up after it faced numerous restrictions - due to the Kremlin's military aggression in eastern Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea in February 2014. People's Front faction in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine People's Front The People's Front faction left the parliamentary coalition. The head of the faction Maksym Burbak announced this on air of 112 Ukraine TV channel. We announce our withdrawal from the existing coalition and the cessation of its activities on May 17, 2019. In addition, we announce the initiative to form a new coalition with a new agenda. According to the Constitution of Ukraine, a new coalition will be formed within 30 days. The People's Front calls on the factions of state ideology to immediately start consultations on drawing up of a new coalition agreements with a new plan of action, Maksym Burbak said. He claimed that within half a year Ukrainians expect a new president and the parliament to take decisive steps, actions and changes. There is no time to waste, the head of the parliamentary faction stressed. According to Article 83 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a coalition of parliamentary factions is formed in the Verkhovna Rada, and it includes the majority of lawmakers from the constitutional composition of the Verkhovna Rada (that is 226 parliamentarians). The coalition is formed within one month from the day of the opening of the first session of the Verkhovna Rada or from the day, the former coalition ceases functioning. This coalition makes proposals to the president on the candidacy of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet of Ministers. On the eve of considering the appointment of the date of Volodymyr Zelenskys inauguration, it was supposed that in case of holding inauguration before May 27, he would be able to dissolve the current parliament composition. Thus, the cessation of the activity of the current coalition deprives Zelensky of the opportunity to dissolve the Verkhovna Rada. The head of the Parliament urged MPs to start working on the new coalition; under the Constitution of Ukraine, the new one has to be shaped during 30 days-long period Ukraines Parliament Spokesperson Andriy Parubiy Andriy Teteruk Facebook The coalition of the Ukrainian Parliament has ceased to be. Andriy Parubiy, the speaker said this at a plenary session on May 17. 'Today, the coalition of European Ukraine MP faction in the Verkhovna Rada of the Eighth Convocation has ceased to be. According to Part of Article 83 of Constitution of Ukraine, the new coalition should be formed within one month since today, the moment when the coalition stopped working', Parubiy stated. He urged fellow MPs to start working on the new coalition and begin the consultations on shaping it. Under Article 83, the coalition of MP factions is shaped in the Verkhovna Rada, with 226 MPs in it. This body makes the simple majority in the Parliament. The coalition offers the President candidacies of Prime Minister and Cabinet members. Under these conditions, President-elect Volodymyr Zelensky will have no authority to disband the current Parliament; if there is no coalition, and the new one is not shaped yet, the head of the state has no such power. The launch of the first part of satellites had to take place on May 15, yet it was postponed on May 16 and then on May 17 due to wind gusts Elon Musk, CEO and lead designer of SpaceX Businessinsider.com SpaceX shared its plans within Starlink project. The company intends to launch around 12,000 satellites, which is about six times the number of existing ones in orbit for the rest of the world in total, as Space News report. SpaceXs first launch with a large number of Starlink satellites was pushed back 24 hours, with a new launch window opening at 10:30 p.m. Eastern May 16, the news agency reads. It was also noted that the Flacon 9 mission is to carry 60 Starlink satellites. For the system to be economically viable, its really on the order of 1,000 satellites. If we are putting a lot more satellites than that in orbit, thats a very good thing it means there is a lot of demand for the system, SpaceX Head Ilon Musk said. The launch of the first part of satellites had to take place on May 15, yet it was postponed on May 16 and then on May 17 due to wind gusts. Musk said reaching 12,000 satellites would indicate a very successful outcome for Starlink. SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell said May 7 that the company plans three to seven Starlink launches this year, Space News informs. Musk says SpaceX can manage the launch of 2000 satellites per year. Its a heck of a lot of launches. We will hopefully have Starship active by the time we are anywhere near 12,000 satellites, he said. There are some 2,100 operation satellites in orbit today according to Bryce Space and Technology as of May 8. European Commission Vice President will arrive in Kyiv for the solemn ceremony slated for May 20 Maros Sefcovic, the Vice President of the European Commission will be representing the EU at the upcoming inauguration of Volodymyr Zelensky as the new President of Ukraine. Interfax-Ukraine reported that with the reference to a source in the European Commission. On May 16, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine chose May 20 as the date of the inauguration of Zelensky. The ceremony is to kick off at 10 a.m. Monday. 112 International previously reported that NATO would send Alejandro Alvargonzalez, its Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs and Security Policy to represent the Alliance during the inauguration of Volodymyr Zelensky. While staying in Kyiv, Alvargonzalez will also participate in the event timed to the 70th anniversary of NATO', the representative of the Alliance told the news agency. He is suspected in the embezzlement of $5 million during the construction of the accommodation for military Yury Allerov, the ex-Commander of the National Guard Open source Ex-Head of the National Guard Yury Allerov is arrested for 60 days with a right for a bail in the sum of $181,615. He is suspected in the embezzlement of $5 million during the construction of the accommodation for the military as Hromadske reported. Yury Allerov suspected by the NABU in the embezzlement of the National Guards property, was arrested for two months with a right for a bail in the sum of $181,615, the message said. The lawyers of Allerov stated that the suspicion is ungrounded and their client did not get the profit. The prosecutors of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutors Office (SAPO) noted that his daughter, who currently lives in Russia, got the profit. Allerov stated that his case is politically motivated. The actions of Allerov and Director-General of Ukrbud were qualified as appropriation, embezzlement and acquisition by abuse of power in especially big amounts or organized group, the message said. Earlier, Yuriy Allerov was detained by the detectives of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau. He is accused of the case tied with the embezzlement of $5 million during the construction of the houses for the Ukrainian military. On May 14, Allerov and another two detainees, the representatives of Ukrbud, were notified about suspicion. According to the investigation, Allerovs daughter has dual citizenship Ukrainian and Russian and she mostly lives in Moscow. According to the investigation, the daughter of Allerov has residence and family in Moscow. Besides, Allerovs wife visited Moscow repeatedly, the SAPO prosecutor noted. On May 7, Allerov was dismissed from the position of the Commander of the National Guard by the order of President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko. Mykola Balan was appointed as acting commander. Yury Allerov has been heading the National Guard since December 30, 2015, until May 7, 2019. Hungarian diplomats hope Zelensky will help to restore friendly relationships between Hungary and Ukraine President-elect of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky Reuters After Ukraines President Petro Poroshenko signed the language law, Hungarys MFA informed that they hope President-elect Volodymyr Zelensky will resolve the problematic issues, as Radio Liberty reported. We are interested in the restoration of well-adjusted and friendly relationships between Hungary and Ukraine, and we hope that President0elect will be open for that, the statement reads. Hungarian diplomats called the law consistent with the style of Poroshenko. They also expressed hope that Zelensky will solve the issues with the Hungarian minority in Ukraine. The statement of the Hungarian MFA reads that language law pressures the rights of the national minorities as it deprives them of the right to use their mother tongue. Peter Szijjarto, Hungarian Foreign Minister, called the law unacceptable. As it was reported earlier, on April 25, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the draft law #5670-d on the provision of the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state one in the second reading and in general. The status of Ukraine's state language will be endorsed over the course of the next ten years when the government implements the respective program. Related video: The letter on resignation will be sent to the Verkhovna Rada and to the new President on the day of the inauguration, May 20 Ukraines Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin MFA of Ukraine Ukraines Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin stated that he resigns from his post. He recorded a video message and posted in on Facebook. As I promised, I have just written a letter on resignation. On Monday, on the day of inauguration, I will send it to the Verkhovna Rada and to the new President. I think this is right. Its humanely, its right in terms of normal political culture, as we need it, he said. Klimkin also explained that he told Zelensky about his decision earlier. According to him, the new President has a right for his own team and foreign policy strategy. Klimkin added that he was ready to help the new authority. Besides, the Minister thanked for these unique five years of work. ________________________ Best in the State Washington Post's The Fix, 2011, 2009 Best in Pittsburgh Region PoliticsPA, 2011 "[W]idely cited as one of the oldest and most-read political blogs in the city" Pittsburgh City Paper, 2007 ________________________ Sen. Marco Rubio is the senior U.S. senator from Florida. He sits on the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, among others. The future of work in 21st-century America will be dominated by Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and computer science careers. To further enhance America's position as an innovative, globally competitive leader, job creators should look to our nation's veterans to fill these critical roles. Our veterans are uniquely positioned to excel in STEM and computer science roles. Cadets across our service academies are educated in the STEM fields in order to be prepared to meet the demands of the military. While in service, the magnitude of unique training and skills -- in cybersecurity, cryptology, avionics, weapons training, nuclear physics and medicine, to name a few -- our active-duty military members receive can be well integrated into a variety of civilian STEM jobs. In the U.S. Navy, for example, Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) technicians are trained across the spectrum of STEM fields. Navy EOD training begins at the Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center (NDSTC) in Panama City Beach, Florida. In this section of training, students learn diving medicine and diving physics. Diving operations require mathematics to calculate a diver's air endurance and bottom time, and students learn to recognize neurological deficits associated with decompression sickness and arterial gas embolism symptoms. Following NDSTC, students report to Naval School Explosive Ordnance Disposal (NAVSCOLEOD) at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, to begin the core phase of EOD training. At NAVSCOLEOD, EOD students calculate explosive safety measures, such as explosive blast overpressure and hazardous fragmentation distances. In the Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) division, students learn robotics operation, electrical and mechanical theory, and operational risk management to remotely render-safe IEDs. After IED division, students learn chemical and biological agent composition, hazards, protective measures and decontamination procedures. The next block of training, Nuclear Division, includes nuclear physics and radiation stay-time calculations in relation to nuclear weapons. The final phase of Navy EOD training, Underwater Division, puts Navy EOD students back in the water, where they must apply previously learned land-based EOD skills to the aquatic environment. Upon graduation, Navy EOD students receive the apprenticeship equivalent of the EOD trade, and will continue their progression toward becoming senior and master EOD technicians over the coming years. Unfortunately, this first-hand training does not guarantee a job post-service. While you would think that returning home after serving our country would open up several doors to a successful new career, even in 2019, many veterans continue to struggle with transitioning into these next-generation civilian jobs. By 2022, projections show that there will be more than nine million STEM jobs. During this same time period, more than 1.5 million members of the U.S. armed forces will retire from service and seek new careers. Despite the increasing opportunities available in the STEM fields, our veterans continue to face challenges to entering this critical workforce when they return home. Oftentimes, these barriers are as simple as issues with transferring military credits to college credits in order to qualify for certain jobs. Enter the Supporting Veterans in STEM Careers Act (S. 153). Earlier this year, I was proud to join Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) and Rep. Neal Dunn (R-Florida) in reintroducing this bipartisan legislation to eliminate obstacles preventing our nation's well-qualified veterans from participating in the STEM workforce by directing the federal government to enhance outreach, education and research opportunities. First, our bill directs the National Science Foundation (NSF), in coordination with other federal agencies, to encourage veterans to study and pursue careers in STEM and computer science. Second, it requires the director of NSF to submit a veterans outreach plan to Congress. Specifically, the plan must: (1) report on NSF's existing outreach activities; (2) identify best methods to leverage existing programs to facilitate and support veterans in STEM careers and studies; and (3) include options for how NSF could track veteran participation in research and education programs, and describe current barriers to collecting such information. Third, it updates several NSF research, educational and grant programs to include veteran participation. Finally, it requires the Office of Science and Technology Policy to establish an interagency working group to coordinate federal programs for transitioning and training veterans from STEM careers, and to develop a strategic plan to address the barriers that veterans face when re-entering the workforce. Already this Congress, the House of Representatives recognized the importance of this legislation, passing it by voice vote on Feb. 27, 2019. I look forward to working with my Senate colleagues to pass the Supporting Veterans in STEM Careers Act in the United States Senate, and ultimately get it signed into law by President Donald Trump. Demand for STEM and computer science jobs is on the rise, and the United States should prioritize policies that utilize our well-qualified veterans returning home to fill this future workforce. We owe it to our national heroes to ensure this bipartisan legislation gets across the finish line. From the front lines of freedom to the front of the job line, I am committed to putting our national heroes in the best position possible to become personally successful while continuing to support U.S. interests as a global technology leader. Our veterans did not hesitate to answer the call to protect our great nation, and we must do everything we can to ensure that they have the skills and opportunities they need to successfully transition into the 21st-century workforce. -- The opinions expressed in this op-ed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Military.com. If you would like to submit your own commentary, please send your article to opinions@military.com for consideration. KABUL, Afghanistan -- U.S. air support killed as many as 17 Afghan policemen and wounded 14 more after a police attempt to tear down a Taliban flag in southern Helmand province prompted a counterattack from the insurgents, Afghan officials said. A statement from the U.S.-led NATO Resolute Support mission said an Afghan unit on the ground had told coalition forces that the area was clear of friendly forces. "Unfortunately, they were not and a tragic accident resulted," the statement read. "Afghan Security Forces as well as Taliban fighters were killed in the strikes. We're examining the miscommunication to ensure it is not repeated. We regret this tragic loss of life of our partners and are committed to improvement every day with every mission." The Afghan Defense Ministry confirmed in a statement Friday that U.S. aircraft conducted attacks during the fight Thursday. Afghan Interior Ministry preliminary estimates said that at least eight had died and 11 were injured. A local army commander, a Helmand provincial councilman and a hospital official in the provincial capital all said Friday that 17 had died and 14 were hurt. The incident took place just outside of Lashkar Gah, the capital of the embattled southern province. Much of Helmand remains a Taliban stronghold. Among those killed was a police battalion commander charged with securing a key highway, said Attaullah Afghan, head of the provincial council. The police officer, Haji Gran Habib, was a former Taliban fighter who had joined the government side 17 years ago, said Maj. Hedayat Rasoly, an army battalion commander. Rasoly often met with Habib on how to secure the highway from Lashkar Gah to neighboring Kandahar, an area "almost under the Taliban," he said. Another local security official, who asked to remain anonymous, said Habib and two of his men decided to take down a Taliban flag from a nearby water tower on Thursday night. The white insurgent banners are often displayed along the roads from Lashkar Gah, sometimes in view of Afghan military bases. Although the water tower was within walking distance of a police training center, covert local support for the Taliban ensured anyone who tried to take down the flag received immediate sniper fire, local residents told Stars and Stripes via phone. Habib decided to remove the flag but did not inform his chain of command before proceeding, Rasoly said. After they arrived, the police tripped a mine, which exploded and alerted the Taliban to their presence, Rasoly said. The guerrillas began firing on them. Police at the nearby training center arrived to assist the first three officers but were unable to drive the Taliban back, he said. The police unit then requested air support. Residents of Lashkar Gah heard a very loud explosion around 8:30 p.m. Thursday, they said. Calling the airstrike a "tragedy," Helmand province's governor, Mohammad Yasin, said an investigation has been launched. Fighting in Helmand has claimed the lives of more American, British and Afghan soldiers than any other province in Afghanistan during the 18-year war. Insurgents controlled slightly more than half of Helmand's territory, according to U.S. military data from October. Thursday's attack comes about two months after miscommunication led to a U.S. airstrike that killed at least five Afghan soldiers and wounded nine others at a checkpoint in neighboring Uruzgan province, another area of heavy Taliban activity. In that March incident, a firefight had erupted after soldiers at a checkpoint began shooting at a patrol of their own troops, who were accompanied by American advisers on a planned nighttime raid outside the provincial capital Tirin Kot. Zubair Babakarkhail contributed to this report. Bees do a lot more than just sting people and provide them with meme fodder. They also keep our ecosystem running. These critters perform about 80 percent of the world's pollinationand they're being paid solely in honey. Learn more about our busy friends and ecology at the sixth annual Bees + Seeds Festival this Saturday, May 18 , at Tractor Brewing-Wells Park . Starting at 3pm , catch presentations on pollinators, seeds, sustainability and environmental awareness. Bring the whole family to this free all-ages event to pack their brains with knowledge while enjoying local food, live music and art. (Joshua Lee) Enjoy live music, food, ceramics, eco-friendly family fun and get lots of info on pollinators, seeds, sustainability and environmental awareness, even take home free plants. The 6th Annual Bees + Seeds Festival is a free, eco-friendly, family-friendly, learning, and interactive environment open to all. The festival takes place on Saturday, May 18th at Tractor Brewing - Wells Park starting at 3pm featuring information and education on #pollinators, #seeds, #food #sustainability, #environmental awareness, #livemusic, and #art. Free plants grown by Rio Valley Greenhouses are provided by GMO-Free New Mexico and Food is Free Albuquerque. GMO-Free New Mexico and Food Is Free Albuquerque, along with a team of dedicated volunteers, are hard at work planning our Annual Festival, featuring many activities for children and adults! The SMASH Studio Arts - The Shucker Bus will be in attendance creating dynamic art activities for everyone to enjoy. The event will also include live music performed by The Riddims, Hub City Soundsystem, Dan Garduno, The Cactus Flowers, and Mineral Hill (more TBA). The event will feature surprise speakers, poets, artists, and activities! Has it been one year already of Lost Padre Records?!?! We want to THANK NEW MEXICO with one helluva party on Thursday, May 16 at the only venue weird/awesome enough for New Mexico: ROCKIN' ROLLERS, the alien-themed roller rink! This FREE/ALL AGES show features two killer out of town acts sure to floor you, or at least get your FEET (skates?) on the dance floor: Denver's RUBEDO's almost indescribable keywords-driven rock has electrified audiences from coast to coast. It's their first Santa Fe appearance in almost a year and they've been busy writing new songs guaranteed to get your heart palpitating! They're joined by Portland's psychedelic explorers WEEED, in their only New Mexico show besides their appearance the following day at Taos' Monolith on the Mesa festival. Their heavily rhythmic and percussive psych rock recalls obscure 60's giants like fellow West Coasters KAK (without the bluesiness) and is sure to trip you out as much if not more than their near-legal-in-NM namesake. Upcoming & local way-out punkers the BLACKOUT PICTURES open this triple threat of a bill with their wailing vocals, thunderous drums and let's-just-say-it weird! guitar influences. That's not all-- the bands will be playing in the MIDDLE of the skate rink, and you'll be busy SKATING AROUND THEM WHILE THEY PLAY. Skate rentals just $5! We'll also be DJing tunes in between and after the bands so plan for a whole night of fun! ABC/Nicole WilderThe Raconteurs have shared a new song called "Help Me Stranger," a track from the Jack White-led band's upcoming comeback album, Help Us Stranger. The tune is available now for digital download, and you can watch its accompanying video, filmed in Kimitsu, Japan, now on YouTube. Help Us Stranger, the first Racs album since 2008's Consolers of the Lonely, is due out June 21. It also features the previously released singles "Now That You're Gone" and "Sunday Driver." The Raconteurs will launch a North American tour in support of the new record July 12 in Detroit. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. It ain't easy being a celebrityoh sure, the money is fucking amazing, the perks are pretty great, and you probably will have strangers on social media mourning for you after you die. But there's also the downside, like when random people take photographs of you on the can mid-movement and then pass it around town as if that is a normal way to treat another human being. Such is the situation Alex Rodriguez finds himself in today. The NY Post reports that someone was able to snag a photo of him while he was on the toilet in the $15 million apartment he shares with fiancee Jennifer Lopez in the supertall 432 Park tower. A-Rod apparently doesn't have (or perhaps doesn't use) curtains in the toilet, and a photographer from an adjacent buildingpossibly from one of the many hedge funds who have offices in the next building overgot the shot. The Post adds that the photo "was making the rounds via email through Wall Street and media circles on Thursday, but it wasnt clear who took the commode close-up." Nice shot of @AROD sorry for the sh*tty quality . This is Cracked! @TMZ pic.twitter.com/AXi1tWVuPr Sam I Am (@SamIAmCorp) May 16, 2019 A source told Page Six, "Alexs lawyers are all over this. They are working hard to find out who the culprit is. It is a clear breach of privacy. The photo was obviously taken from the building next door, from a floor possibly parallel to Alexs apartment. One of the hedge funds in the building next door will be getting a big lawsuit." Back in 2013, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Eileen Rakower ruled that photographer and artist Arne Svenson, who took a series of surreptitious photos of his neighbors across the street and exhibited them in a gallery, had every legal right to do so. The argument in that case was that the peeping tom pics were being used as art, and therefore were protected as free speech. Attorney Nancy E. Wolff, who works in copyright, trademark and digital media law and represented Svenson, said New York has a very limited right of privacy law. In an email to Gothamist, she explained that the law "only restricts the use of a photograph without written consent for purposes of advertising or trade. There is no common law right of privacy. The argument by the photographer has to be that the picture was newsworthy and outside NY privacy law. The fact that the blinds were not closed will help whoever took the picture. The fact that many would not publish goes to journalistic standards, not legal I assume." However, there is a major difference between this case and the 2013 one: she said "the Svenson photo series was tasteful and did not show any activity that one would assume was private. Also the images were sold as fine art. This incident needs to rely on the newsworthy exception, not the expressive work. I have no comment on whether this photograph is newsworthy. In the US, everyone wants pictures of celebrities." Win McNamee/Getty Images(ALEXANDRIA, Va.) -- Fresh off a 62-day incarceration for defying a grand jury subpoena, Chelsea Manning, the former U.S. Army intelligence analyst and anti-secrecy activist, was remanded again Thursday afternoon after a federal judge held her in contempt of court. United States Marshals took Manning back into custody at the U.S. District Courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, Thursday afternoon after she refused to cooperate, yet again, with a subpoena to testify before another secret federal grand jury. Manning was set free last Thursday when the first grand jurys term expired. Upon release, however, prosecutors hit her with a second subpoena to appear Thursday before a separate grand jury. At a short press conference prior to a Thursday hearing, Manning said she was prepared to return to jail indefinitely rather than testify. No matter what happens today, Manning said, Im not going to comply with this grand jury. After Thursdays hearing, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, G. Zachary Terwilliger, told reporters that the only thing being asked of [Manning] is to answer questions truthfully. Mannings latest confinement will persist until she complies with the subpoena or until the grand jury expires, U.S. Judge Anthony Trenga said in court on Thursday. Unlike her first confinement, after 30 days, Manning will be subject to a daily fine of $500. After 60 days, Manning will face a fine of $1,000 per day. Federal grand juries are impaneled for a maximum of 18 months, but it is unclear how long this particular grand jury has been on duty. While the nature of the grand jurys probe remains unknown, it convenes at the same federal court where prosecutors recently filed charges against WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange. Manning gained prominence when she was sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2013 for the unauthorized disclosure of classified materials made public by WikiLeaks in 2010. Her sentence was commuted by President Barack Obama in 2017. In 2010, Chelsea took a principled decision to let the world see the true nature of modern asymmetric warfare, Moira Meltzer-Cohen, an attorney for Manning, said Thursday. It is telling that the U.S. has always been concerned with the disclosure of those documents than their damning substance. Assange was indicted in April on a computer hacking charge for his role Mannings disclosure of those documents, a scheme the government called "one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the United States." Assange remains in Great Britain, where he is fighting extradition to the United States to face charges. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Newly-declared presidential hopeful Bill de Blasio kicked off his campaign on Thursday, making stops at Times Square and the Statue of Libertylike a true-blooded American tourist visiting NYC from, say, Bostonbefore heading to Iowa for a five-state tour of the country. Along the way, the mayor promoted himself as a progressive big city leader uniquely qualified to take on President Trump, even as many New Yorkers greeted the announcement with a collective groan. "What I bring is absolute, total focus on putting working people first," the mayor declared after returning from Ellis Island on Thursday afternoon. "When you look at the things we have done to ensure working people have opportunitypre-K, paid sick leave, guaranteed health carethese are realities that change people's lives." De Blasio has been testing out that (somewhat inflated) stump speech for weeks now. But he got a big boost on Thursday from President Trump, who dubbed him "the worst mayor in the U.S," and then reiterated the point in a video tweeted aboard Air Force Once. The mayor shot back with his devastating new moniker for the current White House occupant: "Con Don." Within hours of his announcement, the rhyming insult had come out of the mayor's mouth no less than four times. "I am going to keep calling him Con Don because that's what he deserves to be called," the mayor promised. "Any good New Yorker who's watched a game of three-card monte or any other example of the way some in this city try to get one over on otherswe're a pretty streetwise people. We know a con man." The mayor also stressed that he was serious about winning, and not deterred by his sizable polling deficit or lack of institutional support. Among national Democratic primary voters, de Blasio has the highest unfavorability ratings of 23 candidates. According to a recent Quinnipiac poll, more than three-quarters of New Yorkers do not want him to run for president. The constituent response may have been best summed up by a NY Post cover of people guffawing at the idea. But if the city's regard for his candidacy as farce is bothering de Blasio, he's not letting on. When the mayor met with City Hall staffers on Thursday afternoon, according to a source who was in the room, "he was in the best mood I've ever seen." (De Blasio, a reportedly obsessive boss, added that the staff should be happy he won't be around to micromanage them as much.) Even the protesters who showed up outside his Good Morning America appearance didn't faze him. As their chants of "liar" and "go back to bed" threatened to drown out the interview, the mayor shrugged it off as a "little serenade." The group outside the live-taping seemed to confirm the mayor's recent observation that his campaign would finally unify New Yorkers: those pinned outside of Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. included Black Lives Matter activists angry about the continued employment of Eric Garner's killer, NYPD officers in want of a contract, and elderly New Yorkers upset that the mayor has not followed through on a promise to budget $500 million toward housing for low-income seniors. "Homelessness is rising in our city, conditions are not improving," said Reverend David K. Brawley, an East New York resident. "We want Americans to know the truth about this man." Other New Yorkers gravitated toward the spectacle on the Broadway pedestrian plaza (which the mayor once threatened to rip out) to add their voices to the chorus of people opposed to the nascent candidacy. "I guess he's been okay, but this will really kind of upset things," Mac Gushanas, a 25-year-old book seller in Times Square, told Gothamist. "Any kind of goodwill he had will be lost from this...I have no idea what he's thinking." Asked about the city's cool reception to his candidacy later in the day, de Blasio once again pivoted back to the president: "The mean-spiritedness you refer to is something we need to get out of our political culture. We need to get more unified. But that's only going to happen if we confront Donald Trump because he's been the wellspring of so much of it." First Lady Chirlane McCray noted that she'd grown "immune" to the heckling from other New Yorkers, and the mayor added that the country's opinions would change once "people get to know who I am" and "what this campaign is about." But thus far, the mayor isn't winning any endorsements from those he works closely with either. "It's going to be hard for him," said City Council Speaker Corey Johnson earlier this week, when asked by Gothamist if he would support the mayor's candidacy. "The job of being mayor of the city of New York, with the number of emergencies and unexpected events that happen every single day, is constant." Shortly after the mayor's announcement, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams told Good Day New York that his tenure had been a "net negative for the city." Over the next three days, de Blasio will make campaign stops in Iowa, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Carolina and Connecticut. He pledged on Thursday not to spend more than eight days outside of the city, saying he was "well aware" it would mean forfeiting his job as sitting mayor (under the city charter, Williams would become the city's acting executive once the mayor is away for nine days). De Blasio wouldn't elaborate much more on how he plans to continue managing a city of eight million people while mounting a serious run for the presidency, other than to say New Yorkers should trust him. "It'll depend on the week obviously," the mayor said. "I'm going to be here a lot. I'm going to be constantly in touch. Things are going to happen. You're going to see it with your own eyes." Additional reporting by Christopher Robbins. In his first Ask The Mayor segment as a presidential candidate, Mayor Bill de Blasio assured New Yorkers that he is our CEO, and can totally handle running a national political campaign while also attending to the day-to-day business of running a city of 8.5 million people. "This is my sixth year in this job. I know exactly the agenda that I am implementingit's very, very developed at this point," de Blasio told WNYC's Brian Lehrer from his first national campaign stop in Gowrie, Iowa, before ticking off the 3-K for all rollout and "keeping the city safe" as mayor stuff that can be done remotely from the campaign trail. As for the charges that he has not been "engaged" enough as mayor these past few years and that he spends less time at City Hall and just the same amount of time at a Park Slope gym? "That couldn't be more false, Brian." "And as a CEO, as a chief executive, I'll tell you something: I don't ask people where you're sitting right now or which meeting are you having where. I want to see product," de Blasio said, using a line of argument he tested out on Thursday. (In other words, the 2020 race is a tale of two CEOs.) "When I look at what this administration has achieved and the people who I've chosen for key roles have achieved, across the board, I see progress and I see product. Becoming the safest big city America, more jobs than we've ever had, an affordable housing program that's the biggest the city's ever seen and is on budget, is ahead of schedule. Come on, let's get real." Notably, the mayor twice touted his "guaranteed health care" plan. "Some reporters fail to notice all the new initiatives we keep putting out: guaranteed health care for all, paid time off," the mayor said. But de Blasio's NYC Care rollout is an initiative to streamline health coverage that has already been available to around 600,000 poor New Yorkers through the city's public hospital system. Hmmm why would the mayor want to create an impression that he has created some kind of universal health care system that everyone can access? The mayor also stopped short of saying that a President de Blasio would have his Department of Housing and Urban Development increase funding for the construction of affordable housing, or allow cities to build their public housing again (a Clinton-era federal law prevents local governments from building any more public housing), instead favoring the kinds of rent and zoning controls that have achieved mixed results in New York. "I think that what we've done with rent regulation is crucial and is needed in many other parts of the country, certainly in a lot of big urban areas in particular," de Blasio said. "How do you get policies at the federal level that encourage things like stopping illegal eviction? I think it can be done because we've seen it works in New York City. And clearly passing laws either locally, or there's some kind national legislation to require the creation of affordable housing when developers are allowed to build you know in a bigger way than was previously allowed. That's something I think is a really good model that could be used anywhere." Meanwhile, in Albany, those rent protections are up for renewal, and more are up for debate, and the mayor is in a living room in Iowa talking to farmers. Heres a little of that conversation Please note the Zabars mug in the corner pic.twitter.com/yJ6WjjJn4o Brigid Bergin (@brigidbergin) May 17, 2019 Lehrer also noted the mayor's strong support among Black New Yorkers, and wondered how he could better represent the interests of Black Americans more than Senators Kamala Harris and Cory Booker. "I think for African American voters and all voters, they are not looking first at demographics, they are looking at who can produce for them and their families," de Blasio replied. "And I have a track record of actually achieving progressive outcomes that help working people that Ill put up against any candidate." The mayor travels to South Carolina tomorrow, and he'll head back to his day job on Sunday afternoon. How many New Yorkers were late to work today because of the @MTA and the #Ltrain? Ive never seen it this bad before and this was Friday morning rush hournot evening hours or on the weekend. pic.twitter.com/ybL041EiBP Cathy de la Cruz (@SadDiego) May 17, 2019 The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the glorious weekend is right around the corner. So can you really blame the L train for snagging an early summer Friday? It's not like you had anywhere to be today, right? According to the MTA, L service between Broadway-Junction and Lorimer was fully suspended earlier this morning, after a broken third rail near Halsey Street caused several trains to lose power. Unfortunately, there are hundreds of thousands of daily L train commuters with bosses apparently less chill than the MTA, who were expected to somehow get to work this morning. Too bad! Waiting for *another* L train to pass us at Broadway Junction?? We dont know. Only signs are for Manhattan-bound. #cuomosmta pic.twitter.com/c4YbQ2s0yd Carol Still (@CarolStill5) May 17, 2019 Suffice to say @NYCTSubway having a brutal Friday morning. Full on clown show with this L train debacle. No announcements or anything. Courtney Laidlaw (@courtoflaw88) May 17, 2019 Overheard on the #Ltrain train platform I have a work thing I need to be at 10am or I will be fired oh man! pic.twitter.com/OSQzZgsYw4 Makho Ndlovu (@makhondlovu) May 17, 2019 Woke up to discover that the L train wasn't running into Manhattan and decided to walk to the G train take it to Court Square, catch the M and walk to work from there. https://t.co/Uq0tzbyTQ7 Edwina Hay (@threeminuterule) May 17, 2019 While the MTA said that full service would be restored by 7 a.m., lengthy delays seemed to drag on for most of the morning. Some riders were offered the option of shuttle buses, though that courtesy was not extended past Broadway Junction, since the issue was "not foreseen." Those who did eventually get a bus said they'd spent close to an hour on a dangerously packed platform. Some people just gave up entirely. Hey @MTA , this morning I waited 40 minutes for an L Train, to then be offered a mere shuttle bus. By the way, they had to call EMS and police for the crowds. Thanks for the wonderful Friday Ericaz World (@Ericaz_World) May 17, 2019 This is the 3rd L train thats come. They are all like this. I think I gotta give up at this point. #LTrain pic.twitter.com/Ju5a0Qb9q5 Makho Ndlovu (@makhondlovu) May 17, 2019 An MTA spokesperson said the issue was not related to ongoing repair work on the Canarsie Tubesame as Monday morning's meltdown, and also last Friday's. It's unclear how the third-rail came to be so FUBAR that service had to be suspended in a majority of Brooklyn. Beginning at 8 p.m. tonight, the L train will begin reducing service for weekend work, with trains coming every 20 minutes as a best case scenario until Monday morning. The MTA recommends seeking out alternate means of transitthe bus or the M train or a catamaran, literally anything but the cross-borough route that is ostensibly supposed to still work. We hope the L train enjoys its long weekend! We the Commuters is a weekly newsletter about transportation from WNYC and Gothamist. Sign up below for essential commuting coverage delivered to your inbox every Thursday. Loading... In a sign of an intensifying battle over rent reform, scores of contractors electricians, plumbers, carpenters faced off with housing activists on Thursday prior to a state Senate-sponsored hearing in Brooklyn on a package of legislation that seeks to tighten regulations for landlords and confer new protections on tenants. The contractors, workmen who said they rely on jobs from residential landlords, chanted the phrase save our jobs, and at times exchanged angry words with a large crowd of tenant advocates who had gathered at the entrance of Medger Evers College in advance of a 1 p.m. hearing start. Many of them held signs and yelled out slogans that channeled a progressive message about jobs and the working class. Albany Dont Destroy My Job, read one sign. Several others said, Save MCIs, a reference to one of the provisionsMajor Capital Improvementsthat Democratic lawmakers are proposing to eliminate in one of nine bills. Currently, state rent laws permit building owners who spend money on building-wide improvements to pass along the costs to tenants through permanent rent increases. Housing activists say the policy has been widely abused by landlords to exact large rent hikes. But landlord and real estate interests have argued MCIs encourage building owners to make needed investments and improvements, a line echoed by many of the protesters. "If people aren't going to pay a small increase in rent, [landlords] are not going to renovate," said Rob Nicaj, an electrical contractor with Argon, a Long Island City-based firm. He and others said that tenants would then go without amenities like air conditioners and microwaves. Another contractor, Brian, who declined to give his last name, said he worked for an Oil Company named Approved based in Bayridge, Brooklyn. I showed up to fight for my job, he said. Referring to the crowd of tenant advocates, If these people dont pay, I dont work. Scores of contractors showed up to protest outside of todays state hearing on rent reform. pic.twitter.com/oABJFbcX7F Elizabeth Kim (@lizkimtweets) May 16, 2019 The presence of the contractors, who had not been seen at prior hearings, suggested a new front in the opposition to rent reform, and, according to housing activists, are part of a concerted strategy by real estate interests. Three landlord groups the Rent Stabilization Association, Community Housing Improvement Program, and Small Property Owners of New York and the Real Estate Board of New York, the real estate industrys broad-based lobbying group, have together mounted a campaign against many of the reforms through television ads and social media. The groups did not immediately respond to messages left by Gothamist. Its a sham, said Cea Weaver, a campaign coordinator for the Upstate Downstate Housing Alliance. They are claiming that rent control is anti-worker. Its a false narrative. When asked, several of the contractors denied that the protest had been organized by a group or person, but had instead formed through a word-of-mouth effort. Some among them said they were part of unions, others said they were not. Dominic Loccisano, who works with a Queens-based remodeling company called PCD, said he had learned about the protest through his boss and that he had seen some information about it on Twitter and Facebook. Im here to support our cause, Loccisano said. Im a working person. I dont mind paying what I have to pay for. His boss declined to be interviewed. Tensions flared as the two sides argued with another. At one point, housing activists singled out a man carrying a clipboard as the lead organizer. He could be seen walking away as Brooklyn Assembly member Diana Richardson began to question him while holding a phone camera toward his face. Prior to todays hearing on rent reform, a housing activist confronted a man at the protest waged by contractors. pic.twitter.com/WfbtRWXu0N Elizabeth Kim (@lizkimtweets) May 16, 2019 She thinks Im someone Im not, he later told Gothamist. He declined to give his name, but said he was a "community member" from Queens. He said he did not represent any group or real estate interest. Im just a lifelong New Yorker who knows buildings have to be safe, he added. The packed hearing drew more than 150 people. Like the prior hearings, tenants and housing activists took their turn at the podium to speak about how rapid gentrification and speculative real estate interests had created an untenable situation for many New Yorkers. Sarah Lazur, a lecturer at Barnard College, chronicled her experience of living in a neighborhood where she saw longtime tenants gradually become displaced through rent hikes and harassment. She said it ultimately motivated her to join the Crown Heights Tenants Union and lobby for reforms. Im scared to be putting my decontrol story out there, she said, noting that she herself was not a rent stabilized tenant and that her landlord could elect not to renew her lease at any time. Im a good tenant, I pay my rent on time," she said. "It still might not be enough to stay in my home, in my community. The next public hearing on rent regulation reform will be on Wednesday, May 22, from 1:00-8:00 PM in Albany at the Legislative Office Building. For decades, residents of the Bronx neighborhoods of Kingsbridge and Marble Hill have been plagued by sporadic flooding during rain storms, all because of a long-buried creek that few realize even exists. Tibbetts Brook, which once flowed unobstructed for nearly four miles from its source in Yonkers to the Harlem River, was first interrupted in 1699 when the future New York City mayor Jacobus Van Cortlandt decided to dam the creek to power his sawmill. Much of the brook was diverted into what is now Van Cortlandt Lake. Between the 1930s and 1960s, master builder Robert Moses buried much of what was left of the brook beneath culverts to make way for a series of highways he built through what was by then Van Cortlandt Park, and diverted the south end into the city's overtaxed sewer system. Since then, when it rains the mixture of freshwater and sewage overloads the city's waste treatment plant on Wards Island, forcing it to dump excess sewage into the Harlem River; at the same time, the loss of a natural watershed causes rainfall to back up storm drains, which results in flooding. Determined to find a solution, an eclectic coalition of Bronx community groups are pushing for Tibbetts Brook to be the first New York City waterway to be brought back above ground. Termed "daylighting," the restoration of buried streams has taken off worldwide in such places as Seoul and Yonkers, and some elected officials and activists say that a similar project in the Bronx could not only eliminate the flooding that has caused so much grief for residents but also give the community additional access to parkland. The social and economic benefit for this community would be profound, says Christina Taylor, executive director of Friends of Van Cortlandt Park. Anyone who has dealt with the flooding would benefit economically. We would also be able to introduce a new and beautiful greenscape in the community. The daylighting of Tibbetts Brook would also significantly reduce the amount of sewer overflow that pollutes the Harlem River during storms. Yet the ambitious project to restore Tibbetts Brook may be in limbo, as the private freight rail company CSX has insisted on receiving more city money in exchange for a decommissioned rail line that would serve as the restored creek bed. CSX gave their word, said city councilmember Councilman Andrew Cohen in a statement. Their conduct is really, really shameful The city is willing to pay. In 2016, Friends of Van Cortlandt Park launched the Coalition for the Daylighting of Tibbetts Brook, a group comprised of 24 like-minded elected officials and organizations in an effort to make the daylighting of Tibbetts Brook a reality. Since the coalitions launch in 2017, the project has inched closer to becoming reality by gaining the support of elected officials such as Senator Chuck Schumer and the Parks Department. As part of its Van Cortlandt Park Master Plan: 2034, the Parks Department plans to make the daylighting of Tibbetts Brook the centerpiece of its redesign of the park. In addition to restoring the park's natural wetlands they plan on rerouting the underground portion of the stream along the mile-long, abandoned Putnam Railroad right-of-way, which parallels the creeks old course alongside the Major Deegan Expressway from Van Cortlandt Park almost to the Harlem River. Ambitious in scope, the project is not cheap, with some estimating that the total cost could climb well over $50 million. The parks department has already partially committed to the project by including phase one of the projectwhich would restore the brooks aboveground section within Van Cortlandt Parkin its $18 million wetlands restoration project for the park. The tracks have the ability to be something beautiful in this community instead of an eyesore, says Taylor. Ideally we would have bike paths along the brook that would connect the community to the river. It would give our community more access to green space as well. In the Bronx, where childhood asthma rates are at 8.1 percent and obesity rates among children hover at about 32 percent, more access to parkland has the potential to boost neighborhood residents quality of life. This is one of the few [park] projects I have worked on that hasnt been controversial, continues Taylor. You know its hard to please everyone but for most people who hear about this project its a no brainer. Its like everyone is onboard. However, last year a dispute concerning the most critical component of the project put the daylighting dream in jeopardy. CSX Transportation, which owns the abandoned Putnam Railroad and is one of the largest freight rail operators in the country, backed out of an agreement it made with the city regarding the sale of the property. The rusted tracks havent been in use since the 1980s and have now reverted to a lush urban jungle of garbage and vegetation. (Amir Khafagy / Gothamist) In 2017 the city council passed a resolution urging CSX to either sell or donate the rail line. During the Bloomberg administration, CSX donated the final portion of the Highline to the city in 2012. Finding CSX unwilling to repeat its generosity in the Bronx, the city initially offered $2 million to acquire the property; CSX balked and countered with $13 million. After a series of negotiations brokered by Schumer, CSX and the city reached an agreement to split the cost of a private appraisal. It was also agreed that both parties would be bound by the price determined by the appraiser. When the appraiser returned their findings CSX refused to agree to it. The city has continued to negotiate in good faith with CSX, added Nick Benson, spokesperson for the city Department of Citywide Administrative Services. To date, CSX has rejected an offer based on an independent appraisal developed by a neutral third party. CSX did not respond to numerous requests for comment. In a previous statement last year, CSX stated that they have a long history of working with the City of New York on property transactions that support their long-term goals and allow CSX to focus on its core business. We remain committed to working towards a mutually beneficial outcome. Its not the first time that CSX has has backed out of similar deals. This past February, the Alachua County Commission in Florida terminated plans to purchase another CSX-owned abandoned rail line after CSX backtracked on the agreed-upon price of $3.25 million and demanded more than $4 million. In Ohio, the Trumbull County parks department was not able to secure CSXs $2.8 million asking price for a railroad they planed on abandoning. Were telling CSX, stop blocking the tracks and take yes for an answer, said Senator Chuck Schumer at a rally last fall in support of the project. We cannot allow this project to be delayed just because CSX wants to squeeze a few more pennies out of the community. In the meantime, Friends of Van Cortlandt Park is determined to keep the project alive. The group has teamed up with urban arts organization City as Living Laboratory to create a series of interactive community art projects and walking tours that are aimed at building local awareness of the project as well as stress the importance of the Tibbetts Brook ecosystem. One of the projects was an interactive installation called Finding Tibbetts, which traveled through Bronx and Manhattan neighborhoods during the summer and fall of 2018. The installation was a mobile artificial wetland, partly made of a series of looped, water-filled clear vinyl tubes that were intended to simulate the waters of the brook. Everyone presumes there is no nature in the city, says Marry Miss, founder and director of City as Living Laboratory. "But we want to reveal it by pairing artists with scientists and urban planners to make this creek an important amenity for this community. Unless the city is able to make headway in negotiations with CSX, it looks as if daylighting Tibbetts Brook will remain an activist dream. Nevertheless, supporters of the project are staying positive. We want to be optimistic about this, exclaims Marry Miss. Someone told me it will take another 20 years. I dont want it to take that long. Part of the role we can play is to get the community to care about the project so its something they want to fight for themselves. Amir Khafagy is a New York City-based journalist. He has contributed to such publications as Curbed, CityLab, Dissent, Shelterforce, Jacobin, City Limits, and In These Times. Follow him on Twitter at @AmirKhafagy91. Plus: The MTA workers' union is sort of threatening to strike after the governor accused LIRR workers of "fraud" for collecting a lot of overtime. If you're a teen who's sick of adults badgering you on the subway, we want to hear from you. And certain NJ Transit riders can expect major delays this weekend, thanks to two K-pop concerts at MetLife Stadium. We the Commuters is a weekly newsletter about transportation from WNYC and Gothamist. Sign up below! Seth Wenig/AP Maybe you heard: Mayor Bill de Blasio is officially running for president. Like the other 22 Democrats in the race, he doesn't actually control most of New York City's transportation system. But unlike those other 22 candidates, he has some sizable impact on how people get around the most populated city in the country. So I asked fellow We The Commuters reporter Stephen Nessen to give us a primer on Mayor de Blasio's transportation legacy. If you're trying to decide whether to support your local candidate or if you're one of the 15 people in North Dakota who read this newsletter last week and want to know more about who Bill de Blasio is here's an overview. He Pushed for Safer Streets This was one of the mayors first and arguably most audacious efforts to remake New York City, based on a European idea that all traffic deaths can be prevented if you improve street designs and change drivers' habits. His goal is to eliminate all traffic deaths by 2024. And since his Vision Zero plan launched in 2014, we've seen a more than 30 percent drop in driver, cyclist and pedestrian deaths. Not bad. Although, so far this year, seven cyclists have been killed, compared to 10 in all of 2018. He Loves Ferries...No Matter the Cost In 2017, Mayor de Blasio launched two city-funded ferry routes, later expanding the program to six total routes. And he kept the cost of a single ride at just $2.75. The rub for many people is the fact that the ferries are expected to receive $600 million in taxpayer funds over the next three years, essentially subsidizing riders at $8.96 per trip. While many riders love it (theres good coffee and rose on tap), the city hasnt released any demographic data about whos riding the ferry, leading many to suspect its a niche option serving mainly wealthier residents. He Doesn't. Control. The Subways. For the umpteenth time, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo controls the subways. That said, as subway service was spiraling out of control in 2017, the mayor was all but absent from the conversation. When the MTA came up with a plan to immediately make repairs, the governor insisted the city pay for half the plan, leading to a protracted finger-pointing game. For months, de Blasio insisted that the state should pass a millionaires' tax to fund subway repairs, not ask the city to pay. The tax had zero political traction, and de Blasio eventually let it drop, grudgingly forking over the money. Now, subway service is back to pre-2017 crisis levels, and slowly improving. Yes, He Drives to the Gym Everything in politics is symbolic, so what's the public to make of the fact that de Blasio takes an SUV from Gracie Mansion on the Upper East Side to the YMCA gym in Park Slope, where he used to go before he was mayor? Not a man of the people? Never lost touch with his roots? Hypocrite for promoting a Green New Deal while taking a gas-guzzling SUV through heavily congested city streets to use a gym, when theres likely one in his home already? He Stalled on Affordable MTA Fares The idea of half-priced MetroCards for 800,000 low-income New Yorkers came from an organization run by one of de Blasios appointees to the MTA board, David Jones. Furthermore, its a program the city can implement without the state or MTA getting involved. And yet, de Blasio resisted it, suggesting that maybe a millionaires' tax (again) could pay for such a program. It finally took the City Council Speaker, Corey Johnson, to force the hand of the mayor to include it in his budget. The program had a rocky roll-out at the start of 2019, but its happening now. Stephen Nessen Not Saying MTA Workers Will Strike...But They Might Strike? Mary Altaffer/AP After reports that a few Long Island Rail Road employees brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars in overtime pay last year, the MTA started sending cops to monitor LIRR workers' timekeeping. And the transportation workers' union isn't happy about it. "A strike is not a far-fetched notion anymore," Transportation Workers Union International's president, John Samuelson, told the Wall Street Journal. On one side, you have the MTA and Gov. Cuomo railing about "fraud" and "stealing," at a time when the MTA is desperate for money to fix the subways. On the other side, union officials are arguing that in order to fix the subways, they need to either hire more people, or make a lot of employees work overtime. "Theres no evidence at all of widespread criminality," Samuelsen told the New York Times. "This is what Donald Trump does." Meanwhile, the union's contract with the MTA expired at midnight last night. "And quite frankly, we are not close to a negotiated settlement," TWU Local 100 President Tony Utano wrote in a statement. A reminder from Shumita: We've been going through the results from our Commuter Survey, and we're reading a lot of annoyed comments from adults about how they dread taking buses and subways right when schools let out, because students can be loud, disruptive, and generally back-packy. Middle and high school students: The floor is yours. How do you respond to this annoyance from adults? What would you like them to know about your commute? Shoot an email to sbasu@wnyc.org. (And if you're an adult, pass this along to a student in your life!) Best of the Week From Gothamist and WNYC It's cheaper to buy single MTA rides if you don't plan to take a train or a bus outside your weekday commute. We crunched some numbers after the MTA's recent fare hike, and also determined that the 7-day unlimited card is really just for tourists, and it's wisest to fill up a 30-day card on a Monday morning. Panicked subway riders stampeded out of the 34th Street-Herald Square station Wednesday after hearing a loud sound on a D train that some believed were gunshots. The NYPD soon investigated and found nothing, calling this "a non-event," though one rider told us a woman fleeing the train fell pretty hard. New MetroCards paying tribute to those who worked at Ground Zero on 9/11 are now available at 10 subway stations. A new bill in Albany would make it illegal to text while crossing the street. Brooklyn Assemblymember Felix Ortiz put forth the legislation, which would fine first-time offenders $25 to $50 for texting anyone other than the police, fire department, hospital, or "a physician's office or health clinic" while in a crosswalk. Bebeto Matthews/AP What Else We're Reading Access-A-Ride considers a vehicle to be "on-time" if it shows up within 30 minutes of when a rider requested, which may play into why the MTA pegged the paratransit service's on-time performance for pickups at 98 percent in February. For many riders with disabilities, standing on a curb and waiting 30 minutes for a car or van isn't doable. (The New York Times) Taxi driver schools in New York City are flourishing, even as yellow cab revenue drops and Uber and Lyft institute hiring freezes. What's driving the demand? Immigrants are looking to earn more than they would as bodega employees or parking lot attendants. (The Wall Street Journal) Expect major delays on NJ Transit trains to Secaucus this weekend, thanks to the sold-out BTS concerts on Saturday and Sunday at MetLife Stadium. Trains are scheduled to run every 10 minutes after the K-pop concerts let out, but the transit agency is still warning of two-hour wait times to get on a train. (NorthJersey.com) The MTA plans to redesign Queens' entire bus network in 2020, and it's holding two open sessions for bus riders to provide input. The meetings are taking place next Monday and Tuesday, both at 6:30 p.m. For more information on meetings where you can speak up, see below. (Streetsblog) WQXR Our friends at WQXR are back with a decompression playlist for your journey home! One click gets this straight onto your Spotify app. Best of the MTA's Lost and Found Clarissa Sosin for WNYC If your band lost all its instruments on the train...unfortunately these have been in the Lost and Found too long to be reclaimed. But if your tambourinist quit, let me know I will gladly fill in. If, more recently, you lost something on a bus, subway or the Staten Island Railway, stop by the MTA's Lost and Found at Penn Station. If you don't claim your property in time, you may get a second chance to buy it when it goes up for auction. Weekend Service Changes: Night of May 17 - Early Morning on May 20 This is a partial list of major service disruptions scheduled for the weekend. For a complete list of the MTA's Weekender updates, check here. 1 train service between 137 St in Manhattan and 242 St in the Bronx will be replaced by A and C trains and free shuttle buses. On Saturday and Sunday between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m., 3 and 4 train service between Utica Av and New Lots Av in Brooklyn will be replaced by free shuttle buses. 6 train service between Parkchester and 3 Av-138 St in the Bronx will be replaced by free shuttle buses. Saturday morning through Sunday night, Flushing-bound 7 trains will skip 33, 40, 46, 52, 69, 74, 82, 90, 103 and 111 Sts in Queens. Norwood-bound D trains will skip 170 St, 174-175 Sts and 182-183 Sts in the Bronx. During the day on Saturday and Sunday, 96 St-bound Q trains will run express from Kings Hwy to Prospect Park in Brooklyn. Bay Ridge-bound R trains will skip Union St, 4 Av-9 St, Prospect Av and 25 St in Brooklyn. On Saturday and Sunday, J train service between Broadway Junction in Brooklyn and Jamaica Center in Queens will be replaced by E trains and free shuttle buses. Check here for complete details about the Long Island Rail Road. For NJ Transit, check here for the latest service advisories. Upcoming Meetings and Events Monday, May 20th Metro-North Committee Meeting - 8:30 a.m. LIRR Committee Meeting - 9:30 a.m. NYCT & MTA Bus Committee Meeting - 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, May 21st Riders Alliance's Bronx Bus Turnaround Campaign Meeting - 6:45 p.m. Bronx River Community Center 1619 E 174th St Bronx, NY 10472 Wednesday, May 22nd MTA Board Meeting - 9:00 a.m. For official MTA committee meetings, registration for two-minute public speaking slots opens 15 minutes before the start time. To speak before a board meeting, you must register 30 minutes early. Both are held at at the MTA's Board Room at 2 Broadway on the 20th Floor. We the Commuters is a weekly newsletter about transportation from WNYC and Gothamist. Sign up for essential commuting coverage delivered to your inbox every Thursday. Loading... Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. 09:12 | Punta Cana (Dominican Republic), May. 17. "The countries of Latin America and the Caribbean have a strong performance in the area of regulations, and PPPs are almost universally accepted as a tool for contracting, generalized adoption of national infrastructure plans, and improvements in sustainability indicators," according to a report released on Thursday at the PPP Americas Forum in the Dominican Republic. 00:01 | San Francisco (U.S.), May. 17. The crew numbered 250 people, including officers, cadets, and non-commissioned officers. On April 26, Peruvian authorities visited the San Francisco City Hall, where Captain Kurt Bottger presented a commemorative plaque to the mayor. A reception was held the same day. Nearly 400 guests took part in the event, including authorities, members of the consular corps, entrepreneurs, and Peruvian community representatives. Also attending were representatives from the academic and cultural world as well as from the Silicon Valley innovation and technology sector. While in San Francisco, the ship received the visit of 7,520 people since it was open for free public tours that included access to an exhibition on the trips made by Lima-born navigator Juan de la Bodega y Quadra. Visitors to BAP Union were able to explore a room with Peruvian products aimed at boosting tourism to the Inca country. (END) NDP/RMB/MVB David Kiley His EncoreMichigan.com shines a spotlight on theaters struggling for attention and respect. by Cynthia Furlong Reynolds From the May, 2019 issue "I'm one of the state's biggest advocates for professional theater," says David Kiley. A veteran journalist and marketer, Kiley, fifty-five, is an online cheerleader for Michigan's seventy-some professional theaters (which he defines "as a theater that pays its actors"). Kiley took over EncoreMichigan.com (no connection to Dexter's Encore Theatre) from Pride Source Media four years ago. It was, he says, "in desperate need of upgrading, funding, and relevance." He redesigned it, adding a calendar and links for ticket purchases. In mid-March, the site listed more than two dozen shows, from Hamilton at Detroit's Fisher Theatre to The Glass Menagerie at the Flint Repertory Theatre. "Michigan is rich with theatergoing opportunities!" Kiley says. And Encore Michigan has thrown a spotlight on theaters desperate for attention and respect. Leah Smith, marketing and development director at the Detroit Repertory Theatre, points out that Encore Michigan is now the only statewide source for reviews and awards. "The Detroit Free Press was the last newspaper publishing reviews, and they no longer offer them," Smith says. "Reviews are incredibly important to theaters and theatergoers. They remind us of the importance of the theater world and can generate interest and attendance." Encore Michigan also sponsors the Wilde Awards--named after British playwright Oscar--to recognize Michigan talent. The awards are "good for community-building, especially for the nonprofit community theaters when they're seeking fundraising backing," Smith says. "They give bragging rights." --- A larger-than-life figure with a scarf knotted around his neck and a booming theatrical voice, Kiley is a New Jersey native of Welsh and Irish background. He first came to Michigan almost twenty years ago as Detroit bureau chief for USA Today. After four years he moved back to New York to work for Business Week, where his job included the auto beat. He returned to Michigan to cover the industry for the online Huffington Post. Several years ago, he, his wife, and their son were driving down Main St. Excited by the town-gown ...continued below... vibe, he announced, "This is where I belong." From 2016 to 2018 he was director of communications for the U-M's Ross School of Business.Along with Encore Michigan, Kiley runs New Road Media, a one-man shop specializing in web content, social media, and marketing strategies. His office, he says, is "wherever I lay my laptop."New Road Media is his livelihood; Kiley says Encore Michigan just breaks even financially. But he hopes to do better, seeking advertising and expanding the site's service to include "e-casting," where local actors can post clips and interviews, and directors can search for new talent.Encore Michigan previewed and reviewed 245 performances last year. Kiley himself wrote fifty-five, with the rest divided among eight freelancers (unpaid except for free tickets). He estimates that he has written as many as 350 reviews since taking over the website and puts "25,000 miles on my car every year" driving to far-flung theaters.Kiley acknowledges that balancing cheerleading and criticism can be a challenge. "I have never singled out an actor for a bad performance, but I've had to write negative reviews," he says. He won't name names but recalls a performance in Ann Arbor that's his benchmark for bad theater: "That was the most God-awful production--although the actors and director did their parts nobly. I felt badly giving it a terrible review because I know what goes into a production."The disappointments are offset by happy discoveries like a play at the tiny Outvisible Theatre in Allen Park. On opening night, he was one of three people in the audience. Yet "I was completely knocked out by the brilliance of the play and the acting. If I hadn't been there to review it, the performance would have been lost--and that would have been a crime."won a Wilde Award last year.---Kiley himself has taken to playwriting in recent years:premiered at the U-M's Arthur Miller Theatre in February. The musical is based onthe story of his parents' wartime love affair, which he edited with his sister and brother-in-law.Charles Kiley was a twenty-nine-year-old sportswriter-turned-sergeant reporting for the military paperBillee Gray was a defense plant worker when they met, in early 1942, at Camp Croft, South Carolina. After three dates, when he was about to be shipped out for Europe, he proposed. The book and play are based on the 800 letters they exchanged during their four-year separation.Kiley is writing another play based on his father's greatest coup: assigned to follow general (and future president) Dwight Eisenhower, he was the sole reporter present when the German high command negotiated the Nazi surrender in May 1945.will be performed next year at the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre. Kiley himself will be onstage as Winston Churchill--a change for him, he says, since he's typically cast as "mean, egomaniacal, evil characters." In both the new play and a reprise of"we'll be using the same typewriter his father used to file his reports from the schoolhouse in Reims."He's a producer, too: last year, he founded the Michigan Celtic Repertory Theatre, which performed Dylan Thomas'sat the Kerrytown Concert House and Conor O'Neill's. "I produced the show in the form of a radio play," he says. "It was a very successful way to get our feet wet." Next, he says, the company will perform a one-man show based on the life of the Irish monk St. Brendan of Clonfert, "whose life was filled with mystery and adventure.""I love the theater because I love great stories," says Kiley. "The Irish have a long history of great storytellers and playwrights--not only [W.B.] Yeats, Sean O'Casey, [Eugene] O'Neill, [James] Joyce, and Oscar Wilde, but also lesser-known and new talent."We'll draw on those amazing talents. Michigan has a strong and vibrant Irish American population, and we have many Celtic enthusiasts here. There's even a Gaelic League and Michigan Irish Chamber of Commerce in Detroit. Corktown is connected to the Irish American history. I think I've got a ready-made audience." [Originally published in May, 2019.] A group of diverse but like-minded individuals, the members of ARC have come together in their common desire to fight hatred, bigotry, intolerance and violence because of the harm these antisocial behaviors cause to our society. In that effort, we will not use or sanction the use of illegal actions (such as violence or intimidation) in pursuit of our desired aims and if we learn of anyone who does use these unethical methods we will report those individuals to the authorities. Instead, we will use the guarantees found in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that ensure freedom of legal speech and expression. YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro met for the first time with the representatives of the International Contact Group to discuss the US sanctions, TASS reported. An important meeting was held with the International Contact Group who visited Venezuela. I expressed my readiness to solve the internal disagreements through dialogue and discussed the economic aggression of the American empire against our people, Maduro said on Twitter. The International Contact Group on Venezuela was established at the beginning of 2019 at the EU's initiative. Among members of the Contact Group are representatives of the European Union, the UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, France, Sweden, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Uruguay and Ecuador. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian, who is in Kazakhstan on a working visit, attended the discussion titled The Collapse Risks of the Global System of Cooperation on the sidelines of the 12th annual economic forum in Nur-Sultan, the Presidential Office told Armenpress. The discussion mainly focused on the new geopolitical changes and challenges, the possible consequences of the new technological revolution and the balance between contradictory seemingly concepts. In response to the questions of the discussion participants, the Armenian President said the world is changing rapidly, but there is no need to be afraid of these changes because they are creating new opportunities. Those who have a clear vision on what they do, those who are in harmony with the time, will benefit. This is not a threat for me, but an opportunity to build a wonderful world where we must live in. Although with challenges, but an interesting world, he said. The President expressed confidence that the 21st century belongs to Armenians. We are a global nation, can change, be adapted, we are innovative, Armen Sarkissian said, noting that he is very optimistic towards the future. In response to the question relating to the revolutionary evolution, Mr. Sarkissian said technologies change, and the world is going to be different. I am sure that we will manage somehow to find solutions for the current issues we face. Various countries develop with different pace and develop different branches. And if we concentrate on the new technological generation, artificial intelligence, large data management, biotechnologies, it will be easier to orientate in a world full of uncertainties within a few years. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. Turkish-Armenian scholar Sevan Nisanyan has been granted Armenian citizenship. I received my Armenian passport and citizenship papers today from Mr Fadey Charchoghliyan, Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia in Athens. I take pride in being a member of a peaceful and civilized nation that has withstood the tribulations of history by its labor alone. I thank Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and all others who helped me achieve this great honor, Nisanyan said on Facebook, posting a selfie with an Armenian passport in his hand. The writer was granted the citizenship in Athens on May 16th at the Armenian embassy. Nisanyan was serving a 17-year sentence in a Turkish prison since 2014 when on July 14, 2017 he escaped the correctional facility and fled to Greece. He was widely believed to be a political prisoner because of his outspoken critisizm against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He was given the nearly two-decade long sentence for building illegal infrastructures in a village. In Greece, the local authorities were quick to grant him temporary residence permit. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. An F-16 fighter jet crashed into a warehouse just off March Air Reserve Base in Perris, California, CNN reports. The pilot ejected before impact just off the end of the runway, Maj. Perry Covington said. The pilot was taken to a hospital to be checked out but has no major injuries. Varner said the F-16 had a hydraulic failure which led to the crash. Authorities were investigating whether anyone on the ground was hurt. Mike Johnson, the CEO of the company located in the warehouse, confirmed all employees at the warehouse are safe. YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. The lawmakers of the Armenian and Russian parliaments have discussed a number of issues relating to the bilateral cooperation in the military-political field, Sergei Arenin deputy chair of the Committee on Defense and Security of the Russian Federation Council, told reporters in Yerevan on May 17. Everything was done to overcome some barriers of cooperation. I think the meetings were held quite well. The positive mood in our relations, which is the most important, will continue. I think our partners will visit us, we will wait for them in Moscow, he said. Chairman of the Armenian parliamentary standing committee on Defense and Security Affairs Andranik Kocharyan stated that such meetings aim at increasing the security component of the countries. We do not have any problem with the security. Moreover, we will constantly raise the security component with such meetings because our main security component within the CSTO is within the frames of the Armenian-Russian military-political relations, and we will maintain and strengthen them, he said. The Russian Federation Council lawmakers laid flowers at the statue of USSR Marshal Hovhannes Baghramyan and the Eternal Flame in the Victory park. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan KABC-TV(RIVERSIDE, Calif.) -- An F-16 crashed at March Reserve Air Force Base in Southern California on Thursday afternoon, hitting a warehouse located right by the runway. Maj. Perry Covington, a public affairs officer, said the building was on fire, but it was contained by the sprinkler system. The pilot ejected and was OK, Covington said. There were 12 minor injuries caused by debris in the building, according to Capt. Fernando Herrera, from Cal Fire and the Riverside County Fire Department. A hazardous materials team were scheduled to go in the building Thursday night to see if there is anything unsafe to the public and to make sure there is nothing left behind that can cause issues to the local environment and businesses in the area. People and businesses up to 4,000 feet from the building were evacuated, officials said. It was unclear if the jet was carrying any ordnance. "Every pilot that flies a fighter aircraft that has an ejection seat has to make that decision before they even start that jet up: 'When am I going to eject?' and not to wait too long to know when the airplane is no longer flyable and they need to get out," said retired Col. Steve Ganyard, former deputy assistant secretary of state and ABC News contributor. The unit flying this alert mission from the base in Riverside, California, was a combination of pilots and aircraft from California and South Dakota Air National Guard units. The pilot belongs to the 144th Fighter Wing of the California Air National Guard and the aircraft belongs to the South Dakota Air National Guard in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. Armenias Ambassador to Ukraine Tigran Seyranyan presented his credentials to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, the Ukrainian Presidential Office said. President Poroshenko and Ambassador Seyranyan discussed the necessity of intensifying the bilateral political dialogue. They positively noted the creation of the Group of Friendship with Ukraine in the Parliament of Armenia as an important means of interparliamentary dialogue. Special attention was paid to the issues of deepening bilateral trade and economic cooperation, in particular the restoration of the functioning of the Joint Intergovernmental Ukrainian-Armenian Commission on Economic Cooperation. Tigran Seyranyan has been appointed Armenias Ambassador to Ukraine on December 28, 2018. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. Armenias minister of education and science Arayik Harutyunyan met with Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education in China. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Education in Beijing. During the meeting the sides discussed a number of issues relating to the cooperation with UNESCO. Minister Arayik Harutyunyan praised the fact that the cooperation between the sides in the past year has been at the highest level, the evidence of which is the meeting of the technical cooperation group for 4 directions of the Sustainable Development Goals which will be held in Yerevan in August 2019. The minister informed that currently the education development strategy is developed in Armenia, and the subjective criteria are being revised, for which the UNESCOs expert support is needed. Stefania Giannini welcomed the ongoing changes in Armenias education system, which sometimes are in accordance with the UNESCO priorities. She informed that they are ready to cooperate with their Armenian partners in a number of directions. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. Anna Hakobyan, spouse of Armenias Prime Minister, who accompanied PM Nikol Pashinyan during the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations in Beijing on May 14-16, was invited by the Conference organizers to pay a cultural visit to the Great Wall of China as an honorary guest on May 15, her Office told Armenpress. During the tour Mrs. Hakobyan was introduced on the history of the Great Wall and left a note in the Memory Book. At the end of the visit the Armenian PMs wife received a certificate on the visit to the Great Wall of China. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. The delegation of Armenia led by Speaker of Parliament Ararat Mirzoyan will depart for Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, to take part in the outgoing session of the Council of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO PA) from May 19 to 20, the Armenian Parliament told Armenpress. The delegation includes Vice Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan and chair of the parliamentary standing committee on Defense and Security Affairs Andranik Kocharyan. President of Kyrgyzstan Sooronbay Jeenbekov will receive the heads of delegations participating in the session. The Armenian delegation is expected to have bilateral meetings with a number of officials. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. Armenian President Armen Sarkissian met with founder of the famous German company Schneider Group, Ulf Schneider, on the sidelines of the 12th annual economic forum in Kazakhstan, the Presidential Office told Armenpress. The company has an office in Yerevan which aims at providing services in the business development field and boosting the flow of investments in IT sector. Ulf Schneider said they are interested in expanding their activities in Armenia, adding that the fact that Armenia is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and has friendly relations with the European Union can serve as a natural bridge for our region and the Europe and Eurasian space. This opens new opportunities for foreign businessmen and investors, the company founder said. The sides also talked about the investment opportunities and agreed that there is a great potential to expand and deepen the mutual partnership areas and ties. Ulf Schneider considered prospective the partnership in new technologies, pharmaceutics. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian met with Chair of the Nokia Board of Directors Risto Siilasmaa on the sidelines of the 12th annual economic forum in Kazakhstan, the Presidential Office told Armenpress. Talking about the drastic changes taking place in the world, the Armenian President said the world is changing rapidly thanks to technologies, also the companies like Nokia. Armen Sarkissian said Armenia is a platform for innovations and startups, and the countrys future is closely linked with the new technologies. The sides highlighted the role of education considering it as the base of all of this. Mr. Sarkissian said Armenia has inherited quite a good education system from the Soviet Union and added that in line with this the country is also open to the new one. We attach great importance to education, science and technologies by encouraging the youth to propose new ideas, study new technologies and create startups, he said. In his turn Risto Siilasmaa said they are greatly interested in the development opportunities of the technologies field in Armenia. He said those countries will be successful in the rapidly changing world which prepare a good base for these changes. The President invited the company executives to visit Armenia to explore and discuss the prospective directions of cooperation. Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics company, founded in 1865. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. The Days of Culture of Belarus are being held in Armenia from May 16 to 19 within the frames of which a number of art figures of Belarus arrived in Yerevan. The Belarusian delegation on May 17 visited the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial to pay tribute to the memory of the innocent victims, as well as the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute. I think cultural events are very important in terms of establishing friendly relations with foreign states and preserving these relations. Culture is the ornament, flower of diplomacy, and it is necessary to properly hold cultural initiatives with various countries, acting culture minister of Armenia Tigran Galstyan told Armenpress. The Days of Culture of Belarus in Armenia program is being held within the framework of the cooperation between the culture ministries of the two countries. I visited Armenia in 2014. I am impressed with this country and left it with quite positive emotions, therefore, I was looking forward to this visit, a representative of the Belarusian delegation, TV host Marina Gritzuk said. Talking about the cultural relations between Armenia and Belarus, she said such initiatives strengthen these relations. The Days of Culture of Belarus in Armenia will kick off on May 17 at the Hovhannes Sharambeyan Center of Popular Creation. Napoleon Ordas graphic works and the collection of folk crafts and creations of the National History Museum of Belarus will be displayed. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YENOKAVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. The Province of Tavush is launching a massive re-settlement program, aiming at returning nearly 5000 families to the border province by 2025, Governor Hayk Chobanyan told a news conference. Are are already working with families, we are developing the circle of partnership. Our main objective is for them to return to the border settlements, he said. The Governor of Tavush said their main indicator for activities is the demographic situation. The Return Program will be the first governmental project of its kind, and it will commence soon. Our objective is to discover families whose repatriation is likely, and to provide the minimal living conditions for them a chance to reside, work and have a dignified monthly income, the Governor said. Despite the program not being launched yet, 10 families who have returned to the province have already been registered. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan will take part in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum which will take place on June 6-8, PMs spokesperson Vladimir Karapetyan told Armenpress. The Armenian PM will attend the economic forum in St. Petersburg, the spokesman said. The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is a unique event in economic and business world. The Forum is being held since 1997, with participation of the Russian president since 2006. The Forum serves as a platform for contacts between the top officials of various states and leaders of international organizations. Major business, economic meetings, round-table discussions with the participation of business representatives will be held on the sidelines of the Forum. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a meeting today at the government headquarters with a group of visiting journalists from leading Russian news agencies and newspapers. Reporters from TASS, RIA Novosti, Interfax, Lenta news agencies, as well as Echo of Moscow and Komsomolskaya Pravda radio stations took part in the meeting. Representatives from the Kommersant, Izvestiya, Moskovskiy Komsomolets and Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspapers were also present, as well as RT journalists. The Armenian Prime Minister attached importance to the visit and expressed hope that it will continue to the more comprehensive and multilateral presentation of developments and changes in Armenia in the Russian press. Then the reporters interviewed the PM on issues relating to the 2018 revolution, the ongoing anti-corruption campaign, justice, the NK conflict settlement negotiations, the Armenian-Russian relations, the Armenia-EU cooperation and other topics. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan New Braunfels, TX (78130) Today Some clouds. Areas of patchy fog. Low 62F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Some clouds. Areas of patchy fog. Low 62F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian, who is in Kazakhstan on a working visit, visited the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) in Nur-Sultan, the Presidential Office told Armenpress. Accompanied by AIFC Governor Kairat Kelimbetov, President Sarkissian toured the Center, got acquainted with its activity goals, principles and prospects. Kairat Kelimbetov said the activity of this financial structure is based on the principles of the British law, and this factor makes the Centres activity unique both in Kazakhstan and the entire Eurasian region. Armenian President Armen Sarkissian and the Centres executives discussed the cooperation opportunities. Kairat Kelimbetov said they also want to cooperate with Armenia and work in directions such as assets, private law management, financial technologies. There is a vision to have a similar institution in Armenia and also to establish a general cooperation with you. We need to study this. I am greatly impressed and will share my impressions with the government and the Central Bank. Maybe we will start thinking of what we can do together, the President said. He added that Armenia, being a member of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), has close relations with the EU, thus, it can act as a bridge which will only have a positive effect on the AIFC activity in case of cooperation. Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan YEREVAN, 17 MAY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 17 May, USD exchange rate down by 0.42 drams to 479.72 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 2.72 drams to 535.56 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.01 drams to 7.43 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 3.85 drams to 612.17 drams. The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals. Gold price down by 131.67 drams to 19922.35 drams. Silver price down by 0.51 drams to 228.19 drams. Platinum price down by 73.12 drams to 12986.46 drams. YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan has expressed concern that the possible escalation of situation in Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone can become a good opportunity for radical Islamists to re-locate in Azerbaijan, ARMENPRESS reports Pashinyan told in an interview with Russian reporters. According to the Armenian PM, following the defeat of the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, the radical Islamists are seeking new places to realize their potential. Azerbaijan is a very convenient place that allows them to operate in the directions of Iran, South Caucasus bordering Russia and Central Asia, Pashinyan said. PM Pashinyan noted that due to this factor the next possible escalation of Nagorno Karabakh conflict will no longer be a local one, adding that not only in Yerevan people understand this, but also in Moscow, Baku and Tehran. Emphasizing the importance of South Caucasus for Moscow, Pashinyan expressed confidence that Moscow is interested in the settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict and will become the guarantor of that the settlement takes place only through peaceful means. According to him, Russia has all the necessary levers that can prevent new escalations. I cannot believe that when there is the necessity, the Russians will not use those levers, he said. Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan And who will build this Peoples National Congress (PNC) palace? I have my suspicions a well-known local construction company or an overseas venture spring readily to mind. Why do we allow this man to be in charge of K2.3 billion in revenue? The Treasurer should be sole shareholder and trustee and Mr ONeill should hand the positions over immediately. As sole shareholder of the Kumul Group, he alone is responsible for everything that happens to the company, including the use of its revenue. At this time of economic and financial crisis, the last thing Papua New Guinea needs is more wasteful expenditure on Port Moresby monuments to the prime minister. Mr ONeill should immediately cancel his plans and allocate the money to consolidated revenue. Mr ONeill, as sole trustee for the Kumul Group, ought to be ashamed of himself for approving this while the nation is crumbling around him. This is a scandalous waste of money that should be going to consolidated revenue to help pay for essential services such as health and education. PORT MORESBY - Secret Kumul Petroleum documents reveal that prime minister Peter ONeill has approved company plans for a headquarters building worth almost K1.1 billion to be built in Port Moresby. Kumul Petroleum boss Wapu Sonk has also been cited by the PNG Ombudsman for investigation under the leadership code over the UBS loan affair Mr ONeills decision highlights the need for an immediate investigation by an incoming government into the condition of state-owned enterprises, starting with the Kumul group. I fear that this wasteful and reckless decision by Mr ONeill is only the tip of the iceberg. Kumul Petroleums 2017 Annual Report indicates that the company is little more than a slush fund for Mr ONeill, his cronies and employees. For example, in 2017 Kumul Petroleum made donations totaling K18.4 million. Did any of this go to PNC by way of direct donations, sponsorships, or payments for events? This is public money, and should be going through the budget. Kumul Petroleums 2017 accounts demonstrate that the company, and by extension the entire Kumul group, is being badly mismanaged. By not having all Kumul accounts audited and published, the prime minister is simply hiding the extent of his mismanagement. He has promised time and time again to table all the accounts, but he has failed to do so. We all know why. Kumul Petroleums 2017 accounts report that gross profits (mostly from PNG LNG) were K1.4 billion, but expenses, debt repayment and impairments and other costs ate up K1 billion of that, leaving just K300 million to be paid to the State as dividend. The company reported operating costs of K90 million for the year a very large amount. Perhaps it is partly explained by the fact that there are 10 employees out of 74 earning more than K400,000. The total employee benefits bill was K8.5 million. K4.7 million went to consultants. Nearly K2 million was spent on travel, accommodation, meetings and conferences. K550 million went on debt repayments in 2017 alone. Mr ONeill has saddled the company with debt, including K450 million from Bank South Pacific to pre-pay dividends to the government how long will it take for that to be repaid? Papua New Guineans still do not know the full extent of the losses incurred in the UBS-Oil Search deal, in which Kumul Petroleum was a principal player. Who were the states shares in Oil Search sold to? At what price were they sold? Does the Prime Minister have any personal or professional connection to the purchaser or its representatives? As a result of all this mismanagement and waste, the audited value to the nation of Kumul Petroleum fell by K1 billion to K4.9 billion in 2017. This is a money-eating machine. It is not a well-run company operating for the benefit of the nation. The prime minister should table all the Kumul accounts in the forthcoming session of parliament so members and the public can scrutinise them, establish what has gone wrong, and propose solutions. The lavish expenditure we can see in Kumul Petroleums 2017 accounts, and Mr ONeills approval of K1.1 billion for a headquarters building, is a slap in the face for people who can only dream of medical treatment, for families whose children are not receiving an adequate education, for communities that do not have access to clean water or power supplies, for villagers who cannot get their produce to market. An incoming government has an obligation to conduct a detailed examination of the entire Kumul group and to make recommendations to the relevant authorities. At the same time the Kumul group must be restructured to minimise Mr ONeills reckless and wasteful spending and to ensure that almost all of the K2.3 billion Kumul Petroleum revenues go to the State to be used for essential services that benefit the people. Lincoln Lewis has blasted Tony Abbotts response to former prime minister Bob Hawkes death. Photo: Instagram Lincoln Lewis has blasted Tony Abbotts response to former prime minister Bob Hawkes death, labelling his statement not respectful. The backlash followed a chorus of criticism levelled at Mr Abbott, after he claimed many of the late Labor legends key achievements went against (the partys) grain. "You might almost say he had a Labor heart, but a Liberal head, Mr Abbott said in a statement. This off-key analysis triggered an impassioned tweet from ex Home and Away star Lincoln, writing that he truly idolised Mr Hawke, who died on Thursday aged 89. Just this once, just for a moment.. Could you have attempted, or if that was too hard at least just pretended to be a respectful human being..? he tweeted. This off-key analysis came just two days before Mr Abbott will re-contest his long-held seat in Australias federal election. Photo: Getty Images He continued the tribute to Mr Hawke in an Instagram post, which included a photo of the pair together at a function last year. I felt lucky not just to have met the man and shake his hand, but hear him speak, tell jokes that would leave the room in hysterics and finish with the full singing of Waltzing Matilda, he wrote. His shoes will never be filled. Mr Hawke, cheers for everything. Statement on the death of The Hon Bob Hawke AC, GCL: pic.twitter.com/M8fzbFlVTE Tony Abbott (@TonyAbbottMHR) May 16, 2019 Ffs. Just this once, just for a moment.. Could you have attempted, or if that was too hard at least just pretended to be a respectful human being..? #RIPBobHawke Lincoln Lewis (@linc_lewis) May 16, 2019 Elsewhere, Mr Abbott continued to cop criticism for the contentious statement, which came just two days before he will re-contest his long-held seat in Australias federal election. Musician Phil Jamieson branded Mr Abbott as spineless and directed him to get in the bin. Story continues Similarly, comedian Tom Gleeson tweeted this tribute to one of Australias most loved PMs by Tony Abbott, reminds you why he is one of the most loathed. Got a story tip? Send it to lifestyle.tips@verizonmedia.com Want more lifestyle and celebrity news? Follow Yahoo Lifestyle on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Or sign up to our daily newsletter here. Milla Jovovich has opened up about having an emergency abortion. Photo: Getty Images Actress Milla Jovovich has revealed that she had to have an emergency abortion two years ago and that it was one of the most horrific experiences she has ever gone through. The Resident Evil star was sharing her story in a bid to highlight her concerns over Georgias restrictive new abortion laws announced last week. The new legislation effectively bans abortions after a heart beat is detected, usually six weeks into a pregnancy, before some women are even aware they are pregnant. I dont like to get political and I try to only do it if a really have to and this is one of those times, she started her post. Our rights as women to obtain safe abortions by experienced doctors are again at stake. She went on to discuss her concerns over the new laws before opening up about her own abortion experience. I myself went through an emergency abortion 2 years ago, she wrote. I was 4 1/2 months pregnant and shooting on location in Eastern Europe. I went into pre term labour and told that I had to be awake for the whole procedure. It was one of the most horrific experiences I have ever gone through. I still have nightmares about it. I was alone and helpless, she added. After the abortion, Jovovich said she spiralled into a depression that required a lot of hard work, even time off from her career, to overcome. Though she never wanted to discuss her personal experience, she feels she now has no choice. Abortion is a nightmare at its best, she continued. No woman wants to go through that. But we have to fight to make sure our rights are preserved to obtain a safe one if we need to. I never wanted to speak about this experience. But I cannot remain silent when so much is at stake. What is an emergency abortion? According to British Pregnancy Advisory Service BPAS an emergency abortion can be undertaken to save a woman's life at any gestation. Story continues Unlike other abortions within the 1967 abortion act they do not need the permission of two doctors, explains Clare Murphy, director of external affairs at BPAS. Murphy says that in principle an emergency abortion would also be lawful in Northern Ireland, as abortions to save women's lives are lawful. In practice the problem with making "emergency abortions" legal and other abortions not, is that it is very hard for doctors to determine at what point a woman's life is at risk and it can makes doctors feel they need to wait until she is incredibly ill before a lawful abortion can be performed, she explains. According to Murphy this is slightly different to situations where a woman is miscarrying and the miscarriage has not completed spontaneously and so intervention is needed to deliver the fetus or the remaining products of conception, although she says the two are closely connected. The tragic case of Savita Halappanavar is a relevant example, she says. This was the case that ultimately led to reform of Ireland's abortion laws. She was miscarrying while carrying a wanted pregnancy but doctors were too scared to intervene because the fetus still had a heartbeat and they worried to assist her by ending the pregnancy (that was already ending) would be breaking the law. Actress Milla Jovovich went into pre term labour about two and a half years ago. Photo: Getty Images If a woman is miscarrying it may complete spontaneously, but in some cases intervention is needed, otherwise she may develop life threatening complications, Murphy continues. Some people might refer to this as an emergency abortion or emergency treatment for a miscarriage. How we label it is perhaps not important, it is women getting the healthcare they need, she adds. Jovovich isnt the only one to open up about their personal experience in a bid to raise awareness about the new abortion laws in the US. Jameela Jamil tackled the taboo earlier this week by talking about her own abortion experience as a young woman. And last week US actress and chat show host Busy Philipps spoke about the abortion she had when she was 15. The 39-year-old, who rose to fame in Dawsons Creek, chose to share her own experience while discussing her concerns about Georgias six-week abortion plan, announced earlier this week. Got a story tip? Send it to lifestyle.tips@verizonmedia.com Want more lifestyle and celebrity news? Follow Yahoo Lifestyle onFacebook, Twitterand Instagram. Or sign up to our daily newsletterhere. The modernist architect I. M. Pei, who has died aged 102, was once pilloried for plonking a glass pyramid into the courtyard of the Louvre, but his controversial creation is now a landmark of the French capital. The Chinese-American designer endured a roasting from critics before the giant glass structure opened in 1989, with up to 90 percent of Parisians said to be against the project at one point. "I received many angry glances in the streets of Paris," Pei later said, confessing that "after the Louvre I thought no project would be too difficult". Yet in the end even that stern critic of modernist "carbuncles", Britain's Prince Charles, pronounced it "marvellous". And the French daily Le Figaro, which had led the campaign against the "atrocious" design, celebrated its genius with a supplement on the 10th anniversary of its opening. In March, the pyramid celebrated its 30th birthday and it remains a cherished architectural landmark. Pei's masterstroke was to link the three wings of the world's most visited museum with vast underground galleries bathed in light from his glass and steel pyramid. It also served as the museum's main entrance, making its subterranean concourse bright even on the most overcast of days. Pei, who grew up in Hong Kong and Shanghai before studying at Harvard with the Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius, was not the most obvious choice for the job, having never worked on a historic building before. But the then French president Francois Mitterrand was so impressed with his modernist extension to the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC that he insisted he was the man for the Louvre. - 'Tact and humour' - The Socialist leader was in the midst of attempting to transform Paris with a series of architectural projects that included the Bastille Opera and La Grande Arche de La Defense, a huge modernist archway in the west of Paris. Already in his mid-60s and an established star in the United States for his elegant John F. Kennedy Library and Dallas City Hall, Pei was unprepared for the hostility of the reception his radical plans would receive. He needed all his tact and dry sense of humour to survive a series of encounters with planning officials and historians. One meeting with the French historic monuments commission in January 1984 ended in uproar, with Pei unable even to present his ideas. "You are not in Dallas now!" one of the experts shouted at him during what he recalled was a "terrible session", where he felt the target of anti-Chinese racism. He had won the Pritzker Prize, the "Nobel of architecture", in 1983, but even that didn't seem to assuage his detractors. - Violent reaction - Jack Lang, who was French culture minister at the time, told AFP he was still "surprised by the violence of the opposition" to Pei's ideas. "The pyramid is right at the centre of a monument central to the history of France," he said, referring to the Louvre's former role as a royal palace. "The project also came at a time of fierce ideological clashes" between the left and right, he added. A whole wing of the Louvre was then occupied by the French ministry of finance. The museum's huge "Napoleon Courtyard was an appalling car park," Lang said. But the Louvre's then director, Andre Chabaud, resigned in 1983 in protest at the "architectural risks" Pei's vision posed. The incumbent, however, is in no doubt that the pyramid is a masterpiece that helped turn the museum around. Jean-Luc Martinez is all the more convinced of the fact having worked with Pei over the last few years to adapt his plans to cope with the museum's growing popularity. Pei's original design was for up to two million visitors a year. Last year the Louvre welcomed more than 10 million. For Martinez, the pyramid is "the modern symbol of the museum", he said, "an icon on the same level" as the Louvre's most revered artworks "the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory of Samothrace". Pei is not alone in being savaged for changing the cherished landscape of Paris. In 1887, a group of intellectuals that included Emile Zola and Guy de Maupassant published a letter in the newspaper Le Temps to protest at the building of the "useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower", an "odious column of sheet metal with bolts". Pei's masterstroke was to link the three wings of the Louvre with vast underground galleries bathed in light from his glass and steel pyramid French president Francois Mitterrand insisted on using I. M. Pei to design the extention to the Louvre art gallery after seeing his work at the National Gallery of Art in Washington Despite winning the Pritzker Prize, modernist architect I.M. Pei faced many objections and even racism before his plans for the Louvre pyramid were accepted In March 2019, the pyramid celebrated its 30th birthday and it remains a cherished architectural landmark Behind the virulent speech and aggressive body language of Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro is an uncharismatic introvert deeply uncomfortable in public, experts say. Far from being a great orator like left-wing former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the former army captain speaks with a lisp in a style that is often tense and combative. Like his US counterpart Donald Trump, whom he openly admires, Bolsonaro is a big fan of social media networks, such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, which allow him to express himself in a forceful manner without having to worry about his awkward gestures. "He is anything but an extroverted person. He is really not charismatic," says David Leucas, a psychologist and non-verbal language specialist at Santa Ursula University in Rio de Janeiro. "The shape of his face evokes an angry person and his body language is often aggressive. "Normally he gesticulates a lot, energetically, with an open hand that starts at the chest and moves forward, typical of a person trying to establish a relationship of domination." But Bolsonaro's behavior changes according to the context, audience and subject: when he is uncomfortable his speech is less fluid and sounds like dictation. Such was the case at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January -- his first overseas outing as president. Bolsonaro used only six of the 45 minutes allocated to him for a speech many considered dull and superficial. - 'Turtle effect' - "When he's under pressure, you can see his body freeze, his shoulders come in -- it's called the turtle effect," says Leucas. A close examination of video footage of Bolsonaro's Davos speech shows his eyes constantly searching for the teleprompter and his body swaying. "He does not have a strong anchorage and he is constantly shifting his weight from one leg to the other, which is a sign of anxiety," says Leucas. "If he is uncomfortable, either he is completely tense or he starts to shun people and adopts more aggressive language." Where the 64-year-old does appear to feel comfortable is at military ceremonies, which he attends frequently. "It is clear that he is much more relaxed in the presence of soldiers. His posture is more natural than when he is faced with journalists, for example," says Sergio Senna, professor of the Brazilian Institute of Body Language. Despite his public-speaking shortcomings, Bolsonaro's tough talk on crime and corruption resonated with many voters in last year's elections. Over the years the president has learned to somewhat "soften" his speech and better control his emotions, says Senna. But old habits are hard to break. As a member of Congress for nearly three decades, Bolsonaro was known for his often racist, misogynistic and homophobic remarks and a penchant for hurling insults. "Throughout his political career, many people have taken advantage of this character trait -- he is very irritable and when he starts to get upset he goes over the edge," says Senna. - Hate speech - Bolsonaro makes heavy use of military or nationalist terms and appears to go to great lengths to avoid political correctness. "His way of avoiding political correctness is to speak harshly and aggressively," says Claudiana Nogueira de Alencar, professor of linguistics at Ceara State University. Religious references also pepper the president's discourse, which is not surprising given the strong political support he receives from evangelicals. Bolsonaro's own faith appears to have strengthened after he survived a knife attack during last year's campaign. He often uses a verse from the Book of John in the Bible -- "You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." He said it during his victory speech in October when he also claimed to have felt "the presence of God and the strength of the Brazilian people." "He presents himself as an apostle of sincerity in the face of the hypocrisy of political correctness," says Nogueira. "But he actually delivers his own version of the truth to propagate his hate speech." Body language experts say Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is an introvert who dislikes public speaking Bolsonaro salutes Rio de Janeiro's Governor Wilson Witzel (L) next to Brazilian Defense Minister Fernando Azevedo e Silva during a ceremony to commemorate the participation of Brazil in World War II in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on May 8 of this year Council of Europe ministers meeting in Helsinki on Friday issued a joint declaration appeasing Russia amid a long-running conflict which was swiftly denounced by Ukraine as an "embarrassment". The Helsinki meeting, at which the rotating presidency was handed from Finland to France, attempted to resolve a major crisis with Moscow after its representatives to the body's Parliamentary Assembly were stripped of their voting rights because of Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. Russia responded by boycotting the Assembly, and has since 2017 refused to pay its 33-million-euro ($37-million) share of the annual budget of the human rights watchdog. In their joint declaration, ministers recalled that "one of the fundamental obligations" of the 47 member states was "to pay their obligatory contributions to the ordinary budget." They also agreed that "all member states should be entitled to participate on an equal basis in the Committee of Ministers and in the Parliamentary Assembly." According to the Council's rules, a member state that fails to pay its share risks being excluded after two years -- in Russia's case, as of June. The Council of Europe must now find a way for Russia to participate in the election in June of the Council's new secretary general, one of Moscow's key demands. Moscow has threatened to quit the body if it does not take part in the election. Ministers stressed Friday they hoped that "delegations of all member states (will) be able to take part" in the June session. The cautious declaration, clearly designed to mollify Russia, was welcomed by Moscow but sparked anger in Kiev. It "opens the door to the settlement of the current crisis in our organisation," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. "The ball is in the Parliamentary Assembly's court now." - 'A surrender' - "This is not diplomacy, this is a surrender," Ukraine's representative to the Council of Europe, Dmytro Kuleba, told AFP. "We want Russia to stay in the Council of Europe but we want Russia to comply with its obligations and commitments in all decisions taken in response to Russian aggression against Ukraine." Finland had also hoped to transfer the presidency to France with an agreement in hand on a new internal procedure for dealing with this type of conflict. Ministers agreed on "the need for coordinated action" for such a procedure, "which could be initiated by either the Parliamentary Assembly, the Committee of Ministers or the Secretary General, and in which all three of them would participate." Russia meanwhile insisted Friday it wanted to remain a member of the Council. "We are not seeking to leave the Council of Europe," Lavrov said, adding "the Council of Europe needs Russia." "We are convinced that Europe should understand -- without Russia it would hardly be possible to secure genuine European security." Amelie de Montchalin, France's Secretary of State for European Affairs, said their primary concern had been the well-being of the council and European citizens, when asked if the council had opened the door for Russia's return to the fold without any concessions from Moscow. "We?re not thinking in terms of an exchange of concessions. We?re thinking first of all in the interests of the Council of Europe. The Council must continue to protect all citizens of the European continent," she told AFP. Founded in the aftermath of World War II to defend human rights, the Council of Europe is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. Its crowning glory is the European Court of Human Rights. On June 25, the Council's Parliamentary Assembly will elect a new secretary general to replace Norway's Thorbjorn Jagland. Two candidates are in the running: Belgium's Deputy Prime Minister Didier Reynders and Croatia's Foreign and European Affairs Minister Marija Pejcinovic Buric. Lavrov warned Friday of "far-reaching consequences" if Russia does not get to take part in the June election. sgk-as-gab-jll/po/har Council of Europe ministers meeting in Helsinki issued a joint declaration appeasing Russia -- Russia's top diplomat is pictured -- amid a long-running conflict denounced by Ukraine as an "embarrassment" Germany said Friday it would pay compensation of up to 10,000 euros ($11,000) each to victims of the former Nazi paedophile sect "Colonia Dignidad" in Chile. The news came the week after German prosecutors dropped their case against the sect's former doctor Hartmut Hopp, 74, citing a lack of evidence that he was complicit in the sexual abuse of children. The sect was founded in 1961 by Paul Schaefer, a former Wehrmacht soldier, lay preacher and convicted paedophile, who abused, drugged and indoctrinated residents and kept them as virtual slaves. His group had close ties to the 1973-1990 dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet and would torture and "disappear" regime critics. Eligible for the payments will be some 240 German and Chilean survivors, including about 80 who now live in Germany, from a fund valued at an initial 3.5 million euros until 2024. Some will also receive pension-style payments. A long-time campaigner for the victims, German Greens lawmaker Renate Kuenast, labelled the payments largely "symbolic" but "acceptable". The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights however charged that Germany's foreign ministry was "dodging its legal responsibility to compensate the victims" more fully, adding that "many Chilean victims were left out". - 'Violence, slave labour' - A German government and parliamentary committee in its report said Friday that Schaefer "tore families apart, abused countless children and actively collaborated with Pinochet dictatorship henchmen on torture, murder and disappearances. "The survivors still suffer massively from the severe psychological and physical consequences after years of harm caused by violence, abuse, exploitation and slave labour." However, it also said that the German government "is of the opinion that no legal claims against the Federal Republic of Germany have arisen" from the abuses in Colonia Dignidad. The support measures for victims would be paid "exclusively out of moral responsibility and without recognition of a legal obligation", it said. Germany's President Frank-Walter Steinmeier had acknowledged in 2016, when he was foreign minister, that "for many years ... German diplomats at best looked the other way -- and clearly did not do enough for the protection of their compatriots in this colony". The scale of the atrocities committed at the fenced-in mountain commune 350 kilometres (215 miles) south of Santiago came to light only after the end of Pinochet's regime. Schaefer, having initially run from justice, was arrested in Argentina in 2005 and then jailed in Chile for child sexual and other abuses. He died behind bars in 2010 at the age of 88. His right-hand man Hopp, who ran the compound's clinic, was convicted in Chile of complicity in Schaefer's sex crimes but fled to Germany in 2011 before the court ruling could be imposed. A German court initially upheld the jail sentence but a higher court, and state prosecutors, have since found that the evidence provided by the Chilean court fell short of that required by German justice. The sect's founder Paul Schaefer (centre), seen in March 2005, is helped aboard a Chilean Air Force Plane in Buenos Aires after being expelled from Argentina to Chile, where he died in jail Major international powers during talks Friday in Washington urged Sudan's military rulers and protesters to resume suspended negotiations on the country's future immediately, the United States said. Representatives from the UN, African Union and European powers "called for an immediate resumption of talks" between the two sides, said Tibor Nagy, the US assistant secretary of state for Africa. They called on the protesters and the Transitional Military Council to "reach an agreement ASAP on an interim government that is truly civilian-led and reflects the will of the Sudanese people," Nagy tweeted. "We also expressed concern about the recent violence directed by security forces against protesters, and agreed to call for the TMC to allow peaceful protests and hold accountable those responsible for recent violence," he wrote. The talks in Washington included representatives of the United Nations, African Union and European Union. Countries involved were Britain, France, Germany and Norway as well as Ethiopia, which is the chair of an eight-nation Horn of Africa regional bloc, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, which includes Sudan. The army last month ousted longtime autocratic president Omar al-Bashir after months of mounting protests led by young people that were sparked by the high cost of bread. Protesters have remained camped out, saying that they want a rapid transition to democracy rather than continued military rule. The generals and protest leaders had been expected to come to an agreement on Wednesday on the thorniest issue -- the make-up of a new body to govern Sudan for three years. But the head of the military council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, early Thursday announced a suspension of talks for 72 hours as he demanded that protesters dismantle roadblocks and open bridges and railway lines connecting the capital. Sudanese protesters use a national flag to shield themselves from sun as they attend Friday prayers near the military headquarters Southeast Asia is in the grip of a fresh surge of paedophile activity with predators orchestrating and watching abuse on live-streaming sites and via webcams, and paying for it with near-untraceable cryptocurrency, victims and children's charities warn. With widespread poverty, lax laws, and creaking judicial systems, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and the Philippines have long been seen as soft spots by foreign and local paedophiles seeking out underage sex in person. Tougher policing and greater awareness has deterred some offenders, but technology has shifted the patterns of abuse in a region with growing access to broadband internet and encrypted technology. Paedophiles can now use an array of mobile and online tools -- including social networks, video-sharing sites, and the dark web -- to direct and watch child rape and sexual abuse with anonymity, experts warn. "Predators watch the rapes on large platforms that are not likely to close," said Franois Xavier Souchet, of Thai-based NGO Terre des Hommes. "It's live, nothing is recorded... everything is encrypted. They pay more and more in Bitcoins, encrypted money makes their transactions as secure as possible," he added. This week online giants including Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook are giving evidence to the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA), which is being held in London and will look at how to prevent online sex crimes as part of its remit. - 'I want to die' - Demand for child sexual abuse via webcam is an increasing cause of human trafficking, according to a UN report, with suggestions Thailand has become a hub in the trade, as well as the Philippines. Cassie, a Filipina victim, said she was just 12 when she was forced to commit sexual acts -- both with an adult man and alone -- in front of a webcam. She moved to Manila to work as a maid but was exploited by her mother's employer. The torment went on for five years. She said "I felt trapped, betrayed and alone. I was thinking, 'I want to die, I want to die because of this pain, but I can't'." Her abuser received a two year jail term in 2017. Last month, advocacy and legal aid group International Justice Mission (IJM) warned Philippine children were at risk of being forced into live streamed sex abuse, where paedophiles pay to direct so-called "shows" online. "Easy access to the web and money transfer services make the country a global hotspot for this problem," said IJM, noting that it is often parents or family members that organise or even commit the abuse. Terre des Hommes drew attention to the problem using a computer-generated girl nicknamed "Sweetie" that hung out in chatrooms and was approached by about 20,000 people -- mostly men -- in a matter of weeks. Last year a report by the Internet Watch Foundation found online child abuse imagery had increased by a third in 2017. - Death penalty - In March, a teacher was arrested and charged in his native France with rape, abuse of minors and possession of child pornography. The 51-year-old, who worked in schools in Asia, is alleged to have befriended kids in a working-class Bangkok neighbourhood before building a rapport on social networks, police sources told AFP. The same month, prosecutors charged another Frenchman with ordering videos of rape and sexual assaults of Filipino children. The suspect, a 55-year-old former police officer, was arrested after a seizure of computers and live-streaming equipment in the Philippines. In late April, former British Army officer Andrew Whiddett, 70, was found guilty by a London court of spending thousands of pounds paying for live-streamed sexual abuse of children from the Philippines. The National Crime Agency (NCA) estimates 80,000 people in the UK present some kind of sexual threat to children online. The cyber-abuse phenomenon is reaching "Cambodia and Vietnam", warned Damian Kean, of the Thai-based NGO ECPAT, which specialises in combating the sexual exploitation of children. In hyperconnected Vietnam, foreign paedophiles are increasingly targeting young victims online, often on social media. The communist state last year instated harsher penalties to combat the crime -- anyone guilty of molesting a child under 16 faces 12 years in prison, while child rape comes with a maximum sentence of death. But catching a paedophile requires help from the communities within which they operate - communities which are often marginalised, poor and mistrustful. Souchet of Terre des Hommes explained: "Particularly ethnic minority communities across the region do not trust local authorities." burs-sde/dhc/apj/joe/lto Southeast Asia is in the grip of a fresh surge of paedophile activity with predators orchestrating and watching abuse on live-streaming sites and via webcams, paying for it with near-untraceable crypto-currency, victims and children's charities warn Online giants including Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook will give evidence to the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA), which is being held in London and will look at how to prevent online sex crimes as part of its remit Last month, advocacy and legal aid group International Justice Mission (IJM) warned Philippine children were at risk of being forced into live streamed sex abuse, where paedophiles pay to direct so-called "shows" online The National Crime Agency (NCA) estimates 80,000 people in the UK present some kind of sexual threat to children online The sharp lines and geometric, light-filled forms of Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei's designs have created some of the landmarks of the world. Here is a selection of five. - US: National Gallery of Art (1978) - A "study in triangles" is how Architecture Week magazine describes Pei's East Building addition to the National Gallery of Art in Washington. The concrete and glass structure features huge mirrored pyramids and a 15-metre (50-foot) waterfall. The Washington Post wrote at its opening in 1978 that it was "an architectonic symphony of light and marble, color and glass, painting and sculpture." "This building helped to shape attitudes to museum building throughout the United States in the 1970s and later," architect Dennis Sharp wrote in "Twentieth Century Architecture: a Visual History" (2006). - France: Louvre pyramid (1989) - Pei's addition of a giant glass pyramid to the courtyard of the historic Louvre palace, today the world's most visited museum, was highly controversial and hotly rejected by many in France. It has since become celebrated as "a symbol of the modernity of the museum and an emblem of Paris across the world," Louvre president Jean-Luc Martinez said in 2017. Opened to the public in 1989, the giant structure essentially provided a new entrance for the growing number of visitors. Pei's masterstroke was to link the three wings of the museum with vast underground galleries bathed in light streaming in through the glass and steel pyramid. "Pei had imagined the hall under the pyramid as a space between the city and the collections, an interface between the outside and the works," Martinez said. - China: Bank of China Tower (1989) - This 367.4-metre skyscraper, which appears to be made up of triangles, is one of the tallest office buildings in Hong Kong and arguably one of the most striking on the skyline. Its four shafts, clad in glass and aluminium, form a prism that reflects the sun and the movement of the sky. "The diagonal cuts that generate the prism create a sequence of atrium spaces that flood the tower with natural light," says the website of Pei Cobb Freed and Partners, the firm from which Pei retired in 1990. The 72-storey building was met with some controversy after claims that its sharp, triangular design exerts bad feng shui on surrounding structures. - Japan: Miho Museum (1997) - Located on a mountainside in a nature preserve near the Japanese town of Shigaraki, near Kyoto, around 80 percent of the Miho art museum is underground to preserve its scenic setting. Visitors are led down a walkway enveloped by cherry trees and pass through an arching tunnel and over a suspension bridge before arriving at the collection of Asian and Western antiques. Opened in 1997, the museum's glass roof is made up of geometric combinations of triangles. "I think you can see a very conscious attempt on my part to make the silhouette of the building comfortable in the natural landscape," Pei is quoted as saying on the museum's website. - Qatar: Museum of Islamic Art (2008) - "Traditional Islamic architecture meets the 21st century," is the museum's description of the building which incorporates geometric patterns and is lit by reflected light entering from above. Pei told The New York Times in 2008 that he wanted the museum to embody the "essence of Islamic architecture" and spent months travelling the region for inspiration. "Islam was one religion I did not know," he said. "So I studied the life of Muhammad. I went to Egypt and Tunisia." "The museum is an object," he said. "It should be treated as a piece of sculpture." The East Building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, photographed in 2007 I.M. Pei's Louvre Pyramid under construction in 1987 in the main courtyard of the Louvre Palace in Paris The Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong in 2013 The Museum of Islamic Art in Doha in 2007, before its inauguration I.M. Pei, the preeminent US architect who forged a distinct brand of modern building design with his sharp lines and stark structures, has died in New York, his sons' architecture firm said Thursday. He was 102 years old. From the controversial Louvre Pyramid in Paris to the landmark Bank of China tower in Hong Kong, the Chinese-born Pei was the mastermind behind works seen as embracing modernity tempered by a grounding in history. Pei Partnership Architects confirmed Pei's death to AFP. The New York Times, citing Pei's son Li Chung, said the architect had died overnight Wednesday into Thursday. "Contemporary architects tend to impose modernity on something. There is a certain concern for history but it's not very deep," Pei, with his owlish round-rimmed glasses, told The New York Times in a 2008 interview. "I understand that times have changed, we have evolved. But I don't want to forget the beginning," he said. "A lasting architecture has to have roots." His work earned the 1983 Pritzker Prize, considered architecture's Nobel. Of his nearly 50 designs in the United States and around the world, more than half won major awards. - Modern angles - Born in China in 1917, banker's son Ieoh Ming Pei came to the US at 17 to study architecture, receiving an undergraduate degree in the field from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1940. He then enrolled in Harvard University's Graduate School of Design, where he received a master's degree in architecture in 1946. He became a naturalized US citizen in 1954. In one standout undertaking, he deftly inserted into the monumental structures of the capital of his adopted country the modern angles of the East Building of the National Gallery of Art, opened in 1978. The stunning concrete and glass structure features huge mirrored pyramids and a 50-foot (15-meter) waterfall. It was "a composition of angular stone forms... that remains the most visible emblem of modern Washington," said a New York Times review 30 years after its unveiling. French president Francois Mitterrand was so impressed that he had Pei hired to build a glass pyramid into the courtyard of the Louvre, the world's most visited museum. The project was deeply controversial in Paris and Pei endured a roasting from critics before the giant glass structure opened in 1989, but his creation is now an icon of the French capital. "I received many angry glances in the streets of Paris," Pei later said, confessing that "after the Louvre, I thought no project would be too difficult." - Grace and drama - Other well-known and characteristic Pei projects -- often graceful combinations of geometric planes -- include the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio; the Miho Museum of Shigo in Japan; the Morton Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas and The John F. Kennedy Library in Boston. He brought drama to the Four Seasons Hotel in Manhattan and Raffles City in Singapore. His Fragrant Hill Hotel in Beijing, completed in 1982, was intended to incorporate technology and indigenous building principles in a blend that would open the way to a particularly Chinese brand of modern architecture. Despite being a confessed Islamic art novice, Pei was also commissioned to design the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar, which opened in 2008 to great fanfare. The desert-toned building, inspired by the 13th-century Mosque of Ahmad ibn Tulun in Cairo, incorporates geometric patterns and is lit by reflected light entering from above. Pei spent months traveling the Muslim world seeking inspiration. "Islam was one religion I did not know," he told the Times the year of the opening. "So I studied the life of Muhammad. I went to Egypt and Tunisia." - Architectural 'poetry' - Pei dedicated energetic efforts to supporting the arts and education, serving on visiting committees at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Harvard and MIT as well as a range of US government panels including the National Council on the Humanities and National Council on the Arts. He dedicated the $100,000 prize money he was awarded as laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize to setting up a scholarship fund for Chinese students to study the craft in the United States, on the condition they return home to design and build. In 1975, Pei was elected to the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. Three years later he became Chancellor of the Academy, the first architect to hold the position. He was also one of 12 naturalized US citizens then-president Ronald Reagan awarded the Medal of Liberty in 1986. In 1988, Mitterrand inducted Pei as a Chevalier in the Legion d'Honneur, later raising him to the rank of Officier when Phase II of the glass-and-stainless steel Grand Louvre pyramid was completed in 1993. US president George Bush awarded Pei the Medal of Freedom that same year, when he was also elected an Honorary Academician of the Royal Academy of Arts in London. In addition to his museum oeuvre and contributions to the government and commercial landscape, Pei also worked on moderate and low-income housing. "His concern has always been the surroundings in which his buildings rise," wrote the Pritzker jury that bestowed to him in 1983 architecture's most prestigious prize. "His versatility and skill in the use of materials approach the level of poetry," the committee wrote. "His tact and patience have enabled him to draw together peoples of disparate interests and disciplines to create a harmonious environment." Architect I.M. Pei poses with a model of the Louvre Pyramid in Paris in 1985 Hong Kong's Bank of China tower, center left, is shown in this June 17, 2013 photo IM Pei smiles in the Napoleon courtyard of the Louvre museum in Paris, where he designed the iconic pyramid, in this photo taken in 2006 I.M. Pei speaks after being honored at the Ellis Island Family Heritage Awards at the Ellis Island Museum in New York on April 21, 2004 Fireworks light up the sky during the opening ceremony of Qatar's Museum of Islamic Arts French President Franois Mitterrand (R) shakes hands with Pei in 1989 Hundreds of demonstrators worked to clear away bricks and debris Friday, after military rulers demanded that roadblocks which have paralysed parts of Khartoum be dismantled before talks on a new transitional body can resume. Key international players voiced alarm and urged an immediate resumption of negotiations, which the ruling military council on Wednesday suspended with the protesters for 72 hours. The council, which said that security in the capital had deteriorated, froze talks that were due to finalise the make-up of a new body that would govern Sudan for a transitional period of three years. The issue is the thorniest to have come up in ongoing talks on installing civilian rule after the generals took over following the ouster of autocratic president Omar al-Bashir last month. But for the final talks to happen the military council chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, demanded that protesters dismantle roadblocks, open bridges and railway lines connecting the capital and "stop provoking security forces". In the early hours of Friday, hundreds of demonstrators chanting revolutionary slogans tore down roadblocks on Nile Street, a key avenue, that had paralysed downtown Khartoum this week. "We have removed the bricks... but if they do not respond to our demands then we will bring the bricks again," protester Sumeya Abdrahman told AFP while demonstrators cleared the debris. Later on Friday, an AFP correspondent who toured the area saw car traffic resume normally on Nile Street. - 'Freedom, peace, justice' - Protesters had erected the barricades to pressure the military rulers when talks began on Monday, but the roadblocks triggered clashes between demonstrators and security forces according to witnesses. The military council said roadblocks are "totally unacceptable", but the generals will allow barricades set up by protesters outside the army headquarters to remain and a sit-in there to continue. Talks between the two sides achieved significant breakthroughs on Monday, but were marred by violence which left five protesters and an army major dead. Protesters blamed the paramilitary Rapid Support Force, but Burhan said there were "armed elements among demonstrators who were shooting at security forces". On Friday, Sudanese protesters attended prayers at the sit-in outside the military headquarters, sitting on mats placed in rows on the street. "We have all the respect for the army and the RSF. They are our partners in the revolution," said the prayer leader as teenagers sprinkled water on worshippers gathered under the scorching sun. As the prayers ended, worshippers chanted "freedom, peace, justice," the catchcry of the protest movement that brought down Bashir. Women worshippers, who offered prayers in separate tents chanted: "Peaceful, peaceful! Civilian, Civilian," referring to the protesters' demand for civilian rule. "I don't care about the heat ... What I care about is to finish this thing (the political impasse)," said protester Mohamed Ismail as he poured cold water on his head to get relieve from the midday sun. - International concern - In talks in Washington, officials from the United States, United Nations, African Union and European powers expressed concern about the violence and urged an "immediate resumption of talks", said Tibor Nagy, the top US diplomat for Africa. The powers called on the military council to allow peaceful protests and for the two sides to "reach an agreement ASAP on an interim government that is truly civilian-led and reflects the will of the Sudanese people", Nagy tweeted. Britain, France, Germany and Norway took part in the talks as well as Ethiopia, the chair of the eight-nation IGAD regional bloc. The Alliance for Freedom and Change, which is leading the protest movement, said the move to suspend talks was "regrettable". "It ignores the developments achieved in negotiations so far... and the fact that Wednesday's meeting was to finalise the agreement, which would have stopped the escalations such as roadblocks." The protest movement vowed to press on with the sit-in, and has urged supporters to converge at the army headquarters where thousands have been camped out for weeks. Protesters are demanding a civilian-led transition, which the generals have steadfastly resisted since bowing to demonstrators' demands in toppling Bashir. During the first two days of talks the two sides had agreed on an overall civilian structure, including a three-year period for the full transfer of power to a civilian administration. They had also agreed that parliament be composed of 300 members for the transition, with around two-thirds from the protest alliance and the rest drawn from other political groups. But the make-up of the new sovereign council has been the toughest part of the negotiations, with the two sides so far proposing different compositions of the body. Sudanese protesters, attending Friday prayers near the military headquarters, have kept a sit-in at the site for weeks The military council says it will allow the sit-in outside the army headquarters, where weekly prayers were held Friday, to continue During the first two days of talks the two sides had agreed on an overall civilian structure, including a three-year period for the full transfer of power to a civilian administration Former prime minister Tony Abbott has been accused of trying to gain a political edge with his tribute to Bob Hawke. Mr Hawke, who was Australias 23rd prime minister, is being remembered as one of nations great leaders following his peaceful death. But while poignant tributes flooded in for the former Labor leader, Mr Abbotts stood out for all the wrong reasons. "Bob Hawke was a great prime minister," Mr Abbott wrote of the 89-year-old in an official statement. It was announced on Thursday that former prime minister Bob Hawke has died at the age of 89. Source: AAP "In my judgement, he was Labor's greatest prime minister. "But his key achievements, financial deregulation, tariff cuts and the beginnings of privatisation, went against the Labor grain, as Labor's more recent policy direction shows. "You might almost say he had a Labor heart, but a Liberal head. But his words were thought by many as a last-ditch effort to gain votes for the electorate of Warringah. Politicians, celebrities and thousands of disgruntled Australians lashed out at the former Liberal prime minister online. Tony Abbott has come under intense scrutiny for his tribute to Mr Hawke on Thursday. Source: AAP You lack grace. In fact, you are complete trash, Labor MP Nick Staikos wrote. Musician Phil Jamieson branded Mr Abbott as spineless and directed him to get in the bin. Youre trying to score political points from the death of one of Australias greatest public figures within hours of his passing? journalist Paul Syrvet said on Twitter. Sports journalist Andy Maher bluntly wrote: You are a disgrace. This tribute to one of Australias most loved PMs by Tony Abbott, reminds you why he is one of the most loathed. https://t.co/lwTnx0YQhV Tom Gleeson (@nonstoptom) May 16, 2019 Meanwhile comedian Tom Gleeson tweeted this tribute to one of Australias most loved PMs by Tony Abbott, reminds you why he is one of the most loathed. Australian Financial Reviews Joe Aston said Mr Abbotts comments were actually disgusting. Story continues [Tony Abbott] uses Bob Hawke's death to make a political point. Apologies to the late Ann Shorten, but this surely sets a new campaign low, the journalist said. This is actually disgusting. @TonyAbbottMHR uses Bob Hawke's death to make a political point. Apologies to the late Ann Shorten, but this surely sets a new campaign low #auspol #BobHawkeRIP Joe Aston (@mrjoeaston) May 16, 2019 Geez Tony, are you really that small? Read the room mate. https://t.co/Nb3BapX6pC Sarah Hanson-Young (@sarahinthesen8) May 16, 2019 TV presenter Matt Baseley even queried if the statement was a satirical offering from the Betoota Advocate. Geez Tony, are you really that small? Read the room mate, Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said. Former SBS newsreader Lee Lin Chin was once again vocal on social media, telling Mr Abbott that Mr Hawke, alike all previous prime ministers, was better than he was in the role. You want to make Bob Hawkes death about politics @TonyAbbottMHR? Okay, let's do it. He was a better Prime Minister than you ever were, but to be fair so was every other one including Scott Morrison you sad tiny man.#RIPHawkey Lee Lin Chin (@LeeLinChin) May 16, 2019 With the backlash overwhelming, Mr Abbott appeared to make a more heartfelt tribute a short time after, but the damage had already been done. Too late, dozens of comments read. Backlash comes two days from election This latest political faux pas comes just days from the culmination of his tight battle for the seat of Warringah in Sydneys north. Polling suggests Mr Abbott, who has held Warringah comfortably for 25 years, is in danger of losing the seat on Saturday. You are a former Prime Minister of Australia, start acting like it. Tom Koutsantonis MP (@TKoutsantonisMP) May 16, 2019 Catching up with Bob Hawke in 2015. He had the capacity to reach out to everyone across party lines. He was a great Australian. Margie and I extend our deepest sympathies to Blanche and his family. pic.twitter.com/dEjQ6IL6aa Tony Abbott (@TonyAbbottMHR) May 16, 2019 Socially progressive independent candidate Zali Steggall has been chipping away at Mr Abbott's primary vote while campaigning on climate change, transport and cost of living. Bookies have Ms Steggall, a former Olympic skier, as the narrow favourite in the contest, but Mr Abbott said he was feeling more confident in the final days of the campaign. "I'm more confident now than I was a month ago, but this is going to go down to the wire," Mr Abbott told reporters. With AAP Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, download the Yahoo News app from iTunes or Google Play and stay up to date with the latest news with Yahoos daily newsletter. Sign up here. Argentina's Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that ex-president Cristina Kirchner's corruption trial can go ahead, after protesters demonstrated against rumors the case might be delayed. Trial is set to begin Tuesday over accusations that Kirchner favored businessman Lazaro Baez in the attribution of 52 public works contracts worth 46 billion pesos ($1.2 billion) during her 2007-15 presidency. Her lawyers had submitted numerous appeals against the case, alleging a lack of evidence. While the Supreme Court has decided to review the case files, it said that "doesn't suspend the process." On Wednesday evening, demonstrators in several Buenos Aires neighborhoods banged pots and pans -- a popular local protest method -- amidst press rumors the trial would be dropped or delayed. Jorge Gorini, president of the court that will hear the case, stressed that there has been "no change" to the May 21 trial start date. The 66-year-old Kirchner's lawyers claim the accusations are unfounded and that there is no proof of favoritism in the awarding of public works contracts in Santa Cruz, a Kirchner stronghold, during her tenure. Implicated in more than 10 corruption investigations, this is the first such case against Kirchner to reach court. She is accused of having favored companies owned by Baez in Santa Cruz province during her presidency from 2007-15 and that of her late husband Nestor from 2003-07. Nestor Kirchner was governor of Santa Cruz from 1991 until he became president. Kirchner will appear in court alongside Baez, her former planning minister Julio De Vido, and his deputy minister Jose Lopez. Now a center-left senator, Kirchner is protected from pre-trial detention due to her partial parliamentary immunity, which protects her from imprisonment but not prosecution. Prosecutors say Kirchner was linked to the case by Lopez, who was caught red-handed in 2016 trying to hide a bag containing $9 million in cash in a convent near Buenos Aires. Of the other investigations in which she has been implicated, the most high-profile is the so-called corruption notebooks scandal. It revolves around the meticulous records kept by a government chauffeur, Oscar Centeno, of cash bribes -- allegedly worth $160 million between 2005 and 2015 -- he is said to have delivered from businessmen to government officials. Kirchner claims to be the victim of political persecution from the center-right government of President Mauricio Macri. The two are widely expected to lock horns in October's presidential election battle, with Kirchner leading opinion polls. Former president and current senator Cristina Kirchner, shown in this November 19, 2018 photo, had fought against the corruption case, citing lack of evidence Norway confirmed Friday it was trying to mediate a solution to Venezuela's political crisis, after opposition leader Juan Guaido said he sent delegates to Oslo but denied talks were underway with President Nicolas Maduro's government. The Scandinavian country said in a statement it had had "preliminary contacts with representatives of the main political actors of Venezuela". These were "part of an exploratory phase, with the aim of contributing to finding a solution to the situation in the country." "There are some envoys in Norway," Guaido told a rally of his supporters in Caracas on Thursday. Oslo was trying to bring both sides together, but talks have not taken place, he said. The mediation bid comes after a months-long power struggle between the National Assembly leader and the socialist president, amid sometimes deadly street clashes. "There is no negotiation whatsoever," Guaido made clear in comments to reporters. Instead, Norwegian officials were "trying to mediate" with both sides to bring them to the table. Maduro did not confirm the meetings but later said a close adviser, Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez, was "on a very important mission for peace in the country ... in Europe" and would return shortly. Norway's NRK radio and television network, quoting anonymous sources, earlier reported that talks had taken place over "several days" at a secret Oslo location and the delegations were due to return to Caracas on Thursday. Several South American media outlets also reported talks were held. - Delegates in Oslo - Speaking to reporters in Caracas, Guaido confirmed reports that National Assembly vice president Stalin Gonzalez and former lawmaker Gerardo Blyde represented the opposition in Norway. Media reports said Venezuelan Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez and the governor of Miranda province Hector Rodriguez represented Maduro's government. Guaido insisted the purpose of any negotiations must be the "cessation of the usurpation" by Maduro with a view to establishing a transitional government ahead of "free elections". US-backed Guaido is recognized by dozens of countries as interim president after dismissing Maduro's presidency as "illegitimate" following his re-election last year in polls widely dismissed as rigged. Maduro has been shunned by much of the international community for presiding over the country's economic collapse, which has led to shortages of basic goods -- forcing millions to flee -- as well as brutally suppressing dissent. He retains the backing of major creditors Russia, China and Cuba, as well as the powerful military. With the military support seen as key, Guaido tried to incite an uprising against Maduro on April 30 but only about 30 members of the armed forces joined him. The socialist regime has since ramped up pressure on Guaido's allies and supporters, charging 10 lawmakers with treason. - Dwindling crowds- Crowds at Guaido's mass weekly protests in Caracas have dwindled in recent weeks, amid growing signs of weariness that despite a raft of international sanctions, Maduro still retains the upper hand. Guaido said it was the second time Norway had invited representatives of both sides to the country for talks, though he did not elaborate. Norway, home of the Nobel Peace Prize and the now-defunct Israeli-Palestinian Oslo accords, has a long tradition of playing the role of facilitator in peace processes around the world, including in Colombia between government and FARC leftist rebels in 2016. Guaido meanwhile also confirmed that his representative in Washington, Carlos Vecchio, would go ahead with a meeting with military planners at the US Southern Command next week. "On Monday we will have a meeting with Southern Command at the United States' Department of State," he said. "My impression is that the government is trying to gain time, trying to divide and fracture the opposition," said Benigno Alarcon, conflict resolution expert at the Andros Bello Catholic University in Caracas. "For the opposition, it means time to reorganize, much like in a war, to check their resources and rethink how they can win." burs/db/hdy/po/bp Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido denied talks were underway in Norway with President Nicolas Maduro's government Anti-government protesters clash with security forces in Caracas on May Day of this year Anti-government protesters clash with security forces on May Day The state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision will close a pair of prisons due to an overall decline in the inmate population and low crime rate. The agency announced Friday that it will close Lincoln Correctional Facility, a minimum security prison in Manhattan, and Livingston Correctional Facility, a medium security prison in western New York. The prisons were selected for closure after a review of the state's 54 correctional facilities. "The closures will eliminate approximately 1,200 vacant beds without impacting the safety and security of the 52 remaining facilities," said Thomas Mailey, a DOCCS spokesperson. Livingston Correctional Facility has 806 inmates, a maximum capacity of 874 and 327 employees. Lincoln Correctional Facility has a maximum capacity of 284, with 133 inmates housed at the prison and 113 employees. Livingston is adjacent to Groveland Correctional Facility, another medium security prison. Lincoln is in Manhattan. There are two other minimum security facilities in New York City. DOCCS said the closure plan includes options for staff to transfer to other prisons or state agencies. The 2019-20 state budget authorized Gov. Andrew Cuomo to close up to three prisons. Cuomo proposed the prison closures in a 30-day amendment during the budget process. Cuomo, who has closed 13 prisons since becoming governor in 2011, said additional closures were necessary because of a reduction in the prison population. There are 46,718 inmates in state prisons, according to DOCCS. The population has decreased by more than 10,500 18.4 percent over the last eight years. "These closures are a result of the governor's successful progressive criminal justice reforms that have led to a historic decrease in crime, including both violent and property offenses, as well as individuals incarcerated in New York state prisons," Mailey said. It's the first round of prison closures in five years. In 2014, Cuomo closed four prisons three medium security facilities and one minimum security facility. The shuttered prisons include Butler Correctional Facility in Wayne County. Cayuga County prisons have been spared from the prison closures. The county has two state prisons: Auburn Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison, and Cayuga Correctional Facility, a medium security prison in Moravia. Online producer Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding. Love 0 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 7 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Dustin Czarny, the Democratic elections commissioner in Onondaga County, wants two more early voting poll sites. But Michele Sardo, the Republican commissioner, doesn't support the proposal. Czarny and Sardo agreed to have six early voting sites for the general election this year. However, Czarny said in an interview earlier this month that additional sites may be needed due to the county's "large geographic area." In an email Czarny provided to The Citizen, he contacted Sardo and proposed two more early voting locations: Cicero Town Hall and Onondaga Community College. Sardo, in an interview with The Citizen Friday, said additional sites for early voting aren't necessary. She said Monroe County, which has more than 486,000 voters, will have seven early voting locations this year. One of Monroe County's polling places is Monroe Community College's downtown campus in Rochester. "We don't need to go to OCC and we don't need to go to the town of Cicero," she said. "These six sites are strategically placed around the county and divided up fairly equally." The disagreement has received public attention less than two weeks before the board of elections must submit its early voting funding request to the state. Sardo and other Republicans, including Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon, have been pressured by Democrats to add more early voting poll sites. Three Syracuse-area Democratic state lawmakers Assemblymembers Pam Hunter, who chairs the Onondaga County Democratic Committee, Bill Magnarelli and Al Stirpe signed a letter to McMahon expressing disappointment that the county "has failed to take full advantage of New York's Early Voting Program." The state lawmakers claim the county is "entitled" to eight early voting sites. But the law signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and regulations adopted by the state Board of Elections requires counties to have one early voting polling location for every 50,000 registered voters. As of Feb. 1, Onondaga County had 318,011 registered voters. Under state law, the county must have a minimum of six early voting locations. Czarny said the additional polling places are necessary because residents in some towns would need to drive further to cast an early vote. A review of travel times to the polls found a Skaneateles resident would need to drive at least 20 minutes to get to the nearest early voting site. "I think the southern towns need a site near them," he said in a phone interview. "OCC is the best building in that area." Sardo told the Syracuse Post-Standard that she believes Czarny wants OCC as a polling location because college students typically support Democrats. Czarny disputed the claim during an interview with The Citizen. He said having the college as a polling location would benefit the towns of Camillus, Marcellus, Onondaga and Skaneateles all of which have more enrolled Republicans than Democrats. But Sardo thinks there's another problem with adding OCC as an early voting location. She said it would lead to Le Moyne College and Syracuse University requesting to host on-campus early voting sites. When asked if he would be willing to compromise and choose another site instead of OCC, Czarny said there isn't another option that could serve the nearby towns. Another reason Czarny wants more early voting sites is the availability of state funding. The county elections board could receive up to $30,000 for each polling location to cover operational costs and equipment purchases. "At the end of the day, we'll be throwing away $60,000 in state funding to not serve our community the best we can," he said. Sardo acknowledged there is funding available this year, but added that the state "is not going to fund early voting every year." She also believes the debate has "become very, very political." On Friday, Tony Malavenda the Democratic candidate for Onondaga County executive accused Sardo of using voter suppression tactics. Republicans believe Democrats are targeting McMahon and other county elected officials because it's an election year. McMahon is seeking a full four-year term as county executive. "We walk into this office and it's a bipartisan office. We can't run a board of elections politically. We can't," Sardo said. "We have to be fair to everybody." Online producer Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A former school resource officer at a Seneca County school district is facing criminal charges after allegedly engaging in a romantic relationship with a student, the Seneca County Sheriff's Department said Friday. Elisia M. Panipinto, 20, of 3450 West Covert Road in the village of Interlaken, was arrested Thursday, the department said in a news release. The arrest stemmed from an investigation into what was described as an inappropriate relationship between Panipinto and an eighth grade South Seneca Central School District student. Panipinto had been an Interlaken Village Police officer serving as a school resource officer in the school district. Investigators found over the course of the investigation that Panipnito used her status as a police officer "to gain access to the child while at school and cultivated a physical, romantic relationship," the news release said. The department said there is currently no evidence of sexual conduct between the two or that there are any more victims. Panipinto was arrested and charged with official misconduct and endangering the welfare of a child, both misdemeanors. She was arraigned at the Seneca County Centralized Arraignment Court and remanded to the Seneca County Correctional Facility in lieu of $250 cash or $500 bond. An order of protection was issued on behalf of the victim, the news release said. The department noted the investigation is ongoing and multiple interviews are pending. Anyone with information related to the case is encouraged to contact the department's criminal investigation division at (315) 220-3240. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 2 Angry 1 From December 19th through December 26th we will be granting free access as a gift to our readers presented by Cayuga Community College City Matthew Anthony Carnicelli, 32, 101 Franklin St., Auburn, was charged May 14 with third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and violating an interlock installment. Michael Robert Breezee, 27, 189 State St., Auburn, was charged May 14 with second-degree unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. Julius Leggs McClary Sr., 29, 2 Schwartz Dr., Apt. R206, was picked up May 14 on an executive bench warrant. Nicole Marie Gourley, 37, transient, was picked up May 15 on a bench warrant. Francis Albert Cook, 43, 7 Grover St., Apt. 9, Auburn, was picked up May 14 on a bench warrant. Steven C. Cooper Jr., 26, transient, Auburn, was charged May 15 with petit larceny. Thomas J. Bilak II, 38, 169 Murray St., Apt. 119, was picked up on a warrant May 15 and charged with second-degree robbery and third-degree assault. Martin N. Gomez II, 41, transient, Auburn, was picked up on a bench warrant May 15. Jasmine J. Radlowski, 26, 44 Wallace Ave., Auburn, was picked up on a warrant May 16 and charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. County Richard S. Mills, 43, 24 Cross St., Auburn, was picked up on a bench warrant May 6. Stacey E. Davenport, 35, 37 Morse St., Moravia, was charged May 6 with third-degree menacing and endangering the welfare of a child. Dwight T. Williams, 40, Lyons, 7445 County House, Road, Auburn, was charged April 12 with aggravated family offense and second-degree criminal contempt. Jason W. Chalker, 40, 8886 S. Seneca Street, Weedsport, was charged April 29 with reckless driving. State Theresa A. Love, 46, Auburn, was charged May 14 with third-degree grand larceny, third-degree welfare fraud and first-degree falsifying business records. Trejon L. Quigley, 35, Moravia, was charged May 16 with second-degree assault and first-degree assault. Love 0 Funny 3 Wow 1 Sad 3 Angry 1 Binod Ghimire covers parliamentary affairs and human rights for The Kathmandu Post. Since joining the Post in 2010, he has reported primarily on social issues, focusing on education and transitional justice. A member of Denmarks parliament in the Liberal Alliance found an innovative way to draw media attention away from his far-right-wing rival this week. Joachim Olsen took out a political adon Pornhub. According to the Danish newspaper B.T., Olsens ad read, Nar du er frdig med at spille, stem for Jokke!" In English, that translates as "When you're done gambling, vote for Jokke!" Presumably, however, Olsen was aware that Pornhub is not actually a gambling site. Half the internet is porn, he told B.T. That's where people are, so I thought it might be fun to make an ad on Pornhub. Olsen also took to his Facebook page to confirm that the ad was really his own. Yes, I am the one who is on Pornhub, he wrote. And No, there is no big idea behind itI just hope you have a good laugh. There must also be room for all the serious political messages. A day after his Facebook post, the politician went to his Twitter account to offer a further explanation for the ad. There are no limits to how far I want to go for the nation, he wrote. If it requires an ad on Pornhub to keep Rasmus Paludan out of foreign media, then I take one for the team. Rasmus Paludan is a rival Danish politician who leads the far-right political party Stram Kurs, or Hard Line, a party whose platform centers around white nationalism, opposition to immigration from non-Western countries, and banning the Islamic religion. Olsen is also a three-time Olympic shot putter, who took a silver medal in the event at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. Photo by Mogens Engelund / Wikimedia Commons LOS ANGELESBedroom Products and Rock Candy Toys have signed on as sponsors of the Sexy Suz Couples Boutique 10th Anniversary Lovers Expo on Saturday, May 18. It is our pleasure to co-sponsor the Sexy Suz 10th Anniversary celebration, and to support the progressive work that Charles and his staff have fostered within the local Athens community, said Casey Murphy, product educator for Bedroom Products and Rock Candy. The all-day event will be at the Sexy Suz adult boutique in Athens, Ga., with shopping, giveaways, educational seminars, games, live music, on-site PrEP testing, a drag show, wet T-shirt contest, and a Bare as You Dare dance party to cap off the evening. Bedroom Products and Rock Candy Toys will be showcasing their niche range of sex toys, blending product tips and tricks with sexual health education. The brands will be donating special gift boxes for raffle prizes. We are pleased that Rock Candy and Bedroom Products have joined other industry leaders to participate in the 10th Anniversary of our store, said Charles Craton, CEO and owner of Sexy Suz Boutique. The excitement and buzz for the party is tremendous, and we are excited to have these two exciting brands in attendance. We are looking forward to a wonderful event. The Bedroom Products and Rock Candy co-sponsorship, facilitated by East Coast News, land them among a lineup of additional sex toy manufacturers slated to exhibit. Veteran industry performers Jessica Drake and Ashley Fires will participate in fan meet-and-greet activities, sexual health workshops, BDSM demos, and a lingerie show. It is always a delight to make personal connections with retail staff and their customers, Casey Murphy said. We thank East Coast News for helping us secure a presence at the party, which is particularly special given the stores history and dedication to sex-positive inclusivity. Bedroom Products and Rock Candy Toys share a primary objective to offer products that inspire sexual exploration and pleasure. This event is a wonderful opportunity to share our excitement for these products, and to help normalize sexual wellness at the consumer level. Free Sexy Suz gift baskets valued at $100 will be given to the first 250 guests to arrive. Complimentary beer and wine will be served for those 21 and over, with a special Sexy Suz Lovers Brew on tap just for the event. Doors open at 10 a.m. and festivities conclude at 2 a.m. Visit the Sexy Suz website here. Bedroom Products can be found online and on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Visit the Rock Candy website, or follow them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For more information, contact Casey Murphy at [email protected]. LOS ANGELESMILF VR on Thursday released another feature-length virtual sex scene and this time, the production featured brunette performer Becky Bandini. The 49-minute release, "RoomMating," marks the first time Becky has performed in VR. The company said this relative newcomer demonstrated impressive grace and versatility while filming in a new medium. Active MILF VR members have demonstrated overwhelming support for Bandini on the website's forum and via Reddit and other social platforms. In "RoomMating", Becky is starting over and find herself newly single and searching for a roommate. This is where you (the viewer) comes in and after a quick tour, Becky opens up in a whole new way. The narrative unfolds in a couple of locations as the viewer first encounters Becky. The hardcore action really starts when your tour brings you to the vacant room. "Becky's accent adds some real down home charm and genuine warmth to this scene," said a spokesperson for MILF VR. "We were delighted just how quickly she adjusted to shooting for 180-degrees, and that versatility makes the entire process that much more enjoyable." A new VR sex scene is added each week to the MILF VR collection. Virtual titles can be sorted and filtered in terms of category tags, by newest or by top rated. Compatible with Oculus, Vive, PSVR, Gear VR, Daydream, Cardboard and Windows Mixed Reality Headsets. A range of video resolutions are available for streaming and download playback. Check out a selection of SFW behind the scenes photos of Becky Bandini and more here. Mark Kelly, a candidate for U.S. Senate in 2020, was in Flagstaff this week as he tours the state just prior to the election season getting into full swing. Kelly -- a former Navy pilot who flew during the First Gulf War, an astronaut and the husband of former Rep. Gabby Giffords -- is currently the only Democrat running for the senate seat in the upcoming election. He will face Senator Martha McSally, who is serving in the seat once held by John McCain. McSally was appointed to the position by Gov. Doug Ducey after she lost the election for Arizonas other senate seat to Senator Kyrsten Sinema. While in Flagstaff, the candidate for senate held a rally at Collins Irish Pub and met with Mayor Coral Evans about the issues facing the city and its residents. Kelly said the goal of the trip is to visit every county and congressional district to learn what issues are the most pressing for voters. And from what he has heard so far, at the top of that list is health care. It is the issue I hear over and over again from voters, Kelly said. Prescription drug prices are so high for certain kinds of medications and some of them seem to just go in one direction, which is up. Deductibles and premiums are often unaffordable for middle class families -- these issues affect people every single day. Kelly said he does not support movements to transition the country to a single payer health care system or Medicare for All, both of which have gained more prominence within segments of the Democratic Party. Kelly said many people in Arizona and across the country get their insurance from their employer and are happy with that arrangement. It might not be perfect, but he said the idea of moving those people on to a government-run plan is not practical. Instead, he believes the current system should be improved to make sure everybody has health care at a reasonable price, reimplementing the Affordable Care Acts individual mandate. Kelly said his views of the health insurance system partially come out of the aftermath of the attempted assassination of his wife. In 2011, a gunman shot then-Rep. Giffords and 18 other people, six of whom died, during a public event. Giffords survived but faced a long road to recovery. Its not an easy road for anybody, but its especially not easy if you dont have good health care coverage. We were fortunate. Kelly said. A lot of families are not [as fortunate] in that situation and it can be devastating. He added the incident helped shape his views on guns. Kelly said he is a lifelong gun owner, and that has not changed, but he suggested firearms are too easy to obtain for some segments of the population such as convicted felons. One solution to that could be passing universal background checks, Kelly said. If we strengthened these laws where theyre the weakest and also passed some stronger legislation, we would save peoples lives, Kelly said. Environmental issues When it comes to the issue of uranium mining, Kelly said he does not believe it is appropriate for mining to be done near the Grand Canyon and added that he understands the dangers posed by radiation. As an astronaut, I was a radiation worker myself, Kelly said. So I understand what its like to deal with radiation affecting my body. You could even watch as you close your eyes at night and it was dark, you could watch gamma particles fly through your retina and theyre flying through the whole body. Astronauts have higher rates of cancer because of this, and Kelly said that is the case for people who live around or near abandoned uranium mines in northern Arizona. The government needs to address this and clean them up and make sure we're not winding up with radioactive material getting into our water supply, Kelly said. And I certainly dont think we should be mining uranium in the Grand Canyon. You know the Grand Canyon is a treasure not only for the state of Arizona but also for this planet. Kelly said his views on climate change were also influenced by his time in space. You really get a sense that we live on an island and we have no place else to go, so we really need to do the best job we possibly can to take care of this planet, Kelly said. He explained that between his first and fourth space flight 10 years later, the effects of climate change and environmental degradation were clearly visible. Kelly said Arizona needs to move toward using more renewable energy, particularly solar, although he added he does not support the proposed Green New Deal. Updated for correction at 10:45 a.m. on May 17. Adrian Skabelund can be reached at the office at askabelund@azdailysun.com, by phone at (928) 556-2261 or on Twitter @AdrianSkabelund. Love 5 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 4 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Thomas was born September 26, 1921 in Drew, Mississippi to Thomas Leroy Leggett, Sr. and Ethel Laura Finley. In 1940, he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps and worked as a Park Guide at Vicksburg National Cemetery. In 1942 he joined the Army Air Corps and became a Corporal. He trained as an airplane mechanic, specializing in gunnery. He helped build gunnery schools and train flight crews. In November 1945 he was honorably discharged. After WWII he began a career driving for Santa Fe Trailways, which later became Continental Trailways. He was a loyal, dedicated driver for over 45 years, driving in New Mexico, California, Arizona and Utah. He married Luella Jean Thompson in 1963 and they lived in Phoenix, Arizona. In 1965, they moved to Flagstaff to raise their family. The recent announcement by Sen. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., that she was sexually assaulted while serving in the U.S. Air Force highlights once again the importance of preventing sexual assault in the military, the dark secret of American armed forces. McSally is advocating for legislation to criminalize sexual harassment in the ranks and ensure that each military base retains a lawyer to advocate for victims. Her proposed legislation is definitely a step in the right direction, but even it does not go far enough. The key to such an effort is transfer of the investigation and prosecution from the local military to Department of Defense civilians. The reluctance to acknowledge the problem of sexual assault is part of a pattern. Until 10 years ago, sexual assault in the military was rarely discussed and went largely unreported. Even so, the numbers are shocking. In 2018, the Pentagon estimated more than 20,500 service members were raped or sexually assaulted, an increase of 38% over the 14,900 estimated in 2016. Only a fraction of these crimes were officially reported. Considering the number of crimes committed, quite possibly a low estimate, only a small number of perpetrators are prosecuted and an even smaller number of those prosecutions result in conviction. The effort by the military to prevent sexual assault is clearly not working. Brigadier Gen. Loree Sutton, a retired Army psychiatrist, has characterized the military, a closed system, as a target-rich environment for sexual predators. The Pentagon estimates that 6% of all women and 1% of all men in the military have been victims of sexual assault. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan called the overall trend a scourge and demanded military leaders better police climate challenges within their units. However, this is an insufficient response, because the complaint still remains within the military chain of command. The military investigators in these cases usually have inherent conflicts of interest. A career at stake can, and often does, trump the rights of an alleged victim. Essentially in the case of military rape, military officers are still being counted on to clean up their own house. What the recent scandals in the Catholic Church, Hollywood and other institutions have taught us (or should have taught us) is that once wrongdoing occurs, the larger the institution, the less chance impartial outside investigators will be called to investigate. And the Department of Defense is enormous. Thats why rape, a felony criminal complaint, must be diligently and thoroughly investigated by people outside the chain of command. This is an ongoing situation that calls for direct action as opposed to anodyne reports and recommendations emanating from the distant reaches of the Pentagon. The secretary of defense, with the support of President Donald Trump, should create a Sexual Assault Unit located at the Pentagon, composed of Department of Defense civilians, not military. This unit should be made up of disciplined criminal investigators and prosecutors with extensive experience in this field. Heres how a hypothetical model would play out with such a system in place: If a 19-year-old private were assaulted behind the mess hall at night at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, that private could call the toll-free telephone number of the Pentagons Sexual Assault Unit without fear of retribution from a superior officer. A qualified nurse assigned to the base would preserve evidence with a rape investigation kit. Within four hours, two investigators and a prosecutor would fly out of Washington, headed for San Antonio. On arrival, the Pentagon investigative team would immediately gather forensics and take the alleged victims statement, then contact the base commander. As part of revised Defense Department policy, the base commander would provide the team with a secure working area and be required to cooperate in the investigation under penalty of obstruction of justice. The Pentagon team would have complete authority over anything related to the alleged crime. If charges were filed, the trial would still take place in a military court. Punishment for convicted offenders should include expulsion from the military and having ones name entered into a Defense Department registry of sex offenders, available to the public. The Defense Department has begun to acknowledge the gravity of military rape, its devastating psychological and physical impact on victims, and its corrosive effect on the military in general. Yet it has so far resisted entreaties to bring in qualified outsiders to investigate and prosecute, the most important step in addressing the problem. In The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoyevsky wrote, The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to such a pass that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. This is the juncture our military leadership finds itself with the growing problem of military rape. To regain respect, the first step is a new model of investigation. Cory Franklin is a Wilmette physician and author of Cook County ICU: 30 Years of Unforgettable Patients and Odd Cases. Jim Nicholson, who died in February, was a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves and a longtime investigative reporter and obituary writer for the Philadelphia Daily News. They worked together on an early draft of this op-ed before Nicholsons death. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Dickinson & Morris has relaunched its Melton Mowbray Pork Pies with an improved recipe and a new look. The Samworth Brothers-owned business said the new recipe, flavour and packaging would help capture an even larger slice of the market. The packaging features a new, modernised logo, and recyclable cartons have replaced the plastic trays on its 2-Snack Pork Pies and 6 Mini Pork Pies (pictured right) packs. Weve revamped our pork pies with an improved traditional recipe, including chunkier prime cuts of British Pork encased in a richer, crisper pastry, making for a taste and eating experience that is over and above all other, said Stephen Hallam, managing director of Dickinson & Morris. Our aim is to appeal to a new wave of customers, while not forgetting our loyal Melton Mowbray pork pie connoisseurs. Thats why weve reinvigorated the brand, but listened to our customers to ensure we are still clearly identifiable on the shelf. The pies, which won Best Melton Mowbray Pork Pie at the British Pork Pie Awards 2019, are made with 100% uncured British pork with a special blend of seasonings in a hot water crust pastry. They are available at Sainsburys, Waitrose, Co-Op, Morrisons and Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe, as well as on Ocado. Legends of Clatonia has moved to the Indian Creek Mall under a new name. The restaurant, now at 2205 N. Sixth St. in Beatrice, is under the leadership of longtime businessman and restaurant owner Ron Tegtmeier. Tegtmeier, a Clatonia native, opened the first Legends five years ago in Clatonia because he wanted to revitalize the town. He said weekend business has been good, but the restaurant has struggled to attract customers during the week. Tegtmeier said the owners of the Indian Creek Mall approached him and asked if he was interested in moving his business in. He agreed, and is excited about the new opportunity, hopeful that the location in Beatrice will give him a steadier stream of customers. Tegtmeier says hes been happy with the restaurants opening, and he is hopeful about the restaurants future in Beatrice. Its been an honor to be here, he said at a recent Beatrice City Council meeting. Everybody in the mall and everybody in the town have been phenomenal. I really do appreciate that. The restaurant has sought a soft opening, Tegtmeier said, wanting to iron out some details early. The staff is still learning a new computer system that Legends has recently changed over to, and they are adapting to the new location. Tegtmeier said his restaurant makes much of its food from scratch, and he thinks his customers notice a difference. He believes that much of the restaurants quality lies in its thorough food preparation and careful attention to detail. Legends uses certified angus beef, and works hard to ensure that all of its ingredients are top quality. Legends also takes pride in its pies, which are also made from scratch in the restaurant. Tegtmeier said Legends sold out of pies on their opening night, and they continue to be popular. The restaurants decor focuses on famous Nebraskans through the years, including Marlon Brando and Johnny Carson, and their photographs line the walls. Legends will have a bar, which Tegtmeier hopes will open in a couple of weeks once the restaurants liquor license is obtained. He hopes it will be an easy place for people to drop by after work or after dinner for a drink. Tegtmeier also said he will serve a large wine list. Tegtmeier made it clear that for him, the restaurant business is all about people. He said the response from his customers so far has been encouraging to him and his staff. Everyone in this restaurant matters to me, he said. Head of house and manager Amanda Whitmore has worked for Tegtmeier since he opened the original Legends in Clatonia five years ago. She said the transition has been difficult for the staff at times, but as a whole its been incredibly rewarding. Whitmore said the opening has been overwhelming, as they had many tables to juggle, but she said the staff is improving quickly. The most rewarding part of serving, Whitmore said, is getting to know customers, especially regulars She said that working for Tegtmeier has been a great experience. Hes a good guy to work for, and if I ever need anything, I can come to him. She said. Whitmore said that the entire staff took great pride in the restaurant in Clatonia, and that they will take pride in the new place as they helped to build it. She said the staff is like family, and that close relationship helps them work together better. Love 3 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Area law enforcement will once again take to the streets of Beatrice with participants of the Special Olympics for an annual torch run. The run has been an annual tradition for Beatrice police, according to officer Derrick Hosick. This is a nationwide event where law enforcement carry the special Olympics flame of hope, he said. It symbolizes leading to their state games in Omaha. It used to go literally across the state and was one big event that worked its way to Omaha. Now its transformed where every community does its own run. In Beatrice the event will be held Tuesday, May 21, at 6 p.m. The run will begin at 19th and Court streets and travel west to Fifth and Court streets, where a downtown event will be held. The Beatrice Police Department, Gage County Sheriffs Office, Nebraska State Patrol and other non-law enforcement groups will participate in the run. Members of the public can also participate, and are asked to show up to the starting point early to sign a waiver before the event starts. Hosick said the public is encouraged to line the streets during the run, and also attend the celebration after at Fifth and Court streets. Its so much fun to have those team building experiences, he said of working with the Special Olympics. To know them on a first name basis and see those kids, they get passionate and when you watch them doing something its just really cool to watch them be so passionate and be so carefree and welcoming. Weve made a lot of friendships. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. 20-year-old woman battles for life after her husband hurled acid at her Jenny Khadka, a 20-year-old woman from Kalopul, was attacked with acid by her husband on Wednesday, making it the fourth such attack this past year. In this first session for me as a state senator, I have learned so much. Looking at how the legislature works and what the rules are, to the long and varied list of topics addressed in the bills there is a lot to learn. We are now at the point in the calendar where nearly every bill is a key one. After a late night session on Wednesday of this week, the budget bills have finally advanced to Final Reading, which is the last stage for a bill. On Tuesday, the main budget bill got several hours of debate and failed to advance. At issue was the funding of a study about future needs for nursing home care in the state. The amount of funding needed for the study is small in comparison to other budget items, and even draws in some federal dollars to help with it. So the discussion was not just about funding a study but also about the responsibilities and duties of state agencies and different senators views on spending. Eventually on Wednesday evening, the bill did advance with the study included. There will likely be more floor debate and proposed amendments to the budget bills prior to a final vote; and then I anticipate some line item vetoes from the Governor. The Legislature will take up those vetoes during the final week of May. Another of the big bills before us right now is LB 720. This bill, introduced by Sen. Kolterman, gives incentives such as wage and tax credits, and some tax refunds and exemptions based on investment levels and hiring of employees. Sen. Kolterman had an amendment to require these businesses to provide health insurance. Several senators wanted to amend the bill with provisions for job training, more direct oversight by the Legislature and caps on the amount this bill would cost the state in lost revenue. I believe a good addition to LB 720 would be a requirement for incentivized business to contribute to scholarships in areas where Nebraska needs to train and retain workers in certain professions. However, the bottom line for me is that the first thing our state needs is property tax relief and reform. Until that happens, I find it difficult to whole heartedly support this bill. The bill that would achieve at least some degree of property tax relief is LB 289. Because we spent three hours debating this bill last week, the Speaker wants to see that the sponsors have 33 votes on the bill before he places it back on the agenda. Senator Linehan and Revenue committee members, as well as myself, continue to talk to fellow senators and work on amendments to address concerns about the bill - but I do not believe the necessary votes are there yet. Some of the primary concerns I am hearing as I talk to citizens in the district and my fellow senators are about the education funding portion of LB 289. There is a definite division between the larger schools in Lincoln and Omaha, and smaller schools in the rest of the state. Others do not wish to see any increase in sales tax. The mechanics of the property tax credit fund and dispersion of funds to schools trouble a few senators, and some simply do not want to go against the wishes of the Governor and wont support the bill. Late on Wednesday we took up LB 110 which addresses the use of medical marijuana. We had a three hour debate about the legal aspects, the medical benefits, and good debate by senators both for and against this issue. I felt the talk remained on track and brought out some important points. Sen. Wishart worked with many interests to amend the bill into a form I felt was better than as originally introduced. However, she does not think she has the 33 votes to show the Speaker to bring it back. As a result, proponents could mount a petition drive this summer to put medical marijuana use on the ballot in 2020. The plan by the Speaker at this time is to adjourn for the year on May 31. That would be a week earlier than initially shown on the calendar, since May 31 would be the 86th day of the 90 day session. Even though adjourning early saves the state a small amount of money and allows senators to return to their jobs in the districts, there are still some senators with pending priority bills who would like to see us work through that first week in June. I have been fortunate in moving nearly all of my bills through the process already and into law. Your calls and emails are as important now as at the beginning of session. Contact me at mdorn@leg.ne.gov or 402-471.2620. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Catch the latest in Opinion Get opinion pieces, letters and editorials sent directly to your inbox weekly! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The urban-rural split remains alive and well as the Nebraska Legislature enters into its final crucial days. It has reared its head in debate on the budget, property tax relief, eminent domain and economic development incentives. Not surprising, but important as one seeks legislative approval of solutions to major problems that impact both rural and urban residents. Budget opposition came not so much in the form of what was said, but what wasnt said. Consider a recent vote to amend the Appropriations Committee's state budget proposal by moving $51 million the committee had allocated to nourish the state's depleted cash reserve fund into the state's property tax credit fund. The motion was adopted 28-8. Twelve senators who were present decided not to cast a vote. Of the 20 senators who either voted no or declined to vote, 18 of them are from Lincoln or metropolitan Omaha. Appropriations Committee Chairman Sen. John Stinner of Gering and Senator Dan Quick of Grand Island were the other two. Those 18 Lincoln-Omaha senators are also a key factor in the fate of the Revenue Committee's proposed tax reform bill with property tax relief funded by state sales tax increases and delivered through state aid to schools. During a lengthy committee hearing, opposition to the plan came primarily from cities, urban schools, chambers of commerce, the Nebraska State Education Association, policy think tanks, retailers, real estate agents and contractors. Even the Nebraska Farm Bureau and allied ag organizations by far the biggest proponents of property tax relief said they are adamant that the state maintains the current property tax credit fund. Lawmakers passed a bill that would give property owners a foot in the door in challenges to utility companies that want to build wind turbine farms in the Sandhills. Omaha Sen. Justin Wayne took an opportunity during final reading on the measure to suggest an interim study of public power in Nebraska. He said thinking has to change as we move forward into the 21st century. Wayne said development of a power storage battery is a bigger threat to public power than either wind or solar energy. He urged his colleagues to consider that and net metering for commercial industry. "If you don't like wind in the Sandhills, then offer an alternative for us in the city who want to be green," Wayne said. Seward Sen. Mark Kolterman admits his business incentive tax bill Imagine Nebraska (LB720) may have become ensnared within the rural-urban differences that are apparent in the property tax debate. During a public hearing on the bill, which would replace the current Nebraska Advantage Act, Sen. Mike Groene of North Platte complained, "This thing goes a little too far." "This helps three counties mostly, Groene said. The rest of the state pays for these projects in Omaha. There's frustration in rural Nebraska; how does this help us?" Kolterman cautions that failure to enact a new package in advance of next year's demise of the existing incentive measure, the Nebraska Advantage Act, would send a negative signal to business leaders who usually plan new developments or expansion a couple of years or more in advance. Former Sens. Dan Watermeier of Syracuse and John Harms of Scottsbluff have authored an opinion piece for OpenSky Policy Institute pointing to the unexpected costs of earlier incentive programs and suggesting that they are crowding out funding for property tax relief and higher education now. "Nebraska Advantage was projected to reduce revenue by $24 million to $60 million per year," the former senators wrote. "In (fiscal) 2018, it reduced state revenue by $154 million." Harms and Watermeier were both former chairmen of the Legislature's Performance Audit Committee. They suggested a better move would be to invest in targeted workforce training programs that are tailored to Nebraskas economic needs or to work to expand high-speed broadband coverage to ensure businesses around the state have access to the critical service." Urban senators. Rural senators. How about Nebraska senators? Yes, I know thats a long shot somewhat akin to having a truly nonpartisan Legislature but I think its possible. I was born and reared in the Panhandle. I now live in the Capital City. Does that make me any less mindful of the issues that affect greater Nebraska? I think not. Can Senators Groene and Wayne understand each others issues? I think so. Is that attitude transferable to every state senator? I hope so. J.L. Schmidt has been covering Nebraska government and politics since 1979. He has been a registered Independent for 20 years. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Catch the latest in Opinion Get opinion pieces, letters and editorials sent directly to your inbox weekly! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. As I listened Tuesday to a N.C. House committee discuss an alcohol bill, I thought about how America debated the 18th Amendment In 1917, and for years after that.I thought about how we spoke to each other - those influenced by the Women's Christian Temperance Union and the Anti-Saloon League. Those from worlds where alcohol was an inherent part of their culture, and the entrepreneurs whose hard work and brilliant formulas were just starting to matter.I imagined what people were thinking when they voted to prohibit alcohol, in their states and then in their country. I wondered how lawmakers overrode a presidential veto to pass an enforcement act with claws so sharp as to leave a deep, festering gash that took years to heal.The way North Carolina governs alcohol, particularly liquor, is broken. I've said this many times, as have my colleagues at the John Locke Foundation.Such meetings with liquor as the focus, including this one of the House Alcoholic Beverage Committee, seem almost formulaic in nature. The same people make the same arguments, both for and against. At one point Tuesday, as the House members debated House Bill 91 , I became disheartened, wondering aloud whether North Carolina would ever realize the potential of our craft distillers, and the potential tourism dollars they could bring, if only our laws would allow.H.B. 91 is a product of a study by the Program Evaluation Division , which suggested merging ABC boards in counties with multiple boards. Brunswick County, for instance, has nine ABC boards. Wake and Mecklenburg counties, the state's most populous, have one apiece.Carol Shaw, the PED's principal program evaluator, told lawmakers merged boards are more likely to be profitable, that operating costs are lower, and they are typically more efficient.Language in the original bill would have the boards merge, but, through an amendment proposed by Rep. Pat Hurley, R-Randolph, the provision was removed. Rep. Jamie Boles, R-Moore, suggested capping the number of boards in the state, at 170.The ABC boards are problematic for myriad reasons. They are politically entrenched entities that operate independently and with little state supervision. They hold immense political sway, which, say critics, can very well lead to favoritism, cronyism, and, ultimately, corruption.Yet many of the boards generate money for their respective communities, which, board proponents argue, can't possibly be replaced. I would disagree, but there's little point in debating this because - save a bold legislative move - the board system isn't going away.Hurley, let's understand, opposes any move that, she deems, promotes alcohol or makes it easier for people to buy it.Here I began thinking about the arguments for Prohibition Amendments from Boles to allow consumers to special order a single bottle from an ABC store - now you have to order by the case - and to make it easier for businesses to transport liquor sans the ABC, were successful. H.B. 91 now heads to the House Finance Committee, so there's reason for optimism, albeit ever so cautious.Hurley also proposed Tuesday an amendment that would remove from the bill tastings at liquor stores and the possibility of Sunday sales, reminding another lawmaker of the old "blue laws." She says people have six days to buy liquor, and that's enough.Thing is, it's not for her to decide. It's up to the market, an idea reflected in West Virginia's decision this year to allow Sunday sales, and for Virginia to open ABC stores beginning Sunday at 10 a.m.Both of Hurley's proposals failed badly.Maybe, I thought, North Carolina is truly making progress toward reforming its arcane ABC laws. Maybe we've moved far enough beyond the failed experiment of Prohibition that arguments for Prohibition from 1917 proposed today are no longer debated but rather summarily cast aside and forgotten.Maybe. New research by two North Carolina State University professors has brought into stark relief the following facts: America is in a debt crisis, our economy is suffering as a result, and politicians of both major political parties bear responsibility.Economists Thomas Grennes and Mehmet Caner worked with a third author, Qingliang Fan of China's Xiamen University, to produce the paper . Published by George Mason University's Mercatus Center , it examines decades of fiscal and economic data for the United States and several other developed countries.Their key finding is that when the level of indebtedness in a country reaches a certain level, it becomes a drag on economic growth. Low levels of debt don't necessarily have this effect. If institutions borrow in order to finance valuable investment - to build or expand plants and equipment, improve infrastructure, etc. - that enhances productivity. The resulting gains can more than offset the cost of the debt.But investments contain built-in uncertainties. Not all capital projects pay off. We generally borrow to fund the best bets at first, then the next-best gets, and so on. The more we borrow and spend, the less likely the spending will be worth it. What's worse, we don't always borrow to invest. We use credit to buy things for immediate consumption.That's not a big deal in small amounts. And it's not necessarily disastrous even in large amounts if the good we purchase lasts a long time and has resale value, such as a house. But large-scale borrowing to fund large-scale consumption is foolish.The temptation is particularly strong, and the consequences particularly grave, in government. Those who make the initial decision, the politicians, can get credit for what gets funded without getting personal blame years or decades later for the taxes or foregone expenditures required to pay off the resulting debts. And because governments don't face the same competitive pressures that private institutions do, they are more likely to use borrowed funds either for questionable capital projects or for expenditures that are unquestionably consumption.Generally speaking, states and localities are less guilty than Washington is . Their rules require that operating budgets be balanced every year, which limits (but does not fully preclude) the use of public debt for consumption. Moreover, bonds that pledge the full faith and credit of state and local governments often require voter approval by referendum, which again serves as a brake, however imperfect, on reckless borrowing.The federal government lacks these precautions. Even so, Grennes and his colleagues found that for most of its history, the federal government used debt sensibly.they observed.There may have been no formal constraints, but there was anThat ended in the late 1960s, as the federal government took on new spending obligations, most involving immediate consumption rather than investment. Each new obligation had a powerful constituency, and often gained popular support (think Medicare). But the total effect was to boost federal spending above projected revenue. Rather than resolve the problem, Washington borrowed. What's worse, during the same period federal tax and regulatory policies incentivized an increase in private borrowing, too.The bill is now due. According to the new study, the annual rate of economic growth in the United States from 1995 to 2014 was more than a percentage point lower than it would have been in the absence of America's debt explosion. That's a very large effect.What can be done about this? Previous attempts to use moral suasion or legislative pressure, such as the Simpson-Bowles Commission and debt-ceiling shutdowns, have fizzled. Another N.C. State University professor, Andy Taylor , advocates an intriguing set of federal budgeting reforms that may help. Or we could try devolving federal programs to the states, trusting that their preexisting safeguards will hold. As Johnny Mercer put it, something's gotta give.John Hood ( @JohnHoodNC ) is chairman of the John Locke Foundation and appears on " NC SPIN ," broadcast statewide Fridays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 12:30 p.m. on UNC-TV. When students graduate high school, they know about the benefits of a college degree but not career training. Students who get some career and technical education (CTE) in high school can develop job skills and prepare for their future career without a college degree.How states design their CTE programs, however, determines how useful this education is to students.Kentucky, for example, embraces local business involvement in CTE much more than Missouri. Getting local industries and businesses involved matters because the partnerships help school officials identify in-demand skills and prepare students for a well-paid job.In the long term, Kentucky could offer a better economic future for its young people than Missouri thanks to more engagement with local industries.Kentucky's TRACK (Tech Ready Apprentices for Careers in Kentucky) program connects high school students with businesses, letting them gain paid work experience in local industries such as business, marketing, manufacturing, construction, and welding. TRACK prepares students for non-college alternatives such as apprenticeship programs and helps them fulfill registered apprenticeship requirements along the way. Students still get an education and develop their skills, but they aren't all shoehorned into a traditional college route.TRACK was created in 2013 as a manufacturing industry pilot program and is just one part of the state's CTE program. Since then, it has expanded to include electrical, welding, and business jobs. By 2016, TRACK had more than 300 students in skilled trades and about 40 students who either completed or were in progress of completing the manufacturing program. In the future, TRACK hopes to partner with more schools and businesses to prepare more students.Part of TRACK's success has come from emphasizing its partnerships. Kentucky's CTE approach is similar to many other states, where high schools offer classes in specific career fields and students take a sequence of classes in their field of choice. High schools largely facilitate CTE, but career centers or dual credit opportunities may also exist. One TRACK employer participant, STOBER Drives Inc., liked how high school students are employed and contribute to the local economy; the employer can find a more productive employee if they choose to hire a successful TRACK student because the student already has the training and experience needed by the company.After completing the one-to-two-year program, students also earn an industry credential, which is nationally recognized and indicates their job skills to future employers.Although TRACK's advantage is employer involvement and flexibility, it has been a challenge to set consistent standards across the program. Students may receive different training from different employers, and some students might work many more hours than others. This inconsistency could affect the benefits and outcomes of TRACK if students and employers have different ideas of what the program should be. However, standardizing curriculum and work experience expectations could restrict employer autonomy that is central to TRACK. Finding the right balance between standardization and autonomy will be tricky, but it is necessary to ensure a high-quality CTE program.Missouri's approach to CTE, however, is less integrated with local businesses. The state offers a CTE certificate to students who take three or more CTE classes in a specific field of study, complete 50 hours of work-based learning, and pass a skills test. An industry credential can fulfill the skills test requirement, but it is optional, unlike TRACK's integration of industry credentials. And the Missouri CTE certificate has not been vetted by industry professionals like a credential has, so employers may not fully trust the CTE certificate to validate a student's skills.Missouri students are required to gain work experience in their career field to receive a CTE certificate. While Missouri has registered apprenticeships, the state's CTE programs do not make it easy for students to combine their CTE skills with registered apprenticeships like Kentucky does. Missouri students also choose their own CTE classes without industry guidance, so their classes may not relate to the skills they need on the job, and their work experience may not count toward an apprenticeship. Without a TRACK-like program, Missouri schools are on their own when building a business partnership for CTE students.To improve those local efforts, Missouri policymakers could follow TRACK's example and emphasize partnerships with employers. Partnering helps industries train future talent and students get an early start on their career, so employers can train students for in-demand jobs. Missouri's health care and science and technology sectors, for example, particularly need more skilled workers to keep up with available jobs. Those fields are experiencing a worker shortage of about 9 percent, and business and sales face a 10 percent shortage.Making CTE more useful also gives students more opportunities: Employers have created registered apprenticeships just to work with TRACK in Kentucky. Change in Missouri is crucial: only 15 percent of Missouri businesses reported in a Gallup survey that they thought high schools prepared students for the workforce. The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry was told by a CEO thatThese different state approaches show that a good CTE program needs to do more than just check a box. Missouri could reform its CTE program by working with businesses to create career training programs that respond to local and regional needs. Partnerships are important in CTE because it ensures students learn valuable workforce skills, but also requires constant engagement because job needs change over time.When partnering, schools and businesses should agree on student expectations for the job, how involved a student will be in the work, and the practical skills and experiences the student will gain in the program. Without agreeing on the outcomes and the shared purpose, partnerships are less likely to succeed.Partnerships can be further complicated by layers of governance in education: the school, the district, state educational agency, and other actors can alienate businesses, as well as the paperwork and bureaucracy required for CTE programs. It can be difficult to establish and maintain partnerships but doing so is essential for students and the local workforce. Otherwise, young people may leave for better opportunities elsewhere. High-quality career training could prevent that loss by helping high schoolers find good jobs right after graduation and keep them local.Students might know they have more than just the college option in hunting for a good job. States should make sure, however, that they connect students with industries. Kentucky's model for collaboration could help states like Missouri improve their career training and outcomes for students. Karen Brinson Bell Contact: Patrick Gannon Patrick Gannon patrick.gannon@ncsbe.gov The N.C. State Board of Elections on Monday appointed Karen Brinson Bell as the Board's executive director, the chief state elections official, effective June 1. (Resume and photo attached)Brinson Bell, who has more than 13 years of elections administration experience, becomes the State Board's fourth executive director in modern history. She will replace Kim Westbrook Strach, who has served as executive director since 2013.State statute requires the State Board to appoint an executive director every two years.Brinson Bell will oversee about 70 State Board employees. The Raleigh-based Board of Elections is charged with administering elections and overseeing 100 county boards of elections, as well as campaign finance disclosure and compliance.Brinson Bell's first day on the job will be June 3, and her two-year term will expire in May 2021. Strach will remain in the position through May 31 to ensure continuity during the transition.Brinson Bell said.Brinson Bell has spent most of her career in elections administration. From March 2011 to March 2015, she served as director for the Transylvania County Board of Elections in Brevard, N.C. Prior to that, she worked for five years as a district elections technician for the State Board of Elections, where she supported 12 county boards in western North Carolina in almost all facets of elections.Most recently, Brinson Bell was deputy director of the Ranked Choice Voting Resource Center, an organization specializing in ranked choice voting, in which voters rank candidates in order of preference. In that role, she assisted elections administrators on a national level, providing expert testimony and educational tools for conducting elections using that method.During her work with the State Board, Brinson Bell helped administer instant runoff (IRV) elections, a type of ranked choice voting, for the city of Hendersonville in 2007 and 2009, a District Court IRV election in 2010 and a statewide IRV election for a North Carolina Court of Appeals seat in 2010.Brinson Bell, 44, was born and raised in Kenansville in Duplin County. In 1996, she graduated from the University of North Carolina at Asheville, with a double major in mass communication and political science. She is married to Gaston County native Patrick Bell. They have a rescue dog, Patriot.State Board Chair Bob Cordle said he hoped the change would refocus the agency's attention on elections administration and supporting the county boards.Cordle said.Cordle praised Strach for leading the agency through a tumultuous period, including long stints without a seated Board because of lawsuits challenging the Board's makeup.Strach spent nearly two decades at the State Board, working her way up to chief investigator before being named executive director in 2013. She helped lead the recent investigation into absentee ballot irregularities in the 9th Congressional District, which culminated in a new election.Cordle thanked Strach for her service to the State Board and North Carolina voters.he said. Tom Campbell I've been watching the emerging election for North Carolina's Senate seat and wonder if we are seeing symptoms of a larger trend. Our traditional tribalism - Republicans and Democrats - has morphed into contentious sub-tribes within each party. Instead of a sure re-nomination next year, Senator Thom Tillis faces a serious challenger from within his own tribe.Thom's Republican bona fides are impressive. A former business consultant, he was elected to the NC General Assembly in 2006 and served as the campaign chair for the House Republican Caucus that helped orchestrate the 2010 GOP takeover of the House. The new majority elected him Speaker for the 2011 session and Tillis served in that capacity until he left to run for the U.S. Senate. During his tenure Tillis led the House through some of the most dramatic political and legislative changes in modern history, bringing together an often-fractious caucus to pass legislation. Even the opposition grudgingly admits thatHis 2014 challenge to first-term incumbent Democrat Senator Kay Hagan garnered endorsements from former Florida governor Jeb Bush, sitting governor Pat McCrory, former Presidential candidate Mitt Romney and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.As a Senator his record is not stellar, but also not embarrassing - pretty typical for a first-term. He has voted with President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell more than 95 percent of the time, but he rankled ultra conservatives on a couple of issues, notably his vote to raise spending caps, the debt ceiling, and, his biggest stumble, Trump's national emergency declaration over the border wall. Tillis wrote an op-ed piece saying he opposed the move, then caved after being beaten up by the far right and the President.Raleigh's Garland Tucker is promising to put $1 million of his own money into his primary challenge, buying some name recognition. We are already hearing charges that Tillis "flip-flopped" and that he is a RINO, not a true conservative.Don't count the Senator out. He is a seasoned campaigner who understands the power of incumbency, as evidenced by Vice President Mike Pence's trip here next week for a Tillis fundraiser. He won't be the last big-name Republican we see. Further, the 2018 elections reinforced the fact that North Carolina is a purple state, neither blood red Republican nor bright blue Democratic. The far-right faction may raise some money and make some noise, but they are not the majority. They could win the battle and lose the war if they defeat Tillis. A really heated and divisive March primary could either keep the party from reuniting in November or lead it so far to the right that they lose the moderate middle they will need to win the election.Democrats know that regaining control of the U.S. Senate begins here in North Carolina, however they also know they must field a candidate who can capture those moderate voters. They have conducted a major recruitment campaign and former State Treasurer Janet Cowell, who has twice before run and won statewide, is rumored to be the party pick. They've pledged to provide the money and all their resources to make it happen.North Carolina's Senate race could be the premiere event next year. Over the past several weeks, Democrats have spent their time defending the absurd notion that America is in the midst of a constitutional crisis. What, pray tell, has initiated this crisis? The supposed unwillingness of Attorney General William Barr to turn over to Congress unredacted sections of the Mueller report, plus underlying grand jury materials. Barr, for his part, correctly points out that the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure bar him from revealing grand jury testimony. That rule was put in place by Congress itself. Nonetheless, Democrats, seeking to manufacture a feeling of Nixonian chaos, have claimed that the Trump administration is now seeking to block the release of a report that Barrreleased. The Mueller report is, indeed, public.Playing politics with our institutional health is a dangerous game. Here's the truth: Our system of checks and balances is working just fine. Our politicians proclaim that the messy friction between the legislative, executive and judicial branches demonstrates that our politics is unworkable. But that friction is a feature of the system, not a bug. As James Madison explained in Federalist No. 51:The founders worried greatly that the supremacy of the legislature would make the executive a mere footstool, propping up legislative authority. To that end, they created a unitary executive with control over law enforcement. And they gave a check against the power of the executive to Congress, which has the ability to defund departments or impeach officials.Democrats know this. They have the power to impeach William Barr. They're choosing not to do so, because they recognize that their complaint is itself corrupt. Democrats have the power to impeach Donald Trump. They're choosing not to do so, because they recognize that their grounds for such activity are weak in the extreme.Instead, they participate in a cynical game in which they attack the system of checks and balances itself. That's far more dangerous than any action taken by the Trump administration to date. The same Democrats who claim today that they are deeply concerned about the system of checks and balances are proclaiming from the rooftops that they would be happy to shatter the system to facilitate their agenda. We've heard from Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., that as president, she'd simply use executive authority to set gun law. We've heard from a bevy of Democrats that they'd consider packing the Supreme Court, or abolishing the Electoral College. A few leftist commentators have even suggested abolishing the Senate, given its non-popular representation. We've heard from failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, and her Democratic allies, that her failures were the fault of election fraud; we've heard the same about Andrew Gillum in Florida.And now Democrats say that Barr's adherence to law is somehow violative of the constitutional order. Undermining the constitutional order publicly, supposedly in order to save it, is nothing but cynical partisanship. But here's the good news: The founders designed a durable system to withstand such nonsense. It continues to work, even if Democrats would prefer it collapse.COPYRIGHT CREATORS 2019 The Justice Department, meanwhile, is probing JBS for possible violations in the U.S. of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, according to filings in an unrelated court case reviewed by The News. Reuters reported in December that Justice Department investigators interviewed the Batistas in Brazil late last year as part of that investigation. Nonetheless, Trump's Agriculture Department issued $14.5 million in bailout cash for pork products from JBS in February and another $25.6 million earlier this month, totaling more than $62.4 million, according to the purchase reports. The sheer size of the payouts stoked outrage from industry watchdogs, who question how subsidizing a deep-pocketed, Brazilian-owned company would help farmers in the American heartland. "Why is the USDA bailing out plants operated by JBS, the largest meatpacker in the world, with a program designed to help domestic companies and producers under economic duress?" said Tony Corbo, a lobbyist at Food & Water Watch, noting that the meat giant reported a net income of $273 million for the first quarter of 2019. Moreover, JBS appears to have benefited from the trade tensions between Beijing and Washington that the bailouts are supposed to mitigate. A driver fled from sheriff's deputies during a traffic stop Wednesday night in Park City and began a high-speed chase spanning two counties and involving three agencies ending in a foot chase in Billings' West End, according to the Stillwater County Sheriff's Office. Joel Zamora, 38, from Butte was arrested late Wednesday and held in Yellowstone County Detention Facility on five counts: criminal endangerment, a felony; fleeing police, driving a car with expired registration, not stopping at a stop sign, and obstructing a peace officer, all misdemeanors Just before 10 p.m. on Wednesday a Stillwater County Sheriff's officer tried to make a traffic stop on a gray Honda in Park City. The driver of the car and a female passenger did not stop and instead drove away, Stillwater County Undersheriff Randy Smith said. That initiated a late-night high speed chase. Sheriff's deputies chased the car on Interstate 90 from Park City to Yellowstone County, he said. Speeds on the highway ranged from 75 to 125 mph. Once in Yellowstone County the driver took exit 443 and turned onto Zoo Drive. From there the driver turned onto Gabel Road and made his way to a parking lot between the Big Horn Resort and the Montana Rib and Chop House. Drone use in restricted areas goes unchecked The Border Police Post in Lomanthang, Mustang, seized a drone camera being used by a film shooting unit last week. The film crew had not taken permission from local authorities to use the equipment. A Billings man has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison after being convicted in a 2018 casino robbery. Antonio Francisco Gutierrez, 36, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and five years of supervised release and ordered to pay $3,424 in restitution on Thursday, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Montana. In January, a jury convicted Gutierrez on three counts in the Feb. 5, 2018, robbery at Dottys Casino, located across the street from Shiloh Crossing on Billings West End. Christopher Alan Esrey, the getaway driver, admitted charges in July and was sentenced to 15 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Police found Gutierrez and Esrey roughly an hour after the Dottys robbery at another Billings casino, the Gold Dust Casino at 1310 15th St. W. Love 2 Funny 6 Wow 2 Sad 6 Angry 2 RYDER, N.D. Authorities say two men are dead in an apparent murder-suicide in northern North Dakota. Ward County sheriff's officials say the incident started about 10 p.m. Thursday inside the Ryder Star Bar in Ryder. Authorities say 32-year-old Thomas Huston, of Makoti, entered the bar and confronted 49-year-old Danial Peterson, also of Makoti. After a short physical confrontation, Huston started to walk toward the bar door before circling around and shooting Peterson with a handgun. Sheriff's officials say Huston left the bar and shot himself outside of his vehicle. Both men were found dead at the scene. Authorities are continuing to investigate the shootings and say there are no additional suspects. Love 6 Funny 7 Wow 12 Sad 13 Angry 22 BISMARCK, N.D. A karate instructor has been charged with secretly filming children in changing rooms at a Bismarck martial arts school. Adler James Scheer, 23, has been charged with three felony counts of surreptitious intrusion and one felony count of gross sexual imposition. Bismarck police officers were called to Bismarck ATA Martial Arts, which is located at 801 W. Interstate Ave., at about 8 p.m. Monday for a report of a 13-year-old girl who found a phone in a dressing room where she was changing, according to an affidavit. The girl said she started to undress when she noticed a phone resting on top of a dividing wall. When she retrieved the phone, she noticed it had been recording for about 16 minutes. The girl turned it over to Scheer, a karate instructor, the affidavit says. Scheer was questioned about the phone and allegedly admitted that the phone was his, according to the affidavit. He reportedly told police he had recorded children on two prior instances, as well. Scheer allegedly admitted to recording three children younger than age 14 in the changing rooms, the affidavit says. CASPER, Wyo. Prosecutors rested their case Thursday against a Casper doctor accused of heading up a prescription pill drug ring that extended across the country and contributed to a womans death. That doctor, Shakeel Kahn, is expected to take the stand Friday in his own defense. Kahn had been prepared to testify Thursday, but his brother and co-defendant, Nabeel, was taken from the courtroom with an apparent stomach illness, which concluded the days proceedings early. The brief delay came three weeks into the trial of the two brothers. They face a total of 23 felonies in federal court. Prosecutors allege the doctors Arizona and Casper pain clinics were the backbone of a criminal enterprise that illegally distributed drugs as far as Massachusetts and caused the overdose death of an Arizona woman. The doctor faces the overwhelming majority of charges in the case. Among the 21 counts he is accused of is a single count of conspiracy to distribute drugs resulting in death and a single count of operating a continuing criminal enterprise. A conviction on either of those crimes is punishable by between 20 years and life in prison. Nabeel Kahn is standing trial on two felonies. Law enforcement officials have canceled an advisory for a 15-year-old Crow Agency boy who was reported missing. Nakota Earth Boy was reported missing Friday in a news release from Bureau of Indian Affairs in Crow Agency. Officials said in a later email that Earth Boy had been located, but did not offer any other details. A Purdue lawyer, Mark Cheffo, said he's hoping other judges will reach similar conclusions as they delve into the cases. All the state governments' cases except one are working their way through state courts. Alabama's case is among about 1,500 in federal court and being overseen by one federal judge based in Cleveland. He has rejected arguments to dismiss the suits and has scheduled an initial trial in October for the claims of two Ohio counties. The looming trial could put pressure on Purdue and other companies to settle the cases something the judge has said he wants to see. In March, Purdue and the Sackler family settled with Oklahoma for $270 million. Purdue also settled with Kentucky in 2015 for $24 million. Some other companies have entered deals with states in the last few years, including drug distribution firms that have agreed to pay West Virginia a total of $84 million. Actions speak louder than words. But words create the environment and world in which we live. Our actions and words matter greatly and the actions and words of the Montana Legislature in the 2019 session were clear: Montana will not allow sexual abuse, especially abuse of children, to continue. We removed the statute of limitations allowing for criminal prosecution of sexual abuse against children and established a Sexual Assault Survivors Day. Sexual assault, including crimes such as rape and incest, is a cancer in society that for too long has gone inadequately addressed, unnoticed, and blatantly ignored. This has happened unfortunately at all levels, including within our schools, our families, and our court systems. The Centers for Disease Control estimates 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys will be sexually assaulted before they turn 18. The 2017 justice reforms sought to ensure that only people who must be in jail or prison are incarcerated. The tweaks to theft and disorderly conduct statutes won't result in larger numbers of misdemeanor offenders filling our jail because it's already full with felony offenders. However, police will be able to remove drunken and threatening individuals, take them to jail and make a record of their arrest. Likewise, those bold thieves who trigger the store's emergency system while making an exit with stolen merchandise will again face the possibility of arrest and jail even if the loot is only worth $1,499. Bullock chose to allow this reasonable revision to become law without his signature. It came to his desk with virtually no support from legislators of his party. We appreciate Bullock for looking beyond the party-line votes and listening to the concerns of Montana businesses and peace officers. 5-time DUI veto Unfortunately, Bullock vetoed another urgently needed change in the 2017 justice reform. House Bill 534 would have mandated minimum prison sentences for offenders with five or more DUI convictions. Democratic Socialist and presidential hopeful, Bernie Sanders wants to give convicted felons in the prison system the right to vote in the upcoming election. What a brilliant idea! How else will they get the opportunity to vote down laws that placed them into prison in the first place? One vote can change the law. This is as clever as allowing Democrats control of the House, allowing them to make up laws as they go along, and ignore laws already on the books that don't fit their agenda. What could go wrong with that? The echo chamber of hate, slander and lies needs to be silenced. The name-calling, verbal attacks and character assassination is nothing more than a never-ending power grab that is going nowhere. All the lip service in the world has never changed one thing: Responsible voters need to vote out the perpetrators and their juvenile tactics. If allowed to continue unchecked they will destroy this country and our freedoms. And folks, we are a Constitutional Republic, not a democracy. Democracy is mob rule. The rich, elite and powerful have control; the common working man has no say. More tourists are visiting the country, but they are spending less money Tourist arrivals crossed the coveted one-million mark for the first time in 2018, with 1.17 million foreign visitors streaming into the country, but their spending plummeted to a seven-year low. A free program, "Myth and Memory in Western Pioneer Monuments," will be held 2 p.m. Sunday at the Heritage Center and State Museum. Presented by Cynthia Culver Prescott, associate professor of history at the University of North Dakota, the program will include a guided tour of the public statues on the Capitol grounds. Prescott will discuss the ways that monument designs and public reception of pioneer statues has changed over the past 125 years along with a discussion on the statues and the importance of frontier myths in modern America. This will be followed by a book signing with Prescott's books available for purchase. Valleroy named Fellow at UJ Jacob Valleroy, of New Salem, received a College Fellow award during an honors convocation last month at the University of Jamestown. The College Fellow is awarded to a limited number of outstanding junior or senior students who are selected each year by the faculty. Recipients are to be of exemplary character, possess an overall cumulative grade point average of 3.3 or better as well as a cumulative GPA of at least 3.5 in their major. A Fellow may tutor or teach under the direction of the department chair, and holds rank just below that of the college instructor. Hebron hosting NDSA 'roundup' Hebron is a site for one of the North Dakota Stockmens Associations Spring Roundups, titled Strength in Numbers. The District 4 event will be held June 11 at the Hebron Community Center, hosted by district chairman Joel Opp, of Hebron. The brand inspectors meeting begins at 5 p.m. local time, a social at 5:30 p.m., supper at 6:30 p.m. and the program and nominating committee meetings following. Speakers will include Dan Rorvig, NDSA president, and Julie Ellingson, NDSA executive vice president. Recognition for Mandan agents Mandan agents for North Dakota Farmers Union Insurance earned recognition from the company for March. Top producer: Dave Berger, auto insurance premiums. Top-5 producers: Dustin Anderson, health insurance premiums; Phil Halvorson, supplemental insurance premiums and health insurance premiums; Courtney Schauer, life insurance premiums; and Lewis Schock, health insurance premiums and supplemental insurance premiums. 'Zipper merge' helps traffic flow Traffic will be reduced to one lane in each direction as construction on the Bismarck Expressway and I-94 in Bismarck-Mandan has begun and will continue into late fall 2019. The North Dakota Department of Transportation encourages use of the zipper merge technique to increase traffic efficiency in work zones. Motorists should use both lanes until the point of lane reduction, then take turns, left-right, merging into one lane like the teeth of a zipper. EDA event set in Mandan The Economic Development Association of North Dakota has scheduled its summer conference in Mandan on June 17-19. The conference theme, Cowboy Up: The Ride to Community Betterment, plays on Mandans efforts in cleaning up a downtown underground fuel spill and revitalizing Main Street. Doug Griffiths will present the keynote 13 Ways to Kill Your Community on June 18. He is a co-author of a book by the same name and a former Canadian legislator. Find the full program and registration details at www.ednd.org. Students win AMVETS contests Students from Mandan schools are among those who recently received awards for placing in the Bismarck AMVETS Post 9 Americanism poster and essay contests. The students are listed by grade level with their schools and placement. Third grade: Grant Edwards, St. Joseph/Mandan, first; Austin Helbling, St. Joseph/Mandan, second; Olivia Larson, St. Joseph/Mandan, third. Fourth grade: Caydence Kahl, St. Joseph/Mandan, third. Ninth grade: Lilly Aceves, Mandan High School, first. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Richard Dale Loghry, 73, Mandan, passed away May 9, 2019, at his home surrounded by those who loved him most. Richard fought tirelessly during his two year battle with cancer, surprising his oncologist at each appointment and often being referred to as a "miracle." A funeral service was held May 13 at Weigel Funeral Home, Mandan, with Pastor Kerry Stastny as celebrant. Burial was at the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery with full military honors. Richard was born in Riverton, Wyo., on Jan. 24, 1946, to Charles and Goldie (Wright) Loghry. In 1965, Richard joined the Navy and proudly served his country for 29 years. During his military service, Richard completed several tours of duty, including Vietnam. He enjoyed sharing stories and memorabilia from his time in the Navy. After the Navy, Richard held various jobs and eventually retired from the State Penitentiary where he worked in the boiler room. In 2002, Richard met Dorothy at bingo. They quickly bonded over their shared love of trips to the casino, playing cards and eventually, Dorothys family. Richard quietly and unassumingly worked his way into their hearts and lives and loved Dorothys children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren as his own. Dorothys family is forever grateful for that fateful day at the bingo hall and for how lovingly he cared for Dorothy. Richards true joy was spending as much time with his kids and grandkids as he possibly could. His commitment to family made for an eventful and chaotic life and he loved every minute. There was never a shortage of school programs, sporting events, campground visits, fishing adventures, road trips, birthday celebrations, graduations and weddings to attend. It was not uncommon for Dorothy and Richard to leave one event with just enough time to get to the next one. Richard made sure to always have an overabundance of the grandkids favorite foods at the house. If one box of candy was good, then five must be better! Richard also never passed up the opportunity to surprise the girls in his life with fresh-cut flowers. He truly made everyone feel like they were his favorite. In addition to spoiling the grandkids and drastically overpaying them for doing household chores, Richard enjoyed trips to the casino, playing cards and Farkle, racing anyone who would dare challenge him in Sudoku, fishing and spending time in the kitchen. These activities were always done with a group of grandkids and Dorothy. Richard will be deeply missed by his special companion, Dorothy Fix; his children, Rene (Jeff) Kostelecky, Randy (fiance Cindy Scheurer) Fix, Rhonda (Larry) Goetzfridt and Russell (Charity) Fix; his grandchildren, Brandy (Kevin) Banken, Lacey (Devin) Hintz, Oakely DeVoto Noonan, Sydney (Dan) Telehey, Madison Goetzfridt, and Taylor and McCartney Fix; his great-grandchildren, Sawyer and Saydee Hintz and Naleela Devoto Noonan; his siblings, Robert (Brenda) Loghry, Agnes Alley and Edith Fugua; special family friend, Perry Sandau and his furry, four-legged best friend, Marley. Richard was preceded in death by his parents and numerous siblings. Go to www.weigelfuneral.com to sign the guest book and share memories with his family. Court filings in 2018 in North Dakota stayed fairly steady while Burleigh and Morton counties' judicial district remained the busiest in the state. The South Central Judicial District in 2018 continued a yearslong trend of logging the most civil, criminal and total case filings of the state's eight judicial districts, according to data from annual North Dakota court system reports. The district, reduced in area from the transfer of three counties in 2014, also has led in most jury trials every year since 1998, but for 2016. "When you look now at case filings, theyre surpassing even the East Central (Judicial District) with Fargo in it," State Court Administrator Sally Holewa said. "I dont see that trend changing. I think this area is on a cusp. I think that you will start to see more of a snowballing effect as the years go by." The South Central Judicial District saw 29,856 total case filings in 2018, including 6,036 criminal cases and 6,280 civil cases. Its total case filings including criminal, civil, small claims, traffic and juvenile cases last year increased 1.12 percent from 2017, according to the 2018 North Dakota court system annual report. The judicial district covers Burleigh, Morton and seven mostly rural counties. The East Central Judicial District, which is Cass, Steele and Traill counties, had 25,787 total case filings last year as the second busiest judicial district in North Dakota. Cass is the state's largest population county. South Central also saw 56 jury trials in 2018, while East Central and Southeast came in next at 43 last year. Donna Wunderlich, trial court administrator for the South Central Judicial District, said the court system expects more case filings as the Bismarck-Mandan population continues to grow within a judicial district covering a large area of North Dakota. "Cass County is the single busiest county, but this district encompasses nine counties," Wunderlich said. New judge For the past 10 years, the South Central Judicial District has been short two to three judges, according to weighted caseload studies. North Dakota lawmakers, in their recently wrapped legislative session, approved a new judge and court reporter for the busy district. Wunderlich said they may start in September. Gov. Doug Burgum will appoint the judge from a judicial nominating process. Holewa said the new judge will hopefully help cases be resolved faster. "One of the things that you want to look for with this judgeship is it creates more of a window for other judges, too," Holewa said. "They're splitting the load." Preparing orders or rulings is perhaps the most time-consuming part of judges' duties, she added. Nine judges currently serve the South Central Judicial District. Lawmakers added its last new judgeship in 2015. 'Fairly steady' Burleigh County State's Attorney Julie Lawyer said case types "run the gamut" as far as what trends her office has seen in the past year. Administrative traffic citations were up about 7 percent last year in the South Central Judicial District. Violent crime, such as assaults and rape, remains consistent, Lawyer said. Prosecution proceeded on two homicides in 2018 in Burleigh County, related to a fatal shooting and a beaten infant. The South Central Judicial District's drop in jury trials from 76 in 2017 to 56 last year was noticeable, said Lawyer, who was elected state's attorney last fall, taking office Jan. 1. "I don't know if it's because we're making deals more often or just people are just taking more responsibility," she said. Wunderlich said jury trials can fluctuate, but last year was more in line with 2016, when there were 59 that year in the South Central Judicial District. Holewa said yoyos in numbers of jury trials may correlate with a "testing period" for new judges and new prosecutors or new case law established affecting some area of legal dispute. Moreover, statewide district court filings decreased about 1 percent from 2017 to 2018, "fairly steady," according to Holewa. "Just within normal fluctuations for us, and there was nothing too unexpected in any of what I saw," she said. Reach Jack Dura at 701-250-8225 or jack.dura@bismarcktribune.com. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Despite not getting any additional state funding to improve family engagement in public schools or provide computer science and cybersecurity training for teachers, State Superintendent Kirsten Baesler said these remain top priorities. At the Legislature this year, the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction sought $300,000 for family engagement efforts, as well as $6 million to provide teacher training in computer science and cybersecurity. However, lawmakers opted not to fund these requests. Still, Baesler said she intends to move forward with training teachers in computer science and cybersecurity through public-private partnerships. This week, she also announced her own Family Engagement Cabinet. Family engagement has emerged in recent years as a leading issue for North Dakota public schools and families, Baesler has said. This week, DPI announced the creation of a 23-member Family Engagement Cabinet, which will have its inaugural meeting next week. The committee will meet every three months, and members will serve 18-month terms. The Family Engagement Cabinet is similar to Baesler's Student Cabinet, which was formed in 2015. The group meets with Baesler quarterly to discuss education topics and issues. A total of 57 people applied for positions on the Family Engagement Cabinet, which were vetted and ranked by DPI employees, according to a news release. The group includes members from the Standing Rock, Spirit Lake and Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indian reservations. Family Engagement Cabinet Kimberly Berdahl, Towner DeAnn Bjornson, Fargo Jennifer Braun, Dickinson Jody Eckert, Bismarck Kristi Engelstad, West Fargo Jacqueline Frost-Hodny, Lankin Sarah Gackle, Kulm Bree Anne Hinojos, Devils Lake Sheila Hoffman, Williston Amanda Johnson, Bowman Suzanne Kilichowski, Minto Mike McHugh, Mandan Kris Piehl, Marion T.J. Rooney, Bismarck Melissa Sagness, Bowbells Jayce Schumacher, Grafton Chantel Southam, Sherwood Courtney Davis Souvannasacd, Grand Forks Joy Sparks, Tioga John Stevens, Dickinson Maxine Thunder Hawk, Cannon Ball Greg Vandal, Fargo Angie Waletzko, Lisbon Computer science and cybersecurity Though DPI didn't get $6 million to train teachers in computer science and cybersecurity, state lawmakers did pass a bill that will allow teachers to get a credential to teach these topics. DPI also approved new K-12 academic standards in computer science and cybersecurity in February, and Baesler said in an interview last week that she's "pleased" to have the academic standards in place and the credential as an option soon. Instead, Baesler said she's interested in exploring public-private partnerships to provide computer science training to teachers. "(Private companies) reached out to us and say, 'You know what, were going to help our teachers get this training and credential anyway,'" she said. "Its going to take longer, but were going to make sure that the teachers that want to get this credential are going to have the opportunity to get this credential." Baesler said DPI is in currently in the process of writing the administrative rules for the credential, and she is looking for public-private partnerships to fund training for teachers. She said the nonprofit Code.org gave about 100 scholarships to North Dakota middle and high school teachers for training next month. "Were just going to continue to pursue some of those partnerships for our teachers. We still want to be one of the leaders; every student, every ZIP code," she said. (Reach Blair Emerson at 701-250-8251 or Blair.Emerson@bismarcktribune.com) Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Want to see more like this? Get our local education coverage delivered directly to your inbox. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. WASHINGTON Bogged down in a sprawling trade dispute with U.S. rival China, President Donald Trump took steps Friday to ease tensions with America's allies lifting import taxes on Canadian and Mexican steel and aluminum and delaying auto tariffs that would have hurt Japan and Europe. By removing the metals tariffs on Canada and Mexico, Trump cleared a key roadblock to a North American trade pact his team negotiated last year. As part of Friday's arrangement, the Canadians and Mexicans agreed to scrap retaliatory tariffs they had imposed on U.S. goods. "I'm pleased to announce that we've just reached an agreement with Canada and Mexico, and we'll be selling our product into those countries without the imposition of tariffs, or major tariffs," Trump said in a speech to the National Association of Realtors. In a joint statement, the U.S. and Canada said they would work to prevent cheap imports of steel and aluminum from entering North America. The provision appeared to target China, which has long been accused of flooding world markets with subsidized metal, driving down world prices and hurting U.S. producers. The countries could also reimpose the tariffs if they faced a "surge" in steel or aluminum imports. Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said the removal of the tariffs was "encouraging news for the North Dakota industries who felt the pain of these tariffs and an important step towards approving USMCA." "The threat of limited market access and greater uncertainty caused by these tariffs, enacted during USMCA negotiations, will no longer be a concern," he said. "If approved, this trade agreement is a resounding win for North Dakota, which exported nearly $5 billion in goods to Canada and Mexico last year; the deal includes fixes to grain grading for our farmers, and automotive and machinery provisions that will help our manufacturing workforce." Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said he appreciated that the Trump administration heeded calls to lift those tariffs. Lifting the steel and aluminum tariffs is important both for manufacturers and for our agriculture producers who were impacted by increased prices and retaliatory tariffs, said Hoeven. This action will be helpful in our continued efforts to move the USMCA through Congress. Our farmers and ranchers ultimately need better trade deals, and its important that we finalize this agreement. In Washington, some were urging Trump to take advantage of the truce with U.S. allies to get even tougher with China. "China is our adversary," said Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb. "Canada and Mexico are our friends. The president is right to increase pressure on China for their espionage, their theft of intellectual property, and their hostility toward the rule of law. The president is also right to be deescalating tension with our North American allies." Earlier Friday, the White House said Trump is delaying for six months any decision to slap tariffs on foreign cars, a move that would have hit Japan and the Europe especially hard. Trump still is hoping to use the threat of auto tariffs to pressure Japan and the European Union into making concessions in ongoing trade talks. "If agreements are not reached within 180 days, the president will determine whether and what further action needs to be taken," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement. In imposing the metals tariffs and threatening the ones on autos, the president was relying on a rarely used weapon in the U.S. trade war arsenal Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 which lets the president impose tariffs on imports if the Commerce Department deems them a threat to national security. But the steel and aluminum tariffs were also designed to coerce Canada and Mexico into agreeing to a rewrite of North American free trade pact. In fact, the Canadians and Mexicans did go along last year with a revamped regional trade deal that was to Trump's liking. But the administration had refused to lift the taxes on their metals coming into the United States until Friday. The new trade deal the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement needs approval from legislatures in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Several key U.S. lawmakers were threatening to reject the pact unless the tariffs were removed. And Canada had suggested it wouldn't ratify any deal with tariffs still in place. Thomas Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said the lifting of the tariffs "will bring immediate relief to American farmers and manufacturers. Critically, this action delivers a welcome burst of momentum for the USMCA in Congress." Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau credited his government for holding out to get the tariffs removed. "We stayed strong," he said. "That's what workers asked for. These tariffs didn't make sense around national security. They were hurting Canadian consumers, Canadian workers and American consumers and American workers." Trump had faced a Saturday deadline to decide what to do about the auto tariffs. Taxing auto tariffs would mark a major escalation in Trump's aggressive trade policies and likely would meet resistance in Congress. The United States last year imported $192 billion worth of passenger vehicles and $159 billion in auto parts. "I have serious questions about the legitimacy of using national security as a basis to impose tariffs on cars and car parts," Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement Friday. He's working on legislation to scale back the president's authority to impose national security tariffs under Section 232. In a statement, the White House said that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has determined that imported vehicles and parts are a threat to national security. Trump deferred action on tariffs for 180 days to give negotiators time to work out deals but threatened them if talks break down. In justifying tariffs for national security reasons, Commerce found that the U.S. industrial base depends on technology developed by American-owned auto companies to maintain U.S. military superiority. Because of rising imports of autos and parts over the past 30 years, the market share of U.S.-owned automakers has fallen. That has caused a lag in research and development spending which is "weakening innovation and, accordingly, threatening to impair our national security," the statement said. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Eva C. Clooten, 93, Bismarck, died May 15, 2019, at CHI St. Alexius Health, Bismarck, surrounded by her loving family. Mass of Christian Burial will be held at noon, Monday, May 20, at Church of the Ascension, 1825 S. Third St., Bismarck, with Monsignor James Braaten officiating. Burial is at 3 p.m. Monday at North Dakota Veterans Cemetery, Mandan. Visitation is from 5 to 8 p.m. Sunday, May 19, at Parkway Funeral Service, 2330 Tyler Parkway, Bismarck, where a rosary/vigil service will begin at 7 p.m. Eva was born Oct. 13, 1925, in Fort Clark, the youngest of 13 children born to Martin and Mary (Leier) Schwarzbauer. Eva married Robert F. Clooten Nov. 13, 1946, and together they raised 10 children. Eva enjoyed traveling with her husband, spending time fishing and hunting in Alaska, sightseeing in Hawaii, and traveling through Europe. She looked forward to her annual mother-daughter trips, which she enjoyed for 21 years. Eva was a wonderful cook, loved to dance, ride horse, play cards and oil paint. Eva also reached out to strangers in need with a token of her love of crocheting by making afghans. She was an adventurous grandma and her grandchildren could talk her into anything. The last 2 years of her life were spent at her home with her children and family caring for her. Eva is survived by her five daughters, Millie (Bernell) Renner, Karen (Dennis) Rasmussen, Lorie (Rip) Riopel, Linda (Bob) Deichert, Joelle (Gregg) Pechacek; five sons, Robert (Sandy) Clooten, Jim (Pam) Clooten, Clem (Connie) Clooten, Scott Clooten, and Steve (Sandi) Clooten; 28 grandchildren; 40 great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild. Eva is preceded in death by her husband, Robert; two brothers; 10 sisters; and one great-grandchild. In lieu of flowers, memorials or Masses may be given to the donors choice. Go to www.parkwayfuneral.com to share memories of Eva and sign the online guest book. Summer intern season is here, and the North Dakota Department of Commerce is giving local businesses help with their hires this year. North Dakota businesses looking to fill intern and apprenticeship positions can receive up to $20,000 in matching funds through Operation Intern, a program which taps businesses into an underutilized pool of candidates: high school and college students. The primary focus of the program is to create internship positions in the states targeted industries: energy, advanced manufacturing, value-added agriculture, technology-based businesses and tourism. The program also gives priority to high wage and high demand industries from the medical field to information technology. Operation Intern was started in 2007 as a way to incentivize companies to keep some of the young people here, give them internships, work-based learning, program administrator Jennifer Dahl said. It has continued since then to kind of grow our own workforce. Funding from the program is awarded yearly as a one-to-one match. The funds are intended to be used training, wages, equipment or tuition reimbursement. Operation Intern is aimed to expand North Dakotas workforce, something local business owners say they appreciate. Were satisfied that were giving back. Its about outreach and getting people into engineering, opening up opportunities for them, said John Spilman, of Blacktrail Environment, a Bismarck-based engineering firm which took advantage of the program. The first person that Blacktrail hired with this program just graduated from engineering school and will be starting work with Union Pacific in Sacramento with a starting salary close to six figures," he said. "When she started with us, she didnt know what she wanted to do. Thats why we do it. Operation Intern is part of a broader program from the Department of Commerce, North Dakotas Strategic Plan for Workforce Development, a comprehensive plan focused around expanding and strengthening North Dakotas changing workforce. Weve seen a lot of people stay here in North Dakota and stay with the companies theyre interning with, Dahl said. Students are getting such a wide variety of real life experience with all the different companies evolving in North Dakota, so its kind of a win-win for the companies and the students. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 FARGO Mary Tiedeman, of Walker, Minn., is a longtime dog lover, but after her pet died a few years back, she didnt get another one. It would be too tough, she said, because of the amount of time she spends driving back and forth for breast cancer treatment at Sanford Roger Maris Cancer Center in Fargo. Now, Tiedeman can get a canine fix as part of the healing process. Bailey, a 12-year-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and participant in a new pet therapy program, stopped in to see Tiedeman on Wednesday, May 15, as she received her chemotherapy infusion. I miss my dog, so this is like really good therapy for me. It brings back those little memories, she said, with Bailey on her lap and a therapist massaging her feet. Bailey and two other dogs are tasked with spreading light and love to patients like Tiedeman. Norman, a Yorkshire Terrier, and Zoe, a Shih Tzu, round out the team. Baileys owner, Sara Tungseth, said she believes her dog has an innate ability to calm and heal. I mean, we put the vest on, and she knows shes going to work, Tungseth said. Pet therapy is offered at Sanford Health with other aspects of care, but wasn't added to the cancer center until recently. Jenna Linder, community programs director at Roger Maris, said there was some concern for patients whose immune systems are compromised. But the pros outweigh the cons, Linder said. Bringing smiles, easing pain Tiedeman, 70, wasnt the only patient to benefit from Baileys presence at the cancer center. Elle St. Pierre, 6, of Bemidji, Minn., was there with her family to be treated for leukemia. Bailey snuggled up while the girl stroked the pups head. Her ears are soft, she said. Matt Larson, 38, of Fargo, whos fighting testicular cancer, received a visit while hooked up to several tubes. What a nice dog, he said, patting Bailey gently. Bailey has been a certified therapy dog for eight years, showing desirable traits for the work at a young age. Even as a puppy, shed rather sit on someones lap than go outside and play with other dogs, Tungseth said. That demeanor carries over to her therapy work. When she sits in bed with someone, she knows to lay down and relax and not to move around. She just gets it, she really does, she said. Bailey and Tungseth volunteer for about 90 minutes at a time, once a week, at Sanford. The dog's role is to bring smiles, ease pain and help patients forget about their medical issues, at least for a while, Tungseth said. Body-mind connection Therapy dogs can be trained to detect other medical issues, including low blood sugar and seizures, before the effects might be felt in people. Chery Hysjulien, an oncology psychologist at Sanford, thinks similar abilities can apply to cancer. In her previous job at a hospital in St. Cloud, Minn., she saw animals sit on or near a patients tumor, in a healing gesture. They may sense things we might not be able to sense, she said. Hysjulien often meets daily with cancer patients when theyre first diagnosed, then transitions to weekly, every two weeks, or once a month, as needed. Its important to treat their mind and body, not just the illness, she said. That can be accomplished with hypnosis, imagery, mindfulness, massage, yoga and now pet therapy. Anytime we can invite another aspect of healing into the cancer center, its awesome, Hysjulien said. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 In the academic world there are several well-known twoness theses, says Acton research fellow Andrew McGinnis, arguments by scholars that there are in one historical person two identifiable and contradictory lines of thought that warrant depicting the individual as divided. It seems that anyone who writes and publishes enough material will be susceptible to a twoness thesis. In some ways it is a mark that you have made it as an author. It means you have published, lectured, or preached so much that people can find contradictions in your work and pit you against yourself. The Dutch Reformed pastor, theologian, and statesman Abraham Kuyper (18371920) certainly made it as an author. Much like Luther, Kuyper seems not only to have thought about everything, but also to have written nearly all those thoughts down and published them for all to see. So, naturally, we find scholars referring to two Kuypers or worrying about other Kuypers. The recent appearance in English of Kuypers meditations, Honey from the Rock, may add fuel to the fire for those who want to set Kuyper against himself. In these meditations we seem to find a different Kuyper than many of us thought we knew. We do not find Kuyper the public theologian striving to redeem all of lifeand every spherefor the sake of Christ the King. Instead we find Kuyper the pastor, Kuyper the exhorter, andif we can use the term in a positive senseKuyper the pietist. Is this a different Kuyper? Read the rest of the review at The Green Room. Nepali woman gang-raped in Delhi, Indian police say A 22-year-old Nepali woman was gang-raped by four men in Dwaraka, New Delhi, while she was heading to Mumbai from the Indian capital on Sunday, Indian police said. The incident came to light only after she reached Mumbai. On Monday, May 13, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a lower court ruling that politicians can legally forbid churches from expanding their ministries in order to maximize the governments tax revenues. Justices declined to hear the case Tree of Life Christian Schools v. City of Upper Arlington. What happened in the Tree of Life Christian Schools case? Briefly, the Tree of Life Christian Schools serves 583 students, 44 percent of whom are ethnic minorities. A robust 99 percent of their graduates go on to attend college. The ministrys primary purpose is to assist parents and the Church in educating and nurturing young lives in Christ. To further its impact, the school planned to double enrollment to 1,200 by consolidating its three campuses two of which serve children from preschool through fifth grade, and one serves sixth grade through high school into a central location. Tree of Life purchased the abandoned, 254,000-square-foot AOL/Time Warner building in the elite Columbus suburb of Upper Arlington, Ohio, in 2009. However, the city had warned the congregation before the purchase was finalized that its office park was zoned for commercial activity, and a school would not be permitted. Tree of Life proceeded with the purchase anyway before seeking legal permission to operate a school in that location. It then petitioned for a change. Upper Arlington leaders declined to rezone the property for nonprofit use, because a commercial purchaser would generate more funds for politicians to spend. The school would significantly diminish expected tax revenues per square foot due to relatively low salaries and low density of professionals per square foot, they held. The case soon went to court. U.S. District Judge George C. Smith, a Reagan appointee, ruled against the schools. A panel of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the ruling on the grounds that Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) which passed both houses of Congress unanimously and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 2000 does not allow the government to treat more favorably land uses that, like TOL Christian Schools, fail to maximize the governments income-tax revenue. However, the full appeals court sided with the city, and the Supreme Court refused to intervene. The Justice Departments examples of potential RLUIPA bans include a town, seeking to preserve tax revenues that banned all nonprofit religious activity. It added that refusing a church a permit to build an addition to accommodate more Sunday school classes, which it believes it needs to carry out its religious mission may violate RLUIPA if the town cannot show a compelling reason for the denial and that it is using the least restrictive means available. Churches and nonprofits often clash with politicians, who balk at their tax-exempt status. Prudence dictates that the school should have secured government permission to use the building for its intended purpose before finalizing the purchase. (See St. Luke 14:28-30, St. Matthew 22:16-21, and Romans 13:1-7.) And one can sympathize with city officials. Upper Arlington is a wealthy residential community with just 4.7 percent of usable land zones commercial. AOL/Time Warner once provided 29 percent of the citys funds. But the governments single-minded focus on obtaining the highest possible tax revenue is government-centered, short-sighted, and potentially discriminatory. First, there is the revenue lost because the property is lying dormant. Tree of Life Christians Schools would have brought a total of 275 jobs into Upper Arlington, and the city has already forfeited roughly $1 million in tax revenue during its eight-year legal battle, according to the Alliance Defending Freedom. However, the city misses a panoply of other direct and indirect economic benefits that churches provide. Religious institutions benefit every aspect of the economy penetrated by their message of hope, love, and philanthropy. Faith-based institutions contribute at least $1.2 trillion in economic activity to the U.S. economy annually, according to one survey. Congregations offer a variety of effective social services to all members of the community, especially the most vulnerable. And Christian schools provide instruction in moral and religious principles that curb delinquency and social disintegration. While attending to its fiduciary responsibilities, the government of this wealthy suburb should see church activity as a benefit at least on par with providing cable television. Politicians must understand that promoting their constituents well-being involves more than maximizing their own share of revenue. (Photo credit: Tree of Life Christians Schools campus. Alliance Defending Freedom.) Once again, the national news reports that the government has legally prevented a Christian ministry from expanding its services for fear it will lose tax revenue. This opposition proves that politicians overvalue the role of government and undervalue the immense benefits that churches provide their community. Religious institutions generate trillions of dollars for the U.S. economy every year, according to a recent study. When a nonprofit petitions a zoning board, politicians see only the lost property taxes they can no longer collect and allocate. But a good leader, according to Frederic Bastiat, takes account both of the effects which are seen and also of those which it is necessary to foresee. Statistics show that churches and religious institutions are almost as great a blessing to their communities as they are to their members.. What value is a church or ministry? The total economic impact of all 344,000 U.S. religious congregations is somewhere between $1.2 trillion and $4.8 trillion, according to a 2016 study by Brian and Melissa Grim. The lower estimate was, at the time, more than the annual revenues of the top 10 tech companies, including Apple, Amazon, and Google combined. Churches increase property values, and hence property taxes, throughout their neighborhood. One study found that real property values decrease as distance from a neighborhood church increases. The benefit of churches extends across the Atlantic Ocean. The Wall Street Journal reported that churches provide a halo effect for real estate in Germany: A study of the housing market in Hamburg, Germany, found that condos located between 100 to 200 meters, or 109 to 219 yards, away from a place of worship listed for an average of 4.8% more than other homes. The effect was similar across all religious buildings studied, including churches, mosques, and temples. Religious belief impels believers to improve their community and help the least fortunate. Each year, Christian church members volunteer 56 million hours outside their congregations. Those who are civically engaged are twice as likely to say religion is important in their lives as those who are not active in their communities. Most churches provide at least one social program for the poor: free community meals, food banks, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, clothing drives, and job fairs, to name a few. Often as the economic fortunes of the region decline, the value of church-provided services increases. Churches in Philadelphia alone provided $230 million worth of services, according to one estimate. Conversely, as government spending increases, private charity decreases. This is lamentable, since ministries have lower levels of overhead and abuse, are less likely to foster dependence, and can address each individuals underlying problems in a personalized and loving way. All of this merely accounts for churches and synagogues services to non-members (something that the government has too often punished rather than facilitated). Numerous studies find that church attendance decreases criminal or anti-social behavior, especially for at-risk communities. The greater the proportion of a countys population that is religious, the lower the violent crime rate for Whites and Blacks, discovered Jeffery T. Ulmer and Casey T. Harris after studying 200 counties in three states. African-American youth are 22 percent less likely to commit crime if they actively attend a religious congregation, according to Byron R. Johnson of Baylor Universitys Institute for the Studies of Religion. Churches do this by creating moral communities, to use Rodney Starks term. They leaven the culture with normative ethical standards that lead their practitioners to success and further social harmony. Reduced crime, delinquency, and vandalism provides another unseen economic benefit. Incarceration costs an average of $31,000 per prisoner each year, with some states paying as much as $60,000 annually. The cost of time and talent lost to the felon and, worse, the cost of the crime to the victim is immeasurable. Another factor in reducing crime is outstanding education, such as that provided by religious schools. A 2003 study found that every additional male who graduates high school creates $2,100 in social savings every year by lowering incarceration rates. Graduation rates from religious schools range from 97 to 99 percent, as compared with 73 percent for public schools and Catholic school graduates are twice as likely to attend college, according to the National Catholic Educational Association. Combining education with moral principles, as religious schools do, reinforces both socially beneficial phenomena. These quantifiable, ancillary social benefits flow from churches greatest service, which is proclaiming a message of unconditional love, universal human dignity, and divine redemption. God has purchased our salvation, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ (I Peter 1:18-19). Redeemed people draw from it the power and impetus to redeem their communities. But if politicians do not believe in God, let them believe in the power of the Gospel for the very works sake. (Photo credit: Shutterstock.com.) The program claims to promote awareness and education while training a new generation in conservation and wildlife management. But instead it is training residents, especially children, to kill needlessly. Photo by RT-Images/iStock.com 8.1K shares In the last month, South Dakota residents have trapped and killed more than 15,000 raccoons, skunks, opossums, foxes and badgers, cut off their tails, and submitted them to the states wildlife management agency for a $10-per-tail reward, all as part of South Dakotas new Nest Predator Bounty Program. The intended goal of this grisly exercise, introduced by Gov. Kristi Noem, is to increase the states pheasant population for hunters. To incentivize the killing, the taxpayer-funded agency has already given away more than 16,000 traps to residents and paid out $150,000 in bounties. The program claims to promote awareness and education while training a new generation in conservation and wildlife management. But instead it is training residents, especially children, to kill needlessly. The state has issued traps to children as young as three years old, and the agencys social media page features photos of grinning kids holding up the lifeless animals they helped trap. Wildlife managers have long known such predator bounties to be ineffective. Mass killing of predators often causes surviving animals to reproduce at higher rates and bounce back in greater numbers. Also, when these species of predators are culled, others like crows, magpies, snakes, coyotes and feral dogs move in. There is no scientific evidence that killing the animals the program targets will result in more pheasants. The survival and health of pheasant populations depends primarily on weather and suitable habitat. Despite this, Gov. Noem worked with Secretary Kelly Hepler of the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks agency to force the program through regulatory approval. There is also no clear support among a majority of the states residents for this program. In fact, according to the Argus Leader, only a dozen or so South Dakota residents submitted comments in support of it ahead of the public hearing, while nearly 100 residents opposed it. Participants in the program are not required to complete any trapping education course; they dont even have to obtain a trapping license. The wildlife agency gives no guidance on how to humanely kill trapped animals or deal with domestic pets captured in the traps. Trapped animals can die slowly from shock, dehydration, starvation or exposure. The creatures who do survive long enough for the trapper to return are often killed inhumanely, by drowning, chest compression, asphyxiation or strangulation. Mass trapping in the spring is especially cruel to young animals who are orphaned when their mothers are killed. These newborns often die of starvation. Theres absolutely nothing about this program that South Dakotans can feel good about: its expensive, gruesome and unproductive, and it causes untold suffering to animals. If you live in South Dakota, please call or email Governor Noem at 605.773.3212 or GovernorNoem@state.sd.us, and Secretary Hepler at 605.773.3718 or Kelly.Hepler@state.sd.us. Ask them, politely, to cease their cruel Nest Predator Bounty Program. How messed up is America? This messed up. Schoolteachers are being encouraged to use an app to alert police and school employees about an active shooting incident in real time, as the mass shooting happens. "Schools are turning to technology to protect kids during mass shootings," reports Stefanie Dazio at the Associated Press. "Technology that speeds up law enforcement's response and quickly alerts teachers and students to danger is a growing tool amid rising concerns over the inability to prevent shootings like the one last week at a suburban Denver high school," she writes. The 18-year-old student who rushed one of the gunmen died in that May 2019 Colorado shooting. There are concerns that school districts and other authorities are too quick to adopt technology as a PR-friendly solution at the same time mental health programs and violence-prevention efforts are defunded. Here's how the Share911 app referenced above works, from the AP report: Donald Trump reportedly wants his 'Border Wall' painted black and with spiky spikes. Before Donald Trump became president, he is reported to have spent much of his time reviewing color swatches for hotel carpeting and the like, according to one of the writers who worked closely with him in decades gone by. Swatches of velour for lobby seating was more in his comfort zone, the writer says. I hear echoes of this character oddity in today's report on Trump's seeming obsession with the goth brutalist aesthetics of his "Border Wall" by Nick Miroff and Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: The bollards or "slats," as he prefers to call them, should be painted "flat black," a dark hue that would absorb heat in the summer, making the metal too hot for climbers to scale, Trump has recently told White House aides, Homeland Security officials and military engineers. And the tips of the bollards should be pointed, not round, the president insists, describing in graphic terms the potential injuries that border-crossers might receive. Trump has said the wall's current blueprints include too many gates placed at periodic intervals to allow vehicles and people through and he wants the openings to be smaller. At a moment when the White House is diverting billions of dollars in military funds to fast-track construction, the president is micromanaging the project down to the smallest design details. But Trump's frequently shifting instructions and suggestions have left engineers and aides confused, according to current and former administration officials. Trump also has repeatedly summoned the head of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Lt. Gen. Todd T. Semonite, to impart his views on the barrier's properties, demanding that the structure be physically imposing but also aesthetically pleasing. "He thinks it's ugly," said one administration official familiar with Trump's opinions, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid being fired. It should, as the president always says, be a beautiful wall. A beautiful brutalist wall. What a nutcase. Trump wants his border barrier to be painted black with spikes. He has other ideas, too. [SCREENGRAB from a recent Trump rally in May, 2019, in front of Sempra Energy workers in Louisiana.] Economist international editor Edward Lucas devotes 4,000+ words in the new issue of Foreign Policy to the changing landscape of state espionage in the 21st century; it's not particularly well-organized (if there's a reason for the order in which his thoughts are laid out, I couldn't find it), but despite that, it's well worth a read, even if there's lots I don't agree with here. Lucas's main question is whether autocracies are going to win the surveillance race, especially in the face of increased civil society pressure for limits on mass surveillance in democracies. He's obviously conflicted on the issue he says "Western democracies need the intelligence services to defend open societies against Putinismbut not at the price of self-Putinization" but he's also clearly convinced that spies for democratic states are fighting with one hand tied behind their back relative to their autocratic counterparts. That said, he's also critical of spy agencies' unwillingness to use careful forensic work on public sources in order to understand the world, basically accusing them of wanting to take shortcuts through wiretapping and dragnet surveillance because studying public sources is hard. But as he recounts, when one of his Economist colleagues was sued for libel by a Russian oligarch that he'd accused of attaining his position and wealth because of his relationship to Putin, the Economist was "able to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a detailed, forensic investigation of a segment of the energy market that we believed our target was manipulating" but that while "a spy chief from another Western country told me that finding a few hundred thousand dollars in cash to bribe a North Korean would be no problem" there was no hope of getting the same sum to spend on "statisticians and lawyers." In the meantime, Lucas points at the worrying trend of spies leaving government service to work for commercial military/surveillance contractors who are used to circumvent democratic limits on surveillance, while simultaneously becoming very rich and politically powerful, and thus able to lobby for the expansion of these kinds of programs. The booming world of private intelligence companies is watching these techniques and their practitioners with a greedy eye. Indeed, the intelligence profession is increasingly overlapping with the corporate world. The world of spies used to be cloistered. People who joined it never spoke about it and often served until retirement. Penalties for disclosure could include the loss of a pension or even prosecution. That has changed. A stint at the CIA or MI6 has become a paragraph on a resume, not a career. Britain and the United States have caught up with Israel, where the private sector has long prized a spell in a senior position in intelligence or defense. In London and Washington, such work is increasingly a launchpad for an interesting career in corporate intelligence or other advisory work. Government intelligence agencies have stopped battling the commercialization of espionage; instead, they embrace ita practice exemplified by the Israeli company NSO Group, which, according to a New York Times investigation in March, is one of several firms that broker the sale of former government hackers' expertise to countries such as Saudi Arabia. Security clearances in the United States and United Kingdom used to lapse on retirement. Now, retired intelligence officers are, in many countries, encouraged to maintain them. Retirees may be hired as contractors, or they can make job offers to people still inside the service. The Spycraft Revolution [Edward Lucas/Foreign Policy] (via Naked Capitalism) (Thumbnail: Nostalgia Decals) Margrethe Vestager (previously) is the EU Commissioner responsible for handing out billions in fines to Big Tech to punish them for monopolistic practices. Vestager and I both appeared on the bill at Republica in Berlin this month, and at the time, I pressed her from the audience on whether she thought that the ultimate answer to monopolistic abuses was to break up monopolies. She was incredibly skeptical that such a thing was desirable (describing state intervention in the deployment of "private property" as an extreme measure) or even possible (because the Big Tech firms would tie up any divestment orders in the courts for years). Vestager just repeated these sentiments at the Vivatech conference in Paris today, saying "For us it would be a remedy of the very last resort. It would keep us busy in court for even a decade." Vestager's remarks are out of step with a growing chorus of calls from all sides to break up the company, and while it's obvious that she's better qualified than almost anyone to assess the realistic chances of a breakup order, the actual breakup isn't the only useful outcome of such a proceeding. As Tim Wu has explained, the mere spectre of a breakup exerts a powerful discipline on firms, who curb their worst impulses in order to avoid attracting their own trustbusting torment. Worryingly, Vestager calls for Facebook to grant access to its data a potential privacy apocalypse rather than encouraging adversarial interoperability by giving new entrants the right to make products that plug into incumbents' services to help users liberate their data and stay in touch with their friends on the old service a practice that was once universal but has now all but disappeared thanks to a constellation of laws that prohibit it (Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, Section 1201 of the DMCA, federal trade secrets, etc). "For a giant it's not necessarily a good thing that innovation happens they're big, they're comfortable," she said. "This is why we see that even illegal behavior happens to stifle innovation." As an example she pointed to the fine handed down to Google last year the largest the EU has ever issued for abusing its Android dominance. The EU's competition commission issued Facebook a $122 million fine in 2017 for providing it with misleading information in the wake of the social network's 2014 acquisition of WhatsApp. But the acquisition itself didn't fall foul of EU competition rules. Vestager doesn't seem to see Facebook's monopoly as a roadblock to innovation, but the company's stranglehold over data is a separate matter. Rather than attempting to break up the company, she said, it would "be much more direct and powerful to say we need access to data." Having access to data is the difference for smaller and younger tech companies in being able to make a success of themselves in the market, she added. "What we would be looking for is ways to help innovation happen." EU competition commissioner: Facebook breakup would be 'last resort' [Katie Collins/Cnet] Prahlad Rijal is a business reporter at The Kathmandu Post, focusing on the energy sector. Before joining the Post, Rijal was an online reporter at The Himalayan Times. Although celeb couple, Kwesta and Yolanda have been keeping the relationship super private, Kwesta finally opened up and shared how he met Yolanda. PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Briefly.co.za News on your News Feed! Two months later after Kwesta and his beautiful wife, Yolanda got married, the couple are finally sharing more info about their relationship. The couple first opted to keep their life as private as possible, and didnt even share many pics from their wedding. But they are slowly letting their fans in on their relationship now but not too much as they still value their privacy. Who wouldnt really? Kwesta and Yolanda shared how they first met each other in a recent Sony video. According to the Vilakazi couple, they met at a music video set, after one of Yolandas friends asked that she help with a music video that they were working on, as they were in need of video girls for the shoot. PAY ATTENTION: Do you want to know what's trending on Briefly.co.za? Join our WhatsApp group today. According to ZAlebs, Yolanda admitted that she didnt think much of Kwesta when she first met him and thought that he was not her type. But it was love at first sight for Kwesta. Kwesta said he liked her from the moment he first set eyes on her but Yolanda was just not interested. He added that Yolanda was getting annoyed and he liked that about her to the point that she was getting really angry. But his aim to make her laugh and he won after a little while. The rest as they say, is history. Take a look at the video below: READ ALSO: Malema urges Mzansi to still support Trevor Noah despite his jokes Meanwhile, two months ago, Briefly.co.za reported that rapper Kwesta was about to make a fans dream come true. The fan drew a portrait of the rapper, who in turn reached out on social media to make the artists dream come true. The fan, named Thuso Pharela, took to social media to post a picture of himself drawing the rapper. The post was retweeted until it reached Kwesta, who was tagged on it. The Ngud hit maker saw the post and was impressed. He responded by asking for the guys contact details. 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 News News / National by Staff reporter News / National by Staff reporter GOVERNMENT has liberalised all mining investments including the diamond and platinum sectors after it scrapped the previous indigenisation regulations, which drove away investors, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said yesterday.He was clarifying perceived myths about the indigenisation policy following request for clarity during a briefing here with Anglo American Platinum executives on the sidelines of the commissioning of the Unki Mines $62 million smelter plant.President Mnangagwa explained that his administration had removed all bottlenecks around the previous empowerment policy, which was a headache to many investors under former President Robert Mugabe era."When we were having a briefing earlier on, Unki management raised the issue indigenisation and in particular with regards to platinum. It is true that when we changed policy on indigenisation we said platinum and diamond will remain until a new policy relating to those two minerals is pronounced."We did so last year in September and October, possibly the Unki management did not catch up with events. Platinum and the diamond sector are also now affected by the scrapping of indigenisation regulations," said President Mnangagwa amid applause."We have liberalised investment and there are no restrictions on shareholding in the mining sector by foreign investors. This, therefore, means that in the mining sector foreign investors have unrestricted shareholding. We would like free partnerships as outcomes of negotiations between investors and other local partners. Investors are also free to choose to partner locals on mutually beneficial and agreed conditions."President Mnangagwa said his Government remains committed to working closely with the private sector and other partners for the sustainable development of the whole value chain industry in the mining sector and other key segments of the economy. As such, he said the new dispensation will continue to implement a raft of measures and institute reforms aimed at reducing the cost of doing business."This includes creating a more favourable investment climate by removing bottlenecks that undermine inflow of capital. As you are all aware global capital goes to where it feels comfortable," said President Mnangagwa. News / National by Staff reporter Health and Child Care Minister Dr Obadiah Moyo on Wednesday defended the role being played by First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa in the health sector saying she was a hardworking ambassador who is contributing immensely to the well-being of the sector.Dr Moyo was responding to a question by Mbizo Member of Parliament Mr Settlement Chikwinya during the question and answer session in Parliament.The legislator had asked the minister to explain the role of individuals, particularly the First Lady, in the operations of Natphram.He said the First Lady's work was philanthropic."The First Lady's work is philanthropic. She is the Ambassador for Health and Child Care. She was always the Ambassador for Maternal and Child Care. She has done a tremendous amount of work for the country."Without any doubt, the First Lady has managed to acquire equipment on behalf of the ministry and on behalf of all of us, which we would never have been able to acquire. She has worked right through," he said.Dr Moyo said the First Lady was a hard worker who could not be stopped."As the Minister of Health and Child Care, I do encourage her to continue assisting us as much as possible."There is no foreign currency, but she manages through her foundation to gather equipment for us from America, Europe and Japan. She is there for us as a mother who is looking after the whole family." News / National by Staff reporter FORMER Energy and Power Development minister Joram Gumbo was this week unceremoniously demoted to a junior ministerial post due to a string of corruption allegations, gross incompetence and fuel shortages, it has emerged.President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been under immense pressure to decisively deal with his corrupt and incompetent officials who are being largely blamed for failing to proffer solutions to Zimbabwe's intractable economic crisis, which is characterised by worsening foreign currency and fuel shortages, among other symptoms.Government sources say Mnangagwa was prompted to boot out Gumbo from the Energy portfolio due to his inability to assume a commanding role towards resolving the fuel crisis, or at least communicating it better.What proved to be Gumbo's swansong was how he failed to satisfactorily answer questions from legislators during the parliamentary question and answer session, in which backbenchers ask impromptu questions to ministers on government policies.Gumbo was at sixes and sevens when asked what was being done to resolve the situation, opting instead to direct legislators to Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya.Gumbo was replaced by Fortune Chasi, who was promoted from being Deputy Minister for Transport.The Mberengwa East legislator is stalked by a series of corruption allegations and scandals."He is Mnangagwa's close allay, but serious allegations around issues to do with corruption and incompetence kept following him. The president had little choice, but to move him to a less influential portfolio," a government official said.Among some of the big corruption scandals in which he has been implicated, Gumbo facilitated the establishment of the dodgy airline, Zimbabwe Airways, in a US$70 million shady deal. At the time he insisted that Zimbabwe Airways was a private company, but questions were raised over why he was playing a prominent role in its establishment alongside former president Robert Mugabe's son-in-law Simba Chikore. Chikore was the chief executive officer of the struggling Air Zimbabwe at the time.There were allegations that the two wanted to sink Air Zimbabwe to facilitate the rise of ZimAirways.During the formative years of ZimAirways, US$41 million meant for the recapitalisation of the national flag carrier was controversially moved to the murky airline.At that time, Gumbo is alleged to have attempted to muzzle the Chipo Dyanda-led Air Zimbabwe board which had requested funds to recapitalise the moribund airline. He eventually dissolved the board.Gumbo was also accused of failing to ensure that the US$2 billion Beitbridge-Chirundu highway project kicked off.The project was initially awarded to Austrian contractor, Geiger before government revoked the tender in favour of Chinese Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Group.It was later parcelled out to local contractors.Gumbo is also accused of systematically obstructing investigations into the alleged looting of funds at the Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (Zinara) to protect corrupt officials during his time as Transport minister.He allegedly thwarted investigations by muzzling the board and shielding senior ministry officials and Zinara managers involved in a multi-million dollar tender scandal at the parastatal.The minister reportedly blocked moves by then permanent secretary in the ministry Machivenyika Mapuranga to suspend two senior ministry officials, legal director Angeline Karonga and engineer Eric Gumbie, who is director of roads. Karonga and Gumbie also allegedly tried to block investigations into the abuse of state funds for the rehabilitation of roads in rural areas.Gumbo is also further accused of protecting detained Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe general manager David Chawota who is facing several corruption and abuse of office allegations.Gumbo reinstated Chawota after he was suspended by the board to pave way for investigations in 2016. This resulted in board members resigning en masse.Chawota has appeared in court facing criminal abuse of office charges for allegedly flouting tender processes when he acquired air traffic control and communication systems in a deal worth US$33,3 million. News / National by Staff reporter SUSPENDED Zimbabwe National Road Administration Authority (Zinara) chief executive officer Nancy Masiyiwa-Chamisa has given Transport minister Joel Biggie Matiza a five-day ultimatum to issue a public apology for making corruption allegations against her, failure of which she would file a lawsuit at the courts.Masiyiwa-Chamisa was suspended from her job mid-last year amid widespread allegations of corruption and abuse of office at the cash-rich parastatal.Appearing before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Public Finance on Monday last week to answer questions regarding issues at Zinara, Matiza named Masiyiwa-Chamisa as one of the directors who has been receiving thousands of dollars to fund their lavish lifestyles, outside official contractual benefits.Matiza also averred that Zinara was currently looking for a new CE to replace her, despite the fact that there have not been any disciplinary procedures against her.There was also an allegation that Masiyiwa-Chamisa unlawfully and without approval benefitted from a housing loan via CBZ Bank and in doing so, she encumbered the employer as guarantor.Masiyiwa-Chamisa's lawyers Mtetwa & Nyambirai, wrote to Matiza on Monday this week demanding that the minister withdraws the statements, which she deemed to be derogatory and defamatory.The lawyers also indicated that Matiza's statements were reproduced in newspaper articles, further injuring their client's reputation."Our client notes with concern that you appeared before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on transport around 3 May 2019. You are reported as having stated that Zinara is searching for a new substantive CEO on account of the fact our client's contract was not going to be renewed. This is ostensibly based on allegations of misconduct and maladministration which have been made against our client, for which no disciplinary hearing has ever been conducted. It is also clear that before that, and being aware that you would make negative statements against our client, you took no effort to hear her side before condemning her," the letter of demand, dated May 13, 2019 reads."Our client also notes several newspaper articles in which the issues surrounding Zinara have been reported. In almost all the (newspaper) articles our client has read, the overtones used therein suggest that there is a belief that she is part of the corruption that had bedevilled the parastatal and that her departure from the organisation is the solution to the issue. This is despite the fact that no hearing was ever conducted in which those suspicions were independently verified as correct."The lawyers also indicated that current Zinara board chair Michael Madanha further added salt to the wound by making similar statements in parliament and in newspaper interviews."Our client refers to various media articles, last of which appeared in the Sunday Mail of 12 May 2019. In all appearances, neither the honourable minister nor his appointed board chairperson took time to accord our client her right to be heard before serious allegations were publicly made against her."The lawyers claimed that the incessant negative publicity which Masiyiwa-Chamisa was being subjected to have left her traumatised."A disciplinary hearing was supposed to be conducted in July 2018 and it failed to take place because of the employer's blunders on the choice of law and procedure. Another hearing which was supposed to take place before a Justice (Moses) Chinhengo led panel also failed to take place because the committee was conflicted. Instead, our client has remained on suspension in perpetuity, while the employer, through the board and now recently through the person of the minister, continue to pummel her name and soil her reputation in public. This is more traumatising for her as the employer is repeating the same allegations over and over, yet Engineer Madanha had gone out and declared that the charges have no merit before somersaulting when he appeared before the committee," the letter reads."Our client has taken the view that since she has not had her day in a disciplinary hearing, it was unnecessary for her to deal with the allegations in the court of public opinion. At the hearing, which ought to have happened by now, the employer was going to bring the evidence to support the factual allegations against our client and the evidence would be tested and its weight pronounced upon. Given the serious attacks on our client's name and reputation which are very damaging and are now emanating from the minister, our client has no choice but to seek redress."We are instructed to demand, as we do now, that the minister must substantiate the allegations of corruption made against our client when the minister appeared before the parliamentary portfolio committee and which statements have been repeated in various media outlets. In the event that the minister does not substantiate these allegations, our client demands a written retraction of all such claims directed to her and thereafter published in a newspaper of wide circulation in Zimbabwe."The lawyers said while it was not necessary for the matter to be litigated upon, their client would not hesitate to approach the courts for redress to protect her name and reputation."We demand that a response on the substance be done to this letter on or before 17th May 2019. In the event that we do not receive a response favourable to our client or at all, we shall take necessary legal action to protect our client and vindicate her reputation. Be guided accordingly," the lawyers wrote. News / National by Mandla Ndlovu National dialogue is important for national development as it will proffer solutions to some of the problems affecting the country. A divided house cannot stand. https://t.co/GQgtNHfi9v Ministry of Information, Publicity & Broadcasting (@InfoMinZW) May 17, 2019 On Friday morning President Emmerson Mnangagwa launched the Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD) at the Harare International Conference Centre. The co-converners of the National Dialogue are NPRC Chairperson Justice Nare and Zimabbwe Gender Commission Chairperson Margaret Mukahanana-Sangarwe.The Ministry of Information said, "Zimbabwe's politics should be transformational instead of being adversarial and through National Dialogue Zimbabweans are making a giant step towards a united effort in addressing national questions."Watch the video below: News / National by Mandla Ndlovu Three MDC Members of Parliament Lynette Karenyi, Thabitha Khumalo and Amos Chibaya have slapped governement with lawsuit demanding more than $20 000 as compensation for violation of fundamental rights.The MPs are saying their rights were violted when some Zimbabwe Republic Police officers assaulted them in Parliament in November 2018.They are represented by the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.In November 2018 Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda ordered the ejection of the MPs, claiming they had disrespected President Emmerson Mnangagwa by failing to stand up when walked into Parliament to listen to the 2019 budget presentation by Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube.Police were deployed and violently ejected the MPsCommenting after that ejection MDC spokesperson Jacob Mafume told the media then that, "He (Mnangagwa) has not changed. He is still an enforcer. A thug. A person who believes violence is supreme. Imagine, a person kicks out whole Members of Parliament simply because they did not stand up for him? Is Parliament a classroom? Is it an assembly? Is he a headmaster?"Mnangagwa recently gloated that he will continue beating up the MDC leaders if they continue defying him he will continue beating them up. News / National by Mandla Ndlovu State agents may be plotting to demonstrate against the government of President Emmerson Mnangagwa in June Professor Jonathan Moyo has suggested.Professor Moyo was reacting to a story carried by the Herald newspaper which said a group of shady organisations from Zimbabwe with links to the opposition MDC-Alliance has in recent months been hard at work laying the groundwork for civil unrest set to be unleashed in June."The clear message from this wacky story is that the Herald is using smoke and mirrors to officially ANNOUNCE that there will be protests next month, planned by feuding State agents." Professor Moyo said.There has been various prophecies given by different prophets in the recent parts claiming that some disgruntled state agents and foreigners will cause eruption of violent protests against the government and those protests will be attributed to the MDC.The Herald further reported that currently, there is a group training in the Maldives, which began on Tuesday and ends on Sunday and is being conducted by Center for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies (CANVAS), a Serbian organisation which trained MDC activists who were involved in the coordination of the January 14 to 16 violent protests.Eight local activists, including a multimedia journalist from NewsDay, are attending the programme and will be instrumental in training and instigating mayhem to be rolled out in June the paper further said. News / National by Mandla Ndlovu Maverick businessman Wicknell Chivayo has responded to the news Minister of Energy and Power Development Fortune Chasi who has said he wants to recover the USD$5 million that was advanced to Chivayo's company for the Gwanda solar plant.Said Chivayo, "Hon Minister Chibabest is not only a very Senior Advocate but a seasoned level headed politician of unquestionable integrity. When he's fully briefed of the correct facts on the ground I'm optimistic and confident he will come up with a different conclusion based on an informed position. I can only but celebrate that with a pragmatic Minister like him "against all odds" success of the project is inevitable."On Thursday Chasi called on ZESA management to do everything to ensure that the money was recovered.Minister Chasi said even if the courts have exonerated the company and its director Wicknell Chivayo, Government needs the money recovered at all cost. RTHK: Legendary architect IM Pei dies aged 102 IM Pei, the preeminent US architect who forged a distinct brand of modern building design with his sharp lines and stark structures, has died, his sons' architecture firm said on Thursday. He was 102 years old. The Chinese-born Pei was the mastermind behind the bold Louvre pyramid in Paris, the landmark 72-story Bank of China tower in Hong Kong and Athens' Museum of Modern Art, works seen as embracing modernity tempered by a grounding in history. In his adopted home country the United States, Pei became perhaps best known for his landmark East Building at Washington's National Gallery of Art, deftly melding sharp modern angles with the monumental grandeur the US capital is known for. "Contemporary architects tend to impose modernity on something. There is a certain concern for history but it is not very deep," Pei told The New York Times in a 2008 interview. "I understand that times have changed, we have evolved. But I don't want to forget the beginning." "A lasting architecture has to have roots." Born in China in 1917, banker's son Ieoh Ming Pei came to the US at 17 to study architecture, receiving an undergraduate degree in the field from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1940. He then enrolled in Harvard University's Graduate School of Design, where he received a masters degree in architecture in 1946. He became a naturalised US citizen in 1954. His revered projects include the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio; the Miho Museum of Shigo, Japan; the Morton Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, Texas, and The John F Kennedy Library in Boston, Massachusetts. Despite being a confessed Islamic art novice, he was also commissioned to design the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar, which opened in 2008. In 1988, then-French president Francois Mitterrand inducted Pei as a Chevalier in the Legion d'Honneur, later raising him to the rank of Officier when Phase II of the glass-and-stainless-steel Grand Louvre pyramid was completed in 1993. US president George Bush awarded Pei the Medal of Freedom that same year, when he was also elected an Honorary Academician of the Royal Academy of Arts in London. (AFP) This story has been published on: 2019-05-17. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. tfoxfoto/iStock(NEW YORK) -- The state trooper whose 4-year-old son accidentally shot and killed himself has been placed on administrative leave. Trooper Fu Sun was identified by the Ohio State Highway Patrol as the father involved in the shooting death, which took place at the family's home on Sunday, May 12, officials said. Sgt. Tiffiany Meeks told ABC News on Tuesday that an internal investigation would be conducted in connection to the Division-issued weapon that was involved in the incident. On Thursday, Meeks said that Sun had been put on administrative leave. Ohio State Highway Patrol policy guidelines, a portion of which was shared with ABC News, details how department-issued weapons are expected to be stored. "Officers are responsible for the safe storage of Division-issued or approved firearms at all times (on or off-duty). Trigger locks, cable locks, safes, lock boxes, or other means approved by the Division armorer must be used to store Division-issued weapons to prevent access from unauthorized persons," the policy guidelines state. Kyleanne Hunter, the vice president of The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said that while accidental gun deaths are tragic, "unfortunately this isn't rare at all." Hunter said that eight times every day a child unintentionally shoots themselves or another child, citing a multi-year average of data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "The most important thing that parents can do is if they choose to bring a gun into the home is to store it safely. And what we know from research is the most safe way is unloaded, locked, and with the ammunition stored separately," Hunter said. No further details about the way in which Sun stored his weapon have been released by the Ohio State Highway Patrol, and the Toledo Police Department did not immediately respond to ABC News' requests for comment. "The Patrol family is deeply saddened by the devastating loss of Trooper Suns child," said Ohio State Highway Patrol superintendent Richard S. Fambro, in a statement released Tuesday. "There are no words to describe such a loss. Our thoughts and prayers have been, and will continue to be, with Trooper Sun, his family, friends and co-workers," Fambro said. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Rights activists say Oli government heading towards authoritarian rule Civil society members and human rights activists said on Friday that the government is heading towards authoritarianism, as its recent actions have been aimed at curtailing civil liberties, freedom of expression and freedom of press. News / National by Mandla Ndlovu The Tourism Industry is set to contribute billions of dollars into the national purse the Deputy Minister of Information Publicity and Broadcasting Services has said.Posting a video of Chinese tourists said, "See Chinese tourists as they showcase their talent at State House yesterday in the presence of President ED Mnangagwa. Now under the leadership of Minister Prisca Mupfumira, the tourism industry is set for a rebound with billions expected in earnings yearly."On Thursday President Emerson Mnangagwa hosted a cocktail where he hosted for a visiting 343-member Chinese tourist delegation at State House.Mnangagwa said, "My Government has adopted various strategies to ensure sustainable long-term growth of the tourism sector."These include increasing tourist arrivals and promoting investment in tourism related infrastructure. We therefore continue to encourage investment in infrastructure such as hotels and other facilities that will widen our tourism products."The introduction of a number of incentives will further help promote investments into the sector. These include the declaration of Tourism Special Economic Zone, which covers Victoria Falls, Binga and Kariba tourism corridor among others." Opinion / Columnist I would like to carry out a What-if Scenario Analysis (WISA) based on the prediction of a positive change in the outcome of the Zimbabwean economic performance. In Project Management we use WISA to probe and compare various plan and schedule alternatives based on changing assumptions. Whilst a comprehensive WISA will look at various angles, mine will be biased towards the positive only as there will not be enough space for analyzing all likelihoods. WISA enables the project manager (PM) to put in place a contingent plan to exploit or moderate the probable eventualities. The WISA is based on my strong belief that as Zimbabwe approaches 40, it is on the brink of unsurpassed economic development. I would like to categorically state from the start that I am not a seer. I am just a thought leader and an untiring optimist. Currently the Zimbabwean economy is in siege-induced drawback. But when the siege is over it will trigger immense economic boom, which will be akin to a tsunami-like storm.The siege termed economic sanctions started way back in the late 90s although officially recorded as 2001 for ZIDERA (USA's Zimbabwe Democratic and Economic Recovery Act of 2001), and the European Union sanctions in 2002. Pardon me for using the word 'tsunami' as it has negative connotations. I assure you that in this WISA I am symbolically and positively using 'tsunami' to ignite your imagination as I depict the seismic proportion and accelerated pace of the development storm I am envisaging when the Zimbabwean economy is released and catapulted from the siege. I envisage that the growth will be consistently and significantly more than the 5+% GDP growth experienced during the post independence early 80s and the 10+% during the 2009 to 2012 era. The question is what-if this positive outturn happens as I have predicted, are we geared to reign in this unprecedented growth?Now wisdom dictates that when a tsunami is about to storm the shoreline, you are advised to be on high ground to survive. Furthermore, any structure that is not on a firm foundation will be swept away. Zimbabwean businesses need to heed the warning and be on high ground and on a firm foundation as the tsunami comes. High ground and firm foundation are explained in the following five exploits i.e., 1) moral and ethical high ground, 2) exceptional entrepreneurial acumen, 3) robust business systems, 4) organisational agility, and 5) an extensive skills bank. These five exploits will be explained later.I repeat I am not a seer, but I see a tsunami storm coming. I will illustrate. A tsunami is a 'storm' phenomenon triggered by a seismic dislocation in the oceans. If you are standing by the ocean's shoreline when the seismic dislocation happens, the first thing you notice is that there is massive recession of the water body. This is termed a tsunami drawback as the shoreline is drawn back quite extensively. But wait for another minute or so. That water body will come back and hit the land with colossal waves causing a great storm indeed. In fact if you are wise when you see the massive drawback of water you take heed and move fast to higher and firmer ground. When the storm is over, anything on low ground that is not anchored on firm foundation is swept away. Whilst this has spiritual connotations, I will mainly apply this phenomenon in the economic arena.The economic siege starved Zimbabwe of about USD 5 billion in infrastructure for the past 20+ years. In other words, Zimbabwe is about USD 50 to 100 billion in infrastructure deficit. This is a Rough Order of Magnitude estimate (ROM which is +/- 50%) by the way. Economic analysis is not my forte. The siege will break at some point. That will trigger a 'tsunami' of projects. The siege-induced drawback has caused a backlog in development. Add to that new demand and you have an unprecedented potential. Envisage the infrastructural mega- projects in the roads construction, massive dams construction, giga-watt power plants, massive built-environment structures, information and communication technology (ICT) related entrepreneurial, highly disruptive digital innovations, and value addition and beneficiation across the key sectors of production. Imagine the Chi-train from Harare to Chitungwiza past the 'to be extended' RGM Airport, or the super highways/bypasses built around large cities like Harare and Bulawayo to decongest the CBDs. Mark my words, the current international airport will be too small for the traffic that will be coming to Zimbabwe. So imagine that whole backlog of projects in Zimbabwe, plus the new demand, all rushing towards us. That is the 'tsunami.'Let us go back to the 5 exploits. Exploit 1) moral and ethical high ground will be of the essence, as investors will only want to put their money in safe and steadfast hands. The number of mega-construction projects will warrant that there are high levels of governance transparency in public sector projects, from the adjudication to the execution and closure of the projects. Rent-seeking will kill the project funding as investors will be shy. Rent-seeking compromises quality and may result in developmental inertia and in some cases collapsing service infrastructure. Envisage a collapsing bridge, or shopping mall, or health service because someone accepted a bribe. Take heed. One person's, or group of persons' corrupt practices can affect the whole country if not reigned in. Kudos to the Government of Zimbabwe for overhauling the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC).Exploits 2) entrepreneurial acumen, 3) robust business systems and 4) organizational agility are all necessary as there will be many investors seeking strong and agile local partnerships. We are in a very disruptive global environment termed VUCA (Vulnerable, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous). Archaic equipment and snail-paced bureaucratic business processes will no longer hold in this VUCA environment. For instance, manufacturing equipment and methods used by Zimbabwean firms cannot be sustained in a competitive and VUCA environment. One needs to VUKA (Ndebele for wake up) in a VUCA environment. Prolonged procurement processes will deem the product or service platform obsolete before it is even launched. Financial and IT entities lulled by the lack of economic vibrancy will have a shock when disruptive and agile movers enter the market. The ability and agility required to go to market first before competition, becomes of the essence. Permit me to me ask a few probing WISA questions. What-if the positive prediction happens, is our ICT industry ready for Internet of Things (IoT) or Internet of Everything (IoE)? Are we geared for the upsurge in bandwidth hungry services? Is our service industry implementing digital transformation strategies? Are our construction industry gurus anticipating and building the capacity to contain the explosion in built-environment and infrastructure sector demand?Exploit 5) pertains to building an extensive skills bank through skills upgrading. Skills levels will be challenged as the professions are being transformed in a disruptive manner also. Among other areas of domain expertise required to support the rapid economic development, I believe that Project Management is a pivotal business competency. Project management will be the fulcrum required to bolster most business skills and careers. If Zimbabwe is going to transform its economy through the seismic development in all sectors then the one profession that will be in great demand will be the ability to translate organizational strategy into the desired outcomes. Project management translates strategy into plans and deliverables, such as the required products and services.The current practice in most businesses of turning subject matter experts (SMEs) into project managers (PMs) without proper training may have sustained businesses thus far, but going forward it will be a perilous practice. I use strong words in order to drive the point home. An SME who is thrust into the role of a PM without preparatory training is termed an 'accidental' PM. The term depicts a person who is well qualified in his/her domain, for example a very competent information technology (IT) professional, who is 'accidentally' given the task of leading a project to integrate a customer facing service with the back-office service platforms and support processes. The IT professional is very much au fait with data analytics and coding, but numb and dumb on Project Management practices such as scope, schedule and cost management. Add to that the dearth of knowledge, risk management, stakeholder engagement, change management leadership, etc. The IT professional who is thrust into managing the project will focus on his/her area of expertise at the expense of the other domains. Hence the outcome is a technically sound flop of a project, an accident."But we have always used the SMEs successfully," you will clamour. Wrong, go back again and do an audit of the project, to ascertain whether it was done according to the project's performance measurement baseline (PMB), i.e. the scope, schedule, and cost baselines for starters. You will be confronted with scope overruns, cost overruns and schedule overruns. In Zimbabwe public and private industries, very few projects if properly audited, would be deemed to have been delivered according to original scope, schedule and budget. Furthermore most organisations rely strongly on the project management expertise of the contracted company and not their own as the client. As a result the companies have little or no governance oversight on their projects. In sectors such as the built environment and mega-infrastructure construction, there has been a false sense of 'success' when new buildings, new dams, and new roads are commissioned with a lot of pomp and ceremony. My question is, was there a project closeout exposing the variances to the PMB?I reckon I have used a cattle prod here. That is the intention. I am advocating for the training (not firing) of the 'accidental' PMs to internationally recognized Project Management credentials. The VUCA world will demand these credentials. Financiers world-wide are insisting on releasing funds to projects with competent and globally accredited PMs. Governments in the developed and developing world are setting up Project Management Offices (PMOs) and governance structures and training their resources in order to enhance project success, reduce implementation costs, reduce time-to-market, lead change, and mitigate risks, especially those associated with rent-seeking.As a Board member, CEO, company executive, entrepreneur, domain professional, or Public Sector servant, ask yourself these probing WISA questions, "What-if the Zimbabwean economy goes into the predicted unprecedented growth, is my organization on high ground? Are mine and my resources skills on a firm foundation? Do we employ certified PMs? Are our current projects maintained within the PMB? Do we even understand Project Management?" If the answer to any of these questions is "no" then do something about it and train. The tsunami is coming.Engineer Tororiro Isaac Chaza is a Project Management Professional (PMP) available at tororiro.chaza@torchpmo.com . Taiwan Legalizes Gay Marriage And Makes History Today, Taiwans parliament legalized same-sex marriage in a landmark vote. The self-governing island is the first in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. In 2017, Taiwans constitutional court ruled that defining marriage between a man and a woman was unconstitutional and that same-sex couples had the legal right to be married, furthering LGBT rights on the already LGBT-friendly island. The court gave parliament two years to enact this ruling into law, and the new law will go into effect on May 24. Many LGBT activists, while happy with the vote, have criticized it for not being progressive enough. The vote does not allow those in same-sex marriages to adopt children, allowing only one partner to adopt the biological child of the other. ADVERTISEMENT Heralded as one of the most LGBT-friendly countries in Asia (though China still considers the island to be part of its territory, the Taiwanese government and people do not agree), Taiwan has a progressive government, with the Democratic Progressive Party holding the majority of seats in parliament. While major countries like China, Japan, and South Korea have legalized sex between those of the same sex, both nations are influenced by homophobia and have yet to legalize same-sex marriage. In other nations like Malaysia, homosexuality is criminalized. In Indonesia, which has been slowly de-secularized and falling under Sharia Law, those accused of homosexuality can face public canings or lashings. Those convicted of performing same-sex acts in Brunei can legally be stoned to death. Despite its progressivism, even Taiwan is no stranger to anti-gay sentiments. Many religious groups on the island are vehemently against marriage equality, spouting rhetoric similar to far-right religious American groups when marriage equality was legalized in the United States in 2015. Conservative Taiwanese groups have called for marriage to be defined as a union between a man and a woman after the constitutional courts decision in 2017, with slogans along the lines of Father, Mother, and children as one. Members of these groups and conservatives on social media stated that the vote has "trampled on Taiwanese people's expectations that a marriage and a family is formed by a man and a woman, a husband and a wife and that "[the vote] is the death of democracy. Seven million people voted against same-sex marriage in the referendum and their votes meant nothing[.] The prevailing belief in Taiwan, though, is one of acceptance towards the LGBT community, with 71% in favor of marriage equality. The island hosts Asias largest Pride parade with people coming from China, Japan, South Korea, and even the United States to join in on the festivities. This years parade saw 130,000 attendees. The first Chinese language (Cantonese and Mandarin) gay bookstore in Asia, GinGin Books, resides in Taipei. Gays and lesbians have been able to openly serve in the armed forces since 2002. The island is also somewhat progressive on transgender rights. While transgender individuals must have sex-reassignment surgery to legally change their gender, the government is working to reverse this so that anyone may legally change their gender. In addition, a third gender option will be added to National Identification cards in 2020. With LGBT issues coming to the political and social international forefront, topics like marriage and transgender equality can no longer be ignored. Despite its down-fallings and the massive amounts of work that still need to be done, Taiwan is leading the way for LGBT equality in the Eastern hemisphere, setting an example for all other countries in Asia. Header Image via Flickr More From BUST It's A Wonderful Kind Of Gay (Wedding): "Arthur's" Mr. Ratburn Says "I Do" Week Of Women: May 17-23, 2019 Netflix Quietly Drops Trailer For New Lesbian Drama "Elisa & Marcela" Kat McQuade is an Editorial Intern for BUST. She is currently pursuing a B.A. in writing and literature. Originally from the Seattle area, Kat has been drinking coffee every day since she was eleven. You can follow her on Twitter at @Kat_McQ3. The National Capital Region is about to get another pot shop and for the first time, it'll be in Gatineau. The shop will open next Wednesday, May 22, and will be located at 73 Boulevard de la Gappe. This is the 15th shop to open in Quebec since the federal government legalized cannabis on Oct. 17, 2018. The shop will employ between 15-20 people. 7 days a week The Societe quebecoise du cannabis (SQDC), the government agency overseeing the production and sale of legal marijuana in Quebec, announced today that all existing outlets in the province will be open seven days a week as of Monday, May 20, crediting an increase in a reliable cannabis supply. The SQDC had previously cut back on the shops' hours of business because of chronic shortages. Radio-Canada reached out to Fire and Flower, a pot shop in the ByWard Market in Ottawa. Eric Lavoie, the shop's owner, said he's not worried about competition from the new shop in Gatineau because so many of the city's residents work in Ottawa. Climate change has become a key election issue in a country that's one of the largest exporters of coal and natural gas in the world. Nearly one-third of the Australian electorate 29 per cent rates climate change as the top concern ahead of Saturday's federal vote, according to a voluntary online survey of 119,516 respondents conducted by Vote Compass last month for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. In 2016, just nine per cent said climate change was the biggest issue. Other public opinion surveys suggest the economy and health care are bigger issues for voters than climate in the reasonably tight race. But four analysts said there's no question that climate change is playing a bigger role in this contest than in any other election in the Land Down Under in at least a decade. "The 2019 election is definitely a climate-change election," said Kate Crowley, an associate professor of public and environmental policy at the University of Tasmania who studies social attitudes. Political jousting over climate policy in Australia a large Commonwealth nation with high per capita greenhouse-gas emissions holds some parallels for Canada's October election, observers there said. Voters in Australia are angry that the current government has "not acted on climate change, given the unprecedented bush fires, droughts and extreme temperatures that have hit the country in the last year," Crowley said. With parts of Canada facing record flooding and last summer's wildfires those concerns may be shared by some voters closer to home. Tight race Australia's opposition Labor Party led by Bill Shorten holds a slim lead over the incumbent Liberal-National coalition headed by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, according to a survey released on Sunday, echoing what other polls have indicated. In the Canadian context, the Labor Party is similar to Justin Trudeau's Liberals while the Australian Liberal Party is comparable to Andrew Scheer's Conservatives, said Richie Merzian, director of the climate and energy program at the Australia Institute think-tank. Story continues Rick Rycroft/Associated Press Australia also has a Green Party, a host of independents, and the far-right One Nation Party, who are all battling for 151 parliamentary seats. The Australian Liberals are proposing to reduce climate-changing emissions of carbon dioxide by at least 26 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. Labor says that's not fast enough. The party has promised to reduce Australia's emissions by 45 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030 and to reach net zero emissions by 2050. A heightened concern about climate change generally plays well for Labor, along with the Green Party and independent candidates, Merzian said, and recent wild weather has brought that concern to the fore. Parts of the country's agricultural belt have been in the grips of a severe drought for nearly a year, and record heat waves have hit other regions, Crowley said. The Great Barrier Reef, an iconic symbol of Australian identity, is also under threat from coral bleaching linked to global warming, according to the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. "There is a lot more appetite for change and that comes from lived experience," Merzian said. "There is a lot more talk about the cost of inaction on climate change." Demographic divides These concerns are unlikely to shift electoral outcomes in the country's rugged resource heartland of Queensland Australia's equivalent of Alberta where coal-mining jobs and other economic worries are paramount for voters, Merzian said. But in tight races especially wealthy suburban ridings around big cities unease with global warming could swing the balance of power, said Kate Dooley, an energy expert at the University of Melbourne. Gary Ramage/Pool via Associated Press Merzian said such concern could decide the outcome in seven or eight key seats enough to potentially determine who wins the overall vote. Tony Abbott, a former Liberal prime minister, "is facing the fight of his life" to keep the seat he has held for more than two decades in Warringah, a posh Sydney suburb, Dooley said, and "it's almost all over climate change." His challenger, independent candidate and former Olympic skier Zali Steggall, has lambasted Abbott's record on the environment. Her critiques are gaining traction with fiscally conservative, upper-class voters in what had been a Liberal Party stronghold, said Dooley. Dooley said Abbott's battle shows that even in a country known for "big cars, cities with big sprawling suburbs and under-utilization of public transport," climate change can rocket to the top of the agenda if politicians frame the message correctly. Carbon taxes and Canada Australia's past experience with putting a price on carbon, a move comparable to Canada's carbon tax, also underscores the dangers politicians can face on the file, said Robert MacNeil, a professor of government at the University of Sydney. "The 2013 election here was, by all accounts, an anti-carbon-tax election," MacNeil said. Anger over carbon pricing, coupled with other factors, led to the defeat of the incumbent Labor Party. A coalition led by Tony Abbott's Liberals swept to power and repealed carbon pricing in favour of an emissions-reductions fund a subsidy scheme to entice big polluters to reduce their carbon dioxide output. Rick Rycroft/The Associated Press Abbott successfully framed carbon pricing as "a great big tax on everything," said Dooley. Voters generally express sympathy for environmental issues, MacNeil said, "yet when they are confronted with the perceived personal costs of those policies, as framed by right-wing opposition parties, they tend to shy away from them." Ontario Premier Doug Ford's government used Abbott's emissions-reductions fund as a template for its climate policies, MacNeil said. Today, with Abbott fighting to keep his own seat, and his party behind in the polls, MacNeil said the dynamics have changed. "Less than six years later, the electorate is demanding strong and decisive climate action again," he said. "Leaders in Canada should be mindful of this pendulum." Police in Halton Region say they believe two teens who went unconscious after smoking cannabis at a Milton home on Wednesday afternoon also ingested some type of opioid. Emergency crews were called to the home shortly after 2 p.m. for reports that two young men were in medical distress. When officers arrived, they found two teens on the home's back deck. They were unconscious, their breathing was shallow, their pupils were dilated and they were frothing at the mouth, Staff Sgt. Chris Lawson, one of the first people to arrive at the scene, told reporters at Halton Regional Police headquarters in Oakville Thursday morning. These were all signs the teens were suffering from an opioid overdose, he said. Lawson and two other officers administered naloxone, an antidote for opioid overdoses, to the teens via a nasal spray. One showed signs of recovery almost immediately, Lawson said, while the other teen required a second dose. "Certainly you're always nervous because somebody's life is at risk," Lawson told CBC Toronto. "But we knew it was the right thing to do. Your adrenaline is pumping and your heart's pounding." Both teens were taken to hospital for treatment and released the same day. But Const. Chris Peters, another of the officers to arrive at the scene first, said the teens' conditions were "pretty bad." "Had we come five [or] 10 minutes later, it would have been much worse. That's my feeling." Makda Ghebreslassie/CBC It appears the teens, both 18, were among a group of 10 to 12 who were at the home Wednesday afternoon, and had stepped outside to smoke what they thought was cannabis. Insp. Kevin Maher said police are "operating under the assumption" that an opioid was present in the teens' bloodstreams, largely because the teens' conditions improved so quickly after they received naloxone, which only has that kind of effect when opioids are present. Police are still trying to find a viable sample to send to Health Canada laboratories, which can determine exactly what opioid was present in the youths and whether they consumed the opioid with the cannabis or if it was ingested separately, Maher said. Story continues What will be harder to determine, he added, is the drug's source. If police can pin down where it came from and if it was added to the marijuana, criminal charges could result, he said. Halton police officers have been carrying naloxone for about a year, according to Maher. It was the first time Lawson had to administer it, but officers with the force have done so about 20 times over the last year, Maher said. For Lawson, the situation hit home as a dad of teenagers. In this situation he was glad a neighbour saw the boys in distress in the backyard and called 911. 'Are they just fooling around?' Annissa Adams was in her house when she heard a commotion coming from outside a nearby home. She looked out the window and saw a group of teens outside, including two convulsing on the ground. Makda Ghebreslassie/CBC Her partner and her mother told her not to get involved. "Something told me that no, these are someone's kids, I need to call the police," Adams told CBC Toronto. She yelled over to the teens to find out what was happening and they said they would call the police, she said. But something didn't feel right, so she called herself. "It's really easy to do the easy thing, which is look away or not get involved, like I was told to do," she said. "But I've always made a choice, and I'm teaching my kids that, 'You know what? Sometimes the hard thing is the right thing and that's what you need to do.'" Adams will receive an official commendation sometime in the near future, Maher said. In the meantime, Maher praised the three officers for quickly recognizing what they were dealing with and maintaining their composure. "It is heroic and their composure is very commendable," he said. Not since the Great Depression disrupted sitting governments across the country has any prime minister presided over a period of such sweeping political turnover as Justin Trudeau has ahead of October's federal election. Another government could be added to the tally if Dwight Ball's Liberals fail to secure re-election in today's vote in Newfoundland and Labrador a defeat that would make Trudeau's term in office the bloodiest for an incumbent government in Canadian history. Trudeau benefited from a widespread desire for change in the October 2015 election. Since then, there have been nine changes of government in the 11 provincial and territorial elections that have been held during the last four years. (Nunavut and the Northwest Territories do not run elections along party lines, and so have been excluded from this analysis.) Newfoundland and Labrador was the first out of the gate in November 2015, when Ball's Liberals defeated the incumbent Progressive Conservatives. In 2016, Brian Pallister's PCs beat the NDP in Manitoba and Sandy Silver's Liberals defeated the Yukon Party. In 2017, Christy Clark's B.C. Liberals won the most seats but were replaced by John Horgan's New Democrats with the backing of the B.C. Greens. Last year, Liberal governments in Ontario, New Brunswick and Quebec were replaced by the PCs and Francois Legault's Coalition Avenir Quebec. Already this year, Rachel Notley's New Democrats fell to Jason Kenney's United Conservatives in Alberta, while Wade MacLauchlan's Liberals were defeated by the PCs under Dennis King in Prince Edward Island. Only the Saskatchewan Party in 2016 and Stephen McNeil's Nova Scotia Liberals in 2017 have managed to win re-election over the last four years. An unusual pace of change So much turnover in such a short period of time is rare. Trudeau's term is only the fourth in Canadian history which saw a majority of provincial elections result in changes of government. The others were those of W.L. Mackenzie King (between 1921 and 1925), Pierre Trudeau (between 1968 and 1972) and R.B. Bennett's single term in power between 1930 and 1935. Story continues Bennett's name is one that Trudeau drops a lot. He has evoked the former Conservative prime minister 19 times in the House of Commons (according to openparliament.ca) to remind the current Conservatives that it was Stephen Harper who had the "lowest growth record" since the market crash of 1929 that sparked the Great Depression. Harper is the only prime minister whose name Trudeau has uttered more often than Bennett's in the Commons. But Trudeau has his own connection to Bennett one that does not bode well for his chances in the fall election. Defeat in the Great Depression Ten provincial elections were held during Bennett's time as prime minister. Incumbent governments lost eight of them, which was the worst winning record for incumbents in history until the last four years. The early 1930s were a time of tremendous political disruption, in Canada and around the world. King's Liberals met defeat in the 1930 election in part because of the turmoil triggered by the market crash of the preceding year. Newly installed as prime minister, Bennett's popularity quickly dropped as his government failed to grapple with the country's rampant unemployment. When he finally went to the polls in 1935, his party lost more than two-thirds of its seats and King's Liberals were returned to power. The Liberals would stay there for another 22 years. But Bennett's government wasn't the only one to be sideswiped by the Great Depression. Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press In 1931, the Liberals were defeated in P.E.I., only to be returned to power four years later with every seat in the assembly after the Conservatives failed to do a better job of tackling the upheaval. In 1933, the Conservatives fell to the Liberals in Nova Scotia and in British Columbia. The next year, the Liberals' James Gardiner returned to office in Saskatchewan, replacing the coalition government that brought him down after the 1929 election produced a minority legislature. In Ontario, Mitch Hepburn's Liberals beat the Conservatives, who had been in office for the preceding decade. Before the federal election in 1935 was held, the Liberals saw off the Conservatives in New Brunswick and "Bible Bill" Aberhart's Social Credit, which proposed radical new monetary policies that were later deemed unconstitutional, was swept to power in Alberta. The incumbent United Farmers were shut out of the Alberta legislature entirely. It was in this context of turmoil and disruption that Bennett met his political end in October of that year. The lessons from history There is no clear relationship between change in provincial capitals and change in Ottawa. In cases where an incumbent government has been defeated in the past, about 32 per cent of incumbent provincial governments changed hands prior. The turnover rate at the provincial level has been about 29 per cent at times when federal governments have been re-elected slightly lower, but not significantly so. Though Bennett met a catastrophic defeat when the desire for change was sweeping the nation, King won enough seats in 1925 to stay in power with a minority government. In 1972, Pierre Trudeau eked out a slim plurality and also stayed in office at the head of a minority government. Nelson Quarrington/Canadian Press On the other hand, a number of prime ministers have met defeat after their provincial counterparts were re-elected. But it might still worry Justin Trudeau that the country is on pace to match the provincial turnover rate of the Bennett years. Bennett was the last prime minister to be elected to office for the first time at the head of a majority government who was subsequently booted out in the next election. Trudeau wants to avoid being the next one. And as with the Bennett years, parties that share the prime minister's brand are the ones that are suffering most of the defeats. It will be six Liberal governments down if Ball is defeated today, matching Bennett's record. Of course, Canada's economy is not now in the depths of a Great Depression. Unemployment currently stands at 5.7 per cent, while estimates put unemployment almost as high as 30 per cent during the Depression. But some of the former premiers who have recently become unemployed themselves Philippe Couillard in Quebec, for example were canned despite healthy provincial economies. In short, we appear to be living through a Great Disruption in Canadian politics. It might not be over yet. Sebon yet to issue licences to securities dealers The Securities Board of Nepals plan to allow stockbrokers to work as securities dealers is in doubt as the regulator continues to procrastinate on revising the related laws. Dear Readers, Just to let you know that you are welcome to Comment on the entries. Please save this blog site in your Favorite Place so you can find it easily. Travels (and more) has over 21,000 hits/month and I'm grateful to the many Readers who visit this blog regularly. Thank you, Cecilia Manguerra Brainard After a campaign where he railed against partisan influence on the courts, conservative-backed Supreme Court Justice-elect Brian Hagedorn is set to speak at the Wisconsin Republican Party's annual convention on Saturday. While Hagedorn's affiliation with the Republican Party is well known, the appearance of a Supreme Court justice or justice-elect at a political party convention is relatively rare. RPW spokesman Charles Nichols said Hagedorn, who is set to speak alongside prominent members of the Wisconsin GOP such as U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, plans to thank volunteers for assisting his election bid but allegedly won't make overtly political remarks. Hagedorn in April defeated the liberal-backed Appeals Court chief judge Lisa Neubauer by a slim margin for a 10-year term on the court. Nichols said he doesn't recall a Supreme Court justice or justice-elect speaking at a Republican Party convention in recent years, but he pointed to then Supreme Court candidates Rebecca Dallet and Tim Burns, supported by liberals, speaking at the Democratic Party convention in 2017. A spokesman for Hagedorn declined a request seeking comment, and a spokesman for Chief Justice Patience Roggensack said she "does not comment on the conduct of her colleagues." A spokeswoman for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin said the party has never had a sitting justice speak at one of their conventions, although candidates, including Burns and Dallet, have spoken. Hagedorn has long been close to the Republican Party. His father, Sam, served as the chairman of the Milwaukee County Republican Party. Hagedorn in past blog writings unearthed during the campaign made clear his affiliation with the GOP, although in previous interviews with the Wisconsin State Journal he said said he is opposed to politicization of the judicial system. "I think theres a right way to do law and a wrong way to do law, and I dont want to see our court become politicized," Hagedorn told the State Journal in March. Republicans at their Oshkosh convention this weekend are set for self-reflection after losing several high-profile statewide elections in 2018, including the governor's office. Hagedorn will replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Shirley Abrahamson August 1. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 BLACK EARTH Recently, I was talking with friends about President Donald Trumps latest round of tariffs and his decision to escalate the trade war with China. As we discussed how the Chinese government had fired back with tariffs of its own, one friend remarked that the Trump administration has announced a plan to help make whole the Wisconsin dairy and soybean farmers affected. While its true that the White House has unveiled a new plan to divert billions of dollars in aid to U.S. farmers after throwing them under the bus with the presidents indiscriminate use of tariffs against China, I noted that dairy farmers were likely to receive just 5 cents for every dollar they lost. But it turns out I was wrong. In reality, some Wisconsin family dairy farmers stand to get less than 2 cents for every dollar lost as a result of the Chinese tariffs. A recent report noted that during the last bailout from tariffs, a 55-cow dairy farm would receive a one-time payment of $725 from the bailout but stood to lose between $36,000 and $48,000 in income last year. Sending Wisconsin farmers just 2% of what they lost means that families will struggle to put food on the table, send kids to college, save for retirement or even keep their farms. The presidents aid program is merely an attempt to save face and will not repair the full scope of the damage he has created by starting a trade war with China. His most recent aid program comes after he established a $12 billion bailout program last year a program that has helped just a handful of the farmers suffering from the trade war. In some cases, that money was funneled to large or foreign-owned firms, rather than the family-owned dairy farms in states such as Wisconsin that are suffering some of the most direct effects. Wisconsins dairy farms already hurt by low milk prices and consolidation that has resulted in the closure of hundreds of family operations each year are being further harmed by the retaliatory Chinese tariffs. One recent estimate shows that Wisconsin cheese shipments to China have fallen almost 65 percent, while exports to Mexico are down more than 10 percent. This is a drastic reduction in the levels of dairy products our state exports abroad. And the dairy industry isnt the only agricultural sector affected. Before the trade war began, China was buying $14 billion of American-grown soybeans every year nearly a third of the U.S. soybean crop. When farmers lose that much business, the American market is flooded with product, driving down the price of the product even further and leaving much of it to spoil in storage. In Wisconsin alone, the farm industry is a $88 billion economy where each dollar of net farm income results in an additional 60 cents of economic activity. That means billions of dollars will not be reinvested in American businesses, spent in communities such as Shullsburg and Reedsburg, or support the middle-class jobs on which so many of our families rely. Dont get me wrong, I believe that targeted tariffs can be used effectively, such as when a country is illegally dumping a commodity. But in the case of President Trumps trade war with China, its clear his administration has no coherent policy. Economists across the country warned against imposing tariffs on China, noting how such a move would disturb the economy well beyond the stock market. We are seeing the effects as tariffs drive up the cost of goods for American families, further damage our already struggling agriculture industry, and cost hardworking Americans good-paying, middle-class manufacturing jobs. From his attacks on Medicaid and rural health programs, to enacting economic policies that favor the wealthy over the middle class and working families, the president is hurting rural Americans at every step of his agenda. Rather than an ineffective bailout program, what Wisconsin farmers really need is the president to end his trade war and work with Democrats on a real trade policy and efforts to strengthen the rural economy. While the president has claimed that the trade war is meant to help American workers, the effects show that it is just the latest attack on the very Americans he claims to support. The president must do better for rural communities and should work to develop a trade agenda that will truly support our farmers and our workers, not create long-lasting, irreversible damage. Billions of dollars will not be reinvested in American businesses, spent in communities such as Shullsburg and Reedsburg, or support the middle-class jobs on which so many of our families rely. Pocan, D-Black Earth, represents Wisconsins 2nd Congressional District, which includes Dane, Iowa, Lafayette, Sauk, Green and parts of Richland and Rock counties: pocan.house.gov and @repmarkpocan. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 WASHINGTON In 1787, the framers gave us a president, not a king. On Tuesday, lawyers for President Trump gave a dissenting opinion. In the first of many courtroom showdowns between Trumps executive branch and the legislative branch, Trumps lawyer William Consovoy argued to U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta that Congress has no authority to pry into Trumps finances. That was expected. Unexpected was Consovoys broader argument: that Congress has essentially no authority to investigate any president for anything. Sorry, Sam Ervin: Even the Watergate investigation would have been illegal under the theory offered by Trumps team. Consovoy, a beefy former law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas, offered two related points: (A) Congress cant issue a subpoena or otherwise probe a president unless it is doing so for a legitimate legislative purpose. (B) Any legitimate legislative purpose Congress could conceivably devise would be unconstitutional. As a result, Consovoy argued, Congress cant investigate to see if a law is being broken, cant inform the public of wrongdoing by the executive and cant look for presidential conflicts of interest or corruption, because that would be law enforcement. Forget about the Unitary Executive Theory. This one is closer to the Divine Right of Kings. Mehta, an Obama appointee, probed for the limits of this breathtaking theory but found none: Trumps finances are not subject to investigation? Correct, Consovoy informed the judge. Congress cant verify the accuracy of the presidents financial statements? Correct. If a president was involved in some corrupt enterprise, you mean to tell me because he is the president of the United States, Congress would not have power to investigate? No, Consovoy said, because thats not pursuant to its legislative agenda. Consovoy, who is representing Trump as he tries to block the presidents accounting firm from fulfilling a subpoena from the House Oversight Committee for Trumps financial records, further declared that Congress cant investigate a president to inform the public of malfeasance (the president is not an agency), to see whether a president has a financial conflict of interest in a piece of legislation (it would lack legitimate legislative purpose), nor to discover whether financial conflicts impair a presidents ability to make sound policy (that is law enforcement). But surely Congress could investigate a presidents compliance with the Constitutions emoluments clause? I respectfully disagree in part, Consovoy persisted, saying Congress cant engage in anything that looks like a law enforcement investigation. Even the Whitewater and Watergate investigations exceeded congressional authority? Here, Consovoy demurred (Id have to look, he said), rather than admit his theory would have indeed banned both. The Supreme Court has said judges shouldnt look at Congress motives (even if they appear to be political) for investigating the executive, deferring to the legislature on what is a legitimate legislative function. But Consovoy told Mehta that I dont think the court can ignore the Democrats motives, as expressed in public statements, and he called their legislative reasons retroactive rationalizations. Consovoys own argument sounded more political than legal at times. His brief began: The Democrat Party has declared all-out political war against President Donald J. Trump. Subpoenas are their weapon of choice. Consovoys argument was so aggressive, it seemed Trumps lawyers expected defeat in the lower court and were looking for a higher court to reinterpret the law in Trumps favor or, more likely, for the appeals to stretch until after the 2020 election. Consovoy sought delays for discovery and more arguments, saying it would be a disservice if I did not go into depth. But Mehta brushed off these attempts, saying he would close the record this week. And the judge flatly rejected Consovoys exotic argument that Mehta should pre-emptively declare unconstitutional any hypothetical legislation Congress might come up with related to its probe of Trumps finances. Douglas Letter, arguing for the House, said Consovoys position would require declaring unconstitutional a whole batch of laws that require disclosure by the president: the Ethics in Government Act, the Presidential Records Act and the Stock Act against insider trading. At one point in the 90-minute argument, the judge asked Letter why the House wanted Trumps private business records, because this is not an impeachment proceeding. And thats the irony: As strong as the Houses oversight case is now, lawmakers would have more constitutional authority to demand information from Trump if they launched impeachment proceedings. Trumps reckless legal argument is one more way in which he is goading the House to impeach him. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Theres not a whole lot that I have in common with Vice President Mike Pence. In fact, I have a hard time even understanding the vice president. I often find myself asking, how could a man of such faith so obediently follow such an immoral political leader? I could go on and on, but this column isnt supposed to be about the vice president. What this column is about is the one thing the vice president and I do see eye to eye on, and that is Medicaid expansion. What you might not know is that in January of 2015, then-Gov. Pence accepted the federal Medicaid expansion dollars allotted under the Affordable Care Act. Medicaid expansion is one of the signature components of the Affordable Care Act and is crucial to ensuring universal health insurance coverage. Under the Affordable Care Act, states had the option of accepting federal investments to expand their Medicaid coverage to those individuals who made too much money to traditionally qualify for Medicaid, yet didnt quite make enough money to afford health insurance premiums. Basically, the federal Medicaid expansion is intended to help those individuals who are falling through the cracks when it comes to health insurance. In Wisconsin, federal Medicaid expansion would allow individuals making approximately $17,000 a year to access our state Medicaid program, Badgercare. That equates to anyone making approximately $8.50 an hour. To put that number into perspective, the living wage for Chippewa County is $10.88 per hour for a single adult, and $15.81 for a family of four. Clearly, even the full Medicaid expansion would not reach everyone in need of support in Chippewa County, but its a good start. In fact, an estimated 82,000 individuals across Wisconsin would benefit from this expansion. Those figures werent good enough for former Gov. Scott Walker, who steadfastly refused the federal Medicaid expansion throughout his tenure. And that was a costly decision for Wisconsin taxpayers. By refusing the federal Medicaid expansion money, former Gov. Walker has forced Wisconsin taxpayers to pony-up more than $1 billion over the course of his tenure. One estimate even shows that over the course of a 5-year period (2014-2019), Wisconsin tax payers will pay an additional $1.07 billion in Medicaid costs. For a minute, just imagine an additional $1.07 billion invested in roads, or schools, or health care. Thats an investment that Wisconsin taxpayers are missing out on simply because former Gov. Walker chose ideology over common fiscal sense. And now, GOP lawmakers are taking the same ideological stand. Last week, led by Republican lawmakers, the Joint Finance Committee voted to strip Medicaid expansion (as well as middle class tax breaks, legalized medical marijuana, and an increased minimum wage) from the Evers budget. As the cornerstone of the Evers budget, Medicaid expansion would allow the state to invest the estimated $320 million in savings over the course of two years in other priorities, such as public education and infrastructure. Without the savings from Medicaid expansion, the Evers budget is likely to be a non-starter, which is exactly why the governor said he would fight like hell for the Medicaid expansion money. And Gov. Evers has good reason to draw a line in the sand when it comes to Medicaid expansion. In addition to its widespread popularity, Medicaid expansion would cover an additional 82,000 individuals, bring millions in investments to all 72 counties (including $31 million in Chippewa County alone), lower the cost of addiction treatment, free-up funds for dental care, and help support our struggling nursing homes. And for all of you on private health insurance, a study conducted by the state insurance commission found that accepting the Medicaid expansion money would lower premiums on the private insurance marketplace as well. It doesnt take a political scientist to figure out why, regardless of political party, 70% of Wisconsinites support accepting the Federal Medicaid expansion. What remains perplexing is why Republican lawmakers refuse to acknowledge the fiscal benefits of Medicaid expansion. At the very least, constituents deserve to know why ideology is more important than common sense. To ask your lawmaker whether or not they support Medicaid expansion, visit maps.legis.wisconsin.gov for their contact information. Medicaid expansion would cover an additional 82,000 individuals in Wisconsin, bring millions in investments to all 72 counties (including $31 million in Chippewa County alone), lower the cost of addiction treatment, free-up funds for dental care, and help support our struggling nursing homes. Wren Keturi is a communications professional who lives in Chippewa Falls. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Over the past few years, cigars produced in Costa Rica have performed extremely well on Cigar Coop as evidenced by the performance ratings over the years. When the opportunity presented itself to visit the Tabacos de Costa Rica factory located in Costa Rica, I was quite intrigued to find out why these cigars were consistently getting some of the higher scores. Today, we begin the first of a two-part series on my visit to Costa Rica. In this installment, we look at the country of Costa Rica itself through my observations from my visit to this Central American country. In Part 2, we will dive deeper into the cigar manufacturing I observed in Costa Rica. The Country of Costa Rica Costa Rica is a country located South of Nicaragua and west of Panama. The capital of the country is San Jose which is situated close to the center of the country. The country has both the Caribbean Sea to the Northeast and the Pacific Ocean to the Southwest. Costa Rica has a population estimated to be near 5 million people. Costa Rica is Central Americas most popular country in terms of tourism. The beaches, volcanoes, and national parks in Costa Rica make up the lions share of where tourists head to. In terms of the beaches, most of the more visited ones are located on the Pacific Ocean side of the country, particularly in the Northwest. Costa Rica, and in particular San Jose is the southernmost point I have been to on the planet. The way Central America is situated, parts of it are farther south than some points in South America. The country itself is a democracy. Many have referred to Costa Rica as the Western Hemispheres equivalent of Switzerland for political neutrality stance. The neutrality stance was declared in 1983 by then-President Luis Alberto Monge. It is also one of the few countries that does not have a standing army. The army had been abolished in 1948 following the Costa Rican Civil War. The Public Force of Costa Rica was created to handle law enforcement policing including border patrol activities. Political Geography of Costa Rica Before continuing this article an explanation of Costa Ricas political geography is needed. For a visitor to Costa Rica, it can be a little confusing when it comes to understanding exactly where you are. The country of Costa Rica is divided into seven provinces. Each province is divided into subunits called cantons. One canton will also serve as the capital for the province. Finally, each canton is divided into districts. There are a total of 82 cantons and 478 districts throughout Costa Rica. It can be especially confusing when referring to a municipality in Costa Rica. In particular, San Jose can refer to a province, a canton, or the capital city. One of the seven provinces of Costa Rica is San Jose. It is located in the central part of the country. It is the largest province in terms of population as its estimated to be a little over 1.4 million. The province of San Jose is divided into 20 cantons. One of the cantons is also called San Jose. The canton of San Jose is divided into 11 districts, some of those districts make up the capital city of Costa Rica. Another canton of San Jose, is Puriscal which is about an hour outside the city. The district of Santiago also serves as the capital of the canton of Puriscal. Puriscal is also a home to tobacco growing and cigar manufacturing business. San Jose: A Very Modern City As mentioned San Jose is the countrys capital city, however, what I am going to describe here refers more or less to the canton of San Jose, where the capital is included. For the most part, think of the canton as the capital city and its surrounding metropolitan area. If I had to compare it to a city many are familiar with, Los Angeles would come to mind especially with the sprawling mountains and volcanoes that surround it. Many who go to Central America in the cigar industry are familiar with the capital cities Managua, Nicaragua and Tegucigalpa, Honduras. San Jose proper has a much more modern feel to it which is another reason why it reminded me of Los Angeles. Driving through San Jose, there were many American chain businesses that could be seen. If you have a desire to have McDonalds, Starbucks, Papa Johns, Burger King, and Taco Bell in Costa Rica, you will feel right at home. It also wasnt hard to find a Walmart. Hotel chains such as Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott were also present. The highway system in the city is also quite modern, including toll roads complete with electronic toll technology. Uber has a footprint there, so its not hard to get a ride-share in San Jose. I even used Uber to get to the Tabacos de Costa Rica factory located in Puriscal. All of these factors gave San Jose a very different feel than the Managua and Tegucigalpa metropolitan areas and to a lesser extent even a more modern feel than Santiago in the Dominican Republic. The area of Costa Rica I stayed at was the Mata Redonda District. Its part of the Canton of San Jose and it makes up the downtown area of the capital district. This region is home to La Sabana Metropolitan Park, Costa Ricas largest park; the Costa Rica Art Museum, and Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica (the national stadium). Built in 2011, the stadium is a multi-purpose one and seats over 35,175. It is considered the most modern stadium in Central America. Puriscal: A Home for Costa Ricas Tobacco and Cigar Operations As mentioned, there is another canton in the province of San Jose known as Puriscal. This is the area I visited in Costa Rica where there are cigar and tobacco operations. Puriscal is about a one hour trip west of the downtown area of San Jose. Puriscal is located in the Cordillera Central. Much of this region is mountainous The region is ideal for both growing and curing tobacco. This is due to the volcanic soil in the mountains combined with a climate that has a balance of humidity, rainfall, and dry seasons. While Santiago de Puriscal is part of the San Jose Province, it is a very different world than the cosmopolitan San Jose capital region. Santiago de Puriscal has a much smaller, almost rural city feel to it. The most famous landmark in Santiago de Puriscal is the Old Cathedral. While a series of earthquakes made the edifice unusable, it still stands in the city today as a landmark. In other cigar-producing countries, there tends to be a concentration of the cigar making factories to a particular region. Many are most familiar with Esteli being the unofficial capital of the Nicaraguan cigar industry. The Dominican Republic has many factories located in the Free Trade Zone area of Santiago. In Honduras, the Danli area is where many of the leading factories are located. When you look at Cuba, for the most part, the city of Havana fills the roles that Esteli, Santiago, and Danli do in the larger cigar producing countries. To some extent, in Costa Rica, the canton of Puriscal fills this role as a cigar industry hub. Costa Ricas cigar industry landscape is different than Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Cuba. In general, there is a much smaller footprint of cigar factories, so there isnt an equivalent on the same scale. While Puriscals rural look has a bit of a feel of Esteli and Danli, its a much smaller city. Esteli, and Danlis population hovers around the 200,000 mark. The canton of Pursical is a little over 30,000. Certainly while one can argue Pursical is to Costa Rica as Esteli and Danli are to Nicaragua and Honduras respectively, it is a much smaller municipality in terms of population and businesses. In Puriscal, I visited the district of Santiago de Puriscal (which serves as the capital of the Canton) where the Tabacos de Costa Rica factory that I visited is located. While its not a tiny factory by any means, the factory is still much smaller than factories such as My Father, Davidoff, and Raices Cubanas. At the same time, one of the larger factory located in the region. In a way, the factory is a reflection that the canton of Puriscal is much smaller than the cigar industry hubs in the other cigar production countries. Some of the brands coming out of the Tabacos de Costa Rica are Bombay Tobak (MBombay, Gaaja, MQBA), LH Premium Cigar, and Selected Tobacco (Atabey, Bandolero, and Byron). While not in the region anymore, cigar maker Philip Wynne of Felipe Gregorio set up shop in Santa Marta, also located in Costa Rica. He had contracted 80 acres of land and built a small factory. Another brand that produced cigars in the San Jose province was DCrossier Cigars. One should not forget that there is a rich history of cigar making in Costa Rica. A couple of decades ago, Douglas Pueringer of Tabacalera Tambor in Costa Rica was making cigar for the likes of Cano Ozgener and Tony Borhani. Even back then, Costa Rica had a small footprint. One of the reasons why there is a smaller footprint in Costa Rica is because of the labor rate. Costa Rica has the highest minimum wage in Central America, while Nicaragua, the country that exports the most cigars in Central America has the lowest minimum wage. So it is more expensive to produce a handmade cigar in Costa Rica.t Cigar Smoking in Costa Rica When it came to the city of San Jose, I did not find this to be a very friendly place for smokers and more importantly, it was not friendly to cigar smokers. This wasnt a complete surprise as I had researched that Costa Rica had one of the most strict smoking bans in all of Central America. Nationwide, smoking is banned in most public places, bars, restaurants, casinos, terminals, parks, stadiums, and universities. Seeing it in person made it seem more real. There are some cigar lounges in San Jose, but they arent in abundance. There also is a La Casa del Habano I visited. Arriving at my hotel on a Sunday presented a challenge. The few cigar lounges that were around were all closed on Sunday night. At the hotel I was at, there were no smoking rooms, no smoking patios. I was essentially relegated to the outdoors in order to enjoy a cigar. Next Part 2: We look closer at the Tabacos de Costa Rica factory. Acknowledgements Special thanks to the following folks who made this trip possible. Mel Shah, Bombay Tobak: For hosting me in Costa Rica. Without him, this trip would not have been possible. Andres Leon, owner and operator of Tabacos de Costa Rica: For his hospitality the days I was at the factory. Ron Melendi: For working the cameras and helping with post-production. Photo Credits: Cigar Coop, except where noted Denise McCarthy was in her mother's care for about six weeks prior to being given up for adoption. Maggie Glick was an unmarried 19 year old who believed that she wasn't in an ideal position to give her daughter the life she wanted. So, she decided to place Denise with people who would love and take care of her for the rest of her life. Fifty-two years later, Denise finally decided to get to the bottom of her mothers legacy. With health issues making mortality an ever-present threat, the Columbus woman wanted to look up her birth mothers family to see if there were any hereditary problems that had been passed down through that side of the family. I thought, you know, it might be kind of nice to learn more (about my birth mother), McCarthy said. Our son and daughter-in-law did Ancestry.com over Christmas for fun, and a gal popped up that we didnt recognize the name of. That person ended up being Ronda Stumpf of Cheyenne, Wyoming - McCarthys half-sister. From there, she learned of a second half-sister, Deanna Johnson, of McCook. After a month of chatting on Facebook, the three decided to meet up on May 11 - Mother's Day weekend - in McCook at Johnsons residence. The meeting was the first time the three ever met in person. McCarthy was adopted by Dwaine and Marlene Jacobson of Columbus, but her birth mother remained a mystery until this March. Thats when she made her first login to Ancestry.com, the company that uses DNA information to educate people about their family lineage. From there, she was able to connect the dots from what her son previously found and made her first contact with Stumpf. I sent her a message and she came back with, OMG, you found us! Im your half-sister, McCarthy said. They had been looking for me. Stumpf eventually informed her that she had another half-sister, Johnson. I was ecstatic, Stumpf said. I was so happy that I couldnt work the rest of the day. I was in tears. I was happy, I was giddy. Then my first thought was (that) I needed to get in touch with my sister. After informing Johnson, the three created a Facebook Messenger Group that allowed them to get to know each other. For about a month, we conversed back and forth (and) shared different things, McCarthy said. We found we had so much in common. They were sharing some pictures of my birth mother and pictures of them through Messenger, and I could really see the resemblance of me in them. The three of them talked about their families and about their mother, while also finding time to have a little fun at each others expense. We kind of considered ourselves the "The Brady Bunch" girls, Stumpf said. We would send memes and gifs, we would talk about what we did, we would talk about Mom and we would talk about everything. Every little thing we did at work, everything. After more than a month of getting to know one another via Facebook, the three decided to meet at last. Johnsons home in McCook ended up being the destination for the meeting, as Stumpf and Johnson typically meet up every Mothers Day weekend to catch up. This time, they were joined by the half-sister they were meeting for the first time. Stumpf was anxious to finally see McCarthy in person. I was very excited, Stumpf said. Good thing there was cruise control on the vehicle because I wanted to go faster. In between North Platte and McCook, I was like, This is just too slow. But I knew better (than to speed). After plenty of hugs and tears on Johnsons front yard, they went back inside and talked about their lives, this time face to face. McCarthy made t-shirts for the occasion that said Big Sister, Middle Sister, and Little Sister. They also received lockets with their initials and the day they first met engraved on it. McCarthy said she found the experience to be even more gratifying and fulfilling than she originally expected. Its just indescribable, McCarthy said. We were so excited. We hugged, we cried, there were all sorts of emotions going on. We met their spouses. I got to meet my nieces and nephews. Stumpf regrets not being able to do something like this when her mother was still alive. Maggie died in 2013. I wish it wouldve (happened) when my mom was still around, Stumpf said. I know Mom tried to look for her, but back then, it was a lot harder to have Ancestry.com and all that stuff. Mom was with us when I started Ancestry.com and she would ask if we had found her. I think she knew that eventually, we would find her." Plans are already underway for a second meeting over the Memorial Day weekend in Hastings at a softball tournament where Johnsons children will be playing. McCarthy did not bring her children to the first meeting, but she plans to do so this time around. Were going to try to get my kids and their families over there so they can meet one aunt and a few cousins, McCarthy said. We do plan on trying to get together as often as we can. Weve got a lot to catch up on. Weve got to get together. Zach Roth is a reporter for the Columbus Telegram. Reach him via email at zach.roth@lee.net. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Robert Wayne Johnson Age 84 The funeral service will be at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 18, at Augustana Lutheran Church in Genoa. Interment will be in the Valley View Cemetery with military honors by Edward H. Larson Post 144 American Legion Honor Guard. Visitation will be from 9:30-10:30 a.m. on Saturday at the church. Social media changing the fortunes of new entrepreneurs Social media has become an effective way to promote products and services especially for small and medium entrepreneurs thanks to a rapidly growing number of social media users in Nepal. Welcome to Crop Talk, this is Dr. Megan Taylor, your local friendly agronomist with Nebraska Extension serving Platte, Boone and Nance Counties. Happy belated Mothers Day to all the great ladies! Really missing my mom and grandmas in Indiana this week, so get out there and spend some time with loved ones. It was a cool and wet last week across Northeast Nebraska and unfortunately this has affected our soil temps. Soil temperatures around the counties had been holding steady and a few weeks ago were in the upper 40s and low 50s consistently. Last week, however, we dipped and for most of the week were in the mid-40s and had semi wet conditions in some areas. The USDA reported that 35 percent of corn and 14 percent of Nebraskas beans were planted. In Platte, Boone and Nance counties, about 20 to 26 percent of corn has gone in and 6 percent beans. Winter wheat is currently at the 5-10 feekes stage throughout the three counties, as well. Many are beginning to enter the boot stage. We are not far off last years planting averages, with 38 percent corn planted and 15 percent beans planted at this time in 2018. Remember to check soil temperatures in the morning before attempting to plant. Using a meat thermometer is a great way to double-check soil temperatures for each field, remember some low areas, no-till or wet soils will warm more slowly than soybean stubble, flat plains or fields not affected by heavy precipitation. If there are areas that you can get in and have a solid 48-hour window, then consider prioritizing those farms that are ready now! Not only are the wet conditions not ideal for planting, but this year we will see an increase in ticks and mosquitoes. We need to be cautious when we are baling hay, scouting fields and working with livestock. Mosquitoes will be heavy this year with the additional moisture. There are four active ingredients we need to look for in our products: DEET, Picaridin, IR3535 and Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus. Also look for the EPA label indicating the product is tested and proven to repel mosquitoes. Remember to check out the label to see how long products will stay active - usually between 2 and 12 hours. Insect-repelling clothing can also be effective. Ticks are a little tricky to keep off of us compared to mosquitoes. The best method is to treat clothing, shoes, hats and backpacks with Permethin 0.5 percent spray. This spray is applied on the fabric and then allowed to dry. These treatments can typically last several washes, or you can purchase pre-treated clothing that will last upward of 70 washes. Doing periodic tick checks while outdoors is key and running your clothing in the dryer on high for 20-30 minutes can also kill ticks that may have hitched a ride. Calling all female farmers, farm wives, daughters, agronomists, ranchers, and farm hands! There will be Annies Project Training in Columbus and Fullerton starting in June. This program will cover bookkeeping, marketing, beef 101, crop and pesticide safety, healthy field meals and much more. Registrations are being taken now, please call the office to get registered! For questions please call 402-563-4901, email me at mtaylor42@unl.edu or check out the Crop Talk Megan website for up to date information. Join me next week for more Crop Talk! Megan Taylor is an agronomist with Nebraska Extension-Platte County serving Platte, Boone and Nance counties. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram Goma, Congo, May 17, 2019 Gabons media regulator should immediately lift its suspensions of the tri-weekly newspaper LAube and the weekly Echos du Nord, and give journalists the freedom to cover issues of public interest, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On March 20, the High Authority for Communication, Gabons media regulator, ordered Echos du Nord to suspend publication for four months following a defamation complaint by the president of Gabons constitutional court, Marie-Madeleine Mborantsuo, according to news reports. On April 10, the authority issued an order suspending LAubes publication for six months for the alleged defamation of Maixent Accrombessi, the former chief of staff to Gabonese President Ali Bongo, according to Melissa Bendome, a technical adviser at the authority, who spoke to CPJ over messaging app. CPJ spoke with Liliane Bilogho Ndong Nang, director of government information at the prime ministers office, in an attempt to reach Accrombessi and Mborantsuo for comment, but Bilogho declined to give their contact information. The suspensions of the LAube and Echos du Nord newspapers by Gabons media regulator send a chilling signal to all journalists that anything deemed undesirable by powerful people in the country may be grounds for complete censorship, Angela Quintal, CPJs Africa program coordinator, said from Durban. Journalists must be free to deliver information to the public in whatever form they see fit, without fear. The Echos du Nord suspension order followed the papers February 4 publication of an article about Mborantsuos increasing power in the country, according to the news website Gabon Review. Mborantsuo filed a complaint with the High Authority for Communication, and the regulator called the article slanderous, vindictive, and outrageously acrimonious, according to the Review. Echos du Nords weekly print publication has been suspended since March 20, according to news reports. Its website has not been updated since 2017. LAube Editor-in-Chief Orca Boudiandza Mouelle told CPJ via phone on May 7 that, while the newspaper did cease publication on April 10 after the regulators decision was announced on Gabonese TV, they have yet to receive a formal notification of the suspension. The newspaper does not have a website, Mouelle told CPJ. Accrombessis lawyer filed a complaint with the media regulator after LAube published a satirical text on April 1 as a joke, in which a caricatured Accrombessi spoke about looting Gabon and manipulating the president, according to Mouelle and media reports. On April 8, LAube published a clarification, explaining that the April 1 article was published as satire, as seen in an image of the newspaper featured by online broadcaster Benin Web TV. The High Authority for Communications suspension order also referenced an interview by LAube with Echos du Nord founder Desire Ename, published on March 25, following Echos du Nords suspension, in which Ename referred to the regulator with pejorative and sarcastic expressions, according to French daily Le Figaro. In 2016, Echos du Nords offices were raided by Gabons domestic intelligence agency, several of its staffers were arrested, and one was allegedly tortured during an interrogation, as CPJ reported at the time. LAube was previously suspended for three months beginning in November 2018 after it published an article about Bongos allegedly poor health, according to the U.S. Congress-funded Voice of America. CPJ called Tiburce Armand Nziengui Boussougou, adviser to the director of government information, who answered but declined to comment on the state of press freedom in Gabon. Earlier this year, Gabons government shut down the internet and broadcasting services throughout the country following a coup attempt against Bongo, as CPJ reported at the time. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram On May 8, 2019, a gunman shot and injured camera operator Rene Perez while the journalist was covering a protest march in Cuernavaca, the capital of Mexicos southern Morelos state, according to news reports. A local businessman and a union leader, the gunmans targets, were killed in the attack, according to those reports. On May 9, messages bearing threats against reporters who covered the shooting were found in Cuernavaca, according to Quadratin Morelos, a news website covering Morelos state. At approximately 10 a.m. during the protest on May 8, the gunman approached businessman Jesus Garcia and union leader Roberto Castrejon Jr. and shot both men several times, according to news reports. Garcia died on the spot, while Castrejon died later while in surgery, according to the reports. Perez, who records video that is distributed on social media for the local radio program Quien Resulte Responsible, was hit in the back by a stray bullet during the attack, and was brought to a local hospital and released later that day, according to those reports. Police arrested the gunman, a 22-year-old named Maximiliano, according to statements given to local and national media by state authorities, which said he had ties to organized crime and withheld his surname. On May 9, Quadratin Morelos reported that threatening messages directed at journalists who were present at the shooting were found written on pieces of cardboard in the Altavista neighborhood of Cuernavaca. Quadratin did not specify the content of the messages, but a reporter from Cuernavaca, who asked not to be named out of concerns for their safety, told CPJ that one of the messages contained the phrase: And to the reporters, be mindful of what you talk about and to who you point, because heads will start to roll. The same journalist told CPJ that at least one local reporter who was present at the shooting received a threatening phone call from an unknown individual on May 10. The threatened reporter asked for their name to be withheld out of fear for their safety. A spokesperson for the Federal Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, which operates under the auspices of the federal Interior Secretariat and provides protective measures to reporters in threatening situations, told CPJ on May 13 that the institution was in contact with local reporters in Morelos and was evaluating whether some of them should be incorporated into a federal protection scheme. The spokesperson asked to remain anonymous to be able to speak on the matter. Mexico is the most dangerous country for journalists in the Western Hemisphere, according to CPJ research. Last year, at least four journalists were murdered in the country in direct retaliation for their work. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram On May 12, 2019, Hani Amara, a photographer and videographer for Reuters, was shot in the leg while covering clashes in the Libyan capital Tripoli, according to news reports, social media posts and the Libyan Center for Freedom of the Press, a local press freedom group. Amara was shot in his right thigh as he started to cover clashes for Reuters between militias and the Libyan National Army, in the Tripoli suburb of Ain Zara, according to reports and a person familiar with the situation, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak. It was not immediately clear what the source of fire was, according to the person familiar with the situation. The self-styled Libyan National Army, led by the military leader Khalifa Hifter, is based in the east of the country. It is fighting militias loosely allied with the U.N.-recognized Government of National Accord to take control of Tripoli, according to reports. A Reuters security adviser took Amara to a field hospital, and the photojournalist was later transferred to a hospital in Tunis, Tunisia, to have a bullet removed from his leg, according to the person familiar with the situation. In an email to CPJ on May 17, 2019, a spokesperson for Reuters confirmed that Amara was wounded while working in Tripoli, and said that he was receiving treatment at a hospital. Amara has covered Libya for Reuters since 2012. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram Nairobi, May 17, 2019 Authorities in the breakaway state of Somaliland should immediately release television reporter Abdirahman Keyse Mohamed, also known as Tungub, and investigate the police officer who fired a shot that injured the journalist during his arrest, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On May 13, in the town of Las Anod, in Somalilands Sool region, police arrested Abdirahman, a reporter with the privately owned broadcaster Bulsho TV, over interviews he conducted with members of the public about the recent arrest of a member of parliament, according to a staffer at the Somaliland-based nongovernmental organization Human Rights Centre and Yahye Mohamed, the executive director of the Somaliland Journalists Association, a local trade organization, both of whom spoke to CPJ. During his arrest, Abdirahman was injured when a police officer fired his gun at the ground and debris hit the journalist in the leg, according to Yahye and the Human Rights Centre representative, who asked not to be named so as to speak for the organization as a whole. The journalist is in prison pending an investigation into police allegations that he was making anti-national propaganda, spreading false news, and that he disobeyed a police order not to record interviews, according to the Human Rights Centre, which said no formal charges have been filed against him. Police injured a journalist in the course of arresting him and now hold him without charge, and his alleged crime is giving voice to diverse political opinions, said CPJs Sub-Saharan Africa representative, Muthoki Mumo. We call on authorities to immediately release Abdirahman Keyse Mohamed, investigate how he was injured, and make sure those responsible are held accountable. Police took the journalist to a local hospital following his arrest, where his leg was treated before he was transferred back to detention at the police station in Las Anod, according to Yahye and Hargeisa-based journalist Abdikarim Saed Salah, who spoke with CPJ. On May 15, following a request from local authorities, a Las Anod court ordered Abdirahman to be held for seven more days without charge, according to the Human Rights Centre. Yahye told CPJ that the journalist has been transferred to a prison in Las Anod. Last week, security personnel arrested Mohamed Ahmed Dhakool, a member of the Somaliland Parliament, after he held a press conference questioning the sovereignty of the breakaway state, according to news reports. CPJs calls and text messages today to Sool Governor Abdiqani Mohamud Jiidhe and Somaliland Police Commissioner Abdillahi Fadal Iman went unanswered. Two calls to Deputy Police Commissioner Abdirahman Libaan Fohle also went unanswered. Abdirahman was previously arrested and detained without charge for three days in June 2018, as CPJ reported at the time. What Crypto Regulations Does Japan Want the G20 to Impose and Why? As we reach the midway point in what has already been one of the most tumultuous years yet for cryptocurrency enthusiasts, one thing is certain the second half of 2019 is already shaping up to be every bit as eventful. Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe. Source: Twitter, @JPN_PMO Until recently, most countries have taken a laissez-faire attitude to cryptocurrency regulations, and all previous attempts at creating consolidated international policies have proven utterly fruitless. However, if recent reports are to be believed, all that is about to change, with cryptocurrency-related matters high on the agenda for the G20. The international organizations busy calendar of activities kicks off with a general summit on June 1 in Osaka, Japan. And it looks like Tokyo is determined to convince its international counterparts to commit to cryptocurrency regulations right from the outset. So what sort of regulations might Japan look to impose, and just why is the Abe administration so keen to regulate? Watershed hack Japan is widely seen as one of the most crypto-friendly countries in the world. However, the Coincheck hack of early 2018 was a watershed moment for the country. It came at the time of a massive boom in cryptocurrencies; a time when tokens were gaining widespread public acceptance. Although the country had already introduced cryptocurrency regulations, requiring new exchanges to obtain operating licenses from the regulatory Financial Services Agency (FSA), post-Coincheck hack, Tokyo began to toughen its stance. Akio Kikuchi, a Fukuyama-based cryptocurrency and blockchain technology consultant, told Cryptonews.com, The government appears to have decided that it does not want a China-style shutdown of the industry, or a partial shutdown, like the one the South Korean government has imposed. But what it really wants to do is ensure all exchanges toe the line. And it really wants to end all forms of unregulated trading. And indeed, that is what the FSA has done imposing a strict set of rules for existing exchanges, as well as spot-checks and unannounced audits if necessary. The application process has become a lot more stringent too. But why is Japan so insistent that the rest of the world should follow suit? Kikuchi opined, The government here knows full well that if people dont like the way Japanese exchanges are policed, they can take their business to overseas platforms in territories where there are no regulations. Without an international effort, its hard to really stop anyone from doing anything. As previously reported, Tokyo has looked to crack down on international exchanges that actively target Japanese customers, but there is only so much a government agency in Japan can currently do about, say, an exchange based in Gibraltar. A concerted international effort would potentially change all that. By convincing G20 countries to place exchanges under the control of national financial regulators, Tokyo also appears keen to ensure that states are actively fighting money-laundering at exchanges. Abes government would likely also be in favor of any effort to introduce know-your-customer (KYC) guidelines despite the industrys insistence that such measures would be draconian. Japan will look to convince its counterparts using a number of means at its disposal, including: issuing attendees with a manual replete with case studies and explanations of how Japanese investors have suffered from attacks such as the Coincheck hack holding fintech sessions at policy-forming pre-summit think-tank sessions setting the agenda for G20 meetings, which it has a right to do as it is presiding over the G20 in 2019 as the host nation Only the tip of the G20 iceberg It is highly likely that world leaders at the June 1 summit will want to spend their time on matters they feel are more pressing such as resolving the ongoing United States-China trade rift but it is worth remembering that June 1 is just the tip of the G20 iceberg. A number of ministerial meetings will follow, including a special summit on the digital economy as well as finance and central bank heads meetings, where cryptocurrency policy will almost certainly be debated in great detail. However, Japans former prime minister Yoshihiko Noda claims that Abe could (and should) force the issue of crypto regulations into the June 1 summit by mentioning North Korea. Noda claims, in an opinion piece published on May 15, that Abe should address the urgent need to strengthen international regulations to counter money laundering and terrorist financing. He states, Reaching an international agreement [on cryptocurrency regulations] on June 1 could block North Koreas ongoing efforts to escape economic sanctions. However, not all Japanese cryptocurrency enthusiasts are pessimistic about the prospect of international regulations. Popular YouTuber Yoshiharu Ueno stated, in a Q&A with Japanese media outlet Crypto Watch, People tend to view regulations as a negative thing. But they can be a force for good if they mean people start abiding by the rules. I see it as a positive thing. Dr. Richard J. (Dick) Sommers (born, August 11, 1942; passed away, May 14) was the son of the late Walter J. and Harriett Ruth (Lewis) Sommers. He is survived by his wife Marilyn Tracy Sommers; brother, Walter A. Sommers (Robin); nephews, William L. Sommers (Vicky); Cameron Smeak, and niece, Amanda Scott (Cameron), and ten first cousins. He was born and raised in south-suburban Chicagoland and earned his B.A. from Carleton College and his Ph.D. from Rice University. Dick devoted his 44-year professional career to military history in the U.S. Army Military History Institute/U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center/U.S. Army War College at Carlisle Barracks. Even in nominal retirement, he taught one course each July. In 2015, the War College designated him a Distinguished Fellow. Besides his official government service, Dick pursued his personal scholarship through his own books, articles, and presentations on military history, especially on the Civil War. His Richmond Redeemed: The Siege at Petersburg remains a classic which inspired a whole genre in that field. The expanded 150th anniversary of that book earned the Army Historical Foundations Distinguished Writing Award as the best book of 2014. His most recent book, Challenges of Command in the Civil War, was published in 2018. Beyond writing, he welcomed opportunities to spread military history, both professional and lay, through teaching at the Army War College, through encouraging fellow researchers at the Institute, and through sharing such interest abroad. He addressed Civil War Round Tables and the Civil War Trust from Boston to Austin, from Atlanta to Seattle, and he was especially active in his home Harrisburg Civil War Round Table, where he served since 1971, including 32 years as Program Chairman. His more personal side was as Tracys beloved husband. They married in 2011 and were seldom apart. He was the most perfect husband-loving, gracious, witty, thoughtful-a noble gentleman. He and Tracy shared many interests and after retirement travelled primarily in the west and mid-west sharing places from their growing up years. He resided in Carlisle. He was grateful for privilege of worshipping at the First Presbyterian Church of Carlisle, where he was a long-time member, ruling elder and clerk of session. The family will receive friends, 6:00-8:00 p.m., May 31, at the Hoffman Funeral Home, 2020 W. Trindle Rd., Carlisle, PA. Church services will be held at the First Presbyterian Church, 2A N. Hanover St. Carlisle, PA 17013 on June 1 at 11:00 am. No flowers are requested. Memorial gifts may be given to the church or to the Army Heritage Center Foundation, 950 Soldiers Drive, Carlisle, PA 17013. Arrangements have been entrusted to the Hoffman Funeral Home and Crematory, 2020 West Trindle Road, Carlisle, PA 17013. To sign the guestbook, please visit www.hoffmanfh.com. All the counseling, therapy and medication did little to ease 9-year-old Sobie Cummings crippling anxiety and feelings of isolation. And so a psychiatrist suggested that a service dog might help the autistic child connect with other kids. To Glenn and Rachel Cummings, Mark Mathis seemed like a dream come true. His kennel, Ry-Con Service Dogs, was just a couple of hours away, and he, too, had a child with autism. But what clinched the decision were Mathis credentials. Is Ry-Con a certified program? Yes, stated an online brochure. In 2013, Mark was certified as a NC state approved service dog trainer with a specialty in autism service dogs for children. Ten months and $14,500 later, the family brought home a shaggy mop of a dog that Sobie had come to view as her savior. But when they opened the front door, Okami broke from Glenn Cummings grasp and began mauling one of the familys elderly dogs all as Sobie watched from the stairs in mute horror. It was only after they had returned Okami and asked for a refund that the family learned the truth: Mathis was not a state-certified dog trainer. In fact, North Carolina has no such certification program and neither does any other state. The service dog industry particularly in the field of psychiatric service dogs for people with autism and post-traumatic stress disorder has exploded in recent years. But a near complete absence of regulation and oversight has left needy, desperate families vulnerable to incompetence and fraud. It is a lawless area. The Wild West, says David Favre, a law professor at Michigan State University and editor of its Animal Legal and Historical Center website. Properly training a service dog can take up to 1 years and cost upward of $50,000, depending on the tasks it is taught to perform. But the Americans with Disabilities Act does not require that a service dog be professionally trained or certified. And, according to the U.S. Department of Justice , local and state agencies are prohibited from requiring that the dogs be registered. It needs to be specially trained to do tasks that relate to the persons disability, but it doesnt say anything about who does the training or the quality of training or the efficacy of it, says Lynette Hart, a professor of veterinary medicine at the University of California, Davis. So its a very broad, wide-open barn door. The ADA allows people to train their own service dogs. But Hart, who has co-authored studies of the industry, says most dont have the time, wherewithal or confidence to do so, and that puts needy families in a calamitous situation. Theyre easy prey, says Hart, whose late brother had autism. In 2012, the state of Illinois sued Lea Kaydus and Animals for Autism over a heartless scam in which she took several thousand dollars from families but never matched them with dogs. Kaydus was ordered to pay restitution. Two years ago, Noelles Dogs Four Hope of Colorado Springs agreed to surrender its license after state inspectors confirmed the placement of dogs with incontinence, lack of basic house training, separation anxiety and aggression. And last year, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring filed suit against Service Dogs by Warren Retrievers Inc., which advertises dogs trained to help people suffering from diabetes, PTSD, seizure disorders and autism. The lawsuit alleges that the diabetes-alert dogs, for which Warren charged up to $27,000, were often poorly trained, ill-behaved, and unequipped to help manage a life-threatening situation, rendering them little more than incredibly expensive pets. Attorneys for owner Charles D. Warren Jr. say the states case is based on the complaints of a few disgruntled and fanatical consumers who cannot be satisfied and refuse all attempts at accommodation and reason. A trial date has not been scheduled. Authorities in North Carolina are now investigating Ry-Con. Company Mathis, a biotech engineer, founded Ry-Con after his older son, who is autistic, was successfully paired with a service dog. It was remarkable, Mathis told a local magazine several years ago. We had a new child. Incorporated in 2014, Ry-Con worked exclusively with Briards a long-haired French herding breed that can weigh anywhere from 55 to 100 pounds. The American Kennel Club site says the Briard packs so much loyalty, love, and spirit into its ample frame that its often described as a heart wrapped in fur. In a May 2017 news release, Mathis claimed that Ry-Con based in Apex, just southwest of Raleigh was the largest provider of autism service dogs on the East Coast and boasted a 100% success rate. There arent a lot of programs that specialize in training dogs for children with autism, so the Cummings family felt lucky to find one so close to home. The Charlotte couple searched online and found positive local news articles, as well as a profile of Ry-Con by CNNMoney. Mathis website was loaded with glowing testimonials. And then there was the state certification. For us to see that he had the backing of the state ... was huge, Rachel Cummings says. The couple contacted Ry-Con in July 2017. Within days, Mathis called to say he had the perfect dog for Sobie, even though hed not met her and his contracts promised Ry-Con would hand select a puppy for the (consumer). Rachel Cummings says she found that odd but: I was blinded by hope. Mathis sent them a photo. Sobie decided to name her new friend after the Japanese word for her favorite animal the wolf. Several months later, the family traveled to Apex to meet the dog. She was still a puppy and had not yet undergone training, but Sobie got to spend time with her. Her mother tears up picturing her daughter beaming as she and Okami played at a park. Her life has been not the easiest ... being bullied and wanting friends desperately, she says. And so it was just a beautiful thing to see. Sobie plastered her walls and school folders with photos of Okami. She kept a framed picture of the dog beside her bed, hugging and kissing and talking to it before going to sleep. But on subsequent visits, Cummings says, Okami did not seem to be progressing. The International Association of Assistance Dog Partners says a service animal should have a minimum of 120 hours of schooling over six months or more. The dog must respond to basic commands Sit, Stay, Come, Down, Heel and be able to work without exhibiting aggressive behavior toward people or other animals. Studies have shown that up to half wash out of training. During training trips to local stores, Okami pulled at her leash and refused to lie down. At a mall, she growled and lunged at people, and defecated in a hallway. Still, Sobie and the dog had bonded, and the family hoped more training would smooth out the rough edges. Okami graduated last May; the family brought her home Mothers Day weekend. Cummings says her two dogs were lying in the front hall when Okami attacked, unprovoked. She says it took both her and her husband to pry the Briards jaws from the other dogs throat. When Mathis refused to refund their money, they sued. They were unaware that they werent the first to have issues with Ry-Con. Closure In November 2017, Christian and Shannon Poirier say the dog Mathis sold them bit their 11-year-old son Daniel, who has autism. After repeated requests for a refund, they sued him in small claims court and won. The Cummings case never got that far. Last Nov. 13, Mathis sent an email to clients announcing he was closing down. At the time, he had about 40 dogs in training. He said the operation was no longer sustainable, blaming issues with accounts receivables, and a select number of recently returned dogs and the unfortunate response that followed. The following day, he filed for bankruptcy protection. Clients were told to come collect their dogs. Not long after, complaints began pouring into state Attorney General Josh Steins office. Some customers claimed they arrived at Ry-Con to find dogs emaciated, skittish and matted with urine and feces. Many said their pups lunged and nipped at children and other animals, werent housetrained and could not respond to basic commands. Nancy Evans says her 19-year-old daughter, Katie, had waited over a year for her dog, Bailey. Katie suffered from PTSD and anxiety so severe that she could not even take the bus by herself. Once home with them in Toronto, the dog showed extreme aggression toward Katies older brother. An expert who examined Bailey declared her unfit for service, and a Briard rescue group took her away. About a month after losing Bailey, Katie committed suicide. Her mother is convinced things would have been different had Bailey worked out. My Katie would still be alive today if we had been given a trained service dog, Evans says. Steins office has received more than four dozen complaints against Ry-Con. In a response to one, Mathis accused clients of breaking their contracts, falling behind on payments or misrepresenting conditions in their homes, and suggested that some were attempting to blackmail him. In an email to The Associated Press, he insisted that his troubles all stemmed from recent financial issues. Some of (the dogs) had to go home earlier than their original planned graduation, Mathis wrote. Some of them went home on time but aftercare support was not immediately available. ... This is not the same as selling untrained dogs, and certainly not a willful act or scam. However, the state attorney general alleges that Mathis not only misrepresented his credentials but also falsified breeder information, providing some families animals that were trained primarily as police or security dogs, not service dogs. Steins office also contends that Mathis may have siphoned as much as $240,000 of the nonprofits money for personal expenses, including groceries, haircuts and video games. Meanwhile, Stein said the families are out more than $950,000 money he will try to recover. Most if not all of the consumers had no prior experience with service dogs or the training of service animals. They therefore had no expectations as to how the industry operated, the complaint states. Mathis declined to respond to allegations of inflated credentials and success rates, instead referring the AP to several satisfied clients. Scott Gordon of Rolesville, North Carolina, turned to Mathis for help with his 6-year-old son, Beckett, who has autism. He says Zuzu was a perfect fit. I used to have to lay down with him for at least 45 minutes to get him to fall asleep, he says. Now, I kiss them both good night, and off he goes to sleep. Whitney Reynolds says a touch or a lick from their Briard, Cosette, can stop one of her 7-year-old sons meltdowns cold. Shes a blessing, the Cary, North Carolina, woman says. But to the Cummings family and others, Ry-Con has been a curse. Rachel Cummings says Sobie didnt leave her room or eat for several days after the attack; a doctor has diagnosed the little girl with PTSD. One day, Cummings found an empty picture frame under her daughters bed. Sobie had torn the photo of Okami into tiny pieces, locked them in a keepsake box and thrown away the key. Now 11, Sobie sleeps with a stuffed owl her new favorite animal. Her life is not what it was, her mother says. The lights not back in her eyes yet. And what became of Okami? Rachel and Glenn Cummings learned that Mathis had sold her to another family, with similar results. That family has also filed a complaint. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Daniel Walmer covers public safety for The Sentinel. You can reach him by email at dwalmer@cumberlink.com or by phone at 717-218-0021. Rick Coplen challenged local voters Thursday to hold accountable in 2020 the state lawmakers who fall short in their support of public education. The retired Army officer had just joined six other members of the Carlisle Area School Board to approve a proposed $86.6 million budget for 2019-20 that includes a 3-percent tax hike. The board has scheduled June 20 for a final vote to adopt the budget along with a motion to set the tax rate for next year at 14.9 mills an increase of .4342 mills from 2018-19. Carlisle school board opts not to consider a lower tax hike Carlisle Area School Board will stay the course and vote May 16 on a proposed 3-percent real estate tax increase to help offset a projected $3 No one at this table is happy about raising taxes, reducing teacher positions and all the other things we have to do to make this work, Coplen said. We have shown the political backbone and the courage to do this. Im now calling upon our state legislators to do the same thing. Specifically, he wants those in the state House and Senate to do the right thing and approve Gov. Tom Wolfs budget for public education that includes increases in the basic education subsidy. Coplen urged voters to remember the voting record of state lawmakers when they come up for reelection a year from now. If they wont do what is appropriate for all of our children ... then its time to show them the door, he said. As a school district, we may be wrapping this up, but our state legislators are still in the middle of this. Striking a balance Coplen called the current budget cycle a difficult balancing act, referring to a strategy recommended by administrators to close a projected $3 million-plus shortfall in the Carlisle school district budget for 2019-20. If approved, this strategy would use a combination of about $1.3 million in new tax revenue, $1.74 million in spending cuts and the transfer of $377,000 from reserves to the general fund. The proposed spending cuts received the most attention from the public, mostly due to a transition plan that terminates the district employment of over 80 instructional aides and outsources those positions to ESS K-12 Education Staffing & Management Solutions. District administrators recommended the plan as a way to save the district about $550,000 next year in an effort to cap escalating health insurance and pension costs. Aside from outsourcing aides, administrators recommend the board cut four full-time teaching positions at the elementary school level and two full-time positions at the secondary school level for a projected savings next year of $450,000. Five of the six positions would be cut through attrition by not hiring replacements for teachers who retire or resign. It is always distressing when we dont fill staff positions, said Bruce Clash prior to voting in favor of the budget. He asked Superintendent Christina Spielbauer if there is flexibility built in to balance the need to save money with the need for manageable class sizes at the elementary schools. This year the district has better enrollment numbers from kindergarten registration, Spielbauer said. We are hopeful this would provide better data to us. She said a staff member has gone to nonprofit organizations urging families to register their children early. Carlisle cost-cutting measures include a three-tiered pay system for aides to be outsourced A new proposal under review by the Carlisle Area School District would increase the hourly pay of the majority of instructional aides the dist Throughout the course of the summer, Dr. Friend and I will look at the enrollment numbers every day, if not several times a day, said Spielbauer, referring to Assistant Superintendent Colleen Friend. We will monitor it over the course of the summer and make adjustments as needed. Study due this fall The board on Jan. 17 approved a resolution authorizing Spielbauer to conduct a comprehensive study of staffing needs not only for 2019-20 but future years. That study weighs needs based on instructional program requirements, overall enrollment, organizational efficiencies and student enrollment in specific classes or courses. It is meant to examine all job classifications including support staff, administrators, teachers and other professional employees. Board members on April 18 tabled a recommendation to cut German language instruction in the eighth grade next school year at both the Lamberton and Wilson middle schools. That proposal is off the table pending the results of the comprehensive staffing study. We are really looking forward to looking at the total picture, said Deborah Sweaney, a school board member on the education committee. The plan is to offer German in some form in the eighth grade next year with the number of sections dependent on student interest. District administrators could present their findings by September or early October, Spielbauer said. She would not disclose any details Thursday on the six staffing positions that could be cut, saying administrators still have to meet with faculty members who would be impacted by the change. We are in the end stages of wrapping up our enrollment analysis, Spielbauer said. Seven of the nine school board members voted Thursday to approve the proposed budget for 2019-20: Clash, Coplen and Sweaney along with Fred Baldwin, Paula Bussard, Gerald Eby and Linda Manning. Board member Anne Lauritzen was absent. Board member Brian Guillaume declined to comment after the meeting on why he voted against the budget. Email Joseph Cress at jcress@cumberlink.com. Love 0 Funny 3 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 6 Want to see more like this? Get our local education coverage delivered directly to your inbox. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Anup Ojha is a reporter for The Kathmandu Post primarily covering social issues and human interest stories. Before moving to the social beat, Ojha covered arts and culture for the Post for four years. There are six Republican candidates looking to snag three of their partys nominations to get on the November ballot for Lower Allen Township commissioner. The three candidates who win their primary on Tuesday may face only one Democratic challenger. John Freidhoff is the only Democratic candidate on his partys ballot. Here are the candidates for Lower Allen Township commissioner: H. Edward Black Political Party: Republican Residence: Lower Allen Township Education: Bachelors in landscape architecture from Penn State Occupation: Landscape architect and president of H. Edward Black and Associates Ltd. Endorsements: Greater Harrisburg Association of Realtors, MAG PAC What do you think needs to be addressed first in 2020? At the township level, we need to analyze and address public safety issues: Police Increase effort to rid society of street drugs, combat the terrorist attitudes on our streets today and decrease vehicle speeds on our roadways. Fire with decreasing volunteer numbers, determine ways to deliver more trained firefighters to the fire scene. EMS Train and outfit our EMS personnel to treat patients as well as possible when quick decisions are needed to sustain life, before being subjected to health insurances frugal decisions on treatment. Carolyn Holtzman Political Party: Republican Residence: Lower Allen Township Education: HACC Occupation: Lower Allen Township commissioner What do you think needs to be addressed first in 2020? Commercial development. The Bon Ton project will bring high-end uses into the township. The site will draw new businesses that will support the local businesses. It will bring new jobs to the area, as well as shopping. Lower Allen Township is growing by leaps and bounds. Its a great place to live and raise your family. Public Safety is also a priority. Keeping our township safe is very important. Also staying on top of the fire company issue, finding a way to attract firefighters, is a major concern and needs to be addressed now, not down the road. Robert J. Hoobler Age: 52 Political Party: Republican Residence: Lower Allen Township Education: Warren Area High School; graduate of Williamsport Area Community College with certificate in construction and home remodeling (1988); graduate of U.S. Army Land Surveying AIT (1989); associates degree in civil engineering from Penn State (1994); Occupation: Realtor since 1996 with Re/Max 1st Advantage; U.S. Army combat veteran and Eagle Scout Endorsements: Greater Harrisburg Association of Realtors What do you think needs to be addressed first in 2020? I think that we need to be mindful of spending, not to keep increasing taxes on our residents of Lower Allen Township. We have many people who are on fixed incomes and with the rising costs across the board, we need not to have an unnecessary spending. Also, we need to make sure that our first responders have what they need to keep us safe and the number of first responders that we need for the size of our township. We are growing, and with that we must deliver the same quality of services to our residents. Thomas Kutz Age: 24 Political Party: Republican Residence: Lower Allen Township Education: Bachelors in political science from Grove City College Occupation: Independent consultant Endorsements: Sen. Mike Regan, Rep. Greg Rothman, Pennsylvania Young Republicans What do you think needs to be addressed first in 2020? Lower Allen is facing a public safety crisis as a result of a growing population and a lack of volunteer firefighters. As a member of the townships Public Safety Committee, I am working diligently with other committee members to devise a strategic plan for public safety to address this crisis. My top priority will be to address emerging threats in public safety and school safety to protect our communities. David M. Murdoch Age: 49 Political Party: Republican Residence: Lower Allen Township Education: Graduate of Mechanicsburg Area High School, Class of 1988; HACC, majoring in business administration; other trade specific education in telecommunications project management and fire and rescue services Occupation: Wireless telecommunications project manager and technician What do you think needs to be addressed first in 2020? Public Safety services, police, EMS and fire. A leading issue that the township faces today is providing effective public safety response services to the continually growing demand for services in a cost-effective manner. The costs of everything from office supplies to vehicles continue to increase. We must be looking at nontraditional and innovative ways to provide the service that the residents and businesses need, but in a way that leverages cost efficiencies. Also look at the shrinking resource of qualified staff. As the calls for service increase, the staffing to address those calls has not been. This is a dangerous trend. The trend in recent years shows declining number of applicants for all public safety disciplines. Jack Simpson Age: 53 Political Party: Republican Residence: Lower Allen Township Education: Cumberland Valley High School; Penn State CTE Course Project Management Occupation: Process engineer Endorsements: Greater Harrisburg Association of Realtors What do you think needs to be addressed first in 2020? Locally, controlling costs through fiscal responsibility. Taxes have a lot to do with people purchasing a house. In some townships, the monthly tax for a standard house is $300 a month. Controlled spending and different solutions for services not just increase tax. How can we do it smarter, better, at less expense. Like augmenting police with more CSOs to do the random work like illegal parking, traffic direction and loose dogs. We dont need a fully trained officer for these types of functions. Then use the CSOs as a possible vetting area for candidates to recommend for the police academy. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 While there are a number of candidates running for municipal boards and school boards, there are still seats that are uncontested or wide open in Tuesday's primary. Among the countywide races, there is one candidate each on the Republican and Democratic ballots for treasurer. Kelly Neiderer is on the Republican ballot, and Jake Miller is on the Democratic ballot. The Republican county commissioner race is uncontested, with only two Republicans seeking the two party nominations to head to the November election. Incumbents Gary Eichelberger and Vince DiFilippo are looking to retake their seats. While the West Shore district court will see three new candidates vying for that position, Magisterial District Judge Kathryn Silcox will run unopposed for her seat as the 09-3-04 district judge. A number of school boards will see uncontested races in the primary. Camp Hill School District has five seats open on its board and only five candidates cross-filed on the ballots. The candidates are Randall Gale, Laurie Kennedy, Geoffrey McInroy, Neil Connelly and Bob Latham. None of the Mechanicsburg Area School District seats are contested in this year's primary. The seats are split into regions and have only the exact numbers of candidates for open seats. In Region 1, Richard Bradley is the only candidate on the Republican ballot for one seat, with no Democratic candidate on the ballot. There are two seats open each for Region 2 and Region 3, and there are two candidates each in those races on the Republican ballot, with one candidate in each race cross-filed to list one candidate on the Democratic ballot. In Region 2, Dawn Merris and Tracy Morgan are running for school board, and Dennis Burkhard and Layne Lebo are running for the Region 3 seats. South Middleton School District has five seats open on its school board, but only three candidates cross-filed on the ballots: Liz Knouse, Elizabeth Meikrantz and Edyie Rob. West Shore School District has a board split into regions and only has one cross-filed candidate each for two regions: Frank Kambic in Region1 and Sheri Moyer in Region 2 (which has two seats open). In the municipal races, Carlisle's Borough Council has an uncontested primary, but will see a contested November election. There are four Democratic candidates vying for four seats Sean Shultz, Jeff Stuby, Sean Crampsie and Joel Hicks and only one Republican candidate on the ballot. Incumbent Robin Guido is looking to get re-elected. Camp Hill Borough Council may not be contested in November after a last-minute change to the election. Republican Mike Berney is no longer seeking re-election, though his name will be on the primary ballot Tuesday. Two other Republicans will be on the ballot for three open seats on the borough council: Julie Mower and Jennifer Hoover. Democratic candidate Melissa Schoettle is the only one on her party's ballot. Mechanicsburg Borough Council will also see a contentious November election after its uncontested primary. The council has three seats open, with three Republican candidates Kyle Miller, Mark Stoner and John Anthony and one Democratic candidate, Sara Agerton. East Pennsboro Township's board of commissioners will likely be contested in November, but will not be Tuesday in the primary. Two Democrats Walter Joe Fidler and John Kuntzelman are vying for two open seats, and Republican George Tyson is the only candidate on his party's ballot. Dickinson Township only has one Republican candidate, Robert Line, for a supervisor position, with no Democratic challenger on the primary ballot. Hopewell Township has a candidate on each ballot for its supervisor position: Verne Wadel on the Republican ballot and Dana Hoover on the Democratic ballot. Republican Colleen Alleman is the only candidate running on either ballot for auditor. Lower Frankford Township only has one Republican candidate on either ballot for township supervisor: James Burkholder Jr. Likewise, Lower Mifflin Township only has a single Republican candidate in the primary for its township supervisor seat, with Jacob Fealtman running unopposed. Mount Holly Springs Borough Council has three seats open, but only three candidates on the ballot, all of whom are Republicans. Deborah Halpin-Brophy, James Collins II and Gay Bowman are running for seats. New Cumberland Borough Council also has three seats open, but will see a contested November election when both parties' candidates come together. Republicans Chad Wilson, Donald Kibler and David Stone are running for the three seats, and Democrats Robert Hasemeier and Donna Johnson are also looking ahead to November. Newville Borough Council only has one Republican candidate for its South Ward Jack Ericksen and no candidates for its North Ward. A 2-year South Ward seat will be contested in November, with Republican Joey Diehl and Democrat Scott Penner being the only names on their respective ballots in the primary. North Middleton Township has two seats open on its board of supervisors and only two Republican candidates on the ballot: Harry Kelso and David Smith. Republican Gary Martin is the only candidate on either ballot for Penn Township supervisor, and Shippensburg Borough only has a Democratic candidate for its East Ward seat, Josefine Smith. The borough council does not have a candidate on either primary ballot for the Middle Ward seat. Shippensburg Township also has only one Republican candidate, Steve Oldt, for its township supervisor board. Southampton Township also has only one Republican candidate for two township supervisor races: Steven O'Donnell for the 6-year seat and Talon Landreth for the 2-year seat. Upper Allen Township will see a contested race for its three seats in November with five candidates total on the ballot in Tuesday's primary. Two Republicans, James Cochran and Ken Martin, are on their ballot, with Democrats Bob Melphis, Judith Gilroy and William Holloway likely moving into November. Upper Frankford Township has only a Republican candidate, Steve Arnold, for its township supervisor seat, and Wormleysburg has only two Republican candidates for three open seats on its borough council. Sue Stuart and Margaret Stuski are the only ones on the Republican ballot in that race. Some municipal races didn't have any candidates. Cooke Township does not have any candidates for two supervisor positions and two auditor positions. Newburg Borough doesn't have any candidates for its mayor or three members of borough council. Shiremanstown Borough has no candidates on the ballot for its three 4-year borough council seats, one 2-year council seat or tax collector. South Newton Township doesn't have candidates for township supervisor or three auditor positions. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 For those people preparing before the polls open Tuesday, the Pennsylvania Department of State reminds residents they can find voting information online at votesPA.com. The votesPA site is a one-stop shop for Pennsylvanians preparing to go to the polls on primary day, Acting Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar said in a news release. They can verify their registration, find out where to vote and even watch a video of how to cast a ballot on their countys voting system. We encourage all eligible voters to be fully informed about their rights and what they can expect at the polling place. In addition to verifying registration status, residents can also find contact information for each county election office and file a complaint if they encounter any difficulty or questionable situation at the polling place. On Tuesday, the polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. to registered Democrats and Republicans. In addition to the local and county races, registered voters will also be able to vote on the Superior Court of Pennsylvania race, which has two open seats. Parts of Cumberland County will also vote in a special election on who will fill the seat for the 33rd Senatorial District, previously held by Rich Alloway. The candidates are Sarah Hammond of York County and Doug Mastriano of Franklin County. Areas of Cumberland County that fall into this district are Shippensburg Borough, Shippensburg Township and Southampton Township. Because Pennsylvania has a closed primary, only voters registered as Democrat or Republican can vote in the party primaries. If there is a referendum, however, all voters can vote on that question. While there are no statewide referendum questions, Shiremanstown Borough residents will be able to vote on the ballot question, Do you favor the issuance of licenses to conduct small games of chance in the Borough of Shiremanstown? Voters who appear at a polling place for the first time will need to show proper identification, but there is no identification requirement for voters who have previously voted at the polling place. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 BETHLEHEM, Pa. A man charged with setting two fires at a Pennsylvania church that had kicked him out of the congregation says he was "mad at God." Wilmer Ortiz Torres is a former member at Iglesia Pentecostal De Bethlehem and faces arson and related charges over the April fires. The (Allentown) Morning Call says Torres, 43, waived his right to a preliminary hearing on Thursday and then spoke briefly with reporters. When asked if he set the fires, Torres replied yes and that he was "mad at God." His attorney declined to comment. Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli says Torres, who remains in jail, has "some mental health issues." Police say Torres held a grudge against the church that "festered and festered." The first fire gutted the church's sanctuary. A second fire damaged the roof. No one was injured. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 PHILADELPHIA Federal prosecutors plan to retry a Delaware man who admitted he broke a thumb off a $4.5 million statue at a Philadelphia museum. Philly.com reports prosecutors told a judge Thursday they're refiling charges against Michael Rohana for theft and concealment of an object of cultural heritage. A jury deadlocked in the case last month after Rohana's lawyer argued he hadn't been charged under the right law. Rohana was attending a Christmas-themed ugly sweater party at the Franklin Institute when he entered a closed exhibit of ancient Chinese terra cotta warrior statues. Authorities say Rohana snapped the thumb of a statute called "The Cavalryman" and left with it. The incident was captured by surveillance cameras. Rohana told jurors it was a stupid, drunken mistake. The vandalism outraged Chinese officials. A message was left with Rohana's lawyer seeking comment Thursday. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 India has recently joined a major global initiative called Christchurch call to action to combat extremism and terrorism online and make internet a safe and secure place. It was signed by a group of governments and major tech companies at a summit in Paris. Background: New Zealands Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and French President Emmanuel Macron recently launched an ambitious new initiative called Christchurch Call, which is aimed at curbing extremism online. The initiative was pushed by Ms Ardern in backdrop of extremist attacks on two mosques in New Zealand city on 15 March 2019, in which a white supremacist gunned down 51 people and broadcasted live footage on Facebook. This gave rise to growing realisation that current abuse of social media by extremists must be countered. New Zealands Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and French President Emmanuel Macron recently launched an ambitious new initiative called Christchurch Call, which is aimed at curbing extremism online. The initiative was pushed by Ms Ardern in backdrop of extremist attacks on two mosques in New Zealand city on 15 March 2019, in which a white supremacist gunned down 51 people and broadcasted live footage on Facebook. This gave rise to growing realisation that current abuse of social media by extremists must be countered. Participants: A total of 18 countries including European Union (EU) supported the initiative along representatives of online giants like Facebook, Google, YouTube, Microsoft, Amazon and Twitter. A total of 18 countries including European Union (EU) supported the initiative along representatives of online giants like Facebook, Google, YouTube, Microsoft, Amazon and Twitter. Objective: To curb online extremism by stopping abuse of Internet by extremists. It also calls for an open, free and secure internet to foster economic growth, enhance social inclusiveness and promote connectivity. To curb online extremism by stopping abuse of Internet by extremists. It also calls for an open, free and secure internet to foster economic growth, enhance social inclusiveness and promote connectivity. Argument: The dissemination of such extremist content online has adverse impacts on the human rights of victims, on collective security of individuals involved as well as people all over the world. About Christchurch Call Agreement It is a non-binding set of agreements to combat spread of hate and violent content online. It was signed by a group of governments and major tech companies at a summit in Paris Unique: It is believed to be first document of its type like one which is signed by both major governments and private companies. Mandate: All signatories pledge to eliminate violent, terrorist and extremist content on social media as well as other online platforms. But pledge does not contain any regulatory or enforcement measures, and it would be completely up to each individual country and company to decide on how it would honour its voluntary commitments. The pledge also does not include the definition of violent extremist content, and it is up to individual companies to decide on what constituted objectionable material. It asks member nations to adopt and enforce laws which ban objectionable material, and set guidelines on how each countries traditional media can report acts of terrorism without amplifying them. It asks tech companies to comply with their terms of service, and re-evaluate their algorithms which direct online users towards extremist content and at the same time commit to redirecting people looking for extremist material online. NOTE: The United States declined to join the Christchurch call to action initiative. Following are the signatories Nations: Question: Regarding my posts about the terrible perversion of Torah and halacha that Rav Shmuel Kaminetsky has engineered with his prod... From my book Child and Domestic abuse vol II There was a very well known kiruv personality. Perhaps you could say that he was a poster ... It was claimed that Goren liberated the Kosel by convincing Motta Gur to violate his orders KA said He was part of it, and he convinced Mo... Important!! email - yadmoshe@gmail.com To many, going to work every day is a chore, but to some, it is the very thing they desire. The Helping Hands Neighborhood Car Wash is providing the opportunity to be integrated into the workforce for individuals with developmental disabilities. Madison County Service Coordination (MCSC), First State Community Bank (FSCB), Helping Hands, Covenant Care and Darren's Detail Shop have come together to make this business a reality. The official grand opening for the Helping Hands Neighborhood Car Wash will be from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday at 140 S. Main St. in Fredericktown. Cars will be washed inside and out for $20 per hour and Covenant Care will be barbecuing throughout the afternoon. MCSC Executive Director Beth Baugh, FSCB Impact Project Coordinator Mindi Montgomery, Helping Hands owner Darren Rogers and Covenant Care Supervisor Community Employment Supervisor Julie Crawford worked to secure the funding, location, support staff and integrated employees to make this business a reality. Montgomery said FSCB tries to put the community first. "Each branch is given a budget to do an impact project within the community," she said. "This year we have chosen this as our project. We basically will be funding the project and helping Darren and the integrated employees." Baugh said MCSC's role is to put all the pieces together. She said the Department of Mental Health is really pushing that individuals with developmental disabilities be integrated into competitive employment. "The point is not just to have them segregated, it's to integrate them into the workforce," Baugh said. "Every one of our integrated employees has a staff member who is there to assist them and be an advocate for their needs." Rogers said the integrated employees are not pushed to the side but rather are right in the middle of everything working along side other employees and are earning minimum wage. "I have the expertise in what we are doing and they (FSCB) have the expertise in funding," Rogers said. "They (MCSC) understand their people and they (Covenant Care) understand the staff and what their needs are. It's really been good to see it all come together." Rogers said the whole project is creating hours for the integrated employees which then goes back into the community. "We need to let people know that we are here and this is something we want to do because most of our individuals are capable and they want to work in they community," Baugh said. "They want to be able to have that regular job. With this push and this grand opening, it's really going to help to show we are here and this is what we are doing." Rogers said the integrated employees have seen how hard everyone has been working on making the grand opening bigger and better for them and it has made them even more excited. "There really is no profit other than for those doing the work," Rogers said. "That is kind of how we have it set up. It was never really a money venture it's a give-back. I've been here 20 years cleaning cars so it feels good to do that. I feel pretty blessed." Montgomery said this is a new business in Fredericktown that will continue to be open and provide a service on a regular basis. Rogers said a regular-sized car on average will take an hour costing $20, some larger vehicles may take two hours costing $40. The service includes wash, dust, vacuum and windows at $20 per hour. "It's better than you would get at a car wash, but not as much as a full detail," Rogers said. Montgomery said one of the goals is to have local businesses commit to having perhaps one vehicle a month cleaned. The Helping Hands Neighborhood Car Wash would come pick up the vehicle, clean it, and return it to the business. She said this would help make the hours less sporadic. "For us it is very convenient and our staff get our cars done a lot, and they do a great job," Baugh said. "Between them and Darren's staff we love getting our cars done. They do a really good job." Baugh said for the integrated employees it is a sense of pride that they are being thanked for doing a great job and also that they are integrated in with other people. "Other than what their assistant has them do once they are trained, I don't interfere with them," Rogers said. "They know their job. They come in. They do it. I pat them on the back, and let them know how much I appreciate them." Baugh said they get a sense of pride knowing they have a real job in the community, one they are able to do well and that people value. "For us it's all about helping our individuals have enriched lives, be integrated and make that competitive wage," Baugh said. "They are able to do that and we would like to see that for them." Baugh said they are always working toward finding additional employers throughout the community because some of the employees have different interests. To have your car washed by the Helping Hands Neighborhood Car Wash come by between noon and 4 p.m. Saturday or make an appointment for another day by calling 573-440-4850 or find them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Helping-Hands-Neighborhood-Car-Wash-1084626605075666/ Victoria Kemper is a reporter for the Democrat News. She can be reached at 573-783-3366 or at vkemper@democratnewsonline.com Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 DEAR ABBY: My husband and I live in a nice home in the desert Southwest with an in-ground pool and guesthouse. Our friends and relatives from back east have an open invitation to visit whenever they please. We enjoyed these visits until recently. The problem is their ever-present compulsion to be connected to an electronic device. We are not yet retired, but in the past we didn't mind taking a few days off work to spend time with folks who came all the way out here to spend a few days with us. But it seems like nowadays our guests have their noses pointed at a phone or computer most of the time they are here. They have actually missed the beauty of our area, which we are missing work to show them, because they are otherwise engaged. Is there a pleasant way to ask them to disconnect for a bit while we are enjoying their visit, or should I just get in the grumpy old lady line? I want our visitors to have a good time, but I find this behavior especially rude. -- ALMOST DONE IN THE SOUTHWEST DEAR ALMOST DONE: It's possible that your guests don't realize how much time they're spending on their computers and cellphones. Because you are so turned off you are considering rolling up the welcome mat, explain to your guests that you have given them an open invitation so you can enjoy each other's company, and you are hurt that they spend so much time on their electronic devices. Nobody gets something for nothing, and it seems the "quid" has gone missing from the "pro quo" you have been offering. DEAR ABBY: I am a male who was molested 30 years ago. It has troubled me into adulthood. Recently, my boss informed my crew that a convicted pedophile will be working on a trial basis on our shift. The moment he said it, it started setting off triggers in my head, and I am very angry about it. When I told my boss about my childhood experience, he acted like he didn't want to hear it. Do I have any rights in this matter? I really can't work with a man who has hurt another child like I was. -- TROUBLED VICTIM DEAR TROUBLED VICTIM: You absolutely do have rights. You have the right to request a different shift, if that's possible. If it isn't, you also have the right to look for another job. If that's the case, it will be interesting to know how many of the other employees will follow you out the door. DEAR ABBY: A good friend's wife is currently in hospice care and not expected to live much longer. While I was at Walmart the other day, I passed through the card department and, because I was already there, I figured I would purchase a condolence/sympathy card. When my inner circle discovered I had bought the card before she passed, they criticized me to no end. I thought it was an efficient thing to do. I'm not wrong, am I? -- EFFICIENT IN THE MIDWEST DEAR EFFICIENT: Oh, come on! There was nothing wrong with what you did. Many people buy cards of all types because they think the message is appropriate. You thought of your friend and his wife while you were in the card section, and it is the thought that counts -- not the date of purchase. If you made any mistake, it was in letting it be known that you purchased the card in advance. In a situation like this, discretion is key. DEAR ABBY: I am a 32-year-old late-deafened adult. I have been deaf in my right ear my whole life, but lost my hearing in my left ear after a tumor was removed when I was 27. I guess they are right when they say we are never fully prepared to lose things we have taken for granted for so long. I still have trouble communicating with people. I have taken a few sign language classes and four lip-reading classes, but I often feel like I'm no longer part of normal society. My question is, shouldn't I have adjusted by now regarding how people see me, since I have been without hearing for so long? -- HEARING IMPAIRED DEAR HEARING IMPAIRED: I have been told that the most isolating disability is being unable to hear. Please do not burden yourself by feeling you "should" have adjusted faster than you have. There is no set timetable for adjusting to any disability. Because you feel stuck in the process, the Hearing Loss Association of America (hearingloss.org) may be helpful because it sponsors support groups in many states. Please check it out. DEAR ABBY: Do you think it is fair for me to do all the housework AND pick up dog doo-doo just because I moved into my sister's house with her and her family? They have five dogs and four cats. No one else bothers to do it. I do it to lessen the smell. When I try to say something, they say I am "causing problems." I don't have any animals of my own. -- POOPER SCOOPER DEAR P.S.: I agree that the task of picking up after an animal -- let alone nine of them -- isn't something most people look forward to. However, if you are living rent-free with your sister's family, perhaps you should consider your chores to be your contribution to the household. P.S. Because you mentioned that no one else cleans up the animal messes, consider finding more hygienic living arrangements as soon as it's feasible. DEAR ABBY: I am a 47-year-old professional man who loves children, but never had any of my own. Consequently, I have never had to contend with the considerable cost of raising children. Many of my friends are parents, and I feel the urge to buy their kids nice presents I know they want, or that I never received when I was a child, e.g., a wonderful bike or train set. What's the protocol for giving an expensive gift (e.g., a saxophone that can cost $1,000) to non-related children without creating awkwardness or obligation? Naturally, I would always check with the parents first. (All of us are white-collar executives and employed, but no one is "filthy rich.") -- GIFT GIVER IN OAKLAND, CALIF. DEAR GIFT GIVER: The protocol is the one you are already observing, which is to have a conversation with the parents before buying expensive gifts for their children. And when you do, make clear that it is not your wish to cause awkwardness or a sense of obligation. DEAR ABBY: My brother-in-law found out I smoke marijuana. I have a medical card and some mental disabilities. Marijuana helps with my anxiety. Although we live near each other, my in-laws now say they don't want me in their homes. The stress this has put on my husband is unfair. His brother obviously has a problem with me. I never discuss marijuana with anyone and don't carry it around with me. I use it only in the privacy of my home. How should I expect my husband to handle holidays or even regular get-togethers? I really need help. -- UNFAIR IN NEVADA DEAR UNFAIR: Medical and recreational marijuana are legal for adults in the state of Nevada. I wish you had mentioned how your brother-in-law learned you are using it. That it is being used as an excuse to isolate you is cruel. How your husband chooses to handle further contact -- or lack of it -- with his relatives will be his personal decision. Not knowing how close they have been, I can't guess what his next step should be -- except to point out that his first loyalty should be to you. DEAR ABBY: I'm married to a beautiful woman, "Suzonne." We are bodybuilders and into fitness, so we are both quite muscular. Recently, my wife cut her hair short. It's a great look for her, and we both love the style. Unfortunately, some people have begun calling her "sir" at work and when she's out and about. Suzonne waits tables a couple of nights a week for extra income. Some of the customers have gone so far as to keep calling her "sir" after she has told them that she's female. This infuriates me because it's so disrespectful. I know it hurts my wife's feelings, although she has been super strong about it. It's plain when you look at Suzonne that she is a beautiful woman. How can she nip this in the bud before it starts to make her feel bad? I feel a strong need to defend her, and I don't want to get into a physical altercation with anyone over it. -- HURT FEELINGS IN FLORIDA DEAR HURT FEELINGS: Because your wife has a muscular build and a short haircut, it's possible some of the individuals who call her "sir" are making an honest mistake. However, for someone to persist after being informed that she is a woman is extremely rude. (It makes me wonder if the offender has a warped sense of humor or is threatened by her muscular appearance.) When it happens at work, Suzonne should ask her manager how the situation should be handled rather than allow it to continue. But under no circumstances should you get into a physical altercation because of it. Instead, on the home front, continue to reassure your wife that she's beautiful. DEAR ABBY: My husband refuses to memorize my cellphone number. He says as long as it's in his phone he doesn't need to. I feel he should know it so if he loses the phone or the battery goes dead, I can be reached. What do you think? -- LOGICAL IN KANSAS DEAR LOGICAL: Experience is the best teacher. I think you should stop arguing with your husband and let him suffer the consequences. An option might be for him to jot the number on a small piece of paper and keep it in his wallet. DEAR ABBY: My wife passed away two years ago at age 40 after a long bout with cancer. We had three children, ages 7 to 12. I am 44 and engaged now to a wonderful woman. We are planning to have a small wedding with fewer than 50 guests. While the kids and I are doing well, my late wife's mother, "Karen," is still grieving. She has a forceful personality and can be quite pushy. She lives nearby. We have not finalized the arrangements or sent out invitations. Karen has been asking if she and my former father-in-law are invited, but we haven't answered her yet. She says she's hurt because she feels we don't want her there. Is it proper etiquette to invite the parents of a deceased spouse to a remarriage? The only people she would know aside from us would be my parents, who need to bond with my fiancee's family who are coming from out of town. The kids seem to not care either way. If it were me, I'd feel awkward being there. Help! -- LOOKING TO THE FUTURE IN ILLINOIS DEAR LOOKING: Although your late wife is gone, her parents are still your children's grandparents and therefore should be treated as part of your family. While you might feel awkward if you were in their position, consider how hurt they will be if they are not included on the guest list. The decision whether to attend should be theirs to make. Welcome them and treat them with kindness. A wife can be "replaced," but a daughter cannot, which is why Karen is still grieving even though you have gone on with your life. DEAR ABBY: I need advice on how to deal with a friend/neighbor's messy, unkempt backyard. We are getting ready to put our house on the market, and I'm concerned their yard may be a deterrent to potential buyers. Their pool looks like a swamp, and various pieces of lawn furniture are strewn about the yard. Tables are turned upside down and random items are thrown about. They are friends of ours, but I have no clue how to broach such a sensitive topic without upsetting them. Please help. -- LIVING NEXT TO A SWAMP DEAR LIVING: Because those neighbors are friends, I assume they are aware that you are selling your home. If you live in an area that's prone to any dangerous mosquito-borne viruses, you would be doing them a favor to point out that their pool equipment needs fixing because still water makes an excellent breeding place for mosquitoes. As to the state of their yard, your real estate agent may have some suggestions about how to handle that. If you and your spouse volunteer to help your neighbors make it more attractive, they might be receptive. However, if they refuse and you live in a community with a neighborhood association that regulates how properties must look in order to preserve their value, consider bringing this to its attention. DEAR ABBY: My boyfriend, "Hal," and I have been dating for a year and a half, living together for six months. I'm afraid he feels emasculated. Because I make more money than he does, a lot of the responsibility for paying the bills lands on me. We try to split things down the middle, but recent complications with his job have meant it doesn't always work out that way. I love Hal. I know he's the one I want to spend the rest of my life with. I don't want money to be a dividing force, but I don't know what to say to make him feel better. This has been the elephant in the room for some time. Hal helps out with cooking and housework, and because of that, I don't mind putting a little more into the bills. I do not want this to be an issue further down the road. Any advice is appreciated. -- STUCK ON THIS IN VIRGINIA DEAR STUCK: The problem with elephants in the room is, the longer they are ignored, the larger the herd becomes. It's amazing that two important subjects -- sex and finances -- are such touchy ones to discuss. Choose a time when you and Hal are relaxed, and then bring up your concerns. Tell him how much you appreciate him in your life and the efforts he makes to make life easier for you, and that you don't want money issues to cause problems between the two of you. He may need to hear you say it. Then encourage him to express his feelings the way you have. Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069 Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The last two weeks of session have arrived, and my colleagues and I were focused on passing the states operating budget before the deadline on Friday, May 10th. We were able to accomplish this and the series of House bills that make up the Fiscal Year 2020 Budget received their final vote on the Senate floor in the wee hours of Friday morning. A lesser known element of the legislative process, but equally important, are Conference Committees. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate must pass identical versions of legislation before it can reach the governors desk. If a piece of legislation is changed in any way in the other chamber it must go back to the originating chamber to be voted on again. If the changes are not approved, then the bill goes to a Conference Committee to work out the differences. Members of these conference committees include the Senate and House handler of the bill and Senate and House members appointed by the Speaker and President Pro Tem. The committee meets to discuss the merits of the bill and the proposed changes. This allows members of both chambers to reach a compromise and to pass the best possible version of the legislation. It is truly a collaborative effort, and I look forward to discussing some of my Senate bills in a conference committee with the hopes that we will pass the legislation before the end of the 2019 legislative session. I always appreciate hearing your opinions and concerns regarding your state government. Please feel free to contact me in Jefferson City at (573) 751-4008. You may write me at Gary Romine, Missouri Senate, State Capitol, Jefferson City, MO 65101; or email me at gary.romine@senate.mo.gov. For more information, please visit my official Senate webpage at www.senate.mo.gov/romine. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Everyone eligible should be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of long-distance travel or employment. Vaccination should be voluntary but those who don't get vaccinated should be frequently tested for COVID-19 as a condition of long-distance travel and employment. Both vaccination and testing should be voluntary and not required as a condition of long-distance travel or employment. I defer to the judgment of lawmakers as long as they base their decisions on a consensus of medical professionals. Vote View Results Alabama executes Michael Samra, convicted of killing 4 in 1997 An Alabama death row inmate was executed by lethal injection Thursday night, more than 22 years after the quadruple slaying of a family in Pelham. Michael Brandon Samra, 42, was executed at William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore. The Alabama Supreme Court set his execution date in April. Samra was 19 when he and his co-defendant, then 16-year-old Mark Anthony Duke, were charged with killing Mark Dukes father Randy Duke, his fiancee Dedra Mims Hunt, and her 2 daughters, 6-year-old Chelisa Nicole Hunt and 7-year-old Chelsea Marie Hunt. Samra was convicted of capital murder in 1998 after confessing, and was sentenced to death for his role in the killings. The curtains opened to the execution chamber at approximately 7:09 p.m. When approached by the warden, Samra smiled. His last words were a prayer. I would like to thank Jesus for everything hes done for me, he said. I want to thank Jesus for shedding his blood for my sins. Thank you for your grace Jesus, amen. Samra lied on the gurney with his eyes open, facing the witness room that contained his 2 attorneys, his spiritual adviser, and members of the media. At 7:14 p.m., his eyes closed. 1 minute later, his chest heaved 3 times. His breathing appeared labored for several minutes. Samra did not respond to a consciousness check, performed by a corrections officer at 7:17 p.m. 2 minutes later, he stretched both hands and slightly raised his left arm, then curled his fingers and dropped his arm. The curtain to the chamber closed at 7:26 p.m. The official time of death was 7:33 p.m., according to prison officials. Samras attorneys appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing his age at the time of the 1997 slaying should prohibit him from being executed, but the nations highest court ruled Tuesday they would not review the case and would not stay Samras execution. Gov. Kay Ivey also refused a reprieve for Samra, the prisoners lawyer said. One of his attorneys, Steven Sears, said he received the denial from Iveys office about eight hours before the execution. Following the execution, Ivey released a statement: For more than 20 years, the loved ones of Randy, Dedra and the 2 young daughters Chelisa and Chelsea have mourned an unbearable and unimaginable loss. Four lives were brutally taken far too soon because of the malicious, intentional and planned-out murders by Michael Brandon Samra. Alabama will not stand for the loss of life in our state, and with this heinous crime, we must respond with punishment. These four victims deserved a future, and Mr. Samra took that opportunity away from them and did so with no sense of remorse. This evening justice has been delivered to the loved ones of these victims, and it signals that Alabama does not tolerate murderous acts of any nature. After careful consideration of the horrendous nature of the crime, the jurys decision and all factors surrounding the case, the state of Alabama carried out Mr. Samras sentence this evening. Although this can never recover the lives lost, I pray that their loved ones can finally find a sense of peace. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall issued a statement following the execution, detailing the crime. He added, Randy Duke was shot in the head. Dedra Hunt was shot multiple times as she attempted to flee with one of her daughters. Samra and Duke then proceeded to kill both of the young girls, cutting their throats. Samra was convicted of capital murder in 1998 and received his just punishment: a sentence of death. After too many years of delay, justice has finally been served. Tonight, we pray for the victims and for their families, that they might find peace and closure. Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner Jeff Dunn spoke after the execution and read a statement from the Mims and Hunt family. This has been a painful journey. Today justice has been carried out, it said. The statement also included thanks for all police and investigative agencies who worked on the case. We ask that you keep all families involved in your prayers, the statement said. Dedra Mims Hunt and her daughters, Chelsea and Chelisa Hunt, were slain on March 22, 1997. Thursday, one of their killers is set to die. Dunn did not give any reasons for the hour delay, and said to his knowledge there were no problems preparing the inmate for the procedure. Wednesday, Samra was visited by six friends, two attorneys, and his spiritual adviser. He also made a phone call to his father. Thursday, he was again visited by six friends and his spiritual adviser. Samra did not eat breakfast Thursday and did not request a last meal. He did not have any special requests. 6 witnesses from the victims families witnessed the execution, along with 2 attorneys from the Alabama Attorney Generals Office. The crime According to court records filed by the Alabama Attorney Generals Office to the U.S. Supreme Court, Mark Duke and Samra brought two guns to Randy Dukes home on March 22, 1997, where the teenagers planned to kill everyone inside. Mark Duke fatally shot his 39-year-old father in the head, while Samra shot Hunt in the face. Although injured, 29-year-old Hunt fled upstairs with her daughters. Hunt and Chelisa sought shelter in an upstairs bathroom, while Chelsea hid under a bed. Samra and Mark Duke ran after them, and Mark Duke shot and killed Hunt after he kicked in the bathroom door. Then, out of bullets, Mark Duke got two knives and pulled Chelisa from behind the shower curtain and slit her throat. The teens then pursued Chelsea, who was fighting back from under the bed. As she struggled, Mark Duke held her down and Samra slit her throat. Mark Duke was also originally sentenced to death, but his sentence was later overturned and changed to life in prison pursuant to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling banning execution for offenders who committed their crimes while they were juveniles. He was 16 at the time of the slaying. According to court records, Mark Duke came up with the murder plot because Randy Duke refused to allow him to use a pickup truck. He was called the mastermind of the plot. The arguments Samras attorneys, Sears and Alan Freedman, have argued in court filings that the Eighth Amendment bans the execution of offenders- like Samra- who were under the age of 21 at the time of their crimes. In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court banned execution for people who were under the age of 18 at the time of their crimes. Sears has said this ruling should be modified due to evolving standards of decency. In his U.S. Supreme Court petition, Samras attorneys argue the 2005 rule should be extended to include offenders up to the age of 21 at the time of their crimes. The mitigating qualities of youth do not dissipate the day a youthful offender turns 18 years old, the petition states. Since [the 2005 decision], scientific studies have shown that during a persons late teens and early 20s, the brain continues growing and undergoes rapid changes in self-regulation and higher-order cognition. Last week, Sears sent a letter to Ivey asking for a reprieve until another states supreme court can decide whether offenders who committed their crimes under the age of 21 should be eligible for the death penalty. Sears wrote in the letter, The question of whether the U.S. Constitution permits the execution of 18-to-21-year-old offenders is percolating in the courts and is currently pending in the Kentucky Supreme Court. The Kentucky case arose after a trial court judge ruled that the reasoning supporting the U.S. Constitutions ban on executing juvenile offenders extends to those over the age of 21. To prevent a miscarriage of justice and ensure that Alabama does not carry out an unconstitutional execution, Samra respectfully requests a reprieve until the Kentucky Supreme Court has ruled on the question that would determine whether Samra is categorically eligible for the death penalty. The U.S. Supreme Court petition also mentions the Kentucky case and states, Also, there is a burgeoning national consensus against executing young adult offenders. Since [the 2005 ruling] was decided, only 13 states have handed down 4 new death sentences to offenders under 21, and a majority of states, 30, would not permit the execution of a youthful offender. Notably, one Kentucky court, surveying the scientific research and national consensus, has concluded that Eighth Amendment line drawn in Roper must now be drawn at 21. In the 14 years since this Court decided [case law], societys standards have evolved rapidly to the point that the line drawn [in the 2005 case] can no longer be justified. Accordingly, Samra has shown a reasonable likelihood that he will prevail on his Eighth Amendment claim... Before it is too late, this Court should ensure that the Eighth Amendment does not categorically preclude him from receiving the laws most severe and irreversible penalty. The Alabama AGs Office called Samras claim meritless and argued in a filing about the high courts jurisdiction over the claim. Finally, to the extent that Samra relies on a supposed national consensus against imposing capital punishment on persons who were under the age of twenty-one when they committed capital murder, his claim is meritless. There is no such consensus, which is made most obvious by Samras failure to point to a single state that has specifically eliminated the death penalty for defendants who are between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one when they murder their victims, the Alabama AGs Office wrote. Simply put, Samras allegation does not withstand scrutiny. His national consensus and clear and growing trend are made up out of whole cloth. Rather than citing to any instance in which any state has adopted his position, Samra points to two red herrings What Samra ignores is that all of the states that fall in these categories still retain the death penalty as a sentencing option for persons who committed capital murder between the ages of 18 and 21. At bottom, Samra has failed to show a clear and growing trend because there is none. Samras attorneys have also argued that putting Samra to death isnt just, since the crimes mastermind Mark Duke is spending his life in prison. Sears called the quadruple slaying a terrible tragedy, but said he and his co-counsel dont think that killing one more person is going to help. Its not fair to kill the small fish and let the whale go, Sears said, referring to Mark Dukes sentence change. Sears said the fact Samra was several years older than his friend at the time of the slaying has made more of a difference than anything in the case. The lead investigator on the case at the time, and now the mayor of Helena, Mark Hall said he believes its time Samra face his punishment. I am not surprised by the request for a stay by the offender, but Im reminded that the innocent victims of these horrific and senseless murders-- two adults and two small children-- did not have that option on that terrifying night when they were brutally murdered," Hall wrote in a statement. Convicted murderers, who have exhausted all means of the possibility of acquittal in a capital murder case should serve every day, every hour and every minute of the sentence they were given, and that includes the death penalty when it is imposed. "Those innocent victims, and the families of those victims, deserve no less. 2 other men, David Collums and Michael Ellison, were convicted of lesser crimes in the case and served time in prison. They have since been released. Samra becomes the 2nd condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Alabama and the 65th overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1983. Samra becomes the 6th condemned death row inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1496th overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977. MILESTONE With the executions of Michael Samra in Alabama and Donnie Johnson in Tennessee on May 16, the USA has now executed 1,497 condemned individuals since the death penalty was re-legalized on July 2, 1976 in the US Supreme Court Gregg v Georgia decision. Gary Gilmore was the 1st person executed, in Utah, on January 17, 1977. Below is a list of scheduled executions as the nation approaches a terrible milestone of 1500 executions in the modern era. NOTE: The list is likely to change over the coming months as new execution dates are added and possible stays of execution occur. | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! "One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde al.com & Rick Halperin, Staff, May 16, 20191498-------May 23-------------Bobby Joe Long-----------Florida1499-------May 30-------------Christopher Price--------Alabama1500------July 31-------------Ruben Gutierrez----------Texas1501------Aug. 15-------------Dexter Johnson-----------Texas1502-------Aug. 15------------Stephen West-------------Tennessee1503-------Aug. 21------------Larry Swearingen---------Texas1504-------Sept. 4------------Billy Crutsinger---------Texas1505-------Sept. 10-----------Mark Anthony Soliz-------Texas1506-------Sept. 12-----------Warren Henness-----------Ohio1507-------Oct. 2-------------Stephen Barbee-----------Texas Learn more about efforts to #StopThe1500th Execution and how you can be involved at Iran Human Rights (IHR); May 16, 2019: Mohammad Reza Haddadi, a juvenile offender on death row in Iran, has been denied access to medical care outside prison despite suffering from severe intestinal bleeding. According to IHR sources, Mohammad Reza Haddadi, a prisoner on death row in Shiraz Central Prison (also known as Adelabad) suffers from severe intestinal bleeding. Despite an order by prisons doctor to transfer Mohammad Reza to a hospital for treatment by specialists, the authorities refused to grant him the permission, one of Mohammad relatives told IHR. Mohammad Reza Haddadi, currently held at Adel Abad Prison in Shiraz, was born on March 17, 1988, and has been in prison since 2002. He is sentenced to death for an alleged murder during a robbery along with three other people. Haddadi had pleaded guilty at first, but later he explained that his co-defendants promised him some money to admit the charge because he was a minor and he wouldnt receive a death penalty. Both co-defendants were over the age of 18 at the time of the crime and received prison sentences. But Mohammad Reza Haddadis death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court in July 2005. Under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Iran is a signatory to, the Iranian authorities have an obligation to not issue the death sentence for offenses committed under the age of 18. However, at least 7 juveniles were executed in 2018 and so far two juvenile executions have been reported in 2019 in Iran. | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! "One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde The Boys & Girls Club of Albany had a full house on Thursday. More than 50 organizations crowded into the building, lining tables with sweatshirts, snacks, eyeglasses, wallets and pamphlets, all free for the taking. The advice was free, too, for veterans looking for housing, low-income individuals looking for job connections and homeless people looking for the bare necessities. Just past the table offering free haircuts, Elizabeth Sonstegaard and Millie Barriger sat behind a table that had just one thing to offer: books. The pair of Albany librarians were manning a table at the HEART to Heart Resource Fair, now in its 14th year, which provides resources for individuals and families living in poverty in Linn County. The public library, in a crowd of Department of Human Services, homeless shelters and free clothing closets, may have seemed out of place, but Sonstegaard said it fit right in. We serve everyone, she said. And we have a lot of resources. Those resources include access to computers, information, air-conditioning on a hot day and heat for a cold day. A lot of people are looking for a place to go, Sonstegaard said. The library doesnt just offer a shelter to those experiencing homelessness, it also offers services that have become essential needs in the age of technology. Its no longer standard practice for businesses to offer paper applications or to accommodate job-seekers who are pounding the pavement looking for work and knock on potential employers' doors without an appointment. Even Burger King wants you to fill out an application online, Sonstegaard said. You need a password and an account. A lot of people, Barriger added, dont have personal computers or an internet connection. Cellphones that can access the internet often do so by using data, which is capped by some monthly plans; surpassing that cap can lead to extra fees. You dont need a library card to use the librarys computers, Sonstegaard said. They can be accessed with a daily log-in, or people can opt for a computer use card, which allows them to keep the same log-in without having to sign in as a guest every day. Barriger noted that the Albany Public Library does not require a photo ID for computer use. According to Sonstegaard, the entire library staff recently completed a three-hour training called The Librarian's Guide to Homelessness: An Empathy-Driven Approach to Solving Problems, Preventing Conflict, and Serving Everyone. The goal is that our staff is better prepared and empowered to serve all of our patrons while remaining an inclusive and welcoming community space, Sonstegaard said. Better serving patrons and families was a common theme for service providers at Thursdays fair. Representatives from various organizations zig-zagged their way from one side of the room to the other, gathering information to relay to the people they serve. The HEART fair is a networking opportunity, too, said TeSee Huston, who works for the Department of Human Services. Its a way to see what other resources are out there for our families to help them more. The East Albany Lions Club was also out on Thursday providing free vision screenings and blood glucose tests. Ray Ryan and Ed Lupkin, with 18 combined years in the club, manned the table and said they had already seen 12 people line up for tests about 30 minutes into the fair. On the opposite side of the room, the military zone offered help from St. Vincent DePauls Homeless Veteran Reintegration Program. We help them with employment, finding housing and well purchase clothes, shoes, bikes. A few of our guys got their CDL licenses, said Susan Scherer, the programs outreach coordinator. They just need a little help. The Albany Homeless Engagement and Resource Team and Community Services Consortium hosts the fair each year. According to Marilyn Smith, communications officer for the city, about 120 people attended the event on Thursday, slightly down from prior years that averaged 130 to 150 and as many as 210. Signs of Victory Ministries provided bus rides to individuals from various pick-up points around the city and breakfast and lunch were also served; the city provided lunch and Jacopettis catered breakfast. Other services offered Thursday included dental checkups and extractions, syphilis tests, haircuts, clothing, bicycle repair, reading glasses, information on housing, rent or utility assistance, alcohol and drug treatment, pet supplies and snacks. Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 An Albany man was sentenced to more than three years in the custody of the Oregon Department of Corrections on Thursday afternoon in Linn County Circuit Court after pleading no contest to second-degree sex abuse and felony fourth-degree assault. Jordan Douglas Smotherman, 28, will be able to earn time off his sentence for good behavior, but isnt eligible for alternative incarceration programs. He must register as a sex offender. The crimes, which occurred on Dec. 25 and Dec. 30, were investigated by the Albany Police Department. Smotherman was initially accused of three counts of first-degree rape, two counts of sodomy, as well as fourth-degree assault and attempted first-degree rape. The bulk of the charges were removed this week, as the negotiated settlement took form. Prosecutor Ani Yardumian said she was dealing with an uncooperative victim. Things have taken a different turn. Shes a bit more cooperative with the defense than she is the prosecution, Yardumian said. I had someone who appeared to be changing her story, she added. Defense attorney Kent Hickam said that the plea was consistent with what actually happened. I dont think its fair to suggest that (the victim) was on the states side or the defenses side, Hickam said. The victim asked Judge DeAnn Novotny for a lesser sentence during Thursdays hearing. Hickam asked that Smotherman be released and given a week to get things in order before reporting to prison. Yardumian strenuously objected, and Novotny declined the request. Smotherman told Novotny that he needed to take care of his mental health so he could take care of family members. I just got to the point where mentally I broke, said Smotherman, a veteran with no previous criminal history. In a previous court hearing, Smotherman was described as having PTSD. Kyle Odegard can be reached at kyle.odegard@lee.net, 541-812-6077 or via Twitter @KyleOdegard. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 2 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Tami Jean Fulbright, the daughter of Donald Whisenhunt, pleaded guilty last week in Linn County Circuit Court to first-degree criminal mistreatment for her role in the death of the farm mechanic. Fulbright, 39, of Lebanon, was sentenced on May 10 to 30 days in jail and three years of probation. According to the charging document, Fulbright unlawfully and knowingly withheld necessary and adequate medical attention from Whisenhunt. Whisenhunt, 60, allegedly died from massive injuries caused by a physical confrontation the night of Sept. 20 with a relative, Chad Cheever. Cheever is charged with murder by abuse for Whisenhunts death, as well as second-degree assault. Cheever and Fulbright reportedly left Whisenhunt outside overnight on Whisenhunts Tangent property, according to court paperwork. Fulbright told a deputy that after the altercation, she drove Cheever to her brothers house, then returned to her fathers property. She went out and checked on her father throughout the night, according to a probable cause affidavit in Cheevers case. The next day, she left the residence again, taking Cheever to a medical appointment. When she came back to Whisenhunts property the afternoon of Sept. 21, she found her father dead on the lawn. The Linn County Sheriff's Office investigated both Cheever and Fulbright's cases. Fulbright was initially charged with first-degree criminal mistreatment in November. Kyle Odegard can be reached at kyle.odegard@lee.net, 541-812-6077 or via Twitter @KyleOdegard. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 4 Sad 5 Angry 22 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. 1. Yes. The economy is strong and unemployment low. Thats a good basis for a solid year. 2. Yes. Health experts are getting a handle on COVID. 2022 should be a better year. 3. No. If any large-scale COV ID-related shutdowns take place, it will hit the nation hard. 4. No. Inflation is still too much of a wild card. It could really cause a drag on the economy. 5. Unsure. There are too many variables at play to predict with any degree of certainty. Vote View Results July 28, 1953 May 10, 2019 Lonnie Lee Spencer, 65, master mower and leaf blower, died suddenly on May 10, 2019 from cardiac arrest. He was born to Berna Lee (Williams) and Denny Leroy Spencer on July 28, 1953 in Oakridge, Oregon. Lonnie adored his grandchildren, Gradi, Paisley and Kennedy. He was a kid magnet, always giving them a hard time. He loved his son, Kelsi and daughter-in-law, Schae, and all of Kelsis buddies as if they were his own children. He was a lover of Coors Light and was a pizza connoisseur. He was the best French toast maker around and thought he was a food critic! Ha ha! He loved Tabasco and ate it on everything! Lonnie was a great history teacher with no degree. He taught many children how to drive. He was a gear head and Mr. Fix it. A man with a million friends, he was always lending a hand and always had an opinion, like it or not! He was always trying to get a laugh out of people. Lonnie loved westerns and car shows. He was the king of the property with a million rules! Lonnie went to school in Arcata, California in his childhood and graduated from Central Linn High School in 1972. He was a super C.L. track star. He was a diesel mechanic in the US Navy. He met the love of his life, Katherine ((Liday) Spencer in March 3, 1979 in Brownsville, Oregon. It was love at first sight and they were never apart since that day. They were married on June 7, 1980 and would have celebrated 39 years of marriage in June. Lonnies family includes wife, Kathy Spencer; son, Kelsi Spencer and wife, Schae; grandchildren, Gradi Cole, Paisley Drew and Kennedy Leslee; siblings, Kathy Haywood (Mike), Diana Spencer (Gary), Joni Dorsey (Ken), Tammy Aldrich (Joe) and Randy Spencer (Melinda); numerous nieces, nephews and cousins; and too many friends to list. You all know who you are! He was preceded in death by his parents, Berna Lee and Denny. A celebration of life will be announced at a later date. See you on the other side, Sweetie. Under direction of Demoss-Durdan Funeral Home. A Benton County Circuit Court judge dismissed child pornography charges brought against a Corvallis man last week at the request of prosecutors. Adam Grunseth, 36, had been facing one count of encouraging child sexual abuse in the first degree and four counts of encouraging child sexual abuse in the second degree. He was initially charged in April 2018. In a motion filed Friday, Senior Deputy District Attorney Amie Matusko said the state had obtained information that shed new light on its existing evidence. Given the totality of the circumstances, there is currently insufficient evidence to justify further prosecution, she wrote. By email, Mutusko said investigation by the Corvallis Police Department concluded many people had access to Grunseths electronics, which contained the child sexual abuse material. This new information meant the state could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it was the defendant who distributed and possessed the material, she said. Judge Locke Williams dismissed the charges and canceled a trial in the case that had been set to start Monday. Grunseths attorney, Joshua Hunking, told the Gazette-Times after Grunseth was initially charged that his client adamantly denied the charges and didnt know why they had been brought against him. Anthony Rimel covers weekend events, education, courts and crime and can be reached at anthony.rimel@lee.net, 541-758-9526, or via Twitter @anthonyrimel. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 SWEET HOME POLICE Drug paraphernalia 10:20 a.m. Wednesday, 5000 block Poplar Street A caller reported finding drug paraphernalia while his daughter was on a visit with her mother. ATM problems 12:50 p.m. Wednesday, 1400 block Main St. A caller reported that someone had glued an ATMs cash dispenser. Truck damaged At 2:27 p.m. Wednesday, a caller reported that someone hit the back of his truck, causing about $2,500 damage, and then drove off. Tires slashed 9 p.m. Wednesday, 600 block Ironwood Street. A caller reported slashed tires on her vehicle. Loss: $400. LINN COUNTY SHERIFF Scam 6 p.m. Wednesday, 22000 block of Powerline Road, Harrisburg. A caller reported someone posing as a Portland General Electric employee collecting on past-due power bills. Upset dad 8 p.m. Wednesday, 35000 block Richardson Gap Road, Lebanon. A 17-year-old boy reported that his father yelled at him. No crimes were committed. Firearm problem About 11:54 p.m. Wednesday, Austin Eugene Evans, 25, was arrested and charged with unlawful use of a weapon, disorderly conduct and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number after reportedly discharging a firearm several times within the Scio city limits. An unarmed juvenile was also taken into custody and cited for criminal conspiracy. Stuck in snow About 4:18 a.m. Thursday, a man at Big Lake Road reported his vehicle stuck in snow, but he had called a tow company. He added that he had plenty of food, water and fuel. LINN COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT Menacing From Wednesday afternoon. Jacob Earl Busch, 35, of Albany, was charged with unlawful use of a weapon, menacing, two counts of recklessly endangering another person, providing false information to a peace officer and possession of methamphetamine. The crimes allegedly occurred on Tuesday and the case was investigated by the Albany Police Department. Strangulation From Wednesday afternoon. Bryce Gabriel Katlong, 28, of Mill City, was charged with four counts of strangulation and two counts of felony fourth-degree assault (domestic violence). The crimes allegedly occurred on May 10 and May 11 and the case was investigated by the Linn County Sheriffs Office. Meth-dealing From Thursday afternoon. Jacob Reginald Bliss, 44, of Sweet Home, was charged with delivery of methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of a school and possession of methamphetamine. The crimes allegedly occurred on April 18, and the case was investigated by the Sweet Home Police Department. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 We may never know all the details of the behind-the-scenes negotiations that resulted in the deal that pulled Senate Republicans back to the Capitol this week. But, like many compromise deals, it's one that likely left a bit of a sour taste in the mouths of many lawmakers. By now, you know the general outlines of the story: Senate Republicans, looking for a way to delay or possibly derail the passage of a gross receipts tax on certain Oregon businesses, played what really might have been their only card: They left the Capitol, leaving the Senate two votes short of the 20-member quorum required for that chamber to conduct business. Because the bill raised revenue, it required a three-fifths majority (18 votes in the Senate) to pass. It already had passed the House. Republican leaders must have thought for a time that there was a chance that one of the 18 Democrats in the Senate might waver on the bill, which earmarks all the money raised (about $1 billion a year) for K-12 public schools. By last week, we'd guess, Senate Republicans no longer saw a chance of peeling away even one Democratic vote. So they did the only thing they could: They walked. In retrospect, the walkout occurred too early in the session for it to actually have much of a chance to affect the business tax and Democrats, possibly sensing the Republican strategy, had no plans to wait until session's end to pass the measure. But Republicans still had a bit of leverage, and in negotiations last weekend, got Democrats to kill a couple of high-profile bills. One of those bills would have sharply tightened Oregon's vaccine mandates; we thought it somewhat ironic that the same week this bill died, authorities in Washington state announced four new cases of measles, although these cases reportedly are not related to the outbreak in Vancouver that sickened more than 70 people, including some in Oregon. We expect to keep seeing stories like this in the months to come, although we also expect these vaccine proposals to resurface in the 2020 legislative session. The other bill that Democrats agreed to sacrifice was an omnibus measure that contained a number of gun-control provisions. For people who support Second Amendment rights, the death of this bill, Senate Bill 978, is worth cheering. Senate Bill 978 turned out to be a parking garage for a variety of gun-control measures. The bill included provisions that would have make gun owners liable for harm caused by someone who obtained a gun that wasn't locked up. Another provision would have allowed Oregon gun dealers to refuse to sell weapons to people under 21. Here's the critical hurdle that we believe gun-control proposals of any kind need to clear: Do they do anything to make Oregon residents safer? Most of the proposals in Senate Bill 978 failed to clear that hurdle and, at the same time, ran the risk of turning law-abiding gun owners in Oregon into potential criminals. Another gun-control bill, House Bill 2013, does clear that hurdle and it's telling to note that this bill survived the weekend horse trading and remains alive. The bill would require people convicted of domestic violence or stalking crimes to turn over their weapons. Those people already are barred from possessing firearms, but the bill would clarify that they have to turn weapons over to a law-enforcement agency. Interestingly, neither Senate Bill 978 nor the vaccine bill would have required a three-fifths supermajority to pass, so Democratic leaders must have thought support for both measures even in their own caucuses was soft. It's also telling that Democrats didn't bargain away House Bill 2020, the carbon cap-and-trade measure, although they allowed that Republican Sen. Cliff Bentz would have more of a say on the measure. That suggests Democrats think they have the votes to pass the measure, but our sense is this bill might be running out of time. (mm) Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 Shopping trolleys are seen at the entrance of an Auchan hypermarket. Photo by Reuters/Stephane Mahe After five years, French supermarket group Auchan Retail plans to sell its loss-making business in Vietnam. On Wednesday, Auchan Retail CEO Edgar Bonte told French newspaper Les Echos that the group had decided to sell its 18 stores in Vietnam. An unnamed source told VnExpress that Auchans Vietnam operations have been bought by a domestic retail group. The French groups supermarket system is expected to be transferred to the buyer next month. According to Bonte, their business in Vietnam generated revenues of 45 million euros ($50.4 million) last year, but was making losses. He did not provide figures of the losses. Auchan Retails plans to sell its business in Vietnam is already drawing interest from potential buyers, a company spokesman told Reuters. According to Le Monde, Auchan is the last remaining Western distributor in Vietnam, after French multi-national retail chain Groupe Casino withdrew in 2016. Auchans decision to withdraw from Vietnam follows its deal earlier this week to sell almost all of Auchan Retail Italias operations to Conad, the Italian co-operative retail group. Auchan Retail had said in March that it was reviewing its loss-making markets, such as Italy and Vietnam, due to tough business conditions. Auchan Retails supermarket system began operating in Vietnam in 2015. It has established 13 supermarkets in Ho Chi Minh City, four in Hanoi, and one in Tay Ninh, which is situated north-west of HCMC. Mitsui & Co. has struck a $150 million deal to acquire a 35.1 percent stake in Minh Phu Seafood JSC. Mitsui, one of the largest sogo shosha (general trading companies) in Japan, has announced that it has struck a deal this week with Minh Phu, which it calls the "world's biggest shrimp integrator". The Vietnamese firm owns two processing plants and shrimp farms covering an area of 900 hectares in the south of the country. The firm has integrated all stages of shrimp production in its operations, from shrimp farming, to processing and sales. Minh Phu accounts for approximately 20 percent of Vietnam's total shrimp exports. The shrimp company currently exports its products to around 50 countries, including the U.S. and Japan. In 2013, Mitsui invested in Minh Phu Hau Giang Joint Stock Company (MPHG), a processing plant affiliated to Minh Phu. Since then Mitsui has contributed to optimizing MPHGs operations and management, it said. "By investing in the parent company, Mitsui will be able to apply the initiatives developed inside MPHG to the entire Minh Phu group, and to leverage the sales networks established by Mitsui's global group to expand the company's sales," Mitsui said in its announcement. According to Mitsui, the acquisition of a major stake in Minh Phu is pursuant to its medium term management plan to focus on nutrition and agriculture as new growth areas. Mitsui & Co., Ltd. engages in general trading. It has mostly operated in iron and steel production, minerals and metal resources, machinery and infrastructure, chemicals, and energy. The company was founded on July 1, 1876 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Minh Phu recorded consolidated revenues of VND17 trillion ($726.5 million) in 2018, up 7.9 percent over the previous year. Its consolidated after-tax profits for the year grew by 13.4 percent, to VND810 billion ($34.67 million). Vietnams logistics industry will need an extra two million workers by 2030, but vocational schools are not up to producing them. "The demand for human resources in logistics is very high; however, graduates of vocational schools do not meet the requirements of employers in both quality and quantity," says Vietnam Logistics Associations (VLA) president Le Duy Hiep. Hiep was speaking at the Forum on Human Resource Development in the Logistics Industry and Future Trends in Vietnam recently held in Ho Chi Minh City. Developing sufficient human resources in this sector requires the central government, localities, logistics companies and vocational schools to work together, he said. The vast majority of Vietnams logistics workforce are trained in-house, and only recently have institutions implemented formal training programs, leading to major shortages in a sector that grows at nearly 10 percent a year. "The biggest difficulty is finding a worker with sufficient technical knowledge and English proficiency, most recruits we hire have to be retrained before they can start working. This is very expensive and time consuming for us," said Tran Thi Hanh, owner of a cosmetics business. According to the VLA, from now until 2020, Vietnams logistics industry will require around 200,000 high quality workers, with professional qualifications, skills and English proficiency. This number will rise to two million by 2030 to cater to new demands in the Industry 4.0 area. A costly sector Vietnams logistics sector, despite being crucial to the economy, has typically suffered exorbitantly high costs and made relatively low contributions to GDP. The sector contributes just 3-4 percent to Vietnams GDP every year, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said at a logistics forum last December. The cost of logistics services in Vietnam at the end of 2018 accounted for 25 percent of the countrys GDP, while the rate was just 9.5 percent in the U.S, 11 percent in Japan, 16 percent in South Korea, and 21.6 percent in China, said the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI). According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the main constraint for the sectors growth is that there are many small firms and few large-scale ones. Of 3,000 logistic firms in Vietnam, 90 percent have a registered capital of less than VND10 billion ($429,400), while just five percent have between VND10-20 billion ($429,400-$858,800), and the remaining five percent, over VND20 billion, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc had said at a conference last year that Vietnams logistics costs were also driven by the high costs of transporting goods via land. In Vietnam, transportation accounts for 59 percent of all logistics costs, he said. Phuc called for infrastructure improvements so Vietnam can stop excessive reliance on land-based transportation. The PM said he wanted the countrys logistics costs to drop to 16-20 percent of GDP by 2025, but at the same time, he also said that logistics companies should aim for revenue growth of 15-20 percent by 2025. Last year, the World Bank ranked Vietnam 36th among 160 countries in the world and third in ASEAN on the Logistics Performance Index, up 35 places from 2016. World Bank country director Ousmane Dione said that the logistics sector in Vietnam has a lot of potential to grow, as over $1 billion worth of goods cross Vietnams borders every day, a load that increases 10 percent a year. Tinder and other online dating apps are gaining popularity among young Vietnamese. Photo by Shutterstock/BigTunaOnline An increasing number of Vietnamese are turning to online dating apps to look for their future partner. When Quynh first heard about Tinder, she was not convinced it would actually work, but downloaded it anyway out of curiosity. The app allows users to browse through thousands of profiles to find an interesting one. If two people are matched, they can start an online conversation. Sitting with a group of single friends at a weekend party recently after a busy week, Quynh heard the story of a man and a woman sitting next to each other at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi when they were matched by the app. They went on to become a couple. "It sounded too good to be true, but I didnt know many men at school and office, so I wanted to give it a try," the 25-year-old, who works for an NGO in the capital, said. On the first day she was matched with over 50 people. Quynh is not alone. Many of her friends are also active on Tinder and other apps such as Grindr and Bumble. "It would be hard to find a young adult who has never heard of online dating apps these days," she said. Hai, a 28-year-old government worker from the northern coastal city of Hai Phong, said he has chatted with hundreds of people since starting to use dating apps in 2013. "Its so easy to start a conversation with someone without prior background information, and you can do that not with just one but many." In a rapidly growing economy where people are buried under work and surrounded by smart devices, Quynh and Hai are among the increasing number of young Vietnamese who are turning to online dating apps as a quick and easy solution to find real-life relationships. Dating apps are believed to be an ideal solution for young people surrounded by smart devices. Photo by Shutterstock/XuanHuongHo While many Vietnamese parents still like their children to get married "in time," young adults are opting to get married later as they prioritize education and careers ahead of a family life. Most youth in their country make their own decisions on finding a partner, and do not subject themselves to parents' matchmaking efforts, although parental approval still plays a role in marriages. Dating apps have stepped in as a convenient option for people busy with career responsibilities. Phung, 28, a staff at a media company in Hanoi where the majority of employees are women, said: "There arent a lot of opportunities for me to find my significant other. Most people I know talk a lot about dating apps, so I signed up for an account, just for fun at first." But what initially was "just for fun" led to something more serious when she was matched with an American. He became her boyfriend four days after they first met at a popular egg coffee place. Together they went to her friends wedding, movies and her parents place. "I came to the app without much expectation, but the guy I was matched with created a big impression in me." Psychiatris La Thi Buoi said dating apps offer a new and exciting experience to young people who are looking for unusual diversions from their regular routine. "Young Vietnamese now want more freedom in their decisions. Whether they seriously look for relationships or just to browse through interesting profiles, dating apps give them the freedom they need." That freedom is what Hai desires. His friends and family introduced potential partners to him, but he found the traditional process awkward and uncomfortable, while the app offered a new way to get to know someone. "People seem to be more open when I meet them through apps as they do this by choice, not compulsion." There are an estimated 10 million single people in Vietnam. Facebook recently introduced its own dating function in the country, seeking to leverage its 58 million users, the seventh highest in the world. But a dating app does not guarantee a serious relationship. Psychologist La Linh Nga said that though an app could be a great way to establish new relationships, many people, especially men, tend to use it for sexual purposes. "I have women patients reporting that their matches touched them or expressed their desire for sex. The girls were disappointed and shocked." Some people treat these apps like a game and create a variety of profiles for themselves, she added. Quynh said there were times when she was "addicted" to checking hundreds of profiles a day, only to be matched with men who directly or indirectly suggested they meet for sex. "The half-naked photos, shallow descriptions and boring conversations led me to delete the app. Most of the people I found on Tinder looked for one-night stands. It is not a place for a girl who still believes in fairy tales." Phung, who found the American boyfriend through an app, still uses the app, but with lowered expectations. Their relationship ended recently. Though their journey together began with the assistance of a digital matchmaker, they had to face all the challenges of a normal couple: fighting, compromising and breaking up. "A dating app cannot automatically solve all your relationship problems. That is in your hands." Vietnam Airlines has responded to repeated in-flight thefts in recent years by training staff to be more alert and warning passengers not to keep money and other valuable assets in their cabin luggage. Photo by Shutterstocks/anvu A Chinese national has been detained in HCMC after allegedly stealing luggage from another passenger on a Vietnam Airlines flight. The 39-year-old Chinese suspect, whose name has not been disclosed, took a bag containing VND14 million ($602) and a smartphone worth over VND20 million ($860) belonging to a Vietnamese passenger sitting close to him on a flight from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City on Monday night, police said, as cited by media reports. Around 10 p.m., the passenger spotted someone opening the overhead luggage compartment and acting suspiciously. He checked his luggage immediately and found that his bag was missing. He looked around and discovered the Chinese man holding the bag he had lost. The passenger reported to the chief flight attendant. When the Chinese passenger realized he was being filmed by the victim and the flight attendant, he put the bag back in the overhead compartment. When the plane landed, the victim reported the theft to security authorities at Tan Son Nhat Airport, who detained the Chinese man and turned him over to HCMC police for further investigation. Several Chinese nationals have been caught for theft aboard flights in Vietnam in recent years, but authorities have yet to take effective measures to stop it. In January, a Chinese national was detained at Hanois Noi Bai airport for allegedly stealing $431 from a Vietnam Airlines passenger. Vietnam Airlines has responded by training staff to be more alert, a representative said. The national airline has also warned its passengers not to keep money and other valuable assets in their cabin luggage. Vietnamese laws treat theft as a criminal offense if the stolen property's value exceeds VND2 million ($87). An Irrawaddy dolphin, dead and stored in ice, is caught in the Co Chien River of the southern province of Ben Tre, May 15, 2019. Photo by VnExpress/Vinh Nam An Irrawaddy dolphin, not seen in decades in Vietnam, was caught by a fisherman in the southern province of Ben Tre on Wednesday. Phan Van Thai, 49, and his wife were fishing on the Co Chien River in Cho Lach District when they heard a loud splashing sound. On further inspection, they discovered a creature they could not identify trapped in their net. "Ive been fishing for the last 20 years, but I have never seen any fish as big and strange as this one," Thai said. The creature was approximately 2.3 meters (7.5 feet) long and weighed 150 kilograms (330 pounds). The animal was dead, and Thai stored it in ice and waited for authorities to identify it. It was later identified as an Irrawaddy dolphin, a species of dolphin previously thought to have disappeared from Vietnam's Mekong River, Vu Long, director of the Center for Biodiversity Conservation and Endangered Species, told the media. "In the last 30 years scientists have not recorded an Irrawaddy dolphin in Vietnam. I believe that the discovery of this dolphin species in the Co Chien River is an important, ground-breaking discovery that necessitates a research project." The dolphin was an old female which had lost all her teeth, he added. DNA samples of the dolphin were taken and its discovery was reported to the Directorate of Fisheries and the Department for Nature Conservation and Biodiversity. The Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris) is an euryhaline species of oceanic dolphin that lives in brackish water near coasts, river mouths and in estuaries, including the Mekong area in Southeast Asia. It is protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Some populations in Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam are classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as critically endangered. A World Wildlife Fund repesentative told Thanh Nien that the species had been thought to be extinct in Vietnam and Laos. A person violating regulations on management and protection of endangered or rare animal species in Vietnam could be fined between VND500 million ($21,400) and VND2 billion ($85,800) and imprisoned for one to 15 years. A motorbike driver is covered up on a Hanoi street. Photo by VnExpress/Quy Doan Hanoi will be hit with extremely high levels of UV rays until next week, according to data from weather forecast sites. The capital is set to be exposed to an UV index of 11 from Friday to Sunday, World Weather Online says. AccuWeather forecasts that the maximum UV index in the city will reach 13 on Friday and Saturday, and 12 on Sunday, saying it will be "very hot." The UV index is an international standard measurement of the strength of ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Between 0 and 3 is considered low and above 11 is deemed extreme with radiation that could burn skin and damage eyes within 20-30 minutes. The capital city is also likely to experience maximum temperatures consistently above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), reaching as high as 46 degrees until next week, according to weather forecasts. High UV levels can accelerate skin aging and pose more severe threats like skin cancer, said Trinh Ngo Binh, a dermatologist based in Saigon. He advised people to avoid direct exposure to sunlight between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. and to wear sunscreens, sunglasses and brimmed hats if they have to go out under the sun. Hanoi is experiencing a heat wave until the end of this week because of a developing low-pressure area from the west, according to the National Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting Center. The capital city and other northern provinces could experience temperatures as high as 38 degrees Celsius within the period, the center said. Last month, Vietnam broke its national high temperature record as the mercury hit 43.4 degrees Celsius in the north central Ha Tinh Province, according to a forecaster at the French meteorological agency Meteo France. Weather experts have warned that Vietnam should brace for more heat waves set to sweep through the country this summer. A study published in the journal Climatic Change last September said that Southeast Asian nations like the Philippines and Vietnam would be most affected by heat-related mortality, along with countries in Southern Europe and South America. Vietnamese man has got three years in jail and $3,100 in fines for illegal logging and forest reserve encroachment in Malaysia. The sentence was handed down on Thursday, the Sun Daily reported. Huynh Van Van, 59, would have to spend another 16 months in jail if he cannot pay the fine. Van was punished for removing seven logs without a license and encroaching the Lentang Forest Reserve in Bentong District last March. Details of how he mangaged to move the logs have not been revealed. Van pleaded guilty to the charges against him. On Wednesday, Malaysia also fined two Vietnamese men $390,000, the highest ever fine levied for poaching in Malaysia, for illegal possession of leopard, bear and boar parts, U.K.-based wildlife conservation organization TRAFFIC reported. The duo would have to spend an additional 16 years in jail if they failed to pay the fines. Malaysia is home to swathes of jungle and a wide range of wildlife including elephants, orangutans and tigers, but they are also frequent targets of poachers and illegal loggers. A Bornean Clouded Leopard, found only on Borneo and Indonesia's Sumatra, is seen in the Deramakot Forest Reserve in Malaysia's Sabah state, November 6, 2017. Photo by Reuters/Michael Gordon A Malaysian court has fined two Vietnamese men $390,000 for illegal possession of leopard, bear and boar parts. The fine of MYR1.56 million is the highest fine ever levied for poaching in Malaysian history, the U.K.-based wildlife conservation organization TRAFFIC reported. The court also sentenced Hoang Van Viet, 29, and Nguyen Van Thiet, 26, to jail for two years for "illegal use of snares, illegal possession of totally protected species as well as protected species." The duo would have to spend an additional 16 years in jail if they failed to pay the fines, the court ruled. The two men were discovered with 141 wildlife animal parts and 22 snares on April 15 by Malaysias Wildlife and National Parks Department on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Media reports said the department believed the individual parts belonged to at least two leopards, three sun bears, and 12 wild boars. The case shows Malaysia is scoring early success in its recently announced attempt to curb poaching, particularly of the Malayan tiger, TRAFFIC said. This is the second time that Vietnamese citizens have been arrested for animal poaching in Malaysia this year. Last month, two Vietnamese men, aged 25 and 29, were arrested for possession of claws and teeth from the Malayan tiger. They also had teeth and claws from bears, teeth from wild boars, as well as hunting equipment including machetes, axes and wire for setting traps. Malaysia is home to swathes of jungle and a wide range of wildlife including elephants, orangutans and tigers, but these animals are frequently targeted by poachers. Party chief and President Nguyen Phu Trong wants more opportunities for private businesses but also warns against a complete dependence on this sector. Speaking at the opening of the 10th plenum of the 12th Party Central Committee on Thursday, he said, "The private economy is developing well." There should be no discrimination against private companies, and they should be treated equitably, he said. Trong called for appreciating, rewarding and even honoring private companies if they perform well and contribute significantly to the economy. But he also called for maintaining a balance between state-owned and private firms. "It is a fact that state-owned firms have made mistakes and caused losses in the past, but that does not mean we should disregard this sector and totally switch to the private economy." If either make mistakes, authorities in charge need to take action, getting them to fix their mistake, he said. Referring to foreign investment, he said it is good that Vietnam is attractive to foreign investors but proper institutions are needed to manage the foreign-invested sector and the economy should not depend largely on foreign firms. Vietnam has to integrate globally to ensure economic development but retain independence and self-reliance, he added. The country has more than one million private companies. Foreign investment in the first four months this year has risen by 80 percent year-on-year to $14.6 billion. The 10th plenum of the 12th Party Central Committee is scheduled to meet until Saturday, discussing major documents to prepare for the 12th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam in the first quarter of 2021. Trong, 75, hosted a key meeting with top government officials on Tuesday, making his first appearance in the media after several weeks of absence due to illness. He also led a meeting with the Politburo, the party's decision-making body, on Wednesday. A staff (C) from Vietnam National University in Hanoi talks about an artificial technology technique at an exhibition at the university in October 2019. Photo by VnExpress The Ministry of Science and Technology has been asked to follow five directions in promoting the application of advanced technology. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc was speaking at a conference in Hanoi on Wednesday discussing science, technology and innovation as a pillar for Vietnam's socio-economic development. He directed the ministry to propose policies to encourage and stimulate innovation for businesses, saying they have to be put at the center of the process. The role of universities and research institutes should be promoted in strengthening human resource developments for innovation. Research should be attached to business needs and the needs of the economy, he said. The PM also wanted the ministry to foster connections between innovation networks in the country and abroad. Intellectual connection centers play a key role in developing smart and sustainable cities around the world, and Vietnam should learn from them, he noted. The ministry should also increase its governance capacity for innovation and strengthen institutions for this purpose, he said. The fifth direction the ministry should follow is to focus on developing new technologies to form new industries and products that create high added-value products, especially in areas that Vietnam has advantages in, like agriculture, processing, manufacturing and information technology, the PM said. He said the country should identify science, technology and innovation as the foundation for promoting rapid and sustainable development. The PM also expressed his hope that every ministry, sector, locality, organization and enterprise would join hands to promote innovation and effectively use science and technology to achieve sustainable development breakthroughs. He added Vietnam also desires continued cooperation and support from the World Bank, other countries and international organizations in developing its innovation ecosystem. Vendors at their pork stalls at a market in Hekou Yao Autonomous County, Yunnan province, China, May 3, 2019. Photo by Reuters/Wong Campion The same week U.S. President Donald Trump announced sweeping increases on tariffs against Chinese goods, Chinese buyers dropped orders for 3,247 metric tons of U.S. pork. It was the biggest cancellation in more than a year, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data released on Thursday. The cancellation came during the week ended May 9, a blow to the $6.5 billion export market for American pork, vital to the burgeoning U.S. meat industry. Prior to the trade war, China and Hong Kong combined were the second largest export market for U.S. pork. For months, the U.S. farm sector - which has been among the hardest hit by the trade war between the world's two largest economies - has been banking on China increasing its U.S. pork purchases due to African swine fever (ASF). But the trade war, and China's tariffs against U.S. pork, is showing signs of slowing China's willingness to load up on the meat, say industry analysts. Earlier this year, China canceled sales of 53 metric tons in the week ended February 28, sales of 999 metric tonnes in the week ended March 21, and 214 metric tons in the week ended April 18, according to USDA data. Market analysts said the cancellation news on Thursday weighed on the lean hog futures market. "It's just disappointing that this trade war could drag on for months and that means more tariffs on pork," said Dennis Smith, commodity broker with Archer Financial Services. "This should not be happening. We should be selling a lot of pork to China, because of ASF." African swine fever kills almost all pigs infected, though it is not harmful to people. The disease has spread rapidly across China, the world's top pork producer. In neighboring Vietnam the government said it will mobilize its military and police forces to combat an outbreak. USDA said on Thursday that it will soon begin testing sick and dead pigs for the hog virus that has killed herds across Asia in an effort to minimize devastation if the disease enters the United States. Westinghouse Electric Company ("Westinghouse") announced today (5/16) that Jose Emeterio Gutierrez will step down as President and Chief Executive Officer on July 31, 2019, following more than a decade of service with the company. Patrick Fragman, currently Group Senior Vice President at ABB Limited, has been appointed as President and CEO effective August 19. In the interim, an Executive Committee comprised of members of Westinghouse's senior leadership team will manage the day-to-day affairs of the company. Gutierrez joined Westinghouse in 2008 as technical director of Nuclear Services and Regional Vice President of Spain and took on progressively more senior roles before being appointed interim President and CEO in 2016 and President and CEO in 2017. Under his leadership, Westinghouse successfully emerged from Chapter 11 as a leaner, stronger organization focused on its core business. Gutierrez will continue to have a strategic role with Westinghouse as a member of a Global Advisory Board, an entity being established to provide guidance on Westinghouse's international strategy to drive global growth. "It has been an honor to serve as President and CEO of Westinghouse, a truly iconic company and global leader in the nuclear industry," said Gutierrez. "I look forward to continuing to support the company's international growth strategy as a member of the Global Advisory Board." "On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to thank Jose for his contributions as President and CEO during a transformative time for the business," said Denis Turcotte, Chair, Westinghouse Board of Directors. "We look forward to welcoming Patrick, a respected global executive in the sector, with deep expertise of both the industry and markets in which Westinghouse operates. We are confident the business is well positioned to continue to strengthen and grow under his leadership." Patrick Fragman will bring almost 30 years of global power and energy services experience to the role of President and CEO. Most recently, as Group Senior Vice President of ABB Limited's Grid Integration business, he is accountable for an industry-leading global portfolio delivering leading power transmission systems, services and software solutions. Before joining ABB, Fragman spent 15 years at Alstom in senior roles based in the U.S., France, Canada, and China, most recently leading its nuclear business, contributing to significant growth of customer contracts and new offerings. Earlier in his career, Fragman worked in various energy-focused roles within the French government. "I am delighted to have the opportunity to lead Westinghouse, an industry leader with a reputation for best-in-class customer service and innovation," said Fragman. "I look forward to working with employees and Westinghouse stakeholders to further build momentum as a leading provider of key services to the world's nuclear fleet." Westinghouse Electric Company is the world's pioneering nuclear energy company and is a leading supplier of nuclear plant products and technologies to utilities throughout the world. Westinghouse supplied the world's first commercial pressurized water reactor in 1957 in Shippingport, Pa., U.S. Today, Westinghouse technology is the basis for approximately one-half of the world's operating nuclear plants. For more information, please visit www.westinghousenuclear.com. Westinghouse is a subsidiary of Brookfield Business Partners, a business services and industrials company focused on owning and operating high-quality businesses that benefit from barriers to entry and/or low production costs. Brookfield Business Partners is listed on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges. For more information, visit https://bbu.brookfield.com Brookfield Business Partners is the flagship listed business services and industrials company of Brookfield Asset Management Inc., a leading global alternative asset manager with more than $365 billion of assets under management. For more information, please visit https://bbu.brookfield.com. Contact: Sarah Cassella Manager, External Communications Westinghouse Electric Company Telephone: +1 412-374- 4744 Email: cassels@westinghouse.com API President and CEO Mike Sommers today(5/16) named Lynn Granger executive director of the Colorado Petroleum Council. Granger joins the Colorado Petroleum Council from Colorado Concern, a leading business advocacy association in the Mountain West, where she served as chief operating officer. "Colorado is a cornerstone of America's energy revolution, and Lynn possesses every leadership quality needed to lead our industry forward in the state," said Sommers. "The natural gas and oil industry thrives on collaborative, proactive engagement with stakeholders on every side of energy policy issues, and Lynn's breadth of experience in government, military and business matters is uniquely suited for this role. We are thrilled to welcome her to our team." Granger joins the Colorado Petroleum Council from Colorado Concern, where she led all operational and strategic execution for the organization, supporting legislative candidates and statewide policies that promote a sound economic future for Colorado. Previously, she was the Communications Director for the Colorado Department of Revenue, where she served as the department's subject matter expert and primary media liaison for all outreach and engagement efforts. Granger began her career as a soldier in the U.S. Army before embarking on a civilian communications career which included service as strategic communications advisor to the Commander of United States Army Europe, a 3-star billet, based in Wiesbaden, Germany. "This is a pivotal time for energy policy, both in Colorado and across the nation," said Granger. "The Colorado Petroleum Council has quickly established its leadership in an industry that supports 232,900 jobs in Colorado. I am honored to have the opportunity to bring industry, community, and government leaders together to ensure that Colorado continues to lead the nation in balancing safe, responsible development with strong environmental stewardship." In her new role, Granger will lead API's efforts in the state, helping the natural gas and oil industry create jobs, generate more revenue for the state and make America less reliant on foreign energy. The Colorado Petroleum Council is a division of API, which represents all segments of America's oil and natural gas industry. Its more than 600 members produce, process, and distribute most of the nation's energy. The industry supports 10.3 million U.S. jobs and is backed by a growing grassroots movement of more than 47 million Americans. API was formed in 1919 as a standards-setting organization. In its first 100 years, API has developed more than 700 standards to enhance operational and environmental safety, efficiency and sustainability. The California Energy Commission today (5/15) approved nearly $11 million for clean energy demonstration projects, including biofuels, renewable gas, and microgrids. The Energy Commission approved a $2 million grant to Technology & Investment Solutions to demonstrate a more sustainable and cost-effective process of creating biomethane from food waste at an existing anaerobic digester in El Mirage. The fuel produced is expected to power a local fleet of waste hauling trucks. The project was funded by the Energy Commission's Alternative and Renewable Fuels and Vehicle Technology Program, which supports clean transportation innovation. The Energy Commission awarded a $2 million grant to West Biofuels and nearly $2 million to Taylor Energy for projects demonstrating innovative technologies to produce renewable gas using wood waste from trees killed by the state's bark beetle infestation and drought. The projects were funded by the Energy Commission's Natural Gas Research Program, which invests in technologies and solutions that help the natural gas sector support California's energy and environmental goals. The Energy Commission also approved a nearly $5 million grant to Zero Net Energy Alliance to demonstrate advanced microgrids at schools and residential areas in the City of Lancaster. The project's distributed energy resources will be integrated and managed by a virtual power plant that optimizes cost savings, revenue generation, and grid resilience. The project hopes to serve as a model for the affordable and feasible deployment of solar photovoltaic generation and battery storage technologies in communities throughout the state. The Electric Program Investment Charge Program, which supports clean energy research, is funding the project. The City of San Luis Obispo also received a $3 million, 1 percent Energy Conservation Assistance Act Program loan for a solar energy and hydroelectric generation system at the city's water treatment plant. The project is expected to produce annual energy savings of more than $265,000. More details are available in the business meeting agenda. About the California Energy Commission The California Energy Commission is the state's primary energy policy and planning agency. It has seven core responsibilities: advancing state energy policy, encouraging energy efficiency, certifying thermal power plants, investing in energy innovation, developing renewable energy, transforming transportation, and preparing for energy emergencies. As part of its ongoing effort to reduce CO2 emissions from its vehicles and operations, Honda is conducting research with Ohio-based electric utility American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) to develop a network of used electric vehicle (EV) batteries that could be integrated into AEP's electricity system. The project seeks to address multiple challenges related to the expansion of EVs, including the repurposing of used EV batteries, the expected impact of EV demand and renewable energy on the nation's utility operators and the integration of EV batteries as a storage solution for the electric grid. The increasing volume of EVs has the potential to strain the power grid, including spikes in demand during early evening hours when drivers plug in their EVs after work. Storing additional power in used EV batteries can help utilities meet demand by using renewable energy resources. "Together with AEP, we are exploring opportunities to use the 2nd life battery to improve energy security, reduce CO2 and prepare for broad scale electrification of the transportation ecosystem," said Ryan Harty, manager of Connected and Environmental Business, American Honda Motor Co., Inc. "Neither automakers nor utilities can address these complex technical, policy and business issues alone." Honda will provide used Fit EV batteries to AEP, which will study integrating the batteries into the utility's electricity grid. "AEP is focused on building a smarter, cleaner energy grid and putting in place new technologies that will benefit our customers. We are excited about the possibilities of this collaboration as we work to create the energy system for the future," said Ram Sastry, AEP's vice president of Innovation and Technology. AEP and Honda will jointly gain knowledge and expertise from the pilot project that will help both companies to develop technology and standards for future vehicle grid integration, as well as new business models to improve the value of EVs. The Honda Fit EV launched in 2012 with a fuel economy of 118 MPGe. The lease-only vehicle gained a loyal following among passionate EV customers. Although replaced by the Honda Clarity family of electrified vehicles, including the Clarity Electric, the Fit EV's durable battery will continue to support Honda's efforts to reduce CO2 emissions through its 2nd life in the vehicle grid integration project. Honda has set a voluntary goal to reduce CO2 emissions from its vehicles and operations by 50 percent by 2050 compared to the year 2000, and toward this goal has announced plans to electrify two-thirds of its fleet by 2030. In addition to producing zero emission vehicles, the company is developing vehicle grid integration solutions, including the beta Honda SmartChargeTM program, which incentivizes Honda EV customers to charge their vehicles when more renewable energy resources are online. At CES 2019, Honda introduced its prototype Wireless Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) bi-directional energy management system that has the potential to reduce CO2 and create new value for Honda customers. About Honda Based on its vision of "Blue Skies for Our Children," Honda is working to advance technologies that address society's environmental and energy concerns. In North America, the Honda Electrification Initiative will see Honda's electrified powertrain technologies applied to an expanding portfolio of cars and light trucks in the years ahead. Honda's electrified vehicle lineup today includes the Clarity series of vehicles, featuring fuel cell, battery electric and plug-in hybrid powertrains, along with the new Accord Hybrid and Honda Insight. Honda is focused on reducing the environmental impact of its products throughout their life cycle, including reducing waste, emissions and further improving the energy efficiency of producing, distributing and selling Honda and Acura products in North America. This includes a 93 percent reduction in waste sent to landfills from Honda plants in North America. Seeking to further minimize its carbon footprint, Honda is actively deploying renewable energy throughout its operations, including wind and solar. Through its "green purchasing" and "green dealer" initiatives, the company also is committed to promoting more environmentally responsible business practices with its more than 650 original equipment suppliers and 1,300 retail dealer partners. About AEP American Electric Power, based in Columbus, Ohio, is focused on building a smarter energy infrastructure and delivering new technologies and custom energy solutions to our customers. AEP's approximately 18,000 employees operate and maintain the nation's largest electricity transmission system and more than 219,000 miles of distribution lines to efficiently deliver safe, reliable power to nearly 5.4 million regulated customers in 11 states. AEP also is one of the nation's largest electricity producers with more than 32,000 megawatts of diverse generating capacity, including more than 5,000 megawatts of renewable energy. AEP's family of companies includes utilities AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power (in Virginia and West Virginia), AEP Appalachian Power (in Tennessee), Indiana Michigan Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Electric Power Company (in Arkansas, Louisiana, east Texas and the Texas Panhandle). AEP also owns AEP Energy, AEP Energy Partners, AEP OnSite Partners, and AEP Renewables, which provide innovative competitive energy solutions nationwide. For more information, visit aep.com. OGE Energy Corp. (NYSE: OGE) Chairman, President and CEO Sean Trauschke today (5/16) told the company's shareholders that the company is "strong and built for the long term." Speaking at the company's annual meeting, Trauschke said he was pleased with the performance of both OG&E, Oklahoma's largest investor-owned utility, and Enable Midstream, in which the company owns interest, as both had contributed to the company's ability to invest in its customers, and maintain utility rates that are 31 percent below the national average. "2018 will be the benchmark the company uses to gauge future performance. OG&E completed its largest ever investment program, wrapping up more than $6 billion of infrastructure investment since 2011, on time, under budget and while receiving recognition as the safest utility in the Southeastern Electric Exchange," Trauschke said. "At Enable, we're seeing continued solid operational and financial results, while volumes are increasing across all of their business segments." Trauschke also said he's proud of the company's ability to maintain customer rates while reducing emissions and growing its customer base. "Overall plant emissions are significantly lower from 2005 levels, while our customer rates are actually lower today than in 2011. Keeping rates low is an important catalyst to attracting additional customers, which, in turn, helps us deliver increased shareholder value." Looking ahead, he said the company will continue to focus on growing the business through an enhanced customer experience at affordable rates. "The new assets we've put into operation have increased fleet resiliency for customer benefit. We will continue to leverage our smart meters and technology that increases reliability and reduces outage response and restoration times." The OGE Energy board of directors also declared a third quarter dividend of $0.365 per common share of stock, to be paid July 30, 2019, to shareholders of record July 10, 2019. The dividend was unchanged from the previous quarter. In September 2018, the company increased its dividend from $1.33 per share to $1.46 per share, marking the fifth consecutive year the dividend was increased 10 percent. This year marks the 73rd consecutive year OGE has paid dividends to shareholders. In voting announced at the annual meeting, OGE Energy shareholders: Elected 10 members of the company's board of directors to one-year terms: Frank A. Bozich , president and chief executive officer at Trinseo, was re-elected. He has been a director of OGE Energy since February 2016 . James H. Brandi , former managing director of BNP Paribas Securities Corp., was re-elected. He has been a director of OGE Energy since February 2010 . Peter D. Clarke , former partner of Jones Day , a law firm, was re-elected. He has been a director of OGE Energy since February 2018 . Luke R. Corbett , former chairman and chief executive officer of Kerr-McGee, was re-elected. He has been a director of OGE Energy since December 1996 . David L. Hauser , former chairman and chief executive officer of FairPoint Communications Inc., was re-elected. He has been a director of OGE Energy since July 2015 . Judy R. McReynolds , chairman, president and chief executive officer of ArcBest Corporation, was re-elected. She has been a director of OGE Energy since July 2011 . David E. Rainbolt , executive chairman of Bancfirst Corporation. He has been a director of OGE Energy since January 2019 . J. Michael Sanner , former audit partner of Ernst & Young LLP, an accounting firm, was re-elected. Mr. Sanner has been a director of OGE Energy since September 2017 . Sheila G. Talton , president and chief executive officer of Gray Matter Analytics, was re-elected. She has been a director of OGE Energy since September 2013 . Sean Trauschke , current chairman, president and chief executive officer of OGE Energy Corp. and OG&E, was re-elected. He has been a director of OGE Energy since May 2015 . Ratified the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as the company's principal independent accountants for 2019; Approved, on an advisory basis, the compensation paid to named executive officers; A shareholder proposal that requests that the board of directors take the steps necessary to change the voting requirements in the company's governing documents that call for a greater than simple majority received a majority of the votes cast. Today's vote on the shareholder proposal, however, does not change the current voting standards, as that would require an amendment to the company's certificate of incorporation, which must be approved by holders of at least 80 percent of the company's outstanding common stock. OGE Energy is the parent company of Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company, a regulated electric utility serving approximately 852,000 customers in Oklahoma and western Arkansas. In addition, OGE holds a 25.5 percent limited partner interest and a 50 percent general partner interest of Enable Midstream Partners, LP. Some of the matters discussed in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements are intended to be identified in this document by the words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "objective", "plan", "possible", "potential", "project" and similar expressions. Actual results may vary materially. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to: general economic conditions, including the availability of credit, access to existing lines of credit, access to the commercial paper markets, actions of rating agencies and their impact on capital expenditures; the ability of the Company and its subsidiaries to access the capital markets and obtain financing on favorable terms as well as inflation rates and monetary fluctuations; the ability to obtain timely and sufficient rate relief to allow for recovery of items such as capital expenditures, fuel costs, operating costs, transmission costs and deferred expenditures; prices and availability of electricity, coal, natural gas and NGLs; the timing and extent of changes in commodity prices, particularly natural gas and NGLs, the competitive effects of the available pipeline capacity in the regions Enable serves, and the effects of geographic and seasonal commodity price differentials, including the effects of these circumstances on re-contracting available capacity on Enable's interstate pipelines; the timing and extent of changes in the supply of natural gas, particularly supplies available for gathering by Enable's gathering and processing business and transporting by Enable's interstate pipelines, including the impact of natural gas and NGLs prices on the level of drilling and production activities in the regions Enable serves; business conditions in the energy and natural gas midstream industries, including the demand for natural gas, NGLs, crude oil and midstream services; competitive factors including the extent and timing of the entry of additional competition in the markets served by the Company; the impact on demand for our services resulting from cost-competitive advances in technology, such as distributed electricity generation and customer energy efficiency programs; technological developments, changing markets and other factors that result in competitive disadvantages and create the potential for impairment of existing assets; factors affecting utility operations such as unusual weather conditions; catastrophic weather-related damage; unscheduled generation outages, unusual maintenance or repairs; unanticipated changes to fossil fuel, natural gas or coal supply costs or availability due to higher demand, shortages, transportation problems or other developments; environmental incidents; or electric transmission or gas pipeline system constraints; availability and prices of raw materials for current and future construction projects; the effect of retroactive pricing of transactions in the SPP markets or adjustments in market pricing mechanisms by the SPP; Federal or state legislation and regulatory decisions and initiatives that affect cost and investment recovery, have an impact on rate structures or affect the speed and degree to which competition enters the Company's markets; environmental laws, safety laws or other regulations that may impact the cost of operations or restrict or change the way the Company operates its facilities; changes in accounting standards, rules or guidelines; the discontinuance of accounting principles for certain types of rate-regulated activities; the cost of protecting assets against, or damage due to, terrorism or cyberattacks and other catastrophic events; creditworthiness of suppliers, customers and other contractual parties; social attitudes regarding the utility, natural gas and power industries; identification of suitable investment opportunities to enhance shareholder returns and achieve long-term financial objectives through business acquisitions and divestitures; increased pension and healthcare costs; costs and other effects of legal and administrative proceedings, settlements, investigations, claims and matters; difficulty in making accurate assumptions and projections regarding future revenues and costs associated with the Company's equity investment in Enable that the Company does not control; and other risk factors listed in the reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission including those listed in Risk Factors in the Company's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018. Oklahoma FFA students will again have the opportunity to enhance their technical learning experience thanks to the continuation of a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) After-School Grants program made possible through a partnership between the Oklahoma FFA Foundation and Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO), a unit of American Electric Power (AEP). With support from the AEP Foundation, PSO is providing the funding for a total of $25,000 in grants to be awarded to Oklahoma FFA chapters in its service area that are active in the 2019-2020 school year. Grants will range from $1,000 to $5,000. "We're excited to continue our partnership with FFA to offer hands-on, STEM-related education to students in the areas we serve," said Tiffini Jackson, PSO Vice President - External Affairs. "These grants will help students learn technical and critical thinking skills that can help set them on a rewarding career path." Oklahoma FFA Foundation will be accepting STEM After-School Grants applications between June 3 and July 1, 2019. Priority will be given to applications with requests that benefit more than one chapter and will be sustainable over multiple years. "There are many of our chapters who are limited to learning about technology via the internet and what they see on a screen. We are so excited about these grants that will give chapters the opportunity to have technology at their fingertips," said Holly Blakey, Oklahoma FFA Foundation executive director. "Having equipment in their programs - and sharing among programs - will allow students hands-on learning with real life technology being used in the agricultural industry." Grant applications are available at www.okffa.org/foundation. Chapters receiving grants will be announced at Oklahoma FFA COLT (Chapter Officer Leadership Training) conferences planned for later this summer. Public Service Company of Oklahoma, a unit of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), is an electric utility company serving more than 550,000 customer accounts in eastern and southwestern Oklahoma. Based in Tulsa, PSO has more than 3,800 megawatts of generating capacity and is one of the largest distributors of wind energy in the state. News releases, community & educational activities and other information can be found at www.PSOklahoma.com. Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @PSOklahoma. FFA is an integral part of the Agricultural Education division in the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education system. With more than 27,000 members and 360 chapters, the Oklahoma FFA Association is the fourth-largest state FFA association. The FFA mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education. To learn more about the Oklahoma FFA, visit www.okffa.org. ExxonMobil's program matches individual donations to accredited colleges and universities in the United States. The American Indian College Fund, Hispanic Scholarship Fund and United Negro College Fund are also eligible to receive donations as part of the matching gift program. While ExxonMobil's grants are unrestricted, colleges and universities are encouraged to designate a portion of the funds they receive to math and science programs supporting student engagement. "Supporting higher education, particularly in the areas of engineering, math and science, is critical in improving individual livelihoods as well as driving broader societal growth," said Kevin Murphy, president of the ExxonMobil Foundation. "We've long supported programs that improve educational outcomes and provide teachers with the tools they need to inspire our next generation of leaders and innovators." More than 800 accredited colleges and universities in the United States will receive a total of $50.4 million as part of the ExxonMobil Foundation's 2018 Educational Matching Gift Program. Nearly 4,000 ExxonMobil employees and retirees contributed more than $17 million to institutions of higher education in 2018, which will be matched with over $32 million in unrestricted grants from the foundation. ExxonMobil has donated nearly $700 million to American institutions of higher learning since the program began. ExxonMobil and the ExxonMobil Foundation also support programs that encourage students, particularly women and minorities, toward careers in science, technology, engineering and math, as well as teacher training initiatives. About the ExxonMobil Foundation The ExxonMobil Foundation is the primary philanthropic arm of Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) in the United States. The foundation and corporation engage in a range of philanthropic activities that advance education, with a focus on math and science in the United States, promote women as catalysts for economic development and combat malaria. In 2018, the ExxonMobil Foundation, together with Exxon Mobil Corporation, its divisions and affiliates, along with employees and retirees, provided more than $211 million in contributions worldwide, of which over $75 million was dedicated to education. Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. is pleased to announce the completion of two high-voltage direct current (HVDC) interconnector cable projects using crosslinked polyethylene (XLPE) insulated cables: 400-kV NEMO Link connecting the United Kingdom and Belgium, contracted with NEMO Link Limited through J-Power Systems Corporation,* 1 a subsidiary of Sumitomo Electric. a subsidiary of Sumitomo Electric. 250-kV Hokuto-Imabetsu HVDC Link connecting Hokkaido and Honshu, contracted with Hokkaido Electric Power Company (HEPCO). With the increasing capacity of renewable energy sources and the necessity of long-distance power interconnectors for efficient use of such renewable energy between countries and regions, HVDC cable technology, which is suitable for long-distance power transmission, has been gaining significant attention in international markets. In support of this trend, Sumitomo Electric has recently completed the construction of a 400-kV HVDC XLPE cable system, the highest voltage in the world for an HVDC-XLPE cable system, for NEMO Link, which connects the UK and Belgium. Sumitomo Electric has also completed construction of the Hokuto-Imabetsu HVDC Link with 250-kV HVDC XLPE cable, which will increase transmission capacity between Honshu (Japan's main island) and Hokkaido (Japan's northern island) along with the existing circuit for the Hokkaido-Honshu DC Interconnector that commenced commercial operation in 2012. The route length of this HVDC cable system is the longest in the world for an inter-strait tunnel. In addition to these recently-completed HVDC projects, Sumitomo Electric is currently constructing the first HVDC cable system in India. Sumitomo Electric will continue its endeavour to lead the global market by utilizing the Company's state-of-the-art HVDC cable technologies and experience in large-scale projects. Read the full press release. ELKO Family Resource Centers of Northeastern Nevada has earned the 2018 Platinum GuideStar Nonprofit Profile Seal of Transparency, the highest level of recognition offered by GuideStar, the worlds largest source of nonprofit information. By sharing metrics highlighting progress FRCNN is making toward its mission, the organization is helping donors move beyond simplistic ways of nonprofit evaluation such as overhead ratios. The GuideStar database contains a profile for every tax-exempt nonprofit registered with the IRS. GuideStar encourages every nonprofit to claim and update its profile at no cost to the organization. Updating allows nonprofits to share a wealth of up-to-date information with the more than 8 million people who visit GuideStar to learn more about nonprofit organizations each year. Updating also allows nonprofits to share information with the more than 200 philanthropic websites and applications that are powered by GuideStar data. To reach a given participation level, organizations need to complete all required fields for that participation level. The GuideStar participation levels, acknowledged as symbols of transparency in the nonprofit sector, are displayed on all updated participants profiles in the GuideStar database. The FRCNN Board of Directors and staff believe in being transparent about our work, said Vice President Tracy Miller, we are excited to convey our organizations results in a user-friendly and highly visual manner. By updating our GuideStar Nonprofit Profile to the Platinum level, we can now easily share a wealth of up-to-date organizational metrics with our supporters as well as GuideStars immense online audience, which includes donors, grantmakers, our peers, and the media. To reach the Platinum level, FRCNN added extensive information to its Nonprofit Profile on GuideStar: basic contact and organizational information; in-depth financial information; qualitative information about goals, strategies, and capabilities; and quantitative information about results and progress toward its mission. By taking the time to provide this information, FRCNN has demonstrated its commitment to transparency and to giving donors and funders meaningful data to evaluate FRCNN. Miller said, The Family Resource Center is a mission-driven organization. Board members and staff alike focus their actions on achieving our mission of enhancing the quality of life for Northeastern Nevada residents through education, programs and community connections. Research conducted by McKinsey & Company, has found that nonprofit organizations, despite the enormous difficulties, can measure their success in achieving their mission, and GuideStar is a way to capture success in a way that makes it easy for others to see and understand. McKinsey & Company is an American worldwide management consulting firm. They conduct qualitative and quantitative analysis to evaluate management decisions across public and private sectors. Widely considered the most prestigious management consultancy, McKinseys clientele includes 80% of the worlds largest corporations, and an extensive list of governments and non-profit organizations. I encourage everyone to visit our profile on GuideStar to see what were all about, added Miller. Were happy that our GuideStar Platinum Nonprofit Profile and its associated benefits help us better communicate our organizations initiatives at a global scale. The Family Resource Centers of Northeastern Nevada GuideStar profile can be found at https://www.guidestar.org/Profile/8434617. For more information about the programs and services provides by the Family Resource Center, contact them at 753-7352, or visit them in Elko at 331 Seventh St. Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 ELKO Committee members for the Spring Tour of Homes recently donated $14,000 to this years chosen recipient, Northeastern Nevada CASA. The Spring Tour of Homes is a nonprofit committee that organizes tours of about a dozen area homes every spring. Those who purchase tickets can tour many homes that are occupied or for sale and see the latest design trends and decor, as well as enter drawings for raffles. Volunteers for the Spring Tour of Homes donate time, services and raffle items as well as money. Major sponsors for the annual event donate $1,000 that goes to a different local charity each year. The biggest thing is just thanking our sponsors. They do this year after year for us, and honestly thats where we make the money to give back to the charities, said Tara Gonzalez, Spring Tour of Homes committee member. Gonzalez, a former CASA volunteer, spoke about how CASA was chosen this year. Its our chance as an industry to give back, to thank the community, to find out where the need is and then fill that need, said Gonzalez. I know they do a lot for the community. People dont really know much about them so bringing that awareness as well as helping them financially was huge. Northeastern Nevada CASA is a nonprofit organization that trains volunteers from the community to advocate on behalf of abused, neglected or abandoned children in Elko County. CASA volunteers then see to the best interests of the child until that child is in a safe, permanent home. According to Alana McKinney, CASA director, this is the largest single donation they have received from another community program and the money will be used to allow them to continue their efforts on behalf of the children in foster care in Elko County. We would like to express our appreciation to the Tour of Homes Committee and sponsors for the amazing event and for choosing CASA as the recipient of the fundraiser, said McKinney. On behalf of the CASA board, staff, volunteers and children I want to thank Tara Gonzalez, Dusty Shipp, Julie Bacon, Julie Chamberlain, Morgan Lozano, Ashley Beckwith and Juanita Gaeta for their work organizing and hosting the event. Thank you to all the sponsors for donations and raffle items. Without all of them this wouldnt be possible, McKinney added. Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Another joint mining venture is in the making as two Canadian companies have agreed to explore for gold, silver and vanadium at the intersection of the Battle Mountain and Getchell Gold Trends in Nevada. Victory Metals announced Friday that it has entered into an option agreement with Ethos Gold for precious metal rights at the Iron Point Vanadium Project. High priority, deep gold/silver drill targets have been proposed by Dr. Quinton Henningh, who will oversee the drilling program at Iron Point as technical advisor to Ethos, Victory Metals stated in a release. Hennigh, chairman and president of Novo Resourses Corp., is an economic geologist with more than 25 years of exploration experience with major gold mining firms including Homestake Mining Company, Newcrest Mining Limited and Newmont Mining Corp., according to Bloomberg.com. Victory plans to target vanadium as a priority. The rare element is used in steel alloys for products such as high-speed jet engines. Iron Point has been the focus of over $20M of historical gold exploration by key operators including Newmont, Chevron Resources, Santa Fe, Kennecott, and Newcrest, said Victory Metals Executive Chairman Paul Matysek. Anomalous gold has been found in many places near surface, as well as significant intercepts indictivate of Carlin style gold mineralization. The company was formed last year after discussion with Henningh sparked the realization of the presence of vanadium at the site. We are delighted to have come to an agreement with Victory to pursue a drill program targeting Carlin style gold mineralization at Iron Point, and as well to have Dr. Quinton Henningh on board to guide and oversee this drill program, said Ethos Chairman Craig Roberts. The substantial work at Iron Point and new interpretation by Dr. Henningh has defined this new conceptual Carlin style target and we are very excited to be moving forward with drilling to test this model. We anticipate commencing drilling at Iron Point in the very near future. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 2 Sad 0 Angry 1 May 16 Gerald W. Bates, 33, of Salt Lake City was arrested on a felony warrant for sexual assault against a child younger than 16. Bail: $500,000 Michael T. Boharsik, 29, of Sun Valley was arrested at the Douglas County Jail on a warrant for failure to appear after bail on a felony crime. Bail: $40,000 Maelynn M. Esparza, 24, of West Wendover was arrested in Wendover for violation of probation or condition of suspended sentence. No bail Ira M. Grywusiewicz, 23, of Hagerman, Idaho was arrested at the Duck Valley Indian Reservation on a warrant for two counts of contempt of court. Bail: $500 Chi C. Hwang, 45, of Salt Lake City was arrested on a warrant for two counts of destroying the property of another. Bail: $10,000 Bryon H. Littlefair, 49, of Elko was arrested at Elko County Jail on a felony warrant for obtaining money, property or labor under false pretense. Bail: $20,000 Randy A. McGee, 38, of Elko was arrested at the Nevada Division of Child and Family Services office in Elko for attempted murder and domestic battery by strangulation. Bail: $120,000 Joice K. Romaine, 26, of Crescent Valley was arrested at Fourth and Silver streets for felony possession of a controlled substance, possession of a hypodermic device, driving without a drivers license, and for violation of probation or condition of suspended sentence. No bail Gage L. Withers, 24, of Spring Creek was arrested at Elko County Jail on a warrant for three counts of failure to appear after bail on a misdemeanor crime. Bail: $1,245 The charges above do not imply guilt. Under the law, everyone is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 1 The speakers, honorees, and marshals for Thursdays Universitywide ceremony offer words of wisdom to the Class of 2019. We asked the commencement keynote speaker, honorary degree recipients, honorary marshals, and student remarker what advice they would like to pass along to UMBs Class of 2019. Here are their responses: Barbara Pierce Bush Founder and board chair, Global Health Corps Keynote speaker Stay open and curious. I once was on a clear path to becoming an architect, a job Id always dreamed of. 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. Victoria Hale, BSP 83, PhD Adjunct professor, University of California, San Francisco School of Pharmacy, and founder, OneWorld Health and Medicines360 Honorary Doctor of Sciences Make time in your life to be quiet in our noisy world, examine what is in your heart and honor that, allow your heart to guide your professional journey, and be of service to others. Philip Needleman, PhD 64, MS Emeritus trustee and chair of the National Council, Washington University School of Medicine Honorary Doctor of Sciences Be ready for and embrace major and constant change. The awesome power of genetics, information technology, and CRISPR/CAS [DNA editing] will change the world as we know it! Robert Beardsley, PhD, MS Professor and vice chair for administration, Department of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research, School of Pharmacy Honorary University Marshal Rejoice in the amount of knowledge you now have, but be aware of what you dont know which will become very obvious the first day you assume your next position. Jacquelyn L. Fried, RDH, MS Retired associate professor and director, Division of Dental Hygiene, School of Dentistry Honorary Student Marshal Do what you love. To me, passion sparks success. If an opportunity presents itself and rings your chimes, go for it. One other piece of advice: Do not be afraid to take risks. There is only one you make your mark! Jane Lipscomb, PhD, RN, MS, FAAN Retired professor, School of Nursing, and director, UMB Center for Community-Based Engagement and Learning Honorary Faculty Marshal Try to always be guided by how you can make the greatest impact on the lives of the public. Money and prestige are so fleeting when compared to making a difference. Sarah Montague Shepson Francis King Carey School of Law Student Remarker I offer two pieces of wisdom from Maya Angelou. The first: Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better. The second: Nothing will work unless you do. More on commencement Read more about the speakers, honorees, and all of the graduation festivities at UMBs Commencement 2019 website. The unjustified prescription and abuse of immediate-release fentanyl, a potent opioid, has put the Spanish authorities on alert. The Health Ministry and Spains regional governments have decided to establish a working group to evaluate and improve the use of opioids, particularly when delivered in forms that pose a greater risk of addiction, said sources who participated in the latest Interterritorial Council, which adopted the decision. The move follows the publication of data on opioid consumption by the Spanish Medicine Agency (Aemps) indicating a 79% increase between 2010 and 2017. Some experts note this is simply due to fentanyl being used more widely for legitimate medical purposes. If its on the increase, its because pain is being treated more and better M Angeles Canos, La Fe Hospital If its on the increase, its because pain is being treated more often and in a better way, says Maria Angeles Canos, head of the Pain Unit at La Fe Hospital in Valencia. Theres no reason to stigmatize a family of very useful drugs that significantly improve patients quality of life. However, authorities have detected sporadic cases of unjustified prescriptions of immediate-release fentanyl, which is dispensed through inhalers or dissolved in the mouth, acting against pain more quickly than slow-release patches. This drug is up to 100 times stronger than morphine and is considered the most potent opioid on the market. It is also highly addictive and should only be prescribed in very particular circumstances, namely to cancer patients suffering from breakthrough pain, says Antonio Alcantara, secretary of the pain unit of the Spanish Society for Primary Healthcare Workers (Semergen). Breakthrough pain is sudden and temporary onslaught of intense pain. Patient pact Be familiar with the patient's background. The guidelines for chronic pain relief for non-cancer cases conclude that the most reliable indication of inappropriate use of opioids is a prior history of abuse. Health records. As the source of information on drug and prescribed drug abuse is the patient, a complete case history and regular check-ups are the best way to detect possible abuse. Digital prescriptions. These provide a record of medicines prescribed for the patient in both the private and public sector. Informed consent. This is a pact with the patient agreeing that if the treatment is not followed correctly, the prescription will be stopped and the patient sent to rehabilitation. That excludes non-cancer patients who have a greater life expectancy, and whose chronic pain must be treated with slow-release patches, he says. The use of immediate-release fentanyl should be restricted to the treatment of those suffering breakthrough pain. But specialists and the authorities are aware that immediate-release fentanyl is occasionally being too loosely prescribed. The Valencia regional government conducted a study in 2016 in which we saw an increase in use which did not match the diagnosis and exceeded the recommended dosage or treatment period, says Raquel Tena, deputy director general of pharmaceutical products at the Valencia health department. Following this investigation, 1,518 treatments were reviewed. C.R.B. is 43 and admits to being addicted to PecFent, one of the commercial brands of immediate-release fentanyl. Every day of my life, I curse the day I first tried it, he says. His back problems started with a herniated disc, which was operated on in 2000. A year later, a traffic accident displaced one of the implanted screws. You can see that I was used to living with pain, but it got much worse in 2015. The attacks were increasingly frequent and intense, and not only in the lower back region but also in the cervical area. C.R.B., who is weaning himself off the drug and prefers to remain anonymous, then started what he calls a pilgrimage from doctor to doctor in both the public and private sectors in search of a solution. In the end, you get into what people like me call the quest for El Dorado: the route that will get you a prescription of anything that will relieve the pain, he says. He first encountered opioids with tramadol. Then he moved on to subcutaneous morphine injections. After that, it was slow-release patches of fentanyl, and finally he moved on to the inhalers. I hit bottom four months ago, he says. The people around me and my doctor all told me that this was the end of the line. Every day of my life, I curse the day I first tried it C.R.B., fentanyl addict Experts say that between one and five percent of patients show signs of risk. But it is far from all patients who become addicted or dependent, says Maria Angeles Canos. It is important to get to know the patient and find out if they have a history of dependency. They need close supervision and they need to be on board to help identify and respond to risky behavior. Both Canos and Alcantara agree it is important to establish guidelines for the management of opioids, which should be followed by all professionals. But while there may have been an alarming increase in the use of highly addictive opioids in Spain, it is still a long way from the levels of abuse that exist in the US. The Aemps data also shows that most consumption is in drugs with a lower opioid content. In recent years we have moved from opioid-phobia to opioid-philia and probably it would be best to be somewhere in between, says Alcantara, adding that he welcomes the move by authorities to more closely police prescriptions. It will help to develop and distribute the use of guidelines that will avoid unnecessary risk. English version by Heather Galloway. Following the Catalan parliaments refusal to appoint Miquel Iceta, the leader of the Catalan Socialists (PSC), as a senator on Thursday, the acting government of Pedro Sanchez has come up with a new candidate to replace him. Sanchez is now nominating another native of Catalonia, Manuel Cruz, who is also a member of the PSC. The idea is to get him into the Senate, then make him speaker of the upper house. The new vote at the Catalan parliament to confirm his senatorial position will take place on May 21. The picks are meant to symbolize a renewed desire for dialogue to overcome the territorial crisis Manuel Cruz, 58, is a philosophy professor at Barcelona University who has lectured at European and US institutions. He has written around 30 books and is a regular contributor to several news organizations, including EL PAIS. As a politician, he has served as a PSC deputy and a PSOE spokesman in the congressional committee for science, innovation and universities. He is viewed as a moderate who supports dialogue. For speaker of Congress, Sanchez is proposing Meritxell Batet, who is also Catalan. The choices are meant to symbolize the acting PMs desire for renewed dialogue to overcome the territorial crisis in the northeastern region. The PSOE won the April 28 general election but fell short of an overall majority, and the acting PM needs support from other parties to get reinstated. Sanchez might need backing from Catalan nationalists in Congress to build a majority of 176 seats. Miquel Iceta. Europa Press Earlier this week, Sanchez had warned Catalan separatist parties that to block Icetas nomination would be to block social harmony, mutual understanding and dialogue. He held up Iceta, a longtime leader of the Catalan Socialists, as an example of a politician who supports dialogue over confrontation. But the Catalan Republican Left (ERC), Together for Catalonia (JxC) and Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) voted against Iceta, whom they see as a representative of a party that supported the temporary suspension of autonomous government in Catalonia following the unilateral secession attempt of October 2017. That move was greenlighted by the Senate, which was then controlled by the conservative Popular Party (PP). Following the latest election, the PSOE now controls the chamber. The head of ERC, Oriol Junqueras, as well as several other political and social leaders who spearheaded the breakaway bid are now on trial at Spains Supreme Court for rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds. Although they have been in preventive prison since November 2017, five of them secured parliamentary seats at the recent election, and they will be allowed out on May 21 to take office. What went wrong? When Sanchez called Miquel Iceta to propose making him Senate speaker, the latter was happy to accept, but warned that separatist parties would not be equally charmed and might even block the nomination. But Sanchez could not believe that the Catalan Republican Left (ERC) would break with a tradition that has made these appointments a mere formality throughout the years. Yet the unthinkable happened on Thursday, when all three separatist parties voted against Iceta even ERC, which is widely viewed by Madrid as the most pragmatic of the pro-independence forces in Catalonia. English version by Susana Urra. People's deputies are ready to ensure the transfer of the launch of the market at the legislative level, but the relevant initiative should come from the government, Lev Pidlisetsky, a member of the parliamentary committee on fuel and energy complex, nuclear policy and nuclear safety, has said. "We are ready to be the shoulder for the Cabinet and accept any changes, if they are required, including changes about the postponement. We even drafted the corresponding bill," he said at the round table, noting that today there were no such requests from the executive power, and recalling that for making a decision on the transfer of the launch of the market, "a week or two" has left. In his opinion, the Cabinet of Ministers should weigh all the risks and benefits of the timely launch of the new wholesale electricity market planned for July and decide on the need to transfer it. "The minister [Energy and Coal Industry Ihor Nasalyk] said yesterday that everything is ready, and he is not worrying about anything, so on July 1 everything should be as planned. I personally doubt that everything will go well without changes in the laws," Pidlisetsky said. On Wednesday, May 22, at 14.00, the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency will host a press conference entitled "Social Conditionality, Health Indicators of Adolescents, Young People in Ukraine" according to the results of the UNICEF international study "Health and Behavioral Orientations of the Student Youth." Participants: Ukraine's Minister of Education and Science Lilia Hrynevych; Head of the United Nations Children's Fund Office in Ukraine (UNICEF) Lotta Sylwander; Chairperson of the Board of Oleksandr Yaremenko Ukrainian Institute for Social Research Olha Balakireva (8/5a Reitarska Street). Accreditation of journalists by phone: (050) 312 96 79, vreshetnik@unicef.org (Victoria Reshetnik). The 8th International Conference UKRCEMFOR 2019 will be held in Kyiv on May 28-29, 2019 The 8th International Conference UKRCEMFOR 2019. Cement industry. Best Practices. Prospects for Development with a focus on highlighting the important aspects of cement industry will take place on May 28-29, 2019 in the Champions Hall of the Olimpiyskiy NSC in Kyiv. Conference Organizer: UKRCEMENT Association of Cement Producers of Ukraine. Partners: Ivano-Frankivskcement, CRH, Dyckerhoff-Buzzi, Heidelberg, Eurocement, DALGAKIRAN COMPRESSOR UKRAINE, FLSmidth and industrial construction group KOVALSKA. Conference is the largest cement industry event in Ukraine which biennially brings together about 300 high-ranking delegates of companies and organizations from more than 10 countries. ement industry remains a solid, stable and growing part of the national economy. Represented by 4 large international groups - CRH, Dyckerhoff-Buzzi, Heidelberg, Eurocement, and a strong Ukrainian company Ivano-Frankivskcement, the local cement industry is well balanced and grows sustainably for the third consecutive year. UKRCEMFOR 2019 for the 8th time will become a unique communication platform with owners and managers of all cement companies of Ukraine, cement consumers, manufacturers of concrete and concrete mixtures, manufacturers of impurities in concrete, construction companies, trading companies, manufacturers of equipment for cement production, suppliers of services and materials, scientists, Ukrainian and international experts in the fields of economy, ecology, technology and quality, banks and funds investing in cement industry and construction, public sector. Topics for discussion during the Conference: - Current state and development trends of the cement industry: technology, equipment, and logistics - Energy efficiency and ecology. Alternative fuels - Cement-concrete technology and equipment in highways construction - Standards and regulations in cement industry - Quality and safety of construction materials - Concrete, concrete products and equipment. City architecture and urban spaces These and other topics to be discussed at the UKRCEMFOR 2019 between a solid body of delegates from within the industry, and panels of Ukrainian and international experts in economy, ecology, technologies and quality, as well as banking and finance. Among the companies that have already confirmed their participation are: Thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions AG, MC Bauchemie Ukraine, AUMUND Fordertechnik GmbH, GEOCON GmbH & Co. KG, Compressors International LLC, Schenck Process Ukraine, Schenck UK, Promtekhservis Ltd., Dalgakiran compressor Ukraine, Refratechnik Cement GmbH, IZOMAR-POLREF and others. General Media Partners: TV Channel - PRYAMIY, Information Agency Interfax Ukraine, KORRESPONDENT magazine. Media Partners: DENGI magazine, Prof Build, Cement International, Cement and its application magazine, ECOBUSINESS. Ecology of Enterprises, International Cement Review, Aspects of Construction, Commercial Property, Inventor and Rationalizer, Building Magazine, Concrete&Asphalt, Capital Construction, Construction Expert Newspaper, Build Portal, ProfiDOM, Industry in Focus, Gazeta.ua and Obozrevatel, Kiyv Post, National Industrial Portal. Supported by: American Chamber of Commerce Ukraine, European Business Association, Ukraine International Chamber of Commerce, German-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Confederation of builders of Ukraine, CEO URE CLUB, Taxpayers Association of Ukraine, The British Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce, Polish-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce, Ukrainian Logistics Alliance. Conference venue: the Champions Hall of the Olimpiyskiy NSC in Kyiv (Velyka Vasylkivska str. 55) Participation is possible for TOP managers only. Registration is available till 12.00 PM May 26, 2019. Online registration, agenda and other information are available at the Conference webpage: http://ukrcemfor.com/en For embassies and media free of charge (after confirmation). Participation is available for C-suite level representatives only. Media accreditation by tel +38 044 383-07-22, +38 067 930-06-69, pradvice@ukr.net (contact person: Mila Shykota) According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the US spent US$2.35 billion on importing 1.04 million tonnes of avocados in 2018. The fruit is consumed by approximately 51% of American households and each household spends an average US$24.5 per year to buy avocados. The Vietnam trade office in San Francisco said that avocados are often consumed through large supermarkets in the US, with large volume, requiring very high standards, particularly regarding food safety requirements. The trade office noted that Vietnam has many varieties of avocados producing fruits all year round. However, the value of Vietnamese avocados remains low due to limitations in the application of science and technology in farming, the small scale of production and the lack of geographical indications and strong brands. The office suggested that Vietnam should seek and select the best varieties of avocados with high productivity and quality and develop effective marketing strategies to promote the exports of the fruit to new markets, including the US market. The worlds export turnover of avocados reached about US$6 billion in 2017. North America, mainly Mexico, was the largest exporter of avocados, accounting for more than 50% of the world turnover. EU came in second, accounting for 22.8% of the worlds export revenue. Asian countries only make up 1.7% of the worlds export revenue of avocados. The conference drew the participation of around 100 domestic investors and 50 foreign investors from Japan, China and the Republic of Korea. MOT Deputy Minister Nguyen Nhat said, in the first stage until 2020, Vietnam plans to build 11 sections of the North-South Expressway with a total length of 654 kilometres traversing 13 provinces and cities. Three sections will be funded by the government budget while the other eight will be built under public-private partnerships (PPP). The total costs for these 11 projects are estimated at VND118 trillion (US$5 billion), of which the government will spend VND55 trillion (US$2.4 billion) on three public investment projects and site clearance for other projects. Deputy Minister Nhat said the MOT is working to complete the technical designs and site clearance for the projects. He added that the eight PPP projects will be open to international bidding with Deloitte and Ernst & Young as consultants. Nhat affirmed that any capable and experienced investors, who are capable of providing the best services at reasonable costs, will be selected to carry out the projects. The three sections that will be entirely funded by the state budget are Cao Bo-Mai Son (15km), Cam Lo-Son La (98km) and My Thuan 2 Bridge, which will cost a total of VND14.279 trillion (around US$614 million). The sections to be carried out by private investors are Mai Son-National Highway 45, National Highway 45-Nghi Son, Nghi Son-Dien Chau, Dien Chau-Bai Vot, Nha Trang-Cam Lam, Cam Lam-Vinh Hao, Vinh Hao-Phan Thiet and Phan Thiet-Dau Giay. By Ruth Anderah. A father has been convicted and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment at Luzira prison for defiling his biological daughter, impregnating her and later having the pregnancy aborted. He has been sentenced by High Court Judge Tonny Vincent Okwanga who ruled that the sentence is to teach him a lesson that fathers are supposed to protect thrir children not defiling them. Godfrey Ssekikubo a boaboda rider and a resident of Kirombe Zone in Nsambya Makindye division in Kampala district. However, while beginning his defence today, sekikubo told court that he has never had sex with the then 16 year daughter or impregnated her or later caused her abortion as alleged by state. Sekikubo sexually assaulted his daughter from February 2016 to may until when she fed up and reported the matter to one of the neighbors. Prosecutions states that in the month of April 2016 in Kilombe zone the suspect had canal knowledge with a 15 year old girl well knowing that he was the biological father. Receiving Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah in Hanoi on May 16, PM Phuc expressed his delight at the effective outcomes of the talks between the Malaysian FM and his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh. PM Phuc said that both foreign ministries should work to carry out practical measures to foster the relations and cooperation between the two countries in the time ahead. Saifuddin Abdullah, for his part, said that the Malaysian PM wishes to enhance cooperative ties with Vietnam while expressing his appreciation of Vietnam for continuing palm oil imports from Malaysia in the context that European countries are reducing orders for this product. He suggested both nations bolster cooperation beyond traditional fields to Industry 4.0 and robotics, saying that they need new approaches in promoting collaborative ties. PM Phuc welcomed the Malaysian diplomats recommendations, highlighting that Vietnam holds potential in these fields. The Vietnamese Government leader said that due attention should be paid to lever cooperation in high-quality infrastructure development, high technology, logistics, and energy. Laying stress on the effective cooperation between Malaysias Petronas and PetroVietnam, he said that both sides should expand work in oil and gas exploration. The Vietnamese Government commits to providing favourable conditions for Malaysian corporations to do business in Vietnam, he said. Regarding the East Sea issue, PM Phuc agreed with the Malaysian FMs viewpoint on a consensus in ASEAN on accelerating negotiations of the Code of Conduct in the waters with China. He said all parties must respect international laws, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982), and ensure security, safety, and freedom of aviation and navigation in the region. >>> PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc receives JBIC Governor Politburo member Binh, who is also Head of the Party Central Committees Economic Commission, made the statement while receiving JBIC Governor Tadashi Maeda in Hanoi on May 17. He spoke highly of the fruitful development of the Vietnam-Japan relationship across spheres, especially economy, trade and investment. He affirmed the Vietnamese Party and States consistent policy of regarding Japan as a leading and long-term partner. The official lauded the JBICs role in infrastructure, energy and loan supply, helping to promote Japans investment in Vietnam. For his part, Maeda briefed the host on his delegations working trip to Vietnam, during which they proposed new cooperation initiatives that aim to encourage energy development, particularly renewable, clean and environmentally-friendly energy. He also talked about the banks orientations to increase its loans for Vietnam in the projects with the participation of Japanese investors and exporters. Applauding these initiatives, Binh asked the bank to push ahead with negotiations to materialise them and consider expanding loans for Vietnamese firms or joint ventures of the two countries, especially in infrastructure and energy. The successful implementation of these initiatives will help the Vietnam-Japan extensive strategic partnership develop in a more comprehensive and pragmatic manner, the host added. The event is held by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) in coordination with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the IDIA. Before of the conference began, Deputy Minister of MoST Bui The Duy exchanged with Nhan Dan Newspaper correspondent on the selection of science and technology (S&T) and innovation that are the pillars of socio-economic development. Duy said that S&T and innovation play a core role in economic development, is not a private initiative. It is a process of assessing the development of countries around the world. It is notable to review five Asian "tigers" who have escaped from low-income and middle-income traps based on S&T and innovation. These countries must transform from an economic development model based on cheap labour and gradually exhausting natural resources to a model based on technology absorption and then one based on technological creativity to create intellectual property, creating new fuel sources to boost socio-economic development. It is evident in the present era, with the rapid development of S&T, the convergence of digital technology in the fourth Industrial Revolution requires that S&T and innovation must be turned into the core foundation of development. The Party and Government of Vietnam have always paid attention to the position and role of S&T as a driving force in the country's development process. Currently, in response to new requirements and challenges, Vietnam continues to choose S&T and innovation as one of the pillars for development. In that process, the country always receives the attention and coordination of friends around the world, who are leading countries in innovation, as well as receiving support from leading international organisations and funds in innovation such as Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Global Innovation Fund and the Rockefeller Foundation. It helps to boost exchange of solutions to promote the development of S&T and innovation to contribute more and more to Vietnams growth. Duy emphasised that, at the conference, there will be an exchange and discussion session on how to make S&T and innovation a pillar for Vietnams socio-economic development. This is an opportunity for Vietnam to receive the advice from leading experts on innovation for socio-economic development orientation. Experts at the event have experience from their national developments, having witnessed the transition from middle-income and low-middle economic models to high-average income and high income levels. They also have experience in working with successful transition countries and even with those that have not yet successfully transitioned. Experiences and suggestion of experts will be valuable, contributing to the development of Vietnam's 10-year socio-economic development strategy (2021-2030). The event shows that Vietnam is a reliable destination for prestigious organisations in the world on S&T and innovation to cooperate, promote sustainable development and achieve the millennium development goals together. The IDIA is a collaborative network that brings together senior experts from the world's leading governments, organisations and funds for innovation. It has 13 members, in which there are some prominent names such as the Australian Government (represented by InnovationXchange - a unit under the DFAT), Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, German Government, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Global Innovation Fund, Grand Challenges Canada, Rockefeller Foundation, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the UKs Department for International Development (DFID), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the World Bank (WB). IDIA members meet annually in different countries to exchange knowledge, share experiences and identify collaborative opportunities to develop new products and methods to enhance the innovation ecosystem at the national level. The delegates and many Buddhist followers also prayed for a world free of war and poverty. Dubbed as the Roof of Indochina, the 3,143 m mountain is home to the Sun World Fansipan Legend spiritual structures. The 16th UN Day of Vesak 2019 was held at the Tam Chuc Buddhism Culture Centre in Kim Bang district, the northern province of Ha Nam from May 12-14. The event, the third of its kind hosted by Vietnam, brought together 1,650 international delegates from 112 countries and territories worldwide. Vesak, or the Day of the Full Moon in the month of May, is the years most sacred date to millions of Buddhists around the world. It was on the Day of Vesak two and a half millennia ago that the Buddha was born. It was also on the Day of Vesak that the Buddha attained enlightenment, and when the Buddha passed away. The UN General Assembly internationally recognised the Day of Vesak in 1999 to acknowledge the contributions Buddhism, one of the oldest religions in the world, has made to humanity. According to Vice Chairwoman of the provincial Peoples Committee Vu Thi Thu Thuy, Quang Ninh sees the UK as an important market. She said that in the future, the province will coordinate with the British side to build high-quality tourism products to meet British tourists demand. Quang Ninh hopes to learn from the UKs experience in developing sustainable tourism and green tourism. Vietnamese Ambassador to the UK Tran Ngoc An said that in recent years, Quang Ninhs infrastructure development has made it easier for tourists to reach the locality, especially Ha Long Bay a UNESCO-recognised World Natural Heritage Site. Along with Ha Long Bay, Quang Ninh is home many impressive landscapes such as Bai Tu Long Bay, Tuan Chau peninsula, Quan Lan, Co To islands, Yen Tu mountain and Tra Co beach, the diplomat noted. Edward Vazey, UK Prime Ministers Trade Envoy to Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, said Vietnam is an attractive destination for tourists who travel to Southeast Asia. Vazey lauded the service quality of Vietnam Airlines on the London-Hanoi direct route. Director of the Quang Ninh Department of Tourism Pham Ngoc Thuy detailed the major tourism products of Quang Ninh, including sea, cultural, spiritual and border tourism for participants. He stated that the province has lured many tourism projects which have helped it enhance service quality for visitors who can reach the locality through roads, flights or ships. Richard Skinner from the UKs Responsible Travel said that Quang Ninh should focus on expanding community-based tourism to ensure sustainable development and bring benefits to locals.- Conflict in Libya, especially in the capital city of Tripoli, has been emerging as a new hot spot, threatening peace and security in the region. Since the Libyan National Army (LNA), loyal to General Khalifa Haftar, launched a military campaign aimed at Tripoli, Libya has been engulfed in bloody violence. According to the World Health Organisation, conflict has killed 454 people, left more than 2,154 dead, and forced nearly 60,000 others to flee their homes for refuge. More worrisome, the North African media recently reported that there was new evidence of the involvement of foreign mercenaries in the forces of the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA). The news was released in the context of the LNAs increasingly fierce attacks to claim control of the capital, where the GNA is headquartered. The pro-GNA forces are also thought to consist of many rebel groups, criminals and extremists. Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation around Tripoli has been getting worse and worse, with such a densely populated area gradually becoming a battlefield of fierce fighting. Hospitals around the capital are struggling to cope with a serious shortage of medicines, electricity and water. The Libyan people are undergoing the Muslim holy month of Ramadan with numerous difficulties and uncertainties, as the conflict shows no signs of cooling down. General Haftar even urged the LNA soldiers in the east to strengthen their attacks on the capital, when he was said to have called the holy month of Ramadan (starting on May 6) in Libya as a month of holy war. Across the Mediterranean coast, just over 300 kilometres from Libya, European countries have expressed concern over the escalating violence in the North African nation. As a country directly exposed to waves of migrants from the Middle East and Africa, Italy recently warned the EU about the risk of refugees pouring into the old continent due to the uncertainties in Libya. For many years, the North African country has become a transit for ships carrying illegal migrants across the Mediterranean into Europe. In the context of the fire pan of conflict breaking out in Libya, Italy urged the EU to prepare an action plan to deal with a potential wave of refugees fleeing the conflict. Confronted with the fierce attacks launched by the LNA forces, Prime Minister of the GNA, Fayez al-Sarraj, recently arrived in Brussels to call for EU support to end the conflict. The GNA accused the US and some allies of supporting Haftars forces, turning Libya into a proxy battlefield and triggering the wave of migrants to Europe. In this regard, the EU called on all parties and countries concerned to immediately cease military activities in Libya and restart a political dialogue, for the benefit of the Libyan people. The EU foreign ministers issued a statement urging all conflict parties in Libya to immediately implement a ceasefire and pledge to have dialogue with the United Nations to ensure a full ceasefire, thus enabling the Libyan people to access humanitarian aid. Earlier, Prime Minister al-Sarraj had also left for Paris to hold talks with the French president, in order to call for French intervention to end the conflict in Libya, in the context that the GNA once accused Paris of providing implicit support for the LNA forces. French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed that there is no military solution to the conflict in Libya. Concern has crossed over the Mediterranean, as European countries are worried about the risk of increasing refugees. The EU and the internationally recognised government in Libya are trying to find solutions to terminate the conflict and resume a political dialogue. However, Libyas future must be decided by its people, and any external interventions will threaten to make the crisis worse. Friday Prayers leaders in various Iranian cities have ruled out the possibility of a war with the United States in their sermons on May 17. One of the most prominent and outspoken Imams, Ahamad Alamolhoda in Mashad has said, "We are not the kind of people to start a war, and the United States too, does not deem a war to be in its interest." Official news agency IRNA, quoted Alamolhoda as having said that America's confrontation with Iran has entered a "new phase," however, he added that a war between the two countries is not likely to break out "easily." He added that "in spite of all the threats from America, the United States does not believe a war with Iran is in its interest," adding that "The war posture taken by America including its economic pressures on Iran are simply meant to intimidate Iran." The Friday Prayers Imams are in fact representatives of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei who are financed by his office. The contents of Friday Prayer sermons in various cities are dictated by two state bodies controlled by Khamenei's office, officially known as "The Policy-making Council for Friday Prayer Imams" and the "Friday Prayer Headquarters," both dominated by hardliner clerics loyal to Khamenei. The tone of this Friday's sermons, however, were different from two weeks ago, when the Imams delivered more aggressive messages, even insulting President Donald Trump personally. Several other Friday Prayers Imams including Mohammad Mehdi Shahcheraghi in Semnan, and Mohammad Ali Al-e Hashem in Tabriz also said "There will not be a war as the United States is not capable to fight us." Khamenei had also assured Iranians during a May 14 meeting with state officials and military commanders that a war with America was unlikely. The war of words between the two countries' officials and the deployment of USS Abraham Lincoln to the region prompted many to believe that a war between Iran and the United States was imminent. Nevertheless, President Donald Trump on Thursday expressed hope that the U.S. will not have to enter into a war with Iran. Trump had also said May 15 that he was sure Iranians would soon call for negotiations with the United States. Khamenei on May 14 described negotiations with America as "poison", while stressing that Iran will not hold any talks with America over Tehran's nuclear program. Meanwhile, criticizing the idea of negotiations with America, Alamolhoda said in Mashad, "What should we negotiate about? They tell us not to develop missiles and to abandon the ones we have already manufactured because they have a minimum range of 2000 kilometers." He added: "All the U.S. assets in this region are within the range of our missiles. Its favorite friend in the region, Israel, is also within range." Alamolhoda was echoing Khamenei's remarks in a gathering in Tehran May 14 when he said: "They want to negotiate about our defensive weapons. They want us to reduce the range of our missiles so that we cannot defend if they attack us." Iranian officials had previously threatened that America will be in trouble in the region if its forces attack Iran. They said in that case Iran will attack U.S. bases in the region as well as attacking Israel and the United States' Arab allies. Meanwhile, some Friday Prayers Imams have seriously attacked those who have put forward the idea of negotiating with the United States. Abdolnabi Mousavi Fard, the Imam in Ahvaz called such individuals "U.S. agents" and described negotiation as a "miserable act." Lortfollah Dejakam, the Friday Imam of Shiraz called on officials to resist against pressures, and assured his audience that no one in Iran will support negotiations. In another development, some Friday Prayers leaders, including Hashem Hosseini Bushehri in Qom and Kazem Nourmofidi in Gorgan, have said the U.S. sanctions are meant to lead to unrest in the streets. Other Iranian officials had also previously warned against more economic and labor unrest in Iran as a result of U.S. sanctions. Most Iranian analysts abroad believe that possible unrest is equally, if not more worrisome a prospect for Islamic Republics rulers as a U.S. attack. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says there is "no possibility" of talks with the United States to reduce spiraling tensions. Zarif's remarks on May 16 came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was confident that Tehran will "soon" seek to negotiate with Washington. Trump's remarks follow comments he made on May 9 when he said he did not rule out a military confrontation with Iran. Tensions have risen since Trump in May 2018 pulled the United States out of a landmark 2015 nuclear deal that Iran signed with six world powers and unilaterally reintroduced sanctions. The accord provided Tehran with relief from sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear program. Trump has ordered a beefing-up of U.S. military assets in the Middle East and Persian Gulf, citing possible threats from Iran, and the State Department also ordered the evacuation of all nonessential personnel from the U.S. Embassy in neighboring Iraq. On May 16, two major pro-Iran armed groups in Iraq rejected suggestions that U.S. Embassy personnel in the country were at risk. No, there is no possibility for negotiations," Zarif told reporters in Tokyo, where he held talks with Japanese officials on May 16. "I don't know why President Trump is confident, but it's totally wrong." In pulling out of the nuclear deal, Trump said the terms were not tough enough to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons and did not address Iran's missile program or Tehran's alleged support for militants in the region. Iran denies it supports insurgent activity and has said its nuclear program is strictly for civilian energy purposes. Zarif said on May 16 that Tehran was showing "maximum restraint" despite the U.S. withdrawal from deal and accused Washington of an "unacceptable" escalation of the crisis. British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said on May 16 that he shared Washington's "assessment of the heightened threat posed by Iran." According to Iranian state media, Zarif is set to visit China on May 17 for talks on "regional and international issues" including the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. With reporting by AFP and AP If E.U. countries take Iran's nuclear case back to the U.N. Security Council, Tehran will withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or its nuclear deal with world powers, the spokesman of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO) has warned. Speaking to the state-run English language channel, Press T.V., May 14 Behrouz Kamalvandi warned that Iran might also take further "drastic and major steps" in tandem with dropping JCPOA. Earlier, several Persian language websites, including Zaytoon, had reported that in a confidential session attended by local media managers, the Deputy Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi (Araqchi), has said that if Tehran's nuclear case is referred to the Security Council, and a resolution against the Islamic Republic issued, Iran would withdraw from NPT. Without going into details, Kamalvandi maintained, "We cannot exclude any measure --- We have so far talked about different measures. It could be leaving the JCPOA, and it could be other actions [such as] leaving the NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty) or others. It is for the senior officials of the country to decide." Kamalvandi reiterated that if Europeans (France, Germany, and the U.K.) take Iran's case back to the Security Council, they will ruin the deal ... and the agreement will not be alive anymore." In his interview with Press TV, Kamalvandi asserted that if Europe takes no steps toward saving JCPOA, Iran will raise its level of uranium enrichment to more than 3.6% and "will make a decision" about its heavy water reactor in Arak. "We are waiting for practical steps by Europeans, and after sixty days, we will decide whether or not to end our other voluntary commitments," Kamalvandi noted. On May 8, Iran announced it will suspend some of its obligations related to the JCPOA, pending steps by other signatories of the agreement to fully abide by it. This mainly refers to Iran's demands that Europe should facilitate trade despite U.S. sanctions. "INSTEX has not worked properly so far --- We think they [Europeans] are willing to do something but are not able to take practical and major steps --- we have given them time to deal with this problem and take major steps," the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)-run Tasnim news agency cited the nuclear official as saying. Three European states party to JCPOA, Germany, France and the U.K., have set up INSTEX (Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges) to help Tehran with limited trade despite U.S. sanctions. "The main objective of the JCPOA was the removal of sanctions against Iran in a bid to help the country avail itself of the benefits of the deal; however, the restrictive measures are still in place despite Tehran's full compliance, and the goal has not been realized so far," Kamalvandi lamented. Based on JCPOA, Iran has voluntarily accepted to implement NPT's Additional Protocol, which allows the International Atomic Energy Organization's inspectors to visit Iran's nuclear facilities without prior notice and at any time they wish. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 17 Trend: Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops 26 times, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said on May 17, 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. . Montes-Bradley/iStock(BERLIN) -- Six months after banning headscarves in Austrian kindergartens, the country's ruling right-wing government has gone a step further and prohibited girls under the age of 11 from wearing the Muslim covering in primary schools. The ban, which Austrian lawmakers approved in a vote late on Wednesday, was proposed by the countrys right-wing coalition government, which is made up of the populist far-right Freedom Party (FPO) and center-right Peoples Party (OVP). Both parties campaigned on hard-line immigration policies during the federal elections in October 2017, and banning the headscarf and reducing benefits to migrants were among the campaign promises that brought both parties into power. Wendelin Molzer, the FPO's education spokesman, said in a statement that the ban sent a signal against political Islam. Yet, Muslim groups say the draft law sensationalizes a marginal issue and plays on citizens' fears. Nearly all opposition parliamentary members voted against it, and Austrias official Muslim Community organization, the IGGO, immediately announced plans to challenge the ban in Austria's constitutional court. Typically, young Muslim women make the decision to wear a headscarf when they are teenagers and after they hit puberty. The ban violates many fundamental human rights, including freedom of thought, freedom of religion and the right for parents to raise their children, Rusen Timur Aksak, a spokesperson for IGGO, told ABC News on Thursday. The stated goal of the law was to promote integration in Austrian schools, and the ban applies to any ideologically or religiously characterized clothing that covers the head, according to a statement by Austrias National Council. But it specifically targets Islamic garments worn by women, and the Jewish kippah and the patkah, a head covering worn by Sikh boys, were not banned. The Freedom Party was founded by a former officer in the SS, the armed wing of the Nazi party. Along with the center-right Peoples Party of Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz, the FPO has capitalized on the fears of economic and ideological change after Austria received 150,000 asylum applications -- equal to about 2 percent of its population -- as migrants flowed into Europe from the Middle East and parts of Africa. Last month, an FPO politician caused an uproar after he published a poem that seemed to compare migrants to rats and used imagery widely associated with anti-Jewish propaganda pushed by Nazis before and during the Holocaust. The politician, Christian Schilcher, later resigned from the party and gave up his role as deputy mayor of the village Braunau am Inn, which is also the birthplace of Adolf Hitler. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 17 Trend: The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has made the statement on the 27th anniversary of the occupation of the Lachin district of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Trend reports. 27 years ago on May 18, 1992, Lachin district, which was not part of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of Azerbaijan, was occupied by the Armenian armed forces, the statement said. As a continuation of the policy of military aggression pursued by the Republic of Armenia against the Republic of Azerbaijan, the occupation of Lachin was resulted in the ethnic cleansing of the inhabitants of the region, and currently 77.518 Lachin residents live as internally displaced persons (IDP) in different regions of Azerbaijan, the statement says. The Armenian occupation has also inflicted serious damage to state and private property of Lachin district, the statement reads. Thus, 217 cultural, 101 educational, 142 healthcare, 462 commercial enterprises, 30 communications, two transport and various other production facilities were plundered and destroyed. Many historical monuments of world and national significance have been subjected to vandalism by Armenia, the statement says. Among them, the sixth century Albanian Aghoghlan cloister and the fourteenth century Malik Ajdar tomb, the mosque in Garygyshlag village and the ancient cemetery in Zabukh village were destroyed; the Lachin Museum of History and its unique collection of ancient gold, silver and bronze artefacts were plundered. According to the statement, Armenia, blatantly violating international humanitarian law, as well as its commitments under the Geneva Conventions continues the illegal actions in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, including its Lachin district; geographic names of the region are changed, natural resources are exploited, illegal infrastructural changes are carried out, deliberate resettlement policy with the aim altering the regions demographic situation is implemented. On June 16, 2015, the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Chiragov and others v. Armenia ruled in favour of Azerbaijani nationals who were forcibly displaced from the occupied Lachin district of Azerbaijan, recognizing continuing violations by Armenia of a number of their rights under the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, namely, those relating to the protection of property (Article 1 of Protocol No. 1), the right to respect for private and family life (Article 8 of the Convention) and the right to an effective remedy (Article 13 of the Convention), the statement says. Of particular importance is the determination by the Court, in paragraphs 19-20, that the district of Lachin, in particular the town of Lachin, was under military attack; that in mid-May 1992, Lachin was subjected to aerial bombardment, in the course of which many houses were destroyed; that the town was looted and burned; that Lachin and the surrounding villages were completely destroyed during the military conflict, the statement reads. The UN Security Council adopted resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 in 1993, the document says. The UNSC resolutions condemned the occupation of the territories of Azerbaijan and reaffirmed respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and the inviolability of its internationally recognized borders. In those resolutions, the Security Council also confirmed that the Nagorno-Karabakh region is part of Azerbaijan, and demanded immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of the occupying forces from all the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. Instead of implementing demands of UNSC resolutions, as well as the decisions and resolutions of other international organizations Armenia pursues the policy of annexation of occupied lands of Azerbaijan. Armenia must understand that maintaining under the occupation of Azerbaijans lands would never produce political outcome desired by Armenia, the statement says. Status-quo based on the occupation of the Azerbaijani territories is unsustainable and unacceptable. Sustainable, democratic development of the region and Armenia itself in peace, stability and security environment is highly dependent on abiding by international law, elimination of the military occupation factor and restoration of the fundamental rights of IDPs. Only complete and unconditional withdrawal of the armed forces of Armenia from the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions of Azerbaijan, and return of the Azerbaijani IDPs to their homelands will provide necessary conditions for the establishment of normal neighbourhood relations between the two countries and restoration of lasting peace, security and prosperity in the region, the statement reads. Restoration of sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan within its internationally recognized borders, and ensuring rights of the Azerbaijani IDPs, including those from Lachin district to return to their native lands and eliminating the grave consequences of the conflict along being the commitment of the international community is an unconditional right of Azerbaijan under the Charter of the UN, the statement says. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 17 Trend: Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met with the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of the Republic of France Jean-Yves Le Drian, Trend reports referring to Ministry's message. The ministers discussed the cooperation opportunities in political, economic, trade, humanitarian and other spheres between Azerbaijan and France, and noted the great potential for the development of cooperation between the two countries. The sides highlighted the necessity of further deepening of relations and the intensification of high-level mutual visits to this end. Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and his French counterpart exchanged their views on the current state of the negotiations on the peaceful resolution of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs. The French Minister said that his country would spare no efforts as a Minsk Group co-chair state to resolve the conflict peacefully. The Ministers exchanged their views on the results of the recent Brussels summit dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the EU Eastern Partnership and the new partnership agreement of strategic importance between the EU and Azerbaijan. Furthermore, the sides discussed the international and regional issues of mutual interest. 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, May 17 By Elchin Mehdiyev Trend: Eighteen issues will be considered at the plenary meeting of the Azerbaijani parliament on May 17, Trend reports. The MPs will discuss the amendments and additions to the Civil and Labour Codes, the laws "On State Duty", "On Telecommunications", "On Road Traffic", "On Chamber of Accounts", "On Execution" and others. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 17 Trend: Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has received ambassadors and heads of diplomatic missions of Muslim countries to Azerbaijan on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani presidential press-service. The president addressed the meeting. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 17 By Ilhama Isabalayeva - Trend: The resources that Azerbaijan has, help to provide citizens with healthier food, Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Ali Ahmadov said, Trend reports. He was speaking at the II Baku International Conference on Food Safety May 17. He said that the processes that are taking place in the world also affect Azerbaijan. The population of Azerbaijan has reached 10 million people, he noted. On the other hand, 20 percent of Azerbaijani territories are under occupation. These lands are quite fertile, but the country cannot use them, and therefore the land potential associated with agricultural production is 20 percent less. The deputy prime minister noted that thanks to the targeted and effective policy to ensure food safety of the population, the problem of food safety in Azerbaijan has been fundamentally solved. This problem doesnt exist for Azerbaijan, the right strategy has been developed to provide people with high-quality food, said Ahmadov. He added that thanks to developing trade relations, food products from many countries are supplied to the domestic market of Azerbaijan, and therefore the issue of the safety of food products supplied to Azerbaijan is being actualized. Therefore, I believe that very serious responsibilities are upon the Food Safety Agency, he said. He expressed confidence that Azerbaijan will contribute to providing citizens with safe, healthy food through domestic production and the establishment of norms for the import of food products in accordance with even higher standards. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 17 Trend: Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, on the sidelines of his working visit to France, met with Diplomatic Adviser to the President of the French Republic Philippe Etienne, Trend reports referring to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan. At the meeting the sides exchanged their views on the current state of the bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and France. Expressing their satisfaction with the existing cooperation the sides highlighted the necessity of the intensification of the mutual high-level meetings in further development of relations. Minister Elmar Mammadyarov informed his interlocutor on the current state of the negotiations on the peaceful resolution of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs. It has been underlined that the soonest conflict settlement, liberation of the occupied territories and return of the Azerbaijani IDP's to their homes is indispensable for ensuring sustainable peace and development in the region. Furthermore, the sides also exchanged their views on the issues of mutual interest of international agenda. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 17 Trend: Baku Higher Oil School and the Agency for Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Development signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The signing ceremony brought together the senior management of Baku Higher Oil School (BHOS) and the Agency as well as the academic staff and students of the Higher School. In his welcoming speech, Rector of BHOS Elmar Gasimov noted that the newly endorsed MOU serves as another testimony of cooperation between the higher education institution and private sector, which will offer opportunities for the Agencys support for innovative ideas generated by BHOS academic staff and students. The Chairman of the Executive Board of the Agency for SME Development Orkhan Mamedov expressed his excitement at signing the MOU between the Agency and BHOS. He noted that he reviewed the start-up projects developed by BHOS students and shared the prospects of scaling up their entrepreneurship skills and SME development in the future as well as organising Master Classes by the Agencys qualified specialists. Along with facilitating multi-vector cooperation, the MOU will help students formulate new business ideas, provide support to innovative initiatives, increase the inventors productivity and, at the same time, will contribute to the Innovations & Research Centre, which is under BHOS, in conducting studies and generating statistics that is essential for entrepreneurship development, thereby strengthening cooperation between BHOS and the Agency and boosting implementation of joint projects. It should be mentioned that BHOS strengthens its partnerships with the private sector to scale up support for students internship opportunities, start-ups, innovations, invention and other similar initiatives. The BHOS partners are continuously expanding and encompass a broad range of expertise of both transnational companies operating in our country and relevant national institutions. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 17 By Jeyhun Alakbarov Trend: The Azerbaijani low-cost airline Buta Airways has launched the flights from Baku to Russias Astrakhan city since May 16, Trend reports. The company already operates Baku-Moscow, Baku-St. Petersburg, Baku-Kazan, Baku-Mineralnye Vody and Baku-Ufa flights. As for other destinations, the minimum price of the one-way ticket is 29 euros. The flights will be operated on Mondays and Thursdays. The flight duration is 75 minutes. The Baku-Batumi flights will start in June, Head of Buta Airways Nazim Samadov told reporters. Air tickets are available on the official website of the airline upon the Budget and Standard tariffs, as well as at sales offices upon the Super tariff. According to the Budget minimum tariff, additional services such as transportation of baggage and hand luggage, hot meals on board, check-in at the airport, and the choice of the best airplane seat are offered as paid options. The Super tariff includes baggage (up to 23 kg), hand luggage (up to 10 kg) and free check-in at the airport. The air tickets are available at sales offices. Online check-in on the website is free of charge for all tariffs. It starts 24 hours and ends two hours prior to departure. Buta Airways was founded in December 2016. The first flight was carried out on September 1, 2017. The Airlines fleet consists of modern Embraer aircraft. The Airline is based in Baku, at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 17 By Ilhama Isabalayeva Trend: Big tasks are assigned not only to the state, but also to business circles and farmers in the Azerbaijani food safety system, Azerbaijani Minister of Agriculture Inam Karimov said. Karimov made the remarks at the 2nd Baku International Food Safety Conference, Trend reports on May 17. "Ensuring the compliance of the farm products with the necessary quality standards and their competitiveness in the domestic and foreign markets are the main objectives of the development of the agricultural sector," he said. Karimov stressed that one of the main tasks of food safety is to ensure the purity and quality of products. The minister said that international cooperation is required at all stages of ensuring the food security process. The special importance must be attached to the innovative technologies in provision the country with safe and healthy food, Karimov said. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 17 Trend: On 14 May, the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Azerbaijan organised a Business Mission focusing on the agricultural sector in the Lankaran region of Azerbaijan, Trend reports citing EU Delegation to Azerbaijan. The EU Business Mission was comprised of representatives of EU businesses and diplomatic missions. The business trip was intended to explore investment opportunities, as well as to gain insight into the current development trends in the region. Meetings took place with the local administration, agricultural service centre (DAIM) and a number of leading agribusiness companies. At the first meeting in the Lankaran State Center for Agrarian Development, a presentation was held on the agricultural sector in Lankaran and participants were informed about e-services and innovative technologies. Afterwards, the economic situation of the region was overviewed with the attendance of Mr Chingiz Ahmadov, Head of Lankaran Regional Department of the Ministry of Economy. In addition, a meeting with Astara Chay LLC was organised during the visit. In the meeting participants were informed about the companys overall activities, a trip to the tea processing and packaging plant took place, and partnership opportunities were discussed. The Mission also included meetings with Gilan Agro Citrus, Lankaran Canning Factory and Lankaran Tea Factory. A representative of the EU Delegation attending the Business Mission, Mr Rainer Freund, stated: "We are glad to explore development opportunities that can be further supported by EU assistance and also specific investment opportunities of interest to EU agribusinesses. Lankaran economic region is a subject to the upcoming action program called 'EU for Lankaran region in Azerbaijan' that aims at harnessing the economic potential of the region amongst other by enhancing the fruit and vegetable sector competitiveness through development of applied agricultural research and promotion of collaborative undertakings of the market actors in the sector." The EU Business Mission is part of a support project for the EU-Azerbaijan Business Forum, which will take place in Baku on 13 June 2019. The project is funded by the European Union and implemented by the German-Azerbaijani Chamber of Commerce (AHK Azerbaijan). Baku, Azerbaijan, May 17 By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend: Some 30 more businesses were added to the list of Kazakh entities that are allowed to export flour to China, Trend reports referring to the Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan. On May 16, 2016, 30 Kazakh mills entities were added to the Chinas register under the guarantee of Kazakhstan Committee of state inspection in Agro-Industrial Complex based on the results of the inspection that was performed by Kazakh quarantine inspectors in the March 2019. Earlier this year, a Protocol on phytosanitary requirements of the wheat flour that is being exported to China from Kazakhstan was signed. Within the Protocol, the Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan and the General Customs Administration of China agreed on the updated requirements to the Kazakh flour. The Protocol was signed in Beijing on April 26, 2019, as a result of bilateral meeting of Zhenis Kassymbek, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and Ni Yuefeng, the Minister of General Customs Administration of the People's Republic of China, in the course of the Second One Belt One Road Forum. In January-February 2019, the volume of Kazakh flour export to China amounted to $1,072,700, which is 3.1 percent more than in the same period of last year, stated State Revenue Committee of Kazakhstan. According to the report of the Ministry of agriculture of Kazakhstan, as of May 14, 2019, "the volume of Kazakh flour export amounted to 494,300 tons, including 4,010 tons of export to China. -- Follow the author on twitter: @nargiz_sadikh Baku, Azerbaijan, May 17 By Leman Zeynalova Trend: Constanta Port Authority is willing to develop different actions that aim to consolidate the commercial connections, Director General of Port of Constanta Daniela Serban said in an exclusive interview with Trend answering the question about possibility of cooperating with Irans Chabahar Port. These actions can be sustained by any forms of cooperation, having also the support of the decisional factors. Any action or form of cooperation that could be undertaken must be analysed together with other partners and if it proves the efficiency then it will be applied, she said. Generally, Serban noted that any decision of entering in a cooperation is taken after the parties have all the information regarding what can offer to each other in order to achieve their own objectives. The port of Chabahar is located in southeastern Iran, north of Oman Sea. One of the features that distinguishes it from other Iranian ports and ports in southern coast of Persian Gulf, is its access to international open seas. Chabahar port is located, both in South-North and East-West transit corridors and can play as a transport gateway, as well as a central commercial nod between CIS countries, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Russia and Europe. Currently, Chabahar port consists of two port complexes, named Shahid Kalantari port and Shahid Beheshti port. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn Baku, Azerbaijan, May 17 By Sara Israfilbayova - Trend: The US always supports Azerbaijan in all directions, US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Earle Litzenberger said at a meeting of the intergovernmental commission between Azerbaijan and the US in Baku on May 17, Trend reports. The ambassador said that since he arrived in Baku in March, he held many fruitful negotiations. He noted that the two countries can bring their bilateral relations to a new level. He congratulated Azerbaijan on the success achieved in the energy sector, adding that one cannot but agree that this sector is highly developed in the country. He mentioned the importance of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC), noting that this project is important not only for Azerbaijan, but also for Europe. The ambassador also noted the importance of such large-scale projects as Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) and the Baku International Sea Trade Port. The ambassador added that US companies highly assess the tax and customs reforms being carried out in the country. He said that Azerbaijan is also taking important steps in preserving intellectual property. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 17 By Matanat Nasibova Trend: The Azerbaijan Industrial Corporation (AIC) and the Belarusian State Food Industry Concern (Belgospishcheprom) signed a protocol of intent on cooperation within the framework of the WorldFood Azerbaijan International Food Industry Exhibition and the XIII Azerbaijan International Agricultural Exhibition, Caspian Agro, held on May 15-17, Trend reports. The document on cooperation was signed by the director general of AIC Kamran Nabizade from the Azerbaijani side, and by the chairman of Belgospishcheprom concern Alexander Zabello from the Belarusian side. The protocol envisages cooperation in the export of tobacco products between the Azertabak agro-industrial complex and the Grodno tobacco factory Neman (part of the Belgospishcheprom concern), the organization of bilateral meetings, as well as the exchange of experience in production. The AIC is represented by Azerpambiq LLC, Azertabak LLC, Azeripek LLC, Sheki Winery, and the Livestock Complex of the AIC at the WorldFood Azerbaijan International Food Industry Exhibition and the XIII Azerbaijan International Agricultural Exhibition, Caspian Agro. Presently, these enterprises support thousands of farmers in the production of agricultural products, and the products of these plants are sold on the market in more than 20 regions of the country. Tehran, Iran, May 17 Trend: According to the net foreign exchange trade estimate (calculating the exchange transaction costs due to US sanctions), in the first half of last year (ended on March 21), so far, 60 percent of Iran's export-earned foreign currency has returned to the country's economic cycle, the Governor of the Central Bank of Iran Abdol Nasser Hemmati said. Non-oil exports play an important role in the prosperity of production, employment, and in particular the stability of the foreign exchange market and the strengthening of the value of the national currency, Hemmati said in a statement published on his Instagram account, Trend reports. Last year, according to the Central Bank's announcements, namely, transfer to the NIMA system, supply to currency exchange traders, imports for all exports and transfer to the Central Bank amounted to $18.7 billion, he said. He went on to say that there is still time to reach last year's level. He expressed appreciation for all exporters who have fulfilled their national responsibility in Iran's current economic conditions. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 17 By Fakhri Vakilov- Trend: The Managing Director of International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde spoke about the conditions that will lead Uzbekistan to prosperity, Trend reports citing Uzbek media. Uzbekistan will come to innovation and prosperity through trade and improved relations with neighboring countries, Lagarde said. As part of her first visit to Uzbekistan, she spoke at the Central Bank with a report on the topic "Reforms of Uzbekistan: A New Formula for Inclusive Growth and Cooperation." Representatives of the Ministries of Economy and Industry, Finance, Investments and Foreign Trade, the State Statistics Committee, the Agency for Management of State Assets, Central Bank employees and students of national universities attended the presentation made by Christine Lagarde. "Uzbekistan was a crossroads of economic reforms in its best times and isolated itself in the worst. Today, the country needs a new strategy for its development. If we find the solution to existing problems together, then those who come here will think not only about the history, but also about its prosperous future," Lagarde noted. The Head of the IMF commented on the Fund's statement about the need for greater independence of the Central Bank of Uzbekistan. The Central Bank must be autonomous in setting monetary policy goals, regardless of the political agenda, she stated. Earlier, the IMF executive board, following consultations with Uzbekistan under Article IV of the Articles of Agreement, called on the authorities to ensure greater independence of the Central Bank. In September 2017, the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Christine Lagarde held a meeting in New York. The parties discussed technical support by the fund for monetary reform undertaken in the country. Another meeting with the Uzbek leader took place recently in China at One Belt One Way second forum in China. The parties noted close cooperation between the country and the Fund in the field of technical assistance in many spheres including management of public finances and debts as well as banking supervision. Christine Lagarde has been IMF Managing Director since July 2011. Prior to that, she was Minister of Economics and Finance of France. She is included in the ranking of the hundred most influential women in the world at the end of last year, according to Forbes magazine. --- Follow author on Twitter:@vakilovfaxri Baku, Azerbaijan, May 17 By Sara Israfilbayova Trend: Azerbaijan and the US are reliable partners, said Peter Haas, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Trade Policy and Negotiations in the US Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, during a meeting of the US-Azerbaijan Economic Partnership Committee in Baku, Trend reports. He noted that the US is ready to cooperate with Azerbaijan in energy, transport and logistics, information technology and other areas. "We will discuss matters of strengthening the legal system and intellectual property in Azerbaijan," Haas said. The fourth meeting of the intergovernmental commission between Azerbaijan and the US was held in Baku on May 17. The cooperation issues in such spheres as economics, trade, agriculture, food safety, intellectual property, tourism and others were discussed during the meeting. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 17 By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend: China is interested in expanding economic cooperation with Kazakhstan, said Eldar Zhumagaziev, Deputy Chairman of Atameken (national chamber of entrepreneurs of the Republic of Kazakhstan), Trend reports via Atameken press office. He made the remarks within the framework of Kazakh-Chinese Interregional Forum on high-technology enterprises. Chinese market is interested in sustainable product. Furthermore, Kazakh manufacturers will be able to export up to 130,000 tons of meat, eight tons of honey, feed, oilseeds, fruits and vegetables, as well as of poultry products per year, the report said. China has been an important economic partner of Kazakhstan since the country became independent. Over the course of the time the economic relations of our countries only grow stronger. They cover not only trade transactions but expand the work aimed at the prosperity of the region. Thus, food products could become the main reason for our economies development, said Zhumagaziev. Today, countries are actively cooperating to remove barriers for Kazakh export. The restrictions concerning the export of some Kazakh meat and vegetal production to China are already lifted. The access of Kazakh milk and egg production is estimated to be granted soon. We are happy that in 2013 Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China announced an idea to create The Silk Road Economic Belt. Today the program is providing great opportunities for Central Asia countries to cooperate with China. Kazakhstan has an important geopolitical situation and plays a linking role between economies of China and EU, added Zhenis Kassymbek. A Memorandum on Cooperation between Kazakh and Chinese entities was signed at the end of the forum. Some 60 representatives of Kazakhstan and China business participated in the forum. --- Follow the author on twitter: @nargiz_sadikh Baku, Azerbaijan, May 17 By Matanat Nasibova Trend: Turkeys AtaPack company, engaged in the production of packaging equipment for food products and various types of goods, intends to increase the volume of supplies of its products to Azerbaijan, the company's general manager Dmitri Saparov told Trend. According to him, the company's equipment is mainly intended for the packaging of grocery products. "We already have a certain client base in Azerbaijan, but this is not enough for the development of our business in the local market. Besides, the volume of exports to Azerbaijan is scanty, the supplies are unstable and are carried out quite rarely - that is why we want to intensify cooperation, resume old contacts and establish new ties in the local Azerbaijani market," Saparov said. He noted that the company's mid-term plans include the opening of a distribution representative in this market segment. "The fact is that we work mainly for export, therefore expanding the geography of deliveries is our task. Currently, we export our equipment to more than 20 countries. We are very much looking forward to an increase in deliveries of our equipment to Azerbaijan," said Saparov. Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, May 17 By Huseyn Hasanov Trend: Russia and Turkmenistan are discussing the possibility of concluding a five-year contract for the purchase of Turkmen gas, Trend reports referring to Russian TASS agency. The supplies may be launched starting from the second half of the year, the news source said. It refers to the statement made by Russian Deputy Minister of Energy Anatoly Yanovsky on the sidelines of the international conference entitled "Prospects for energy cooperation between Russia and the EU. Gas aspect" in Berlin. The negotiations on concluding a medium-term contract for a period of up to five years are under completion/ The sides are discussing the volume of supplies, which will depend on the price of gas, he said. The volumes may reach the levels that were until 2016, Yanovsky stressed. The negotiations will end in June. Turkmenistan resumed the export of natural gas to Russia on April 15, 2019 after a three-year break. Gazprom company intends to purchase up to 1.155 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Turkmenistan till June 30, 2019. Turkmenistan transports its gas to Russia via the Central Asia-Center pipeline, built during the Soviet period and monopolized by Gazprom. Until 2009, Gazprom was the biggest buyer of Turkmen gas, purchasing up to 40-42 billion cubic meters a year. Despite the contractual arrangements, at first the volumes decreased to the level of 10-11 billion cubic meters per year within five years. The annual volume decreased by 2.5 times and amounted to four billion cubic meters in 2015. Gazprom explained the decrease in the volume of gas purchased from Turkmenistan by a decrease in demand in Europe and Ukraine. The Russian side was not pleased with the price for Turkmen gas set at $240 per 1,000 cubic meters due to the fall in export prices for gas which are constantly connected with falling oil prices. Massachusetts law enforcement is investigating three arson incidents that occurred at two Chabad centers. The first, at Chabad of Arlington, occurred last Saturday night, May 11. Chabad representative Luna Bukiet discovered the flames on the wood shingles of one side of the center and home after putting her children to sleep and hearing a fire alarm go off. I thought it was an electrical fire, she remembers in a conversation with Lubavitch.com. Fire department and law enforcement officers spent three hours collecting evidence, declaring the fire deliberately set. Footage from nearby security cameras showed a man walking off the Chabad property that night. Thursday night, after a full day of activities including teaching Hebrew School classes on the premises, Luna and her husband, Rabbi Avi Bukiet smelled smoke again. I ran out and saw that someone had started another fire. She says city and state law enforcement are taking the matter very seriously, offering a $5,000 reward for information on the individual seen in the footage. So far, the leads they had havent panned out. Later that night, a third fire was discovered at Chabad of Needham, Massachusetts, a half hour driving distance from Chabad of Arlington. Director Chanie Krinsky smelled the smoke and found a fire burning on the property right near her office. I was in a fire as a teenager so I am very sensitive to the scent of smoke. I was instantly concerned because I was aware of the fire in Arlington. We vacated the premises and called 911 right away. She says the centers security cameras showed a possible suspect. Law enforcement is reviewing the footage from both centers. No one was injured in any of the incidents. Local law enforcement assured us that theyll be upgrading security at the center, says Rabbi Bukiet. Services at both Chabad of Arlington and Needham will continue as usual, with security. Director of the global security commission at Chabad headquarters, Rabbi Mendel Sharfstein, says, We are in touch with local emissaries regarding these concerning incidents, as well as members of law enforcement to ensure that the matter is investigated thoroughly. We hope they can make a determination soon about who was behind these heinous acts. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 17 By Sara Israfilbayova Trend: The senior officials of the US government will visit Baku next week as part of the energy exhibition, US ambassador to Azerbaijan Lee Litzenberger told reporters in Baku on May 17. Litzenberger made the remarks within the meeting of the intergovernmental commission between Azerbaijan and the US in Baku, Trend reports. This once again demonstrates the US interest in the further development of the Azerbaijani energy sector, the ambassador said. The US supports the supply of Azerbaijani energy products to the world market, he added. The ambassador also stressed that there is a potential for the development of relations in the field of agriculture. The fourth meeting of the intergovernmental commission between Azerbaijan and the US was held in Baku on May 17. The cooperation issues in such spheres as economics, trade, agriculture, food safety, intellectual property, tourism and others were discussed during the meeting. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 17 By Sara Israfilbayova Trend: Privatization of the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) is not expected by the end of the year, Minister of Finance of Azerbaijan Samir Sharifov told reporters during a meeting of the US-Azerbaijan Economic Partnership Committee in Baku, Trend reports. Sharifov noted that progress is yet to be made in this direction. The International Bank of Azerbaijan, founded in 1992, is at the stage of recovery since July 2015, which is associated with the preparation for the privatization of state-owned shares of the bank. To restore the bank's financial position, its distressed assets were transferred to the non-bank credit institution Aqrarkredit. In exchange for distressed assets, the NBCO provides the IBA with liquid funds. At the same time, the restructuring of IBA's foreign obligations has recently been completed. Tehran, Iran, May 17 Trend: The first phase of Iran, Azerbaijan e-TIR project is to officially start from May 22, 2019, where all the transit operations between two countries become fully electronic. "A delegation from Azerbaijan signed a protocol in February that agreed the launch of e-Tir for electronic transit. In this regards, two Iranian and two Azerbaijani transit companies are to cooperate in launching the first phase of the project," Majid Derakhshan, deputy of Iran Customs Administration said in an interview with Trend. "Iran would be the front runner in the Convention on International Transport of Goods Under Cover of TIR Carnets (TIR Convention) by launching the e-TIR project with Azerbaijan," he added, "During the past years, Iran has successfully operated the e-Tir project with Turkey; the first pilot cargo transited from Tehran to Turkey and vice versa, and the project with Turkey has moved to second phase. The World Road Transport Organization (IRU) and the United Nations have confirmed the success of e-TIR project between Iran and Turkey," he commented. "At the moment, Azerbaijan wants to launch the e-TIR pilot project with Iran in the upcoming weeks, while from May 22, 2019, the first phase of project will be officially launched," he added. " Five Azerbaijani and six Iranian customs points would operate the project, the Iranian customs side would include Tehran-Astara-Imam Khomeini Port-Isfahan-Tabriz-West Tehran while Astara and Baku would certainly be active parts of the project in Azerbaijan," he said. The official indicated, "The electronic customs would remove the paper work from transit operation so that this operation will no longer require paper documents and all the transit information would be shared electronically between two customs administrations. All the data from Azerbaijan to Iran and vice versa will be sent electronically." "Currently, the cooperation with Turkey has been successful. After launching pilot project with Azerbaijan we can gradually transform all the Azerbaijani customs to electronic service," he said. In his words, Iran has expressed ts readiness to implement e-TIR project with 74 member countries of TIR Convention, therefore the project will facilitate the cargo transport, help to avoid fraud in transit document, boost transparency, increase the speed of the operations, and reduce the costs for companies. "It is expected that Iran, Azerbaijan new custom plan will be considered for the trade in International North-South Transport Corridor," he added. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 17 By Kheyraddin Nasirzade - Trend: It is important to create a new type of insurance - cyber risk insurance in Azerbaijan, said Rashad Azizov, head of the Department for Innovation Development of the Information Society and Electronic Governance of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of Azerbaijan, Trend reports May 17. He made the remarks at the FINTEX (Finance and Technology) Summit on the topic Security in the digital ecosystem. Azizov said that in connection with the development of information technologies, it is important to pay attention to protecting information and databases from cyber attacks. The head of the department noted that initiatives to reduce the level of threats to cyber security are growing in the world. In this regard, the creation of cyber insurance is very relevant, he added. Azizov urged Azerbaijani insurance companies to create a new cyber-risk insurance product. He noted that the financial technologies market is growing rapidly and, as an example, he noted that investments worth $111.8 billion were made into the financial technologies market in 2018. Azizov also stressed that startups play an important role in the development of financial technologies. He noted that the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of Azerbaijan provides support in creating startups and regularly grants funds for the implementation of various projects. In this regard, Azizov urged banks to cooperate with the Agency for Innovations under the Ministry. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 17 By Kheyraddin Nasirzade - Trend: Azerbaijan needs to strengthen protection against cyber threats, said Rasim Badalbayli, a cloud solutions specialist at the regional office of Microsoft in the Central and Eastern Europe region, Trend reports on May 17. He made the remarks in Baku at the FINTEX (Finance and Technology) Summit held on the topic A modern, safe workplace for bank employees and front office. The specialist noted the existence of problems in the field of security of the ICT sector in Azerbaijan, in particular, in the issue of protection against cyber threats. In his words, many companies use non-licensed software in their computers that doesnt provide high security against cyber threats. Badalbayli noted that with the development of information technologies, the threat of cyber attacks is increasing, so Microsoft pays great attention to cyber security issues. The expert said that ensuring cyber security stand at the centre of all activities of Microsoft, the capitalization of which exceeded $1 trillion . In this regard, Badalbayli urged companies to pay more attention and allocate resources to information technologies and to strengthen the protection against cyber threats. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 17 Trend: In January-April 2019, 848,400 tourists and stateless persons from 170 countries visited Azerbaijan, which is 0.1 percent more compared to the same period in 2018, Trend reports referring to State Border Service of Azerbaijan. Among those who arrived in Azerbaijan in January-April 2019, 27.3 percent were citizens of Russia, 26.8 percent - Georgia, 11.1 percent - Turkey, 8 percent - Iran, 3.8 percent - the UAE, 1.8 percent - Ukraine and India each, 1.4 percent - Pakistan, 1.3 percent - Iraq, 16.6 percent - citizens of other countries, 0.1 percent - stateless persons. Men accounted for 69.5 percent of the visitors , while only 30.5 percent were women. The largest increase among visitors during the reported period was observed among Egyptian citizens (2.2 times), Saudi Arabia (1.9 times), India and Turkmenistan (1.8 times), China (1.6 times), Japan (37, 1 percent), Canada (31.8 percent), Pakistan (28.8 percent), Georgia (22.6 percent), Poland (20.8 percent) and the Republic of Korea (20.5 percent). In January-April 2019, the number of visitors from the EU states increased by 7 percent and reached 34,200 people, while the number of visitors from the Gulf countries decreased by 27.5 percent and reached 142,900 people. Meanwhile, the number of those, who visited Azerbaijan from the CIS countries decreased by 1 percent and amounted to 282,000 people. When traveling to Azerbaijan, 61.1 percent of foreigners and stateless persons used rail and road transport, 38.1 percent - air, 0.8 percent - water transport. During the reported period, the number of Azerbaijani citizens who went to foreign countries increased by 26.9 percent compared to last year and reached 1,636,400 people. According to the State Border Service, 39.2 percent of them visited Iran, 27.2 percent - Georgia, 18.3 percent - Russia, 9.7 percent -Turkey, 5.6 percent - other countries. Among them, men accounted for 66.6 percent of the visitors , while only 33.4 being women. The number of Azerbaijani citizens visiting Iran during the reported period increased by 79.7 percent, Georgia - 10.6 percent, Russia - 6 percent and Turkey - 1.2 percent. In January-April 2019, when traveling abroad, 83.7 percent of Azerbaijanis used rail and road transport, 15.4 percent - air, 0.9 percent - water transport. 83.7 percent of Azerbaijani citizens who went abroad used rail and road transport, 15.4 percent - by air, 0.9 percent - by water. The United Nations called for "maximum restraint" from all parties amid heightened tensions between Iran and the United States and in the Gulf region, Trend reported citing Xinhua. "We are very concerned about the volatility of the situation. We call on everyone to exercise maximum restraint, prevent any escalation of and heightening of tensions," Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, told reporters. "The situation ... is already fairly volatile and we are concerned by the rhetoric that we have been hearing," he told a regular press briefing. Guterres is following the situation very closely and contacts have been made, said Dujarric. "We are following the situation. Our message, and the secretary-general's general message, is one of restraint, both in terms of actions and in terms of rhetoric. These are situations where actions and rhetoric can be misinterpreted and can lead to catastrophic actions. It's very, very important that we see restraint both in terms of the rhetoric and in terms of the action." He said the secretary-general's good offices remain available at request. "But through the contacts that we have, we remain very much involved and are following the situation very closely." The United States has ramped up pressure on Iran, by designating Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps as a terror group, imposing a total ban on Iranian oil exports, and building up its military presence in the Gulf. Mitsubishi Motors Corp said on Friday that Osamu Masuko will step down as its chief executive on June 21 and be replaced by Takao Kato, who is president of its operations in Indonesia, reports Trend citing to Reuters Masuko will retain his role as chairman of the board, Mitsubishi Motors said in a statement, adding that Masuko and Kato will hold a press conference on May 20 to discuss the changes. Japans sixth-largest automaker, in which Nissan Motor Co holds a controlling stake, said this month it expects profit to fall to 90.0 billion yen ($821 million) in the year to March as it navigates slowing demand for cars, global trade frictions and the need to develop new technologies. Mitsubishis partners Nissan and Frances Renault are meanwhile grappling with the fallout from the arrest of Carlos Ghosn, the groups former chairman, who is facing charges of financial misconduct in Japan. Ghosn has denied all charges against him. The collapse of talks between Britains two main parties aimed at finding a way to leave the European Union with the support of a majority of lawmakers is a very negative development, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Friday, reports Trend citing to Reuters British politics was again in disarray over the countrys divorce from the bloc after the opposition Labour Party declared last-ditch talks with the ruling Conservatives dead due to Prime Minister Theresa Mays crumbling government. Its a very serious development and a very negative development unfortunately, Varadkar told national broadcaster RTE. Algerias imminent presidential election looks likely to be postponed, a source said on Friday, as protesters returned to the streets for the 13th successive Friday to demand the removal of the nations ruling elite, reports Trend citing to Reuters After two decades in power, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika quit last month under pressure from protesters and the army, but demonstrations have continued seeking political reforms and the removal of all officials belonging to the old guard. A presidential election is scheduled for July 4. But a source familiar with the matter said the vote was to be delayed due to difficulties of organizing the logistics in time and opposition on the street. There wont be elections on July 4, he told Reuters, asking not to be named. Hundreds of protesters began gathering again on Friday, calling for the resignations of the interim president, Abdelkader Bensalah, and Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui, appointed by Bouteflika days before he stepped down. Algerias imminent presidential election looks likely to be postponed, a source said on Friday, as protesters returned to the streets for the 13th successive Friday to demand the removal of the nations ruling elite. After two decades in power, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika quit last month under pressure from protesters and the army, but demonstrations have continued seeking political reforms and the removal of all officials belonging to the old guard. A presidential election is scheduled for July 4. But a source familiar with the matter said the vote was to be delayed due to difficulties of organizing the logistics in time and opposition on the street. There wont be elections on July 4, he told Reuters, asking not to be named. Hundreds of protesters began gathering again on Friday, calling for the resignations of the interim president, Abdelkader Bensalah, and Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui, appointed by Bouteflika days before he stepped down. 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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 German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said on Friday he expected the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) will agree a minimum level of taxation for digital companies such as Amazon, Google and Facebook by mid-2020, reports Trend citing to Reuters He also said he expected progress by the third quarter of 2019 on introducing a financial transaction tax in at least nine EU countries. We discussed the taxation of large companies, especially in the digital economy, Scholz told a news conference after a meeting of EU finance ministers. We are on the way... to an international agreement on the level of the OECD, but also in the G7 and G20, Scholz said. I expect that by summer next year we will reach an agreement at the OECD on minimum taxation... We will need at the same time an agreement on taxation of companies so that it leads to better taxation of the digital economy. France has proposed to help finance a future budget for the euro zone from taxes on digital companies, but some countries are wary of the move unless it is backed globally as not to put Europe at a disadvantage. Scholz also said he expected progress on another potential source of funding for the future euro zone budget, the financial transaction tax, by the third quarter of this year. It looks like the enhanced cooperation will show results in summer. We are working on the legal text. The basis for it is the Franco-German proposal. We are trying to convince smaller states. I expect German revenues from the tax would be around 1.2 billion euros. The effort would pay off, he said. According to Syrian state media, Syrian air defenses have intercepted projectiles coming from Israeli-controlled territory, Trend reports citing Sputnik. The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported late Friday night that air defense systems had intercepted "luminous objects coming from the occupied territories, shooting down a number of them." "Our anti-aircraft systems monitored hostile targets that came from the direction of Quneitra and intercepted them," a Syrian military official told reporters. Video footage shot on a cell phone in Damascus showed anti-air missiles intercepting at least one target. According to the poster, multiple explosions were heard in the southwest of the city, which is closest to Israel. One observer captured a photo of the "hostile objects." I.M. Pei, the architect who designed the Louvre Pyramid and forged a distinct brand of modern building design with his sharp lines and stark structures, died at the age of 102, Trend reported citing Sputnik. Pei, who celebrated his 102th birthday on April 26, died in New York, his sons' architecture firm Pei Partnership Architects confirmed Thursday. The Chinese-born Pei was the mastermind behind the bold Louvre pyramid in Paris, the landmark 72-story Bank of China tower in Hong Kong and Athens' Museum of Modern Art. His revered projects also include the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio; the Miho Museum of Shigo, Japan; the Morton Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, Texas, and The John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, Massachusetts. He also was commissioned to design the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar, which opened in 2008. Born in China in 1917, banker's son Ieoh Ming Pei came to the US at 17 to study architecture, receiving an undergraduate degree in the field from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1940 and then receiving a masters degree in architecture at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design in 1946. In 1975, Pei was elected to the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. Three years later he became Chancellor of the Academy, the first architect to hold the position. He was also one of 12 naturalized US citizens then-president Ronald Reagan awarded the Medal of Liberty in 1986. The architect was also awarded the title of Chevalier in the Legion d'Honneur by then-French president Francois Mitterrand in 1988 for the project of Louvres glass pyramid, later raising him to the rank of Officier when Phase II of the glass-and-stainless steel Grand Louvre pyramid was completed in 1993. That same year, US president George Bush awarded Pei the Medal of Freedom and he was also elected an Honorary Academician of the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Pei dedicated energetic efforts through the years to supporting the arts and education, serving on visiting committees at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Harvard and MIT as well as a range of US government panels, including the National Council on the Humanities and National Council on the Arts. He gave the $100,000 prize money he was awarded as laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize to setting up a scholarship fund for Chinese students to study the craft in the United States, on the condition that they return home to work as architects. Libya's coast guards said they rescued 61 illegal immigrants off the country's western coast, Trend reported citing Xinhua. The immigrants were on a broken rubber boat 30 miles (48 km) off the coast of the capital Tripoli when they were found, the coast guards said in a statement. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN Higher Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) provided necessary assistance to the immigrants before they were taken to a reception center in eastern Tripoli. Due to the insecurity and chaos following the 2011 uprising that toppled the late leader Gaddafi's government, Libya becomes a preferred point of departure for thousands of illegal immigrants wanting to cross the Mediterranean toward European shores. Eleven people were killed and 33 others injured in three separate road accidents in the Philippines on Friday, police said, Trend reports citing Xinhua. A head-on collision between a passenger van and a six-wheeler truck in central Philippine Leyte province early on Friday morning killed nine and injured 10 others, police said. Police said the accident occurred around 6:15 a.m. local time on a highway in Babatngon town, Leyte. The van was traveling to Tacloban City while the truck was heading for Babatngon to deliver swine at the Babatngon public market, police said. Two were killed and three others injured in another road accident on Friday when a bus hit a motorcycle in Argao town in the central Philippine Cebu province, police said. A female pedestrian and a passenger of a motorcycle were killed in the accident that occurred around 10 a.m. local time, according to local police. The motorcycle driver and two other pedestrians were also injured in the accident. Initial investigation showed that motorcycle attempted to overtake another vehicle when it was hit by a passengers bus. In Quezon province, police said 20 people were injured when a bus crashed onto a road railing and hit a garage where two motorcycles were parked in Tagkawayan town in the southern part of the Philippine main Luzon island. The bus was heading to Manila when the incident occurred at around 12:30 a.m. local time. "It happened while the bus was traveling the descending curved portion of the road. Due to overspeeding, the driver lost control and accidentally hit the railings," police said. Baku, Azerbaijan, May 17 By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend: As part of the fight against the FETO terrorist movement, 48 servicemen have been detained in Istanbul, Trend reports with reference to Turkish media on May 17. Ten of them are retired servicemen. During the investigation it was established that they all had close ties with the FETO terrorists. Over the past seven months, 1,076 servicemen have been dismissed from the Turkish armed forces within the fight against the FETO. Reportedly, 624 servicemen dismissed from the Turkish Armed Forces served in the army ground forces, 107 servicemen - in the navy, and 345 servicemen - in the air force. A group of rebels attempted a military coup in Turkey on the night of July 16, 2016. The main confrontation broke out in Ankara and Istanbul. More than 250 Turkish citizens were killed, over 2,000 people were injured, the mutiny was suppressed --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu Baku, Azerbaijan, May 17 By Rufiz Hafizoglu Trend: Turkey will not terrorists to create a state in the north of Syria, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, Trend reports referring to Turkish media. He said that the territories liberated as part of the Operation Euphrates Shield and the Operation Olive Branch are the safest in northern Syria. Erdogan noted that the Turkish Armed Forces at any time can launch new military operations in the north of Syria against terrorist groups. On December 12, 2018, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the Turkish armed forces will launch a new military operation in northern Syria against PYD / YPG. Erdogan said that there are the US soldiers in the ranks of the terrorists in Syria. "Despite the US promised Turkey not to support the Syrian wing of the PKK terrorist organization - PYD / YPG, Washington did not keep its word," the president added. On June 4, 2018, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed a roadmap on Syria's Manbij during talks in Washington. On January 20, 2018, Turkish Armed Forces, together with the Free Syrian Army, launched the Operation Olive Branch in Afrin, Syria. On August 24, 2016, units of the Turkish Armed Forces launched the Euphrates Shield Operation against the "Islamic State", and liberated, with the support of the Syrian opposition, Al-Bab town and the border town of Jarablus in northern Syria. The safety zone in the north of Syria includes a territory 32 kilometers deep and 460 kilometers long along the Syrian border with Turkey. In the case of the creation of this zone, it will be divided into two parts, the first part will start from the Iraqi-Syrian border and will be extended to the Syrian city of Qamishli, because the Syrian government forces control this city. The second part of the safety zone will start from Qamishli and will be extended to Jarabulus city, which was liberated from the terrorists of the Islamic State (IS) as part of the Operation Euphrates Shield conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces in 2016. Manbij city, where Turkey had previously intended to conduct new anti-terrorist operations, is not a part of the safety zone. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu Baku, Azerbaijan, May 17 By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has instructed the government to accelerate the reforms for the country to be the EU full member, Trend reports referring to the Turkish media on May 17. The special commissions have been created to fulfill the remaining six of 72 EU requirements. A new round of negotiations between Turkey and the EU may begin in the coming months. Earlier, a source from the Turkish government told Trend that Ankara almost completely fulfilled the EU conditions, but the EU double standards are still the main obstacle for Ankaras full membership. "The main problem in relations between Turkey and the EU is that the EU has not yet determined Ankaras status in this structure, the source said. The fulfillment of 66 out of 72 conditions in a short time is the great achievement." According to the Turkish government source, Turkeys accession to the EU is a priority, but this does not mean that Ankara has no alternative. On April 27, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the EU must decide on Turkeys membership in the EU. He noted that if the EU does not need Turkey, it should openly declare this. Erdogan added that Turkey has fulfilled all the conditions to become a full member of the EU. The Association Agreement between the EU and Turkey was signed in 1963. Ankara filed an application for EU membership in 1987, but accession negotiations began only in 2005. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu Baku, Azerbaijan, May 17 By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend: The Turkish Air Force is carrying out operations against the terrorists of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in the Karurk and Avashin districts in northern Iraq, Trend reports referring to the National Defense Ministry of Turkey. During the operation, shelters of terrorists, as well as ammunition depots were destroyed. At least three terrorists were killed in the operation. The conflict between Turkey and the PKK, which demands the creation of an independent Kurdish state, has lasted more than 25 years, claiming more than 40,000 lives. The PKK is recognized as a terrorist organization by the UN and the EU. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu Baku, Azerbaijan, May 17 By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend: As part of the fight against the FETO terrorist movement, a total of 97 servicemen have been detained in Istanbul and in Bursa province on May 17, Trend reports with reference to Turkish media. It is reported that after a special operation carried out in Istanbul this morning to detain 48 FETO supporters in the Turkish Armed Forces, the police of Bursa province also detained 49 servicemen suspected of collaborating with this terrorist movement. Over the past seven months, 1,076 servicemen have been dismissed from the Turkish armed forces within the fight against the FETO. Reportedly, 624 servicemen dismissed from the Turkish Armed Forces served in the army ground forces, 107 servicemen - in the navy, and 345 servicemen - in the air force. A group of rebels attempted a military coup in Turkey on the night of July 16, 2016. The main confrontation broke out in Ankara and Istanbul. More than 250 Turkish citizens were killed, over 2,000 people were injured, the mutiny was suppressed --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu Baku, Azerbaijan, May 17 By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend: Terrorists of the "Islamic State" have been active on the territory in Turkey in recent years, Turkish Interior Minister Suleiman Soylu said, Trend reports via Turkish media. In this regard, Turkey has thoroughly strengthened security measures, the minister said. Turkish intelligence is actively working to eliminate terrorists and threats emanating from them, he added. On Nov. 5, 2018, a major operation was carried out against members of the "Islamic State" in 11 provinces of Turkey. Some 24 people, who were engaged in raising funds for terrorists in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Libya, were arrested. Also, cash money of more than $500,000 and more than two million Turkish liras were confiscated during the operation. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu U.S. officials have agreed to remove tariffs on steel and aluminum imported from Canada and Mexico in 48 hours, paving the way for the three North American counties to enact a new trade pact, the Washington Post and Politico reported on Friday, Trend reports citing Reuters. The reports come after U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau discussed the tariffs earlier on Friday, according to Trudeaus spokesman. Trudeau is scheduled to speak to reporters at 1:30 pm Eastern Time (1730 GMT) when he meets with steel workers at the Stelco Holding Inc, his spokesman said on Twitter. The two leaders spoke about Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum, and Canadas retaliatory tariffs, Cameron Ahmad, Trudeaus communications director, wrote. They also discussed China, uranium, and the new NAFTA. The deal does not involve quotas, the two news outlets said. The White House declined to comment on the reports. Representatives for the U.S. Trade Representative and Mexican officials did not respond to a request for comment. Removing the tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and Mexico could help the three countries trade pact secure ratification in the U.S. Congress. Lifting the tariffs was seen as a key hurdle to enacting U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement trade deal (USMCA) signed last year. The new pact would replace the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The United States has reached a deal with Mexico and Canada to sell products without tariffs, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday, Trend reports citing Reuters. Weve just reached an agreement with Canada and Mexico and well be selling our product into those countries without the imposition of tariffs or major tariffs, Trump told a gathering of real estate agents in Washington. KYODO NEWS - May 17, 2019 - 23:00 | All, Japan, World Japan and China are arranging to hold bilateral talks on nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation for the first time in eight years, government sources in Tokyo said Friday, in the latest sign of thawing bilateral ties. During the talks likely to be held Tuesday in Beijing, Japan is expected to call on China to reduce its nuclear weapons and increase transparency of its holdings, the sources said. China, whose weaponry includes intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched ballistic missiles, may take issue with Japan's disarmament and nonproliferation policy that depends on the U.S. nuclear umbrella, according to the sources. The two sides are also expected to exchange views on North Korea's nuclear and missile development as well as Iran's nuclear ambitions following Tehran's recent decision to suspend some of its commitments under a 2015 international nuclear deal in response to Washington's withdrawal from the accord and reintroduction of sanctions. China is part of the accord. Related coverage: Iran unwilling to negotiate with U.S. over nuclear deal: Zarif Tomoyuki Yoshida, director general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's disarmament, nonproliferation and science department, will take part in the meeting also attended by senior Chinese officials. Sino-Japanese relations were frayed over issues related to wartime history and territory but have been improving in recent months. Following Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to China last October, Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to make his first visit as president to Japan next month. Since Abe's trip to China, the two governments have been exploring the resumption of the bilateral framework launched in 1999 to discuss disarmament and nonproliferation, the sources said. The previous round was held in 2011 before relations took a drastic turn for the worse in 2012 when Japan put the Japan-administered Senkaku Islands, claimed by China, in the East China Sea under state control. By Keiji Hirano, KYODO NEWS - May 17, 2019 - 16:55 | All, Japan, Feature Beate Sirota Gordon, an American translator who played a major role in the formulation of the Japanese Constitution's gender equality protections, is having her post-World War II period documents archived in a project casting light on the development of women's rights. The initiative, which aims to demonstrate the role women played in the fight for gender equality in Japan, came with Gordon's alma mater, Mills College in California, agreeing to donate six boxes of documents to the National Women's Education Center, or NWEC, located in the town of Ranzan, some 60 kilometers north of central Tokyo. "It is significant to keep them here in Japan to make them available for those studying, for example, the process of making the Constitution," said Michi Mori, an information division official at NWEC, which is hosting an exhibition about Gordon. The center also received other materials from Gordon's daughter Nicole, as well as other people and groups linked to her work. (File photo of Beate Sirota Gordon) The documents NWEC collected include a Japanese draft from the time of the Constitution, typed in the Roman alphabet. Gordon compiled the Constitution's human rights clauses, particularly concerning women, which eventually resulted in the gender equality-stipulating Article 24. Among the document cache is a travel record from 1952, when Gordon attended a two-month U.S. tour with Fusae Ichikawa (1893-1981), a female activist and former House of Councillors member who spearheaded the women's suffrage movement in Japan. "We are planning to organize these documents to post them on the internet for the benefit of those who are interested," Mori said. Gordon was born in 1923 in Vienna, Austria, as the only daughter of the internationally acclaimed pianist Leo Sirota and his wife Augustine. She moved to Tokyo with her family in 1929 when her father started teaching at what is now the prestigious Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. She spent roughly 10 years in Japan before moving to California to attend university. After graduating from Mills College and obtaining U.S. citizenship, she returned to Japan at the age of 22 in December 1945, four months after the end of World War II, to work for the General Headquarters of the Allied Forces, which assigned her to be involved in drafting the new Japanese Constitution. (Documents of Beate Sirota Gordon are displayed at the NWEC.) In addition to Article 24, Gordon also contributed to compiling Article 14, which stipulates equality before the law, reflecting the knowledge she gained through her own experiences witnessing the disadvantages suffered by Japanese women. Using her Japanese language skills, Gordon also served as a civilian interpreter and translator on staff at GHQ. She was involved in negotiations between the Japanese government and the Allied forces over the wording of the Constitution. She moved to the United States in 1947 after witnessing the promulgation of the Constitution the previous year and worked as performance art director at the New York-based Japan Society and other institutions that endeavored to promote bilateral cultural exchanges. While for a long time she never spoke of her role in the drafting of the Constitution, Gordon began opening up in the early 1990s, partly on the recommendation of her former supervisor at GHQ. Since then, she was frequently invited by women's groups all over Japan to deliver lectures championing women's rights and the pacifism written into the supreme law. Koji Sugimoto, an exhibition designer, supported her activities in Japan. (Beate Sirota Gordon speaks about the postwar Constitution to students at the Univesity of Tokyo on May 9, 2001.) Sugimoto, 83, became acquainted with Gordon in 1965 when they worked together for a Japanese art festival project, and maintained mutual trust by visiting each other in Tokyo and New York until her death in 2012 at 89. "Ms. Beate saw Japanese women eating dinners in the kitchen while their husbands did so in dining rooms and walking a step behind their partners before and during the war," he said. "Struck with their subordinate status, she always wanted to do something for them, and even after the war, she continued encouraging them by directly talking to them." NWEC has also collected records on the lecture events compiled by the women's groups, which show how enthusiastically women in Japan welcomed Gordon even a half-century after the creation of the Constitution. Reiko Aoki, a visiting researcher at NWEC involved in compiling the documents, said, "We expect these archives to be a visual representation of how Japanese women have learned about equality and their human rights with Ms. Beate, and to spur their learning activities in the future." Visitors to NWEC are also able to see a copy of Gordon's 2006 speech delivered in the northeastern city of Sendai. "I think it is meaningful that the documents...show how women in Japan have been empowered by Ms. Beate, preserved and made public in a comprehensive manner at NWEC," Sugimoto said. Some of the Gordon-related documents, including photographs and video footage, are now displayed at an exhibition hall of NWEC. The exhibition is free to enter and runs through Sept. 30. For further information, call NWEC at 0493-62-6195 or visit its website at http://www.nwec.jp/ KYODO NEWS - May 17, 2019 - 13:45 | All, Japan The employment rate of jobseekers who graduated from universities this spring stood at 97.6 percent, government data showed Friday, in the latest sign of labor shortages in Japan where the population is rapidly aging. The employment rate for fiscal 2018 that ended in March was the second highest on record after 98.0 percent marked the previous year, according to data compiled by the labor and education ministries. The government began recording such statistics in 1997. (Students attend a job fair in Chiba, near Tokyo, on March 1, 2019, at the start of the job-hunting season for students graduating from universities in the spring of 2020.) The proportion of jobseekers among university graduates rose 0.7 percentage point from the previous year to a record 76.0 percent. Of the jobseekers, some 10,700 students were unable to find a job, according to the survey, which covered 24 national or public universities and 38 private universities. On the slight fall in the employment rate, a labor ministry official pointed to some students who graduated without getting a job in order to again apply for their top choice companies. By gender, the employment rate for male students fell 0.2 point to 97.3 percent while that for female students declined 0.8 point to 97.8 percent. Employment rates stayed high across the country. The Kanto region covering greater Tokyo logged 98.1 percent, down 0.4 point. A separate survey by the education ministry showed the employment rate for jobseekers who graduated from high schools rose 0.1 point to 98.2 percent at the end of March, marking the ninth consecutive year of increase and standing just below the record 98.3 percent recorded in fiscal 1990 when Japan was experiencing an economic bubble. Facing a tight labor market, major Japanese firms are changing their employment policy to hire university graduates all year round. The Japan Business Federation, a powerful business lobby, said last month it will no longer expect its member companies to adhere to the custom of offering jobs to college seniors in October each year to allow the new recruits to start working from the following April, when the new business year starts. KYODO NEWS - May 17, 2019 - 19:27 | World, All South Korea said Friday that it has decided to offer food support for North Korea worth $8 million. Unification Ministry spokesman Lee Sang Min said the funds will be provided through the U.N. World Food Program and the U.N. Children's Fund, or UNICEF, and will mainly be used to help highly vulnerable groups including children and pregnant women. David Beasley, executive director of the World Food Program, visited Seoul earlier this week to brief South Korean ministers about the food security situation in North Korea, while seeking humanitarian support. Earlier this month, the two U.N. agencies issued a "joint rapid food security assessment" report in which they estimated that 10.1 million people, or about 40 percent of North Korea's population, are food insecure and in urgent need of assistance. The report called the situation "serious" and warned it could become "critical" during the lean season from May to September, prior to the annual harvest. Related coverage: N. Korea suffers severest drought in 37 years: KCNA "A humanitarian intervention is therefore urgently required to mitigate the food production shortfall," it said. It said prolonged dry spells, abnormally high temperatures and floods severely impacted yields of main crops harvested last September and October, while production prospects for the June harvest of early season crops are unfavorable. On Wednesday, North Korea's official media reported that the country has suffered its severest drought in 37 years. "According to a meteorologist, the average precipitation of the country from January to early May was 54.4 mm (millimeters), 42.3 percent of the average annual precipitation," the Korean Central News Agency said. "It is the lowest figure since 1982" when the average precipitation in North Korea was 51.2 mm, it said. By Ron Bousso and Simon Jessop LONDON (Reuters) - BP will face pressure at a meeting next week to set tougher targets to combat climate change, the latest signal from investors that they want the oil and gas industry to do more to clean up its act. After BP's 2018 carbon emissions rose to their highest in six years, the London-based major is being lobbied by activists and an increasing number of shareholders to ensure its operations are in line with goals set by the 2015 Paris climate deal to curb global warming. BP has already backed a resolution being put to investors on Tuesday for it to be more transparent about its emissions, link executive pay to reducing emissions from BP's operations and show how future investments meet Paris goals. The motion, proposed by BP and a group of 58 shareholders holding 10 percent of its shares, known as Climate Action 100+, is expected to pass at BP's annual meeting in Aberdeen. But some investors want BP to go further and follow the lead of rival Royal Dutch Shell, which bowed to years of lobbying and set the toughest industry targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. "BP now is at the same stage as Shell was two to three years ago," said Eric Rutten, head of the responsible investments committee of Aegon, BP's biggest Dutch investor with shares worth $26 million in the $142 billion firm, Refinitiv data show. His investment company is backing a resolution drawn up by activist group Follow This that would require BP to reduce emissions not just from its own activities but also from the fuel and products it sells to customers. While the resolution stands little chance of passing, even those not backing it still want BP to step up its commitments. "We'd like to see the company set its own targets," Ashley Hamilton Claxton, head of responsible investment at Royal London Asset Management, a top-20 BP investor with a 0.4 percent stake. "We'd consider supporting more stringent targets, such as those proposed by Follow This, if the board fails to make meaningful progress," she said, adding her company would abstain over the Follow This resolution rather than vote against it. BP said in a statement it welcomed engagement with shareholders and wanted "to be a constructive partner in the energy transition. We're working on this with governments, society and our investors." NOT ALONE BP is not alone in coming under pressure. Follow This and other activists have proposed a similar resolution to shareholders in U.S. energy firm Chevron, while a Follow This motion was rejected by investors in Norway's majority state-owned Equinor this week. Exxon Mobil, the world's biggest listed energy firm, has also been pushed by some investors to set emissions targets, although the regulator ruled in April that it did not have to put it to shareholders' vote. BP has said it aims to keep emissions from its operations flat in the decade until 2025, despite strong growth in its business that has been rebuilding after facing $67 billion in fines and clean-up costs following the disastrous 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. It also invests about $500 million a year on low carbon energy and technologies such as wind and solar. Emissions from BP's operations, known as Scope 1 and 2, fell in 2018 to 54.4 million tonnes from 56.6 million tonnes in 2017. But BP's overall carbon dioxide emissions, including from the fuels and chemicals it sells to customers, known as Scope 3, rose in 2018 to the highest level since 2012, reflecting higher oil and gas output. Scope 3 emissions climbed to 437 million tonnes in 2018 from 412 million tonnes a year earlier, according to Refinitiv data. BP's CO2 emissions: https://tmsnrt.rs/2W0zkEf Chief Executive Officer Bob Dudley has repeatedly opposed setting Scope 3 reduction targets, as proposed by the Follow This resolution, saying consumption is outside BP's control. Bruce Duguid, head of stewardship at investment firm Hermes EOS, which was part of the Climate Action 100+ group, also recommended opposing the Follow This resolution, saying BP needed "flexibility to set its own strategy". The U.N.-backed Paris climate agreement aims to slash greenhouse gas emissions, produced mostly by burning fossil fuels, to net zero by the end of the century in order to limit global warming to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius. David Patt, a senior corporate governance and public policy analyst at Legal and General Investment Management, BP's fourth biggest investor, said the Climate Action 100+ resolution would help investors push BP and other energy firms "into being more ambitious" in the transition to a low carbon world. It was not the end of the process, though. "I see this as the building blocks for deeper conversation in things like Scope 3 in order to make sure the company is successful in the future," Patt told Reuters. (Reporting by Ron Bousso and Simon Jessop; Editing by Edmnd Blair) We listen to local police and fire departments scanner traffic, but sometimes miss crimes, wrecks, fires or other incidents, especially if they happen overnight. If you know of something were not covering yet, please let Managing Editor Jeff Pownall know by emailing him at jpownall@lufkindailynews.com, or submit a news tip online by visiting lufkindailynews.com/tips. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2019) - American Battery Metals Corp. (CSE: ABC) (the "Company" of "American Battery Metals") is pleased to announce it has significantly expanded the size of its Temple Mountain vanadium project located in Emery County, Utah, USA. The Company has doubled the size of its land package through the staking of an additional 52 new claims to the north east following the trend discovered through the recently completed geophysical survey. The claims were staked by Carlin Trend based out of Elko, Nevada, USA, on behalf of the Company and the claims were registered with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on May 13th, 2019. The Temple Mountain property now encompasses 104 contiguous lode mining claims covering an area of approximately 2,150 acres or 870 hectares. Michael Mulberry, President & CEO of American Battery Metals, commented "We are excited to have significantly expanded our prospective land position at Temple Mountain, now covering the entire trend highlighted from the geophysical survey. Having now secured a commanding land position within this highly-prospective mineralized belt, we look forward to our upcoming drill program which will test the geophysical anomalies in addition to extensions of known mineralization based on historical production." Additionally, the Company announces the engagement of Khaos Media Group for Investor Relations / Awareness. The Company has entered into a month-to-month agreement with Khaos for the provisions of investor relations and advertising services in consideration for US$125,000 per month. John Walther, P.Geo., who is a Director of the Company and is a Qualified Person within the context of National Instrument 43-101, has approved the contents of this news release. Cannot view this image? Visit: https://media.zenfs.com/en-us/newsfile_64/cd5904e521fffde308ddd4bb219930bf Figure 1: Temple Mountain Vanadium Claims To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6188/44860_bc377d3ab4b8bbfb_001full.jpg Story continues About the Company American Battery Metals Corp. is a junior mineral exploration company engaged in the business of acquiring, exploring and evaluating natural resource properties. The Company has an option to acquire a 50% interest in the Fish Lake property located in Esmeralda County in the state of Nevada, USA and an option to acquire a 100% interest in the Temple Mountain Vanadium Property located in Emery County, Utah, USA. Michael Mulberry Chief Executive Officer, President and Director Telephone: (778) 855-5001 Email: michael@americanbatterymetals.com Neither the CSE nor its regulations service providers accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. This news release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "could" or "should" occur and in this news release include but are not limited to the expected results from any upcoming drill program, testing of geophysical anomalies, or the engagement of Khaos Media. timing for the. Information inferred from the interpretation of drilling and other sampling results may also be deemed to be forward-looking statements, as it constitutes a prediction of what might be found to be present when and if a project is actually developed. These forward-looking 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, including, without limitation: risks related to fluctuations in metal prices; uncertainties related to raising sufficient financing to fund the planned work in a timely manner and on acceptable terms; changes in planned work resulting from weather, logistical, technical or other factors; the possibility that results of work will not fulfill expectations and realize the perceived potential of the Company's properties; risk of accidents, equipment breakdowns and labour disputes or other unanticipated difficulties or interruptions; the possibility of cost overruns or unanticipated expenses in the work program; the risk of environmental contamination or damage resulting from the Company's operations and other risks and uncertainties. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Not for dissemination in the United States or for distribution to U.S. newswire services Corporate Logo To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/44860 'Hope not,' Trump says when asked if the United States will go to war with Iran President Donald Trump said "hope not" when he was asked Thursday if the United States is going to war with Iran. Members of Congress blasted the Trump administration for being left in the dark about details of the situation with Iran and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Trump lacks authority to declare war on Iran. The Trump administration has sent an aircraft carrier strike group and bombers to the Middle East in response to what it has characterized "troubling and escalatory indications and warnings" from Iran. President Donald Trump said "hope not" when he was asked Thursday if the United States is going to war with Iran. That answer to a reporter's question during a photo opportunity at the White House with Swiss President Ueli Maurer came amid growing concern about a conflict between the U.S. and Iran. Within hours of Trump making that public comment, The New York Times reported that the president has told acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan that he does not want to go to war with Iran. Meanwhile, members of Congress blasted the Trump administration for leaving them in the dark about details of the situation with Iran and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Trump lacks authority to declare war on Iran. "The responsibility in the Congress is for Congress to declare war," said Pelosi, D-Calif. "So I hope the president's advisors recognize that they have no authorization to go forward in any way. They cannot call the authorization, AUMF, the authorization for the use of military force, that was passed in 2001, as any authorization to go forward in the Middle East now," she said. "I like what I hear from the president that he has no appetite for this," Pelosi added added. "One of the places that I agree with the president is that both of us in our opposition to the war in Iraq and I hope the same attitude will prevail with the president of the United States even though some of his supporters are rattling sabers." Story continues The Trump administration has sent an aircraft carrier strike group and bombers to the Middle East in response to what it has characterized as "troubling and escalatory indications and warnings" from Iran. Those indications include a purported threat from Iran against U.S. diplomatic posts in Iraq, as well as worry that Iran is setting the stage to place rocket launchers on ships in the Persian Gulf. On Wednesday, the U.S. State Department ordered nonemergency government employees to leave the American embassy in Baghdad and the consulate in Erbil. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a member of the Armed Services Committee, told reporters Thursday: "The American people have been kept in the dark. It is disgraceful and despicable that we're on the verge of war, and the American people are given this kind of confused and chaotic picture of what the situation is on the ground." Blumenthal said that he and other senators have heard that "we are supposedly going to have a briefing on Tuesday" from the Trump administration about the Iran situation. But, Blumenthal added, "we're hearing it may be too late because hostilities may have begun or there may be an escalation on the military situation." That would be "petrifying," he said. Later Thursday, three sources told NBC News that all senators will be receiving a classified briefing next Tuesday to update them on the situation involving Iran and the Middle East. In addition to Shanahan, the briefers scheduled to attend are Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and General Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., evoked the Vietnam War in his criticism of the administration's Iran planning. "Literally. I don't know if someone in the White House is waiting for a Gulf of Tonkin moment here to initiate military action against Iran," Durbin said, referring to the purported attack by North Vietnam on an American naval vessel in 1964, which has been viewed as a bogus pretext by President Lyndon Johnson to escalate U.S. involvement in Vietnam. "That would be a serious mistake, and under our Constitution, this president has to seek the authority to do [so] from Congress," Durbin said. New York Democratic Rep. Eliot Engel, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said, "The administration should give us a classified briefing as soon as possible." More From CNBC There is a 'real' risk of miscalculation in US-Iran tensions, expert says According to Eurasia Group's Henry Rome, the risk of miscalculation by Washington and Tehran is "real". The U.S. decision to pull out its diplomats from Iraq comes on the back of increasingly provocative rhetoric between Washington and Tehran. As United States - Iran tensions continue to escalate, there is rising fear among experts and government officials that a conflict between the two countries may break out. According to Henry Rome, a global macro and Iran analyst at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, the risk of miscalculation by Washington and Tehran is "real." "If the U.S. and Iran were to end up in conflict in the near future, it will be because of a miscalculation or a misperception," he told CNBC. While President Donald Trump and Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei have both said they are not interested in war, Rome said Thursday that "history has shown us that many, many times that even two states uninterested in armed confrontation can be drawn into it based on accidents, misperceptions or other provocations." The Trump administration has deployed a carrier strike group and bombers to the Middle East region in response to what it calls "troubling and escalatory indications and warnings" from Iran. Despite rising fears of how misunderstandings between the two countries could escalate into a full-blown conflict, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told CNBC on Saturday that the U.S. is "not going to miscalculate ." "Our aim is not war, our aim is a change in the behavior of the Iranian leadership," he said. On Wednesday, the U.S. State Department announced that all non-emergency American staff on diplomatic missions will be pulled out of Iraq, citing concerns of threats from Iranian-backed forces. Washington's decision, however, runs counter to remarks from a senior British military official on Tuesday who said there has been "no increased threat from Iranian-backed forces in Iraq or Syria." Story continues "The U.S. is having a credibility problem here in trying to convince its allies of the threats faced by Iran, largely because of its track record and the individuals leading it, namely (U.S. National Security Advisor) John Bolton," Rome said. Still, Rome said the "vague" U.S. intelligence and lack of public confirmation of Iranian threats in Iraq doesn't mean that "we should reflexively reject these threats." "The U.S. would take a decision to draw down embassy staff very seriously as the result of complex deliberations," Rome explained. "So I think we should read this as trying to minimize risk, yes, and also there is a real threat." Iran 'left with no choice' The U.S. decision to pull out its diplomats from Iraq comes on the back of increasingly provocative rhetoric between Washington and Tehran. Washington has slapped sanctions on Iranian industrial metals and oil the country's two largest sources of export revenue. Iran announced last Wednesday that it intends to violate two provisions of a 2015 nuclear agreement which the U.S. unilaterally pulled out of last year and threatened other members of the agreement that it would restart part of its halted nuclear program if they did not resume oil trade within 60 days. According to Rome, Tehran's pledge to violate some terms of the JCPOA agreement could easily reduce Iranian "breakout time" the duration required to produce enough weapons-grade uranium for a nuclear weapon. "The Iranians are trying to take this one step at a time, and they're really looking for excuses to stay in the confines of the agreement," Rome said. "But after one year of staying inside of the JCPOA while the U.S. applied sanctions and cut off Iranian oil exports, from Iran's point of view they were left with no choice," he added. More From CNBC By Paulina Duran SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's anti-trust regulator apologised "unreservedly" for publishing confidential information about its decision to block a $10 billion merger of TPG Telecom and Vodafone's Australian joint venture, blaming a flaw in its website. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's (ACCC) decision to reject the deal was uploaded to its website an hour before the market closed on May 8, catching investors unawares as they were expecting a decision on the next day. The news sent both firms into a tailspin and shares slid across the broader sector until the market closed and the regulator published a fuller note explaining its reasons. "Instead of the new information being treated as draft content requiring internal approval, the flaw meant the content was live," the regulator said in a statement on Thursday. "We apologise unreservedly for this unfortunate and serious incident," ACCC Chief Operating Officer Rayne de Gruchy said. He added the regulator's technology team had fixed the software glitch, promising the incident would not be repeated. The A$15 billion (8 billion pounds) deal was to combine the third and fourth-largest telcos in Australia to create a big player boasting TPG's fibre network and Vodafone's mobile system. The firms have said they will contest the rejection in court. (Reporting by Paulina Duran; Editing by Himani Sarkar) Barclays Bank in London. Photo: Ian West/PA Wire Barclays (BARC.L), Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Citigroup (C), and JPMorgan (JPM) are among several banks that have been fined 1.07bn (935m) by the European Commission for colluding on currency foreign exchange trading strategies. At 311m, Citigroups fine was the largest, followed by fines of 249m for RBS, 229m for JPMorgan, and 210m for Barclays. Japans MUFG Bank was fined almost 70m. An investigation by the commission found that some individual traders in the banks who were meant to be direct competitors exchanged sensitive information and trading plans and occasionally coordinated their trading strategies in chatrooms. In the chatrooms, the traders rigged the market by exchanging commercially sensitive information in relation to outstanding customer orders and the prices applicable to specific transactions, among other details. These information exchanges enabled them to make informed market decisions on whether to sell or buy the currencies they had in their portfolios and when, the commission said. Most of the traders involved knew each other on a personal basis, the commission noted. One chatroom was called the Essex Express n the Jimmy because all but one of the traders, James, lived in Essex and met on a train to London. Other chatroom names included the Three way banana split and Two and a half men. The traders had extensive conversations on Bloomberg terminal chatrooms for the whole working day, the commission found. The commission found that this amounted to collusive behaviour and was thus illegal, since transactions are supposed to be executed on the same day and at the prevailing exchange rate. Billions of euros worth of foreign exchange spot trades, which see two parties agree to buy one currency against another currency for a given price, happen every day. The fines were made following two separate rulings by the commission. UBS, which also participated in the collusive behaviour, was not fined because it revealed the existence of the cartels to the commission. Story continues Today we have fined Barclays, The Royal Bank of Scotland, Citigroup, JPMorgan and MUFG Bank and these cartel decisions send a clear message that the Commission will not tolerate collusive behaviour in any sector of the financial markets, competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement. The behaviour of these banks undermined the integrity of the sector at the expense of the European economy and consumers. Because Barclays, RBS, Citigroup, and JPMorgan all received reduced fines for their cooperation with the investigation, they will not be able to appeal the commissions ruling. A large "sell order" of bitcoin caused its price to crash by nearly 10 percent on Friday. The cryptocurrency lost close to $1,000 early Friday morning, falling to about $6,777. It later recovered to around $7,000 after Bitstamp, a leading crypto exchange, said one large order of the digital currency caused the crash. "A large sell order was executed on our BTC/USD pair today, strongly impacting the order book. Our system behaved as designed, processing and fulfilling the clients order as it was received," Bitstamp said in a tweet. It added that it is closely examining every event that caused the large-scale movement in its order book and that it "started an immediate case investigation." Still, bitcoin enthusiasts on Twitter weren't too pleased with the news. However, despite the one-day drop, bitcoin remains up more than 90 percent year-to-date and up more than 30 percent since the start of the month. This week, the cryptocurrency jumped above $8,000 for the first time this year, despite a few negative controversies, including a massive heist last week in which hackers ran off with more than $41 million worth of bitcoin on one the world's largest crypto exchanges. The breach forced the exchange to suspend all deposits and withdrawals for at least one week. On top of that, last month, the entire crypto market shed about $10 billion amid regulatory worries and questions around the legitimacy of tether, also known as "stablecoin", which has been pegged to the U.S. dollar. In April, New York's Attorney General Letitia James accused both Bitfinex, a bitcoin exchange platform, and tether issuer Tether Limited of hiding an $850 million loss and misleading investors. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX BUSINESS APP Our investigation has determined that the operators of the Bitfinex trading platform, who also control the tether virtual currency, have engaged in a cover-up to hide the apparent loss of $850 million dollars of a co-mingled client and corporate funds, James said in a statement. Story continues However, the debate around bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have always had its share of critics and supporters. Earlier this month, billionaire investor Warren Buffett continued to slam bitcoin as a "gambling device." Buffett told FOX Business' Liz Claman that it simply doesn't produce anything substantive. [Bitcoin] doesnt reproduce. It doesnt speak to you. And it doesnt do anything. Its like a seashell or something, and that is not an investment to me, he said during Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. Meanwhile, billionaire investor Tim Draper is extremely bullish on the crypto, telling Claman last week that he believes bitcoin will take 5 percent of the global market share in four years time. Related Articles Canadian rail volumes rose again year-to-date for the week ended May 11, while U.S. rail volumes continued downward amid U.S. tariff uncertainty and a fuzzy economic picture. Freight rail operations in Canada have originated 2.84 million carloads and intermodal units year-to-date, a 2.4 percent increase from the same period in 2018, according to data published weekly by the Association of American Railroads. Of that total, Canadian rail operations moved 1.54 million carloads year-to-date, which is 2.7 percent more than the same period last year, and 1.3 million intermodal units, which is a 2 percent increase from a year ago. The carloads include the U.S. carloads of Canadian National (NYSE: CNI) and Canadian Pacific (NYSE: CP). A 6.2 percent increase in grain carloads year-to-date, a 5.8 percent increase in coal and a 22.8 percent increase in petroleum and petroleum product carloads have helped lift Canadian carloads. So far this year, grain carloads have totaled 165,937, while coal totaled 147,921 and petroleum products totaled 178,902. Grain, coal and petroleum represented 10.8 percent, 9.6 percent and 11.6 percent, respectively, of Canadian carloads. Canadian rail volumes represent 21 percent of overall North American rail traffic. Meanwhile, U.S. rail volumes year-to-date dipped again, falling 2 percent to 9.83 million carloads and intermodal units. U.S. freight rail operations have originated 4.76 million carloads, a 2.4 percent drop compared with the same period in 2018, while intermodal units fell 1.7 percent to 5.07 million intermodal containers and trailers. U.S. rail volumes year-to-date represent about 74 percent of overall North American rail traffic. Rail executives still positive on economy but tariffs talk weighs Canadian rail executives and their U.S. counterparts at investor conferences this week affirmed their views that the North American economy was still growing, which could support volume growth as the year progresses. Story continues "We haven't seen the effects of a negative macro[-economic] environment. The underlying macro environment is still pretty robust" and broad-based across several commodities, said CPI chief financial officer Nadeem Velani at an investor conference this week. Velani pointed to his company's "strong" volumes for April. Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) chief financial officer Cindy Earhart also said customers remain positive on the U.S. economy. Manufacturing indexes such as those from the Institute for Supply Management are still showing some economic expansion, Earhart said. But rail executives also noted that the tariff uncertainty between the U.S. and China is clouding the economic outlook for the remainder of the year, which could affect volumes, particularly for those with access to ports on the western U.S. and Canada, such as CP, CN and Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP). "We're not out of the woods of what [the tariffs] could mean but we're cautiously optimistic for the next six to nine months," Velani said. Canadian National chief financial officer Ghislain Houle told investors at another investor conference that tariff impacts would affect imports coming into the ports of Prince Rupert and Vancouver for goods bound for destinations in the middle of the U.S. Union Pacific chief financial officer Rob Knight told investors that the U.S. tariffs were a "wildcard." "Our confidence and guidance remains unchanged [but]...The tariff issue, the temperature on that one is certainly up rather than cooling down" and is a factor that could impact volumes, Knight said. Meanwhile, even though rail executives said they were still confident about the U.S. economy, a FreightWaves' analysis of economic indicators for April shows that the economy could still be trying to find its way. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau showed a 0.2 percent drop in retail sales from March to April, with year-to-date growth down 3.1 percent. Manufacturing production fell 0.5 percent between March and April, with year-over-year growth below 1 percent for the first time since early 2017. Image sourced from Pixabay See more from Benzinga 2019 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Canadian Solar Inc.s CSIQ subsidiary, Recurrent Energy, recently sold its remaining equity stake in the 100 megawatts ac (MWac) Mustang solar project to the Renewable Power Group of Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Recurrent Energy expects to recognize the sales revenues from Mustang in the second quarter of 2019. With the closure of this transaction, Recurrent Energy will complete the sale of its equity stakes in 973-megawatts of solar projects, brought online in 2016, per a report by GTM Research. Canadian Solars Prospects in United States In the United States, Canadian Solars portfolio of operating utility-scale solar power plants stood at 986 MW with an estimated total resale value of approximately $1.2 billion at the end of February 2019. Per the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), solar power is expected to be the fastest growing source of utility-scale electricity generation in the United States for the next two years. Evidently, electricity generation by utility scale solar power in the United States is expected to grow 10% in 2019 and 17% in 2020. In the light of such growth prospects, we may anticipate more such deals lined up for Canadian Solar in the United States. Other Deals in the Same Line Apart from the recent project sell-off to Goldman Sachs, Canadian Solar completed the sale of 20% interest in the 399 MWp Pirapora Solar Complex in Brazil during last December. Recently, it also announced the signing of an agreement for the sale of its 80% interest in a 482.6 MWp portfolio of contracted solar projects in Brazil to Nebras Power Investment Management. Such robust expansion of its global portfolio is likely to boost the companys revenue generation capability, considering the global solar markets growth potential. Evidently, according to an Allied Market Research report, the global solar energy industry is expected to reach $422 billion by 2022, seeing a CAGR of 24.2% from 2016 to 2022. Story continues Price Movement Shares of Canadian Solar have rallied 5.6% in the past twelve months against the industrys decline of 3.1%. Zacks Rank & Key Picks Canadian Solar carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. A few better-ranked stocks from the same sector are Enphase Energy ENPH, DTE Energy Company DTE and SunPower Corporation SPWR, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Enphase Energy recorded average positive surprise of 31.67% in the last four quarters. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 earnings has been revised 85.7% upward to 52 cents in the last 90 days. DTE Energy recorded average positive surprise of 12.24% in the last four quarters. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 earnings has been revised 0.32% upward to 52 cents in the last 90 days. SunPower recorded average positive surprise of 42.49% in the last four quarters. Its earnings growth estimate for 2019 currently stands at 48.61%. Breakout Biotech Stocks with Triple-Digit Profit Potential The biotech sector is projected to surge beyond $775 billion by 2024 as scientists develop treatments for thousands of diseases. Theyre also finding ways to edit the human genome to literally erase our vulnerability to these diseases. Zacks has just released Century of Biology: 7 Biotech Stocks to Buy Right Now to help investors profit from 7 stocks poised for outperformance. Our recent biotech recommendations have produced gains of +98%, +119% and +164% in as little as 1 month. The stocks in this report could perform even better. See these 7 breakthrough stocks now>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report DTE Energy Company (DTE) : Free Stock Analysis Report SunPower Corporation (SPWR) : Free Stock Analysis Report Canadian Solar Inc. (CSIQ) : Free Stock Analysis Report Enphase Energy, Inc. (ENPH) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2019) - Castle Peak Mining Ltd. (TSXV: CAP) ("Castle Peak" or the "Company") hereby provides a third news release on corporate developments since its TSX Venture Exchange trading halt 90 days ago. The Company is pleased to announce that it has concluded the NI 43-101 technical report ("technical report") on the Kunsu PL property, which has been authored by Prosper Mackenzie Nude, PhD., MAIG, a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists with registration number 7381. Following the approval of the technical report by the TSX Venture Exchange the Company has filed the technical report with signature date of 3rd May, 2019 on Sedar. Finally the Company is pleased to announce the latest field progress update on the ongoing follow-up exploration work. This work commenced on the 22nd February, 2019 and has covered the 5.8 km Induced Polarization (IP) geophysical survey at the North Grid zone, followed by 882 meters of trenches excavated on the geophysical defined targets. This involved 737 samples, comprising 668 trench samples and 69 Quality Control-Quality Assurance samples, submitted to the ALS laboratories in Kumasi, Ghana for Au analysis by Fire Assay and AAS finish. The Company is pleased to report that the current trench results returned significant Au grade (> 100 ppb Au) intersections hosted within quartz vein lodes. Notable are trenches GKUTR004, GKUTR005 and GKUTR006 which are on strike length of 300m within the West-North Grid anomaly zone, and trenches GKUTR009 and GKUTR010 on 100m strike length within the East-North Grid anomaly zone; mineralization is open ended west of GKUTR004. A 300m lateritic zone, inferred at this stage to be masking mineralization and Au expressions, separates the West-North Grid and the East-North Grid anomaly zones. A summary of results from trench samples of significance Au grades (>0.1g/t Au) is presented in Table 1. Story continues Table 1: Results from the trench intersections with Au grades >0.1g/t Trench ID Line Total Length (m) From (m) To (m) Intercept Width (m) [Au (g/t)] Remarks GKUTR004 L1000 79.2 13 33 20 0.35 Including 2.36 g/t @ 19m, & 1.08g/t @ 27m 53.7 64.7 11 0.48 Including 3.54 g/t @ 62.7 m GKUTR005 L800 108.6 13 18 5 0.32 Including 0.68 g/t @ 18 m 83 84 1 0.66 GKUTR006 L700 162.2 41.8 42.8 1 0.248 96.8 98.4 1.6 1.28 GKUTR009 L400 93* 117 121 4 0.32 GKUTR010 L300 108.1* 0 8 8 0.134 101.3 111.3 10 1.06 Including 9.55 g/t @ 104.3m 112.3 114.3 2 0.43 Including 0.75 g/t @ 112.3m 115.3 119.3 4 0.2 Including 0.47 g/t @ 115.3m * Excludes zones not sampled These results from the trench samples provide compelling evidence of significant Au mineralization within the North Grid zone of the Kunsu property; the mineralized zone is traceable 1km on strike, separated by 300m of lateritic zone which is being investigated further. The Company is in progress to preparing for a drilling exercise to be based on a combination of the gold in trench sample anomalies and the geophysical IP survey result. ON THE KUNSU PROPERTY The Kunsu PL is located approximately 35 Km Northwest of Kumasi and 240 Km Northwest of Accra; the property is centred approximately on Latitude 648'00'' North and Longitude 1 56.00'' West (WGS84 Zone 30N). The property which is situated in close proximity to the Sefwi gold belt is strategically placed on the Asankragwa-Manso Nkwanta gold belt. The Kunsu concession is about 27 Km north of Asanko Gold's mine, and even closer to the Asanko Esaase gold prospect, all of which are inferred to be underlain by similar geology regionally as Kunsu. TECHNICAL DISCLOSURE Castle Peak's technical disclosure in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Prosper Mackenzie Nude, PhD.,MAIG who serves as a Qualified Person under the definition in National Instrument 43-101 ('NI 43-101'). ABOUT CASTLE PEAK Castle Peak Mining Ltd. is a Canadian-based junior exploration company focused on advancing greenfields and early stage gold projects. Castle Peak has successfully discovered and sold the high grade Apankrah deposit with an associated strategic land package. The Company is in process of acquiring the Kunsu prospecting license strategically placed on the Asankragwa -Manso Nkwanta gold belt in Ghana, West Africa. On behalf of the Board of Castle Peak Mining Ltd.: "Iyad Jarbou" Chief Financial Officer Tel: 604-362-7685 Email: iyadj@castlepeakmining.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. FORWARD-LOOKING AND OTHER CAUTIONARY INFORMATION This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts,that address the planned operations are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes the forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements should not be in any way construed as guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices for metals, the conclusions of detailed feasibility and technical analyses, the timely renewal of key permits, lower than expected grades and quantities of resources, mining rates and recovery rates and the lack of availability of necessary capital, which may not be available to the Company on terms acceptable to it or at all. The Company is subject to the specific risks inherent in the mining business as well as general economic and business conditions. For more information on the Company, Investors should review the Company's Annual Form 40-F filing with the United States Securities Commission and its home jurisdiction filings that are available at www.sedar.com. Corporate Logo To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/44876 FILE PHOTO: People are seen at the booth of Kangmei Pharmaceutical Co at a trade and service fair in Beijing, China May 31, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer By Samuel Shen and Shu Zhang SHANGHAI/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Cash is considered among the hardest assets for a company to fake, which is why the disappearance of a combined $6.1 billion from two Chinese companies has dumbfounded investors and forced regulators to take action. Drugmaker Kangmei Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, a constituent of MSCI's global indexes, in April said an "accounting error" led it to overstate cash in 2017 by 29.94 billion yuan ($4.4 billion). This month, Kangde Xin Composite Material Group Co Ltd, a producer of high-polymer materials, said its auditor could find no trace of the 12.21 billion yuan that it said it held in a bank deposit. Regulators are investigating both cases and neither company has offered detailed explanations for the missing billions. Weak governance has long been a black mark against mainland Chinese companies. Yet these cases have still stunned many investors as they involve straightforward cash, and because the sheer size of the disappearances is equivalent to more than half the two groups' combined market capitalization before they disclosed the issues, triggering calls for tougher punishment for any corporate wrongdoing. "If you tell me fish in a pond disappeared, I probably would buy the story... Tens of billions of deposits missing, that's a bit unthinkable," Liu Enqi, vice head of Bank of Nanjing Co Ltd, told Reuters. "If such things happened in the U.S., someone would be jailed." Pan Jiang, chief executive of asset manager Shanghai V-invest Co, said the cases were "beyond description". "If regulators just let bad guys walk away, it would be a huge blow to investor confidence," he said. Officials appear to be listening. China's top securities regulator, Yi Huiman, told a conference on May 11 that "those who did bad things must pay the price". The chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) also vowed to tighten scrutiny of corporate governance and push for tougher punishment. Story continues Shi Donghui, a senior researcher at the Shanghai Stock Exchange, at a seminar this month said the bourse would "resolutely" delist any companies found to have seriously violated disclosure rules. FAKING THE UNFAKABLE Accounting issues take place the world over. When it comes to manipulation, common ploys include inflating asset values, faking customers and overstating money owed. Companies also face more straightforward crimes such as theft. But cash, sitting in bank accounts, is low on that list. Any big-sum cash fraud would be tough to pull off without help from bankers or auditors, said accounting consultant Ma Junsheng. Rose Zhang, a partner at Zhong Xi, an accounting firm that audits over 25 China-listed companies, said collusion was likely in cases of disappearing cash because "it is impossible for deposits to vanish out of the blue". Kangmei disclosed its issue on April 30 and has said almost nothing beyond its initial diagnosis of "accounting error". It said China's securities watchdog was investigating the matter. Kangmei's auditor GP Certified Public Accountants was also put under investigation, according to local media reports and the auditor. Kangde Xin also disclosed a CSRC probe. In a series of statements this month, it said it did not exclude the possibility that its cash was appropriated by controlling shareholder Kangde Group. It is also said it was seeking to sue deposit holder Bank of Beijing Co Ltd. Kangde Group's chairman, Zhong Yu, has been detained, the police said in a separate statement without elaborating. Kangde Xin declined to comment further when contacted by Reuters. Repeated calls and a text message to Bank of Beijing went unanswered. Neither Kangde Group nor the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission immediately responded to requests for comment. Reuters could not reach a representative for detained shareholder Zhong. Kangmei did not immediately respond to a request for comment. GP declined to comment. ANTS VS ELEPHANTS The scale of the incidents has sparked calls for China to crack down on corporate wrongdoing. Under securities law, a listed company that makes false disclosure can be fined up to 600,000 yuan, while the criminal law states those who conceal or intentionally destroy accounting records can be imprisoned for up to five years and fined up to 200,000 yuan. "The amount of the fine cannot adequately compensate investor losses caused by corporate fraud," said Xie Lianjie, a partner with Beijing Yingke Law Firm Shanghai Office. His team was contacted by more than 100 investors who lost money in the two stocks following the missing money disclosures. In addition, China does not have a mechanism for group legal action - famously embodied by U.S. class-action lawsuits - making it expensive for small investors to pursue companies for damages. "It's like a war between ants and elephants," said Xu Caiyuan, an activist investor. Jia Wu, U.S.-based accounting professor at University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, said China needs an equivalent to the U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which closed a series of accounting and auditing loopholes and made executives personally liable for the accuracy of financial statements. "You need to put wrongdoers behind bars," Wu said. "You need a powerful deterrent." Last year, China ranked 10th in a widely followed regional ranking of corporate governance, far below nearby India, and above only Indonesia, the Philippines and South Korea, according to the report by brokerage CLSA and the Asian Corporate Governance Association. Among categories measured, China scored particularly poorly for management discipline, independence from controlling shareholders, and for transparency - a key issue in the Kangde Xin and Kangmei cases. "If information in this market is inadequate, and fake, there's no basis for fair pricing," said Hong Yan, professor of finance at the Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance. "That would make the market a casino." (Reporting by Samuel Shen in SHANGHAI and Shu Zhang in SINGAPORE; Additional reporting by Cheng Leng in BEIJING; Editing by Jennifer Hughes and Stephen Coates) Choice Hotels International, Inc. CHH continues to gain from expansion strategies and a portfolio of well-segmented brands. With continuous enhancement of the mid-scale brand and the acquisition of the WoodSpring brand, the company is poised for growth in 2019. However, high cost of operations and intense competition are concerning. In the first quarter of 2019, Choice Hotels earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Further, its earnings also met/surpassed analysts expectations for 12 straight quarters. For 2019, the company expects earnings per share to be $4.06-$4.18, whereas the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the same is pegged at $4.17. Backed by such robust earnings trend, shares of Choice Hotels have gained 6.5% in the past year against the industrys decline of 11.1%. Expansion Major Growth Driver Choice Hotels relies heavily on expansion in both domestic as well as international markets. In the first quarter of 2019, this hotelier awarded 79 total franchise agreements. Alongside domestic growth, the company continues to expand its international footprint in new countries. Key international operating markets include Spain, Colombia, Panama, the Caribbean and Canada. The companys 99% of revenues are generated from the franchise business. Choice Hotels gains from economies of scale associated with the franchise business. The companys solid commitment toward franchisee profitability is driving incremental revenues. In 2018, hotel franchising revenues increased 12% year over year, whereas the same improved 4.6% year over year in the first quarter of 2019. The number of domestic franchised hotels and rooms as of Dec 31, 2018, increased 6.6% and 9%, respectively, from the year-ago levels. Apart from constant franchise expansions, Choice Hotels has added 239 extended-stay hotels in 35 states to its portfolio through the acquisition of Woodspring Suites in the past year. In the first quarter of 2019, Choice Hotels entered a multi-unit franchise agreement with a hotel management company to develop 14 WoodSpring hotels throughout the Western states of Colorado, Arizona and Nevada. In the first quarter, the WoodSpring Suites pipeline grew 22% over the prior-year period. This brings the brand's pipeline to over 110 properties. Story continues Addition of the Woodspring brand has been of vital importance. Since addition, WoodSprings website revenue delivery has increased 24%, its call center conversion rates moved up 5.5% and corporate account business delivery increased 18%. Concerns Despite the positive synergies to be realized from acquisitions and increased focus on franchising, Choice Hotels is shouldering high costs from operations. Total operating expenses in 2018 increased 20.1% year over year. Meanwhile, the company is continuously facing intense competition from large hotel chains like Marriott MAR, Hyatt H and Hilton HLT; and smaller independent local hospitality providers. Unless it counters these competitions with appropriate strategies, it may pose a concern for its future profitability. Choice Hotels currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Breakout Biotech Stocks with Triple-Digit Profit Potential The biotech sector is projected to surge beyond $775 billion by 2024 as scientists develop treatments for thousands of diseases. Theyre also finding ways to edit the human genome to literally erase our vulnerability to these diseases. Zacks has just released Century of Biology: 7 Biotech Stocks to Buy Right Now to help investors profit from 7 stocks poised for outperformance. Our recent biotech recommendations have produced gains of +98%, +119% and +164% in as little as 1 month. The stocks in this report could perform even better. See these 7 breakthrough stocks now>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Choice Hotels International, Inc. (CHH) : Free Stock Analysis Report Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (HLT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Marriott International (MAR) : Free Stock Analysis Report Hyatt Hotels Corporation (H) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Officials at the Federal Communications Commission met Thursday to discuss possible conditions for T-Mobiles $26 billion merger with fellow wireless carrier Sprint, an indication that discussions with the government have reached a critical stage, the FOX Business Network has learned. The hours-long meeting at FCC headquarters in Washington, D.C. is seen by people inside the companies as a somewhat positive development for a deal that has run into regulatory headwinds, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter. Government officials have worried about the potential consumer implications of reducing the number of wireless carriers if the merger is approved. But Thursdays talks were described as constructive and involved possible proposals by the company to sell off business or make other arrangements to gain regulatory approval, these people said. It could not be determined what conditions the companies proposed to government officials. Jonathan Chaplin, an analyst at New Street Research had been skeptical of the deals chances until word of the constructive talks began circulating on Wall Street. Chaplin tells FOX Business that Up through last week we were bearish on the merger getting approved; now we are closer to giving the merger a fifty-fifty chance of going through. Spokeswomen for Sprint, T-Mobile had no immediate comment. A spokesman from the FCC declined comment. The merger of the wireless giants is one of the most closely watched deals on Wall Street. Company officials say the deal is necessary to create a strong combined outfit that can compete against Chinese outfits like Huawei in the battle to develop super-fast 5G wireless technology, which could produce millions of jobs and add significantly to economic growth. T-Mobile and Sprint have tried and failed in the past to gain regulatory approval for a merger but went back to the government thinking they might have more luck with the business-friendly Trump Administration. The deal needs approval from the FCC and the DOJs Antitrust Division, and company officials have been meeting with officials from both agencies in recent months as the timeline for approval draws near. Story continues The FCC has a shot-clock or time frame for a decision on the merger of early June. The DOJ is expected to make its decision at around the same time. The FCCs metric for deal approval is whether the merger is in the public interest, while the DOJ is looking strictly at whether the combined company, which reduces the number of major wireless carriers to three from four, will lead to price increases and an anti-competitive market for consumers. However, the two agencies are working closely together on the deal and are expected to be aligned in their decision about whether to approve the merger. Company officials have argued that combining T-Mobile with Sprint will make for a stronger single company that will be better able to engage in price competition with the other top wireless companies, AT&T and Verizon. The continued merger discussion comes as President Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order that effectively bans Huawei from selling telecom equipment and services in the United States. White House economic officials have been said to support the T-Mobile merger with Sprint because of the combined companys potential to compete with the Chinese even as regulators have taken a more skeptical position. Meanwhile, even as the FCC and the DOJ antitrust staff have expressed concerns over the proposed merger, company officials might have another ally in the Trump Administration: Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division Makan Delrahim. Delrahim can approve the deal without the consent of the antitrust staff, and he is said to be open to at least two key arguments made by officials at the telecom companies: First that approving the merger would help the U.S. compete in the global race to lead 5G, according to people with knowledge of the matter. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX BUSINESS APP The other argument Delrahim is said to be open to involves the so-called failing firm defense, these people add, FOX Business has learned. T-Mobile and Sprint officials have argued that without the deal, Sprints more precarious financial standing could ultimately doom the company given the deep-pocketed competition in the 5G race. A spokesman for DOJ antitrust had no comment. Related Articles FILE PHOTO: Bottles of prescription painkiller OxyContin, 40mg, 20mg and 15mg pills, made by Purdue Pharma sit on a counter at a local pharmacy, in Provo, Utah, U.S., April 25, 2017. REUTERS/George Frey/File Photo By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) - Five U.S. states on Thursday filed lawsuits accusing Purdue Pharma LP of illegally marketing and selling opioids, escalating the wave of litigation over a nationwide abuse epidemic. Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, West Virginia and Wisconsin joined 39 states to file lawsuits targeting Purdue Pharma and its leaders, including former president Richard Sackler and his family. Officials accused Purdue Pharma of repeatedly making false and deceptive claims that opioids, including OxyContin, were safe for a wide range of patients seeking to reduce pain. "This is a bipartisan effort," Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, a Democrat, said on a conference call. The lawsuits were announced six days after a North Dakota judge dismissed that state's lawsuit accusing Purdue Pharma of overstating the benefits and trivializing the addiction risks of prolonged opioid use. North Dakota is expected to appeal. Purdue Pharma called the new lawsuits "misleading attacks," and said it will defend itself against them. "These complaints are part of a continuing effort to try these cases in the court of public opinion rather than the justice system," the Stamford, Connecticut-based company said. Opioids, including prescription painkillers and heroin, played a role in a record 47,600 U.S. overdose deaths in 2017, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said. State and local governments have filed hundreds of lawsuits accusing drugmakers such as Purdue Pharma of deceptive marketing, and distributors such as AmerisourceBergen Corp, Cardinal Health Inc and McKesson Corp of ignoring how opioids were being used illegally. Oklahoma reached a $270 million settlement with Purdue Pharma and the Sacklers on March 26. The prospect that Purdue Pharma might eventually seek bankruptcy protection is a reason that Sackler family members have been named as defendants in some lawsuits. On the conference call, Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh said the family has "left a trail of addiction and death." In the North Dakota case, Bismarck-based Judge James Hill rejected the state's argument that Purdue Pharma's conduct created a public nuisance. Story continues "Purdue cannot control how doctors prescribe its products and it certainly cannot control how individual patients use and respond to its products, regardless of any warning or instruction Purdue may give," Hill wrote. The Sacklers have long been prolific cultural benefactors, but their alleged role in the opioid crisis has led some major museums to distance themselves. On Wednesday, New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, whose Sackler Wing contains the popular Temple of Dendur, said it would stop accepting donations from the Sacklers. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; editing by Bill Berkrot) Rahway, NJ, May 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- Doug Heck, CEO of Spectacular Solar, Inc. (a Nevada Corporation) (SPSO), is pleased to announce that the company has added two new contracts that will generate $600,000 in revenue, increasing the total revenue derived from contracts in 2019 to almost $6 million. Both ventures will showcase the professionalism and efficiency of Star Power Services, a subsidiary of Spectacular Solar. The project in Fanwood, NJ is a combination of construction and solar for a hybrid building and the Cheers Wine & Spirits job is a 16,000-square foot commercial building renovation. Star Power is front and center for both of these projects and I am confident the finished product photos will yield subsequent contracts when people see the high quality of work completed, Heck said. The Fanwood project is especially challenging because we are renovating a building with three apartments situated on top of three commercially leased properties. In addition to the construction element in Fanwood, Spectacular Solar will also complete a solar installation capable of handling 25kw of solar power. While these projects dont have a high-profile, multimillion-dollar price tag, they are equally important to Spectacular Solar, Heck said. We want to show potential clients that no matter how big or small their needs, Spectacular Solar has the ability to meet those needs and exceed their expectations. The client base continues to expand. Heck is in the final stages of negotiations for a multi-phase solar project and the joint venture announced last week appears to have a struck a chord with a new group of customers. The three-phase solar project for a local tool and die company is expansive and we are already reaping value from our partnership with SkyVue, Heck added. By the time the investor call takes place in June, it is possible we could eclipse revenue totals from all of 2018. The investor call will take place on June 3 at 4:15 EDT. During this call, Heck will deliver a State of the Company address and will answer questions from investors. Anyone who wishes to submit a question should send their inquiry to info@spectacularsolar.com. Story continues For more information: please visit http://www.spectacularsolar.com and please follow us on Twitter: @SPECTACULARSOL1 Contact: Gregg Boehmer: laynemichaelpr@gmail.com Wyndham Hotel Project Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=74&v=BPLKjgdFaOw About Spectacular Solar, Inc.: Spectacular Solar is a diversified company involved in solar system installations, investment fund management, and roofing contracting through its subsidiaries. DC Solar Integrators designs and installs state-of-the-art solar conversions for home and business owners. Star Power Services is a bonded and licensed roofing contracting company with expertise in new roof installation, repairs, and maintenance. The Solar Energy Investors Fund contributes to the ongoing insurance expenses directly associated with installation of solar systems. In return, the fund receives a share of tax benefits and ongoing revenue generated from electricity sales. Safe Harbor Statement This release contains forward-looking statements that relate to future events or performance. These statements reflect the company's current expectations and are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The company doesnt undertake to update or revise these forward-looking statements, even if experience or future changes make it clear that any projected results, expressed or implied, in this or other company statements will not be realized. Readers are cautioned that these statements involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the company's control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause these differences include, but are not limited to, the acceptance of our products, lack of revenue growth, failure to realize profitability, inability to raise capital and market conditions that negatively affect the market price of our common stock. The Company disclaims any responsibility to update any forward-looking statements. Photo credit: Hyman Ltd From Road & Track The original Vanquish is one of Aston Martin's coolest cars. It has stunning looks, a masterfully appointed cabin, and a lovely 6.0-liter V-12 under the hood. Immortalized in James Bond film Die Another Day, it remains a standout among modern Aston Martins. Its only downfall is its transmission-a clunky paddle-shift automatic. Welcome to You Must Buy, our daily look at the cars you really should be buying instead of that boring commuter sedan. Aston never offered a proper manual for the car when it was new, but a few years back, the company launched a program that allowed Vanquish owners to send their cars to the factory for a conversion. It costs around $40,000. This 2002 model had the conversion done, and now, it's for sale. You should buy it. According to the sellers, Hyman Ltd. in St. Louis, Missouri, the manual swap was instigated in 2007, by the third owner. The conversion requires the installation of a new center console to accommodate the shifter, and a reworked dashboard to delete the gear selector buttons that were positioned alongside the engine start button. Everything looks incredibly well-done, just as you'd expect from Aston Martin Works. Not many Vanquish owners have committed to getting their cars converted, so finding a manual version for sale isn't easy. The seller says there are only around 12 in the US. They usually command a five-figure premium over comparable automatic models. This one has 28,198 miles on the clock-fairly high for a Vanquish. It's listed on Hyman Ltd.'s site right now for $93,500. Better act fast, because this one won't last long. ('You Might Also Like',) Portland General Electric Company's POR earnings estimates for 2019 and 2020 have moved up 0.4% and 2% in the past 90 days, respectively. Portland General Electric engages in the generation, wholesale purchase, transmission, distribution and retail sale of electricity in Oregon. Lets focus on the factors that make Portland General Electric an appropriate investment option at the moment. Earnings Surprise Trend & Estimate Revision Portland General Electric beat estimates in the trailing four quarters, the average positive surprise being 12.29%. Its earnings estimate for 2019 and 2020 indicate 3.38% and 4.49% increase on a year-over-year basis to $2.45 and $2.56 per share, respectively. Revenue estimate for 2019 and 2020 indicate 4.86% and 0.78% rise year over year basis to $2.09 billion and $2.10 billion, respectively. Long-Term Growth & Dividend Yield The companys long-term (3 to 5 years) earnings growth is pegged at 4.89%. Currently, the company has a dividend yield of 2.72% compared with the Zacks S&P 500 composites 1.96%. Debt/Capital The companys current debt to capital ratio is pegged at 46.08% compared with the industrys 50.30%. Price Movement In the past 12 months, Portland General Electrics shares have rallied 34.1% compared with the industrys rise of 15.3% . Zacks Rank & Other Key Picks Portland General Electric currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Some other top-ranked stocks from the same industry are FirstEnergy Corp. FE, DTE Energy Co. DTE and IDACORP, Inc. IDA, each holding a Zacks Rank of 2. FirstEnergy pulled off an average positive earnings surprise of 5.09% in the last four quarters. The companys long-term earnings growth is pegged at 6% DTE Energy pulled off an average positive earnings surprise of 12.24% in the last four quarters. The companys long-term earnings growth is pegged at 6%. Story continues IDACORP delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 13.83% in the last four quarters. The companys long-term earnings growth is pegged at 3.80%. Radical New Technology Creates $12.3 Trillion Opportunity Imagine buying Microsoft stock in the early days of personal computers or Motorola after it released the worlds first cell phone. These technologies changed our lives and created massive profits for investors. Today, were on the brink of the next quantum leap in technology. 7 innovative companies are leading this 4th Industrial Revolution -- and early investors stand to earn the biggest profits. See the 7 breakthrough stocks now>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Portland General Electric Company (POR) : Free Stock Analysis Report IDACORP, Inc. (IDA) : Free Stock Analysis Report DTE Energy Company (DTE) : Free Stock Analysis Report FirstEnergy Corporation (FE) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research (Bloomberg) -- Huawei Technologies Co. has stockpiled enough chips and other vital components to keep its business running for at least three months as the U.S. curtails its access to American technology, people familiar with the matter said. The Trump administration on Friday blacklisted Chinas largest tech company -- which it accuses of aiding Beijing in espionage -- threatening to cut off the American software and semiconductors it needs to make smartphones and networking gear. But its been preparing for such an eventuality since at least the middle of 2018, hoarding components while designing its own chips, the people said. Government officials also privately warned Huawei executives last year to explore non-American alternatives, the people said, asking not to be identified talking about internal affairs. The three-month cushion is a conservative internal estimate and the company could well sustain operations beyond that time-frame, they said. The moves against Chinas national champion may have devastating consequences for the rest of the world. Blocking the sale to Huawei of critical components such as semiconductors could cripple its operation, depress the businesses of American chip giants from Qualcomm Inc. to Micron Technology Inc. and retard the rollout of critical 5G wireless networks worldwide. The impact on Huawei will be extremely significant. An obvious impact is on the supply chain, but there is another layer of impact on confidence and its overall business, said Cui Kai, a telecom analyst with consultancy IDC. It will also have a negative impact on the 5G technology evolution around the world. Ken Hu, Huaweis deputy chairman, responded to the U.S. decision in a memo to employees. "This decision is the latest move in the campaign against Huawei, waged by the US government for political reasons, he wrote. The company has known this could be a possibility for many years. We have invested heavily and made full preparations in a variety of areas, including R&D and business continuity, which will ensure that our business operations will not be greatly affected, even under extreme conditions. Story continues That U.S. maneuver coincides with sensitive trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing. Huawei executives reckon their company has become a bargaining chip and they will be able to resume buying from American suppliers if a trade deal is reached, the people said. Thats why they calculate a three-month stockpile may be enough to tide them over. If Huaweis calculation is wrong, the consequences would be dire. If the ban isnt resolved along with the trade dispute, the company would be severely handicapped in its ability to provide advanced wireless networks. Much of its carrier and smartphone businesses -- the two pillars of the company -- would be at risk. An outright ban on Huawei elevates fears in Beijing that President Donald Trumps broader goal is to hamstring China, igniting a protracted cold war between the worlds biggest economies. In addition to a trade fight that has rattled global markets for months, the U.S. is pressuring allies and foes alike to avoid using Huawei in the 5G networks that will form the backbone of the modern economy. At the heart of Trumps concerted campaign is suspicion that Huawei aids Beijing in espionage while spearheading Chinas ambitions to become a technology superpower. The Justice Department also accuses it of willfully violating sanctions on Iran, and last year engineered the arrest of the eldest daughter of Huaweis billionaire founder. Huawei has repeatedly denied the allegations. In the longer term, Huawei still has to assure its customers -- many of the worlds largest telecommunications carriers -- that it can not just build, but also maintain, their wireless networks. The U.S. ban hits the Chinese company just as its jockeying for a big chunk of the hundreds of billions of dollars that the likes of Vodafone Group and China Mobile Ltd. are devising around the world, laying the foundation for future technologies from autonomous cars to smart cities. Huaweis predicament underscores the extent to which China as a whole is reliant on foreign chip technology: the country imports more semiconductors today than oil. While Huawei and peers such as Tsinghua Unigroup are designing increasingly advanced architectures, they havent reached sufficient scale in production to make a dent in that annual inflow. Still, Huawei has had business-continuity plans in place for years. Teresa He, president of Huawei chip-making unit HiSilicon, called the U.S. ban crazy and groundless in a letter sent to employees and seen by Bloomberg. While HiSilicon was seen as a backup plan for Huaweis semiconductor needs, the ban will make it a primary supplier, she said in her letter. Hu, in his memo to employees, wrote that the company is on the right side of history. No hardships or difficulties can stop us from forging ahead, he said. To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Gao Yuan in Beijing at ygao199@bloomberg.net;Steven Yang in Beijing at kyang74@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Edwin Chan at echan273@bloomberg.net, Peter Elstrom For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2019 Bloomberg L.P. Huawei has been in the news a lot of late but for all the wrong reasons. There seems to be increased concern about the company posing a national security threat, something that has led the government to take constructive measures against it. What the U.S. Did It started with President Trump signing a broad executive order invoking the presidents powers under the Emergency Economic Powers Act that allows the president to regulate commerce in a national emergency. The order directs the Commerce Department along with other government agencies to take steps to see that American firms dont do business with companies that pose national security risk for the U.S. This was followed by the Commerce Department including Huawei and its 70 affiliates in the entity list, which means that it will not be able to buy U.S. components and technology from anywhere in the world. By late June, the director of U.S. National Intelligence is now required to produce an assessment of risk to the U.S. and critical infrastructure "from information and communications technology or services designed, developed, manufactured, or supplied by persons owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of a foreign adversary." While concrete evidence of Huaweis wrongdoing may not be in the public eye, the company has already been charged in January of attempting to steal T-Mobile trade secrets, while both the company and its CFO have been charged with bank and wire fraud violating U.S. sanctions on Iran. Meanwhile, China Mobiles attempt to provide telecom services in the U.S. was voted down unanimously by the FCC, which is also reviewing previously granted approvals to China Unicom and China Telecom. How Huawei Reacted Huaweis reaction was two-fold. On the one side, it maintained that it hadnt done anything wrong and that it was "ready and willing to engage with the U.S. government and come up with effective measures to ensure product security." Story continues On the other hand, it challenged that "it will do significant economic harm to the American companies with which Huawei does business, affect tens of thousands of American jobs, and disrupt the current collaboration and mutual trust that exist on the global supply chain." Moreover, U.S. companies and consumers would instead be limited to "inferior yet more expensive alternatives, especially given its strength in 5G and inclusion in the 5G standard. Its rotating Chairman Eric Xu told Reuters in a recent interview that "in case of unforeseen events ... we definitely have our contingency plan. What we have prepared has already been used in some of our products in the Chinese market." Speaking along the same lines, Huawei Chief Security Officer Andy Purdy told Yahoo Finance that there must be risk-mitigation measures. On the other hand, the ban would do more harm to U.S. suppliers because the company would be able to maintain its global operations, if not in exactly the same way since it was already selling devices with competing technology in China. Huaweis Thursday statement said that the move was "in no one's interest." How Chinese Government Sources Reacted The Chinese government has pointed to U.S. protectionism. Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the U.S. was looking to "deliberately smear" and suppress Chinese companies. "We urge the United States to stop using the excuse of security issues to unreasonably suppress Chinese companies, and provide a fair, just, non-discriminatory environment for Chinese companies carrying out normal investments and operations in the United States, he said. He added that the ZTE case has resulted in some "benefits" because "external pressures have developed into internal drivers" in China. This could also be another thorn the government is pushing in Chinas side as a trade deal seems far from done now. Impact on Huawei One obvious fallout is of course increased global scrutiny of Huawei products and technology although most countries dont have a trade war on their hands, so are likely to take a more pragmatic view. According to a Huawei executive, the negative impact on Huawei if it isnt able to source from U.S. players is mainly on the server and network side because they already have their own smartphone components. However, it may have to use a stripped down version of Android, we dont know how that will work. A Jeffries analyst has reportedly said that Huawei has been building huge component stocks. While the initial target was to build for 6-9 months, inventories for some components are now expected to last 12 months and others, 24 months. As far as sales are concerned, Huawei caters to 45 of the 50 leading telecoms in the world. In the U.S., its sales are currently limited to a few small rural telecoms that continue to use its switches and other equipment because they are cheaper even after its relations with the U.S. soured. So it has very low exposure. Jefferies also says that the sanctions would be a "nightmare for China's 5G. Impact on U.S. Players Huawei spent around $11 billion on U.S. components in 2018, part of which may have been spent on its stockpiling efforts. So the annual impact on U.S. suppliers is likely to not exceed $11 billion. A large number of those suppliers are chipmakers like Broadcom AVGO, Qualcomm QCOM, Intel INTC, Micron MU, Skyworks SWKS and Integrated Device Technology IDTI. Alphabet GOOGL licenses Huawei value-added components and services that it gives away to its manufacturing partners, so it will be impacted. And thats not all. If Huawei has to use a stripped down version of Android, it likely wont have Maps, Play Store and other software that drive Googles revenue. Apple AAPL is likely to see an indirect impact as both the Chinese government and nationalistic Chinese people may boycott its products. More importantly, since most of its supply chain is in China, that government may make serious trouble for Apple that could significantly impact its product sales and revenue. The Rural Wireless Association, which represents carriers with fewer than 100,000 subscribers, estimates that 25% of its members use Huawei or ZTE equipment, as stated in a Federal Communications Commission filing from December. These small players will be impacted. Impact on Others Despite the Presidents call to allies, Europe is clearly taking a less targeted approach. Rather than singling out Huawei, they are looking to formulate common security specifications that could be adopted across the EU. Germany and the Netherlands have already made their intentions clear. The Federation of German Industries (BDI) has said that "Europe needs to maintain its own course Europe must not be dragged into the trade dispute between China and the United States." It called for the German government and European Commission to continue along its chosen path. "German industry quickly needs legal and planning certainty in 5G expansion," the BDI said. Conclusion Given Huaweis position as a leading provider of telecom equipment and smartphones, any sanctions on the company are bound to have far-reaching implications. As to the justification for the measures taken, as regards treating the situation as a national emergency, well never know for sure until the government tells us a lot more. Just because the company has apparently not aided Chinese espionage, theres no reason to think it wont in the future, if theres a scope to do it. The question then is whether that scope actually exists and if it does, what can be done to mitigate the possible harm. Huawei said that it is in communication with government agencies, but a solution may not be available soon given the tensions around the trade war. Breakout Biotech Stocks with Triple-Digit Profit Potential The biotech sector is projected to surge beyond $775 billion by 2024 as scientists develop treatments for thousands of diseases. Theyre also finding ways to edit the human genome to literally erase our vulnerability to these diseases. Zacks has just released Century of Biology: 7 Biotech Stocks to Buy Right Now to help investors profit from 7 stocks poised for outperformance. Our recent biotech recommendations have produced gains of +98%, +119% and +164% in as little as 1 month. The stocks in this report could perform even better. See these 7 breakthrough stocks now>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) : Free Stock Analysis Report Skyworks Solutions, Inc. (SWKS) : Free Stock Analysis Report QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM) : Free Stock Analysis Report Apple Inc. (AAPL) : Free Stock Analysis Report Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) : Free Stock Analysis Report Intel Corporation (INTC) : Free Stock Analysis Report Micron Technology, Inc. (MU) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research KeithBinns/iStock(WASHINGTON) -- The Pentagon is requesting the ability to provide lodging and transportation to insurgent groups in Afghanistan that are looking to implement local ceasefires with the Afghan government, the Pentagon said on Thursday. The decision to request the authority came after a largely successful ceasefire was implemented between the Taliban and Afghan government last summer. "Following the June 2018 ceasefire in Afghanistan, the Commander of U.S. Forces--Afghanistan requested the authority to use funds to facilitate meetings between the Afghan government and insurgent groups looking to implement local ceasefires in order to be poised to take advantage of further opportunities to reduce levels of violence in the country should such opportunities present themselves," Pentagon spokesperson Cmdr. Rebecca Rebarich told ABC News. The funds could go to lodging and transportation for militants if that was required to get all parties to the negotiating table "in areas that are difficult to access otherwise," Rebarich said, adding that no U.S. military vehicles or aircraft would be used. No Pentagon funds have been used for such a purpose. Instead, the Pentagon made the request in anticipation of possible scenarios in the future, according to Rebarich. The acknowledgement by the Pentagon follows an apparent miscommunication with the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, which appeared to interpret the request as related to the ongoing U.S.-Taliban reconciliation efforts led by Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad. In response to the perceived request from the Pentagon, the committee included language in its proposed defense spending bill released this week that states, "None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to pay the expenses of any member of the Taliban to participate in any meeting that does not include the participation of members of the Government of Afghanistan or that restricts the participation of women" -- two criticisms of the U.S.-Taliban negotiations that are not relevant to local ceasefire discussions between the Afghan government and insurgent groups. Still, the miscommunication highlights the multiple tracks that the U.S. is pursuing to bring about a negotiated end to the war in Afghanistan. U.S. and Taliban representatives concluded the sixth and latest round of peace talks in Qatar earlier this month, which a Taliban spokesperson called "positive in total." Khalilzad tweeted that the two sides "made steady but slow progress on aspects of the framework for ending the Afghan war," but added that "the current pace of talks isn't sufficient when so much conflict rages and innocent people die." At the same time those talks were concluding, the Taliban claimed responsibility for an attack on a U.S. non-profit organization in Kabul that killed at least nine people. Meanwhile, seven U.S. service members have been killed in combat-related events in Afghanistan in 2019. "A key priority for the administration is to end the war in Afghanistan through a negotiated peace settlement between the Afghan government and the Taliban, and the U.S. is working to help facilitate such a settlement," Rebarich said. "The United States also supports local peace initiatives between the Afghan government and insurgent groups looking to cease hostilities against the Afghan Government and coalition forces." Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Huaweis U.S. security chief says American attempts to cripple the Chinese telecommunications giant will do little to minimize its global footprint. Chief Security Officer Andy Purdy told Yahoo Finance that the Trump administrations actions to restrict Huaweis access to American companies will do more damage to U.S. suppliers than to Huawei. We will be able to maintain our operations globally, Purdy said. Whether we can do it in exactly the same way, I cant assure that. The Commerce Department moved to place Huawei and its affiliates on an Entity List Wednesday, effectively banning it from doing business with American companies. The action forces U.S. suppliers to apply for licenses in order to continue selling to the Shenzhen-based firm, significantly limiting access to a market that accounted for $16 billion of its $70 billion procurement budget last year, according to a Huawei spokesperson. Still, Purdy said the company remained open to discussions with administration officials, to address security concerns that have been at the center of Washingtons ongoing fight with Huawei. We hope that we will be given the opportunity to talk to the U.S. government about what kinds of risk-mitigation measures that can be put in place that will make America safer and allow us to do business and maintain the jobs of our customers, Purdy said. But we have no false optimism or no false hopes. The Trump administration has pushed U.S. allies to ban Huawei equipment from their mobile infrastructure, saying its close ties to the Chinese government pose a national security risk. While Australia, New Zealand and Japan have followed suit, European allies have opted to continue using Huaweis equipment, with additional security layers in place. Huaweis tensions with Washington have coincided with a year-long U.S.-China trade battle that has resulted in tariffs on Chinese and U.S. goods. Earlier this month, President Trump hiked tariffs on $200 billion in goods from 10% to 25%, citing broken promises by Beijing. That prompted China to retaliate with a 25% tariff on $60 billion worth of U.S. imports. Story continues But U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross insisted his departments actions were unrelated to the trade war, telling Bloomberg that it was instead part of an enforcement action brought forth by the agencys Bureau of Industry and Security. He said the Chinese Embassy in Washington was notified of the impending designation before the department announced it. Asked whether the Trumps executive order and the Commerce Departments decision represented a broader attempt to drive Huawei out of the U.S., White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said, Our goal is to protect American interests, American entities. Analysts say Washingtons actions could have implications beyond the U.S. Huawei relies on American suppliers, including Qualcomm, Intel, and Oracle for semiconductors and software. An inability to buy from them could result in product delays for telecommunications equipment that is more widely used in regions such as Europe. But Purdy said Huawei is well positioned to weather the storm. Last year, the company announced it would seek to diversify its network of suppliers to minimize potential damage to the company in anticipation of stricter measures from the U.S. and its allies. It has also spent years investing in developing its own chips, though Purdy said the company had not given up on its network here. We believe that the American suppliers are among the best in the world, and we hope that we and the suppliers can find a way where we can continue to buy, he said. More from Akiko: Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, LinkedIn, YouTube, and reddit. (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks of companies that supply components to Huawei Technologies Co. sank for a second day as investors assess the fallout from the U.S. government placing the Chinese telecommunications giant on an export blacklist. Semiconductor makers and optical component suppliers were among the biggest decliners on Friday. NeoPhotonics Corp., whose products help transmit data in telecom networks, fell as much as 28%, following a 21% decline on Thursday. NeoPhotonics gets about half of its revenue from Huawei, according to Bloomberg supply chain data. The volatility comes as investors attempt to handicap whether the Trump administrations actions have long-term implications or are simply a negotiating tactic in the broader trade dispute with China. "The most important question is what is the U.S. government trying to accomplish," wrote Michael Genovese, an analyst with MKM Partners, who covers a number of Huawei suppliers, including NeoPhotonics. "If the answer is to destroy Huawei and slow the development of 5G Networks in China, then the U.S.-China relationship is likely headed to a dark place." If the ban is a "bargaining chip" then the sell-off will probably turn into a "great buying opportunity," he said. Optical component makers Inphi Corp. and Lumentum Holdings Inc. fell more than 5%. Both companies have seen their valuations sink by more than 16% in the past two days. Fabrinet, a contract manufacturer that counts Lumentum as its biggest customer, has fallen 12% in the same period. Qorvo Inc. and Skyworks Solutions Inc., whose radio-frequency chips are used in mobile phones, have both fallen more than 8 percent since Wednesdays close. Huaweis troubles arent all bad news for U.S. companies. Huawei has as much as 30% market share in the global optical market, which is now at risk, according to Nomura Instinet analyst Jeffrey Kvaal. Ciena Corp. is among U.S. firms that could gain share and could see sales rise by 10%,. Kvaal said. The stock gained has gained 4% in the past two days. Story continues To contact the reporter on this story: Jeran Wittenstein in San Francisco at jwittenstei1@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Catherine Larkin at clarkin4@bloomberg.net, Will Daley For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2019 Bloomberg L.P. In a few days, Ill reach full term with the baby Im carrying. It is a girl and she is my fourth child. I didnt sleep last night. Not because of the endless heartburn brought on by almost any food or the fact that I have to go to the bathroom every hour, though those are certainly markers of the final weeks of pregnancy. I didnt sleep last night because of what happened this week in Alabama, when 25 white men in the state senate passed the most restrictive abortion bill in the country a near-total ban on all abortions sponsored and signed by two women: Alabama state Rep. Terri Collins and Gov. Kay Ivey, respectively. I didnt sleep because this made Alabama one of seven states to recently pass a ban on abortions in the sixth week of pregnancy, a time when very few women even know that they are pregnant. (For reference, as well need it, the tally also includes Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, and Missouri, and is growing). But mostly I didnt sleep last night because I know this legislation is not about abortion; it is about control of my life, of my daughters lives, and of the lives of all American women*. It is about human rights. And if we dont halt and reverse the creeping criminalization of a womans self-determination now, we may never have the chance again. Im not going to tell you stories today articulating all the very real reasons people might choose to terminate a pregnancy. Those stories matter, but the reality is, this is not about abortion. This is about some men maintaining control over all women. In 1972, the Supreme Court (in Baird v. Eisenstadt) for the first time legalized birth control for all American citizens, regardless of marital status. One year later, the Court affirmed the legality of a womans right to have an abortion under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution in the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling. And now for some relevant statistics. One-third of womens wage gains since the 1960s are a result of access to oral contraceptives. And while we still have a gender wage gap in the workforce in which, for example, Latinx women earn 53 cents for every dollar a white man makes for the same work, reproductive freedom is responsible for the progress weve made in closing the chasm: without access to widespread and legal contraception, the narrowing of the gender pay gap would have been 10 percent smaller in the 1980s and 30 percent smaller in the 1990s . Story continues I am the beneficiary of living in a country that afforded me reproductive rights. My mother and father planned for our family, which includes me and my older sister. My mother welcomed us into the world after she worked night-shifts to pay for her college tuition, after she became a first generation college graduate, and after she married my father. Before I started college, my doctor wrote me a prescription for birth control, and I remained on the pill until I was 33 and decided to start a family with my husband. In the intervening 15 years, I attended college and law school, worked on Wall Street, earned six figure salaries, and served in various capacities for former and aspiring U.S. presidents. Would it have been possible to do all these things with a baby (or babies) at a young age? I can't say for sure. But the reality is, I had the right to make my own decisions about my body. I have continued to grow into my career in the years since becoming a mother a privilege I have because my husband and I can afford the astronomical costs of childcare in America and am now the founder and CEO of a rapidly growing start-up, The Riveter. We have over 50 employees, dozens of investors, and thousands of members. The company is dedicated to equity in the workplace. It is our mission, and we are built around this principle. And yet this week I still paused and asked myself a critical question: can I speak up about abortion and reproductive rights as a corporate leader? Isnt it remarkable that in the face of my experience and passion, it was still hard to pen this piece, because we live in a day when supporting equity of opportunity for women is a political risk. Can I risk my business and the payroll my team depends on, the resources my members use to say anything at all? But here I am. Here we are. Standing up for women. Because which risk is greater : losing possible business with those who believe a woman should not choose her own basic destiny, or not speaking out against legislation that would criminalize women who terminate their pregnancies? And theres more to this idea of destiny and control, which further requires that those of us with privilege not only use our voices; it requires that we shout and turn our resources to support the fight for basic freedoms. These anti-abortion laws are not just about controlling women; they are specifically about the control of poor women, women of color and others we continue to push to the margins. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, "[u]intended pregnancy rates are highest among those least able to afford contraception and have increased substantially over the past decade. The unintended pregnancy rate for poor women is more than five times the rate for women in the highest income bracket." So Ill use whatever voice and platform I have as a leader in the corporate ecosystem to demand that the world listen and speak up, and act. Ive read missives from CEOs around the country about the need to address climate change (with some leaders even going so far as to refuse to expense employee meals that include meat), family separations at the border, and voting rights each critically important, of course. But Ive never read one about abortion. This remains the third rail of American politics, and one corporate America refuses to address. Is it because there are so few women CEOs at the helm of major corporations? And if thats the case, why cant men speak up, too? Why arent the most powerful men in America with their great privilege crying out against these attacks on the rights of their wives, their sisters, and their daughters their fellow humans? This is a human rights issue, after all, and these are attacks that will have dire consequences for generations to come. It is worth the risk to speak out against injustice. And so I ask of my fellow CEOs, and the many men who believe deeply in justice and rights and self-determination: Get louder. We cant hear you. We need you. Now. *Though the word "women" is used throughout this piece, we acknowledge that these challenges also affect trans and gender nonconforming people who do not identify as women. Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here? A Week On The Atlantic Ocean, On A $72,000 Salary I Spent My Entire Life Savings In A Year But I'm Clawing My Way Back Most Men Don't Feel Comfortable Mentoring Women Here's Why (Bloomberg) -- Global equity investors are likely underestimating what may be immense damage across a variety of industries triggered by the U.S.-China trade dispute, particularly involving the latest Huawei Technologies Co. escalation, Wall Street analysts say. The Trump administration putting Huawei -- and dozens of its affiliates -- on an export blacklist means the U.S. government has halted Chinas 5G push, and is transforming the trade war into a digital one, Sean Darby, Jefferiess chief global equity strategist, wrote in a note. The move may have ramifications well beyond the tech sector as well, analysts at MKM wrote. And a better-than-expected reading of a key U.S. sentiment index released on Friday is very likely masking the impact of higher tariffs, according to Michael McDonough, Bloombergs Chief Economist, Financial Products. The University of Michigans preliminary sentiment index release was calculated with responses mostly collected before the announced tariff increase and the final print will almost certainly be revised lower, he said. There may be a continued erosion in sentiment, which could throttle consumption and place a headwind on growth, McDonough said. Jefferiess strategist Darby said that the progression from tariffs to direct actions against single Chinese companies and their inter-linked supply chains "has a wide-ranging impact on profitability that investors will find difficult to quantify. The Huawei ban holds back the development of 5G (the largest global capex project) and the growth of Internet-of-things, he said. It also completely disrupts the global tech supply chain. The macro and micro implications are immense. Darby noted that 5G provides a huge advantage for everything from the use of autonomous vehicles to AI eco-systems, while enormous amounts of money are also required to install fiber-optic and operating systems. China has been a 5G technology leader, but Chinese companies have an Achilles heel -- their reliance on U.S. semiconductors and components with no alternatives, he said. Those include baseband chipsets for handsets, from Qualcomm Inc. and Intel Corp.; semiconductors for base stations, from Xilinx Inc.; RF/power amplifier chipsets, from Skyworks Solutions Inc., Qorvo Inc., Avago Technologies Ltd. and Macom Technology Solutions Inc., and optical components, from Lumentum Holdings Inc. and Finisar Corp. Story continues The Huawei blacklist is a very important development and we suspect it has fallen through the cracks, Cowen senior policy analyst Chris Krueger wrote in a note. He said that a framework has now been put in place that could be extremely broad, disruptive, and restrictive. He sees the Commerce Departments license process as likely to take some time, and suspects nearly all requests will be denied. He added that talks in Beijing with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are still unscheduled. It is very hard to see any off ramps before the June 28 Trump-Xi meeting in Japan at the G-20, Krueger said. A few more weeks like we had this week and that meeting may not even materialize. Dark Place The most important question is what is the U.S. Government trying to accomplish, MKM analyst Michael Genovese wrote in a note. If the answer is to destroy Huawei and slow the development of 5G networks in China, then the U.S.-China relationship is likely headed to a dark place with major geopolitical ramifications beyond the tech sector. But Genovese tends to believe the move may be a negotiating tactic. MKM assigns a 50% probability that Huawei is permanently banned from purchasing key U.S. technology, and hopes theres a 50% probability the order is walked back. Genovese downgraded NeoPhotonics Corp. on Huawei uncertainty, helping send shares plunging 28% to the lowest in four years. Earlier, Chinas state media signaled a lack of interest in resuming trade talks, while the government said stimulus will be stepped up to buttress the domestic economy. That helped send U.S. stocks broadly lower. Deere & Co. slumped as much as 6% as trade worries dimmed the machinery giants outlook; that followed Thursdays warning from Walmart Inc. about increased tariffs leading to increased prices. Qorvo fell 4% in Friday trading and Lumentum dropped 4.3%. On Friday morning, Acacia Communications Inc. said it plans to fully comply with the Commerce Departments Huawei order. As sales to Huawei have been less than 1.5% of total revenue, it sees a de minimis impact from losing those sales in the second quarter. But Acacia cautioned that developments or regulatory actions against Huawei may have a broader impact on overall conditions in its markets. (Adds economist comment in 3rd paragraph; updates share prices starting in the 12th paragraph.) --With assistance from Ryan Vlastelica. To contact the reporter on this story: Felice Maranz in New York at fmaranz@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Catherine Larkin at clarkin4@bloomberg.net, Scott Schnipper, Will Daley For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2019 Bloomberg L.P. (Adds Guards warning over nuclear deal, background) DUBAI, May 17 (Reuters) - A deputy head of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards said short-range Iranian missiles could reach U.S. warships in the Gulf, and the United States could not afford a new war, the semi-official news agency Fars reported on Friday. The comments added to days of sabre-rattling between Tehran and Washington, which has tightened sanctions and built up its military presence in the region alleging threats from Iran to its troops and interests. Iran has accused the United States of "psychological warfare" and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said this week Tehran would not negotiate another deal after Washington quit a 2015 pact over Iran's nuclear programme. "Even our short-range missiles can easily reach (U.S.) warships in the Persian Gulf," Mohammad Saleh Jokar, the Guard's deputy for parliamentary affairs, was quoted by Fars as saying. "America cannot afford the costs of a new war, and the country is in a bad situation in terms of manpower and social conditions," he added. Separately, a senior Iranian military official accused U.S. President Donald Trump of dishonesty, the semi-official news agency Mehr reported on Friday. Trump has said publicly he wants to pursue a diplomatic route after withdrawing from the 2015 deal and moving to cut off all Iranian oil exports this month. "The actions of American leaders in exerting pressure and launching sanctions ... while speaking of talks, is like holding a gun at someone and asking for friendship and negotiations," said Rasoul Sanai-Rad, a political deputy of the armed forces command, Mehr reported. "The behaviour of American leaders is a political game which consists of threats and pressure while showing a willingness to negotiate in order to present a peaceful image of themselves and fool public opinion," Sanai-Rad added. Guards deputy Jokar was also quoted by Fars as making remarks apparently directed against any calls for talks by allies of pragmatic President Hassan Rouhani. "The Western-leaning tendency in the country raises a war versus talks dilemma ... and is trying to impose new nuclear deals on the country," he said. Growing U.S. pressure on Iran has weakened Rouhani and made his hardline rivals more assertive. (Reporting by Dubai newsroom; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Andrew Cawthorne) MILAN, May 16 (Reuters) - Milan prosecutors requested jail terms for four former Deutsche Bank staff and two former Nomura employees in relation with two controversial derivative transactions the two banks arranged for Italian lender Monte dei Paschi di Siena. Prosecutors requested the seizure of 441 million euros from Deutsche Bank and 445 million euros from Nomura. They requested jail terms of eight years each for former Monte dei Paschi Chairman Giusepe Mussari and former director general Antonio Vigni, as well as a 6-year jail sentence for the bank's former finance department chief Gianluca Baldassarri. The three banks and a total of 13 former employees are facing a trial in Milan for alleged false accounting, market manipulation and misleading regulators in relation to these deals. The banks were accused of colluding to hide losses at Monte dei Paschi. The alleged crimes occurred between 2008 and 2012. Deutsche Bank and Nomura declined to comment. (Reporting by Alfredo Faieta, writing by Silvia Aloisi) TOKYO, May 17 (Reuters) - A U.S. bid to block China's Huawei Technologies from buying vital American technology could affect Japanese companies and weigh on economic growth, Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Friday. "There are Japanese companies that supply parts to Huawei, and supply chains are intertwined in complex ways," Aso told a news conference after a regular cabinet meeting. "Through such supply chains, there could be direct and indirect effects on Japan," he said. The Trump administration on Thursday officially added China's Huawei to a trade blacklist, immediately enacting restrictions that will make it extremely difficult for the telecom giant to do business with U.S. companies. (Reporting by Leika Kihara Editing by Chang-Ran Kim) What you need to know about Boeing's 737 Max crisis Aviation authorities around the world grounded the Boeing 737 Max planes in March following two crashes in less than five months. The FAA's certification of the plane is facing multiple investigations. Boeing has developed software changes for the plane but they're likely to be grounded for at least part of the summer. Boeing BA 737 Max planes around the world remain grounded more than two months after the second of two fatal crashes of the jets that killed a total of 346 people. Multiple investigations have since been opened, both into the crashes themselves and the regulatory process to approve the planes. Lawmakers and federal investigators are specifically examining how the Federal Aviation Administration in 2017 gave a green light to the jet a more fuel-efficient version of Boeing's workhorse aircraft that's been flying since the late 1960s without disclosures to pilots about a new anti-stall system, which has been implicated in the two air disasters. Since the second crash, on March 10, the Chicago-based manufacturer's stock has lost more than 16%, closing at $353.81 Thursday, as the number of probes and lawsuits grew and Boeing suspended deliveries of its best-selling jets. Here is a look at what is happening and what to expect with the 737 Max grounded as the busy summer travel season approaches. Ongoing investigations Multiple federal investigations are examining the Max and how it was approved by regulators, along with the plane's new anti-stall system, known as MCAS. Boeing is also facing lawsuits from the families of crash victims. In March, the FBI joined an investigation of the certification process for the company's 737 Max jets. House and Senate panels have each launched investigations. Boeing said Thursday it has developed a software update for the 737 Max, a key step in getting the aircraft flying again. The company said it completed more than 360 hours of testing on 207 flights with the updated software. It has also developed new training materials that the FAA is reviewing. The FAA requested more information, including how the pilots would operate the controls and displays in different circumstances, Boeing said. Story continues "We're committed to providing the FAA and global regulators all the information they need, and to getting it right," CEO Dennis Muilenburg said in a statement on Thursday. "We're making clear and steady progress and are confident that the 737 MAX with updated MCAS software will be one of the safest airplanes ever to fly." Boeing aims to make the anti-stall system less powerful and give pilots greater control. Investigators have pointed to the system as a factor in the crashes, since the jets' noses were repeatedly pushed down after the system was fed erroneous information from a sensor. The updated system will also use data from multiple sensors instead of one. It's unclear how long the FAA will take to approve the fix and deem the planes safe to take to the skies again. In April, the FAA said Boeing's update was "operationally suitable" in an initial review, and recommended that pilots take additional computer-based training for MCAS. Boeing has also taken a lot of heat following reports that it knew of problems with one of the safety features well before the two crashes, but did not disclose the issues to airlines or regulators until after the October Lion Air crash in Indonesia. The economic toll Airlines have already missed out on hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue after aviation authorities ordered them to ground the planes. Southwest Airlines LUV , which has 34 Boeing 737 Max jets in its fleet of about 750 planes, said the grounded jets contributed to $200 million in lost revenue during the first three months of the year. American Airlines, which has 24 Maxes, has canceled at least 15,000 flights through August The cancellations due to the grounded Max each day equal about 2% of American's daily summer flying and will reduce the airline's pretax earnings this year by $350 million , the carrier said on April 26. Boeing said its costs in the first quarter rose by $1 billion from the groundings, though it can't predict its financial performance for the rest of the year because deliveries of Max jets are on hold. It has a backlog of more than 4,000 orders for the jet and recently cut monthly production of it from 52 to 42 planes in April. Analysts have speculated that the company faces billions of dollars in payments to airlines and families of crash victims. Several banks expect Boeing's production cuts to hit U.S. GDP. Wells Fargo said in April that Boeing's production cuts will reduce second-quarter GDP growth by 0.2%. Earlier in March, JP Morgan's CEO said GDP could fall by 0.6% if production of the plane is halted temporarily. "Boeing's production cuts are large enough to negatively impact incoming reads on the economy," said Wells Fargo senior economist Sarah House. Scrambling to restore trust Boeing has scrambled to persuade airlines and passengers to rally behind the Max jet following the company's clumsy response to the two fatal crashes. In an effort to win back public trust, Boeing is reportedly hiring some major public relations firms to help reintroduce the jet. On an earnings call in April, Muilenburg said that pilots would act as key messengers. "We think a key voice in all of this will be the pilots for our airlines, and their voice is very important," he said. "That bond between the passenger and the pilot is one that's critical, and so we're working with our airline customers and those pilot voices to ensure that we can build on that going forward." Muilenburg hasn't said there's anything wrong with the 737 Max design. Pilots and airlines have complained to Boeing for failing to provide information about new software after the first crash, as well as incomplete information about safety features in the cockpit. Even assurances from Boeing and airlines that the planes are safe may not necessarily resonate with travelers. A Barclays' survey of airline passengers published earlier this month showed that many people will avoid the Max "for an extended period" once it's allowed to fly again, with over half of respondents saying they'd choose a different aircraft if given the choice. However, some aviation experts have said the stigma associated with the Max, and damage to Boeing's reputation, will likely dissipate. "If Boeing does what it needs to do to fix the problem, if the airline is certified by safety regulators and goes on to fly reliably, then the stigma that exists now will fade away," Henry Harteveldt, president of Atmosphere Research Group, told CNBC in April. What's next As the probes continue, the FAA plans to host other civil aviation authorities from around the world in Fort Worth, Texas on Thursday to update them on the 737 Max. The FAA was the last major air safety authority to ground the planes in March after the Ethiopian crash, drawing questions from U.S. lawmakers, consumers and some airline employees . Also Thursday, the International Air Transport Association, an industry group that represents more than three-quarters of the world's airlines, is meeting with carriers in Montreal to discuss the aircraft and its potential return to service, and topics are likely to include how to address passenger concerns. The FAA's acting head, Dan Elwell, faced heat from lawmakers again this week at a second congressional hearing since March that aimed to look into the crashes and the agency's longtime practice of designating company officials to help certify aircraft, in this case the Boeing 737 Max. Lawmakers say they're seeking additional information about the plane. Congress hasn't called Muilenburg or any other Boeing executives to testify despite a history of quickly hauling company officials to Capitol Hill to testify following public safety incidents like the Max crisis. More From CNBC Gerald Cotten, the now-deceased co-founder of collapsed Canadian cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX, transferred user funds into his personal accounts, according to a new report.The post QuadrigaCX co-founder transferred user funds into personal accounts: EY appeared first on The Block. Canadian cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has criticised regulations the Canadian Securities Administrators and the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada have proposed. According to the exchange, proposed regulations characterise the contract between an exchange and an exchange user as security. Kraken states it is crucial regulators continue differentiating between crypto assets that are securities under existing Canadian law and crypto assets that operate solely as a form of payment. Cryptocurrencies, Kraken writes, should not be treated as securities under Canadian law. According to Kraken, exchanges operate as custodians or bailees. The exchange explains that the assets are legally owned by the customer and not the Exchange operator. This means, critically, that the customers interest is not derived from the underlying asset it IS the underlying asset. The application of a securities law framework, accordingly, is both unnecessary and inappropriate to this structure. The exchange argues imposing securities law on cryptocurrency exchanges would prompt Canadian exchanges to move offshore instead of instigating better protections for customers. It also claims the framework would not achieve the goal of regulatory clarity. Kraken claims exchanges are doing well by self-regulating and introducing security measures. Without the cudgel of regulation, Exchanges are developing proof-of-reserve techniques, obtaining SOC certifications and enhancing their security and internal controls. WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Latest on President Donald Trump and U.S. trade tariffs (all times local): 4:50 p.m. Mexico's National Chamber of the Iron and Steel Industry is congratulating the country's officials on the agreement reached with the United States on ending steel and aluminum tariffs. The chamber says in a statement posted online that it considers the deal "a strong and very positive step for industry in the entire region." It also calls it "a great advance" toward ratifying the new trade deal between Mexico, the United States and Canada. The chamber added Friday afternoon that, "As we have reiterated on diverse occasions, free and fair trade in the region favors the competitiveness of North America." __ 4:30 p.m. The office of United State Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer says an agreement reached with Canada and Mexico allows the U.S. to reimpose steel and aluminum tariffs if there is a "surge" in imports of those products. President Donald Trump had imposed tariffs of 25% on imported steel and 10% on imported aluminum in the name of national security. But that brought retaliation on U.S.-made goods, hitting American manufacturers and farmers. The three nations agreed Friday to drop those tariffs. Lighthizer's office says the agreement ending the dispute ensures that if the U.S. does reimpose tariffs, Canada and Mexico must limit retaliation to American steel and aluminum products. The statement describes the agreement as "great news for American farmers" that continues to protect America's steel and aluminum industries. __ 4:10 p.m. Mexico is hailing as "very satisfactory" an agreement with the United States to end U.S. tariffs on Mexican steel and aluminum as well as lift retaliatory measures imposed by Mexico. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's office says in a statement that the deal restores "commercial exchange free of tariffs for these products." It says both countries will work to prevent imports of the metals at dumping prices, and have agreed to monitor aluminum and steel trade. Lopez Obrador's office says both countries also agreed to end pending litigation over the issue before the World Trade Organization. Story continues Mexico adds that it consulted with Canada and pushed three-way dialogue regarding the tariffs. __ 4 p.m. Toyota is expressing disappointment that President Donald Trump hasn't taken auto tariffs off the table. Declaring auto imports a threat to U.S. national security, Trump has delayed a decision on auto tariffs for six months, suggesting he could impose them if U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer can't wrangle concessions from Japan and the European Union on auto trade. Toyota called Trump's statement Friday "a major set-back for American consumers, workers and the auto industry" and said it "sends a message to Toyota that our investments are not welcomed, and the contributions from each of our employees across America are not valued." ___ 3:50 p.m. Some business and farm groups are cheering an agreement Friday lifting import taxes on steel and aluminum from Canada and Mexico. In turn, those two nations will eliminate tariffs they imposed on a wide range of U.S. goods, such as pork, whiskey and orange juice. Thomas Donohue, who leads the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, says the move "will bring immediate relief to American farmers and manufacturers." David Herring, president of the National Pork Producers Council, said Mexico's 20 percent retaliatory tariff cost the industry about $1.5 billion annually. Herring says "we thank the administration for ending a trade dispute that has placed enormous financial strain on American pork producers." The groups are now turning their attention to efforts to advance a new trade deal to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. ___ 3:25 p.m. Vice President Mike Pence says he'll be traveling to Canada on May 30 to meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in an effort to advance a new trade deal to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. The Trump administration is calling the deal, which includes Mexico, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA. Pence says he'll meet with Trudeau to advance the agreement as swiftly as possible. Pence tweets, "This is a WIN for all 3 nations!" But prospects for passage remain uncertain, as Democrats say changes need to be made to earn their support. Trump announced an agreement Friday to end steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada and Mexico, which some lawmakers said was necessary to gain their support. __ 2:50 p.m. President Donald Trump has announced a deal with Canada and Mexico that would scrap "major tariffs," ending a simmering trade dispute that began when the president imposed tariffs on imported steel and aluminum in the name of national security. Trump addressed the agreement while speaking before The National Association of Realtors. He urged Congress to approve a new trade pact between the three nations to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. Trump did not mention the tariffs he imposed last year on steel and aluminum imports. But he said "we'll be selling our product into those countries without the imposition of tariffs, or major tariffs." While the tariffs helped many U.S. steel and aluminum makers, the retaliatory tariffs hurt other sectors of the U.S. economy, such as agriculture. ___ 2:45 p.m. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada stayed strong in asking for a full lift of the Trump administration's tariffs on steel and aluminum. Trudeau said at a steel facility in Hamilton, Ontario, that now that there is a full lift of those tariffs Canada is going to work with the United States on ratification of the new trade agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico. President Donald Trump used a national security justification last year to impose tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. One of the motivations was to pressure Canada and Mexico into agreeing to a rewrite of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The Canadians and Mexicans did go along with a revamped regional trade deal that was to Trump's liking. But the administration refused to lift the taxes on the metals imports anyway. Trudeau says the Trump administration's national security justification didn't make sense and it was hurting workers and consumers in Canada and the United States. ___ 1:50 p.m. The United States has agreed to remove steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada in what was a key roadblock to a new trade deal and a sore point in relations. Canada, in turn, has agreed to scrap the tariffs it imposed in retaliation. In a joint statement on Friday, the two countries said they have agreed to eliminate the tariffs within 48 hours. Sources in the U.S. and Canada said the Trump administration also has reached a deal to remove steel and aluminum tariffs from Mexico. President Donald Trump last year slapped tariffs on imported steel and aluminum from China and a number of other nations, including Canada, invoking a rarely used provision of a 1962 law to claim that the foreign metals posed a threat to U.S. national security. The administration retained the tariffs on Canada and Mexico even after the two countries agreed to Trump's demands to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement, which went into effect in 1994. Removal of those tariffs on Canada has become a key demand for the administration to win support of the reworked trade agreement. ___ 1:40 p.m. The United States has reached a deal to remove steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada and Mexico, while those nations would scrap retaliatory tariffs they imposed on U.S. products. That's according to sources in the U.S. and Canada who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of an announcement. The deal removes a major hurdle to the passage of a new pact to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs last year of 25 percent on steel imports and 10 percent on imported aluminum. He employed a rarely used 1962 law that empowers him to put a levy on products that the Commerce Department determines threaten national security. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau planned a news conference this afternoon after earlier speaking with Trump. ___ 9 a.m. President Donald Trump is delaying any decision to impose tariffs on car and auto part imports, deciding against ratcheting up trade disputes or impacting talks with European nations and Japan. Trump announced his decision to delay for up to six months in a proclamation issued by the White House on Friday. He was required to make a decision on Commerce Department recommendations aimed to protect the U.S. auto industry, based on national security concerns. Trump directed his trade team to pursue negotiations and address the impact that imports are having on the U.S. auto industry and its ability to invest in new research and development that he says is critical to the nation's security. Trump says he'll decide whether to take further action in 180 days. NEW YORK, May 16, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP, a leading national securities law firm, reminds investors in Mobile TeleSystems PJSC ("Mobile TeleSystems" or the "Company")(MBT) of the May 20, 2019 deadline to seek the role of lead plaintiff in a federal securities class action that has been filed against the Company. If you invested in Mobile TeleSystems stock or options between March 19, 2014 and March 7, 2019 and would like to discuss your legal rights, click here: www.faruqilaw.com/MBT. There is no cost or obligation to you. You can also contact us by calling Richard Gonnello toll free at 877-247-4292 or at 212-983-9330 or by sending an e-mail to rgonnello@faruqilaw.com. CONTACT: FARUQI & FARUQI, LLP 685 Third Avenue, 26th Floor New York, NY 10017 Attn: Richard Gonnello, Esq. rgonnello@faruqilaw.com Telephone: (877) 247-4292 or (212) 983-9330 The lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on behalf of all those who purchased Mobile TeleSystems securities between March 19, 2014 and March 7, 2019 (the "Class Period"). The case, Salim v. Mobile TeleSystems PJSC et al., No. 19-cv-01589 was filed on March 19, 2019. The lawsuit focuses on whether the Company and its executives violated federal securities laws by failing to disclose that: (1) Mobile TeleSystems and its subsidiary were involved in a scheme to pay $420 million in bribes in Uzbekistan; (2) consequently, Mobile TeleSystems knew or should have known it would be forced to pay substantial fines to the U.S. government after disclosing in 2014 that the U.S. Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission were investigating its Uzbekistan operations; (3) Mobile TeleSystems level of cooperation with the U.S. government and remediation was lacking; and (4) due to the aforementioned misconduct, Mobile TeleSystems would be forced to pay approximately $850 million in criminal penalties to the U.S. government. Story continues On November 20, 2018, the Company disclosed that it had reserved approximately $840 million USD (RUB 55.8 bln) as the potential liability concerning investigations by the SEC and the DOJ into its former operations in Uzbekistan. On this news, Mobile TeleSystems's share price fell from $8.09 per share on November 19, 2018 to a closing price of $7.45 on November 20, 2018: a $0.64 or a 7.91% drop. On March 7, 2019, the DOJ reported that the Company and its subsidiary entered into an agreement to pay $850 million in penalties to the United States to resolve charges arising from its role in a scheme to pay $420 million in bribes in Uzbekistan. On this news, Mobile TeleSystems's share price fell from $7.78 per share on March 6, 2019 to a closing price of $7.54 on March 7, 2019: a $0.24 or a 3.08% drop. The court-appointed lead plaintiff is the investor with the largest financial interest in the relief sought by the class who is adequate and typical of class members who directs and oversees the litigation on behalf of the putative class. Any member of the putative class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision to serve as a lead plaintiff or not. Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP also encourages anyone with information regarding Mobile TeleSystems's conduct to contact the firm, including whistleblowers, former employees, shareholders and others. Attorney Advertising. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP (www.faruqilaw.com). Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter. We welcome the opportunity to discuss your particular case. All communications will be treated in a confidential manner. BERLIN, May 16 (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel, when asked about Commerzbank, said on Thursday that the German government has no fixed position on mergers. Asked if she was in favour of Dutch bank ING taking a stake in Commerzbank, she said: "Regarding the banking landscape, those are private sector decisions." "There is no precedent from the German government for anything that develops in this area," Merkel told a news conference with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, adding that there were no bans on international cooperation. The organisation that defends shareholder interests in the Netherlands on Wednesday called on ING Groep to clarify whether it is interested in acquiring German rival Commerzbank. (Reporting by Michelle Martin Editing by Paul Carrel) Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador speaks to the media during a news conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico May 1, 2019. Press Office Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador/Handout via REUTERS MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Saturday the government would bring internet to remote areas of the country and that current concession holders should "stand aside" if they cannot do the job. In a campaign-style speech to hundreds of supporters in El Nayar, a municipality in the western state of Nayarit, the veteran leftist said companies were not bringing internet to the remotest areas because they were only interested in profits. "With all due respect, what are we going to say to the companies who have had the concessions and who haven't connected the country? Stand aside, because the government will have its company to connect all Mexicans with internet," he said. Lopez Obrador, who has pledged to ensure the whole country has internet, did not elaborate further, and a spokesman for the presidency could not immediately be reached for comment. Since taking office in December, Lopez Obrador has sought to give a bigger role to the state in the economy, causing nervousness among influential sections of the business community. America Movil, the company controlled by business tycoon Carlos Slim, has long dominated the telephone and internet market in Mexico. The company's principal competitors in telecoms are Spain's Telefonica and U.S. firm AT&T Inc. Last year, the administration of Lopez Obrador's predecessor as president launched a wholesale national mobile network that it said would cut the costs of developing infrastructure for carriers, particularly in rural areas with poor coverage. A spokesman for America Movil did not immediately reply to a request for comment. According to Mexico's national statistics agency, as of 2018 74.3 million people in Mexico above the age of six used the internet in Mexico, or 65.8% of that portion of the population. Around 18.3 million homes, or 52.9% of the total, had fixed or mobile internet access, the agency said. (Reporting by Diego Ore and Dave Graham; editing by Grant McCool) FILE PHOTO: Migrating starlings fly at dusk past electricity pylons silhouetted by the sunset of a clear autumn evening in the Kent countryside, in Graveney, Britain, October 26, 2015. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez By Susanna Twidale LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's opposition Labour Party intends to take energy networks back into state ownership if elected, prompting infrastructure owners to warn of damage to investment, high taxpayer costs and a slower transition to green energy. Labour's shadow business and energy secretary, Rebecca Long-Bailey, late on Tuesday published party plans via twitter to renationalise the country's 60-billion-pound energy networks and establish a National Energy Agency. Britain's energy infrastructure, such as gas pipes and electricity cables, is owned by several firms including SSE, National Grid and Iberdrola's Scottish Power. All of them criticised the move. "Aside from extensive disruption, paying for state ownership and control of energy networks would require full compensation for owners at great expense to taxpayers, or risk destabilising UK listed utilities," an SSE spokeswoman said. Under Labour's plans, regional energy agencies would also be set up responsible for gas and electricity distribution, decarbonising the heat sector and reducing fuel poverty. Labour said an overhaul was needed to prevent network firms generating "unjustly high profits" at a time when there is pressure to lower the cost of energy for households. "Private ownership of energy networks has led to excess profiteering at the expense of investment in infrastructure," the Labour document said. Scottish Power is this year investing 7 million pounds every working day building more wind farms and upgrading the electricity grid, a spokeswoman for the company said. British regulator Ofgem was told by parliament last year to cap energy prices after lawmakers said customers were being overcharged. Prime Minister Theresa May had called the tariffs a "rip-off". The regulator also said it planned to cut 5 billion pounds from consumer bills over five years from 2021 by slashing the amount gas and electricity network firms can return to shareholders. Story continues Ofgem data shows network costs make up around 25 percent of an average British household gas and electricity bill. For a graphic on What costs make up a British duel fuel energy bill?, see - https://tmsnrt.rs/2TDnSKs Concerns that the nationalisation would be below market value dragged shares in SSE and National Grid down 1.9% and 0.6% respectively. "These proposals for state ownership of the energy networks would only serve to delay the huge amount of progress and investment that is already helping to make this country a leader in the move to green energy," National Grid said in a statement. (Reporting by Susanna Twidale in London, Muvija M and Shashwat Awasthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Kate Holton and Dale Hudson) By Barani Krishnan Investing.com - Iran and oil's war worries have to wait. Attention is back to China and the trade war. Crude futures rowed back much of Friday's early gains that would have made it a four-day winning streak for the bulls as Chinas state-run media expressed impatience over the trade negotiations after Huawei and other Chinese companies were shown the door from the U.S. market. West Texas Intermediate futures, the benchmark for U.S. crude, settled down 11 cents, or 0.2%, at $62.75 per barrel. It hit a two-week high of $63.64 earlier on fears that a new war might break out in the Persian Gulf after Saudi Arabia accused Iran of sabotaging the kingdom's oil infrastructure. Iran, officially barred from selling its crude under U.S. sanctions, had previously warned other oil exporters of "consequences" for supporting the action by President Donald Trump. But it denies charges of trying to sabotage Saudi oil facilities through its Houthi rebel allies, who have claimed responsibility for the attacks. London Brent futures, the global benchmark for oil, slid by 48 cents, or 0.7%, to $72.14 per barrel by 2:42 PM ET (18:42 GMT). In spite of the pullback from Friday's highs, WTI still ended the week up 1.8%. While it is down 2% on the month, year-to-date it shows a 38% gain. Brent is up 2.2% on the week, 0.2% on the month and 34% on the year. Oil turned direction after Taoran Notes, a pro-government WeChat blog run by China's state-owned Economic Daily, said it was "meaningless" for Chinese officials to meet with their American counterparts when Washington wasn't showing any sincerity for the welfare of Chinese commerce in striking a trade deal. The comments, just one day after the White House excluded Huawei and other Chinese companies from the U.S. market, are a turn in rhetoric for China, which had previously been patient and hopeful on a deal being reached. Market participants also became less bullish after media reports quoted senior Trump administration officials as saying the president actually had no wish to push the U.S. into a war with the Islamic Republic. Story continues "I am not a believer in the 'Middle East Tension' story as I have been numbed in my years on this, and the addition of Trump into the picture only makes it seem worse," said Olivier Jakob at PetroMatrix, an oil consultancy in Zug, Switzerland. "The chances of conflict to me are still very low, which tells me not to embrace this rally as it's too news-driven," Jakob said. Oil prices did get some support from a drop in the U.S. oil rig count to 14-month lows. In two previous weeks, the reading for oil rigs has moved back and forth by just two units. On Friday, industry firm Baker Hughes, which publishes the weekly number, said the count fell by 3 this week to 802, its lowest since March 16, 2018. U.S. crude production is near record highs at 12.2 million barrels per day. Related Articles Defiant Iran says it can 'easily' hit U.S. ships, works to counter sanctions Gold Dips as Dollar Surges on China, U.S. Consumer Data U.S. reaches deal with Canada, Mexico to lift steel, aluminum tariffs: Washington Post (Bloomberg) -- Sign up for Next China, a weekly email on where the nation stands now and where it's going next. The Beijing delivery man who arrived with Christine Lins new silver bracelet came dressed in an elegant black suit -- complete with white gloves. He knocked on the door of her apartment holding a delicate black box tied with a golden ribbon. Handing it to Lin, he asked her to confirm receipt with a fountain pen. Inside, under layers of glossy wrapping paper, was the $90 limited-edition bracelet (from a brand co-founded by Hermes International and a local designer) along with a thank-you card from JD.com, the e-commerce site that had arranged the special delivery. It was so ceremonial, said Lin, a 23-year-old app and product designer. Shopping on these online platforms is like enjoying a visual feast thats curated for you. Shoppers from China accounted for one-third of global spending on luxury items last year, and Chinese luxury consumption will nearly double to about 1.2 trillion yuan ($175 billion) by 2025 from 770 billion yuan last year, consultancy McKinsey & Co. estimated in a report published April 26. But many in China are now making those high-end purchases online, a challenge for companies that have built their businesses and the aura around their brands by coddling shoppers inside swanky stores with personal service. The changes are forcing global luxury companies to sometimes rethink decades-old strategies and test new ones tailored to the Chinese market. New Strategies Keeping Chinese consumers engaged is becoming critical as the economy slows amid the escalating trade war with the U.S. While the American market accounts for about 44% of global online sales of luxury goods, Asia is the new growth engine of high-end brands, according to Bain & Co. Thats why many big names in luxury are teaming up with internet companies to offer sales and services like the white-gloved butler-style delivery that are rare in the U.S. Theyre hoping to appeal to younger consumers just getting started buying designer jewelry, clothes or accessories. Still, selling online carries added risks for brands whove built their lofty cachet by emphasizing exclusivity. Story continues They dont want to be too accessible, said Clement Ledormeur, general manager of 31Ten, a digital consulting agency in Shanghai. You cant be next to underwear or a pair of slacks. Thats one attraction of platforms dedicated to designer goods, like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.s Tmall Luxury Pavilion, he said. Chinese online retailer JD.com Inc. and London-based Farfetch Ltd. in February announced a deal to merge JDs luxury site Toplife into Farfetch China. The deal provides JD customers with access to the British retailers more than 1,000 luxury brands. Farfetch is working on the integration of Toplife and expects to launch by the end of next month, Chief Executive Officer Jose Neves said on a conference call with analysts. Brands know that they need to crack China, and they need to crack China digitally, said Neves after the company announced a quarterly loss that was wider than expected. Choosing Cautiously At Ralph Lauren Corp., e-commerce sales are up across the board, but Chief Executive Officer Patrice Louvet said he looks at online shopping with caution, carefully selecting the places that make sense for his brand to live on. In China, that includes both Tmall and JD.com. Were not jumping on every single opportunity out there, Louvet said in an interview of his e-commerce business globally. But if thats where the consumer wants to shop, thats where we need to be. The 61.6 billion yuan that McKinsey estimates Chinese shoppers spent online on luxury goods last year is a small fraction of the total. And customers are still mostly buying up smaller items like accessories via the internet, rather than, say, mink coats. Yet the potential growth makes it hard for brands to sidestep digital platforms: McKinsey estimates that Chinas online luxury spending will more than double to about 147 billion yuan by 2025. High-end brands are hoping other benefits will override the challenges of selling online in the country, and theyre hopping in en masse. Louis Vuitton, which operates its own e-commerce site for China, this month launched an official account on social commerce site Xiaohongshu, or Little Red Book, to promote its brand with Chinese consumers. Brands like Alexander McQueen, Burberry and Saint Laurent have teamed up with Chinese companies to expand their digital footprints. Better Than Stores? Opening physical stores requires a city to have existing luxury shopping streets, where fancy fashion labels are sold. But many Chinese cities dont have that infrastructure, making it easier to build an online store for those new markets, said Fabrizio Freda, chief executive officer of Estee Lauder Cos. Tom Ford, one of Estee Lauders most popular brands, is only in 10 Chinese cities because the key to expansion is to work with Alibabas Tmall rather than trying to open stores across the country. In China there are about 600 cities with millions of inhabitants where there is no physical distribution but theres interest, desire and aspiration for high-quality products, said Freda. Tmall is the answer to that. Alibabas Tmall marketplace launched Luxury Pavilion in 2017 and now has more than 100 brands, including DKNY and Versace. The company wants to double the number of brands by March next year and is attempting to keep the platform exclusive by offering features such as three-dimensional images of products and physical stores, said Jessica Liu, Tmalls general manager of fashion and luxury. Western luxury brands also rely on WeChat, the ubiquitous messaging app owned by Alibabas fierce rival, Shenzhen-based Tencent Holdings Ltd. On May 20, Tiffany & Co. will offer a limited-time WeChat promotion: In Mandarin, the words 5-2-0 sound like I love you. (Updates with added details on Farfetch.) To contact the reporters on this story: Bruce Einhorn in Hong Kong at beinhorn1@bloomberg.net;Jinshan Hong in Hong Kong at jhong214@bloomberg.net;Kim Bhasin in New York at kbhasin4@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Emma O'Brien at eobrien6@bloomberg.net, Bruce Einhorn, Anjali Cordeiro For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2019 Bloomberg L.P. PagSeguro Digital Ltd (NYSE: PAGS) announced a major product expansion Tuesday in financial services. It's a sign of the companys rapid transformation into a full-fledged acquiring and financial services platform and significantly boosts PagSeguro's long-term top- and bottom-line prospects, according to Guggenheim Securities. The Analyst Jeff Cantwell upgraded PagSeguro Digital from Neutral to Buy and set a $33 price target. The Thesis The new PagSeguro app PagBank will begin to offer cash cards and credit cards to merchants and consumers, Cantwell said in the Thursday upgrade note. (See his track record here.) The strategy has evolved in the right direction, since the new services are highly complementary with PagSeguros existing platform, and the move significantly increases the companys TAM, the analyst said. Cantwell quoted data from Brazils Central Bank that shows the countrys TAM for banking and cards is $45 billion and for credit cards, $282 billion. The product expansion creates a potential revenue opportunity for PagSeguro that is around 14 times greater than the company would have if it continued as only a merchant acquirer, the analyst said. PagSeguro's cash card is the primary product among the ones announced this week, Cantwell said. The card could see high adoption in Brazil, given PagSeguros strong brand recognition and managements focus on a largely greenfield opportunity: the underbanked," he said. Guggenheim raised its EPS estimates for 2019 from 4.62 Brazilian reals ($1.15) to 4.67 reals ($1.16); and from 5.93 reals ($1.48) to 6.05 reals ($1.51) for 2020. Price Action PagSeguro shares were trading up more than 8 percent at $30.41 at the time of publication Thursday. Related Links: 60 Biggest Movers From Yesterday Earnings Scheduled For May 14, 2019 Latest Ratings for PAGS May 2019 Maintains Overweight May 2019 Initiates Coverage On Reduce Mar 2019 Upgrades Neutral Overweight View More Analyst Ratings for PAGS View the Latest Analyst Ratings Story continues See more from Benzinga 2019 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. As ocean carriers bring in ever-larger container ships to the U.S., the Port of New York and New Jersey says it is ready to handle them. Last week, the YM World made its first U.S. East Coast port call at Global Container Terminal in Bayonne, New Jersey. The ultra-large container ship, owned by Taiwan's Yang Ming, carries the equivalent of 14,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) of marine containers. Originally part of a vessel service from the Far East to Mediterranean, the YM World was on a service that mostly had ships ranging from 8,000 to 9,000 TEU. The YM World's arrival is one of many at New York-New Jersey involving vessels that size since the 2017 raising of the Bayonne Bridge, which allowed for passage of ultra-large container ships. The YM World also made call at Norfolk, Savannah and Charleston. But New York-New Jersey can currently handle up to nine vessels of similar size at one time, said Nicholas Raspanti, a manager of cargo marketing for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. In comparison, the Port of Savannah said it plans to be able to handle six vessels of 14,000-TEU size by 2024. The ability to handle more, larger ships makes New York-New Jersey the first port of call for up to 75 percent of vessels coming to the U.S. East Coast. In addition to serving the local market, the ships are bringing more freight headed for inland markets such as Chicago or the Ohio Valley. Thanks to the region's density, 44 million customers can be reached via a four-hour truck trip. With additional rail capacity, another 125 million consumers are within a 36-hour rail trip. Speaking at a conference hosted by the local chapter of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, Raspanti said the Port of New York and New Jersey is "very appealing to shippers because they can come here first into our network, get on a truck and get out to distribution center or on to rail out to a warehouse before the vessel leaves the port or ties up at another port." Story continues Loaded imports into New York-New Jersey did see better growth in 2018, growing 8.2 percent to 3.7 million TEU. That compares to overall container volume of 7.2 million, up 7 percent last year. (Source: PANYNJ) It's difficult to tell how much of the inbound volume was discretionary. But Raspanti said New York-New Jersey hopes to attract as much as 5 million TEU annually in discretionary cargo by 2050. The key to attracting that freight will be the $32 billion the port plans in capital projects through 2027. One big project is the ExpressRail facility at GCT Bayonne, which is expected to be fully completed in June. With that project, five of New York-New Jersey's marine terminals will have on- or near-dock rail. While still primarily a truck port, rail volumes are growing as shippers seek to reach inland markets. Rail lifts account for 18 percent of the inbound cargo, the highest percentage since 2016. Total rail lifts hit 646,000 last year at New York-New Jersey. But with capacity for 1.5 million rail lifts, "it keeps us competitive in the discretionary cargo market," Raspanti said. He said ongoing projects to maintain and widen improve the 50-foot depth of the Kill Van Kull waterway linking the major terminals to New York Harbor and improve the berthing around the terminals will also be key to keeping up big ship traffic. The North Atlantic Marine Highway Alliance, announced in 2018, is another project that could attract more discretionary cargo, Raspanti said. The project that aims to use barges to move containers to other coastal markets will "better use our waterway network get truck off the road and not beat up this region's infrastructure." Maersk folds in terminals unit APM Terminals to be part of Maersk logistics and services, but still serve other shipping lines. (Port Technology) Panama Canal sees largest container ship transit The Evergreen Triton, capable of carrying 15,000-TEU, passes through Canal. (Hellenic Shipping News) Shipping lines aim to stop whale strikes in San Francisco Harbor Twenty-two different lines, including tankers, cruises, and box ships, slow speeds. (SF Chronicle) Credit agency says ports are set fair despite trade war Fitch Ratings says contractual minimum revenue from terminals insulates ports. (Maritime Executive) Canada's Prince Rupert port eyes expansion potential Expansion of Fairview Terminal and a second terminal could bring capacity up to six million TEU. (Maritime Executive) Image sourced from Pixabay See more from Benzinga 2019 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. The state of Georgia was shaken in April by news of two veterans dying by suicide in a two-day period. With both deaths occurring near hospitals servicing the Department of Veterans Affairs, the VA was very much in the spotlight, as the media and citizens tried to make sense of the far-too-common tragedy of veteran suicides. About 20 veterans take their own lives every day in the U.S., according to the VA. In March, President Donald Trump signed the National Roadmap to Empower Veterans and End Veteran Suicide. While it may seem like a laudable initiative, the executive order is unlikely to produce any results anytime soon. The resolution stipulates the creation of a new cabinet-level task force to create a public health roadmap with the aim of improving quality of life for veterans and helping to mitigate the veteran suicide crisis. The exact cause of why so many veterans choose to end their own lives is hard to determine. One of the most common factors that has been identified in medical studies is post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. "Combat veterans are not only more likely to have suicidal ideation, often associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression, but they are more likely to act on a suicidal plan." according to a 2012 article published in the Cleveland Clinic Journal Of Medicine. Cannabis And PTSD One solution that might help veterans deal more effectively with PTSD is cannabis. Veterans have a hard time getting access to the plant: the VA is a federal agency and therefore must follow federal laws. This means VA doctors cannot recommend or prescribe medical marijuana, and even when it's prescribed by non-VA doctors, the herb is not covered by the VAs insurance. How is it possible that veterans suffering from PTSD cannot easily obtain a medicine that could help them? The effectiveness of cannabis in treating PTSD symptoms is well-known and proven. PTSD is one of the most common qualifying conditions for prescribing medical marijuana, with 30 out of the 33 U.S. states that have legalized medical marijuana considering it a qualifying condition. Story continues Benzinga spoke with two Iraq War veterans to get a better understanding of how cannabis can help with PTSD and what veterans with PTSD have to go through. For them, cannabis was not only a lifesaver, but also allowed them to create successful businesses that mostly employ other veterans. To understand the scientific relationship between cannabis and PTSD, we sat down with Dr. Annabelle Manalo, the scientific director of Tikun Olam, an Israel-headquartered clinic focused on cannabis treatments. What Is PTSD? It is estimated that around 70 percent of Americans have gone or will go through at least one traumatic event during their lifetimes. Some 20 percent of these people will end up developing post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. At any given time, there might be more than 13 million Americans suffering from PTSD. PTSD is a condition marked by a number of symptoms, said Tikun Olams Manalo. The company conducted a survey of hundreds of patients diagnosed with the condition and found that the most common symptoms were averse memories, rage attacks and recurring physical pain. While war veterans represent a small share of all people suffering from PTSD, it is often said that it was this group that brought the condition into the spotlight. Because of the magnitude of the traumatic events they suffered during conflict, veterans' symptoms can be correspondingly significant, often resulting in major consequences. The Stories Of Two Vets Mychol Robirds, a veteran turned cannabis advocate, said living with memories of war is even tougher for those trying to battle it alone or who are "too tough" to seek some form of treatment. "I fell in the category of 'too tough; only until my life started to fall apart as my physical and mental conditions deteriorated, said Robirds, who was deployed to Iraq in 2004, serving with the 1st Infantry Divisions 1st Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment. He was discharged a year later after sustaining severe injuries when his convoy was attacked by a suicide bomber. Being hit face to face by a suicide bomber isn't as easy to move on [from] like the world expects you to, he told Benzinga. It's not only injured veterans who are affected by PTSD. Jose Belen, who recently wrote an an article for Benzinga titled Cannabis, Veterans, PTSD And Corporate America: A US Army Vet's First-Person Experience, served three years of active duty service in the U.S. Army, joining operations in Iraq in 2003 at just 20 years of age. While in combat we lost brothers and sisters directly to combat fatalities; I witnessed the horrors of war in watching a child die in front of my eyes, he said. After being honorably discharged, Belen came home and started what became a 14-year battle with PTSD. How Are Veterans With PTSD Treated? The VA has a number of procedures and medications that it prescribes to veterans suffering from PTSD, often including psychiatric treatment, brain treatment and drugs like Ambien, Prozac and Effexor. I've taken well over 10,000 pills in less than 10 years, Robirds said. These medications and treatments are not a panacea, and in some cases come with dangerous side effects such as addiction. The medication just numbed me enough so I could sleep and disconnect from the 24-hour cycle of anxiety and sleepless nights, Robirds said. Belen said that that were prescribed to him at the VA for depression, anxiety and sleep drove him to "madness." For example, I was prescribed both Effexor and Nortriptylene to be taken jointly. Well, once the side effects kicked in eight weeks later, had I not surrendered my firearms to my wife two months prior, I would have ended my life in an incident that occurred," he said. "My VA doctor acknowledged that she made a mistake and should have never put me on those two medications at the same time. How Cannabis Can Help After failing to somewhat restore their lives using VA-prescribed medication and treatment, both Robirds and Belen said they turned to self-medicating with cannabis. Even though the plant did not completely cure their conditions, both said the improvement was very noticeable. In Robirds case, he said cannabis helped him restore sleep and removed the dreams that had terrorized him for years. Cannabis allowed Belen to function and have emotions again," he said. It allowed me to be the husband my wife deserves and the father my children deserve to have. Today's science suggests that, when compared to prescription medication, cannabis doesnt have any known long-term side effects and has very low addictive potential. CBD, the non-intoxicating component of cannabis that was legalized on a federal level in the U.S., can also be beneficial for PTSD patients, although the best effects are achieved through combination with at least a small amount of THC, said Tikun Olam's Manalo. While there is no known treatment for PTSD and cannabis is a means of managing symptoms ongoing studies suggest the drugs' potential is much larger, she said. There are many ongoing studies within and out of Tikun Olam; we believe that cannabis effectiveness in treating PTSD can indeed go beyond symptomatic treatment alone," Manalo said. "When it comes to cannabis treatment for PTSD and other debilitating conditions, it is important to remember that the human endocannabinoid system is built for neuroplasticity and protectivity of the nervous system in other words, restoring internal balance. This promotes healing that is far beyond symptomatic. Why Isnt The VA Allowed To Prescribe Cannabis? In short, the VA is not allowed to prescribe cannabis because its illegal on a federal level. While this could be changed, there still seems to be a lack of political willpower to do so even though more than 65 percent of the American population supports cannabis legalization. Three bills dealing with the VA and cannabis have been introduced in Congress; none have gone past the introduction step. Two relate to research. One bill, The Veterans Medical Marijuana Safe Harbor Act, would allow veterans to use, possess and transport medical marijuana and to discuss the use of cannabis with a VA physician. Photo: Jose Belen. The VA has made some progress by allowing physicians to discuss cannabis with veterans. But what veterans say they really need is for the VA to allow physicians to prescribe medical cannabis to them and for it to be covered by insurance. Additional research into the properties of cannabis might be the force that could convince the government of its efficacy. It's something that 30 U.S. states as well as some countries like Israel, where cannabis is prescribed for PTSD, already know. What Can Be Done? While veterans continue to suffer from PTSD and the VAs efforts to address are clearly insufficient, some veterans are taking the matters into their own hands. In 2010, Robirds launched San Diego, California-based Hero Payments, a pin-based debit processing solutions provider to cannabis businesses. In addition, he's helping veterans grow hemp and is working to open brain centers across the U.S. where veterans can access special equipment that is too expensive in other clinics, as well as to facilitate access to cannabis for veterans. Belen and his wife founded Mission Zero, an organization that aims to help veterans battling PTSD and to prevent veteran suicide. He's an outspoken advocate for medical cannabis and is suing the U.S. government to have cannabis removed from the list of Schedule I drugs. While helping and empowering veterans has a major impact, there is still much more to be done and change is needed on a larger scale. Photos courtesy of Jose Belen. See more from Benzinga 2019 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Amsterdam, the Netherlands - 17 May 2019 - Intertrust N.V. ("Intertrust") announces that the Annual General Meeting of 16 May 2019 approved all voting items on the agenda, including the adoption of the financial statements for the year 2018 and a EUR 0.32 final dividend, resulting in a total full year 2018 dividend of EUR 0.62 per share. The agenda did not include items 3b and 3c which were withdrawn as announced on 14 May 2019. For further information Intertrust N.V. marieke.palstra@intertrustgroup.com Marieke Palstra Tel: +31 20 577 1157 About Intertrust Intertrust (INTER.NX) is a global leader in providing expert administrative services to clients operating and investing in the international business environment. The Company has more than 2,500 employees across 41 offices and 29 jurisdictions in Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific and the Middle-East. Intertrust has leading market positions in selected key financial markets, including the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Jersey and the Americas. Intertrust delivers high-quality, tailored corporate, fund, capital market and private wealth services to its clients, with a view to building long-term relationships. The Company works with global law firms and accountancy firms, multinational corporations, financial institutions, fund managers, high net worth individuals and family offices. Press release (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: Intertrust Group via GlobeNewswire HUG#2244628 NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / May 16, 2019 / Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Mobile TeleSystems Public Joint Stock Company ("Mobile TeleSystems" or the "Company") (MBT). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888-476-6529, ext. 9980. The investigation concerns whether Mobile TeleSystems and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices. On November 20, 2018, Mobile TeleSystems disclosed that it had reserved approximately $840 million to cover potential liability concerning investigations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and Department of Justice ("DOJ") into the Company's former operations in Uzbekistan. On this news, Mobile TeleSystems' American depositary receipt ("ADR") price fell $0.64 per share, or nearly 8%, to close at $7.45 per share on November 20, 2018. Then, on March 7, 2019, the DOJ announced that Mobile TeleSystems and its subsidiary had entered into an agreement with the DOJ and SEC to pay a combined $850 million in penalties to resolve charges arising from its role in a scheme to pay $420 million in bribes in Uzbekistan. Following this announcement, Mobile TeleSystems' ADR price fell $0.24 per share, or 3.08%, to close at $7.54 per share on March 7, 2019, damaging investors. The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com. Story continues SOURCE: Pomerantz LLP View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/545723/SHAREHOLDER-ALERT-Pomerantz-Law-Firm-Investigates-ClaimsOn-Behalf-of-Investors-of-Mobile-TeleSystems-Public-Joint-Stock-Company-MBT View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/545723/SHAREHOLDER-ALERT-Pomerantz-Law-Firm-Investigates-ClaimsOn-Behalf-of-Investors-of-Mobile-TeleSystems-Public-Joint-Stock-Company-MBT DENVER (AP) A security guard credited with capturing one of the two suspects in this week's suburban Denver school shooting fired his weapon inside the school, a law enforcement official with knowledge of the case told The Associated Press on Thursday. The security guard has not been identified but is a former Marine who has stayed out of the public eye since Tuesday, when two suspects opened fire at the STEM School Highlands Ranch, killing one student and injuring eight. Two news organizations cited anonymous sources reported that authorities are investigating whether the guard mistakenly fired at a responding sheriff's deputy and may have wounded a student. The law enforcement official spoke to The Associated Press on anonymity because the official was not authorized to make information public. The official did not address whether anyone was hit by the security guard's firing. An attorney for the guard declined to directly answer questions Thursday about the media reports. But the attorney, Robert Burk, said his client acted in the best interests of protecting the children at the school and helped resolve the situation without further bloodshed. "He ran there as quick as he could and took what I think is decisive action that helped save lives," Burk said. Three students have been hailed as heroes for disarming one of the suspects during Tuesday's shooting. One of them, Kendrick Castillo, was shot and killed during the struggle and a second, Joshua Jones, is recovering at home after being shot twice. The security guard ran to the area of the shooting and apprehended one suspect in a hallway, said his employer, Grant Whitus of Boss High Level Protection, a former SWAT team leader who responded to the 1999 Columbine High School shooting. "He doesn't even realize how many lives he saved by stopping a school shooting," Whitus said Wednesday. In the years after Columbine, Whitus trained police across the country how to immediately confront active shooters in similar situations. Story continues Burk also said the security guard heard reports of gunfire over his radio and ran to the area as fast as he could. Burk would not describe what his client saw or did once he arrived, saying he did not want to interfere with the ongoing investigation. But he said the guard, a Marine Corps veteran who was deployed to Afghanistan and previously worked for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, was a hero. "I know that he took action to protect the children and help resolve the situation without further bloodshed or violence, and I don't know of any facts to support anything that my client did that was legally wrong or wasn't in the best interests of protecting the children," Burk said. Officials have identified the suspects as 18-year-old Devon Erickson and 16-year-old Maya McKinney, whose attorney said uses male pronouns and the name Alec. The two allegedly walked into the school through an entrance without metal detectors and opened fire in two classrooms just miles away from Columbine High School and just weeks after the 20th anniversary of a massacre there. Investigators have not offered a motive for the shooting. Erickson and McKinney are scheduled to appear in court Friday to hear the charges filed against them. An anonymous person who said she was the parent of a student at the school called the school district in December to make a number of complaints about the school, including that there was a lot of drug dealing and use and that there was student violence because of the high-pressure environment there. The call was described in a defamation lawsuit filed by the school in response to the complaint. The other allegations included that the school was embezzling funds and sending money to China and Mexico and that students had learned to build a bomb at the school. The school denied all of the allegations. KUSA-TV reported that a district letter summarizing the complaint said that the parent expressed concerns about the possibility of a repeat of the school shootings at nearby Columbine and Arapahoe high schools. But the lawsuit does not mention specifically mention anything about a shooting. Castillo was remembered Wednesday night at a vigil that was hit by disruptions, with many students staging a walkout amid complaints the vigil had been politicized and failed to include their voices. Hundreds packed a high school gym for the event organized by the student arm of the Brady gun control group that included pro-gun control speeches by presidential hopeful Sen. Michael Bennet and U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, both Democrats. At one point, someone shouted that students should be allowed to speak, and organizers talked with students in a hallway about how to include them. Some students chanted and others railed against the media and called for remembering Castillo. Students eventually were invited to speak. Teacher Emily Muellenberg told Colorado Public Radio that organizers had reached out to students before the event but didn't hear back. Eat This, Not That! The coronavirus doesn't take a day off: The virus continues to spread and CNN's Dr. Sanjay Guptaearlier in the pandemicrevealed five places where coronavirus transmission is more likely to occur than others. Unfortunately, his advice is as relevant now as ever, as Omicron and Delta team up to drive cases high. "It's really these five primary locations where viral transmissions are happening in our society," Dr. Gupta said. Read on to hear his warningand to ensure your health and the health of Taiwan's top court has ruled that not allowing same-sex couples to marry violates the constitution Taiwan's top court has ruled that not allowing same-sex couples to marry violates the constitution (AFP Photo/Chris STOWERS) Taiwan will decide whether to pass Asia's first gay marriage law on Friday as conservative lawmakers launch a last-ditch attempt to scupper the bill despite a court ruling ordering same-sex marital equality. Protesters on both sides of the debate will gather outside Taipei's parliament for what looks set to be a mammoth legislative debate over an issue that has bitterly divided the island. Parliament is up against a ticking clock. Taiwan's top court has ruled that not allowing same-sex couples to marry violates the constitution. Judges gave the government two years to make necessary changes by May 24, 2019 or see marriage equality enacted automatically. With that deadline fast approaching, three bills have been tabled for Friday -- which also happens to be the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. The most progressive is the government's bill, the only one to use the word "marriage" and offer limited adoption rights. It is backed -- begrudgingly -- by gay rights groups who see it as the closest thing to full equality with heterosexual couples, despite its limitations. Opponents have tabled two other versions which avoid the word marriage, offering something closer to same-sex unions with no adoption rights. Conservative and religious groups have been buoyed by a series of referendum wins in November, in which voters comprehensively rejected defining marriage as anything other than a union between a man and a woman. President Tsai Ing-wen has said the government's bill respects both the court judgement and the referendum. "I hope everybody can be considerate and tolerate different opinions to show Taiwan is a mature civil society that is capable of handling a divisive issue," she said on Tuesday. Tsai's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) holds the majority in parliament, occupying 68 out of 113 seats. But there is no guarantee her own lawmakers will vote for the more progressive bill, especially as many fear being punished by conservative voters at the ballot box in January. Story continues One of the rival bills was proposed by a DPP lawmaker. Taiwan's LGBT community has been left in limbo the last two years, with many couples planning weddings ahead of the May 24th deadline but unsure of what marriage equality will look like. "We will have a clear answer this week about how this country will treat gay couples in the future," said Jennifer Lu, a spokeswoman for Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan. "The cabinet's bill is already a discounted version but it covers the most for now. The other bills are not only unconstitutional but discriminatory." Opponents warn that "forcefully" passing a gay marriage law will intensify tensions. "The cabinet's bill ignores the referendum results and that is unacceptable," said Lai Shyh-bao of the opposition Kuomintang party, who proposed one of the bills backed by conservatives. (Adds Seade quotes, background) By Frank Jack Daniel MEXICO CITY, May 17 (Reuters) - Tense U.S.-China relations are helping the United States understand the importance of a North American trade bloc, a senior Mexican diplomat said on Friday, after negotiating a deal that ended steel tariffs in the region. The United States struck deals on Friday to lift tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and Mexico, the three governments said, removing a major obstacle to legislative approval of a new North American trade pact. Mexico's deputy foreign minister for North America, Jesus Seade, said the U.S.-China trade war was helping the case for a strong partnership between neighbors. "There is a general climate, in which the United States is in a long-term difficult relationship with China and it understands that the big economy the United States has needs to be accompanied by the big North American economic region," Seade told Reuters in a phone interview. Seade helped lead negotiations last year for the new United StatesMexicoCanada Agreement (USMCA) after U.S. President Donald Trump insisted on reworking the quarter-century-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Seade said Friday's tariff breakthrough would help the broad agreement's passage through U.S. Congress. China struck a more aggressive tone in the trade war on Friday, suggesting a resumption of talks between the world's two largest economies would be meaningless unless Washington changed course. That capped a week in which Beijing unveiled fresh retaliatory tariffs and the U.S. leveled a blow against one of China's biggest and most successful companies, Huawei Technologies Co Ltd. Seade said such friction made North America look more attractive. "That is why they are negotiating a good deal, and are now treating Mexico and Canada incredibly differently from (South) Korea, which has quotas," he said. When negotiations over the tariffs started a month ago, Seade said, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer had pushed Mexico to accept a quota on metal imports. In the end the deal that was struck allows free trade of the metals in the region. South Korea scored an exemption from steel tariffs in March, 2018, but only in return for a quota a third below the previous years' volumes, severely crimping the Asian country's industry. (Reporting by Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Stefanie Eschenbacher and Richard Chang) Presentations include four oral and two poster presentations across three medical meetings in June NEW YORK, May 16, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TG Therapeutics, Inc. (TGTX), today announced the schedule of upcoming data presentations at the 55th American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting, to be held May 31 June 4, 2019, in Chicago, Illinois; the 24th European Hematology Association (EHA) annual congress, to be held June 13 16, 2019, in Amsterdam, Netherlands; and at the 15th International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma (ICML), to be held June 18 22, 2019, in Lugano, Switzerland. Details of the data presentations are outlined below. 2290083 Data to be presented at the ASCO meeting: Oral Presentation : Umbralisib monotherapy demonstrates efficacy and safety in patients with relapsed/refractory marginal zone lymphoma: A multicenter, open label, registration directed phase II study Abstract Number: 7506 Session Date & Time: Tuesday, June 4, 2019 9:45 AM 12:45 PM CT - Presentation Time: 11:45AM CT Session Title: Hematologic MalignanciesLymphoma and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Location: McCormick Place, Room E451 Lead Author: Nathan Hale Fowler, MD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Department of Lymphoma/Myeloma The above abstract is now available via the ASCO meeting website at www.asco.org . Data to be presented at the EHA meeting: Poster Presentation : The novel bispecific CD47-CD19 antibody TG-1801 potentiates the activity of ublituximab-umbralisib (U2) drug combination in preclinical models of B-NHL Session Date & Time: Saturday, June 15, 2019 17:30 19:00 CEST Session Title: Lymphoma Biology & Translational Research Location: Amsterdam RAI, Poster Session Lead Author: Marcelo Lima Ribeiro, Vall dHebron University Hospital, Vall dHebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO), Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain The above abstract will be available today, May 16, 2019 via the EHA meeting website at www.ehaweb.org . Story continues Data to be presented at the ICML meeting: Oral Presentation : A Phase 2 Study to Assess the Safety and Efficacy of Umbralisib in Patients with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) Who Are Intolerant to Prior BTK or PI3K Delta Inhibitor Therapy Session Date & Time: Thursday, June 20, 2019 13:45 15:15 CEST - Presentation Time: 15:00 CEST Session Title: Session 3 - CLL Location: Palazzo dei Congressi, Room A Main Hall Lead Author: Anthony R. Mato, MD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Oral Presentation : Phase I/II Study of Umbralisib (TGR-1202) in Combination with Ublituximab (TG-1101) and Pembrolizumab in Patients with Rel/Ref CLL and Richters Transformation Session Date & Time: Thursday, June 20, 2019 17:05 18:05 CEST - Presentation Time: 17:05 CEST Session Title: Focus on Non-Clinical and Early Clinical Data with New Combinations Location: Palazzo dei Congressi, Cinema Corso Lead Author: Anthony R. Mato, MD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Oral Presentation : Umbralisib Monotherapy Demonstrates Efficacy and Safety in Patients with Relapsed/Refractory Marginal Zone Lymphoma: A Multicenter, Open-Label, Registration Directed Phase 2 Study Session Date & Time: Saturday, June 22, 2019 10:15 11:15 CEST - Presentation Time: 10:45 CEST Session Title: Focus on Indolent Non-Follicular Lymphoma Location: Palazzo dei Congressi, Room A and B Lead Author: Pierre-Luigi Zinzani, MD, University of Bologna, Institute of Hematology "L. e A. Seragnoli" Poster Presentation : The novel bispecific CD47-CD19 antibody TG-1801 potentiates the activity of ublituximab-umbralisib (U2) drug combination in preclinical models of B-NHL Session Date & Time: Wednesday, June 19 (12:00-17:00 CEST), Thursday, 20 (9:00-17:00 CEST) and Friday, June 21 (9:00-18:30 CEST) Location: Palazzo dei Congressi, Marquee Parco Ciani Lead Author: Marcelo Lima Ribeiro, Vall dHebron University Hospital, Vall dHebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO), Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain The above abstracts will be available via the ICML meeting website at www.lymphcon.ch on June 12, 2019. Following each presentation, the data presented will be available on the Publications page, located within the Pipeline section, of the Companys website at www.tgtherapeutics.com/publications.cfm. ABOUT TG THERAPEUTICS, INC. In an effort to expand its pharmaceutical services footprint internationally, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. TMO signed a definitive agreement with GlaxoSmithKline plc GSK to acquire a drug substance manufacturing site in Cork, Ireland. The deal has been inked at a value of 90 million euros and is expected to close by the end of 2019, subject to the fulfillment of customary closing conditions. The site will enable Thermo Fisher to meet customer demand for the commercial production of complex active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Acquisition in Detail The Cork manufacturing site is known for producing highly specialized APIs, which are used for the treatment of diseases like pediatric cancer, depression and Parkinsons. Thermo Fisher informed that the site is equipped with a number of facilities, which will enable process development, scale-up and physical characterization of APIs. Post the acquisition, Thermo Fisher will continue to manufacture APIs for GlaxoSmithKline under a multi-year supply agreement and it intends to use the site for developing and producing complex APIs for other customers as well. Undoubtedly, this transaction aligns with Thermo Fishers strategy of enhancing the capabilities of its Pharma Services through the right balance of capital investments as well as mergers and acquisitions. On completion of the deal, the site will be incorporated with the Laboratory Products and Services segment of Thermo Fishers Pharma Services business. Market Prospects Per Mordor Intelligence, the global API market was valued at $165.74 billion in 2018. This is projected to reach $236.7 billion by 2024, witnessing a CAGR of 6.1%. Hence this acquisition is well-timed for Thermo Fisher. Recent Investments Of late, Thermo Fisher has been making a few investments, which are expected to boost its Pharma Services business. Recently, Thermo Fisher closed the acquisition of Brammer Bio, which will reinforce the companys Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) capabilities. Story continues In March 2019, Thermo Fisher announced a $150-million investment to expand its sterile fill-finish sites in Italy and North Carolina. These projects are aligned with the companys strategy of deploying CapEx in its Pharma Services business. Price Performance Over the past year, Thermo Fishers stock has outperformed the industry it belongs to. The stock rallied 24.2% against the industrys decline of 1.9%. Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider Thermo Fisher currently carries a Zacks Rank #3. (Hold). Two better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are Masimo Corporation (MASI) and CONMED (CNMD), each currently carrying a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Masimos long-term earnings growth rate is projected at 16.1% CONMEDs long-term earnings growth rate is expected at 13.3%. Breakout Biotech Stocks with Triple-Digit Profit Potential The biotech sector is projected to surge beyond $775 billion by 2024 as scientists develop treatments for thousands of diseases. Theyre also finding ways to edit the human genome to literally erase our vulnerability to these diseases. Zacks has just released Century of Biology: 7 Biotech Stocks to Buy Right Now to help investors profit from 7 stocks poised for outperformance. Our recent biotech recommendations have produced gains of +98%, +119% and +164% in as little as 1 month. The stocks in this report could perform even better. See these 7 breakthrough stocks now>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) : Free Stock Analysis Report Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (TMO) : Free Stock Analysis Report Masimo Corporation (MASI) : Free Stock Analysis Report CONMED Corporation (CNMD) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research U.S. government debt yields slipped on Friday as tensions over a simmering trade war between the U.S. and China and a breakdown in Brexit talks in the U.K. weighed on investor sentiment. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was lower at 2.368%, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond traded at 2.814%. The spread between the 10-year Treasury yield and the 3-month Treasury bill yield was -3 basis points. Bond yields move inversely to prices. Investors pivoted toward safer assets like government debt Friday after President Donald Trump moved to block Huawei from buying American technology, ratcheted up tensions between the globe's two largest economies. Washington and Beijing are in the middle of a fierce trade dispute, including taxes on billions of dollars worth of imports. Most recently, the U.S. increased the tariff rate on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports to 25% from 10% after Beijing attempted to renegotiate terms of the trade agreement. China's ruling Communist Party's newspaper struck a defiant tone Friday, insisting the trade war will only make China stronger. In Europe, the U.K.'s top political parties failed to devise a solution to the Brexit process. Despite six weeks of talks the ruling Conservative Party and main opposition Labour party, the politicians could not come up with an agreement. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn wrote in a letter to Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday that talks had "gone as far as they can go." On the data front Friday, consumer sentiment numbers are due at 10 a.m. ET. CNBC's Spriha Srivastava contributed reporting. More From CNBC WASHINGTON, May 17 (Reuters) - The United States has reached a deal with Mexico and Canada to sell products without tariffs, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday. "We've just reached an agreement with Canada and Mexico and we'll be selling our product into those countries without the imposition of tariffs or major tariffs," Trump told a gathering of real estate agents in Washington. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton and Jeff Mason Writing by Susan Heavey Editing by David Alexander) Port officials take a photo of a damaged Andrea Victory ship at the Port of Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, May 13, 2019. REUTERS/Satish Kumar By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. officials believe Iran encouraged Houthi militants or Iraq-based Shi'ite militias to carry out Sunday's attacks on four tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, two U.S. government sources said on Wednesday. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity and who are familiar with U.S. national security assessments, said they viewed the attacks as a serious provocation by Iran which posed a significant threat to shipping. Iran rejects the allegation of Iranian involvement and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said that "extremist individuals" in the U.S. government were pursuing dangerous policies. No one has claimed responsibility for the tanker attacks. One source said U.S. government experts believe Iran gave its "blessing" to the operations, which hit two Saudi crude oil tankers, a UAE-flagged fuel bunker barge and a Norwegian-registered oil products tanker near Fujairah, one of the world's largest bunkering hubs just outside the Strait of Hormuz. This source said the United States believes the Iranian role has been one of actively encouraging militants to undertake such actions and went beyond simply dropping hints. However, the source indicated the United States does not now have evidence that Iranian personnel played any direct operational role. A fifth of the oil consumed in the world passes through the Strait of Hormuz en route from Gulf crude producers to much of the globe. A Saudi-led coalition has been fighting the Houthis for four years in Yemen to try to restore the internationally recognized government in a conflict widely seen as a Saudi-Iran proxy war. The attacks occurred against a background of tensions between the United States and Iran over Iranian nuclear capabilities, its missile program and its support for proxies in Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Washington ordered the departure of non-emergency American employees from its diplomatic missions in Iraq on Wednesday in another apparent show of concern about what it describes as threats from Iran. Story continues On Tuesday, a U.S. official had said U.S. national security agencies believed proxies sympathetic to or working for Iran may have attacked four tankers rather than Iranian forces themselves. While that official had said perpetrators might include Houthi rebels or Iraq-based Shi'ite militias, the official said Washington did not have hard evidence on who struck the vessels and did not go so far as to say Iran had encouraged them to act. (Reporting By Mark Hosenball; Writing by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Mary Milliken and Grant McCool) (Bloomberg) -- The Trump administration said restrictions on Huawei Technologies Co. announced this week will take effect Friday, placing Chinas largest technology company and scores of its affiliates around the world on a blacklist that curtails its access to critical U.S. suppliers. In a Federal Register notice released on Thursday, the Commerce Department said the curbs, apply to Huawei and 67 of its affiliates scattered across 26 countries from Germany to Madagascar. They were mainly private subsidiaries that the networking giant owns and uses to trade or conduct business in different cities or countries, and hence prime targets should the White House decide to pursue export restrictions. The Trump administration is pulling out the big guns in its push to slow Chinas rise, with potentially devastating consequences for the rest of the world. If the U.S. blocks the sale to Huawei of critical components such as semiconductors, it could cripple Huaweis businesses, depress the business of American chip giants from Qualcomm Inc. to Micron Technology Inc., and potentially disrupt the rollout of critical 5G wireless networks around the world. The Commerce Department said Wednesday it will soon put Huawei on an Entity List -- meaning any U.S. company will need a special license to sell products to the worlds largest networking gear maker and second-largest smartphone brand. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told Bloomberg Television the measures limiting its access to U.S. components become official on Friday. Separately, he said President Donald Trump had given his department 150 days to establish a process to screen U.S. companies purchases of equipment from the Chinese firm, and other equipment providers with which officials have concerns. Pushing Back China pushed back against the restrictions on Friday, saying they wouldnt serve U.S. interests. Its wrong, it is abusing national security, and targeting specific enterprises with discriminatory policies goes against fair-competition principles, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said at a briefing in Beijing. Story continues The threat is likely to elevate fears in Beijing that Trumps broader goal is to contain China, igniting a protracted cold war between the worlds biggest economies. In addition to a trade fight that has rattled global markets for months, the U.S. has pressured both allies and foes to avoid using Huawei for 5G networks that will form the backbone of the modern economy. Ross dodged questions about whether the new moves against Huawei could lead to a negotiation with the company or the Chinese government. He insisted the growing campaign against Huawei remained a separate matter from broader trade negotiations between the U.S. and China, which have stalled in recent days. Longtime Accusations The purpose we have in mind here is we think there is a significant danger to national security and to our foreign policy of the existing situation at Huawei, Ross said. In notice published Thursday, the Commerce Departments Bureau of Industry and Security said the U.S. was adding Huaweis affiliated companies around the world because they pose a significant risk of involvement in activities contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States. This decision is in no ones interest, Huawei said in a statement on Thursday. It will do significant economic harm to the American companies with which Huawei does business, affect tens of thousands of American jobs, and disrupt the current collaboration and mutual trust that exist on the global supply chain. The U.S. has long accused the telecommunications equipment giant of facilitating Chinese espionage and sought to convince allies not to purchase its equipment for new 5G networks. The Justice Department is prosecuting Huawei over accusations of bank fraud, technology theft and violating U.S. sanctions against Iran. How Huawei Became a Target for Governments: QuickTake Huaweis chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of its founder, was detained in Canada in December at the request of the U.S., which seeks her extradition over allegations of violating Iran sanctions. Huawei has denied any wrongdoing and sued the U.S. separately for a ban on American government entities from purchasing its equipment. Teresa He, president of Huaweis chip-making unit HiSilicon, called the U.S. ban crazy and groundless in a letter sent to employees and seen by Bloomberg. While HiSilicon was seen as a backup plan for Huaweis semiconductor supply, the ban will make it a primary supplier, she said in her letter. (Adds China Foreign Ministry comment from fifth paragraph.) --With assistance from David Westin, Gao Yuan and Kevin Hamlin. To contact the reporter on this story: Shawn Donnan in Washington at sdonnan@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Simon Kennedy at skennedy4@bloomberg.net, ;Edwin Chan at echan273@bloomberg.net, John Harney, Karen Leigh For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2019 Bloomberg L.P. U.S. Tariff Deal with Mexico, Canada Is Also About Cutting Off China's Steel The U.S. has reached an agreement to drop steel and aluminum tariffs on the two countries in return for preventing Chinese steel from coming over their borders into the U.S. In a speech before the National Association of Realtors, President Trump said, Im pleased to announce that weve just reached an agreement with Canada and Mexico and will be selling our product into those countries without the imposition of tariffs or major tariffs, according to Bloomberg. This would remove one barrier the new USMCA agreement, the replacement for NAFTA, has faced in getting passage from Congress. Reactions have been relatively positive. Its a pretty good agreement, said Usha Haley, a professor of management and director of the Center for International Business Advancement at Wichita State University and co-author of Subsidies to Chinese Industry. It looks promising and I think its a win for Trump. One client of mine, who fabricates and sells critical components to the worlds leading airplane manufacturers, has resorted to stockpiling their own supply of internationally sourced steel in their parking lot as trade negotiations play out, Carlos Martinez, a principle with southern California-based accounting firm Haskell & White, wrote in an email to Fortune. Todays news comes as a relief as it brings some clarity to metal pricing in North America. The United Steelworkers sent a statement to Fortune that quoted USW International President Leo W. Gerard as saying, Todays agreement will help restore confidence and stability to the North American steel and aluminum markets. From day one, we made it clear that the real problem isnt Canada or Mexico, but those countries that are undermining the trading system through predatory trade practices and non-market policies that have created massive overcapacity and trade imbalance. Story continues The second sentence hints to a lynchpin of the deal. Beyond a mutual end to tariffs, Canada and Mexico will agree to prevent Chinese steel from crossing their borders into the U.S., as the Washington Post reported. On the surface, steel from China would seem something of relatively low importance. According to the International Trade Administration, the country isnt even one of the top ten sources of steel imports into the U.S. However, the picture is actually murky because of an economic term called trade deflection. When you have a trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, they can have completely different agreements with other countries, said Giacomo Santangelo, a senior lecturer in economics at Fordham University. Steel from China can be incorporated with products from either country and then come into the U.S. with the country of origin wiped clean. Its literally just an additional step [to get the products in], Santangelo said. The U.S. has complained that China floods markets with cheap steel that depress prices and undermine competing manufacturers. Trump intuitively understands the situation in Chinese steel, said Haley, who has studied Chinas steel production closely. She said the country provides at least a 30% subsidy to its steel production through government loans that dont have to be repaid, free power, free land, and so on. Then there is the constant increase in its production capacity. The excess capacity added to [Chinas steel production] annually is more than the entire production of Japan, the second largest steel producer, Haley said. China produces about half of the worlds total supply. Beyond domestic use, that means massive exports and the chance of the metal entering the U.S. through other countries even if not directly because of imports from other sources. More must-read stories from Fortune: Despite world events, the oil market is surprisingly calm A new Googleantitrust probe could spell trouble for its automotive plans Why is Donald Trump threatening Huawei? Because hes without options How China tariffs are affecting Fortune 500 king Walmart Grindr, the popular dating app, has been declared a national security risk Follow Fortune on Flipboard for the latest news and analysis. FILE PHOTO: A U.S. dollar banknote is seen on top of 50 and 100 Turkish lira banknotes in this picture illustration in Istanbul, Turkey August 14, 2018. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/Illustration/File Photo By Ece Toksabay and Tuvan Gumrukcu ANKARA (Reuters) - The U.S. decision to end its preferential trade agreement with Turkey contradicts their $75 billion bilateral trade target, Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan said on Friday, but welcomed Washington's move to halve tariffs on steel imports. The White House said on Thursday it was terminating Turkey's eligibility for the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) programme, given its level of economic development. It also halved tariffs on Turkish steel imports to 25%. "Lowering the tariffs to 25% from 50% is positive, but we expect the lifting of all obstacles to bilateral trade," Pekcan wrote on Twitter, saying they affected U.S. companies, too. She said she work would continue to boost the trade volume. The United States imported $1.66 billion worth of goods in 2017 from Turkey under the GSP, or 17.7 percent of total imports from Turkey, the U.S. Trade Representative website said. Imports include vehicles, vehicle parts, jewellery and precious metals. The United States had begun reviewing the NATO ally's status in the programme last August when the two countries were embroiled in a diplomatic row. Ankara had been hopeful that Washington would not go ahead with the move, saying it ran contrary to the two countries' trade goals. Turkey was one of 120 countries that participate in the GSP, the oldest and largest U.S. trade preference programme. It aims to promote economic development in beneficiary countries and territories by eliminating duties on thousands of products. During last year's spat, President Donald Trump imposed higher steel tariffs to put pressure on Turkey to release an American pastor detained on terrorism charges. The pastor was released last October, but the friction in part sparked a currency crisis that tipped Turkey's economy into recession last year, knocking nearly 30 percent off the lira's value over the year as a whole. Story continues LIRA UNDER PRESSURE The lira has weakened as much as 15 percent further this year, partly from concerns about a re-run of the Istanbul mayoral election and the risk of U.S. sanctions. It fell again on Friday after the latest U.S. moves. The currency stood at 6.0600 against the dollar at 1000 GMT, easing from a close of 6.0475 on Thursday. "The U.S. decisions were negatively priced, but the decisions do not have a clear economic impact," said a treasury desk trader at one bank. "Markets will monitor political statements regarding relations between the two countries, given the risks that they have recently entailed." Ties between Ankara and Washington remain tense over disagreements ranging from Turkey's planned purchase of a Russian S-400 missile defence system, which could trigger sanctions, to diverging interests in Syria. U.S. officials say Turkey's planned purchase of the S-400s would jeopardise its role in building F-35 fighter jets as well as its purchase of the aircraft, which Washington says would be compromised by the Russian system. Turkey wants the United States to extradite Fethullah Gulen, a Pennsylvania-based Muslim cleric who Turkish authorities say masterminded the 2016 coup attempt against Erdogan in which 250 people were killed. Gulen denies the allegation. (Additional reporting by Nevzat Devranoglu; writing by Daren Butler; editing by Jonathan Spicer, Larry King) By Ben Blanchard and David Shepardson WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) - China struck a more aggressive tone in its trade war with the United States on Friday, suggesting a resumption of talks between the world's two largest economies would be meaningless unless Washington changed course. The tough talk capped a week that saw Beijing unveil fresh retaliatory tariffs, U.S. officials accuse China of backtracking on promises made during months of talks and the Trump administration level a potentially crippling blow against one of China's biggest and most successful companies. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang, asked about state media reports suggesting there would be no more trade negotiations, said China always encouraged resolving disputes with the United States through dialogue and consultations. "But because of certain things the U.S. side has done during the previous China-U.S. trade consultations, we believe if there is meaning for these talks, there must be a show of sincerity," he told a daily news briefing. CNBC, citing sources, said the trade talks had stalled and the next round of discussions was "in flux." The United States raised Beijing's ire this week when it announced it was putting Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, the worlds biggest telecoms equipment maker, on a blacklist that could make it extremely hard to do business with U.S. companies. China has yet to say whether or how it will retaliate, although its state media is sounding an increasingly strident note. The ruling Communist Party's People's Daily published on Friday a front-page commentary that evoked the patriotic spirit of the country's past wars. "The trade war can't bring China down. It will only harden us to grow stronger," it said. Global stocks, which rebounded this week on the prospect of another round of U.S.-China talks, suffered a fresh bout of selling and China's yuan slid to its weakest against the U.S. dollar in almost five months. Prices of U.S. government debt were trading higher. Story continues The increasingly acrimonious trade dispute has rattled investors who fear that the countries are careening dangerously down a track that will badly damage global supply lines and put the brakes on an already slowing world economy. The South China Morning Post, citing an unidentified source, reported that a senior member of China's Communist Party said the trade war could reduce China's 2019 economic growth by 1 percentage point in the worst-case scenario. "Both sides might need some prodding, but weve had a very clear opportunity for one side or the other ... to say this isn't going to work ... and neither side did," said Derek Scissors, an expert on Sino-U.S. economic relations at the American Enterprise Institute think tank, who put the chance of a deal this year at over 50/50. GRAPHIC - Trickle down tariffs: https://tmsnrt.rs/2WIu31i AUTO TARIFFS U.S. President Donald Trump, who has embraced protectionism as part of an "America First" agenda aimed at rebalancing global trade, has accused China of backing out of a deal earlier this month that would have ended the 10-month dispute. Earlier this month, Reuters reported China had backtracked on commitments to change its laws to resolve core U.S. complaints about theft of intellectual property, forced technology transfers and other practices. Trump punctuated two days of talks in Washington last week with a decision to raise tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports to 25 percent from 10 percent. The negotiations ended in a stalemate. On Monday, Beijing said it would raise its tariffs on a revised list of $60 billion in U.S. goods effective June 1. Trump, in turn, said he is considering slapping tariffs on the remaining $300 billion in Chinese imports to the United States. The U.S. president also continues to dangle the possibility of imposing tariffs of up to 25% on imported cars and parts, a move that could be devastating for a number of U.S. trading partners, including Japan and Germany. The White House said on Friday that Trump's decision on auto tariffs would be delayed by up to six months to allow more time for trade talks with the European Union and Japan. Trump faced a Saturday deadline to make a decision. It added, however, that the U.S. president agreed with findings by the U.S. Commerce Department that imported vehicles and parts can threaten U.S. national security, a designation likely to anger some U.S. allies. Automakers have strongly opposed the tariffs, saying they would hike prices and threaten thousands of U.S. jobs. There is also strong opposition in the U.S. Congress, with many prominent members of Trump's Republican Party rejecting the idea. U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, praised the administration's decision to delay the auto tariffs. "Positive step. The pressure must be strong on China, not on our allies who we should encourage to join us in confronting China," Schumer tweeted. The United States and Canada also announced on Friday a deal to remove tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminium in exchange for new curbs to keep dumped metals from China and other nations out of the U.S. market. The Mexican president's office later said Mexico had reached a similar deal with the United States. The metals tariffs were an aggravation for the Canadian and Mexican governments and had been a major hurdle to enacting the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the deal that would replace the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Gao Liangping in Beijing and David Shepardson in Washington; Additional reporting by Steve Scherer in Ottawa, Anthony Esposito in Mexico City, Lewis Krauskopf in New York and David Lawder, Alexandra Alper, and Doina Chiacu in Washington; Writing by Paul Simao; Editing by Susan Thomas and James Dalgleish) After months of deliberation, the Trump administration finally dealt a knockout punch to leading Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer Huawei, when the President signed a long-awaited executive order to declare national emergency. Although the order was company and country agnostic, it effectively barred U.S. firms from either buying or selling any telecom equipment to firms like Huawei that are deemed to pose national security risks, virtually crippling its operations. The directive triggered a chain of events by first invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which bestowed the President with the authority to regulate commerce in view of the national emergency that threatened the country, followed by the enforcement action by the Commerce Department. The Entity List After the White House passed the order, the U.S. Commerce Department immediately added Huawei along with 70 of its affiliates to the Entity List a list of entities that are ineligible to receive any item without the government approval. The addition to the dreaded list appears to be a fallout of a 13-point indictment against Huawei and its CFO Meng Wanzhou for allegedly deceiving international banks into clearing transactions (worth millions of dollars) with Iran despite U.S. economic sanctions. Notably, Huawei was also charged by the U.S. Justice Department with a 10-count indictment, accusing it of stealing robotic technology from T-Mobile US, Inc. TMUS to test smartphones durability. The indictment traces its roots to a civil suit filed by T-Mobile in Seattle District Court in 2014, in which it accused Huawei of stealing trade secrets at the behest of the R&D team based in China. Although the case was settled with a $4.8 million compensation to T-Mobile in 2017, it seems that the Trump administration will leave no stone unturned to ban Huawei from the country. Is the Caution Necessary? The United States has long suspected Huawei to be an extension of the Chinese government due to the close ties of its founder with the military. Moreover, the fact that Huawei products are remarkably cheap owing to the huge subsidies by the Chinese government to undercut other 5G equipment manufacturers, such as Nokia Corporation NOK, Ericsson ERIC and Samsung Electronics, further evokes a feeling of mistrust. Jim Lewis, a cybersecurity expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, observed, the Chinese government is not paying hundreds of millions of dollars to build another countrys telecom infrastructure because they admire its cuisine. The implication of the vested interests surely warrants a caution among the U.S. policymakers. Moreover, the superfast 5G networks will facilitate the transfer of a larger pool of data, making them more vulnerable and prone to cyber theft. 5G is also likely to result in $12.3 trillion of global economic output by 2035 (per data from research firm IHS Markit). Critics contend that countries could go to any extent to gain a greater pie in this trillion-dollar market in order to have a political, economic and technological advantage. Likely Repercussions As Huawei enters the Entity List, U.S. suppliers like Qualcomm Incorporated QCOM and Broadcom Inc. AVGO will be mandated to apply for licenses to provide components to the Chinese firm. These licenses are likely to be subjected to strict U.S. export control regulations, and companies will need to justify that the transfer of such items will not jeopardize national security, making their obtainment extremely difficult. This is likely to act as a death knell for Huawei as it largely depends on U.S. firms for raw material supplies. Moreover, it garners significant revenues from the American shores by selling its finished products in the vast rural markets due to its low price. Moving Forward Trump had earlier used the same ploy against another Chinese smartphone manufacturer ZTE Corp., crippling its operations following a seven-year ban on sale of various components for illegally shipping goods to Iran. He later revoked the order against a fine of $1.3 billion and lower tariffs by China on U.S. agricultural and farm products. Whether the strategic move is aimed at seeking similar favorable trade concessions from China or preventing any further retaliatory tariffs from the communist nation remains to be seen. Radical New Technology Creates $12.3 Trillion Opportunity Imagine buying Microsoft stock in the early days of personal computers or Motorola after it released the worlds first cell phone. These technologies changed our lives and created massive profits for investors. Today, were on the brink of the next quantum leap in technology. 7 innovative companies are leading this 4th Industrial Revolution - and early investors stand to earn the biggest profits. See the 7 breakthrough stocks now>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Ericsson (ERIC) : Free Stock Analysis Report Nokia Corporation (NOK) : Free Stock Analysis Report QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM) : Free Stock Analysis Report Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) : Free Stock Analysis Report T-Mobile US, Inc. (TMUS) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research US to announce deal to lift steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada and Mexico as soon as Friday: Sources The United States has reached a deal to remove steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada and Mexico, sources tell CNBC. The duties were a major obstacle to passing the United States Mexico Canada Agreement, updates to the North American Free Trade Agreement. The United States has reached a deal to lift steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada and Mexico, removing one key obstacle to passing updates to the North American Free Trade Agreement, two people familiar with the matter told CNBC. The U.S. could announce an agreement to scrap the duties as soon as Friday, the sources said. It is unclear whether the U.S. will put import quotas or other measures in place as part of the deal to remove tariffs. The Canadian and Mexican governments, along with top U.S. lawmakers, have pushed the Trump administration to remove the tariffs before the countries approve the United States Mexico Canada Agreement. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke Friday about the duties on metals and the tariffs Canada slapped on U.S. goods in retaliation, according to a spokesman for Trudeau. Trudeau was expected to speak to steelworkers on Friday afternoon. Trump cited a national security threat when he put respective tariffs of 25 percent and 10 percent on steel and aluminum imports last year. When the White House decided not to exempt Canada and Mexico, the U.S. neighbors and some members of Congress questioned why the allies posed a threat to the U.S. The deal could boost Trump's hopes of getting the USMCA, one of his top policy priorities, through Congress. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, among others, pushed him to remove the tariffs before lawmakers ratify the trade agreement. The deal still faces its hurdles: Democrats have raised concerns about environmental and labor provisions in USMCA, as well as how it could affect drug prices in the U.S. Mexico passed a labor law last month in part to address those concerns. Story continues On Wednesday, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer met with Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland. The negotiators were expected to discuss a process for removing the tariffs . The Trump administration aims to send paperwork to Congress soon, which could set up a vote on USMCA before lawmakers leave for the entire month of August. The White House's recent escalation of a trade war with China rattled investors and raised concerns about damage to businesses and consumers. But developments Friday boosted markets. Before reports of the deal to remove steel and aluminum tariffs, the Trump administration said it would delay tariffs on imports of cars and auto parts from Europe, Japan and other countries. Correction: An earlier version misstated when Trudeau was set to speak to steelworkers. It was Friday afternoon. This story is developing. Please check back for updates. Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube. More From CNBC Growing tensions with Iran have been a focal point of the Trump administrations foreign policy. On Wednesday the White House announced its pulling all of its non-essential personnel and their families, from Iraq over threats from Iranian backed Shia militia attacking or kidnapping U.S. officials. The move comes just a day after reports that President Trump was presented a plan to send 120,000 troops to the Middle East if Iran attacked American forces or accelerated its efforts on nuclear weapons which the president vigorously denied. Currently, there are roughly 21,000 active duty U.S. military troops deployed to Middle East conflict zones. Fox News senior strategic analyst and chairman for the Study of War General Jack Kean said that despite what the plan might be moving forward, the U.S. is trying to deter the Iranians from elevating this conflict. The United States government has told the American people that we have a credible threat against U.S. Troops and U.S. Facilities, Keane said on FOX Business Trish Regan Primetime Wednesday. "We've taken a very appropriate action, to put back into the region, assets that we had taken out. Carrier Strike Groups, Patriot Battery and bombers. What are they trying to do? They are trying to convince the Iranians not to do what they're planning to do. They are trying to deter them from doing just that." Trump reportedly told his acting Defense Secretary, Patrick Shanahan, that he does not want to go to war with Iran. He was asked during a visit by the Swiss President, Ueli Maurer, whether the U.S. was going to war with Iran in which he replied, "I hope not. The president has also denied rumors of a rift amongst his top brass, National Security Adviser, John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who appear to be pushing for a more hardline approach to Iran. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX BUSINESS APP General Keane, a retired four-star general, said only the president will have the final decision on what course of action will be taken to deal with the Iranian aggression. Story continues Clearly, he is very much in charge of foreign-policy and national security. He sets the strategic framework for what the country is going to do, Keane said. Not his advisers. Keane also said that reports of Bolton pushing the president towards war is "nonsense." Related Articles Vodafone Group Plc VOD is planning to merge its tower infrastructure in Italy with Infrastrutture Wireless Italiane S.p.A. (INWIT) to enhance return on capital invested, per Reuters. Headquartered in Milan, INWIT is the tower unit of the Italian telecommunications company, Telecom Italia S.p.A. TI. The deal, expected to be signed by this summer-end, is part of Telecom Italias three-year strategy to trim its more than 25 billion ($28.34 billion) debt. The move would also include a partnership to enable faster deployment of fifth-generation mobile phone services over a vast geographic area at a lesser cost. Reportedly, the combination would leave Vodafone and Telecom Italia with equal shareholdings and governance rights. Notably, Vodafone and Telecom Italia inked an agreement in February to assess the combination of their 22,000 telecom towers in Italy under a single operation. In addition, Vodafone is eyeing to reduce its huge debt burden. It has entered into an agreement to divest its New Zealand business to a global consortium of investors, subject to regulatory approvals. At the same time, the company has decided to reduce its quarterly dividend payout to create sufficient financial headroom and focus more on the core European markets. The company also announced that it intends to reduce its quarterly dividend to 9 eurocents per share, representing a 40% year-over-year decrease. It expects the lower dividend payout to help it reduce its massive debt burden, which swelled to more than 27 billion as of Mar 31, 2019. This, in turn, is likely to facilitate the company to de-lever to the low end of its targeted 2.5x-3.0x leverage range in the next few years. Shares of Vodafone have incurred an average loss of 16.7% compared with the industrys decline of 5.5% in the year-to-date period. It remains to be seen whether such diversified moves can help boost the companys profitability in the days to come. Story continues Currently, Vodafone has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). A couple of better-ranked stocks in the broader industry are PLDT Inc. PHI and Deutsche Telekom AG DTEGY, both sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. PLDT is currently trading with a forward P/E of 10.2x. Deutsche Telekom has long-term earnings growth expectation of 9%. Radical New Technology Creates $12.3 Trillion Opportunity Imagine buying Microsoft stock in the early days of personal computers or Motorola after it released the worlds first cell phone. These technologies changed our lives and created massive profits for investors. Today, were on the brink of the next quantum leap in technology. 7 innovative companies are leading this 4th Industrial Revolution - and early investors stand to earn the biggest profits. See the 7 breakthrough stocks now>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Telecom Italia S.P.A. (TI) : Free Stock Analysis Report Deutsche Telekom AG (DTEGY) : Free Stock Analysis Report PLDT Inc. (PHI) : Free Stock Analysis Report Vodafone Group PLC (VOD) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) - Outages in the North Sea, issues with Russian pipelines and reduced exports from some Mediterranean exporting countries have combined to make West African grades more attractive to European customers, traders said on Friday. Climbing gasoline refining margins were also giving a boost to the lighter crude grades. NIGERIA * North Sea Forties crude differentials rose on Thursday to the highest level since early 2016, as an outage to the relatively small Flotta stream has added to supply curbs affecting Ekofisk and Statfjord. * These reduced exports, along with supply issues related to Russian pipeline contamination issues and a slight drop in Mediterranean output, has raised European appetite for West African crude. * Three Suezmaxes were recently scheduled to bring West African crude, likely Nigerian, to the UK for late May and early June loading. * Saudi Arabia will provide India's IOC with an extra 2 million barrels of crude a month from July to December to compensate for tightened U.S. sanctions, as traders have noted no sharp uptick in buying of Nigerian to compensate the loss. * Nigeria's NNPC significantly raised the June official selling price (OSP) for Bonny Light, up to 156 cents from 139 cents per barrel last month, and Qua Iboe to 171 cents from 143 cents per barrel. * The prices still fall far short of offerings which have neared all-time highs, with one seller offering Qua Iboe at a premium of $2.70 to date Brent. ANGOLA * Term allocations for Angola's July loading programme are set to emerge early next week. * Asian demand may be weighed down by a widening of the Brent-Dubai spread (DUB-EFS-1M) as well as steep backwardation. * Brent futures are experiencing their biggest backwardation since June 2014, as market participants expect draws on crude stocks amid tight global supply. * Those factors were seen to be significantly deflating Chinese demand for Angolan crude, though traders expected that market to largely meet expected high price offerings. Story continues RELATED NEWS * China offered strong support to Iran on Friday, with its top diplomat telling Iran's foreign minister that China opposes unilateral sanctions and supports Tehran's efforts to safeguard its interests. * China has issued a second batch of refined fuel export quotas for 2019 that is 30 percent higher than the first batch, two trading sources briefed on the matter said on Friday. (Reporting by Noah Browning; Editing by Mark Potter) )) More than 14,000 people at Walmart's headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, will be getting a new home office in the coming years. Walmart says it's drawing inspiration for the campus from McDonald's new headquarters in Chicago. The retailer hopes the new space will help it "attract the next generation of talent." Walmart WMT is getting new digs. The biggest retailer in the world, headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas, is one step closer to moving into a new home office for more than 14,000 people, which will be outfitted with fitness centers for employees and their families, a child-care facility, more diverse dining options like food trucks, trails for hiking and biking, and tons of windows yes, more windows. Walmart's current home office is notorious for lacking natural light. Walmart's existing headquarters, built in 1971, is made up of more than 20 buildings scattered around the corner of Southwest Eighth Street and Walton Boulevard in Bentonville. The new space will be built along J Street, the company said when it first revealed its plans to move, in September 2017 . Walmart on Friday released a blog post with more details about the new office and photos offering a first look at the facilities, which will span more than 300 acres. Demolition of the existing buildings on that land is expected to start this summer, and construction of the new campus will begin over the next two years, with workers moving in phases, the company said. Walmart said the goal of getting into more modern facilities with an open floor plan and better food, parking and fitness options is to "attract the next generation of talent." That's as Amazon AMZN arguably Walmart's biggest rival in retail today is embarking on opening a new headquarters in Virginia and another office space in Tennessee. (Amazon, which has its main headquarters in Seattle, was planning an office in New York City, but that fell through thanks to plenty of local opposition.) Story continues For Walmart, though, the company didn't think about leaving its roots behind in Bentonville, Dan Bartlett, executive vice president of Walmart's corporate affairs team, said Thursday on a call with members of the media. "This was not a hard decision for us to keep our home office in northwest Arkansas. ... We are a part of this community," he said. Walmart has been able to establish a presence in other cities across the U.S. through its acquisitions, like when it bought Jet.com, giving Walmart an office in Hoboken, New Jersey. "Arkansas has been good to us, and there's nowhere else we'd rather call home," CEO Doug McMillon said. Walmart's big move follows McDonald's MCD opening a $250 million headquarters in Chicago's West Loop last year. The fast-food chain's CEO, Steve Easterbrook , sits on Walmart's board, and Bartlett said Walmart has taken some inspiration from that design, as well as from visits to other corporate offices such as Apple AAPL 's and Deloitte's, and from college campuses. The company hasn't announced the lead architect for this project. It also hasn't disclosed a price tag for the move. But Bartlett said it will fall into Walmart's "typical annual budgeting process" and that the company"feels good" about the capital it has on hand to pursue this. Since the move is happening in phases, the expenses will be spread over the span of a few years, not hitting on a particular quarter all at once. Walmart also is still deciding what will become of its current home office once everyone has moved out of those buildings. Bartlett said it's likely those buildings will be demolished, but the company will work with city and state leaders to turn the area into something the surrounding community can use. "I think [our founder] Sam Walton himself would say: 'Don't conflict history with what needs to be done in the future,'" he said. "We are a company that is aggressively on the move as we continue to shape ... the future of retail." Here's a glimpse of what Walmart's new home office will look like. Walmart says it's working with the local community to open up as much green space to nearby residents as possible. This is includes adding a trail through the campus for hiking and biking. It plans to plant thousands of trees to welcome Bentonville's wildlife. Inside, the new buildings will be constructed with open floor plans to encourage collaboration. Walmart says it will invest in solar panels and energy-efficient lighting and HVAC systems to be environmentally friendly. Ultimately, Walmart hopes the amenities at its new campus will help it attract younger workers to Bentonville. More From CNBC Chinese internet giants like Alibaba and Tencent are unlikely to be targeted in the same manner as telecommunications giant Huawei amid escalating trade tensions between Beijing and Washington, according to Gil Luria, director of research at D.A. Davidson. Still, the Trump administration's move to crackdown on Huawei is a "grave escalation with China that at minimum plunges the prospect of continued trade negotiations into doubt," Paul Triolo, geo-technology practice head at political consultancy Eurasia Group, wrote in a note. China internet giants like Alibaba BABA and Tencent 700-HK are unlikely to be targeted in the same manner as telecommunications giant Huawei amid escalating trade tensions between Beijing and Washington, an analyst told CNBC on Thursday. First and foremost, the deterioration of United States -China relations will likely hurt Chinese firms that compete with American companies, according to Gil Luria, director of research at D.A. Davidson. "The focus on Huawei appears to be motivated by concerns regarding secrecy and intellectual property, but Huawei is also a main competitor to many American telecom equipment companies," Luria told CNBC. "Companies that are domestic Chinese focused such as Alibaba and Tencent are less likely to be directly targeted," he said, adding that the former's sales in the U.S. are negligible and that outgoing Chairman Jack Ma has done a "masterful job of positioning himself as friendly to the U.S." Still, he said, those firms would be unable to escape the secondary effects of a slowing Chinese economy which has partially been pressured by heightened American tariffs . 'Long-reach' implications U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday declared a national emergency over threats against American technology by signing an executive order that allows officials to block transactions involving information or communication technology that "poses an unacceptable risk" to American national security. Story continues While Alibaba, Tencent, and even Baidu BIDU , may be spared from stringent restrictions on doing business in the U.S., other Chinese information technology firms could potentially suffer. "The scope of the order is potentially far-reaching and could impact upon many mainland Chinese manufacturers of telecommunications equipment as well as communications services suppliers," Rajiv Biswas, chief economist for Asia Pacific at global data provider IHS Markit, told CNBC. The latest escalation of the technology war between the world's two largest economies was reflected in the May 10 decision by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to reject an application by China Mobile to provide communications services in the U.S. on national security grounds, Biswas said. Following the executive order, the U.S. Department of Commerce said it was adding Huawei and its affiliates to the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) Entity List, which would make it more difficult for the Chinese telecom giant to do business with American companies. Wednesday's moves from the Trump administration is a "grave escalation with China that at minimum plunges the prospect of continued trade negotiations into doubt," Paul Triolo, geo-technology practice head at political consultancy Eurasia Group, wrote in a note. "Unless handled carefully, this situation is likely to place U.S. and Chinese companies at new risk." Huawei's networks of customers around the world could potentially be hit if the U.S. fully implements its moves against the Chinese firm because the company would be "unable to upgrade software and conduct routine maintenance and hardware replacement" since it would no longer have access to U.S. suppliers, according to Triolo. Biswas agreed, saying the turn of events adds to uncertainties about the "long-reach" implications for non-Chinese communication companies that use parts made by Huawei and other Chinese network equipment providers. "President Trump's executive order may also have wider geopolitical implications for key U.S. allies, such as the U.K. and other Western European countries that are considering allowing the use of Chinese communications equipment in their 5G rollouts," he added. For its part, the U.S. is trying to convince allies to ban Huawei from participating in their plans for the next-generation high-speed mobile internet known as 5G. Washington claims that Huawei's technology risks potentially allowing Chinese espionage through those high-speed networks but Huawei says the security concerns are unfounded. So far, European countries have resisted such calls from Washington but further restrictions could persuade international carriers to "immediately begin contingency plans," Triolo said. While the expectation is for Beijing to retaliate with some countermeasures against U.S. communication companies to show a tough negotiating stance, Biswas said the broader "U.S.-China technology war is likely to be much more protracted than the trade war, since it is focused on U.S. national security concerns that cannot easily be resolved." CNBC's Tucker Higgins contributed to this report. Correction: This article has been updated to reflect that Jack Ma is Alibaba's outgoing chairman. More From CNBC For Immediate Release Chicago, IL May 17, 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: Meritor, Inc. MTOR, Ford Motor Company F, Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. ALSN, Cummins Inc. CMI and SORL Auto Parts, Inc. SORL. Here are highlights from Thursdays Analyst Blog: Trump Likely to Delay Auto Tariffs 6 Months: 5 Picks U.S. stocks moved higher on the morning of May 15 amid the simmering trade conflict between the United States and China. The immediate catalyst for these early gains was news that the Trump administration is likely to delay tariffs on imported automobiles. The interconnected nature of the industry had U.S. automakers breathing a collective sigh of relief. In fact, equity markets finished the day in the green after President Trump made encouraging comments about U.S.-China trade relations. Trump sounded optimistic about upcoming negotiations, renewing optimism about a near-term trade deal. Analysts also believe that a decision to defer auto tariffs is an attempt to avoid a new battle raging from a larger trade conflict. This is why it makes sense to invest in car and auto parts stocks, which are likely to gain from such a decision. Tariffs on Auto Imports May be Deferred The Trump administration is likely to put off tariffs on imported cars and parts for a minimum of six months, according to CNBC and Reuters. Key officials believe that this is necessary to avoid opening another front in a worldwide trade war, which is already taking a heavy toll on the global economy. The White House faces a May 18 deadline by when it will have to decide whether or not it should impose duties on car and auto parts imports. Following the deadline, the Trump administration will have another 180 days to decide on the issue, if it continues to negotiate with the concerned exporting countries. Story continues Trump has been mulling over imposing tariffs as high as 25% on imported autos. The Commerce Department has recommended that such duties be imposed in order to protect the domestic auto sector, citing national security concerns. The same rationale has been used to justify duties on steel and aluminum imports. U.S. Automakers Oppose Tariffs While tariffs would hurt car and auto parts imports, domestic companies would have to suffer ultimately. U.S. industry bodies have stressed time and time again that nothing like a completely domestic car really exists. Auto production depends on components sourced from across the world. This is why tariffs on foreign auto imports would increase costs for both U.S. companies and their foreign competitors. And finally, these costs would have to be borne by domestic consumers. According to the Center of Automotive Research, relatively lighter tariffs would raise car tariffs by only a couple of hundred dollars. However, weightier tariffs would make autos expensive by more than a thousand dollars. While prices of imported cars would rise by as much as $3700, U.S. auto prices could rise by $1900. Automakers are already bearing the brunt of steel and aluminum tariffs as well as those imposed on a variety of Chinese goods. Duties on auto imports would only make things much worse. This is exactly why the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers warned of the negative consequences of such duties, when the Department of Commerce submitted its recommendations in February. Our Choices Reports that the Trump administration is likely to defer tariffs on auto imports are welcome tidings for U.S. automakers. Such duties would raise production costs substantially, ultimately raising prices for consumers and leading to a decline in demand for U.S. autos. But with such tariffs looking unlikely, this is a good time to invest in car and auto parts stocks. However, picking winning stocks may prove to be difficult. This is where our VGM Score comes in. Here V stands for Value, G for Growth and M for Momentum and the score is a weighted combination of these three scores. Such a score allows you to eliminate the negative aspects of stocks and select winners. However, it is important to keep in mind that each Style Score will carry a different weight while arriving at a VGM score. We have narrowed down our search to the following stocks based on a good Zacks Rank and VGM Score. Meritor, Inc. is a global automotive parts manufacturer and supplier. Meritor has a VGM Score of A. The company has expected earnings growth of 16.7% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has improved by 5.2% over the past 30 days. The stock has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. The company has expected earnings growth of 26.6% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has improved by 7.1% over the past 30 days. Ford Motor Company is an automotive, financial services and mobility company with operations in the United States and across the world. Ford has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and VGM Score of A. The company has expected earnings growth of 6% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has improved by 14.3% over the past 30 days. Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. is a designer and manufacturer of fully-automatic transmissions for medium and heavy-duty commercial, and heavy-tactical U.S. defense vehicles. Allison Transmission holds a Zacks Rank #2 and VGM Score of A. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has improved by 2.3% over the past 30 days. Cummins Inc. is a leading global designer, manufacturer and distributor of diesel and natural gas engines, electric power generation systems, and engine-related components, fuel systems, controls and air handling systems. Cummins has a Zacks Rank #2 and VGM Score of B. The company has expected earnings growth of 22.4% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has improved by 4.6% over the past 30 days. SORL Auto Parts, Inc. specializes in the development, production and distribution of air brake valves and hydraulic brake valves. SORL Auto Parts carries a Zacks Rank #2 and VGM Score of A. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has improved by 0.9% over the past 60 days. Radical New Technology Creates $12.3 Trillion Opportunity Imagine buying Microsoft stock in the early days of personal computers or Motorola after it released the worlds first cell phone. These technologies changed our lives and created massive profits for investors. Today, were on the brink of the next quantum leap in technology. 7 innovative companies are leading this 4th Industrial Revolution - and early investors stand to earn the biggest profits. See the 7 breakthrough stocks now>> Media Contact Zacks Investment Research 800-767-3771 ext. 9339 support@zacks.com https://www.zacks.com Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Ford Motor Company (F) : Free Stock Analysis Report Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (ALSN) : Free Stock Analysis Report SORL Auto Parts, Inc. (SORL) : Free Stock Analysis Report Meritor, Inc. (MTOR) : Free Stock Analysis Report Cummins Inc. (CMI) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research By Charlotte Greenfield WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand's central bank has revoked Australia and New Zealand Banking Group's local license to calculate its own operational risk capital due to "persistent" control failures, adding to the bank's minimum capital requirement in the country. The censure comes at a time when the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) is undertaking broader measures to increase capital requirements and reduce risk to the financial system in the event of any major shock. ANZ's New Zealand unit would now be required to use the central bank's standardized approach for calculating operational risk, raising its minimum capital requirement to NZ$760 million ($496.4 million), the RBNZ said in a statement. Shares in ANZ's New Zealand unit, listed on the local stock exchange, closed 3.1% lower at NZ$27.25. ANZ is the biggest of the four Australian-owned banks that dominate the New Zealand market. It is accredited by the Reserve Bank to calculate its own regulatory capital requirements, but an internal review in April revealed that ANZ was not using the operational risk model the central bank had approved. "ANZ's directors have attested to compliance despite the approved model not being used since 2014," RBNZ's deputy governor, Geoff Bascand, said in a statement. "The fact that this issue was not identified for so long highlights a persistent weakness with ANZ's assurance process." The operational risk model is one of several used by ANZ to asses its risk capital, a spokeswoman for the bank said. ANZ said it accepts the regulator's decision, which would mean that as of March 31 the bank's operational risk capital requirement increased by NZ$277 million. "While isolated, and with no impact on customers or the operation of the bank, ANZ New Zealand is disappointed this error occurred," it said in an emailed statement. The bank said it will work with RBNZ as it assesses whether it has appropriate verification processes in place. Story continues In late 2017, the RBNZ forced Westpac Banking Corp's New Zealand unit to keep higher capital levels until it fixed issues with its risk model's governance, processes, and documentation. (https://reut.rs/2EhEt0S) As part of its broader measures for the financial industry, RBNZ has already proposed raising top banks' capital ratio to 16%, indicating the country's top four banks, including ANZ, could collectively have to raise NZ$20 billion in new capital over the next five years, which could push up borrowing costs. A decision is expected in the third quarter. (Reporting by Nikhil Kurian Nainan in BENGALURU and Charlotte Greenfield in WELLINGTON, Additional reporting by Paulina Duran in SYDNEY; Editing by Stephen Coates and Himani Sarkar) Police in Northern Ireland say they are continuing to focus on preventing further attacks on ATMs following a number of arrests and five men being charged in relation to ATM thefts. After a spate of ATM thefts this year the Police Service of Northern Ireland set up a special unit and they revealed they have carried out 41 searches across Northern Ireland during which over 51,000 has been recovered and 15 people have been arrested. As a result of the arrests, detectives have charged five men in relation to ATM thefts in Fintona, Antrim and Tully Road, Nutts Corner, and also charged two men, for other offences including theft, driving offences and possession of criminal property. Six of these men have been remanded in custody. Detective chief superintendent Darren Evans, head of Criminal Investigation Branch, said: I would like to thank the public for their help as these arrests and charges demonstrate the positive result of the community and police successfully working together to tackle this crime. However, in no way does this mean we will become complacent. We continue to focus on doing everything we can to catch those responsible and prevent further thefts of ATMs. Local policing teams continue to patrol areas at night which could be vulnerable to an attack and detectives remain dedicated to investigating the thefts that have taken place. I would again appeal to the public to remain vigilant and report any suspicious or unusual activity, such as people or vehicles loitering in areas close to ATMs. This remains a key priority for us. The idea that ATM thefts are a victimless crime is simply wrong as these attacks cause untold loss and disruption to people, businesses and whole communities, in terms of the loss of very expensive machinery, delays in production, damage to the local economy. If you hear machinery late at night or in the early hours please call us on the non-emergency number 101 or 999 if you think a crime is in progress. You can also call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111. I would also appeal to anyone who owns or uses heavy plant machinery please take every possible step to secure and immobilise your machinery. If criminals cannot steal diggers and other similar machinery, they cannot tear out ATMs. I would appeal to anyone who has any information which could help us apprehend those responsible to contact detectives on 101. Alternatively, information can also be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555111 which is 100% anonymous and gives people the power to speak up and stop crime." Two bills that would exact penalties on people who distribute or threaten to send out sexually explicit images or video of people without their permission sometimes called revenge porn advanced from a first round of debate Thursday. There wasn't much debate, mainly explanations of what the bills would do in terms of criminal and civil actions for the person making the threats and trying to harm others by distributing the photos and videos to the internet or friends, employers or family of the victim. Lincoln Sen. Adam Morfeld introduced a bill (LB630) that, as amended, would create two new offenses of distributing a private image of another person's intimate area or engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and threatening to distribute such an image with the intent to intimidate, threaten or harass a person. Offenses would also include doing so to extort something of value from a person. Morfeld said the purpose of the bill was to ensure that bad actors are punished for committing revenge porn. The bill would add a defense for juveniles to allay legal consequences for sexting or possessing photos or videos voluntarily provided by another child whose age is within four years of the defendant. It would protect kids from being convicted of serious felonies that are not warranted. Lincoln Sen. Mike Hilgers said he is working with Morfeld and Judiciary Chairman Steve Lathrop, whose committee heard the bill, on some potential changes to the bill. Omaha Sen. Wendy DeBoer introduced a bill (LB680) that would allow for a lawsuit against a person that disclosed or threatened to disclose a private intimate image without the person's consent. Technical advances have made it possible for anyone to create high quality photos and videos and share them immediately to the internet or social media, Lathrop said. "There may be some benefit to these new technologies, but they've also made it easier for people to harass, threaten and extort others, particularly through the creation and distribution of intimate and sexually explicit images and videos," Lathrop said. Morfeld's bill advanced to a second round of debate on a 36-0 vote and DeBoer's LB680 advanced on a 39-0 vote. Reach the writer at 402-473-7228 or jyoung@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSLegislature. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Plans are on track for bid letting for construction of a new parking apron at Fremont Municipal Airport. Members of the airport advisory committee heard that and other updates during their Friday morning meeting. Dave Goedeken, director of public works for the city, said the aircraft parking apron likely will be constructed next year. He estimates the project will cost $1.4 million. Eric Johnson, a committee member, said there is a June 28 deadline for the project to be bid and a grant application submitted to the federal government. To get the monies, we have to meet that June 28 date, Goedeken agreed. Goedeken said Burns McDonnell is on track to advertise for bids for the parking apron in mid-June. Burns McDonnell, which is in Kansas City, Mo., specializes in aviation facility planning, design and construction. Goedeken said the apron will have access to the north-south taxiway. As an alternate, theyre going to have a tie-in to that east-west taxiway, he added. The connection to the second taxiway will depend on monies available. Parking apron construction is part of the plan for improvements at the local airport. Those plans also include construction of a new airport terminal. The current terminal, built in 1964, needs new heating and air conditioning systems and other upgrades. Bob Crain, project manager of aviation services for Burns McDonnell, told the Fremont City Council that the Federal Aviation Administration would like to see the new apron in place before a new terminal is constructed. Fremont City Administrator Brian Newton has said the current apron is worn out and needs to be expanded to accommodate more activity and larger planes. During the recent meeting, Goedeken also said work is being done with Davis Design of Lincoln to get a scope of services what the architectural firm will charge for the design of the terminal building and what services it will provide. As part of the terminal master plan, the automated weather observing system (AWOS) must be moved from the northern side to a southwesterly location on the airport grounds. Advisory committee members voted in April to recommend the move. That recommendation was made because the proposed site plan would conflict with the effectiveness of AWOS usage. The Nebraska Department of Transportation-Aeronautics Division had representatives at the airport recently in regard to moving the AWOS system. City staff will pour the new concrete pads for the system and run utilities and communications lines to the new AWOS site. The NDOT-aeronautics division has a team that will move, test and make the AWOS operational. They hope to be out here in late July, early August to physically move everything. They thought the AWOS would be down for a week, possibly two weeks for the physical move, because first theyve got to move it and then theyve got to test it. Were pretty much on track with that, Goedeken said. Also as part of the terminal plan, the gate on the west end of the airport eventually will be closed off and the gate moved to a point west of its current location, he said. In other business, the committee voted to recommend to the city council that: The annual fireworks show again be held on July 3 at the local airport. GFG Spray Service/GFG Ag Products be allowed to use the airport for its aerial application and crop dusting business for 2019. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The Rev. Inba Joshua Inbarasu understands the importance of providing comfort. Inbarasu was just 2 years old when his mother died in an accident in India. Growing up, hed find comfort through his father, Anantharaj, and Gods word. Inbarasu later embarked on a ministry that has included teaching and hospital chaplaincy. And, most recently, serving rural churches. In February, Inbarasu became a part-time interim minister for the Faith Ambassadors Lutheran Parish. The parish consists of five churches in the Scribner, Uehling and Hooper area. Inbarasu appreciates the rural community and said hes excited about the opportunity to serve these congregations. Born in South India, Inbarasu grew up in a Christian family. His parents were educated in a teachers training school founded by Danish Lutheran missionaries. The Danish Missionary Society established churches, educational institutions and hospitals in the region where his family lived. And at the time of his mothers death, both of Inbarasus parents were teachers. His older sister was 6 and his brother was 4 years old. Inbarasus dad, Anantharaj, brought his children up in the Christian faith. I knew Gods love, care and grace through my dad and the faith community, he said. Inbarasu said he loved the Lord and was about 13 when he gave his life to Christ. Personally, I wanted to live a life of gratefulness to God for his mercy and grace, Inbarasu said. I wanted to help others in their grief and loss. Inbarasu said his dad wasand continues to bean excellent role model and an inspiration. He is living a great life of trusting God for all the challenges. As a lay person, he was very active in the church, Inbarasu said. Inbarasus father was involved in ministries, including Gideons International and prison ministry. His dad, a linguistic scholar, is retired, but continues to be involved in lay ministry. Inba Inbarasu became an ordained minister and is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He began his ministry as a theological educator and pastor. Inbarasu was still teaching in a seminary, when he wanted to take a year off and be with his father, whod become ill. But his dad said God would take care of him and urged Inba to do the Lords work. Inbarasu then had the opportunity to join the chaplaincy team at Christian Medical College and Hospital in Vellore, where hed grown up and where his dad still lived. So he was able to work in hospital ministry and help care for his father. Having experienced grief and loss, Inbarasu believes many people need Gods comforting presence as they experience different diagnoses, illnesses and treatments. One of my greatest joys is to journey with them, he said. I consider it a sacred journey. Hes had the privilege of comforting the sick, holding the hands of people at the time of their deaths and helping people know theyre not alone that God is with them. Inbarasu has loved helping people as a hospital chaplain. Hed develop a special interest in learning about chaplaincy and teaching that to others. While in India, he was senior pastor at the hospital in Vellore, the second largest medical college and hospital in Asia. Hed coordinated the pioneering of the first kind of Clinical Pastoral Education in India. Inbarasu came to Chicago in 1998 for CPE supervisory training, which he finished in Iowa. From 2008-2017, he was chaplain educator and CPE supervisor and program director in the Alegent Creighton/CHI Health System. Hes a CPE certified educator in the Veterans Affairs Health System and a visitation pastor at Kountze Memorial Lutheran Church in Omaha. Inbarasu has been pleased to be serving the Faith Ambassadors Parish. He preaches at one or two of the churches each Sunday, rotating among the congregations. He teaches confirmation classes, conducts hospital, care center and home visitations, reaches out through the parishs food pantry and provides leadership. I love the work, he said. I love the people. Admittedly not a farm kid, Inbarasu has worked more in big urban churches, but says hes a lifelong learner. Hes open to learning about the rural congregations and ministry. I enjoy the community aspect, the love for the land and the love for the community, he said. He loves the opportunity to have a long-term relationship and journey with people in the rural churches compared to the short-term contact he had serving in hospitals. Inbarasu has a passion for congregational work in a rural setting. He sees what some rural congregations face, because they cannot afford ministers due to declining membership and attendance. Its a challenge at this time for the rural congregations to keep their doors open, he said. My heart goes out to not only make them survive, but thrive thats my goal. Thats my vision and passion for shared ministry. Inbarasu and his wife, Dr. Jeba Inbarasu, have a son, Dr. Jery Inbarasu, who is completing his medical residency, and daughter-in-law, Dr. Jennifer Inbarasu, and a grandson, Isaac. He looks forward to the future. I like to be where God wants me to be and to be a blessing to the places where I am called, he said. I am excited to be part of Gods mission and feel the call to serve our Synod and with Faith Ambassadors Lutheran Parish congregations. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. KABUL -- An air strike has mistakenly killed at least nine Afghan police officers, including a commander, during a battle with the Taliban in the southern province of Helmand, local officials say. They said that 14 officers were also wounded in the May 16 strike in the Nahr-e Saraj district , which is located outside the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah. Helmand Governor Mohammad Yasin said that the incident was being investigated. His spokesman, Omar Zwak, said that foreign forces in Afghanistan had carried out the air strike as part of an operation to drive out Taliban militants from the area. A statement from the militant group claimed that U.S. forces were behind it. There was no immediate comment from the NATO-led Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan or the U.S. military. The Taliban has continued attacks against Afghan and foreign troops despite holding several rounds of peace talks with the United States in Qatar. With reporting by AP and dpa KABUL, Afghanistan -- The disappearance and brutal murder of a young Sikh shopkeeper in the Afghan capital, Kabul, have shocked the countrys tiny Hindu and Sikh minority. Bajan Singh Gharibnawaz says his nephew Arjit Singh disappeared from Kabul in early March, and his mutilated corpse was found this week after it remained buried in a Muslim graveyard for nearly two months. The police had buried Singh after failing to identify his body following its discovery in Kabuls seventh district in mid-March. The Afghan police say they have arrested the alleged murders. Gharibnanwaz says their community is in shock over the murder, and many are asking why they dont deserve protection as Afghan citizens while forming a small religious minority amid an overwhelming Muslim majority. We kept looking for my nephew for two and a half months and ultimately found his mutilated corpse, he told Radio Free Afghanistan in Kabuls Shor Bazaar neighborhood, where Sikhs and Hindus run small herbal medicine shops. We still cant figure out whether he was slaughtered or burned with acid or was killed by another method, he said through tears. Singh didnt return home from his herbal medicine shop on March 6. Gharibnanwaz says they reported his disappearance to the police the same day. He says he not optimistic about the safety and security of his family and community. Anarkali Hunaryar represents Afghanistans Hindu and Sikh community in the Senate or upper house of the Afghan Parliament. She told Radio Free Afghanistan that the murder has shocked their community. Arjit Singhs murder is not the first one, but I hope that it proves to be the last one, she told Radio Free Afghanistan. As a minority, we need more protection because we are particularly vulnerable. Afghan officials, however, say they are committed to protecting Afghan Hindus and Sikhs. Nusrat Rahimi, spokesman for the Afghan Interior Ministry, says they have already arrested a couple in connection with the murder. He didnt disclose their identities. The alleged murderers are husband and wife. We arrested one in Kabul and the other [in the northern province] of Baghlan, he told Radio Free Afghanistan. We have completed the case file and have sent it on to the office of the attorney general. Today, fewer than 1,000 Hindus and Sikhs live in Afghanistan. Most of the countrys estimated 80,000 Hindus and Sikhs have left the country since the late 1970s. Some leaders of the minority have even contemplated abandoning the country after 17 people died in a suicide attack on a gathering in the eastern city of Jalalabad last July. Abubakar Siddique wrote this story based on reporting by Radio Free Afghanistan correspondents Noorullah Shayan and Khan Mohammad Seend. A female activist in Pakistans conservative northwestern Pashtun belt lost jobs and put up with cyberbullying and the occasional threatening telephone call after joining a civil rights movement last year. But Sanna Ejaz, a female leader of the Pashtun Tahafuz (Protection) Movement, or PTM, decided to lodge a formal police complaint after she recently received what she characterized as a final warning by telephone and a man chasing her taxi last week waved a handgun at her. I am still committed to demanding my right to life as enshrined by the constitution of this state, she told Radio Mashaal. I am not willing to give up my peaceful struggle despite already losing my jobs and being banned from traveling abroad. Like many leaders of the PTM, Ejaz has faced police probes and accusations of sedition for criticizing Pakistans powerful military, which has also led to their names being included on government lists banning them from leaving the country. Since its emergence in February 2018, the PTM, a nonviolent movement, has accused the Pakistani military of targeting Pashtuns, the countrys largest minority, in its domestic war on terrorism. Ejaz and other PTM leaders say the military has covertly supported Islamist militants and its operations against the Taliban have wreaked large-scale death and destruction across the Pashtun homeland. The predominantly Pashtun-populated northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa now includes the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) -- the main theater of Islamabads war on terrorism. The Pakistani military rejects the PTMs criticism and has repeatedly accused its leaders of playing into the hands of foreign powers. It has also questioned their patriotism. Ejaz, however, is happy over the initial response she received from a senior police official in Peshawar. He told me the police are going to launch an FIR (First Information Report) and will help in any other manner, she said. An FIR is the initial formal police complaint that is a prerequisite for launching a criminal investigation. But Zahoor Afridi, a senior police official in Peshawar, says the police are still evaluating Ejazs complaints. We are looking into her application. We have not lodged the FIR yet, he told Radio Mashaal. We have launched an inquiry, and we will determine what to do once we conclude the inquiry. Ejaz, in her 30s, was fired from hosting shows for the state-run Pakistan Television Corporation last year. Later in the year, she also lost work with a nongovernmental advocacy organization. Likewise, the secular Awami National Party pushed her out of a leadership role within its youth wing. "I was not doing anything wrong by supporting a peaceful demand for justice, for constitutional rights, and for peace," she told Radio Free Afghanistan. "I will not back down." On May 16, the PTM launched an online campaign to protest threats against Ejaz. #StopThreateningSannaEjaz trended on Twitter in Pakistan. The movement has also announced street protests in Peshawar on May 17. We must make threats to all PTM activists public, says Wranga Luni, another leader of the movement. A heated debate takes place every year around Christmas time. Its not about which relatives house you should visit for the holidays, its a topic with greater importance. Its a question everyone wants to know the answer to but cant seem to agree on. Is the 1988 film Die Hard, starring Bruce Willis, a Christmas movie? You voted: The Air Force is well underway in building a new headquarters for satellite troops, and U.S. Space Command will be ready to launch this year, the service said. Details on the headquarters and new plans to prepare for battle in orbit were unveiled by Air Force Space Command during a conference this month, the command said. The establishment of U.S. Space Command is our top priority. It will elevate the strategic value of our operations and support our mission to defend vital national interests in space, Maj. Gen. Stephen Whiting, who leads Space Commands 14th Air Force, told the gathering. U.S. Space Command, now being formed in Colorado Springs, will lead the satellite efforts of all military services while overseeing defense of American military satellites and combat in space. President Donald Trump ordered the command into existence late last year and in March named Colorado Springs Air Force Gen. Jay Raymond to lead it. The command is seen by many as a down payment on Trumps proposed Space Force, a separate military branch for satellite troops. Colorado Springs is a leading candidate to permanently house the command. The Air Force confirmed last week that three of the six locations named finalists to house the command are in the Pikes Peak region. Another finalist is Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora. The Colorado sites will battle with Vandenberg in California and Redstone Arsenal in Alabama as the Air Force makes a final selection. Whiting, a former commander of Petersons 21st Space Wing, said getting the command up and running will also strengthen our strategic deterrence through the provision of space warfighting options that preserve U.S. and allied competitive advantage, and promote security and stability. While the command wont have the binational flavor of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, it will lead U.S. efforts to build a coalition to assure safety in space. Right now, key allies including Britain are working with the 14th Air Force at Vandenberg Air Force Base's Combined Space Operations Center. Allies are also being enrolled at Space Commands schoolhouse at Peterson, which teaches classes from introductory courses to high-level space defense. The Pentagon threw a bit of cold water on excitement about the new command last week, saying it will be slow to start. The exact length of the transition period from establishment to full operational capability is uncertain, but will be based on milestones rather than time-based, and will likely take a few years, the Defense Department said in an email statement. Still, for people in the space business, the new command is something to cheer. This is an exciting time, and Im looking forward to working even closer with allies and partners to guarantee unfettered access to and freedom to operate in space, Whiting said. Contact Tom Roeder: 636-0240 Twitter: @xroederx A special operations pilot at the Air Force Academy is accused of rape, rape of a child and three counts of sexual abuse of a child, the school said Thursday. Maj. Travis J. Burns will appear in military court Monday for an Article 32 hearing, which is similar to a civilian grand jury proceeding, an academy news release says. The primary role of the hearing is to determine if probable cause exists to support the charge and its specifications. A preliminary hearing officer presides over the hearing and submits a report of the proceedings with recommendations to the special court-martial convening authority in this case, the commandant of cadets. The commandant will decide whether to dismiss the case, recommend that it be referred to a general court-martial or dispose of the case through other disciplinary or administrative action, the release says. The child involved in the alleged rape and repeated sexual abuses was under the age of 12, Burns charge sheet shows. Those alleged crimes happened in 2017 and 2018 in Colorado Springs. An earlier rape is alleged to have occurred in December 2013 near Clovis, N.M., and involved a woman. Burns is assigned to Cadet Squadron 23 at the academy, military records show. His title is chief of plans and programs. Special operations airmen are tasked with being mentally tougher, physically stronger, and ardently committed to serving our country and protecting our freedom, the Air Forces website says. A job for the best of the best, this elite team of heroes goes where others wont because they are trained and ready to do what others cant. Burns joined the Air Force on June 28, 2005. He has received awards including the Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Force Achievement Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Aerial Achievement Medal and the Joint Service Achievement Medal. Vice Adm. Michael J. Dumont has seen international conflicts become increasingly complex and technology revolutionize the way the U.S. military operates. But the reason for the success of Americas armed forces on the battlefield are the same as they were in World War II, the deputy commander of U.S. Northern Command told a crowd of hundreds of people on Thursday at the DoubleTree hotel in Colorado Springs. Dumont and others gathered at an annual city luncheon to honor local soldiers and airmen who continue to make that success possible by having the courage to do what needs to be done, no matter the difficulty or the cost. The impact our young men and women make every day is clear, and it is immeasurable, and it is critical to the defense our nation and our way of life, he said. We are able to champion our freedoms because we are fortunate enough to recruit citizens who possess the will and the courage to endure and to prevail. Troops at the Pikes Peak regions five military bases have competed for the title of Outstanding Enlisted of the Year. At the event, three winners were announced from a pool of 15 nominees, chosen by a panel of retired military officers. The awards went to Army Spc. Dillon Ball from Fort Carson, Colorado National Guard Staff Sgt. Lisa Ritchie of Colorado Springs and Master Sgt. Jacob Wheeler from U.S. Northern Command. Were very happy, very proud, Wheeler said after the luncheon, adding that he appreciated the community support. Im no more deserving than any of the rest of the 15 here. Building an elementary school at Atlas Preparatory School and creating a health care center and simulation lab for Pikes Peak Community College are among projects the Colorado Springs Health Foundation is supporting with a recent distribution of $3.4 million in grants. A total of 33 organizations serving El Paso and Teller counties received a share of this years disbursement. The grants address the foundations funding focus areas: access to care for those in greatest need, healthcare workforce shortage, suicide prevention and healthy environments. PPCC received the largest grant, $900,000, which will help build a $20 million Center for Healthcare Education & Simulation north of its Rampart Range Campus in northern Colorado Springs. The 69,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art center will accommodate nursing, surgical technology, pharmacy tech, EMS, and dental and medical assisting programs. The grant is part of the $6 million PPCC still needs to raise for equipment for the simulation lab, in which students will learn to communicate and collaborate across departments, to increase positive patient outcomes. The center will significantly increase the colleges ability to get health care grads into the regions workforce, PPCC President Lance Bolton has said, with an estimated 325 additional annual health care graduates by 2022. The regions current health care worker shortage is a result of a perfect storm, he said. Not only is our region growing exponentially, but our population is aging, including our nurses. PPCC has been working in partnership with local health care providers for two years to find solutions Atlas Preparatory School, a charter school in Harrison School District 2, will apply its $135,000 grant toward an expansion project. The fifth- through 12th-grade school will build an elementary school to house grades kindergarten through fourth. The new school will be built near the existing middle school at 1602 S. Murray Blvd. Atlas Prep purchased the 25-acre parcel of land for $2.4 million in March, said Executive Director Brittney Stroh. The $14.1 million project is receiving $11 million from a bond issue D-2 voters approved last November, she said. The school plans to break ground in July or August, Stroh said. The opening is slated for July 2020, with kindergarten and first-grade classrooms. Subsequent grades will be added in upcoming years, for a total of 350 students. This is the third expansion of the school, which opened as an urban charter school in 2009 with 85 students in fifth grade. There are 950 students in fifth- through 12th-grade this year. More than 90 percent of students qualify for the federal free and reduced lunch program, an indication of household poverty. The new elementary school will have on-site social workers, a fully staffed mental health team and offerings such as parenting classes, Stroh said. Were really excited to offer this as a community educational institution for our families, she said. UCHealth Memorial Hospital Foundation will use its $152,470 grant to hire an internal Zero Suicide coordinator, said Cari Karns, the foundations senior director. The new employee will improve data collection regarding suicide attempts and further build a collaborative community network around the Zero Suicide prevention model. Colorado lawmakers adopted the national program in 2016, promoting a suicide prevention protocol for health care providers. Behavioral health has been identified repeatedly as a huge need in the community, Karns said. Suicide in particular is flagged in El Paso County, which is unfortunate. The fact that we have funding sources, including what the Colorado Springs Health Foundation is putting back into the community, is wonderful. A $600,000 grant will help renovate Panorama Park a 13.5-acre neighborhood park in southeast Colorado Springs adjacent to Panorama Middle School. A $350,000 grant from Great Outdoors Colorado and funding from other foundations will be used to replace aging equipment and add new features based on community feedback. The makeover to the treeless park at 4540 Fenton Road will represent the largest neighborhood park renovation in city history. Calhan School District RJ-1 will upgrade its strength conditioning and fitness center and expand it to the community in upcoming years, said Superintendent David Slothower. School kitchen equipment also will be replaced with a $74,553 grant for the districts healthy environments initiative, he said. For a complete list of this years grant recipients, go to tinyurl.com/y6te5emf. Its been a tough week. Those were the few words Sheriff Bill Elder could utter, holding back tears, when asked how he felt Wednesday at the National Peace Officers Memorial Service in Washington, D.C. Thousands of candles lit up the National Mall this week as he placed El Paso County sheriffs badges next to the names of slain Deputies Hugh Martin and Brent Holloway and when he saw the newly inscribed tribute to Deputy Micah Flick for the first time. Elder considered the three deputies killed in the line of duty in 1992, 1995 and 2018, respectively friends and attended high school with Martin. But, ultimately Elder said, its a week of healing, one that culminated at home Friday at the Pikes Peak Region Peace Officers Memorial Service in Memorial Park. This week gives us an opportunity to share with the families of the fallen, Elder said, adding that Flicks family accompanied him to D.C. We get to see that there are so many nationwide and in our community that support who we are and what we do. To those who choose to disrespect law enforcement, Elder said resolutely, The time to stop the falling is now. Pikes Peak region law enforcement has not had to cope with a line-of-duty death since February 2018, when Flick was killed while attempting to arrest suspected car thief Manuel Zetina in the parking lot of the Murray Hill Apartments. The area has had close calls, though. In early August, Colorado Springs police officer Cem Duzel suffered a traumatic brain injury during a shootout with Karrar Noaman Al Khammasi, 31. He is recovering at Craig Hospital in Englewood, which specializes in spinal cord and traumatic brain injury rehabilitation. Mayor John Suthers, the memorial services keynote speaker, told the audience that Friday was about honoring those who wear a badge. They all give sweat, some give blood and a few give their lives, Suthers said as wind whipped through the park. Though proper treatment is integral to paying tribute to law enforcement, so too is holding them accountable to exercise their power responsibly, Suthers said. We should never tolerate officers abusing their power, and one reason is to not disrespect those who carry out their responsibilities with honor, he said. Twitter: @lizmforster Phone: 636-0193 A reputed gang member bowed his head and wept Friday as a jury convicted him of first-degree murder for shooting an unarmed man, then joked as he was led away to spend the rest of his life in prison that he might outlive his sentence. Immediately after the verdict, 4th Judicial District Judge G. David Miller imposed a mandatory life sentence without parole against Davin Let Loose Carrera, 32, in the August killing of Michael DeWayne Booker. Booker, 28, was angered the night before he was shot when Carrera jokingly pulled a gun on him and two other men during a mock robbery in the garage of a home in the 2100 block of Roundtop Drive on the citys northeast side. When tensions boiled over hours later, prosecutors say Carrera shot the unarmed man in the abdomen, using a bullet meant to splinter upon impact. Its probably the most senseless and pointless death that I have seen in my career, Miller said while imposing sentence. Carrera, shackled and wearing a black sweater vest and white button-up shirt, bounced his leg at the defense table while awaiting the jurys verdict. He collapsed onto the defense table and cried once it arrived. As he was taken into custody, however, he again seemed to be in a joking mood, making light of his sentence. What if I live forever? he asked a deputy preparing to handcuff him, as his relatives sat crying in the gallery. Bookers mother, Tara Smith, spoke of never again hearing him wish her a happy Mothers Day or merry Christmas, and said her sons loss will radiate through their family for years to come. Carreras ego, she said, left us empty. Over such a foolish reason, said prosecutor Amy Fitch. Unlike Carrera and others involved in his death, Booker wasnt affiliated with a gang, authorities said. Before his death, Booker had been sleeping at a construction site where he worked after recently losing a place to stay. There, he befriended a co-worker named Yella, who in turn introduced him to Carrera. The friend emerged as the chief witness at trial, telling police he heard Booker call to him as he died. Yella, you let him kill me, Booker allegedly told him as he lay bleeding in the street. Booker is survived by two daughters, one in Greensville, Miss. and one in Memphis, Tenn. Authorities say Yella and Carrera were gang associates. Attorneys for Carrera unsuccessfully sought to pin the killing on Yella, who remains in hiding out of state, fearful of gang reprisals for his cooperation. Gov. Jared Polis was busy this week signing bills into laws aimed at helping Coloradans get help with their mental health when they need it. At a ceremony Thursday at Childrens Hospital Colorado on the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, Polis signed Senate Bill 195 to improve the states behavioral health system for kids, alongside the legislations sponsors: Sens. Rhonda Fields, D-Aurora, and Bob Gardner, R-Colorado Springs; as well as Reps. Meg Froelich, D-Centennial, and Lois Landgraf, R-Fountain. The gaps in our states mental health system wont be solved overnight, but together we are taking a big step toward a more comprehensive system to support our kids, Fields said in a statement. We need to continue to make youth mental health a top priority the time for change is now. The bill creates the Office of Children and Youth Behavioral Health Policy Coordination within the governors office to coordinate mental and behavioral health resources statewide. It also creates a commission to study coordinating those services, and the new law standardizes screening and assessments doctors use to identify behavioral problems in kids. Childrens Hospital said suicide is the leading cause of death for those from 10 to 24 years old in Colorado, noting that 1 in 6 teenagers has a diagnosable mental health condition. We have a suicide crisis in our state, Polis said in a statement. Colorado needs to do a better job serving those struggling with mental health. Its time we work together as a state to implement bold solutions to address this crisis. Im proud to sign SB-195, which improves mental health access for children and teens in need of help, into law today as one of the many ways were working to transform our mental health system for kids. Polis also signed House Bill 1269 to address loopholes in behavioral health insurance coverage. The bill was sponsored in the House by Democratic Reps. Lisa Cutter of Evergreen and Tom Sullivan of Centennial. Its time we start treating mental health the same as physical health, getting people the treatment they need, and working towards removing the stigma around mental health issues, Cutter said in a statement. Added Sullivan: We cant wait any longer to help improve access to mental health in our communities. Polis also signed House Bill 1120 sponsored by Democratic Reps. Dafna Michaelson Jenet of Commerce City and Dylan Roberts of Avon, to help address youth suicide, mostly by lowering the age at which a person can independently seek mental health aid from 15 to 12. A youth mental health epidemic is unfolding before our eyes and until now, the state has been unable to adequately invest in solutions. Under this new law, Colorados kids will be able to access the help they so desperately need. It could save a life, said Michaelson Jenet, D-Commerce City. The children of our state want more access to mental health resources and we are working to deliver. The bill was sponsored in the upper chamber by Sens. Steve Fenberg, D-Boulder, and Don Coram, R-Montrose. Besides new laws, Polis last month announced the formation of the Colorado Behavioral Health Task Force. On Tuesday, Polis was in Pueblo to sign Senate Bill 65, legislation sponsored by Rep. Tony Exum Sr. of Colorado Springs and Senate President Leroy Garcia to create a peer-to-peer mental health assistance program for EMS paramedics. Exum is a retired battalion chief in the Colorado Springs Fire Department, and Garcia a paramedic with American Medical Response in Pueblo. Being an EMS paramedic is one of the most stressful jobs out there, Exum stated. This new law will open doors for emergency medical providers to peer assistance when they are going through challenges in their life and are not able to perform their duties. This law puts a focus on mental health and can help ensure Colorados EMS workers are in the best shape physically and mentally to help save lives and respond to a crisis. Polis also signed House Bill 1287 to address opioid abuse in southern Colorado with an internet-based system to track available capacity at behavioral health treatment facilities. The bill was co-sponsored by Reps. Daneya Esgar, D-Pueblo, and Jim Wilson, R-Salida, with Sens. Kevin Priola, R-Henderson, and Brittany Pettersen, D-Lakewood. There are significant barriers for individuals who are seeking treatment and want to be in recovery. This bill will give them the tools to break down these barriers, Esgar said in a statement. People often encounter barriers when trying to access treatment to overcome their addiction. This new, bipartisan law puts a system in place that is ready to help Coloradans navigate treatment and recovery options and a system that works for everyone involved. A measure to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms in Denver has eked out a narrow lead in the final unofficial results from Tuesdays municipal A concerted effort to minimize history A newspaper article I just read had this headline: Even George Washington may be erased from our past. A school in San Francisco has a mural of Washingtons life (done in 1936 as a WPA project) depicting all the phases of his life including that he had slaves. Some activists are saying that the mural should be gone. They say its traumatizing the students. For the previous 83 years the students werent traumatized, or we never heard of it. Now many of our students know little of Washington. A friend related a remarkable story a man told him about a conversation the man had with his son. The man asked his son, who was soon to graduate from high school with honors, what he knew about George Washington. The young man admitted he only knew that Washington had slaves! Did you know that you can graduate in history from Harvard without taking an American history class? Fifty-three undergraduate history programs of the 76 highest ranked colleges dont require even a single American history course to fulfill the history major. I wonder when this thinning of the history requirement started. If you have a student nearly finished with high school, ask him or her a few simple questions. For instance: name as many as you can of the Founders of our country. Who wrote The Declaration of Independence? What year was it written? From what country were the colonists declaring their independence? How many colonies were there? Who presided over the Constitutional Convention in 1789? What are the three branches of government? Who was our first president? For that matter, also ask modern-day questions. Who was the Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in World War II? Who was the first man to set foot on the moon? What year was that? What was Pearl Harbor? Its as if there is a concerted effort to minimize or erase our nations past from the thoughts of our present-day students. Roberta Sutton Evergreen Questioning Polis priorities I find it interesting that Gov. Jared Polis worked diligently to get Colorado to join in on Super Tuesday. The advantage he mentioned was that the major parties would focus on issues important to Colorado. That certainly seems like a laudatory goal. However, during the legislative session, Gov. Polis signed the National Popular Vote bill, which would eliminate the Electoral College. If, and when the NPV comes into effect nationally, states with fewer electoral votes, i.e., Colorado, would no longer be a priority for presidential candidates. We would no longer see candidates campaign in our state. Our issues would no longer be important. What is your priority, Gov. Polis? Petitions are being circulated to protect the vote of Colorado citizens by keeping the Electoral College. Linda Taylor Colorado Springs Security upgrades for all schools Re: May 14 article on the STEM school shooting: Given that Douglas County commissioners have the responsibility to provide safety for all Douglas County school students, I am assuming that not just public school students, but every student, including those attending charter and private schools, will be afforded the protections of security upgrades and mental health services. To provide less would be a travesty for those student segments. Karen Walker Colorado Springs Things are about to change You know, I grew up in a state during a time that women were considered property. Especially married women were considered property. If they didnt get married right out of high school and wanted a career, there was something wrong with them. Im 79 years old now, and I see the Republican men and fundamental religious zealots trying to turn back the clock. Back then, only the rich or very well-to-do could afford to go Switzerland to have an abortion in a respected hospital. If they found someone who would help them out here, they sometimes died or turned out sterile. Those of you women who are 50 years old or older know what Im talking about. The younger women have grown up with jobs, credit cards and the ability to make medical decisions without fear. All that is about to change. You think teenage suicides are high now, just wait until those men change all these laws enacted at the state level, and Mitch McConnells judges in the Supreme Court get through with us. Well all be subject to Sharia, and no one is protecting our rights. Tina Routhier Colorado Springs The storm warnings are clear Reference May 13, Star Parkers Todays Reality. Who are our biggest enemies? Are they Muslims, China, the LGBT lobby, the Socialists? No, its simply ourselves! We are becoming a self-fulfilled prophecy. We have taken God out of our schools, courts, public places, prestigious universities, and sadly out of our words, thoughts, and actions. If one said the answer is to look, read, and ponder the great philosophers, to heed their warnings; we would be whistling up a dead-end street. You see today, most folks cant read or speak English, and fewer each day are citizens who care about more than handouts and free stuff. The storm warnings are clear, if we had one virtue, one ideal, one overarching hope; that was freedom, and we sluff a bit of that each day. God bless America and forgive her, too. Jack Flobeck Colorado Springs Classes ended for the 2018-2019 school year Wednesday at Colorado College. But the campus continues to sizzle with activity, in preparation for the arrival of a one-name celebrity many students cant believe they get to meet: Oprah, this years commencement speaker. Outside cement scrubbed, check. Building windows washed, check. Metal fencing erected, check. Plastic chairs set up: 5,100. Standing room overflow: 800 spaces. Freshman Lauren Hough wasnt lucky enough to score a coveted ticket to Sundays graduation, which begins at 8:30 a.m. on the campus north of downtown Colorado Springs. But Hough did jump up on the stage that workers assembled this week and thought to herself, Im walking and standing in the same place Oprah will walk and stand. Shes definitely a black feminist icon, Hough said. I think its awesome shes coming to a place like this. Freshman Lia Musante also wishes she could attend the ceremony. Itd be cool to see her. Oprah Winfrey is big on social media, including Twitter, where Musante has followed her because she admires her work as an actress, activist and philanthropist. Thats the reason Winfrey is imparting wisdom to the Class of 2019. A graduate of The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, in a South African village, Henley on Klip, will receive a bachelors degree from Colorado College on Sunday. Winfrey started her school in 2007 as a gift to former President Nelson Mandela to provide education and care to underprivileged, traumatized girls and help them break the cycle of poverty. Winfrey was in the audience for CCs 2017 graduation for the same reason: to support one of her former students advancing in life. When CC President Jill Tiefenthaler found out that Winfrey again would be in the audience this year, she invited her to speak, said campus spokeswoman Leslie Weddell. Although the topic of Winfreys speech is unknown her people told Weddell she was still writing it last week its likely to fit with the Class of 2019 motto, as uttered by Black Panther Party activist Angela Davis: You have to act as if it were possible to radically transform the world. And you have to do it all the time. Winfrey is appearing for free, like other CC commencement speakers including Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day OConnor in 1982, film producer and director Sydney Pollack in 1990 and Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney in 1991. Winfrey is the first nonalum to deliver the annual address since 2013, when Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of the Childrens Defense Fund, took the podium. Invitees are those who will inspire students, Weddell said. We look for interesting people who have interesting things to say to our graduating class, she said. Speakers have come from a variety of fields; weve had politicians, journalists, authors and scientists, among others. Senior Johnathon Williams, a film major from Middlesex, Va., is an Oprah fan. With tickets required and all the hubbub, Its going to have a different vibe, he said of this years graduation. Itll be phenomenal to hear someone speak whos given her life to other people and worked for change. I think the world needs that. Theres a lot of bad things going on right now. The event is not open to the public, and attendees must have a ticket. Graduating students were allotted eight tickets for family and friends. That makes Winfreys appearance positive and negative, said CC senior Josh Lauer, of Colorado Springs. While its cool Oprah is coming to talk and definitely an honor to be a part of this graduating class, I have 15 family members who want to come, and only eight tickets, he said. Its made getting tickets for everyone difficult. Weddell said the college is trying to accommodate as many students as possible, giving extra tickets to those who request it and asking students who dont need eight to pass on their leftovers. The event also will be live-streamed at www.coloradocollege.edu/live. Lauer saw Oprah when she was in the audience two years ago. He was in the audience, too, watching his brother receive his degree. As for this year, Ive no doubt itll be memorable. Changing the traditional day of graduation from its usual Monday to a Sunday was not done to accommodate Winfrey, Weddell said. That move had been planned for years, she said, to make it more convenient for guests. Oprahs arrival is not as big of a deal for some students. Jake Golbus, a senior political science major from Northbrook, Ill., hasnt paid much attention to Oprahs work. CC is trying to be a premier institution and compete with big schools, he said. I think this (Winfreys presence) is part of that. For senior Ethan Moore, who came to CC from Rochester, Minn., to earn a biochemistry degree, Its definitely the most famous person Ive ever been in the presence of. Winfrey seems to speak to all generations. Not everybody gets to meet Oprah, Moore said. But, he added, I think my mom is more excited than I am. Some of the nearly 590 graduating seniors wonder if theyll get to shake Winfreys hand, or hug her as their name is announced, cheers arise and they walk across the stage to have their degrees conferred. Thats unknown. Some have joked that perhaps Winfrey will give everyone in the audience a car, like she did on her television program in 2004, in what became known as the most epic talk show moment ever. Thats not likely. In keeping with tradition, Winfrey will receive an honorary degree from CC. WASHINGTON A U.S. Senate hearing this week gave a glimpse of the kind of activity planned for a new U.S. Space Command, for which Colorado is a lead contender. The Space Command would be the headquarters for directing operations of a new Space Force proposed by the Trump administration. Although the proposed Space Force is planned as a new branch of the military, it will play a pivotal role in commercial development of space for the U.S. economy, according to expert witnesses. The six sites the Air Force announced Tuesday that it is considering for a permanent Space Command are Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station and Schriever Air Force Base, near Colorado Springs, and Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs; Redstone Arsenal in Alabama; and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The temporary home for the Space Command is Colorado Springs. The Space Force will encourage the kind of growth we talked about, said Lt. Gen. David Thompson, vice commander of U.S. Space Command. He was referring to economic forecasts like a November report from financial firm Morgan Stanley that estimates the global space industry could generate revenue of at least $1.1 trillion by 2040, up from $350 billion a year now. Thompson said the estimates might be conservative because the technology for satellites and a possible return to the moon is developing quickly, sometimes overturning earlier predictions about commercialization of space. We see companies coming forward every day that are going to disrupt those business models, Thompson told the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportations subcommittee on aviation and space. The most recent major development in space commercialization occurred last Thursday, when Amazon founder Jeff Bezos unveiled his plan for a space vehicle designed to land on the moon. He said it would be a first step toward building human colonies in space. However, the commercial plans also face threats from U.S. adversaries, thereby creating a need for security before the economy can profit from them, Thompson said. Those can only benefit from a robust U.S. military presence in space, he said. Colorado U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, a Republican, expressed similar sentiments in a statement Tuesday. Colorado is uniquely positioned to support the new Space Command headquarters, and it is my hope that the continued expansion of military space operations will ensure the United States maintains its position as the global leader in space, he said. The Space Command operated from 1985 to 2002 out of Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado, but was de-emphasized as a space operations headquarters when the U.S. military shifted focus to the war on terror. The 2019 Defense Department budget authorizes the reopening and expansion of Space Command. The command would need to be expanded if a Trump administration proposal for a U.S. Space Force materializes. The Space Force has been proposed as either a new sixth branch of the armed forces or as a new branch of the Air Force, much the way the Marines report to the Secretary of the Navy. However the proposed war-fighting and space security branch is set up, it must first be approved by Congress. Along with performing independent space operations, the Space Force would support military land, air, naval and cyber forces. It also would protect private commercial satellite navigation, satellite television and satellite imagery. Other security needs would arise for planned space tourism and mining of precious minerals in asteroids. President Donald Trump wants the Space Force to begin operating in 2020 and eventually grow to 15,000 personnel. Many of them would be based at a new Space Command. Jim Bridenstine, administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, said some threats come from other satellites, space debris and natural objects in space big enough to cause damage, but too small to be viewed with current technology. He mentioned the example of the 2009 collision that destroyed the U.S. Iridium 33 and Russian Kosmos-2251 satellites. The accident also sent more debris flying through space in a low-earth orbit, creating additional risks for other satellites. If commercial industry is going to continue to make those investments ... they need to have assurances that those investments will be safe, Bridenstine said. Under current launch schedules, That type of collision will occur, on average, every five to nine years, he said. He agreed a Space Force could reduce the risks with better monitoring of orbiting objects. We need more data and better data, he said. Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican and chairman of the subcommittee on aviation and space, said he agreed it is time for a new Space Force. It is long past time for the United States to act, Cruz said. 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The project, which will grow the company's ready-to-eat line with an additional 9,200 square feet on the existing facility, was approved by the Iowa Economic Development Authority. According to plans: It will create 32 additional jobs in the city. The company currently employs 139. The projected financing includes a $185,000, 10-year TIF rebate from the city, and two state tax credits totaling $232,500, in part from the state's High Quality Jobs Program. The jobs will pay approximately $18/hour and must include benefits, according to the documents. Construction is slated to begin this quarter, and is planned to be complete by the same time next year. It is one of two Mason City projects addressed by the IEDA this morning. The second is a requested change in the dates and contingencies granted by the IEDA in the Downtown Renaissance Project. Check back to GlobeGazette.com for more details on this breaking news story. Love 5 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 After nearly two years and $10.6 million, MercyOne North Iowa Medical Center is opening a 27,200 square foot behavioral health center. At the public dedication ceremony, on June 8 at 2 p.m., visitors will be able to explore the addition next to MercyOne's Emergency Department and see the three-dozen or so rooms that will house behavioral health patients. The layout of the new facility is based, partially, on trips that the MercyOne North Iowa Medical Center Behavioral Team made to similar facilities in the region. The first floor of the building will include a community space and resource center that will help provide info to those with questions about mental illnesses while the second level will have more private rooms for adolescents and adults. Per a release from MercyOne: Additional privacy in rooms can help with availability for potential patients. In effect, the addition of private rooms can help MercyOne facilitate more people. Senior Vice President of MercyOne Medical Group North Iowa Dr. Teresa Mock said that the rooms will also help decrease stress for patients. "Diminished patient stress means more opportunity for positive response to the care they are receiving," she said. The new center will help MercyOne to increase the number of behavioral health care services it can offer to those in the community struggling with mental illness and substance abuse issues, according to Director of Behavioral Health Care Rose Brantner. Over time, the term behavioral health has come to mean a way of spotlighting well-being by working to mitigate the effects of mental illnesses such as depression or anxiety as well as substance abuse and other related addictions. The National Alliance on Mental Illness calculates that "one in five adults or roughly 600,000 Iowans live with some form of mental illness." More specifically, "about 37,000 grapple with serious mental illness daily." Love 7 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 The business news you need Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Relay For Life of Cerro Gordo County has named Jennifer Eden as its 2019 honorary chair. Eden will speak at the upcoming Relay For Life event held in Clear Lake City Park from 5 p.m.-10 p.m. on Friday, featuring a free concert by The Whitesidewalls starting at 7 p.m. The event will also feature food truck vendors, silent auction, climbing wall, kids activities, inflatables from the North Iowa Youth Center and much more. Eden, of Clear Lake, was diagnosed with breast cancer on Dec. 14, 2018 after a routine 3D mammogram found a two-centimeter tumor, which was undetectable with self-examinations. She began her chemotherapy treatment on Dec. 31, and will have surgery in June with radiation following. The treatment for her cancer is aggressive because Eden tested positive for the HER2 protein, which promotes the growth of cancer cells. I am looking forward to being able to celebrate the end of my chemotherapy regimen at this years Relay For Life, said Eden. Its a wonderful way to thank my friends, family, caregivers and the community for all of their support during the past several months. Eden will give a speech during the Opening Ceremonies of Relay For Life held at 6 p.m., and will lead the Survivor Lap following. Ive been to Relay For Life before, as my father passed away from a brain tumor in 2001, but this years Relay will be special in a very different way, said Eden. I know how fortunate I am to be diagnosed now instead of even 10 years ago. The significant strides made in research from the American Cancer Society and other organizations mean this difficult time for myself and my family will one day just be a memory. Join a team, register as a survivor, or donate to Relay For Life of Cerro Gordo County. Visit RelayForLife.org/cerrogordocountyia or call Steve with the American Cancer Society at 641-251-1082 for more information. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Demolition of the former Dairy Queen building continued Thursday to make way for a new yet familiar convenience store in Clear Lake. The vacant building on less than an acre at 1006 N. 20th St. was purchased by Kwik Trip, Inc. on Feb. 28 for $525,000 from Dean Snyder Construction, according to Cerro Gordo County property records. On Thursday, Clear Lake City Administrator Scott Flory confirmed the site was going to be the location of the citys second Kwik Star. Dairy Queen occupied the building, which was built in 1996, until its closing in September. Kwik Trip, a La Crosse, Wisconsin-based convenience store chain, has more than 400 stores, including ones in Clear Lake, Garner, Charles City and soon Mason City. Its stores in Minnesota and Wisconsin are known as Kwik Trip, while the locations in Iowa are called Kwik Star to avoid confusion with QuikTrip stores. In 2015, Kwik Star opened a 7,500-square-foot convenience store and truck center in Clear Lake on a 19-acre parcel at the intersection of Highway 122 and North 32nd Street east of Interstate 35. Flory said a site plan for its Kwik Stars next location west of I-35 would likely be presented to the citys Planning and Zoning Commission for approval in June or July. The Commission, consisting of seven members, meets the last Tuesday of the month. A phone call to Kwik Star wasnt returned Thursday afternoon. A Kwik Star spokesman said in December the store at 1502 S. Federal Ave. will open in mid-to-late November. A Kwik Star location opened in Garner in August 2018. Photos: Wooz's Car Wash in Mason City Reach Reporter Ashley Stewart at 641-421-0533. Follow her on Twitter at GGastewart. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The Angel Fund Board of Directors recently announced the recipients of its 2019 Montana post-secondary Angel Fund Scholarship Program. Scholarships are based on financial need, academic success and a commitment to give back to their community. The following 2019 Helena graduates will receive a $1,000 to $2,000 scholarship to help with college expenses during their freshman year. "We are honored to help these outstanding young adults begin their college education this fall and make a difference for our future," Angel Fund said in a press release. "Angel Fund is humbled and grateful by the generosity of our Angel Fund Sponsors and Contributors each year that make education a priority. Thank you for 'paying it forward' so another student has the opportunity to attend college; following their dream!" HELENA The state failed to make a reasonable effort to reunite a woman with the son who was taken away from her after he was born with methamphetamine in his system, the Montana Supreme Court ruled. The justices unanimously overturned the July 2018 termination of the mother's parental rights and ordered the Division of Child and Family Services to work to reunite the woman with her son, who has lived with foster parents in Billings since his birth in October 2016. "We understand (the) child has been in the foster placement for over two years and is apparently thriving and there is no guarantee mother's substance abuse disorder will remain in remission," Justice Ingrid Gustafson wrote in Tuesday's opinion. "There are times, however, when the court must recognize the parent has not received what the law guarantees before her rights may be terminated. This is such a case." Fewer than five of the 250 dependent neglect appeals filed with the state Supreme Court since 2012 have been overturned, said Jon Ebelt, spokesman for the Department of Public Health and Human Services. "The department is reviewing the decision to better understand the court's concerns," he said. The justices found the state and the district court were wrong to keep the baby in Billings rather than grant the mother's request to move the case to Williston, North Dakota, where she lived. They also found the state failed to provide enough opportunities for visitation to allow her to bond with her baby and didn't arrange adequate services to help the mother address her substance abuse issues. The health department's Child and Family Services Division "has a statutory obligation to work to reunify families and CFS did not meet that obligation in this case," the mother's attorney, Shannon Hathaway with Montana Legal Justice in Missoula, said in a statement. "I am very pleased that my client will be given a fair opportunity to reconnect with her child and build a future with him." Justices said "reasonable efforts" at reunification don't require "herculean efforts" but they do require caseworkers to adhere to policies, use best efforts to place a child close enough to a parent to arrange sufficient visitation and requires more than "merely suggesting services" and waiting for a parent to arrange them. "The means by which the department prescribed mother was going to accomplish visitation whenever she could make it to Billings and later through flight every couple of weeks would not realistically foster and develop a bond between mother and child," Gustafson wrote. "The department did not identify or document any reasons why it was in the child's best interest to be placed in a non-kinship placement nearly 300 miles away from mother's home." The Division of Child and Family Services first moved to legally terminate the mother's parental rights in September 2017. Child and Family Services policy states it's in the best interest of the child to terminate parental rights if the child has been in foster care for 15 of the most recent 22 months. "For the first eleven months of this case, the department primarily engaged in efforts to strengthen the bond between (the) child and the foster parents and faulted and penalized mother for living in another state," the court said. The state argued the mother had substance abuse issues dating to age 9; that she continued using drugs, delayed entering substance abuse treatment and rarely visited her son, even though Child and Family Services bought her airplane tickets to fly from North Dakota to Billings. By the time the court heard the case, the mother was living with family in California, attending intensive outpatient treatment, had been sober for five months, was residing in a sober living house, had a full-time job and was attending 12-step meetings, court records said. However, Child and Family Services would not cover transportation costs to visit her son and her third caseworker wouldn't answer her phone calls, court records said. District Judge Mary Jane Knisely terminated the mother's parental rights in July 2018, saying it was not clear if the mother would be able to maintain her sobriety and that the mother chose to live in other states away from her child, "complicating and frustrating the reunification process." Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 7 In response to recent reports that Gov. Steve Bullock vetoed a bill meant to protect free speech and peaceful demonstrations in outdoor areas on college campuses, I am outraged! House Bill 735 would have ended free speech zones on college campuses, which restrict students' expression to small, often secluded areas. I testified alongside several young people from various colleges across Montana in favor of this bill. These individuals and the students they represent deserve to be able to freely express themselves and their views on campus. It is heartbreaking to see that the governor neglected to consider the injustices these students have experienced on their campuses. I volunteer for Americans for Prosperity -- Montana, an advocacy group that supported this bill. DECATUR In the wake of an Illinois State Police probe into Macon County Sheriffs Office employees bidding at foreclosure real estate sales, interdepartmental memos and emails obtained by the Herald & Review show senior staff seeking direction on what to do. The investigation began in March and centers on whether members of the sheriffs department can legally take part as bidders in foreclosure real estate sales conducted by the sheriffs office. Lt. Kris Thompson, who resigned from the sheriff's office Friday, runs a side business as a buyer, seller and renter of family homes, and shopped, when off-duty, at sales conducted by the sheriff's office that involved foreclosed properties. In a March 6 email obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, Sgt. Matt Reynolds wrote: Given the present circumstances, I would like some guidance on how to correctly proceed with conducting sheriff house sales. Reynolds, the county's animal control administrator, said he was requesting a meeting between the sheriff's office, Judge Thomas E. Little and Macon County State's Attorney Jay Scott for legal advice. I think this should be something incorporated into our SOP (standard operating procedure), he said. Sheriff Tony Brown typed a response within a few minutes of receiving the message, saying I will reach out to the appropriate entities to schedule a meeting for guidance about the matter. The results of any such consultations were not given in the FOIA response from the sheriffs office, which added a note saying preliminary drafts, notes, recommendations, memoranda and other records in which opinions are expressed or policies or actions are formulated, are exempt from FOIA requests. Correspondence from Thompson shows him telling the sheriff that I dont have any intentions of returning (to duty) until I have written closure civilly and criminally, he said. The documents also showed that Thompson has made his own FOIA requests of the sheriffs office, trying to obtain copies of letters, emails and all written/electronic communications about how the state police investigation came about. Thompson sought all content related to variants of his name and terms including sheriff sale, sheriff sales, auction, civil, deed,confirmation, judge, court order, real estate, internal and Illinois State Police from Jan. 1 to April 2. Lt. Jonathan Butts, the Freedom of Information Officer for the sheriffs office, replied April 5 that the request had been granted. But Thompson shot back the same day that he had received not a sufficient response, citing an absence of relevant emails between Brown and other administrative staff. When processing a FOIA request, you must use a good faith effort to conduct a search for records requested using methods which can be reasonably expected to produce the information requested, Thompson told the sheriffs office. The FOIA documents the Herald & Review received indicate Thompson was ready to resubmit his requests if I need to be more clear, but there was no response listed to his message. Thompson since told the Herald & Review he never received all the information he had sought. Contact Tony Reid at (217) 421-7977. Follow him on Twitter: @TonyJReid Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. FORT WORTH, Texas Stained-glass windows memorializing religious leaders who helped shift the Southern Baptist Convention to a more conservative stance were unveiled with great fanfare several years ago at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Last month, those colorful images depicting religious leaders ranging from televangelist Jerry Falwell to former Seminary President Paige Patterson quietly came down. This came nearly a year after Patterson, one of the leaders of the so-called conservative resurgence, was fired for how he handled sexual assault allegations. Two of those windows depicting Falwell and Jerry Vines, a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, were displayed last week at a graduation ceremony for Liberty University, a private Christian university Falwell founded in Lynchburg, Virginia. Falwells son, Jerry Falwell Jr., criticized the Fort Worth seminarys decision to remove the windows from the MacGorman Chapel, saying the windows have now been removed by the new regime, according to the Baptist News Global. Unfortunately, a new generation has taken the convention away from those values in many ways. Falwell clarified his remarks in a recent tweet. My good friend @jerryvines just told me Dr. Adam Greenway is a wonderful man and not part of the @drmoore SBC deep state regime trying to subvert the will of the church members! So glad to hear this news! Patterson was fired in May 2018. Adam Greenway was named the new seminary president earlier this year. The windows were the brainchild of Dorothy Patterson, wife of Paige Patterson, who asked Fort Worths Don and Debra Young to create them. My dream was to portray the 20-year history of the conservative resurgence of the Southern Baptist Church, Dorothy Patterson told the Star-Telegram in 2013. Don Young said it was a bit of a letdown when the windows recently were removed. Neither he nor his wife, he said, had any attachment to the people in the windows. But the couple, owners of Don Young Glass Studio, spent around seven years creating 32 stained glass images some as large as 6 by 11 feet featuring Baptist leaders for the seminarys 3,500-seat chapel and performance center. And they were prepared to create more, Don Young said. We were supposed to do the entire building, 70 windows, he said. We got up to 32 when all hell broke loose. After Mr. Patterson left, the entire project came to an abrupt halt. Asked about the window removal, a seminary spokesman referred to a letter by Kevin Ueckert, who heads the Seminarys board of trustees. Ueckert sent a letter earlier this year to those pictured in the windows, letting them know that the windows were going to be removed. Since the people pictured helped cover the cost of their windows, they were given the chance to have them as theirs. Falwell sent a plane to Fort Worth to retrieve the windows depicting his father and Vines. He said Liberty University will continue to honor the conservative leaders who reformed the Southern Baptist Convention. These two windows will be displayed at the Jerry Falwell Museum. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The search for Dominic Walker Saturday: Dominic Walker, 16, of Mattoon, is last seen near his father's home on West King Street in Decatur Monday: Canine units from Cook and McClean counties are used in the search Wednesday: Police continue reviewing surveillance footage from homes and businesses near the house and the Sangamon River is searched Thursday: Investigators, including a diver, search Dreamland Lake in Fairview Park and remove a body bag; officials say they won't be releasing any information until Friday DECATUR A Decatur man accused of stealing several high-value power tools from a job site in Bloomington and selling three of them at a Decatur pawn shop was arrested Wednesday on a theft charge while already in custody, police said. A sworn Decatur police affidavit said officers were sent on Tuesday to the 1600 block of East Eldorado Street after a suspicious vehicle with a hole in its windshield and power tools in the backseat was reported in a parking lot. The affidavit said a witness pointed out two men walking along Eldorado when officers arrived by saying "those are the guys," and they fled. Police caught up with one suspect, a 41-year-old man who was taken into custody on an active warrant from Bloomington, the affidavit said. The man was searched, and a receipt showing three power tools were sold for $250 at a pawn shop was found in his pants pocket, the affidavit said. The power tools were traced to a job site in Bloomington, and the owner confirmed 12 power tools had been reported stolen May 10. The man, who was being held in the Macon County Jail on the warrant, was then arrested on a preliminary charge of possession of stolen property, which is subject to review by the state's attorney's office. He was being held in the jail in lieu of $25,000 bond. 2019 mug shots from the Herald & Review Contact Analisa Trofimuk at (217) 421-7985. Follow her on Twitter: @AnalisaTro Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 DECATUR The Macon County Sheriff's Office lieutenant caught up in a state police probe of real estate sales resigned his position Friday, saying he was pressured to quit by Sheriff Tony Brown. Speaking exclusively to the Herald & Review, Kris Thompson said he accepted a negotiated separation agreement. Thompson had already been permanently replaced as jail administrator by Brown, who recently named Lt. Jamie Belcher to the job. Brown, in a phone interview Friday, declined to comment on Thompson's claims that he was pressured to quit. However, he said the decision to replace Thompson as jail superintendent was made because he didn't return to work because of the state police investigation, and Brown could not leave the position unfilled. Brown, a Democrat, was elected sheriff in November by a handful of votes, and a legal battle is ongoing with his Republican opponent, Lt. Jim Root. Thompson had been Root's campaign manager. Thompson said he is disappointed at being forced out of the sheriffs office, where he has worked since 2005, enjoying a rapid rise through the ranks. All that got accomplished because I worked hard, he said. And now this. He first ran into trouble in March when the Illinois State Police investigation started. It centers on whether members of the sheriffs department can legally take part as bidders in foreclosure real estate sales conducted by the sheriffs office. Thompson has run a sideline business for 14 years as a buyer, seller and renter of family homes, and frequently shops what are known as judicial sales involving foreclosed properties when he is off duty. An anonymous letter complaining about sheriffs deputies taking part in such sales prompted the state police investigation. The results of that investigation were passed to the Illinois Office of the State Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor which, by request of the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court in late March, was to appoint special prosecutors to review the police findings. The result of that review is still awaited. The office of Patrick Delfino, director of the appellate prosecutors office, did not return a call seeking comment. Thompson has always strongly denied any wrongdoing. The section of Illinois law that appears to bar sheriffs deputies from bidding in real estate sales in their own counties is an old one, dating to the 1800s. It includes the phrase no purchase of property at own sale, leaving open the question of whether that means any sale conducted by the department or a sale conducted by a department officer who is also making his own bid. Thompson has previously insisted there is nothing to stop him, when off duty, from spending his own money to bid on foreclosed real estate. He said he was initially told that a separate examination by the sheriffs office into his conduct had cleared him of wrongdoing, but that changed in April. He said a senior member of the sheriffs office, whom he would not identify, told him there was going to be a new investigation that would look at whether he had accepted secondary employment without authority of the sheriff. That was a reference to my real estate investments, said Thompson. I told them I dont have a second job, I have investments in real estate. Thompson said what really appears to have angered the sheriff is a posting on Roots Facebook page March 20 updating his supporters on Roots bid for sheriff. The Facebook post said the post-election legal battle now being fought over the outcome has seen Browns supporters attempting to bankrupt us with their high-powered, high-paid lawyers. I was told that post got the sheriff really ticked off at me, Thompson said. He accused the sheriff of handing out payback in the aftermath of the election, gunning for all those involved in Roots campaign. On April 18, the sheriffs office had a mandatory command meeting, Thompson said. At that meeting, Jim Roots entire campaign committee had their shifts reassigned. So Jim Root, who has been emergency manager for Decatur and Macon County for the last 10 years on day shift, got re-assigned to third shift patrol. Root did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday. Thompson said the real estate probe gave Brown the cover to force him out. Thompson said he wanted to stay away on leave until the appellate prosecutors in Springfield had finally decided what to do, but with the sheriffs moves against him it was best to go now. Like I said, I am disappointed, very disappointed, he added. Brown denied allegations that he is punishing Root and his supporters. "That's false," Brown said. "That's not the case whatsoever." Documents: Macon County sheriff's office seeks guidance on foreclosure sales DECATUR In the wake of an Illinois State Police probe into Macon County Sheriffs Office employees bidding at foreclosure real estate sales, The sheriff said the reassignments were also a result of Thompson's absence from work, as doing so was a way to help ensure the department would continue to run as efficiently as possible. He said he will reevaluate the reassignments within six months depending on the state of the office. As for the Facebook post on Root's campaign page, Brown said he heard of it, but "doesn't respond to those things" and never has. He said the election is over and the sheriff's office is no place for politically motivated governing. "I took office Dec. 1, and it's been over five months for me to make any kind of changes," Brown said. "(Thompson's) absence is what forced me ... It's not anything personal. I need to make sure that the critical needs are met." Contact Tony Reid at (217) 421-7977. Follow him on Twitter: @TonyJReid Contact Jaylyn Cook at (217) 421-7980. Follow him on Twitter: @jaylyn_HR Love 1 Funny 1 Wow 2 Sad 5 Angry 8 Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. DECATUR Waving from above, posing for pictures and mingling with residents, members of Decatur and Macon County law enforcement raised money for Special Olympics Illinois on Friday during Cop on a Rooftop. Sheriff's deputies, police officers and Corrections officers took turns standing on the roof of Dunkin' Donuts in Brettwood Village on Decatur's north side. Donations were greeted with smiles, friendly conversation and coupons for a free doughnut. In a news release, sheriff's Lt. Jamie Belcher said the effort raised $2,399 for Special Olympics Illinois. "From 5 a.m. until noon, officers from many different law enforcement agencies from all over Decatur and Macon County joined forces to raise money, with all of the money staying right here in Central Illinois," Belcher said in the news release. "On behalf of all law enforcement in Decatur and Macon County, we want to thank everyone that stopped by Dunkin in Decatur today," he added. Contact John Reidy at (217) 421-6973. Follow him on Twitter: @jsreidy2099 Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. DECATUR Crews quickly put out a fire in a third-floor unit at a Decatur apartment complex, the Decatur Fire Department said Thursday. The department said in a statement that crews arrived shortly before 7 p.m. after the fire at 1340 E. Wellington Way was reported by a neighbor. Firefighters first on scene forced the door and extinguished the fire. A search of the unit revealed no people were inside, the department said. Crews overhauled the apartment to ensure the fire was completely out. The apartment had moderate smoke and fire damage, the department said. The incident remains under investigation, and a cause was not yet known. Contact Allison Petty at (217) 421-6986. Follow her on Twitter: @allison0512 Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. DECATUR When the Herald & Review asked in February for readers to nominate their favorite nurses, Justin Norris thought of his aunt. Norris, currently a nursing student, often looks for help and advice from Samantha Vogel, whom he describes as a role model. I saw what she did and it inspired me to help others, he said. Vogel, now a facilities nurse supervisor for the Illinois Department of Public Health, also previously worked as an emergency-room nurse for 15 years. She was among 10 Decatur-area nurses recognized for their work in the profession during a special luncheon Thursday at the Decatur Club. The newspaper sought community nominations in February, and wow, did we get a great response, said Michelle Pazar, Herald & Review publisher. A panel of judges selected the final winners from 95 nominees. The newspaper published a special section with the nurses' biographies on May 12, marking the conclusion of National Nurses Week, which was created by the American Nurses Association to recognize the country's four million registered nurses. In addition to Vogel, honorees included: Decatur Memorial Hospital's Morgan Ashby Richland Community College's Shelly Baldwin Allison Beyers at Cancer Care Specialists Sabre Bratcher at Fair Havens Christian Village Karen Carlson at HSHS Mount Zion's Medical Group Family Medicine Decatur Manor Healthcare's LiaShawn Cunningham Retired nurse Sandra Friesner District School nurse Shelia Lanker Ronald Sia from HSHS St. Mary's Hospital nurse Samantha Vogel with the Illinois Department of Public Health The selection ranged from those new in the profession to retired nurses. They work in physicians offices, clinics, nursing homes, operating rooms, schools and battlefields. Nearly 400 votes were cast for Lanker, the Peoples Choice winner. Youve got a big fan club, Pazar told her. Lanker has worked as a nurse for 18 years at area school districts and 14 summers at 4-H camp. Theres kids all year round, she said. But this is an unexpected honor. The remaining nine recipients were chosen by judges Carol Carlton, director of clinical nursing services at Macon County Health Department; Ellen Colbeck, dean of health professions at Richland Community College; and Ebonie Wright, nurse and doctorate of nursing practice student at the University of Illinois, Chicago. Herald & Review Regional Marketing Director Jonell Kehias said the judges were chosen because they are well-known in the profession. And just like we wanted a variety of nurses, we wanted a variety of judges, she said. The judges acknowledged the process of selecting honorees was difficult. Everyone had great stories, Wright said. You could tell everyone had such passion for their work. Each judge searched through the submissions looking for something that highlighted their individual work. I looked for a variety, seeing what else they had done, to see what they cared about the most, Carlton said. They were all very deserving, Colbeck said. Nominations were submitted by spouses, parents, doctors and other nurses. As one of the honorees, Sia said hopes the opportunity to honor local nurses continues in the future. He is a registered nurse working the second shift at HSHS St. Marys Hospital. This pushes them to really do their best, he said. Guest speaker for the luncheon was Tara Peasley, director of emergency services at HSHS St. Marys Hospital. Nursing is a demanding profession and has more skills and challenges than ever before, she said. You do more than most people can imagine, and your impact is enormous. The list of a nurses daily responsibilities varies each day and with each patient, she said. They work with infants, children, teens, adults, elderly and the dying. We work in hospitals, schools, prisons, nursing homes and clinics, Peasley said. We are everywhere because we care. Contact Donnette Beckett at (217) 421-6983. Follow her on Twitter: @donnettebHR Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. SPRINGFIELD A test required for teacher licensing that many argue has contributed to the states teacher shortage might soon be suspended. The Illinois Senate on Thursday passed and sent to Gov. J.B. Pritzker House Bill 423, which would put what is known as the test of basic skills on hold until July 1, 2025, while state officials try to determine whether that will help relieve the states teacher shortage. The bill also calls on the Illinois State Board of Education to re-evaluate the method it uses to score another mandatory test that prospective teachers must pass, one that measures their mastery of the content area in which they want to teach. Those tests are among three tests that applicants for teaching licenses in Illinois must pass. They also must pass a test covering their content area and a test covering teaching practices and standards, known as the edTPA. A separate bill, House Bill 256, by Chicago Democratic state Rep. Will Guzzardi, would drastically overhaul that exam as well by removing a component requiring prospective Illinois teachers to video themselves in an actual classroom setting. That bill also passed the House in April, but has not yet been assigned to a Senate committee. Those tests were the subject of extensive hearings in the Illinois House where state Rep. Sue Scherer, a Decatur Democrat and chief sponsor of the bill, questioned their value and effectiveness. Scherer, a retired teacher, and others have also suggested that they deter many people from trying to enter the teaching profession and that they have a disproportionate impact on people of color, contributing to the states teacher shortage. We are at a crisis level in the teacher shortage, Scherer said on the House floor during debate over the bill. Its affecting basically every region in every area across the state, which some people are unaware of. Many classrooms are sitting there without a qualified teacher. I know of a school district that right now has 50 open classrooms without a qualified teacher. The bill suspending the basic skills test until 2015 passed the House in April, 85-25. It passed the Senate on Thursday, 55-0. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 0 CHICAGO Before he took the oath of office in January, Gov. J.B. Pritzker was paying out of his own pocket for a national search to find the next head of the long-troubled Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. Pritzker's transition team signed a $50,000 contract in early January with Massachusetts-based Koya Leadership Partners to conduct a nationwide search for a new leader for the child welfare agency, which has churned through 14 previous directors since 2003. "The governor wanted to get the search for key positions in his Cabinet underway as soon as possible so he covered the cost of the search as part of his transition," spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh said. The move is another example of the first-term Democrat and billionaire heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune using his vast personal wealth to help fund functions of state government. Pritzker has also boosted salaries of some members of his administration with his own money. Because those payments aren't coming from state coffers, they're not subject to open records laws, raising potential transparency issues. While the transition committee is not subject to the state Freedom of Information Act, the Pritzker administration provided a copy of the search contract to the Tribune. Pritzker's personal payments for government work merits a closer look, said Alisa Kaplan, policy director for Reform for Illinois, formerly the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform. "The blurring of the public and private spheres and public and private funds for government functions is problematic," Kaplan said. "And the extent to which the governor this governor can engage in it is raising all kinds of questions policymakers will have to address at some point." Days before Pritzker's Jan. 14 inauguration, his transition team announced he would be doubling the salaries of top aides, including his chief of staff, deputy governors and senior advisers, through East Jackson Street LLC. Pritzker set up the corporation to "enable the governor-elect to personally compensate some staff in addition to their government salary," a spokeswoman said at the time. "This process will take place in a transparent manner with requirements that information be reported publicly," Abudayyeh, who previously served as a spokeswoman for Pritzker's campaign and transition, said in a statement at the time. Abudayyeh's state salary of $75,000 is being doubled to $150,000. State employees are required to file statements of economic interest with the secretary of state's office by May 1 of each year. But the forms filed by this month's deadline cover last year, which means the payments to Pritzker's top staff won't be disclosed until next year. The DCFS director search resulted in the March 27 appointment of Marc Smith, then executive vice president of foster care and intact services at Olympia Fields-based Aunt Martha's Health & Wellness. Smith, who was a public service administrator for DCFS from 1993 to 2000, awaits Senate confirmation. Smith is taking over DCFS as the agency is facing renewed scrutiny after the deaths of three children 2-year-old Ja'hir Gibbons of the Washington Park neighborhood, 2-year-old Ta'Naja Barnes of Decatur and 5-year-old Andrew "AJ" Freund of Crystal Lake whose families had a history of contacts with the agency. On Wednesday, the governor's office released a report that found numerous problems with the DCFS division that is charged with keeping families intact. The mother of a 2-year-old Decatur girl, Ta'Naja Barnes, also has been charged with her murder after the girl was returned to her from foster care, and a 2-year-old Chicago boy's autopsy showed bruises and rib fractures never reported despite numerous DCFS visits. Changes are likely coming to the Illinois pot legalization bill. Here's what happened today. SPRINGFIELD Some provisions that advocates for recreational marijuana legalization have said are the most important facets of their bill fac It's unclear how many other candidates were considered to lead the department. The governor's office denied a request for names and resumes of other finalists for the position, arguing that releasing the names of unsuccessful candidates would invade their privacy, harm their current employment and prevent agencies from finding qualified applicants for open positions. Abudayyeh declined to say how many candidates were interviewed. "The administration and the governor met with multiple candidates and the governor selected the candidate he thought had the right experience to lead the agency," she said. In addition to the flat $50,000 search fee, the Pritzker transition committee's contract for the DCFS search included a $3,500 administrative fee to cover search expenses. Koya also was allowed to bill the transition for "any direct, out-of-pocket expenses such as candidate and consultant travel, lodging, video-conferencing, job postings and employment screening." The transition team also paid for a search to find a new head of the state's Department of Innovation and Technology. Ron Guerrier, previously chief information officer at pharmacy benefits manger Express Scripts, was appointed to that post March 4. Pritzker's use of private funds to help the state aren't entirely without precedent. When announcing the private pay for top aides, his transition team noted that former billionaire New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg boosted staff pay out of his own pocket. Illinois' previous ultraweathy governor, Republican Bruce Rauner, donated from his personal fortune to help pay for repairs to the Governor's Mansion and state fairgrounds in Springfield. "With our second very affluent governor in a row, it raises questions about how you think about the role of public expenditure," said Cindi Canary, who previously ran the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform and headed an ethics task force for Mayor Rahm Emanuel. "It's kind of a trend that we're seeing, especially when government is strained." Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 SPRINGFIELD With only two weeks remaining in the 2019 regular session, Democrats in the Illinois House say they are close to securing the 71 votes needed to pass one of Gov. J.B. Pritzkers top priorities, a constitutional amendment to overhaul the states income tax system. I think we are rapidly closing in on 71, and Im confident the governor will, with the personal meetings hes having with members, get us over the hump, said state Rep. Robert Martwick, a Chicago Democrat and the lead sponsor of the measure in the House. The proposed amendment, which cleared the Senate on May 1, would allow the General Assembly to replace the states flat income tax system, where all tax filers pay the same rate, regardless of their income, with a multibracket graduated tax that would impose higher rates on higher levels of income. But the amendment has languished in the House Revenue and Finance Committee while Democratic leaders have struggled to secure the three-fifths majority, 71 votes, needed to place the issue on the November 2020 ballot. In that election, it would need support from either three-fifths of those voting on the question or a majority of all people voting in the election to take effect. Pritzker has said he believes a graduated tax is the only way to solve the states long-term structural budget deficit without making draconian cuts in funding for public services. Opponents, however, argue that such a system would make it easier in the future for lawmakers to raise taxes on selected groups of people. In addition to the amendment, the Senate also passed a bill May 1 spelling out what the new tax rates would be if the amendment is approved. State Rep. Michael Zalewski, a Riverside Democrat who chairs the Revenue and Finance Committee, also said hes hopeful Pritzker can secure the votes needed in the House. I think the governor has had some productive conversations with members in the last week, he said. Zalewskis committee is scheduled to meet Monday, May 20, and some observers believe the amendment could come up for a vote then, sending it to the full House. If the measure is to pass the House, supporters will have to secure the votes entirely from within the 73-member Democratic caucus because House Republicans have said they are unanimously opposed. We dont need it, House GOP Leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs said during a Statehouse news conference Thursday. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 STERLING A soldier who was killed during the Korean War has been returned to Illinois and will be buried next to his twin, who was killed during the same battle. The remains of Cpl. John G. Krebs will be buried Friday at Sterling's Calvary Cemetery, next to his brother George. The 19-year-old orphans were killed during a battle in Chochiwon, South Korea, on July 11, 1950. Reports indicate George Krebs was killed after returning to the field to find John. John Krebs was listed as missing in action because he couldn't be accounted for after that battle. His remains were identified in December. A motorcycle group will lead an afternoon procession from the Schilling Funeral Home in Sterling to the cemetery. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency reports of the 8,156 Korean War personnel missing in action, only 494 have been identified. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 A descent into dystopia will soon enough define our cultural expectations. This is evident, from the mean-spirited, mustache-twirling antics of our politicians, to the divisive rhetoric preached and peddled in our segregated houses of worship. Such is the oft-repeated narrative, at least; The world has gone to hell. Doom awaits us all. The zombie horde is on the march. The fabulously wealthy still bets big on futures, though. So, surely they know something, big picture-wise, that us common folk, lacking perspective, would likely miss in the face of impending doom. I'd think these dudes (and they are almost exclusively dudes, old white dudes specifically), rather than further invest, would place the immediate order to Sell! Sell! Sell! So why must our angst and mistrust be perpetually stoked, neatly packaged and presented? Perhaps these are the products of control, based upon the belief that we, like the greedy elite, must succumb to our darkest nature. Recent examples, such as the 2003 NYC blackout, however disprove this, exhibiting instead quite the opposite. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, speaking at a press conference soon after the disaster, as reported by the New York Times, expressed his liberal surprise at this, saying, There has been no spike in criminal activity in the city. In fact, arrests and reported crime have been less than you would expect for a summer day. Instead of the dystopian, apocalyptic panic expected of a densely packed city, embroiled within a power outage during a heatwave, there is in fact, copious imagery of New Yorkers at their finest; offering a helping hand to a neighbor in need, directing traffic, helping to evacuate the subway cars and stations, lighting up the grill and mingling together, peacefully, in the park. Consider then that, although certainly there are those who thrive in. Gary Moore, Decatur Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 These three COVID-19 research stories were among the most read InnovationMap articles of 2021. Photo via Getty Images Remarks: This was the number one song on the US R&B chart this year, 2021. It went to #1 in the US on both the R&B and pop charts and made the top 20 on po... 16 hours ago 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 Cover Story Leadership is not a skill that just comes by birth. It comes with years of experiences, mentoring and above all, learning from failures. William Sim (President, Heilind Asia Pacific) is a true manifestation of this statement. He boasts rich industry experience of more than 30 years which entails holding key positions in the semiconductor manufacturing business as well as the global distribution business of electronics. Williams professional journey began at Philips Semiconductors (now NXP Semiconductors) wherein he was initially involved in sales & marketing while serving as the General Manager for South Asia Pacific at the end of his tenure. Post serving Philips Semiconductors for about 25 years, he moved on to WPG Holdings, the No.1 Global Semiconductor Distributor and became the... Curating information literacy stories from around the world since 2005 Another judgment, another instance of the English court seizing jurisdiction in a patent dispute. In Ablynx NV and Anor v VHsquared Limited and Ors [2019] EWHC 792 (Pat), His Honour Justice Hacon (sitting as a High Court judge) has provided a useful judgment concerning the application of the Brussels Regulation to patent disputes where there is also a purported choice of jurisdiction by contract. Even in circumstances where the parties have made such a choice, a forum shopping defendant might well find the shelves to be bare. of the English court seizing jurisdiction in a patent dispute. In, His Honour Justice Hacon (sitting as a High Court judge) has provided a useful judgment concerning the application of theto patent disputes where there is also a purported choice of jurisdiction by contract. Even in circumstances where the parties have made such a choice, a forum shopping defendant might well find the shelves to be bare. Ablynx is the exclusive sub-licensee of certain fields of use for three patents (now expired) protecting an invention relating to immunoglobulins derived from camelid antibodies [camelid refers to several even-toed ungulates, not just camels, so we can leave puns involving humps and deserts at the door, please] . Broadly speaking, the Defendants were licensees in relation to other fields of use. The Defendants are alleged to have infringed the UK designations of the patents during their term by encroaching on Ablynxs field of use. This allegedly provided an illegitimate springboard for work completed following the expiry of the patents. There is ongoing litigation relating to the same subject matter in the Netherlands and Belgium, and there was earlier litigation in the Netherlands. Apparently called a "camel" stretch, therefore topical The Defendants contended that the relevant licence agreement conferred exclusive jurisdiction on the court of Brussels to settle any disputes arising in connection with the agreement (including the present one). The High Court was therefore asked to give effect to this choice of jurisdiction pursuant to Articles 25 and 31(2) of the Brussels Regulation, and to stay the proceedings pending the Brussels courts decision on whether it has jurisdiction under the Agreement. The Claimants meanwhile relied on Article 24(4), on the basis that the proceedings are concerned with the validity of patents, in respect of which the English court has exclusive jurisdiction. The Defendants had not entered an appearance, and had not (yet) formally challenged the validity of the patents. It was however clear from evidence that were the Defendants application for a stay to fail, the Defendants would counterclaim for invalidity (among other defences e.g. non-infringement and experimental use). JP Morgan Chase Bank NA v Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) Anstalt des Offentlichten Rechts [2010] EWCA Civ 390. JP Morgan concerned Article 22(2) of Regulation 44/2001, which is materially identical to Article 24(2) of Brussels I Recast. This Article confers exclusive jurisdiction in relation to proceedings which have as their object, among other things, the validity of the constitution and decisions of companies/organs registered in a particular Member State. The CoA observed that it is not necessarily the case that the courts of the "home" Member State will be best placed to hear such a dispute, particularly if the parties have expressly chosen another jurisdiction to solve their disputes. Therefore, said the Defendants, the best place for this dispute was the Brussels court. Hacon HHJ disagreed, and distinguished patents from the CoAs observation on the basis that the grant of patent rights is an exercise of national sovereignty, and to adopt the approach in JP Morgan might have constitutional implications in some Member States. The Defendants attempted to persuade the judge to follow, by analogy, an observation by the Court of Appeal inconcerned Article 22(2) of Regulation 44/2001, which is materially identical to Article 24(2) of Brussels I Recast. This Article confers exclusive jurisdiction in relation to proceedings which have as their object, among other things, the validity of the constitution and decisions of companies/organs registered in a particular Member State. The CoA observed that it is not necessarily the case that the courts of the "home" Member State will be best placed to hear such a dispute, particularly if the parties have expressly chosen another jurisdiction to solve their disputes. Therefore, said the Defendants, the best place for this dispute was the Brussels court. Hacon HHJ disagreed, and distinguished patents from the CoAs observation on the basis that the grant of patent rights is , and to adopt the approach inmight have constitutional implications in some Member States. Therefore, the question of jurisdiction turned simply on the meaning of concerned with...the validity of patents. Here, Hacon HHJ did follow the CoA in JP Morgan, which adopted a fairly permissive interpretation of the analogous wording in Article 24(2). In the judges view, proceedings are concerned with the validity of patents if, pursuant to an overall assessment, the proceedings are in substance or principally concerned with validity. On the evidence before him, the judge concluded that were this claim to progress to trial, the proceedings would be concerned with the validity of the patents. The Defendants' remaining planned defences appeared to be subsidiary, and the judge was also sceptical of the Defendants' argument that any trial would primarily concern arguments regarding the scope of the patent licence. Therefore, he refused to grant the stay sought by the Defendants: the English court had exclusive jurisdiction pursuant to Article 24(4). The judge also held (obiter) that if he were wrong about jurisdiction under Article 24(4), the Defendants had a prima facie case that the Brussels court would have exclusive jurisdiction under Article 25. His summary of the interplay between Articles 24, 25 and 31(2) is succinct and useful: When a stay is sought under Article 31(2), if an argument is raised that the court before which the stay is sought has exclusive jurisdiction under Article 24, that court must decide whether the argument is correct. If the court has exclusive jurisdiction under Article 24, Article 31(2) is not engaged. There will be no stay. If the court does not have exclusive jurisdiction under Article 24, it must decide whether at least prima facie there is an agreement which satisfies Article 25 and confers exclusive jurisdiction on the courts of another Member State. If so, provided the defendant has not entered an appearance in a manner which satisfies Article 26, there must be a stay of the proceedings. (Readers will recall that Article 31(2) was introduced into Brussels I Recast in order to deter the so-called Italian torpedo tactic i.e. a race to seise first a court that is expected to deal with the claim slowly, thereby excluding the court that the parties previously agreed would have exclusive jurisdiction until the first court rules whether it in fact has jurisdiction). US Increases Trade Tariffs Against China Stock Markets, Gold, and Silver Today, the US increased tariffs on $200B of Chinese goods as the US/China trade deal breaks down. China has vowed to retaliate for the move. The past week has seen the global markets shocked by two items: Iran sanctions and US/China trade breakdown. The markets had been expecting a US/China trade deal to be reached and optimism was quite high hence the rally in the Chinese stock market and the rally in the US stock market. What next? Well, we believe this news, as well as future news that will likely hit the markets over the next 3+ months, will continue to prompt the Shake-Out we have been warning about. Depending on how severe these news events are, the rotation in the markets could be quite severe as well. Our recent analysis suggests that recent lows in the US stock market may be near-term support and that the US stock market may attempt to form a bottom near these lows. Our research shows the Transportation Index is leading this move. We believe the ORANGE Moving Average level, as well as the RED and GREY Fibonacci projection points, will act as a temporary price floor this week and next. The YM could move lower by 100 to 200 points today, retesting these low levels, before recovering near the end of the day. Gold is showing signs of a potential upside price leg in the early stages, just as we had been suggesting. Our April 21~24 momentum base call from months ago appears to be incredibly accurate. At this point, we are just waiting for the upside price swing to begin. When it starts, the momentum behind this upside move will increase as it will catch the attention of many gold traders and solidify the fear aspect of this move. Silver is still lagging behind Gold as usual. We continue to believe the real opportunity for a great trade lies in Silver. The potential for a $22 o ~$28 upside price swing on a market breakdown or fear play is still very solid. Headed into the 2020 US election cycle and with all the uncertainty in the global markets, we believe this is the sleeper trade of the next 16+ months. When Gold begins to breakout to the upside, Silver should follow about 20 days later. These new US trade tariffs puts pressure on China to come to the table and develop and honest deal. This is not the old way of slow negotiations with no real consequences. For China, the lack of access to the US market could be devastating in both the short and long run. Skilled traders should not be overly optimistic throughout this weekend. Protect your longs and prepare for more news over the next few weeks. This is the type of market that will make or break many traders. UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY ONLY IN MAY On May 1st we talked about the old saying goes, Sell in May and Go Away! and that is excactly what is happening now right on queue. In fact, we closed out our SDS position today for a quick 3.9% profit and our other new trade started today is up already 10%. Second, my birthday is only a few days away and I think its time I open the doors for a once a year opportunity for everyone to get a gift that could have some considerable value in the future. Right now I am going to give away and shipping out silver rounds to anyone who buys a 1-year, or 2-year subscription to my Wealth Trading Newsletter. I only have 13 left as they are going fast so be sure to upgrade your membership to a longer-term subscription or if you are new, join one of these two plans, and you will receive: 1-Year Subscription Gets One 1oz Silver Round FREE (Could be worth hundreds of dollars) 2-Year Subscription Gets TWO 1oz Silver Rounds FREE (Could be worth a lot in the future) I only have 13 more silver rounds Im giving away so upgrade or join now before its too late! SUBSCRIBE TO MY TRADE ALERTS AND GET YOUR FREE SILVER ROUNDS! Happy May Everyone! 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. The deal was poorly drawn up and was extremely one-sided, to the benefit of the Iranian regime. He also turned a blind eye to most of Irans belligerence, even ignoring his own red lines, just so as not to jeopardise the nuclear deal. However, the Trump administration took a very different strategy from the get-go. President Trump vowed very early on that he would not let the regimes malign activities across the region go unpunished. He has toughened the U.S. foreign policy on Iran, re-imposed sanctions, issued fresh sanctions, pulled out of the nuclear deal and now pulled military reinforcements into the Gulf. The pressure from all of this on Iran is immense, especially in terms of the economy that is continuing to deteriorate. However, very little attention is being paid by the international press to the domestic pressure that the Iranian regime is under. At the end of 2017, society in Iran exploded. Mass protests and demonstrations across the country took place and the people made a very clear and loud call for regime change. The protests continued throughout 2018 and the Iranian regime could no longer dismiss the will of the people as being of a minority. Earlier this week, a member of Majlis, the Iranian regimes parliament, Elias Hazrati, spoke about the state of society during an open session. He warned his colleagues that the regime will soon face a major uprising once again. He emphasised that the desperate conditions, in particular the tough sanctions and the economic crisis, are the worst the country has had to face in recent years. Hazrati said that the enemys goal is to destroy the peoples trust in the regime with this horrific psychological war. Hazrati also spoke about the role of the opposition the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI / MEK) in the current unrest. Once dismissed as having very little following both inside and outside the country, the PMOI / MEK is one of the biggest threats to the Iranian regimes existence. It is the only viable alternative and it has support in every single province in the country, as well as massive support outside Iran. Hazrati acknowledged that the opposition is taking great steps forward in exposing the illegitimate regime. The people of Iran will be the force behind regime change. The regime almost collapsed after a major uprising in 2009, but amid the silence of the international community, the regime managed to keep its grip on power. This time, however, will be different because the people are determined to experience freedom, human rights and democracy after the regime collapses. 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 CHARLESTON -- Bond was set Friday at $75,000 for the 17-year-old suspect in last month's shooting of a Charleston man. Devin W. Jenkins faces an adult charge of aggravated battery with a firearm in connection with the April 28 shooting that left a man injured during a fight at an apartment at 24 Buchanan Ave. In addition to having his bond set, Jenkins announced Friday he will be seeking to hire an attorney for the duration of the case. He was represented by Assistant Public Defender Todd Reardon Jr. at Friday's hearing. A status hearing was set for 9 a.m. June 20. During the bond discussions, Coles County Assistant State's Attorney Maggie Crisman-Wilson requested that bond be set at $100,000, citing the extreme nature of the crime and that he had fled to Mount Vernon ahead of his arrest. Reardon requested it be set at $30,000 noting Jenkins' lack of a criminal history. Two other suspects have been charged for what was also reportedly a burglary of the apartment, which the resident discovered just before the shooting. Jenkins was charged as an adult "based on the severity of the offense," Coles County State's Attorney Jesse Danley said Wednesday. Aggravated battery of a firearm is one of the offenses Illinois law allows to be filed as an adult charge against suspects ages 16 and 17, Danley said. First-degree murder and criminal sexual assault are the others. For the adult charge, a prison sentence of six to 30 years would be required if Jenkins is convicted. His juvenile charge was also aggravated battery with a firearm, but a conviction as a juvenile would have meant he could have been detained with the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice until age 21, at the longest. Shannon M. Barnes, 18, and Alyssa A. Jenkins, 19, both face charges of aggravated battery with a firearm, while Barnes is also charged with residential burglary. Devin Jenkins is accused of actually firing the shot that injured the apartment's resident, Trevor R. Pinkstaff, 20. Pinkstaff and Devin Jenkins fought after Pinkstaff discovered his apartment being burglarized and was shot in the abdomen after the teen pulled and fired a gun, according to evidence at an earlier hearing. Pinkstaff also saw Barnes fleeing from the apartment, the evidence indicated. There were also indications that Alyssa Jenkins was driving the car in which the suspects were traveling, leading to charges that accuse the adult suspects of accountability for the shooting. Pinkstaff identified Barnes and Devin Jenkins when he was interviewed while hospitalized at Carle Foundation Hospital, Urbana, according to police testimony at the earlier hearing. Barnes and Alyssa Jenkins pleaded not guilty to the charges against them during a hearing last week. Barnes remains jailed while Alysssa Jenkins posted bond but her release was limited to placement in residential substance abuse treatment. Contact Jarad Jarmon at (217) 238-6839. Follow him on Twitter: @JJarmonReporter Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. MATTOON One man is dead and another is in custody following an early Friday morning shooting at Sunrise Apartments, 1817 S. 9th St. Mark Currie, 29, who lived in the apartment building, was shot in the torso and later pronounced dead, Coles County Coroner Ed Schniers confirmed. An investigation into the shooting led to the arrest of a suspect, Keith McGrew III of Chicago, at 7:30 a.m. Friday after police located him on foot on Lake Road, a few miles southwest of Mattoon, authorities said in a news release. He was taken into custody without incident. Officers were dispatched to the apartments at 1:10 a.m. in regards to an unknown disturbance, according to Mattoon police. Upon their arrival, officers located a Currie on the floor of an apartment adjacent to a sliding glass door. The man had been wounded in the torso and was bleeding. Officers rendered CPR, and Currie was then transported to Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center where he was pronounced dead from gunshot wounds. According to the news release, McGrew said he came to Mattoon from Chicago last Saturday, and that he was staying with a female at Sunrise Apartments. The release went on to say McGrew became an acquaintance of Currie over the past few days. Mattoon Police Chief Jason Taylor said McGrew allegedly purchased drugs from and used drugs with the victim. Early Friday, the two fought, which led to McGrew allegedly shooting and killing Currie, police said. McGrew indicated Currie made "unwanted sexual advances" toward him leading up to the shooting, Taylor said. McGrew was taken to the Coles County jail on a preliminary charge of murder. Preliminary charges are subject to review by the state's attorney's office. Love 3 Funny 14 Wow 6 Sad 12 Angry 13 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. CHARLESTON -- While a new teaching approach was fine with Charleston High School freshman Shannon Corray, she noticed some of her classmates had to learn the hard way. But students in her Spanish class who "were not doing anything" with the more independently paced program soon learned that wouldn't work, she said. As for Corray, she said she benefited from the change and thinks it will work in other classes, too. "I liked the independence and being able to work with your peers," she said. Some Charleston schools are already using aspects of what's called competency-based education that will be place more extensively during the next school year. It emphasizes "mastery of content" instead of classroom "seat time," as school district Assistant Superintendent Kristen Holly put it. In the CHS Spanish class, freshman Gavin Kirby Johnson said he thinks the approach worked well for that subject, but he wonders if it will fit with others. More independence did help him learn time management, he added. "I loved it because we got to change activities and it helped us more," he said. Spanish teacher Ruth Hughes is part of committees working on implementing the program and will be a pilot teacher for it during the 2019-20 school year. She said competency-based education is a balance between letting students work at their own pace and still meeting deadlines. As part of the process, Hughes and other committee members have visited other schools that use the approach. She said she was impressed by the maturity of the students, how they're taking more responsibility and the "overwhelmingly positive" atmosphere that's resulted. "Everyone is focused on how to get these children to grow," she said. "I think it's the best thing to happen in education in my 30 years." Holly said it's been a common practice for teachers to use what's called "differentiated instruction," adjusting lessons for students' learning paces. Competency-based education is a similar concept but an extension, she said. The district set it as a goal last year to go "hand in hand" with more vocational options, she added. "We felt like it was time to move to the next level, which is more personalized learning," Holly said. She acknowledged the approach is complicated. It's understandable to think that "mastery of content" will mean a "free for all," but it won't, she said. "An educator still has an important role," Holly said, and teachers will be "constantly assessing" students' progress. Keeping students on task will go hand in hand with making sure they have the support they need, she added. She also thinks the approach is better for the way kids learn today, when they have access to a vast amount information through technology. Learning how to use that information will be more valuable to them, Holly believes. "We have to teach them and support them," she said. Hughes also acknowledged there could be concerns. A student might take longer than four years to graduate high school, but could also possibly finish in three years, she said. She said she realized she had to help students with their work pace because "the kids did not know how to manage their time." However, students will become more accustomed to the approach after they start experiencing it in earlier grades, she added. Part of the work now is to develop the actual "competencies" or skills students will have to master, Hughes said. If a student completes a specific task but doesn't reach the competency, other tasks will be used, she added. In her classes, Hughes replaced lecturing students on Spanish words and dialogue with having them learn how to order food at a Spanish restaurant and use the language to explain their family trees. The goal was to teach them how to speak Spanish in "real situations," she said. Holly said the approach could, for example, help a student who plans a career in construction learn geometry in way that's applicable. There can be flexibility in graduation requirements and the ability to design a program that "suits that student's strengths and goals," she explained. There can also be more "project-based" education involving business partnerships, and that's why the local business community is part of the effort, Holly also said. Paul Tomshack, owner of Clarence Miller Insurance Services in Charleston, said he agreed to be on the planning committee as a business owner as well as the father of two school-age children. Tomshack said he hopes to provide input on "how it's going to affect our children and our community." He added that he's excited that the partnerships will get students "out in the real world." It's a "common thread" when talking with others in the business community that students often don't have the interview and related skills they need, he also said. "It will take everyone to truly start a new way of thinking," Tomshack said. "Our goal is to provide students with better opportunities." Holly said the school district is using federal funds for this year's teacher training, materials and visits to other schools using competency-based education. There will be future expenses for technology to use to manage information, track student progress and more, she said. Contact Dave Fopay at (217) 238-6858. Follow him on Twitter: @FopayDave Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 0 MATTOON -- The Lake Land College Board of Trustees is accepting letters of interest to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of Ann Deters of Effingham at the board's meeting this week. Deters was elected in 2015 for a six-year term. Lake Land reported that In her resignation letter to board Chair Doris Reynolds, Deters cited that other commitments have become too great for her to be able to contribute at the level she feels is warranted of the trustee position. Consequently, Deters said she believes it is in the colleges best interest that she resign. Those interested in filling Deters post may submit written materials to Lake Land College Office of the President, Attention: Jean Anne Grunloh, Senior Executive to the President, 5001 Lake Land Boulevard, Mattoon, IL 61938 by May 28. Applicants should submit their reason for seeking the appointment, and their qualifications and experiences in other areas that may enhance public policy or decision-making. Applicants must be U.S. citizens, at least 18 years old, and Illinois residents and Lake Land district residents for one year immediately preceding election to be eligible. The board will vote on the replacement for Deters at its June 10 meeting. The individual selected will be seated at the July 15 meeting and will serve until the next consolidated election in April 2021. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. MATTOON -- The Mattoon Police Department has stepped up its patrols for drunk and other impaired drivers in the lead up to Memorial Day. The police department reported that its enforcement campaign will take place through May 28 during one of the busiest travel and holiday weekends of the year. Officers will take a "no-excuses approach," writing citations day and night. Motorists and passengers not wearing their seat belt will be ticketed, and those caught driving impaired will be arrested. Our officers see firsthand the tragedy when people do not buckle up, and or choose to drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Its such a simple and effective way to protect yourself while traveling," Capt. Ray Hall said. "As the Memorial Day weekend approaches, we want to make sure people are doing everything they can to stay safe when traveling." The Memorial Day enforcement campaign is part of the Illinois Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over and Click It or Ticket programs supported through federal funds administered by the Illinois Department of Transportation. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. DECATUR The Mattoon teen whose body was pulled from a pond five days after he went missing in Decatur likely died from drowning, and there were no signs of assault, authorities said Friday. Macon County Coroner Michael Day said an autopsy of Dominic Walker, 16, was conducted Friday, and drowning was listed as the preliminary cause of death. There were also no signs of strangulation, blunt-force trauma or tumor, Day said. Dominic, a sophomore at Mattoon High School described by one teacher as honest and caring, was last seen at his fathers West King Street home between 3 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. Saturday. Police said they searched wooded areas and vacant homes, reviewed surveillance footage and enlisted help from Cook County bloodhounds in an effort to find Dominic, who was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome and ADHD. His body was found Thursday evening by a youth fishing in Dreamland Lake in Fairview Park, Day said. Police closed the park shortly before 6 p.m. and pulled a body from the water, but did not confirm his identity until Friday. It saddens me to hear such awful news of a young man who had his whole life ahead of him, said Mattoon High School teacher Aaron Black in a statement on the school districts Facebook page Friday. Black described Dominic as passionate about his education and the people in his life. Black was Dominics teacher for the last two years but added it was Dominics thoughtful and caring nature that enriched him personally and professionally. In those two years Dominic taught me a lot, said Black. He taught me how to understand all students, how to have patience, and would assist me on helping other students. When work was done, Dom and I would talk about movies, weekend plans, and usually end our day by singing together John Denvers 'Take Me Home.' Dominic will truly be missed. The school district said it was providing counselors, social workers and local clergy for students and staff. This is very painful news for us to share, Superintendent Larry Lilly said in a statement. We were hopeful Dominic would safely return home. We have Dominic in our thoughts and prayers as well as his family and friends. Day said Dominic had been taken to the McLean County Morgue for an examination he described as lengthy and involved. An inquest is pending. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Dominic's family," the coroner said. Dominics father, Adam Walker, told a Herald & Review reporter on Tuesday that Dominic went missing without his cellphone, tablet, fidget spinner or stress ball, all common items he would not leave behind. Walker did not respond to a message left Thursday evening. Other attempts to contact Dominics family members have been unsuccessful. Decatur police on Friday thanked residents, media outlets and local businesses for cooperation and support during the search for Dominic. In a Facebook post, the agency said the death was under investigation. Police told reporters on Thursday night that information about the death would be released by the coroners office. The following agencies helped search for Dominic, police said: National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, Federal Bureau of Investigations, Cook County Sheriffs Office, McLean County Emergency Management, Huntington Indiana Police Department, Mattoon Police Department, Mattoon School District, Decatur Park Police, Department of Children and Family Services, Harristown Fire Department and Illinois Department of Natural Resources Conservation Police. At this time, we ask that you keep the entire Walker family in your caring thoughts, police said. Contact Kennedy Nolen at (217) 421-6985. Follow her on Twitter: @KNolenWrites Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 7 Angry 0 Mozambique has approved the development of the multibillion-dollar Rovuma liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, ExxonMobil and ENI have confirmed. Exxon Mobil bought half of Enis 50 percent stake in the project two years ago for $2.8 billion. According to the president of Exxon, the development plan approval marks another significant step toward a final investment decision later this year. Exxon President said the company will continue to work with the government to maximize the long-term benefits. The project will produce, liquefy and market natural gas from three reservoirs in East Africa and will work to build the local workforce through focused recruitment and improving the skill set. The Rovuma LNG partners have established a series of plans to support community development in line with the governments priorities. During the production phase, the Rovuma LNG project expects to provide up to 17,000 tons of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) per year in Mozambique. Exxon and Eni already have purchasing agreements for the LNG that would be produced annually by the first two LNG production trains. The project is also part of two major LNG projects in Mozambique that are expected to begin major construction later this year. SPRINGFIELD A bill that would ban for-profit immigrant detention centers in Illinois is now on its way to Gov. J.B. Pritzker. The Illinois Senate voted 34-14 on Thursday to pass House Bill 2020. It previously passed the House on April 10 by a vote of 85-26. The bill would prohibit the state or any local unit of government from entering into any agreement to detain people in privately owned facilities. It also prohibits them from spending any money to subsidize or defray the costs of developing or operating one. It would take effect immediately if signed by Pritzker. The bill was introduced in response to a proposal to build a private federal detention center in the village of Dwight in Livingston County, north of Bloomington-Normal. According to published reports, Dwights village board had voted in March to annex and rezone a parcel of land where Virginia-based Immigration Centers of America planned to build and operate a detention center on contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Illinois has prohibited the development of private prisons since 2012. The new legislation would expand that law to include private detention centers. However, it would not apply to state work release centers or juvenile residential facilities that provide care and treatment by nonprofit contractors. State Rep. Kelly Cassidy, a Chicago Democrat, was the lead sponsor in the House. Earlier this year, she called the bill critically important to Illinois remaining welcoming to all people. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 1. Comments must not be racist, misogynistic, homophobic, or otherwise bigoted. 2. Comments must not involve little more than name-calling and insulting remarks. 3. Comments must not be made by "anonymous" or "unknown". 4. Comments must not try to sneak in some free advertising for themselves (like spam). I invite anyone who wishes to comment on this blog to do so. I enjoy the comments, whether you agree with what I have said or not. But some people want to abuse the right to comment, and since this is my blog, I have decided to lay down the following rules. If your comment violates these rules, it will not be published. At this point, the words "John" and "Wick" used together signify something very specific. Mostly: sharply choreographed, creatively efficient violence. We know there will be a brooding Keanu Reeves killing dozens (only because he has to). There will be eye-popping stunts and a network of sharply dressed assassins. There will be gun fu. Does "John Wick: Chapter Three - Parabellum" break the formula? It most certainly does not. Director Chad Stahelski wouldn't dare. But you almost wish he would. The film picks up directly after the second film ends, with a bloodied John (Reeves) running through the streets of New York, moments away from being declared "excommunicado" from secret assassin society the High Table for killing in the Continental Hotel. With a $14 million dollar bounty on his head, everyone in New York wants to kill John Wick, so now John Wick has to kill everyone in New York with whatever he has on hand. An inmate serving a life sentence for first-degree murder died at the Diagnostic and Evaluation Center in Lincoln on Thursday, according to the Department of Correctional Services. Walter Bradford, 61, started his sentence Dec. 12, 1983, for the robbery and fatal stabbing of Gordon Robert Eno in Lincoln the year prior. Brian Keith Perkins was convicted along with Bradford and also sentenced to life in prison. The cause of death has not been determined, although the department said Bradford was being treated for a medical condition. As is the case whenever an inmate dies in the custody of the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services, a grand jury will conduct an investigation. Reach the writer at 402-473-7241 or cspilinek@journalstar.com. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 0 A 47-year-old Lincoln man was convicted by a federal jury of intent to distribute methamphetamine Wednesday, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Sabas Rodriguez-Cisneros faces 10 years to life in prison and a fine of up to $10 million at sentencing on Aug. 16. Rodriguez-Cisneros was arrested after a package sent to his girlfriend in Lincoln in March 2018 was intercepted by U.S. Customs and Border Control in Cincinnati. Customs agents found 400 grams of meth and 197 fentanyl tablets inside the package. Rodriguez-Cisneros was found to have been involved in selling meth in the Lincoln, Dwight and Crete areas since October 2016 during his trial, which started May 13. This case was investigated by the Lincoln/Lancaster County Drug Task Force, the Nebraska State Patrol, Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. He is still employed by the Lincoln diocese, but on administrative leave and not engaged in active ministry, according to the diocese. And it will not make decisions regarding Townsends ministry until the conclusion of the civil process and an internal review. "I think that there's no doubt about it that this whole incident that occurred approximately (two) years ago will be a constant source of shame for him ... and that he will carry it with him wherever he goes," Mock said. He said a just sentence "would simply be to fine Father Townsend, under the circumstances, and send him on his way." Reading the facts and the police reports, the judge said, this is not just a case of giving a drink to a 19-year-old. The facts go beyond that, and the facts are highly disturbing to this court, he said. Since Townsend was drinking on the date of the crime, and he didn't have a clear recollection of the events, and because of information in the evaluation, the judge told Townsend he is to abstain from alcohol and the use of controlled substances, except for religious purposes. He will be subjected to random chemical testing. Nebraska may be joining other states that are suing a drug company and its former president over actions related to the marketing of the drug OxyContin. A spokeswoman for Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson said Thursday that state attorneys are considering litigation against Purdue Pharma and Richard Sackler, the company's former president and chairman. Nebraska officials are talking with other states that have already filed lawsuits. Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, West Virginia and Wisconsin filed separate lawsuits Thursday. Another 39 states have already sued the company. The states claim Purdue engaged in unfair, deceptive and unlawful practices in how it marketed OxyContin, helping spark a national opioid crisis. The company has denied the allegations. Peterson was a major advocate for recent Nebraska laws designed to prevent opioid abuse. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Crete Public Schools ended its school year on Thursday -- a day earlier than scheduled -- after a potential threat was made against several school districts in Saline County. According to a message posted to school district's Facebook page after 10 Thursday night: "Due to unforeseen circumstances, all Crete Public Schools will be closed on Friday, May 17th for the summer. No staff report." The Saline County Sheriff's Office said in a news release Friday that they were informed by a "concerned citizen who had received an electronic transmission (that) could be interpreted as a potential threat to local school districts." The sheriff's office said it investigated with the Nebraska State Patrol and shared their findings with school administrators, but it did not say what those findings were. Interim Crete Superintendent Bret Schroder said in a statement late Friday morning that after consulting with law enforcement, district administrators decided to end the school year a day early. The federal government of Nigeria has donated tons of medical supplies and half a million dollars to cyclone-stricken Mozambique and Malawi. Nigerian Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffrey Onyeama visited the two countries to hand over the assistance. In both countries, Onyeama stressed that the support was a show of brotherhood and solidarity at a critical time for the two countries. In mid-march, Cyclone Idai struck southern Africa, ravaging parts of Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe. Of these countries, Mozambique was hardest hit. The storm struck the port city Beira and surrounding areas, creating a massive inland flooded plane. At the time, the World Meteorological Organization called it one of the worst weather-related disasters to ever strike the southern hemisphere. Nigerias donation comes on the back of extensive pledges by the United Nations, and other international partners in ramping up financial and material support for the affected countries. The UN pledged to release $13 million to pay for food, shelter, health, water and sanitation assistance in Mozambique and Comoros. South Africa has deployed the army to help Mozambique manage the unfolding crisis. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, more than 747,000 people are living within the Cyclones path in Mozambique alone. Ballot language requires the city to use the money only for street improvements, not for sidewalks, trails or signals, and mandates the city spend at least 25% of the money on new construction that promotes growth. Gaylor Baird has pledged that most of the money will go to neighborhood streets. Addressing staffing needs at the fire and police departments will also be an early priority of her administration, she said. She hopes to use the salary of former Public Safety Director Tom Casady to pay for two new police officers, but she'll discuss that further with Police Chief Jeff Bliemeister, she said. Before retiring in April, Casady was paid more than $172,000, which Gaylor Baird estimates may pay for two officers' salaries and benefits. City growth and the departure of Lincoln officers for the Omaha Police Department have made police hiring and retention an issue Gaylor Baird hopes to address, she said. Her staff will also begin thinking about long-term funding for 15 firefighter positions added through the use of a federal grant last year, she said. RAYMOND A Franklin man died after his pickup crashed into a construction crane Thursday morning on Seven Mile Road, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation reported Friday. The man has been identified as 58-year-old Peter Kaishian, Racine County Medical Examiner Michael Payne said Friday afternoon. At 8:05 a.m. Thursday, a GMC Sierra reportedly driven by Kaishian was traveling east on Seven Mile Road from the West Frontage Road when it crossed the center line and struck a parked Terex construction crane. According to the DOT, Kaishian was not wearing his seat belt and was ejected from the vehicle. Raymond Fire Department EMTs transported Kaishian to Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa, where he was pronounced dead. The Racine County Sheriffs Office in addition to the Raymond Fire and Rescue Department responded to the scene. Payne said Friday he is awaiting autopsy results to determine Kaishians cause of death. Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. BURLINGTON The City of Burlington is standing by its decision to give a local resale shop more time to construct an Americans with Disabilities Act compliant restroom, despite objections from a Wisconsin disability advocacy group. During a May 7 Burlington City Council meeting, Dorothy Dean, founder of state disability justice organization Disability Justice, claimed that the City Council ignored federal civil rights law in September when it granted the shop 2 Fancie Girls an additional five years to construct a handicap-accessible restroom. Nobody, elected or otherwise, has the authority to grant anyone or any business an exemption from civil rights, Dean said as she addressed the City Council. She also said the move sets a false precedence concerning ADA compliance. The City of Burlington illegally slammed the door on every person with a mobility problem, whether it is temporary or permanent, visible or invisible, current or future. Despite Deans proposal, Burlington City Attorney John Bjelajac said the City Council does not have any plans to reconsider its decision on the extension. We have no intended desire to do anything differently, Bjelajac said. Shop addresses concerns Aubrey McGaughy, who co-owns 2 Fancie Girls, 225 E. Jefferson St., with daughter Cindy McGaughy, said she was a bit shocked when she received a notice from the city stating the store was going to be a topic of discussion during the City Council meeting, considering changes the store made since moving into the building. The McGaughys reworked the stores porch, installing a ramp to make the entrance more accessible. We wanted to eliminate the barrier so all people can come into the store, McGaughy said. She said the work was important, because she has a grandmother in a wheelchair. We are trying to make steps and we have a financial plan, we just cant do it right away, McGaughy said. In September, McGaughy said she and her daughter went to the City Council to request an exemption to not have a public restroom in the store at all. According to Wisconsin law, restroom exemptions can be made in a small retail or mercantile building with 25 or fewer occupants, as long as restrooms are conveniently located nearby and with permission by local government. Our goal was and is not to discriminate against any demographic, McGaughy said. Our goal was to not have a public restroom of any kind, which is the norm for retail spaces. The City Council denied the exemption, and instead deferred 2 Fancie Girls requirement to have an ADA standard bathroom within five years. Bjelajac said the City Councils decision was made due to the cost involved and the impact it would have on the business. We at the City of Burlington, we are not in the business of discriminating against those with disabilities. Obviously, we want all business to be ADA compliant. This just gives them more time to become compliant, Bjelajac said. Theyve been operating in good faith in my vantage point as the city attorney. Bjelajac said there are public restrooms in close proximity to 2 Fancie Girls, including at the Burlington Police Department, which is across the street and approximately 23 feet from 2 Fancie Girls. Dean, who has been advocating for disability rights for 10 years, said that although restrooms may be close, there are a lot of factors not being considered, including weather, traffic along Jefferson Street or that to someone with a mobility issue, the other restroom might not be close enough. This sets a precedent, Dean said. The last thing I want to do is to travel around the state talking to other municipalities about this issue. Id rather stop it here than let other municipalities think they can circumvent the law simply because they dont like it. The next step Dean said that regardless of the City Councils decision to hold fast to its decision regarding 2 Fancie Girls, this is not the final step for her or her organization. I think they are getting bad legal advice, Dean said. She plans to discuss the issue with individuals on the state level about the citys decision and is filing an open records request to find out who provided city officials with information that made them believe they could make this decision. I want to find out why this staff person said they could section of the building code to override the ADA, Dean said. The ADA Act is a civil rights law and I cant imagine any business trying to rip apart civil rights law. We at the City of Burlington we are not in the business of discriminating against those with disabilities. Obviously, we want all of business to be ADA compliant. This just gives them more time to become compliant. John Bjelajac, Burlington city attorney Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. MADISON The Evers administration is going to have more Racine representation in his administration with the appointment of Kim Plache to be the next chief operating officer of the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority. Gov. Tony Evers made the announcement on Tuesday and also announced that Milwaukee native Joaquin Altoro will serve as executive director of WHEDA. According to the WHEDA website, the purpose of the agency is to work with lenders, developers, local government, nonprofits and community groups to implement low-cost financing programs for homeowners. The agency has helped create over 73,000 affordable rental units and helped more than 122,000 families purchase a home since 1972. The agency also works with individuals to get small business and agricultural loans guarantees. Plache has worked with WHEDA as business and community engagement officer since 2002, according to her LinkedIn page. Before that, Plache had over a decade of experience in the state Legislature both in the Assembly and the Senate. In the state Senate, Plache unseated Sen. George Petack in 1995 in a recall election after Petak voted in favor of a .01% sales tax to build Miller Park, which was a controversial vote at the time. Plache served in the state Senate from 1996 through 2002. Plache was defeated by Republican Cathy Stepp in the 2002 election. In the state Assembly, after state Rep. Jeff Neubauer decided not to run for re-election in 1988, Plache, then a legislative aide for Neubauer, ran for the seat and won. She served in the state Assembly from 1988 to 1996. Plache recently served as a member of the Racine Unified School Board from 2009 to 2016. Aside from her time in elected office, Plache has served on the advisory board of University of Wisconsin-Parkside School of Business and Technology. Recently, John Dickert was chosen by the Evers administration to head the Division of State and Local Finance under Peter Barca, secretary-designee of the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. Dickert was a three-time mayor of Racine. Dickert tapped to serve with the state Department of Revenue MADISON Former Racine Mayor John Dickert is returning to public service, this time as Division of State and Local Finance administrator unde Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 RACINE Uptowns tangled red sculpture is showing its age; some edges are speckled with rust but in some places, particularly inside the artwork, whole stretches are more rust than paint. The sculpture was commissioned by former Mayor Gary Becker to herald a new era for the neighborhood as an arts district, a vision that quickly fell apart after Beckers arrest in 2009. Now, Visioning a Greater Racines revitalization team is reviving the dream of an arts district but on a smaller scale; instead of inviting artists across the country to flock to Uptown, they hope to beautify and revitalize the district through public art that also promotes local artists, creatives and influencers. Kristina Campbell, owner of The Branch, 1501 Washington Ave., is spearheading an initiative, along with the local nonprofit Visioning a Greater Racine, to show the sculpture some love. Its in pretty rough shape, she said. Plus it brings more color and beauty to the area, said Campbell. Who doesnt want that? The group is in the process of getting permission from the city to give the sculpture a much-needed fresh coat of paint as well as a swath of other beautification initiatives it has planned for this summer. Uptown arts The Last of Ike was bought by the city for $40,000 in 2009 using Community Development Block Grant funds from artist Nic Noblique, who had been living in Galveston, Texas when Hurricane Ike hit. Noblique was the artist former Mayor Gary Becker recruited to be Uptowns first residing artist as part of his plan to redevelop Uptown as an arts district. The plan fell apart after Beckers arrest and Noblique decided to pursue his art elsewhere. Noblique had told The Journal Times at that time that hed been particularly upset when he learned about Beckers charges of soliciting sex from whom Becker believed to be a 14-year-old girl but in reality was an undercover police officer. He was also not happy with the $400,000 residence at 1526 Washington Ave. that the city had offered to sell him that had no flooring, electricity or plumbing. On Tuesday, the Public Works and Services Committee reviewed Campbells request for permission to have the sculpture professionally powder coated by D&D Industrial Coatings, 1640 Racine St. The estimated cost would be $1,800 to $2,000 which VGR plans to raise. Since D&D would be removing and replacing the sculpture, City Engineer John Rooney recommended adding an agreement that would hold the city not liable during the process. The committee decided to send the amended proposal with a recommendation to approve to the full council. Its just the start of the initiative to bring life back to Uptown. The two best ways to bring back a community, according to Campbell, are art and food trucks. So far, they have raised about $2,000 for projects and once they receive final approval from the council, theyll start raising funds for the sculpture in particular. Those fundraising efforts paid artist Nicole Miller for the mural of a cardinal framed with teal shapes and black lines at 1347 Washington Ave. Campbell and Brianna Wright, social media manager with Real Racine (the countys tourism promotion agency) and co-founder of Whats Up Racine, plan to commission more murals from local artists. Theres also a community art project, starting next week, that will allow Racinians to paint a 12-inch by 12-inch thatll be incorporated into a public mural. Four dates are scheduled at The Branch between May 22 and 31, tickets will include one drink and the funds will go toward other art projects. Across the street from The Branch, windows of vacant and neglected properties have been filled with prints of photographs by Racine-area artists. Food trucks As for the food trucks, the Milwaukee Food Truck Tour set up shop in the city lot behind The Branch on Wednesday, giving Racinians a change to to chow down on everything from African curry to fancy grilled cheese, smoked barbecue and freshly fried donuts. The Food Truck Tour is scheduled for return visits from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on June 5, July 31, Sept. 4 and Oct. 2. Love 1 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. MILWAUKEE A Wisconsin woman whose eviction proceeding was dismissed should be granted her request to remove her record from an online public access system, the states Appeals Court said Thursday. The opinion overrules a lower court decision that denied Denice Morgans petition to have her record removed from the Wisconsin Circuit Court Access site. She argued that having her name online, even though the record noted her eviction cases dismissal, could threaten her ability to find housing in the future. Bill Lueders, who heads the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, called the decision unfortunate. All of this is predicated on the notion that landlords are not smart enough or decent enough to make rational decisions about the information that they see on WCCA, he said. The idea that an eviction that is dismissed has to be kept from public view so that a landlord cant find out about it is troubling. What else cant we know? Morgan only requested that her case not be accessible online. It would remain available physically in the circuit courts office. Still, Lueders said the appeals court ruling was concerning because its part of a pattern, noting that last year the director of state courts removed cases from online access if two years had passed since their dismissal. The Dane County Circuit Court had agreed with Morgans argument that her online record of an eviction proceeding could be harmful to her future housing prospects, but said it lacked the authority to make the redaction. The Appeals Court disagreed with the lower courts rationale and directed it to grant Morgans request. Morgans landlord, who initiated eviction proceedings in July, did not object to redacting it from the court website. The case was dismissed Sept. 10. Wisconsin lawmakers are currently considering a bill that would broaden eligibility for the expungement of records for people convicted of certain crimes, including some felonies, if the maximum prison punishment is six years or less. The bill also would expand eligibility by allowing people who were older than 25 when they committed a crime to request expungement. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Tunisian government said it is expecting 9 million tourists in 2019. About 2 million people had visited the country as of May 10, 24% up from last year. The country seeks to attract 1 million French tourists, 640,000 Russian tourists, and 390,000 German tourists this season. Last month, the Minister of Tourism Rene Trabelsi said that the huge turnover of traditional European markets and the increase in applications to the Tunisian destinations were the reasons behind the promising results at the beginning of this season. In North Africa, Algeria came first with around 496,000 Algerians visiting Tunisia by end of last March while 473,000 Libyans had Tunisia as their destination, around 32.2 percent increase. Tourism revenues jumped in 2018 to $1.36 billion as the country saw the arrival of a record 8.3 million visitors, according to data from the tourism ministry. For many across the country, the economic situation has gotten worse, not better, since the uprising that toppled Tunisias long-time president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011. The National Institute of Statistics put the unemployment rate in Tunisia at 15.2 percent in 2015, the year the country last conducted a national census. MADISON Republicans on the Legislatures budget-writing committee voted for more money for the Wisconsin Technical College System but not as much as what Democrats and the colleges requested. The $25 million in new funding approved by the Joint Finance Committee was more than the $18 million Democratic Gov. Tony Evers initially proposed in his 2019-21 budget plan. On Wednesday, Evers requested that lawmakers tack an additional $18 million onto the budget to fully fund the colleges request because Wisconsin is set to collect $753 million more in tax revenue than previously estimated, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau released Wednesday. The Democratic proposal failed on a party-line vote. Democrats argued fully funding the technical colleges in this budget cycle would begin to make up for deep cuts made during former Republican Gov. Scott Walkers tenure. In the 2011-13 budget biennium, lawmakers cut 30 percent of state money from the technical colleges, from $119 million to $83.5 million. In the three budget cycles since then, the colleges received one 6% funding increase, or about $5 million. State Rep. Evan Goyke, D-Milwaukee, said the data show the damage and cuts that have been done. Republicans agreed with Democrats on the valuable role technical colleges serve in training the states workers and the success those colleges have had in graduation and job placement rates. But fully funding the agencys request would not be fiscally responsible when other agency requests are also taken into account, they said. There is a balance to be had, said state Rep. Shannon Zimmerman, R-River Falls. And there is a responsibility that we have to not go to that well too often or in too great of a way because the harm can be irreparable. The $25 million boost passed 11-4, also on party lines. Meeting demand Technical colleges spokesman Conor Smyth said the money would allow colleges to address local needs they have identified, such as adding course sections for high-demand programs such as nursing or creating new curriculum and programming in response to local employers needs. Madison Area Technical College President Jack Daniels said in an interview that the money will help MATC expand dual-credit course offerings for high school students to earn college credit and increase capacity for high-demand apprenticeship programs, such as construction, electrical and plumbing. He also said some of the money will go toward student support services, such as advising and counseling, which can be particularly helpful for communities in south Madison where access has been traditionally limited. What are we going to provide so those student are retained and stay in those programs? Daniels said. Thats what those wraparound services will do. The request still requires approval from the full Legislature and Evers. If enacted on time, the budget will take effect July 1. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 - Senate President Tito Sotto said that it is possible that death penalty could be passed in the new Senate - However, he said that it could be for high drug traffickers only - Most of the incoming senators are in favor of bringing back the capital punishment PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed Senate President Vicente Tito Sotto III said that the passage of death penalty could possibly happen in the new Senate. However, KAMI learned that it could be a punishment for one case only. Its a possibility now because nadagdag nga yung pro-death penalty, he said in a press briefing, as reported by the Inquirer (author Maila Ager). Pero sino bomoto sa kanila? Yung mga tao. Di ba alam nila yung mga pro-death at hindi? Sotto added. The Senate President said that there is also a possibility that all 13 senators could vote in favor of reclusion perpetua for drug traffickers only. In the new Senate, theres a possibility of 13, no? For high drug trafficking alone, he said. 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! As reported by the CNN Philippines (author Xave Gregorio), reelectionist senators Cynthia Villar, Sonny Angara, and Koko Pimental are in favor of the capital punishment. Meanwhile, former senators Pia Cayetano, Bong Revilla, and Lito Lapid also expressed their support of the death penalty. Former PNP chief Bato dela Rosa who is poised to become a senator already said during his campaign that the first thing he would work on in the Senate was to bring back the death penalty. KAMI reported before that Sotto also said during the press briefing that he believed that the elections are credible and those who think otherwise should present their evidence. Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news! A Little Bit Silly, But Extremely Hilarious Random Pranks! How would you react if there is a barker at an escalator? Check out all of our videos on KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel Source: KAMI.com.gh Task force recommends university officials be picked on merit basis A government task force has recommended that officials in universities be appointed on merit basis after proper evaluation of different leadership qualities, which, if implemented, will ensure a major departure from the long-standing practice of political appointments. Couleecap, Inc. and The Bangor Business Club have welcomed Woodchuck Woods and Gifts, a new downtown business. Woodchuck Woods and Gifts is a veteran-owned business. It received business development support from Couleecap, including a Pop Up Shop grant in 2018, which allows business owners to test their business model in a retail space before signing a long-term lease, and a small business loan. These programs are designed to help entrepreneurs with moderate to low income realize their dream of owning a business. In addition, opportunities for entrepreneurial support are available to individuals at all income levels. Couleecap, along with community action organizations throughout Wisconsin, celebrates Community Action Month each May. The Bangor Business Club is a collective of business owners that supports local business and sponsors various events to help market area businesses. Woodchuck Woods and Gifts creates handmade, antique style wooden toys, custom made home decor, lawn furniture and patio sets, personalized gifts, and more. Find more information at https://www.facebook.com/WoodchuckWoodsandGifts/. For more information about the Pop Up Shop program, contact Aaron Reimler at aaron.reimler@couleecap.org, or go to www.couleeco.com to learn more about Couleecaps entrepreneurial support. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 A La Farge woman was injured in a a two-vehicle crash, Tuesday, May 14, on State Hwy. 82, east of La Farge in the town of Stark. At 8:10 a.m., the Vernon County Sheriff's Office received a 9-1-1 call reporting the crash. According to the Sheriff's Office, Kendra J. Ravet, 25, was traveling west on State Hwy. 82. Ravet started to make a left turn onto a field road. Kenneth Markham, 70, of Elkhorn, and his passenger Michael Zibell, 67, of Cambridge, were also traveling west on State Hwy. 82 in a pickup truck pulling a stock trailer with three horses. Markam's vehicle struck Ravet's vehicle. Both vehicles came to rest in the eastbound lane. Both Markham and Zibell were wearing their seat belts at the time of the crash. Ravet was not wearing a seat belt. Ravet was transported by ambulance to Gundersen health St. Jospeh's for minor injuries. The horses were not injured during the crash. The La Farge Fire Department, La Farge EMS and Hillsboro Police Department assisted at the scene. The accident remain under investigation by the Sheriff's Office. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The Affordable Care Act, signed into law in March 2010, contained an enormously important provision that would expand Medicaid eligibility to adults with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. Wisconsin is one of only 14 states that have turned down the infusion of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funds to support that expansion. Former Gov. Scott Walker first rejected the federal Medicaid expansion in 2014, a move that has cost state government more than $1 billion, according to the Legislature's budget office. Currently, Republican leaders in Wisconsin plan to strip the renewed Medicaid expansion proposal from Gov. Tony Evers budget. Gov. Evers counters that he will fight like hell to keep the Medicaid expansion in the budget in order to free up $320 million in state funding over two years to allow investment in other state programs and needs. A Marquette University Law School poll conducted just last month found that 70 percent of Wisconsinites support the Medicaid expansion and the acceptance of federal funds, which would mean health coverage for about 80,000 more people and a savings of hundreds of millions of dollars. Clearly, Republican leaders attempting to defeat the Medicaid expansion are not listening to the people of Wisconsin. Please help Gov. Evers by contacting your state legislators and letting them know that the Medicaid expansion will be good for Wisconsin by reducing the uninsured rate, increasing available state funds, and producing jobs in the health care sector. Marilyn Martin, Richland Center Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Mayo Clinic Health System has appointed Michael A. Morrey as regional head of administration for southwest Wisconsin, a position Morrey has held in the interim since the January retirement of former Joe Kruse. Morrey, who will work with Dr. Paul Mueller, will continue to lead operations in northwest Wisconsin until a replacement there is found. It has been truly humbling and an honor to be able to serve the patients, families, communities and staff of the Chippewa Valley, Morrey said. Im looking forward to serving our patients, families and communities in the La Crosse region and working with Dr. Mueller and the fantastic team in La Crosse and southwest Wisconsin. Morrey previously held leadership positions at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and served as vice president of operations for Childrens Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota. He holds a doctorate and masters degree in kinesiology from the University of Minnesota and a bachelors degree in psychology from St. Johns University in Collegeville, Minn. Emily Pyrek can be reached at emily.pyrek@lee.net. Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. U.S. Rep. Ron Kind, D-La Crosse, said Friday tariffs on steel and aluminum imports are getting in the way of Congress taking up a new trade agreement with Mexico and Canada. Vice President Mike Pence called on Kind to work with his colleagues in Congress to pass the United States-Mexico-Canada agreement during a visit to Wisconsin Thursday. However, Kind said the USMCA is stuck because of the ongoing trade war. The steel and aluminum tariffs that President Trump applied against Mexico and Canada have invited retaliatory tariffs on soybeans and dairy as well as other goods manufactured in Wisconsin, and has been devastating for family farmers, Kind said. Until those tariffs get lifted, I dont see a path forward with this new trade agreement because the war the president has started is doing irreversible damage, Kind said. No one wins a tariff war. It only gets worse. Two dairy farms per day went out of business in 2018, and so far, that number has increased to three per day in Wisconsin in 2019. The state has also seen a record number of farm bankruptcies and an increase in the rate of farmer suicides during the past year. Not that the trade war is the sole cost, but its piling on. Its contributing to that and depressing dairy prices more and forcing our farmers out of business, Kind said. So, Ive been clear to the vice president and to [U.S. Trade Representative] Bob Leithauser, that has got to get resolved, otherwise trying to move forward on this new USMCA trade agreement just isnt going to happen. The USMCA was signed by heads of state in November, but both parliaments in Canada and Mexico have been clear that they do not intend to move forward to ratify the agreement until the steel and aluminum tariffs are lifted, Kind said. U.S. Congress isnt moving forward with the USMCA in part because of the tariffs but also because the body wants to ensure better enforceability language in regard to worker rights is included in the agreement, he said. Theres also concern in Congress about access to affordable drugs that wasnt adequately addressed in the trade agreement. All of this has been made perfectly clear to the presidents trade team, that these concerns are being raised, Kind said. Were waiting to see whether the administration can accommodate those concerns. Mexico was the number one export market for U.S. dairy before tariffs imposed on steel and aluminum imports, but weve lost that now because of the presidents trade war, Kind said. However, Kind does see the USMCA as an opportunity to improve NAFTA, which has been in place since 1994 and did not have a chapter for labor rights, the elevation of environmental standards or a strong enforceability chapter to use if one of the member countries were to violate the agreement. Mexico was required to reform its labor laws under the USMCA, which parliament acted on in April. Now, Congress is watching to see how well those new labor laws are implemented, Kind said. But the La Crosse congressmans counterparts in both Canada and Mexico were clear that they wont move forward until the tariffs are lifted. It would be helpful if the vice president was playing a more active role in trying to resolve that issue rather than just going out to the countryside talking about the merits of the new USMCA trade agreement, because he knows full well that theres many of us in Congress that want to see resolution to those tariffs first, Kind said. For the vice president to be out there touting the USMCA, without having an answer to the damage thats being done currently with these steel and aluminum tariffs, I think is a bit foolhardy, Kind said. The president agreed to lift tariffs early Friday afternoon on steel and aluminum against Canada and Mexico, according to a report from the Washington Post. (T)he trade war is ... depressing dairy prices more and forcing our farmers out of business. ...(T)hat has got to get resolved, otherwise trying to move forward on this new USMCA trade agreement just isnt going to happen. U.S. Rep. Ron Kind Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 FORT McCOY Vice President Mike Pence visited Fort McCoy Thursday during a trip to Wisconsin to promote a U.S. trade agreement with Mexico and Canada. He spoke to a crowd of a few hundred soldiers and civilians at the base while flanked by heavily armored military vehicles, some of which are designated for IED recovery in war zones. In attendance were Army reservists, who give up free time to train at the base during long weekends to prepare in case of deployment, such as a police officer in Polk County who dons a camouflage-colored uniform on the weekend and an IT specialist who focuses on cloud security during the week and trains to secure the nation on the weekend. I stand before you today on behalf of your commander in chief and a grateful nation to pay a debt of honor and a debt of respect to each and every one of you, the vice president said during his speech. Pence began his Wisconsin visit in Eau Claire at J&D Manufacturing, an industrial supplier and manufacturer, where he took part in a roundtable discussion with local business leaders. What I heard today is the time has come for the USMCA to be passed, Pence said during a post-speech press conference. Thats why we came here. Congressman Ron Kind has supported trade throughout his career. So I wanted to be here in Wisconsin to encourage him to come out for USMCA. Pence called on U.S. Rep. Ron Kind, D-La Crosse, to take a stand for manufacturing and farming in Wisconsin and to work with his colleagues in Congress to introduce the U.S.-Mexico-Canada-Agreement on the House floor. He said he is confident that if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., introduces the trade agreement to Congress, it will pass both the House and Senate. We believe in having free and fair trade with our neighbors to the north and south, Pence said. Its absolutely vital to our continued prosperity, so I came here to the heartland to make it clear that the time has come for Congress to pass the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Key components of the USMCA include the expansion of market access for American food and agricultural products, the elimination of a program that allows low-priced dairy ingredients to undersell U.S. dairy products in Canada, and market access for certain cheese names, among others, according to the office of the United States Trade Representative. The trade agreement among the U.S., Canada and Mexico, often referred to as a renegotiation of NAFTA, was signed in November by heads of state but has yet to be implemented. Love 0 Funny 4 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus A.Dapkiunas participates in the high-level conference on combating terrorism in Tajikistan 17-05-2019 On May 16-17, 2019 in Dushanbe, the Belarusian delegation headed by the Deputy Foreign Minister, Andrei Dapkiunas, took part in the high-level conference International and regional cooperation in countering terrorism and its financing through illicit drug trafficking and organized crime organized by the Government of Tajikistan in cooperation with the UN, EU and OSCE. In his statement, A.Dapkiunas informed about the efforts of Belarus in the area of countering the financing of terrorism, stressed the need to strengthen to enhance regional cooperation with a view to strengthening global anti-terrorist coalition. Special attention was paid to the importance of using new and emerging technologies to more effectively respond to the risks and threats of modern manifestations of terrorism. In this regard, the Deputy Minister drew attention to the high-level international conference on the subject of combating terrorism through innovative approaches and the use of new and emerging technologies, which Belarus organizes jointly with the United Nations in Minsk in September 2019. On the margins of the conference, A.Dapkiunas met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan, Sirojiddin Muhriddin, and the Under Secretary-General of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism, Vladimir Voronkov. At the meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan, A.Dapkiunas noted the high level of organization of the Conference at Dushanbe, as well as impressive circle of its participants. Tajik and Belarusian diplomats discussed ways for further improvement of cooperation between the two countries in order to promote more effective multilateral international cooperation in countering the global terrorist threat. S.Muhriddin and A.Dapkiunas discussed issues of preparation for the official visit of the President of Tajikistan to Belarus. The Deputy Head of the Foreign Ministry of Belarus and the Head of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism emphasized the importance of strengthening coordination of the national efforts of the UN States Parties in combating terrorism. As a practical measure to facilitate such coordination, the sides discussed the possibility of preparing a list of national coordinators of the UN States Parties in the field of fighting against terrorism. At the meeting with the Deputy Secretary General for Common Security and Defence Policy and Crisis Response of the European External Action Service of the European Union and crisis response of the European external action service, the Deputy Minister stressed the important role of the EU and the European countries during the elaboration of effective collective international strategy to combat terrorism and invited representatives of the relevant EU structures to participate actively in the Minsk International Conference on Counter-Terrorism to be held in 2019. print version Not a single University of Wisconsin campus requires students to receive the measles vaccine, and just one of the 13 campuses requires students to submit immunization records. That means most campuses are unable to say what percentage of their student population is protected from measles, which has recently spread across the country at a rate not seen in 25 years and is called one of the most contagious viral diseases by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Roughly three-fourths of students attending UW campuses are from Wisconsin, where state law already requires K-12 students to show that they have received the required immunizations, though individuals who object to being immunized because of personal or moral beliefs can request an exemption. Campus health officials can also use the states Immunization Registry to look up an individual students vaccination records. Having a complete set of vaccination records, including those for students from out of state, would help officials more quickly pinpoint who is and isnt immune in the case of an outbreak, experts say. Campuses should require students to submit immunization records, said Richard Zimmerman, a vaccine and immunization expert with the University of Pittsburghs Department of Family Medicine. Changing campus policy on the measles vaccine from a recommendation to a requirement would also increase compliance, he said. Vaccination records State law requires students living in a residence hall to confirm whether they have received meningococcal disease and Hepatitis B vaccinations and also to provide dates of those immunizations, but no other state laws exist regarding immunization records on campuses. UW-La Crosse is the only campus of the 13 surveyed by the Wisconsin State Journal that requires students to submit immunization records. The university implemented an electronic tracking system this year that allows officials to send reminders to students who have not submitted their paperwork, according to Abigail Deyo, interim director and medical supervisor for UW-La Crosses student health center. UW-La Crosse students in the masters in public health program studied vaccination rates of incoming students in fall 2018 and found 98% had received two doses of the measles vaccine, she said. A handful of other campuses had estimates of their student populations vaccination rate, though all acknowledged the rate was based only on the records available to them. At UW-Oshkosh, about 79% of survey respondents reported receiving the measles vaccine, said interim student health director Angela Hawley. But only 13% of the student population responded to the survey. UW-Milwaukee campus health officer Julie Bonner said the student population, in general, is at or above 90 percent, based on records available. With a very large population, we dont have access to every single vaccination record, she said. Bill Kinsey, medical director for UW-Madisons University Health Services, said about 90% of students on that campus submitted immunization records. Of those, about 90% have been vaccinated, according to records, which are a few years old. At UW-Platteville, officials reviewed about 300 records from students who visited the health services center in March 2019, said Rachel Herman, Student Health Services administrative director. Of those records, 76% were Wisconsin residents, which officials then cross-referenced with the states immunization registry to find that 96% had received at least one dose of the vaccine and 88% were fully immunized. The eight other campuses Green Bay, Eau Claire, Parkside, River Falls, Stevens Point, Stout, Superior and Whitewater said their student vaccination rate was either not available or not tracked. Herd immunity rate At least 95 percent of a population needs to be immunized to provide what is known as herd immunity to those who are not vaccinated, according to the state Department of Health Services. CDC data show that Wisconsin has failed to reach that level in every year since 1996, though 2011 came close at 94.9%. The lowest was 89.3% in 2012. The data represent the percentage of children between 19 and 35 months-old who received at least one dose of the measles vaccine. Different campuses rely on different herd immunity rates. UW-Madison officials said 85% to 95% of a population should be vaccinated, citing a subscription-based, real-time database provider as their source. UW-Whitewater and UW-River Falls said it should be 90% to 95%. UW-La Crosse, UW-Parkside, UW-Platteville and UW-Eau Claire deferred to the World Health Organization, which says 93% to 95% of a population should be vaccinated. Recommendation or requirement? All UW campuses recommend students receive the measles vaccine. Campus health services directors met Friday in Whitewater to discuss a range of topics, including measles. System spokesman Mark Pitsch declined to say Friday whether University of Wisconsin System officials are considering changing any policies related to measles vaccines. But he noted the Board of Regents existing health policy states that protecting the health of a campus requires a robust institutional public health surveillance infrastructure that will address communicable disease surveillance/prevention through disease identification and reporting, epidemiologic investigations, screening programs, immunization programs, and plans/procedures for quickly responding to disease outbreak situations. UW-Madison is considering changing its recommendation to be a requirement. UW-Eau Claire Student Health Service director Laura Chellman said the measles vaccine recommendation is an ongoing topic of discussion among campuses. Deyo, of UW-La Crosse, said she would personally love to make this a requirement, but that would be difficult without a state statute. Many other states have laws requiring vaccinations at the college level, said Bonner, of UW-Milwaukee. Should Wisconsin? I think that would certainly be worth a discussion, Bonner said. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 This week, Wisconsin and the nation observe National Police Week and Peace Officers Memorial Day in remembrance of law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty. In 2018 alone, 163 fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and loved ones lost their lives serving as a police officer across the country. Wisconsin lost two of its officers in 2018 a somber reminder of the ultimate sacrifice these men and women give to protect our communities and our families. It may be difficult to believe, but currently in Wisconsin, if you are a law enforcement officer and are killed in the line of duty, your spouse and children lose their health insurance benefits. Thats a traumatic fact and a cold reality for a family that just experienced the worst day of their lives. In 2009, Wisconsin passed a law requiring municipalities to continue to provide health insurance coverage for surviving spouses and children of firefighters who died in the line of duty. Unfortunately, law enforcement was not included in the legislation. This week, bipartisan legislation was introduced by state Sens. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, and Janet Bewley, D-Mason, and state Reps. John Spiros, R-Marshfield, and Steve Doyle, D-Onalaska, that would provide the same benefits that firefighters and those in the military receive if killed on duty. In many Wisconsin cases, these fallen officers are providers for a family, a family that depends on the income and benefits provided by the officers position. When these officers are lost, the family can struggle to not only make up for the loss of a loved one, but a loss of their basic needs as well. The Wisconsin Chiefs of Police Association, along with a broad coalition of public safety professionals, including; the Badger State Sheriffs Association, County Law Enforcement Professionals of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Professional Police Association, Wisconsin Sheriffs and Deputy Sheriffs Association, and the Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin, are encouraging legislators to sign onto the proposal. The coalition members are asking elected officials a simple question: If you Back the Badge, why not back their spouse and kids? Similar legislation was introduced in previous legislative sessions and had wide bipartisan support, but did not get signed into law. The public safety coalition hopes to have this common-sense legislation signed into law this session. Though this legislation will only impact a few families each year, it allows law enforcement the assurance that if something did happen, their families would not have the added stress of worrying about insurance while they are saying their final goodbyes. In an age where new officer recruiting classes are getting smaller every year, it is time that the state officially show strong support for the officers, as well as the loved ones who share a commitment to our societys well-being. Sean M. Marschke is president of the Wisconsin Chiefs of Police Association of Wisconsin, a statewide organization representing top local law enforcement in more than 700 communities across the state. He if chief of police in Sturtevant. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 0 BARNEVELD, Wis. Fred Casper of Westby was presented the 2018 Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Ethical Hunter Award Thursday by Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Chief Warden Todd Schaller. Casper undertook several ethical acts by seeing that a large-antlered buck shot at by a hunter near land Casper leases for deer hunting in Vernon County eventually ended up with the hunter. Caspers son, David Casper, who nominated his father, said, My dad could have easily said, Yes thats my buck, but thats not the type of person Fred Casper is, David said. After the archer shot the eight-point buck, he lost the blood trail. It wasnt until a week later that a neighbor found the buck dead in a small stream on his land. Although the body was decomposing and had been partially consumed by scavengers, the skull and antlers, still attached, were in good condition. Even though I do not know Fred Casper personally, I certainly applaud his ethical decisions by not claiming the buck for himself and helping to make sure the antlers were given to the hunter who shot it, said Bob Lamb, one of four selection committee members. Schaller said, Mr. Casper's actions demonstrate an ethical belief beyond his own experience, and how he could help another hunter. Steve Dewald, retired DNR warden said, While some hunters view the hunt as a competition for the largest trophy, ethical hunters remember that we all have a responsibility to hunt in a manner that reflects positively on the tradition of hunting. Taking the time to help another hunter recover a large buck was a generous act that will likely be remembered by these hunters for the rest of their lives. The DNR Ethical Hunter award was created in 1997 by Lamb, Dewald and outdoors writer Jerry Davis, all of whom remain selection committee members along with Schaller. Nominations for the 2019 award are due Jan. 15 and can be sent to Warden Schaller, any committee member or any Wisconsin DNR field warden. Any Wisconsin hunter, of any age, and participating directly or indirectly hunting any game species, is eligible. Learn more about the nomination process and the award by contacting any committee member or Wisconsin conservation warden. This year's award was presented at the headquarter of Vortex Optics, which has been a corporate sponsor of the award the past three years, gifting the states ethical hunter several items from its line of rifle scopes, binoculars, and range finders. Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Your tax-deductible gift today powers our reporters and keeps us independent. We rely on you, our reader, not paywalls to stay funded because we believe important news and information should be freely accessible to all. Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe Los Angeles declared a homeless shelter crisis in April 2018. Shortly after, City Council President Herb Wesson was the first councilmember to step forward with a plan to bring bridge housing to his 10th District. The Koreatown neighborhood was poised to lead the way for the rest of the city. Roughly a year later, after fierce protests from an outraged Korean community, threats to recall the long-serving councilman, a walk-back from the original plan (aka moving it out of Koreatown) and months of studying, bridge housing in District 10 is finally taking shape. And that shape is quite boxy. Draft designs for one of the recently approved shelters -- dubbed "Hope at Lafayette" -- obtained by LAist show a plan to build living spaces out of shipping containers, enough to house 70 people. The new emergency homeless shelter will fill the lower triangle at Lafayette Park bordered by Wilshire Boulevard, Hoover Street and South Lafayette Park Place. (Courtesy HBG Steel/Azria Home) Technically speaking, the future bridge housing site is part of the Westlake neighborhood, though it's just outside the border of Koreatown. Adding to the confusion, three neighborhood council districts -- Rampart Village, Wilshire Center / Koreatown and MacArthur Park -- all share jurisdiction over Lafayette Park. Peter DeMaria, project architect and creative design director for HBG Steel/Azria Home, said the goal is to create a shelter that will serve the entire community -- both the people struggling with homelessness and the neighborhood residents that have stepped up in support. "When I made the presentation to the folks there in Koreatown, we didn't know what we were walking into," DeMaria told LAist. "I know there was a previous proposal and... it didn't go so well. That might be the understatement of the year." But the architect said he was encouraged by the positive reception from residents. "We can provided all these nice renderings and designs, but these people have been receptive to it and that in and of itself is commendable," he said. The housing units will be constructed from about 35 containers, or "steel modules" as DeMaria calls them, since they're really a hybrid of a traditional steel container and more traditional building materials, which are used inside. The units will be built almost entirely off-site before being "delivered and placed on the foundation" at the park. (Courtesy HBG Steel/Azria Home) The site will also include a pet area, bathrooms, offices, storage for people's belongings and outdoor dining space. The entire shelter is "designed to be relocated if it has to be," DeMaria said. DeMaria's firm also designed and will put together a second bridge housing site in Wesson's district, which was approved for the parking lot at his office in the Harvard Heights / Arlington Heights area. That shelter, at 1819 S. Western Ave., is set to house women and children with up to 18 beds. About $1.5 million has been alloted for the project, according to District 10 spokesman Michael Tonetti. The Lafayette Park site will cost approximately $5.5 million and is expected to open in the fall, according to a spokesperson from Wesson's office. Although city officials have marketed this and other bridge housing projects to residents with the understanding that they'll operate for no more than three years, a district official noted that it is possible the shelter could remain in place longer. "It will be up to the community and next (District 10) Councilmember," the official said. MAP: Where Bridge Housing Is Being Proposed, Approved And Opened In LA This concept art shows plans to feature portraits of the community's "unsung heroes" at the approved emergency homeless shelter in the parking lot of Herb Wesson's distriict office on Western Avenue in Harvard Heights. (Courtesy HBG Steel/Azria Home) It's obvious that several communities have a stake in the project. That's something DeMaria said the site will pay tribute to at both shelters in the form of art. Space for large portraits are planned above each housing unit's doorway. The plan is to feature images of "unsung heroes" in the community that are making a difference, he explained. (Courtesy HBG Steel/Azria Home) Large towers made from stacked shipping containers are planned for two corners of the site, featuring multi-story, public-facing portraits. Concept renderings depicted Charlie Chaplin as "The Tramp" (DeMaria said he was inspired by how the 1915 silent film humanized its homeless main character) as well as Olympic gold medalist and Southern California native Chloe Kim. The development firm has another homeless housing project underway in the Westlake district, where they're building a permanent 84-unit apartment complex from shipping containers. DeMaria said creating physical shelters is the easy part; the more important goal is building something intangible -- a sense of hope. "I think we have a larger responsibility where not only do we shelter folks -- we've got to give them an opportunity to grow, to develop... to move beyond that place that we've created," he said. "We're hoping that's what it's doing, besides just giving them a place to sleep at night." Reporter Josie Huang contributed to this story. Your tax-deductible gift today powers our reporters and keeps us independent. We rely on you, our reader, not paywalls to stay funded because we believe important news and information should be freely accessible to all. Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe More and more community college students are facing homelessness, and as state leaders learn more about the breadth of the problem, they face difficult decisions on how best to address it. A recent study found that nearly 1 in 5 students in the state's community college system face housing insecurity. Many of them, like Cypress College student Selina Jaimes Davila, have found refuge in their cars. "I knew... that it was a sacrifice that I had to make. If I wanted to be successful, if I wanted to graduate, if I wanted to transfer, if I wanted to get educated," she said. Jaimes Davila, 24, has been homeless twice in the five and a half years since she first enrolled in ultrasound classes at the north Orange County community college. Her story helps to illustrate just how precarious the situation can be for students living on the edge. The first time she experienced homelessness, Jaimes Davila and her mother slept in her mother's minivan in the Lynwood area. It would take her a couple of hours on the bus to get to campus. Then mother and daughter rented a room in a home, but Jaimes Davila left after one of the adults in the house made her feel unsafe. She moved out and began sleeping in her 2002 Honda -- her "Hondita," as she calls it. "I used to sleep in the backseat -- and then as you could see, it's not that big," she said. "I was always like, in a little ball." She didn't want to quit Cypress College. She'd started taking mechanical engineering classes and earned good grades. She thought she had found her career. So for two and a half months, Jaimes Davila used campus bathrooms and showers during the day, stayed on campus until the library closed, and then drove around Cypress to find quiet residential streets where she could park overnight. Fear and early sunlight meant she only slept a maximum of four hours on most nights. Jaimes Davila is currently renting a room across the street from where she used to park her car -- but that's only a temporary solution. She's transferring in the fall to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where she'll be faced again with high housing costs -- and possibly returning to sleeping in her car. College student Selina Jaimes Davila relied on her 2002 Honda when she became homeless. (Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/LAist) It's only in the last few months that California community college leaders have begun to find out how many of their students share experiences similar to Jaimes Davila. A survey of California community colleges by the Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice released in March found that nearly one in five students systemwide reported being homeless or having trouble finding a place to live. The numbers were the first such hard data for the 114-campus college system, but there had long been evidence that low-income community college students often struggle with the costs of housing, transportation, and other expenses. Many end up dropping out. Bay Area Assemblyman Marc Berman introduced a bill in January that would require community colleges to open their parking lots at night so their homeless students can sleep in their cars. Berman said students would be safer and would be offered help. The bill, AB 302, passed the Assembly's appropriations committee on Thursday and is expected to be taken up by the full Assembly by the end of this month. "This bill is the next logical step in helping our homeless students," he said at a news conference last month. Still, Berman said the bill is not a long-term fix to the problem of housing insecurity among the state's college students. In a written statement on Thursday, he said the state must also "work towards the long-term goal of building much more housing across the state," but in the short term, "we must do everything we can to alleviate the fear and suffering that these students are facing tonight." As the bill has made its way through Sacramento, some college leaders criticized its potential costs. A state analysis estimated the bill would cost community colleges a total of between $11 million and $36 million. "It's perceived as a Band-Aid approach to a very significant issue that requires a multi-pronged, comprehensive approach," said Larry Galizio, president of the Community College League of California. The group represents community college presidents and board members. Galizio says Sacramento is already considering more financial aid for low-income students, and some colleges are already working with city leaders to help homeless students. Some local jurisdictions have also expressed concerns over security. Cypress College President JoAnna Schilling had drafted her own plan, apart from AB 302, for overnight parking for homeless students, but she shelved it after hearing opposition from Cypress city council members and the city manager. "There was concern that it would be non-students that would be trying to sleep in our parking lot," she said. The campus of Cypress College. (Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/LAist) Schilling's plan and the state bill would require colleges to verify that only currently enrolled students would be allowed access to the lots during overnight hours and that there's adequate security. After hearing the objections from city leaders, she now says she's working with them on other ways to help students experiencing homelessness. Cypress Mayor Stacy Berry and the city manager, Peter Grant, did not respond to requests for comment. Meanwhile, Jaimes Davila is still dealing with housing insecurity. While she's found a room for now, she knows that housing costs in San Luis Obispo will be high when she transfers to Cal Poly in the fall. She's looking at loans and other ways to make sure she has enough money so she won't have to go back to sleeping in her car. For students in similar situations, she said, having a secure overnight spot in a campus parking lot would make a tremendous difference. "I would have gotten more hours of sleep" if that had been an option at Cypress. "I would have felt safer. I wouldn't have had to like... sneak around." Your tax-deductible gift today powers our reporters and keeps us independent. We rely on you, our reader, not paywalls to stay funded because we believe important news and information should be freely accessible to all. Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe Shelli and Irving Azoff, who stunned Angelenos by buying The Apple Pan earlier this year, have bought another classic Los Angeles restaurant. This time, they bought Nate'n Al Delicatessen from the Mendelson family, which has owned the restaurant since it opened in 1945. The old school Jewish deli has been threatened by development for years. The sale to the Azoffs has been in the works for a while, as have the rumors about it. A bagel with cream cheese, lox and tomatoes at Nate'n Al Delicatessen in Beverly Hills. (Nate'n Al Delicatessen/Facebook) In January, the city of Beverly Hills signed a lease with Circus Clowns LLC, a company backed by music exec Azoff, Beverly Press reports. They plan to move Nate'n Al from its current spot, at 414 N. Beverly Drive, around the corner to 443 N. Canon Drive, the space formerly occupied by Wolfgang's Steakhouse. Several other prominent Hollywood types nightlife entrepreneur Rande Gerber and his wife Cindy Crawford, NBCUniversal executive Jeff Shell, UTA's Jay Sures, real estate agent Mike Meldman have also been involved involved in the effort to save Nate'n Al, according to The Hollywood Reporter. An old photo of Nate'n Al Delicatessen in Beverly Hills. (Nate'n Al Delicatessen/Facebook) As with the Apple Pan, the Azoffs were longtime customers of Nate'n Al's . "Over the years, many potential buyers have expressed interest in us," said former co-owner Mark Mendelson in a press release. "Finding the right owners that value our staff, some whom have been with us for 30 to 42 years, as much as our brand was paramount and essential." According to the same press release, the Azoffs plan to keep Nate'n Al in Beverly Hills, holding onto the staff, brand and recipes info that squares with earlier rumors. The Mendelsons will help with the ownership transition and advise on business operations. Former President Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi has been fined a staggering Sh 1 billion for grabbing land. The High Court in Eldoret on Thursday ordered the retired head of State to pay the amount as compensation for illegally acquiring land belonging to Susan Cheburet Chelugui. Moi is required to pay the said amount to the 81-year-old widow and her son David Chelugui. The two are the next of kins to the original owner of the land, Noah Kipngeny Chelugui. In his ruling, Judge Anthony Ombwayo said acquisition of the 53 acres of land by the former president and Rai Plywood Limited, was done in an unlawful manner. Acquisition of the said properties by the 1st and 2nd respondents were arbitrary unconstitutional, irregular, unprocedural, tainted, a nullityab initio and therefore not worthy of any constitutional protection, ruled Ombwayo. The Judge further noted that the Sh.1 billion compensation is a commensurate compensation to the petitioners for the loss of their land through an unprocedural scheme. The 1st and 2nd respondents do pay and are hereby ordered to pay the estate of the Late Noah K. Chelugui the prompt payment in full of just and current market value of the said properties. Ms. Chelugui and David Chelugui had told the Court that Moi transferred their family land to himself in 2007; two years after the death of the family patriarch. Moi is then said to have sold the land to Rai Plywood Limited. The property Eldoret Municipality/Block 15/239(53 acres) which had gone to the Retired President Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi was subsequently sold by him (the Retired President) to the Rai Plywood (K) who have since taken possession, occupation, enjoyment and use of the said property, court documents read. The said land is located along the Uganda Road in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County. HUD Awards $492 Million to Help California Recover From 2018 Camp, Hill and Woolsey Wildfires The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded nearly $492 million to the State of California to support recovery efforts from the 2018 Camp, Hill and Woolsey Wildfires devastating communities in Butte, Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. This was part of nearly $1.5 billion awarded to support seven states in their recovery from major disasters that occurred last year, including Hurricane Michael, Hurricane Florence and flooding, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes in Hawaii. These funds are provided through HUDs Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) Program and will address seriously damaged housing, businesses and infrastructure in hard-hit areas of these states. The CDBG-DR Program requires grantees to develop thoughtful recovery plans informed by local residents. Learn more about CDBG-DR and the States role in long-term disaster recovery (en espanol). Last years disasters left damaged homes, businesses and infrastructure in their wake, said HUD Secretary Ben Carson. These recovery dollars will help the hardest-hit communities in these states and allow for residents to put their lives back together again. ADVERTISEMENT Wildfires in California are becoming deadlier, more widespread and more frequent, said HUD Regional Administrator Christopher Patterson. Through these targeted investments, HUD deepens its commitment to assisting communities recover and rebuild following some of the worst calamities in Californias history. On October 5, 2018, Public Law 115-254 was passed, providing $1.68 billion in CDBG-DR funding for disaster relief, long-term recovery, restoration of infrastructure and housing, and economic revitalization in the most impacted and distressed areas resulting from a major disaster declared in 2018. In addition to the funds being allocated today, HUD will allocate an additional $205 million later in the year following a comprehensive analysis of the recovery needs in American Samoa and the Northern Marianas. -more- L.A. County Approves $460 Million in Homeless Initiatives The five elected officials who govern Los Angeles County today approved $460 million in Measure H spending on homelessness, increasing their commitment to the problem in the face of a widely anticipated rise in the numbers of people without a permanent home. Prior to the vote, the Board of Supervisors gathered on the steps of the downtown Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration to underline the countys determination to find permanent solutions for thousands of people living in encampments on city streets and empty lots. The scale of this crisis is overwhelming, Supervisor Janice Hahn said. We cannot and will not accept this as the new normal. ADVERTISEMENT The results of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority point-in- time count of homelessness will not be publicly available until May 31, but all indications are that the trend will be up, perhaps dramatically. This is a deepening and dynamic crisis, Supervisor Mark Ridley- Thomas said. We are contending with serious head winds that threaten to hinder our progress, but we will not be deterred. Board members have pointed repeatedly in recent weeks to results from other counties, including a 43 percent reported jump in homelessness in Orange County. If you look at our neighboring counties, their growth in homelessness reported already is humongous and it will be way more than twice as much or even three times as much as what we will experience here, Supervisor Sheila Kuehl said. Even the lowest double digit increase in homelessness in Los Angeles County would mean another 5,000 people without housing. Last years count calculated 52,765 homeless individuals countywide, roughly half of whom were living in their cars, tents or other makeshift shelters. County officials said their multi-faceted approach is working, pointing to success in moving more than 14,000 people into permanent housing and more than double that number into crisis or bridge housing using Measure H funding. ADVERTISEMENT But more people are also falling into homelessness, leading the county to focus on economic drivers like rising rental rates and steady employment as part of the solution. People are struggling to find apartments and housing within their means, Supervisor Hilda Solis said, noting that nearly 60 percent of county residents live in rental housing. The county has put a 3 percent cap on rental increases in unincorporated areas and is backing statewide legislation to limit rents and prevent landlords from unjustly evicting tenants. But California voters rejected a 2018 proposal to give local governments more latitude to enact rent controls. The strategies proposed as part of the $460 million county plan are wide-ranging and include $92.8 million to strengthen the shelter system, $85.4 million for rapid re-housing and $77.3 million in rental subsidies. Millions of dollars will also be spent on staffing to reach out to and support homeless individuals. Phil Ansell, who oversees the countys homeless initiatives, said the county has mobilized roughly 800 outreach coordinators, most of whom work for community-based organizations. The most obvious metric of success of county programs would be a drop in homelessness, but that seems unlikely in the short term and the supervisors stressed the complexity of the problem and urged taxpayers to continue to back their work. I have said to my taxpayers, you are making a difference in individual lives. Now we have to work on prevention, because as more and more people fall for the first time into homelessness, we have to look at the causes, Kuehl said. But I think the taxpayers should be very pleased with the lives that theyve saved. Ansell said once people have the opportunity to access housing, they stay off the streets. Our data shows that well over 90 percent of formerly homeless adults and families who enter permanent supportive housing remain permanently housed after one year, Ansell said. Even more money than expected has been raised through the quarter-cent sales tax increase approved by voters in 2017. Putting all that money to work has proven challenging as both public and private sector providers work to ramp up capacity, but the county says that just $15 million of Measure H spending for the countys last fiscal year, or less than 5 percent of the total, went unspent and will be carried over to this year. The county expects to house 30,000 people in interim housing next year, a goal it fell short of this year. This is a massive undertaking and by all comparative standards our system has ramped up and expanded at a very quick rate, Ansell told the board. Ansell highlighted new initiatives for the coming year, including an employment task force and a jobs training program with stipends for 250 people. The board also approved motions to redirect $700,000 in funding to efforts to find housing and services for homeless community college students and another $600,000 to expand mobile shower facilities. What we know works, we need to get on it and we need to expand it, Solis said. Its not just Measure H dollars that fund the fight against homelessness. The county is also using significant funding from the Mental Health Services Act to pay for homeless initiatives linked to mental illness and substance abuse, for example. Supervisor Kathryn Barger emphasized the need to continue that support. It is our responsibility to help those who cannot, for whatever reason, seek assistance for themselves, she said. Combating this crisis is incredibly complicated work, but I continue to believe in the diverse and powerful strategies as we fund Measure H. Man Charged With Murder for Scooter Attack on Woman in Long Beach A man who allegedly used an electric scooter to fatally beat a 63-year-old woman on a residential street in Long Beach was charged today with murder. Amad Rashad Redding, 27, of Long Beach, was ordered to remain jailed in lieu of $2 million bail while awaiting arraignment May 29 at the Long Beach courthouse. Rosa Elena Hernandez was attacked Monday in the 3100 block of East 64th Street in broad daylight why remains unclear and was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police. ADVERTISEMENT Homicide detectives believe the suspect physically assaulted the victim and then proceeded to utilize a motorized scooter as a weapon during the assault, police said. The suspect was seen running westbound on 64th Street following the attack. About 4 hours later, detectives took Redding into custody after finding him at a convenience store in the area of Downey Avenue and Artesia Boulevard, a few blocks from the scene of the attack. Jared Otieno, the flamboyant businessman accused of being part of the fake gold scheme, will be detained for 7 more days pending investigations. Police had requested for 14 days, but senior principal magistrate Paul Mayova only granted them half of that. Jared is accused of obtaining Sh300 million fraudulently in the fake gold scheme. He was arrested on Wednesday night after police raided his palatial house in Karen. DCI George Kinoti termed Otieno and the others involved as harmful to the economy. He is part of a wider gang and we are still pursuing others. These people are harmful to the economy since they are selling what does not exist, he said. This is the second time Jared has been arrested in a fake gold con game, having been accused of the same in June 2017. He was also accused by a Venezuelan man of conning him Sh170 million. MAY 18 WLAC Open House Highlights $0 Tuition, Prep for $60K+ Careers & New Facilities Management Program A $0 Tuition program for incoming freshmen regardless of household income, career programs preparing students to make $60,000 or more annually on average, and degree programs tailored for working adults will be among the information sessions held at the free Open House at West Los Angeles College (West) on Saturday, May 18 from 9:30am to 1:00pm. For the activity schedule and to RSVP, visit www.WLAC.edu/Open-House . The community college in Culver City will also launch its new Facilities Management Certificate Program. The program is designed to help newcomers to the field understand the language and basic concepts of facility management (FM) as well as the facility managers role in tactical planning, scheduling and accomplishment of daily FM tasks. In addition to getting information on the certificate program, Open House attendees can hear from industry experts about the field, paid internships and FM career opportunities. By 2032, 50 percent of the existing facility management workforce will have retired, explained Diane Levine, Executive Director with the International Facilities Management Association (IFMA) Foundation. There is a tremendous need for skilled facilities managers. She continued, In 2016 there were 3,200 facilities manager job openings in Southern California with as few as 30 individuals who had completed formal training for the available positions. ADVERTISEMENT West, IFMA, the IFMA Foundation and California Community Colleges DOING WHAT MATTERS, have come together to launch this Facilities Management Certificate program in Los Angeles in Fall 2019. The goal is to engage students and employers to address the shortfall of qualified facility managers in the state. The curriculum for this two-course, industry-recognized certificate is overseen by an advisory board of industry and education leaders. Included in the colleges certificate program is IFMAs industry-certified Essentials of Facilities Management (EoFM) online modules and certificate program. IFMAs curriculum ensures that certificate earners understand the language and basic concepts of facility Management (FM) as well as the facility managers role in the tactical planning, scheduling and accomplishment of daily FM tasks. Facility management is an interdisciplinary business function that coordinates space, infrastructure, people and organization. It is often associated with the administration of office properties, arenas, schools, universities, sporting complexes, convention centers, shopping complexes, hospitals, hotels, manufacturing and shipping. Two Sentenced for Deadly Leimert Park Shooting A Los Angeles resident was sentenced today to 50 years to life in state prison for the robbery-motivated shooting death of a 25- year-old man in Leimert Park. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William N. Sterling imposed the term on Tyree Davion Woods, 24, who on May 9 pleaded no contest to first-degree murder and admitted that he personally used a firearm during the July 20, 2015, killing of Derron Jones. Co-defendant Dondre Williams of Palmdale, 25, was sentenced to six years behind bars with credit for time already served in connection with his no contest plea to one count each of shooting at an occupied motor vehicle and assault by means of force likely to inflict great bodily injury. ADVERTISEMENT Woods and Williams followed a car carrying Jones and a female passenger, and Woods cut off the victims vehicle, got out of his car and opened fire as Jones tried to make a U-turn. The motive for the crime was robbery, but nothing was taken, according to Deputy District Attorney Craig Kleffman. Jones died at a hospital later that day of multiple gunshot wounds. His female passenger was not injured. Woods and Williams were arrested after a police chase about a month later. In this article, we analyze the historical use of the clemency power at both the federal and state levels; including the factors that occurred during the 20th century which resulted in both presidents and governors gradually using the power less, up until the 1980s. We examine how the war on crime and other political and legal changes, including the imposition of new mandatory minimum sentencing laws during the 1980s and 1990s, has led to mass-incarceration at both a national and Oregonian level. We discuss how this new punitive sentencing and incarceration philosophy has resulted in a general souring on the use of the pardon power and is now seen as a challenge to powerful prosecutors who generally oppose clemency as an extra-judicial attack on their own policies. In looking at the current prison population in Oregon, we argue that the current Governor should use her pardon power as tool to mitigate some of the prevalent injustice in Oregon. According to empirical desert theory, good utilitarian grounds exist for distributing criminal punishment pursuant to the (retributive) intuitions of the lay community on criminal liability. This theorys insights, based on original empirical research and informed by social science, have significantly influenced contemporary criminal law theory. Yet, ostensibly, the theory is hampered by serious limitations, which may have obstructed its progress and its potential to guide criminal justice reform. Chief among them: it draws from community intuitions, and community intuitions as the theory acknowledges are sometimes immoral. In addition to these immorality objections, (commonly illustrated by alluding to the antebellum South and Nazi Germany), critics have alleged, inter alia, that the theory is self-defeating, uses incongruous justifications, and engages in deceptive and exploitative practices. This Article argues that these critiques are misplaced and overstated, and that empirical desert theory can be safely relied on in criminal justice and beyond. In order to continue enjoying our site, we ask you enter in the text you see in the image below so we can confirm your identity as a human. Thank you very much for your cooperation. The United States has effectively banned the Chinese company Huawei from building next-generation, or 5G, mobile communications networks in the country. U.S. officials say Huawei will give information it collects to the Chinese government. They are warning other countries that the company is a national security risk. U.S. officials have also put rules in place for American companies that export products to Huawei. International technology companies are worried about the effects of these moves on the technology industry. In Beijing, a Chinese Commerce Ministry official said,China will take all necessary measures to ensure the rights of Chinese companies. Spokesman Gao Feng the United States should avoid actions that may hurt trade talks with China. The two countries are having a trade war that is partly about a struggle for international economic and technological power. Reaction to US decision Some observers say the actions of the Trump administration will likely worsen the already tense situation. The export restriction puts the possibility of continued trade negotiations into doubt, said Eurasia Group experts in a report. Huawei would be the largest business ever put under export controls. The new rules require Huawei to get U.S. government approval to buy American technology, said Kevin Wolf. He served as assistant secretary of commerce for export administration during the presidency of Barack Obama. Its going to haveeffects through the entire global telecommunications network because Huawei affiliates all over the (world) depend on U.S. content," Wolf said. He added that if Huawei and its business partners cannot get the computer software or equipment they need, their operations could collapse. On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an order that bars American companies from using telecom equipment made by businesses said to be a national security risk. The presidents executive order does not identify a country or company by name. But it follows months of U.S. complaints about Huawei. U.S. justice and intelligence officials say Chinas economic espionage and the stealing of trade secrets happen all the time. But they have not shown any evidence that any Huawei equipment in the U.S. or elsewhere has been compromised. Huawei denies involvement in Chinese spying. Legal basis for executive order The U.S. law used for the order is called the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act. It has never before been used in a way that restricts an entire industry. It has been used mainly to seize the money of drug dealers, terrorists or collapsed corrupt governments. Huawei is the worlds largest manufacturer of telecommunications equipment. The U.S. government believes that equipment from Chinese companies is a risk to U.S. internet and telecom networks. For the past 10 years, American officials have warned that using Huawei technology is a national security risk. The company, they say, could use the equipment for espionage on behalf of China. Huawei warns that preventing it from doing business in the United States would slow down the start of next-generation communications technology. We are ready and willing to (talk to) the U.S. government and come up with effective measures to ensure product security, the company said in a statement. The restrictions will not make the U.S. more secure or stronger, the company said. It said the United States would be limited to low quality, yet more costly, mobile systems. In a statement, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai called the executive order a step toward securing Americas networks. It signals to U.S. friends and allies how far Washington is willing to go to block Huawei, said Adam Segal. He is a cybersecurity director at the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations. Huawei says it supplies 45 of the worlds top 50 telephone companies. But only about 2 percent of telecom equipment purchased by North American carriers was Huawei-made in 2017. Im Jonathan Evans. The Reuters News Agency reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. ______________________________________________________________ Words in this Story doubt - n. to believe that something may not be true or is unlikely global - adj. involving the entire world affiliate - n. to closely connect with or to something such as a program or organization as a member or partner content - n. the things that are in something software - n. the programs that run on a computer and perform certain functions complaint - n. the act of saying or writing that you are unhappy or dissatisfied with something espionage - n. the things that are done to find out secrets from enemies or competitors Taiwans legislature voted Friday to legalize same-sex marriage. It became the first country in Asia to recognize the rights of same-sex couples. The new legislation gives couples many of the tax, health insurance and child care rights available to male-female married couples. Before the vote, Taiwanese lawmakers were under pressure from two sides: gay activists and religious groups opposed to the measure. Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen supported the same-sex marriage bill. She wrote: On May 17th, 2019 in Taiwan, Love Won. We took a big step toward true equality, and made Taiwan a better country. Her comments appeared on the American news and social media service Twitter. Its a breakthrough, I have to say so, said Shiau Hong-chi. He is a professor of gender studies and communications management at Shih-Hsin University in Taiwan. Thousands of people demonstrated Friday morning in the rainy streets outside the parliament building before the vote. Many protesters carried signs reading The vote cannot fail. About 50 opponents sat nearby and gave speeches in support of marriage between only men and women. Taiwans Constitutional Court ruled in May 2017 that the constitution permits same-sex marriages. The court gave parliament two years to amend the islands marriage laws. The court order got gay rights groups pushing for fair treatment. It also increased activism by Christian groups and supporters of traditional Chinese family values. They note the importance of marriage and producing children. The first same-sex marriage law in Asia Religion, conservative values and political systems that discourage gay activism have slowed moves toward same-sex marriage in many Asian countries. However, Thailand is exploring the legalization of same-sex civil partnerships. This will help (fuel a) debate in Thailand, and hopefully will help Thailand move faster on our own partnership bill, said Wattana Keiangpa of the Asia Pacific Coalition on Male Sexual Health. Phil Robertson is the deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch. He said Taiwans actions should kick off a larger movement across Asia to ensure equality. Taiwans acceptance of gay relationships began in the 1990s. That is when leaders of the Democratic Progressive Party supported the cause to help Taiwan stand out in Asia as an open society. Taiwan is a self-governing democracy with a strong civil society. The islands political system supports rights for sexual and ethnic minorities, women, and others. Yet mainland China claims the island as part of its territory. The mainland is under the control of the Chinese Communist Party. Party officials have repeatedly discouraged even the discussion of legalizing same-sex marriage. News of Taiwans new law, however, was a popular issue on social media in China. The Twitter-like website Weibo had more than 100 million views. Continued opposition Opponents in Taiwan raised fears of insurance scams and children confused by having two mothers or two fathers. Both sides of the issue have held colorful street demonstrations and tried to influence lawmakers. This is going to cause a lot of morality problems, said Lin Shih-min. He is with the Taiwan political action group Stability of Power, which opposed the law. Childrenhave the right to grow up with both a mother and a father, he said. In November of 2018, a majority of Taiwanese voters rejected same-sex marriage in a special referendum. However, legislators supported the idea and voted separately on each item largely along party lines. They said it followed the law as well as the spirit of the island-wide vote. We need to take responsibility for the referendum last year and we need to take responsibility for people who have suffered from incomplete laws or faced discrimination, said Hsiao Bi-khim, a ruling party legislator. She spoke during the three-hour parliament meeting. At least 20 same-sex couples are planning a mass marriage registration in Taipei on May 24, said a representative of the group Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan. They will hold a large gathering the next day on a street outside the presidential office, the organizer said. The law will help Jay Lin and his partner. They want to marry and be joint parents of their two 2-year-old sons. They plan to register for a marriage permit after May 24. A lot of gay parents are excited about that already, said Lin, a Taipei-based technology worker. Im Susan Shand. The Associated Press reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story couple - n. two people who are married or who have a romantic or sexual relationship insurance - n. an agreement in which a person makes regular payments to a company and the company promises to pay money if the person is injured or dies, or to pay money equal to the value of something (such as a house or car) if it is damaged, lost, or stolen gay - adj. : sexually attracted to someone who is the same sex gender - n. the state of being male or female discourage - v. to try to make people not want to do (something) view - n. something that is seen on a website scam - n. to deceive and take money from confuse - v. to make (someone) uncertain or unable to understand something referendum - n. a public vote on a particular issue item - n. an individual thing American President Donald Trump has offered a proposal to reform the countrys immigration system. Trump says the proposal aims to create a, in his words, fair, modern and lawful system of immigration for the United States. He spoke at the White House on Thursday. The plan would involve new actions to improve border security and a rethinking of the nations Green Card system. Those changes are designed to help non-citizens with high-level education, skills and job offers instead of relatives of those already living in the United States. A green card is required for all foreigners interested in becoming permanent residents of the United States. Trumps proposal would keep the number of non-citizens approved for green cards each year at around 1.1 million. But the plan is a major change from the current immigration system, which has been largely based on family connections. Under the plan, 57 percent of green cards would be given to people with skills or offers of employment. Only 33 percent would go to individuals with family ties to individuals already living in the U.S. American immigration officials estimated that currently about 66 percent of all green cards are given to those with family ties, while only 12 percent are based on skills. Before Trumps announcement, U.S. officials said the plan would create a visa system based on points, similar to systems used by Canada and other countries. Many more green cards would go to top college students so they can stay in the U.S. after completing their degree programs. There would also be more green cards given to professional workers and people with high-level degrees and occupational training. Officials would also consider a persons age, English language ability and employments offers. The plan would reduce the numbers of visas the government sets aside for refugees. It also would end the governments diversity visa lottery program. Under that program, green cards are given to citizens of countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. Challenges in Congress Efforts to reform the U.S. immigration system have failed for almost 30 years. And Trumps proposal will face opposition from lawmakers, including members of his own Republican Party. The Democratic Party wants a plan to deal with the millions of immigrants already living in the country without a visa. They include hundreds of thousands of young people brought to the U.S. illegally as children. And Republicans want to reduce overall rates of immigration. Lisa Koop is director of legal services at the National Immigrant Justice Center. She criticized parts of the Trump proposal. A plan that forces families apart, limits access to asylum and other humanitarian relief, and doesnt contemplate a path to citizenship for DACA recipients and other undocumented community members is clearly a political stunt intended to posture rather than problem-solve, Koop said. DACA is short for the term Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. It is a policy that protects young people brought to the U.S. illegally as children from being sent back to their homeland. Trump has worked to end the DACA program, and efforts to reach a compromise on DACA collapsed last year. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said of Trumps latest proposal, Its not going to happen. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is a Republican and a close ally of Trump. Graham said of the plan, I dont think its designed to get Democratic support as much as it is to unify the Republican Party around border security, a negotiating position. The plan, U.S. officials say, would increase inspection at ports of entry, build a border wall in some areas, and aim to reduce the number of people seeking asylum at the border. Mark Krikorian is executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, an organization that calls for lower immigration rates. He praised what he called a very positive effort on legal immigration, but said it was undermined by the embrace of the current very high level of immigration. I'm Caty Weaver. Hai Do wrote this story for VOA Learning English. His report was based on stories from VOANews.com and The Associated Press. George Grow was the editor. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story green card - n. an identification card permitting the holder to live and work in the U.S. indefinitely access - n. a way of getting near, at or to something contemplate - v. to look carefully at stunt - n. something that is done to get attention posture - n. the attitude a person or group has toward a subject undermine - v. to make someone or something weaker or less effective embrace - n. the act of accepting something The man who allegedly started a chemical fire at the Lebanon Walmart left the store, met up with a friend, admitted to setting the blaze and said it was just a trial run, said prosecutor Coleen Cerda during a hearing in Linn County Circuit Court on Friday afternoon. He poses a substantial risk of doing this again, in his own words, Cerda added. Joel Lee Reynolds Jr., 49, was charged with first-degree arson. Judge Rachel Kittson-MaQatish set his bail at $100,000, as requested by Cerda, and scheduled the next hearing in the case for May 28. The pool chemicals fire was reported at 12:49 p.m. Tuesday at the Lebanon Walmart, 3290 S. Santiam Highway. Investigators determined that several pool chemicals inside the store had been mixed, and the chemicals then ignited. What exactly happened is still under investigation. All we know is two chemicals were mixed, said Detective Tim Trahan of the Lebanon Police Department. The investigation will include surveillance cameras inside the Walmart, he added. While fire damage inside Walmart was mostly contained to one aisle, the smoke contaminated a large portion of the store, according to a Lebanon Police Department news release. Walmart remains closed due to the fire, and the cost of the damage is not known, the news release states. Walmart has suffered substantial damage due to this mans action. Walmart is out millions and millions and millions of dollars, Cerda said. When officers arrived, Walmart employees were already evacuating customers from the store. Due to the risk of chemical smoke exposure, surrounding businesses were evacuated at the direction of the Lebanon Fire District, the news release states. About 100 employees and an unknown number of customers were inside the store when the fire started. No injuries have been reported, according to the news release. Reynolds has a limited criminal history in Oregon, according to the states online court database. However, A Lebanon Police Department news release states that he has had multiple contacts with police. In 2018, he was trespassed from the Walmart store after a theft arrest, the news release states. Cerda said Reynolds was convicted in Lebanon Municipal Court of third-degree theft. Investigation into the fire continues. Those with information about the case should contact Lebanon Police Department Detective Chris Miner at 541-258-4314. Kyle Odegard can be reached at kyle.odegard@lee.net, 541-812-6077 or via Twitter @KyleOdegard. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 3 Sad 1 Angry 11 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. With just a day left before the completion of the mass registration of Huduma Namba, Kenyans took to their nearest stations, forming queues from as early as 4am. Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi recently said that the registration is not mandatory, but wise Kenyans should know it will matter when they need government services. The motivation for most Kenyans appears to be the consequences of not registering, rather than the benefits of registering. The latter has not been adequately explained by the government. Not even retired president Daniel Arap Moi was left behind as the exercise draws to a close. Moi went through the exercise at his Kabarak home today in an exercise that was overseen by IT cabinet secretary Joe Mucheru. His son Gideon Moi was also present. Meanwhile, this was the situation at most registration stations today as Kenyans turned out in their thousands. New suspects have been arrested for the murder of Pauline Wangari, a prison warder at Muranga GK prison. Police on Friday arraigned in court 3 suspects; Joseph Ochieng, Rodgers Namkuro and Mary Amollo, and requested the court for 2 weeks to complete their investigations. The court granted this request, detaining the suspects until May 31. According to the police, the three were arrested in Kericho on Thursday, while they were on their way to Kisumu. According to the investigating police officers, the main suspect, Ochieng, fled to Kericho upon committing the crime. The other two gave him a lift, and it is unclear whether they were aware of the alleged crime. According to the police, Ochieng met Pauline on Facebook and visited her for the first time on the fateful day. After engaging in sex, they had a quarrel and the victim was furious with the man. She revealed to him that she was a police officer and the suspect became violent. He strangled and stabbed her three times then placed a knife in her hands to make it look like she had committed suicide, the police source told Nation. Meanwhile, Peterson Njiru, the man arrested on Thursday, has been freed and all charges withdrawn. Investigating officer Abdalla Ali told the court that there is no longer reason to continue holding Mr. Njiru as the main suspects had now been arrested. The reason he had been arrested was because he was the known boyfriend of Pauline. Officials have said the state is more likely to win federal money if it commits some of its own resources to the repairs. Parson has said that if the state devotes money toward the bridge repairs, it would free up dollars for road repairs. While the infusion of state and federal money would be a catalyst to repair long-term assets, the spending would not erase the states infrastructure backlog. The legislation is Senate Concurrent Resolution 14. Motorcyle helmet law The House and Senate signed off on a package of transportation-related changes in state law, including one that would lift the requirement that all riders wear protective headwear. Motorcycle riders under the age of 18 would still need to wear a helmet. Those over 18 could go without if they have health insurance. During earlier debate, lawmakers agreed motorcyclists should wear helmets, but some said the choice should be a matter of personal freedom. The ill-fated proposal on in-state tuition came from Sen. Jason Holsman, D-Kansas City. In the conference committee Tuesday, he had offered what he called a compromise allowing state money for in-state tuition but still banning state scholarships for the students as the panel was debating funding for higher education. That language was ultimately embedded in the budget after two Senate Republicans sided with the committees four Democrats. House Budget Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage, opposed the new language. He said colleges are only able to charge in-state tuition because of the states financial support. Because of this, he suggested taxpayers would in effect be condoning illegal behavior if the students in question were given in-state tuition. He said nothing would stop state schools from raising private money to help the students attend school. The affected students live here, Holsman said Tuesday. And theyve grown up here. A few years ago, Ernst & Young, the fifth largest recruiter of graduates in the UK, removed from their employment criteria the requirement for a university degree. It is not that academic qualifications are not important, but as all good evidence-based management goes, E&Y looked at their data and found that university grades were not the best predictor of job success; a part but not the whole story. Beyond our areas of expertise, we are notoriously poor at assessing quality. Thats why we latch onto and take cues from symbols of quality, like brands. My father started to complain when labels appeared on the outside of clothes in the 70s: They should pay me to wear their advertising, hed joke. Marketing was beginning to take a hold in the garment industry and shoe trade (now the Fashion Industry) in which he had worked for over 40 years. His thinking was driven by a distaste for two things: for what he perceived and often rightly so to be a manipulation by marketers to make something appear what it is not, and for the uninformed consumer who didnt know the difference. We use shortcuts to get a sense of worth of things and people. We havent the capacity to sift through all the information we have, let alone collect the information we need, to observe with fidelity and then objectively assess a persons suitability for a role. Even with perfect information, we are humanly fallible: our biases, our preferences, our inattention, our interpretations from our limited lived experience, ego and self-protection, and the influence of others mean we can never really know someone well enough to make a foolproof assessment of their fitness for a role. Good recruitment processes attempt to remove those biases through things like psychometric tests, selection panels which triangulate viewpoints, and multi-stage onboarding processes. Its such a pity a simple cue like success at a decent university does not sift the chaff from the wheat anymore. It is not that Ernst & Young suddenly decided that the massification of education had undermined the value of the once elite university degree. The professional services company simply recognised that by making it a hurdle requirement, they had been missing out on some potentially very talented people. Its akin to male dominated hiring practices of yore whats the sense in restricting the talent pool by gender, race, residency status, or even academic qualifications when evidence suggests its not a valid criterion? A friend used to bemoan not having a tertiary degree to put on his CV, limiting his career opportunities. The degree is but one cue, yes, I acknowledged that, but it is not the only indicator of individual intellectual worth; good hiring practices will see beyond that. Well, friend, E & Ys decision and PwCs since has vindicated me. At the other end of the spectrum from the laudification of higher degrees are the sub-C-suite executives who came from the shop-floor/mail room/dirt-digging apprenticeship to where I am today. Many managers in this cohort belittle any knowledge and skill acquisition that is not gained from direct experience climbing the corporate ladder. In this kind of atmosphere, anyone with a higher degree risks being labelled as (inexplicably) too academic and of narrow experience, to the extent that PhD holders become all but unemployable outside academic circles, regardless of the depth of any prior experience or the self-evident ability to learn anything new. Its the tall-poppy syndrome. As author Brian Herbert once said, The capacity to learn is a gift; The ability to learn is a skill; The willingness to learn is a choice. A&Y have learnt not to put people in boxes, or to be too quick to judge on outdated criteria. Neither the degree, nor lack thereof, should define you. When in 2009 Chief Executive candidate Chui Sai On presented his manifesto, Macau was living in troubled times under the shadow of the corruption scandal involving the former Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Ao Man Long. Ao had, in the previous year, been found guilty of 40 counts of bribe-taking, amongst other crimes, and sentenced to 27 years in prison. With the case clearly on the collective mind of Macau, the candidate, or near-candidate Chui, presented a manifesto where he highlighted efforts in creating a clean, honest and efficient government, as his main target, also addressing the intention of initiating a timetable for the reform of the political system in Macau toward universal suffrage. At the time Chui said, Im willing to listen to the people. If I am elected, I will listen to the residents opinions. Then we will analyze them to begin this gradual process. On Wednesday it was Ho Iat Sengs turn to begin to address his manifesto, nominating topics such as housing, transport, and the youth as his main concerns. [These] are [the problems] that we have to deal with on a daily basis and that we cant possibly [ignore] as they are issues that concern the whole society, he said, apparently picking up from where Chui left off in 2014. Thats because Chui, standing for re-election in 2014, also said he would be concerned primarily with issues of livelihood. In this manifesto, much more specific than his first and focusing on peoples livelihood, Chui gave priority to issues such as housing, transport, environmental protection, social security, and human resources. He was also keen to demand much more from gaming operators, not only for Macau residents but also for the non-resident workers. Regarding the livelihoods of the non-resident workers, Chui said at the time that casino operators should facilitate the provision of accommodation and transportation to their migrant workers, although again he failed to elaborate on what such idea would represent in practical terms. Curiously enough, at the time, his 2014 manifesto was presented in Chinese, Portuguese and English, although the English version was for reference only. Another difference in Chuis election platform in 2014 is that he did not need to face down the type of antagonism he faced back in 2009. At the time, Chui faced a significant amount of criticism and popular opposition with groups of residents creating Facebook groups and forums on the Internet criticizing the choice of Chui for the post. A group of residents even created a bank account with the purpose of collecting donations that would serve to publish adverts in Hong Kong media with criticism of Chui, who had only just recently served as Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture. On the day that Chui presented his manifesto, two people disrupted the press conference voicing criticisms of Chui and his family. More details on Hos manifesto will only be known after the official candidacy presentation, expected to happen within the next couple months. He is currently the only declared candidate to become Macaus third Chief Executive. Ten people, including five Russian fugitives, have been charged in connection with malicious software attacks that infected tens of thousands of computers worldwide and caused more than USD100 million in financial losses, U.S. and European authorities announced yesterday. The malware enabled criminals from Eastern Europe to take remote control of infected computers and siphon funds from victims bank accounts, and targeted companies and institutions across all sectors of American life. Victims included a Washington law firm, a church in Texas, a furniture business in California, a casino in Mississippi and a Pennsylvania asphalt and paving business. Several defendants are awaiting prosecution in Europe, and five are Russians who remain fugitives in that country. An 11th participant in the conspiracy was extradited to the United States from Bulgaria in 2016 and pleaded guilty last month in a related case in federal court in Pittsburgh, where Thursdays indictment was brought. Though the Justice Department has pursued multiple malware prosecutions in recent years against foreign hackers, this case stands out as a novel model of international collaboration, said Scott Brady, the U.S. attorney in Pittsburgh. American authorities did not seek the immediate extradition of all 10 defendants, an often cumbersome process that can take years of negotiations, even in countries that have treaties with the U.S. Instead, they shared evidence with their European counterparts to allow officials in Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia to initiate prosecutions. It represents a paradigm change in how we prosecute cybercrime, Brady said in an interview with The Associated Press before a news conference in The Hague with representatives of six countries. Cybercrime networks are increasingly targetable when investigators work together, said Robert Jones, the FBI special agent in charge of the Pittsburgh office. International cooperation is no longer a nicety, its a requirement, he said. Other law enforcement officials also said the strategy represents the new face of combating high-tech crime. Cybercrime has no borders, and criminals have taken advantage of the legal complexities of trying to fight it, said Steven Wilson, head of the European CyberCrime Centre at Europol. Only through international cooperation can we hope to tackle it, he said, adding the charges provide for a safer internet for all of us. The charges in the indictment include conspiracy to commit computer fraud, conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The investigation was an outgrowth of the Justice Departments dismantling in 2016 of a network of computer servers, known as Avalanche, which hosted more than 20 different types of malware. The malware, GozNym, cited in yesterdays case was among the ones hosted on the network. Law enforcement officials say it was formed by the defendants as they advertised their technical skills in underground, Russian-language online criminal forums. For the past three years, we have been unpeeling an onion as it were that is very challenging to investigate and identify, Brady said. GozNym infected more than 41,000 computers. It relied on spam emails, disguised as legitimate messages, that once opened enabled the malware to be downloaded onto the machines. From there, the hackers could record keystrokes from the victims computers, steal banking log-in credentials and then launder the stolen money into foreign bank accounts they controlled. Brady said prosecutors always look to recover stolen funds, but that is especially challenging in international cybercrime cases. Proceeds were converted to bitcoin and without the private key, it is really hard to identify and access, let alone seize, those accounts, Brady told the AP. WHAT IS GOZNYM? It is a hybrid of two other pieces of malware, Nymaim and Gozi, BBC reported. The first of these is what is known as a dropper, software that is designed to sneak other malware on to a device and install it. Up until 2015, Nymaim was used primarily to get ransomware on to devices. Gozi has been around since 2007. Over the years it has resurfaced with new techniques, all aimed at stealing financial information. It was used in concerted attacks on US banks. Combining the two created what one expert called a double-headed monster. MDT/Agencies The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday (yesterday, Macau time) approved a bill reaffirming the right of a Massachusetts tribe to hold land in trust, a crucial step to building a USD1 billion casino. The bill, approved 275-146, would allow the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe to hold 321 acres of reservation land in trust, despite a decision by the Trump administration that threatens its control. The Interior Department said last year that the tribe doesnt qualify to place the land in trust because it wasnt under federal jurisdiction when the Indian Reorganization Act passed in 1934. The dispute was thrust into the national spotlight last week after President Donald Trump criticized the bill on Twitter and urged Republicans to oppose it. Trump called the legislation a special-interest casino bill backed by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic presidential candidate. He called it unfair and said it doesnt treat Native Americans equally! The bills sponsor, Rep. Bill Keating, D-Mass., said the measure was needed to ensure the survival of the tribe, which signed a treaty with the Plymouth colonists and shared a meal commemorated as the first Thanksgiving. Keating contended that Trump opposes the bill because of his well-documented alliance with a lobbyist for two Rhode Island casinos that would compete with one planned by the Mashpee Wampanoag. This is the tribe of the first Thanksgiving, the very tribe that is integral to our founding story as a nation, Keating said. To deny them the right to their land is an absolute disgrace. He said that without the reservation land, the Mashpee Wampanoag would essentially become a second-class tribe with no ability to self-govern or provide essential services such as housing and education. The bill now heads to the Senate. Matt Schlapp, a prominent Trump supporter and chairman of the American Conservative Union, has publicly criticized the legislation and linked it to Warren, a frequent Trump foil. Warren co-sponsored a Senate version of the tribal bill in the last Congress but has not committed on the current effort. Representatives of Warrens Senate office and campaign declined to comment Wednesday. Just two Democrats joined 144 Republicans in opposing the bill, which was supported by 228 Democrats and 47 Republicans. Both Democrats who opposed the bill are from Rhode Island. They said the measure amounted to reservation shopping by allowing the tribe to build a casino in Taunton, Massachusetts, nearly 50 miles from its ancestral home on Cape Cod. Approval of the bill could open the flood gates to other tribes nationwide hiring big-money lobbyists to push for off-reservation casinos, said Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I. He called that possibility disastrous. Cedric Cromwell, chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council, disputed that. He said the bill was a deeply honorable legislative effort [] to correct the significant wrongs that have been perpetrated against our tribe over the years, and to ensure that our people have a chance to be self-sufficient. MDT/AP Philadelphia | Casino fined for serving 17 drinks to gambler A casino in Philadelphia that served a gambler 17 free drinks over an eight-hour period has been fined USD17,500. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports state regulators imposed the fine Wednesday on the SugarHouse Casino over the September incident. Officials say the patron was playing Pai Gow, a table game with Chinese tiles similar to blackjack, and he was visibly intoxicated while gambling. According to the casinos consent agreement with the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, it wasnt until the gambler couldnt hold up his head anymore that a supervisor stopped him from getting more drinks and summoned security. An altercation occurred as the patron was evicted from the casino, and he was arrested for public drunkenness. SugarHouse agreed to retrain and discipline the beverage servers in addition to the fine. AP The opening of Sands Macao on May 18, 2004, marked the beginning of an era of transformation for Macaus tourism industry a period that has witnessed enormous growth in the SAR and for Sands China Ltd. Fifteen years later, the companys first property continues to welcome millions of guests through its doors each year, and has since been joined by four integrated resorts on the Cotai Strip. Together, they have recorded 700 million visits to date, while setting ever-higher standards of service excellence in a city that is establishing itself as a world centre of tourism and leisure a city primed to be a key player in the development of the Greater Bay Area. To mark this decade-and-a-half milestone, this is the final instalment of our five-part look at Sands Macao and Sands China Ltd. We close out the series with a focus on Sands Chinas community work and environmental sustainability efforts in Macao. Missed Parts 1-4? Read them online at macaudailytimes.com.mo/tag/sandsmacao15 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a practise which most large companies engage in, and Sands China Ltd. undertakes it with a genuine desire to better the community. Dr Wilfred Wong, president of Sands China Ltd., stated that one of the companys core values is giving back to the community. Sands Chinas desire to give back to the community has largely been carried out through contributing a significant amount of time, money and resources in a variety of charitable organizations within the MSAR across the 15 years it has been in Macau. This primarily takes the form of its long-term relationships with several non-governmental charities. As a result, Sands China has been a stalwart provider of aid and support to the Macau community in times of crisis. Two years ago, the severely destructive typhoon, Hato, struck Macau, devastating the city. In the aftermath of the storm, people who needed to be transported to the hospital were facing the prospect of being stranded, as the Rehabus shuttle buses of Caritas Macau, the charity outreach of the Diocese of Macau, were damaged. Secretary General of Caritas Macau, Paul Pun, vividly remembered the immediate actions of Sands China as they proactively got in touch with us to see what we needed. They decided to give us new Rehabuses. Moreover, while the new buses were being refitted by the manufacturer for their specialized purpose, Sands China offered vans and drivers free of charge to meet our urgent needs. While Sands China gives generous financial donations to charitable organizations in Macau, the reason the company makes a significant difference in the community is the generosity of spirit and expertise they offer to the organisations with which they partner. Fifteen years ago, the Fuhong Society of Macau was struggling to set up a centre in Fai Chi Kei. Sands China partnered with them, and through their advocacy, made the centre a reality. The Fuhong Society is known for a laundry service it runs which is staffed by people with mental disabilities. The organizations secretary general, Jennifer Chau, noted that Sands China has helped them overcome a significant number of difficulties to ensure the service operates smoothly through its provision of on-site advice as well as financial support. Sands Chinas engineering staff came to help us communicate with our contractor, Ms. Chau noted. The team was in fact vital to helping the setup, as we didnt know we needed a special electric cable for the machines, not to mention how to connect it. Indeed, the outstanding work that Sands China does to offer space and opportunities for disabled people, in an environment which often marginalizes them, is emphasized by Mr. Siu Yu Hong, national director of the Macau Special Olympics (MSO), which does work to provide a better livelihood for the mentally challenged through sports. Mr. Siu noted that many of our members are formally employed by Sands China. They work in departments such as laundry, cleaning, and floristry. There is a particular capacity of organizations such as Sands China for employing mentally handicapped people as mega enterprises have a lot of repetitive work that suits our members well, which smaller companies just dont have. Mr. Siu said many of MSOs members are performing well at Sands China properties, and have been constantly provided job opportunities, as well as offered substantial support. Sands China has placed a great deal of resources into advocating for mental health. They have invested a significant amount of money to prevent gambling disorders, and began working with Sheng Kung Hui in 2008. Mr. Lee Kwok Hoo, the service director of Sheng Kung Hui Macau Social Services Coordination Office, said that Sands Chinas donations to groups working in this space has helped support social workers and consultants in promoting responsible gaming, attending professional training, and improving service standards. Mr. Lee added that Sands China has been supporting research into responsible gambling, and integrating experiences from Las Vegas into the Macau context. Our role is to localize these experiences to make it viable in Macau. Marrying their push to raise awareness about the importance of responsible gaming in the broader community with their core focus on employee wellbeing, Sands China started collaborating with the Macao Gaming Industry Employees Home in 2013. Supervisor Mr. Pak Kin Pong spoke about the work his organization does with Sands China: We started our collaboration in 2013 promoting responsible gambling and psychological health. Sands China sponsored more than 100 training sessions on responsible gambling led by us, involving more than 3,000 Sands China employees. Sands China is a really responsible enterprise: they display many promotional materials about responsible gambling in their casinos and back of houses. They also proactively post materials on their shuttle buses. As Sands China works to make a positive contribution to the Macao community through its volunteer work and other community-building efforts, the company is at the same time keenly aware of the importance of operating in an environmentally sustainable manner especially considering the massive scale of Sands Chinas integrated resorts. Sands China recently banned plastic straws from its internal operations and from its restaurants, and switched over to providing paper straws upon request. It has also put into effect a complete ban on shark fin, which covers the entirety of Sands Chinas internal food and beverage operations, as well as all restaurants owned by the company. Kalenjin comedy group Propesa is still having a ball out of their recent invite to DP Rutos Karen residence. Earlier this month, Propesa and other Kenyan online content creators met the DP to discuss how they can cooperate on matters content. And it seems the comedians have overstayed their welcome at DPs residence. This is after their trademark white Probox was spotted in Rutos parking lot this week. According to Propesa, the Probox was initially believed to belong to Kericho county MCAs. In a statement, Propesa dismissed the reports saying the Probox belongs to them. We had visited our uncle(Ruto) last week and decided to spend a few days catching up with family and familiarizing ourselves with Karen and Nairobi atmosphere in general. Is there a problem enjoying life around our successful uncle? He has not said we should go home, why should media try to antagonize us with our uncle? posed Propesa. They also apologised to DPs family for causing them agony by parking the eyesore in such an opulent parking lot. Heres that creative statement thats cracking up social media users. ******************************************** Press Statement: We wish to rubbish rumours that have been circulating on different media outlets concerning a white Toyota Probox that was spotted earlier today at DP Rutos Karen residence alleged to have been ridden by Kericho county MCAs. We state as follows:- the said Probox belongs to PROPESA team, we had visited our uncle last week and decided to spend a few days catching up with family and familiarizing ourselves with Karen and Nairobi atmosphere in general. Is there a problem enjoying life around our successful uncle? He has not said we should go home, why should media try to antagonize us with our uncle? The two neighboring territories of Macau and Hengqin are expected to have a larger role to play in each others development, but how exactly that will work is yet to be agreed by officials from the respective cities. At a presentation yesterday, Yuan Hao, a deputy division head from the national-level National Development and Reform Commission, stated that Macau and Hengqin should collaborate further in terms of each others development, quoting Beijings desire to build the island into a promoter of moderately diversified economic development in Macau. Collaboration efforts between Macau and Hengqin will adhere to five objectives, namely creating a business circle, building a consumer ecosystem, improving consumer environment, promoting consumer rights, and implementing competitive tax policies. According to the capitals plans, Hengqin Island will be transformed into an international leisure resort island. Currently, Hengqin is working to build various attractions, such as the existing Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, the worlds first Real Madrid experience center, and a project in collaboration with the National Geographic Channel. In turn, Hengqin is planning to implement policies that will benefit Macau. For example, it is planned that Macau tour buses will be allowed to fetch and alight passengers in Hengqin. Work will also be done to facilitate yachts from Macau and Hong Kong to berth at Hengqin. Planning is also underway to commence cruise tourism at Hengqin, and marine tourism across the various islands under Zhuhais administration. Discussions will be conducted to set up a joint tourism talent education and training base between Macau and Hengqin. The Macao Government Tourism Offices (MGTO) Director, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, who was also at the event, said yesterday that another memorandum of understanding (MoU) will be signed with Hengqin. The MoU aims to clarify the future directions of Macau and Hengqin in terms of the development of tourism, including how the two territories will collaborate. She also disclosed that there are plans to allow Macau tour guides to work in Hengqin after they pass the requisite benchmarks. This policy will benefit future workers, according to the MGTO head. Under current provisions set forth by CEPA, tour guides from Macau are already entitled to attain qualifications to work in the Mainland. In closing his presentation, Yuan offered three suggestions to Macau: the territory should rely on historical and cultural elements to develop tourism; it should improve urban infrastructure and environment; and it should integrate with neighboring regions to achieve economies of scale. Staff reporter Eric Talmadge, who as North Korea bureau chief for The Associated Press tenaciously chronicled life and politics in one of the worlds least-understood nations, has died. He was 57. Talmadge died this week in Japan after suffering a heart attack while running. A decades-long resident of Japan with deep expertise on Asian security and military issues, Talmadge seemed to have found his ideal job when he was appointed in 2013 to lead the AP bureau in Pyongyang, North Koreas capital. From his base in Tokyo, he traveled almost monthly to report on the nuclear-armed countrys remarkable evolution under its young leader, Kim Jong Un, who took over after his father died in 2011. For years, Erics sharp work in North Korea has helped shape how the entire world saw a country that many of us knew little about, said Sally Buzbee, APs executive editor. He took that responsibility very seriously, and it was never far from his mind. Talmadge was one of only a few international journalists with regular access to North Korea, where the AP established a video news office in 2006 and a text and photo bureau in 2012. With his frequently exclusive on-the-ground view, Talmadge latched onto and reveled in the small, telling details that upended widespread Western stereotypes about North Korea. There were few journalists more insightful about the Norths push to develop atomic weapons capable of striking the United States. But Talmadge also filled the AP wire with stylishly written stories of daily life, often seeded with traces of his bone-dry sense of humor. He wrote about a beer festival in Pyongyang, where brews are cheap and carry the ruling familys seal of approval. He wrote about the millions of North Koreans using mobile phones and the popularity of a game called Boy General, describing it as a spinoff of a new TV animation series that is both beautifully produced and genuinely fun to watch. His intelligent, curious eye also regularly seized on the moments that often got lost or ignored in the frenzied coverage of the long-running nuclear standoff between Washington and Pyongyang. He saw meaning in everything he came across, said Ian Phillips, APs vice president for international news. In 2014, Talmadge wrote of a weeklong road trip through North Korea unprecedented for foreign reporters that stopped at the forest-covered Kaema Plateau, known as the Roof of Korea. He showed readers the blink-and-you-miss-them villages, the government propaganda slogans that covered posters, murals, banners and stones, and the isolated truck stops where elderly folks sat on weed-covered embankments and smoked hand-rolled cigarettes. Its quite possible, he wrote, that none of them had ever seen an American before. Talmadge was candid about the constraints of reporting in North Korea: No interviewing random people; no photos of checkpoints or military installations; no breaking away from ever-present government minders, even on the loneliest of lonely highways. In an example of the clear-eyed wit that often appeared in even his most technical reporting on military hardware, he wrote that the road trips preapproved route, to no ones surprise, didnt include nuclear facilities or prison camps. Ted Anthony, who as APs Asia-Pacific news director supervised Talmadge from 2014 to 2018 and accompanied him on multiple trips to Pyongyang, said Talmadge once warned him: Dont ever think you really understand the North. It has more corners than anyplace Ive ever been. Eric was utterly certain that with enough work and curiosity and stick-to-it-iveness, he could genuinely help the world understand North Korea. And he did, Anthony said. He wanted to reach people whod never really thought much about the country, and he would pull out all the stops to show them the North Korea they never knew existed, and make them think critically about it. Born in Renton, Washington, Talmadge spent much of his life in Japan, where was a high-school exchange student. Fluent in Japanese, he appeared often on Japanese TV as a commentator on North Korea. He was an avid bowler and meditator, and loved riding his bike and swimming. He was the author of a 2006 book, Getting Wet: Adventures in the Japanese Bath. He is survived by his wife, Hisako, and two grown children, Sara and Eugene. Talmadge joined the AP in Tokyo in 1988 after working for the Mainichi Shimbun, one of Japans national newspapers. He reported throughout Asia for the AP and was a major contributor to the news agencys award-winning coverage of the deadly earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in 2011, and the nuclear disaster that happened in its aftermath. Before becoming Pyongyang bureau chief, he led a team of AP journalists focused on military and security issues in the Asia-Pacific region, while also serving as the news editor for the Tokyo bureau. Mari Yamaguchi, an AP correspondent who joined the Tokyo bureau the same year as Talmadge, said his reporting interests ranged from Japans imperial family to the yakuza criminal gangs to the Aum Shinrikyo cult, which carried out a deadly gas poisoning on the Tokyo subway in 1995. I was always impressed by his fairness, balance and sense of justice, Yamaguchi said. But Talmadge seemed especially suited to reporting in North Korea. His Instagram and Twitter accounts were filled with images of cute kids mobbing him in Pyongyang on their way home from school, with shots of the citys pizza delivery services and aerobics classes and, of course, with video of mesmerizing rows of goose-stepping soldiers. One video tweet from Yokohama, the port city outside of Tokyo where he made his home, showed sightseeing boats gliding beneath the ephemeral cherry blossoms of early spring: Because everything isnt about where I have to go for work. Talmadges sense of humor shone through even in his internal AP memos on the Pyongyang bureaus operations. A picture of a chain-smoking 19-year-old chimpanzee mentions dryly that the ape smokes about a pack a day: The Pyongyang zoo officials insist, however, that she doesnt inhale. Wong Maye-E, who worked alongside Talmadge during the five years she spent as chief photographer for North Korea, remembers sitting in their hotel in Pyongyang during a power outage one night, decompressing after a tough days reporting, the rooms windows thrown open and Steely Dan playing on Talmadges phone as they watched the blinking lights from the flashlights of people going up and down the stairwells of nearby apartment buildings. He was very patient in a place that really tests your patience, Wong said. His love of bowling, Wong said, also came in handy in the North, where he liked to amaze residents by showing off how his intense bowling habit had made his right arm much more muscular than his left. Talmadge continually pushed to expand the APs presence in the North, negotiating with the government for more and longer reporting trips and better access. He prided himself on keeping his stories free of the cliches about North Korea so prevalent in outside media. I think there is a tendency abroad to caricature North Korea in ways that arent constructive, and to resort to dismissiveness or mockery much too easily, Talmadge told The Washington Post in 2015. During my time there, I have been surprised, and reassured in a way, to see how average North Koreans care about the same things everybody else does their family, their finances, their health, their friends, how to get by. And, he said, his immersion in the North made him appreciate even more his life outside the country. Every time I come back home, I wake up the first morning thinking, I can go anywhere I want today, he told the Post. I could go to the beach, I could go see a movie, I could get on a plane and go to Florida if I wanted. Even if, in the end, I just stay home and eat potato chips on the couch, its a very liberating feeling. I dont take it for granted anymore. Foster Klug, Seoul, AP The fugitive extradition bill between Macau SAR and Portugal was signed on Wednesday by the Secretary for Administration and Justice, Sonia Chan, during the sixth Macau-Portugal Joint Commission at the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Chan signed the agreement with Portugals Minister of Justice, Francisca Van Dunem, with the signing being described as a further step of cooperation in the area of justice. However veteran lawyers in the SAR deemed the agreement impractical in the context of international extradition practice, as countries do not hand over their own nationals. Chan had previously explained that the agreement would follow international directives that exclude extradition when the wanted person is in the territory where he or she is a national. With such directives, fugitives of Portuguese nationality wanted by Macau authorities in Portugal will not be surrendered and vice-versa. The agreement is one of the three agreements that has been signed as part of Chief Executive Chui Sai Ons delegation visit to Portugal. According to the president of the Macau Lawyers Association, Neto Valente, the signing of the agreement should have been raised with the association. It is one of the issues where, according to the law, [there] should be consultation with the association because it has to do with rights, freedom or changes in criminal laws, said Valente, as cited by TDM Radio. Valente said on Wednesday that the association has no knowledge regarding the prepared bill and that no text of agreement was sent to the group. Back in March, Chan had already revealed that an agreement between the two regions on the surrendering of fugitives wanted by either one of the two jurisdictions would be signed. Meanwhile, an extradition agreement between Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and mainland China is also being discussed, sparking criticisms amongst opposition lawmakers in Hong Kong. It is suggested that this proposal would be handled on a case-to-case basis with the need for the citys Chief Executive to issue a certificate allowing the transfer. It would also enable local courts to handle extradition requests without oversight from the legislature. The proposed law has sparked protests, including one at which organizers believe that nearly 130,000 residents joined. One of the main concerns of the pan-democrats and legal experts was the fear that Beijing may prosecute fugitives due to political reasons and that it may erode the regions freedom. Democrats also deemed that the extradition plans may only harm the regions judicial system. Valente had also previously expressed concerns on the extradition negotiation between the SAR and Beijing, noting that it should meet minimum conditions to hand over the fugitives, and that it should not include politically motivated cases. The Macau SAR currently has agreements for the transfer of convicted criminals with regions including Mongolia and Nigeria, while plans are already in place to develop similar agreements with Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines. Taiwanese legislators are scheduled to decide today on legalizing same-sex marriage, marking a potential first in Asia. Lawmakers pressured over the past two years by LGBT groups as well as church organizations opposed to same-sex marriage will choose between bills that broadly legalize the unions and give couples many of the tax, insurance and child custody benefits available to male-female married couples. If the legal changes are approved, Taiwan would become the first place in Asia with a comprehensive law supporting same-sex marriage. Taiwans Constitutional Court in May 2017 said the constitution allows same-sex marriages and gave parliament two years to adjust laws accordingly. The court order mobilized LGBT advocacy groups pushing for fair treatment, as well as opponents among church groups and advocates of traditional Chinese family values. Its a breakthrough, I have to say so. I could not imagine that could happen in just a few years, said Shiau Hong-chi, professor of gender studies and communications management at Shih-Hsin University in Taiwan. Religion, conservative family values and political systems that discourage LGBT activism have stopped momentum in Asian countries from China through much of Southeast Asia into the Middle East. Thailand, however, is exploring the legalization of same-sex civil partnerships. Taiwans acceptance of gay and lesbian relationships began in the 1990s when leaders in todays ruling Democratic Progressive Party championed the cause to help Taiwan stand out in Asia as an open society. Although claimed by China as its own territory, Taiwan is a self-governing democracy with a vibrant civil society. Opponents have raised fears of incest, insurance benefit scams and children confused by having two mothers or two fathers. Both sides of the issue have held colorful street demonstrations and lobbied lawmakers. In November 2018, a majority of Taiwan voters rejected same-sex marriage in an advisory referendum. Bills on the table today include one authored by the government. Another version plays to both sides of the debate by allowing marriages but with conditions such as calling them unions and imposing restrictions on adopting children. If it doesnt go through, that would be disappointing, said Hsu Pei-chieh, 30, a Taipei office worker hoping to marry her female partner and raise at least one child. If were married it would be easier for the outside world to understand us. Opinion surveys in 2012 and 2015 found that slight majorities of Taiwanese backed legalizing same-sex marriage. A defeat for the bill in the legislature on Friday would allow the Constitutional Court order to proceed, effective May 24. Same-sex couples could register their marriages then with local governments, but without guarantees of the legal benefits given to male-female couples.Ralph Jenning, Taipei, AP An audacious RAF bombing raid into the industrial heartland of Germany last night has wrecked three dams serving the Ruhr valley. The attack disrupted water and electricity supplies in a key area for the manufacture of Germanys war munitions. The Secretary of State for Air, Sir Archibald Sinclair, called the raid a trenchant blow for victory. The mission, known as Operation Chastise, has been planned for months. The crews were specially selected for the job, and have been training in absolute secrecy. The bombs themselves were invented specifically for the task by the aircraft engineer Dr Barnes Wallis, the designer of the Wellington bomber. They were barrel-shaped, and used the principle of a ducks and drakes stone bouncing on the water to bypass the defences around the dams. The Lancaster bombers flown by 617 Squadron were extensively modified, and the crews trained to fly at less than 100ft (30.48m) above the water, the height required to drop the bombs successfully. The mission began yesterday evening, under the command of Wing Commander Guy Gibson. The targets were three huge water barrage dams two on the rivers Mohne and Sorpe, and a third on the River Eder. The Mohne and Sorpe dams control about 70% of the water supplied to the Ruhr basin, and were built to prevent water shortages during the summer. Wing Commander Gibson led the attack on the Mohne dam personally. A flight lieutenant who watched what happened at the Mohne dam described the scene: The wing commanders load was placed just right and a spout of water went up 300 feet (91.44m) into the air, he said. A second Lancaster attacked with equal accuracy, and there was still no sign of a breach. Then I went in and we caused a huge explosion up against the dam. It was not until another load had been dropped that the dam at last broke. I saw the first jet very clear in the moonlight. I should say that the breach was about 50 yards (45.72m) wide. The Eder dam the largest in Europe was also breached in two places. Reconnaissance flights showed flood waters sweeping through the Ruhr valley, damaging factories, houses and power stations. The power station at the Mohne dam has been swept away, rivers are in full flood, and railway and road bridges have disappeared. Courtesy BBC News In context The mission became popularly known as the Dambusters raid, and was immortalised in a 1954 war film. It was one of the most famous air operations of World War II. Casualties for the raid were high. Eight of the original 19 Lancaster bombers were damaged or shot down, and of the 133 aircrew, 53 were killed and three captured. On the ground, too, almost 1,300 people were killed, including 749 Ukrainian prisoners of war based in a camp just below the Eder dam. The Mohne and Eder reservoirs poured about 330 million tons of water into the western Ruhr valley. The flood waters spread for about 50 miles (80km) from the source. The spectacular, daring nature of the raid was a significant boost to British morale. But militarily, it was a failure. The squadron failed to breach the Sorpe dam; and the disruption to the German war production was minimal. Water supply in the Ruhr valley was back to original levels six weeks later. The aircrew, however, became famous as war heroes, and the leader of the raid, Wing Commander Guy Gibson, was awarded the Victoria Cross. He died less than 18 months later, shot down at the age of 26 in September 1944. Urban Milwaukee's data wonk Bruce Thompson comments on the surprising strength of Obamacare. The exchanges are working better than ever expected, he declares, experiencing a complete turnaround from a little more than a year ago. Ironically, it's doing best in areas that went for Donald Trump in the 2016 election, he points out. "Defeated Wisconsin governor and embodiment of bitterness Scott Walker took his Pity Pot Tour to Washington State this week where, apropos of nothing, he reportedly bashed Madison as being left of Stalingrad," Political Environment blogger James Rowen writes. Walker continue to hate Madison, Rowen points out, and the feeling is mutual since he lost the city by 150,000 votes in 2018. Why anyone in Washington state would care, befuddles the blogger. "Time is terribly short, but a strike can still succeed." John Bolton, in a March 26, 2015, New York Times op-ed headlined, "To Stop Iran's Bomb, Bomb Iran." President Donald Trump campaigned as an isolationist, criticizing foreign military entanglements. As far back as 2013, he tweeted, "Can you believe that the Afghan war is our 'longest war' ever -bring our troops home, rebuild the U.S., make America great again." He has made the point repeatedly as president. In an April 2018 press conference, discussing Syria, Trump said: "I want to get out. I want to bring our troops back home. I want to start rebuilding our nation. We will have, as of three months ago, $7 trillion in the Middle East over the last 17 years. We get nothing nothing out of it, nothing." Despite his rhetoric, Trump's every move in the Middle East now seems committed to conflict and potentially to war with Iran. John Bolton is clearly at the vanguard, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo backing him up. Iranian diplomat Seyed Hossein Mousavian is a former senior negotiator for Iran on the nuclear issue, and currently a research scholar at Princeton University. Mousavian expressed his concerns this week on the "Democracy Now!" news hour: Franklin also said the focus of Democrats on identity politics, even if fully justified, tends to leave these folks out with its concern for nonwhites, its concern for women, its concerns for LGBT kinds of issues. You dont really hear Democratic politicians of a younger generation whose concerns are for identity groups (also) speaking to concerns of the white working class, specifically white, non-college men. I asked Franklin, and have long wondered, how the GOP is so effective at turning working men against Democrats when during my lifetime much of their resentment was directed at supervisors and business owners, presumably Republicans, over pay and working conditions. I think the rhetoric of Republicans in keeping jobs here (in America) must resonate when so many factory jobs have been lost, so your animus to the boss, to management, is one thing; its another when your concern becomes whether theyre going to close the paper mill, because thats a real thing, he said. In early April, Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, serving southern Louisianas St. Landry Parish, was completely destroyed by an arsonist who has since been arrested. This was the third church in 10 days to be reduced to rubble in a series of racially motivated attacks. St. Mary Baptist Church in Port Barre and the Greater Union Baptist Church in Opelousas were also severely damaged. The community was devastated and began an online fundraising campaign, which raised $50,000 generous, but hardly enough to rebuild. A short while later, on April 15, Notre Dame the 12th century cathedral in the heart of Paris also began to burn. What is suspected to be electrical fire did enormous damage to the icon a French icon, but also a building that millions around the world had visited and embraced. People from around the world began to donate funds. My wife and I decided to donate funds to both the Louisiana churches and the Notre Dame campaigns. At the same time, several French billionaires went public with their plans to donate hundreds of millions of dollars to Notre Dame. I had lived in Paris, a 10-minute walk from Notre Dame, and thousands of people were posting their Parisian selfies online and grieving over the loss. The main suspect in the murder of Muranga GK Prison Pauline Wangari has revealed to the police what led him to commit the crime. Joseph Ochieng was arrested in Kericho, as he was fleeing after murdering Pauline on Monday night. Police tracked his phone number and set up a road block at Kipsitet area, where they arrested him together with two others. In his statement to the police, Ochieng confessed to killing Pauline, adding that this was in fact the first time they met face to face. He told DCI officers in Muranga that they had been communicating through Facebook, and that they were just friends. He said that on the fateful night, they got into an argument after she refused to take hard drugs, which he had brought with him to her house in Kiharu estate, Muranga. He revealed that they had spent most of the evening smoking bhang. It was during this argument that Ochieng started strangling her until she fell down. Sent into panic mode, the suspect narrated how he reached for a kitchen knife and stabbed her in the chest, neck and abdomen, and, thereafter, put the knife firmly in her grip in a bid to make it look like Wangari had killed herself, a DCI officer revealed. CCTV footage showed a man entering her house at 9pm, and leaving at 3am on Tuesday, carrying a TV. The man was said to have a tattoo on his neck. The two other suspects arrested with Ochieng have been identified as a friend and a cousin to the friend, going by the names Namukura and Mary Amollo Olisa respectively. Namukura revealed that Ochieng, whom he has only known for 1 month, approached him to buy a TV from him, which he declined. Mary said that she was to travel to Kisumu on Thursday, and Ochieng requested they travel with him. She agreed not knowing he was a murder suspect. Upon the arrest of Ochieng, the state freed and withdrew all charges against Peterson Njiru, Paulines boyfriend who had been arrested on Thursday. JUNEAU A competency evaluation has been ordered for a 49-year-old Beaver Dam woman accused of coercing a teenage boy into a sexual relationship with her. Jennifer B. Schmidt appeared before Dodge County Circuit Court Judge Joseph Sciascia Thursday and her attorney John Smerlinski brought up concerns about her competency. Sciascia ordered a competency evaluation before further proceedings. Schmidt is charged with a felony count of sexual assault of a child under 16 and two felony counts of repeated sexual assault of a child. She could face up to 120 years in prison and $300,000 in fines. According to the criminal complaint, the mother of the victim contacted police May 12 to report that Schmidt was having an inappropriate sexual relationship with her 15-year-old son. The boy told police that Schmidt had asked him to have sex with her and he told her that she was too old. He said he had non-consensual sex with Schmidt after she threatened to kill his sisters unborn child. Police contacted Schmidt, and according to the complaint, she originally denied having a sexual relationship with the boy, but her story changed a few days later when police spoke to her again. According to the criminal complaint, Schmidt said the physical relationship began in March and that she knew it was wrong the whole time. Schmidt allegedly told officers that they used condoms and had sex about 10 times in March and three times in April. Follow Terri Pederson on Twitter @tlp53916 or contact her at 920-356-6760. What I heard today is the time has come for the USMCA to be passed, Pence said during a post-speech press conference. Thats why we came here. Congressman Ron Kind has supported trade throughout his career. So I wanted to be here in Wisconsin to encourage him to come out for USMCA. Pence called on U.S. Rep. Ron Kind, D-La Crosse, to take a stand for manufacturing and farming in Wisconsin and to work with his colleagues in Congress to introduce the U.S.-Mexico-Canada-Agreement on the House floor. He said he is confident that if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., introduces the trade agreement to Congress, it will pass both the House and Senate. We believe in having free and fair trade with our neighbors to the north and south, Pence said. Its absolutely vital to our continued prosperity, so I came here to the heartland to make it clear that the time has come for Congress to pass the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The Madison area is in a lot better shape economically than most other metropolitan areas of the U.S., but to propel the region into a top-echelon position it will take a lot more collaboration, education, investment and promotion, according to a new study. That could include forming entrepreneurial partnerships with groups as far away as Ann Arbor, Michigan or Pittsburgh, creating a food distribution center that would serve several states, or becoming a hub for industrial hemp. One of the most important steps will be to find a way to make broadband available to everyone in the region, the study says. The Madison area has the most diverse economy in the nation and is among leaders in the growth of technology jobs but it is far behind top U.S. investment hubs such as Austin, Texas, Raleigh, North Carolina, or Portland, Oregon, according to Advance Now 2.0. When we compare ourselves to the rest of the country, we look awfully good. When we compare ourselves to the cream of the crop, we still have a long ways to go, said Paul Jadin, president of the Madison Region Economic Partnership (MadREP). Two Wisconsin officers were justified when they shot and killed a man who got in a gunfight with police that left a city firefighter dead in the crossfire last month, a prosecutor said. Luber also pleaded guilty Friday to a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge involving an incident last year at the Nitty Gritty restaurant in Sun Prairie. He received a two-day jail sentence, which has been deemed served. Luber was free on bail for the Nitty Gritty incident at the time of Zieglers beating. Under the agreement, a bail jumping charge against Luber was dismissed, but Crawford can consider it when she sentences Luber. A criminal complaint states that a woman who had been at the home on Highway 113 where Ziegler and Tracy lived told police that she decided to sleep over at the house, but after trying to sleep on the couch, Ziegler offered to let her sleep in his bed because Tracy was intoxicated and was being too loud. The woman told police she woke up about 3:30 a.m. when a car pulled into the driveway, the complaint states, and she heard Tracy say, Shes in my (expletive) bed. When Ziegler got out of bed and opened the bedroom door, the woman told police, Ziegler was attacked by two men, later identified as Johnson and Luber. Importantly, Trump is trending up significantly in key areas since 2016: Hes up 19% in the Milwaukee market (excluding the city), up 5% in Milwaukee, up 6% in the Green Bay and Appleton market, up 12% in the Madison market, and up 10% in the rest of the state. And 91% of Wisconsin Republicans approve of the job he is doing as president. With Trumps increased popularity, he can help the party reach new voters in rural Wisconsin, as he did in 2016. The New York Times recently did a piece on Trumps re-election prospects in Wisconsin, and they couldnt even find a Democrat who thought Trump would lose Wisconsin in 2020. The Nairobi city government is set to block one of the busiest streets in the capital for about 2 weeks. Luthuli Avenue, known for all things electronic, will be blocked from Saturday May 18 until the end of the month. This is to facilitate the county governments move to convert it into a one way avenue, as part of governor Sonkos agenda of changing the face of the city. As part of the conversion, the street will also be rehabilitated. The street will also be rehabilitated and we will install air pollution controlling gadgets to contain pollution of the air. This is a pilot project and we will monitor the project for the next three months before we evaluate its suitability, Environment County Executive Veska Kangogo said. This project is a partnership between the county government and the world bank. Motorists have been asked to fully cooperate with traffic marshalls who will be advising on the usage of the street during the partial closure, read an advert in local newspapers on Friday. Luthuli Avenue is one of the streets which have long been proposed to be converted into one-way streets. Another often mentioned one is Mama Ngina street. BLACK EARTH Recently, I was talking with friends about President Donald Trumps latest round of tariffs and his decision to escalate the trade war with China. As we discussed how the Chinese government had fired back with tariffs of its own, one friend remarked that the Trump administration has announced a plan to help make whole the Wisconsin dairy and soybean farmers affected. While its true that the White House has unveiled a new plan to divert billions of dollars in aid to U.S. farmers after throwing them under the bus with the presidents indiscriminate use of tariffs against China, I noted that dairy farmers were likely to receive just 5 cents for every dollar they lost. But it turns out I was wrong. In reality, some Wisconsin family dairy farmers stand to get less than 2 cents for every dollar lost as a result of the Chinese tariffs. A recent report noted that during the last bailout from tariffs, a 55-cow dairy farm would receive a one-time payment of $725 from the bailout but stood to lose between $36,000 and $48,000 in income last year. Sending Wisconsin farmers just 2% of what they lost means that families will struggle to put food on the table, send kids to college, save for retirement or even keep their farms. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. This letter to the editor is in response to the White House limiting press passes to "special credentialing," which means that only those members of the press approved or selected by the president or press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders will have access to the White House. These press censures make us more like North Korea every day. Do you think President Richard Nixon wanted Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein to write about Watergate? No. But Nixon didn't pull the Washington Post's press credential. That's because he knew that, according to the Constitution, we have a guarantee of a free press under the First Amendment. Surely someone could have gotten President Donald Trump to read at least one amendment and explain it to him. Without the press and free speech, we would be citizens of Great Britain now. If you think Congress gets a lot of money, imagine how happy you would be paying for the royal family. An Idaho man accused in the September killing of a man has been charged with the additional crime of cannibalism and authorities in court documents said the suspect believed he could "cure his brain" by eating some of the victim. BOISE Attorneys for Idaho prison officials argued Thursday that a transgender inmate who is suing for access to gender confirmation surgery is too mentally unstable to receive the irreversible medical procedure. Lawyer Brady Hall told a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that Idaho has no policy barring gender confirmation surgery for transgender inmates and that the Department of Correction specifically allows the treatment if its deemed medically appropriate. Its the same policy that, for the last seven years, Ms. (Adree) Edmo has been closely followed and monitored by staff to meet her needs, Hall said. Edmo has been housed in a mens prison since she first began serving time on a charge of sexually abusing a child younger than 16 in 2012. She sued in 2017, contending that the states refusal to provide her with gender confirmation surgery amounts to cruel and unusual punishment and causes her severe distress because she has gender dysphoria. The condition occurs when the incongruity between a persons assigned gender and their gender identity is so severe that it impairs their ability to function. A federal judge ordered prison officials to provide the surgery earlier this year, and Idaho appealed. Hall said Edmos medical professionals universally agreed that she did not qualify for the surgery given her uncontrolled mental health issues but that Edmo refused to participate in therapy that would have helped get her ready for the procedure. Edmos attorney, Lori Rifkin, said Idaho officials are treating Edmos condition differently than they would any other medical concern. Prison officials wouldnt be allowed to refuse life-saving treatment to an inmate with a tumor, and they shouldnt be allowed to deny Edmo her needed treatment either, Rifkin said. They can say they were well meaning, but we have a person whose medical condition is being treated differently, Rifkin said. A safe, established, effective treatment and they continue to deny it. Rifkin said Edmo was receiving hormone therapy and counseling, but her suffering was so great that she twice tried to mutilate herself in her prison cell. She said that since those attempts, the state has offered Edmo no additional treatment. She shouldnt have to attempt self-castration again or attempt suicide to get the care she needs, Rifkin said. Every day is a struggle to survive. The three-judge panel will issue a written ruling later. Love 0 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 12 BURLEY The Cassia County School District tabled a decision Thursday on whether to close Almo Elementary School after hearing impassioned pleas from community members to keep it open. The board will take up the issue again during next months board meeting. The board was considering closing the school because it is operating at a $21,000 deficit. The school has 10 students in grades K-3, one teacher and one aide on staff, along with a part-time bus driver, district spokeswoman Debbie Critchfield said. Idaho has just nine schools that have 10 or fewer students. At first I thought this was something I was up to but there are just too many variables, board member Jeff Rasmussen said. I dont have enough information to make a decision. Almo resident Janis Durfee, who co-owns Tracy General Store, said closing the Almo school is a 40-year-old topic. Durfee, who is now a grandmother, said she approached the school board 40 years ago, asking the district not to close the school because the small children who attend it would have to spend hours each day being bused to Raft River Elementary School. Community member Sadie Udy said the community found out the school district was considering closing the school nine days ago and since then has rallied to understand the option for keeping it open. Those options might include trying to raise private donations and looking into grant possibilities. Another possibility may be converting the school to a charter school, Deanna Cole of Almo said. Heber Loughmiller, who represents Almo on the board, said the community members raised good questions, were polite and very organized in their presentation. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 BOISE An administrative law judge has rejected a plan for public land grazing allotments that would have destroyed re-emerging sagebrush in Twin Falls County in favor of non-native plants to increase forage for cattle and sheep. The ruling directs the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to set aside its final grazing decisions for about 80 square miles of allotments and then reissue them with terms consistent with the ruling. The plan that provides for vegetation treatments intended to reduce or destroy native sagebrush and other native plant communities lacks a rational basis, U.S. Interior Department Administrative Law Judge Andrew S. Pearlstein wrote in the May 9 order. WildLands Defense and Prairie Falcon Audubon in 2017 appealed the Bureau of Land Managements decision involving 18 permittees on 21 allotments that would have destroyed native plants on what are called the Berger Allotments. BLM is supposed to look for opportunities to restore sagebrush habitat, said Katie Fite of WildLands Defense. This was the dead opposite of that. This was purging sagebrush. A federal report last year concluded efforts to save sagebrush habitat in the West were failing, with invasive plants such as cheatgrass and medusahead on nearly 160,000 square miles of public and private lands. Federal officials in April released a plan intended to reverse that trend using new technologies and analytics to aid in restoring sagebrush habitats that support cattle ranching, recreation and 350 wildlife species, including imperiled sage grouse. Efforts to restore sagebrush habitats can run into the millions of dollars from a single wildfire. The BLMs decision on the southern Idaho grazing allotments would have used large machines to kill sagebrush and other native plants where ranchers favor non-native forage plants such as crested wheatgrass. Its like were back in the 1950s, Fite said. The BLM can appeal the judges ruling to the Interior Board of Land Appeals. BLM officials said Friday they were reviewing the order. Pearlstein noted that besides sagebrush, the allotments are seeing a return of native grasses that include bluebunch wheatgrass, Thurbers needlegrass, needle-and-thread grass, Sandburg bluegrass and Davis peppergrass, listed as a rare or special species by the BLM. Invasive grasses on the allotments include primarily cheatgrass, as well as invasive forbs and shrubs. Pearlstein also noted the presence of wildlife dependent on native plants, including pronghorn, mule deer, and smaller mammals and many types of birds, including sage grouse. He said sage grouse are rarely seen in the allotments, but there are four occupied sage grouse leks, or breeding grounds, within about 2 miles of the allotments. Specifically, Pearlstein noted, the BLM classifies the allotments as seedings, meaning the agency can plant crested wheatgrass without consideration of the vitality of diverse native vegetation. But Pearlstein said killing native plants in favor of non-native crested wheatgrass couldnt be justified. Fite said the ruling prohibiting the destruction of native plants on the grazing allotments is one of the first such rulings shes seen. This is a pretty exceptional decision, she said. Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Love 4 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 3 Seven Democratic presidential candidates gathered on national television early in the 1988 campaign to debate each other. The field of candidates, derided by Republicans as the Seven Dwarfs, pales in comparison to the 24 Democratic candidates who have at last count declared their candidacy for president. The seven Democrats on the stage in 1988 represented an unprecedented number of candidates vying in a presidential primary. Now, 17 of the 24 declared Democratic presidential candidates have currently met the standards set by the Democratic National Committee to qualify for participation in this election cycles debates. And in 2016 the GOP used two debate stages to accommodate the 17 declared candidates. I study political parties and their role in electoral politics. And I believe the rise in the number of presidential candidates in recent years results from divisions within the party coalitions and from easier access to vital campaign resources money and media that were not present in previous election cycles. The old way Political parties are not monolithic organizations. Parties consist of a network of groups with different policy interests who work together. For example, within the Democratic Party there are labor organizations, environmentalists and civil rights groups, each with different priorities. Each group would ideally prefer a candidate who will champion their ideas and strongly support their policy preferences. But a primary filled with many candidates who attack one another risks harming the eventual nominees standing with voters. Likewise, these divisive primaries may cause supporters of a candidate who fails to win the nomination to withhold their support of the nominee. So to avoid the problems created by a divisive primary, these groups must coordinate behind a single candidate who may not be everyones or anyones first choice. This requires the groups within the party to compromise, subordinating their groups interests in favor of a win for the party. In previous election cycles, where the average number of candidates who declared their candidacy and campaigned actively through the first primaries and caucuses was much smaller, these groups have worked together effectively to stand behind one candidate. Money, media and staff As my research shows, unified parties are able to discourage candidates from running or encourage them to drop out. They do this by making it difficult for the candidates they dont prefer to acquire the vital electoral resources that are necessary to win the nomination: media coverage, campaign funds and quality campaign staff. Donors, staff and the media take cues from party elites about which candidates are the partys choice. They are less likely to support, work for or cover those lacking the partys support. Reforms to the presidential nomination process in the early 1970s took choosing a nominee out of smoke-filled back rooms. But parties have continued to influence the outcome through their control of the money and other campaign resources necessary to win the nomination. While these resources are available in abundance within the party network, they were previously harder to find outside of that network. In previous years, candidates who realized it would be hard to amass the necessary resources through party support ultimately declined to run or dropped out quickly, resulting in much smaller presidential fields. Declining party influence In recent years, things have changed. Parties may still have the ability to push a candidate through the nomination when they are united. But I believe party unification and power over electoral resources has also declined in these four areas: 1. Media control In the past, candidates were reliant on the media to publicize their candidacy and get their message to voters. Party leaders and elites consistently have better connections with the media establishment and use those connections to promote preferred candidates. But todays media environment allows candidates to bring their message directly to voters. Social media bypasses reporters and editors and those who have connections to them so more candidates have easier access to this key campaign resource. 2. Candidate ambitions Before, running for president was almost entirely about advancing ones political career. As Paul Tsongas, the former senator and presidential candidate, once said, When you get to the Senate, half the people around you are running for president. You see them and you think you are just as good as they are So you start to think about running yourself. Now, a run for higher office can be a means to other opportunities outside of politics. Republican Sen. Rick Santorum, a presidential candidate in 2016 and 2012, became a pundit on CNN. Another candidate, the GOPs 2008 vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, ended up with a show on cable news. While parties still pressure candidates to withdraw, candidates may be less responsive than in the past. Thats because they care less about the desires of party elites since they may not be as interested in a career in party politics. 3. Fundraising Changes in campaign finance have also helped candidates find sufficient money outside of the party network to launch their campaign. The rise of super PACs and other independent political entities has allowed candidates to gain access to large sums of money from a small number of donors. Campaign finance rules previously encouraged candidates to rely on a larger base of wealthy donors many of whom took cues from party elites. At the same time, the internet and social media have also expanded the role of small donors who are not traditionally involved in party politics. Small dollar donations have taken a more important role in campaign funding. 4. Party disunity Lastly, party coalitions have also become more divided. Divisions within the Republican Party coalition became more evident during the Tea Party movement. Similar ideological divisions have emerged in the last two election cycles between Democratic Party leaders and the more liberal wing of the Democratic Party. The rise of differences and divisions within the parties makes it harder for the groups within the party network to coordinate on a single candidate. Here to stay While the number of candidates running for president in 2020 may be unprecedented, a crowded debate stage is unlikely to be a strange sight in the future. The divisions within parties and the availability of money and media coverage outside of the traditional party network mean that potential candidates will continue to see and take opportunities where previously they did not. ___ This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The Trump Administration is having trouble convincing our allies of the necessity of a confrontation with Iran. Administration claims that Iran is posing an increasing threat to U.S. interests in the region have been met with skepticism by a number of governments. American efforts to enlist our European allies in an effort to crack down on Iran have fallen flat. A senior British general, who serves as deputy commander of the U.S. coalition against the Islamic State, typified their response. On May 14, he said, there has been no increased threat from Iranian-backed forces. When the Secretary of State made a surprise visit to Iraq on May 7 to share threat information, Iraqi officials were not impressed. That response might be taken with a grain of salt because our ill-conceived invasion of Iraq drove that country much closer to Iran. But, it does demonstrate a troubling credibility gap in a critical part of the world. It may be that Iran has plans to harm American interests in the region, requiring a U.S. response, or it may be that Mike Pompeo and John Bolton, the Administrations Iran hawks, are just trying to pave the way for another unnecessary military conflict. The problem is that truth-challenged, seat-of-the-pants foreign policy is seriously eroding Americas credibility around the world and putting our country at risk. There is something to be said for employing a certain amount of uncertainty in dealing with our enemies. An element of bluffing is fair game in dealing with an adversary. However, it must always be carefully employed and rooted in reality. A chaotic policy or one based on untruths will not deter our enemies. And, when dealing with allies, it is essential to be truthful and respectful. When we surprise our partners with policies harmful to their interests, fail to be truthful with them, or fail to honor our commitments, it erodes our credibility and ability to advance our national interests. Foreign governments, both friends and foes, carefully follow American politics. They see tallies of the untruths attributed to the President. They are aware of the wide policy swings that can occur in a short period of timean immediate pullout from Syria one day, a retraction several days later, something else a short time later. Or, in this hemisphereoff-and-on promises to help the people of Venezuela rid themselves of a dictator, or alternating threats and promises to Central American countries regarding aid to keep their people at home. When our friends and enemies cant rely on predictability and a certain amount of truthfulness from the U.S. government, it damages our moral standing and harms our national interests. This month our allies wont buy our case for confronting Iran because they have seen a lack of candor on other issues. What will it be next month and the month after? Once credibility is lost, it is hard to restore. The icons of the Republican PartyAbraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, and Ronald Reaganstood up for the moral dignity of the United States. While they were not perfect and may have strayed from the absolute truth on occasion, they understood the need to let both friend and foe know where America stood, what they could expect from the U.S. and the consequences of transgressing our national interests. It is not too late to restore America to its position as moral beacon of the world. Lets demand it of our leaders. Jim Jones is an Eden native and former Idaho Attorney General and former Idaho Supreme Court Chief Justice. Love 1 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 0 It's time to end the forever wars, wrote Joe Goode, president of Boise States Young Democrats. The key to understanding that naivete rests with two words: Young and Democrats. Regardless of this go rounds buzzwords, those sentiments have echoed through the centuries and are just as idealistic today as when first uttered. Can we bring Joes pronouncement to fruition? Perhaps we could send a note to the Middle East reading, Please stop beheading journalists. Please stop filming your 12-year-old boys shooting kneeling innocents in the back of the head. Please stop attacking elementary schools and leaving the bodies of children strewn over wide areas. And please close the many organizations in the United States which captured documents show have a systematic plan to destroy the entire western civilization supplanting it with your own 8th-century ideologies both in morals and mentalities. I believe if we said Please, they would immediately comply. Dont you? An overused example perhaps, but remember Prime Minister Chamberlain returned from the 1938 Munich Conference to announce to Britons, Mr. Hitler does not want war. Of course, he didnt. He just wanted everyone to fall down before him so that he'd not have to waste ammunition. The declaration came just months before Mr. Hitler was raining bombs and V-2 rockets on London and the English coast. Ultimately that naivete cost millions of lives, trillions of dollars and is obviously still on the loose. Mr. Goodes LTE was filled with enough names, dates, acronyms and expenditures to project an air of authority, at least to an apathetic and overburdened citizenry. But ultracrepidarianism is a fine word and is never more at home than when associated with Mr. Goodes observations. William (not a Republican) Cook Twin Falls Love 2 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 TWIN FALLS Anglers in the Magic Valley have recently been catching some giant trout in local fishing ponds after Clear Springs Foods in Mackay donated nearly 900 hatchery brood stock to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. Hagerman State Fish Hatchery staff stocked these fish into regional waters in late April, and 1,000 more will be on their way to Magic Valley waters in May. The trophy-sized rainbow trout have averaged 8 to 10 pounds each, with some anglers reporting the scales tipping 11 pounds. These big fish are creating some big smiles with small anglers. Alexis Dannehl, with the help of her father Cory Slippey, landed a 7 pound trout at Freedom Park Pond in Burley earlier this week. "We greatly appreciate Clear Springs' generosity and hope that people get out there and take advantage of this great opportunity," Cassie Sundquist, Magic Valley region fish hatchery complex manager, said in a statement. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 American Consumer News, LLC dba MarketBeat 2010-2021. All rights reserved. 326 E 8th St #105, Sioux Falls, SD 57103 | U.S. Based Support Team at [email protected] | (844) 978-6257 MarketBeat does not provide personalized financial advice and does not issue recommendations or offers to buy stock or sell any security. Our Accessibility Statement | Terms of Service | Do Not Sell My Information 2021 Market data provided is at least 10-minutes delayed and hosted by Barchart Solutions. Information is provided 'as-is' and solely for informational purposes, not for trading purposes or advice, and is delayed. To see all exchange delays and terms of use please see disclaimer. Fundamental company data provided by Zacks Investment Research. Poorer, disconnected suburbs are more likely to have depression 'hot spots', according to a new study focused on Adelaide from The Australian National University (ANU). Dr. Nasser Bagheri, a Senior Research Fellow from ANU College of Health and Medicine, found links between depression and highly fragmented neighbourhoods in Adelaide. The wealthy seaside suburbs of west Adelaide were more connected and had lower levels of depression. In contrast, the city's south and inner city was more disconnected and had higher rates of depression. Dr. Bagheri says the results are explained by social fragmentation, which is defined by a lack of opportunity and inclusion. Social fragmentation is based on 12 variables from Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), including how long people have lived in the area, the percentage of renters, single-person households, recent immigrants, unmarried and non-family households. "We found significant clusters of both hot spots and cold spots of social fragmentation and depression," said Dr. Nasser Bagheri. "Individuals treated for depression are more likely to live in neighbourhoods with low socio-economic status and higher social fragmentation. "The cold spots were the opposite. They had higher socio-economic status, lower rates of depression and less social fragmentation. "We found these cold spot areas are more connected and they have better mental health." The cold spot suburbs that were doing well had more school age children living in the area, voluntary workers, home owners and long-term residents. "What's working in the cold areas is they are mostly home owners, they have established families and people live longer in those areas. People are more invested in these areas," said Dr. Bagheri. "Home owners are more likely to have an attachment to the neighbourhood compared to someone who rents short term." Researchers suggest that enhancing connectivity in poorer neighbourhoods could help with lowering depression rates. "We expected areas that are highly socially fragmented would have high rates of depression," said Dr. Bagheri. "Finding where these hot spots are helps us target prevention activities across communities and work toward more connected neighbourhoods." The study is published in Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. Explore further Growing social fragmentation driven by rising single people and private renters More information: Nasser Bagheri et al. Development of the Australian neighborhood social fragmentation index and its association with spatial variation in depression across communities, Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology (2019). Nasser Bagheri et al. Development of the Australian neighborhood social fragmentation index and its association with spatial variation in depression across communities,(2019). DOI: 10.1007/s00127-019-01712-y (HealthDay)Americans are becoming more positive about mental health, although some stigma remains, according to the results of a new poll released by the American Psychological Association (APA). The Harris Poll conducted a survey of 1,006 nationally representative U.S. adults from November 20 to 29, 2018, on behalf of the APA. Participants completed an online survey about their attitudes toward mental health disorders and treatment. The researchers found that 87 percent of American adults agreed that having a mental health disorder is nothing to be ashamed of, and 86 percent said they believe that people with mental health disorders can get better. Young adults (aged 18 to 34 years) reported the most shame around mental health disorders, with 78 percent saying a mental health disorder was not something to be ashamed of (versus 92 percent of those 65 years and 89 percent of those aged 35 to 64 years). One-third of participants agreed with the statement, "People with mental health disorders scare me," and 39 percent said they would view someone differently if they knew that person had a mental health disorder. While the majority of respondents (91 percent) agreed that people who are suicidal can be treated and go on to live successful lives, 30 percent said that they would keep quiet about the cause of death if their own loved one died by suicide. "The results of this survey are encouraging, and a signal that APA's and others' work over the years to promote mental health care is paying off," Arthur C. Evans Jr., Ph.D., the chief executive officer of the APA, said in a statement. "They indicate a willingness to be more open about mental illness, as well as a strong belief among older respondents that having a mental disorder is nothing to be ashamed of." Explore further Americans more open about mental health issues, but stigma lingers More information: More Information Copyright 2019 HealthDay. All rights reserved. Credit: CC0 Public Domain Sometimes in life there are special places that seem to stand out to usa school playground, perhaps an old church, or that inconspicuous street corner where you were kissed for the first time. Before the kiss you had never even noticed that corner. It's as if the special experience with that beloved person transferred positive emotion to the location. Our attitude towards these places thus suddenly changesthey become valuable to us. But could this also happen purely by the power of imagination rather than by actual experiences? Roland Benoit and Philipp Paulus from the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, together with Daniel Schacter from Harvard University, have examined this question in a study published in the journal Nature Communications. They show that our attitudes can be influenced not only by what we actually experience but also by what we imagine. Furthermore, they believe the phenomenon is based on activity in a particular location in the front of our brains, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Participants in their study were first asked to name people that they like very much and also people they don't like at all. In addition, they were asked to provide a list of places that they considered to be neutral. Later, when the participants were lying in the MRI scanner, they were asked to vividly imagine how they would spend time with a much-liked person at one of the neutral places. "So I might imagine myself with my daughter in the elevator of our institute, where she wildly pushes all the buttons. Eventually, we arrive at the roof top terrace, where we get out to enjoy the view," describes first author Roland Benoit, who heads the research group 'Adaptive Memory.' After the MRI scanning, he and his colleagues were able to determine that the attitudes of the participants towards the places had changed: the previously neutral places that had been imagined with liked people were now regarded more positive than at the beginning of the study. The authors first observed this effect with study participants in Cambridge, MA, and then successfully replicated this effect in Leipzig, Germany. "Merely imagining interacting with a much-liked person at a neutral place can transfer the emotional value of the person to this place. And we don't even have to actually experience the episode in reality," is how co-author Daniel Schacter sums it up. Using MRI data, the researchers were able to show how this mechanism works in the brain. The ventromedial prefrontal cortex plays an important role in this process. This is where information about individual persons and places from our environment is stored, as the authors assumed. But this region also evaluates how important individual people and places are for us. "We propose that this region bundles together representations of our environment by binding together information from the entire brain that form an overall picture," Roland Benoit explains. "For example, there would be a representation with information about my daughterwhat she looks like, how her voice sounds, how she reacts in certain situations. The idea now is that these representations also include an evaluationfor example, how important my daughter is to me and how much I love her." Indeed, when the participants thought of a person that they liked more strongly, the scientists saw signs of greater activity in that region. "Now, when I imagine my daughter in the elevator, both her representation and that of the elevator become active in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. This, in turn, can connect these representationsthe positive value of the person can thus transfer to the previously neutral location." Why are the researchers interested in this phenomenon? They want to better understand the human ability to experience hypothetical events through imagination and how we learn from imagined events much in the same way as from actual experiences. This mechanism can potentially augment future-oriented decisions and also help avoiding risks. According to Benoit, it will be important to also understand the consequences of negative thoughts: "In our study, we show how positive imaginings can lead to a more positive evaluation of our environment. I wonder how this mechanism influences people who tend to dwell on negative thoughts about their future, such as people who suffer from depression. Does such rumination lead to a devaluation of aspects of their life that are actually neutral or even positive?" This could be the next interesting research question for his team. Explore further Imagining a positive outcome biases subsequent memories More information: Roland G. Benoit et al, Forming attitudes via neural activity supporting affective episodic simulations, Nature Communications (2019). Journal information: Nature Communications Roland G. Benoit et al, Forming attitudes via neural activity supporting affective episodic simulations,(2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-09961-w Research led by the University of Birmingham has revealed that just three percent of children in England visited the dentist before their first birthday. Analysing the 2016/17 NHS Dental Statistics for England Annual Report, researchers at the University of Birmingham's School of Dentistry in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh and Public Health England, also found that nationally only 12 percent of children had visited the dentist by their second birthday. The research, published in Community Dental Health, also found that there were significant variations between local authority areas in the rate of children visiting dentists with surprisingly a higher number of children in areas of deprivation visiting the dentist compared to those in more affluent areas. One of the lowest rates of dental attendance for children aged under one was in West Berkshire, where attendance was less than one per cent, while deprivation in the area was ranked low. In comparison, the highest rate of attendance in children aged under one was 12.3% in South Tyneside, which is one of the most deprived local authorities in England Lead author Candy Salomon-Ibarra, of the University of Birmingham, said: "Our findings were unexpected as we had anticipated seeing higher levels of attendance in more affluent local authorities, but this was not the case. "We explored with private dentistry providers whether children were being seen privately instead, but this does not seem to be the explanation. "More studies are needed to explore the reasons for such variations in rates of dental visits, such as a lack of local initiatives to encourage attendance or difficulties accessing NHS care. "The fact that so few children nationally under the age of two attend the dentist, no matter where they live or their economic circumstances, shows that policy makers face enormous challenge attempting to improve this situation." Dr. John Morris, Senior Lecturer in Dental Public Health at the University of Birmingham, added: "There is broad consensus that children should have a dental examination from a dentist as soon as the first teeth erupt, and no later than the child's first birthday. "Early dental visits not only provide parents with information they require to prevent early childhood oral health issues, but it is also believed that such dental visits familiarise children with the dental environment and reduce future dental anxiety. "Poor oral health can cause pain and infection, which can affect eating, sleeping, socialising and learning, yet worryingly our research suggests that there is a widespread lack of understanding of the importance of taking children to the dentist before their first birthday despite considerable investment in encouraging parents to take their child to the dentist." The researchers said that the NHS spends approximately 3.4billion per annum on dental services. In the two years to March 2016, tooth extraction was the main reason for hospital admission in five to nine-year olds and the sixth most common procedure in those aged under five. In 2017, the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry, in partnership with the Office of the Chief Dental Officer England, launched a "Dental Check by One" campaign to promote the importance of children attending the dentist by the age of one. In the same year, NHS England started a new programme, "Starting Well," in 13 high priority areas targeting children aged under five years who do not currently visit a dentist. Janet Clarke, Chair of the West Midlands Local Dental Network at NHS England and NHS ImprovementMidlands, said: "This study paints a worrying picture of the number of very young children attending the dentist, and shows that we have still have work to do to try and address it. "In the West Midlands, the NHS is running a public-facing campaign titled A Little Trip To The Dentist focused on encouraging more parents to start thinking about oral health early by highlighting the many benefits of check-ups at a young age even before teeth come through. "Many parents have fed back saying they simply weren't aware of the need to take their children until they have a full set of milk teeth, so by raising awareness, we're hopeful we might start to see the numbers increase in our region and beyond." Claire Stevens, spokesperson for the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry (BSPD) and a Consultant in Paediatric Dentistry, commented: "This latest research provides a useful baseline. Until recently parents were told to take their child to the dentist by school age which is clearly not soon enough. "Since BSPD introduced Dental Check by One in 2017, the campaign is still in its infancy. As more practices subscribe to the Dental Check by One concept we hope to see the numbers of babies and toddlers gaining access to a dentist increase." Explore further Lack of guidance may delay a child's first trip to the dentist More information: Low rates of dental attendance by the age of one and inequality between local government administrative areas in England. Community Dental Health, DOI: 10.1922/CDH_4390Salomon-Ibarra05 Low rates of dental attendance by the age of one and inequality between local government administrative areas in England. Mosquitoes of the Aedes albopictus species transmit various viruses, e.g. the dengue virus. Credit: cdc_James Gathany "We now know for sure that Zika virus infection during pregnancy can affect the unborn foetus in such a way that the child develops microcephaly and other severe symptoms," explains Prof Felix Drexler, a virologist at Charite who has been developing diagnostic tests for Zika and other viruses at the DZIF. Just a few years ago, pictures of affected newborns were cause for worldwide dismay and perplexity. "However, what we did not understand then was that high incidence of microcephaly seemed to occur particularly in northeastern Brazil," says Drexler. Why are expecting mothers in these regions at a higher risk of developing a severe Zika-associated disease than in other regions? The scientists consequently began to search for cofactors that have an influence on whether a Zika infection during pregnancy will develop fatal consequences or not. A suspected cofactor Dengue viruses, which are widespread in Latin America and cause dengue fever, were suspected cofactors. Initially, the scientists suspected that the antibodies humans produce against the dengue virus contribute to the foetal damage caused in later Zika infection. It has been known for a long time that these antibodies can enhance subsequent dengue infections under certain conditions. However, in the case of Zika, the opposite seems to be the case. "Surprisingly, our study has shown that a previous dengue infection can protect against Zika-associated damage," emphasizes Drexler. The study As a first step to investigating the interactions between dengue and Zika viruses, the genomes of all known dengue viruses in Brazil were compared to each other. This was to enable the researchers to find out whether perhaps dengue viruses in northeastern Brazil had caused different immunity compared to the immunity observed in other regions in Brazil over the last decades. In addition, the scientists conducted extensive serological tests in Salvador, Brazil: Samples from a case-control study were tested for antibodies against four different dengue serotypes. Samples from 29 mothers who had undergone Zika infection during pregnancy and gave birth to children with microcephaly were investigated. Samples from 108 mothers who also had undergone Zika infection during pregnancy but gave birth to healthy children were used as controls. In this project, scientists from the Charite - Universitatsmedizin Berlin collaborated closely with the Federal University of Bahia and the Institute of Virology of the Bonn University Medical Centre. Cofactor becomes a protective factor The study showed that an existing immunity against dengue virus significantly reduces the risk of Zika-associated microcephaly in newly borns. "We can now say that people who have had early infections with dengue do not need to worry much about contracting more severe forms of Zika infection due to this," summarises Drexler. This is an important message for pregnant women. Consequently, it could not be confirmed that the dengue virus acts as a cofactor for congenital Zika infection. The scientists are now looking for further cofactors and other possibilities of identifying the risk of microcephaly early on. Background Felix Drexler and his research group have already developed several novel Zika virus tests. The Zika diagnostics project in Brazil was brought underway by the DZIF in order to act against the threat of emerging infections. It is also being funded by the EU programme Horizon 2020. Zika and dengue viruses Zika viruses are usually transmitted by mosquitoes, particularly by the Aedes species, but they can also be transmitted sexually. Symptoms of Zika include rashes, headaches, joint pain and muscle pain, conjunctivitis and sometimes fever. However, these symptoms are considered mild compared to other tropical diseases that are transmitted by mosquitoes. During pregnancy, the virus can cause microcephaly and other malformations in the unborn child. The dengue virus is also transmitted by mosquitoes of the Aedes species and has similar symptoms to Zika infection. Dengue usually causes high temperatures, headaches, muscle and joint pain. People usually recover within a few days, but complications may also occur. Dengue fever is one of the most common diseases transmitted by mosquitoes worldwide. Explore further Dengue virus infection may cause severe outcomes following Zika virus infection during pregnancy More information: Celia Pedroso et al, Cross-Protection of Dengue Virus Infection against Congenital Zika Syndrome, Northeastern Brazil, Emerging Infectious Diseases (2019). Journal information: Emerging Infectious Diseases Celia Pedroso et al, Cross-Protection of Dengue Virus Infection against Congenital Zika Syndrome, Northeastern Brazil,(2019). DOI: 10.3201/eid2508.190113 Provided by German Center for Infection Research HIV infecting a human cell. Credit: NIH According to scientists who study women infected with HIV, statistics often paint an impressionist view of the lives of these women that misses the granular detail that tells the real story. The imprecise big picture is that most of this population is doing a good job at suppressing the virus, but facts gathered on the ground show that many struggle with issues of daily living that can make taking a pill to keep HIV at bay difficult. In JAMA Network Open, researchers say that while a majority of the 1,989 HIV+ women they have been studying since 1994 have been able to control their virusoften on and offchallenges such as mental health, unstable housing, and lack of social support constitute ongoing barriers to effective and sustained viral suppression. "Survival is a priority over putting a pill in your mouth for a number of our participants, and that is the public health challenge we must address," says the study's first author Seble G. Kassaye, MD, MS, associate professor of medicine at Georgetown University Medical Center. "The truth of their lives is a lot less rosy than a few lines of statistics in a summary report can reveal," she adds. Kassaye, an infectious diseases clinician and epidemiology expert, is the principal investigator of the Washington Metropolitan site of the NIH-funded longitudinal cohort, the Women's Interagency HIV study (WIHS), which has tracked many of the participants since it first opened in 1994. Four other WIHS sites (two in New York, Chicago and San Francisco) sites contributed data to this work. WIHS was launched because of the recognition that HIV is almost as common in women as in men, in some populations, and that the biology and route of infection can differ. For example, in Washington DC, 1.9 percent of African American women are HIV+, compared to 4.4 percent of African American men. And 30 percent of HIV+ women who have been studied have no explanation as to how they became infected"It was likely from heterosexual sex, perhaps with a man who may not have been aware of his status or did not disclose infection," Kassaye says. "About a quarter of the women acquired HIV infection related to injection drug use, but that has become an increasingly less common cause of HIV transmission in the current era." In this study, the researchers took a longitudinal look at how well each participant kept their virus in check, and if they had trouble doing so, why? Each person was interviewed and had a blood draw every six months to establish viral levels. Specific levels indicated the virus was well controlled, or uncontrolleda condition called viremia. The researchers found that over 23 years of viral levels, 3 patterns or 'trajectories' were present: 29 percent were at a low probability for viremia, 39 percent were at intermediate probability, and 32 percent were at high probability. These superseded the usual cross-sectional or short term analyses that are often provided to capture viremia outcomes at the population level. More recently between 2015-2017, 71 percent of women achieved sustained viral suppression, including 35 percent of the high probability of viremia group. "So, the rosy picture is that 71 percent of the women achieved viral suppression, but the granular detail tells us that some women are doing very well with 89.6 percent of the women in the low probability of viremia consistently suppressed in the recent years, but others are still struggling to get to viral suppression," says Kassaye. "Despite this struggle, I believe these women continue to resource their personal resiliencies to take their HIV medications as prescribed," adds the study's senior author, Michael Plankey, Ph.D., clinical infectious disease epidemiologist and professor of medicine at Georgetown University Medical Center. While today's HIV treatment is much less toxic than it used to be, and drug therapy is now suggested for anyone who is infectedand are therefore in much greater usethe barriers to daily therapy are real, she says. The researchers found that women in the high viremia group were more likely to report depressive symptoms (54 percent), have higher levels of current illicit drug (41 percent) and alcohol use (14 percent), be less likely to have stable housing (66 percent) and were more likely to die prematurely (39 percent). "Just in DC, we see that the public health issues and stigma surrounding HIV remain endemic. My colleagues have treated generations of HIV+ women: grandmothers, their daughters, and their granddaughters. I have seen women with HIV who do not have any support, but if that person develops cancer, there will be a roomful of people coming to the clinic with her," Kassaye says. An answer to reaching universal treatment and viral suppression will require "wrap-around" services that can effectively address social and mental health issues," she says. Explore further More socioeconomic challenges for hispanic women with HIV Current treatments of Type 2 diabetes can help the body use insulin at various stages of the disease, but they can also be expensive and subject patients to lifelong medication regimens and side effects. Thanks to new therapeutic ultrasound technology, one promising alternative looks to reshape how early Type 2 diabetes is managed. A group of researchers has used ultrasound therapy to stimulate insulin release from mice on demand. The team will present their findings at the 177th ASA Meeting, May 13-17. This image shows the experimental setup. A flat, unfocused ultrasound transducer was positioned transcutaneously over the abdomen and positioning was confirmed through ultrasound imaging. Heart rate and body temperature were monitored throughout. Credit: Tania Singh The World Health Organization ranks Type 2 diabetes among the most common causes of death in the world. Current treatments can help the body use insulin at various stages of the disease, but they can also be expensive and subject patients to lifelong medication regimens and side effects. Thanks to new therapeutic ultrasound technology, one promising alternative looks to reshape how early Type 2 diabetes is managed. A group of researchers from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., has used ultrasound therapy to stimulate insulin release from mice on demand. After exposing the pancreas, the body's insulin production center, to ultrasonic pulses, the researchers saw measurable increases in the mice's blood insulin levels. The team will present their findings at the 177th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, which takes place from May 13-17, at the Galt House in Louisville, Kentucky. "Our work is an important first step in stimulating endocrine tissue," said Tania Singh, an author on the paper. While ultrasound has traditionally been used as a diagnostic tool, such as during pregnancy, advances have led to its use for therapies ranging from kidney stones to recent trials for Parkinson's disease. The group's work is the first time ultrasound has been explored as a way to treat diabetes. As blood sugar levels rise, specialized cells in the pancreas called beta cells ramp up insulin production to counterbalance the higher-than-expected levels of sugar. Early in the disease, beta cells can become overwhelmed, and insulin can build up inside them. To prevent this buildup from killing the beta cells and worsening the disease, drugs can help ailing beta cells release insulin. It is these drugs that Singh and her group hope to mimic with ultrasoundwithout drug side effects. Blood samples from the mice showed significant increases in insulin levels after receiving the ultrasonic therapy. Further examination has yet to find any damage done to the pancreas or surrounding organs by ultrasound. "The pancreas has a number of other roles in addition to producing insulin, including the release of antagonistic hormones and digestive enzymes," Singh said. "It's something we hope to look into in the future." Interestingly, while the team noticed an uptick in insulin, they did not see the corresponding drop in glucose levels one would expect. This is something Singh hopes to investigate more soon. She also hopes to expand their studies to larger animals and one day develop a device that can work seamlessly with glucose monitors. Explore further Beta cell-seeded implant restores insulin production in type 1 diabetes mouse model More information: Presentation #4pBAb11, "Therapeutic ultrasound-induced insulin release in vivo" will be at 4:40 p.m., Thursday, May 16, in the Nunn room of the Galt House in Louisville, Kentucky. Presentation #4pBAb11, "Therapeutic ultrasound-induced insulin release in vivo" will be at 4:40 p.m., Thursday, May 16, in the Nunn room of the Galt House in Louisville, Kentucky. acousticalsociety.org/asa-meetings/ A Missoula County District Court jury took a single day to find Caressa Hardy guilty in the killings of two men outside Frenchtown in 2013. As he had through most of the trial, Hardy remained impassive as the verdict was read at 5:30 Thursday evening. The jury had gone into deliberations six hours earlier following seven days of testimony. Hardy's attorneys declined to comment immediately after the verdict. Prosecutors also declined comment. The conviction brings some margin of certainty to the families of Thomas Korjack, 62, and Robert Orozco, 37. The bodies of the two men were never officially recovered and no death certificates were ever issued. But Missoula Deputy County Attorney Brian Lowney told jurors in closing arguments Thursday morning that the case against Hardy was still sound, considering the sudden silence in phone records among the former housemates; Korjacks wealth, which he had broken the law to protect, left behind; the .45-caliber bullet found in the room where the alleged killings took place; the rank smell neighbors recalled shortly after the two men disappeared; the bone fragments found in the fire pit on Hardys property and the trace of blood on a TV in the home found to match Korjacks DNA. Just like anyone they had lives, people that loved them, people that hoped to see them again, Lowney said. The defendant not only killed these men, he tried to erase them from the face of the earth. Hardy faced two counts of deliberate homicide for allegedly shooting Orozco and Korjack, who Hardy worried would cut him off financially from the life they shared in Frenchtown after moving there from Wyoming in 2012. Investigators believe he burned the bodies in the fire pit and held captive the only person who claimed witnessing the murders: Karen Hardy, his former partner and mother of his children. Jurors also weighed and found Hardy guilty of two counts of solicitation for murder filed against Hardy after his former cellmates said he sought out inmates to kill Karen Hardy after his arrest on the homicide charges. Hardys defense presented at trial is that the two men werent killed or torched but simply fled, perhaps to Costa Rica; Korjack to avoid a second tax evasion prosecution and Orozco to escape unpaid child support obligations. No one reported either man killed, let alone missing, until Karen Hardy walked into an eastern Montana police station more than three years later to tell her story. Korjacks family had largely abandoned him after his first stint of incarceration and most of those who testified about Orozco werent particularly interested in hearing from a walk-out father, anyway. They were flawed people, Lowney told the jury. But they were people just like anybody else. Britt Cotter, Hardys lead defense attorney, said those flaws highlighted the motives the two men had to leave and get off the grid. Karen Hardy, he recalled, couldnt testify as to what years her children were born, or what year the alleged killings took place. He spent considerable time in closing arguments highlighting the witnesses, or lack thereof, related to the solicitation charges. Two inmates who testified had been convicted of lying to the police before, and its plausible either one was looking for a better deal in their own cases, he said. Thats not good enough, Cotter said. Thats not proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Hardy, once known as Glenn Dibley, was transitioning to a woman when he was arrested in July 2017. Attorneys and witnesses used the pronouns "he" and "him" when referring to Hardy throughout the trial. The trial was a rendering of the four lives in a home in the hills outside Frenchtown from Wyoming, where they had formed something of a non-traditional family after converging from wildly different backgrounds. Karen Hardy first met the defendant in California in the 1990s after her then-husband left her on the side of the highway as a result of an argument. They quickly fell in love, had three children and eventually moved to Wyoming around the same time Hardy began transitioning to a woman. Hardy didn't just transition to a different gender identity, but began taking on Karen Hardy's own identity, she surmised in testimony last week. His makeup, his hair, his clothes all soon mirrored her own. When Glenn Dibley changed his name to Caressa Karen Jill Hardy, it wasn't far from her full name, Karen Jill Hardy. In Wyoming the pair met up with Korjack, a wealthy engineer who Karen Hardy considered a father figure and like a grandfather to her children. They also met Orozco, who Karen Hardy said she fell in love with "at first sight." In 2012, Korjack fronted the money to purchase the home on Pond Road, although Caressa Hardy, on paper and in person, maintained the appearance as its owner. Neighbors testified last week that they saw the group coming and going from the house in early 2013. After March of that year, however, Hardy was the only presence around the property. The dissolution seemed to stem from an incident after Korjack, Orozco and Karen Hardy came back to the Pond Road home to find Hardy in his bedroom with another man. Hardy's being transgender hadn't bothered Korjack, Karen Hardy testified, but "he was against (Hardy) being homosexual," she said. "It made him very angry, and it changed the way he treated him." The halt of activity on the victims' phone and bank records presented at trial suggest the killings took place on March 27, 2013. Karen Hardy said she was holding her 4-month-old son in the basement bedroom while she, Korjack and Orozco were talking about looking for another property in North Dakota and changing the name on the deed of the Frenchtown property. "He must have been listening at the door," she said of Hardy. Hardy entered and briefly argued with Korjack, Karen Hardy said, before pulling a pistol from his pink bathrobe and firing upon Korjack, then Orozco, putting one round in the drywall and another through the window in the process. Huddled in the corner clutching her baby, Karen Hardy said she pleaded for her life. "I was cowering and he was punching me and kicking me and calling me a slut and a whore," she said. "He was telling me it was my fault. I begged him, 'Please don't kill me or the kill the children,' and it's like he snapped out of something. His demeanor just changed. And he said, 'I would never kill the children.'" Each of their children has been taken into state custody, either in Montana, Wyoming or California. A sentencing date was not set Thursday evening after the verdict was read. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Tim Nichols has traveled to the Galapagos Islands with honors students for a course on evolution, and he's read a book on mindfulness with the high academic achievers. "Oftentimes, they are driven, really busy overachievers, and so to step away from that a little bit and just breathe, sort of literally, was real refreshing for them," Nichols said about the book group. In July, Nichols steps into the role of dean of the Davidson Honors College at the University of Montana, which counts an estimated 700 undergraduates. UM notes he comes from the University of Wyoming, where his wife, Laurie Nichols, is president, and earlier from South Dakota State University. UM also recently named Thomas Gallagher as dean of Missoula College, and he started the job this week. At UM, Nichols fills the role Brock Tessman left in 2018 when he went to work for the Montana Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education. UM has consolidated some positions in a recent restructure, but Provost Jon Harbor earlier said the Honors College, which UM describes as "an intellectual and social hub to exceptional students," is important to the future of the flagship and would continue to be led by a dean. In a statement about Nichols' hire, Harbor said he "presented a compelling vision for the future of public honors education." In a phone call this week, Nichols said part of the vision comes from understanding the current strengths of the Honors College, including its history, staff, donor support, and "dynamic student body." He said he wants to build on its foundation in consultation with others at UM, and he is excited to consider interdisciplinary coursework, international offerings, and other "enriching, educational experiences for students." "I think the Honors College upholds and brings to life the university's highest aspirations," Nichols said. "And so it allows us to attract and retain and provide extraordinary educational experiences to the best and brightest students, and that's a very compelling mission." At the University of Wyoming, Nichols taught honors courses, and from 2008 to 2016, he led the Van D. and Barbara B. Fishback Honors College at South Dakota State, according to UM which noted he led the Honors College through "unprecedented growth." Nichols said the Honors College in South Dakota was just 10 years old when he took over and had gone through its early stages of development, and he helped grow it from some 50 students to roughly 1,000. "So indeed it was an exciting time of growth and development, expanding our work with students, expanding our sort of presence on campus," Nichols said. Generally, in working with honors students, he's collaborated with nonprofits for service opportunities, celebrated undergraduate research, led book groups, and helped put on campus town halls to discuss issues of concern. Nichols said a recent town hall dealt with mental health, a topic that loosely tied to the book about mindfulness, "Peace is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life." "How do they (students) manage the issues of stress or anxiety or depression while they're going to college?" Nichols said. "(The discussion was) unpacking this notion of honors students as perfect and being open to the fact that hey, we have our struggles too, and we as a community or an honors family need to support our students through that." Nichols' great-grandparents homesteaded in the Flathead, and his parents grew up there, he said. "My brother and I used to visit every summer. Though I've never lived in Montana, it does feel a bit like coming home." His bio at the University of Wyoming notes he earned degrees in agriculture and adult education from Washington State University and a doctorate in rural sociology from South Dakota State. Nichols said he's "thrilled" to be headed to the Missoula flagship, his late mother's alma mater. "I think it's a beautiful spot and a great university and just a real gem of an Honors College," Nichols said. Nichols' wife is president of the University of Wyoming, but this spring the university announced she would not stay on as head of the campus and would become a faculty member after her contract ran out June 30, according to the Casper Star-Tribune. Nichols said his wife will continue to teach there next school year, although many of her classes will be online. "So she'll be able to spend some time with me in Missoula and is looking forward to doing that," Nichols said. Missoula College Gallagher, Missoula College's new dean, holds a master's degree and doctorate in educational leadership from UM; a master's in computer science from Western Washington University, and a bachelor's in mathematics from Carroll College, according to UM. In a news release, UM noted Gallagher has been with the college since 2001 and served in a variety of positions, associate dean, director of the information technology degree program, and others. His experience and research interests include transfer education, dual enrollment, and work-based learning. "The focus at Missoula College has always been serving students and the local community," Gallagher said in a statement. "I look forward to continuing to work with the energetic team of faculty and staff in place. We are well-poised to further the comprehensive mission assigned to two-year colleges in serving our community." In a statement, Harbor said he believes Missoula College has the opportunity to develop innovative programs and support the community's growth. "I am confident that Dr. Gallagher's years of experience and service to Missoula College and the University of Montana will help stabilize and begin realizing the college's tremendous potential," Harbor said. The Missoula College dean will earn $115,000, and Honors College dean will earn $130,000. Please sign up on Missoulian.com to subscribe to Under the M, the weekly email about the University of Montana and higher education news in Montana. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. [May 16, 2019] Code Pilot Approved as a Microsoft AI Inner Circle Partner Code Pilot Corp - a leader in AI enablement and acceleration solutions, today announced it was approved by Microsoft (News - Alert) as an AI Inner Circle Partner. Microsoft's AI Inner Circle Partner Program recognizes Microsoft Partners who can transform a customer's business by accelerating the deployment of AI based projects. The AI Inner Circle Partner Program is designed for partners with demonstrated expertise in the area of AI. Code Pilot's reputation as a thought leader and elite group of Applied Data Scientists provides customers with a low-risk method for developing intelligent products on Microsoft Azure, bringing together the joint benefits of Cloud + AI. "Being selected as a Microsoft AI Inner Circle Partner is a huge endorsement of our platform," said David Lemphers, CEO of Code Pilot. "As enterprise organizations look to improve the success of their AI initiatives, we can help them reduce risk and increase ROI by 20% on average." Lindsey Allen, Director of Product Management, Microsoft AI platform said, "Acceptance into the Microsoft AI Inner Circle Partner Program requires demonstrated expertise in AI and is only offered to companies with the proven ability to support Microsoft customes in designing, developing and deploying intelligent solutions. We're pleased to have Code Pilot join this group of Microsoft Partners." Code Pilot's AI Accelerators Time and skills are the primary factors leading to the failure of enterprise AI initiatives. Code Pilot mitigates these risks by providing customers with a platform for solving business needs faster and without the burden of hiring a dedicated ML team. Leveraging their extensive experience developing and deploying production grade AI solutions for Fortune 500 customers, Code Pilot's platform ensures customers don't get stuck in the envisioning phase and instead move rapidly to the deployment and operations phase. This is crucial to successful AI-driven business transformation. To learn more, please visit the Microsoft AI Inner Circle Partner Program information page. Follow Code Pilot: LinkedIn & Twitter About Code Pilot Code Pilot is the leading platform provider of intelligent solution accelerators for AI and machine learning. Enterprises worldwide use Code Pilot as their trusted AI partner to accelerate the deployment of AI solutions to transform their business. Led by experts in the data science and machine learning industry with shared experiences at major AI companies like Microsoft, Amazon and Google (News - Alert) , Code Pilot continues to innovate and improve how organizations transform through production AI. For more information visit www.mycodepilot.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190516005988/en/ [ Back to the Next Generation Communications Community's Homepage ] HELENA A 40-year-old Chicago woman faces nearly four years in federal prison for using fraudulent federal nutrition benefit checks to purchase nearly $220,000 worth of items at Kmart stores in 11 states during a four-month crime spree. Lynada Laticia Mahone was arrested in Arizona, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in December 2018 and was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Sam Haddon in Helena. Prosecutors say from September to December 2017, Mahone made purchases, including gift cards, using fraudulent Women, Infant and Children program checks. Stores didn't immediately discover the fraud and Mahone made multiple transactions at stores if the scheme was successful. Prosecutors said Mahone made 56 fraudulent transactions at stores in Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Minnesota, Washington, Oregon, Texas, Oklahoma, Utah, Nevada and Arizona. Investigators uncovered video surveillance images of Mahone at Kmart stores throughout the country, including in Butte. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Whooping cough cases continued to climb across northwest Montana Friday. The Missoula City-County Health Department had logged 119 cases of the respiratory ailment between mid-April and Friday afternoon. It also revised its guidelines for excluding individuals with the infection. We are changing, revising our control strategy as the outbreak changes, said City-County Health Officer Ellen Leahy. Pertussis, better known as whooping cough, causes violent coughing fits and can be fatal to babies. The outbreak thats hit Missoula County in recent months has been particularly hard. Hatton Littman, communications director for Missoula County Public Schools, said that MCPS had 76 confirmed cases, and had screened nearly 2,000 individuals as of Friday afternoon. She said earlier reports of pertussis at Meadow Hill Middle School and Willard Alternative High School turned out to be false positives. The City-County Health Departments latest guidelines, issued Friday, state that any student, faculty or staff member with a confirmed pertussis case must be excluded from their school or day care until they complete five days of antibiotic treatment or until 21 days elapse from the start of symptoms. In addition, if schools refer students to a health care provider for pertussis symptoms, they must receive documentation of either a negative pertussis test, testing not being warranted, or five days of antibiotic treatment before re-admitting them. Flathead County has documented 132 cases since the start of its current outbreak, said Lisa Dennison, infectious diseases supervisor at the Flathead City-County Health Department. We started noticing a significant uptick in cases beginning in October 2018, she said, explaining that the drumbeat of new cases had slowed to just one in April, but increased to eight this month. The cases have been concentrated among adolescents in Whitefish and Columbia Falls, she said. Dennison added that the areas last major outbreak had been in 2012-2013. Pertussis is one of those illnesses thats cyclical, so its not uncommon to see an outbreak occur every three to five years, she said. The Flathead City-County Health Department advises against anyone with pertussis being in public until they complete their entire course of antibiotics. Lake County has seen 13 cases since the start of its outbreak, said Leigh Estvold, a nurse with its public health department. Of those, she said, one had been in St. Ignatius High School and one in Arlee Elementary. The countys relatively low numbers havent yet warranted exclusion guidelines, she said, but if the outbreak grows we could potentially exclude students who havent been immunized. Visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control website, cdc.gov/pertussis/index.html, for more information on pertussis and immunization recommendations. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A wingful of huckleberries to all those who helped Miss Montana, a historic airplane kept at the Museum of Mountain Flying, achieve liftoff this week. Thanks to museum staff, volunteers and generous donors including those in local senior communities who gave a combined total of more than $8,000, and those who attended last Saturdays fundraising gala the plane will journey to Normandy to join D-Day 75th anniversary commemorations on June 5-6, before returning home to Montana. Sanitized chokecherries to the backed-up kitchen drain at the Poverello Center last week that led staff to evacuate the building, shut down the kitchen and throw out some 2,800 pounds of food, just to be on the safe side. The mens dorm was badly damaged and will not be usable for several more weeks, but the kitchen was partially re-opened this week after a thorough cleaning. The shelter typically provides about 500 meals each day. A flood of huckleberries to the outpouring of volunteer support and donations to the Pov as word spread that the shelter had set up a temporary food preparation station at the First United Methodist Church last week, and was working overtime to put together enough sack lunches to stave off any hunger until the kitchen could reopen. In short order, generous Missoulians had donated enough bread, cheese, sandwich meat, chips and granola bars to make more than 2,000 sack lunches, and many more made monetary donations to help ensure the Pov can continue to meet the needs of its clients as it overcomes this temporary setback. Chokecherry cough syrup to the growing number of whooping cough cases in Missoula County, which tipped above 100 this week. Also called pertussis, the highly contagious respiratory disease has now been confirmed at more than a dozen local schools and has been present for more than three weeks, which is the length of time it may take for symptoms to appear. The Missoula City-County Health Department is urging those who havent received the pertussis vaccine or a recent booster shot to do so promptly in order to prevent further spread of the disease and reduce the severity of symptoms. Award-winning huckleberries to Robert Rivers and Fernanda Menna Barreto Krum, the owners of Imagine Nation Brewing in Missoula and the winners of this years Jeannette Rankin Peace Center Peace Award. The two were recognized for their community-building work abroad and in Missoula, where their microbrewery has hosted thousands of community events and donated more than 25 percent of their net profit to local nonprofit groups. They can share huckleberries with University of Montana journalism professor Denise Dowling, who was recently recognized by the national Society of Professional Journalists for her in-depth radio documentary Alex, Not Amy: Growing Up Transgender in the Rural West. An addition of huckleberries to the new College of Education addition at the University of Montana, which saw its official grand opening this week. The renovated Phyllis J. Washington College of Education and Human Sciences includes the new state-of-the-art Alice Lund Instructional Auditorium, which can adapt to provide space for classrooms or conferences, with seating for up to 500 individuals, and was built thanks to a $5 million gift from the Alice Lee Lund Charitable Trust. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Gov. Steve Bullock really showed how out-of-touch he is with the current climate of college campuses in Montana by vetoing House Bill 735. The bill was supposed to expand the rights of free speech and assembly by eliminating free speech zones on college campuses in Montana. It had bipartisan support in the Legislature and brought political groups together on an issue that needed to be addressed; but still Governor Bullock vetoed, stating there are plenty of protections with the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. So that must mean that if students feel like their rights are violated, they must get referred to the bureaucratic maze of the federal government, having neither the time nor money to pursue the case? As if it isnt bad enough that universities have been dominated by one line of thinking (leftist) and conservative students feel like they must be silent out of fear of harassment from fellow students and their own professors or even being ostracized from the student body for their dissenting ideas. Why should anyone have to jump through loopholes for the privilege of exercising a right that is guaranteed by the Constitution? I guess we will never know, Governor Bullock. Jim McLean, Missoula You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 1 Miss Montanas adventure to Normandy didn't start Thursday, and with the weather outlook it may be a few days before it does. Still, Eric Komberec, project director and co-pilot, said they'll try again Friday morning. The airplane itself was "pretty well ready" on Thursday, but there were some odds and ends to finish up, Bryan Douglass, logistics director, said earlier in the day. Weve got to pack, and we have a little weather looking at us, so our crews trying to decide when were going to leave and make smart decisions, Douglass said. The final call on departure time is left up to chief pilot Jeff Whitesell, chief mechanic Randy Schonemann and Komberec, as representative of the family that owns the plane. "They dont need another person weighing in on it. Theyre all very competent and represent a ton of experience," Douglass said. All three men and several others were busy at various tasks on and around the airplane, which was backed into the museum that has been its home since 2001. A steady stream of onlookers walked into the hangar, hoping to give Miss Montana a warm sendoff. When the Douglas DC-3/C-47 does leave the Missoula airport, its scheduled to head in hops across the country to Oxford, Connecticut, where some but not all of the other 14 warbirds in the D-Day Squadron are gathering. On Saturday morning they'll fly in formation down the Hudson River and around the Statue of Liberty and the lead planes will start early Sunday on their overseas flight to England. Even if we left today, I dont think wed make it to the New York flyover unless we flew straight across, Douglass said. The National Weather Service forecast indicated the potential of severe thunderstorms across southern Montana will dissipate by Friday morning. General thunderstorm activity is possible throughout the day. Organizers have said the ultimate target date is June 2 to be in England to practice formation flying with the three dozen or so Dakotas taking part in Daks Over Normandy on June 5. Douglass said the D-Day Squadron wont be flying across the North Atlantic together anyway. Stops along the Blue Spruce Route used by American aircraft in World War II are scheduled for Goose Bay, Newfoundland; Narsarsuaq, Greenland; Reykjavik, Iceland, and Prestwick, Scotland. The final leg is to the Duxford Aerodrome north of London. Itll be probably in ones and twos," Douglass said. "Probably the crucial jump is from Goose Bay (Newfoundland) to Greenland to Iceland. Goose Bay is notorious for bad weather, changing weather, and its got pretty small ramp space and limited fueling capacity. So you put all that together and you dont want 10 planes coming in there and taking all day to fill them. Youre talking about an hour, hour and a half cycle time to fill a plane, so it wouldnt make sense if everybody gets there and weather rolls in. Douglass said the D-Day Squadron has smart people working on the logistics, including a Coast Guard helicopter pilot from Kodiak, Alaska. He's familiar with military planning logistics in Arctic-type conditions. Theyre saying were going to wait for a good weather window and then well start launching (from Connecticut), said Douglass. Itll probably be two planes at first light and they get to Greenland and fill up in a couple of hours and launch, and then have another pair, so you dont have people backing up in Narsarsuaq (Greenland). You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. When you speak with anyone whos been involved in the making of Zulu Summer, they all tend to say the same thing: The summer that an emissary from South Africa visited Butte, Montana, was something theyll never forget. It was a summer of cultural exchange, they say, but more than that, it was proof that curiosity and peoples innate sense of humanity can thrive even during politically tumultuous times. Zulu Summer, which will have its hometown premiere Saturday night at the Mother Lode Theatre, is a documentary that depicts the summer that Prince Siboniso Zulu (Prince Sbo for short) and his colleagues Nkokhelo Msomi and Mokai Malope spent several weeks in Butte. For filmmakers Eric Schrader and Joseph Litzinger, who co-directed the documentary, the film is far from a reel of the princes summer vacation. Its a pleasurable movie that gives hope, Schrader said. Schrader and others interviewed for this story said what led to the making of the film was a series of unlikely events. It all started when Dark Sevier who was then a DJ and the music director of KBMF, Buttes indie, low-power radio station received a curious email from the other side of the world. The emailer declared that he was a Zulu prince and that he operated an independent radio station in Nongoma, South Africa, and wanted to connect. Prince Sbo landed in Butte May 19, 2017. Schrader and Joseph Litzinger caught the moment on film. In the scene, Sevier is driving to the airport in his car discussing the upcoming visit as the plane descends on the runway in the distance. Schrader, who spoke to the Standard by phone from Los Angeles, said he wasnt sure what to expect that day. For him, the decision to travel from Los Angeles to Butte to film the trip was a bit of an impulsive move. He and Litzinger heard about the visit from their colleague, Havva Eisenbaum, who had attended the Covellite International Film Festival in Butte. Today, Eisenbaum is a producer on the documentary. Don Arangio is also a producer. When he first heard of the story, Schrader thought it was too crazy to even fathom so naturally, he was interested. The two were actually working on another documentary at the time, but when they heard a Zulu prince was going to visit a small town in Montana, the story was too good to pass up. It was like the real-life version of Coming to America, Schrader said. So he and Litzinger decided to do what few have done or would want to do: They took on two feature-length documentaries simultaneously. Before the South African men landed, Schrader was unsure of what kind of story he and Litzinger were going to tell, or even if the visit was a story worth telling. But when Prince Sbo, Msomi, and Malope stepped off the plane, he knew he and Litzinger had stumbled upon something incredibly unique. I was just in shock, thinking this is going to be so good, said Schrader. About 30 DJs stood waiting to greet the emissary, cheering and clapping as the three South African men came dancing out of the gate, clad in traditional clothing and singing a song, which roughly translates to: Do you know who the Zulus are? Do you know who the Zulus are? The Zulus have arrived. Thats according to Malope, who spoke with the Standard via Facebook from Tembisa, South Africa. Malope described the reception at the airport as overwhelming and humbling. I dont think there is anything as pleasing as that. That was a good moment because people there didnt even know us, but then they just welcomed us with opened arms, said Malope. We had a warm feeling. We felt like we were home. Malope, a volunteer at the Nongoma radio station, is actually a member of a different cultural group called Pedi. He said that when he set out on his journey, his first concern was that he would be cold in the northern state of Montana. His second concern was what the people would be like. He wasnt used to being a minority (everyones black in his hometown), and he had heard that Montana was a conservative state. But more than anything else, he was looking forward to the trip. I was very excited. It was my first time out of the country, my first time in America, he said. He added that his favorite parts of the trip were those times he got to sit down and talk with locals. I think the people of Butte, they are really my highlight, said Malope. Schrader and Litzinger couldnt be in town during the emissarys entire trip, so they entrusted locals, including Covellite Film Festival organizers, to film important moments when the two had things to attend to back in LA. In the weeks that followed, the three South African men packed in more experiences of Butte and the surrounding areas than most Montanans do in a lifetime, as reporter Susan Dunlap put it in a 2017 article. The three men got to meet Sen. Bernie Sanders as he campaigned for congressional hopeful Rob Quist. They also met Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney. They attended a presentation on the history of American dolls, visited the Berkeley Pit, shot guns for the first time, saw how Americans vote, and wielded hammers against the ringing rocks near Whitehall. They also got to sit as grand marshals of Buttes Fourth of July parade, which Schrader called a proper story-book parade. They did mundane things too, such as break bread with people in their homes. After the princes visit to Butte, Sevier and others from KBMF took a trip to Nongoma. Like their counterparts, the group had many fantastic experiences, including meeting the Zulu king, King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu, and visiting the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, where some of the earliest hominid fossils have been found including one famous fossil named Lucy. But Sevier said the best part of the trip was just connecting with people and finding out about each others cultures the quiet moments, he said. Zulu Summer had its world premiere in February at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, where it was received by a crowd of over 500 during its first screening. Its second screening, at a smaller venue, sold out. Since then, the film has been picked up by distribution company Gravitas Ventures and will become available on iTunes and Amazon in July. Sevier saw the film for the first time at the world premiere and took part in a question-and-answer session on stage. For him, the film bucks the national narrative about division and strife. Because this is possible, it makes me wonder what else is possible, he said. Love 4 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 4 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A 39-year-old officer shot and killed after interrupting a burglary. A 48-year-old policeman killed in the 1895 Kenyon-Connell warehouse explosions. An officer shot and killed during a riot that started after a saloon owner put anti-Catholic symbols on his bar. These are just a few of the 18 Butte police officers killed in the line of duty between 1892 and 2019, the largest single law enforcement department death toll in the state. Now over 80 years after the 18th local policemans death, the Butte-Silver Bow Police Department held an officer down tribute to Buttes fallen officers on Thursday afternoon and dedicated a newly erected memorial outside of the North Alaska Street police building to them. Just before 1:30 p.m., dozens of civilians and county officials stood outside of the Butte police department and its new memorial. Three patrol cars were parked on the north side of the building with their lights flashing, and a Butte-Silver Bow Fire Department engine was parked below the south side. A large American flag hung from the engines extended ladder over about 20 police officers standing in full uniform below. At exactly 1:30 p.m., the Butte Polices honor guard marched down to the fallen officer memorial. There, three honor guard members handed an American flag, a black and white American flag with a blue line in its stripes to honor police officers, and a Montana state flag to several Butte law enforcement officials, who hoisted the flags on the three staffs behind the granite stone engraved with all 18 officers names. Once the colors were posted and the national anthem was sung, Undersheriff George Skuletich read the names, titles, and end of watch dates of each fallen Butte police officer. On the top of the stone with these officers names, three police badges were engraved. Each had a different design, but for Sheriff Ed Lester, they all meant the same thing. As Butte-Silver Bow Sheriff, I will risk speaking for the current and former officers gathered here today. Each of these officers on this stone wore a badge like the ones were wearing right now. This badge said Butte-Silver Bow, and were proud because this badge, and all the ones like it that are on the chests of the men and women standing before you, it means something, Lester said. This badge means that the hundreds of men and women who have chosen to wear this badge over the last century or more stand in support of our community and in support of the 18 officers who can now rest easy knowing they have not been forgotten. After the memorial dedication ceremony, the Butte police officials present made their way to the front of the courthouse for a group photo, and some of the community members present followed. One of those members and the wife of a Butte detective was Mandi Maloughney. Maloughney said she really enjoyed the ceremony and felt it was a really neat way to honor Buttes fallen officers. I thought it was really cool, Maloughney said of the tribute. When asked what its like to be the wife of a police officer and to know they are constantly putting themselves in the line of fire, Maloughney said its not always easy. But she also said shes proud of her husband and the work he does. It gets nerve racking sometimes, but its also comforting to know hes out there protecting everyone and protecting us, Maloughney said. Love 3 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Dance set at Anaconda Elks ANACONDA The John Fox Sound will play music from the Big Band era, swing, polka, Latin, waltzes, and other dance music from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, May 26, at the Anaconda Elks Lodge. The cost is $10 for the general public. Bulldogs of 1999 plan reunion The Butte High Class of 1999 will be holding a 20-year reunion celebration the weekend of July 12-14. Butte Central classmates are welcome as well. While details are still being worked out, classmates and their families will gather at The Depot on Friday night, and attend some of the Montana Folk Festival events throughout the weekend. More details forthcoming. For more details, email ButteClassof1999@gmail.com or join the Class of 1999 Reunion group on Facebook. Pasty throwdown deadline extended The deadline for entering Buttes first-ever contest to find the best pasty in the city has been extended until May 24. The Great Pasty Throwdown and Sosten Fest, which is being sponsored by NCATs ATTRA sustainable agriculture program, the Butte Chamber of Commerce, and the Butte Archives, is from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 8, at NCATs Butte headquarters, located at 3040 Continental Drive. In addition to the pasty contest, the festival will feature local beer and spirits, pasties for sale, food trucks, live music, vendor booths, and demonstrations in sustainable farming, energy solutions, and building resilient communities. There also will be plenty for the kids, including a petting zoo, solar model car races, a bounce house, pet adoption, jewelry making and more. For more details or to register for the Great Pasty Throwdown, go to sostenfest.com. Registration forms also are available at the Butte Chamber of Commerce. Butte High student film screens tonight A special screening of The Puppet Master, a film made by a team of Butte High School students, will take place tonight at the Imagine Butte Resource Center, 68 W. Park St. The 40-minute film is being screened as part of the annual Butte High Student Art Show. Written and directed by Clint Connors, the comedy stars Dylan McCumber and Connor and Clayton Heggem as the humans, with puppets voiced by Connors, Billy Cunneen, Gabby Haberman, Garrick Sison, and Brittney Tierney. John Douthitt, Lexi Simpkins, and Chance and Tucker Ledoux played minor roles and filled key crew positions. Following the screening, director Connors will be available for a brief Q&A. Refreshments will be available by donation. Details: imaginebutte@gmail.com or 406-299-3389. Animal Control impounds listed These are animals that have been picked up by Butte Animal Control. If you think one of the following animals is yours please call Chelsea Bailey Butte-Silver Bow Animal Shelter at 406-497-6528 or stop by between 1 p.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Dogs: Six-year-old male Chihuahua, neutered, cream and tan, picked up Wednesday on corner of Utah and Platinum Five-year-old longhaired terrier cross, picked up Tuesday at Clark Park Cats: Five-year-old female snowshoe, chocolate, cream and white, picked up Wednesday on 500 block of North Henry Nine-year-old male Siamese cross, neutered, cream, buff and gray, picked up Tuesday on 700 block of Centennial Avenue One-year-old male orange tabby, shorthaired, picked up Tuesday on corner of Hancock and Dexter Five-year-old male shorthaired, black, gray and brown, picked up Wednesday on 3800 block of Green Lane One-year-old black and white shorthaired, picked up Wednesday on 3000 block of Meadowlark Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Attorneys for the man implicated in the 2017 killing of a Broadwater County deputy are appealing a judge's ruling to medicate the suspect for trial. Their appeal to the Montana Supreme Court will stop any attempts to forcibly medicate the suspect, Lloyd Barrus, for the foreseeable future. Greg Jackson and Craig Shannon are arguing that Lewis and Clark County District Court Judge Kathy Seeley did not correctly interpret and apply the law during Lloyd Barrus' December 2018 and January 2019 Sell hearing, a five-day-long event that included expert testimony from three psychiatrists. A Sell hearing is a legal procedure intended to determine whether the state can forcibly medicate someone to return mental competency. The state was required to prove that important government interests are at stake, involuntary medication would make the defendant competent, involuntary medication is necessary, other alternatives are unlikely to work, and the use of drugs is in the patients best interests. Lloyd Barrus suffers from a battery of mental illnesses, including delusional disorder with a persecutory type and mixed personality disorder with antisocial and narcissistic features, which made him unfit to stand trial. He refused to take antipsychotic drugs to treat his delusional disorder, which manifests in his beliefs that he is either Jesus Christ or Michael the Archangel, according to testimony from Dr. Virginia Hill, the head psychiatrist at the Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs. This is the first time the results of a Sell hearing will go in front of the Montana Supreme Court, according to Jackson and Shannon. The Supreme Court has not elected to hear the case yet and might refuse to do so, allowing Seeley's decision to stand. The prosecution and the defense both filed briefs at Seeley's request to clarify their arguments after the Sell hearing, and Jackson and Shannon are arguing that the judge's decision relied too heavily on the state's proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law. The attorneys also contend that forcibly medicating Lloyd Barrus could give him a fatal heart attack due to his age, the stress of the incident, and the medications he would be taking. "There is a low likelihood that the forced medication plan will restore Lloyd Barrus to competency," Jackson and Shannon said. "Even if it did, he would lose any positive effect and revert to his delusional state once the medication was halted." Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 The Regional Development Authority Board on Thursday awarded more than $1.2 million in grants to Quad-City area organizations. The RDA is distributing the 50 grants, totaling $1,207,453, across nonprofit, civic and governmental organizations, for projects related to economic development, arts, culture, education and human services. "The RDA Board also reserved dollars to respond quickly to flood relief needs," said Matt Mendenhall, RDA president and CEO, in a news release. "We are participating in current community discussions about what will be needed in the short term and long term by residents, nonprofits and public spaces." With the latest spring grant cycle, the RDA has awarded nearly $70 million in grants since 1991, according to the release. Related to economic development, St. Ambrose University was awarded $40,000 for its Wellness and Recreation Center and Eastern Iowa Community Colleges was awarded $50,000 for its Urban Campus in Davenport. The refuge is just one stop for migrating birds that travel the Mississippi Flyway. According to the National Audubon Society, more than 325 bird species make a round trip along the flyway from their breeding grounds in far north Canadian provinces to wintering grounds in the Gulf of Mexico and Central America. The refuge was established in the 1940s primarily for migrating waterfowl such as geese, ducks and sandhill cranes but also welcomes many songbirds. Knopik said wildlife biologist Jessica Bolser will hold birds in her hand for the public to see, and she excels at it. "She can tell if it's a second- or third-year bird, how much body fat it has and if there's a brood patch indicating it may be sitting on eggs," he said. "And she can collect all that information and still talk about it." Visitors may see some of the 28 species that visit the refuge including warblers, nuthatches, orioles, cardinals and chickadees. Knopik said indigo buntings are "amazing" to see because of their vibrant blue feathers and the variation in size between a blue jay and a yellow warbler is impressive. MUSCATINE A contractor operating out of Muscatine settled a lawsuit with the state for illegal excavation, which led to damage of utility lines in the county. Todd Hackett Construction Co., 2925 Cedar St., Suite 1, was fined a civil penalty of $500 for digging before proper notice was given to check for underground utilities, which resulted in damage to a utility line. Attorney General Tom Miller recently filed five lawsuits, including in Muscatine County, against contractors for allegedly violating the "Iowa One Call." The law requires notification to the Iowa One Call center at least 48 hours prior to digging, excavating or trenching either privately or commercially to locate underground utilities. The other lawsuits were filed in Dickinson, Woodbury, Story and Benton counties. According to court documents, Todd Hackett made a request in October 2017 for planned excavation to install a light pole near 3001 Grandview Ave. and 33rd Street South in Muscatine. The request stated the area of excavation was "the east side of the fuel station that is south of the maintenance garage." WEST LIBERTY Diego Giraldo, who formerly was chief officer of early learning for Chicago Public Schools, has accepted the job of superintendent in the West Liberty school district. The school board made an offer to Giraldo earlier this week, Melody Henderson, West Liberty Schools administrative assistant, said Friday. The West Liberty School Board will make its official approval at its Monday night board meeting, Henderson said. Bettendorf Schools Superintendent Mike Raso had been one of four finalists for the job. According to the West Liberty schools website, Grundmeyer Leader Services led the superintendent search. Giraldo is expected to take over July 1. In his role as Chief Officer of Early Learning, Giraldo managed a team of more than 60 staff members, who were reponsible for overseeing early learning programs at 360 schools, the West Liberty schools site said. He also served as a Pre-K through 8 principal at the Inter-American Dual Language Magnet School in Chicago. Giraldo will replace Superintendent Joe Potts, who came to West Liberty in 2017. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Eastern Oregon Telecom provides broadband and telephone service to 4,000 customers in a remote corner of the Northwest U.S., keeping costs low in part by using equipment made by Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co. Now the company, based in Hermiston, Oregon, is trying to figure out how its operations may be affected by President Donald Trumps decision this week toward banning Huawei equipment. Who knows? Who knows whats going to happen? Joseph Franell, the companys chief executive officer, said in an interview on Thursday. The uncertainty just kills me. From service providers that fear having to replace costly equipment to massive chipmakers such as Qualcomm Inc. that could see themselves locked out of Chinas lucrative market, the ripples of Trumps latest moves against Huawei spread quickly. Trump, citing national security concerns, signed an executive order thats expected to bar U.S. imports of equipment made by Huawei and another Chinese company, ZTE Corp. And the Commerce Department said Huawei would be forbidden to buy from American companies, some of which supply computer chips for its products. In a Federal Register notice released on Thursday, the Commerce Department said the new curbs would apply to Huawei and affiliated companies around the world from China to Germany and Madagascar. The toughening stance against Huawei hurt the stocks of some U.S. companies that supply it on Thursday. Qualcomm fell 4%, Broadcom Inc. was down 2.3% and Xilinx Inc. Dropped 7.3%. Their losses helped drag down the benchmark Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index 1.7%. If the administration follows through, the bans could cripple Chinas largest technology company, depress the business of American chip giants, and potentially disrupt the rollout of critical 5G wireless networks around the world as Huawei gear becomes less available. Too much is at stake for the worlds two largest economies to not find a productive path forward, said John Neuffer, president of the Semiconductor Industry Association, representing chipmakers such as Qualcomm and Intel Corp. Chipmakers have to preserve their ability to do business in China, which has surpassed the U.S. to become the largest market for personal computers, smartphones and other devices that are the biggest consumers of chips. Qualcomm, for example, got two thirds of its sales from China in its most recent fiscal year. As recently as 2011, the country accounted for less than a third. Worldwide, U.S. companies accounted for about half of the $469 billion of chips sold last year, according to the semiconductor association. Since American companies dominate semiconductors, that could smother Huaweis production of everything from 5G base stations to mobile phones. Restrictions on sales would be terrible for any Huawei supplier, and for the semiconductor industry at large, Chris Caso, a semiconductor analyst at Raymond James, wrote in a research note. Companies like Huawei need their U.S. suppliers, since Chinese manufacturers account for about only 3% of worldwide chip production, according to an estimate by Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Inc. American Jobs This decision is in no ones interest, Huawei said in an emailed response. It will do significant economic harm to the American companies with which Huawei does business, affect tens of thousands of American jobs, and disrupt the current collaboration and mutual trust that exist on the global supply chain. Chinas Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng said in a briefing that, We resolutely object to any country, based on their own laws, unilaterally sanctioning Chinese entities. American suppliers also need Chinese customers. Intel, the biggest U.S. maker of chips, got more than 60% of its sales in the Asia Pacific region last year, with most of that funneling through the China and Taiwan-based supply chain. In the U.S., purchases of Huawei network gear are confined to smaller companies attracted to lower costs after pledges not to use the supplier by four nationwide carriers AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc., T-Mobile US Inc. and Sprint Corp. Its unclear whether Wednesdays moves would also spur action at the Federal Communications Commission, which tentatively voted more than a year ago to ban using federal subsidies for equipment from a provider identified as posing a national security risk. That prohibition requires a second vote to take effect, and the FCC has been awaiting advice from the Trump administration before acting. Brian Hart, an FCC spokesman, didnt reply to an email and telephone message on Thursday. Groups representing rural carriers, which take subsidies to build networks reaching remote areas, opposed the FCC rule. Now theyre worried about the administrations next steps. The executive order is very vague, and broad as it can be, said Caressa Bennet, general counsel of the Rural Wireless Association, said in an interview. Ordering replacement parts could become a problem if transactions with Huawei are banned, Bennet said late Thursday morning. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross sought to allay some concerns on Thursday. We do have a plan for providing a degree of relief for the rural area broadband companies, Ross said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. For the first 90 days they will be able to do what they need to do for maintenance of their equipment. And well be having discussions about narrowing somewhat the potential of the list in order to minimize the impact on those rural companies. Assyrians in North Iraq Recommit to a Homeland After Attacks Iraqi Christian Assyrian children celebrate of their New Year (Aketo), in the Kurdish city of Dohuk, some 430 km (260 miles) northwest of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, on April 1, 2019. ( Safin Hamed/AFP/Getty Images) Christians in Iraq continue to be exposed to violent attacks and oppression at the hands of various armed groups. On May 13, assailants broke into an Assyrian Christian home and attacked two elderly women, a mother and daughter, in the Iraqi town of Bartella. The women were repeatedly stabbed with a knife and their gold and money were stolen. The two victims were then hospitalized in Mosul. The daughter, who sustained a violent head injury, remains in critical condition. Two men who were arrested for the crime are from Shabak, a Shia group that is supported by Iran alongside the Shia Hashd al-Shaabi militia, reported the human rights organization, International Christian Concern (ICC). Bartella is a town in the Nineveh plain in Iraq, the ancient Assyrian heartland, where Assyrian Christians still constitute a demographic majority and have for years sought autonomy or self-governance. However, since the defeat of ISIS, Bartella has been occupied by the Brigade 30 militia under the Hashd al-Shaabi. And the number of Shia Shabak people is increasing in the southern towns of Nineveh. Susan Patto, an Assyrian living in Baghdad, told the Daily Caller, "the attack on those elderly women is not just a crime of theft; it's a message to Assyrians that you are not safe in your homes and towns." "The fragile security situation in Nineveh Plain, where different sides control security, and most of them are not even people of that area, is creating more problems, and also increasing the fear of people to go back to their towns," Patto added. "There is also the problem of rebuilding what was destroyed; it's not going as it should be. People are not compensated for what they have lost, and there are no decent houses to live in, no infrastructure, and no jobs, and these are massive obstacles for people to go back. So the most urgent concerns of Christians are security and the rebuilding of their towns." The Assyrians, who are the descendants of the original inhabitants of ancient Assyria, have lived in the Middle East for millennia and are indigenous to Iraq, Syria, Iran and Turkey. The Assyrian language they speak, which is also known as Aramaic, Syriac or Neo-Aramaic, was the mother tongue of Jesus. Ancient Assyrian civilization made an enormous contribution to the history and culture of the region. For instance, ancient Assyrians developed mathematical inventions and sophisticated medicine which influenced science as far away as Greece. Since the rise of Islam in the seventh century, however, Assyrians and other Christians became "dhimmis," or second-class subjects. Yet, there remained sizable Assyrian communities for centuries afterwards, even under the Ottoman Empire. This changed dramatically with the Assyrian genocide that took place in Ottoman Turkey from 1915 to 1923, in which "300,000 Assyrians were murdered and innumerable women were abducted," writes the author Mardean Isaac. Even so, the murder of Assyrians did not come to a halt either in Turkey or in Iraq after the genocide came to a halt. According to a 2017 report by the Assyrian Confederation of Europe, "Assyrians represent one of the most consistently targeted communities in Iraq throughout its modern history. This has included the state-sanctioned massacre at Simele in 1933; Saddam Hussein's Anfal campaign, which included the targeting of Assyrians villages; ruthless campaigns of terror to which Christians were subjected following the U.S. invasion in 2003; and finally, the recent tragic chapter authored by the Islamic State (IS) jihadist organization." The exodus of Christians from Iraq has been going on for decades. According to a 2016 report by the European Union and various international human rights groups, "Prior to June 2014, some two-thirds of the pre-2003 Iraqi Christian community -- thought to number between 800,000 and 1.4 million -- had already left the country." And when ISIS occupied the Assyrian-majority Nineveh in 2014, they gave Christians in the area an ultimatum: convert to Islam, pay the discriminatory "protective" jizya tax or be put to death. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Assyrians were forced to flee as a result. Thereafter, ISIS attempted to systematically eradicate the Assyrian cultural and historical heritage, destroying many Assyrian artifacts in the process. In 2015, for instance, the terror group obliterated and looted large parts of the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud. Now that ISIS-occupied areas in Iraq have virtually all been liberated, Assyrians and other Christians in Iraq are confronted with new challenges. According to the 2019 report "Struggling to Breathe: the Systematic Repression of Assyrians" by the Assyrian Confederation of Europe, Assyrians continue to face both violent and political threats. Many who fled ISIS have not been able to return, and Assyrian property has in the meantime been occupied and even sold. Their continued plight is largely due to the fact that the Assyrians have been ignored by the international community and promises of self-rule denied by the governments or regimes that rule them, leaving Assyrians to subsist in an extremely violent region. For instance, after the U.S.-led military intervention in Iraq, Arabic and Kurdish were made the two official languages of the country while the Assyrian language was ignored. Sadly, the Assyrian efforts for self-governance in Iraq have been fruitless even as they continue to be subject to constant pressure and violence at the hands of the Iraqi government, Kurdish authorities as well as various Sunni and Shia extremist groups. Reine Hanna, the Director of the Assyrian Policy Institute (API), told the Daily Caller, "since 2003, Assyrians in Iraq have consistently pushed for the creation of a self-administered governorate in the Nineveh Plain as a way to prevent the ethnic cleansing of their community that quickly followed. Unfortunately, they have faced insurmountable challenges over the years, given that they lack power and the credible threat of force -- relying instead on the development and respect for the rule of law to achieve their rights." "In a groundbreaking moment for Assyrians in the country, the Iraqi Council of Ministers voted for the creation of a Nineveh Plain Governorate in January 2014," Hanna said. "However, following the onslaught of ISIS, the decision has yet to be implemented despite the fact that the events of 2014 proved more than ever why a self-administered province for Assyrians and other marginalized groups is necessary." "The creation of a Nineveh Plain Governorate has consistently been undermined by the negligence of the Iraqi Government towards the Assyrians, as well as the deliberate interference from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) which seeks its annexation into the Kurdistan Region. These factors have eroded the capacity of Assyrians in Iraq to achieve and secure conditions of real equality." What Assyrians believe could end their persecution is the promise of an autonomous administration in the Nineveh Plain becoming a reality, along with stronger Assyrian-led security. Assyrians there already have their own militia: the Nineveh Plain Protection Units (NPU). This region could also serve as a safe haven for other religious minorities, including Yazidis. The civilized world will either help protect Assyrians -- this ancient, unique yet severely persecuted community -- or continue standing by while they disappear. Donald Trumps latest offensive against Chinas Huawei Technologies Co. puts Europe in an even bigger bind over which side to pick, but Frances Emmanuel Macron is holding the line. With a stroke of his pen, the U.S. president signed an executive order to curb the Chinese telecom giants access to the U.S. market and American suppliers. His action could affect Europe, already caught in the cross hairs of a trade war, because it could impede the global roll-out of the fifth-generation networks. In the first public comments by a European leader since Wednesdays move by Trump, Macron told Bloomberg Television he doesnt intend to capitulate to U.S. pressure to block Huaweis 5G equipment. France, Germany and the U.K. are among the key allies balking at American demands to shut Huawei out completely from 5G network construction or risk retribution. Our perspective is not to block Huawei or any company, Macron said at a technology conference in Paris. France and Europe are pragmatic and realistic. We do believe in cooperation and multilateralism. At the same time, we are extremely careful about access to good technology and to preserve our national security and all the safety rules. Macrons remarks reflect the mood across the region. While Germany plans to tighten the rules governing the security of its telecom networks, Chancellor Angela Merkel has made it clear she wont single out any one supplier. The U.K., which has yet to announce a decision, is considering excluding Huawei equipment from the networks core, which houses control functions, while allowing it to supply antennas and other parts for less-sensitive functions, people familiar with the matter said last month. Allies Split The U.K.s eventual decision on Huawei could differ from Europes, Jeremy Wright, the countrys secretary of state for digital affairs, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television, adding that although the U.K. listens to its allies, it needs to make its own decisions on whether to allow Huawei as a core telecom equipment supplier. The U.K. is near the end of a review of its telecom supply chain. People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg last month that Britain is poised to toughen the rules under which Huawei operates in the country, while stopping short of an outright ban. The U.K.s eventual decision has taken on added significance with the ongoing Brexit negotiations, and the imminent arrival of Trump, who will embark on a state visit at the start of June, and celebrate the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings. With Prime Minister Theresa Mays time in office looking limited, the decision could be delayed until her successor is chosen, or reversed by them when they arrive. Supply Chain U.S. suppliers to Huawei including Lumentum Holdings Inc. and Qualcomm Inc. are indicated to open lower, after shares in Asian suppliers including Sunny Optical Technology Group Co. and AAC Technologies Holdings Inc. tanked on Thursday. In Europe, STMicroelectronics NV fell, while Huawei competitor Nokia Oyj gained. Huawei has said it devotes about a third of its budget some $11 billion annually to the acquisition of American components. It counts 33 U.S. companies among its top 92 suppliers. Huawei has repeatedly denied that its equipment contains backdoors for Chinese state-ordered espionage. The Shenzhen-based company is willing to come up with ways to ensure that its products are secure and is committed to foster dialogue with Europe, it said in an emailed statement Thursday. In past 30 years, Huawei hasnt had any cyber security issues, Vincent Pang, who heads Huaweis western Europe business, said in a speech at the Paris tech conference on Thursday. Closed doors doesnt make it better for anybody. The U.S. conflict with China has been likened to the Cold War with the Soviet Union. For Europe, its a delicate balancing act that has leaders trying to honor the close partnership with the U.S. with a desire to increase business with China, its second-largest trading partner. Macron spoke meters away from Huaweis stand at the Paris Viva Technology 2019 fair, but didnt stop to greet anyone at the Chinese company. I think launching a trade or tech war vis-a-vis any country is not appropriate, he said. First, its not best way to defend national security, second its not best way to the defend the ecosystem. Now read: Donald Trump ups his battle with Huawei Napa Countys latest watershed symposium came at a time when tensions are high over how to protect trees and reservoirs in the areas mountains. Close to 200 people from various backgrounds came to Copia on Thursday for an A-to-Z look at whats happening in the watersheds. Scientists, elected officials, wine industry members and citizen activists all attended. Were here to learn how to do better and do the best that we can, county Board of Supervisors Chair Ryan Gregory told the group. Last years Measure C oak woodland and watershed protection citizens initiative narrowly lost in the June 2018 election amid wine industry criticism. More recently, the Board of Supervisors passed new watershed rules that some say dont go far enough and others say are unneeded. Rather than wage divisive election campaigns against each other, its better to have a room of level-headed, intelligent people looking each other in the eyes and learning together, Gregory said. Documentary filmmaker John de Graaf took to the stage to say America is polarized and even the best wines in the world cant fully heal the conflicts. Only a sense of shared values can do that. I know youll agree that this is a beautiful place, with its lovely river, its rolling hills of oaks, its vineyards, a place that unlike the urban centers so close to it draws its sustenance from the land and not from the crunching of digits and computers, he said. He suggested an appreciation of beauty has the power to bring together people in America and the Napa watershed. The beauty of Napa County should provide enough inspiration for the most careful of stewardship, de Graaf said. People attending the symposium didnt leave their viewpoints at the door. Different ideas were on display when 30 people came to the stage in rapid succession to deliver one-minute messages on whats happening in the watershed. Measure C co-author Jim Wilson waded into the dispute over clearing trees for vineyards. He asked what can be done locally about terrorizing warnings from nature and a climate at the edge of no return. Measure C for starters, Wilson said. In our own backyard, we have an unsustainable industry with the cooperation of government cutting down forests and driving biodiversity loss and global warming. Given the symposium wasnt a debate, no one disputed him. But some used their minute to talk about what the wine industry and farmers are doing to help the environment. Bob Coleman of Treasury Wine Estates talked about fluidized bed cold stabilization, which is a new method of removing potassium bitartrate from wine. The technology requires less water and energy use. Chloe Hood of the California Land Stewardship Institute said Napa County has 920 farms, 92,000 acres overall and 35,000 acres of vineyards enrolled in the Fish Friendly Farming program. They focus on such things as soil and water conservation. Sessions at the symposium touched on a number of topics forest management to help forests survive wildfires, creating wildlife corridors from the Mayacamas mountains to Lake Berryessa, groundwater-dependent ecosystems and the importance of Napa River flows for steelhead. Rick Thomasser of the Napa County Flood Control and Water Conservation District talked about Napa River and watershed restoration. About $100 million has been spent on restoration work over 20 years, Thomasser said. Dam removal, bridge replacements and flood plain creation along long stretches of the river have taken place. Much of the money came from Measure A, the countys half-cent flood control and water conservation sales tax that expired last year. Without that source of funding, how do we continue our restoration efforts? Thomasser asked rhetorically. The scale of restoration projects has been large. Its taken a lot of time, money and horsepower to get them going. Future, smaller projects could fill in the gaps and build off whats been accomplished, he said. Grant timing is important when a large source of local match money is unavailable, Thomasser said. Napa County could try to secure state grants and federal grants to match each other, he said. Its a little bit trickier, but its possible and it doesnt mean we cant continue our restoration efforts, Thomasser said. The Napa County Watershed Symposium was hosted by the Watershed Information & Conservation Council and Napa County Resource Conservation District and sponsored by Luhdorff & Scalmanini consulting engineers, along with various lunch and break sponsors. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Napa County still wants to lead a Lake Berryessa resort revitalization, but under different terms than the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is offering. Its been three years since the county decided to explore managing a resort redevelopment effort that stalled under the federal government. The county and Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) are still trying to reach a managing partner agreement. They remain apart on such issues as how to share financial risks with the county. Im getting a little frustrated, Supervisor Alfredo Pedroza said at Tuesdays county Board of Supervisors meeting. Weve been at it for years. There are many residents from Lake Berryessa who are here today who I think have the same level of frustration. The BOR recently made the county an offer regarding funding that would be in a managing partner agreement. The county Board of Supervisors showed no signs of accepting. We just have to have a different type of agreement than the one thats been offered to us, Supervisor Diane Dillon said. It doesnt make sense for us as the fiduciaries of the county government to enter into whats proposed. County officials during their presentation outlined what they would like to see in an agreement. This is the first time weve heard of a counter-proposal to our proposal, Drew Lessard of the BOR told supervisors. So were definitely going to evaluate that and consider that moving forward. Lake Berryessa has seven resorts along a 165-mile shoreline and five are slated for redevelopment. The goal is to find private sector concessionaires to build new marinas, cabins, campsites, restaurants and other amenities. Should Napa County manage the resort redevelopment effort, it could initially focus on Steele Canyon and Monticello Shores resorts. Pedroza said he and Dillon traveled to Washington, D.C. to talk with BOR officials there and heard all the right things. But the Washington office says the county must make sure the regional office is supportive. The regional office says the county needs to talk with the Washington office. That process is what gives government a bad name, Pedroza said. And that level of bureaucracy needs to stop. Still, supervisors and county officials praised the regional office for its efforts. One unanswered question is how much longer the county wants to pursue negotiations, if this latest attempt fails. The Board of Supervisors didnt set a deadline, but clearly supervisors didnt want the effort to go indefinitely. There has to come a time to fish or cut bait, Supervisor Brad Wagenknecht said. Lake Berryessa resort redevelopment would cost the county money, no matter who leads a successful effort. For example, the county provides law enforcement to the lake area at a cost of $1.4 million annually. More lake visitors would mean more call for services, boosting the county cost to an estimated $1.8 million to $2.5 million annually. Then there are expenses the county would incur if it managed resort redevelopment. County officials estimate the cost at $770,000 annually for such things as a concessions manager, concessions planner and administrative support. County income from resort redevelopment would include transient occupancy taxes and sales taxes. If the county leads the effort, it would receive franchise fees from concessionaires. But county officials fear the franchise fees wont bring in money for two to five years into the redevelopment effort. The BOR proposed to share county losses related to resort management for three years, capped at $100,000 annually. It offered a full-time employee to help the county develop a concessions program and office space until the county can establish space at a resort, county officials said. County officials are concerned about the time lag for the revitalized resorts to start bringing in money. They want the BOR to consider an initial five-year commitment, equal cost sharing of county concession management costs, further discussion on county law enforcement costs and further discussion on in-kind services. One key issue has been the time period for resort concession contracts. The county wants to offer 55-year contracts with 10-year extensions, saying this would allow concessionaires building infrastructure time to recoup their investments. The BOR in its last, unsuccessful Berryessa redevelopment attempt offered 30-year contracts to concessionaires. At that point, the roads, water systems, marinas and other infrastructure built by the concessionaires would have been owned by the federal government. Weve received no indication from the BOR that they are not willing to consider an extended term, Rattigan told supervisors. However, we are working on the entire discussion and looking at what an entire package could possibly look like before theres any firm commitment...they go hand-in-hand, to the BOR. Dillon would rather know sooner than later. She doesnt want the county to first write an entire, proposed management agreement with the 55-year term, present it to the agency and wait for a response that might be no. If we cant get that (55-year term), why would we invest enormous amounts of staff time, which is cost, in preparing an agreement? Dillon said. Thats the challenge there. The BOR in the late 1950s completed 300-foot-tall Monticello Dam across Putah Creek. That flooded the Berryessa Valley and created Lake Berryessa to provide water for Solano County and create an eastern Napa County recreation destination. Since the reservoirs birth, the agency has allowed private concessionaires with long-term contracts to operate resorts on the federal shoreline. Seven resorts offered marinas, boat launches, camp sites and other amenities for five decades. In 2006, the BOR finalized a vision to revitalize the resorts. Then it had five resorts demolished so concessionaires could step in and build from scratch. The redevelopment efforts stalled. That has left the lake with two resorts Markley Cove and Pleasure Cove at full strength. Of the five resorts that were cleared, Spanish Flat, Steele Canyon and Putah Canyon are operating in stripped-down fashion and Berryessa Marina and Monticello Shores are closed. A BOR report said the lake once had more than 1.5 million visitors annually. That dropped to 408,000 in 2014, after the five resorts were razed. Napa County in 2016 began exploring whether it might succeed in managing the redevelopment effort, given it is subject to fewer restrictions than the federal agency. The goal is to recreate and even better the resort heyday of Lake Berryessa. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. It was no coincidence when President Trump, only days before the release date of the redacted version of the Mueller report, threatened to dump undocumented immigrants into states and cities with sanctuary laws that protect many of them from deportation. Trump, after all, is a master of misdirection. Creating a furor that distracts attention from what could be a major crisis for him and his presidency is a tactic hes used before and very likely will again. But the move he threatened would itself be self-defeating. Yes, Trump floated the idea of saddling heavily Democratic-voting cities and states, most prominently California, with what he trumpets as an incredible burden. Lets see how they like it, he mused. Let them deal with it. But his reasoning had two big flaws: First, releasing illegal immigrants in one place doesnt mean they stay there. Studies as early as the 1990s, when California was the first stop for almost half the undocumented immigrants arriving in America, showed barely half of them stayed here. Many thousands even 25 years ago used California points as mere way stations en route to jobs and family in other states. The results of that secondary intra-national migration are now clear: Texas currently hosts about 3 million illegal immigrants; Georgia has a quarter million, South Carolina an estimated 100,000, Illinois and New York many more than that. These are a mix of direct migrants and secondary immigrants who went to those places mostly Republican-voting states with no interference from U.S. authorities because there are virtually no impediments to anyones movement within America. So releasing thousands of illegal immigrants now held in federal facilities near the Mexican border into the San Francisco district of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as Trump specifically threatened, would have little impact. There is virtually no low-cost housing for them in that district, where rents and home prices are among the highest-priced anywhere. The undocumented could simply hop a city streetcar, and head elsewhere quickly, many catching a bus to other states. So much for the Trump threat, which would likely end up putting as many illegal immigrants in Republican states as Democratic ones. Thats beside the fact that such dumping is unconstitutional because the move would be intended to force California and its cities into helping enforce federal immigration policy. The U.S. Supreme Court has held at least three times that federal officials cannot coerce states and cities into assisting its enforcement of national policies. Then theres the implied economic threat. This is based on the longstanding contention of anti-illegal immigrant groups that the undocumented create vast financial burdens on locales where they settle, saddling those places with great expenses. But a study this spring from the California Budget and Policy Center reported this states approximately 2.5 million undocumented immigrants pay at least $3.2 billion per year in income, property, sales and other taxes. While many dont have Social Security or other tax identification numbers, funds are withheld from their paychecks and property taxes are paid as part of their rent. This all comes to an average of about $1,300 per undocumented person living here, adult or child, or more than $5,000 for a family of four. It would be hard to prove that typical illegal immigrants cause more costs than that in using public services. These numbers, of course, do not include things like transit fares or other money paid directly to public agencies like museums and state parks. Nor do they include federal taxes, also withheld from the paychecks of illegals, whose payments into sometimes phony Social Security accounts that will never be used help immensely in propping up that system. A new influx of the undocumented would likely produce similar amounts of taxes, per capita. So this Trump threat turns out to be the tamest of paper tigers. Like much of the Presidents bluster, it was not thought through, nor was it subjected to any analysis, merely getting tweeted on a Trumpian whim. All of which means it will likely be forgotten soon. Thomas D. Elias writes the syndicated California Focus column. He is author of the book, The Burzynski Breakthrough: The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Governments Campaign to Squelch It. Twenty Years Or More and counting. That is the number of years I have had the pleasure of fishing on the Sacramento River with my good friend, Doug Roberts. Heres a boat-side recap of our 2019 adventure at Redding. Fishing two days, we caught and released 52 wild rainbow trout fishing the Sac. That total would have been in the 70s, but on Day 2 a rainstorm put the fish down with lockjaw; we caught 31 the first day and 21 the second. In the mix were at least three in the 4- to 5-pound range. And they were all fat, healthy and beautifully marked. A bright red rainbow stripe starts at the rose-copper gill plate and ends at their tails. You have to remember that big-river fishing in currents up to 10,000 cubic feet per second calls for an experienced and alert guide. We got all of that and more from Dakota Townley, who manned the nets for us both days. He is pro river guide Keven Brocks lead guide and has fished with us before. In addition to being an engineer who can operate two outboards, Dakota was ships captain, navigator, bait manager and fish master. Nowhere in the trip shows how important all of these qualities are than when there is a Fish On! in flows of 10,000 cfs. An instant partnership develops between the fish master and the hooked-up angler. Stabilize the fish on the line, rod tip up. Dont let it rub the line on the bottom of the boat, and dont horse it in. You need to know that trout are line skinny and that a big, fat fishing line and leader can scare them off. So Dakota tied on a skinny little 6-pound test main line with an even skinnier 4-pound test leader, giving a 5-pound trout all the advantage! Now Dakota has to find a spot out of the strongest currents where he can anchor the boat it might be a half a mile downstream till he can find it. Why? Drop your anchor in 10,000 cfs and say goodbye to it. All the while, the client is trying to steer this big trout along, keeping it out of ridges and brush piles on the way down. Finally, the netting and the moment of truth. As the line gets shorter, you have less flex, giving the fish more advantage. As the fish starts to see the boat, he gets wild again. If he can run underneath, hell try to break off the line by rubbing it up against a rivet on the bottom. So kneel down and poke the rod straight down to try to prevent that. If the team gets this far, finally, the tiring fish can be lifted straight up where Dakota swept him into the net, and its high-fives all around. The neat thing about Dakota is he has already accomplished these special skills, and he is only 23 years old. Thanks, Dakota, and we send you our best wishes for your wedding day on Saturday. Call Kevin Brock at 800-995-5543 to book some trips. Fish with either Kevin or Dakota for a pleasant and most professional trip. Ive been doing that for 26 straight years and Kevin has fished three generations of Ryans. While We Are talking about the Sacramento River at Redding, I have to mention to you again how poorly served we are by Californias Department of Fish and Wildlife. For a few years now, they have closed a very good four-mile trout fishing area right at the north end of Redding to all fishing for four or five months a year. The stated reason is to protect winter-run salmon. Not once have they told us how that project is coming, what is being accomplished. But, talk to people with knowledge of the area and subject and all you hear is They are trying to defeat some salmon poachers. Question: Is it really necessary to keep millions of us licensed California anglers from the enjoyment of fishing there by closing it down to a couple of poachers? That sound equitable to you? Every place else, poachers have apprehended by and charged by Fish and Wildlife Wardens. Why are millions of us being penalized by having this stretch shut down to all fishing? Old guys at the end of the dock chuckle and point out these major truths. A salmon poacher is not going to fish with a tiny rod and reel using 4-pound test leaders to try to catch a salmon. They say a warden could sit in his car and pick out the poachers by their gear, and stop the poaching fast. My own extensive experience in this very spot covers 26 years during which I fished it a total of 104 days. One, we did inadvertently hook one salmon in 26 years one. We knew it was illegal to take it, so we cut it off instantly. Two, during that same period, we have never seen another angler hook nor keep a salmon. Can you help me get this terrible regulation canceled? Join me in asking State Senator Bill Dodd at Senator.Dodd@senate.ca.gov and Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry at aguiar-curry@assembly.ca.gov to try to get us some real answers. Editor's note: this item has been modified to update the email address of State Sen. Bill Dodd. Email Bill Ryan at acorn_3@comcast.net. The BJP vice-president, Vinay Prabhakar Sahasrabuddhe, has charged Mamata Banerjee with shielding Bangladeshi infiltrators. Sahasrabuddhe said on Wednesday that the people of West Bengal have lost faith in their CM Mamata Banerjee. She is playing vote bank politics and running a corrupt government. Mamata is also protecting the infiltrators coming from Bangladesh, he stated. The BJP vice-president further remarked that Bengal is witnessing a virtual revolution against a corrupt government. Also Read: Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma attacked in Bengal by TMC workers He was optimistic that BJP will do much better in Bengal this time round and our tally will increase in the Northeast. Sahasrabuddhe reiterated that the BJP government, if it comes to power, will get the Citizenship Amendment Bill passed. A section of the people especially the Opposition parties are spreading a false propaganda over the Citizenship Bill, the saffron party leader remarked. BJP chief Amit Shah has also reiterated time and again that if the party comes to power in the Centre, it will pass the Citizenship Bill in Parliament. The contentious bill also figured in the election manifesto of the saffron brigade. 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consultative mechanism meeting Maria Zakharova wishes Yerevan and Baku peace and patience Valerie Pecresse posts comment on Facebook: I visited Armenia - France's fraternal country Putin, Aliyev confirm readiness to strengthen Russia-Azerbaijan strategic partnership Middle East Eye: Turkey encouraged by Armenia PM Pashinyan's reelection, aims to normalize relations Armenia government: Constitutional Court decision does not lift requirement for employees to submit PCR test result New program shall develop Armenia metrology Armenia opposition MP: Corridor is spoken of as established fact in Azerbaijan Armenia Constitutional Reform Council to include 2 representatives of international organizations Putin expresses Aliyev readiness to continue dialogue, joint work to strengthen regional stability, security 1 more person dies of coronavirus in Karabakh 135 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Lavrov: Involvement of Kiev in NATO poses serious risks, even large-scale conflict in Europe Newly elected Vanadzor city council first session not convened NATO to approach Russia borders in case of aggression against Ukraine President thanks Russia peacekeepers, Putin in terms of Artsakh security Newspaper: What is actual Covid death toll in Armenia? Newspaper: Details became known from closed meeting between Armenia PM, parliament majority faction US arms exports fall 21% in 2021 Diaspora Commissioner: More than 1.5 million people left Armenia in 30 years 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. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he had discussed the purchase of medium-range missiles during a meeting with US President Donald Trump to support the current protection of critical infrastructure, Reuters reported. According to him, he asked Trump to help start natural gas production in the Romanian section of the Black Sea, which will be done with the US participation in order to provide an alternative to Russian gas. Trump and Orban met on May 13 in Washington. Following the talks at the White House, they said that the two leaders have confirmed their commitment to NATO and their democratic institutions of governance." The statement also said that the leaders of the two countries discussed how to increase vigilance with regard to uncontrolled global migration and eliminate Chinas unfair trade and investment practices. Orban, who served as Prime Minister of Hungary from 1998 to 2002 and returned to power in 2010, has been criticized by the EU, of which Hungary is a member, as well as by human rights organizations, which note the deteriorating human rights situation and the weakening of democracy in the country. The Legal Department of the Staff of President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian has issued a statement on the application that was filed to the Constitutional Court in regard to the bill passed on October 2, 2018 and that caused big uproar. The then three factions of the National Assembly had undertaken a legislative initiative to make amendments to the Law Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan had declared that this was a bill targeted against the revolution and had called on the public to come and surround the building of the National Assembly. The bill eventually passed, but the President of Armenia didnt sign it and addressed the Constitutional Court with the issue of constitutionality of the law. Recently, the Constitutional Court recognized the law as constitutional. Taking into consideration the recent discussions on the application that the President of the Republic of Armenia had filed to the Constitutional Court in regard to the bill On making supplements and amendments to the Constitutional Law Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly passed by the National Assembly on October 2, 2018, the Legal Department of the Staff of the President of the Republic of Armenia deems it necessary to state that the goal of the application of the President of the Republic of Armenia was to disclose and specify the constitutional-legal content of certain norms enshrined by the Constitution. Upon its decision, the Constitutional Court provided solutions to the specified issues and clearly interpreted several constitutional norms that are now an integral part of the legal system. It took more than five months for the Constitutional Court to consider and adopt a decision on the application of the President of the Republic of Armenia, and as a result, on April 19, 2019, the Constitutional Court rendered a decision (26 pages), with a special opinion. We would like to stress the fact that the doors of the presidential residence are open for anyone who has complaints, comments or suggestions regarding the exercise of constitutional powers of the President of the Republic of Armenia, and the President of the Republic of Armenia is always ready to listen to everyones opinions." President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian, who is on a working visit to Nur-Sultan, visited today Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) where he toured the Centre and was introduced to the Centers goals, principles and prospects along with the Centres Governor Kairat Kelimbetov. Stating that the activities of this financial center are hinged on the principles of British legislation, Kairat Kelimbetov said this makes the Centres activities unique in both Kazakhstan and in the entire Eurasian region. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian talked to the Centres leadership about the opportunities for cooperation. In his turn, Kelimbetov stated that the Center also wishes to collaborate with Armenia and work in directions such as management of assets and private law and financial technologies. President Sarkissian said he was impressed with the Centres activities and said the following: Armenia has a vision to have such an institution and establish cooperation with the Centre. Im very impressed and will share my impressions with the Armenian government and the Central Bank. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said he is going to attend St. Petersburg International Economic Forum where he plans to meet with Russian president Vladimir Putin. I will be in Nur-Sultan at the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council to be held on May 29, and will visit St. Petersburg forum in June. There will be interaction [with Putin] of course, Pashinyan said during his meeting with Russian reporters. The issue of appointing the CSTO Secretary General will be decided at a meeting of the CSTO Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs on May 22, said the acting CSTO secretary general Valery Semerikov. I believe on 22 May we will make a final decision on the candidate. One candidate has already been nominated and many presidents supported it. We will discuss this matter in great detail, Valery Semerikov said. When asked to comment on the statement, head of Armenian parliament's standing committee on foreign affairs Ruben Rubinyan said the position of the Armenian side is well-known, and nothing has changed. Istanbul Armenian intellectual and linguist Sevan Nisanyan on Thursday received a Republic of Armenia passport, at the Armenian embassy in Athens. He thanked Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and all others who helped him achieve this great honor. Nisanyan, who was in a Turkish prison since 2014, had gone on a prison furlough, but he never returned. Later it became known that the Greek authorities had granted him temporary residence permit. The attorneys of Armenias second president Robert Kocharyan showed journalists never-before-seen scenes of the events of March 1, 2008. The video shows how demonstrators throw objects at armed police officers. Order 0038 and the actions that took place on March 1, 2008 are not interconnected at all, and there are no horrible acts described in that order, attorney Aram Orbelyan said. He claimed there was no involvement of troops in the process, and troops had no contact with citizens of March 1. On Saturday, May 18, the court will make a decision whether to change the decision to remand Kocharyan in custody. The second president is charged with overthrowing constitutional order and receiving a bribe. Armenian representative at Eurovision 2019 Srbuk opened in Thursday the song contest's second leg of semi-finals, but failed to make it to the finals. Ten lucky winners got a ticket: North Macedonia, the Netherlands, Albania, Sweden, Russia, Azerbaijan, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Malta. Arsenal are dissatisfied with the fact that the UEFA Europa League final will be played in Baku. The Gunners will face Chelsea in the Europa League final which is slated for May 29. The club issued a statement complaining about the number of transport limitations. The issue of Arsenal and Armenia midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryans participation in the Europa League final is still uncertain as well. Mkhitaryan is on the Azerbaijani border guards blacklist because of visiting Karabakh numerous times. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan has said that escalation of the situation in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can become a good excuse for radical Islamists to become established in, say, Azerbaijan. This is what Pashinyan told Russian journalists, reports Lenta. According to Armenias Prime Minister, after being defeated in Syria and Iraq, ISIS is seeking new places where it can show itself. Pashinyan claims that Azerbaijan is a very appropriate point that will allow ISIS to take action in the direction of Iran, the Russian South Caucasus and Central Asia. According to him, for this reason, the next escalation in Nagorno-Karabakh wont be local anymore, and not only Yerevan, but also Moscow, Baku and Tehran understand this. Stating the importance of Transcaucasia for Russia, Pashinyan expressed confidence that Moscow is interested in the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and will guarantee the exclusively peaceful solution to this issue. According to him, Russia has all the necessary leverages to disallow further escalation. I dont think Russia wont use those leverages, if needed, he emphasized. Armenias Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has declared that he was aware that President of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic) Bako Sahakyan had filed a motion to release second President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan from custody, but he isnt planning on interfering. This is what Pashinyan told Rusian journalists Friday. When asked if the differing views on the case of Robert Kocharyan wont have an impact on the relations between Yerevan and Stepanakert, Pashinyan answered with precaution, writes . According to Pashinyan, he can understand Mr. Sahakyan from the moral perspective, but there are some questions from the political perspective. For instance, if there was a case over Nagorno-Karabakh in court, what would their attitude be, if I tried to file a motion for someone as well? We also need to specify the issue for which they are supporting Robert Kocharyan, the Prime Minister said. He clarified that he knew that Bako Sahakyan was going to come and that he had expressed his opinion on that during their personal conversation, but refused to disclose the conversation. Pashinyan added that the trial over the case of Robert Kocharyan is widely supported by the Armenian public, yet there are some people who would also like to see another president in court, and that president is Serzh Sargsyan. Frankly, people, as well as mass media outlets and non-governmental organizations are directly criticizing me for the fact that Serzh Sargsyan is not in prison yet. However, Pashinyan reminded that investigative bodies solve these kinds of issues and that those issues arent solved due to political considerations. In Beijing, Armenias Minister of Education and Science Arayik Harutyunyan had a meeting with Minister of Education of the Peoples Republic of China Chen Baosheng, reports the press service of the Ministry of Education and Science of Armenia. At the outset, Minister Baosheng expressed gratitude to Arayik Harutyunyan for participating in the Artificial Intelligence and Education international conference organized by the UNESCO and the Government of the Peoples Republic of China and becoming one of the creators of the new format. According to Baosheng, the relations between China and Armenia in this sector have been growing ever since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. In his turn, Armenias Minister of Education and Science Arayik Harutyunyan expressed gratitude for the invitation to the conference and the high-level reception and emphasized the tremendous progress that China has made in the education sector in terms of the application of artificial intelligence technologies. Minister Baosheng offered to work together and conduct research on artificial intelligence, emphasizing Chinas willingness to support the advancement of technologies. The two ministers also considered the opportunity for expanding teaching of Chinese as a foreign language in Armenia that was discussed during the meeting of Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and the leadership of the Peoples Republic of China. In this context, Minister Arayik Harutyunyan recommended implementing a pilot program. In his turn, Minister Baosheng, on behalf of the Ministry of Education of China, expressed willingness to support implementation of the proposed program by helping send Armenias specialists on business trips and holding training courses for them. King Mohammed VI inaugurated, on Thursday in Yaacoub El Mansour district in Rabat, the Regional Center for Dental Care, carried out by the Mohammed V Foundation for Solidarity. The new center, the first of its kind in Morocco, required a 25 million dirham investment. The project mirrors the royal keenness to reinforce the dental care offer in the region of Rabat-Sale-Kenitra through the setting up of community-based quality medical services that meet the citizens needs. It is also in line with efforts made by the monarch to promote access of the underprivileged, mainly the elderly, poor students and disabled people, to dental care, to reinforce the dental health system, and to integrate it in public health. The center will provide quality dental care for kids and adults in the Rabat-Sale-Kenitra region. It will be also involved in actions of prevention, information and awareness-raising about tobacco risks, self-medication and dental health. The center includes units for dental emergencies (consultations, outpatient hospital), a radiology unit, consultation and dental surgery units for adults, an orthodontics unit for kids, and various other facilities and labs. Posted by PickupTrucks.com Staff | May 17, 2019 Manufacturer image By Patrick Masterson Vehicles Affected: Approximately 410,000 model-year 2015-17 Ram 1500, 2500 and 3500 pickup trucks equipped with an 8-foot bed and power locking tailgate, and model-year 2018 Ram 1500, 2500 and 3500 pickups built before April 1, 2018, also equipped with a power locking tailgate The Problem: The tailgate actuator limiter tab may fracture and cause the tailgate to unlatch and open while driving, which may cause cargo to fall out and create a road hazard, increasing the risk of crash. The Fix: Dealers will repair the tailgate latch for free. What Owners Should Do: Ram manufacturer Fiat Chrysler Automobiles will begin notifying owners June 28. Owners can call FCA at 800-853-1403, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's vehicle-safety hotline at 888-327-4236 or visit its website to check their vehicle identification number and learn more. Need to Find a Dealer for Service? Go to Cars.com Service & Repair to find your local dealer. To check for other recalls, and to schedule a free recall repair at your local dealership, click here: Ram 1500, Ram 2500, Ram 3500 More From PickupTrucks.com: 22:37 Lavasa is learnt to have written to the Chief Election Commissioner that he will be recusing from EC meetings as his dissent was not being recorded on clearances given by the poll panel to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over alleged poll code violations. Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala asked whether the EC will save itself more embarrassment by recording Lavasa's dissent notes, as he accused PM Modi of "muzzling" democratic institutions. Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel said there must be a credible investigation into the issues raised by Lavasa, alleging that the sanctity of the electoral process and the institutional integrity of the Election Commission was in jeopardy. "There must be a thorough credible enquiry into the issues raised by Mr Lavasa and restoration of the Commission's independent status as the watchdog of world's largest democracy. Mr Lavasa's letter -- contents of which have appeared in the media -- is extremely serious. "The sanctity of the electoral process and the institutional integrity of the Election Commission of India is in jeopardy,' said Patel on Twitter. Another senior party leader, P Chidambaram, said the EC has been "captured" by the Modi government. In a series of tweets, he said, "Mr Ashok Lavasa, EC, complained that his 'dissent' was not being recorded and hence decided to stay away from meetings of the Commission. The CEC has replied that silence is eloquent. I am still trying to find the connection between the complaint and the answer! "CEC tells the people that some matters are best kept 'internal'. Is he saying that the people -- the voters -- should not know or be concerned about the manner in which the Commission is conducting its business? "There is no need for any more proof that another independent institution has been captured by the Modi sarkar." Demanding a probe into charges made by Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa, the Congress on Saturday alleged that eroding institutional integrity has been the hallmark of the Modi government and asked whether the poll panel has become "Election Omission" and a "puppet' in the PM's hands. The requested page is currently unavailable on this server. Back to [RTHK News Homepage] Alumnus, emeritus professor will discuss SIU law schools history on Tuesday by Pete Rosenbery CARBONDALE, Ill. A look at the history and development of the SIU School of Law is set for Tuesday at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Thomas C. Britton will present a retrospective on the law school based on his chapter in the recently released Southern Illinois University at 150: Growth, Accomplishments, and Challenges. The presentation is at noon, May 21, in the Hiram H. Lesar Law Building Courtroom. Admission is free and the event is open to the public. The presentation is expected to last 30-45 minutes followed by Q&A. Copies of the book will also be available for sale. History of the law school detailed Britton, a member of the law schools first graduating class in 1976, will discuss the law schools early development, its accomplishments during the past 40-plus years and the evolution of its teaching, research and service missions. The law school opened in 1973. Established initially in the public interest to educate attorneys and leaders for service in Southern Illinois, the school has nearly 4,600 graduates, many of whom work in the region. The schools research and service missions have contributed greatly to the region and state Britton said an early proposal for a law school in Southern Illinois came early under the umbrella of Southern Illinois Normal University. The school failed to launch in the early 1870s because of low enrollment. Through the next century, the need for a law school south of Champaign-Urbana became more evident based on a shortage of attorneys in the region, Britton said. Dean Lesar was the law school architect While there were a number of different proposals on how the curriculum should be structured, founding Dean Hiram H. Lesar was really the architect of the law school. He took a traditional approach, but once the school was established he encouraged innovation and service, Britton said. Lesar, a native of Thebes, Illinois, was hired from the Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, where he had served as dean for many years. Britton hopes the audience gains insight into the law schools history and bright, promising future. Britton is a three-degree SIU Carbondale graduate Britton retired as an emeritus professor at the law school. He earned his bachelors and masters degrees from SIU Carbondale in what has been a five-decade relationship with the university, including, most recently service on the SIU Board of Trustees. After graduating from law school, Britton would begin his service in a number of administrative roles for the SIU System and SIU Carbondale. He started his career with the university system as administrative counsel to the Board of Trustees. Britton spent 17 years in SIUs Central Administration, where he served in various capacities, including executive assistant to the president, system vice chancellor/president for administration and SIU Carbondale vice chancellor for institutional advancement. In 1992, Britton joined the law school full-time and became the first SIU School of Law graduate named associate dean. He was acting dean in 1995-96 and was an associate professor and director of the law schools graduate legal studies program and director of development. He retired in 2016, upon being named outstanding faculty member by the class of 2016. He taught courses in the area of public law, including administrative law, legislative and administrative process, state and local government law and education law. As director of the Graduate Legal Studies, Britton oversaw development and inclusion of the law schools first non-JD graduate programs: the Master of Legal Studies (MLS) and Master of Law (LLM) program. Thanu Kulachol at the welcoming reception on May 10. Pictured left to right: John Jackson, Provost Meera Komarraju, Dean John Pollitz, Thanu Kulachol, Nongyao Kulachol and Chancellor John Dunn (Photo by Russell Bailey). New scholarship gives students further opportunities in international studies by Hannah Erickson CARBONDALE, Ill. When president emeritus of Bangkok University Thanu Kulachol walked on the Southern Illinois University Campus as a student in the 1970s, it was just the beginning of an international relationship between the two universities. Now, a new endowed scholarship continues Kulachols mission forward. The Thanu and Nongyao Kulachol Library Scholarship gives current SIU students an extra dose of support in their study of Asian Cultures. The funding recognizes the Kulachols remarkable contribution to education worldwide and encourages students to follow a similar path of leadership and excellence. Recognizing Thanu and Nongyao Kulachol In honor of his life of service to global education, Kulachol received an honorary doctorate of education leadership from SIU at the May 2019 commencement ceremony. Prior to the event, a special reception unveiled the endowed scholarship to the Kulachol family and campus community. I feel so proud and very honored to be recognized by this great university, Kulachol said. The scholarship was a collaborative effort between the SIU Foundation and Library Affairs, along with donors Jared and Maryann Dorn. The long friendship between the Kulachol and Dorn family dates back to the 1970s, when both Thanu and Jared were studying at SIU. John Pollitz, Dean of Library Affairs, sees the scholarship as an excellent way to support current students as they grow and develop with international aspirations. The scholarship offers us the ability to encourage students to expand their ways of thinking, which is what libraries are all about, Pollitz said. It is particularly important so they can expand their thinking internationally. For Chancellor John M. Dunn, Kulachol is highly deserving of the honor and represents what it means to be a Saluki. Not only as former president of Bangkok University, but in his many other activities related to business successes, he really demonstrates the very best of the pride that we have in being an international university, Dunn said. Strengthening international partnerships As president of Bangkok University for 19 years, Thanu Kulachol built international partnerships with over 43 universities, including SIU. The relationship started while he was still on campus and continued with a renewal in 2007. The relationship between SIU and BU extends back to when Thanu was a doctoral student in the 1970s, Dorn said. The founders of BU, Surat and Pongtip Osathanugrah, visited SIU at that time with their sons, who attended SIU while Thanu was a doctoral student. Thanu fostered the original cooperation agreement between the two universities at that time. One goal of this scholarship is to rekindle those partnerships and continue SIUs strong tradition of international connections. I think to be a truly great university, its important to be an international university, Chancellor Dunn said. We dont serve young people well if we dont allow them to have those interactions, connections and relationships. Both the honorary doctorate and endowed scholarship were in the works for many years, involving collaboration with the SIU Foundation. Director of development for Library Affairs, Kevin Clark, worked with the donors to put the project into action. We are very excited about this opportunity, Clark said. We hope it opens doors for future engagement with Thailand and the 116 SIU alumni who live there. We look forward to future initiatives with Bangkok University. Scholarship focuses on Asian Cultures In recognition of Thanus unique contributions to Thailand, serving on the Thai Senate and on the Commission for Higher Education, the endowed scholarship supports students with interests in Asian Cultures. The Thanu and Nongyao Scholarship is intended to foster learning for students with scholarly interests in the cultures and peoples of Asia, with a preference for Thailand, Dorn said. It is hoped that the interest in the area, and especially in Thailand, its rich cultures and its peoples, will develop further here at SIU and spread out. The scholarship is available for sophomore, junior or senior students who maintain a 3.0 GPA and complete an essay discussing why they deserve the award. The goal of the funding is to encourage students on their journey toward international studies. Anytime we can be involved with helping students think broader, especially internationally, is a good thing, Pollitz said. To find out more about the SIU Foundation and giving back, go to www.siuf.org. 6304 Prospect Ave. | Photos: Zumper Curious just how far your dollar goes in Northeast Dallas? According to Walk Score, this Dallas neighborhood is friendly for those on foot, has some bike infrastructure and has some transit options. Data from rental site Zumper shows that the median rent for a one bedroom in Northeast Dallas is currently hovering around $1,048. So, what might you expect to find if you're on a budget of $1,300 / month? Read on for a roundup of the latest rental offerings, via Zumper. (Note: prices and availability are subject to change.) Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. 6304 Prospect Ave., #209 Listed at $1,300/month, this 673-square-foot studio apartment is located at 6304 Prospect Ave., #209. In the unit, you can expect hardwood floors, a walk-in closet and an air conditioner. Building amenities include outdoor space. Pet owners, inquire elsewhere: this spot doesn't allow cats or dogs. The rental doesn't require a leasing fee. (Take a look at the complete listing here.) 6014 Victor St., #103 Next, there's this one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment located at 6014 Victor St., #103. It's also listed for $1,300/month for its 600 square feet of space. In the unit, there are in-unit laundry. Cats and dogs are not welcome. There isn't a leasing fee associated with this rental. (Take a gander at the complete listing here.) 6218 Kenwood Ave. Here's a 765-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment at 6218 Kenwood Ave. that's going for $1,295/month. In the unit, you'll get hardwood floors, a dishwasher, central heat, in-unit laundry and an air conditioner. The building has storage; Pet owners, inquire elsewhere: this spot doesn't allow cats or dogs. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee, but there is a $40 application fee. (See the full listing here.) 1514 N. Haskell Ave., #4009 Story continues Next, check out this 732-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment that's located at 1514 N. Haskell Ave., #4009. It's listed for $1,295/month. The building has garage parking and the apartment features air conditioner. Pet owners, inquire elsewhere: this spot doesn't allow cats or dogs. There isn't a leasing fee associated with this rental. (Take a look at the complete listing here.) 7545 E. NW Highway Finally, here's a 581-square-foot zero-bedroom, one-bathroom at 7545 E. NW Highway that's going for $1,224/month. In the unit, there are in-unit laundry, a walk-in closet and a ceiling fan. The building features garage parking. If you've got a pet, you'll be happy to learn that cats and dogs are permitted. The rental doesn't require a leasing fee. (See the full listing here.) This story was created automatically using local real estate data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. 250 S. 13th St. | Photos: Zumper Curious just how far your dollar goes in Washington Square? According to Walk Score, this Philadelphia neighborhood is extremely walkable, is quite bikeable and boasts excellent transit options. Data from rental site Zumper shows that the median rent for a one bedroom in Washington Square is currently hovering around $1,470. So, what might you expect to find if you don't want to spend more than $1,900/month on rent? Read on for a roundup of the latest rental offerings, via Zumper. (Note: prices and availability are subject to change.) Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. 802 Sansom St., #202 Listed at $1,895/month, this 650-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom condo is located at 802 Sansom St., #202. In the unit, you can expect hardwood floors, high ceilings and in-unit laundry. Building amenities include an elevator and storage space. Both cats and dogs are not allowed. There isn't a leasing fee associated with this rental. (See the complete listing here.) 903 Waverly St., #3R Next, there's this one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment situated at 903 Waverly St., #3R. It's listed for $1,875/month for its 1,100 square feet of space. In the apartment, there are hardwood floors, a dishwasher and high ceilings. Feline companions are permitted. (Check out the complete listing here.) 250 S. 13th St. Finally, here's a one-bedroom, one-bathroom unit at 250 S. 13th St. that's going for $1,850/month. In the furnished unit, you'll get high ceilings and air conditioning. Dogs and cats are not allowed. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee. (See the full listing here.) This story was created automatically using local real estate data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. 2745 29th St. NW. | Photos: Zumper Curious just how far your dollar goes in Woodley Park? According to Walk Score, this Washington neighborhood is quite walkable, is bikeable and has good transit options. Data from rental site Zumper shows that the median rent for a one bedroom in Woodley Park is currently hovering around $2,000. So, what might you expect to find with a budget of $1,900/month? Read on for a roundup of the latest rental offerings, via Zumper. (Note: prices and availability are subject to change.) Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. 3100 Connecticut Ave. NW, #302 Listed at $1,900/month, this 767-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom condo is located at 3100 Connecticut Ave. NW, #302. In the unit, you can expect hardwood floors, air conditioning and a walk-in closet. When it comes to building amenities, anticipate assigned parking, on-site laundry and outdoor space. Pets are not allowed. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee. (Check out the complete listing here.) 2601 Woodley Place NW Next, there's this studio located at 2601 Woodley Place NW. It's listed for $1,872/month for its 500 square feet of space. The building boasts a fitness center, a roof deck and on-site laundry. In the unit, expect a walk-in closet and air conditioning. Luckily for pet owners, both dogs and cats are allowed. The rental doesn't require a leasing fee. (See the complete listing here.) 2745 29th St. NW Here's a 530-square-foot studio at 2745 29th St. NW that's going for $1,795/month. It's available in July. In the unit, you'll get hardwood floors, in-unit laundry, granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. The building boasts a fitness center, storage space and on-site management. Animals are not welcome. There's no leasing fee required for this rental. (Take a look at the full listing here.) This story was created automatically using local real estate data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. King Mohammed VI has condemned as despicable the terrorist attacks that targeted vital Saudi energy facilities. Following the despicable attacks against vital Saudi energy facilities, I express my firmest condemnation of this appalling acts, which seek to undermine the security and stability of your country, said the Monarch in a message to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. King Mohammed VI who reiterated his condemnation of these terrorist acts reaffirmed Moroccos full solidarity and unwavering support for Saudi Arabia to counter all threats and attacks targeting this country, regardless of their form and justification. Subversive acts targeted Wednesday two oil pumping stations in Al-Dawadmi and Afif governorates in Riyadh region. * Australians to head to the polls on Saturday * Polls show opposition on course for victory * Popular former PM hawke died on Thursday (Recasts, adds comment from PM, Labor leader) By Colin Packham SYDNEY, May 17 (Reuters) - Australian politicians scrambled to win over undecided voters on Friday, the last day of a general election campaign that has ended in mourning for one of the country's most popular leaders. Former prime minister Bob Hawke died on Thursday. A transformative, charismatic left-wing politician who served as prime minister from 1983 to 1991, Hawke was 89. Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Labor leader Bill Shorten both sought to strike a somber, more cordial tone on Friday, as a closely watched poll showed Labor was going in to Saturday's election with a slight advantage. "He was a great Australian. And he was a much-loved Australian. It is a life to be celebrated. And Ill certainly be doing that today, later this afternoon, and raising a glass in his honor," Morrison said of Hawke, in comments to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Shorten promised not to be too rough on his opponent as his party honored its longest-serving prime minister. Shorten was likely feeling a bit more comfortable about his chances on Saturday with an Ipsos poll for the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age newspapers showing Labor ahead of Morrison's coalition by a margin of 51-49 on a two-party preferred basis where votes are distributed until a winner is declared. Should Labor win, Australia will be likely get its seventh prime minister since 2010. The Ipsos findings echo similar polls as Morrison fails to woo voters with a campaign centered on his government's projection to deliver Australia's first budget surplus in more than 10 years. Labor, which lost the last two elections in 2013 and 2016, has promised to match the government's 2019-20 surplus and then deliver a bigger surplus in 2020-21. Labor's fiscal plan has undercut a typical strength for Morrison, and Shorten has also won favor with voters by promising to address to inequality. (Reporting by Colin Packham Editing by James Dalgleish) (Adds more background about charter schools) By Ginger Gibson WASHINGTON, May 17 (Reuters) - Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders is calling for a sweeping overhaul of publicly-funded charter schools, rolling out a plan on Saturday that will put him at odds with some of his opponents and underscore his renewed efforts to win black voters. Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, wants to ban for-profit charter schools and halt the creation of new charter schools while imposing new rules on the existing ones, according to a summary of his proposal provided by his campaign on Friday. Charter schools receive government funding to operate but are more autonomous than traditional public schools. Students do not pay to attend. Most charter schools are operated by nonprofit groups, and many take private donations on top of government funding. However, a pro-charter school group estimates 15 percent of them are operated by for-profit companies. Additionally, some nonprofit charter schools have come under fire for contracting with for-profit companies to operate the schools. Charter schools, which enjoyed bipartisan support at their inception in the 1990s, have become the subject of increasing division. Many Democrats have grown critical of them, arguing the schools are used by the wealthy to pad their pockets while still neglecting millions of students in failing schools. Groups like the NAACP have become vocal opponents of the current charter school system. But charter schools remain popular in some predominately black communities, where they are seen as the best option where public schools are weak. As a result, Sanders' proposal, meant to show how his liberal policies could help minorities, comes with some political risks for the candidate, who struggled in his last presidential campaign in 2016 to gain support from black voters. Sanders will roll out a comprehensive education platform in a speech in South Carolina on Saturday, his campaign said. Story continues Supporters argue charter schools can serve as laboratories for innovation in education that can flourish without the bureaucratic constraints of traditional schools. But critics of charter schools say they have done little to export the innovation they promised to traditional schools, which still educate the vast majority of students. Instead, critics argue, charter schools have taken resources from the rest of the public schools to serve a small, select group. Critics also say the schools are mainly serving middle-class, predominately white populations to the detriment of students, mainly minorities, in traditional public schools. The position taken by Sanders, one of more than 20 Democrats vying for the nomination to challenge Republican President Donald Trump in the November 2020 election, is in stark contrast with some of his opponents. Former Congressman Beto O'Rourke of Texas has previously voiced support for charter schools, and U.S. Senator Cory Booker was a vocal supporter of them as mayor of Newark, New Jersey. Booker's support of charter schools is proving to be a liability with some black voters. Booker is "well liked," said Corey Strong, former chairman of the Shelby County Democratic Party in Memphis, Tennessee, but he "has an issue with charter schools." (Reporting by Ginger Gibson Additional reporting by Sharon Bernstein Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Jonathan Oatis and Tom Brown) (Adds background, quote from law's backer) By Katie Paul SAN FRANCISCO, May 16 (Reuters) - California's senate blocked a bill on Thursday that would have expanded the ability of consumers to sue companies over their handling of personal data, a win for tech industry groups concerned about wide-ranging privacy lawsuits. Under California's data privacy law, which is set to take effect next year, consumers may file complaints to the state attorney general over alleged violations of privacy rules, but can sue over a data breach. The new bill, introduced in February and endorsed by the attorney general, would have strengthened that law to enable consumers to sue over any alleged violations. Adam Schwartz, a senior staff attorney at the San Francisco-based privacy group the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the bill's failure marked "a sad day for consumer data privacy." "The act last year was a start, and it puts in place good rules. But a law is only as good as its enforcement," he said. California's law, the toughest in the United States, enables fines of up to $7,500 for intentional failure to disclose data collection or selling others' data without permission. As other states have begun drafting bills, Facebook Inc's Mark Zuckerberg and other tech leaders have called for federal privacy legislation to set industry-wide guidelines for how personal data should be collected and used. But tech lobbying groups have also said they would fight any legislative proposals that could open the door to a flurry of consumer lawsuits. The bill that failed Thursday was part of a process in Sacramento of clarifying the law passed last year, which was hastily cobbled together as an alternative to a more stringent ballot initiative backed by real estate developer Alastair Mactaggart. Privacy advocates worry many of the other bills under consideration will hollow out the law, carving out loopholes for particular industries and forms of data collection. Story continues Mactaggart and others behind the law say they are confident they can defeat any carve-out attempts through the legislative process. Current enforcement mechanisms are robust enough, Mactaggart told Reuters in an interview the day before the bill was blocked, and are an essential part of the commitments made in the legislative deal last year. "I never would've withdrawn the ballot measure if I didn't think there was adequate enforcement," Mactaggart told Reuters. "With my eyes wide open I did it, and I would do it again." (Reporting by Katie Paul; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) (Recasts, adds quotes, details) BEIJING, May 17 (Reuters) - China offered strong support to Iran on Friday, with its top diplomat telling Iran's foreign minister that China opposes unilateral sanctions and supports Tehran's efforts to safeguard its interests. U.S.-Iranian tensions have escalated in recent days, bringing increasing concerns about possible conflict. Iran has said it is committed to its obligations under an international nuclear deal despite the U.S. withdrawal from the agreement last year, and has called the re-imposition of U.S sanctions unacceptable. Meeting in Beijing, Chinese State Councillor Wang Yi told Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that given the important and rapidly-evolving situation, the two needed to strengthen communication and coordination. "China resolutely opposes the U.S. implementation of unilateral sanctions and so-called 'long arm jurisdiction', understands the current situation and concerns of the Iranian side, and supports the Iranian side to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests," China's Foreign Ministry paraphrased Wang as saying. China appreciates Iran's full implementation of the nuclear deal and intention to stick to it, Wang added. "The dispute surrounding the Iranian nuclear agreement is essentially a contest between multilateralism and unilateralism," he said. China's Foreign Ministry cited Zarif as saying that Iran has no intention to withdraw from the nuclear agreement and opposes war. "The Strait of Hormuz maintains its status as an international transportation channel," the statement cited Zarif as saying. Iran's Revolutionary Guards have threatened to close the strategic waterway, through which a significant part of the world's oil supply flows. China has close energy and business ties with Iran, but has to tread carefully as it has also cultivated good relations with Iran's regional rival, Saudi Arabia. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Catherine Evans and Andrew Cawthorne) (adds reactions from Bermuda, activist) By Francesco Guarascio BRUSSELS, May 17 (Reuters) - The European Union removed the British overseas territory of Bermuda, the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba and Barbados on Friday from the bloc's blacklist of tax havens, leaving no EU territory still on the list. The move left 12 jurisdictions on the list, prompting criticism over the EU blacklisting process, which was launched in 2017 after revelations of widespread tax avoidance schemes used by corporations and wealthy individuals to lower their tax bills. The three islands were added to the list in March as they had failed for months to change their tax rules, which the EU deemed at risk of facilitating tax evasion in other countries. But now Aruba has been removed because it has changed its legislation to make it compliant with EU requirements, an EU statement said. Bermuda and Barbados have committed to addressing EU concerns and have therefore been moved to a so-called grey list of countries still under EU scrutiny for their tax practices, the statement said, effectively giving them more time to be fully compliant. Bermuda's Finance Minister Curtis Dickinson welcomed the EU decision. He said there was still work to be done to improve the island's tax legislation on collective investment funds, about which the EU had still concerns. "EU governments have once again let some of the world's worst tax havens off the hook," said Chiara Putaturo, of the anti-poverty group Oxfam. "The reforms agreed by Bermuda, Barbados and Aruba will not stop them operating as tax havens," she added, calling on the EU to blacklist all jurisdictions that offer very low or zero corporate tax rates. The EU does not automatically add to its list tax-free countries unless they have additional provisions that could facilitate tax evasion, such as rules on offshore structures aimed at attracting foreign profits. Major jurisdictions that are still on the EU list are the United Arab Emirates, Oman and the three U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Story continues Belize, Fiji, the Marshall Islands, Vanuatu, Dominica, Samoa and Trinidad and Tobago also remain on the blacklist. Blacklisted states face reputational damage and stricter controls on transactions with the EU. The list initially comprised 17 jurisdictions, but it is subject to regular reviews. Countries with legal shortfalls are added if they do not amend their rules by set deadlines. (Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio; additional reporting by Emma Farge,; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle, William Maclean) * STOXX 600 down 0.4% on the day, ends week up 1.2% * Food delivery firms hit, Amazon funds unlisted Deliveroo * Auto stocks post fourth straight weekly decline * Travel and leisure stocks rise, supported by EasyJet (Updates to close) By Medha Singh and Aaron Saldanha May 17 (Reuters) - European stocks snapped a three-day winning streak on Friday amid global trade jitters after Beijing ratcheted up its war of words with Washington, while the end of Brexit talks between British political parties put a lid on risk sentiment. The Chinese Communist Party's People's Daily used a front page commentary to say the trade war would never bring China down, while talks on Brexit between Britain's opposition Labour Party and the governing Conservatives ended without agreement. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.4%, sliding from Thursday's 10-day closing peak. The benchmark posted a 1.2% weekly gain, however, its best performance since early April. Ben Lofthouse, head of global equity income at Janus Henderson, said investors "have moved from being slightly risk-on to risk off." "Markets don't deal well with circumstances that are not well rehearsed. For global equities, trade is on people's mind more than Brexit." Germany's exporter-heavy DAX declined 0.6%, with BMW shedding 5.2% as its shares traded ex-dividend. Milan-traded shares fell 0.2%, while peers in Paris and London edged 0.2% and 0.1% lower, respectively. The process of the United Kingdom's complex divorce from the European Union was jolted by the opposition Labour Party pronouncing the death of last-ditch talks due to deepening fractures in Prime Minister Theresa May's government. The news knocked sterling but supported the shares of exporters on the FTSE 100, as a softer pound broadly boosts the value of their overseas earnings. Real estate stocks shed 1.2%, with Hammerson PLC down 2.2% following a price target cut on the stock by RBC. Story continues Banks dropped 1.1% with the stocks of most lenders on the sector index ending lower. Italy's Banco BPM fell 3.2%. Stocks of auto-makers and their suppliers ended a fourth straight week lower as they dropped 1.1% on the day. The sector is especially sensitive to worsening U.S.-China trade tensions. Paris-listed Valeo fell 1.7%, while Faurecia dropped 1.3%. Food delivery companies tumbled after Britain's Deliveroo, which is unlisted, secured funding from Amazon.com Inc. Just Eat sank 8.2%, while Amsterdam-listed Takeaway.com and Frankfurt-listed Delivery Hero shed 4.6% and 2.3% percent, respectively. In a bright spot, EasyJet flew 5.3% higher after the budget carrier said it would meet 2019 expectations despite a weaker trading environment. The stock boosted the travel and leisure index, which gained 0.8%. (Reporting by Medha Singh and Aaron Saldanha in Bengaluru, Josephine Mason in London Editing by Gareth Jones) * Firm says able to ensure steady supply of most products * HiSilicon president makes comments in letter to staff * HiSilicon says secretly developing back-up products for yrs (Adds details, context, Huawei comment) By Sijia Jiang HONG KONG, May 17 (Reuters) - Huawei Technologies' chip arm HiSilicon said on Friday it has long been prepared for the "extreme scenario" that it could be banned from purchasing U.S. chips and technology, and is able to ensure steady supply of most products. HiSilicon, which mainly designs chips for Huawei equipment, made the comments in a letter to staff attributed to President He Tingbo dated "the small hours of May 17," shortly after the United States officially banned Huawei from buying U.S. technology without special approval. The ban has thrown into disarray prospects for sales at some of the largest tech companies and drew a sharp rebuke from Beijing, further ratcheting up tensions over trade. Huawei confirmed authenticity of the letter seen by Reuters and published by Chinese media on Friday. HiSilicon has been secretly developing back-up products for years in anticipation of the unlikely scenario that Huawei may one day be unable to obtain advanced chips and technology from the United States, He said in the letter. HiSilicon's efforts have ensured a steady supply and "strategic safety" of most products, He said, adding that Huawei will aim to be technologically self-sufficient. He described HiSilicon's efforts as a "long march in the history of technology" that would now pay off with the United State's "crazy decision" that brought this "extreme and dark moment." Now is the time for "all the spare tires in the safe" to become useful, He said in the letter. Huawei has already been using chipsets called Kirin, designed by HiSilicon in its high-end smartphones, with the manufacturing handled by so-called foundry companies such as Taiwan's TSMC. Huawei also uses some chipsets from Qualcomm Inc and MediaTek Inc. Story continues In an interview with Reuters in March, Huawei's rotating chairman Eric Xu had said the unit produced more than $7.5 billion worth of chips last year. That compares with an estimated $21 billon worth of chips that Huawei acquired from outside vendors. A Huawei spokesman said Huawei will use HiSilicon products to substitute for banned American components where possible, but declined to give details. A similar U.S. ban on China's ZTE Corp had almost crippled business for the smaller Huawei rival early last year before the curb was lifted. (Reporting by Sijia Jiang in HONG KONG and Brenda Goh in SHANGHAI; Editing by Anshuman Daga) (Adds details, quotes) By Tim Hepher PARIS, May 17 (Reuters) - Global airlines body IATA expects increasing trade tensions and higher costs will mean a cut in 2019 industry profit forecasts. The International Air Transport Association trimmed its 2019 global airline industry profit forecast to $35.5 billion in December, from $38 billion, after it hit $32.3 billion in 2018. Alexandre de Juniac, IATA director general, gave a strong steer on Friday that the industry group would trim its widely watched forecast again when it meets in Seoul next month. "We are a bit pessimistic," he told a meeting of aerospace industry officials in Paris. "I think we should be more cautious," he added, referring to probable changes to the forecasts published in December. He declined to give specifics ahead of the June 2 publication. "The figures will be in the black but will be more difficult," he told a meeting of Usaire, an association of U.S. and European aerospace companies. Trade tensions are already hurting cargo demand and passenger demand is sure to be affected too, he said. Air cargo - a bellwether for the wider economy - transports over $6 trillion worth of goods, accounting for 35% of world trade by value, according to IATA. Air freight traffic fell 2% in the first quarter of 2019. "VERY TOUGH YEAR" Although earlier rounds of tariffs affected items like steel that are hauled by sea, airlines are worried that future tariffs could include smart phones and computers that go by air. This points to a "very tough year" for air freight, but reasonable though slower GDP growth should keep passenger traffic growing only a little below trend, IATA said on Friday. "Among the reasons why cargo is declining and we see some slowdown in passenger traffic are probably the consequences of trade disputes and protectionist measures in various parts of the world," de Juniac said. As well as escalating trade tensions, notably between the United States and China, airlines are also beginning to acknowledge concerns that the industry has reached the top of its business cycle after a longer than usual expansion. Story continues "I am a bit worried and I am sorry to tell you that I think we are at a turning point," de Juniac said. However, the long-term outlook remains robust, he added. De Juniac noted concerns about airport capacity and other infrastructure problems across the world, but defended the industry's record in curbing emissions as a debate heats up in Europe around the impact of air travel on the environment. (Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Alexander Smith) * Pragya Thakur is main accused in a 2008 blast in Malegaon town * Modi's party says she is innocent even as courts yet to decide * Anger in Malegaon over Thakur's candidacy (Adds Modi's comments, paragraphs 16-17) By Zeba Siddiqui BHOPAL, India May 17 (Reuters) - For nearly a decade, Pragya Thakur was known mostly as the saffron-clad Hindu ascetic shuttling in and out of Indian courts, flanked by police, facing charges under an anti-terrorism law for plotting a bomb attack on Muslims. Last month, the 49-year-old was fielded as a candidate by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the current general election, in which he is seeking a second term. Overnight, Thakur, who has been out on bail since 2017, emerged as a symbol of a Hindu nationalist movement that is showing increasing intolerance towards Muslims in the Hindu-dominated nation. The five years of Modi's rule have seen an increasing number of attacks on Muslims by right-wing groups. But the brazenness of Thakur's candidacy has still stunned many. It's the first time a leading political party in India has fielded a candidate accused of terrorism in an election. "They are addressing a very extreme form of the Hindutva fold," said Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, a New Delhi-based biographer of Modi, referring to the BJPs Hindu-first ideology. Thakur says she had nothing to do with the 2008 explosion near several mosques in the Muslim-majority town of Malegaon in western India. Six Muslims were killed and more than a hundred people injured. According to court filings, the motorcycle on which the explosives were strapped was Thakur's, and she was among those who planned the attack to avenge "jihadi activities." Indian law allows candidates charged with crimes to contest elections, but not convicts. The trial against Thakur started in December but a final verdict is not expected anytime soon. Modi and BJP leaders have come out strongly in defense of her candidature. Story continues BJP President Amit Shah told a television channel last month that Thakur was given a ticket to contest "so that the whole world can know that these accusations against her were fabricated." DEFENDS GANDHI'S KILLER The BJP argues there is no such thing as a Hindu terrorist, and portrays charges against her as an affront to all Hindus. "You are saying that a saffron-clad person is a terrorist? What is this?" said Prabhat Jha, the BJPs national vice president in central India's Bhopal city, where Thakur is contesting. He was referring to the robes worn by Hindu ascetics. Voting in Bhopal was on May 12, and results are due on May 23. Thakur stirred fresh controversy on Thursday when she called the right-wing Hindu, Nathuram Godse, who killed India's independence hero Mohandas "Mahatma" Gandhi in 1948, a patriot. "Those who call him a terrorist should look within. This election will deliver a fitting reply to such people," she said. The BJP quickly distanced itself from the comments and Thakur later apologized. "Whatever has been said about Gandhiji or Godse (Nathuram Godse), it's terrible," Modi said in a television interview on Friday. "In a civilized society, this kind of language and thinking does not work... I cannot forgive her." Thakur declined to be interviewed for this story. According to her family and supporters, she is a pious nationalist and champion of women's rights who was a former youth politics leader known for fiery speeches. Born in a village in central India, she grew up to become a leader of a youth group linked to the BJP, and usually clad in a shirt and jeans, hair cropped short, came to be referred to as "didi," or elder sister, her sister Upma said. Former members of the youth group said Thakur was known then as a "dabang," or daredevil, not afraid to pick a fight. One said she would carry a "katta" - a locally-made pistol although others said there was no proof. Days after gaining the candidacy, Thakur boasted about her role in demolishing a 16th century mosque in the northern Ayodhya city in 1992 an event that sparked some of Indias deadliest communal riots. "I was there, I had broken the structure, and I will go back to build the temple," Thakur said in a campaign speech, echoing BJP's promise to build a temple at the mosque site. TORTURE CLAIMS Thakur, whose family says she is a cancer survivor, has often wept while describing the torture she claims she endured in custody. But the Supreme Court said in 2011 it found no merit in her allegations. The National Human Rights Commission said in 2015 her claims "were not substantiated by facts." Her media relations head, Hitesh Bajpai, said there was proof she was tortured, but declined to elaborate. Thakur's supporters expressed deep empathy. "A woman who has suffered such torture, she will understand our issues more than anyone else," said Saumya Srivastava, a 46-year-old housewife, at a recent rally. About 500 km (300 miles) west of Bhopal, in Malegaon, there was anger among families of blast victims about Thakur's candidacy. The Supreme Court rejected a petition to bar her from contesting the election that was filed by Nisar Ahmed, whose 20-year-old son Syed Azhar was killed in the blast. "My son was killed in the attack, and today a prime accused in that is standing in an election," said Ahmed. "Is this how they give us justice?" In Bhopal, Thakur folded her hands to greet supporters one evening before heading out for a roadshow, a traditional vermillion mark fresh on her forehead. A devotee fed her sweets and lowered her head to seek blessings - to which Thakur warmly responded by placing a hand on the womans head. Chants of "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" (Long Live Mother India) filled the air, as her cavalcade disappeared around a street corner. (Reporting by Zeba Siddiqui in BHOPAL, India; Editing by Martin Howell and Raju Gopalakrishnan) (Adds Zarif quotes from Iranian state media) May 17 (Reuters) - The international community and remaining signatories of Iran's nuclear deal should act to save the accord as "supportive statements" are not enough, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told state media during a visit to Japan and China. Last week, Iran notified the five remaining signatories that it would scale back some commitments under its 2015 nuclear deal, a year after Washington left the pact and reimposed sanctions on Tehran. Tehran has asked the other signatories to help protect its economy from U.S. sanctions. "Safeguarding the (nuclear accord) is possible through practical measures, and not only through supportive statements," Zarif was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA. "If the international community feels that this (nuclear) accord is a valuable achievement, then it should take practical steps just like Iran does," Zarif said on Iranian state television. "The meaning of practical steps is fully clear: Iran's economic relations should be normalized." (Reporting by Dubai newsroom; Editing by Hugh Lawson) Algerian authorities have expelled American Arabic media Al Hurras reporter and detained him on his arrival, reports say. Abdellah Imassi from Morocco was detained on Wednesday after arriving in the Algerian capital for a report for the Washington-based media, Huffpost Maghreb reports. Authorities at the airport interrogated the man reportedly for six hours before putting him on a plane back to the US. Imassi was in the North African country to report on the ongoing public demonstrations demanding the fall of figures still in power after former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was forced to step down early last month under pressure from the army and the protestors. The Moroccan journalist before joining Al Hurra worked as news editor for Moroccan TV channel 2M until 2009 and then for the Moroccan 8th satellite TV channel after earning a degree in journalism in 2007. Al Hurra belongs to the media group MBN Digital (Michelangelo Broadcasting Network). * Joint War Committee's guidance can influence premiums * Regional tensions heightened by U.S., Iranian row * Iran denies it had any role in tanker attacks * Committee say still has few facts on shipping incident (Updates with further comment, detail) By Jonathan Saul LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) - London's marine insurance market has extended the list of waters deemed high risk to include Oman, the United Arab Emirates and the Gulf after ship attacks off Fujairah, officials said on Friday, in a move that could push up premiums. The London insurance market's Joint War Committee said in a statement that the additions cover areas of perceived enhanced risk for marine insurers and reflected enhanced regional risk. "The situation will be kept under close review," said the Joint War Committee, whose guidance influences decisions by underwriters on insurance premiums. Four tankers, comprising Saudi Arabian, UAE and Norwegian-flagged ships, were attacked on Sunday off Fujairah. No one has claimed responsibility for the incident. The attacks took place against a backdrop of U.S.-Iranian tension following Washingtons decision this month to try to cut Tehran's oil exports to zero and beef up its military presence in the Gulf in response to what it called Iranian threats. Iran accuses Washington of stoking tensions and had denied it had any role in the attacks. The Joint War Committee, made up of syndicate members from the Lloyds Market Association (LMA) and representatives from the London insurance company market, normally meets every quarter to review areas it considers high risk for merchant vessels and prone to war, terrorism, piracy and related perils. The Joint War Committee, which met on Thursday after developments in the Middle East ahead of Friday's decision, also added adjacent waters around the Gulf of Oman to its high risk list. The last update to the list was in June 2018. The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Norway have launched an investigation and have described the attacks as deliberate. They have not blamed anyone. Story continues "Very little information is to hand about the explosions at Fujairah anchorage on May 12 and the circumstances and methods employed remain unclear," the Joint War Committee said in further comments. "There is no doubt that considerable damage was done and there will be significant claims," it added. The London marine insurance market plays an influential role in the global marine insurance industry. A confidential Norwegian insurers' report seen by Reuters concluded that Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards were "highly likely" to have facilitated the attacks on the tankers. Iran, which has a long-running regional rivalry with Saudi Arabia, has said the attacks on the tankers were a cause for concern and has called for an investigation. "The enmity between Iran and Saudi Arabia continues to create tensions as the Saudis believe Iran is trying to control strategic waterways," the Joint War Committee said. Iran said on Friday it could "easily" hit U.S. warships in the Gulf, the latest verbal broadside in the spat between Washington and Tehran. Two U.S. government sources said this week that U.S. officials believed Iran had encouraged Yemeni Houthi militants or Iraq-based Shi'ite militias to carry out the attacks. (Editing by David Goodman and Edmund Blair) * Russia lost voting rights after 2014 seizure of Crimea * Compromise brokered by France and Germany * Ukraine boycotts Helsinki meeting in protest (Updates detail on voting positions) By Anne Kauranen HELSINKI, May 17 (Reuters) - Foreign ministers from the Council of Europe, the continent's chief human rights watchdog, reached an agreement on Friday that opens the way for Russia to return to the organization, resolving a dispute that began after Moscow's seizure of Crimea. The agreement follows efforts by France and Germany to find a compromise among the 47-nation group and means Russia will likely take part in a meeting of the council's parliamentary assembly in June, when key new appointments will be made. Russia has indicated it will resume payment of its membership dues as a result. It stopped payment nearly two years ago after its voting rights in the council were suspended over its 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. Ukraine, supported by five other countries, tried unsuccessfully to block the agreement, which was approved by a qualified majority, diplomats said. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov welcomed the move. "We do not intend to leave the Council of Europe as some people are trying to suggest by spreading false rumors. And we are not refusing to fulfill a single obligation, including financial ones," Lavrov said in Helsinki, where the meeting was held. Finland currently chairs the council. The Russian spat has prompted questions about the future and durability of the 70-year-old Council of Europe, the guardian of the European Convention on Human Rights and the creator of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. It also left a 90 million euro hole in the council's budget since Russia accounts for around 7% of contributions. STAYING IN THE CLUB France and Germany have been keen to keep Russia inside the council, arguing that if it is outside it is harder for any human rights abuses to be flagged and pursued by the court. Story continues Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin boycotted Friday's meeting. Officials said they understood Kiev's frustration, but said the council was not the place to resolve the Crimea issue. "Ukraine has every reason to demand Crimea's restoration," said Nina Nordstrom, head of human rights policy at the Finnish foreign ministry. "But matters of peace and war between countries are not solved within this organization." Diplomats said that Georgia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Armenia joined Ukraine in opposing the agreement, while 39 countries backed it. Moldova did not participate in the vote and Russia abstained. Britain and Poland - despite supporting Ukraine's position in the committee of ministers - approved the text, sources said. Criticizing the agreement on Twitter, Lithuania's Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius said Russia was continuing its "aggression" against Ukraine and said European values meant very little if they were not defended. Officials said Friday's agreement meant Russia would take part in the June assembly in Strasbourg, when a new secretary- general and court judges will be elected, provided some technical rule changes are approved first. "What happened today is a pre-final step," said Daniel Holtgen, chief spokesman of the organization. "The parliamentary assembly will have to take into account the decisions of ministers and decide whether or not to change their internal rules so that Russia can take part in these elections in June. "Russia has said the moment they return to the parliamentary assembly and their rights are restored, they will pay their contributions and their dues, and we have no reason to doubt that statement." (Additional reporting by Andrew Osborn in Moscow and Gilbert Reilhac in Strasbourg, Writing by Luke Baker, Editing by Gareth Jones, William Maclean) (Adds quotes from house speaker, Planned Parenthood; edits) May 17 (Reuters) - Missouri lawmakers passed a bill on Friday that prohibits women from seeking an abortion after the eighth week of pregnancy, days after Alabama enacted the most restrictive abortion law in the United States. The legislation allows for an abortion after the eighth week only in the case of medical emergencies. On Wednesday, Alabama banned abortions at any time, with the same exception. Similar laws have been proposed in more than a dozen other states as Republican-controlled legislatures push to restrict the rights of women to terminate their pregnancies. The state's Republican governor, Mike Parson, is expected to sign the bill into law. He has said he would make Missouri "one of the strongest pro-life states in the country." Missouri's House of Representatives gave its final legislative approval in a 110-44 vote after protesters were removed from the public gallery. Missouri senators overwhelmingly approved the legislation on Thursday. "Today, the Missouri House stood for the unborn," the speaker of the house, Elijah Haahr, said in a statement. "The bold legislation we sent to the Governor's desk is the strongest and most comprehensive pro-life bill in the country." Opposing the bill, Dr. Leana Wen, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said it was a "terrifying time" for women in America. "Planned Parenthood will not sit by and watch as politicians take our rights and freedoms to women's health care away," Wen said in a statement. "We will fight in Missouri, Georgia, Alabama, and everywhere else politicians interfere with medical care, because womens health care is health care and health care is a human right." Renewed efforts to roll back Roe v. Wade, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide in 1973, have been emboldened by two judicial appointments by President Donald Trump that have given conservatives a solid majority on the court. Story continues At a time when U.S. rates of abortion have sharply declined, the appointments have put fresh energy into the political struggle between religious conservatives and others who those who believe fetuses should have comparable rights to those of babies after birth, and those who see such restrictions as an infringement on women's rights. The re-energized debate coincides with the run-up to the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Abortion-rights activists argue that rolling back 45 years of legal precedent to criminalize abortion would endanger women who seek dangerous illegal abortions. HEALTH RISK? U.S. abortion rights activists have vowed to go to court to block enforcement of the Alabama law, which is scheduled to take effect in six months. The Missouri bill passed the Senate on Thursday in a party-line vote, with 24 Republicans supporting it and 10 Democrats opposed. In common with the Alabama bill, it would outlaw abortion even in the case of rape or incest and make violations by doctors punishable by prison sentences. The measure would not make women who seek out the procedure subject to criminal prosecution, although opponents of the statute said it was ambiguous about the criminal liability of a woman accused of inducing her own miscarriage. The measure also would ban abortions altogether except for medical emergencies should the Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade. As of May, lawmakers have introduced legislation to restrict abortions in at least 16 states this year. Governors in four have signed bills into law banning the procedure if an embryonic heartbeat can be detected, generally considered to be as early as six weeks. Some Republicans pushing for abortion restrictions acknowledge they are deliberately doing so to instigate court challenges that will ultimately force the Supreme Court to reconsider Roe v. Wade. The ruling held that the due process clause of the 14th Amendment provides a fundamental right to privacy that protects a woman's right to abortion. It also allowed states to place restrictions on the procedure from the time a fetus could viably survive outside the womb. The opinion stated that viability is usually placed at about seven months, or 28 weeks, but may occur earlier. (Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York; Writing by Frank McGurty; Editing by Alistair Bell) * Official figures, surveys say India almost open defecation-free * World Bank-supported survey has many lapses, say survey insiders * Modi had promised to eliminate open defecation by October 2019 * Gov't says it stands by authenticity of World Bank-backed survey * Gov't denies allegations raised by surveyors & RICE researchers (Adds government comment) By Sachin Ravikumar and Munsif Vengattil KOPPAL/SHIKRAWA, India, May 17 (Reuters) - Every morning around dawn, dozens of people gather by the dusty banks of a stream snaking through Shikrawa village, two hours south of India's capital, New Delhi, to do the same thing: defecate in the open. "There are close to 1,600 houses in Shikrawa. And I know for a fact that some 400 of those don't have toilets," said Khurshid Ahmed, a village council official in Shikrawa, in the northern state of Haryana. Federal government records say Haryana - with its population of more than 25 million - is squeaky clean. The state, along with most others in India, is classified "open defecation-free," while a World Bank-supported nationwide survey says only 0.3% of Haryana's rural population defecates outside. But interviews with over half a dozen surveyors involved in the World Bank-supported study, and two participating researchers, all raised significant concerns with the methodology of the survey, and its findings. India's sanitation program had "succeeded in lifting more than 550 million people out of open defecation in a short period of less than 5 years," India's Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation said in a release on Friday in response to a Reuters' article. In Shikrawa, interviews with 27 people showed at least 330 villagers still defecate in the open because of a lack of toilets, issues with accessing water, or simply a dogged opposition to changing old habits. An hour away in the village of Nangla Kanpur, things aren't any different. Story continues The ministry said it "is difficult to comment on isolated incidents of non-usage," but it believes that households may try to hide that they have a toilet, in the expectation of receiving further financial incentives to build toilets. Studies link open defecation to public health issues, as it increases the spread of parasites due to water contamination. The World Bank said in 2016 one in every ten deaths in India is linked to poor sanitation. In a country plagued by sexual assault crimes, the lack of toilets also disproportionately affects women, who have to walk long distances before dawn or after dark to relieve themselves. In 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the "Swachh Bharat," or "Clean India," campaign and vowed to eliminate open defecation nationwide in five years. Modi, who is seeking re-election for a second term in polls that conclude on Sunday, has often used the success of Swachh Bharat in campaigning. "We got more than 100 million toilets built," he said at a rally in north India on Sunday. Swachh Bharat, a multi-billion-dollar program backed by money from the government and a World Bank loan, has indeed built millions of latrines, but critics say official statistics paint an overly optimistic picture of its success. "The whole point of this is for people's health," said Payal Hathi, a researcher consulted on the World Bank-backed survey. "It's unfortunate that the data is so misleading." Data from the World Bank-supported National Annual Rural Sanitation Survey (NARSS) that concluded in February shows that only about 10% of rural Indians defecate in the open. The survey was conducted using funds from a $1.5 billion World Bank loan for Swachh Bharat. A separate study conducted over a similar timeline by the non-profit Research Institute for Compassionate Economics (RICE), where Hathi was a researcher, shows 44% of the rural population across four large states still defecate in the open. (See graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/2JF2LFB) The ministry said: "RICE has been repeatedly attempting to undermine the achievements of the Swachh Bharat Mission." It said RICE has a history of "biased, motivated and untruthful" reporting. RICE was not immediately reachable for further comment. "IMPOSSIBLE" FINDINGS Hathi and fellow researcher Nikhil Srivastav also say they witnessed several lapses at meetings held to design the survey. The specific goal of reporting low open-defecation levels was communicated clearly by government representatives to Kantar Public the company contracted to conduct the survey and by Kantar to the surveyors, the two said. Kantar, owned by advertising giant WPP, did not respond to requests for comment. Hathi told Reuters the NARSS questionnaire contained leading queries about toilet usage that may have influenced respondents, and the government ignored suggestions aimed at fixing queries. The ministry said it "categorically dismisses and denies the claims of the two RICE researchers." Seven surveyors who collected NARSS data and had a direct view of the sanitation situation in their respective regions gave Reuters state-wide estimates of open defecation that were sharply higher than the findings in the survey. Two called NARSS findings "impossible" and said very little time had been spent questioning respondents. The surveyors interviewed by Reuters worked in the states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka and declined to be named for fear of losing their jobs. A NARSS surveyor in western Rajasthan state said surveyors would mark a village as ODF - for open defecation-free - even if they spotted feces on the ground or people defecating outside a violation of government guidelines. "If we see some open defecation in stray cases away from the main center of a village, we cannot mark the village as non-ODF," he said, adding trainers from the ministry told surveyors to follow such practices. The ministry denied the allegations and said NARSS surveyors typically have "very limited" knowledge of state-wide data. TUTORED RESPONSES Despite researcher concerns around the lapses in the survey, the World Bank has so far given NARSS-linked funds of $417.4 million to India, a right-to-information request shows. "The World Bank has not received any formal expressions of concern related to the work of the surveyors," said a World Bank spokesman in a statement. "An exercise of this scale will have inconsistencies." Reuters also visited the southern state of Karnataka. Across seven villages in Koppal district, at least 150 people defecate in the open, interviews with over 50 people showed. The Indian government also classifies Karnataka as "open defecation free." Many people in north and south India told Reuters that a lack of toilets near fields where farmers spend their day, and poorly built toilets, all contribute to people defecating in the open. Some say they were beaten or shamed by authorities publicly if found to be defecating outside. Others said they were threatened with food ration cuts. Such coercion, sanitation experts say, discourages honest answers about toilet usage as villagers fear reprisals. "The respondents will give you false answers," said Nitya Jacob, a water and sanitation consultant. "They're all tutored to say 'yes-yes,' we use toilets." The ministry said allegations that the responses would be "tutored is naive at the best and malicious at worst." It said it encourages anyone finding incidents of coercion to bring them to its attention and it would act. (Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar and Munsif Vengattil Editing by Euan Rocha and Philip McClellan) (Adds Chinese Foreign Ministry comment) WASHINGTON, May 16 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Hong Kong pro-democracy leader Martin Lee on Thursday, the State Department said, as Hong Kong activists seek to derail a proposed extradition law pushed by Beijing. "Secretary Pompeo expressed concern about the Hong Kong government's proposed amendments to the Fugitive Ordinance law, which threaten Hong Kong's rule of law," the department said in a statement. Lee founded the first pro-democracy party in Hong Kong in 1990 and has been a prominent voice calling for civil liberties for the city's residents. Hong Kong lawmakers loyal to Beijing are pushing to enact a law that would allow people accused of a crime, including foreigners, to be extradited from the city to countries without formal extradition agreements, including mainland China. Democracy activists fear the legislation would erode rights and legal protections in the former British colony that were guaranteed under the Basic Law when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997. More than 130,000 people marched against the proposed legislation several weeks ago in one of the biggest protests since the Umbrella pro-democracy movement in 2014. Pompeo "also expressed support for Hong Kong's longstanding protections of human rights, fundamental freedoms, and democratic values, which are guaranteed under the Basic Law," the State Department said. Speaking in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Hong Kong matters were purely an internal affair for China and the central government in Beijing fully supported Hong Kong's extradition law. Lu, referring to Lee, said that certain people in Hong Kong were trying to use foreign forces to disturb normal social order in the territory. It is wrong to try and interfere in Hong Kong's affairs in any way, he said. "Trying to seize the opportunity to incite chaos in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region does not have popular support and will not be successful," Lu said. (Reporting by Eric Beech; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in BEIJING; Writing by Mohammad Zargham; Editing by Peter Cooney and Darren Schuettler) (Updates with more background) By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON, May 17 (Reuters) - Four protesters arrested on Thursday for occupying the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington, D.C. appeared in federal court on Friday where they were charged with trespassing and interfering with the U.S. State Department's protective functions, the Justice Department said. Kevin Bruce Zeese, 64, Margaret Ann Flowers, 57, Adrienne Pine, 49, and David Vernon Paul, 70, were all released on various conditions, and are due to appear in court again on June 12. Their appearance in court came one day after U.S. law enforcement officers raided the Venezuelan Embassy to oust a small group protesting U.S. foreign policy toward Venezuela. The raid helped to pave the way for the diplomatic compound to be handed to the U.S. envoy of opposition leader Juan Guaido. Since mid-April, members of three activist groups have been occupying the embassy to oppose U.S. efforts to oust President Nicolas Maduro in favor of Guaido, the self-proclaimed interim president whom President Donald Trump also officially recognized as Venezuela's leader in January 2019. The Justice Department said the protesters at the embassy involved three groups: an activist group called Code Pink, the Embassy Protection Collective, and a third group known as Popular Resistance. A U.S. State Department spokeswoman said Thursday that the government of Guaido had asked for U.S. assistance in removing the protesters from the embassy. (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch Editing by Susan Thomas and James Dalgleish) (Adds statement from the U.S. embassy in Nicaragua, paragraph 3) By Ismael Lopez MANAGUA, May 16 (Reuters) - The Nicaraguan government said on Thursday a man arrested in May last year during months of anti-government protests was killed in a shooting at the prison near Managua where he was being held. The prisoner, Eddy Montes, was a U.S. citizen, his cousin Paola Montenegro told Reuters, after Nicaraguan media published photos of what appeared to be his U.S. passport. The U.S. embassy in Nicaragua condemned the use of lethal force against Montes, calling him a political prisoner in a post on social media. It demanded that the circumstances of the incident are fully investigated. The Nicaraguan interior ministry had said in an earlier statement Montes had family who were of foreign nationality but gave no further detail. Hundreds of people were killed and hundreds more detained in a crackdown on protests that were triggered in April last year by a social security reform but quickly swelled into a national call to oust President Daniel Ortega. Montes was part of a group of prisoners that tried to snatch a gun from a guard while the International Red Cross was visiting the prison, the interior ministry said. The guard acted in self-defense, it said. Montes had been accused of attacking a police station during last year's protests. The Nicaraguan government has said it would release all people arrested during the protests as a step to restart dialog with opposition groups. It said last month it had released more than 600 prisoners, but others remain in custody. (Reporting by Ismael Lopez in Managua Writing by Stefanie Eschenbacher Editing by Rosalba O'Brien and Paul Tait) (Adds comments by Guaido's representative in Washington) By Makini Brice WASHINGTON, May 16 (Reuters) - U.S. law enforcement officers raided the Venezuelan Embassy on Thursday to oust a small group protesting U.S. policy toward the oil-rich country, paving the way for the diplomatic compound to be handed to the U.S. envoy of opposition leader Juan Guaido. Since mid-April, members of three activist groups have been occupying the embassy, a red brick building in the upscale Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, where they say they are "invited guests" of the Venezuelan government. The activists oppose U.S. intervention in Venezuela to oust President Nicolas Maduro in favor of Guaido, self-proclaimed interim president of the OPEC-member nation. "I am here standing before you announcing that we have recovered this building thanks to the Venezuelan diaspora," Carlos Vecchio, Guaido's representative in Washington, told a group of supporters outside the building late on Thursday. Vecchio also thanked President Donald Trump's administration. The building was undergoing safety checks and would be open for business soon, he said. Authorities arrested the last four protesters on Thursday after utilities for the building were cut off and they ignored an eviction order, the groups say. A spokesman for Pepco, Washington's energy utility, said the company does not discuss service to individual properties. The U.S. Secret Service confirmed officers had helped agents from the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service execute arrest warrants against people inside the embassy. A U.S. State Department spokeswoman said the government of Guaido, whom the United States recognizes as the leader of Venezuela, asked for U.S. assistance in removing the protesters from the embassy. "The Venezuelan government, led by Interim President Juan Guaido ... has asked the trespassers to depart the premises," the spokeswoman said. Story continues Neither agency identified what charges the protesters faced. Tensions have escalated between the United States and Venezuela as Washington has ratcheted up pressure against the government of Maduro, which it says is illegitimate. The United States has imposed sanctions against Venezuelan leaders, ordered the withdrawal of diplomatic personnel from Venezuela in March and, on Wednesday, suspended passenger and cargo flights between the United States and Venezuela. Maduro, who has branded Guaido a U.S. puppet seeking to oust him in a coup, broke off relations with Washington after it recognized Guaido and recalled diplomatic and consular staff. Representatives of Guaido took control of three of the country's diplomatic properties in the United States in March. At its peak, about 50 people from three groups had occupied the Venezuelan Embassy, according to Medea Benjamin, a co-founder of Code Pink, one of the groups involved. (Reporting by Makini Brice; Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Doina Chiacu, Susan Thomas and Cynthia Osterman) (Adds Mnuchin refusal to provide Trump tax returns, Neal comment) By Makini Brice and David Morgan WASHINGTON, May 17 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin defied a congressional subpoena seeking six years of President Donald Trump's tax returns on Friday, all but guaranteeing a federal court battle with Congress over the records. In a widely expected move, Mnuchin rejected a demand for the documents from House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, saying the panel lacks "a legitimate legislative purpose" for obtaining the tax records that Democrats view as critical to their efforts to investigate Trump and his presidency. "We are unable to provide the requested information in response to the committee's subpoena," Mnuchin said in a letter to Neal, released ahead of a 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT) deadline for delivering the documents. Neal later issued a statement, saying he was "consulting with counsel on how best to enforce the subpoenas moving forward." Hours earlier, the Democratic chairman had said he was inclined to turn to federal court to obtain Trump's tax returns, if the administration missed the deadline. "We will likely proceed to court as quickly as next week," Neal had told reporters. Asked whether he would also pursue contempt charges against administration officials, Neal told reporters: "I don't see that right now as an option. I think that the better option for us is to proceed with a court case." Trump's refusal to cooperate in numerous congressional probes of him, his family and his presidency is forcing Democrats, who control the House of Representatives, to look to the courts to enforce their oversight powers under the U.S. Constitution. The likely decision to avoid contempt proceedings disappointed some Democrats on Neal's tax panel. "This is a way for some congressmen to go south on the issue: leave it to the courts. It really absents us from our responsibilities," said Representative Bill Pascrell, who helped lead the push to obtain Trump's tax returns. Story continues OTHER DEMOCRATS MOVE TOWARD CONTEMPT Unlike Neal, other top Democrats faced with administration defiance over inquiries have moved toward contempt charges. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler's panel voted last week to recommend that the House cite Attorney General William Barr with contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena for U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller's unredacted Russia investigation report. Trump's decision to assert executive privilege over Mueller-related material last week has stymied efforts by Democrats to get current and former members of the executive branch to testify, including Mueller himself, according to congressional aides. Democrats had sought to have Mueller testify by May 23, but sources familiar with the matter said on Friday that Mueller was unlikely to appear before the committee. Democrats could move forward with more contempt citations as early as next week. Nadler has threatened to hold former White House counsel Don McGahn in contempt, if he fails to show up for a hearing slated for Tuesday. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff is also planning "enforcement action" against the Justice Department over a separate Mueller-related subpoena. Democratic leaders are considering bundling separate contempt citations into a single House of Representatives package to bring to a floor vote later this year. On Wednesday, White House counsel Pat Cipollone sent a letter to Nadler, saying Congress has no right to conduct a "do-over" of Mueller's Russia probe, and that it would not participate in his committee's investigation. But congressional pressure on Trump is only expected to intensify. Schiff's committee meets on Monday to release closed-door testimony by former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, who is in prison. Cohen talked to the panel in March about issues including Trump's involvement in pursuing a Moscow tower project during the 2016 presidential election. Trump at the time publicly denied any links to Russia. On Thursday, House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings announced another probe into the Trump administration, targeting what Cummings called "secret ethics waivers" allowing political appointees to continue working on matters they worked on before entering government. In a statement, Cummings said he had requested that the administration turn over copies of waivers for political appointees to let them conduct official business, despite potential conflicts of interest. (Reporting by Makini Brice and David Morgan; additional reporting by Mark Hosenball Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Bill Berkrot) (Updates with details and background) WASHINGTON, May 17 (Reuters) - The United States takes all alleged sanctions violations seriously and will take action as appropriate, a State Department spokesman said on Friday, responding to a question about a tanker unloading Iranian fuel oil at a Chinese port. Reuters on Thursday reported that a tanker carrying nearly 130,000 tonnes of Iranian fuel oil had unloaded its cargo into storage tanks near the Chinese city of Zhoushan. "The United States takes all alleged sanctionable activities seriously and will take action as appropriate. We are committed to enforcing our sanctions, especially those related to Irans oil and petrochemicals sectors," a State Department spokesman said in an emailed response. He said the department was aware of the specific report about the tanker but declined to comment on it. U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has stepped up moves to choke off Iran's oil exports by scrapping waivers it had granted to big buyers of the country's crude oil, including China. Refined products like fuel oil, mainly used to power ship engines and generate electricity, were not covered by the temporary waivers, granted on the sanctions reintroduced in November 2018. Tensions have escalated in recent days, with growing concerns about a potential U.S.-Iran conflict. Earlier this week the United States pulled some diplomatic staff from its embassy in Baghdad following weekend attacks on four oil tankers in the Gulf. Trump believes the economic pressure will force Tehran to accept tougher curbs on its nuclear and missile programs and on its support for proxies in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. He has said publicly he wants to pursue diplomacy after quitting the deal and moving to cut all Iranian oil exports. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner Writing by Humeyra Pamuk Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Alistair Bell) Spanish security forces have dismantled a network of drug dealers made of 57 people of various nationalities including Moroccans. Some 200 members of Guardia Civil had been deployed across the south of the European country to crack down on Hashish trafficking, online media Le360.ma reports. The operation launched in August last year targeted Malaga, Grenada and Cadix provinces and helped nab 57 traffickers from several countries including Spain and Morocco. The suspects, according to the security forces ship the drug from Morocco on boats Once the banned substance arrives in Spain, it is transferred to other European countries via trailers with double bottom. Several tons of drug, firearms, boats, stolen cars and wades of cash were seized in the operation. Early this week, France announced security services had seized on Friday 11 tons of cannabis in the region of Besancon. The record seizure was made possible thanks to cooperation with Spain and Morocco. (Adds details, background) LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) - Britain advised all citizens holding dual British and Iranian nationality on Friday to avoid traveling to Iran, saying they faced an unacceptably higher risk of arbitrary detention and mistreatment compared to other nationals. The advice came after Iran said on Monday it had sentenced an Iranian woman, who worked for the British Council cultural agency, to 10 years prison for spying for Britain. Iranian security services might be suspicious of other people with British connections, including those linked to institutions based in the UK, Britain's Foreign Ministry said, "Dual nationals face an intolerable risk of mistreatment if they visit Iran," Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said in the statement. "Despite the UK providing repeated opportunities to resolve this issue, the Iranian regimes conduct has worsened. Having exhausted all other options, I must now advise all British-Iranian dual nationals against traveling to Iran." Hunt also said he needed to caution Iranian nationals living in Britain, who returned to Iran to visit family, that they might be perceived to have personal links to British government institutions. The warning came amid heightened tensions between Iran and the West, with Hunt saying on Thursday that Britain agreed with the United States that Tehran posed an increased threat. It also follows a long-running row over the fate of British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe who was arrested in April 2016 at a Tehran airport as she headed back to Britain. She was later jailed for five years after being convicted of plotting to overthrow Iran's clerical establishment. "The dangers (dual nationals) face include arbitrary detention and lack of access to basic legal rights, as we have seen in the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has been separated from her family since 2016," Hunt said. (Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Stephen Addison and Andrew Cawthorne) 10 Little-Known Medicare Benefits You Might Easily Miss Medicare's basic, original Part A (hospital insurance) and Part B (medical insurance) cover obvious things you expect from health insurance: hospital stays, appointments with your doctor when you're sick, ambulance services, flu shots. But the government's health care program for Americans 65 or older also pays for many things that might surprise you. If you're on Medicare or are approaching that time of your life, you'll want to be aware of these 10 Medicare benefits that enrollees often don't know about and that can keep you from dipping into your savings. 1. Annual 'wellness visits' Monkey Business Images / Shutterstock Medicare covers what's called an annual wellness visit with your doctor, who will take routine measurements, such as your height, weight, blood pressure, and review your medical history. You'll fill out a "Health Risk Assessment" questionnaire to identify risk factors so you and your doctor can work on keeping you healthy. Medicare says the appointments also can include "detection of any cognitive impairment." That means your physician will be on alert for signs of Alzheimer's or similar ailments. 2. Obesity counseling kurhan / Shutterstock Obesity causes many illnesses and can make frail older bodies much weaker. Diabetes and heart disease rates skyrocket for those who are overweight or obese. Joint and bone diseases are easier to manage at healthy weight levels. If you have a Body Mass Index (BMI) reading of 30 or more, Medicare will cover face-to-face counseling sessions aimed at helping you bring your weight down to a healthier level. 3. Help to quit smoking Image Point Fr / Shutterstock If you're a smoker, Medicare can help you kick the habit. Letting go can be tough, especially if you've been a lifetime smoker. To help you break your nicotine addiction, Medicare will pay for eight in-person counseling sessions per year. But note that Medicare's drug coverage will not pay for stop-smoking products sold over the counter at drugstores, such as nicotine patches, lozenges and gum. Story continues 4. Some hearing exams Kzenon / Shutterstock Basic Medicare usually won't pay for hearing aids or routine hearing tests. But it may cover a hearing exam if your doctor says it's medically necessary. Hearing is related to balance. When a senior is having balance issues, a physician may want to check the ears to see if there's an inner ear problem requiring medical treatment. Want more MoneyWise? Sign up for our email newsletter. 5. Hospice care Photographee.eu / Shutterstock Hospice care comprises a host of treatments at the end of a person's life. Medicare will pay for a long list of hospice services, including nursing care, and grief and loss counseling for the patient and family. Hospice coverage applies when a Medicare recipient has been given six months or less to live and has agreed to forgo further attempts at a cure. Medicare won't cover room and board for hospice care in a private home or nursing home, but it may pay for a short-term stay at a hospice facility. 6. Counseling for alcohol problems threerocksimages / Shutterstock The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence recently reported that widowers over age 75 have the highest rate of alcoholism in the U.S. Much like smoking, alcohol abuse can have seriously negative effects on the wellness of an older person. Medicare provides alcohol misuse screening and treatment free of charge. It covers one screening each year and up to four brief counseling sessions if the reviewing physician believes a patient needs help. 7. Disease screenings TippaPatt / Shutterstock Medicare covers screenings for numerous diseases as part of its preventive services. Medicare will pay for testing to detect: HIV and other STDs; diabetes; glaucoma; breast and cervical cancer; colon and prostate cancer; and heart disease. Patients with histories of smoking can get an annual lung cancer screening, and Medicare also covers annual screenings for depression and other behavioral health issues that are a concern for seniors. 8. Special footwear for diabetes Toa55 / Shutterstock One of the least-known Medicare benefits is its allowance for specialized shoes for people with diabetes. The disease can cause poor or abnormal circulation in the feet, and a lack of proper treatment can result in the need for amputation. Another risk is diabetic neuropathy, which can damage nerve endings in the feet. Diabetic footwear helps regulate circulation and reduce the danger of neuropathy. Medicare will pay for the shoes if they're prescribed and provided by a podiatrist or other qualified health professional. 9. Wheelchairs and scooters Groomee / Shutterstock Wheelchairs and mobility scooters are important tools to help those with debilitating conditions lead normal lives. Medicare will pick up the cost under certain circumstances. The wheelchair or scooter must be considered medically necessary. Your doctor would need to certify that you are unable to walk without difficulty. The physician would be required to write a prescription for the vehicle or wheelchair after giving you an exam. 10. A walk-in bathtub Dion Hinchcliffe / Flickr A walk-in tub can help those with joint problems or other issues that make climbing into a traditional bathtub difficult or impossible. Medicare may help with the cost of a walk-in tub, even though the tubs are not on the list of "durable medical equipment" that Medicare will cover, including wheelchairs, oxygen equipment and hospital beds. In order for you to obtain coverage, your doctor would have to attest that a walk-in tub is an absolute medical necessity. Medicare wouldn't provide assistance upfront after you buy the tub, you'd submit the bill for possible reimbursement. Subscribe now to our free weekly newsletter. Dont miss out! Your daily look at late breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today: 1. WHO IS PLAYING DOWN THREAT OF WAR WITH IRAN President Donald Trump says he hopes the U.S. is not on a path to war with Iran amid fears his two most hawkish advisers could be angling for such a conflict. 2. IRAN'S REGIONAL PROXIES ENSURE IT WILL NEVER FIGHT ALONE From Lebanon and Syria to Iraq, Yemen, and the Gaza Strip, Tehran has significantly expanded its footprint over the past decade, finding and developing powerful allies across the Middle East. 3. FLYNN DESCRIBED EFFORTS TO INTERFERE WITH HIS COOPERATION Michael Flynn told the special counsel's office people connected to the Trump administration and Congress sought to influence his cooperation with the Russia investigation. 4. TAIWAN APPROVES SAME-SEX MARRIAGE Taiwan's legislature voted to legalize same-sex marriage, a first in Asia and a boost for LGBT rights activists. 5. TRUMP UNVEILS NEW IMMIGRATION PLAN Unveiling a new immigration plan, Trump says he wanted to provide a sharp contrast with Democrats aiming to upend decades of family-based immigration policy. 6. WHICH STATE HOUSE IS EXPECTED TO PASS ABORTION BAN Missouri's Republican-led House is expected to pass a sweeping bill to ban abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy. 7. PIONEERS WHO BROKE COLOR BARRIER TO RACIALLY INTEGRATE MARINE CORPS The first African Americans admitted to the Marine Corps after President Roosevelt's executive order banning discrimination, endured indignities but they also paved the way for others who came after. 8. GOP BRACES FOR FIGHT AS ROY MOORE WEIGHS SENATE RE-RUN Roy Moore of Alabama says he's considering a fresh run for Senate next year, prompting national Republicans to signal they'll try blocking him. 9. COURTS WEIGH TRUMP'S PLAN TO TAP PENTAGON FOR BORDER WALL A federal judge in Oakland, California, will consider arguments in two cases seeking to block the White House from spending Defense and Treasury Department money for wall construction. 10. "THE BIG BANG THEORY" ENDS ITS 12-SEASON RUN "The Big Bang Theory" closed out its run as television's top-rated comedy with an emotional final episode. With its 33,000 square feet of space, the New York Design Center is a hub for the city's design community. But The Gallery at 200 Lex Powered by Incollect, which opened in 2014, is arguably the center of its gravitational pull. Located on the building's 10th floor, it is a mecca for vintage pieces. It's also making the industry far more accessible than ever before, thanks to its use of QR codes and its corresponding e-commerce website. Nevertheless, the addition of 12 new dealers to The Gallery will be particularly exciting news for antiques aficionados. We are thrilled to welcome these talented dealers to The Gallery at 200 Lex powered by Incollect, Jim Druckman, president and CEO of the New York Design Center, told AD PRO in a statement. Their unique collections offer a diverse range of unique vintage and antique goods and keep the Gallery's inventory at the forefront of the market in New York City. Indeed, this new grouping will only add to the illustrious list of 18th- to 21st-century specialists who are dealers at The Gallery. The newcomers offer a robust range of areas of expertise. Barry Friedman Ltd., Robert Burge, De Angelis, Fred Silberman, Full Circle Modern, Lance Thompson, and Portuondo each specialize in 20th-century works. However, the respective emphases of these businesses run the gamut, with Silberman specializing in Italian decorative arts and furniture, and De Angelis showcasing goods drawn from their San Franciscobased furniture business. London-based Portuondo is known for its eclectic wares, which include photography and paintings in addition to furniture. Several dealers have connections across the Atlantic: Barry Friedman Ltd. is a renowned purveyor of European products, while Robert Burge counts British and European antiques as his own specialties. Closer to Manhattan, Full Circle Modern, based in Brooklyn, is just a hop, skip, and jump away from The Gallery's Lexington Avenue location. Story continues Twentieth-century specialties, and a focus in the U.S., U.K., and Europe, is prevalent in the work of the other new gallerists as well. Clinton Howell Antiques sells English antique furniture, while Lobel Modern has what could be called the most specific focus of the bunch, thanks to its expertise in pieces created from the 1940s through 1980. Of similar interest is Sputnik Modern, the Dallas-based dealer known for midcentury-modern items. Hyde Park Antiques has the most historic focus of the group, specializing in 18th- and early 19thcentury British furniture. Last but certainly not least is Robert Stilin, the AD100 interior designer and dealera man who likely needs little introduction. Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) Live ammunition from an F-16 fighter jet that crashed through the roof of a Southern California warehouse was safely destroyed Friday afternoon and miles of closed freeway were reopened. KABC-TV video showed the ordnance blowing up in huge clouds of dirt after being buried in trenches at March Air Reserve Base. A miles-long stretch of Interstate 215 was reopened and evacuations were cancelled for most nearby businesses, although those closest to the warehouse remained off-limits. The F-16 crashed Thursday afternoon after the pilot reported hydraulic problems and started losing control of the aircraft, authorities have said. The plane crashed into a commercial warehouse near the base, which is southeast of Los Angeles. The pilot ejected safely before the crash and was in good condition, McNamara said. The pilot's name was not released. The Air National Guard jet, which remained in the warehouse, was carrying a "standard armament" package, Col. Thomas McNamara, vice commander of the Air Force Reserve's 452nd Air Mobility Wing at March Air Reserve Base, said at a news conference. He didn't provide details but the F-16 can carry bombs and missiles. There was no explosion from the crash and no serious injuries among workers at the business. Three trauma patients remained hospitalized in stable condition and 10 others, including sheriff's deputies who entered the warehouse to search for possible victims, were treated for exposure to debris and released, authorities said. Authorities cordoned off an area for 3/4 of a mile (1.21 kilometers) around the scene, including a section of heavily traveled Interstate 215. No residential areas were involved, but the closure affected businesses and adjacent Riverside National Cemetery, authorities said. "There were about 30 ceremonies that were going to take place out there today that other arrangements have had to be made," said Bruce Barton, director of emergency management for Riverside County. Story continues The crash occurred during a training mission, March Air Reserve Base Deputy Fire Chief Timothy Holliday said. Holiday said it was a "miracle" the jet didn't cause a fire or explosion. A warehouse worker said he heard a deafening noise before the jet smashed into the building about 65 miles (105 kilometers) from Los Angeles. "Next thing I know I just hear this explosion and turn around to the back of the building, and I just seen a burst of flames and just the ceiling started falling through every part of the building," Daniel Gallegos told KABC-TV. "I just made a run for it." The F-16 was under the direction of the North American Aerospace Defense Command. The pilot is from the 144th Fighter Wing, an Air National Guard unit based in Fresno, and the F-16 belongs to the South Dakota Air National Guard in Sioux Falls. The base is home to the Air Force Reserve Command's Fourth Air Force Headquarters and various units of the Army Reserve, Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, California Air National Guard and California Army National Guard. __ Antczak reported from Los Angeles. AP writer Robert Jablon contributed. Access Hollywood Jessica Biel is feeling thankful this Christmas. The actress shared two rare family photos on Instagram in honor of Christmas with her husband Justin Timberlake walking outside with their two sons. Thankful for my guysMerry Christmas everybody!! , she captioned the photo which showed them walking from behind outside on a country trail. * Brexit talks are dead - Labour's Corbyn * May to set out departure timetable next month * PM to put withdrawal bill to parliament in June * Brexiteer Boris Johnson seeks May's job * Favorite to succeed her, poll shows (Adds poll of Conservative Party members) By Guy Faulconbridge, Kylie MacLellan and Andrew MacAskill LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) - Britain's tumultuous divorce from the European Union was again in disarray on Friday after the opposition Labour Party declared last-ditch talks dead due to Prime Minister Theresa May's crumbling government. Nearly three years after the United Kingdom voted 52% to 48% in a referendum to leave the EU, it remains unclear how, when or even if it will leave the European club it joined in 1973. The current deadline to leave is Oct. 31. Brexit talks between May's Conservative Party and Labour collapsed hours after May agreed on Thursday to set out in early June a timetable for her departure. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn wrote to May on Friday informing her that the Brexit talks, which began on April 3, had "gone as far as they can" due to the instability of her government and its refusal to fundamentally shift its position. "We have been unable to bridge important policy gaps between us," Corbyn, a socialist who voted against joining the predecessor of the EU in 1975, wrote to May. "Even more crucially, the increasing weakness and instability of your government means there cannot be confidence in securing whatever might be agreed between us," Corbyn said. He said Labour would oppose May's deal when it returns to parliament early next month. He later told reporters there was no chance of getting even part of a Brexit deal ratified by the end of July. The divorce deal, which May agreed last year with the EU, has been rejected three times by parliament. May will put the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, legislation required to enact the exit deal, to a vote in parliament in early June. Story continues A source in May's office said the bill would contain new features to reflect some lawmakers concerns. Looking uncomfortable as she delivered a televised message to voters ahead of the European Parliament elections, May suggested Labour's internal divisions over a second referendum were to blame for the failure of the talks. The pound sank to $1.275, its lowest level since mid-January. May's hands have been tied, knowing that to make concessions to Labour would lead to fury in her divided party. Labour has feared any compromises on issues such as workers' rights would be torn up by May's successor. Britains labyrinthine crisis over Brexit has stunned allies and foes alike, and with deadlock in London, the world's fifth largest economy faces an array of options including an exit with a deal to smooth the transition, a no-deal exit, an election or a second referendum. MAY ENDS IN JUNE The Brexit impasse is unlikely to be broken soon. After she puts her deal to a vote in the week of June 3, when U.S. President Donald Trump is due to make a state visit to Britain, May has said she will agree a timetable for the election of her successor. Before then, the government is considering holding a series of "indicative votes" to see what path, if any, lawmakers might be able to agree. "When we come to bring the legislation forward we will think carefully about ... the outcome of these talks, we will also consider whether we have some votes to see if the ideas that have come through command a majority in the House of Commons," May said. Boris Johnson, the face of the campaign for Britain to leave the EU, said he would be standing as a candidate to replace May as Conservative leader and is the clear favorite among party members according to a poll published on Friday. "As we look to the future, we have to listen to the public," Simon Clarke, a Conservative lawmaker, said on Twitter. "Boris Johnson is the only candidate who increases likelihood to vote Conservative among both our 2017 voters & people planning to vote (for the newly formed) Brexit Party." The winner of a leadership contest will automatically become prime minister and will take control of the Brexit process, which has plunged Britain into its worst political crisis since World War Two. Johnson has been one of May's most outspoken critics over Brexit and supports leaving the EU without a deal. Parliament has repeatedly said it does not want a no-deal Brexit. The Brexit crisis has left the United Kingdom divided and smaller parties - such as Nigel Farage's Brexit Party and the pro-EU Liberal Democrats - are poaching support from both the Conservative and Labour parties at the fastest rate for decades. "Britain is divided down the middle over Brexit: it was in 2016 and it is in 2019 - and that is one of the reasons why this issue is so difficult to resolve," John Curtice, Britain's top polling expert, told Reuters. (Writing by Guy Faulconbridge and Michael Holden; Editing by Janet Lawrence) (Adds detail and background on short sellers, updates stock move) By Noel Randewich and Aishwarya Venugopal May 17 (Reuters) - Overstock.com Inc Chief Executive Officer Patrick Byrne lashed out on Friday at investors who questioned his recent sale of shares, saying he had to supplement his $100,000 a year salary and vowing never to "give such an explanation again." His letter to shareholders http://investors.overstock.com/news-releases/news-release-details/overstockcom-ceo-patrick-byrne-issues-statement-recent-sale followed a 21% slump on Wednesday and Thursday in Overstock's stock price to the lowest since 2012 after he divulged https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1130713/000117911019006067/xslF345X03/edgar.xml the sale of 500,000 shares earlier in the week. In Friday's missive, Byrne said he had sold an additional 400,000 shares. In all, Byrne recently sold 900,000 "founders shares," amounting to more than 15% of his stake in the company. Overstock's shares rebounded 3% on Friday. "I simply had to supplement my nominal salary with stock sales in order to fulfill personal commitments to invest personally in blockchain projects such as Medici Land Governance, along with a need to meet charitable pledges," Byrne wrote. "I do not intend to ever give such an explanation again. I owe shareholders staying within the law and not making decisions based on inside information, not explanations of my life and projects outside Overstock," Byrne said. Byrne for over a decade has publicly battled short sellers targeting his company as it competes against larger rivals, including Amazon.com and eBay. Addressing his letter "Dear Owners," Byrne said he was taken aback by the "unanticipated stir" caused by his stock sale. "Frankly, I had no idea that shareholders would demand explanations of why and how I might want to use my cash derived from my labor and my property to pursue my ends in life," Byrne wrote, italicizing the word "my" each time. Story continues "Not once have I ever asked a shareholder for his reasons in any decision he made. Yet, given the consternation this has caused, I will give answer, to preclude further recurrence of mass vapors." The company's largest shareholder, Byrne said he told investors a year ago that he would make "significant sales" of his shares to fund different projects, including blockchain investments. Byrne, a libertarian with a doctorate in philosophy from Stanford University, previously sold about 775,000 shares in September. Before this week's sales he owned about 16% of Overstock. Total short bets against Overstock currently stand at $157 million, equivalent to over 50% of its float, according to S3 Partners, a financial analytics firm. The retailer is more targeted by short sellers than 99% of U.S. companies, according to Refinitiv. The stock has fallen about 90% from record highs in January 2018, when Overstock was benefiting from its plan to launch a digital token and from hype around cryptocurrencies. Following Byrne's letter and Overstock's stock slump this week, veteran short-seller Marc Cohodes, once a fierce critic of Byrne before reversing course and buying Overstock shares in October 2017, tweeted that, "Its (sic) time he step aside as CEO, but would make a great Chairman, but enough is now enough." According to the company's annual proxy statement, Byrne for several years has refused any bonus and has asked that his total compensation be no more than about $100,000 annually. In 2018, his base salary was $96,779 and with holiday pay and "other minor adjustments" was paid a total of $104,231 for the year. Byrne has pledged about 1.9 million of his 5.8 million shares he owned prior to this week's sale as collateral for credit from banks, according to Overstock's annual report. (Reporting by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru; Writing by Dan Burns and Noel Randewich, additional reporting in New York by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) Photos: Beth Thomas/Hoodline On Sunday, the 12-kilometer Bay to Breakers race returns to San Francisco for another year. Spanning from the Embarcadero to Ocean Beach, the race, which kicks off at 8 a.m., is expected to draw 50,000 participants and another 200,000 spectators, many of whom will trail the runners in a colorful, costumed parade. To help you survive this year's race, here's the scoop on what to expect, from traffic delays and street closures to restrictions on bags and containers. For those unfamiliar with Bay to Breakers, the race starts near the Embarcadero, at Main and Howard streets. Participants will then take Howard west to Ninth Street, then travel from Ninth Street up Market Street to Hayes Street. Revelers remain on Hayes Street until it reaches Divisadero, then continue along Fell until they hit Golden Gate Park. After winding its way through the park, the event concludes at the Great Highway, near Ocean Beach, with a Finish Line Festival featuring food, drinks, live music and vendors. Outer Sunset and Richmond dwellers should take note of a recent addition: a 3-kilometer race along the Great Highway, which earns runners a bonus medal in addition to the traditional finisher medal. The new addition will shutter the Great Highway from Balboa Street all the way south to Sloat Blvd. Photo: Google Maps Here's a full list of expected street closures related to the race. Most street closures will start on Saturday evening or on Sunday in the early morning hours, except for the Ocean Beach parking lots, which will already be blocked off by Thursday. During the event, north- and southbound traffic should use either Embarcadero or 19th Ave. through Golden Gate Park during the race as crossing points. Keep in mind that even though the finish line will close at 12 p.m., some streets won't reopen until 4 p.m. Muni is asking riders who aren't participating in the race as a runner or spectator to avoid areas affected by Bay to Breakers. On some bus routes, riders should expect their lines to be divided into two sections; they'll have to cross from one side of the race to the other to access the other half of the bus line. Many lines will also see reroutes. Story continues Muni Metro shuttles will begin running at 6 a.m. on race day, traveling between West Portal station and Embarcadero station, the closest stop to the starting line. (Full Muni Metro service won't start until 8 a.m.) BART will also open early on Sunday, with service starting at 6 a.m., though trains before 8 a.m. will only arrive in 20- to 30-minute intervals. And Caltrain will offer four special pre-race trains to San Francisco and one additional post-race local train from San Francisco to San Jose. Organizers recommend buying public transit tickets in advance to avoid long lines. If you're planning a trip on Sunday and need to know how to get around, call 311 before race day for assistance. Additionally, special Bay to Breakers shuttles to the North Bay, South Bay, and East Bay shuttles will be available on race day. They'll depart Mill Valley, Millbrae, and Emeryville starting at 6:15 a.m., returning from the finish line starting at 11:30 a.m. After Bay to Breakers, Muni buses will also be staged in locations close to the finish line (Fulton between 47th and 45th avenues or Judah and La Playa) to provide rides back downtown. Photo: Teresa Hammerl/Hoodline Participants should be aware that bags, backpacks and containers are not allowed on the race course, unless they are clear and smaller than 8.5 x 11 x 4. The consumption or possession of alcohol or controlled substances on the course is also not allowed. Haftars offensive on Tripoli has resulted in unlawful attacks that could amount to war crimes, which must be investigated by international prosecutors, Amnesty International said. The international rights watchdog revealed evidence of indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas and on migrants in the Libyan capital. Amnesty said it has gathered witness testimony and analyzed satellite imagery, which indicate that densely populated residential areas in the Abu Salim district of Tripoli were indiscriminately attacked with rockets during an episode of intense fighting April 15-17. Amnesty International has also documented attacks that have placed the lives of hundreds of refugees and migrants at risk. As the battle for Tripoli unfolds, the warring parties have displayed a shameful disregard for civilian safety and international humanitarian law by carrying out indiscriminate attacks on residential neighborhoods, said Magdalena Mughrabi, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Director at Amnesty International. Such reckless attacks could have devastating consequences for civilians and strengthen the need for the International Criminal Court to expand its investigations into possible war crimes by all sides in Libyas conflict, she said. Photo: Ryan Antooa/Unsplash Looking to make a difference this weekend? From a pug rescue event to a library luncheon to a walk for awareness, there's plenty to do when it comes to good causes coming up in Long Beach this week. Read on for a rundown. Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. Pug Rescue of Korea 10 year celebration From the event description: Join the Pug Rescue of Korea as they celebrate 10 years of rescuing pugs. They will have pizza, snacks and beverages. The first 50 guests will also receive a special pug party favor. When: Saturday, May 18, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Where: Recreation Dog Park, 5201 E. Seventh St. Admission: $6 Click here for more details, and to get your tickets Friends of the Library luncheon with Barbara Crane From the event description: Join the Friends of the Library for a lunch and presentation by Barbara Crane, award-winning author of "When Water Was Everywhere." In Barbara Crane's novel, Mexican California and Tongva Indian village life come alive, unfolding stories that assure the novels themes of loss, hope and redemption resonate from every page. When: Saturday, May 18, 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Where: The Reef Restaurant, 880 S. Harbor Scenic Drive. Admission: $35 Click here for more details, and to get your tickets 2019 SoCal TEAL Walk at Heartwell Park From the event description: Join the Tourette Association of America in celebrating Tourette Syndrome Awareness Month and attend the SoCal TEAL Walk a Tourette Syndrome Awareness Walk and Family Picnic. Wear teal! When: Sunday, May 19, 1-4 p.m. Where: Heartwell Park, Near Corner of Clark Avenue and Carson Street. Admission: Free Click here for more details, and to get your tickets This story was created automatically using local event data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. Harvey Milk Plaza. | Photo: miss_millions/Foter Looking to get out into the community this weekend? From brunch to a memorial celebration, there's plenty to do when it comes to community and cultural meetups coming up in San Francisco. Read on for a rundown. Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. 4th Annual Black Girl Magic Brunch From the event description: In so many ways, playwright and poet Ntozake Shange brought us out to know ourselves. This year we would like to celebrate her by dedicating our brunch theme to "For colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf," in her honor. Were inviting you as we hold space to toast the divine in ourselves and others, at this years fourth annual Black Girl Magic brunch! When: Saturday, May 18, 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Where: Casa Noble SF, 290 Napoleon St., Studio D. Admission: $35 Click here for more details, and to get your tickets 'Human with a Stool' screening From the event description: "Human with a Stool" goes on a tour across the cities of the U.S. The authors will present the film and answer questions about the creative process. "Human with a Stool" is an adventure documentary film about the last trip of a traveler and director Leonid Kanter. In 2004, a group of film students came up with a simple but insane adventure: to bring four wooden stools to the shores of four oceans. The film documents the final, fourth trip to the Pacific Ocean, which lasted a year. Upon returning to Ukraine, the travelers were met with war. When: Saturday, May 18, 4:45-7:15 p.m. Where: Theatre of Yugen at NOHspace, 2840 Mariposa St. Admission: $20 Click here for more details, and to get your tickets Harvey Milk Plaza Celebration From the event description: "My name is Harvey Milk, and I'm here to recruit you." So began many a speech made by Harvey Milk, one of history's most unconventional civil rights figures. Now, you are being recruited to honor Harvey with an exciting public space and memorial that will inspire visitors to carry on Harvey's mission of inclusivity and social justice. Join us as we celebrate the community's effort to honor Harvey Milk at the gateway entrance to Castro Street. The latest design drawings will be shared, vintage tunes will be jamming, Castro eateries will provide nibbles and wine and water will be provided. When: Sunday, May 19, 2-5 p.m. Where: 541 Castro Street Admission: Free Click here for more details, and to get your tickets This story was created automatically using local event data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. Photo: Taiana Martinez (Tai's Captures)/Unsplash Hungry for something new? If you love to eat and drink, the weekend ahead offers a great chance to explore the world of Seattle food and beverage. From a chocolate bar-centric event to a food truck showdown, here's what to do on the local food scene. Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. Broken Bar Day From the event description: Not every chocolate bar makes it through the factory in one piece, but that doesnt make it any less delicious. Brought back by popular demand and for one day only, were bringing the broken bars to the store. Score some chocolate for $10 per pound for the Theo flavors you know and love. Join us at the Theo Store on May 18 at 10 a.m. When: Saturday, May 18, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Where: Theo Chocolate, 3400 Phinney Ave. North. Admission: Free Click here for more details, and to get your tickets Taco Libre Truck Showdown VIII From the event description: Sink your teeth into Seattle's favorite Taco Truck Challenge returning curbside on Saturday to the South Lake Union Discovery Center. For our eighth season, the best food trucks in the city will be serving fare curbside. Expect two blocks of food trucks, luchador wrestlers, beer and margarita tastings, live music and a night market. When: Saturday, May 18, 3-10 p.m. Where: South Lake Union Discovery Center, 101 Westlake Ave. North. Admission: $25 Click here for more details, and to get your tickets Wine an Fromagefest From the event description: Enjoy wine on the patio paired with samples of famous French fromage: brie, compte and guyere. Tastings are just $5 for four pairings. Please RSVP so we can plan properly. When: Sunday, May 19, 2-5 p.m. Where: Welcome Road Winery Tasting Room, 3804 California Ave. SW. Admission: Free Click here for more details, and to get your tickets This story was created automatically using local event data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. Photo: Brooke Lark/Unsplash Want to up your game when it comes to health and wellness? From a free health fair to a bike tour of local farms, there's plenty to do when it comes to healthy activities to enrich your weekend. Read on for a rundown. Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. Tour de Farm 2019 From the event description: Join Foodshed and Race Pace Bicycles for a leisurely ride around Baltimore and tour some of the citys most exciting urban farms. When: Saturday, May 18, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Where: Artifact Coffee, 1500 Union Ave. Price: $75 general admission Click here for more details, and to get your tickets Fitness Can Be Fun Games VI: Steps to 6-cess From the event description: The Baltimore City Community College PTA Class of 2019 invites you to join us as we celebrate our sixth annual Fitness Can Be Fun Games. We are excited to teach you the six steps to better health: strength, mental health, nutrition, flexibility, endurance and balance while playing games, dancing and other fun activities perfect for the entire family. Proceeds from Steps to 6-cess will benefit Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospitals Weigh Smart program. This program provides physical, psychological, and nutritional support to children and their caregivers through group and individualized programming which promotes healthy lifestyle choices and prevention of childhood obesity. When: Saturday, May 18, 8:30 a.m.-noon Where: Baltimore City Community College, 2901 Liberty Heights Ave. Admission: $15 individual; $35 family fun pack; $40 team of four Click here for more details, and to get your tickets Maryland Sickle Cell Disease Conference From the event description: "Care Today, Cure Tomorrow, promises to bring together patients, families and providers to discuss and share information that will address the critical issues framing the future of sickle cell disease treatment and management. If you are registering a group, please state the names of your guests. Parents: Child-care activities will be provided. When you register, please give the names, ages of your children and any pertinent information that may be useful as it relates to your child. Story continues When: Saturday, May 18, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Where: Sheraton Inner Harbor, 300 S. Charles St. Admission: $60 general admission. More ticket options available. Click here for more details, and to get your tickets 2019 Free Community Health Fair From the event description: Join us as we bring health and wellness information to the West Baltimore communities of Sandtown-Winchester and Harlem Park. The free health fair includes information about mental health, home care, medical assessments, testing, massage and aromatherapy and physical fitness, plus activities for the children. Sponsored by the Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks. Hosted by the Church of Christ in Sandtown and the Church of Christ in East Baltimore. When: Saturday, May 18, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Where: Lillian Jones Recreation Center, 1310 N. Stricker St. Admission: Free Click here for more details, and to get your tickets This story was created automatically using local event data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. Just earnings growth is not enough to keep investors happy these days. A positive earnings surprise or a BEAT is what matters, irrespective of earnings growth. A positive earnings surprise or earnings beat is typically the case when actual or reported earnings come in above the consensus estimate. Why Is a Positive Earnings Surprise So Important? Historically, stocks of companies with solid quarterly earnings (on a nominal basis) tank if they miss or merely meet market expectations. After all, a 20% earnings rise (though apparently looks good) doesnt tell you if it has been decelerating. Seasonal fluctuations also come into play. If a companys Q1 is seasonally weak and Q4 is strong, it is likely to report a sequential earnings decline. In such cases, growth rates are misleading while judging the true health of a company. Its only after significant research and analysis on a companys financials and initiatives that Wall Street analysts project its earnings. They also take a companys guidance into consideration when deriving an earnings estimate. Thus, outperforming that estimate is almost equivalent to beating the companys own expectation as well as the market perception. If the margin of earnings surprise is big, it typically drives the stock higher right after the release. Thus, more than anything else, an earnings surprise can push a stock higher. How to Locate Potential Outperformers? Investors tend to look for stocks that have the potential to beat on the bottom line but might not always succeed. One way of identifying the winners beforehand is by looking at the earnings surprise history of a company. An impressive track record in this regard generally acts as a driver. It indicates the companys ability to exceed estimates. Investors generally believe that the company will have the same trick up its sleeve to deliver yet another earning beat in its upcoming release. Story continues The Winning Strategy In order to shortlist stocks that are likely to come up with an earnings surprise, we chose the following as our primary screening parameters. Last EPS Surprise greater than or equal to 10%:Stocks delivering positive surprise in the last quarter tend to surprise again. Average EPS Surprise in the last four quarters greater than 20%:We lifted the bar for outperformance slightly higher by setting the average EPS surprise for the last four quarters at 20%. Average EPS Surprise in the last two quarters greater than 20%:This points to a more consistent surprise history and makes the case for another surprise even stronger. In addition, we place a few other criteria that push up the chance of a surprise. Zacks Rank less than or equal to 2: Only companies with a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy) can get through. Earnings ESPgreater than zero: A stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank of #1, 2 or 3 (Hold) for an earnings beat to happen, as per our proven model. In order to zero in on those that have long-term growth potential and high trading liquidity we have added the following parameters too: Next 35 Years Estimated EPS Growth (Per Year) greater than 10%: Solid expected earnings growth exhibits the stocks long-term growth prospects. Average 20-day Volume greater than 100,000: High trading volume implies that the stocks have adequate liquidity. A handful of criteria narrowed down the universe from over 7,700 stocks to just seven. Here are five out of the seven stocks: IAC/InterActiveCorp (IAC): This is a leading media and Internet company. The stock carries a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Tactile Systems Technology Inc. (TCMD): This is a medical technology company, which develops medical devices for the treatment of chronic diseases at home. It has a Zacks Rank #2 and belongs to a top-ranked Zacks industry (top 41%). Martin Marietta Materials Inc. (MLM): The Zacks Rank #2 company is engaged principally in the building materials business, including aggregates, cement, ready mixed concrete, and asphalt and paving product lines. It hails from a top-ranked Zacks industry (top 36%). Fortinet Inc. (FTNT): This Zacks Rank #2 company is a provider of network security appliances and Unified Threat Management network security solutions to enterprises, service providers and government entities worldwide. The company belongs to a top-ranked Zacks industry (top 17%). Intuit Inc. INTU: The Zacks Rank #2 company provides financial management, and compliance products and services for small businesses, consumers, self-employed and accounting professionals. It hails from a top-ranked Zacks Industry (top 26%). You can get the rest of the stocks on this list by signing up now for your 2-week free trial to the Research Wizard and start using this screen in your own trading. Further, you can also create your own strategies and test them first before taking the investment plunge. The Research Wizard is a great place to begin. It's easy to use. Everything is in plain language. And it's very intuitive. Start your Research Wizard trial today. And the next time you read an economic report, open up the Research Wizard, plug your finds in, and see what gems come out. Click here to sign up for a free trial to the Research Wizard today. Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks portfolios and strategies are available at: https://www.zacks.com/performance. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Fortinet, Inc. (FTNT) : Free Stock Analysis Report IAC/InterActiveCorp (IAC) : Free Stock Analysis Report Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (MLM) : Free Stock Analysis Report Intuit Inc. (INTU) : Free Stock Analysis Report Tactile Systems Technology, Inc. (TCMD) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast The extreme anti-abortion bill signed into law in Alabama on Wednesday sent shock waves far across state lines, crystallizing the growing challenge to Roe v. Wade and triggering record donations to groups bent on making sure women can safely end unwanted pregnancies. Late Tuesday, Alabama lawmakers voted in a ban on almost all abortions in the state, even in cases of rape or incest. Gov. Kay Ivey signed it Wednesday, making it the strictest law in the nationand a potential threat to Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision making abortion legal across the U.S. Although conservative state legislatures have been chipping away at abortion access for nearly a decade, what happened in Alabamaon the heels of a severe new law in Georgiawas so draconian it served as a kind of emergency flare. Ive been getting calls from news networks all over the world that are watching Alabama right now, said Jenna King, an organizer with Alabama Reproductive Rights Advocates. I think its important to understand that what were doing is so inherently unthinkable that the world is just trying to understand it. Were getting calls from BBC and Al Jazeera to cover this, Barbara Anne Luttrell, the communications director for Planned Parenthood Southeast, told The Daily Beast. Its usual and it feels a bit bizarre, but its really sad thats its not for something thats improving the lives of people in these states. Experts have long warned that laws like those in Alabama and Georgia are designed to bring a challenge to Roe v. Wade before the Supreme Courts new conservative majority. But Alabamas ban really drove the point home. The Fight Over Abortion Is Now Total War headlines blared. Hillary Clinton called the bill an appalling attack on women's lives. At least 12 Democratic presidential contenders condemned it, and #MeToo figures like Alyssa Milano and Rose McGowan urged their followers to act. Even Chris Evans, the actor best known for his portrayal of Captain America, chimed in, tweeting, If youre not worried about roe v wade, youre not paying attention. Story continues For many, the impulse to do something meant opening their wallets. Mia Raven, the director of the P.O.W.E.R. House, which offers childcare, housing, and escorts for patients at a clinic in Montgomery, said she was distracted all day by cell phone chimes alerting her that someone new had donated. It started last night basically and just kept going, she said. This is probably the most weve gotten in one day, ever. In fact, both P.O.W.E.R. House and the Yellowhammer Fundan organization that helps pay for abortions and transportationtold The Daily Beast theyd broken fundraising records in the last 24 hours. One activist alone collected more than $28,000 in donations for Yellowhammer in three hours. The National Network of Abortion Funds received nearly 3,500 donations totaling more than $106,000 in the last two days, executive director Yamani Hernandez told the Daily Beast. The donations account for 20 percent of their total number for the last year. Legislator Pushing Abortion Ban in Alabama Says Hes Not Smart Enough to Be Pregnant The National Abortion Federation, which live-tweeted the Senate debate over the ban, said someone donated $100 in the name of the bills sponsor. The ACLU and Planned Parenthoodboth of which plan to sue to block the banwould not comment on how much money theyd raised, but said they saw an influx of support this week. Yellowhammer Fund President Amanda Reyes said her organization planned to use the money to fund abortions in Alabama andif it becomes impossible to get one in the statein the surrounding areas. The organization has already transported women who passed Alabamas 15-week cut-off for abortions into neighboring states. Were well-practiced in getting people out of state to get abortion care already, Reyes told The Daily Beast. We can make abortion free and available on demand to people despite our state legislatures, despite our federal legislature, and despite our lawmakers, because we have the money and the resources to make that possible for people. That is what people in the U.S. and across the world are saying: That abortion should be accessible, regardless of whether or not its legal, she added. But there were downsides to the increased attention as well. Just like in Georgia after the six-week ban passed, clinics in Alabama faced a deluge of calls from patients wondering if they could still come in for their appointments Wednesday. Dramatic headlines about a near-total abortion ban had some patients worried that the procedure was already illegal. Ive been encouraging people to shout from the rooftops that abortion is still legal in Alabama and it will be until the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, King said Wednesday. But there is concern over how long Roe v. Wade will last under the new Supreme Court majority. In a press call with Planned Parenthood leaders, reporters wondered whether suing over the ban was counterproductive. If bringing a challenge to Roe v. Wade before the high court was the GOPs intention, wouldnt mounting a lawsuit play straight into their hands? We have no choice, Planned Parenthood CEO Leana Wen replied. Despite the national panic, advocates in Alabama seemed remarkably unfazed. Reyes said her fund would continue its work as usual. Raven, the director of P.O.W.E.R. House, said she was confident the law wouldnt pass muster in the courts. I think people are expecting me to be crying, she said. This is another day in Alabama. This is a thing that happens every year. We always have to sue the state and we always win. And even if they didnt win, she added, we are not going anywhere. Read more at The Daily Beast. Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. KABUL, May 17 (Reuters) - An air strike killed at least eight policeman in Afghanistan's Helmand province, a government official said on Friday, the latest casualties from a rise in air and ground operations against the Afghan Taliban. It was not immediately clear if Afghan or U.S. forces carried out the air strike on Thursday night near the provincial capital Lashkar Gah, said Omar Zwak, a spokesman for Helmand's governor. He said two senior officers were among the eight policemen killed. Another 11 policemen were wounded in a firefight with Taliban insurgents during the same security operation. Officials with NATO-led Resolute Support forces based in the Afghan capital Kabul were not immediately available for comment. American forces regularly provide support to Afghan troops in operations against the Taliban. Helmand Governor Mohammad Yasin and government officials in Kabul said the air strike was being investigated. They did not give details of the incident. Fighting has accelerated during a period of recurring peace talks to end more than 17 years of war. The Taliban has so far rejected ceasefire proposals, saying U.S. and NATO troops must first withdraw from Afghanistan. (Reporting by Mohammad Stanekzai in Lashkar Gah, Hamid Shalizi, Rupam Jain in Kabul, Editing by Darren Schuettler) After going through something as life-altering as a car accident, the best thing you can get out of it is... Two years after its instalment, the current Moroccan government will undergo a reshuffle without altering the components of the majority, Moroccan media said citing multiple sources. The leaders of the government coalition raised the reshuffle with the head of the government and it is very likely to take place next month once conditions are met and talks are over, said Hespress news portal, quoting a governmental source that requested not to be named. The absence of Interior minister due to health reasons has also raised possibilities of a government reshuffle. Head of the government told reporters that curbing cabinet members notably state secretaries was on the table but he refrained from saying such a decision would be to womens favor. Head of the socialist PPS party Nabil Benabdellah has threatened on multiple occasions to retreat from the government coalition raising disagreements. Campaigners at an Alabama abortion clinic have been forced to reassure women it is still open following the states ban on terminations. The Power House refuge in Montgomery, which is next door to and supports the state capital's only abortion clinic, has reportedly been flooded with calls from women worried they will not be able to access treatment. Volunteer Bianca Cameron-Schwiesow told NBC News: Theyre asking, Can we still come in? Are you still open? Theyre in a panic and theyre scared. And we say that is fine, you can still come in because they dont realise that this is going to stay open for the next six months. The clinic itself, Reproductive Health Services, also posted on Facebook to tell patients that we are still open and were not going anywhere. On Thursday Alabamas Republican governor Kay Ivey signed the ban into law and declared that it proved her constituents belief that every life is a sacred gift from God. If it survives legal challenges, the measure will block all abortions except in cases where an expectant mothers life is at risk. Women and girls who have been raped, including by members of their family, will be forced to carry their pregnancies to term. It is due to come into force in November. Reports of panicked women trying to find out whether they could still access terminations came as the top Republican in the US House of Representatives said he believed Alabama politicians had gone too far. The states ban goes further than I believe by preventing abortions for victims of rape and incest, said minority leader Kevin McCarthy. Republican senator Susan Collins called the law terrible and very extreme. The Supreme Court was unlikely to uphold it, she said. On Friday Missouri was expected to pass its own abortion ban that would outlaw the procedure after eight weeks of pregnancy even for girls and women who have been raped by family members. Doctors could be jailed for between five and 15 years for breaking the law, though women who undergo an abortion would not be prosecuted. Alabamas law mandates up to 99 years in prison for doctors who perform abortions. Story continues Both measures are part of a sweeping attempt by state-level Republicans to force a showdown in the Supreme Court. They hope its new conservative majority will vote to repeal the landmark Roe vs Wade decision that guaranteed legal abortions in 1973. Mississippi, Ohio, Kentucky and Georgia have also approved bans on abortion once a foetal heartbeat can be detected. That tends to happen at about six weeks gestation, before many women know they are pregnant. Mike Pence has said he would like to see Roe defeated and last weekend reaffirmed the Trump administrations anti-abortion position. The White House stood without apology for the sanctity of human life, the deeply religious vice president told graduates of the evangelical Christian Liberty University. By Amanda Becker WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Several Republicans in the U.S. Congress are criticizing a new Alabama law that will ban nearly all abortions in the state as too extreme, saying exceptions should be made for rape and incest and questioning whether it will hold up in court. Alabama's governor on Wednesday signed the bill to ban abortions, except when a mother's life is in jeopardy, in the latest challenge by conservatives to the 1973 landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade that established a woman's right to terminate a pregnancy. Asked about the new law at a Thursday news conference in Washington, House of Representatives Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy of California said that while he opposes abortion, Alabama's law "goes further than I believe." "In my whole political career, I also believed in rape, incest or the life of the mother, there was exceptions," he said, adding that that is the Republican Party's official position and "where many of us stand." Senator Susan Collins of Maine, a Republican viewed as vulnerable as she seeks re-election next year, told reporters Alabama's law is "terrible" and "very extreme." She said she did not think the Supreme Court would uphold it. Alabama's law is the most restrictive in the nation, and abortion rights activists have said they will sue to block its enforcement. The legal battle will play out in the run-up to the 2020 U.S. presidential and congressional elections, when all 435 seats in the House and roughly a third of the Senate will be on ballots. Democrats took control of the House in the 2018 elections, fueled by enthusiastic support from suburban women. Political strategists are warning that new abortion laws in Alabama, Georgia, Ohio and elsewhere could further alienate these moderate voters. In a sign of the political sensitivity around the issue, most national Republicans were reticent on Thursday to weigh in on Alabama's new law. Republican Senator Thom Tillis, who faces one of the most competitive 2020 re-election races in North Carolina and has supported abortion restrictions, said "of course there needs to be" exceptions. "I haven't read the bill to know whether or not that was in there, but when we approached pro-life measures at the (North Carolina) statehouse, we did it in a way that was respectful," Tillis told reporters of his time as a state lawmaker. President Donald Trump's appointment last year of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court has created a conservative-leaning court that many believe may be open to overturning Roe v. Wade. Trump, who has shifted from supporting abortion access to opposing it as president, did not address Alabama's law on Twitter or at White House events. In his February State of the Union address, he called for a ban on late-term abortions that he incorrectly described as allowing "a baby to be ripped from the mother's womb moments before birth." Democrats - including many of the more than 20 vying to be the party's 2020 presidential nominee - have not hesitated to condemn Alabama's law. Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, a presidential contender, traveled to Georgia on Thursday to protest at the statehouse. "It's clear that the laws passing here in Georgia, and in states across the country, represent the greatest threat to reproductive freedom we have faced since Roe v. Wade," Gillibrand said. (Reporting by Amanda Becker; Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell and Susan Heavey; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Jonathan Oatis) By Brendan O'Brien (Reuters) - A 42-year-old man was executed in Alabama on Thursday, more than 20 years after he was convicted along with his friend of killing the friend's father, the father's fiancee and her two children after a dispute over the use of a pickup truck. Michael Samra was put to death by lethal injection at 7:10 p.m. CDT at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a statement. "I want to thank Jesus for shedding his blood for my sins. Thank you for your grace, Jesus. Amen," Samra said in his final statement, according to the Alabama Department of Corrections. Samra was convicted in 1998 of four counts of murder and sentenced to die. Samra and his friend Mark Duke were accused of killing Duke's father, Randy, along with Randy's fiancee, Dedra Hunt, and her daughters who were 6 and 7 years old. Samra, Duke and two of their friends were accused of planning to kill the four after Duke got into a heated argument with his father about the use of Randy's truck. Prosecutors said Samra and Duke went on March 23, 1997, to Duke's house in Pelham, Alabama, where they shot and killed his father and Hunt and used a kitchen knife to slit the throats of the two girls. David Collums and Michael Ellison, the two friends, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting the killers. They were sentenced to 16 years in prison and were released from prison in 2013, local media reported. Duke was sentenced to death in 1999. His sentence was changed to life in prison without parole because he was 16 at the time of the murders, local media reported. Samra, who was 19 at the time of the killings, asked the U.S. Supreme Court this week to halt his execution because of his age when the crimes were committed. The court denied the request. Samra and convicted killer Donnie Johnson, who was put to death in Tennessee on Thursday, were the sixth and seventh inmates executed in the United States in 2019, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, an organization that tracks executions in the United States. (Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Chicago; Editing by Peter Cooney) Algiers (AFP) - Thousands of Algerians pushed through police tear gas in the capital Friday, to rally at the focal point of mass protests against the country's ruling elite. Riot police for hours prevented demonstrators from marching on the iconic central post office, with officials citing security concerns, but they ultimately gave way under pressure from the crowds. "Shame on you police officers," protesters shouted as tensions rose, with a few scuffles but no serious injuries reported. Around a dozen people were helped by volunteers, the majority feeling faint due to the heat and fasting during the holy month of Ramadan. Demonstrators clutching the Algerian flag and brandishing home-made signs far outnumbered riot police, wearing blue helmets and body armour. While no official figure was given for Friday's rally, it appeared comparable to huge protests held since late February. As well as the Algiers demonstration, rallies took place across the country including in the cities of Oran and Constantine, TSA news site reported. Roadblocks had been put in place by security forces on some main roads leading to the capital, said Ali, a businessman who had travelled to Algiers from a town around 60 kilometres (40 miles) away. Initially demonstrating against ailing president Abdelaziz Bouteflika seeking a fifth term, since his departure last month protesters have turned their attention to those still in power with ties to the former leader. "Gaid Salah leave!" protesters shouted against the army chief, while others cried: "No military state." A former Bouteflika loyalist and key powerbroker, Ahmed Gaid Salah has thrown his support behind presidential elections set for July 4. But protesters -- some clutching "no to the elections" placards -- fear the polls could be used to keep longtime Bouteflika allies in power. They are also calling for interim president Abdelkader Bensalah and Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui to resign. Said Salhi, vice president of the Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights, accused those in power of lacking "any vision" and "playing for time". "If the system keeps the elections for July 4, that exacerbates the tensions and escalates the crisis," he told TSA. Six European consumer rights associations said Friday they have asked national authorities to look into illegal practices by firms using the AliExpress site of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. Buyers in European countries enjoy the right to return goods within two weeks and get clear warranty information about the minimum 2-year warranty period, rules that platforms that host third-party sellers have sometimes found difficult to enforce. Consumer rights groups in Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain asked their national regulators to look into practices on AliExpress, which mostly hosts Chinese sellers. "If Alibaba wants to trade on the European market, it must respect the rules that apply here. That is not negotiable," said Sandra Molenaar, head of the Dutch consumer association Consumentenbond. The Consumentenbond also noted that AliExpress' terms and conditions force consumers to go to arbitration in Hong Kong if they have any dispute, while EU laws give them the right to go to courts in their own country. French consumer group UFC-Que Choisir meanwhile said that French clients were not being provided with documentation in French. France's DGCCRF anti-fraud office said it took the complaint seriously, as did AliExpress. "We will look attentively at the complaint which we have received and we are ready to engage in discussions with the European Commission and competent authorities," the company told AFP. "We respect the rights of consumers and we are very attentive to their concerns." The complaints came a day after Alibaba's founder Jack Ma was in Paris for a tech conference, where he wryly suggested Europe should spend more time fixing problems than creating laws and rules. "If you think the tech revolution is a problem, I am sorry to say that it has just started," said Ma. "If you think it is an opportunity, it is only beginning. One thing changes: your mentality." On Wednesday, Alibaba announced its net profit more than tripled to $3.8 billion in the first quarter. Photo: Kelsey Knight/Unsplash When it comes to food and drink, there's plenty to do in Anaheim this weekend. From beer flights to wine tastings, here's how to add some flavor to your social calendar. Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. Open House: Complimentary Beverages, Free Giveaways and Discounts on Enrollment From the event description: Come check out our school this Saturday. There will be free class vouchers, discounts on enrollment, complimentary beverages and more. When: Saturday, May 18, 122 p.m. Where: Southern California Bartending School, 5150 E. La Palma Ave., STE114A, Anaheim, CA 92807 Price: Free Click here for more details, and to get your tickets Beer Tasting Packages at Backstreet Brewery From the Backstreet Brewery deal description: Beer-enthusiasts: learn about the Backstreet Brewery before enjoying a beer flight and taking home a crowler filled with your favorite beer. Where: Backstreet Brewery, 1884 S. Santa Cruz St., Platinum Triangle Price: $23 (42% discount off regular price). Additional deals are available. Click here for more details, and to nab this deal Tours and Tasting at Towne Park Brewery From the Towne Park Brewery deal description: Beer enthusiasts can enjoy their time at the brewery while learning the production, packing and history of their favorite beverage. A tour, a tasting flight and a take-home glass are included. Where: Towne Park Brewery, 1566 W. Lincoln Ave., West Anaheim Price: $12 Click here for more details, and to score this deal Winery Experience at Pali Wine From the Pali Wine deal description: Wine enthusiasts have an opportunity to taste fine wines, including pinot noirs and chardonnays from the Central Coast. Where: Pali Wine, 500 S. Anaheim Blvd. Price: $52 Click here for more details, and to take advantage of this deal This story was created automatically using local event data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. * Tech Huawei buys from U.S. companies is "hard to replace" * U.S. officially added Huawei to trade blacklist on Thursday * HiSilicon says it has long been preparing for "extreme scenario" * HiSilicon says it can ensure steady supply of most products By Stephen Nellis and Sijia Jiang SAN FRANCISCO/HONG KONG, May 17 (Reuters) - Chip experts are calling out Huawei for its claims that it could ensure a steady supply chain without U.S. help, saying the technology the Chinese telecoms network gear maker buys from American companies would be "hard to replace." The Trump administration officially added Huawei to a trade blacklist on Thursday, enacting restrictions that will make it difficult for the tech giant to do business with American firms, in its latest broadside against the company that U.S. officials have labeled a threat to national security. The head of Huawei's HiSilicon chip division on Friday shrugged off concerns about disruptions to supply, saying it has long been preparing for this kind of "extreme scenario." Huawei will aim to be technologically "self-reliant" going forward, He Tingbo said in a letter to staff. But that is easier said than done, industry experts say. "I would be surprised if HiSilicon can make it without any U.S. suppliers," said Linda Sui, a Strategy Analytics analyst. A China-based source at a U.S. tech company previously told Reuters that none of Huawei's U.S. suppliers "can be replaced by Chinese ones, not within a few years, at least." As an example of Huawei's reliance on U.S. firms, an expert pointed to the high probability that the tech giant uses chip design software from market leaders Cadence Design Systems Inc and Synopsys Inc. Huawei designs its microprocessors and other chips for products including the Mate series flagship smartphones. The U.S firms' software is considered gold standard, used by manufacturers globally to perfect chip blueprints and test them before committing them to physical silicon, where a single mistake can set back a chip for months. Story continues "It's hard to replace," said Mike Demler, a senior analyst with The Linley Group. "Cadence and Synopsys pretty much have all the ground covered for anything you would need," he said. "I'm sure there's some equivalent that tries to fill the same roles from Chinese companies, but the Chinese just do not have a presence we're aware of outside of the country." Cadence and Synopsys did not respond to requests for comment. Huawei said it cannot comment. SPECIALIZED CHIPS, LASERS Huawei also has exposure to U.S. suppliers of specialty lasers and modules such as NeoPhotonics, Lumentum and Finisar. The lasers, which are used to send information in the form of light signals through fiber-optic cables, are critical to Huawei's world-leading telecom network equipment business. Firms like Finisar, which is being bought by II-VI Inc , and Lumentum have put decades of work into being able to make large quantities of lasers, said Philip Gadd, a retired chip executive who once ran Intel's silicon photonics division. "Even if the Chinese could do it, I don't think they could come up to scale," he said. Finisar is trying to determine the impact of the Huawei ban, according to a person briefed on the matter. Finisar and Lumentum did not return requests for comment. NeoPhotonics, which gets most of its revenues from four firms including Huawei, declined to comment. Huawei has sought to develop its own capabilities in the field, in part by purchasing a former British Telecom research center in 2012 and startup Caliopa in 2012. "The Chinese have been on an acquisition path," said one silicon photonics executive. "They've been buying up bits and pieces wherever they could. A lot of the (U.S. government) restrictions have come too late." But Huawei relies on so-called chip "foundries," especially Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC), for the complex task of physically producing the chips that it designs. That is a common practice in the chip industry. By contrast, many silicon photonics firms such as Finisar, still make their own chips. MARCH TO SELF-SUFFICIENCY Huawei has been under pressure since early in the decade over U.S. allegations its gear could be a conduit for Chinese spying, a concern the company says is unfounded. The United States has ratcheted up the rhetoric in the past year, calling on allies to bar the firm from next-generation 5G mobile networks while locking horns with China in a trade war. Against this backdrop, Huawei has been a key part of China's campaign to develop its own capabilities in chips and reduce reliance on imports from companies such as Qualcomm, Intel and Samsung Electronics . Huawei's chip division produced more than $7.5 billion worth of chips last year, its rotating chairman Eric Xu had told Reuters. That compares with an estimated $21 billon worth of chips that Huawei acquired from outside vendors. A Huawei spokesman said the company will use HiSilicon products to substitute banned American components where possible, but declined to provide more details. HiSilicon's He has described the self-sufficiency efforts as a "long march in the history of technology" that would pay off with the United State's "crazy decision." "All the spare tires we have been making, now is the time to use them!" (Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco, Sijia Jiang in Hong Kong, Josh Horwitz in Shanghai, Yimou Lee in Taipei; Writing by Miyoung Kim; Editing by Himani Sarkar) The Spanish media is under shock over the unethical practices of Cuatro TV channel which recently aired a documentary denounced as a set up The documentary was aired on May 1 purporting to show an investigation featuring an interview with a Moroccan man depicted as Pablo Escobar of Morocco earning 180,000 monthly. The interview was described by Moroccan authorities as a set up. The so-called drug dealer is a car-parking valet who leads a modest life in Tangier where he lives with his mother, Moroccan media said. A report on Moroccan paper Akhbar Al Yaoum said that the Spanish reporters came to Morocco with an already made script. They did not apply for reporting authorizations and entered Morocco as tourists instead of journalists. Moroccan police said the valet lied because he was told to do so by the Spanish journalist in return for 2000 dirhams. The modernist architect I. M. Pei, who has died aged 102, was once pilloried for plonking a glass pyramid into the courtyard of the Louvre, but his controversial creation is now a landmark of the French capital. The Chinese-American designer endured a roasting from critics before the giant glass structure opened in 1989, with up to 90 percent of Parisians said to be against the project at one point. "I received many angry glances in the streets of Paris," Pei later said, confessing that "after the Louvre I thought no project would be too difficult". Yet in the end even that stern critic of modernist "carbuncles", Britain's Prince Charles, pronounced it "marvellous". And the French daily Le Figaro, which had led the campaign against the "atrocious" design, celebrated its genius with a supplement on the 10th anniversary of its opening. In March, the pyramid celebrated its 30th birthday and it remains a cherished architectural landmark. Pei's masterstroke was to link the three wings of the world's most visited museum with vast underground galleries bathed in light from his glass and steel pyramid. It also served as the museum's main entrance, making its subterranean concourse bright even on the most overcast of days. Pei, who grew up in Hong Kong and Shanghai before studying at Harvard with the Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius, was not the most obvious choice for the job, having never worked on a historic building before. But the then French president Francois Mitterrand was so impressed with his modernist extension to the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC that he insisted he was the man for the Louvre. - 'Tact and humour' - The Socialist leader was in the midst of attempting to transform Paris with a series of architectural projects that included the Bastille Opera and La Grande Arche de La Defense, a huge modernist archway in the west of Paris. Already in his mid-60s and an established star in the United States for his elegant John F. Kennedy Library and Dallas City Hall, Pei was unprepared for the hostility of the reception his radical plans would receive. Story continues He needed all his tact and dry sense of humour to survive a series of encounters with planning officials and historians. One meeting with the French historic monuments commission in January 1984 ended in uproar, with Pei unable even to present his ideas. "You are not in Dallas now!" one of the experts shouted at him during what he recalled was a "terrible session", where he felt the target of anti-Chinese racism. He had won the Pritzker Prize, the "Nobel of architecture", in 1983, but even that didn't seem to assuage his detractors. - Violent reaction - Jack Lang, who was French culture minister at the time, told AFP he was still "surprised by the violence of the opposition" to Pei's ideas. "The pyramid is right at the centre of a monument central to the history of France," he said, referring to the Louvre's former role as a royal palace. "The project also came at a time of fierce ideological clashes" between the left and right, he added. A whole wing of the Louvre was then occupied by the French ministry of finance. The museum's huge "Napoleon Courtyard was an appalling car park," Lang said. But the Louvre's then director, Andre Chabaud, resigned in 1983 in protest at the "architectural risks" Pei's vision posed. The incumbent, however, is in no doubt that the pyramid is a masterpiece that helped turn the museum around. Jean-Luc Martinez is all the more convinced of the fact having worked with Pei over the last few years to adapt his plans to cope with the museum's growing popularity. Pei's original design was for up to two million visitors a year. Last year the Louvre welcomed more than 10 million. For Martinez, the pyramid is "the modern symbol of the museum", he said, "an icon on the same level" as the Louvre's most revered artworks "the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory of Samothrace". Pei is not alone in being savaged for changing the cherished landscape of Paris. In 1887, a group of intellectuals that included Emile Zola and Guy de Maupassant published a letter in the newspaper Le Temps to protest at the building of the "useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower", an "odious column of sheet metal with bolts". At their usual evening gathering, six retired Muslim academics outdo each other with gloomy predictions if Narendra Modi is re-elected prime minister in India's polls ending Sunday. "We are one step away from being turned into second-class citizens," Mohiuddin Azad told AFP in Azamgarh, a northern city long associated with Islamic scholars and poets. "If Modi again comes to power we are doomed," said the retired Arabic professor from Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state. "The first term was a dry run for the BJP. Once they return to power they will put their long pending agenda into action," echoed Hassan Khalid Azmi, a former chemistry professor. Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) owes its origins to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a militaristic group that has long espoused "Hindutva", or Hindu hegemony, and making India an exclusively Hindu state. India, however, is also home to 170 million Muslims, the world's second-largest Muslim population, in the Hindu-majority but officially secular nation of 1.3 billion. Since Modi stormed to power in 2014, many Muslims feel under threat. Several cities with names rooted in India's Islamic Mughul past have been re-named, while some school textbooks have been changed to downplay Muslims' contributions to India. A string of lynchings of Muslims by Hindu mobs over so-called cow protection -- a sacred animal for many Hindus -- and other hate crimes has sown fear and despair in the community. - Exclusion - There has never been much appetite among Muslims for their own political party, with many feeling that the existing parties can represent them. But this is changing. In the outgoing parliament there are 24 Muslim MPs out of 545, none of them from the BJP, down from a peak of 49 in the early 1980s and the lowest since independence in 1947. Modi's BJP has fielded seven Muslim candidates in the current election -- the same as 2014 when none won -- while the main opposition Congress led by Rahul Gandhi has 30. Story continues In Uttar Pradesh state polls in 2017, the BJP did not field a single Muslim candidate despite one in five of the state's 200 million people being Muslims. The state's chief minister is Yogi Adityanath, a firebrand Hindu monk from Modi's party notorious for his anti-Muslim rhetoric and touted by some as a possible future prime minister. And it's not just the BJP. Critics say that Congress and other parties have also shifted to a "soft Hindutva" for fear of losing support from the majority Hindu population, seeing Muslims as an electoral liability. Gandhi has made a point of visiting Hindu temples during the current election campaign, stressing his devout beliefs. The Muslim community's problems have been compounded by a lack of a strong and independent leadership. "Since independence Muslims never had a leader," said Asaduddin Owaisi, probably India's best-known Muslim MP, the head and only MP for his All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen party. The main parties, he told AFP at his home in Delhi, do not allow Muslims to rise through the ranks, something that is worrying for the future of Indian democracy. "Indian democracy's success is based on participation democracy and not majoritarian democracy," Owaisi said. - 'Baby makers' - Sarvar Ahmad, an Islamic cleric from Azamgarh, said that the political marginalisation has happened gradually under successive governments. "We have been labelled as baby makers, terrorists, parasites and unpatriotic under various dispensations in independent India," Ahmad told AFP. Azamgarh, home to 450,000 people -- 15 percent of them Muslims -- is a special place for Muslims and its Shibli College has long been a pioneer in Muslim education. But the region earned notoriety in the late 2000s for being the epicentre of a network of alleged Muslim militants allegedly behind a series of deadly blasts across the country. According to Rizwan Ashraf, a student, this was a big factor in exacerbating divisions between Azamgarh's communities, who for centuries lived mostly in harmony. "Our political space automatically shrunk. Who would vote or ally with Muslims when they are portrayed as violent and terrorists?," he said. But over the past five years of BJP rule, these narratives have been shriller. "Being a Muslim in India is like a scandal. Everyone wants to stay away from us," he said. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who has emerged as a leader among progressive Democrats, denounced Alabamas abortion ban after it was signed into law on Wednesday night. She was joined by most of the partys presidential candidates. Abortion bans arent just about controlling womens bodies, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. Theyre about controlling womens sexuality. Owning women. From limiting birth control to banning comprehensive sex ed, U.S. religious fundamentalists are working hard to outlaw sex that falls outside their theology. Ultimately, this is about womens power, the freshman congresswoman continued. When women are in control of their sexuality, it threatens a core element underpinning right-wing ideology: patriarchy. Its a brutal form of oppression to seize control of the 1 essential thing a person should command: their own body. Ocasio-Cortezs tweets came shortly after Alabamas Republican Gov. Kay Ivey signed into law the most restrictive reproductive legislation since 1973, when the Supreme Court legalized abortion nationwide. Ivey said the bill, the Alabama Human Life Protection Act, a powerful testament to Alabamians deeply held belief that every life is precious & that every life is a sacred gift from God. The passage of the bill led Jenna Lowenstein, Sen. Cory Bookers deputy presidential campaign manager, to contribute to the campaign of his rival, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. Her intent was to help New York senator qualify for the first Democratic debate to ensure @SenGillibrands important perspective is reflected on the stage. Gillibrand has made reproductive rights a signature issue in her campaign. Alabama is one of at least seven states to pass stricter abortion laws this year. In April, Ohio passed a bill that would outlaws abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected. Kentucky, Mississippi and Georgia have similar laws. Hours after Alabamas legislation was signed, Missouris Republican-led Senate passed a wide-ranging bill to ban abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy. Story continues [Alabama bill marks the start of all-out war on abortion] The laws have been met with legal challenges and protests. In Georgia, several television and film companies announced last week that they will no longer work in the state after Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed a bill that would criminalize abortions after six weeks of gestation before many women even know they are pregnant. Abortion rights opponents in those states hope President Trumps appointment of more conservative justices will lead to a successful challenge of the Supreme Courts landmark Roe v. Wade ruling. What were seeing now is much more of a full-frontal attack, Elizabeth Nash, a senior state issues manager at the Guttmacher Institute, told Yahoo News. We are seeing a real shift away from the incremental strategy that dominated abortion laws for decades and now were seeing the goal of banning abortion outright. They are playing political games with womens lives, added Staci Fox, president of Planned Parenthood Southeast Advocates. They know and say publicly that these laws are unconstitutional and they dont care. Picture yourself on summer vacation: fully relaxed, laying out by the pool, sipping ona Mountain Dew Baja Blast? That dream could become a reality at The Bell: A Taco Bell Hotel and Resort, which is coming to Palm Springs this summer, the fast food chain announced on Thursday morning. Starting on August 9 for an undisclosed limited time, Taco Bell will be taking over an existing resort (they have not announced which one yet), transforming it into a fully-immersive fan experience. Everything from guest rooms to breakfast and poolside cocktails will be infused with a Taco Bell twist, the companys press release states. There will also be Taco Bell-branded robes, hot sauce packet pool floats, and an on-site gift shop filled with exclusive taco apparel. Truly committed guests can even book an appointment at the salon, which will offer Taco Bell-inspired nail art, fades and a braid bar. In terms of food, details havent been revealed just yet, but it promises beloved iconic flavorsan endless supply of Doritos Locos Tacos, we imaginein addition to new menu surprises only available at the hotel. RELATED: The Most Outrageous Taco Bell Menu Items of All Time Taco Bell This is just the latest grand gesture stunt that the company has bestowed upon its devoted fan basetheyve previously thrown a Taco Bell wedding at their flagship Cantina location in Las Vegas and launched a clothing collection with Forever 21but theyre banking on this one making the biggest splash yet. WATCH: We Tried Taco Bells New Naked Chicken Chalupa The Bell stands to be the biggest expression of the Taco Bell lifestyle to date. It will be fun, colorful, flavorful and filled with more than what our fans might expect, Taco Bells chief global branding officer Marisa Thalberg said in the release. Also, just like some of our most sought-after food innovation, this hotel brings something entirely new for lucky fans to experience and enjoy. Fans must be 18 or over to stay at The Bell, and reservations will open up some time in June. WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. Could portions of the Florida peninsula get drenched by catastrophic flooding like Hurricanes Harvey and Florence unleashed the last two years in Texas and the Carolinas? Yes and not in the ways you might expect, National Weather Service meteorologists warn. We all know the flooding that resulted from Harvey. We've seen the pictures. But it's a tale that could be told easily here in any of the cities of Florida: a Miami, a Tampa, a Pensacola, a Jacksonville. It doesn't matter," said Jason Beaman, NWS warning coordination meteorologist in Mobile, Alabama. "The same result could be here as it was in Houston," he said. Beaman helped deliver a presentation Thursday during the Governor's Hurricane Conference at the Palm Beach County Convention Center. More: Tornado Alley 'about to wake up': Wall of storms threaten 18 states More: El Nino may lessen number of Atlantic hurricanes this season Infrared imagery of Hurricane Florence as it approaches the Carolinas. Floodwater forecasts and warnings are rising to the forefront among emergency managers across the Southeast. When people close their eyes and envision a hurricane, most will conjure wind-related images, National Hurricane Center Director Ken Graham said. "Water is what's killing people," Graham said during the conference. He cited these statistics: 83% of U.S. tropical cyclone fatalities the past three years were water-related (excluding Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico). Only 4% of water-related deaths were spawned by storm surge. Inland flooding accounted for the other 96%. More than half of those water-related deaths were vehicle-related. Just the past two years, Hurricanes Harvey, Florence and Lane shattered state rainfall records in Texas (61 inches), North Carolina (36 inches), South Carolina (24 inches) and Hawaii (52 inches). "Twenty-two people lost their lives in Hurricane Florence. Seventeen of those were related to water and 16 were in vehicles," Graham said. Story continues NOAAs Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory reports that tropical cyclone rainfall rates will likely increase in the future because of human-caused global warming. Computer models show rainfall rate increases of 10% to 15% within about 60 miles of a storm in a scenario where global temperatures increase 2 degrees. If a record-breaking-rainfall storm makes landfall at a key Sunshine State city, Beaman said the worst flooding could occur elsewhere. He pointed out Harvey made landfall near Corpus Christi but the flooding epicenter was roughly 100 miles to the northeast, near Houston. What's more, he said the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale has no bearing on flooding potential. Florence weakened from a Category 4 major hurricane to a weaker Category 1 storm before saturating the Carolinas. Florida factors that determine localized flood levels include topography, the speed the hurricane is moving, rate of rainfall per hour, high tides, and whether the soil is already saturated. Dan Noah is NWS warning coordination meteorologist in the Tampa Bay area. He said computer modeling shows a rainfall of 13 inches within 12 hours could push the Alafia River near Tampa to the 31-foot level if the soil was already saturated. That's 12 feet above the "major flood stage." "Thats 10 extra feet of water inside a home that was flooded at 21 feet. Water is heavy. Moving water is dangerous," Noah said. Floodwaters from Hurricane Florence surround homes Monday in Dillon in 2018. The small town in the Pee Dee region has held onto a fairly stable population over the years. Despite technological advances, forecasters are many years away from developing a total water river forecast, said Al Sandrik, NWS warning coordination meteorologist in Jacksonville. Sandrik also said Florida's relentless residential and commercial development is a major flooding factor. "When a lot of people start moving in, you start changing those terrain features. Where you remember it flooded the last time, 15 years ago, well now maybe there's a new shopping center that's gone up. And now, you've got more impervious ground around that area for a parking lot," Sandrik said. "Then you have a retention pond in there but retention ponds are only meant to collect so much water," he said. Follow Rick Neale on Twitter: @RickNeale1 This article originally appeared on Florida Today: 'Water is what's killing people': Hurricanes could cause catastrophic flooding in Florida The pound hit multi-month lows versus the dollar and euro Friday on renewed prospects of a no-deal Brexit after Britain's Labour opposition pulled out of key talks with Prime Minister Theresa May. In the US meanwhile, President Donald Trump confirmed reports he will delay by six months a decision on imposing steep tariffs on imported autos, which limited declines on the equity markets. The pound unravelled to the lowest point for four months against the dollar, while the euro hit a three-month high versus the British currency. "The overriding fear for currency traders is that... a hard no-deal Brexit is back on the table," said Jasper Lawler, head of research at London Capital Group. "Soft Brexit optimism is fading, pulling the pound lower." After some sharp declines and recoveries, sterling stands about 10 percent lower against the dollar and euro compared with just before the UK Brexit referendum in June 2016. Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he would continue to oppose the government's Brexit deal although he would "carefully consider any proposals the government wishes to bring forward to break the... deadlock". The announcement came after May agreed Thursday to set out early next month a timetable for her departure as prime minister amid uproar in her own Conservative Party. MPs have three times rejected the divorce deal she struck with Brussels, weakening her authority and forcing her to reach out to Labour. Elsewhere, stock markets mostly fell back on Friday as data indicating a strong US economy were offset by the increasingly tense trade and technology stand-off between China and the United States. - 'Fluid situation' - The US figures however helped sentiment somewhat after almost two weeks of volatility sparked by US President Donald Trump's threat, and implementation, of higher tariffs on Chinese imports. Trump's move threw a spanner in the works for high-level China-US talks that seemed to be close to conclusion and led to retaliation in kind from Beijing, fanning fears of a painful trade war between the economic titans. Story continues The president has since barred Chinese telecoms firms -- effectively taking aim at giant Huawei -- from the US market and added it to a list that restricted its access to high-tech US products as well. OANDA senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley said investors seem "to have temporarily given up trying to predict the fluid situation that is US-China trade relations and concentrate on the here and now". Trump's confirmation that auto tariffs had been delayed boosted car manufacturers. European stocks closed lower, although London was helped by the weak pound, while on Wall Street the Dow index was treading water in the late New York morning. In commodities trading Friday, oil was mixed amid tensions in the Gulf, with crude-rich Iran rejecting negotiations with Washington following the deployment of extra US forces to the region. - Key figures around 1540 GMT - Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2727 from $1.2798 at 2100 GMT Euro/pound: UP at 87.68 pence from 87.32 pence Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1159 from $1.1174 Dollar/yen: UP at 109.93 yen from 109.85 yen London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 7,348.62 points (close) Frankfurt - DAX 30: DOWN 0.6 percent at 12,238.94 (close) Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.2 percent at 5,438.23 (close) EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.4 percent at 3,424.64 New York - Dow: FLAT at 25,863.49 Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.9 percent at 21,250.09 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng: DOWN 1.2 percent at 27,946.46 (close) Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 2.5 percent at 2,882.30 (close) Oil - Brent Crude: DOWN 6 cents at $72.56 per barrel Oil - West Texas Intermediate: UP 43 cents at $63.30 per barrel burs-jh/klm Bowen (Australia) (AFP) - With constituencies the size of Iran, South Africa and France, Aussie voters have always been a diverse bunch, but the current election campaign has revealed this vast country's politics is fracturing along regional lines. In just 48 hours on the campaign trail this week, Prime Minister Scott Morrison travelled 8,000 kilometres (4,970 miles) -- the same distance as London to Beijing. From cosmopolitan Sydney to the dusty Outback, Morrison -- like his Labor rival Bill Shorten -- is jetting around trying to pick up disgruntled voters. "The Australian electorate is extraordinarily unusual. It's a vast continent, it's a relatively small population so it's spread out," University of Sydney politics expert Marc Stears told AFP. Imagine a US presidential race taking place across a country the size of America, but one less populated than Texas. "It has big cities but then it has very small rural communities, often having very little to do with each other," said Stears. "And the politicians have to go right across this country trying to find votes in every different part of it." For the traditional parties from right and left, campaigning is not just time-consuming, but increasingly fruitless. - 'All politics is local' - Like the United States and Europe, political loyalties have waned in recent years in the face of wrenching social and technological changes. A succession of leadership changes in Canberra has also fuelled the perception politicians are self-serving and helped to spark a rise in minor parties and independents. Two decades ago, 80 percent of voters backed one of the major parties but that support has fallen off, said the University of Sydney's Stephen Mills. Now, up to one-third of voters shun the big parties. In conservative-leaning Queensland state, disillusioned voters are moving further right to support the anti-immigration One Nation Party and mining magnate Clive Palmer's United Australia Party. Story continues Both promise to back mining and local jobs -- key concerns in struggling Outback towns where unemployment is high and townsfolk feel ignored by politicians. "That's what we are famous for, saying the things that people are thinking, saying the things that people are saying," One Nation's Malcolm Roberts told AFP in central Queensland of his party's attraction. "That is why the failed old parties are being abandoned." Further north in Bowen, a regional town neighbouring a coal port, businesses are angry with the major parties' perceived dithering over approving a major mine that promises thousands of jobs. "Country areas are doing it very tough," Bowen Chamber of Commerce chairman Bruce Hedditch told AFP. "I think this is one of the reasons why the minor parties and the independents are going to do quite well in this forthcoming election... because the people of Australia have no faith in the major political parties." - Stop Adani, Start Adani - Urban opposition to the mine, to be developed by India's Adani, is a clear example of the delicate balancing act facing the Liberal-Nationals and Labor. Both sides are battling for votes in marginal seats in Queensland and in climate-conscious Victorian electorates where the mine is strongly opposed -- with the seats lost or gained in the states tipped to swing the election either way. The Liberal-Nationals are more vocal in supporting the mine, but face a backlash from Victorian colleagues afraid of losing seats. Shorten has sidestepped the issue in Queensland as he seeks to pick up progressives' votes in Victoria while not angering pro-mine union backers. In Bowen, the disparate views are clear to see. A short distance from Hedditch's pub, members of the anti-fossil fuel group Frontline Action on Coal travelled from across Australia -- including the cities and regional coastal towns where climate change concerns have gained traction -- to hold a protest at the port's entrance. In Sydney, climate sceptic and former Liberal PM Tony Abbott, who once said evidence blaming mankind for climate change was "absolute crap", is being targeted by "Stop Adani" campaigners. Abbott, who holds his affluent seat of Warringah by a large margin, is facing a strong challenge from independent candidate Zali Steggall who campaigns on climate action. Some 15 independent candidates -- many running in regional seats to capitalise on fed-up voters of the rural-focused Nationals -- have banded together to produce a video proclaiming "political parties have failed us". The fracturing of the voting public has contributed to expectations Saturday's poll will be close, with a record number enrolled to vote. All the major parties can hope for is to secure more wins than losses, said Australian National University professor John Warhurst. "You can't please everybody... ultimately, there's a certain amount of hard calculation that you win more than you lose by taking a particular position," he told AFP. By Kirsti Knolle VIENNA (Reuters) - Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz called a crisis meeting late on Friday after two German newspapers published footage purportedly showing his deputy discussing state contracts with a potential Russian backer in return for political support. Vice-Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache was filmed talking about the contracts with someone posing as the niece of a Russian oligarch in Ibiza in July, 2017, months before parliamentary elections, Der Spiegel and Sueddeutsche Zeitung said. Strache did not reply to a request for comment on the video. Reuters was not able to verify the authenticity of the footage independently, and the German newspapers did not say how they obtained it. Kurz planned to make a statement on the case on Saturday, a government source told Reuters. The opposition called for Strache to resign. Strache is head of the far-right Freedom Party (FPO), which became junior partner in a coalition with Kurz's conservatives in December 2017 after winning 26 percent of the votes in the October elections. The FPO's General Secretary, Christian Hafenecker, said the party's lawyers were evaluating the material. Neither Strache nor the Freedom Party ever received or granted any benefits from the persons concerned, Hafenecker said in a statement. "Since the video was obviously recorded illegally, we are also preparing appropriate legal steps." The footage, parts of which were posted by the newspapers, showed Strache and party colleague Johann Gudenus with the woman in a room in what the newspapers said was a villa in Ibiza. The woman said she wanted to invest several hundred million euros in Austria, according to the newspapers. Strache and Gudenus discussed investment opportunities for her, including taking over a 50 percent stake in Austria's influential tabloid Kronen Zeitung and using it to support Strache and the FPO party in the election. Gudenus was not immediately available for comment. "If she takes over the Kronen Zeitung three weeks before the election and get us into first place, then we can talk about everything," Der Spiegel quoted Strache as saying in the video. Strache held out the prospect of awarding her public contracts in road construction if she helped the Freedom Party succeed, according to the video. Vienna prosecutors said they would study the reports and decide whether there was sufficient cause to open an investigation, a spokeswoman for the prosecutors said. (Reporting by Kirsti Knolle) The Algerian regime has tightened the screws on the movement of Sahrawis in Tindouf camps, by stripping them of Algerian passports which they use for traveling overseas. After they ordered the polisario to toughen the entry and exit measures for the Sahrawis living in the Tindouf camps, the Algerian authorities are now withdrawing Algerian passports, which were granted in the past to these Sahrawis to facilitate their travel abroad. Lately, many Sahrawis were stunned to see their travel documents confiscated by Algerian authorities as soon as they reached Algerian ports or airports. The inhabitants of the Tindouf camps, who are already fed up to the teeth with the restrictions imposed by the Polisario, are now stripped of Algerian passports which facilitate their travels abroad as the passports issued by the so-called Sahrawi Republic SADR are not recognized by any country, including Algeria. Thus, many Sahrawis living in Europe, particularly those settled in Spain and France, stopped traveling back to Tindouf camps to see their families, fearing to be trapped in these camps and be unable to return to their host countries. Gurvinder Grewal of Stony Brook, N.Y. was not allowed inside Harbor Grill in Port Jefferson because of his turban, which is worn as part of his Sikh religion. (Photo: Courtesy of Gurvinder Grewal) A Long Island bar turned away a Sikh customer because his turban resembled a do-rag and violated its dress code. On Saturday night, Gurvinder Grewal was stuck outside the Harbor Grill in Port Jefferson. N.Y., because his turban, which he wears as part of his Sikh faith, broke the establishments dress code, according to the New York Post. Usually, if theres a policy on headwear, businesses make religious exceptions, Grewal, 23, tells Yahoo Lifestyle. I was surprised this happened in such a diverse community. The Stony Brook University graduate, who works as a City M.D. scribe and a volunteer EMT, says the Harbor Grill is a popular hang-out spot. Ive gone there wearing my turban before, but I was told this is a new policy, he says. According to Grewal, who came with friends, a security guard and a manager were checking identification outside and he was allegedly told, Sorry, we cant allow you in with the head covering. Grewal says the guard told the manager the turban was a religious covering and the manager said if the owner saw Grewal on the security cameras, there would be trouble. Grewal got in line again to allow other customers inside. I wanted to collect my thoughts and try to reason with them, he tells Yahoo Lifestyle. But they were firm. I thought that was ridiculous. I just left. But someone re-posted a Snapchat message from a witness standing in line to the restaurants Facebook page. Honestly, I never expected this type of action taken from a town like Port Jefferson considering the racial diversity in a college town right next door wrote the Snapchat user, who later deleted her post. The bar replied, writing Harbor Grill embraces people of all races and religions, and we do not discriminate against anyone for their creed or color. We sincerely apologize for any distress that this incident may have caused. Please know that our weekend dress code policy is in place for the safety of all of our patrons. Anyone wearing any type of hat is welcome during normal restaurant hours; however, on Friday and Saturday nights after 10:00PM (after the kitchen is closed and there is a DJ and dancing), we do not allow hats or headwear in order to more capably identify people inside the establishment. Story continues The statement continued: This policy, posted at the entrance, applies to everyone; to pick and choose who can and cannot wear headwear of any type would truly be discriminatory against anyone else attempting to wear a hat inside. We are supplying a photo of the subject person, whose face is blacked out for their privacy, wearing what would be more widely perceived as the slang term dew rag or a stocking cap and not a traditional turban. As part of our ongoing internal investigation, the night bar manager in question insists that he explained the dress code in great detail two times to the subject person. Also, the subject person was refused entry and not kicked out as claimed in the original post. The claims of being threatened to be kicked out for attempting to video the interaction according to the manager are inaccurate in that it was other people (not the subject person) coming to the door afterward, seemingly attempting to coerce some sort of controversial response. Again, to reiterate, we welcome and appreciate all people coming to our establishment irrespective of any race or religion. On Thursday, Harbor Grills Facebook post was deleted and an evening manager did not return Yahoo Lifestyles interview request. Grewal says when Margot Garant, the mayor of Port Jefferson, read the Facebook post, she wrote about her concern. So Grewal says gave the mayor a call. Garant did not return an interview request from Yahoo Lifestyle, but Grewal says she offered support and advice. I was not allowed to practice my religion, he tells Yahoo Lifestyle. Its not justifiable. Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. PARIS (AP) A longtime chief of the Basque militant separatist group ETA has been jailed in France, a day after his arrest in a French Alpine town ended 17 years on the run. A French judicial official said Josu Ternera, the most wanted ETA member since 2002, was transferred to Paris, formally notified of the arrest warrant and ordered jailed. The official wasn't authorized to speak publicly. Ternera was arrested Thursday in the town of Sallanches. He was convicted in absentia in 2017 in France for involvement in a terrorist group and sentenced to eight years in prison. He has the right to request a new trial. Spain says it will ask France to extradite Ternera to stand trial for alleged crimes against humanity and multiple killings before he completes a French sentence. ETA, whose initials stand for "Basque Homeland and Freedom" in the Basque language, killed more than 850 people during its decades-long violent campaign to create an independent state in northern Spain and southern France. The militant group gave up its arms in 2017 and disbanded last year after being weakened by efforts to dismantle its operations and arrest its leaders. Ternera was one of the negotiators who sat down with Spanish government envoys for talks to try to end the group's activities in the mid-2000s. His voice was identified as one of two ETA members who read a statement announcing the group's dismantling on audio recordings released on May 3, 2018. Mayor Jean-Marc Peillex of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains said Ternera had been housed in the village of Saint Nicolas de Veroce, on the outskirts of his town. He speculated Friday that police were searching for accomplices who helped hide the long-time fugitive. "Who helped him? Who were the people around him? Were they aware? Were they not aware?" the mayor said. He also said an area popular with tourists is easy to hide in. French President Emmanuel Macron, touring the French Basque city of Biarritz ahead of a G-7 summit, was asked about the possibility of freedom for Ternera, whose real name is Jose Antonio Urruticoetxea Bengoetxea. Story continues He replied "Political reconciliation does not mean amnesty." ___ Jamey Keaten in Saint-Gervais-les-Bains contributed. Paris (AFP) - Belgian authorities have transferred Mehdi Nemmouche, the French jihadist who killed four people at a Jewish museum in 2014, to Paris for questioning over his suspected role in the kidnapping of four journalists in Syria in 2013, a legal source said Friday. Nemmouche, 34, was sentenced to life in prison in March for the anti-Semitic rampage in Brussels, when he gunned down two Israeli tourists, a French volunteer and a young Belgian employee. The museum attack came after his return from Syria's battlefields, where Nemmouche is accused of acting as the jailer of four French journalists taken hostage by jihadists in the northern city of Aleppo in 2013. During his Brussels trial two of the journalists testified they had no doubt Nemmouche was one of their captors. He was brought to France on Wednesday and is being held at the Meaux-Chauconin prison east of Paris, the legal source said, confirming a report in French magazine L'Express. Nemmouche and Nacer Bendrer, his accomplice in the museum attack, were already expected to serve their sentences in France. Even before the Brussels trial a French judge had summoned Nemmouche to France for questioning about the kidnapping, but he had refused to speak. The journalists were held by the Islamic State group in Aleppo for 13 months until their release in April 2014, when they were found blindfolded and with their hands bound in the no-man's land on the border between Syria and Turkey. Nicolas Henin, one of the kidnapped journalists, described Nemmouche in a magazine article later that year as "a self-centred fantasist for whom jihad was finally an excuse to satisfy his morbid thirst for notoriety. A young man lost and perverse." Switzerlands largest privately-owned watch conglomerate, the Swatch Group, unveiled its 2019 watches in Geneva to a small group of journalists during its newly minted press event Time to Move. The event was created after founder Nick Hayek decided to pull the entire group out of the annual Baselworld watch fair, which has recently been in decline as brands try new approaches to reaching retailers, clients and press. Robb Report was included among the group of international publications invited to attend the highly anticipated event, which involved press tours of all the Swatch Group prestige brands manufactures. Here are some of the highlights from each brand, but stay tuned as we roll out full coverage of the collections. Related stories Kari Voutlianien's New 28ti Watch Has an Inside-Out Movement Display Louis Moinet's Newest Watch Commemorates the Transcontinental Railroad's Golden Spike Phillips' George Daniels Pocket Watch Tops the Geneva Auctions at $2.4 Million Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Barakuda Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Barakuda Blancpains iconic Fifty Fathoms timepiece is hotter than ever in both new models and on the secondary market, so its not surprising that one of their most covetable releases came in the form of its famous diver model. The new Barakuda Fifty Fathoms is based on vintage models that were supplied to the German Bundesmarine in the 60s by Barakudaa company that specialized in technical diving equipment. (The first Fifty Fathoms model, created in 1953, was supplied to the French Frogmen.) The new model looks nearly identical to the original, which was also made for German civilians in the 60s, but comes with crisper two-tone rectangular hour markers accented with radium-type SuperLuminova and a sharp hour marker highlighted in white. Whats new is the uni-directional bezel with scratch-resistant domed sapphire, first unveiled by Blancpain in 2003. The 40mm watch (limited to 500 pieces) houses the calibre 1151 self-winding movement, is water resistant up to 300 meters and comes in a steel case on a tropical rubber strap. A 70s-era Barakuda model sold at Phillips last year for CHF 16,250 (approximately the same in dollars at the time of the sale) at the Geneva Watch Auction Seven. You can expect the new model ($14,100, limited to 500), as well as the vintage ones, to continue to climb in value. Story continues Breguet Classique Tourbillon Extra-Plat Squelette 5395 Breguet Classique Tourbillon Extra-Plat Squelette 5395 June 26th will mark 218 years since Abraham-Louis Breguet first invented the tourbillon to counteract the effects of gravity in a watch. Today a tourbillon serves as a piece of art meant to flex the technical expertise of a brands watchmakers, as well as serve as a fancy focal point on the face of a timepiece. In Breguets new Classique Tourbillon Extra-Plate Squelette 5395, the tourbillonoffset at 5 oclockis highlighted in the 581 caliber in the form of a skeleton timepiece. The new architecture called for the removal of almost 50 percent of the original movementthe remainder has been constructed in 18-karat gold. (For the record: the first time Breguet made an almost entirely gold movement was on Marie Antoinettes pocket watch commissioned in 1783 and completed 26 years after Breguet invented the tourbillon in 1801). The extra-thin caliber has a thickness of just 3mm, making for a lightweight timepiece despite its platinum case and rose gold movement. It has 80 hours of power reserve and a barrel beating at 4 Hertz. These pieces will go for CHF 220,000 in rose gold and CHF 235,000 in platinum. This piece is stunning in person and certainly the most ornate creation in Breguets current lineup. Omega Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Watch Omega Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Edition One of the most anticipated watch releases of the year was Omegas Speedmaster tribute for the 50th anniversary of mans first steps on the moon. (Although Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moon, he left his Omega Speedmaster 105.012 behind in the space module. Buzz Aldrin wore his Omega onto the surface of the moon at 03:15:16 UTC on July 21, 1969to date he remains the brands most important ambassador.) Unfortunately, it was a somewhat lackluster release for such a monumental anniversary. The 50th anniversary Speedmaster has many of the design features of the original, save for two glaring differences: the chronograph subdial at 9 oclock has been replaced with a miniature rendering of Buzz Aldrin descending from The Eagle. For hardcore moon-landing enthusiasts, this feature probably wont deter a purchase, but the cartoonish rendering takes away from the otherwise wonderfully utilitarian and straightforward designs that built the brands name. The second difference is a footprint-shaped engraving on the case back, dug out of a black-coated plate that mimics the texture of the moons surface. Its encircled by Neil Armstrongs famous saying, Thats one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind. Theres nothing particularly wrong with that, but wouldnt it have been so much better if it had neither of these gimmicks? To top it off, the watch is not particularly limited. The 42 mm by 13.89 mm-thick, steel timepiece ($8,900) comes in a run of 6,969 pieces. Omega Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Edition What is nice about the watch is its vintage style bracelet, which not only looks great but feels great to the touch and on the wrist. The dial also has a unique gray color that has a hint of blue in person. But because of the superfluous details, the moon watch winner of the year may be Omegas earlier release: the Moonshine Gold Apollo 11 Anniversary timepiece. The limited edition of 1,014 pieces debuted in March with a design based on a model gifted to astronauts (and President Nixon) at a dinner to honor their achievement in Houston on November 25th, 1969. Omega Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Limited Edition Moonshine Gold Glashutte Senator Chronometer Glashutte Original Senator Chronometer German watchmaker and Glashutte native Alfred Helwig was known for creating the flying tourbillon as we know it todayanchoring it only on one side to give the appearance of weightlessness. So its no surprise that Glashuttes most impressive timepiece this year is dedicated to the invention. The Senator Chronometer Tourbillon (limited to 25 in platinum, $152,300) boasts a flying tourbillon with a stop seconds mechanismwith a zero reset and minute detentactivated via the blue enamel crown. The tourbillon can be stopped mid-flight when the crown is pulled out, which also stops the second hand mounted on the cage. The Teutonic watchmaker is touting its tourbillon as the most accurate on the market. It has two patents pending and took more than 8 years of development led by its in-house female watch designer. It comes with 70 hours of power reserve, indicated at 9 oclock, with a tourbillon with one barrel and is chronometer certified (by the German Calibration Service in Glashutte, not the standard Swiss COSC certification). It has an extraordinary amount of finishing on the movement visible on its lower half and through the caseback and, when tilted at the right angle, reveals Chronometer Tourbillon which appears to be printed inside the top half of the interior of the case but is, in fact, a mirror effect reflecting the phrase which rests on the outer circumference of the hour and minute dial. But for the man whos looking for something less ornate in his dress watch, the Senator Chronometer (above right in rose gold, $24,300), first launched in 2009, is a sharp, pared down offering inspired by Glashutte marine chronometers from the 19th and 20th century. Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Chronograph Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Chronograph Jaquet Droz is known for its extraordinarily intricate metiers dart and automaton pieces, but its classic dress watches for men have plenty of appeal in the brands figure 8 designequally inherent to its DNA. Its Grande Second collection is presenting the design for the first time in a chronograph and features an off-center layout in blue and gray dials in steel cases ($19,400) save for the rose gold version in a vertical layout with a Grand Feu ivory enamel dial ($33,000, limited to 88). In the 43mm steel versions, the dials are finished by hand using a dry sand-blasting technique to accentuate the graining. The blue and gray tone dials are not only standouts, but also the first time these exact colors have been used on dials by Jaquet Droz. Each piece features a monopusher, at 4 oclock in steel and 3 oclock in rose gold, to preserve a minimalist design. Harry Winston Histoire de Tourbillon and Emerald 33 Harry Winston Histoire de Tourbillon 10 Harry Winston presented so many different watch skews this season, picking just one seems like a monumental task. So here weve picked two wildly different models to present the breadth of the collection. First up, is the grandiose Histoire de Tourbillon 10. The first Histoire de Tourbillon was launched in 2009 and the tenth version will be the last of this limited-edition series. The watch comes with a whopping four distinct tourbillons in a piece comprised of 673 components encased in a gigantic 53.3 mm-wide by 39.1 mm x tall case made predominately of sapphire crystal. It sits like a glass box on the wrist. Despite the durability of sapphire crystal, it seems like a rather precarious piece for the wrist at $770,000 (the price of the unique platinum piece) but then again, this is clearly not a piece youll be running your errands in. In addition to its four separate symmetrically aligned tourbillons, the piece also has three differentials and two double spinning barrels. This piece is practically a mini-museum exhibition case for the wrist to show off Swatch Groups technical savior faire. In addition to the singular platinum version, it will also come in red gold and white gold, limited to 10 pieces each. Clearly its not for everyone, but thats the point. Harry Winston Emerald 33 If youre in search of something more discreet, the new Harry Winston Emerald 33 watches are a really nice introduction from the brand. In an octagonal rectangular shape, also known as an emerald cut in the world of diamonds, this case was previously only available in small sizes for women. The new 33mm case works for both a man looking for a smaller, sleeker watch and a woman looking for something that will stand out on her wristinitial reactions among the group assembled for the Swatch Group preview suggested it appealed to both men and women in the room. The watch comes in both automatic (approximately $18,000) and quartz (approximately $14,000), as well as diamond-bezel versions (around $22,000). There were plenty of other stellar gem-set timepiecesincluding a kaleidoscope pendant (with actual gems to create the mosaic motifs) that doubles as a watchso stay tuned. Harry Winston also revealed that its currently working on a new Opus timepiece, developed with an independent watchmaker for the last three to four years. The watchmaker hasnt unveiled a new Opus since 2015, but there is no word, and reportedly no rush, on its release date yet. Sign up for Robb Report's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. By James Oliphant WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has shown surprising strength in the first three weeks of his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, prompting a persistent question: Can anyone stop him? Biden holds a significant lead in opinion polls over the 23 other Democratic contenders. Republican President Donald Trump is treating him like his top threat in 2020. Ahead of his formal campaign kickoff on Saturday at an outdoor rally in Philadelphia, Biden, 76, has seemingly put to rest doubts about his age and his ability to raise money as well as questions over whether he is out of step with the Democratic Party. The rest of the race now revolves around Joe Biden, said Joe Trippi, a longtime Democratic operative who is not aligned with the campaign. But traps may lie ahead. The first major opportunity for Bidens competitors to dent his lead comes next month in the first of a dozen Democratic presidential debates. Biden could find himself as the leading target of attacks, particularly from progressives. He also has a history of gaffes, something that could be problematic in the national spotlight. "I've long said Joe Bidens best days will be the beginning of this campaign," said Charles Chamberlain, executive director of the progressive advocacy group Democracy for America. According to Real Clear Politics, Biden is backed by about 40% of the Democratic electorate on average in opinion polls, giving him more than a 20 percentage-point lead over his nearest challenger, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Experienced presidential strategists told Reuters that while they expect some other Democrats to eventually become top contenders, Bidens strength is likely sustainable. They cited two main factors: The massive Democratic field makes it difficult for any one candidate to stand out, and voters tend to be risk-averse when seeking a candidate to topple a sitting president. Story continues FAR AFIELD In recent elections, early front-runners such as Democrat Al Gore, himself a former vice president, in 2000 and Republican Mitt Romney in 2012 largely kept a lock on the nomination, despite some bumps along the way. In 2008, Democratic favorite Hillary Clinton was overtaken by Barack Obama to secure the nomination, but Obama took advantage of a relatively small field to steadily amass support as the top alternative to Clinton. When Clinton ran again in 2016, Sanders tried to do the same thing with a similarly small field and almost succeeded. That becomes exponentially harder with the 2020 scrum, with its 20-plus candidates all vying for attention and money. Trippi said more than a dozen Democrats trying to challenge Biden have consulted Trippi on strategy. Ive told every single one of them that Joe Biden is going to be more formidable than they thought, and it was going to be tough for anyone to emerge from this field, he said. Biden also is aided by the perception among some voters that he may be a safer choice to take on Trump than a less-known politician. In the 2004 primary, Democrat John Kerry, a longtime party fixture with a strong national-security background, used that argument to wrest the nomination from Howard Dean, like Sanders an upstart progressive from Vermont. Robert Shrum, Kerrys top strategist at the time, said Democrats began to panic at the thought of running Dean against Republican President George W. Bush. Which candidate could beat Bush became the defining question, Shrum said. AVOIDING LANDMINES Shrum cautioned, however, the 2020 race could still shift. Biden would be the oldest president ever elected, and he will need to seem vigorous and energetic" at the debates, Shrum said. This is a dynamic process," Shrum said. "It is not frozen in amber. A lot depends on his conduct. Biden, who spent 40 years in the U.S. Senate and two terms as Obama's vice president, must also defend his record to progressive voters who view him as too moderate. In the past week alone, Biden has been challenged over his stance on combating climate change and his support for the 1990s crime bill, which is viewed by critics as leading to mass incarceration of African-Americans. When we get to that whites-of-their-eyes stage of the campaign and candidates realize the only way to improve their market share is to take Biden head-on, that's when the real test begins, said Kevin Madden, a former top aide to Romney. Those tensions within the party could lead to some tough stretches for Biden, despite his current position. In 2012, Romney was the early front-runner, only to yield to challengers such as Rick Perry and Rick Santorum at different times before finally re-asserting himself as the favorite. Madden said Romney's campaign made hats with the slogan The Long Slog for a reason. No one is going to give you the nomination, he said, and every other candidate has a plan to take it away from you. (Reporting by James Oliphant; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Cynthia Osterman) GOWRIE, Ia. People in New York City and rural Iowa have one thing in common they're both populated by "working people" who want the government to work for them, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said here Friday. In his first trip to Iowa since announcing his campaign for president, reporters asked de Blasio how the mayor of America's largest city can relate to rural Iowans. "I think there's more that unites us than divides us, I really believe that. When you talk to people here about what they're going through, (there's) a lot of economic uncertainty," he said after touring the POET ethanol plant in Gowrie, a town of about 1,000 residents in northern Iowa. "They're hurting because of the tariffs now they're really hitting Iowa farmers hard and they want a better lifestyle for their family and they want the government to be on their side. "Doesn't matter where you come from, that's a universal reality." Democratic presidential candidate New York Mayor Bill de Blasio tours the POET Biorefining Ethanol Facility, Friday, May 17, 2019, in Gowrie, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) De Blasio made an unconventional first trip as a Democratic presidential candidate to the first-in-the-nation state on Friday, choosing not to introduce himself and outline his issues at rallies or even meet-and-greets in front of would-be supporters. Instead he took a tour of the ethanol plant with former Gov. Tom Vilsack, met privately with family farmers in Greene County, and held a private discussion with Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie and mental health care professionals. The mayor was scheduled to speak Friday night at a fundraiser for the Woodbury County Democratic Party in Sioux City, a group he meets with in late February as he mulled a run for president. When asked why he decided to take the unusual approach, de Blasio said he still has plenty of time to have traditional campaign events before the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 3, 2020. "We're doing it piece-by-piece, but what I'm really focusing on today is listening to Iowans. It's not: me, me, me. It's: 'listen to the people,'" he said. Story continues In Gowrie, reporters followed de Blasio and Vilsack as they toured the ethanol plant. A farmer wearing an Iowa State University ball cap had just pulled in to drop off a load of corn when de Blasio stopped to introduce himself. Later, one of POET's employees gave de Blasio a handful of distillers grain, a byproduct of ethanol used for animal feed. De Blasio said the farmer explained how "absolutely vital" it is to his family's well-being and his farm's bottom line to have an ethanol plant nearby "I want to see a lot more farming communities have these kinds of biofuel facilities," de Blasio said. "Biofuels are a really important part of the future." Iowa is the nation's leading ethanol and biodiesel producer. About half of Iowa's corn production goes into making ethanol and distillers grain. There are 42 corn ethanol plants in the state, according to the Iowa Corn Growers Association. But instead of increasing the production of ethanol or making it easier for farmers to contribute their grain, the Trump administration has "favored big petroleum companies," de Blasio said. "That has to end," he said. Democratic presidential candidate New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, center, tours the POET Biorefining Ethanol Facility with former Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, left, and POET general manager Wael Sanduka, right, Friday, May 17, 2019, in Gowrie, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) Vilsack, who served as Secretary of Agriculture under President Barack Obama, told the Des Moines Register that he and de Blasio spoke of the importance of the Renewable Fuel Standard and E15 gasoline with 15 percent ethanol to Iowa's economy. Most gasoline used today contains 10 percent ethanol, though late last year, President Donald Trump directed the Environmental Protection Agency to begin rulemaking that would allow for year-round E15 use. The agency released its proposal in March and hopes to have changes in place by the summer. Vilsack has not endorsed a candidate for president, but said he has spoken with nearly all who have campaigned in Iowa. He has said candidates must have a clear vision for rural America in order to win the White House in 2020. When he visited Iowa in February, the New York mayor acknowledged that he still needed to learn more about agriculture and rural issues. He noted at the time that he reached out to Vilsack to help with that process. In Des Moines, de Blasio met privately with representatives from Optimae LifeServices, a mental health care organization, who wanted to speak with him about challenges facing Iowans. Critics have said the state's shift to private management of Medicare has led to cuts in services for members and unpaid bills to the agencies providing their care. "We know there's been huge mistakes made by a Republican governor this governor and the previous governor that really undermined the ability for people to get health care and to get mental health care," de Blasio said. In addition, Iowans have increasingly had a difficult time finding mental health care. Iowa closed its mental institutions at Clarinda and Mount Pleasant in 2015. In the past dozen years, six hospitals statewide have closed their inpatient psychiatric units. Psychiatrists are scarce in Iowa, especially in rural areas. Only about 220 of them practice here, giving the state one of the deepest shortages in the nation. In New York City, de Blasio introduced a new insurance plan to provide health care to 600,000 New Yorkers who are uninsured. He also started ThriveNYC, an organization dedicated to boosting funds for existing mental health organizations and helps residents find care in the city. "This issue health care, mental health care is going to be central to our campaign," de Blasio said. "It's central to what we're doing in New York." This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Bill de Blasio had an unconventional first trip to Iowa as a presidential candidate If youre a fan of Bitcoin Cash, you will find a lot of activity over on Reddit. Reddit has become an extremely popular place for many cryptocurrency communities with many announcements and plenty of discussion taking place. The history of the biggest Bitcoin Cash reddit page r/btc is an interesting one. Like Bitcoin Cash itself, r/btc split from the traditional r/bitcoin subreddit over claims of censorship stemming from the scaling debate issue. Why was r/btc created? While the scaling debate still rumbles on to this day following the split of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash, it was the split of the Bitcoin subreddits that happened first. There are two major cryptocurrency subreddits: r/Bitcoin and r/btc. r/btc was created as a rebellion against the r/bitcoin subreddit due to fears over censorship. Since then, and in particular since the Bitcoin hard fork, r/btc has gone on to become the leading subreddit for Bitcoin Cash. There have been numerous splits in the community since the scaling debate, and this is just one of them. For those in the Bitcoin Cash camp, they believe that their views were being suppressed on the r/bitcoin subreddit. When they attempted to talk about making the block size bigger, they found themselves banned or would have their posts removed. Many in the r/btc subreddit subscribe to the theory that r/bitcoin is a place for sock puppets and Blockstream shills who never want to see bigger blocks on Bitcoin. The same allegations have been made from members of r/bitcoin though, with many accusing r/btc of being full of Roger Ver sock puppets. Do not be surprised when you visit r/btc to find many issues or criticisms levelled at BCH being blamed on Bitcoin. If this all sounds rather childish, then actually visiting these subreddits or viewing the way both communities interact with each other isnt going to change your mind. Despite the hard fork happening and the two Bitcoins being separate entities with different development teams, the childish attacks and vitriol still occurs to this day. This is true for both sides of the debate. Story continues Roger Ver, one of the main proponents behind Bitcoin Cash, is a moderator of r/btc and consistently posts in the subreddit to keep the community updated on BCH and engage with the community (and to attack BTC of course). In fairness to r/btc, the subreddit does allow a much wider debate on the positives and negatives of both BTC and BCH as one would expect when they are against censorship. However, due to the fervent support of BCH, you can expect positive posts about BTC or negative criticism of BCH to be downvoted. If you are looking for a balanced, mature debate, Reddit as a whole might not be the place for you. Censorship on forums Censorship can certainly restrict the freedom of ideas, and the forum can at times become a cesspool of nonsensical discussion. This is the delicate balancing act that moderators of forums have to deal with. Without moderators, forums can easily fall into chaos with duplicate posts and inane chatter. However, too much moderation can lead to an echo chamber of ideas and little debate. Which subreddit you prefer will likely come down to which cryptocurrency you support. If you are a big fan of BCH, then r/btc is most certainly the place for you to discuss your thoughts. However, if you support BTC, then it is unlikely you will find many friends in the r/btc community and you may want to stick to r/bitcoin. r/bitcoincash There is also a smaller but still popular BCH subreddit known as r/bitcoincash. Although the subreddit has much fewer members than r/btc around 43,000 it is still fairly active. This subreddit contains less debate than its alternative and seems to focus more on news and updates regarding Bitcoin Cash. While r/btc will still have Bitcoin debates, r/BitcoinCash focuses solely on BCH. Conclusion Reddit can be a useful place to find information about your favourite cryptocurrencies. At the same time though, debates can sink into vitriolic comments and lazy arguments. This is true of any kind of forum. For BCH supporters, there is no other place to be than r/btc for all your Bitcoin Cash needs. When reading information on any cryptocurrency subreddit, ensure you cross-reference the sources. There are many shills on every Reddit hoping to lure in suckers to buy their bags. Stay safe out there! The post The Bitcoin Cash subreddits you need to start following appeared first on Coin Rivet. Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - Behind the virulent speech and aggressive body language of Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro is an uncharismatic introvert deeply uncomfortable in public, experts say. Far from being a great orator like left-wing former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the former army captain speaks with a lisp in a style that is often tense and combative. Like his US counterpart Donald Trump, whom he openly admires, Bolsonaro is a big fan of social media networks, such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, which allow him to express himself in a forceful manner without having to worry about his awkward gestures. "He is anything but an extroverted person. He is really not charismatic," says David Leucas, a psychologist and non-verbal language specialist at Santa Ursula University in Rio de Janeiro. "The shape of his face evokes an angry person and his body language is often aggressive. "Normally he gesticulates a lot, energetically, with an open hand that starts at the chest and moves forward, typical of a person trying to establish a relationship of domination." But Bolsonaro's behavior changes according to the context, audience and subject: when he is uncomfortable his speech is less fluid and sounds like dictation. Such was the case at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January -- his first overseas outing as president. Bolsonaro used only six of the 45 minutes allocated to him for a speech many considered dull and superficial. - 'Turtle effect' - "When he's under pressure, you can see his body freeze, his shoulders come in -- it's called the turtle effect," says Leucas. A close examination of video footage of Bolsonaro's Davos speech shows his eyes constantly searching for the teleprompter and his body swaying. "He does not have a strong anchorage and he is constantly shifting his weight from one leg to the other, which is a sign of anxiety," says Leucas. Story continues "If he is uncomfortable, either he is completely tense or he starts to shun people and adopts more aggressive language." Where the 64-year-old does appear to feel comfortable is at military ceremonies, which he attends frequently. "It is clear that he is much more relaxed in the presence of soldiers. His posture is more natural than when he is faced with journalists, for example," says Sergio Senna, professor of the Brazilian Institute of Body Language. Despite his public-speaking shortcomings, Bolsonaro's tough talk on crime and corruption resonated with many voters in last year's elections. Over the years the president has learned to somewhat "soften" his speech and better control his emotions, says Senna. But old habits are hard to break. As a member of Congress for nearly three decades, Bolsonaro was known for his often racist, misogynistic and homophobic remarks and a penchant for hurling insults. "Throughout his political career, many people have taken advantage of this character trait -- he is very irritable and when he starts to get upset he goes over the edge," says Senna. - Hate speech - Bolsonaro makes heavy use of military or nationalist terms and appears to go to great lengths to avoid political correctness. "His way of avoiding political correctness is to speak harshly and aggressively," says Claudiana Nogueira de Alencar, professor of linguistics at Ceara State University. Religious references also pepper the president's discourse, which is not surprising given the strong political support he receives from evangelicals. Bolsonaro's own faith appears to have strengthened after he survived a knife attack during last year's campaign. He often uses a verse from the Book of John in the Bible -- "You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." He said it during his victory speech in October when he also claimed to have felt "the presence of God and the strength of the Brazilian people." "He presents himself as an apostle of sincerity in the face of the hypocrisy of political correctness," says Nogueira. "But he actually delivers his own version of the truth to propagate his hate speech." N'Djamena (AFP) - Boko Haram jihadists have killed 13 villagers in eastern Chad, where they have become increasingly active, local authorities told AFP Friday. Armed militants targeted the village of Ceilia early Thursday morning, killing the local chief and his family and setting fire to homes before killing another nine people on their way out, said Dimouya Soiapebe, a Lake Chad province official. Soldiers did not arrive in time to stop the killings. The attackers "came very early in the morning to surprise the villagers in their sleep", during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan," said Soiapebe. Soldiers are sweeping the area, and the security presence in the area will be reinforced, a high official said. Boko Haram's decade-long uprising to establish a hardline Islamic state in Nigeria's northeast has spilled into neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon. A regional military coalition is battling the radical Islamist group, but at least 27,000 people have been in killed in Nigeria alone, and some two million forced from their homes. Rwanda plans to build Africas first green city, located on the outskirts of Kigali to provide fully sustainable infrastructure, green spaces and housing for low-income people. The ambitious project worth $5 billion is seen as the materialization of the Wakanda, in reference to Black Panther, a movie which depicts Wakanda, a fictional African city in which ecology and technology are the main focus. According to the government, the construction work will start in January 2020. The project proposes a new vision in the green urbanization sector. It will be based in particular on new principles of sustainable development, as well as a new regulatory framework for mobility, electricity and ecological building construction standards, officials said. The project will involve the construction of a set of 410 houses spread over 13 hectares. Construction and management of green spaces will respect many ecological aspects. The first phase of the project, entrusted to the British company Horizon Group, will involve the construction of the houses. For the second phase of the project, affordable ecological housing will be built on 125 hectares of land for the poorest populations. The last phase will integrate commercial and office buildings to attract innovative green companies. The project is financially backed by German Development Cooperation, through the KfW Development Bank. By Lais Martins SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil will overhaul rules for selecting projects to reduce deforestation supported by the Amazon Fund, which is financed by Norway and Germany, after discovering irregularities in spending, Environment Minister Ricardo Salles said on Friday. Salles said non-governmental organizations (NGOs) had failed to account for the way they use money disbursed to them from the $1.28 billion fund administered by Brazilian state development bank BNDES. Salles, a climate change skeptic, told reporters he and BNDES had agreed that the governance and rules for awards must be changed to better direct spending. Salles said 82% of the awards that the ministry had inspected were granted without a bidding process and that he was recommending no new funding of projects for now. The Norwegian embassy said it had neither received nor agreed to any proposal to change the management of the fund or the criteria for allocating resources. "Norway is satisfied with the robust governance structure of the Amazon Fund and the significant results that the entities supported by the Fund have achieved in the last 10 years," it said in a statement. BNDES declined comment. The fund supports Brazil's environmental agency Ibama in its efforts to go after illegal loggers in the world's largest rainforest, which scientists see as vital to fight climate change because it absorbs vast amounts of carbon dioxide. At the local community level, the fund helps develop sustainable livelihoods on forest products so they do not need to cut down trees. Members of Brazil's new right-wing government believe climate change is a leftist conspiracy aimed at hindering economic development and they accuse foreign NGO's of meddling in its affairs. President Jair Bolsonaro has said he wants to open the Amazon region to commercial agriculture and mining. After he took office in January, his government withdrew its offer to host the 2019 United Nations conference on climate change, maintaining that Brazil's sovereignty over the Amazon was at stake. Norway has donated $1.2 billion to the fund, and Germany $68 million, with Brazil's state-run oil company contributing $7.7 million. More than 60% of awards have gone to environmental projects by federal, state and municipal governments, though awards have ground to a halt since Bolsonaro took office. Its annual funding is linked to Brazil's success in reducing Amazon deforestation in the prior year. Norway has cut its support for the fund in the past when deforestation increased. Announcing a $70 million donation for 2017 in December, the Norwegian government said it was concerned over a new surge in destruction of the Amazon rainforest. (Reporting by Lais Martin; Writing by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Susan Thomas and Grant McCool) RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) Pope Francis accepted Friday the resignation of a Brazilian bishop who is under investigation by local authorities. The Vatican announced the resignation of Bishop Vilson Dias de Oliveira and named Archbishop Orlando Brandes of Aparecida as a temporary replacement to run the Limeira diocese in Sao Paulo. The Vatican did not provide details on why de Oliveira resigned, but at age 60, he is well below bishops' usual retirement age of 75. The statement included a letter, entitled "I feel small," signed by the bishop. "Dear brothers and sisters, in these last months we have faced all kinds of crosses, through attacks on our particular Church of Limeira, myself and several priests," the letter read. He did not, however, go into any details about why he was resigning. The Sao Paulo prosecutor's office confirmed the police's investigations but did not comment further. According to local news outlets, de Oliveira is investigated for extortion, illicit enrichment and the cover-up of alleged cases of sexual harassment. There is a lesson in British politics for the rest of the world: A democratic revolt of the people against the establishment cannot be resisted forever. The immediate result of the Brexit vote in 2016 and Parliaments decision to accede to the will of the electorate and turn in its Article 50 notice to the EU was a strengthening of the two oldest mainstream parties, Tory and Labour, against the ultra-Remain party, the Liberal Democrats, and the ultra-Brexit party, UKIP. The Tory and Labour parties subsequently pledged in their campaign manifestos to deliver on the result of the 2016 referendum, and usher the U.K. out of the EU in a timely and orderly fashion. That Article 50 notice promised an exit date of at the end of March 2019, a date that was repeated endlessly in the media. By endorsing the populist outcome, both parties looked like they might thrive. And then Parliament refused to pass Theresa Mays negotiated agreement by that date, and also refused to crash out of the EU on WTO terms. Leading voices in both the Tory and Labour parties began to embrace the idea of a second Brexit referendum, obviously hoping that voters would come to retroactively bless their indecision, and possibly relieve them of Brexit altogether. Voters seem inclined to destroy them instead. And now those two parties are about to reap their reward in the grinning face of Nigel Farage, and in his new Brexit party, which has welcomed in Brexiteers from the left and the right. The former leader of UKIP, and a man who helped the Brexit cause get over the line in 2016, has done some studying on the new populist politics. And he is newly sharp. Asked by the media why his party did not publish a traditional manifesto, he said, I will never, ever use that word manifesto. I think in most peoples word association, manifesto equals lie. After the performance of Parliament in the last two years, who could possibly dispute the charge? Even though this new party is only a few weeks old, Farages outfit is already polling as likely to win a majority of the seats in the European parliamentary elections on May 23rd a contest that his party believes should never have happened in the U.K. The Brexit party is polling at over 30 percent, with the Tories dropping to 12 percent and rapidly heading for the single digits. If this is a foreshadowing of how U.K. parliamentary elections will go, then the Brexit party is an existential threat to the Tories. Story continues Its also a sign that the Tories can no longer play the Corbyn card against their own supporters. Previously it was thought that Tory voters would be so afraid of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn becoming prime minister that these voters would never defect or try to teach the Tory party a lesson by staying home. But voters seem to think that the democratic principle itself is more important than their preferred party. After all, the government solicited the opinion of the British people in the Brexit referendum. That same government campaigned overwhelmingly for Remain, and deployed incredible scare stories about immediate economic recession in the wake of a pro-Brexit result, even invoking unknown threats to European peace in the wake of it. The voters rebuked them. But, after more than two years, members of Parliament have done little more than deliver lip service to the Brexit cause, with a heaping dash of grumbling about having to get on with it. A second referendum at this stage amounts to a reversal of parliamentary democracy, in which elected members demand voters do a better job of mirroring Parliaments priorities. The Tory party has a history of letting its own internal politics distract its members from anger issues in the United Kingdom. But the initial polling for the Brexit party should awaken them to the fact that they face an existential threat due to their own dithering and impotence. They must decide immediately whether the government should negotiate a deal Parliament can support, or whether the Tory members in Parliament ought to set aside their criticisms of the deal on offer and save their party from imminent destruction. The promises that Brexit will happen at some point in the future or that Theresa May will be replaced at some later date, when it is more opportune for the chancery who would do the replacing, must come to an end. This is no longer a choice for the public, but for the Tory party. Leave or be pushed out for good. More from National Review MANILA, May 17 (Reuters) - The top enforcer of a brutal war on drugs in the Philippines on Friday dared prosecutors to go after him for the deaths of thousands of people, after activists warned that his election to the Senate could insulate him from legal action. Ronald dela Rosa, President Rodrigo Duterte's top lieutenant in a crackdown that alarmed the international community, shrugged off calls for him to be investigated for what human rights groups say were systematic police cover-ups, falsified reports and summary executions. The former national police chief, nicknamed "Bato" (rock), was endorsed by Duterte in a May 13 election in which he is all but certain to win a seat in the powerful Senate. "Bring it on, bring it on. Whatever they want, I will not run away," dela Rosa told news channel ANC when asked about a possible probe, including by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague. "Whatever, whatever, whenever," he added. Duterte's allies swept the midterm polls in what was seen as a ringing public endorsement of the president's controversial rule and the war on drugs that has defined it. Dela Rosa and the government insist the more than 5,000 suspected drug dealers whom police have killed in anti-narcotics operations had all put up a fight. "We have to protect ourselves, we have to defend ourselves," he said. Many more have died - the estimates vary from thousands to more than 20,000 - in incidents that police say could be drug-related, but were not part of their operations. Dela Rosa is included in a crimes against humanity complaint lodged by a Filipino lawyer with the ICC, a court of last resort. In February 2018, it announced it had started a preliminary examination into the war on drugs. Accusing the ICC of bias, Duterte a month later canceled the Philippines' ICC membership, a move legal experts say makes no difference as its jurisdiction covers crimes committed during a country's membership period. Story continues Duterte promised when elected in 2016 to eliminate crime and drugs. He and dela Rosa publicly admit they failed, but blame that on the scale of the methamphetamine problem rather than what critics say is a flawed campaign designed to shock by targeting users in slums, instead of the big suppliers. In a blog post on Friday, Carlos Conde, Philippines researcher for Human Rights Watch, said dela Rosa "may still have a date with justice." "Now that dela Rosa is a policymaker, there is renewed urgency in bringing all those responsible for 'drug war' crimes to justice," he said. (Reporting by Martin Petty; Editing by Nick Macfie) United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Britain on Friday challenged Russia and Syria to provide assurances to the UN Security Council that attacks on hospitals and schools in northwest Syria will stop. The council was meeting in an emergency session to discuss the surge of fighting in the Idlib region that has raised alarm of an imminent all-out assault which could lead to a humanitarian catastrophe. At least 18 hospitals and clinics have been destroyed or damaged by air strikes and shelling over recent weeks, several of which were on UN "no target" lists that detail exact locations of the health facilities to the warring sides, the UN aid chief told the council. "Russia and Syria are the only countries that fly planes in the area," British Ambassador Karen Pierce told the council. "I think we need answers today." "If the answer is the Russian and Syrian air forces, I call on both ambassadors here today to give us the assurance that the attacks will stop." Russia rejected accusations that hospitals and other civilian infrastructure were being targeted and stressed that military operations were aimed at wiping out terrorists. "We categorically reject accusations of violations of international humanitarian law," Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the council. "Not the Syrian army, or the Syrian air force, or Russia are conducting hostilities against civilians or civilian infrastructure." "Our goal is the terrorists," he said. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate which is on the UN terror list, controls most of Idlib province as well as parts of neighboring Aleppo, Hama and Latakia provinces. More than 180,000 people have been displaced by the latest violence in three weeks, UN aid chief Mark Lowcock said, and up to 160 people have been killed. The region was to have been spared from a major offensive under a de-escalation agreement between Russia, Iran and Turkey, which has ties to the rebels. The war in Syria, now in its ninth year, has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions since it started with the brutal repression of anti-government protests. * Intends to keep Oaktree brand; not to be 100% owner * Wants Marks to continue his investment work, memos * Business is "quite complete," no plan to buy more for now * Asia-Pacific growing fast, to reach 25% of total long term By Tomo Uetake and Hideyuki Sano TOKYO, May 17 (Reuters) - Brookfield Asset Management's (BAM) chief executive wants Howard Marks, the veteran distressed debt guru and co-founder of Oaktree Capital, to continue his investment work, including his letters to clients, for years to come. BAM announced that it will take a majority stake in Oaktree in March, with the surprise move sparking speculation that Brookfield's chief executive Bruce Flatt could become an heir to Oaktree's 73-year-old investing "legend." Known in investment circles for his "memos to Oaktree clients," which he has been writing since the 1990s, Marks counts Warren Buffett as one of his most avid readers. "We want Mr. Marks to keep doing what he does, we want him to keep writing his letters. He didn't quite commit to 25 years but I told him 25 years would be helpful," Flatt told Reuters in an interview during a visit to Tokyo. Flatt said Toronto-based BAM, which agreed to buy a 62% stake in Los Angeles-headquartered Oaktree Capital for $4.8 billion to creating a rival to players like Blackstone , has no plans to buy other asset managers for now. The Canadian financier also said he does not plan to increase BAM's stake in Oaktree to 100%, although the deal allows it to do so after 2022. "We weren't interested in a 100% of the company because we wanted them to run the business and we wanted them to remain with the business to keep their stake. Our goal is to keep the Oaktree brand to continue those strategies within Oaktree and differentiate them in that way," he said. Brookfield is a leading global alternative asset management firm and has total assets of $365 billion under management in more than 30 countries, with a focus on real estate, renewable power, infrastructure and private equity. Story continues Asked if there would be more acquisitions in the coming year, Flatt said "we have no intentions of doing more. Our business is quite complete for what we want to do." "But you never say never," Flatt added. Flatt flagged close investment philosophies at Oaktree and BAM, which he said was growing fast in the Asia-Pacific region. "Our Asian business is modest compared to the total scale of our build today but will grow significantly in the next 10 years. Longer term, I think 25% of our business will be in Asia. Currently its about 10% for the Asia-Pacific," he said. (Reporting by Tomo Uetake; Editing by Alexander Smith) OTTAWA, May 17 (Reuters) - Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday will meet with steelworkers and the media at the Stelco steel plant in Hamilton, Ontario, at 1:30 p.m. local time (1730 GMT), a spokesman wrote on Twitter. Cameron Ahmad, Trudeau's director of communications, provided no further details, but the surprise meeting was announced just before reports that the United States had reached a deal to remove tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and Mexico. (Reporting by Steve Scherer; editing by Jonathan Oatis) Zimbabwe will develop three solar photovoltaic power plants with a total capacity of 250 MW, local media reported. The three solar photovoltaic power plants will be installed in Goromonzi, Bulawayo and the capital Harare. The first two will each have a 100 MW capacity while the last one will have a capacity of 50 MW. The construction will be carried out by a local independent producer, Guarantee Risk Solar, in collaboration with Bushveld Energy (eXcess Africa), a South African company. The total cost of the three projects is estimated at about $400 million. Zimbabwe is currently experiencing its worst power cuts in three years, lasting up to 10 hours daily in some areas and threatening mining output in one of the worlds biggest platinum and gold producers. These cuts are due to low water levels at the Kariba dam, the countrys main electricity supplier. The new plants are seen as an alternative to the power situation in the southern African nation. The mining sector, which generated most of Zimbabwes $4.8 billion export earnings last year, is crucial to President Emmerson Mnangagwa. According to the leaders of the new power project, it is urgent for Zimbabwe to adapt its electricity production to climate change. We need to change the way electricity is produced. There are also advantages to using renewable energy, particularly in terms of revenue. We want to allow the country to make margins on energy imports, George Beukes, Executive Director of eXcess Africa said. By Sarah White and Phyllis Xu CANNES, France, May 17 (Reuters) - Mati Diop, the first woman of African descent to compete for the top prize at Cannes with a haunting film about migrants, said on Friday the label made her "sad" but showed how much work there was to do for equality in the movie industry. The director -- whose debut feature film "Atlantics," set in Senegal, evokes the impact of migrant journeys on those left behind -- said she was also driven by a desire to see black lives represented on screen. "It was really a need, a very urgent need," Diop told a news conference. "It wasn't the only motor of the film, because it is not a motor that is enough to write a story, but at the end of the script, I was like 'Now I want to see these black actors' ... and a lot of people need that." The French-Senegalese filmmaker took an unusual path to get there, working with a cast of first time actors -- some of whom were approached on the streets of Dakar. Diop added that she was moved when seeing films with black stars, including those of "Get Out" director Jordan Peele. Developed from Diop's 2009 documentary short about a Senegalese man who died making a sea crossing to Spain, "Atlantics" shifts the focus to the women left behind as a group of men disappear on their journey. Praised by critics for its absorbing atmosphere, the film is richly poetic, lingering on the waves crashing onto the coast -- menacingly at times, pulling viewers into a trance at others. "I think the first idea was to turn the ocean into an accomplice to people leaving by sea. I saw the ocean as a supernatural force which swallowed up youth into its depth," Diop said. The movie also has other mystical moments, as the narrative takes a ghostly turn. Diop and three other female directors -- Jessica Hausner, Celine Sciamma and Justine Triet -- were picked as contenders in Cannes' main competition this year, out of 21 entries. Story continues Diop said it was striking that she was the first black women to make the cut. "My first feeling, to be honest, was a little sadness, that this only happens now, today, in 2019. It is pretty late, and it is incredible that it is still an event today," she said. "It is always a reminder that so much work needs to be done still." (Reporting by Sarah White; Editing by Catherine Evans) Looking to make a difference this weekend? From a flea market and craft sale to a fundraiser for felines, there's plenty to do when it comes to good causes coming up in Philadelphia this weekend. Read on for a rundown. Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. Penn Treaty School Festival & Sale From the event description: Sponsored by Friends of Penn Treaty School, the fourth 4th annual flea market and craft sale will raise money for extracurricular activities at Penn Treaty School. Guests can buy a spot with or without a table, sell craft items and promote their local business or organization. Participants can also sponsor a table for a student or student group to sell items or make a donation. When: Saturday, May 18, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Where: 600 E Thompson St. Price: Free Click here for more details, and to get your tickets The 18th Annual East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention From the event description: The East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention is an annual gathering of comic book artists, writers and their fans who are interested in discussing, buying and selling comic books, sci-fi, action figures and more. The event also features panel discussions, costume contest, self-publishing, graphic arts workshops and film screenings by veterans and amateurs. When: Saturday, May 18, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Where: Temple University Student Faculty Center, 3340 N. Broad St. Price: $0-$45 Click here for more details, and to get your tickets Sip, Shop & Support: Philadelphia Charity Blogger Closet Sale From the event description: Philadelphia locals, bloggers and Erica Ligenza and Laurelle Gunderson have teamed up with Sonesta Philadelphia, Ruffino Wines and a half a dozen other Philadelphia bloggers to put together a closet sale. There will be wine, food, and a variety of brand new or gently worn clothing pieces. All proceeds will be donated to the Northeast Animal Rescue. Story continues When: Saturday, May 18, 1-5 p.m. Where: Sonesta Philadelphia Downtown Rittenhouse Square, Ballroom, 1800 Market St. Price: Free Click here for more details, and to get your tickets 2nd Annual Cocktails for Kitties From the event description: Join the Stray Cat Relief Fund for food, drinks, music and panoramic views of Philly to raise money for furry felines. In 2018, the organization serviced more than 400 cats. When: Sunday, May 19, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Where: Seer Interactive, 1033 N. Second St., Floor 7. Price: $40 Click here for more details, and to get your tickets This story was created automatically using local event data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. 204 E. Dewey Place. | Photos: Zumper It can be challenging to find a quality spot for a reasonable price when in the market for a new apartment. So what does the low-end pricing on a rental in Tobin Hill look like these daysand what might you get for the price? According to Walk Score's assessment, the neighborhood is friendly for those on foot, is convenient for biking and offers many nearby public transportation options. It also features median rents for a one bedroom that hover around $1,100, compared to ann $875 one-bedroom median for San Antonio as a whole. A look at local listings for studios and one-bedroom apartments in Tobin Hill, via rental site Zumper, yields a look at what budget-minded apartment seekers can expect to find in this San Antonio neighborhood. Take a look at the cheapest listings available right now, below. (Note: prices and availability are subject to change.) Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. 125 E. Courtland Place Listed at $795/month, this one-bedroom, one-bathroom, located at 125 E. Courtland Place, is 27.7 percent less than the $1,100/month median rent for a one bedroom in Tobin Hill. In the unit, anticipate in-unit laundry hook-ups, closet space and cabinet space. Amenities offered in the building include assigned parking. Dog owners, inquire elsewhere: this spot only allows cats. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee. (See the complete listing here.) 204 E. Dewey Place This one-bedroom, one-bathroom, situated at 204 E. Dewey Place, is also listed for $795/month for its 750 square feet of space. In the unit, anticipate hardwood flooring, high ceilings and an updated kitchen. Pet lovers are in luck: cats and dogs are permitted. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee. (See the complete listing here.) 410 E. Locust St. Here's a one-bedroom, one-bathroom at 410 E. Locust St., which, at 650 square feet, is going for $800/month. Story continues In the unit, look for air conditioning, high ceilings, hardwood flooring and a balcony. Amenities offered in the building include assigned parking. Neither cats nor dogs are welcome. There's no leasing fee required for this rental. (See the full listing here.) This story was created automatically using local real estate data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. By Michael Martina BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese authorities have formally arrested on state secrets charges two Canadians detained last year, the government said on Thursday, drawing condemnation from Canada in a case that is likely to further increase tension between Ottawa and Beijing. Businessman Michael Spavor, who worked with North Korea, and former diplomat Michael Kovrig were picked up separately in December, shortly after Canada arrested Huawei Technologies Co Ltd Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, who faces extradition to the United States. China has repeatedly demanded Meng be released, and has reacted angrily to extradition proceedings against her in a Canadian court. "According to Chinese prosecutors' approval, Michael Kovrig, due to being suspected of crimes of gathering state secrets and intelligence for foreign (forces), and Michael Spavor, for being suspected of crimes of stealing and illegally providing state secrets for foreign (forces), have in recent days been approved for arrest according to law," foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a daily news briefing. The measures were in accordance with the law, Lu said, and Beijing hoped Canada "will not make irresponsible remarks" about law enforcement and judicial proceedings in China. Canada's government denounced the move. "Canada strongly condemns their arbitrary arrest as we condemned their arbitrary detention on Dec. 10. We reiterate our demand that China immediately release Mr. Kovrig and Mr. Spavor," Canada's foreign ministry said. Canadian diplomats have made recent consular visits to them both, it added, declining to provide further details for privacy reasons. "We continue to take the safety of the Canadians arbitrarily detained in China with the utmost priority," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters during an official trip to Paris, calling the arrests "unacceptable." "We will continue to work with our allies and work directly with China to ensure that they understand that we are a country of the rule of law, and we will allow our legal processes to unfold independently while at the same time we will always stand up for Canadians and will continue to," he added. Story continues In March, China accused the two men of involvement in stealing state secrets. China has said it is fully guaranteeing both men's lawful rights. Kovrig also holds Hungarian citizenship. Kovrig works for the International Crisis Group (ICG), a non-governmental organisation which focuses on conflict resolution. In a statement, ICG said Kovrig's arrest was unjust and called for his immediate release. "After 158 days of arbitrary detention, Michael still hasnt been allowed to see his family or a lawyer," ICG said. "His work was completely transparent and out in the open for all to see, including for Chinese officials." "Nothing Michael did was harmful to China," ICG President and chief executive Rob Malley said. With their formal arrest, they could soon face trial, though it is unclear when that may be. While Canada says China has made no specific link between the detentions of the two men and Meng's arrest, experts and former diplomats say they have no doubt it is using their cases to pressure Canada. Meng, 47, is the daughter of Huawei Technologies Co Ltd's billionaire founder, Ren Zhengfei. She was arrested at Vancouver's airport in December on a U.S. warrant and is fighting extradition on charges that she conspired to defraud global banks about Huawei's relationship with a company operating in Iran. Meng was released from jail in December on C$10 million ($7.5 million) bail and must wear an electronic ankle bracelet and pay for security guards. She has been living in a Vancouver home that was valued at C$5 million in 2018. Both she and the company have denied the U.S. charges. (Reporting by Michael Martina; Additional reporting by David Ljunggren and Steve Scherer in Ottawa, and John Irish and Inti Landauro in Paris; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Darren Schuettler, Robert Birsel and Jonathan Oatis) China's fractious far-west region of Xinjiang has changed its university entrance exam rules to give children from mixed families a leg-up on other students, in what experts say are the latest efforts to erase a mostly Muslim ethnic culture. Following a flare-up in violence in 2014, Chinese authorities have rolled out draconian security measures across Xinjiang in recent years, from banning long beards and Islamic veils to placing an estimated one million mostly Muslim ethnic minorities in internment camps. Chinese officials describe the facilities as voluntary "vocational education centres" where Turkic-speaking people are taught Mandarin and job skills in a bid to steer them away from religious extremism. But rights groups and former inmates see the measures as part of a campaign to forcefully assimilate Uighurs and other minorities into the country's majority ethnic Han society, diluting their unique cultures and religious beliefs. Observers say the change in the university enrolment system is another step in that direction, particularly in a region where Uighurs made up almost half of the 23-million-strong population, according to 2015 statistics. In an online notice posted last week, the Xinjiang government published new rules for giving bonus points to disadvantaged groups in the nationwide college entrance exams -- a key deciding factor for attending university in China. In a reversal of last year's policy, the regional government doubled the number of bonus points allocated to inter-ethnic students -- defined as those with one Han parent -- to 20, while more than halving the amount for students whose parents are both ethnic minorities to 15. The new exam policy is "part of this effort to sinocize any kind of non-Han forms of thoughts and behaviour", said James Leibold, a professor at La Trobe University. The government believes that "inter-ethnic marriage is a key vehicle for promoting national integration and assimilating the Uighurs and other ethnic minorities in the Chinese nation," Leibold, who studies ethnic relations and policy in China, told AFP. Story continues Timothy Grose, a China ethnic policy expert at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, said the "new incentives for intermarriage expose the CCP's (Chinese Communist Party) systematic approach to weakening Turkic-Muslim identities." "Perhaps officials are re-introducing the 'carrot' when in the past few years they have only been lashing the 'stick'," said Grose, whose research focuses on Uighurs. The Xinjiang government did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment. - 'Grandma Li' - The change in exam policy is not the first time Chinese authorities have offered incentives for inter-ethnic mixing. In 2014, the Qiemo county government in Xinjiang reportedly announced it would gift mixed couples -- one Han, one ethnic minority -- annual cash payments of 10,000 yuan ($1,450) for the first five years of their marriage. "Chinese policymakers and sociologists have long viewed high rates or high instances of inter-ethnic marriage as a kind of proxy symbol for social cohesion and national integration," explained Leibold. On top of initiatives spearheaded by the government, videos promoting Uighur-Han marriages have also emerged on social media over the past year, though it is unclear whether they are directly linked to official policies. In October, a video published by "Grandma Li", a culture and lifestyle social media account run by a Xinjiang-based woman, encouraged more people to move to the region to "look for love". "Even though their ethnicity is different and their beliefs are different, it seems like it (inter-ethnic marriage) is happening more and more now," said Li. "Besides, the government is very much encouraging it -- there are even rewards," she added. - 'Mutual suspicion' - But it is unlikely that the latest government-backed incentive will change perceptions of Uighurs and Han across ethnic lines, experts say. Though statistics on inter-ethnic marriage in China are scarce, national census data from 2010 shows that both Han and Uighur populations tend to marry within their ethnic group, with only 0.2 percent of Uighurs married to Han people. "Officials have encouraged inter-ethnic marriage for decades, but with little success," said Grose. "I don't see how this change to test scores will persuade minorities in droves to seek out Han partners." Online, Chinese social media users have voiced scepticism towards top-down policies rewarding inter-ethnic marriages, with some complaining that they are unfair to Han people. "There's a great deal of mutual suspicion and distrust between the two groups but that doesn't stop the party-state from trying to push the agenda," said Leibold. BEIJING (Reuters) - China has called on Turkey to support its fight against militants operating in China's restive far western region of Xinjiang, following criticism from Turkey about rights in a part of China heavily populated by a Turkic, mostly Muslim people. China has faced growing international opprobrium for setting up what it calls vocation training centers to combat extremism in Xinjiang, home to the Uighur people, which many Western countries view as internment camps. Turkey is the only Muslim nation which has regularly expressed concern about the situation in Xinjiang, including in February at the U.N. Human Rights Council, to China's anger. Meeting Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal in Beijing, the Chinese government's top diplomat State Councillor Wang Yi said that China sets great store on its ties with Turkey, China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement late on Thursday. China "has always respected Turkey's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and supports the efforts of the Turkish side to safeguard national security and stability", the ministry paraphrased Wang as saying. "It is hoped that the Turkish side can also earnestly respect China's core interests in safeguarding national sovereignty and security, and support China's efforts to combat the 'East Turkistan' terrorist forces and safeguard the overall situation of the strategic cooperation between the two countries." China blames a group called the East Turkistan Islamic Movement for many of the attacks in recent years in Xinjiang. But many diplomats and foreign experts have cast doubt on whether the group exists in any coherent form. The Foreign Ministry cited Onal as saying that Turkey supports China's efforts to safeguard national unity and combat "terrorist forces" and is willing to deepen pragmatic cooperation with China. Hundreds have died in unrest in recent years in Xinjiang. Beijing says its de-radicalisation efforts in Xinjiang have brought unprecedented stability, pointing to a lack of violence in the past two years or so. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Kim Coghill) Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images Senator Elizabeth Warren rolled out a comprehensive strategy for protecting the right to an abortion on Friday. In a Medium post, Warren condemned the Trump administration for working to gag doctors, spread misinformation, and support so-called crisis pregnancy centers that go out of their way to present misleading and incomplete reproductive health care information to women. Warrens announcement comes days after Republican legislators in Alabama passed a total ban on abortion with no exceptions for rape or incest. Though the law is currently invalid, and women in Alabama can still access abortion, the ban is designed to go to the U.S. Supreme Court, where justices could overturn or at least severely hamstring Roe v. Wade. There are no anti-choice Democrats running for president, and candidates were swift to criticize the Alabama bill and other new abortion restrictions in Georgia, Ohio, and elsewhere. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand released her own proposal on Thursday after meeting with lawmakers and activists in Georgia, and Senator Bernie Sanders also used his email list to raise money for three abortion funds, including the Yellowhammer Fund in Alabama. Alabama just passed a near-total ban on abortion. No exceptions for rape or incest. Doctors could face 99 years in prison for providing abortions. This is a war on women, and it is time to fight like hell. https://t.co/lhwlbyeQsl Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) May 15, 2019 This bill is an abomination. The choices a woman makes about her body should be between her and her doctor and no one else. We cannot go back to the dark ages of reproductive rights.https://t.co/FomsiQdnYd Jay Inslee (@JayInslee) May 15, 2019 Outrageous news coming out of Alabama. This law would effectively ban abortions in the state and criminalize doctors for doing their jobs - providing health care to women. https://t.co/90utkxn7J2 Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) May 15, 2019 Like Gillibrand, Warren calls for the repeal of the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits publicly funded health care like Medicaid from covering abortion. Both senators also support the codification of Roe v. Wade into federal law. Warren specifically urges Congress to create federal, statutory rights to abortion that block states from interfering with either a doctors provision of abortion care or a patients ability to access that care. Warren further urged passage of the Womens Health Protection Act, which has already been introduced in Congress. The act would overturn state-level obstacles to abortion, like Alabamas law forcing women to undergo medically unnecessary ultrasounds before they can receive abortions. She called for the repeal of the global gag rule, which blocks non-governmental organizations that receive U.S. funding from providing or even referring women to abortion care. She closed by endorsing the EACH Woman Act, which would prohibit private insurance companies from refusing to cover abortion services. The overarching goal is to protect the right to abortion from erosion at both the legislative and judicial levels. Republicans from President Trump to state lawmakers have already escalated their usual anti-abortion rhetoric; Trump, for example, has now repeatedly and falsely claimed that abortion providers kill babies after birth. The president, then, might use Warrens abortion policies as grounds for a fresh round of attacks on her candidacy. But that might only help Warren. Most Americans still overwhelmingly oppose abortion bans, and Warrens proposals may resonate with older Democrats in particular. The senator, who had her first child two years before Roe v. Wade guaranteed the constitutional right to an abortion, deliberately evokes the bad old days in her post. When I was growing up, long before Roe, people still got abortions. Some were lucky. Others werent. They all went through hell, she wrote. The original version of this post stated that Warren was the first candidate to release an abortion proposal. This post has been corrected. 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. Chris Evans (Credit: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP) Following his full-voiced condemnation of new anti-abortion legislation in the states of Alabama and Georgia, Chris Evans is taking aim at a shocking new policy which could strip the children of LGBT couples of their US citizenship. The Captain America star tweeted a link to an article on US news site The Daily Beast, calling the policy 'maddening'. He added: We are regressing. Take a minute to read this. Its maddening. We are regressing. https://t.co/cQptvKZAar Chris Evans (@ChrisEvans) May 15, 2019 The article investigates how the Trump administration's State Department has passed a new ruling, meaning that children of US couples born abroad via 'assisted reproductive technology' will be considered children born 'out of wedlock'. As such their birthright citizenship of the US will not be guaranteed. Read more: Chris Evans slams new anti-abortion bill This particularly affects the children of LGBT couples, and is to be enforced even if the couple are legally married. It could mean that parents will face 'legal and logistical hurdles', and could even potentially mean that child is technically 'stateless' and could be deported. Fans were quick to thank Evans, who has nearly 12 million followers on Twitter, for bringing the story to a wider audience. It follows earlier remarks from Evans this week, after he expressed his horror at new legislation in Alabama, which would effectively ban abortion in virtually every circumstance. Read more: Production companies begin boycott of Georgia The legislation went further than the so-called 'Heartbeat bill' in Georgia, which was voted in last week. It would prevent women from terminating pregnancies even in the case of rape or incest, only allowing them if they are required to save life. Followers flooded Evans' timeline with positive messages, after he called the move 'absolutely unbelievable'. By Thiam Ndiaga KAYA, Burkina Faso (Reuters) - Concerned about a rise in violence against Christians in Burkina Faso, Pastor Jacques Ouedraogo changed the time of his Sunday service as a precaution. He believes this is what saved his life. Later, his church was one of two targeted by gunmen on May 12 in the town of Dablo in a series of deadly attacks on churches and a religious procession in the last two weeks in Burkina's formerly peaceful Central North region. "I could have been one of the martyrs who fell on Sunday," said the priest. "We've told ourselves our turn will come. Today Christians are potential targets. We're all scared." In the wake of Sunday's bloodshed, he and hundreds of residents fled Dablo. The town had previously served as a safe haven for some of the thousands displaced by violence in the country's northern Sahel region, which has become a stronghold for militant groups with links to Islamic State and al Qaeda. Around 90 kilometers south of Dablo, the city of Kaya has become a refuge for those newly displaced, including a farmer, who asked to be identified by the name Te Wende. Along with his wife, mother, grandmother and two children, he was warned by neighbors to flee. "When the shooting started, they called us straight away and told us to run far away," he said. "We don't know where they came from or what they really wanted," he said. On Thursday, the United Nations warned that the Central North region had become the new epicenter for attacks. The recent targeting of churches threatens to upend traditionally peaceful relations between the Muslim majority and Christians, who make up a quarter of Burkinabes. "I call on Christians not to panic and not to yield to the temptation of vengeance, because that could be blind," the Bishop of Kaya, Theophile Nare, said at a meeting of bishops in the capital on Friday. The first church attack occurred in late April, when gunmen killed a Protestant pastor and five congregants. Subsequently, a Catholic priest and five parishioners were killed in the Dablo attack and a further four Catholics died in an attack on Tuesday. No one has claimed responsibility, but the Burkinabe government has blamed "terrorist groups ... attacking religion with the macabre aim of dividing us." Violent attacks linked to the strengthening jihadist insurgency have surged this year in Burkina as well as across the broader Sahel region, an arid expanse of scrubland just south of the Sahara desert. Militants have also worked to sow ethnic tensions between farming and herding communities in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger in order to boost recruitment among marginalized communities. On Thursday, Islamic State's West African branch claimed responsibility for an ambush that killed 28 soldiers this week in Niger, one of the deadliest attacks against the military in Niger's west in recent years. (Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Toby Chopra) The Trump administration took two major actions this week against Chinese telecom companies. First, the president signed an executive order declaring a national emergency over threats to American information technology and giving himself the power to block transactions with telecom companies that are subject to the jurisdiction of a foreign adversary a phrase left undefined but which has been widely interpreted to target Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE. Then, the Commerce Department added Huawei to its entity list, barring it from buying American technology without the approval of the U.S. government. These are bold, and justified, assertions of executive power. Huawei and its Chinese counterpart ZTE have a large and growing worldwide presence manufacturing both consumer technology phones, laptops and networking equipment. Huawei is the worlds leading manufacturer of base-station equipment for 5G networks. Everything from driverless cars to consumer technology to critical infrastructure will soon depend on such technology, making telecom networks something of a strategic asset. Allowing these companies to operate undisturbed in the U.S. would pose serious national-security risks. In 2012, the House Intelligence Committee delivered a sobering, bipartisan report finding that Huawei and ZTE create an opportunity for further economic and foreign espionage by China, a country already known to be a major perpetrator of cyber espionage. The committee came away unsatisfied with the level of cooperation from both Huawei and ZTE, neither of which provided information about their interactions with Chinese authorities, their operations in the U.S., or their internal Communist Party committees. It also found evidence suggesting that Huawei works with a cyber-warfare division of the Peoples Liberation Army. Much of the debate over Huawei has focused on whether it builds secret backdoors into its equipment that would facilitate spying. Even absent smoking-gun evidence of such vulnerabilities, though, there are several reasons to doubt that Huawei is operating on the up and up. A Huawei employee working in Poland was recently charged with espionage. Huawei has long operated front companies to circumvent sanctions in Iran. Its founder, Ren Zhengfei, was a delegate at a National Congress of the Communist Party in 1982 and has ties to Chinese intelligence. Under Chinese law, firms can be required to turn over sensitive user data to the government, and there is no reason to doubt that Huawei would comply. Story continues Unfortunately, Huawei and ZTE have already gained a foothold in the global marketplace. Huawei has signed memoranda of understanding with companies in several EU nations to build their 5G networks; ZTE products are thoroughly integrated into global supply chains. The administrations measures will hurt these companies, but we should continue to make it clear to European allies that their partnering with Huawei will make it more difficult for us to partner with them (especially the U.K., whose reluctance to ban Huawei has put it at odds with other Five Eyes countries). We should also create a favorable business climate for Huaweis competitors, whether they be domestic or foreign (Nokia and Ericsson are the two leading competitors in the 5G arena). Perhaps most important, the administration should resist any temptation to use this ban as a bargaining chip in the ongoing trade negotiations with China. This is a matter of national security, not economic advantage, and the future risk of Chinese espionage cannot be negotiated away. But the Trump administration has taken necessary, correct actions against these companies. They pose a threat to the U.S. not because they steal technology from American companies (which they do) or because they receive national champion treatment from the Chinese government (which they do). They pose a threat to the U.S. because of their ties to the PRC, whose ambitions of espionage and cyber-warfare are no secret. Huawei and ZTE cannot be disentangled from Chinas geostrategic aims. This move looks out for our own. More from National Review By Robin Emmott DUBLIN (Reuters) - The delay to Britain's departure from the European Union has only confused voters who already have little enthusiasm for European Parliament elections, according to Socialist lead candidate Frans Timmermans. Almost three years after Britain voted to leave the EU, the Brexit process is so bogged down that its scheduled departure date has been put back seven months to Oct. 31, meaning it is obliged to take part in the election on Thursday. "The British people are asked to go and vote, but for what?" said the 58-year-old former Dutch foreign minister and current vice president of the executive Commission, now vying to become president. "Are these (British) EU lawmakers going to stay long?" he mused in an interview with Reuters in the back of his black Mercedes on the campaign trail in Dublin on May 10. "It is discomfort and confusion rather than anything else." The Netherlands is one of Britain's closest allies in Europe and Timmermans' frustration with London reflects broader anger across the bloc at both the 2016 Brexit referendum and the chaotic and so far unsuccessful efforts to leave. Turnout for European Parliament elections is traditionally low. The 751 seats will be filled through national votes in 28 member states, where individual parties campaign largely on local issues. Britons will be voting for 73 lawmakers who may have to quit within weeks if the British parliament finally passes a withdrawal agreement after repeated failures - a scenario that David Cameron, the pro-EU prime minister who called the Brexit referendum, never expected. Timmermans, 58, who attended a British international school in Rome as a child, said the lesson of Brexit was how dangerous it was to oversimplify issues that can polarize society. "Membership of the European Union was an annoyance (in Britain) but never a huge issue - so this is a crisis created by politicians that has completely paralyzed society," he said. "I don't understand how Cameron can even sleep at night." (Reporting by Robin Emmott; Editing by Kevin Liffey) Soak the troops. Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images Donald Trump always knew that his tax law would include a few unpopular provisions. After all, as a Republican president, he had a fiduciary duty to provide his partys shareholders a hefty return on their investments. Thus, even as Trump assured the public that the wealthy and well-connected would derive no benefit from his tax reform, he rubber-stamped a (deeply unpopular) package of giant tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations. The president and his party nevertheless assumed that the sugar of middle-class tax relief would make the medicine of creeping plutocracy go down. But their bills tax breaks for ordinary Americans proved too meager to make themselves felt amid rising health-insurance premiums, shifting 401k contributions, changes in base pay, and the myriad other forces that alter Americans paychecks. Meanwhile, the combination of deduction eliminations and the IRSs lax approach to withholding left many Americans with surprise tax bills this spring, leading some voters to mistakenly believe that their overall tax burden had actually gone up: Although the presidents law did technically reduce taxes on 80 percent of households, less than 20 percent of Americans believe that their taxes went down last year. But the Trump tax bills political defects arent limited to the regressive distribution of its benefits. While Republicans were deliberately redistributing income upward, they also, accidentally, massively raised taxes on low-income college students and the children of U.S. troops killed on active duty. To understand how congressional Republicans ended up taking on Big Gold Star Family, you need to get familiar with the Kiddie Tax of 1986. That year, as part of Reagans storied bipartisan tax-reform law, Congress closed a loophole that enabled wealthy parents to use their children as a kind of tax shelter: Before 1986, you could transfer an appreciated asset to your small child, have her sell it, and pay way less taxes on the capital gain (assuming your 5-year-old has a lower overall income than you do), then use the proceeds to pay her college tuition. To combat such scheming, Congress required children to pay their parents tax rate on all unearned income above $2,200. This rule didnt solely affect the children of the superrich. Under U.S. law, survivor benefits and non-tuition college scholarships can count as unearned kiddie income. Thus, a child from a working-class family might pay a 12 percent rate on a scholarship that covered her room and board at university while a child from a wealthy family would pay a 37 percent rate on that same scholarship. But in 2017, congressional Republicans decided that these rules were needlessly complex. Rather than maintaining the kiddie tax, they decided to merely apply the rate on trusts to all unearned childrens income. In practice, this means that the size of a childs scholarship or survivor benefit not her parents tax rate determines how much tax she needs to pay on her unearned income. As the Wall Street Journal illustrates: Chart: The Wall Street Journal This change has few implications for wealthy families. But if youre a working-class kid whose dad died in Iraq and receive a survivor benefit greater than $13,000 on that income then Trump just hiked your tax rate from 12 percent to 37 percent. And the same goes for a low-income student whos received a college scholarship of over $13,000. When the GOP rewrites the tax code in a way that fleeces working people, they generally know exactly what theyre doing. But given how little revenue this change generates, and how politically suboptimal it is to massively raise taxes on the children of the war dead, it seems safe to chalk this one up to good old-fashioned negligence. By all appearances, Republicans did not realize what they had done until Gold Star families saw their tax bills a few weeks ago. Now, there is some momentum behind a bipartisan bill that would treat a childs survivor benefit as earned income (and thus, tax it at an exceptionally low rate). But its unclear whether low-income college students will also receive relief (although, for the moment, it appears that the IRS is deliberately not enforcing that part of the new tax law). Regardless, since congressional Democrats all voted against the Trump tax cuts, some are reluctant to help the GOP out of its jam without securing concessions on other tax-related issues. Which is understandable. As far as one-sentence arguments for voting Democratic in 2020 go, Republicans took from war orphans to give to trust-fund kids aint bad. Simon Gregson has opened about his 'hidden' battle with anxiety and depression (Ian West/Getty) Coronation Streets Simon Gregson has opened up about his awful anxiety. The actor who plays Steve McDonald in the ITV soap encouraged everyone to check out the eye-opening BBC documentary Anxiety and Me, featuring Great British Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain. This is real and awful to live with please watch and understand its a hidden awful emotion that effects far more than youd think [sic], he wrote on Twitter, before adding that those who suffer from the condition are not alone. Anxiety and me,BBC1 ,apologies ITV. This is real and awful to live with please watch and understand its a hidden awful emotion that effects far more than youd think. BUT treatable and manageable with the right help. Not alone people xx simon gregson (@simongregson123) May 15, 2019 Some of his followers replied to his comments, detailing their own struggles with anxiety and depression. Read more: Catherine Tyldesley hits back at claims she criticised soap Responding to a woman who revealed that her 15-year-old daughter is going through hell at the moment, Gregson wrote: Life is so complicated now. Too many pressures on our babys. Take a month go back to nature love and patience. One life. Enjoy embrace and love each other. Another, who said his girlfriend is experiencing something similar, asked Gregson - who joined Corrie in 1989 - for reassurance. Coronation Street characters Steve McDonald, played by Simon Gregson and Karen Phillips, played by Suranne Jones after marrying at Salford Registry Office in Manchester. (Photo by Haydn West - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images) Its a hidden, awful emotion but its treatable and manageable with the right help, the 44-year-old wrote back. Tablets work different for different people, mine worked with therapy. This isnt the first time Gregson has talked public about his mental health. Having been signed off work with depression in 2014, he told the Mirror that he was the happiest he had ever been in 2016. Read more: Helen Flanagan confirms Rosie Webster's return to 'Coronation Street' "I am actually. I had to pinch myself the other day, a beautiful wife and three beautiful kids who are hilarious. Then you have everything else on top, I was like wow, lifes alright. Story continues Im more healthy in my 40s than Ive ever been in my life, theres many reasons for that which we wont go into. "I was like, its not going to get any better and accept what it is and get on with it. By Shihar Aneez COLOMBO (Reuters) - (This version of the story corrects the source in paragraphs 9, 10, 12, 13 making clear that Subir Gokarn's and Mahinda Siriwardana's views reflect Sri Lanka's and are not the IMF's official position) The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday it was holding its forecast for Sri Lanka's 2019 economic growth at 3.5% in spite of devastating Easter bombings, saying it was too early to assess financial damage. The April 21 bombings, which killed more than 250 people in churches and hotels and were claimed by Islamic State, have scared tourists away and soured business sentiment on the island. Sri Lanka's economy, which depends on tourism, garment manufacturing, tea exports and remittances, was already at a low point before the bombings. The economy grew 3.2% last year, the weakest in 17 years, as a weeks-long political crisis and monetary policy tightenings sapped business confidence and cooled investment. A Reuters poll of 10 analysts predicted last week that growth could slide to just 2.5% this year following the attacks. But the IMF said it was maintaining its growth projection due a lack of new official data and clear information to assess the impact on growth of the Easter bombings. "It will be speculative for us to revise our growth projection at this juncture," Manuela Goretti, the IMF's mission chief for Sri Lanka, said in a teleconference with journalists in the capital Colombo. "So we maintain our growth projection for 2019 at 3.5% with the gradual improvement in the medium term at 5%." Subir Gokarn, the executive director for Sri Lanka, India, Bhutan and Bangladesh at the IMF, and his alternate, Mahinda Siriwardana, said in an earlier report that Sri Lanka's budget and current account deficits could widen more than expected because of the bombings. The IMF said in an emailed statement on Friday that the views of the executive director for Sri Lanka represent the country's authorities and are different from the fund's official position. Story continues Previously, the IMF said it expected that this year's fiscal deficit would fall to 4.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) from last year's 5.3%, and the current account deficit to 2.8% from 3.2% in 2018. Gokarn and Siriwardana did not provide fresh estimates, but said normalcy had largely returned to the island, thanks to government measures including the implementation of an emergency law. "Authorities expect to get through this incident expeditiously, putting the country back on track to benefit from improving economic fundamentals," the directors said. In March, the Fund agreed to extend a $1.5 billion loan facility to Sri Lanka for an extra year, following the country's seven-week political crisis last year. On Tuesday, the lender approved disbursal of a $164 million tranche, bringing the total disbursed to more than $1.16 billion. The loan is crucial for Sri Lanka to secure more attractive borrowing terms. (Reporting by Shihar Aneez Writing by Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by Richard Borsuk and Frances Kerry) VENTURA, Calif. (AP) Team Bahrain-Merida spent most of the fifth stage at the Tour of California at the front of the peloton, setting a hard pace but leaving nobody quite sure what their end-game might be. Turns out it was Ivan Garcia Cortina. The 23-year-old Spanish cyclist moved to the front after the final couple of solo attacks were reeled in by the rest of the field, then sprinted ahead of Maximiliano Richeze and Sergio Higuita to win a stage Thursday that was racked by brutal crosswinds of up to 45 mph near the finish. Tejay van Garderen finished safely in the main field to retain the overall race lead. "It was really windy for us," he said. "We survived OK. The team kept me safe, kept the breakaway in check and we were able to survive another day." In the women's race, which began with an out-and-back ride to Ventura, reigning Olympic champion Anna van der Breggen got loose in the final couple miles to win the opening stage. After a chaotic and controversial fourth stage, when crashes near the finish put the overall lead in the hands of the race jury, the fifth stage of the men's race was relatively straightforward. The opening breakaway covered most of the lumpy, 136-mile run from Pismo Beach before it was brought back in the closing miles. Tim Declercq gave it a solo shot with about 6 miles to go, building a substantial lead, but he was swept up on the final climb before the finish. Former overall winner George Bennett also attacked on the windy run-in, but the group came together for the final mile and it was Cortina who got to the front to win the bunch sprint. "The team had full confidence in me," said Cortina, who got his first WorldTour win after several close calls last season. "I was thinking about, if I can give 200 percent I can win." Richeze followed across for Deceuninck-Quick Step, which had won each of the previous three stages with different riders. Higuita rounded out the podium for EF Education First, which did a masterful job of controlling the race and keeping van Garderen in the yellow jersey. Story continues "It was just a really fast day," said van Garderen, whose lead dropped to four seconds over Kasper Asgreen and six over Gianni Moscon heading into the tour's penultimate day. Van der Breggen will have the yellow jersey for Stage 2 of the women's race after the world champ, fresh off her victory at La Fleche Wallonne, showed veteran patience all afternoon. Olga Zabelinskaya tried to attack late in the race, and Lizzie Deignan soon joined her in the pursuit. But the duo was caught as the field approached the same finish as the men, and van der Breggen surged ahead to seize control of the race she won two years ago. "The team performed well," said Danny Stam, the manager of van der Breggen's powerful Boels-Dolmans team. "Katie (Hall) attacked after 53 kilometers (33 miles), causing the break. After that we brought back the leader just in time for Anna to place her final attack. She brought home the victory." Elisa Balsamo took second place and Arlenis Sierra rounded out the podium. Now comes the crucial stage for both the men and women. The sixth stage for the men Friday takes riders just 79 miles, but it includes the torturous climb up Mt. Baldy, where the overall race is likely to be decided. Some sections of the climb reach a grade of 16%, eclipsing even some of the steepest European climbs. The women also will trek through the San Gabriel Mountains before ending up at Mt. Baldy, where defending race winner Katie Hall will stretch her climbing legs in an attempt to win again. "The feeling in our team, the mood is really good," van Garderen said. "We have three riders in the race still with the potential to win on Baldy, we're super confident that we have the strongest team here and I think in our mind we're still playing for the victory." ___ More AP sports: https://apnews.com/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports Paris (AFP) - It conjures up the atmosphere of rail travel from a bygone golden age, steaming through Europe experiencing top-notch cuisine and the company of fellow passengers who could be writers or spies. And who knows, maybe a mysterious murder along the way deep in the night... The last true Orient Express travelled from Paris to Istanbul in 1977, drawing the curtain on almost a century of taking travellers on the fabled route from western Europe to the shores of the Bosphorus in Turkey. The train also entered popular culture, playing a central role in celebrated books and movies, not least Agatha Christie's 1930s novel "Murder on the Orient Express" which has inspired several films. The brand name was acquired by French rail operator SNCF which has now, at huge expense, restored original Orient Express carriages and is mulling re-launching the service. SNCF is this week exhibiting seven original carriages at Gare de l'Est station in Paris which have been returned to their original splendour after seven years of restoration. Three are dining cars which were used on the actual Orient Express in its heyday while the four others were used on routes run by the company in the south of France and other European routes. - Height of luxury - The cars display the height of luxury with plush armchairs for seats, immaculately varnished wooden tables and art deco fittings. SNCF picked up the brand from la Compagnie internationale des wagons-lits (CIWL), after the Orient Express service stopped in 1977, but barely exploited it until it began restoring the carriages from 2011. "To restore them, we went into our archives to find the original plans or samples of tissues and so forth," said Guillaume de Saint Lager, the executive director of Orient Express. "We used exceptional experts." For SNCF chief executive Guillaume Pepy the display at the Gare de l'Est could be the start of a new beginning for the Orient Express. Story continues "It is clearly a big investment, some 14 million euros ($15.6 million), but it is an investment in railway heritage," said Pepy. "They are a shop window for the expertise of the SNCF in preserving heritage." After intense research, the SNCF found historic Orient Express carriages in a siding in Poland close to the border with Belarus and can now boast a set of 16 carriages -- including 9 sleeping cars and four saloons. - Aim is to run 'all around Europe ' - SNCF last year sold 50.1 percent in the company holding the rights to the Orient Express brand to French hotel group Accor, which wants to open luxury hotels under the name. Meanwhile the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express -- a privately owned luxury train first established by an American entrepreneur in the 1980s -- currently plies a route between Calais in northern France, Paris, Verona and Venice in Italy. An exhibition at Paris' Museum of the Arab World in 2014 on the Orient Express proved a smash hit and encouraged SNCF to restore the carriages. "Our aim is to have the Orient Express on the rails all around Europe," said Pepy. But whether a re-launched Orient Express will again steam between Paris and Istanbul remains to be seen. "We need to look at the state of the carriages and see under what conditions they could travel again and how they could be brought in line with the security specifications that exist in Europe," Pepy said. "We are doing the technical work now and hope we can have a positive decision this summer," he added. Helsinki (AFP) - Council of Europe ministers meeting in Helsinki on Friday issued a joint declaration appeasing Russia amid a long-running conflict which was swiftly denounced by Ukraine as an "embarrassment". The Helsinki meeting, at which the rotating presidency was handed from Finland to France, attempted to resolve a major crisis with Moscow after its representatives to the body's Parliamentary Assembly were stripped of their voting rights because of Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. Russia responded by boycotting the Assembly, and has since 2017 refused to pay its 33-million-euro ($37-million) share of the annual budget of the human rights watchdog. In their joint declaration, ministers recalled that "one of the fundamental obligations" of the 47 member states was "to pay their obligatory contributions to the ordinary budget." They also agreed that "all member states should be entitled to participate on an equal basis in the Committee of Ministers and in the Parliamentary Assembly." According to the Council's rules, a member state that fails to pay its share risks being excluded after two years -- in Russia's case, as of June. The Council of Europe must now find a way for Russia to participate in the election in June of the Council's new secretary general, one of Moscow's key demands. Moscow has threatened to quit the body if it does not take part in the election. Ministers stressed Friday they hoped that "delegations of all member states (will) be able to take part" in the June session. The cautious declaration, clearly designed to mollify Russia, was welcomed by Moscow but sparked anger in Kiev. It "opens the door to the settlement of the current crisis in our organisation," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. "The ball is in the Parliamentary Assembly's court now." - 'A surrender' - "This is not diplomacy, this is a surrender," Ukraine's representative to the Council of Europe, Dmytro Kuleba, told AFP. Story continues "We want Russia to stay in the Council of Europe but we want Russia to comply with its obligations and commitments in all decisions taken in response to Russian aggression against Ukraine." Finland had also hoped to transfer the presidency to France with an agreement in hand on a new internal procedure for dealing with this type of conflict. Ministers agreed on "the need for coordinated action" for such a procedure, "which could be initiated by either the Parliamentary Assembly, the Committee of Ministers or the Secretary General, and in which all three of them would participate." Russia meanwhile insisted Friday it wanted to remain a member of the Council. "We are not seeking to leave the Council of Europe," Lavrov said, adding "the Council of Europe needs Russia." "We are convinced that Europe should understand -- without Russia it would hardly be possible to secure genuine European security." Amelie de Montchalin, France's Secretary of State for European Affairs, said their primary concern had been the well-being of the council and European citizens, when asked if the council had opened the door for Russia's return to the fold without any concessions from Moscow. "Were not thinking in terms of an exchange of concessions. Were thinking first of all in the interests of the Council of Europe. The Council must continue to protect all citizens of the European continent," she told AFP. Founded in the aftermath of World War II to defend human rights, the Council of Europe is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. Its crowning glory is the European Court of Human Rights. On June 25, the Council's Parliamentary Assembly will elect a new secretary general to replace Norway's Thorbjorn Jagland. Two candidates are in the running: Belgium's Deputy Prime Minister Didier Reynders and Croatia's Foreign and European Affairs Minister Marija Pejcinovic Buric. Lavrov warned Friday of "far-reaching consequences" if Russia does not get to take part in the June election. sgk-as-gab-jll/po/har FILE - In this Sunday, Sept. 22, 2002 file photo, the stars of "Friends," from left, David Schwimmer, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, Courteney Cox Arquette, Jennifer Aniston and Matt LeBlanc pose after the show won outstanding comedy series at the 54th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Almost 15 years after it was canceled, "Friends" is still there for British viewers. The catchphrase-generating New York sitcom is the most popular show on U.K. streaming services, beating big-budget original productions from Netflix and Amazon it was announced on Friday, Aug. 10, 2018. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, file) Former Friends star Courteney Cox has shared a throwback snap of the 90s sitcom cast before they hit the big-time - and its getting a lot of love. Cox, who played Monica Geller, sweetly captioned the 1994 photo with: The one where the six of us went to Vegas and no one knew we were F.R.I.E.N.D.S yet #tbt #beforeitaired #lovetheseguys The image shows Cox on an airplane with Lisa Kudrow, Jennifer Aniston, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer. Cox is so fond of the show that catapaulted her and her castmates to fame, her Instagram profile photo is an image of her character in a fat suit, which she would wear for flashbacks to Monicas teenage years. The post is all the more special as it hasnt been shared publicly before. Read more: 'Friends' creator says there will be no reboot of the popular sitcom The photo shows the gang are sat together on a private plane, heading to Las Vegas. They were being flown out for dinner in the glamorous city by the show's director James 'Jimmy' Burrows before the pilot episode of the show aired. It was on this flight that the actors watched the first episode of the show. Read more: Data science reveals who was the 'main character' in 'Friends' After the hour-long flight, they had dinner at Spago, a legendary 90s celebrity hotspot, according to writer Kelsey Miller in her book, I'll Be There For You: The One About Friends. She wrote: The whole group was overwhelmed and dazzled, itching to go out and do whatever it was that hot young television actors were supposed to do when they flew into Vegas on private jets. Then, in the middle of dinner, Burrows held up his hands and said what he'd brought them here to say: 'This is your last shot at anonymity.' This dinner, he told the cast, would be their last night out as ordinary people, their 'last fling' with normality, before the swarming fans descended. Friends premiered on American network NBC in a September 22, 1994 episode titled The Pilot, and its subsequent episodes started with 'The One Where ...' or 'The One with ...'. Photo: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images In public, President Trump is always happy to share his thoughts about the wall he intends to build on the southern border, tweeting about it 88 times in the past five months. In private, hes even more excited to discuss his dream real estate effort, so much so that he would reportedly wake up former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen early in the morning to talk about the barrier. According to a new report from the Washington Post, Trump cant stop himself from talking about the many permutations of his still-imaginary border wall. Speaking with White House aides, Homeland Security officials, and military engineers, the president wants the steel slat barriers to be painted flat back so that they absorb heat in the summer, making them more difficult to climb. Trump insists that the top of the bollards be pointy, describing in graphic terms the potential injuries that border crossers might receive. According to the Post report, no detail is too small to micromanage. The wall has too many gates. The gates also need to be smaller. Its got to be as tall as possible, and adhere to a standard height for all of the 400 miles hes promised to build by next year. He wants to know how migrants might cut a hole in it, dig under it, climb over it. He thinks his friends in New York real estate might be able to get the wall up more quickly. Meanwhile, Trumps ever-changing whims are reportedly leaving engineers and aides confused, and potentially increasing the walls per-mile cost. Once you paint it, you always have to paint it, an administration official told the Post. The president received $1.4 billion in wall funding from House Democrats to end the historic shutdown $3.6 billion less than what he had hoped for when he shuttered the federal government for 35 days this winter. Prior to her departure from Homeland Security in April, Secretary Nielsen had to sit through very specific meetings regarding the wall; she reportedly thought it was a distraction from more concerning issues on the border. Trump would also request that the head of the Army Corps of Engineers Lieutenant General Todd T. Semonite attend meetings, barraging him with wall questions. Its not just DHS brass that has to sit through these meetings: Trump has brought up the wall at unrelated briefings so often that aides have reportedly brought sketches to help answer his questions. The aides would then have to suffer through Trumps frustrations when he found out how little of the structure had been built. BRUSSELS, May 17 (Reuters) - The European Union will directly penalize computer hackers after governments agreed on Friday a new mechanism to target individuals anywhere in the world, freezing their assets in the bloc and banning them from entry. The new powers follow a diplomatic push by Britain and the Netherlands -- overcoming initial reluctance from Italy -- to allow the 28-country bloc to move more quickly against malign cyber attacks that can bring down crucial infrastructure. "This is decisive action to deter future cyber attacks," British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said in a statement. Just days before European Parliament elections on May 23-26, officials are on alert to any attempts to undermine the vote via disinformation campaigns and cyber attacks. While no names were added immediately, the EU says the sanctions mechanism will allow the bloc to move quickly to punish future attacks, rather than rely on the current system of special country lists that are complex to negotiate. Russia has made cyber and electronic warfare a key part of its military operations, Western officials say, and Britain, the Netherlands and the United States have accused Moscow of conducting a campaign of hacks against the West. EU and NATO diplomats believe China and North Korea, as well as Russia, have developed sophisticated computer hacking weapons and cyber surveillance software to spy on and undermine the West, often using criminal groups to mask the origin of such attacks. The EU cyber regime plan follows a similar sanctions mechanism to punish chemical weapons attacks by targeting people blamed for using banned munitions regardless of their nationality. Another sanctions mechanism has been set up for perpetrators of human rights abuses. (Reporting by Robin Emmott; Editing by Catherine Evans) Salvador, the capital of Brazils northeastern state of Bahia, has long been known only to Brazilians as the cultural epicenter of Brazil. Its a city where hilly, cobblestoned streets are lined with colorful colonial buildings and centuries-old baroque churches, and capoeira performances awaken the main squares. The streets of Salvadormade famous in 2014 by an episode of Anthony Bourdains Parts Unknown filmed hereare saturated with history, Afro-Brazilian culture, and a warm electricity that has come to define the state of Bahia. Fortunately for visitors, the citys renaissance is in full swing with major travel developments, making it easier and more appealing to visit this culturally rich and eccentric city in a largely undiscovered corner of the country. With new direct flights from the U.S. to Salvador, the city has also just welcomed its first luxury hotel, the first in all of Bahia, with the Fasano Salvador, Brazils landmark luxury brand. So, before the caipirinhas run out and the Samba quiets down, AD spotlights the best the city has to offer design lovers. Where to Stay Photo by Xico Diniz. Image courtesy of Fasano. The newly opened Fasano Salvador sits proudly in the Castro Alves Square in a historic building that formerly housed the headquarters of the weekly newspaper, A Tarde. It features unprecedented views of the Bay of All Saints, which can be taken in from many of the seaview rooms, and from the contemporary rooftop where sunsets over the bay are unbeatable and city views are just as charming. The interiors of the hotel, as with all Fasano properties, are meticulously designed with an elegant yet comfortable and relaxed aesthetic. The modest space is not only anchored in its beachy-chic design, but also in the service provided by the highly professional staff. Image courtesy of La Villa Bahia. For those more inclined to go the boutique hotel route, there are several worthwhile options in Salvador. The charming pousada, or traditional Portuguese hotel, La Villa Bahia, is spread across two adjoining colonial mansions nestled in the heart of Pelourinho, Salvadors historic city center, with 17 rooms overlooking the neighborhood. Story continues Room Macau at La Villa Bahia, Pelourinho, Salvador de Bahia 2009 Photo by Manuel Zublena. Image courtesy of La Villa Bahia. Where to Eat Locals and tourists alike love Paraiso Tropical, a Bahian restaurant located away from the city center in the Cabula district, for its classic Brazilian fare served in a rustic home. Local fruits (from the restaurants own orchard in the back) are prepared as main courses and the tropical moquecas, or Brazilian fish stews, are not to be missed. Brazil, Northeast, BA, Bahia, Salvador, Moqueca, dish typical of Bahia Photo by Victor Andrade. Image courtesy of Getty images. Casa de Tereza is another favorite for a typical Brazilian lunch scene, where Chef Tereza Paim uses international techniques to elevate local dishes. In another effort to honor Paim's Brazilian origins, the space is decorated with plastic art from her local artist friends and houses a store that sells local handicrafts and ingredients. For dinner, head to Mistura for some of the best seafood in Salvador. As the brainchild of an Italian and Brazilian husband-and-wife duo, Paolo Alfonsi and Andrea Ribeiro, the restaurant does a dignified job fusing Mediterranean and Bahian cuisine. If youre looking for a more romantic atmosphere in this traditionally relaxed city, head to Amado. Photo by Fabio Marconi. Image courtesy of Getty Images. Set against the soothing backdrop of the marina, Amado serves up a Bahian meal that might include their signature Pescada Amarela or any of their moquecas. Try their Bahian chocolate mousse for desert to see what we mean. If youre looking for a departure from typical Brazilian food, enjoy Salvadors best Japanese restaurant, Soho Restaurante. For after-dinner drinks, head to Egeu for some caipiroskas and more sea views to top off the night. What to Do Street celebration ,Salvador Bahia, Photo by John W Banagan. Image courtesy of Getty images. Roam the Cultural Neighborhoods Many know Salvadors historic Pelourinho neighborhood as the citys heart and soul. The vibrant streets and the candy-colored buildings that line them are what typically lure people to Salvador to begin with, and for good reason. On a stroll through this UNESCO neighborhood, visitors will stumble upon many of the sites that make up Salvadors cultural fabric, among them the Igreja de Sao Francisco, streetside capoeira performances, local art galleries and museums, street food, and the Mercado Modelo (be sure to pick up a Fita de Bonfim ribbon, or a wish bracelet, as these are a typical Salvador souveniryoull see them tied to church fences and on the wrists of Bahians throughout the city). Colonial buildings in Carmo District right next to Pelourinho, Salvador (Salvador de Bahia), Bahia, Brazil, South America Photo by Yadid Levy / Robert Harding. Image courtesy of Getty images. The nearby neighborhood of Carmo is a beautiful place to watch a late afternoon sunset at the caipiroska and caranguejo bars on the street. The cool bohemian neighborhood of Rio Vermelho is a great place to spend a day of cultural exploration. Visit LaLaa combined gallery, shop, and music venueand try the acaraje in the main square, or enjoy a night of barhopping (Borracharia is among the best bars in the neighborhood). Visit the City Beaches Photo by Fabio Marconi. Image courtesy of Salvador tourism board. What makes Salvador so unique is that along with its rich history and abundance of culture, it also has a tropical coastline. While some of the best beaches are just outside of the city, the beaches in Salvador proper are also worth a visit. Head to the popular Praia do Porto da Barra for an early morning swim with no waves before the crowds pile in, then pop over to the smaller (and slightly less crowded) Buracao Beach for a day of sunbathing and an idyllic beachside lunch at Blue Praia Bar, where visitors are invited to take a dip in the ocean between courses. Photo by Amanda Oliveira. Image courtesy of the Salvador tourism board. Island- and Beach TownHop While you may have your week full exploring the city, the string of tiny seaside towns and islands around Salvador proper are a must. Rent a boat to nearby Ilha dos Frades and pay a visit to Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Loreto, the colorful Bahian church, then have lunch at the magical Preta Restaurante, where the quirky decor consists of recycled materials like colorful cascading umbrellas that Preta herself finds washed up along the shores. There is no menu, but expect to find fresh-caught seafood dishes like a traditional shrimp moqueca and fresh goat cheese and scallops in olive oil served in a seashell. After lunch, continue exploring the untapped beaches on the islands of Mares and FradesPraia da Viracao is one of the best uncharted beaches on Ilha dos Frades. Photo by Fabio Marconi. Image courtesy of Salvador tourism board. Some of Salvador's best seaside villages are less than an hour away by car. Arembepebest known for its hippie movement in the 60s that attracted the likes of Janis Joplin and Mick Jagger, among other notable hippies of the erais a simple village with palm-frond pousadas, handicraft vendors, and the tranquil Rio Capivara. Up north is Praia do Forte, a glitzier and more full-service beach town where Brazilians have beach homes. In town surrounding the beach, visitors will find shops and restaurants to pass the day, but if you prefer to stay on the beach, dont shrug off the men selling queijo coalho on a stick. Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest By Dan Whitcomb May 17 (Reuters) - Detroit police on Friday assured residents of the Motor City that despite rumors on social media they were not aware of a serial killer roaming the downtown streets that they had kept secret from the public. The whispers apparently stem from the murder of 26-year-old Elizabeth Candice Nichole Laird, whose body was found in a dumpster outside an apartment building on the city's east side on Wednesday. Police have asked for the public's help in finding a person of interest in the murder of Laird, who according to an autopsy was killed by "compressive asphyxia," which refers to crushing a victim until they can no longer breathe. "There is false information circulating on social media that there is a serial killer at large in downtown Detroit, and that five to six female victims have been found in dumpsters prior to the May 15 homicide ... and that Detroit Police have failed to communicate this information to the public," police officials said on Facebook. "This is not true." Assistant Police Chief David LeValley told reporters on the day that Laird's body was found concealed in the dumpster that she had a "negative encounter" with a man inside her apartment building before she was slain. On Friday, police said they were searching for 50-year-old James Quill Cockerham for questioning in connection to the case and asked that anyone with information concerning the crime or his whereabouts contact detectives. Detroit's police chief, James Craig, said in January that homicides had declined in the city in 2018, marking the second year in a row of declines in the city of some 675,000 people. In 2018, there were a total of 261 criminal homicides, Craig said, compared to 267 in 2017. (Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Bill Tarrant and Alistair Bell) American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) shareholders might be concerned after seeing the share price drop 11% in the last week. But that doesn't change the fact that the returns over the last five years have been pleasing. Its return of 86% has certainly bested the market return! Want to participate in a short research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card! See our latest analysis for American Eagle Outfitters There is no denying that markets are sometimes efficient, but prices do not always reflect underlying business performance. One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price. During five years of share price growth, American Eagle Outfitters achieved compound earnings per share (EPS) growth of 28% per year. This EPS growth is higher than the 13% average annual increase in the share price. Therefore, it seems the market has become relatively pessimistic about the company. The company's earnings per share (over time) is depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers). NYSE:AEO Past and Future Earnings, May 17th 2019 We know that American Eagle Outfitters has improved its bottom line lately, but is it going to grow revenue? Check if analysts think American Eagle Outfitters will grow revenue in the future. What About Dividends? It is important to consider the total shareholder return, as well as the share price return, for any given stock. Whereas the share price return only reflects the change in the share price, the TSR includes the value of dividends (assuming they were reinvested) and the benefit of any discounted capital raising or spin-off. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. We note that for American Eagle Outfitters the TSR over the last 5 years was 117%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return. Story continues A Different Perspective While the broader market gained around 5.2% in the last year, American Eagle Outfitters shareholders lost 11% (even including dividends). However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 17%, each year, over five years. If the fundamental data continues to indicate long term sustainable growth, the current sell-off could be an opportunity worth considering. Most investors take the time to check the data on insider transactions. You can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling. We will like American Eagle Outfitters better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying. Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on US 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. If you own shares in Phoenix Media Investment (Holdings) Limited (HKG:2008) then it's worth thinking about how it contributes to the volatility of your portfolio, overall. In finance, Beta is a measure of volatility. Modern finance theory considers volatility to be a measure of risk, and there are two main types of price volatility. The first category is company specific volatility. This can be dealt with by limiting your exposure to any particular stock. The second type is the broader market volatility, which you cannot diversify away, since it arises from macroeconomic factors which directly affects all the stocks on the market. Some stocks mimic the volatility of the market quite closely, while others demonstrate muted, exagerrated or uncorrelated price movements. Some investors use beta as a measure of how much a certain stock is impacted by market risk (volatility). While we should keep in mind that Warren Buffett has cautioned that 'Volatility is far from synonymous with risk', beta is still a useful factor to consider. To make good use of it you must first know that the beta of the overall market is one. Any stock with a beta of greater than one is considered more volatile than the market, while those with a beta below one are either less volatile or poorly correlated with the market. Want to participate in a short research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card! See our latest analysis for Phoenix Media Investment (Holdings) What we can learn from 2008's beta value Given that it has a beta of 1.24, we can surmise that the Phoenix Media Investment (Holdings) share price has been fairly sensitive to market volatility (over the last 5 years). If this beta value holds true in the future, Phoenix Media Investment (Holdings) shares are likely to rise more than the market when the market is going up, but fall faster when the market is going down. Beta is worth considering, but it's also important to consider whether Phoenix Media Investment (Holdings) is growing earnings and revenue. You can take a look for yourself, below. Story continues SEHK:2008 Income Statement, May 17th 2019 How does 2008's size impact its beta? Phoenix Media Investment (Holdings) is a noticeably small company, with a market capitalisation of HK$3.5b. Most companies this size are not always actively traded. It has a relatively high beta, suggesting it is fairly actively traded for a company of its size. Because it takes less capital to move the share price of a small company like this, when a stock this size is actively traded it is quite often more sensitive to market volatility than similar large companies. What this means for you: Since Phoenix Media Investment (Holdings) has a reasonably high beta, it's worth considering why it is so heavily influenced by broader market sentiment. For example, it might be a high growth stock or have a lot of operating leverage in its business model. In order to fully understand whether 2008 is a good investment for you, we also need to consider important company-specific fundamentals such as Phoenix Media Investment (Holdings)s financial health and performance track record. I urge you to continue your research by taking a look at the following: Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for 2008s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for 2008s outlook. Past Track Record: Has 2008 been consistently performing well irrespective of the ups and downs in the market? Go into more detail in the past performance analysis and take a look at the free visual representations of 2008's historicals for more clarity. Other Interesting Stocks: It's worth checking to see how 2008 measures up against other companies on valuation. You could start with this free list of prospective options. 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. Meghan Markle gave birth at private Portland Hospital in Westminster, royal baby's birth certificate reveals The Duchess of Sussex gave birth to her first child Archie Mountbatten-Windsor at the private Portland Hospital in London, it has been confirmed, after his birth certificate became public record. The Duchess, whose occupation was listed as Princess of the United Kingdom, and Duke had declined to specify the place of birth when they announced news of Archies safe arrival, omitting details of the medical team and location. Today, after the Duke registered his sons birth with the Westminster registrar, the certificate confirmed the place of birth as the private Portland Hospital. The factual statement will end the narrative of a home birth at Frogmore Cottage, widely reported to have been the Duchess preferred option, and will go some way to shutting down baseless rumours about the circumstances of the birth. Royal sources had previously emphasised that the Duke and Duchess would not be making the birth certificate readily available through the palace themselves - as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge did with their three children - in line with their views on privacy. But as of today, it became a public document available through the registrar in common with all birth certificates in the United Kingdom. Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor's birth certificate Credit: PA It lists the Duke as the informant who officially registered the birth, and cites the Duchess under her real name of Rachel Meghan. Her occupation was given as "Princess of the United Kingdom", just as the Duchess of Cambridge's was for the births of Prince George, Charlotte and Louis. Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, the seventh in line to the throne and an eighth great-grandchild for the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh, arrived at 5.26am on May 6, weighing 7lb 3oz. The Portland is a fully private maternity hospital, with celebrity patients including Victoria Beckham, Liz Hurley and Kate Winslet. The Duchess of York gave birth to Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, at the hospital in Harley Street, central London, where a basic birth nowadays begins at 6,100. Story continues Its five star service include waiters serving patients champagne and lobster, although the Sussexes are unlikely to have availed themselves of the full facilities after being admitted in the middle of the night before being safely discharged and at home in Windsor by the following afternoon. A spokesman for The Portland Hospital said: "Huge congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on the birth of baby Archie. "For reasons of patient confidentiality, we are unable to provide any comment or information." The duke was at his wife's side during the birth and he later confessed he had only had a few hours' sleep, suggesting Meghan had spent much of the night in labour. Archie was born at 5.26am on Monday, May 6. Amid surroundings steeped in royal history, Archie made his debut behind closed doors two days after he was born, with a small press pool of only one reporter, one photographer, three cameramen, as well as the couple's own private photographer and a household press officer photographer. Meghan and Harry were beside themselves with joy giggling and looking into each others eyes as they spoke. The duke gently cradled his son in his arms - in a white merino wool shawl made by G H Hurt & Son - and could not resist sneaking a peek down at him as he apparently slept. Asked who the baby takes after, Meghan, who was wearing a white dress, said: "We're still trying to figure that out." Harry, wearing a light grey suit, said: "Everyone says that babies change so much over two weeks we're basically monitoring how the changing process happens over this next month really. But his looks are changing every single day, so who knows." Asked how he found parenting, Harry added: "It's great. Parenting is amazing. It's only been two and a half days, three days, but we're just so thrilled to have our own little bundle of joy." Meghan added: "He's just been the dream so it's been a special couple of days." The duke had to leave his son and wife behind as he travelled to Amsterdam to promote the Invictus games. Neither the duchess nor Archie have been seen since the royal photocall on Wednesday, May 8. Later that day, the couple announced the baby's name by sharing a photograph on Instagram of their new family of three with Meghan's mother Doria Ragland, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, all smiling at the newborn. On the same social media platform on May 12, they posted a picture of the seventh-in-line to the throne's feet in his mother's hands to celebrate the Duchess of Sussex's first mother's day. The caption read: "Paying tribute to all mothers today - past, present, mothers-to-be, and those lost but forever remembered. We honor and celebrate each and every one of you. "Today is Mothers Day in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Kenya, Japan, and several countries across Europe." Read more: Foie gras for mum and a beer for dad: What it's like to give birth at The Portland Want the best of The Telegraph direct to your email and WhatsApp? Sign up to our free twice-daily Front Page newsletter and new audio briefings. Looking to check out the newest restaurant and retail additions to the East Village? From a Japanese tea room to a beer bar, read on for a list of the newest destinations to open their doors in this New York City neighborhood. Cha-An Bonbon 238A E. Ninth St. Cha-An Bonbon is a tea room, offering ice cream, frozen yogurt and more. This new business provides Japanese teas, as well as tea from all over the world. On the menu, expect to see teas like oolong, black tea with milk and matcha, as well as desserts like creme brulee and parfaits. Cha-An Bonbon currently holds 4.5 stars out of four reviews on Yelp, indicating good reviews. Yelper Howie Z., who reviewed Cha-An Bonbon on May 4, wrote, "Credit card only! You must try their dango! Check out pics for what type of dango they have available. I had their matcha-flavored dango, and it was bomb." Mike C. noted, "Cha-An just opened this tiny little shop selling dango, mochi and other desserts. I tried the Hojicha Soft Serve, which was beautiful and really good, topped with monaka, red bean and raindrop cake. Will definitely be back to try more." Cha-An Bonbon is open from noon8 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and noon9 p.m. on Friday-Sunday. (It's closed on Wednesday.) Space194 194 First Ave. Next, check out Space194, a tea shop with an art gallery. This new business offers full-leaf teas and "fruiteas," which are fruit-infused tea drinks. On the menu, expect to see items like Peach by Matise, with diced peaches, oolong tea, agave and rose petals, and the Pear Cezzane, which includes pears, agave syrup and crushed pistachio. Yelp users are excited about Space194, which currently holds 4.5 stars out of 29 reviews on the site. Yelper Mia F., who reviewed Space194 on May 5, wrote, "The whole concept of the shop is such a unique experience totally worth checking out. I received my latte in a plastic cup with a cute, floral design that I hand-wash and still reuse! I tried the Lavender Vanilla latte with oat milk, and I was very pleasantly surprised by the taste!" Story continues Space194 is open from 10 a.m.9 p.m. daily. Eliza's Local 2 St. Marks Place Eliza's Local is a beer bar and traditional American spot. This new business has brunch and dinner options, as well as locally brewed beers. On the menu, expect to see items like a coconut granola bowl, a meatloaf sandwich with aged cheddar and hot crab dip with spinach and artichokes. Eliza's Local's current rating of five stars out of 40 reviews on Yelp indicates positive attention from users. Yelper Kellianne H., who reviewed Eliza's Local on May 12, wrote, "All the brews on the menu (and there are a ton) are from local breweries. The Concrete Jungle Bird cocktail is very tasty and not too sweet. I will definitely be back. This bar is very chill and perfect for a Saturday night." Lauren S. noted, "Eliza's Local is a great addition to the area. The standout was the whiskey smash cocktail I ordered, a simple drink with whiskey, lemon and mint. I recommend coming here on a warm day and sitting up front, where they open the entire front wall and you can look out onto Saint Marks. The service was quick and friendly." Eliza's Local is open from 4 p.m.2 a.m. on Monday-Wednesday, 4 p.m.4 a.m. on Thursday and Friday, 11 a.m.4 a.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m.2 a.m. on Sunday. This story was created automatically using local business data, then reviewed and augmented by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. CAIRO, Egypt (AP) Egypt has deported 33 Sudanese migrants who were trying to reach Libya to head onward to Europe. Cairo airport officials said on Friday the Sudanese were arrested earlier this month in the western coastal city of Marsa Matruh, not far from Libya's border, along with dozens of Egyptians and other African nationals. The officials say the migrants had planned to take fishing boats from the Libyan port of Zuwarah to Italy. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to talk to reporters. Libya became a major conduit for African migrants and refugees fleeing to Europe after the 2011 uprising that killed Moammar Gadhafi. Thousands have perished while making the perilous sea crossing while others have been detained and abused in Libya by smugglers and armed groups. CAIRO, May 17 (Reuters) - Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has pardoned 560 prisoners, the majority of whom were accused of supporting the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, two judicial sources said on Friday. Of those pardoned, 482 were imprisoned on charges related to the Brotherhood, a decades-old Islamist political movement with a mass following, the sources said. A prominent journalist, Abdel Halim Qandil, who was sentenced in 2017 to three years in prison on charges of insulting the judiciary, was also pardoned. The pardoned prisoners also included two women who organized demonstrations outside metro stations last year after fare hikes. The prisoners are expected to be released on Friday. The pardons were announced in the official gazette late on Thursday. The Brotherhood won the first free elections after the 2011 uprising that ended autocrat Hosni Mubaraks 30-year rule, but was toppled by the army after a year in power. Since then, the group has been banned and hundreds of its followers have been jailed. The Brotherhood says it is a non-violent movement and denies any relationship to violent insurgencies waged by al Qaeda and Islamic State militants. Rights activists say Sisi has overseen a relentless crackdown on dissent in Egypt since 2014. At least 60,000 people have been jailed on political grounds, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate. Sisi has denied holding political prisoners and his backers say the measures were necessary to stabilize Egypt after its 2011 uprising. (Reporting by Ahmed Mohamed Hassan and Mohamed Wali; Writing by Lena Masri, Editing by William Maclean) Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images One of the paradoxes of the American right has always been its full-throated embrace of capitalism. In some respects, of course, this embrace makes perfect sense: Capitalism is a pillar of American national identity; markets (at least in theory) promote conservative virtues such as thrift and responsibility; and the Hayekian critique of government planning, according to which economies are too complex for humans to fully understand, is a form of classical conservative skepticism regarding the limits of rational knowledge. Yet if one thinks of conservatism in the broad sense as a preference for continuity over change for history and tradition over novelty and innovation it fits uncomfortably with an economic system that tends toward a relentless abolition of the old. In Europe, conservatives have tended not only to take a more positive view of the state than Americans do but to regard capitalism as, at best, a necessary evil something to be defended against left-wing leveling but that has the potential to dissolve the sorts of traditional social bonds that conservatism exists to protect. As the conservative Catholic journalist Michael Brendan Dougherty wrote recently in National Review, the traditional conservative position on markets has always been one of guarded appreciation for private property, mixed with a little suspicion for commerce and wage slavery. In Doughertys sense, the American right prior to the 2016 election was profoundly nontraditional. It would be only a slight exaggeration to say that before Trump came along, most conservatives saw very little wrong with the United States that couldnt be fixed by cutting taxes, slashing entitlements, and educating Americans in the virtues of self-reliance. Today a few prominent voices on the right are beginning to reconsider. Tucker Carlson, for instance a former libertarian who reinvented himself as a fire-breathing populist has attacked the Republican mainstream for its worship of markets at the expense of normal Americans. Journals such as American Affairs and First Things are mounting a slightly more highbrow, often religiously inflected assault on neoliberalism, which they blame for the social collapse now devastating the white working class. Some thinkers, such as the Notre Dame political scientist Patrick Deneen, have gone so far as to claim that liberalism itself including the American rights classical liberalism is a failure. These voices, with the partial exception of Carlson, are not totally mainstream, and conservative think tanks and magazines are still filled with defenders of the old religion. But the market triumphalism that has dominated the American right since Reagan seems, for the first time in a generation, to be on the back foot. Tim Carneys book Alienated America, published in February, is both an index of this transformation and a reminder of how far it is yet to go. Carney, a commentary editor at the Washington Examiner and a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, is about as mainstream as Republican writers come, and his book is yet another attempt the answer the million-dollar question in American politics: How did Trump get elected? Mixing a wealth of social science with his own reporting from down-at-the-heels sections of Trump country, Carney attributes the rise of Trump to a collapse of civil society particularly marriage, religion, and family formation in broad sections of the U.S. And his answer to this widespread alienation (his chosen term for the phenomenon) is to revive the bonds of faith and community that he believes have come undone. Carney begins with the question of why certain places voted for Trump in the 2016 Republican primary. Its easy to see why ordinary Republicans would vote for him in the general election their only other option was a Clinton but why would they choose Trump in a primary over more conventionally conservative options? In Carneys telling, Republican districts that went for candidates like John Kasich, Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz tended to be those with strong communities and functioning civil-society institutions; those that went early and hard for Trump in the primary tended to be those with low levels of social capital, broken or nonexistent institutions, and high rates of suicide and drug overdose. A 2016 poll from PRRI, for instance, found that Republican voters who reported that they seldom or never took part in community activities were twice as likely to support Trump as Cruz; similarly, Trump won primaries in eight of the ten Iowa counties with the lowest scores on Senator Mike Lees social-capital index (which considers data on crime, marriage, trust, philanthropy, and other indicators of communal health) but lost nine out of the ten highest-scoring counties. This conclusion that in white areas, social collapse correlates with Trump support provides Carney with the leitmotif for the rest of his book. In essence, Carney attempts to split the difference between those who attribute Trumps election to cultural resentments (including racism) and those who blame it on economic anxiety. Both are true in Carneys view, but both are symptomatic of the deeper disease of alienation. Because the book leans heavily on social science that is already fairly well publicized (Raj Chettys work on economic mobility, David Autor and his colleagues work on the China trade shock, Robert Putnams work on declining social capital), much of Carneys story will be familiar. Still, the compilation of all these statistics in one place the decline of male wages and workforce participation, the fall of marriage and rise of single-parent households, the emergence of social-capital deserts in poorer sections of the country, and the explosion of deaths of despair among American whites paints an impressive picture of anomie. And as Carney repeatedly points out, these social pathologies are concentrated at the bottom half of the income-distribution range. While there is a popular rhetorical style on the right that blames godless elites for the decline of community and family, Carney notes that the wealthy and well-educated of both parties are far more likely to go to church, volunteer in their communities, and maintain strong social connections than are those in the working class. For Carney, this is particularly alarming because community, which gives life purpose and helps people through hard times, is all the more important for those without much material wealth. Yet if Carney offers a convincingly bleak view of social collapse in working-class America, his explanation for this collapse and his suggestions for what to do about it are somewhat less satisfying. Carney channels, to a limited degree, some of the new right-wing market skepticism: He offers a soft criticism of big business for stamping out local variation in the name of standardization and efficiency; he laments the rise of Taylorism and its dehumanization of work; he attacks the gig economy for not providing workers with stability; he disapproves of suburbanization and the isolation that stems from it; he even quotes Deneen to the effect that capitalism breeds an individualistic mind-set that makes relationships contingent and easily broken. But in explaining the troubles of working-class America, Carney tends to fall back on the collapse of church and community, which he largely attributes to traditional Republican bogeymen such as the welfare state, the sexual revolution, the rise of expressive individualism, and secularization. These explanations are not wrong per se, but they are so large and fuzzily cultural that they resist solutions beyond the local and individual. Carney offers a few policy fixes he thinks might help reforming the mortgage interest deduction, decentralizing control over public schools but he admits in his closing chapter that the solution is mostly: You should go to church. Also, You should start a T-ball team. Generally speaking, it probably is a good idea to start a T-ball team. And Carneys willingness to critique aspects of American capitalism, mild as they may be, represents a marked shift from where the mainstream right was during the Obama years and where some of its leading lights still are. But at the same time, by delivering an account of a country facing full-blown social collapse and then retreating into calls for local, voluntary solutions, Carney ends up restating the basic premises of an old conservative consensus its not the governments job to fix your problems that, as a political philosophy, has contributed to the alienation Carney so convincingly describes. It may be true, for instance, that the state is ill equipped to re-create devastated communities, but it is also true that state policy has enabled or even accelerated their devastation, and not merely in the sense that overregulation has hurt small businesses or that the welfare state has crowded out private charity. Rising international economic competition, for instance, was always going to hurt the American working class. But as critics on both the left and the right have pointed out, globalization has been systematically tilted in favor of the mobile and highly educated. The critic Michael Lind, for instance, notes that the international harmonization of economic rules has focused on tariffs, financial liberalization, and intellectual property while avoiding areas that would benefit the Western working classes, such as wages, labor standards, and tax laws. Even some of the more diffuse cultural shifts lamented by conservatives have been midwifed by the state. As Harvard Law professors Jacob Gersen and Jeannie Suk Gersen have argued in their study of the evolution of Title IX, civil-rights laws designed to protect womens equal access to education have created, through bureaucratic drift and activist institutional capture, a vast federal regulatory apparatus that treats socialization into traditional gender roles as a public-health risk and attempts, under the guise of fighting sexual assault, to inculcate among college students a progressive view of gender and sexuality. The point here is not to chastise Carney for not adopting a more dirigiste political philosophy than the one he presumably holds. It is to say that, even on the right, intellectuals are concluding that the problems Carney identifies are so alarming that localist, laissez-faire solutions simply arent going to cut it. In a recent essay in American Affairs, Gladden Pappin issued a broadside against fusionist conservatives who, in his view, waste their energies calling for the resurrection of vanished civil-society traditions that worked only as culturally embedded practices dependent on the traditions of aristocratic centuries. Instead, Pappin demands conservatives ask themselves, What can we do with the reins of power, that is, the state, to ensure the common good of our citizens? It remains to be seen whether anyone will take up Pappins call and, if they do, whether such a conservatism of the state would be effective or popular. But if Middle Americas condition really is as dire as people like Carney make it out to be, its hard to imagine that go to church will turn out to be a political winner. Carney ably describes the sort of malaise that led Republicans to flock to Trump, but if theres one thing we learned from the 2016 election, its that desperate people want a leader who promises to try something different, however flawed his solutions might be. CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has pardoned 560 prisoners, the majority of whom were accused of supporting the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, two judicial sources said on Friday. Of those pardoned, 482 were imprisoned on charges related to the Brotherhood, a decades-old Islamist political movement with a mass following, the sources said. A prominent journalist, Abdel Halim Qandil, who was sentenced in 2017 to three years in prison on charges of insulting the judiciary, was also pardoned. The pardoned prisoners also included two women who organized demonstrations outside metro stations last year after fare hikes. The prisoners are expected to be released on Friday. The pardons were announced in the official gazette late on Thursday. The Brotherhood won the first free elections after the 2011 uprising that ended autocrat Hosni Mubaraks 30-year rule, but was toppled by the army after a year in power. Since then, the group has been banned and hundreds of its followers have been jailed. The Brotherhood says it is a non-violent movement and denies any relationship to violent insurgencies waged by al Qaeda and Islamic State militants. Rights activists say Sisi has overseen a relentless crackdown on dissent in Egypt since 2014. At least 60,000 people have been jailed on political grounds, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate. Sisi has denied holding political prisoners and his backers say the measures were necessary to stabilize Egypt after its 2011 uprising. (Reporting by Ahmed Mohamed Hassan and Mohamed Wali; Writing by Lena Masri, Editing by William Maclean) Emily Ratajkowski has taken a stand against the Alabama abortion law. [Photo: Getty] Model Emily Ratajkowski is one of the latest celebrities to take to social media to highlight concerns over the restrictive abortion laws announced in Alabama in the US. The 27-year-old made her statement loud and clear by sharing a near-naked photo. This week, 25 old white men voted to ban abortion in Alabama even in cases of incest and rape, she wrote. READ MORE: Milla Jovovich opens up about her 'emergency abortion' but what is that? These men in power are imposing their wills onto the bodies of women in order to uphold the patriarchy and perpetuate the industrial prison complex by preventing women of low economic opportunity the right to choose to not reproduce. The states trying to ban abortion are the states that have the highest proportions of black women living there. This is about class and race and is a direct attack on the fundamental human rights women in the US deserve and are protected by under Roe vs. Wade. Our bodies, our choice. The Alabama Human Life Protection Act, which was signed on Wednesday, outlaws abortions after six weeks of pregnancy - long before most women learn that they are expecting. Its not only women who will be affected however, as doctors could face 10 years in prison for attempting to terminate a pregnancy and up to 99 years for carrying out the procedure. Similar laws were announced in Georgia last week. In protest of the bill, a growing number of celebrities like Emily have spoken out on social media, with some speaking candidly about their own experiences. These include Emma Watson, Reese Witherspoon, Busy Philipps, Lady Gaga and more. After the closing bell yesterday, NVIDIA (NVDA) cheered investors with first-quarter fiscal 2019 results. Though this biggest maker of graphics processors missed on revenues, its earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The company offered an upbeat guidance for the current fiscal year, buoyed by strong demand for its gaming chips and higher sales to data centers (read: Semiconductor ETF Tops in April: 5 Stocks Leading the Rally). Shares of NVDA rose more than 7% initially following the earnings announcement in after-hours trading but lost most of the initial gains. Q1 Earnings in Focus Earnings per share came in at 88 cents, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 6 cents but declining 57% from the year-ago quarter. Revenues dropped 31% year over year to $2.22 billion and also slightly missed the estimated figure of $2.25 billion. NVIDIA expects revenues of approximately $2.55 billion (+/-2%) for the second quarter of fiscal 2020, much higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.51 billion. It anticipates its graphics chip sales to benefit from a recovery in the gaming market. While Nvidia has been penetrating newer growth areas, such as data centers, artificial intelligence and self-driving cars, the company's key business remains selling chips that enhance video game graphics (see: all the Technology ETFs here). NVIDIA currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) and a VGM Score of D. It falls within a top-ranked Zacks industry (top 41%). ETFs to Watch This has put ETFs with higher allocation to this graphics chipmaker under the spotlight. Below we have highlighted some of the funds: ARK Industrial Innovation ETF ARKQ This is an actively managed ETF, seeking a long-term capital appreciation by investing in companies that benefit from the development of new products or services, technological improvements and advancements in scientific research related to energy, automation and manufacturing, materials and transportation. This approach results in a basket of 35 stocks with NVDA occupying the third spot holding 8.8% share. The product has accumulated $167.3 million in its asset base and charges 75 bps in fees per year. It sees lower volume of about 25,000 shares a day. VanEck Vectors Video Gaming and eSports ETF ESPO This fund offers exposure to global companies, involved in video game development, e-sports and related hardware and software by tracking the MVIS Global Video Gaming and eSports Index. Holding 25 stocks in its basket, NVIDIA takes the top spot with 8.4% share. American firms account for one-third of the portfolio while Japan, China and South Korea round off the next three with a double-digit allocation. The fund has gathered $22.5 million in its asset base while trading in average daily volume of 9,000 shares. It charges 55 bps in annual fees from investors (read: Video Gaming Industry Warming Up: Play These ETFs). iShares PHLX Semiconductor ETF SOXX This ETF offers exposure to 30 U.S. companies that design, manufacture and distribute semiconductors by tracking the PHLX SOX Semiconductor Sector Index. Of these, NVDA takes the fourth spot at 7.7% allocation. The fund has amassed $1.3 billion in its asset base and charges a fee of 47 bps a year. It trades in a solid volume of 763,000 shares and has a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 with a High risk outlook (read: China's Retaliation Puts These ETFs and Stocks in Focus). ARK Web x.0 ETF ARKW This is an actively managed fund, focusing on companies expected to benefit from the shift in technology infrastructure to the cloud, enabling mobile, new and local services. The fund holds 38 stocks in its basket with NVIDIA occupying the top position at 6.1%. The ETF has amassed $499.2 million in its asset base and trades in a good average daily volume of around 126,000 shares. Expense ratio comes in at 0.75% VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF SMH This ETF has AUM of $994.2 million and average daily volume of about 7 million shares. The fund provides exposure to 25 global securities by tracking the MVIS US Listed Semiconductor 25 Index. NVIDIA occupies the fifth spot with 5.7% of the assets. While the American firms dominate the funds holdings with 79.3% assets, the Netherlands (9.6%), Taiwan (9.4%) and Switzerland (1.7%) round off the top four slots in terms of its country exposure. The fund charges an expense ratio of 0.35%. It has a Zacks ETF Rank #2 (Buy) with a High risk outlook (read: Trade-Sensitive Sector ETFs in Focus on New Tariff Threat). Want key ETF info delivered straight to your inbox? Zacks free Fund Newsletter will brief you on top news and analysis, as well as top-performing ETFs, each week. Get it free >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF (SMH): ETF Research Reports ARK Web x.0 ETF (ARKW): ETF Research Reports iShares PHLX Semiconductor ETF (SOXX): ETF Research Reports ARK Industrial Innovation ETF (ARKQ): ETF Research Reports VANECK-V VGAMG (ESPO): ETF Research Reports To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report It's not easy being the new guy - even if your parent company is eToro, a global multi-asset securities broker which boasts 10 million registered users. But it seems eToroX, eToro's Gibraltar-regulated crypto exchange launched last month, is not in a rush to mark its territory, opting for a staggered approach since going live, according to eToros UKs Director, Iqbal Gandham. "I'd call [April's announcement] a medium launch. Not a soft launch as such, but we're definitely looking to add far more features," he told The Block in an interview in London. "We're pacing ourselves. Crypto has different nuances to consider. We're learning," he added, speaking exactly 30 days after eToroX launched its API-driven platform for professional traders in 80 countries, barring the U.S. Indeed, there are lofty plans for this eToro miniature, with Gandham hoping it will eventually be "on par" with the main platform. eToroX has already increased its offering to over 50 trading pairs, based around the five largest cryptocurrencies (it recently delisted Dash). It is also planning a major crypto marketing campaign in September to drive up the exchange's user-base, the size of which is said to be reflective of the firm's second-tier on-boarding efforts. "I'd be surprised if [numbers] are anything significant," Gandham noted, suggesting only a handful of eToro's millions of users have migrated over to the new exchange. The company declined to give specific data. As for why eToro chose to launch a standalone crypto platform despite offering crypto brokering itself since 2014, Gandham explains there was a need to keep up with traders' varied requests. Such demands - especially around listings - are already rolling in fast to eToroX from token projects and traders alike. In response, Gandham said the exchange is "looking to launch many more tokens," hoping to go beyond "established" cryptoassets once they have a listing procedure in place. He expects this will be finalised by the end of this quarter, seemingly unfazed by the weight of a task that is arguably core to an exchange's direction. Story continues "It's not a difficult thing to do to put a document together," he said. "It's a work in progress," he added, noting that the key criteria for tokens accepted on to the platform will be ones with 'natural' liquidity. "We don't want to list everything." So for now, eToroX is playing it safe, choosing this week to add four additional native stablecoins, including eToro Ruble (RUBX) and eToro Yuan (CNYX); the latter of which is believed to be the first Chinese stablecoin in circulation. These additions should come as no surprise given eToro is so bullish on stablecoins. Gandham explains that fiat pegged-tokens add a layer of efficiency to crypto trading, allowing users to hedge their exposure by locking in a fixed price while providing an avenue for quick, 24 hour, less volatile trading as "it's all digital." It's a logic that is key to the exchange's narrative given its native stablecoins cannot be redeemed for fiat. The other next step is hiring. Gandham says that eToroX is unlikely to join the likes of Bakkt or Coinbase in hiring heavyweight trading veterans anytime soon, but adds that they'll reconsider depending on the market and the state of the platform. Finally, Gandham takes a realist, matter-of-fact approach about the security threats facing nascent crypto exchanges. "Do banks get hacked? I don't know. But there's fraud. And e-commerce sites definitely do, yet we don't continuously report on that," he said. "If you're online, you're going to get hacked." Still, as for eToroX's own approach, he said it's committed to keeping at least 90% in cold storage, which is offline and is, in theory, more secure. As for the threat on the remaining 10%, it seems eToroX may take a leaf out of Malta-based exchange Binance's book, should the nightmare become a reality. "Look, Binance replenished all the lost funds. What more could a customer ask for?" Gandham said. Brussels (AFP) - The European Union said Friday it is prepared to negotiate a limited trade deal, including on cars, with the US, after President Donald Trump held off imposing auto tariffs. "We note that US postpones decision on car tariffs for 180 days," European trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom tweeted. "The EU is prepared to negotiate a limited trade agreement including cars." In another tweet, Malmstrom said she would discuss the issue with EU trade ministers next week before meeting on May 27 with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. EU countries last month gave the green light for Brussels to open talks with Washington "limited to the elimination of tariffs for industrial goods only" and defuse trans-Atlantic tensions. They did not explicitly mention talks on cars as the threat of US tariffs on autos loomed. But Trump announced earlier Friday he will delay by six months a decision on imposing steep auto tariffs on imported autos, including those from the EU. A Trump administration report concluded that America's shrinking share of the auto market jeopardized its research, development and manufacturing -- all "vital to national security." In her tweet, Malmstrom said: "We completely reject the notion that our car exports are a national security threat." By Francesco Guarascio BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union removed the British overseas territory of Bermuda, the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba and Barbados on Friday from the bloc's blacklist of tax havens, leaving no EU territory still on the list. The move left 12 jurisdictions on the list, prompting criticism over the EU blacklisting process, which was launched in 2017 after revelations of widespread tax avoidance schemes used by corporations and wealthy individuals to lower their tax bills. The three islands were added to the list in March as they had failed for months to change their tax rules, which the EU deemed at risk of facilitating tax evasion in other countries. But now Aruba has been removed because it has changed its legislation to make it compliant with EU requirements, an EU statement said. Bermuda and Barbados have committed to addressing EU concerns and have therefore been moved to a so-called grey list of countries still under EU scrutiny for their tax practices, the statement said, effectively giving them more time to be fully compliant. Bermuda's Finance Minister Curtis Dickinson welcomed the EU decision. He said there was still work to be done to improve the island's tax legislation on collective investment funds, about which the EU had still concerns. "EU governments have once again let some of the world's worst tax havens off the hook," said Chiara Putaturo, of the anti-poverty group Oxfam. "The reforms agreed by Bermuda, Barbados and Aruba will not stop them operating as tax havens," she added, calling on the EU to blacklist all jurisdictions that offer very low or zero corporate tax rates. The EU does not automatically add to its list tax-free countries unless they have additional provisions that could facilitate tax evasion, such as rules on offshore structures aimed at attracting foreign profits. Major jurisdictions that are still on the EU list are the United Arab Emirates, Oman and the three U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Story continues Belize, Fiji, the Marshall Islands, Vanuatu, Dominica, Samoa and Trinidad and Tobago also remain on the blacklist. Blacklisted states face reputational damage and stricter controls on transactions with the EU. The list initially comprised 17 jurisdictions, but it is subject to regular reviews. Countries with legal shortfalls are added if they do not amend their rules by set deadlines. (Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio; additional reporting by Emma Farge,; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle, William Maclean) PARIS Ride-sharing giants in Europe have urged reforms for the transport industry, in the hope that it will help them expand further within the continent and face less barriers to innovation. Co-founders from two of the region's largest mobility firms, BlaBlaCar and Bolt formerly Taxify said the lack of a common framework on carpooling and ride-hailing makes it more difficult to operate across the European Union. The main issue is that the EU, though a collective bloc of 28 or soon to be 27 nations, does not have a unified "definition" of what it means to be a ride-sharing start-up, and therefore this creates a fragmentation among the different member states. "I think it would help even in our industry if there would be some kind of harmonization of the transport regulations," Bolt co-founder Martin Villig told CNBC in an interview at the Viva Technology conference in Paris. The firm has been barred from entering countries like Germany, Italy, Spain and Denmark, Villig said, because those territories do not yet permit transportation start-ups to operate freely. In Spain, for instance, firms like Uber(UBER) and Spanish company Cabify have faced a local pushback due to discontent in the traditional taxi industry. "I think that there is a big opportunity to open that market," Bolt's co-founder said of untapped markets like Germany and Spain, adding that "giving some general harmonization guidelines from a European level" would help, "and then maybe some smaller details can be handled." BlaBlaCar co-founder and President Frederic Mazzella sympathized with Villig's concerns. "We face the same thing," he told CNBC. "We are missing today the European definitions of new businesses that could be applied in all countries." Such a lack of definition means that start-ups are having to "explain and reexplain again" their business models to each individual EU state to expand across Europe, Mazzella said. Story continues "Growing a start-up in the U.S. is like running a 100-meter race," he said. "Growing a start-up in Europe is like running a 110-meter hurdle race." Europe currently adds 28 hurdles in terms of regulation, he said, albeit noting the caveat of Britain's departure from the bloc, which would mean 27 hurdles. Founders like Villig and Mazzella have also in recent months decried the lack of clear-cut rules on stock options across Europe. In an open letter to politicians in November, various start-up founders and executives called for reform around employee stock ownership to help European companies attract more talent and better compete against their gargantuan U.S. rivals. "In some markets it's very complicated and you need special lawyers," Bolt's Villig said, adding that Estonia where Bolt is based is more forward-thinking in this regard. "Part of the DNA of start-up companies is to share the value with the employees who work hard." Employee stock options grant staff the ability to buy a specified number of shares of the company they work for at a certain price and at an agreed time. BlaBlaCar's Mazzella added that his firm is pushing for Europe-wide visas that allow people to work for start-ups throughout the continent, as tech firms tend to seek global audiences. He highlighted a French start-up visa program that lets founders, employees and investors seek residence in the country. The ride-sharing market has gained a lot of traction from investors, with stock market debuts from U.S. giants Uber and Lyft(LYFT) making headlines of late. But both of those initial public offerings proved disappointing, with Uber and Lyft's share prices dropping below their IPO pricing on fears around their lack of profitability. That could prove to be a kind of litmus test for their competitors, as speculation grows over the next big ride-sharing IPO. China's Didi-Chuxing for example has been rumored to be in the process of seeking a flotation. For their part, Bolt and BlaBlaCar's founders said it was too soon to talk of a float on the public markets. Both Bolt and BlaBlaCar are widely considered as success stories within Europe, having crossed so-called "unicorn" status unicorn companies being private tech firms that are valued at more than $1 billion. Europe has very much been viewed as the laggard when it comes to advancing in tech, with the U.S. and China producing huge companies in the sector. But the continent is showing more promise a record $23 billion in venture capital money was estimated to have flowed into European start-ups in 2018, according to Atomico. Brussels (AFP) - More than 400 million Europeans will be called to vote next week to set the stage as Brussels debates its post-Brexit future and faces a rising populist tide. Eurosceptic forces are expected to seize ground in the European Parliament, buoyed by popular concerns about immigration, even if few parties want to quit the bloc. Only in Britain, which voted in June 2016 to quit the union but has yet to decide how and when, are outright anti-European "leavers" expected to do well. But once-marginal populist and nationalist parties have a new wind in their sails and could win enough seats to trouble Brussels' federalist consensus. The main centre-right and centre-left blocs in the Strasbourg assembly may have to offer alliances or concessions to populist rivals for the first time. Voting will begin Thursday in a Britain roiled by parliamentary fighting over how to define Brexit, and Nigel Farage's europhobe Brexit Party leads in polls. The Netherlands votes the same day, followed by Ireland on Friday, some eastern countries on Saturday then France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the rest on Sunday. The British result is not expected to change much in Brussels, although a strong showing by the Labour opposition may help the socialist bloc in Europe. But EU leaders and top Brussels officials will be wary of gains by Italy's far-right League, Spain's emerging Vox and Victor Orban's ruling Hungarian party Fidesz. In France, Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally is polling neck-and-neck with President Emmanuel Macron's centrist group, amid populist street protests. If the vote again gives Le Pen the biggest number of French seats in Strasbourg, it will dent Macron's authority among Europeans as he pushes for closer EU integration. The 751-member legislature will play a role in the weeks and months after the vote in assigning key leadership roles on the EU Commission and EU Council. But the horsetrading for top jobs and the nuts and bolts of European legislation have never much excited the electorate -- and turnout has been low and falling. Story continues At the last Europe-wide election in 2014, participation fell to 42.6 percent, down in every cycle since the first such poll in a then much smaller union in 1979. Enthusiasm was particularly low in some of the newer, eastern members of the union, with turnout in the Czech Republic on only 18 percent and in Slovakia on 13. Those who will vote are, according to a YouGov poll of 8,021 people in eight major countries, particularly concerned about immigration and climate change. - Refugee caravans - Immigration into Europe has fallen markedly from a high in the midst of the 2015 refugee crisis, but Europe has yet to agree on a reform of asylum policy. Memories and images of thousands of mainly-Muslim refugees walking through Hungary and its neighbours are still a potent tool for populists like Orban. Far-right populists like Le Pen and Italian deputy PM Matteo Salvini hope support for their hardline stance will allow them to build a pan-European power base. Polls suggest the far-right ENL group in Strasbourg could swell from 37 to 62 members, according to a poll of polls released by the European Parliament itself. If the centre-right European People's Party (EPP) lose s ground or fully splits with Orban's Fidesz, the hard right could find itself in a much stronger position. On some votes they could be joined by the anti-system Italian 5 Star movement, Farage's Brexit Party and the mainly Polish, Danish and Czech eurosceptic ECR. "Currently, around 25 percent of the parliament is eurosceptic and that could rise to 35," Jean-Dominique Giuliani of the Robert Schuman Foundation told AFP. "It won't be a blocking minority, but it could have a fall-out effect, influencing the mood of other right-wing and extreme left parties," he said. As befits nationalist groups, however, the various countries' populist parties are often starkly divided on other issues beyond immigration. - Climate rebellion - Polish and Baltic right-wingers, for example, are staunchly opposed to Vladimir Putin's Russia, whereas Moscow has friends in Hungary and Austria. The latest polls suggest that the mainstream conservative EPP and socialist S&D, which currently form an effective majority, could lose 37 seats each. This would oblige them to seek ties with liberals, Greens and centrists to share out Commission jobs and pass the next five-years' worth of EU legislation. The Greens, especially in Belgium and Germany, will go to the polls motivated and buoyed by the current global wave of youth-led climate change protests. But the arrival of Macron's new French centrist party will give the ALDE liberal grouping hope of breaking into the traditional left-right duopoly. "There's a good chance that there will have to be at least three groups to form a working majority, a real novelty in the parliament," Giuliani said. This game of coalitions will be important in choosing a successor to EU Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker, and talks begin almost as soon as votes are counted. Washington (AFP) - An ex-CIA officer was sentenced to 20 years in prison Friday for spying for China in a case called part of an "alarming trend" in the US intelligence community. Kevin Mallory, 62, was convicted under the Espionage Act for selling classified US "defense information" to a Chinese intelligence agent for $25,000 during trips to Shanghai in March and April 2017. "Your object is to gain information, and my object is to be paid," he told the Chinese agent in a May 5, 2017 message. The fluent Mandarin speaker had served in the US army, then as a special agent for the security service of the State Department, before becoming a covert case officer for the Central Intelligence Agency. Mallory is one of several US officials with high-level security clearances arrested and charged over unsanctioned dealings with Chinese intelligence. Former Defense Intelligence Agency official Ron Hansen faces 15 years in prison after pleading guilty in March to charges of attempting to sell classified information to the Chinese. In April, a former diplomat, Candace Marie Claiborne, pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about money she received from Chinese intelligence agents in exchange for US documents. And in the most significant case, on May 1, former CIA officer Jerry Chun Shing Lee pleaded guilty to spying for China. Lee, 54, faces a possible life sentence. Arrested in January 2018, he was suspected of having provided Beijing the information it needed to bring down a CIA network of informants in China between 2010 and 2012. "This case is one in an alarming trend of former US intelligence officers being targeted by China and betraying their country and colleagues," Assistant Attorney General John Demers said of the Mallory case. "This sentence, together with the recent guilty pleas of Ron Hansen in Utah and Jerry Lee in Virginia, deliver the stern message that our former intelligence officers have no business partnering with the Chinese, or any other adversarial foreign intelligence service." 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. (Updates with timing of Johnson & Johnson SEC filing) By Brad Brooks RIO DE JANEIRO, May 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. FBI is investigating corporate giants Johnson & Johnson, Siemens AG, General Electric Co and Philips for allegedly paying kickbacks as part of a scheme involving medical equipment sales in Brazil, two Brazilian investigators have told Reuters. Brazilian prosecutors suspect the companies channeled illegal payoffs to government officials to secure contracts with public health programs across the South American country over the past two decades. Brazilian authorities say more than 20 companies may have been part of a "cartel" that paid bribes and charged the government inflated prices for medical gear such as magnetic resonance imaging machines and prosthetics. The four multinational companies, with a combined market capitalization of nearly $600 billion at Thursday's market close, are the largest foreign enterprises to be investigated in an unprecedented anti-corruption push in Brazil in recent years. Big U.S. and European companies found to have engaged in wrongdoing in Brazil could also face heavy fines and other punishment under the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Since 1977, that law has made it illegal for American citizens, U.S. companies or foreign companies whose securities are listed in the United States to pay foreign officials to win business. Foreign companies are the latest targets of government corruption probes in Brazil. Over the past five years, prosecutors have uncovered pervasive graft in state institutions and private-sector companies seeking to do business with them. The sprawling investigations by prosecutors and federal police, including the famed "Car Wash" dragnet centered on Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras, have toppled business and political leaders across Latin America. Authorities say plea-bargain testimonies obtained from suspects alerted them to other possible schemes, including alleged bribes paid by multinationals to obtain public contracts in Brazil. Story continues 'CONSTANTLY SHARING' Brazilian federal prosecutor Marisa Ferrari confirmed in an interview with Reuters that U.S. authorities from the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission were assisting in the Brazilian medical equipment investigation she helps lead. In 2016, U.S. and Brazilian prosecutors jointly negotiated the world's largest-ever compliance penalty, a $3.5 billion fine against Brazilian construction conglomerate Odebrecht SA for its part in the Car Wash scandal. "We are constantly sharing information with the FBI on this (medical equipment) case. They ask for documents and we send them, and they are assisting our investigation in return," Ferrari said. In addition, she said, "We've received a lot of material from the Department of Justice and from the SEC." She declined to name which companies U.S. law enforcement agencies were investigating. Two Brazilian investigators with direct knowledge of the matter confirmed to Reuters that Johnson & Johnson, Siemens, GE, and Koninklijke Philips NV were being targeted by the FBI for alleged bribery in Brazil. The people requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the U.S. side of the investigation. The FBI would not confirm or deny the existence of any investigations. The SEC, which also investigates FCPA allegations, said by email that it declined to comment. Boston-based GE declined to comment on any investigation related to its business in Brazil. It said in an emailed statement, "We are committed to integrity, compliance and the rule of law in Brazil and every other country in which we do business." Siemens, which is based in Munich, Germany, said in an emailed statement that the company "is not aware of any FBI investigation of the company related to cartel activity in Brazil." It said its policy is always to cooperate with law enforcement investigations when they occur. Amsterdam-based Philips confirmed in an email that it is under investigation in Brazil. In its 2018 annual report, Philips acknowledged that it "has also received inquiries from certain US authorities in respect to this matter." In its emailed response to Reuters, Philips said, "It is not uncommon for US authorities to show an interest in these matters and it is too early to draw any conclusions." New Brunswick, New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson said in an emailed response on Friday that in an SEC filing last October it disclosed that the Department of Justice and the SEC "have made preliminary inquiries to the company" in regard to a raid by Brazilian federal police on its Sao Paulo offices last year, and that the company is cooperating. 'TRULY MASSIVE' Ferrari, the Brazilian prosecutor, said the medical equipment investigation was in its early stages. Still, she said evidence points to widespread bribery and price gouging by firms looking to tap into Brazil's public healthcare system, one of the world's largest, serving 210 million people. "Because the Brazilian government's health budget is so huge, this scheme is truly massive," Ferrari said. "This first case is just a tiny sliver of what is to come." In addition to paying kickbacks through intermediaries to secure contracts, some suppliers charged Brazil's government inflated prices - up to eight times the market price - to help cover the cost of their bribes, according to court filings and plea-bargain testimony secured by prosecutors. GE's former chief executive for Latin America, Daurio Speranzini, and 22 others were charged last year in the first case stemming from the alleged scheme. Prosecutors say that in that case, which focused on Rio de Janeiro state, Brazilian taxpayers were bilked out of at least 600 million reais ($149.38 million) between 2007 and 2018 through padded contracts awarded to crooked medical equipment suppliers. Lawyers for Speranzini, who left GE in November, said by email that he is innocent. GE said in a statement on Friday that "allegations refer to a time period" when Speranzini was not working for the firm. "Based on our review, we believe there is no evidence of misconduct or any indication of GE being part of this cartel." However, prosecutors cite in court filings the plea-deal testimony of former Rio de Janeiro-state health secretary Cesar Romero as stating that GE was a member of the cartel, which he said was known by its members as the "International Bidding Club." "In fact, from the analysis of evidence collected in wire tapping ... it was possible to see that Daurio Speranzini Junior continued to close spurious contracts with the government," prosecutors wrote in requesting the former GE executive's arrest last year. Prosecutors allege Speranzini first took part in the cartel as the head of the Philips Healthcare operation in Latin America from 2004 until the end of 2010. A whistleblower told Philips' compliance office about the fraud, and Speranzini was fired after an internal probe, according to the documents. He was hired by GE a few months after leaving Philips. Investigators say they have strong evidence that Speranzini continued with the scheme while at GE. GE declined to comment on Speranzini's hiring or exit from the company. ($1 = 4.0165 reais) (Reporting by Brad Brooks Editing by Marla Dickerson, Jonathan Oatis and Leslie Adler) By Katharine Houreld NAIROBI, May 17 (Reuters) - Somali Islamist insurgents are making their own explosives, according to a confidential U.N. report seen by Reuters, as they mount more frequent and deadly attacks. The findings are a blow for internationally backed efforts to fight the al Shabaab insurgency, which has repeatedly carried out attacks in East Africa and launched dozens in Somalia this year despite a dramatic increase in U.S. air strikes. "For the first time, post-blast laboratory analyzes ... indicate a clear shift in al Shabaab construction methods, away from the use of military-grade explosives and towards HME (home-made explosives," said a confidential report by the U.N. panel of experts on Somalia, which was seen by Reuters. "Information from a range of Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) experts suggests a probable connection between the development of HME by al Shabaab and the recent increased frequency of major attacks in Mogadishu." The analysis was based on at least 20 attacks since July 2018, the report said. It specify who did the analysis, but footnotes cited the U.N. Mine Action Service, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and experts who were not named but only identified by the dates on which they were interviewed. The U.N. panel declined to comment, and the two organizations did not respond to questions from Reuters. Somali government officials could not be reached for comment. Lt Col Charles Imbiakha, spokesman for the African Union peacekeeping force AMISOM, said it could not comment because it had not seen the report. Al Shabaab, which wants to rule Somalia in line with a strict interpretation of sharia law, has carried out at least 19 attacks with vehicle-borne bombs that have killed more than five people in Mogadishu since September, the report found. Hitherto, the insurgency has mostly relied on military-grade explosives, laboriously harvested by specialists from ordnance such as mines or mortars captured from soldiers or peacekeepers. Story continues But the attacks have become more frequent, or in some cases more dramatic - most notably the truck bomb that killed more than 500 people in October 2017 at a junction where street vendors were selling petrol. Experts have long suspected that that bomb may have used some home-made explosives, but no evidence had been made public. The U.N. panel report also does not offer evidence but notes that al Shabaab would have needed explosives from approximately 6,000 mortars to carry out a blast of that size. It said al Shabaab bombmakers were now mixing highly explosive nitroglycerine with ammonium nitrate or potassium nitrate - both used in fertilizers - and charcoal, although it did not say where they were being obtained. A raid on an underground site in Mogadishu last month recovered components and chemicals that included aluminum paste, which can enhance the thermal effect of a detonation, the report said. There are no public statistics on bombings in Somalia. The U.S. Joint Improvised-Threat Defeat Organization, part of the Pentagon, said it did not track bombings and the Somali government does not release statistics. (Additional reporting by Mark Hosenball in Washington D.C. and Abdi Sheikh in Mogadishu; Editing by Alison Williams and Kevin Liffey) (Adds details on the Huawei listing, background.) By Karen Freifeld May 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. Commerce Department may soon scale back restrictions on Huawei Technologies after this week's blacklisting made it nearly impossible for the Chinese company to purchase goods made in the United States, a department spokeswoman said on Friday. The Commerce Department may issue a temporary general license to allow time for companies and people who have Huawei equipment to maintain reliability of their communications networks and equipment, the spokeswoman said. The possible general license would not apply to new transactions, according to the spokeswoman, and would last for 90 days. A spokesman for Huawei did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Commerce Department on Thursday added Huawei to a list of entities that are banned from doing business with U.S. companies without licenses. The entities list identifies companies believed to be involved in activities contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States. Potential beneficiaries of the temporary license could include internet access and mobile phone service providers in thinly populated places such as Wyoming and eastern Oregon that purchased network equipment from Huawei in recent years. (Reporting by Karen Freifeld Editing by Leslie Adler and Grant McCool) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Exhibits from the trial of a former Minneapolis police officer who shot an unarmed woman in 2017 will be made available for public viewing next week. Mohamed Noor was convicted of murder in the fatal shooting of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Australia who called 911 to report a possible crime. Trial exhibits will be available for public viewing next Friday in a conference room at the courthouse. A webpage that provides court updates on the case says exhibits will be on display for viewing and laptops will be available to play audiovisual exhibits. The judge hasn't ruled on whether exhibits can be copied. The state has argued that copies should not be permitted, but an attorney for a coalition of media organizations disagrees. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States takes all alleged sanctions violations seriously and will take action as appropriate, a State Department spokesman said on Friday, responding to a question about a tanker unloading Iranian fuel oil at a Chinese port. Reuters on Thursday reported that a tanker carrying nearly 130,000 tonnes of Iranian fuel oil had unloaded its cargo into storage tanks near the Chinese city of Zhoushan. "The United States takes all alleged sanctionable activities seriously and will take action as appropriate. We are committed to enforcing our sanctions, especially those related to Irans oil and petrochemicals sectors," a State Department spokesman said in an emailed response. He said the department was aware of the specific report about the tanker but declined to comment on it. U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has stepped up moves to choke off Iran's oil exports by scrapping waivers it had granted to big buyers of the country's crude oil, including China. Refined products like fuel oil, mainly used to power ship engines and generate electricity, were not covered by the temporary waivers, granted on the sanctions reintroduced in November 2018. Tensions have escalated in recent days, with growing concerns about a potential U.S.-Iran conflict. Earlier this week the United States pulled some diplomatic staff from its embassy in Baghdad following weekend attacks on four oil tankers in the Gulf. Trump believes the economic pressure will force Tehran to accept tougher curbs on its nuclear and missile programs and on its support for proxies in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. He has said publicly he wants to pursue diplomacy after quitting the deal and moving to cut all Iranian oil exports. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Writing by Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Alistair Bell) LOS ANGELES, May 16 (Reuters) - An F-16 fighter jet crashed into a commercial building at March Air Reserve Base in Southern California on Thursday, local media reported. Local KABC-TV reported that the pilot of the jet ejected before the crash. It was not immediately clear if there were any injuries on the ground. Reuters could not immediately confirm the reports. (Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Sandra Maler) Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg said Friday a breakup of big US technology would not address "underlying issues" facing the sector and suggested that such a move could help rivals in China. Sandberg, interviewed on CNBC television, was asked about the latest calls to break up Facebook and other major Silicon Valley firms which dominate key sectors. "You could break us up, you could break other tech companies up, but you actually don't address the underlying issues people are concerned about, Sandberg said in the interview. Sandberg said the social network used by more than two billion people was working to address concerns about election security, online violence promotion and data protection, but that a breakup might only serve to help competitors from China. "While people are concerned with the size and power of tech companies, there's also a concern in the United States with the size and power of Chinese companies, and the realization that those companies are not going to be broken up," she said. The comments come a week after one of Facebook's co-founders, Chris Hughes, said in an essay "it's time to break up Facebook," warning that it has gained too much power over what people see online. Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has also called for a breakup that could require Facebook to spin off its Instagram and WhatsApp units. Sandberg maintained that Facebook's teams are working hard on safety and security issues, echoing comments since the company came under fire over a series of missteps including leaking of data in 2016 to a consultancy working for Donald Trump. "We know at Facebook we have a real possibility to do better and earn back peoples trust," she said. Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said this week he was optimistic about progress toward a new regulatory framework that would apply to internet platforms. "Overall I think in order for people to trust the internet... there needs to be the right regulation put in place," Zuckerberg said after meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss a report called "Creating a French Response to Make Social Media Responsible." MELBOURNE, May 17 (Reuters) - Australians go to the polls on Saturday to choose between extending the six-year rule of the conservative Liberal-National coalition or electing the center-left Labor party. The coalition has been trailing Labor in opinion polls for years but the gap has narrowed during the campaign. Following are some key facts about the two men leading their parties, Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Labor's Bill Shorten. SCOTT MORRISON, LEADER OF LIBERAL PARTY: * Born in 1968 in Sydney's eastern suburbs, Morrison earned an honors degree in Applied Economic Geography and later had management positions in Australia and New Zealand's tourism industries and in the Liberal party. * Morrison became prominent in 2013 when, as immigration minister, he enforced the government's hard-line strategy of offshore detention and processing centers for asylum seekers. * Treasurer from September 2015 to August 2018, Morrison emerged as a surprise leader after a right-wing uprising forced Malcolm Turnbull from office. * A strident supporter of traditional energy industries, Morrison brought a lump of coal to the parliament in 2017 and taunted the opposition by saying: "This is coal. Don't be afraid. Don't be scared. It won't hurt you." * Morrison is a Pentecostal Christian and told parliament his beliefs are personal and not a political agenda. He and his wife of 29 years live in Sydney with their two daughters. BILL SHORTEN, LABOR LEADER: * A native of Melbourne, Shorten and his non-identical twin brother were born in 1967 and spent their childhoods in the southern city's suburbs. * Shorten earned a bachelor of laws degree from Monash University and later completed an MBA at the Melbourne Business School. He spent most of his early career rising through workers' union ranks. * His public profile was boosted in 2006 when two miners were trapped underground in a mine in Beaconsfield, Tasmania. As union secretary, Shorten became the unofficial spokesman for the families and the community in the two weeks before the men were rescued. * A Labor member since the age of 17, Shorten became opposition leader after the party was voted out of office in 2013. * Shorten, raised Catholic, converted to Anglicanism before marrying his second wife in 2009. He lives with his family in Melbourne. Asked in 2014 how long he had wanted to become prime minister, he said: "I don't remember now." (Reporting by Lidia Kelly Editing by Paul Tait) The Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples is in Bangkok. His pastoral visit will end on 21 May in Ayutthaya, the cradle of Thai Christianity. The first missionaries to settle in Siam were two Portuguese Dominicans in 1567. Today the country is home to about 300,000 Catholics, 0.46 per cent of the population. Bangkok (AsiaNews) Card Fernando Filoni (pictured), Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, arrived in Bangkok today for the celebration of the 350th anniversary of the creation of the Apostolic Vicariate of Siam in 1669. Card Filonis pastoral visit will begin tomorrow in the Cathedral of the Assumption, where he will meet Bangkoks Catholic community and the members of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Thailand (CBCT). Saturday morning, the festivities marking the historic anniversary will open in Sam Phran, a district in the province of Nakhon Pathom, with a solemn Eucharistic celebration. Catholics will come from the capital, as well as the countrys southern and central provinces. In the afternoon, Card Filoni will meet religious, seminarians and catechists at the church dedicated to Fr Nicholas Bunkerd Kitbamrung (1895-1944). Better known as Fr Benedikto Chunkim, he was the first martyred priest of modern Thailand, whom Pope John Paul II proclaimed as blessed on 5 March 2000. In the North Catholics can attend instead the Mass in Chiang Mai on the evening of 19 May. Local ethnic and tribal groups live in different communities in the mountains and valleys, amid poverty as well as social and geographical marginalisation. Representatives of the Lanna and Akha ethnic groups will welcome the Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples. For his part, Card Filoni will express to them the closeness of the universal Church. The next day, 20 May, he will meet with the Karen from Mae-Porn, with whom he will celebrate another Mass. His visit will end on 21 May in Ayutthaya, Siams ancient capital and the cradle of Thai Christianity. Today Thailand has about 300,000 Catholics, 0.46 per cent of the total population, served by 11 dioceses, with 436 parishes and 662 priests. The first missionaries to arrive in the Kingdom were the Portuguese Dominicans Jeronimo da Cruz and Sebastiao da Canto, in 1567. The Franciscan and Jesuit missions followed the Dominican mission, with the goal of proclaiming the Good News in the United Siam of the Ayutthaya period (1351-1767). Subsequently, at the end of the Council of Trent, Pope Pius V instituted a committee to promote evangelisation, which led to the creation of Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (Propaganda Fide) by Pope Gregory XV on 6 January 1622. To help spread the Gospel, the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris (French: Societe des Missions etrangeres de Paris, MEP) was created. On 29 July 1658, Pope Alexander VII appointed a member of the MEP, Francois Pallu, as apostolic vicar to the Tonkin, which included some parts of China and the Kingdom of Laos. On 17 August of the same year, Bishop Pierre Lambert de la Motte, MEP, became Apostolic Vicar of the mission in Cochinchina, whose pastoral outreach included the lands south of China. In 1662, there were 11 Catholic priests in Ayutthaya four of them were Jesuits, two Dominicans, two Franciscans and three others. Two years later, Bishop Pallu and some newly arrived missionaries organised a synod in Ayutthaya, chaired by Bishop de la Motte, together with Bishop Pallu, five priests and a lay person. Among the main decisions was the establishment of a seminary for the training of diocesan priests. In 1665, King Narai granted Mgr de la Motte permission to set up such a school. In 1667, Bishop Pallu returned to Rome for an audience with the Pope, who ordered the creation of the Siam mission on 4 July 1669, under the bishop appointed by Propaganda Fide. With the blessing of the Holy See, Bishops Pallu and de la Motte chose Don Louis Laneau, a priest with the MEP, as the Apostolic Vicar of the mission to Siam. The bishop's consecration was celebrated on 25 March 1674 in Ayutthaya. Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra launched an indirect attack against BJP's Bhopal candidate Pragya Singh Thakur over her 'Nathuram Godse is a patriot' remark. Mahindra expressed his anger on Twitter and wrote 'Mahatma Gandhi must remain sacred as he served as a beacon to billions when the world lost its morality'. He further added, 'We used to be pitied for being poor but we were always rich since Bapu inspired billions globally.' "Some things must remain sacred. Or we become the Taliban, destroying statues that sustain us," Mahindra wrote in his tweet. For 75 yrs,Indias been the land of the Mahatma;a beacon when the world lost its morality.We used to be pitied for being poor but we were always rich since Bapu inspired billions globally.Some things must remain sacred.Or we become the Taliban,destroying statues that sustain us anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) May 17, 2019 On Thursday, Pragya Thakur in a road show in Agar Malwa region, said "Nathuram Godse was a deshbhakt (patriot), he is and will remain a deshbhakt. Those calling him a terrorist should instead look at themselves". She was replying to a question over actor-politician Kamal Haasan's remark that independent India's first 'extremist was a Hindu', a reference to Godse. Her remarks created a major row with the Congress demanding an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The BJP immediately distanced itself from her statement, and asked Pragya to tender a public apology. Later, she tendered an apology on Thursday night and said she respected Mahatma Gandhi as his work for the country cannot be forgotten. 'My sentiment was not to hurt anyone's feelings. If it has hurt anybody's feelings then I apologise. What Gandhiji has done for the country cannot be forgotten. I respect him a lot,' she said in a video statement. Thakur said her remark was on the spur of moment to a question linked to 'saffron terror' and claimed that the media twisted her statement. (With PTI inputs) Also read: US-China trade war: Chinese investment in India may be imminent, says Anand Mahindra Also read: Ajay Piramal may sell stake in Shriram Group to Anand Mahindra: report SYDNEY, May 17 (Reuters) - Australians go to the polls on Saturday in a contest to determine whether conservative Prime Minister Scott Morrison can maintain his shaky grip on power or whether the center-left Labor party will return to office after six years in opposition. Opinion polls show Morrison trailing Labor as voters turn on his coalition government after six years of tumultuous rule that has seen two leaders ousted while in office, although polls narrowed during the campaign. The winner will need to claim at least 76 seats in the 151-seat lower House of Representatives. Below are several prominent contests. FORMER PM BATTLES MODERATE REVOLT Former prime minister Tony Abbott is struggling to retain the affluent seat in Sydney he has held for 25 years. Polls show Abbott is in a close battle with independent Zali Steggall, a former Olympian turned lawyer who has won support with her calls for more action on climate change. Abbott, who previously called on Australia to abandon its pledge to reduce greenhouse emissions, is widely seen as instrumental in the ousting of former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull last year. He is one of a handful of prominent conservatives under pressure in traditional blue-ribbon seats. Analysts say a Labor victory is likely at a national level should he lose his seat. VICTORIAN WOES Conservative lawmakers are not the only ones under pressure. Socially moderate Treasurer Josh Frydenberg faces a stiff challenge from an independent, while Health Minister Greg Hunt also faces an uphill battle in southern Victoria state. Both are struggling amid a wave of frustration in Victoria, home to Australia's second-largest city, Melbourne. The opposition Liberal party suffered a heavy defeat to the Labor government in state elections in November, a result seen as a rejection of conservative policies. RURAL DISCONTENT Climate change is also pressuring the Nationals, the rural-focused junior partner in the federal Liberal-National coalition government. Story continues With a drought wilting crops across Australia's east, the Nationals have come under pressure over their support of Australia's coal industry, a major contributor to greenhouse emissions. This is expected to play out most acutely in Victoria and the western regions of New South Wales state. Mallee in rural Victoria has long been considered one of the safest coalition seats but several independents are pushing the Nationals after incumbent Andrew Broad was forced to resign over a scandal. QUEENSLAND APPEAL While Morrison's conservative politics may not be popular in some metropolitan areas of Australia, they are expected to resonate in the northeastern state of Queensland. Rural voters in Queensland are a critical bloc in several marginal seats. Morrison's coalition will need to carry seats such as Herbert in Queensland's north if it is to retain power. Labor's Cathy O'Toole won Herbert in 2016 by just 37 votes and, with the coal industry a major employer in the electorate, Morrison's candidate could win a seat away from the opposition. WHAT NEXT FOR THE RIGHT? Whoever wins power faces an anxious few weeks to determine the composition of the upper house Senate, where 76 seats will be contested. Morrison's legislative agenda was hampered throughout his short tenure by a hostile Senate, where independents held the balance of power. Several right-wing candidates are trying to win Senate seats. The nationalist One Nation Party was once the dominant player in a crowded field but its standing has fallen amid a series of scandals. However, voter frustration with the major parties remains and other right-wing parties are scrambling to step in. (Reporting by Colin Packham Editing by Paul Tait) LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May has said she will step down before the next phase of Brexit negotiations and, although she has not put a date on her departure, senior members of her Conservative Party are jostling to replace her. Below are Conservatives who have either said they plan to put themselves forward or are widely expected to run: Planning to run: BORIS JOHNSON, 54 The face of the official campaign to leave the European Union, Johnson resigned as foreign minister in July in protest at May's handling of the exit negotiations. Johnson set out his pitch to the membership in a speech at the party's annual conference in October - some members queued for hours to get a seat. He called on the party to return to its traditional values of low tax and strong policing. On Thursday the BBC reported he had told The British Insurance Brokers' Association, "Of course I'm going to go for it." He is the bookmakers' favorite to succeed May. ESTHER MCVEY, 51 The pro-Brexit former television presenter, who resigned as work and pensions minister in November in protest at May's exit deal with the European Union, has said she plans to run in the leadership contest. McVey told Talkradio: "I have always said quite clearly that if I got enough support from my colleagues, yes I would (run). Now people have come forward and I have got that support, so I will be going forward." ANDREA LEADSOM, 56 A pro-Brexit campaigner, Leadsom made it to the last two in the 2016 contest to replace David Cameron. She withdrew after a backlash to an interview in which she said being a mother gave her more of a stake in the future of the country than her rival Theresa May. Leadsom runs parliamentary business for the government and told broadcaster ITV she was "seriously considering standing" to replace May. RORY STEWART, 46 A former diplomat who once walked 6,000 miles across Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nepal, Stewart was promoted to International Development Secretary this month after holding several junior ministerial positions. Story continues Educated at the exclusive Eton College, Stewart was first elected to parliament in 2010 and backed remaining in the EU in the 2016 referendum. He opposes a 'no deal' exit and has been a vocal advocate of May's deal with Brussels. "I do want to bring this country together ... I accept Brexit, I am a Brexiteer, but I want to reach out to 'Remain' voters as well," he told the BBC. Expected to run: MICHAEL GOVE, 51 Gove, one of the highest-profile Brexit campaigners during the 2016 referendum, has had to rebuild his cabinet career after falling early to May in the contest to replace Cameron, who resigned the day after losing the referendum. Seen as one of the most effective members of cabinet in bringing forward new policies, the high-energy environment minister has become a surprise ally to May and has backed her Brexit strategy. Gove teamed up with Johnson during the 2016 Brexit campaign only to pull his support for Johnsons subsequent leadership bid at the last moment and run himself. He has not yet said whether he plans to run. JEREMY HUNT, 52 Hunt replaced Johnson as foreign minister in July and has urged the Conservative membership to set aside their differences over Brexit and unite against a common foe - the EU. Hunt voted to remain in the EU in the referendum. He served six years as Britains health minister, a role that has made him unpopular with many voters who work in or rely on the state-run, financially stretched National Health Service. Asked at a lunch with journalists in parliament if he planned to run for leader, he said: "Wait and see." DOMINIC RAAB, 45 Raab quit as Mays Brexit minister last year in protest at her draft exit agreement saying it did not match the promises the Conservative Party made in the 2017 election. Raab served only five months as head of the Brexit department. He had held junior ministerial roles since being elected in 2010. Raab, a black belt in karate, campaigned for Brexit. He has not declared his candidacy but asked if he would like to be prime minister, he said: "Never say never." SAJID JAVID, 49 Javid, a former banker and a champion of free markets, has served a number of cabinet roles and scores consistently well in polls of party members. A second-generation immigrant of Pakistani heritage, he has a portrait of late Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher on his office wall. Javid voted 'Remain' in the 2016 referendum but was previously considered to be eurosceptic. He has not said whether he plans to run but is considered to have been setting out his stall through speeches and media interviews. DAVID DAVIS, 70 Davis, a leading eurosceptic, was appointed Brexit minister to lead negotiations with the EU in July 2016 but resigned two years later in protest at May's plans for a long-term relationship with the bloc. He previously ran for the party's leadership in 2005 but lost to Cameron. He told a magazine he would probably be Conservative Party leader if standing for the role were like applying for a job as chief executive. "But ... that isn't the way the decision is done," he said. PENNY MORDAUNT, 46 Mordaunt is one of the last remaining pro-Brexit members of May's cabinet. She became Britain's first female defense secretary this month. A Royal Navy reservist, Mordaunt was previously international development minister. Many had expected her to join the wave of resignations that followed the publication of Mays draft withdrawal deal. AMBER RUDD, 55 Rudd resigned as interior minister last year after facing outrage over her department's treatment of some long-term Caribbean residents wrongly labeled illegal immigrants. She backed 'Remain' in 2016 and has opposed a 'no deal' exit, meaning she could win support from pro-EU Conservative lawmakers. But she struggled to retain her seat at the 2017 election and has one of the smallest majorities in parliament. MATT HANCOCK, 40 Health minister Hancock, a former economist at the Bank of England, supported 'Remain' in 2016. First elected to parliament in 2010, he has held several ministerial roles. JUSTINE GREENING, 50 The former education minister told ITV she would consider running. Greening supports a second Brexit referendum. Many thought she might join several of her colleagues in quitting the party to form a pro-EU group in parliament earlier this year. LIZ TRUSS, 43 Chief secretary to the Treasury, Truss has held several roles in government including environment minister and justice minister. She backed 'Remain' in 2016 but has said she has since changed her mind on Brexit. GRAHAM BRADY, 51 Brady is chair of the 1922 Committee of Conservative lawmakers. "It would take an awful lot of people to persuade me. I'm not sure many people are straining at the leash to take on what is an extraordinarily difficult situation," he told BBC Radio. KIT MALTHOUSE, 52 A former deputy mayor of London, Malthouse only became a Member of Parliament in 2015. He is a junior housing minister and helped author the so-called Malthouse Compromise plan to replace the unpopular Irish backstop in Britain's EU exit deal with alternative arrangements to avoid a hard border. He has not declared that he is running, but the Sun newspaper reported he was setting up a campaign team. JAMES CLEVERLY, 49 Cleverly was appointed a junior Brexit minister last month, having previously been deputy chair of the Conservative Party. He had a career in publishing before being elected to parliament in 2015. The Sun reported he was planning to run for leader, although he has not announced it publicly. (Reporting by Kylie MacLellan and William James; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Janet Lawrence) SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's political parties are in the final stages of campaigning ahead of a general election on Saturday. Polls indicate a close result following a campaign centered around tax cuts, climate change and social programs, with the opposition Labor party likely to win office from the conservative Liberal-National coalition. Below are party major policies taken mainly from campaign programs and pre-election announcements: TAXATION Liberal-National coalition ** Proposed total tax cuts of A$158 billion ($109 billion)over the period to 2029/30, in addition to A$144 billion in tax cuts passed by parliament last year. Most of the new tax cuts would take effect after 2022, when the next election is due. ** Most of the early personal income tax cuts would benefit low and middle-income earners. Tax rebate for middle-income earners to double in current financial year. Subsequent tax concessions would benefit wealthier Australians. ** Top threshold for the 19 percent tax bracket rises to A$45,000 in 2022/23 from A$41,000 currently. From 2024/25, the 32.5 percent marginal tax rate would be reduced to 30 percent, and apply to income between A$45,000 and A$200,000. Labor ** Will match the coalition's planned tax cuts for workers earning between A$48,000-A$126,000 a year, but also pledged a bigger rebate for people earning less than A$45,000. ** No changes to current tax brackets. Unspecified tax cuts when tax receipts hit 24.3 percent of GDP. ** To remove concessions used primarily by older Australians to obtain tax rebates for dividends paid out from after-tax corporate profit. CLIMATE CHANGE Liberal-National coalition ** Committed to the Paris Accord that requires member states to reduce emissions by 26% from 2005 levels, but some in the coalition question the need for that and many remain staunchly in favor of coal-fired power. ** No specific target for how much electricity must be generated by renewables. Labor ** Plans to go further than the Paris agreement, aiming to cut carbon emissions by 45% from 2005 levels by 2030 and net zero pollution by 2050. ** Aims for 50% of electricity from renewable sources by 2030. HEALTHCARE AND WELFARE Liberal-National coalition ** Proposed to spend more than A$80 billion on the public healthcare system in 2019/20. ** Access to cheaper medicines for cancer patients. ** Proposed A$725 million investment in residential care for elderly Australians. Labor ** Promises to outspend coalition on healthcare, including more than A$2 billion to expand free cancer treatment. ** Increase financial rebate given to Australians when they pay to see a doctor. Promises A$1,000 of free dental work over a two year period for pensioners. ** To increase minimum wage, but has not given specific details. Also pledges to raise pay for people who work on weekends and public holidays. HOUSING Liberal-National coalition ** Proposes A$500 million to underwrite home loan deposits for 10,000 first-home buyers, who do not have a 20% deposit that most banks require. Labor ** Promised to match coalition's first-home buyer policy. ** To remove tax concessions that allow investors to offset financial losses from investment properties against their incomes. FOREIGN AID Liberal-National coalition ** The coalition in April trimmed foreign aid from its 2019/20 budget to be worth A$4.04 billion. ** It will be remain largely unchanged until 2023. ** Promises to direct much of the aid budget to the Pacific amid rising competition for influence from China. Labor: ** Plans to spend A$1.6 billion more than the coalition over the next four years. REFUGEES Liberal-National coalition ** Plans to reverse a law that allows doctors to approve transfers of refugees held on remote Pacific island detention centers to Australia if they need medical care. ** Controversial indefinite detention of refugees who arrive in Australia by boat to remain. (Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Michael Perry) (Reuters) - I.M. Pei, whose modern designs and high-profile projects made him one of the best-known and most prolific architects of the 20th century, has died, the New York Times reported on Thursday. He was 102. Some of his better-known works included: - National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado: Finished in the early 1960s, it sits on a mesa above Boulder with the Rocky Mountains as a backdrop. - Green Building at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts: A 21-story academic building at Pei's alma mater opened in 1964. - John F. Kennedy Library in Dorchester, Massachusetts: Set on a former landfill site overlooking the ocean, the late president's wife, Jacqueline Kennedy, played a major role in selecting Pei for the job in the mid-1960s. It was dedicated in 1979. - Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong: One of the most prominent skyscrapers on the Hong Kong skyline, the 72-story building was the tallest in Asia when it was completed in 1989. - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland: Opened in 1995, it features a tower and glass pyramid on the shores of Lake Erie. - East Building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington: Opened in 1978 to house modern artworks. - Renovation of Louvre Museum in Paris: Pei created a 70-foot (21 m) glass pyramid as the entrance to the museum, which drew the hostility of many French who thought it clashed with the classical style of the rest of the facility. It made its debut in 1993 and Pei considered it the most difficult job of his career. (Writing by Bill Trott; Editing by Diane Craft) South Florida Sun Sentinel FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. The Holbrook family of Michigan stepped off Royal Caribbeans Odyssey of the Seas frustrated and angry after the cruise ship they were on returned to Port Everglades from its eight-night voyage. Christopher Holbrook, 49, tested positive for COVID-19 while aboard and spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in his room in isolation. It was the worst Christmas, Holbrook said ... Fearless farmer Kurt Kaser A US farmer cut his leg off with a pen knife after becoming trapped in a piece of farm machinery. Kurt Kaser, from Nebraska, was transferring wheat grain from one silo to another when he accidentally trapped his leg in a piece of equipment known as a grain auger opening. The 63-year-old was working alone and had no mobile phone when he became trapped and was unable to pull his leg from the augur. He said he was left with only one option to survive - to hack off his lower left leg with a 3-inch pen knife to save his own life. I stepped right in the damn thing. It grabbed hold of me, the farmer told ABC News. I can remember seeing it start and I go, this aint good. The farmer got his leg stuck in a grain auger (AP Photo/Nati Harnik) He added: And, then, when my foot was in there banging around, I was trying to hold my leg, pulling it out, and I said, This is not good. Mr Kaser also told ABC that the scene became increasingly grim. He said the auger was constantly pulling on his leg and tearing away his skin. It pulled away so much tissue and muscle that he could eventually see the bone protruding from his lower left leg. That is when he decided to take the drastic course of action. I felt it try to grab me again, added Kaser. I about gave up and said, Whatever happens, happens. If it sucks me in all the way, its over with. But then, all at once, I thought of my pocket knife. The grisly incident took place in Pender, Nebraska (AP Photo/Nati Harnik) He hacked off his leg and managed to crawl on his hands and knees to a phone to raise the alarm with one of his sons. Adrenaline kicked in so much that I dont know if it hurt or not, he added. The incident happened last month. He was released from a rehabilitation centre last week and plans to use a prosthetic limb once his amputated leg has healed. ---Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK--- By Anastasia Moloney BOGOTA, May 17 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Brazilian openly gay politician Fabio Felix used to feel comfortable holding his boyfriend's hand and kissing him in public, but after the swearing in of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro nearly six months ago, he now sometimes thinks twice. Brazil's LGBT+ politicians have said they face a backlash and setbacks in their rights under the conservative government of Bolsonaro, who has declared himself a 'proud' homophobe and has openly made offensive comments about sexual minorities. "Our president is against democracy, against diversity," said Felix, a district congressman in Brasilia, with the leftist opposition Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL). "All the time he uses the worst speech you can imagine. We are living difficult times. The environment is terrible ... LGBT people have more fear," he said, speaking on the sidelines of an event in Bogota, Colombia, hosted by the Victory Institute, a nonprofit which seeks to elect LGBT+ candidates. The increasingly hostile environment LGBT+ politicians face in Brazil was such that Jean Wyllys, Brazil's second openly gay congressman, decided to quit his third term in office in January due to death threats he said he received. Felix said he also receives "hostile messages" on Facebook and Instagram, including messages like "we shouldn't live." Bolsonaro, who once said he would rather his son "died in an accident" than bring home a boyfriend, swiftly removed LGBT+ issues from the human rights ministry's mandate when he came to power in January. He also appointed Damares Alves, a conservative evangelical pastor as the new minister of women, family, and human rights. In April a comment from Bolsonaro that Brazil must not become a "gay tourism paradise" also sparked concern among LGBT+ campaigners. Bolsonaro told reporters Brazil should avoid being known as a gay destination because "we have families." Story continues Felix hopes several landmark cases before Brazil's supreme court can help halt such a backlash. In June, the court is expected to determine whether homophobia and transphobia should be considered criminal offenses, which could help put a stop to hate speech and slurs against LGBT+ people, he said. The judges are also set to decide whether attacks against gay and trans people should be considered a form of racism, and therefore automatically punishable under Brazil's constitution. FIGHTING BACK To counter the backlash Brazil's LGBT+ politicians are forming new alliances with unions and other social movements, including those defending the rights of women, black and indigenous people. They are also reaching out to Brazil's powerful evangelical movement and the growing religious right to find common ground on issues, including the government's planned cuts to spending on higher education. The proposed cuts prompted tens of thousands of Brazilians to take to the streets in protest earlier this week. Most evangelical groups are critical of gay rights, saying marriage should only be between a man and a woman. "Despite President Bolsonaro, we have people trying to organize and fight back," Felix told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "We are trying to talk to all the people we can, even with people (with whom) we have no ideological alliance. And we are trying to isolate the radical right in Brazil ... that's our strategy right now," he said. Luis Abolafia, head of international programs at the Victory Institute, said exploiting differences among conservative religious groups is one way to fight back. "The conservative religious group is presenting themselves as a solid block," Abolafia said. "But in reality it's a coalition of different people with different agendas, and there are always going to be cracks in the wall that you can take advantage of." Katia Cunha, a lesbian state congresswoman in Brazil's northeastern Pernambuco state, said she and other LGBT+ elected officials are also reaching out to evangelicals, as well as partnering with other human rights groups and grass-roots movements that promote LGBT+ rights. "We can fight back with unity," Cunha said. "There are few evangelical progressives but you can speak to them about human rights in general. Human rights is a common issue." Her colleague, Robeyonce Lima, the first trans woman politician to be elected in Pernambuco, said she receives hate messages on social media, including ones saying, "you don't belong in the assembly, it's not right." Bolsonaro's public slurs against the LGBT+ community have emboldened critics of minority rights, Lima said. "Before people were embarrassed to be prejudiced in public, now the president has made it legitimate," she said. (Reporting by Anastasia Moloney @anastasiabogota, Editing by Jason Fields. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, property rights, and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org) Economy to improve after implementation of IMF programme: Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh KARACHI: Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh asserted on Thursday that the agreed upon deal between the government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had nothing to do with the already settled National Finance Commission award. He said the lending body had not asked for any reforms for the constitutionally established programme for distribution of revenues between the federal and provincial governments. While talking to reporters at Governor House after meeting members of the business community, Dr Shaikh referred to serious questions raised by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Raza Rabbani who sought explanation from the government regarding an IMF statement about the NFC award. The IMF deal has nothing do with the NFC Award, he replied to a questioner and took a jibe at different statements from political quarters. There is freedom of expression in the country so we cant stop anyone from issuing statements. But the matter of the fact is that the IMF deal has nothing to do with our NFC Award, neither have they (IMF) asked us to do anything on these lines. Addressing a press conference at the Karachi Press Club earlier in the day, Senator Rabbani said that the governments agreement with the IMF was a violation of the sanctity of Pakistans constitution. He urged the government to clarify its position with regard to the IMF statement about the NFC Award and explain to the people of Pakistan if it would slash the NFC award in violation of the constitution. The IMF in its press release has said that the government has promised to review the NFC Award, Rabbani said. The government has promised the lender it will amend the relevant constitutional clause. The new NFC Award could not be kept below the level set by the previous award. The IMF statement has said that they will review the NFC Award as per the agreement with the government. Meanwhile, while addressing the business community at the Governor House, Dr Shaikh said that the countrys economy would be improved after implementation of the IMF programme. WASHINGTON Friday, a federal appeals court ruled that the Trump administration's rescission of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, was unlawful, reversing a decision by a lower court. In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that the Department of Homeland Security had not followed the law in terminating the program. The court found that the way in which the Trump administration ended the program in September 2017 was arbitrary and capricious and thus a violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). This ruling does not have any immediate effect because rulings by other courts have required that DACA by kept in force. In November 2018, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a nationwide injunction that allowed DACA to remain in effect. Hundreds of thousands of people had structured their lives on the availability of deferred action during the five years between the implementation of DACA and the decision to rescind, the Fourth Circuit judges wrote in the majority opinion. Although the government insists that Acting Secretary Duke considered these interests in connection with her decision to rescind DACA, her Memo makes no mention of them. DACA, DREAMers, TPS?: Who are they, what do they have to do with Trump, the wall and the shutdown? Confused by terms in the immigration debate?:Here are some popular ones defined Like what youre reading?:Download the USA TODAY app for more As a result, the judges in the majority decided to overturn the lower courts ruling that the Department of Homeland Security had acted lawfully in its rescission of DACA. We hold that the Departments decision to rescind DACA was arbitrary and capricious and must be set aside, the appeals court judges continued. Demonstrators urging the Democratic Party to protect the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program rally outside the office of California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein in Los Angeles in January. According to the judges, the Department of Homeland Security acted in an arbitrary or capricious way that violated the Administrative Procedure Act because the Department ignored a legal memo dating back to the Obama administration supporting the legality of DACA, and did not account for the interests of the thousands of people currently enrolled in the program who had acted in reliance on the protections and benefits it provides. Story continues DACA proponents have argued that any changes to the program are subject to the requirements of the APA; Trump administration lawyers have argued the opposite. Supreme Court has not acted on DACA yet: Supreme Court's inaction leaves DACA program for young migrants intact for now The program had been instated under the Obama administration to provide legal protections for certain undocumented migrants who had been brought to the United States as children. There are over 800,000 undocumented immigrants who have been able to obtain work permits and relief from deportation because of the program. Thursday, the Trump administration unveiled a proposal that would revamp the countrys immigration system to prioritize skilled workers instead of the current family reunification-based immigration system. The new immigration plan did not include any policy solution for any of the people currently covered by DACA. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Federal appeals court rules that Trump administration's termination of DACA was unlawful Miami (AFP) - Florida's governor decried Friday what he called a plan to send undocumented migrants to his southeastern US state to relieve overcrowding at the southern border with Mexico, a claim immigration authorities denied. Florida officials including Governor Ron DeSantis said the state can't cope with the 1,000 undocumented migrants they anticipate federal authorities will send each month to two counties near Miami. "We cannot accommodate in Florida the dumping of unlawful migrants into our state," DeSantis told a press conference, adding he will raise the issue with President Donald Trump. "I think it will tax our resources, our schools, the health care, law enforcement, state agencies," he said, as cited by The Miami Herald. A US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) official denied the reports, telling AFP: "We are not transporting any family units to Florida at this time." The uproar began on Thursday, when Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told reporters that federal authorities would be moving to his county migrants who've arrived in El Paso, Texas on the border with Mexico. The immigrants will be families applying for asylum who are to be released as they wait for their cases to go through immigration court, Bradshaw said. "It's not a good plan. We think it's a danger to our community, and it's gonna put a real strain on what the resources are," he said, adding that there are "no accommodations for transportation, no accommodations for shelter or (a) place to live." Palm Beach County Mayor Mack Bernard said if the relocation plan is carried out, an "emergency" will have to be declared. While the two counties the migrants were said to be destined for -- Palm Beach and Broward -- are Democratic-leaning localities situated just north of Miami, DeSantis is a Republican and a supporter of Trump's hardline immigration policies. He recently signed into law a measure that bans in Florida "sanctuary cities," where local police don't cooperate with immigration authorities. Story continues Almost half a million people have been stopped at the southern US border since October. Most migrants who cross the US-Mexico border without authorization surrender to authorities and file for asylum. Overcrowding at emergency shelters has forced authorities to release some migrants from detention as they await a review of their asylum applications. By Joseph White DETROIT, May 17 (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co is turning to the automotive marketer's time-tested themes, speed and power, to sell a new generation of gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles to mass market customers. Ford this week showed off a hybrid Ford Explorer it is selling to U.S. police departments that combines a six cylinder engine with a lithium-ion battery, an electric motor and a 10-speed transmission to deliver 318 horsepower and speed that can outrun police vehicles equipped with a larger V-8, company executives said. The Police Interceptor Explorer is a niche model. But highlighting a hybrid vehicle's speed and functional capability is the strategy Ford intends to deploy broadly as the company begins offering hybrid systems across its highest-volume models over the next three years. The new Explorer and Escape hybrid SUVs are due to hit showrooms later this year, and a hybrid F-150 pickup is scheduled for 2020. In the past, Ford promoted hybrids such as the C-Max by stressing fuel economy. As fuel prices dropped over the past decade, sales of many fuel efficient cars, including hybrids, sagged. U.S. consumers have been paying premiums instead for larger vehicles that offer more horsepower and towing capacity. That market trend now is guiding Ford's substantial bet on hybrids, combining high performance with the technology to meet tougher emissions rules in China, Europe and the United States, company executives said. "With us and others, it was strictly around fuel economy," David Filipe, Ford vice president for powertrain engineering, told Reuters. "If we are now able to show the customer they can get more from an electrified product, that will be the recipe," Filipe said. Ford is investing $11 billion plan to deliver 40 hybrid and fully electric vehicles by 2022. Ford has developed two new hybrid drive systems. One is for smaller models like the Escape compact SUV. The other connects a 44-horsepower electric motor and lithium-ion battery pack to a 10-speed automatic transmission, and will be used for larger vehicles like the Explorer and F-150. Story continues Both systems are designed to fit multiple models, and those vehicles in turn can be sold with or without hybrid drive. In the Explorer and F-150, the same 10-speed transmission can be used without the electric motor by substituting part of the drive shaft and little else. The battery pack for the 2020 Escape's hybrid system, launching this fall, fits under the floor, instead of hogging space in the rear cargo compartment, as in prior Escape hybrids. The 2020 battery pack, built by Ford, is less than half the size of the older one. To promote new hybrid models, Ford is using lessons from the company's successful effort to persuade F-150 buyers in the United States that a turbocharged six-cylinder engine could deliver superior performance to fuel-thirsty V-8 engines that dominated the large pickup segment for decades, Filipe said. Ford created the "EcoBoost" brand of turbo-charged engines, and promoted the 3.5-liter, six-cylinder EcoBoost sold in the F-150 as more powerful and able to tow heavier trailers than many traditional V-8s. The automaker charges $1,600 to $2,595 to install a 3.5-liter EcoBoost, depending on the F-150 model. Including a smaller, less expensive six-cylinder now offered as the standard motor on certain F-series models, EcoBoost engines now power nearly 70 percent of F-150s sold, Filipe said. Ford will also charge more for its new hybrid models. An Explorer Limited with a 3.3 liter hybrid engine will cost U.S. buyers $4,150 more than a model with a four-cylinder EcoBoost engine, according to Ford's consumer website. Ford has not released official fuel efficiency ratings for the 2020 Explorer hybrid, but the company has said the vehicle should deliver more than 500 miles (805 km) of driving with a 19.3 gallon tank, indicating it can achieve about 26 miles per gallon compared to 20 in combined city and highway driving for a current, six-cylinder gasoline model. Toyota Motor Corp's, smaller Highlander hybrid SUV is rated at 29 miles per gallon in combined driving, with a 499-mile range. Toyota, the leader in hybrid vehicle technology, plans to deploy gasoline-electric power systems across its lineup, including more SUVs. However, other automakers, including Ford's arch-rival General Motors Co and Volkswagen AG , are focusing on developing all-electric vehicles to meet regulatory and consumer demands in all major world markets. (Reporting by Joe White Editing by Tom Brown) Saint Petersburg (AFP) - Four people were arrested Friday during a protest by LGBT activists in central Saint Petersburg, Russia's second city, an AFP reporter said. Around 10 people took part in the protest as they marked international day against homophobia and transphobia and were quickly surrounded by a group of riot police. "We want to draw attention to the problems of the LGBT community. They are clamping down on us and don't allow us to defend our rights," one of the group told AFP. Moscow city hall had Wednesday rejected four requests for demonstrations, including a gay-pride march, made by Nikolai Alexeyev, a gay community leader in Russia who said the city authorities had rejected such rallies for 14 years. Last November the European Court of Human Rights rebuked Moscow for a ban on holding LGBT assemblies as a violation of human rights and freedom of assembly. Russia has taken a conservative line on sexual minorities and homosexuality was deemed a crime until 1993 and as a mental illness until 1999. Moscow also has since 2013 punished with fines and prison terms anything authorities deem gay "propaganda" anywhere children might see it. There have furthermore been several reported cases over the past two years of gay people being jailed or killed in the Russian republic of Chechnya. Madrid (AFP) - Spain and France held talks Friday on how to respond after a brown bear recently introduced in the French Pyrenees killed several sheep, alarming shepherds cross the border. Claverina, one of two Slovenian bears which France released into the wild last October to revive a falling population, is believed to have killed eight sheep in Spain's Navarra region and another in the adjacent northern Basque region. Claverina and fellow female Sorita, aged five, have their movements tracked through the electronic collars and the pair clearly love to roam. Claverina is known to have spent the winter hibernating even further south in the mountains of the Aragon region. In what Spanish media have dubbed "the bear summit," officials from both countries met for "technical" discussions in Madrid, the country's ministry for ecological transition said. The officials, with the help of counterparts from the regional governments of the areas affected, have agreed to "speed up the exchange of information on following up the bears" and their activities. Currently, data from the bears' collars is only forwarded to the Spanish side some hours after it reaches their French counterparts, a ministry spokesman said. Both countries also want to step up cooperation bewteen their national parks and forests. A ministry statement said Madrid and Paris hope to "consolidate the presence" of the brown bear in the Pyrenees after hunting saw the known population in the east of the region decline to just two males. Claverina and Sorita were released as part of those efforts. According to the French National Hunting and Wildlife Agency (ONCFS), the overall bear population fell at one stage to 40 for the whole Pyrenees region. Spanish data show around 300 brown bears nationwide, the majority across the Cantabrian Mountains in the far north of the country. PARIS, May 17 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday the record of Marine Le Pen's party in the European parliament in the last five years was a "disaster," stepping up the rhetoric against his far-right opponent ahead of elections next week. "I'm not of those who think it's no problem if the National Rally is once again the big winner of these elections," Macron told reporters in Biarritz. "They are the incumbents. And what did the incumbents do? They voted against every project supported by France," he said, noting that Le Pen's party, formerly known as the National Front, had come first in elections five years ago. "On all sorts of issues, their record is a disaster for the country and for Europe," Macron said. With polls showing Macron's Republic On the Move party and Le Pen's RN running neck-and-neck, the French leader has said he would personally throw himself into the campaign. (Reporting by Michel Rose Editing by Geert De Clercq) SC summoned Sindh chief secretary in the Nai Gaj Dam case The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) on Thursday summoned the Sindh chief secretary to appear before it on May 23 in the Nai Gaj Dam case. A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Azmat Saeed, issued the order, directing the provincial chief secretary to record his statement before the court regarding the construction of the dam in Dadu district. The court in March had ordered the immediate construction of Nai Gaj Dam and directed the federal and provincial governments to ensure the timely provision of funds to the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) for the purpose. The court had asked the Planning Division and the Sindh Irrigation secretary to submit a compliance report. The Sindh chief secretary should testify before the court that the people of Dadu do not require water for irrigation and they have no need of water, Justice Azmat Saeed remarked during Thursdays hearing. The court will review its earlier orders after statement of the chief secretary, Justice Saeed said. The bench can also review its order of construction of the dam, the judge said. Justice Ijazul Ahsan observed that the provincial government now refused to accept the decision of ECNEC with regard to construction of the dam. The cost of the construction of the project keeps on rising with the passing of time, Justice Ahsan said. The initial cost of the project was Rs 26 billion. It has now soared to Rs 46 billion, the deputy attorney general informed the court. The court then adjourned the hearing till May 23. At a hearing in April, the Sindh additional advocate general had voiced his objections over the Executive Committee of the National Economic Councils (ECNEC) decision that Sindh would provide 50 percent funds for the project. He had said that the provincial government could not pay 50 percent cost of the project. However, the Sindh government had agreed to WAPDAs proposal about the construction of the dam. Paris (AFP) - Even as warnings of climate catastrophe and calls for greener economies grow ever louder, the world is still spending hundreds of billions of dollars every year to subsidise the fossil fuels that are causing the planet to overheat. With mankind's plan to avert runaway global warming this century badly off course, scrutiny is mounting over how the taxpayer funding that companies receive to burn oil, gas and coal at heavy discounts is costing the planet in other ways. Subsidies can come in the form of tax breaks, rebates, financial incentives or even overseas aid and can keep consumer prices artificially low. They are also hard to accurately calculate, say experts. But there is a growing consensus among economists that state-backed support for dirty energy is becoming increasingly hard to justify -- both in financial and environmental terms. In particular, the cost of renewable energy has plummeted in recent years. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) says that the cost of generating power from onshore wind has fallen 23 percent since 2010, while solar electricity has tumbled 73 percent. "Subsidies tend to stay in the system and they can become very costly as the cost of new technologies falls," Simon Buckle, head of the Climate Change, Biodiversity and Water Division at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), told AFP. "Cost reductions like this were not envisageable even 10 years ago. They have transformed the situation and many renewables are now cost competitive in different locations with coal." Yet subsidies for fossil fuels remain stubbornly high globally. An OECD working paper last year found a direct impact from spending on oil and gas on green energy investment, concluding "fossil fuel subsidies significantly reduce" the use of renewables. The International Energy Agency (IEA) this week found that 2018 actually saw an increase in money going into new upstream oil and gas projects, while investment in renewable power of all kinds dipped two percent. Story continues - 'Not viable'? - A recent OECD report on subsidies estimated that nations were providing around $370 billion (330 billion euros) in "support measures for fossil fuels". This is "an order of magnitude (ten times higher) than global finance flows for biodiversity conservation and sustainable use," it concluded. Using a different methodology factoring in the social and economic costs of air pollution, health risks, and the effects of climate change associated with fossil fuel use, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released a working paper this month with some eye-catching figures. It estimated that in 2015 global pre- and post-tax energy subsidies stood at $5.2 trillion -- or 6.3 percent of global GDP. The paper said China contributed the most to continued fossil fuel use, with the equivalent of $1.4 trillion in support of coal, oil and gas. The United States was second with $649 billion. The European Union's support for fossil fuels cost $289 billion, it said. The report estimated that if fossil fuel prices were "fully efficient" -- that is, subsidy-free -- in 2015, "global CO2 emissions would have been 28 percent lower (and) fossil fuel air pollution deaths 46 percent lower." Dylan Tanner, executive director of pro-transparency monitor InfluenceMap, said that if the costs of healthcare, welfare and working hours lost were considered in the costing of fossil fuel subsidies, "these type of activities would be completely driven out of the market." He said many companies generating energy from coal -- the fuel that receives the most state funding -- "are not valued as viable concerns" without continued financial support. - 'Market distorting' - In 2017 the V20 group of nations most vulnerable to the effects of climate change issued a call for G20 countries to phase out "market distorting" fossil fuel subsides by 2020. Two years earlier, 195 nations signed up to the Paris climate agreement, which enjoined them to limit global temperature rises to well below 2 Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) -- something climate scientists say would require a rapid drawdown in oil, gas and coal consumption. Part of the problem, according to Tanner, is that governments tend to be vague about what constitutes an energy subsidy. "The debate would be: 'this isn't a subsidy, this is support to a developing country which has asked for energy infrastructure assistance'," he said. "But part of that is a subsidy for coal technology which hasn't sold a single unit on the open market without a government-backed loan." While Buckle said fossil fuel subsidies need to be phased out far quicker than is happening now, he stressed that ending finance for oil and gas projects alone would not be enough. "If you look at air pollution, the costs for that are huge," he said. "Dealing with air pollution is not just an issue of fossil fuel support and putting a price on emissions... We are talking about structural changes to our economies." Rising gasoline prices have more than one-in-four Canadians worried about affording necessities as their wallets start to run on empty, according to a new survey. The Angus Reid Institute polled a random sample of nearly 2,000 people over four days in early May. The findings suggest pain at the pumps has made it harder for 44 per cent of Canadians to afford household basics. That figure jumps to 86 per cent among those struggling to afford gas. Thirty-five per cent of drivers who said they have been impacted by pricer fuel reported paring back daily driving, 26 per cent said they are putting less in their tank. Price pressure was found to be most acute in Metro Vancouver, where gasoline prices are often the highest in North America. The crowdsourced website GasBuddy.com recently found a station in Delta, B.C. selling regular fuel for just shy of $1.79 per litre. More than seven-in-ten in that province said they adjusted their habits to cope. Canadians are split on where to focus frustration over rising prices, with 43 per cent citing government taxes, 39 per cent blaming oil companies, and 18 per cent chalking it up to economic market forces. Resentment towards oil companies was driven largely by Quebec (55 per cent), with B.C. the only other province to blame the energy industry over the government. Ire for taxes was found to be strongest in provinces that have mounted legal challenges against Ottawas federal carbon tax, such as Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario. While that sentiment was also found to be strong in Alberta, respondents in that province cited economic market forces more often than any other region. Paris (AFP) - Taiwan on Friday joined nearly 30 mostly Western countries to legalise same-sex marriage but in many other parts of the world homosexuality is illegal and sometimes subject to the death penalty. Here is an overview. - Taiwan, first in Asia - While much of Asia is tolerant of homosexuality, Taiwan became the first in the region to allow gay marriage via a bill passed by lawmakers Friday. Vietnam decriminalised gay marriage celebrations in 2015 but stopped short of full legal recognition for same-sex unions. The Philippines' top court in June started hearing arguments for the legalisation of gay marriage, although its chances appear slim in the devoutly Roman Catholic country. Australia and New Zealand are the only places in the wider Asia-Pacific region to have passed gay marriage laws. Homosexuality is outlawed in the region's Muslim countries, such as Bangladesh, Malaysia and Pakistan. Brunei sparked a worldwide backlash in April when it introduced laws that include death by stoning for gay sex. A month later it said the laws would not be enforced. In China, where homosexuality was classified as a mental illness until 2001, discrimination remains widespread. - Europe, gay marriage pioneers - The Netherlands in 2001 became the first country in the world to allow gay couples to marry. Fourteen European countries followed: Belgium, Britain -- although not Northern Ireland -- Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. Austria allowed gay marriage from 2019 and the Czech Republic government backs draft legislation that would legalise same-sex marriage. Some countries allow only gay civil partnerships, which come with fewer rights, including Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Italy and Switzerland. In Russia homosexuality was considered a crime up to 1993 and a mental illness until 1999. Now legal, a 2013 law however punishes the promotion of homosexuality among minors. Story continues In Romania a referendum aimed at restricting the definition of marriage to exclude same-sex couples failed in October 2018 because of a low turnout. - A handful in the Americas - Canada authorised same-sex marriage and adoptions in 2005, and 10 years later the United States legalised gay marriage nationwide. Mexico's federal capital was the pioneer in Latin America, authorising gay civil unions in 2007 and marriages in 2009. Nearly half of its 32 states have followed. Same-sex marriages are also legal in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Uruguay. Chile legalised gay civil unions in 2015. Costa Rica's Supreme Court in August 2018 ruled that a ban on same-sex marriages was unconstitutional and gave parliament 18 months to amend the laws. Cuba decided in December 2018 to leave out of its new constitution changes that would have paved the way for legal same-sex marriage. - Africa: marriage in one country - South Africa is the sole nation on the African continent to allow gay marriage, which it legalised in 2006. Around 30 African countries ban homosexuality, with Mauritania, Somalia and Sudan having the death penalty for same-sex relations. Gay sex is decriminalised in only a handful of countries: Angola, Lesotho, Mozambique and the Seychelles. Kenya in February 2019 postponed a much-anticipated ruling on whether to scrap laws which criminalise homosexuality while Botswana started hearing a similar application in March. - Middle East: repressed - Several countries in the conservative region still have the death penalty for homosexuality, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Israel leads the way in terms of gay rights, recognising same-sex marriages that are performed elsewhere although not allowing such unions in the country itself. Gay couples can adopt children. Lebanon is also more tolerant than other Arab countries. BRUSSELS (Reuters) - German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said on Friday he expected the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) will agree a minimum level of taxation for digital companies such as Amazon, Google and Facebook by mid-2020. He also said he expected progress by the third quarter of 2019 on introducing a financial transaction tax in at least nine EU countries. "We discussed the taxation of large companies, especially in the digital economy," Scholz told a news conference after a meeting of EU finance ministers. "We are on the way... to an international agreement on the level of the OECD, but also in the G7 and G20," Scholz said. "I expect that by summer next year we will reach an agreement at the OECD on minimum taxation... We will need at the same time an agreement on taxation of companies so that it leads to better taxation of the digital economy." France has proposed to help finance a future budget for the euro zone from taxes on digital companies, but some countries are wary of the move unless it is backed globally as not to put Europe at a disadvantage. Scholz also said he expected progress on another potential source of funding for the future euro zone budget, the financial transaction tax, by the third quarter of this year. "It looks like the enhanced cooperation will show results in summer. We are working on the legal text. The basis for it is the Franco-German proposal. We are trying to convince smaller states. I expect German revenues from the tax would be around 1.2 billion euros. The effort would pay off," he said. (Reporting by Jan Strupczewski; editing by Philip Blenkinsop) BERLIN (AP) German lawmakers on Friday approved a resolution denouncing the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions movement against Israel, describing its methods as anti-Semitic and reminiscent of Nazi-era calls to boycott Jews. The motion called on the German government not to support events organized by BDS or other groups that actively pursue its aims, and vowed that parliament wouldn't finance any projects that call for a boycott of Israel or actively support the movement. It was filed by the country's three governing parties, along with two mainstream opposition parties, and passed by a large majority. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated the German parliament and expressed appreciation for its "important decision," calling on other countries to adopt similar legislation. The Palestinian-led BDS movement has grown in popularity overseas in recent years. It advocates boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israeli businesses, universities and cultural institutions. Comparing BDS to the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa in years past, supporters say it uses nonviolence to resist unjust policies toward Palestinians. Israel says the movement masks its motives to delegitimize or destroy the Jewish state. The BDS group said the "German parliament's equation of the nonviolent BDS movement for Palestinian rights with anti-Semitism is based on outright lies." "It's not only anti-Palestinian McCarthyism, it is a betrayal of international law, German democracy and the fight against real anti-Jewish racism," it added. The German motion stated that "the pattern of argument and methods of the BDS movement are anti-Semitic." "The campaign's calls to boycott Israeli artists, along with stickers on Israeli goods that are meant to dissuade people from buying them, are also reminiscent of the most terrible phase of German history," it added. "The BDS movement's 'Don't Buy' stickers on Israeli products inevitably awake associations with the Nazi slogan 'Don't Buy from Jews!' and similar scrawls on facades and shop windows." Story continues The lower house in Berlin voted down two rival motions. One, from the far-right Alternative for Germany party, or AfD, called for a ban on the BDS movement. The other, from the Left Party, condemned "all anti-Semitism" in BDS calls for boycotts. AfD, which opposes migration and Islam, has itself been accused of playing down Nazi crimes. Helge Lindh, a lawmaker with the governing Social Democrats, said: "We clearly say no to AfD's cheap attempt to instrumentalize anti-Semitism for its anti-Muslim racism." By Joseph Nasr and Riham Alkousaa BERLIN, May 17 (Reuters) - The German parliament voted on Friday to condemn as anti-Semitic a movement that calls for economic pressure on Israel to end the occupation of Palestinian land, grant Arab citizens equal rights and recognize the right of return of Palestinian refugees. A majority of lawmakers in the Bundestag voted in favor of a motion to label the international Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement as an entity that uses anti-Semitic tactics to fulfill its political goals. "The argumentation patterns and methods used by the BDS movement are anti-Semitic," read the motion submitted by Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, their Social Democrat coalition partners as well as the Greens and Free Democrats. Securing Israel's survival has been a priority for Germany since the defeat of the Nazi dictatorship that committed the Holocaust in which some six million Jews were murdered. Israel Katz, Israel's acting foreign minister, welcomed the Bundestag decision, saying on Twitter: "The German parliament ruled that it is an anti-Semitic movement that promotes illegal boycotts against Israel. This is an important step, and we hope that other countries in Europe will go in the same direction." The BDS was not immediately available for comment. Lawmakers from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party abstained during the symbolic vote. They had submitted their own motion calling for a total ban of the BSD in Germany. That motion was defeated. A majority of the far-left Die Linke party had voted against the motion. The party also submitted its own proposal, which called to oppose the BDS and commit the German government to work toward a political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on U.N. Security Council resolutions. The motion was also defeated. The latest battle between the BDS and the Israeli government has been over the Eurovision Song Contest final, which takes place in Tel Aviv on Saturday. Story continues In the run-up to the event, the BDS has called on artists, music fans and broadcasters to avoid the event, arguing it amounts to "whitewashing" Israel's policies toward Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip. With Friday's Bundestag motion, Germany has effectively backed Israel's position that international boycotts are discriminatory and anti-Semitic. The motion said a BDS campaign calling for Israeli products to be labeled with "Don't Buy" stickers was reminiscent of the Nazi-era boycott of Jewish businesses, known in German as "Judenboykott," which used slogans such as: "Don't buy from Jews." Israel's ambassador to Germany, Jeremy Issacharoff, welcomed the Bundestag decision. "It (the motion) has broader European significance given that BDS makes no attempt to build coexistence and peace between Israel and all of its neighbors," he wrote on Twitter. (Additional reporting by Stephen Farrell in Jerusalem Editing by Frances Kerry) Berlin (AFP) - Germany said Friday it would pay compensation of up to 10,000 euros ($11,000) each to victims of the former Nazi paedophile sect "Colonia Dignidad" in Chile. The news came the week after German prosecutors dropped their case against the sect's former doctor Hartmut Hopp, 74, citing a lack of evidence that he was complicit in the sexual abuse of children. The sect was founded in 1961 by Paul Schaefer, a former Wehrmacht soldier, lay preacher and convicted paedophile, who abused, drugged and indoctrinated residents and kept them as virtual slaves. His group had close ties to the 1973-1990 dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet and would torture and "disappear" regime critics. Eligible for the payments will be some 240 German and Chilean survivors, including about 80 who now live in Germany, from a fund valued at an initial 3.5 million euros until 2024. Some will also receive pension-style payments. A long-time campaigner for the victims, German Greens lawmaker Renate Kuenast, labelled the payments largely "symbolic" but "acceptable". The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights however charged that Germany's foreign ministry was "dodging its legal responsibility to compensate the victims" more fully, adding that "many Chilean victims were left out". - 'Violence, slave labour' - A German government and parliamentary committee in its report said Friday that Schaefer "tore families apart, abused countless children and actively collaborated with Pinochet dictatorship henchmen on torture, murder and disappearances. "The survivors still suffer massively from the severe psychological and physical consequences after years of harm caused by violence, abuse, exploitation and slave labour." However, it also said that the German government "is of the opinion that no legal claims against the Federal Republic of Germany have arisen" from the abuses in Colonia Dignidad. Story continues The support measures for victims would be paid "exclusively out of moral responsibility and without recognition of a legal obligation", it said. Germany's President Frank-Walter Steinmeier had acknowledged in 2016, when he was foreign minister, that "for many years ... German diplomats at best looked the other way -- and clearly did not do enough for the protection of their compatriots in this colony". The scale of the atrocities committed at the fenced-in mountain commune 350 kilometres (215 miles) south of Santiago came to light only after the end of Pinochet's regime. Schaefer, having initially run from justice, was arrested in Argentina in 2005 and then jailed in Chile for child sexual and other abuses. He died behind bars in 2010 at the age of 88. His right-hand man Hopp, who ran the compound's clinic, was convicted in Chile of complicity in Schaefer's sex crimes but fled to Germany in 2011 before the court ruling could be imposed. A German court initially upheld the jail sentence but a higher court, and state prosecutors, have since found that the evidence provided by the Chilean court fell short of that required by German justice. Berlin (AFP) - A German museum said Friday it would return to Namibia a 15th-century navigation landmark erected by Portuguese explorers as part of Berlin's efforts to face up to its colonial past. "The restitution of the Stone Cross of Cape Cross is a clear signal that we are committed to coming to terms with our colonial past," said Culture Minister Monika Gruetters. "For too many decades, the colonial time has been a blind spot in our remembrance culture." Placed in 1486 on the western coast of what is today Namibia, the Stone Cross was once considered to be such an important navigation marker that it featured on old world maps. In the 1890s, it was removed from its spot on Cape Cross and brought to Europe by the region's then German colonial masters. Since 2006, it has been part of a permanent exhibition of the German Historical Museum in Berlin. But in June 2017, Namibia demanded the restitution of the cross, which stands 3.5 metres (11 feet) high and weighs 1.1 tonnes. The return of the cross marks a concrete step to make good on Germany's pledge to accelerate the return of artefacts and human remains from former African colonies. For Andreas Guibeb, Namibia's ambassador to Germany, the restitution is "important as a step for us to reconcile with our colonial past and the trail of humiliation and systematic injustice that it left behind". "Only the confrontation and acceptance of that painful past will liberate us to consciously and confidently confront the future." - 'Historical injustice' - In a column in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the president of the museum's foundation, Raphael Gross, noted that the Cross "is one of the very few objects that documents the occupation of the country by the Portuguese". Berlin ruled what was then called South West Africa as a colony from 1884 to 1915. Germany has on several occasions repatriated human remains to Namibia, where it slaughtered tens of thousands of indigenous Herero and Nama people between 1904 and 1908. Story continues The German government announced in 2016 that it planned to issue an official apology for the atrocities committed by German imperial troops. But it has repeatedly refused to pay direct reparations, citing millions of euros in development aid given to the Namibian government. Guibeb said "huge progress" had been made in recent years on finding a common language to describe the mass killings, even if he acknowledged that it would take more time than the public would wish. But in Windhoek, some felt the process was taking longer than they hoped. Former culture minister Kazenambo Kazenambo told AFP the latest return was welcomed, but that he was "however unhappy that Germany is returning colonial things one by one". "We have had genocide negotiations for the past five years. Why can't they address all the issues holistically?" Meanwhile, other African countries were also watching the latest restitution carefully. For Cameroon's Prince Kum'a Ndumbe III, who had travelled to Berlin especially to witness Friday's announcement, "what has happened here is fundamental". "This is the direction we have been seeking for the last 30 years, now we have to see how far we will go," he said, adding that he has been pressing a German museum for the return of a family object for years. Beyond what is now modern-day Namibia, the German empire also held the colonies of Togoland, now Togo, Kamerun (Cameroon) and Tanganyika (Tanzania), as well as some Pacific islands, until World War I. WASHINGTON A top Republican lawmaker said Friday that the threat from Iran picked up by U.S. intelligence which sparked a U.S. military deployment to the Middle East and heightened tensions across the region was very specific and involved the possible kidnapping and killing of American soldiers. "To the extent I can discuss it, it was human intelligence," Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told USA TODAY on Friday. He was referring to intelligence information that prompted the Pentagon to deploy an aircraft carrier, along with B-52 bombers and other military forces, to the Middle East. Trump administration officials said the move was made to counter what they described as credible threats from Iran to U.S. forces in the region. McCaul said U.S. intelligence officials learned that the head of Iran's Quds Force, a unit of Iran's military force, met with Iran's proxy militias and said: "We are getting ready to have a proxy war and target Americans." He said the same message was delivered to a Hezbollah proxy group. Hezbollah is an Iranian-sponsored terrorist group. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) speaks to reporters at Trump Tower, November 29, 2016 in New York City. President-elect Donald Trump and his transition team are in the process of filling cabinet and other high level positions for the new administration. "One of the Hezbollah cells is known for its kidnapping and killing operations, and their directive was to go in and kill and kidnap American soldiers," McCaul said. McCaul made the comments in a brief interview with USA TODAY after delivering remarks on U.S. foreign policy at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. He made similar comments in a question-and-answer session at that event. The Guardian newspaper first reported some details of this threat, citing unnamed sources. The leader of Iran's Quds Force is Major General Qasem Soleimani, an extremely powerful figure inside the country and across the region. Experts say he has helped Iran extend its sphere of influence through proxy forces in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria. "Without question, Soleimani is the most powerful general in the Middle East today," Ali Soufan, a former FBI agent who handled several high-profile terrorism cases, wrote in an analysis last fall. Story continues "More than anyone else, Soleimani has been responsible for the creation of an arc of influence which Iran terms its 'Axis of Resistance' extending from the Gulf of Oman through Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon to the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea," Soufan wrote. Until now, top Trump administration officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have said the U.S. had specific, credible threats that Iran or its proxies might be preparing attacks against American forces or U.S. targets in the region, but they did not provide details. In addition to the Pentagon deployment , the State Department on Wednesday ordered all nonemergency employees to leave Iraq immediately. The U.S. has more than 5,000 troops stationed in Iraq. McCaul did not directly answer a question about new reporting that suggests the increasingly aggressive moves by both Iran and the U.S. may have been spurred by a misreading of the intelligence threats. The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that Iranian officials believed the U.S. was planning an attack and that prompted Tehran to prepare for possible counterstrikes. The U.S. intelligence officials may have misread Iran's countermeasures as aggression, the Journal reported, noting there are divisions within the Trump administration over the meaning of the intelligence gathered in recent weeks. The State Department declined to comment on McCaul's remarks or the Wall Street Journal story. A spokesman for the Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats did not immediately respond to questions on these matters. Related stories: Trump says he doesn't want war with Iran. Is John Bolton driving the US into a conflict anyway? Iran says Trump playing 'very dangerous game,' risking 'devastating war' This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: GOP lawmaker on Iran threat: Directive was to 'kill and kidnap American soldiers' NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) A Republican lawmaker says Tennessee GOP House Speaker Glen Casada tried to "rig and predetermine" an ethics review regarding his mounting scandals. He's requesting Casada's leadership resignation. In a statement Thursday to the Chattanooga Times Free Press , Ethics Committee member Rep. Mike Carter said he was presented a statement of facts Monday that didn't seem aligned with the public record about Casada, along with an unsigned advisory opinion finding no ethical violations. Casada only requested review of his former chief of staff's firing. Carter said the meeting showed a "heart for misrepresentation and political maneuvering." At least 10 House Republicans have said Casada should vacate the leadership spot. House Republicans meet Monday to weigh Casada's controversies, including text messages with Casada and his ex-chief of staff containing lewd remarks about women from several years ago. ___ Information from: Chattanooga Times Free Press, http://www.timesfreepress.com Separatists-Indian Army soldiers killed in IHK Five separatists, two Indian Army soldiers and two civilians were killed on Thursday during a gunfight in Indian-held Kashmir (IHK) that triggered anti-India protests and clashes, officials and residents said. The gun battle broke out in a neighbourhood in southern Pulwama town as police and soldiers scoured the area for separatists, said Col Rajesh Kalia, an Indian Army spokesman. He said that as troops began conducting searches, they came under heavy gunfire, leading to a gunfight that killed five separatists and two army soldiers. A civilian was also killed and his brother wounded during the fighting, police said, while another civilian died later. Two soldiers were also injured in the gunfight. Local residents said troops damaged one civilian home with explosives. The fighting sparked protests and clashes as hundreds of residents tried to march to the site of the battle in solidarity with rebels despite security lockdown in the area. Government forces fired shotgun pellets and tear gas at protesters who threw stones at them. No one was immediately reported injured in the street clashes. Most Kashmiris support the rebels demand that the territory be united either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country, while also participating in civilian street protests against Indian control. AMSTERDAM, May 17 (Reuters) - Greenpeace will receive 2.7 million euros ($3 million) from Russia under a settlement reached between the Dutch state and Moscow, the environmental group said on Friday. The agreement should end years of legal battles following the seizure by Russian authorities of a Dutch-flagged Greenpeace vessel, the Arctic Sunrise, in 2013 and the arrest of 30 people aboard. Russian agents captured the Arctic Sunrise in international waters after a protest against an oil platform. Those on board were detained in Russian prisons for months and released shortly before the 2014 Sochi Olympics. On Friday, the Dutch Foreign Ministry said it had reached "a full and final settlement," details of which were confidential. Dutch Greenpeace activist Faiza Oulahsen, who was imprisoned in Russia for nearly three months in 2013, said the settlement was good news. "Justice has been done, now we can finally close this chapter," Oulahsen told Reuters. In July 2017, an international arbitration panel had ordered Moscow to pay the Netherlands more than 5 million euros ($5.6 million) in damages for the events in 2013. Russia did not recognize the tribunal's findings. Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok said in a letter to parliament that settling the dispute with Russia was important "because the Netherlands has successfully defended the importance of peaceful protest at sea, including in the Arctic." ($1 = 0.8949 euros) (Reporting by Anthony Deutsch and Bart Meijer; Editing by Catherine Evans) 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 Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL), by way of a worked example. Halliburton has a ROE of 18%, based on the last twelve months. One way to conceptualize this, is that for each $1 of shareholders' equity it has, the company made $0.18 in profit. Want to participate in a short research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card! View our latest analysis for Halliburton How Do You Calculate Return On Equity? The formula for ROE is: Return on Equity = Net Profit Shareholders' Equity Or for Halliburton: 18% = US$1.8b US$9.6b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2019.) Most readers would understand what net profit is, but its worth explaining the concept of shareholders equity. 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 ROE Signify? ROE looks at the amount a company earns relative to the money it has kept within the business. The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. A higher profit will lead to a higher ROE. So, as a general rule, a high ROE is a good thing. That means it can be interesting to compare the ROE of different companies. Does Halliburton Have A Good ROE? By comparing a company's ROE with its industry average, we can get a quick measure of how good it is. Importantly, this is far from a perfect measure, because companies differ significantly within the same industry classification. As is clear from the image below, Halliburton has a better ROE than the average (9.2%) in the Energy Services industry. NYSE:HAL Past Revenue and Net Income, May 17th 2019 That's what I like to see. We think a high ROE, alone, is usually enough to justify further research into a company. One data point to check is if insiders have bought shares recently. Story continues How Does Debt Impact ROE? 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 case of the first and second options, the ROE will reflect this use of cash, for growth. In the latter case, the use of debt will improve the returns, but will not change the equity. That will make the ROE look better than if no debt was used. Halliburton's Debt And Its 18% ROE Halliburton clearly uses a significant amount of debt to boost returns, as it has a debt to equity ratio of 1.19. while its ROE is respectable, it is worth keeping in mind that there is usually a limit to how much debt a company can use. 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 a useful indicator of the ability of a business to generate profits and return them to shareholders. In my book the highest quality companies have high return on equity, despite low debt. If two companies have around the same level of debt to equity, and one has a higher ROE, I'd generally prefer the one with higher ROE. But ROE is just one piece of a bigger puzzle, since high quality businesses often trade on high multiples of earnings. 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 report on analyst forecasts for the company. But note: Halliburton 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. Emilia Clarke in the Game Of Thrones finale Warning: There are spoilers ahead from the last Game Of Thrones episode, The Bells. After 72 episodes and nearly 8 seasons of dragon fire, sword fights and epic battles, Game Of Thrones will finally come an end on Monday with its concluding episode. Last weeks penultimate installment The Bells set-up the finale perfectly, as Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) turned evil and burned Kings Landing, as well as most of its inhabitants, down to the ground. Clearly, the likes of Tyrion Lannister, Jon Snow, Arya Stark and Sansa Stark are going to have quite a few issues with what Daenerys did, and viewers are already wildly speculating about what is actually going to happen. Or theyre trying to get the final episodes stricken from the record and remade. But the less said of that the better. Read more: Is a major Game of Thrones character still alive? The remaining members of Game Of Thrones, those who are playing characters that are still alive, have now been teasing the final ever episode, with Liam Cunningham, who plays Ser Davos Seaworth, calling it, Absolutely goddamn epic. Meanwhile, Clarke told The Hollywood Reporter that viewers will experience a car crash of every emotion you can possibly imagine. It's like a nuclear bomb. It's just going to be f*****g huge. Seriously!" Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, from left, Peter Dinklage, Conleth Hill, Emilia Clarke, Gwendoline Christie, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Jacob Anderson, Nathalie Emmanuel, Liam Cunningham, and Kit Harington pose in the press room with the award for outstanding drama series for "Game of Thrones" at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards on Monday, Sept. 17, 2018, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision for the Television Academy/AP Images) Isaac Hempstead Wright, who plays Bran Stark, also opened up about the backlash that has greeted its most recent episodes, insisting that the finale is not going to please everybody. Come Sunday, either people are going to approach it with an open mind or they're not. If people have made up their minds now that they hate Game of Thrones, then obviously they are not going to enjoy it, no matter how good it is. Read more: Furious GoT fans trying to Google bomb show writers I personally think it's a very clever way of tying it all up. This next episode, again, is not going to please everybody. There will be some moments where people go, No! Why did this happen? But they're necessary moments. They all contribute to quite an interesting Game of Thrones-y conclusion. Well find out what happens when the final ever episode of Game Of Thrones airs at 2am on Monday May 20 and then, for those that werent able to stay up to watch it, 9pm later that evening. NEW YORK (AP) Herman Wouk was a prize-winning, million-selling author never quite in fashion. He was a religious Jew among secular peers, a respecter of authority in a field of rebels. He didn't brag like Norman Mailer and was spared the demons driving the madness of Philip Roth's "Portnoy's Complaint." After a Pulitzer early in his career for "The Caine Mutiny," he was mostly ignored by awards committees and was often excluded from anthologies of Jewish literature. Gore Vidal praised him, faintly, by observing that Wouk's "competence is most impressive and his professionalism awe-inspiring in a world of lazy writers and TV-stunned readers." But Wouk, who died Friday 10 days shy of his 104th birthday, was a success in ways that resonated with critics and readers, and with himself. He created at least one immortal fictional character, the unstable Captain Queeg of "The Caine Mutiny." He was praised for the uncanniness of his historical detail in "The Winds of War" and other books. He was among the first modern Jewish writers who appealed to the general public and had an enviably large readership that stayed with him through several long novels, many of which dramatized the conflicts between faith and assimilation. He was working on a book until the end, said his literary agent Amy Rennert. Wouk's long, unpredictable career included gag writing, fiction and a musical co-written with Jimmy Buffett. His two-part World War II epic, "The Winds of War" and "War and Remembrance," was adapted by Wouk himself for a 1983, Emmy Award-winning TV miniseries starring Robert Mitchum. "The Winds of War" received some of the highest ratings in history and Wouk's involvement covered everything from the script to commercial sponsors. Heads of state read him and quoted from him, but Wouk shied from talk of greatness, telling one reporter he was not a "high stylist." In "War and Remembrance," a writer notes in his journal, "I could contribute nothing new; but writing as I do with a light hand, I might charm a few readers into pausing, in their heedless hurry after pleasure and money, for a look at the things that matter." Story continues From Ernest Hemingway to James Joyce, major authors of the 20th century were assumed either anti-religious or at least highly skeptical. But Wouk was part of a smaller group that included C.S. Lewis, Chaim Potok and Flannery O'Connor, those who openly maintained traditional beliefs. He contended that among writers, anti-conformity was a kind of conformity. "It seems curious," he wrote in "Aurora Dawn," his first novel, "that life 'as it really is,' according to modern inspiration, contains a surprising amount of fornication, violence, vulgarity, unpleasant individuals, blasphemy, hatred, and ladies' underclothes." "Marjorie Morningstar," published in 1955, was one of the first million-selling novels about Jewish life, and two novels, "The Hope" and "The Glory," were set in Israel. One of his most influential works was "This Is My God," a careful, but firm defense of faith that could be found in countless Jewish households. Into his 90s, he studied the Talmud daily and led a weekly Talmud class. He gave many speeches and sermons and received several prizes, including a lifetime achievement award from the Jewish Book Council. During the many years he lived in Washington, D.C., the Georgetown synagogue he attended was known unofficially as "Herman Wouk's synagogue." In 1995, the Library of Congress marked his 80th birthday with a symposium on his career; historians David McCullough, Robert Caro, Daniel Boorstin and others were present. In 2008, Wouk received the first ever Library of Congress Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Writing of Fiction. In his mid-90s, he completed the comic novel "The Lawgiver," and at age 100 wrote a memoir. Wouk's longevity inspired Stephen King to title one story "Herman Wouk is Still Alive." Wouk, the son of Russian Jews, was born in New York in 1915. The household was religious his mother was a rabbi's daughter and devoted to books. His father would read to him from Sholem Aleichem, the great Yiddish writer. A traveling salesman sold his family the entire works of Mark Twain, who became Wouk's favorite writer, no matter how irreverent on matters of faith. "I found it all very stimulating," Wouk, in a rare interview, told The Associated Press in 2000. "His work is impregnated with references to the Bible. He may be scathing about it, but they're there. He's making jokes about religion, but the Jews are always making jokes about it." A top student in high school, Wouk majored in comparative literature and philosophy at Columbia University and edited the college's humor magazine. After graduation, he followed the path of so many bright, clever New Yorkers in the 1930s: He headed for California, where he worked five years on Fred Allen's radio show. Had war not intruded, he might have stuck to comedy sketches. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor he enlisted in the Navy and served as an officer in the Pacific. There, he received the writer's most precious gift, free time. He read and read, from the Bible to Victorian fiction, and wrote what became his first published novel, the radio satire "Aurora Dawn." "I was just having fun. It had never occurred to me write a novel," he said. By the time "Aurora Dawn" came out, in 1947, Wouk was married and living in New York. His novel was a Book-of-the-Month Club selection and he would soon publish "City Boy," a coming-of-age story highly influenced by Twain. In 1951, Wouk became a major literary star with the release of "The Caine Mutiny," for which Wouk was compared to other World War II novelists: Mailer, Irwin Shaw, James Jones. But his next book turned to domestic matters. Wouk spoke often of his concern about assimilation and this story told of an aspiring Jewish actress whose real name was Marjorie Morgenstern. Her stage name provided the novel's title, "Marjorie Morningstar." "My agent was absolutely appalled," Wouk told the AP. "He submitted it to the editor of a women's magazine and the editor said, 'Herman Wouk has destroyed himself. He's a man who writes big, sweeping dramas about men in action. Then he writes about this girl and nothing happens. He should burn this book and forget it.'" But like "The Caine Mutiny," the novel sold millions and was made into a movie, starring Natalie Wood. (Wouk eventually bought Wood's former home in Palm Springs). He was famous enough to appear on the cover of Time magazine, even as some Jews complained his book perpetuated stereotypes and critics complained he was too old-fashioned, too deferential. Captain Queeg, for example, may be a villain in popular culture, but "The Caine Mutiny" was not "Catch-22." Wouk was just as hard on the officers who rebelled against Queeg. The "crux" of the story, Wouk wrote in his journal, was that the "mutiny was a mistake" and the crew should have stood by its leader, however flawed. Over the years, Wouk responded to criticism in two ways: He didn't judge the characters in his stories, but tried to tell the truth; and whether he really challenged authority depended on what you thought needed challenging. Wouk knew that others didn't share his views. "This Is My God" featured a similar approach to "Mere Christianity" and other works by C.S. Lewis. Wouk preached not to the converted, but to the curious. He anticipated arguments about religion and tried his best to answer them. "I'm not out front as a figure, and that suits me," he told the AP. "I love the work and it's the greatest possible privilege to say, 'Here are these books that exist because I had to write them.'" In 1945, Wouk married Betty Sarah Brown, who also served as his agent until her death in 2011. They had three sons Nathaniel, Joseph and their eldest, Abraham, who drowned in 1951, a death that left Wouk with "the tears of the scar of a senseless waste." New York (AFP) - A US federal court in New York on Thursday convicted a man of charges that he bought weapons and plotted attacks on behalf of the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah. Ali Kourani, a 34-year-old American of Lebanese descent, was convicted of eight allegations including conspiracy to use weapons in a violent crime, which is punishable by life in prison. "Kouranis chilling mission was to help procure weapons and gather intelligence about potential targets in the US for future Hizballah terrorist attacks," US attorney Geoffrey Berman said in a statement, using an alternate spelling for the group. The targets Kourani surveyed include the JFK International Airport and a federal building in Manhattan. "Today, Kourani has fittingly been convicted for his crimes in a courthouse that stands in the shadow of one of his potential targets," Berman said. Born in Lebanon but naturalized by the US in 2009, Kourani attended several Hezbollah training camps in his country of birth and took orders from agents of the Iran-backed organization after his 2003 arrival in the US. He is now set to be sentenced on September 27. Another man who was taken into custody in Michigan on the same day Kourani was arrested in 2017, Samer El Debek, is still awaiting trial. He is also accused of belonging to Hezbollah. Washington considers Hezbollah, which was created by Iran in the early 1980s, a terrorist organization. The group has been blamed for attacks in France, Lebanon and Bulgaria, and is one of the main allies of Syria's government against the country's rebels. Cannes (France) (AFP) - A young Donald Trump and his real estate mogul father are to appear as characters in a new Hollywood film, according to reports at the Cannes film festival on Friday. US director James Gray of "The Yards" and "The Lost City of Z" fame will write and direct the movie set in the private Kew-Forest School in Queens in New York. Both the American president and the filmmaker were educated there, although decades apart. "Armageddon Time" will be a memoir of Gray's childhood growing up in Queens where the US president's father Fred was a powerful member of the school's board, producer Rodrigo Teixeira told Variety. "It's a personal story for James," he said. "You have the whole world of the Trumps dealing with that school and the students who go to that school." Earlier this year, the president's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen revealed that Trump threatened to sue his former schools if they ever released his grades. Gray -- who is now making the big-budget "Ad Astra" with Hollywood star Brad Pitt -- has previously made two semi-autobiographical films which drew on his Queens youth, "Little Odessa" and "We Own the Night". Here at Clever, were all about finding the good stuffunexpected decorating ideas, day-brightening accents and furnishings, news you need to knowand then delivering that info directly to you. Heres a roundup of five things that stopped us in our tracks this week that we wanted to be sure you dont miss. The New Sister City Hotel Is Inspired By Finnish Saunas and Japanese Bento Boxes We're ready to book a stay and steal all the design details from Atelier Ace's Sister City hotel, which just opened in Manhattan's Bowery neighborhood. The company's pared-down version of its typically bold, velvety, brass-covered interiors is all about refreshment and breathing space. The decor is said to be influenced by Finnish saunas, Japanese bento boxes, John Cages 4'33", and rock-cut cliff dwellings of prehistory. From the compact bedrooms (with bunk beds and fold-out storage!) to the terrazzo sinks and Noguchi lanterns, we're trying not to drool. sistercitynyc.com A Special-Edition Towel to Celebrate Le Corbusier Fact: Frottee di Mare makes the most stunning towels and bath rugs. For its latest design, the Zurich-based company teamed up with the newly renovated Pavillon Le Corbusier. The special-edition towel is inspired by the architecture of the colorful summer house, boasting graphic shapes and bright colorsboth work of art and vacation necessity. You can purchase the piece exclusively in the pavilion at the Zurich Lake promenade, a perfect accompaniment if you decide to jump in for a swim. frotteedimare.ch Weft Wants You to Design Your Own Fabric The company that lets you transform digital images into custom woven fabric is hosting a contest at ICFF this year. Create your own design and enter Weft's raffle for the chance to have three yards of fabric made for free. A totally unique jacquard textile on the house? Sign us up! Check out ICFF Booth #884 May 1922 at the Javits Convention Center to enter. P.S. If you're not in New York, Weft's online service is really easy to use and the collection of customizable patterns and unique artist collabs worth browsing. weft.design Story continues GQ on House Clothes vs. Street Clothes Staff writer Rachel Tashjian recently gave a strong argument for removing all your clothing when you get home. "You should then dress yourself from a selection of indoor-exclusive loungewear," she says. "You can wear sweatpants or silk pajamas or even a caftan, but the clothes should feel and look nice. Ideally, you look great enough to go outside, but you will not." She then goes on to evoke horror in our hearts with a study on Ubers being cesspools for germs. A good reminder that homewears should be as important as homewares. gq.com Wirecutter Is Helping Us Stay Cool at Night With summer on its way (for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere), nights are starting to get a little sweaty. Fear not, thoughthe rigorous testers at Wirecutter are here, trying sheets upon sheets to figure out which sets are the most breathable for the warmer months. Recommending linen or percale, plus two duvet covers, the site has us feeling better about getting the best sleep in the coming season. thewirecutter.com Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest WAKNP to help youth of Pakistan: Imran Khan ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday approved in principle an ambitious programme aimed at providing job opportunities, education, soft loans and professional skills to the youth of the country. The prime minister took the decision at a meeting held in connection with the programme called Wazir-i-Azam Kamyab Naujawan Programme (WAKNP). Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Youth Affairs Usman Dar briefed the meeting on the programme. He said such youth support programmes had also been launched in the past but due to lack of an effective and comprehensive strategy these could not bear fruit. Under Wazir-i-Azam Kamyab Naujawan Programme, a number of schemes will be introduced to provide job opportunity, education and professional skills to the youth, he added. He said that under a strategic youth development roadmap, a national youth development framework had been devised. A National Youth Council has also been formed in the country. The prime minister was informed that it was for the first time in the countrys history that PMs Youth Plus Portal had been established to get feedback and suggestions from the youth for development and progress of the country. A National Youth Development Index will also be formed under the programme. The meeting was told that more than 40 different sectors had been pointed out in which youth would benefit in collaboration with provincial governments. Under the programme, several schemes are being launched for the youth, including youth economic development economic scheme, PMs green youth movement, PM startup Pakistan, internship programme, Hunarmand programme and Kamyab Naujawan employment exchange programme, Usman Dar said. He said a youth database would be established in the light of information and surveys by educational institutions and universities for the establishment of Prime Ministers Employment Exchange Platform. The platform will be linked with all government departments so that young people could be employed on vacant posts. Under the PMs startup programme, soft loans will be given to the youth for establishing small businesses. The meeting was told that following the approval of WAKNP, it would soon be sent to the federal cabinet for a final nod. May 17 (Reuters) - China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd is asking its top Asian chipmakers to maintain deliveries after Washington decided to curb the telecom giant's access to American technology, the Nikkei reported https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Trade-war/Huawei-and-suppliers-dust-off-backup-plans-to-prepare-for-storm on Friday, citing sources familiar with the matter. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd said it will maintain supplies for the time being even though it was assessing the impact of Washington's decision, the report said. Innolux Corp, which supplies screen to Huawei, said it will have an impact, but it was hard to determine its scope and that its shipping schedule for Huawei remained unchanged, according to the report. U.S. chipmakers such as Qualcomm Inc and Qorvo Inc suspended shipments on Friday, the report said, while other U.S. companies are set to follow suit as the restrictions take effect. Huawei, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, Innolux, Qualcomm and Qorvo did not immediately respond to a Reuters' request for comment. The Trump administration on Thursday added Huawei to a trade blacklist, immediately enacting restrictions that will make it extremely difficult for the company from buying parts and components from American firms without U.S. government approval. (Reporting by Akanksha Rana in Bengalurul; Editing by Arun Koyyur) SHANGHAI, May 17 (Reuters) - Huawei subsidiary Hisilicon said that it had long been anticipating the possibility that the firm could one day be unable to obtain chips and technology from the United States and had prepared to soften any impact. Hisilicon, which mainly produces chip designs for its Chinese parent's equipment, made the comments in letters issued from the company's president's office that were published in Chinese state media on Friday. Huawei confirmed the authenticity of the comments to Reuters. The United States on Wednesday banned Huawei from buying U.S. technology without special approval. (Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Stephen Coates) By Marton Dunai BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Friday said he had discussed the purchase of mid-range air defense missiles at a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday. In the first bilateral meeting between the two leaders, Trump praised the Hungarian leader for his tough stance on immigration, calling him his "twin". Orban said military cooperation was paramount and that Hungary, whose economy has been growing faster than most others in Europe, can now afford to recreate a potent military force. "There are parts of military development in which we count on the Americans," Orban told state radio. "Critical infrastructure must be protected in case of a military attack, and Hungary's capability in that regard is incomplete. We need mid-range air defense missiles here. The legal procedure to acquire them is proceeding apace." U.S. Ambassador to Hungary David Cornstein told the Hungarian news web site 444.hu that he and a Hungarian government representative had visited arms makers Raytheon and Lockheed Martin on the sidelines of Orban's visit. Orban, whose close ties with President Vladimir Putin's Russia and China have drawn criticism from international partners, and especially Washington, said he wanted to build better ties with all major powers. "We cooperate with the Chinese and the Russians as well as the Americans," he said. "To be sure, with them (the Americans) we are in a military alliance, therefore those ties are stronger." But he said to define Hungary's foreign policy as dutifully belonging to some alliance rather than seeking to defend its own interests was a "distorted" view. He added that he had asked Trump to help start production of natural gas under the Romanian section of the Black Sea, which will be done with participation from Exxon, to provide the only practical alternative to Russian gas. "Diversification is plausible if the U.S.-Romanian cooperation happens quickly," Orban said. "I urged the president to help make that happen." Senior U.S. lawmakers criticised Orban's visit to the White House last week, blaming him for a "downward democratic trajectory". (Reporting by Marton Dunai; Editing by Kevin Liffey) CAIRO, May 17 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund said on Friday its team had reached a staff-level agreement with Egypt to disburse the final $2 billion tranche of a $12 billion loan. The three-year loan program was signed in 2016. As part of the IMF program, Egypt has been carrying out economic reforms including a steep devaluation of the pound, deep cuts to its energy subsidies and the introduction of new taxes. (Reporting by Lena Masri; Editing by Hugh Lawson) Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow on HBO's Game of Thrones Warning: contains spoilers If you had to sum up Game of Thrones to a newcomer, two words would immediately spring to mind: dragons and incest. The latter has been a key plot point since the very first episode. Without Jaime and Cerseis scandalous rutting, Bran Stark might still be climbing the walls of Winterfell, and Ned would still have a head. At the end of season 7, Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow's simmering romantic tension had bubbled over into full-blown sex and, judging by their dragon-date and continual camaraderie, their relationship shows no sign of ending. Theres just one slight hitch with this burgeoning romance and its not that Jon refused to bend the knee. As viewers watched Jon sneak into Daenerys cabin, a flashback confirmed what viewers had long suspected. Dany is actually Jons aunt. With season eight kicking off by Sam telling Jon the truth about his lineage (and the Throne-deserving nephew to his aunt shortly thereafter), well finally find out what the repercussions of this (mis)match will be. But there are some historical lessons that might be of interest to the pair. Can an aunt and her nephew get married? Short answer? No. Its illegal. It is in UK law, anyway. (Its also prohibited by many world religions, including Christianity, Islam and Hinduism.) Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow on HBO's Game of Thrones But while it may seem icky to us, avunculate marriages have taken place throughout history. In fact, they were once frequent among the royal houses of Europe. More often than not, this was to consolidate alliances between countries. Couples skirted around the religious questions with a special dispensation from the Pope. One family who had to call on this papal permission frequently were the Hapsburgs, the Holy Roman Emperors who dominated Europe for over three hundred years. One of the reasons they clung on to this power for so long was their tendency to keep it in the family. Story continues The Hapsburgs became so inbred that they had a deformity named after them. The Hapsburg Jaw ensured that these almighty kings struggled in the looks department. Years of inbreeding culminated in King Charles II of Spain, the last and most deformed of the Spanish Hapsburg rulers. His prominent jaw was immortalised in portraits by Titian and Velazquez, and his tongue was said to be so big for his mouth that he would struggle to speak and drool when he managed. Charles II of Spain and the Hapsburg Jaw (1677-9) by Juan Carreno de Miranda Scientists have since concluded that Charless many symptoms, which included impotence, an oversized head and swelling all over his body, suggest that he suffered from two genetic disorders: thyroid deficiency and renal tubular acidosis. His parents were uncle and niece. Jon and Daenerys, take note. The Hapsburgs clearly didnt learn from these mistakes. Charles IIs sister, Margaret Theresa of Spain, was married off to their maternal uncle (and paternal first cousin once removed), the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold. Unsurprisingly, all four of Margaret and Leopolds children suffered from the consanguineous union, with only one surviving infancy. Overall, then, while intermarriage might make political sense, it could result in dodgy jawlines and sickly children. It would also raise a few eyebrows. Not that Tyrion seemed to mind, en route to King's Landing. What about brother and sister? As Cersei often states in a desperate attempt to justify her relationship with twin Jaime, the Targaryens have been marrying brother to sister for hundreds of years. Like all marriages, though, these werent without their problems. Its often hinted that years of incestuous Targaryen marriages produced several mad kings most famously, Daeneryss father Aerys II. Viserys Tragaryen, brother of Daenerys, on Game of Thrones Credit: HBO George RR Martins latest work Fire and Blood (a prequel to A Song of Ice and Fire, on which the TV series is based) might be more than just a treat for superfans, and something from which we can learn as well. The most famous sibling marriage in Westerosi history is Aegon the Conqueror, who had a bigamous marriage with his two sisters. Between them, the siblings conquered Westeros with their dragons. Despite some protest from religious figures, the Targaryens kept up this tradition. When a sibling wasnt available, they tended to marry a relative that was. Sibling incest has pretty much always been taboo in the real world. There have, however, been a few examples of royal sibling marriages. Most famous of all were those in the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt. Cleopatra VII (she of Shakespearean fame) was married to her younger brother Ptolemy XIII. As if that wasnt narrowing the gene pool enough, her parents were uncle and niece as well as cousins. Similarly, Tutankhamuns parents were siblings, and he was married to his own half-sister Ankhesenamun. Scientists have proven from King Tuts remains that, for all the beauty of his famous golden death-mask, he cant have been much of a looker. He suffered from a cleft palate and club foot, congenital defects which likely came about through his incestuous ancestry. These ancient royal marriages were often justified by the fact their gods married their siblings. In the Egyptians case, this was Osiris and Isis. The Egyptian royal family believed they were descendants of the gods and needed to keep the bloodline pure. This pureblood argument is one that the Targaryens were especially fond of, too. The less dragon blood in other families, the less likely it was that rivals could get hold of a dragon and take the throne. Nor do marriages between former brothers and sisters-in-law seem to be a problem in Game of Thrones. After Joffreys traumatic purple-infused death, the freshly widowed Margaery was hitched to Joffreys brother Tommen. Compare Henry VIII, who wanted to marry his dead brothers wife Catherine of Aragon, but had to get a special dispensation from the Pope because, according to Leviticus, if a man shall take his brother's wife, it is an unclean thing: he hath uncovered his brother's nakedness; they shall be childless. Later Henry would decide that the marriage was cursed because it was incestuous and that was why he and Catherine had failed to produce a male heir. (Funny how this epiphany happened around the same time Anne Boleyn arrived on the scene...). All in all, history teaches us that Jon and Daeneryss match wouldn't be too unfeasible and, as relationships go, it would be less taboo than Jaime and Cerseis. But spare a thought for the children. Not to mention those who might have to be ruled by the little interbred princeling. Will Jon and Dany rule together? Twincest-wise, it wasn't a good idea for Cersei and Jaime and it wouldn't be much better for Dany and Jon. If not, arguably, far worse. It's not so much that the duo being related is issue number one, either, but that these related rulers-in-waiting would be trying to do so in a landscape filled with bereavement and madness. Dany doesn't want to share the Iron Throne, Jon has never wanted it altogether, and their respective followers would be far from happy to see them take it together. Especially after they were clearly in clear opposition to each other with Dany bonfired King's Landing. You can catch up on Game of Thrones season 1-8 on NOW TV with a one week free Entertainment Pass trial. * Pragya Thakur is main accused in a 2008 blast in Malegaon town * Modi's party says she is innocent even as courts yet to decide * Anger in Malegaon over Thakur's candidacy By Zeba Siddiqui BHOPAL, India May 17 (Reuters) - For nearly a decade, Pragya Thakur was known mostly as the saffron-clad Hindu ascetic shuttling in and out of Indian courts, flanked by police, facing charges under an anti-terrorism law for plotting a bomb attack on Muslims. Last month, the 49-year-old was fielded as a candidate by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the current general election, in which he is seeking a second term. Overnight, Thakur, who has been out on bail since 2017, emerged as a symbol of a Hindu nationalist movement that is showing increasing intolerance towards Muslims in the Hindu-dominated nation. The five years of Modi's rule have seen an increasing number of attacks on Muslims by right-wing groups. But the brazenness of Thakur's candidacy has still stunned many. It's the first time a leading political party in India has fielded a candidate accused of terrorism in an election. "They are addressing a very extreme form of the Hindutva fold," said Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, a New Delhi-based biographer of Modi, referring to the BJPs Hindu-first ideology. Thakur says she had nothing to do with the 2008 explosion near several mosques in the Muslim-majority town of Malegaon in western India. Six Muslims were killed and more than a hundred people injured. According to court filings, the motorcycle on which the explosives were strapped was Thakur's, and she was among those who planned the attack to avenge "jihadi activities." Indian law allows candidates charged with crimes to contest elections, but not convicts. The trial against Thakur started in December but a final verdict is not expected anytime soon. Modi and BJP leaders have come out strongly in her defense. Story continues BJP President Amit Shah told a television channel last month that Thakur was given a ticket to contest "so that the whole world can know that these accusations against her were fabricated." DEFENDS GANDHI'S KILLER The BJP argues there is no such thing as a Hindu terrorist, and portrays charges against her as an affront to all Hindus. "You are saying that a saffron-clad person is a terrorist? What is this?" said Prabhat Jha, the BJPs national vice president in central India's Bhopal city, where Thakur is contesting from. He was referring to the robes worn by Hindu ascetics. Voting in Bhopal was on May 12, and results are due on May 23. Thakur stirred fresh controversy on Thursday when she called the right-wing Hindu who killed India's independence hero Mohandas "Mahatma" Gandhi in 1948 a patriot. "Those who call him a terrorist should look within. This election will deliver a fitting reply to such people," she said. The BJP quickly distanced itself from the comments and Thakur later apologized. Thakur declined to be interviewed for this story. According to her family and supporters, she is a pious nationalist and champion of women's rights who was a former youth politics leader known for fiery speeches. Born in a village in central India, she grew up to become a leader of a youth group linked to the BJP, and usually clad in a shirt and jeans, hair cropped short, came to be referred to as "didi," or elder sister, her sister Upma said. Former members of the youth group said Thakur was known then as a "dabang," or daredevil, not afraid to pick a fight. One said she would carry a "katta" - a locally-made pistol although others said there was no proof of it. Days after gaining the candidacy, Thakur boasted about her role in demolishing a 16th century mosque in the northern Ayodhya city in 1992 an event that sparked some of Indias deadliest communal riots. "I was there, I had broken the structure, and I will go back to build the temple," Thakur said in a campaign speech, echoing BJP's promise to build a temple at the mosque site. TORTURE CLAIMS Thakur, whose family says she is a cancer survivor, has often wept while describing the torture she claims she endured in custody. But the Supreme Court said in 2011 it found no merit in her allegations. The National Human Rights Commission said in 2015 her claims "were not substantiated by facts." Her media relations head Hitesh Bajpai said there was proof she was tortured, but declined to elaborate. Thakur's supporters expressed deep empathy. "A woman who has suffered such torture, she will understand our issues more than anyone else," said Saumya Srivastava, a 46-year-old housewife at a recent rally. About 500 km (300 miles) west of Bhopal, in Malegaon, there is anger among families of blast victims about Thakur's candidacy. The Supreme Court rejected a petition to bar her from contesting the election that was filed by Nisar Ahmed, whose 20-year-old son Syed Azhar was killed in the blast. "My son was killed in the attack, and today a prime accused in that is standing in an election," said Ahmed. "Is this how they give us justice?" In Bhopal, Thakur folded her hands to greet supporters one evening before heading out for a roadshow, a traditional vermillion mark fresh on her forehead. A devotee fed her sweets and lowered her head to seek blessings - to which Thakur warmly responded by placing a hand on the womans head. Chants of "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" (Long Live Mother India) filled the air, as her cavalcade disappeared around a street corner. (Reporting by Zeba Siddiqui in BHOPAL, India; Editing by Martin Howell and Raju Gopalakrishnan) War is not an option for Iran-USA: FO 17 May, 2019 Related News Imran Khan distributed loan cheques under Kamyab Jawan Programme PTI govt to face all challenges coming its way: Imran khan More on this View All Tips for Taking Incredible iPhone Travel Photos Top 2021 Accessories We Know You Will Love Types of Casino Payment Methods Best Poker Hands ever played on a Casino Are Slot Developers Important for players? Hand Wash and Toiletries in Pakistan And the Role of DUPAS in Reshaping the Industry Woke Bingo ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday blamed the United States for heightening tensions with Iran in the ongoing crisis in the Persian Gulf and called on both sides to show restraint. We expect all sides to show restraint. Pakistan desires that all issues should be settled through peaceful dialogue and engagement by all sides, Foreign Office spokesman Dr Mohammad Faisal said at the weekly media briefing. War is not an option, he emphasised. The spokesman was responding to questions about the deepening US-Iran crisis that has led to a massive military buildup by the US in the region in response to an unspecified threat. Under its offensive posture in the Persian Gulf, the US has deployed an aircraft carrier, positioned B-52 bombers at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, and sent F-15 jets to the region. The progression of the crisis has been likened by many to the developments ahead of the Iraq war, which was started on the false pretext of weapons of mass destruction. Recent developments in the Persian Gulf region are disturbing. The US decision to deploy an aircraft carrier and bombers has added to the tensions and the existing precarious security situation in the Middle East, Dr Faisal said. Pakistans position looked much similar to the Chinese stance on the crisis. The Chinese foreign ministry had earlier said: The Hormuz Strait is an important passageway for maritime shipping. We hope all parties can resolve differences through dialogue and jointly uphold peace and stability in the Hormuz Strait. We call on all parties, especially non-regional major country, to make responsible and constructive efforts. The FO spokesman, meanwhile, warned that any miscalculated move can transmute into a large-scale conflict. There have been apprehensions that attacks on the vessels belonging to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Norway near Fujairah, off the coast of UAE, and drone strikes on a couple of oil pumping stations of Saudi state-owned Aramco that forced the Kingdom to suspend oil supply to Red Sea port could push the already volatile situation closer to war. The drone attack was claimed by Yemens Houthis, whereas the attacks on vessels are still being investigated. The US and its Arab allies are treating Iran as the prime suspect in the sabotage of the ships. The US has said that Iran would be held accountable for attacks by proxy forces. The US and its Arab allies consider Houthis as Iranian proxies. Pakistan had a day earlier condemned the attack on Aramco facilities and expressed support for Saudi Arabia and the international community. The spokesman said that several options were being considered for raising the issue of acquittal of four Hindu extremists accused of the 2007 Samjhauta Express bombing at relevant international forums. We have continued to raise the issue over the years, especially after the acquittal to which India has no reply. Presently, we are considering different options to take up this case with the relevant international forums, he said. Reacting to the acquittal of the bombing accused, Pakistan had in March said that systemic decision to gradually exonerate and finally acquit the perpetrators not only showed their callousness towards the heirs of the victims, who had been waiting for justice, but also reveals Indias state policy of promoting and protecting Hindu terrorists. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi will visit Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) from May 21-22 to attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisations (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM). The foreign ministers forum shall prepare for the blocs summit from June 13 to 14. Prime Minister Imran Khan would attend the summit or what is called the Council of Heads of State next month. The foreign ministers participation in the SCO CFM will highlight Pakistans interest in regional peace, stability and development and will give us an opportunity to project our perspective on foreign policy issues, the FO spokesman said. The SCO, he said, allowed Pakistan to explore greater economic linkages and cooperation with the region in the areas of energy and transport and would help in promoting Pakistan as a regional trade corridor. Mr Qureshi is expected to meet his counterparts from the participating countries on the sidelines of the meeting. The Foreign Office supported the Chinese claim that none of the Pakistani women married to Chinese men was used for organ sale. It is confirmed that there are no reports regarding trafficking of women for organ harvesting, the spokesman said, but did not say anything about the allegations that some of the women taken to China by their husbands were forced into prostitution. In what could be seen as an acknowledgement that Chinese men had contracted fake marriages, the spokesman said: Any Chinese or Pakistani nationals affected by these fake marriages can approach the ministries of interior and foreign affairs, Pakistans diplomatic missions in China and the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad. Dr Faisal said the interior ministry and Chinese Embassy were working together for streamlining the procedures for cross-border marriages. Jakarta (AFP) - Indonesian police said Friday that they have arrested dozens of Islamic-State linked terror suspects, including some who planned to detonate bombs at political demonstrations when election results are announced next week. Some 29 suspects were rounded up this month alone, with 60 in all detained since the start of the year in raids across the Southeast Asian nation, they said. Eight other suspects had been killed in confrontations with authorities, police said, including the wife of a militant who blew up herself and a child following a dramatic standoff at their home in March. Some arrested suspects were skilled bomb makers and had fought alongside the jihadist group in Syria, as well as members of local extremist network Jemaah Anshurat Daulah (JAD), police said. JAD has pledged allegiance to IS and was blamed for a wave of suicide bombings at churches in Indonesia's second-biggest city Surabaya last year. The world's biggest Muslim majority nation has seen a string of attacks by Islamist militants since the 2002 Bali bombings, which killed more than 200 people, including scores of tourists. National police spokesman Muhammad Iqbal on Friday described the latest arrests as a "preventative strike" before the official announcement of Indonesian elections, which were held on April 17. There are concerns about street demonstrations after presidential challenger Prabowo Subianto, a retired military general, warned that protests could erupt over his claims of massive electoral fraud. Subianto has vowed not to recognise next week's results if they hand a re-election victory to president Joko Widodo, who has a lead of about 12 percentage points, according to unofficial polls. Police said militants wanted to take advantage of any political unrest to spark chaos by using use WiFi to remotely detonate bomb-filled backpacks at crowded demonstrations. "So we're urging the public not to go out on the streets on May 22 because it could be dangerous as they (the suspects) wanted to attack crowds and police officers," he told reporters in the capital Jakarta. Some 32,000 security personnel are expected to fan out across the capital next week, including in front of the General Elections Commission. Subianto has attacked the Commission over allegations it was complicit in widespread electoral fraud. The Inside, Christiane Lemieuxs digitally native custom furniture brand that lets clients choose from more than 100 fabrics, including the famed Scalamandre zebra print, is now available for use in the great outdoors. The brand just launched its first outdoor collection, which includes a cabana chair and stool, available a la carte or as a set; outdoor throws and floor and lumbar pillows; and a limited-edition outdoor blanket and tote. Released in time for summer, the new line is a response to client demand, says Lemieux. We heard repeatedly from our customers that they wanted the ability to decorate their outdoor spaces just as much as indoor, and we saw a huge opportunity to add selection and personalization to a category that very much needs it, she says. The launch hews to a tried-and-true format for The Inside team. Its a similar strategy to indoor in that were offering the collection in our 100-plus fabrics for personalization at an accessible price point, Lemieux adds. We are helping our designers and customers think of the outdoor space as an extension of their home and another place that does not have to be generic but an extension of their decorating vision. Are there particular success stories The Inside noted when weighing the brand's initial foray into a new category? I think some of the big companies like Restoration Hardware or West Elm are doing a good job in the category, Lemieux says. At The Inside, because of our use of technology coupled with a disruptive supply chain, we can really fill the decor proposition in outdoor. Courtesy of The Inside Part of the line's appeal is its diverse applicationsand the brand's business model, which allows for more customization options. "We dont import the product and hold inventory, so we dont have to be safe and neutral," Lemieux says. "We can let the designer and customer really express themselves inside and out. We also considered every type of outdoor space. Not all of us live in Southern California and have large yards. We love that we've created an assortment thats versatile, whether you're poolside, beachfront, or lounging on the balcony or that sliver of a New York patio." Current collaborators include SF Girl by Bay, The Everygirl, Refinery29s Christene Barberich, Homepolishs Katherine Carter, and fashion designers like Peter Som and Clare V. Can Lemieux tease any future partners? "We have an incredible lineup. Im actually in Europe right now meeting with our next collaborator. Stay tuned!" Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest * Elevators IPO plan breaks with long company tradition * Ignites battle over Thyssenkrupp's future direction * Activist investors pushing to simplify conglomerate * Clash of cultures could test German model of capitalism By Christoph Steitz, Tom Kackenhoff, Edward Taylor and Arno Schuetze FRANKFURT, May 17 (Reuters) - When Thyssenkrupp CEO Guido Kerkhoff announced plans to list its prized elevators unit last week, he set off a battle for the conglomerate's future that could test Germany's brand of "social market" capitalism. Kerkhoff had little choice but to think the unthinkable when the company's share price sank to a 15-year low on May 8. The plan to take elevators public not only broke with long tradition but marked the abandonment of a turnaround plan he himself had unveiled less than eight months before. Now Thyssenkrupp's future is in play, with activist investors on the one side baying for a restructuring of the group to drive up value, and its top shareholder - the charitable Krupp foundation - and workers on the other side with a mandate to protect the unity of the company and jobs. It's also a clash of cultures and of differing visions of capitalism: Anglo-Saxon profit maximization pitted against Germany's long-term focused social market economy model. Kerkhoff's strategy will not only decide the fate of his career, but also the shape of Thyssenkrupp - a poster child of Germany's so-called Rhineland capitalism, which buttressed the country's economic success by emphasizing social policies to protect workers rights as much as the rules of free enterprise. Thyssenkrupp's conglomerate structure has fallen out of favor in the market, reflected in the deterioration of its share price. Many investors say Kerkhoff and the non-profit foundation must move to reshape the group's portfolio, including through spin-offs and divestments. Ingo Speich, head of sustainability and corporate governance at top-20 shareholder Deka Investment, said this kind of active portfolio management was the likeliest and best solution for the group. Story continues "Parts will be separated out and the resulting proceeds used to make acquisitions." Bankers and investors are now eyeing the prospect of finding new owners for the group's sprawling businesses, ranging from steel and elevators to car parts and submarines. Components Technology, which makes automotive parts, and Industrial Solutions, which makes chemical and cement plants, may be merged with sector peers in the medium to long-term, according to three financial sources familiar with the matter. Elevators may end up in the hands of Kone or Schindler, should they intercept Thyssenkrupp's IPO plans, while plant engineering could be combined with Linde's engineering unit, one of the sources said. Other investment bank pitches to potential buyers will focus on finding a partner for some of Thyssenkrupp's automotive businesses, where Bosch, ZF Friedrichshafen, Nexteer or Mando are seen as potential players, according to the sources. The company's Rothe Erde machine parts unit may attract interest from Sweden's SKF, Schaeffler and Japan's NSK, they said. "This is the breakup of Thyssenkrupp," said a senior banker who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter. All the companies either declined to comment on potential deals or were not immediately available to comment. Kerkhoff has acknowledged that new ownership structures for its businesses is needed to turn the company around. But Thyssenkrupp declined to comment on any future asset sales. 'NO QUICK, EASY WINS' Such a process will however be lengthy and difficult, according to three separate financial and labor sources, for two reasons: apart from elevators, all other units of Thyssenkrupp are less profitable than their peer average, are going through a restructuring or are in need of one. This is reducing their value and makes it less probable that an M&A frenzy will ensue. "I don't see quick, easy wins unless assets are sold under value," said another senior banker. "A fire sale is not the way forward." Secondly, powerful labor representatives at Thyssenkrupp, who control half of the seats on group's 20-member supervisory board, are willing to oppose M&A that will result in further job cuts among its 161,000-strong workforce. The 10 workers' representatives can team up with the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen and Halbach Foundation, which holds a 21 percent stake, to veto major changes. The foundation's mandate is to preserve the unity of the company while at the same time relying on healthy dividends to fund its non-profit activities for promoting the "common good." It therefore needs to tread carefully, preserving the company's future without obstructing needed reforms. The elevator IPO, part of a plan that also includes 6,000 job reductions, has found support because it brings in cash that is badly needed to fix Thyssenkrupp's balance sheet and strengthen the businesses as a whole. "It will be a difficult path for the company and its employees. But we won't abandon workers," said Markus Grolms, vice chairman of Thyssenkrupp's supervisory board and secretary at IG Metall, Germany's biggest labor union. POWER OF ACTIVIST INVESTORS The conflict at Thyssenkrupp also illustrates the growing influence of activist shareholders on European household names, with demands to tackle underperformance and simplify structures. Swedish investor Cevian, a shareholder since 2013 that has long pressed for change, holds an 18 percent stake, while more recent investor Elliott holds under 3 percent. Both have criticized Thyssenkrupp's underperformance. Activists argue specialized businesses are often more highly valued than conglomerates because in times of growth, high-potential assets do not have to share the balance sheet with cash-consuming, lower-return businesses. Conglomerates tend to be valued at a trading multiple of some of their lowest performing business resulting in the so-called conglomerate discount and higher refinancing costs. In recent years, groups that have reshaped their portfolios through spin-offs and sales have outperformed peers in terms of share price development, Goldman Sachs said in a study last year, a trend which helped asset disposals in Europe reach their highest level since 2007. "It's not necessarily that boards and companies were doing things wrong before," said Rich Thomas, managing director and head of European shareholder advisory at investment bank Lazard . "But things are different now and now boards and companies need to do things differently because the world has moved a bit underneath them," he added, referring to the rise of investor activism. "And now, I think, in many ways European and German boards are playing a little bit of catch-up." German labor leaders and credit agencies, for their part, argue a diversified model with exposure to several businesses with different growth, margin and cash flow generation rates is an advantage when one sector enters a downturn. POST-WAR REFORMS Germany has been slow to embrace portfolio management because of reforms introduced after World War II to safeguard worker rights. In 1947, the United States forced the breakup of German industrial monopolies so that they could not be used as instruments of power by political forces, as had happened with the steel industry under the Nazis. Krupp, which later merged with Thyssen in 1999, was among the first companies to be dismantled. Among others, IG Farben was split into businesses including BASF, Hoechst and Bayer. At the time, price controls were also lifted, sparking concerns among German workers about their welfare so Germany's leaders allowed industry associations including the German Trade Union Confederation and Federation of German Industries to help formulate new labor laws and working conditions. In 1949, collective wage-bargaining negotiations set a minimum wage for entire sectors to ensure competition would not mean a race to the bottom for wages. The law is still in place. Three years later, trade unions were also given the right to appoint a third of company directors so they could have a say in determining the conditions of hiring and laying off workers when restructuring was needed. It is this law which has given Thyssenkrupp's workers a near veto power to stop radical job cuts and even to block the appointment of shareholder-friendly candidates to the board. Decisions at Thyssenkrupp have rarely, if ever, been taken without the consent of workers. For CEO Kerkhoff, a deal for the elevator unit may mark one of the last chances to raise cash to pay for necessary reforms following three profit warnings, a botched plan to spin off its capital goods business and the collapse of a steel joint venture with Tata Steel. But analysts at Jefferies are still skeptical about management's ability to get the listing off the ground. "The timeline and execution of such a deal remain concerns of investors," they said, adding management must come up with a credible restructuring plan that is supported by unions and convince markets the IPO will repair the group's balance sheet. (Writing by Christoph Steitz and Edward Taylor; Editing by Pravin Char) The big shareholder groups in Build King Holdings Limited (HKG:240) have power over the company. Large companies usually have institutions as shareholders, and we usually see insiders owning shares in smaller companies. I generally like to see some degree of insider ownership, even if only a little. As Nassim Nicholas Taleb said, 'Dont tell me what you think, tell me what you have in your portfolio.' With a market capitalization of HK$1.5b, Build King Holdings is a small cap stock, so it might not be well known by many institutional investors. Our analysis of the ownership of the company, below, shows that institutional investors have not yet purchased shares. Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholder can tell us about 240. Want to participate in a short research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card! View our latest analysis for Build King Holdings SEHK:240 Ownership Summary, May 17th 2019 What Does The Lack Of Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Build King Holdings? Institutional investors often avoid companies that are too small, too illiquid or too risky for their tastes. But it's unusual to see larger companies without any institutional investors. There are many reasons why a company might not have any institutions on the share registry. It may be hard for institutions to buy large amounts of shares, if liquidity (the amount of shares traded each day) is low. If the company has not needed to raise capital, institutions might lack the opportunity to build a position. It is also possible that fund managers don't own the stock because they aren't convinced it will perform well. Build King Holdings's earnings and revenue track record (below) may not be compelling to institutional investors -- or they simply might not have looked at the business closely. SEHK:240 Income Statement, May 17th 2019 Build King Holdings is not owned by hedge funds. As far I can tell there isn't analyst coverage of the company, so it is probably flying under the radar. Story continues Insider Ownership Of Build King Holdings The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. The company management answer to the board; and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board, themselves. Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances. Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Build King Holdings Limited. Insiders own HK$156m worth of shares in the HK$1.5b company. It is great to see insiders so invested in the business. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying recently. General Public Ownership With a 33% ownership, the general public have some degree of sway over 240. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies. Public Company Ownership We can see that public companies hold 57%, of the 240 shares on issue. This may be a strategic interest and the two companies may have related business interests. It could be that they have de-merged. This holding is probably worth investigating further. Next Steps: While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can find historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph. Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. Therefore, you may wish to see our free collection of interesting prospects boasting favorable financials. NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures. 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 Charles Pensulo BLANTYRE, May 17 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A Malawian businessman hoping to become the country's first lawmaker with albinism has called for a major drive to tackle rampant violence against people with the condition amid a spate of murders, mutilations and abductions linked to black magic. Steve Burges, 36, said Malawi's army and police should recruit people with albinism to help stamp out an underground trade in albino body parts fueled by beliefs that they bring prosperity. "Every day is a dangerous day for people with albinism in Malawi," Burges told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone from the southern city of Zomba where he is standing. "It's terrible to watch my fellow brothers and sisters being attacked. We need to end this now." The businessman, who is standing for the opposition Malawi Congress Party in Tuesday's election, also called for a public education campaign to destigmatise albinism similar to awareness drives on HIV/AIDS and Ebola. Malawi is one of the most dangerous countries for people with albinism, whose body parts can fetch high sums. There have been more than 160 recorded attacks including 22 murders since November 2014, according to human rights group Amnesty International. "If people with albinism can be included in public services like the army and the police, they will be better placed to help in investigating cases and indeed tracing the markets for albino parts," Burges said. "I have seen members of the police and army with albinism in countries like South Africa and Zimbabwe. I think that makes a lot of difference." Malawi is home to up to 10,000 people with albinism - a lack of pigmentation in the skin, hair and eyes. A U.N. expert on albinism has said they risk "extinction" due to the attacks. Burges is among six people with albinism running for office in a bid to tackle the stigma and violence. Two are standing for parliament and four for local government. Story continues The businessman said he had faced discrimination while campaigning. "I've heard from some candidates saying, 'Should you vote for him because he is living with albinism?' yet I've done a lot of development (work) in the area," Burges said. PERSONAL ALARMS Safety concerns have been high in the run-up to the elections amid fears some candidates may seek out lucky charms to boost their chances. The government has denied accusations by human rights groups and the Malawi Congress Party that it is doing little to stop the killings. It announced this month it would issue 1,600 personal security alarms to people with albinism, linking them to police stations. But the Association of Persons with Albinism in Malawi said some people had refused the gadgets because they were branded with the initials of President Peter Mutharika. Earlier this month, a court sentenced a man to death for killing a teenager with albinism. The judge said the killings and abductions had tainted Malawi's international image and reduced the country to "a state of terror." In another trial under way in Malawi, a priest, police officer and doctor are among 12 defendants accused of murdering a 22-year-old man with albinism a year ago. But successful prosecutions are rare. Amnesty called this week for Malawi to overhaul its criminal justice system, saying it had repeatedly failed victims of attacks. It said suspects were often released due to flawed investigations and prosecutors needed better training. "The impunity must stop," Amnesty's regional director Deprose Muchena said. (Writing by Emma Batha @emmabatha; Editing by Claire Cozens. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, property rights, and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org) By Anastasia Moloney BOGOTA, May 17 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Peruvian lawmaker Alberto de Belaunde, one of only two openly gay members of the country's Congress, has little hope that he will be able to marry his longtime partner any time soon. "I've lived with my boyfriend for seven years and for the government it's like he is my roommate," de Belaunde said. "We have no legal recognition," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. For the past three years, congressman de Belaunde has been pushing for new legislation that would allow same-sex couples to wed in the conservative nation. This would bring Peru in line with other nations in South America, including Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Colombia, which have legalized gay marriage in recent years. But with a conservative majority in Peru's Congress, the chances of gay couples getting married or people being allowed to legally change their gender identity anytime soon is remote. "Our bill for marriage equality and our bill for gender identity, well they are, like, doomed," he said, speaking on the sidelines of an event in Bogota, Colombia, hosted by the Victory Institute, a non-profit which seeks to elect LGBT+ candidates. "I'm pessimistic about 2019 but we are still fighting. I think every time we talk about this issue we move forward but the thing is we don't have the votes." No date has yet been set for the bill to legalize gay marriage, which was presented in 2016, to be debated, he said. Along with Venezuela and Paraguay, Peru is one of only three countries in South America that has not legalized gay marriage, according to de Belaunde. POWERFUL EVANGELICALS The growing rise and influence of the evangelical Christian movement and churches in society and politics is a big obstacle in getting laws that promote LGBT+ rights passed, he said. Most evangelical groups are critical of gay rights, saying marriage should only be between a man and a woman. Story continues "This evangelical or ultra-conservative movement grows with fake news ... trying to make people afraid of LGBT inclusion. They are really well-organized and really well-funded," de Belaunde said. "I'm trying to work with evangelical leaders, moderate evangelical leaders. The thing is that there are not so outspoken as the other ones," the 33-year-old said. Changing negative views among Peruvian society about gay marriage is also a big challenge in the majority-Catholic country. Two different polls in 2017 showed that at least seven in 10 Peruvians were against same-sex unions. "We have to make sure that people from all parts of Peru from different backgrounds ... understand the importance of having a society without discrimination," de Belaunde said. Over 60% of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT+) people had suffered some type of discrimination or violence, according to a 2018 survey by Peru's National Institute of Statistics. Yet recent court rulings in favor of same-sex unions could help pave the way for gay rights and push lawmakers to debate the 2016 bill to legalize gay marriage, he said. In a landmark April ruling, a local court in Peru said authorities must recognize the marriage of a Peruvian lesbian couple who were wedded in Miami, and that failing to do so would be discriminatory and unconstitutional. The top rights body of the Americas based in Costa Rica, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, has also weighed in on the issue, urging countries to legalize gay marriage. In a judgment issued last year, the court said its signatory member countries, which include Peru, should treat same-sex couples "without discrimination," ensuring that they receive the same family and financial rights as heterosexual couples. As an openly gay congressman, de Belaunde says he has received "a lot of hate messages" on social media, and also part of the discrimination he faces is that people wrongly assume he is only working to promote LGBT+ rights. "People say that I'm a single-issue congressman," he said. "And it's really funny because I have 25 bills presented and only two of them are to do with LGBT issues - gay marriage and gender identity." Transgender people in Peru who wish to change their gender identity on their legal documents face what amounts to a lottery, he said. They have to file a petition before a court and get special permission from a judge. "It depends on the judge. It depends on the court. You can get a really cool judge or you can get like the worst judge of all," he said. (Reporting by Anastasia Moloney @anastasiabogota, Editing by Jason Fields. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, property rights, and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org) Irans foreign minister has hit out at unacceptable sanctions imposed by the US as an international deal to curb Tehrans nuclear ambitions continues to unravel amid a spike in tensions. Mohammad Zarif defended Irans right to respond to the US pullout from the nuclear deal last year. We believe that escalation by the United States is unacceptable and uncalled for. We have exercised maximum restraints, he said during a visit to Tokyo. In other comments carried on the semi-official Mehr news agency, Mr Zarif was quoted as saying: A multilateral deal cannot be treated unilaterally. The spat over the nuclear deal has been heightened by a number of events this week, including a drone attack on a Saudi Arabian oil pipeline claimed by Iran-aligned Houthi rebels, allegations of acts of sabotage perpetrated against oil tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the dispatch of US warships to the region. The Saudis Irans biggest rival in the region blamed Tehran for ordering the Houthi attack. A Saudi-led coalition has been waging an air war against the Houthis since 2015, with both the US and Riyadh accusing Iran of providing weapons to the Houthis. Tehran has denied this. Saudi Arabias deputy defence minister Khalid bin Salman tweeted: The attack by the Iranian-backed Houthi militias against the two Aramco pumping stations proves that these militias are merely a tool that Irans regime uses to implement its expansionist agenda in the region. The longest-simmering issue is the Donald Trump-mandated withdrawal from the nuclear pact and the cranking up of sanctions against Iran by Washington. Iran has issued a number of veiled threats about enriching its uranium stockpiles to weapons-grade levels, with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei saying the the next steps are easier than what has come before. Iran recently threatened it might resume higher enrichment by 7 July, beyond the level permitted by the current deal between Tehran and world powers, claiming that its programme is for peaceful purposes. Story continues White House advisor John Bolton in particular has long-standing concerns about Iran, writing in The New York Times in 2015 that the US should think about bombing Iran as the country will not negotiate away its nuclear programme although an agreement was approved the next year. Mr Bolton was reportedly behind a push to update military plans surrounding the use of aggression by Iran, including sending as many as 120,000 troops to the region in the wake of an attack by Tehran on US interests or a significant move in its nuclear programme. Speaking on Thursday, Mr Trump said that he was the one to rein in 70-year-old Mr Bolton. Im the one who tempers him, which is OK, he said. I have John Bolton and I have people who are a little more dovish than him, Mr Trump added. In a tweet on Wednesday, the president denied any infighting between members of his team. There is no infighting whatsoever, Mr Trump wrote. Different opinions are expressed and I make a decisive and final decision it is a very simple process. However, Mr Trump is said to be getting frustrated with officials like Mr Bolton and secretary of state Mike Pompeo over a push for a confrontation with Iran, according to The Washington Post. They are getting way out ahead of themselves, and Trump is annoyed, a senior administration official said. Mr Trump is not inclined to respond forcefully unless there is a big move from the Iranians, the paper quoted a White House official as saying, with the president believed to be loath to go against his long-standing promise to end costly foreign wars by the US. The Democratic US House speaker Nancy Pelosi meanwhile said on Thursday that the the Trump administration must realise it does not have congressional authorisation to go to war against Iran. Washington sent ships and warplanes into the Gulf last week, citing an increased threat from Tehran, and the state department warned all non-essential government staff to leave Iraq. British forces in Iraq were also placed on high alert on Thursday, following the decision. However, Major General Chris Ghika, the British deputy commander of Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), the US-led coalition fighting Isis, had a day earlier disputed claims from the White House that forces in the Middle East are facing an increased threat from Iran or its allies. Maj Gen Ghika told reporters during a video conference from coalition headquarters in Baghdad on Tuesday, that there has been no increased threat from Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and Syria. DUBAI, May 17 (Reuters) - Iran's foreign ministry on Friday rejected accusations by Saudi Arabia that Tehran had ordered an attack on Saudi oil installations claimed by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi militia. U.S.-ally Riyadh made the accusation amid growing tension between Iran and its arch-foe the United States, which has built up its military presence in the region alleging threats from Iran to its troops and interests. The Houthis, which have been battling a Saudi-led military coalition for four years, said they carried out Tuesday's drone strikes against the East-West pipeline, which caused a fire but Riyadh said did not disrupt output or exports. "You're still deluded after 1,500 days, isn't that enough?," Irans foreign ministry spokesman, Abbas Mousavi, said on his Twitter account, referring to the length of the Yemen war. Mousavi was responding to Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir who tweeted on Thursday: "The Houthis are an indivisible part of #Irans Revolutionary Guard Corps ... and subject to the IRGCs orders. This is confirmed by the #Houthis targeting facilities in the Kingdom." Mousavi added: "It's time for you to stop your crimes against #Yemeni people. You can't hide your weakness behind such claims." A military coalition led by neighboring Saudi Arabia, which receives weapons from the West, intervened in Yemen in March 2015 after the Houthis ousted Yemen's internationally recognized government from the capital Sanaa. The conflict is seen as a proxy war between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shi'ite Iran. Separately, Mousavi condemned air strikes on Thursday by the Saudi-led coalition on Sanaa and called on international and human rights bodies "to act according to their responsibility to prevent the repetition of these crimes," state news agency IRNA said. The Houthi group denies being a puppet of Tehran or receiving arms from Iran, and says its revolution is against corruption. Iran denies Saudi accusations that it gives financial and military support to the Houthis and blames the deepening civil war crisis on Riyadh. (Reporting by Dubai newsroom, Editing by William Maclean) DUBAI, May 17 (Reuters) - A deputy head of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards said even short-range Iranian missiles could reach U.S. warships in the Gulf, adding that the United States could not afford a new war, the semi-official news agency Fars reported on Friday. Iran-U.S. tensions have escalated, with increasing concern about a potential conflict as Washington has ratcheted up sanctions and political pressure on Tehran and built up the U.S. military presence in the region. "Even our short-range missiles can easily reach (U.S.) warships in the Gulf," Mohammad Saleh Jokar, the Guard's deputy for parliamentary affairs, was quoted by Fars as saying. (Reporting by Dubai newsroom; Editing by Hugh Lawson) * Tanker attacks may have been Iranian warning * Iran's actions "attributable but deniable" By Babak Dehghanpisheh and Bozorgmehr Sharafedin GENEVA/LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) - An unmanned Iranian boat skips over the waves at full speed and rams into a U.S. aircraft carrier, sending up an orange fireball and plumes of smoke. That attack against a mock-up U.S. warship was part of elaborate naval war games carried out by the elite Revolutionary Guards in 2015. Dozens of speedboats, ships firing missiles, and helicopters were involved. Video of the exercise ran on state TV for hours. U.S. officials are now concerned that Iran has passed this naval combat expertise on to proxy forces in the region, whom Washington blames for attacks against four oil tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates on Sunday. Iranian officials denied involvement and said their enemies carried out the attacks in order to lay the groundwork for war against the Islamic Republic. Iran has not addressed the issue of training proxies, but has warned that its allies in the region have the weapons and capability to target enemies if Iranian interests are threatened. Tensions have spiked between Iran and the United States, which sent more military forces to the Middle East, including an aircraft carrier, B-52 bombers and Patriot missiles, in a show of force against what U.S. officials say are Iranian threats to its troops and interests in the region. U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from a major 2015 nuclear deal last year and reimposed sanctions in order to cut off Irans oil exports. This was supported by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which said they would increase oil production to keep prices stable. The Revolutionary Guards, designated a "foreign terrorist organization" by Washington last month, have threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, through which one fifth of the world's oil consumption flows, if Iran is not able to export oil. Story continues The U.S. embassy in Baghdad began evacuating some staff this week in apparent concern about perceived threats from Iran. If Iran or one of its proxies was involved in the tanker attacks, which did not sink any of the ships or cause fatalities, it was a warning message, experts say. DENIABLE "Iran's actions are conducted in a manner which are both understood by the world to be conducted by Iran, but not to the extent that the international community can justify a response. In this way, the actions are attributable but deniable," said Norman Roule, a former senior CIA officer with experience in Middle East issues. "Attacks against oil tankers produce tremendous publicity for Iran and raise oil prices. The latter has a direct, if temporary, impact on the economies of China and Western Europe, and Iran likely believes this will compel them to pressure the U.S. to make concessions to avoid future such attacks." The tanker attacks on Sunday, followed by armed drone attacks on two of Saudi Aramco's oil pumping stations on Tuesday, pushed up global oil prices, which by Thursday had jumped nearly 4%. The United Arab Emirates said an investigation was under way into the sabotage attacks, stressing it was committed to de-escalation during a "difficult situation" caused by Iranian behavior in the region. Saudi Arabia accused Iran of ordering the drone attacks on its oil pipelines. Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis, who have been battling a Saudi-led military coalition for four years, had earlier claimed responsibility. The techniques used in the attacks against the tankers off the Emirates' coast were not particularly sophisticated, observers with military and intelligence experience say. The ships may have been damaged by floating or magnetic mines placed by a team of divers, according to these observers. Iran has experienced marines who could have carried out this type of operation, or they could have outsourced the mission to local forces, possibly Houthis, said Hossein Aryan, a military analyst who served 18 years in the Iranian navy before and after the Islamic revolution. "We used to practice it a lot, it's general practice. You place a limpet mine and disable an enemy ship," he said. "Iran has capable marines to do this. It could either send its own people or send some key people to help with locals to do that. It was a soft target." It is also possible that an unmanned boat of the sort Iran used in the 2015 military exercise may have been used in the attacks. Iran is now passing on that naval expertise to allied military forces, officials and observers say. DRONES "Iran is exporting know-how for unmanned boats and drones," said an official from the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen, who asked not be identified, noting that up to 50 members of Lebanon's Iranian-trained Hezbollah guerrilla group and the Revolutionary Guards train and advise Houthi fighters. Houthi forces are now able to launch drones from boats at sea, according to a Saudi security source. Iran has denied playing any role in the conflict in Yemen. Tensions between Iran and the U.S. in the Gulf are not new: in the late 1980s the American and Iranian navies clashed after Iran was accused of mining shipping lanes. Since that time, the Guards have attempted to send a message about their naval prowess by regularly carrying out operations and military drills in the Gulf. The Guards' navy detained British military personnel in 2004 and 2007 as well as ten U.S. sailors in 2016. All were eventually released. In recent years, the Guards have even taken on missions outside the Gulf. Special forces from the Guards' navy carried out anti-piracy operations for nearly four months in the Gulf of Aden in 2012, their then commander told the Fars news agency. Military forces trained or armed by the Guards have also shown their naval combat skills. In the 2006 Israel-Lebanon War, Hezbollah hit an Israeli warship with a missile, killing four Israeli sailors. Houthi forces in Yemen carried out a series of attacks on Saudi oil tankers last year, leading to a temporary halt of the kingdoms oil exports through the Bab al-Mandeb strait. If the current tensions between Iran and the United States spill over into open conflict, all of the Islamic Republic's allies, as well as its enemy Israel, are likely to be drawn into a regional war, Ibrahim Al-Amin, co-founder of the pro-Hezbollah Al-Akhbar newspaper, wrote on Thursday. He said Iran would receive support from forces in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. "So that nobody is in a state of confusion and so that nobody acts as if they didn't know the nature of the confrontation, Hezbollah will be in the heart of this battle," Al-Amin wrote. (Reporting by Babak Dehghanpisheh in Geneva and Bozorgmehr Sharefedin in London Additional reporting by Stephen Kalin in Riyadh, Ahmed Rasheed and John Davison in Baghdad, and Tom Perry in Beirut Editing by Giles Elgood) By Babak Dehghanpisheh and Bozorgmehr Sharafedin GENEVA/LONDON (Reuters) - An unmanned Iranian boat skips over the waves at full speed and rams into a U.S. aircraft carrier, sending up an orange fireball and plumes of smoke. That attack against a mock-up U.S. warship was part of elaborate naval war games carried out by the elite Revolutionary Guards in 2015. Dozens of speedboats, ships firing missiles, and helicopters were involved. Video of the exercise ran on state TV for hours. U.S. officials are now concerned that Iran has passed this naval combat expertise on to proxy forces in the region, whom Washington blames for attacks against four oil tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates on Sunday. Iranian officials denied involvement and said their enemies carried out the attacks in order to lay the groundwork for war against the Islamic Republic. Iran has not addressed the issue of training proxies, but has warned that its allies in the region have the weapons and capability to target enemies if Iranian interests are threatened. Tensions have spiked between Iran and the United States, which sent more military forces to the Middle East, including an aircraft carrier, B-52 bombers and Patriot missiles, in a show of force against what U.S. officials say are Iranian threats to its troops and interests in the region. U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from a major 2015 nuclear deal last year and reimposed sanctions in order to cut off Irans oil exports. This was supported by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which said they would increase oil production to keep prices stable. The Revolutionary Guards, designated a "foreign terrorist organization" by Washington last month, have threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, through which one fifth of the world's oil consumption flows, if Iran is not able to export oil. The U.S. embassy in Baghdad began evacuating some staff this week in apparent concern about perceived threats from Iran. If Iran or one of its proxies was involved in the tanker attacks, which did not sink any of the ships or cause fatalities, it was a warning message, experts say. DENIABLE "Iran's actions are conducted in a manner which are both understood by the world to be conducted by Iran, but not to the extent that the international community can justify a response. In this way, the actions are attributable but deniable," said Norman Roule, a former senior CIA officer with experience in Middle East issues. "Attacks against oil tankers produce tremendous publicity for Iran and raise oil prices. The latter has a direct, if temporary, impact on the economies of China and Western Europe, and Iran likely believes this will compel them to pressure the U.S. to make concessions to avoid future such attacks." The tanker attacks on Sunday, followed by armed drone attacks on two of Saudi Aramco's oil pumping stations on Tuesday, pushed up global oil prices, which by Thursday had jumped nearly 4%. The United Arab Emirates said an investigation was under way into the sabotage attacks, stressing it was committed to de-escalation during a "difficult situation" caused by Iranian behavior in the region. Saudi Arabia accused Iran of ordering the drone attacks on its oil pipelines. Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis, who have been battling a Saudi-led military coalition for four years, had earlier claimed responsibility. The techniques used in the attacks against the tankers off the Emirates' coast were not particularly sophisticated, observers with military and intelligence experience say. The ships may have been damaged by floating or magnetic mines placed by a team of divers, according to these observers. Iran has experienced marines who could have carried out this type of operation, or they could have outsourced the mission to local forces, possibly Houthis, said Hossein Aryan, a military analyst who served 18 years in the Iranian navy before and after the Islamic revolution. "We used to practice it a lot, it's general practice. You place a limpet mine and disable an enemy ship," he said. "Iran has capable marines to do this. It could either send its own people or send some key people to help with locals to do that. It was a soft target." It is also possible that an unmanned boat of the sort Iran used in the 2015 military exercise may have been used in the attacks. Iran is now passing on that naval expertise to allied military forces, officials and observers say. DRONES "Iran is exporting know-how for unmanned boats and drones," said an official from the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen, who asked not be identified, noting that up to 50 members of Lebanon's Iranian-trained Hezbollah guerrilla group and the Revolutionary Guards train and advise Houthi fighters. Houthi forces are now able to launch drones from boats at sea, according to a Saudi security source. Iran has denied playing any role in the conflict in Yemen. Tensions between Iran and the U.S. in the Gulf are not new: in the late 1980s the American and Iranian navies clashed after Iran was accused of mining shipping lanes. Since that time, the Guards have attempted to send a message about their naval prowess by regularly carrying out operations and military drills in the Gulf. The Guards' navy detained British military personnel in 2004 and 2007 as well as ten U.S. sailors in 2016. All were eventually released. In recent years, the Guards have even taken on missions outside the Gulf. Special forces from the Guards' navy carried out anti-piracy operations for nearly four months in the Gulf of Aden in 2012, their then commander told the Fars news agency. Military forces trained or armed by the Guards have also shown their naval combat skills. In the 2006 Israel-Lebanon War, Hezbollah hit an Israeli warship with a missile, killing four Israeli sailors. Houthi forces in Yemen carried out a series of attacks on Saudi oil tankers last year, leading to a temporary halt of the kingdoms oil exports through the Bab al-Mandeb strait. If the current tensions between Iran and the United States spill over into open conflict, all of the Islamic Republic's allies, as well as its enemy Israel, are likely to be drawn into a regional war, Ibrahim Al-Amin, co-founder of the pro-Hezbollah Al-Akhbar newspaper, wrote on Thursday. He said Iran would receive support from forces in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. "So that nobody is in a state of confusion and so that nobody acts as if they didn't know the nature of the confrontation, Hezbollah will be in the heart of this battle," Al-Amin wrote. (Reporting by Babak Dehghanpisheh in Geneva and Bozorgmehr Sharefedin in London; Additional reporting by Stephen Kalin in Riyadh, Ahmed Rasheed and John Davison in Baghdad, and Tom Perry in Beirut; Editing by Giles Elgood) * Salvini creates far-right alliance before EU vote * Expects EU rules to change in wake of May election * Far-right parties to stage Milan rally on Saturday By Sara Rossi and Crispian Balmer MILAN, May 17 (Reuters) - This month's European Parliament election will shake up the continent, leading to a relaxation of budget rules and influencing the choice of the next central bank chief, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said on Friday. League party leader Salvini is staging a rally on Saturday of nationalist and far-right movements from 12 countries, looking to forge an alliance of eurosceptic groups that can shape policy-making across the 28-nation European Union. "I think lots of things will change in Europe," Salvini told Reuters ahead of the rally, predicting that he and his allies would win a significant number of seats in the new European Parliament in the May 23-26 election. A number of top EU jobs will be up for grabs after the vote, including the president of the European Central Bank. Italy's Mario Draghi is due to leave the post later this year. France's Benoit Coeure and his compatriot Francois Villeroy de Galhau are among the frontrunners, while Germany's Jens Weidmann is also seen as a potential candidate. Salvini said nothing should be taken for granted. "We don't necessarily always have to chose between Paris and Berlin," he said. The European Parliament is consulted on who should take charge of the ECB, but the final decision rests with EU leaders. Salvini hopes a strong showing by nationalists will give them greater leverage when key posts get filled. TAX CUTS Earlier, speaking to a group of foreign reporters, Salvini said the next European Commission had to rewrite strict rules that set limits on budget deficits and debt, saying they were "strangling" economic growth and causing unemployment. "The eurosceptics, from my point of view, are those who govern Europe now," he said, adding that he wanted to return to "pre-Maastricht rules" when there were no limits on borrowing. Story continues Italy's government clashed with Brussels last year over its budget plans before finding a compromise. Salvini has suggested the coalition will ignore restraints in the 2020 budget, arguing the priority was to boost growth. His comments this week pushed the spread between Italian and German bond yields to three-month highs. But Salvini was unrepentant, saying the only way to lift investor confidence in Italy was to revive the long-underperforming economy. "Reducing taxes is the only way to lower the spread as well as debt and deficit, so they should allow us to cut taxes," he said. He said he also wanted the European Commission to present a new seven-year budget, branding current proposals "unacceptable," including plans to cut agriculture spending, and demanded an overhaul of EU banking rules. Italy has railed against EU rules covering failing banks, saying they unfairly penalized savers. The Italian government is facing a new banking headache after a private-sector deal aimed at safeguarding struggling regional bank Carige collapsed earlier this month. Both the League and its coalition partner the 5-Star Movement denounced the previous government for using taxpayer money to save other troubled banks. However, Salvini did not rule out state intervention for Carige. "I hope there'll be a market solution. The priority is to safeguard savers, so we will definitely not remain idle," he said. (Writing by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Janet Lawrence) By Sara Rossi and Crispian Balmer MILAN (Reuters) - This month's European Parliament election will shake up the continent, leading to a relaxation of budget rules and influencing the choice of the next central bank chief, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said on Friday. League party leader Salvini is staging a rally on Saturday of nationalist and far-right movements from 12 countries, looking to forge an alliance of eurosceptic groups that can shape policy-making across the 28-nation European Union. "I think lots of things will change in Europe," Salvini told Reuters ahead of the rally, predicting that he and his allies would win a significant number of seats in the new European Parliament in the May 23-26 election. A number of top EU jobs will be up for grabs after the vote, including the president of the European Central Bank. Italy's Mario Draghi is due to leave the post later this year. France's Benoit Coeure and his compatriot Francois Villeroy de Galhau are among the frontrunners, while Germany's Jens Weidmann is also seen as a potential candidate. Salvini said nothing should be taken for granted. "We don't necessarily always have to chose between Paris and Berlin," he said. The European Parliament is consulted on who should take charge of the ECB, but the final decision rests with EU leaders. Salvini hopes a strong showing by nationalists will give them greater leverage when key posts get filled. TAX CUTS Earlier, speaking to a group of foreign reporters, Salvini said the next European Commission had to rewrite strict rules that set limits on budget deficits and debt, saying they were "strangling" economic growth and causing unemployment. "The eurosceptics, from my point of view, are those who govern Europe now," he said, adding that he wanted to return to "pre-Maastricht rules" when there were no limits on borrowing. Italy's government clashed with Brussels last year over its budget plans before finding a compromise. Salvini has suggested the coalition will ignore restraints in the 2020 budget, arguing the priority was to boost growth. His comments this week pushed the spread between Italian and German bond yields to three-month highs. But Salvini was unrepentant, saying the only way to lift investor confidence in Italy was to revive the long-underperforming economy. "Reducing taxes is the only way to lower the spread as well as debt and deficit, so they should allow us to cut taxes," he said. He said he also wanted the European Commission to present a new seven-year budget, branding current proposals "unacceptable", including plans to cut agriculture spending, and demanded an overhaul of EU banking rules. Italy has railed against EU rules covering failing banks, saying they unfairly penalized savers. The Italian government is facing a new banking headache after a private-sector deal aimed at safeguarding struggling regional bank Carige collapsed earlier this month. Both the League and its coalition partner the 5-Star Movement denounced the previous government for using taxpayer money to save other troubled banks. However, Salvini did not rule out state intervention for Carige. "I hope there'll be a market solution. The priority is to safeguard savers, so we will definitely not remain idle," he said. (Writing by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Janet Lawrence) What happened? A neo-Nazi was jailed for life today for plotting to murder his MP. White supremacist Jack Renshaw, 23, a convicted paedophile, gave a Nazi salute as he was sentenced. He had bought a 19-inch knife to kill Labour MP Rosie Cooper and a female police officer who was investigating him for child sex offences. He searched online how long to die after jugular cut and researched Mrs Coopers schedule as he planned the attack. How was his plot foiled? Renshaw's plan was brought to light after a fellow member of his neo-Nazi organisation, National Front, decided to speak out. Robbie Mullen, who was becoming disillusioned with the group, was at a pub meeting when Renshaw announced his intentions in July 2017. He shared the details of the plot with campaign group Hope not Hate, who alerted police. Renshaw had intended to murder Mrs Cooper then take hostages in a pub and demand to speak to Detective Constable Victoria Henderson. He hoped to then murder the detective and attempt suicide by cop. He was previously jailed last June for 16 months after he groomed two underage boys online. He also received a three-year prison sentence two months earlier for stirring up racial hatred after he called for the genocide of Jewish people. Read more: Man who plotted to kill MP gives Nazi salute (PA Ready News) How Germany is countering far-right extremism (The Guardian) Neo-Nazi group active two years after being banned (The Independent) The UK is facing calls for measles vaccinations to be compulsory before children can start school. A team of experts has warned that current policies on vaccines arent enough to keep the disease at what is known as elimination status and control rising numbers of cases. Researchers found that in order to keep the percentage of the population susceptible to catching measles under 7.5% by 2050 - the level at which the disease is regarded as eliminated - further action is needed. Do you think children should have compulsory vaccinations? Read the full story and have your say below: Story continues Birth certificate of royal baby revealed The Duchess of Sussex gave birth to Archie at the private Portland Hospital in Westminster, her sons birth certificate has revealed. It puts to bed days of speculation over where Meghan had her baby amid reports shed originally wanted a home birth. Meghan, Harry and the baby have had one public appearance as a family, at St Georges chapel 11 days ago. Read the full story here (The Telegraph) Brexit talks between May and Corbyn collapse Cross-party Brexit talks have collapsed, with Jeremy Corbyn telling Theresa May they have gone as far as they can. The leaders have clashed in the aftermath, with Mrs May accusing Labour of lacking a common position. Mr Corbyn, in turn, said the PM had failed to move her red lines sufficiently. MPs are set to vote on Mrs Mays Brexit deal in the first week of June, when she is expected to suffer yet another setback. Read the full story here (Yahoo News UK) Grumpy Cat, the internet sensation, has died aged seven. Her owners said she passed away peacefully after complications from a urinary tract infection. Heres what made her famous. 1,000 EasyJet has defended its prices for flights to Madrid over the period of the Champions League final between two English teams: Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur. Airlines have been under fire for eye-watering prices around the June 1 final, but easyJet chief Johan Lundgren said his airlines pricing picture is very dynamic and that enormous demand was to blame. On Skyscanner, the cheapest direct flights leaving on the Friday and back on the Sunday are 802 with British Airways, whereas the cheapest flights for the same days a week later can be found for 104 with easyJet. Read the full story here (Yahoo Finance UK) 'Jihadi John' was targeted because of his beard and the way he walked, a new documentary reveals (Picture: Reuters) IS executioner Jihadi John was tracked down by his beard and the way he walked, a new documentary is set to reveal. The terrorist, whose real name was Mohammed Emwazi, was hunted down and killed in a missile strike in 2015. According to a new Channel 4 documentary, set to air on Monday, Emwazi was identified by a drone flying over Raqqa in Syria, Mail Online reported. The drone sent infrared pictures back to the US and within 15 seconds a missile was launched that killed the ruthless terrorist. Syria, Middle East According to Mail Online, Colonel Steve Warren, the Pentagon spokesman at the time, tells the documentary: Because of the conditions it was night we were using infrared. You can't see his face but we could sort of see how he moved, the cut of his jib, so to speak. The angle of his beard, these things we could see. He said once they were convinced it was Emwazi, the command was given and a missile obliterated him within 15 seconds. READ MORE Beetle that destroys oak and silver birch eradicated from UK Emwazi had been under surveillance by MI5 but disappeared in 2012. He re-emerged in 2014 as the killer of US journalist James Foley and was dubbed Jihadi John. Up until his death, drones had reportedly been searching for Emwazi for a year but he avoided being killed by surrounding himself with women and children and moving in crowded areas. General Richard Barrons, former Commander Joint Forces Command, told MailOnline Emwazi had been identified quickly after appearing in execution videos but finding him was miuch harder. The tracking was all done electronically but eventually, it was his beard and the way he walked that gave him away, he said. The documentary, The Hunt for Jihadi John, airs on Channel 4 on Monday, May 20 at 9pm. In case you haven't noticed, we've got a battle brewing on Capitol Hill. In less than 18 months, Americans will head to the polls to decide who should lead this country for the next four years. There are seemingly new Democrats throwing their hats into the ring for the presidency each week, and the "punches" between President Trump and many of these Democratic candidates are already being thrown. But there's actually a more important battle that needs to be fought in Washington. Namely, the battle against Social Security's projected insolvency by 2035. A golden key lying atop two Social Security cards. Image source: Getty Images. Forget political banter: Social Security's problems are a bigger story According to the latest report from the Social Security Board of Trustees, the program's $2.89 trillion in asset reserves -- i.e., the aggregate net cash surpluses saved up since inception -- are forecast to be exhausted by 2035 as the result of numerous ongoing demographic changes. While this won't bankrupt the Social Security program, it demonstrates that the existing payout schedule, inclusive of annual cost-of-living adjustments, isn't sustainable. In order for the program to remain solvent over the long term (which is defined as the next 75 years), the Trustees report predicts that up to a 23% cut in benefits may await retired workers, with an average 20% reduction for payouts as a whole for all beneficiaries. The idea of Social Security cuts generally doesn't sit well with the public, and for good reason. Data from the Social Security Administration shows that 62% of retired workers are generating at least half of their monthly income from Social Security, with 34% receiving virtually all of their income (90%-plus) from America's top social program. Furthermore, it's responsible for lifting more than 15 million retired workers out of poverty each month, based on an analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Story continues When surveys have been conducted of the public -- a public that can arguably be confused at times when it comes to Social Security -- the most popular solution to this mess has been to tax the rich. Whether it's raising or eliminating the earnings tax cap associated with the program's payroll tax on earned income, or simply choosing some form of tax over a benefit reduction, the public has made clear that they don't care to see Social Security benefits reduced anytime soon. Former Vice President Joe Biden listening to former President Barack Obama in a meeting. Former Vice President Joe Biden listening to former President Barack Obama in a meeting. Official White House Photo by Pete Souza. Surprise! Presidential candidate Joe Biden has previously put Social Security cuts on the table Yet, what you might find surprising is that early Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden, who you'd expect to fight for core Democratic principles in resolving Social Security's imminent cash crunch, including raising or eliminating the earnings cap, has called for Social Security cuts on three separate occasions over the past 12 years. 1. Raising the full retirement age For those of you who may not recall, this isn't Joe Biden's first go-around as a presidential hopeful for the Democratic ticket. Prior to Barack Obama winning the Democratic nomination in 2008, Biden was one of Obama's competitors for that nomination. Of the many proposals Biden brought to the table in 2007, arguably none was viewed with greater scrutiny than his ideas on buoying retirement savings plans, including Social Security. While not focusing strictly on cutting benefits, Biden's noted approach, according to NBC News, was to work on a bipartisan solution that would include discussing options such as raising the full retirement age and increasing the earnings cap associated with the payroll tax. Your full retirement age is the age at which the Social Security Administration deems you eligible to receive 100% of your payout, as determined by your birth year. It's currently set to peak at age 67 in 2022 for those folks born in 1960 or later, and Republicans have proposed gradually increasing this figure to as high as age 70. Raising the full retirement age would require that future generations of working Americans wait longer to collect 100% of their monthly benefit, or that they accept a steeper permanent reduction to their payout if claiming early. Either way, the idea is to combat increasing longevity over many decades and reduce outlays for the program over the long run. Keep in mind that raising the full retirement age is designed to protect existing and near-term retirees from any cuts to their Social Security benefits. To be clear, Yours Truly favors the bipartisan approach when addressing Social Security's cash shortfall. But to see a prominent Democrat put raising the full retirement age on the table is pretty rare. Two Social Security cards lying atop a W2 tax form, highlighting payroll taxes paid. Image source: Getty Images. 2. Orchestrating a $112 billion payroll-tax holiday Although it was a cut that beneficiaries wouldn't tangibly see in their benefit checks, Biden was a key figure behind $112 billion worth of Social Security cuts during the early part of this decade. As detailed by Bob Woodward, an investigative journalist who's worked for the Washington Post for the past 48 years, in his 2012 book The Price of Politics, then-President Obama leaned on Vice President Biden to be his key negotiator at the congressional level between Democrats and Republicans regarding Social Security and other revenue-generating and expenditure-cutting initiatives. The final tax deal that reached Obama's desk in 2010 extended the George W. Bush-era tax cuts and, most notably, created a payroll-tax holiday that cut payroll tax collection by $112 billion. In 2017, payroll taxes accounted for more than 88% of the just over $1 trillion collected by the Social Security program. By providing a partial payroll-tax holiday, lawmakers hindered the revenue collection potential of the Social Security program's workhorse. It's also worth noting that when Biden helped to orchestrate this tax deal, it was well known that Social Security was in deep trouble. In 2010, the Trustees had been forecasting an eventual depletion of Social Security's asset reserves by 2037, and the report has been alluding to a long-term cash shortfall since 1985. Thus, even with Social Security short on long-term revenue, Biden led the creation of a tax plan that further reduced the program's income for a short amount of time. Scissors cutting through a hundred dollar bill. Image source: Getty Images. 3. Means-testing for benefits Lastly, as recently as May 2018, Biden has argued for the idea of means-testing for both Social Security and Medicare benefits, which is actually something that President Trump casually suggested while on the campaign trail for the presidency. While speaking at a Brookings event last May, Biden had this to say: Paul Ryan [former Republican speaker of the house] was correct when he did the tax code. What's the first thing he decided to go after? Social Security and Medicare. Now, we need to do something about Social Security and Medicare. That's the only way you can find room to pay for it. I don't know a whole lot of people in the top one-tenth of 1% or top 1% [who] are relying on Social Security when they retire. Means-testing would involve partially reducing monthly Social Security benefits when an individual or couple crosses a predefined annual income threshold, and perhaps eliminating benefit payouts entirely if these upper-income individuals and couples earn too much. Essentially, it's a call for reducing or removing benefits on the well-to-do. And while this would somewhat fit with the broader Democratic platform of tackling rising income inequality, calling for benefit cuts as part of any reform plan is still outside the norm for a Democratic presidential candidate. Now, understand that highlighting Biden's record on Social Security reform isn't meant to shame him or put him on a pedestal. Rather, it highlights Biden as perhaps one of the few candidates in Washington who may be willing to look at resolutions from both sides of the aisle when fixing Social Security. Since each party brings something to the table that the other lacks, a centrist wouldn't be such a bad thing for America's most important social program. More From The Motley Fool The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. The judicial resistance has struck again, this time at the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, where two judges on a three-judge panel just rode to the rescue of DACA, President Obamas (in)famous Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The two judges, one an Obama appointee and the other a Bill Clinton appointee, held today that President Trumps decision to rescind DACA was arbitrary and capricious, and therefore unlawful. This is now the second federal circuit court after, of course, the Ninth Circuit to hold that Trump could not rescind DACA. The courts reasoning is flawed on its face. It ruled that a discretionary Obama policy implemented without regard to the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) could not be repealed without applying APA scrutiny. In other words, the APA didnt apply to Obamas action, but it does apply to Trumps. Moreover, it ruled that the Trump administrations stated concerns about the legality of the DACA program were arbitrary and capricious and therefore couldnt justify the rescission decision. Put simply, this means that progressive judges are retroactively granting Obama the discretion to implement DACA, but imposing unilateral limits on Trumps ability to end DACA. In essence, these judges are making the nonsensical determination that Obama had the prosecutorial discretion to begin the DACA program, but Trump does not have the prosecutorial discretion to end it. By contrast, this is how Judge Julius Richardson, a Trump appointee, accurately described the law in a polite but pointed dissent: Enforcement discretion lies at the heart of executive power. The Executive may decide to prosecute, or not prosecute, an individual or a group so long as the reasons for that decision are constitutionally sound and the decision does not violate or abdicate the Executives statutory duties. As a consequence, Richardson argued, Trumps decision to rescind DACA is judicially unreviewable under the Administrative Procedure Act. To hold otherwise, he wrote, permits the Judicial Branch to invade the province of the Executive and impair the carefully constructed separation of powers laid out in our Constitution. Story continues This is exactly right, and its almost certainly a concise summary of what the Supreme Court will hold when it finally does review the DACA cases. But its important to consider the timing. The Department of Homeland Security rescinded DACA in a memorandum dated September 5, 2017. On January 9, 2018, a California federal district court issued the first nationwide injunction against the rescission. A Brooklyn judge issued the second injunction in February, and a district judge in Washington, D.C., issued a third in April. The Supreme Court rejected the Trump administrations efforts to bypass the Ninth Circuit and skip straight to a SCOTUS hearing. Last November the Ninth Circuit affirmed the California court. Today, the Fourth Circuit followed suit. What does this mean? Given the Supreme Courts calendar, it is entirely possible that the Court wont weigh in decisively until next year, the final year of Trumps first term (and, perhaps, his presidency). Judicial resistance may well block a lawful Trump policy for so long that it could permit a Democratic president to reverse the policy before it has a chance to take effect. While there are those who will cheer this outcome as an example of a successful check on a presidential policy they dont like, judicial resistance represents a perversion of the separation of powers. And those cheers will turn to jeers the instant the shoe is on the other foot. Get ready for the pattern to repeat itself in the face of a Biden or Harris administration. Conservative dissenters from presidential policy will find a hospitable district court, seek a nationwide injunction, and then desperately seek to run out the clock until the next presidential election. Its important to understand the ripple effects of judicial activism. By lawlessly preserving DACA, judges may well be inhibiting legislative compromise. How so? There is a great deal of (appropriate) sympathy for child immigrants who illegally entered this nation through no fault of their own, and whove lived here as otherwise law-abiding, productive members of American society. Dealing justly with these Dreamers is a necessary part of any legislative compromise. But when courts on their own initiative make that compromise less urgent, they inherently disrupt the give and take of the lawmaking process. Simply put, theyre removing a key incentive to make a deal without providing any permanent answer to one of the most important questions in the American immigration debate. While there is no good way to speed up the judicial calendar and each case should be carefully considered on its merits there is a way to disrupt judicial resistance, no matter which side of the aisle it comes from. Its time to rein in the practice of individual federal district court judges granting nationwide injunctions that reach far beyond their geographic jurisdiction and far beyond the actual parties to the case in front of them. Nationwide injunctions grant individual trial judges an immense amount of power power that is entirely disproportionate to the constitutional importance of their office. In the meantime, the judicial resistance persists, and when one looks at its continuing influence at this late date in Trumps first term, its hard to avoid the conclusion that it is succeeding. Lawless Obama and Clinton appointees have effectively blocked Trumps lawful acts. More from National Review Nairobi (AFP) - A court in Kenya on Friday found former president Daniel Arap Moi guilty of land grabbing, and ordered he pay part of nearly $10 million to the rightful owners of a property he sold. Judge Antony Ombwayo said there was "no iota of evidence" that Moi, now 94, legally owned the property he sold to a timber firm in 2007. The judge in the Eldoret High Court in Kenya's west, said he could not "protect property that was acquired through impropriety". Lawyers for Kenya's second president -- who ruled with an iron fist between 1978 and 2002 -- insisted the 53-acre tract was rightfully Moi's to sell, but were unable to convince the court. Ombwayo upheld a claim by the wife and son of the late Noah Kipngeny Chelugui, a local chief who had accused Moi of abusing his position to seize the property from him in 1983. Chelugui, who died in 2005, said Moi used government land officials to transfer the property deed into his own name. The land was sold to Rai Plywoods (Kenya) Limited in 2007, the timber company told the court. "This court finds that the petitioners were illegally dispossessed of the suit land," Ombwayo ruled. He ordered the former president and Rai Plywoods to pay 1 billion shillings ($9.9 million//8.86 million euros) to Chelugui's family in compensation. Moi succeeded Kenya's first president, Jomo Kenyatta, upon his death in 1978, fighting off rivals in a bitter contest for the top job. His rise to power heralded Kenya's descent into a single party state, with the multi-party system crushed and critical voices tortured or jailed without trial. Moi's rule was marked by high-profile corruption scandals, with accusations that he and a powerful worked state institutions to their illegal gain. In 1992, under international pressure, Moi agreed to the first multi-party elections in 26 years. But they erupted into tribal chaos in which some 2,000 people killed. Moi, finally defeated at the ballot box by Mwai Kibaki in 2002, would later ask Kenyans for "forgiveness" for the wrongs he had committed. Photo credit: MAQE From Popular Mechanics If everything goes according to plan, Lake Turkana in Kenya's Great Rift Valley will soon be home to the Ngaren Museum of Humankind. The Rift Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is also home to Turkana Boy, the most complete skeleton ever found of early man. Dr. Richard Leakey, a paleoanthropologist who discovered Turkana Boy, commissioned Ngaren in celebration of our ancestry. The museum's edifice will be constructed to resemble the early stone tools used by ancient man and is set to be designed by Daniel Libeskind's firm, Studio Libeskind, who previously redesigned the New York City World Trade Center and several other iconic buildings all over the world. Photo credit: TONY KARUMBA - Getty Images Leakey and Libeskind traveled to Kenya together so that Libeskind could get a first look at Leakey's vision. "I took Libeskind up to Turkana and had him see the place and listen to me chat, after which I asked, 'can we do something here that will absolutely stand-alone and wow?'" Leakey told The Independent. Libeskind's response was an "immediate" yes. Ngaren will house artifacts such as plant and animal fossils and findings such as primitive tool remnants, but Leakey is interested in creating a contemporary experience for visitors. "Maybe we don't want to exhibit the original [fossils] at all. Why don't we have a room you come in to wearing a 3D headset and sit quietly in the middle of a band of Homo erectus moving all around you? That's much more interesting than a skeleton of Turkana Boy behind glass," Leakey shared with The Independent. Leakey created an online campaign to secure funds for Ngaren which-as of publication-has raised $4.06 million of its $7 million goal. The team working on Ngaren hopes to break ground in 2022 and settle on an opening date sometime in 2024, although it is unclear whether the project will move forward or not if funding efforts don't fulfill the $7 million goal. ('You Might Also Like',) Washington (AFP) - Major international powers during talks Friday in Washington urged Sudan's military rulers and protesters to resume suspended negotiations on the country's future immediately, the United States said. Representatives from the UN, African Union and European powers "called for an immediate resumption of talks" between the two sides, said Tibor Nagy, the US assistant secretary of state for Africa. They called on the protesters and the Transitional Military Council to "reach an agreement ASAP on an interim government that is truly civilian-led and reflects the will of the Sudanese people," Nagy tweeted. "We also expressed concern about the recent violence directed by security forces against protesters, and agreed to call for the TMC to allow peaceful protests and hold accountable those responsible for recent violence," he wrote. The talks in Washington included representatives of the United Nations, African Union and European Union. Countries involved were Britain, France, Germany and Norway as well as Ethiopia, which is the chair of an eight-nation Horn of Africa regional bloc, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, which includes Sudan. The army last month ousted longtime autocratic president Omar al-Bashir after months of mounting protests led by young people that were sparked by the high cost of bread. Protesters have remained camped out, saying that they want a rapid transition to democracy rather than continued military rule. The generals and protest leaders had been expected to come to an agreement on Wednesday on the thorniest issue -- the make-up of a new body to govern Sudan for three years. But the head of the military council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, early Thursday announced a suspension of talks for 72 hours as he demanded that protesters dismantle roadblocks and open bridges and railway lines connecting the capital. Bangkok (AFP) - Southeast Asia is in the grip of a fresh surge of paedophile activity with predators orchestrating and watching abuse on live-streaming sites and via webcams, and paying for it with near-untraceable cryptocurrency, victims and children's charities warn. With widespread poverty, lax laws, and creaking judicial systems, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and the Philippines have long been seen as soft spots by foreign and local paedophiles seeking out underage sex in person. Tougher policing and greater awareness has deterred some offenders, but technology has shifted the patterns of abuse in a region with growing access to broadband internet and encrypted technology. Paedophiles can now use an array of mobile and online tools -- including social networks, video-sharing sites, and the dark web -- to direct and watch child rape and sexual abuse with anonymity, experts warn. "Predators watch the rapes on large platforms that are not likely to close," said Francois Xavier Souchet, of Thai-based NGO Terre des Hommes. "It's live, nothing is recorded... everything is encrypted. They pay more and more in Bitcoins, encrypted money makes their transactions as secure as possible," he added. This week online giants including Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook are giving evidence to the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA), which is being held in London and will look at how to prevent online sex crimes as part of its remit. - 'I want to die' - Demand for child sexual abuse via webcam is an increasing cause of human trafficking, according to a UN report, with suggestions Thailand has become a hub in the trade, as well as the Philippines. Cassie, a Filipina victim, said she was just 12 when she was forced to commit sexual acts -- both with an adult man and alone -- in front of a webcam. She moved to Manila to work as a maid but was exploited by her mother's employer. The torment went on for five years. Story continues She said "I felt trapped, betrayed and alone. I was thinking, 'I want to die, I want to die because of this pain, but I can't'." Her abuser received a two year jail term in 2017. Last month, advocacy and legal aid group International Justice Mission (IJM) warned Philippine children were at risk of being forced into live streamed sex abuse, where paedophiles pay to direct so-called "shows" online. "Easy access to the web and money transfer services make the country a global hotspot for this problem," said IJM, noting that it is often parents or family members that organise or even commit the abuse. Terre des Hommes drew attention to the problem using a computer-generated girl nicknamed "Sweetie" that hung out in chatrooms and was approached by about 20,000 people -- mostly men -- in a matter of weeks. Last year a report by the Internet Watch Foundation found online child abuse imagery had increased by a third in 2017. - Death penalty - In March, a teacher was arrested and charged in his native France with rape, abuse of minors and possession of child pornography. The 51-year-old, who worked in schools in Asia, is alleged to have befriended kids in a working-class Bangkok neighbourhood before building a rapport on social networks, police sources told AFP. The same month, prosecutors charged another Frenchman with ordering videos of rape and sexual assaults of Filipino children. The suspect, a 55-year-old former police officer, was arrested after a seizure of computers and live-streaming equipment in the Philippines. In late April, former British Army officer Andrew Whiddett, 70, was found guilty by a London court of spending thousands of pounds paying for live-streamed sexual abuse of children from the Philippines. The National Crime Agency (NCA) estimates 80,000 people in the UK present some kind of sexual threat to children online. The cyber-abuse phenomenon is reaching "Cambodia and Vietnam", warned Damian Kean, of the Thai-based NGO ECPAT, which specialises in combating the sexual exploitation of children. In hyperconnected Vietnam, foreign paedophiles are increasingly targeting young victims online, often on social media. The communist state last year instated harsher penalties to combat the crime -- anyone guilty of molesting a child under 16 faces 12 years in prison, while child rape comes with a maximum sentence of death. But catching a paedophile requires help from the communities within which they operate - communities which are often marginalised, poor and mistrustful. Souchet of Terre des Hommes explained: "Particularly ethnic minority communities across the region do not trust local authorities." burs-sde/dhc/apj/joe/lto Kingston Financial Group Limited (HKG:1031) shareholders might be concerned after seeing the share price drop 20% in the last quarter. But in stark contrast, the returns over the last half decade have impressed. It's fair to say most would be happy with 109% the gain in that time. We think it's more important to dwell on the long term returns than the short term returns. Ultimately business performance will determine whether the stock price continues the positive long term trend. Want to participate in a short research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card! Check out our latest analysis for Kingston Financial Group In his essay The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville Warren Buffett described how share prices do not always rationally reflect the value of a business. One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price. Over half a decade, Kingston Financial Group managed to grow its earnings per share at 11% a year. This EPS growth is slower than the share price growth of 16% per year, over the same period. So it's fair to assume the market has a higher opinion of the business than it did five years ago. And that's hardly shocking given the track record of growth. The image below shows how EPS has tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail). SEHK:1031 Past and Future Earnings, May 17th 2019 Before buying or selling a stock, we always recommend a close examination of historic growth trends, available here.. What About Dividends? When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. 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. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. In the case of Kingston Financial Group, it has a TSR of 118% 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 We regret to report that Kingston Financial Group shareholders are down 56% for the year (even including dividends). Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 12%. However, it could simply be that the share price has been impacted by broader market jitters. It might be worth keeping an eye on the fundamentals, in case there's a good opportunity. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 17%, each year, over five years. It could be that the recent sell-off is an opportunity, so it may be worth checking the fundamental data for signs of a long term growth trend. Is Kingston Financial Group cheap compared to other companies? These 3 valuation measures might help you decide. We will like Kingston Financial Group better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying. 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. MOSCOW, May 17 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Friday it would respond in kind to a new round of U.S. sanctions on Russian nationals, saying its retaliation would be consistent with Russia's national interest. The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on a Chechen group and five people, including at least three Russians, over allegations of human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings and the torture of LGBTI people. The sanctions against the Terek Special Rapid Response Team in Russia's southern region of Chechnya and the five people were announced by the U.S. Treasury under the Magnitsky Act. (Reporting by Tom Balmforth/Maria Kiselyova; editing by Andrew Osborn) INDIANAPOLIS (AP) The Latest on Indianapolis 500 practice (all times local): 3:15 p.m. Juncos Racing will work overnight if needed to have a car ready to qualify for the Indianapolis 500. Kyle Kaiser crashed the car early on "Fast Friday" at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the near-airborne wreck destroyed the entry. Juncos lost both its primary sponsors right before practice began this week for the May 26 race, but Kaiser had managed an impressive three days on track until the accident. Team owner Ricardo Juncos praised Kaiser and the crew for not bowing to the adversity. Juncos says they've "consistently improved our times each day" and now are faced with the challenge of getting the backup car on track and set for qualifying. He says he's confident "this group will not stop working until we get back on track. We will be working hard all day and night." The two-day qualifying process begins Saturday. ___ 11:50 a.m. Kyle Kaiser nearly went airborne in a crash during Indianapolis 500 practice. Kaiser has been in a tough spot all week because two of his major sponsors pulled their funding the day before Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Now Juncos Racing has a destroyed race car one day before qualifying for "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing." Kaiser appeared to dip below the white line on the low portion of the track when he lost control and spun into the outside wall. The car turned upward and onto on wheel before the tub smashed back to the track surface. It was similar to the crash rookie Patricio O'Ward had a day earlier. Kaiser says he "just lost it right in the middle of the corner." Juncos Racing is in a tough spot before Saturday qualifying. It will have to rebuild a car from scratch or acquire one from another team. ___ 11 a.m. Fernando Alonso is finally back on track preparing for the Indianapolis 500. McLaren lost almost two full days of practice after Alonso crashed Wednesday. The team needed the entire next day to rebuild the Spaniard a car, which was ready to go for Friday's morning session. Story continues Felix Rosenqvist and Patricio O'Ward also crashed and went to backup cars, but Rosenqvist struggled the day after his accident. He admitted before Thursday's practice there is a far bigger mental aspect to preparing for the Indy 500 than the rookie expected. The fourth day at Indianapolis Motor Speedway is considered "Fast Friday" because engine makers give teams a horsepower boost to prepare for weekend qualifying. There are 36 drivers vying for 33 spots in the field for the May 26 race. ___ More AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/apf-AutoRacing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) The Latest on the crash of an F-16 fighter jet in Southern California (all times local): 9:05 a.m. A military official says an explosive ordnance disposal detail is on the scene of an F-16 fighter jet crash in Southern California but he will not say whether any armaments were aboard the aircraft. Col. Thomas McNamara, vice commander of the Air Force Reserve's 452nd Air Mobility Wing, said Friday morning that more information will be released in the afternoon. Authorities have cordoned off the area for three-quarters of a mile (1.21 kilometers) around the scene, including a section of heavily traveled Interstate 215. No residential areas are affected. The aircraft fell out of the sky Thursday afternoon and crashed through the roof of a warehouse near March Air Reserve Base, but there was no explosion. McNamara says the pilot ejected safely before the crash and is in good condition. ___ 10:22 p.m. A fire official says it's "a miracle" there was no explosion after an F-16 fighter jet plowed into a warehouse near a Southern California air base. The Air National Guard jet reported hydraulic problems during training Thursday at March Reserve Air Force Base east of Los Angeles. The pilot safely ejected before the plane smashed through the roof of a nearby warehouse. A dozen people were treated for exposure to debris and taken to hospitals. Authorities say there aren't any major injuries. A wide area around the warehouse was evacuated and a nearby freeway closed until the jet's weaponry and ordnance could be rendered safe. CHICAGO (AP) The Latest on the killing of a pregnant Chicago woman whose baby was cut from her womb (all times local): 1:50 p.m. A spokeswoman for the family a 19-year-old who was killed and whose baby was cut from her womb says what they're going through is "a nightmare, a horror film." Julie Contreras is a spokeswoman for relatives of Marlen Ochoa-Lopez, whose body was found in a garbage can this week. She spoke Friday before a court hearing for three people charged in the killing. Contreras said the family wanted to see justice for Ochoa-Lopez, and for the defendants to be held without bail. A short time later Judge Susana Ortiz denied bail for 46-year-old Clarisa Figueroa, her 24-year-old daughter Desiree Figueroa and Clarisa Figueroa's boyfriend, 40-year-old Piotr Bobak. The Figueroas are charged with murder, while Bobak is charged with the concealment of a homicide. The baby boy is not expected to survive. ___ 1:35 p.m. Prosecutors say a Chicago woman charged with killing a pregnant 19-year-old and cutting her baby from her womb put the victim's body in a garbage can hidden on the side of her garage before calling 911 and saying she'd just given birth and the baby wasn't breathing. Cook County Assistant State's Attorney James Murphy says firefighters took the baby and 46-year-old Clarissa Figueroa to a hospital. The baby is not expected survive. Murphy said Figueroa had blood on her upper body and face, but an examination showed no signs consistent with a woman who had just delivered a baby. Figueroa and her daughter, 24-year-old Desiree Figueroa, were ordered held without bond on murder charges Friday. Murphy says after the killing, Desiree Figueroa drove Marlen Ochoa-Lopez's vehicle to her sister's house. He says a traffic camera captured her driving the car. ___ 1:20 p.m. A 46-year-old Chicago woman charged with killing a pregnant 19-year-old and cutting her baby from her womb told her family last October that she was pregnant, and later posted on Facebook an ultrasound and photos of a room decorated for a baby. Story continues Prosecutor James Murphy said Friday that Clarissa Figueroa told her 24-year-old daughter that she was pregnant not long after her adult son died in 2018 of natural causes. He says the daughter, Desiree Figueroa, was surprised because her mother had previously had her fallopian tubes tied to prevent pregnancy. Murphy says Clarissa Figueroa later told her daughter that she needed her help getting a baby. He says the mother met the victim, Marlen Ochoa-Lopez, through a Facebook page for pregnant women and lured her to her home, where the Figueroas strangled Ochoa-Lopez and cut her baby son from her womb. ___ 12:50 p.m. A prosecutor says a pregnant Chicago teen who was killed and whose baby was cut from her womb was strangled while being shown a photo album of the late son and brother of her attackers. The prosecutor told Cook County Judge Susana Ortiz on Friday that 19-year-old Marlen Ochoa-Lopez managed to get her fingers under the cord around her neck and that the woman strangling her, 46-year-old Clarisa Figueroa, then yelled at her daughter, "You're not doing your f---ing job!" The prosecutor says the daughter, 24-year-old Desiree Figueroa, then pried Ochoa-Lopez's fingers from the cord while her mother continued to strangle the teen. Ortiz denied bond to the Figueroas, who are charged with murder, and to Clarisa Figueroa's boyfriend, 40-year-old Piotr Bobak, who is charged with concealment of a homicide. Prosecutors say Clarisa Figueroa's adult son died last year of natural causes. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) The Latest on an ethics review of Tennessee's House speaker (all times local): 12:15 p.m. A Republican House spokesman says Speaker Glen Casada has not seen an ethics panel's work that another lawmaker has accused him of rigging. The statement responds to Republican Rep. Mike Carter's assertion Thursday that Casada tried to "rig and predetermine" an ethics review regarding the speaker's mounting scandals. Carter requested Casada's leadership resignation. Carter said he was presented a statement of facts Monday that didn't seem aligned with the public record about Casada, along with an unsigned advisory opinion finding no ethical violations. In response, GOP House spokesman Doug Kufner said Friday that Monday's meeting was meant to work toward a final draft, and no formal document has been introduced as part of a full committee meeting yet. He said Casada hasn't seen any of the committee's work. House Republicans meet Monday to weigh Casada's controversies, including text messages with his ex-chief of staff containing lewd remarks about women from several years ago. ___ 10:45 a.m. A Republican lawmaker says Tennessee GOP House Speaker Glen Casada tried to "rig and predetermine" an ethics review regarding his mounting scandals. He's requesting Casada's leadership resignation. In a statement Thursday to the Chattanooga Times Free Press, Ethics Committee member Rep. Mike Carter said he was presented a statement of facts Monday that didn't seem aligned with the public record about Casada, along with an unsigned advisory opinion finding no ethical violations. Casada only requested a review of his former chief of staff's termination. Carter said the meeting showed a "heart for misrepresentation and political maneuvering." A House GOP spokesman says Casada hasn't seen the Ethics Committee's draft work. House Republicans meet Monday to weigh Casada's controversies, including text messages with his ex-chief of staff containing lewd remarks about women from several years ago. ___ Information from: Chattanooga Times Free Press, http://www.timesfreepress.com Ex-CEO of Siberian air carrier sentenced to 4 years for corruption RIA Novosti, Maxim Blinov 11:50 17/05/2019 MOSCOW, May 17 (RAPSI) A court sentenced a former CEO of KrasAvia passenger airline based in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, to 4 years in prison for taking bribes, the press service of Russias Prosecutor Generals Office reports Friday. Additionally, the he was fined 8 million rubles (about $125,000) and prohibited from taking public posts for 3 years, the statement reads. The West Siberian transport investigators opened a corruption case against a top manager of KrasAvia in December 2017. The court found that from July 2016 to November 2017 the defendant acting as the airlines Director General received over 4 million rubles (over $60,000) in bribes from commercial organization for assistance in selecting a supplier during the air enterprises organizational buying. Reportedly, the convicted ex-top manager of KrasAvia is Valery Mordan. WASHINGTON Rep. Cindy Axne, D-Iowa, is demanding answers from the Department of Veterans Affairs about the death of a World War II veteran from a head injury at the VA nursing home in Des Moines, Iowa. Axne wants to know why James Milt Ferguson Sr., a legally blind 91-year-old with dementia, wasnt monitored more closely and what policies are in place to prevent a similar injury or death. No veterans or their family member should have to worry they will experience what Mr. Ferguson and his family experienced, Axne wrote in a letter to the VA Thursday. Her concern follows a USA TODAY investigation that chronicled Fergusons case and what specialists say was a concerning series of decisions by VA staff, before and after his deadly injury. Ferguson was removed from one-on-one supervision, and he wandered into other residents' rooms repeatedly, medical records show. When he rolled his wheelchair into one room unsupervised Dec. 20, 2018, his son said VA staff told him the resident of the room flipped Ferguson backwards out of his wheelchair. He landed on his head, causing a massive brain bleed. Related: My dad died at their hands: WWII vet fatally injured in VA nursing home Nursing staff didn't report the incident for 40 minutes, according to the records and surveillance video. They didn't take him to the emergency room for more than two hours and he wasn't transferred to a trauma hospital until five hours after the fall. He died from the injury two days later. In her letter to VA headquarters in Washington, Axne asked about resident supervision policies, and reporting and response procedures for accidents, including head injuries. The timeline of events raises concerns regarding patient monitoring and injury reporting procedures, she wrote. Our veterans deserve the highest standard of care, and they need to know that VA standards, policies and procedures are being met. VA national spokesman Curt Cashour said agency officials "will respond to the representative directly." He referred to an earlier statement from Des Moines VA spokesman Timothy Hippen that said a policy review after the untimely death concluded all staff acted properly." Story continues In response to inquiries from USA TODAY, Hippen and Cashour have declined to say what policies are in place to prevent such traumatic injuries at the VA nursing home in Des Moines or elsewhere. More than 40,000 veterans rely on care each year at the VAs 134 nursing home across the country. Axne said in an interview Thursday that she had spoken with Fergusons son, and he obviously still has questions and believes internal policies werent adequate. She asked VA for responses to her questions within 30 days. I want to know how this happened so that we can make sure that it never happens again, Axne said. Ferguson was admitted to the acute psychiatry ward at the VA Medical Center in Des Moines in November after his dementia worsened. He had been in a private nursing home but became aggressive and wandered into other residents rooms. VA healthcare providers adjusted his medications and placed him on one-on-one observation with an aide to prevent him from straying into other rooms. But on Dec. 11, 2018, staff removed the strict observation even though he was still determined to be a danger to himself and others, the medical records show. Jim Ferguson with his father James "Milt" Ferguson. He was transferred to the VA nursing home on the medical centers campus the next day. Ferguson continued to enter other residents rooms repeatedly, but records show staff did not reinstate strict observation. After the head injury at 3:49 p.m. Dec. 20, Ferguson wasnt taken to the emergency room until about 6:30 p.m., and he wasnt transferred to a trauma hospital until 8:55 p.m. Hippen, the Des Moines VA spokesman, has declined to answer detailed questions about what happened. He said that in general, "caring for nursing home residents involves balancing patients independence with the need for supervision, as appropriate." Fergusons son Jim said Thursday that he is grateful for Axnes help in getting more answers about his fathers care. Now that I have had time to sit back and seen everything and thought about everything, I think, its horrible, he said. I hope they make changes. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lawmaker demands answers after a WW II veteran died from a head injury in a VA nursing home Steven Mnuchin may face a deadline of 5 p.m. Friday to comply with a subpoena to hand over President Donald Trumps tax returns, but the pressure is really on a top House Democrat who has to decide how ferociously to respond to the Treasury secretarys all-but-certain refusal. House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal, along with other House leaders, is determining how best to investigate a White House that is blocking them at every turn. The power struggle has also forced Neal to try to forge a path between his legal argument and the overheated politics that go with inquiries involving Trump. Neal has asked Mnuchin and Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Charles Rettig several times to hand over six years of tax returns for Trump and his business entities. Neal cited a 1924 law that allows the chairmen of the congressional tax committees to review the returns of any taxpayer. Mnuchin has repeatedly argued that Neal didnt have a legitimate legislative purpose for seeing Trumps private documents and accused Democrats of weaponizing the tax code. But for the first two requests, he didnt flat out refuse, saying only he needed to consult with the Department of Justice. Neal says he needs the returns to oversee the IRSs routine annual audits of every president and vice president. Mnuchin says the Democrats want them for political sport. When Mnuchin finally refused last week, Neal ratcheted up the pressure by subpoenaing Mnuchin and Rettig for the tax returns. Mnuchin told senators on Wednesday, We havent made a decision, but I bet you can guess which way were leaning. If Mnuchin refuses to comply with the subpoena, Neal is largely out of arguments to make in polite letters and will have to turn to more forcible measures. Heres a look at what those might be: See You in Court Neals most obvious recourse is to sue Mnuchin and Rettig for failing to comply with the subpoena. Mnuchin, however, could sue for an injunction blocking the subpoena. Story continues This is the long-game strategy, and would likely take months, if not years, straight through the 2020 presidential election. A lawsuit would be filed in addition to the pending case between the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and Trump and his businesses over access to the presidents financial records from accounting firm Mazars USA LLP. Neal has indicated he would would rather go straight to court than hold Mnuchin in contempt of Congress. I dont see what good it would do at this particular time, Neal told CNN Friday. I think that if both sides have made up their minds, better to move it over to the next branch of government: the judiciary. However, Neal has been wrong before about the direction the fight would go. Last week he indicated he would rather sue than issue a subpoena, and then sent a subpoena last Friday anyway. Contempt of Congress The House could also hold Mnuchin and Rettig in contempt of Congress, having them join Attorney General William Barr, who the House Judiciary Committee voted to hold in contempt for refusing to turn over the unredacted report by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and its underlying documents. This option has more political than legal weight. Its a misdemeanor offense that can come with a fine of as much as $1,000 and imprisonment in a common jail for as long as one year. The contempt resolution against Barr is awaiting a full House vote. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has suggested she might hold many officials in contempt at once. Fines Congress can hit Mnuchin with bigger fines than the $1,000 that comes with a contempt citation. Representative Bill Pascrell of New Jersey pointed out that Section 7214 of the tax code says any government official who fails to perform any of the duties of his office can be punished with jail time of up to five years and a fine of as much as $10,000, though that still wouldnt sting the multimillionaire Treasury secretary or Rettig, a former partner in a Beverly Hills law firm, too badly. But Democrats have contemplated much steeper fines. The advocacy group Good Government Now has suggested that penalties go as high as $25,000 a day. Jail Not Likely Its highly unlikely that anyone is going to end up behind bars, at least for now, but its a remote option. Pelosi has quipped about a jail in the Capitol basement, although architecture plans for the building dont show it ever having a holding facility. Barr jokingly asked Pelosi on Wednesday at a law enforcement event if she had brought her handcuffs, according to reports. She demurred. More must-read stories from Fortune: What would impeachment look like in Trumps America? Bernie Sanders has a message for Trump on trade Trump keeps alluding to extending his presidency. Does he mean it? Meet the Republicans likely to challenge Trump in the 2020 primary Is the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization? Trump thinks so Rabat (AFP) - Lawyers for a jailed Moroccan journalist Friday urged a UN special rapporteur to request that authorities release his phone, to retrieve an "exchange of messages" with murdered Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi. "Arbitrarily detained Moroccan journalist Taoufik Bouachrine's defence urges Agnes Callamard, UN Special Rapporteur" to make a request to the Moroccan authorities for access to Bouachrine's phone, the detained journalist's lawyers said in a statement. Khashoggi -- a contributor to the Washington Post and a critic of the Saudi government -- was killed and dismembered in October at the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul by a team of 15 agents sent from Riyadh. His body has not been recovered. Callamard, UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, is conducting an independent inquiry into Khashoggi's grisly demise. The statement said Bouachrine's counsel had sent a letter to Callamard urging her to request release of the phone, which it said had been confiscated by Moroccan authorities. Bouachrine has said that his phone "contains messages from Jamal Khashoggi warning him of existing threats against him", the statement added. It cited messages exchanged between October 2017 and January 2018 as likely to be of particular relevance to the special rapporteur's investigation. Khashoggi's warnings to Bouachrine regarding his safety stemmed from "the many articles he (Bouachrine) had published that were critical of Saudi Arabia and (Crown Prince) Mohammed bin Salman", the statement by Bouachrine's lawyers added. A Moroccan court sentenced Bouachrine to 12 years in prison in November 2018, after he was found guilty of human trafficking, abuse of power for sexual purposes, rape and attempted rape. Bouachrine maintains his innocence and has described his convictions as politically motivated, while rights group Amnesty International has called for his release. Story continues Bouachrine's newspaper Akhbar Al-Yaum has long been known for editorials and cartoons critical of the Moroccan authorities. Khashoggi told Bouachrine "not to travel to Saudi Arabia, and also alerted him that he was in danger of being killed" even in Morocco's capital Rabat, the statement said. A UN Human Rights Council working group reported in January that Bouachrine was the victim of "arbitrary detention" and "judicial harassment". It also cited a lack of evidence and alleged witness intimidation. Moroccan authorities firmly deny the accusations. By Joanna Plucinska and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk WARSAW, May 17 (Reuters) - Polish lawmakers have approved a package of criminal justice reforms condemned as too tough by legal experts who also accused the conservative ruling party of rushing through important legislative changes in violation of democratic principles. The bill was approved late on Thursday after approximately two days of debate that was centered mostly around a proposed increase of prison terms for pedophilia to up to 30 years from a maximum of 12 years. Critics accused the Law and Justice (PiS) party of exploiting public anger around fresh revelations of child abuse in the Catholic Church in a documentary published last weekend. "The fact that PiS added the matter of pedophilia is a mystification, it's manipulation," said Jan Grabiec, the spokesperson for the main opposition Civic Platform party. The legislation passed with 263 votes in favor, mostly from the ruling PiS party, three against and three abstentions, according to state-run news agency PAP. But most lawmakers from Civic Platform and some other opposition parties in the 460-seat lower house opted not to take part in the vote, arguing the reform was inadequate in tackling pedophilia. The PiS has been scrambling to respond to the documentary on child abuse in the Catholic Church which has drawn almost 19 million views in just under a week. The party's close ties to the church have made it a lightning rod for criticism. "There are doubts on what the point of the change is. Is it really about improving safety or about gaining electoral percentage points? This is banal populism," said Piotr Kladoczny, an expert in criminal law and member of the board of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights. PiS spokeswoman Beata Mazurek said the party supported "harsh penalties for murder and robbery and these are also the society's expectations." LACK OF TRANSPARENCY When the Ministry of Justice first proposed the changes to the criminal code in January, these were met with criticism from lawyers and human rights specialists, especially the introduction of life sentences without parole. Story continues The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that a sentence of life without any possibility of parole is inhumane. "This (decision to introduce life sentences without parole) breaks the fundamental standards of a democratic country," said Katarzyna Gajowniczek-Pruszynska, the vice-dean of the Warsaw Bar Association. The bill must still be approved by the Senate and signed off by the President. PiS has been in conflict with the European Commission, the EU executive, since the start of 2016 over its proposed reforms of Poland's judicial system, which critics say give politicians too much influence over the judiciary. Most EU countries back the Commission. Worried about the government flouting basic democratic standards in the country of 38 million people, the Commission has launched an unprecedented procedure to see whether Poland is observing the rule of law. Polish opposition MP and legal expert Robert Kropiwnicki criticized the way the reform package had been tabled and rushed through parliament. "The criminal code is not a toy... there has been no legal opinion, no opinion from legal advisors (on the changes)...this breaks certain principles of transparent legislation." The Ministry of Justice did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters. (Reporting by Joanna Plucinska, Alan Charlish and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk, Writing by Joanna Plucinska Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky) Several Afghan security forces have been killed in an American air strike targeting the Taliban, The US military said Friday, with local officials reporting the deaths of at least eight police officers. Colonel Dave Butler, a spokesman for US Forces Afghanistan, said Afghan security forces had called for US air support during a firefight late Thursday in Lashkar Gah, in the southern province of Helmand. The two parties had supposedly "deconflicted" their forces -- a military term for making sure neither side had troops in the strike zone. The Afghan forces "confirmed the areas were clear of friendly forces", Butler said. "Unfortunately, they were not and a tragic accident resulted. Afghan security forces as well as Taliban fighters were killed in the strikes." Provincial government spokesman Omar Zwak told AFP that eight police officers had been killed in the strike, with 12 more wounded. The death toll was confirmed by interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi on Facebook. He said 11 more police had been wounded. A joint delegation had been appointed to investigate the incident, Rahimi said. A third Afghan official -- head of the Helmand provincial council Ataullah Afghan -- gave a higher toll, saying 18 Afghan police were killed and 14 others were wounded. Butler said the US and Afghan security forces were examining the "miscommunication" to ensure it didn't happen again. "We regret this tragic loss of life of our partners and are committed to improvement every day with every mission," Butler said. Afghan and US forces have intensified the aerial bombardment of Taliban and Islamic State group militants in recent months even as the US pushes for a peace deal with the insurgents after nearly 18 years of conflict. According to US Air Force Central Command, the US dropped 7,362 bombs in Afghanistan in 2018, the highest number since at least 2010. Friendly fire incidents are not unheard of in Afghanistan, and have bred deep mistrust between local and foreign forces. Story continues In one of the deadliest, 16 Afghan policemen were killed in 2017 when they were mistakenly targeted by US air strikes in Helmand. Civilian deaths from air strikes have also been increasing. str-mam-lab-wat/gle By Shoon Naing, Sam Aung Moon and Simon Lewis HPAKANT, Myanmar/YANGON, May 17 (Reuters) - When Brang Aung left home in early April, his wife pleaded for him to stay for their newborn son's naming ceremony, just a few weeks later. Instead, the youthful 43-year-old returned to his job a three-hour journey away as a backhoe operator for a jade mining company, keen to earn money to support a growing family, four relatives told Reuters. Brang Aung had worked in Hpakant, northern Myanmar's notoriously dangerous mining district, for eight years, but still told his family - Christians from the Kachin ethnic minority - to pray for his safety. During a night shift on April 22, disaster struck. A muddy lake above his employer's mining site breached its banks, unleashing a wave of water and dirt that buried 55 men instantly. None survived. The tragedy was a reminder of the dangers workers such as Brang Aung face daily unearthing the valuable gemstone that is prized in neighboring China. "The companies are earning a lot, but they don't value the lives of the people at all," said Brang Aung's mother, Hkawn Bu. "It's not just one or two people who have died, it's hundreds. The government should protect its own citizens." The family never held a naming ceremony, but call the boy Htoi San Aung, the name Brang Aung had chosen for his son. Jobs in the hills of Hpakant can pay well by the standards of rural Myanmar - Brang Aung earned around $290 a month. But the area has a reputation for lawlessness, with high rates of drug addiction and HIV, and the jade mines themselves are frequently hit by deadly accidents. The government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi pledged to clean up the industry when it took power in 2016, but activists say little has changed. Reliable statistics on safety in Hpakant were not available, but media have reported scores killed in the past three years, many of them freelance "jade pickers" who scour tailings - the residue from mining - for stones that have been missed by larger operators. Story continues Myo Nyunt, a spokesman for Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party, said the jade industry was beset by "many difficulties because regulations are not being followed." Regulations were still being drafted to implement a new law passed last year that would help bring mining under control by limiting the area covered by individual licenses, he said, reducing the power of large companies. "The more we can control the influence of big companies, the more effectively we can work on workers' safety," Myo Nyunt said. 'UNLAWFUL SITUATION' Undated photos of the site taken before the incident in which Brang Aung was killed, posted on Facebook, show a large pool of water had formed above where his employer, Myanmar-owned Nine Golden Dragons, was digging for jade. The company and a neighboring block's occupant, Myanmar Thura, had scraped away the earth until a cliff towered above them on one side, with the muddy lake on the other. Reuters was unable to reach either of the companies for comment. Office addresses for both listed on a government companies' registry were out of date. Workers present at the mine site when Reuters visited declined to comment. Suu Kyi's NLD won a landslide victory in a historic election in November 2015, the same month that a massive slag heap collapsed in Hpakant and killed more than 100 people. A spokesman for the party told Reuters at the time the new administration would review regulations to ensure the mining area was safe. Months after taking power, the NLD government announced a moratorium on new licenses, drawing praise from activists. But companies whose licenses expire often simply move their machinery to a mining block licensed to another company and enter an informal revenue-sharing arrangement, monitors say. Aung Nyunt Thein, managing director of the Myanmar Gems Enterprise, a state-owned enterprise that is the main regulator of the jade industry, said firms were allowed to agree to "share" their business in this way. A group of community organizations wrote to President Win Myint in September last year, warning of the dangers of an "unlawful situation" in Hpakant. The letter raised concerns about environmental damage from mining, the overuse of dynamite, and violent crime and drug abuse going unchecked in the area. "Many people have also been killed by landfill collapses because of dumping earth without discipline," the letter said. Reuters was unable to reach officials at the president's office for comment. Aung Nyunt Thein said Myanmar Gems Enterprise does regulate mining in the area, for example by restricting companies' use of dynamite. But he added: "Hpakant is not normal. The rule of law is weak there." Another official at the regulator, deputy managing director Thet Khaing, said officials "don't have the resources to manage the quantity of permissions we have given." "JUST DOING THEIR WORK" Five days after the April 22 collapse, the scene was unrecognizable from the earlier photographs. Kyaw Kyaw Lwin, one of about a dozen rescue workers still on the site, told visiting Reuters reporters that there was no hope of pulling bodies from the deep pit of thick mud that had entombed the workers and their machines. "It's impossible to find a body in this mud. If a body floats up, we try our best to retrieve it," he said. Some machinery was recovered from the mud, but just five bodies were retrieved. Brang Aung's was not among them. "The thing I want most is for them to find the body of my son," said Hkawn Bu, shedding a tear. "Whatever the body looks like, whether it's black and blue, I want to see it." Following the collapse, authorities suspended 17 mining blocks belonging to 11 companies around Hpakant, citing safety concerns. Nine Golden Dragons and Myanmar Thura, named by authorities as the two companies whose workers died on April 22, were not included and have faced no censure. According to data submitted by Myanmar as part of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), Nine Golden Dragons holds three active licenses in Maw Wan Lay, the area of the collapse, as well as eight other active licenses. Myanmar Thura has held three licenses in different areas nearby, but all had expired by the end of 2017, the data shows. Myanmar Gems Enterprise investigated the incident and found the companies were not at fault, said Aung Myint Thein. "According to our investigation they didn't break the rules. They were just doing their work and the instability of the earth happened," he said. Brang Aung's family accepted compensation of about $30,000 from his employer. It was more than most have received in past payouts for industrial accidents in Hpakant, according to activists. The total compensation paid to families of the April 22 disaster's victims would be equivalent to just "one good piece of jade," Hkawn Bu told Reuters. Jade brokers say a high quality jade stone can be worth in excess of $1 million. Official sales of jade in Myanmar were worth 671 million euros ($750.04 million) in 2016-17, the most recent year for which government data has been published under EITI. But experts believe the true value of the industry, which mainly exports to China, is much larger. The New York-based Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) estimates that between 59% and 74% of jade by volume is not registered with authorities and therefore out of sight of tax authorities, based on data from 2014 to 2016. Regulators remain underfunded and unable to inspect the hundreds of mining operations, said Maw Htun Aung, NRGI's Myanmar country manager. "Nobody follows the safety procedure," he said of the state of the industry in Hpakant. "Lives are really cheap." ($1 = 0.8946 euros) (Reporting by Shoon Naing and Sam Aung Moon in Hpakant and Simon Lewis in Yangon; Editing by Alex Richardson) by Sumon Corraya A priest made a formal complaint against Henry Sawpon for insulting Christianity. According to the plaintiff, the poet has made defamatory comments since 2015, which could spark a row with the Muslim majority. As a poet, Henry Sawpon could be our pride, says Christian leader. Dhaka (AsiaNews) Bangladesh police have arrested a famous poet for offending the religious sentiments of the countrys Christian minority. Police took into custody Henry Sawpon, a Catholic, at his home in Barisal, a city some 245 km south of Dhaka, after a local priest, Fr Lawrence Lecavallier Gomes, rector of the episcopate of Barisal, filed a complaint against him. "Since 2015, Henry Sawpon has been writing comments on Facebook against the bishop, priests, nuns and brothers, Fr Gomes told AsiaNews. These posts could provoke a row between Muslims and Christians, in a country where the Christian community is already a minority. Citing some of the poets posts, the clergyman notes that the poet wrote that young priests organised a seminar for young people where girls were raped, adding that this is less serious than imams taking girls into mosques to teach the Quran and become happy. Such comments are an insult to us." The 48-year-old poet's Facebook profile is full of invectives against the local clergy. On 24 April, one post read: "While a room is on fire, Mgr Lawrence Subroto plays the flute, and "The bishop, his father, his sister and brothers are idiots". After the police charged the poet with breaking the digital security law, a court rejected his bail application. He now faces the possibility of up to 14 years in prison. Several rights groups have criticised the arrest and fear that the law is being used to limit freedom of expression and crack down on dissent. The poets supporters include Kajal Ghosh, president of the Barisal Cultural Organizations Coordination Council, a Hindu association. "We condemn the arrest of Henry Sawpon," he said. Fr Michael Milon Dewri, vicar general of the diocese, says that "Henry Sawpon never comes to Mass. He has bad intentions, and wants to tarnish the good name of the Christian community of Bangladesh. For example, "On Easter Sunday, after hearing about the attacks in Sri Lanka, young Catholics organised a prayer meeting to remember the victims and observe a minute's silence. They (not the priests) organised the event. As a religious leader, the bishop also participated, but then Henry Sawpon insulted him on the Facebook page. We want him punished for offending our religious feelings." For the priest, the poets verbal violence goes back to the refusal by Church authorities to give him a piece of land that would have allowed him to build a road leading directly to his home. "We could not accept his request because it would bring problems to the Church, and he became furious," Fr Michael said. As a poet, Henry Sawpon could be our pride, said Norbet Nipu Adhikary, president of the local Bangladesh Christian Association. Instead, he uses his mind to insult our religious leaders." Baring Vostok ordered to sell 9.99% of Vostochny bank shares to minority stockholder RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 12:10 17/05/2019 MOSCOW, May 17 (RAPSI) - The Commercial Court of Amur Region has obliged the Cypriot Evison Holdings Limited, through which Baring Vostok and Russia Partners investment funds control over 50% of the Vostochny banks stock, to execute a call option agreement signed with Finvision Holdings company, according to court records. Under the settlements terms, Evison Holdings Limited was to sell 9.99% of Vostochny bank shares to the banks minority shareholder Finvision Holdings but repudiated the contract, the plaintiff claimed. Previously, the court seized 9.99% of Vostochny bank shares belonging to Evison Holdings Limited, the defendants lawyer Dmitry Savochkin told RAPSI on April 1. On April 11, Moscows Basmanny District Court released Baring Vostok investment companys founder, U.S. citizen Michael Calvey, who stands charged with 2.5-billion-ruble (about $40 million) embezzlement, from detention and put him under house arrest. In mid-February, Moscows Basmanny District Court ordered detention of Calvey and five other defendants including Baring Vostok Industry Partner for the financial industry sector, French citizen Philippe Delpal, the companys partners Vagan Abgaryan, Baring Vostok Investment Director Ivan Zyuzin, Maxim Vladimirov and ex- chairman of Vostochny bank board Alexey Kordichev. According to investigation, Calvey knowing about a 2.5-billion-ruble debt of the First Collector Bureau, a firm under his control, has organized the sale of its shares to Vostochny bank that has led to embezzlement. The Investigative Committee claims that he committed a crime that could not be classified as business crime because he used a chain of sham companies settling the deal. Moreover, investigators say they have a PricewaterhouseCoopers audit report on the done deal estimating the sold shares at 600,000 rubles, which indicates an instance of fraud. Calvey denies allegations insisting that the deal was fair as both companies agreed its terms and stood for it, including a person reporting an alleged crime to law enforcement bodies. He noted that a report has been filed with police by a member of Vostochny bank board of directors Sherzod Yusupov. According to Calvey, the real reason of his prosecution is a wide corporate dispute related to the control of the bank by two groups of shareholders: Baring Vostok and stockholders coming from Uniastrum bank, which was reorganized and joined to Vostochny in early 2017. Baring Vostok company founded by Calvey in 1994 focuses on private equity investments in the CIS and Russia. The company has invested in shares of Yandex, Vkusvill, Tinkoff Bank and other major projects. By Jonathan Saul LONDON (Reuters) - London's marine insurance market has extended the list of waters deemed high risk to include Oman, the United Arab Emirates and the Gulf after ship attacks off Fujairah, officials said on Friday, in a move that could push up premiums. The London insurance market's Joint War Committee said in a statement that the additions cover areas of perceived enhanced risk for marine insurers and reflected enhanced regional risk. "The situation will be kept under close review," said the Joint War Committee, whose guidance influences decisions by underwriters on insurance premiums. Four tankers, comprising Saudi Arabian, UAE and Norwegian-flagged ships, were attacked on Sunday off Fujairah. No one has claimed responsibility for the incident. The attacks took place against a backdrop of U.S.-Iranian tension following Washingtons decision this month to try to cut Tehran's oil exports to zero and beef up its military presence in the Gulf in response to what it called Iranian threats. Iran accuses Washington of stoking tensions and had denied it had any role in the attacks. The Joint War Committee, made up of syndicate members from the Lloyds Market Association (LMA) and representatives from the London insurance company market, normally meets every quarter to review areas it considers high risk for merchant vessels and prone to war, terrorism, piracy and related perils. The Joint War Committee, which met on Thursday after developments in the Middle East ahead of Friday's decision, also added adjacent waters around the Gulf of Oman to its high risk list. The last update to the list was in June 2018. The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Norway have launched an investigation and have described the attacks as deliberate. They have not blamed anyone. "Very little information is to hand about the explosions at Fujairah anchorage on May 12 and the circumstances and methods employed remain unclear," the Joint War Committee said in further comments. Story continues "There is no doubt that considerable damage was done and there will be significant claims," it added. The London marine insurance market plays an influential role in the global marine insurance industry. A confidential Norwegian insurers' report seen by Reuters concluded that Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards were "highly likely" to have facilitated the attacks on the tankers. Iran, which has a long-running regional rivalry with Saudi Arabia, has said the attacks on the tankers were a cause for concern and has called for an investigation. "The enmity between Iran and Saudi Arabia continues to create tensions as the Saudis believe Iran is trying to control strategic waterways," the Joint War Committee said. Iran said on Friday it could "easily" hit U.S. warships in the Gulf, the latest verbal broadside in the spat between Washington and Tehran. Two U.S. government sources said this week that U.S. officials believed Iran had encouraged Yemeni Houthi militants or Iraq-based Shi'ite militias to carry out the attacks. (Editing by David Goodman and Edmund Blair) Isla Mono (Colombia) (AFP) - Reaching out a weathered hand, Marciana Caycedo prods the smooth round bellies of the mothers-to-be, feeling for their baby's outline inside the taut skin as they line up at her home. In time, she will deliver those babies, into a world where families are big but food, medicine and even water are in short supply. For Caycedo is the only midwife on Isla Mono, a small island marooned in the middle of the wide brown San Juan river, on Colombia's remote and rainy Pacific coast. "The first baby that I brought into the world was the last of my mother's, the youngest of my 23 brothers and sisters," says Caycedo in her simple wooden house, light streaming through the wall's ill-fitting boards. Now 60, she has been through 17 pregnancies of her own. She has mice in her house. They trot along its wooden beams as she bends to examine a small 17-year-old who thinks she is eight months pregnant. Caycedo feels the small mound of her abdomen: "It's a boy," she says. "You're anemic," she tells the girl. "Even if you don't like it, you're going to have to eat lentils and carrots." Which poses a challenge on Isla Mono, where practically nothing edible grows on the sandy soil, apart from coconuts and potato-like taro. Fruits and vegetables and the like are brought in from Buenaventura, two hours away in a fast skiff with a roaring outboard. But the cost of fuel to run the engines is exorbitant for most of the 370 islanders, who subsist on fishing and timber, making many basic goods inaccessible. "I want to stop because it's very hard but... the people tell me I have to continue," said Caycedo, who earns 28 dollars a birth -- even if sometimes it means braving a raging tropical storm in the dead of night. - Salty coffee against bleeding - At her side is Durley Maya Salazar, a 33-year-old obstetrician-gynecologist, who is making an unanticipated visit to the island. Story continues Salazar works with a hospital ship, the San Raffaele, that roams the coast. Fortuitously for locals, it's here only because it ran aground on a sandbank. Medical specialists aboard decided to see what good they could do for the neglected locals, while the ship waits for a rising tide. The gynecologist and the local midwife exchange tips. Caycedo tells her about using strong coffee and salt to stop post-partum bleeding, and local plant extracts to ease mothers' anxieties. Salazar is relieved to discover Caycedo rejects the folk method of shocking a baby into taking its first breath: by introducing the head of a little chick into the newborn's anus. The baby is meant to cry out and fill its lungs. "The midwives here lack gloves, masks, anti-hemorrhagic drugs," said Oscar Arley Gomez, a specialist on the hospital ship, who has designed medical guides adapted for Afro and indigenous cultures. - Surprise medical landing - The medics are neither surprised nor encouraged by what they find. Pathways between the humble dwellings -- built on stilts -- are paved with tree trunks providing a sort of raised walkway above the thick mud left by a tropical storm. There are stagnant cesspools, malarial mosquitoes and the ever-present odor of open latrines. Huge blue plastic drums await the next downpour, providing vital water. Isla Mono has none, and depends on the skies for its drinking water. "Once, it didn't rain for a month, we had to take water from the river, which is completely polluted. Many people got sick," says Ana Milena Copete, 29, one of five teachers for the island's 113 enrolled children. Chemical residue from cocaine production in the nearby forests, and run-off from clandestine gold mining, are responsible for much of the pollution, environmentalists say. "The situation is critical. It is such an isolated place that many people do not even know that Isla Mono exists," says Copete. -Doctors to the rescue- The San Raffaele's doctors -- two generalists, a gynecologist, pediatrician and a pediatric surgeon -- waste no time in improvising a clinic in the new, concrete-clad school. An orderly queue of islanders is formed. Some will be seeing a doctor for the first time. Durley Maya sees a 24-year-old mother with five children, who wants to be "canceled" -- local code for sterilization by tubal ligation. Others are looking to be fitted with a contraceptive implant. For that, they need to be taken onto the hospital ship. She examines Caycedo's young patient, reassuring her: "Your baby is very small, but the heart is beating well," and inviting her back to the ship for a more detailed examination. A blood test confirms Caycedo's diagnosis of anemia, and an ultrasound that it is indeed a boy. She is 31 weeks pregnant. The mother-to-be returns from the ship with a full supply of vitamins. Her friend Karol Gonzalez, who was also examined on board the San Raffaele, is three months pregnant. "I haven't seen a doctor yet because there's no clinic here and it's hard to pay for the fuel" that would allow her to go to Buenaventura. The 19-year-old will use Caycedo for the birth as there is no alternative. A round trip to Buenaventura's hospital by river costs more than the midwife's services. "I'm scared because it's my first baby and I'm afraid of losing my blood," said Karol. For now, she is calmed by the wonders of technology, visibly moved to see her baby's tiny movements for the first time on the ultrasound screen. Caracas (AFP) - President Nicolas Maduro welcomed Friday the "beginning of talks" with the Venezuelan opposition in Norway, after months of bloody clashes between the two sides. "The talks have begun nicely to move toward agreements of peace, agreement and harmony, and I ask for the support of all Venezuelan people to advance on the path of peace," Maduro said in a declaration at a ceremony in front of 6,500 troops in the northern state of Aragua. Confronted with the worst socio-economic crisis in the oil-producing country's recent history, the socialist leader added that "Venezuela has to process its conflicts" and seek solutions "by way of peace." He declared the "beginning and exploration of conversations and dialogues" with the opposition. Maduro's depiction of the talks was at odds with opposition leader Juan Guaido who Thursday denied they were underway. "There is no negotiation whatsoever," Guaido made clear in comments to reporters. Instead, Norwegian officials were "trying to mediate" with both sides to bring them to the table. Friday's ceremony in Aragua was attended by Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez and Miranda state Governor Hector Rodriguez, the government's representatives in the Oslo talks. Maduro hailed the "good news" hours after Norway reported on preliminary contacts between the parties. Earlier, Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza gave the first official confirmation from Caracas of its involvement in what Norway referred to as exploratory discussions in Oslo. The mediation bid comes after a months-long power struggle between National Assembly leader Guaido and the socialist president, with sometimes deadly street clashes. Maduro on Thursday made no direct reference to the meetings, but said Rodriguez was "on a very important mission for peace in the country... in Europe." So far, details of the exact process underway in Oslo have been scant. Story continues Norway's foreign ministry said in a statement it had made "preliminary contacts with representatives of the main political actors of Venezuela." These were "part of an exploratory phase, with the aim of contributing to finding a solution to the situation in the country," it added. The opposition said it was being represented by National Assembly vice president Stalin Gonzalez and former lawmaker Gerardo Blyde. US-backed Guaido is recognized by dozens of countries as interim president after dismissing Maduro's presidency as "illegitimate" following his re-election last year in polls widely dismissed as rigged. Maduro has been shunned by much of the international community for presiding over the country's economic collapse, which has led to shortages of basic goods -- forcing millions to flee -- as well as brutally suppressing dissent. He retains the backing of major creditors Russia, China and Cuba, as well as the powerful military. Shortages of basic goods have forced millions to flee Venezuela. This year, Maison & Objets Rising Talent Awards will showcase emerging design talent from the United States, and the trade fair has chosen six skilled designers and firms to honor. For each edition, we have a different country represented, which means that selected talents bring a different perspective based on their own culture, background, and knowhow, Philippe Brocart, managing director of SAFI, the company that organizes Maison & Objet, tells AD PRO. In the U.S., we discovered that theres no single national type of design, but the emerging designers selected have shown real interest in the handmade arts, with production of unique or limited pieces and a strong link to material. They are also very entrepreneurial, something they have in common with the young generation on a global basis, and they are not afraid of taking business risks. The achievements of these creative thinkers will be showcased in an exhibition at the fall show, taking place September 610 at the Paris Nord Villepinte. Five of the rising stars are Brooklyn-based, a fact that speaks to the robust design and maker scene in the city. They include Bailey Fontaine, who designs sculptural furniture out of concrete, cement, wood, rusted steel, and paper clay; Ben Bloomstein and Aaron Aujla, who created the Green River Project art space and design gallery and make custom furnishings with African mahogany, aluminum, and bamboo; Harold, founded by Reed Hansuld and Joel Seigle, which turns out ceramic planters and marble-and-leather trays; metalwork shop Kin & Company, founded by cousins Joseph Vidich and Kira de Paola, which produces furniture made of materials like steel and stone; and Rosie Li, who became famous for a triangular sconce inspired by the artist Frank Stella and designs organic light fixtures, many with botanical themes. Alex Brokamp, who creates functional everyday objects, lives in southern California (his Collate coffee table was shown at the ICFF Studio showcase at the 2019 NYCxDesign festival). Story continues Seven notable names in design were selected to a jury to choose these rising talents: AD100 architect Rafael de Cardenas, whose clients include Baccarat, Cartier, and Christies; Odile Hainaut and Claire Pijoulat, founders of annual NYC trade show WantedDesign; Jerry Helling, president and creative director of North Carolinabased Bernhardt Design; modern design store and showroom Luminaires founder Nasir Kassamali; David Rockwell, founder and president of the Rockwell Group in New York (known for designing hospitality destinations and Broadway stage sets); and Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) president Rosanne Somerson, who started at the school in 1985 running the graduate furniture program. I think design consciousness has permeated all aspects of life and experience in this country in ways that didnt exist a decade ago, and that is in large part due to a robust American design culture, says Rockwell. American designers are combining this countrys manufacturing and craftsmanship roots with new technology to design tools and experiences that enrich our lives. Indeed, this fall, design fans may need to travel to Paris to glimpse the ingenuity of the American design scene. Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest Misrata (Libya) (AFP) - A villa in Misrata is abuzz with activity as mothers prepare food parcels with poems and messages of love attached for sons battling on the outskirts of the Libyan capital. More than 10,000 food parcels are being sent each day from home, 200 kilometres (120 miles) away, to the battle front south of Tripoli against Libya's military strongman Khalifa Haftar. In their fourth war since 2011, Misrata's men form part of the assorted army of Libya's internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) fighting Haftar's forces. Reputed to be Libya's best organised, Misrata's fighters were at the forefront of the revolt eight years ago that ousted Moamer Kadhafi. They were heavily involved in a 2014 battle for control of Tripoli and spearheaded the 2016 defeat of the Islamic State group in Sirte, to the east. The latest war is being waged not only on the battlefield but also in the kitchen, courtesy of several women's associations in Misrata, notably Al-Narjess which alone accounts for 2,000 of the daily food parcels. The villa in the centre of the Mediterranean city has been transformed into a field kitchen since Haftar's forces launched an assault on the capital at the start of April. Around 100 women work in two shifts a day. Seated in circles on the tiled floor, the women chop meat and vegetables for pies while chanting battle cries and constant songs of praise to Allah. The food is donated by local businesses. Nawara Ali said she turns up each day at 8 am sharp to prepare the "iftar" meals that break the dawn-to-dusk fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan that started last week. She has six sons who have fought in Libya's multiple wars since 2011. Four of them have been involved in the latest battle for Tripoli between the GNA and Haftar's self-styled Libyan National Army that has killed at least 430 people, according to UN estimates. - Motivate fighters - Story continues It's a labour of love for the mothers. "Even if I'm tired and weak from fasting myself, coming here to prepare food for our sons who are fighting fills me with happiness," she said. "People ask me what's the point of allowing my sons to go to war at the risk of losing them," 55-year-old Ali said. "I tell them Libya deserves the sacrifice and that thousands of our young people have paid the price of freedom with their lives." Serving like a battalion chief on the culinary front of the latest war blighting post-Kadhafi Libya, Halima al-Gammudi supervises operations in the kitchen. Soup, meat, homemade bread and a filled pie make up a typical meal for the front. Each one comes in a plastic container wrapped and labelled from the association "in support of Volcano of Anger", codename of the GNA operation to prevent Haftar from seizing Tripoli. Under the cellophane wrapper, the women slip in handwritten notes with verses in Libyan dialect such as "revolutionary to the end" or less poetic messages like "may God destroy Haftar and those with him". The mothers say the aim is to motivate the fighters and keep them in touch with home. "It's been days now since we have had news from our sons at the front. Even telephone calls are difficult sometimes, so we turn to these words of encouragement wishing them victory over the enemy," said Gammudi. Zaynab Qatiche is convinced of the power of the messages attached to the food parcels. "One of my friends has two sons at the front, and one of them told her that these messages... bring him some consolation after more than a month far from loved ones," she said. "Our sons are sacrificing their blood and their lives. A meal prepared with love is the least we can do for them," said Fatima, who has special status as "mother of a martyr" having lost a child in the war. DALLAS (AP) A Dallas man previously arrested in the death of an 81-year-old woman has been charged with killing at least 11 more elderly women whose jewelry and other valuables he stole, authorities said Thursday. Kim Leach, a spokeswoman for the Dallas County district attorney's office, said 46-year-old Billy Chemirmir was indicted Tuesday on six more counts of capital murder in the deaths of women ranging in age from 76 to 94. Chemirmir, a Kenyan citizen who was living in the U.S. illegally, also is charged in nearby Collin County with two counts of attempted capital murder for similar attacks there, according to county court records. A Collin County grand jury also returned five capital murder indictments against Chemirmir on Tuesday. Chemirmir has been in custody since March 2018 in the death of the 81-year-old Dallas woman, Lu Thi Harris. Police in Plano were investigating Chemirmir in connection with suspicious death and suspicious person calls at a senior apartment complex in that Dallas suburb and found evidence linking him to Harris' death in Dallas, authorities said. Plano is in Collin County. The break in the case came when Chemirmir forced his way into the Plano apartment of a 91-year-old woman that March, telling her to "go to bed. Don't fight me," according to an arrest affidavit filed in Collin County. The woman was smothered with a pillow into unconsciousness and robbed. However, paramedics revived her and she told investigators that her attacker had stolen a box containing her jewelry. Police identified Chemirmir from a license plate number and were able to find and tail him days later, when they watched him throw a jewelry box into a trash bin. They traced the box to Harris, according to the affidavit. Plano police Chief Gregory Rushin said at the time that Chemirmir used his health care experience "to his advantage in targeting and exploiting seniors, some of the most vulnerable people in our community." Story continues Police said then that investigators were reviewing about 750 unattended deaths of elderly women for possible links. Chemirmir's attorney, Phillip Hayes, said Thursday that this week's charges were a surprise and that he hadn't had time to review them yet. "These cases came out of the blue and I don't have any information on them yet," he said. But he noted that Chemirmir "has denied it since Day 1" that he played any role in Harris' death. "They have circumstantial evidence that puts him in the area but that's as far as the evidence goes," Hayes said. In addition to the murder charges, Chemirmir is being held on a charge of being in the country illegally. ___ Follow David Warren on Twitter: https://twitter.com/WarrenJourno A pregnant woman in Chicago was lured to a house on the pretext of picking up some free baby clothes, where she was then murdered and her baby cut out of her stomach, police have said. Marlen Ochoa-Uriostegui, 19, who was married and had a three-year-old son, was found on Wednesday morning outside the back of the house in south west Chicago where the alleged murder happened. She was giving clothes away, supposedly under the pretence that her daughters had been given clothes and they had all these extra boy clothes, Cecelia Garcia, a spokeswoman for the victims family, said, according to the Chicago Tribune. Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Merritt told that newspaper that paramedics were called to the home for reports of a newborn with problems breathing, on the same day the woman went missing. We believe that she was murdered and we believe that the baby was forcibly removed following the murder, Anthony Guglielmi, a Chicago police spokesman, said. No charges have been filed yet, but Mr Guglielmi said the individuals taken into custody from the home are being interviewed. We believe all of them played some role in this unspeakable act of violence, he said. Mr Guglielmi says the child is in a "grave" condition. Appeal of Roshen candymakers factory over $5.5 mln tax collection to be heard in June RIA Novosti, Ramil Sitdikov 14:56 17/05/2019 MOSCOW, May 17 (RAPSI) The Ninth Commercial Court of Appeals will consider an appeal against recovery of 361.5 million rubles (over $5.5 million) in taxes from the Lipetsk factory of the Roshen confectionery owned by Ukraines Petro Poroshenko in favor of the Russian Federal Tax Service (FNS) on June 13, according to court records. The factory has appealed the ruling of the Lipetsk Regional Commercial Court of March 22. In January 2017, Roshen reported suspension of the Lipetsk factory for political and economical reasons. In summer of the same year, the corporation reported finishing the factorys temporary shutdown. Russias Investigative Committee earlier reported that a criminal case was opened in the spring of 2015 against Roshen over alleged embezzlement of 180 million rubles (about $3 million) from the government in the form of an illegal VAT refund worth nearly 181 million rubles. As part of the case, Moscows Basmanny District Court seized a warehouse, four shops, an auxiliary building and seven parcels of land that are part of the Roshen confectionary company in Lipetsk. Roshen assessed the value of the property at 2 billion rubles (over $30 million). The Moscow City Court upheld the ruling in July 2015. Roshen is a major candy producer with an annual output of 450,000 metric tons of confectionery goods owned by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. The corporation has assets in Ukraine, Lithuania, Hungary and Russia. When Poroshenko was running for president, he promised to sell Roshen, but has not fulfilled his promise yet. Paris (AFP) - Celebrated architect I.M. Pei has died at age 102. Here are key dates in his life: - April 26, 1917: Born Ieoh Ming Pei in Guangzhou, southern China, the son of a banker. - 1935: In his late teens he leaves for the United States to study architecture, receiving an undergraduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1940 and a masters degree at Harvard in 1946. - 1955: He creates the agency I.M. Pei and Associates, having been naturalised a US citizen a year earlier. - 1956: The construction of Mile High Center in Denver, Colorado, becomes the first in a series of major orders in the United States and around the world. - 1978: His East Building of the National Gallery of Art opens in Washington. - 1979: Pei completes The John F. Kennedy Library in Boston. - 1982: His Fragrant Hill Hotel in Beijing opens. - 1983: Pei is awarded the Pritzker Prize, considered the Nobel prize of architecture. - 1989: The Louvre Pyramid is opened to the public. The same year, Pei completes the Bank of China office tower in Hong Kong. - 1992: He is awarded the Medal of Freedom, the highest US civilian honour. - 1995: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opens a lakefront museum designed by Pei in Cleveland, Ohio. - 2008: His Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar, opens. May is National Masturbation Month, and we're celebrating with Feeling Yourself, a series exploring the finer points of self-pleasure. So you've decided to masturbate. Congrats! If you're new to masturbation or haven't enjoyed it in the past, creating comfortable conditions for self-pleasure can be daunting. Should you put music on or keep the room quiet? What about lighting? Should you use toys or no? It's understandable to have a lot of questions or to be unsure where to begin. The great news: You can basically do whatever you want, because this is all about you. "The best thing about masturbation is that you don't have to be concerned about anything other than pleasing yourself," says Lisa Finn, brand manager and sex educator at the sex toy boutique Babeland. "Since it's only you and your body, there's no pressure to please someone else, to worry about what you may look or sound like, or to navigate if trying something new may not work." The world is your oyster; you just have to find out what feels good for you. Finn does recommend that, no matter what, you silence your phone before you get started. "Getting inundated with Slack notifications right as you're getting hot and heavy is a very easy way to kill the mood," she says. If you live with other people, creating a space free of distractions can be a bit more complicated. If your door has a lock you should lock it, obviously, but if your housemates are a little too comfortable walking into your room, it's worth having a conversation about respecting personal space when your bedroom door is closed. If you want, you can even tell them you've taken up meditation. (Also a great pursuit!) And it's important that you respect your roommates' space, too: If you'll be watching porn or listening to audio erotica, use headphones. Elsewhere in the room, it really depends on what turns you on in particular and Finn emphasizes that you should give yourself space to discover your preferences down to the tiny details. Is there a song you always find arousing when it comes up on shuffle? Try playing a Spotify radio station based on that track. Does bright overhead lighting remind you of your extremely unsexy workday? Consider turning off the lights and opting for soothing candles instead. There are even candles that double as (not-too-hot) massage wax. Story continues SEE ALSO: How mutual masturbation can help close the orgasm gap Finn also notes that you might find it easier to reach orgasm if you're warm. "Try touching yourself under the covers, or even in a warm bath or shower," she says. You can also take warmth into account when deciding what (if anything) to wear, but it's worth considering what kind of clothing makes you feel sexy, too. "If you're playing with fantasy, throw on some lingerie or even a costume," Finn says. "If you just want to focus on being comfortable, break out those cozy boxer shorts or wear nothing at all." Then there's the matter of accessories. Above all, Finn recommends using lube. "Whether you're using hands or a toy, lube is going to add sensation and make everything slicker and more pleasurable," she says. I bought batteries for my toothbrush but put them in my vibrator instead because priorities. Samantha Haack (@SamanthaRae49) August 4, 2016 As far as sex toys go, the right one for you depends once again on your personal needs. If you're worried about your hands getting tired or if you already know you need a lot of stimulation, Finn recommends using a powerful, wand-style vibrator like the iconic Hitachi Magic Wand Plus. If you're interested in internal stimulation, she suggests a "firm dildo for finding or hitting the G-spot or prostate," like the NJoy Fun Wand. Of course, while orgasms are good (lol), Finn stresses that they're not the only good thing about touching yourself. "Masturbating is a great way to explore the body and learn what works and what doesn't for you," Finn says. "Instead of focusing on a 'finish line,' enjoy all of the wonderful sensations that your body can feel, and enjoy taking time to get in touch with your physical self." Sounds good to us. Ray Blanchard is an American-Canadian sexologist who served as the head of clinical sexology services in the law and mental health program at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto from 1995 to 2010. His research on paraphilias, gender-identity disorders, and sexual orientation spans nearly 40 years. From 2008 to 2012 he was a member of the Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders Work Group for the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. On May 11, after he posted a clinically informed opinion on transgenderism in response to a direct question, Blanchards Twitter account was suspended for violating its Hateful Conduct policy. His account was later reinstated, and Twitter apologized for this error. (Others have been less lucky.) Here, Blanchard expands on the content of his offending Twitter thread and discusses transgenderism with National Reviews Madeleine Kearns. *** Madeleine Kearns: You believe transsexualism and gender dysphoria to be a mental disorder. Am I correct in saying thats how it appears in the DSM-5 [the current edition of the American Psychiatric Associations Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which is the bible of psychiatry]? Ray Blanchard: Yes. The diagnostic entity is called gender dysphoria in DSM-5. It was first introduced in DSM-III under the name transsexualism, and it was still called transsexualism or gender-identity disorder, I forget which, in DSM-IV, but in DSM-5 the name of the entity got changed to gender dysphoria. But the diagnostic criteria are fairly similar. Kearns: Why was there a name change then? Was that to avoid the word disorder? Blanchard: Yes, it was primarily to make patients and also trans activists and transsexual-activist groups feel happy or that they had been listened to, but I would say that the name change probably owed more to or owed as much to politics as it did to any change in the science. Story continues Kearns: What do we mean by gender identity? Blanchard: What do I mean by it? Kearns: Yes. Lets start with that. Blanchard: Well, back in the days when I was writing a lot on that topic, which is quite a while ago now, I tended to avoid the phrase gender identity because I think that its a trivial concept when its applied to normal people. I mean normal men and normal woman know what sex they are, and they respond to that automatically, like when looking for a washroom. But I think its only at very unusual moments that a normal man or woman has a conscious awareness of Im a woman or Im a man, and this is often a highly emotional situation. So, I dont find the concept of gender identity useful for normal people, and the concept of cross-gender identity is really not a normal gender identity which has found itself lodged in the wrong body. Cross-gender identity is a constant preoccupation with, and unhappiness about, the individuals gender. So, I guess you could say I believe in cross-gender identity, but I dont much believe in gender identity. Kearns: Whats the difference between transsexualism, which is a word that you actually hear less often now, and transgenderism? Blanchard: In a word: fashion. Transgenderism was at one point meant to be a broader umbrella term that would include transsexuals who either were aspiring to, or had undergone, sex-reassignment surgery, as well as people with less or remitting forms of gender dysphoria. That was the original difference between transgenderism and transsexualism, that transgenderism was the broader category. Subsequent to that happening, transsexualism gradually became a dirty word, and who knows why. Its this kind of word magic that always happens in contemporary politics. Ive started deliberately using the word transsexualism again. Kearns: So transgenderism, or at least my understanding of it, collapses all distinctions so that it doesnt really matter if youve had surgery or if there have been no physical changes. In that sense, transgenderism is more comprehensive. Is that accurate? Blanchard: Transgenderism is definitely more comprehensive than transsexualism, but I need to, not correct you, but I want to point out one thing here, and its that even in the days when the standard word that people used was transsexualism, there was still inconsistent usage, some people reserving it for individuals who had undergone sex-reassignment surgery and some people using it simply to mean a patient who has a continuous, chronic, and unremitting sense of being or of wanting to be the opposite sex. Even in the days when transsexualism was the standard word, there was inconsistent usage as to whether or not the person had to have had surgery or be surgery-tracked. Kearns: And in what sense do you use it? Blanchard: I use it in the sense of someone who has the most extreme form of gender dysphoria and not in the sense of someone who has undergone sex reassignment. I just use it to mean somebody who feels very strongly, and at all times, that they should have been, or in some essential Platonic sense actually are, the opposite sex. Kearns: It seems to me that many activists hold two contradictory positions simultaneously. One is that transgenderism is not a mental disorder and the other is that gender dysphoria is a mental disorder. How does one make sense of that? Blanchard: I think its this kind of Talmudic reading of the DSM. Its like, well, gender dysphoria is a mental disorder because thats now listed in the DSM. But transsexualism isnt a mental disorder because thats no longer a word used in the DSM. Its just this kind of weird, naive outsiders literalist interpretation of how the DSM is written. Kearns: Is it anything do with the fact that, obviously for insurance and medical providers, there would need to be a medical problem in order for it to justify treatment? Blanchard: Absolutely. There has to be a diagnosis in order for third-party payment. Whether we are talking public or private insurance, there has to be a diagnosis of some disorder to pay for sex-reassignment surgeries or for people who have drug plans in order to pay for testosterone injections or estrogenic medications for biological males. So this is something that for the trans activists is a stumbling block. If there isnt a disorder of some sort, then all individuals who wanted to have sex-reassignment surgery or exogenous hormones would be paying the whole cost themselves. Kearns: Right, because it would be essentially a cosmetic treatment at that point? Blanchard: Correct. Kearns: Im really interested in your work on paraphilia. What is the difference between paraphilia and, say, a disorder or an even older term perhaps, a perversion? Blanchard: Yeah sure, perversion was an older label for whats now called paraphilia. Correct. Kearns: And is the only difference a linguistic one where the morally loaded connotations of the word are removed? Or is there a substantive difference? Blanchard: I dont think there is any substantive difference. I mean the word pervert had become part of the lay vocabulary and was routinely used as an insult or as a derogatory comment whether seriously or in jest. Everybody knew the word pervert, had a vague idea of what it meant, and knew that it was something bad. So, the word paraphilia was substituted because it had a nice medical sound to it, and it had not and still has not entered the popular vocabulary as an insult. Kearns: In the study of sexuality, how do we ascertain and define what is normal? Blanchard: Well normal is virtually never defined. I guess the issue is how we define disorder and thats a very difficult problem. I think that a lot of lay people have the notion that some place somewhere there is this official definition of disorder and that one can decide whether or not any given behavior or constellation of behaviors is a disorder by comparing that to the official definition of disorder, conceived in something like the official kilogram stuck in some lab in Paris, and the reality is that there isnt one single definition of disorder that you can compare anything to and decide if it is or is not a disorder. Kearns: Do you worry at all about a sort of concept creep, where something that maybe wouldnt have been a problem or at least a medical problem in the past is now a problem? Im thinking specifically of gender dysphoric young people and the extent to which clinicians give out the diagnosis. Blanchard: Well, I wouldnt call that concept creep. Id call that a problem with the quality of training and expertise of people doing the diagnosis. I mean yes. There were people concerned about concept creep during the last revision of the DSM-5, or the last revision of the DSM which eventually became the DSM-5. But I know from having been on one of the work groups that there was a constant preoccupation everywhere, among people involved in the work groups, not to keep expanding the number of things called disorders because everyone was aware that this was an issue. I cant say that it was an issue in the general public because the general public doesnt concern themselves with this, but in the intelligentsia there was an issue with increasing numbers of behaviors being listed as disorders. So there was a lot of awareness of this. Kearns: I guess that relates to the earlier point about a sort of overexpansion of definitions with the transgenderism versus the earlier concept of transsexualism. Blanchard: Yes. Clearly in the days when transsexualism was the standard diagnostic entity that people were concerned with, everybody was aware that there were lower degrees of dissatisfaction with biological gender. Kearns: Lets talk a little bit about the difference between the females and the males with gender dysphoria. Youve noted in past research that virtually all female gender dysphorics are homosexual. Do you think that is still the case with the new Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria (ROGD) sub-category [a description coined by the medical doctor and researcher, Lisa Littman, in 2018, which describes the unprecedented surge of teen girls identifying suddenly as the opposite sex]? Blanchard: No, I dont. I think one of the things that distinguishes the ROGD cohort is a greatly larger proportion of cases who think of themselves as gay men trapped in womens bodies. This had existed in previous decades, but it was maybe a handful of biological females who said, I feel like a gay male, and I would like to have surgery or hormones so that I can live my life as a gay male. It did exist, but it was very, very rare. Now among the ROGD cohort I cant give you numbers, but I get the impression thats its much, much more common for the ROGD girls to present that way than it ever has been. Kearns: And is that a sort of body-image problem or a response to trauma? Blanchard: I think that these ROGD kids are such a mishmash of kids with a variety of personality pathologies and social problems. I wouldnt really know what to tell you about whats within that mix. Kearns: Okay but as for what Littman describes as the social contagion element, I obviously understand that its very complicated and there are lots of moving parts, but do you have any sense of any particular thing that helps explain the sudden spike of cases of these kids? Blanchard: No, I dont. I think there have historically been precedents, and they have typically involved more females than males, which is also true like in the ROGD phenomenon. For example, recovered memory was a fad for a while, and ritual satanic child abuse was a fad. Typically, these involved more female adolescents than males for whatever reason. If you want to go a little further back in history and look at the Salem witch trials in the U.S. in the late 17th century, most of the individuals who were claiming to have been attacked by witches and who were executed as witches were predominantly female. While it was older ladies who were hanged as witches, it was young ladies who accused them of witchcraft. So there seems to be something about a young adolescent female population that is particularly vulnerable to certain kinds of psychiatric phenomena. Kearns: That is fascinating. And obviously distinct from the work you did on the males who were either the autogynephilic [erotically aroused by the thought of themselves female] or homosexual transsexuals [wanting to become women, because they are uncomfortable and conspicuously feminine as men]. Do you have a sense of how these two categories relate to the new form of transgender women [males] who, other than maybe taking some hormones, havent really altered their male genitalia at all? Blanchard: Well there certainly seems to be a lot more of them now than there ever was before. In the days when I was working in the field, certainly a large proportion of biological males went ahead and had vaginoplasty. Im not sure what is with this new crop because I had left the area and was working on other things. So, this was before the Internet basically. Which seems to have somehow encouraged a different social organization of people with gender-identity disorders. Kearns: You said in the Twitter thread, the one that got you suspended for 24 hours, that you think that sex-change surgery is still the best treatment for adults who have been carefully screened and who have tried other forms of treatment which havent worked. Do you have thoughts on the body of research which has contraindications and the suggestion that this can make matters worse? Blanchard: Well thats a very interesting question. I cant think of any body of research that systematically identified which of your cases are going to be psychiatric catastrophes, but that doesnt mean there isnt any, because I havent worked in that area for many years now. But the emphasis was always on how you select cases for surgery and what proportion of them have regrets, which was usually considered a kind of touchstone of a bad outcome. But I dont know about much research on the cases who actually reverted. Probably the biggest source of information on that now would be these cases who have been ROGD girls and now are starting to revert back to the female roles. Theres a group of them who have been doing YouTube videos, so theres more activity from that quarter. Kearns: You suggest that 21 is a good age. Why 21 as opposed to, say, 18? Blanchard: Any age-specific criterion of mine of course is going to be arbitrary. So why 21 and not 20? Why 21 and not 22? It could be the same question. The clinic that I worked at was 21, and were there patients who had surgery and regretted it? Yes, absolutely there were, but it was maybe 2 or 3 percent of patients who after surgery decided to go back to living in their original gender role and interestingly, none of them ever blamed us for having approved them for surgery, even though they eventually rejected their role. So I think wherever you set that line, you are going to make some mistakes. The question is what the more serious mistake is, not approving surgery [for someone] who could benefit but has to wait a few extra years, or approving surgery [for someone] who is not going to benefit and is going to regret and now be permanently surgically altered for the rest of their life. When you set an age cutoff, its not merely a question of how many errors are you going to make in the conservative direction or in the liberal direction, but its also a matter of what are the consequences of one kind of error versus the other kind of error. The consequences of being too conservative with regards to an age limit for surgery are basically that the person might have to live for one or two or three years with their original body unaltered when they would have been just as well if they had surgery a few years earlier. But thats correctable. Once youve cut off somebodys penis and testis or removed their uterus and ovaries, these are irreversible [procedures]. So there is an asymmetry in the two different kinds of errors, not approving surgery when it would have been okay and approving surgery when its not okay. Kearns: As a lay person on this, it seems to me that the sort of vast range of treatments have now been channeled into a narrative of affirmation versus conversion. How do we make sense of this? Blanchard: Well I think the use or the application of the words conversion therapy to the situation where you are just trying to see if the child can be made to accept his or her biological sex was a deliberate cynical strategy on the part of trans activists to piggyback on the success of the gay-rights movement and say, What youre trying to do with children, in getting them to accept their anatomical sex, is the same as what we used to do with gay people and lesbians. Its a deliberate attempt to try and piggyback issues that pertained to transsexualism to issues that had pertained to homosexuality, and I think the comparison is specious. Its a deliberate attempt to confuse the two issues. Kearns: Yes, its been very successful in the mainstream media and so on and so forth. Blanchard: Thats for sure. Kearns: Why do you think that is? Blanchard: Thats a good question. Educated people in general have a sympathy for the downtrodden or the unfortunate thats built into liberal-arts education in the Western world and I think thats a good thing. I think its a good thing that people should get some kind of built-in bias towards the underdog and towards the suffering. But I think in this case, that tendency and that bias on the part of liberal media has been misused by trans activists to influence treatment of cases of those who would actually do better in the long term if they could simply accept their anatomic sex, and here Im talking about the young kids, 60 to 80 percent of whom are going to normalize in gender identity even without any clinical intervention. Kearns My final question for you is do you see future editions of the DSM changing with regards to gender dysphoria, and if so, how? Blanchard: I would like to say that I think things will continue as they are, but I think what we are seeing is a staggering influence of a very small number of people on society. For example, so many schools have gone out of their way to basically encourage gender transition. So I think at some point this has to correct itself, but it could be a long time before the pendulum swings back to some kind of middling position where we neither deny treatment to transsexuals who could profit from it nor encourage people to go down that route who could make an adjustment in some way thats better in the long term. More from National Review This business was founded on design, says Ciaran McGuigan, the next-generation designer behind the Northern Irish furniture brand Orior. McGuigan was standing in the brands Manhattan showroom space (located at 11 Harrison Street in Tribeca) a few days before it opens to the public today, explaining how this, the latest incarnation of Orior, brings the brand back to the roots upon which it was created some 40 years ago by Ciarans parents, Brian and Rosie McGuigan. Our business was founded on the idea that we wanted to design individual products, the younger McGuigan says, to make beautiful pieces. OriorFurniture03.jpg Photo courtesy Orior Based in Newry, Northern Ireland, the company has become well-known among top interior design talent like Martin Brudnizki, who called up Orior to craft custom pieces on his recent refresh of the iconic London club Anabels. But, McGuigan says, the contract business is a form of design thats reactive, responsive to a clients creativity. So with a renewed energy and focus on original design, that part of the business has been spun off into Orior Contract, while the showroom will be home to the brands in-house designs (the details and finishes are customizable, of course, as each piece is made to order, but the designs will be shown in the colorways and forms representative of the brand). For the revamp, Ciaran also brought on Jordan Trinci-Lyne, whom he met at SCAD, as senior designer. We want to show were still designers; we want to be active, McGuigan says. OriorFurniture09.jpg Photo courtesy Orior OriorFurniture06.jpg Visitors to the new Manhattan showroom (the brand previously had a space in Williamsburg in Brooklyn) will find a little more than 20 Orior furniture designs, with a selection of new pieces at the front. There, visitors are greeted with elegant designs in which dare-you-to-touch them materials are given a jolt of rich colors, like the Mara credenza, a showstopper of a piece with olive-colored suede doors trimmed in brass beneath a slab of moss-colored Irish marble, a 1.6-billion-year-old material sourced directly from the quarry. Story continues OriorFurniture02.jpg Photo by Claire Esparros Nearby, a pair of sexy, low-slung Bianca armchairs, in burnt orange and forest green, invite visitors to recline. Toward the back of the space, the brands novelties give way to updated reinterpretations of some of Brian McGuigans earlier designs, like the Atlanta sofa, shown in sapphire Pierre Frey crushed-velvet upholstery and fringe trim. Its all imbued with a louche type of sex appeal that harkens back to the era when the brand was born (its easy to imagine Yves Saint Laurent or Bianca Jagger draped over the designs). OriorFurniture08.jpg Photo courtesy Orior We made a conscious decision last year to do a full relaunch to what [the company] was, McGuigan explains, before listing off the core principles: original design (with personality) and the same personal attention to craftsmanship and customer service the brand has become known for in the contract market. To do that, McGuigan embraced the brand history and the talented craftspeople in the brands Irish workshop, using that expertise to create such details as the bullnose marble base of the Hemlock console or book-matched carpentry. Were nothing without the expertise of those whove come before, he explains. When I first came to New York, I didnt get it. I shied away from the fact that were Irish; I wanted to be European, says McGuigan, citing his love for Italian design. But slowly, he began to realize the brands roots offered the brand a rare type of handmade quality and attention to detail. In recent years, everyone's getting into craft. Everyone's a maker. To me that's kind of like a prerequisite, McGuigan says. Let's look at it as an attitude and a personality. Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest The Duchess of Sussex has raised the profile for many smaller British fashion labels [Photos: Getty/PA] On May 19, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex celebrate their first wedding anniversary, which also marks Meghan Markles first year as a member of the Royal Family. From the moment the pair announced their engagement in November 2017, the Meghan effect struck the fashion industry, just as weve seen with her sister-in-law Kate Middleton. The former actress wore a white coat by Line The Label for the photocall, which caused the Canadian brands website to crash. And following her wedding day, searches for halter neck dresses were up 40 per cent, according to global fashion search platform Lyst, after Meghan wore a gown by Stella McCartney for the evening reception. Since then weve seen the duchess wear an array of designer garments for her engagements, on tour, and during her pregnancy, from fashion favourites Givenchy, Dior, and Oscar de la Renta. As well as high end fashion, Meghan has also had a big impact on smaller labels, which for some has resulted in global recognition. Meghan wore Strathberry's tri-colour tote bag in Nottingham in December 2018 [Photo: PA] For her visit to Nottingham in December 2017, she carried Edinburgh-based label Strathberrys tri-colour tote bag and thanks to the Meghan effect, the first standalone store was opened in Londons Burlington Arcade last year. Strathberry is the brandchild of Guy and Leeanne Hundleby, who launched the brand in 2013. Leeanne Hundleby spoke to Yahoo UK about the day Meghan first wore one of their bags. I was in a meeting in the office when I received a message from one of my colleagues. We were just delighted to see Meghan Markle carrying our Midi Tote- and soon afterwards the phones started ringing constantly and didn't stop for days. READ MORE: Royal Wedding highlights: Best moments from Meghan and Harry's big day, revisited Since then, the duchess has worn two more designs from their collection. Leeanne adds: The response has been phenomenal. We were already beginning to take the brand international, and had noticed an increased demand and awareness for the brand across the globe. Story continues In March 2018, Meghan and Harry made a surprise trip to Northern Ireland. She wore a beige Mackage coat with a cream Victoria Beckham sweater and a dark green Greta Constantine skirt, but it was her Charlotte Elizabeth Bloomsbury bag that got everyone talking. Meghan carries the Charlotte Elizabeth 'Bloomsbury' bag in Northern Ireland in March 2018 [Photo: PA] Founded by Charlotte Elizabeth Jones in 2016, then aged 21, the handbag business was created whilst she was suffering from illnesses, which restricted her to being bedbound. Prior to that, she had attended a course with The Prince's Trust to learn about setting up a business and that support helped her to make her dream come true. Her sister Amy Jones, who quit her job as a Digital Director for a London PR agency last August to concentrate on the brand tells Yahoo UK: Within minutes of Meghan stepping out with the bag, our site was flooded with orders worldwide, with our total sales up over 45,000% in 24 hours. With such a huge increase in sales, we did end up selling out of all styles and being on pre-order for six months. We upscaled manufacturing and distribution, and six months later, we were able to catch up on sales and release new colours, too. Amy explains that most of their orders were UK based before Meghan toted the bag. She adds: Weve seen incredible growth overseas, with 69% of our sales to the International market, and our number one market being the US, which we believe we never would have reached so quickly if it wasnt for the Duchess of Sussex wearing The Bloomsbury. Cracking the US market is a hard gig, Meghan gave us a green light and its something that brands probably build up in three to five years. Amy also says theyre looking forward to continuing expansion this year and new styles are being added to their collection. READ MORE: Meghan Markle's maternity style file Meghan is also responsible for bringing a number of sustainable and ethical brands to the forefront, including Bar Jewellery. She wore their Wide Ripple Bracelet, made from in gold plated recycled silver, during a visit to Birkenhead in January 2019. The Duchess of Sussex wearing Bar Jewellery's 'Wide Ripple Bracelet' in Birkenhead in January 2019 [Photo: PA] Set up in 2016 by former ready-to-wear designer Sophie McKay (who has worked for Tom Ford and Burberry) Bar Jewellery is made using recycled 925 sterling silver and is sourced primarily from excess metal from local jewellers, broken and unwanted pieces and coins and artefacts which are melted down and refined in Birmingham. Sophie says: We dont want to produce products that harm the environment or the people in our supply charm and every decision we make is informed by these principles. The day Meghan stepped out wearing the bracelet came as a complete surprise to her and she tells Yahoo UK that things went completely crazy on the day. READ MORE: Meghan Markle praised for 'body-positive message' in bump-hugging dress for first post-birth appearance She says: Its nice that Meghan is supporting sustainable brands and brands who are trying to do good things. We saw something like a 500 per cent increase in website traffic and definitely a significant increase in sales, which has continued. We make to order and instantly I saw the effect it had and it means I can give business to local trade immediately. The duchess has just become a mother to Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. While shes likely to be on maternity leave for the next few months, itll be interesting to see what fashion choices she makes for her son and whether that will also have a positive impact on the industry. Meghan Markle has the occupation "Princess" on the royal baby birth certificate. [Photo: Getty] The Duchess of Sussex gave birth to her first child, a son named Archie, earlier this month. The infants birth certificate was released this afternoon, revealing he was born at Portland Hospital in Westminster. Aside from this revelation, most of the information contained in the certificate is already public knowledge including the full names of Archie Harrison Mountbatten and his parents, Rachel Meghan Markle and His Royal Highness Henry Charles Albert David Duke of Sussex. READ MORE: Meghan Markle shares new photo of baby Archie However, there is one crucial detail that has people scratching their heads: Meghan Markles occupation is listed as Princess of the United Kingdom. The birth certificate of Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, son of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex pic.twitter.com/9kvv7teEiB Press Association (@PA) May 17, 2019 We all know that Prince Harry is a Prince. He has officially held the title, Prince Henry of Wales, since his birth, although he has gone by Duke of Sussex since his wedding. Meghan has been called Meghan, Duchess of Sussex since her marriage on 19 May last year, but has never been officially referred to as Princess Meghan. READ MORE: Does Archie look more like Harry or Meghan? However, as the wife of Prince Harry, Meghan is entitled to use the female equivalent to his title therefore she can go by Her Royal Highness Princess Henry of Wales. However, much like her sister-in-law the Duchess of Cambridge, Meghan Markle goes by her duchess title. Although it has never been commented on by the royal family, it is believed the Princess of Wales titles are not used because of their links to Diana, Princess of Wales, who died tragically in a car crash in 1997. It is likely this is why Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, the second wife of Prince Charles, does not use the princess title either. Story continues READ MORE: Body language expert compares Kate and Meghans first mum moments Neither the Duchess of Cambridge or the Duchess of Sussex will be able to go by the title Princess Catherine or Princess Meghan in their own right. This is a privilege reserved by those of royal birth, such as Prince Harrys cousins, Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice. LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) - Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex and wife of Britain's Prince Harry, gave birth earlier this month at a private hospital in London, her son's birth certificate shows, according to the Press Association. Former American actress Meghan, who cited her name as "Rachel Meghan Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex," gave her occupation as "Princess of the United Kingdom." The birth certificate ends the mystery about where the baby was born after speculation that Meghan, who married Queen Elizabeth's grandson a year ago, had planned a home birth at the couple's residence on the Windsor Castle estate. There had been media reports that the couple had made a late dash to the hospital, London's Portland, because Archie was overdue although until now, the couple have not disclosed any details about the birth or its location. Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, who is the seventh-in-line to the British throne, was born on May 6. (Reporting By Andrew MacAskill; editing by Michael Holden) By Andreas Rinke BERLIN (Reuters) - The presumptive heir to Angela Merkel denied a report on Friday that she had pressured the German chancellor to step down after an election later this month for the European Parliament in which their conservative party is set to lose ground. A spokeswoman for Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, leader of Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), denied a Bloomberg report, which cited two unnamed people, that Kramp-Karrenbauer had pressured the chancellor to step down after the May 26 vote. "The report that the chairwoman of the CDU had pressured the chancellor to step down after the European Parliament vote lacks any basis," the spokeswoman said. There has been speculation about whether Merkel, now almost 14 years in power, would complete her fourth and last term in office. Both Merkel and AKK, as Kramp-Karrenbauer is known in Germany, have said the chancellor would complete her term, which ends in 2021. Merkel's conservatives and their Social Democrats (SPD) junior coalition partners are expected to bleed support in the European election next week. That would particularly increase the pressure on the SPD to quit the coalition and reinvent itself in opposition, especially because it risks losing control of the northern German state of Bremen where it has ruled for more than seven decades in a vote also on May 26. It is unlikely Merkel would try to form a new government with other parties if the SPD were to quit the coalition after the vote in Bremen next week. She would most likely leave the stage for Kramp-Karrenbauer, her preferred successor. Bloomberg quoted one unidentified source as saying that Kramp-Karrenbauer had sent a message to Merkel urging her to resign and called a CDU party conference for June 2 in order to try to force her hand. But sources in the CDU told Reuters that the two women had jointly selected the date for the CDU conference to discuss spending plans in light of weaker tax intakes as Europe's largest economy cools. (Editing by Leslie Adler) Federal Agency for Special Construction ex-deputys detention extended for 3 months RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 13:35 17/05/2019 MOSCOW, May 17 (RAPSI) The Moscow City Court has extended detention of the Federal Agency for Special Construction (Spetsstroy) ex-deputy Alexander Mordovets until August 29, RAPSI reports from the courtroom. The court dismissed the defendants motion to be released from custody. Mordovets is accused of taking bribe and abuse of office. A criminal case has been opened over the violations found during the construction of the Vostochny Cosmodrome. According to the investigation, Mordovets has received more than 30 million rubles (about $465,000) from one of the construction companies. Ex-deputy was detained on May 24, 2018, but he still hasnt been charged with the final wording. The construction of the Vostochny Cosmodrome, due to become Russia's main launch site, began in 2012. The first launch vehicle operation was carried out on April 28, 2016. Dozens of cases over embezzlement during the space centers construction have been launched in several Russian regions. Photo: iStock The number of crime incidents in Miami saw an overall decline last month, after a previous rise, according to data from SpotCrime, which collects data from police agencies and validated sources. Incidents fell by about 18%, from 2,552 in March to 2,072 in April. Most types of crimes decreased this month, led by theft and assault. Theft fell from 1,019 reported incidents in March to 837 in April. Assault incidents went from 478 to 363 for the month, or about a 24% decrease. While somewhat smaller categories, there was also a considerable percentage decrease last month in vandalism, from 27 incidents per month to 12, and in robbery, from 63 to 45. Vandalism reports have decreased since the same month last year. There were 102 burglary reports last month. Burglary incidents dropped from 110 offenses the previous month. Among the few types of offenses that saw an uptick last month, arson reports went from zero to one. Shooting incidents rose from two to three. Looking at crime patterns in different areas of the city, the largest decline last month occurred in Little Havana, Allapattah and Liberty City. Coral Way, Overtown and Brickell also saw considerable percentage decreases in crime offenses for the month, although they continue to have lower overall crime levels. Tuesdays, Mondays and Thursdays saw the most reported crimes last month. The largest decrease from the previous month occurred on Sundays, Saturdays and Fridays, while incidents on Thursdays went up. Comparing times of day, late afternoon, early afternoon and late morning saw the most crime last month on average each day. To report a crime in progress or life-threatening emergency, call 911. To report a non-urgent crime or complaint, contact your local police department. Head to SpotCrime to get free local crime alerts in your area. This story was created automatically using local crime data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about our data sources and local crime methodology. Got thoughts about what we're doing? Go here to share your feedback. Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez (Credit: Todd Williamson/Invision for MTV/AP Images) Dom Toretto can breathe a sigh of relief it appears that he's not lost one of his key crew-members after all. Michelle Rodriguez has reportedly agreed to sign on for Fast & Furious 9, due to begin production soon, after the movie added a female writer. Back in 2017, Rodriguez, who plays Letty Ortiz, was considering exiting the franchise due to the lack of female representation. Read more: First trailer for Hobbs & Shaw She wrote in a post to Instagram that she's walk unless she saw producers showing 'some love to the women of the franchise on the next one'. But according to Bloomberg, she's now back in the fold, after using her leverage to secure a so far unnamed female writer. She said at the Bloomberg Future of Equality Summit in London: I felt like there was not enough of a female voice in the franchise. Read more: Has Vin Diesel joined the Avatar 2 cast? She added that 'You should evolve with the times, not just pander to certain demographics that are stuck'. Michelle Rodriguez at the World Premiere of Fast & Furious 6 afterparty in London on Tuesday, May 7th, 2013. (Photo by Jon Furniss/Invision/AP) Fast & Furious 9 started pre-production in London earlier this year, and will begin filming in the next few weeks. After couple of scheduling delays, it's now due to hit screens on May 22, 2020, with Letty, Vin Diesel's Dom, Chris Bridge's Tej and Jordana Brewster's Mia all returning. F&F spin-off Hobbs & Shaw, starring Jason Statham and Dwayne Johnson, arrives on August 2. By Melanie Burton and Jonathan Barrett MELBOURNE/SYDNEY, May 17 (Reuters) - A billionaire who built his own Jurassic Park and promises a replica Titanic may hold the balance of power in Australia's parliament if his populist campaign wins enough votes in Saturday's general election. Clive Palmer, whose slogan "Make Australia Great" echoes U.S. President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, has spent tens of millions of dollars on a campaign aimed at disaffected voters in a country where casting a ballot is compulsory. The unprecedented spending in an Australian election could help the businessman capture a powerful bloc in the upper house Senate, analysts say, and force a new government to seek his help to pass legislation. "There's a strong possibility that he could hold the balance of power," said Rohan Millar, an academic at Sydney University. Palmer's United Australia Party promises fast trains for the east coast cities of Sydney and Brisbane, and a 20% increase in pension payments for the elderly. Full-page spreads in major newspapers promote the party platform, while Palmer's portly visage, thumbs up, peers down from canary yellow billboards across the country. "It's a very simple platform. As the major parties are engaging in negative campaigning, he's got the bright yellow colors, offering a new direction, a return to jobs and prosperity," Millar said. "There's large tracts of Australia where he resonates," he added, though the party has not said how it will pay for its promises. It has spent A$44.4 million ($30.7 million) in TV, print and radio advertising since September, according to Nielsen Ad Intel Portfolio data, compared to a combined A$22.4 million by the incumbent Liberal-led coalition and opposition Labor party. The data did not include online advertising or the campaign's final week when Palmer ran prominent newspaper ads. LARGER THAN LIFE Story continues He first entered parliament in 2013 when his Palmer United Party captured a crucial handful of seats in the Senate, where the party held the balance and was able to block or pass legislation as an unlikely power-broker. But his influence waned after two senators quit the party. Palmer did not seek re-election after the worst attendance record of any politician, parliament records show. Palmer, who made it back onto Forbes' rich list after a five-year hiatus, has stood out even in a country known for its larger-than-life tycoons. He has hosted glamorous parties in New York and Townsville in his home state of Queensland for his proposed Titanic II, which he says will be built in shipyards in China. He created a theme park with robotic dinosaurs on Queensland's coast. The park and a nearby resort now lie vacant and in disrepair. Palmer cultivates a jovial image, poking fun at himself by writing haiku about hamburgers and on the campaign trail creating a videogame in which players binge on biscuits and dodge political opponents portrayed as cockroaches. That irreverence extends to the electoral process. He spammed hundreds of thousands of voters this year with text messages pledging to stop political phone spam if elected. But behind the jocularity lies a controversial businessman. Before laying off 800 workers and devastating the local economy, Palmer's Queensland Nickel refinery, which went into administration in 2016, donated A$20 million to his first election campaign. Palmer, who said the matter was out of his hands, has now begun to settle the claims of former workers but the government is pursuing him to recover a A$66 million bailout package, just as the winner of Saturday's election may need his help to pass legislation. Palmer also owns a coal deposit in Queensland's remote Galilee basin, where India's Adani Enterprises is struggling to gain final government approvals for a hugely controversial heating coal mine. If approved, Adani plans to build a new rail line that would connect the basin to the port and ease development of new projects, including Palmer's deposit. Analysts say his expensive campaign does not guarantee electoral success on Saturday. It's difficult to win a Senate seat, let alone a bloc of seats, in a system dominated by two major parties, said John Warhurst, emeritus professor in political science at the Australian National University. "If he does get in, he would be influential," Warhurst said. "He would be tricky to deal with, super-confident, a bit unpredictable, but potentially a good negotiator." ($1 = 1.4522 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Melanie Burton in MELBOURNE and Jonathan Barrett in SYDNEY; editing by Darren Schuettler) (Refiles to change story identifier to connect text with pictures, removes TV tag) * Russia lost voting rights after 2014 seizure of Crimea * Compromise brokered by France and Germany * Ukraine boycotts Helsinki meeting in protest By Anne Kauranen HELSINKI, May 17 (Reuters) - Foreign ministers from the Council of Europe, the continent's chief human rights watchdog, reached an agreement on Friday that opens the way for Russia to return to the organization, resolving a dispute that began after Moscow's seizure of Crimea. The agreement follows efforts by France and Germany to find a compromise among the 47-nation group and means Russia will likely take part in a meeting of the council's parliamentary assembly in June, when key new appointments will be made. Russia has indicated it will resume payment of its membership dues as a result. It stopped payment nearly two years ago after its voting rights in the council were suspended over its 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. Ukraine, supported by six other countries, tried unsuccessfully to block the agreement, which was approved by a qualified majority, diplomats said. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov welcomed the move. "We do not intend to leave the Council of Europe as some people are trying to suggest by spreading false rumors. And we are not refusing to fulfill a single obligation, including financial ones," Lavrov said in Helsinki, where the meeting was held. Finland currently chairs the council. The Russian spat has prompted questions about the future and durability of the 70-year-old Council of Europe, the guardian of the European Convention on Human Rights and the creator of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. It also left a 90 million euro hole in the council's budget since Russia accounts for around 7% of contributions. STAYING IN THE CLUB France and Germany have been keen to keep Russia inside the council, arguing that if it is outside it is harder for any human rights abuses to be flagged and pursued by the court. Story continues Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin boycotted Friday's meeting. Officials said they understood Kiev's frustration, but said the council was not the place to resolve the Crimea issue. "Ukraine has every reason to demand Crimea's restoration," said Nina Nordstrom, head of human rights policy at the Finnish foreign ministry. "But matters of peace and war between countries are not solved within this organization." Britain, Poland, Georgia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania joined Ukraine in opposing the agreement, diplomats said, while 39 countries backed it. Criticizing the agreement on Twitter, Lithuania's Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius said Russia was continuing its "aggression" against Ukraine and said European values meant very little if they were not defended. Officials said Friday's agreement meant Russia would take part in the June assembly in Strasbourg, when a new secretary- general and court judges will be elected, provided some technical rule changes are approved first. "What happened today is a pre-final step," said Daniel Holtgen, chief spokesman of the organization. "The parliamentary assembly will have to take into account the decisions of ministers and decide whether or not to change their internal rules so that Russia can take part in these elections in June. "Russia has said the moment they return to the parliamentary assembly and their rights are restored, they will pay their contributions and their dues, and we have no reason to doubt that statement." (Additional reporting by Andrew Osborn in Moscow and Gilbert Reilhac in Strasbourg Writing by Luke Baker Editing by Gareth Jones) Washington (AFP) - The Missouri House of Representatives passed a bill on Friday banning abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, making it the latest US state to pass tough restrictions on terminating a pregnancy. The bill, overwhelmingly approved by the Republican-led legislature and expected to be signed by the Midwestern state's Republican governor, would ban abortions from about eight weeks of pregnancy. Doctors who perform abortions could be subject to prison sentences of between five and 15 years. Women who undergo the procedure would not be prosecuted. Republican-led legislatures in several US states have recently passed bills restricting abortion access in a bid to eventually challenge the 1973 US Supreme Court ruling legalizing the practice. Abortion opponents are hoping the moves will prompt the nation's highest court, which now has a conservative majority, to overturn its landmark decision in the case known as Roe vs Wade. The Republican-dominated legislature in the southern state of Alabama passed a bill this week that places a near-total ban on ending a pregnancy, even in cases of rape and incest. The Missouri bill also does not allow exceptions for rape or incest -- only in cases where the mother's life is in danger. All of the state bans have either been blocked by a judge or are headed for the courts, and some of their backers have said they want the issue to go all the way to the nine-member Supreme Court. The Republican bid to force a showdown over Roe vs Wade comes as President Donald Trump is ramping up for a 2020 re-election campaign with abortion as a hot-button issue. The Supreme Court has previously reaffirmed a woman's constitutional right to an abortion, but some anti-abortion activists believe the time may have come to turn the tables. Since taking office, Trump has appointed two conservative justices -- Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh -- and liberal members of the top court are now outnumbered five to four. Story continues Conservative-leaning Chief Justice John Roberts is seen as the potential swing vote if the constitutionality of abortion eventually comes before the court. - 'Take away legitimacy' - Mary Ziegler, a law professor at Florida State University, said the court may shy away from addressing the bitterly divisive issue for the moment. "The court may not have an interest in addressing abortion at all for now," Ziegler said. "The court might be, at least temporarily, trying to stay out of it altogether." Lawrence Gostin, a law professor at Georgetown University, also said he believed the Supreme Court was in no hurry to take up the subject. "I really don't believe all the hype that the Supreme Court is going to overturn Roe," Gostin said. "Several members of the court, particularly Justice Roberts, believe in the integrity of the court, and understand that if the court was to overturn Roe it would make it look like a partisan, political entity," he added. "It would take away its legitimacy." Gostin said what he sees happening instead is the continued trend of conservative states restricting access to abortion. "They are not going to outlaw it but they will make it so difficult to get, it will be inaccessible, unaffordable," he said. This, he said, would affect women of color and poor, uneducated or rural women in particular. "A woman of means will always be able to get an abortion in the US," Gostin added. "They will be able to travel to California, New York, DC." Georgia, Ohio, Mississippi, Kentucky, Iowa and North Dakota have enacted laws banning an abortion from the moment a fetal heartbeat is detected. Electoral powerhouses Florida and Texas are considering following suit. The moves to restrict abortion have drawn a firestorm of criticism from Democrats. "Access to safe, legal abortion is a constitutional right and Congress can protect it," said Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who is one of 23 Democrats seeking the party's 2020 presidential nomination. "We're going to fight every right-wing lawmaker's attempt to overturn Roe vs Wade," Warren said. California Senator Kamala Harris, another Democratic 2020 hopeful, said people needed to fight back to protect Roe vs Wade as it is under attack. "Protect a women's right to make her own health care decisions," she said, urging supporters to donate to groups backing abortion rights. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin rejected House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neals subpoena for six years of President Donald Trumps personal and business tax returns. Now, Neal will likely turn to the courts, embarking on a lengthy battle that could help define Congress powers to oversee the executive branch.In a letter denying Neals subpoena, Mnuchin on Friday doubled down on earlier assertions that Neal did not have a legislative purpose for obtaining the returns. In response to Neals earlier requests, Mnuchin has said Democrats merely want to expose Trumps private information for political purposes.For the same reasons, we are unable to provide the requested information in response to the committees subpoena, Mnuchin wrote, adding that the Justice Department intends publish a legal opinion memorializing its advice to him to reject the requests. Neal has fought for six weeks to obtain Trumps returns, stating that he needs them to determine whether the Internal Revenue Service is following its policy of annually auditing the president. He first requested the returns at the beginning of April, invoking a section of the tax code that allows the heads of Congress tax-writing committees to obtain the returns of any taxpayer. Neal, in a statement on Friday after the denial, said, The law, by its terms, does not allow for discretion as to whether to comply with a request for tax returns and return information. But even though Mnuchins refusal was widely expected, Neal, a Massachusetts Democrat, said he would consult with counsel on next steps. Mnuchin told a Senate panel this week that Treasury officials would be willing to help Ways and Means committee members examine the audit process without seeing the presidents returns. But Democrats have also been eager to see Trumps tax documents ever since he broke with 40 years of presidential campaign precedent by refusing to release them in 2016. They want to see if he has been truthful about the extent of his wealth, his business ties and whether he cheated on his taxes. Story continues Mnuchin formally rejected the request about a month after Neal first asked. Neal responded with the subpoena last week, setting Friday as the deadline for Mnuchin to respond. Fridays rejection likely sets up a court battle between the legislative and executive branches that could extend beyond the 2020 election. An attempt to enforce a subpoena related to a botched Justice Department investigation during President Barack Obamas administration extended well into the Trump administration. Congress could vote to hold Mnuchin in contempt of Congress and sue in court to enforce the subpoena or the earlier request under the tax code. That would make him the second Trump Cabinet official to be held in contempt of Congress, following Attorney General William Barr. Neal on Friday indicated that he might go straight to court rather than hold Mnuchin in contempt of Congress. I dont see what good it would do at this particular time, Neal told CNN Friday. I think that if both sides have made up their minds, better to move it over to the next branch of government: the judiciary. A Ways and Means spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment once Mnuchins letter was released. Trump has claimed that he is under audit and wont release the returns while that process is ongoing, though no law prevents him from doing so. Neals tax return fight is just one in a panoply of investigations waged by House Democrats since they took over the chamber this year. The Trump administration also has rejected or ignored subpoenas from the House Intelligence and Judiciary committees, claiming that the inquiries amount to presidential harassment. More must-read stories from Fortune: What would impeachment look like in Trumps America? Bernie Sanders has a message for Trump on trade Trump keeps alluding to extending his presidency. Does he mean it? Meet the Republicans likely to challenge Trump in the 2020 primary Is the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization? Trump thinks so Bill on compensations for poor detention conditions reaches State Duma flickr.com/Jobs For Felons Hub 10:47 17/05/2019 MOSCOW, May 17 (RAPSI) Russias Cabinet of Ministers has submitted a bill stipulating a national mechanism of compensations for inadequate conditions in detention facilities to the State Duma, the governments statement reads. The bill would fix the right of detainees and inmates to receive compensations for infringement of jail conditions from the federal budget pursuant to a court order issued in administrative proceedings. The compensation is to be paid immediately after the relevant court ruling is delivered and regardless of the guilt of federal executive authorities, penitentiary institutions and their authorized officials, the legislative proposal reads. In December, Deputy Justice Minister and Russias representative at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) Mikhail Galperin said during the Federation Councils meeting about the governments intent to introduce such a draft law. According to Galperin, poor detention conditions include among others breaking of norms of cells space and lighting regulations. These issues are usually mentioned in the hundreds of complaints filed with the UN Committee against torture and ECHR, he stated. The Deputy Justice Minister believes that the compensation mechanism and more human conditions will get the solution of several pressing questions connected with human rights protection in Russia on the national level. By Sachin Ravikumar and Munsif Vengattil KOPPAL/SHIKRAWA, India (Reuters) - Every morning around dawn, dozens of people gather by the dusty banks of a stream snaking through Shikrawa village, two hours south of India's capital, New Delhi, to do the same thing: defecate in the open. "There are close to 1,600 houses in Shikrawa. And I know for a fact that some 400 of those don't have toilets," said Khurshid Ahmed, a village council official in Shikrawa, in the northern state of Haryana. Federal government records say Haryana - with its population of more than 25 million - is squeaky clean. The state, along with most others in India, is classified "open defecation-free", while a World Bank-supported nationwide survey says only 0.3% of Haryana's rural population defecates outside. But interviews with over half a dozen surveyors involved in the World Bank-supported study, and two participating researchers, all raised significant concerns with the methodology of the survey, and its findings. India's sanitation programme had "succeeded in lifting more than 550 million people out of open defecation in a short period of less than 5 years", India's Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation said in a release on Friday in response to a Reuters' article. In Shikrawa, interviews with 27 people showed at least 330 villagers still defecate in the open because of a lack of toilets, issues with accessing water, or simply a dogged opposition to changing old habits. An hour away in the village of Nangla Kanpur, things aren't any different. The ministry said it "is difficult to comment on isolated incidents of non-usage", but it believes that households may try to hide that they have a toilet, in the expectation of receiving further financial incentives to build toilets. Studies link open defecation to public health issues, as it increases the spread of parasites due to water contamination. The World Bank said in 2016 one in every ten deaths in India is linked to poor sanitation. Story continues In a country plagued by sexual assault crimes, the lack of toilets also disproportionately affects women, who have to walk long distances before dawn or after dark to relieve themselves. In 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the "Swachh Bharat", or "Clean India", campaign and vowed to eliminate open defecation nationwide in five years. Modi, who is seeking re-election for a second term in polls that conclude on Sunday, has often used the success of Swachh Bharat in campaigning. "We got more than 100 million toilets built," he said at a rally in north India on Sunday. Swachh Bharat, a multi-billion-dollar programme backed by money from the government and a World Bank loan, has indeed built millions of latrines, but critics say official statistics paint an overly optimistic picture of its success. "The whole point of this is for people's health," said Payal Hathi, a researcher consulted on the World Bank-backed survey. "It's unfortunate that the data is so misleading." Data from the World Bank-supported National Annual Rural Sanitation Survey (NARSS) that concluded in February shows that only about 10% of rural Indians defecate in the open. The survey was conducted using funds from a $1.5 billion World Bank loan for Swachh Bharat. A separate study conducted over a similar timeline by the non-profit Research Institute for Compassionate Economics (RICE), where Hathi was a researcher, shows 44% of the rural population across four large states still defecate in the open. (Graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/2JF2LFB) The ministry said: "RICE has been repeatedly attempting to undermine the achievements of the Swachh Bharat Mission." It said RICE has a history of "biased, motivated and untruthful" reporting. RICE was not immediately reachable for further comment. "IMPOSSIBLE" FINDINGS Hathi and fellow researcher Nikhil Srivastav also say they witnessed several lapses at meetings held to design the survey. The specific goal of reporting low open-defecation levels was communicated clearly by government representatives to Kantar Public the company contracted to conduct the survey and by Kantar to the surveyors, the two said. Kantar, owned by advertising giant WPP, did not respond to requests for comment. Hathi told Reuters the NARSS questionnaire contained leading queries about toilet usage that may have influenced respondents, and the government ignored suggestions aimed at fixing queries. The ministry said it "categorically dismisses and denies the claims of the two RICE researchers." Seven surveyors who collected NARSS data and had a direct view of the sanitation situation in their respective regions gave Reuters state-wide estimates of open defecation that were sharply higher than the findings in the survey. Two called NARSS findings "impossible" and said very little time had been spent questioning respondents. The surveyors interviewed by Reuters worked in the states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka and declined to be named for fear of losing their jobs. A NARSS surveyor in western Rajasthan state said surveyors would mark a village as ODF - for open defecation-free - even if they spotted faeces on the ground or people defecating outside a violation of government guidelines. "If we see some open defecation in stray cases away from the main centre of a village, we cannot mark the village as non-ODF," he said, adding trainers from the ministry told surveyors to follow such practices. The ministry denied the allegations and said NARSS surveyors typically have "very limited" knowledge of state-wide data. TUTORED RESPONSES Despite researcher concerns around the lapses in the survey, the World Bank has so far given NARSS-linked funds of $417.4 million to India, a right-to-information request shows. "The World Bank has not received any formal expressions of concern related to the work of the surveyors," said a World Bank spokesman in a statement. "An exercise of this scale will have inconsistencies." Reuters also visited the southern state of Karnataka. Across seven villages in Koppal district, at least 150 people defecate in the open, interviews with over 50 people showed. The Indian government also classifies Karnataka as "open defecation free". Many people in north and south India told Reuters that a lack of toilets near fields where farmers spend their day, and poorly built toilets, all contribute to people defecating in the open. Some say they were beaten or shamed by authorities publicly if found to be defecating outside. Others said they were threatened with food ration cuts. Such coercion, sanitation experts say, discourages honest answers about toilet usage as villagers fear reprisals. "The respondents will give you false answers," said Nitya Jacob, a water and sanitation consultant. "They're all tutored to say 'yes-yes,' we use toilets." The ministry said allegations that the responses would be "tutored is naive at the best and malicious at worst". It said it encourages anyone finding incidents of coercion to bring them to its attention and it would act. (Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar and Munsif Vengattil; Editing by Euan Rocha and Philip McClellan) Antananarivo (AFP) - Madagascar's anti-corruption agency has begun legal action against more than half of the country's parliamentary deputies who are suspected of taking bribes, just two weeks ahead of legislative elections, a source said Friday. After a year-long enquiry, a dossier on 79 MPs was sent to the prosecutor's office this week "to begin legal action against the accused", the source told AFP. The prosecutor is now expected to examine the dossier and announce whether some or all of the parliamentarians involved will be charged. Madagascar's President Andry Rajoelina has pledged to fight corruption in the Indian Ocean island nation, a former French colony. Graft affects every level of society in one of the world's poorest countries which ranks 155 out of 180 on Transparency International's corruption perception index. Critics say graft seeps into infrastructure projects, the judicial system and even the African nation's illicit rosewood trade as bureaucrats take their cut for services or from business deals. Last year the corruption problem came to a head when parliamentary deputies supportive of then president Hery Rajaonarimampianina put forward a bill to reform electoral law, just months ahead of last year's presidential election. The bill was criticised by Rajoelina and Marc Ravalomanana -- both former presidents who were running for the top office again -- who accused the head of state of attempting to change the rules in his own favour. The opposition accused some deputies of accepting the equivalent of 12,500 euros ($14,000) to vote for the law changes, during a secret meeting at a luxury hotel in a suburb of the capital Antananarivo. The anti-corruption body then opened an enquiry into the 79 deputies, out of the total of 151 in the national assembly, who voted in favour of the electoral reform. The constitutional court eventually annuled part of the new electoral changes amid a political crisis built up by two months of opposition protests. Story continues All those under suspicion are from Rajaonarimampianina's camp. If found guilty they face up to five years in jail for receiving unjustified remuneration in the exercise of their duties. Only a handful of those targeted are seeking a new mandate in the parliamentary election on May 27. Rajaonarimampianina was beaten in the first round of last year's presidential vote which Rajoelina won, beating Ravalomanana in the second-round vote. RABAT, Morocco (AP) The North African kingdom of Morocco is using new tactics to cut into the surge of migrants seeking to use it as a springboard to get to Europe, stopping about 25,000 attempts to reach Spain so far this year, mainly via the Strait of Gibraltar. Border security chief Khalid Zerouali said in an interview with The Associated Press Thursday that this represents about 30 percent more failed bids to cross to Spain, mainly between February and April, compared with the same period last year. In addition, 50 human trafficking networks have been dismantled in 2019, he said, up 73 percent on this time last year. "We have been very tough on criminal networks," he said. "Vulnerabilities along the (northern) coast" were identified, eliminating "niches for smugglers" who used those points to make crossings, the border chief said. Surveillance technology and reinforced manpower have helped increase vigilance, he said. He did not elaborate on technology used. Zerouali rejected critics' claims that human rights are often disregarded in the crackdown, or that the Moroccan Royal Navy has failed to reach migrants whose flimsy boats are in trouble. Last year, migrant arrivals in Spain eclipsed those to Italy and Greece, with some 60,000 people reaching the country, almost all of them by sea. Those figures started falling dramatically in February. However, migrants continue to try to defy obstacles. Just days ago, Moroccan authorities said three boats carrying 117 sub-Saharans were stopped from setting sail. On the same day, migrants staged an assault on razor-wire fences separating Spain's Melilla enclave from Morocco. Forty people were arrested, while 52 managed to cross. Most migrants looking for a stepping stone to Europe are from Africa, and mainly west Africa, but some Asians also have shown up in Morocco, Zerouali said. "As a matter of fact, we dismantled a network active between Bangladesh, India and North Africa dealing with migrants," he said. Story continues The EU and Spain have increased aid and cooperation with Moroccan authorities. However, the border chief said the 140 million euros pledged to Morocco, being divvied out in stages, is not enough. "We spend more than that in a year," he said. Morocco is working with the European Union "on how to sustain such assistance in a continuous way," he said. "It should not be only one shot." Human rights experts have warned that outsourcing Europe's border control to North African countries creates a risk of human right violations. Amnesty International last year denounced a Moroccan crackdown on sub-Saharan migrants, including alleged mass roundups and expulsions without due process. Activists are also concerned that EU countries are leaving sea rescues to Morocco and other North African countries with fewer resources and experience, potentially putting lives in danger. In March, 45 migrants died trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Spain, Spanish rights activist Helena Maleno, who runs the Tangiers-based group Walking Borders, said at the time. Zerouali said that last year Morocco rescued some 30,000 migrants and "today, our operations in the maritime domain are more than excellent." Morocco does not make statistics on migrant deaths public. 740 W. Randolph St. | Photos: Zumper West Town is a "walker's paradise," is easy to get around on a bicycle and boasts excellent transit options, according to Walk Score's rating system. So what does the low-end pricing on a rental in West Town look like these daysand what might you get for your money? We took a look at local listings for studios and one-bedroom apartments in West Town via rental site Zumper to find out what price-conscious apartment seekers can expect to find in this Chicago neighborhood. Read on for the cheapest listings available right now. (Note: prices and availability are subject to change.) Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. 1355 W. Chicago Ave. Listed at $1,150/month, this studio apartment, located at 1355 W. Chicago Ave., is 38.0 percent less than the $1,855/month median rent for a studio in West Town. In the unit, you'll find central heating, hardwood flooring and many windows. On-site laundry is included as a building amenity. Pet owners, inquire elsewhere: this spot doesn't allow cats or dogs. The rental doesn't require a leasing fee, but there is a $40 application fee. (See the complete listing here.) 180 N. Ada St. Then there's this 423-square-foot at 180 N. Ada St., listed at $1,770/month. In the apartment, expect hardwood flooring, a balcony and in-unit laundry. Pet owners, take heed: cats and dogs are welcome. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee. (See the listing here.) 740 W. Randolph St. This studio apartment, situated at 740 W. Randolph St., is listed for $1,850/month for its 522 square feet of space. Inside, anticipate hardwood flooring, in-unit laundry, a modern bathroom, an updated kitchen, walk-in closets, stainless steel appliances, quartz countertops and central heating and air conditioning. The building features a fitness center, a roof deck, a business center, extra storage space and assigned parking. Neither cats nor dogs are welcome. (See the listing here.) This story was created automatically using local real estate data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. Cannes (France) (AFP) - With the thud of shells exploding all around them in the dark, a terrified young couple sneak past lines of Syrian troops back into besieged Aleppo, their six-month-old daughter Sama clutched in a sling. It is a key moment in Waad al-Kateab's powerful and intimate documentary "For Sama", a love letter to her infant daughter to explain what they lived through in that city of death and devastation just in case they didn't make it. The film, which charts five years of Kateab's life from student protester to wife and young mother, reduced much of the audience at the Cannes film festival to tears and brought the house to its feet in a minutes-long standing ovation. Kateab was just 20 when the pro-democracy protests began in Syria, prompting a bloody crackdown by President Bashar al-Assad that has killed 370,000 people and displaced millions. The northern city of Aleppo suffering some of the heaviest fighting after rebels seized its eastern sector in 2012. Her idea was to document their increasingly precarious lives in the city as the crushing might of the Russian-backed Syrian military pressed in, with the footage juxtaposing the joy of falling in love and the excitement of becoming a mother with the daily trauma of life inside the ravaged city's last hospital. At one point in July 2016, when the situation was already very extreme, Kateab and her doctor husband Hamza went to Turkey to see his sick father. While there, they heard regime forces were poised to totally cut off eastern Aleppo. "We knew we had to go back," Kateab told AFP. Within an hour, they had packed, despite pleas from his parents not to go, or to leave baby Sama behind. - Not brave, just human - With access to Aleppo almost impossible, the young family somehow made the treacherous journey, sneaking past government troops in the dead of night to reach the "safety" of the rebel-held east of the city. Story continues At one point, baby Sama starts wailing, prompting frantic hushed efforts to calm her in a surreal scene in which they sing her a nursery rhyme about chicks and a mother hen. "We were very scared because we didn't know where the regime soldiers were exactly. We knew it was very risky, there was shelling on the front line so they were just about to take the road," Kateab said. What dragged them back was the close bonds they had built with those living under bombardment, and the sense they had a crucial role to play. "We lived with these people for five years, we shared all these experiences with them, the shelling the bombings. Hamza knew how much of a difference a doctor would make in that situation, and I knew how important it was to document things," she said. "We are not brave, we are just people. Any normal human being would do the same thing." - 'I need you to understand' - As the film plays out, the lives of real people are brought sharply into focus, the absurdity of laughter as missiles crash down overhead, the children painting a bombed-out bus, the snowball fights, the aching grief of two little boys over the body of their brother. Their life increasingly revolves around the hospital where Hamza and his team race to treat the flood of victims which at one point reaches 300 a day, and which is then itself hit in an air strike. Central to the story is her struggle with the impossible question of whether or not to flee the city to protect her daughter. "Sama, I've made this film for you. I need you to understand what we were fighting for," she says in the voiceover. Co-director Edward Watts said it was crucial to counter the regime's propaganda -- that they were fighting Islamic State terrorists in Aleppo. "ISIS was only in Aleppo for three months," he told AFP. "Ultimately, you had secular, middle-class, educated people peacefully protesting for their basic human rights and they were met with the full violence of a national military force," he said. "The big point of the film is the shared humanity. What Waad captured is people that you know, your friends from uni, your neighbours, your school teacher." - Traumatised but grateful - Six months after the family returned, Aleppo was overrun and they were forced into exile. She was later award an Emmy for her reports for Britain's Channel 4, believed to be the most watched reports of any during the Syrian civil war. "Each one has his own difficulties, nightmares or other things, and even if I lived with this all my life, I still feel gratitude for the experiences I had," she told AFP. "When I showed the film to the people who were there, all of them said 'This is our story'," she said. State Duma to discuss bill on extended probes into foreign legal persons in graft cases RIA Novosti 16:32 17/05/2019 MOSCOW, March 17 (RAPSI) The Government has introduced into the State Duma, the lower house of Russias Parliament, a bill seeking to extend the duration of administrative inquires into foreign legal entities operating in Russia over corruption allegations. The Government proposes to amend Russia's Code of Administrative Offences so as to empower the heads of higher prosecutors offices to extend administrative investigations into cases over illegal gratification received from legal persons, where legal assistance is sought, for terms up to 12 months, a statement published on the official website of the State Duma on Friday reads. According to the document, at present the cap on the duration of an administrative inquiry is at one month since the date an administrative case is initiated; as an exception, the time of investigation may be extended for an additional month. However, the authors of the bill believe that the two-month period stipulated by the present law is too short in cases where legal assistance is sought from foreign states taking into account the time required to obtain necessary materials, as it is clearly insufficient to conduct full, complex and objective administrative investigations of alleged corruption-related offences. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A California man was sentenced to 20 months in prison on Friday after pleading guilty for threatening to kill the family of U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai over the regulator's successful effort to repeal net neutrality rules. The Justice Department said Markara Man, 33, of Norwalk, California, sent the email threats "in hopes it would cause (Pai) to reverse his position on net neutrality." The FCC did not immediately comment after the sentencing by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Led by Pai, the FCC in December 2017 repealed landmark net neutrality protections, which required internet service providers to provide users equal access to all data, regardless of their kind, source or destination. Net neutrality rules barred providers from blocking or slowing internet content or offering paid "fast lanes." The reversal of the rules has been a win for ISPs such as Comcast Corp, AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications Inc, but was opposed by companies like Facebook Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Google's parent Alphabet Inc. When Markara pleaded guilty in September 2018, Pai thanked law enforcement and the FCC for protecting him and his family, adding "I am deeply grateful for all they have done to keep us safe." In November 2018, Tyler Barriss pleaded guilty for calling in a bomb threat to the FCC during the December 2017 meeting where the vote to repeal net neutrality was held. (Reporting by Chris Sanders; Editing by Richard Chang) Nick Park of Britain poses with his creations, plasticine figures Wallace (C) and Gromit, (R) in a New York hotel October 21. Wallace and Gromit, who appeared in the 1996 Oscar winning animated short film "A Close Shave", were returned to Park after being left in a taxi October 19. 2019 marks the 30th anniversary of the release of A Grand Day Out, Nick Parks 23-minute stop motion film that launched the characters of Wallace & Gromit into the public consciousness. The Oscar-nominated short was just the beginning for the hapless northern inventor and his wry canine sidekick. The duo returned in three sequel shorts - The Wrong Trousers (1993), A Close Shave (1995), and A Matter of Loaf and Death (2008) - a feature-length movie: Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005), plus countless comics, video games, and a world of spin-offs built around side-character Shaun The Sheep. With three Academy Awards to their names, its no surprise that Park has plans to resurrect Wallace & Gromit for another adventure, but the series could have been very different, had fate not intervened. We spoke with Park ahead of the launch of Wallace & Gromits Musical Marvels, a nationwide tour featuring specially created animations and Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers accompanied by a live orchestra, who told us Gromit was nearly a different animal altogether. Read more: Pattinson for Batman When I first started drawing [Wallace & Gromit], I first wondered about Gromit as a cat, Park tells us. I think there are some early drawings [of that], but as soon as I started making them in clay I just found a dog much easier to make. A dog is more of a companion I guess, you know? Someone, who - for want of a better word - is more subservient. Cats are more independent. Wallace and Gromit on the 'Breakfast Set' with the hand of an animator. (Photo by In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images) Gromit was also going to talk in early versions of the film, which Park began in 1982, seven years before it was finally finished. Find out what else we learned about Wallace & Gromit from their creator Nick Park below. Yahoo Movies UK: Youre celebrating 30 years of Wallace and Gromit, but I understand the origin of it actually predates the 30 year anniversary? Nick Park: Absolutely. 1989 is when I finished A Grand Day Out, but been Id been working on it for seven years. The first couple of years was at film school. And then Aardman helped me finish it. But it remained a graduation film. Story continues I'd been working away on it, and I ran out of time at film school. And in those days, they just let me carry on. They could see it was going to take forever. Id got to know Peter Lord and David Sproxton on the set at Aardman, and they were looking for people. And they said come and work for us and I kept refusing, because I needed to finish the film. But eventually I had no money. And I took work in Bristol, and they said work for us part time, and we'll help you finish the film in the studio. So I did do that. But because I was part time it took seven years altogether. What was A Grand Day Out it like originally, and how much did it change over the time before it was finished? Things kind of evolve. And since the earliest days, I was making animated films at home to start with and I went to art school in Sheffield and I made puppet animation films there and drawn animation, and I wasn't sure which way it was going. Read more: Crowd boos Bruce Willis And when I went to the National Film and Television School, I was looking for a project and I had loads of sketchbooks from art school of different characters, and didn't know if they belonged to the idea or not. I did a work placement for three weeks on the film The Dark Crystal, which was in about 1982. And I saw Jim Henson working and Frank Oz, and I was making tea for the special effects team, and it was watching just how they did things. And that helped this idea in my mind to formulate of how I might go about doing it. And it was about this guy who builds a rocket - that was the joke - because this guy built a rocket in the basement of his house. That was that was the basis of the joke. And it was going to take off through the house. Nick Park's A Grand Day Out was his graduation film. (Aardman) But anyway, I couldn't wait to get back. And I started - with a friend - writing the script in a pub and then put it forward as a project and started working on it. And I thought this belongs to clay. It has all the ideas I've always wanted and they all come together. All the things I loved as a kid: the adventure films and Tintin and things like that. And I've never seen this in stop motion. All the cartoons and comedy from Laurel and Hardy to Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck but in clay. But it was very British, you know, set in terraced houses in the north of England. And it was a guy who invents things so it's full of visual stuff. And it was always these two characters that went to the moon? Yes, it was. I think when I first started drawing them, I first wondered about Gromit as a cat, and I think there are some early drawings, but as soon as I started making them in clay I just found a dog much easier to make. A dog is more of a companion I guess you know? Someone, who - for want of a better word - is more subservient. Cats are more independent. And Gromit originally might have talked too? Yeah, that's right. I did actually plan that. I actually recorded a voice where he basically, in a doggy-like way, repeated everything Wallace said. And I recorded it with the guy who did the voice for all the stuff I knew when I was growing up - the Wooden Tops, Bill and Ben and things like that - a guy called Peter Hawkins, and I spent the morning recording with him. But I didn't use any of it, because I found just moving Gromits mouth so much work, and he wasnt going to be extrovert and more doglike. And I found that just by moving the brow, whether it was laziness or practicality, suddenly I found he could say everything. Jay Smart, Junior Model Maker, measuring Gromit. The average size of Wallace and Gromit is 8 inches although some are 6 or even 4 inches depending on the size of the film set. (Photo by In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images) And he became suddenly a more interesting character, more sophisticated than Wallace and more sensitive and thoughtful and more feeling and suddenly he became a nice contrast with Wallace. He was more simple. That's amazing, because that's almost like the crux of the brand: Gromit doesn't talk but he's more intelligent and, and that came through a compromise? Yeah, a kind of discovery once I started on it. You also truncated the story? Oh, yeah. It's easy to write words on paper. It's easy to say there now follows a sequence where 13 helicopters explode. Not that weve got scenes like that, but you know what I mean. Read more: Chris Evans shares bald Captain America pic One of the scenes, it just goes there now follows a sequence where Wallace and Gromit build a rocket. That paragraph took me a year and a half to film. The film was released and was nominated for an Oscar, and you were already nominated for Creature Comforts. Did you go to the Academy Awards that year? Yeah. Because the film was so stretched out in the making on A Grand Day Out. Id finished filming and I was waiting for sound mixing facilities to become available at the film school. I was booked in just before Christmas to finish it. And in the meantime, because I was working part-time for Aardman, and together we devised this series called Lip Synch where five of us made different films, and mine was Creature Comforts. Plastincine models used by Aardman Animation to create the short film Creature Comforts. That took me three months to film, just before I finished A Grand Day Out, and it pipped it at the post really. Suddenly Creature Comforts drew all the attention because it got a BAFTA nomination. Grand Day Out won the BAFTA, against Creature Comforts, and then they both got nominated for an Oscar. And Creature Comforts won, and they became the more popular film really by far. Wallace & Gromit had more of a slow burn effect over the years. But Creature Comforts stole all the limelight. What was the night at the Academy Awards like? You spend years in dark rooms, and you come out, and you not only go to Hollywood, but to the Oscars. I'd never been to the west coast of America before. To suddenly be at the Oscars, and every famous face that you've known from movies is there in the same room... I remember seeing Dustin Hoffman, Sophia Loren, Burt Lancaster, incredible people who are just on the silver screen, in another world. But I was just so utterly nervous thinking: What am I doing here? I know im there for short film, but I was worried. Prince Charles, right, examines an Oscar won by makers of the films starring animated characters Wallace and Gromit with company director Nick Park, in Bristol, England, Monday, July 2, 2001. (AP Photo/ Paul Grover, Pool) What I was most nervous about is that because I had two films - it was a nice problem to have - but if I did win, that I had to remember to thank the right set of people because there are different credits for two different films. I don't remember my legs carrying me up, or how I got up to the stage. I was so utterly nervous. And you're also a bit scared that in case you're so worked up that you think your names been read out, and it hasnt! You start worrying about all sorts of things. But it wouldn't be the last time you went up for an Oscar. Four times altogether. And why did you decide to make a sequel to A Grand Day Out and follow these characters rather than doing something new? The way it worked was, after Creature Comforts got [the Oscar], then Channel 4 had bought A Grand Day Out for a while, for a few screenings. And then BBC came to us, because they were thinking of developing animation within the BBC, and came to us and said, how would you fancy doing more Wallace & Gromit? I dont know if it came from us, or them actually. Read more: Thrones creator shuts down absurd rumours And that got me going, I did definitely want to do more Wallace & Gromit, so it was a great opportunity. And I learned a lot more about story and worked with Bob Baker on the story and more about plot and, and came up with The Wrong Trousers. And then they wanted another another one: A Close Shave. And then we were thinking very much about feature films for a long time as well. So that's a great opportunity. In this photo provided by DreamWorks, Wallace and Gromit are cashing in with their humane pest-control outfit in "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit." (AP Photo/DreamWorks) We did Chicken Run before that, then we did Curse of the Were-Rabbit. And then I found myself liking shorts again, you know, the idea of a short with A Matter of Loaf and Death. The problem with animations, I feel like - same with my colleagues at Aardman - we have so many ideas, it just takes so long with a feature film to get them out. So sometimes shorts are more appealing. I have got other ideas. What are your favourite Wallace and Gromit highlights? In a funny way, because I don't see watch the films very often, even on TV, its great to think that they are still wanting to be played and still have an audience. It's an amazing feeling for me, but I am always looking forward to new ideas. I have my highlights - The Wrong Trousers is probably the film I look to as the model, so to speak, the model film. There's a simplicity and a strength in the simplicity of ideas. Plus it has the greatest chase sequence of all time. The Wrong Trousers won the 1993 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. (BBC/Aardman) It's funny the way it's cited in that way. What happened to Feathers McGraw? Is he going to come back? Surely there's an opportunity for him to be released from prison soon? I thought a lot about that. It is a big question as to where is he now? What are some of the low points of the franchises history? The fire in 2005, presumably? We lost a lot of really lovely sets. Beautifully built sets. It was sentimental really. I mean, we were all just glad that no one was hurt. And really, our attitude is that we can rebuild it. Yeah, we can build. That's what we do. So it didn't affect us in a massive way, the fire in that sense. It was a historical building that got burned down as well, the Brunel building, which was a great loss. Firemen damping down a warehouse belonging to Aardman Animations in Bristol following a fire. (Photo by Barry Batchelor - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images) You never know, in this business, when the success is gonna stop, and where to go next. From the outside - I was thinking this the other day - that we may look successful from the outside, but inside were all [makes panicked expression] and that's partly what's exciting about it really, is that it's a challenge always, to know where to go next, and what to do. Over the years, we're slowly learning to keep a sort of slate going of films. We've got this incredible talent in the studio and keeping them all on is a big challenge, and making sure there's a project. Not just a project that is, oh, gosh, we gotta have something else to do. It's got to be good. Its got to be worthy of the Aardman name with that British sort of outlook. So is Chicken Run 2 your next big project? For the studio. Yeah. We're just finishing off Shaun The Sheep: Farmageddon. And we're planning Chicken Run 2 right now. Is there any update on that? Not really. It's been on hold for a little while, just while we get the script right. But I think everyone's eager to get going on it now. How important do you think the success of the studio is that it never moved from Bristol to London? In a way, it's always been great. I always felt great that were not in London, because I used to live in London, and I love living in Bristol, because I love the countryside being quite nearby. Even in the commercials that we do, agencies have always come out of London to see us, and that's always been a steady line of income as well. Queen Elizabeth II admires the Oscars given to film animator Nick Park during a visit to Aardman Animations in Bristol, July 19. But I think staying in the UK has been important too, just because of our sensibilities and humour. There's been temptation, and people have asked us to go and work in America, and move to America, but I think there's something that comes out of the blood just from living in the UK, and it might be a certain worldview, or sensibilities in humour that we don't want to get diluted. Have you ever had offers for someone to buy the brand part and parcel the Wallace and Gromit world? The temptation for a George Lucas style payday must be there? I don't know if it has, I mean, I'm not really big on the business side. I tend to stick more to the creative. But we've just become employee-owned. I think Pete and Dave who founded the company, they would say that it's insurance against being bought out in the future. So that we stay as we are: a very British company. And be our own bosses. Read more: Major Thrones character alive? The danger is someone else buys you out and then strips the assets, or maybe thinks the clay side isn't that profitable. Let's just stick with the CG. And that kind of safeguards against the future. Its clear that the thumbiness of Aardman animation is crucial to its appeal. Other stop motion companies are moving away from that style, but it's part and parcel of the success of your films - is that fair? It is, and it's the is the draw of the clay animation. We to do a whole diverse set of animations, we've got quite a large digital department and doing all sorts. In a way we're trying to keep our own, more quirky offbeat humour, I think you might describe it, in all the work that we do. One of the Wallace and Gromit model sets used by Aardman Animation. (Photo by Barry Batchelor - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images) And originality is very important. We do CG feature films alongside the stop motion, but we always want to have a hand in how we started with the clay. For me, I've only worked with the clay so I feel like I am an ambassador for that more. Only because I feel it. There's something about it: a charm or a humour, for me, that has come out of that. Like with Gromit, it was to do with animating his brow by hand that made him what he is. It was like a discovery that you can make him speak with his eyebrows. And I don't know... you can do anything in CG and do it amazingly. Ive seen the trailer for The Secret Life of Pets 2, and that to me, is mind-boggling really. And not just the clay, but in Curse of the Were-Rabbit or in Early Man, I really wanted to just keep the real fur fabric on the fur and on the hair. Ray Harryhausen, master stopmotion animator recently completed "The Tortoise and the Hare" with the help of freelance stopmotion animators Seamus Walsh, Mark Caballero and producer Richard Jones. Harryhausen began filming in 1952 using the same puppets. (Photo by Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) Just because there's something I don't know, it takes me back to Ray Harryhausen, or Mighty Joe Young, or King Kong, you know, before Harryhausen, Willis OBrien, theres something tactile, authentic or something? It must be a bittersweet anniversary without Peter Sallis. How much of him is in Wallace and how did he feel about the character? Well, he was always quite sentimental about things. And he did say some nice things to me. Because hed already been in various roles in cinema, and Last of the Summer Wine had gone on for what was it 30 years, or something? And that's where I really knew him from as well. So I think when we met, he was about 60. So I worked with him around 30 years altogether. On and off, because we only have to record in short periods. Peter Sallis reads a script, on the occasion of his 87th birthday, whilst in the studio recording for the forthcoming Wallace & Gromit TV special 'A Matter of Loaf & Death' (Joel Ryan - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images) He said it's been a lovely thing that's happened to him when he thought that was his career all set. And then this came in for him. And he was always very funny, and a very witty guy all the time. On mic, and off mic as well. He had this story of when I recorded him, I didn't have much money as a student pay to actors. So I think I offered him 50 quid, to record for the morning. Read more: Daniel Craig injury delays Bond 25 And he came into the film school and recorded and then seven years later, he said he got a phone call. He heard a small voice on the other end of the line saying Ive finished it! And he was thinking what on earth is this guy on about? I did actually get him back in to do some extra voice work for the film, and we met again. And he was very pleased with what he saw. Congratulations on 30 years, I hope they come back. I am working on... early days, but I'm working on some new Wallace & Gromit ideas. To celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Wallace & Gromit, Wallace & Gromits Musical Marvels is going on tour. For venues and ticket info visit: https://www.carrotproductions.com/wallace-and-gromit/ The production features a live orchestral interactive experience which sees specially created animation and Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers accompanied by a live orchestra, a unique opportunity for Aardman lovers to experience the films in an entirely new way. By Maki Shiraki and Naomi Tajitsu TOKYO (Reuters) - Nissan Motor Co said on Friday that Hiroto Saikawa would stay on as chief executive, backing the protege of former boss Carlos Ghosn even as top shareholder Renault had earlier pushed for a change in the Japanese automaker's leadership. Saikawa's re-appointment is likely to be seen as a rebuff to Renault SA, which has pushed for leadership changes as a prelude to merger talks, sources at both companies have told Reuters. Saikawa - who has long opposed full integration - is seen as an obstacle to a tie-up, several people have said. Nissan has proposed that Renault Chief Executive Thierry Bollore will join the board, while Renault Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard will remain on it. The board will be increased to 11 members from eight, and will include seven outside directors. The proposals will be put to a shareholder vote in June. The make-up of Nissan's board has vast implications for the Nissan-Renault alliance. The unequal relationship between them - smaller Renault has the bigger stake in Nissan - has long been a source of friction. The board unanimously backed Saikawa, even while acknowledging he may have not done enough to rein in Ghosn, one external director said. Ghosn, who has been charged with financial misconduct, has denied wrongdoing. "While there are issues pertaining to Saikawa's responsibility, we feel it is more constructive to focus on cooperation within the alliance, Nissan's recovery and its strategic plan," Keiko Ihara said. "We had a robust debate, we took our time to look at the risks ... but in the end all of the directors agreed to the appointment," she said, adding that Renault's Senard had agreed at a meeting earlier this week to the decision to keep Saikawa. However, a source close to Senard said there had been no vote earlier this week, unanimous or otherwise, on Saikawa's reappointment as CEO. LACKLUSTRE PERFORMANCE Story continues Nissan's uninspiring performance in the months since the dramatic ouster of Ghosn in November has sparked concern at the French automaker. Renault owns 43% of its bigger partner and analysts estimate that Nissan's planned 30% dividend cut this year will wipe around 130 million euros ($145 million) from the French company's earnings. The two Renault executives were recommended to Nissan's board by the French automaker to strengthen the alliance, Ihara said. Renault also recommended Bernard Delmas, who chairs French tyre company Michelin's Japanese operations. There had been widespread speculation about Saikawa's future and the make-up of the board after Nissan this week flagged a 28% drop in annual profit and slashed its dividend, underscoring its struggle to turn a page after Ghosn. Ghosn's arrest in Japan and immediate ouster by Nissan strained the partnership, as Renault resisted a full investigation of alliance finances and kept its absent leader in office as chairman and CEO for two more months. Ghosn is out on bail and awaiting trial in Tokyo. Nissan's shares ended down 0.9 percent on Friday, underperforming a 0.9 percent rise in the Nikkei share average. (Reporting by Maki Shiraki and Naomi Tajitsu; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Anshuman Daga) LONDON (Reuters) - There is no chance of getting British parliamentary approval for all aspects of Brexit by the end of July, the leader of the opposition Labour Party said on Friday after talks with the government collapsed. Jeremy Corbyn said the talks ended because the government had not fundamentally moved its position. He added there was no deal on how parliament should move forward. Asked about an indicative vote which called for lawmakers to show they supported leaving by July 31, he said: "I don't think it's credible to say we get all the parliamentary agreement and all stages of a very controversial and major bill through parliament by the end of July so no, we would not support that." (Reporting by Michael Holden and Andy Bruce; editing by Guy Faulconbridge) North Korea is experiencing its worst drought in over a century, official media reported Friday, days after the World Food Programme expressed "very serious concerns" about the situation in the country. The isolated, impoverished North -- which is under several sets of sanctions over its nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programmes -- has long struggled to feed itself, and suffers chronic food shortages. It recorded its worst harvest for a decade last year, according to the United Nations, down by 500,000 tonnes as natural disasters combined with its lack of arable land and inefficient agriculture to hit production. In the year to Wednesday the North received just 56.3 millimetres of rain or snow, the Rodong Sinmun newspaper reported Friday, the lowest since 1917. Water was running out in the country's lakes and reservoirs, said the paper, the official mouthpiece of the ruling Workers' Party, adding: "The ongoing drought is causing a significant effect on the cultivation of wheat, barley, corn, potatoes and beans." In their most recent estimates, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Programme (WFP) said about 10.1 million North Koreans -- 40 percent of the population -- were suffering from severe food shortages, a similar figure to recent years. Hundreds of thousands are believed to have died during a famine in the mid to late 1990s, a period known as the "Arduous March" in the North. Pyongyang has been frequently condemned by the international community for decades of prioritising the military and its nuclear weapons programme over adequately providing for its people -- an imbalance some critics say the UN's aid programme encourages. But neighbouring areas are also seeing low rainfall this year. The South received just 157 mm of rain in the same period this year, less than half the 364 mm in 2018, Seoul's Korea Meteorological Administration said, describing it as a "mild drought". Story continues And according to China's National Meteorological Centre, rainfall in northeast China -- which includes the provinces of Liaoning and Jilin, which border North Korea -- was 27.6 mm in the year to May 9, down 55 percent on 2018. "We have very serious concerns" about the situation in the North, WFP's executive director David Beasley said during a visit to the South earlier this week. - Missile launch - Seoul is currently planning to provide $8 million of food aid to the North as President Moon Jae-in seeks to salvage diplomacy between Pyongyang and Washington following the collapse of the Hanoi summit. But the move is politically controversial after the North sought to raise the pressure by launching several short-range missiles earlier this month, its first such tests for more than a year. "The issue of food aid should be considered from a humanitarian perspective as fellow Koreans, regardless of the security issues," said South Korea's National Security Advisor Chung Eui-yong. The Unification ministry also said it will give a group of South Korean businessmen permission to visit a joint industrial complex in the North -- once a moneyspinner for Pyongyang -- for the first time since it was shut down in 2016. It was not immediately clear whether the North would let the trip take place. International sanctions against Pyongyang technically do not ban humanitarian aid, but strict interpretations of restrictions on banking transactions and imports by the North -- along with a travel ban for American citizens -- have hampered relief groups' activities. The North previously reported it was experiencing its "worst drought in 100 years" in June 2015. CARACAS, May 17 (Reuters) - Talks taking place in Oslo with representatives of Venezuela's government and opposition to resolve the country's political crisis are in an "exploratory phase," Norway's foreign ministry said on Friday. The representatives of each side arrived in the Nordic country this week, signaling a fresh approach to seek an end to months of tensions that have escalated since a failed uprising last month led by opposition leader Juan Guaido, who called on the military to oust President Nicolas Maduro. The ruling socialist party, which has long said it is open to dialog, has endorsed the talks. But many sectors of the opposition remain skeptical, arguing that Maduro has in the past used dialog as a stalling tactic to maintain his grip on power as living standards steadily declined in the oil-rich nation. "Norway announces that it has had preliminary contacts with representatives of the main political actors of Venezuela, as part of an exploratory phase," the ministry said in a statement, adding that it supported "the search for a peaceful solution for the country." Venezuela was thrust into a deep power struggle in January when Guaido, the leader of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, invoked the constitution to assume an interim presidency, arguing Maduro's 2018 re-election was illegitimate. The United States and many European countries have recognized Guaido as the South American country's rightful leader, but nearly four months after their endorsement Maduro retains control of state functions and the support of the top brass, as well as allies like Russia, Cuba and China. Norway has a tradition of conflict mediation, including assistance with Colombia's 2016 peace deal between the government and FARC rebels. "President Nicolas Maduro and the Bolivarian Revolution express their gratitude to Norway and its support for dialog seeking peace and sovereignty," Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza wrote on Twitter on Friday. Story continues Guaido was more tepid, tweeting on Thursday that any "mediation initiative" should begin with the "end of the usurpation," a reference to Maduro resigning. He has expressed a growing openness to potential U.S. military intervention to resolve Venezuela's crisis in recent weeks and said his envoy to Washington would meet with the U.S. military's Southern Command next Monday. Guaido said he would meet diplomats from European and Latin American countries who arrived in Caracas this week as part of the International Contact Group on Venezuela, an initiative which seeks to negotiate an end to the crisis. (Reporting by Luc Cohen Editing by Daniel Flynn and Alistair Bell) CARACAS (Reuters) - Talks taking place in Oslo with representatives of Venezuela's government and opposition to resolve the country's political crisis are in an "exploratory phase," Norway's foreign ministry said on Friday. The representatives of each side arrived in the Nordic country this week, signaling a fresh approach to seek an end to months of tensions that have escalated since a failed uprising last month led by opposition leader Juan Guaido, who called on the military to oust President Nicolas Maduro. The ruling socialist party, which has long said it is open to dialogue, has endorsed the talks. But many sectors of the opposition remain skeptical, arguing that Maduro has in the past used dialogue as a stalling tactic to maintain his grip on power as living standards steadily declined in the oil-rich nation. "Norway announces that it has had preliminary contacts with representatives of the main political actors of Venezuela, as part of an exploratory phase," the ministry said in a statement, adding that it supported "the search for a peaceful solution for the country." Venezuela was thrust into a deep power struggle in January when Guaido, the leader of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, invoked the constitution to assume an interim presidency, arguing Maduro's 2018 re-election was illegitimate. The United States and many European countries have recognized Guaido as the South American country's rightful leader, but nearly four months after their endorsement Maduro retains control of state functions and the support of the top brass, as well as allies like Russia, Cuba and China. Norway has a tradition of conflict mediation, including assistance with Colombia's 2016 peace deal between the government and FARC rebels. "President Nicolas Maduro and the Bolivarian Revolution express their gratitude to Norway and its support for dialogue seeking peace and sovereignty," Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza wrote on Twitter on Friday. Guaido was more tepid, tweeting on Thursday that any "mediation initiative" should begin with the "end of the usurpation," a reference to Maduro resigning. He has expressed a growing openness to potential U.S. military intervention to resolve Venezuela's crisis in recent weeks and said his envoy to Washington would meet with the U.S. military's Southern Command next Monday. Guaido said he would meet diplomats from European and Latin American countries who arrived in Caracas this week as part of the International Contact Group on Venezuela, an initiative which seeks to negotiate an end to the crisis. (Reporting by Luc Cohen; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Alistair Bell) A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these is legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked these out. Here are the real facts: ___ CLAIM: Health care law does not mandate that nurses give vaccines. THE FACTS: Mandatory flu or pneumococcal vaccinations are not a requirement under the Affordable Care Act passed by Congress in 2010, as a post circulating on Facebook suggests. The Affordable Care Act, commonly called "Obamacare," requires insurance providers to cover the full cost of preventive vaccines but the legislation does not require hospital staff to administer those shots to unvaccinated patients. Information in the Facebook post, which is attributed to a nurse whistle-blower, wrongly suggests nurses must give the flu or pneumococcal vaccination to patients who have not had them, even without their consent. "If (nurses) were giving vaccines without consent, that would be assault and we don't do that," John Cullen, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians and a doctor in Alaska, told The Associated Press. ___ CLAIM: A woman who is raped and seeks an abortion in Texas could be put to death. FALSE: Women cannot be put to death in Texas for seeking an abortion as a post circulating online this week suggests, although one lawmaker has proposed legislation that would criminalize the procedure. The inaccurate claim sets up a hypothetical situation: "A woman is raped and impregnated by her rapist. She seeks an abortion to end her unwanted pregnancy. Her government puts her to death, but not her rapist. Sharia law in some Islamic country? Nope. Texas." It began appearing on Facebook this month after a bill that would have made abortion a capital offense failed to move forward in the Texas legislature. Women can still legally undergo an abortion in Texas up until 20 weeks of pregnancy. After that point, abortions are banned except in cases where the mother's life is at risk or the fetus has a severe medical abnormality. "The way the law stands currently in Texas there are no criminal penalties for women who have abortions," said Drucilla Tigner, a reproductive rights strategist for the ACLU of Texas. Story continues ___ CLAIM: Photo shows military moms hosted by Melania Trump on Mother's Day. THE FACTS: The photo, which circulated on Facebook on Mother's Day, May 12, was falsely captioned. Melania Trump did not host such an event on that day. The photo was taken during a Joint Armed Forces Officers' Wives' Luncheon in April 2018. It shows Ivanka Trump -- not Melania Trump -- who was the guest speaker at the event, seated among members of the Air Force Officers' Spouses' Club of Washington, D.C., one of the groups that attended the luncheon. That group posted the photo on Twitter in April 2018. Facebook users shared it this past Mother's Day and falsely said it was taken 'today.' The caption also suggested the group of women lacked diversity by saying: "What's wrong with this picture?" President Donald Trump and his wife held a Military Spouse Appreciation Day event at the White House on May 10, the Friday before Mother's Day, to honor military mothers and spouses. The first lady tweeted photos of the event last week, which showed a diverse group of attendees. ___ CLAIM: A Facebook post shows Joel Osteen Ministries refusing to accept a prayer request submitted on the social media platform unless the person pays a $24.99 monthly donation. THE FACTS: The image circulating on Facebook that appears to show the popular televangelist demanding a donation in exchange for a prayer is a hoax, a spokesman for Osteen's Houston-based Lakewood Church told the AP. The manipulated image shows a screenshot of a Facebook account made to look like that of Joel Osteen Ministries seeking donations from a woman who requested a marital prayer. It is not from Osteen's account. Anyone can submit a prayer request in person, by phone or on the church's website, free of charge, a church official said. Millions of viewers tune in weekly to his televised sermons. "Joel Osteen Ministries never requests money for prayer," Donald Illoff, a spokesman for the church, said in an email to The Associated Press. "The image being circulated is from an impostor account." Last year, 225,000 prayers were submitted to the church, according to Illoff. ___ CLAIM: Photo shows President Barack Obama bowing to Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. THE FACTS: The photo has been manipulated. Two photos were combined to create the false image that appears to show Obama bowing to Khamenei. It has circulated on social media previously and resurfaced this week on Facebook with a caption that read, "America will not apologize or bow to anyone ever again!!" The original photo of Khamenei was taken by an Agence-France Presse photographer during Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's inauguration ceremony in August 2005. In the photo, Khamenei is seated with his hands crossed as Ahmadinejad bows to him. Obama, then a U.S. Senator, was not present at the event. The other photo used in the altered image was taken by White House photographer in May 2009 when Obama bent over to accommodate the request of a staff member's young child who asked to touch the president's hair while visiting the Oval Office. ___ This is part of The Associated Press' ongoing effort to fact-check misinformation that is shared widely online, including work with Facebook to identify and reduce the circulation of false stories on the platform. ___ Find all AP Fact Checks here: https://www.apnews.com/APFactCheck ___ Follow @APFactCheck on Twitter: https://twitter.com/APFactCheck Russian mobile operator MegaFon guilty of discriminatory practices antimonopoly watchdog RIA Novosti 09:54 17/05/2019 MOSCOW, May 17 (RAPSI) The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) found MegaFon, one of the largest mobile operators in Russia, responsible for discriminatory practices against private companies, according to the watchdogs statement. According to the FAS, the mobile operator has therefore violated the competition protection law. The watchdog has revealed that terms of contracts with private companies have been distinctly different from those with publicly owned organizations. The antimonopoly service has detected the discrepancy that may reach up to ten folds. In January, the FAS found MegaFon guilty in three spam cases. In the first case several other companies have been found guilty along with the mobile operator. They are: MegaFon subsidiary Megalabs, Territory of Fitness fitness-club chain, OSK company, Rapporto sms-agency, companies Zagruzka and Informer. In two other cases MegaFon has advertised its own services including attractive offers and lotteries. MEXICO CITY (AP) Mexico's top human rights official said Friday that a 10-year-old Guatemalan girl who died in custody fell from a bunk. Immigration officials originally said Thursday that she arrived at a Mexico City detention center complaining that her throat hurt. Interior undersecretary for human rights Alejandro Encinas later said that explanation was true, but not related to her death. Encinas said the girl died of trauma after falling in the dormitory where her mother was located. The girl died Wednesday night after arriving the day before with her mother from the northern border state of Chihuahua. Encinas did not clarify why officials made no mention of the fall when they reported her death Thursday. An investigation has been opened. Authorities have not released the girl's name, and on Friday Guatemala's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the girl's family had decided not to make any comment on the death or release any additional information. The ministry said it expected the girl's body would be returned soon to her family in Guatemala City. BAGHDAD (AP) When U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sat down with Iraqi officials in Baghdad last week as tensions mounted between America and Iran, he delivered a nuanced message: If you're not going to stand with us, stand aside. The message, relayed to The Associated Press by two Iraqi government officials, underscores Iraq's delicate position: Its government is allied with both sides of an increasingly contentious confrontation. As tensions escalate, there are concerns that Baghdad could once again get caught in the middle, just as it is on the path to recovery. The country hosts more than 5,000 U.S. troops, and is home to powerful Iranian-backed militias, some of whom want those U.S. forces to leave. "The big question is how Iraqi leaders will deal with (their) national interests in a country where loyalty to external powers is widespread at the expense of their own nation," Iraqi political analyst Watheq al-Hashimi said. "If the state cannot put these (Iranian-backed militias) under control, Iraq will become an arena for an Iranian-American armed conflict." Despite the escalation of rhetoric by both sides, President Donald Trump has said he doesn't want a war with Iran and has even said he is open to dialogue. But tension remains high, in part given the region's fraught history. For Iraq to be a theater for proxy wars is not new. The Shiite-majority country lies on the fault line between Shiite Iran and the mostly Sunni Arab world, led by powerhouse Saudi Arabia, and has long been a battlefield in which the Saudi-Iran rivalry for regional supremacy played out. During America's eight-year military presence that began with the 2003 invasion of Iraq, U.S. troops and Iranian-backed militiamen fought pitched battles around the country, and scores of U.S. troops were killed or wounded by the militia forces armed with sophisticated Iranian-made weapons. American forces withdrew from Iraq in 2011 but returned in 2014 at the invitation of Iraq to help battle the Islamic State group after it seized vast areas in the north and west of the country, including Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul. A U.S.-led coalition provided crucial air support as Iraqi forces regrouped and drove IS out in a costly three-year campaign. Iranian-backed militias fought alongside U.S.-backed Iraqi troops against IS, gaining outsized influence and power. Story continues Now, amid an escalating conflict between the U.S. and Iran, Iraq is once again vulnerable to becoming caught up in the power play. An attack targeting U.S. interests in Iraq would be detrimental to the country's recent efforts at recovering and reclaiming its status in the Arab world. Earlier this year, Trump provoked outrage in Baghdad when he said he wanted U.S. troops to stay in Iraq so they can "watch Iran," suggesting a changing mission for American troops there. On May 8, Pompeo made a lightning, previously unannounced trip to the Iraqi capital following the abrupt cancellation of a visit to Germany, and as the United States had been picking up intelligence that Iran is threatening American interests in the Middle East. The two Iraqi officials said Pompeo relayed intelligence information the U.S. had received about a threat to U.S. forces in Iraq but kept it vague. They said he did not specify the nature of the threat. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to divulge confidential information, said Pompeo told the Iraqis that America did not expect them to side with the U.S. in any confrontation with Iran, but that they should not side against America. In other words, stand aside. A few days later, as U.S.-Iranian tensions continued to rise, the State Department ordered all non-essential, non-emergency government staff to leave the country. U.S. officials said Pompeo told the Iraqis the U.S. had an "inherent right to self-defense" and would use it if U.S. personnel, facilities or interests are attacked by Iran or its proxies in Iraq or anywhere else. The three officials, who were not authorized to publicly discuss the private meetings in Baghdad and spoke on condition of anonymity, said Pompeo was not contemplating any pre-emptive strikes on Iran or the use of Iraqi territory to stage military operations against Iran. Pompeo's message, the officials said, was that the U.S. wants to avoid conflict but would respond or defend itself if necessary. The secretary told reporters on the flight that his meetings with Iraq's president and prime minister were intended to demonstrate U.S. support for "a sovereign, independent" Iraq, free from the influence of neighboring Iran. Pompeo also said he wanted to underscore Iraq's need to protect Americans in their country. A general at Iraq's Defense Ministry said Iraq was taking precautionary security measures in light of the information about threats against U.S. interests, although those measures have not reached the highest levels. "Iraqi forces are worried that American forces could be targeted by factions loyal to Iran," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. He added that any attack on U.S. troops could come as retaliation if the United States were to carry out a military operation against Iran. The heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S. come a year after Trump pulled America out of Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers and as the White House ordered an aircraft carrier and bombers into the region over a still-unexplained threat from Iran. On Saturday, Iraqi officials said ExxonMobil employees began evacuating an oil field in the southern Iraqi province of Basra while the island nation of Bahrain ordered all it citizens in Iraq and Iran to leave immediately. On Sunday, the United Arab Emirates alleged that four oil tankers off its eastern coast were targeted by sabotage. On Tuesday, Yemen's Iran-allied Houthi rebels said they launched seven drones to target Saudi Arabia. The drones stuck pumping stations along the kingdom's crucial East-West Pipeline, causing minor damage, Saudi officials say. On the streets of Baghdad, some shrugged off the rising tensions while others worried their country could be sucked into another war. Aqil Rubaei said he was worried that his country, which has been at war since a year before he was born, will be the place where the U.S. and Iran will settle their accounts. The 38-year-old was born in 1981, a year after Iran and Iraq began their eight-year war and was 9 years old when Saddam Hussein's forces invaded Kuwait leading to a destructive war that forced Iraq out of Kuwait and 13 years of crippling sanctions. In 2003, the U.S. invaded and removed Saddam, leading to the rise of extremist groups that culminated in 2014 with the Islamic State group capturing large parts of Iraq and Syria and declaring a so-called caliphate. The war that followed left entire Iraqi cities and towns destroyed until Iraq declared victory in 2017. "Iraqi people are fed up with war," said Rubaei inside his cosmetics shop in Baghdad's Karrada neighborhood. "We don't want Iraq to become an arena for an Iranian-American war." ___ Associated Press writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report. By Marton Dunai BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Friday said he had discussed the purchase of mid-range air defence missiles at a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday. In the first bilateral meeting between the two leaders, Trump praised the Hungarian leader for his tough stance on immigration, calling him his "twin". Orban said military cooperation was paramount and that Hungary, whose economy has been growing faster than most others in Europe, can now afford to recreate a potent military force. "There are parts of military development in which we count on the Americans," Orban told state radio. "Critical infrastructure must be protected in case of a military attack, and Hungary's capability in that regard is incomplete. We need mid-range air defence missiles here. The legal procedure to acquire them is proceeding apace." U.S. Ambassador to Hungary David Cornstein told the Hungarian news web site 444.hu that he and a Hungarian government representative had visited arms makers Raytheon and Lockheed Martin on the sidelines of Orban's visit. Orban, whose close ties with President Vladimir Putin's Russia and China have drawn criticism from international partners, and especially Washington, said he wanted to build better ties with all major powers. "We cooperate with the Chinese and the Russians as well as the Americans," he said. "To be sure, with them (the Americans) we are in a military alliance, therefore those ties are stronger." But he said to define Hungary's foreign policy as dutifully belonging to some alliance rather than seeking to defend its own interests was a "distorted" view. He added that he had asked Trump to help start production of natural gas under the Romanian section of the Black Sea, which will be done with participation from Exxon, to provide the only practical alternative to Russian gas. "Diversification is plausible if the U.S.-Romanian cooperation happens quickly," Orban said. "I urged the president to help make that happen." Senior U.S. lawmakers criticised Orban's visit to the White House last week, blaming him for a "downward democratic trajectory". (Reporting by Marton Dunai; Editing by Kevin Liffey) From the crises with Iran and Venezuela to the drawn-out negotiations with China and North Korea, President Donald Trump's foreign policy is hitting a rough patch. While just a few months ago Trump was hopeful for big wins on the international scene, has recently appeared frustrated on multiple fronts. - Tensions soar with Iran - Trump a year ago took the United States in a sharply different direction on Iran as he pulled out of a multinational deal negotiated under his predecessor, Barack Obama, under which Tehran drastically scaled back its nuclear work in return for promises of sanctions relief. Trump instead has imposed an ever-mounting series of unilateral sanctions, including vowing to stop all countries from buying Iran's chief export of oil, as he seeks to curb the clerical regime's "destabilizing" role in the region. But a year later, Iran has not met any of the 12 demands laid out by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and European powers are openly dismissive of their US ally as they try to preserve the nuclear accord. The showdown sharply escalated this month when the United States said it was deploying an aircraft carrier strike group and nuclear-capable bombers to the region in response to what officials called an imminent threat from Tehran. But Trump ran for office on promises to scale back costly overseas interventions and a series of reports say he has begun to doubt the approach of his hawkish national security advisor, John Bolton, who for years has advocated attacking Iran. Trump has said he wants dialogue with Iran -- which looks unlikely to reciprocate in a substantive way. - Impasse on North Korea - Unlike Iran, which still is observing the nuclear deal, North Korea has tested nuclear weapons -- and is estimated to be producing enough material for a new bomb every two months. "This is a defeat. The end result of Trump will be that North Korea will continue to proliferate and Iran will return to proliferation," a European diplomat said. Story continues North Korea was supposed to be the main success story for Trump, who held two landmark summits with leader Kim Jong Un in hopes of negotiating a deal to end its nuclear arsenal. But the last encounter, in Hanoi in February, ended in stalemate with Trump's aides firm against lifting sanctions until North Korea comprehensively gives up its nuclear weapons. Trump has voiced hope for reviving talks. But little headway is visible and North Korea recently tested two short-range missiles -- not seen as a violation of agreements, but still a sign of how much the situation has worsened. - Frustration in Venezuela - Trump had long criticized the US policy of regime change, advocated by neo-conservatives within his Republican Party in the 2000s. But the president himself has found an exception -- Venezuela. In January, Trump declared President Nicolas Maduro -- a socialist who presides over a crumbling economy and whose re-election was tainted by widespread allegations of irregularities -- to be illegitimate and recognized opposition chief Juan Guaido as interim leader. In a rare success at finding allies, more than 50 countries now back Guaido including most powers in Latin America and Europe. But an April 30 uprising planned by Guaido quickly fizzled out, with the Trump administration saying several key figures in the Maduro regime failed to carry out promises. Venezuela remains in a stalemate, with the United States refusing dialogue with Maduro. Guaido nonetheless said he sent delegates to Norway, which is seeking to mediate, although he denied talks with Maduro. - Power struggle intensifies with China - Trump as a candidate promised a tough line with China on trade and has carried through, recently slapping tariffs on a $200 billion tranche of Chinese merchandise and effectively barring telecom giant Huawei from the US market. But a resolution on the trade disputes between the world's two largest economies remains elusive, despite rounds of talks and several indications that an accord was imminent. China has announced its own retaliatory tariffs and has struck back, in particular by drastically cutting purchases from US farmers and ranchers -- a crucial voting base for Trump in next year's election. - Syria, Afghanistan withdrawal - Trump took office vowing to end seemingly perpetual wars that have brought enormous costs to the United States over the past two decades. But his promise in December to withdraw all of the estimated 2,000 US troops in Syria triggered a backlash that contributed to the resignation of his respected defense secretary, Jim Mattis. Trump has since walked back the promise, with US officials saying that the United States will keep a small force in Syria. On Afghanistan, where the United States has been at war for nearly 18 years, veteran diplomat Zalmay Khalilzad has entered talks with the Taliban and both sides have voiced optimism for future rounds. But the Taliban refuse to speak to the government in Kabul and have not given up on violence, earlier this month killing nine people in an attack on a US-funded non-profit group. TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) A minister in Ohio who pleaded guilty to child sex trafficking has been sentenced to life in prison. Federal authorities say Cordell Jenkins was among three Toledo-area pastors who paid teenage girls for sex over the past few years and shared photos and videos of the girls. A federal judge Friday sentenced Jenkins to the maximum sentence of life in prison. He had pleaded guilty to several charges in January. Prosecutors have said Jenkins had sex with a teenager at his home and church office and that he recorded the acts with his phone. Jenkins has maintained that he thought the girl was an adult. Another minister charged in the case was sentenced Friday to 17 years while a third minster is to be sentenced in June. This week the FDA granted quite a few approvals for line extensions of Lilly LLY, Pfizer PFE and Roche RHHBY/AbbVies ABBV cancer drugs. In other news, Bayer BAYRY was fined $2 billion by California jury over allegations that its popular weed killer caused cancer. J&J JNJ detailed a new five-year growth plan for its Pharmaceutical segment, its largest unit, at its analyst day. Recap of the Weeks Most Important Stories Lillys Cyramza Gets FDA Nod for New Indication: The FDA granted approval to Lillys cancer drug Cyramza for the second-line treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a common form of liver cancer. Importantly, along with this approval, the FDA also removed the boxed warning from Cyramzas label, which included warnings for hemorrhage, ruptured bowel and non-healing wounds. The approval for HCC was based on data from the REACH -2 study. Cyramza is already marketed for other cancer indications like gastric cancer, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and metastatic colorectal cancer. Pfizer Gets FDA Nod for Bavencio+Inlyta Combo in Kidney Cancer: Pfizer and partner Merck KGaA gained FDA approval for Bavencio (avelumab) in combination with Inlyta (axitinib) for first-line treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC), the most common form of kidney cancer. The FDAs decision comes earlier than expected. The decision was originally scheduled in June. A similar application is under review in the EU, which was validated for review by the European Medicines Agency this March. The regulatory filings in the EU and the United States were based on interim data from the phase III JAVELIN Renal 101 study, which showed that the Bavencio/Inlyta combination significantly lowered risk of disease progression or death by 31% and extended progression-free survival by 5.4 months versus Pfizers older kidney cancer drug, Sutent. Moreover, Pfizers investigational JAK1 inhibitor abrocitinib (PF-04965842) met all co-primary and secondary endpoints in a pivotal late-stage study. In the phase III study, which tested two doses of the drug, abrocitinib achieved statistically significantly higher improvement in clearing the skin of patients compared to placebo. Story continues FDA Grants Approval to Venclexta+Gazyva in First-Line CLL: The FDA granted approval to a combination of AbbVie/Roches Venclexta and Roches Gazyva as a fixed duration treatment for first-line chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). The approval was based on data from the phase III CLL14 study, which demonstrated that the combination significantly reduced risk of disease progression or death by 67% compared to the current standard of care. The supplementary new drug application was filed under the Real-Time Oncology Review (RTOR) pilot program, which meant that the agency expedited the review. Data from a phase I/II study on Roches personalized medicine entrectinib showed that the candidate had an objective response or shrank tumors harboring NTRK, ROS1 or ALK gene fusions including those in the central nervous system (CNS) in children and adolescents. Moreover, two patients achieved a complete response. The data will be presented at the ASCO meeting in June. Bayer Fined $2B by a California Jury: A California state jury ordered Bayer to pay $2 billion in damages to a couple, Alva and Alberta Pilliod, who claimed the companys Roundup weed-killer was the cause of their cancer. The active ingredient in Roundup, glyphosate, is being blamed for causing the cancer. This is the third jury verdict against Bayer in litigation over the herbicide, which Bayer acquired as part of its $63 billion buyout of Monsanto last year. However, Bayer is disappointed with the verdict and said will appeal against the verdict. J&Js Analyst Day: At its meeting with industry analysts, J&J said it expects its Janssen pharmaceutical business to deliver above-market growth through 2023. J&J expects to launch or file for approval of more than 10 new products with blockbuster potential between 2019 and 2023. J&J said it has gained regulatory approvals for 18 new products since 2011 in HIV, cancer and cardiovascular areas. The company is targeting more than 40 line extensions of existing and new drugs through 2023, 10 of which have more than half a billion dollars of opportunity. However, the units growth is expected to be a little bit slow in 2019 due to more than $3 billion of patent expirations that it is currently facing. AbbVie Resolves U.S. Patent Litigation With Boehringer Ingelheim: AbbVie announced resolution of its litigation with Boehringer Ingelheim over U.S. patents for its blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira. Per the settlement, AbbVie grants Boehringer Ingelheim a non-exclusive license to launch its biosimilar version of Humira in the United States on July 1, 2023. Several companies have made biosimilar versions of Humira. AbbVie has similar settlement with seven manufacturers, per which Humira biosimilars are expected to be launched in the United States in 2023. In the EU, however, Humira biosimilars have already been launched, which are causing a rapid decline in Humira sales in international markets. The NYSE ARCA Pharmaceutical Index rose 0.1% in the last five trading sessions. Large Cap Pharmaceuticals Industry 5YR % Return Large Cap Pharmaceuticals Industry 5YR % Return Large Cap Pharmaceuticals Industry 5YR % Return Here is how the seven major stocks performed in the last five trading sessions: Last week, in a mixed performance, Pfizer gained the most (2.5%) while AstraZeneca declined the most (1.7%) In the past six months, Merck MRK has been the biggest gainer (3.7%) while Bristol-Myers declined the most (11.8%). (See the last pharma stock roundup here: Pharma Stock Roundup: AGN, NVO Report Q1 Earnings, NVS to Buy Takedas Eye Drug) What's Next in the Pharma World? Watch out for regular pipeline and regulatory updates next week. Breakout Biotech Stocks with Triple-Digit Profit Potential The biotech sector is projected to surge beyond $775 billion by 2024 as scientists develop treatments for thousands of diseases. Theyre also finding ways to edit the human genome to literally erase our vulnerability to these diseases. Zacks has just released Century of Biology: 7 Biotech Stocks to Buy Right Now to help investors profit from 7 stocks poised for outperformance. Our recent biotech recommendations have produced gains of +98%, +119% and +164% in as little as 1 month. The stocks in this report could perform even better. See these 7 breakthrough stocks now>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) : Free Stock Analysis Report Pfizer Inc. (PFE) : Free Stock Analysis Report Bayer Aktiengesellschaft (BAYRY) : Free Stock Analysis Report Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) : Free Stock Analysis Report Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) : Free Stock Analysis Report AbbVie Inc. (ABBV) : Free Stock Analysis Report Roche Holding AG (RHHBY) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Pinterest (NYSE: PINS), the visual discovery company that allows people to find inspirational images for everything from do-it-yourself projects to recipes, saw strong revenue growth in its first-quarter 2019 and improved its net losses. The company's sales jumped 54% year over year to $201.9 million, which was slightly ahead of analysts' consensus estimate of $200.6 million. Its non-GAAP net loss of $40.4 million was better than the loss of $47.8 million in the year-ago quarter. But those losses equated to a non-GAAP net loss of $0.32 per share, which was far more than the loss of $0.11 per share Wall Street expected. Woman looking at the Pinterest app on a tablet. Image source: Pinterest. The earnings miss was a blow considering that it recently went public, and investors reacted negatively to the news, pushing Pinterest's share price down 15%. But despite the steep price drop, its stock, as of this writing, is still trading higher than its IPO price. Management was pleased with the quarterly results overall, though, and CFO Todd Morgenfeld said in a press release that the company "executed well" in the first quarter. "We were particularly encouraged by the strength we saw in U.S. revenue and international user growth," Morgenfeld said. "Our strong revenue performance allowed us to expand net margin by 20 percentage points year-over-year, reflecting our continued prioritization and disciplined execution across our strategic priorities." Pinterest's U.S. sales jumped 51% in the first quarter to $187 million, while international sales popped 107% to $15 million. Management has said before that the company may have a hard time monetizing its international users, so investors should be pleased to see sales in the segment improving. International sales represented 7% of total revenue in the first quarter, up from 5% of sales in the year-ago quarter. Another key metric, user growth, is moving in the right direction. Pinterest's monthly active users (MAUs) grew 22% year over year to 291 million. About 206 million of those users are outside of the United States, and international user growth is up 29% from the year-ago quarter. User growth in the U.S. was up 6%. The average revenue per user (ARPU) is growing as well, up 26% year over year to $0.73. Story continues Management shared its outlook for 2019, saying that total revenue would be between $1.05 billion and $1.08 billion. That's notable considering it would be the first time Pinterest's annual sales would surpass the $1 billion mark. Meanwhile, adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) will be a loss of $70 million to $45 million. Even with its strong sales growth in the first quarter and the company's losses narrowing, management highlighted one area it needs to work on to continue growing. Morgenfeld said on the earnings call that even when Pinterest's users have a great experience on the platform, they may never revisit. "You may have had a great experience planning your wedding or remodeling your house, but you need to be invited back to be shown the value of being on Pinterest for new use cases," Morgenfeld said, "And we think we have a pathway of doing that that will bring some of our churned users back to the platform." Pinterest's first-quarter results may have disappointed investors because the company's losses were more significant than what Wall Street was expecting. But it's worth remembering that basing any investing decision on one quarter isn't the wisest move. Investors should continue to watch the company's sales and user growth (particularly in international markets) to see if Pinterest can continue improving those metrics. If it does, then the earnings losses may likely narrow even more. More From The Motley Fool Chris Neiger has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Pistachios are under police guard in Sicily as thieves target the expensive seed before for their harvest in September. Also called "Sicily's green gold" one kilogramme (2.2lb) costs as much as 13.45 the BBC reported that up to 12 officers would be patrolling at night and six were going to patrol in the daytime. If needed they would also launch a police helicopter. The thieves operate at night, trying to make off as many pistachios as they can when it is dark and quiet. Nicolo Morandi, a police captain told the BBC, "we will operate a number of precautionary operations. The prized pistachios are grown across some 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) on the slopes of Etna, an active volcano located by the town of Bronte and account for just 1% of global production of the crop. The farmers charge a premium because the seeds keep their bright green colour for longer and taste better, Enrico Cimbali, president of the local trade organisation Consorzio di Tutela, said to the BBC. Crops are also only produced every other year. The price of the pistachios is more than double than that of the world's two giant producers - the US and Iran. There were 300kg of Bronte pistachios stolen during 2009 prompting the mayor to ask the police to do more to protect the crop. "Honest citizens welcome this service, because harvest time is a very delicate moment for our community," said pistachio farmer Mario Prestianni. Pistachios are one of the oldest flowering nut trees, according to Self.com, and are the original prehistoric snack having been eaten by humans around 9,000 years. Criminals have targeted agricultural products before and in 2012 there was the Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist, a months-long robbery where almost 540,000 gallons of maple syrup, valued at a massive $20.1 million (around 10.8 million), was stolen from a storage facility in Quebec. Priced at just under $2,000 per barrel, thieves have seen the Canadian sugary sweet as a lucrative market to take advantage of. But for thieves, eventually 26 of them were arrested. Culture Trip reported that maple syrup production in Quebec accounts for 75 per cent of the global flow of maple syrup, and the industry makes in excess of $578.4 million in annual sales. Photo: Kat Yukawa/Unsplash Looking to make a difference this week? From a kids carnival to a fashion show fundraiser, there's plenty to do when it comes to good causes coming up in Pittsburgh this week. Read on for a rundown. Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. Kids Fantasy Carnival From the event description: Boys and girls can meet a princess, prince, and superhero and enjoy fun and games! There will be a 50/50 drawing and gift basket silent auction for parents to get excited about! Proceeds benefit the Western Pennsylvania Diaper Bank, which provides diapers free to families in need. Wont you join us to make an even greater difference for these babies? When: Saturday, May 18, 1-4 p.m. Where: Kingsley Center, 6435 Frankstown Ave. Price: $10 (Adults); $15 (Children 12 and Younger). More ticket options available. Click here for more details, and to get your tickets Fourth Annual Run Amok From the event description: Join us as we celebrate our Fourth Annual Run Amok to raise money in support of The Open Door, Inc. Run, walk, ride your bike, amble, or just show up and be you. Either way, we'll meet at the Hofbrauhaus starting at noon to celebrate! Food and drinks are not included in the price, but if you are of legal drinking age, your first drink is on us. You know our deal: All donations go straight to helping our Pittsburgh neighbors who are living with HIV. Our race is swag free. That means no free T-shirts, no trophies and no timing system (everyone is a winner!) When: Sunday, May 19, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Where: Southside Riverfront Trail (meet in the Metalworks Conference Room of the SpringHill Suites at Pittsburgh Southside Works, 2950 S. Water St.) Price: $35 (To run); $45 (To not run) Click here for more details, and to get your tickets Sunday Shindig to Beat MS From the event description: Come party for a great cause! For the past 11 years we have been dedicating our springs to training and fundraising for the MS150 Escape to the Lake bicycle ride and fundraiser, which raises money for the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society. Story continues When: Sunday, May 19, 1-5 p.m. Where: Spring Hill Brewing/WBU Event Venue, 1958 Varley St. Price: $20 Click here for more details, and to get your tickets Duquesne University Women's Guild 'Stepping Into Spring the Pittsburgh Way' Fashion Show and Luncheon From the event description: The Duquesne University Women's Guild is sponsoring its annual Spring fundraising event, "Stepping Into Spring the Pittsburgh Way" Fashion Show and Luncheon. ... Gorgeous upscale consignment fashions from The Buttonhole in Pleasant Hills, Pittsburgh, will be featured. ... Proceeds benefit the Women's Guild Endowed Scholarship and Duquesne University Campus Ministry Student Projects. When: Sunday, May 19, noon Where: 600 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15282 Price: $30 Click here for more details, and to get your tickets This story was created automatically using local event data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. Babel Health/Facebook Pittsburgh-based health care company Babel Health has secured $5 million in Series A funding, according to company database Crunchbase, topping the citys recent funding headlines. The cash infusion was announced April 26 and financed by Draper Triangle. According to its Crunchbase profile, "The healthcare insurance industry is in a period of unprecedented disruption and change. Babel Healths vision is to sell cost-effective software to payers that can be leveraged and managed across all programs providing utility and integration of data and processes. Babels SaaS solutions help mid-size health plans bridge the gap to new technology platforms in an affordable and compliant manner." The three-year-old startup also raised a $1.5 million round in 2017. The round brings total funding raised by Pittsburgh companies in health care over the past month to $20 million. The local health care industry has produced 26 funding rounds over the past year, capturing a total of $92 million in venture funding. In other local funding news, real estate company Ikos announced a $4 million funding round on May 8, also led by Draper Triangle. According to Crunchbase, "Ikos is simplifying the rental experience for landlords and renters. Their adaptive process transparently connects people with homes they want and desire, while helping landlords and renters make informed decisions. Their insiders provide authentic insight to would-be renters while relieving landlords of their biggest challenge finding quality consumers to occupy rental properties." Founded in 2016, the company has raised four previous rounds, including a $2.2 million round in 2018. This story was created automatically using local investment data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. KATHMANDU, May 17: Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba has spoken of the need of undoing the culture of groupism inside the party to ensure its strong presence. Inaugurating the 11th National General Convention of Democratic Thought Society amidst a program on Friday, the party president declared the strengthening of party would not be possible until those inside the party who won the elections and lost them joined hands for cooperation by accepting self-weaknesses. The party experienced unexpected defeats in the election not only due to international reasons solely, but the unification between the two communist parties also had its role in the election results, he claimed. He viewed that the society should own up the responsibility of the defeat of Congress carrying and practising democratic ideologies in the elections and it should make efforts to disseminate the wave of democratic thought in the society. The party president spoke the need of intense unity within the party by eliminating the tendency of proving another failure. NC central member Krishna Prasad Sitaula claimed that governments activities were incompatible with the interest of people. He went on to day that intra-party disputes affected the performance of Congress, underlining the need for unity within the party. The NC always stands with the principle of press freedom. Party central leader Arjun Narsingh KC accused the incumbent government of intending to pursue a path of anarchism in the clothes of democracy. The bills relating to media council, human rights and national security council are designed to seize the State power. Another leader Laxman Prasad Ghimire pointed out the need of starting a nationwide discourage on democracy, nationality and socialism, the party agenda. Society chair Dr Kedar Narsingh KC was of the view that intra-party differences would not do good for the party, adding that the party aspired to move ahead by taking all forces carrying democratic ideologies together. Society senior vice-chair Kul Chandra Wagle was of the view that it was not relevant to go for the awareness campaign by making the departments and sister organisations vacant. Society former chair Prof Dr Chandralal Shrestha, Nepal Bar Associations general secretary Laxman Poudel, former lawmaker Sakaldev Sutiyar, Nepal Teachers Association chair Rajendra Paudel and Nepal Press Unions treasurer Saroj Adhikari, among others accused the government of trying to suppress the peoples rights, seeking an unity among the democratic forces to fight against governments unwanted activities. On the occasion, journalist and politician Nutan Thapaliya was awarded the Democratic Fighter Honor carrying a cash prize of Rs 25000 and a copper plaque. The society that was established in 2052 BS has so far expanded its branches to 47 districts, said society general secretary Gokarna Aryal. A total of 300 representatives from 41 districts are taking part in the two -day general convention. RSS ARLINGTON, Mass. (AP) Authorities in Massachusetts are investigating a second suspicious fire at a rabbi's home in less than a week, and trying to determine if a fire at another rabbi's home in a nearby town is connected. Acting Arlington Police Chief Julie Flaherty said officers and firefighters responded to the home at about 9 p.m. Thursday and doused a small fire on the home's exterior wood shingles with a hand-held extinguisher. Firefighters also put out a shingle fire at the home Saturday night. Police say there was also a suspicious fire Thursday night at a rabbi's home in Needham. The towns are about 10 miles apart. Authorities continue to look for a person seen in surveillance video apparently walking away from the Arlington rabbi's house at the time of Saturday's fire. WARSAW, May 17 (Reuters) - Poland's President condemned "chauvinism and hate through a nationalist lens" in a letter to Israel's president published on Friday, after a man spat on Poland's ambassador to Israel earlier this week. The incident in Tel Aviv on Tuesday has already drawn condemnation from the Polish government at a time of rising tensions between the two countries. "These sorts of positions need to be condemned, and harshly punished," Poland's President Andrzej Duda wrote in the letter published on his website, adding that he would condemn any anti-Semitic behavior in Poland. "I am counting on it that Israeli leaders will do their best to clarify and fairly judge the recent incident." The suspect in the incident, Erik Lederman, was indicted for assault and criminal threats on Thursday after police said he spat at Ambassador Marek Magierowski while he sat in his car. The counts carry a maximum of five years' jail in Israel. Lederman, 65, has apologized, saying the car had honked at him and that he had not known the ambassador was inside. Lederman said he had come to the embassy to inquire about Polish restitution for his family, which had been through the Holocaust, and had been turned away. He said an embassy employee used an anti-Semitic slur while he was there. Magierowski has denied that any embassy staff used inappropriate behavior or language. Polish-Israeli relations have deteriorated in recent months over accusations that Warsaw's nationalist PiS government has tolerated a revival of anti-Semitic behavior, a charge it denies. (Reporting by Joanna Plucinska Editing by Frances Kerry) Polls opened Saturday in Australia's nail-biter election, a race that may be the first anywhere decided on climate policy. Just under 17 million people are expected to cast their ballots across the vast island-continent, as final surveys predicted a centre-left Labor victory. Prime Minister Scott Morrison's conservative Liberals had closed a yawning gap on the opposition, but differences over climate may prove the difference. In one Sydney suburb, early rising voters trickled into a beachside surf club to cast their ballots, as volunteers wearing bright orange "I'm a climate voter" t-shirts handed out pamphlets. "I'm worried about the climate and that Australia is not doing enough," the volunteer Catherine Willis told AFP. A season of record floods, wildfires and droughts has brought the issue front and centre in the campaign. In rural areas, climate-hit farmers are demanding action. And in several rich suburbs, eco-minded centre-right independents are running Liberal party luminaries close. Labor has pledged ambitious targets for renewable energy, while the Liberals said they would not risk the coal-fuelled economy's health to make the air cleaner. The Liberal message has been pitched at older and wealthier voters who may see higher taxes under Labor. Final polls show the vote is going down to the wire, with Labor ahead roughly 51-49. But compulsory voting and a complex system of ranking candidates mean an upset is possible. "This will be the closest election we've seen in many, many years," Morrison predicted while making a final pitch to voters in north Queensland. Weeks ago, the contest looked like it might be a rout for Labor. But a final survey by Ipsos Friday showed Morrison's coalition trailing Shorten's Labor 49 to 51 percent, from 48 to 52 percent two weeks ago. In some battleground seats, the race is even tighter, with the electorate split 50-50. "I don't think anyone... thought this is where the election would be the day before," Morrison said. Story continues - Candidates egged - The campaign has been an often ignominious pitched-battle, with Morrison -- in lock step with Rupert Murdoch's fiercely conservative media -- mounting a relentlessly negative campaign, warning a Labor government will wreck the already slowing economy. Out on the campaign trail, candidates have been egged, abused and a slew have resigned for racist, sexist and otherwise jaw-dropping social media posts. In one Sydney battleground seat, a 62-year-old man was arrested and charged with thrusting a corkscrew into the stomach of someone putting up campaign banners on the eve of the election. Morrison is scraping for his political life, hoping to avoid entering the history books as one of the shortest-serving prime ministers in Australian history. He took office last August after a party room coup that ousted moderate pro-climate leader Malcolm Turnbull -- the latest in a series of political fratricides that have made Canberra politics look like "Game of Thrones" meets "The Hunger Games." Much of Morrison's cabinet has resigned or gone into virtual hiding because of their unpopularity. If he wins, it would be one of the greatest political comebacks anywhere, akin to US president Harry Truman's defeat of Thomas Dewey in 1948. If Shorten is elected, he would become the sixth prime minister sworn into office in a decade. The former union leader has struggled with low personal approval ratings but has become a more polished campaigner as the election has neared. Still, his relative lack of charisma was underlined Thursday by the death of much-loved former prime minister Bob Hawke, an Oxford-educated lovable rogue, equally at home chugging a pint or debating Keynesian economics. But the upswelling of sadness about Hawke's death could remind voters of less contentious times under Labor. Shorten's hopes of grabbing the top job may hinge on results in Queensland and his home state of Victoria -- where Labor's lead has proved more resilient and where climate change has been a critical issue. Should he win, Australia will likely get a vote on becoming a republic and, as Shorten put it, returning a head of state that Australia has borrowed from the other side of the world for more than two centuries. Polls opened at 8:00 am local (2200 GMT) and the first exit polls are expected around 10 hours later. Beijing hit back Friday at concerns voiced by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over Hong Kong's plans to allow extraditions to the Chinese mainland, accusing Washington of an attempt to "intervene" in the city's internal affairs. Hong Kong's government is pushing a bill through the city's legislature which would allow case-by-case extraditions to any jurisdictions it doesn't have an already agreed treaty with, including mainland China. Historically the city has balked at mainland extraditions because of the opacity of China's criminal justice system and its liberal use of the death penalty. The extradition plan has sparked huge protests and mounting alarm within Hong Kong's business and legal communities -- as well as foreign governments -- who fear it will hammer the semi-autonomous financial hub's international appeal. Pompeo "expressed concern" about the bill and its potential to undermine rule of law in the city during Thursday talks in Washington, a State Department spokeswoman said. But Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the bill was needed to "to plug legal loopholes" in Hong Kong's judicial system and prevent the financial hub from becoming "a haven for criminals". "It is a mistake to intervene in Hong Kong in any form," Lu told a regular briefing. "Trying to take advantage of the opportunity to create chaos in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will not be popular or successful." Pompeo spoke on the bill during a meeting with a delegation headed by Martin Lee, a founder of Hong Kong's opposition Democratic Party. In an opinion piece this week in the Washington Post, Lee warned that the extradition law could make Americans and other foreigners "potential hostages to extradition claims driven by the political agenda of Beijing". "The time for the world to act to protect Hong Kong's free society and legal system is now -- not when Hong Kong people and others are taken to be jailed in China," he wrote. A recent report by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, an advisory body set up by the US Congress, warned that the extradition bill posed "serious" security risks to the estimated 85,000 US citizens in Hong Kong. Sao Paulo (AFP) - Pope Francis on Friday accepted the resignation of a Brazilian bishop reportedly suspected of extorting priests and covering up sexual abuse, the Vatican said in a statement. The announcement comes after Pope Francis last week passed a landmark new measure to oblige those who know about sex abuse in the Catholic Church to report it to their superiors, in a move which could bring countless new cases to light. Vilson Dias de Oliveira, 60, confessed to Brazilian police in April that he had swiped $4,000 from parish funds for personal use, telling them he did so because he was having financial difficulties, local media said. Dias also allegedly protected a priest accused of sexual abuse. The Vatican always announces when Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of a bishop, but never explains why. Dias also admitted to investigators that he had bought two coastal properties in Brazil worth more than one million reais ($250,000), but claimed he had used his family's money and his income from the church, news portal G1 said. "Dear brothers and sisters, in recent months we have had to bear all sorts of crosses through attacks against our... church, against me and other presbyters," Dias said in a statement. He added that while he acknowledged his "limitations," he carried the love of supporters in his heart. "I ask to resign for the love of Christ and for the good of the diocese," he said in the letter published by the diocese of Limeira, a city in the Sao Paulo state in southern Brazil. Dias has been temporarily replaced by Orlando Brandes, the Archbishop of Aparecida. Brandes told reporters that if Dias were convicted he would "leave the ministry by order of Rome." "He will still be a priest, of course, but a priest that is disconnected from the Church," he added. It was a "sanitary measure taken urgently by the Pope," said Fernando Altemeyer Junior, a professor of theology at the Catholic university PUC Sao Paulo. Story continues "The diocese is in pieces," Altemeyer said. "The bishop appointed on a temporary basis will play a transitional role and try to heal the wounds." The Catholic Church has been rocked by a global pedophilia scandal, with victims coming forward in countries ranging from Australia to Chile, Germany and the United States. - 'Not just him' - News of Dias resigning was greeted with a certain fatalism by Catholic faithful outside the Sao Paulo Cathedral. "It's not just him," Odila Lisboa, 84, told AFP. "How many serious problems do they have over there in the Vatican?" Clodomiro Campos said Dias should be dismissed if the allegations were proven. "There are things that shouldn't happen -- what's right is right and what's wrong is wrong," the 60-year-old man said. While sex abuse scandals have been exposed in other Latin American countries, most recently Chile, the issue has been "invisible" in Brazil for years, said Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of advocacy group bishopaccountability.org. "It's just odd and striking given the enormity of the Catholic population in Brazil and the fact that the crisis has been exploding in other Latin American countries," Doyle told AFP. "There have been no government or prosecutorial inquiries into the Catholic church or litigation (in Brazil)." While Brazil remains the world's biggest Catholic country, its flock has shrunk while Evangelical churches grow. Around 64 percent of the population identified as Catholics, according to the 2010 census. That compares with 74 percent in 2000 and more than 90 percent in 1970. cm-jm-pt-lg/amj/ft New mother Elizabeth Dominguez was shocked to fail a drug test. [Photo: Eyewitness News] While most new mothers spend the hours after giving birth bonding with their child, a New York state woman was denied access to her newborn son after the poppy seed bagel she ate for breakfast caused her to fail a drug test. Tonawanda, N.Y. resident Elizabeth Dominguez says she was stunned to learn she tested positive for drugs on the day she went into labour with her son, Carter. I did a urine test and it came back that I tested positive for opiates, the new mom told WKBW News. I called my husband freaking out saying, how is this possible? I dont do drugs. READ MORE: Man kicked off flight for vodka joke As per hospital protocol, staff informed Child Protective Services (CPS) despite the 29-year-old requesting another drug test. I told the lab, I told the hospital, I told everyone, Retest me. Take my blood. Do whatever you have to do, because this isnt right, Dominguez said. Multiple studies have confirmed that eating foods with poppy seeds, which are derived from the opium poppy plant, such as a poppy seed bagel, can result in an opiate positive urine test. Whats more, urine can remain positive for opiates such as codeine and morphine anywhere from 24 to 48 hours after ingestion. Throughout the 90s, researchers argued for more detailed tests to be performed and have called for additional research into the metabolic impact of the drugs and food. Many feared that these positive tests prevent patients from receiving adequate levels of care and access to medication on the assumption that they have engaged in illicit drug behaviour. New mother Elizabeth Dominguez was shocked to fail a drug test. [Photo: Eyewitness News] In 1998, the United States Department of Health and Human Services raised the opiate threshold from 300ng/ML to 2,000 ng/ML of morphine to avoid false-positive results caused by eating food with poppy seeds. However, as one 2008 study revealed, many labs throughout the United States still use the 300ng/ML, while others note that it is still possible to ingest poppy seeds and test positive for opiates, regardless of the revised threshold. Story continues The impact of the false-positive test can have serious implications on a persons level of care. In the case of Dominguez, despite additional drug tests showing no sign of opiates, she was discharged and kept away from her son for the first 24 hours of his life. READ MORE: Mum explains why she punched child I felt absolutely horrible, Dominguez said of the ordeal. I felt like a terrible mother leaving him. Hospital reports later cited the poppyseed bagel as the source of the false-positive and reunited Dominguez with her child. Still, the new mother wants other women to know that its possible for a celebratory life event to turn into a nightmare, all because of poppyseeds. I just want everyone to know that this could happen, she warned. Its such a terrible thing and I dont want it to happen to anyone. May 17 (Reuters) - The remaining signatories of Iran's nuclear deal should act to save the accord as "supportive statements" are not enough, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told Iranian state media before leaving Japan on his way to China. Last week, Iran notified the five remaining signatories that it would scale back some commitments under its 2015 nuclear deal, a year after Washington left the pact and reimposed sanctions on Tehran. Tehran has asked the other signatories to help protect its economy from U.S. sanctions. "Safeguarding the (nuclear accord) is possible through practical measures, and not only through supportive statements," Zarif was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA. (Reporting by Dubai newsroom; Editing by Hugh Lawson) A Himal podcast on the Easter Sunday attacks on 21 April 2019 in Sri Lanka, which killed over 250 people, have shocked the country and left people fearful and uncertain. While some details about the conspiracy behind the coordinated bombings of churches and hotels have come out, much remains unclear. Political infighting within the government has added to the lack of credible information, compromising the general publicas ability to arrive at a clear understanding of the situation. Several instances of anti-Muslim violence this week has also led to fears of a communal conflagration. Himal Southasianas Editor Aunohita Mojumdar spoke with Jayadeva Uyangoda, a Colombo-based political scientist, columnist and the emeritus professor of political science at the University of Colombo Princess Dianas wedding dress designer David Emanuel says Meghan Markle should be wearing more clothing by British designers. Speaking on Yahoo UKs The Royal Box he says: The Duchess of Sussex went to Givenchy. Yes, it was a British designer but the gown was made in France. I really do feel very strongly that if shes married into the Royal Family she should be supporting British designers, quite frankly. There are lots of talented British designers who could have done it. READ MORE: Meghan Markle's maternity wardrobe He adds: The story of the gown was the veil. There has to be something which makes a royal wedding dress unique and it was wonderful, they incorporated all the Commonwealth flowers around the veil, I thought that was very clever. Harry and Meghan on their wedding day last May [Photo: PA] Emanuel adds: I could argue that shes [Meghans] turning into a bit of royal rebel, couldnt I, by wearing foreign designers. I love the look, I remember her as an actress. I remember seeing her in Suits, looking very glossy and chic with tight-fitted shirts and great slim skirts. Shes got a look, I just wish shed support British designers, please. Meghan's bridal veil featured flora representing the 53 countries of The Commonwealth [Photo: Getty] Meghan Markles wedding dress is one of the most famous in the world. In the lead-up to the big day on May 19, 2018, there were many designers listed in the running to create the gown - including Erdem, Ralph & Russo and Roland Mouret. The former actress surprised everyone when it was revealed that Clare Waight Keller, artistic director of Givenchy, had created the double bonded silk cady dress with boat neckline and three-quarter-length sleeves. While Waight Keller is British, the dress was made by the French couture house in Paris. While Meghans reception dress was designed by British designer Stella McCartney, when it comes to important occasions, Meghan still turns to Clare Waight Keller. For example, she wore Givenchy for her first joint engagement with the Queen, for her first solo outing to the Royal Academy, on tour in Australia and recently during her pregnancy, when she and Harry attended the Endeavour Fund Awards. Story continues READ MORE: See Meghan Markle's stunning wedding dress from every angle During her first major overseas tour of Australia, Tonga, Fiji and New Zealand in October 2018, out of the 74 designer clothes she somehow managed to squeeze into her suitcase, Meghan only wore 20 British labels. Meghan wearing Givenchy at The Endeavour Fund Awards in February 2019 [Photo: Getty] Meghan gave birth to son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor on May 6, 2019. While some might have predicted she would wear an outfit by Givenchy for the photocall two days later, she chose a white sleeveless trench dress by British fashion designer Grace Wales Bonner. By Robin Emmott MALAGA, Spain, May 17 (Reuters) - If top conservative candidate Manfred Weber has achieved one thing in his campaign for EU parliamentary elections that by tradition feel too irrelevant to set pulses racing, it is to introduce power chords and stage flames to his rallies. Often welcomed onto the podium like a rock star, Weber seeks to boost his chances not only with policy messages but by generating enough buzz to reverse falling turnouts and stem the rise of parties on the far right and left more adept at mobilizing their vote. At a rally in Athens, the German lead nominee for the European People's Party addressed a fired-up crowd from a circular stage against a backdrop of Greek columns, flame-like lighting and giant screens. With rock music pumping and a podium shaped like the first two letters of Weber's surname, there was no escaping his campaign slogan: "The Power of We." The only question was whether any ordinary Greeks in the audience knew who he was. Many had come as supporters of Greece's center-right New Democracy party, which hopes to win office in a general election later this year. With the wealth of Europe's biggest political alliance behind him, Weber, 46, has a larger budget than his Socialist, liberal and Green rivals, all vying for the job of European Commission president. His slick campaign videos feature emotive images of the fall of the Berlin Wall, European achievements in science, and plenty of the guitar rock that he played as a student. A few days after his Athens appearance, he was in Spain, music pumping from the speakers again he took the stage in Malaga at a rally for the center-right People's Party. "Queridos! (Darlings!)" he shouted to an audience delighted to hear the Bavarian attempt a few words in Spanish. In one publicity video called "We are Manfred Weber's friends," one former schoolmate recalls how they set up a band together to play at dances and carnival balls, with Weber on guitar. Might that flair for performance be another way to energize his supporters? Perhaps wisely, the candidate dodges the question. "I want to reconnect with people," he said. "I'm looking for a mandate." (Reporting by Robin Emmott; Editing by Kevin Liffey) Malvern St James Girls' School (Google) Pupils at a 37,000-a-year girls school were taught the wrong book for their exam. Students at the independent Malvern St James Girls' School, Worcestershire, only realised the error while they were sitting the IGCSE English literature exam this week. The school has said sorry for the mistake. One parent, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Independent that her daughter had been left stressed out by the incident and it could scar students for life. The parent also said they would be seeking compensation, describing the incident as a joke. Students sit an exam (PA) Headmistress Olivera Raraty apologised wholeheartedly for the issue, which affected one section of the exam paper. The school will be allowed to submit a request for special consideration of students' marks because of the error, said the exam board. The Cambridge IGCSE is an international qualification. The students had been studying Spies by Michael Frayn but when they turned over their exam papers, there there were no questions about the book. No girl should be disadvantaged by this, added Mrs Raraty. Fortunately, all exam boards have procedures in place to deal with this type of incident and we meet the criteria for 'special consideration'. Author Michael Frayn (Joel Ryan/Invision/AP) "A full internal investigation is under way and we are unable to provide further comment at this time." A spokesperson for exam board Cambridge International said: "We recognise that this is distressing for the students involved. We have asked the school to follow our procedures for rare situations like this by submitting a request for special consideration on behalf of the students affected." The organisation's website explains that "special consideration" is a post-exam adjustment made to a candidate's mark to make allowances for adverse circumstances. The school is rated "excellent" by the Independent Schools Inspectorate, and The Good Schools Guide described students as "in the main pretty well-heeled". ---Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK--- Curious just how far your dollar goes in Colorado Springs? We've rounded up the latest rental listings via rental site Zumper to get a sense of what to expect when it comes to finding a rental in Colorado Springs if you've got a budget of $800/month. Read on for the listings. (Note: prices and availability are subject to change.) Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. 3803 Half Turn Road (East Colorado Springs) Here's a 560-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom at 3803 Half Turn Road that's going for $775/month. In the unit, you'll get a dishwasher, a balcony and a fireplace. The building has on-site laundry. Both cats and dogs are permitted. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee. Per Walk Score ratings, the surrounding area is moderately walkable, has some bike infrastructure and has some transit options. (Check out the complete listing here.) 3835 Radiant Drive (East Colorado Springs) Next, check out this 600-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom that's located at 3835 Radiant Drive. It's listed for $753/month. In the unit, you'll get carpeted floors and air conditioning. The building offers on-site laundry, garage parking and a swimming pool. Pet owners, inquire elsewhere: This spot doesn't allow cats or dogs. Walk Score indicates that the area around this address is somewhat walkable, is bikeable and has a few nearby public transportation options. (Take a look at the complete listing here.) 3735 E. La Salle St. (East Colorado Springs) Here's a 450-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment at 3735 E. La Salle St. that's going for $725/month. Pets are not welcome. There isn't a leasing fee associated with this rental, but there is a $50 application fee and $100 admin fee. Per Walk Score ratings, this location is moderately walkable, is quite bikeable and has a few nearby public transportation options. Story continues (See the full listing here.) 4348 N. Chestnut St. (West Colorado Springs) Located at 4348 N. Chestnut St., here's a 525-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom single-family home that's listed for $715/month. The building offers on-site laundry, a swimming pool and assigned parking. The apartment has a ceiling fan and central heating. Animals are not welcome. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee. According to Walk Score's assessment, this location requires a car for most errands, has some bike infrastructure and has some transit options. (Check out the complete listing here.) This story was created automatically using local real estate data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. 10950 Briar Forest Drive. | Photos: Zumper Curious just how far your dollar goes in Houston? We've rounded up the latest rental offerings via rental site Zumper to get a sense of what to expect when it comes to locating a rental in Houston if you're on a budget of $800/month. Read on for the listings. (Note: prices and availability are subject to change.) Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. 10950 Briar Forest Drive (Briarforest Area) Here's this one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment located at 10950 Briar Forest Drive. It's listed for $800/month. The building features a swimming pool and a fitness center. In the furnished unit, you'll get a dishwasher and stainless steel appliances. Pets are not welcome. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee. Walk Score indicates that this location is somewhat walkable, is bikeable and has a few nearby public transportation options. (Take a gander at the complete listing here.) 7000 Greenbriar Drive, #2386 (University Place) Next, check out this one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment that's located at 7000 Greenbriar Drive, #2386. It's also listed for $800/month. Neither cats nor dogs are welcome. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee. Walk Score indicates that the surrounding area is moderately walkable, is very bikeable and has excellent transit. (Check out the complete listing here.) 915 Silber Road, #4541 (Greater Uptown) Listed at $800/month, this one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment is located at 915 Silber Road, #4541. Animals are not welcome. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee. Walk Score indicates that the area around this address is somewhat walkable, is bikeable and has a few nearby public transportation options. (Take a look at the complete listing here.) 7901 Amelia Road (Spring Branch East) Next, there's this one-bedroom, one-bathroom over at 7901 Amelia Road. It's listed for $800/month for its 740 square feet of space. Story continues Building amenities include on-site laundry, secured entry and outdoor space. In the unit, there's air conditioning, hardwood flooring and a balcony. Luckily for pet owners, both dogs and cats are welcome. According to Walk Score, the surrounding area is somewhat walkable, is very bikeable and has some transit options. (Check out the complete listing here.) 6700 Chimney Rock Road (Gulfton) Finally, check out this 575-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom that's located at 6700 Chimney Rock Road. It's listed for $799/month. In the unit, you'll have air conditioning, hardwood flooring and a balcony. When it comes to building amenities, expect on-site laundry, a fitness center and a swimming pool. Good news for animal lovers: both dogs and cats are welcome here. Walk Score indicates that the surrounding area is quite walkable, is relatively bikeable and has good transit options. (Check out the complete listing here.) This story was created automatically using local real estate data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. 909 E. Roosevelt St. | Photos: Zumper According to rental site Zumper, median rents for a one-bedroom in Phoenix are hovering around $975. But how does the low-end pricing on a Phoenix rental look these days and what might you get for the price? We took a look at local listings for studios and one-bedroom apartments to find out what budget-minded apartment seekers can expect to find. Read on for the cheapest listings available right now. (Note: prices and availability are subject to change.) Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. 602 E. Townley Ave., #202 Listed at $599/month, this 500-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment is located at 602 E. Townley Ave., #202. It is 38.6% less than the median rent for a one bedroom in Phoenix, which is currently estimated at around $975/month. When it comes to building amenities, expect off-street parking and on-site laundry. In the unit, you can expect tile flooring and a fireplace. Pet owners, inquire elsewhere: this spot doesn't allow cats or dogs. There's no leasing fee required for this rental. According to Walk Score's assessment, the area around this address is quite walkable, is convenient for biking and has good transit options. (See the complete listing here.) 2002 E. Sweetwater Ave., #114 Here's a one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment in Paradise Valley at 2002 E. Sweetwater Ave., #114. It's going for $600/month for its 600 square feet of space. Building amenities include assigned parking, outdoor space and on-site laundry. In the unit, expect to find a dishwasher, tile floors and a fireplace. Pets are not welcome. The rental doesn't require a leasing fee. According to Walk Score's assessment, this location is moderately walkable, is bikeable and has a few nearby public transportation options. (See the full listing here.) 1233 W. Pierce St. This studio living space, situated at 1233 W. Pierce St. in Central City, is listed for $695/month for its 450 square feet of space. Story continues In the unit, look for air conditioning and tile flooring. Storage space is listed as a building amenity. Pet owners are in luck: cats and dogs are permitted with additional deposit. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee, but there is an $845 security deposit. Per Walk Score ratings, the surrounding area is friendly for those on foot, is a "biker's paradise" and has good transit options. (See the listing here.) 909 E. Roosevelt St. And here's a studio at 909 E. Roosevelt St. in Central City, which, with 450 square feet, is going for $695/month. In the apartment, anticipate tile floors and ample closet space. Pet owners are in luck: cats and dogs are allowed. There isn't a leasing fee associated with this rental, but there is an $845 security deposit. Per Walk Score ratings, this location is friendly for those on foot, is bikeable and has good transit options. (Check out the listing here.) 7151 W. Indian School Road Listed at $699/month, this studio apartment is located at 7151 W. Indian School Road in Maryvale. In the unit, anticipate hardwood flooring, a dishwasher, air conditioning and a walk-in closet. For those with furry friends in tow, know that cats and dogs are allowed on this property. On-site laundry is listed as a building amenity. Be prepared for a broker's fee equal to one month's rent. According to Walk Score, the surrounding area is car-dependent, has some bike infrastructure and has a few nearby public transportation options. (Check out the complete listing here.) This story was created automatically using local real estate data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. The Algerian authorities have tightened the blockade imposed on the Tindouf camps. Lately, they confiscated the Algerian passports used by Sahrawis to travel abroad. After they gave instructions to the Polisario leaders to restrict the entry to and exit from the Tindouf camps, Algerian authorities are now seizing the Algerian passports that were granted in the past to Sahrawis to facilitate their travel abroad, especially to Europe. Lately, many Sahrawis had their travel documents confiscated as soon as they landed in Algerian ports or airports upon return from abroad. Their protests were vain. The inhabitants of the Tindouf camps, who are already irked by the movement restrictions imposed on them by the Polisario armed militia for more than a month, are now deprived of Algerian passports, the only travel document that enabled them to travel abroad. A passport issued by the so-called SADR is useless as no country, including Algeria, recognizes the pseudo-republic. Thus, the many Sahrawis settled in European countries, particularly in Spain and France, no longer dare to return to Tindouf, for fear of making a one-way journey and be unable to go back to their host country and consequently lose their job and the benefits they enjoy there. Besides, the new restrictions hamper the Tindouf camps inhabitants only source of income: smuggling between the camps and southern Algeria and the other neighboring countries, particularly Mauritania. Even the international humanitarian aid granted to Sahrawi families in Tindouf has been reduced by donor countries after they realized that their assistance was systematically embezzled by the Polisario leaders and their cronies. BERLIN (AP) Austrian opposition parties called Friday for the country's vice-chancellor to resign after a two German newspapers published footage of him apparently offering lucrative government contracts to a potential Russian benefactor. The daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung and the weekly Der Spiegel published extracts of covert video allegedly showing Heinz-Christian Strache, the leader of Austria's far-right Freedom Party, meeting a woman claiming to be interested in investing large amounts of money in the Alpine nation. The two papers said the meeting, which took place months before Austria's parliamentary election, was clearly a trap laid to compromise the two politicians, though it's unclear who was behind it. In the video, the source of which the newspapers declined to reveal, Strache and party colleague Johann Gudenus are heard telling the unnamed woman she can expect lucrative construction contracts if she buys an Austrian newspaper and supports the Freedom Party. Sueddeutsche Zeitung and Der Spiegel said the footage was authenticated by a forensic video expert. It couldn't be immediately independently verified by The Associated Press. "It's time to end this nightmare," the head of Austria's Social Democratic Party, Pamela Rendi-Wagner, said after the reports. "Strache and Gudenus must step down today." She urged Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz of the center-right People's Party to take responsibility for his government allies: "He chose to enter into this coalition." Werner Kogler, a leading member of Austria's opposition Green Party, also urged Kurz to dissolve the coalition "or he himself will become untenable." According to the two newspapers, the video spanned some six hours of drink-fueled conversation in a villa on the Spanish island of Ibiza between the Austrian politicians and a woman claiming to be the niece of a prominent Russian businessman. Aside from discussing possible investments in Austria, including the purchase of influential tabloid newspaper Kronen Zeitung, Strache also appears to suggest ways of funneling money to his party via an unconnected foundation to circumvent Austrian rules on political donations. Story continues There is no indication that any of the discussed Russian investments took place before or after the parliamentary elections, in which the Freedom Party came third with almost 26% of the vote. Neither Strache nor Gudenus could immediately be reached for comment. Spiegel reported that the men confirmed taking part in a private meeting on Ibiza, but denied any wrongdoing. ___ Sueddeutsche Zeitung report: http://bit.ly/2HoGwCg Following is a summary of current health news briefs. More U.S. mothers diagnosed with depression at childbirth Growing numbers of new mothers are being diagnosed with depression before they leave the hospital with their newborns, according to a U.S. study that suggests screening women at childbirth could help get treatment for those who need it. From 2000 to 2015, the rate of depression diagnoses among women hospitalized for the delivery of a child rose seven-fold, from 4.1 cases per 1,000 patients to 28.7 per 1,000, the study found. Too much screen time tied to school problems even in little kids Kindergarteners who get more than two hours of screen time a day may be more likely to have behavior and attention problems in school than their classmates who spend less time in front of televisions, smartphones and tablets, a Canadian study suggests. Doctors urge parents of young kids to limit screen time or avoid it altogether because all of those hours watching videos or gaming have been linked to slowed development of speech and language, fine and gross motor skills, and social and behavioral skills. After all, time spent in front of screens means less time for scribbling with crayons or playing games that help kids learn how to kick a ball or take turns. Alabama boycott builds as states retaliate against abortion law A movement to boycott Alabama over its near-ban on abortion gained momentum Thursday as officials in Maryland and Colorado called for economic retaliation and online flyers urged people not to buy anything in, or from Alabama. A day after the southern state passed the country's most restrictive abortion law, Maryland's Democratic Comptroller Peter Franchot said he would advise his state's $52 billion pension fund to divest from Alabama, and urged other states to follow suit. Missouri follows Alabama by passing restrictive abortion bill Missouri lawmakers passed a bill on Friday that prohibits women from seeking an abortion after the eighth week of pregnancy, days after Alabama enacted the most restrictive abortion law in the United States. The legislation allows for an abortion after the eighth week only in the case of medical emergencies. On Wednesday, Alabama banned abortions at any time, with the same exception. Story continues GSK and Novartis liniment marketing misled Australian consumers: court The Australian subsidiaries of British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline and Swiss drugmaker Novartis misled customers and broke the law by promoting identical liniments as though they could treat specific ills, an Australian court found on Friday. The court said the companies admitted marketing Voltaren Osteo Gel as a treatment for osteoarthritis-related pain when its ingredients were the same as a cheaper Voltaren product, Emulgel. Smokers have higher risk for multiple strokes Smokers who have a stroke are much more likely to have another one if they don't quit or at least cut back, a Chinese study suggests. Smoking has long been linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and serious cardiac events like heart attacks and strokes. But the new study sheds light on how smoking influences the risk of a second stroke in patients who already had one. Sunday is 'Hepatitis Testing Day' Millions of people in the U.S. have chronic viral hepatitis, most without knowing it, so the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other groups have designated May as Hepatitis Awareness Month and May 19 as Hepatitis Testing Day. "Hepatitis is a silent killer. When you get infected, you often don't have severe symptoms that make you go to the doctor," said Dr. John Ward, director of the Coalition for Global Hepatitis Elimination at the Task Force for Global Health in Decatur, Georgia. AbbVie halts enrollment after brain cancer trial misses goal, shares fall AbbVie Inc said on Friday it has halted enrollment of patients in all ongoing studies testing its brain cancer treatment after the drug failed to meet the main goal in a late-stage trial. The company's shares fell 1.8 percent to $78.10 before the bell. Five more U.S. states sue OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma over opioid epidemic Five U.S. states on Thursday filed lawsuits accusing Purdue Pharma LP of illegally marketing and selling opioids, escalating the wave of litigation over a nationwide abuse epidemic. Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, West Virginia and Wisconsin joined 39 states to file lawsuits targeting Purdue Pharma and its leaders, including former president Richard Sackler and his family. U.S. FDA labels J&J surgical staplers' recall as severest The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned of risks of serious injury or death from surgical staplers made by Johnson & Johnson's Ethicon unit, labeling a recent recall of the device as its most serious. The recall, initiated early April by Ethicon, covers 92,496 surgical staplers and is now labeled as "Class-1" - the strictest form of recall issued by FDA, where use of faulty devices may cause serious injury or death. Following is a summary of current odd news briefs. Take or pay: Belgian ex-king faces paternity fines A Belgian court has ordered the country's former king to pay 5,000 euros ($5,600) a day until he takes a DNA paternity test to resolve a long-running case brought by a woman who says she is his daughter. A judicial source said the 84-year-old King Albert II must pay the sum to Belgian artist Delphine Boel, 50, for every day he now fails to heed a court order made last year to provide a sample. Albert, who abdicated six years ago in favor of his son Philippe, is challenging the ruling that he submit to testing. Following is a summary of current science news briefs. SpaceX postpones Starlink satellite launch again, for 'about a week' A SpaceX launch already scrubbed once due to inclement weather was postponed again nearly 24 hours later on Thursday, this time for "about a week," in order to update satellite software and "triple-check everything," Elon Musk's rocket company said. The delayed mission is designed to carry into low-Earth orbit an initial batch of 60 satellites for Musk's new Starlink global internet service, a venture intended to generate cash for the rest of the billionaire entrepreneur's space exploration ambitions. Brazil seeks China's OK for genetically modified sugarcane Brazil's agriculture minister will ask Chinese officials on Thursday to greenlight exports to the Asian nation of sugar made from genetically modified (GM) sugarcane, which is expected to be widely used in Brazil in coming years. Minister Tereza Cristina Dias told Reuters in Beijing on Wednesday, on her first visit to Brazil's top buyer of farm goods, that she would raise the GMO issue during a visit to China's General Administration of Customs on Thursday. High winds force SpaceX to postpone first launch of Starlink satellites Billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX postponed a planned Wednesday night blastoff of a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the first 60 satellites for his new Starlink internet service, citing excessive winds over the Florida launch site. Launch of the mission, aimed at placing the initial stage of Musk's space-based global internet network into low-Earth orbit, was rescheduled for 10:30 p.m. on Thursday (0230 GMT Friday) from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, SpaceX said. Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Confused by EU elections? Brexit makes it worse, candidate says The delay to Britain's departure from the European Union has only confused voters who already have little enthusiasm for European Parliament elections, according to Socialist lead candidate Frans Timmermans. Almost three years after Britain voted to leave the EU, the Brexit process is so bogged down that its scheduled departure date has been put back seven months to Oct. 31, meaning it is obliged to take part in the election on Thursday. Algeria election may be postponed, protests continue Algeria's imminent presidential election looks likely to be postponed, a source said on Friday, as protesters returned to the streets for the 13th successive Friday to demand the removal of the nation's ruling elite. After two decades in power, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika quit last month under pressure from protesters and the army, but demonstrations have continued seeking political reforms and the removal of all officials belonging to the old guard. Ministers agree way for Russia to rejoin Europe's human rights body Foreign ministers from the Council of Europe, the continent's chief human rights watchdog, reached an agreement on Friday that opens the way for Russia to return to the organization, resolving a dispute that began after Moscow's seizure of Crimea. The agreement follows efforts by France and Germany to find a compromise among the 47-nation group and means Russia will likely take part in a meeting of the council's parliamentary assembly in June, when key new appointments will be made. Spain's Sanchez nominates Catalans to chair Congress and Senate Spain's acting prime minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday proposed two Catalan lawmakers as parliamentary speakers, giving an early sense of the prominent role the politically volatile region is likely to play during his mandate. The crisis triggered when Catalonia briefly declared independence in 2017 was a central issue in last month's national election, and its separatist ambitions are proving a political headache for Sanchez as his minority Socialist Party seeks to form a government. Story continues U.S. urging talks while 'holding gun' at Iran: Iranian military official A senior Iranian military official has accused U.S. President Donald Trump of dishonesty, saying Washington is calling for talks while "holding a gun" at Tehran, the semi-official news agency Mehr reported on Friday. Trump has said publicly he wants to pursue a diplomatic route with Iran after withdrawing the United States from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, moving to cut off all Iranian oil exports this month while beefing up the U.S. Navy and Air Force presence in the Gulf. UK white supremacist jailed for plot to kill female lawmaker A British far-right extremist who planned to murder a female Member of Parliament with a sword was sentenced to life imprisonment on Friday. Jack Renshaw, who had admitted being a member of racist group National Action until it was banned as a terrorist organization, will have to serve at least 20 years in prison. Former French president Sarkozy set for trial over 2012 campaign France's Constitutional Council cleared the way on Friday for former president Nicolas Sarkozy to be tried over alleged illegal financing of his failed re-election campaign in 2012. Sarkozy had appealed to the council invoking the "double-jeopardy" principle because he had already been convicted in 2013 and ordered to pay more than 360,000 euros for breaching campaign-finance rules. In first for Asia, Taiwan lawmakers back same-sex marriage Taiwan became the first place in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage on Friday, as thousands of demonstrators outside parliament cheered and waved rainbow flags, despite deep divisions over marriage equality. Lawmakers of the majority Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) backed the bill, which passed 66 to 27, although the measure could complicate President Tsai Ing-wen's bid to win a second term in presidential elections next year. Britain's Brexit talks collapse as May's premiership crumbles Britain's tumultuous divorce from the European Union was again in disarray on Friday after the opposition Labour Party declared last-ditch talks dead due to Prime Minister Theresa May's crumbling government. Nearly three years after the United Kingdom voted 52% to 48% in a referendum to leave the EU, it remains unclear how, when or even if it will leave the European club it joined in 1973. The current deadline to leave is Oct. 31. Kremlin pledges a response to new U.S. sanctions on Russian individuals The Kremlin said on Friday it would respond in kind to a new round of U.S. sanctions on Russian nationals, saying its retaliation would be consistent with Russia's national interest. The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on a Chechen group and five people, including at least three Russians, over allegations of human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings and the torture of LGBTI people. Despite speculation claiming that Meghan Markle gave birth to son Archie Harrison at home, the newborn royal baby's just-revealed birth certificate confirms that the Duchess of Sussex gave birth at a hospital. Baby Sussex's birth certificate was made public on Friday and revealed that Meghan Markle welcomed her first child with husband Prince Harry at the private Portland Hospital in nearby Westminster, People reports. SEE ALSO: Royal family reacts to the arrival of the royal baby Royal reporter Simon Perry wrote that a Westminster Registrar's Office representative visited the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at their Frogmore Cottage home at Windsor Castle on Friday afternoon so that they wouldn't have to go to the office to register their child's birth themselves, which likely would've caused mayhem. See photos of Archie's royal baby debut: Though Meghan and Harry chose not to release their first child's registration on their own accord -- which is what Kate and William did for their three children George, Charlotte and Louis -- it is, by nature, a public document. Perry notes that parents in the United Kingdom are given 42 days to register the birth of their child, but Meghan and Harry waited just 11 days to do so. SEE ALSO: Did Prince George secretly reveal Archie's name back in January? Archie was born on Monday, May 6, with the palace officially announcing his arrival hours after his early-morning birth. Two days later, Meghan and Harry carried him during a brief official royal baby photo-call at Windsor Castle, where they chatted with a reporter. Hours later, they announced their first son's name. This week, the new parents welcomed several important visitors, who met their son for the first time: Kate Middleton and Prince William reportedly stopped by Frogmore on Tuesday, while Prince Charles paid the family of three a visit on Thursday. While Meghan is expected to continue to take time off to enjoy her newfound motherhood as her mother, Doria Ragland, helps her navigate the special time, Prince Harry has already gotten back to work. The Duke of Sussex attended the official launch event for the 2020 Invictus Games in the Netherlands just three days after the arrival of his first child. Story continues During the celebratory event, Harry was gifted several items to honor his becoming a father, including a jacket with the words "I AM DADDY" stitched onto it, which made the internet go wild. See photos of Prince Harry's viral jacket in the gallery below: Archie's birth certificate confirms speculation he was born at Portland Hospital. [Photo: PA] Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsors official birth certificate has been released, 11 days after his birth on 6 May 2019. It reveals the Duchess of Sussex gave birth at the private Portland Hospital in Westminster, 24 miles from her home in Windsor. A basic delivery costs upwards of 15,000 at the maternity hospital. This follows speculation over whether or not the Duchess gave birth at a hospital or had a home birth. The birth certificate of Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, son of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex pic.twitter.com/9kvv7teEiB Press Association (@PA) May 17, 2019 It was originally believed the Duchess had a home birth at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor, but was later reported by Mail Online that she had given birth in a London hospital, most likely the Portland Hospital. At the time, when Yahoo UK contacted the Portland Hospital, a spokeswoman said: We are unable to confirm speculation about individuals who may or may not have been cared for at The Portland Hospital." The hospital has today issued a statement congratulating the new parents on their son: Huge congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on the birth of baby Archie. For reasons of patient confidentiality, we are unable to provide any comment or information. The Portland Hospital, where Meghan Markle gave birth to son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor [Photo: PA] The certificate also confirms Archies name is Archie - not Archibald and lists the full names of parents His Royal Highness Henry Charles Albert David Duke of Sussex (who goes by the nickname Harry) and Rachel Meghan Markle (who goes by her middle name). Their occupations are listed as, respectively, Prince of the United Kingdom and Princess of the United Kingdom. As for their usual address, the couples home of Frogmore Cottage, Windsor Castle, is listed. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex first introduced their new son, Archie, to the world earlier this month on 8 May, two days after his birth. Story continues Not the first royal birth at the Portland Hospital The Duchess of Yorks daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie were both born at The Portland in 1988 and 1990, respectively. Other notable royal births include Samuel and Arthur Chatto - the sons of Lady Sarah Chatto, who is Princess Margarets daughter. David Armstrong-Jones wife Serena (Princess Margarets daughter-in-law) had their two children Viscount Linley and Lady Margarita Armstrong-Jones at The Portland. Its also where Victoria Beckham gave birth to sons Brooklyn and Romeo. The Hague (AFP) - The Netherlands and Russia on Friday settled a long-running dispute over the seizure of Greenpeace's Arctic Sunrise ship during an oil drilling protest in 2013, with Moscow expected to pay 2.7 million euros ($3 million) in compensation. The settlement, reached after the Dutch dragged Moscow to various courts following the incident, was reached after talks between Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok and Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. "The Russian Federation and the Kingdom of the Netherlands... have come to a full and final settlement of any and all mutual claims" arising from the incident, the Dutch Foreign Ministry said in a joint statement with Russia. Russian commandos seized the Dutch-flagged ship in September 2013 and detained 30 Greenpeace activists and journalists on board after a protest at an offshore oil rig owned by Russian state oil giant Gazprom. The Dutch government then started several arbitration procedures and in 2017 the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration ordered Russia to pay 5.4 million euros ($6,03 million) in damages. The Dutch government Friday did not put a figure on the final compensation, but Greenpeace Netherlands press officer Bram Karst told AFP: "The figure (2.7 million) is correct." "Russia is paying the Netherlands, (but) we don't know exactly how it will be transferred" to Greenpeace, Karst added. "We are very happy with the result," he said. Moscow's angry response to the 2013 protest, during which two Greenpeace activists tried to scale the giant Prirazlomnaya offshore platform, sparked an international outcry. Environmentalists warned the structure posed a threat to the pristine Arctic ecology. The activists -- who became known as the "Arctic 30" -- were initially accused of piracy, a charge later changed to hooliganism. They were detained for two months before being bailed and then benefitting from a Kremlin-backed amnesty. Story continues Russia handed the ship back in 2014, but Greenpeace said it had suffered considerable damage after being impounded for nine months in the northwestern port of Murmansk. Friday's agreement however was an "example of an amicable settlement of disputes", the joint Russo-Dutch statement said, adding that it was achieved on a "number of understandings". This included the "recognition of the rights relating to peaceful protest which shall be exercised at sea with generally accepted international regulations, procedures and practices." However, "while a coastal state should tolerate some level of nuisance from protest actions at sea, it has the right to take measures to prevent and respond to, including where necessary to prosecute" any action that broke international laws, put lives at risk or interrupted essential operations, the statement said. * Whales caught last summer for export to China * Have languished in cramped pens since then * Their fate has caused international outcry * Plan to free them divides scientists By Andrew Osborn MOSCOW, May 17 (Reuters) - International scientists criticized on Friday a Russian plan to release 10 captive killer whales into the Sea of Japan rather than return them to their original habitat, saying it could endanger the mammals' lives. The plight of the orcas, which are being held with 87 beluga whales in cramped conditions in a bay near the port of Nakhodka, triggered an international outcry, with celebrities such as actor Leonardo DiCaprio joining a petition that raised nearly 1.5 million signatures calling for their return to the ocean. Under increasing pressure, Russia last month signed an agreement with a group of international scientists to release the orcas and the belugas. But on Wednesday Russian scientists announced that the orcas would be freed by June 10 directly from their holding pens into the Sea of Japan, some 800 miles (1,290 km) south of their original habitat in the Sea of Okhotsk. International scientists said the plan could harm the orcas. "It puts the well-being of these orcas at undue risk and compromises their long-term survival," said Jean-Michel Cousteau, son of celebrated French marine expert and broadcaster Jacques Cousteau. "We cannot support or participate in this plan," he said in a statement released by the Whale Sanctuary Project, adding that it could mean the whales would not be able to readapt to life in the ocean and would return to their pens for food. "(They) may not survive," said Cousteau, who advocates transporting the whales in seawater tanks to near where they were caught where he says there are associated orcas and belugas and appropriate and available food sources. The Russian scientists said the orcas could suffer injury and stress if transported back to the Sea of Okhotsk and that such a strategy would be complex and require much more time. They said plans to release the beluga whales were not yet ready. Story continues Four Russian companies captured the orcas last summer in the Sea of Okhotsk with the aim of selling them to marine parks or aquariums in China. After the international outcry, the Kremlin ordered local authorities in the Russian Far East to intervene. Russia's FSB security service has brought charges against the companies for breaking fishing laws. The Kremlin has said Russia has no direct ban on catching whales, but that they can only legally be caught in specific circumstances, for scientific and educational purposes. (Editing by Gareth Jones) by Shafique Khokhar Neha had also resisted rape and beatings, but then succumbed when the torturers threatened to throw her little brother off the roof. The husband, already married before, wants her back home and has filed a complaint for insulting Islamic laws. The Church is helping the family. Karachi (AsiaNews) - "If you do not get converted, we will throw your brother off the roof": This was the threat that forced the 15-year-old Christian Neha to convert to Islam after which she was married to a 45-year-old Muslim, already married and with three children. The young woman had resisted with all her strength, even after being violently raped and beaten. But the death threats against her two and a half year old brother broke her. Later she managed to escape with the help of one of her husband's daughters. She returned to her family and now lives in fear. Speaking to AsiaNews Fr. Saleh Diego, director of the National Commission for Justice and Peace, says: "We are certain that we will get justice. We ask Prime Minister Imran Khan to protect minorities in all these situations and bring peace to the country. " Neha is the daughter of Parvaiz and Jamila Masih. She was born on 8 October 2003 and lives in the city of Itihad, near Karachi. Her story goes back to last April 28, when her aunt Sundas, her mother's half-sister, asked her parents to be able to take Neha with her for a few days, to get help her sick and hospitalized son at Jinnah Hospital. The family agreed because Sundas, who converted to Islam by marrying Muhammad Rehan a few years ago, was still a trusted relative. Sundas, instead of taking Neha to the hospital, took her home with her younger brother. There waiting for them was Mohammad Imran and Azra, brother and sister of Rehan (husband of Sundas), who tortured the Christian girl and force her to marry Imran. She refused, was taken by Imran to a nearby room and raped; and still she refused. At that point the threat: "If you don't convert and you don't marry Imran, we will throw your brother off the roof." Eventually Neha agreed. The next day the girl was taken to the Maulana (Islamic religious) where she embraced the Islamic faith, her name was changed to Fatima and the wedding was celebrated. Then the new husband took her home, where she was forced to satisfy her spouse's sexual desires for a week. Finally she managed to escape and returned to her parents. On hearing her story, they were shocked because they believed that their daughter was still in the hospital helping her sick cousin. The family tried to register a complaint, but the police refused to hear their statement. Meanwhile, Imran's family has filed a counter-complaint accusing the girl's parents of wanting to hide the wife Fatima / Neha, which goes against Islamic law. On May 13, police finally filed their complaint thanks to the support of activists and Church leaders. Rev. Gazala Shafiq, pastor of the Church of Pakistan [protestant], complains that "marriage for girls under 18 is punishable under the Penal Code. Neha is scared, she huddles in a corner and just repeats that if she is forced to go home, nobody will help her anymore. His heart is broken. We must be close to her and demand justice ". Seguin, TX (78155) Today Some clouds. Areas of patchy fog. Low 62F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Some clouds. Areas of patchy fog. Low 62F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Photo: Scott Warman/Unsplash When it comes to food and drink, there's plenty to do in San Antonio this week. From a wine fest to a Game of Thrones-themed bar crawl, here's how to add some flavor to your social calendar. Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. Wine Fest at Tower of the Americas From the event description: Tower of the Americas is hosting its 2nd annual Wine Fest on Saturday. Mingle with winery representatives from the Pacific Northwest, featuring wines from 24 wineries, delicious chef-inspired bites and live music around the base of the Tower. When: Saturday, May 18, 2-5 p.m. Where: Tower of the Americas, 739 E. Cesar E. Chavez Blvd. Price: $40. More ticket options available. Click here for more details, and to get your tickets Game of Thrones Bar Crawl From the event description: The G.O.T Bar Crawl is a free event on Saturday to bring all the fans to celebrate the last episode of Game of Thrones on Sunday. We will be starting at Pat O'Briens and move on to several other bars in downtown San Antonio. When: Saturday, May 18, 6 p.m.-2 a.m. Where: Pat O'Briens, 121 Alamo Plaza Price: Free Click here for more details, and to get your tickets The 9th Barbacoa & Big Red Festival From the event description: The 9th Barbacoa & Big Red Festival, presented by H-E-B, is on Sunday at The Greenline. Expect to hear from 21 bands, 10 DJs, food available for purchase and family fun. Kids under 12 are admitted for free. When: Sunday, May 19, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Where: The Greenline, 2532 Sidney Brooks Price: $5 Click here for more details, and to get your tickets Up to 51% Off Team Scavenger Hunt and Pub Crawl From the Brews & Clues deal description: Explore the Alamo and San Antonio River Walk while connecting with friends on a Pub Crawl Scavenger Hunt. Brews & Clues is an adult scavenger hunt thats part pub crawl, history tour and trivia game. Youll explore the beautiful city of San Antonio while getting a taste of its rich history and having a good time with your friends or family. Story continues Where: 300 Alamo Plaza, Central City Price: $27 (40 percent discount off regular price) Click here for more details, and to score this deal This story was created automatically using local event data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. Photo: iStock The number of crimes committed in San Francisco last month declined both month-over-month and year-over-year, according to data from CrimeoMeter, which collects data from police agencies and validated sources. The month-over-month tally of incidents fell from 10,501 in March to 10,364 in April, a drop of 1.3%. The decrease is consistent with a longer-term downward trend; crime in the city in April 2019 was about 12% below that of April 2018. So far this year, daily crime incidents have been down almost every day in comparison to the previous year. Broken down by type, almost all types of crime decreased both month-over-month and year-over-year. The trend was led by theft and assault. Thefts fell from 2,890 reported incidents in March 2019 to 2,771 in April 2019. There were 510 fewer thefts this April than last April. Assault incidents went from 778 in March to 669 in April, representing about a 14% decrease. Assault reports are also down year-over-year. Moving to smaller categories, there was also a considerable month-over-month decrease in harassment, from 173 incidents in March to 121 in April, and in prostitution, from 41 to 25. Harassment reports have decreased considerably compared to last April, while prostitution incidents have risen. There were 25 offenses involving children last month, and 23 alcohol-related offenses. Offenses involving children have gone down by about 44 percent compared to April 2018, and alcohol-related offenses have decreased by about 45 percent. A few types of offenses did see a month-over-month uptick from April to March 2019. Vandalism reports went from 640 to 673, auto burglary incidents rose from 109 to 131, and auto theft incidents went up from 380 to 398. Year-over-year, vandalism incidents have declined, while auto burglary reports have gone up. Looking at crime patterns in different areas of the city, the Mission, SoMa and Downtown / Union Square saw the largest declines in the number of incidents from March to April. Chinatown, Divisadero and the Castro also saw considerable percentage decreases in crime offenses for the month, although they continue to have lower overall crime levels. Story continues Compared to last April, crime has gone up the most in the Fillmore, and declined the most in Russian Hill. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Mondays saw the most reported crimes last month. Late afternoon, midday and evening continue to see the most crime incidents on average each day. To report a crime in progress or life-threatening emergency, call 911. To report a non-urgent crime or complaint, contact your local police department. Head to CrimeoMeter to get free local crime alerts in your area. This story was created automatically using local crime data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about our data sources and local crime methodology. Got thoughts about what we're doing? Go here to share your feedback. Senator Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) will call for a ban on for-profit charter schools and a temporary moratorium on funding for public-charter-school expansion in a campaign speech to be delivered Saturday, CNN first reported. In his Saturday speech in South Carolina, Sanders plans to endorse the NAACPs claim that charter-school expansion has had an adverse effect on African Americans who suffer from the resulting lack of funding for public schools. In order to combat this alleged harm, Sanders will call on the government to cut off public funding for all charter schools until an extensive audit has been conducted. While other 2020 Democratic contenders have expressed skepticism about the role of charter schools in improving Americas educational standing, Sanders is the first aspirant to explicitly call on Washington to cut off their funding. Sanderss plan would also limit charter schools ability to develop innovative curricula by mandating that they comply with many of the same oversight measures applied to traditional public schools. Opponents of the plan argue that it would harm the very people it intends to help, namely low-income African Americans and other minorities who continue to struggle with high attrition rates and disproportionately low standardized-test scores. Amy Wilkins, senior vice president of advocacy at the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, emphasized the pro-charter school stance adopted by three NAACP chapters in California that oppose the national organizations position. Sanderss call is out of touch as usual with what African Americans want, Wilkins said in a statement to CNN. More disturbing, the senator for personal political gain would literally lock African-American students into schools that have failed them for generations. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has prioritized school-choice advocacy during her tenure, proposing, among other things, a $5 billion federal tax credit that would fund scholarships and education programs for private schools. More from National Review By Tom Hals WILMINGTON, Del, May 17 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court ruled on Friday that President Donald Trump cannot end a program that shielded from deportation immigrants brought into the country illegally as children, the second time the administration has lost an appeal on the issue. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, said in its ruling that the 2017 rescission of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program violated administrative law because the policy change was not adequately explained. The ruling reversed a decision by a federal court in Maryland, and sent the case back for further proceedings. The Department of Justice declined to comment. Republican Trump's Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, began DACA in 2012. It shielded a group of immigrants known as "Dreamers" and has given them work permits but not a path to citizenship. About 800,000 people, mostly Hispanics, have received DACA protection. Trump has taken a stern stance against illegal immigration. His administration announced plans in September 2017 to phase out DACA, arguing that Obama exceeded his constitutional powers when he bypassed Congress and created the program. Rights groups, states and individuals filed numerous lawsuits against the Trump administration over the decision to end the program. A series of lower courts have generally ruled against the government, leaving DACA in place for now. The appeals court in Virginia found by a 2-1 decision that the rescission of DACA was arbitrary and capricious and violated administrative law. Judge Robert King, appointed by Democratic President Bill Clinton, and Judge Albert Diaz, appointed by Obama, formed the majority. Judge Julius Richardson, who was appointed by Trump, dissented. A similar decision was reached by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco in November, which upheld a lower court injunction against ending the program. The Supreme Court currently has three Trump administration appeals pending that seek to revive the administration's DACA proposal but the justices have so far delayed acting on them. It is likely the conservative-leaning court will ultimately have the final say on the issue. On Thursday, Trump unveiled a proposed overhaul of the U.S. immigration system to favor educated English speakers over people with family ties to Americans, a plan he will push in his 2020 re-election campaign. But the plan did not include protections for 'Dreamers,' a sticking point for Democratic lawmakers who say a permanent fix for this group of immigrants must be part of any proposed policy changes. (Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; additional reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis) BEIJING, May 17 (Reuters) - The Chinese government's top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi, told Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Friday that China resolutely opposes unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States. China supports Iran to safeguard its legitimate rights and understands Iran's situation, Wang Yi said in a meeting with Zarif in Beijing, according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement. Tensions have escalated in recent days with increasing concerns about a potential U.S.-Iran conflict. Iran has said it is committed to its obligations under an international nuclear deal despite the U.S. withdrawal from the landmark agreement last year, and has called the reimposition of U.S sanctions unacceptable. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Catherine Evans) GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) -- It was the dress blue uniforms that drew John Thompson to join the U.S. Marines, where black men were not welcome, so he could defend a country that denied him the rights he wanted to fight for. "I said, 'Wow, that's a real pretty uniform,'" recalls Thompson, now 94. It took President Franklin Roosevelt's 1941 executive order banning discrimination in government and defense industry employment because of "race, creed, color, or national origin" to give the teenage son of black South Carolina sharecroppers a chance to serve as a Marine during World War II. Just not alongside whites. The first African Americans admitted to the Marine Corps after Roosevelt's order were put in segregated units, starting with their training. At a swampy, bug-infested camp called Montford Point, adjacent to but separate from Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, they endured indignities but they also paved the way for others who came after. Thompson, who enlisted in 1943, was among them. The Marines were the only military branch for him, after he saw their uniforms on newsreels at the black theater where he sold popcorn and after two of his friends joined the Corps themselves. "The Marine Corps is an elite group. I wanted to belong to an elite group. That was my feeling," said Thompson, who lives in Greensboro, North Carolina. Thompson, now a retired teacher, is one of an estimated 400 still living from among the approximately 20,000 men who trained at Montford Point. In Jim Crow-era Kannapolis, North Carolina, where Thompson was raised, black men were mostly relegated to low-paying jobs at a textile mill and black women weren't hired at all, he recalled. Blacks had to go to a restaurant's back door to be served. As his friends were drafted, one by one, Thompson told his father he wanted to join the service. "There had been only two blacks in town to go to the Marine Corps, and that had been within the last five or six months before I first started talking to my dad about it," he recalled. Story continues But racial segregation ruled out Marine training for black recruits at Parris Island, South Carolina, where whites were trained. "During that time, they didn't want blacks to belong to elite groups," Thompson said. "I wanted to belong to an elite group because, at the time, I didn't think there was a teenager anywhere in the nation any more physically fit than I was." Thompson and the other black would-be Marines were sent to Montford Point. Separated from Lejeune by railroad tracks that they weren't allowed to cross, Thompson said it was like the racial separation back at home. "Mind you, I was in a segregated society," Thompson said. "I knew nothing else. It was a way of life." The new recruits' fatigues weren't folded and didn't fit, Thompson said. When their first day's training was done, they had no real barracks either. "We had huts to live in. The walls were one board thick, and they looked as if you could ram your fist through a wall," Thompson said. "In the middle of the hut was one oil stove. We had to supply that stove with buckets to keep that stove going." When their training began, the black recruits served entirely under the command of white men. "We had white sergeants ... Most of them were Southerners with heavy accents. We only had two or three sergeants from the North," Thompson said. "It was because they wanted to treat us less than any white person who had ever been in the Marine Corps." Thompson said the sergeants didn't use outright racial epithets, but they would often refer to the black recruits as "you people," which he considered "subtle expressions" of racism. Yet in a training course notorious for weeding out all but the strongest, Thompson endured their rough tutelage and even thrived. "This training lasted for two months," he said. "I was made a squad leader. I never did have to do any KP while I was in the service because I was a squad leader and squad leaders didn't go to the kitchen." He said he and his comrades helped one another stay strong in the face of challenges. When off duty, they would compete against each other on the drill field to see who was fastest. "I always tried to outdo the other guys," Thompson said. But even a Marine uniform won a black man no respect. "Everything was done separately. At the bus station, we would get in line to get on the bus. We had to go all the way to the back of the bus," he said. "We never could sit up front unless the bus was completely full of black people." The black Marines' duties in World War II were confined mainly to dispensing ammunition and retrieving the wounded from the front lines. Thompson didn't see combat, but others did. Historians say the government initially planned to discharge the black Marines after World War II. But in 1948, President Harry Truman issued an order fully desegregating the U.S. armed forces. Today the Marine Corps is about 11 percent black still low among the services, but a seismic shift ahead of the World War II-era. Montford Point Camp was decommissioned on Sept. 9, 1949. On April 19, 1974, it was renamed Camp Johnson in honor of the late Sgt. Maj. Gilbert H. "Hashmark" Johnson a Marine legend and one of the first black men who eventually were trained as Marine drill instructors. Today it's the only Marine Corps installation named in honor of an African American. A memorial honoring the pioneering Montford Point Marines was dedicated there in 2016. In 2011, then-President Barack Obama signed a law awarding all Montford Point Marines the Congressional Gold Medal. Some of those medals were awarded posthumously. "We went through a lot and we realized we went through a lot," Thompson said. "This is just a small token of what we went through." For todays homeowners, the remodeling possibilities are endless. To showcase some of the best remodels in the Milwaukee area, 15 local homes will be open for tours this weekend during the 20th Annual NARI Milwaukee Tour of Remodeled Homes! To kick off the tour, NARI is hosting their NARI Aurora Cancer Care House Soiree to raise funds for Team Phoenix, an Aurora Health Foundation initiative that assists cancer survivors to regain endurance, strength, flexibility and overall health and wellness after cancer treatment by training for a sprint-distance triathlon. Molly is out at a beautiful home that is the site of tonight's Soiree with all the details! The NARI Aurora Cancer Care House Soiree is happening tonight, May 17 from 6pm to 9pm. For more information and for tickets, visit NARItourofremodeledhomes.org The NARI Tour of Remodeled Homes is happening Saturday, May 18 and Sunday, May 19 from 10am to 4pm. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. For more information and for tickets, visit NARItourofremodeledhomes.org MAITLAND, Fla. (AP) A small airplane made an emergency landing on a Florida highway ramp during rush hour and crashed into a car. News outlets report the plane landed Thursday around 5:30 p.m. on an Interstate 4 on-ramp in Maitland, just north of Orlando. Maitland Police Lt. Louis Grindle says there were no injuries. Grindle says the pilot reported the airplane had run out of fuel. The Greater Orlando Aviation Authority says the aircraft had been heading to Orlando Executive Airport. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating. Were in the year 1994 if you compare the trajectory of crypto to that of the internet in the early 1990s. | Source: Shutterstock By CCN: Bitcoin may be a decade old, but were still in the early stages. In fact, were so early that a Medium article revealed that were in the year 1994 if you compare cryptos trajectory to that of the internet in the early 1990s. Nevertheless, mass adoption is coming at a rapid rate and our research shows that we are half a decade away from that dream. In this article, we explain why 2024 is the year that cryptocurrencies become mainstream. The Number of Bitcoin Users Will Definitely Explode in 2024 It is quite difficult to get the precise number of bitcoin users today, but there are figures that give us a good estimate. For instance, the Bitcoin Market Journal reveals that there are 32 million bitcoin wallets. More than half of those wallets (53%) are used for either long-term investment or speculation. Bitcoin wallets chart In 2018, the number of bitcoin wallets surpassed the 20 million mark | Source: Medium So lets say there are 32 million bitcoin users today. By 2024, that number is expected to swell by 525%. According to a report, experts predict the exponential rise of bitcoin users from 32 million this year to 200 million in the next five years. At that point, bitcoins purpose would have evolved. On top of investment and speculation, casual consumers will welcome bitcoin as a safe store of value and digital money. Essentially, 2024 is the expected year when cryptocurrency penetrates the mainstream market. A recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) poll further supports this assertion. People Will Use the Digital Currency to Pay for Meals by 2024 In five years, fewer than 20% of consumers will use cash or bank cards to pay for lunch. Close to six out of 10 people will transact using cryptocurrency. In April, an IMF poll with 37,000 respondents revealed that in 2024, 56% of the people surveyed think theyll be buying lunch using cryptocurrency: Read the full story on CCN.com. Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang's Regular Press Conference on May 17, 2019 2019/05/17 At the invitation of Foreign Minister Muhriddin of Tajikistan, Foreign Minister Aidarbekov of Kyrgyzstan, Foreign Minister Mammadyarov of Azerbaijan, Foreign Minister Zalkaliani of Georgia and Foreign Minister Mnatsakanian of Armenia, from May 20 to 27, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will pay visits to the five countries and attend the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Kyrgyzstan. Q: Martin Lee from Hong Kong met with the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo yesterday. Secretary Pompeo expressed concerns about Hong Kong's rule of law and the amendment of the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance. Does China believe this is an interference in China's internal affairs? A: First I need to point out that Hong Kong affairs are purely China's internal affairs. No other country, organization or individual has the right to interfere. The US should respect the Hong Kong SAR government's efforts to lawfully amend its ordinances and improve its legal system. It is wrong to try and interfere in Hong Kong's affairs in any way. Any attempt to incite chaos in the SAR by hyping up this issue has no support and will not succeed. Since the return of Hong Kong, policies including "one country, two systems", "Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong" and a high degree of autonomy have been earnestly carried out. Hong Kong people's rights and freedoms have been fully guaranteed. Those are unquestionable facts. By amending the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance and the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance, the SAR government aims to better deal with individual cases and plug the loopholes in the legal system, so that Hong Kong can better cooperate with other countries and regions in the transfer of fugitives and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters. It will help them join efforts in fighting crimes and upholding the rule of law, and ensure that Hong Kong will not become a safe haven for criminals. I can assure you that the Chinese central government firmly supports the Hong Kong SAR government in amending the ordinances. Q: On May 16, when asked about the US imposing restrictions on Chinese tech companies in 5G network building, French President Macron said that it was inappropriate to launch a technological war or a trade war, that France was committed to multilateralism and cooperation, and that it was not the aim of France to block Huawei or any other company. We know that you criticized the US for its restrictions on Huawei. How do you view the different positions of the US and European countries? A: We have noted President Macron's remarks, and we applaud the unbiased attitude of the French side on Chinese tech companies in 5G network building. Premier Li Keqiang recently attended the 21st China-EU Leaders' Meeting in Europe, and two sides said in a joint statement that they welcomed the progress in bilateral communication in 5G network building. They also held the fourth China-EU Innovation Cooperation Dialogue and agreed on the extension of the China-EU Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement, which will further advance bilateral cooperation on scientific and technological innovation. In an era of globalization, the development and application of 5G technology depends on communication and cooperation between countries. However, out of political motives, the US chooses to hinder 5G development, application and cooperation. It even abuses the "national security" concept, politicizes this issue and oppresses certain companies. Such discriminatory practice not only undermines 5G development but also runs counter to fair competition. In the end no country will gain from it. We encourage more countries to independently make fact-based policy decisions that serve their interests, and to uphold a market environment that is fair, just and non-discriminatory. Q: Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif is reported to visit China on Friday. He is scheduled to meet with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Can you give us any details of this meeting and what questions will be discussed? A: China and Iran keep friendly exchanges. We often exchange views on bilateral relations and issues of mutual concern. I can confirm that Foreign Minister Zarif begins his visit to China today and will meet with State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. More information on his visit will be released in due time. Q: Italian Minister Gian Marco Centinaio of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies said in a press interview that projects under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) were not at all dangerous, and that it was a charming choice for Italy to strengthen bilateral relations with China. I wonder if you have any comment? A: We have noted relevant reports and we applaud Minister Centinaio's remarks. China and Italy are at the two ends of the ancient Silk Road. During President Xi Jinping's recent visit to Italy, the two sides signed an MOU under the BRI, which gives a boost to deeper bilateral cooperation. Italy pressed ahead with its participation in the BRI cooperation because it sees the opportunities brought by China's development and the bright prospect of China-Italy cooperation. I believe this is the charm described by Minister Centinaio in stronger China-Italy relations. Q: According to reports, the Norwegian government is now mediating for a dialogue between the ruling and opposition parties of Venezuela. What's your comment? A: We noted relevant reports. The essence of the Venezuela issue is whether the UN Charter and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries, a basic norm governing international relations, should be adhered to. China's position on the Venezuela issue is consistent and clear-cut. Upholding the UN Charter and the basic norms governing international relations, China believes that this issue should be independently resolved by the Venezuelan government and the opposition through inclusive political dialogue within the framework of its constitution. We hope the international community can observe international law and make constructive efforts in helping the relevant parties meet each other halfway, so that political settlement can be reached at an early date. We welcome Norway's effort to promote talks. China stands ready to stay in communication and coordination with all parties to promote peace and facilitate talks, jointly seek a peaceful solution for the Venezuela issue, uphold international fairness and justice and safeguard peace and stability in Venezuela and the region. Q: Former Australian Prime Minister Hawke recently passed away. How do you view his contribution to China-Australia relations? A: Mr Hawke had long been caring for and supporting China-Australia relations. He made important contributions to bilateral exchange and cooperation and played a key role in Asia-Pacific economic integration and regional cooperation. We express deep condolences on the passing of Mr Hawke and sincere sympathy to his family. Q: On May 16, the US Department of Commerce officially added Huawei and its 68 affiliates to the department's Entity List. I wonder if you have any comment on it? A: My colleague from the Ministry of Commerce and I myself both made clear responses to this question yesterday. We believe this is a wrong practice of the US side. Out of political motives, the US abuses export control measures and takes discriminatory measures on certain companies while making "national security" a catch-all phrase. This is entirely against market rules and the principle of fairness, which does not serve the interests of the US either. It is only natural for China to take all necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies. Q: Chinese media seem to be indicating that new trade talks with the US are off the table for now. Can you confirm that is also the official position? Could you update us on whether there is any possibility that President Xi will meet President Trump at the G20 summit? A: To answer your second question, like we said at this podium, the two Presidents have maintained contact through various means. I have nothing to update you at the moment. Regarding your first question, I stated China's position yesterday that in principle, China stands for dialogue and consultation when dealing with differences in international affairs. It is the same with regard to China-US economic and trade relations. As we believe, it takes sincerity to make a consultation meaningful. Judging from what the US did in previous talks, there are two things we have to make clear. First, we need to follow the principle of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit. Second, words must be matched with deeds. Q: The world-renowned Chinese-born architect Ieoh Ming Pei passed away yesterday. Do you have any comment? A: As a world-renown Chinese-born architect, Mr Ieoh Ming Pei made important contributions to mutual understanding between the Chinese and American people, and exchanges and mutual learning between Eastern and Western cultures. We'd like to offer deep condolences on the passing of Mr Pei and sincere sympathy to his family. Q: It is said that President Xi Jinping's planned visit to Japan in this fall may be postponed to next year. Can you confirm that? A: I don't have anything to say about that. High-level exchange certainly serves as an important driver for China-Japan relations. I hope both sides can make joint efforts to create favorable atmosphere and environment for it. Today we'll take a closer look at New York Community Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:NYCB) from a dividend investor's perspective. Owning a strong business and reinvesting the dividends is widely seen as an attractive way of growing your wealth. If you are hoping to live on the income from dividends, it's important to be a lot more stringent with your investments than the average punter. In this case, New York Community Bancorp likely looks attractive to investors, given its 6.4% dividend yield and a payment history of over ten years. It would not be a surprise to discover that many investors buy it for the dividends. The company also bought back stock equivalent to around 4.7% of market capitalisation this year. Some simple analysis can offer a lot of insights when buying a company for its dividend, and we'll go through this below. Explore this interactive chart for our latest analysis on New York Community Bancorp! NYSE:NYCB Historical Dividend Yield, May 17th 2019 Want to participate in a short research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card! Payout ratios Dividends are usually paid out of company earnings. If a company is paying more than it earns, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. So we need to be form a view on if a company's dividend is sustainable, relative to its net profit after tax. In the last year, New York Community Bancorp paid out 87% of its profit as dividends. Paying out a majority of its earnings limits the amount that can be reinvested in the business. This may indicate a commitment to paying a dividend, or a dearth of investment opportunities. Remember, you can always get a snapshot of New York Community Bancorp's latest financial position, by checking our visualisation of its financial health. Dividend Volatility Before buying a stock for its income, we want to see if the dividends have been stable in the past, and if the company has a track record of maintaining its dividend. New York Community Bancorp has been paying dividends for a long time, but for the purpose of this analysis, we only examine the past 10 years of payments. Its dividend payments have fallen by 20% or more on at least one occasion over the past ten years. During the past ten-year period, the first annual payment was US$1.00 in 2009, compared to US$0.68 last year. The dividend has shrunk at around -3.8% a year during that period. New York Community Bancorp's dividend hasn't shrunk linearly at -3.8% per annum, but the CAGR is a useful estimate of the historical rate of change. Story continues Dividend Growth Potential With a relatively unstable dividend, it's even more important to evaluate if earnings per share (EPS) are growing - it's not worth taking the risk on a dividend getting cut, unless you might be rewarded with larger dividends in future. In the last five years, New York Community Bancorp's earnings per share have shrunk at approximately 6.2% per annum. Declining earnings per share over a number of years is not a great sign for the dividend investor. Without some improvement, this does not bode well for the long term value of a company's dividend. Conclusion To summarise, shareholders should always check that New York Community Bancorp's dividends are affordable, that its dividend payments are relatively stable, and that it has decent prospects for growing its earnings and dividend. First, we think New York Community Bancorp has an acceptable payout ratio. Second, earnings per share have been in decline, and its dividend has been cut at least once in the past. With this information in mind, we think New York Community Bancorp may not be an ideal dividend stock. Given that earnings are not growing, the dividend does not look nearly so attractive. Very few businesses see earnings consistently shrink year after year in perpetuity though, and so it might be worth seeing what the 15 analysts we track are forecasting for the future. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our curated list of dividend stocks with a yield above 3%. 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 Hyonhee Shin SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea on Friday approved a request by businessmen to visit their factories in North Korea for what would be the first time since South Korea's 2016 suspension of operations at a jointly run industrial park that was for years a symbol of cooperation. Previous attempts by the South Korean businessmen to visit the Kaesong industrial park, just on the North Korean side of their heavily fortified border, foundered because of U.S. concern about a weakening of sanctions on North Korea. Some 200 businessmen asked late last month for a chance to visit the park, the fifth such request they made since President Moon Jae-in took office in 2017 on a platform of re-engagement with the North. "The government decided to approve the businessmens trip to protect our citizens property rights," said Lee Sang-min, a spokesman for the Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs and had previously declined their requests. South Koreans have to obtain approval to contact North Koreans or travel there. Lee said the government would "make necessary efforts to facilitate the visit". North Korea still has to approve it. The Kaesong complex began operating in 2004 with South Korean factories employing North Korean workers. It was an important source of revenue for the impoverished North with about 120 South Korean companies paying double the roughly $70 a month minimum wage in North Korea for the 55,000 workers there. South Korea suspended operations in 2016 after the North launched a rocket that put an object into orbit. International sanctions imposed on North Korea over its nuclear and missile programmes ban most economic engagement with it and there is no sign that the sanctions will be eased any time soon. Nevertheless, a visit by the businessmen would be a symbolic step at a time of rising tension since the collapse of a second summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump in Vietnam in February. Story continues BUILDING LINKS The businessmen said they wanted to inspect their facilities, which have been idle since 2016. They also want to check on a report on North Korean propaganda websites that it had resumed some operations in Kaesong on its own. North and South Korea are technically still at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a treaty. There is concern in the United States that the early resumption of operations at the industrial zone could undercut its sanctions campaign aimed at denuclearising North Korea. When South Korea exited Kaesong, it said the North had diverted wages paid to its workers to fund its weapons programmes. But shortly after Moon took power, a government official said there was no hard evidence to back that up. Moon has been hoping for a resumption of economic links with North Korea and he met its leader, Kim, three times last year. Moon has said South Korea could help the United States in its efforts to get North Korea to give up its nuclear programme by providing concessions for North Korean steps, such as reopening Kaesong and a tourist zone. Kim said in a New Year speech he was willing to resume both the factory and tour programmes "without conditions". But tension has again risen in recent weeks, with the North firing short-range missiles and multiple projectiles. South Korea also announced on Friday that it would pursue a plan to provide $8 million in humanitarian aid to North Korea, through international organisations like the World Food Programme. North Korea has said it is facing historic droughts and aid agencies have warned of possible food shortages. (Reporting by Hyonhee Shin) Seoul (AFP) - A Seoul appeals court on Friday extended the jail term imposed on a South Korea cult leader for raping female followers, sentencing him to 16 years behind bars. Pastor Lee Jaerock was convicted last year of raping eight women more than 40 times. The 75-year-old denied the charges and appealed, claiming the victims were all highly educated individuals and it was therefore "impossible for anyone to sexually assault them". The Seoul High Court upheld his original conviction and added a ninth victim who came forward after his first trial, extending his sentence by a year. "Lee habitually raped young female followers by exploiting their faith and obedience, as a powerful religious figure," judge Seong Ji-yong said. Lee set up the Manmin Central Church in Guro, once a poor area of Seoul, with just 12 followers in 1982. As of last year it had grown to 130,000 members, with a spotlight-filled auditorium, sprawling headquarters, and a website replete with claims of miracle cures. Religious devotion is widespread in technologically advanced South Korea, with 44 percent of people identifying themselves as believers. Most belong to mainstream churches, which can accumulate wealth and influence with tens of thousands of followers donating as much as 10 percent of their income. CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., May 16 (Reuters) - A SpaceX launch already scrubbed once due to inclement weather was postponed again nearly 24 hours later on Thursday, this time for "about a week," in order to update satellite software and "triple-check everything," Elon Musk's rocket company said. The delayed mission is designed to carry into low-Earth orbit an initial batch of 60 satellites for Musk's new Starlink global internet service, a venture intended to generate cash for the rest of the billionaire entrepreneur's space exploration ambitions. The Falcon 9 rocket and its satellite cargo were originally set to blast off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Wednesday night, but the flight was postponed by Space X, citing excessive winds over the launch site. The launch was rescheduled for Thursday night, and SpaceX said in a midday Twitter message that the "Starlink and Falcon 9 are looking good" and that "winds are better for tonight's launch." Hours later, however, the company tweeted that the mission was being delayed. "Standing down to update satellite software and triple-check everything again," the company said. "Always want to do everything we can on the ground to maximize mission success. Next launch opportunity in about a week." No further elaboration was provided to reporters at the Cape. (Reporting by Joey Roulette in Cape Canaveral, Florida; Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Sandra Maler) MADRID, May 17 (Reuters) - Spain's acting prime minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday proposed two Catalan lawmakers as parliamentary speakers, giving an early sense of the prominent role the politically volatile region is likely to play during his mandate. The crisis triggered when Catalonia briefly declared independence in 2017 was a central issue in last month's national election, and its separatist ambitions are proving a political headache for Sanchez as his minority Socialist Party seeks to form a government. Both Meritxell Batet, Sanchez's candidate to be lower house speaker, and senate pick Manuel Cruz belong to the Socialists' Catalan wing. As such, they favor continued union with Spain but also open dialog with the region's pro-independence camp. Their nomination as key links in the national legislative process demonstrates "commitment to dialog, to coexistence and to cohesion among all Spaniards," acting government spokeswoman Isabel Celaa told reporters. But in a sign of how divisive the debate over Catalonia is, a leading separatist suggested it was merely papering over the cracks. "We don't think that putting Catalans in these positions fixes anything. It is a cosmetic operation," Sergi Cabrera, a spokesman for the ERC party in the region's parliament said. What his party wanted was a permanent structure for dialog between Madrid and Barcelona on Catalan issues. Sanchez, who is seeking to serve a second term, has made overtures over the past year to establish dialog with Catalonia and give it a greater degree of autonomy. But he has ruled out another independence vote in the region. Spain's then conservative government briefly took over administration of the region after the 2017 referendum was declared illegal by Spanish courts. "Sanchez leaves nothing to chance, he is a person of consensus who is open to maintaining contacts with different political parties," said Antonio Barroso, managing director of political consultancy Teneo. Story continues To be sworn in again as prime minister, he will need the support of other leftist parties plus at least one vote or abstention from Basque or Catalan nationalist parties. In another sign of tension, on Thursday the pro-independence Catalan parliament had blocked the nomination to the senate of the Catalan Socialists' leader Miquel Iceta, who was Sanchez's first choice to lead the upper house. As opposed to Iceta, Batet and Cruz are already elected lawmakers and do not need the backing of the Catalan parliament. The Socialists have a majority in the senate, meaning Cruz is certain to lead the chamber. Batet's nomination will require backing from other parties. As head of Spain's regional administration, Batet was directly in charge of contacts with the pro-independence Catalan government. Alejandro Quiroga, reader in Spanish History at the University of Newcastle, said Sanchez's plan to stick to nomination Catalan speakers after the setback on Iceta is a "way of not wanting to let anyone else set your political agenda while continuing to reach out." (Reporting By Belen Carreno and Jesus Aguado; Editing by Ingrid Melander and John Stonestreet) Sri Lanka's minority Muslims attended Friday prayers as heavily armed troops and police guarded all mosques, including those badly vandalised in riots in the wake of the Easter terror attacks. Police said security would remain tight over the weekend for a major Buddhist festival as well as the 10th anniversary of the ending of the country's decades-long Tamil separatist war. Clerics said some of the damaged mosques cleared out glass shards and other debris and conducted services with attendance at a high level. "We had about 450 to 500 people," M. I. M. Siddeeque, the trustee of the riot-hit Kinyama mosque in the worst affected North-Western Province told AFP by telephone. "There were six soldiers outside the mosques and many more police at the top of the road." Siddeeque said his mosque was cleared of the debris, but windows, furniture and the public address system were yet to be replaced. In the town of Minuwangoda, the faithful packed the first floor of the two-storeyed Hujjaj mosque to pray even though repairs were yet to begin. Local residents said Buddhists and Catholic priests were also present as a sign of solidarity with Muslims community. Police said there were no major incidents although sporadic clashes were reported from a handful of places. "Police are firmly in control and the situation is fast returning to normality," a senior police official told AFP. A nationwide night curfew was lifted Thursday. The riots came three weeks after suicide bomb attacks on three churches and three luxury hotels in Colombo, killing 258 people. The April 21 attacks were blamed on a local jihadi group. This weekend Sri Lanka celebrates Vesak which marks the birth, enlightenment and the passing of the Buddha over 2,500 years ago on Saturday and Sunday. The most important Buddhist celebration coincides this year with the country marking a decade since ending a 37-year-separatist by annihilating the entire leadership of Tamil Tiger guerrillas. Story continues The head of the Tamil Tigers, Velupillai Prabhakaran was killed 10 years ago Saturday while the government declared an end to the war a day later. President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe are due to attend several ceremonies in and around Colombo on Sunday to pay tribute to over 28,000 security personnel who died during the nearly four-decade-long war. The minority Tamil community too is expected on Saturday to pay tribute to their war dead, including Tiger rebels at low-key ceremonies in the northeastern district of Mullaittivu where the final battles were fought. Army chief Mahesh Senanayake said security forces will not obstruct any war remembrance by the Tamils. Under the previous regime, any war remembrance by Tamils was outlawed. "Game of Thrones" heartthrob Richard Madden tried to bat off mounting speculation Friday that he will be the next James Bond as Daniel Craig bows out after eight years as 007. The British actor turned heads on the Cannes film festival red carpet Thursday in a Bond-style white tuxedo, with rumours further fuelled by a string of Instagram poses in exotic settings typical of the British spy. But the Scottish actor -- whose accent closely resembles that of the original 007, Sean Connery -- coyly brushed off the rumours when he appeared at a news conference Friday for the Elton John biopic "Rocketman". However, neither did Madden rule it out in a retort likely to further fuel speculation. "It's very flattering to be involved in that conversation at all, but it's all just talk and next week I'm sure it will be someone different," he said as co-star star Taron Egerton, who played Elton John, began humming the Bond music. The white tuxedo was immortalised by Connery who wore it at the start of "Goldfinger" (1964) with the style becoming one of the spy's most famous looks. In the critically-acclaimed "Rocketman", Madden plays Elton John's controversial lover and manager John Reid. The dashing actor further teased comment with revealing photos of himself preparing for his Cannes premiere, his bathrobe opened provocatively to the thigh. Madden starred in "Game of Thrones" as the ill-fated King Robb Stark, and last year led the cast of hit BBC drama "The Bodyguard", a taut political thriller which broke download records in Britain. Madden is currently the UK bookmakers' favourite to play Bond with odds of 3/1 from William Hill, Betfair and Paddy Power, according to the Oddschecker website. He is closely followed by Tom Hiddleston who starred in "The Night Manager", while Idris Elba, James Norton and Cillian Murphy fall further behind. Among the more improbable choices is Javier Bardem at 20/1 on Paddy Power, and Matt Damon at 100/1 on Betfair. Story continues Bookies are also taking bets on some female actresses, including Emily Blunt, Phoebe Waller-Bridge who wrote BBC drama "Killing Eve" and Angelina Jolie. The long-awaited new Bond film is due for release in April 2020, but its creators have yet to announce its title. It will be the 25th film in one of the world's most enduring franchises, and Craig's last outing as the world's favourite spy. Oscar winner Rami Malek has been cast as the villain and Ralph Fiennes returns as Bond's boss M. Also returning to the cast is French actress Lea Seydoux, Naomie Harris as Moneypenny and Ben Whishaw as gadget-savvy spook Q. hmw/dlc/har Paddy Power (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 Tim Henderson May 17 (Stateline) - Tens of thousands of asylum-seekers from Central America are spreading out around the United States, straining the resources of local and state governments working to move and shelter them. San Diego County has spent more than $1 million since October to house and screen asylum-seekers, and a single school district in Maryland saw hundreds of new immigrant students last year, requiring more than $4 million in state and local funds to educate them and leaving the district scrambling to find bilingual staff. From 2017 to April of this year, more than 55,000 asylum-seekers from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras arrived in the United States. Almost two-thirds now are in California, Florida, Texas, New York, Virginia and Maryland as they await asylum hearings. But every state has some, including at least three each in Alaska, Montana and North Dakota, according to a Stateline analysis of federal immigration court data. The escalating arrivals have frustrated the Trump administration, which had promised a more secure border but is now seeing more crossings than at any time during the Obama administration. The administration has tried various tactics without success, from separating families, to limiting the number of asylum-seekers allowed to enter the United States each day, to forcing some to remain in Mexico while waiting for their cases to be resolved. But crossings have continued to rise as, experts say, word spreads that this path to escape violence in Central America may eventually close down completely. San Diego County, which last year joined a Trump administration lawsuit against Californias sweeping sanctuary state law, this year cooperated with the state and sued the administration over a new policy that left the county holding the bag for helping asylum-seekers. Story continues Many cities and states began stepping up in October, when federal immigration authorities stopped housing many asylum-seekers. The Safe Release program, as it was called, had temporarily sheltered and fed those seeking asylum, then offered transportation to bus stations or airports to continue their journeys. When that ended, local governments and charities had to fill the void. San Diego County Supervisor Dianne Jacob said the county has spent $1.6 million to provide shelter space, security guards and nurses to screen asylum-seekers for illness. In addition, the state of California set aside $5 million to fund nonprofits running a shelter at the border for asylum-seekers to stay temporarily while arranging transportation to sponsors. Despite San Diego Countys opposition to state sanctuary laws, Jacob said, We have a problem with the mishandling of the asylum-seekers legally coming into our county. San Diego receives about 60 people a day, and most are young women and children, said Michael Hopkins, CEO of Jewish Family Service of San Diego, one of the local charities running the shelter with the help of state funds. They typically stay for a day or two in San Diego and then travel to destinations mostly east of the Mississippi River, Hopkins said. The group also is appealing to donors, seeking $500,000 over the next six months to help fund travel for those whose plans fall through. In some cases the relative who offered help could no longer do it, Hopkins said. Another typical case, he said, was a young mother with two small children who had a bus ticket to Vermont a four-day ride. We didnt think that would be safe to make that arduous journey with small children, so we raised money to buy a plane ticket, Hopkins said. These mothers get here with literally nothing more than the clothes on their back. Theyve already traveled a long way and spent whatever money they had to do it. In immigrant communities far from the border, schools have had to gear up for more students and scramble to add classes in the middle of the year when state funding has already been allocated, said Theresa Alban, superintendent of the Frederick County Public Schools in Maryland. Over the past two school years, almost 60% of the growth in Frederick County elementary school students has come from new immigrants, many of them Central Americans, Alban said. But a bigger challenge for teachers are the dozens of older middle school and high school students who have never been to school before and have little chance of graduating with current academic requirements. The best teachers can hope for is to offer such students some reading and writing skills in Spanish, some basic verbal English skills and some job skills so they can work after graduation, Alban said. The Maryland State Department of Education will start a pilot program next year to offer such immigrant students a special diploma. A similar plan already is in place for recent arrivals in Floridas Miami-Dade County. We have to have something to offer them, Alban said, so they dont throw up their hands when they see this mountain of academic work were putting ahead of them and say, I need to leave and work to support my family. Many of those seeking asylum are going to the same places in Maryland, Virginia, Texas, Florida, New York and California where the government has resettled the most unaccompanied children, a group that continues to grow, according to statistics from the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement. Since October, about 30,500 children have been resettled with host families, almost as many as the 35,000 in all of fiscal 2018. A similar list of destinations for families reunited after separation at the border also includes New York and New Jersey, according to a study by Catholic and Lutheran refugee advocates. The International Rescue Committee, a refugee assistance agency based in New York City, said asylum-seekers who crossed the border into Arizona this year went to South Florida over 2,000 miles away more than any other place. Spokesman Sean Piazza said those served by the committee also frequently went to Los Angeles, Houston and Long Island. Theyre not just going anywhere, said Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, a director at the Legal Aid Justice Center, a clinic for low-income immigrants in Virginia. Theyre going to a place where they know theres an uncle or a cousin with a couch to crash on. But since asylum-seekers dont qualify for benefits or public housing, and cant get work permission for months, many need shelter until they find friends and relatives to accommodate them. Shelters in Las Cruces, New Mexico, this month became so overwhelmed with one facility saying food had run low that Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grishams office helped coordinate bus transfers to Denver, the Associated Press reported. Not all those crossing the southwest border and seeking asylum are from Central America. An influx of asylum-seekers from Africa is straining resources in Portland, Maine, partly because the city and state are among the few that offer shelter and financial assistance while asylum-seekers wait for court hearings, the Portland Press Herald reported. The rise in asylum cases seems to stem from a spreading sense of an impending crackdown that will shut off access to the United States. Most of the recent increase in border crossings, which reached a 12-year high of 109,000 in April, came from Central Americans asking for asylum from gang violence in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. The word on the street in Central America seems to be that the border is closing, that the time to go is now, said Bill Swersey, a spokesman for HIAS, a Maryland-based resettlement organization that has sent attorneys to the border to help asylum-seekers. The people who are coming now are not trying to avoid border patrol agents, said former U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Alan Bersin, speaking at an April discussion of border policy at the Migration Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. They are trying to find them, so they can ask for asylum. President Donald Trump proposed rules in April that would make it tougher on asylum-seekers, including fees to apply for asylum and denial of work permits while the asylum case is pending. Under current law, asylum-seekers can get work permits once 150 days have passed without a court decision. Trumps memorandum called on the U.S. attorney generals office and the Department of Homeland Security to draw up the new rules within 90 days. https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2019/05/17/budgeting-for-asylum-seekers-challenges-states-and-cities By Brian Steinberg LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) - Steve Kroft, one of the longest serving correspondents serving on "60 Minutes," will retire from the CBS newsmagazine, CBS News said Friday. Kroft plans to announce his decision to step down on this Sunday's broadcast, the show's season finale. His last segment, also slated for Sunday's broadcast, will feature an investigation into bank fraud, A tribute to him and his career is expected to air on CBS in September. He has been with the show for 30 seasons, starting in 1989. Yet when he first started, he was the new kid on the block - surrounded by legends like Mike Wallace, Morley Safer, Harry Reasoner and Ed Bradley. When Kroft steps down, at the age of 73, Lesley Stahl will become the correspondent on the program with the longest tenure. "From the moment Steve Kroft arrived at CBS News in 1980, he has been shot out of a cannon and wherever he landed his stories broke news, had depth, and a strong sense of humanity," said Susan Zirinsky, CBS News' president and senior executive producer, in a statement. "From Central America to a tour of duty in London, and back to New York, his destiny was clear - Kroft's investigative instincts and ability to unravel the most complex stories made him a perfect fit for the '60 Minutes' team." Kroft's reporting has given the newsmagazine some of its most memorable moments, including an interview when Hilary Clinton, then the spouse of an untested presidential candidate, defended her husband against allegations of an extramarital affair in a post-Super Bowl broadcast that resounded globally. "I'm not sitting here some little woman standing by my man like Tammy Wynette," Clinton said at the time. "I'm sitting here because I love him, and I respect him." Kroft also visited Chernobyl in Russia , and examined how the military disciplined a veteran officer for a friendly fire incident. A story on insider trading in U.S. Congresss drove the passage of an act that barred such practices in 2012. His November 2008 interview with President-elect Barack Obama drew more than 25 million viewers - the biggest audience the program has had since 1999. Kroft interviewed Obama 11 times during his presidential term. Kroft's reporting for the show has won two Silver Batons in Columbia University's Alfred I. duPont awards. Kroft is stepping away from the job at a time of transition at CBS News. Zirinsky has working her way through a top-to-bottom overhaul of the news division, and has recently named new a new anchor lineup for "CBS This Morning" and has set a new anchor, Norah O'Donnell, for "CBS Evening News." The newsmagazine has also been through a period of change, with Bill Owens succeeding Jeff Fager as executive producer - just the third in the program's history. John Dickerson, the former anchor of "Face The Nation," is moving to "60 Minutes" to cover politics after serving a stint on the CBS morning program. Chinese Ambassador HU Zhangliang Attended Handing Over Ceremony of Chinese Rice Aid 2019/05/17 On May 16th, 2019, the handing over ceremony for the first batch of 2018 Humanitarian Emergency Food Assistance to Sierra Leone was held at the warehouse of the Queen Elizabeth II Quay. Chinese Ambassador Mr. HU Zhangliang, Economic and Commercial Counsellor of the Embassy Mr. ZHANG Xueqian, Hon. Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Mr. Joseph Ndanema, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Mr. Sam-King Brima, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Ms. Fatmata S. Mustapha and other dignitaries attended the ceremony. Ambassador HU said, as part and parcel of the all-round fruitful cooperation between China and Sierra Leone, the Chinese food aid is a vivid reflection of genuine friendship. It is an outcome of the discussion between our two heads of state and the FOCAC Beijing Summit. It demonstrates China's staunch support for Sierra Leone to promote agricultural development, improve people's living conditions and achieve food security. Ambassador HU said that both sides would continue to explore how to further expand and deepen the cooperation in the agriculture sector and bring more tangible benefits to Sierra Leone people. On behalf of the government of Sierra Leone, Minister Ndanema thanked the Chinese government for its humanitarian emergency food assistance. He said that the government of Sierra Leone would distribute the rice aided by China to schools and vulnerable farmers to support the free quality education and food for agriculture programme. He hoped to further strengthen Sierra Leone-China agricultural cooperation to promote grain production and achieve food self-sufficiency and food security in Sierra Leone. After the statements, Ambassador HU and Hon. Minister Ndanema cut the ribbon and conducted a tour around the rice consignment. The Economic and Commercial Counsellor of the Embassy Mr. ZHANG Xueqian and Minister Ndanema signed the delivery certificate. A member of the cleaning staff at a Japanese hospital accidentally flushed a stillborn baby down a toilet, it was revealed in local media. The incident occurred at the Saitama Red Cross Hospital in the city just to the north of Tokyo in March, but details are just coming to light. The 36-year-old mother had been at the hospital when she needed to use the lavatory. She unexpectedly delivered the 14-week-old stillborn while she sat on the toilet. The child had died four days before, when its heartbeat was confirmed as having stopped. After being moved to another room by medical staff, a janitor at the hospital mistakenly flushed the toilet, the hospital has revealed. According to The Asahi Shimbon, the womans 39-year-old husband said that the couple were escorted from the toilet then heard the sound of a flushing toilet and screaming by hospital staff. Authorities at the hospital have apologised to the family and have instituted new practices which should prevent a similar event happening again. An official of the division of the hospital handling safety management told The Asahi Shimbun: "I can't comment on the matter at this time." The couple remain distraught that they were unable to say goodbye to their child in the manner they would have wished to. "We offer prayers to an empty urn every day," the husband said. "My wife is traumatised by the sound of a flushing toilet. I don't want a similar incident to occur again." Paris (AFP) - Vaccination against measles should be mandatory for children before they start school in order to prevent future outbreaks of the resurgent disease, according to new analysis released Friday. The World Health Organization says cases of measles -- a highly contagious viral infection that causes rashes and fever that can prove fatal -- surged 300 percent in 2018. While many new cases occurred in countries undergoing unrest or conflict, several developed nations registered significant rises in infections -- a phenomenon experts attribute to creeping "vaccine resistance". Despite a widely effective, almost universally available vaccine costing pennies, more and more parents are willingly putting their children in harm's way due in part to a fraudulent scientific paper published over 20 years ago that subsequently fed conspiracy theories about plots to spread the disease. Filippo Trentini and colleagues from the Bruno Kessler Foundation looked at seven rich nations and used computer modelling to examine several different vaccination scenarios between now and 2050. They found that in nearly all countries surveyed, current immunisation programmes will be insufficient to maintain "safe" levels of immunity among populations. The WHO says the number of unvaccinated individuals in a given country should not exceed 6-8 percent of the population in order to avoid widespread outbreaks. "This is a complex phenomenon and it may have various causes depending on the region," Trentini told journalists. "In high-income countries, for example, it may be attributable to vaccine resistance and to the clustering of unvaccinated people in specific groups of the population." - Threshold breached - Under current vaccination programmes, the study found that Britain, the United States, Ireland, Australia and Italy would surpass safe levels of people susceptible to measles by 2050. Indeed, the models showed that the proportion of unvaccinated people in Italy -- home to several recent outbreaks -- may already be over the 7.5 percent "safety" threshold. Story continues In Britain the unvaccinated rate of 3.7 percent was expected to rise to 8 percent by mid-century under the current national approach. "It's a very difficult task to forecast future epidemics," said Trentini. "The results suggest routine programmes with current coverage levels are not enough to maintain the high immunity level required in the next decades." The authors of the study, published in the journal BMC Medicine, stressed however that mandatory vaccinations of school children -- such as has been implemented in France and Italy in recent years -- would only be effective in conjunction with better public health awareness. "There are some immunity gaps in Europe among adults," said Piero Poletti, report co-author. "These countries would certainly benefit from the introduction of vaccinations at school entry on top of current immunisation programmes." Sonia Saxena, professor of primary care at Imperial College London, welcomed the research but cautioned that mandatory vaccinations might have "unintended consequences". "It risks disenfranchising parents and carers, as well as risking a rise in unvaccinated children being excluded from school," she said. "The most important message for parents is that for (the measles vaccine), two doses by age 2 is the thing to remember. If everyone did this they would protect their child and also the whole community from outbreaks of measles," added Saxena, who was not involved in the study. MercadoLibre, Inc. MELI is an online trading platform in Latin America that could be an interesting play for investors. That is because, not only does the stock have decent short-term momentum, but it is seeing solid activity on the earnings estimate revision front as well. These positive earnings estimate revisions suggest that analysts are becoming more optimistic on MELIs earnings for the coming quarter and year. In fact, consensus estimates have moved sharply higher for both of these time frames over the past four weeks, suggesting that MercadoLibre could be a solid choice for investors. Current Quarter Estimates for MELI In the past 30 days, two estimates have gone higher for MercadoLibre while one has gone lower in the same time period. The trend has been pretty favorable too, with estimates increasing from 5 cents a share 30 days ago, to 18 cents today, a move of 260%. Current Year Estimates for MELI Meanwhile, MercadoLibres current year figures are also looking quite promising, with four estimates moving higher in the past month, compared to one lower. The consensus estimate trend has also seen a boost for this time frame, increasing from 40 cents per share 30 days ago to 91 cents per share today, an increase of 127.5%. MercadoLibre, Inc. Price and Consensus MercadoLibre, Inc. Price and Consensus MercadoLibre, Inc. price-consensus-chart | MercadoLibre, Inc. Quote Bottom Line The stock has also started to move higher lately, adding 15% over the past four weeks, suggesting that investors are starting to take note of this impressive story. So, investors may want to consider this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock to profit in the near future. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here . Breakout Biotech Stocks with Triple-Digit Profit Potential The biotech sector is projected to surge beyond $775 billion by 2024 as scientists develop treatments for thousands of diseases. Theyre also finding ways to edit the human genome to literally erase our vulnerability to these diseases. Story continues Zacks has just released Century of Biology: 7 Biotech Stocks to Buy Right Now to help investors profit from 7 stocks poised for outperformance. Our recent biotech recommendations have produced gains of +98%, +119% and +164% in as little as 1 month. The stocks in this report could perform even better. See these 7 breakthrough stocks now>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report MercadoLibre, Inc. (MELI) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research At a time when the American Left wants to introduce Swedish-style socialism into the U.S., we should remember that generous welfare states pose a moral hazard. Their well-intentioned policies undermine individual responsibility and create a welfare-dependency trap. This is confirmed by history as well as by current developments in Sweden, where cheaters are targeting the countrys welfare system. Even Franklin D. Roosevelt, the architect of the U.S. welfare state, understood that generous welfare could undermine social virtues. The lessons of history, confirmed by the evidence immediately before me, show conclusively that continued dependence upon relief induces a spiritual and moral disintegration fundamentally destructive to the national fiber, FDR explained in 1935. To dole out relief in this way is to administer a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit. It is inimical to the dictates of sound policy. It is in violation of the traditions of America. Roosevelts views were anything but uncommon. At the beginning of the 20th century, even the proponents of the welfare state were greatly worried that the buildup of welfare programs would endanger the social fabric. To understand why, bear in mind that, for the welfare state to function properly, it is not enough that most individuals pay their taxes. Neither does it suffice for most individuals to follow the norm of using welfare services only responsibly that is, of not claiming more than they need or are entitled to. For the welfare state to be viable in the long term, the vast majority of individuals must abide by the social contract. A small-government system relies on its citizens to follow a basic social contract: Do not harm others or their property, and abide by the laws. A government system with generous welfare and transfer programs also relies on its citizens to do that and more: to refrain from overusing benefits. From the individual perspective, as transfer schemes become more generous and taxes are raised, it becomes increasingly lucrative to sideline the social contract, and so incentives in the form of monetary transfers can, and often do, undermine the motivation to depend on the fruit of ones own labor. Story continues If all individuals follow the norms of working, paying taxes, and using welfare programs only when in need, the system will function properly, even when the welfare system is large. If some begin to abandon societys prevailing norms, however, imitators might follow suit. When those people gaming the system have reached a critical mass, they are liable to change social norms in that regard, leading to an erosion of welfare-related norms and to the collapse of the social contract. Small-government systems create incentives for people to work hard and take responsibility for their lives. As the level of economic distribution through taxes and transfers grows, the system lessons the incentives for work and responsibility, increasing the incentives to gaming the system. Large-government systems foster dependency by gradually breaking down the norms that allow society to thrive. This, at least, is what we should expect in theory. But in the early 20th century, the proponents of welfare policies argued that the erosion of social norms because of welfare was not a given. People could so appreciate the welfare state that they self-regulated their behavior. Perhaps generous welfare made everybody work harder and take more responsibility? The proponents of the welfare state grew bolder, and then they continued to do so with time. They believed that the moral-hazard risk of welfare states could be avoided, at least in the social-democratic utopias that Scandinavian countries in general and Sweden in particular were often imagined to be. Many proponents of the welfare state regard Sweden as a model whose policies others should emulate. The country is perceived as having implemented a large-scale welfare state, with generous and broad-ranging public programs, while avoiding the moral hazards associated with welfare policy. The reality is that Swedens generous welfare system has been undermined by large-scale cheating that has led to a reduction in welfare-state generosity. If even Protestant Sweden, where the work ethic was once so strong, could not withstand the moral hazard associated with generous welfare, what society can? The World Value Survey gives strong support for the claim that norms in the Nordic countries have eroded. In the 198184 survey, for example, 82 percent of Swedes agreed with the statement Claiming government benefits to which you are not entitled is never justifiable. In the 201014 wave, merely 55 percent held the same view. The pattern is found in the other Nordic nations as well. This fall in responsibility seems to be stabilizing lately, following tax cuts and significant reductions in welfare-state generosity. A number of attitude studies in Sweden conclude that a significant portion of the population has come to consider it acceptable to live on sickness benefits even if you arent sick. A survey from 2002, for example, showed that 60 percent of Swedes believed that it was acceptable to claim sick leave when you were not sick. Four years later, a center-right government was elected on the promise to cut the welfare benefits and taxes significantly. In fact, Swedish governments on both the right and the left have reduced the generosity of the welfare system. Additionally, gatekeeping functions have been introduced, mainly for sick-leave claims, to limit over-utilization and outright cheating. Economist Martin Ljunge suggests that the reforms may need to be quite far-reaching to reverse the long-term effect that the welfare state has had. Politicians should consider that such policies can have lasting effects, in the form of eroded morale. Once other circumstances have been adjusted for, Ljunge finds, younger generations are much more likely to use welfare benefits such as sick leave. The higher demand for sick-leave pay among the younger generations can be seen as a measure of how rapidly the welfare state affects attitudes toward the use of public benefits, he explains (my translation from Swedish). The moral: Be careful when introducing generous welfare. The Nordic states have reversed course in economic policies, cutting taxes and welfare benefits, but the moral-hazard problem of the welfare state remains. For example, the Swedish tax authority reports that during 2018 almost a thousand alarms were sent to the Swedish Social Insurance Agency about erroneous transactions, in some cases stemming from false identities being used to claim benefits. Tobias Wijk, an expert at the tax authority, explains that one form of cheating is to bring poor immigrants from other European Union members to Sweden. The person is registered in Sweden with papers for a false job and then enrolled in the welfare system. Various government authorities have been tasked by the Swedish government to tackle benefit-cheating, but, Wijk says, the tax authority expects the problem to continue to rise this year compared with last year. The market for personal assistants for the handicapped has become a prosperous market for organized crime. The Swedish government estimates that 3 to 6 percent of the funds it distributes for such services go to cheaters. In 2005, the government launched an investigation into wrongful payments by the Swedish welfare system and found that fully 4 percent were illegitimate because of a combination of error and cheating. It is worth noting that the government survey did not distinguish in detail between error and cheating. A follow-up investigation found that in 2010 between 0.9 and 5.8 percent of welfare benefits paid out by the Swedish government were illegitimate. The estimate is quite imprecise and, again, fails to distinguish between error and cheating. The welfare system and its over-utilization have evolved to a point where planners and researchers cannot even measure the degree of mismanagement and of cheating precisely. Even as Sweden has reduced welfare benefits, cheating appears to have increased, as criminal actors have homed in on the welfare system. This is one of many reasons why the Swedish welfare system has severe problems with long-term sustainability, as my colleague Gabriel Heller Sahlgren and I show in a study for the Swedish think tank Timbro. Over-utilization also explains why Sweden and other Nordic countries are gradually shifting from social democracy to free-market reforms and slimmed-down government. In the 2018 election in Sweden, the Social Democrats gained 28.3 percent of the votes, the lowest level since a proportional election system was introduced in Sweden in 1911. The socialist Left Party gained an additional 8.0 percent of the votes. Both parties have shifted their policies significantly away from socialism. The Social Democrats have gone so far as to push through a partial privatization of the pensions system, accepting broad tax cuts for the middle class, and agreeing to let private, for-profit firms compete to provide publicly funded services such as education, health care, and elder care. The Social Democratic government of Stefan Lofven continues to remain in power, but only after promising to introduce wide-ranging tax cuts and market liberalizations. Promising more and more government programs used to be a winning proposition in Swedish elections. Today that approach doesnt work, as over-utilization of public programs has created skepticism. American liberals have for decades pointed to Sweden and the other Nordic countries as the Shangri-La of social democracy. Yet the social-democratic model has failed because of the moral-hazard problem that FDR himself worried about. History has shown that the proponents of limited government, such as Ronald Reagan, were right all along. More from National Review Beirut (AFP) - The head of Al-Qaeda's former Syria affiliate has urged rival fighters allied to Turkey to take up arms against regime forces to ease the pressure on the jihadist bastion of Idlib. The northwestern region has come under increasing fire by the Damascus regime and its ally Russia in recent weeks, despite a months-old buffer zone deal intended to shield the area from any government offensive. Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) controls most of Idlib province as well as parts of neighbouring Aleppo, Hama and Latakia provinces. HTS chief Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, in a video released Friday on the group's messaging app Telegram, said fighters backed by Turkey "could help us by launching an operation in Aleppo, for example". "Dispersing the enemy and opening up new fronts is in our interest," he added. Jolani's call comes days after he urged supporters to "take up weapons" to defend Idlib. Turkey, a longtime backer of Syria's rebels, supports various groups in Idlib to differing degrees and has actively sought to unify them. Ankara also operates monitoring posts in Idlib, positioned in a horseshoe-shape around the edges of rebel territory, and has troops deployed to the east in Aleppo province. The Turkish army has launched two major operations in Syria dubbed "Euphrates Shield" in 2016 and "Olive Branch" in 2018 to combat Syrian Kurdish fighters as well as Islamic State group jihadists. TAIPEI, May 17 (Reuters) - Taiwan's parliament on Friday began discussion of a landmark bill to legalize same-sex marriage, amid a heated debate over marriage equality that has divided the self-ruled island. Thousands of supporters of same-sex marriage gathered in Taipei, the capital, outside parliament, which was set to vote on a series of bills that could offer same-sex couples similar legal protections for marriage as heterosexuals. Friday's vote will follow a years-long debate over marriage equality. In 2017, the democratic island's constitutional court declared same-sex couples had the right to legally marry, and set a deadline of May 24 for legalization. In passing the bill, Taiwan will take the lead in Asia regarding such unions. Australia also passed legislation to allow same-sex marriage in 2017, sparking rainbow celebrations. Neighboring China and Hong Kong do not recognize such unions. (Reporting by Yimou Lee, I-Hwa Cheng and Taipei newsroom; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) Taiwan's parliament legalised same-sex marriage on Friday in a landmark first for Asia as the government survived a last-minute attempt by conservatives to pass watered-down legislation. Lawmakers comfortably passed a bill allowing same-sex couples to form "exclusive permanent unions" and another clause that would let them apply for a "marriage registration" with government agencies. The vote -- which took place on the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia -- is a major victory for the island's LGBT community and it places the island at the vanguard of Asia's burgeoning gay rights movement. Thousands of gay rights supporters gathered outside parliament despite heavy downpours, waving rainbow flags, flashing victory signs and breaking into cheers as the news filtered out. In recent months conservatives had mobilised to rid the law of any reference to marriage, instead putting forward rival bills that offered something closer to limited same-sex unions. But those bills struggled to receive enough votes. Gay rights groups hailed the vote on Friday, saying the ability to apply for a "marriage registration" -- known as Clause Four -- put their community much closer to parity with heterosexual couples. "The passage of Clause Four ensures that two persons of the same-sex can register their marriage on May 24th and ensure that Taiwan becomes the first country in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage and to successfully open a new page in history," said the Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights. - Court order - Two years ago Taiwan's top court ruled that not allowing same-sex couples to marry violates the constitution with judges giving the government until May 24 to make the changes or see marriage equality enacted automatically. The law does not bring full equality with heterosexual couples -- it only allows for biological adoption, for example, and marriages with foreigners are not recognised. Story continues But gay rights groups have said they were willing to accept compromises, as long as the new law recognised the concept of marriage, adding they could fight further legal battles over surrogacy and adoption down the line. "For me the outcome today is not 100 percent perfect, but it's still pretty good for the gay community as it provides legal definition," Elias Tseng, a gay pastor who was among the crowds outside parliament, told AFP. Victoria Hsu, a gay rights lawyer, said it was crucial that conservatives failed in their bid to delete the reference to marriage registration with lawmakers voting 66-27 in favour of the provision. "In Taiwan a marriage will take effect when it's registered, so allowing marriage registration is no doubt recognising the marriage itself," she told AFP. The first marriages are expected to be registered next Friday, the date the court set for their deadline. - Families divided - In the last decade, Taiwan has been one of the most progressive societies in Asia when it comes to gay rights, staging the continent's biggest annual gay pride parade. But the island remains a staunchly conservative place, especially outside urban areas. Conservative and religious groups were buoyed by a series of referendum wins in November, in which voters comprehensively rejected defining marriage as anything other than a union between a man and a woman, illustrating the limited popular support for change. President Tsai Ing-wen hailed the vote as a "big step towards true equality" that "made Taiwan a better country." Tsai had previously spoken in favour of gay marriage but was later accused of dragging her feet after the court judgement, fearful of a voter backlash. Taiwan goes to the polls in January and the gay marriage issue could hamper Tsai's chances of re-election. Opponents were incensed by the vote, saying the inclusion of the "marriage registration" clause ignored the 70 percent of voters who had cast ballots in the referendum wanting to keep marriage limited to a man and a woman. Tseng Hsien-ying, from the Coalition for the Happiness of Our Next Generation, told local media the vote "trampled on Taiwanese people's expectations that a marriage and a family is formed by a man and a woman, a husband and a wife". Australia and New Zealand are the only places in the wider Asia-Pacific region to have passed gay marriage laws. Taiwan is the first place in Asia to do so. Vietnam decriminalised gay marriage celebrations in 2015, but it stopped short of full legal recognition for same-sex unions. "We hope this landmark vote will generate waves across Asia and offer a much-needed boost in the struggle for equality for LGBTI people in the region," Annie Huang, from Amnesty International Taiwan, said in a statement. Nobody can tell you what to do. To think otherwise is tantamount to telling you what notto do. No, you have your own mind, and youll make it up just fine by yourself. Nobody tells you what to do and, as in the new memoir Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story by Jacob Tobia,they cant tell you who you are, either. Many people who are non-binary, says Tobia, equate coming to terms with gender as a journey. Tobias considers theirs more like an onion, with layers of discovery veiled beneath a thin skin. It started with Tobias parents, both role models: their mother, who was a tomboy at heart; and their father, who ignored stereotypical womens work and instead, pitched in around the house. The next layer consists of Tobias brother and kids in the neighborhood who didnt think twice about a child who play-fought in the mud one minute, and loved pink tutus and Barbies the next. But then Tobia started school, and the teasing began. They went from being a person to being a sissy and shame accompanied the label. When it became apparent that the taunts would be flung at them no matter what, Tobia considered suicide. Church was the only place they felt unequivocally and unconditionally loved. Things changed for the better when puberty hit Tobia and their peers. Cis boys wanted desperately to be with cis girls, which was something Tobia did effortlessly and it made them cool even as it highlighted their differences from other adolescents. By the end of high school, Tobia had chosen the word gay to describe themselves, even though it wasnt quite right. They came out to a church counselor. They came out to their gay best friend. Years later, they came out to their parents as gay. It wasnt until college, the acquisition of several pairs of high heels, lipstick, and a sheltered sense of security that Tobia realized that their work toward understanding had only started. Maybe they were boy andgirlandneither and both, and not having to question that would be a battle theyd have to do all over again. Sissy is a one-hundred-percent solid, smack-in-the-middle, okay kind of book. Its not the best thing youll ever read; its far, far from the worst. After a considerable, two-chapter throat-clearing, author Jacob Tobia promises hilarity then gets down to business, about their life, their experiences as a gender nonconforming person making their way through, and the gender-acceptance work to be done. Yes, that may seem like a familiar story but there is uniqueness to be had here: Tobias memories of their later adolescence and attendance at a prestigious Eastern college offer something different in this genre, in freshness of voice. Also uncommon: their willingness to admit regret for advice not taken. Finally, yes, this book is amusing but outright hilarity? Not so much: youll enjoy Sissy, but your gut is in no danger of busting. Still, if memoirs are your thing and your TBR pile is short, you know what to do. Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story by Jacob Tobia c.2019, Putnam $26.00 / $35.00 Canada 336 pages By Stephen Nellis and Sijia Jiang SAN FRANCISCO/HONG KONG (Reuters) - Chip experts are calling out Huawei for its claims that it could ensure a steady supply chain without U.S. help, saying the technology the Chinese telecoms network gear maker buys from American companies would be "hard to replace". The Trump administration officially added Huawei to a trade blacklist on Thursday, enacting restrictions that will make it difficult for the tech giant to do business with American firms, in its latest broadside against the company that U.S. officials have labeled a threat to national security. The head of Huawei's HiSilicon chip division on Friday shrugged off concerns about disruptions to supply, saying it has long been preparing for this kind of "extreme scenario". Huawei will aim to be technologically "self-reliant" going forward, He Tingbo said in a letter to staff. But that is easier said than done, industry experts say. "I would be surprised if HiSilicon can make it without any U.S. suppliers," said Linda Sui, a Strategy Analytics analyst. A China-based source at a U.S. tech company previously told Reuters that none of Huawei's U.S. suppliers "can be replaced by Chinese ones, not within a few years, at least". As an example of Huawei's reliance on U.S. firms, an expert pointed to the high probability that the tech giant uses chip design software from market leaders Cadence Design Systems Inc and Synopsys Inc. Huawei designs its microprocessors and other chips for products including the Mate series flagship smartphones. The U.S firms' software is considered gold standard, used by manufacturers globally to perfect chip blueprints and test them before committing them to physical silicon, where a single mistake can set back a chip for months. "It's hard to replace," said Mike Demler, a senior analyst with The Linley Group. "Cadence and Synopsys pretty much have all the ground covered for anything you would need," he said. "I'm sure there's some equivalent that tries to fill the same roles from Chinese companies, but the Chinese just do not have a presence we're aware of outside of the country." Cadence and Synopsys did not respond to requests for comment. Huawei said it cannot comment. SPECIALIZED CHIPS, LASERS Huawei also has exposure to U.S. suppliers of specialty lasers and modules such as NeoPhotonics, Lumentum and Finisar. The lasers, which are used to send information in the form of light signals through fiber-optic cables, are critical to Huawei's world-leading telecom network equipment business. Firms like Finisar, which is being bought by II-VI Inc, and Lumentum have put decades of work into being able to make large quantities of lasers, said Philip Gadd, a retired chip executive who once ran Intel's silicon photonics division. "Even if the Chinese could do it, I don't think they could come up to scale," he said. Finisar is trying to determine the impact of the Huawei ban, according to a person briefed on the matter. Finisar and Lumentum did not return requests for comment. NeoPhotonics, which gets most of its revenues from four firms including Huawei, declined to comment. Huawei has sought to develop its own capabilities in the field, in part by purchasing a former British Telecom research center in 2012 and startup Caliopa in 2012. "The Chinese have been on an acquisition path," said one silicon photonics executive. "They've been buying up bits and pieces wherever they could. A lot of the (U.S. government) restrictions have come too late." But Huawei relies on so-called chip "foundries", especially Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC), for the complex task of physically producing the chips that it designs. That is a common practice in the chip industry. By contrast, many silicon photonics firms such as Finisar, still make their own chips. MARCH TO SELF-SUFFICIENCY Huawei has been under pressure since early in the decade over U.S. allegations its gear could be a conduit for Chinese spying, a concern the company says is unfounded. The United States has ratcheted up the rhetoric in the past year, calling on allies to bar the firm from next-generation 5G mobile networks while locking horns with China in a trade war. Against this backdrop, Huawei has been a key part of China's campaign to develop its own capabilities in chips and reduce reliance on imports from companies such as Qualcomm, Intel and Samsung Electronics . Huawei's chip division produced more than $7.5 billion worth of chips last year, its rotating chairman Eric Xu had told Reuters. That compares with an estimated $21 billon worth of chips that Huawei acquired from outside vendors. A Huawei spokesman said the company will use HiSilicon products to substitute banned American components where possible, but declined to provide more details. HiSilicon's He has described the self-sufficiency efforts as a "long march in the history of technology" that would pay off with the United State's "crazy decision". "All the spare tires we have been making, now is the time to use them!" (Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco, Sijia Jiang in Hong Kong, Josh Horwitz in Shanghai, Yimou Lee in Taipei; Writing by Miyoung Kim; Editing by Himani Sarkar) Tampa is predicted to turn warm over the next few days, according to drone-powered weather forecasting service Saildrone. Temperatures will reach a high of 87 degrees on Saturday. Also look for partly cloudy skies today and tomorrow. Skies will become mostly cloudy starting on Sunday. Winds are expected to reach a modest high of 18 mph on Wednesday, with daily top speeds over 10 mph for the rest of the week. This story was created automatically using Saildrone's local weather forecast data, then reviewed by an editor. We also incorporate historic weather data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. Cannes (France) (AFP) - Veteran British director Ken Loach was tipped Friday for a third Cannes win for a powerful film which put Amazon and other tech giants in the dock over their alleged exploitation of workers. Critics hailed "Sorry We Missed You", his heart-breaking story of an overworked delivery driver as a "wrenching tale of the way we live now and how the gig economy screws over the people it promises to save". The film -- shot in the northeastern English city of Newcastle like his last Palme d'Or winning film "I, Daniel Blake" -- takes "a white van man" and turns him into a martyr of out-of-control capitalism. Hollywood bible Variety -- not normally a fan of leftwing activist directors -- said "the times have caught up with Loach and they have pushed him to the top of his game. "He's 82 years old, and he is now making films that connect, with a nearly karmic sense of timing, to the social drama of our moment." The Guardian gave it five stars and declared that "this brilliant film will focus minds.... in modern Britain, the land of zero-hours vassalage and service-economy serfdom." Loach, whose arm was in a sling after putting out his shoulder, said he and scriptwriter Paul Laverty had found Amazon drivers working with broken limbs. He said the system of zero-hour contracts and false "self-employed owner-driver franchisees" used by tech giants ranging from Uber to Deliveroo, creates massive misery by "putting all the risk on the workers... who are made to exploit themselves." "Sorry We Missed You" shows how the relentless demands of the gig economy wreck a family of grafters. For their part, the tech companies say they offer the best working conditions possible for their workforce and provide much-needed jobs in often rundown and neglected areas. - Destroying families - "We are supposed to work to provide for our families but for millions of us, work deprives us from spending time with our loved ones," said Laverty, Loach's regular creative partner. Story continues The writer said he interviewed an Amazon driver on the day its owner Jeff Bezos became the richest man in the world. "His skin was grey, his eyes were red. He was absolutely exhausted," Laverty said. "When I showed the driver the news, his jaw dropped. He realised he was one of hundreds of thousands of drivers across the world, a little drip going into the Amazon river." In the film, a delivery driver and his wife who cares for elderly and disabled people in their homes, work long, gruelling days to hit inhumane targets. Loach said the system is now stacked massively against working people, "who can be turned on and off like tap", and warned that this was fuelling dangerous populist anger. He said the extreme right "rise when the soil is manured with this precarious work -- that's where people's anger is coming from. "People speak of the extreme right and left. I don't see the extreme left. Where is it?" Loach asked. "I see the extreme right who thrive on anger and discontent. They say the person to blame is the poorest person next to you, or someone who looks different, or comes from another country." - 'This system kills' - "The extreme right thrives on fear. The left thrives on confidence. If you are confident you say, 'Yes, we can change things.' The right thrives on anxiety and insecurity." Debbie Honeywood, a teacher who plays the role of the van driver's wife and one of several amateurs Loach cast, said three out of four children living in poverty in the UK have working parents. "We know there is something badly wrong and intolerable about life now," Loach told AFP. "We know that healthcare and the way our old people are looked after is not right, and why when we buy online does everything come in a van? We cannot sustain that." The filmmaker said the family in his film, like most who work in the gig economy, were caught in a trap. "There is no escape, the system has trapped them. We met people who worked with broken limbs who drove with a broken leg and arm. There was one appalling case of a man who died because he couldn't stop work for his hospital appointments because of the debt," he said. "This system kills." But Loach was sanguine on whether his film will change anything. His last film "I, Daniel Blake" on the injustice and cruelty of the British social welfare system, won the top prize at Cannes and was debated in parliament. "But the government hasn't given an inch. It is still as cruel. They still use hunger as a weapon. Charity food banks have increased in the last year alone by 18 percent," he said. "That will not change because they have to show that not being able to support yourself is a crime." May 16 (Reuters) - Tennessee on Thursday executed a 68-year-old man who was convicted three decades ago of suffocating his wife with a large plastic garbage bag, a crime he blamed on an inmate on work release. Donnie Johnson was put to death by lethal injection at 7:37 p.m. CDT at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, the state's Department of Correction said in a statement. (Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Peter Cooney) By Brendan O'Brien (Reuters) - Tennessee on Thursday executed a 68-year-old man who was convicted three decades ago of suffocating his wife with a large plastic garbage bag, a crime he blamed on an inmate on work release. Donnie Johnson was put to death by lethal injection at 7:37 p.m. CDT at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, the state's Department of Correction said in a statement. Johnson was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to die in November 1985 for killing his wife, Connie, on Dec. 8, 1984, after she went to see him at a Memphis camping supply store where he worked. Johnson's co-worker Ronnie McCoy, an inmate on work release, testified that he left the couple alone in an office for about 15 minutes. When he returned, he found Connie suffocated, according to his court testimony. McCoy testified that he and Johnson then put her body in her vehicle and drove it to a nearby shopping center where they left it. Authorities said Johnson asked a store manager the next morning to help him find his wife, who he said had gone missing. During their search, they found her dead in her van with a large garbage bag in her mouth, according to court documents. During the investigation, Johnson told police that he had given his wife about $450 that day for Christmas shopping and that McCoy had tried to rob his wife and killed her in the process, according to the court documents. Johnson did not testify during his trial. During his sentencing hearing, he took the stand where he denied killing his wife, placing blame on McCoy, the court documents said. McCoy was not charged in the case. It is unclear if he was granted immunity for his testimony. Johnson filed several unsuccessful appeals including a challenge to the state's lethal injection protocol with other inmates, arguing it caused "excruciating pain." Johnson and Michael Samra, a convicted quadruple murderer who was executed in Alabama on Thursday, were the sixth and seventh inmates executed in the United States in 2019, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, an organization that tracks executions in the United States. (Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Chicago; Editing by Peter Cooney) By Frank Jack Daniel MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Tense U.S.-China relations are helping the United States understand the importance of a North American trade bloc, a senior Mexican diplomat said on Friday, after negotiating a deal that ended steel tariffs in the region. The United States struck deals on Friday to lift tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and Mexico, the three governments said, removing a major obstacle to legislative approval of a new North American trade pact. Mexico's deputy foreign minister for North America, Jesus Seade, said the U.S.-China trade war was helping the case for a strong partnership between neighbors. "There is a general climate, in which the United States is in a long-term difficult relationship with China and it understands that the big economy the United States has needs to be accompanied by the big North American economic region," Seade told Reuters in a phone interview. Seade helped lead negotiations last year for the new United StatesMexicoCanada Agreement (USMCA) after U.S. President Donald Trump insisted on reworking the quarter-century-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Seade said Friday's tariff breakthrough would help the broad agreement's passage through U.S. Congress. China struck a more aggressive tone in the trade war on Friday, suggesting a resumption of talks between the world's two largest economies would be meaningless unless Washington changed course. That capped a week in which Beijing unveiled fresh retaliatory tariffs and the U.S. leveled a blow against one of China's biggest and most successful companies, Huawei Technologies Co Ltd. Seade said such friction made North America look more attractive. "That is why they are negotiating a good deal, and are now treating Mexico and Canada incredibly differently from (South) Korea, which has quotas," he said. When negotiations over the tariffs started a month ago, Seade said, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer had pushed Mexico to accept a quota on metal imports. In the end the deal that was struck allows free trade of the metals in the region. South Korea scored an exemption from steel tariffs in March, 2018, but only in return for a quota a third below the previous years' volumes, severely crimping the Asian country's industry. (Reporting by Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Stefanie Eschenbacher and Richard Chang) Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site. Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site. The driver of a Tesla Model 3 that struck the side of a semi-trailer in Florida earlier this year engaged his cars Autopilot partially automated driver-assist system seconds before the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday. The Tesla driver50-year-old Jeremy Banner of Lake Worth, Fla.was killed in the March 1 crash. Banner turned on Autopilot 10 seconds before his car drove under the trucks trailer and his hands weren't on the steering wheel for the final 8 seconds before impact, according to the safety board's preliminary findings. The truck driver was attempting to cross a divided multi-lane highway, and the trailer was blocking the Teslas lane. Neither Banner nor the cars Autopilot system did anything to slow down or avoid the crash, the NTSB said after analyzing vehicle data and videos. The safety boards preliminary account of the March crash is the first confirmation that Autopilot had been in use in this crash. Tesla's Autopilot system has been under scrutiny since Joshua Brown was killed in a similar Florida crash in 2016. Brown had engaged Autopilot in his Tesla Model S before it also drove under a tractor trailer, killing him. Autopilot combines adaptive cruise control, which keeps a car at set distance from the vehicle in front of it, with lane-centering technology. Tesla has stressed that drivers using it need to pay attention and keep their hands on the steering wheel. It also modified the system to make warnings more apparent when drivers failed to keep their hands on the steering wheel and shut down the system if the warnings were ignored. But safety advocates have worried that the system promotes a false sense of security, leading some to treat it as a self-driving feature. The NTSB's preliminary findings come as Tesla CEO Elon Musk has promised to roll out a feature complete self-driving system by the end of the yearone that would take over even more basic driving functions. He reiterated those plans at an investor meeting last month. Story continues In both of the fatal crashes involving tractor trailers, Teslas Autopilot system didnt detect the truck ahead in the road. And in both cases, the cars were on highways driving at high rates of speed. Neither driver was on a true limited-access highway, like an interstate; both had intersections that allowed access to cross traffic. Teslas Autopilot is no substitute for a human driver, said David Friedman, vice president for advocacy at Consumer Reports. The systems capabilities are limited if it cant detect the broad side of an 18-wheeler or keep the driver engagedand yet Tesla allows it to operate where it needs to do both. Two crashes with such striking similarities should be a wake up call to NHTSA [National Highway Traffic Safety Administration] to open a defect investigation, added Cathy Chase, president for Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. NHTSA is investigating the March 1 crash and in an emailed statement said its carefully evaluating all available data and will share any findings upon conclusion of its investigation." In response to the NTSB preliminary findings, a Tesla spokesperson in an email Thursday said, We are deeply saddened by this accident and our thoughts are with everyone affected by this tragedy. Tesla drivers have logged more than 1 billion miles with Autopilot engaged, and our data shows that, when used properly by an attentive driver who is prepared to take control at all times, drivers supported by Autopilot are safer than those operating without assistance. Tesla shared vehicle data logs with the NTSB shortly after the March 1 crash, the company spokesperson said. Those logs showed that the driver immediately removed his hands from the wheel after he engaged Autopilot, and Autopilot hadnt been used at any other point during the trip. Years of research show that it's almost impossible for drivers to always leap into action in an emergency if their car is automating the main driving tasks, such as steering and speed control, said Kelly Funkhouser, program manager for automated and connected vehicles at the Consumer Reports Auto Test Center. After its investigation of the fatal 2016 Florida crash, the NTSB found fault with the Teslas design of Autopilot. The automaker should have restricted use of the driver-assistance system to interstate-like highways, the NTSB said in its findings. Thursdays report from the NTSB is an early, bare-bones recounting of its understanding of the basic facts of the crash. The safety boards full investigation will take a year or more, and it will include its official determination of the probable causes of the crash, along with specific recommendations for regulators, Tesla and the auto industry. More from Consumer Reports: Top pick tires for 2016 Best used cars for $25,000 and less 7 best mattresses for couples Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works side by side with consumers to create a fairer, safer, and healthier world. CR does not endorse products or services, and does not accept advertising. Copyright 2019, Consumer Reports, Inc. London (AFP) - Shares in troubled British tour operator Thomas Cook collapsed on Friday after Citigroup reportedly warned in a broker note that the stock was worthless. The company's share price dived 27.26 percent to just 14.26 pence in midday deals on the London stock market. "Thomas Cook shares have plunged again, this time after being on the receiving end of a sell recommendation from Citigroup, with a zero pence target price," said analyst Michael Hewson at traders CMC Markets UK. "Yesterday, management had stated that they had received multiple bids for its airline assets. "The problem the company is now facing given its huge debts is that they may have to sell these assets at fire sale prices, as investors and markets lose confidence of the ability to turn the business around," Hewson added in a note to clients. The news came one day after Thomas Cook revealed that first-half losses widened on a major writedown, caused in part by Brexit uncertainty that has delayed summer holiday bookings. The firm posted a net loss of A1.474 billion ($1.893 billion, 1.689 billion euros) in the six months to March 31, as customers also put off trips abroad last winter. The loss after tax, after a writedown of A1.1 billion, compared with a net loss of A254 million in the first half of its 2017/18 financial year. The last paragraph of Pete Buttigiegs autobiography, The Shortest Way Home, could almost serve as a summary of The Wizard of Oz.The protagonist rushed to escape the hometown that had shaped me, then slowly and imperceptibly came to see the meaning I sought was to be found very close to where I had begun. But Buttigieg is not in Indiana anymore. The path that was the shortest way home in his previous life is not the one he must travel to get to the White House. His campaign to become the Democratic nominee for president in 2020 has put him on a road many candidates have traveled before. And on that road, he has already encountered many wicked adversaries, a wide variety of supportive friends, and the metaphorical fields of poppies that can pull down any candidates campaign. South Bend, Indiana Mayor Buttigieg has, so far, demonstrated skill in fending off the metaphorical wicked witches. First, openly gay ambassador to Germany Ric Grenell accused Buttigieg of creating a Jussie Smollet style hate hoax against Vice President Mike Pence. Then, late evangelist Billy Grahams son tweeted his opinion that Buttigieg should not be flaunting his being gay but repenting it. Last week, two Republican operatives tried to promote false accusations that Buttigieg had sexually assaulted two men (both of whom denied the claims). And just last Friday night, his speech was interrupted multiple times at a local Democratic Party event in Dallasby anti-abortion activist Randall Terry and several others, who yelled things like, Remember Sodom and Gomorrah. Politics can be ugly sometimes, he told The Daily Beast, but you have to face that when youre in presidential politics. In collecting support, Buttigieg has racked up numbers that are unprecedented for such a relatively unknown candidate. Several polls in April both national and Iowa and New Hampshire specific show potential Democratic voters consistently putting him in third place. One New Hampshire poll even showed him tied with U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders for second (behind former Vice President Joe Biden in first). And in fundraising, his campaign reported slightly more than $7 million during the first quarter of 2019. Those support numbers have to be looked at in context. With the polling, most of these early surveys including Buttigieg are measuring likely Democratic primary and caucus voters or voters who at least lean Democratic. These voters tend to be more progressive than the general voting population. The most recent pollin New Hampshire, by the Boston Globe and Suffolk University April 25-28, found Buttigieg tied with Sanders for second when polling more than 800 adults who broke down roughly 37 percent independent, 32 percent Republican, and 29 percent Democrat. Looking at the raw data, only 52 percent of those 800 said they would likely vote in the Democratic primary. When it comes to collecting dollars, the only hard data available is from reports campaigns had to file with the Federal Elections Commissionon March 31, covering the first quarter 2019 fundraising. In openly gay candidate Fred Kargers bid for the Republican nomination in 2012, Karger raised only $588,000 for the entire two-year campaign. So Buttigieg, with $7 million in the first three months, is well beyond that mark. Compared to other Democratic presidential candidates not including Biden who entered the race only twoweeks ago Buttigiegs total fundraising haul ranks only ninth. He raised only about one-third of what Sanders did ($20 million) and only about half 60 of what U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) did ($13 million), though Harris is polling just below Buttigieg in the latest surveys. That said, if one looks at how much money came in from individualcontributions (from individual persons and $2,800 or less per election), Buttigiegs $7 million (all of it from individual contributions) ranks fourth among the Democrats. (Hes behind Sanders with $18 million from individual contributions, Harris with $12 million from individual contributions, and Beto ORourke with $9 million in individual contributions.) In an even broader context, its worth noting that President Trump has raised $30 million, but only $7.3 million of that was in individual contributions. These dollar figures are only one marker of a candidates potential viability in the race, and data from contributions and polling are hurdles candidates must clear in order to secure a spot in the Democratic primary debates which start in June. Buttigieg has qualified, along with Harris, ORourke, Sanders, Warren, and businessman Andrew Yang, according to fivethirtyeight.com. A closer examination of FEC records indicate that, in the first quarter, Buttigieg received almost no money from the LGBT communitys best known politicos. For instance, FEC records show no direct individual contribution to Buttigieg in the first quarter from San Francisco philanthropist James Hormel, Chicago Cubs co-owner Laura Ricketts, Hollywood producer David Geffen. Former Clinton appointee Roberta Achtenberg contributed to the campaigns of both Buttigieg and Harris in the first quarter, as did D.C. Democratic activist Steve Elmendorf. But its simply too soon to pronounce where the LGBT community is investing its money in the presidential primary. Most voters, including many LGBT voters, simply didnt know Buttigieg for much of the first quarter, and Buttigieg has, in recent weeks, just started going to LGBT fundraisers in big cities to seek the communitys support. And its too soon to predict whether LGBT donors will decide to put their money behind an openly gay candidate if they feel forced to choose between him and a supportive Democrat who is seen as a better challenger to President Trump. On April 30, the Boston Globereleased a poll showing that, of 429 voters likely to vote in the New Hampshire Democratic primary, only 5 percent said they thought Buttigieg could beat President Trump in the general election. (That compared to 35 percent who think Biden can and 13 percent who think Sanders can.) And then, there are the poppies those unpredictable issues that pop up in every campaign issues a candidate must march through without getting pulled down. Already, Buttigieg has had to explain and essentially apologize for using the phrase all lives matter in the context of a South Bend conflict between police and the black community in 2015. Many people feel the phrase all lives matter is an attempt to undermine the efforts to draw attention to pervasive attacks on black people, especially by police. Confronted about the 2015 statement last month, Buttigieg said he did not understand at that time that all lives matter was starting to be used as a sort of counter-slogan to Black Lives Matter. Since learning about how that phrase was being used to push back on that activism, said Buttigieg, I have stopped using it in that context. Hes had to deal with continued criticism, too, for his decision not to release audiotapes secretly recorded by South Bends African American police chief, whom Buttigieg demoted. Supporters of the police chief want the tapes made public in hopes of exposing the racist attitudes of some South Bend white police officers. Buttigieg said he wouldnt release the tapes because they were made in violation of the Federal Wiretap Act. He said he demoted the police chief because the chief failed to notify him that the chief was the subject of a criminal investigation by the FBI and, so, he felt he could not trust the chief. Hes had to address smallish dust-ups around his being a fan of Eminem, a rapper notorious for anti-gay lyrics, and chicken from Chick-fil-A, a company that has funded and promoted anti-gay candidates and positions. Buttigieg, asked about both on The Breakfast Club,a nationally syndicated radio talk show, said he admires Eminems militant pride in his hometown of Detroit but its not like you can excuse the homophobia. As per Chick-fil-A, he said, I do not approve of their politics, but I kind of approve of their chicken. Weve got to find a way to use our identities to reach other people, said Buttigieg. Theres two things that can happen when you are conscious of your identity. One is it turns into all these ways of separating ourselves from each other, and it just turns into one big, You dont know me. But the other way we could do it is we can say, OK, Ive got this experience, youve got that experience, what can we talk about that brings us together. What do we have in common? Theres no doubt Buttigiegs identity of being gay will be another perhaps the most difficult of the poppy fields hell have to negotiate along his road to the White House. A poll released April 30 by Quinnipiac Universityfound that 70 percent of 1,044 voters polled nationwide (including 46 percent of Republicans) are open to electing a gay man president. But 52 percent of voters are not ready to do so. (margin of error 3.5 percent). The New York Times published a story last week suggesting the wall against electing an openly gay candidate might be crumbling. The Timesasked the New Hampshire Democratic Partys openly gay chairman, Ray Buckley, whether voters need to see something else first, something other than gay? Buckley said that was true of any candidate that isnt a straight white male. Can Mr. Buttigieg win the presidency? asked the Times. Obamas victory proved everyone can dream of becoming president, Trumps victory proved anyone can become president, said Buckley. Buttigieg has just as much the ability to win as anyone else. AUSTIN, Texas Once the longest-serving Navy SEAL on active duty, Adm. William McRaven played a key role in thousands of dangerous missions abroad, including commanding the one that cost Osama bin Laden his life. McRaven, who is retired, warns that the greatest threat to American democracy he's seen during his decades in national security comes not from a rogue regime or a terrorist group but from the caustic rhetoric of President Donald Trump. "An attack on the press or an attack on the Department of Justice, or to imply that there are dirty cops at the FBI or to ignore the intelligence community, I think, really undermines our institutions," McRaven told USA TODAY in an interview about his memoir, "Sea Stories: My Life in Special Operations," out Tuesday. "And that makes me fearful of the future direction of the nation." McRaven: Trump's media attacks 'greatest threat to our democracy' Start the day smarter: Get USA TODAY's Daily Briefing in your inbox Five years after retiring as commander of U.S. Special Operations, McRaven retains the ramrod bearing and the reserve of a career officer with more than 37 years in uniform. In his new book, being published by Grand Central Publishing, he also reflects on the military tradition of expressing nothing but regard for the presidents he served in top jobs, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. His account of daredevil missions to intercept Somali pirates, free American missionaries held hostage in the Philippines, interrogate Saddam Hussein and recover long-frozen military remains in British Columbia ends with his final salute in dress whites in 2014. Donald Trump's name doesn't appear in the 335-page memoir. William H. McRaven, a retired Navy admiral, was commander of the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command from 2011 to 2014. But in 2017, during a stint as chancellor of the University of Texas, McRaven began raising objections to Trump's attacks on the press in an address that also called on journalists to hold themselves accountable for accuracy and fairness. Last year, he wrote an open letter protesting the president's decision to revoke the security clearance of a frequent critic, former CIA director John Brennan, and asking that his own security clearance be revoked as well. Story continues That brought a rebuke from the president he dismissed McRaven as a "Hillary Clinton fan" who should have caught bin Laden faster and blowback from some of his former military colleagues, who argued that it was inappropriate for him to publicly criticize the commander in chief. "It has been an unwritten rule that senior military officers don't come out against the president, and I think that's a good unwritten rule," McRaven said. "But I've got to look myself in the mirror and make sure I'm doing what I think is the right thing." Who is James Comey?: Ex FBI director called Trump a 'chronic liar.' What his politics mean for the FBI Trump on World Press Freedom Day: 'They go out of their way to cover me inaccurately' His concerns about Trump's attacks on democratic institutions have only deepened, he said, noting the president's increasingly defiant response to congressional investigations. "When the lawmakers of this nation ask for a person to testify or ask for certain documents, I think sooner or later, the White House needs to comply, as does the military or anybody else that's being subpoenaed to provide information," he said. At stake, in his view, is faith in the foundations of democracy. "If the American people feel like they can't trust those institutions, then what do they turn to?" he asked. "Our institutions really have got to be able to survive whoever's in the White House." He said he doesn't plan to play a role in the 2020 presidential campaign but added that he's "learned never to say 'never.'" Like what you're reading?: Download the USA TODAY app for more Climbing the walls When the Navy SEALS were established in 1962, McRaven was 6 years old and to all appearances already in training for the special operations force. His father was a Spitfire combat pilot in World War II who was then assigned to the military arm of NATO, based in France. The youngster would terrify his older sister by scaling from window to window on the outside of their three-story chateau, or by climbing down the well in the backyard. When their father was assigned to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, McRaven became a regular visitor to the Wilford Hall Air Force Hospital emergency room to have gashes stitched up and broken bones set in the aftermath of adventures. At the University of Texas, he graduated with a bachelor's degree from the journalism school, but only because he saw the subject as easier to ace than his previous majors, in pre-med and then accounting, where his grades were so borderline that they might have made it difficult for him to get the Navy commission he wanted. He joined the elite SEALS (an abbreviation for Sea, Air and Land teams), was pushed out of SEAL Team Six when he complained about a lack of military discipline, then thrived. He would hold command at every level. Finally, in 2011, he designed and executed the special-ops raid in Pakistan that led to the death of bin Laden a decade after the 9/11 terror attacks on New York and Washington. Osama bin Laden's son: Hamza emerging as new al-Qaeda leader In some ways, he said, the experiences of his long career seemed to be in preparation for Operation Neptune's Spear. "I was at the top of my game," he said, having run Special Operations longer than anyone else. "I had seen thousands of missions. I knew the personalities of the people involved. I knew how to do this mission. I knew how to command this mission, because my life had brought me to that point." The mission succeeded even though one of the stealth helicopters crash-landed during the assault and had to be abandoned. When the other Black Hawk helicopter carrying the body of the man they believed to be bin Laden returned to the Jalalabad airfield in Afghanistan, McRaven went to the hangar to confirm his identify. He unzipped the rubberized bag, pulled out the body and stretched it to its full length. He looked like bin Laden, but McRaven wanted to double-check before he informed President Obama. "Son, how tall are you?" he asked one of the SEALS, who told him he was 6'2". "Good," McRaven said. "Lie down next to the body." Bin Laden was reported to be 6'4", and the unorthodox way of measuring the corpse indicated it was him. In the office of his home, in a leafy area of Austin, McRaven has a plaque that Obama presented him a few days later. On it is mounted a bright yellow 25-foot metal tape measure. "If we can afford a $60 million helicopter," the inscription reads, "I think we can afford a tape measure." 'Which time was that?' McRaven already is a best-selling author. His 2014 commencement address detailing 10 principles he followed as a Navy SEAL was published in 2017 as a self-help volume titled "Make Your Bed." (The title of Chapter One: "Start Your Day with a Task Completed.") It has sold more than a million copies. He was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia in 2010, when he was on duty in Afghanistan. He managed the symptoms of the blood cancer for years but hit "a perfect storm of bad health" in 2017 that forced him to retire as chancellor of the University of Texas the next spring. Exposure to Agent Orange and other toxic chemicals has been tied to the disease. "I've been exposed to so many things over the course of my career," said McRaven, now 63. "I used to dive under nuclear submarines and nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. You're diving in waters that are hardly crystal-clear." But he expressed no regrets. "I wouldn't change it for anything." It was dangerous duty from the start. Asked in the USA TODAY interview to describe more details about "that time when you were sure you were going to die," McRaven replied, brow furrowed, "Which time was that?" This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What threatens democracy? Navy SEAL warns of Trump's attacks on US institutions Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (NYSE:AXTA), which is in the chemicals business, and is based in United States, received a lot of attention from a substantial price movement on the NYSE over the last few months, increasing to $28.01 at one point, and dropping to the lows of $24.8. Some share price movements can give investors a better opportunity to enter into the stock, and potentially buy at a lower price. A question to answer is whether Axalta Coating Systems's current trading price of $25.52 reflective of the actual value of the mid-cap? Or is it currently undervalued, providing us with the opportunity to buy? Lets take a look at Axalta Coating Systemss outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if there are any catalysts for a price change. Want to participate in a short research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card! Check out our latest analysis for Axalta Coating Systems What is Axalta Coating Systems worth? Great news for investors Axalta Coating Systems is still trading at a fairly cheap price. My valuation model shows that the intrinsic value for the stock is $42.14, but it is currently trading at US$25.52 on the share market, meaning that there is still an opportunity to buy now. Although, there may be another chance to buy again in the future. This is because Axalta Coating Systemss beta (a measure of share price volatility) is high, meaning its price movements will be exaggerated relative to the rest of the market. If the market is bearish, the company's shares will likely fall by more than the rest of the market, providing a prime buying opportunity. Can we expect growth from Axalta Coating Systems? NYSE:AXTA Past and Future Earnings, May 17th 2019 Future outlook is an important aspect when youre looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Although value investors would argue that its the intrinsic value relative to the price that matter the most, a more compelling investment thesis would be high growth potential at a cheap price. Axalta Coating Systemss earnings over the next few years are expected to double, indicating a very optimistic future ahead. This should lead to stronger cash flows, feeding into a higher share value. Story continues What this means for you: Are you a shareholder? Since AXTA is currently undervalued, it may be a great time to accumulate more of your holdings in the stock. With an optimistic outlook on the horizon, it seems like this growth has not yet been fully factored into the share price. However, there are also other factors such as financial health to consider, which could explain the current undervaluation. Are you a potential investor? If youve been keeping an eye on AXTA for a while, now might be the time to enter the stock. Its buoyant future outlook isnt fully reflected in the current share price yet, which means its not too late to buy AXTA. But before you make any investment decisions, consider other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to make a well-informed investment decision. Price is just the tip of the iceberg. Dig deeper into what truly matters the fundamentals before you make a decision on Axalta Coating Systems. You can find everything you need to know about Axalta Coating Systems in the latest infographic research report. If you are no longer interested in Axalta Coating Systems, you can use our free platform to see my list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential. 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 Kylie MacLellan LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) - When the European Union agreed in April to extend the date of Britain's exit from the bloc for a second time, European Council President Donald Tusk pleaded: "Don't waste this time." More than a month has passed and little progress has been made to break the Brexit impasse. Talks between the government and the opposition Labour Party failed, parliament remains deadlocked and Prime Minister Theresa May, who is likely to have only weeks left in power, plans a fourth attempt to get her Brexit deal approved. So what is due to happen between now and Britain's scheduled departure from the EU on Oct. 31: RECESS, MAY 23-JUNE 4 Parliament breaks for the Whitsun recess on May 23 and does not return until June 4. The government could publish the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, the legislation that enacts May's Brexit deal, before that break. PRESIDENT TRUMP'S VISIT, JUNE 3-5 U.S. President Donald Trump is due to make a state visit to Britain. The trip will include a meeting with May and a ceremony in Portsmouth on the southern English coast to mark the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy, France during World War Two. DEBATE AND VOTE ON BREXIT LEGISLATION, JUNE 4-7 Lawmakers will get to debate and vote on the Withdrawal Agreement Bill in the week of June 3. Parliament returns from recess on June 4 so this is the earliest day the vote could be held. MAY MEETS 1922 COMMITTEE, WEEK OF JUNE 3 OR JUNE 10? May has said she will meet Graham Brady, chairman of her Conservative Party's influential 1922 Committee, to agree a timetable for the election of her successor, after the vote on the Withdrawal Agreement Bill. The prime minister has said she will step down once her Brexit deal has been approved, but few believe she can stay on even if it isn't. The vote in early June will be the fourth time she has tried to get her exit agreement passed by parliament. NO CONFIDENCE VOTE, JUNE 15 Story continues Local Conservative Associations have called an emergency meeting to discuss May's leadership on June 15 and will hold a vote of no confidence in the prime minister. The vote is not binding, but if May has not set a date for her departure by then it will add to the pressure for her to do so. CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP CONTEST BEGINS, JUNE OR JULY? The prospects of May's deal passing parliament look slim and a leadership contest is likely to be underway by the end of June. The timetable will be set out at the start of the process. In the past it has taken months to complete but it could be speeded up in order to give the new leader more time to try to resolve the Brexit impasses before Oct. 31. SUMMER RECESS, JULY-SEPT Parliament usually breaks for around six weeks over the summer. The dates for this year have not yet been set out. In 2018 the recess ran from July 24 to Sept. 4. Lawmakers return to parliament for around two weeks before they break again for the party conference season. The government has said it wants to pass the Withdrawal Agreement Bill through all its stages in parliament before the summer recess. PARTY CONFERENCES, SEPT-OCT The political parties hold their annual gatherings one after the other in late September and early October. The opposition Labour Party's conference is due to run from Sept. 21-25 and the Conservative Party's from Sept. 29-Oct. 2. The Conservatives are likely to want to have their new leader in place by then. PARLIAMENT RETURNS, MID-OCT Parliament usually returns in the second week of October, less than four weeks before Britain is due to leave the EU. BREXIT DAY, OCT 31 Britain is due to leave the European Union, with or without a deal, by Oct. 31. (Reporting by Kylie MacLellan; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Janet Lawrence) May is National Masturbation Month, and we're celebrating with Feeling Yourself, a series exploring the finer points of self-pleasure. For a kid, there are few things more awkward than sitting in a sex ed class and learning about masturbation. For a queer or transgender kid, the experience can be simultaneously uncomfortable and painful. That's because, as some sex educators argue, sex education often fails to address masturbation in an inclusive way. In fact, it may not even be discussed at all. Less than half of American high schools and only one fifth of middle schools teach all 16 sex ed topics from the Center for Disease Control's recommended list. Masturbation isn't even on that list, much less inclusive masturbation education. "Talking about self-pleasure doesn't happen that much in sex ed," says Andrew Townsend, teen program coordinator for Planned Parenthood Toronto. SEE ALSO: Teen YouTubers who faked a pregnancy apologize and offer bad sex ed advice By ignoring masturbation and not addressing it in a way that speaks to everyone, sex ed fails our youth. Inclusive sex ed should be a critical component of education, and masturbation should be a core topic. Regardless of gender identity or sexuality, the practice is an essential part of an individual's sexual pleasure. In general, sex education fails LGBTQ youth According to a joint report from a number of sexual health and civil rights organizations, LGBTQ youth are less likely to report using contraception and more likely to start having sex at an early age, have multiple partners compared to their heterosexual peers, and have sex while under the influence of alcohol or other drugs. Despite that, inclusive sex education is rare. "We found that only 6.7 percent of middle and high school students received LGBTQ-inclusive sex education," says Becca Mui, education manager at GLSEN, an organization that advocates for LGBTQ youth. Story continues #mysexed preached abstinence, abstinence, abstinence, pregnancy, pregnancy, pregnancy. I was gay and closeted and had 1000 questions... Dr. Sean Boileau (@sboileau1) December 2, 2015 Mui points to "no promo homo" laws, currently on the books in six states, which prohibit sex education teachers from positively talking about or even sometimes including lesbian, gay, and bisexual topics. For example, teachers in South Carolina are not permitted to discuss homosexuality except in reference to sexually transmitted diseases. In Alabama, sex ed teachers are mandated to teach, in certain lessons, that homosexuality is not an acceptable "lifestyle." These laws have very real consequences. "What we found in our research is that when a state has a no promo law, it really spills out into the educational culture," Mui says. "It's harder to have an inclusive Gay Straight Alliance in those places ... and there's an understanding that young people are more likely to embrace and hold queer identities, genderfluid identities, and transgender identities when adults are teaching this curriculum." On the other hand, the lack of a curriculum could come with risks. Mui is particularly concerned that LGBTQ youth who don't receive accurate sexual health information won't make healthy decisions. For example, sex educators who don't discuss anal sex between gay men miss educating them about the risk of HIV and STDs. It's clear that many queer and trans youth aren't getting the sex education they need. Masturbation education, when it exists, can be heteronormative and trans-exclusionary For Sara Connell, sex educator and host of the podcast Queer Sex Ed, the heteronormative nature of sex ed extends into conversations about masturbation. "We talk about girls using dildos or vibrators or a man stroking a penis," she explains. Both of these acts imitate the act of penetration, but that's reductive. Connell wants youth to know that pleasure can be found in different parts of the body, and that they should feel free to fantasize about things other than heterosexual penetration. Sex education about masturbation can be particularly fraught for trans youth, Connell says. Sex educators often see genitals, sex, and gender as the same thing. That language can feel exclusionary for trans people, for whom genitals, sex, and gender are often different. For Connell, referring to male masturbation only in terms of penises, female masturbation only in terms of vulvas, and leaving non-binary students out of the equation altogether, teachers can stigmatize trans youth. "There are trans boys who have vulvas. There are girls who have penises. There are non-binary people with any [kind of] genitals," Connell explains. Townsend similarly worries that sex educators who only see masturbation through a heteronormative and cissexist lens (which implies feelings of superiority towards trans people) risk alienating both queer and trans youth who may not derive masturbatory pleasure from the opposite sex or who don't identify with their assigned genitalia. They also risk hurting straight and cis youth, who may become queer or trans later in life. "Your body is going to look different throughout your life," Townsend stresses. Every student queer, trans, cis, and straight could stand to benefit from an inclusive masturbation education. Here's how to fix the problem Thankfully, there are ways educators can better and more inclusively address and teach their queer and trans students. Connell has three recommendations: First, she urges educators to say what they mean. They shouldn't refer to boys' penises or girls' vaginas. Educators should simply refer to penises and vaginas, or consider using a more general term like genitals. Trans girls, for example, may have a penis, may refer to their "girl penis," or may have a vulva. Students may refer to their genitals in completely non-gendered terms altogether. Second, Connell recommends that educators not treat queer sexuality and transgender identity like the plague. There shouldn't just be a single day where educators talk about trans issues. Sex educators should normalize conversations about these identities and about masturbation. Third, Connell encourages sex educators to be confident that the youth they are teaching are mature enough to handle the conversation. Many young people are already having conversations about sex with each other or online, Connell says. They're prepared to handle "adult" conversations about masturbation, but they may not have have accurate information about it. "Inaction or avoiding the subject is a choice ... You're harming people by not giving them the right tools to be aware of their bodies," Connell says. The benefits of direct, inclusive masturbation education are clear. In general, LGBTQ youth who see themselves represented in inclusive curricula report feeling safer in school and having higher levels of self-esteem, Mui explains. Townsend is similarly optimistic about inclusive masturbation education. By opening up space for students to talk about this issue, he believes it can help remove some of the stigma surrounding self-pleasure for queer and trans youth. Connell, for her part, holds that inclusive masturbation education could be an empowering educational experience for trans youth. "When I think about sex ed and masturbation especially, it can be really powerful for trans people to reclaim our bodies through masturbation," Connell says. Connell, who is trans herself, cites her own experience. While she was going through hormone replacement therapy, Connell experienced pleasure in different parts of her body and from different sources. Connell wants trans students who are going through the process to know that their experience of desire, and what drives them to masturbate, may change. "It's really hard to tell what someone's reaction will be to hormone replacement therapy .... but there are a general set of changes," Connell says. "You just don't know what you're going to enjoy." Educators can learn how to talk about masturbation with queer, trans, cis, and straight students equally. Inclusive masturbation sex education is possible, Connell stresses. Educators just need to be brave enough and educated enough to talk about it. Uploads%252fvideo uploaders%252fdistribution thumb%252fimage%252f91045%252fd2f342bc 17da 4d28 8fdb 91c8b3e8176a.jpg%252foriginal.jpg?signature=rvcy9pmg9pgiglsoxqg39cixwnu=&source=https%3a%2f%2fblueprint api production.s3.amazonaws The death toll in the collapse of a Shanghai commercial building that was undergoing renovation rose to 10 overnight after three more victims were added to the grim tally, the city government said Friday. About half of the low-rise building collapsed around midday on Thursday, crushing construction workers under piles of toppled concrete pillars and shattered wooden beams. Authorities said 25 people had been found in the rubble, 10 of whom had succumbed to their injuries. The latest announcement on a city government social media account did not make clear whether any others were still missing, but added that search and rescue work was "basically finished." Medical personnel were making "all-out efforts" to treat the injured, the announcement said. Rescue personnel pulled bloodied and dust-coated workers out from the rubble throughout Thursday afternoon and evening, according to AFP journalists at the scene. The building had previously been used as a dealership for Mercedes-Benz cars, the national emergency ministry has said. But the property had changed hands and was being redeveloped as a mixed-use arts and innovation site, according to Chinese media reports. China is no stranger to building collapses and deadly construction accidents, which are typically blamed on the country's rapid growth leading to corner-cutting by builders and the widespread flouting of safety rules. At least 20 people were killed in 2016 when a series of crudely-constructed multi-storey buildings packed with migrant workers collapsed in the eastern city of Wenzhou. By Lisa Rapaport (Reuters Health) - Kindergarteners who get more than two hours of screen time a day may be more likely to have behavior and attention problems in school than their classmates who spend less time in front of televisions, smartphones and tablets, a Canadian study suggests. Doctors urge parents of young kids to limit screen time or avoid it altogether because all of those hours watching videos or gaming have been linked to slowed development of speech and language, fine and gross motor skills, and social and behavioral skills. After all, time spent in front of screens means less time for scribbling with crayons or playing games that help kids learn how to kick a ball or take turns. In the current study, researchers surveyed parents of more than 2,400 Canadian kids to assess screen time at three and five years. The second assessment also asked about behavior problems like inattention and aggressiveness as well as issues like sleep difficulties, depression, and anxiety. Very few five-year-olds had these problems: just 1.2 percent of kids had so-called "externalizing" behavior problems like aggression or inattention and just 2.5 percent had "internalizing" problems like depression and anxiety. But compared to kids who got less than a half hour of screen time daily, children who had more than two hours daily had an almost six-fold greater risk of attention problems and an almost eight-fold greater risk of meeting the criteria for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. "It is never too early to talk to your child about limiting screen time," senior study author Dr. Piush Mandhane of the University of Alberta in Canada said by email. Canadian guidelines recommend that parents limit screen time to less than one hour a day for children two to four years old and less than two hours daily for older kids, researchers note in Plos One. At age three, kids in the study exceeded these limits, getting an average of 1.5 hours a day of screen time. They got slightly less - 1.4 hours a day - by age five. Story continues Overall, almost 14 percent of kids had more than two hours a day of screen time. It's possible that some kids in the study who already had challenges with behavior or social skills opted to spend more time in front of screens because they struggled to relate to peers. The study also wasn't a controlled experiment designed to prove whether or how screen time might cause behavior problems. "This study does not draw any conclusion about certain types or contexts of media use being better for child development than others," said Andrew Ribner, a psychology researcher at New York University who wasn't involved in the research. "However, other research has suggested screen time that has a slower pace, is relatively less fantastical, and provides some kind of contingent responsiveness -- something like Sesame Street or Dora the Explorer rather than Spongebob Squarepants -- is better than the alternative," Ribner said by email. Fast-paced digital media can precondition little ones to expect unnatural stimulation, leading to shorter attention spans because real life can seem slow and underwhelming by comparison, said Dr. Dimitri Christakis, director of the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children's Research Institute. "We also know from decades of research that real, human interaction and play is critical to cognitive and social development," Christakis, who wasn't involved in the study, said by email. "Even if it were 'harmless,' the time spent on digital devices displaces these interactions." Beyond just limiting screen time, parents should concentrate on creating screen-free times in children's daily routines, said Dr. Jenny Radesky of the C. S. Mott Children's Hospital at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. "The more important thing is reducing tech distractions during meals, when playing solo or together, and before bedtime - and not giving in to every moment of boredom or whining with tech use," Radesky, who wasn't involved in the study, said by email. "It's so important for children to learn how to handle big feelings, tolerate boredom, and settle themselves down at night." SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2Wa1uNc PLoS One, online April 17, 2019. Photo: Kyle Sudu/Unsplash Here's the most recent top news you may have missed in Atlanta. Westboro Baptist Church to protest Spelman, Morehouse and Clark Atlanta graduation ceremonies Westboro Baptist Church is deemed a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Read the full story on 11ALIVE. Exclusive, top secret documents explore link between KKK and Atlanta child murders victim A top-secret investigation into the Atlanta child murders pointed to the Ku Klux Klan, according to documents shared exclusively with 11Alive. Read the full story on 11ALIVE. Mexican cartel drug trafficker sentenced in Atlanta ATLANTA (AP) - The head of the U.S. arm of the cocaine transportation and distribution network of Edgar Valdez-Villareal, also known as La Barbie, has been sentenced to federal prison for trafficking cocaine and money laundering. Read the full story on Houston Chronicle. Pioli steps down as assistant GM of Atlanta Falcons FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) Scott Pioli has stepped down as assistant general manager of the Atlanta Falcons. Pioli announced the decision through the team on Thursday. Read the full story on The Seattle Times. Atlanta to build low-carbon transportation projects by 2020 As part of the American Cities Climate Challenge, Atlanta will be one of 5 cities to design and build a bike or transit project by 2020. Read the full story on CBS Atlanta. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. Photo: James Cridland/Flickr Missed the the most recent top news in Baltimore? Read on for everything you need to know. As ransom deadline nears, Baltimore City continues to struggle for fix The crippling cybersecurity attack on Baltimore City enters its tenth day, as city officials continue to say they can't say much about the investigation. Read the full story on CBS Baltimore. In scoring transit projects, Hogan administration ranks road-widening plan first, Baltimore Red Line last The Maryland Department of Transportation's project scoring gave Gov. Larry Hogan's proposed express toll lanes a perfect score, while panning light rail. Read the full story on Baltimore Sun. Two teens injured, one killed in triple shooting overnight, Baltimore Police say Three teenagers were shot, one fatally, in a single incident overnight, Baltimore Police said Thursday morning. Read the full story on Baltimore Sun. Former bishop who killed Baltimore cyclist must use ignition interlock, undergo treatment for at least 5 years The ex-bishop who killed Baltimore cyclist Thomas Palermo was released from prison this week. Read the full story on Baltimore Sun. Baltimore Inspector General investigating city Department of Public Works trash yards Agents from the Baltimore Inspector General's Office were conducting an investigation at two DPW yards Thursday morning. Read the full story on Baltimore Sun. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. Missed the the most recent top news in Chicago? Read on for everything you need to know. New office to address Chicagos legacy of racial inequity Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot is creating a new office that will set goals for fairer outcomes in areas like housing, employment and education. Read the full story on WBEZCuriousCity. Chicago renters facing eviction often do it alone Landlords are seven times more likely than renters to have an attorney in eviction court. Chicagos black communities are home to most cases. Read the full story on WBEZCuriousCity. Uber considers Chicagos Old Post Office building for massive lease It could be of the largest leases signed in Chicago. Read the full story on Curbed Chicago. Chicagos Pilsen neighborhood may get landmark esignation A proposal to protect architecture and murals in the Pilsen area passed the Commission on Chicago Landmarks Thursday. Read the full story on WBEZCuriousCity. Cause of West Chicago kennel fire that killed 31 dogs can't be determined, but appears accidental, investigators say The fire that claimed the lives of 31 dogs at a kennel outside West Aurora caused damage so severe that investigators have been unable to determine a cause. Read the full story on Pioneer Press. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. Photo: Matthew T. Rader/Unsplash Missed the the most recent top news in Dallas? Read on for everything you need to know. Texas man who allegedly posed as maintenance worker charged with killing seven elderly women Authorities in the Dallas area are looking at hundreds of cases of elderly people dying unattended to see if any may be linked to the suspect, Billy Chemirmir. Read the full story on NBC News. Man wanted in shooting outside Dallas business 'might be a former employee,' police say The injured people were transported to Parkland Memorial Hospital, according to Dallas Fire-Rescue officials. Read the full story on WFAA. WNBA star Liz Cambage traded from Dallas to Las Vegas The Liz Cambage trade saga is finally over. The 6-foot-8 Australian was traded from Dallas to Las Vegas on Thursday. Read the full story on Las Vegas Sun. Strange smell in Dallas airport control center leads to more than 100 delays An unidentified smell ground Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to a halt Thursday. Read the full story on New York Daily News. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. This article discusses two meetings. It reports on the HIV Planning Council (HIV-PC) meeting. It reports on the South Florida AIDS Network (SFAN) meeting. The Broward HIV Planning Council (HIVPC) oversees the Ryan White Care (RWC) Program of Broward (RWC-Broward), also known as RWC-Part A. The South Florida AIDS Network (SFAN) advises the RWC program of the Florida Department of Health in Broward (RWC-FL DOH Broward), also known as RWC-Part B. The HIV Planning Council met on April 25. Most of this meeting concerned funds left unspent at the end of Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 on March 31. The Planning Council sets priorities and allocates RWC-Broward funds. Lorenzo Robertson discussed the Priority Setting and Resource Allocation (PSRA) process. This process starts if either of two things happen. The award may differ from the requested amount. Some providers may either be under or over providing services. When either happens, the PSRA committee submits proposals to the HIV-PC to move funds between providers. Leonard Jones (RWC-Broward) reported that the Minority AIDS Initiative (MAI) had between $180,000 and $190,000 left unspent. This program focuses on black men and women between the ages of 18 to 34. It only began in November 2019 with three months to spend its funds. The MAI can carry these unspent funds over into FY2019. The peer training program has reached its final stages, according to Jones. Most peer trainees have either found a new job, or their current job will use their new peer skills. Jones announced a two month goal for dual online certification in RWC-Broward (Part A) and AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP). Josh Rodriguez (RWC-FL DOH Broward) discussed the Emergency Financial Assistance program. This program pays for emergency expenses. These emergency expenses include paying for antiretrovirals before ADAP can. He estimated that this program will have over $10,000 left unspent at the end of FY2018. SFAN met on May 3 Most of this meeting also concerned funds left unspent at the end of FY2018. SFAN made multiple requests of RWC-FL DOH. SFAN requested that RWC-FL DOH Broward explain the unspent $12,201 of the Emergency Financial Assistance category. In March, 178 clients failed to re-enroll in ADAP. SFAN wanted to know how many of these were lost to care. SFAN members requested more information regarding this. Joey Wynn has resigned as the Broward alternate delegate to the Patient Care and Prevention Planning Group. This statewide group plans HIV services for the state. Greg Beltran has agreed to be the new alternate. Ronald Henderson, Statewide Minority AIDS Coordinator, called in from Tallahassee. He reported on new HIV cases among gay and bi men in Florida. Black gay and bi men had the largest number of new HIV cases from age 13 to 24. Latinos aged 25 to 49 had the largest number. After age 50, white gay and bi men had the largest number of new HIV cases. Broward differed slightly in new HIV cases among gay and bi men. Black gay and bi men had the largest number of new HIV cases from age 13 to 29. Latinos aged 30 to 39 had the largest number. After age 40, white gay and bi men had the largest number of new HIV cases. Next SFAN Meeting: Friday, June 7, at 10 a.m. at Holy Cross Healthplex, 1000 NE 56th St., Fort Lauderdale. SFAN welcomes newcomers. Next HIVPC meeting: Thursday, May 23, at 9:30 a.m. at Broward Government Center, Room GC430, 115 S. Andrews Ave. Announcements The World AIDS Museum is conducting an oral history of HIV. They are looking for personal stories. Call 954-390-0550 for more information. Photo: Cassie Gallegos/Unsplash Missed the the most recent top news in Denver? Read on for everything you need to know. Denver mayoral candidate Jamie Giellis goes silent after NAACP mistake and revelation of Chinatown tweet One day after failing to identify what the acronym NAACP stood for in a live interview, Denver mayoral candidate Jamie Giellis is under new fire for a racially insensitive tweet from 2009. Read the full story on Denver Post . DSST Stapleton changing name because of former Denver mayors KKK ties The original campus of the Denver School of Science and Technology announced Thursday it will change its name to honor a street, rather than a former mayor with ties to racist groups. Read the full story on Denver Post . Proposal would allow people to drink in approved areas between Denver businesses A new proposal would allow people to consume alcoholic beverages in certain areas between businesses in the city of Denver. In 2011, the legislature approved a law that lets cities designate enclosed areas where one can legally consume alcohol from a neighboring business. Read the full story on KDVR. New scam targets Xcel Energy customers in Denver area Beware of a new scam targeting Xcel Energy customers. Shari Redden teaches online nursing classes, so not using her computer is out of the question. Redden started to panic when she received a recorded message saying her power would be shut off by Xcel energy unless she called an 800 number and paid $300. Read the full story on KDVR. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. Photo: iStock Here's the most recent top news you may have missed in Fresno. 2 arrested for murdering grandpa in front of 4-year-old in Fresno County Fresno Police say 52-year-old Alejo Armenta was murdered by 2 gang members with his 4-year-old grandson standing just feet away from him. Read the full story on ABC30 Action News. Fresno County man mysteriously vanishes, deputies say A man who is diabetic and may be in need of medication has mysteriously vanished, the Fresno County Sheriff's Office says. Around 5:00 a. m. on May 15, officers with the California Highway Patrol got a call about a big rig truck pulling a refrigeration trailer idle on Interstate 5 near Los Banos. Read the full story on FOX26. Heres how many Fresno kids would be displaced under HUDs undocumented proposal About 1,300 children in Fresno, California could be displaced under a HUD proposal targeting undocumented individuals living in public housing, and the Fresno Housing Authority could lose around $600,000. Read the full story on The Fresno Bee. Fresno lawmaker cleared of misdemeanor child cruelty A jury has cleared California Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula of misdemeanor child cruelty. Read the full story on CBS Sacramento. Fresno's notorious Motel Drive to be cleaned up The motels along Highway 99 have become havens for prostitution and drug dealing. Now the city will start cleaning them up. Read the full story on ABC Fresno, KFSN. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. Photo: iStock Here's what you need to know about what's happening in Houston. Houston father accused of beating infant daughter to death A father accused of beating his newborn daughter to death in January is now behind bars, Houston police say. Read the full story on Chron.com from the Houston Chronicle. 2 people cut from vehicle survive violent crash in northeast Houston Video shows crews cut away pieces of one of the vehicles to rescue the female driver. The other driver was found pinned under a truck. Read the full story on ABC13 Houston. Judge sentences former METRO police officer to 30 days in jail for assaulting homeless man HOUSTON (FOX 26) - Video shows Jairus Warren hitting the man 15 times with his baton at a METRO Rail Station back in 2016. Read the full story on FOX 26 Houston. Police: At least 3 women followed home from gym, sexually assaulted Pasadena Police describe the suspect as a Hispanic male, 18 to 22 years old, 5-foot-2 to 5-foot-4 with a skinny build, clean-shaven, wearing gray sweatpants and a black cotton hoodie. Read the full story on KHOU 11 News. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. Photo: Michel Curi/Flickr Here's the most recent top news you may have missed in Jacksonville. City hiring contractor to tear down the Jacksonville Landing Though the future of the property where The Jacksonville Landing sits remains unclear, the city has already set in motion a plan to get rid of the once-popular riverfront mall. Read the full story on News 4 JAX. Vice President Pence to discuss trade in Jacksonville Vice President Mike Pence is slated to appear Monday in Jacksonville to discuss trade policy, according to an announcement Thursday by America First Policies, a group hosting the event. Read the full story on News 4 JAX. Jacksonville woman wins $500,000 in lottery scratch-off game A Jacksonville woman has won the top prize in a Florida lottery scratch-off game. Vicky Brymer, 46, took home $500,000 minus taxes, after buying her winning ticket from Food Max on Beach Boulevard. Read the full story on News 4 JAX. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. Missed the the most recent top news in Las Vegas? Read on for everything you need to know. Former Las Vegas police officer sentenced to life in prison for sex abuse An ex-Las Vegas police officer was given 25 life sentences in a child sex abuse case. Read the full story on ABC11 WTVD. Silver Mining 5/16: Raiders rep says Las Vegas stadium is 44% complete Nearly half of the $1.8 billion has been spent and construction on the Las Vegas stadium is about 44 percent completed with 11 of 26 canopy trusses in place. Read the full story on Silver and Black Pride. Other companies may follow Las Vegas Sands lead, stay with NV Energy NV Energy and Las Vegas Sands havent always seen eye-to-eye, but the two companies this week announced a long-term partnership, though details remain confidential. Read the full story on Las Vegas Review-Journal. Second suspect arrested in 2017 fatal shooting in downtown Las Vegas Samuel Arthur Moore was being held without bail on one count of murder with a deadly weapon in connection with the Nov. 15, 2017, shooting death of Eric Thomas, 32. Read the full story on Las Vegas Review-Journal. In Las Vegas, Kamala Harris calls Trump immigration plan 'shortsighted' Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris on Thursday cast President Donald Trump's immigration proposal as a "short-sighted" plan that overlooks immigrant families and categorizes people into a hierarchy. Read the full story on Las Vegas Sun. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. Here's what you need to know about what's happening in Miami. Officer accidentally fires gun in grocery line, grazes woman MIAMI (AP) Authorities say an off-duty Florida police officer accidentally discharged his gun at a grocery store and grazed a nearby woman. Read the full story on 7News - WHDH Boston. Miami-Dade aims to stop weird, predatory "pet leasing" businesses Pet leasing is the latest problem to hit would-be pet owners in Miami and across the country. Certain unscrupulous pet sellers lock buyers into contracts with monthly financing plans while hiding the fact that they can take the pet back if the buyer defaults on a payment. Read the full story on MiamiNewTimes. Authorities urge caution after red-tailed hawk attacks reported in Miami Springs A neighborhood bird has been on the attack: chest out and on guard, ready to protect her nest. Read the full story on WPLG Local 10. Surveillance video captures fatal hit-and-run crash in northwest Miami-Dade Miami-Dade police released surveillance video Thursday that captured a fatal hit-and-run crash last week in northwest Miami-Dade. Read the full story on WPLG Local 10. 1 in custody after woman stabbed multiple times at Miami motel One person is in custody after a woman was stabbed multiple times at a motel in Miami, police confirmed. Read the full story on WPLG Local 10. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. Photo: Daniel McCullough/Unsplash Here's what you need to know about what's happening in Minneapolis. Minneapolis man sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping, rape A 24-year-old Minneapolis man who was convicted of kidnapping and raping a woman in 2017 has been sentenced to life in prison without parole. Read the full story on CBS Minnesota. Police investigate fatal shooting in Minneapolis Minneapolis police say a man is in critical condition after being shot early Thursday morning. Read the full story on CBS Minnesota. Minneapolis considers drive-thru window ban Drive-thru windows are a speedy way to get food, coffee and prescriptions without leaving the comfort of your car. But Minneapolis city leaders are considering making them a thing of the past. Read the full story on CBS Minnesota. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. Missed the the most recent top news in New York City? Read on for everything you need to know. 68-year-old woman in coma sexually assaulted in New York hospital Police said they're looking for a man who walked into a Bronx hospital and sexually assaulted a woman in a coma in her hospital room Monday afternoon. Read the full story on FOX40. Man poses as New York City attorney to scam grandparents out of serious cash A well-known defense attorney in New York City says a mystery criminal is ruining his reputation by using his name to trick grandparents out of thousands of dollars. Read the full story on ABC New York, WABC. New York City gets ready for the battle of the LGBT pride marches The Queer Liberation March will happen on the same day as the NYC Pride March as a Stonewall-echoing protest, say organizers, against the latters embrace of corporations and cops. Read the full story on The Daily Beast. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. Here's what you need to know about what's happening in Orlando. A damn plane just landed on I-4 in Orlando during rush hour If you're stuck in traffic right now it might be because a damn plane just made an emergency landing on I-4. Read the full story on Orlando Weekly. Orlando police officer arrested on manslaughter charge An Orlando police officer is arrested on manslaughter charges. Read the full story on News 6 WKMG. Florida airport bans religious services in reflection rooms Leaders at Orlando International Airport are banning organized church services at the airport's so-called reflection rooms. Read the full story on Boston 25 News. Ruidiaz, Bwana lead Sounders past Orlando City 2-1 SEATTLE (AP) - Raul Ruidiaz and Handwalla Bwana scored to lead the Seattle Sounders to a 2-1 win over Orlando City SC on Wednesday night. The Sounders (7-1-4) stretched their unbeaten streak to five games. Read the full story on MySanAntonio. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. Missed the the most recent top news in New Orleans? Read on for everything you need to know. New Orleans student who was accepted into over 115 colleges chooses school to attend New Orleans student who was accepted into over 115 colleges chooses school to attend. Read the full story on WDSU News. New Orleans council backs strong short-term rental limits NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The New Orleans City Council is set to ban "whole-Home" short-term vacation rentals in much of the city. Members were set to meet Thursday to discuss and possibly vote on a set of new regulations aimed at rentals arranged by companies like Airbnb and HomeAway. Read the full story on Houston Chronicle. Motorcyclist injured after colliding with school bus in New Orleans East Motorcyclist injured after colliding with school bus in New Orleans East. Read the full story on WDSU News. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. When you hear news about ice loss from Greenland or Antarctica, an aquifer in California that is getting depleted, or a new explanation for a wobble in Earth's rotation, you might not realize that all these findings may rely on data from one single mission: the U.S.-German Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE). GRACE data, collected from 2002 to 2017 while the mission was active, are still being used to improve our understanding of water in motion and its sometimes surprising effects on our planet. A new paper brings together newly calculated and existing summaries of the major results GRACE has generated, showcasing the breadth of topics the mission has illuminated over the years. "Water is an important sign of the health of the planet," said Michael Watkins, the original GRACE project scientist and now director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. "But water is hard to track in some forms -- for example, polar ice or water stored deep underground. We need to understand those components as well as we understand water in its more easily assessable forms around the globe. That's what GRACE has enabled us to do." Scientists have used this increased knowledge of how water moves and is stored on Earth to understand global climate and how it is changing. Byron Tapley, GRACE's original principal investigator and the motivating force behind the mission (now retired from the University of Texas at Austin), is the lead author of the new paper. Titled "Contributions of GRACE to Understanding Climate Change" and published in the journal Nature Climate Change, it summarizes the latest results and new insights GRACE has enabled up to the present. The review, which covers aspects of the GRACE measurement technique, scientific breakthroughs and the relevance for climate service applications, was written by a distinguished team of GRACE experts. Most authors contributed to the GRACE mission even before it launched and have done groundbreaking work with its data. "It was a challenge to write a representative eight-page review of GRACE achievements, which have been documented in over 3,000 peer-reviewed publications," said Ingo Sasgen, GRACE scientist at the Alfred Wegener Institute's Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven, Germany, who coordinated the new paper. "We wanted to convey how unique the GRACE mission really was and how important its data are for us to understand how climate change affects water stored in the ocean, the ice and on the continents." Here are a few examples. Greenland and Antarctica. The paper updates previous studies to report that during the lifetime of the GRACE mission, Greenland lost 258 gigatons of ice per year, with the amount varying by more than 50% from year to year, to a large extent in response to temperatures during the summer months. "The Arctic is warming about twice as fast as the global average, with ice-mass loss and sea level rise being major consequences," said Sasgen. "With GRACE we were able to budget each month the mass loss of glaciers and ice sheets around the world. These data have dramatically improved our understanding of the processes at play in these remote areas and their sensitivity to climate change." Antarctica lost 137 gigatons per year on average, but the annual rate of loss varied by more than 200%, mainly due to fluctuations in snowfall. GRACE also found that these large fluctuations mostly occur in West Antarctica and correlate well with El Nino events, which affect how much precipitation reaches the continent. Changes in water storage on land. GRACE has revealed that less water is now being stored naturally in mid-latitude land regions (that is, these regions are getting less precipitation and are becoming drier) and more is being stored in high- and low-latitude regions (that is, those regions are getting wetter). Climate models have long predicted that global climate change will bring about this trend, so the observations provide an important early confirmation of the models. Sea level rise. The sea level rose more than 1.5 inches (3.7 centimeters) per decade on average over the globe from 2005 to 2016. There are two main causes for this change: runoff from melting ice sheets and glaciers, and expansion of the ocean water itself as it warms. Besides monitoring changes in the ice sheets and glaciers, GRACE could detect how much sea level rise was due to water formerly locked in ice on land being added to the ocean. The data show that this source increased throughout the mission and is currently responsible for about two-thirds of sea level rise. "GRACE provided a paradigm shift in our view of how the oceans, atmosphere and land surface components interact," said Tapley. "As an example, GRACE showed that the water leaving the polar ice caps is equal to the increase in water mass in the oceans, giving confirmation of this important measurement's use in assessing ocean heat storage." Besides its value to research, Tapley pointed out, "GRACE is also an important asset for assessing the state of freshwater and assisting in managing it." To improve flood forecasts for Europe, the European Gravity Service for Improved Emergency Management uses GRACE data to look at soil saturation levels weeks before flood season. Researchers have found that knowledge of unusually high levels of underground water storage can increase the lead time on warnings of peak river flooding by up to six weeks. In situations where freshwater is scarce, GRACE data support the U.S. Drought Monitor, which tracks drought across the United States and its territories and is widely used by managers at federal and state levels. GRACE's value to the scientific community was recognized within its first two years of operation, and the community strongly recommended that the mission be continued without major data gaps. To accomplish that, NASA and the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) launched a successor, GRACE Follow-On, in May 2018. GRACE-FO has completed all of its checkout phases and will soon begin releasing monthly maps of mass changes on Earth. "GRACE-FO allows us to continue the revolutionary legacy of GRACE," Watkins said. "There are sure to be more unexpected and innovative findings ahead." GRACE was implemented as a joint mission of NASA and the German Aerospace Center. GRACE was the first principal-investigator-led mission implemented under the Earth System Pathfinder Program. The implementing team included the University of Texas at Austin, JPL and the GFZ. JPL managed the implementation and operations for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Caltech in Pasadena manages JPL for NASA. Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. Read on for the most recent top news you may have missed in Santa Ana. Boyfriend of baby's mother arrested for murder a year after child's death A 26-year-old man was behind bars Wednesday on charges of murdering his girlfriend's year-old son last year in Santa Ana. Read the full story on NBC LA. Teen stole California zoos lemur and left it at hotel, police say Police say the burglar who ran off with an elderly lemur from the Santa Ana Zoo last summer has been identified. Read the full story on The Mercury News. New footage shows car losing control, being smashed by semi-truck in Santa Ana Shocking new dashboard camera footage shows a head-on crash in Santa Ana that left two young men critically injured. Read the full story on ABC Los Angeles, KABC. Santa Ana commits to low-cost artist housing with new downtown development Just 31 percent of Orange Countys rental units are classified as affordable." Read the full story on Daily Pilot. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. Here's the most recent top news you may have missed in Tampa. ZooTampa to star in 6-part series on Nat Geo WILD Nat Geo WILD called ZooTampa "the ideal destination for anyone who loves animals." Read the full story on WTSP. Tampa radio legend Steve 'The Big Dog' Duemig dies 10News would like to extend our sympathies to the family and friends of Steve Duemig. Read the full story on WTSP. Gator blocks runway at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa Staff at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa had to bring in a front-end loader to remove a big gator that was lounging on a runway. Read the full story on CBS Miami. Man charged with murder in Tampa shooting The victim's body was found last week in the backyard of a home. Read the full story on WTSP. Tampa police identify woman they say couldn't tell them who she was They are hoping the public can help identify the woman. Read the full story on WTSP. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. Toyota Motor(7203.T-JP) said President Donald Trump's latest move in the administration's international trade war was a "major setback" for American consumers, shows the company's investments in the U.S. are "not welcomed" and that contributions from its American employees are "not valued." Trump issued a new directive Friday giving Japan and the European Union six months to renegotiate their trade deals with the U.S. so that the "American automobile industry, its workforce, and American innovation" are protected. The Japan automaker's comments Friday come after the White House said U.S.Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will "address the threatened impairment" of national security from auto imports. "Our operations and employees contribute significantly to the American way of life, the U.S. economy and are not a national security threat," Toyota said in a statement. EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom also denounced Trump's comments, saying "we completely reject the notion" that Europe's car exports are a national security threat. Toyota said it has been "deeply engrained" in the U.S. for more than 60 years and has invested over $60 billion in the country, employing more than 475,000 Americans. Toyota added that "history has shown" that limiting imports of vehicles and parts is "counterproductive in creating jobs, stimulating the economy and influencing consumer buying habits." The automaker said auto tariffs would reduce consumer choice and even impact American automakers because vehicle parts used for manufacturing in the U.S. come from various countries. "If import quotas are imposed, the biggest losers will be consumers who will pay more and have fewer vehicle choices," Toyota said. The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment. Read Toyota's full statement: Today's Executive Proclamation is a major set-back for American consumers, workers and the auto industry. Toyota has been deeply engrained in the U.S. for over 60 years. Between our R&D centers, 10 manufacturing plants, 1,500-strong dealer network, extensive supply chain and other operations, we directly and indirectly employ over 475,000 in the U.S., and have invested over $60 billion in this country, including over $1 billion in philanthropic and community-outreach efforts. Today's proclamation sends a message to Toyota that our investments are not welcomed, and the contributions from each of our employees across America are not valued. We have been a leader in R&D through open-sourcing of patents in critical technologies such as fuel cells, hybrid electrification and continue to be transparent and collaborative with our innovations. Our goal is to develop technologies that help society and contribute to sustaining the economy and jobs in the U.S. We continue to innovate in areas of AI, autonomous and robotics technologies that will further contribute and improve our American society. Most every American has a Toyota story and we are very proud of the fact that over 36 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles are still on U.S. roads today. Our operations and employees contribute significantly to the American way of life, the U.S. economy and are not a national security threat. History has shown that limiting import vehicles and parts is counterproductive in creating jobs, stimulating the economy and influencing consumer buying habits. These artificial limitations would reduce consumer choice and impact all automakers since vehicle parts used in U.S. manufacturing are sourced from around the globe. If import quotas are imposed, the biggest losers will be consumers who will pay more and have fewer vehicle choices. We remain hopeful that the upcoming negotiations on trade can be resolved quickly and yield what is best for the American consumer, workers and the auto industry. (For a live blog on European stocks, type LIVE/ in an Eikon news window) May 17 (Reuters) - European shares dropped on Friday after three days of gains, as Beijing ratcheted up its war of words with Washington over trade, weighing on risk appetite. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.7% by 0720 GMT, though it was still looking at its best weekly performance since in 1-1/2 months. The Communist Party's People's Daily used a front page commentary to say the trade war would never bring China down, after telecoms equipment giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd was put on a U.S. blacklist. The escalating trade war, which threatens to hamper global growth, has knocked as much as 4.6% off the pan-regional index in the last two weeks. Traders point to a drop in volumes as a sign investors aren't convinced by this week's rally. Among country indexes, Germany's exporter-heavy DAX fell the most. Auto stocks lost 1.6%, with BMW shedding 5.7% as its shares traded ex-dividend. Delivery food companies tumbled after Britain's Deliveroo, which is unlisted, secured funding from Amazon.com Inc. Just Eat tanked 7.8%, making it theis biggest faller on the FTSE 100, while Takeaway.com and Delivery Hero lost 4.8% and 3.7% percent respectively. European share advances on Thursday were supported by better-than-expected U.S. economic data and upbeat earnings from Walmart and Cisco. Investors will on Friday turn to euro zone CPI data for April, due at 0900 GMT, for further clues to the health of the region's economy after powerhouse Germany returned to growth in the first quarter of 2019. Swiss luxury goods maker Richemont reported 10% rise in quarterly sales of its watches and jewelry, but traders said its operating profit and margin fell short of expectations, sending its shares down 1.5%. Britain's EasyJet rose 3.8% after the budget carrier said it would meet expectations in 2019 despite a worse trading environment. (Reporting by Medha Singh and Agamoni Ghosh in Bengaluru; editing by John Stonestreet) By Rachel Savage and Hugo Greenhalgh LONDON, May 17 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Transgender women have been attacked by police conducting "social cleansing" in Honduras, while police in Indonesia's Aceh province said they want to get "rid of all transgender people," a report on the criminalisation of trans people said on Friday. Trans people are prosecuted in every corner of the world, with laws designed to preserve public order used in at least 26 countries, two of them in Eastern Europe, according to the Human Dignity Trust, a global LGBT+ rights advocacy group. At least 15 countries criminalize people whose gender expression is perceived to be at odds with their birth sex. In at least nine countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia this is through outlawing cross-dressing. Trans people "are targeted simply because they are different, because they are not conforming to (how) society or the church or the mosque tells people how they should behave," Tea Braun, the director of the Human Dignity Trust said. The report also found evidence that at least nine countries use laws criminalizing same-sex relations to prosecute trans people, but added, "The real figure is likely much higher." Gay sex is illegal in 70 countries, according to the ILGA, an LGBT+ rights group. In many countries police and other state officials target trans people, Braun said. "They are committing atrocities," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Abuse by state authorities is not limited to less wealthy countries. More than half of trans Americans who encountered police said they experienced some form of mistreatment, according to a 2015 survey by the National Center for Transgender Equality, a U.S. trans rights group. Trans people in American jails also face a higher risk of violence than others, from both other inmates and prison officials, according to the survey. "The discrimination and violence perpetrated by law enforcement against transgender people largely comes down to power dynamics and an overt lack of respect for transgender people's humanity," said Taylor Brown, a lawyer with Lambda Legal, a U.S. LGBT+ rights group. However, Braun said that globally, "there is progress, because there is increasing awareness and advocacy." She cited the example of Guyana, where a law banning cross-dressing was ruled to be unconstitutional by a regional appeals court in November 2018, after a legal battle stretching over several years. (Reporting by Rachel Savage @rachelmsavage and Hugo Greenhalgh; Editing by Jason Fields. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, property rights, and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org) By Daniel Trotta NEW YORK (Reuters) - A recent clash with the National Rifle Association (NRA) has shown some doctors who treat gunshot victims a way to heal their own trauma: through activism against gun violence. With rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on par with that of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans, trauma surgeons have found that speaking out helps them cope with the hopelessness and anger that come from seeing gunshot victims repeatedly wheeled into the trauma bay. "Working in advocacy is a way to deal with burnout," said Dr. Jessica Beard, a trauma surgeon at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia. The doctors' clash with the NRA began in November after the American College of Physicians published a paper about reducing firearm injuries and deaths in the United States. The NRA answered with a tweet admonishing "self-important anti-gun doctors to stay in their lane." That set off a viral response. Trauma surgeons around the country posted pictures of their blood-soaked scrubs and operating rooms after treating gunshot victims, punctuated with a defiant #ThisIsOurLane hashtag. The movement has spread. In Pennsylvania, a group of doctors formed a coalition to urge policy changes to state legislators. North of the border, the Canadian Doctors for Protection from Guns staged demonstrations in April, shortly after forming. Experts have likened the doctors' uproar to that of high school students from Parkland, Florida, who led nationwide protests after surviving a mass shooting that killed 17 people on campus in February 2018. "What you saw in the postings from #ThisIsOurLane directly showed the impact of gun violence on trauma surgeons. That was our way to demonstrate the trauma that we experience in dealing with the victims of gun violence," Beard said. For many it was a call to action, to work scientifically or politically to fight gun violence. Beard chose research, treating gun violence as a public health issue to reduce death and suffering. Her study published in April found Philadelphia's three trauma hospitals receive the equivalent of a mass shooting every 2-1/2 months, when defined as four or more gunshot victims arriving in clusters. Story continues Other doctors are more overtly political. The American College of Physicians supported measures including "appropriate regulation of the purchase of legal firearms," such as requiring background checks for gun buyers and greater checks on domestic abusers. Dr. Zoe Maher, another Temple trauma surgeon, helped form the Coalition of Trauma Centers for Firearm Injury Prevention, which urges changes in public policy to Pennsylvania state legislators. The coalition's first campaign was to support a "red flag" bill that would enable authorities to take away guns from people legally deemed dangerous. Maher said she was motivated because so many of the nearly 40,000 U.S. gun deaths each year were preventable. "The empowerment that I am gleaning as an individual in trying to actually combat this preventable public health crisis is something that definitely helps to protect me from burnout," Maher said. The NRA has opposed research that it says is intended to restrict the right to keep and bear arms as guaranteed by the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. It did not respond to requests for comment for this article. Dr. Joseph Sakran, a trauma surgeon with Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and himself a gunshot survivor at age 17, said research was vital but #ThisIsOurLane also gave the public a rare behind-the-scenes view of the effects of gun violence. "They saw the pictures. They heard the stories. A lot of times you focus on the data, but the data doesn't change the hearts and minds of Americans," Sakran said. MORAL INJURY Medicine has long been affected by burnout, or what some doctors prefer to call "moral injury." This is defined by feelings of being disconnected from oneself, emotional exhaustion and reduced personal accomplishment. Other afflictions include vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue, which can affect any medical professional exposed to trauma, including nurses, other operating room personnel and first responders. Some 40 percent of trauma surgeons showed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and 15 percent met the criteria for a PTSD diagnosis, according to a 2014 survey by the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery. A similar 15.7 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans screen positive for PTSD, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Medical journals report that some 400 physicians of all types die by suicide each year, the equivalent of an entire medical school class. While soldiers, journalists and other medical professionals have dealt more openly in recent years with the mental health effects of witnessing horrible events, trauma surgeons have lagged behind. "They're going to be one of the last people to say, 'I can't handle this, I'm in emotional distress,'" said Nancy Beckerman, professor at Yeshiva University's Wurzweiler School of Social Work in New York. Dr. Stephanie Bonne, an activist and trauma surgeon with Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, said trauma in the operating room adds to other daily stresses such as seeing the latest shootings on the news while the pager sounds, indicating another gunshot victim is arriving. "There is a feeling of helplessness like you're trying and trying, you're trying to push against the system," Bonne said. "And yet the patients just keep coming and coming." (Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Dina Kyriakidou Contini and Jonathan Oatis) Paris (AFP) - A top French court on Friday rejected an appeal by former president Nicolas Sarkozy to avoid facing charges of illicit financing for his failed 2012 re-election bid, with a trial of the ex-head of state now appearing inevitable. Prosecutors claim Sarkozy spent nearly 43 million euros ($51 million) on his lavish re-election bid -- almost double the legal limit of 22.5 million euros -- using fake invoices, and demanded he answer the charges in court. Sarkozy has denounced the charges, saying he was unaware of the fraud by executives at the public relations firm Bygmalion, who are also among a total of 13 people likely to face trial. Sarkozy's lawyers appealed to the Constitutional Council, which rules on the admissibility of laws and legal rulings, arguing that he had already paid a financial penalty for the overspending. But that ruling concerned just 364,000 euros of overspending in the campaign, and came before revelations of the "Bygmalion affair" and fake billings. Bygmalion executives and Jerome Lavrilleux, the deputy manager of Sarkozy's 2012 campaign, have acknowledged the existence of fraud and false accounting. On Friday, the Constitutional Council ruled that a criminal trial was justified on the grounds that it concerned "the potential breach of probity by candidates or elected officials." "It's a big disappointment," one of Sarkozy's lawyers, Emmanuel Piwnica, told AFP. Sarkozy retired from political life after failing to secure the nomination from his rightwing Republicans party for the 2017 presidential election, won by centrist Emmanuel Macron. He would be the second former French head of state to face trial since the founding of the Fifth Republic in 1958. In 2011, former president Jacques Chirac was given a two-year suspended sentence for embezzlement and misuse of public funds during his time as mayor of Paris. The Trump administration is preparing to send Central American migrants caught along the southern border to Border Patrol stations "across the entire nation," according to a senior Border Patrol official who confirmed the plans Friday. With more than 4,500 people being caught each day crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, the agency has run out of room at its Border Patrol facilities in the four border states. The agency has started looking at its facilities around the country, which are mostly along the northern border with Canada and coastal states. That means states from Oregon to North Dakota to Maine may begin receiving planeloads of migrant families in the weeks to come. On Tuesday, Customs and Border Protection sent its first plane full of migrants from Texas to San Diego. The official confirmed reports on Thursday that the Florida counties of Broward and Palm Beach are under consideration given the size and capabilities of Border Patrol stations in the South Florida region. But he did not say if the decision is final or when the flights would start. More: Record number of migrants puts 'severe pressure' on Border Patrol facilities Asked whether any federal funds would be provided to help local communities deal with the relocation of migrants, the CBP official on Friday said he was not "aware" of any such plans. The CBP official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to brief reporters on the agency's internal discussions, said politics is not playing a role in its search for places to process and release migrant families despite President Donald Trump's comments that he wants to send migrants to so-called "sanctuary cities" that do not fully cooperate with federal immigration officials. "Due to the fact that Democrats are unwilling to change our very dangerous immigration laws, we are indeed, as reported, giving strong considerations to placing Illegal Immigrants in Sanctuary Cities," Trump tweeted last month. Story continues Migrants walk while being detained by Border Patrol after crossing to the U.S. side of the U.S.-Mexico border barrier on May 17, 2019 in El Paso, Texas. Instead, the CBP official said they are searching only for Border Patrol facilities with the space and computer systems necessary to process large number of migrants each day. The official said the agency is not sending migrants to parts of the U.S. closest to their requested destinations, but making transportation decisions solely on each Border Patrol station's ability to receive large numbers of migrants. Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said on Thursday that he was told by local Border Patrol officials to expect flights to start arriving in the area within two weeks, and that South Florida would receive about 1,000 migrants a month. Officials in both counties complained that the transfers are coming with no apparent plan to house, feed, or care for the migrants after they're released from custody. Migrants to Florida? Broward and Palm Beach officials worry about migrants dumped in their communities Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican and ardent supporter of Trump, said he didn't know much beyond news reports about plans to release migrants in his state. But he said that if true, it would be a big problem. "We cannot accommodate in Florida the dumping of unlawful migrants into our state. I think it will tax our resources, our schools, the healthcare, law enforcement, state agencies," he said after a bill-signing ceremony Friday, according to the Miami Herald. The CBP official could not estimate the average cost of each flight. But on Monday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which operates the flights, issued a public request for a contractor to handle up to 60,000 migrant transfers a year, with the vast majority of them (88%) being transfers by air. Border Patrol has complained that its facilities have been overwhelmed by the record number of migrant families crossing the border, most of them requesting asylum to stay in the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is responsible for interior immigration enforcement and has more detention space available, has also said it's running out of space. That led Border Patrol agents in March to begin releasing migrants directly into local communities, at bus stations, community shelters, churches and other places along the border. That's been happening in Tucson since March. CBP tried shuttling migrants between Border Patrol stations along the southern border, sending busloads of migrants from the flooded Rio Grande Valley sector in eastern Texas to other Border Patrol facilities in central and western Texas. Now, the agency is looking all around the country to find more facilities that can help process the migrants. The migrants would be processed, given a date to appear in immigration court and then released into the community. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump administration prepares to release Central American migrants 'across the entire nation' The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, in partnership with horse racing industry groups and associations, is leading a comprehensive study to quantify the economic impact of the Ontario horse racing sector. The objective of the study is to establish a robust and credible baseline that can be relied upon by industry members to engage in meaningful and productive conversations. In support of this important initiative, a survey questionnaire will be made accessible through industry associations in early June 2019. Your participation in the survey will help ensure that the study captures a diverse range of data that accurately reflects key economic indicators related to horse racing in the Province of Ontario. Please be on the lookout for an e-mail containing a link to the survey. If you are not a member of an industry association and/or did not receive the survey and you would like to participate, please e-mail us at [email protected]. Thank you in advance for your participation. If you have any questions about the survey and/or its content, feel free to contact us at [email protected]. Evaluation des retombees economiques du secteur des courses de chevaux de lOntario La Societe des loteries et des jeux de lOntario, en partenariat avec des groupes et des associations du secteur des courses de chevaux, mene une etude approfondie afin de quantifier les retombees economiques du secteur des courses de chevaux de lOntario. Letude vise a etablir des donnees de base solides et credibles sur lesquelles les membres du secteur peuvent se fier pour entamer des discussions constructives et productives. Pour appuyer cette initiative importante, un questionnaire de sondage sera fourni par des associations du secteur au debut de juin 2019. Votre participation au sondage aidera a assurer que letude tient compte de diverses donnees qui refletent exactement les indicateurs economiques cles relatifs aux courses de chevaux dans la province de lOntario. Veuillez vous attendre a recevoir un courriel contenant un lien vers le sondage. Si vous netes pas membre dune association du secteur ou si vous navez pas recu le sondage mais aimeriez y repondre, veuillez nous ecrire a [email protected]. Nous vous remercions davance pour votre participation. Pour toute question concernant le sondage ou son contenu, nhesitez pas a nous ecrire a [email protected]. (OLG) WASHINGTON President Donald Trump on Friday delayed by six months a series of tariffs on foreign cars from Europe and Japan, pushing back the aggressive move to give negotiators more time to reach broad trade agreements. Trump administration officials have determined that auto imports "threaten to impair the national security of the United States," according to the order, a finding that the White House used to gain leverage in ongoing trade talks with Europe and Japan. The president faced a Saturday deadline to decide whether to put those tariffs into place. Trump was threatening to raise foreign auto tariffs as high as 25% under the same national security provisions he used to raise barriers on foreign steel and aluminum. Under the president's order, the decision would be put off 180 days. China trade war: GOP senators back Trump in China trade war, saying the pain will be worth it if it yields a deal 'A little squabble':Trump says U.S., China have 'extraordinary' relationship despite trade fight "President Trump today issued a proclamation directing the United States Trade Representative to negotiate agreements to address the national security threat, which is causing harm to the American automobile industry," the White House said in a statement. Trump has been relying on an obscure provision of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 that empowers him to impose tariffs based on Commerce Department findings that imports of certain goods threaten security. Like what you're reading?: Download the USA TODAY app for more President Donald Trump arrives to speak on energy infrastructure at the Cameron LNG export facility, May 14, 2019, in Hackberry, Louisiana. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump delays tariffs on auto imports, gives negotiators six months to find deal with EU, Japan Washington (AFP) - President Donald Trump on Friday announced a deal to lift US tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and Mexico that had created friction between the neighbors and blocked a new North American free trade agreement. "I'm pleased to announce that we've just reached an agreement with Canada and Mexico and will be selling our product into those countries, without the imposition of tariffs," Trump said at an event in the US capital. His statement came moments after Canada released the text of the agreement between Ottawa and Washington in which they agreed to eliminate US tariffs on steel and aluminum, and Canada's retaliatory measures, within no more than two days. Mexico confirmed it had reached a similar agreement with the United States. "Trump's strategy has worked," US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement, crediting the tariffs with reviving US steel and aluminum manufacturers. The steep US tariffs imposed last year -- 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum -- became a major stumbling block to ratifying a new North American trade pact negotiated last year by the three countries. Canada and Mexico initially were exempted from the tariffs Trump enforced using a national security argument, as part of his hardline trade tactics. Once America's neighbors were included, the levies drew retaliation with tariffs on a host of US products. Even after the governments agreed to a revised free trade deal -- the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA -- the tariffs remained in place, but officials in Ottawa and Mexico City said they would not sign unless Washington removed the metals duties. - Not making sense - Speaking to reporters in Ottawa, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there was a shared recognition that "these tariffs were harming workers and consumers on both sides of the border" and "didn't make a lot of sense" in the context of a new free trade deal. Story continues "Obviously these continued tariffs on steel and aluminum and our countermeasures represented significant barriers to moving forward with the new NAFTA agreement," he said, referring to the 24-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement. "Now that we've had a full lift on these tariffs we are going to work with the United States on timing for ratification but we're very optimistic we are going to be able to move forward well in the coming weeks," Trudeau said. Mexican chief trade negotiator Jesus Seade likewise tweeted that the lifting of tariffs "clears the way towards ratification of USMCA." Some key members of the US Congress had said they would not agree to vote for the three-country free trade pact unless the Trump's metals tariffs ended. "Hopefully Congress will approve it quickly," said Trump. Democratic US Senator Chuck Schumer applauded the decision to remove the metals tariffs, but said there are other concerns about the USMCA. "It is a good thing these tariffs will be lifted, and we should urge our allies to join us in preventing China's predatory practices," Schumer said in a statement. However, "There are still many other issues that are outstanding before Democrats would support the USMCA." According to the agreement, Canada and Mexico will withdraw all complaints lodged against the United States at the World Trade Organization. The two countries also agreed to monitor imports of steel and aluminum to ensure metals that are sold at "dumped prices" -- below the cost of production -- are not purchased in or shipped through Canada and Mexico. In addition, they agreed to a provision to reimpose steep duties if imports of the metals "surge meaningfully beyond historic volumes of trade over a period of time." The US Trade Representative's office said the agreement "provides for aggressive monitoring and a mechanism to prevent surges in imports of steel and aluminum." "This agreement is great news for American farmers that have been subject to retaliatory tariffs from Canada and Mexico," USTR said. US tariffs on steel and aluminum from Europe remain in place, as does the EU retaliation. Some countries, including South Korea, accepted export quotas to avoid the tariffs. By David Shepardson and Karen Freifeld WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Trump administration on Wednesday took aim at Chinas Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, banning the firm from buying vital U.S. technology without special approval and effectively barring its equipment from U.S. telecom networks on national security grounds. Taken together, the two moves threaten Huawei's ability to continue to sell many products because of its reliance on American suppliers, and represents a significant escalation in the U.S. government's worldwide campaign against the company. The steps also come at a delicate time in relations between China and the United States as the world's two largest economies ratchet up tariffs in a battle over what U.S. officials call China's unfair trade practices. Washington believes the handsets and network equipment for telecommunications companies made by Huawei could be used by the Chinese state to spy on Americans. Huawei, which has repeatedly denied the allegations, said in a statement that "restricting Huawei from doing business in the U.S. will not make the U.S. more secure or stronger; instead, this will only serve to limit the U.S. to inferior yet more expensive alternatives, leaving the U.S. lagging behind in 5G deployment." "In addition, unreasonable restrictions will infringe upon Huawei's rights and raise other serious legal issues." The ban on U.S. suppliers, which appears similar to one on Huawei rival ZTE Corp. last year, could hit the shares of Huawei's biggest U.S. suppliers, including chipmakers Qualcomm Inc and Broadcom Inc (AVGO.O). In the first action taken on Wednesday, President Donald Trump signed a long-awaited executive order declaring a national emergency and barring U.S. companies from using telecommunications equipment made by firms posing a national security risk. The order invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which gives the president the authority to regulate commerce in response to a national emergency that threatens the United States. It directs the Commerce Department, working with other government agencies, to draw up an enforcement plan by October. Story continues Members of Congress said Trump's order was squarely aimed at Chinese companies like Huawei, which generated $93 billion in revenue last year and is seen as a national champion in China. "Chinas main export is espionage, and the distinction between the Chinese Communist Party and Chinese private-sector businesses like Huawei is imaginary," Republican Senator Ben Sasse said. ENTITY LIST Soon after the White House announced the order had been signed, the Commerce Department said it had added Huawei and 70 affiliates to its so-called Entity List - a move that bans the telecom giant from buying parts and components from U.S. companies without U.S. government approval. U.S. officials told Reuters the decision would make it difficult, if not impossible, for Huawei, the largest telecommunications equipment producer in the world, to sell some products because of its reliance on U.S. suppliers. It will take effect in the coming days. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement Trump backed the decision that will "prevent American technology from being used by foreign owned entities in ways that potentially undermine U.S. national security or foreign policy interests." With Huawei on the Entity List, U.S. suppliers will need to apply for licenses to provide the Chinese company with anything subject to U.S. export control regulations. Obtaining such licenses will be difficult because they will have to show the transfer of items will not harm U.S. national security, said John Larkin, a former export control officer in Beijing for the Commerce Department. The United States in January unsealed a 13-count indictment against Huawei accusing the company and its chief financial officer of conspiring to defraud global financial institutions by misrepresenting Huawei's relationship with a suspected front company that operated in Iran. The indictment was unsealed a month after CFO Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada on a U.S. warrant for her role in the alleged fraud. Meng, who maintains her innocence, is fighting extradition. 5G NETWORKS Reuters reported on Tuesday that Trump was expected to sign his long-awaited executive order this week. The order does not specifically name any country or company, but U.S. officials have previously labeled Huawei a "threat". The United States has been actively pushing other countries not to use the Chinese company's equipment in next-generation 5G networks that it calls "untrustworthy." In August, Trump signed a bill that barred the U.S. government from using equipment from Huawei and another Chinese provider, ZTE Corp. ZTE was added to the Commerce Department's Entity List in March 2016 over allegations it organised an elaborate scheme to hide its re-export of U.S. items to sanctioned countries in violation of U.S. law. The restrictions prevented suppliers from providing ZTE with U.S. equipment, potentially freezing the company's supply chain, but the restrictions were suspended in a series of temporary reprieves, allowing the company to maintain ties to U.S. suppliers until it agreed to a plea deal a year later. The status of Huawei and ZTE has taken on new urgency as U.S. wireless carriers rollout 5G networks. While the big wireless companies have already cut ties with Huawei, small rural carriers continue to rely on both Huawei and ZTE switches and other equipment because they tend to be cheaper. Trump's order applies to future purchases and does not address existing hardware, officials said Wednesday. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Tom Brown, Chris Sanders and Sonya Hepinstall) Donald Trump has unveiled a new immigration plan which favours younger, totally brilliant, highly-skilled workers who speak English. We want immigrants coming in. We cherish the open door, the US president said at the White House. He said his new system, which awards points for those with advanced degrees, job offers and other attributes, will make it clear what standards we ask you to achieve. Adopting a softer tone than his typical rhetoric at campaigns, Mr Trump said immigrants would be required to learn English and to pass a civics exam. Our nation has a proud history of affording protection to those fleeing government persecutions, Mr Trump said. Unfortunately, legitimate asylum seekers are being displaced by those lodging frivolous claims. Even before Mr Trump gave his speech Democrats attacked his plan and questioned the Republican Partys commitment to families. Are they saying family is without merit? asked house speaker Nancy Pelosi. Are they saying most of the people whove come to the United States in the history of our country are without merit because they dont have an engineering degree? Ms Pelosi continued: Certainly we want to attract the best to our country. But she said merit is a condescending word that means merit in the eyes of Donald Trump. Under Mr Trumps plan, officials want to shore up ports of entry to ensure all vehicles and people are screened and to create a self-sustaining fund, paid for with increased fees, to modernise ports of entry. The plan also calls for building border walls in targeted locations and continues to push for an overhaul of the US asylum system, with the goal of processing fewer applications and more quickly removing those who do not qualify. It also includes a proposal to allow public donations to pay for the border wall the president has promised for a long time. The plan would see the US award the same number of green cards as it currently does, around one million annually, but far more would go to exceptional students, professionals and people with high-level and vocational degrees in lieu of family members of immigrants. Story continues Mr Trump said 57 per cent would be awarded on merit as opposed to the current 12 per cent. Our plan is pro-American, pro-immigrant and pro-worker, Mr Trump said, arguing it contrasts with what he called Democrats support of chaos. Republicans in Congress welcomed the plan. Its obviously just a start, said Texas GOP senator John Cornyn, who will be among those running for re-election in 2020. Its a clear statement of what our immigration policy should be. Were not eliminating family connections, its just adding an emphasis on merit. Mr Trumps plan has been under preparation for months, a project of his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who has been meeting with business groups, religious leaders and conservatives to find common ground among Republicans on the divisive issue of immigration. WASHINGTON (AP) It started with a surprise statement on a Sunday night that the U.S. was rushing military forces to counter alleged Iranian threats. What followed were two weeks of bombastic rhetoric and swells of fear and confusion over whether Washington and Tehran were lurching toward open conflict. And that's how President Donald Trump says he likes it. "With all of the Fake and Made Up News out there," Trump wrote Friday on Twitter, "Iran can have no idea what is actually going on." Later, in a speech to real estate agents, Trump made no effort to clarify, saying, "It's probably a good thing because they're saying, 'Man, I don't know where these people are coming from,' right?" It's the latest manifestation of Trump's unpredictable foreign policy, which has made a virtue of keeping foes guessing and frequently leaves allies rattled and members of Congress frustrated. "Given the degree to which the president has mischaracterized prior intelligence on other matters, or disputed the work product of the agencies when it contradicted his preferred narrative, his actions have generated understandable doubt on what we really know of Iranian plans and intentions," said Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Schiff, D-Calif., said Iran poses a real threat to the West and endorsed the administration's warning to Iran that any attack on U.S. forces "would be disastrous" for Iran. Armed conflict seemed unlikely in the short term, with no further U.S. buildup in the works and no fresh Iranian provocations. But neither did the administration appear closer to its stated goal of applying enough diplomatic, economic and military pressure on Tehran to compel it to end support for extremist groups and other disruptive policies. The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and its battle group, whose accelerated deployment triggered the concern in some quarters about a drift toward conflict with Iran, by Friday had reached the waters of the Arabian Sea without incident, U.S. defense officials said. It typically would proceed farther into the Persian Gulf and thus closer to Iran during such a deployment, though as a matter of policy the Navy does not disclose ship movements in advance. Story continues The carrier is on an around-the-world deployment and was sailing in the Mediterranean Sea when John Bolton, Trump's national security adviser, announced on May 5 that it had been ordered to the Middle East, along with an aircraft bomber group, in response to "troubling and escalatory indications and warnings." The unusual Sunday night announcement raised questions many still unanswered about exactly what new threats Iran had posed. Other officials later said Iran had loaded fully assembled ballistic missiles aboard small boats in Iranian territorial waters. This suggested the possibility of an Iranian intent to threaten Western military or commercial ships, though that threat seems not to have materialized. Last weekend, four non-U.S. commercial vessels were damaged in the Gulf, and while details are unclear, U.S. officials said it appeared likely that Iran had a hand in the apparent sabotage. Some analysts see the administration's military moves as a deliberate effort to put Iran's leaders on edge, perhaps with the broader goal of encouraging them to take Trump up on his offer of direct talks. "I think it was a well-coordinated psyops campaign," said Mark Dubowitz, the chief executive of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. "Psyops" is a reference to psychological operations aimed at influencing or intimidating an adversary. If that is the case, the administration's moves also managed to unnerve and confound many in Congress as well as some American allies, who openly expressed worry that Washington could be drifting toward armed conflict with Iran. Concerns escalated further with the State Department's announcement this week that it was pulling all nonessential employees out of Iraq. Officials later said this was a precaution and not a sign of impending military action. Top leaders in Congress received a classified briefing on Iran on Thursday, but many other lawmakers from both parties have criticized the White House for not keeping them informed. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan and other top officials are expected to brief members of the Senate behind closed doors on Tuesday. The House also has requested a briefing. Trump complained on Friday about news coverage of Iran developments, particularly those reports suggesting that he was at odds with Bolton and others in his administration who have most vocally advocated confrontation with Iran. "They put out so many false messages that Iran is totally confused," Trump said in his speech to the real estate agents. "I don't know, that might be a good thing." Trump said on Thursday he hoped the U.S. was not on a path to war with Iran, and a day earlier he expressed a desire for dialogue, tweeting, "I'm sure that Iran will want to talk soon." But Tehran has showed no outward sign of preparing to talk. Trump's recent tone contrasted with a series of moves by the U.S. and Iran that have sharply escalated tensions in the Middle East in recent days. On Friday, an official with Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard warned that Iranian missiles can "easily reach warships" in the Persian Gulf and elsewhere in the Middle East. The semi-official Fars news agency quoted Mohammad Saleh Jokar as saying that Iran's missiles have a range of 2,000 kilometers about 1,250 miles and can attack any target in the region. Iran poses a particular challenge for Trump. While he talks tough against foreign adversaries to the delight of his supporters, a military confrontation with Iran could make him appear to be backtracking on a campaign pledge to keep America out of foreign entanglements. Tensions started to spiral last year when Trump pulled out of a deal the U.S. and other world powers had signed with Iran during the Obama administration. The deal lifted economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for curbing of its nuclear program. ___ Associated Press writers Matthew Lee and Deb Riechmann contributed to this report. WASHINGTON President Donald Trump will suspend tariffs on steel and aluminum that were imposed on Canada and Mexico a year ago in an effort to gain leverage in broader trade negotiations, the White House said Friday. Trump was poised to lift the tariffs in coming days, said two sources familiar with the deal who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details of an announcement not yet made public. The president announced a deal in broad outlines during a previously scheduled speech in Washington on Friday. "Im pleased to announce that we've just reached an agreement with Canada and Mexico and well be selling our products into those countries without the imposition of tariffs, or major tariffs," Trump said during an address to the National Association of Realtors. "Big difference." Trump drew howls from allies last May when he used an obscure provision of a 1962 law to claim a trade imbalance in metals presented a national security risk to the U.S. In one of the first concrete steps Trump took on trade, the president levied a 25% tariff on steel and a 10% tariff on aluminum from Canada, Mexico and the European Union. A spokesman for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Trudeau spoke with Trump Friday about the tariffs. Trudeau has scheduled a news conference at a steel factory on Friday afternoon. Trump negotiated a new trade deal with Mexico and Canada last year, which Trump dubbed the USMCA, and the existing tariffs were considered a roadblock to getting that deal to Congress. The new trade agreement is intended to replace the controversial NAFTA deal that was signed by President Bill Clinton in 1993. The decision to pull back metal tariffs was the latest in a series of moves the White House made late in the week to pump the brakes on the president's more aggressive trade position. Trump separately backed down from a threat Friday to impose a tariff as high as 25% on foreign cars made in Japan and the European Union. Facing a deadline to address those imports, which the administration said also poses a national security threat, Trump signed a proclamation Friday to delay the decision for six months. Story continues Trump announced a daily earlier he would reduce tariffs that had been imposed on steel made in Turkey. On the other hand, the president has ratcheted up pressure on China. As talks continue with Beijing, Trump allowed higher tariffs to kick on $200 billion in Chinese imports and is moving to increase tariffs on another $325 billion in goods. Mexico and Canada had responded to Trump's metal tariffs last year by threatening retaliatory tariffs of their own. The Mexican economic ministry, for instance, said it would move to place new tariffs on U.S.-made pork, flat steel, apples, cheese and other products. Detroit's three automakers each paid billions in 2018 because of the increased duties on metal. At GM, for example, tariffs and commodity costs dinged its 2018 earnings by about $1 billion. Ford reported a similar impact and Fiat Chrysler reported about a $500 million hit. The American Automotive Policy Council, which represents FCA, Ford and GM, praised the agreement. "We are hopeful that the agreement will effectively resolve the issue between the three trade partners," the group said in a statement. Contributing: Detroit Free Press Like what youre reading? Download the USA TODAY app for more This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump will suspend year-old steel, aluminum tariffs on Canada and Mexico WASHINGTON, May 17 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said the European Union is less fair to the United States on trade than even China, which is embroiled in a months-long trade war with Washington. "The European Union treats us, I would say, worse than China, they're just smaller," Trump told a gathering of real estate agents in Washington. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Writing by Doina Chiacu;) Cannabis could come to the beach cities. This is how WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday his administration was looking at alternatives to the conservatorship of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. "Fannie and Freddie can do a lot better than they're doing. ... And that's why I recently directed the Department of Treasury and HUD (Housing and Urban Development) ... to develop a framework for a modern housing finance system," he told a gathering of real estate agents in Washington. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing by David Alexander) WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has reached a deal with Mexico and Canada to sell products without tariffs, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday. "We've just reached an agreement with Canada and Mexico and we'll be selling our product into those countries without the imposition of tariffs or major tariffs," Trump told a gathering of real estate agents in Washington. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton and Jeff Mason; Writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by David Alexander) WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has told his acting defense secretary, Patrick Shanahan, he does not want to go to war with Iran, the New York Times reported on Thursday, citing unidentified administration officials. The Republican president made the comment to Shanahan on Wednesday morning during a White House briefing on rising tensions with Iran, the newspaper said. (Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe) SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will not cut aid to police forces in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, his attorney general said on Thursday, softening a previous order to cut foreign assistance to the so-called Northern Triangle nations. William Barr made the announcement during a meeting in El Salvador with his counterparts in the region, during which the four countries signed an agreement aimed at tackling drug trafficking and gangs. The U.S. State Department said in March it would cut aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras after Trump blasted the countries because thousands of their citizens had sought asylum at the border. The tone was different on Thursday. "In the United States, we are very grateful for your efforts, so I am very happy to announce that this close cooperation will continue," Barr said in San Salvador, praising recent progress in the fight against gangs like the MS-13, and adding that Trump supported the announcement. "He gave his backing to me coming here, and that I make clear that we will maintain our commitment" to funding that has supported those police efforts, Barr said. Ahead of the meeting of attorneys general, Honduran and Salvadoran police carried out dozens of arrests, raids and asset seizures against local gang members, drug traffickers and other figures from the criminal underworld. The bulk of migrants apprehended trying to enter the United States illegally come from the three troubled countries. Many migrants making the journey north are seeking to escape the violence and poverty that prevail in their homelands. Barr and his counterparts from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras signed an agreement to establish information exchange mechanisms in the fight against human trafficking and other crimes. The agreement also aims to set up teams to detect migrant flows and identify key players encouraging the phenomenon. (Reporting by Nelson Rentaria; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Peter Cooney) ISTANBUL, May 17 (Reuters) - Turkey said on Friday Syrian government forces were violating a ceasefire agreement reached with Russia for Syria's Idlib. Russia has backed the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while Turkey has backed some rebels in Syria's eight-year-old civil war, but they have worked together to try to contain fighting in the country's northwest. In recent weeks, that effort has been strained by the surge in violence in Idlib, the last major insurgent stronghold. "The regime is not keeping its promises of a ceasefire despite the agreement and is violating the ceasefire," Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said in a statement on the ministry's website, adding that an escalation in violence could lead to a humanitarian tragedy. "The Sochi agreement requires a ceasefire and that is what we want from the Russians. Meetings in Ankara are continuing right now," he said. The ministry earlier said a joint working group between Ankara and Moscow had met in the Turkish capital on Thursday and Friday to discuss Idlib, the Sochi agreement and the Astana process - multi-sided efforts to try to provide stability in Syria. Moscow had been piling pressure on Ankara to start an operation against the opposition-held areas after Turkey's failure to push rebels to agree to Russian patrols and get al Qaeda-inspired militants out of a buffer zone that underpinned the Turkish-Russian deal. (Reporting by Ezgi Erkoyun and Ali Kucukgocmen; Editing by Janet Lawrence) Nicosia (AFP) - European elections are often drab, overlooked affairs, but in Cyprus a Turkish Cypriot professor is breaking taboos and is poised to be elected as an MEP in a first for the ethnically divided island. On the Mediterranean isle where the majority Greek Cypriot and minority Turkish Cypriot communities are separated by barbed wire and the bitter politics of the past, a UN-sponsored peace process has been deadlocked for two years. But for the first time, a Turkish Cypriot candidate could be voted into the European Parliament on May 26 with the help of combined Turkish and Greek Cypriot votes. University of Cyprus professor Niyazi Kizilyurek is running on the ticket of the main Greek Cypriot opposition party, communist Akel. The ruling conservatives DISY have criticised the move as tokenism to win votes in the Turkish-held north of the island. But others see this as a turning point in the country's divisive politics. "A Greek Cypriot party Akel having a Turkish Cypriot running with it is unique in our history, but I want to appeal to all Cypriots," Kizilyurek told AFP. "It is the first time that Greek and Turkish Cypriots can vote together as we have ethnically divided voting ... we are also campaigning together which is also unique," he added. - Tensions with Turkey - Turkish Cypriots are considered EU citizens and have the right to run and vote in the European elections, even though under the current constitution they cannot participate in parliamentary ballots in the south. There are an unprecedented nine Turkish Cypriots in the running to be MEPs including publisher Sener Levent -- well-known for challenging the policies of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan -- along with five other candidates in his Jasmine Movement. Turkey has had thousands of troops stationed in the northern third of the island since invading it in 1974 in response to a Greek military junta-engineered coup aimed at uniting Cyprus with Greece. Story continues The northern part was declared the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which is only recognised by Ankara. Turkey does not recognise EU member the Republic of Cyprus. UN-brokered efforts to reunify the island failed at a summit in July 2017, and all moves to restart the peace talks have faltered since then. Most Turkish Cypriots who wish to vote will have to cross over into the government-controlled south for the May 26 ballot. Kizilyurek, a self-confessed European federalist, is campaigning on both sides of the divide -- on a pro-reunification platform. The vote comes at a time of rising tensions with Turkey amid a dispute with the Cyprus government over energy drilling rights. "Akel is the only party representing Turkish Cypriots as equals, and backs the federal solution in Cyprus and the communities living together ... we need to get back to negotiations as soon as possible," insisted Kizilyurek. - Seeking 'EU voice' - Hubert Faustmann, professor of political science at the University of Nicosia, said there has been a backlash from extreme nationalists Elam, who may also be poised to win their first MEP seat. "The candidacy of Niyazi and his good chances of being elected have triggered nasty attacks by Elam," Faustmann told AFP. "But for the first time since the breakdown of the constitutional order in 1963, a Turkish Cypriot could get elected to office in the Republic of Cyprus and give Turkish Cypriots a voice in public affairs," he added. Political analyst Mete Hatay, from the PRIO bicommunal research centre, said the internationally isolated Turkish Cypriots are showing more interest in these elections because they want their voices heard as EU citizens. "There is more interest because Turkish Cypriots want more visibility, they want to be seen or noticed. They don't want to be invisible anymore," said Hatay. He believes around 10,000 Turkish Cypriots could vote. After Greek Cypriots failed to back a UN reunification blueprint in a referendum, Cyprus entered the European Union as a divided island in 2004. With EU law suspended in the north, Cyprus's six MEPs have always been Greek Cypriots. "This is shaking up the status quo, so it's very healthy to have this debate... rather than the mono-community elections we usually have," said Hatay. "For the first time in Cyprus's history someone could be elected by both communities. This breaks taboos in a country where each community votes for their own." By Gopal Sharma KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Two Indian climbers died and an Irish mountaineer is missing on the Himalayan peaks of Nepal, officials said on Friday, taking the number of climbers dead or missing this week to six and raising questions about safety and training standards. Hundreds of mountaineers from around the world are in Nepal, home to eight of the world's 14 highest mountains, for the spring climbing season which ends this month. Ravi Thakar, a 27-year old from New Delhi, was found dead on Friday in a tent on the South Col of Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain, his trekking company said. The cause of death was not immediately known, said Thaneswor Guragain of the Seven Summit Treks agency. Seamus Sean Lawless, a 39-year-old college teacher from Dublin, has been missing since Thursday after he slipped on snow and fell while descending from Everest's 8,850-metre (29,035-feet) summit, Guragain said. Indian Narayan Singh, 34, died from altitude sickness on Mount Makalu, the fifth highest mountain in the world, on Thursday while returning from the 8,462 meter (27,762 feet) summit, said tourism official Mira Acharya. Singh, from the northern state of Uttarakhand, was a member of an Indian army expedition. "INEXPERIENCE" On Wednesday, two Indian climbers died and a Chilean mountaineer was missing on Mount Kanchenjunga, the world's third tallest peak. A record 378 climbers received permits for Mount Everest in the current March-May climbing season, according to Nepal's tourism department. This year's climbing campaign has seen mountaineers and sherpas injured by rock falls, while others have slipped on the dangerous Lhotse Face or suffered altitude sickness, said blogger Alan Arnett. "Sadly, all of these incidents suggest a level of inexperience and inadequate support," he wrote in a blog. Adrian Ballinger of the U.S. based company Alpenglow Expeditions, which sponsors climbers to Everest, said he believed many clients were not receiving sufficient support or training to take on the highest mountains. "Too many budget teams are willing to take any one on to their teams... They are not necessarily supported by Khumbu Climbing Centre-trained Sherpas or IFMGA (International Federation of Mountain Guides Association) certified mountain guides," Ballinger told Reuters. "Because of the lack of government regulations specially on the Nepali side we are going to continue to see this type of accidents," he said. But the head of the Nepal Mountaineering Association said only climbers with adequate training and experience were cleared to attempt the highest peaks. "Even the most experienced climbers could meet with accidents on a minor technical mistake, extreme weather and winds," association chief Santa Bir Lama told Reuters. (Reporting by Gopal Sharma; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani, Darren Schuettler and Gareth Jones) By Ismael Lopez MANAGUA, May 16 (Reuters) - The Nicaraguan government said on Thursday that a man arrested in May last year during months of anti-government protests died in a shooting at the prison near Managua where he was being held. The prisoner, Eddy Montes, was a U.S. citizen, his cousin Paola Montenegro told Reuters, after Nicaraguan media published photos of what appeared to be his U.S. passport. The U.S. embassy did not respond to requests for information. The Nicaraguan interior ministry said in a statement that Montes had family who were of foreign nationality but gave no further detail. Hundreds of people were killed and hundreds more detained in a crackdown on protests that were triggered in April last year by a social security reform but quickly swelled into a national call to oust President Daniel Ortega. Montes was part of a group of prisoners which tried to snatch a gun from a guard while the International Red Cross was visiting the prison, the interior ministry said, adding that the guard acted in self-defense. Montes had been accused of attacking a police station during last year's protests. The Nicaraguan government has said that it would release all people arrested during the protests as a step to restart dialog with opposition groups. It said last month it had released over 600 prisoners, but others remain in custody. (Reporting by Ismael Lopez in Managua; writing by Stefanie Eschenbacher; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien) WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Officials from U.S. President Donald Trump's administration will conduct classified briefings on the situation with Iran next week, congressional sources said on Thursday, after both Democratic and Republican lawmakers asked for more information. Congressional aides said that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Joseph Dunford and Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan would hold a session on Tuesday afternoon for all members of the Senate. Trump's fellow Republicans control a majority of seats in the Senate. Aides in the House of Representatives, controlled by Democrats, said they also expected a briefing next week with Pompeo, but other details had not yet been made final. Members of the U.S. Congress have complained for weeks that Trump's administration has not shared enough information with them as tensions flared with Iran, with even some Republicans saying they have been left in the dark. Relations between Washington and Tehran have become more fraught following Trump's decision this month to try to cut Iran's oil exports to zero and beef up the U.S. military presence in the Gulf in response to what he said were Iranian threats. Earlier this week, Washington pulled some diplomatic staff from its embassy in Baghdad following weekend attacks on four oil tankers in the Gulf. Trump said on Thursday he hoped the United States was not heading toward war with Iran. (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle) By Makini Brice WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. law enforcement officers raided the Venezuelan Embassy on Thursday to oust a small group protesting U.S. policy toward the oil-rich country, paving the way for the diplomatic compound to be handed to the U.S. envoy of opposition leader Juan Guaido. Since mid-April, members of three activist groups have been occupying the embassy, a red brick building in the upscale Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, where they say they are "invited guests" of the Venezuelan government. The activists oppose U.S. intervention in Venezuela to oust President Nicolas Maduro in favor of Guaido, self-proclaimed interim president of the OPEC-member nation. "I am here standing before you announcing that we have recovered this building thanks to the Venezuelan diaspora," Carlos Vecchio, Guaido's representative in Washington, told a group of supporters outside the building late on Thursday. Vecchio also thanked President Donald Trump's administration. The building was undergoing safety checks and would be open for business soon, he said. Authorities arrested the last four protesters on Thursday after utilities for the building were cut off and they ignored an eviction order, the groups say. A spokesman for Pepco, Washington's energy utility, said the company does not discuss service to individual properties. The U.S. Secret Service confirmed officers had helped agents from the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service execute arrest warrants against people inside the embassy. A U.S. State Department spokeswoman said the government of Guaido, whom the United States recognizes as the leader of Venezuela, asked for U.S. assistance in removing the protesters from the embassy. "The Venezuelan government, led by Interim President Juan Guaido ... has asked the trespassers to depart the premises," the spokeswoman said. Neither agency identified what charges the protesters faced. Tensions have escalated between the United States and Venezuela as Washington has ratcheted up pressure against the government of Maduro, which it says is illegitimate. The United States has imposed sanctions against Venezuelan leaders, ordered the withdrawal of diplomatic personnel from Venezuela in March and, on Wednesday, suspended passenger and cargo flights between the United States and Venezuela. Maduro, who has branded Guaido a U.S. puppet seeking to oust him in a coup, broke off relations with Washington after it recognized Guaido and recalled diplomatic and consular staff. Representatives of Guaido took control of three of the country's diplomatic properties in the United States in March. At its peak, about 50 people from three groups had occupied the Venezuelan Embassy, according to Medea Benjamin, a co-founder of Code Pink, one of the groups involved. (Reporting by Makini Brice; Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Doina Chiacu, Susan Thomas and Cynthia Osterman) By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON, May 16 (Reuters) - U.S. House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff said on Thursday the committee plans to take "enforcement action" to compel the Department of Justice to provide it with documents after Attorney General William Barr disregarded its subpoena. The Democratic-led committee asked the department to provide "a dozen narrow sets" of foreign intelligence and counterintelligence documents related to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's assessment of Russian involvement in the 2016 U.S. election by Wednesday, May 15, as an expression of good faith, Schiff told reporters. "The deadline came and went without the production of a single document, raising profound questions about whether the department has any intention to honor its legal obligations," he said. Schiff had issued a subpoena to the Justice Department last week to obtain Mueller's unredacted report, in addition to other material and documents gathered during the 22-month investigation. As a result, the committee will have a business meeting next week to consider next steps. Schiff declined to elaborate on whether that meant holding the department in contempt of Congress, saying the panel would confer with the House of Representatives' general counsel. A Justice Department spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the missed deadline, or Schiff's assertion that Trump, a Republican, was stonewalling Democrats after providing more than a million documents to Congress when his fellow Republicans controlled the House. "They have not yet provided any explanation for that apparent hypocrisy. So we're moving forward reluctantly. We hope the department will reconsider, but they are providing us little choice but to pursue legal enforcement," Schiff said. Schiff said he hoped the department would reconsider, but was prepared to act. "We still hold out a small but vanishing hope that the department will follow its legal obligations. But it is certainly my sense that this is a top-down instruction from the president to stonewall every congressional request no matter how reasonable," he said. Schiff also said that the committee would hold a separate business meeting on Monday evening, after which he hoped to release recent testimony by Trump's former personal attorney, Michael Cohen. Cohen reported to prison on Monday to begin a three-year sentence for his conviction on charges of arranging hush payments to two women who said they had sexual encounters with Trump, financial crimes and lying to Congress. (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; editing by Grant McCool) WASHINGTON, May 17 (Reuters) - The United States imposed sanctions on Friday on 11 Mexicans, including a judge and a former governor, over their involvement with drug trafficking organizations, the Treasury Department said. Ten groups were also designated in the sanctions related to two drug trafficking operations including the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) and the Los Cuinis Drug Trafficking Organization (Los Cuinis), Treasury said in a statement. The magistrate judge, Isidro Avelar Gutierrez, accepted bribes from drug trafficking organizations in exchange for favorable rulings for their senior members, it said. The former governor of the Mexican state of Nayarit, Roberto Sandoval Castaneda, was designated for corruption activities including accepting bribes and misappropriating state funds, Treasury said. "Officials such as Isidro Avelar Gutierrez and Roberto Sandoval Castaneda callously enrich themselves at the expense of their fellow citizens," said Sigal Mandelker, Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. "Whether they are receiving bribes from narcotics trafficking organizations or engaging in a variety of other illicit activities, these and other corrupt officials will face serious consequences including being cut off from the U.S. financial system." Treasury said the action was coordinated with Mexican officials. (Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Phil Berlowitz) By Tom Hals WILMINGTON, Del, May 17 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's national emergency declaration to divert more than $6 billion to build a wall on the border with Mexico will face its first test in court on Friday, when states and advocacy groups are expected to ask a federal judge to block the funding. At the center of Friday's hearing is the question of the president's authority to construct a wall using funds that Congress declined to approve for the amount he requested. In February, Congress approved $1.375 billion for construction of "primary pedestrian fencing" along the border in southeast Texas, well short of Trump's demand for $5.7 billion to build border walls in Arizona and New Mexico as well as Texas. To obtain the additional money, Trump declared a national emergency and diverted $601 million from a Treasury forfeiture fund, $3.6 billion from military construction and $2.5 billion earmarked for Department of Defense counterdrug programs. "Congress's refusal to fund President Trump's wall isn't an emergency, it's democracy," said a statement from Dror Ladin, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents plaintiffs in the case. The Trump administration argues the plaintiffs have not shown any injury caused by the funding decisions and that existing law gives it the leeway to redirect the money for such purposes as "an unforeseen military requirement" or a "law enforcement activity." Trump made a border wall the center of his 2016 campaign for president, when he said Mexico would pay for construction. That pledge went nowhere, and Trump also hit resistance in Congress even as apprehensions of migrants by border agents hit a decade high as of April. The plaintiffs in Friday's hearing include 20 states, the Sierra Club environmental group and the Southern Border Communities Coalition, which advocates for immigrants. They argued in court papers that the administration has violated the separation of power principle of the U.S. Constitution, among other claims. Story continues The plaintiffs also said wall construction would harm the environment and the wildlife habitats for such creatures as Gila monsters and the Mexican wolf. The diversion of Treasury forfeiture funds would undermine state law enforcement, they argued. New York state, for example, has used forfeiture funds to buy bullet-proof vests and naloxone, a drug that counters opioid overdoses. Although it is not a plaintiff, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives plans to argue in support of the plaintiffs at the hearing. The House called the diversion of funds a "flagrant disregard for the bedrock principle" that Congress controls federal spending. The hearing comes the same week that Trump has outlined proposals to beef up security along the southwest border and shift immigration policy to favor well-educated English speakers over a system that emphasizes uniting families. (Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien) By Sonia Elks LONDON, May 17 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Women's careers are being held back as men in the United States avoid spending time with female colleagues in the wake of the #MeToo movement, women's rights group LeanIn.org said on Friday. Nearly two thirds of male managers reported they would be uncomfortable taking part in a common one-on-one work activity with a woman, found a survey by the group and SurveyMonkey, a rise of a third on the number raising such concerns last year. The findings show women miss out on chances for mentorship and professional links that could lead to promotion, they said. "A lot of men don't realize sitting on the sidelines is actually continuing to limit the opportunities of women," Rachel Thomas, president of LeanIn.Org, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "This data really shows that we are moving in the wrong direction at a time when it's so critical that women are getting mentorship and sponsorship and equal access." The #MeToo movement that swept through social media saw women share stories of sexual abuse and harassment, leading to the firing of some high-profile figures and a wider debate over pay, representation and sexism. But some suggest it has left men wary of perceived inappropriate conduct or harassment allegations. Thirty-six percent of men in the survey of more than 5,000 U.S. adults said they had avoided mentoring or socializing with a woman because they were nervous about how it would look. Senior level men in particular appeared less willing to spend time with female junior colleagues than their male co-workers at a similar level. They were 12 times more likely to hesitate to have one-on-one meetings with a junior woman than a man, nine times more likely to have concerns over traveling together and six times more likely to hesitate to have a work dinner with them. The survey indicated that workplaces are stepping up their misconduct responses, with 70 percent of employees saying their company has taken action to address sexual harassment a significant increase from 46 percent in 2018. Story continues However, half of men believed sexual harassment claims were more damaging to careers of the alleged perpetrators than their victims, while nearly two thirds of women said the person making the complaint paid a higher price. Women's groups said the findings showed the need for more action to ensure equality at work. "#MeToo helped shine a light on just how prevalent sexual harassment is in the workplace, and laws and policies have not yet caught up with the social awareness around it," said Shelby Quast, a spokeswomen for women's rights group Equality Now. "We have to encourage a healthy work environment among all employees and perpetrators need to be held accountable." (Reporting by Sonia Elks @soniaelks; Editing by Jason Fields. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, property rights, and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org) WASHINGTON, May 17 (Reuters) - The United States has agreed to lift tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada and Mexico in 48 hours in exchange for tough new measures to prevent Chinese steel from entering the United States from either of those countries, the Washington Post reported on Friday. The deal avoids quotas on steel from the two countries, which Canada and Mexico had opposed, the Post said. The agreement is a significant step toward winning congressional approval of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal, the Post said. (Reporting by David Alexander) WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration has reached a deal with Canada and Mexico to remove U.S. tariffs from steel and aluminum from the two countries in exchange for a monitoring system that aims to ensure that metals from other countries are not allowed into the United States, two sources familiar with the agreement said. The deal, which will not involve quotas on steel and aluminum from the two U.S. neighbors, will be announced on Friday afternoon by the White House, the sources said. (Reporting by David Lawder and David Shepardson; editing by Jonathan Oatis) South Africa: Stats SA reveals "negligible risks" of double voting in recent elections Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke has revealed that the risks of double voting during the 2019 National and Provincial Elections were negligible. The findings are contained in the final report that was based on a sample of voting stations. The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) in a statement said the report was intended to act as an addition to the set of internal validations already applied by the Commission in determining the freeness and fairness of the election, based on the likelihood of multiple voting. This validation exercise was conducted independently by Statistics South Africa based on voting station results data from 1 020 voting stations, the IEC said in the statement. The selected voting stations provide a statistically reliable sample of voting around the country. The sample size was selected to provide a very high degree of reliability, with a 3% margin of error, the IEC said. The analysis compared the occurrence of Section 24A votes in a voting district to the mean number of Section 24A votes in the ward. If the Section 24A votes in a voting district were significantly higher than instances of Section 24A votes in the ward, this would be flagged as an indicator of potential deviation from the voting process, the Commission said. The Commission said it is satisfied that the use of Section 24A voting was consistent with previous elections and showed a significant deviation from the pattern in only a tiny number of voting stations in the sample (13 out of 1 020 or 1.27%). Section 24A of the Electoral Act states that voters are allowed to vote at any voting station in their province during National and Provincial Elections. Even in these isolated instances, the Commission is satisfied that the trend compares favourably with previous voting patterns in voting stations with low registration levels, the IEC said. The Electoral Commission thanked Maluleke and his team at Statistics South Africa for the independent validation. The final report of the Statistician-General has been provided to all contesting political parties. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2019-05-17. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. The group includes 156 children, most under six, thought to be children of foreign fighters. At least 4,000 young people from Central Asia have been recruited by the Islamic Caliphate. It is important to neutralise the threat imposed by terrorists before they return home on their own, says one experts. Nur-Sultan (AsiaNews/Agencies) Kazakh authorities have repatriated 231 Kazakh citizens from Syria many of whom are believed to be members of the Islamic State group in that country, said Kazakh caretaker President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev[i] said. On Monday, Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister Yerzhan Ashikbayev told a press conference that the group includes 16 men, 59 women and 156 children, most under six with 18 orphans. The authorities believe that some of the fathers are foreign fighters. Upon landing in Nur-Sultan,[ii] all the men and four women were taken into custody for ties to Islamic terrorism. In January, another 47 Kazakh nationals were repatriated from Syria. The Central Asian nation is not the only former Soviet Republic to have detained alleged terrorists. Earlier this month, Tajikistan brought home 84 minors from Iraq (picture 2), the offspring of Tajik women married to fighters, in jail or on trial for IS membership. The recruitment of young Muslims for ISs war against Western powers is a long-standing issue In Central Asia. According to official sources, at least 4,000 people left the region through Russia and Middle East to fight in Syria and Iraq. In 2015, the Kyrgyzstans ulema issued an edict to excommunicate the Islamic State as a way to counter the organisations ideological appeal. "True Islam has always opposed extremism and the killing of innocents," said one cleric. To counter radical ideas among youth, the Kyrgyz government also banned Hajj (pilgrimage) to Makkah for those under 35. Over the years, a number of Central Asians have been involved in international terrorism. Sayfullo Saipov, author of the Halloween massacre in New York in October 2017, came from Uzbekistan; Akbarzhon Jalilov, responsible for the St Petersburg metro attack in April 2017, was from Kyrgyzstan; Abdulkadir Masharipov, the jihadist behind the New Year's massacre at the Reina club in Istanbul in 2017, was Uzbek; Gulmurod Khalimov, a well-known commander in Tajikistan special forces, joined IS in 2015 and was killed in Syria in 2017. Amanzhol Urazbayev, a reserve KNB[iii] colonel who frequently comments on security matters, said that Kazakhstans mission is not only humanitarian. Also important is that the evacuation allows Kazakhstan to neutralise the threat imposed by terrorists before they return home on their own, he explained. However, other experts highlight the risk that Islamic terrorism can be used as a pretext by governments to suppress internal dissent. [i] Mr Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev will hold office until June when presidential elections will be held, following long-time President Nursultan Nazarbayev's surprise resignation. [ii] On 20 March 2019, the capital of Kazakhstan was renamed from Astana to Nur-Sultan in honour of the long-serving Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev. [iii] National Security Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan. By Ginger Gibson WASHINGTON, May 17 (Reuters) - Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders is calling for a sweeping overhaul of charter schools, rolling out a plan on Saturday that will put him at odds with some of his opponents and renew questions about his ability to win black voters. Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, wants to ban for-profit charter schools and halt the creation of new charter schools while imposing new rules on the existing ones, according to a summary of his proposal provided by his campaign on Friday. Charter schools, which enjoyed bipartisan support at their inception in the 1990s, have become the subject of increasing division. Many Democrats have grown critical of them, arguing the schools are used by the wealthy to pad their pockets while still neglecting millions of students in failing schools. But charter schools remain popular in some predominately black communities, where they are seen as the best option where public schools are weak. As a result, Sanders' proposal comes with some political risks for the candidate, who struggled in his last presidential campaign in 2016 to gain support from black voters. Sanders will roll out a comprehensive education platform in a speech in South Carolina on Saturday, his campaign said. Charter schools receive government funding to operate but are more autonomous than traditional public schools. Students do not pay to attend. Most charter schools are operated by nonprofit groups, and many take private donations on top of government funding. However, a pro-charter school group estimates 15 percent of them are operated by for-profit companies. Additionally, some nonprofit charter schools have come under fire for contracting with for-profit companies to operate the schools. Supporters argue charter schools can serve as laboratories for innovation in education that can flourish without the bureaucratic constraints of traditional schools. But critics of charter schools say they have done little to export the innovation they promised to traditional schools, which still educate the vast majority of students. Instead, critics argue, charter schools have taken resources from the rest of the public schools to serve a small, select group. Story continues Critics also say the schools are mainly serving middle-class, predominately white populations to the detriment of students, mainly minorities, in traditional public schools. The position taken by Sanders, one of more than 20 Democrats vying for the nomination to challenge Republican President Donald Trump in the November 2020 election, is in stark contrast with some of his opponents. Former Congressman Beto O'Rourke of Texas has previously voiced support for charter schools, and U.S. Senator Cory Booker was a vocal supporter of them as mayor of Newark, New Jersey. Booker's support of charter schools is proving to be a liability with some black voters. Booker is "well liked," said Corey Strong, former chairman of the Shelby County Democratic Party in Memphis, Tennessee, but he "has an issue with charter schools." (Reporting by Ginger Gibson Additional reporting by Sharon Bernstein Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Jonathan Oatis) By Ginger Gibson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is the beneficiary of a legal defense fund set up to aid in expenses related to the 2016 election, according to disclosures the vice president made public on Thursday. The fund has $25 in it, according to the disclosure. To donate to the fund, supporters will have to complete a series of certifications, including that Pence himself did not solicit the contribution, according to a White House official. Donors will also have to verify that they are American citizens, they are not a lobbyist and the money is from their personal wealth, not a corporation, the official said. Additionally, federal employees, federal government contractors and registered agents for a foreign government will also be prohibited from donating. Federal ethics laws that prohibit accepting excessive gifts have made it difficult for officials to raise money for defense funds. Past presidents, including President Bill Clinton, have formed legal defense funds, avoiding rules by disclosing individual donors and prohibiting contributions from lobbyists. President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign has been the subject of intense scrutiny after critics said those close to the president colluded with Russian operatives to influence the outcome of the election. Special Counsel Robert Mueller released a report in April that determined there was not enough evidence to charge Trump or those near him with criminal conspiracy related to collusion. The investigation saw dozens of Trump campaign employees and associates called before investigators, a grand jury and congressional panels. Obtaining private attorneys to assist in the interviews has caused some to rack up large legal bills. The vice president is required to file an annual personal financial disclosure that details income and liabilities. New to the report this year was the defense fund, named the MRP Legal Expense Trust Fund. According to a footnote, James D. Atterholt of Florida created the fund on Dec. 10, 2018 to make payments "in connection with the 2016 presidential election and related matters." The $25 payment to the fund was made to establish the trust, the footnote said. "The Trust had no other assets, received no other contributions, and produced no income during the reporting period," the footnote said. (Reporting by Ginger Gibson; Editing by James Dalgleish) (Refiles to add quote attribution in paragraph 15) * UAE gives measured response to tanker attacks * Diversified UAE economy more exposed to regional shocks * Business hub success built around track record for safety By Alexander Cornwell and Stanley Carvalho DUBAI, May 17 (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates, though a prominent foe of Iran in the Middle East's power struggles, has tempered its reaction to attacks on oil tankers off its coast in an effort to protect its reputation as a safe and stable business hub. While its close ally Saudi Arabia unleashed a barrage of tweets accusing their mutual enemy of ordering drone strikes on its oil installations on Tuesday, the UAE held off blaming anyone for Sunday's attacks pending an investigation. Abu Dhabi pledged restraint and de-escalation during what it called a "difficult situation" caused by Iranian behavior in the region. Iran has distanced itself from the attack, which no-one has claimed. Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said they carried out the drone strike on Saudi oil pumping stations. The divergent approach by two crude-exporting heavyweights illustrates the complexities of dealing with Iran, which they see as a destabilizing force in the region. Both have lobbied the United States to isolate Tehran, and the two spearhead a military coalition backing Yemen's internationally recognized government against the Houthis. "Sometimes you need to be diplomatic, we can't destroy our economy's reputation. Others are looking to shake our reliability," said a UAE oil source when asked why the initial UAE statement mentioned commercial vessels and not oil tankers. It was Saudi Arabia's energy minister who revealed that two Saudi tankers had been attacked. As Washington and Tehran spar over sanctions and the U.S. military presence in the region, the UAE is balancing curtailing Iran with protecting its economic interests as the Middle East's tourism, financial and trading hub. Story continues A Western diplomat said the UAE was taking a guarded approach because it does not want "trouble at its doorstep." "The UAE is far more pragmatic and strategic, and has more to lose. Saudi Arabia is the bigger concern for Iran so there is messaging coming out," said another diplomat. BUSINESS HUB Western diplomats said the UAE, where expatriates are a majority of the population, shared Riyadh's goals but unlike the kingdom has a diversified economy more exposed to regional shocks. "UAE authorities are trying to find a fine balance because this a business hub. You don't want to prick the bubble," said a Dubai-based banker handling marine and energy business. "The right sounds are being made...no alarm bells." Dubai, which lacks the oil wealth of the political capital Abu Dhabi, is more vulnerable. It has been pinched by a Saudi-led boycott on Qatar and U.S. sanctions on Iran, for which Dubai was a traditional trade hub. Free zones also depend on unfettered access to Gulf maritime routes, said Robert Mogielnicki, resident scholar at the Washington-based Arab Gulf States Institute. The emirate, whose economy is focused on tourism and international business services, is suffering a property downturn and a slowdown in retail as it gears up to host the World Expo trade fair in 2020. "It doesn't pose many risks to Abu Dhabi...but a substantial risk to Dubai, which relies on international businesses and real estate buyers feeling safe there," said Steffen Hertog, associate professor at London School of Economics. "Just tanker incidents are unlikely to affect tourism and business though; it would probably take an attack involving civilian casualties to substantially shift the mood," he added. Analysts say the attacks appear designed to test the resolve of Washington and its Gulf allies without triggering war by exposing weaknesses in the security of a key oil-shipping route. If push comes to shove the UAE has deep enough pockets to bail out the economy for months or years, said Jon B. Alterman, director of the Middle East program at CSIS. "In the view of many Emirati officials, the threat from Iran is serious and enduring. If it takes a little bit of pain to get to a more secure place, theyre willing to make that investment." (Additional reporting by Rania El Gamal, Davide Barbuscia, Saeed Azhar and Tuqa Khalid in Dubai and Stephen Kalin in Riyadh; Writing by Ghaida Ghantous; Editing by Angus MacSwan) London (AFP) - London warned British-Iranian dual nationals against all travel to Iran on Friday due to Tehran's "continued arbitrary detention and mistreatment" of such citizens. The move comes as Britain continues to try to secure the release from jail of dual national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. Tehran has also recently sentenced an Iranian British Council employee, Aras Amiri, to 10 years in prison on charges of spying. In a statement, the Foreign Office said British-Iranian dual nationals faced an "unacceptably higher risk of arbitrary detention and mistreatment" than nationals of other countries. "The security forces may be suspicious of people with British connections, including those with links to institutions based in the UK, or which receive public funds from, or have perceived links to, the British government," the statement said. British-Iranian mother Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested by Iranian authorities in 2016 as she was leaving Tehran. Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who worked for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was put on trial and is now serving a five-year jail sentence for allegedly trying to topple the Iranian government. "Dual nationals face an intolerable risk of mistreatment if they visit Iran," Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said. "Despite the UK providing repeated opportunities to resolve this issue, the Iranian regime's conduct has worsened. "Having exhausted all other options, I must now advise all British-Iranian dual nationals against travelling to Iran. "The dangers they face include arbitrary detention and lack of access to basic legal rights, as we have seen in the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has been separated from her family since 2016." The Iranian government does not recognise dual nationality, meaning the Foreign Office's ability to provide consular support is limited. Hunt added: "Regrettably, I must also offer a message of caution to Iranian nationals resident in the UK -- but who return to visit family and friends -- especially where the Iranian government may perceive them to have personal links to UK institutions or the British government." LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) - A British far-right extremist who planned to murder a female Member of Parliament with a sword was sentenced to life imprisonment on Friday. Jack Renshaw, who had admitted being a member of racist group National Action until it was banned as a terrorist organization, will have to serve at least 20 years in prison. National Action was outlawed in 2016 after it praised the murder that year of Jo Cox, a female opposition Labour lawmaker, in a frenzied street attack by a Nazi-obsessed loner, the first far-right group to be outlawed in Britain since World War Two. Renshaw's target was another Labour lawmaker, Rosie Cooper, 68, London's Old Bailey court heard. Prosecutors said he planned the murder as a blow against a "Jewish-controlled state" oppressing the white community. He saw Cooper as a traitor who deserved to die as she represented a false democracy. He had bought a sword that the online seller had described as "19 inches of unprecedented piercing and slashing power at a bargain price." Renshaw, 23, had admitted planning to commit a terrorist act and to making threats to kill a police officer who had been investigating him for an unrelated matter. Before sentencing him, the judge heard how Renshaw was serving a three year prison term for stirring up racial hatred in two anti-Semitic speeches in 2016. "Jack Renshaw was prepared to act on his white supremacist world view and plotted to kill a Member of Parliament (MP) a plan reminiscent of the abhorrent murder of Jo Cox," said Jenny Hopkins of the Crown Prosecution Service. "A crime of this type against anyone is a serious matter but when our MPs are targeted it is also an attack on the democratic process and public service." Cooper said in a statement: "My deepest wish is that this case is the last occasion when any public servant, any politician, has their life threatened for simply doing their job. "I believe today justice has been served. Not for me personally, but for every MP and public servant, and for our democratic way of life which affords us the privilege of free speech, without fear of violent retribution." At another trial last year, Renshaw was also given a 16-month prison sentence for child sex offenses. (Reporting by Stephen Addison; editing by Michael Holden) May 17 (Reuters) - Deliveroo said on Friday that Amazon.com Inc was the lead investor of a new $575 million funding round in the British online food delivery company alongside its existing investors. The firm said in an emailed statement that it would use the money to expand the tech team at its UK headquarters and tap new customers, as well as other initiatives. The latest funds came from Amazon and existing investors T. Rowe Price, Fidelity Management and Research Co, and Green oaks. Deliver said the Series G funding round takes the total it has raised to date to $1.53 billion. Sky News reported the news earlier on Thursday. (Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr) Washington (AFP) - The United States said Friday it had approved more than $600 million in sales of air defense missiles to South Korea and Japan as tensions return with North Korea. The State Department said it had approved 94 SM-2 missiles used by ships against air threats, along with 12 guidance systems for a total cost of $313.9 million. It separately gave the green light to sell 160 anti-air AMRAAM missiles and related guidance equipment to Japan for $317 million. The sales "will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States" by assisting key allies and "will not alter the basic military balance in the region," a State Department statement said. North Korea last week tested what the South Korean military said appeared to be two short-range missiles in its second launch in less than a week. The tests come amid a standstill in negotiations between North Korea and the United States, where President Donald Trump had boasted of ending Pyongyang's missile tests. A second summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ended in deadlock in February, with the US side refusing demands to ease sanctions until Pyongyang takes major steps to end its nuclear program. Washington (AFP) - The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on five Russians over abuses including the killing of a prominent opposition leader, days after top-level talks seemed to ease tensions between the two powers. The State Department highlighted the actions against the five people, plus one legal entity, as it submitted an annual report required by Congress on actions taken under a law on human rights in Russia. The law, which blocks any US assets of blacklisted people and bars them from travelling to the United States, is named after Sergei Magnitsky, an anti-corruption accountant who died in Russian custody in 2009. Among the five newly blacklisted figures are Ruslan Geremeyev, an interior ministry official in the restive North Caucasus region of Chechnya who is close to its leader Ramzan Kadyrov. On his Telegram account, Kadyrov said the sanctions, were "clear proof that the United States is afraid of us." Geremeyev has faced accusations of involvement in the 2015 killing in central Moscow of Boris Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister who became a leading critic of President Vladimir Putin. The US Treasury Department said Russian investigators twice tried but were blocked from bringing charges against Geremeyev as the possible organizer of the killing of Nemtsov -- the most high-profile assassinaton of a dissident since Putin rose to power two decades ago. The United States also slapped sanctions on two Russian investigators, Elena Anatolievna Trikulya and Gennady Vyacheslavovich Karlov, for allegedly concealing facts over the detention and death of Magnitsky. "Nearly 10 years after his death, we remain concerned by the impunity for this and other violent crimes against activists, journalists, whistleblowers and political opposition," State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement. She also voiced concern about "the intense atmosphere of intimidation for those who work to uncover corruption or human rights violations in the Russian Federation." Story continues The Kremlin on Friday promised reciprocal measures "in one way or another". "Everything will be done in the national interest," President Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists. The Russian embassy in Washington earlier said the "unconstructive" US decisions "run counter to a positive outlook of the recent Russia-US talks in Sochi". The sanctions came just two days after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Putin in the Russian resort of Sochi, with both sides voicing optimism at finding areas on which to work together. Pompeo said he still had deep disagreements with Putin but believed the two powers could cooperate on issues including finding a political settlement in war-ravaged Syria and seeking a denuclearization deal with North Korea. Also hit with sanctions were the Terek Special Rapid Response Team in Chechnya and its commander, Abuzayed Vismuradov. The Treasury Department said that the force had engaged in extrajudicial killings and torture, including a crackdown on gay men that has drawn international condemnation. Washington (AFP) - US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin rejected Friday a congressional subpoena for President Donald Trump's tax records, setting up a new court battle between the two sides of government. Mnuchin told Democratic Representative Richard Neal, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, that the committee "lacks a legitimate legislative purpose" to demand Trump's tax returns. Neal issued the subpoena on May 10, saying the confidential documents were necessary in carrying out oversight of taxation, including understanding how a sitting president with extensive business interests is treated by the Internal Revenue Service. Neal expected the rejection and told reporters earlier Friday he would take the issue to court as early as next week rather than seek a contempt citation against Mnuchin, according to Roll Call, a news outlet that covers US government. The court will have to rule whether the committee, as Neal asserts, has the right to demand the tax records of any American from the IRS as part of its oversight powers. Trump has bucked the tradition of presidential candidates baring their finances and divulging how much they have paid in taxes. Since before the 2016 election he has claimed that his personal and corporate annual income statements have been under audit by the IRS and cannot be released. Democratic opponents suspect the real estate billionaire of using accounting and other loopholes to avoid taxes. The New York Times reported earlier this month that based on an analysis of IRS records, Trump reported losses of nearly $1.2 billion between 1985 and 1994, and may have been able to carry over those losses for years after to minimize his tax bills. By Marta Nogueira RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazilian iron ore miner Vale SA told prosecutors in the state of Minas Gerais that a dam is at risk of rupturing at its Gongo Soco mine, about 40 miles from where its Brumadinho dam collapsed, killing more than 230 people. According to a document published on Thursday, prosecutors said Vale is predicting the dam in the city of Barao de Cocais may collapse next week if the current rate of movement in the embankment of the mine pit close to the dam is maintained. The warning underlines ongoing concern about the stability of dams in Brazil's mining heartland of Minas Gerais in the aftermath of the Brumadinho accident, which itself came less than four years after another deadly dam collapse at a joint venture between Vale and BHP Group. Vale said in a late afternoon statement it remained unclear whether the slippage in the embankment would actually trigger a collapse of the nearby Sul Superior dam, but said it was raising its level of alert and readiness for such an extreme case. Earlier this week, Vale had identified movement close to the mine, which has not been active since 2016, the prosecutors said. About 500 people seen at risk from a collapse of the dam have been evacuated from their homes since February under orders from mining regulator ANM. The dam holds 6 million cubic meters of mining waste, roughly half the amount that was released when the Brumadinho tailings dam burst in late January, burying nearby buildings including a company cafeteria and a bed and breakfast. "If the movement of the northern embankment of the mine pit continues at the same pace, the rupture may happen between May 19 and May 25, which could cause liquefaction of the south dam," the prosecutor's document said. Liquefaction, in which a dam's barrier gets weakened as it turns to water, has been pegged as a likely cause of the Brumadinho collapse. Like Brumadinho, the dam at Gongo Soco has an upstream structure, known as the cheapest and least stable type of tailings dam design. Story continues Vale shares fell 3.2% on Thursday, accelerating their drop after the reports on the potential dam burst. Prosecutors ordered Vale to issue urgent warnings about the risks to the local population. Authorities in Brumadinho are still recovering bodies from the collapse of the Vale tailings dam there. (Reporting by Marta Nogueira; Writing by Tatiana Bautzer; Editing by David Gregorio and James Dalgleish) Varian Medical Systems, Inc. VAR recently announced the completion of the cyclotron installation for the Varian ProBeam Compact single-room proton therapy system at Biopolis, an international biomedical research hub in Singapore. Notably, this is in partnership with Proton Therapy Pte., Ltd. Earlier this year, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company had announced the installation of the gantry for the Varian ProBeam Compact single-room proton therapy system at the new oncology center in Biopolis. (Read More: Varian Medical's ProBeam Compact Picked by Biopolis) Brief Note on ProBeam Varian's ProBeam is the world's first commercially available pencil beam scanning system, which is the most precise form of proton therapy available. Notably, the ProBeam Compact system is a single-room system equipped with a 360-degree gantry for intensity modulated proton therapy. When combined with ARIA oncology information system and Eclipse treatment planning system, the ProBeam system enables an efficient adaptive workflow. It is encouraging to note that in the recently reported second quarter of fiscal 2019, revenues from the companys Protons solutions business totaled $33 million, up 2% year over year. Presence in Asia Varian Medical has a significant presence in Asia. Notably, the company delivered strong double-digit growth in the fiscal second quarter in China, Japan and Southeast Asia, China being the second-largest market for expansion. APAC revenues grew 7% year over year. Also, last month, the company announced the installation of cyclotron for the Varian ProBeam proton therapy system at Hefei Ion Medical Center in China, on completion of which the center will feature three proton therapy treatment rooms with full 360-degree rotational gantries. Additionally, the companys much-coveted Halcyon system recently treated its first patient in Malaysia, marking the first successful patient demonstration in Southeast Asia. Story continues In March, Varian Medical signed a three-year agreement with Tata Trust with a view to increase patient access to advanced radiation therapy treatments in India. Market Prospects Technavio analysts expect the global proton therapy market to see a CAGR of more than 9% between 2018 and 2022. Advantages of proton therapy over standard radiation therapies currently fuel demand for proton therapy around the world. Hence, the developments have been well-timed for Varian Medical. Price Performance Over the past year, shares of Varian Medical have rallied 10.6% against the industrys 1.3% decline. The current level is also higher than the S&P 500 indexs 4.2% rally. Key Picks Some better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are DENTSPLY SIRONA XRAY, Masimo Corporation MASI ad CONMED Corporation CNMD, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. DENTSPLYs long-term earnings growth rate is expected at 11.5%. Masimos long-term earnings growth rate is projected at 16.1%. CONMEDs long-term earnings growth rate is estimated at 13.3%. Breakout Biotech Stocks with Triple-Digit Profit Potential The biotech sector is projected to surge beyond $775 billion by 2024 as scientists develop treatments for thousands of diseases. Theyre also finding ways to edit the human genome to literally erase our vulnerability to these diseases. Zacks has just released Century of Biology: 7 Biotech Stocks to Buy Right Now to help investors profit from 7 stocks poised for outperformance. Our recent biotech recommendations have produced gains of +98%, +119% and +164% in as little as 1 month. The stocks in this report could perform even better. See these 7 breakthrough stocks now>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Varian Medical Systems, Inc. (VAR) : Free Stock Analysis Report Masimo Corporation (MASI) : Free Stock Analysis Report DENTSPLY SIRONA Inc. (XRAY) : Free Stock Analysis Report CONMED Corporation (CNMD) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research VATICAN CITY (AP) The Vatican's high court has absolved a top Holy See official of charges that he made sexual advances against a nun during confession. A Vatican statement Friday said a five-member panel of the Apostolic Signatura had issued a decree May 15 absolving the Rev. Hermann Geissler because the charge "was not proven with the absolute moral certainty" required. Geissler had resigned as chief of staff of the doctrine section of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in January after the former nun, Doris Wagner, accused him of making advances against her during confession. He insisted on his innocence and threatened legal action to clear his name. Soliciting sex during confession is a grave crime under church law, given that the penitent is in a vulnerable state. MOSCOW, May 17 (Reuters) - Venezuela would like Moscow to help it restructure its external debt to other countries, Russia's RIA news agency cited Venezuela's ambassador in Geneva as saying on Friday. Asked whether sanctions-hit Venezuela would like to receive debt-restructuring assistance from Russia, the ambassador was quoted as saying: "Yes." (Reporting by Maria Kiselyova; Writing by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Hugh Lawson) VENICE, Italy, May 17 (Reuters) - Venice city council has approved rules to stop prostitutes plying their trade along the streets and canals of the tourist-packed lagoon city. Fines will also be imposed on people drinking alcohol outside pubs during night hours and on tourists caught diving into canals or walking through the city bare-chested or clad only in a bikini. The rules are part of a public order crackdown by the center-right council. The Italian city hosts around 25 million tourists a year, of whom 14 million spend just one day there, crowding the alleys and the Renaissance churches around the canals. "A tourist in Venice must be respectful and aware that in the case of bad behavior he will be expelled from the city," said mayor Luigi Brugnaro. Venice's population has gone from roughly 175,000 after World War Two to about 50,000 today. Residents complain that their city is being overrun by tourists while they have to pick up the bill. The city council voted in February to impose an entrance fee of 3 euros on day-trippers to help pay for the upkeep of the city, a sum that will rise to between 6-10 euros from the start of 2020 depending on high or low season. Under the rules approved on Thursday, prostitutes can be fined up to 500 euros ($560) for "abuse of public space" and for obstructing traffic while negotiating with clients. In the most extreme cases of anti-social behavior, tourists can be ordered out of the city. "There can be no room for impunity," Brugnaro said. (Reporting by Riccardo Bastianello; writing by Angelo Amante, editing by Gavin Jones and Janet Lawrence) The vet parents of a tot saved by a heart operation returned the favour by curing the same condition suffered -- by the hero doctor's pet dog (Picture: SWNS) When vets Luca and Heidi Ferasins son Mattia needed a seven-hour operation to mend a hole in his heart, they thought they would never be able to thank the medics who had saved his life. Until one of the surgeons pet dog was found to be suffering exactly the same problem. When Mattias parents found out about French bulldog Budus condition, they offered to treat the poorly pooch and nurse him back to health. Now Budu and Mattia have both made a full recovery - and are the best of friends. Mattia Ferasin was born with a hole in his heart (Picture: SWNS) Mattia was born with a hole in his heart and a narrow aorta that was limiting the blood supply to the lower half of his body. The conditions were picked up 20 weeks into Heidis pregnancy and Mattia was operated on when he was six days old in March 2015. READ MORE Experts call for compulsory measles vaccinations before school Doctors had warned his parents there was a 10% chance of Mattia not surviving the risky open heart surgery. The mammoth seven-and-a-half hour operation was led by Dr David Anderson and was a success - and Mattia went on to make a full recovery. Mattia and Budu have made a full recovery (Picture: SWNS) While medics were treating Mattia, Heidi and Luca became friendly with the medical team and one of the cardiac surgeons, Dr Caner Salih, told them he had a bulldog who was suffering from a heart murmur. The couple - both veterinary cardiologists - invited Budu and Dr Salih to the surgery, Lumbry Park Veterinary Specialists, to try to find out what was wrong and found Budu was suffering with one of the same heart defect as Mattia. Unlike Mattia, Budu didnt require surgery and so Luca provided Dr Salih with a number of management options for how to care for his dog at home and regular check-ups. When the pair returned a year later, Luca found Budus hole in his heart closed without surgery. Budu and Mattia have both made a full recovery and are the best of friends, having regular playdates (Picture: SWNS) Luca, 54, from Four Marks, Hampshire, said: "When the image of the defect appeared on the screen of my ultrasound machine during Budus examination, I was so surprised because it was one of the same congenital defects that Mattia had. Story continues Budus defect closed within a year, which was even more surprising. This outcome has only been reported in a couple of cases in veterinary history. Heidi, 38, said: "We are forever indebted to the whole team of doctors who helped Mattia. Without their skill and knowledge of all the staff we are well aware that we wouldnt have Mattia with us now. This is our way of giving something back because no words can ever express the gratitude that we feel. We have always felt that we owe all the staff so much. Dr Salih, 58, added: "Budu has now made a full recovery. Hes not the brightest dog in the world but hes family." By Nandita Bose WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New corporate headquarters are springing up across the United States. Walmart Inc, the world's largest retailer and the country's biggest private sector employer, on Friday revealed plans for a new corporate campus, joining rivals Amazon.com Inc and Apple in expanding their corporate campuses as President Donald Trump pressures U.S. companies to make larger investments at home. The Bentonville, Ark. based-company is building a new headquarters in its hometown - a project it announced in September 2017 - that will spread over 300 acres and house its nearly 17,000 employees with room to accommodate more as it creates new jobs. Bike trails that run through the heart of the campus, a massive park, fitness centers, food trucks and child care centers will be some of the amenities that will fuse with a modern aesthetic design, said Dan Bartlett, executive vice-president of corporate affairs, who is overseeing the project. There will also be the more basic elements that go into designing a modern workplace, such as flexible open floor plans that boost collaboration and offer privacy, tall ceilings, lots of windows and light and ample parking space, he said. "We are striving to attract and retain the best talent in order to win the future of retail and the key component of that is the work environment that we are creating," Bartlett said. Walmart has kept its plans for a new headquarters relatively low key, unlike some of its rivals. For example, Amazon.com captivated elected officials across North America in September 2017 when it announced it would create more than 50,000 jobs in a second headquarters dubbed HQ2. Cities and states vied desperately for the economic stimulus, with some states offering billions in potential tax credits. After an aggressive hunt, Amazon announced two winners: Long Island City in New York and Arlington, Virginia. But it had to reverse its plans abruptly in the Big Apple after a backlash over various issues, including tax breaks. Story continues iPhone maker Apple Inc also announced it is spending $1 billion to build a second campus in Austin, Texas, that will house up to 15,000 workers. Corporate America has been under political pressure to ramp up investments at home as part of Trump's "America First" policies, which have led to a bitter trade war with China. It is also increasingly in the interest of U.S. companies to tout investments and job creation, especially because those that have moved jobs overseas or shuttered factories have drawn sharp rebukes from Trump, who has championed job creation. Walmart's Bartlett did not give details on the amount it is investing in the project, nor the number of new jobs it will create at its new campus. He said the project and the capital investment will be phased over multiple years and will not hurt its financials in any single quarter or year. Walmart also did not receive any "special packages or tax breaks that were out of the ordinary" for its project, he said. It received a state investment credit that any company in Arkansas can apply for and receive, Bartlett added. "Our goal was not to extract things from the community," he said. Bartlett said Walmart embarked on this project because the company's current headquarters are at full capacity and its home office workforce is stretched over 20 buildings across Bentonville and Rogers, Arkansas. The new buildings will have solar panels atop parking decks, energy-efficient lighting, regionally sourced building materials, including mass timber construction - in addition to a connected campus design. The retailer took design inspiration from the headquarters of companies like McDonald's Corp, Deloitte, large consumer product makers and others on the West Coast. Officials also visited college campuses such as Stanford, the University of Texas and the University of Arkansas. Demolition will begin this summer and the new campus will be constructed through 2024. (Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington) Walmart (WMT) on Friday revealed details for an expansive new headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas referred to as the home office as the retailer seeks to attract top talent in a technology-driven world. For the first time, Walmart is sharing renderings that it says have a "very different look and feel" from its present home on the corner of S.W. 8th Street and Walton Boulevard. The sprawling campus will sit on more than 300 acres, and is expected to feature an array of amenities for employees. Walmart's new Home Office in Bentonville, Ark. will feature a 300-acre "connected campus" meant to "foster creativity" as the retailer seeks top talent. "We view this more like a college university campus versus walled off from the community corporate headquarters. We want it to feel and be very accessible to the community," said Dan Bartlett, Walmarts executive vice president of corporate affairs. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer first announced plans for its new headquarters back in September 2017, around the same time Amazon (AMZN) commenced its search for its second headquarters (HQ2). Construction and demolition is set to begin for July. Walmart's associates will move into the new building in phases over multiple years, helping manage capital costs, the company said. Very competitive talent war The new Walmart Home Office is meant to have a college campus feel that's open to the community. The new home office, which will remain in Walmarts hometown, is a "connected campus" meant to "foster creativity," according to the retail giant. "What do associates care about when it comes to their workplace? They want a space that promotes real connections, creativity and health," Bartlett wrote in a Walmart blog post. This means ample natural light, expanded food offerings, convenient parking, fitness options and a childcare facility, Bartlett added. "They want to work in an office environment that makes them better every day just as they do the same for the company every day." Presently, Walmarts home office stretches across more than 20 buildings, many repurposed warehouses and distribution centers, in Bentonville and the surrounding area that Walmarts CEO said became "expensive and inefficient to maintain. Story continues The hope is that the new home office will help the world's largest retailer attract and retain high-quality talent as it continues its digital transformation. "[It's] a very competitive talent war, and as we are striving to attract and retain the best talent in order for us to win the future of retail, a key component of that is the work environment in which we're creating," Bartlett told reporters. The newly released renderings and details will serve as a master plan to guide the construction efforts, but things may change. Bartlett added that "there's still a lot of work to be done and we have not crossed every t and dotted every i about what every single building is going to look like both on the outside and the inside. Still, he said, this is going to give a conceptual framework and design theory and philosophy about what we are trying to achieve with this new campus," he said. Walmart's new Home Office campus will feature walking and biking trails and lakes Walmart gleaned insights for its new campus from visiting companies like McDonald's (MCD) and college campuses such as Stanford, University of Texas, and the University of Arkansas, in search of ideas for integrating the community into its campus. Community members will be able to use the trails and have access to the large park on the campus. Arkansas has been good to us, and theres nowhere else wed rather call home. When I imagine the next 60 years, I cant help but smile at the possibilities," said CEO Doug McMillon, in a statement. Julia La Roche is a finance reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter. Elton John, izquierda, y el actor Taron Egerton durante su presentacion en la fiesta de la pelicula Rocketman en la 72 edicion del Festival de Cine de Cannes, en Francia, el jueves 16 de mayo de 2019. (Foto Arthur Mola/Invision/AP) Taron Egerton and Elton John celebrated the premiere of Rocketman in the best possible fashion, performing the titular song at the Cannes Gala Party for the biopic. And while we already knew that John had some powerful and beautiful singing pipes, Egerton proved that he can more than hold his own against the musician, while simultaneously suggesting that he has done him justice on the big-screen. You can check out the footage of Elton John and Taron Egerton singing Rocket Man below. Very, very impressive stuff. Not just because of the singing, too, as the setting and the combined presence of the duo together made it all the more powerful. Read more: Sex scenes are never fun, says Richard Madden Clearly John and Egerton have formed quite the bond during this experience, too. In his introduction for the actor Elton called Taron incredible, while right at the end of the performance the 29-year-old actor gave his 72-year-old counterpart a tender kiss on the head. They both looked the part on stage, too, as Elton rocked a pair of flamboyant love-heart glasses, while Egerton was particularly dapper in his suit. Singer Elton John, left, and actor Taron Egerton embrace after performing at the party for the film 'Rocketman' at the 72nd international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Thursday, May 16, 2019. (Photo by Arthur Mola/Invision/AP) The duo had every reason to celebrate after the premiere of Rocketman, as it not only received a prolonged standing ovation following the screening, which even reduced Egerton to tears, but the early reviews for the Elton John biopic have been mostly positive. Hot damn, Taron Egerton is the real deal. #Rocketman is a musical about picking yourself up off your ass and Taron delivers the sweat, grit and vulnerability it needs. Rebecca Keegan (@ThatRebecca) May 16, 2019 Pleasantly surprised that ROCKETMAN does not skimp on the gay sex, but the gayest thing about the movie is still Taron Edgerton insisting hes fat when he isnt Kyle Buchanan (@kylebuchanan) May 16, 2019 Egerton has been widely praised for his performance, as has its musical fantasy elements and the fact it hasnt shone away from Johns homosexuality, although some critics have insisted it is a tad corny from time to time, too. It currently has a score of 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, although it is still very, very early days yet. Story continues Read more: Taron Egerton fans react to his hot pants birthday message for Elton John Rocketman will finally be released in the UK on May 22, while its soundtrack, featuring a new track performed by John and Egerton, will be released on May 24. By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS, May 17 (Reuters) - The United Nations said on Friday at least 18 health centers have been attacked in the past three weeks in northwestern Syria, prompting a confrontation between western powers and Russia and Syria at the Security Council over who is to blame. While the area is nominally protected by a Russian-Turkish deal agreed in September to avert a new battle, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces - backed by Russians - have launched an offensive on the last major insurgent stronghold. Some three million civilians are at risk, the United Nations said. "Since we know that Russia and Syria are the only countries that fly planes in the area, is the answer ... the Russian and Syrian air forces?" Britain's U.N. Ambassador Karen Pierce said to the 15-member council on where the blame lay. Acting U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Jonathan Cohen said Russia and Syria were responsible for the attacks on the health centers. He said it was "most alarming" that several of the centers attacked were on a list created by Russia and the United Nations in an attempt to protect them. Pierce said it would be "absolutely grotesque" if health facilities that provided their locations were "finding themselves being the authors of their own destruction because of deliberated targeting by the regime." Russian U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said the Syrian and Russian forces were not targeting civilians or civilian infrastructure and questioned the sources used by the United Nations to verify attacks on health centers. "We categorically reject accusations of violations of international humanitarian law," Nebenzia told the council. "Our goal is the terrorists." An array of insurgents have a foothold in northwestern Syria - Idlib province and a belt of territory around it. The most powerful is the jihadist Tahrir al-Sham, the latest incarnation of the former Nusra Front which was part of al Qaeda until 2016. Story continues U.N. aid chief Mark Lowcock told the Security Council he did not know who was responsible, but "at least some of these attacks are clearly organized by people with access to sophisticated weapons including a modern air force and so called smart or precision weapons." Lowcock said 49 health centers had partially or totally suspended activities, some for fear of being attacked, while 17 schools have been damaged or destroyed and many more closed. He said that in the past three weeks up to 160 people have been killed and at least 180,000 people displaced. U.N. political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo warned the Security Council: "If the escalation continues and the offensive pushes forward, we risk catastrophic humanitarian fallout and threats to international peace and security." (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; editing by Grant McCool) SAF-Holland S.A. (FRA:SFQ), which is in the auto components business, and is based in Luxembourg, saw a decent share price growth in the teens level on the DB over the last few months. As a stock with high coverage by analysts, you could assume any recent changes in the companys outlook is already priced into the stock. However, could the stock still be trading at a relatively cheap price? Lets take a look at SAF-Hollands outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if the opportunity still exists. Want to participate in a short research study? Help shape the future of investing tools and you could win a $250 gift card! See our latest analysis for SAF-Holland What's the opportunity in SAF-Holland? The stock seems fairly valued at the moment according to my valuation model. Its trading around 9.73% above my intrinsic value, which means if you buy SAF-Holland today, youd be paying a relatively fair price for it. And if you believe the companys true value is 9.84, then there isnt really any room for the share price grow beyond what its currently trading. In addition to this, SAF-Holland has a low beta, which suggests its share price is less volatile than the wider market. Can we expect growth from SAF-Holland? DB:SFQ Past and Future Earnings, May 17th 2019 Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. Buying a great company with a robust outlook at a cheap price is always a good investment, so lets also take a look at the company's future expectations. SAF-Hollands earnings over the next few years are expected to increase by 43%, indicating a highly optimistic future ahead. This should lead to more robust cash flows, feeding into a higher share value. What this means for you: Are you a shareholder? It seems like the market has already priced in SFQs positive outlook, with shares trading around its fair value. However, there are also other important factors which we havent considered today, such as the track record of its management team. Have these factors changed since the last time you looked at the stock? Will you have enough confidence to invest in the company should the price drop below its fair value? Story continues Are you a potential investor? If youve been keeping tabs on SFQ, now may not be the most optimal time to buy, given it is trading around its fair value. However, the optimistic prospect is encouraging for the company, which means its worth diving deeper into other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to take advantage of the next price drop. Price is just the tip of the iceberg. Dig deeper into what truly matters the fundamentals before you make a decision on SAF-Holland. You can find everything you need to know about SAF-Holland in the latest infographic research report. If you are no longer interested in SAF-Holland, you can use our free platform to see my list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential. 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. DENVER You've seen the first close-up of a black hole. Now, get ready to see the faint wisps of matter surrounding the object. The international team responsible for the first-ever image of a black hole's shadow already has plans to take a better, more detailed image. And that image could reveal new details about the matter and magnetic fields wrapped around the supermassive, distant object at the center of galaxy Messier 87 (M87). More-detailed images, along with movies of the black hole that are already in the works, could help explain how black holes gobble up matter from the rings of hot gas swirling around them (called accretion disks) and how the objects produce bright jets of superfast matter on the scale of galaxies. That's according to researchers from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) team who spoke to a crowd of physicists here at the American Physical Society's April meeting. [9 Ideas About Black Holes That Will Blow Your Mind] To image the M87 black hole in more detail, the researchers need to alter their approach, said Shep Doeleman, the Harvard University astronomer who lead the EHT team. Specifically, the scientists need to increase the frequency of the radio waves they're studying and add new radio telescopes to the EHT network. Both projects are already underway, he said, and should sharpen the already remarkably sharp image. (The existing image really is remarkably sharp when you consider that the supermassive object in question is so far away that, as viewed from Earth, it looks no bigger than an orange on the surface of the moon.) In particular, the team hopes to image curling wisps of duller matter that simulations suggest should surround that bright ring already pictured, said Avery Broderick, an astrophysicist at the University of Waterloo in Canada who works on interpreting data from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). The shapes of those wisps should tell physicists whether a long-held theory of how matter gets knocked from a black hole's accretion disk into its throat is correct. Story continues "One of the stories that we tell our graduate students is that the 'magneto-rotational instability' drives accretion," or the process in which black holes suck in nearby gas, Broderick said. Physicists believe, he explained to Live Science after the talk, that as turbulence shakes the hot material of the accretion disk, its shaking particles magnetically tug on each other across vast distances. That magnetic tugging causes some of the whirling matter to slow down and fall out of orbit past the event horizon and into the black hole; this material forms the wisps that the researchers hope to study. "But that's largely a story born of ignorance and failed imagination," Broderick told the crowd at his talk, "because we don't know what else would do it, and we've tried" to find alternative explanations. A more detailed image could confirm or reject that theory, he said. "What those wisps would do is they would give you a way to directly test that, because you're looking at [the direct result of magnetic turbulence]," he said. Careful imaging of the wisps, combined with an effort to image the black hole in motion, would help physicists understand, in unprecedented detail, how black holes eat and grow, Broderick said. At the same time, better images of the fainter material around the black hole might reveal structures that would help the team explain those jets of matter, Doeleman told Live Science. The researchers hope to capture images of matter twisting away from the accretion disk and forward, almost in the direction of Earth, following the actual path of M87's bright jet. "We've opened a window, and we're not done looking through it," he said. "Stay tuned." Originally published on Live Science. A woman was perplexed by this arrow on the ceiling of her hotel room at Grand Barong Resort in Bali. [Photo: Facebook] A womans confusion over an arrow printed on the ceiling of her hotel room in Indonesia has sparked discussion online about what the mysterious symbol could be. The woman, who was staying at Grand Barong Resort in Bali, posted a picture of the symbol on Facebook. What is this? the woman wrote. READ MORE: Man kicked off flight for vodka joke Its been stressing us out for weeks. Another woman added she was wondering the same thing. She had been staying in the same hotel. A Qibla compass on a smartphone which shows the direction to Mecca. [Photo: Getty Images] One man jokingly suggested the arrow is pointing to the swimming pool. But it turns out its of much higher significance - particularly to people of the Islamic faith. One man pointed it out and explained the arrow is actually a Qibla pointer. Nothing you should worry about, the man added. The hotel confirmed this too adding theres one in every room. Qibla is the direction Muslims face during ritual prayer. It points towards the city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. According to a census conducted in 2010, 87.2 per cent of Indonesias population identifies as Muslim. Said Kanawati of the Australian New Muslims Association told Yahoo News Australia hes not aware of many hotels in Australia having Qibla pointers. Grand Barong Resort in Bali said it has Qibla pointers in every room. According a census in 2010, 87.2 per cent of Indonesia's population identify as Muslim. [Photo: Grand Barong Resort] To be frank - its quite primitive, Mr Kanawati said. These days you can just use your iPhone. There are apps which now show you which direction to pray. He added Muslims pray five times a day. READ MORE: Man injects himself with own semen In 2010, a cleric from the Indonesian Ulema Council realised Indonesian Muslims had been praying in the wrong direction after the council made a mistake. Ma'ruf Amin, from the council, said Muslims were facing towards Somalia and Kenya instead of Mecca. However, he added all prayers were still heard as God understands that humans make mistakes. ST. JOHNSBURY, Vt. (AP) A Vermont woman convicted of manslaughter in the death of her disabled son, who had vodka poured into his feeding tube, has lost an appeal over her manslaughter conviction. Melissa Robitille (ROH'-bah-teye), of Hardwick, was sentenced in 2017 to four to 12 years in prison. Robitille had been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the 2014 alcohol poisoning death of her 13-year-old son, Isaac. Prosecutors said Robitille and her boyfriend, Walter Richters, poured vodka in her son's feeding tube to keep him quiet. The boy later died. Robitille had appealed to the Vermont Supreme Court, arguing that the state produced insufficient evidence to support a conviction, among other factors. The Vermont Supreme Court on Friday disagreed. Richters was sentenced to three years in prison for his role in the death. ___ Information from: WCAX-TV, http://www.wcax.com (Adds Commerce Department says it may scale back some Huawei restrictions) * China calls on U.S. to show "sincerity" in talks * Trump delays decision to impose auto tariffs * Investors jittery over possible trade war escalation * U.S. may scale back some Huawei restrictions By Ben Blanchard and David Shepardson WASHINGTON/BEIJING, May 17 (Reuters) - China struck a more aggressive tone in its trade war with the United States on Friday, suggesting a resumption of talks between the world's two largest economies would be meaningless unless Washington changed course. The tough talk capped a week that saw Beijing unveil fresh retaliatory tariffs, U.S. officials accuse China of backtracking on promises made during months of talks and the Trump administration level a potentially crippling blow against one of China's biggest and most successful companies. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang, asked about state media reports suggesting there would be no more trade negotiations, said China always encouraged resolving disputes with the United States through dialog and consultations. "But because of certain things the U.S. side has done during the previous China-U.S. trade consultations, we believe if there is meaning for these talks, there must be a show of sincerity," he told a daily news briefing. CNBC, citing sources, said the trade talks had stalled and the next round of discussions was "in flux." The United States raised Beijing's ire this week when it announced it was putting Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, the worlds biggest telecoms equipment maker, on a blacklist that could make it extremely hard to do business with U.S. companies. The U.S. Commerce Department may soon scale back restrictions on Huawei by issuing a temporary general license to allow time for companies and people who have Huawei equipment to maintain reliability of their communications networks and equipment, a department spokeswoman said. Story continues The possible general license would not apply to new transactions, the spokeswoman said, and would last for 90 days. China has yet to say whether or how it will retaliate, although its state media is sounding an increasingly strident note. The ruling Communist Party's People's Daily published on Friday a front-page commentary that evoked the patriotic spirit of the country's past wars. "The trade war can't bring China down. It will only harden us to grow stronger," it said. Global stocks, which rebounded this week on the prospect of another round of U.S.-China talks, suffered a fresh bout of selling and China's yuan slid to its weakest against the U.S. dollar in almost five months. Prices of U.S. government debt were trading higher. The increasingly acrimonious trade dispute has rattled investors who fear that the countries are careening dangerously down a track that will badly damage global supply lines and put the brakes on an already slowing world economy. The South China Morning Post, citing an unidentified source, reported that a senior member of China's Communist Party said the trade war could reduce China's 2019 economic growth by 1 percentage point in the worst-case scenario. "Both sides might need some prodding, but we've had a very clear opportunity for one side or the other ... to say this isn't going to work ... and neither side did," said Derek Scissors, an expert on Sino-U.S. economic relations at the American Enterprise Institute think tank, who put the chance of a deal this year at over 50/50. AUTO TARIFFS U.S. President Donald Trump, who has embraced protectionism as part of an "America First" agenda aimed at rebalancing global trade, has accused China of backing out of a deal earlier this month that would have ended the 10-month dispute. Earlier this month, Reuters reported China had backtracked on commitments to change its laws to resolve core U.S. complaints about theft of intellectual property, forced technology transfers and other practices. Trump punctuated two days of talks in Washington last week with a decision to raise tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports to 25 percent from 10 percent. The negotiations ended in a stalemate. On Monday, Beijing said it would raise its tariffs on a revised list of $60 billion in U.S. goods effective June 1. Trump, in turn, said he is considering slapping tariffs on the remaining $300 billion in Chinese imports to the United States. The U.S. president also continues to dangle the possibility of imposing tariffs of up to 25% on imported cars and parts, a move that could be devastating for a number of U.S. trading partners, including Japan and Germany. The White House said on Friday that Trump's decision on auto tariffs would be delayed by up to six months to allow more time for trade talks with the European Union and Japan. Trump faced a Saturday deadline to make a decision. It added, however, that the U.S. president agreed with findings by the U.S. Commerce Department that imported vehicles and parts can threaten U.S. national security, a designation likely to anger some U.S. allies. Automakers have strongly opposed the tariffs, saying they would hike prices and threaten thousands of U.S. jobs. There is also strong opposition in the U.S. Congress, with many prominent members of Trump's Republican Party rejecting the idea. U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, praised the administration's decision to delay the auto tariffs. "Positive step. The pressure must be strong on China, not on our allies who we should encourage to join us in confronting China," Schumer tweeted. The United States and Canada also announced on Friday a deal to remove tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum in exchange for new curbs to keep dumped metals from China and other nations out of the U.S. market. The Mexican president's office later said Mexico had reached a similar deal with the United States. The metals tariffs were an aggravation for the Canadian and Mexican governments and had been a major hurdle to enacting the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the deal that would replace the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Gao Liangping in Beijing and David Shepardson in Washington; Additional reporting by Steve Scherer in Ottawa, Anthony Esposito in Mexico City, Karen Freifeld and Lewis Krauskopf in New York and David Lawder, Alexandra Alper, and Doina Chiacu in Washington; Writing by Paul Simao Editing by Susan Thomas, James Dalgleish and Sandra Maler) The Lansing Police Department is investigating a shooting near Everett High School that sent a man to the hospital. Lansing police responding to an emergency call in the 4100 block of Burchfield Dr. near Everett H.S. For the month of May we are honoring Service members as a part of our Yes Squad. We asked you to send in pictures of service members for us to honor. Today we are honoring PFC Ryan Legal from Grand Ledge Michigan who serves in the US Marines. The ongoing Bitfinex and Tether scandal has taken another turn following instructions from New Yorks Supreme Court judge Joel Cohen, who has ordered Tether to freeze transfers to the Bitfinex exchange. In an official court document published on Thursday, Cohen ordered Bitfinex and Tether employees to stop loaning Tethers reserves to Bitfinex. The Court finds that the preliminary injunction should be tailored to address the Office of the Attorney Generals legitimate law enforcement concerns while not unnecessarily interfering with the Respondents legitimate business activities, he wrote. Cohen also wrote that Tether cannot distribute any funds to anyone who isnt on the companys payroll or anyone who isnt currently doing consulting work. On April 26, it was reported that the New York Attorney Generals office (NYAG) alleged that Bitfinex had engaged in a cover-up to hide the loss of $850 million in client and corporate funds. NY court grants Bitfinex's motion to modify injunction: https://t.co/b8TY0QBvYs Bitfinex (@bitfinex) May 16, 2019 Despite the news causing the cryptocurrency market to temporarily crash, it soon recovered and rallied more than 40%. Bitfinex even raised around $1 billion in a private token sale for exchange token LEO, which according to the exchanges CTO was raised within 10 days. Cohen also noted that neither Bitfinex nor Tether are allowed to modify in any way documents asked for in the NYAGs original subpoenas, and that the injunction will expire in 90 days, but the NYAGs office can petition the court to extend it two weeks before then. Bitfinex responded to Cohens statement by claiming that it was a victory in the ongoing defence of our business against the NYAGs office. Story continues The statement continued: We are grateful that Judge Cohen recognised, in argument before his court, that the original injunction obtained by the New York Attorney General was both amorphous and endless and that it needed to be as narrow as possible. We believe that the courts decision today leaves no doubt that both Tether and Bitfinex are entitled to run their businesses in the ordinary course, even during the short period when this now narrowed preliminary injunction is in place. For more news, guides, and cryptocurrency analysis, click here. The post New York Supreme Court orders Tether to freeze transfers to Bitfinex appeared first on Coin Rivet. For Immediate Release Chicago, IL May 17, 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, Juniper Networks Inc. JNPR, NETGEAR Inc. NTGR, Motorola Solutions Inc. MSI and Infinera Corp. INFN. Here are highlights from Thursdays Analyst Blog: Trump Issues National Emergency in Telecom: Likely Gainers On May 15, President Donald Trump issued an executive order declaring a national emergency preventing U.S. corporates from using information and communications technology equipment from sources as this poses an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States. Although the Trump administration is yet name any specific country or company as the intendent target, the Department of Commerce added Chinese telecom behemoth Huawei Technologies and its affiliates to the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) Entity List, following the order. Another Chinese telecom giant ZTE may also face the same fate. Surely, the latest move by the U.S. government will further jeopardize the lingering trade-related disputes between the two countries. National Security Concerns Dominate Telecom Space The Trump administration is deeply concerned about Chinas drive to unseat the United States as the primary developer and supplier of state-of-the-art products in the fields of high-tech AI, semiconductors and quantum computing, among other digital technology-driven sectors. Notably, most of the big Chinese manufacturers of these products are fully patronized by the government of that country. These companies pose serious threats to the U.S. economic and military supremacy. The latest move bears evidence to the fiercely aggressive stance that the U.S. government is taking to protect innovative next-generation products of the U.S. tech giants. Story continues President Trump has given enough indication that his administration will take special interest in the functioning of the telecom industry. Safeguarding the highly valuable patents of the tech-heavy companies from the Chinese dragon is of foremost importance to the American eagle. Huwaei and ZTE Targeted Earlier In fact, the U.S. government made AT&T drop Huawei smartphones from its offerings while Qualcomm was barred from selling its chipsets to either Huawei or ZTE. The Trump administration had barred U.S. companies from selling products to Chinese counterparts due to apprehensions of China spying on Americans utilizing these high-tech products. On Mar 12, 2018, Trump ordered to immediately prohibit the proposed $117 billion takeover bid of Singapore-based Broadcom for Qualcomm. The government argued that third-party entities, especially, Huawei and ZTE may get access to Qualcomms precious patents from Broadcom or at least a stalled R&D activity may result in Qualcomm losing its competitive edge in the next-generation 5G mobile network standard to its Chinese counterparts. Potential Winners U.S. companies that rely on low-cost Chinese imports are unhappy about the move as it will raise prices of high-tech equipment and several electronics products for the telecom sector. However, the ban on Chinese equipment will certainly help U.S. wireless equipment manufacturers. Networking equipment manufacturers such as Cisco Systems Inc., Juniper Networks Inc. and NETGare likely to gain. Moreover, wireless gear makers like Motorola Solutions Inc. and Infinera Corp. may also benefit. Juniper Networks carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Radical New Technology Creates $12.3 Trillion Opportunity Imagine buying Microsoft stock in the early days of personal computers or Motorola after it released the worlds first cell phone. These technologies changed our lives and created massive profits for investors. Today, were on the brink of the next quantum leap in technology. 7 innovative companies are leading this 4th Industrial Revolution - and early investors stand to earn the biggest profits. See the 7 breakthrough stocks now>> Media Contact Zacks Investment Research 800-767-3771 ext. 9339 support@zacks.com https://www.zacks.com Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) : Free Stock Analysis Report NETGEAR, Inc. (NTGR) : Free Stock Analysis Report Infinera Corporation (INFN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Juniper Networks, Inc. (JNPR) : Free Stock Analysis Report Motorola Solutions, Inc. (MSI) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research (Bloomberg) -- U.S. and European law enforcement officials on Thursday said they had dismantled a global organized cybercrime network, which used malware to steal banking login details in an attempt to pocket about $100 million from thousands of businesses. A federal grand jury in Pittsburgh charged ten members of the network, and other criminal prosecutions have begun in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, the European Unions agency for law enforcement cooperation Europol said in a statement. Five Russian nationals charged in the indictment are on the run, the agency said, including the developer of the malware. In what Europol called a "highly specialized and international criminal network," the members -- spread across Georgia, Moldova, Bulgaria, Ukraine, and Russia -- sent spear-phishing emails to infect computers with malware, dubbed GozNym, designed to capture login details. That allowed the members to steal money from the bank accounts and launder the funds using U.S. and foreign bank accounts. "It was truly the scope of this organization that made this campaign so dangerous," Scott W. Brady, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, said at a press conference at Europols headquarters in the Hague. The cyber investigative team at the Federal Bureau Investigations Pittsburgh field office initiated the investigation, which accelerated in 2016 after officials took down the Avalanche network. That network provided online hosting services to dozens of some of the largest malware campaigns, including GozNym. "We identified over 41,000 victims, unsuspecting citizens of European and North American countries who thought they were clicking on a simple invoice as part of their business," Brady said."Instead, they were giving hackers access to their most personal and sensitive information." He said targeted businesses included law firms, mom-and-pop businesses, international corporations and non-profit organizations. Story continues The network formed after members each advertised their technical skills and services on underground, Russian-speaking online forums and were then recruited by the groups leader, who controlled more than 41,000 computers infected with the GozNym malware. The accomplices used encryption techniques so the malware could avoid detection by antivirus tools and protective software, Europol said. Once infected, money was then wired to other accounts or withdrawn from ATMs in order to be distributed to members of the network. Officials from Bulgaria, Germany, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and the U.S. coordinated searches and shared evidence to track down the alleged criminals. In a house search in Ukraine, one of the accused individuals resisted arrest by opening fire on officials, Ukraines first Deputy Prosecutor Dmytro Storozhuk said at the press conference, adding that no one was injured during the operation. The wider investigation was also supported by Europol and Eurojust, the EUs judicial cooperation unit. (Updates with quotes, background from law enforcement officials.) To contact the reporter on this story: Natalia Drozdiak in Brussels at ndrozdiak1@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Giles Turner at gturner35@bloomberg.net, Nate Lanxon For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com 2019 Bloomberg L.P. Families with children saved in the Mediterranean by the German charity Sea-Watch were given permission to land in Italy Friday, despite the interior minister's "closed ports" policy. "Italian authorities have informed us of their availability to disembark families on board: children, mothers, fathers," Sea-Watch said on Twitter, two days after it rescued 65 migrants in distress off Libya. Crew aboard the Dutch-flagged Sea-Watch 3 had warned the migrants needed medical and psychological care. Seven children were disembarked, along with seven mothers, three fathers and an injured man, the interior ministry said. Save the Children had appealed earlier Friday for an end to the odyssey of those who had risked the perilous crossing from North Africa to seek safety in Europe. As the Italian coast guard began transferring the families to the island of Lampedusa, the charity insisted the remaining migrants should be allowed off too. "All lives are equal, and have the right to a port of safety. "If Italy's not willing to do so, the EU must shoulder its responsibilities and find a solution," it said on Twitter. On Wednesday, far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini had issued a snap directive banning the Sea Watch vessel from entering Italian territorial waters, saying "our ports are and remain closed" -- a statement he repeated Friday. Rome's populist government has banned a Sea-Watch vessel from entering Italian territorial waters Me too. I'm scared they're going to take this to the SC and they douchebags there will overturn Roe v Wade. Reply Parent Thread Link Same, and Ive always been so thankful I was able to get one safely. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Me too. Hugs <3 Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Me too. No regrets, have talked about it here before. Reply Parent Thread Link me too. in february. Reply Parent Thread Link i had one in early 2016 and i don't regret it at all, it was the right decision for myself and my body. while i do want to be a mom someday if that ends up being in the cards, i wasn't ready then and absolutely could not have afforded it (thank god for planned parenthood). i really want to see more men calling this shit out! not only politicians ofc but anyone with a platform, not to mention those in our individual lives. it shouldn't always be on women to stand up for our own rights. Reply Thread Link https://instagram.com/p/BxhiL1zhk6I Minka Kelly also shared her story <3 From what I've heard, seen and read these new laws are disgraceful. You all have my full support forever Minka Kelly also shared her story <3From what I've heard, seen and read these new laws are disgraceful. You all have my full support forever Reply Thread Link Aww, Minka <3 Reply Parent Thread Link wow i love this one. great response Reply Parent Thread Link I've never had one - but when I lived in Ohio I had to schedule one. My appointment was in 2 weeks when I miscarried. This was in 2005. I live in Canada now and am so grateful that our laws and government health insurance protect us - but there's still a lot of failures with lack of access, and right wing politicians trying to reverse these laws. Reply Thread Link her point that this outrage of omg life must be protected is oddly only up until birth but after that it is well screw you, especially if you are not a straight white male is so true. also i can't stand when people say well how would you feel if you your parents aborted you or something like that...well for starters if they didn't we wouldn't be having this conversation and i wouldn't be feeling anything so what is the point of this stupid question? Reply Thread Link "How would you feel to not live in a world that has dwindling resources, racism, lack of health care and jobs?" fucking thrilled, get the fuck outta my face. Edited at 2019-05-17 01:00 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link i got into a facebook debate (never a good idea tbh) with some guy who said he thought he had the right to have an opinion re: abortion because "my mom made the decision not to abort me." WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK? i was so angry that i probably lost the moral high ground and told him i wish his mom HAD aborted him so that women would be spared from seeing his terrible takes on the internet. Reply Parent Thread Link Dude, I just saw some boy on twitter saying 'the fetus ISN'T PART OF HTE MOTHER' and is a human being. ? Reply Parent Thread Expand Link you are brave, i just don't have energy/patience to engage Reply Parent Thread Link also i can't stand when people say well how would you feel if you your parents aborted you or something like that...well for starters if they didn't we wouldn't be having this conversation and i wouldn't be feeling anything so what is the point of this stupid question? No but for real my other favourite is when people are like "WHAT IF YOU'RE ABORTION THE NEXT MOZART???" Well if we're talking hypotheticals what if you're aborting the next Hitler? I too can make up b.s. theoreticals! No but for real my other favourite is when people are like "WHAT IF YOU'RE ABORTION THE NEXT MOZART???" Well if we're talking hypotheticals what if you're aborting the next Hitler? I too can make up b.s. theoreticals! Reply Parent Thread Expand Link lol it's such a dumb question, no one would know life with you so no one would miss you and you certainly wouldn't be able to miss anything. I also hate "that baby could have grown up to cure cancer" when it's like, they could also grow up and kill a bunch of people. Edited at 2019-05-17 01:14 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Ikr? Like how would I feel? First off, my mom almost did abort me, but I have never, ever, held that against her or been mad about it. Second, if she had aborted me, whatever. I wouldn't be around, no one would know me, there wouldn't be a conversation. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link It's such a bullshit argument. The truth is, if I had been my mother's friend when she was pregnant with me, I would have advised her to get an abortion. She loves me very much, and we're close now, but she probably would have had a better life if she hadn't been a parent. Reply Parent Thread Link Someone on twitter pulled that shit with me yesterday and my response was "If my mom wouldve made the decision to abort me, good for her. There is no reason to be "thankful for an existence I didnt choose. I dont need religious bullshit to feel good about myself or to explain why Im here." Reply Parent Thread Link My go to line is that I was probably one of my moms abortions in a past life. The fun part is when my mom rolls through like yup! Reply Parent Thread Expand Link also i can't stand when people say well how would you feel if you your parents aborted you I love this argument because it's like, "well I'd be someone else completely???? And I wouldn't even know the difference??? Might even have made better life decisions too." Reply Parent Thread Expand Link lol that question is so ridiculous. It's like well I wouldn't BE here to, y'know, care. Reply Parent Thread Link late comment but when I see bumper stickers that say smile! Your mom chose life! How convenient of them to ignore the key word here, chose Reply Parent Thread Link I dont understand why America wants to go back to 1925 and turned down womans rights? Reply Thread Link America doesnt. A bunch of white guys in the confederate states have decided to abolish the rights of women. This is a ploy to get in front of the Supreme Court. They want to challenge Roe v Wade. Its not gonna happen. When even Pat Robertson is saying youve gone too far, youve GONE TOO FAR. Theyre firing us up for 2020. I love it. Reply Parent Thread Link Who is pat Robinson? Was he the guy on the news the other day? Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Right? Like imo all this is going to do is motivate people to vote Democratic in 2020 because there's no way these laws will make it to SCOTUS before the 20-21 term, if they do at all. Whole Woman's Health was just in 2016 and set a VERY clear precedent for what is allowed and not allowed for abortion regulation. Even fucking Kavanaugh wrote about that precedent in his dissent for the Louisiana case, and basically was like "I'm dissenting because we don't know if this law will prevent current abortion providers from providing abortion, which would violate the precedent in WWH, but like, we don't know so we shouldn't block it" (paraphrasing obviously lol). To be clear, not that I think people shouldn't worry. I'm glad people are mobilizing and talking about this. It's disturbing and upsetting how much people hate women. I work in repro rights so I deal with this shit on a daily basis. BUT I just think that what we are in danger of is continued chipping away at abortion rights, which anti-choicers tend to be very creative and successful at doing. The Alabama law, on the other hand, is clumsy and a stupid move on their end. Imo. Reply Parent Thread Link Its not just old white men (although they are terrible). This is entirely the fault of every eligible voter who either did not vote for Hillary Clinton or decided to stay home. There are plenty on this progressive site. Reply Parent Thread Link Unless there's divine intervention, of course it's going to happen. Trump won and the Supreme Court is stacked against abortion. Roe v. Wade is going down and abortion rights will vary by state. Reply Parent Thread Link This is on white evangelicals of both genders tbh. The Alabama law was signed by a female governor and white evangelical women are almost as rabidly anti-choice as the men. (Evangelical/Christian POC are often 'personally' against abortion but still vote Dem so that's why I'm pinpointing white evangelicals specifically) Reply Parent Thread Link The new Great Depression is coming, might as well go all out. Reply Parent Thread Link Sadly, it's not just America anymore, it's truly happening everywhere. Reply Parent Thread Link i hate tucker carlson SO FUCKING MUCH Reply Thread Link His mom completely abandoned him. She should have just had the abortion she clearly wanted. Reply Parent Thread Link omg it all makes sense now Reply Parent Thread Link WHAT?! That explains so much... Reply Parent Thread Link https://youtu.be/aFQFB5YpDZE In case you or someone else here never saw this: Reply Parent Thread Link Ive had 1 and posted it on my facebook. Ive talked about it coyly, but this is the first i ever basically said 'i had an abortion'. I thankfully didnt have any push back in my comments even though i expected it but boy oh boy some of my gfs need to clean up their friends list. There was all out war on 2 of my gfs posts that i just didnt engage in because thankfully it was mainly pro choice guys telling the one troll to fuck off. Reply Thread Link I dont have story to share on this, but Im so thankful that those that do ARE sharing. Lets take away the stigma of abortions. Reply Thread Link ^ It's a medical procedure, and women don't make the choice lightly. Reply Parent Thread Link agreed Reply Parent Thread Link this Reply Parent Thread Link I will be attacked by fellow conservatives for saying this but so be it, this Alabama abortion ban is too restrictive. It doesnt save life, it simply forces women into more dangerous methods, other states or countries. You dont encourage life via blanket government mandate! Tomi Lahren (@TomiLahren) May 16, 2019 Reply Thread Link she's had one Reply Parent Thread Link my first thought. Reply Parent Thread Link yup Reply Parent Thread Link Where's the Leopard eating faces quote when you need it. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link She really just needs to shut the fuck up. Shes a racist piece of trash. I dont care that shes pro life. Reply Parent Thread Link Its amazing how republicans only care about things that directly effect them. Edited at 2019-05-17 01:15 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link Never wouldve thought she would speak our against this. Reply Parent Thread Link We don't care Tomato. Reply Parent Thread Link shes still trash Reply Parent Thread Link didn't she get fired from her last job for her pro-choice stance? at least she's consistent about this but she's still garbage Reply Parent Thread Link It's not about care and love for an unborn fetus. It's about wanting to police women and there bodies. Reply Thread Link My abortion was the day after Trump was elected and I went to Planned Parenthood (all the women there were amazingly supportive and kind) and was kind of joking that it was probably as good a time as any to be getting it done with Trump's presidency on its way. But obviously we knew his stance on the issue and I'm increasingly horrified how real the threat has become to Roe v Wade. Reply Thread Link when I went to get an IUD two montsh after (ended up not doing it because I freaked out) I said one of the reasons I was there was because I was afraid of RvW being overturned after that shitfuck was elected. They pretty much confirmed that they were worried too which told me YEAH IT WAS GOOD TO BE WORRIED. Reply Parent Thread Link My doctor said the same thing. I got my IUD right before he took office. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I have never had one but I certainly would in the right circumstance. Im pretty sure Id have to cross two states now to do it without having to undergo an ultrasound and therapy first and thats if it were before six weeks. Reply Thread Link Only in American can you be: Pro-Death Penalty Pro-Unrestricted Gun Rights Pro-War Pro-Preemptive Strikes Pro-Torture Pro-Healthcare Repeal Pro-Police, defending every extrajudicial murder of an unarmed Black person... ...and still perfidiously call yourself 'Pro-Life.' Bishop Talbert Swan (@TalbertSwan) May 16, 2019 pretty much sums up this country Reply Thread Link Because they want your child to be the next generation of soldiers Reply Parent Thread Link Unreal. One of the Alabama senators behind that abortion bill is a OBGYN who keeps getting sued because he keeps letting babies and patients die pic.twitter.com/Z5ctrMer0q Bezinga (@lib_crusher) May 15, 2019 Look at this fucking creep pic.twitter.com/8zJw2XpDHO Bezinga (@lib_crusher) May 15, 2019 Edited at 2019-05-17 01:06 am (UTC) Reply Thread Link Real pro-life there buddy Reply Parent Thread Link Piece of fucking shit Reply Parent Thread Link what the fuck i'm so fucking mad rn Reply Parent Thread Link Wtf Reply Parent Thread Link AHHHHHH WTF!!! this is fucking insane. people voted this man in to represent them and have a say in their laws?!?! Reply Parent Thread Link Oh my god Reply Parent Thread Link satan incarnate Reply Parent Thread Link Whoa, this is sick as fuck. How has he been able to do this for so long?? Reply Parent Thread Link I do not trust any male OB/GYN tbh Reply Parent Thread Link WHAT THE FUCK Reply Parent Thread Link WHAT Reply Parent Thread Link how... what... I just... Reply Parent Thread Link he needs to have his licence revoked Reply Parent Thread Link how does he still have a license????? Reply Parent Thread Link Exciting news! The blue gown worn by Constance Wu in the film "Crazy Rich Asians" is joining our collection. https://t.co/W5RcjivJ8w Curator @TheoGonzalves explains in the film The casts clothing plays a crucial role in marking social class among its characters." #APAHM National Museum of American History (@amhistorymuseum) May 15, 2019 - The blue gown worn by Constance Wu's character Rachel in "Crazy Rich Asians" is being donated to the Smithsonian's National Museum Of American History in Washington D.C.-Directer Jon M. Chu was speechless over the honor when he heard. " It became a Cinderella dress for people. I remember seeing moms make it for their little girls".I remember seeing women wear it with a sense of pride".- The gown will join "The Wizard of Oz " ruby red slippers and a handmaid costume from "The Handmaids Tale".-Theodore S. Gonzalves , curator in the Divison of Culture and Community Life sought out the gown with Lisa Sasaki, Director Of The Smithsonian's Asian Pacific American Center.- "The film's use of fashion is not merely decorative or secondary says Gonzalves. "The cast clothing plays a crucial role in marking social classamong its charaters. From Multi- Generational moneyed elites Peranakan( Straits-born Chinese immigrants) to the nouvea riche strivers of Singapore, to working class Chinese immigrants in the U.S. and their Asian American model minority progeny- The gown was tailored to Wu's height and the original long billowing sleeves were removed.Source: https://twitter.com/amhistorymuseum/status/1128716955999973379 Solar is one of the most forms of clean energy we have, in a time that emissions-free energy is more important than ever. If the global community has any hope of keeping with the ambitious goals set by the Paris Agreement, in keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius, solar energy will play an invaluable part in this industrial re-revolution. This being said, solar has its drawbacks, and theyre considerable. Solar is not particularly space-efficient, and while its become much more affordable in recent years, its still not the cheapest form of energy production by any means. There is also legitimate concern for the amount of waste solar energy will create when older panels are phased out and those materials have to go somewhere. Theres also the fact that while we can count on the sun to rise each day, unfortunately the amount of sunlight that arrives at the Earths surface is not constant as summed up by the United States Energy Information Administration. While not all of these limitations have an immediate and obvious solution, there is one solution, yet to be widely adopted, that helps with two of these drawbacks: offshore solar. Cheap it is not, but the growing offshore sector of the solar industry has a lot of unique advantages. Despite a pricey installation, floating solar panels are ultimately more efficient thanks to the cooling effect of the water, which cuts down on thermal losses and thereby gives the solar panels a longer overall lifespan. In addition to its increased efficiency, offshore solar also offers more flexibility to build wherever the sun shines strongest as well as being able to build where space is not at a premium. One nation taking advantage of the nascent offshore solar industry is Singapore. The tiny nation may be one of the worlds more powerful economies as well as a major energy consumer, but when it comes to energy production, the 278.6 mi country simply doesnt have enough space for any large-scale solar panel installation. Enter offshore solar. Singapores own clean energy provider Sunseap Group has developed one of the largest offshore floating solar systems in the world. The 5 megawatt-peak system will soon be launched along the Straits of Johor between Singapore and the Malaysian peninsula, where it will soak up the Southeast Asian sun to generate approximately 6,388 megawatt hours of clean, renewable energy per year, equivalent to powering about 1,250 four-room flats, with a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of about 2,600 tonnes every year according to reporting by the Straits Times. The systems installation will be completed this year. Related: Putin Could Cut His Loss As Venezuelan Oil Output Nosedives Meanwhile, in Japan, offshore solar is being looked at as a potential replacement for the quite literal power vacuum left by the 50 nuclear power plants left unused in the wake of the 2011s Fukushima nuclear disaster. When a Japanese think tank published their findings that showed solar energy could generate enough electricity to make up for the previous production levels of ten nuclear plants, critics questioned where Japan, a country where land is at a premium, could possibly install enough solar panels to make that thought experiment a reality. Last November Japan quieted those doubts when they opened the countrys largest solar power plant offshore in Kagoshima Bay. the Kyocera Corporations Kagoshima Nanatsujima Mega Solar Power Plant now generates enough electricity to power approximately 22,000 homes. Giving new meaning to offshore solar, a business in the remote in the Indian Ocean location of Reunion Island is taking a different angle. According to reporting by CNBC, French company Reuniwatt is using their unique (extremely) offshore location to take solar energy forecasting to a new level and develop technology to improve the short-term predictability of solar generation by offering day-ahead, intra-day and intra-hour solar forecasts. Together, these frontrunners of the offshore solar industry are paving the way for a new clean energy future with much more versatility and possibility. As population continues to boom, it will only become more essential in the near future to be able to produce energy without taking over vast swaths of land, burning up valuable resources, or releasing more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. All this goes to say, offshore solar is likely here to stay. By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The fighting in Libya has devolved into a protracted stalemate, which does not bode well for the countrys oil production. General Khalifa Haftar and his militia, the Libyan National Army (LNA), continue their assault on Tripoli and the internationally-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA). The attack began in early April, but the LNA has been bogged down on the outskirts of the city. For weeks, Libyas oil production has held up surprisingly well. Output even rose a bit in April by 71,000 bpd, reaching 1.176 million barrels per day (mb/d), according to OPEC. The increase is impressive in the context of the outbreak of civil war. But even though Libya managed to prevent production and export outages over the last few weeks, its not clear that successful streak can continue, especially because a stalemate between the two factions only increases the odds that the countrys oil sector gets caught in the crosshairs. Now the struggle is extending to Libyas surviving institutions, the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) and the National Oil Corporation (NOC), Hamish Kinnear, Senior Analyst for Verisk Maplecroft, wrote in a report on May 13. At issue is the peculiar arrangement that has, to date, been behind Libyas success in ramping up oil production over the past year. The GNA based in Tripoli has international recognition and control over the countrys most important institutions such as the central bank and the National Oil Company. But it doesnt have a sizable military. The LNA, on the other hand, has the guns, but not the recognition or political legitimacy. Related: The IEA's Dire Warning For Energy Markets Tripoli has sent the LNA funds in exchange for the latters ability to stabilize and guarantee security over Libyas oil fields and export terminals. The LNA has paid off various local militias to maintain security, and that has often proven effective at keeping the oil flowing. In fact, the LNAs ability at quelling unrest and contributing to the restoration of oil production and exports has raised the stature of Haftar internationally. But it may have also allowed him to grow overly confident. He thought his attack on Tripoli would be swift, but he has been unable to dislodge the GNA. So far, oil has not been impacted, but that could change. The GNA and the Central Bank of Libya are moving to cut off the funds that flow to the LNA. Specifically, the governor of the Tripoli-based and internationally-recognised CBL, Al Seddik Omar al Kabir, has ordered banks to stop issuing letters of credit to the LNA, Hamish Kinnear of Verisk Maplecroft wrote. This will restrict the ability of the LNA to finance the import of the materials necessary to support its extended supply lines. As a result, the LNA may begin trying to sell oil through its own parallel National Oil Corporation based in the east, where Haftars militia controls territory and a few vital export terminals. But this probably wont work. The UN has outlawed the illicit sale of oil from Libya. Oil traders probably wont touch oil not blessed by Tripoli and the legitimate National Oil Corporation. A prior attempt to sell oil outside the purview of the NOC in March 2014 ended with US Navy SEALs seizing an errant oil tanker, Kinnear wrote in the Verisk Maplecroft report. Haftar is undertaking what appears to be a tour of Europe to shore up support and assistance. He has enjoyed the support, at times, of France and Italy, among others, who view him as a bulwark of stability against Islamic militants in North Africa. But Haftar has squandered support by attacking Tripoli. Both the French and Italian governments are calling for a ceasefire. Amnesty International said there is evidence that Haftar and the LNA have engaged in war crimes by indiscriminately attacking civilian areas of the Libyan capital. The stalemate also exposes the notion that Haftar and his army are the answer to Libyas instability that he can roll over militants and unite the country as disconnected with the realities on the ground. If anything is true, its that no faction has the ability to impose order on the entire country. In assaulting Tripoli, Haftar is trying to impose his will on rivals, but the stalemate shows the limits of such a strategy, especially since disparate militias within Tripoli have united against him. Related: Russia Hints At OPEC+ Deal Exit However, he is showing no signs of letting up despite the miscalculation and despite having lost some international support. The LNA has powerful friends with deep pockets, Hamish Kinnear of Verisk Maplecroft noted. The UAE and Saudi Arabia will likely step in with financial assistance if the LNA loses access to funds from Libyas central bank. In fact, even though many international players are dismayed at Haftars reckless decision to reignite civil war, and they are calling on him to return to the negotiating table, these foreign governments are also worried about seeing him routed. The result is many actors are playing both sides, which arguably increases the odds of a stalemate. All of this means that there is quite a bit of risk to a major supply outage in Libya. The attempt to sell oil outside of the confines of the legitimate NOC could lead to a repeat of the events of June 2018, Hamish Kinnear of Verisk Maplecroft warned. Haftar tried to export oil from terminals under a parallel NOC, but was unable to do so because Tripoli declared force majeure. Ultimately, 850,000 bpd went offline as a result of the standoff. Haftar backed down last year after several weeks of disruptions. Meanwhile, if the LNA begins to see its finances strained, it could struggle to maintain security at key oil fields. In late April, for example, an armed group launched an attack on the LNA-controlled El Sharara oil field, the Verisk Maplecroft report warned. The attack was repulsed but further attempts are highly likely as the civil war continues. By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Stalemate in Libya could cause next oil outage. The assault on Tripoli by the Libyan National Army (LNA) has fallen into a stalemate, and Trump blacklists Huawei, deepening rift. On Thursday, President Trump essentially blacklisted Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies from operating in the U.S., escalating the standoff with China. The Chinese government typically offered a cautious tone in response trade actions from Washington, but Beijing and state media are taking an increasingly strident line, which suggests China is not close to backing down. Chinas currency slid on the news, as did the Shanghai Composite Index. Oil rose on Friday morning on supply outages and Middle East tensions before trade war fears dragged prices down again. Sentiment continues to swing between fears of weak demand in the wake of the U.S.-China trade war and fears of supply outages due to conflict in the Middle East. The escalating trade war between the U.S. and China is keeping oil prices subdued, but the fear premium seems to be growing by the day as tensions across the Middle East threaten outages and even war. The escalating trade war between the U.S. and China is keeping oil prices subdued, but the fear premium seems to be growing by the day as tensions across the Middle East threaten outages and even war. (Click to enlarge) (Click to enlarge) (Click to enlarge) (Click to enlarge) (Click to enlarge) (Click to enlarge) (Click to enlarge) Friday, May 17th, 2019 Oil rose on Friday morning on supply outages and Middle East tensions before trade war fears dragged prices down again. Sentiment continues to swing between fears of weak demand in the wake of the U.S.-China trade war and fears of supply outages due to conflict in the Middle East. Trump blacklists Huawei, deepening rift. On Thursday, President Trump essentially blacklisted Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies from operating in the U.S., escalating the standoff with China. The Chinese government typically offered a cautious tone in response trade actions from Washington, but Beijing and state media are taking an increasingly strident line, which suggests China is not close to backing down. Chinas currency slid on the news, as did the Shanghai Composite Index. Stalemate in Libya could cause next oil outage. The assault on Tripoli by the Libyan National Army (LNA) has fallen into a stalemate, and the ongoing fighting shows no sign of nearing resolution, despite calls for a ceasefire by global powers. The protracted battle increases the odds of an outage. IEA: Oil market sending mixed messages. The IEA downgraded its demand estimate for 2019 by 90,000 bpd, as a result of an unexpectedly oversupplied first quarter. But supply outages threaten to take production offline. As a result, the oil market is giving off mixed signals, the agency said. Related: Putin Could Cut His Loss As Venezuelan Oil Output Nosedives Trump wary of war with Iran. After about two weeks of rapid escalation in tension between the U.S. and Iran, there could be de-escalation attempts in the offing. President Trump may be putting on the brakes, in part because of the potential political fallout at home. Trump met with Swiss President Ueli Maurer on Thursday. The Swiss have acted as a backchannel for U.S.-Iran talks in the past, which raised speculation that the White House might be trying to dial down the tension. No increased threat seen in Iraq, despite U.S. embassy withdrawal. Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) said on Thursday that it was monitoring the security situation in Iraq, after the U.S. pulled out embassy staff in Baghdad due to an alleged threat from Iran. Shell, ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM), BP (NYSE: BP) and others are operating as usual. The decision to remove some workers appears to be a political decision Niamh McBurney, head of MENA for global risk analysis firm Verisk Maplecroft, told Platts in an email Thursday. Russia hints at OPEC+ deal. As the OPEC+ coalition meets this weekend to take stock of the oil market and assess next steps, Russia reportedly wants to propose a production increase, perhaps by as much as 300,000 bpd. No action is expected until the official meeting in June, but Russia has repeatedly signaled its desire to loosen the production curtailments. Internal combustion engine already peaked. Sales of internal combustion passenger vehicles have already peaked, Bloomberg New Energy Finance said in a recent report. Electric vehicles are growing from a small base, but they are accounting for nearly all of the growth in auto sales. EVs will reach price parity with the internal combustion engine by the mid-2020s, BloombergNEF said. California threatens ban on internal combustion engine. The Trump administration is trying to strip California of its authority to set fuel emissions standards for cars. In response, California is threatening to ban the internal combustion engine altogether. If we lose the state vehicle standards, we have to fill up the gap with other measures, California Air Resources Board Chairman Mary Nichols said on Thursday. We will be faced with dramatic alternatives in terms of tighter, stricter controls on everything else, including movement of vehicles and potentially looking at things like fees and taxes and bans on certain types of vehicles and products. Iranian tanker unloads in China. In a sign that China is willing to violate U.S. sanctions on Iran, an oil tanker docked in China and unloaded Iranian fuel oil, according to Reuters. Related: Global Oil Flows At Stake In New Middle East Proxy War Another tainted Russian cargo loaded. Another tainted load of Russian oil was loaded from a port on the Baltic Sea, evidence that the contamination crisis is not over. Traders receiving Urals crude at the Ust-Luga terminal said some oil continues to exceed acceptable levels of organic chloride, the contaminant blamed for major disruption to the nations exports since last month, Bloomberg News reported. WTL supply increases to 500,000 bpd. Permian producers began separating out ultralight oil from West Texas Intermediate (WTI) last year, starting up a new blend called West Texas Light (WTL). Supply of WTL has climbed to 500,000 bpd, according to Bloomberg, a four-fold increase from last year. Most of it will be exported since refineries along the Gulf Coast are better equipped to handle medium and heavy blends. Attacks on Saudi tankers could raise costs. The recent attacks on Saudi oil tankers near the Persian Gulf could increase the cost of insurance and security, which may ultimately push up oil prices, according to the Wall Street Journal. Its a new threat, Mark Gray, founder of U.K.-based MNG Maritime, which protects shipping traffic, told the WSJ. The instinct of insurance companies will be to increase prices. Mozambique gives greenlight to Exxon LNG project. Mozambique authorized ExxonMobils (NYSE: XOM) and Enis (NYSE: E) LNG export project. By Tom Kool for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Canadas Senate Standing Committee on Transportation has voted to defeat the controversial Oil Tanker Moratorium Act that opponents of the bill view as damaging to Canadas oil industry, according to a statement by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) released on Thursday. The senate committee is recommending that the federal government discard the bill entirely. CAPPs statement reads in part, This almost exclusively targets Canadas energy sector and would block the possibility of export of Canadian petroleum production to international markets. Canadas oil industry has been hit particularly hard since the 2014 oil price crash by and large due to the insufficient export capacity, recently receiving yet another blow when production cuts were enforced to shore up the expanding discount of WCS relative to WTI. While the recent uptick in oil prices has softened the blow to Canadas oil industry, the lack of export capacity has stifled growth as fewer industry players are willing to sink money into adding oil production capacity when it may have difficulty transporting it. According to CAPP, the total capital investment in Canadas oil and natural gas sector is forecast to drop to $37 billion in 2019 compared to $81 billion in 2014. The Oil Tanker Moratorium Act sought to ban tankers carrying more than 12,500 metric tons of oil from stopping or unloading along B.C.s northern coast. Alberta has been a strong detractor of the bill that would stifle its oil industry by further restricting oil transportation in the country. The bill did not extend to LNG tankers. And while the bill looked to limit Canadian oil sailing through northern B.C., it would have allowed foreign tankers traveling through the areaa sticking point that has enraged Alberta. By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The Saudi-led coalition conducted air strikes on Yemens capital Sanaa on Thursday, targeting bases of the Iran-aligned Houthis after the Houthis claimed responsibility for the drone attacks on an oil pipeline in Saudi Arabia earlier this week. Saudi Arabia and Iran are essentially fighting a proxy war in Yemen, where the Saudis lead a military Arab coalition to restore legitimacy in the country, while the Houthi movement, which holds the capital Sanaa, is backed by Iran. Two pumping stations along Aramcos East-West oil pipeline in Saudi Arabia were attacked by explosive-laden drones in the early morning local time on Tuesday, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported, citing Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih, who described the attack as one of terrorism and sabotage. These attacks prove again that it is important for us to face terrorist entities, including the Houthi militias in Yemen that are backed by Iran, al-Falih said on Tuesday. This statement came out hours after Houthi-owned TV Almasirah reported that 7 Drones have targeted vital Saudi facilities. Reports of the drone attack on Saudi Aramcos oil infrastructure came a day after Saudi Arabia said that two of its oil tankers were attacked by saboteurs near the United Arab Emirates (UAE), while the UAE said that a total four vessels were attacked off its coast at the port of Fujairah According to the Houthi-owned Almasirah news outlet, Thursdays air strikes on Sanaa killed six people, including four children, and wounded 52 others. Related: Why Oil Stock Dividends Are Soaring This Year The Saudi Press Agency said that the Saudi-led coalition carried out air operations on a number of legitimate military targets; which military intelligence confirmed are military bases and facilities used by the Iranian-backed Houthi militias for weapons and ammunition storage. The Coalition stressed that the attacks by the Iranian-backed terrorist Houthi militias on vital facilities in the Kingdom are a violation of International Humanitarian Law and its customs, and amount to war crimes, the Saudi agency reports. On Thursday, Saudi Vice Minister of Defense, Khalid bin Salman, said on Twitter: The attack by the Iranian-backed Houthi militias against the two Aramco pumping stations proves that these militias are merely a tool that Iran's regime uses to implement its expansionist agenda in the region, and not to protect the people of Yemen as the Houthis falsely claim. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Saudi Arabia may soak up some of Irans previous market share on the Indian market as Saudi Aramco is set to ship additional 2 million barrels per month to Indian Oil Corp between July and December this year on top of the existing term supply deal between the two companies. We have told them we will be taking 2 million barrels every month for six months from July (about 1.6 million tons in total) and they have agreed, A K Sharma, Indian Oils director (finance), told Reuters on Friday. India, Irans second largest oil customer after China, was one of the eight countries that were granted six-month waivers to continue buying oil from Iran after the U.S. re-imposed sanctions on the Iranian oil industry in November. The United States, however, pursued a maximum pressure campaign against Iran last month and put an end to all sanction waivers for all Iranian oil buyers. This put Indian refiners in a position to source the market for alternatives, and many of them, especially private companies, did, because they are wary of possible secondary U.S. sanctions if they continue to buy oil from Iran. Indian Oil Corp has a term deal with Saudi Aramco to buy a total of 5.6 million tons in the financial year 2019/2020, plus an option to buy another 2 million tons, according to Reuters. Indian Oil diversified its crude suppliers in the 2018/2019 fiscal year, and entered for the first time in a term contract to source oil from the United States, boosting its capabilities to process crude grades from a wider and cheaper basket, the company said in its annual results on Friday. Related: Putin Could Cut His Loss As Venezuelan Oil Output Nosedives Despite the fact that Indian Oil has asked for extra Saudi supply, Indian refiners as a group are said not to be rushing into buying extra crude from the Kingdom. Just one Indian refiner has agreed to buy additional crude oil supply from Saudi Arabia to compensate for the loss of Iranian barrels, as Indias firms have been looking for months to diversify their crude sources and as the Kingdom raised its prices to Asia to take advantage of the supply crunch. Of the four state-held Indian refiners that bought Iranian oil under the sanction waivers, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL) is the only one to have taken up the Saudis offer for additional crude, industry sources told Reuters on Monday. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Another problem has been added to Venezuelas growing list of woes: gasoline import shortages that have caused lines at gas stations, Reuters reports, adding that local production has slumped too as the second-largest refinery in the country stopped operating. PDVSA documents and shipping data from Reuters show that imports of fuel and diluents that are necessary to make Venezuelas extra heavy refinable into fuels have since the start of the month dropped to 86,000 bpd from 225,000 bpd for April as U.S. sanctions bite deeper. At the same time, the Cardon oil refinery, which has been operating at well below capacity even before the sanctions were introduced in January, halted operations because of damage to some of its units, Reuters quoted a local source as saying. Cardon has a capacity of 310,000 bpd but was processing just 115,000 bpd. The news of the refinery suspension and the gas station lines comes on the heels of another update regarding production this time. Earlier this week, sources from Venezuela told Reuters none of its four heavy oil upgraders were operating as there was a shortage of buyers for the countrys crude after it lost its largest market in the U.S. The report follows another one, by S&P Global Platts, which quoted a PDVSA report as saying production in the Orinoco Beltthe region where most of Venezuelas oil riches are concentratedhad dropped to 169,800 bpd since the start of May. However, the reason given for the slump in that report was not the lack of buyers but rather the lack of tankers to carry the crude abroad. Indeed, Venezuela has a barter deal with China and Russia that obliges it to repay sizeable loans with crude. However, the U.S. sanctions have targeted shippers, too, as part of the drive to remove Nicolas Maduro from power, and these have apparently heeded the warning. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Next Game: Tulsa 5/17/2019 | 12 p.m. CT ESPN2 The No. 13 Oklahoma State softball team opened the NCAA Stillwater Regional with a scrappy 3-1 win over BYU on Thursday at Cowgirl Stadium.With the win, OSU improves to 40-14 on the year, marking the first time a Cowgirl squad has won 40-plus games since 2011. It is the 12th time in school history that OSU has won 40 or more games in a single season.Thursday's triumphant start to the NCAA Tournament was the Pokes' 14th win in their last 17 contests, dating back to a loss at UT Arlington on April 3.Oklahoma State is hosting its first regional since 1998 this week, and the Cowgirls wasted no time getting the party started, asanddrew leadoff walks to start the home half of the first inning.quickly broke open the scoring with an RBI single through the right side that scored Bayless from second.It was Montgomery's 200th career RBI, making her just the sixth player in Big 12 history to drive in 200 or more runs.also got in on the run-producing efforts, as she notched an RBI double down the right-field line in the bottom of the second. It was Show's 51st RBI of the year, which is the top mark among the Cowgirls.The right-handed hitter was also dynamic in the circle, allowing only one run and three hits in seven innings of work. Show improved to 18-7 with the win Thursday.The Cowgirls will have a quick turnaround tomorrow, as they face their in-state foe Tulsa at 12 p.m. in the winner's bracket matchup. The two Oklahoma programs split their home-and-home series during the regular season, with TU winning 3-0 out east and the Pokes winning 5-0 in Stillwater.Tomorrow's contest will air on ESPN2, with the winner clinching a spot in Saturday's regional final.----Oklahoma State is proud to celebrate more than 40 years of rich softball tradition and its 20th season of play at Cowgirl Stadium this year. To purchase your tickets for the 2019 campaign, visit okstate.com/tickets or call the OSU ticket office at 877-ALL-4-OSU. Precio del Brent To get the BRENT oil price, please enable Javascript. Precio del WTI To get the oil price, please enable Javascript. Dolar USA Vs Euro Paginas vistas en total Lo volvio a hacer Capitalismo=embuste Historico Bitcoin La bateria mas grande de Holanda El futuro es solar Nec plus ultra, nec variatur Fisica y culturalmente Jamas nos callaran Sin ellas, no seremos Deja vu Nada que celebrar Hasta cuando? Colombia Hoy Para nunca olvidar 'Parasite' painted on a statue of Queen, Elizabeth in Kent, England Sin palabras La UE le apunta a la paz Cada vez mas solo Precio del Oro To get the gold price, please enable Javascript. LULA y su Pueblo Bye Bye Homenaje al genial Quino Fueron ellos Una imagen que resume Tan bajo ha caido que se deja tocar el trasero? Porky y el Nene (archiconocido narcotraficante) Ladrones al poder Asi mira el perrito a su amo Crazy Clamor popular La nueva inquisicion Bolivia Chile Hoy Eso es todo amigos! Piensalo! Pinerachet No More Trump Adios Macri, hasta nunca La Marioneta se desinfla Asi o mas cinico Almugre Mexico en 1794 Mas arrastrado imposible Hasta cuando! La pura verdad Solidaridad con Palestina Serie Capitalismo Espejismos de la clase trabajadora Asi es! Comerciantes o delincuentes No pasaran! Asi es la vida USA HOY 01/01/1959 La avaricia no tiene limites AYUDA HUMANITARIA? Chile Hoy Asi son las cosas Mapa Electoral de Venezuela Patagonia argentina? Un aniversario mas del mayor genocidio de la Humanidad Retrato del franquismo en Espana Visca Catalunya! El Chulo de Madrid Cuando la policia se roba la democracia Una imagen dice mas que mil palabras La purita verdad Asi gobierna la maldita burguesia Mi pobre clase media Como Chavez nadie Comparte La Colmena via twitter Twittear Programa de la MUD Asi o mas clarito Por que Trump no ataco Corea del Norte? Hace 15 anos Por que la OEA no se pronuncio? Una verguenza nacional La luz que nos guia La Union Europea Premio Nobel de la Paz? Feudalismo ayer y hoy Obama, el mentiroso Curiosa coincidencia Un mundo de cerdos No es extrano? La Marioneta Los ricos protestan, los pobres celebran MARICORI Y OBAMA Cuantas muertes este ano? 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Por culpa de Chavez Cerveza Polar Algun dia Colombia volvera a la ideologia de Bolivar Translate LOS REVOLUCIONARIOS NO TOMAN CACA-COLA No se trata solamente de un capricho, sino de una sana actitud en todos los sentidos. Desde la solidaridad con el pueblo colombiano donde la empresa Caca-Cola ha cometido los mas grandes abusos contra sus trabajadores incluyendo el presunto secuestro y asesinato de los dirigentes del sindicato, hasta la proteccion de la salud de nuestros hijos, enviciados por ese jarabe de cola y azucar, que les produce obesidad prematura. Pensemos tambien los revolucionarios, que ese dinero que gastamos en los refrescos es utilizado por esas empresas para financiar el terrorismo en nuestro pais. Es cierto, no se trata solo de la Caca-Cola, sino tambien de la cerveza, de los cigarrillos y todos esos articulos innecesarios y mas que eso, daninos para nuestra salud. Podriamos incluso pensar en un dia de parada para cada uno de ellos. Es cuestion de irnos organizando. Pero para empezar, que tal si dejamos de comprar Caca-Cola y sus similares? Cuando lo extraordinario se vuelve cotidiano... Discurso del Acto de Grado en Barinas en 12 de Febrero del 2005 Queridos Graduandos: Mas que un discurso, quiero dirigirles algunas palabras que escribi anoche, despues de visitar en las clinicas, a los estudiantes heridos, a consecuencia de los enfrentamientos con la policia de hace apenas dos dias. Me ha tocado por razones del destino, ser la persona que les otorgue el titulo que bien merecieron con sus estudios. Y me siento sumamente orgulloso de serlo. Me consta que la Universidad de Los Llanos Occidentales Ezequiel Zamora, a pesar de lo dicho por los enemigos de esta universidad, es una universidad de primera. No tendremos la mejor planta fisica, en los salones hace calor. En el comedor hace calor. Pero no es en lo material que las cosas deben valorarse. El mayor capital es el ser humano. Y en eso, nuestra UNELLEZ, lo digo con conocimiento de causa, esta sobrada. Los llaneros venezolanos son nobles, valientes, de coraje. En la UNELLEZ hacen vida, en este momento, aproximadamente 67000 personas. El 97% de ellas son estudiantes. Jovenes que, como Ustedes hasta el dia de hoy, buscan ese titulo, que constata los anos de dedicacion y de estudio. Los jovenes son el rio de la vida, ustedes graduados deben ser los capitanes de esos barcos que naveguen por el rio de la vida. Nuestra Patria atraviesa momentos muy dificiles porque decidio dejar de ser esa matrona de edad vetusta y complaciente, para ser joven, rebelde y altanera. Nuestra imagen ya no es la de una acaudalada ricachona mayamera. En nuestro rostro brilla ahora la sonrisa del Che Guevara, con su diente delantero torcido, su pelo largo y su boina con la estrella. Entender esto, a mi me ha tomado practicamente toda la vida. Tengo 53 anos, y ya perdi mi oportunidad de derramar sangre joven a causa de un ideal. Ustedes son jovenes, estan en la flor de la vida. No cometan por favor el error de renunciar a su instinto de rebelion. El Che Guevara fue Ministro de a Economia en Cuba. Los billetes y las monedas se adornaban con su rostro. Nada de eso le importo. Primero fue a Angola donde paso un penoso ano de combate. Despues se fue a Bolivia, donde encontro la muerte. El Che era el ultimo que comia, el que cargaba la mochila mas pesada. Siempre se sacrificaba por los demas en un estoicismo que mas parecia fervor religioso que ideologia marxista. Si quieren un modelo de vida. Ahi lo tienen. Dije hace unos momentos que el 97% de la poblacion de la UNELLEZ es estudiante. Se imaginan Ustedes la Universidad que podriamos tener si todos los estudiantes tuvieran la abnegacion, la combatividad del Che? Los momentos que se avecinan van a requerir de una gran unidad del pueblo venezolano. La alternativa de continuar siendo libres o regresar a la pobreza se nos planteara en los proximos dias de forma enmascarada, o quizas peor, desenmascarada, vestida con uniforme de soldado del Imperio. Por nuestra parte podemos esperar lo mejor. La macroeconomia no podria ir mejor, la justicia social ha mejorado notablemente. Las misiones ocupan un papel muy importante en el pago de dicha justicia social. Aqui en Barinas ya hemos cumplido con dos de las misiones, la mision Robinson y la mision Sucre. No hay analfabetismo y no hay exclusion en la educacion superior, en estas tierras de Zamora. Pero ay malhaya! Son precisamente estos exitos los que nos hacen mas antipaticos al Imperio. Para ellos, somos inclusive un mal ejemplo que se esta contagiando al resto del continente y cuidado sino al resto del mundo. Nunca venceremos al Imperio. Estara siempre ahi, acechando. Por lo menos hasta que el mismo no se autodestruya. Porque, sepanlo senores, el neoliberalismo es canibal. Cuando le ataque el hambre, se devorara a si mismo. Ustedes, queridos graduandos, a partir de hoy pasan a conformar la elite profesional que debe sostener este pais en los proximos cuarenta o cincuenta anos. Anos decisivos para el logro de nuestra libertad y del rescate de nuestra Soberania. No se dejen comprar. No se dejen corromper. No se dejen gritar. No se dejen pisar. Que nadie les diga que comer, o que vestirse, o que leer. Sean siempre autenticos, rebeldes, contestatarios. Pero eso si, profundamente patriotas, dignos de ser hijos de Bolivar. Muchas gracias y que Dios los bendiga. Alguna duda? Medio siglo de Holocausto Palestino Oscar Zanartu Nacio en Caracas en 1960. Ha realizado exposiciones individuales en las galerias Minotauro, Clave y San Francisco, y en salas de Coro, estado Falcon, y Puerto Ordaz, estado Bolivar. En Paris su obra ha sido exhibida en el Centro Cultural Tanagra, en la Exposicion Cite Internationale des Arts, en las galerias De Mars y Arver Space, al igual que en la Galeria Municipal Levallois, en Levallois Perret (Francia). En muestras colectivas, su obra se ha expuesto en Belgica, Francia, Estados Unidos y Venezuela; en Caracas intervino en la exposicion "Del genesis a la memoria", 1995, organizada por la Fundacion La Previsora. En 1982 obtuvo el Premio Nacional Critven y en 1990 la Mencion de Honor Jose Antonio Paez, en la Embajada de Venezuela en Paris. En 1991 se le concedio el primer premio de Pintura Itinerante, en Levallois Perret, Francia. OZ1 OZ2 OZ3 OZ4 Homenaje a Jason Galarraga La Victoria de Samotracia Odalisca Mas fotos de la nevada del pasado agosto 2008 La Sierra Nevada de Merida Nuestro precioso Churum Meru Homenaje a Picasso Autoretrato Sabes lo que bebes en una Coca-Cola? La formula de la Pepsi tiene una diferencia basica con la de la Coca-Cola y es intencional, para evitar el proceso judicial. La diferencia es a proposito, pero suficientemente parecida como para atraer a los consumidores de Coca-Cola que prefieren un gusto diferente con menos sal y azucar. Mi profesion? Tuve que aprender quimica, entender todo sobre componentes de gaseosas, conservantes, sales, acidos, cafeina, enlatado, produccion, permisos, aprobaciones y muchas otras cosas. Monte mi propio mini-laboratorio de analisis de productos. Sal en la Coca Cola? A patadas. El Cloruro de Sodio no solo refresca sino da mas sed, como para pedir otra gaseosa. Y no resulta desagradable porque la sal mata literalmente la sensibilidad al dulce... del que por cierto tambien tiene mucho: 39 gramos de azucar. De los 350 gramos de producto liquido, mas del 10% es azucar, o sea que en una lata de Coca-Cola mas de un centimetro y medio es puro azucar en polvo. Aproximadamente tres cucharadas soperas llenas de azucar por lata!!La formula de la Coca Cola es muy sencilla: Concentrado de azucar quemado caramelo- para dar color oscuro y gusto Acido fosforito (para darle el sabor acido) azucar (HFCS-jarabe de maiz de alta fructosa) Extracto de hojas de la planta de Coca (Africa e India) y otros pocos aromatizantes naturales de otras plantas Mucha Cafeina Conservante que puede ser Benzoato de Sodio o Potasio Dioxido de Carbono en cantidad para sentir freir la lengua cuando se bebe Sal para dar la sensacion de refrigeracion El uso del acido fosforito y no del acido citrico como en todas las demas gaseosas, es para dar la sensacion de dientes y boca limpia al beber. El acido fosforito literalmente frie todo y dana el esmalte de los dientes, cosa que el acido citrico lo hace en menor grado.Trate de comprar acido fosforito para ver las mil recomendaciones de seguridad que te dan para su manipulacion (quema el cristalino del ojo, quema la piel, etc...). Esta prohibido usar el acido fosforito en cualquier otra gaseosa; solo la Coca Cola tiene permiso. Porque claro, sin el acido fosforico, la Coca Cola sabria a jabon.El extracto de coca y otras hojas casi no cambia en nada el sabor. Es mas bien un efecto cosmetico. El extracto forma parte de la Coca-Cola porque legalmente tiene que ser asi. Pero sin el, no se nota ninguna diferencia en el gusto, que esta dado basicamente por las cantidades diferentes de azucar, azucar quemada, sales, acidos y conservantes.Sabor a que...? ja, ja, ja. Aqui en Bartow, sur de Orlando, hay una empresa quimica que produce aromatizantes y esencias para zumos. Envian diariamente camionadas de sales concentradas y esencias para las fabricas de helados, gaseosas, jugos, enlatados y comida colorida y aromatizada.Cuando visite por primera vez la fabrica, pedi ver el deposito de concentrados de frutas, que deberia ser inmenso, especialmente los de naranja, pina, fresa y tantos otros. El encargado me miro, se rio y me llevo a visitar los depositos inmensos... pero de colorantes y componentes quimicos. Las gaseosa de naranja no contiene naranja. En los zumos dizque de fresa, hasta los puntitos que quedan en suspension estan hechos de goma (una liga quimica que envuelve un semi-polimero). Pina, es un popurri de acidos y goma. La esencia para helado de aguacate usa peroxido de hidrogeno (agua oxigenada) para dar la sensacion espumosa tipica del aguacate. Bebidas Light? Quieres saber la cantidad de basura que tiene un refresco 'light'? Yo ni siquiera los uso para destapar mi lavaplatos pues temo que danen los tubos de PVC. Los productos endulzantes 'ligth' tienen una vida media muy corta. Por ejemplo el Despues de toda mi experiencia con la produccion de bebidas embasadas, puedo afirmar sin dudar un segundo: la mejor bebida es el agua, como tambien los jugos exprimidos de naranja o limon. Nada mas, cero azucar y cero sal. Publicado por loretahur En realidad, la formula secreta de la Coca-Cola se puede detallar en 18 segundos en cualquier espectrometro optico, y basicamente la conocen hasta los perros. Lo que ocurre es que no se puede fabricar igual, a no ser que uno disponga de unos cuantos millones de dolares para ganarle la demanda que te metera la Coca-Cola ante la justicia (ellos no perderian).La formula de la Pepsi tiene una diferencia basica con la de la Coca-Cola y es intencional, para evitar el proceso judicial. La diferencia es a proposito, pero suficientemente parecida como para atraer a los consumidores de Coca-Cola que prefieren un gusto diferente con menos sal y azucar.Tuve que aprender quimica, entender todo sobre componentes de gaseosas, conservantes, sales, acidos, cafeina, enlatado, produccion, permisos, aprobaciones y muchas otras cosas. Monte mi propio mini-laboratorio de analisis de productos.A patadas. El Cloruro de Sodio no solo refresca sino da mas sed, como para pedir otra gaseosa. Y no resulta desagradable porque la sal mata literalmente la sensibilidad al dulce... del que por cierto tambien tiene mucho: 39 gramos de azucar.De los 350 gramos de producto liquido, mas del 10% es azucar, o sea que en una lata de Coca-Cola mas de un centimetro y medio es puro azucar en polvo. Aproximadamente tres cucharadas soperas llenas de azucar por lata!!La formula de la Coca Cola es muy sencilla:Concentrado de azucar quemado caramelo- para dar color oscuro y gustoAcido fosforito (para darle el sabor acido)azucar (HFCS-jarabe de maiz de alta fructosa)Extracto de hojas de la planta de Coca (Africa e India) y otros pocos aromatizantes naturales de otras plantasMucha CafeinaConservante que puede ser Benzoato de Sodio o PotasioDioxido de Carbono en cantidad para sentir freir la lengua cuando se bebeSal para dar la sensacion de refrigeracionEl uso del acido fosforito y no del acido citrico como en todas las demas gaseosas, es para dar la sensacion de dientes y boca limpia al beber. El acido fosforito literalmente frie todo y dana el esmalte de los dientes, cosa que el acido citrico lo hace en menor grado.Trate de comprar acido fosforito para ver las mil recomendaciones de seguridad que te dan para su manipulacion (quema el cristalino del ojo, quema la piel, etc...). Esta prohibido usar el acido fosforito en cualquier otra gaseosa; solo la Coca Cola tiene permiso. Porque claro, sin el acido fosforico, la Coca Cola sabria a jabon.El extracto de coca y otras hojas casi no cambia en nada el sabor. Es mas bien un efecto cosmetico. El extracto forma parte de la Coca-Cola porque legalmente tiene que ser asi. Pero sin el, no se nota ninguna diferencia en el gusto, que esta dado basicamente por las cantidades diferentes de azucar, azucar quemada, sales, acidos y conservantes.Sabor a que...? ja, ja, ja.Aqui en Bartow, sur de Orlando, hay una empresa quimica que produce aromatizantes y esencias para zumos. Envian diariamente camionadas de sales concentradas y esencias para las fabricas de helados, gaseosas, jugos, enlatados y comida colorida y aromatizada.Cuando visite por primera vez la fabrica, pedi ver el deposito de concentrados de frutas, que deberia ser inmenso, especialmente los de naranja, pina, fresa y tantos otros. El encargado me miro, se rio y me llevo a visitar los depositos inmensos... pero de colorantes y componentes quimicos.Las gaseosa de naranja no contiene naranja.En los zumos dizque de fresa, hasta los puntitos que quedan en suspension estan hechos de goma (una liga quimica que envuelve un semi-polimero).Pina, es un popurri de acidos y goma.La esencia para helado de aguacate usa peroxido de hidrogeno (agua oxigenada) para dar la sensacion espumosa tipica del aguacate.Quieres saber la cantidad de basura que tiene un refresco 'light'? Yo ni siquiera los uso para destapar mi lavaplatos pues temo que danen los tubos de PVC. Los productos endulzantes 'ligth' tienen una vida media muy corta. Por ejemplo el aspartamo , despues de tres semanas mojado, pasa a tener gusto de trapo viejo sucio.Para evitar eso, se agregan una infinidad de otros productos quimicos, uno para alargar la vida del aspartamo, otro para neutralizar el color, otro para mantener el tercer quimico en suspension porque sino el fondo de la gaseosa quedaria oscuro, otro para evitar la cristalizacion del aspartamo, otro para realzar el sabor, dar mas intensidad al acido citrico o fosforito que perderia su sabor por el efecto de los cuatro productos quimicos iniciales... y asi sucesivamente.Un consejo final !!Despues de toda mi experiencia con la produccion de bebidas embasadas, puedo afirmar sin dudar un segundo: la mejor bebida es el agua, como tambien los jugos exprimidos de naranja o limon. Nada mas, cero azucar y cero sal.Publicado por loretahur MARGARINA o MANTEQUILLA La margarina fue producida originalmente para engordar a los pavos; cuandolo que hizo en realidad fue matarlos.Las personas que habian puesto el dinero para la investigacion quisieronrecobrarlo asi que empezaron a pensar en una forma de hacerlo.Tenian una sustancia blanca, que no tenia ningun atractivo como comestible,asi que le anadieron el color amarillo, para venderselo a lagente en lugar de la mantequilla.Que tal esa?... Ahora han sacado algunos nuevos sabores para vender mas alos incautos como usted y yo.CONOCE USTED la diferencia entre la margarina y la mantequilla?Siga leyendo hasta el final... porque se pone bastante interesante!Comparacion entre mantequilla y margarina: 1.- Ambas tienen la misma cantidad de calorias. 2.- La mantequilla es ligeramente mas alta en grasas saturadas: 8 gramos,comparada con los 5 gramos que tiene la margarina. 3.- Comer margarina en vez de mantequilla puede aumentar en 53% el riesgo deenfermedades coronarias en las mujeres, de acuerdo con un estudiomedico reciente de la Universidad de Harvard. 4.- Comer mantequilla aumenta la absorcion de gran cantidad de nutrientesque se encuentran en otros alimentos. 5.- La mantequilla provee beneficios nutricionales propios mientras lamargarina tiene solo los que le hayan sido anadidos al fabricarla. 6.- La mantequilla sabe mucho mejor que la margarina y mejora el sabor deotros alimentos.7.- La mantequilla ha existido durante siglos mientras que la margarinatiene menos de 100 anos. Ahora... sobre la margarina: 1.- Es muy alta en acidos grasos trans. (Si, esos que recien ahora loscientificos descubrieron que son malisimos y los gobiernoscomenzaron a prohibirlos) . 2.- Triple riesgo de enfermedades coronarias. 3.- Aumenta el colesterol total y el LDL (el colesterol malo) y disminuye elHDL (el colesterol bueno). 4.- Aumenta en cinco veces el riesgo de cancer. 5.- Disminuye la calidad de la leche materna. 6.- Disminuye la reaccion inmunologica del organismo. 7.- Disminuye la reaccion a la insulina. Y he aqui el factor mas inquietante (AQUI ESTA LA PARTE MAS INTERESANTE! ):A la margarina le falta UNA MOLECULA para ser PLASTICO...!!Solo este hecho es suficiente para evitar el uso de la margarina de porvida, y de cualquier otra cosa que sea hidrogenada (esto significaque se le anade hidrogeno, lo cual cambia la estructura molecular de lassubstancias).Usted puede ensayar lo siguiente:Compre un poco de margarina y dejela en el garaje o en un sitio sombreado.Dentro de unos dias notara dos cosas: * No habra moscas; ni siquiera esos molestos bichos se le acercaran (esto yale debe decir a usted algo). * No se pudre ni huele mal o diferente porque no tiene valor nutritivo; nadacrece en ella. Ni siquiera los diminutos microorganismos puedencrecer en ella.Por que? Porque es casi plastico!! No a la guerra, Si a la Paz Misterios de la ciencia... Los costos de la guerra medicos y capitalismo... Capitalismo... medicos (2) Quien educa a nuestros hijos? Los Medios... Sin Palabras... Chistes feministas - Cual es el problema, Eva? - Se que me has creado, que me has dado este hermoso jardin, todos estos maravillosos animales y esa serpiente con la que me muero de risa... pero no soy del todo feliz... - Como es eso, Eva? - replico Dios desde las alturas. - Me encuentro sola, y ademas estoy harta de comer manzanas... - Bueno Eva, en tal caso, tengo una solucion... creare un hombre para ti. - Que es un hombre? - Un hombre sera una criatura imperfecta, con muchas artimanas. Mentira, hara trampas, sera engreido... vamos, que te va a dar problemas... Pero, va a ser mas fuerte y rapido que tu y le gustara cazar y matar cosas... Tendra un aspecto simple, pero como te estas quejando, le creare de tal forma que satisfaga tus... eh... necesidades fisicas... Y tampoco sera muy listo, y destacara en cosas infantiles como pegarse o dar patadas a un balon... Necesitara tu consejo siempre para actuar cuerdamente. - Suena bien - dijo Eva, mientras levantaba la ceja ironicamente. - Cual es el truco?. - Pues... que lo tendras con una condicion. - Cual? - Como te decia, sera chulo, arrogante y muy narcisista... asi que le tendras que hacer creer que le hice a el primero... recuerda... es nuestro secreto... de mujer a mujer. Por que a los hombres no les puede dar la enfermedad de las vacas locas? Porque todos son unos cerdos Un dia, en el Paraiso, Eva llamo a Dios: Tengo un problema.- Cual es el problema, Eva?- Se que me has creado, que me has dado este hermoso jardin, todos estos maravillosos animales y esa serpiente con la que me muero de risa... pero no soy del todo feliz... - Como es eso, Eva? - replico Dios desde las alturas.- Me encuentro sola, y ademas estoy harta de comer manzanas...- Bueno Eva, en tal caso, tengo una solucion... creare un hombre para ti.- Que es un hombre?- Un hombre sera una criatura imperfecta, con muchas artimanas. Mentira, hara trampas, sera engreido... vamos, que te va a dar problemas... Pero, va a ser mas fuerte y rapido que tu y le gustara cazar y matar cosas... Tendra un aspecto simple, pero como te estas quejando, le creare de tal forma que satisfaga tus... eh... necesidades fisicas... Y tampoco sera muy listo, y destacara en cosas infantiles como pegarse o dar patadas a un balon... Necesitara tu consejo siempre para actuar cuerdamente.- Suena bien - dijo Eva, mientras levantaba la ceja ironicamente.- Cual es el truco?.- Pues... que lo tendras con una condicion.- Cual?- Como te decia, sera chulo, arrogante y muy narcisista... asi que le tendras que hacer creer que le hice a el primero... recuerda... es nuestro secreto... de mujer a mujer.Por que a los hombres no les puede dar la enfermedad de las vacas locas? Porque todos son unos cerdos Ellas... Ellas (2)... Tres venganzas femeninas VENGANZA NUMERO 1 Hoy mi hija cumple 21 anos y estoy muy contento porque es el ultimo pago de pension alimenticia que le doy, asi que llame a mi hijita para que viniera a mi casa y cuando llego le dije: -Hijita, quiero que lleves este cheque a casa de tu mama y que le digas que: Este es el ultimo maldito cheque que va recibir de mi en todo lo que le queda de su puta vida!!! Quiero que me digas la expresion que pone en su rostro. Asi que mi hija fue a entregar el cheque. Yo estaba ansioso por saber lo que la bruja tenia que decir y que cara pondria. Cuando mi hijita entro, le pregunte inmediatamente: -Que fue lo que te dijo tu madre? -Me dijo que justamente estaba esperando este dia para decirte que no eres mi papa! VENGANZA NUMERO 2 Un hombre que siempre molestaba a su mujer, paso un dia por la casa de unos amigos para que lo acompanaran al aeropuerto a dejar a su esposa que viajaba a Paris. A la salida de inmigracion, frente a todo el mundo, el le desea buen viaje y en tono burlon le grita: - Amor, no te olvides de traerme una hermosa francesita Ja ja ja!! Ella bajo la cabeza y se embarco muy molesta. La mujer paso quince dias en Francia. El marido otra vez pidio a sus amigos que lo acompanasen al aeropuerto a recibirla. Al verla llegar, lo primero que le grita a toda voz es: - Y amor me trajiste mi francesita?? - Hice todo lo posible, - contesta ella - ahora solo tenemos que rezar para que nazca nina. VENGANZA NUMERO 3 El marido, en su lecho de muerte, llama a su mujer. Con voz ronca y ya debil, le dice: - Muy bien, llego mi hora, pero antes quiero hacerte una confesion. - No, no, tranquilo, tu no debes hacer ningun esfuerzo. - Pero, mujer, es preciso - insiste el marido - Es preciso morir en paz. Te quiero confesar algo. - Esta bien, esta bien. Habla! - He tenido relaciones con tu hermana, tu mama y tu mejor amiga. - Lo se, lo se Por eso te envenene, hijo de puta!!! machismo y cibernetica Chiste machista La NASA ha enviado al espacio una mision experimental tripulada por dos monos y una mujer.Apenas abandona la atmosfera, se establece comunicacion con Houston. -Atencion, simio 1, verifique sistemas hidraulicos, controle adecuada presion de los propulsores de arranque. A 60.000 pies disminuya un 25% la velocidad. El simio hace la sena de OK. -Atencion, simio 2, nivele al cruzar la estratosfera y active sistemas anticongelantes. No olvide monitorear sistemas de comunicacion e indicadores de presion. Comprendido?. El simio hace la sena de OK. -Atencion, Houston llamando a mujer: no se olvide. -Mujer: Si, si, ya se! -interrumpe enojada- que no me olvide darles de comer a estos monos de mierda y que no se me vaya a ocurrir tocar nada!. .Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti. Un abogado mantiene un romance con su secretaria.Al poco tiempo, esta queda embarazada y el abogado, que no quiere que su esposa se entere, le da a la secretaria una buena suma de dinero y le pide que se vaya a parir a Italia.Esta pregunta: Y como voy a hacerte saber cuando nazca el bebe ? El abogado responde: Para que mi mujer no se entere, tan solo enviame una postal y escribe por detras: Spaghetti. Y no te preocupes mas, que yo me encargare de todos los gastos. Pasan los meses y una manana la esposa del abogado lo llama al bufete, algo exaltada: Querido, acabo de recibir el correo y hay una postal muy extrana viene desde Italia. La verdad, no entiendo que significa.El abogado, tratando de ocultar sus nervios, contesta:Espera a que llegue a casa, a ver si yo entiendoCuando el hombre llega a casa y lee la postal, cae al suelo fulminado por un infarto.Llega una ambulancia y se lo lleva. Ya en el hospital, el jefe de cardiologia se queda consolando a la esposa y le pregunta cual ha sido el evento que precipito tan masivo ataque cardiaco. Entonces la esposa saca la postal y se la muestra diciendole: No me explico, doctor; el solamente leyo esta postal. Vea usted mismo lo que trae escrito.Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti."Tres con salchicha y albondigas y dos con almejas Gol !!!! Chistes de Borrachos Entra un borracho a su casa todo manchado con lapiz labial por todos lados hecho un desastre, y la mujer le pregunta:-Hombre que te paso?Y el borracho le responde:-No me vas a creer, me pelee con un payaso! Este es un borracho que entra en un bar y le dice al camarero:-Me da cinco copas de whisky?Al rato:-Me da cuatro?Al rato:-Me da tres copas?Despues:-Me da dos copas?Luego le dice:-Me da una copa?Y le dice al camarero:-Ves? Cuanto menos bebo, mas borracho estoy! " " Irish TV presenter Laura Whitmore (R) attends her birthday celebration, hosted by Haig Club Clubman at Ham Yard Hotel on May 7, 2017 in London. David M Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Haig Club Clubman It's an all too common predicament your birthday is just around the bend and no formal party is in the works, nor has a friend volunteered to throw something together. But it's your party and you'll celebrate if you want to, so you invite a group out to eat! But who pays for whom? Is it a faux pas for everyone to pay for themselves? Is it reasonable to expect the organizer to foot the bill for the group? Financial writer Michelle Singletary recently devoted an entire column to the subject, slamming people who expected others to pay at a celebration. "I want to commemorate your life moments your birthday, engagement, bridal shower .... But if you can't afford to host, stop charging me for your celebration," Singletary wrote. "Too many times, I've shown up for an event and been told after consuming the meal that I'm expected not just to pay for my food, but to chip in for the guest of honor." However, an informal Facebook poll showed that more than two-thirds of respondents were OK with paying for themselves at a birthday restaurant dinner. "I would pay for my own dinner and either chip in or totally pay for the birthday guy or gal," said Lisa Walden of Summerville, South Carolina in a typical comment. "At the very least I'd buy her a drink." Amanda Wagner of Atlanta disagreed. "We invited a group for my 40th and we picked up the entire bill. I can't imagine doing it another way because they were all there for me and I invited them to be there." So, who's right? A lot has to do with how the invitation is worded, say etiquette experts. Advertisement Host or Organizer? "If you're going to host, you're responsible for paying. If you're not willing to pay, you're an organizer, whether for yourself or someone else," says "The Etiquette Guy" Jay Remer. "If you were invited to such a party and there was no mention of Dutch treat or ticket price, so to speak, then you should rightfully assume that the host is covering all of the expenses. Fortunately, setting parameters for the evening is pretty easy, and just involves clear wording. Toronto-based etiquette educator Tina Manousos offers the following examples for variations on the birthday dinner. A friend organizing a birthday party for another friend could word the invite, "Let's treat the birthday girl/boy at CIBO Italian Restaurant this Friday night at 8 p.m." This makes it clear that everyone is paying for themselves and the honoree. Or the birthday girl could word her own Evite like, "'You are invited to celebrate my 30th birthday at King Henry's Pub this Saturday night .... Food and snacks are on me.' That would imply that drinks would be paid by each individual," says Manousos. Establishing in advance whether or not an event is Dutch treat is a simple courtesy that should always be offered to guests. "That way people can RSVP either yes or no but they would know what's expected," Remer says. Advertisement It's Your Birthday ... But Don't Make it All About You One of the cardinal rules of etiquette is never to put someone in an awkward position, especially an awkward financial position. "Be considerate of your guests and friends," emails Manousos. "If you are all struggling financially because you are students, host a small party at your home with affordable snack foods ... keep it simple for everybody." The main thing is to avoid making your guests feel resentful. Elizabeth Wilson (not her real name) of Acworth, Georgia remembers when she and her husband paid the restaurant bill for a couple who joined them to celebrate her wedding anniversary. The following year, this couple invited Wilson and her husband to celebrate their own anniversary and the couple expected them to foot the bill. "They have a history of this, I shouldn't have been surprised," she emails. "But in my opinion, it was very rude. I felt taken for granted by our friends." Now That's Cool If you're organizing but not paying for your own birthday dinner, consider doing your guests a solid by stating ahead of time that no gifts are necessary. When asked to do the same by others, make an effort to honor their no-gift wishes, no matter how counterintuitive it feels. Instead, supplement the occasion with a personal written sentiment. " " FEMA Corp members load water and cots into truck trailers at the Atlanta Distribution Center in anticipation of Hurricane Matthew, Atlanta, Georgia, in October 2016. Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images After Hurricane Harvey left the city of Houston badly battered and flooded in August 2017, and a second hurricane called Irma was poised to wreak similar devastation upon Florida, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) revealed that its $6 billion Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) was down to its last $1 billion or so. " " Following disastrous flooding due to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, FEMA deployed shelter trailers to the Gulf Coast, where thousands of evacuees were still living in tents in 2006. Marianne Todd/Getty Images That led to alarming headlines such as "FEMA could run out of cash this weekend" and "FEMA is Expected to Run Out of Money by Friday," and possibly raised public fears that the multi-faceted relief effort financed by the relief fund which pays for everything from removing storm debris to providing cash grants to evacuees to pay for food and shelter was in danger of grinding to a halt. But the U.S. Congress quickly put such worries to rest on Sept. 8, 2017, by hastily passing legislation that gave the DRF an infusion of cash. Advertisement "The emergency supplemental appropriation of $7.4 billion allows FEMA to continue to fully focus on the ongoing preparation, response, and recovery needs," said an agency spokesperson via email. While legislators may have cut it a bit close, there was little chance that FEMA actually would run out of cash. According to a Congressional Research Service analysis, Congress made 14 supplemental appropriations to the fund between 2004 and 2013, for a total of $89.6 billion. In one year alone 2005, the year that Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and other areas in the Gulf Coast legislators bolstered the fund with three extra appropriations amounting to $43 billion. That might lead you to wonder: Why does the relief fund run low on money so often? Why not just increase its regular budget? Part of the answer is that natural disasters simply are difficult to predict. Elizabeth A. Zimmerman, former associate administrator for FEMA's Office of Response and Recovery, says that the agency bases its annual projection of how much to put into the fund on rolling 10-year averages of what is needed to spend for hurricanes and other disasters. In recent years, that projection has worked out to around $6 billion per year. But a year like 2017 can blow a hole in that budget pretty quickly. "Who would have thought that less in a month, two category 4 hurricanes would hit the U.S.?" says Zimmerman, now an Arizona-based emergency management consultant. "That's never happened." During a hurricane in the United States, FEMA typically spends money at a rate of $200 million a day, Zimmerman says. " " FEMA administrator Brock Long briefs the press on Aug. 29, 2017, in Corpus Christi, Texas, discussing FEMA disaster preparedness for Hurricane Harvey. Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images FEMA probably also goes through money quicker these days than in the past. After 2005's Hurricane Katrina, when the agency's response was criticized for being slow and ineffective, Congress passed legislation reorganizing FEMA to make it more nimble, and the agency began making more advance preparations when a storm was coming. "While it may cost more on the front end to equip FEMA with the resources necessary to prepare in advance and to have supplies and equipment pre-positioned where they'll be needed most, it produces significant savings on the back end," says Gary R. Webb, a professor and chair of the Emergency Management and Disaster Science department at the University of North Texas, in an email. Rafael Lemaitre, who served as FEMA's director of public affairs during the Obama administration, says that, 2017 aside, the relief fund has come close to running out of money on only one occasion. "The Joplin, Missouri tornadoes in May 2011 left the DRF at a record low," he says via email. "Three months later, when Hurricane Irene roared into the Mid-Atlantic states, FEMA was forced to significantly curtail its disaster work all across the country while the Obama administration waited for funding from Congress. FEMA used its limited DRF dollars for the most critical and pressing disaster demands, but that meant halting longer-term recovery projects from previous disasters, leaving communities across the country uncertain about the future." " " Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, a crew member aboard a U.S. Navy landing craft directs the unloading of bottled water on a beach near Biloxi, Mississippi. The Navy's involvement in humanitarian assistance operations was led by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in conjunction with the Department of Defense. Thomas Coffelt/U.S. Navy/Getty Images Lemaitre says that if FEMA's fund ever did completely run dry, the agency wouldn't be able to spend money without violating federal law. But he doesn't expect that ever to happen. "Members of Congress from both parties have always been there for FEMA in times of need," he says. After Harvey hit, Congress quickly amended an appropriations bill to remove a proposed $875.5 million cut to the disaster relief fund, which reportedly was intended to help pay for President Trump's proposed border wall. Now That's Important Individual states could help to keep FEMA's relief fund from running low, says Lemaitre, by adopting long-term strategies, such as improving building codes, to mitigate the impact of future storms. "It's not fair to keep asking federal taxpayers to pay to rebuild the same structures over and over again," he says. "It's time to build back safer and stronger." " " If Vice President Mike Pence was to become president for any reason, how would his vice president be named? Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Any American schoolkid can tell you what happens when there's an unexpected vacancy in the Oval Office. If the president of the United States leaves office during his term dies (it's happened eight times, four times through assassination), resigns (once, Richard Nixon), is incapacitated in some manner (never) or is removed from office (never) his right-hand man, the vice president, slides over into the big chair. It's right there in Article II, Section 1, Clause 6 of the U.S. Constitution. But what happens when the veep's chair opens up, either because he's "promoted" to president or something happens to him while he's No. 2? (Note: Yes, all the male pronouns still apply as of this writing.) Advertisement Those circumstances are provided for in the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, which was passed in 1967. Section 2 states: "Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress." So whether the VP becomes president and the 25th Amendment clarifies that the second-in-charge doesn't just assume the duties of the president, he (or, maybe someday, she) "shall become president" or the VP just vacates the office for some other reason, the president has the right to nominate a sidekick, which the House and the Senate must then confirm. It might sound simple, but replacing a VP always has been a little sketchy. An unplanned presidential vacancy is immediately taken care of through Article II and the presidential line of succession; it goes VP, speaker of the house, president pro tempore of the senate, secretary of state, right down the line to the newest cabinet post established, the secretary of homeland security. Until the 25th Amendment, though, when a vice presidential vacancy popped up, the new president (sometimes the old VP) just left that No. 2 chair open until a new election. John Tyler, who took over for William Henry Harrison (who died of pneumonia just 31 days into his term), never had a VP in almost four years as president. Lyndon Johnson, who took over for John F. Kennedy in November 1963, was without a VP for more than a year until Hubert H. Humphrey filled the spot after the 1964 election. Even after the 25th Amendment, filling a vice presidential opening hasn't been particularly snappy. It's happened twice since the 25th's passage in '67. The office of vice president was empty for a couple of months in 1973 after Nixon's vice president, Spiro Agnew, resigned, until Gerald Ford was cleared to fill the spot. When Nixon later quit in August 1974, and Ford became president, he had no vice president for more than four months, until Nelson Rockefeller finally was confirmed by Congress. Through the years, the president and lawmakers have worked to grant the No. 2 spot in the executive branch more power, culminating in a constitutional amendment that attempts to ensure that the office is always filled. So no matter what happens in the messy world of politics these days, a president will have a vice president by his side sooner or later. NOW THAT'S INTERESTING Fourteen vice presidents have risen to, or been elected to, the Oval Office. The first was the first VP of the U.S., John Adams, who served two terms under George Washington before being elected president in 1796. The most recent was George H.W. Bush, elected president in 1988. He was a two-term veep under President Ronald Reagan. Advertisement Originally Published: Dec 11, 2018 An estimated 17 million Australians go to the polls Saturday, capping a close-run election race that may be the first anywhere decided on climate policy. Prime Minister Scott Morrison's conservative Liberals have closed the gap on Labor on the eve of the vote, but differences over climate may prove the difference between the two parties. A season of record floods, wildfires and droughts has brought the issue has been front and centre of the campaign. Labor has pledged ambitious targets for renewable energy, while the Liberals said they would not risk the coal-fuelled economy's health to make the air cleaner. Final polls show the vote is going down to the wire, with Labor ahead 51-49. But compulsory voting and a complex system of ranking candidates mean an upset is possible. There are growing signs the Liberals stance on climate may be politically unsustainable. In rural areas, climate-hit farmers are demanding action, while eco-minded centre-right independents running them close in once-safe suburban seats that have become make or break for the six-year-old government. "This will be the closest election we've seen in many, many years," Morrison predicted while making a final pitch to voters in north Queensland. Weeks ago the contest looked like it may be a rout for the centre-left Labor Party. But a final survey by Ipsos Friday showed Morrison's coalition trailing Shorten's Labor 49 to 51 percent, from 48 to 52 percent two weeks ago. In some battleground seats, the race is even tighter, with the electorate split 50-50. "I don't think anyone... thought this is where the election would be the day before," Morrison said. - Candidates egged - The campaign has been an often ignominious pitched-battle, with Morrison -- in lock step with Rupert Murdoch's fiercely conservative media -- mounting a relentlessly negative campaign, warning a Labor government will wreck the already slowing economy. Out on the campaign trail, candidates have been egged, abused and a slew have resigned for racist, sexist and otherwise jaw-dropping social media posts. Morrison is scraping for his political life, hoping to avoid entering the history books as one of the shortest-serving prime ministers in Australian history. He took office last August after a party room coup that ousted moderate pro-climate leader Malcolm Turnbull -- the latest in a series of political fratricides that have made Canberra politics look like "Game of Thrones" meets "The Hunger Games." Much of Morrison's cabinet has resigned or gone into virtual hiding because of their unpopularity. If he wins, it would be one of the greatest political comebacks anywhere, akin to US president Harry Truman's defeat of Thomas Dewey in 1948. If Shorten is elected, he would become the sixth prime minister sworn into office in a decade. The former union leader has struggled with low personal approval ratings but has become a more polished campaigner as the election has neared. Still, his relative lack of charisma was underlined Thursday by the death of much-loved former prime minister Bob Hawke, an Oxford-educated lovable rogue, equally at home chugging a pint or debating Keynesian economics. Shorten's hopes of grabbing the top job may hinge on results in Queensland and his home state of Victoria -- where Labor's lead has proved more resilient and where climate change has been a critical issue. Should he win, Australia will likely get a vote on becoming a Republic and, as Shorten put it, returning a head of state that Australia has borrowed from the other side of the world for more than two centuries. Polls open at 8:00 am local (2200 GMT) and the first exit polls are expected around 10 hours later. THE attempt of National Youth Commission (NYC) Chair Ronald Cardema to become a party-list nominee will likely become futile, as the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Friday, May 17, pointed how the period to substitute nominees for party-list groups is already over. "I think we have published rules for that and that the period for substitution has already lapsed. The period of substitution has already lapsed," said Comelec spokesman James Jimenez in a media briefing. Jimenez's comment came after Cardema supposedly filed a motion to become a substitute nominee of the Duterte Youth party-list. This was after Cardema's wife and Duterte Youth's first nominee, Ducielle Marie Suarez, withdrew her acceptance to the nomination of the group. Under Comelec Resolution 3307, a party-list nominee may only be substituted if he dies, or his nomination is withdrawn by the party, or he becomes incapacitated to continue as such, or he withdraws his acceptance to the nomination. No substitution, however, shall be allowed by reason of withdrawal after the close of polls, added the Comelec resolution. In any of the aforementioned cases, Comelec rules provide that the name of the substitute nominee shall be placed last in the list of the group's nominees. Based on the list of nominees filed by Duterte Youth, its other nominees are Joseph de Guzman (2nd), Benilda de Guzman (3rd), Arnaldo Villafranca (4th), and Elizabeth Anne Cardema (5th). Based on the latest tally of the NBOC, Duterte Youth is at 22nd place with 275,979 votes. Asked whether it was the first time that such an attempt to be a substitute party-list nominee is being sought, Jimenez answered in the negative. "Not by a long shot. People do it all the time," said Jimenez. For its part, poll watchdog group, Kontra Daya, said the Comelec must be firm in its rules not to allow what is a "patently illegal substitution." "Allowing it will cement public perception that the Comelec is under the control of the Duterte cabal in Malacanan Palace," it said in a statement. "The Comelec should dismiss outright this prohibited pleading from Cardema and save whatever little is left of the integrity of the party-list system. The Comelec should not be a party to the further erosion and destruction of this system by allowing such a patently illegal substitution," added Kontra Daya. (HDT/SunStar Philippines) AT LEAST 10 business deals are expected to be signed between the Philippines and Japan during President Rodrigo Duterte's third visit to Tokyo in late May.Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez revealed this AT LEAST 10 business deals are expected to be signed between the Philippines and Japan during President Rodrigo Duterte's third visit to Tokyo in late May. Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez revealed this on Thursday, May 16, saying the business agreements would allow existing Japanese firms in the Philippines to expand their operations in the fields of electronics, manufacturing, data analytics, services, manufacturing, energy, tourism and transportation. "So far, we have around two [memoranda of understanding] and eight na letters of intent. In other words, companies that are already here that are intending to expand their operation, invest more, expand the operations. These are big Japanese companies we cannot also ignore," the Trade chief said. "They still want to express their support and confidence for the current administration and they want to indicate their intent to invest more. So thats so far what were getting," he added. Lopez noted that the number of business deals may still go up. He, however, could not provide ballpark figure of the total potential investments in the Philippines. The Trade chief was confident that the trade relations between the Philippines and Japan would further improve, following the impending signing of the deals. "Lalong lalakas itong [trade relations ng Pilipinas at Japan], two-way (The trade relations between the Philippines and Japan. It's going to be mutually beneficial for the two countries)," Lopez said. Duterte is scheduled to fly to Japan to participate in the 25th International Conference on the Future of Asia on May 30 to 31. Lopez said the President, in a keynote speech, is expected to encourage Japanese companies to invest in the Philippines. "Im sure he will be talking to the business sector, so all the gains Im sure the S&P credit rating upgrade, the reforms that we are doing and we will continue to do especially with the new Congress, the new Senate, and these are reforms that will definitely attract more investments and entice more investments," he said. "More importantly, of course, the security aspect is really important because stability, security, is important in attracting also investments. His passion to stop all corruption, thats always his commitment to investors so Im sure he will also highlight that," he added. (SunStar Philippines) Command center of election watchdog, Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) MANILA, Philippines The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) is looking to release next week the results of its analysis on the Commission on Elections (Comelec) transparency server audit logs which experienced a seven-hour glitch right after the May 13 midterm polls. PPCRV Chairperson Myla Villanueva said their team of information technology (IT) experts will work over the weekend to analyze the logs in an attempt to get to the bottom of the issue. We hope that by Sunday or Monday we can give you more information, Villanueva told reporters at the PPCRV command center in Manila. Comelec on Thursday granted PPCRVs request to access the logs of the transparency server to probe the seven-hour delay in the display of electronically-transmitted election results following the poll bodys initial output on election day. Tuwang-tuwa kami, although alam na din naman namin na papayag yung COMELEC, pinormalize lang yun, said PPCRV board member Dr. Arwin Serrano. On Monday, election observers have expressed alarm after the PPCRV and medias partial, unofficial count were not updated since it received votes from 0.38 percent of clustered precincts by 6 p.m. Comelec later explained that the application, which is supposed to transmit data from the transparency server to PPCRV terminals and media networks, had encountered an error. The transparency server was only able to send out data, showing partial and unofficial count based on 90.57 percent of clustered precincts, at around 1 a.m. on May 14. It is important for the public to know kung yung issue is technical. If its technical, talaga naman pong nagka-aberya ang makina. We just want to know na yun lang po and nothing more and nothing less, Villanueva said. The PPCRV, as part of its poll watchdog duty, taps the transparency server for a copy of the election results to be used in its unofficial parallel count of cast votes. Aside from audit logs, the agency also asked Comelec to provide them data from its central server to see if it matches the information received from the transparency server. The PPCRV expects to complete the manual encoding of election returns and partial, unofficial tally by end of May. (with details from April Cenedoza) The post PPCRV: Analysis results on transparency server audit logs out next week appeared first on UNTV News. AN OFFICIAL of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) called on the incoming batch of rookie senators not to become mere rubberstamps of the Duterte administration in its bid to revive the death penalty. In a statement, CBCP-Episcopal Commission on Prison Pastoral Care (ECPPC) Executive Secretary Rodolfo Diamante said they are hoping that the new senators will not automatically agree with the measures being pushed by President Rodrigo Duterte, such as the death penalty revival. "The CBCP-ECPPC calls on our new senators not to pass legislations just to please the President," said Diamante Friday, May 17. "They have been elected by the people to work for their welfare, not the President's," he added. Instead of becoming "rubberstamps," Diamante called on incoming lawmakers to do their job well by studying the proposed measure. "We urge them to study the bills thoroughly and determine if they will really address the problems of our country," he said. The CBCP official stressed that death penalty can never become a deterrent to crimes, including heinous ones. "It is anti-life, anti-poor, and will enhance only the culture of violence that is now prevailing in our country," he said. "Don't give our people a quick fix solution to our people's problem. They deserve something better," added Diamante. Earlier, Senate President Vicente Sotto III expressed belief that there is now a better chance for the death penalty law to be passed now that the Senate is poised to be filled with allies of Duterte. This as the ongoing official canvassing of votes for senators reveal that at least eight administration bets are inside the winners circle. The CBCP has long been against the revival of death penalty in the Philippines. (HDT/SunStar Philippines) The revolution has only just started, says Alibaba's Jack Ma Six European consumer rights associations said Friday they have asked national authorities to look into illegal practices by firms using the AliExpress site of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. Buyers in European countries enjoy the right to return goods within two weeks and get clear warranty information about the minimum 2-year warranty period, rules that platforms that host third-party sellers have sometimes found difficult to enforce. Consumer rights groups in Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain asked their national regulators to look into practices on AliExpress, which mostly hosts Chinese sellers. "If Alibaba wants to trade on the European market, it must respect the rules that apply here. That is not negotiable," said Sandra Molenaar, head of the Dutch consumer association Consumentenbond. The Consumentenbond also noted that AliExpress' terms and conditions force consumers to go to arbitration in Hong Kong if they have any dispute, while EU laws give them the right to go to courts in their own country. French consumer group UFC-Que Choisir meanwhile said that French clients were not being provided with documentation in French. France's DGCCRF anti-fraud office said it took the complaint seriously, as did AliExpress. "We will look attentively at the complaint which we have received and we are ready to engage in discussions with the European Commission and competent authorities," the company told AFP. "We respect the rights of consumers and we are very attentive to their concerns." The complaints came a day after Alibaba's founder Jack Ma was in Paris for a tech conference, where he wryly suggested Europe should spend more time fixing problems than creating laws and rules. "If you think the tech revolution is a problem, I am sorry to say that it has just started," said Ma. "If you think it is an opportunity, it is only beginning. One thing changes: your mentality." On Wednesday, Alibaba announced its net profit more than tripled to $3.8 billion in the first quarter. 2019 AFP Credit: Northern Arizona University Since the mid-20th century, the global human population has grown from 2.5 billion to 7.7 billion, according to the most recent United Nations estimate. Much of this growth was due to the unprecedented agricultural expansion made possible by the widespread use of synthetic pesticides starting in the 1950s. By applying pesticides to prevent a variety of insects, rodents and birds from damaging crops, farmers increased productivity by between 20 and 50 percent and maximized the benefits of other valuable agricultural tools, such as high-quality seeds, fertilizers and water resources. As pests evolved and developed resistance to pesticides, however, they passed on these genetic factors to their offspring, which resulted in higher proportions of these populations becoming pesticide-resistant. The pest control industry then developed stronger and more concentrated treatments, which led to further increases in pesticide resistance within the targeted populations. Although repeating this cycle with higher and higher treatment concentrations may work in the short term, scientists agree it will ultimately lead to increasingly resistant populations, a process that threatens to make most pesticides obsolete. "Evolved resistance to pesticides is now recognized as one of the most significant problems of modern times," said Stephen Shuster, professor of invertebrate zoology in NAU's Department of Biological Sciences. Study finds contraceptives have significant implications for pest management Shuster conducted a new study focused on genetic factors that contribute to pesticide resistance in rats, which proposes a different approach to pest control through the use of contraceptive treatments. Shuster collaborated on the study, published in the journal Heliyon, with scientists Cheryl Dyer, Loretta Mayer and Brandy Pyzyna of SenesTech, a local Flagstaff firm with many ties to NAU. Dyer was formerly a research professor in NAU's Department of Biology. Mayer is an alumna, earning both her master's and Ph.D. degrees in biology at the university. Pyzyna also earned her master's degree in biology at NAU. "Our results have significant implications for the development and application of treatments to manage pests, now and into the future," Shuster said. The team examined a number of pest control approaches, including three primary solutions already proposed to mitigate this growing problem: withholding treatment altogether; selectively applying treatment; and applying treatments in combination. After running extensive simulations on rat reproduction to understand the intense selection process that results in evolved pesticide resistance, the scientists found that because pesticides and sterilants rarely eradicate an entire pest population, they impose powerful selection favoring the evolution of resistance to pesticide treatment. In contrast, contraceptives act to reduce pest population size by targeting particular age classes. This process limits population growth and keeps genetic factors that confer resistance at such low frequency that they can be lost from the population by chance. "Our overall conclusion is that we can mitigate the selection responsible for the evolution of pesticide resistance by changing the usual goal of pest control treatments. Instead of attempting, and ultimately failing, to destroy or sterilize an entire pest population, we advocate the use of contraceptive treatments that primarily act to reduce these species' rates of reproduction, and that leaves as much of the pre-treatment population as possible intact," Shuster said. "We show that this approach dramatically reduces the opportunity for selection favoring the evolution of resistance and may thereby permit the safe and long-term application of pest control measures." Shuster's main research interests are mating system evolution, male and female reproductive strategies, community and ecosystem genetics and population biology of marine organisms. In 2017, Shuster was named an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellow, recognized by his peers for "distinguished contributions to the fields of invertebrate zoology, mating system and sexual selection research, and for undergraduate science education and communicating science to the public." Explore further Study traces the origins of a major potato pest More information: Stephen M. Shuster et al. The opportunity for sexual selection and the evolution of non-responsiveness to pesticides, sterility inducers and contraceptives, Heliyon (2018). Stephen M. Shuster et al. The opportunity for sexual selection and the evolution of non-responsiveness to pesticides, sterility inducers and contraceptives,(2018). DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2018.e00943 Nissan hopes a shake-up of its management structure will turn around its fortunes Japanese car giant Nissan shook up its executive board Friday, adding a top director from partner Renault as it battles the fallout from the Carlos Ghosn saga and disappointing results. The firm will propose to shareholders a new board structure with 11 members, six of whom will be external, as Nissan attempts to improve corporate governance in the wake of former chairman Ghosn's arrest for alleged financial misconduct. "With the lessons from the recent executive misconduct still fresh, Nissan resolves to rigorously pursue separation of supervisory and executive functions," said the firm. Renault chief executive Thierry Bollore will join his colleague from the French firm, chairman Jean-Dominique Senard on the board, with the two partner firms are at odds on how close their ties should be. The appointment appears intended to calm tensions between the firms. A source close to the matter said Bollore's appointment was a major concession from Nissan towards Renault "given that Nissan's management has very little confidence" in the French executive. Bollore stood by Ghosn for a long time after his arrest, sparking anger at Nissan, whose internal investigation brought down its former boss. Another source said Senard "had pushed for this appointment but the Japanese refused at the beginning." Senard has already been sitting on the Nissan board since he was elected to replace Ghosn at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting in April. "For Renault, it's about having someone on the board, next to Senard, who knows the story, a heavyweight who will share Senard's views," said the second source. 'Differences of opinion' Nissan boss Hiroto Saikawa will keep his job despite mounting pressure on him to step down after a set of disastrous results, with net profits expected to plunge to a decade-low in the coming year. Several shareholders have called for Saikawa to be sacked before his term comes up for renewal in June but the former Ghosn protege has insisted he wants to stay on and guide the reforms he hopes will return Nissan to profitability. Keiko Ihara, a former racing driver who headed a group to suggest reforms to Nissan governance after the Ghosn arrest, admitted there had been "inappropriate conduct" and that "the top management should be held responsible." But in the end, it was a "unanimous" decision to keep Saikawa in his job, Ihara said. The firm has been crippled by the reputational damage caused by the legal woes of former chairman Ghosn, who faces four formal charges of financial misconduct. He denies any wrongdoing. But analysts point to several problems for Nissan beyond Ghosn, including apparently declining relations with its French partner Renault and a dearth of new products. "At this time of radical transformation in the automotive industry, Nissan urgently needs to establish a highly effective governance structure to enhance business capabilities and achieve sustainable corporate value," the company said in its statement. Saikawa has brushed off calls for his resignation, saying he wanted to launch a fresh start for the firm and would discuss the timing of his stepping down "at the appropriate time." Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi Motors make up an unusual three-way alliance that has grown to become the top-selling car group. Ghosn was the driving force between bringing the firms together and has since alleged that Nissan launched an investigation into him over fears he was hoping to merge the Japanese and French companies. Saikawa has admitted "differences of opinion" with Senard on the future make-up of the alliance, including the capital partnership between the two companies. Renault is pushing towards a merger of the two firms but Nissan executives are more sceptical. Explore further Nissan taps new Renault boss to replace Ghosn on board 2019 AFP Credit: Structuresxx/Shutterstock Governments are becoming ever more reliant on digital technology, making them more vulnerable to cyber attacks. In 2007, Estonia was attacked by pro-Russian hackers who crippled government servers, causing havoc. Cyber attacks in Ukraine targeted the country's electricity grid, while Iran's nuclear power plants were infected by malware that could have led to a nuclear meltdown. In the US, president Trump recently declared a "national emergency" to recognise the threat to US computer networks from "foreign adversaries". Politically-motivated cyber attacks are becoming increasingly commonplace but unlike traditional warfare between two or more states, cyberwarfare can be launched by groups of individuals. On occasion, the state is actually caught in the crosshairs of competing hacking groups. This doesn't mean that states don't actively prepare for such attacks. British defence officials have said they're prepared to conduct cyber attacks against Moscow's power grid, should Russia decide to launch an offensive. In most cases, cyberwarfare operations have been conducted in the background, designed as scare tactics or displays of power. But the blending of traditional warfare and cyberwarfare seems inevitable and a recent incident added a new dimension. How to respond to cyber attacks Israeli Defence Forces bombed a building allegedly housing Hamas hackers, after they had attempted to, according to the IDF, attack "Israeli targets" online. This is the first time a cyber attack has been met with physical force by a state's military. But who is to blame and how should states respond when defending against cyber attacks? Cyber attacks are a serious challenge for established laws of armed conflict. Determining the origin of an attack isn't impossible, but the process can take weeks. Even when the origin can be confirmed, it may be difficult to establish that a state was responsible. This is especially true when cyber operations could be perpetrated by hackers in other countries routing their attacks through different jurisdictions. NATO experts have highlighted the issue in the Tallinn Manual on International Law Applicable to Cyberwarfare. There is no consensus on whether a state is responsible for a cyber attack originating from its networks if it did not have explicit knowledge of the attack. Failure to take appropriate measures to prevent an attack by a host state could mean that the victim state is entitled to respond through proportionate use of force in self defence. But if there's uncertainty around who is to blame for the attack, any justification for a counter-attack is diminished. Even if the problem of attribution is resolved, a state's right to respond with force to a cyber attack would normally be prohibited. Article 2(4) of the UN Charter protects the territorial integrity and political structures of states from attack. This can be lawfully bypassed if a state can claim they're defending themselves against an "armed attack". The International Court of Justice explains that: "It will be necessary to distinguish between the most grave forms of the use of force (those constituting an armed attack) from other less grave forms." So a cyber-attack would justify force as self-defence if it could be considered an "armed attack". But is that possible? Only when the "scale" and "effect" of a cyber-attack are comparable to an offline "armed attack", such as attacks that lead to deaths and widespread damage to infrastructure. If so, self-defence is justified. But what about when a cyber attack has been successfully defended against? Then, its effects can only be guessed at. This makes deciding a proportional response even trickier. Physical force used as self-defence after the cyber attack has already been successfully defended against could be considered unnecessary and therefore, illegal. An exception, however, might be made for a preemptive defence against an imminent or possible attack. When self-defence is considered reasonably necessary, the nature of the force permitted can vary. Proportionate counter-attacks with conventional military weapons can be acceptable responses to cyber operations under international law. These issues are only the start of the challenges posed by cyberwarfare, which will get more complicated as technology develops. The intellectual challenges this will generate are numerous, but we still can't help but be fearful. Societies face potentially devastating consequences from cyberwarfare as we become more reliant on information technologies and communication networks for everyday life and we're only just starting to ask questions about it. Explore further German military to launch cyber command This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. The Porbeagle shark (Lamna nasus) photographed in Nova Scotia (North Atlantic Ocean). Credit: Doug Perrine // Special to Western News Mackerel sharks are large, fast-swimming apex predators that include Hollywood heavy-hitters like great whites (Jaws), mako (Deep Blue Sea) and the now-extinct Megalodon (The Meg). One of the smallest mackerel sharks is the porbeagleon average less than two metres longand it's one of the most critically endangered species of shark, too. However, thanks to findings from a Western-led study, the porbeagles could be on its way to recovery after a half century of overfishing. The study, Population structure and spatial distribution of porbeagles ( Lamna nasus ) in Irish waters, published by ICES Journal of Marine Science, includes valuable insights into porbeagle migratory patterns which will help shape long-term solutions for population management. In the Atlantic Ocean, porbeagles have two fairly distinct populations: off eastern Canada between Newfoundland and South Carolina and a northeastern population between the Barents Sea (Norway-Russia) and Africa. The latter population has been listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) due to a long history of overfishing and exploitation. After the population in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean crashed (and commercial fishing of porbeagles was subsequently banned), fisheries continued on Canada's East Coast until 2013 and now this porbeagle population is also in danger. Biology professor Paul Mensink, along with collaborators from Queen's University Belfast and Inland Fisheries Ireland, analyzed a long-term mark-and-recapture dataset from the Marine Sport Fish Tagging Programme which tagged 268 porbeagle sharks over 47 years, mainly in Irish waters. A collaboration between Inland Fisheries Ireland and recreational anglers, it is one of the longest-running shark tagging program in the world, with more than 40,000 individual sharks tagged. The dataset revealed that Irish waters may act as a persistent summer gathering site for juvenile porbeagles, and that those juveniles may return to the same or nearby sites year after year. Remarkably, one of the tagged sharks moved from Ireland all the way to Canada, marking the first time this type of transatlantic movement had ever been recorded. "It's incredible; there are 71 species of elasmobranchsspecies like sharks, rays and skatesin Irish waters and several of them are now critically endangered," Mensink said. "Our study demonstrates how citizen science programmes can help provide the vital information we so desperately need to develop robust and effective management plans for these species." The study also showed that porbeagles appear to be arriving into northern Irish coastal waters earlier and earlier each year, potentially indicating a shift in their long-term migratory movements. William Roche from Inland Fisheries Ireland says, "This study shows the value of such long-term tagging programmes and highlights the need for continued cooperation at the international level to safeguard this iconic shark species." Explore further Scientists tag sharks in Galapagos Islands to monitor their migration More information: Luke W J Cameron et al. Population structure and spatial distribution of porbeagles (Lamna nasus) in Irish waters, ICES Journal of Marine Science (2019). Luke W J Cameron et al. Population structure and spatial distribution of porbeagles (Lamna nasus) in Irish waters,(2019). DOI: 10.1093/icesjms/fsz046 Credit: NASA Less than half of the people in Washington and British Columbia have heard of the Salish Sea, even though they live alongside it. That's according to a recent report from the SeaDoc Society, a program of the University of California, Davis' School of Veterinary Medicine, and Oregon State University. The study reveals that only 5 percent of people in Washington and 14 percent of British Columbians can identify the Salish Seathe marine ecosystem that spans the United States-Canada border and includes both Seattle and Vancouver. The study surveyed 2,405 residents of Washington and British Columbia to measure familiarity with the name and geography of the Salish Sea, which is home to more than 8 million people. It spans from Olympia, Washington, in the south, to Campbell River, British Columbia, in the north, and includes Puget Sound, the Strait of Georgia and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. "The results of this study are both fascinating and sobering," said Markus Naugle, regional director of SeaDoc Society, which is part of the UC Davis Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center. "With targeted efforts in education, outreach, and collaboration, we have a tremendous opportunity to make great strides towards our goal of 'everyone asked knows the Salish Sea.'" Credit: UC Davis What's in a name? How residents identify with and understand a place can inform their behavior toward that place, including efforts to protect it. The Salish Sea is home to two of the fastest growing cities in North America alongside a marine ecosystem that is home to many charismatic species. These include endangered southern resident killer whales, whose population has dropped to just 75 individuals, and the Chinook salmon they depend on for survival. "When you have a sense of place, when you know and care about it, you are more likely to feel connected to it and then take steps to help restore and protect it," Naugle said. Credit: UC Davis Survey results Only 5 percent of Washington residents surveyed could name the Salish Sea when described to them geographically, and only 9 percent named the location when the region was circled on a map. The majority thought it was called Puget Sound, which is the body of water west of Seattle but not a term describing the whole sea. Results were only slightly better in British Columbia. Fourteen percent of residents could name it based on a written description, and 15 percent could identify the Salish Sea on the map. British Columbia residents were more diverse in their answers, with most identifying it as the ocean or the Strait of Georgiathe name of the body of water adjacent to Vancouver. Only 32 percent of Washington respondents had ever heard of the Salish Sea prior to the survey and only 48 percent in British Columbia were aware of the name. Southern resident killer whales in the Salish Sea in 2018. Credit: Katy Foster/NOAA FIsheries Low familiarity with the name is likely a reflection of the relative newness of the term Salish Sea. The name was adopted in 2010 after two decades of leadership by Bert Webber, a natural scientist at Western Washington University. It pays respect to the Coast Salish, the indigenous people who lived in connection with the sea long before western settlers arrived. It also formally acknowledges that these individually named bodies of waterfrom Puget Sound to the Haro Straitare part of a single, integrated ecosystem that spans an international border. The power of place The study was administered by David Trimbach, a postdoctoral research associate with the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at Oregon State University. He is currently housed at the Puget Sound Partnership, a Washington state agency. "Geographic literacy and place names matter, particularly when it comes to mobilizing communities and decision-makers around complex place-dependent problems," Trimbach said. "If communities are not sharing place names or understandings of place itself, such problems may be more difficult to collectively communicate and solve. By highlighting the power and potential influence of place, this project adds to regional efforts to improve the Salish Sea ecosystem." Explore further Energy development impacts for the Salish Sea More information: Dr. David J. Trimbach. Salish Sea Survey: Final Report. The SeaDoc Society, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, 2019. Dr. David J. Trimbach. Salish Sea Survey: Final Report., 2019. static1.squarespace.com/static alish-sea-survey.pdf Credit: Nations Online Project The 2009, magnitude-8.1 Samoa earthquake dealt a great deal of damage to the Samoan Islands: Tsunami waves as high as 14 meters (46 feet) wiped out multiple villages, claiming nearly 200 lives and severely damaging water and electrical systems. New research reveals the damage is likely to continue in the island Tutuila, also known as American Samoa. A new study shows the island is now sinking, a product of post-earthquake tectonic shifting that will likely continue for decades. According to the new study, published in AGU's Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, American Samoa's sinking has intensified the island's already rising sea levels. The authors predict that, since the 2009 Samoa earthquake, American Samoa's surrounding sea levels will climb an additional 30-40 centimeters (12-16 inches) throughout this century. The island's sea levels are now rising at an accelerated rate roughly five times higher than the global average, threatening regular coastal flooding in an area that has seen cyclones and other extreme weather in recent years, according to the new study. Before the earthquake, American Samoa's sea levels were already climbing two to three millimeters (0.07 to 0.11 inches) each year a rate caused by the melting of polar ice and glaciers, as well as the expanding, warming ocean. Today, said the study's authors, those two rates climb in tandem. "Before the earthquake, American Samoa was experiencing sea level rise that was roughly equal to the global average. But after the earthquake, that rate drastically increased," said Shin-Chan Han, Professor of Geodesy at the University of Newcastle in Callaghan, Australia and lead author of the new study. "That's alarming to me because of its many implications." Tremors with lasting impact The Samoan Islands are an archipelago in the central South Pacific, comprising a handful of islands that are home to roughly 250,000 people. Tropical forests cover portions of the larger islands, which are among the largest of the Polynesian islands. Crews working near the damage from the 2009 tsunami in American Samoa. Credit: Lorn Cramer/Flickr, Wikimedia Commons The Samoa earthquake was the largest of 2009 and gained international attention, as then-U.S. President Barack Obama declared it a major disaster, directing federal disaster aid to relief efforts. The Government of Samoa estimated the total cost of the earthquake's damage to be just shy of $150 million. The nature of the tremors were unique, according to the authors, in that they arose from two, near-simultaneous earthquakes emanating from the northern tip of the Kermadec-Tonga subduction zone. The Samoan Islands are situated within the Pacific Ring of Fire, a 40,000-kilometer (25,000-mile), volcanically-active area where several tectonic plates smash, grind and slide past one another to produce 90 percent of Earth's earthquakes. To better characterize the 2009 event, the authors assessed changes in Earth's gravity field caused by tectonic activity from GRACE satellites, used GPS to track the land's movement and analyzed past sea level changes by examining tide gauge records and satellite altimeter data. They then modeled the area's tectonic activity to estimate how the land will continue shifting in response to the Samoa earthquake. The authors found that, because of the Samoan Islands' placement around the fault zone, each island is responding differently. In Samoa, for example, tectonic shifting now pushes the island both horizontally and vertically at equal rates, according to the study. The American Samoa island, however, now moves mostly in a vertical direction, sinking into the Earth in a geological phenomenon known as subsidence, at a rate twice as fast as Samoa. Because of this movement, the authors now consider American Samoa an "extreme case," as tides may reach increasingly farther inland over the coming decades, potentially flooding the main road running along the island's perimeter and near its coast. "The ocean is eating up their land," said Han. "The major road in American Samoa is around the coastal area, and the coastal area is where they will see the impact of nuisance flooding." Han said the study highlights the need for government agencies to re-evaluate sea level rise in afflicted areas after large earthquakes, as tectonic movement can greatly influence the rate that sea levels rise, and should be considered in addition to climate-induced changes. "When the land subsidence effect is not considered we may misinterpret sea level rise," Han said. "Land motion is not ignorable. Sometimes, the land motion effect is greater than the climate change effect." Explore further Magnitude 6 earthquake strikes off Samoa, American Samoa More information: ShinChan Han et al. Sea Level Rise in the Samoan Islands Escalated by Viscoelastic Relaxation After the 2009 SamoaTonga Earthquake, Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth (2019). ShinChan Han et al. Sea Level Rise in the Samoan Islands Escalated by Viscoelastic Relaxation After the 2009 SamoaTonga Earthquake,(2019). DOI: 10.1029/2018JB017110 Eduardo Contreras-Reyes et al. Deep seismic structure of the Tonga subduction zone: Implications for mantle hydration, tectonic erosion, and arc magmatism, Journal of Geophysical Research (2011). DOI: 10.1029/2011JB008434 Journal information: Journal of Geophysical Research This story is republished courtesy of AGU Blogs (http://blogs.agu.org), a community of Earth and space science blogs, hosted by the American Geophysical Union. Read the original story here. Restored Orient Express carriages on display at the Gare de l'Est train station in Paris It conjures up the atmosphere of rail travel from a bygone golden age, steaming through Europe experiencing top-notch cuisine and the company of fellow passengers who could be writers or spies. And who knows, maybe a mysterious murder along the way deep in the night... The last true Orient Express travelled from Paris to Istanbul in 1977, drawing the curtain on almost a century of taking travellers on the fabled route from western Europe to the shores of the Bosphorus in Turkey. The train also entered popular culture, playing a central role in celebrated books and movies, not least Agatha Christie's 1930s novel "Murder on the Orient Express" which has inspired several films. The brand name was acquired by French rail operator SNCF which has now, at huge expense, restored original Orient Express carriages and is mulling re-launching the service. SNCF is this week exhibiting seven original carriages at Gare de l'Est station in Paris which have been returned to their original splendour after seven years of restoration. Three are dining cars which were used on the actual Orient Express in its heyday while the four others were used on routes run by the company in the south of France and other European routes. An Orient Express corridor, thre kind immortalised by Agatha Christie and other writers Height of luxury The cars display the height of luxury with plush armchairs for seats, immaculately varnished wooden tables and art deco fittings. SNCF picked up the brand from la Compagnie internationale des wagons-lits (CIWL), after the Orient Express service stopped in 1977, but barely exploited it until it began restoring the carriages from 2011. "To restore them, we went into our archives to find the original plans or samples of tissues and so forth," said Guillaume de Saint Lager, the executive director of Orient Express. "We used exceptional experts." The grand interior of one of the restored carriages, complete with art deco fittings For SNCF chief executive Guillaume Pepy the display at the Gare de l'Est could be the start of a new beginning for the Orient Express. "It is clearly a big investment, some 14 million euros ($15.6 million), but it is an investment in railway heritage," said Pepy. "They are a shop window for the expertise of the SNCF in preserving heritage." After intense research, the SNCF found historic Orient Express carriages in a siding in Poland close to the border with Belarus and can now boast a set of 16 carriagesincluding 9 sleeping cars and four saloons. An onboard triptych created by French glass designer Rene Lalique Aim is to run 'all around Europe ' SNCF last year sold 50.1 percent in the company holding the rights to the Orient Express brand to French hotel group Accor, which wants to open luxury hotels under the name. Meanwhile the Venice Simplon-Orient-Expressa privately owned luxury train first established by an American entrepreneur in the 1980scurrently plies a route between Calais in northern France, Paris, Verona and Venice in Italy. An exhibition at Paris' Museum of the Arab World in 2014 on the Orient Express proved a smash hit and encouraged SNCF to restore the carriages. "Our aim is to have the Orient Express on the rails all around Europe," said Pepy. A carriage bearing the coat of arms of the grandly-named Compagnie internationales des wagons-lits et des grands express europeens for whom the Orient Express sleepers and restaurant cars were built But whether a re-launched Orient Express will again steam between Paris and Istanbul remains to be seen. "We need to look at the state of the carriages and see under what conditions they could travel again and how they could be brought in line with the security specifications that exist in Europe," Pepy said. "We are doing the technical work now and hope we can have a positive decision this summer," he added. Explore further France to run driverless mainline trains within five years 2019 AFP Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook, said a breakup of big internet firms might not address the "underlying" concerns being voiced and may serve to strengthen China's tech giants Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg said Friday a breakup of big US technology would not address "underlying issues" facing the sector and suggested that such a move could help rivals in China. Sandberg, interviewed on CNBC television, was asked about the latest calls to break up Facebook and other major Silicon Valley firms which dominate key sectors. "You could break us up, you could break other tech companies up, but you actually don't address the underlying issues people are concerned about," Sandberg said in the interview. Sandberg said the social network used by more than two billion people was working to address concerns about election security, online violence promotion and data protection, but that a breakup might only serve to help competitors from China. "While people are concerned with the size and power of tech companies, there's also a concern in the United States with the size and power of Chinese companies, and the realization that those companies are not going to be broken up," she said. The comments come a week after one of Facebook's co-founders, Chris Hughes, said in an essay "it's time to break up Facebook," warning that it has gained too much power over what people see online. Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has also called for a breakup that could require Facebook to spin off its Instagram and WhatsApp units. Sandberg maintained that Facebook's teams are working hard on safety and security issues, echoing comments since the company came under fire over a series of missteps including leaking of data in 2016 to a consultancy working for Donald Trump. "We know at Facebook we have a real possibility to do better and earn back people's trust," she said. Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said this week he was optimistic about progress toward a new regulatory framework that would apply to internet platforms. "Overall I think in order for people to trust the internet... there needs to be the right regulation put in place," Zuckerberg said after meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss a report called "Creating a French Response to Make Social Media Responsible." 2019 AFP Police raided a house in the capital arresting the women for human trafficking and acting as intermediaries for surrogacy. Some of the women gave birth behind bars. If they tried to sell their babies, they could be tried and get at least 15 years in prison. Phnom Penh (AsiaNews/Agencies) Cambodian authorities have released 11 surrogate mothers on bail, after they agreed to keep their children, the National Anti-Human Trafficking Committee announced yesterday. The 11 women were taken into custody in November for human trafficking and acting as intermediaries for surrogacy agents after police discovered them in a raid on a house in the capital Phnom Penh. The women, who have been in jail since the raid with some giving birth behind bars, have refused to tell authorities whose babies they were carrying, noted Chou Bun Eng, vice-president of the National Anti-Human Trafficking Committee. They were released on bail last month after they promised not to give up their babies, she explained, but they could be prosecuted at any time if they sell the babies. Rights groups have criticised authorities for coercing women to raise babies who bear no biological ties to them to avoid jail time. But for Chou Bun Eng, Cambodian law means they must take care of the babies. They are the mother of the children, she said. In December, another 32 Cambodian women paid to carry babies for Chinese clients were released on bail after agreeing to keep the children. If they do not, they could get at least 15 years. Cambodia banned commercial surrogacy in 2016, but the country remains a popular destination for infertile couples mostly from China seeking to have children, and willing to pay between US$ 40,000 to US$ 100,000 for a Cambodian woman to carry their child in her womb. Surrogates are typically from poor communities and receive a fraction of the sum paid to agents typically between US$ 10,000 and US$ 15,000 to carry a child to term. Eddie Hodge holds the coracoid bone from Taphophoyx hodgei, a new species of extinct heron found at the site and named in his honor. Credit: Florida Museum photo by Kristen Grace When the bones of an ancient heron were unearthed at a North Florida fossil site, the find wasn't made by researchers but by two Florida Museum of Natural History volunteers. A previously unknown genus and species, the heron has been named Taphophoyx hodgei (TAFF'-oh-foy-ks HAHJ'-ee-eye) in honor of landowner Eddie Hodge, who has allowed Florida Museum researchers and volunteers to excavate the site on his property near Williston since his granddaughter first discovered fossils there in 2015. Nearly 700 volunteers have worked at the Montbrook fossil site, collectively digging more than 12,000 hours. "You couldn't have a better group of people," Hodge said. "There's a lot of negativity when we get home and turn on the television, but it does you good to be out here seeing volunteers get excited and be positive about something." The bones used to identify the new heron were found by volunteers Toni-Ann Benjamin and Sharon Shears. Taphophoyx hodgei - whose genus name means "buried heron" in Greek and Latinis the first new species to be described from Montbrook. Many other new species from the fossil-rich site await publication. "It's invigorated the local fossil community," said David Steadman, Florida Museum curator of ornithology and lead author of the description of T. hodgei. "One of the greatest values of Montbrook is that it's been such a collaborative learning tool." Because Montbrook is such an intensively worked fossil site, processing the finds takes the teamwork of scientists and amateurs. Hodge oversees much of the land management that Montbrook requires, including moving dirt and managing drainage. In addition to working outdoors at the site, volunteers prepare and catalog specimens in the Florida Museum's vertebrate paleontology lab. A good day of digging requires between 10 and 20 days to process in the lab, said Jonathan Bloch, Florida Museum curator of vertebrate paleontology and a coordinator of the fossil dig. "We simply couldn't do all this work without help from the public," Bloch said. "Volunteers are not only the backbone of the dig, they're actively contributing to scientific discoveries." Taphophoyx hodgei, a newly described species of extinct heron. Credit: Florida Museum photo by Kristen Grace Steadman and then-master's student Oona Takano used the characteristics of the bird's scapula and coracoid, two bones that intersect to support the bird's shoulder, to determine the relationship between this ancient heron and modern lineages. They believe T. hodgei is most closely related to today's tiger-herons, which live in Mexico and Central and South America. They have given the new species the common name "Hodge's tiger-heron." "This heron adds to this big suite of aquatic birds we're finding at Montbrook," Steadman said. "We're seeing the same families of birds you'd see around wetlands today, but they're all extinct species. The fun challenge is finding out how closely related any given species at Montbrook is to the birds that we see flying and swimming around Florida today. Even after three and a half years, we're nowhere near diminishing returns." Takano, now a University of New Mexico Ph.D. student, said that bird fossils are prized finds, particularly at a site like Montbrook where the majority of fossils belong to young gomphotheres, extinct elephant-like mammals. "In general, bird bones don't fossilize well because they're hollow," she said. "It's relatively rare to find well-preserved bird bones at all and even rarer to find articulated bones," referring to bones that would have locked together in the bird's body. Most Florida fossil sites are limestone sinkholes or pitfall traps created by ancient predators to capture their prey. At Montbrook, researchers have been able to glimpse a different type of ancient environment: the riverine ecosystem. Five million years ago, T. hodgei would have lived alongside saber-toothed cats, rhinoceroses and horses that frequented a river that likely weaved through a grassland, Steadman said. Researchers believe the ancient river's current scattered decomposing animal remains, making this find of two intersecting bones even more significant. Steadman said naming the species after Hodge was a natural choice. "Through the kindness of his heart and being interestedjust wanting to know what's in the ground on his landEddie let us in and one thing led to another." Steadman said. "Naming this heron after Eddie is a minor part of treating him right because he's been treating us right." "He's genuinely interested in the fossils we're finding," Takano added. The Florida Museum recruits volunteers for the Montbrook dig in fall and spring and regularly encourages volunteers and students to become involved, often resulting in meaningful fossil discoveries. Finds are shared on the Florida Museum Montbrook Fossil Dig Blog. "Volunteers are fascinated by this stuffit's really their passion," Hodge said. "There's a satisfaction in being able to provide something like this for people interested in higher learning, and you don't get the chance to do that very often. You never know what you can find. Just the next little spoonful of dirt, brush it back and there it is." Explore further Fossil bird study describes ripple effect of extinction in animal kingdom More information: David W. Steadman and Oona M. Takano. A New Genus And Species Of Heron (Aves: Ardeidae) From The Late Miocene Of Florida. Bulletin of the Florida Museum of Natural History.Published On-line: April 6, 2019. David W. Steadman and Oona M. Takano. A New Genus And Species Of Heron (Aves: Ardeidae) From The Late Miocene Of Florida.Published On-line: April 6, 2019. www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/file vol55no9archival.pdf As seen from an airplane, much of North Korea's countryside is dry and parched as the country suffers from what state media says is the worst drought in a century North Korea is experiencing its worst drought in over a century, official media reported Friday, days after the World Food Programme expressed "very serious concerns" about the situation in the country. The isolated, impoverished Northwhich is under several sets of sanctions over its nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programmeshas long struggled to feed itself, and suffers chronic food shortages. It recorded its worst harvest for a decade last year, according to the United Nations, down by 500,000 tonnes as natural disasters combined with its lack of arable land and inefficient agriculture to hit production. In the year to Wednesday the North received just 56.3 millimetres of rain or snow, the Rodong Sinmun newspaper reported Friday, the lowest since 1917. Water was running out in the country's lakes and reservoirs, said the paper, the official mouthpiece of the ruling Workers' Party, adding: "The ongoing drought is causing a significant effect on the cultivation of wheat, barley, corn, potatoes and beans." In their most recent estimates, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Programme (WFP) said about 10.1 million North Koreans40 percent of the populationwere suffering from severe food shortages, a similar figure to recent years. Hundreds of thousands are believed to have died during a famine in the mid to late 1990s, a period known as the "Arduous March" in the North. Pyongyang has been frequently condemned by the international community for decades of prioritising the military and its nuclear weapons programme over adequately providing for its peoplean imbalance some critics say the UN's aid programme encourages. But neighbouring areas are also seeing low rainfall this year. The South received just 157 mm of rain in the same period this year, less than half the 364 mm in 2018, Seoul's Korea Meteorological Administration said, describing it as a "mild drought". And according to China's National Meteorological Centre, rainfall in northeast Chinawhich includes the provinces of Liaoning and Jilin, which border North Koreawas 27.6 mm in the year to May 9, down 55 percent on 2018. "We have very serious concerns" about the situation in the North, WFP's executive director David Beasley said during a visit to the South earlier this week. Missile launch Seoul is currently planning to provide $8 million of food aid to the North as President Moon Jae-in seeks to salvage diplomacy between Pyongyang and Washington following the collapse of the Hanoi summit. But the move is politically controversial after the North sought to raise the pressure by launching several short-range missiles earlier this month, its first such tests for more than a year. "The issue of food aid should be considered from a humanitarian perspective as fellow Koreans, regardless of the security issues," said South Korea's National Security Advisor Chung Eui-yong. The Unification ministry also said it will give a group of South Korean businessmen permission to visit a joint industrial complex in the Northonce a moneyspinner for Pyongyangfor the first time since it was shut down in 2016. It was not immediately clear whether the North would let the trip take place. International sanctions against Pyongyang technically do not ban humanitarian aid, but strict interpretations of restrictions on banking transactions and imports by the Northalong with a travel ban for American citizenshave hampered relief groups' activities. The North previously reported it was experiencing its "worst drought in 100 years" in June 2015. Explore further North Korea food production could drop 14%: FAO 2019 AFP Klaus Genuit photographed in an anechoic chamber with several loudspeakers to simulate a virtual acoustical scenery, as well as an artificial head for binaural recording Credit: Genuit Acoustics consultant Klaus Genuit says that new International Standards Organization guidelines for defining, measuring and evaluating soundscapes are a big step forward in guiding the creation of audibly fine restaurants. "A soup might be delicious or not, but you can't answer this by knowing the temperature of the soup. It is the same with restaurant soundscapesyou need a lot more information than just noise level," said Genuit, president and founder of German sound engineering firm Head Acoustics. He will present an application of the new ISO restaurant soundscape standards at the 177th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, which takes place May 13-17, at the Galt House in Louisville, Kentucky. Genuit, who participated in the development of the new ISO standards, said restaurants present a particular challenge for soundscape design. While in the ideal classroom even a student at the back can hear the teacher, "it's quite the opposite in restaurant acoustics," he said. "I don't want to listen to the people at the table beside me, and I want to have acoustical privacy so they don't hear me." On the other hand, "you don't feel comfortable if it's too quiet," he explained. The new ISO TS 12913 standard, said Genuit, provides an updated framework for identifying a dining space with just the right mix of ambient sound, privacy and good at-my-table speech intelligibility. For the first time, this includes the required use of binaural sound recording for room evaluation. Unlike a mono or stereo recording, a binaural recording is an immersive, 3-D version that exactly recreates for a future listener the experience of being in a room. "For a complex sound situation where you have a lot of sources, from tinkling cutlery to music and conversation, the selectivity of human hearing works only with binaural recording," said Genuit. In 1986, he founded Head Acoustics by creating an artificial head, based on his doctoral research, with microphones in the place of ears to make binaural recordings. The ISO guidelines also outline the analysis of the soundscape using psychoacoustics, which describes how a person perceives a sound, for example, as sharp or rough. "This perception is dependent on the context," said Genuit, noting that a rough rumble sounds exciting if it's coming from a car at a NASCAR race, but not if it is coming from the air conditioner at a bistro. Loud air conditioner noise is among the most annoying sounds in American restaurant soundscapes, according to Genuit. Finally, the new ISO guidelines require acoustic consultants to talk with diners using a questionnaire to get a sense of their experience in the dining room. "You have to ask people how they feel in this sound environment," said Genuit. He hopes the new ISO standards will result in more five-star restaurant soundscapes where the quality of the acoustics matches the quality of the food. Explore further Signals to noise in acoustic vehicles alerting systems More information: Presentation #5aAA1, "Restaurant Acoustics - A Challenge for Consultants," will be at 8:05 a.m., Friday, May 17, in the French room of the Galt House in Louisville, Kentucky. Presentation #5aAA1, "Restaurant Acoustics - A Challenge for Consultants," will be at 8:05 a.m., Friday, May 17, in the French room of the Galt House in Louisville, Kentucky. acousticalsociety.org/asa-meetings/ Researchers at the Smithsonian Institute have proposed a 'demographic safe space' for Asian elephants, to improve conservation of these and other large, slow-breeding animals. Credit: Udawalawe Elephant Research Project Conservation decisions based on population counts may fail to protect large, slow-breeding animals from irrevocable decline, according to new research coinciding with Endangered Species Day. "Critical thresholds in so-called vital ratessuch as mortality and fertility rates among males and females of various agescan signal an approaching population collapse long before numbers drop below a point of no return," says lead author Dr. Shermin de Silva, President & Founder of Asian elephant conservation charity Trunks & Leaves. "We propose that conservation efforts for Asian elephants and other slow-breeding megafauna be aimed at maintaining their 'demographic safe space': that is, the combination of key vital rates that supports a non-negative growth rate." A mammoth insight Published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, the study suggests that a combination of key vital rates governing population growth is a better indicator of a species' viability than short-term trends in population size and distribution. "History bears this out," argues de Silva. "Genomic studies of the last mammoths isolated on Wrangel Islandbetween Russia and Alaskahave shown that although they were able to persist for thousands of years beyond the extinction of mainland populations with just ~300 individuals, they had accumulated numerous genetic mutations that may have eventually contributed to their extinction." In other words populations of megafauna can become biologically inviable long before they disappear, if pushed beyond their 'demographic safe space.' Mother and calf. Researchers at the Smithsonian Institute have proposed a 'demographic safe space' for Asian elephants, to improve conservation of these and other large, slow-breeding animals. Credit: Udawalawe Elephant Research Project Females and calves key to saving the Asian elephant The group applied the 'demographic safe space' concept to the case of the Asian elephant. "Asian elephants are classified as 'Endangered' under the IUCN Red List because populations are thought to have declined by at least 50% in less than a century," explains de Silva. "There are fewer than 50,000 wild Asian elephants living today." Studies show that wild Asian elephants breed extremely slowly, the majority producing just one calf in six years or more. Using mathematical modeling, de Silva and colleagues found that near-optimal reproduction and high calf survival is necessary to maintain non-negative population growth in the face of even modestly increased mortality among adult female age classes. The approach shows a clear conservation priority for Asian elephants, a species in which the vast majority is tuskless. "Measures to enhance survival of calves, and particularly females, are key to saving the Asian elephant," emphasizes de Silva. Mother and calves. Researchers at the Smithsonian Institute have proposed a 'demographic safe space' for Asian elephants, to improve conservation of these and other large, slow-breeding animals. Credit: Udawalawe Elephant Research Project "But while the attention of the world has been focused on the ivory trade, for critically endangered Asian elephant populations the greatest threat is habitat lossfollowed by illegal trade in live animals and parts. "Habitat loss can create something known as 'extinction debt' by slowing down birth rates and increasing mortality rates. For slow breeding long-lived species, even incremental changes make a big difference, but their longevity can obscure the risk of extinction." A demographic safe space for all megafauna Conservation efforts for other large, slow-breeding speciessuch as giraffes, rhinos, Bactrian camels and eastern gorillascould also benefit from modelling the interaction between vital rates. Data for these species in the wild are a scarce yet urgent necessity, suggest the authors. "Rather than rely on simple population counts or estimates of near-term extinction probability, we urge that conservation resources for slow-breeding megafauna also be invested in identifying demographic tipping points and how to maintain populations within their safe spaces. "Populations of slow-breeding taxa need proactive management well before numbers become critically low, when returns on investment are potentially greater and populations less likely committed to extinction," concludes de Silva. Explore further Future of elephants living in captivity hangs in the balance More information: Shermin de Silva et al, Demographic Tipping Points as Early Indicators of Vulnerability for Slow-Breeding Megafaunal Populations, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (2019). Shermin de Silva et al, Demographic Tipping Points as Early Indicators of Vulnerability for Slow-Breeding Megafaunal Populations,(2019). DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00171 ESEM image of a fossil fungal mycelium with associated 'cauliflower-like' microstromatolite formed by iron-oxidizing bacteria. From Koko Seamount, Pacific Ocean. 43 Ma old. Credit: Dr. Magnus Ivarsson In 2020, NASA and European-Russian missions will look for evidence of past life on Mars. But while volcanic, igneous rock predominates on the Red Planet, virtually the entire Earth fossil record comes from sedimentary rocks. Addressing the problem in Frontiers in Earth Science, Swedish scientists have begun compiling evidence of fossilized microbes in underexplored igneous rock environments on Earth, to help guide where to search for a Martian fossil recordand what to look for. "We propose a 'volcanic microfossil atlas' to help select target sites for missions seeking evidence of extraterrestrial life, such as the NASA Mars mission 2020 and ExoMars," says lead author Dr. Magnus Ivarsson. "The atlas could also help us recognize what Mars microfossils might look like, by identifying biosignatures associated with different types of fossilized microbes." Earth's deep biosphere Ivarsson and colleagues study life buried in deep rock and deep time: fossilized remains of mysterious microbes, that have lived up to a kilometer below the deepest ocean floors for as long as 3.5 billion years. "The majority of the microorganisms on Earth are believed to exist in the deep biosphere of the ocean and continental crust," reveals Ivarsson. "Yet we are just now beginning to explorethrough deep drilling projectsthis hidden biosphere." Three-dimensional reconstruction made by synchrotron-based X-ray tomography (srxtm) of the same as in the image above. Fungal mycelium with microstromatolitic structures and remains of prokaryotic cell-like structures in between the fungal hyphae. Credit: Dr. Magnus Ivarsson In a watery world that never sees sunlight, bacteria, fungi and other microbes have adapted to feed on the igneous rock that surrounds themor even on each other. They spread through micro-fractures and cavities, forming complex and extended communities. "Upon death, the microbial communities become fossilized on the walls of their rocky home. These microfossils can provide a history of microbial life in volcanic rock." A volcanic microfossil atlas Crucially, Earth's oceanic crust is geochemically very similar to the volcanic rocks that dominate the Martian landscape. "Our aim is to be able to use the oceanic crust microfossil record as a model system to guide Martian exploration," Ivarsson explains. "Our review of existing knowledge is an important first step, but a more comprehensive understanding of the deep life is needed to show where and what to search for." To achieve this, says Ivarsson, we need to collect more data on microfossil appearance and locationbut also, on their chemical composition. Three-dimensional reconstruction made by synchrotron-based X-ray tomography (srxtm) of a fossilized fungal mycelia and prokaryotic cell-like structures in between the hyphae forming a 'cob-web'. Part of the mycelium has chemically bored into a calcite crystal (seen in the lower part). Credit: Dr. Magnus Ivarsson "These fossils often preserve immense morphological detail. For example, we can distinguish broad classes of fungi through the appearance of spores, fruiting bodies, mycelia and other growth statesor of bacteria, through the presence of cauliflower-like formations, generations of biofilms preserved as laminated sheets, and other characteristic community structures. "But analysis of lipids and carbon isotopes in microfossils will make it possible to discriminate more precise groups based on their metabolism. "Altogether this information will help to identify which types of microorganism are most likely to have been preserved on Mars, and which geochemical conditions most favour fossilization." A fossil record on Mars The microfossil atlas would therefore also help to determine which samples should be targeted for return to Earth, given the limited payload of the Mars missions. "Both NASA's Mars 2020 and the ExoMars missions are capable of detecting larger fossilized structures from volcanic rocks, such as mm-sized mineralized fungal mycelia, or larger microstromatolites in open vesicles. "ExoMars's 8 micrometer/pixel cameras have a greater chance of identifying small features and individual hyphae in situ on Mars. However, the NASA mission has the possibility of collecting samples for later investigation on Earth, and its 15 micrometer/px cameras may therefore be sufficient select samples with a high probability of containing biosignatures. These complimentary strategies increase the overall chance of detecting evidence of past life on Mars, if it exists," concludes Ivarsson. Explore further Microbes make tubular microtunnels on Earth and perhaps on Mars More information: Magnus Ivarsson et al, Morphological Biosignatures in Volcanic Rocks Applications for Life Detection on Mars, Frontiers in Earth Science (2019). Magnus Ivarsson et al, Morphological Biosignatures in Volcanic Rocks Applications for Life Detection on Mars,(2019). DOI: 10.3389/feart.2019.00091 Paris, TX (75460) Today Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Areas of patchy fog. Low 64F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Areas of patchy fog. Low 64F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. The ancient Chinese divination text suggests that wisdom comes through interaction and communication among friends of a harmonious nature. If you cant seem to strike a harmonious chord, dont worry. Either the Mercury and Pluto trine will strike one for you, or youll become even wiser through discord. Good luck is inescapable. TODAYS BIRTHDAY (May 17). Youll have the power to choose where you spend most of your time and with whom; your destiny springs from these choices. The exceptional fortunes of July include an expensive ticket gifted to you. Hobbies turn into moneymakers in 2020. Devote yourself to making and marketing your reputation. Gemini and Aquarius adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 50, 12, 5, 18 and 48. ARIES (March 21-April 19). Being a good judge of character is part talent and part skill. Youve always had a sense about who to pursue, tolerate or avoid, though youve occasionally been tricked by charm or good looks. Not anymore. Youre seasoned. TAURUS (April 20-May 20). Theres something relaxing about maintenance appointments such as routine doctor or dentist visits or an automobile oil change. Youre where youre supposed to be and the world outside just has to wait. GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Every relationship has rules, though most of them are unspoken. Youll be aware of how the rules change as you move in and out of the various concentric circles that span the realms between intimacy and distance. CANCER (June 22-July 22). We may walk the same earthly plane, but theres a vastly different internal reality inside each person. Youll be extremely effective with this knowledge at the core of todays interactions. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). You dont need people to be just like you in order to feel a kinship and affinity with them. You thrive on knowing a diverse set of people, and today will bring proof that youre much better for the wide variety of interests. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). When the action doesnt go to plan, youll quickly come up with a new one. This is better than passively riding out the direction everything seems to be falling in. Theres something to save or affect here. Believe in yourself. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). If you know that something is right but you dont know why its right, then youll make the correct choice, but you wont be able to convince others to make it, too. Find out the reasons. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). Time all to yourself seems like an impractical indulgence when it should seem more like what it actually is a choice for health and well-being. Youre happier and more loving once youve tended to your tranquility needs. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Youre going places, said the casting director to the actor, just not with us. You may echo this sentiment as you meet really talented and appealing people whom you dont quite know how to cast in your life yet. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Wanting to be a part of a different scene is a waste of the one youre in. This one is good! Trust that there are plenty of opportunities to be excellent from exactly where you are. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). Valuable things become even more so when they are shared, while insubstantial things are diminished when too many people get their hands on them. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). The Irish proverb Praise youth and it will prosper, was a novel idea when it first came about. Culture has shifted. Many claim children are now praised to a perilous degree. Youll dole praise judiciously and fairly. Holiday Mathis is the author of Rock Your Stars. To write to her, please go to www.creators.com and click on Write the Author on the Holiday Mathis page, or send her a postcard in the mail. To find out more about Holiday Mathis and read her past columns, visit the CreatorsSyndicate Web page at www.creators.com. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 UTICA Jack Roberson has resigned as executive director of the Adirondack Railway Preservation Society, a nonprofit organization that oversees the Adirondack Scenic Railroad, and Justin Gonyo, former general manager of the Saratoga & North Creek Railway, has been appointed interim director. The ASR Board of Directors announced Robersons departure and Gonyos appointment in a news release Thursday. Roberson served as ASR executive director for less than a year. According to the board, he resigned citing a difference in management styles. Gonyo is the fourth railroad man in his family. His father, grandfather and great-grandfather also worked for railroad companies, according to a 2012 profile in the North Creek News-Enterprise. He comes to the ASR from Hudson Consulting & Project Management, a company he created. He also served as the general manager for the Saratoga & North Creek Railroad, a now-defunct railway owned by Iowa Pacific Holdings that is being sued by Warren County for allegedly breaching a contract prior to ceasing operations. The railway shut down last year amid financial problems, according to a recent report in The Post-Star, and following a controversy over the companys decision to store tanker cars on a section of its line north of North Creek. Adirondack Railway Preservation Society board President Bill Branson did not immediately return a call requesting more information about the transition but confirmed in a news release that the railroads offerings would continue as scheduled, including (the) Polar Express, a series of special Christmas rides. ASR has run excursion trains between Utica and the Old Forge area since the early 1990s. From 2000 to 2016, it also ran trains between Saranac Lake and Lake Placid, but the state, which owns that rail line, stopped that when it decided to replace 34 miles of tracks between Lake Placid and Tupper Lake with a multi-use trail for biking and snowmobiling, and to upgrade 45 miles of track from the Old Forge area north to Tupper Lake. The railroad sued and won over the track removal, but since then the state has changed its travel corridor definition, supposedly allowing the trail, and is moving forward with those plans. It remains to be seen whether the railroad will sue again. The ASR recently purchased a former Union-Pacific dome car and received a recently retired dining car from Amtrak. ASR board Vice President Frank Kobliski said the cars will add a whole new dimension to (ASRs) rail operations. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 FORT EDWARD The man who pleaded guilty to kidnapping for taking a 12-year-old Hudson Falls girl to New York City and sexually abusing her last fall cried Friday as he was sentenced to 9 1/2 years in state prison, several years more than the victim and her family asked for. George A. Tony Torres, 20, of Staten Island, tearfully apologized to the victims family and pretty much everyone else involved with the case, and even thanked police and prosecutors for their work, when Washington County Judge Kelly McKeighan asked him if he had anything to say. He rambled on for more than 5 minutes, saying he regretted his actions and was just lonely when he initiated contact with the girl through social media, and that he took her at her word that she was 17. He said he did not abandon her in New York City after learning her age as prosecutors alleged, because she told him she was going to a cousins home. McKeighan, though, said Torres actions after he learned the girls age endangered her, and his subsequent deletion of electronic communications, showed he was trying to cover up actions he knew were illegal. McKeighan called the case one of the most difficult he had presided over. But he said Torres decision to leave her at the Staten Island Ferry station, instead of taking her to police or a relative, was most telling. You left her at risk in a city of millions, he said. The girl, who was found safe at the apartment of another man who allegedly raped her the day after Torres left her, was in court on Friday, but did not speak. She did, though, write a victims impact statement that was read in court Friday, in which she wrote that she believed a 5- to 7-year sentence was appropriate and said she felt bad about the damage I caused. She said she also hoped the situation served as a cautionary tale for other children in her situation who consider running away with older men. We are people. We make mistakes at one point in time, she wrote. Amen I did not get killed. The sentence came after Washington County First Assistant District Attorney Christian Morris outlined the actions prosecutors believe Torres took that made the case more than just a simple matter of a teen getting hoodwinked online by a girl he met online who claimed she was older than she was. He said Torres continued to have sexual contact with the girl after she told him her true age, and then abandoned her at the Staten Island Ferry station with no money after he learned she was the subject of an Amber Alert. He blocked her phone number and erased their social media conversations as well. Morris said New York City Police were surprised that the girl was not killed or trafficked. Torres lawyer, Joseph Murphy III, disagreed with much of that account, saying it was physically impossible for Torres, a wheelchair-bound paraplegic, to have committed some of the sex acts that he was accused of. He said that Torres was emotionally stunted by an accident that killed his sister and crippled him. He was under the impression she was 17 years old, he said. This was a lonely, disabled young man who was desperate for a little bit of normalcy in his life, a relationship. He is not a predator. Torres pleaded guilty last month to the full indictment against him, which included counts of kidnapping, sexually motivated felony and tampering with physical evidence, opting to seek mercy from McKeighan instead of a plea deal that would bar him from appealing pre-plea evidentiary rulings in the case. Murphy said a notice of appeal will be filed. McKeighan could have imposed a sentence of between 5 and 25 years. Afterward, Washington County District Attorney Tony Jordan called the prison term significant under the circumstances. The convictions stemmed from the girls efforts to run away from home last Sept. 26, resulting in an Amber Alert warning and massive search for her that led to her being found in an apartment in New York City the next day. There were no allegations Torres held her against her will. But under state law, she was too young to legally consent to go with him, and her lying about her age was not a defense. And prosecutors allege that when he learned her age, he did not help her return home, instead dropping her at the ferry terminal, where she met a vendor who later had sex with her. That man, Justin Morales, 20, of Staten Island, has been charged with two counts of first-degree rape in New York City. Torres will spend 10 years on parole after he is released, and will have to register as a sex offender. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 8 Angry 7 HEBRON A 24-year-old Salem man was arrested Thursday for allegedly having sexual contact with a child under the age of 15, according to police. Blake A. Wagner, 24, of county Route 31, was charged with second-degree criminal sexual act, a felony, and misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child for an incident last month in Hebron, the Washington County Sheriff's Office said in a news release. He was not accused of physically forcing the child to have sexual contact, but the charge was brought because the alleged victim was too young to legally consent. The age of consent in New York is 17. Wagner was being held pending arraignment Friday. Sheriff's Senior Investigator Kristen Hardy, Investigator Terry Markham and Deputy Katie Paddock handled the case. Love 1 Funny 6 Wow 1 Sad 1 Angry 9 QUEENSBURY The Hudson Falls man who escaped from police one night earlier this year when he was taken to Glens Falls Hospital for medical treatment was sentenced Wednesday to up to 6 years in state prison for two felony convictions. John B. Fleeman Jr., 21, pleaded guilty last month to second-degree escape, a felony, for running from a Hudson Falls Police officer who was escorting him from Glens Falls Hospital. He agreed to a plea deal that will include a 1.5- to 3-year prison sentence, to be served consecutively to a 1- to 3-year term for an earlier robbery conviction. He had been arrested in Hudson Falls the night of Feb. 8 for violating probation in the robbery case when he convinced officers to take him to the hospital because his arm hurt. The visit ended with him sprinting from the officer who was escorting him out of the hospital. One of the officers who arrested him earlier in the night in Hudson Falls suffered an injured arm, which resulted in a felony assault charge in Hudson Falls. His lawyer, Tucker Stanclift, said Fleeman agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor assault count for the injury. Fleeman had no statement in Warren County Court on Wednesday as Warren County Judge John Hall imposed the 2.5- to 6-year prison term. Love 0 Funny 3 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 Warren Countys new arraignment court is scheduled to start hearing cases soon. County officials plan to start the countys new night and weekend arraignment court in the coming weeks, after two years of planning and state approval process. The town and city court judges who will preside over the court were finalizing a schedule and being trained on the courts procedures and computer software this week. Glens Falls Judge Gary Hobbs, the supervising judge for town and village justices in Warren, Washington, Essex and Hamilton counties who has overseen the project, said he hopes that it will be up and running by the end of May. A courtroom was created in the booking area of the former Warren County Jail at the back of the county Municipal Center, and it has been furnished and equipped, including a security post. The county Buildings and Grounds Department did the work. They did a really nice job with the courtroom, Hobbs said. All of the town and city judges in the county, except for one who is retiring, have opted in to the rotating schedule, he said. The plans to get the court going were slowed up by security demands from the state Office of Court Administration, but the state agency approved the program last fall. The biggest issue has been security, Hobbs said. The county will pay the security tabs for the court, but county Administrator Ryan Moore said the cost was not yet known. The plan is designed to save costs through travel and pay for attorneys, police and judges who are called out to arraign those charged with crimes and other offenses when courts are not open. State rules that required defense counsel to be present at court appearances where a defendant is at risk of being jailed have changed the court system in recent years, resulting in lawyers on both sides of a case being called out at all hours. Instead, defendants will be held in a lockup at Warren County Jail until the next scheduled arraignment time in the morning or night, when attorneys will make themselves available. The new program is similar to one that is underway in Washington County, where judges rotate in an on-call schedule and hold arraignments in the morning and evening as needed at the county jail in Fort Edward. County officials, police, attorneys and judges have raved about its efficiency. Washington Countys arraignment part was nominated for an outstanding criminal justice program award from the National Criminal Justice Association last year. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 0 A Fort Edward woman who brutally beat a National Grid worker who was shutting off power at her apartment last fall will spend up to 3 years in prison for the attack after her guilty plea to a felony assault count. Patricia A. Lafferty, 26, pleaded guilty to second-degree assault for the Sept. 11 attack on a female utility worker outside Laffertys then-home on Broadway in Fort Edward. Police said Lafferty became angry about her electrical service being shut off because of unpaid bills when she tackled the National Grid employee from behind and repeatedly punched her face, causing serious cuts. She was charged with felony assault counts for the serious injuries as well as for injuring a public employee. It was a violent attack, Washington County District Attorney Tony Jordan said. Lafferty fled, but turned herself in to Fort Edward Police a short time later. Lafferty agreed to plea deal that includes a three-year state prison term, to be followed by three years on parole as well as possible restitution for unpaid medical bills when she is sentenced May 31 by Washington County Judge Kelly McKeighan. She was represented by the Washington County Public Defenders Office, which had no comment on the case this week. Lafferty also has to deal with legal troubles in Warren County that appeared to worsen this week when she failed to appear for a felony hearing in Warren County Court. She has been charged with grand larceny for allegedly stealing and using a credit card that belonged to a resident at Brookdale Senior Living in Queensbury last May, court records show. She worked as an aide at the assisted living center, and was linked to the theft of two credit cards after at least one was used several times at one of the Walmart stores in Queensbury, according to court records. Lafferty was scheduled to appear before Warren County Judge John Hall on Wednesday for a possible guilty plea and sentencing, but did not show up. In light of the fact that she also failed to call in to report to the county Probation Department as required on 26 occasions in recent months, Hall issued a bench warrant for her arrest. Love 0 Funny 10 Wow 1 Sad 5 Angry 4 Democrat or Republican, conservative or progressive, every United States president in recent history has taken the same approach to North Korea. Avoid dealing directly with the ruling regime because official recognition is what the family of dictators wants. Kim Jong Un, like his father and grandfather, exercises control over the nation with a ruthless tendency to kill opponents and a propaganda effort that allows for no doubt that the nation is among the most important in the world, headed by one of the most important people in the world. Donald Trump has deviated from the traditional approach, relying on his charm and deal-making abilities. Despite abundant evidence that he has fallen into the trap that others easily avoided that those photos of the two leaders smiling and shaking hands are the public relations coup that North Korean dictators yearned for since the nation was founded he persists. This makes the latest troubling news from North Korea even more troubling. The nation recently conducted tests of several unidentified short-range projectiles into the sea off its eastern coast. North Korea knows that this is a violation of the expectation that there would be no further enhancement of its military capabilities, even if these were not the kinds of missiles that could reach the United States and carry nuclear weapons. They are the kinds that pose a direct threat to other nations in the Pacific and have sent a chill through those in neighboring South Korea, which is very much in the path of such conventional weapons. Thats why South Korea is worried and would like the United States to put more pressure on the regime rather than continuing to make friendly overtures. The second piece of news is more subtle and more troubling. The United Nations reported that a disastrous harvest has left North Korea with a drastic shortage of food, one that is lowering the daily rations distributed by the state to almost starvation levels, with even more reductions likely to come in summer and fall, when food reserves are at their lowest. Previous food shortages have inspired the regime to crack down even harder, fearing that unrest would pose a challenge to its rule. This regime is as cruel, perhaps more cruel, than those it succeeded and there is no incentive for it to give up the one thing that it has identified as crucial to North Koreas standing in the world; its nuclear arsenal. So far, Kim Jong Un has managed to outmaneuver the Trump administration on every front, to gain the status it has long desired without having to give up anything in return. In addition to the tests conducted recently, there are regular reports that development of the nuclear weapons program continues unabated. The situation in North Korea is once again heading toward a crisis, one that previous administrations would have been in a position to exploit. President Trump, however, has already given up the advantage that others had held onto for so long, with nothing to show for it. This editorial was published May 8 in the Times Herald Record of Middletown. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 About Me Scott Because prophetic scriptures are found throughout the bible, it is obvious that a comprehensive, systematic approach would be useful, if not necessary, for the understanding of prophecy. Past prophecies have been fulfilled in a literal manner, as confirmed by the dating of these writings and historical records of confirmation. These past prophecies also serve as a model of how to interpret future prophecies. A literal view of prophecy clearly indicates a certain sequence of events will occur within a single generation, concluding with the Tribulation and Second Advent and these events will be obvious. The prophetic signs appear to be present in this generation and we believe these signs are revealed in the news from around the world. View my complete profile Improved scheduling approaches could improve life in nursing homes for patients and staff WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Placing a loved one in a nursing home can be a traumatic experience for the entire family with concerns about the care and attention they will receive. Imagine if those concerns were eased, simply by some changes in the way the schedules are done for the staff at that facility. The work schedules for employees in these highly stressful jobs can have a significant impact ultimately on the care patients receive, said Ellen Ernst Kossek, the Basil S. Turner Professor at Purdue Universitys Krannert School of Management and research director of Purdues Susan Bulkeley Butler Center for Leadership Excellence. Organizations should strive to do a better job in taking into account the needs of workers when creating schedules, which will lead to less stress, better patient care and less turnover. Kossek and her co-authors including Purdue Krannert School of Management doctoral student Lindsay Mechem Rosokha and Carrie Leana, the George Love Professor of Organizations and Management at the University of Pittsburgh, examined work-life balance issues and schedules for eight nursing home facilities in the United States. Their work appears online in Work and Occupations. The study was partially funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health as part of the Work, Family and Health Network Study. They found three main ways that the facilities approached worker scheduling. In the Sharing the Pain method, the organization randomly assigned schedules without regard to merit or length of employment. The Reverse Status Rotation method involved a scheduling approach where first-line managers were required to fill in for their direct reports who unexpectedly missed part or all of their shifts. For the Work-Life Needs method, the organizations took a more improvised approach and experimented with different ways to fill in schedules to balance the needs of the workers with patient coverage. This last method may produce the best results for workers, the facility and the patients, Kossek said. Based on this, we suggest that work schedule patching approaches, which are the ongoing adjustments made to plug scheduling holes after schedules are posted, take into account how to effectively manage last minutes schedule changes on the ground in ways that support employees work-life scheduling by motivating coverage by co-workers who would like to work the schedule, instead of the first approaches which just force others to cover. Kossek said the research suggested that similar approaches could work well for not just health care, but many industries with scheduled hourly workers ranging from retail, childcare, manufacturing, to police and security. Kossek said an initial analysis of the data from their study also showed a suggestive link between better work-life scheduling in nursing home facilities and fewer pressure ulcers in patients. Pressure ulcers can develop from patients not being moved often, just staying in the same position in bed, or not keeping the skin clean and dry. Kossek said. It seems from the research that employees with better scheduling options are able to experience less strain and be able to be more focused on patient care. Kossek has received worldwide attention for her research on work-life balance and has worked with the Purdue Research Foundation on some of her studies. The teams work aligns with Purdue's Giant Leaps celebration, celebrating the global advancements in health as part of Purdues 150th anniversary. It is one of the four themes of the yearlong celebrations Ideas Festival, designed to showcase Purdue as an intellectual center solving real-world issues. About Purdue Research Foundation The Purdue Research Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation created to advance the mission of Purdue University. Established in 1930, the foundation accepts gifts; administers trusts; funds scholarships and grants; acquires property; protects Purdue's intellectual property; and promotes entrepreneurial activities on behalf of Purdue. The foundation manages the Purdue Foundry, Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization, Purdue Research Park and Purdue Technology Centers. The foundation 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. Writer: Chris Adam, 765-588-3341, cladam@prf.org Source: Ellen Ernst Kossek, ekossek@purdue.edu Abstract Work Schedule Patching in Health Care: Exploring Implementation Approaches Ellen Ernst Kossek, Lindsay Mechem Rosokha, Carrie Leana The authors propose a typology of work schedule patching, the ongoing adjustments made to plug scheduling holes after employers post schedules. Patching occurs due to changes in employer work demands, or employee nonwork demands necessitating scheduling adjustments, which are reactive or proactive. Using qualitative data from eight health-care facilities, the authors identified three narratives justifying schedule patching implementation approaches (share-the-pain, work-life-needs, and reverse-status-rotation) with variation in formalization and improvisation. Exploratory analysis showed a suggestive link between improvised worklife scheduling and lower pressure ulcers. This article advances theory on balancing the service triangle of scheduling in-service economies including health care. "It does not come from your property tax bill," Masson said. "It comes from other revenue sources. The goal right now is to whittle down that debt." "I love all of our departments; our fire department is as handsome as all get out," White said. "I've always wondered why we don't have a calendar?" After the laughter and applause subsided, Masson said perhaps that could be a source of revenue for the city. Bruce Peterson, owner of Navarro Canoe Co., 2219 3rd Ave., expressed gratitude his business was not flooded in recent weeks. "Thank you for the levee that keeps my shop dry," Peterson said to a round of applause. "Will the city begin going across the river and offering opportunities to those people who were flooded to come to dry land?" "Are we poaching Davenport?" Economic Development Director Chandler Poole said. "Yes, we would like to bring some of the businesses from Davenport over, but we have a good-neighbor policy with other cities. We can't poach them without talking to the city they're in first. None of (the businesses) have reached out to us and said, 'Hey, you're kind of dry over there.'" It is obvious that Joe Manchin is a Republican in Democrats clothing. If he were a legitimate Democrat, he would support the Build Back Better bill like every other member of his party. He has significantly more power now as a Democrat, and he is using it to undermine President Biden. His leisure time is spent with Republicans, and his ideology is the same as theirs. It is equivalent to being Benedict Arnold when the majority of Americans will suffer if he blocks its passage. Like Republicans he refuses to recognize global warming because he bows to the oil companies that contribute to his campaign. It is disgraceful. Donations are continuing to be accepted at QCCommunityFoundation.org and the foundations office at 852 Middle Road, Suite 100, in Bettendorf. For Project NOW assistance, call 309-793-6391. For Community Action of Eastern Iowa, call 563-324-3236. A Flood Fest benefit will be held Friday, June 7, at 7:30 p.m,, at the RiverCenter, 136 E. 3rd St., Davenport, that will also support downtown Davenport recovery efforts. The musical guest lineup is in the process of being finalized and will be announced as soon as details are available. Tickets for the concert are $25 and available at Ticketmaster.com. A stand-alone option for those not purchasing a ticket but wishing to donate to the flood relief fund may also do so via Ticketmaster. People also have the option to purchase a ticket and make a donation over and above the cost of concert admission. Ticketmaster has reduced ticket fees for the concert and waived fees associated with any stand-alone donations. Randol said Iowa Total Care will be held accountable to all contract obligations, and the state will have the capability to implement damages if they don't meet them. Members pressed Randol on what ability the state has to implement damages and sanctions for not meeting obligations. "Obviously, they're going to be held to their contractual obligations," Randol responded. "Well, I would suggest that you go on to our website and you can read the contract. You can read the contract if you choose to," Randol told participants when he was asked about specifics. "There's financial leverage to hold them accountable to contractual obligations." Medicaid member Matt Grillot, who is C 5/6 quadriplegic, was worried about Genesis as well. Randol, in response, said he was "confident" Iowa Total Care will have a contract with Genesis. "I know one thing is being said publicly, but there are other negotiations that continue to this day with Iowa Total Care and Genesis." Marquard pushed back against the claim that Genesis would not reach a contract, saying that wasn't so. "It's not a foregone conclusion, but my anticipation and what we are working towards is reaching an agreement with them." A Davenport woman was booked into the Scott County Jail on Thursday after police say she led them on a high-speed, two-state chase in April with three young children unrestrained in the car. Tana Lashay Tate, 24, of the 300 block of Besty Ross Place, is charged with eluding, a Class D felony punishable by up to five years in prison, and three counts of child endangerment, an aggravated misdemeanor punishable by up to two years in prison. She also was cited for reckless driving, driving while license suspended, failure to use child restraint device, failure to yield to emergency vehicle, and failure to provide proof of financial liability. Bond was set Friday at $11,000 cash or surety. At 2:10 a.m. April 20, a Davenport police officer observed a gold Chrysler Town & Country northbound in the 1200 block of Iowa Street, according to arrest affidavits filed in support of the criminal complaint. The officer recognized the vehicle as the same one involved in a reckless driving and eluding incident earlier that night where the vehicle struck a tree, causing front-end damage and the passenger headlight from working. A man who was headed to a new trial in Rock Island County related to the 2010 death of his child has instead taken a deal in which the murder charge against him was dropped. A jury in November 2012 found Demetrius Phillips, 27, Rock Island, guilty of first-degree murder for the killing of his 4-months-old son, Lyrik, and was later sentenced to 25 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. Phillips won an appeal in 2018 on an argument that his confession during an interview with Rock Island Police Department detectives should have been kept from the trial jury because he was coerced. The defense attempted to prevent the interview from the trial, but the motion to suppress was denied. Earlier this month, Phillips and the Rock Island County State's Attorney's Office reached a negotiated plea in which Phillips pleaded guilty to an added aggravated battery charge and the first-degree murder charge was dropped. Because of these young people, today we fight, said Erin Davison-Rippey, Planned Parenthoods state executive director for Iowa. She said thousands of young Iowans have benefited from effective age-appropriate, research-based sex education classes taught in 31 school districts and through a dozen community-based organizations this past year. To exclude providers based on the abortion issue is counterproductive because that likely would increase unintended pregnancies, Davison-Rippey said. Planned Parenthood has been the trusted provider of comprehensive sex education in Iowa for decades and for nearly 15 years under one of the federal programs that the Reynolds administration just defunded, she said. By signing this law, the governor is undermining the health of young people in our state, making it more difficult for them to get the tools they need to make healthy decisions, now and for a lifetime. In responding to the litigation, Reynolds spokesman Pat Garrett said the governor is 100 percent pro-life and believes taxpayer dollars shouldnt fund an organization that provides abortion. Children are invited to bring their favorite stuffed animal to the MercyOne Clinton Medical Center Teddy Bear Clinic at the Medical Center, 1410 North 4th St., Clinton, on Saturday, June 1, from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Kids of all ages are welcome, though it's recommended for those aged 2 to 10. Children will have an opportunity to learn all about what happens during a medical center stay by bringing their stuffed animals to playful, interactive educational stations staffed by MercyOne nurses and other health care professionals from Admitting, Laboratory, Surgery, Pediatric Care, Therapy, Nutrition, Radiology, Pharmacy, Health Information Management and more. In addition, kids and their parents will get information about healthy eating and medication safety. They'll also have an opportunity to see an ambulance and fire truck up close. "We're excited to be able to help children understand what a medical center experience is like in this fun, informative way, and to meet families in a stress-free setting before they need our care," MercyOne Clinton Perioperative Educator Kristi Olson said in a press release. "I encourage any families with young children to spend an hour or so with us June 1 at our first-ever MercyOne Teddy Bear Clinic!" Bettendorf Schools Superintendent Mike Raso no longer is a candidate for a superintendent position in West Liberty, Iowa. Diego Giraldo, who formerly was chief officer of early learning for Chicago Public Schools, has accepted the offer the West Liberty district made earlier this week, Melody Henderson, West Liberty Schools administrative assistant, said Friday. The West Liberty School Board will make its official approval at its Monday night board meeting, Henderson said. Raso had been one of four finalists to lead West Liberty Schools in West Liberty, Iowa. According to the West Liberty schools website, Grundmeyer Leader Services led the superintendent search. Giraldo is expected to take over July 1. On March 4, the Bettendorf school board unanimously voted not to automatically extend Rasos contract, which doesn't expire until June 30, 2020. His contract would have renewed automatically for another year if the board hadnt taken action before March 15. Raso was named superintendent in 2016. He has been with the district since 2008. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. So far, Genesis Health System and UnityPoint Health have not signed on. In an interview Thursday night, Genesis Health System Government and Community Relations Officer Henry Marquard said the hospital system is negotiating with Iowa Total Care. "Right now, we are looking at negotiating a contract with Total Care, seeing where that goes basically," Marquard said, adding that the hospital is "optimistic." "It's not a foregone conclusion, but my anticipation and what we are working towards is reaching an agreement with them." At the town hall on Thursday, Iowa Medicaid Director Michael Randol touted the number of providers that had contracted with Iowa Total Care. "We will expect Iowa Total Care to have network adequacy in provider types in three different regions of the state, and we will make sure that they adhere to that," Randol said when asked whether Genesis would accept the new provider. Elwell played down these factors. His reaction to the Journal report that the FAA's internal review found weak oversight: "Frankly, there's nothing in that article that led me to anything I'm aware of," he replied. Elwell allowed that the 13-month delay wasn't ideal but lectured the panel: "Don't make something that isn't a critical safety item a critical safety item." Elwell also defended a policy that allows Boeing to handle much of its own safety regulation, and he said returning the Max to service is "not contingent" on completing accident investigations. Elwell was not so forgiving of foreigners. He complained that grounding the planes (the United States resisted the move) "was not a collaborative process" and ignored the data. He said he hopes the return of the Max will be more collaborative. "I think that's important for the world to have some level of confidence" in the plane, he said. Exactly. So maybe take some responsibility? The estate of a longtime educator who earned three degrees at Chadron State College will benefit Nebraska and South Dakota students for years to come, according to Chadron State Foundation Chief Executive Officer Ben Watson. We are incredibly grateful for Kathleens gift to the Chadron State, Watson said. It will impact generations of future students at CSC. The estate of Mary Kathleen Connell, who died in 2018, bestowed $119,000 to the Chadron State Foundation to create scholarships for Nebraska or South Dakota residents who are at least sophomores at Chadron State College. Connell, a native of Beaver City, Nebraska, valued education and earned all of her degrees at Chadron State. She completed a two-year diploma in 1957 and taught at several rural schools in central and southeast Nebraska. In 1963, she obtained her bachelors degree, and in 1971 she earned her masters degree. Throughout her 46-year teaching career, she taught 16 years in Nebraska and 30 years in South Dakota, including stops in Oral, Buffalo Gap and Hot Springs. She and her husband, DeWayne, a cattle rancher who preceded her in death, were musically inclined and were active in their communities. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 MINOT, N.D. | The niece of two Navy seamen from Minot who were killed in World War II hopes that the recent identification of their remains will bring more attention to their story. Helene Jensen, niece of Calvin and Wilfred Palmer, told the Minot Daily News that she wants people to learn about the sacrifices the brothers made for the country. The Palmers were among the 429 crewmen on the USS Oklahoma who died in the Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. Their remains were exhumed in 2015 from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu. They were identified in March through DNA analysis. Jensen said she was surprised when she was notified about her uncles, noting that her aunt had provided a positive DNA sample before her death. The brothers' names are listed on the cemetery's Walls of the Missing, and a rosette will be placed next to their names to show they've been accounted for. Jensen said her father, Charles Burns, was also aboard the USS Oklahoma, but he survived the attack and tried to save the Palmer brothers. Burns was forced to jump off the battleship and was able to swim to shore. Burns died in 1992. Jensen said the family plans to bury her uncles' remains in August in Port Orchard, Washington, where Burns is also buried. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Minister of Agriculture Saboto Caesar has promised operationalization of the Cannabis Cultivation Amnesty Act by June. The amnesty period offered to traditional cannabis cultivators is expected to begin soon. So said Minister of Agriculture, Saboto Caesar who said in Parliament on May 9, that the Cannabis Cultivation (Amnesty) Act (2018) was expected to be gazetted on or before June 3 and then fully operationalized. Caesars indication came in response to a question posed by Parliamentary Representative for North Leeward, Roland Matthews, for the Minister to update the nation on the status of the medicinal marijuana industry with specific reference to amnesty, licensing, land and the number of investors, both local and foreign. The Amnesty Bill was passed in Parliament in December 2018, however no precise commencement date had been affixed. Under the Act, traditional farmers can be granted amnesty for a duration of time, and for further periods as may be required for persons engaged in cannabis cultivation contrary to Section 8 of the Drug Misuse and Prevention Act. But, according to Caesar, there were still a number of things to be done before the amnesty period could be triggered. He said that the police who are expected to play a critical role in the entire medicinal marijuana operations here were working on the practical framework as to how the amnesty will function. "The cannabis to be received will have to be processed and we have to ensure that the facilities are there in place to receive the cannabis, the agriculture minister said. There was also the issue of banking, which Caesar said was slowing down the pace at which cannabis-related matters were moving. With respect to the licensing, he explained that individuals wishing to apply for a licence can do so at the headquarters that has since been set up at Rivulet. The cost for application is EC$100, but there is no fee attached to the license for a period of two years, Caesar said. He also mentioned that an outreach programme to facilitate those who may not want to journey to Rivulet, was already in place, and that the first one took place in North Leeward, known to have a large concentration of traditional farmers. According to Caesar, there were presently 75 applications made by traditional farmers from the North Leeward area 50 applied during the outreach and another 25 journeyed to Rivulet. And regarding the investors, there were eight foreigners and four locals who have expressed interest in becoming involved in the cannabis industry. On the same day that the bronze likenesses of Presidents George W. Bush and Harry S. Truman were returned to downtown Rapid City, a City of Presidents co-founder said that a location has been chosen for Barack Obama. Dallerie Davis said Thursday that the statue of the 44th president will be unveiled during a ceremony on July 13 at the Elks Theater in downtown Rapid City. From there, the Obama bronze will be placed at the southwest corner of the intersection of Fourth and Saint Joseph streets, she said. This is the first time weve let the information out, Davis said of the location near the Trinity Eco Prayer Park. I can make it official because were unlikely to change it at this point. Also on Thursday, the refurbished statues of Bush and Truman were returned to their locations after being struck in separate traffic accidents. The bronze of Truman at the corner of St. Joseph Street and Mount Rushmore Road was knocked askew in November after being struck by a Ford pickup whose driver had run a red light at the intersection. The Bush statue at the intersection of Saint Joseph and Fifth streets was removed in March after apparently being hit by a car a month earlier. Davis said both statues sustained only a few minor dents and scratches, but they still required a complete redo of the patina (finish) by Spearfish sculptor James Michael Maher. Once you start changing the patina, its like painting a wall. You just cant change a little patch or the rest of it wont match, Davis said. Maher had other projects going over the winter, including bronzes of former Gov. Dennis Daugaard and pioneer South Dakota author Laura Ingalls Wilder, and needed time to get to the repairs on Bush and Truman. He just had a backlog of work and just couldnt get to them, she said. Thursdays re-installment was the second for the Truman statue. In 2007, a drunken driver knocked the statue over at the same intersection. However, wayward motorists havent been the only threat to the presidential statues. In 2012, Bill Clinton's statue at the corner of Seventh and St. Joseph streets was knocked off its base. Police weren't able to determine whether a car hit the statue or someone tipped it over. James Monroe was targeted in 2015, when someone stole his cane from his statue at the corner of Seventh and Main streets. Now all 43 completed statues, a popular tourist draw, are in place on street corners throughout downtown. Everybodys up and accounted for, Davis said. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 Are the anti-abortionists going to fund all the social programs needed to care for the unwanted babies or is it OK to just let them starve to death after they are born? I've had a painful health problem since November 2018, but several visits to a family practice doctor and different specialists referred by him have accomplished nothing other than costing my health care provider considerable monetary loss and thousands of out-of-pocket dollars for me. Tariffs are paid twice because taxpayers are funding the welfare program thats necessary to help farmers. California has the fifth largest economy on the planet and South Dakota takes $1.25 of federal funding for every $1 it contributes. Maybe check that snide attitude before you look any sillier. I received an email from Senator Rounds the other day saying the tax cuts worked and our economy is wonderful. With farm income down for five years straight in South Dakota, I wonder what state he represents? A huge thank you to Dominos Pizza chain for donating $5,000 to help repair potholes in our streets. Our residents appreciate your thoughtfulness and yet find it embarrassing that you had to witness the deplorable condition of our roadways. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 It was one of those rare days when the sun shined in April. I was doing some work in the kitchen of our home and singing a little song that popped into my head. Chickaree chick, chala, chala, chickalaromi in a bananika, bawlika, walika cant you see, chickaree chick is me went the verse. My wife was listening and she said, Youre just making that up arent you? I replied, No, Im not that musically inclined. I then told her that was one of the songs that came out during World War II. There were many songs back then with crazy lyrics and we think the kids of today have crazy music. In fact Chickaree Chick was a song that was No. 1 on the musical charts in 1945, and it was sung by Danny Kaye. Even the great vocalist Dinah Shore sang this song. Because the war was a world war, even songs from England and France made their way to America. La Vie En Rose, by Edith Piaf, and Vera Lynns White Cliffs of Dover were two great songs. A song by the Andrew Sisters, Ill be with you in apple blossom time was imported to Europe and was a very popular song because of its sentiment. And there were songs of war and patriotism abounding back then. It has always struck me that there were no great war songs that came out of the Korean War or the war in Vietnam. But during WWII there were several. In fact I dont believe there were ever any songs related to Korea or Vietnam. We only heard the songs on Armed Forces Radio that were popular in the States at the time. During WWII there was a song that came out after the United States Air Force started to drop bombs on Europe and Germany in particular. The aircraft artillery took a heavy toll on the bombers and many of them were shot down over Germany and others were banged up so badly that they barely made it back to England. So out of that chaos came a song that went; Coming in on a wing and a prayer. Though theres one motor gone we can still carry on, were coming home on a wing and a prayer. Another song went, Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition, praise the Lord and pass the ammunition and well all stay free. There are still some of us old timers who vividly recall these songs of war. Great songs came out of the Civil War like Battle Hymn of the Republic, Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. The Star Spangled Banner was penned during the War of 1812. And from World War I came patriotic songs by Irving Berlin. Like Over There; The Yanks are coming, the Yanks are coming and it wont be over til its over, over there. And Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and smile, smile, smile. And the sentimental songs of any war like Til we meet again. How many youngsters of today would know what was meant by the song, Milkman, keep those bottles quiet? Bottles? Everything today comes in plastic. It seems that the Forgotten War, Korea, and the War in Vietnam never inspired any great song writers to visualize anything of glory or patriotism in those wars and so the songs never came. Not even funny songs like Chickaree Chick, chala chala came out of those wars and so on this warm day in April I reverted to singing a song I learned from World War II. The great songs of the World Wars came about because Americans really needed the inspiration and patriotism, and so what does that tell you about Korea and Vietnam? How many great songs came out of the Gulf Wars? The war in Afghanistan is now in its 18th year, the longest war in American history so surely there should have been some songs of inspiration and patriotism out of that never ending war. Not! It seems the only songs that came of Vietnam were protest songs. Out of Korea, nothing, not even protest songs. And so it goes. Tim Giago is the owner of Native Sun News Today. He can be contacted by emailing najournalist1@gmail.com. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 In May of 1910, Dr. Lillian Miller started a movement for a hospital to be known as the Daly Memorial Hospital. She asked for support from local businessmen. She stated, It is important that we have a local hospital. At any one time, we have six valley patients in the Missoula hospital. Not only are we losing business to Missoula, but local residents are suffering the inconvenience of traveling by train to Missoula. Miller opened the hospital in the west building of the Ladd Flats. Eight rooms were furnished and ready for use. The hospital had one trained nurse, Miss Forman, who was a graduate of a Boston hospital. With expenses proving to be too much for one doctor to bear, Dr. Miller turned her hospital over to a Board of Directors in the summer of 1912. Shortly thereafter, the hospital relocated to 166-170 South 2nd Street in the upstairs of the Teidt building. The hospital occupied 20 rooms. A stairway at the rear of the building was constructed and an airy operating room set up at the head of the stairway. In March 1913, Miss Rose Casserly, became the new matron of the Hamilton Hospital. Miss Casserly had been at the Mayo Clinic for the past two years and was a graduate of a Canadian school for hospital training. For the past two years, the hospital had been able to pay expenses out of patient revenues and donations. However, by the summer of 1913, the hospital was forced to seek financial help from the community. As president of the board Mr. Totman expressed it, Folks in the valley are so healthy this year that we are not securing enough money to pay our running expenses. Were counting on most everyone to dig up a dollar or two to help keep the hospital running. At that time, the hospital had no resident doctor but was open to all doctors. In December 1917, the hospital closed due to insufficient funds. Soon, however, a $1,000 donation from Mrs. Marcus Daly and a $600 donation from Marcus Daly II allowed the hospital to re-open just one week after it had closed. Because of a lack of patients, the hospital found itself $1,500 in debt in the fall of 1921. Once again, citizens of the valley rallied and the hospital was able to soldier on until 1924. In that year, the hospital again faced an uncertain future because of more than $8,000 in unpaid bills. As a result, the hospital board adopted a new policy payment must be made in advance at the time a patient enters the hospital, with the exception of emergencies. In October 1929, Mrs. Marcus Daly stated that she and her children had been considering a suitable memorial to Mr. Daly for some time. According to Mrs. Daly, that while she intends to build, equip and endow a grand, new hospital, it will not be a free hospital. On June 30, 1930, the new $200,000 hospital on South Fourth Street was open for business. The first babies were born on July 5, 1931 and were duly named Roy Marcus Daly Brady, James Daly Carver, and Margaret Daly Rouse. The Daly Hospital remained at its location on South Fourth Street for 44 years until a new hospital was constructed on the west side of Hamilton in 1975. The old hospital building eventually became home to the countys administrative offices in 2002. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 0 On one snowy December day last year, Daly Mansion executive director Darlene Gould was headed for home when she caught something amiss out the corner of her eye. One of the concrete balusters on the 470-foot-long stone retaining wall had fallen off the 8-foot-tall river stone retaining wall just behind the historic mansion. It looked like someone had knocked out a tooth, Gould remembered. It had literally fallen into the flower bed. We have known the wall was getting bad, but we just havent had the money to do anything about it. The news didnt get any better after an architect took a look at the wall and its hundreds of balusters that was built sometime in the early 1900s. He gave us a ballpark figure that fixing the entire wall would cost somewhere between $350,000 and $400,000, Gould said. I thought Good Lord, where are we going to get of money? While the historic mansion is state-owned, it doesnt receive any annual funding for either operations or maintenance. It relies on special events, weddings, tours, gift shop sales and donations to keep its doors open. This year, the mansion received a gift from the state legislation in the form of a $400,000 grant as part of the Montana Museum Act of 2020. It was SB 338, Gould said. I think Ill remember the number of that bill forever. We are all just thrilled that happened. The legislation that authorized construction and funding for the Montana Historical Societys new Heritage Center project included provisions for $400,000 grants to the only two state-owned historical homes in Montana the Daly Mansion in Hamilton and the Moss Mansion in Billings. Sen. Fred Thomas, R-Stevensville, said that while the funding for the two historic homes was in the original bill brought to the legislature by the Montana Historical Society, the original version of the legislation didnt have sufficient support. We met with them and came with a totally different version, Thomas said. The bill calls for increasing the state lodging sales and use tax from 3% to 4%, which is expected to yield a total of $9 million per year. The revised legislation created a historic preservation grant program for museums around the state, with a portion of new funding to be used to build a new 66,000-square-foot Heritage Center in Helena. Thomas said that grant money will allow museums in other communities to make a number of upgrades that will eventually allow them to display some of the artifacts and art owned by the Montana Historical Society that hardly ever see the light of day. Its important to note the historical society actually stores about 75% of the art that it owns because it doesnt have the ability to display it, Thomas said. Its all in storage. When these improvements happen in local museums, they will be able to display some of that people will be go to all these cool museum across Montana and not just see the local collections, but also some additional first-class displays from the historical society. Beyond that, Thomas said the additional funding for the Daly Mansion was important for the Bitterroot Valley community. Its the biggest shot in the arm that theyve received for maintenance and upgrades for a long time, he said. While she too was happy the Daly Mansion received some funding, Rep. Nancy Ballance, R-Hamilton, said she voted for the legislation in large part because it offered funding for other local museums around the state. Im not personally someone big on history, but a lot of people are, Ballance said. That history and heritage plays an important role for many communities and a lot of that happens in the small museums in the state. Many of those smaller museums arent equipped to display historical items from the Montana Historical Society, but this grant money can make a difference, she said. Ballance credits Thomas with getting the grant funding for the Daly Mansion. Over the years, Ballance said there have been several attempts to acquire funding for the mansion through the general fund, but she has resisted that. My answer has always been the same, she said. The funding source needs to have a direct nexus to what the funding will be used for and this time they did that. Ballance said many in the community have been trying to figure out a way to find some funding to help the mansion with operational costs and deferred maintenance through accommodation taxes. Currently, the mansion is attached to the University of Montana, but its unable to help with any funding. The Daly Mansion has been kind of on its own, she said. I think this will be a big help. On Wednesday, Gould took a walk along the stone wall to take a look at some of the places where the cement was cracking and crumbling. It definitely got worse over the winter, she said. This winter was terrible. Not only do we have issues with the wall, but weve developed a leak in the roof. Were talking about doing a major fundraiser to help us get some of this other much needed maintenance completed. When most people hear that were state owned, they assume that we received annual funding through the state, Gould said. We have to come up with all the money to pay our employees and the heat and light bills. If it wasnt for the fact that people care about the 1886-vintage mansion once owned by Copper King Marcus Daly, it wouldnt still be standing. People have stepped forward to raise over $2.5 million to put into a house that they dont even own, Gould said. I think that shows their passion for this place. On Mothers Day, the mansion opened to the public for its 33rd season. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Construction season is about to get underway for folks in Ravalli County The focus this summer will be around Stevensville and Lost Trail Pass. The first project begins next week when the Montana Department of Transportation and its contractor, Poteet Construction, begin working to upgrade about 20 corners on Stevensvilles Main Street with curbs that have a gentler slope. When completed, the new curbing will allow all pedestrians including people with disabilities, parents with strollers, small children with bikes and delivery drivers pushing dollies to more easily get on and off the downtown sidewalks. The project also includes adding a colored and textured surface where the curb ramp connects with the street to help people with visual impairments know they are entering a roadway where traffic might be present. The improvements are part of the Montana Department of Transportions ADA Transition Plan aimed at improving access and safety in all communities across the state. Making sidewalks more accessible is an important step towards creating a more inclusive downtown community, said Bernie Franks-Ongoy of Disability Rights Montana. These upgrades make everyday activities easier for those with disabilities whether thats getting to work, attending a doctors appointment, or supporting Main Street businesses. The funding for the project is part of a larger package of road improvements in the Stevensville area planned for this summer, which include replacing the old wooden guardrail on the Bitterroot Overflow Bridge just east of the Bitterroot River and pavement preservation work that will include milling, paving and chip sealing on both U.S. Highway 93 between McCalla Creek Bridge to about three/quarters of mile north of Kootenai Creek Road and the Eastside Highway from the river to about a mile south of town. When were working in an area we try to address as many issues at one time as possible, said Matt Straub, MDT project manager. The goal is to avoid coming back year after year. ADA improvements on Main Street will start on May 23 and are expected to last for four to six weeks. Upgrades to the Bitterroot Overflow Bridge are scheduled for mid-June and are expected to take 10 to 15 days. Pavement preservation on the Eastside Highway and U.S. Highway 93 wont occur until later in July and is expected to end by early August. Impacts during the initial phase of construction in Stevensville will be limited to some noise, some minor pedestrian detours and potential some restricted parking downtown. When the pavement preservation work gets underway in July, motorists on U.S. Highway 93 can expect delays of up to 15 minutes, reduced speeds and single-lane, two-way traffic in in construction zones. On the Eastside Highway, there will be single lane traffic at times. Construction will be curtailed on Friday and Saturday evenings to accommodate community activity in downtown Stevensville. Members of the public are encouraged to sign-up for regular construction updates this summer by texting Stevi to 555-888 or emailing melissas@strategies360.com. The state also plans to do a similar pavement preservation project on Lost Trail Pass that will begin at the Idaho border and extend north on U.S. Highway 93 for about nine miles. Milling and paving on that project is expected to get started in mid-June. That part of the project could take somewhere between 10 and 20 days. Chip sealing of the portion of the pass will occur in August. There could be delays of up to 15 minutes and motorists should expect reduced speeds of 35 mph through the construction zone. Drivers are asked to slow down and pay careful attention to their surrounding in work zones. Planning extra travel time is recommended, as is finding alternative routes where feasible. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Alkivaides Alki David being taken into police custody at the Robert L Bradshaw International Airport, St. Kitts. (Photo Credit: Caribbean news Service) Last week Thursday, May 9, The Cannabis Bill 2019 was laid before the National Assembly of St. Kitts and Nevis. But on May 7, two days before the tabling of the Bill, two members of a purported international-regional consortium established with the aim to invest in the cannabis business in the Eastern Caribbean, were detained at the Robert L Bradshaw International Airport, St. Kitts. Alkivaides "Alki David, Greek Coca Cola heir, and his fellow billionaire business partner Chase Ergen, heir to satellite fortune, arrived in St. Kitts by private jet. But instead of a quick passage through immigration and customs, they spent the next several hours in police custody. The first news coming out of St. Kitts and Nevis said that the mens arrest reportedly stemmed from "a misunderstanding about a quantity of cannabis-related items they had brought with them. The two were released after what was said to be an intervention of former Prime Minister Dr. Denzil Douglas. A full search of the private jet, however, discovered a large quantity of hemp cloned plants (5000) and seeds, and David and Ergen were arrested on Monday, as they attempted to leave St. Kitts. The value of the heist was set at $1.3 million. David was taken to court to answer to charges of possession with Intent to Supply, possession of controlled drugs, and importation of a controlled drug into the Federation. The Greek heir is said to have posted $300,000 bail and ordered to surrender his travel documents. But he departed St Kitts on-board his private jet on Tuesday, a day after his arrest. A subsequent statement from his legal team said that he had cleared up the situation with the authorities in St. Kitts-Nevis and his passport was returned to him. Ergen remains in hospital on the island for unspecified reasons, although it is understood he has family locally. When he was released after his initial detention at the airport, David was reported to have launched "a damning and disrespectful attack on the countrys Prime Minister, Dr. Timothy Harris. He is also reported to have used a press conference on Monday to continue his profanity-laced attack on the government of St. Kitts and Nevis. Local and international press reported that Dr. Denzil Douglas was at that press conference which was carried lived on radio and social media. (Sources: Caribbean News Now, gov.skn, Mail Online) David hit the international headlines this month after he was forced to pay $11 million to a former employee after losing a sexual harassment lawsuit. Murder charges have been filed against a woman and her daughter in the death of a pregnant Chicago woman whose baby was cut from her womb. (May 16) Two years to the day after Broadwater County deputy Mason Moore was shot and killed on Highway 287, his family and Sheriff Wynn Meehan unveiled a sign dedicating that stretch of road to his memory. About 100 people showed up Thursday at mile marker 109, just south of I-90 and the Wheat Montana store, which is where Marshall and Lloyd Barrus allegedly fired on and killed Mason Moore in the line of duty in 2017. "It's a little tough," Meehan said, wiping away tears. "We probably should have picked a different day." He pointed to a place directly in front of the sign. "That's where his car was sitting." "It's a little tough," Meehan repeated. "It's something you don't forget." After Mason Moore was killed, the Barruses led a 184-mile, high-speed pursuit on I-90 that ended in a shootout with law enforcement, the death of Marshall Barrus, and the arrest of Lloyd Barrus. Lloyd Barrus is awaiting trial on charges of deliberate homicide, attempted deliberate homicide, assault on a peace officer and unlawful possession of a firearm. Standing behind a small podium, Meehan told the crowd that two years earlier, it was a very different scene. "It's hard to stand here and not remember," he said. Jodi Moore, Mason's widow, and their two sons, Chase and Cole, helped Meehan cut duct tape off a blue shroud covering the sign naming the Mason Moore Memorial Highway. "I feel a mixture of emotions," Jodi Moore said. "It's painful, it hurts, missing Mason, but I'm grateful for this." Jodi Moore thanked the gathered crowd for the time and effort it took to be at the event, especially focusing on the Broadwater County Sheriff's Office. "I'm not the only one hurting," she said. The Three Forks community designated this past week as "Mason Moore Week" in honor of the fallen deputy. Jodi Moore expressed her frustration that Lloyd Barrus still has not been tried in the death of her husband. "It is not acceptable and is disgusting to me," she said. "I go through periods of being angry, and go through periods where it's just hard to get out of bed." Montana Rep. Julie Dooling called Thursday a "bittersweet day." "May you find comfort in the the memories of this man," Dooling said. Curtis Crow, Jodi and Mason's pastor, gave the final benediction. "This day for me is extraordinarily hard," Crow said. "My friend, my brother gave his life to protect me, to protect us." Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The Missoula Police Department has issued a warning about an unknown driver of a red Cadillac impersonating a police cruiser after the motorist attempted to pull over a marked police vehicle. According to the announcement posted on MPDs Facebook page, the Cadillac with flashing red lights on its dashboard followed Officer Chris Kaneff near the Russell Street Bridge Wednesday. The vehicle disappeared before Kaneff could turn his cruiser around. MPD said people should be aware that the department has no red Cadillac in its fleet, and law enforcement vehicles typically display blue and red, or just blue flashing lights. Love 3 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Improving housing conditions for Yellowstone National Park employees is a top goal for the park's managers. The goal was one of several that the park publicized on Thursday, calling them a series of major strategic priorities that will guide short- and long-term decision-making into the future. The priorities focus heavily on the parks team and organization, strengthening the condition of the Yellowstone ecosystem, improving visitor experience, investing in infrastructure, and expanding partnerships and coalitions. Its important that our priorities and actions are clear, not only to the NPS team here in Yellowstone, but to ensure our partners and the public understand our direction in these very important areas, said Superintendent Cam Sholly in a press release. The priorities are: Focus on the core: Improve the working and living conditions of the Yellowstone team, how the park manages its financial resources, and how it works toward the best administrative and operational framework. An example of a specific action under this priority includes the development of a five-year plan to substantially improve employee housing within the park. The multi-million dollar plan will work to improve existing housing, eliminate and replace 75 trailers used for seasonal employees, and will explore new housing partnership opportunities with gateway communities and partners. Strengthen the ecosystem and heritage resources: Respond to the effects of climate change, promote large landscape and wildlife conservation efforts, and protect and improve the condition of Yellowstones vast cultural and historic resources. Specific actions include: a bison management strategy that stabilizes and potentially expands the quarantine program; working with states to protect and facilitate important wildlife migration corridors; and expanding efforts to combat the impacts of non-native species like lake trout in Yellowstone Lake. Deliver a world-class visitor experience: In handling increased visitation in upcoming years the park's staff will put special focus on visitor impacts on resources, staffing and infrastructure, visitor experience, and gateway communities. The park is moving out of the data gathering phase and beginning to determine the appropriate short- and long-term actions necessary to protect resources, mitigate impacts of congestion, and improve educational, recreational, and other visitor enjoyment opportunities. This priority also focuses heavily on improving public safety and resource protection. Invest in infrastructure: The parks maintenance backlog exceeds half a billion and is likely much higher. By developing a more cogent deferred maintenance reduction plan, improving the quality of data and prioritization processes, and taking better advantage of current and future funding to improve asset conditions and protect investments the park staff hopes to chip away at the work. Build coalitions and partnerships: The park will continue to build and align priorities with many partners including Yellowstone Forever and the philanthropic community, with tribes, elected officials, environmental and conservation groups, concessioners, and communities, states, and other federal cooperators. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Education Reporter Mathew Burciaga is a Santa Maria Times reporter who covers education, agriculture and public safety. Prior to joining the Times, Mathew ran a 114-year-old community newspaper in Wyoming. He owns more than 40 pairs of crazy socks from across the globe. Relatives of Dale Dabreo, the mentally ill man who was shot and killed by police in April on Canouan, have been advised to seek legal assistance, and to make sure that everything is done in accordance with the law. Prime Minister and Minister of Legal Affairs, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, speaking during the obituary segment in Parliament on May 9, said that he gave this advice to the relatives of the deceased man. On April 15, the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force issued a press statement stating that on April 14, Police on Canouan responded to a report that the mentally ill man was attacking residents on the island. On arriving at the scene, the man attacked the police with a knife and was subsequently shot, the police statement said. Dabreo was taken to the Canouan Health Centre where he died. However, relatives of the man spoke out against the shooting death, saying that the details included in the police release were false. Dr. Gonsalves said that when the matter was reported to him, he immediately contacted Commissioner of Police (CoP), Colin John. He reported that he told the CoP that in such instances where there is a sudden or unnatural death and where it is not reasonably accepted that a criminal act has been committed, then the information must be sent to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the district coroners office, in order that a coroners inquest be conducted. Before the Prime Minister spoke on the issue, Parliamentary Representative for the Southern Grenadines Terrance Ollivierre had called for an investigation into the mans death. " " Boston Dynamics Atlas: A Bipedal Robot With Smooth Moves HowStuffWorks In their new footage of Atlas, Boston Dynamics is doing more than just annoying a robot: They're demonstrating mastery of some of the most difficult issues in robotics. Maintaining balance isn't always easy for human bipeds. (Jennifer Lawrence, if you happen to read this, we feel you.) That's despite our having an intricate, built-in system to help us out. Pressure-sensitive nerves in our skin, muscles and joints tell us about the firmness and slope of the ground. In our inner ears, canals full of fluid and tiny hairs give us detailed nuances about our 3-D spatial orientation and motion. Our eyes absorb incredible amounts of data about the shape and distance of objects around us. Advertisement Programming those sensors into two-legged machinery and then getting a computer to both process the data and extrapolate appropriate motion cues in real time are gargantuan feats. Other designs are much more stable: four legs, wheels and treads all beat bipeds in terms of robot practicality. So why try? Is Boston Dynamics just showing off? Well, maybe a little. But most of our world is built on the assumption that the beings interacting with it will have the size, shape and capacity of the average person. We don't even make it easy for our fellow humans to get around if their bodies or abilities fall outside of a narrow norm, and we definitely didn't take robots' needs into consideration when building our spaces. For any small, specialized bot you might buy in the future, this probably won't matter too much. Its tasks will be routine. But, as the video above discusses, it becomes a huge problem if we're going to pursue one of the biggest goals in robotics: sending robots into disaster relief scenarios. There are so many situations, such as the Fukushima crisis, that human responders can't survive and shouldn't have to be asked to. After all, we live in an incredible future in which it's a guy's real job to mess with a robot. It makes you feel like anything is possible, given enough elbow grease and servo couplers. " " SpaceX's Dragon arrived at the International Space Station on May 6, 2019, pictured here over the North Atlantic Ocean. SpaceX If you think that the idea of colonizing other planets is something out of a particularly far-fetched science fiction movie or book, Elon Musk, founder of private space travel company SpaceX, has a surprise for you. Musk has said that there's a 70 percent chance that he'll travel on a rocket to Mars in his lifetime, and that he's thinking about eventually moving there to live in a human outpost on the surface of the red planet [source: Allen and VandeHei]. Advertisement Unlike the protagonist of the science-fiction novel and movie "The Martian," Musk most likely wouldn't be lonely on the red planet. Back in 2012, at a conference of the Royal Aeronautical Society in London, he sketched out a vision for a Mars colony that eventually would grow to the size of a small- to medium-sized city on Earth, with 80,000 inhabitants [source: Coppinger]. While Musk envisions a private-sector Mars colony, NASA has plans to eventually establish a base on Mars as well. The Trump Administration currently is focused upon revisiting the moon by 2024 and building a permanent base there that would provide the opportunity for "developing the technologies to take American astronauts to Mars and beyond," in the words of Vice President Mike Pence [source: Wall]. In anticipation of that day, NASA already is testing technologies such as space habitat modules basically, spacefaring mobile homes that would provide life support for humans living on the surface of other worlds [source: NASA]. The European Space Agency also has envisioned setting up its own "Moon Village" on the lunar surface [source: Woerner]. Meanwhile, visionaries also are looking toward the eventual colonization of Earth-like exoplanets orbiting around other stars [source: Ceriotti]. What has humans looking to make new homes in the cosmos? The National Space Society, a private-sector organization that promotes a spacefaring future, cites a variety of reasons for building colonies in space. One reason is that other worlds contain vast amounts of metals and other natural resources and potential sources of energy, and provide opportunities for "potentially profit-making industries" [source: National Space Society]. Establishing outposts on other worlds also might be a way to hedge the bet on humanity's survival, in case our existence on our home planet is threatened by a nuclear war, climate change, pandemics and population growth. The late physicist Stephen Hawking believed that humanity needs to colonize another planet within the next century, if it is to avoid the threat of extinction [source: Kharpal]. But before humans venture to distant worlds, they'll most likely be starting with a colony on the moon. In the next section, we'll look at what might be needed to live there. The German newspaper Der Spiegel revealed that the software company behind TeamViewer was compromised in 2016 by Chinese hackers. China-linked hackers breached German software company behind TeamViewer in 2016, this news was reported by the German newspaper Der Spiegel According to the media outlet, Chinese state-sponsored hackers used the Winnti trojan malware to infect the systems of the Company. The Winnti group was first spotted by Kaspersky in 2013, according to the researchers the gang has been active since 2007. The gang is financially-motivated and was mostly involved in cyber espionage campaigns. The hackers were known for targeting companies in the online gaming industry, the majority of the victims is located in Southeast Asia. The Winnti cyberespionage group is known for its ability in targeting supply chains of legitimate software to spread malware. According to the company, it was targeted by the hackers in autumn 2016, when its experts detected suspicious activities were quickly blocked them to prevent major damages. TeamViewer spokesperson revealed that the company investigated the attempts of intrusion, but did not find any evidence of exposure for customer data and sensitive data. Der Spiegel pointed out that TeamViewer did not disclose the security breach to the public. In autumn 2016, TeamViewer was target of a cyber-attack. Our systems detected the suspicious activities in time to prevent any major damage. An expert team of internal and external cyber security researchers, working together closely with the responsible authorities, successfully fended off the attack and with all available means of IT forensics found no evidence that customer data or other sensitive information had been stolen, that customer computer systems had been infected or that the TeamViewer source code had been manipulated, stolen or misused in any other way. said company spokesman. Out of an abundance of caution, TeamViewer conducted a comprehensive audit of its security architecture and IT infrastructure subsequently and further strengthened it with appropriate measures. At the time the company published a statement to exclude it was breached by hackers: Goppingen/Germany, May 23, 2016. A recent article warns, TeamViewer users have had their bank accounts emptied by hackers gaining full-system access. TeamViewer is appalled by any criminal activity; however, the source of the problem, according to our research, is careless use, not a potential security breach on TeamViewers side. wrote the company. If you appreciate my effort in spreading cybersecurity awareness, please vote for Security Affairs in the section Your Vote for the Best EU Security Tweeter https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/EUBloggerAwards2018 Im one of the finalists thanks to your support Thank you Pierluigi Pierluigi Paganini (SecurityAffairs TeamViewer, hacking) Share this... Linkedin Share this: Twitter Print LinkedIn Facebook More Tumblr Pocket Share On "Promoting Equality Through Empirical Desert" | Main | "Cruel State Punishments" As reported in this extended AP piece, two states carried out executions this evening. Here are the details: A man convicted of killing his wife decades ago at a camping center he managed in Memphis was put to death Thursday in Tennessee. Separately, a man condemned to die for his role in a quadruple killing that followed a dispute over a pickup truck was put to death Thursday evening in Alabama, declining to make any last-minute appeals in the hours preceding his execution. Sixty-eight-year-old inmate Don Johnson was executed for the 1984 suffocation of his wife, Connie Johnson. He was pronounced dead at 7:37 p.m. after a lethal injection at a maximum-security prison in Nashville. He had initially blamed his wife's slaying on a work-release inmate who confessed to helping dispose of the body and who was granted immunity for testifying against Johnson. Johnson became the fourth person executed in Tennessee since August. The last two inmates executed in Tennessee chose the electric chair, saying they believed it offered a quicker and less painful death than the state's default method of lethal injection. Johnson had spent half his life on death row and seen three execution dates come and go as his appeals played out in court, including challenges to Tennessee's lethal injection protocols. The state's present default method is a three-drug combination that includes the sedative midazolam, which inmates have claimed causes a prolonged and excruciating death. Three more executions are scheduled for later this year in Tennessee. Gov. Bill Lee announced Tuesday that he would not intervene, following "prayerful and deliberate consideration" of Johnson's clemency request. Religious leaders, including the president of the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church, to which Johnson belongs, had asked Lee to spare Johnson's life. Supporters of clemency said Johnson had undergone a religious conversion and cited his Christian ministry to fellow inmates. Johnson is an ordained elder of the church in Nashville.... Alabama administered a lethal injection Thursday evening to 41-year-old Michael Brandon Samra. Samra was pronounced dead at 7:33 p.m. following a three-drug injection at the state prison at Atmore, authorities said. Samra and a friend, Mark Duke, were convicted of capital murder in the deaths of Duke's father, the father's girlfriend and the woman's two elementary-age daughters in 1997. The two adults were shot and the children had their throats slit. Evidence showed that Duke planned the killings because he was angry his father wouldn't let him use his pickup. In a last statement, Samra made a profession of Christian faith. "I would like to thank Jesus for everything he has done for me," Samra said as he lay strapped on a gurney with his arms extended. He ended with the word "amen." After drugs began flowing, Samra went still and his chest heaved three times. He took a few deep breaths and his head moved slightly. Then an officer checked to see if he was still conscious. A few moments later, Samra's hands curled inward, his chest moved like he was taking some breaths and his mouth fell slightly agape. The execution procedure began about an hour after the scheduled 6 p.m. start time, and Prison Commissioner Jeff Dunn said there was no particular reason for the delay. "There were no issues that I was aware of," Dunn said in a statement.... Though Duke and Samra were both originally convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death, Duke's sentence was overturned because he was 16 at the time, and the Supreme Court later banned executing inmates younger than 18 at the time of their crimes. Samra was 19 at the time and asked the U.S. Supreme Court to delay his execution while the Kentucky Supreme Court considers whether anyone younger than 21 at the time of a crime should be put to death, but the justices refused. (Recasts, adds capacity forecast) SINGAPORE, May 16 (Reuters) - Singapore Airlines Ltd on Thursday reported its highest ever annual revenue on a jump in passengers, though higher fuel costs nearly halved its profit. Revenue rose 3.3% to S$16.32 billion ($11.93 billion) for the year ended March 31, as the number of passengers it carried jumped 7.2%. The airline's net profit fell to S$682.7 million in the period from S$1,301.6 million a year earlier, when the figures were restated to reflect accounting changes. Fuel costs jumped 25.1%, weighing on the profit. Singapore Airlines forecast 2019/20 group passenger capacity growth of 6%, lower than the 6.4% recorded in 2018/19, weighed down by issues related to its Boeing 737 MAX 8 fleet and Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 TEN engines. The airline's regional arm, SilkAir, operated six Boeing Co 737 MAX jets before they were grounded in March following a deadly crash in Ethiopia. The carrier last month also grounded two Boeing 787-10 jets fitted with Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC Trent 1000 TEN engines after checks of its fleet found premature blade deterioration. The carrier, a benchmark for Asia's premium airline industry, also warned that trade tensions and slowing economic growth in its key markets threatened its operating environment. ($1 = 1.3683 Singapore dollars) (Reporting by Jamie Freed and Aditya Soni; Editing by Deepa Babington) SINGAPORE (May 17): 2.2 million seats are left unsold every day around the world, translating to significant lost revenue for thousands of commercial airlines globally. Now, there is now an app that lets passengers seek bargain airfares by bidding for last-minute left over seats while helping airlines fill empty seats at the same time. ATA.ONE is currently only available in Europe and the Middle East. The company has four airline customers to date Croatia Airlines, Montenegro Airlines, Iberia and Azerbaijan Airlines and the app is connected to their inventory (unfilled seats). However if talks between the UK-based technology company that created it and Malaysia-based airlines are successful, the app may soon be available for download there. ATA.ONE managing director Kresimir Budinski says the company has approached Malaysias three key airlines Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia Group and Malindo Airways with the hope of securing them as its first airline customers in Southeast Asia. It is still early days, but he says the talks have been positive. The solution is, in fact, attracting new customers that they never had before. The airlines also determine the minimum price they are willing to accept for the unsold seats, as well as the number of seats and flights they would like to offer on our distribution platform, so there will be no cannibalisation, Budinski tells The Edge Malaysia in an interview. According to him, the platform is a low-risk, free solution for airlines as it is fully automated. Fares purchased via the ATA.ONE app can be 40% to 60% cheaper than a regular airline ticket. Each time a seat is sold through an ATA.ONE bid, the passenger pays a small commission to the company. The seats are only sold at prices that are within the airlines acceptable profit margins, and there is no cost to airlines or passengers until a match occurs and e-tickets are issued, he adds. Where does Budinski intend to take ATA.ONE in the longer-term, and what else is the company doing to address the major concern airlines that the platform might cannibalise their current sales? Login to read the full story at: ATA.ONE offers cheap airfares to fill empty seats or get your copy of The Edge Singapore, Issue #882 (Week of May 20), at newsstands today. Could LIAT be looking at a new shareholder configuration? The Government of Antigua and Barbuda confirmed Friday 9th May, 2019 that it had officially submitted a document to authorities in Barbados, indicating its interest in purchasing the shares that country owns in the cash-strapped regional airline LIAT. This is according to a report carried in the online Antigua Observer news service of the same day. The Observer reported Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Gaston Browne as saying that the proposal was submitted last week Tuesday, though as of Wednesday of last week, the Barbados authorities said they had not yet received a formal proposal from Mr. Browne about the purchase of shares. Barbados owns 49.5% of the shares in the regional airline, making it the largest single shareholder. It will be displaced from that position by Antigua and Barbuda if that twin island nation is successful in its bid to buy those shares. Notwithstanding who sent what and who got what when, PM Browne told the Observer, "We are looking towards the sustainability and viability of LIAT. We now have to await a response from Barbados, and then we will develop an action plan on the way forward. The confirmation of PM Brownes offer follows an April 30 meeting of LIATs shareholder governments in Antigua, where it was agreed that a proposal from PM Browne regarding the direction of the airline, would be examined. During the meeting, Browne presented the proposal, albeit orally, which involves apparently, among other things a way to finance the keeping of the three LIAT planes owned by the Caribbean Development Bank. There was a suggestion prior to Brownes proposal, that the planes be sold as part of the downsizing of LIAT. That seemed to have initially won consensus among some shareholders who opined that this matter merited serious consideration. The Antigua and Barbuda proposal now seemed to have taken precedence as far as the discussion going forward is concerned. All of this discussion on the future of LIAT stemmed from a request by the shareholder governments for an injection of some US $5.4 million into the cash-strapped regional airline, that services 15 Caribbean countries. The request was described by some to be a plea of desperation. St. Kitts-Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines responded positively to the call, with Trinidad and Tobago offering to assist in ways other than a direct cash input. Also surfacing last week was indication that business/aviation tycoon Sir Richard Branson would be open to considering investing in a restructured LIAT. There was no confirmation that this was down for any consideration by LIAT shareholder governments, though officials of the Government of Antigua and Barbuda had spoken in public about the matter. Meantime, recent press reports disclosed that Grenada has joined Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines as a principal shareholder in LIAT. And as CEO/LIAT Ms. Julia Reifer-Jones had asserted in April before the meeting in Antigua, LIAT remains in the skies and fulfilling most of its schedule. No word, though, on the ongoing impasse with the airlines pilots over a proposed salary cut. A mystery "sabotage" attack on four ships, including three oil tankers, off the UAE coast has highlighted the importance of Fujairah port located just outside the key Strait of Hormuz. - Strategic location - The port of the emirate of Fujairah, located on the eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates, is about 180 kilometres (112 miles) from Abu Dhabi -- the richest of the seven emirates with 90 percent of the country's oil production. It is 70 nautical miles from the Strait of Hormuz and 80 nautical miles from Iran's Jask port, on the opposite side of Gulf waters. Fujairah is the only emirate in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates that is located on the Arabian Sea, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has repeatedly threatened to close if a military confrontation with the United States erupts. If the strait is closed, the UAE will be able to continue exporting oil from Fujairah, whose port would become a lifeline. - Oil hub - Fujairah has become a major player in the UAE's oil exports with two terminals, a pipeline from Abu Dhabi and a huge crude storage facility. The 406-kilometre pipeline, owned by Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline Co. (ADCOP), can carry over 600,000 barrels of crude oil from Abu Dhabi to Fujairah. The pipeline's capacity can go up to 1.6 million bpd in case of need. Fujairah port has two oil terminals with a capacity to handle over 50 million tonnes of oil a year. It can load Very Large Crude Containers (VLCC) and in 2016 it launched a new dock for supertankers. The port has a huge oil storage facility with a capacity for 10 million tonnes of crude oil, or around 70 million barrels. Abu Dhabi, which sits on a majority of oil reserves in UAE, has recently awarded a $1.2 billion contract for building a second storage area holding 42 million barrels. - History - Work on Fujairah port began in 1978 as part of plans to develop the UAE's economy. Operations began in 1983. Ruler of Fujairah, Sheikh Hamad bin Mohammed al-Sharqi, said there are plans to boost port capacity "at the local, regional and global levels", according to UAE state news agency Wam. The port is a key platform for local and international companies, he said during a visit there. "Especially since Fujairah port is strategically located outside the Strait of Hormuz on the open seas," added Sheikh Hamad. Asia-Pacific cities show an increased presence in the worlds most innovative city rankings, compared to a few years ago, highlights JLL in the report, Innovation Geographies 2019. Singapore has emerged as the third most innovative city after San Francisco and Tokyo. Beijing ranks as the fourth most innovative city it has nurtured the most number of unicorns outside of Silicon Valley in San Francisco, and is now the third largest destination for venture capital funding, according to the report. Also in the top 20 were two other Chinese cities Shanghai (11) and Shenzhen (14). Seoul ranks at 10th place. As the second most innovative city, Tokyo has generated the largest number of patents compared to other cities, outstripping second-placed Shenzhen by over 80%, the report finds. Tokyo leads the market in diverse tech, from electrical machinery to nanotechnology. It is also home to tech multinationals such as Sony, SoftBank and Toyota, which encourages substantial levels of foreign direct investment and R&D expenditure. The report is based on a range of innovation and talent metrics, tracking over 100 cities globally. Sectors such as life sciences, high value-add manufacturing, scientific R&D and technology have been considered. This includes foreign direct investment levels in said innovative industries, venture capital attraction, R&D expenditure and number of international patent applications. The talent metrics look at the quality of talent, as opposed to the sheer size of the labour pool. Factors such as the quality of the local higher education institutions, the demographic profile and employment levels in the innovative industries have been taken into account. See Also: FILE PHOTO - Oil pumps are seen after sunset outside Vaudoy-en-Brie, near Paris, France November 14, 2018. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann By Devika Krishna Kumar NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices edged lower on Friday due to demand fears amid a standoff in Sino-U.S. trade talks, but both benchmarks ended the week higher on rising concerns over supply disruptions in Middle East shipments due to U.S.-Iran political tensions. Iran said on Friday it could "easily" hit U.S. warships in the Gulf, the latest in days of sabre-rattling between Washington and Tehran, while its top diplomat worked to counter U.S. sanctions and salvage a nuclear deal denounced by President Donald Trump. U.S. sanctions on Iran have already cut the OPEC member's crude exports further in May, adding to supply curbs implemented through an OPEC-led pact for the first six months of the year. Brent crude fell 41 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $72.21 a barrel. The global benchmark notched a weekly gain of about 2%, having ended last week largely steady and fallen the week before. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 11 cents to end the session at $62.76, and gained about 1.7% on the week. Oil prices came under pressure on Friday from seesawing U.S. equity markets due to fears over global economic growth amid the escalation of a trade war between the world's top economies. [.N] Chinese media took a hardline approach to the tariff dispute between the Washington and Beijing, saying the trade war will only make China stronger and will never bring the country to its knees. "Despite what we view as a balanced oil market both domestically and globally, oil pricing is apparently still sensitive to evolving developments in the Persian Gulf where occasional minor military events are slowly cranking up geopolitical risk premium," said Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and Associates. Iran's foreign ministry on Friday rejected accusations by Saudi Arabia that Tehran had ordered an attack on Saudi oil installations claimed by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi militia. Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) are "highly likely" to have facilitated attacks last Sunday on four tankers including two Saudi ships off Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, according to a Norwegian insurers' report seen by Reuters. Story continues A Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen carried out several air strikes on the Houthi-held capital Sanaa on Thursday. "When tensions are this high, with the U.S. deploying a sizeable military force, even a mistake or a tactical error by Iran could ignite the Middle East powder keg," Stephen Innes, head of trading and market strategy at SPI Asset Management, told Reuters by email. "There are lots of supply risks with tensions this high." Besides the drop in Iranian exports, Russian shipments have been disrupted and the North Sea - home to the crude underpinning Brent futures - is also in tighter supply owing to oilfield maintenance and outages. The market is also awaiting a decision from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producers over whether to continue with supply cuts that have boosted prices more than 30% so far this year. A meeting of an OPEC-led ministerial committee in Saudi Arabia this weekend will assess member states' commitment to their deal to reduce oil production and could make a recommendation on whether to extend or adjust the pact. The mounting Middle East tensions overshadowed bearish developments for oil prices this week, such as an unexpected increase in U.S. crude inventories and consistently record-high production levels. However, U.S. energy firms this week reduced the number of oil rigs operating for the second week in a row, with the rig count at its lowest since March 2018, as some drillers follow through on plans to cut spending. (Additional reporting by Alex Lawler, Aaron Sheldrick and Colin Packham; Editing by Marguerita Choy and David Goodman) SINGAPORE, May 17 (Reuters) - Singapore's non-oil domestic exports (NODX) fell more than expected in April from a year ago, hurt by fewer shipments to most major trading partners and a plunge in pharmaceutical sales, official data showed on Friday. Exports fell 10% in April year-on-year, data from the trade agency Enterprise Singapore showed, slightly better than a revised 11.8% decline the month before. However, the shipments were worse than the 6.0% decline predicted by economists in a Reuters poll. On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, exports contracted 0.6% in April after declining 14.3% in March. The poll had forecast 5.0% growth from the month before. Pharmaceutical exports, which can be volatile, plunged 46.6% in April from the year earlier after contracting 36.5% in March. Electronics shipments also continued to decline in April, down 16.3% from a year ago after slumping 26.7% in March. (Reporting by Fathin Ungku Editing by Shri Navaratnam) Three Filipino civil engineers and a South Korean colleague kidnapped in Libya last July have been released and flown to the United Arab Emirates, the UAE foreign ministry said Friday. It said the engineers held by unidentified armed groups were freed through joint efforts by Abu Dhabi and military strongman Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army. "The UAE is working on sending them to their home countries," it said, without giving dates for their release or when they were flown to Abu Dhabi. The ministry said the four Asians had been working on a desalination plant in western Libya, while reports last year said they were seized from a water project in the south of the country. The Emirates is a supporter of Haftar, whose forces launched an assault in early April to try to take over Tripoli from the internationally-recognised Government of National Accord. Since the 2011 overthrow of Libya's longtime ruler Moamer Kadhafi, foreign workers and diplomats have been frequent targets of attacks or kidnappings by powerful militias or the Islamic State group. Mohamed Idris died at the age of 93 today. Bernama pic GEORGE TOWN, May 17 For the past 50 years, SM Mohamed Idris led an activism movement that has championed consumer, social and environmental issues. His passing at about 5pm today was mourned by the civil society at large, most of whom had fought alongside him in various issues, but this does not mean activism against consumer, social and environmental issues will stop there. Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) advisor Kanda Kumar said Mohamed Idris legacy will live on through the activism he inspired. Activism will continue. CAP and SAM will be led by a different leader after this but the work that he started and led for so many years will surely continue, he said. He said the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) and Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) had always worked with MNS to fight against various environmental issues. We share information and whenever CAP and SAM took a stance on an issue, we would support it and vice versa, he said. He said Mohamed Idris will be remembered as the person who gave his best all these years. Although this is a great loss, people shouldnt lose heart but instead they must continue his legacy, pick up where he left off and fight environmental issues, he said. Mohamed Idris did not only inspire others to take action and speak up about issues, he was also the one who inspired Datuk K. Koris Atan to set up the Penang Consumer Protection Association (PCPA) about 25 years ago. The PCPA president said he had followed Mohamed Idris activism since he was a teenager back in the early 1970s, by reading up on every issue the latter had raised. After I set up PCPA, I sought his advice on consumerism issues and we shared ideas and information, he said. He said PCPA was set up to create another avenue to raise issues for consumers and work alongside CAP. His passing is a great loss to the consumer world. He sacrificed his whole life to consumerism issues and nobody else has achieved his level of activism, he said. Story continues He believed that even without Mohamed Idris helming CAP and SAM, many others will continue the legacy he left behind. He recounted how Mohamed Idris was known for his simple life and plain white kurta and dhoti that once saw him denied entry to a fancy restaurant in a hotel in Calcutta. He was a straightforward man and never afraid to speak his mind, he said. CAP secretary and SAM council member Meenakshi Raman said Mohamed Idris had inspired so many people that they will definitely carry on with his work. He was always telling us that there was a lot more work to be done. The best thing for us to do now is to continue his work, she said. Meenakshi, who is also the Tanjung Bungah Residents Association chairman, said she first met Mohamed Idris in 1982. He was the one who inspired me to be a public interest lawyer, she said. He was a father to all of us and the father of environmental activism, she added. Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association (Fomca) Chief Executive Officer Datuk Paul Selvaraj said Mohamed Idris had always been the voice for consumers. I am sure he has built the next generation of activists; the struggle for better consumer protection and a better environment has to be ongoing, he said. He hoped the issues that Mohamed Idris championed will continue to be highlighted by the next generation of activists. He was a beacon for others. But now we have to carry on with the struggle, he said. He said Fomca is working with a younger generation of new leaders. We have to make sure that the consumer protection struggle, the environmental struggle, the betterment of living standards of the people continue. Its an ongoing struggle, he said. He also said Mohamed Idris is one of the activists who inspired others to take up the struggle and others will now have to take over. Mohamed Idris, who founded CAP together with Datuk Anwar Fazal in 1969, died at the age of 93 today, leaving behind four children. He was the president of CAP and SAM until his death today. His body was brought to his home on Rose Avenue and he will be laid to rest at the Perak Road Muslim Cemetery at 10am tomorrow. Related Articles Presiden CAP meninggal dunia, dikebumi pagi esok Ministers pay tribute to consumer rights legend SM Idris Legendary consumer rights advocate SM Idris dies The Hollywood star made his controversial comments about Malaysia during an interview with talk show host Ellen DeGeneres. AFP pic KUALA LUMPUR, May 17 US celebrity George Clooneys misinformed warning to Malaysia about imposing the death penalty for homosexuality highlights the need for more engagement with the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, said a local advocacy group. Commenting on Clooneys description of a business boycott credited with dissuading Brunei against the death penalty for gays as a warning shot to Malaysia and Indonesia, Justice for Sisters founder Thilaga Sulathireh said advocates must learn the context of the countries before speaking out. He probably doesnt understand the legal contexts in all of the countries. I think there were some assumptions that he made. That goes back to my point that people who want to engage in global activism must build relationships and synergy with groups on all levels so that the statements that they make and the actions that they take are appropriate and representative of the reality that people live in, Thilaga told Malay Mail. As a Muslim-majority nation, Malaysia views the LGBT community as incompatible with its religious foundations. Despite Clooneys remarks, however, Malaysia does not have laws against homosexuality per se but simply criminalises unnatural sex in its Penal Code. Singapore, which was not mentioned by the Hollywood star on the talk show last week with host Ellen DeGeneres, has similar penal laws. Thilaga also responded to Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Marzuki Yahya, who rebutted Clooneys comments on Tuesday, by pointing out that Malaysia does not and will not resort to killing sexual minorities. Justice for Sisters founder Thilaga Sulathireh said advocates must learn the context of the countries before speaking out. Picture by Hari Anggara The activist said that while the death penalty was far from likely, the LGBT community still faced undeniable discrimination in Malaysia. I think Datuk Marzuki Yahya must understand that Malaysia does have discriminatory laws and policies against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and other marginalised groups. As long as Malaysia maintains discriminatory practices and laws, it will come under global scrutiny, the activist added. Story continues She also noted that the country was reportedly cited for various discriminatory practices by United Stations human rights initiatives such as the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women treaty and Universal Periodic Review. Government representatives also should not continue to use religion and culture to justify discrimination and marginalisation, the activist said, asserting that justice, dignity and inclusion are the key principles of many religions while culture is dynamic and ever-changing. Brunei controversially announced on April 3 that it was imposing death by stoning for homosexuals as part of the countrys Shariah laws. This triggered an international outcry and boycott of hotels owned by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah across the world, leading to the Brunei ruler to announce a moratorium on the penalty this month. Related Articles Mind your own business, Anwar tells Clooney over warning shot on purported death penalty for gays LGBT culture against Islamic principles but Malaysia doesnt kill gays, deputy minister tells George Clooney George Clooney misfires among LGBT+ activists over warning shot to Malaysia, Indonesia A man fills up glasses with 'palinka', a Hungarian fruit brandy, during the International Wheat Harvest Festival in Opalyi A man fills up glasses with 'palinka', a Hungarian fruit brandy, during the International Wheat Harvest Festival in Opalyi, eastern Hungary July 13, 2013. REUTERS/Laszlo Balogh (This May 15 story corrects Orban's job title) By Francesco Guarascio BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Romania and Hungary are pushing the EU to make it easier for orchard farmers to distil their own fruit brandy, a traditional practice in east and central Europe that is restricted in the bloc on health grounds. The former communist states, both of which have clashed with the EU over accusations of undermining civil rights, have taken to describing the right to distil fruit brandy as a fight for freedoms. At the initiative of Romania, which holds the EU rotating presidency through June, the issue will be discussed by EU finance ministers at a meeting on Friday, just ahead of European parliamentary elections next week. EU rules now ban distilling at home, although orchard owners who bring their own fruit to distilleries to be made into brandy are allowed to take some home for personal use, paying half the usual rate of excise tax. Romania, known for its "tuica" plum brandy, wants to lift the ban on home distilling and give countries the option to remove excise tax altogether for brandy produced for the fruit grower's own use. It is backed by Hungary, whose prime minister Viktor Orban changed Hungary's laws to allow home distilling in 2010 but was forced to backtrack by the EU's top court, which ruled the changes illegal in 2014. Hungarians are known for "palinka", brandy from apricots, plums, cherries, apples or pears. Fruit growers in Hungary and Romania are already allowed to produce more brandy for personal use, taxed at the lower rate, than in other EU countries, up to 50 litres a year per grower. A tweak to an EU legislative proposal suggested by Romania would allow countries to charge no tax rather than just lowering it. The personal use threshold would be raised to 100 litres in Romania and Hungary, and 50 litres elsewhere in the EU. The reform would also legalise home distilleries, a move that would be welcomed by other states, including Austria, officials said. Homemade beers and wines are already legal and duty-free in the bloc. Story continues A Romanian official said the higher ceiling was meant to allow large households in the countryside to produce their own spirits in line with ancient traditions. The proposal, which needs the backing of all EU states to be approved, is opposed by Germany, Italy, Sweden and Bulgaria, according to an EU document seen by Reuters. Sofia fears the reform would allow cheaper Romanian brandies to be sold illegally across the border and disrupt local production, a Bulgarian official said. (Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio; Editing by Peter Graff) 'M for Malaysia' shines spotlight on crucial events that took place during the days leading up to the election. 'M for Malaysia' reimagined poster by Ravindran V. Supramaniam KUALA LUMPUR, May 17 Honesty and balance. These are the two points that Ineza Roussille and Dian Lee have stuck to throughout their making of the documentary film, M for Malaysia. Tall order for the two women who have close connections to the topic of the film, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Roussille is his granddaughter while Lee is a close family friend her father is business tycoon Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew. M for Malaysia is directed and produced by Roussille and Lee. The candid documentary film highlights the intense drama of last years general election and the historic takedown of Barisan Nasional by Pakatan Harapan. It has made its way into two international film festivals Caamfest in San Francisco and Academy Awards-qualifying DocEdge in New Zealand. We both are fully aware of our position. Hence, when we decided to turn the footages into a documentary, we agreed that we have to be honest about it, Lee added. The intention to make this film has always been for the people of Malaysia, and to make a film that the future generations would watch and be inspired of what we can achieve together. We believe that if we make this documentary with the right intention and with all honesty, it will make a good film. Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad going through a draft speech in his dressing gown before the election day. Picture courtesy of 'M for Malaysia' Lee also hoped that the documentary would serve as a reminder to all governments that the power is ultimately with the people. It should also be a reminder to all Malaysians that we could achieve a peaceful change of power through the ballot box. This is democracy, she added. Commenting on PHs performance over the past year, Lee said she thinks the government still needed more time to turn around the economy. I think its an unprecedented uphill task to correct what has been wrong for 61 years, she added. Its not easy to get past race and religion because we were divided since the British colonial times where the practice was divide and rule. The beginning Interestingly, its idea was triggered with just a phone call two weeks before the watershed election day. Story continues Recalling the days leading up to GE14, Roussille said the idea surfaced when Lee called her mother, Marina Mahathir, asking if there was anyone following Dr Mahathir with a camera to document his efforts for the country. Since nobody was doing so, Lee put together a small crew, and my mother called me asking if Id like to help out, considering I could be by my grandads side and ask him questions while filming, she added. Dian Lee (left), Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Ineza Roussille during the filming. Picture courtesy of 'M for Malaysia' That was the beginning of Roussilles and Lees 16-day expedition to record 90 hours of footages surrounding the election. We initially didnt have much of a plan on what to do with all the footages until Pakatan Harapan (PH) won the elections and we realised the importance of the documentation we had done, said Roussille. Shortly after PHs landslide in the election, the production crew moved on to conduct additional 20 interviews with various politicians, civil society leaders and other Malaysians to put together a narrative of what has become a 93-minute feature documentary film. It is a decades-long, complicated story that we had to squeeze into 93 minutes, but I hope weve done a good job in telling a balanced story of one of the most significant moments in Malaysian history, she said. Although Roussille admitted that she was reluctant to do the project as she did not want to be that close to the political machine, she said she was surprised at the positive reactions of Malaysians towards her grandfather. Filmmaker Ineza Roussille had unprecedented access to his granddad Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad during the campaigning period. Picture courtesy of 'M for Malaysia' Having had unprecedented access to Dr Mahathir throughout the campaign, Roussille said she was overwhelmed by peoples support at the rallies, especially in Melaka, where she got to sit in the car with her grandparents on the way to the rally. The traffic was quite bad getting close to the rally, and the car was almost static, so my grandad rolled down his window and started shaking hands, she added. As we got closer, the crowd around the car just grew and grew until we were completely engulfed. The noise, and emotions of everyone surrounding us was just so overwhelming. It then took us almost 10 minutes to walk from the car to the stage, through the crowd. I don't think I'll ever forget that moment and feeling. Breaking onto the international scene After about a year of post-production works, the documentary was recently showcased at Hong Kong International Film and TV Market (Filmart) and also premiered at Caamfest, which has received an overwhelming response from the audience. Promising a story of power, reconciliation and hope, Lee said the audience can expect a uniquely Malaysian political story. We touch on some of the political history and baggage of the main PH players, as well as the peoples movements like Bersih. It will also feature Dr Mahathirs journey through the ups and downs of the campaign, including intimate moments of him and his wife Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali, she added. The documentary features behind the scene intimate footage of Tun Dr Mahathir and his wife Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali throughout the campaign period. Picture courtesy of 'M for Malaysia' Post-production With an overall production cost of about RM2 million, Roussille said most of the post-production work took place in Kuala Lumpur. We also spent about three weeks in Hong Kong with Oscar-winning filmmaker Ruby Yang for the editing works. Considering we have two cuts of the film (local and international cut), Yangs assistance was invaluable in helping us see the edit of the international cut through a foreign perspective what would and wouldn't make sense to a foreign audience who might not know anything about Malaysian politics, she added. M for Malaysia - Festival Trailer from M for Malaysia on Vimeo. Lee also highlighted that a big chunk of the budget went into procuring all the archives that build the films background and context leading up to GE14. We knew we wanted to submit the film to festivals, and have it in Malaysian cinemas, therefore a lot of the cost went into making the film cinema-worthy, she added. Other members of the team include Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir (executive producer), Los Angeles-based music composer Rendra Zawawi and Sebastian Ng (editor). The film is scheduled for screening at DocEdge in New Zealand on May 30, in Auckland on June 2 and in Wellington on June 14 and 16. Roussille hinted that the film is currently securing a release date for screening in Malaysian cinemas. We are working on obtaining a release date for Malaysia, but, it has been harder than we thought trying to convince the [cinema operators] that Malaysians will want to see a political documentary in the cinema, she added. Related Articles Radzi: Baru setahun PH berkuasa, Kelantan dapat lima projek mega DPM: Govt wants country to be seen as having integrity, against corruption Kit Siang sandiwara mahu bersara politik Ti Lian Ker The entire compound of the decommissioned E. T. Joshua will be closed to public use in order to accommodate Exercise Tradewinds. St. Vincent and the Grenadines will be hosting Phase 2 of Exercise Tradewinds from June 14 21, 2019, and the decommissioned E.T Joshua Airport at Arnos Vale will be utilized for the duration of the Exercise. Members of the General Public are therefore asked to take note of the following: 1. The Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force (RSVGPF) in conjunction with the Tradewinds Secretariat will take possession of the entire E.T Joshua Airport compound from Monday 20 May to Sunday 30th June 2019. 2. The Airport compound including the parking lot will be off limits to the General Public from the 19 May 2019. 3. Owners of livestock who graze animals on the E.T Joshua compound must cease to do so from 19 May 2019. Failure to do so will result in the animals being impounded. (Source: RSVPF) Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng says Malaysia has gained the tolerance element needed for digital innovation when Pakatan Harapan became the federal government. Picture by Firdaus Latif KUALA LUMPUR, May 17 Malaysia finally gained the tolerance element needed for digital innovation when Pakatan Harapan (PH) became the federal government, said Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng. Speaking at the Securities Commission (SC) Fintech Roundtable 2019 today, Lim said this was the missing element in the 3Ts of Talent, Technology, Tolerance necessary for the creation of a digital innovation cluster. In his speech, the minister also cited a 2018 World Bank report that described Malaysia as having produced some of Southeast Asias most successful digital startups. Only under this new government that respects the freedom of expression, do we have the critical third T of 'Tolerance', essential towards nurturing new and creative ideas, Lim said in his speech. He also pointed out that the PH administration has been supportive of innovations in the financial sector such as equity crowdfunding (ECF) and peer-to-peer (P2P) financing. Such measures were critical in the incubation of new generation of businesses, micro-SMEs, that he said were increasingly becoming the backbone of the local economy and which are expected to make up 41 per cent of the countrys economic output by next year. To boost the development of market-based financing which has shown great success in funding micro-SMEs, the government has also committed RM50 million towards a co-investment fund (CIF) for ECF and P2P investments, he said. ECF and P2P are two relatively recent developments in Malaysia that have opened up additional avenues of funding for microbusinesses and startups that may not yet qualify for traditional loans from commercial banks. In Budget 2019, Lim also provided a fillip for P2P financing when he announced that the government was considering the method for property purchases, in a bid to address perennial complaints of failed mortgage applications due to Bank Negara Malaysias lending guidelines. Related Articles Laws will be amended to ensure MPs declare their assets, say Pakatan leaders Kelantan has five mega projects under Pakatan government, says deputy minister Jangan ugut pembayar cukai, kata Guan Eng kepada LHDN Datuk Seri Najib Razak arrives at the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex, May 17, 2019. Picture by Shafwan Zaidon KUALA LUMPUR, May 17 The Malaysian governments bid to take over the assets seized by police from Datuk Seri Najib Razak, his family and others as evidence or as the subject matter for alleged money-laundering offences came up in court today for the first time. In this forfeiture action, the Malaysian government is seeking the forfeiture of a long list of 66 items from Najib and 17 others, including his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, his children Nor Ashman Razak and Nooryana Najwa, his stepson Riza Shahriz Abdul Aziz and Low Taek Jhos mother Goh Gaik Ewe. Deputy public prosecutor Muhammad Shukri Hussain today informed the court that the notice of motion for the forfeiture action had been served on all 18 respondents, except for Goh. The 13th respondent, we have not yet been able to serve, but in court, M. Puravalen is present, he said, referring to Gohs lawyer. Shukri explained that the document was served at the last known address of the respondent who is not in Malaysia. Puravalen, who together with Ragunath Kesavan represented Goh, told the court that they were present as they had found out about the matter through news reports. It is understood that the Attorney Generals Chambers will be serving the document on the lawyers of Goh, who is better known as the mother of the Penang-born fugitive businessman popularly called Jho Low. High Court judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan fixed May 30, 2.30pm for the next case management. Najib who was personally present today was represented by lawyers Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, Muhammad Farhan Shafee, Nur Syahirah Hanapiah, while Rosmah and the three other family members who were not in court were represented by lawyers Azrul Z. Stork and Azamudin Abd Aziz. The 14th and 15th respondents Ng Chong Hwa or Roger Ng and his wife Lim Hwee Bin were represented by Datuk Tan Hock Chuan and Cains Tan, while the seventh respondent Senijauhar Sdn Bhd and the eighth respondent Aiman Ruslan were personally present in court today. Story continues In this forfeiture action, the seized assets involved include 263 handbags, 14 watches, 27 pairs of shoes, cash in multiple currencies including RM745,900 and 323,200 with no ownership stated in the court documents. The assets also include a Nissan X-Trail vehicle, said to belong to Aiman, and 26 Nissan Urvan vans. There is also a total of RM18,339,455.58 or over RM18.3 million seized from 29 bank accounts belonging to 10 of the 18 individuals and entities named (excluding Najib and his family), with such stated owners ranging from Yayasan Rakyat 1Malaysia, Goh, Ng and Lim. The second forfeiture action The Malaysian government had also filed a separate forfeiture action against OBYU Holdings Sdn Bhd on May 14, 2019. This matter came up today before High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah, with deputy public prosecutor Fatnin Yusof confirming to reporters that the court fixed July 8 for the mention of this case. Just like the first forfeiture action, the Malaysian government is through the public prosecutor seeking the forfeiture of the assets, as the public prosecutor is satisfied that these assets are the evidence or subject matter of alleged money-laundering offences or are proceeds from unlawful activities. The Malaysian government is seeking the forfeiture of 11,991 pieces of jewellery, 401 watches and 16 watch accessories, 234 sunglasses and 306 handbags, a property in Kuala Lumpur and RM114,164,393.44 or over RM114 million seized from the company. In raids on May 16 and May 17 last year, police had seized luxury items and other assets from six properties linked to Najib, with the total estimated value placed at between RM900 million to RM1.1 billion. The items seized then included 12,000 jewellery, 567 handbags, 423 watches, 234 sunglasses, and RM116.7 million worth of cash in multiple currencies. It is currently unclear if there are overlaps between the items seized in the May 2018 raids with the two forfeiture actions that came up before the court today. This is not the first time that the Malaysian government has filed a forfeiture action over assets. On March 29, the Malaysian government filed a forfeiture action against Jho Lows father Tan Sri Larry Low Hock Peng, who is believed to be abroad. The forfeiture action was filed to freeze Larrys seven bank accounts containing a total of over RM48 million in order to forfeit the funds that were alleged to be linked to money-laundering activities. That forfeiture action is also before judge Mohamed Zaini, who had previously in April fixed July 19 as the hearing for any third parties to appear in court to argue why the funds should not be forfeited to the government. The hearing today exposed the governments attempt to railroad the asset seizure by flagrantly violating the rules and procedures intended to protect individuals fundamental rights. Once again the government has demonstrated utter contempt for fair and lawful process, a representative of Jho Low said in an emailed statement to Malay Mail through his lawyers in the United States. Related Articles Former Fugees star uses 1MDB allegations as shout-out for new album SRC trial: Ihsan Perdana got RM40m a year to run CSR schemes dictated by BN, Umno leaders RM42m moved from Ihsan Perdana into Najib bank accounts under CSR programmes, firms ex-executive says in SRC trial A French doctor already under investigation for poisoning seven patients has been charged with poisoning 17 more people at a clinic in eastern France, one of his lawyers said. Frederic Pechier, 47, now stands charged in 24 cases, nine of which resulted in death, after working as an anaesthesiologist at two private clinics in the eastern French city of Besancon. If convicted, Pechier could face a life sentence. Pechier was freed overnight on conditional release, lawyer Randall Schwerdorffer told AFP on Friday. Public prosecutor Etienne Manteaux had called for the doctor, who faces a life sentence, if convicted, to be held in custody. "There is a possibility that Dr. Pechier was the author of these poisonings but this hypothesis is nothing but a hypothesis and this long inquiry over two years has shown nothing ... to the extent that in this instance, the presumption of innocence must be stressed," another of his lawyers, Jean-Yves Le Borgne, told reporters on Thursday. Pechier, first charged in 2017 for two deaths in seven poisoning cases over the previous 10 years, was brought in for questioning this week over 66 more suspicious cardiac arrests during operations on patients otherwise considered low risk. "Seventeen cases have been retained" involving patients aged 4 to 80, of whom seven died after doctors were unable to revive them, prosecutor Manteaux told a press conference. Pechier was "the common denominator" in the new cases, which occurred at a time when he was in open conflict with fellow anaesthesiologists at the Saint-Vincent clinic in Besancon, Manteaux said. "He was most often found close to the operating bloc" when the cases occurred, and made quick diagnoses of the problem and the action to take, "even when nothing allowed anyone to suspect an overdose of potassium or local anaesthesia," he said. Prosecutors have alleged he may have tampered with his colleagues' anaesthesia pouches to create operating room emergencies where he could then intervene to show off his supposed talents. Pechier's lawyers have denied the claims and in November they accused police of altering declarations he made during his initial questioning. During questioning this week, Manteaux said Pechier acknowledged that criminal acts had taken place at Saint-Vincent but that "he was not responsible for these poisonings." MILAN (Reuters) - Italy's competition watchdog said on Friday it had opened an investigation into alleged abuse of a dominant market position by Google in the smart device sector. The watchdog said in a statement Google had allegedly refused to integrate the app "Enel X Recharge", developed by utility Enel, in its Android Auto app. Enel's app allows drivers of electric cars to find charging points for their vehicles and book them. Google, through its Android operating system, has a dominant position in the smart device operating system market, the regulator said. A Google spokeswoman said in a statement Android Auto was designed with safety in mind to minimize distractions and ensure apps could be used safely when driving. "We are reviewing the complaint and look forward to working with the authority to resolve their concerns," the spokeswoman said. Enel declined to comment. The investigation is due to be completed by May 30 next year. (Reporting by Stephen Jewkes. Editing by Jane Merriman) Drop by Tanuki by Crustz for dainty ice cream cakes like the Tri-Scoop with its waffle biscuit and three flavours of ice cream. Pictures by Choo Choy May KUALA LUMPUR, May 17 If you love ice cream, you have to check out Tanuki by Crustz (Tanuki). Dreamt up by Xiao-Ly Koh, 29, this place reinvents ice cream into dainty creations. There are also playful drinks paired with ice cream and topped with adorable characters fashioned from meringue. Perfect for Instagram but most importantly, they taste great! Dessert aficionados will already be familiar with Kohs work. Shes the creative force behind Xiao by Crustz (Xiao) located in Petaling Jaya. Opened for four years, it's where you get French pastries, crafted with artistic passion. Xiao-Ly Koh is the person behind Tanuki by Crustz which opened this year. Started at the beginning of this year, Tanuki is named after a playful racoon character who loves ice cream, of course. Koh and her sister are fans of Japanese culture, especially the Japanese animation film-makers Studio Ghibli. Don't be surprised if well-loved characters like Totoro pop up in her sweet creations. When it came to expanding her business, Koh contemplated between opening a chocolate or ice cream place. She finally chose ice cream. "We feel its the next trend," she said. Compared to Xiao which is located at the Happy Mansion flats in Section 17, Petaling Jaya, Tanuki is spacious. Unlike the smaller Xiao by Crustz, Tanuki has a bigger space for more people to sit and enjoy their ice cream cakes. Housed in a double-storey shop hidden in the quiet suburbs of Taman Bukit Indah, the cafe is located downstairs while upstairs can be rented out as an event space. The decision to go for a larger space stemmed from Koh's experience: Creating a place to escape reality. For a year, they ran a kiosk in downtown KL right next to a train station, offering a takeaway concept for their cakes. Whimsical meringue characters greet you when you order drinks like the Real Strawberry Milk Float and the refreshing Iced Passion Peach Sparkling (left). Who can resist chocolate and coffee flavours as presented in this Chocolate Rose with coffee meringue and chocolate biscuit (right). It was a more cost effective way of spreading the brand. However, people preferred a spot to dine in. "We realised people just want to escape the working environment. If you buy a cake back, everyone is sitting staring at you eating it." Moreover, for Koh, she believes ice cream caters to a different crowd. "I view ice cream as more for family and kids hence the space is bigger to attract families." Story continues Take your pick among these delicate Pavlovas made with white chocolate, raspberry sorbet and mango ice cream. Many are surprised they opened in this quiet neighbourhood in the vicinity of Old Klang Road. Koh explained, they wanted to target the Sri Petaling crowd since it is nearby. "People like this kind of idea, they feel like theres an element of surprise," she said. Koh also didn't want to open too near Xiao. She explained, "In terms of desserts, it is kind of a niche market so I didnt want to compete with my own place." The kitchen at Tanuki specialises in ice cream desserts only. Behind each creation here, there's a lot of work. As ice cream cakes like these are relatively new, Koh specially flew to Bangkok to attend a course given by a chef who was one of the first few to open a similar type of place in Paris. There's a lot of challenges in using ice cream in these scaled down cakes. "You can't use certain creams or gelatine for these desserts," explained Koh. It is a balancing act to ensure the dessert has the right texture. It needs to be hard enough to keep its shape, yet soft enough for diners to cut and enjoy. The mango ice cream is churned and ready to be used for their ice cream cakes. "When it is frozen, it shouldn't be rock hard," explained Koh. Their ice cream also has less stabliser than that of other places. Some desserts also use alcohol. Koh explained, "We add a bit of alcohol to control the texture." Current crowd favourites include their Mango Cheesecake and Tri-Scoop. The cheery yellow Mango Cheesecake is a combination of cream cheese and mango ice cream, sandwiched with white chocolate. Dig in for a slightly tangy yet refreshing taste. Their Tri-Scoop is essentially an ice cream sandwich that uses thin waffle biscuits. You get to enjoy three ice cream flavours: raspberry sorbet, raspberry yoghurt and mango ice cream. If you love chocolate, there are two choices. The Chocolate Rose combines chocolate with coffee flavours. It's given a different texture with the use of coffee meringue and a chocolate biscuit base. One of their bestsellers is this cheery Mango Cheesecake with refreshing flavours of mango and cream cheese ice cream (left). If you love chocolate and nuts, go for this Chocolate Hazelnut dusted with a little sparkle (right). There's also the Chocolate Hazelnut, a nutty rendition using hazelnuts and almonds. There's also a need to constantly innovate. At Xiao, she changes the menu every three to four months. What she noticed is sales takes a dip if the menu is stagnant. Their regulars know the drill. When something new pops up, they return to try it out, together with their favourites. Sometimes it's just a few items. One time, Koh actually culled the whole menu! The change also keeps Koh's staff on their toes. "I think it is important as it keeps my staff motivated. With a more challenging menu, they also get to learn more skills." Similarly, Tanuki's menu will also go through a revamp. Currently R&D is being conducted for new items to expand their range. This include the use of macarons to create ice cream sandwiches. Walk in and pick which ice cream cake you want to make you happy. In the works, there's a collaboration with the winners of this year's coveted World Pastry Cup: Tan Wei Loon, Otto Tay and Loi Ming Ai. Many have clamoured to taste the creations that won them the award. You will have a chance soon as each chef will showcase their creation at Xiao and Tanuki. Koh is good friends with the trio, a relationship built from her days at the Academy of Pastry Arts Malaysia where she trained. Looking back, Koh's venture into the F&B industry wasn't a walk in the park. Initially, her parents objected to her pursuing her hobby for baking cakes. With her sister and cousin's support, her parents agreed to let her try out working in the industry. Her first job was at the bread section of RT Pastry House, where she survived the super early hours. Escape the real world and drop by Tanuki for drinks and cakes. When the central kitchen shifted to Puchong, she left the place. Next, she worked at Delectable by Su, where they made customised cakes. After working for nine months, Koh decided to pursue formal studies at the academy. When she graduated, she decided to start a home-based business supplying customised cakes for birthday parties. She also did dessert tables for her clients, filling them with tartlets and scones. Deep down, she still wanted to pursue French pastries, her first love. However, it was obvious that people weren't receptive. Koh related how once she tried to sell mousse cakes online but it didn't take off since people wanted to test its taste first before committing. After she built up her client base for two years, she had the confidence to open Xiao in 2016. As a young entrepreneur, Koh practises a give back philosophy to ensure she keeps her all-female kitchen staff happy. "At the end of the day it is a business but there's a lot of ways to make money," she said. During Chinese New Year, they took an extended two-week break. This allowed her staff to return to their hometown in East Malaysia. They also went on a company-sponsored trip overseas, allowing them an opportunity to explore a new world. Creativity is also encouraged. As all her staff are former Academy students, they return there every year to refresh their skills. Tanuki by Crustz is located at 26, Jalan Selera 1, Taman Bukit Indah, KL. It's open from 1pm to 10pm (Tuesday to Friday), 12pm to 10pm (Saturday) and 12pm to 6pm (Sunday). https://www.facebook.com/tanukibycrustz/ For menu details, visit https://www.xiaobycrustz.com/icecreamcakes Related Articles Iris Apfel is Magnums new muse Elfira Loy becomes target for lewd comments on Instagram for eating an ice cream Pecan Resist! And other anti-Trump flavours The sharp lines and geometric, light-filled forms of Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei's designs have created some of the landmarks of the world. Here is a selection of five. - US: National Gallery of Art (1978) - A "study in triangles" is how Architecture Week magazine describes Pei's East Building addition to the National Gallery of Art in Washington. The concrete and glass structure features huge mirrored pyramids and a 15-metre (50-foot) waterfall. The Washington Post wrote at its opening in 1978 that it was "an architectonic symphony of light and marble, color and glass, painting and sculpture." "This building helped to shape attitudes to museum building throughout the United States in the 1970s and later," architect Dennis Sharp wrote in "Twentieth Century Architecture: a Visual History" (2006). - France: Louvre pyramid (1989) - Pei's addition of a giant glass pyramid to the courtyard of the historic Louvre palace, today the world's most visited museum, was highly controversial and hotly rejected by many in France. It has since become celebrated as "a symbol of the modernity of the museum and an emblem of Paris across the world," Louvre president Jean-Luc Martinez said in 2017. Opened to the public in 1989, the giant structure essentially provided a new entrance for the growing number of visitors. Pei's masterstroke was to link the three wings of the museum with vast underground galleries bathed in light streaming in through the glass and steel pyramid. "Pei had imagined the hall under the pyramid as a space between the city and the collections, an interface between the outside and the works," Martinez said. - China: Bank of China Tower (1989) - This 367.4-metre skyscraper, which appears to be made up of triangles, is one of the tallest office buildings in Hong Kong and arguably one of the most striking on the skyline. Its four shafts, clad in glass and aluminium, form a prism that reflects the sun and the movement of the sky. "The diagonal cuts that generate the prism create a sequence of atrium spaces that flood the tower with natural light," says the website of Pei Cobb Freed and Partners, the firm from which Pei retired in 1990. The 72-storey building was met with some controversy after claims that its sharp, triangular design exerts bad feng shui on surrounding structures. - Japan: Miho Museum (1997) - Located on a mountainside in a nature preserve near the Japanese town of Shigaraki, near Kyoto, around 80 percent of the Miho art museum is underground to preserve its scenic setting. Visitors are led down a walkway enveloped by cherry trees and pass through an arching tunnel and over a suspension bridge before arriving at the collection of Asian and Western antiques. Opened in 1997, the museum's glass roof is made up of geometric combinations of triangles. "I think you can see a very conscious attempt on my part to make the silhouette of the building comfortable in the natural landscape," Pei is quoted as saying on the museum's website. - Qatar: Museum of Islamic Art (2008) - "Traditional Islamic architecture meets the 21st century," is the museum's description of the building which incorporates geometric patterns and is lit by reflected light entering from above. Pei told The New York Times in 2008 that he wanted the museum to embody the "essence of Islamic architecture" and spent months travelling the region for inspiration. "Islam was one religion I did not know," he said. "So I studied the life of Muhammad. I went to Egypt and Tunisia." "The museum is an object," he said. "It should be treated as a piece of sculpture." Mohamed Idris, who was known for his vocal stance against many environmental and social issues, died today. He was 93. Picture by Opalyn Mok KUALA LUMPUR, May 17 As news of Consumer Association of Penang (CAP) president SM Mohamed Idris death at 93 started to spread, tributes to the man have flooded social media. Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said on Twitter: My condolences to the family and friends of Consumer Association of Penang and Sahabat Alam Malaysia president SM Mohamed Idris. I hope he is placed among his fellow syuhada and solehin. Meanwhile, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said he had always sought Mohamed Idris advice on matters dealing with consumer affairs. I received lots of advice from him (Mohamed Idris) especially regarding consumer issues. Al Fatihah, Saifuddin posted on Twitter. Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr Xavier Jayakumar also commended Mohamed Idris for his efforts and achievements. Despite passing at the age of 93, he remained a pivotal voice and opinion maker to ensure improvement in the standards of services, goods and consumer protection in Malaysia till the end, Dr Xavier said of Mohamed Idris, who was also environmental rights group Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) president. Mohamed Idris, who was known for his vocal stance against many environmental and social issues, died at the Gleneagles Medical Centre at about 4.45pm today. His brother Mohideen Abdul Kader said Mohamed Idris was brought to the hospital when he complained of breathing difficulties yesterday evening. He leaves behind four children. Related Articles Legendary consumer rights advocate SM Idris dies New rules on tint completely disregard safety and security Consumers Association of Penang NGOs want to know conditions for Penang reclamation project approval Members of Tindig Pilipinas and the Silent Majority protesting the technical glitches that were encountered during the May 13, 2019 polls Courtesy : FB page of Now You Know MANILA, Philippines Supporters of the opposition group on Friday questioned the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on alleged anomalies in the May 13 midterm elections. Members of Tindig Pilipinas and the Silent Majority gathered in front of the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City where the Comelec is canvassing votes for the senatorial and party-list elections. The groups were protesting the technical glitches that were encountered during the polls, such as defective secure digital (SD) cards and vote-counting machines (VCM), as well as the seven-hour delay in transmitting data from Comelecs transparency server. Members of said cause-oriented groups, who were chanting what happened to the midterm elections, Comelec? repeatedly during their picket, were also demanding the poll body to explain the alleged irregularities that cast doubts on the credibility of the midterm polls. They also sought to question the poll body for its alleged mishandling and inaction of supposed anomalies observed, including the designation of Nacionalista Party as the minority party, the disenfranchisement of voters, and the blatant commission of pre-campaign and campaign violations of some candidates such as electioneering and vote-buying. The post Opposition supporters question Comelec over alleged anomalies appeared first on UNTV News. The Singapore Red Cross said Thursday its website had been hacked and the personal data of more than 4,000 potential blood donors compromised in the latest cyber attack on the city-state. Singapore, one of the world's most digitally advanced countries, has been the target of multiple high-profile hacks in recent times, including the theft last year of 1.5 million citizens' health records. In the latest attack, Singapore Red Cross (SRC) said personal details, including names, blood types, and contact numbers of 4,297 potential blood donors were compromised after an unauthorised access to a section of its website on May 8. SRC reported the breach to the authorities on the same day and police have launched an investigation, a statement said. "SRC takes this incident seriously," the organisation said, adding that "external consultants" are helping in the probe. Preliminary findings showed that a "weak administrator password" may have made the site vulnerable. SRC Secretary General Benjamin William said the organisation was contacting individuals affected by the breach. Last July, the city-state's biggest ever data breach saw hackers gain access to a government database and make off with the records of 1.5 million Singaporeans including Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. An official inquiry highlighted a litany of failings, including weaknesses in computer systems, and inadequate staff training and resources. Authorities believe a state was likely behind that attack. Singapore in January announced that confidential information of 14,200 people diagnosed with the virus that causes AIDS had been dumped online, with most of those affected foreigners. Authorities accused Mikhy Farrera Brochez, an HIV-positive American who was jailed in the city-state and deported in 2018, of leaking the data after obtaining it from his Singaporean doctor partner. In March, the Health Sciences Authority said the personal data of 800,000 people who have donated or registered to donate blood in Singapore since 1986 were improperly put online for more than two months. Cybersecurity experts have pointed out that health data is particularly vulnerable because it can be used to blackmail people in positions of power. Scott Robertson, vice president of Asia Pacific and Japan for cybersecurity firm Zscaler, said the Red Cross breach "underscores that cybersecurity is a business problem that has to be supported by technology". Civil rights lawyer Syahredzan Johan says that the stamps were introduced in 2016 when Barisan Nasional was still the government of the day. Picture by Zuraneeza Zulkifli KUALA LUMPUR, May 17 The president of Islamic group Isma, Aminuddin Yahaya, asserted that a Malaysian postage stamp bearing the image of a church was further indication that Muslims were increasingly being sidelined in Malaysia. However, his attempt was quickly debunked by civil rights lawyer Syahredzan Johan, who pointed out on Twitter that the stamp series was first issued in 2016 when Barisan Nasional (BN) was still the government of the day. According to Aminuddin Yahaya, the president of Isma, Islam is being bullied because now there is a stamp with a church. But in 2016 was under Barisan Nasional. So Isma kept quiet then. In 2016. Was Islam also bullied in the BN era? The stamps are part of a commemorative series showing the different houses of worship in Malaysia and include a mosque, a Chinese temple, a Hindu temple, a gurdwara, and a church. The 2019 edition that Aminuddin highlighted was the second issue of the series. The aide to DAP MP Lim Kit Siang appended a screen capture of Aminuddins remarks. The complete set of Pos Malaysia's 2016 Rumah Ibadat commemorative issue. Picture via Pos Malaysia's website In these, the Isma president signalled his audience not to be upset if the stamps cause foreigners to consider Malaysia a Christian country. Another form of bullying towards Muslims. Oh, my country, he wrote. Twitter users have been and are continuing to scorn the Isma presidents remarks. Since BNs defeat in the general election, religious groups such as Isma have been pushing the narrative that Islam and its adherents in the country are under threat from the Pakatan Harapan administration that they portray as DAP-dominated. Aminuddin is also the head of the Ummah group that organised the controversial Himpunan Pertahanan Kedaulatan earlier this month, which the police are investigating for suspected violations of public assembly laws. Related Articles Ummah claims cops gave go-ahead for tomorrows rally, but with conditions Stop probe on uni forum on Rome Statute, DAP youth leaders urge cops What would an emergency in Pasir Gudang entail? Lawyers explain (L-R): Tony Browne, retired police officer of York Regional Police (YRP), Canada, hands over equipment, etc. to Assistant Commissioner of Police Christopher Benjamin. Vincentian Tony Browne, retired police officer of York Regional Police (YRP) in Canada, has once again come to the assistance of the Royal St. Vincent and The Grenadines Police Force (RSVGPF). The aim of the latest donation is to aid with the development and expansion of the communicative capabilities of the RSVGPF. Browne, with the kind assistance of the YRP, the Ontario Police Technology Information Co-Operative, and Telequip Communications Canada, made a recent donation of several items to the organization. Among the latest donations were nine (9) mobile radios; two (2) radio communications repeaters and support accessories; a 32-inch television and a DVD player for the Sexual Offences Unit; a printer; and other essential equipment aimed at boosting the communicative efficiency of the organization. Browne previously assisted SVG with two police cars, 19 laptops and other items. According to a press release from the RSVGPF, Browne committed to work towards enhancing the RSVGPF resources so that the local constabulary can offer effective and efficient service, which advertently aids to alleviate crime and provide safer communities. Browne thanked those who had assisted him in acquiring the equipment, and extended appreciation to Commissioner of Police Colin John and others of the RSVGPF for affording him the opportunity to contribute to his country in a meaningful and worthwhile manner. Assistant Commissioner of Police, Christopher Benjamin received the items and thanked Browne on behalf of the RSVGPF for keeping the Organization at heart. He promised that the equipment donated will be put to good use. Perak State Economic Advisory Council chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Annuar Zaini finds the Shared Prosperity economic model to be exciting, as it concerns the poor. Picture by Yusof Mat Isa KUALA LUMPUR, May 17 The Shared Prosperity economic model mooted by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has piqued the interests of economists and political analysts alike. Its focus on fair and inclusive equitable growth across all boundaries and aim of narrowing the income and wealth gap between classes, races and territories have drawn comparison to the New Economic Policy (NEP) that was instituted under the second Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak in 1971. Datuk Seri Mohd Annuar Zaini, former chief of the national wire service Bernama, finds the new model to be exciting, as it concerns the poor. It is very touching when we speak of economic prosperity and how the poor will get the benefit. In the early stages of the NEP, they felt there would be meaningful projects to eradicate poverty and restructure society, he told Malay Mail. However, Mohd Annuar, who is also Perak State Economic Advisory Council chairman, cautioned for the need to have highly-spirited people carry out the plan. Remember that the NEP was not raced-based, but was eventually derailed by certain well-connected elites to enrich themselves and rob the country. So the Shared Prosperity economic model is a noble idea, but just as Tun Razak had an initial core of post-Merdeka leaders who were highly competent, sincere with their hearts about the rakyat, so too should it have the same if it is to succeed, he said. He especially stressed the importance of eradicating the culture of corruption as a marker of success. If say RM100 million is meant for the construction of schools, out of which RM15-20 million is siphoned off, then only RM80 million benefits the rakyat. Can you imagine the same for building roads and hospitals? The success of eliminating corruption and kickbacks will determine if the Shared Prosperity economic model benefits the rakyat, he said. Asli Centre for Public Policy Studies chairman Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam also welcomed Putrajayas Shared Prosperity model. Story continues The policy is needs-based and not race-based. That is a fundamental breakthrough, he said in a phone interview. Calling for more information to be furnished, the veteran economist said the lack of understanding of the new policy may lead to people misunderstanding it. We do not want to repeat past mistakes where opportunity was inadvertently given to unfair critics to misrepresent the government, he added. Ramon said more consultation and explanation would be timely to allow the people to fully understand, appreciate and support the new policy. He, however, said the new policy raises the question as to what would happen to the NEP and the National Development Policy, which was meant to replace the former in 1990. In my mind, the NEP would be covered by this needs-based economic policy, which I hope will cover all races, he said, reiterating this was a major breakthrough as the nation has long been preoccupied with race and religion that led to the present state of discontent in our country. Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman political science lecturer Teh Boon Teck said although the prime ministers intention is to promote economic growth, to date there's been no significant reformation of government policies by Pakatan Harapan. It will be meaningless if no efforts are taken to make it work. Things remained the same for economy and education policies. The shared prosperity proposal is not possible with the existence of such policies, he said calling for the NEP to be revised. Teh said when a good student fails to gain admission to a public university despite achieving good results, that student would likely go abroad to study and eventually stay and work there. To make the Shared Prosperity economic model possible, talents should be given opportunities to contribute to the country's economy, he said, adding that accepting unqualified candidates into public universities would only bring harm to a country's economic growth. Sunway University Business School economics professor Yeah Kim Leng said the prime minister is refocusing the countrys development strategy from a fixation on income growth and a particular group to one that is more redistributive and inclusive. It is compatible with the NEP, with the difference being that all races are included in recognition that intra rather than inter ethnic group wealth disparity is the new narrative of the year-old government. The gap between the rich and the poor within each ethnic group has widened, he said. So I think the focus on shared prosperity is very apt, given there is a need to shift towards what we call 'inclusive growth' so that Malaysians, irrespective of their ethnicity, will receive the benefits of development under the new economic model. It is what we have been advocating all along: to shift from race-based policies to needs-based policies, he said. University of Tasmania's Asia Institute director James Chin said the model is not new in the sense that Dr Mahathir attempted a similar tack with the Bangsa Malaysia concept in trying to bring all the different races together. So I think this is basically a Bangsa Malaysia 2.0. (He is) trying to build a united country so I don't think there is anything new in this. But I suppose the only new thing is that this time he didn't play the racial thing as much as previously and secondly, this emphasis on economic growth has more to do with inequality and rural-urban divide, he said. Chin said although there are some new ideas, they are basically a reflection of the current times. If you try to build a united country, if you can bring people together, I think that is a good idea, especially given the fact that Umno and PAS are playing the racial game. So as a government, the less racial thing they play, the better it is for the country. So I think overall it's a positive thing, with the question being whether they can pull it off, he said. Chin said the Shared Prosperity economic model is highly dependent on whether the government can win a re-election. If Pakatan Harapan can win again, then it would be good. I think the emphasis on inequality is the correct approach. But this sort of thing is very difficult to implement, I mean, when you talk about inequality, you are basically talking about opportunities, how are you going to spread out the opportunities. So for example, if you do not resolve the issue of giving opportunities to a non-Bumiputera, then you are going back to square one. So you still have to tackle the core issues within Malaysia, which is the divide between Bumiputera and non-Bumiputera, he said. Related Articles No clinics, supermarkets at night next? ex-Bernama chief asks Kelantan after Ramadan policy Unfair to help rich Malays over poor non-Malays, says Umno leader Deputy minister: New Economic Policy still relevant Taiwan's parliament legalised same-sex marriage on Friday in a landmark first for Asia as the government survived a last-minute attempt by conservatives to pass watered-down legislation. Lawmakers comfortably passed a bill allowing same-sex couples to form "exclusive permanent unions" and another clause that would let them apply for a "marriage registration" with government agencies. The vote -- which took place on the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia -- is a major victory for the island's LGBT community and it places the island at the vanguard of Asia's burgeoning gay rights movement. Thousands of gay rights supporters gathered outside parliament despite heavy downpours, waving rainbow flags, flashing victory signs and breaking into cheers as the news filtered out. In recent months conservatives had mobilised to rid the law of any reference to marriage, instead putting forward rival bills that offered something closer to limited same-sex unions. But those bills struggled to receive enough votes. Gay rights groups hailed the vote on Friday, saying the ability to apply for a "marriage registration" -- known as Clause Four -- put their community much closer to parity with heterosexual couples. "The passage of Clause Four ensures that two persons of the same-sex can register their marriage on May 24th and ensure that Taiwan becomes the first country in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage and to successfully open a new page in history," said the Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights. - Court order - Two years ago Taiwan's top court ruled that not allowing same-sex couples to marry violates the constitution with judges giving the government until May 24 to make the changes or see marriage equality enacted automatically. The law does not bring full equality with heterosexual couples -- it only allows for biological adoption, for example, and marriages with foreigners are not recognised. But gay rights groups have said they were willing to accept compromises, as long as the new law recognised the concept of marriage, adding they could fight further legal battles over surrogacy and adoption down the line. "For me the outcome today is not 100 percent perfect, but it's still pretty good for the gay community as it provides legal definition," Elias Tseng, a gay pastor who was among the crowds outside parliament, told AFP. Victoria Hsu, a gay rights lawyer, said it was crucial that conservatives failed in their bid to delete the reference to marriage registration with lawmakers voting 66-27 in favour of the provision. "In Taiwan a marriage will take effect when it's registered, so allowing marriage registration is no doubt recognising the marriage itself," she told AFP. The first marriages are expected to be registered next Friday, the date the court set for their deadline. - Families divided - In the last decade, Taiwan has been one of the most progressive societies in Asia when it comes to gay rights, staging the continent's biggest annual gay pride parade. But the island remains a staunchly conservative place, especially outside urban areas. Conservative and religious groups were buoyed by a series of referendum wins in November, in which voters comprehensively rejected defining marriage as anything other than a union between a man and a woman, illustrating the limited popular support for change. President Tsai Ing-wen hailed the vote as a "big step towards true equality" that "made Taiwan a better country." Tsai had previously spoken in favour of gay marriage but was later accused of dragging her feet after the court judgement, fearful of a voter backlash. Taiwan goes to the polls in January and the gay marriage issue could hamper Tsai's chances of re-election. Opponents were incensed by the vote, saying the inclusion of the "marriage registration" clause ignored the 70 percent of voters who had cast ballots in the referendum wanting to keep marriage limited to a man and a woman. Tseng Hsien-ying, from the Coalition for the Happiness of Our Next Generation, told local media the vote "trampled on Taiwanese people's expectations that a marriage and a family is formed by a man and a woman, a husband and a wife". Australia and New Zealand are the only places in the wider Asia-Pacific region to have passed gay marriage laws. Taiwan is the first place in Asia to do so. Vietnam decriminalised gay marriage celebrations in 2015, but it stopped short of full legal recognition for same-sex unions. "We hope this landmark vote will generate waves across Asia and offer a much-needed boost in the struggle for equality for LGBTI people in the region," Annie Huang, from Amnesty International Taiwan, said in a statement. Norway confirmed Friday it was trying to mediate a solution to Venezuela's political crisis, after opposition leader Juan Guaido said he sent delegates to Oslo but denied talks were underway with President Nicolas Maduro's government. The Scandinavian country said in a statement it had had "preliminary contacts with representatives of the main political actors of Venezuela". These were "part of an exploratory phase, with the aim of contributing to finding a solution to the situation in the country." "There are some envoys in Norway," Guaido told a rally of his supporters in Caracas on Thursday. Oslo was trying to bring both sides together, but talks have not taken place, he said. The mediation bid comes after a months-long power struggle between the National Assembly leader and the socialist president, amid sometimes deadly street clashes. "There is no negotiation whatsoever," Guaido made clear in comments to reporters. Instead, Norwegian officials were "trying to mediate" with both sides to bring them to the table. Maduro did not confirm the meetings but later said a close adviser, Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez, was "on a very important mission for peace in the country ... in Europe" and would return shortly. Norway's NRK radio and television network, quoting anonymous sources, earlier reported that talks had taken place over "several days" at a secret Oslo location and the delegations were due to return to Caracas on Thursday. Several South American media outlets also reported talks were held. - Delegates in Oslo - Speaking to reporters in Caracas, Guaido confirmed reports that National Assembly vice president Stalin Gonzalez and former lawmaker Gerardo Blyde represented the opposition in Norway. Media reports said Venezuelan Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez and the governor of Miranda province Hector Rodriguez represented Maduro's government. Guaido insisted the purpose of any negotiations must be the "cessation of the usurpation" by Maduro with a view to establishing a transitional government ahead of "free elections". US-backed Guaido is recognized by dozens of countries as interim president after dismissing Maduro's presidency as "illegitimate" following his re-election last year in polls widely dismissed as rigged. Maduro has been shunned by much of the international community for presiding over the country's economic collapse, which has led to shortages of basic goods -- forcing millions to flee -- as well as brutally suppressing dissent. He retains the backing of major creditors Russia, China and Cuba, as well as the powerful military. With the military support seen as key, Guaido tried to incite an uprising against Maduro on April 30 but only about 30 members of the armed forces joined him. The socialist regime has since ramped up pressure on Guaido's allies and supporters, charging 10 lawmakers with treason. - Dwindling crowds- Crowds at Guaido's mass weekly protests in Caracas have dwindled in recent weeks, amid growing signs of weariness that despite a raft of international sanctions, Maduro still retains the upper hand. Guaido said it was the second time Norway had invited representatives of both sides to the country for talks, though he did not elaborate. Norway, home of the Nobel Peace Prize and the now-defunct Israeli-Palestinian Oslo accords, has a long tradition of playing the role of facilitator in peace processes around the world, including in Colombia between government and FARC leftist rebels in 2016. Guaido meanwhile also confirmed that his representative in Washington, Carlos Vecchio, would go ahead with a meeting with military planners at the US Southern Command next week. "On Monday we will have a meeting with Southern Command at the United States' Department of State," he said. "My impression is that the government is trying to gain time, trying to divide and fracture the opposition," said Benigno Alarcon, conflict resolution expert at the Andros Bello Catholic University in Caracas. "For the opposition, it means time to reorganize, much like in a war, to check their resources and rethink how they can win." burs/db/hdy/po/bp Boo Su-Lyn MAY 17 For three months, my mother tried to get Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) unsuccessfully to fix the streetlights in a nearby playground where she usually goes jogging at 5.30am. When she first called DBKL Segambuts office in November, they referred her to the Landscape Department a month later. Nothing happened for another month. No one responded when she filled up DBKLs online complaint form. Her calls and emails to DBKL went unanswered. My mother finally emailed Segambut MP Hannah Yeohs office after Chinese New Year in February. Despite juggling the duties of a deputy minister, Yeoh got the streetlights fixed within a week. Her office even sent my mother pictures of the repairs being carried out at night. Its great that Pakatan Harapan (PH) is clamping down on grand kleptocracy and all that, but fixing broken streetlights quickly would also be nice. It is unfortunate that despite the change in government, local authorities like DBKL still do not respond to basic concerns and act only when an MP intervenes. And now, the Federal Territories Ministry which exerts federal jurisdiction over DBKL is in a stand-off with Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) residents over a development project at Taman Rimba Kiara (TRK). Federal Territories Minister Khalid Samad said the Cabinet will decide on whether to cancel the TRK project or to proceed by halving the size of the luxury condominium development. At first glance, its strange that Malaysias top political leaders who make national policies are the ones deciding on a local issue in the suburbs of KL, instead of the local authority. Our ministers must support Yeohs efforts to save TRK, even if only two of them, Teresa Kok and Datuk Seri Rina Harun, are from KL. Even the FT Minister himself is not from KL as he represents Shah Alam, Selangor, a wholly different constituency from Malaysias capital. I am not sure how the Cabinet will decide, since the TRK project has nothing to do with the ministers portfolios (except for Khalid) at a national level, nor is it located within their constituencies. Story continues But Rina and DAP and PKR ministers, at least, should support Yeohs commendable work as an MP in standing up for her constituents and in challenging a minister, even though they are both from PH. Except for Titiwangsa MP Rina who is from Bersatu, the other nine KL MPs are all from DAP and PKR. It is crucial for lawmakers from the ruling coalition, particularly when the Opposition has no interest in good governance issues beyond race and religion, to defend their constituents interest even if it may run counter to the administration. Yeoh has also called for the Attorney General to review the TRK project. Khalid responded by saying that he would share his presentation with the Attorney General, not just the Cabinet. He should make his paper available to TTDI residents too. Khalid claims that he is not an apologist for developers, but that he is simply trying to save public funds because scrapping the TRK project will allegedly cost RM150 million in compensation. Well, two wrongs dont make a right. TTDI residents may not own the park, but the fact remains that TRK was meant to be a public open space for everyones enjoyment. Give the longhouse residents their long-promised housing and return the park to the people. Despite the change in government, DBKL continues to act against ratepayers interests. DBKL, for example, decided to appeal against a Court of Appeal decision that favoured Taman Tiara Titiwangsa residents who had protested a high-rise project. As long as our city councilors and mayor remain unelected, city councils like DBKL are free to ignore residents concerns, from broken streetlights to huge unwanted developments that destroy parks and the makeup of entire neighbourhoods. Change cannot come simply by swapping people in power without changing the system. Malaysia must dissolve the Federal Territories, abolish the FT Ministry, and restore local council elections, at least in KL, by next year. Return Labuan to Sabah. Putrajaya can be placed under Selangors jurisdiction. Local elections to elect the mayor and local or city councilors can be nonpartisan, which means candidates run without officially representing a political party. Parties do not nominate candidates. So, any number of candidates from various parties like PAS, or PH or Barisan Nasional (BN) components, can run in local races. This will give voters greater choice and enable them to choose candidates who truly represent them in local issues, instead of being forced into an undesirable dichotomy of government versus Opposition. The winner in local races should be required to win more than 50 per cent of the vote, rather than use the traditional first-past-the-post system. If no one gets more than half the vote in the primary ballot, then the top two candidates should contest again in a run-off election. If TTDI had an elected councillor, she or he would certainly cancel the TRK project for fear of losing their seat in an election. FT Minister Khalid who is also chairman of Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan which holds a joint venture with Memang Perkasa (majority owned by Malton) to develop the TRK project can ride roughshod over TTDI concerns because he has no such fears. If Khalid truly believes that he is acting in TTDI residents and KLites best interests, then move for the dissolution of the Federal Territories, leave Shah Alam, and run for KL Mayor. Defend the TRK project then. * This is the personal opinion of the columnist. Related Articles KL City Hall rearranges Dataran Merdeka barriers, check water stagnation DBKL: New bicycle lane from Taman Melati to Kampung Baru to be fully ready next year Hannah Yeoh: City Hall must implement moratorium to solve congestions Steven Tan aspires to share his passion for coding with others. Picture courtesy of Apple KUALA LUMPUR, May 17 Developers will soon be flocking to Apples annual Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) and young Malaysian Steven Tan will be one of them after receiving an Apple scholarship to the event. WWDC, which will run from June 3-7 at Californias San Jose Convention Centre, is so popular attendance spots are decided via lottery, or in Tans case, special scholarships. This isnt Tans first trip to the WWDC though. He had made his way to the conference last year, but this year he is Malaysias only Apple scholarship recipient. For Tan, its the little things about attending the conference that makes it so much more than its opening keynote. One of them was the Apple engineers on hand to assist WWDC participants. I prepared a list of questions beforehand. Apple engineers were so helpful in referring me to the right person when the questions asked were no longer in their areas of expertise. Another highlight: I was speaking with the exact engineers who had built the technologies for us. Tans experience at the conference helped draw him into learning more about augmented reality (AR). One engineer in particular not only helped him learn more about its implementation, but even took time to talk about Tans life goals. He selflessly offered advice based on years of his invaluable experience as a computer vision engineer, Tan said. He was also touched that the engineer treated him not as a student but as seriously as he would a peer. Finding wonder in AR The technologies he witnessed in action at WWDC inspired Tan to see just how they could be applied to education. Returning to Monash University, the software engineering student spoke to his professors about using AR in their undergraduate courses. It was a tough sell at first as no other university in Malaysia had used AR but Tan was relentless, making various proposals until he convinced professors from the universitys pharmacy school. It is still a work-in-progress, he said, but it is essentially about translating the textbook materials into real-world AR for better engagement and interaction with the students. Story continues Tan is specifically working on using AR to teach students about atrial fibrillation (known as AFib or AF) an irregular heartbeat that could lead to various heart-related complications such as stroke or heart failure. AR technology works really well in this aspect of education because it is extremely hard for the students to grasp and visualise the abstract concepts, Tan said. Empowering everyone to code When not tinkering with AR, Tan finds time to run technical workshops at his university. Coming from a developing country, an 'industrial revolution 4.0' is what would absolutely help to lift our economy up for a better schooling as well as living environment for our communities back here, Tan said. Inspired by Apples Everyone Can Code initiative, Tan and a group of other like-minded aspiring engineers opened up the workshops not just to programmers but even those without prior coding experience. The workshops are run with the intention of letting workshop attendees put their creative power to work, all the way from conceptualising to actually building apps hands-on. We believe when they are able to see how much fun and creative it can be to be involved in app development, it is more likely that they would pursue a career, directly or indirectly, related to the tech sector, said Tan. The ambitious 23-year-old sees becoming a software engineer as more than a career option or passion. It is also my life goal and that is because I know it from my background how computer science can help to change the path of the lives around us. Everyone is equal in this field the key difference is our effort and the sheer determination that we put forth, Tan said. iOS goals Of all the technologies out there, Tan was drawn to iOS programming when he saw its potential in affecting how users perceived the world around them. Tan said, The tools that Apple provides in Swift development are simply different in terms of allowing the developers to truly engage and interact with the users. And this is a markedly different design philosophy compared to other competing frameworks in the market. He started off with a free course on iOS development on the iTunes U app and from there continued to hone his skills. On why he would recommend WWDC to other aspiring coders, Tan said, As a scholar at WWDC, we received perks that few other attendees were afforded. Besides getting early looks at future technologies, Apple Scholars also met with Apple CEO Tim Cook as well as other senior engineers. His advice to aspiring WWDC scholarship applicants? Be truly passionate about what you are developing because your passion in coding is what Apple is looking for. Tan said that he thinks Apple keeps the scholarship application requirements purposely vague, to give applicants space to come up with their own ideas. Whatever they submitted, It has to be something that you are proud of, willing to share with your friends, or even open sourcing it on the internet It is about the concepts ingenuity coupled with the technologies behind it that matter. While this years WWDC scholarships are closed, aspiring coders can look forward to the next round that is likely to open in March 2020. You can take a look at Tan's WWDC submission here: Related Articles US court allows lawsuit on Apples App Store monopoly Apple revamps its TV app ahead of streaming service launch Apple recalls old three-prong AC plug adapter Nurul Amalina Che Ariffin uses a metal container during a trip to the Taman Melawati Ramadan bazaar. Picture by Firdaus Latif KUALA LUMPUR, May 17 The smell of delicious treats being cooked up at Ramadan bazaars is enough to make any foodie empty their pockets in a blink of an eye. This often results in overbuying, leading to the rising amounts of food and plastic waste generated by the bazaars each year. Environmentalist Nurul Amalina Che Ariffin has been working with non-profit organisation Zero Waste Malaysia to show how an eco-friendly lifestyle isnt just about combating single-use plastic and food waste. Its also about saving precious cash. When we talk about zero waste, people usually think of only the physical, plastic waste that we generate, but we should also consider other types of waste, she told Malay Mail. For example, our food waste and our waste of time and money. Rummage through Amalinas shopping basket and youll find an assortment of containers, bags and metal straws, many of which she bought for cheap on online websites. The Kuala Lumpur-born lass is a strong advocate of planning ahead and bringing reusables to the bazaar, a move that has helped her to save money as the number of containers she brings automatically limits the amount of food she can buy. Amalina says no thank you to 'ikat tepi' packaging by bringing her own bottle when buying drinks at the bazaar. Picture by Firdaus Latif Some Ramadan bazaar traders are also happy to give a small discount to customers who bring their own containers and bottles when shopping. Amalina has her sights set on making the zero waste lifestyle more accessible to Malaysians by letting them know that the tools for reducing plastic waste may already be in their pantry. I strongly believe that practising a zero waste lifestyle shouldnt mean having to waste money on new and shiny containers. If you already have plastic containers in your kitchen, use them. I want to show people that this lifestyle isnt just for Westerners or the elites but its also for the average Malaysian who eats local food. We just need to find the right ways that suit us the best. She added that while many find the idea of bringing their own reusables troublesome, the trick is to find a method that works best according to each persons likes and dislikes. Story continues I understand where these complaints are coming from because I used to be in their position. What I can tell them is that if they really care, anyone can start small and before you know it, youll look back and see that youre so far ahead with reducing your waste. Amalina talks about what goes into her shopping basket during Ramadan bazaar trips. Picture by Firdaus Latif Not wanting to jeopardise her love of small handbags, Amalina found collapsible containers and foldable straws and cutlery that could fit easily inside her stylish totes. Getting to this point has been a gradual journey for the Zero Waste Malaysia volunteer who now spends time educating others on ways to ease Mother Natures burden. She said that if every Malaysian started taking baby steps to reduce their waste, the collective effort alone would have a huge positive impact on the environment. Ive always been passionate about the environment but I never knew that I was going to practise the zero waste lifestyle, she added. My biggest goal personally is to make going green as sexy as possible. We dont need a handful of people doing the zero waste lifestyle perfectly, but we need millions of people doing it imperfectly. To find out more about Zero Waste Malaysias activities, visit their Facebook page. Related Articles Go green: Ditch cling film and get your reusable beeswax wrap from The Kain Projects Eminence becomes first skincare brand to plant 10 million trees Can Malaysians live without making any trash? This lifestyle guru shows how Photo credit: Getty Images From Harper's BAZAAR Bella Hadid is back at Cannes for another year to make some more memorable red carpet moments. She attended the premiere of "Rocketman" today at the iconic festival in the South of France, known for the most glamorous, and star-studded red carpet premieres in the world. "Rocketman" also brought out top models like Izabel Goulart, Maria Borges and actress Shailene Woodley. Even the Rocketman himself, John Elton, was present as he is an executive producer on the musical film about his life. In the last few years the supermodel has made headlines at Cannes Film Festival for her super sexy looks. However, today she went for a slightly more modest look, in an ultra feminine look by Dior. Hadid has been the face of Dior's beauty brand for three years now. Photo credit: Getty Images The Haute Couture confection was made of a large spiral of sun ray pleated sheer tulle ruffles, and featured an asymmetrical hem and halter neckline. Photo credit: Getty Images She complimented her look Bvlgari diamond jewelry, another brand she's fronted campaigns for. Photo credit: Getty Images This is Hadid's second outing since Cannes Film Festival kicked off on Tuesday. Last night she stepped out in another neutral look for a Dior dinner. The model wore a full skirt and matching crop top for the occasion. Photo credit: Getty Images The model shmoozed with other celebrities at the dinner like Ashlee Simpson and modeling icons Eva Herzigova and Carla Bruni. Bruni even jokingly referred to Hadid as her "slightly younger sister" in an instagram post, as fans often draw comparisons between the two models. ('You Might Also Like',) No sooner had Bolt on Wednesday announced plans to have 450 scooters emblazoned with his name deployed on the streets of Paris over the coming days than the court banned the move Retired sprint superstar Usain Bolt's attempt to lend his famous name to an electric scooter has hit the skids -- another company is already using the name in Paris, it emerged Thursday. The firm won a French court order seen by AFP to prevent the multiple Olympic champion from using its Bolt tag for Bolt Mobility, the US company the athlete represents. No sooner had Bolt on Wednesday announced plans to have 450 scooters emblazoned with his name deployed on the streets of Paris over the coming days than the court banned the move. The ruling said Bolt was not allowed to promote or provide transport services after the rival firm took the matter to court. "We have been using the name Bolt since we launched our electric scooters in Paris in September 2018 and we carried out a 'rebranding' on a global scale last March. Our brand is protected in all our markets and in 54 countries" in all, a spokesman said. "Bolt Mobility is an American enterprise and we do not intend to establish ourselves in the United States. We therefore invite Bolt Mobility to clarify this situation which is liable to sow confusion among our clients and users in France," the French Bolt spokesman said. Bolt's attempted entry into the market had already come at a delicate time after Paris authorities warned operators of the thousands of electric scooters that have inundated the city to keep them off pavements or face a temporary ban. On Monday, the ten competitors who have launched services in Paris all signed a "code of good conduct" with the mayor's office, which says the city is now "saturated" with some 15,000 of devices. That is forecast to grow to some 40,000 by year-end. Those flouting the rules face 135 euro ($160) fines for traffic violations or 35 euros for illegal parking. Bolt, 32, had denied he was too late out of the blocks, saying his brand had worked with the Paris authorities. "We took our time to do the right thing and talk to authorities and get everything right to be sure that when we launch everything is perfect," said the 32-year-old Jamaican 100 metres and 200m world record holder of Bolt Mobility, which he had co-founded. Photo credit: Markus Lange - Getty Images From House Beautiful The architecture world lost an icon yesterday, when Ieoh Ming (I.M.) Pei died in New York after a prolific, decades-long career. Best known for his then-scandalous, now-iconic pyramid outside Paris's Louvre museum, Pei designed numerous boundary-pushing structures around the world. The noted architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable noted in 1971 that "he may very likely be Americas best architect." Born in Guangzhou, China, and raised in Hong Kong and Shanghai, Pei traveled to the U.S. at age 17 to enroll in the University of Pennsylvania's architecture school, before transferring to MIT. While the young architect was pursuing a formal education, though, he found himself more interested in modernist movements going on in the world at large than in his studies in Cambridge. When legendary modernist Le Corbusier visited MIT in 1935, Pei remarked that "the two days with Le Corbusier, or 'Corbu' as we used to call him, were probably the most important days in my architectural education." Photo credit: The Washington Post - Getty Images It comes as little surprise then, that Pei went on to a career of envelope-pushing modern design, devising structures-much like Le Corbusier-that were often controversial in their time but grew to be widely lauded. There's no better proof of that than the Louvre structure, which drew outrage when installed in 1989 and is now a beloved addition to the museum's 12th-century Louvre Palace. Photo credit: Andrew Gunners - Getty Images Besides that one project with which he is most often associated, though, the architect created many other architectural masterpieces around the globe, and for a stunningly wide array of uses: the John F. Kennedy library near Boston (which he called "the most important commission of my life"), the Bank of China in Hong Kong, the East building of Washington, D.D.'s National Gallery, New York's Jacob K. Javits convention center, and Cleveland's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame-to name just a few. Story continues Photo credit: John Greim - Getty Images Along the way, Pei also racked up some of the most coveted awards in architecture-and in the world in general. He received the Pritzker Prize (architecture's top honor) in 1983 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992. The variation in his forms, materials, and building types speak to the architect's insatiable curiosity and passionate drive for exploration. But to many of Pei's friends and colleagues, the architect's warmth and kindness will be remembered in equal measure to his design prowess. "I knew him as a humble man, always smiling," architect Santiago Calatrava, designer the World Trade Center's famous transportation hub, told Architectural Digest. Follow House Beautiful on Instagram. ('You Might Also Like',) Birthday wishes Call 281-422-8302 or email david.bloom@baytownsun.com to wish someone a happy birthday. We will print your birthday wish on Page 2 of The Sun. Happy Birthday Wishes Left: Persons gathered in front of the central Police Station to catch a glimpse of the man who had caused shots to be fired. Right: This street light was said to have caught one of the bullets fired into the air during the chase. Persons who were in Kingstown, in the areas of the Kingstown Fish Market and Little Tokyo last Friday around midday, were thrown into a state of shock and panic after at least three gunshots rang out. Persons were seen taking cover, others seemed uncertain about what to do as the shots echoed. When the dust cleared and there was a semblance of calm, the interest of the many persons in the area was drawn to a man being taken into police custody. It was a strange tale of events that led up to the shooting, some say indiscriminate shooting. According to a very reliable source, the shooting developed out of an incident that transpired in the Kingstown Town Board Office, located in the Kingstown Vegetable Market. A dreadlocked man is said to have approached a Justice of the Peace (JP) at the KTB office to witness (sign) a document for him. The JP refused on the grounds of not knowing the man, upon which the man fell into a rage and began destroying appliances and items in the office. They sensed that something was wrong when the man, very agitated, rushed out of the general office, and headed in the direction of the P.H. Veira Supermarket. The JP shouted to stop the man, but he had already left the compound of the Market. He was returned to the JPs office where what had transpired there was recounted, to which he responded by threatening to kill the JP. Thereupon, he was told that he would be taken to the Police Station located a short distance away from the KTB Office. On the way to the police station, the man managed to escape his captors and ran off towards in the direction of the Kingstown Fish Market. It was then that the warder drew his firearm and discharged three shots into the air, in an effort to get the man to stop. But he changed course and continued running, only to be confronted by a junior security officer who tripped the culprit, brought him under control, and called a police officer who marched him off to the Police Station. The police confirmed that a male, Dunstan Nichols, 54-year-old resident of Glen, was taken into custody following the incident on Friday. He was fined $300.00 to be paid in three weeks or serve two months in prison, and ordered to pay $120.00 in compensation to the KTB for a fan that he damaged beyond repair. The door to the office was closed all this time, so other workers were not aware of what was taking place.Notwithstanding, the KTB Warden, along with a security officer, gave chase and were able to apprehend him.Nichols appeared at the Kingstown Magistrates Court before Magistrate Bertie Pompey on Tuesday and was found guilty to the charge of damaging property he knew not to be his own.According to a senior police officer there were no charges laid with respect to the discharge of the firearm, since the Warden of the KTB is a licensed firearm holder. Brick-and-mortar shopping is dead, they said. But not when it comes to Naiise. One of the biggest multi-label lifestyle retailer names in Singapore, the brand has just opened a massive new two-story store at Jewel Changi Airport, shining a spotlight on homegrown brands with all sorts of complementary experiences to ensure you spend more than just a few minutes browsing through its wares. Photo: Naiise Scale-shaped designs, inspired by the Merlion and made from locally-sourced fallen rain trees, add a pop of color to its white storefront. And the moment you step in to the space, youre almost overwhelmed by everything it has to offer, from apparel and accessories to food and homeware to beauty and skincare across more than 140 Singaporean brands. A mural designed by Jacqueline Goh and Natalie Kwee of 8eyedspud. Photo: Naiise New to Naiise, The Pantry is a grab-and-go cafe space for shoppers to get a bite to eat with local names such as Nuude by Udders, Joe & Dough, Bettr Barista, Doki Doki, and Fossa Chocolate offering cakes, ice cream, coffees, and more. The Tea Bar and Pantry. Photo: Naiise Next door, the Tea Bar is operated by Teapasar, a platform that helps you deduce your preferred flavor profile and recommends you brews best suited to your taste. Customizable notebooks by ana tomy. Photo: Naiise More customization services await at ana tomys space, where you can have notebooks tailor made to designs that you choose from its array of options, as well as the Gift Bar, which allows you to pick from over 100 wrappers, ribbons, flowers, and other accessories to dress up your present. The Gift Bar. Photo: Naiise The Mindful Company also has a spot for jewelry engraving services on its elegant bracelets, while beauty brand Alcheme lets you personalize its serums, moisturizers, and masks based on what your skin needs. Plenty to browse through here. Photo: Naiise Thats just the tip of the iceberg, too. Naiise is known for its love of quirky knick knacks with Singaporean flavor, and it delivers that in spades here. Think illustrations and crafts inspired by local heritage, wacky games great for house parties, plushies and home decor items reminiscent of the countrys culinary scene, made-in-Singapore crafts, and loads more. Story continues Photo: Naiise On the second floor, shoppers will find a fashion and beauty mecca, with plenty of fragrances, candles, skincare labels, and racks of clothes in a space designed to make you feel like youre in a walk-in wardrobe of your own. The beauty area. Photo: Naiise Its decked out in warm woods a far cry from the marble and gold elements of the beauty corner, with funky prints, sleek bags, and statement accessories on display. Theres a tiny kids section as well, if youre looking for adorable apparel or fun toys for little ones. The walk-in wardrobe. Photo: Naiise To keep the creativity going, Naiise has teamed up with Stuck Design to introduce The Launchpad, a platform that lets the public contribute feedback and ideas to the product creation process of students and designers. All you have to do is answer a few quick questions on the concept presented. The workshop space will also host regular talks and dialogue sessions for creators to come together, bounce ideas off one another, and get involved in collaborations. The Launchpad. Photo: Naiise If youre feeling like its all a tad too much to take in, hop on the Naiise Iconic app, which you can access on the in-store tablets. Simply scan the QR code of a product, and more details will pop up, along with similar suggestions that you can add to a virtual wish list and email to yourself for further consideration before making a purchase. The Naiise Iconic app. Photo: Naiise Even though Jewels got a myriad of shopping options, Naiise Iconic stands out among the mass market crowd for its dedication to local makers. Its just one of those stores that you can visit time and again, always leaving with something new and cool. FIND IT: Naiise Iconic is at #02-205/206 Jewel Changi Airport, 78 Airport Blvd. Daily 10am-10pm. MRT: Changi Airport This article, Shop Singapore: The new Naiise Iconic features local brands, a gift bar, and customization services, originally appeared on Coconuts, Asia's leading alternative media company. Want more Coconuts? Sign up for our newsletters! Tan France is teaming up with Alexa Chung to host a new fashion competition series on Netflix. Here's what we know so far. As one of the Queer Eye Fab Five, Tan France has spent three seasons showing Americans the wonders of patterned shirts and how to pull off the French tuck. And soon, the style expert will grace our TVs in a new fashion competition seriesalong with none other than designer Alexa Chung. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Chung and France will co-host the series, called Next in Fashion. So far, Netflix has ordered 10 episodes of the reality competition, and the judges will be celebrity stylist Elizabeth Stewart and Instagram director of partnerships Eva Chen. The guest judges have not yet been announced, but we have a feeling theyll be seriously impressive. THR notes that the series will be in the same vein as Project Runway, with a group of 18 designers participating in different challenges. The winner will take home $250,000 and will have the opportunity to work on a collection with Net-A-Porter. France announced the news in an Instagram post today, May 17th, featuring himself and Chung giving the camera their best Blue Steels. undefined Chung shared a similar post announcing the show in which she referred to France as her new husband and wrote, Yeah I like to tuck I got a tucking problem. Clearly, shes a fan of Frances work. As of now, the release date for Next in Fashion hasnt been announced, but were readying our best runway walks in preparation. The U.S. government has now issued a travel ban to Venezuela due to recent violence and unrest, Reuters reported. The U.S. Department of Transportation issued an order on Wednesday that all commercial passenger and cargo flights to the South American country have been suspended. Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan said in a DHS statement that conditions in Venezuela threaten the safety and security of passengers, aircraft, and crew. Many airlines, including American, United, Delta, Air Canada, Luthansa, and AeroMexico had halted flights to Venezuela before the ban took effect. While the country has had civil and political unrest for years, the Venezuelan government has been experiencing increasingly dangerous protests, primarily due to issues with food, power, water, and medicine shortages, Fox News reported. On top of the travel ban, the U.S. government has ordered non-essential U.S. Embassy employees currently in Venezuela to leave the country within 72 hours. The new ban, effective immediately, could put more economic pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The Trump administration has already put oil, defense and security sanctions on the country since Maduro was elected in 2018. Only a few airlines, including Laser Airlines and Copa Airlines, still fly between the U.S. and Venezuela via layovers in other countries, Reuters reported. The ban currently has no end date. The DHS statement said, If and when the conditions in Venezuela change, and if in the public interest, the Secretaries will revisit this determination. Until then, the flight suspension will remain in effect indefinitely. SIOUX CITY -- A Sioux City man has pleaded not guilty to taking another man's cellphone at knifepoint. Jason Lafferty, 39, entered his written plea Thursday in Woodbury County District Court to first-degree robbery. His trial was scheduled for June 25. According to court reports, Lafferty approached a man getting out of his car in an alley in the 600 block of 15th Street on April 29. While the two men were speaking, Lafferty pulled out a knife and demanded money. The man didn't have cash, and then Lafferty demanded his phone and ran away. The man followed Lafferty, who dropped the phone and kept running. The man picked up his phone and called 911. Police located Lafferty, and the victim identified him and the knife, which police found in Lafferty's back pocket, court documents said. Copyright 2019 The Sioux City Journal. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Love 0 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. SIOUX CITY -- The Iowa Economic Development Authority Board found Friday that the City of Sioux City has met several financial contingencies that the state established when it awarded nearly $14 million for the city's Reinvestment District project. Marty Dougherty, Sioux City's economic and community development director, and Renae Billings, an economic development specialist for the city, updated the board on all four economic development projects, which are valued at approximately $130 million. In August 2017, the state granted contingent approval for $13.5 million in future motel/hotel and sales taxes from new developments in the district over 20 years. "We've completed all we need to do with the state. We've met all the requirements," Dougherty said Friday by phone after the board's meeting in Des Moines. The Courtyard by Marriott hotel and an adjacent two-level parking ramp is a Reinvestment District project. The hotel will connect to the city-owned Convention Center at 801 Fourth St., where some convention center space will be converted into a ballroom. Other Reinvestment District projects include construction of the Siouxland Expo Center at the site of the former John Morrell pork plant; the conversion of the Warrior Hotel and Davidson Building into a 148-room Marriott Autograph hotel, luxury apartments and commercial space; and Virginia Square, a residential and commercial development that involved the renovation of a series of historic structures in the 100 block of Virginia Street. The contingencies involved providing documentation of a final construction contract for the Siouxland Expo Center, as well as verification that construction financing had closed for the Warrior project and the additional hotel component of the Virginia Square project, which also required the execution of a development agreement. During its meeting Monday, the Sioux City Council voted to give a $14.94 million contract to L&L Builders to construct the Siouxland Expo Center, a multi-purpose venue on a parcel of land bounded by Interstate 29 and the Floyd River channel. After receiving state approval, Dougherty said construction of the Expo Center will start. He said he expects the city to begin collecting tax revenues through the Reinvestment District around the time that the Courtyard by Marriott hotel opens in the fall. "The decision today is about the whole district, which does affect funding for the Expo Center," Expo Center Board President Dirk Lohry said Friday. "I am pleasantly pleased that we can see the potential realization of the Expo Center after many years of effort by the Expo Center Board, the Economic Development Department, the City of Sioux City and many, many other government and private sponsors of this project." Copyright 2019 The Sioux City Journal. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. SIOUX CITY -- City officials have met all of the financial contingencies the state established when it awarded nearly $14 million for the city's Reinvestment District project. Marty Dougherty, Sioux City's economic and community development director, said he expects the Iowa Economic Development Authority Board to give its stamp of approval when city officials appear before the board Friday. "They have no reason not to approve that because we've met all of their contingencies," Dougherty said Thursday. The city's Reinvestment District project includes four economic development projects valued at approximately $130 million. In August 2017, the state granted contingent approval for $13.5 million in future motel/hotel and sales taxes from new developments in the district over 20 years. The Reinvestment District project includes construction of a Courtyard by Marriott hotel and an adjacent two-level parking ramp. The hotel will connect to the city-owned Convention Center at 801 Fourth St., where some convention center space will be converted into a ballroom. Other reinvestment projects include construction of the Siouxland Expo Center at the site of the former John Morrell pork plant; the conversion of the Warrior Hotel and Davidson Building into a 148-room Marriott Autograph hotel, luxury apartments and commercial space; and Virginia Square, a residential and commercial development that involved the renovation of a series of historic structures in the 100 block of Virginia Street. "When the state awarded our reinvestment district funding, a lot of the projects were still in the works, so they put contingencies," Dougherty said. "One had to do with the financing of the Warrior Project and Virginia Square having all their pieces in place." Another contingency involved awarding a construction contract for the Siouxland Expo Center. During its meeting Monday, the Sioux City Council voted to give a $14.94 million contract to L&L Builders to construct the multi-purpose venue on a parcel of land bounded by Interstate 29 and the Floyd River channel. After receiving state approval, Dougherty said construction of the Expo Center will start. He said he expects the city to begin collecting tax revenues through the Reinvestment District around the time that the Courtyard by Marriott hotel opens in the fall. "A lot of the revenue comes from the state hotel taxes, so we won't start collecting those until they start filling the rooms, but that should be pretty shortly after Oct. 1," Dougherty said. Copyright 2019 The Sioux City Journal. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The Stage 1 ICE (foreground) and the Junior Dragster on show at the Grand View Hotel last Saturday. Social activist/auto racing enthusiast Mark Sardine has hailed last weeks launch of the Stage 1 ICE a success. The launch, Sardine said, was intended to get the younger ones, from as early as the age of 4, enthused about auto racing. The vehicle was launched to a small crowd at Grand View Hotel last Saturday. The Stage 1 ICE requires the individual to move the vehicle utilizing pedals, and resembles the same set up as a bicycle. But it, like the Junior Dragster, has a number of safety features and was designed specifically with the nations youth in mind. Sardine told THE VINCENTIAN that the vehicles were well received, and he is planning a bigger event at Heritage Square in Kingstown at a date to be determined. "Once I feel comfortable, this will be about in the public, Sardine said. And as was promised, a number of local auto-racing stalwarts were recognized for their contribution to the sport here. Sardine had indicated that his reason for saluting those individuals was to give something back for the inspiration they gave to him. Among the individuals recognized he said were Tony Sardine, Ozzie Veira, Fyzad Moussa, Dr Perry DeFreitas, John Barnard, David Stumpy De Freitas, Gregory Ferrari, Paul MacLeish, Art Huggins, Korie Williams, Dennis Joshua, Van Edmunds, Jack Joachim, Sonny DeFreitas, Steve Ollivierre, Tony Abbott, Steve Oliver, Lennox Becks Gonsalves and Fitz Richardson. If theres an upside to President Donald Trumps trade policies that have made it harder for Iowans to sell farm commodities and other goods to China, its improving the chances for Democrats to defeat Republican Sen. Joni Ernst in 2020, party leaders say. Its only a matter of time before the presidents trade policies and Chinese retaliatory tariffs begin to have a political impact on Trump and other Republicans, former Iowa Lt. Gov. Patty Judge predicted Thursday. Its no secret Iowa supported Trump in the last presidential election, and people are not rushed to move away from him yet, Judge said. But they have growing concern. Those situations that hit your pocketbook are things you cant ignore. At least a couple of candidates have stepped forward to challenge Ernst, who is seeking a second term. Eddie Mauro of Des Moines, a former teacher who now leads an insurance business, has filed with the Federal Election Commission. Des Moines attorney Kimberly Clark has announced shes seeking the Democratic nomination. There are other people looking at it and in the coming weeks we will see the primary start to take shape, Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Troy Price said. Among the other people frequently mentioned are state Auditor Rob Sand of Des Moines; J.D. Scholten, who unsuccessfully challenged GOP Rep. Steve King in northwest Iowa; and Theresa Greenfield, who was prevented from running in Iowas 3rd District in 2018 when it was discovered a staff worker had forged signatures on her ballot petition. Although former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack and 3rd District Rep. Cindy Axne have taken a pass on the Senate race, Price remains confident. In the 2018 midterm election, he said, Iowa Democrats beat Republicans on the federal ballot by nearly 4 percentage points. People are hungry for change. People are looking for change, Price said. Thats only going to continue to grow as we head into the 2020 election cycle. He predicted Democrats will have a spirited primary in June 2020. When we get through that, we will have a great nominee who will be the next senator from Iowa, Price said. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Iowa Democrats called on Iowa U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst to tell President Donald Trump his trade war with China is producing more casualties than victories in rural America. When President Donald Trump campaigned here in 2016, he promised to fight for farmers and for working Iowans, former Lt. Gov. Patty Judge said Thursday. However, his trade policies have produced retaliatory tariffs by China and are driving down income and creating uncertainty for producers. Iowans need leaders who will stand up for Iowas agricultural economy and hold this president accountable, said Judge, who ran against Grassley in 2016. Grassley, who is third in line to the presidency, and Ernst have the clout to speak to the president and have effect on his policies, she said. Since they dont seem to be able to do that, we need to hold them accountable, Judge said during a conference call hosted by the Iowa Democratic Party. Republicans pushed back, pointing out the trade dispute with China is not a partisan issue. They point to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumers support for the president. He tweeted: Hang tough on China, President @realDonaldTrump. Dont back down. Strength is the only way to win with China. Grassley bill Also Thursday, Democratic 3rd District Rep. Cindy Axne signed on to Grassley's Family Farmer Relief Act of 2019 to help farmers struggling with debt. Id like to thank Sen. Grassley for championing this effort in the Senate and urge both chambers to pass this bill immediately, she said in a release. As a family farmer, Sen. Grassley has a firsthand understanding of the impact of the trade war with China. Iowas pork and soybean farmers are especially hurting as a result of Chinas tariffs, Grassley spokesman Michael Zona said. Iowa farmers know that America needs to stand up to China for its abusive trade practices, including the theft of American intellectual property and anticompetitive subsidies of Chinese industries, he added. Ernsts office also pointed to action she has taken as vice chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee as well as in meetings with the president, as recently as Sunday, to be extremely clear and transparent with the administration in the urgent need to get a fair trade deal done, her spokesman Brenda Conley said. Ernst, who grew up on a southwest Iowa farm, focuses on supporting Iowa farmers, including co-sponsoring the farm debt relief legislation with Grassley and Axne, he said. Confidence shaken Iowans believed the president when he said the trade war with China would be short and produce results quickly, said Tim Gannon, a farmer who was the Democratic nominee for Iowa agriculture secretary. As it has continued, especially in light of new tariffs imposed by both the United States and China in the past week, its starting to shake that confidence. Gannon and Judge also called on the field of Democratic presidential candidates visiting Iowa to talk about the impact the trade policies are having on Iowa and rural America. Its incumbent on the candidates who are traversing Iowa to talk about what they would do differently and lay out that vision for an economy that doesnt leave agriculture and rural America behind, Gannon said. Cost to Iowa Judge cited an Iowa State University report that found the Trump tariffs last crop year cost the state economy $2 billion. Lower commodity prices the grain market is at a 42-year low, according to Bloomberg resulted in $110 million less in Iowa tax revenue, she said. The field of candidates has a unique opportunity to call (Trump) out on his ridiculous trade tactics, Judge said. These candidates should step forward and engage rural Iowans. Democratic values, I believe, are rural values. Gannon called it mind-boggling that Trump launched a trade war without the support of allies and picking fights with folks who have been friends and allies. He was referring to tariffs on steel and aluminum from Mexico and Canada that have been met with retaliatory tariffs on farm commodities. Take the tariffs off so we can start moving products back into Canada and Mexico, Gannon said. That would help Iowans, our dairy producers, cheese, pork, corn, soybeans back into markets weve built over time. Zona said Grassley, as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, has been working to win approval of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement to help Iowas pork, soybean and corn farmers regain access to Mexican and Canadian markets. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Theres one joke that I can never resist telling. If Im eating out and crepes are on the menu, I will always say, People say theyre crepes, but I think theyre actually quite good. The response varies according to how long a fellow diner has known me. New acquaintances fake a chuckle, old friends groan, and really old friends memorize the menus of local eating establishments so they can steer us away from places that serve French pancakes. Advertisement Long-running TV sitcoms face the same dilemma as my friend group, if on a slightly larger scale. If a situation has generated comedy for multiple seasons12, saydoes that mean millions of people have been laughing at the same joke for more than a decade? When a show has enjoyed the success of The Big Bang Theorywhich continued to attract massive audiences throughout its run, even as overall TV viewership has declinedthe answer is clearly yes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Im sure I wasnt the only person who tuned in to the show Id abandoned a few seasons back for the two-part series finale on Thursday night. It was like returning to the Mark Trail newspaper comic stripeven having missed approximately 75 episodes, it took no effort to figure out what had happened since I had last visited that Pasadena apartment building: not much. Advertisement Advertisement In the opening scene, everyone and everything looked the same: The hoodies, superhero T-shirts worn over another T-shirt, and bulky sweater vests were still in rotation; the apartment decor hadnt been updated or the furniture rearranged. Since the show premiered in September 2007, physicist roommates Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki) and Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) have each found lovemarriage evenwith neighbor Penny (Kaley Cuoco) and neurobiologist Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik), respectively, but the interpersonal dynamics havent undergone much of a makeover. Sheldon is still a self-centered egomaniac, Leonard is still exasperated by Sheldon, and Penny still doesnt understand why her husband puts up with his former roommate. Nor does Amy, even though she is mad about the selfish oaf. Advertisement Get Slate Culture in Your Inbox We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again. Please enable javascript to use form. Email address: Send me updates about Slate special offers. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Sign Up Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time. Nevertheless, the theme of The Big Bang Theorys 278th episode was change. The gang might have been dressed, located, and arranged as they had always been, but instead of waiting for takeout, Sheldon and Amy were now anticipating a call from Sweden, which came in the first few minutes. This is almost certainly the first time two leading characters on a CBS sitcom have won the Nobel Prize in physics. Advertisement Then suddenly 12 years of carefully accumulated character traits unraveled. Sheldons self-confidence disappeared (at least temporarily). Despite many episodes in which friends Penny and Bernadette had gently tried to update her wardrobe, Amy suddenly realized that she looked frumpy and underwent a total transformation in the hands of TVs most metrosexual sweater vestwearer, Rajesh Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar). And in the finales second half, Penny, who had always insisted she didnt want children, was apparently excited to find herself pregnant. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One thing remained constant, however: Sheldons inability to consider other peoples feelings. As the Nobel ceremony neared, the friend group started to splinter. With kids back home in Los Angeles (Howard and Bernadette) or currently gestating (Penny and Leonard), the gangs patience for tolerating the tantrums of a petulant man-child was evaporating. It will surely come as no surprise to learn that the friendpocalypse was averted. Over the course of nearly 300 weeks, Raj learned to talk to women, Howard stopped letching, Penny found a career she was good at, Leonard somehow managed not to kill Sheldon, and in the very final episode Sheldon got in touch with his emotions. Im not sure if they got the physics exactly right, but The Big Bang Theory somehow ended not with a breakup but an I love you. Update, May 19, 2019: The petition has surpassed one million signatures. Original post: Its fair to say that last weeks Game of Thrones episode, The Bells, has been a bit, lets say, controversial. The backlash has ranged from critics pointing out the lack of gender diversity in the writers room to fans bemoaning the episodes rushed pace and shortchanging of multiple seasons-long character arcs. And while The Bells has blown past previous viewership records, it also holds the lowest critical ranking of the entire series. Among the episodes many sins is the fact that it provided cultural critics the opportunity to use the phrase heel turnand boy did they take advantage of that opportunity. Advertisement But now fans are advocating for a dramatic turn of their own, this time against showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A Change.org petition started by disillusioned fan Dylan D. from Ft. Worth, Texas is calling for a remake of the entire eighth season of Game of Thrones, this time with competent writers. The petition states that David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have proven themselves to be woefully incompetent writers when they have no source material (i.e. the books) to fall back on. This series deserves a final season that makes sense. Get Slate Culture in Your Inbox We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again. Please enable javascript to use form. Email address: Send me updates about Slate special offers. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Sign Up Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time. The petition began with a goal of 15,000 signatures, which it surpassed on Wednesday. By Thursday, the revised goal of 300,000 had also been reached. Now Dylan is aiming for one million signatures, and at the time of writing, more than 610,000 people have signed in agreement. I can only expect that supporters for the petition will number in the millions after the finale airs on Sunday, at which time Benioff said he will be very drunk. The backlash petition has inspired its own backlashits backlash all the way down! Critics are calling petition supporters entitled, suggesting that they channel their frustration into fighting for abortion rights or writing fan fiction. Maybe a BDSM fanfic that will eventually be adapted into a movie where the characters names are changed just enough to avoid copyright infringement? Or a Harry Potter crossover? Participants in Day One of the Dyslexia Awareness Workshop. Inset: Rueben John, President of the Rotary Club of St. Vincent. A two-day Dyslexia Awareness Workshop for teachers commenced here on Monday, May 13th, 2019, at Frenches House, Kingstown. The Workshop, hosted by the Rotary Club of St. Vincent and organized through the Ministry of Education, was the third such collaboration on the subject of Dyslexia between the parties. In his remarks at last Mondays opening, President of the Rotary Club St. Vincent Reuben John said the project was high on the Rotary Clubs agenda, and added that the aim is for knowledge and insight gained from this symposium to be disbursed into the classrooms. He emphasized that the involvement of parents was key in assisting persons with Dyslexia. John also took the opportunity to highlight his Clubs other collaborations with the Ministry of Education over the last ten years. These included: the Food and Nutrition Quiz; the Youth Empowerment (YES) Programme and the George Phillip Award for over ten years. Representative of the Barbados Dyslexia Association and facilitator of the Workshop Sandra Cadougan, noted that the mission of the workshop was for participants to gain insight into how to cope with dyslexic students. Netta Thomas, representing the Ministry of Education, encouraged teachers to share information gained from the symposium with other members of staff, and to put what was learnt into practice. Day One of the workshop catered to Primary School Teachers, while Day Two was given over to the Secondary School Teachers. (Source: API) Dyslexia is a learning disorder that involves difficulty reading due to problems identifying speech sounds and learning how they relate to letters and words. Until this years Sundance Film Festival, where The Souvenir won the Grand Jury Prize for the best international drama, the name Joanna Hogg wasnt especially well-known in America, even in arthouse circles. Hoggs previous three features had been shrewdly observed studies of well-off Britons, quietly probing the nuances of a tense family outing or limp bedroom encounter or awkward dinner party. The Souvenir, which will be released Friday and to which a sequel is already in the works, finds Hogg turning her lens inward for her most personal project yet: a portrait of herself as a young artist in the form of the posh film student Julie, who falls into a tormented romance with her urbane older mentor, Anthony. To play this younger version of herself, Hogg looked to Honor Swinton Byrne, a first-time actor and the daughter of Tilda Swinton, who also appears in the film as Julies mother. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hours before jetting off to begin work on The Souvenir: Part II, Hogg spoke to Slate about re-creating the intimate story, which found the English writer-director returning to old film projects, photographs, and diary entries to revive her early 20s. Slate: The film captures the experience of being a fledgling artist so vividlythat complicated mix of reticence and ambition. What sort of research did you do into your past to re-create how you felt when you were just starting out? Joanna Hogg: I was very interestedfirst and foremost, reallyin portraying the development of a young woman artist. I think that came out of a frustration at often seeing the lives of male artists portrayed, and I thought, well, female artists dont get a lot of screen time. But that was in the background rather than the foreground because I wanted to tell a story not only about the development of an artist, but the development of a young woman, and those first relationships that are very formativenot always in positive waysbut can also contribute to creativity or artistry. Advertisement Advertisement The first thing I did was look back at the work that I was doing at the time, those very first steps at expressing myself. I found it interesting, sometimes quite difficult, to look at the projects I was doing right when I started thinking about being a filmmaker. I decided to use those very projects in the story, so those films Julie is making, or trying to make, were all ones that I was doing myself. I thought it would give a very real sense of her journey and help her work feel alive. It was satisfying because I had put aside the Sunderland projects in the same way that Julie does, so theyre sort of ghosts from the past. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The story is, as you say, semi-autobiographical. Actually, I dont know myself sitting here what is real and what isnt. I think memory is not always good enough for the details. But it was a powerful process, using these lost works, and then also creating the apartment that Julie is living in, which was very much based on an apartment I lived in. So during the opening scene, when Julie describes the film she wants to make about a boy named Tony whos obsessed beyond measure with his mother, that was a story that you really conceived as a 20-year-old? It fits so elegantly with what Julie goes on to experience in her relationship with Anthony. Advertisement Advertisement Yes, some of those connections I discovered when I was writing the film. Id never made the connection between Tonys fear for his mother in that story and Julies fear of something happening to Anthony. In the film, Julie is often waiting at the window for Anthony to come home, and she invests so quickly in that relationship. That fear of losing someone and that sense of not being able to exist on your ownthey were all reverberations that came out of exploring what happened to me at that time. Advertisement Advertisement Get Slate Culture in Your Inbox We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again. Please enable javascript to use form. Email address: Send me updates about Slate special offers. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Sign Up Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time. This is your first period piece, and you incorporate a bunch of 80s artifacts, but I know youve said you wanted to cut against any sense of nostalgia. Why was that, and how did you ensure that your revival of the past didnt feel too sentimental? Advertisement I wanted it to feel immediate, yet I did want to create an impression of the era. I decided along with my production designer Stephane Collonge to not overfetishize, so not every detail on a desk or a table is from that period. And thats how life isthe 80s particularly, I remember, was a time of actually being interested in other time periods. All the objects and the cutlery were from different times. Back then I was obsessed with the 40s, partly because I was very fond of Hollywood music from the late 30s to the early 40s, and films like Cover Girl and Lady in the Dark. Advertisement I wanted to draw on those other periodsand also to get things wrong. Probably, if you analyze the film, there are some things in there that are contemporary. I really didnt want to be strangled by the time, like a period film thats just kind of 80s all over in an unrealistic way. I wanted to find other ways to conjure up the time, more about my own personal response to it, which is more subtle. Im always trying to find the more subtle way of expressing something. Advertisement Advertisement You can particularly feel your hand steering the music, which aligns ominous opera with Anthony and punk or New Wave with Julie. Your earlier films rarely use music, so when in the process did you choose to incorporate it so heavily into this one? From the beginning, when I was writing the film. Bluebeards Castle [the opera by Bela Bartok] was the first piece of music that I knew I wanted to use, because it connects to the original person that Anthony is based onit was his favorite opera, and I listened to it a lot at that time. So that was the first piece that I needed to have, and then there were other sounds and songs that I knew that I wanted like Joe Jackson, Robert Wyatt, The Falla lot of those tracks I listened to at the timeThe Specials, Bronski Beat. We also wanted to make the tracks a way to define time passing, so at any particular point, we only used tracks from that period or earlier. The Bronski Beat track comes in quite late. Advertisement I very much didnt want to have a score. My previous three films had almost no music at all in them, so this was my first time using music in this way. Theres still no scorethe Bartok acts as a score at a certain point, but Im very careful for that music not to be too dominant and not to lead the emotion, to only be used at points where you might not expect it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I want to talk about Honor, who had never acted before and yet is such a compelling screen presence. What drew you to her to embody this younger version of you? Honor hadnt had a part in anything before besides maybe school plays, and she wasnt really thinking of a career in acting at all. I chose her not for her acting heritage, either. It was very late in the process, and I had met a lot of young women for the part, but no one had seemed right. I was very much looking for a young artist, someone who you see holding a camera and feel they really are observing and interested and taking photographs. I wanted that to feel very real, that creativity thats being developed in front of your eyes. Advertisement So HonorI think it was two weeks before we started shooting that I went up to Tildas to discuss the part of the mother. I cast her before I cast the daughter, which I didnt intend, but thats how it ended up. On that trip, there was a moment with Honor when we had a conversation about what its like to be a young woman now. I already knew Honor then, but I hadnt seen her in this way before. There was that moment of recognition where I saw something of myself, and I saw something of Julie. Advertisement I didnt pressure herits a big commitment to not just one film but two filmsbut she was very excited to play the role. She didnt even know how the story was going to unfold. I shoot in story order, so she was literally discovering where the story was going moment by moment. Shes very brave to agree to working that way with me and trusting me to lead her. Advertisement Advertisement On previous films, youve left some space for improvisation, presenting the script to certain actors and withholding it from others. Was it the same on The Souvenir? Right, often its the non-actor I dont show the script to because I think it can be confusing, and Im casting them because I want them to react very naturally within the scene. So Honor saw nothing. The only thing that Honor saw, which was more important to me than seeing the screenplay, were my projects from the time and my diaries. I gave her insight into who I was at that age and my thought processesinsight into the 20-year-old young filmmaker-to-be. Did you also share with her any memories or photos of own version of Anthony, or did you keep that separate? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement No, actually thats interestingI didnt tell Honor about that relationship. It was all to do with my filmmaking, and my photography, and my creativity. And my sense of self, because there would be diary entries where I talk about something personal. But thats actually right, nothing to do with the story of the Anthony character. I wanted that to be very much happening as we were shooting. Honor didnt even meet Tom [Burke, who plays Anthony] until the first day, when we shot that scene at the party. Then their relationship literally unfolds day by day through the shoot. Of course theyre talking between takes, but before that party scene where she tells him about the Sunderland film, they hadnt actually been introduced to each other, which was my intention. Advertisement Julie is repeatedly asked to justify herself and her artistic intentionsat one point, shes essentially accused of being a voyeur. Is that something youve experienced? Advertisement Well, not recently, but I had that same challenge at the time. I wanted to make the Sunderland project, but I was challenged by the Anthony character that I knew. At film school, it was actually differentthey would have liked me to do it. They supported the sort of black-and-white socialism aesthetic. Advertisement But I think that the confidence I had to make that film was probably only skin-deep. I was 20 at the time. I hadnt had any experience with filmmaking except shooting a little bit of Super 8. I didnt understand structure, or story, or character, and yet I wanted to make this feature film. I think it was only a matter of time before someone prodded me slightly and then the whole thing fell apart, because it wasnt built on anything solid. Its a shame, but I also recognized some truth in the reaction I got. If it hadnt rang true, I might have carried on pursuing it. Advertisement I felt like your previous films cast a colder eye on characters privilege, but The Souvenir felt more sympathetic to Julies desire to break out of the bubble, as she says. Was that a conscious choice, or did that come about naturally? I was a little conscious of it. I wasnt so much interested in it, in a sense. Its just true to the story. With the other films, there is a little more distance from that and a kind of reluctance to enter into a conversation about it. With The Souvenir, it was going headlong into the eye of it. I was looking at those issues straight on and making that conversation part of the story. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Im curious about the name of the film, which is drawn from the 18th-century portrait Anthony shows Juliewhich your real version of Anthony once showed you. What is your understanding of what that painting meant to him? That is an example of something in the film thats very accurate. I was shown that painting by the man that I knew at the time, and it was important, though it was less important to me and more important to him. And the films ending, when Julie receives the postcards, that also happened to me. So the significance of that painting is very true, even if I still dont understand all the ramifications of it. Im still trying to unravel what it meant to him. Is one of the requirements of being in a group chat that you must allude to how great your group chat is a certain number of times a day? Multiperson chat mania hit its zenith this week when a piece in New York magazine argued that these chats are the antidote to everything thats terrible and world-destroying about social media, but the main thing I got from it, if Im being honest, is that the author participates in between four and 18 active group chats, which he just happened to mention in the very first line. Geez, someones popular! It was an annoyingly good piece, and after I read it, I watched the people I follow on Twitter post the link approvingly, kindly informing us that they, too, are in great group chats. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its a thing you hear now, people gushing about their chats. There are even group chat memes. Last week, when Constance Wu briefly went rogue on social media, I saw a refrain all over Twitter, as if it were duh-level advice: Save that kind of complaining for your group chat, Constance! Some of this group-chat worship makes them sound not just fun but almost transcendent: As Slates own Nicole Cliffe tweeted a few months ago, The ascent of the Group Text is a truly joyous thing. My group texts are everything to me. The group chat, it is understood, is the center of gravity around which modern friendship revolves. If the Friends were young people today, the group chat would be their Central Perk. But with the rise of the group thread comes the parallel rise of another important constituency: the people who are now paranoid that theyre not part of any or enough group chats. These are my people. Every time conversation turns to group chats, I feel a little jolt of worry: Why am I not in 18 group texts? Are people leaving me out because I have green bubbles? Why didnt anyone tell me my habit of texting my friends individually had become totally passe? Is this public hand-wringing over group chats going to further reduce my chances of getting into some? I miss the old days of a few years ago, when I had concrete numbers, like my Twitter like and follow count, to feel bad about, rather than the vague specter that everyone is group texting without me. Advertisement Advertisement this is good, but it took me a long time to get past the lede, in which @max_read says he's in between "four and 18" group chats. I'm not even sure I know 18 people https://t.co/1kkA6n7xUy playoffs shrill (@theshrillest) May 14, 2019 Advertisement Advertisement Out in the group chat having the time of my life with a bunch of friends. Theyre all just in the private group chat, laughing too. Cooper Fleishman (@_Cooper) May 15, 2019 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This anxiety is all borne of group chatters habit of talking about their group chats constantly. If the chat converted are in fact using other social media like Twitter less, maybe they miss the dopamine hit that likes and retweets used to bring to them, and therefore they need the dose of cachet they get from bragging about their group chat. Because make no mistake, its bragging. What else should we call enthusiasm for a service whose defining feature is that only you and your friends get access to it? (Wont anyone think of the lurkers?) My proposed solution is that you shouldnt be allowed to talk about the multiple amazing group texts youre part of unless you plan to invite everyone listening to join them. Same goes for people who complain about how many notifications they get from their group texts. That must be so hard for you!!! Or, like I said, maybe Im just jealous. Maybe I need to make an exclusive new group chat just for people who feel paranoid about not being more popular. But that would probably have to include the entire internet. In the wake of this months wave of abortion bans passed by legislatures in Georgia, Alabama, and Missouri, many women have publicly recounted their own abortions on social media. The idea behind this outpouring is that people might be moved to support or fight for abortion rights if they see how common the procedure is, how many people they know and respect have had one, and how integral abortion care was to those womens full participation in public life. Advertisement This type of storytelling has cropped up spontaneously on social media, but its also a tried-and-true tactic of reproductive justice movements; at rallies, for instance, activists will often go up to the mic to tell the stories of their own abortions. More recently, celebrities (including Busy Philipps) and journalists (including some at Slate) have explained how the ability to terminate an unwanted or impractical pregnancy has made their health, relationships, future families, and professional success possible. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Now, women are starting to ask men to share their abortion stories, too. Behind millions of successful men is an abortion they dont regret getting with their partner, Voxs Liz Plank tweeted on Wednesday. I urge men to go beyond solidarity and talk about how theyve personally benefited from abortion rights. Top Chefs Padma Lakshmi encouraged men to talk about the abortions of their loved ones using the hashtag #HimToo. (Conservatives used the same hashtag to stoke fear about false rape allegations around the Brett Kavanaugh hearings, but it was a nice effort on Lakshmis part.) Another activist asked men, What did you do when the woman you impregnated made a choice? Some argued that it shouldnt be the sole responsibility of women to excavate their personal reproductive histories as evidence of their own humanity when their rights are on the chopping block. Advertisement Advertisement In response, some men have been tweeting about abortions in their own pasts. it's weird how little we as men talk about how abortions have saved our lives... carvell (@carvellwallace) May 16, 2019 Advertisement Advertisement Progressive consultant Evan Sutton told a widely retweeted story of a sexual partner who had an abortion when she was 19 and he was 22. We worked together at a bar and had been sleeping together for maybe 5 or 6 weeks, he wrote. Things got very weird and very toxic in ways neither of us had the tools to deal with effectively. I can only imagine how bad it would have been with the stress of a baby. Were both parents now, with kids who benefit from parents with emotional capacity (and financial stability) to care for them. Jaremi Carey, a former contestant on RuPauls Drag Race, wrote that his then-girlfriend got pregnant when he was 15 and she was 16. She ended up having an abortion. We were lucky to be able to have an open, honest, intelligent conversation about how we could not bring a life into this world that we could not give our fullest devotion and proper life they deserve and should have, he tweeted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I got my girlfriend pregnant at a time where neither of us were prepared for a baby. If it werent for the strength of that woman I wouldve become a statistic, tweeted fashion consultant Mike Camargo, aka Upscale Vandal, in a thread. Ive never shared that information with anybody but its imperative that as men we speak & back up the women that put us here. Advertisement Advertisement A long time ago an ex of mine got pregnant. We had used birth control but it still happened. We thought we were being safe enough. It was her choice to abort and I supported her. I'm so grateful we had access to abortion. Men, tell your side of the story. #ProChoice Kristian Bruun (@MrKristianBruun) May 17, 2019 Advertisement Theres a thin line to walk for men who want to do the right thing, tweet-wise, at this terrible moment in U.S. reproductive history. They dont want to co-opt a womans story or center themselves in a discourse about womens bodily autonomy. But theyre also looking for ways to signal their support and perhaps acknowledge that they, too, have reaped the benefits of legal abortionthat the lives they currently live would have been impossible or vastly different if a current or former partner had been forced by the state to give birth against her will. For every tweet telling men theyre cowards or hypocrites if they dont share their partners abortion stories, theres another one telling them its not their place. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I saw someone on FB suggest that men tell their abortion stories in solidarity, writer and professor David Dennis Jr. tweeted. I found that interesting because Id always thought of them as stories for women to tell because they were happening to their bodies and itd be best to just RT/amplify. Whats the move here? In my opinion, some good may come from getting men to recognize their personal investment in abortion rights, even if they dont share it out loud. If they do, they may reach family members or friends who think they dont know anyone whos been involved in an abortion, which could help normalize the idea that reproductive autonomy is essential to a just and equitable society. There are a few elements that the best examples of the men-tweeting-about-abortion genre share: The person who had the abortion consented to making the story public. (This isnt always evident from a social media post, but its essential.) The man recognizes that whatever his involvement was, the decision to continue or terminate a pregnancy should always belong to the pregnant person. And he includes a call to action, a reminder that the fight for reproductive justice and womens rights is ongoing and urgent. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But theres no perfect way for this conversation to go down. Its maddening to think that men must share their own personal experiences with womens medical care in order for those women to have a shot at retaining their right to that care, just because anti-abortion men might finally listen if the message comes from a man. Its also maddening to think about the fact that men have the ability to sit this debate out, because their bodies are not implicatedor reviled, or criminalized, or deliberately misunderstoodin quite the same way. Its also maddening to remember that tweets are not votes in state legislatures, that gerrymandering and voter suppression have concentrated the political power of existing opposition to abortion rights, and that the fate of female self-determination in multiple U.S. states currently lies in the hands of a majority-conservative judicial body with at least two credibly accused sexual aggressors on the roster. With that in mind, it seems like these stories might be less about capturing hearts and minds than making progressive women feel better about the men around themor, at best, giving progressive men a nudge to make the jump from ideals to activism. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Frankly, I dont know how politically important or effective any kind of tweeting isI think its mostly about signaling solidarity with a movement rather than actually changing minds, my Slate colleague Gabriel Roth, who tweeted about an abortion his ex-partner had when he was 22, told me Friday. I think its a problem that the bulk of political work around reproductive rights is borne by women, but I dont think the tweeting is more than a nugatory contribution to that work. Right-wingers have predictably responded to calls for men to share their abortion stories with their own anti-abortion takes. Not a day goes by where I do not feel abject shame and guilt for being party to something of which I was given zero choice. Big shout out to the dudes sharing similar experiences after I mentioned this the other day, actor and producer Adam Trahan tweeted with a beer-clinking emoji. One man relayed someone elses experience: Knew a married man that was fooling around on his wife having unprotected sex with another woman. She got pregnant, got an abortion, his wife still has no idea. What hashtag am I supposed to use at the end of this inspiring story? In response to a man who tweeted that without the abortion his girlfriend had at age 24 after a condom broke, at least three lives wouldve been ruined, another man quipped that he, too, was conceived due to a broken condom. My parents made the hard decision to NOT abort at ages 19/20, but divorced before I was 1, he tweeted. I became first college grad in family, now have a successful career, amazing wife & 2 children. This aggravating exchange points to a weakness in the personal-investment theory of abortion-rights messaging. If you appeal to someones selfish interests or personal history to make the case for social and political equity, theyre just as likely to use their selfish interests or personal history to argue against it. Theres something slightly demeaning about framing womens fundamental human rights as worthwhile because men have personally benefited from them, in the words of Plank, this HuffPost editor, and plenty of other feminists. It recalls the way some people argued for equal marriage rights by touting the potential financial windfalls corporations and state economies would enjoy. The second those things go awayif some men dont benefit from abortion, or if companies dont make money from gay people getting marriedthe argument withers. In an ideal world, the human rights argument would stand on its own. But thats not where we are. Its a testament to how desperate people committed to abortion rights feel right now that theyre trying every angle they can. Judges are at the center of every conversation on Amicus but never as guests on the show. Until today. On this weeks Amicus, Dahlia Lithwick did something shes never done beforehad a judge as the guest. That would be Judge Robert Lasnik, senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. Lasnik answers questions on a range of topics, including whether justices should hit back against criticism or maintain a lofty silence. A transcript of the interview, which has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity, follows. Advertisement Dahlia Lithwick: Its true of this profession that were so resistant to giving up old conventions and norms, even though they no longer serve. But I think that there are an awful lot of people in this profession that like it because its a conservative profession. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Judge Robert Lasnick: Thats true. And there are definitely certain advantages to it. You want that predictability and consistency. And the chief justice, who is an institutionalist, looks back at other chief justices and sees steadiness, and consistency, and predictability, and independence. And those are extraordinarily important parts of our lives as federal judges. So, it leads to my question about governance and transparency. Which is a problem, I think. Advertisement Yes, it is. There are a couple of problems with the judicial conference. I was on there and I loved it. It was a wonderful experience. I got to meet and know Merrick Garland, and Bill Traxler. These are fabulous chief judges from circuits around. But remember how I told you how you become a chief judge? Math. Math all the way down. Right. So it means that when were looking around the table, the judges are all on the old side. So we dont get up-and-coming people on there for the most part. Now, district judges are chosen differently in different circuits. Some of them are elected; some of them are rotating by states, and things like that. So we have some younger. But all the chief circuit judges are there because theyre the longest-serving in their circuit. And sometimes you get people who say, Well, thats the way weve always done it. We dont want to change. Or you have people who are not really up on the technology and the ways that we could make things better because they just are of a different generation. Were still giving out notepads and pens to jurors who are 21 or 24 years old who havent used a notepad and a pen in their lives. How about a laptop? How about letting them pull down their electronic devices, and trust that theyre not going to Google-search every witness? We need to break out of the box. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But then the other part is when we do meet in Washington, D.C., in the beautiful United States Supreme Court, theres nobody watching what we do because we dont let anybody in. No journalists, no members of the publictheres no transcript. Our wonderful press person will come out with the chair of the executive committee usually a couple hours later, with a one-paragraph statement of This was the big highlight from the meeting. And its of course crafted in a public relations sense, not in a news sense. You never see the debate. There arent that many, frankly. And you never get a report on whats going on. Were driven by committees which also meet in private, except for certain ones that have public hearings on civil rules or criminal rules. Theres very little that you ever get to know about that. I wish we would do things more in the light of day. Advertisement Advertisement So, it sounds like youre saying that what, at some point, this entire top-down governance system is going to require is exactly the kind of person that can never get to the top in this kind of governance system. Right? It would require somebody who is absolutely willing to say, fling open the doors, admit vulnerability, and let it all hang out. And that cant happen. Advertisement Advertisement I wouldnt say it cant happen. Its highly unlikely. In many respects, the chief justice is such a charming and intelligent and really wonderful, delightful person to interact with. But he was not someone who was interested in opening the levers that you just talked about. If we had a chief justice who was of the belief that allowing cameras in the U.S. Supreme Court is not a terrible thing, that in fact it could be a really wonderful thing, you could see some change. Advertisement Advertisement Whats your best argument for cameras? I know mine as a journalist. My best argument for cameras is the more that people see what we do, the better we look and the more confidence they have in us. I know that a number of justices who used to feel that way when they were circuit judges, or academics, when they get there, they say, Oh no, we cant do it. We cant do it. Theres nobody watching what we do because we dont let anybody in. Judge Robert Lasnik But Ive not heard good arguments for that. To me, these are important policy issues. They are talked about in the most intelligent and civilized way. Nobodys screaming at each other like you get in Congress. Nobodys issuing decrees and proclamations and executive orders that are inexplicable. The idea of saying our opinions speak for themselves, not in this environment. We need to let them see what we do and how we do it. Advertisement Advertisement Judge [James] Robart handled this police case in Seattle, and those hearings were televised. Theyre not livestreamed. It was one of those ones where the Department of Justice in the Obama administration came forth and said the City of Seattle Police Department was policing in ways that violated federal rights of individuals, and they needed a federal judge to oversee changes in the department. The city of Seattle agreed. But at a certain point, they disagreed about many of the other underlying issues. And Judge Robart, in addition to all his other cases, took that process on. Hes still dealing with it. But its had a tremendous positive impact on our community, and it was good for people to see how a judge handles a very difficult case like that. And when I had my 3D gun case too, which is still in front of me. But I did that preliminary injunction argument with the cooperation of the parties so it could be seen. And I think the more people see what we do, the better it is for the federal judiciary in terms of public confidence in what we do. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I think that most of the sitting justices, when they testify to Congress on why they dont want cameras, just make security arguments. I think the principal thing they say is some version of Im not safe. Whats the answer to that? Advertisement Advertisement The answer to that is you dont seem to worry about that when you go on the book tour. So, I just dont think that thats an issue. The other issue is some people may not ask questions if the cameras on. You already had that. Or some people may grandstand and ask a lot of questions with the camera on. Well, you already have that too. So its not really going to change the behavior, I believe. Advertisement I think I remember once hearing Justice [Ruth Bader] Ginsburg at one of the circuit conferences when she was pressed on why the Canadian Supreme Court has had cameras since the 70s. And I think her adoringly Ginsburg-ish answer was some version of But those are Canadians. The implication being they dont grandstandthey barely speak. But I do remember hearing at the time, I think the chief justice of the Canadian Supreme Court saying, One lawyer tried to grandstand once. I stopped it. I think its this notion that you cant control advocates in front of you. But thats your job. Thats our job. And the Washington state Supreme Court has been televising all its oral arguments for years and has not had any problems with security, or any problems with grandstanding, or any problems with shutting down justices who want to ask questions. So thats the way we do it, and itll only change if you get a chief justice who really wants it to change. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I remember when the Ninth Circuit argument, the first argument in the travel case was being held, and the audio was being streamed. Watching people crashing the website in their eagerness to listen. And I thought, This has to be a teachable moment for the federal judiciary. Millions of Americans are listening to oral argument in a case, and yet it didnt seem to move the needle. Right. And I thought that the judges did a great job, and the lawyers did a great job. Why not let people see that? Theres a lot of interest in it, isnt it? Look at the play on Broadway now about the Constitution, which is also from Washington state. People are really excited about: Why do we have three branches of government? What does it mean with this separation of powers, and how do branches coexist with each other? I think thats great to have people wanting to learn more about the government and how it operates, including the judiciary. Officials in Florida are pleading with the Trump administration to change its plan to send hundreds of migrants a week to Broward and Palm Beach countiesthe two most reliably Democratic counties in the state. According to the two counties officials, who on Thursday gave out details of the administrations plans, the administration plans to release asylum-seekers detained along the southern border into the two counties at the rate of a combined 135 people a week, or about 1,000 a month. The officials said the migrants would begin arriving in the next two weeks, and they were not told when the program would stop. Advertisement Trump had previously floated the idea of sending migrants to sanctuary citieshe called it his sick ideaboth to alleviate some of the strain on overcrowded detention facilities near the border and also to send a message to Democrats. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, concerned with the public relations damage that could come from such an explicitly retaliatory move, highlighted financial concerns and rejected the idea as inappropriate, according to the Washington Post. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Broward and Palm Beach counties are not sanctuary cities, but some have surmised that Trump was targeting the two counties for punishment because of their politics. Trump had said before that he was considering releasing detainees into other Democratic counties beyond just sanctuary cities. The blatant politics, sending them to the two most Democratic counties in the state of Florida, is ridiculous, state Sen. Gary Farmer told Politico. You cant make this stuff up. Advertisement Advertisement The two counties have warned federal officials that they are not equipped to handle such a large influx of migrants. According to Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, the administration did not give the county any accommodations or even a plan for what it should do. Palm Beach County Mayor Mack Bernard, speaking in the same press conference, said it was possible the resources might only become available with an emergency declaration. Broward County officials said they were put in a similar situation. This is a humanitarian crisis. We will do everything possible to help these people, Broward County Mayor Mark Bogen, a Democrat, said in a statement. If the President will not provide us with financial assistance to house and feed these people, he will be creating a homeless encampment. County officials were not the only ones who felt blindsided by the administrations decision. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican and Trump ally, also questioned the move and asserted that the counties did not have the resources needed to provide for the migrants. An aide for DeSantis told Florida public radio that the Trump administration had not informed the governors office of the decision ahead of time. On Thursday, Trump attempted to roll out an immigration plan that would shift the focus onto the applicants skills and education level, including English proficiency and a civics test. The experts are terrible, Donald Trump said at one point during his 2016 presidential campaign. This was a statement about foreign policy expertise, but it could reasonably be applied to Trumps view of experts in lots of fields, from climate change to trade policy. Sadly, he is not alone in that view. In a trio of blockbuster cases set to be decided in the next six weeks, we will soon find out if the Supreme Court shares the presidents anti-expert opinion. Advertisement First, in Kisor v. Wilkie, the court is considering whether to overturn decades-old precedents that hold that courts should defer to federal agencies reasonable interpretations of their own regulationsregulations that generally reflect the agencies expertise. This form of deferenceand a related form that requires courts to defer to agencies reasonable interpretations of ambiguous statuteshas long played an important role in the federal governments ability to regulate big businesses and protect consumers, the environment, workers, and more. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Again, one of the reasons why courts have long deferred to agencies reasonable constructions of ambiguous regulations and statutes is because they have more expertise about the subjects theyre regulating than federal judges do. As a brief by administrative law scholars put it, agencies possess technical and policy expertise that reviewing courts generally lack. Advertisement Advertisement At oral arguments in the case, the courts more liberal members repeatedly made this point. Responding to an attorneys assertion that there was no underpinning for the deference doctrine at issue, Justice Elena Kagan responded with incredulity: It didnt have any underpinning? Its underpinning is obvious. Its underpinning is agency expertise. And Justice Stephen Breyer made the point particularly colorfully, discussing a prior case in which the Court deferred to the understanding of the FDA that a particular compound should be treated as a single new active moiety, which consists of a previously approved moiety, joined by a non-ester covalent bond to a lysine group. Do you know how much I know about that? Yet depending on what the Supreme Court does in this case, soon federal courtsrather than expert administratorsmay be deciding when compounds should be treated as new active moieties. And theres reason to worry about what the court will do. Both of President Donald Trumps appointees to the court have long expressed skepticism about these sorts of judicial deference doctrines. Indeed, when Neil Gorsuch was nominated to the court, he was celebrated by the business community for his hostility to these doctrines. Advertisement Theres reason to worry about what the court will do. Kisor is by no means the only case in which the courts views on expertise will come into play. In Common Cause v. Rucho and Benisek v. Lamone, the court is considering whether extreme partisan gerrymanders are unconstitutional. Courts around the country have been increasingly saying so, and for good reason: The Framers of our nations charter established a system of government in which the people choose their elected representatives, not the other way around. Extreme partisan gerrymandering, which subordinates adherents of a disfavored political party and degrades their right to vote, cannot be squared with the text and history of the Constitution. Advertisement Advertisement Notwithstanding the compelling arguments that extreme partisan gerrymanders violate the First and 14th amendments, the Supreme Court has long been reluctant to bless judicial intervention in this sphere for fear that courts will not be able to identify a manageable standard for deciding these cases. Heres where the experts come in. Political scientists have developed ways to measure the effect of partisan gerrymandering and thereby show just how much extreme partisan gerrymanders can skew elections and harm voters. Advertisement Advertisement When the court took up this issue last term, though, Chief Justice John Roberts derisively described these tools as sociological gobbledygook. Indeed, he went even further, expressing elaborate concern that the public wouldnt trust judicial decisions that took account of such evidence: Advertisement Advertisement [I]f youre the intelligent man on the street and the Court issues a decision, and lets say the Democrats win, and that person will say: Well, why did the Democrats win? And the answer is going to be because EG was greater than 7 percent, where EG is the sigma of party X wasted votes minus the sigma of party Y wasted votes over the sigma of party X votes plus party Y votes. And the intelligent man on the street is going to say thats a bunch of baloney. Advertisement In other words, to the chief, public skepticism about expertise was a potential reason for the court to leave partisan gerrymanders alone. At this years oral argument, the chief justice didnt make that same pointunsurprisingly, given that he was chastised by the American Sociological Association for his commentsbut the court continued to grapple with the question of how much partisan gerrymandering is too much and whether courts can answer that question. What the court decides may depend, in part, on whether the court is willing to trust the tools developed by experts. Advertisement Finally, in New York v. U.S. Department of Commerce, the court is considering whether the Trump administrations addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census is unlawful. The Constitution mandates that every 10 years the federal government count all persons living in the country, and Congress has passed laws designed to protect the accuracy of that constitutionally mandated count. Advertisement Advertisement When Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross decided to add the citizenship question to the census, he did so over the objections of the experts within the Census Bureau. Those experts advised him that adding the citizenship question would discourage immigrants from responding to the census and thereby undermine the very thing the Constitution mandates: an accurate count of all persons living in the United States. The tension between Ross decision and what the experts at the Census Bureau advised was a constant theme at oral arguments in the case. The attorneys challenging the addition of the citizenship question repeatedly invoked the Census Bureau experts in explaining why Ross decision was unlawful. And the courts more liberal justices made the point as well. Breyer, for example, said, The conclusion of the Census Bureau remains that adding the question produces worse data on citizenship than just using the administrative data alone And Kagan pressed the administrations lawyer on what reasons the secretary had for deviating from the experts conclusions. Advertisement Yet some of the courts conservatives seemed to suggest that the secretary could disregard his experts conclusions even if he didnt have any reason for doing so. How the court ultimately decides this case may turn, in part, on whether a majority of the courts justices are willing to accept that proposition. The courts decisions in all of these cases will have profound consequences for the countryshaping how effectively the federal government can operate, how fair our elections are, and how accurate our census data is. Lets hope the experts views carry some weight with the justices. Catching cybercriminals has always been challenging partly because the person stealing money from your online accounts is probably sitting somewhere far from the reach of U.S. law enforcement, often in Russia or Eastern Europe. And those countries, which may take in much more money than they lose from cybercrime, are not always eager or easy to work with on international investigations. Thats why the FBI and Department of Justice tend to make a big deal about it when they work with their counterparts in other countries to identify and arrest the members of international cybercrime organizations, as they did this week in their announcement of the takedown of the GozNym network. In 2016, the GozNym malware was used to steal bank account credentials and, subsequently, money from those accounts. (More on exactly how much money was taken in a minute.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The announcement included an unsealed indictment, filed in April, that names 10 individuals responsible for distributing the GozNym malware. The 10 people involved live in Russia, Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova, and Bulgaria, and those last four countries have already cooperated in investigating, arresting, and prosecuting the individuals involved. But the five Russians named in the indictment have still not been arrested, and among the long list of international partners the U.S. worked with on this investigation, Russian law enforcement is noticeably absent. Its no surprise that the United States and Russia dont exactly see eye to eye on matters of cybersecurity right now, but what is perhaps a little bit surprising is that so many Eastern European countries were willing to cooperate with U.S. officials here. Ukraine, after all, has been hailed as a haven for hackers in the past, and other Eastern European nations like Romania have long been viewed as cybercrime hubs. Cracking down on cybercrime in these places wont have the same impact as prosecuting Russia-based cybercriminals would, but its a good start. And it deprives Russian cybercriminals of some of their most obvious and nearby allies and supporting figures, especially since there are many Russian speakers (and significant Russian populations) in most of these countries. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Online communications in Russian are, in fact, how the international team of law enforcement officials was able to identify the 10 people named in the GozNym case and the different roles each one played in the criminal network. GozNym, so named because it is a hybrid of the Gozi and Nymaim strains of malware, infected tens of thousands of computers, primarily in the United States and Europe. It was distributed via phishing emails, many of which appear to have contained fake Bank of America invoices as attachments that, when opened, downloaded the malware onto the victims computers. Once installed, GozNym served as a keystroke logger, to capture any banking credentials, and also injected fake banking login webpages to peoples browsers in order to prompt them to input their credentials. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Part of this injection scheme included the ability to defeat two-factor authentication logins by using a special fake token panel that captured RSA token codes from victims and allowed the perpetrators to then reuse those codes to take over the victims accounts. Two-factor authentication typically requires you to input a one-time code from a token, text message, or app in addition to your usual password. So when people whose computers were infected with GozNym tried to log in to accounts protected with two-factor, the fake banking sites would prompt them to enter a one-time code provided by their token (or other second factor). And when they typed the one-time code into the fraudulent token panel (which they believed was actually their banks way of asking them for their second factor), the thieves were then able to intercept that code and use it to log in to the victims bank account before the code expired. Once they had compromised the accounts, the perpetrators then tried to make transfers from the victims accounts into their own bank accounts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The case against the 10 men named in the indictment hinges on their online advertisements for their own criminal skills and services, as well as their communications with one another in late 2015 and early 2016. For instance, in a Nov. 22, 2015, message obtained by law enforcement officials, Georgian Marat Kazandjian sent Bulgarian Krasimir Nikolov a link to the GozNym token panel and an access password for it. (The password was qwerty123, suggesting that even cybercriminals who steal passwords for a living dont bother making very good ones.) The scheme differed from earlier cybercrime models in that the suspects were initially traced according to their online advertisements for their services, rather than their online sales of stolen dataa model the DOJ referred to as cybercrime as a service. But otherwise it followed a fairly familiar format for financial cybercrimes: delivery of malware via phishing emails followed by electronic financial transfers that were routed through multiple bank accounts before being cashed out and delivered to their final recipients. Advertisement Advertisement Exactly how much money was stolen using GozNym remains unclear, though the U.S. government would very much like you to believe that number is $100 million. The Department of Justice announcement emphasizes that the malware was used in an attempt to steal an estimated $100 million, while the indictment states that the malware had the potential to cause in excess of $100 million in losses. In fact, of the 13 victims listed in the indictment, only five actually suffered any financial losses; the others had their banking credentials stolen, and transfers were attempted from their accounts but apparently unsuccessfully. The five financial losses described in the indictment add up to $443,855.12, or about 0.4 percent of $100 million. Advertisement Advertisement Of course, there may well be other losses that went unreported, but its still worth bearing in mind that that $100 million figure was probably more of an aspirational one for the GozNym crime ring, rather than an actual tally of their profits. (Its also notable and impressive how many of the attempted bank transfers described in the indictment were unsuccessful even after the perpetrators had stolen the necessary account credentials.) That doesnt mean the takedown isnt a victory for law enforcement, though the reported profits and inability to prosecute half the people named in the indictment make it a more measured triumph than the DOJs announcement might have you believe. Its both a heartening sign that there is still progress being made working with other countries on combating cybercrime, and a sobering reminder that without Russian cooperation, there is only so much that can be done. And for every would-be cybercriminal in Eastern Europe whose takeaway from this story may be that they should consider an alternative career path, there are probably two or three in Russia for whom it reinforces their sense that they are untouchable. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. For security professionals, the boundaries they must defend are amorphous and fluid. Physical assets, of course, typically remain under the purview of corporate physical security management. But digital assets must be elevated to equivalent levels of oversight. With so many enterprises depending on digital technology for internal business processes, sales, and customer service, any disruption will damage a companys brand, reputation, and relationships. This complex environment calls for the implementation of preventive intelligence, an approach that spans the online and physical worlds. Hello Smexy Blog readers I am baaaaaack with my Dream Cast for American Fairytale, my upcoming release which is second book in the Dreamers series. I love searching for inspiration pics as I am planning my stories. Because so many of my characters are PoC it can be a little challenging to find the perfect models, actors, etc. With Fairytale in addition to Afro-Latinx characters there are also South Asian and East African peeps. Tom Hughes, our swoony billionaires two best friends are from India and Ethiopia. Fortunately I already had the perfect folx in mind to play them in the future motion picture for American FairytaleAyo Netflix, we ready!! So here they are, my Dream Cast for American Fairytale: The HEROES. For Camilo, Id already picked someone in the previous casting post, and I will stick with him. His name is Cristian Cruz, hes a Dominican model, and also the king of the man bun. He is 100% how I envision my favorite PITA Cuba-Jamaican social worker. For Tom I had an insta model I loved all picked out, but because this is my movie and I can dream damn it! LOL I have Mark Ruffalo to play my stubborn AF billionaire with a heart of gold. I think Mark is the perfect actor to render some of the nuanced complications in Tom. The rest of the Crew! Because for the last casting I have the other GA crew guys, Im going to focus on newcomers to my Dreamers world. First I have the Camilos work BFF, Ayako. Like Camilo Ayako has a Jamaican dad, but her mom is Japanese. I think the gorgeous actress LaShontae Heckard has the levels of sauce necessary to play Milos badass work wife. Next I have Toms besties, who were also his business partners. Sanjay is Indian and so is his wife Priya who plays a big role in the story and gives Tom some tough love when he most needs it. For Sanjay I have the incredibly sexy Bollywood superstar Varun Dhawan. We probably cant afford it, but who cares, I dream big. To play Priya, I needed a kickass woman who can take charge of a room, and tell it like it is. There was only one choice Jameela Jamil, because honestly I think everyone wants her as a bestie. The third person in Toms crew is Henock. Heni is Ethiopian and like Sanjay, he met Tom in grad school. Since I started writing Fairytale I envisioned Abel Makonnen Tesfaye aka The Weeknd playing the part of Henock. Abel is Ethiopian, is sexy AF, and has swag in surplus. Also on the low, my plan is to cast a hip-hop superstar in all of these movies. Last but not least, I needed to cast the moms! For Dinorah, Camilos mother I have one of my favorite old school telenovela superstars, Veronica Castro. Ms. Castro is actually on a recent Netflix show and is amazing. I think she would bring so much to a strong character like Milos mom. For Toms mom, Esperenza, my one and only choice from the first moment was Alfre Woodard. A. I love her and B. I think she would render Esperanzas fierceness perfectly. Also her husband could totally be Toms dad! So here they are, my dream cast for American Fairytale, just like with Dreamer, I think we have a runaway Netflix hit on our hands! Adrianaa newest novel, American Fairytale releases on May 20th. Pre-Order Link New York City social worker Camilo Santiago Briggs grew up surrounded by survivors who taught him to never rely on anything you didnt earn yourself. Hes always dreamed of his own happily-ever-after, but he lives in the real world. Men who seem too good to be trueusually are. And Milo never ever mixes business with pleasureuntil the mysterious man he had an unforgettable hookup with turns out to be the wealthy donor behind his agencys new, next-level funding. Thomas Hughes built a billion-dollar business from nothing: he knows what he wants and isnt shy about going after it. When the enthralling stranger who blew his mind at a black-tie gala reappears, Toms more than ready to be his Prince Charming. Showering Milo with the very best of everything is how Tom shows his affection. Trouble is, Milos not interested in any of it. The only thing Milo wants is Tom. Fairy-tale endings take work as well as love. For Milo, that means learning to let someone take care of him, for a change. And for Tom, its figuring out that real love is the one thing you cant buy. About Adriana Adriana Herrera was born and raised in the Caribbean, but for the last fifteen years has let her job (and her spouse) take her all over the world. She loves writing stories about people who look and sound like her people, getting unapologetic happy endings. Whens she not dreaming up love stories, planning logistically complex vacations with her family or hunting for discount Broadway tickets, shes a social worker in New York City, working with survivors of domestic and sexual violence. You can find Adriana on the interwebz in the following places- Website Twitter Facebook Instagram Goodreads Like this: Like Loading... Robert Gilpin, R.I.P. - The Washington Post : His greatest book was written in 1981, but the main theory in it is perhaps more trenchant now... By Trend The Azerbaijan Industrial Corporation (AIC) and the Belarusian State Food Industry Concern (Belgospishcheprom) signed a protocol of intent on cooperation within the framework of the WorldFood Azerbaijan International Food Industry Exhibition and the XIII Azerbaijan International Agricultural Exhibition, Caspian Agro, held on May 15-17, Trend reports. The document on cooperation was signed by the director general of AIC Kamran Nabizade from the Azerbaijani side, and by the chairman of Belgospishcheprom concern Alexander Zabello from the Belarusian side. The protocol envisages cooperation in the export of tobacco products between the Azertabak agro-industrial complex and the Grodno tobacco factory Neman (part of the Belgospishcheprom concern), the organization of bilateral meetings, as well as the exchange of experience in production. The AIC is represented by Azerpambiq LLC, Azertabak LLC, Azeripek LLC, Sheki Winery, and the Livestock Complex of the AIC at the WorldFood Azerbaijan International Food Industry Exhibition and the XIII Azerbaijan International Agricultural Exhibition, Caspian Agro. Presently, these enterprises support thousands of farmers in the production of agricultural products, and the products of these plants are sold on the market in more than 20 regions of the country. We use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our website. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies , click here. Sixteen races have been carded for opening weekend of the 2019 Minnesota harness racing season at Running Aces, highlighted by the $14,000 Open Handicap Pace on Saturday and the $15,000 Open Handicap Trot on Sunday. The Saturday feature will see the return of top pacers Stuckey Dote and Firedrake as headliners. Stuckey Dote, who recently lowered his lifetime mark with a 1:50.3 score at Scioto, is the 6-5 morning line choice from his assigned seven post, and veteran Rick Magee will be at the controls for trainer Brett Ballinger. Firedrake, who was the inaugural Dan Patch FFA Pace winner in 2017, and close runner-up last season, starts from post six for trainer Nick Roland and looks for his first win of the year. Brian Detgen has the drive on Firedrake. Sunday's card is headlined by the Open Trot and the return of Silverlode to the Minnesota oval. The now 10-year-old trotting mare is fresh off a stellar meet in northern California, where she dominated the Open ranks, including a North American record on February 23, when she trotted a mile and a half in 2:57.2. Steve Wiseman will steer Silverlode, as usual, for wife Kathleen Plested. Silverlode looks to carry on with a five-race win streak and has just surpassed the $250,000 mark in career spoils. Silverlode will square off against a good field of trotters, including fellow track record holder Banker Volo (Nick Roland) and former track record holder Al Mar Reba Babe (Dean Magee). Driver Steve Wiseman is back and ready to defend his driving title from the past two seasons, and he's looking for a track record three titles in a row. Running Aces all-time leading driver Nick Roland will be back in full force looking to pick up his fourth title, and top veterans Rick Magee and Dean Magee will be among the leaders, and Minnesota Hall of Famer Lemoyne Mooney Svendsen is back and fresh off a fantastic season at Cal Expo where he was just nosed out at the finish for the title. Trainer Kathie Plested is also back with a powerhouse stable to defend her leading trainer title, and is looking for her third consecutive Aces trophy and her fifth consecutive title on the California-Minnesota Circuit. Saturday night will offer local fans some great beer and wine specials, as Running Aces popular Keep it Local Night" is back to spotlight local breweries and wineries with free sampling and prize drawings, as well as free live music after the races every Saturday. Sundays are family day at Running Aces, with free trout-pond fishing for kids, colouring contests plus drawings and contests for the adults and so much more. Tuesdays' very popular Dollar Night" promotion is back as well, offering fans tremendous value and a fun and extremely affordable night out. All of the track's popular exotic wagers from last season are back, with at least two 50-cent Pick-3 offerings each night, plus early and late 50-cent Pick-4 wagers, the 20-cent Jackpot Pick-5 and the extremely popular 50-cent Hi-5 wagers on each of the last two races of the night. The 50-cent late Daily Double is also back and starts in the second to the last race. Live racing spans 53 nights this summer at Running Aces, Saturday, May 18 through Saturday, September 14. Post times are 6 p.m. (CT) on weekends and 7 p.m. (CT) on Tuesdays. (With files from Running Aces) In order to continue enjoying our site, we ask that you confirm your identity as a human. Thank you very much for your cooperation. Over the past eight years of war, Ramadan and the way that Syrian society views Ramadan has changed, with some openly not observing the fasting writes Salon Syria. Ahmed (a false name) throws his load of tissue paper bags on the sidewalk, and disappears between two vehicles to get into his car, fleeing from the eyes of passersby and his manager at Ramadan World because if you smoke openly then some shoppers will stop buying from you, using your cigarette habit as an excuse, according to the stores owner. Ahmeds partner comes close and says: Theres no need to hide. I saw a woman drinking water openly and another woman eating candies, and another man smoking as well! There appears to have been a clear change in the daily behaviors of residents in Damascus with regards to fasting during Ramadan, which is not limited to the fast-breakers themselveseven most stores selling readymade food and juices have not closed their doors during the fasting month. Unlike Ahmed, Umm Manar has three children who show their fast-breaking openly, but based on her beliefs, insists on paying for their iftars during the fasting month. In the past to expiate their fast breaking, Umm Manar has donating money to poor families through charities or a sheikh. The legal authority in the Ministry of Religious Endowments sets this fee annually and this year it is between 800 and 1,000 Syrian pounds, which is the price of a meal for a hungry person. Therefore Umm Manar has decided this year to join with her friend in paying for a wheelchair for an amputee child who was a victim of the warand directly, without an intermediary. Umm Manars decision reflects a change which blends humanitarianism with belief and interacts with the new, more urgent needs of wartime. Her children are not in a unique situation in Damascus. Most employees in official and private departments continue to eat daily in the workplace. Samia says that her colleagues at work do not fast, but that she takes into account the feelings of those fasting by not preparing coffee at work, especially given that it has a strong and appetizing smell. Samia adds that, the other colleagues dont eat cucumbers, eggs or falafel in their morning meals during Ramadan because of their strong aroma. Taking these feelings into account does not really go beyond the act of not eating foods that have strong smells that awakens the hunger of fasters. With regards to this subject, Article 517 of the Penal Code sets a penalty for all those who openly break the fast in Ramadan at detention of a full month. The provision does explicitly mention displaying fast-breaking or not fasting, but rather not taking into account public morals in Ramadan. This article is essentially defunct now, and no ruling has been issued in accordance with it over the last eight years. In the absence of any explicit legal items punishing the act of breaking the fast or displaying it, the real social provisions in circulation are more influential. The change also appears in a new terrifying image that has entered the lives of Syrians. On a womens group on WhatsAppthe most common form of communication in SyriaRoweida offers her blessings when Ramadan arrives, but her stereotypical blessing, which does not exceed basic social protocol, is met with violent reactions from some members of the group. One of them says: Ramadan and fasting and hunger are devouring the bodies of Syrians! Another connects the fasting blessing with celebrating the values of the Islamic State. In light of the major deterioration in Syrians economic situations, a number of new initiatives have been launched in Ramadan, put forward on walls of the streets and on public centers, such as a call to forgive renters their rent during Ramadan, and insistence and repetition on Syrians abroad to send money to families in need during this month to fill the major gap between Syrians weak purchasing power and the volume of basic living needespecially medicine, housing and food. Older phenomenon that are no longer acceptable include some women only wearing jalabiyehs and hijab during Ramadan, as this behavior has become seen as social hypocrisy, even if temporary. It reflects the deep fragility reflecting on a greater mercy inside, and giving more balanced deeds that allow refugees the internal satisfaction and peace they need. If Ramadan has a special and popular definition, it comes from the rich and varied meals, which were promoted in the media for direct economic gains. However this has changed completely. The negative economic situation that Syrians are enduring and the decline of purchasing power is just one of the reasons. In addition to that is the changing view of basic priorities and the usefulness of drowning in lifes material, physical and morally exhausting details. Now Ramadan tables have become limited to just one type of food, in addition to plates of salad or soup or another of foul or fatteh, with excessive diversity becoming undesirable. Even the many invitations for collective iftar meals, which family members had been used to exchanging, have become hated, and are often limited to just one invitation to meet family obligations and confirming a state of disintegration of family traditions that has become acceptable. While every month includes deepening changes in the lives of Syrians because of the war and its consequences and costs, Ramadan firmly establishes that in terms of the changes in community functions and in the functions of individuals. It seems that they are now defined by less narrow identities, and have become less compulsory, lowering the restriction on individuals in an expanding, albeit still narrow, way. 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. Ammar al-Sheikh Haidar is protesting the handle of his and his daughter's immigration application by the Canadian authorities reports Anadolu News Agency. A Syrian political dissident has been on a hunger strike in Istanbul, Turkey for 11 days after Canada failed to follow through on his application for asylum for himself and his family, who he has not seen in years. Ammar al-Sheikh Haidar, the brother of Ali Haidar, Syrias former minister of state for national reconciliation affairs, was imprisoned by regime forces due to his dissident stance and then held by pro-regime militants. Ammar, who hails from Hama, told Anadolu Agency he was arrested in May 2010 and was sent to the capital, Damascus, where he spent a year in prison. I sent my wife and daughter to Jordan. However, I did not want to leave Syria. I was hoping there would be a regime change in a quick and safe manner. I stayed in Syria until 2014. One day, I was kidnapped by people whose faces I did not see but I regarded as Lebanese Hezbollah due to their accent. I was held for a month. My health was in bad shape, he said. A trap was set in front of my house in Masyaf city one day. Luckily, I was walking in a crowded group towards the house. I got in the house and survived. Thereafter, I was forced to flee to Lebanon. I was looking for a safe place. Ammar said he did not consider bringing his family to Lebanon because of the nonstop provocations by the regime and its supporters against political refugees. We were subjected to the worst ill-treatment. We were discriminated against. This happened with the secret support of the Lebanese authorities. Fed up with the pressure, he said he left for Turkey in late 2015. Noting that his daughter was expelled from her university in Lebanon after he failed to pay the tuition fee, he said he attempted to reunite with his family in Turkey but was unsuccessful as Turkish law only accepts migration from Syria by land. He said he tried four times to bring his family to Turkey through illegal means. At the end of 2017, Ammar applied for asylum in Canada, but his daughter was not added to the family file because she was over 18 years old. They did not want to open a separate file. By late March 2018, she was invited to the interview too. Meanwhile, I got the first approval. My health report was approved at the Canadian embassy in Ankara in August 2018. However, the process has stalled since then. My wife has had no response. This is what worries me, he added. Tired of all the negative developments, Ammar started his hunger strike on May 3 in Istanbul, looking forward to uniting with his family. He said he first planned to stage the hunger strike near the Canadian consulate in Istanbul but later decided to do it near the visa center affiliated with the consulate as the diplomatic building was in a large business complex and his demonstration would not draw much attention. However, he was forced to leave by the visa centers security personnel and continued his hunger strike in other squares. I dont protest against anyone. I want my message to reach everyone. Im a displaced person. The international community, its laws, actions and policies leave refugees with the worst options. I will continue my strike as long as my health allows, he said. Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in 2011 when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected severity. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. Following military tests, a number of officers from the regime's army were chosen to travel to Russia to undertake specialized training writes Zaman Al Wasl. About 50 Syrian regime officers have undertaken a military staff course in Russia, a military source told Zaman al-Wasl. The officers who hold the ranks of Major, Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel, were chosen from a large number of regime officers in 2018 by a team of specialists, supervised by officers of the Russian Staff, after passing all the standard and military tests. They were selected by the Russians according to the grades obtained on the tests, in a show of the regimes negligence of its role in the selection of these officers. The source revealed that the course will last for one year, starting from January, pointing out that the officers consist of various military specialties and from various social strata in Syria. This move may be in line with the vision of the Russian leadership for the future of the regimes army after Assad; especially since Russia became an occupying state or a guardian of the regime after it obtained the right to keep its air, naval and land forces at the Hemeimeem airbase and the Tartous naval base for 49 years, renewable for 25 years and after it took over gas, oil and phosphate in the central region. In 2012, the Higher Military Academy of the regimes army in Damascus stopped the training of officers in the Academy at its three faculties: the Command and General Staff College, the Institute of National Defense, and the Higher War College, because of the conditions of the war waged by the regime on the people. This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. The Syrian National Coalition has expressed concern about the ongoing violence in Idleb and the Hama countryside and commended foreign countries for their condemnation. On Thursday, the Syrian National Coalitions political committee held its regular meeting at the Coalition office in the countryside of Aleppo. The meeting discussed the situation on the ground in the liberated areas, the Russian-Iranian aggression in Idleb and the countryside of Hama and the mass displacement of civilians in the region. President of the Syrian National Coalition, Abdurrahman Mustafa, said that the brutal airstrikes on civilians in Idleb and Hama have so far killed more than 350 civilians, including many women and children, as well as displacing more than 300,000 people. The bombings also caused massive destruction to civilian homes and infrastructure, hospitals and schools. President Mustafa called for an immediate halt to the aggression on Idleb as he commended the international outcry over the assault. He also praised efforts by sisterly and friendly countries to pressure Russia to stop its support for the aggression and to refrain from launching further attacks on civilians. The political committee discussed mechanisms of communication and interaction with civil bodies in the liberated areas. It met with representatives of local councils and discussed with them the situation of services and the displaced people from the areas that were occupied by the Assad regime and the Iranian militias. The Syrian National Coalition has recently opened an office in the countryside of Aleppo and began to communicate with the local councils and directorates active in the liberated areas and the civil society organizations in Syria. This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. By Trend Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has sent a congratulatory letter to King of Norway Harald V. On my own behalf and on behalf of the people of Azerbaijan, I am delighted to congratulate you and all the people of your country on the occasion of the Constitution Day of the Kingdom of Norway, Ilham Aliyev said in his letter. On this joyful day, I wish you the best of health and happiness, and the friendly people of Norway lasting peace and prosperity. As regime and Russia attacks on Idleb intensify, hundreds of thousands of families have been forced to seek safety near the Turkish border reports Alsouria Net. The Syrian Civil Defense on its Twitter account has discussed the evacuation to less dangerous areas of dozens of families in Khan Sheikhoun in the southern Idleb countryside, which occurred during the heavy attacks that the area has been subjected to by war planes and barrel bombs. The Civil Defense said that, Yes, it is migration, but to an unknown location, adding that nothing living remains in the city. The others parts of the de-escalation zone face the same fate, with the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights recording that 47 barrel bombs dropped on parts of Idleb, Hama and Lattakia since Wednesday-Thursday night. The Observatory said that 29 barrel bombs had fallen on various parts of Idleb, including eight barrels on Alhbeit and six on Khan Sheikhoun and its outskirts and six on Kabbaneh. Regime warplanes have carried out 21 airstrikes since that night, with six on the Kabbaneh front and four on Khan Sheikhoun and four on Alhbeit and three on Maarat Hurmah and two on Hesh and two on Jbala and its environs. According to the Observatory, Russian warplanes also carried out a number of raids on areas in the village of al-Enkawi in Sahel al-Ghab in the northwestern Hama countryside, while regime forces, with intensified artillery and rocket shelling, struck areas on the Kabbaneh front in Jabel al-Akrud and Ltamenah and Kafr Zita in the northern Hama countryside. On Wednesday, three civilians were killed and others were wounded in the latest bombardment by Assads forces in the western Aleppo countryside, hours after a massacre carried out in Jisr al-Shaghour in western Idleb that killed and wounded at least 25 people. The de-escalation zone is inhabited by about four million civilians, including hundreds of thousands of those who were displaced from their cities and towns after the regime took control of them in the Damascus, Homs and Daraa countrysides. The bombardments by the regime and its allies on the de-escalation zones has killed at least 135 civilians, and wounded more than 365 others since Apr. 25, 2019, according to the Syrian Civil Defense. It has also displaced hundreds of thousands to areas near the Turkish border. The head of the High Negotiations Committee, Nasr al-Hariri, called on the Turkish guarantor on Tuesday to increase protections for civilians and to ensure the implementation of the Idleb agreement, saying that northwestern Syria could not fall to Assads authorities by way of force. During his meeting with the Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, Hariri discussed the severe military escalation in Idleb by Assads forces and their allies. Hariri said that he discussed with the Minister, the regimes violations of the ceasefire agreement as well as the efforts being made to stop the escalation. He stressed the need for civilians to be protected during the ongoing operations and for the Idleb agreement signed last year to be implemented and for humanitarian aid to enter, according to the Syrian Coalitions media department. With regards to the Turkish position around the escalation, the committee head said that he felt there was great Turkish concern for what is happening in Idleb, and said that the regime and Russia were taking terrorism as a pretext to target civilians and destroy infrastructure, hospitals and schools. Hariri said during his meeting that the Syrian opposition was, fighting all forms of terrorism, including the terrorism of Iranian militias, and added that this, cannot undermine the Syrian people or put areas under regime authority by force and said that this violated relevant UN decisions and the Idleb agreement. 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. When 11-year-old Trinity Walker arrives for school at Quest Academy, shes like a second burst of sunshine, said Karen Scott, care coordinator for the publicly funded Longview school for students with behavioral problems or special needs. Trinity usually greets her teachers and classmates with bright smile, a hearty pat on the back or an enthusiastic bear hug. On Wednesday, she raced down the hall toward Scott. She was a purple blur before engulfing Scott in a big embrace on Purple Day, an event organized specifically in Trinitys honor. The annual celebration at Quest Academy is a reminder of what sets Trinity apart from the other students: She lacks an essential enzyme that breaks down cellular waste. She has 32 doctors, and it takes 11 prescriptions to manage her symptoms, including her glaucoma and nervous system complications, said her mother, Courtney Walker of Woodland. Trinity suffers from a rare genetic disease called mucopolysaccharidoses, or MPS. Her particular variation of MPS occurs once in every 70,000 births, according to the National Institute of Health. Without the right enzyme, Trinitys body cant break down long chains of sugars in her cells. The condition causes developmental delays, impaired motor function, hearing loss, glaucoma and arthritis, among other health complications. Most children affected by MPS do not live past their teenage years. Trinity is way more functional than her same-aged peers, Walker said. A lot of 11-year-olds (with MPS) cant stand on their own and they have feeding tubes. Trinity has neither of those, but her illness affects her intellectual development, so shes very baby-like in most of her behaviors, her mom said. Trinity attends Quest Academy because she needs more academic, physical and emotional support than most traditional school districts can provide. Its more than just needing eyes on her. Its hands on her, because she cant keep herself safe, her mother said. For example, Trinitys MPS causes her to feel pain differently, so she wouldnt know to pull her hand off a hot stovetop if she was getting burnt. Its hard on families. Ninety percent of families who have a child with MPS end up splitting, and Im no exception, Walker said. Trinitys father still plays a role in his daughters life, Walker said, and he helps at the school when Walker isnt immediately available. Some days its challenging to do all the grooming, bathing, diapering and medications as a single mother. But Walker said the way Trinitys brain and body are so different make her daughter so extremely affectionate. Not developing like a typical human means she doesnt develop the ugly side of being a human, Walker said. She doesnt know hate or fear. Shell never learn to hold grudges. Im thankful that she doesnt know shes sick. She thinks shes normal, that the kid in the mirror is the coolest. For the teachers at Quest Academy, Trinity is a ray of sunshine, said Scott, the care coordinator. Trinity has spent almost five years at Quest Academy, transferring from the Vancouver site to Longview when the new school opened on Eighth Avenue in 2016. Its so amazing to me because we didnt know Trinity very much when she started, but shes really brightened up our lives, Scott said. Trinity has endless love to give, Scott said. She makes us feel so special. The school has celebrated Purple Day, or the international awareness day for MPS, since Trinity enrolled at Quest Academy, Scott said. Purple is the color used to represent the disease. For students and staff, the day usually includes purple outfits, special snacks, and fun activities, like planting purple flowers or spraying purple silly string all over the teachers. Because her disease is progressive, she wont have a long life span, Scott said. It just helps to support her while shes here with us. And it gives her family members memories to look back on. So far, there is no cure for MPS. Trinitys mother said doctors told the family there was a treatment on the horizon when Trinity was diagnosed seven years ago, but there are still no approved treatments for Trinitys version of MPS. Theres trials all the time, but none of the research has been fruitful. Walker added that research is often slow going because MPS medicines are not a lucrative industry, due to the diseases rarity. Fundraising for MPS research is often left to parents of MPS children, Walker said. Thats why awareness events like Quest Academys Purple Day are so important, she said. Awareness is the first step in finding funding, Walker said. My hope is with these awareness days is that one day there will be (a treatment) that works. It might not save Trinitys life, but it could save another family. Love 4 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. When people think about public spending on homelessness, they often think of homeless shelters. But thats not the most costly part of King Countys response to homelessness. Its permanent supportive housing, which provides wraparound social services and often serves people with disabilities or serious mental illness. Its the most expensive way to house someone, but its also very effective, according to data from King County, yet its received less attention from donors. That could change soon: On Wednesday, three major health-care companies headquartered in Seattle announced a combined $15 million gift to nonprofit Plymouth Housing, the citys largest permanent supportive housing provider. Plymouth plans to use that gift and proceeds from other fundraising to build three complexes comprising more than 300 supportive housing units in the International District, Lower Queen Anne and on Cherry Hill. The Cherry Hill site will be the largest, with 112 studios for seniors and veterans, and will be Seattles first affordable high-rise in 50 years, according to Paul Lambros, Plymouths executive director. Lambros hopes other philanthropists will see investing in permanent supportive housing as a way to lower the regions street homelessness. People care about the issue for different reasons, Lambros said. To others, its the tents they dont want to see people sleeping outside. So help us bring them in. Swedish Health Services, Premera Blue Cross and Providence St. Joseph Health each committed $5 million, an unprecedented amount for Plymouth and an uncommon direction for donor dollars. Organizations that serve homeless families have received much larger donations, including $30 million from the late Paul Allens foundation, since Seattle and King County declared states of emergency on homelessness. Meanwhile, organizations that work with single, chronically homeless people often struggle to get such large donations. Family homelessness is a much easier draw for philanthropy than the single adult male whos 45 to 64, who has many more issues, said Iain DeJong, a homelessness expert who consults with municipalities on housing and homelessness. And theyre often put up as if theyre in competition with each other, but really theyre completely different types of interventions for completely different types of people. Premera, Swedish and Providence have a vested interest in housing chronically homeless adults. Studies show that population often uses emergency rooms. A recent study of Western Washington hospitals found that 200 homeless people spent an average of 82 days in the hospital after they no longer needed acute care, typically because of lack of housing options. We can provide housing through Plymouth (for a year) that is the cost of three days stay at Harborview, said Jeff Roe, CEO and president of Premera Blue Cross. Because supportive housing usually includes social services and medical care, housing someone for a year at a Plymouth facility costs an average of $18,000 for all services. Often, $2,000 or $3,000 of that is covered by an individuals disability check, Lambros said. Making up the rest requires money from the city, state, federal governments, and philanthropy. on homelessness in King County in 2017 was on permanent supportive housing almost $100 million and thats just for operational costs, not including the cost of construction. Permanent supportive housing has only been funded at the federal level since the 1990s, when officials realized many homeless people were stuck in shelters because of their disabilities and serious mental illness. There were an estimated 200,000 chronically homeless people in the United States then; now, there are less than 90,000, according to Nan Roman, president and CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness. But as the cost of land and construction has gone up in Seattle, permanent, supportive housing has gotten harder and harder to site. While King County has the third-highest chronically homeless population in the country, it has the eighth-highest number of units (5,767) of permanent, supportive housing, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. One of the challenges with permanent supportive housing has always been, we started with almost none, said Roman. The units Plymouth will build wont be off-limits to people with ongoing drug use issues or alcoholism, and Plymouth will operate a clean needle exchange out of at least two of the buildings. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 WASHINGTON The U.S. aviation system needs urgently to restore the worlds confidence after two crashes of Boeing 737 Max jets. Instead, the Trump administrations top aviation official, goaded by some Republican lawmakers, informed the world Wednesday that the problem isnt that Boeing put a faulty aircraft into the skies, nor that the Federal Aviation Administrations lax oversight kept it flying. The trouble, they argued, comes from lousy foreign pilots particularly the ones on Ethiopian Airlines and Indonesias Lion Air who died struggling to pull the Max jets from death plunges. Im trying to be respectful because theyre deceased, Rep. Paul Mitchell, R-Mich., said of the doomed crews. But, do we not have concerns not only with the training of pilots in other nations, but the reliability of their logs? The acting FAA administrator, Daniel Elwell, shared this skepticism and said he absolutely wants to take a hard look at the training standards globally. Rep. Garret Graves, R-La., voiced concern about the maintenance programs, the pilot experience requirements, the pilot training programs of the air carriers involved. And Rep. Sam Graves (Mo.), ranking Republican on the House transportation committee and a pilot (as he repeatedly mentioned), criticized the deceased: They never pulled the throttles back, they were simply going too fast, they followed no operating procedure that I have heard of. Elwell concurred that the problem should have been immediately recognizable to the pilots, but there was apparent lack of recognition. He blamed the Indonesians for failing to disable the system and said the Ethiopian crew didnt adhere to the emergency [advisory] we put out and never controlled their air speed. Sam Graves rejoined the denunciation. I hate to disparage another country and what their pilot training is, but that is what scares me in all of this: climbing on an aircraft or airline that is outside U.S. jurisdiction, he said. It just bothers me that we continue to tear down our system based on what has happened in another country. Yep. Nothing makes foreigners want to buy Boeing jets like a little jingoism. Pilot inexperience may well have played a role in the crashes after the infamous MCAS stabilization system malfunctioned. But that doesnt negate the fact that screwups by both Boeing and the FAA put the faulty aircraft in the air in the first place. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that senior FAA officials failed to review key safety assessments of the MCAS system and that Boeing failed to label the stall-prevention system as a critical component whose malfunction could be catastrophic. MCAS wasnt even originally mentioned in the planes manual. In addition, Boeing had disabled a safety feature designed to warn pilots about malfunctioning sensors related to the system but it allegedly didnt inform airlines. Boeing didnt inform the FAA until 13 months after it discovered it had offered the safety feature as an add-on option instead of standard. Elwell played down these factors. His reaction to the Journal report that the FAAs internal review found weak oversight: Frankly, theres nothing in that article that led me to anything Im aware of, he replied. Elwell allowed that the 13-month delay wasnt ideal but lectured the panel: Dont make something that isnt a critical safety item a critical safety item. Elwell also defended a policy that allows Boeing to handle much of its own safety regulation, and he said returning the Max to service is not contingent on completing accident investigations. Elwell was not so forgiving of foreigners. He complained that grounding the planes (the United States resisted the move) was not a collaborative process and ignored the data. He said he hopes the return of the Max will be more collaborative. I think thats important for the world to have some level of confidence in the plane, he said. Exactly. So maybe take some responsibility? At the end, the panels other witness, National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Robert Sumwalt, cautioned against the attacks on foreign pilots. Maybe there are different standards throughout the world, he said. But if an aircraft manufacturer is going to sell airplanes all across the globe, then its important that pilots who are operating those airplanes in those parts of the globe know how to operate them. Just to say that the U.S. standards are good and this might be a problem with other parts of the globe, I dont think thats part of the answer. Blaming the victim seldom is. Dana Milbank is a nationally syndicated columnist who appears three times weekly in The Washington Post. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Editors note: Todays editorials originally appeared in The Walla Walla Union-Bulletin and the Wenatchee World. Editorial content from other publications and authors is provided to give readers a sampling of regional and national opinion and does not necessarily reflect positions endorsed by the Editorial Board of The Daily News. The weather is finally starting to heat up and that means summer is coming. A decade or so ago, that brought to mind myriad fun activities such as swimming, biking, hiking and simply enjoying some sunshine. But now it also means the thick smoke of wildfires will be settling in the Walla Walla Valley. Of course, we will not be alone. The stifling smoke has engulfed the entire Pacific Northwest the past few years from wildfires in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and British Columbia. This years isnt expected to be any different or better. Washington state Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz, who was a guest on a Seattle Times podcast recently, offered what was characterized as a somewhat grim prognosis for the 2019 wildfire season. In fact, she said, the trouble has already started. She said 54 fires broke out during a single week in March. Weve never had 54 fires in the second week of March 53 of them west of the Cascades, Franz said. As of last week, Franzs agency has responded to 239 wildfires compared with 131 at this time last year. Thats very, very concerning. Franz said the forests in Washington are dry and diseased. We have in Washington state a forest-health crisis. We have in Central and Eastern Washington alone, 2.7 million acres of forests that are dying, Franz said. The state is working to increase thinning of forests, doing more controlled burns and clearing brush to reduce future fires. The Legislature approved about $50 million in new funding for wildfire response and forest-health work in the 2019-2021 budget. Thats a wise investment. To this point, the efforts at preventing forest fires have been woefully inadequate. Since 2015, according to reporting by The Seattle Times, the Legislature allocated just $18 million for the effort. The infusion of cash will allow for a serious effort to improve overall forest health in Washington state. This, over time, will reduce the spread of wildfires. Of course, wildfires do not follow state boundaries. The fires from Canada and Montana that spewed smoke that engulfed our Valley in recent years will not be specifically addressed. Still, if each state or province address forest health the way Washington state is trying to do, the situation would improve. The smoke that hovers for weeks in the Walla Walla Valley, Eastern Washington and Eastern Oregon must be reduced. State jail rates on the rise Bed-day rates in Washington state jails are on the rise. Its a trend that the Chelan County Regional Justice Center would like to follow. Bed-day rates are what county jails charge law enforcement agencies or cities per day for inmates they book into their facilities. In 2017, the average daily bed-day rate for county jails, plus two regional jail centers, was $76.73 a day, according to the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs data. In 2018 that number increased to $87.48. Some of the more noticeable increases between county jails was Adams County, which jumped from $31 in 2017 to $65 in 2018. Pacific County, which increased from $38 in 2017 to $65 in 2018. The rate average also increased because several counties reported their bed-day rates in 2018 that did not do so in 2017, according to the data. That includes King County, which has a $189 bed-day rate. Chelan Countys jail would like to increase its bed-day rate, which is currently $96 a day, Jail Director Bill Larson said. The jails budget is paid for by contracts it signs with cities and Chelan County for bed-day rates, plus a $25 processing free. Where does the money come from to fix an elevator and enhance a camera system and start making repairs to this aged facility and be able to establish a staffing model that meets our needs? Larson asked. In 2018, though, the jails budget contained a $280,000 hole. The Chelan County Commission was forced to pay for the deficit using its general fund. The jail hopes to end the need for assistance from the county, he said. It is doing its best to cut costs including $500,000 a year in overtime. The jail is looking into its day rates, though, and plans to propose an increase, Larson said. Next week he will send out letters to meet with government agencies that use the jail. By July the jail will likely have finished calculating an updated amount. Jail staff also plan to attend a conference by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs next week, he said. He would like to ask other jails what resources they rely on for revenue. We sort of have to treat this like a business, Larson said. But, oh my God, its not a business. It is a public service. But in order to operate, we have to generate some funding. Larson became the interim jail director in June, 2018. He has since done an analysis of the jail and issued a business proposal in October to the Chelan County Commission. The business proposal outlined several problems at the jail including staffing shortages, safety and health issues. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 By Azernews By Abdul Kerimkhanov The oil and gas industry of Uzbekistan has become a truly leading sector of the economy, which plays a crucial role in the socio-economic development of the country. Tatneft, a Russian oil and gas company, may adopt a project to implement plans for the oil fields development in Uzbekistan by the end of summer, Rustam Sharapov, Head of the Contract Maintenance Department at Tatneft, told reporters at the international exhibition Oil & Gas Uzbekistan - 2019. Bahodir Sidikov, Uzbekneftegaz representative, said that Tatneft has signed an agreement on the basic conditions for conducting geological exploration in Uzbekistan. Exploration will take no more than three months. The company is currently developing economic models and draft agreements for several oil fields development. Tatneft plans to improve and expand the number of fields in the Andijan region within the framework of the project. Earlier, Uzbek authorities informed that Tatneft intends to begin construction of gas stations network in Uzbekistan in spring. In late 2018, the Russian company registered its sales subsidiary Tatneft-Gas Station-Tashkent in Nurafshon city. Tatneft is one of the largest Russian oil companies today and is an internationally recognized vertically integrated holding. The industrial complex of the company includes steadily developing enterprises of crude oil and gas production, petroleum refining, petrochemicals production, the tire-manufacturing complex, network of filling stations and services. Tatneft also has a stake in the financial sector companies (banking and insurance). The accumulated financial capacity of Tatneft now allows carrying out large-scale investment projects at the expense of both internally available and borrowed funds, while maintaining a high level of financial stability and liquidity. Referencing the Transcontinental Railroad turns 150 (The Daily News, May 9): Question No. 2 is misleading as the Central Pacific started in Sacramento. Question No. 4 is in error. The Central Pacific and Union Pacific were the only railroads involved. Western Pacific didn't lay their first nail until years later in 1906, in Oakland, Calif. AT&SF arrived in California many years later at Needles, in 1883. Top that off with Promentory being misspelled Prementory. Source: "Railroads of Nevada and Eastern California, Vol. 1" by David F. Mynick, Howell-North Books, Berkeley, California. The photo credited to The Associated Press is actually from the Union Pacific Historical Collection. Bob Anderson Longview Netherlands are now the odds-on favourites for victory at Eurovision 2019 after the finalists were confirmed. Last night saw the second of this year's semi-finals, confirming the line up of contestants and songs for Saturday's grand final. Advertisements The support remains strong for the Netherlands in the 64th edition of the Eurovision song contest, with bookies BoyleSports slashing their odds again into 4/6 from 11/10 after they secured their spot in the final on Thursday night in the second semi-final. Duncan Laurence performed the song Arcade with the 25-year old hoping to land the Netherlands their first Eurovision song contest win since 1975 and bring their tally of wins to five. Australia are big movers in the market and are now 6/1 from 16/1 after they progressed from the first semi-final on Tuesday with Kate Miller-Heidkes stunning operatic rendition of Zero Gravity, a song about her experience of postnatal depression. France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom automatically qualified for the 2019 Eurovision final with the best priced of that bunch being Italy who are 18/1 with BoyleSports, after drifting from 9/1. Switzerland have shortened into 10/1 from 22/1 following their second semi-final performance. Luca Hanni impressed the public with Swedens entry of She Got Me. Norway have also received some support on Thursday night after booking themselves a spot in the final with their odds moving into 33/1 from a massive 125/1. You can see the latest Eurovision odds from BoyleSports here. Sarah Kinsella, spokesperson for BoyleSports said: The Netherlands are in a very good position now to win their fifth Eurovision with BoyleSports cutting their odds again on Thursday night into 4/6 from 11/10. "Australia are eye catching movers in the ante post book with their odds just 6/1 now from an initial 16/1 following the jaw-dropping performance from Kate Miller-Heidke. Eurovision Song Contest odds 4/6 Netherlands 6/1 Australia 8/1 Sweden 10/1 Switzerland 18/1 Russia 18/1 Italy Advertisements 18/1 Azerbaijan 20/1 Iceland 28/1 France 33/1 Norway 66/1 Malta 100/1 Spain 150/1 bar Eurovision 2019 takes place this Saturday night (May 18) at 8PM on BBC One. Researchers at Symantec have been tracking an espionage group known as Elfin (aka APT 33) that has targeted dozens of organizations over the past three years, primarily focusing on Saudi Arabia and the United States. Alan Neville is a principal threat intelligence analyst at Symantec, and he joins us to share their findings. The research can be found here: The Undead Archives I have finally salvaged my pre-Blogger TDR archives and added them into Blogger. They are almost totally in the form of one giant post for each month. And the formatting strayed from the originals. Sorry. But historians everywhere can rejoice that this treasure trove of my thoughts is restored to the world. Amanat Holdings, a top healthcare and education investment company, realized a net profit of Dh20.7 million ($5.6 million) during the first three months (Q1), a 43 per cent increase compared with the same period in 2018. Amanat total income increased to Dh35.4 million, up 30 per cent compared with the same period in 2018, with Dh30.2 million recorded from investments in associates and subsidiaries. Excluding the Royal Hospital for Women & Children, which was recently opened and expected to record pre-operating losses during its ramp up phase, Amanat would have recorded a 37 per cent growth in its total income in Q1 2019 compared to Q1 2018. Q1 2019 highlights include the opening of the Royal Hospital for Women & Children in Bahrain on 21st March 2019. The hospital, in which Amanat acquired a majority stake in August 2018, is designed to deliver industry-leading medical services centered around women and children, and its opening is testament to Amanats collaborative approach to its investments, leveraging its expertise and scale to create significant and sustainable value. Amanat deployed Dh1.2 billion in 2018 to reach Dh2 billion of deployment since inception, marking 79 per cent of the Dh2.5 billion paid up capital. Cash balance at end Q1 2019 stood at Dh569.4 million and efficient management of cash balances saw excess cash as of 31st March 2019 yielding 3.70 per cent compared to 3.39 per cent in Q1 2018. Additionally, with most of its revenues following DFM recognized set of rules and requirements guided by the shariaa principles, Amanat is considered a shariaa compliant entity. Hamad Abdulla Al Shamsi, chairman of Amanat, said: I am delighted that 2019 is off to such a promising start with significant growth in our financial performance in the first quarter, and the completion of our strategic move into being a shariaa compliant company. Following our achievements in 2018, we are moving forward in 2019 with our focused strategy which reflects our commitment to supporting the healthcare and education sectors in the GCC and beyond. Our stated aim is to grow the size of our portfolio of investments and expand our geographic footprint, working closely with our partners to support the growth and profitability of the leading platforms we have established in healthcare and education sectors. We are confident that we are on the right path to achieve our ambition to be the investment partner of choice in healthcare and education, and to contribute to the development of those key sectors in our countries of focus, he added. Tristan de Boysson, chief executive officer of Amanat, said: The first quarter of the year 2019 witnessed pleasing progress in our investments, most notably the official opening of the Royal Hospital for Women & Children (RHWC), our first investment in the kingdom of Bahrain. The strong results and healthy growth achieved in Q1 2019 reflect the benefits of our active investing strategy and the collaborative approach we implement to create value in each of our leading assets. We are keen to continue enhancing the performance of our specialized leading platforms in healthcare and education, as we aim to build on them to generate additional income and keep on creating long term value and sustainable returns for our shareholders. With more opportunities ahead, we are well positioned to capitalize on the opportunities available as a scale player in each of our chosen markets. Amanat continues to distribute dividends to its shareholders, strongly reflecting its commitment to delivering shareholder returns since inception. At the Company AGM held on March 24 2019, shareholders approved a cash dividend distribution for 2018 of 1.50 per cent of the nominal value for each share (1.5 fils per one share), with a total payout of Dh37.5 million for the year.-TradeArabia News Service The introduction of Mama Pangs in the citys landmark dive bar, PKs, has shown the signs of a new undercurrent of flavor-focused, thoughtful food in the capital of Southern Illinois. Lisa Pangburn-Fenton has been a regular at PKs for the last 20 years, but it took her being laid off as first cook at SIU Carbondale to push her into a an unheard-of situation for a cook a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. gig. When the bars matriarch, Gwen Hunt, died last year, an opportunity opened for Pangburn-Fenton that she couldnt pass up to take over the kitchen at her home away from home. With kitchen partner James Hinkle, the two started pushing out slow food that the two hoped would be a comfort to their patrons. That became Mama Pang's. I want to feed people food they would have at home, Pangburn-Fenton said. This was important for a lot of reasons but at the core was her desire to keep the spirit of Hunt alive. The most obvious homage to Hunt is Gwensdays, where Pangburn-Fenton and Hinkle keep the tradition of Wednesday chili mac intact, as well as red beans and rice on Mondays. She [Gwyn] believed you had beans on Mondays for a prosperous week, she recalled. Pangburn-Fenton said the day shift has at least doubled its business since they started having consistent food offerings late last summer, and she has had one thing she wants her customers to come away with, other than a smile. Dive bars can make damn good food, she said. The tie that binds up and coming Carbondale restaurants like Mama Pangs together is a disregard for doing things the easy way. Nothing comes out of a cube or a box, Hinkle said of Mama Pangs process. Wednesdays French onion soup took more than five hours to make, he said. They believe that the more quality food in Carbondale, the more people will visit. Hinkle said if someone comes to town they dont just eat at one restaurant. Not all the restaurants in town are thrilled about more competition, but the newcomers on the Strip see no problem with it. -- reprinted from Oct. 2018, Isaac Smith, The Southern Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Writer Simon Van Booy once said, Coincidences mean you are on the right path. For Dr. Jason Liang and Dr. Kati Rush, physicians at SIH Podiatry at Medical Arts in Murphysboro, the path to podiatry, to Southern Illinois and to each other is one loaded with coincidences. The couple, who have been practicing with SIH for two years and have been married to one another for almost five, has learned to trust in the happenstances of life. Both of their pathways began with an early interest in medicine. Liangs stemming from his uncle an Oklahoma internal medicine physician who came to the United States from Taiwan and Rush, a Valparaiso, Indiana native who discovered at an early age an interest in podiatry. I knew from a young age that I wanted to do medicine, she recalls. I even shadowed some doctors in high school. My dad actually had foot trouble and the podiatrist who was treating him invited me to shadow him, too. I found I liked it. Liang didnt discover his call to podiatry until he was a pre-med student at Baylor University. Again, it was his uncle providing direction. He told me to look into podiatry. He said, I think it would be a good fit for you. I did an internship with one of the doctors in town and I found it was different. It wasnt what I was expecting, but I realized that I could do it. Liang finished his undergraduate degree about the same time that Rush, a month his elder, completed hers at Butler University in Indianapolis. Both began seeking out medical schools. I actually met Kati interviewing at Kent State for medical school, Liang says. Neither one of us went there, but when we each started at Rosalind Franklin Medical School in North Chicago, we realized that we knew each other. As medical students are akin to do, the pair spent lots of time together with each other and with their peers in classes, labs and as he puts it, hanging out. We were just friends in class cordial friends, he remembers. It wasnt until the summer after our second year in Chicago that we hung out. I remember I asked her if she wanted to go to an Irish Festival. I told him no, Rush interjects. So after the festival, Liang continues. I called her and said we were on the way back and asked what she thought about me grabbing an apple pie and a movie. This time, she said yes. Little did I know, she doesnt watch movies. And I dont really like pie, she adds. Despite being 0-for-2 with the movie and pie, circumstances took over again. The pair ended up in the same small group intensive practicum classes. The continued to hang out (his words) together without pie and movies and soon began dating. They were married in 2014. After medical school, Rush began residency in Evansville, Indiana right away, Liang earned a masters degree in healthcare administration before joining her in residency there. She joined an orthopedic group in Evansville as he finished residency. Then the time came to find a permanent home. Again, circumstances came into play. As we were looking, someone asked us if we remembered Dr. Amanda Brazis (an SIH podiatrist who also attended Rosalind Franklin). We said we did, and then this person told us that they were hiring where she was in Southern Illinois, Liang explains. By coincidence, they had two openings and clearly, we are a package deal. Rush explains that SIH and Southern Illinois is a great fit for them. We are Midwest people, so we wanted to stay in the Midwest, she says. The couple has taken to the region and immediately felt at home. We had been here just a couple of months when we wondered why there were chairs chained up along the side of the road in Murphysboro, he remembers, adding that now they just have to go to the annual Apple Festival. We fell in love with that and with other events, Rush says. Liang is a self-proclaimed foodie and says they have enjoyed all of the locally-owned restaurants throughout the region. Its been kind of a coincidence, but we go places and run into other doctors and more great people, Rush says. It is these same people that the couple sees in their practices. They share an office at SIH Podiatry at Medical Arts in Murphysboro, but the pair is rarely there at the same time. Liang is in surgery on Mondays, sees patients in Herrin on Tuesdays, West Frankfort two days a week and Murphysboro on Thursdays. Rush is in the Murphysboro location on the first three days of the week, in Anna on Thursdays and in the operating room on Fridays. They say that they enjoy working together together. Its not always going to be perfect synergy, but the goal is to make sure patients are cared for and happy, Liang adds. I guess that applies to marriage, too. And that is no coincidence. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 SPRINGFIELD An administrative law judge on Thursday recommended dismissing a July 2017 unfair labor practice charge against the Alexander County Housing Authority filed on behalf of local housing authority workers in Cairo. The Laborers International Union of North America, Local 773, filed the complaint a month after HUD Secretary Ben Carson personally signed paperwork abruptly ending a collective bargaining agreement between the union and financially troubled local housing authority. In doing so, Carson cited the federal agencys rarely used or tested authority to abrogate any contracts that impede recovery of local housing authorities that have defaulted on their contractual agreements with HUD. Those annual contribution contracts dictate housing authorities obligations to maintain decent, safe housing in accordance with the law in exchange for federal funds intended to reduce the rent burden for qualified low-income families. HUD declared the Alexander County Housing Authority in substantial default in February 2016 and took over its operations. The administrative law judges recommendation is advisory in nature. The matter now moves to the Illinois Labor Relations Board, whose members have the authority to accept, reject or modify it. Under terms of the Illinois Labor Relations Act, the state panel is charged with adjudicating labor disputes between state and local governmental entities and employee unions when they arise. A representative of the Marion-based Local 773 did not return a phone call seeking comment. HUD spokesman Jereon Brown said the agency, as a policy, does not comment on pending litigation. Prior to the board taking up the charge, both parties have the ability to file additional arguments for the board to consider in making a final decision. And following the boards decision, either party can file an appeal to the Illinois Appellate Court for administrative review. Carsons order canceling the Local 773s labor agreement with the Alexander County Housing Authority, under HUDs control in receivership, came two months after HUD officials announced plans to tear down two 1940s-era housing complexes in Cairo that were home to hundreds of children and their families. HUD said the housing authority was bankrupt, and that neither repairing nor rebuilding was an option because of that. HUD had also previously cited the ACHA for conflicts of interest between managers and union officials. John Price, a Local 773 union negotiator for ACHA employees, also was a member of the ACHA board; he voted on contracts as a board member that he negotiated as a union representative on behalf of ACHA employees, records show. HUD has barred Price from participating in federal programs for three years. Separately, The Southern Illinoisan previously reported that Wilsons campaign for mayor in 2003 was almost entirely funded by political action committees affiliated with the Local 773 to the tune of about $50,000, which is a substantial sum for a small-town mayoral race. State election records show that Wilsons primary campaign expenditures were for organizing workers and get-out-the-vote initiatives; checks from his campaign account were written directly to Wilson. He lost that race. Prior to Carsons abrogation action, union representatives and HUD officials overseeing the ACHA agreed to mediation in an effort to work out a new labor agreement. They met for a mediation session on June 27, but did not come to an agreement. The next day, Carson directed the ACHA to immediately end the collective bargaining agreement, saying in a memo that it contained extremely favorable terms for the employees and no protection or flexibility for the ACHA. A union representative told The Southern at the time that the contract was sloppy, and that employees were willing to reduce their benefits. But he also said the union thought it was making progress negotiating new terms, and negotiators were taken by surprise by HUDs move. It its unfair labor practice charge, the Local 773 alleged that the Alexander County Housing Authority, an entity of local government in Illinois, did not negotiate in good faith, and failed to give proper notice to employees, the union and the Illinois Labor Relations Board that it intended to terminate a collective bargaining agreement, as required by the states labor laws. But HUD argued that these decisions were directed by senior federal officials with HUD, and not the ACHA. Matthew Nagy, the administrative law judge, agreed with HUD. Federal law plainly states that HUD has the authority to abrogate any contracts if HUDs secretary determines certain conditions have been met, he wrote. Further, he wrote that these decisions are not subject to any judicial review in federal or state court, and that nothing suggests that HUD needs to first secure the acquiescence of a housing authority before doing so. The five-member Illinois Labor Relations Board typically meets the second Tuesday of every month. The board is expected to consider the judges recommended order and any exceptions to it filed by the parties within the next few months. Currently, the board only has four members; one slot is vacant. All four sitting members are newly appointed by Gov. J.B. Prtizker. Board members terms typically stagger to where its atypical that a newly seated governor would have the power to immediately appoint an entirely new panel. But the Democratic governor was able to name a new slate in this case because of a retirement, vacancy, and expired term accounting for three open seats, and by pulling the nominations of two members appointed by the previous governor that had yet to earn Senate confirmation. On March 25, Pritzker named to the board Cook County residents Kendra Cunningham, Jose Gudino and William Lowry Jr., and Will County resident John Cronin. Before accepting the position, Cunningham had most recently served as the staff attorney and business manager for the Illinois State Employees Association Local 2002, which mostly represents mid-level Department of Corrections supervisors. The Local 2002 is an affiliated local union of the Laborers International Union of North America; Cunningham has previously worked for the Laborers Internationals Midwest regional office, and for the Laborers Local 773. Its unclear if she will participate in board deliberations in the case. The boards executive director declined comment. Brown, the HUD spokesman, did not respond to a question about whether HUD had previously moved to abrogate collective bargaining agreements with local housing authorities in receivership prior to doing so in Cairo. HUD has only taken over about 20 housing authorities since 1985, when it first placed the East St. Louis Housing Authority into administrative receivership. Most recently, HUD declared the New York City Housing Authority in substantial default of its contractual obligations to provide decent, safe housing, but stopped short of a full takeover. The agreement in New York allows HUD, if certain conditions are met, to temporarily take over the nations largest housing authority to allow the secretary to abrogate union contracts. Lynne Patton, HUDs New York/New Jersey administrator, has aggressively criticized costly union agreements for contributing to squalor living conditions in her home state, and hinted at the possibility that the secretary may flex his authority on a much larger scale. Thousands of union workers are covered by collective bargaining agreements with New York Citys housing authority. The ACHA collective bargaining agreement covered only seven workers. Citing a story about hourly rates and overtime pay for plumbers, Patton wrote on Twitter, My (F------) head is about to explode Over my dead body will this continue with ZERO RESULTS. In February, Patton tagged New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, who announced Thursday that he's running for president, in a post and said that she hears unions make great donations. Well, I aint running for anything, so I dont give a F, she continued in another tweet. And HUD is going to abbrogate any union contracts that directly interfere with the monitors ability to ensure decent, safe & sanitary housing for long-suffering NYCHA residents. Last year, The Southern Illinoisan and ProPublica found that about one in eight public housing properties nationally had failed their most recent federal inspection. Congress has slashed funding for housing authorities almost every year for two decades. Donald Trumps administration has proposed zeroing out capital funding for major repairs to housing authority properties, though Congress has thus far rejected those budget proposals. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. CARBONDALE A ribbon cutting this month has opened the way for nearly 400 new jobs to come to Carbondale. Announced last year, the Centene and IlliniCare Health call center has completed work on its 80,000-square-foot facility in the old Ks Merchandise stall at the University Mall. The announcement last year had city officials excited. Its huge, Steve Mitchell, Carbondales economic director, said last year. He said based on the citys research, the company is said to treat employees very well. It is our understanding that the company has an excellent reputation of treating its employees very well, he said, adding that national averages for hourly pay was between $12 and $14. A media representative from Centene wasnt able to provide specifics about the pay scale and benefit offerings for the new jobs. IlliniCare Health offers a generous compensation package that is comparable to similar industry jobs in the region, a company spokesman wrote in an email Friday. We know we must attract and retain the highest-quality talent in the healthcare industry to best serve our members, and our employment benefits reflect that. The representative also said that about 80 percent of the 350 jobs created by the call center will be full-time, with the opportunity for the rest to be flexible part-time jobs. The representative also said Centene is working with Southern Illinois University and other local colleges to establish summer internship opportunities for 2019. When asked how many of the new positions will be going to people already employed by Centene, who would relocate to Carbondale, the representative said Centene and IlliniCare Health believe in hiring local employees to work in the call center and the service center to best serve local residents of southern Illinois. 350 is a lot of new hires to fill. The Centene representative said the process began last fall. He said they currently have 50 positions filled. We currently have 50 full-time employees on board, with the goal to bring on up to 50 new staff members each month until we are fully staffed, he wrote. The Centene center is the second such call center to come in recent months to Southern Illinois. In a similar effort to fill space in its mall, the City of West Frankfort brought in a health care call center to its city-owned mall. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 SPRINGFIELD A Democratic state lawmaker called Senate President John Cullertons proposal to raise Illinois usage tax on tobacco products too unreasonable at a time when the General Assembly is considering a slew of other tax hikes. Cullerton announced last week he wants to increase the states tax on a pack of cigarettes by $1, to $2.98. That is about triple the 32 cents Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker introduced in his budget proposal. The Senate presidents initiative would also include a 64 percent bump on the wholesale price of other tobacco products, including cigars, chewing tobacco and snuff. But Rep. Thaddeus Jones, from Calumet City, said that plan would turn Illinois into a job creator for surrounding states. I appreciate President Cullerton for his advocacy, but this is the wrong way to go. Weve gone through several phases of taxing cigarettes that now is driving businesses and driving people away from Illinois and driving them to border states, and weve got to stop it, Jones said. Its not having the effect that the president wants. Its not stopping people from smoking. What its doing is making people in my community who can least afford it, who are on a fixed income, choose to go to Indiana to make sure they get cigarettes. His constituents are already travelling to Indiana to get gas and groceries, he said. Some purchase tobacco products there as well. That is an argument Cullerton addressed at a news event last week. But what we also know is that other states then see what we do and then they can go and change their own rate, their own laws, he said at the time. And so, it has somewhat of an effect, but its not enough of a reason to not do a statewide change in my opinion. Cullerton is a longtime champion of measures including Smoke Free Illinois and Tobacco 21. According to the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, the usage tax on cigarettes in Indiana is 99.5 cents, in Kentucky it is $1.10, in Missouri its 17 cents, and its $1.36 in Iowa. Wisconsins tax, at $2.52, is the only one higher than Illinois. But according to data from the American Cancer Societys Cancer Action Network, most cigarette consumers will resume purchasing their product of choice from a local retailer after experimenting with options to avoid paying higher prices. The Network supports the $1 increase, as opposed to the governors 32-cent proposal, because of studies that show a larger tax jump will ensure a public health impact of reducing tobacco use is achieved, despite industry attempts to offset the price increases and keep prices low, according to a fact sheet. Jones said he wants the Legislature to do whats practical, and that Cullerton needs to hit the pause button on this proposal. He said the 32-cent increase initially introduced by Pritzker also is too high, but is a better starting point than $1. He would prefer any usage tax increase to be staged at a five- or 10-year period so businesses have the opportunity to adapt. That is a plan Bill Fleischli, executive vice president of Illinois Petroleum Marketers Association and the states Association of Convenience Stores, said would be better than an immediate jump. Certainly we dont like any increase, but a gradual increase would give other states the time to think about keeping up with us, he said. The association, he added, opposes a cigarette tax hike. John Patterson, a spokesman for the Senate president, said polling shows Illinoisans support Cullertons proposal. They support it because research shows it encourages people to quit smoking or, even better, never start, which would save taxpayers millions of dollars in reduced health care costs, he said in an emailed statement. That has always been the Senate presidents motivation, and it appears thats why the public supports it, too. But Jones said he does not believe the House could successfully pass the usage tax bump, even if the Senate votes yes. Thats not what the governor introduced, so I dont think theres support to increase it to $1, he said. I think theres support to look at a sensible way to do it maybe 32 cents, like what the governor was proposing. A spokeswoman from Pritzkers office said the governor supports President Cullertons proposal and looks forward to ongoing negotiations with lawmakers in the Senate and House. Cullerton has not officially filed legislation to raise the tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products, but is expected to do so next week. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 SPRINGFIELD DeKalb County resident Tony Stahl said he waited five years for the state to put his disabled daughter, Allison, in the selection process that would allow her to live in her own home in a community. It took an extra three years before that home was found, he said. After that eight-year wait, Allison is living and paying rent with two roommates in Sycamore, where she also works at Walmart, ushers at a church, and dances at a studio. Only the community home, rather than a state institution, could fully address her personal care, medical, and community living needs, her father said. Nearly 300 other advocates and people with disabilities came to the Capitol on Thursday to say something similar. By segregating people, by limiting access to services and supports necessary for participation, Illinois communities are missing out on the benefits and contributions of people with disabilities, said Meg Cooch, executive director of The Arc of Illinois, a Chicago-based advocacy group. Cooch said Illinois is second only to Texas in the number of disabled persons it puts into institutions, and that the average annual cost to house someone there $280,000 does not compare to the $34,000 average yearly cost to help them live in communities instead. Cooch and representatives from the Going Home Coalition held a news conference to urge lawmakers to provide more funding for community-based living for people with disabilities. Among other things, they argued that the $107 million that Gov. J.B. Pritzker proposed to give to the Department of Human Services to help the agency comply with the new minimum wage law is not enough. Cooch said the average caregiver for people with disabilities is paid between $10 and $11 per hour by the state. While the caregiving role is not a minimum wage job in the first place, she said the additional money proposed is still insufficient. This is a job that means the difference between independence and non-independence for people with disabilities, Cooch said. That money is not enough. We need more from legislators. Bob Peterson, a disabled self-advocate from Naperville, said the shortage of caregivers caused by the low wages does not help either, but that without them, it is more difficult to get people into communities where they can be active and engaged. Allison and everyone upstairs, Peterson said during the news conference in the Capitol basement, we wouldnt be here if we lived in an institution. The state operates seven institutions for people with disabilities. In recent years, The Arc of Illinois has called for the closing of six of those facilities in order to move their occupants into community settings, which advocates say allow people to live safer and healthier lives. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 UAE-based Select Group, a leading real estate developer in the region, has announced the topping out of Jumeirah Living Marina Gate, the third and final tower within its Marina Gate development in Dubai. The new development combines Jumeirah Groups luxury hospitality experience with Select Groups commitment to creating an exceptional standard of living. It is groups first venture in Dubai Marina. Award-winning builder Alec started work on the third tower as the main contractor in July 2017. Announcing this at a key ceremony, Select group said a significant milestone for the project, the day was marked with the placement of the final concrete to the upper roof slab in the presence of representatives from Jumeirah Group and Alec. The development is scheduled for completion in Q2, 2020. The Residences at Marina Gate - the first two towers of which are completely sold out - is a premium, waterfront development located in Dubai Marina with a gross development value of over $1 billion, said the statement from the developer. Hugely popular with the residents of Dubai Marina due to its exceptional fitness amenities, extensive retail offerings and direct access to Marina Walk, the first tower in the development was handed over in 2018. With over 90 per cent units occupied, Select is working towards handing over Marina Gate II during the quarter. Sales for the third tower are now ongoing and an elegantly appointment show apartment is open for viewings, it added.-TradeArabia News Service CARBONDALE Grace C. Loyd, 93, passed away Tuesday, May 14, 2019, in Manor Court of Carbondale. Grace was born March 10, 1926, in Homestead, Florida, to Frances and Robert Cameron. Her father passed away in 1935. She graduated from Sarasota High, Florida, at the age of 15. Upon graduation, her mother went into the army and she went to New York City to study drafting. After World War II, she attended Southern Methodist University in Dallas. In 1947, she married Welfred J. Loyd, a World War II pilot. She was a stay at home mother raising three children, Robert, Elizabeth and Frances. She and Welfred were active in scouting. Upon Welfred's sudden illness, she began working and learned to drive. She was a strong and independent woman that loved to read. Later in life, she lived in Jackson County Nursing Home and Manor Court, where she loved the staff, residents and her bears. Grace is survived by her son, Robert (Yetta); daughters, Elizabeth (Billy) Harris, and Frances (Charles) Swedlund; grandchildren, Brian and Sarah; three great-grandchildren; an aunt; and nieces. Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday, May 17, in Rendleman and Hileman Funeral Home in Cobden. A luncheon will follow at the First Presbyterian Church, Cobden. All are welcome to attend the service and luncheon. Governments collect tax dollars to pay for vital public services. At the local level that means paying for services that ensure communities are safe by providing police and fire protection. It means keeping roadways maintained so residents can travel safely to and from jobs, contribute to the local economy, and otherwise participate in the community. Local tax dollars are needed to pay for schools to educate our younger citizens. And they pay for public servants to maintain parks, waterways and recreational areas. Unfortunately, there are far too many things taxpayer dollars are spent on that they shouldn't be. And that's one of the reasons Illinoisans pay among the highest taxes in the U.S. The Center Square this week highlighted some of that misspending in its investigation into the use of tax dollars on an annual conference for park district staff and board members. Our reporters filed Freedom of Information Act requests with 43 park districts and municipalities throughout the state to analyze how much they spent and on what. Some highlights: The Chicago Park District spent $42,540 to send 85 people to the conference put on by the Illinois Park and Recreation Association and the Illinois Association of Park Districts. Plainfield Park District officials spent $17,113.12 for 20 people to attend the conference. Attendees initially charged a $3,200 dinner bill from Morton's Steakhouse on a district credit card, but they later reimbursed the district for all but $400. Taxpayers in Champaign Park District paid for a $772.45 dinner. Mokena Community Park District officials spent $751.22 in taxpayer money at Maggino's Little Italy one night and $298.09 at the Green Door Tavern on another. Huntley Park District charged taxpayers $514.54 for dinner at McCormick & Schmick's Seafood & Steaks one night, which included $126 for three orders of lobster thermidor at $42 each. In total, $270,000 in taxpayer money was spent by the 43 government bodies on the junket held from Jan. 23-25 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago. Not all park districts overindulged. The Kankakee Valley Park District spent about $1,000 to send 8 people to the conference. Many park districts didn't send anyone. While using tax dollars to pay for $751.22 restaurant tab might not seem like a huge deal, this kind of outrageous spending adds up. The Center Square previously investigated Illinois municipalities and school districts and found similar abuse of taxpayer dollars. Sadly, some public officials think they can use tax money as their own private slush funds. Despite what your local park district director might tell you, dining on lobster thermidor is not a vital public service. Taxpayers need to hold them accountable. Dan McCaleb is news director of The Center Square, a project of the Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity, a non-profit media company dedicated to the principles of transparency, accountability and fiscal responsibility. His columns include his own opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinion or editorial position of The Southern. Contact Dan at dmccaleb@thecentersquare.com. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 To the Editor: As longtime residents of Edwardsville, we worry for the future of our community. Our schools are underfunded, our roads and bridges are in disrepair, and critical services we all rely on are at risk of another round of devastating cuts. Illinois needs to act fast to get back on the right track. Thats why we need a fair tax, and why we urge our representative, Katie Stuart, to support Gov. Pritzkers fair tax plan. Its whats right for the citizens of Illinois. The fair tax is the best option Illinois has to put the years of fiscal irresponsibility and budget woes behind us and move forward. It will bring much-needed revenue into our state, all while ensuring 97 percent of Illinoisans see no increase in their income taxes. By making the wealthy finally pay their fair share, Illinois will be able to invest further in our schools, help put state pensions back on track, and prevent the increase in property tax and other taxes if this fails. I hope we can count on Katie Stuart to support a fair tax in Springfield in the coming weeks. The well-being of working and middle-class Illinoisans is on the line. Ron and Cynthia Overby Edwardsville Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Members of the Orangeburg Area Chapter of the Ministers Wives and Ministers Widows Alliance gathered for their annual benefit banquet at Edisto Fork United Methodist Church on Friday, April 26. The alliance consists of a group of God-fearing women who share the commonality of being the spouse of a man of God. The alliance offers support for one another, fellowship, and foremost, a friendship. The Orangeburg alliance is one sector of the conglomerate in which their organization streams from the local, state, regional, and international level and encompasses women from all over who share the same bond. The semi-formal, annual benefit gives the wives of the alliance the opportunity to share fellowship with their community, including family and friends.. The Orangeburg chapters president Lady Evelyn Millhouse Singleton said the event is something that started over seven years ago after the Orangeburg chapter hosted the state level of Ministers Wives here in Orangeburg at the Family Life Center. It was such a success and great turnout that they decided to continue the fellowship on, and the Orangeburg chapter adopted it as annual event. It gives the ladies an opportunity to fellowship with their friends, co-workers, and family to let them see their service in action. Each member of the alliance is asked to sell tickets for the event. The cost is $25 per person. Over the past 7 years, the turnout has been spectacular and superseded the expectation from the years prior. The members of the alliance take pride in choosing one organization, business or group to which to donate funds raised This year the alliance donated to Family Solutions of the Low Country, and the agencys director, Minister Virginia Berry White, was there to accept the funds. In previous years, many other prominent local agencies were recipients of the donations from the alliance. Singleton said that the alliance believes in giving back to the community. The event was organized by chair Lady Ronda Risher Simmons, who was also the mistress of ceremony. While sitting with Lady Simmons and Lady Singleton, I could tell that they enjoyed being part of an organization uniquely created for such an intimate bond and relationship that cannot be shared with everyone, so I asked Why be a member of the Ministers Wives/Ministers Widows Alliance? Singleton said. I enjoy being in this organization becomes it allows me to be with other women in the same position as me. It is a unique friendship, we have an understanding ... we get to share things with each other that we cannot share with the parishioners. Plus, its a sisterhood of like-minded women. There are even some ministers widows who enjoy the fellowship since their spouses are no longer here with us, she said. Singleton said that the Orangeburg chapter is interested have expanding and welcoming new members. Members dont have to live in Orangeburg County. They can live in any surrounding area. We have members from all over, including Beech Island, Norway, Greenville and other areas, she said. Interested women can contact Singleton at 803-707-3090. Contact the writer: tarat.greene@gmail.com. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church in Orangeburg has for the past five years celebrated May as Older Americans Month by providing seniors with a wealth of information and activities that support their well-being and honor them as trailblazers. The church at 310 Green St. held its annual Older American Community Forum under the theme "Connect, Create, Contribute" on Tuesday. The forum is sponsored by the church's senior adult ministry. "It's just a pleasure to do this in the community and see all the community come together. We have people who are here from Summerville, Norway, North, Columbia. They come from all around, and some of them having been coming every single year," said Brenda Jamerson, forum coordinator. Seniors began their day with a continental breakfast, followed by workshops that included presentations from Orangeburg County Probate Judge Pandora Jones-Glover and representatives from the Center for Heirs Property Preservation and Collaborative Tax Services. Orangeburg Mayor Michael Butler was also on hand to read a proclamation designating May as Older Americans Month in the city of Orangeburg. In reading from the proclamation, Butler said, "Orangeburg, South Carolina is committed to the strengthening of our community by connecting and supporting older adults and their families and caregivers, acknowledging their valuable contributions to society." Butler said the provision of opportunities for seniors to work, volunteer, learn and mentor was important and lauded the church for sponsoring the annual community forum. The church wraps up its activities during Older Adult Recognition Sunday which will be held on Sunday, May 19. Seniors age 70 and older will be honored as trailblazers at the church. "We honor them for blazing the trail and paving the way for future generations. We pay tribute, recognize and celebrate the gifts, talents and contributions they have made and continue to make," Barbara Gadsden said. Ann Bonnette, who presided over Tuesday's forum, said, "We're not getting older, we're getting more awesome." This year's Older Americans Month theme encourages older adults and their communities to connect with friends, family and local services and resources; create through activities that promote learning, health and personal enrichment; and contribute time, talent and life experience to benefit others. For more information on Older Americans Month visit https://acl.gov/oam/2019/older-americans-month-2019. Contact the writer: dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5534. Follow "Good News with Gleaton" on Twitter at @DionneTandD Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. At his contentious hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Attorney General William Barr dropped a big hint about his investigation into the conduct of the Trump-Russia investigation. "Many people seem to assume that the only intelligence collection that occurred was a single confidential informant and a FISA warrant," Barr said. "I would like to find out whether that is, in fact, true. It strikes me as a fairly anemic effort if that was the counterintelligence effort designed to stop the threat as it is being represented." Here is what he meant: There has been a lot of discussion on the right about the FBI's use of a confidential informant, an England-based college professor named Stefan Halper, to spy on some Trump campaign figures, including the sometime foreign policy volunteer advisers George Papadopoulos and Carter Page. There has also been talk about the FBI's use of a so-called FISA warrant -- a court-approved permission to wiretap -- against Page. There was also speculation about other possible FBI surveillance, but the Halper operation and Page FISA case were the only ones definitely known. So Barr was saying that if the FBI really took the Trump-Russia matter seriously, if they thought it was a threat to the republic, would that be all they would do? No other wiretaps or other surveillance? No other confidential informants? Nothing? Given that Barr was already looking into the question, his phrasing suggested he suspected there was more. Sure enough, just days later, The New York Times reported that in the summer of 2016 the FBI sent an undercover agent, a woman who went by the alias Azra Turk, to London to pose as Halper's research assistant and tease information out of Papadopoulos. (The Times was so reluctant to call Turk a spy that it referred to her, in a headline, as a "cloaked investigator.") So now there are Halper, Turk and the Page FISA warrant. If they represent the totality of the FBI's surveillance, that would still be a pretty anemic response to what some in the bureau viewed as a full-scale Russian attack on American democracy. So the key question of the Barr investigation will be: Is there more? The answer is not publicly known. But consider this: The Mueller report noted that on Aug. 2, 2017, the Justice Department authorized the special counsel to investigate specific allegations against four Trump campaign officials: Page and Papadopoulos, plus former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former security adviser Michael Flynn. Is it reasonable to believe that the FBI pulled out the big investigative guns, the spies and the wiretap warrant, against the two smaller figures -- Page and Papadopoulos -- and not against the far more important figures of Manafort and Flynn? Or if not against them, perhaps against others? It wasn't that long ago, on April 10, when, during another Hill appearance, Barr set off a firestorm by declaring that "spying did occur" on the Trump campaign. Democrats pounced; how dare Barr call the FBI's investigation "spying"? "Perpetuating conspiracy theories is beneath the office of attorney general," tweeted Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer. It is abundantly clear that Barr was correct. He was careful to add that the unknown factor about the spying was "whether it was adequately predicated" -- that is, whether the FBI had a legitimate reason to do it. But there was no doubt that spying happened. Now, the question is whether there was more than is now publicly known. Congressional investigators are anxiously awaiting the results of an investigation into at least some of the surveillance by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz. That report is thought to be coming in the next couple of months. They are also watching to see what Barr will investigate on his own. The efforts are deeply important. Just as the public needed to know what is in the Mueller report, it needs to know about the FBI's secret political operations in the 2016 campaign. Byron York is chief political correspondent for The Washington Examiner. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Issues of concern to people who live in the west: property rights, water rights, endangered species, livestock grazing, energy production, wilderness and western agriculture. Plus a few items on western history, western literature and the sport of rodeo... Frank DuBois served as the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. DuBois is a former legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior, and is the founder of the DuBois Rodeo Scholarship. The average annual house price in Dubai decreased by 13.2 per cent in April, with some communities registering even higher price declines, according to Property Monitor, a UAE-based real estate intelligence platform from leading property consultants Cavendish Maxwell. Emirates Living, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Jumeirah Lake Towers and IMPZ were some of the communities that registered price declines of more than 14 per cent on average, stated the company in its Dubai House Price Index for April. The index has been tracking the prices of a selection of apartments and villas/townhouses since September 2015. Month-on-month, the price decline for April was 1.5 per cent compared to 1.7 per cent in March. House prices in the three months up to March were 4.9 per cent lower than in the previous quarter, it said. Overall, the average house price in Dubai decreased to Dh2.5 million, the report added. Property Monitor said the rate of off-plan apartment transfers remained high in April, as had been the case over the past 12 months. However, the total volume of residential transactions over Q1 2019 was one per cent lower than the same period in 2018. Meanwhile, the volume of apartment transfers over Q1 2019 decreased by nearly 15 per cent compared to the same period in the past year, it stated. According to the House Price Index for April, the average apartment price declined to Dh1.7 million, marginally below the Dh1.8 million figures from the previous two months. Meanwhile, the average villa/townhouse price remained relatively stable at Dh4.5 million. In September 2015, the prices for apartments and villas/townhouses were Dh2.1 million and Dh5.6 million respectively, indicating a decline of 19 and 20 per cent, it added.-TradeArabia News Service This site focuses on Republican politicians and conservatives that rip off their constituency. We have the Tea Party, fundamentalist churches, the corruption of ALEC and other special interests groups. But the site also supports progressive Democrats and the local Democratic Socialist of America. We must have ideas on how to replace regressive and corrupt politicians with something better. For comments steveotto2001@yahoo.com or ottozero2001@yahoo.com. Luxembourg's voting system was subject to a panel discussion in Leudelange on Wednesday evening. The municipality of Leudelange has planned a referendum on the day of the European elections to decide whether the municipality should move from the southern electoral constituency to the central constituency. The political movement "Zesumme fir Leideleng/Together for Leudelange" took the opportunity to open discussions on whether a new voting system is needed, for example on the topic of Luxembourg's constituency division and whether the constituencies need adjusting. Politics specialists from the University of Luxembourg explained a number of issues with the current voting system on Wednesday evening: the division of constituencies is 100 years old, with the number of seats per district going back to 1988. Sociologist Fernand Fehlen said it was generally agreed that the Luxembourgish voting system is no longer totally coherent, but to change it would be difficult. AUDIO: Fernand Fehlen extract As Fehlen explained, Chamber of Deputies MPs are elected according to a specific system. Any amendments to this system would affect their chances of re-election and they are well aware of this fact. However, the proportion of MPs per constituency no longer corresponds to the demographic benchmarks - the centre of Luxembourg has four MPs in excess, when the number of votes is taken into account. Fehlen said changes could only take place if there was external pressure on behalf of voters. Although it would theoretically be simple to match up districts to the population, it would not necessarily solve any issues. Historian Simone Beck said the discussion had been ongoing for nearly 100 years, with people in consensus that the system needed to be updated, but despite this, nothing has happened. The University of Luxembourg specialists want to understand the issues around the voting system, as well as voters' preferences. Dan Schmit quoted recent polls, which showed that voters were leaning towards a single electoral district, while keeping the current panachage, or cross-voting. Almost 70% of voters who responded to a post-vote survey said they would prefer a single electoral district. There are existing proposals to modernise the voting system, but no actual political interest in furthering these proposals. Fehlen said it was clear that the population needs to actively make their feelings known, applying pressure on the government to implement these changes. However, Fehlen said this would be unlikely as the issue is a technical question that most voters would not normally concern themselves with. Thanks to various EU funding programmes, Luxembourg researchers have benefited from millions of euros in recent years. The EU regional development fund has co-financed around 23 research and innovation projects in Luxembourg, at a sum of 18.5 million euros. The Centre for Systems Biomedicine in Belval received 2.7 million euros between 2009 and 2012 to help with the laboratory infrastructure, around a third of the total costs. Pierre Weimerskirch (RTL) Pierre Weimerskirch (RTL) The photos published on this site are subject to copyright and may not be copied, modified, or sold without the prior permission of the owner of the site in question. The EU's Horizon 2020 programme has financed around 300 projects in Luxembourg since 2014, donating over 100 million euros. Luxinnovation helps researchers to obtain European funding. The Luxembourg standard is international. Benjamin Questier of Luxinnovation said that researchers work in a collaborative manner on projects. Physicist Daniele Brida received help from the EU to part-fund a laser, saying the EU offered the opportunity to finance research which at first glance might not seem all that interesting, as results take a long time to develop. But it is the sort of research which will help mankind to progress, in 20, 30, 40 or 100 years. Less and less funding is channelled toward agriculture, with more money invested in research. However, physicists from the University of Luxembourg do run projects which could benefit the agricultural sector, such as analysis into how plants turn sunlight into energy. In 2017, Luxembourg paid 307 million euros into the EU budget, while receiving 1.8 billion euros from the European Union. 80% thereof went towards institutions with a seat in Luxembourg. 3% went towards agriculture, with 11% to the research and development sectors. While a preliminary concept should be established by next autumn, there is no definitive date set for the introduction of a bill. Legislation on the recreational use of cannabis should however still come into force during this legislature. Health Minister Etienne Schneider and Justice Minister Felix Braz visited Canada in order to get an idea of that countrys model. However, other national systems such as those in Portugal, the Netherlands and even Uruguay will also be analysed so as to develop a solution specifically adapted to Luxembourg. According to Etienne Schneider, a ministerial task force will be necessary to ensure a future plan based on a comprehensive approach to public health. The legal age limit to buy and smoke cannabis in Canada is 18 or 19 years depending on the province. A 30g cap exists both on the amount people are allowed to purchase, as well as the amount that they are legally allowed to have on their person. How these laws will look like in Luxembourg is unclear: regulations regarding decriminalisation, consumption, purchase or ownership have not yet been specified. The ministers visited the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and a major production site where new technologies facilitate the regulation of each individual step of the process. Specific licences will also authorise the production and sale of cannabis in Luxembourg, and Schneider affirmed there will be strict conditions in place. Since Luxembourg wants to avoid "cannabis tourism", sale will be allowed to residents only. Further regulations, controls and police procedures are to be introduced in order to ensure this. The goal is not to promote cannabis, but to move consumers away from the black market and limit dangerous consequences. In Canada, it took only 6 months for 43% of the market to follow a legal path. A minimum age limit of 18 years risks younger people trying to access the drug on the black market, where levels of THC (the active psychoactive substance) tend to be higher: this outcome is to be prevented by all means possible. As follows, the sanctions on selling drugs to minors are to be increased significantly. Money raised by taxes on the sale of cannabis will be invested in the education around, and the prevention and management of, addiction within the country. The music flows to lyrics that span Wyomings landscapes in a song that speaks of wind across the Western plains, mountains and rivers, with names that have captured hearts and imaginations around the world. The Black Hills rise, over Thunder Basin, the Sweetwater runs across the Great Divide/The Wind Rivers sweep into the North Platte Valley, goes the song. Wyoming Where I Belong, by fifth-generation Wyoming native twins Amy and Annie Smith, was voted by the Wyoming State Legislature to become a second state song last July. The sisters, known as the duo Annie & Amy, wrote the song about 19 years ago and have performed it around the world. The pride we feel for Wyoming, Annie wrote in an email, we hope instills in other people pride for their homeland. *** The sisters debuted Wyoming Where I Belong in Central Park during a large event with stars like Don Henley and Treat Williams, they recalled, and made Good Morning America the next day. The twins at the time were signed with Warner Brothers and performed the song on one of their tours around the world. BBC Radio picked up the song, and it received play across Europe, they said. Theyve performed the song from their hometown to Europe and Argentina to Australia, and it received an international music award for American Culture and Heritage, according to the songs website. Wherever we went, people just loved this song, Annie said. They wrote the song at a time of healing, Amy said. Theyd returned to Wyoming for a few years after touring, working in the music business and living in difference cities and countries. Wyoming Where I Belong was in our souls at the time, Amy typed in a text message. The song has caught more attention in Wyoming in the past five years after Wyoming PBS created a video featuring aerial footage over landscapes across the state, they said. It took off on social media and has been performed by the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra. The twins have performed it for special events around the state, including in the Capitol building before its renovation at the invitation of then-Rep. Rosie Berger. The song also has been performed by the Cheyenne All-City Childrens Chorus, who also helped the duo present it to the Wyoming Legislature. People around Wyoming requested that Wyoming Where I Belong become the state song, according to a press release. Were so thrilled that people thought this could be a state song of Wyoming, and we were just honored with that, Annie said. The song doesnt replace the original Wyoming state song, which was adopted in 1955 composed by G.E. Knapp with lyrics by C.E. Winter, according to the states website. The twins see their song as a complement to the original about Wyoming becoming a new state. State Rep. Dan Zwonitzer introduced the bill in the 2018 legislative session, and it was signed into law that July. About half of the states have multiple songs, and Wyoming hadnt chosen another since its first state song decades before, he said. The bill passed quickly and easily in honor of the work of two Wyoming natives who voice their love for Wyoming wherever they go, he said. The sisters gave ownership of the song to the Wyoming Department of Tourism. Wyoming Where I Belong includes lyrics about the Absarokas, the Big Horns, the Snowy Range and the North Platte River and other places they know. The sisters have been surprised how the song speaks of home to those whod never been to Wyoming, like a radio personality in Romania who once asked them to send him the song. It wasnt about Wyoming for them; it was universal, Amy said. It was about the beauty of places, Annie added. Besides chorale and symphony arrangements, the song is being translated for marching bands, they said. Its really out of our hands anymore, according to Amy. Its just taken on its own entity, its own journey Id say. *** The sisters helped write the Cheyenne Anthem for the citys 150th anniversary in 2017, according to their bio. They hail from Cheyenne, where both sides of their family homesteaded in the Wyoming Territory and have been influential through the generations through their work, businesses and efforts in organizations. The twins competed on The Gong Show when they were young teenagers and wound up winning with their performance of Leroy Van Dykes The Auctioneer. In high school, they performed on USO Tours worldwide and at the Grand Ole Opry before attending Stanford. Theyve performed many concerts with country stars and recalled sharing stories backstage at the WYO Theater with Garth Brooks and Chris LeDoux. They have been featured on 60 Minutes and multiple commercials and have sung for four U.S. presidents. When they performed for Ronald Reagan after his presidency, they met actor Jimmy Stewart and a former ambassador to the Vatican who became a close friend and later visited Wyoming. Ive never met people like you and I want to see where you came from, hed told them. The ambassadors welcome included a meeting with the governor, and they served as the grand marshal of the parade in Cheyenne, they said. They returned from Los Angeles to Wyoming about five years ago to help their parents, Amy said. Annie now lives in Nashville and Amy remained in Cheyenne. They travel between Wyoming and Nashville as they continue to write and record. Both their parents had a chance to see their song go through the Legislature. During the process, their father a former lawmaker, World War II veteran and P-51 single-engine fighter pilot earned cheers of his own when he stood and introduced himself to the Legislature. Life is the little moments that make up the big moments, Amy said. Their mother, who died in February, used to tell them, At the table sits sorrow and joy. But then you can appreciate it more, and thats what Amy and I do, Annie said. We appreciate it so much being away from our home state and coming back, big difference. Big difference, Amy agreed. Follow reporter Elysia Conner on Twitter @erconner Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Stay up-to-date on what's happening Receive the latest in local entertainment news in your inbox weekly! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Casper-raised educator and author Nina McConigley, currently an assistant professor in the University of Wyoming Honors College, has been selected for a prestigious fellowship program at Harvard University. She has taught creative writing at UW for a decade and was recently named the Walter Jackson Bate Fellow in Harvards Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study for the 2019-2020 academic year. The acceptance rate for the highly competitive fellowships was 3.7 percent. The incoming fellows represent 10 countries and were selected from a group of more than 1,000 applicants. Born in Singapore to Irish and Indian parents, McConigley grew up in Casper. She holds a masters degree in English from UW, a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from the University of Houston and a bachelors degree in literature from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. She is a graduate of Natrona County High School. McConigley has made it clear that she intends to return to UW after her year in Boston, and that she has no intention of becoming a New England Patriots fan. During her year at Harvard, McConigley will work on a novel about the rural immigrant experience in the American West. It is such an opportunity to be selected, and I cant wait to represent the University of Wyoming at Harvard, McConigley said. To have a year to research and work with some of the top minds in the world is a dream. I hope to not only finish my book, but to be sparked for future work by the research and work of other scholars. I teach in the Honors College at UW, and being in this interdisciplinary fellowship feels like I get to be a kind of honors student for a year. The 2019-2020 fellowship class includes 55 scholars who will direct their creative and intellectual energy to producing solutions to some of the most complex and urgent challenges of our time. In 2009, a short story McConigley wrote, titled Curating Your Life, was nominated for the Pushcart Prize, which honors the best new literature of the year. The story went on to be featured in her collection of short stories, Cowboys and East Indians, (2013), winner of the International PEN Open Book Award and the High Plains Book Award for Best Short Stories, which also was named one of Oprah Winfreys O magazines Best Prize Winning Books in 2014. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Virginia Quarterly Review, American Short Fiction and the Asian American Literary Review, among others. McConigley is a fellow with the Bread Loaf and Sewanee writers conferences, and has served on the faculty of the Warren Wilson Program for Writers. An in-demand speaker and reader, she has been the featured author at international, national and regional conferences, and frequently lectures across UW. As an award-winning creative writer, one who focuses on global perspectives and diversity, McConigleys classes for the Honors College include the first-year colloquium, Indian Short Story, the Empire Writes Back and Art and Cultural Identity. Love 1 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. CHEYENNE (AP) Prosecutors have filed attempted-murder charges against a Casper man they say fired a gun at police during a car chase. Dominique Childers faces two counts of attempted first-degree murder, four of felony property destruction, one of felony theft and several misdemeanor charges. He remained jailed in Cheyenne on $100,000 bond Wednesday. The Wyoming Tribune Eagle reports police arrested Childers on May 3. Cheyenne police and the Wyoming Highway Patrol say Childers drove a stolen 2016 Toyota Camry over 100 mph on a highway and almost 65 mph through Cheyenne. Police say Childers fired at a trooper and at a police officer who shot back, hitting Childers twice. Childers couldn't be reached for comment and had no attorney on file. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Prosecutors rested their case Thursday against a Casper doctor accused of heading up a prescription pill drug ring that extended across the country and contributed to a womans death. That doctor, Shakeel Kahn, is expected to take the stand Friday in his own defense. Kahn had been prepared to testify Thursday, but his brother and co-defendant, Nabeel, was taken from the courtroom with an apparent stomach illness, which concluded the days proceedings early. The brief delay came three weeks into the trial of the two brothers. They face a total of 23 felonies in federal court. Prosecutors allege the doctors Arizona and Casper pain clinics were the backbone of a criminal enterprise that illegally distributed drugs as far as Massachusetts and caused the overdose death of an Arizona woman. The doctor faces the overwhelming majority of charges in the case. Among the 21 counts he is accused of is a single count of conspiracy to distribute drugs resulting in death and a single count of operating a continuing criminal enterprise. A conviction on either of those crimes is punishable by between 20 years and life in prison. Nabeel Kahn is standing trial on two felonies. An attorney for the doctor said during opening statements on April 29 that Kahn was misled by his patients and never intended to break the law. He is expected to testify in his own defense Friday morning. Nabeel Kahns attorneys requested the reservation of their time to make opening statements. When they do so, they will have an opportunity to present their outline of the evidence and foreshadow arguments they plan to present at the conclusion of the case. On Thursday morning, attorneys continued their questioning of Robert Churchwell, a DEA investigator who has testified throughout the trial. When Churchwell stepped down from the stand shortly before 9:30 a.m., it marked the conclusion of more than 12 days testimony given by 31 witnesses. Prosecutors formally concluded their case shortly after 11 a.m. Last week, prosecutors Stephanie Sprecher and Stephanie Hambrick called a series of former patients who said the doctor wrote them prescriptions for hundreds of pain pills intended to be used in a matter of weeks. Among them was Paul Beland, of Massachusetts, who appeared in court wearing stripes, handcuffs and shackles. He testified that he flew to Denver and drove north to Kahns Casper office, where the doctor wrote him prescriptions for oxycodone, a potent opioid painkiller. He said he tried to fill his prescription in Casper but was rebuffed at a pharmacy because it did not have enough opioids on hand. He flew back to the East Coast empty-handed, Beland told jurors. He said he called the doctor, who later arranged to have the drugs sent to him. Beland was one of four people charged alongside Shakeel Kahn in federal court. He, Shawnna Thacker and the doctors wife, Lyn, all struck deals with prosecutors and testified as part of the states case. During questioning by defense attorney Beau Brindley on Tuesday afternoon, Lyn Kahn told jurors that the doctors agreement to mail pills to Beland stood in contrast to the rest of his conduct. In response to Brindleys questions, Lyn Kahn frequently provided only one sentence. Sometimes she limited her answer to a single word. She told jurors that after losing a request to keep recordings of wiretaps out of the trial, she started thinking more about the risk a trial would cause to her young son. However, when Brindley asked whether she had taken the plea agreement to protect her son, she said she had not. (It was) the desire to tell the truth, she said. In response to further questioning from Sprecher, Lyn Kahn said the doctor had told her that patients lie and are not to be trusted. She also said she had never seen another doctor write a prescription for a patient and then have the pills re-routed to another person a reference to her guilty plea to involvement in helping the doctor fill prescriptions written for her daughter, but then supplied to his brother, Nabeel. Later the same day, Anthony Vargas, of Arizona, testified. Vargass girlfriend, Jessica Burch, died after taking a mix of prescription medications, and prosecutors have charged the defendants with responsibility for her death. Vargas said both he and Burch were regular patients of Kahn. They sold some of the pills the doctor prescribed and used the others. By his second or third visit to the doctor, Vargas was addicted, he said. How did that happen? Sprecher asked. By taking them, Vargas replied, flatly. Vargas spent time incarcerated, while Burch still picked up prescriptions the doctor had written for him. Shed sell the pills and put money on his books. When he got out, she had changed. She lost a lot of weight, he told jurors. And she just wasnt there, you know? I couldnt even have a conversation with her. The night before Burchs death, Vargas told jurors, he found his girlfriend passed out in a yard near their house. He carried her inside and put her on the living room floor. She was unresponsive, but breathing, he said. When he woke the next morning, his girlfriend was dead. Prosecutors also played a series of recorded phone conversations this week. In one, between Lyn and Shakeel Kahn, she told the doctor that she had heard one of his patients had been arrested for selling her prescriptions. Wow, better be careful then, huh? the doctor replied. When Lyn Kahn went on to describe suspicions that another patient was under criminal investigation, the doctor did not voice concern. I aint worried here because we have all our ducks in a row, he said. During Churchwells time on the stand, prosecutors presented copies of prescriptions the doctor wrote, including one that called for a patient to take 720 Oxycodone 30mg pills over the course of a month. The investigators examination of prescription drug management databases indicated Kahn wrote at least 14,800 prescriptions for controlled substances between 2011 and his Nov. 30, 2016 arrest. Those scripts summed to nearly 2.2 million pills, Churchwells numbers indicated. Nearly half of them were oxycodone. On Thursday morning, following Churchwells testimony, defense attorneys for the two men requested acquittal of their clients, stating the government had not presented enough evidence to convict them. Following a brief response by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Sprecher, Judge Alan Johnson said he would rule on the requests at a later point. Jurors are expected to begin deliberations next week. Follow crime reporter Shane Sanderson on Twitter @shanersanderson Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 2 Angry 0 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The Wyoming Democratic Party has asked the Fremont County Attorneys Office to investigate allegations that voters on the Wind River Reservation encountered difficulties during the 2018 election. In a letter dated Wednesday, the party requested Fremont County Attorney Patrick LeBrun make a formal inquiry into perceived inconsistencies with how election workers in the Fremont County Clerks office had administered election law in polling places on the reservation this past fall. The incidents took place at a time where voting difficulties had been reported on Indian reservations around the country, most notably in North Dakota, sparking concerns from party officials and tribal members on the Wind River Reservation of possible voter suppression. The freedom we have to cast a ballot is central to what it means to be an American, said Joe Barbuto, chairman of the Wyoming Democratic Party, in a statement. Any and all attempts to obstruct or deny that right should be taken seriously. Having a complete understanding of what happened in 2018 will help prevent similar events from occurring in future elections. In the complaint, the party outlined two concerns. The first involved tribal members who experienced difficulty voting early after they were allegedly told by an employee at the county clerks office in Lander that they needed a valid state drivers license to vote ahead of Election Day which is only partially true. The second involved an incident in which a poll worker was perceived to improperly ask voters to read an oath aloud stating they understood election procedures which Democrats say violated a state law banning literacy tests at the polls. According to the complaint, the party had written statements from tribal members and a poll observer to support the claims, adding the accounts described may constitute violations of certain provisions of Wyoming elections law. LeBrun did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. Election officials respond In a statement to the Star-Tribune, Wyoming Secretary of States office spokesman Will Dinneen said the complaint seemed to indicate the clerks had actually tried to assist the voters, and that no one eligible to vote was denied the right to cast their ballot. The actions of county clerks are meant to ensure that the oath which every voter attests to when registering is fully understood, Dinneen said in the statement. The situation described here seems no different. The text of the oath that every voter signs is explicitly found in Wyoming law and must be acknowledged in order to register. It would be discrimination to not help every voter understand the text to which they must acknowledge under the law. In his own statement, Secretary of State Ed Buchanan said his office was looking toward the next election cycle rather than the one completed last year. It is concerning that this complaint was never presented to this office or in a timely manner during the 2018 election cycle, he said. The voting issues on the Wind River Reservation were discussed briefly at a meeting earlier this week of the Joint Committee on Corporations, Elections, and Political Subdivisions in Casper. However, the brunt of those conversations will likely take place at the Select Committee on Tribal Relations in Fort Washakie later this summer. Meanwhile, in Fremont County, local activists feel little progress has been made toward fixing the problems that exist there. Despite contacting Fremont County Clerk Julie Freese with his concerns immediately following the election, Fremont County Democrats State Committeeman Bruce Palmer said he feels little has been done to address what he considered to be significant violations of state election law. I dont think anything has happened since Election Day, he said. Freese was not in the building when the Star-Tribune called the clerks office Thursday morning. Voter turnout on the reservation was a critical piece of Democratic candidates success there in 2018. According to numbers provided by Palmer, an effort by the party and activists on the reservation helped increase reservation turnout last year by 22.6 percent over the 2014 elections. However, Democrats feel that efforts currently weaving their way through the Legislature including a potential photo identification requirement sponsored by Casper Republican Rep. Chuck Gray could harm those constituencies. Though some studies are split on whether or not photo identification laws actually suppress voter turnout, anecdotally, Palmer sees numerous instances where a requirement could make things difficult for Native American voters in Wyoming. In October, a voter looking to cast a ballot early was nearly turned away when his tribal identification card was nearly declined as an acceptable form of I.D. and, in many cases, members of the Northern Arapahoe or Eastern Shoshone may not have drivers licenses, further complicating those requirements. I know on the reservation there are a lot of people who dont have a drivers license, said Palmer. We saw that during voter registration this past summer out there. I can definitely say that I believe residents on the reservation will be discriminated against with a voter I.D. law. Follow politics reporter Nick Reynolds on Twitter @IAmNickReynolds Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 1 Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The University of Wyoming board of trustees has scheduled a meeting Monday morning in which it plans to publicly vote on an interim president, UW announced Friday afternoon. The meeting will be held at 8:30 a.m. Monday via teleconference from the Marian H. Rochelle Gateway Center in Laramie. Last week, the board announced three finalists to replace outgoing President Laurie Nichols: former legislator and UW lobbyist Chris Boswell; former financial vice president Bill Mai; and Mais replacement and former Temple University president Neil Theobald. The public can call into Mondays meeting at 1-866-866-2244 using meeting ID 7745684#. The board interviewed the three candidates and took public comment earlier this week. The interim president will likely serve for the coming academic term, during which time the board and the university will search for a permanent replacement for Nichols, whose contract will not be renewed after it expires June 30. Little information has been released about the hunt for a permanent replacement and the board has apparently not yet discussed it though the university reiterated in the Friday announcement that the trustees supported an open, transparent search process that involves stakeholders across UW constituencies, including Wyoming citizens. The board will discuss the search in future open meetings, according to the release. Current and former UW employees and board members have stressed that the board must have an open search process, like the one that was used to pick Nichols. They point to the Bob Sternberg debacle as evidence that a secret search can be disastrous; in the case of Sternberg, he lasted just 137 days before a wave of opposition crashed into his presidency and prompted his resignation. The calls for transparency are especially pronounced now not just because of Sternberg but because of Nichols, whose demotion shell serve as a faculty member for the next academic term has been done largely in secret. The board, through its president Dave True, has declined repeatedly to provide any details about the decision. Nichols herself has said she was surprised by the decision and that she has not received an explanation from the board. Faculty has repeatedly called on the board to explain to Nichols what happened and to give campus a more general explanation. Its unclear if thatll happen anytime soon. On Thursday, Donal OToole, the outgoing Faculty Senate chair at UW, reiterated that the board should be transparent about Nichols and questioned whether the decision was based at least in part on her gender. (Nichols is the first female president in UWs 133-year history.) In a statement sent to the Star-Tribune early Friday morning, True declined to comment on OTooles statements other than to say that I certainly dont agree with his speculative conclusions. Follow education reporter Seth Klamann on Twitter @SethKlamann Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The University of Wyoming will restart a program that trains future career technical education teachers, which the schools board had eliminated two years ago amid stiff budget cuts. The program was previously based at UW-Casper and was discontinued along with four other degree programs in spring 2017. The university cited low enrollment and the $42 million in recent budget cuts as the reason for the decision. The program had one instructor Rod Thompson and between 2010 and 2015 had graduated 15 students, according to university data. The programs persistently low enrollments, averaging 2.5 graduates per year over a decade, required us to act when the university was called upon to reduce its biennial budget by $42 million in 2016, College of Education Dean Ray Reutzel said in a statement announcing the decision. Reutzel previously recommended that the program be eliminated. Since that time, legislators, school districts and other constituents have made it clear just how important it is for us to graduate career technical educators, and we are responding accordingly. According to the announcement, sent out by the university Thursday, the program will be maintained for two years while a task force is created to re-envision the CTE degree in collaboration with Wyoming community colleges and other key education stakeholders. The Laramie Boomerang reported that the Legislatures budget bill from earlier this year would distribute $1 million of the universitys block grant funding to UW after the president of the university certifies to the governor that the universitys college of education ... has instituted a program to train career and technical education teachers in person and through virtual education. According to the universitys statement, the program is targeted to begin admitting students by the 2021-2022 academic year. The revamped program will be a joint project with the community colleges, the state Professional Teaching Standards Board, the state Department of Education and the Wyoming School University Partnership. The decision to eliminate the CTE teacher program drew criticism in 2017. Thompson told the Star-Tribune then that the program hadnt been properly advertised by the university. Graduates of the program warned that if Wyoming K-12 schools couldnt find qualified teachers for their CTE courses, they would stop offering them. In an effort to keep the program going, the Board of Cooperative Educational Services or BOCES wrote a $43,700 check for the 2017-18 school year. But UW Provost Kate Miller told the Star-Tribune in May 2017 that low enrollment doomed the program. Follow education reporter Seth Klamann on Twitter @SethKlamann Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. CHEYENNE (AP) Wyoming's governor has ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in honor of a former state lawmaker who died. Richard "Dick" Sadler died May 10 at age 90. Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon on Thursday ordered that the Wyoming state flag be flown at half-staff at the State Capitol in Cheyenne and throughout Natrona County on Friday. Sadler was a Democrat who represented Natrona County in the Wyoming Legislature. Sadler served in the Wyoming Senate from 1975-1982 and the House of Representatives from 1971-1974, 1993-1994 and 2000-2002. He served in the U.S. Navy and worked for the Chicago & North Western Railroad. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 1 Recently 100 U.S. House members, both Democrats and Republicans, signed a letter calling for expansion of the McGovern-Dole global school feeding program. This is the right thing to do fighting child hunger worldwide. The list of supporters includes Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), whose disagreements with Republicans on issues have been quite public. But here Ocasio-Cortez and Republicans are finding common ground. Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Steve Watkins (R-KS) led the petition of reps calling for additional McGovern-Dole funding. The McGovern-Dole initiative, run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, provides school meals to children in poor countries. It was named after former senators and presidential candidates George McGovern and Bob Dole, who worked across party lines to feed the hungry at home and abroad. The World Food Program, Catholic Relief Services, Save the Children, Mercy Corps, Counterpart Intl. and other charities distribute the school meals using the funding. McGovern-Dole has fed children in Haiti, Mali, Ethiopia and other nations with hunger emergencies. But many more children need the meals. There is not enough funding to meet the demand. Its vital Congress follow through and increase the funding, especially with hunger rampant across the globe. Providing food at school fights hunger and promotes education, which children both need. With the promise of food at school, parents are much more likely to send their children to class. Otherwise they may keep children home to work and search for food. Meals at school are so important for nations recovering from war, disasters and poverty that they were widely implemented after World War II. The U.S. Army in Austria said in 1948 a school feeding program is an emphatic must if the children of school age are to be properly nourished. School meals also happened in a huge way in Germany, Japan, France, Italy and many other nations. Even during the war, Americans donated to help provide milk to school children in Nazi-occupied Norway. Today, to win peace and stability worldwide, feeding children is essential. We must remember this as we tackle hunger in many nations including Afghanistan, Syria, South Sudan, Haiti, Mali and Yemen. The McGovern-Dole program also includes a provision offering nutrition programs for pregnant and nursing women, infants and pre-schoolers. We should expand this infant feeding as well to eliminate the stunting caused by malnutrition. Another crucial aspect of McGovern-Dole is supporting local farmers to provide the school meals. If we build up local agriculture while feeding the children, it provides a plan going forward of self-sustaining programs. McGovern-Dole is an instrument that could help feed every hungry child in the world. It receives usually around $200 million a year in funding. The World Food Program says that US $3.2 billion is needed per year to reach all 66 million hungry school-age children. The cost of those meals is actually far less per year than the expense of our nuclear weapons program. The world needs less nukes and more school meals for sure. We, the public, must encourage Congress to increase the funding for McGovern-Dole school lunches. We know that feeding hungry children is the right thing to do. We know from our own history that feeding children is the spiritual renewal the world needs during times of strife and conflict. William Lambers is an author who partnered with the UN World Food Program on the book Ending World Hunger. His writing have been published by the New York Times, Baltimore Sun, History News Network and many other news outlets. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Donald Trump has seemed largely uninterested in foreign policy. He got excited briefly when he thought he could win a Nobel Peace Prize and hyped the danger of an imminent North Korean attack so that he could play the peacemaker. When it became clear that a deal was not to be had easily, Trump lost interest and scarcely mentions the subject anymore. Beyond North Korea, his foreign policy has largely been one of subcontracting (a familiar style for a real estate developer). Middle East policy is farmed out to Israel and Saudi Arabia. The administration simply backs whatever those nations want. Policy toward left-wing regimes in Latin America Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua has been delegated to saber-rattlers like national security adviser John Bolton and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. The rest of Latin America is dealt with solely through the lens of immigration in other words, subcontracted to senior adviser Stephen Miller. The one common aspect of Trumps foreign policy, however, has been that it has provoked a vigorous nationalist response abroad. Take China, where the government has gone on the offensive and denounced what it sees as Americas aggressive trade demands. Beijings state-controlled television network recently featured a commentary that tied American tactics to previous foreign efforts to subjugate China. After 5,000 years of wind and rain, what hasnt the Chinese nation weathered? the anchor said. If you want a trade war, he declared, well fight you until the end. That clip, in addition to being aired on Chinas main TV news channel, has now been watched online millions of times. Iran has been able to withstand the economic storms caused by U.S. sanctions so far because it has been able to pin the blame on Trumps anti-Iran strategy, not the regimes economic mismanagement. Washington has always underestimated nationalism, especially in the case of Iran. Many of Irans foreign policy moves stem from its geopolitical position, not some fundamentalist Shiite ideology. Last year, Ardeshir Zahedi, who served as foreign minister under the shah, published an open letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, essentially defending the Islamic Republics foreign policy. Irans nuclear program, it is worth recalling, began under the shah. The manner in which the Trump administration deals with almost every country provokes a nationalist, anti-American response. One of the great achievements of American foreign policy over the last 30 years was that Mexico had gone from being an anti-American, revolutionary country to a pro-American partner. In 2015, before Trumps election, 66 percent of Mexicans had a favorable view of America. By 2018, that number had dropped to 32 percent. Confidence in the U.S. president plummeted in that same time period from 49 percent to 6 percent. The pattern recurs almost everywhere. In Canada, confidence in the U.S. president went from 76 percent in 2015 to 25 percent in 2018. In France its worse, from 83 percent under Obama to single digits under Trump. In fact, in a recent Pew Research Center survey of 25 countries, only two places expressed greater confidence in Trump than they did in his predecessor Russia and Israel. Countries around the globe are becoming more assertive and anti-American, even ones that embrace Trumps ideology. Viktor Orban proudly proclaims that he is building an illiberal democracy in Hungary. In recent years, the prime minister has destroyed democratic checks and balances, demonized immigrants (of whom there are few in Hungary) and mouthed anti-Islamic rhetoric. Shunned by Obama, Orban was warmly welcomed this week at the White House by Trump. And yet, Orban has rebuffed American overtures and aligned himself with China and Russia when it has suited his purposes. It makes perfect sense. In his 2017 speech to the UN General Assembly, Trump called for a great reawakening of nations, urging countries to use patriotism and self-interest as their guides in foreign policy. Trumps north star has been to celebrate a narrow conception of national interest, rejecting the idea that there are larger international interests and, by implication, denigrating the idea of cooperative, win-win solutions. Well, Orban is simply doing what Trump urged, as are the Chinese, the Iranians and so many others. And since the United States is still the worlds leading power, and Trumps style has been to be aggressive and undiplomatic, the easiest response is a nationalist, anti-American one, feeding public anger, stoking bad historical memories and locking countries into a win-lose mindset. It is a world with more instability, less cooperation and fewer opportunities for America. And it is a direct, logical consequence of Donald Trumps philosophy of America First. Fareed Zakaria writes a foreign affairs column for The Post. He is also the host of CNNs Fareed Zakaria GPS and a contributing editor for The Atlantic. His email address is comments@fareedzakaria.com. Love 0 Funny 26 Wow 0 Sad 7 Angry 19 That isnt stopping Bowers and Senate President Karen Fann, R-Prescott, from saying they intend to unveil a spending plan on Monday, at least to their own members. At that point they will count noses to see if they can get the necessary votes. GOP leaders are coalescing around a plan that would cut income taxes in future years by more than doubling the standard deduction available to individuals and couples. That, paired with some additional tax credits for dependents, should make up for the windfall the state is getting due to changes in the federal tax code, changes that reduce deductions that can be taken by Arizona taxpayers. Still, one potential sticking point is what to do with the extra dollars already being collected. The latest figures from the state Department of Revenue show the income tax payments tallied so far this year were $652.9 million compared with $566.0 million for the same period last year. Agency spokesman Ed Greenberg said the numbers and the $87 million extra are preliminary as tax returns are still being processed. There may be other factors that are affecting payments, he said. A Pima County road improvement project on West Valencia Road may cause minor delays this weekend, officials say. Beginning Friday, there will be intermittent closures on Valencia between South Vahalla Road and South Iberia Avenue. The project should last from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day until Friday, May 24. "The work will consist of spreading lime on the prepared grade to stabilize and improve the workability of the soil, then water will be added to help compact it to a maximum density until the next lift or layer is added," a county news release said. Motorists should use caution and watch for personnel in the area. 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. Some of the biggest pieces included four 7-foot-tall guidon poles, one from Wayne, used on the set of his Texas-filmed project, The Alamo; and a large fiberglass boot, measuring 46 x 36 inches, that is similar to the one used to signify a boot repair shop in the 1969 Robert Mitchum film Young Billy Young. We took the things that were going to be most interesting to collectors and garner the most money at auction for Carolyn, Eaton said. The items related to Wayne are expected to bring some of the highest dollars. John Wayne is still very popular, Eaton said. Some of the Hollywood stuff has taken a downturn, but John Wayne is still strong, still an icon. That hasnt changed. People are still passionate about collecting his stuff. Sheltons collection is part of a bigger Hollywood-themed auction of more than 600 film industry collectibles. Carolyn Shelton said she believes the auction will put these pieces of Old Tucson history into the right hands. I know how much these things meant to him, she said. If any collectors or movie buffs get that same enjoyment from these items, they should have them. Overall, within just four months, Rosemont plans to systematically clear every trace of the tribes cultural history from the path of the mine, desecrating burial sites and removing ancient artifacts, the tribes said. Individually and collectively, (these) activities will degrade this cultural landscape and its beauty, desecrate this place of prayer, and forever destroy our ancestral heritage, Austin Nunez, the Oodhams San Xavier District chairman, said in a declaration accompanying the tribes injunction request. There is no way to undo these harms to the land. There is no way to undo these harms to who the Tohono Oodham are as a people. Hearing set for July 10 Proving irreparable harm is one of several legal standards that opponents must meet to obtain an injunction. They must also show that theyre likely to prevail on the merits of the case and that an injunction is in the public interest. In the past, the agencies and Hudbay have promised and approved numerous mitigation measures aimed at compensating for the projects damages. Authorities say a man who was previously arrested in connection with sexual assault charges involving three young girls killed himself Wednesday. Matthew Cartwright was found dead in his car on East Speedway near Saguaro National Park, according to Deputy Daniel Jelineo, a Pima County Sheriff's Department spokesman. Cartwright was arrested in 2017 for charges including sexual assault, sexual conduct with a minor and burglary, Arizona Daily Star archives show. In 2012, three children and their mother were visiting the girls' grandparents on Tucson's northeast side. Archives say one of the girls was sexually assaulted by an intruder. The man was confronted by the girl's oldest sister and fled from the home. In 2017, newly matched fingerprints led to Cartwright's arrest. Cartwright was scheduled for a court hearing Friday and was facing a possible trial at the end of the month. Contact reporter Gloria Knott at gknott@tucson.com or 573-4235. On Twitter: @gloriaeknott 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. GILBERT A caregiver at a Gilbert group home serving developmentally disabled adults is accused of inappropriately touching a female resident. Gilbert police said Thursday that 40-year-old Abram Grace has been arrested on one count each of sexual assault and vulnerable adult abuse. According to charging documents, the 31-year-old victim reported that she and Grace were watching a movie on Wednesday when he put his hand inside her shorts. The staff then notified police and Adult Protective Services. Authorities say surveillance video shows Grace periodically putting his arms around the victim and embracing her from behind several times. Grace is being held on a $100,000 cash bond and will be assigned a public defender. Police Sgt. Mark Marino says police believe there are no other victims. From December 19th through December 26th we will be granting free access as a gift to our readers presented by Copenhagen Imports Just when you think the library can't get any cooler, it adds a telescope to its inventory o Vietnams domestic coffee prices have partially rebounded after hitting the lowest level in six years last week, while shipments from the country are forecast to significantly fall this month. Farmers in the Central Highlands, Vietnams largest coffee growing area, sold coffee at 31,000-31,700 dong ($1.33-$1.36) per kg on Thursday, up from 29,000-29,800 dong last week. Domestic prices rose from last week following a recovery in global prices, but the rise is curbed by concerns about the trade war between the United States and China and on ample supplies from Brazil, a trader based in the Central Highlands said. July robusta coffee fell $17, or 1.2%, to $1,375 per tonne on Wednesday, but it remained higher than $1,290 seen a week earlier. Speculators have also run away from the market amid uncertainty in the global trade picture, the trader added. Traders forecast coffee shipments from Vietnam in May are expected to fall to around 80,000-100,000 tonnes, from 143,296 tonnes in the previous month. Meanwhile, rains have started in the Central Highlands, easing drought concerns in the area where new green coffee beans are cultivated. Traders in Vietnam offered 5% black and broken grade 2 robusta at a $45 per tonne discount to the July contract, but flat from last week. In Indonesia, premiums for the grade 4 defect 80 robusta July contract rose to $300 on Thursday, from $200-$240 a week ago, according to a trader based in Lampung. Demand is quite high, while supply is thin as the harvest is not in full swing yet, the trader said, adding that the harvest would not peak until around July. Your browser does not support the audio element. Vietnam is seeking to export avocados to the United States, the Southeast Asian country said on Thursday, after U.S. President Donald Trumps threat to shut the U.S.-Mexico border raised fears American consumers could see a shortage. Avocado prices in the United States jumped by nearly 50% in April on fears that Trump would halt shipments from Mexico, which accounts for some 80% of its supply. Both processors and wholesalers began to stockpile the fruit as a result. The United States imported more than 900,000 tonnes of Mexican avocados last year worth nearly $2.1 billion, 10 times the value it buys from the rest of the world, according to crop forecaster Gro Intelligence. Avocados, typically used in guacamole or spread on toast, could be a high export earner for Vietnam, the government said in a statement on its website. Avocado consumption is on the rise in Vietnam as living standards improve, fuelling interest amongst domestic buyers. Avocados are increasingly seen as a quality fruit that can be used in cooking and beauty products for women, said Le Van Duc, deputy head of the department of crop production at Vietnams Agriculture Ministry. The area of avocado plantation in Vietnam is rising due to that higher demand, Duc told Reuters by phone. That trend has also been driven by weak coffee prices, which have prompted Vietnamese farmers to switch to other crops, including avocados, according to Ducs department. Coffee prices hit their lowest in six years this month on fresh concerns over the U.S.-China trade war and strong sales from Brazil. Vietnam already exports a small volume of avocados to the European Union, but has not yet managed to enter the U.S. market, which is dominated by Mexican supply. Duc said it was too early to tell if Vietnams drive to export avocados to the United States will be successful. There will be lengthy negotiations, and more calculations are needed regarding the possible production scale and the quality to compete with other producing countries, Duc said. Vingroup stocks traded higher on Thursday after South Koreas chips-to-energy conglomerate SK Group agreed to buy 6.1 percent of the Vietnamese firm for US$1 billion as it expands its investments in the Southeast Asian country. Vietnam has one of the regions fastest-growing economies, backed by robust exports and foreign investment. Last year, SK bought 9.5 percent of Vietnams second-biggest conglomerate Masan Group Corp for $470 million. SK Group announced in a statement on Thursday that it will actively seek new business opportunities in Vietnam as a strategic investor in conglomerate Vingroup. Vingroup and SK Group intend to enter into future joint strategic investments that will leverage each partys expertise and enhance both groups abilities to serve the Vietnamese market and the region, both companies said in a statement. Vingroup stocks rose by 1.39 percent to VND116,000 (US$4.97) on Thursday after the announcement. Stocks of its housing arm Vinhomes also improved by 1.2 percent to VND87,000 ($3.72). SK Group is one of the largest conglomerates in South Korea, ranking 84th in the 2018 Fortunes Global 500 list of the worlds largest companies. Vingroup, once a real estate and retail conglomerate, has grown to become Vietnams largest listed firm with a market capitalization of more than $16 billion. The company recently launched its first smartphones and cars, and is looking to make a foray into artificial intelligence. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals. Credit Suisse acted as Vingroups sole advisor for the deal. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Your browser does not support the audio element. Officers in the southern Vietnamese province of Binh Duong are searching for a woman who was allegedly involved in the murder of two men whose bodies were found stashed inside a house this week. The provincial police department, in coordination with the forensic science institute under the Ministry of Public Security, completed their examination of the two bodies on Thursday evening. One of the corpses was found buried in a concrete-filled barrel at a house in Bau Bang District on Wednesday night, while the other was unearthed in a barrel at the same residence on Thursday morning. The second body was not buried in concrete as previous news reported. While initial information stated that one of the two bodies was a woman, police officers say an autopsy result has confirmed that both were men. Local authorities are now working to identify the victims, who are believed to be between 30 and 35 years old. Evidence has also indicated that the two men had been dead for many days. Police are currently looking for a woman named Thanh, a tenant in the house at the suspected time of the incident. Nguyen Minh Vuong, the former owner of the house who lives 28 kilometers away in Tan Uyen Town, said the Bau Bang District residence had been leased to Thanh since October 2018. According to Vuong, Thanh met him once every three months in Tan Uyen to pay her rent. Vuong wound up selling the house to Nguyen Thanh Huan, another Bau Bang District resident, after Thanh stopped renting last month. Huan received the house on Wednesday, and discovered the concrete-fill barrel as he was cleaning it. He decided to use a hammer to break the concrete into pieces small enough to be carried away and ended up uncovering the body. He immediately reported his discovery to local police. Meanwhile, local residents said that strangers were often seen arriving at the house and rarely spoke with neighbors. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! A janitor at a condominium complex in Ho Chi Minh City has found a large amount of cash while cleaning an apartment and immediately sought out the owner to return the money. Nguyen Ngoc Hien, a 26-year-old employee at Dat Phuong Nam Apartment Complex, was cleaning a flat after a temporary tenant left on Tuesday when he came across US$7,400 in cash. He then notified the manager to establish contact with the rightful owner and was eventually able to return the cash to a Ukrainian guest named Artern, who had just ended the six-month lease of the unit. Hien received a Nguoi Tot Viec Tot (Good People Doing Good Things) award from the buildings management board, along with praise from the complexs residents and Arten. Arten was not shy in admitting his shock that the money was returned. Hien explained that he could not imagine having such a large amount of cash, only thinking about ensuring it was returned to its owner. I was so proud of myself when I saw the happiness in Arterns eyes, the man beamed. Nguyen Tan Tai, the manager of Dat Phuong Nam, shared that Hien is an honest and hard-working staff member who has gained admiration and love from residents and colleagues. Hien sets a good example of nobility for everybody to follow, Tai said. Ukrainian Artern smiles happily as he receives his money. Photo: Tan Tai / Tuoi Tre Hiens mother said in an interview with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that he dropped out of school when he was a tenth grader to help his mother earn a living after his fathers sudden death. He now works to ensure that his mother will have enough money when she is ready to retire in the near future. Our family is poor but Ive always taught my son to keep his dignity and be a good person, the mother said. After his good deed grabbed local headlines, many people began offering financial assistance to Hien, but the young man has refused all such offers. I only want to make money on my own, he said. Hiens kindness also earned him a job offer from Nguyen Hoang Ho, the director of a refrigeration company in Ho Chi Minh City, who was touched by his story. I wanted to offer him an opportunity to have a better life because he deserves it, he said on Thursday. Hien will be trained for a year before officially working for Hos company, during which time all food and transportation fees will be covered by the employer. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Decameron "We will replace the existing green card categories with a new visa, the 'Build America' visaLike Canada and so many other modern countries, well create an easy to navigate points-based selection system. You'll get more points for being a younger worker. You'll get more points for having a valuable skill, an offer of employment, an advanced education or a plan to create jobs." Only 12 percent of legal immigrants are selected based on skill or based on merit. In countries like Canada, Australia, and New Zealand and others that number is closer to 60 and even 70 and 75 percent, in some cases. The biggest change we make is to increase the proportion of highly skilled immigration from 12 percent to 57 percent, and wed like to even see if we can go higher. Finally, to promote integration, assimilation, and national unity, future immigrants will be required to learn English and to pass a civics exam prior to admission. --Donald Trump, May 16, 2019 A well-informed Australian political consultant described his countrys immigration policy, which Trump cited yesterday as a model for the US. Succinctly put, the practice is jail the needy, and sell entry and residence in the country to the wealthy. Australian residency is for sale, he said. Full Stop. On this side of the Pacific a DC analyst quipped that under the 57% highly educated with high grades, financial means, knowledge of English, and ability to pass an American civics test rule, probably the majority of those qualifying and wanting to come to the US are Chinese. (Meanwhile, a lot of todays American native-born high school seniors might find a civics test quite challenging.) Another thing. Some of the wealthiest people in the world are dope traffickers and money launderers. Surely they could meet the qualifications needed to be welcomed into the United States as members of Trumps 57%, even if a few records from their home countries have to be sanitized. Sending in their offspring has been underway for some time. The immigration speech was long on theatrics, short on details. There was no draft legislation, no endorsement of specific Republican legislation thats already been introduced. Some politicians were present, but Trump only welcomed (by first name only) the old Lady from South Carolina and one other. Whos eligible to come in? People with money, education, a non-entry level job offer, the ability to speak English, and who've qualified by passing a civics test. The President seeks to end entry based on sponsorship by a family member in order to promote "diversity." (Of the 1.1 million green cards awarded in 2017, more than 700,000 were Hispanics, Middle Easterners, Asians and Africans. ) Whos eligible to stay? There wont be any change in the number of green cards that are awarded annually. There are 1.1 million permanent residencies awarded each year, but the criteria will change, Trump said. Points-based Merit System: youth, money, skills, language literacy, higher education. Every countrys dream, but those demands probably would have excluded many 19th and 20th century forbearers of todays successful citizens who actually did "make America great." Asylum seekers will be seriously screened. No more fake claims of asylum. Will some asylum grants be revoked? Whos Inadmissible ? All criminals are inadmissible. Whos Forgotten? Not mentioned were the 700,000 DACA children and young adults who are still in the United States as illegals (having been brought to the United States as children without visas) but given special status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that Trump ended in 2017. The status of these people, often referred to as the Dreamers, is in limbo, and still under various court rulings No new DACA actions have been allowed since 2017. Trump attacked the current, long-standing policy of allowing family members of established residents and citizens of the United States to get entry visas. Whether the numbers of family-sponsored visas will be reduced or whittled down to nothing remains to be seen. Family sponsorship is apparently considered a serious factor that limits "diversity." The Wall was touted as a great victory and fait accompli, well on its way. No mention of the funding for completing the wall. The expulsion of many thousands of criminal immigrants was also cited as a great victory and ongoing priority. Within hours, the planattributed to The Son-In-Lawwas being pronounced DOA. Trump himself said as much in his speech. If the Democrats dont see the beauty of his Build America immigration plan, then the policy will have to wait until the 2020 election when his party will control the House, Senate, and of course, the White House. Its only sixteen months away, Trump said. On 60 Minutes, a developer battle in Fiji, kids protesting over climate change and a tribute to Bob. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels It started with a dream to create a patch of heaven in Fiji, a surfers paradise right near one of the worlds most legendary waves, Cloudbreak. Two Aussie mates, Navrin Fox and Woody Jack, obtained a 99-year lease on land on Malolo Island and planned a small and environmentally friendly resort. But then, to their horror and disgust, right next door bulldozers rolled in and started clearing everything in sight. The spectacular reef, sandy beach and pristine rainforest were all destroyed by Chinese developers determined to build, of all things, a $100 million casino. But as Liam Bartlett reports, far from being wiped out, the Aussie surfers refused to let the dirty rotten scoundrels get away with it. Reporter: Liam Bartlett Producer: Nick Greenaway Children of he Revolution These days that old saying, Children should be seen and not heard, is just that: old. Young people have had enough of the way the adults are running the world and they want everyone to know they can do better. The latest global protest phenomenon has school kids going on strike, abandoning the classroom and taking to the streets to demand action on climate change. Its a campaign that started with one teenager in Sweden, and it has grown to include 1.4 million angry and noisy students from 125 countries. And theyre not just loud, theyre also very smart. So perhaps we all need to be reminded that the times really are a-changin. Reporter: Sarah Abo Producers: Laura Sparkes, Naomi Shivaraman And Im Bob Hawke Since his death on Thursday, much has been written and said about the life of Bob Hawke. The ALPs most successful and longest-serving prime minister was many things: a larrikin bloke, a uniting leader, and a social and economic reformer. Charles Wooley knew him for close to 50 years and looks back on Hawkes brilliant career, which after politics even included a stint as a globetrotting 60 Minutes reporter. Reporter: Charles Wooley 8:35pm Sunday on Nine. BBC HBO co-production Gentleman Jack is no ordinary British period drama, but then Anne Lister was no ordinary woman. Living in Halifax in 1832, she was widely regarded as the first modern lesbian. Resisting the male establishment, this wealthy landowner wields power with the best of them but her private life is enveloped by a deep sense of longing. Suranne Jones (Doctor Foster, Scott & Bailey) stars as the daughter of wealthy elderly parents, returning home from a rumoured drama in York after inheriting Shibden Hall from her aunt. Widely travelled, and with wings that cant be clipped, she embraces the running of the estate as a temporary means to an end. Determined to squeeze every last penny from sluggish tenants, she is fearless when rent day is due. Why shouldnt I collect the rents if nobody else will? she asks her sister. Because its a mans job, Gemma (Marian Lister) replies. Such determination wins her few fans amongst the working classes and pivots our hero into an anti-hero role. But there are some who know more about the love that dare not speak its name including disapproving housemaid Elizabeth (Rosie Cavaliero) who is instructed to make the usual sleeping arrangements when her friend Mrs. Lawton (Lydia Leonard) comes to stay. Mrs. Lawton, who privately calls her Freddie, may live a double life, but it is one Anne rejects when the concept of a phony marriage is suggested. I could never marry a man, she insists. t would be perverse. I thoroughly intend to live with someone I love. Such gay liberation in Victorian times is what gives this true story its point of difference, and is remarkable in this second decade of legal same sex marriage, which only this week continues to ripple around the world. However her occasional lover only reminds her of what she is lacking whilst, at the same time, being challenged on running not travelling in life. But her prospects may be on the improve when Miss Walker (Sophie Rundle) and her parents come to visit Annes deepest thoughts are chronicled in code in a journal she keeps, hence the source for several modern adaptations, including this one by Sally Wainwright (Happy Valley, Scott & Bailey, Last Tango in Halifax). Suranne Jones makes a strident Lister, buttoned-down in black dresses that shun softer touches. While she brings strength in her business affairs, there is still vulnerability in her private moments. The cast is dotted with a number of character and senior actors who all bring repertory experience to their performances, and the period scenery and costumes are always splendid. Medical ailments and injured legs are commonplace here, keeping the local doctor a busy bod (literally). Wainwright also directs the episode, giving it a contemporary energy and a sense of fun. But a handful of moments in which Suranne Jones speaks direct to camera arent only bold, but unsustained, making such a directorial distraction. For what little editorialising they add I would have preferred to glean the same information through the drama itself, or voice-over at a pinch. Its a small grievance in an otherwise entertaining portrayal of a pioneering social champion. Should she get the girl by the end and live happily ever after I hope its true to history and not just a TV ending. Gentleman Jack airs 7:30pm Sunday on FOX Showcase. Never say never, possums. Dame Edna will film a new BBC special in London. Her (first) farewell tour was in 2015, but a new tour travels around Oz this year. Filmed in front of an audience, Dame Edna will host an evening with celebrity chat, music and surprises from her luxury yacht. The world needs sunshine so I am very happy to welcome you all on board. One hour on my yacht is better than a lifetime on a cruise liner, she said. Rachel Ashdown, BBC Commissioning Editor, says: Over the past 50 years Dame Edna has got to grips with the worlds biggest stars and I am looking forward to seeing her welcome the current generation of celebrities to her sofa. An Aussie broadcaster is not yet announced. In the lead up to the 2019 election, the Make It Australian campaign wrote to the three main parties Liberal, Labor and Greens to seek their responses to specific questions about their support for the screen industry. Here is an excerpt from their responses: Do you support SVOD services operating in Australia having ongoing requirements to invest in and promote original Australian content? Labor: Labor believes that all content services in the business of providing Australians with professional content, that meet certain scale and service criteria, should be contributing to the health and sustainability of our screen content sector by providing Australian content. This includes SVOD services. The precise requirements should be developed based on evidence and public consultation as part of the process under Labors Taskforce. Liberal: The SVOD market is still an emerging market in Australia. As part of their initial entry into the Australian market, SVOD services have acquired Australian back catalogue content and made various co-production deals to invest in new Australian programming. Any regulatory obligations placed on SVOD services must balance the viewing choices of Australian audiences with the SVOD industrys continued growth and sustainability in Australia. This is an area that will be kept under review. The Morrison Government provides significant support to the Australian screen industry recognising the important role it plays in shaping our national identity. A viable domestic screen production sector is essential for audiences to have access to quality Australian content. The government recognises this through investment in the industry using a range of mechanisms, including tax rebates, direct funding and regulatory measures, designed to support the production of Australian content and promote the development of a sustainable production sector. The Governments support mechanisms all combine to assist the Australian industry to create unique film, TV and online content that is extremely popular with audiences here and abroad. 2017-18 saw expenditure of $718 million on local productions, including feature films, television and online content, a record breaking year for expenditure on Australian projects. Greens: The Greens have worked hard to protect and support Australian content. Senator Sarah Hanson-Young recently chaired the Senate inquiry into Australian content on broadcast, radio and streaming services. As part of this report The Australian Greens recommended that the Australian Government implement at least a 10 per cent expenditure, and a separate promotion, obligation on SVOD services operating in Australia. Do you support maintaining childrens content obligations for commercial free-to-air TV? Labor: Labor believes that a diversity of services should provide a diversity of Australian content, including childrens content on commercial free-to-air TV. These requirements should be examined as part of the evidence-based and consultative process under Labors Taskforce. Liberal: Content obligations require that minimum levels of childrens content are made available on broadcasting services. The Childrens Television Standards 2009 sets minimum quotas for certain format genres, including P (preschool) and C (childrens) programs. Any changes in this area would need to be made carefully and with industry consensus. Greens: The Australian Greens strongly reject calls to reduce current content obligations. Childrens television contributes to the cognitive, emotional and creative development of children and young people. It is crucial that Australian children grow up with a strong sense of identity that reflects our culture and values. Do you support maintaining the Australian content requirements for commercial free-to-air TV and/or subscription TV, including for adult drama and documentary programs? Labor: Labor believes that a diversity of services should provide a diversity of Australian content, including adult drama and documentary programs and including for commercial free-to-air and/or subscription TV. These requirements should be examined as part of the evidence-based and consultative process under Labors Taskforce Liberal: One of the objectives of the Broadcasting Services Act is to promote the role of broadcasting services in developing and reflecting a sense of Australian identity, character, and cultural diversity. This role is promoted via programming quotas requiring minimum amount of content produced under the creative control of Australians to be broadcast. Any changes in this area would need to be made carefully and with industry consensus. Greens: As mentioned above, the Australian Greens are strong supporters of Australian content and support the maintenance of current Australian content obligations for all broadcasters. You can read more questions & answers at Screen Producers Australia. Transmission of Nine / SKY News joint venture Your Money ended at 1am this morning. The channel closed after 7 months on air due revenue difficulties. And yes the irony of this is not lost on anyone. Industry chatter suggests after Nine later bought Fairfax newspapers it made for very awkward bedfellows with News Corp. Channels rarely fold so quickly in their infancy although 10 BOSS may have something to add to that discussion. The Brit tourist has reportedly been missing for two days after falling into the sea around Koh Samui (Wikipedia/stock photo) A British tourist has reportedly been missing for two nights after falling into the sea during a sightseeing trip in Thailand. Wesley Bates, 35, who holds dual British and Australian nationality, fell into the sea off Koh Samui during a drunken speedboat trip on Monday, according to The Sun. Chaktam Jaijong, the captain of the vessel, claims the group that charted the boat - four men and one women - ignored warnings not sit on the bow without life jackets. Mr Jaijong said the group were already drunk when he picked them up for the tour and Mr Bates lost his balance during windy weather and fell into the water as they made their way back to the island at around 4pm. He added: They didnt listen to me when I told them to sit properly because it was very dangerous to sit on the boats head. The man was part of a group that had hired a speedboat to go sightseeing around the Thai island (Flickr/stock photo) They looked very angry, so I didnt want to keep bothering them, so I just let them sit there. Mr Jaijong was aided by local fishermen in searching for Mr Bates before the authorities were notified and the search continued without success. Police Major Worasak Akarakul, the inspector of Koh Samui police station, said that Mr Bates had still not been found. Read more from Yahoo News UK: Cyclists actually break traffic laws far less than drivers Girl born on bus 12 minutes after arriving at service station Drivers who leave their engines running could be hit with instant fines He said: "Officers have questioned the boat captain and the owner of the vessel. Their statements will form part of the investigation. "Rescue teams are co-operating to search for the tourist and all vessels in the area have been notified alerted. A Foreign & Commonwealth Office spokesperson told Yahoo News: We are in contact with the Australian embassy in Thailand, which is leading on a consular case following an incident involving an Australian-British dual national. The FCO added that they are supporting one of the passengers on board the boat, British citizen Roger Humphreys. Paris is playing host to VivaTech, the three-day summit that sees industry and world leaders meet to look at innovation in the tech field, with this years focus on rolling out the 5G network.The three-day summit opened on Thursday with show floors and stages bigger than its first year in 2016.The tech summit has a reputation of diversity, inclusivity and innovation, with 125 countries represented and over 100,000 people attending.Its regarded as the top rendezvous for global technology firms and startups from across the world as many entrepreneurs share innovative ideas that could prove useful in other regions or countries.In total, some 9,000 startups and 1,900 investors are expected to circulate the halls of the Porte de Versailles exhibition centre before wraps up on Saturday.AfricaTech zoneMore than 100 startups from Africa are attending with a focus on Algeria, Morocco, Senegal, Cameroon, Mauritius and Rwanda.Rwandas President Paul Kagame is expected to attend Fridays session along with Senegals President Macky Sall to discuss the continents progress in digital economy.But the real draw is for younger entrepreneurs and innovators who have a chance at the summit to sell their products to potential investors.Serge Boupda, an entrepreneur from Cameroon, pitched to a jury of three venture capital executives on Thursday.He was hoping for interest in his Diool payments, a means of transferring money among West African nations.He stressed the need for such technology in an area that is increasingly faced with jihadist threats, in particular Mali and Burkina Faso."Of course it's something that's going to affect my returns, but what sort of problems does terrorism represent? People are poor, and governments are struggling to be effective," said the Cameroonian creator.African entrepreneurs often struggle to find the capital to finance their projects locally, making fairs like Vivatech a great opportunity to connect with potential investors.Mario Sander, the World Bank representative in Europe, told Vivatech attendees that his agency is funnelling millions of dollars into African ventures and organising mentoring programmes for burgeoning entrepreneurs with tech giants such as Google.5G networkThe rolling out of the 5G network has been at the top of this summits agenda, with Frances President Emmanuel Macron opening the event with a warning against the growing battle over 5G between China and the US: "When it comes to 5G, we are being very careful over the access to the technologies in this network in order to preserve our national security." He added that it was not appropriate for a war to break out over technology or commerce regardless of the country.Washington this week announced that the Chinese company Huawei, a major investor in 5G research, would be blacklisted in an effort to protect US companies.The next generation 5G networks will power revolutionary new technologies such as artificial intelligence, driverless car and automated gadgets.A presentation from Huawei's Ken Hu and Borje Ekholm from Ericsson was expected to draw big crowds, with Europe's 5G plans and concerns over security issues and spying accusations against the Chinese manufacturer on the agenda. France representsAmong other kiosks displaying their fares is a series from various French regions.Frances national science and research organisation, CNRS, has brought along its partners to demonstrate their latest innovations, such as the AntBot from robotics experts in Marseille.The AntBot is being touted as a robot which can navigate the polarisation of light from the sun, imitating insects in the desert. Paris is playing host to VivaTech, the three-day summit that sees industry and world leaders meet to look at innovation in the tech field, with this years focus on rolling out the 5G network. The three-day summit opened on Thursday with show floors and stages bigger than its first year in 2016. The tech summit has a reputation of diversity, inclusivity and innovation, with 125 countries represented and over 100,000 people attending. Its regarded as the top rendezvous for global technology firms and startups from across the world as many entrepreneurs share innovative ideas that could prove useful in other regions or countries. In total, some 9,000 startups and 1,900 investors are expected to circulate the halls of the Porte de Versailles exhibition centre before wraps up on Saturday. AfricaTech zone More than 100 startups from Africa are attending with a focus on Algeria, Morocco, Senegal, Cameroon, Mauritius and Rwanda. Rwandas President Paul Kagame is expected to attend Fridays session along with Senegals President Macky Sall to discuss the continents progress in digital economy. But the real draw is for younger entrepreneurs and innovators who have a chance at the summit to sell their products to potential investors. Serge Boupda, an entrepreneur from Cameroon, pitched to a jury of three venture capital executives on Thursday. He was hoping for interest in his Diool payments, a means of transferring money among West African nations. He stressed the need for such technology in an area that is increasingly faced with jihadist threats, in particular Mali and Burkina Faso. "Of course it's something that's going to affect my returns, but what sort of problems does terrorism represent? People are poor, and governments are struggling to be effective," said the Cameroonian creator. African entrepreneurs often struggle to find the capital to finance their projects locally, making fairs like Vivatech a great opportunity to connect with potential investors. Story continues Mario Sander, the World Bank representative in Europe, told Vivatech attendees that his agency is funnelling millions of dollars into African ventures and organising mentoring programmes for burgeoning entrepreneurs with tech giants such as Google. 5G network The rolling out of the 5G network has been at the top of this summits agenda, with Frances President Emmanuel Macron opening the event with a warning against the growing battle over 5G between China and the US: "When it comes to 5G, we are being very careful over the access to the technologies in this network in order to preserve our national security." He added that it was not appropriate for a war to break out over technology or commerce regardless of the country. Washington this week announced that the Chinese company Huawei, a major investor in 5G research, would be blacklisted in an effort to protect US companies. The next generation 5G networks will power revolutionary new technologies such as artificial intelligence, driverless car and automated gadgets. A presentation from Huawei's Ken Hu and Borje Ekholm from Ericsson was expected to draw big crowds, with Europe's 5G plans and concerns over security issues and spying accusations against the Chinese manufacturer on the agenda. France represents Among other kiosks displaying their fares is a series from various French regions. Frances national science and research organisation, CNRS, has brought along its partners to demonstrate their latest innovations, such as the AntBot from robotics experts in Marseille. The AntBot is being touted as a robot which can navigate the polarisation of light from the sun, imitating insects in the desert. PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) Kosovo's justice minister says an ethnic Serb considered a suspect in a 1999 massacre has been extradited from Hungary. Abelard Tahiri said Friday that the man was extradited after "full guarantees" were given to respect his "dignity and rights." Local media identified the Serb only as M.P., saying he was part of a massacre of 113 Albanian men in March 26, 1999 in Krushe e Vogel, 85 kilometers (50 miles) west of the capital Pristina, a day after NATO started a bombing campaign. NATO's bombing, which lasted 78 days, ended a Serb crackdown against ethnic Albanian nationalists Kosovo was then a province of Serbia. More than 10,000 people died during the conflict, and 1,650 are still unaccounted for. Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence isn't recognized by Serbia. Chinese-born architect Ieoh Ming Pei has died in New York aged 102. He was the mastermind behind works such as the once-controversial Louvre Pyramid in Paris and the landmark Bank of China tower in Hong Kong. He passed away peacefully early Thursday. Ieoh Ming Pei forged a distinct brand of modern building design with his sharp lines and stark structures."Contemporary architects tend to impose modernity on something. There is a certain concern for history but it's not very deep," Pei told The New York Times in a 2008 interview."I understand that times have changed, we have evolved. But I don't want to forget the beginning," he said. "A lasting architecture has to have roots", he added.His work earned the 1983 Pritzker Prize, considered architecture's Nobel. Of his nearly 50 designs in the United States and around the world, more than half won major awards.Modern anglesBorn in China in 1917, the son of a banker came to the US at age 17 to study architecture, receiving an undergraduate degree in the field from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1940.He then enrolled in Harvard University's Graduate School of Design, where he received a master's degree in architecture in 1946. He was naturalised as a US citizen in 1954.In one standout undertaking, he deftly inserted into the monumental structures of the capital of his adopted country the modern angles of the East Building of the National Gallery of Art, opened in 1978.The stunning concrete and glass structure features huge mirrored pyramids and a 15-metre waterfall.It was "a composition of angular stone forms... that remains the most visible emblem of modern Washington," said a New York Times review 30 years after its unveiling.French president Francois Mitterrand was so impressed that he had Pei hired to build a glass pyramid into the courtyard of the Louvre, the world's most visited museum.The project was deeply controversial in Paris and Pei endured a roasting from critics before the giant glass structure opened in 1989, but his creation is now an icon of the French capital."I received many angry glances in the streets of Paris," Pei later said, confessing that "after the Louvre, I thought no project would be too difficult."Other well-known and characteristic Pei projects include the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, the Miho Museum of Shigo in Japan, the Morton Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas and The John F. Kennedy Library in Boston.He brought drama to the Four Seasons Hotel in Manhattan and Raffles City in Singapore.His Fragrant Hill Hotel in Beijing, completed in 1982, was intended to incorporate technology and indigenous building principles in a blend that would open the way to a particularly Chinese brand of modern architecture.Despite being a confessed Islamic art novice, Pei was also commissioned to design the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar, which opened in 2008 to great fanfare.The desert-toned building, inspired by the 13th-century Mosque of Ahmad ibn Tulun in Cairo, incorporates geometric patterns and is lit by reflected light entering from above.Pei spent months traveling the Muslim world seeking inspiration."Islam was one religion I did not know," he told the Times the year of the opening."So I studied the life of Muhammad. I went to Egypt and Tunisia."Architectural 'poetry'Pei dedicated energetic efforts to supporting the arts and education, serving on visiting committees at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Harvard and MIT as well as a range of US government panels including the National Council on the Humanities and National Council on the Arts.He dedicated the 89,000 euros prize money he was awarded as laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize to setting up a scholarship fund for Chinese students to study the craft in the United States, on condition that they return home to design and build.In 1975, Pei was elected to the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. Three years later he became Chancellor of the Academy, the first architect to hold the position.He was also one of 12 naturalised US citizens then-president Ronald Reagan awarded the Medal of Liberty in 1986.In 1988, Mitterrand inducted Pei as a Chevalier in the Legion d'Honneur, later raising him to the rank of Officier when Phase II of the glass-and-stainless steel Grand Louvre pyramid was completed in 1993.US president George Bush awarded Pei the Medal of Freedom that same year, when he was also elected an Honorary Academician of the Royal Academy of Arts in London.In addition to his museum oeuvre and contributions to the government and commercial landscape, Pei also worked on moderate and low-income housing."His concern has always been the surroundings in which his buildings rise," wrote the Pritzker jury that bestowed to him in 1983 architecture's most prestigious prize."His versatility and skill in the use of materials approach the level of poetry," the committee wrote. "His tact and patience have enabled him to draw together peoples of disparate interests and disciplines to create a harmonious environment.(with AFP) Chinese-born architect Ieoh Ming Pei has died in New York aged 102. He was the mastermind behind works such as the once-controversial Louvre Pyramid in Paris and the landmark Bank of China tower in Hong Kong. He passed away peacefully early Thursday. Ieoh Ming Pei forged a distinct brand of modern building design with his sharp lines and stark structures. "Contemporary architects tend to impose modernity on something. There is a certain concern for history but it's not very deep," Pei told The New York Times in a 2008 interview. "I understand that times have changed, we have evolved. But I don't want to forget the beginning," he said. "A lasting architecture has to have roots", he added. His work earned the 1983 Pritzker Prize, considered architecture's Nobel. Of his nearly 50 designs in the United States and around the world, more than half won major awards. Modern angles Born in China in 1917, the son of a banker came to the US at age 17 to study architecture, receiving an undergraduate degree in the field from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1940. He then enrolled in Harvard University's Graduate School of Design, where he received a master's degree in architecture in 1946. He was naturalised as a US citizen in 1954. In one standout undertaking, he deftly inserted into the monumental structures of the capital of his adopted country the modern angles of the East Building of the National Gallery of Art, opened in 1978. The stunning concrete and glass structure features huge mirrored pyramids and a 15-metre waterfall. It was "a composition of angular stone forms... that remains the most visible emblem of modern Washington," said a New York Times review 30 years after its unveiling. French president Francois Mitterrand was so impressed that he had Pei hired to build a glass pyramid into the courtyard of the Louvre, the world's most visited museum. The project was deeply controversial in Paris and Pei endured a roasting from critics before the giant glass structure opened in 1989, but his creation is now an icon of the French capital. Story continues "I received many angry glances in the streets of Paris," Pei later said, confessing that "after the Louvre, I thought no project would be too difficult." Other well-known and characteristic Pei projects include the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, the Miho Museum of Shigo in Japan, the Morton Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas and The John F. Kennedy Library in Boston. He brought drama to the Four Seasons Hotel in Manhattan and Raffles City in Singapore. His Fragrant Hill Hotel in Beijing, completed in 1982, was intended to incorporate technology and indigenous building principles in a blend that would open the way to a particularly Chinese brand of modern architecture. Despite being a confessed Islamic art novice, Pei was also commissioned to design the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar, which opened in 2008 to great fanfare. The desert-toned building, inspired by the 13th-century Mosque of Ahmad ibn Tulun in Cairo, incorporates geometric patterns and is lit by reflected light entering from above. Pei spent months traveling the Muslim world seeking inspiration. "Islam was one religion I did not know," he told the Times the year of the opening. "So I studied the life of Muhammad. I went to Egypt and Tunisia." Architectural 'poetry' Pei dedicated energetic efforts to supporting the arts and education, serving on visiting committees at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Harvard and MIT as well as a range of US government panels including the National Council on the Humanities and National Council on the Arts. He dedicated the 89,000 euros prize money he was awarded as laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize to setting up a scholarship fund for Chinese students to study the craft in the United States, on condition that they return home to design and build. In 1975, Pei was elected to the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. Three years later he became Chancellor of the Academy, the first architect to hold the position. He was also one of 12 naturalised US citizens then-president Ronald Reagan awarded the Medal of Liberty in 1986. In 1988, Mitterrand inducted Pei as a Chevalier in the Legion d'Honneur, later raising him to the rank of Officier when Phase II of the glass-and-stainless steel Grand Louvre pyramid was completed in 1993. US president George Bush awarded Pei the Medal of Freedom that same year, when he was also elected an Honorary Academician of the Royal Academy of Arts in London. In addition to his museum oeuvre and contributions to the government and commercial landscape, Pei also worked on moderate and low-income housing. "His concern has always been the surroundings in which his buildings rise," wrote the Pritzker jury that bestowed to him in 1983 architecture's most prestigious prize. "His versatility and skill in the use of materials approach the level of poetry," the committee wrote. "His tact and patience have enabled him to draw together peoples of disparate interests and disciplines to create a harmonious environment. (with AFP) Scientists believe they have solved the mystery regarding the origin Egyptian desert glass, fragments of which have been found scattered across the Sahara. Glass forms naturally when molten material cools so quickly that the molecules can't settle into an ordered structure such as a crystal. Yellow desert glass in Egypt has been found in ancient jewellery, including a scarab carved from the material which features in pectoral jewellery buried beside the pharaoh Tutankhamun. Mysteriously the glass is scattered across tens of square kilometres of the Sahara in Egypt and Libya. Scientists have now established that this glass was created by a meteorite impact rather than the airburst of a meteor which exploded in the atmosphere. The work published in the journal Geology, by researchers from Curtin University in Australia, examined tiny grains of zircon found in samples of the glass, which formed 29 million years ago. It shows how the canary yellow glass had traces of an extremely rare mineral called reidite which only forms during meteorite impacts. The study's lead author Dr Aaron Cavosie said: "It has been a topic of ongoing debate as to whether the glass formed during meteorite impact, or during an airburst. "Both meteorite impacts and airbursts can cause melting, however, only meteorite impacts create shock waves that form high-pressure minerals, so finding evidence of former reidite confirms it was created as the result of a meteorite impact." Dr Cavosie explained that the airburst hypothesis gained a lot of traction after an airburst over the Russian region of Chelyabinsk in 2013. Although it never collided with the surface of the Earth, the Chelyabinsk meteor strike in 2013 injured hundreds of people when it exploded. It briefly outshone the sun and inflicted severe burns on observers below, as well as smashing windows and rattling buildings. "Previous models suggested that desert glass represented a large, 100-megaton class airburst, but our results show this is not the case," Dr Cavosie said. "Meteorite impacts are catastrophic events, but they are not common. Airbursts happen more frequently, but we now know not to expect a desert glass-forming event in the near future, which is cause for some comfort." 888poker XL Inferno: "sh4xuR7" Wins $50,000 Opening Event for $13,721 May 17 2019 Eric Mertens Aaron McBride On Thursday, tournament players could enjoy the start of the new edition of the 2019 XL Inferno Series on one of the biggest online poker rooms, 888poker. On the first day of the series, they kicked off with the $50,000 Opening Event and during the day, two more events started. 888poker XL Inferno #1 - $50,000 Opening Event Buy-in Date Players Prize pool $109 May 16 726 $72,600 The first event of the 888poker XL Inferno series has now come to an end, and it was Austria's 'sh4xuR7' taking down Event #1: $50,000 Opening Event for $13,721. 'sh4xuR7' came through 726 entrants to score the victory, which ended with a heads-up battle against the UK's 'pokerdave128'. The $50,000 guarantee was smashed with a total prize pool worth $72,600 as players took to the 888poker online field once more following the recent XL Blizzard series. Final Table Results Place Player Country Prize 1 sh4xuR7 Austria $13,721 2 pokerdave128 United Kingdom $10,055 3 Alex_Vol Russia $7,405 4 jmsantos10 Malta $5,590 5 IMDool Lithuania $3,920 6 Farrugia_1 Malta $3,085 7 lNCURSIO Unknown $2,359 8 n0sferatv Peru $1,633 9 exPROsjak Serbia $1,110 Among the players in the 'Opening Event' battle was Ian Simpson, Espen Uhlen Jorstad, and Sam Grafton. Jorstad and Grafton both found a place in the money, with latter lasting the longest and ultimately departing in 24th place. When the action reached the final table, Serbia's 'exPROsjak' was first to go when they ran ace-ten into ace-queen and was quickly followed to the rail by Peru's 'n0sferatv' and 'lNCURSIO'. Malta's 'Farrugia_1' took sixth place after they ran king-jack into king-queen, with Lithuania's 'IMDool' exciting in fifth place following their shove with ace-jack unable to beat pocket kings. 'jmsantos10' missed out on a podium position and departed in fourth place when pocket kings held against ace-ten, and former chip leader 'Alex_Vol' had to settle for third place when their brave call with two pair couldn't match up against a full house. 'sh4xuR7' held a 4/1 chip lead heads-up and never looked back, ultimately holding with ace-three against king-three to seal the title and send 'pokerdave128' to the rail as runner-up. 888poker XL Inferno #2 - $20,000 Mini Opening Event Buy-in Date Players Prize pool $16.50 May 16 2,050 $30,750 The XL Inferno #2 - $20,000 Mini Opening Event attracted 2,050 players to get a prize pool of $30,750. The lion's share of this money, $5,114, went to Saudi Malta's "wh4isthat3" who was crowned the winner after 8 hours and 38 minutes of play. "k29mario" from Belarus lost the final heads-up and finished second for $3,567 after a three-way deal. Place Player Country Prize 1 wh4isthat3 Malta $5,114 2 k29mario Belarus $3,567 3 zotto18 Romania $3,309 4 F. Lupo Ireland $2,091 5 AMG_people Ukraine $1,522 6 xxtomasxx United Kingdom $1,215 7 Karenina3425 Venezuala $907 8 IcruAI Germany $600 9 ClaretBantam United Kingdom $332 888poker XL Inferno #3 - $20,000 Late Opening Event Buy-in Date Players Prize pool $55 May 16 579 $28,950 "elephant107" from the United Kingdom won the XL Inferno #3 - $20,000 Late Opening Event, a tournament with a buy-in of $55. He or she defeated a field of 579 players, beating "winlikefedor" in the final heads-up. The final two players made a deal, where they secured themselves of $4,747 and $4,806. Place Player Country Prize 1 elephant107 United Kingdom $4,747 2 winlikefedor Finland $4,806 3 MorayEEEEEL Sweden $2,967 4 kAfRiNiUs Greece $2,258 5 instinctas Lithuania $1,592 6 gibidon Russia $1,230 7 pokerbob88 Germany $941 8 capuin Canada $651 9 LucySagary70 $481 888poker XL Inferno Full Schedule Date Time (GMT) Event Buy-in May 17 6 p.m. XL Inferno #4 - $30,000 PKO $55 6 p.m. XL Inferno #5 - $20,000 Mini PKO $22 8 p.m. XL Inferno #6 - $10,000 Late PKO $33 May 18 6 p.m. XL Inferno #7 - $30,000 8-Max $109 6 p.m. XL Inferno #8 - $10,000 Mini 8-Max $8.80 8 p.m. XL Inferno #9 - $15,000 Late 8-Max $55 May 19 6 p.m. XL Inferno #10 - $100,000 Tune Up $160 6 p.m. XL Inferno #11 - $50,000 Mini Tune Up $16.50 6:30 p.m. XL Inferno #12 - $10,000 Micro Tune Up $5.50 8 p.m. XL Inferno #13 - $20,000 Late Tune Up $55 May 20 6 p.m. XL Inferno #14 - $20,000 R&A Event $33 6 p.m. XL Inferno #15 - $10,000 Mini R&A $5.50 7 p.m. XL Inferno #16 - $15,000 Later R&A $16.50 May 21 6 p.m. XL Inferno #17 - $100,000 High Roller $320 6 p.m. XL Inferno #18 - $30,000 Mini High Roller $55 8 p.m. XL Inferno #19 - $20,000 Late High Roller $109 May 22 6 p.m. XL Inferno #20 - $50,000 PKO $109 6 p.m. XL Inferno #21 - $20,000 Mini PKO $16.50 8 p.m. XL Inferno #22 - $10,000 Late PKO $33 May 23 6 p.m. XL Inferno #23 - $50,000 PKO 8-Max $160 6 p.m. XL Inferno #24 - $20,000 Mini PKO 8-Max $22 8 p.m. XL Inferno #25 - $20,000 Late PKO 8-Max $55 May 24 5 p.m. XL Inferno #26 - $30,000 DeepStack $55 5 p.m. XL Inferno #27 - $20,000 Mini DeepStack $16.50 7 p.m. XL Inferno #28 - $10,000 Late DeepStack $33 May 25 6 p.m. XL Inferno #29 - $30,000 6-Max $109 6 p.m. XL Inferno #30 - $20,000 Mini 6-Max $16.50 8 p.m. XL Inferno #31 - $15,000 Late 6-Max $55 May 26 5 p.m. XL Inferno #32 - $500,000 Main Event $250 5:30 p.m. XL Inferno #33 - $50,000 Mini Main Event $33 6 p.m. XL Inferno #34 - $15,000 Micro Main Event $5.50 Follow PokerNews.com for continued coverage of the series and live updates from the biggest events. British Airways has become embroiled in a sexism debate. The subject? The bra colour of its female flight attendants. Airline bosses are said to have disciplined cabin crew members for wearing bra colours visible under their white uniform blouses. READ MORE: Should women be forced to wear a bra to work? The flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom has fallen under fire by Union leaders, who are said to be acting on behalf of those staff members. It has been claimed British Airways disciplined staff over their bra colour. [Photo: Getty] It is neither appropriate nor acceptable women should be put in a situation where they can be demeaned for their choice of undergarments, Diana Holland, a representative for Unite, told The Sun. She told the publication cabin crew members had been managed for wearing the wrong colour or type of bra. I have been advised men are not told what underwear to put on or how tight or baggy it should be, she added. British Airways has since denied the accusations to Yahoo UK. READ MORE: Should you wear a bra to bed? There is no evidence whatsoever that any of our cabin crew colleagues have ever been disciplined for their underwear, said a representative. We have no policy on type of underwear, and have no intention of bringing one in. The row was debated on ITVs Good Morning Britain show this morning, with glamour model Nicola McLean saying she felt it was inappropriate if female flight attendants bras were visible through their shirts. "Women should wear the right bra. The uniform is there for a reason and they need to look the same they're representing a brand, she said. "It's inappropriate for a bra to be showing in a professional environment." However, last years Apprentice winner Sian Gabbidon disagreed, saying it was degrading for women to be policed on their underwear and the shirts shouldnt be see-through in the first place. This isnt the first row to break out after the British Airways uniform. In 2016, female British Airways crew members won the right to wear trousers if they choose - following a two year long dispute. Nor is British Airways the only airline embroiled in similar sexism debates over its uniforms. Earlier this year, Virgin Atlantic finally ditched its mandatory make-up rule for crew members. Under the new regulations, the airline also promised to offer female staff members the option to wear trousers. [May 16, 2019] Ever-Growing Complexity of Telecom Fraud and Its Ripple Effect The misuse and fraudulent abuse of phone networks is a growing worldwide problem that continues to trouble regulators, hit service provider revenues, impact customer service and annoy businesses and consumers alike. The Communications Fraud Control Association (CFCA) reports that phone companies suffered a collective loss to fraudulent activity just shy of $30 billion. On top of that, international subscription revenue fraud (IRSF) has grown six-fold in the last five years. Not surprisingly, it is becoming increasingly difficult for fraud managers to stay on top of the latest fraud techniques and prevent significant losses to their bottom line. A new market brief from industry leading telecommunications partner, iconectiv (News - Alert), highlights proactive measures service providers can use to block unwanted calls and reduce network fraud, including revenue share, subscription, PBX (News - Alert) hacking and Wangiri fraud. The brief outlines best practices for using numbering intelligence to augment existing fraud management systems to outsmart the fraudsters. "Stopping and preventing fraud remains a moving target, and fraud managers must be mindful and vigilant," said Richard Jacowleff (News - Alert), CEO and President, iconectiv. "With fraudsters becoming increasingly sophisticated, security and fraud strategie need to stay several strides ahead of the latest techniques in order to efficiently and effectively block vulnerabilities before attacks happen." Adding to the complexity, service providers are under pressure to deliver new and innovative services to retain customers and differentiate themselves from competition. While much of the attention is on creating and funding these innovations, what is often overlooked is the fraud and security implications they pose. Each technology and service added means new possibilities for fraudsters to infiltrate a network and new techniques for fraud managers to implement to prevent it from happening. The iconectiv market brief highlights best practices and industry solutions, inspired by TruNumber Protect, which provides authoritative numbering data to enhance existing service provider systems. This process targets suspect incoming calls and is supported by up-to-the minute awareness of attacks and patterns of behavior. Adding TruNumber Protect can also give you the data needed to block whole number ranges and spot patterns that can signify large-scale fraudulent activity. Learn how to outsmart the fraudsters to safeguard your revenue in iconectiv's market brief. Copies can be downloaded here. About iconectiv iconectiv provides authoritative numbering intelligence to the global communications industry. Our market-leading solutions enable the interconnection of networks, devices and applications for more than two billion people every day who count on a simple, seamless and secure way to access and exchange information. With 30+ years of experience and more than 5K customers worldwide, iconectiv has intimate knowledge of the intricacies and complexities in creating, operating and securing the communications infrastructure for service providers, regulators and enterprises. Our solutions span network and operations management, numbering, registries and fraud prevention. For more information, visit www.iconectiv.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190516006092/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The Duchess of Sussex is now the mother of a boy named Archie. She is normally active and participates in various activities like charity work or social work that brings her close to those around her. However, she had not been seen in public for quite some time. The reason is obvious she was expecting her baby. She is now adjusting to life as a new mother at home while her fans wait eagerly for her to make an appearance in public. People reports that her husband, Prince Harry has appeared in public after Archie was born. Harry went to the Netherlands to launch the countdown to the 2020 Invictus Games. However, Meghan has stayed out of the public eye except for a few important official engagements. It is possible that she could be present for the Trooping the Colour celebrations. Last year, Meghan was there on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. Meghan Markle celebrates first Mother's Day as a mom with sweet new photo of baby Archie https://t.co/SZYGwZkQsq pic.twitter.com/sQLm62ValH CBS News (@CBSNews) May 13, 2019 Trooping the Colour This is an annual event to celebrate the birthday of Queen Elizabeth. It will be on June 8. It is an important day and Kate Middleton was there last June. It was less than two months after her son Prince Louis was born. Meghan could use this occasion to show her son to her fans. In case she skips this date, her next opportunity could come during the christening ceremony of Archie. This will probably be in summer. The christening of Prince George took place more than three months after his birth. His sister Charlottes was held two months after her birth. There was a similar gap for Prince Louis. People goes on to add that Trooping the Colour is popular with the royal kids. Discuss this news on Eunomia It consists of a parade and fly-past and while Prince George and his sister Princess Charlotte may find the program interesting, Archie would be too young to appreciate it. Incidentally, last year Prince Louis stayed home because he was too young. Prince Harry on his own Express UK mentions the visit of Prince Harry to Oxford Children's Hospital. It was an emotional trip for him as he interacted with the patients, their parents and members of staff. He also went around the town and met a section of local residents. The Duke of Sussex was already a father by then and gushed about his baby Archie. He spoke to one of the parents whose two-year-old son was a victim of cancer. He also met a mother whose 17-year-old son was having chemotherapy. One of the royal fans gifted Harry a teddy bear for Archie. Prince William and Kate Middleton dropped in at Frogmore Cottage after Prince Harry returned from Oxford. They had come to meet their new nephew, Archie Harrison. Their children George, Charlotte, and Louis did not accompany them. The Queen and Prince Philip were the first members of the royal family to meet baby Archie. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have always wanted freedom and, so far, no one has stepped in their way. One can presume that Meghan has won over her critics and will make her first appearance with her baby at a time of her choosing. "General Hospital" (GH) spoilers say that the Nurses Ball 2019 could turn into tragedy. According to news of Celebrity Dirty Laundry, in fact, we know that someone will enter the party at the end of the year armed with a gun. The two potential victims are Shiloh Archer and Ryan Chamberlain. Ryan will return to Port Charles at the Nurses Ball, ready to complete his revenge. Laura and Ava will have to keep their eyes open. Sam, on the other hand, will be in danger as Shiloh discovers that she and Jason have made Kristina move away from the DoD sect. Archer will then be furious and Sam will be in trouble; will Jason arrive just in time to save her? Gunshots at Nurses Ball "General Hospital" spoilers reveal that Ryan will finally be back in town. Meanwhile, Jordan struggles between life and death, waiting for a compatible donor to be found for the kidney transplant. As we have seen in previous episodes of "GH," the only possible donor is Ryan's twin brother who, however, cannot undergo surgery because of a diabetes-related health problem. So, Ryan Chamberlain would be the ideal person to donate his kidney to Jordan, having the same genetic combination as his brother. A suggestive hypothesis is that Ryan sees him donating his kidney to unfortunate Jordan. This would happen after Chamberlain's death, who could be killed during the Nurses Ball festivities. In the meantime, Sam will have the opportunity to confront Shiloh Archer. The dark girl has tried in every way to protect Kristina, endangering her own life. "General Hospital's" most recent spoilers tell that there will be a tough confrontation between Sam and the head of the DoD. Discuss this news on Eunomia Jason could hurt Shiloh in a desperate attempt to save Sam. Josslyn receives a surprise from Oscar The Nurses Ball 2019 will be an event full of emotions. Joss hoped to sing a song with Oscar Nero, thus fulfilling the last wish of his boyfriend. Unfortunately, Oscar died, leaving Josslyn in despair. However, Joss will receive a mysterious letter from his boyfriend, in which he will probably find the lyrics to their song or, alternatively, a video recorded by Oscar. It will be a very moving moment for fans of the soap opera. Then, you'll find out the truth about Willow and his baby. The storyline will be turned around by Lucas, who will be in possession of determined information about it. As a result, Bill will remain petrified, aware that his castle of lies is about to collapse like a castle of cards. In short, we can't miss the next episodes. Further details will emerge with the next "General Hospital" spoilers. Norah O'Donnell was as on-point as ever as she welcomed viewers, of CBS This Morning, on May 16 with the headlines of the Eye-Opener that has become the trademark of the morning broadcast. Gayle King couldn't help but get a tad bit personal and off-track from the hard news. She gushed that her broadcasting buddy was especially sparkly this morning, in a white dress and floral pastels. In her typically professional fashion, Norah O'Donnell got CBS This Morning back on track with the news, noting that I don't want to cry this early in the broadcast. Norah O'Donnell is much more at home with hard-hitting, insightful questions for anyone in the political sphere, and especially for her pieces that promote female achievement in any setting. Some of her esteemed female colleagues, and prestigious male counterparts, too, rallied to give their best to the highly -respected ODonnell, whose last day as co-anchor on CBS This Morning was today. Her new job will be in the seat at CBS Evening News, where she will also be managing editor. That role was filled by Walter Cronkite, who set the standard for sharing the news with perspective and feeling. The position has not been kind to some pretty high-powered people since Cronkite's tenure, but Norah O'Donnell has pledged her full energy, experience, and spirit to the new launch, hoping to be another example of the girl power she has always endorsed. Only the last moments Norah O'Donnell has never been given much to emotion, and only during one of her interludes of announcing the headlines for the day did she say, This is my last time doing this. Only in the last few moments of the morning show did Norah O'Donnell dab her eyes with a tissue, and that was after seeing her three children, twins Henry and Grace, and her daughter, Riley, praise their mom. Discuss this news on Eunomia Grace spoke of her mother, saying that she was what I aspire to be, and O'Donnell's mom and dad mostly just exuded how proud they were for her to be following in such rich journalistic shoes. Her son, Henry, just looks forward to before-school breakfast with his mom. Founding CBS journalist Bob Schieffer said that, like himself, old people get up in the morning, and that he will miss Norah in that timeslot, but will look forward to seeing her in her evening news role. Besides scenes of her running with distance-running champion Shalene Flanagan and keeping up perfectly. The James Taylor and Prince Harry interviews, understandably, left her a little verklempt - but in a good way. Everyone from Katie Couric to Lester Holt (who recalled their cable news days together), to Anderson Cooper, Neil Cavuto, and David Muir each shared personal reflections with Norah ODonnell. No major network heavy-hitter was missing in extending congratulations. Wow - I'm blown away by this video. Thank you so much to everyone at @CBSThisMorning, @CBSEveningNews and beyond who contributed. https://t.co/DxGOLMkW1r Norah O'Donnell (@NorahODonnell) May 16, 2019 One of the most notable inclusions was Paul Manaforts colossal, stumbling moment, regarding Russian meddling on live TV under Norah O'Donnells incisive questioning. She will likely have many more opportunities like that with the evening news realm. O'Donnell was presented with a portrait memorializing her seven years with "CBS This Morning." Nothing but respect The tabloids would have any casual viewer believe that Norah O'Donnell was somehow jockeying for position in a catfight with Gayle King, but nothing could be farther from reality. In truth, it was new CBS News President, Susan Zirinsky, who felt the changes were in order to bring her network a big surge in viewership. The CBS Evening News will make Washington DC home in the fall. Norah O'Donnell and Gayle King were side-by-side and shoulder to shoulder as O'Donnell recalled to ExtraTV just a week ago. They were the first emerge and face the public after the fallout from the Charlie Rose sexual misconduct scandal at CBS that sparked the #MeToo movement in a very real sense. She held my hand through that process, recalls O'Donnell. Beyond that period of crisis, Norah affirms that Gayle King has made me a better journalist, a better person, and a better mother. She also says that Gayle is her go-to call when she needs a boost of confidence. Norah O'Donnell may not have much time for girl talk starting next week, but she's got a world of professionals pulling for her from every corner of TV land. French supermarket group Auchan Retails plans to sell its loss-making business in Vietnam are already drawing interest from potential buyers, Reuters reported. Earlier on Wednesday, Auchan Retail CEO Edgar Bonte told newspaper Les Echos that the group had decided to sell its 18 stores in Vietnam. Those Vietnam outlets currently generate revenues of EUR45 million (US$50.4 million). The exit from Vietnam follows Auchans deal earlier this week to sell almost all the activities of its loss-making Auchan Retail Italia arm to Conad, the Italian co-operative retail group. Auchan Retail had said in March that it was conducting a review of its loss-making markets, such as Italy and Vietnam where it has faced tough business conditions. Auchan was the last western retailer leaving Vietnam, according to Le Monde. In 2016, German Metro AG completed the sale of its Metro Cash & Carry to TCC Group and Big C Vietnam was acquired by Central Group from Frenchs Casino Group. Both buyers in these two deals are from Thailand. Auchan made its first presence in Vietnam in 2015, and currently runs 18 supermarkets in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Tay Ninh, of which 13 are in Ho Chi Minh City, four in Hanoi and one in Tay Ninh. A source told VnExpress a domestic retailer would acquire Auchans business in Vietnam, and the take-over process is scheduled to start in early June. Vietnams retail market is considered to have huge potential for development but with fierce competition. Recently, the market witnessed the exit of several retailers such as Maximark, Fivimart or Shop&Go, which were all acquired by Vingroup. Hanoitimes Ngoc Mai Vietnam Rice, the national rice brand, was made public in late 2018. However, no export company has been given the right to use the brand. Under the Vietnam Rice plan, building, developing and managing a national rice brand will help improve the position and value of Vietnam rice in the world market, and accelerate sustainable development in production, processing and trading activities. Because of the important significance of the plan, it has allocated a big budget of VND129.7 billion for implementation. The money would be spent on five component projects: 1/ building and management of the national rice brand 2/ choosing key rice products of Mekong River Delta and developing them into national products 3/ protecting Vietnam rice brands and supporting enterprises to register for brand protection in the international market 4/ popularizing Vietnam Rice brand to producers, enterprises and consumers and 5/ accelerating the export and market development of products bearing the Vietnam Rice brand. In December 2018, at the national Rice Festival organized in Long An province, the Farm Produce Processing and Market Development Department publicized the Vietnam Rice logo. To date, Vietnams export companies still cannot use the logo and the brand, because there has been no guideline from state management agencies. Nevertheless, to date, Vietnams export companies still cannot use the logo and the brand, because there has been no guideline from state management agencies. Do Ha Nam, deputy chair of the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), confirmed that state agencies still have not released the regulations on using the brand name. Nam predicted that exporters may have to wait two more years for the National Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP) to release legal documents. He urged state management agencies and rice exporters to speed up their work, warning that any delay will cause big waste of money. Lam Anh Tuan, director of Thinh Phat Food, admitted that he is not interested in using Vietnam Rice brand and logo. There must be regulations and guidance on how to use the brand. However, I have not learned about this because my clients dont require this, he explained. Meanwhile, Pham Thai Binh, CEO of Trung An Hi-tech Agriculture JSC, affirmed that Trung An still has no consignment of rice exported with Vietnam Rice Brand. While government officials emphasize the important role and significance of the national rice brand, businesses are indifferent. Binh from Trung An said the demand for using the Vietnam Rice brand is modest. Enterprises dont have to have the Vietnam Rice logo on their products to export rice, he said. RELATED NEWS Vietnam shifts to export high-quality rice Rice demand from China declines, causing concern among farmers Kim Chi The risk of money laundering in Viet Nam was at "an average level", according to a State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) report released on Wednesday. According to the report on national risk assessment on money laundering and terrorist financing in 2012-17 period, the conclusion was made after analysing trends and money laundering scams as well as money and assets created by crime and risks involving many different industries deployed in money laundering. The report said the risk of money laundering in the banking and real estate sector was at "a high level" as it accounted for almost 90 per cent of suspicious transactions. Though not all the crime money was put into the money laundering process, the results showed that compared to other sectors in the economy, there was high possibility that the criminals used the banking sector to legalise their illegal money, the report noted. To hide the illegal money earned, criminals tended to use the banking accounts under other peoples names to receive and send the illegal money, the report said. Meanwhile, the report noted, real estate was often the sector that could attract sources of huge money amounts, as real estate transactions can be carried out by cash or banking transfers, not through real estate exchanges, making it very difficult for authorities to track the flow and source of money. To carry out money laundering in real estate, criminals often used close relatives to buy then transfer real estate, the report said, adding with all those supporting facts, the risk of money laundering in the real estate sector was also high. The report also assessed the risks of money laundering in securities, foreign exchange and casino sectors were at average level while the risks in other sectors like auditing, accounting and law were low. Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue recently signed a decision to issue an action plan to tackle money laundering and terrorist financing in 2019-20. The action plan is also expected to meet international standards on prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing while serving the multi-lateral evaluation of the Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) and terrorism financing prevention. VNS Chair of Vietnam Airlines Pham Ngoc Minh says the nations flag air carrier is planning to raise wages for its pilots equal to 90 percent of the average level in Southeast Asia. Minh told the press on the sidelines of Vietnam Airlines shareholders meeting on May 10 that the airline is seeking permission for self-determination in wage policy for pilots. Though the plan has yet to receive approval, it has been trying every possible way to adjust the wages, income and allowances for workers. We have announced the adjustment of wages for pilots. The current wages are 80-85 percent of the average level in Southeast Asia and will be 85-90 percent next year, Minh said. In 2018, Vietnam Airlines pilots received VND132.5 million a month on average. The air carrier, as a state-owned enterprise, pays salaries to pilots and workers in accordance with the states wage policies. Meanwhile, private airlines offer high wages and determine wage policies themselves. Minh admitted this is a big challenge for Vietnam Airlines as it may lead to a brain drain. Local newspapers several days ago reported that Vietnam Airlines and young air carriers, implying Vietjet Air and Bamboo Airways, are competing for pilots. While the veteran airline has to pay big money to train pilots, young airlines can lure good pilots by offering higher pay. The sources said airlines have to scramble for pilots because the aviation market is witnessing hot development, while Vietnam is seriously lacking pilots. Fledgling air carriers, which dont have enough pilots, have to lure pilots from Vietnam Airlines. The sources said airlines have to scramble for pilots because the aviation market is witnessing hot development, while Vietnam is seriously lacking pilots. Fledgling air carriers, which dont have enough pilots, have to lure pilots from Vietnam Airlines. Trinh Van Quyet, chair and CEO of Bamboo Airways, said in Nguoi Lao Dong that Bamboo Airways has pilots and stewardesses in abundance. A high number of candidates applied for the posts of pilots and stewardesses, he said. Quiet said the airline is using 10 aircraft and will expand the fleet, and is expecting to have 40 aircraft by this year end and 100 by 2020-2021. The pilots for Boeing 787s will be selected from those who have experience serving Japanese, South Korean, and Thai international airlines. Prior to that, at the governments press conference on May 4, Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Nhat confirmed that the ministry has received a report from Vietnam Airlines complaining about the massive departure of Vietnam Airlines pilots for Bamboo Airways. We are investigating the issue to find if the pilots violated current laws. However, this is a common thing in a market economy and the State cannot intervene in businesses affairs, Nhat said. RELATED NEWS Bamboo Airways targets tourists, follows Vietjets example Bamboo Airways plans to have 40 air routes this year Thanh Lich The State Bank of Vietnam has issued new regulations to further facilitate foreign investors in taking part in the privatization and divestment of State-owned enterprises (SOEs) in the country. The state has made a successful IPO of Dung Quat oil refinery. Illustrative photo Under Circular 03/2019/TT-NHNN regulating the use of foreign currencies by foreign investors in Vietnam, effective from May 13 this year, foreign investors will be able to put down deposits and collateral in foreign currencies when participating in auctions to purchase shares in SOEs. Accordingly, the new circular allows foreign investors to pay deposits and provide collateral in foreign currency via transfer when taking part in auctions to purchase States stake or capital contributions in SOEs whose privatization or divestment schemes have been approved by the Prime Minister. In addition to the change, deposits and collateral in foreign currency via transfer will also be used to acquire shares and capital contributions of SOEs that make investments in other enterprises which carry out the divestment of state capital as approved by the Prime Minister. If foreign investors are successful during an auction, they are permitted to transfer their investment capital according to the countrys legal regulations on foreign exchange management in order to make payment for the purchased shares and capital contributions. In the case of losing an auction, they may transfer abroad their deposits and collateral in foreign currencies after deducting the related arising expenses. According to experts, previous regulations reportedly do not allow foreign investors to put down deposits and provide collateral in foreign currencies during initial public offerings (IPOs). Thus, the new regulations of Circular No.03 serve as a catalyst for foreign investors to further participate in the privatization and divestment of SOEs in Vietnam. Liberalization pressure The new regulations was applied when the privatization and divestment of SOEs in Vietnam remains slow amid the countrys commitments to liberalize the state sector under free trade deals including the signed Comprehensive and Progressive Trans Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the upcoming EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). Deputy Minister of Finance Vu Thi Mai admitted the privatization of the countrys SOEs remains slow, failing to meet the plans as directed by the Prime Minister. She said only two SOEs had their share selling plans approved with total value of VND295 billion (US$12.68 million) in the first four months of 2019. From 2016 to April 2019, 161 SOEs had share selling plans approved with total value of VND442 trillion (US$19.11 billion), including VND206 trillion (US$8.9 billion) of State capital, she said, adding the remaining number of SOEs that must be sold is 97, accounting for 76 percent of the assigned plan. Meanwhile, Rajiv Biswas, Asia Pacific chief economist at global information provider IHS Markit in Singapore said Vietnams ratification of the CPTPP compels the country to liberalize the state sector. A trade deal expected soon with the European Union may add pressure for these reforms, he added. Over the next decade, a gradual transformation and more competition in the state sector are expected in Vietnam because as these are the terms committed of the trade agreements, Biswas noted. Besides, the government also needs money from selling its shares in companies to pay for new roads and railways, in turn helping attract more foreign export manufacturers into Vietnam, they said, adding it ultimately wants the private sectors to take the lead in certain industries like the chaebols in South Korea. However, to boost the participation of foreign investors in the countrys SOE privatization and divestment, experts suggested the government to improve the information publicity as SOEs sometimes release too little information, causing the investors difficulties to make investment decisions. Hanoitimes Anh Hong As Vietnams cities and provinces are ramping up efforts with new action plans to realise the smart city dream, international tech giants are moving faster with new ambitious business plans. Singapore provides a model in which other countries, including Vietnam, can learn from and adapt in order to develop smart cities After an hour-long motorbike ride to cover 10 kilometres from downtown Hanoi to the famous Hadong silk village, James, 35, from the US arrived in no mood for sightseeing, his exuberance having slowly bubbled away in the traffic jams. The streets were so crowded everywhere. Hundreds of motorbikes and cars are vying to get ahead, cutting each other off at every turn. I got stuck in several places and I wished I could use a mobile app to select the best route to avoid traffic jams like I do in other countries. Hanoi has many beautiful and interesting places, but the traffic problem lessens their attractiveness, he said. James is not the first traveller, or indeed local, to voice such complaints when visiting Hanoi and the city is not deaf to these voices. The problem may be solved in the near future thanks to the citys recent moves to develop into a smart city. After this transformation, travellers and commuters in the city will be able to use mobile apps to select their routes in order to avoid traffic jams. Lamp posts on all streets will be installed with cameras, sending images to the monitoring centre which will automatically regulate traffic. Moreover, there will be electronic tickets for bus commuters, as well as automatic tolling systems at all build-operate-transfer (BOT) stations and smart car parks. New action plans Aligning with the prime ministers recently-approved master plan for Vietnams smart and sustainable city development strategy in the 2018-2025 period, with a vision towards 2030, cities and provinces are actively developing their smart city schemes. Initially, they will apply digital technology in governance, with the e-government being an example, thus creating a platform to develop into a smart city, Vu Tien Loc, chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), told VIR. Just a few weeks ago, the central city of Danang announced its smart city development scheme, envisioning transforming itself into a smart city in three stages with the total cost of about VND2.1 trillion ($91.3 million). The scheme identified 17 aspects of ICT application for the purpose under the six pillars of intelligent management, smart economy, smart traffic, intelligent environment, as well as smart life and smart citizens. Danang followed similar moves by Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. In March 2019, Ho Chi Minh City became the first city in Vietnam to issue a resolution and a scheme on developing itself into a smart city in the 2017-2020 phase, with vision to 2025. Hanoi then followed shortly with Action Plan No.66/KH-UBND for the implementation of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement on Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), with smart city development being a focus. Looking into the schemes, the cities all aim to apply technology solutions to launch e-government, smart traffic systems, smart power grids, smart water management systems, as well as supervise the environment and manage waste. The plans all align with Vietnams master plan for smart and sustainable city development under which Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Danang are all set to become central cities by the time the first pilot phase reaches completion in 2030. Going beyond these three cities, the model will then be replicated in others, thus establishing an affiliate network of smart cities in the northern, central, and southern regions of Vietnam, as well as the Mekong Delta region. To realise this ambition, by 2025 Vietnam is set to implement the first phase of the pilot project on the development of smart cities. During this period, the legal framework will be completed for the pilot development plans, as well as for city management, lighting, transport, water supply and drainage, waste collection and treatment, power and the power grid, natural disaster warning system, and ICT infrastructure. So far, several other localities, like the northern province of Bac Ninh and the southern province of Binh Duong have also built their own smart city development plans. Currently, more than 30 smart city models are being deployed by Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group and Viettel, in combination with the US Microsoft and IBM, and Japans Fujitsu. Tech giants step up In response to the concrete strategies and related legislation coming out, tech giants are stepping up their plans to capture opportunities. Last week, a largest-ever delegation of over 50 businesses from Sweden attended the Vietnam-Sweden Business Summit to seek business opportunities in the country, with innovative solutions for smart city development being a focus. Specifically, major fields for sustainable development and innovation, including manufacturing, solutions for consumers, healthcare, and education were under discussion. Ericsson, ABB, Volvo Buses, Electrolux, and IKEA all famous Swedish brands with long years of success in Vietnam showed their ambitions with new plans to support the smart city initiatives of cities and provinces. Ericsson and its local partner Viettel announced 5G on a trial basis last week, with a plan to roll out this network on a large scale from 2020 onwards. It is now in strategic partnerships with mobile operators in the country to continue building out 4G networks. Ericssons ambitions are also evidenced by the mid-April announcement of the Internet of Things Innovation Hub in partnership with the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Women in ICT Internship programme the corporation has forged with the Hanoi University of Science and Technology. ABB, a technology pioneer in electrification products, robotics and motion, industrial automation and power grids, is also pursuing many smart city projects in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and other cities. Recently, at the announcement of Danangs smart city development scheme, ABB also signed a co-operation agreement with the city to lend its strength to future projects. Similarly, Dutch investors are working on specific smart city plans for Binh Duong. In particular, Philips plans to install smart lighting equipment, while other companies, including FabMax and NXP, are planning to build front-end chip plants in Ho Chi Minh City and back-end chip plants in Binh Duong. Companies from Japan, South Korea, the US, and EU countries are also joining the race. Germanys Bosch Vietnam has invested $450,000 in a new centre to study new solutions towards building smart cities and Industry 4.0. We plan to develop Ho Chi Minh City into one of our centres to supply the Internet of Things solutions for Bosch in the Southeast Asian region in the long term, said Guru Mallikarjuna, managing director of Bosch Vietnam. Industry insiders said that with the cities recent new moves, investors interest will further intensify as they can venture further into public services which no longer exclude private investors. Hanoi has recently announced that the city will reclassify public services to open up more opportunities for private investors to join in these services, thus mobilising financial sources to feed the plan. In addition, we plan to maximally outsource services related to software as well as infrastructure to technology businesses, from data centres and security services to channel and other services to raise resources and talent to serve our smart city development plan, said Nguyen Duc Chung, Chairman of the Hanoi Peoples Committee. According to VCCI chairman Loc, to successfully develop a smart city, cities and provinces should look for reliable partners to ensure network security and project feasibility. Thus, they should strike up partnerships with countries which have strong expertise in the field, with Sweden, the US, Japan, Singapore and South Korea being the top suggestions. VIR ASEM conference on promoting inclusive socio-economic development in Asia and Europe opened a conference in Khanh Hoa on May 16, attracting over 180 delegates from 53 ASEM member states, regional and international organisations. At the event Co-hosted by the Foreign Ministry; the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs; the Ministry of Planning and Investment; and the provincial Peoples Committee, the event aims to realise Vietnams initiatives adopted at the 12th ASEM Summit in Brussels in October last year. Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Doan Mau Diep affirmed that the Vietnamese Government has carried out a sustainable development strategy through ensuring economic growth in tandem with social progress and justice, as well as strengthening the social welfare system for all citizens. Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Cuong said countries are facing challenges regarding gaps in wealth, income and employment, gender inequality, terrorism, transnational crimes, cyber security and climate change. He suggested that ASEMs initiatives should be people-centred; bring practical benefits to them; uphold creativity of all walks of life, especially youths, women and girls; as well as improve economic empowerment for women. The official spoke highly of strategic partnerships on sustainable development, ASEMs effective projects on financial aid and technological transfer in Vietnam. As one of the founding members of ASEM, Vietnam always gives high priorities to contributing to common efforts to enhance ASEM cooperation, he said. The two-day event focuses its discussion on inclusive socio-economic development in the 21st century, the role and involvement of parties concerned, as part of preparations for the 14th ASEM Foreign Ministers Meeting scheduled for December in Spain.-VNA PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc asked Brazil to facilitate the entry of Vietnamese farm produceduring a reception for Brazilian Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply Terresa Cristina Correa in Hanoi on May 17. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (right) receives Brazilian Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply Terresa Cristina Correa The PM appreciated the results of the working session between the agriculture ministries of Vietnam and Brazil during the ministers visit, which he said will help promote bilateral partnership in this potential field. Acknowledging the positive developments of the comprehensive partnership between the two countries over the past 30 years, PM Phuc affirmed that Vietnam treasures the relationship with Brazil and urged bolstering cooperation in trade, investment and agriculture. PM Phuc suggested that the two countries increase the exchange of delegations and promote trade and investment. He added that the two sides should early hold the third meeting of their joint committee to build specific programmes and projects for bilateral cooperation in the time ahead, while encouraging their businesses to set up partnership in fields of potential and mutual strength. He said Vietnam is willing to serve as a bridge for ASEAN and Mercosur, and proposed that the two sides work together on studying the possibility of starting negotiations on a Vietnam-Mercosur trade agreement. The Vietnamese PM also recommended increasing cooperation in defence and education. He took the occasion to thank Brazil for supporting Vietnams bid for a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council in the 2020-2021 tenure. The Brazilian minister said Brazil attaches importance to ties with Vietnam, and her current visit aims to promote cooperation with Vietnam, especially in agriculture, a field in which both countries have great potential for development. Brazil wants to export to Vietnam its strong products, including farm products such as beef, she said, adding that the presence of representatives from around 20 Brazilian firms in her delegation this time demonstrates the attention that Brazilian businesses pay to Vietnam. Brazil is Vietnams biggest Latin American trade partners and the second biggest in America, just behind the US.-VNA Vietnam and Malaysia have agreed to enhance economic cooperation to increase two-way trade to US$15 billion by next year. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh (R) meets Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah in Hanoi yesterday. VNA/VNS Photo Lam Khanh The agreement was reached during talks between Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh and Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah in Hanoi yesterday. They agreed to cooperate to remove barriers and create favourable conditions for businesses to cooperate, particularly in potential fields of urban development, renewable energy, electronic production and agro-forestry and fisheries. They pointed to the need to increase exchanges of high-ranking delegations to deepen the strategic partnerships. The two sides committed to promote mechanisms and sign new cooperation agreements in defence and security. They discussed measures to improve efficiency in other important fields, including education and training, labour, transport, information and communication, and culture and tourism. Deputy PM Minh said the first visit to Vietnam by the Malaysian Minister would play an important part in strengthening and speeding up the strategic partnerships. Minister Abdullah said Malaysia always attached great important to developing cooperation with Vietnam in all fields. The two sides discussed regional and international issues. Meeting with PM Vietnam always treasures its relations with Malaysia, one of the countrys important partners in the region, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said while meeting the Minister later that day. PM Phuc said both foreign ministries should work to carry out measures to foster relations and cooperation in the future. Abdullah said the Malaysian PM wishes to enhance cooperative ties with Vietnam and suggested both nations bolster cooperation beyond traditional fields to Industry 4.0 and robotics. PM Phuc welcomed the Malaysian diplomats recommendations, highlighting that Vietnam has potential in these fields. The Vietnamese Government leader said that due attention should be paid to lever cooperation in high-quality infrastructure development, high technology, logistics, and energy. The Vietnamese Government committed to providing favourable conditions for Malaysian corporations to do business in Vietnam, he said. Regarding the East Sea issue, PM Phuc agreed with the Malaysian FMs viewpoint on a consensus in ASEAN on accelerating negotiations of the Code of Conduct in the waters with China. He said all parties must respect international laws, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982), and ensure security, safety, and freedom of aviation and navigation in the region. VNS The World Economic Forum (WEF) has built a National Plastic Action Partnership (NPAP) for Vietnam and is looking for feedback from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Vietnam. Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha (R) receives Justin Wood, head of the WEF's Regional Agenda Asia Pacific on May 15 (Photo: baotainguyenmoitruong.vn) Justin Wood, head of the WEF's Regional Agenda Asia Pacific made the request at a working session with Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha in Hanoi on May 15. He said the NPAP for Vietnam was developed under a protocol signed between WEF and the ministry on January 23. The pact focuses on supporting Vietnam in joining the Global Plastics Action Partnership (GPAP) and developing circular economy, particularly contents related to Vietnams initiatives and activities when taking the role of ASEAN Chair in 2020. The GPAP is an initiative of WEF on collaborating with government and stakeholders in coastal economies battling plastic waste to translate their commitments into action by fast-tracking circular economy solutions. In response to his guest, Minister Ha said the ministry has assigned the Vietnam Environment Administration, which oversees solid waste management, to study WEFs proposal for further discussion and collaboration. He praised the WEFs contributions to the draft Bangkok Declaration and an action framework on marine waste, both were issued as part of the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Marine Debris in Bangkok, Thailand, last March. The official also noted that the ministry has tasked the Vietnam Administration of Sea and Islands with working with WEF in building specific initiatives and actions related to tackling ocean plastic waste for Vietnam.-VNA If Vietnam does not have reasonable policies to develop excellent technology engineers, its dream of building technology powerhouses will never be realized, experts say. Make in Vietnam was the slogan repeated many times at the National Technology Firm Development Forum which took place on May 9. More than a slogan, it is the dream of becoming a powerhouse with a high number of powerful technology firms which can take the initiative in all phases of the production process, from creation and design to production and distribution. Vietnamese technology firms will Make in Vietnam. If we continue to just do assembling, we will never be able to settle the question about productivity and the middle-income trap, said Minister of Information and Communication Nguyen Manh Hung at the event. The most important factor Vietnam has to have in order to build technology firms is human resources. But that is what Vietnam is lacking now. According to the founder and CTO of GotIt! Tran Viet Hung, Vietnam has a young, cheap and qualified workforce. Vietnamese work in many countries in the world and many of them are holding important positions at the worlds leading technology groups such as Google, Microsoft and Facebook. Vietnam has a young, cheap and qualified workforce. Vietnamese work in many countries in the world and many of them are holding important positions at the worlds leading technology groups such as Google, Microsoft and Facebook. However, Hung said Vietnamese engineers are now focusing on doing outsourcing rather than developing products. Vietnamese firms do not have products useful to foreigners. Excellent staff is a very important factor, vital to technology firms. If the firms dont have good engineers, they wont be able to do anything significant, even though they have big money, Hung said. Vietnams IT firms need a high number of engineers to implement projects outsourced to them by foreign partners. These are the engineers with moderate qualifications. University students can easily find jobs at outsourcing projects, so they dont make efforts to upgrade to become excellent. That is why we lack good engineers, Hung said. If universities dont have proper policies to produce excellent engineers, it would be better to give up the make in Vietnam dream, he said. Sharing the same view, Ly Quoc Chinh, CTO of VNPT Technology, commented that Vietnamese technology engineers quality is so-so. The engineers with high qualifications are mostly in large firms such as Viettel, Vingroup and VNPT. Can we develop many hi-tech firms with such a labor force? Chinh said. Without good staff, it will be difficult for Vietnam to master and utilize technologies, let alone create new technologies. The latest report from TopDev Vietnam IT Landscape 2019 shows that technology firms are willing to pay VND500 million a year to one AI engineer, but it is still difficult to find suitable candidates in Vietnam. RELATED NEWS GotIt! secures $9 million for knowledge sharing app Vietnam seeks to have 50,000 more tech firms by 2030 Trong Dat Some experts have compared Vietnams Vingroup with South Koreas Samsung. Both started in the food sector and shifted to develop technology. Big thinking In summer 2018, when Yale Professor Vu Ha Van and his family spent their holiday in Da Nang, he received a call from Vingroups chair Pham Nhat Vuong who asked for a meeting. Prof Vu Ha Van of Yale University I told Van what I was striving for and I talked about the plan to become a technology group, then I raised a question Will you dare do it?. In reply, Van said Go! Some months later, Vingroup declared its plan to become a technology-industry-service group and appointed Van to the post of Science Director of Vingroups Big Data Institute. Vuong wants to build Vingroup into a technology conglomerate. Moreover, he wants Vietnam to become stronger in science and technology development, Van said. In the current circumstances, this will be the quickest way for Vietnam to develop more rapidly and people can obtain higher income. Some months later, Vingroup declared its plan to become a technology-industry-service group and appointed Van to the post of Science Director of Vingroups Big Data Institute. Vuong, as usual, thinks big and does quickly. I talked to Vuong about the idea of establishing Big Data Institute two months ago and the license to establish the institute was granted two weeks ago, Van told the press in August 2018. Vuong has also developed a center for research, development and application of high technologies VinTech City based on a Silicon Valley model, and set up an investment fund to pour capital into technology firms to seek opportunities for developing technology projects. Vietnams Samsung Channel NewsAsia (CNA) in Singapore likened Vingroup to Samsung. The Vietnamese and South Korean groups have similarities in their development path and they both have powerful capability to develop. Samsung has Samsung Town, while VIngroup has VinTech City. Samsung has NEXT fund, and Vingroup also has its own fund to seek cooperation opportunities. And it is highly possible that Vingroup, in cooperation with other Vietnamese groups, would become a Red River miracle, like Samsung and its partners, which created the Miracle of the Han River. The government of Vietnam offers big preferences in tax, land and capital access to technology firms, especially startups, showing its strong determination to develop science and technology. In 2019, the government plans to approve the national project on digital transformation, paving the way for the development of startups. For startups, the government has a plan to support the national startup ecosystem and establish innovation centers. Tri Thuc Tre commented that the weapon Vuong is using to implement his strategy and attract talent is not money, but an ecosystem for them to show their talent. RELATED NEWS Vingroup to develop Vietnam's own Sillicon Valley Mastering technology for Vietnams growth Mai Lan Police in Mong Cai have arrested a Chinese national after he illegally entered Vietnam in possession of drugs. Chinese suspect Mo Jia Hua Following his arrest, the man was identified as Mo Jia Hua, 28, of Kweilin city, Guangxi, China. Upon questioning the man, police discovered he has entered Vietnam illegally on a number of previous occasions. They discovered that he regularly travels to Bac Son commune and Mong Cai city. Police were able to discover Mo Jia Huas activities following a tip off from a private source. Following this, the police apprehend the suspect red-handed as he arrived at the Hong Van hotel. After conducting a search of the suspect, police seized two small nylon bags which contained a total of 300 grams of white powder. When questioned at the police station, Mo Jia Hua came clean and admitted to his criminal acts. The case is currently under further investigation. VOV Heartbeat Vietnam, VinaCapital Foundations health care programme, has funded 7,000 life-saving heart operations for disadvantaged children with congenital heart defects in VN after 12 years of operation. Tien Trinh Ngoc Vy, who received free heart surgery from Heartbeat Vietnam, with her mother. Photo courtesy of VinaCapital Foundation Tien Trinh Ngoc Vy, born in 2018, was diagnosed with congenital Tetralogy of Fallot. Vy has a twin sister and a seven-year-old brother. Her parents, who live in HCM Citys District 5, could not afford the surgery costs of VN80 million (US$3,400) as her family lives on the fathers income as a driver. After undergoing successful surgery in the Heart Institute in HCM City in March, Vy is now in good health. The charity programme will continue to travel to remote areas to deliver free heart screenings and fund operations for nearly 1,000 children diagnosed with congenital heart defects per year. Some initiatives of Heartbeat Vietnam to promote fundraising and awareness include Vet Seo Cuoc oi (Scar of Life) and Chay Vi Trai Tim (Run for the Heart), and documentaries Noi Ket Yeu Thuong (Connecting Love) on HCM City Television (HTV). In Viet Nam, about 16,000 babies are born every year with congenital heart defects, of which 7,500 cases need medical intervention, according to research conducted by VinaCapital Foundation. Defects such as atrial septal defect, ventricular septal defect, and Tetralogy of Fallot had high risks a decade ago but can now be cured. Many children in rural areas have few chances for cardiac diagnosis and consultancy, which results in life-threatening complications. VNS When the Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year) holiday falls on a weekend, workers should still enjoy the following Monday and Tuesday as paid public holidays, business associations said at a workshop on revisions to the labour code on Tuesday. Hanoi brightens up to celebrate Tet Should we celebrate Tet at all? People gather at a traditional festival in Trieu Khuc Village, Hanoi during the Tet holiday. A draft revision to the labour code would not give employees Monday and Tuesday off as paid holidays when Tet falls on a weekend. VNA/VNS Photo Hoang Hung The workshop, hosted by the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), gathered opinions of labour experts and business associations about draft amendments to the 2012 Labour Code, including the controversial draft regulation on the reduction of holidays. Under the revisions, workers will have a five-day break for Tet. However, if it falls on a weekend, they will not have paid days off on the following Monday and Tuesday. Many employers recommended not changing the current regulation despite doubts about its impact on enterprises business activities. For the garment industry, many workers are from the countryside," said Truong Van Cam, general secretary of the Viet Nam Textile Association. "Therefore, companies should allow them to take paid days off when Tet falls on weekends to win their loyalty." Many fashion suppliers in southern provinces even let their workers to take Tet leave until the middle of the first lunar month," he said. Do Thi Thuy Huong, a representative of the Viet Nam Electronic Industry Association, agreed the change was unnecessary. According to Pham Minh Huan, former Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, the regulation was established in the 1994 Labour Code to allow employees to fully enjoy the biggest holiday of the year and ease traffic pressure before and after Tet. Mai Duc Thien, deputy head of the ministrys Legal Department, said the draft amendment was suggested because the break for the holiday usually in late January or early February was too long and comes as the rest of the world has already started working [after new year holidays]. This break affects business activities and export orders. The ministry plans to add a public holiday on July 27, also known as the Vietnamese War Invalids and Martyrs Day, to pay tribute to the countrys heroes. Bui Sy Loi, vice chairman of the National Assemblys Social Affairs Committee, said he supported the draft amendment, noting that even with the addition of the holiday, Vietnam would still have only 11 public holidays per year, fewer than other countries in Southeast Asia. The NA Steering Committee has discussed the change but has not come to a conclusion," he said. "To make a final decision, we are seeking peoples opinions and evaluating social factors since working may be a better way to pay tribute than taking a day off. VNS The Dien Bien Phu Victory which ended the French colonial rule in Vietnam (May 7, 1954) was celebrated at a conference held by the Lao Ministry of Industry and Commerce in Vientiane on May 16. The Lao Ministry of Industry and Commerce holds a conference to celebrate the Dien Bien Phu Victory. More than 200 officials of the Lao Ministry of Industry and Commerce watched a documentary on the victory 65 years ago, which helped them understand more about the significance of the triumph to the revolutionary development of the three Indochinese nations of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, as well as the special solidarity and fighting alliance between Vietnam and Laos. Vietnamese Defence Attache in Laos Colonel Tao Van Thai said the Dien Bien Phu Victory is the win shared by the people of the Indochinese nations, and the triumph of the Vietnam-Laos special solidarity and fighting alliance. He thanked the Lao Party, State and people for their valuable, whole-hearted and effective support to Vietnamese revolution and people during the past struggle for national liberation as well as the present cause of national construction and defence. Lao Minister of Industry and Commerce Khemmani Phonesena promised that the ministry will continue enhancing the special relationship between the two countries. The Dien Bien Phu Campaign lasted for 56 days from March 13 to May 7, 1954 under the command of General Vo Nguyen Giap. It saw Vietnam defeat the French colonialists to put an end to their rule in Indochina in 1954.-VNA The Vietnamese Embassy in Egypt on May 16 held a ceremony to mark the 129th birthday of President Ho Chi Minh (May 19). Within the framework of the event, the embassy held photo exhibition featuring President Ho Chi Minh, and displayed documents and newspapers on the late leader. The event saw the attendance of Egyptian officials, ambassadors and representatives of foreign diplomatic corps in Egypt, international scholars and representatives of the Vietnamese community in the country. In his remarks, Vietnamese Ambassador to Egypt Tran Thanh Cong recalled President Ho Chi Minhs theoretical and practical contributions to communist and national liberation movements in the world, especially those in Africa, including Egypt. President Ho Chi Minh is a great friend of Egyptian people, and a symbol of the friendship, solidarity and loyalty between Vietnam and Egypt, the diplomat said, noting that he laid a firm foundation for the traditional friendship and multi-faceted cooperation between the two countries. Egyptian guests expressed their impressions and sentiments towards Vietnam, and lauded the countrys development in such spheres as economy, culture and science-technology. Within the framework of the event, the embassy held photo exhibition featuring President Ho Chi Minh, and displayed documents and newspapers on the late leader.-VNA The European Unions new strategy on Central Asia will be officially presented by High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica during the 15th EU-Central Asia Ministerial meeting in Bishkek on July 7. The European External Action Service (EEAS) has already published the document 'The European Union and Central Asia: New opportunities for a stronger partnership'. This document is to be endorsed by the European Council. Thus, the point of Brussels is that, despite a number of its own problems (Brexit, migration, contradictions between common European and national values, economic turmoil, etc.) and insufficient influence compared with China, Russia and the United States, the EU continues to actively promote its interests in Central Asia. The 17-page document sets out "a fresh vision for a stronger partnership with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan." It comes at "a key moment of fast-developing Euro-Asian connectivity". The strategy aims to forge a "stronger, modern and non-exclusive partnership with the countries of Central Asia" so that the region develops as a sustainable, more resilient, prosperous, and closely interconnected economic and political space. The EU stresses that it seeks to deepen its engagement with those Central Asian countries willing and able to intensify relations. At the same time, the document notes that the European Union respects the aspirations and interests of each state in the region and maintains the need to differentiate between specific country situations. Expert analyst on Europe Dimash Abdullin (Kazakhstan) commented on the document on the request of Vestnik Kavkaza: "This is both a vision and a joint statement on the opportunities, which is very encouraging. One should understand that the EU has been a supporter of stability and development since its inception and up to the present day, and tries to avoid undesirable changes in many areas. Precisely these vectors are reflected in the document". According to the expert, on this basis the EU will propose its initiatives and projects in Central Asia during the new strategy period. The situation in Europe itself is very ambiguous: the change in the format of united EU, the results of Brexit are not clear, European politicians remain hopeful that the UK will stay in the EU. The election to the European Parliament and the possible change of the President of the European Commission are also not as easy and pleasant as it seems outside the EU. "Relations with the U.S. are currently complex and the goals of the EU and the U.S. do not always coincide. The EUs course is in a state of constant individualization and formatting. Europe needs stability and reliability during this period. EU diplomatic work must be taken into account. Europe is a master of diplomacy. The document may be presented in its current form, or might be amended. Therefore, it is presented as a 'Joint Communication and current vision of the strategy'. The deadline for submitting the document apparently could not be postponed until July," Dimash Abdullin said. He noted that the management and diplomatic service of the EU demonstrates excellent methods for solving problems in diplomacy and foreign policy. The expected publication of the Strategy in the spring could be postponed to July from due to various factors - the opportunity to present the document in a calmer atmosphere, the election to the European Parliament, the possible election of a new EC President. Evaluating the situation in Central Asia, the expert said that no changes in foreign policy are expected in the near future. "The policy of strengthening and developing relations with the EU is strategic. With regard to the various vectors of foreign policy, everything is as balanced as possible. The presidential election in Kazakhstan does not affect this issue. A positive factor is the formation of a common foreign policy course 'group 5 Central Asia' [gCA5 is a term proposed by Abdullin - VK] and this course is clearly progressive. The publication of a new EU Strategy on Central Asia will contribute to positive political and economic growth in the countries of the region. The new EU Strategy for Central Asia is related to the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and Russia, Abdullin is convinced. An improved integration with the EU have a beneficial effect on Eurasian integration as a whole. The document on the new EU Strategy on Central Asia consists of several provisions and sections. This is presented briefly and clearly in the newsletter on the new EU Strategy for Central Asia. According to Abdullin, the document feels like the vision of the present and future cooperation between the EU and Central Asia and its main directions. In particular, the EU will work to address structural constraints on intra-regional trade and investment, support remaining Central Asian states' accession to the WTO and promote sustainable connectivity. The transition to general rules and a more integrated regional market, the solution of common problems such as environmental degradation and terrorism, the intensification of cooperation with Central Asian partners to promote peace in Afghanistan are also important. A key element of the participation of Brussels in the region's life remains the Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement. The EU signed such a document with Kazakhstan in 2015. Now work on similar agreements is being conducted with Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Tajikistan also expressed interest in negotiating such a treaty. The EU stresses that these agreements do not exclude countries from participating in other initiatives like the Eurasian Economic Union or free trade agreements. "The publication of a joint communication on the new strategy should cause the world's great interest in the EU-Central Asia relations. After the publication of a number of documents on the EU and Asia connectivity, the opening of the EU free trade zone with Japan, meetings of European leaders with the leadership of China, this Strategy should make a very good effect. Even considering the fact that the region is not very famous or popular in Europe, it will contribute to the growth of positive actions and increased activity in Central Asia. The official presentation of the EU Strategy on Central Asia in July is likely to consolidate a positive effect," Dimash Abdullin concluded. Director General of the Analytical Center 'Strategy East-West' (Kyrgyzstan) Dmitry Orlov believes that the European Union, by strengthening its presence in the East, wants to get rid of the strong influence of the United States. "Brussels, and most likely Berlin, understood that it's time to stop considering the interests of the EU through the prism of the U.S. Another question is how the new Europe will behave [Baltic states, Eastern European countries - VK], which joined the EU with the assistance of Washington. It imposes certain obligations. Therefore, a conflict of interest between the new and old Europe is possible. The fact is that the EC made a very interesting statement that the EU should bring the Central Asian countries, in particular Kyrgyzstan, out of the influence of Russia and China," Dmitry Orlov told Vestnik Kavkaza. According to the expert, its hard to imagine how they will do it. Since Russia and China are Kyrgyzstan's main economic partners. According to Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica, the EU allocated a little more than $1 billion to the Central Asian countries from 2014 to 2020. The intention of the EU to 'pull up' Afghanistan to Central Asia is also unclear. "Initially, it was the American idea of 'Greater Central Asia'. It turns out that the U.S. and the EU want to shift some of the responsibility for Afghanistan to the countries of Central Asia," Orlov noted. Virginia Tech will celebrate Homecoming Oct. 14-19 with activities for students, alumni, and friends. Homecoming weekend will kick off Friday evening with a Spirit Rally. The annual Homecoming parade will be held Saturday morning in downtown Blacksburg, and the Office of Alumni Relations will host a tailgate at the Holtzman Alumni Center later that day before the Hokies play the University of North Carolina Tarheels. Saturdays faceoff will be SGAs Maroon Effect game. The Class of 1969s 50th Reunion and the Highty-Tighty Reunion will also be held Homecoming Weekend. The Class of 1969 will come together Oct. 17-19. The groups 50th reunion marks their induction into the Old Guard Society of Golden Alumni. The student-led Homecoming Board partners with several organizations to carry out a week of Homecoming events prior to the weekend. Those festivities will begin Monday, Oct. 14, with the Campfire Kickoff, followed by the Homecomings Got Talent on Tuesday, Oct. 15. For updates on events and to learn more, visit the Homecoming site. WATERLOO This is my, uh, death trap, Jesse Van Engelenhoven told the crowd gathered around his electric car. He explained to those gathered for the Cedar Valley MakerSpace open house Thursday evening that he hadnt originally planned on building a car, but he had accumulated a few parts. In the span of a year, between his own house and the MakerSpace, he built most of a 100-volt car that can currently run for about an hour at 45 miles per hour. Its a big hobby project, but even so, Van Engelenhovens not married to it he mentioned he was toying with the idea of tearing it apart and building a minibike with the parts. He just likes seeing what he can do. Ive got the batteries, Ive got the motor. Why dont I build something? he said. Those who think like Van Engelenhoven would fit in well at the MakerSpace, a nonprofit, industrial shared workspace on the third floor of the Cedar Valley Tech Works building on the outskirts of Waterloos downtown. In its third year, the MakerSpace has grown to 70 members and added new equipment, much of it courtesy of Black Hawk County Gaming Association grants and the McElroy Trust, said acting director Mike Hoffman. Hoffman was part of a group of six volunteer members who came up with the concept and helped to begin the space. He demonstrated the CNC machine modified for the open house to simply draw on paper instead of cut through wood and said its one of the more popular machines in the MakerSpace, with most people using it to make wood furniture. I tell people when they come in, go Google, Hoffman said. Theres 1,001 things you can build with a CNC machine. Members can get trained on anything from a core group of people familiar with the machines, and Hoffman said theyre also looking for more people skilled on their machines to potentially offer classes. But plenty of people who already know what theyre doing use the space because they otherwise dont have access to the machines they need like school groups making everything from birdhouses to robots to rockets. Theres just a lot of creative people who work with tools that come here thats why I like it, Hoffman said. Hoffman said most people at the MakerSpace are hobbyists, though some use the space to create things for a business they run, something board members are considering cracking down on. Its more for prototyping, Hoffman said. But its certainly a great place as an incubator, to test out your ideas and see if the products going to fly. Memberships at the MakerSpace are $40 per month or $75 for a family, which includes 24-hour access to the equipment and tools as well as mentors. Hoffman said the space can handle double or triple the number of members it has now. At $40 a month, with this kind of equipment, thats cheap, he said. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The business news you need Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. CRESCO Trial has been set in June for a Cresco man accused of trying to kill officers during a high-speed chase in March. Richard Dale Ogle II, 29, on Monday pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder, eluding, going armed, felon in possession of a firearm, domestic abuse, carrying weapons, operating while intoxicated and carrying a weapon while under the influence. He remains at the Winneshiek County Jail pending trial, which has been set for June 26 in Howard County District Court in Cresco. According to court records, Cresco police were sent to Ogles home on March 16 after receiving a report that he had held a gun to his girlfriends head. The woman was removed from the house when authorities arrived, and officers believed that Ogle had barricaded himself inside. A short time later, Ogle left the house and drove off in a silver Mazda. What followed was a 14-mile chase that reached speeds of 100 mph. Before the chase ended on Iowa Highway 9 a few miles west of Ridgeway, Ogle allegedly fired at the pursuing officers, according to court records. Authorities found a .380-caliber Ruger pistol with a spent shell casing on the floorboard, and a fired bullet was found in the passenger seat. Ogle was carrying a bag with 21 rounds of ammunition. Ogle showed signs of intoxication during field sobriety tests, and a breath test found a blood-alcohol level of .118, records state. Authorities allege Ogle is barred from possessing firearms because of convictions for drugs, child abuse, malicious conduct by a prisoner and assault with a deadly weapon in Rockingham County, N.C., in 2009 and 2017. Waterloo police officer charged with OWI WATERLOO A Waterloo police officer has been arrested following a weekend crash while off duty. Sheriffs deputies arrested Jessica K. Brownell, 33, Sunday for first-offense operating while intoxicated, and she was cited for failure to maintain control. Maj. Joe Leibold with the Waterloo Police Department said his department is aware of the incident, but he couldnt comment further because it is a personnel matter. Brownell, a patrol officer, was on duty on Wednesday, according to police records. The collision happened at about 2:20 a.m. Sunday at the S curve in the 800 block of Rainbow Drive. Sheriffs deputies allege Brownell was driving her Ford Edge too fast and slid off the road and into a MidAmerican Energy utility pole. She suffered a bloody nose from the airbag, according to the accident report. Waterloo police were sent to the crash, and they turned the matter over to the Black Hawk County Sheriffs Office, which is standard protocol. A field sobriety test found signs of intoxication, and a breath test resulted in a blood-alcohol level of .157, according to court records. Man sent to prison for empty gun WATERLOO A Waterloo man who was found with a gun while he was wanted on Illinois warrants has been sentenced to federal prison. Judge C.J. Williams sentenced 20-year-old Dereon Equwan Davenport to 21 months in prison for drug user in possession of a firearm during a Wednesday hearing in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids. Waterloo police had pulled over Davenport on June 3, 2018, and found marijuana and a .22-caliber Rohm Gesellshaft revolver in the vehicles center console. Davenports attorney had asked for leniency, in part, because the handgun was unloaded and Davenport, who had been shot a week earlier by his cousin in a family squabble, didnt have any ammo for the weapon and was cooperative with police. Prosecutors noted that at the time of the traffic stop, Davenport had a prior arrest for domestic abuse in Illinois in 2016 following an argument with his mother over leftovers in the refrigerator. And he had outstanding warrants on drug charges and a September 2016 incident where he tried to punch a counselor and threatened to shoot up the treatment center, according to court records. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 WATERLOO -- Saviour Missionary Baptist Church will offer a Church Women's annual prayer retreat May 31 and June 1 at the American Martyrs Retreat House, 2209 N. Union Road, Cedar Falls. Theme is "Praying the Bible." This year's speaker is minister Joan Coleman-Bass of Houston. She is the founder and CEO of Christian Women Gathering Others Ministry and director of the "Empowerment Through Prayer Ministry" at the Community of Faith Church in Houston. The $73 overnight cost includes meals. For registration, call Inez Murtha at 233-3921 or Sherrie Jones at 240-1394. Chorus performs concert Saturday WATERLOO -- The Mount Carmel Male Chorus will host its 35th annual concert at 6 p.m. Saturday at 805 Adams St. Men's choirs from the Cedar Valley area and from as far away as Rock Island, Ill., will be on the program. All are welcome to attend this family friendly event free of charge. For more information, call the church at 233-9482. The Rev. Dr. Frantz T. Whitfield is pastor. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 WATERLOO Veridian Credit Union will host a community shred day from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at the Ansborough Avenue branch. A mobile shred truck from Shred-it will be available for attendees to safely destroy unwanted, sensitive documents. Its free and open to the public. People may bring up to two 25-pound containers of documents per person. Group to discuss US-China trade CEDAR FALLS The Great Decisions study group will discuss options after viewing a DVD on U.S.-China trade practices at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the conference room at the Cedar Falls Public Library. The community study group, open to the public, is sponsored by the American Association of University Women and the United Nations Association of the Cedar Valley. Breast cancer program offered WATERLOO MercyOne Waterloo Breast Center has launched a new program designed for early recognition of patients at high risk of developing breast cancer. The goal is to detect breast cancer earlier, allowing for implementation of risk-reducing strategies. The program starts with a screening appointment with a breast surgeon, which includes education about risk factors and a breast exam. From that consult, genetic counseling and testing may be considered, along with medical oncology counseling and continued screening and surveillance for women at a higher risk of breast cancer. There are many factors that constitute as high risk, including having dense breasts, personal history of breast cancer, family history of breast cancer, known genetic mutation and personal history of chest radiation among others. To enroll in the program or for more information, call the MercyOne Breast Care Navigator at 272-7084. Waverly band kicks off season WAVERLY The Greater Waverly Municipal Band will begin rehearsals for the 2019 summer season on May 29. Under the direction of Craig A. Hancock, the band will rehearse from 7 to 8:30 p.m. every Thursday through July 25. Thursday night concerts at the Shades of Rhythm Amphitheater in Kohlmann Park will begin June 6 and run through July 25. Rain location will be the Parish Hall at St. Pauls Lutheran Church and School, just across the street from Kohlmann Park. The band is open to all area residents who enjoy playing an instrument, and auditions are not required. Band members range from middle-schoolers to senior citizens and come from Waverly, Shell Rock and many surrounding communities. Players who need an instrument should contact Hancock prior to the first rehearsal. Call 352-8296 or email craig.hancock@wartburg.edu. Museum to open in Shell Rock SHELL ROCK The Shell Rock Historical Society will open the Shell Rock Museum, 127 E. Adair St., from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 25 for the 2019 season. There are all new exhibits for this season. The society is accepting donations of items to display pertaining to Shell Rocks history. The museum will be open most Saturdays until October. For more information or schedule special visits, call 239-7071. The museum will be open the afternoon of July 4. Waverly to hold blood drive WAVERLY A Waverly community blood drive will take place from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday at Waverly Civic Center, 200 First St. N.E. For an appointment, go to lifeservebloodcenter.org or call (800) 287-4903. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 At 10:39 a.m. officers were called to the CBE Group at 1309 Technology Parkway. A CBE employee said they'd received a threat over the phone from a male subject claiming he was a member of a terrorist organization and had access to weapons of mass destruction, according to Cedar Falls police. He also claimed he had tracked the location of the CBE Group. DALLAS CENTER -- A Waterloo man has been arrested after leading authorities on a half-hour chase north of Des Moines Friday morning. A trooper with the Iowa State Patrol pulled over Skyler Allen Felton Garbes, 28, on Interstate 80 around 10 a.m., according to Sgt. Nathan Ludwig. During the stop, the trooper realized Garbes had an outstanding arrest warrant out of Black Hawk County for fraud. While the officer was waiting to confirm the warrant, Garbes drove off, Ludwig said. The pursuit wound through Urbandale and Johnson before Garbes apparently took a curve too fast and crashed in the area of 230th Street and S Avenue in rural Dallas County, Ludwig said. He ran off and was captured a short time later. No injuries were reported in the chase. Garbes is currently awaiting trial for allegedly trying to light a fire in a Cedar Falls garage in September. Love 1 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 WATERLOO A Waterloo man who was found with a gun while he was wanted on Illinois warrants has been sentenced to federal prison. Judge C.J. Williams sentenced 20-year-old Dereon Equwan Davenport to 21 months in prison for drug user in possession of a firearm during a Wednesday hearing in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids. Waterloo police had pulled over Davenport on June 3, 2018, and found marijuana and a .22-caliber Rohm Gesellshaft revolver in the vehicles center console. Davenports attorney had asked for leniency, in part, because the handgun was unloaded and Davenport, who had been shot a week earlier by his cousin in a family squabble, didnt have any ammo for the weapon and was cooperative with police. Prosecutors noted that at the time of the traffic stop, Davenport had a prior arrest for domestic abuse in Illinois in 2016 following an argument with his mother over leftovers in the refrigerator. And he had outstanding warrants for an incident where he was found with 23 hydrocodone pills, 16 cetirizine hydrochloride pills, and 40 naproxen sodium pills at school and a September 2016 incident where he tried to punch a counselor and threatened to shoot up the treatment center, according to court records. Love 0 Funny 4 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 0 WESTGATE A Westgate man has been arrested for allegedly killing an infant he was looking after in April 2018. Court records indicate Dean Alan Hettinger, 22, and his girlfriend were looking after her relatives 4-week-old child, Holten Patrick Smith, on April 29, 2018, when the baby was taken to the hospital and later died. Hettinger was arrested Thursday for first-degree murder and child endangerment causing death. The murder charge carries a life prison sentence without parole. When Holton was born, he was removed by the Iowa Department of Human Services because he and his mother tested positive for methamphetamine, according to court records. The baby was placed with a relative, who was living with Hettinger at 23837 90th St. in rural Westgate, records state. The couple also was caring for their own 7-month-old son. On the night of April 29, 2018, Hettinger and his girlfriend brought Holten to Community Memorial Hospital in Sumner because the child was having seizures and was unresponsive. The baby was transferred to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City where doctors found a brain bleed, according to court record. Doctors said the injury was likely the cause of recent non-accidental head trauma. The child lingered in the hospital for a month and died on May 27, 2018, of the injuries, according to the Fayette County Sheriffs Office. During the autopsy, doctors found 36 rib fractures, court records state. During initial interviews with authorities, neither Hettinger nor his girlfriend had an explanation for the injuries, according to court records. Love 3 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 6 Angry 19 WATERLOO One man was injured when he was shot while walking home from a friends home early Friday. Stephen Jay Quail, 32, was in the area of Grant Avenue and Randolph Street around 2:50 a.m. Friday when he passed two people. Words were exchanged, and one of the people pulled out a gun and began firing, police said. Witnesses reported hearing three gunshots. Quail was struck in the leg, and a second bullet grazed his back, according to police. The gunman ran off before police arrived. Paramedics with Waterloo Fire Rescue took Quail to MercyOne Waterloo Medical Center for treatment, and his injuries arent considered life threatening, according to police. Love 0 Funny 3 Wow 3 Sad 3 Angry 16 Die Zeit published an article Vielleicht verrennt sich der Iran by Adnan Tabatabai on the Iranian nuclear problem and opportunities for solving the situation. He is the co-founder and director of the CARPO research center in Bonn. As an Iran expert, he advises EU institutions, federal ministries and political foundations on Iranian affairs. Tabatabai is a lecturer at the University of Duesseldorf and an author of the book "Morning in Iran" (Edition Korber, Oct. 2016). The Europeans are clear about their goal: avoid a military escalation in the dispute with Iran. Fears of this could not be mitigated by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who joined his EU counterparts on Monday in Brussels. The British warning of a "war by accident" is serious - the confrontation between the US and Iran can quickly spiral out of control. Meanwhile, the government in Tehran hopes to use the threat of gradually retreating from the nuclear agreement to persuade its remaining partners to comply with the agreement's terms. After all, Iran wants what the Europeans want: to save the deal, which the United States exited a year ago. First, the technical aspects of the issue will be explained. The pace and nature of the measures announced so far by Tehran makes it clear that Iran really wants to stick to the agreement. Because these are all reversible and irrelevant to the question of when Iran could spontaneously construct nuclear weapons (breakout capability). With immediate effect, Teheran will no longer recognize the upper limits for the storage of low-enriched uranium (maximum 300 kilograms) and heavy water (maximum 130 tons) laid down in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). For the sake of the agreement Iran was allowed to export its surpluses to Russia and Oman. Since May 3rd, however, these transactions have been banned under the renewed US sanction regime. The leadership in Tehran deliberately annulled this part of the nuclear agreement, which the United States could not be in compliance with because of Washington's new sanctions. Iranians are disillusioned Iran further threatened to enrich uranium to a higher degree than the approved 3.67% (unclear whether 5 or 20%) and to reconstruct the Arak heavy water reactor. The latter, according to the JCPOA, was to be modified to a light water reactor with support of the agreement's signatories. So far, this has not happened, and Iran could now move away from it. As an ultimate escalation, aside from exiting the JCPOA - which would immediately render the agreement null and void - Tehran could threaten to opt out of the NPT, reject the Additional Protocol, and / or expel the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from the country. Decisions of such great relevance are decided via consensual decision in the Supreme National Security Council. In addition to the president, who is the constitutional chairman of this body, members of the cabinet, the military, the judiciary and the parliament are represented there. Each decision of the Council represents a cross-factional consensus decision of the leadership elite of the Islamic Republic. As with the decision on the Nuclear Agreement itself, the gradual phase-out approach now outlined is a decision that will be shared among key decision-makers. The euphoria over the nuclear agreement has long since given way to a great disillusionment among Iran's population. The hoped-for economic upswing did not just fail to materialize but the economic situation has deteriorated rapidly over the past two years. The Iranians are aware that the current economic misery is not solely caused by the US sanctions regime. Its own leadership is equally responsible for this due to the mismanagement and the rampant corruption. Therefore, the now announced strategy of a gradual exit has also to be seen as a domestic signal. An assertion that the government still has some degree of control over the unfolding situation. Throughout a year of austerity, Iran has demonstrated its patience and commitment to the deal despite a lack of economic dividends, probably in the hope that Europe, Russia and China would be able to compensate for the US exit. However, especially with regards to Europe, the Iranians misunderstand that the political motivation of European governments to obtain the agreement is not a guarantee that European private companies will follow the same course. For European managers, the threatened US fines are too great a risk to attempt re-launching trade with Iran. These profit oriented actors seek steadfast assurances. Russia and China see the deadlock as a win-win situation. A continuation of the JCPOA would upgrade Iran as a strategic partner in the Middle East, while a disintegration of the agreement would maximize Iran's dependence on both of these Eurasian powers. To put it bluntly, Europe is unable to act and China and Russia are unwilling to act. On the other hand, there is a widespread impression that Iran has no other choice but to abide by the agreement. The Iranian leadership wants to break this vicious circle. It hopes to use a controlled escalation, a kind of roadmap for the gradual withdrawal from the JCPOA, to show more emphatically what is at stake. This approach is clearly not aimed at a modified "less for less" deal that cuts down on both Iranian and the other contracting parties' obligations. At the moment Iran is counting on a "less for 'all or nothing" approach. What the leadership in Tehran underestimates among the Europeans, however, is the deep-seated skepticism towards the Islamic Republic in almost all matters outside the JCPOA-framework. Iran's flawless compliance with the agreement, despite adverse conditions, has not changed this. Europeans have often taken the view that Iran follows an exceptionally assertive foreign and security policy: as if Iran was the only power that pursues its own interests with non-state militias and underpins its defense and deterrence policy with a ballistic missile program. However, Iran has so far not been successful in countering this impression in the numerous Iranian-European dialogue formats. Iran will defend itself Therefore, it is difficult to imagine that Berlin, Paris and London will now find the appropriate solutions that have not been found in the past twelve months since the US exit. In defined terms, Iran demands that it will be made possible for the country to continue its oil sales, have its transport ensured and to carry out financial transactions freely. Only serious security issues should be strong enough to give Europe a jolt. The development of the JCPOA crisis is already increasing the danger of an escalation between Iran and the US. The fear of an increasing destabilization of the region that has recently attracted a large refugee movement to Europe is reasonable - assuming that Iran will eventually have to defend itself through its regional allies and militias or ballistic missiles, in case the current escalation spiral continues. Even the danger of a nuclear arms race in the Middle East is quite real. All this threatens Europe much more directly than the US. Such security-oriented thinking could motivate intensified European efforts to preserve the nuclear agreement. Otherwise, the slow but sure end of this deal, which was negotiated over almost twelve years, will be certain. WATERLOO Some of what students have learned this year will be lost over the summer months as they take a break from classes and homework. Lou Henry Elementary School has found an effective way to combat this summer slide, though, at least when it comes to reading ability. Students are given some new books they choose themselves to read during the months away from school. It started with second-graders in the spring of 2017 and expanded to all kindergarten through fifth-graders a year ago. Ann Thomas, the schools technology integrationist, and lead teacher Danielle Hakeman tracked proficiency on spring and fall reading assessments. They found 74 percent of the original second-graders maintained or improved their reading level in the fall of 2017. A year later, 88 percent of the 370 students returning to Lou Henry had maintained or improved their reading level. Thats a pretty huge deal. Were seeing that it works, said Thomas. She noted that national statistics show students typically lose three months of their previous years learning during the summer. This is really their opportunity to continue building learning for the summer, said Hakeman. This week, Lou Henrys nearly 500 students spent time in the media center picking out the books as the school again strives to combat summer learning loss. The school will hold onto the books until sending them home with kids about a week before classes end in early June. Each year, Thomas and Hakeman have been able to successfully write grants or find other funding sources to pay for the books. The current effort went forward thanks to a $12,000 grant from the Max and Helen Guernsey Foundation. Which equals $24,000, really, said Thomas, since book publisher Scholastic has a buy one, get one free deal underway. Students were invited to pick out $25 worth of books, which grew to as much as $50 with the match. Depending on grade level, that could buy between four and 10 books. A calendar is sent home so children and their parents can track reading minutes, with the possibility of winning a prize in the fall. We give them a guideline, said Thomas. Twenty minutes a day is pretty standard. Students in a third-grade class looked through the shelves and tables of books Wednesday morning. Mylee Hummel found a couple books and was searching for more. I wanted one of these, she said of Lea Dives In, an American Girl book. But I just found this and wanted it because it looks interesting, added Hummel of The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart. Amar Cantarevic had a stack of six books and was listing the cost of each, ranging from $4.99 to $8.99. He was particularly interested in the 208-page Hello Neighbor: Waking Nightmare. I wanted this one because its a chapter book, he noted. Anthony Howard had picked out two books from the Wimpy Kid series which he has never read and another from the I Survived series which he has read among his choices. Howard was looking for more possibilities, so Thomas took him to a table with graphic novels and he picked out Glitch. But he was now spending too much and traded one of the Wimpy Kid books for two cheaper options, which got him right to $50. Thomas pointed out that getting the books into the homes has an effect beyond the individual child, particularly if the students have siblings. The best thing about this is were building home libraries, she said. Love 4 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Want to see more like this? Get our local education coverage delivered directly to your inbox. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. CEDAR RAPIDS --- Iowa Democrats called on Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst to tell President Donald Trump his trade war with China is producing more casualties than victories in rural America. When President Donald Trump campaigned here in 2016, he promised to fight for farmers and for working Iowans, former Lt. Gov. Patty Judge said Thursday. However, his trade policies have produced retaliatory tariffs by China and are driving down income and creating uncertainty for producers. Iowans need leaders who will stand up for Iowas agricultural economy and hold this president accountable, said Judge, who ran against Grassley in 2016. Grassley, who is third in line to the presidency, and Ernst have the clout to speak to the president and have effect on his policies, she said. Since they dont seem to be able to do that, we need to hold them accountable, Judge said during a conference call hosted by the Iowa Democratic Party. Republicans pushed back, pointing out the trade dispute with China is not a partisan issue. They point to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumers support for the president. He tweeted: Hang tough on China, President @realDonaldTrump. Dont back down. Strength is the only way to win with China. Ernsts office also pointed to action she has taken as vice chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee as well as in meetings with the president, as recently as Sunday, to be extremely clear and transparent with the administration in the urgent need to get a fair trade deal done, her spokesman Brenda Conley said. Ernst, who grew up on a southwest Iowa farm, focuses on supporting Iowa farmers, including co-sponsoring a farm debt relief bill with Grassley, she said. Grassley bill Also Thursday, Democratic 3rd District Rep. Cindy Axne signed on to Grassleys Family Farmer Relief Act of 2019 to help farmers struggling with debt. Id like to thank Sen. Grassley for championing this effort in the Senate and urge both chambers to pass this bill immediately, she said in a release. As a family farmer, Sen. Grassley has a firsthand understanding of the impact of the trade war with China. Iowas pork and soybean farmers are especially hurting as a result of Chinas tariffs, Grassley spokesman Michael Zona said. Iowa farmers know that America needs to stand up to China for its abusive trade practices, including the theft of American intellectual property and anticompetitive subsidies of Chinese industries, he added. Confidence shaken Iowans believed the president when he said the trade war with China would be short and produce results quickly, said Tim Gannon, a farmer who was the Democratic nominee for Iowa agriculture secretary. As it has continued, especially in light of new tariffs imposed by both the United States and China in the past week, its starting to shake that confidence. Gannon and Judge also called on the field of Democratic presidential candidates visiting Iowa to talk about the impact the trade policies are having on Iowa and rural America. Cost to Iowa Judge cited an Iowa State University report that found the Trump tariffs last crop year cost the state economy $2 billion. Lower commodity prices the grain market is at a 42-year low, according to Bloomberg resulted in $110 million less in Iowa tax revenue, she said. Gannon called it mind-boggling that Trump launched a trade war without the support of allies and picking fights with folks who have been friends and allies. He was referring to tariffs on steel and aluminum from Mexico and Canada that have been met with retaliatory tariffs on farm commodities. Take the tariffs off so we can start moving products back into Canada and Mexico, Gannon said. That would help Iowans, our dairy producers, cheese, pork, corn, soybeans back into markets weve built over time. Zona said Grassley, as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, has been working to win approval of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement to help Iowas pork, soybean and corn farmers regain access to Mexican and Canadian markets. Ernsts office also pointed to action she has taken as vice chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee as well as in meetings with the president, as recently as Sunday, to be extremely clear and transparent with the administration in the urgent need to get a fair trade deal done, her spokesman Brenda Conley said. Ernst, who grew up on a southwest Iowa farm, focuses on supporting Iowa farmers, including co-sponsoring the farm debt relief legislation with Grassley and Axne, he said. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. DES MOINES The envelopes that contain absentee ballots for Iowa elections must have an intelligent barcode that contains shipping information. That requirement and a batch of other legislation were signed into law Thursday by Gov. Kim Reynolds. The new law allows local elections officials to determine if an absentee ballot was mailed by the deadline. Previously, using an intelligent barcode was optional. That created some consternation in November when the House District 55 race in Northeast Iowa was decided by just nine votes and more than 20 absentee ballots went uncounted because they arrived after Election Day. Local officials said they could not determine if the ballots were submitted on time. It was eventually determined 19 of the ballots were submitted on time, but after a lengthy review by the courts and the Iowa House, the ballots were not counted. The new law aims to prevent a repeat. The bill also clarifies that Iowans may participate in only one presidential precinct caucus per election cycle. Democrats this year will allow some Iowans to participate online. That raised concerns some may participate in both the Democratic and Republican caucuses. Other signings In other action, Reynolds signed into law a new state fee for electric vehicle registration. When fully phased in, the fee will cost owners of electric vehicles an additional $130 a year. The goal is to maintain the Road Use Tax Fund that supports the construction and maintenance of Iowa roads and bridges. The RUTF provides 45 percent of the funds for state, county and city roads. State officials worry that as electric vehicle sales grow, fuel tax revenues that support transportation will continue to decline. Reynolds also signed a bill improving access to DNA testing for wrongfully convicted Iowans. Backers said Iowa currently has one of the most-restrictive laws in the nation, and there have been no DNA-based exonerations. The law removes eligibility restrictions for post-conviction DNA testing. It also ensures unknown profiles can be entered into law enforcement DNA databases to potentially prove innocence and reveal the real perpetrators. Also, Reynolds signed a bill designed to strengthen consumer protections for taxpayers filing their annual returns. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 2 Angry 0 Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. INDEPENDENCE Two days after announcing his plan to run for president, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock spoke at Ems Coffee Co. in Independence. Im here for Steve Bullock all the way to the presidency, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller said to kick off Fridays event. You can always take him at his word. Miller has endorsed Bullock. Miller stressed Bullock, known for governing a state that voted for Trump, shares the Democratic partys mainstream views. Hes not a moderate, Miller said. After Millers introduction, Bullock spoke to a crowd of around 40 people in the cramped coffee house. I think we gather for a unifying reason, Bullock said. We gather to make sure Donald Trump isnt president come next November. Bullock is the 22nd of 23 candidates running to be the Democratic nominee for president in 2020. His trip to Independence was part of Bullocks first trip to Iowa as a candidate. He toured several eastern Iowa cities Friday and Saturday. In Independence, Bullock railed against the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case, which classified political spending as a form of protected speech under the First Amendment, essentially deregulating it. Dark money is taking over, Bullock said. In the 2018 election, 50% of all expenditures were from groups that didnt disclose (their donors). Bullock is one of the few Democrats to win statewide office in states that predominately voted for Trump. Ive been able to bridge the divides and make government work, Bullock said. As governor, Ive been able to get progressive things through. Bullock also addressed Trumps tariffs, which he said have caused problems for Iowans. Its a hot topic here, and its a hot topic where I live, too, he said. Youre losing your markets so youre keeping your soybeans in the bin and if you need to buy a tractor, youre hit by the steel and aluminum tariffs. America First has become America Alone, Bullock said. Bullock said he believed international allies needed to get involved. Tami Fenner, one of Ems owners, said Ems has become a frequent stop for presidential candidates during caucus season. The back wall of the coffee shop has large photos of Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama with Hillman, though Ems has no party affiliation, Fenner said. They dont necessarily bring business, but the pictures on the wall dont hurt business, Fenner said. Over the years too many candidates to count have come through Ems doors, she said. (Candidates) arent always here, but its a frequent stop, Fenner said. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 WATERLOO The city of Waterloo will hold family friendly open houses next week for National Public Works and National EMS weeks. Waterloo Fire Rescue will host an open house from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at Station One, 425 E. Third St. Visitors will be able to tour a fire engine, ambulance, technical rescue trailer, HazMat trailer and AirCare 2 helicopter. Live demonstrations include extrication procedure from a vehicle, repelling from the building and mechanical CPR. Participants may also get involved by completing a scavenger hunt, spraying a fire hose, trying on bunker gear and walking through the simulated smoke trailer. There will be opportunity to meet the crew and interact with Waterloo Fire Rescue personnel in the various activities. Lemonade, hotdogs, hamburgers and cookies will be provided along with souvenirs and informational brochures. Sponsors for this event include the Logan Avenue Hy-Vee and The Sinnott Agency. The public is also invited to attend an open house and heavy equipment demonstration from 3 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Waterloo Public Works facility, 625 Glenwood St., to celebrate the role public works play in the citys economy and daily lives of citizens. Visitors will get a behind-the-scenes look at the skills, tools and equipment required to maintain the citys infrastructure and provide daily services. They also can ride on heavy equipment, including graders, sweepers, garbage trucks, lift trucks and more. Children must be accompanied by an adult and will be provided proper safety equipment during their visit. Special arrangements will be made for groups wishing to tour earlier that day. As part of the celebration, Mayor Quentin Hart will be filling potholes with Public Works employees on Monday. To arrange a group tour for students, seniors or those with special needs, contact Sandie Greco, Traffic Operations and Animal Control director, by calling 291-4440 or emailing sandie.greco@waterloo-ia.org. 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to accelerate the reforms for the country to be the EU full member. According to the Turkish media, the special commissions have been created to fulfill the remaining six of 72 EU requirements. In addition, a new round of negotiations between Turkey and the EU may begin in the coming months. OMA is set to tavel its exhibition for Dior, which was displayed at the Denver Art Museum last year, to a new place at the Dallas Museum of Art in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas. Completely designed with a new narrative, a set of different themed-rooms will meet visitors with infinite "catwalks" where the relationship of the viewer and the subject is inverted. The exhibition will open to the public on May 19, 2019 and will be on view until September 1, 2019 at Dallas Museum of Art. The exhibition will trace Diors history as well as its influences and inspirations through a feature selection of almost 200 haute couture dresses, as well as accessories, photographs, original sketches, runway videos and other archival material. Designed by OMA New York Partner Shohei Shigematsu, the exhibition is taking a new form, which is conceived from a contextual approach. The exhibition design draws upon the context of the Dallas Arts District and the impressive modernist architecture of the DMA. Organized by DAM and curated by Florence Muller (DAMs Avenir Foundation Curator of Textile Art and Fashion), the Dallas presentation is curated by Sarah Schleuning, Margot B. Perot Senior Curator of Decorative Arts and Design). The exhibition, titled Dior: From Paris to the World, which surveys more than 70 years of the House of Diors legacy and global influence, will now feature a selection of new looks from Dior, including vintage couture by Christian Dior and Yves Saint Laurent, and updated works from Italian fashion designer Maria Grazia Chiuri, which will be seen for the first time in the Dallas presentation. Located at the terminus of Flora Street, the exhibition takes place in Edward Larrabee Barnes building, within a lofty Barrel Vault and its adjacent Quad Galleries. OMA imagined The Barrel Vault as an extension of Flora Street, with a direct entrance from outside. The signature theme of the exhibition is staged within this space, which is uniquely large enough to display the diverse range Diors garments continuously. Barnes took reference from Claude Ledouxs visionary architecture when conceiving the Barrel Vault. OMAs design embraces the clean, geometric design and enhances its grandeur. Within the gallery the vault form is mirrored along both the X and Y axes, establishing an extension of its geometry to create an infinite "catwalk". "This stage for exhibition draws upon Christian Diors Fall 1999 Couture show at Versailles lOrangerie, where the runway took place under its lofty vaulted ceiling. But here, we invert the relationship between the viewer and the subject. The visitors pass through the catwalk and the mannequins act as spectators," said OMA in a project description. OMA re-sequenced curatorial themes for a new narrative for the retrospective. A number of themes are organized to the museum context: the Office of Dreams is placed in a transept gallery, resonating with the geometric Ellsworth Kelly sculpture in the adjacent courtyard and Splendors of the XVIII Century is placed opposite, drawing continuity from the permanent exhibition of European works. Shohei Shigematsu designed a clear sequential route that is defined by a prescribed route. After entering through the facade of the Dior Paris atelier and the Revolutionary New Look that marks the beginning of the brand, they are taken through a polycarbonate tunnel leading to the first set of rooms to then emerge at the dramatic reveal of the Barrel Vault midway through the exhibition. This sequence is followed by three additional rooms that explore additional themes that served as an inspiration to the house of Dior, and the work of Dior shown through photographs and accessories. "The Barrel Vaults dramatic dimensions inspired us to conceive a design that activates its public potential and emphasizes its spatial character," said OMA Partner Shohei Shigematsu. "Our design for the central space simultaneously acts as a new street within the Arts District and experiments with the ways in which fashion is perceived. Flipping the narrative of the relationship between viewer and viewed poses an interesting discussion among architecture, fashion and the spectator." "The House of Dior has been a legendary force in fashion and visual culture for decades and continues to be an important influence that blurs the lines between fashion and art," said Dr. Agustin Arteaga, the DMAs Eugene McDermott Director. "Dallas has long recognized the artistic significance of Dior, most notably when in 1947, early in his career, Christian Dior traveled here to receive the Neiman Marcus Award for distinguished Service in the Field of Fashion. We are excited to welcome this innovative creative voice back to our city and to offer DMA audiences the opportunity to be inspired by the remarkable legacy of a global icon." "The history and impact of The House of Dior is the result of a convergence of several artistic directors who have made visionary, yet distinct, contributions to the French haute couture house," said Sarah Schleuning, The Margot B. Perot Senior Curator of Decorative Arts and Design at the DMA. "The exhibition takes audiences through more than seven decades of innovation, bringing together the most exciting, dynamic, and pivotal pieces." Established in 1903, the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) is among the 10 largest art museums in the country and is distinguished by its commitment to research, innovation, and public engagement. At the heart of the Museum and its programs is its global collection, which encompasses more than 24,000 works and spans 5,000 years of history, representing a full range of world cultures. Dior: From Paris to the World will open in Dallas on May 19 and will be on view until September 1, 2019. All images James Florio, courtesy of OMA > via OMA The world-renowned Chinese-American architect Ieoh Ming Pei, known as I. M. Pei, passed away yesterday at the age of 102. The acclaimed architect is known for his bold designs and explicit geometries in his projects, spanning his career over six decades. The Louvre Pyramid in Paris, the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong and the East Building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. are probably the most well-known projects in Pei's project portfolio. However, Pei's projects, including arts facilities, university buildings, libraries and civic centers, are more diverse rather than the most well-known projects. In a jury citation for the Pritzker Prize in 1983, it was stated that "Ieoh Ming Peis architecture can be characterized by its faith in modernism, humanized by its subtlety, lyricism, and beauty." Pei was born in Canton China in 1917 and came to the United States in 1935 to study first at the University of Pennsylvania and then at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (B. Arch. 1940) and the Harvard Graduate School of Design (M. Arch. 1946). In 1948, he accepted the newly created post of Director of Architecture at Webb & Knapp, Inc., the real estate development firm, and this association resulted in major architectural and planning projects in Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, Pittsburgh and other cities. In 1955, he formed the partnership of I.M. Pei & Associates, which became I.M. Pei & Partners in 1966. The partnership received the 1968 Architectural Firm Award of The American Institute of Architects. In 1989, the firm was renamed Pei Cobb Freed and Partners. To learn more about Ieoh Ming Pei and explore his architectural oeuvre, WAC editors have selected 12 of Pei's important projects. Pei has designed over 50 projects in this country and abroad, and many of which have been award winners. As a student, he was awarded the MIT Traveling Fellowship, and the Wheelwright Traveling Fellowship at Harvard. Pei was awarded the Gold Medal for Architecture of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1979, the Gold Medal of The American Institute of Architects in 1979 and the Gold Medal of the French Academie d'Architecture in 1981. Read the 12 most significant projects of I. M. Pei: Image Wahyu Pratomo and Kris Provoost Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar, 2008 The Museum of Islamic Art is one of Pei's latest projects built in Doga. Built in 2008, the museum building has rapidly become an iconic feature of the Doha landscape. Standing alone on reclaimed land, the building draws much influence from ancient Islamic architecture, notably the Ibn Tulun Mosque in Cairo. The Museum is comprised of a main building with an adjacent education wing connected by a large central courtyard. The main building rises five-storeys, topped by a high domed atrium within a central tower. The cream-coloured limestone captures the changes in light and shade during the day. The centrepiece of the atrium is a curved double staircase leading up to the first floor. Above it floats an ornate circular metal chandelier echoing the curve of the staircase. Image Chenxing Mi Suzhou Museum, Suzhou, China, 2006 Founded in 1960 and originally located in the national historic landmark, Zhong Wang Fu palace complex, Suzhou Museum has been a highly-regarded regional museum with a number of significant Chinese cultural relics. A new museum designed by world famous architect I.M.Pei was completed in October 2006, covering over 10,700 square meter and located at the cross of Dongbei Street and Qimen Road. The design of this new museum visually complements the traditional architecture of Zhong Wang Fu. Image Miho Museum Miho Museum, Kyoto, Japan, 1997 The Miho Museum is situated in the natural rich mountains of Shigaraki, Japan. Pei's concept is based on the Taoyuan Township, which is a destination town drawn by the Chinese poet 'Peach Flower Geno', is guided by the tree-lined path of the weeping cherry blossoms, beyond the tunnel and the suspension bridge to the art museum. As visitors travel through the beautiful arcing tunnel, they see an entrance with a grommet-shaped roof on the other side of the bridge over the valley. When visitors step into the calm entrance, they are surrounded by the light that is falling from the glass roof and the gentle beige limestone wall, and a large space with a row of gentle mountains will extend to the far side. Image courtesy of Pei Cobb Freed and Partners Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, USA, 1995 Located in Cleveland, Ohio, Pei's designe embodies the music celebrated within, the building is an icon of the city that coined the term "rock and roll". The architect juxtaposed simple geometric forms to combine diverse functions within a unified whole: a theater cantilevered over Lake Erie one one side balances a circular performance drum on the other, while a 165-foot-high orthogonal tower rises from the water to engage a tetrahedral tower tent. Pei's building acts like an explosive musical chord, the sculptural components reverberate out from the center. Set back in 1.2-acre performance plaza on the roof of the main exhibition space, the building rises with eight unique floor plates of decreasing size, culminating in the Hall of Fame, contemplative fiber optics chamber. Image courtesy of Wikipedia Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong, China, 1990 Completed in 1990, Pei's tower represents the successful integration of structure and form to meet the needs of both client and city. With a limited budget and a difficult inland site, the owner requested a distinctive regional headquarters with an imposing banking hall and 130,000-square-metre of office space. Pei designed a tall and dynamic structure that responds to that criteria. The tower would take advantage of the surrounding views while being robust enough to withstand a typhoon. Image Joao Pereira de Sousa Le Grand Louvre, Paris, France, 1989 The expansion and modernization of the historic Louvre was probably one of the most iconic buildings of I.M. Pei. The challenge was to modernize and expand the building and better integrate it with the city, all without compromising the integrity of historic structure. A centrally located glass pyramid forms the main entrance and provides direct access to galleries in each of the museum's three wings. The pyramid's distinctly modern articulation complements the historic Louvre in a dialogue of harmonious contrast. Image courtesy of Wikipedia John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston, USA, 1979 Pei was commissioned to design the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum to the memory of the United States' 35th president. Located on a 10-acre park, overlooking the sea that he loved and the city that launched him to greatness, the Library stands as a vibrant tribute to the life and times of John F. Kennedy. Designed as a timeless piece, the building is overlooking Boston, and the ocean and beyond, the former landfill site was planted with beach grass to recall Kennedy's love of the sea. A split-level design organizes museum spaces in a layer below ground, with key emotive elements dramatically isolated above. Image courtesy of Medium National Gallery of Art East Building, Washington DC, USA, 1978 Pei divided the trapezoidal site into two and design designed triangular buildings joined by a central atrium. In plan, section, and elevation, the interlocking volumes merge inseparably in a spatial dialogue of rigorous geometry, technical innovation, and exacting craftsmanship. Three flexible towers are organized around a light-filled central atrium, providing space for exhibitions of different scales. Image courtesy of Art Street Architecture Dallas City Hall, Dallas, USA, 1978 The project was completed in three phases. The City accepted the garage parking areas in November 1974, the Park Plaza in May 1976, and the building in December 1977. The cost of design and construction of the building, the Park Plaza and the garage was over $70 million. Controversies arose over cost overruns (the original estimated cost was $42.2 million) and aesthetic issues (was the building too avant-garde?) - the problems were addressed, and work moved on to completion. Pei used cast-in-place concrete structure to make integral to both to interior and exterior of City Hall, to both building and park. Sloping outward at an age of 34 degrees, each floor is about nine feet wider than the one below. The 560-foot-long from has both a symbolic and functional logic. Image courtesy of Wikipedia Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 1973 Pei received a commission in 1968 to design the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art. The building was to be the third museum building created by the ten-year-old firm, and the largest, most complex one to that date. Pei's design is a singular building type: a museum and teaching facility, one that would function for the University and contribute to the cultural life of the surrounding community. During design process, it was stated that in the designing of a complex building form it was crucial to create a framework, or modular grid, for an organized development of the plans. This unit of measure, and armature for planning, was vital for establishing order during the progress of the design. It was also useful for the coordination of plan with elevations, inherently providing a rhythm to the structure. In the opening, Pei said he no longer had any doubt as to the appropriateness of the solution. It had engaged the site with its interplay of solid and void, and maintained an architectural relationship with the buildings of the Quad through its basically rectangular form. Image Jesse Ganes Everson Museum, Syracuse, New York, United States, 1968 Pei designed a series of four cantilevered boxes that are interconnected around an atrium sculpture court. Each of a different size and ceiling height, these galleries rise above a 5-foot podium housing museum services and public spaces accessible after the main galleries are closed. Like a piece of sculpture installed in a plaza, the museum's compact size and attention to detail make the three-story building the focal point within a larger civic and cultural complex. Poured-in-place concrete mixed with a local granite aggregate complements Syracuse's numerous sandstone buildings. Image courtesy of Commons Wikimedia Luce Memorial Chapel, Taichung, Taiwan, 1963 Pei's triangular-shaped chapel is located in the center of Tunghai University, Taichung City, Taiwan. The designers are I. M. Pei, Chi-Kwan Chen and Chao-kang Chang. The form of this chapel can be conceived as a unique, just like a pair of praying hands toward sky. There is no column in the Luce Memorial Chapel. Initially beginning in April of 1954, the construction of the Luce Memorial Chapel took place from September 1962 until November 1963. I.M. Pei was careful to design specific to the environmental context of Taiwan, with walls built from reinforced concrete to provide earthquake stability and durability in the humid and typhoon-prone environment. Construction of the intricate and elaborate formwork was done locally by craftsmen. Portugal-based architecture firm Nuno Capa Arquitecto has completed a new office building in Matosinhos, in the Metropolitan Area of Porto, Portugal. Named Urbo Business Centre, the building houses offices and other services within a single volume, with a detached implantation of rectangular geometry, the building is inserted in a corner plot covering about 6,000 square meters. "The architectural design of the Urbo Business Centre is reinforced by the composition of the night lighting of the facade elements," the architects said in their project description. Encompassing a total of 25,600-square-metre area, the building comprises a total of eight floors, six of which above ground for offices, and two basement floors with 200 underground parking spaces, with the exception of an area on the west side on the 1st floor, also on the basement level, suitable for service providers. The sidewalks, wider on the north and on the south of the building, establish the importance of creating a double entrance in opposite facades. These two entrances, which, in turn, originate a crossing line, meet themselves in the core of the building - a foyer with the total height of about 24m. The foyer is an empty space, but vital in the spatial and functional organisation of the building, where a large skylight reinforces the importance of the place. This foyer sets the distribution of the building, with two vertical access cores, stairs and group of elevators, taking to the upper floors of offices and to the lower floors of parking. The upper floors, with about 3,000 square meter each, organised around the foyer, are serviced by the two opposite nerve centres, in two large spaces, and distributed in order to be enveloped by the exterior and interior facades. These nerve centres also take to the buildings top-floor (on the sixth floor), in which two smaller volumes conceal the heating, air-conditioning and ventilating mechanical equipment. The Urbo Business Centre presents in its design and development an architectonic solution based on two key points: an office space program, with a flexible spatial organisation enabling the establishment and usage by a single occupant, or its transformation into different spaces to host manifold occupants; and on a constructive programme, both at the level of structure and cladding elements. The building sets its infrastructural system based on the most recent and best sustainability guidelines and practices, not only during the design and construction phases, but also in the life span of the building to reduce maintenance and conservation costs. "The current singular occupation across the office area, except those four independent commercial units on the ground floor oriented towards av. Teixeira Ruela, confers to the floors a wider and opened form, providing a great visual transparency of the overall building, either in the interior horizontal plane or in the vertical plane inters floors, alongside the foyer," said Nuno Capa Arquitecto. "This spatial dimension and transparency of the foyer produces visual relationships across the various floors, the workspaces and the circulation areas, reinforcing the concept of closeness and collaboration between the users and the occupants." As for the building constructive solutions, it was adopted a metal structure, with composite floor slabs for the positive floors, with a building envelope system with glass curtain walls as outer covering, composed of extruded aluminium framing members infilled with glass, as well as opaque elements of aluminium composite defining the skin of the building. For the negative floors, it was defined a reinforced concrete structure. The set of infrastructures were designed with integrated management systems to optimize and reduce consumption, as for example the LED lighting system with luminescence and presence control. Site plan Plan level 00 Plan level 1 Section Elevation Project facts Project name: Urbo Business Centre Architects Firm: Nuno Capa Arquitecto Project location: Porto, Portugal Completion Year: 2019 Gross Built Area (square meters): 25600 sqm All images Joao Morgado Architecture Photography > via Nuno Capa Arquitecto Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has received ambassadors and heads of diplomatic missions of Muslim countries to Azerbaijan on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan today, the presidential press service reported. Ilham Aliyev addressed the meeting. James Carroll at The Atlantic: The body knows when its in love, and the body knows when its ensnared in something beyond endurance. My body knew last summer, as the revelations in Ireland provoked a visceral collapse of faith. Pope Francis, challenged by the disgrace of his close ally, the now-defrocked Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, of Washington; by accusations, like Viganos, of his own complicity in the cover-up of sexual abuse; and by the moral wreckage of the Church around the world, responded with silence, denial, and a business-as-usual summoning of crimson-robed men to Rome. Events in subsequent months only magnified the scale of the Churchs failure. With maddening equilibrium, Pope Francis acknowledged, in response to a reporters question early this year, that the rape of nuns by priests and bishops remains a mostly unaddressed Catholic problem. In Africa, once AIDS became common, priests began coercing nuns into becoming sexual servants, because, as virgins, they would likely not carry the HIV virus. It was reportedly common for such priests to sponsor abortions when the nuns became pregnant. Its true, Francis said calmly. There are priests and bishops who have done that. more here. Arundhati Roy in The Guardian: I am truly honored to have been invited by PEN America to deliver this years Arthur Miller Freedom to Write Lecture. What better time than this to think together about a place for literature, at this moment when an era that we think we understand at least vaguely, if not well is coming to a close. As the ice caps melt, as oceans heat up, and water tables plunge, as we rip through the delicate web of interdependence that sustains life on earth, as our formidable intelligence leads us to breach the boundaries between humans and machines, and our even more formidable hubris undermines our ability to connect the survival of our planet to our survival as a species, as we replace art with algorithms and stare into a future in which most human beings may not be needed to participate in (or be remunerated for) economic activity at just such a time we have the steady hands of white supremacists in the White House, new imperialists in China, neo-Nazis once again massing on the streets of Europe, Hindu nationalists in India, and a host of butcher-princes and lesser dictators in other countries to guide us into the Unknown. While many of us dreamt that Another world is possible, these folks were dreaming that too. And it is their dream our nightmare that is perilously close to being realized. More here. Jennifer Colliau knows her way around a drink. She's also the definition of a maker, having exercised her knack for handicrafts first with cabinets then with small-batch syrups and now as a self-dubbed "craft cocktail nerd." You can be the beneficiary of her crafty waysand her hospitalityat the Bay Area's best new cocktail bar. Here's How is the name; here's how it came to be. "I wanted to create a space that wasn't like anything else in the areathat just so happened to serve craft cocktails without all the fuss and lore," she said. "It's one thing to shake and stir a scrumptious, creative drink, but it's another animal to do so where you, the bar patron, are the first-and-foremost thought, not the bar program." The goal: a bar that would put the imbiber first, in an experiential venue that's "unforgettably convivial." Named for W.C. Whitfield's 1941 industry bible on mixed drinks, Here's How, on Telegraph Avenue in Oakland's Uptown, delivers with an unpretentious vibe and supremely high quality drinks, never mind that some of them come in cans and none cost more than 12 bucks. For those keen on seeing how the sausage gets made, Here's How, as the name suggests, is transparent. Just peek into the glassed-in prep area where all kinds of "cocktail nerdery" goes down, from hacking off toddler-sized ice slabs on an industrial meat cutter to "centrifuging shit" for custom canned concoctions. The drinks that have true grit despite their tongue-in-cheek names; some favorites: The Marina (basil-infused Wodka vodka, Nikolaihof elderflower syrup, cucumber juice, simple syrup, house lime acid and seltzer); and Do I Love It? Do I Lust It? (Novo Fogo Colibri cachaca, Chairman's Reserve spiced rum, Giffard banana liqueur, lime juice, cream of coconut, simple syrup). If you find one you love and vow to try and make it at home you canyou'll find the recipes on the spirits-forward menu online. If you must order a locally brewed beer or glass of regionally sourced wine, you can do that too; but why would you? As the founder of the craft syrups company Small Hands Foods and former bar manager at the ever-inventive Interval at Long Now, Colliau is the real deal. We told you she knows her way around a drink. But pedigree plays no part in the laid-back bar where spartan styling is warmed by low wood panels on the ceiling and ambient light. There are also "upscale bar-friendly bites" from chef Jordan Grosser of Stag Dining. Order up such snacks as finger-friendly salted potato chips with whipped ricotta, salmon roe, radish, and pungent fennel; red curry beef jerky; and popcorn shrimp popcorn. Hungrier? Peruvian-style ceviche, beef tartare, and a crispy chicken sando are solid main course options. So let's recap. Ace drinks? Yep. Fancy-cocktail-place attitude? Nope. Good food? Uh huh. But how about the service? "When I go to a bar, I go for the ambiance and atmosphere, and for the hospitality. That's what the type-A perfectionist in me wanted to evoke from the get-go," Calliau said. "I'm so proud of what we managed to do here." // Here's How, 1780 Telegraph Ave. (Oakland); 4pm to midnight daily; heres-how.bar. May 17, 2019 03:00 pm News Staff Aggressive political intrusion into the physician-patient relationship endangers health by criminalizing physicians who perform necessary medical care and jeopardizing patient access to lawful care, the Academy and five fellow physician groups said this week. "Our organizations are firmly opposed to efforts in state legislatures across the United States that inappropriately interfere with the patient-physician relationship, unnecessarily regulate the evidence-based practice of medicine and, in some cases, even criminalize physicians who deliver safe, legal and necessary medical care," the groups said a May 15 statement. It was signed by the Group of Six coalition -- the AAFP, the American Osteopathic Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Physicians and the American Psychiatric Association. The organizations were responding to legislation signed into law this week in Alabama that would allow abortion only to save the mother's life -- without exceptions for victims of rape or incest -- and imprison physicians who perform an unsanctioned abortion. A similar bill that would ban abortion after eight weeks other than to save the mother's life passed Friday in Missouri, and restrictive laws also were signed this year in Georgia, Mississippi and Ohio. Alabama's law would also would allow the prosecution of physicians who perform the procedure in unsanctioned circumstances, with prison sentences of up to 99 years. "Physicians should never face imprisonment or other penalties for providing necessary care," the organizations said. "These laws force physicians to decide between their patients and facing criminal proceedings. Physicians must be able to practice medicine that is informed by their years of medical education, training, experience and the available evidence, freely and without threat of criminal punishment." Patients, the statement said, rely on their physicians to help them make critical decisions about their futures and families. "The insertion of politics between patients and their physicians undermines the foundation of trust this relationship is built on and inhibits the delivery of safe, timely and comprehensive care," the organizations said. "Outside interference endangers our patients' health by limiting, and sometimes altogether eliminating, access to medically accurate information and to the full range of health care." In a May 15 tweet, Academy President John Cullen, M.D., of Valdez, Alaska, pledged that the AAFP will defend members against governmental overreach. "The AAFP, based on policy, stands opposed to legislation that criminalizes the work and efforts of physicians who provide safe, legal and appropriate medical care," he wrote. "As legislation works its way through the courts, we will continue to promote and protect the patient-physician relationship from interfering laws such as the one recently passed in Alabama." Cullen's stance aligns with recent work by AAFP constituency leaders. In April, the Academy's 2019 National Conference of Constituency Leaders voted to ask the AAFP to affirm the safety and legality of abortion, support the right of family physicians to provide medication abortions in general family practices and oppose legislation that restricts access to or criminalizes abortion care -- stances that are consistent with the AAFP's policy on reproductive decisions, and reproductive and maternity health services. The new state laws are expected to draw lawsuits that will eventually put at least one of them before the U.S. Supreme Court. Alabama's governor has said her state's law might be unenforceable prior to its likely years-long journey through legal channels. The Group of Six statement expressed the broader medical community's eagerness to turn legislators' attention to work that will improve the nation's health. "We call on policymakers to partner with us to advance policies that protect the sanctity of the patient-physician relationship, expand access to timely, evidence-based health care and eliminate health disparities in our nation," it said. Related AAFP News Coverage Fresh Perspectives: Our Maternal Mortality Rate Is Shameful (3/5/2019) Proposed Insurance Billing Change 'Dangerous,' Say Groups New Federal Rule Would Especially Hurt Women, Medical Organizations Warn (1/15/2019) Title X Change Would Threaten Evidence-based Care, AAFP Warns Women's Health, Doctors' Ethics at Stake (7/30/2018) You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close The international community and remaining signatories of Irans nuclear deal should act to save the accord as supportive statements are not enough, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said during a visit to China. "Safeguarding the (nuclear accord) is possible through practical measures, and not only through supportive statements," IRNA cited Zarif as saying. "If the international community feels that this (nuclear) accord is a valuable achievement, then it should take practical steps just like Iran does," Zarif said on Iranian state television. "The meaning of practical steps is fully clear: Irans economic relations should be normalized." Last week, Iran notified the five remaining signatories that it would scale back some commitments under its 2015 nuclear deal, a year after Washington left the pact and reimposed sanctions on Tehran. Tehran has asked the other signatories to help protect its economy from U.S. sanctions. Martin makes wrestling history winning Lakota Nation Invitational Brock Martin, a 132-pound wrestler for Aberdeen Central, was the only Golden Eagle to compete in the Lakota Nation Invitational, a tournament he won. Hollywood star Jared Leto and his rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars will hold a concert at Georgias Black Sea Arena on August 13. Tickets will be on sale starting May 20, Agenda.ge reported. Two brothers, Jared and Shannon Leto, founded Thirty Seconds to Mars in 1998 and achieved success in 2005 when their first album A Beautiful Lie was issued. In 2014 Jared Leto won an Oscar for best supporting actor for his performance in Dallas Buyers Club. The Black Sea Arena, located in the resort town of Shekvetili, was officially opened in July 2016. Good things come to those who wait, and patience has paid off for local bourbon lovers. Left Turn Distilling is holding a release event for its Old Santa Fe Trail Straight Bourbon Whiskey, which has been just over two years in the making. The release event on Saturday, May 18, at the distillery will feature special pricing, cocktails, and food deals from its in-house restaurant Cocina Amada. Left Turn distillers Brian Langwell and Chris Medina wanted a brand name that people would associate with southwest New Mexico and the Old West and chose Old Santa Fe Trail, which served as a cattle drive trail from Kansas through New Mexico, according to Langwell. We actually started on this project about 2 years ago, Langwell said. It took about three months to get the first distillation runs done and then into barrels and it aged in new charred oak barrels for two years. Langwell added that many people believe that to be called bourbon it must be made in Kentucky, which he said is not the case. Bourbon is a recipe that requires 51 percent corn, and any kind of grain can be used. It must be distilled at less than 160 proof and aged in charred oak barrels. There is no minimum for the aging, but if it ages for two years it can be called straight and bonded or bottled in bond if it ages for four years, according to Langwell. Its hard waiting for four years if youve got a small pocket book and youve got to buy your ingredients out of pocket, he said. This is the first New Mexico straight bourbon. Its made right here in Albuquerque. Its made with 70 percent blue corn, roasted blue corn from New Mexico, and 30 percent rye. Thats a high rye measure for most whiskey. It gives a nice bite to it. Medina suggests drinking the straight bourbon whiskey as is but has some suggestions if patrons prefer it in a cocktail. I mean, I think the best thing is on the rocks, just straight up on a big ice cube, he said. Let it mellow out. I really like it when it kind of blooms a little bit. You get a little bit more rye flavor as you let it melt down. Really sweet on the front end and then really smooth finishing. It makes a great mint julep, old fashioned for sure. As far as anything else, maybe a Manhattan, and you should really go with really traditional cocktails that are not going to have a lot of mixers in it. I am so proud of it. The bourbon is available for purchase only at the distillery. The 750-milliliter bottle costs $59.95 with tax. The best way to do any of our products anyway is in-house, Medina said. You can actually come in, try them, find recipes that we find successful with them. We sell some mixers and we do our own ginger beer and house beer so were kind of like a boutique little package store for our products. And you can sample beer and theres food here. Definitely here is the best place to get it. Thats the only place you can get the bourbon but its a good way to come in and actually sample it and see what its about before you buy a bottle of it. The straight bourbon adds to Left Turns impressive list of offerings that includes its La Luz Vodka, award winning Brothers Old Tom Gin, Rojo Pinon Rum, NM Blue Corn Whiskey, and a barrel aged gin. The distillery currently has a bourbon in the works made with red corn that gives it more of a sweetness than the blue corn. While patrons wait on that bourbon they can soon enjoy a malt whiskey made in collaboration with Palmer Brewery and Cider House, which the distillery shares a building with. Palmers head brewer, he made a cool mash, Medina said. We bring it over here and distill it and sample it and see what we want to make and do what we want to do with it and its a good way to make new recipes and new collaborations. I think were just really eager to start our own barrel program. Its going to be really fun. Credit the developers of Chello Grill, a Persian restaurant near San Mateo and Interstate 40, for originality. The restaurants design scheme abandons the intricate geometric patterns so common to Middle Eastern restaurants in the United States for an exuberant shoutout to the 1950s featuring cascades of orange and turquoise polka dots. Theres not a single embroidered pillow to be found in the place. The operators of the burgeoning Pizza 9 chain opened Chello Grill, named after the Farsi word for rice, two years ago on the east side of the Pavilions at San Mateo, a sprawling shopping center anchored by an Old Navy. The menu offers kebabs cooked to order over a fire, along with a variety of hot and cold sides set out in serving dishes. Unless youre well-versed in Persian cuisine, plan on spending a few minutes at the counter inquiring about the koobideh, fessenjan and other traditional dishes on display. Chellos combo meals provide the most comprehensive experience, as they come with kebabs, grilled veggies, sides, rice and naan. Chello Doh, the combo meal with two kebabs and two sides, starts at $15.99. After the preloaded kebab skewers go on the grill, you sit down with your sides and wait for the finished product to come out. It takes more than a few minutes, so youll want to dig into the sides right away. The stews that constitute the hot sides ($2.99 regular, $5.99 large) are the best things on the menu. Chellos version of the Persian stew fessenjan is made with pomegranate syrup, ground walnuts and chicken. It looks a bit like a bowl of mud with rocks in it, but the flavor is wonderful, at once smoky, sweet and savory. The chicken cubes inside are falling-apart tender. A couple of classic Persian tomato-based stews, gheimeh and mirza ghasemi, also shine. Gheimeh, made with split peas and tomato, is offered with beef or in a vegan version. I chose the latter and found it plenty meaty enough, with a sharp citrus tang and a pile of potato sticks on top to add crunch. Mirza ghasemi combines tomatoes, diced eggplant and turmeric into a lighter stew, almost like a marinara sauce. It was the perfect accompaniment for the naan. The kebabs, teased off the skewers and served on big, rectangular plates with a side of salad, presented a mixed bag. The chicken ($5.99) was tender and juicy, with some citrusy bite from the marinade and smokiness from the fire. In contrast, the koobideh ($4.99), a Persian staple made with ground beef and onions formed into a long, thin patties, was pretty dense and dry, and carried only a faint onion flavor. The lamb ($8.99) was overcooked, all the more disappointing considering its price. With charred tomatoes, zucchini and peppers, and a bed of basmati and saffron rice, the combo platters provide a good amount of food for the money. I recommend washing it down with Chellos shaken iced teas ($2.99) made with black tea and fruit purees. The Ruby Crush with raspberry puree and strawberries, and the peach puree-based Southern Duo were both excellent. Also recommended is the dessert sampler ($4.68), which includes a piece of baklava, two dates stuffed with crushed walnuts and coconut flakes, and a nut roll basically, baklava rolled and dipped in chocolate and walnuts. The dense, honey-soaked layers of the baklava made for a delicious end to the meal. Chello has a lot of vegan options and almost everything on the menu is gluten-free; it even offers gluten-free naan. Its all part of the restaurants accessible presentation of one of the worlds ancient cuisines. Chello Grill 2.5 stars LOCATION: 5010 Cutler Ave. NE, Unit A, 881-2299, chellogrill.com HOURS: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday NO ALCOHOL Cultural experience and connection. Thats the goal of the South American Folk Fair, on Sunday, May 19, at the National Hispanic Cultural Center. The event is marking its fifth year. It started with just an idea to get to know the South American community, says Jackie Zamora, festival founder. I know a lot of the folks who live in New Mexico, and I wanted to help them celebrate their culture. Over the years, it has progressively grown. Zamora plans the festival a year out and meets with community members throughout the year to get sponsorship and backing. The festival offers cultural education through music, dance and food. Attractions for the entire family include free face-painting and dance workshops for all ages. We tried to keep everything affordable, she says of the festival. Kids under 12 get in free, and theres face-painting for them, as well as other activities geared toward children. Zamora says the festival will feature traditional food and folkloric dances from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. In fact, headlining the event will be Houston-based Pachangara, under the direction of Venezuelan percussionist Gerardo Araujo. Zamora says its important to offer a diverse selection for the audience. There has to be a representation of something very different, she says. How we share ourselves helps open the door to something different. We are able to start a conversation and let people learn more about the South American culture. In the events fifth year, Zamora is hoping to bring in more than 500. The first year, it was very small, as it was in its infancy, she says of the festival. By the third year, I think I got it right and found a good balance. Last year, it doubled, and this year we could easily be looking at our biggest year yet. And now, after more than 25 years in the making and unmaking a Terry Gilliam film. Opening title card for The Man Who Killed Don Quixote Terry Gilliam has been planning and plotting and dreaming and scheming to make his Don Quixote movie since the late 1980s. As an article in The New York Times pointed out, Gilliams daughter, Amy, was 11 when he first began working on the film. She is now 41 and a producer on The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. This is not a completed version of the Johnny Depp-starring Don Quixote movie Gilliam started filming in 2000 that fell apart due to flash floods and other setbacks. (That debacle was chronicled in the 2002 documentary Lost in La Mancha. Gilliams ongoing struggles to make the movie were chronicled in a second documentary, He Dreams of Giants.) This is an altogether new production, featuring an eclectic and fantastic cast led by Adam Driver, Jonathan Pryce, Stellan Skarsgaard and Olga Kurylenko. It is a wild, absurdist, crazy-quilt, soaring flight of bat-bleep fancy. Were there times when I was lost in the flourishes and the detours and the madness, and it appeared that the characters were foundering about as if they were each starring in their own movies? Oh, yes. But was I constantly engaged, consistently intrigued, usually grinning at the sheer beautiful craziness of these dreamers? You betcha. Adam Driver brings a Nicolas Cage-esque zeal to his terrifically loony performance as Toby, whom we meet as he is directing a vodka commercial inspired by a scene from Miguel de Cervantes novel Don Quixote. To say Toby is passionate and troubled would be an understatement. He seems on the verge of breakdown. Clad all in white, he barks commands such as, Me organ grinder, you monkey, dances with the script girl and launches into a tirade about the casting: I said I want laughing, smiling, happy, clapping people! White, black, yellow, green, LGBT, GLBT, G&T, f T&A, I dont give a f as long as the ratio is right! Decaf, Toby. Decaf. Back at his hotel, Toby pops in a DVD. The woman hes with asks, What is that? The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, Toby replies. I made it a long time ago. My graduation film. It won me lots of awards. It was supposed to be my passport to Hollywood. Seeking to rediscover his lost youth and inspiration, Toby returns to the Spanish village where he shot that student film and reconnects with the shoemaker, Javier (the invaluable Jonathan Pryce, 30-plus years after starring in Gilliams Brazil), who starred as Don Quixote in that movie and came to believe (and still believes) he actually WAS Don Quixote and Toby was Sancho Panza, and, yes, this movie is a movie within a movie perhaps within another movie, and what else would we expect from the Python-infused mind of Terry Gilliam? Don Quixote and Sancho I mean, Javier the shoemaker and Toby the director get involved in a series of crazy adventures, with period-piece costume drama clashing with 21st century plot developments. (At one point, Skarsgaard, in full costume, scolds Toby to try to keep up with the plot. Tobys response: Theres a plot? We know how you feel, Toby.) Of course, Gilliams quest to make his Don Quixote film mirrors the original novel, and the movie he finally made is like a fun house mirror version filled with wonderfully, sometimes disturbingly strange imagery as tragedy meets comedy meets romance meets the noble glory of the artist sacrificing nearly everything in the quest to make lasting art. At last, here is Gilliams latest work of cinematic art. The Man Who Killed Don Quixote 3 stars RATED: Not Rated WHEN: Opens today WHERE: Guild Cinema Movies can be blessedly simple. As the first John Wick showed, all you really need is a car, a gun, a dead dog and Keanu Reeves. Who needs kiss kiss when youve got plenty of bang bang? Alas, nothing in todays movie-land stays minor-key. Chad Stahelskis John Wick has quickly spouted into a three-and-counting series, the latest of which is John Wick: Chapter 3 Parabellum. What was once a taut, minimalist action movie with an appeal predicated on low expectations and leanness has grown into a franchise with a typically overcooked subtitle and de rigueur world-building (the films press notes reference the Wickian universe). Parabellum finds Stahelski, Reeves former stunt double, who has directed all three films, moving further beyond Wicks hard-boiled origins and into a more extravagant action thriller. In its ever-expanding fictional realm, Parabellum isnt so dissimilar from a superhero movie, only one with way more blood, a much higher body count and, yes, righteously better action scenes. It starts right where we left off with Reeves uber-hitman. Hes on the run in New York, having violated the fiercely enforced rules of the High Table, an international assassins guild that sets combat protocol for a vast criminal netherworld, including that no business should be conducted in the Continental, the Manhattan hotel presided over with panache by its manager, Winston (Ian McShane). Ruthless as the world of John Wick is, its a rigidly ordered one, full of slavish fidelity to a warrior code thats part samurai, part magician. Theres a $14 million bounty on Wicks head, just posted by the High Table, which has begun a soon-to-conclude countdown to make Wick excommunicado. For every other bounty hunter, its open season on John Wick. And in these films, one lurks down every alley; the ratio of regular person to hit man is, like, 2 to 1. From the get-go, the visual landscape of Parabellum a nighttime New York downpour with dashes of neon all around is vivid, nearly turning Times Square into Hong Kong. With little time to go, Wick heads to where all hit men go in times of need: the library. Beginning with the Rose Main Reading Room at the New York Public Library (where Wick, wielding a tome pulled from the stacks, fights a giant played by 76ers backup center Boban Marjanovic), Parabellum excels in its New York locations. Cinematographer Dan Laustsen (The Shape of Water) and production designer Kevin Kavanaugh (The Dark Knight Rises) are the movies most potent weapons. With pursuers all around, Wick stealthily seeks out old associates for help, including Anjelica Huston, as a kind of ballet-and-wrestling instructor, and Halle Berry, who has a fiefdom in Casablanca and a few lethal dogs that severely test the bounds of good boy. He appeals to them on the basis of old bonds that, he hopes, supersede the decrees of the High Table. Along with returning co-stars Laurence Fishburne, Lance Reddick and McShane, Parabellum is well-stocked in top-flight character actors. No movie that includes Fishburne bellowing I am the Bowery! isnt without its acting pleasures including Reeves himself, who has found in Wick a comfortable match for his spare style and powerfully still physical presence. Also added to the mix here is Asia Kate Dillon (Billions) as the Adjudicator, sent to arbitrate violators of the High Tables code. But most go to the John Wick films for the hyperkinetic video game action sequences. With a seamless mix of CGI and stunt work, Stahelski fluidly choreographs ballets of bullets and endless violent encounters across a grim cityscape. In some sequences, the action is clever, stylish and syncopated with the camera in motion. There are sleek showdowns surrounded by reflective glass; inventive weapon selections, when assailants corner Wick in a corridor of antique knives; and chases on horseback under an elevated subway, and by motorcycle in a blur across a bridge. In one moment, a tussle plunges underwater and the action takes on a slow-motion beauty. There is no doubt that these sequences are quite easily, in form and execution, a cut above what almost every other action film is doing. But Parabellum often squanders its finesse by resorting, countless times, to execution-like killings. As the body count swells, the relentless sound of gun blasts and the occasional knife stuck in a skull begins to pulverize. Fans will surely eat it all up, but the John Wick films have nothing to say about gun violence despite its absurd abundance. As laudable as the filmmaking is here, its an abdication and one thats hard to fathom, given the parade of shootings today that sullies the whole enterprise. You could say, well, its just a movie. Thats true. No one would confuse the Wickian universe for our own. But not because of all the gunplay. Because everyone plays by the rules. John Wick: Chapter 3 Parabellum 3 stars RATED: R (for pervasive strong violence and some language) WHEN: Open today WHERE: AMC 12, Century 14 Downtown, Century Rio 24, Cottonwood, Icon Cinemas, Winrock 16, Starlight Cinema (Los Lunas), Premiere (Rio Rancho) APPLETON, Wis. A call to assist a man thought to be having a medical emergency on a bus escalated into a shooting that ended with the man and an Appleton firefighter dead and two others hurt, authorities said Thursday. The incident began at around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday as police, firefighters and an ambulance went to help a 47-year-old man arriving in downtown Appleton on a bus from out of the area, police said. The responders gave medical help to the man, who eventually left the bus and started walking toward a nearby library, whereupon the incident escalated, police said. Chief Todd Thomas said the man showed a handgun and exchanged shots with the police officers. Firefighter Mitch Lundgaard, a 14-year veteran, was killed. A female bystander and an Appleton police officer were also hit. The woman was hospitalized in stable condition, and the officer was treated and released. The 47-year-old man died at a hospital from his injuries, police said. Tori Mourning lives across the street from the transit center and heard the gunfire. I looked up. I heard a pow and I thought it was the lawnmower firing. I heard it again. I looked up because you could see the bus stop from my bedroom window, looked at the tree. I saw the guy shoot a female and she went down. And another shot was fired and there was another male and he went down and I saw the shooter flee, Mourning told WBAY-TV. Mourning said she yelled for her children as soon as she realized shots were fired. I screamed through my house that those are gunfire and everyone get down, Mourning said. Appleton Fire Chief Jeremy Hansen said Lundgaard was married with three young children. A long line of emergency vehicles escorted Lundgaards body from the Milwaukee County Medical Examiners Office in Milwaukee, where an autopsy was done, back to Appleton on Thursday. Police on motorcycles led the procession as it made its way north about 120 miles (195 kilometers) on Interstate 41. Firefighters with their truck lights flashing positioned themselves on interstate overpasses as the procession passed by on the way to an Appleton funeral home. Firefighters stood silently at the medical examiners office as the procession began, just as they had when the body arrived in a flag-draped casket overnight. Gov. Tony Evers sent his condolences Thursday to the family and colleagues of the firefighter. In a statement on Twitter, Evers said that he and his wife, Kathy, send our deepest sympathies to the family, friends (and) colleagues of the firefighter who lost their life last night. We stand with our brave first responders as they mourn this loss, Evers said. CHICAGO A Chicago woman who sold baby clothes to a pregnant woman and lured her back to her house with an offer of more clothing has been charged with murder after allegedly strangling the woman with a cord and cutting the infant from her womb, police said Thursday. Clarisa Figueroa, 46, apparently wanted to raise another child two years after her adult son died of natural causes, investigators said. Words cannot express how disgusting and thoroughly disturbing these allegations are, Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson told reporters at a news conference to announce the murder charges against Figueroa and her 24-year-old daughter, Desiree Figueroa. The mothers boyfriend, 40-year-old Piotr Bobak, was charged with concealment of a homicide. The charges come three weeks after 19-year-old Marlen Ochoa-Lopez disappeared and a day after her body was discovered in a garbage can in the backyard of Figueroas home on the citys Southwest Side, about 4 miles from her own home. According to police, the young woman drove from her high school to Figueroas home in response to an offer of free clothes that Figueroa had posted on Facebook. When she arrived, police said, she was strangled and the baby cut from her body. A few hours later, Figueroa frantically called 911, claiming that her newborn baby was not breathing. When first responders arrived, the child was blue. They tried to resuscitate the infant and transported the boy to a nearby hospital, where police said he remained in grave condition and was not expected to survive. Police did not connect the womans disappearance and the 911 call about the baby until May 7, when friends of Ochoa-Lopez directed detectives to her social media account, which showed she had communicated with Figueroa in a Facebook group for expectant mothers. At the same time, Clarisa Figueroa had started a GoFundMe campaign for the funeral of what she said was her dying baby, said Sara Walker, a spokeswoman for Ochoa-Lopezs family. Police then conducted DNA tests, which showed that Ochoa-Lopez and her husband, Yiovanni Lopez, were actually his parents, Walker said. When police arrived to question Figueroa, her daughter told them that her mother was in the hospital with some kind of leg injury, before adding that she had just delivered a baby, said Brendan Deenihan, deputy chief of detectives. She told an extremely odd story, and officers kind of knew where this is headed, Deenihan said. Police then searched the neighborhood and found Ochoa-Lopezs car a few blocks away. On Tuesday, they returned with a search warrant, finding cleaning supplies as well as evidence of blood in the hallway and in the bathroom. They later found the body in a trash can behind the house and recovered surveillance video that showed Ochoa-Lopezs vehicle driving through the neighborhood on the day they believed she was killed, authorities said. Ochoa-Lopezs family had been looking for her since her disappearance on April 23, organizing search parties and holding news conferences as they pushed police for updates in the investigation. Her father, Arnulfo Ochoa, said relatives were grateful to have found her. Now they want justice. The family was also bracing for the babys death, while still hoping for a miracle. We plead to God that he gives us our child because that is a blessing that my wife left for us, Yiovanni Lopez told reporters through a Spanish interpreter outside the county morgue where his wifes body was taken. The three suspects were scheduled to appear Friday in bond court. ___ Associated Press videojournalist Noreen Nasir contributed to this report. Two young men are charged with a hate crime after, prosecutors say, they targeted two men robbing, pistol-whipping and shooting one of them early last month, because they thought the victims were gay. A grand jury indicted Enrique Palomino and Xavier Pino, both 18, on Tuesday, adding a hate crime enhancement to their original charge of armed robbery, which could add a year to their sentences if they are convicted. Each of the teens is also charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and contributing to the delinquency of a minor in the April 4 shooting of Garfield Lopez, 29, in a Northeast Albuquerque neighborhood. A third teenager, 17-year-old Dominic Lopez, is also charged, but he has not been charged with a hate crime, because his role in the incident is still being investigated. Police say the casings found at the scene were also traced to at least six other shootings, including a 2017 homicide and the April 8 slaying of 15-year-old Martin Maestas. Pino is behind bars at the Metropolitan Detention Center, Lopez is still on the run, and Palomino is serving a three-year sentence at a juvenile detention center, stemming from a recent probation violation. Palomino was one of six teenagers charged in the June 2015 death of Steven Gerecke, who was shot by an accomplice after a night of mobbing when a group of teenagers broke into cars and homes. He was sentenced as a juvenile and released in November 2018 on probation. Second Judicial District Attorney spokesman Michael Patrick said a hate crime enhancement is very, very rare because prosecutors must prove the crime was specifically motivated by hate. He said enough evidence existed to warrant the designation by a grand jury. It is unclear whether the victims are homosexual, but prosecutors say they were targeted due to that perception. In this case, Patrick said the attack on Garfield Lopez and Benjamin Gomez was sparked when they were seen holding hands as they walked down a street near Carlisle and Candelaria. According to court records, the three young men told the victims, This is our neighborhood, asked if they had drugs and called them a slur for homosexuals before attacking them. Police say Palomino, Dominic Lopez and Pino then robbed and pistol-whipped Garfield Lopez and a friend before one of them shot Garfield Lopez several times. He was taken to a hospital and later recovered. Police say Palominos court-ordered ankle bracelet put him at the scene of the crime, and Pino told a detective he was there as well, but neither man said he took part in the attack. BALTIMORE A bogus investment scheme that entrapped hundreds of individuals and corporate investors and might involve as much as a half-billion dollars has unraveled in guilty pleas for wire fraud and conspiracy from a Maryland man who prosecutors say amassed a fortune in luxury cars, costly wines and other high-end possessions with his illicit gains. In a federal courthouse in Baltimore, Kevin Merrill pleaded guilty Thursday to two felony counts; 13 other counts he faced are expected to be dismissed at sentencing in September. He initially pleaded not guilty to defrauding investors hoping to profit from consumer debt portfolios. But prosecutors announced this week hed be arraigned again, signaling a change in plea. Prosecutors say Merrill and co-conspirators enriched themselves with investors money in a Ponzi scheme that operated from 2013 until September 2018. A judge had issued a restraining order barring the 53-year-old from selling his five properties, expensive watches and Louis Vuitton clothes. He also had a taste for rare wine, casino gambling and artwork featuring Rich Uncle Pennybags, the mustachioed mascot of the Monopoly board game. But his apparent obsession was high-end cars: The college dropout from Towson, Maryland, had a fleet of luxury vehicles resembling something out of a James Bond movie. Among his cars were multiple Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Rolls Royces and even a Bugatti Veyron, among one of the worlds fastest street-legal cars with a top speed of 255 mph (408.84 kph) and a seven-figure price tag. A divestment team is working to sell his abundant possessions to pay back defrauded investors. In his plea agreement, Merrill said an estimated loss figure over $250 million and less than $550 million for the overall investment scheme was reasonable. Kevin Merrill lured investors through an elaborate web of lies, duping them into paying millions of dollars into this Ponzi scheme, said U.S. Attorney Robert Hur in Baltimore. He described the scam as one of the largest ever charged in Maryland. Essentially, Merrill duped clients into forking over savings to invest in consumer debt portfolios, bundles of defaulted loans for things like education and automobiles. With collection businesses he owned, including Delmarva Capital and Global Credit Recovery, Merrill convinced investors hed make them money by collecting payments others made on their debts or flipping debt portfolios for a profit to other third-party buyers. Among over 400 victims were Choice Bank in Belize, investors in Singapore and a California woman who invested $150,000 she was hoping to grow to pay for her grandkids college tuitions. At Thursdays court hearing, Merrill admitted that he and his co-conspirators falsely represented who they were buying the debt portfolios from, how much they were paying for them and their track record of success. U.S. prosecutors said he even lied to the FBI, voluntarily seeking them out in October 2017 and handing over falsified documents in a desperate attempt to deflect their suspicions after an investor told him that a federal agent had been asking questions about him. Earlier this year, prosecutors alleged that the jailed Merrill planned to tell his 30-year-old wife to drink the good wine, stash cash and hide and sell valuables. Guards apparently found a note with these instructions to his wife stuffed in his sock before a jailhouse visit. He planned to hold it up to the glass. His spouse, Amanda Merrill, has been charged with conspiracy, obstruction and other charges in the investigation. She attended Thursdays hearing along with her husbands parents and his brother. They all declined to speak to reporters. Prosecutors say co-defendant Cameron Jezierski, a 28-year-old resident of Fort Worth, Texas, has already pleaded guilty to his role in the bogus investment scheme. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a parallel civil complaint in the matter. ___ Follow McFadden on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dmcfadd There are places there where Washington and Moscow not only can but have worked closely together, U.S. State Secretary Mike Pompeo said in an interview with Fox News Radio. U.S.-Russian counterterrorism cooperation has helped to protect lives of Russian nationals and step up the United States' security, he pointed out. Pompeo noted that when he was a CIA director, Russia and the U.S. "worked on counterterrorism all around the world passing information about terror threats between our two countries." The State Secretary added that he had been able to successfully have substantive discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their recent talks in Sochi. The top diplomat stressed that counterterrorism efforts and cooperation on settling the crisis in Afghanistan and the North Korea nuclear issue were "three examples of discrete places where it makes real sense for the United States and Russia to work together." An Albuquerque defense lawyer has been indefinitely suspended from practicing law over a flagrant and intentional failure to comply with court rules and orders, according to the Administrative Office of the Courts. Daniel Salazar was held in contempt by the state Supreme Court last year for failing to comply with a disciplinary order, and on Thursday the court affirmed his indefinite suspension for a period of at least 18 months. According to a news release announcing the opinion, the court found that Salazar repeatedly failed to comply with deadlines for filing notices of appeals in one case waiting three years to file such notice in a first-degree murder case. Court rules require filing within 30 days. Rules matter. An attorney must conform his or her conduct to the requirements of the rules and orders of this Court, Justice Barbara Vigil said in the unanimous opinion. The opinion also says that the discipline may salvage Salazars career by enabling him to reform his dilatory ways and accept responsibility for the harm he has inflicted on his clients and the fair administration of justice in New Mexico. Salazar said Thursday evening that the disciplinary boards recommendations were less punitive. The Supreme Court went out of their wayto suspend me rather than accept the recommendation of the disciplinary board, Salazar said. That is, I think, of note. He said he is considering filing a motion to reconsider. An Albuquerque man along with seven others carried out a kidnapping for ransom and eventual murder of a business owner in Pennsylvania last spring, the U.S. Attorneys Office alleges in court documents. Jose El Bigoton Castillo, 44, is charged with kidnapping, conspiracy and using a firearm in connection with a crime of violence in the June 2018 case. Also charged are Ivan Prieto, 34, of North Carolina; Jose Bernal, 30, of Delaware; and Jose Delgado, 40, Salvador Guerrero, 47, Robert Favors, 39, John Perkins, 31, and Fermin Perez Mejia, 35 all of Pennsylvania. Anyone willing to abduct another human being and try to trade their life for money is a danger to society, Michael T. Harpster, special agent in charge of the FBIs Philadelphia Division, said in a statement. Just imagine the terror of being kidnapped, restrained, and at the total mercy of armed criminals. The FBI will never stop working to make our communities safer from violent thugs who care nothing for the lives of others. Court records allege the eight men kidnapped a business owner, who is not identified, over a perceived debt before demanding a ransom from his family and eventually killing him. According to an indictment filed in U.S. District Court, it was sometime before June 2018 when four of the men including Castillo hatched the plan to abduct the businessman and collect a ransom over a perceived debt he owed them. Agents say the suspects met at a Philadelphia restaurant on June 8, recruiting Favors, Perkins and others to assist in the plan. They then met with a friend of the businessman twice, at a strip club and fast food restaurant, under the guise of renting a property from the businessman for drug trafficking activity. Court records allege the suspects set up a meeting with the businessman on June 19, kidnapped him from his Philadelphia home and took him to a garage where they tied him up with duct tape, handcuffs and zip ties. Agents say the suspects called the businessmans wife multiple times and demanded hundreds of thousands of dollars for his safe return. At some point in the following days, the businessman was shot in the head. Court records allege the suspects then buried the gun and destroyed the SUV they used in the kidnapping. In July, one of the suspects called Castillo and told him the authorities were looking for him and to leave the country. As alleged in the indictment, these ruthless individuals are a serious threat to the safety of our neighborhoods not just in Philadelphia, but the entire mid-Atlantic region and beyond, U.S. Attorney William McSwain said in a statement. This indictment reflects our Offices steadfast commitment to rid the streets of people who resort to intimidation and extreme violence to try to get what they want. The Albuquerque Police Departments Southeast Area Command has beefed up its problem response teams dedicated to proactive policing and provided each officer with a bicycle. City Councilor Pat Davis, who represents the area, held a news conference at the Nob Hill triangle substation Thursday morning to announce that he secured $6,000 from the City Council to buy bikes for the team in the southeast area. Davis said theyve been working on getting the officers trained and outfitted for the past couple of years. This is something that was in place before these incidences of the past few weeks, Davis said, referencing in part the fatal shooting of a University of New Mexico student two weeks ago. It took more than a year to get the planning together and get it done. APD launched two-officer problem response teams in the southeast, southwest and Downtown areas earlier this year, and increased the southeast team to five officers, a sergeant and a lieutenant about three weeks ago. The five-officer unit is separate from a recently announced unit of 10 bike patrol officers that will roam the Central Avenue corridor. The team will also assist the bike patrol officers stationed in Nob Hill during peak bar hours. Officer Steve Weinstein of the southeast problem response team said that rather than taking calls for service, the unit looks for quality of life type issues, such as people who are trespassing, drinking in public, or using drugs. The team can adjust its schedule as needed, but right now plans to work Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The first area it tackled was on Central from Louisiana to Wyoming, according to Gilbert Gallegos, an APD spokesman. In that time, Gallegos said the self-initiated calls for service skyrocketed, meaning officers are tackling issues on their own rather than waiting to be dispatched in response to a call. Also, they have been able to work on identifying and organizing business stakeholders in our three identified business coalition areas, Gallegos wrote in an email, referring to the UNM, Nob Hill and Highland areas. I am writing in response to the May 5 article and May 10 editorial regarding the New Mexico Court of Appeals backlog of unissued opinions. The May 5 article reported: When the four judges who lost re-election bids left the court in January, they had a total of 32 opinions considered overdue that were reassigned to the four new judges. The May 10 editorial was based on this reporting regarding these unfinished opinions. That editorial states, Those five all left the court after the 2018 election: one won a seat on the Supreme Court and the others lost their reelection bids. All their caseloads, including 32 opinions considered overdue, went to new judges who essentially started from scratch, which statement is not completely accurate, as I will further explain. Although it may be correct that 32 opinions were left pending at the time of the change of judges on Jan. 1, it was not correct to attribute those opinions to all four of the Republican judges and further report that they were all assigned to new judges. Judge Henry M. Bohnhoff left the bench with only one case pending, but it was not assigned to a new judge. What went unreported is that Judge Bohnhoff completed the one remaining opinion after the first of the year himself, after he had left the bench and while acting in a pro tem judicial capacity, serving without compensation. Therefore, Judge Bohnhoff left no cases pending and none of his cases was assigned to other judges. In addition, Judge Bohnhoff continued to serve in his pro tem capacity without compensation to help finish three additional opinions on which he was a participating judge, but not the judge responsible for drafting the opinion. The original three-judge panels remained in place on all of these opinions, and it was not necessary to bring in new judges who would be starting from scratch, to use the phrase from the editorial. The fact and magnitude of the Court of Appeals backlog is a legitimate issue of public concern. Appellate justice delayed can be justice denied for any citizen involved and especially if error at trial results in a criminal conviction. But the reality is that whenever a justice or judge leaves office, the courts stack of pending cases inevitably will grow. Our inexcusably dysfunctional and unique procedure for choosing judges in New Mexico whereby they are first appointed and then must run in a partisan election to maintain their position will continue to haunt us and contribute to this problem until the Legislature sees fit to change it. Regardless of the dysfunctionality that this system imposes on us, when I read the referenced article and subsequent editorial, the implication that Judge Bohnhoff had left any of his work undone did not ring true to me. This was not the Hank Bohnhoff that I have known for over 30 years. He served as deputy attorney general of New Mexico when we were in that office together years ago. When we departed that office, just as was the case more recently with the Court of Appeals, Hank left nothing undone or incomplete. It is not his style, particularly when performing public service on behalf of the citizens of New Mexico. In April, the Trump administration ended all sanction waivers for purchases of Iranian crude. Its aim is clear: to reduce Irans oil exports, a critical source of income for Tehran, to zero. The U.S.s ultimate objective, however, is less certain. Is it to force the Iranians back to the negotiation table so President Trump can strike his own deal with them? Or is it to inflict so much pain on the Iranian population that they will rise up and remove the Islamist regime from power? In Washington, there is surprisingly little agreement on this all-important point. There is, however, a consensus that the maximum pressure campaign on Iran is already impacting third-party countries, many of which are U.S. allies. Put simply, Washingtons unyielding demand that countries chose sides between Iran and the United States, and the extraterritorial sanctions that come with not complying, is putting a long list of countries in a bind. Some of the bigger ones, like China, India and Turkey, are better equipped to push back, but they still only have mixed results to show for it. No country has been more affected by the U.S.-Iran battle than Iraq though, and its predicament deserves Washingtons full attention, if for no other reason than U.S. interests. In the last decade, Iraq has become Irans biggest export market for non-oil goods. Bilateral trade totals about $12 billion a year, and Tehran and Baghdad want to boost this to $20 billion. While the trade volumes are impressive, they pale in comparison to the political connections between the two countries. Tehran is deeply embedded in Iraqs political and security sectors, and it is no exaggeration to say Iran is today the most powerful foreign actor in Baghdad. It is equally true that the United States is the second most powerful foreign player on the Iraqi stage. When the U.S. decided not to renew waivers in April, the Iraqis simply shrugged and said complying with U.S. sanctions wasnt an option. But they also let Washington know that they wish they hadnt been put in this position in the first place. The Trump administration urgently needs to find a new approach to avoid having its Iran policy undermine long-term American interests in Iraq. For the U.S., losing its influence in Iraq because of its Iran policy would be a major strategic blunder. It would undermine everything the U.S. has done since it toppled Saddam Husseins regime in 2003. Nor should American policies turn Iraq into Irans inevitable accomplice, which would only further burden a weak Iraqi state. Facing U.S. sanctions, Iran and Iraq are already busy finding new banking channels that can allow for trade between the two countries to continue. This is tantamount to sanctions busting, putting the Iraqis in the Americans line of fire. Many Iranian merchants increasingly view Iraq as a potential hub through which to route Irans international trade a role previously played by the United Arab Emirates. According to Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, Iran has become so good at sanctions busting that it would even be happy to share its know-how with other sanctioned countries. Among other steps, Tehran has begun to sell its oil on the private bourse and to anonymous private buyers. Such opaque transactions naturally lend themselves to corruption, and it likely will not be limited to Iran only. During the last round of sanctions on Iranian oil, the role of informal middlemen resulted in a number of major multibillion-dollar corruption scandals, which ended up snaring banks and government officials in neighboring Turkey, a big importer of Irans oil. Iraq is today a major customer of Iranian natural gas and electricity. There is no reason to believe that Tehrans efforts to circumvent U.S. sanctions might not this time around drag the Iraqis into Tehrans game plan to dodge Americas long arm. If so, it would put the U.S. in an unenviable position it (would) wish it could have prevented. Alex Vatanka is author of Iran and Pakistan: Security, Diplomacy and American Influence. Follow him @AlexVatanka. Talk today Alex Vatanka will discuss The Islamic Republic at 40: The Struggle for the Future of Iran and Challenges for the U.S. from 3-5 p.m. today in the Albuquerque Journal 2nd Floor Auditorium. WASHINGTON Growing up in the 1950s and 60s, there was no avoiding the adorable Doris Day. She was cute as a bug, wholesome, winsome and adored, at least in movies, by the swooning-est leading men in Hollywood Rock Hudson, Cary Grant and Clark Gable, to name a few. As a young girl, I simply loved her and, of course, wanted to marry Rock. As dreamboats went, he was without par. And Doris we were on a first-name basis back then was this motherless girls idea of what a woman should be: cheerfully feminine and wise to men. Today, Days characters would be laughable to world-weary children trapped in a sexualized world. But I can testify that watching grown-ups crawl into twin beds wearing pajamas brings no harm to the underaged. Im grateful for the innocence that society then permitted its younger generation, and to actors such as Day, who declined roles, including Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate, that defied her values. Also, Day was honest enough about herself to figure she probably wouldnt have been believable as a seductress. She was certainly glamorous but was also perhaps cursed by a prevailing perkiness that could be neither subdued nor camouflaged. Besides, who would want to see a lascivious Doris Day? Surely not her fans. Days singing career about which much has been written preceded and succeeded her acting career. Que Sera, Sera became her theme song, and its lyrics were tantamount to an elegy for the songstress, who wanted none of that. Day, who died Monday at 97, made known that she didnt want a funeral, memorial or even a headstone. In her later years, Day became increasingly reclusive and dedicated her talents and resources to animal rights. If long ago I admired her fictional personas, Im grateful today for her animal activism and find myself in agreement with her reflection: The more I study human beings, the more I love animals. Though her work for animals is inarguably her greatest legacy, most obituaries have focused on her film and song careers. Eager to know more, I contacted Wayne Pacelle, former head of the Humane Society of the United States, who knew Day and worked with her in pursuing legislative action on behalf of animals. Her compassion for all animals not just dogs, but for all animals was central to everything she was about, he wrote in an email. She attached her name to advocacy organizations to scale up her work for animals a rare thing for celebrities, who would occasionally weigh in on issues but not fully commit to engagement on these issues. Pacelle said Day frequently called state and federal lawmakers when animal issues hung in the balance. She advocated for a 1990 ban on the trophy hunting of mountain lions in California, was strong in urging an end to cosmetic testing on animals, helped with a 2010 ballot measure in Missouri to crack down on puppy mills, and made calls and sent letters on a wide range of topics to help all animals. Lawmakers who were old enough to have been fans were always thrilled to hear from her, he said. She was one of the biggest celebrity names in the 20th century, and her guileless approach on animal issues won her so many admirers and fans. She was part of the process of making animal welfare a mainstream issue. She is like Jane Goodall in being above the fray and was almost impossible for apologists of animal cruelty to attack. Pacelle visited Day in her Carmel, California, home 14 years ago to discuss merging the Doris Day Animal League a political advocacy group with a planned HSUS political action committee. He remembered her home as elegant but understated and described her as warm and gracious. A small herd of rescue dogs followed her everywhere. At first, Day was reluctant to combine forces, wishing to remain independent, but she ended the conversation with, Lets do it. The result was a union of HSUS and DDAL and the creation of the Humane Society Legislative Fund and its PAC. Come to think of it, maybe Day wasnt a que sera, sera sort of gal after all. She saw cruelty and used her celebrity to improve the lives of animals and, by extension, helped create a more-humane world. The future may not be ours to see, but Day demonstrated that the future can be made better through activism, helped along, no doubt, by the memory of a wink, a smile and a song. Email kathleenparker@washpost.com. 2019, Washington Post Writers Group. Lysistrata, the character from the Aristophanes play of the same name, declared a sex strike to try to stop a devastating war in ancient Greece. Alyssa Milano, the actress and political activist, declared a sex strike to try to stop Georgia from protecting unborn children in the womb. The state just passed and signed into law a so-called heartbeat bill to outlaw abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detectable. This led Milano to conclude that women cant risk pregnancy until further notice, and must stop having sex, at least stop having sex with cis men. Its apparently never occurred to Milano that women, not just cis men, support pro-life legislation, and that unborn babies are both boys and girls. In her fictional cause, Lysistrata had mercy and humanity on her side. Milano has neither, although her lack of seriousness makes her a perfect spokesperson for the backlash against the Georgia bill. It is one of a spate of heartbeat bills around the nation that are sure to get enjoined in the courts but have highlighted the hysterical opposition to the idea that a tiny human being with a heartbeat should be afforded protection under the law. Georgia has come under Hollywood pressure, and not just from the latter-day Lysistrata. Fifty actors and actresses signed an open letter against the law several weeks before it passed. The missive included the condescending line that these worthies find Georgias restaurants and hotels to be comfortable and of a high quality. The states determination to protect the unborn, on the other hand, is completely unacceptable. The signatories thundered that should the heartbeat law pass, we will do everything in our power to move our industry to a safer state for women. Its always amusing to get a lecture about the interests of women from representatives of an industry that produced and shielded so many predatory creeps for so long, but Hollywood hasnt let its own sins stop its nonstop hectoring of everyone else. The left-wing trope online repeated by multiple news outlets is that the Georgia bill would give women life in prison if they have an abortion. This is a stupid lie. The relevant section of Georgia abortion law makes it clear that it applies to third parties, and has been interpreted as such by the Georgia courts. Nor does it call for life imprisonment of anyone. The common arguments against restrictions on abortion are that they infringe on womens health and bodies. But the vast majority of abortions are made out of discretionary choice, not medical necessity. And the heartbeat bills underline how another body is involved in the equation. An appendix or a kidney doesnt have its own separate heartbeat. The pro-abortion case is that a fetus is a blob of cells of no account with a heartbeat. That the fetus is a non-human being with a heartbeat. That the fetus isnt truly alive but has a heartbeat. The heartbeat bills, even if blocked by the courts, have an educative effect. Most people dont realize how soon a fetal heartbeat begins around six weeks into a pregnancy. The pro-life bumper sticker Abortion Stops a Beating Heart isnt just a slogan but a fact. As a pro-life tactic to get a test case in front of the Supreme Court to reconsider Roe v. Wade, the heartbeat bills may be lacking. Chief Justice John Roberts is cautious and unlikely to use a sweeping piece of pro-life legislation to overturn Roe, if he is inclined that way at all. But the heartbeat bills show, despite the Supreme Courts effort to stifle it, that the debate over abortion policy in the United States is still very real. The pro-life movement has survived setbacks in the Supreme Court, the disdain of the countrys cultural elite and predictions of its inevitable demise. Somehow, it will survive Alyssa Milanos sex strike as well. E-mail: comments.lowry@nationalreview.com. 2019 by King Features Syndicate. A street dog from Thailand has found her fur-ever home in Huntington Beach, California. Dr. Lisa Chong and Tara Austin spotted the year-old Thai Bangkaew dog dragging its body on its two front legs across a busy street while they were in that country last December to volunteer at Elephant Nature Park near Chiang Mai. The tale began to unfold after dinner one night during their stay. During the meal, Austin shared with Chong her admiration for Frida Kahlo, an artist who remained dedicated to her art despite becoming bedridden after a bus accident. On the way back to their hotel following dinner, the two childhood friends spotted the dog. Without consulting each other, they both walked onto the street to stop traffic and to shepherd the dog to safety. While Chong used dog treats to gauge the dogs friendliness toward humans, Austin flagged down a cab to take them back to their hotel. Austin also asked people at nearby businesses if they knew the dog, but no one claimed her. Austin and Chong, who gave the dog the name Frida after the famed Mexican artist, believe she might have been dropped off at a nearby temple where other stray dogs congregate. She had this fighter spirit, Austin said, referring to Fridas attitude on the drive back to their hotel. The dog, she said, calmly sat in the car and looked out the window. Chong, an OB-GYN, said they didnt realize the extent of Fridas poor condition until they took her back to their hotel room. Ticks covered the dogs body and her paws were covered in dirt as a result of dragging her body, she said. An X-ray at a 24-hour hospital just outside Chiang Mai later revealed Frida had a lumbar fracture and is missing several bones in her paws. She didnt have any fur on her paws at the time. She was really infected, Chong said. You could just feel the heat coming out of her legs, thats why she was panting. She didnt even know how to drink water. She had been a street dog for so long, she only understood how to drink water off the pavement. She didnt understand the concept of a cup of water. Chong said hospital staff recommended amputating Fridas hind legs, but Chong wanted that option to be the last resort. She said they had hoped Frida would one day walk again. The two visited Frida in the hospital for several hours every day during their trip. They noticed a slow shift in the canines behavior. It was apparent to them she was gaining more confidence. Fur started to grow on her two injured paws. Chong said the decision to formally adopt Frida was gradual. They realized the dog likely wouldnt be the first choice for adoption by a family. They also didnt want to financially burden the animal sanctuary by lodging Frida there, she said. Before they left Thailand to head home, they purchased a dog collar with a tag embossed with Fridas name as a promise they would soon return for their four-legged friend. Chong brought Frida home on a first-class flight from Thailand to Los Angeles recently. Frida is currently lodged at the Two Hands Four Paws Foundation, a animal rehabilitation facility in L.A., where shell learn how to walk again before moving into Chongs home in downtown Huntington Beach. Chong and Austins shared love for animals has led them to spend more than $13,000 to give Frida a second chance at life. Fundraisers are being planned to pay for medical costs as they see if doctors can help Frida use her two hind legs to walk again. They created an Instagram account to document Fridas journey and a GoFundMe page to gather donations. Part of me is sad knowing (Frida) is leaving her homeland and shes leaving everything shes ever known, but I think she has a bright future ahead of her, Chong said. To help Frida, visit gofundme.com/meet-frida-our-paralyzed-thai-street-pup. Girl Scouts of New Mexico Trails is hosting its major annual fundraiser, a gala called the Enchanted Evening, at Sandia Resort and Casino this June with a theme of celebrating women in STEM fields and careers. The state is home to so many driven and talented women who are flourishing in STEM fields, organizers said in a news release. The public is invited to attend and spotlight these amazing women while raising funds to support the next generation of women in STEM, they said. Our girls absolutely love our STEM events and programs. They quickly fill up, so we are looking for ways to expand and diversify the content and locations of our programs, Molly Garza, development director at Girl Scouts of New Mexico Trails, said in a statement. Wed love to be able to spend more time with girls in our rural areas of New Mexico. Support for STEM initiatives is critical to our success, she said. The June 29 semi-formal Enchanted Evening event for adults is from 6 to 10 p.m. and will feature prominent women representing a diverse cross-section of STEM-related fields. The keynote speaker is Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist Dr. Jennifer Harris. The proceeds will support GSNMT and their STEM initiatives. To register or buy tickets, which are $150 per person, go to www.nmgirlscouts.org and click on the Purple Enchanted Evening Banner. Corporate sponsorships are still available. We welcome suggestions for the daily Bright Spot. Send to newsroom@abqjournal.com. Dr. Jennifer Harris of Los Alamos National Laboratory Copyright 2019 Albuquerque Journal The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission on Thursday unanimously rejected motions to reconsider a decision to charge Facebook nearly half the cost of a new $85 million transmission line. Public Service Company of New Mexico and two other intervenors in the case had asked the five-member commission to reconsider its mid-April decision, which said PNM could not charge general ratepayers anything for building the transmission line. That decision was based on testimony by a utility executive during hearings in February that the line would serve only Facebook by carrying electricity from a new wind farm near Encino to the tech giants data center in Los Lunas, as well as wholesale customers who sell to markets outside the state. But PNM has since revised that statement, calling the transmission line a network upgrade that benefits wholesale and retail customers alike. PNM requested a rehearing on April 30 for the commission to reconsider its position to allow costs to be shared equally among all customers. Both the Coalition for Clean Affordable Energy and New Mexico Industrial Energy Consumers filed similar motions in support of PNM. But at the PRCs public meeting Thursday, commissioners rejected those motions on a technicality. They said PNM and the other parties did not explicitly ask to reopen the case record for new evidence to be entered through a formal rehearing, forcing commissioners to rely on existing evidence in the record. If they want to raise new issues, we would have to reopen the record and bring in new evidence for all parties to comment on, said Commissioner Stephen Fischmann during Thursdays meeting. These motions dont ask for that. Staff attorney Judith Amer told the commission that PNM was only asking the PRC to issue a new, revised order in the case. That means commissioners still had to rely on the PNM executives testimony in February that the line wont serve retail customers, Commissioner Cynthia Hall said. PNM unfortunately didnt provide us with anything in the record to refute that, so we couldnt reach a different conclusion than we already reached in April, Hall told the Journal. In discharging our judicial function, we have to follow the rules. Nevertheless, PNMs official request on April 30 clearly stated it was a motion for expedited rehearing, and the motions from the other two parties included similar language. We are deeply disappointed in the commissions decision today, said PNM spokesman Ray Sandoval in an email to the Journal. We understand that we created initial confusion (in the February testimony), but after clarifying the information, we believe the law and precedent should have led the commission to modify their decision. We are in the process of reviewing our options on how to proceed. PNM could decide to appeal to the Supreme Court. Under the PRCs previous order, which now stands, Facebook will have to pay $39 million for the new transmission line. Remaining costs will be covered by wholesale customers, with no charges to general ratepayers. That order to directly bill Facebook has generated criticism from public officials, including Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, and economic development professionals. They said it was unfair to Facebook, and it sets a chilling precedent that could discourage other companies from investing in New Mexico. Coalition for Clean Affordable Energy attorney Chuck Noble said the PRC could have changed its decision if it wanted. Neither the regulatory statutes nor the PRCs own rules require new evidence before the commission can reconsider its decision, Noble said. Their decision is unfortunate and disappointing. Facebook is building out a massive data center in Los Lunas that will be completely powered by renewable energy under contracts with PNM. Under those business arrangements, Facebook is committed to paying the bill for generating facilities and other infrastructure designed solely to benefit its operations, but not network upgrades or new infrastructure that strengthens the grid in general in support of all consumers, which is what PNM says the new transmission line will do. The new line, which will run between Clines Corners and a new substation in Sandoval County, will carry 166 megawatts of electricity from the La Joya wind farm, now under construction, to Facebooks data center. But the utility told the Journal last week that its now finalizing a contract with a wind developer for a new, 140-megawatt wind farm in eastern New Mexico. Electricity from that wind farm will also be transported to customers through the new transmission line. The company expects to sign that contract in late May and file for PRC approval by early June. Gary Tonjes, head of the business recruitment organization Albuquerque Economic Development, called the PRC decision incredibly disappointing. If not reversed soon, were deeply concerned about the negative impact that these back-to-back decisions could have on New Mexico, Tonjes told the Journal in an email. These are the wrong messages to be sending to the potential employers and investors currently considering the state, and who are capable of helping create a stronger and more diversified economy with greater opportunities for New Mexico. At least five irregular migrants were killed and 37 others injured when a truck carrying them overturned in eastern Turkey. The incident took place in the Tusba district of Van province and the identity of the truck driver is yet to be ascertained, Anadolu Agency reported. Two National Medical Rescue Teams and 11 ambulances were sent to the scene. The injured persons have been taken to hospitals in the province. LAS CRUCES State Human Services Secretary David Scrase told a federal judge presiding over a class-action lawsuit against his department that he is committed to ensuring that those who qualify for food or medical benefits get the help they need. As the secretary, I see myself fully responsible, Scrase said during a status hearing Thursday on the Human Services Departments compliance with court orders to remove barriers to assistance for eligible families. Secretary, youre the latest in a long line of Cabinet secretaries that have had to address this matter, federal District Judge Kenneth Gonzalez told Scrase. The class-action lawsuit dates back to 1988, but there is optimism that new leadership at the Human Services Department will help remove barriers for qualified New Mexicans who need food or medical assistance. I am heartened to hear the willingness of both parties to talk to each other, Gonzalez said. A federal judge last year approved a settlement that could end the lawsuit if the state proves that its meeting a series of standards. We are very hopeful we can work together, plaintiffs attorney Sovereign Hager, with New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty, told the judge. Attorneys for plaintiffs presented findings from a recent review of food and medical assistance cases during a six-month period last year that found one-third of cases had errors by HSD that led to lost or delayed benefits. A court-appointed special master also found that some family benefits were denied or terminated for failure to turn in documents, even though they were already in the case files, according to court records. Hager said employee training and a policy manual are essential to reducing errors, since the current operation guide does not include basic eligibility guidelines. Scrase stressed the importance of optimizing technology as a solution and told the judge the department is upgrading its computer system. The goal is to reduce errors and better guide employees through the application process. A medical doctor, Scrase said that when he was asked to serve by the governor, it was with the understanding that my job would be to ensure every qualified New Mexican gets timely and accurate benefits. He has been meeting with the court-appointed master every two weeks and assigned members of his management team to work on the issues highlighted by the lawsuit. During the hearing, he turned to lawyers for the plaintiffs and said, Im really sorry if you feel you have not been listened to. I will listen. That doesnt mean we wont disagree. He ended his update to the court talking about his understanding of the importance of benefits for people in need because his son was diagnosed with schizophrenia and had to seek disability assistance. Im here to help people like my son, he said, his voice cracking. Though encouraged by progress and the move to create a corrective plan, Gonzalez remains concerned some New Mexicans are still not getting the help they need. What are we doing in the meantime on the way to compliance? the judge asked. He pointed out several examples he saw during visits to HSD field offices. One involved a single mother with two children under 6 who lost food and medical assistance for a month until she refiled paperwork. And a homeless single mother of a teen was approved for food assistance but did not get an EBT card to buy groceries for 17 days. There are people who cant wait one month, cant wait over the weekend to get the food they need, Gonzalez said. WASHINGTON It started with a surprise statement on a Sunday night that the U.S. was rushing military forces to counter alleged Iranian threats. What followed were two weeks of bombastic rhetoric and swells of fear and confusion over whether Washington and Tehran were lurching toward open conflict. And thats how President Donald Trump says he likes it. With all of the Fake and Made Up News out there, Trump wrote Friday on Twitter, Iran can have no idea what is actually going on. Later, in a speech to real estate agents, Trump made no effort to clarify, saying, Its probably a good thing because theyre saying, Man, I dont know where these people are coming from, right? Its the latest manifestation of Trumps unpredictable foreign policy, which has made a virtue of keeping foes guessing and frequently leaves allies rattled and members of Congress frustrated. Given the degree to which the president has mischaracterized prior intelligence on other matters, or disputed the work product of the agencies when it contradicted his preferred narrative, his actions have generated understandable doubt on what we really know of Iranian plans and intentions, said Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Schiff, D-Calif., said Iran poses a real threat to the West and endorsed the administrations warning to Iran that any attack on U.S. forces would be disastrous for Iran. Armed conflict seemed unlikely in the short term, with no further U.S. buildup in the works and no fresh Iranian provocations. But neither did the administration appear closer to its stated goal of applying enough diplomatic, economic and military pressure on Tehran to compel it to end support for extremist groups and other disruptive policies. The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and its battle group, whose accelerated deployment triggered the concern in some quarters about a drift toward conflict with Iran, by Friday had reached the waters of the Arabian Sea without incident, U.S. defense officials said. It typically would proceed farther into the Persian Gulf and thus closer to Iran during such a deployment, though as a matter of policy the Navy does not disclose ship movements in advance. The carrier is on an around-the-world deployment and was sailing in the Mediterranean Sea when John Bolton, Trumps national security adviser, announced on May 5 that it had been ordered to the Middle East, along with an aircraft bomber group, in response to troubling and escalatory indications and warnings. The unusual Sunday night announcement raised questions many still unanswered about exactly what new threats Iran had posed. Other officials later said Iran had loaded fully assembled ballistic missiles aboard small boats in Iranian territorial waters. This suggested the possibility of an Iranian intent to threaten Western military or commercial ships, though that threat seems not to have materialized. Last weekend, four non-U.S. commercial vessels were damaged in the Gulf, and while details are unclear, U.S. officials said it appeared likely that Iran had a hand in the apparent sabotage. Some analysts see the administrations military moves as a deliberate effort to put Irans leaders on edge, perhaps with the broader goal of encouraging them to take Trump up on his offer of direct talks. I think it was a well-coordinated psyops campaign, said Mark Dubowitz, the chief executive of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. Psyops is a reference to psychological operations aimed at influencing or intimidating an adversary. If that is the case, the administrations moves also managed to unnerve and confound many in Congress as well as some American allies, who openly expressed worry that Washington could be drifting toward armed conflict with Iran. Concerns escalated further with the State Departments announcement this week that it was pulling all nonessential employees out of Iraq. Officials later said this was a precaution and not a sign of impending military action. Top leaders in Congress received a classified briefing on Iran on Thursday, but many other lawmakers from both parties have criticized the White House for not keeping them informed. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan and other top officials are expected to brief members of the Senate behind closed doors on Tuesday. The House also has requested a briefing. Trump complained on Friday about news coverage of Iran developments, particularly those reports suggesting that he was at odds with Bolton and others in his administration who have most vocally advocated confrontation with Iran. They put out so many false messages that Iran is totally confused, Trump said in his speech to the real estate agents. I dont know, that might be a good thing. Trump said on Thursday he hoped the U.S. was not on a path to war with Iran, and a day earlier he expressed a desire for dialogue, tweeting, Im sure that Iran will want to talk soon. But Tehran has showed no outward sign of preparing to talk. Trumps recent tone contrasted with a series of moves by the U.S. and Iran that have sharply escalated tensions in the Middle East in recent days. On Friday, an official with Irans powerful Revolutionary Guard warned that Iranian missiles can easily reach warships in the Persian Gulf and elsewhere in the Middle East. The semi-official Fars news agency quoted Mohammad Saleh Jokar as saying that Irans missiles have a range of 2,000 kilometers about 1,250 miles and can attack any target in the region. Iran poses a particular challenge for Trump. While he talks tough against foreign adversaries to the delight of his supporters, a military confrontation with Iran could make him appear to be backtracking on a campaign pledge to keep America out of foreign entanglements. Tensions started to spiral last year when Trump pulled out of a deal the U.S. and other world powers had signed with Iran during the Obama administration. The deal lifted economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for curbing of its nuclear program. ___ Associated Press writers Matthew Lee and Deb Riechmann contributed to this report. DURANGO, Colo. A Colorado judge has overturned an attempted sexual assault conviction after the victim testified in a separate trial that the sexual contact between her and the man was consensual. The Durango Herald reports Judge William Herringer ordered this week for 19-year-old Anthony Izzy Fitts to be released from prison and for his conviction to be expunged. Fitts was sentenced last year to six years in prison after he pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and two counts of attempted sexual assault. Authorities accused Fitts and two other Durango men of sexually assaulting a woman at gunpoint in October 2017. Prosecutor Christian Champagne says the victim had a fundamental misunderstanding of how the facts intersect with the law. Champagne says Fitts was factually innocent. ___ Information from: Durango Herald, http://www.durangoherald.com Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said Friday that she personally opposes provisions in the new Alabama law that outlaws virtually all abortions, even in cases of rape and incest, but defended the range of views on abortion within her party. Personally, I would have the exceptions, McDaniel said during an interview on CNN. Thats my personal belief. But we are a party that is a broad tent. If you agree with us 80 percent of the time, I want you to be a Republican. We dont have a litmus test as to whether you can belong to our party. The new antiabortion law in Alabama, the strictest in the country, has divided Republicans and put them on the defensive on the issue. Republicans had been playing offense by casting Democrats as extreme due to a recent New York law expanding access to late-term abortion a move McDaniel criticized Friday. In addition to not including exceptions for rape or incest, the Alabama law also allows a penalty of up to 99 years in prison for doctors who perform abortions. The law is certain to be challenged in federal court, and supporters hope it could provide an opportunity for the Supreme Court to reverse the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said Thursday that he opposes the law, arguing that it goes further than I believe. I believe in exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother, and thats what Ive voted on, McCarthy said at a weekly news conference. House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., was more reserved in his criticism when speaking to reporters Friday. He noted that he has supported an exception for the life of the mother but said states craft their own abortion laws. I was very proud of the fact that when I was in the [state] legislature, Louisiana was rated as the most pro-life of the states in the country, Scalise said. Its something Im proud of. . . . Ultimately each state has to debate this and determine what they want to have on the books, but also what does the court allow and how can we push to protect life even more recognizing that the courts will sometimes pull that back. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Ky., also parted ways with Alabama lawmakers on the issue, although he did not specifically weigh in on the new law. Leader McConnells record has been clear for decades on this issue. He opposes abortion except in the instance of rape, incest, or the life of the mother in is danger, McConnells spokesman, Doug Andres, said in a statement on Thursday. When asked by reporters in Wisconsin on Thursday about the Alabama law, Vice President Pence did not provide a direct answer. He said that many states around the country are embracing life and said he is proud to be part of a pro-life administration. Pence also lamented that states such as New York are adopting what he characterized as extreme pro-abortion legislation. The Washington Posts Mike DeBonis and Felicia Sonmez contributed to this report. NEW YORK Herman Wouk, the versatile, Pulitzer Prize winning author of such million-selling novels as The Caine Mutiny and The Winds of War whose steady Jewish faith inspired his stories of religious values and secular success, died on Friday at 103. Wouk was just 10 days shy of his 104th birthday and was working on a book until the end, said his literary agent Amy Rennert. Rennert said Wouk died in his sleep at his home in Palm Springs, California, where he settled after spending many years in Washington, D.C. Among the last of the major writers to emerge after World War II and first to bring Jewish stories to a general audience, he had a long, unpredictable career that included gag writing for radio star Fred Allen, historical fiction and a musical co-written with Jimmy Buffett. He won the Pulitzer in 1952 for The Caine Mutiny, the classic Navy drama that made the unstable Captain Queeg, with the metal balls he rolls in his hand and his talk of stolen strawberries, a symbol of authority gone mad. A film adaptation, starring Humphrey Bogart, came out in 1954 and Wouk turned the courtroom scene into the play The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial. Other highlights included Dont Stop the Carnival, which Wouk and Buffett adapted into a musical, and his two-part World War II epic, The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, both of which Wouk himself adapted for a 1983, Emmy Award-winning TV miniseries starring Robert Mitchum. The Winds of War received some of the highest ratings in TV history and Wouks involvement covered everything from the script to commercial sponsors. Wouk (pronounced WOKE) was an outsider in the literary world. From Ernest Hemingway to James Joyce, major authors of the 20th century were assumed either anti-religious or at least highly skeptical. But Wouk was part of a smaller group that included C.S. Lewis, Chaim Potok and Flannery OConnor who openly maintained traditional beliefs. One of his most influential books was This Is My God, published in 1959 and an even-handed but firm defense of Judaism. For much of his life, he studied the Talmud daily and led a weekly Talmud class. He gave speeches and sermons around the country and received several prizes, including a lifetime achievement award from the Jewish Book Council. During his years in Washington, the Georgetown synagogue he attended was known unofficially as Herman Wouks synagogue. Jews were present in most of Wouks books. Marjorie Morningstar, published in 1955, was one of the first million-selling novels about Jewish life, and two novels, The Hope and The Glory, were set in Israel. Wouk had a mixed reputation among critics. He was not a poet or social rebel, and shared none of the demons that inspired the mad comedy of Philip Roths Portnoys Complaint. Even anthologies of Jewish literature tended to exclude him. Gore Vidal praised him, faintly, by observing that Wouks competence is most impressive and his professionalism awe-inspiring in a world of lazy writers and TV-stunned readers. But Wouk was widely appreciated for the uncanniness of his historical detail, and he had an enviably large readership that stayed with him through several long novels. His friends and admirers ranged from Israeli Prime Ministers David Ben-Gurion and Yitzhak Rabin to Nobel laureates Saul Bellow and Elie Wiesel. President Ronald Reagan, in a 1987 speech honoring 37 sailors killed on the USS Stark, quoted Wouk: Heroes are not supermen; they are good men who embody by the cast of destiny the virtue of their whole people in a great hour. Wouk was well remembered in his latter years. In 1995, the Library of Congress marked his 80th birthday with a symposium on his career; historians David McCullough, Robert Caro, Daniel Boorstin and others were present. In 2008, Wouk received the first ever Library of Congress Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Writing of Fiction. He published the novel The Lawgiver in his 90s and at age 100 completed a memoir. Wouks longevity inspired Stephen King to title one story Herman Wouk is Still Alive. The son of Russian Jews, Wouk was born in New York in 1915. The household was religious his mother was a rabbis daughter and devoted to books. His father would read to him from Sholem Aleichem, the great Yiddish writer. A traveling salesman sold his family the entire works of Mark Twain, who became Wouks favorite writer, no matter how irreverent on matters of faith. I found it all very stimulating, Wouk, in a rare interview, told The Associated Press in 2000. His work is impregnated with references to the Bible. He may be scathing about it, but theyre there. Hes making jokes about religion, but the Jews are always making jokes about it. Wouk majored in comparative literature and philosophy at Columbia University and edited the colleges humor magazine. After graduation, he followed the path of so many bright, clever New Yorkers in the 1930s: He headed for California, where he worked for five years on Fred Allens radio show. If war had not intruded, he might have stuck to comedy sketches. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor he enlisted in the Navy and served as an officer in the Pacific. There, he received the writers most precious gift, free time, and wrote what became his first published novel, the radio satire Aurora Dawn. I was just having fun. It had never occurred to me write a novel, he said. By the time Aurora Dawn came out, in 1947, Wouk was married and living in New York. His novel was a Book-of-the-Month Club selection and he would soon publish City Boy, a coming-of-age story highly influenced by Twain. In 1951, Wouk released his most celebrated novel, The Caine Mutiny. It sold slowly at first but eventually topped best-seller lists and won a Pulitzer. For a time, Wouk was compared to other World War II novelists: Norman Mailer, Irwin Shaw, James Jones. But his next book looked into domestic matters. Wouk spoke often of his concern about assimilation and this story told of an aspiring Jewish actress whose real name was Marjorie Morgenstern. Her stage name provided the novels title, Marjorie Morningstar. My agent was absolutely appalled, Wouk said. He submitted it to the editor of a womens magazine and the editor said, Herman Wouk has destroyed himself. Hes a man who writes big, sweeping dramas about men in action. Then he writes about this girl and nothing happens. He should burn this book and forget it.' But like The Caine Mutiny, the novel sold millions and was made into a movie, starring Natalie Wood. (Wouk eventually bought Woods former home in Palm Springs). He was famous enough to appear on the cover of Time magazine, even as some Jews complained his book perpetuated stereotypes and critics complained he was too old-fashioned, too accepting of authority. Captain Queeg, for example, may be a villain in popular culture, but The Caine Mutiny was not Catch-22. Wouk was just as hard on the officers who rebelled against Queeg. The crux of the story, Wouk wrote in his journal, was that the mutiny was a mistake and the crew should have stood by its leader, however flawed. Over the years, Wouk responded to criticism in two ways: He didnt judge the characters in his stories, but tried to tell the truth; and whether he really challenged authority depended on what you thought needed challenging. He believed that among writers, anti-conformity was a kind of conformity. It seems curious, he wrote in Aurora Dawn, that life as it really is, according to modern inspiration, contains a surprising amount of fornication, violence, vulgarity, unpleasant individuals, blasphemy, hatred, and ladies underclothes. Wouk knew others didnt share his views. Both This Is My God and The Will to Live On took a similar approach to Mere Christianity and other works by C.S. Lewis. They preached not to the converted, but to the curious. They anticipated arguments about religion and tried their best to answer them. His books followed no proven formula. They were all personal, from the works on religion to Inside, Outside, an autobiographical novel he considered his favorite. Im not out front as a figure, and that suits me, he told the AP. I love the work and its the greatest possible privilege to say, Here are these books that exist because I had to write them. The fact that they were well received is just wonderful. In 1945, Wouk married Betty Sarah Brown, who also served as his agent. They had three sons Nathaniel, Joseph and their eldest, Abraham, who drowned in 1951, a death that left Wouk with the tears of the scar of a senseless waste. DENTON, Texas A Texas man used a hacksaw to cut off his mothers head before fleeing and leading police on a chase into Oklahoma last week before they arrested him, authorities said. Isaac Israel Warriner, 22, was being held Friday in a Denton County, Texas, jail on charges including the abuse of a corpse. He hasnt been charged with killing his mother, Sarah Warriner, 65, and investigators will consult with the district attorneys office and medical examiners to determine if additional charges will be filed, Denton city police spokeswoman Khristen Jones said. Police in Denton, which is about 35 miles (55 kilometers) northwest of Dallas, were called to an apartment complex May 5 by a neighbor who said Isaac Warriner was acting weird and carrying around cleaning supplies, according to an affidavit. Officers found his mothers headless body and the hacksaw inside the Warriners unit. Her head wasnt found in the apartment and Jones, citing the ongoing investigation, declined to say whether its been located. Authorities believe Sarah Warriner had been dead for at least two days before her body was found. Days earlier, she had taken her son to a Denton hospital after he used a razor to cut his arms, the affidavit said. A nurse called security when Isaac Warriner threatened to kill his mother and himself. Police eventually were called, but he fled the hospital before officers arrived. Isaac Warriner was spotted in his mothers car on May 6 and led police on a chase up Interstate 35 into Oklahoma, where he was arrested and held before being returned Thursday to Denton. Online jail records dont indicate whether he has an attorney. His father, Kenneth Warriner, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram this month that his son suffered a mental breakdown a few months ago. She had allowed him to stay with her after his last rehabilitation stay, Kenneth Warriner said of his ex-wife. He was prescribed psychotic drugs to try and help, but that didnt seem to work. Copyright 2019 Albuquerque Journal About 125,000 students across New Mexico are projected to take part in extended learning programs in the coming summer and school year, according to the state Public Education Department. Both initiatives increase the school year and give students more time in the classroom. K-5 Plus is a 25-day summer learning program and the Extended Learning Time program lengthens the school year. During a phone call with reporters on Friday, Deputy Education Secretary Gwen Perea Warniment said 23,866 students are expected to be in K-5 Plus, a summer learning initiative that provides 25 additional instructional days and adds professional development for its teachers. Last year, about 18,000 students participated in the program, according to Education Secretary Karen Trujillo. She said the goal is to get 70,000 students by next summer. In Albuquerque Public Schools, roughly 40 schools, including charters, were given state dollars for the program, according to PED. The district has said its planning to fund 20 additional schools K-5 Plus. The APS programs would start in June, according to the school district. Schools that are participating were required to keep students with the same teacher for the summer program into the school year and implement the program schoolwide. Some districts grappled with the teacher requirement and opted not to apply for the state money. The Legislature set aside about $120 million for K-5 Plus. According to Perea Warniment, the PED estimates $30 million has been allocated. We know weve spent about $30 million thus far, but we are also looking at supporting our school districts with development and implementation funds to really help build capacity, cultivate buy-in with the community, she told reporters. Trujillo said the roughly $120 million is also expected to fund programs next summer as well. Extended learning time which elementary, middle and high schools were eligible for adds instructional days, professional development days and after-school programs to the school year. Deputy Education Secretary Katarina Kata Sandoval said just over 101,000 students were projected to take part in the inaugural extended learning time program. At APS, 127 schools and charters were funded for extended learning time, according to the PED. The district said in April that 10 additional instructional days would occur in the two weeks before school traditionally starts. Sandoval said the PED is looking at spending $50 million of the $64 million in state funds for the extended learning program. The programs come after a court ruling that asserted the state is not providing adequate education for all students. These programs are really to provide access and opportunities to communities, to families and to students to enrich their academic programming in a way that is dynamic and not just more of the same, Perea Warniment said. A National Transportation Safety Board report says a pilot blamed himself for a fatal helicopter crash before he succumbed to his injuries. Pilot Jamie Coleman Dodd was among five people killed in the January 2018 crash near Raton. Zimbabwe opposition leader Roy Bennett and his wife, Heather, as well as a co-pilot and wealthy businessman also were killed. The crashs sole survivor was the businessmans girlfriend and co-pilots daughter. Federal investigators wrote in their report Thursday that The pilot initially survived the accident but succumbed to his injuries en route to a hospital. A witness stated that he was with the pilot before he was loaded in the rescue helicopter and asked the pilot what happened. The pilot replied that the accident was his fault and that he had flown into terrain. The report did not identify Dodd by name. New Mexico authorities have said previously that he was the lead pilot. BAGHDAD When U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sat down with Iraqi officials in Baghdad last week as tensions mounted between America and Iran, he delivered a nuanced message: If youre not going to stand with us, stand aside. The message, relayed to The Associated Press by two Iraqi government officials, underscores Iraqs delicate position: Its government is allied with both sides of an increasingly contentious confrontation. As tensions escalate, there are concerns that Baghdad could once again get caught in the middle, just as it is on the path to recovery. The country hosts more than 5,000 U.S. troops, and is home to powerful Iranian-backed militias, some of whom want those U.S. forces to leave. The big question is how Iraqi leaders will deal with (their) national interests in a country where loyalty to external powers is widespread at the expense of their own nation, Iraqi political analyst Watheq al-Hashimi said. If the state cannot put these (Iranian-backed militias) under control, Iraq will become an arena for an Iranian-American armed conflict. Despite the escalation of rhetoric by both sides, President Donald Trump has said he doesnt want a war with Iran and has even said he is open to dialogue. But tension remains high, in part given the regions fraught history. For Iraq to be a theater for proxy wars is not new. The Shiite-majority country lies on the fault line between Shiite Iran and the mostly Sunni Arab world, led by powerhouse Saudi Arabia, and has long been a battlefield in which the Saudi-Iran rivalry for regional supremacy played out. During Americas eight-year military presence that began with the 2003 invasion of Iraq, U.S. troops and Iranian-backed militiamen fought pitched battles around the country, and scores of U.S. troops were killed or wounded by the militia forces armed with sophisticated Iranian-made weapons. American forces withdrew from Iraq in 2011 but returned in 2014 at the invitation of Iraq to help battle the Islamic State group after it seized vast areas in the north and west of the country, including Iraqs second-largest city, Mosul. A U.S.-led coalition provided crucial air support as Iraqi forces regrouped and drove IS out in a costly three-year campaign. Iranian-backed militias fought alongside U.S.-backed Iraqi troops against IS, gaining outsized influence and power. Now, amid an escalating conflict between the U.S. and Iran, Iraq is once again vulnerable to becoming caught up in the power play. An attack targeting U.S. interests in Iraq would be detrimental to the countrys recent efforts at recovering and reclaiming its status in the Arab world. Earlier this year, Trump provoked outrage in Baghdad when he said he wanted U.S. troops to stay in Iraq so they can watch Iran, suggesting a changing mission for American troops there. On May 8, Pompeo made a lightning, previously unannounced trip to the Iraqi capital following the abrupt cancellation of a visit to Germany, and as the United States had been picking up intelligence that Iran is threatening American interests in the Middle East. The two Iraqi officials said Pompeo relayed intelligence information the U.S. had received about a threat to U.S. forces in Iraq but kept it vague. They said he did not specify the nature of the threat. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to divulge confidential information, said Pompeo told the Iraqis that America did not expect them to side with the U.S. in any confrontation with Iran, but that they should not side against America. In other words, stand aside. A few days later, as U.S.-Iranian tensions continued to rise, the State Department ordered all non-essential, non-emergency government staff to leave the country. U.S. officials said Pompeo told the Iraqis the U.S. had an inherent right to self-defense and would use it if U.S. personnel, facilities or interests are attacked by Iran or its proxies in Iraq or anywhere else. The three officials, who were not authorized to publicly discuss the private meetings in Baghdad and spoke on condition of anonymity, said Pompeo was not contemplating any pre-emptive strikes on Iran or the use of Iraqi territory to stage military operations against Iran. Pompeos message, the officials said, was that the U.S. wants to avoid conflict but would respond or defend itself if necessary. The secretary told reporters on the flight that his meetings with Iraqs president and prime minister were intended to demonstrate U.S. support for a sovereign, independent Iraq, free from the influence of neighboring Iran. Pompeo also said he wanted to underscore Iraqs need to protect Americans in their country. A general at Iraqs Defense Ministry said Iraq was taking precautionary security measures in light of the information about threats against U.S. interests, although those measures have not reached the highest levels. Iraqi forces are worried that American forces could be targeted by factions loyal to Iran, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. He added that any attack on U.S. troops could come as retaliation if the United States were to carry out a military operation against Iran. The heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S. come a year after Trump pulled America out of Tehrans nuclear deal with world powers and as the White House ordered an aircraft carrier and bombers into the region over a still-unexplained threat from Iran. On Sunday, the United Arab Emirates alleged that four oil tankers off its eastern coast were targeted by sabotage. On Tuesday, Yemens Iran-allied Houthi rebels said they launched seven drones to target Saudi Arabia. The drones stuck pumping stations along the kingdoms crucial East-West Pipeline, causing minor damage, Saudi officials say. On the streets of Baghdad, some shrugged off the rising tensions while others worried their country could be sucked into another war. Aqil Rubaei said he was worried that his country, which has been at war since a year before he was born, will be the place where the U.S. and Iran will settle their accounts. The 38-year-old was born in 1981, a year after Iran and Iraq began their eight-year war and was 9 years old when Saddam Husseins forces invaded Kuwait leading to a destructive war that forced Iraq out of Kuwait and 13 years of crippling sanctions. In 2003, the U.S. invaded and removed Saddam, leading to the rise of extremist groups that culminated in 2014 with the Islamic State group capturing large parts of Iraq and Syria and declaring a so-called caliphate. The war that followed left entire Iraqi cities and towns destroyed until Iraq declared victory in 2017. Iraqi people are fed up with war, said Rubaei inside his cosmetics shop in Baghdads Karrada neighborhood. We dont want Iraq to become an arena for an Iranian-American war. ___ Associated Press writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report. Over and over again, speakers at the Rio Rancho Police Law Enforcement Memorial service named fallen officers and promised they would never be forgotten. The service took place Thursday at Veterans Monument Park and honored law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty. They were tragically taken too fast and left a huge void in their families, blood and blue, said Lt. Ray Alderete, acting as emcee. The event particularly memorialized fallen Rio Rancho Police officers Gregg Nigel Benner, Anthony Haase and Germaine Casey, and included Sandoval County Sheriffs deputies Joe Harris Sr. and Robert Baron, who all died in the line of duty. Speakers also recognized RRPD Chaplain Michael Sandoval and police dog Deuce, who died of other causes. Forty-two officers in the United States have died in the line of duty so far this year, said guest speaker and state Cabinet Secretary for the Department of Public Safety Mark Shea. Well over 23,721 officers have died in the line of duty in the U.S. since records have been kept, 207 of those in New Mexico, he continued. Shea said Benner, Haase and Casey didnt report for duty just because it was their job. It was their calling; it was their passion, he said. He promised their families their sacrifice would never be forgotten, and then spoke as if to the three officers. Thank you, and I am honored to call each of you my brother and my hero, Shea said. Mayor Gregg Hull said police have a duty to protect the vulnerable, and Rio Rancho and the region have a history supporting for officers. To the family members of the fallen officers, please know that the community will never forget what they did for us, Hull said. Rio Rancho Police Chief Stewart Steele began his speech with John 15:13: Greater love has no one than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Steele has served in law enforcement for 35 years. Its a sacrificial calling, he said. He added that officers know they may be asked to lay down their lives in the service of others, but willingly embrace the calling. Steele asked the community to support law enforcement officers, and recalled the 42 line-of-duty deaths so far this year. We must do something different, as individuals, as a community, as a society, he said. He promised that officers would remember those who fell and their families, whose burdens he said couldnt be removed. The Trump administration's top national security officials, including Director of Nationwide Intelligence Dan Coats, met privately with the Gang of Eight, which includes the top Republicans and Democrats in the Senate and House and the heads of each chambers intelligence committee to brief them on escalating tensions with Iran. That session will be followed on May 21 with separate briefings for all members of the House and Senate from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, acting defense secretary Patrick Shanahan and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph F. Dunford Jr., according to aides apprised of those plans. The ranking member of the Senate intelligence committee, Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, refused to comment on the classified information discussed, but said more lawmakers should be informed of the Iran threat. "I think obviously there are certain protections that have to be maintained for Gang of Eight but its very important that more members hear this story," the AP cited Warner as saying. In each meeting, officials are expected to field questions about purported threats facing U.S. troops in the Middle East and the corresponding response from Washington, including the deployment of additional warplanes and a carrier strike group to the Persian Gulf, the decision to extract diplomatic personnel from Iraq, and reports of a possibly drastic expansion of the militarys footprint throughout the region. WASHINGTON President Donald Trump won the White House pledging to wind down the nations many foreign entanglements and put America First. But as his administration in recent days has sent mixed signals on the prospects of a military conflict with Iran, Trumps campaign trail promise is being put to the test. With the 2020 election approaching, the political pitfalls ahead for the first-term Republican president could be serious. While Trump enjoys overwhelming support from his party, there is little appetite among his loyalists for a new military conflict in the Middle East. Many are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for now, but a string of recent moves has sparked concerns that the administration was beating the drums toward war. Among the possible precursors to military conflict: new sanctions on Irans Revolutionary Guards, the deployment of a U.S. aircraft carrier to the region and public warnings of unspecified intelligence that Iran might strike at American interests. Asked this week if the U.S. was going to war with Iran, Trump said simply: I hope not. Aware of the potential backlash from within his party, the president is trying to play down the possibility of hostilities. He held the door open for negotiations over Irans nuclear program and malign activities in the region amid reports that he was pushing back against his more hawkish advisers preference for a military solution. Prominent Trump supporters offered a pointed warning on Friday about the prospect of a new war, which they view as a direct violation of his America First pledge. It would be a disaster for him and for the country getting into another military engagement in the Middle East, said Corey Stewart, who led Trumps 2016 campaign in Virginia. It does concern me that the president has (national security adviser John) Bolton and a lot of these neocons advising him. Thats clearly not what he ran on and what most Americans want. Foreign policy threatens to be a significant political liability for Trump heading into his 2020 reelection campaign. Overall, 63 percent of Americans said they disapproved of his job handling foreign policy, according to a January poll conducted by Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Like other issues, the partisan divide was overwhelming: 76 percent of Republicans approved, while just 8 percent of Democrats said the same. Yet the Republican Party under Trumps leadership has shifted away from wanting the United States to play an aggressive role in world affairs. Foreign policy hawks in the GOP who have long embraced a muscular foreign policy have been marginalized in recent years, dismissed as globalists. By contrast, Democrats are now far more likely than Republicans to say the U.S. should play a more active role in solving the worlds problems. In the AP poll, 43 percent of Democrats said they thought the U.S. should be more active abroad, compared to just 13 percent of Republicans. Trump on Friday sought to blame the media for the sense of mounting unease over Iran. They put out so many false messages that Iran is totally confused, he told a crowd of real estate agents in Washington, complaining about media coverage of his administrations recent moves. I dont know, that might be a good thing. People close to the president acknowledge that an armed conflict in the region is a real possibility. Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr., a Trump confidant, signaled support for a military solution if needed to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon so long as the United States wouldnt take the lead role in a prospective war. Whatever needs to be done to keep Iran from becoming a nuclear power needs to happen, Falwell said in an interview. Im not saying the United States needs to do it. Somebody is going to need to do it. He added: The way that it balances out, it might be Saudi Arabia and Israel that go to war with Iran. J.D. Gordon, director of national security for Trumps first campaign, described Iran as a delicate balance for the president, who is surrounded by advisers who generally agree with his worldview. Preventing an aggressive state sponsor of terrorism from acquiring nuclear weapons through primarily economic and diplomatic pressure isnt as simple as many people would like us to believe, Gordon said. While military conflict would likely be unpopular among Republican voters, the politics on Iran are nuanced. For years, Republicans railed against the multination pact struck under former President Barack Obama to remove economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for the countrys pledge to abandon its nuclear program. Trump last year withdrew from the deal, thrilling Israel and anti-Obama conservatives at home while troubling European allies who insisted it was working. Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the hawkish Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said Iran takes a paramount position in Trumps worldview, with the president believing the country poses a particularly destructive threat. I think one should never discount the political calculation, which is that he knows a significant part of his base, including tens of millions of evangelical Christians, agree with him, Dubowitz said. The passionate opposition to the Iran deal among Trumps core supporters affords him some room to maneuver amid the military buildup, even if America First conservatives oppose an outright war. I havent met anybody who thinks we shouldnt take an incredibly hard line against Iran, said Mark Meckler, an early leader in the tea party movement. At the same time, he said, Nobody believes theres going to be a war. What Trump promised in regards to our foreign policy is America First,' Meckler continued. Hes doing that. ___ Peoples reported from New York. ___ Follow Miller and Peoples on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ZekeJMiller and https://twitter.com/sppeoples PHOENIX Arizona Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Martha McSally agreed Friday that Chinas trade actions are a big problem but tariffs imposed by the Trump administration are hurting Arizona businesses and are the wrong way to address issues between the two nations. Sinema and McSally spoke separately to a crowd at an Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry event. Sinema, a Democrat, called on leaders of both parties to repeal tariffs and end what she called a manufactured trade war. China is a bad actor we can all agree on that, she said. But the way to fight it is not to hurt your own businesses. That doesnt make sense. McSally, a Republican, said she also opposes tariffs and the U.S. needs to work with its allies to boost pressure on China. This is a national security issue for sure, and this is very much my focus, McSally said. But Im a free and fair trader at heart. I dont support tariffs. Sinema beat McSally in November to win the Senate seat vacated by Republican Jeff Flake. McSally was appointed to the late Sen. John McCains seat following the resignation of placeholder Jon Kyl. Sinema and McSally were members of the House before facing off in the election. Both also said they disagreed with administration actions to pull officers from trade-screening duty at ports of entry to help boost the U.S. Border Patrols effort to handle a surge of asylum seekers at the border. I understand our worry that theyre overwhelmed, McSally said of Border Patrol agents. But weve got to figure out a better way than moving agents from another key, critical part of border security at the ports of entry that also will hurt our economy in order to address this. Sinema said moving Customs and Border Protection officers from the ports is the wrong move. By taking these CBP officers from the ports of entry, not only are you slowing down legitimate commerce, youre reducing our ability to capture the illegitimate commerce thats coming in, Sinema said. Sinema later told business journalists that she does not regret voting for Attorney General William Barr. She was one of just three Democrats to support his confirmation in a February vote that rankled many in her party. Based on the information that we discussed during our lengthy interview prior to his nomination, I felt confident I was making the right decision, Sinema said at a convention for the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. Based on the information I had at the time, it was correct. But since then, she said, there have been troubling reports that Barr may have lied to Congress. Shes requested a meeting with Barr next week so that he and I can discuss these troubling discrepancies, and so that I can find the truth of the matter to the best of my ability. She did not disclose what she would say to Barr or if she would take any action based on his responses. Some Democrats have raised questions about Barrs testimony about Special Counsel Robert Muellers report of Russian interference. Barr has denied that his testimony was misleading. Sinema has said Barr was wrong to support President Donald Trumps refusal to release the unredacted Mueller report to Congress, citing executive privilege. At the event__Photo: VNA , , The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) conference on promoting inclusive socio-economic development in Asia and Europe opened a conference in the central province of Khanh Hoa on May 16, attracting over 180 delegates from 53 ASEM member states, regional and international organizations.Co-hosted by the Foreign Ministry; the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs; the Ministry of Planning and Investment; and the provincial Peoples Committee, the event aims to realize Vietnams initiatives adopted at the 12th ASEM Summit in Brussels in October last year.Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs Doan Mau Diep affirmed that the Vietnamese Government has carried out a sustainable development strategy through ensuring economic growth in tandem with social progress and justice, as well as strengthening the social welfare system for all citizens.Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Cuong said countries are facing challenges regarding gaps in wealth, income and employment, gender inequality, terrorism, transnational crimes, cyber security and climate change.He suggested that ASEMs initiatives should be people-centered; bring practical benefits to them; uphold creativity of all walks of life, especially youths, women and girls; as well as improve economic empowerment for women.The official spoke highly of strategic partnerships on sustainable development, ASEMs effective projects on financial aid and technological transfer in Vietnam.As one of the founding members of ASEM, Vietnam always gives high priorities to contributing to common efforts to enhance ASEM cooperation, he said.The two-day event focuses its discussion on inclusive socio-economic development in the 21st century, the role and involvement of parties concerned, as part of preparations for the 14th ASEM Foreign Ministers Meeting scheduled for December in Spain.- REDDING, Calif. - The Exchange Club of Redding hosted its 15th Annual Firefighter and EMT of the Year Awards luncheon on Thursday. Firefighters and EMT's from around Shasta County were honored at the Red Lion Hotel in Redding. Action News Now spoke with one recipient from the Mountain Gate Fire Department about the moment she found out she was being honored. "My fire chief came to me and said that I was the one that was nominated for "Firefighter Of The Year" and I said 'really?' and he said 'yes, it's you...'," said Karrie Walter. "I love my job. We all love our job or we wouldn't be here." Jeremy Stoke was also posthumously awarded "Firefighter Of The Year" for the Redding Fire Department at the May 16 luncheon. BUTTE COUNTY, Calif. - Butte County Public Health announced that the recent measles outbreak in the county has been interrupted. This means that there have not been any additional cases identified in recent weeks. Health officials said that if no additional cases occur, the outbreak will be declared over on June 2, 2019. This allows two incubation periods to pass since the lass case was identified. The incubation period for measles, which is the time period when someone may be exposed, is 7 to 21days. Health officials still encourage people to ensure their vaccination status and speak with a health care provider if they experience measles symptoms. For more information about measles in Butte County, CLICK HERE. BUTTE COUNTY, Calif. - A dozen town leaders and community members presented a plan to rebuild the sign during Tuesday night's town council meeting. The design will be based on community input. Hub Signs in Chico designed a temporary sign that will be in place in the meantime. Volunteer Bret Matteis grew up in Paradise and now lives in Oregon. He was inspired to help after seeing a Youtube video if the sign up in flames during the fire. "At that point, I knew I had to get involved in the reconstruction of the Paradise sign that I have know my whole entire life," Matteis said. Anyone can contribute ideas to the reconstruction of the sign or donate fund to help rebuild it. For more information, CLICK HERE. September 6, 2018 will forever be remembered as a landmark day for the worlds largest democracy as India took an iconic step to build a progressive and inclusive future when the Supreme Court of India de-criminalised the 158-year-old colonial law of section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. With this landmark judgment, the gay community got a legal nod to sexual rights. Although laws have changed for the better, we still witness negative attitudes towards the LGBTQ people unfortunately persisting. To address this taboo, The Times of India in collaboration with FCB India launched the campaign Times Out & Proud to drive the one-point agenda Acceptance. Majority of the LGBTQ community is still living a life of discrimination and constantly worry about how their choices may impact their loved ones. Today, the LGBTQ community across the world has been striving for one goal that most of us take for granted: Acceptance. On the occasion of International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO), The Times of India (TOI), Indias iconic media house in collaboration with FCB Ulka launched the initiative Times Out & Proud that gives hope of an inclusive society. This campaign is aimed to empower the members of the LGBTQ community to live a dignified life with acceptance and pride. On 17 May 1990, the General Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) removed homosexuality from their list of mental disorders. This decision by the WHO constitutes a historic date and powerful symbol for members of the LGBTQ community. With this campaign, TOI hopes to carve out a mainstream space for members of the community who identify as LGBTQ to interact, share and collaborate with the entire Indian population. As a part of the campaign, TOI invites the LGBTQ community to share their stories with the newspaper their highs and lows, their celebrations, their announcements, their milestones etc. TOI launches Times Out Proud Classifieds on the International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO) that will carry these stories across key metros at no cost during the campaign tenure of the campaign. The campaign film launched on TOIs digital platform, portrays a captivating story of people from the LGBTQ community and their families who have been living with a hope of an inclusive world. The film offers a sneak-peak into the lives of the people who have endured all societal discriminations as they pour their heart out in the classifieds columns. The campaign urges the families and friends of the LGBTQ community to extend their support to their loved ones. Commenting on the Times Out & Proud campaign, Sanjeev Bhargava, Director, Brand TOI, said, At TOI, we believe in celebrating the differences in an inclusive society. The LGBTQ community has always had a place in our hearts, now they also have a special place in our paper. Through this campaign, we aim to provoke the readers to debate archaic notions and adopt a progressive outlook towards modern living. Acceptance and inclusivity are two biggest challenges for all those who are born different or choose to be non-conventional. Through the Times Out and Proud campaign, we hope readers would join hands with us to tackle prejudices and extend a warm welcome to the LGBTQ community to live happily and productively alongside the mainstream. Speaking about the campaign, Swati Bhattacharya, CCO of FCB Ulka said, There is nothing like transsexual jealousy, heterosexual laughter, homosexual silence. If we all feel the same things we must be the same. A classified column is the oldest part of the newspaper, one that concerns itself with life, death, birth, job, issues that concern members of LGBTQ community as well. This shall serve as a/the perfect reminder to humanity that theres more to connect us than divide us. The initiative, Times Out & Proud, is conceptualised as a continuous series of multiple initiatives across print, digital, TV, radio and on-ground. Through various content, interactions and activations, the campaign will aim to better integrate the LGBTQ community and raise awareness of their issues. The concept of gender-fluidity is not easily accepted or even understood by many. We live in a world where everyone is presumed to be heterosexual (or straight). And, a significant chunk of society think that everyone should comfortably fit into a male or female gender bracket. Well, thats not true. We will never know the exact size of LGBTQ community in India because of the stigma attached to it and therefore, many choose to remain in the closet. But, we do know that more number of people are extending their support to the pride movement, and more members of the LGBTQ community are coming-out. The lack of understanding is one of the key reason for confusion, fear and hate leading to low acceptance and alienation of the community. With our voice being a powerful tool to address the issue at hand, here is now an opportunity, an outlet/platform where we could share our coming out story, or tell the world about an anniversary with our same-sex partner. Making for the perfect chance to rejoice and celebrate this community, the campaign allows us to show our support for an LGBTQ friend or relative via a story in 50 words. So if you want to make a noble difference to the cause and be featured in Times Out and Proud classifieds, write in to us with your full name & contact number at outandproud@timesgroup.com. In the latest episode of Scratching the Surface, Vitamin Stree tries to break down the concept of intersectional feminism. In a country like India where people of different cultural, ethnic, social and sexual identities co-exist, there is an even greater need to understand intersectionality and how it is affecting the Indian landscape. Intersectionality talks about the crossroads at which two identities meet, for eg, a Dalit womans identity stands at the intersection of gender and caste. Intersectional feminism however, tries to identify the oppressions which a gender might face because of the different identities they live with; hence a dalit woman in India, faces more oppression than an average upper class, higher caste women. In fact, a 2018 UN report stated their life expectancy to be 14.6 years lesser than that of a higher caste woman. Its not just caste, though- gender ends up intersecting with a lot of identities, for eg, sexuality, religion, ability etc, hence multiplying those oppressions with each other. Vitamin Stree knows that they too come from a place of privilege and have done their best to keep it in check. So, rather than speaking about experiences they've not had personally, they turned the mic over to 4 amazing women - Tanzila Anis Khan, Prachi Sharda, Dharti Patel, Neenu Kewlani to voice their video Pooja Das Sarkar, Director, remarked, "It's hard enough to talk about feminism without getting some kind of backlash from people. But it's harder to really look within and check your own privilege even when you are talking about equal rights for women because we form a blind spot about it. Here is where intersectionality comes in - how other parts of one's identity - religion, caste, sexuality or ability also add to the marginalisation that one faces along with one's identity as a woman. The challenge was to explain this in terms that are easy to understand and break down the complexity of the issue without losing the meaning. We hope the "What is Intersectionality" video starts more nuanced conversations around gender and feminism in the Indian context. Clearly Coolican had an agenda and was baiting Sen. Abeler, rather than: Sen. Abeler replied that Coolicans question was another topic for another day, but added, I appreciate the joke. (To folks in the know, Minnesotas legislative progress has been held up recently by polarizing partisan gun policy debates.) Do you think that gun manufacturers should also be protected from liability? Because they currently are, by an act of Congress. A 2012 American Medical Association Journal of Ethics article states, [V]accine manufacturers are now not liable for failing to improve vaccine designs and defects, unlike manufacturers of other products. When a manufacturer bears no professional or financial liability for unsafe reactions, Then theyre much more casual with their safety testing, said Abeler. Sen. Abeler stated that vaccines are safe for some people but not all, and compared them to peanuts. Nobody disbelieves the peanut allergy family. Unfortunately when somebody has a reaction to a vaccine, they are somehow considered to be unbelievable. Sen. Jim Abeler, chief author of SF2781, noted the large number of vaccine injury claims filed and how tortuous the route is to actually get a claim resolved after an injury or death. And he questioned public health officials definition of safe which differs from Websters Dictionary . Were in a world where the Department of Health calls them exceedingly safe I think that nothing is further from the truth. I am for making sure we that have a balance in the system that allows vaccine manufacturers to be held accountable if their products are dangerous. If everyone believes that vaccines are safe, that they cause no injury or they cant cause injury, then there should be no problem with going back to the law that we used to have, that allowed people to seek civil cases against vaccine manufacturers. time to lead the half-hour press conference , organized primarily by the Vaccine Freedom Coalition and Vaccine Safety Council of Minnesota. In attendance were reps from metro TV stations, radio and a newspaper, and lobbyists including the Minnesota Medical Association. Since Oct. 1, 1988, the Vaccine Court has paid out $4.1 billion to victims of vaccine injury, and is hardly the free-and-easy road to generous compensation that industry-linked critics claim . The resolutions ask Congress to override the Supreme Court decision, and remove Bruesewitz to allow petitioners to file suits in state or federal court, according to speaker Wayne Rohde, father of vaccine-injured child and author of The Vaccine Court: The Dark Truth of America's Vaccine Injury Compensation Program . HF2862 , HF2825 , SF2781 and SF2831 are Minnesota resolutions to reverse Bruesewitz, by memorializing the President and Congress to hold vaccine manufacturers liable for design defects that result in adverse side effects from vaccines. Local vaccine safety advocates helped develop the language with legislators, in an attempt to restore the NCVIA to its original Congressionally mandated intent. The 2011 SCOTUS Bruesewitz verdict eliminated vaccine injury victims option to sue pharmaceutical companies after first working through the problem-ridden National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, or Vaccine Court . A 6-2 majority of the Supreme Court held that the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act preempts all design-defect claims against vaccine manufacturers brought by plaintiffs seeking compensation for injury or death caused by a vaccines side effects. Overturning a Supreme Court decision is a tall order, necessitating a constitutional amendment or a new Court ruling. Despite the effort and obstacles, the eventual repeal of SCOTUSs 2011 Bruesewitz v. Wyeth ruling is behind four resolutions discussed by Minnesota legislators and advocates at a Capitol press conference May 14 in St. Paul. Im not here as an anti-vaxer, Im not a pro-vaxer. I think that it makes sense for some people like any other medication, that people should be informed and have a chance to know the good things and the bad things and then select based on what their family chooses. In this situation, were only talking about the liability side. After those two off-topic disruptions, the speakers asked the audience to keep their questions to the end of all presentations. Coolican, a Las Vegas transplant to the Midwest, gathers political info-bits microencapsulated for the ADHD generation for his weekday Morning Hot Dish e-newsletter. Early Tuesday, Coolican wrote: "News conference today at 10 to include 'Senate and House authors of the resolution to hold pharmaceutical companies accountable for adverse effects from vaccines, advocates from Vaccine Freedom Coalition, and the Vaccine Safety Council of MN.' Should be an interesting crowd but I won't be bringing my toddler thank you!" On a related note: This winter Coolican also remarked in Hot Dish about how frequently his young child is ill, making him miss work. Which to an autism parent reads like cognitive dissonance or irresponsible ignorance regarding pediatric immune insults, natural and man-made. Like so many journalists in corporate media nowadays, Coolicans Star Tribune co-workers position themselves as defenders of government agencies. The Stribs op-ed writers frequently use hostile and inaccurate rhetoric such as vaccine conspiracy theories and long-discredited link to describe the investigative reporting their institution repeatedly fails to perform. (I described the Stribs professional and ethical fails at length last year for Age of Autism.) The next press conference speaker was Randy Knutson, a personal injury and vaccine attorney with Knutson Casey in Mankato. A member of the National Board of Trial Advocacy, the nine-time Super Lawyer said at any one time he has 35 to 50 clients injured by vaccines, with most suffering paralysis. Knutson rarely takes childrens cases: He tells parents whose children have symptoms of autism, We cant take your case because we cant win in Vaccine Court. There are no children who have won on a straight-up autism case. Knutson says in his experience, the more vaccines people receive, the more likely they are to experience a health problem. He works with Justice Department attorneys to resolve cases and pay vaccine injury victims, with average compensation time 3 years not a swift resolution. Ive had many clients die before we got to compensation. Knutson said he, too, is not an anti-vaxer, adding, You almost hate to raise your voice and say, wait a minute, lets look at what can happen to you, because then Im an anti-vaxer. The legal term discovery under Federal Law Rule 26 states that parties may obtain discovery regarding any non-privileged matter that is relevant to any party's claim or defense. However, Knutson said, petitioners to Vaccine Court cant get any discovery from these vaccine makers, because we cant sue them, I cant see whats really going on. I cant see if theyre testing these no one can. Knutson is concerned about the lack of vaccine testing on pregnant women, their fetuses, and on young children. Many of his clients are racial minorities an excessive number, he said, which warrants investigation by the CDC and manufacturers for prevention purposes. If you dont believe people are injured by vaccines, start reading vaccine court decisions by special Masters who start the case thinking you dont have a case, Knutson said. Its conceded by the Department of Health, the CDC, and the Justice Department: There are vaccine injuries. We should at least have the information in front of us when we decide to get vaccinated. One step would be to overturn the Bruesewitz case, to allow us to see the testing thats going on. Next, Vaccine Court author Rohde discussed particulars of the Bruesewitz legal case, which Hannahs parents filed in fall 1995. She was given the DPT vaccine and immediately developed seizures, was hospitalized, then diagnosed with residual seizure order. She now has extensive brain damage and requires constant care. Unknown to the Bruesewitzes, a month before Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala removed residual seizure disorder from the injury table for DPT vaccines. And in 1998 the manufacturer of that DPT vaccine withdrew the product from the market due to their known design reporting what they called post-marketing surveillance reporting in VAERS. According to Rohde, petitions to the Vaccine Court take 4 to 10 years only to be dismissed. Today, the program is very Patti Carroll and Wayne Rohde, parents of vaccine-injured children. litigious, very adversarial, Rohde said. It was about childhood vaccines today its all about adults. Childrens petitions of all injuries are being dismissed. After Rohde concluded his presentation, the forum was then opened for questions from the audience. One woman asked about Robert J. Kennedy Jr.s lawsuit against HHS for violating its own mandate for safer childhood vaccines. Said Rohde, Part of the statutes of the Act required the Secretary of HHS to conduct vaccine safety studies. RFK Jr. filed a lawsuit to spotlight HHSs failure to send appropriate vaccine safety studies to Congress, and Congress isnt demanding them. As states are lobbied to remove vaccine exemptions and people lose their option to not vaccinate, then pharmaceutical product safety becomes even more essential. Rep. Munson told one questioner that he has met with people whose children were damaged by vaccines, and has concerns about mandates and coerced vaccination. When government removes our choice, and theyre having to compel you to be vaccinated, we want to make sure these products are as safe as possible, Munson said. Auto manufacturers are held liable if their product is defective in design; we want the same thing to be held for vaccines. Then for the third time (at 25:21) the Star Tribunes Coolican asked another antagonistic irrelevant question, which amounts to gas-lighting: Lets say that three-quarters of all people decide not to vaccinate their children. What do you think the effects of that will be? Had Coolican actually read the House and Senate resolutions, he could have asked for verification of this statement: European Union has found a way to allow evidence-based lawsuits holding vaccine manufacturers liable without destabilizing the European health care system;. Instead Coolican chose to: catastrophize about IMAGINARY people who MIGHT NOT vaccinate, instead of asking about REAL people who DID vaccinate and suffered permanent physical and mental harm, without any legal recourse (or CDC treatment research). Despite the disrespectful and ignorant attempt to sidetrack the discussion, Rep. Munson answered: If you disclose to people what the rate of return is on a vaccination, and they accept it, most people will vaccinate their children but we have to be able to allow people a choice of not vaccinating. Community advocate Kristin Sullivan then took the podium, saying: This resolution is really to put liability back onto the pharmaceuticals. Its not whether or not you should vaccinate its really about [putting] liability back onto Pharma, so if you are injured by a vaccine, that you can sue just like you can for any other product. Rep. Munson added, Were not passing law here; this is a resolution asking Congress to act. I want this conversation to happen at the Federal level, and I want all the players to come to the table and have a discussion and we can make it public so people understand that there is a risk and lets figure out how to make vaccines safer. Were not changing the law here at the state. Then as the Senate Media camera panned to the next questioner, Coolican was no longer lounging in the back like an arrogant schoolboy his chair was empty. If one already knows what one wishes to report, why stick around to listen to the speakers? But the next day, did Coolican follow up in his "Morning Hot Dish" column? No. Not a single mention of the Bruesewitz resolutions content. Back on March 1 Coolican had un-ironically written, The anti-vaxers are amazingly successful at politics, especially given the science of the issue. Yet at this supposedly anti-vax press conference he did not ask a single science-based question, but instead revealed not only his profound ignorance of this admittedly complex issue but his unwillingness or inability to do so. With Minnesota home to medical institutions such as Mayo, CIDRAP, IAC, HealthPartners and more, this state has become another battleground for health choice rights. Despite constituents pleas against forced vaccination, Rep. Mike Freiberg is working with the Department of Health and local pharma-funded groups to eliminate Minnesotas philosophical exemptions. In 2010 those local groups aided other vaccine profiteers to file an amici curiae supporting Wyeth. On May 14, the day of the press conference, The Atlantic published Why the Government Pays Billions to People Who Claim Injury by Vaccines: A little-known deal protects drug companies in the U.S. from being suedand feeds conspiracy theories in the process. Predictably the physician/writers analysis of the National Vaccine Information Centers extensive archives of peer-reviewed research consists only of a smear against founder Barbara Loe Fisher. And taunting repetitions of the usual benefits outweigh risk mantra - as if regular repetition somehow eliminates an MDs ethical responsibility to report adverse events and promote research into preventing them. The secondary tragedy of vaccine injury victims is that theyre perversely attacked by the very people who should be helping them - public health officials, legislators, and journalists. This cruel violation of the social compact explains why advocates must sidestep those mind-blind obstacles to speak medical truths and share voluminous research from uncorrupted sources. Three days prior to the press conference Minnesota nurse Sarah Copeland, RN spoke on The Sue Jeffers Show about the Bruesewitz repeal resolutions. Copeland began researching the VICP after her daughter had an adverse reaction to vaccines, suffered neurological damage, and still has issues today. This really isnt a partisan issue, said Copeland. This is about safety for our kids, in keeping the checks and balances for our system. May 14 was also the day Children's Health Defense director Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke at the New York Rally & Lobbying Day for Vaccine Injury/Vaccine Rights. Said Kennedy, What kind of cognitive dissonance does it require to understand that this [pharmaceutical] company is lying and cheating and killing with every other medical product and pharmaceutical product that it makes, but it has found Jesus when it comes to vaccines, and it's not going to lie about that?" ### (Disclosure: Nancy Hokkanen has been affiliated with the Vaccine Safety Council of Minnesota since its inception. She is old enough to write headlines that break into lines of equal length, and still waits for the Minneapolis Star Tribune to thank her for doing their job.) Would you like to receive breaking news notifications from The Post and Courier? Sign up to receive news and updates from this site directly to your desktop. Breaking News Columbia Breaking News Greenville Breaking News Myrtle Beach Breaking News Aiken Breaking News N Augusta Breaking News Click on the bell icon to manage your notifications at any time. Success! Please click the 'Allow' button in the 'Show Notifcations' alert in your browser if one is available. Thank you for signing up! Please enable notifications in your browser and reload the page. COLUMBIA In light of developing tensions between the U.S. and Iran, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham on Friday issued a stern notice to the Middle Eastern country. "I don't want a war with Iran," Graham said, "but I want Iran to understand that if they choose to attack us, there will be a war, and they will lose it." Graham, a South Carolina Republican and former Senate Armed Services Committee member, said now is the the time to be "firm" with the country, which is flanked by Iraq and Afghanistan. "I don't want a war, but if there's any effort by the Iranians to come after American interests, that would be a hostile act," Graham said. His remarks, made standing in a local office, come as the U.S. and Iran bristle with each other and rumors fly of another ill-fated Middle Eastern military expedition. Graham said he appreciated the U.S.'s recent posturing; he accused Iran of "running wild," destabilizing the greater region, wreaking havoc and making threats. "I like the fact that we're moving military assets forward, that we're putting bombers in the region, we're sending in an aircraft carrier, as a warning to Iran that if you come after American interests we're going to hold you accountable," Graham said. President Donald Trump said he did not want to go to war with Iran, according to a New York Times report on Thursday. Graham said Iran is "challenging" the president as are North Korea, China, Syria and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, he noted. "Again, I don't want a war," Graham said, "but I don't want to be bullied by Iran." Graham earlier this year, during an appropriations subcommittee hearing, described himself as as "pretty hawkish guy." The residential villas and the modern corporate buildings that line the main streets of New Cairo, a new suburb to the east of its namesake, often draw the lavish praise of politicians and admirations of the public. A group of architects, however, are not among the admirers. They think that New Cairo and similar suburbs and towns on the outskirts of Cairo is made up of dull cement blocks and poor imitations of high-rise buildings and gated communities that are found in Gulf states. In New Cairo there is no harmony of architectural styles. It is a [bizarre melange of] classic, modern, post-modern or high-tech. We are afraid that this alien style will spread to the current capital, architect Ahmed Salah, one of the organizers of an exhibition titled Architecture Tsunami at the American University in Cairo (AUC), told Al-Monitor. The exhibition, which brought together different works, photos and a series of interactive visual interpretations, sought to show the changes and movements in the urban planning of Cairo. It looked back to Egypt's architectural history in photos, then showed how old neighborhoods have changed or new ones built. Egypts capital is home to different architecture styles. The Khedivial Cairo which includes the downtown area from Kasr el-Nil Bridge to Attaba was established over 150 years ago. Its magnificent buildings are built in the European classical style and the streets imitate those of Paris, right down to the style of the lamps, as per the instructions of Khedive Ismail, who ruled Egypt and Sudan from 1863 to 1879. Ismail, invited to Paris by Emperor Napoleon III in 1867, was so impressed by the architecture of the City of Lights that he asked French architect Georges-Eugene Haussmann to design Khedivial Cairo. In Medieval Cairo (Islamic Cairo), which was founded in 969 by Jawhar al-Siqilli, these buildings line the same streets and alleys as those dating back to the Fatimid era. In 1906, Cairo started to expand into the desert when wealthy Belgian engineer Baron Edouard Empain (1852-1929) started to build the area of Heliopolis, 10 kilometers (6 miles) from downtown Cairo. The baron kept the same style of downtown Cairo in the architecture of Heliopolis including in areas such as Roxy and Korba. However, now the architecture of Cairo is facing drastic changes as the country is not only establishing a new administrative capital city deep in the desert, but it is also reshaping the identity of the old capital by rebuilding and polishing its buildings. New Cairo also known as the Fifth Settlement was established in 2000. It is built in an area of about 70,000 acres on the southeastern edge of Cairo governorate. Due to overcrowding in the capital, many residents decided to move to New Cairo with its new buildings, wider roads and a better quality of life. We built Cairo along the Nile, but [by building New Cairo] we went to the desert, Malak Saudi, who just graduated as an architect from AUC, told Al-Monitor. The architecture there seems to be inspired by the [modern cities] of the Gulf themselves copycats of some American buildings and skyscrapers. That makes our contemporary architecture a copy of a copy. She added, We cant change what has been already done. But we aim to change the future. However, there are no signs that the trend of ultra-modern buildings is changing. In 2015, Egypt decided to establish a new administrative capital in an area of 170,000 feddans (176,400 acres), with wide boulevards and luxurious high-rise buildings. The government is planning to move governmental institutions, ministries and thousands of employees to the new capital by 2020. But many Cairenes are asking just what will happen to the historical buildings that have been housing the ministries and government institutions. The building of the Ministry of Education, for example, is a historical palace that was built around 1874 by Ismail for one of his daughters. The governent then bought the palace located near Tahrir Square and turned it into the headquarters of the Ministry of Education in 1931. [This move] is very dangerous. The country is now saying with a very loud voice that it is not keen on taking care of the old capital as it is building a new one in the desert, said Amr Abdel Kawi, professor of practice at the AUC Department of Architecture and head of NextARCH Lab. In 2017, the government decided to demolish the Maspero Triangle, a major 35-hectare (86-acre) slum in Cairo, as part of a huge urban development plan to build luxury malls and hotels. Probably many buildings will be demolished to make room for other buildings that do not fit in the old Cairo, but in the new cities. This capital will change and become a memory that will fade away with each generation, until it disappears completely, Abdel Kawi told Al-Monitor. To discuss this issue, NextARCH Lab," an engagement platform, was established this year at the AUC Department of Architecture. It gathers stakeholders, professionals, engineers, architects and academics from different parts of Egypt, and aims at provoking critical questions and delivering solutions that improve the quality of life in the city. The exhibition Architecture Tsunami (April 14-mid-May) was one of the events organized by the center. According to Abdel Kawi, urbanization and the architecture style of the new settlements have a direct impact on the people, and often makes them feel isolated. Most of the new cities have gated communities, modern compounds surrounded by walls. This kills the connection between the people, he noted. But architects alone, Abdel Kawi said, cannot change the situation, particularly if the government simply brushes aside their opinions. For example, the government says that the architecture designs and building licenses should be approved by an accredited engineer without stressing that he should be an architect, he added. For preserving the heritage of Cairo and keeping its identity, Abdel Kawi said a broad-based dialogue that would involve architects, contractors, developers and the general public is necessary. We want to bridge this gap by engaging people in dialogue. We plan to take our activities and exhibitions to the malls to engage the public, he concluded. Jamal Khashoggis fiancee is determined to keep his legacy alive and well and that starts with making sure Washington holds Saudi Arabia accountable for killing him. In the early days, President [Donald] Trump said that this would be solved, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi talked about how unacceptable this was, Hatice Cengiz told the House Foreign Affairs Committees human rights panel today. But several months later we see that nothing has been done and thats why Im here today. Why it matters: Cengiz is working with several of Khashoggis former associates to establish his brainchild: an organization called Democracy in the Arab World Now (DAWN). The fledgling groups early members include Asim Ghafoor, a lawyer; Sarah Leah Whitson, the Middle East director for Human Rights Watch; and former Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va. As Al-Monitor reported last week in its lobbying newsletter, DAWN has paid Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton $50,000 to lobby Congress so far this year. Robert Harmala, a lobbyist registered on the account, and six of Khashoggis former associates donated a total of $36,300 to human rights panel chairwoman Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., in February. Call to action: During the hearing, Bass asked Cengiz for her recommendations on how Washington should respond to Khashoggis murder. Speaking through a translator, Cengiz called for sanctions on Riyadh and for Congress to pressure Saudi Arabia to launch an international investigation to share information to the public and the United States. There should be sanctions on Saudi Arabia because the reason Jamal moved to the United States was because there were other people like him in prisons in Saudi Arabia who could not voice their own opinions and he felt responsible for them, she said. He said in the United States I can be their voice. If we cannot bring him back, at least we can help free those people. She added that while she declined Trumps invitation to the White House while she was grieving last year, she would be willing to meet with the president now. Friendly reception: House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., stopped by to thank Cengiz for her testimony and called for accountability for Khashoggi. Lawmakers have an obligation to push for that justice, he said. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., the human rights panels top Republican, said that Saudi Arabia has been very unforthcoming in its investigation into Khashoggis death. For her part, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., related an anecdote about attending iftar with Khashoggi and her predecessor, former Rep. Keith Ellison. Omar said Khashoggi urged her to run for Congress at the time. Whats next? House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., is honoring Cengiz with a Capitol Hill event tonight featuring lawmakers, press freedom NGOs and reporters. DAWN is expected to officially launch later this year. Know more: Register for free with Al-Monitor to receive our weekly lobbying newsletter for the latest on DAWNs efforts and Saudi Arabias counter-lobbying efforts. - Bryant Harris Russian President Vladimir Putin has put Iran on notice that it will be on its own if Tehran overreacts to the United States maximum pressure campaign by lashing out militarily or pulling out of the 2015 nuclear deal. As soon as Iran undertakes some counter-measures, declares its going to abandon some [parts of the agreement], the next day everyone will forget that the US was the first to initiate the collapse of the deal and Iran will take the full burden of guilt for it, he said at a press conference following a meeting with Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen in Sochi. Why it matters: The remarks came right after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Russia for talks on the nuclear deal with Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Sources in Moscow who spoke with Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity said there was a sense that Pompeo came with a message of reconciliation from President Donald Trump while subtly appealing for Russias neutrality in a possible conflict between the United States and Iran. "The Iranian nuclear deal was briefly discussed," Putins foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov told TASS. "We laid out our approach, as it is critical of the recent actions of the US administration. The president and the secretary of state have spent some time discussing possible developments around Iran. I would say that it was an interesting discussion." Just last week, Al-Monitor reported on how Russia acts as an antithesis to what the United States is doing vis-a-vis Iran. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif praised Moscow and Beijing as the only parties that had supported Tehran and helped keep the nuclear deal going. This week, however, while on a visit to China, Zarif urged Beijing and Moscow to take "concrete action" to safeguard the deal while warning of a "dangerous" situation. Decoding Putins message: The remarks by the Russian president contained three messages. One is aimed squarely at the United States: It is to blame for the erosion of the nuclear verification and diplomatic confidence-building measures that the nuclear deal sought to create. Another message targeted the Europeans, as arguably the only would-be saviors of the deal, for failing to deliver on their commitments. Moscow understands that the European parties to the deal are Irans preferred mediators between Washington and Tehran. Finally, the third message was meant for the Iranian leadership. The Kremlin seeks to share with Tehran what it sees as its own bitter lessons of arguing who is right when it comes to international agreements. Putin also signals that if Iran embarks on the path of escalation for de-escalation, it should be prepared for all kinds of pushback, including from the Europeans, who are unlikely to challenge the United States despite their reassurances of the contrary. Whats next: Since the start of the military campaign in Syria, many in Iran have warned against a close alliance with Moscow over fears of betrayal. Russia, for its part, has developed what it sees as smart relations with Iran that could be used as a bargaining chip with the West. As tensions around Iran flare up, Moscow will seek to maximize its leverage with both the Americans and the Iranians while hedging its own political and other investments across the region. This doesnt necessarily mean Russia will trade Iran in" for illusory reconciliation promises from the Trump administration. But it wants to make it clear that Iran should keep its own expectations of potential Russian help soberly modest. Know more: Check out Laura Rozens story on European reactions to the US moves on Iran and Bryant Harris coverage of how Republicans are scrambling to extinguish talk of war. - Max Suchkov President Hassan Rouhani announced earlier this month that Iran would suspend implementation of some of its commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), one year after the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal. Rouhani also signaled that unless the remaining JCPOA signatories stepped up to fulfill the promised economic dividends of the accord, then there would be subsequent phases of Iranian action ahead. Meanwhile, a number of analysts and US politicians have argued that Iran is not serious about its claims. US Sen. Marco Rubio tweeted May 7, Iran threat to leave JCPOA is a bluff. Its part of a campaign to pressure Europe into helping them evade US sanctions. Yet Al-Monitor has learned that while the Iranian states initial decision was to leave the nuclear deal, Rouhani convinced the establishment to adopt a more gradual approach. Rouhanis plan may be to pressure Europe to find a solution to save the JCPOA, but he is quickly losing control of the situation. He may no longer have the clout to stand against pressure at home. Indeed, he no longer has the leverage to talk to the establishment about preserving strategic patience, which Iranian hard-liners have mocked as the wait-for-Biden plan. Irans conservatives are empowered due to the publics growing dissatisfaction with the Rouhani administration and the country's dire economic conditions, which mostly stem from US sanctions. Conservatives have repeatedly called on the president to leave the JCPOA in the past few months, rejecting the arguments made by figures close to Rouhani, that the US aim is to persuade Iran to kill the JCPOA. For instance, Mahdi Mohammadi, a hard-line analyst close to the centers of power, tweeted April 22, The most wrong [argument] is that we think the US wants to push Iran to leave the JCPOA. America and Israel currently have a concern, and that is Iran exiting the JCPOA in practice. Farheekhtegan daily has echoed the conservative plan for the future of the JCPOA: a road map that the government would likely be forced to implement. The possible next steps, as outlined by Farheekhtegan, are enriching uranium beyond the permitted 3.67% concentration of U-235 permitted under the accord; operating thousands more centrifuges; resuming 20% enrichment; installing more advanced IR-8 centrifuges; designing and producing nuclear propulsion systems requiring high-enriched fuel; and leaving the Additional Protocol as well as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Meanwhile, Europe reacted harshly to Iran's announcement. In a May 8 interview with Reuters, sources at the French presidency threatened to reimpose international sanctions on Iran if it reneges on its commitments under the nuclear deal. The European Union and the foreign ministers of Germany, France and the UK issued a statement May 9: We reject any ultimatums and we will assess Iran's compliance on the basis of Iran's performance regarding its nuclear-related commitments under the JCPOA." In response, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted on the same day: "EU statement today is why JCPOA is where it is: the US has bullied Europe and rest of world for a year and EU can only express 'regret.'" However, on May 13, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, in an act designed to reassure Iran, said that the EU goal is to get the special purpose vehicle, INSTEX designed to uphold legitimate trade with Iran up and running in the next few weeks. Iran's central bank governor described this as nothing new. A European diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Al-Monitor, INSTEX at the beginning will be very limited. I think, however, that later on this could change, but it will require a strong political will. The diplomat added, I dont know if Paris and Berlin are ready to openly challenge Trump and his friends. While the Iranian governments revenues have slumped due to US oil sanctions, a limited INSTEX, which likely wont cover oil sales, wont satisfy Tehran. Meanwhile, some opine that Tehrans disappointment with Europes performance may convince it not to include European governments in future talks. Indeed, the JCPOA was initially the result of secret bilateral talks between Iranian and US officials in Oman. The JCPOAs content was actually agreed first with the US, behind the scenes," the diplomat said. "Europe came at the end only after everything was solved between Iran and the US. So, yes, this is something in which France, Germany and the UK cannot do very much." He added, The key to solve the problems is a bilateral dialogue with Washington, and it is sad for me to say this, but according to what I see every day there is no alternative. Fereydoun Majlesi, a veteran Iranian diplomat, told Al-Monitor, It is better for Iran to have a direct dialogue with the US instead of Europe. I think Tehran has reached this conclusion, but a small and powerful group of hard-liners are still resisting this. Negotiations sometimes occur in the peak of crisis," said Qassem Mohebali, a former director of the Middle East desk at Irans Foreign Ministry. "I mean, both sides heighten the tensions and crisis to finally reach the negotiation table." In the meantime, President Donald Trump apparently retreated from the 12 demands for Iran outlined by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. What I would like to see with Iran, Id like to see them call me, Trump said. Irans Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi replied that if needed, theyve got our number. Iran has repeatedly stated that it hasnt left the negotiation table and that it is willing to talk on the basis of mutual respect. Therefore Tehran wouldn't, at this time, grab the phone and call Trump. Mr. Trump! Dont wait for Irans phone call," said Alireza Rahimi, a Reformist member of parliament. "You should call the four-digit number of President Rouhani to become aware of the realities. In addition to the Reformists, a number of hard-liners have also spoken of talks with the United States. Yet they argue that their own team, not members of the Rouhani administration, should show up to the table. However, Iranian officials are confused by the White House's mixed messages, an argument also affirmed by Araghchi. I believe that Iran can set conditions for negotiations [with the US]," said Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, chairman of Iran's foreign policy and national security commission. "We are a great country, and great countries make big decisions. While the Iranian political establishment is not eager to negotiate with Trump, possible first conditions for such negotiations could be the lifting of oil sanctions and the removal of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from the US list of "foreign terrorist organizations." As for what's next, one can only wait and see whether Europe will fulfill Tehrans demands in the coming weeks, and whether Rouhani can withstand the pressure to leave the JCPOA. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesperson for Arab Media, Ofir Gendelman, recently accused the organizers of the Tehran International Book Fair of showcasing "dozens of anti-Semitic books on the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day." Gendelman made the comment in a tweet along with pictures of the visit of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to the book fair as well as covers of some books adorned with the Star of David. The hard-line Iranian Fars news agency reciprocated the allegation by saying that Tel Aviv never misses a chance to spread anti-Iran propaganda. Fars further accused Israel of having used the Holocaust for years "as an excuse to counter any criticism of the Zionist regime's policies." The statement was made while Iran marked Resistance Day on the third day of the book fair, which ended May 4. These allegations help show how literature has become a coveted domain for opposing powers whose overt and covert conflicts threaten the prospect of peace in the world. Last month, an American independent press, Dzanc Books, returned the rights of "The Siege of Tel Aviv" to Israeli American writer Hesh Kestin after social media users criticized his novel over what they described as its Islamophobic themes. The book, which depicts Iran as leading five Arab armies into Israel with a plan to kill Jews, was marketed by Dzanc as satire. In recent decades, Iran has increasingly succeeded in producing and promoting a literature that serves the values and goals of its political establishment. This literature is often broadly known as resistance literature, a term that can be traced back to Iran's Constitutional Revolution in the early 20th century when progressive intellectuals used literature as a tool against tyranny, injustice and the interference of the big powers at the time. In recent decades, however, and particularly since the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War, this catchall phrase is specifically applied to works of literature that are strongly committed to the ideals of the Islamic Republic, including the teachings of the Twelver branch of Shiite Islam and the commemoration of martyrs. Growing popularity At the recent Tehran International Book Fair, for instance, visitors stood in long lines to get autographs of poets such as Hamid Reza Borghei and Fazel Nazari, who are well-known for their commitment to the "discourse-making poetry of the Islamic Revolution" and the promotion of religious poetry. Many of the bestselling titles were also memoirs of war such as the 19th edition of "A City Under Siege" by Habib Ahmadzadeh,and "Those 23 People," Ahmad Yousefzadeh's memoir about the fate of a group of Iranian teenage soldiers captured during the Iran-Iraq War. Biographical novels such as "Edoardo" by Behzad Daneshgar, about the mysterious life and death of the heir of an Italian dynasty, Edoardo Agnelli, have also aroused deep interest from readers. Agnelli reportedly converted to Shiite Islam after meeting the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. "Edoardo," which had a printing of 10,000, has been a hit in Iran's book market. Appealing appearance While a book should not be judged by its cover, the producers of these books are well aware of the importance of the outward aspects that make their final products attractive and invest in them profusely. Many of these books benefit from quality paper, artistic cover designs, professional layout and any essential outward element. A case in point is the memoir of Kazem Darabi, a man who was convicted of complicity in the assassination of a number of Kurdish opposition leaders in Berlin in 1992. Darabi, who spent 15 years behind bars in Germany, always maintained his innocence. Opposition and rights groups abroad have over the years written several books on the notorious Mykonos restaurant assassinations, but while almost all such works have straightforward titles that immediately reveal their harrowing content, Darabi's memoir is called "Tea House Painting" ("Naghashi-e Qahvekhaneh" in Persian), which is the name of a well-respected traditional style of Iranian painting with ties to the country's classical literature and mythology. Its appearance above the subtitle "Memoirs of Kazem Darabi, the Mykonos Trial Suspect" immediately invokes potential readers' interest in the narrator's side of the story. Quantity matters Resistance literature appears to be produced by state-funded publishers in huge numbers and frequent editions despite the drastic and ongoing paper crisis in the country. For instance, the Persian translation of the memoirs of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's "Imprisonment and Exile during the Battles for the Islamic Revolution" initially written in Arabic as " " ("Indeed with Patience Comes Victory") sold about 25,000 copies in a month, the Tasnim news agency reported. Similarly, "Forty Hadiths" (a collection of the sayings and teachings of the Prophet Muhammad and members of his household) by Ayatollah Khomeini, has had more than 67 printings, according to Tasnim. Another example is a novel by hard-line TV host Vahid Yaminpour titled "Palm and Orange," which is based on the biography of an Iranian 19th-century Shiite jurist, Morteza Ansari. While hard-line sources say an unveiling ceremony was recently held for the 25th edition of Yaminpour's novel, copies of the 19th edition of the book were being sold at the book fair. These numbers show the extent of the investment the Iranian political establishment is making to promote its favored literature. To understand the situation better, one can only compare these figures with the number of copies of other books such as the new and most scholarly edition of "Tazkirat-al Awliya" (a classical 12th-century prose collection of the biographies of prominent Sufis) meticulously edited and annotated by renowned Iranian poet and literary critic Mohammad Reza Shafiei Kadkani. The new edition, which Shafei worked on for over 40 years, had a printing of only 1,100 copies. The supreme leader's role Ayatollah Khamenei's interest in literature and books is common knowledge for those familiar with Iran's cultural arena. His supporters are always fulsome in their praise of his knowledge about books and arts. Each Ramadan, he holds a meeting with groups of young and veteran Persian-speaking poets who have a chance to recite their latest creations and be possibly hailed by their distinguished host. His visits to the annual Tehran International Book Fair are also often headline-making. Domestic media outlets compete over the coverage of his witty exchanges during such visits with occasionally unsuspecting publishers and stallholders. His critics, however, dismiss his erudite engagements as a mere show by a dictator who desires to be taken as a highbrow leader. Regardless of one's views about his literary knowledge and interests, Ayatollah Khamenei has been a purposeful campaigner against certain books. While he constantly emphasizes the importance of making a habit of reading books, he is a famously selective reader. Over the past 30 years, every time he has failed to pay a visit to the book fair, his absence has been interpreted as a strong indication of his unhappiness with the book policies of the culture minister of the time. At his recent visit to the book fair, while he championed memoirs of war martyrs, he warned Culture Minister Abbas Salehi against "harmful" books. "The world of books is a complicated one. What Mr. Salehi must be aware of at the Ministry of Culture is that some books are blatantly harmful; while others bear no mark of being harmful," the supreme leader said, adding that the minister should resist pressures for more tolerance: "You are the agent of Islam and of the Islamic Republic. If a book is harmful for readers, ban it without any reservation. This is what they do in the Western countries that brazenly brag about supporting freedom of expression. The restrictions they observe in publication are certainly not fewer if not far more from ours. He concluded, The point is that they know how to do it. You must follow suit." Last week, this column described US President Donald Trumps offer of dialogue with Iran as genuine and a potential offramp, even if a risky one, for both Washington and Tehran. Its time for Iran to take up Trumps offer. Although Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says there is no possibility of dialogue with the Trump administration, he might reconsider. For the Trump administration, this is how high-stakes diplomacy is done, and is as good as it gets, for at least the next two years, maybe six. The pain of US sanctions on Iran will only get worse. And the moment for diplomacy might pass. Trumps patience may be tested, and the slight cracks that we see in the US approach to Iran could close as quickly as they have been revealed. Trump tweeted on Wednesday he's sure Iran will want to talk soon, amid signs he is irritated with the hawkish posture of national security adviser John Bolton. As recently as last week, CNN reports, Trump was calling outside advisers to complain about Bolton, people familiar with the conversations said. Trump told acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan during a White House briefing on Iran that he does not want war, according to the New York Times. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took Trumps charge to emphasize that the United States is not looking for war and is open to diplomacy. A sudden visit to Europe on May 13 nonetheless fell flat, as Laura Rozen reports. Pompeo may instead be counting on trusted regional partners to defuse tensions with Iran. Makram Najmuddine writes: Following Pompeos meeting [with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad], some Iraqi sources have indicated that the United States may consider Iraq as a bridge to an eventual dialogue with Iran a role the Iraqis may be willing to play. Al Jazeera reports that a recent visit to Tehran by Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Jassim Al Thani included discussions of how to defuse tensions in the Gulf, and on May 16 Pompeo spoke with Omani Sultan Qaboos about Iranian threats to the Gulf region. Hunaina al-Mughairy, Omans ambassador to the United States, told Al-Monitor on May 8, before the recent escalation, that Oman had not yet been approached by the United States regarding Iran, adding that but Im sure that if we were approached we would be happy to assist. Oman provided the venue for the early US-Iran negotiations, which eventually led to the nuclear deal. Trump may also be taking diplomacy into his own hands, meeting on May 16 with Swiss Confederation President Ueli Maurer, whom he considers a potential intermediary with Iran. Maurer was circumspect on what role Switzerland might play, saying that his "mandate" is "open relations and protection of the US citizens in Iran," and that the content of that mandate, and what he conveyed to Trump about Iran, was "confidential." Asked directly what Switzerland can do to de-escalate tensions between the United States and Iran, Mauer said, We have not the role to play. Switzerland is not a global political player. While the United States struggles with the frustration of its European allies over Trumps Iran policy, it is still the Islamic Republic that is in dire straits. The US policy of maximum pressure has reduced Iranian oil exports by nearly half, and its economy will go from bad to worse, with no chance for a bailout from Europe, Russia or China, whatever their respective issues with the Trump administration. None of the above will choose Irans market over that of the United States, especially in the context of ongoing trade disputes. Iranian leaders understand that the prospect of Europe stepping up are slim to none, as Rohollah Faghihi writes. Zarif traveled to Asia this week, including China, to discuss ways to keep trade and commerce open despite US sanctions. Whatever small workarounds might be offered by China, India and Turkmenistan will be minimal and at the margins, given the extent of Irans economic crisis. Mohsen Shariatinia writes that Iran cannot simply lean toward China to avert US pressure. Tehran only makes up 1% of Beijing's total foreign trade, while the United States is China's leading business partner, dominates the global financial system and remains the world's biggest market. He continues, "China is likely to ignore US punitive measures on trade with Iran, but at a minimum level, slightly below the threshold where it will be careful not to trigger any penalty. Russian President Vladimir Putin may be cold comfort as well, looking to exploit US-Iran tensions for leverage with Washington, especially if he perceives the possibility of a reset in US-Russia ties following the Mueller report. Thats not to say he will ditch Iran, of course, but he will position himself for leverage with both sides, as Max Suchkov writes. Putin warned Iran not to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, saying, Russia is not a firefighting rescue crew. We have played our part, and we are ready to continue to play the same positive role, but it does not depend solely on us. It depends on all our partners and all the parties, including the United States, the European countries and Iran. If Iran is willing to take up Trumps offer to talk, it can send credible messages through a number of trusted intermediaries Switzerland, Russia, Qatar, Oman and Iraq, to name a few. The State Departments 12 conditions for a comprehensive agreement, according to our soundings, can be understood more as a framework for dialogue; these are all issues the United States and Iran should be discussing. Trumps offer is not new; one year ago he said he looked forward to someday meeting with the leaders of Iran in order to work out an agreement and, very importantly, taking steps to give Iran the future it deserves. There was also the flurry at the UN General Assembly last year over the prospects a meeting between Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, including a tweet by Trump that he was sure his Iranian counterpart was an absolutely lovely man. There is no downside to testing a diplomatic flare, especially via trusted partners willing to play such a role, if not directly. There are, however, clear downsides to rhetorical and military escalation, absent diplomacy. Now that the Islamic State (IS) is considered largely contained, the next challenge is what to do with the thousands of jihadis captured and awaiting trial, many of them in Iraq. In addition to thousands of its own people imprisoned for fighting for IS, Iraq is under pressure to receive and try some 1,000 foreigners in the hand of Syrian Kurds. It would seem expedient to try the detainees there, rather than shipping them back to the roughly 50 other countries involved. Paris doesn't want these fighters back and French President Emmanuel Macron, for one, thinks the trials should be conducted in Iraq except for the strong possibility Iraq will sentence many of them to death. The Iraqi judiciary often issues death sentences against IS members. France outlawed the death penalty in 1977. In January 2018, French officials threatened to intervene should death sentences be issued against two extremist French nationals. Yet Macron now says French IS fighters who were captured in Iraq and Syria must be tried in the countries where they face charges. A judicial source told Al-Monitor that Baghdad is preparing to try French nationals "who fought alongside IS in Iraq and Syria and who were arrested by the Syrian Democratic Forces in Syria a few weeks ago. So far there are about a dozen, but more are expected. Watheq al-Hashemi, president of the Iraqi Group for Strategic Studies, told Al-Monitor that Iraqi President Barham Salih also thinks the trials should take place in Iraq. However, Iraq is concerned with the financial burden of handling 1,000 prisoners and is seeking about $2 billion from the other countries to cover the costs. Iraqi officials also worry about Iraqi prisons becoming recruiting ground for IS or other terrorist groups. Former Iraqi parliament member Rezan Sheikh said she fears IS will restructure itself inside Iraqi prisons. Our prisons have many problems and are not correctional facilities. And they can easily lead to the creation of a new terrorist organization, which is why Iraq should not accept this deal, she told Al-Monitor. Al-Monitor received information that in Iraq, overcrowding in prisons and detention centers exceeds 120%. Iraq doesn't have new prisons and detention centers that match the international standards France and other countries will want Iraq to meet. Hisham al-Hashemi, a researcher at al-Nahrain Center for Strategic Studies, also warned that Iraqi prisons could become like Bucca Camp, where terrorist organizations were born. It's not in Iraq's interest to try [foreign IS] members inside Iraq. Issuing death penalties against such members will lead international human rights organizations to side against Iraq, and keeping them in prison will give them an opportunity to shuffle their cards, he told Al-Monitor. Razaw Salihy, an Amnesty International campaign leader, concurred, telling Al-Monitor, We met many families who said that their male relatives had joined IS after being held in prisons such as the Bucca Camp. The French government is facing pressure from several media outlets and human rights organizations that question the fairness of the Iraqi judiciary and reject the death penalty. So, even though France wants Iraq to keep French nationals, the public wants Macron to pressure Iraq to not sentence them to death. Based on what we have seen in recent years, the death penalty is very likely," Salihy added. "Iraq remains among the countries that resort to the death penalty the most. Authorities [there] often respond to terrorism-related attacks by announcing executions." The concerns of human rights organizations seem justified, given Salihs statements during a Feb. 25 visit to Paris that the convicted in Iraq may face execution. The prisoners "will be tried according to Iraqi law," he said. After being booted from a fighter pilot course, a cadet was asked where he would like to serve in the Israel Defense Forces. Anti-aircraft, he responded. Why there? he was asked. If I dont fly, nobody flies. A senior Israeli diplomatic source used this old joke to explain Irans response to the recent tightening of American sanctions and the blocking of its oil exports. What Iran is now trying to prove to the US, Saudi Arabia and the other allies is that if it has problems exporting oil, it wont be easy for anyone else either, the source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. An Israeli intelligence assessment shared with decision-makers at a security discussion organized by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week holds that Iran is behind recent violence in the region, including an attack on oil tankers in Fujairah Bay and an attack by Houthi rebels on Saudi Arabias petroleum infrastructure. A security source who asked not to be named explained the prevailing assessment in Israel: The purpose of these attacks was to signal that Iran has the ability to interrupt the flow of oil from the Gulf and that it can force the US and its allies to pay a steep price. According to this assessment, the attack on the tankers was intentionally minor, intended only to prove to the United States what Iran is capable of. Israel says that Iran has avoided direct involvement in these attacks, preferring to use its local proxies instead. If, however, full-blown war breaks out, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps will enter the picture. Should that happen, Israel believes that it would be in the top tier of Iranian targets. Netanyahu, in his additional role as defense minister, convened a meeting of the defense establishments top leadership to discuss the developments and the growing tension pitting Tehran against Washington and its allies in the Gulf. Participants included Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, Mossad director Yossi Cohen and other top officials. Netanyahu instructed the security branches to try to keep Israel out of this conflict. He knows that the chances of conflict avoidance are slim and that he has no chance whatsoever of keeping Israel off the list of Iran's top targets. The only Western army that has been entangled in a physical confrontation with the Revolutionary Guards last year was the IDF, an Israeli military source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. Weve delivered several direct hits against them, so they still have an unsettled account with us. As such, they will have no qualms about involving us if there is a conflict. Deterrence is the only viable response to this assessment. They know that the IDFs capacities are completely different from anything else they have experienced in the region, except for the US capacity to respond. We believe that they will take this into account if and when they need to decide. Meanwhile, the tension in the Persian Gulf continues unabated. Western intelligence assessments, mainly collected by Israel, claim that the Iranians recently transferred a large number of missiles to the Shiite militias it supports in Iraq and apparently to Syrian territory as well. According to reports in the West, Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Revolutionary Guard's Quds Force, ordered all forces in Iraq that answer to Iran to prepare for conflict. Iran is trying to flex its muscles in order to deter Trump from getting into a war, a senior Israeli political source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. They are trying to prove that war against Iran will be nothing like the American invasion of Iraq. The US has no intention of invading Iran, the Israeli source clarified, but the Iranians are trying to signal to the Americans that the matchup between them and American forces and the deployment of forces by them and their proxies throughout the Middle East could cause serious damage to American interests and at a steeper cost than anything Saddam Husseins regime was able to achieve during the invasion. Netanyahus distance from the escalating tension can be understood from this period as well. It was Netanyahu who appeared before a Congressional committee in the days leading up to the invasion of Iraq to claim that Hussein was attempting to build nuclear weapons and that toppling the regime in Iraq would rein in Iran and create greater stability throughout the entire Middle East. History proved all Netanyahus predictions wrong. No signs were found that Iraq was trying to develop nuclear weapons, while the removal of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein triggered a chain reaction that set the entire region on fire. Now, Netanyahu is attempting to tone it down, so that he will not be thought of as the person pressuring the Americans to launch a military strike against Iran. It is not at all certain that he will succeed. Israel is now trying to downplay its support for the stance of US national security adviser John Bolton, who advocates for direct conflict with the Iranians and is therefore considered the most hawkish in the administration. According to someone who has worked with Netanyahu on military matters for years who spoke on condition of anonymity, It should be obvious that behind closed doors, Netanyahu is praying that Bolton succeeds in convincing the president to launch a military attack on Iran, but this cannot be too obvious. [Netanyahu] cannot be identified with this approach, particularly after he has already come under fire for being the person who pressured the US to invade Iraq. Jerusalem is watching the conflict between President Donald Trumps current conciliatory tone, which leads him to avoid unnecessary American military adventurism, and Boltons more belligerent approach. The fear is that Trump will blink first in this war of nerves with the Iranians and eventually lose interest and tone down the pressure. These are historically decisive times when it comes to Irans nuclear capacities, a senior Israeli political source admitted to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. Trump did all the right things until now. American pressure is taking a toll on the Iranian economy. Still, it aint over til its over. Another problem now emerging on the Israeli side is the continuing Israeli attacks in Syria, known in Israel as the campaign between the wars, to prevent Iranian military entrenchment there. Against a backdrop of growing tension and an increase of troops in the region from both sides, it seems obvious that an Israeli attack could be the spark that ignites the barrel of gunpowder. The conventional wisdom in the West is that Israel will now show more restraint before launching any operations, so as not to be held responsible for an escalation, which may be why the latest shipment of Iranian missiles evaded an Israeli airstrike and reached Syria. The US State Department denied Palestinian politician Hanan Ashrawi an entry visa May 13. A State Department official told the Associated Press that the United States "does not refuse visas based solely on peoples political views or statements, but Ashrawi and others believe the visa denial is a blatantly political act. One cant help but recall the words of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who, speaking to students at Texas A&M University on April 15, said, I was a CIA director, we lied, we cheated we stole we had entire training courses. It reminds you of the glory of the American experiment. Though Pompeo was referring to the actions of the CIA, the State Department may be engaged in similar tactics when it says that the denial of Ashrawi's visa was not a political act. Ashrawi told the Associated Press that "of course," it was a political act, and one that was full of pettiness and vindictiveness. Ashrawi, 72, is a member of the PLO Executive Committee, a position she has held since 2009. She's also a grandmother, and several of her grandchildren live in the United States. She told Al-Monitor that she completed her graduate studies at the University of Virginia in medieval and comparative literature and that she visits the United States two or three times a year. Ashrawi is an advocate for womens rights, a staunch believer in nonviolent struggles and an active campaigner against corruption, including in the Palestinian government. She is still an academic and loves pursuing civil society work. She has received numerous awards for her work, including the Sydney Award in 2003 for her commitment to human rights and to the peace process in the Middle East, as well as the Mahatma Gandhi Award in 2005 and the Olof Palme Prize in 2016. Ashrawi is an honorary fellow at the University of Oxford. Husam Zomlot, a former Palestinian representative in Washington DC and current ambassador to the UK, told Al-Monitor that the Donald Trump administration wants to delegitimize our national struggle and reframe the conflict as a local Israeli one. They want to address Palestinian needs but not Palestinian rights, while at the same time they want to legitimize Israels so-called divine rights. When Ashrawi's visa was denied, Zomlot tweeted that the Trump administration was afraid of her: The enemy of this administration is something you so powerfully and eloquently represent and present: the truth. And you have something they dont have: credibility. This will only make millions of Americans want to hear you more! James Zogby, the founder and president of the Washington DC-based Arab American Institute, believes the visa denial was intended to silence Palestinian voices. The Trump administration is denying Americans the opportunity to directly hear Palestinian reactions to the deal of the century," he told Al-Monitor. "Authoritarians believe that they can impose their views by the use of force and by silencing discussion and free and open debate. This we will not tolerate. They want to determine the fate of the entire Palestinian nation and dont want them to have the opportunity to object." Zogby, an adviser to Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign, insisted that this strategy of silencing debate will not work. Daniel Kurtzer, a former US ambassador to Egypt and Israel, said, Denying her a visa is outrageous and a sign that the Trump administration does not care to hear legitimate Palestinian views. Kurtzer said Ashrawi has been an ardent supporter of peace and an equally ardent opponent of violence for more than three decades. She has also been a vocal critic of Israels occupation and a steadfast supporter of Palestinian political rights. She is exactly the kind of person that US audiences and the US 'peace team' need to hear." Aaron Miller, who worked as a peace envoy to the Middle East for both Republican and Democratic administrations, told Al-Monitor that he kept hoping there was some technical reason Ashrawi's visa was denied, because, "I don't want to accept that this administration has come to a place where its desire to pressure Palestinians has become so intense that it cannot abide any criticism of US and Israeli actions and, in the process, sadly undermines not only any semblance of fairness in American policy but American values. Former Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad told Al-Monitor that it is "wrong and shameful to deny Ashrawi a visa to the United States. "Coming in a sequence of a series of actions that have wronged the Palestinians, including on Jerusalem, refugees, and the closure of our missions office in Washington, it also reinforces a well-grounded perception of anti-Palestinian bias." Fayyad, who was one of the first victims of the Trump administration's anti-Palestinian bias in February 2017 when Nikki Haley was Washington's ambassador to the UN, said that he doesn't buy the assertion that it is the Palestinian official boycott of contacts with the administration that underlies this instance of visa denial. "Not long ago, another Palestinian, Naila Zakout, who is without any official capacity, was similarly denied. She is probably best known for her lead role in a recently released documentary on the role of women in the first Palestinian Intifada," Fayyad now a visiting professor at Princeton University, told Al-Monitor. On the eve of rolling out its vision for peace in the Middle East, the Trump administration wants to control the narrative. Yet keeping outspoken Palestinian leaders like Ashrawi from entering the United States will not silence Palestinians. It will only deny Americans the right to hear another perspective. The Palestinian Authority (PA) has been suffering under a severe financial crisis since the US support stopped and Israel deducted money from clearing funds. This prompted the PA to do whatever it could to obtain Arab support calling on the Arab League to provide a safety net or obtain loans from Arab countries but it failed to get a serious response. On May 7, Qatar's Foreign Ministry announced $480 million in aid to the Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, $300 million of which went to the PA as grants and loans for health care, education and humanitarian aid, and $180 million for emergency relief, United Nations programs and electricity. Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas' political bureau chief, called May 11 Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to thank him for his financial and political support for the Palestinians. On May 7, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas expressed his appreciation to the emir for helping ease the Palestinians burdens. Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh explained the same day that the $300 million provided to the PA in the West Bank included $50 million in grants and $250 million that will be provided as a loan to be paid in installments of $21 million per month. He said that $180 million worth of aid was offered to the Gaza Strip. On May 13, Qatars Gaza Reconstruction Committee began distributing cash handouts to 108,000 poor families in Gaza. Each family received $100 as part of the Qatari grant. Qatari Ambassador to the Palestinian territories Mohammed al-Emadi arrived in Gaza May 13, where he met with Nikolay Mladenov, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, and discussed efforts to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, particularly the electricity supply, relief projects and employment for graduates and workers. The next day, he met with Haniyeh and Hamas leaders in Haniyeh's office in Gaza City and reviewed Qatar's efforts to ease Gazas suffering. Ahmed Majdalani, a member of the PLO Executive Committee, told Al-Monitor, We thank Qatar for providing a financial safety net for the PA. We agreed that the Gaza aid would reach the beneficiaries directly through Qatar Charity, without going to Hamas. We stand at an equal distance from Saudi Arabia and Qatar; we do not join one axis against the other, nor do we build a relationship with one at the expense of the other. Palestinian Minister of Civil Affairs Hussein al-Sheikh tweeted May 6 that he had visited Qatar together with Finance Minister Shukri Bishara, where they met with the Qatari foreign and finance ministers and agreed to the grant. On May 7, Haaretz quoted senior Palestinian officials as saying that they were shocked by Abbas decision to send his ministers to Qatar to ask for help, as Abbas has close ties with Saudi Arabia, which is the biggest supporter of the PA. Saudi Arabia provides the PA with $220 million a year. This is why the officials quoted by the newspaper expect Saudi Arabia to respond to Qatar's aid, whose size took the PA by surprise, Haaretz reported. During a Cabinet meeting April 29 in Ramallah, Abbas revealed that he had asked for a loan from Arab countries. But we are not very hopeful since we did not get any response, he said. Essam Aldalis, deputy head of Hamas' political department, told Al-Monitor, We thank Qatar for its assistance. We have no role in determining the amounts transferred to Gaza or the West Bank; they are all part of the Palestinian territories. If the grant aims to move forward with reconciliation efforts with Fatah, then Hamas welcomes Qatars effort in this regard. The movement is ready to accept any and all aid that helps the Palestinian people from Qatar, Saudi Arabia or any other country, away from any Arab polarization. Raed Enairat, a political science professor at An-Najah National University in Nablus, told Al-Monitor, Saudi Arabia is not comfortable with Qatar's support for the PA, but the PA cannot be blamed because its financial crisis is too serious and it fears Qatars money would go to Hamas if it does not take it for itself. Enairat added, Saudi Arabias position among the Palestinians is weak, as there is no alliance between the PA and the kingdom. The grant will increase Qatars influence among the Palestinians, and Qatar may even go as far as to mediate between Hamas and Fatah to achieve reconciliation, in preparation for the implementation of the deal of the century. Qatars support has included both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip this time around, while it had been focused on just Gaza in the past. Previously, the PA had attacked Qatar in the media, accusing it of deepening division between Gaza and the West Bank. However, Qatar was praised by Fatah and the PA today. Hussam al-Dajani, an author who writes for Al Jazeera, told Al-Monitor, Qatari aid to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip reflects Qatar's diplomatic knowledge of the Palestinian issue. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia supports the PA only, not Hamas, which gives Qatar an edge when it comes to its role and standing among the Palestinians. Dajani added, The fact that the PA accepted the Qatari grant will have a negative impact on Saudi Arabia, but it would not lead to estrangement. Saudi Arabia could rather reduce aid [to the PA], provide aid to Gaza or file a complaint to the PA. Saudi Arabia and two of its prominent papers, Asharq al-Awsat and Al-Hayat, did not cover the news about the Qatari grant to the Palestinians, while it made the headlines around the world. Financial assistance of this size could not be achieved without US and Israeli approval. Hence, this will allow Qatar, a small country with a small population, to play a historical role by providing aid to both the PA and Gaza and become a decision-maker in the region, sidelining Saudi Arabia. Mohammad Abu Jiab, editor-in-chief of Al-Eqtesadia newspaper in Gaza, told Al-Monitor, The Qatari grant will help the PA pay the salaries of its employees. The amount that went to Gaza is part of the temporary truce understandings; it is not permanent." He added, The PA will not receive $300 million at once. It will receive the sum in batches based on political developments, such as its relationship with Israel and whether or not it will accept the deal of the century. This is why the grant may not be useful, and the Palestinians cannot rely on it. Abu Jiab noted, I rule out the possibility of Saudi Arabia objecting to the Qatari grant so long as the United States and Israel approved it. The Qatari grant to the Palestinians provides a lifeline to the conflicting parties. It prevents the PA from collapse and prevents a war between Hamas and Israel. This makes Doha a mediator that is agreed-upon by all parties, as Saudi Arabia stands idly by and loses an important arena exemplified by the Palestinian territories. MOSCOW US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo came to Sochi Tuesday for talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, and President Vladimir Putin also hosted Pompeo for a short discussion of the most acute issues over which Moscow and Washington are currently sparring. A week prior, on May 6, Lavrov and Pompeo met in Helsinki on the sidelines of the Arctic Council. We understand that much suspicion and prejudice has piled up on both sides, but neither you nor we are benefitting from it. On the contrary, mutual bitterness increases the risks to your security and ours, and is of concern to the entire international community, Lavrov stated in his opening remarks. I believe it's time to start building a new, more responsible and constructive matrix of how we see each other. We are ready to do so, of course, if our US partners are interested in doing so as well. The fact that we are meeting for the second time in the past two weeks inspires certain optimism. Let's give it a try and see what happens, he concluded. On May 3, US President Donald Trump called Putin. Following the conversation, the Russian Foreign Ministry and the US State Department were tasked to intensify the dialogue over a number of pressing bilateral and international issues. I got the impression that the president is in favor of restoring Russia-US ties and contacts and resolving issues of mutual interest, Putin told Pompeo while hosting the latter at the presidential Bocharov Ruchei residence in Sochi. For our part, we have said many times that we would also like to restore relations on a full scale. I hope that the necessary conditions for this are being created now, since, despite the exotic character of Mr. [Robert] Muellers work, he should be given credit for conducting what is generally an objective inquiry. He reaffirmed the lack of any trace of collusion between Russia and the current administration, which we described as sheer nonsense from the very start. There was no, nor could there be any interference on our part in the US election at the government level. Nevertheless, regrettably, these allegations have served as a reason for the deterioration of our interstate ties, Putin stressed. When Trump was elected in 2016, many in Moscow hoped US-Russian relations could see a natural reset. The expectation was generally based on candidate Trump's uncritical, if not positive, remarks vis-a-vis Russia and Putin himself, as well as Moscows view that Hillary Clinton would have been a worse option as president on every account. Syria and counter-terrorism too were deemed areas for genuine cooperation between Moscow and Washington given the Trumps campaign remarks about the need to fight Islamist radicalism. Very soon, however, investigations into what came to be seen as Russian interference in the US presidential election and concerns over possible collusion complicated the Trump administration's position toward Russia. The administration, as seen from Moscow, had to go on both the defensive in that it had to deny the idea as a hoax and the offensive, in that it had to compete with Congress in passing anti-Russian sanctions to both look strong for the domestic constituency and objectively limit Russias potential internationally. While the deconfliction channel between the US Al-Udeyd base in Qatar and Russias Hmeymim base in Syria continues to operate and the regular meetings between Russian and American chiefs of staff are the only viable communication venue, Moscow and Washington have never really come to cooperate on major security challenges in the Middle East. To make matters worse, Trumps prioritization of the Iranian threat has come to further the divide in the respective Mideast agendas of Russia and the United States. This disconnect gets projected on Syria, where the parties split on major issues of Syria settlement be it the content (formation of a constitutional committee, presence of troops, future of President Bashar al-Assad) or the form (Astana talks vs Small group and the participation of Iran). We noticed that the rhetoric [of Western states on Syria] has changed. The problem is whether theres some hidden, disguised agenda that seeks to create conditions for an ultimate regime change, Russias Syria envoy Alexander Lavrentyev recently told TASS. At the same time, Putins remarks suggest that the Kremlin sees the major obstacle to any US-Russia engagement under Trump the allegations of collusion during the election as lifted by the Mueller report. Both Putin and Trump appear to be on the same page when it comes to seeing the Russia theme as serving the domestic political agenda of the Washington establishment, which may torpedo any constructive ideas Russian and American diplomats and military may brainstorm. Yet the message Pompeo came to communicate to Moscow on behalf of Trump echoes Russias desire for a fresh start. There are places we disagree; there are places I think are truly overlapping interests that we can build on. And most importantly, President Trump very much wants to do that. Well protect our nations interests, but there are places that our two countries can find where we can be cooperative, we can be productive, we can be accumulative, we can work together to make each of our two peoples more successful, and frankly, the world more successful, too, Pompeo told Putin. The sentiment for cooperation may indeed project onto strategic stability, non-proliferation and arms control as well as for crises where the two can work together without hurting each others interests North Korea and Afghanistan, in particular. However, such collaboration in places where Moscow and Washington have higher national security stakes Ukraine and Venezuela has narrower odds since the conflicts are largely perceived as a zero-sum game. In this context, Middle Eastern crises represent a third category: Russia and the United States can objectively cooperate on settling most of them without giving in on too much of their own interests. Yet a combination of great power inertia, the contest over rule-setting in world affairs, promotion of certain rigid domestic agendas at the cost of regional stability and a fear to look weak in the face of potential concessions not to mention local spoilers that get animated at any US-Russian reconciliation attempt all minimize the opportunities for the Syrian, Libyan and perhaps now also the Israeli-Palestinian conflicts to be venues for cooperation. It is also unfortunate that in Syria, theres barely any new idea that both parties can offer each other. Eight years of conflict have seen dozens of proposals tested and both Moscow and Washington remain committed to promoting their initial agendas and arguing them with the same talking points. In the Syrian context, we discussed the importance of jointly fighting against international terrorism and noted that it is very important to finally launch the Syrian constitutional committee," Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said following Putins meeting with Pompeo. "The discussion was businesslike and constructive, and it revealed many aspects on which we have similar positions. The president stressed that it is important to respect Syria's sovereignty and strive for preserving its territorial integrity," Ushakov added. If Syria is pretty much stalled and is likely to be determined not by a US-Russian deal but rather by the success of the parties in dealing with the actors on the ground, the ongoing escalations over Iran cast the shadow of a new regional complication. As far as Iran and the [nuclear deal] are concerned, I hope that wisdom will ultimately prevail. When I say we hope to find a political solution to the situation around Iran, we'll work to ensure the situation doesn't slip into a military scenario. I sensed the US party, too, has a mood to be seeking a political solution. But its very complicated. Until now weve only been further engulfed into this swirl, Lavrov said at the press conference with Pompeo. The next day, Putins press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, denied that Pompeo had assured Moscow that the United States did not seek war with Iran. While quite remarkably Peskov said Moscow was saddened to see the decisions taken by the Iranian side," he told reporters, "There were no assurances from Pompeo," adding, "And one can hardly talk about some sort of assurances. There is an obvious situation which unfortunately tends to escalate further." As the showdown between Washington and Tehran escalates elsewhere in the Gulf, Iran is giving high priority to an effort to secure, control and reopen the al-Bukamal border crossing at Qaim, the only Syrian-Iraqi border crossing under Iranian control, to solidify its influence in the Levant and mitigate the impact of US sanctions. It remains to be seen, however, whether Iran will pull off this move and how the Donald Trump administration might react. On April 23, two buses carrying Iraqi pilgrims visiting the Shrine of Sayyida Zeinab near Damascus passed through the al-Bukamal crossing for the first time since 2012, signaling it might soon open for business and travel. The city of al-Bukamal, also often referred to as Abu Kamal, is located on the Euphrates River in Deir ez-Zor province in eastern Syria. The crossing into Qaim, in Iraq's Anbar province, might open within six months, Iraqi border officials say. Al-Bukamals strategic location has long made the city a military attraction for foreign powers. In the 17th century, it was the seat of an Ottoman sanjak and in 1921 the seat of a large garrison when French troops occupied Deir ez-Zor. After the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, the city became a crossing point for the Iraqi insurgency, which led in October 2008 to a US raid on al-Bukamal from across the Iraqi border. Today, it might potentially become the major gateway for Irans land bridge that links Tehran, Baghdad, Damascus and Beirut while securing Irans access to the Mediterranean Sea. In the short term, this land corridor is a crucial asset for an Iranian regime seeking to expand trade and lessen the impact of US sanctions on its economy. Opening the al-Bukamal crossing will allow Tehran to cut its aerial route expenses from Tehran to Damascus, complementing its use of the Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport and the existing non-official border crossings that Iran runs in eastern Syria. The Syrian regimes efforts since last year to reopen this border crossing by engaging Baghdad have failed so far; these included most notably a letter in June 2018 from Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem to his then Iraqi counterpart, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, asking to reopen al-Bukamal crossing, and most recently an April 10 visit by Syrian Prime Minister Imad Khamis to Iraq. However, al-Bukamal has been paramount for the Iranian game plan in Syria; hence, the role of Damascus is increasingly marginalized. There are three phases in the evolution of the Iranian control of al-Bukamal. The first phase began in November 2017 when Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Qasem Soleimani reportedly oversaw the battle to take al-Bukamal from the Islamic State (IS); videos widely circulated on social media showed him visiting the area. Soon after the end of this battle, Moscow and Damascus moved their already overstretched forces to other fronts in the country but left behind militias affiliated with the Syrian regime. Al-Bukamal was subsequently dominated by unruly militias who reportedly clashed for influence and control of crossing fees, most notably on the flow of goods between the two banks of the Euphrates River. Those confrontations reached their peak in August 2018 with clashes between Syrian regime militias and Iranian-backed militias. A reconciliation committee began its work in September to defuse these tensions. The Iranian-backed militias included Lebanons Hezbollah, Iraqs Nujaba Movement and Kataeb Hezbollah, Afghanistans Fatimiyoun Brigade and Pakistans Zaynabiyoun Brigade, while the Syrian regime militia is the military security shield forces. The second phase, which began in October, was marked by Tehran gradually expanding its influence while managing tensions with Moscow. The Iranian regime was enforcing new demographics in the area and buying the loyalty of locals through services and cash payments. Meanwhile, Russia also deployed forces near the al-Bukamal crossing in October, three months after the Helsinki summit between President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. While these Russian and Syrian regime forces had a symbolic role of serving as a disengagement force between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Iranian-backed militias on the two banks of the Euphrates River, it has also protected the expansion of Iranian influence in this border area. When the United States reimposed sanctions on Iran in November, Tehran began to accelerate the pace of reopening the al-Bukamal crossing, which became a needed lifeline for its ailing economy. Since January, the Iranian regime has increased the rate of trade deals with Iraq and Syria, which seems part of a larger plan to connect its economy and security to these two countries through highways, railways and energy grids. On March 17, the Iraqi armys chief of staff, Othman al-Ghanemi, said during a joint press conference with his Iranian and Syrian colleagues in Damascus that the al-Bukamal crossing would open in the next few days. The next day, the Iranian army chief of staff, Mohammad Bagheri, traveled from Damascus to visit Iranian troops and their allies in al-Bukamal. The third phase began this month when Tehran took full control of al-Bukamal and began to impose order in the area. The Iranian regime reportedly withdrew the Nujaba Movement, Kataeb Hezbollah and Fatimiyoun Brigade from al-Bukamal into Iraq. Iran also reportedly ordered the dissolution of the Syrian regimes military security shield forces militia, led by Mohammed al-Zarzour, who was known to be looting goods and furniture from the area; this move reportedly renewed clashes between Iranian-backed militias and Syrian regime militias. But Tehrans influence remains uncontested in al-Bukamal. Earlier this month, Moscow withdrew its forces, including the Syrian regimes 5th armored division, and reportedly left one branch as a symbolic presence in al-Bukamal. While Russian military sources declined to confirm or deny these reports, it has been confirmed by local sources in al-Bukamal. This sudden withdrawal means Moscow most probably fears for the safety of these troops in the current environment between Washington and Tehran, while also seeking to avoid any clashes between the Syrian regime and Iranian-backed militias. Moscow basically left Iran to itself in the battle to reopen the al-Bukamal border crossing. There is indeed a lot at stake for Iran in al-Bukamal. The two other official Iraqi-Syrian border crossings in al-Tanf (held by Syrian rebels) and al-Yaarabiyah (held by the SDF) are under US influence. Moreover, the SDF is 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the Iranian-backed militias across the Euphrates River while Iraqi security forces and Hashd al-Shaabi are across the border in Qaim. How the United States might react remains a mystery. Media speculation that the SDF might launch an offensive on al-Bukamal are not realistic, most notably since the SDF is preoccupied with the Turkish threat at this moment and is not keen to clash with Iranian-backed militias. However, Israeli jets can alternatively strike if the Trump administration passes intelligence about a convoy carrying an arms shipment across the Iraqi-Syrian border. There are also indications that the Trump administration is pressuring the Iraqi government not to open a border crossing that will facilitate trade with the Iranian and Syrian regimes, both on the US sanctions list. As Washington and Tehran flex their muscles in the Middle East, the al-Bukamal test will be crucial for their rivalry. Betting on nascent US-Russian talks to resolve this issue might not be enough as Moscow might ultimately only offer to deter Iranian influence in southern Syria in return for US concessions. While the Trump administration might not be able to prevent the actual opening of this border crossing, it can use its influence on the Iraqi government to render the Qaim crossing dormant, as it did with the Jordanian governments Nassib border crossing with Syria. However, Amman does not have the entrenched, significant influence that Iran does in Baghdad. While publicly calling for the opening of the Qaim crossing with Syria, the Iraqi government will struggle to balance Iranian and US pressure to find a compromise on how to deal with a strategic border crossing. The Trump administration will have to soon decide whether it can live with a managed Iranian land bridge to the Mediterranean or decide at what cost it will be ready to abort it. A mass hunger strike in Turkey has entered a critical stage. Despite a recent gesture by Ankara, the strikers, mostly Kurdish inmates, have refused to end the protest launched to denounce the isolation of Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Thousands of prisoners have joined the hunger strike since early November, when the first striker Leyla Guven, a lawmaker for the pro-Kurdish Peoples Democracy Party (HDP) began the protest while in prison. Guven has continued her hunger strike at home since her conditional release in late January. Three other lawmakers are among about 60 people who have joined the hunger strike outside prison, while the overwhelming majority estimated between 3,000 and 5,000 people are behind bars, including 15 inmates who announced their protest would continue to their deaths if necessary at the end of April. On May 2, Ankara allowed two of Ocalans lawyers to see him on the prison island of Imrali, where the PKK leader has been serving a life sentence since 1999. It was the first such meeting in eight years that saw the rejection of no less than 810 requests. Ocalans relatives have faced similar restrictions. His brother was allowed to visit him in January after two and a half years. In a message relayed by the attorneys, Ocalan urged the hunger strikers not to take their actions to a point that threatens their health or results in death. But the strike did not end, with many convinced that one meeting does not mean an end to Ocalans isolation. A second group of 15 inmates declared their protest a death fast on May 10. So far, the protest has claimed eight lives, including seven people in prison and another who committed self-immolation in Germany. The hunger strike largely ignored in the highly charged climate ahead of the March 31 local polls drew public attention only after anxious mothers of hunger strikers faced off with heavy-handed police outside prisons. Images of truncheon-wielding police pushing and manhandling women wearing symbolic white veils called tulbent raised a degree of public awareness. The tulbent, which symbolizes peace, has become increasingly visible at political demonstrations in Turkey in recent years. According to tradition, a brawl must immediately stop once a woman throws her tulbent to the ground. Those who refuse to stop are seen with contempt, even more so if they hit a woman. Though the HDP had not called for a hunger strike, it had to shoulder the process once Guven spearheaded the move. The HDP building in Diyarbakir, the largest city of the Kurdish-majority southeast, has become one of the focal points of the protest and a target of frequent police raids. HDP lawmakers Dersim Dag, Tayip Temel and Murat Sarisac have been waging their hunger strike inside the building since March 3. A group of mothers took their protest to parliament May 14, attending the HDPs parliamentary group meeting. The 21 women refused to leave parliament after the meeting, requesting to see Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul and parliament speaker Mustafa Sentop. While the justice minister did not respond, Sentop met with three representatives of the group and promised to speak to Gul. Later in the day, two HDP deputies briefly occupied the parliaments rostrum after an HDP motion for a probe into rights violations in prisons was voted down. On May 16, Gul said, The decisions regarding visit bans have been lifted and visits [to Ocalan] have become possible. Ocalan attorney Newroz Uysal commented the legal team had been notified of the decision on April 22 and yet only one visit had taken place so far. This announcement is nothing new, but the fact that the minister himself has revealed it is important for the hunger strikers, she said. The Asrin Law Office, which represents Ocalan, also suggested that the isolation of its client has not been thoroughly lifted, saying that Ocalans relatives have been denied permissions to visit him on the grounds of a new disciplinary penalty dated April 22. According to HDP lawmaker Ayse Acar Basaran, The hunger strikers demand an end to [Ocalans] isolation and a guarantee that visits to Ocalan will continue. The state has not taken any step or provided any assurances to that effect so far, she told Al-Monitor. Basaran described the demands as constitutional and stressed that the restrictions are political and did not stem from any law. The hunger strikers are in a critical stage. The families want [a solution] before they begin to die, she said. The Kurdistan Communities Union, an umbrella group involving the PKK, appeared to back the continuation of the hunger strike when it said in a statement May 7 that Ankara allowed the lawyers to visit Ocalan only to lift the pressure of the domestic and international public and weaken the resistance. A similar hunger strike in 2012 was ended upon an appeal by Ocalan, which came after state officials met with the PKK leader in prison. Ocalans latest statement from prison was made public on the same day the election authorities voided the oppositions win in the Istanbul mayoral race. Kurdish support was decisive in the razor-thin victory of Ekrem Imamoglu, the candidate of the main opposition Republican Peoples Party. Now, with a do-over scheduled for June 23, the government has been signaling its desire to rebuild bridges with the Kurds and dissuade them from backing Imamoglu again. We believe this should not be seen as an election issue, Basaran said. If coffins begin to come out of prisons, it could trigger [public] outrage. After all, those people are raising a legal demand. Responding positively is important for Turkeys future and democracy. The timing of the hunger strike has been controversial, as similar actions in the past have been detrimental to the Kurdish movement. Many have disapproved of the HDP investing efforts in an Ocalan-centered agenda in the midst of an election season in which the government vilified its opponents as terrorists and portrayed the elections as a matter of survival for the nation. According to critics, such actions play into the hands of the government as it seeks to equate the HDP with the PKK and undermine unity among the opposition by claiming links between the CHP and the PKK. Because of such concerns, the hunger strikers have received neither support nor criticism from civil society this time. Those who back the hunger strike, on the other hand, point to the grave ramifications of the lack of a solution to the Kurdish issue. Temel, the hunger-striking HDP deputy, for instance, argues the Kurds have faced a terrible oppression campaign since Ocalans isolation began. Hence, Ocalans isolation is, in fact, the refined state of the Kurdish question, he says. Ocalan has a mindset that produces solution proposals. The lifting of his isolation could enable a way out from the current dead end. After the collapse of settlement talks with the Kurds in 2015, Ankara mounted a ferocious crackdown on Kurdish militancy in urban areas, destroying whole neighborhoods and towns, seized dozens of Kurdish-run municipalities in the southeast and imprisoned hundreds of Kurdish politicians and activists, paralyzing the HDP. Yet its once-successful strategy of consolidating the nationalist and conservative vote backfired in the March 31 polls. The Kurds rallied behind opposition candidates, proving a critical factor in the governments losses of Turkeys main urban centers. Now, by lifting Ocalans isolation a one-off affair so far the government is seeking to impress the Kurds ahead of the new vote in Istanbul. The move aims to prevent the hunger strike from reaching a fatal stage while opening a dialogue channel with Ocalan to try to steer the Syrian Kurds into the direction it wants. There have been claims that Turkish intelligence officials recently met with the Syrian Kurds. In his message, Ocalan said, All parties should strive to resolve outstanding issues in Syria by shunning the culture of conflict and embracing constitutionally enshrined local democracy within the framework of a united Syria, and stressed that Turkeys sensibilities should be taken into account. Still, judging by the mood and assessments in Kurdish quarters, such government tactics can hardly entice the alienated and downtrodden Kurds without a profound policy change. This goes not only for Turkeys Kurds, but for their Syrian cousins as well. Fans of the Perrys Steakhouse pork chop lunch have a special reason to indulge today-- the steakhouse is serving its famous chops for 79 cents to the first 100 guests, ages 21 and older. The offer is for Perrys #FlashbackFriday celebration of its 40th anniversary-- the premier steakhouse first opened as a butcher shop in 1979. 1979 marks a very important year for Perrys and we are thrilled to offer #FlashbackFriday as a way to thank the entire community for their support, said Chris Perry, founder and owner of Perrys Restaurants said in a press release. This event is just a small token of our appreciation. We have planned additional special offers and opportunities throughout the year in celebration of our 40th anniversary. Perrys Famous Pork Chop is a seven-finger high chop that is hand-selected, cured, roasted, slow-smoked and caramelized, topped with Perrys signature herb-garlic butter sauce and carved table side for dinner service. In his 2016 profile of the famous Perrys chop, Birmingham Magazine writer Eric Velasco took a deep dive into the culinary process: The meat is cured with a proprietary sweet-hot rub and rotisserie-cooked for 6-8 hours while perfumed by pecan-wood smoke. Upon order, the chef seasons the bronzed pork again and coats it in sugar before torching the exterior. It is served on a sizzling plate in a pool of house-made herb-garlic butter and slathered with more compound butter and a garnish of a lime slice. Weve been perfecting this recipe for 37 years, the Houston-based chains corporate chef Gray Hunter told Birmingham Magazine. The Birmingham location of Perrys steakhouse opened in 2016. Details: Perrys Steakhouse & Grille is located at 4 Perimeter Park S., Birmingham, AL 35243 The backlash against Alabama over its passage of the countrys most restrictive abortion law has begun with threats by Democratic officials in other states calling for boycotts and divesting from the Yellowhammer State. Jena Griswold, Colorados Democratic secretary of state, threatened to not use the states tax dollars on travel to Alabama in wake of the abortion bill, which criminalizes abortion and makes no exceptions for rape and incest. The Denver Post reports Gov. Jared Polis said he is not considering following Griswolds lead but denounced the new law. Alabamas rolling back of a womans right to choose is an existential threat to our personal freedom, Polis office said. The governor will always defend a womans right to make her own health care decisions. Full coverage of abortion in Alabama Im calling for a boycott of Alabama. Until Alabama allows for safe & legal access to health care for women, I will not authorize spending of state resources on travel to Alabama. I call on other state and local leaders in CO and across the country to join me in this boycott. Jena Griswold (@JenaGriswold) May 16, 2019 In Maryland, the vice chairman of the states pension system advised system employees not to travel to Alabama for professional purposes. It is my hope that this will put the 'leaders of Alabama, and those of other states who may be contemplating abusing public laws for theocratic gratification, on notice that this is, indeed, 2019, Peter Franchot said in a Facebook post Thursday morning. Gratuitous attacks on the freedoms and the well-being of women will come at a prohibitive price. Franchot said he would review the pension systems holdings related to Alabama. This will include a full inventory of assets that are invested in Alabama-based companies, as well as all investment managers, brokers and consultants that are headquartered, or have regional offices in that state,; he said. I will ask that this review and full inventory of business relationships be presented to the board of trustees on an expedited basis, so that we can hopefully initiate the process of full divestment from the state of Alabama. The city of Austin, Texas is also considering a boycott. City Council member Leslie Pool said she will sponsor a boycott resolution at the groups June 6 meeting to prohibit the city from doing business with the state or allowing staffers to travel their on business. Alabamas new statute is an assault on womens constitutional right to make our own decisions about our own reproductive health and Austin should help fight back, Pool said. Of course, the Alabama bill comes at a time when states across the nation, including Texas, are taking aggressive action against women as part of an organized effort to overturn Roe v. Wade at the Supreme Court. These reactions are not new for Alabama. In 2017, California banned state travel to Alabama over the legislatures passing of a bill allowing adoption agencies not to place children with LGBT parents. A Huntsville man with three prior DUI convictions was sentenced to prison today for the 2017 crash deaths of a pregnant woman and her baby. Dennis Kent Hammond was driving under the influence of alcohol during the crash that killed Danetria Rice-Johnson and her son, Mason, on the afternoon of July 8, 2017, according to prosecutors. Hammond pleaded guilty earlier this year to two counts of murder. Im glad youre remorseful, said Madison County Circuit Judge Ruth Ann Hall. Im glad you took responsibility. But none of that will bring back two people who died, Hall added before sentencing 59-year-old Hammond to 20 years in prison. Everybody loses in this situation, Hall said. Theres not anybody thats going to win. When the wreck happened Rice-Johnson, at the time about 37 weeks pregnant, was a passenger in a vehicle driven by her husband. Hammonds vehicle crossed the center lane on Jordan Lane and collided with the Johnson familys car, police records show. Rice-Johnson was taken to Huntsville Hospital for an emergency cesarean section and died in surgery, according to prosecutors. Baby Mason was delivered and transferred to a childrens hospital, where he died days later. Rice-Johnsons daughter was 2 years old when she survived the crash. She was in court today for Hammonds sentencing hearing. Rice-Johnsons husband, Joel Johnson, told the judge the little girl will grow up without her mother or brother. It really hurts me, Johnson told Judge Hall. Rice-Johnsons sister Tatayana Rice said Hammonds decision to drink and drive not only cost her sister and nephews life. He changed a whole community, Rice told the judge. Rice said when her own mother died, her sister stepped in to fill that role. Madison County Assistant District Attorney Bill Starnes said Rice-Johnsons family was pleased with the judges sentence. The facts of this case speak for themselves, he said. Defense attorney Reta McKannan said the sentence was fair considering the circumstances. It was obviously emotional for both families, McKannan said. The judge had a very difficult decision. Sherrie Pagan, one of Hammonds sisters, expressed sympathy for Rice-Johnsons family and said, I hope you find it in your heart to forgive." Theres no winners in this situation, Pagan said in court. Hammonds sister Kristy Markham said her brother is disabled and doesnt pose a threat to the community. She asked the judge for a lenient sentence. The judge ordered Hammond to pay a $15,000 fine, plus court costs and fees. Hes also ordered to pay $13,040 in restitution to Rice-Johnsons family. A man doused himself with gasoline and set himself on fire Thursday night at a north Alabama Walmart, police said. Athens Fire and Rescue responded to a call around 6:41 p.m. Thursday that a man may have covered himself in fuel before setting himself on fire. Responders found the man outside on the northeast side of the Athens Walmart, fire officials said. Athens Police Chief Floyd Johnson said bystanders told officers the man doused himself with gasoline, ran into Walmart, came back out into the parking lot and set himself on fire. No bystanders were injured. Four police officers used fire extinguishers from their vehicles to put out the fire. Responders took the man to Athens-Limestone Hospitals helipad to await medical transport by helicopter. The mans name and age were not immediately known as the investigation was continuing. Here are warning signs to watch for if you fear someone is suicidal and resources that can help those thinking of harming themselves or who fear a loved one might harm themselves. WARNING SIGNS Threatening to hurt or kill oneself or talking about wanting to hurt or kill oneself. Looking for ways to kill oneself by seeking access to firearms, available pills, or other means. Talking or writing about death, dying, ''ending the pain'' or suicide. Feeling hopeless. Acting reckless or engaging in risky activities - seemingly without thinking. Feeling trapped - like there's no way out. Increasing alcohol or drug use. Withdrawing from friends, family, social support and society. Feeling anxious, agitated, or unable to sleep or sleeping all the time. Experiencing significant mood changes. Seeing no reason for living or having no sense of purpose in life. Feeling rage or uncontrolled anger or seeking revenge. HOW TO HELP Ask the person directly if he or she is having suicidal thoughts, has a plan to do so, and has access to lethal means. If you think the person might harm him- or herself, do not leave the person alone. Take seriously all suicide threats and all past suicide attempts, even if he or she minimizes your concerns. Be direct. Talk openly and matter-of-factly about suicide. Be willing to listen and be non-judgmental. Don't debate whether suicide is right or wrong, or whether feelings are good or bad. Don't lecture on the value of life or whether suicide is viewed by some as a sinful, selfish or angry act. Respect that suicidal feelings are most likely related to ending emotional or psychological pain. Get involved. Become available. Show interest and support. Take into account other trusted friends, family members or allies who can be a part of a supportive team. Don't dare him or her to do it. Don't act shocked. This may translate as criticism or judgment and weaken trust between you. Don't be sworn to secrecy. Acknowledge that all suicidal risk is to be taken seriously and firmly and gently explain that you are seeking support. Offer hope that alternatives are available but do not offer glib reassurance. Take action. Remove means, such as guns or stockpiled pills. Get help from persons or agencies specializing in crisis intervention and suicide prevention. Resources in Alabama Alabama Suicide Prevention and Resource Coalition Crisis Center, Inc. (Birmingham) Crisis Services of North Alabama (Huntsville) Lifelines/Family Counseling Center of Mobile Sources: The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and The Alabama Suicide Prevention and Resource Coalition A plane registered in north Alabama made an emergency landing on a Florida interstate during Thursday afternoon rush hour. The pilot radioed the control tower at Orlandos Executive Airport to report that they were out of fuel around 5:24 p.m. local time Thursday, according to Orlando CBS affiliate WKMG. The pilot then told the tower that they made a hard landing on the interstate in the Orlando suburb of Maitland. FAA records showed the plane, a Piper PA-28-140, was registered to a Lloyd McKinney of Gurley in Madison County. The plane landed on Interstate 4 and reportedly hit a car but there were no injuries. Were lucky it was just minor damage to the plane and the car, Maitland Lt. Louis Grindle told WKMG. It definitely could have been a lot worse A man was shot and killed outside an east Birmingham supermarket Thursday. Birmingham police and Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service responded about 8:40 p.m. to a report of a person shot at Village Market in the 7700 block of Second Avenue South. Once they arrived on the scene, they found the victims vehicle across the street from the store, said Birmingham police spokesman Sgt. Johnny Williams. He said they arent sure if the victim tried to drive away from the scene or if the vehicle rolled to where it was found. The victim was found next to a building. His identity has not yet been confirmed, but Williams said he is a black male. Investigators are still trying to determine what happened. No arrests have been made. Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham police homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777. Alabamas new abortion ban is a giant misstep by a state doing everything right in economic development, a national business adviser said Thursday, and it could be a mistake on the scale of the North Carolina bathroom law that drove billions of dollars of business away from that state. Alabama is on a roll, national corporate adviser John Boyd said. You look at the Airbus move. You look at the Toyota-Mazda facility. Those were two of the biggest trophy projects with respect to advance manufacturing. Founded by Boyds father in 1975, The Boyd Company in New Jersey helps companies find the right sites to expand or open businesses. Boyds North Carolina reference was to a state law there requiring transgender people use restrooms corresponding to the sex on their birth certificates. An Associated Press study estimated the law cost North Carolina more than $3 billion in economic development. People ask all the time, Whats changed in site selection over the years?, Boyd said. The biggest change is the role politics plays in corporate site-selection decisions today. And by politics, Im not talking about taxes and regulations and infrastructure, but also anti-business social legislation like this abortion bill. You have the 24-hour news cycle focused on this the strictest abortion law and corporations are very sensitive to this. Inside Alabama, leaders believe the economic impact could be nuanced. States competing for new industries will definitely use the ban against Alabama in negotiating with companies, they agree, but its impact will depend on the specific situation. When a company comes in and plans on taking your existing workforce and using it, its less of an issue, Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox said Wednesday. Maddox referred to developments like a new automobile parts plant that will use state-trained local workers to produce a product according to company specifications. Companies like that can find the people they need in Alabama and wont need to bring them in. The issue is going to come into play in knowledge and technology-based sectors where youre hoping to relocate employees who are living in other states and other parts of the world into Alabama, Maddox said. When theyre searching and researching about this state, this issue will certainly be part of that calculus. "The issue in isolation is not as impactful, Maddox said, but it continues to add to a narrative that, among other states in our union, Alabama is a step behind. And that perceptions real. And its something in economic development I know we have to continue to work through. Its also what worries small business entrepreneurs like Reed Watson, a musician and partner in a new and growing recording studio in Florence/Muscle Shoals. Watson respects both sides of the abortion argument, but he thinks the law plays into an Alabama stereotype. Its already hard to get people to move to this state, Watson said Thursday. We can go over the reasons why. There are a million of them. I defend this state every day. But I was struck the other day by how many international friends of mine called, texted and emailed about what happened. We have a reputation, and I wish we would do something to step away from that reputation. Watson said the states musical contributions to America are unbelievable, miraculous event. Its something I care about in terms of trying to continue that story. The new law hurts, he said. Huntsville City Council President Devyn Keith agrees. He attended graduate school in Boston and has friends around the country. A lot of my friends wouldnt move here if they had a job that paid $100,000, Keith said Wednesday. They believe Alabama contains a social stigma they cannot live with day to day. Laws like the abortion ban and H.B. 56, a tough 2011 state law aimed at undocumented Hispanic workers, become parts of Alabamas storyline, Keith said. And they are being pushed by rural community representatives running our state from an evangelical point of view. Site selection adviser Boyd said hes not predicting a doomsday scenario for Alabama, but clearly this law does no favors for the states economic development community. With respect to the white collar jobs that cities like Birmingham are actively recruiting, like regional headquarters or banking and financial services, this law will put a cloud over the states industry attraction efforts. Asked what he would advise a company seeking an expansion site today, Boyd said companies are very sophisticated and they understand there is no perfect location and there are trade-offs with every location. This is clearly a trade-off companies will have to factor with all the attributes Alabama brings to the table: low operating costs, right-to-work status, unique access to global markets via the port. Other Alabama leaders are taking a wait-and-see approach. Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle led an economic boom in his city capped by the recruitment of Toyota-Mazda, but he failed to translate that economic success into a winning run for governor against Gov. Kay Ivey, an incumbent skilled at more traditional Alabama narratives. Battle said Wednesday we dont know yet how the abortion ban will play out. The issue is heading toward the federal courts, Battle said, and its too early to tell if there will be any impact on business. On one May night last year, a Birmingham teen nearly died in the citys Gate City community. It was just after 8:30 p.m., when East Precinct officers were dispatched to 65th Court Way South on a report of a person shot. When they arrived on the scene, they found a 16-year-old male suffering from a total of 10 gunshot wounds to his legs. The victim was losing blood at an alarming rate, and officers Brittany Hayes, Kent Anderson, Nicholas Lemoine and Reginald Reynolds sprang into action. They applied their individually-purchased tourniquet to the victims upper thighs to try to stop the flow. Hayes, with gloved hands, used her fingers to plug the worst of the gunshot wounds while her co-workers applied the tourniquets. Lemoine noticed that the victims right leg was bleeding profusely and adjusted a tourniquet that was already in place. Birmingham police Officer Brittany Hayes I arrived on scene as the medical aid was being administered, and was thoroughly impressed by the officers actions, Sgt. Brad Herndon later wrote in a memo to police department officials. Once the scene was secured for Birmingham Fire and Rescue to come in, the teen victim was transported to UAB Hospitals Trauma Center. Medical staff told police had they not applied their tourniquets, the victim would have bled out on the scene and died. The official hospital report showed the victims femoral artery was struck, and his left femur was shattered. He was shot five times with a total of 10 wounds. Hayes, Anderson, Lemoine and Reynolds on Thursday were recognized by the State of Alabama Continuing Joint Legislative Committee with resolutions for their outstanding service with the Birmingham Police Department. Birmingham Police Officer Kent Anderson Hayes and Anderson traveled to Montgomery Thursday to receive the recognition. Lemoine is currently deployed and was not able to attend. Reynolds has resigned from the department and is currently employed with the Shelby County Sheriffs Department. The presentation took place in the Alabama State House Chamber. Birmingham police supervisors praised the team of officers for saving the victims life. Their actions and the professionalism that these officers demonstrated during this incident, Herndon said, was well beyond the call of duty. Update: Family has been found. Earlier Story: Authorities are trying to locate family members of a man found dead in a Birmingham motel earlier this month. Darron Rarnard Stone, 39, was discovered May 3 at the Budget Motel on Bankhead Highway. His body is ready to be released for burial, but Jefferson County Coroners officials have been unable to find his next of kin to notify them of his death. Stone, who was from the Birmingham area but did not have a permanent address, had been renting a room at the motel. He was supposed to check out that Friday but when checkout time came and went, workers went to his room. He was found unresponsive on his bed and pronounced dead at 11:18 a.m. Yates said they do not suspect foul play in his death. He was last known to be alive on May 2. Stones mother died in 2015, and he had told people his father also had passed away. His mother and other family members are believed to have lived in the northern Birmingham/ Forestdale area. Yates said they believe Stone still has a sister in the Birmingham area of northeast Jefferson County. They have not been able to make contact with her. Family members are asked to call the coroners office at 205-930-3603. A man was captured by Trussville police Friday after fleeing a traffic stop on the interstate. It began about 12:48 p.m. when an officer tried to pull over a motorist on I-59 near exit 141. The driver refused to stop, and a pursuit was initiated, said police spokesman Officer Ben Short. During the chase, the suspect sideswiped a vehicle. It ended at 74th Street and Second Avenue North in Birmingham. He fled but was captured after a brief foot chase. No one was injured. The suspect was taken to the Trussville City Jail. He has been identified as 25-year-old Christopher Garrison Jr. of Birmingham. He is charged with attempting to elude law enforcement, leaving the scene of a traffic accident, reckless endangerment and failure to obey a lawful order. A 36-year-old man is behind bars, accused in the slaying of a person whose remains have yet to be identified. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency on Thursday announced the arrest of Chad Dewayne Brogdon of Level Plains. The investigation began Tuesday when the body was found in a burned vehicle. Hartford police and Geneva county sheriffs deputies responded about 5 p.m. that day after a citizen called to report a burned vehicle on Alabama Highway 167 near the Choctawatchee River. When they arrived on the scene, they found a vehicle burned beyond recognition along with human remains, said State Bureau of Investigation Lt. Heath Carpenter. SBI was brought in to lead the investigation. Agents responded and processed evidence at the scene while working with local law enforcement to conduct numerous search warrants and interviews. The Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences conducted an autopsy on the deceased, whose identity has yet to be confirmed. On Wednesday, Brogdon was identified as a person of interest, though authorities have not said what information or evidence led to him. Brogdon was located by a Geneva County deputy and taken to the Geneva County Sheriffs Office for questioning. On Thursday, SBI agents obtained arrest warrants for Brogdon, who is charged with murder and abuse of a corpse. The lawmen booked Brogdon, into the Dale County Jail where he is being held without bond. By Heather Fann I wasnt born with a fear of men. I had to learn it. I learned it in junior high when my male classmates mocked me for not yet having developed breasts. I learned it when my first boyfriend pinned me down while play-wrestling. Many fights with my sister growing up, brutal as some of them had been, had never bred the alarm of the moment of realization that I really was helpless against his muscle. Any mans muscle. I learned on a college campus when I first heard the statistic that one in four women will be sexually assaulted. I thought of my four sisters and I feared, dreaded. I didnt know that some ten years later I would make clear to a man I was on a date with that though I would go back to his friends place with him, I would not have sex with him. I didnt know that once we got there, he would keep going when I told him no. I didnt know that I would freeze, because I would suddenly realize I didnt know exactly where I was, and I didnt know enough about him or his friend to be sure that shouting and fighting wouldnt escalate the horror of the experience. I didnt know he wouldnt care whether I wanted it. I didnt know I would spend the next decade or so blaming myself and refusing to admit exactly what happened to me and how afraid it had made me to be alone and vulnerable with a man. I still dont know what my sisters stories are, and Im truly afraid to ask. I learned to fear again when a man appeared as if out of nowhere just behind my right shoulder as I turned the key to my front door, another ten years later. A new, life-or-death sort of panic. This is it, I thought, quite plainly. This is what happens to us. I froze once again, braced myself for the nightmare to come. Only when I felt a wave of relief as he grabbed my purse instead of my body did I begin to fight. I learned over the last year, when women who spoke out about sexual assaults by judges vying for high offices were skewered for telling their stories too late, for telling them at all. When they were mocked and belittled, endured death threats, were forced to leave their homes to preserve their safety. When I realized that even for many women, what might be said about their sons was more upsetting than what was being done to their daughters. And this past Wednesday night, I sat in my bed reading the news and I realized that despite all the fear I have learned all the precautions Ive learned to take, I have taken for granted rights to bodily autonomy that I still stand to lose. That as scary as the world can be for girls and women, it can get scarier. That my own state wants to lead the way backward. This week Ive learned to fear even the men in a state house in suits 90 miles away. And those in robes at our nations capital. Heather Fann, a native of Piedmont, Alabama, is a lawyer from Birmingham specializing in family law. I am an Alabama woman who is intractably opposed to abortion. Holding that opinion -- that taking a human life because its inconvenient is immoral -- is my right. I am also a citizen and a voter who is opposed to the kind of mindless political grandstanding that led the Alabama Legislature to pass a law criminalizing abortion. The mildest proponents of the law say they want to test and overturn Roe v. Wade. The strongest will tell you the bill is in place to protect the sanctity of life. Nonsense. This bill is not about life or womens rights. It is about raw partisan politics. I say this as a person who over the years has voted for Republicans and Democrats: This bill is designed to energize the conservative base of the Republican Party and give teeth to its longstanding promise to make abortion illegal. Roe v. Wade restricts the ability of a state to forbid a woman to have an abortion. Overturning Roe wouldnt ban abortion; it would allow states to forbid it. If giving states such power really would end the practice, I might think differently. But a recent Pew research poll shows that more than 50 percent of Americans believe that abortion should be permissible in some circumstances. Right or wrong, as onetime New Orleans Mayor Martin Behrman said about prostitution, making it illegal wont make it unpopular. The first question must be, why? Why are we so morally bereft as to believe that it is permissible to kill an undesirable or inconvenient person? If we are so moral, then why is abortion so popular? And why would we rely on the criminal system to avoid abortion as a method of birth control? Who believes the Alabama Legislature represents high moral thinking? I dont understand it. However, I do grasp the flatly dishonest rhetoric surrounding this question. Many if not most opponents of abortion love pitting the life of a completely innocent, unborn child against a pregnant woman who would kill her child because a baby is just too much trouble. They say they emphasize the sanctity of life. Being anti-abortion is one thing. Being pro-government power is another. Opponents surround the question with graphic images of mutilated infants. In Alabama, the liberal faction in the Legislature wanted an exception for cases of rape and incest. But why would a life conceived by a rape or in an incestuous relationship be deserving of death and otherwise not be? There is a huge lack of critical thinking in this so-called debate. I believe Alabama legislators were consistent when they said the sanctity of life means banning all abortion. However, they merely stumbled into this nugget of intellectual honesty. The irony of our state trumpeting values of life would be high comedy if it were not so disgusting. You want to talk about babies? In Alabama, 8.7 babies die per 1,000 births. Black mothers see 15.3 of their children die per 1,000 births. Chinese and Jamaican babies have a better shot at survival than do Alabamas black babies. All children here have a survival rate worse than that of babies born in Sri Lanka or Ukraine. Human life is sacred -- babies, inmates, criminals, legislators and drug addicts included. I despise the notion of killing a child. I also despise those who take such a tender, horrible and difficult notion and wave it as a literal bloody shirt. This is not about sacred life destroyed and depicted as a mutilated fetus. This is not about the rights of women trampled by white men in a backward Southern legislature. This is about the harshest kind of politics. This legislation is not about how we love life, but how much we hate each other. The value of your life and mine rests in our ability to use our reason and our free will to be our better selves. The Legislature of the great state of Alabama cant take your reason from you. You can, however, give it away. Dont. Frances Coleman is a freelance writer who lives in Baldwin County, Alabama. Email her at fcoleman1953@gmail.com and like her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/prfrances. French Muslim activists and academics say Islamophobia starts with the state and is not treated seriously. Paris, France In March, a French woman wearing the hijab applied for a job at a lingerie shop, Etam, in the southern city of Montpellier. The woman, Oumaima, claimed her application was rejected because the manager told her veiled women would not be accepted. In a video posted on Twitter that has been viewed more than 240,000 times, Oumaima said she was a victim of racism and called for a boycott of the brand as she explained how difficult it is to live, study, and work with a hijab in France. Etam reacted quickly, issuing a statement on the same day saying the incident does not reflect its values. The manager was sacked and Etam called Oumaima to apologise. The incident highlighted a frequent debate in French politics and society: Can French Muslims ever be just French? Following the 2015 attacks in Paris, in which the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant armed group (ISIL or ISIS) killed 130 people in three incidents, Islamophobic sentiment has increased, said Nadiya Lazzouni, a freelance journalist who is behind the Speak Up Channel. The belief that Islam cannot be a part of Frances Republic or that the French Muslim is a disguised enemy from within the country has definitely spread across the country, she told Al Jazeera. Its important to remember that after the 2015 attacks, the government and other institutions publicly asked Muslims to disengage themselves from what happened, which clearly means they didnt trust Muslims to be supportive of France, Lazzouni said. It was a way to affirm whether we were loyal to the nation or not. Freelance journalist Nadiya Lazzouni poses for a photo underneath the Monument a la Republique where the phrase universal suffrage is engraved in Place de la Republique in Paris [Omar Havana/Al Jazeera] The journalist said Islamophobia has been increasing at a frightening rate in France for years. According to the Collectif Contre LIslamophobia en France (Organisation against Islamophobia in France, also known as CCIF) Islamophobic attacks increased by 52 percent in 2018 compared with 2017. In the first four months of 2019, there have been a reported 300 attacks. Lazzouni pointed to former President Nicolas Sarkozy, who created a ministerial position tasked to deal with reconciling immigration with national identity. He created a link between the two, Lazzouni said, adding that this paved the way for his successor, Francois Hollande, to propose stripping dual-nationality citizens of their French nationality if they were suspected of terrorist activity. The proposal did not get far following public outcry, but the damage was already done, said Lazzouni. It had implanted in peoples minds the creation of two versions of France facing each other, she said. For Jawad Bachare, CCIF president, the state leads anti-Muslim discrimination. Islamophobia is institutionalised within France, Bachare told Al Jazeera. There are two laws, one in 2004 that bans the hijab from public schools, and one in 2011 that bans the full face veil, that directly target the individual liberties of Muslim women. Most Islamophobic acts see mosques attacked or Muslim women who wear the hijab assaulted, Bachare said. But there is also discrimination at work, such as the recent incident at the French lingerie shop. Jawad Bachare, executive director of CCIF, in front of the Saint Ouen city hall on the outskirts of Paris, France [Omar Havana/Al Jazeera] CCIF offers legal and psychological assistance to victims. [But] some people do not report Islamophobic acts due to fear of reprisals, said Bachare. Following the announcement of the state of emergency in 2015 after the attacks, there was a suspicious climate in France coupled with police raids on homes, which contributed to silencing people in a way. Bachare said the governments own data on Islamophobia is unreliable because it only counts attacks where charges were pressed. Here at CCIF, we count situations and procedures that do not necessarily end up going to court, he said. Secularism vs neo-secularism According to Abdellali Hajjat, professor of political science at Nanterre University, there was a conscious movement of thought that in 2003 drove Frances historical secularism into what he called neo-secularism. Secularism in France was enshrined in law in 1905 and stipulates the separation of church and state, focused on three principles: the neutrality of the state, the freedom of religious practice, and public powers related to the church. The way Muslims are stigmatised in France today is perpetrated by the neo-secularism rhetoric, which consists of spreading the principle of religious neutrality beyond state officials, and then applying it to citizens, Hajjat said, adding it was hostile to freedom of expression. Centre-right and centre-left movements or parties, represented by Manuel Valls (prime minister under Hollande) or by Nicolas Sarkozy, were more focused on an extending logic of this neo-secularism principle. This rhetoric, which reached its peak in the 2004 ban on the hijab, had to do with the September 11 attacks in the United States and, before that, the attacks on French soil in 1995 and 1996 that were linked to the Algerian civil war, which Hajjat said changed the public perception of Muslims in France. There were also intellectuals who had, since 1989, argued for a ban on the hijab and who are still part of the public scene, he added. People like [author] Elisabeth Badinter and [philosopher] Alain Finkielkraut, as well as the late [industrialist] Pierre Berge, took it upon themselves to convince the political elite that there was a Muslim issue in France, and that the only solution was to completely ban the hijab in public schools, he said. They completely reduced the headscarf-wearing woman to the piece of fabric on her head. However, Hajjat added, Emmanuel Macron, the current president, adheres to the original version of secularism because he is surrounded by a heterogeneous cabinet from diverse political backgrounds that have truly different ideological visions. Lazzouni, the activist, said Islamophobia is still not yet recognised as a crime on the same level that anti-Semitism is. Anti-Semitism is fought against with determination by the government, and thats great, she said. We are just demanding that all forms of racism are fought with the same vigour. Hajjat agrees and says that Islamophobia, as a form of racism, is also considered legitimate rhetoric. Theres no social backlash to anyone that holds Islamophobic views, he said. This happens because the public squares in which they have a platform to spread their ideas is run by people who share the same rhetoric. For example, Laurence Rossignol, the former minister for families, children and women, infamously compared women who chose to wear the veil to negroes who were in favour of slavery. [With] clear Islamophobic voices rising within the government, [there is an] idea that Islamophobia is an opinion rather than a crime, Lazzouni argued. In the aftermath of the Christchurch mosque attacks in New Zealand, in which at least 50 Muslim worshippers were gunned down by a far-right white supremacist, columnists, so called-intellectuals and journalists were given a platform to try to explain and therefore legitimise this terrorist act by saying it was an act of revenge [for acts committed by ISIL], said Lazzouni, explaining that combatting Islamophobia requires more than documenting and giving legal advice. We need to focus on other fields than the legislative one to fight efficiently anti-Muslim racism, she said. How does it feel to sing so close to so much human misery and suffering? Dear Madonna and Eurovision 2019 contestants, You have so far decided to ignore several requests to honour the Palestinian picket line. On May 9, Gaza cultural organisations and artists issued a strong call asking them to boycott the contest out of respect for the two babies and two pregnant women along with the 23 other Palestinians killed in Israels latest violent assault on the strip. In addition to the repeated calls made by the Palestinians and their Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, tens of thousands of people in Europe and around the world have signed petitions reiterating the plea to #BoycottEurovision2019 in Tel Aviv and asked you to stop art-washing occupation and apartheid. But it all has fallen on deaf ears! Perhaps you dont care, or perhaps you believed Israels propaganda that we are all terrorists and the attacks on Gaza are security operations. Some of you have spoken about supporting peace, but if you really do, then you wouldnt be singing in Israel. Let me tell you what supporting peace really means. It means affirming the fact that Palestine is under occupation and that Israel has violated numerous UN resolutions calling for the withdrawal of its troops from Palestinian territories. It means recognising that Israel and its illegal settlements operate under apartheid, where Palestinians are segregated, surveilled, oppressed, and killed into submission. It means acknowledging that Israel was built on a land whose original native population was violently ethnically cleansed and dispossessed. The very venue your hosts are having you sing at, the Expo Tel Aviv, was built on the ruins of the Palestinian village Al-Shaykh Muwannis, which like 530 others were completely razed to the ground in 1948 to make way for settlers coming from your countries in Europe. We, the six million Palestinian refugees scattered around the world, are the living proof that Palestine was a thriving and civilised land before the arrival of the European Zionists. Those few Palestinians who were able to remain in their land and were given Israeli citizenship, face more than 50 discriminatory laws which make them non-equal citizens. In fact, last year Israel finally officially acknowledged the apartheid it had imposed for decades on the non-Jews within its borders by proclaiming itself a Jewish state. But even before this declaration, anti-apartheid fighters, like Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, had repeatedly compared Israel to South Africa and said that the parallels are clear. If Europe took action and boycotted the racist murderous regime of apartheid South Africa, why arent you doing so with Israel? Why do you insist on rewarding the perpetrators of the second-gravest crime against humanity, apartheid? Why are you pretending not to see the colonisation of Palestine? Over the past few days, you have been singing just a few kilometres away from a vast network of segregated infrastructure and checkpoints that separate some 650,000 Jewish settlers who live in illegal settlements built on occupied Palestinian land from the Palestinian population. Meanwhile, the true owners of the land in the West Bank have no state to protect them, no rights to the resources of the land, including water, no real freedom of movement, and no real economic prospects to live a dignified life. Nearby, just 60km south of where you have been signing is also my home, Gaza, which has been under a medieval blockade for 12 years. It has been compared to a concentration camp and an open-air prison, but I would say it is much worse. We struggle to live with no access to clean water and just a few hours of electricity a day; our children are suffering from malnutrition and our sick are dying at an unimaginable rate for lack of medication and proper treatment. Israel has waged three major wars on us in the past 10 years, killing thousands in the indiscriminate bombing by American-made fighter jets. After every conflict, international organisations usually talk about reconstruction. In our case, they do not. After every violent Israeli assault, we cannot rebuild because there is no concrete, basic building materials or electric supplies. All this constitutes collective punishment and under the Geneva Conventions, it is a war crime one of many Israel commits on a daily basis. By next year, according to the UN, Gaza will become uninhabitable. How does it feel to sing and dance so close to so much human misery and suffering? Just 60km away from a place that can no longer support human life, but holds some 2 million people under lockdown by your host? Does this mean anything to you? With brutal precision, we have been uprooted, humiliated at checkpoints, imprisoned without charge, denied our heritage and religious sites, denied our freedom to move and see family members, denied water, arable land and our livelihoods, denied our dreams of a normal life. All along, you and the rest of Europe have merely watched and done nothing, although it was European powers who brought this suffering onto us seven decades ago. But it is not too late. You can still do something. You can stand up against apartheid and occupation, you can stand up for basic human rights and equality and refuse to sing on the ruins of a Palestinian village one more night. You can support one of the many apartheid-free Eurovision gatherings happening across Europe. You can back BDS and call on others to do so. This is our last appeal. Remember your peers of the previous generation who stood up bravely against South African apartheid and backed the boycott movement. Like them, you can stand on the right side of history and boycott Israel today! The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance. Rights groups are concerned that the development initiative could exacerbate divisions in the conflict-torn state. Aid groups and human rights advocates have warned the World Bank that a $100m development project it is planning for Myanmars conflict-riven Rakhine State could worsen tensions in the area. Last Friday, the World Bank published the first details of a proposal to fund cash-for-work programmes and support small businesses in one of Myanmars poorest regions, with a plan to funnel these funds through the Myanmar government. It is difficult to imagine how meaningful recovery and development are possible in Rakhine without addressing the underlying human rights issues that currently impact every aspect of life for communities, more than a dozen Myanmar-based non-governmental organisations (NGOs) said in a letter to the World Banks Myanmar office. The letter, dated April 9, was obtained by Reuters news agency. 190514060911024 The western state of Rakhine has been the site of a violent campaign by Myanmars military, which drove out more than 730,000 Muslim-majority Rohingya, a minority ethnic group in Rakhine that is denied citizenship by Myanmar and that faces severe restrictions. The military says the campaign was launched in response to attacks by a Rohingya armed group in the region, which has seen the displacement of more than 30,000 people since late last year after intense clashes with the Arakan Army, an armed group that recruits from the mainly Buddhist Rakhine ethnic group. Extremely pressing needs in Rakhine The proposed Rakhine Recovery and Development Support Project would be the first major aid pledge for Rakhine State since the Rohingya exodus and a boost for Myanmars de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has faced international criticism for her handling of the conflict. A United Nations fact-finding mission, which has called for the prosecution of top Myanmar generals for crimes against humanity and genocide, said on Wednesday that it had seen no evidence that Myanmar was trying to resolve the crisis or facilitate the safe return of refugees. 190503011423211 The World Bank proposal stems from a meeting between Suu Kyi and the World Banks vice president for East Asia and Asia Pacific, Victoria Kwakwa, in July of last year. Suu Kyi has said that development is key to resolving Rakhines multiple crises. In written answers to Reuters, the bank said it had condemned violence in Rakhine State and was providing Bangladesh where many Rohingya and others from Rakhine have fled with support to address the needs of Rohingya refugees until returns could be voluntary, safe and dignified. At the same time, we do not believe the international community can simply turn its back on the development needs of people in Rakhine State, the bank said, pointing to the extremely pressing needs there. Many Rohingya who fled Myanmar are now in camps in Bangladesh [File: Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters] If approved by the banks board, the project would give poor and vulnerable people training and other help. It would support entrepreneurs with grants to create jobs and support the governments ability to implement and monitor those activities, the bank said in a document posted on its website on May 10. Myanmars system of checks for environmental and social risks will need to be complemented and enhanced significantly to meet the World Banks standards, the bank said. The State Counsellor requested in one of our meetings [that] the World Bank use its global expertise to help create a peace dividend by creating economic opportunities for diverse communities throughout Myanmar, the bank said on Friday. This includes livelihoods opportunities in Rakhine State for all communities if conditions of non-discrimination and secure access to opportunities can be met. Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay said he was unable to answer a Reuters reporters questions via email. Unthinkable Initial discussions about the project with activists and aid workers earlier this year sparked worries that an injection of cash could be counterproductive in the divided region, where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya and other Muslims remain under conditions that Amnesty International and other rights groups have described as apartheid. The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), a human rights group, said it had broad concerns about the project after a meeting with World Bank officials. 190430005224768 It seems unthinkable that the project could be effectively implemented while these restrictions remain in place, ICJs director for Asia and the Pacific, Frederick Rawski, wrote in a letter to the bank dated March 15. If Myanmar did not address freedom of movement and other concerns, he added, a large development initiative could exacerbate rather than reduce social tensions. NGOs said in the letter, which was seen by Reuters, that the World Bank would need to ensure Muslims in Rakhine had access to citizenship and freedom of movement. The letter also recommended that the project be independently monitored to make sure bank funds were not enabling or supporting segregation. The World Bank said it was deeply concerned about the restrictions on the Rohingya and had raised these concerns with the government, according to Reuters. The project is being carefully prepared so that it does not reinforce or perpetuate movement restrictions or other forms of segregation, and that it creates new openings for social cohesion and positive exchanges between communities, the World Bank said. Head of the provincial council said air attack took place as Afghan police were fighting the Taliban near the city. An air attack has killed at least eight policemen by mistake during a battle with the Taliban outside the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah in Afghanistans southern Helmand province, the United States military and Afghan officials said. Colonel Dave Butler, a spokesman for US Forces Afghanistan, said Afghan security forces had called for US air support during a firefight late Thursday in Lashkar Gah, in southern province of Helmand. The two parties had supposedly deconflicted their forces a military term for making sure neither side had troops in the attack zone. The Afghan forces confirmed the areas were clear of friendly forces, Butler said. Unfortunately, they were not and a tragic accident resulted. Afghan security forces as well as Taliban fighters were killed in the strikes, he said. At least eight policemen were killed in the attack in the Nahr-e-Seraj area of the Helmand-Kandahar highway, said Omar Zwak, the provincial governors spokesman. He said a dozen other police were wounded. Interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi on Facebook confirmed the death toll and said 11 police had been wounded. Attaullah Afghan, the head of the provincial council, said the attack took place on Thursday while Afghan police were fighting the Taliban near the city. The Trump administration plans to lift import taxes on key metals coming from both neighbouring trade partners. The United States has reached a deal to remove steel and aluminium tariffs on Canada and Mexico. Under the terms of that agreement, both countries will also scrap retaliatory tariffs they imposed on US products. In a joint statement on Friday, officials from the US and Canada said they have agreed to eliminate the tariffs within 48 hours. Sources in the US and Canada told the Associated Press news agency that the Trump administration also has reached a deal to remove such tariffs from Mexico. The agreement removes a sore point in relations and a major hurdle to the passage of a new pact to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which dates from 1994. Efforts to have the metals tariffs lifted have been tied to ratification of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which was designed to replace the 25-year-old NAFTA and which was signed by the three countries leaders on November 30. The legislatures in the US, Canada and Mexico still need to approve the agreement before it can take effect. Several key US lawmakers had threatened to reject the pact unless the tariffs were removed, and Canada had suggested it would not ratify any deal while the tariffs were still in place. US President Donald Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and 10 percent one on imported aluminium. He cited Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which empowers him to put a levy on products that the US Commerce Department determines to be a threat to national security. The new agreement seeks to prevent cheap imports of steel and aluminium from entering North America. China has long been accused of flooding world markets with subsidized metal, driving down world prices and hurting US producers. Bogged down in a sprawling trade dispute with China, Trump took steps on Friday to ease tensions with important trade allies by lifting the import taxes on Canadian and Mexican steel and aluminium and also delaying auto tariffs that would have hurt Japan and Europe. Ahead of Saturdays polls, activists are campaigning for Australians not to vote for parties with Islamophobic agenda. Melbourne, Australia Members of Australias Muslim community are so concerned about hate speech and Islamophobic messaging among 10 political parties, including Pauline Hansons far-right One Nation, they are urging people not to give them their vote when polling stations open on Saturday. The Islamic Council of Victoria says voters should carry out their research before casting their ballots and has sent out hundreds of how-not-to-vote cards to voters, naming the 10 parties about which it is most concerned. The Council says the parties named in its list, including Fraser Annings Conservative National Party and the Australian Conservatives, all have anti-Muslim immigration policies. It says it was shocked at the response, with many voters unaware of the policies behind the parties. In no way should you preference these people because these parties are Islamophobic, said Adel Salman, vice president of the Islamic Council of Victoria. Theyre all about hate speech in the community. Some of these parties say they will regulate Australias mosques, ban Muslim immigration and end what they describe as the Islamisation of Australia. The Australia First Partys leaflets list abolishing multiculturalism and reducing immigration as two of their key policies. Al Jazeera requested comment from Australia First Party but did not receive a response by the time of publication. Australias preferential voting system gives smaller parties a voice, which allows citizens to individually rank all candidates for both houses of parliament according to their preferences. This means micro-party votes can still be counted, even if the voters first choice is eliminated due to lack of numbers. Muslims make up 2.6 percent of Australias population and a significant percentage in more than 30 electorates many of them considered marginal seats. Concerned, scared According to a 2016 study conducted by Islamophobia Register Australia, 51.4 percent of the online harassment directed at Muslims was found to be violent in nature, enticing and encouraging violence. The main opposition Labor Party, which is projected to form the next government, has promised to protect the Muslim community against hate speech, but has not outlined any specific policies. 190516032148978 The left-wing Greens, meanwhile, have pushed for new laws to stand against racism and Islamophobia as part of their election campaign. Since a gunman killed scores of Muslims at prayer in two New Zealand mosques two months ago, Muslims in Australia say they have seen an increase in abuse and hate speech despite a pledge by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, of the centre-right Liberal-National Coalition, to promote inclusion at all levels of Australian society. An Australian-born man, a self-avowed white supremacist, has been charged over the March attacks on the Al Noor and Linwood mosques in the city of Christchurch. 190514043301121 Mehreen Faruqi, of the Greens, was the first Muslim woman elected to Australias Senate. She says she is shocked by the hate speech that she believes is being instigated by the smaller parties. Im really concerned, and frankly scared, about the large number of political parties running almost purely on an Islamophobic platform, she told Al Jazeera. These parties thrive on misinformation and demonisation of Muslims, which is really toxic. Faruqi believes that Islamophobic behaviour has been allowed to continue for too long. The Muslim community has borne the brunt of this vile hate speech while politicians have quietly stood by, she said. The community must organise to get more politically active and hold politicians to account. Muslim activist Hana Assafiri believes it is Muslim women who are suffering the most from hate speech. Not only are there politicians who are overtly Islamphobic, but some senators are being emboldened by freedom of speech to continue their bigoted views, she said. She is calling on politicians to put their hands up and stand against these micro-parties. In the absence of leadership to condemn, its falling on the women in those marginalised communities, because theyre bearing the brunt of it. Were seeing women being attacked on the streets and Muslim women dont have another reality this is our reality. Call for anti-racism campaign In January this year, Ahima Adan, a Muslim woman, had her headscarf pulled off while on the train during an Islamophobic attack in Melbourne. 190403014834609 A recent Facebook post by Anning features an image of a Muslim family with the caption, If you want a Muslim for a neighbour, just vote Labor. The post sparked outrage, as the people in the photograph were a Sydney family who made a public appeal for information about their 19-month-old missing daughter. Assafiri says she is sickened by Annings antics. She encourages local Muslims to become more politically active and urges politicians in Australia to call out Annings Islamophobia. We want to see new laws to promote multiculturalism and a national anti-racism campaign to push back against racist ideas, Faruqi said. We also know that if left unchecked, hate speech will often lead to hate crimes, which is why we want to introduce laws to stamp out hate speech in Australia. Ruling Liberal-National coalition and Labor Party are neck-and-neck, according to the Electoral Commission projections. Melbourne, Australia Early results in Australias climate-dominated general election indicate a close fight, with the ruling Liberal-National coalition outperforming exit polls that predicted a Labor victory. The ruling coalition of conservatives and the opposition Labor Party were neck-and-neck, according to the Australian Electoral Commission projections, with many battlegrounds yet to declare. A Nine-Galaxy poll earlier on Saturday showed the Labor winning as many as 82 seats in the 151-member House of Representatives, beating the governing Liberal coalition. The winner for the lower house, which forms the government, is expected to be known either by late Saturday or in the early hours of Sunday. To win a majority in the House of Representatives, either major party will need 77 seats. The Coalition currently holds 73 seats, while Labor has 72. Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, infamous for once calling the science behind climate change crap, became the first big scalp in the election. Abbott, who was prime minister from 2013 to 2015, was one of the most vocal climate sceptics in parliament and had held his seat of Warringah in Sydneys northern suburbs for a quarter of a century. Zali Steggal, a lawyer and former Olympian, defeated Abbott. Some 16.5 million Australians were enrolled to vote on Saturday, with more than 4.7 million having already cast ballots in early voting by Friday. Observers have said it is the most ideological-based election Australia has seen in years, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison emphasising the differences on economic policy between his centre-right Liberal-National Coalition and the reckless spending of his main rival, the centre-left Australian Labor Party led by Bill Shorten. The major campaign themes have been climate change and the economy, specifically whether it is delivering for people, said Danielle Wood, programme director at the Grattan Institute, a Melbourne-based think-tank. There is a big difference between the major parties on both these areas. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, left, and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten [Nic Ellis/Reuters] According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, the 2018-19 summer was the countrys hottest on record, leading to heat waves, drought and bushfires. Climate change is the most important issue right now, Jordan, a 24-year-old voter at a polling station in Melbournes Carlton North, told Al Jazeera. Id like to work towards relying purely on renewables in the next few years. Both main parties are expected to seek the backing of independents, with Labor likely to accommodate any MPs from the left-wing Greens, the countrys traditional third political force. Online bookmaker Sportsbet is tipping a win for Shorten paying just 1.14 Australian dollars ($0.78) for Labor to be sworn in government. The incumbent Coalition, which has consistently trailed in opinion polls for more than a year, is paying 5.75 Australian dollars ($3.95) if it can pull off a victory. Speaking to reporters after voting in Melbourne, Shorten said he was confident that Labor can form a majority government, adding that his party would deliver an administration worthy of [the countrys] people a nation which wants real action on climate change. At the primary school where he cast his ballot, Shorten greeted voters and bought a bbq sausage which he said, tasted like the mood for change. For his part, Morrison asked Australians to back his party. Its been a great honour and privilege to go through the course of this campaign, he told reporters in Sydney. Australians know very full well what it is we are saying in terms of keeping our economy strong, keeping our budget under control, investing in the services that Australians rely on, keeping Australians safe and secure, ensuring we create one and a quarter million new jobs. The opposition leader votes with his wife, Chloe Shorten, in Melbourne [Max Walden/Al Jazeera] Kerry, a school principal, said she was voting Labor for its commitment to public education, public hospitals, infrastructure and wages, as well as for put putting Australia back on the international map in terms of its credibility for its social policies and its climate policy. Graham, a retiree, cited Labors immigration policies and looking after refugees as the reasons he would choose Labor. In March, the ruling Coalition announced it would cap permanent migration at 160,000 for the next four years, lowering it from 190,000. In the well-heeled Melbourne suburb of Toorak, the economy was front and centre for voters. Jason, who works in finance, told Al Jazeera that issue number one is tax, so is issue number two and three. I dont think the government uses our money well so Id like the tax rate for individuals and income to be as low as possible. Revolving door On Friday, the broadsheet newspapers in the countrys two largest cities the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age in Melbourne endorsed Shorten as the best chance to end a cycle of instability in Australian politics. 190516032148978 The country has had six changes of prime minister over the past 12 years mostly the result of internal party fights. There is absolutely no question that people are hugely frustrated by the revolving door of prime ministers, Wood, of the Grattan Institute, said. Labor has tried to capitalise on this by campaigning around the governments chaos and trying to use it to call Scott Morrisons trustworthiness into question. But Wood noted that this has affected both main parties, noting that minor parties could benefit from a strong protest vote looking for a home. Mining billionaire Clive Palmer has boasted $60m for his United Australia Partys campaign which promises to make Australia great. Palmers party could steal votes from Pauline Hansons One Nation, a far-right, anti-Islam party recently embroiled in scandal, partly as the result of an Al Jazeera investigation which revealed it had tried to garner support from pro-gun groups in the United States. The left-wing Greens, meanwhile, seem likely to benefit from voters wanting decisive action on climate change which recent polls have shown is the number one issue for much of the population. Where it could get interesting 190516061300223 The Liberal-held east Melbourne seat of Chisholm will make history, with both major candidates being Chinese Australian women. Whoever wins Liberal candidate Gladys Liu or her Labor opponent Jennifer Yang will represent the countrys first Chinese Australian female member of Parliament. Everythings new, of course, because in China we dont do this, Glade, a university student who recently got Australian citizenship, said after voting at Box Hill town hall. They say Labor is targeting [helping] lower levels of people like students. There are some 1.2 million Australians of Chinese heritage, but there is not currently a Chinese Australian MP in federal parliament. Ginnie, a healthcare sector worker, said the prospect of having a Chinese Australian woman in parliament would make her more comfortable. More represented, I guess. It would make it easier to bring out your opinion if there was someone like that. The election takes place two days after the death of former Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke. On the last day of campaigning, both Morrison and Shorten paid tribute to the late 89-year-old. Morrison said Hawke had led and served our country with passion, courage and an intellectual horsepower that made our country stronger. Days earlier, Hawke had penned a letter endorsing Shortens campaign, stating that the Labor leader had a track record of bringing workers and business together. British PM will lay out her departure plans as Labour withdraws from talks, and Brexit chaos continues. Talks between Prime Minister Theresa May and opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn have collapsed, officials revealed on Friday. Six weeks of negotiations had aimed to unlock the Brexit impasse which has crippled British politics and led to financial uncertainty in European and global markets. While some compromise had been possible, we have been unable to bridge important policy gaps between us, Labour leader Corbyn wrote to May in a letter later posted on Twitter. Even more crucially, the increasing weakness and instability of your government means there cannot be confidence in securing whatever might be agreed between us, Corbyn wrote. 190515153816471 Theresa May, who plans to make a fourth and likely final effort to win parliamentary approval for her Brexit deal, has been laying out potential timeframes for her resignation. She had previously told vocal opponents within her own party that she would leave office if the withdrawal agreement her administration had reached with the European Union were agreed by the House of Commons. Such a step would complete the first stage of Britains divorce from the EU and set it on the path she had laid out. June departure But discontent on Conservative backbenches forced May on Thursday to agree to set out her departure timetable in early June. Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay blamed Labour for the breakdown of talks, saying the Conservative government had been willing to make concessions. There has been movement in terms of workers rights, there has been movement in terms of commitments on environmental standards, he said during a visit to the Irish border. But with the government in disarray, the issue for Labour was that any new administration would not feel obliged to stick to any agreements reached during talks with May. Cabinet ministers are competing to succeed you, the position of the government has become ever more unstable and its authority eroded, Corbyn wrote to May on Friday. Not infrequently, proposals by your negotiating team have been publicly contradicted by statements from other members of the Cabinet. 190405143034802 Competition to replace Theresa May at this early stage ranges from the centre-right Jeremy Hunt to the hard-right Jacob Rees-Mogg. Yet, while replacing the prime minister may ease anger among Conservative activists, the next administration will likely face the same challenges. Theresa May wont look quite so hopeless once whoever takes over confronts the same Parliamentary arithmetic, EU realities and sour national mood, tweeted Rupert Harrison, a former chair of the UK Council of Economic Advisers. The Brexiteer candidates, ie Boris [Johnson] and Dominic Raab, in particular, should be very careful what they say during the campaign temptation clearly to talk tough, but probably odds on that their first action will have to be requesting another extension from the EU. Widespread opposition Mays Brexit deal had met widespread opposition. Hardline right-wing Conservative eurosceptics say it largely leaves the UK within EU structures, such as the Customs Union. Northern Irelands DUP, on whose support May depends to command a majority in Parliament, says efforts to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland keeping Northern Ireland largely aligned with the EU until a new trade deal can be agreed, also known as the backstop position undermines the integrity of the UK, creating a trade border between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. And Corbyns Labour, the principal opposition party, while politically committed to leaving the EU, also opposes the deal over issues of workers rights and those of EU nationals living in Britain and British nationals living within the EU. The Green Party, the Liberal Democrats, the Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru, meanwhile, all oppose Brexit outright. Without the full support of her own party and the DUP, May was relying on assistance from the opposition. If Labour were to abstain in the vote scheduled for the first week of June, there remained a glimmer of hope that Mays deal could pass. That glimmer has now been extinguished. Without significant changes, we will continue to oppose the governments deal as we do not believe it safeguards jobs, living standards and the manufacturing industry in Britain, Corbyn concluded. Do whatever it takes, do it fast, find common ground and reach a solution Carolyn Fairbairn, CBI EU negotiators have said repeatedly that the exit deal agreed with Mays administration was the only deal on the table, and so British politicians again face a series of options on which they have previously been unable to find common ground: a no-deal exit, a fresh election, or a second referendum. Another series of indicative votes are planned in the House of Commons in the coming weeks to see if any consensus can be reached. I think it is an incomprehensible error on my part that I did not intervene in the Brexit campaign owing to British wishes, Jean-Claude Juncker, European Commission president, told reporters. So many lies were told, so many of the consequences of a no were misrepresented, we as a commission should have spoken up. Carolyn Fairbairn, the director-general of the Confederation of British Industry, made a direct appeal to the government: Do whatever it takes, do it fast, find common ground and reach a solution. If the cross-party talks fail, move on to the next stage. If that fails, move on to something else. Energy and global warming debates have dominated Australias election campaign, with many voters calling for change. Melbourne, Australia Non-renewable fossil fuels still account for about 85 percent of Australias electricity generation. But with 2019 bringing the hottest summer on record and increasing extreme weather events, many voters are calling for change as the country prepares to pick its next prime minister and parliament on Saturday. Prime Minister Scott Morrisons centre-right Liberal-National Coalition is seeking a third-straight term in power, but polls have shown Bill Shortens opposition Labor Party clinging to a narrow lead. The left-wing Greens Party is expected to remain the third force in the countrys politics. Australia doesnt solve climate change by itself, Morrison insisted last week during the final party leaders election campaign debate. It actually does its bit in concert with other countries. 190514043301121 But Australia is one of the worlds largest per capita emitters producing some 1.3 percent of global carbon emissions in 2017 with only 0.3 of the worlds population. Climate change is shaping up to be a number one issue in this federal election, said Kelly Albion, the head of campaigns at the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, attributing this to young people as a moral voice for action on the greatest issue facing our generation. Greenpeace activists can be seen suspended from the undercarriage of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Sydney [AAP Image/Dean Lewins/via Reuters] Exposed to extremes Australia is one of the most vulnerable developed countries to climate change. According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, the 2018-19 summer was the countrys hottest on record, leading to heatwaves, drought and bushfires. Weve got repeated climate extremes, such as the torrential rain event in Townsville that killed over half a million cattle, said professor Mark Howden, the director of the Climate Change Institute at the Australian National University (ANU). 190515065852246 Theres also growing evidence of impacts on ecosystems like the Great Barrier Reef, food and water. A recent United Nations report warned that one million animal and plant species are at risk of extinction due to climate change and human economic activity. The study earlier this month sparked media debate around the world, including in Australia where Melissa Price, the countrys environment minister, issued a statement stressing the Coalitions commitment to meeting its international emissions targets and to investing in the protection of our native species and their habitats. We are investing billions of dollars to deliver a cleaner environment, Price said. But the minister, who just last month signed off on a controversial coal mine for the Indian mining giant Adani in Central Queensland, has been conspicuously absent from the election campaign, except for some appearances in her Western Australia electorate. Her office did not respond to Al Jazeeras requests for comment. On Sunday, the launch of the ruling Liberal Partys campaign was met protests by dozens of anti-Adani demonstrators outside the venue in Melbourne. Opponents of the mine say it will pose grave risks to the Great Barrier Reef and have launched legal challenges, but the government has dismissed them as vigilante litigants. The World Wildlife Fund of Australia, meanwhile, said last month that the countrys iconic koala faced extinction in the state of New South Wales by 2050 primarily due to habitat loss caused by deforestation. The Australian Koala Foundation recently said that koalas may already be functionally extinct, with only 80,000 left in the wild across the country. Both parties say they want to protect the environment, said Deborah Tabart, the organisations chairwoman. It would be a great way to start by protecting koala forests which cover 20 percent of our continent. Climate kryptonite Debates over energy and climate change have been damaging for consecutive Australian governments. In August last year, former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbulls proposal to reduce energy emission levels by 2030 saw his colleagues vote to remove him in favour of Morrison. 190516061300223 Climate change is most toxic at this election for the Coalition. It hasnt had an effective policy in the area since 2009, when Malcolm Turnbull first lost the leaders job attempting to introduce an emissions trading scheme, said Kerry-Anne Walsh, a Canberra-based political commentator and author. The Liberals promise to reduce emissions by 26-28 percent below 2005 levels by 2030 via expenditure on programmes rather than policy change. At the same time, the government has pledged to reduce power prices by a quarter by the end of 2021 with an emphasis on traditional power sources. The Labor Party, meanwhile, has promised to introduce new federal environmental laws and ensure that 50 percent of national electricity is sourced from renewable energy by 2030. I want [my children] to see a nation which has embraced climate change and action on climate change, Shorten said recently during a debate. Changing climate, changing attitudes Last month, hundreds of children turned out in front of Morrisons office in Sydney as part of a global climate campaign of strikes by school students. The point of the strikes was to get people talking, Oscar Alateras, a 16-year-old Melbourne student who was instrumental in organising the strikes, told Al Jazeera. Ever since Ive started doing all my work outside of school for the environment, my parents are more conscious of how they live their life in terms of environmental decisions and also who theyre voting for, he said. A recent poll by the Lowy Institute, one of Australias leading think-tanks, found that 64 percent of adults see climate change as a critical threat, ranking it above terrorism and North Koreas nuclear programme. Natasha Kassam, the Lowy research fellow who spearheaded the research, said that theres a difference in how younger people and older people are responding to climate. If you look at Australians aged 18-29, its 81 percent that say global warming is the issue we should act on even if there are significant costs, she told Al Jazeera. A Green revival? The Australian Greens, who will likely partner with the Labor Party to form the government if Shorten comes first, want a 100-percent-renewable-energy economy and to phase out coal exports by 2030. Coal exports reached record levels in 2018 to become Australias most valuable export. The weekend before the election, Morrison told The Australian newspaper that the Greens represent the greatest threat (to the economy and national security). The Greens have said they will work with a Labor government to develop real climate action. The biggest threat to national security and our livelihood is global warming, Adam Bandt, the Greens climate change spokesman and a member of the House of Representatives for the seat of Melbourne, told Al Jazeera. We are the only country in the world to have had a price on carbon and then scrapped it and thats this governments legacy, Bandt added. While the Morrison government insists it is on track to meet Australias commitments under the 2020 Kyoto targets, it also seeks to placate the countrys powerful extractive industries and energy sector. A week prior to the election, Morrison announced 30 million Australian dollars ($20.7m) for a new school of mines and manufacturing at Central Queensland University. I think Scott Morrison and his government are the most pressing danger because theyre not only not taking no action on climate change, but theyre throwing petrol on the fire. Tianjin, China This is so much more than a dispute about tariffs. China and the United States are competing for global dominance in technologies of the future: artificial intelligence, robotics and 5G high-speed mobile phone networks. That has been on display this week at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin, where the mood has been surprisingly upbeat despite the trade war between the worlds two biggest economies. Chinese President Xi Jinping wants Beijing to be a world leader in this sector, believing it will help move his countrys economy up the value chain and improve the lives of his people. But US President Donald Trump sees it very differently. He says China wants global tech dominance and does not care how it is achieved. But in Tianjin, even representatives of the small number of US tech exhibitors sounded optimistic. Yin Xingjie, from US technology and manufacturing giant Honeywell, played down suggestions the trade war had made it harder to sell its products in todays China. I dont think so. China is open for all the different products Our Chinese customers think American products are very good, Yin told Al Jazeera. Staying optimistic At the stand of Chinas telecom behemoth Huawei, the mood was oddly sanguine. Just hours earlier, Trump had signed an executive order that would effectively blacklist the firm and its affiliates in the US. Shen Hongyuan, a local Huawei manager, politely declined to answer questions about whether he felt the companys business was now finished in the US. Again, like Yin from Honeywell, he wanted to stress the positive. We hope we can cooperate with other countries, he said. Huawei displayed its surveillance cameras at an exhibition during the World Artificial Intelligence Congress in Tianjin, China this week [Jason Lee/Reuters] In truth, the US has become far less important as a market for Huawei than other parts of the world at least in terms of its smartphones. Huawei has not been able to crack the US market. And thats where it gets interesting, because still, every quarter Huawei is growing at a record rate. So it is still growing in China, and that is spectacular. And the next region its growing in is Europe, and Southeast Asia, Shobhit Srivastava, an India-based analyst at Counterpoint Research, told Al Jazeera by phone. But its the Middle East and Africa where sales of Huawei phones are growing the fastest, recording a 68 percent expansion in the first quarter of this year compared with the same period in 2018, according to Counterpoint. The research firm says 17 percent of the worlds smartphones were made by Huawei in the first quarter, making it the second-biggest maker behind Samsung and one notch before Apple. To Chinas leadership, the US case against Huawei is confected, driven by bewilderment and jealousy that one company has come so far, so quickly. But to the Trump administration, Huawei represents all that is wrong with Chinas economy a success story built on stolen technology. But, make no mistake, this is serious for Huawei. Of top concern will be its inclusion on the US Commerce Departments Entity List. This means US firms that sell key components like the chips used in Huawei phones will have to apply for a license. That is going to make it very difficult for Huawei to do business with any US firm. Analysts say they are digging in for the long haul. The US-China trade conflict shows no sign of de-escalating anytime soon, as the White House banned Huawei from selling equipment to the US market and required US companies to obtain licences in order to sell chips and technology to Huawei, CMC Markets analyst Margaret Yang said in a research note. The human factor And the dispute has a human dimension, like the two Canadians who Beijing formally arrested within hours of Trumps executive order. Businessman Michael Kovrig and former diplomat Michael Spavor have been held incommunicado since last December, just days after Meng Wenzhou, Huaweis chief financial officer, was arrested in Canada on an extradition warrant issued by the US. US and Chinese trade negotiators have been trying to strike a deal for months [File: Mark Schiefelbein/Reuters] Beijing continues to insist the two cases are not connected. The two Canadians are accused of providing state secrets to foreign organisations. China will not confirm where the two are being held or whether they have been given access to a lawyer. The Trump administrations renewed efforts to neuter Huaweis US operations does not bode well for the faltering trade talks between Washington and Beijing. On Thursday, a spokesman for Chinas Commerce Ministry said he did not have information on any US plan to come to Beijing to continue discussions. And things could be about turn even nastier, according to the nationalist-leaning Global Times newspaper. An article in Thursdays edition suggests China has two weapons at its disposal. One could be a total ban on the export of rare earth materials to the US China accounts for a majority of the worlds total. Debt is the other card China holds more than $1 trillion of US Treasury bonds. And notes the writer: The US would be miserable if China hits it when its down. UN Sudan expert calls for thorough probes into killings of demonstrators amid breakdown in political transition talks. A UN human rights expert has condemned reports of excessive use of force by Sudanese security forces against protesters demanding the countrys military rulers cede power to a civilian-led administration. Aristide Nononsi, the United Nations independent expert on human rights in Sudan, called on Friday for Sudans Transitional Military Council (TMC) to exercise the utmost restraint to avoid further violence after at least four people were killed and several others wounded earlier this week at protest sites in the capital, Khartoum. I strongly urge the Sudanese military and security forces to take immediate measures to protect the constitutional rights of the Sudanese people, Nononsi said in a UN statement. At least four people were killed on Monday, according to protesters, when troops in military vehicles using the logo of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fired live ammunition as they tried to clear demonstrators from an avenue near Sudans foreign ministry. 190516173005514 The dead included three protesters and a military police officer. Two days later, at least 14 people were wounded, some from gunfire, when the RSF again tried to remove demonstrators from central Khartoum, according to the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors. The head of the RSF, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemeti, is the deputy leader of the military council. Nononsi called for the military council to launch thorough, independent and impartial investigations into all the reported killings of protesters since December, when demonstrations erupted against longtime ruler, Omar al-Bashir. The months-long demonstrations triggered the militarys removal of al-Bashir on April 11. The Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors said last week that at least 90 people have been killed by government forces since the demonstrations began. Last month, the Human Rights Watch put the death toll at 70. Al-Bashir on May 14 was charged with inciting and participating in the killing of protesters in the demonstrations that led to his overthrow. Transition talks suspended Nononsis appeal came amid uncertainty over the future of talks between protest leaders and the TMC on a political transition. 190514233712368 The military council, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, suspended crucial talks with protest leaders for 72 hours on Wednesday, insisting that the security in the capital had deteriorated after demonstrators erected roadblocks on several avenues. The decision came as the generals and protest leaders were due to meet to finalise the make-up of a new body to govern Sudan for a transitional period of three years. The issue is at the heart of the divide between protest leaders and the TMC, who both want majority representation on the sovereign council. Al-Burhan demanded that protesters dismantle roadblocks, open bridges and railway lines connecting the capital and stop provoking security forces before the final talks could take place. Protesters had erected the barricades to keep pressure on the military rulers as the latest round of negotiations between the two sides commenced on Monday. Al Jazeeras Mohammed Adow, reporting from Khartoum, said al-Burhans demands appeared to have been heeded by protesters, with the mood among demonstrators in the capital on Friday far more conciliatory than before. The protesters have lifted most of the barricades from the streets, Adow said. They say the only barricades left are those around the square and put there for their own protection and that any attempt to remove them will be met with stiff resistance because abandoning the revolution will be the death of Sudan, he said, referring to a site outside the defence ministry where a weeks-long sit-in has been held. In the early hours of Friday, hundreds of demonstrators chanting revolutionary slogans tore down roadblocks on Nile Street, a key avenue, that had paralysed downtown Khartoum for several days. We have removed the bricks but if they do not respond to our demands then we will bring the bricks again, protester Sumeya Abdrahman told the AFP news agency. The Alliance for Freedom and Change, the umbrella group leading the protest movement, had previously described the move to suspend talks as regrettable. It ignores the developments achieved in negotiations so far and the fact that Wednesdays meeting was to finalise the agreement, which would have stopped the escalations such as roadblocks, the group said in a statement on Thursday. In visit to Beijing, Irans FM urges friends, including Russia and China, to normalise trade relations with Tehran. Irans Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has urged friends, including China and Russia, to take concrete action to safeguard the 2015 nuclear deal following the United Statess decision to tighten sanctions on Tehran after exiting the agreement last year. During a meeting with his Chinese counterpart in Beijing on Friday, Zarif said: Iran and China need to think together and work together about preserving a multilateral global order and avoiding a unilateral global order. Zarifs meeting with State Councillor Wang Yi was part of an intense diplomatic effort to salvage the 2015 deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The landmark pact, negotiated between Iran and six world powers, offered Tehran sanctions relief in return for curbs on its nuclear programme. But it increasingly appears to be in danger of unravelling with the US reinstating sanctions and moving to choke off Irans oil exports by scrapping waivers it had granted to big buyers of the countrys crude oil, including China. US-Iran tensions escalated further last week when Washington deployed warships and bombers to the Middle East, citing unspecified threats from Tehran. Wang told Zarif that China resolutely opposes the sanctions imposed by the US, according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement. He also said Beijing supported Tehran in safeguarding its legitimate rights and understood its situation. Speaking before his meeting with Wang, Zarif said the international community has so far mainly made statements instead of saving the nuclear deal. If the international community and other JCPOA member countries, and our friends in the JCPOA like China and Russia, want to keep this achievement, it is required that they make sure the Iranian people enjoy the benefits of the JCPOA with concrete actions, he said. The practical step is quite clear: Economic relations with Iran should be normalised. This is what the deal clearly addresses. Difficult position Last week, Zarif said only Russia and China had supported Iran and helped it keep the nuclear deal going, and accused other parties to the agreement of letting Tehran down. Al Jazeera correspondent Adrian Brown, reporting from Beijing, said Iran still believed China, its biggest customer for crude oil, has an enormous amount of influence to wield to salvage the JCPOA. China doesnt want to be seen as deserting a strong trading partner but at the same time Beijing is in this difficult position, said Brown, referring to the countrys ongoing trade tensions with the US. The worlds two largest economies are locked in an increasingly acrimonious trade dispute that has seen them level escalating tariffs on each others imports in the midst of negotiations. Theres a feeling here that perhaps Chinese leaders feel they have nothing to lose by declaring their support for Iran, added Brown. 190514184006381 Zarifs China trip comes after visits to Turkmenistan, India and Japan in the past week. Despite Washingtons campaign of maximum pressure against Iran, the country has vowed to keep selling oil to its main customers, especially China, even if by indirect means. Prospect for talks In recent days, Trump has taken a softer tone on Iran. On Wednesday, he tweeted that he expected Iran will want to talk soon. And when asked if there would be a war with Iran, Trump told CNN on Thursday: I hope not. Iran has rejected negotiations with the US, but said it was showing maximum restraint. Imposing sanctions while seeking talks is like pointing a gun at someone and demanding friendship, said Iranian General Rasool Sanaeirad, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency. On May 8, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Iran would stop observing restrictions on stocks of enriched uranium and heavy water agreed under the nuclear deal in retaliation for the US withdrawal and its reimposition of sanctions. In his announcement, Rouhani threatened to go further if the European members of the deal failed to start delivering on their promises to help Iran circumvent US sanctions within 60 days. In response, China called on all parties to uphold the nuclear deal in what it called a shared responsibility. Hundreds of Algerians poured onto the streets for the 13th consecutive Friday demanding the departure of Algerias leaders, more than a month after President Abdelaziz Bouteflika quit. Massive ongoing protests calling for a change of leadership pressured Bouteflika to resign on April 2, but his exit after two decades in power has failed to satisfy demonstrators, who want to sweep away the remnants of Bouteflikas inner circle and make sure the old guard cannot hand-pick a new president. On Friday, they called for the resignations of the interim president, Abdelkader Bensalah, and Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui, appointed by Bouteflika days before he stepped down. No to elections of shame. Remove Bensalah and Bedoui first, read one banner held up in downtown Algiers. Another banner read: No the rule of generals. 190504162542401 The weekly protests have become a key means of maintaining pressure on the government as huge crowds have brought the centre of the capital Algiers and other key cities to a standstill. The army is currently overseeing a 90-day transitional period and has promised to hold presidential elections on July 4. The Constitutional Council, which is overseeing the transition, was expected to issue a statement on the election process. The deadline for would-be presidential candidates to collect and submit 60,000 signatures is May 25. Blood-soaked body of Francisco Romero, fifth journalist to be killed this year, was found on a pavement in his hometown. A Mexican journalist enrolled in a federal protection programme has been shot dead, the fifth reporter to be killed this year in one of the most dangerous countries for the press. The blood-soaked body of crime reporter Francisco Romero was found on a pavement outside a nightclub in his hometown of Playa del Carmen along Mexicos Caribbean coast on Thursday, authorities said. Romero ran a Facebook-based news site called Ocurrio Aqui (It Happened Here) that covers local politics and crime and had more than 17,000 followers. He also worked for one of the states leading newspapers, Quintana Roo Hoy. 190503213305548 The state prosecutors office opened a homicide investigation, saying Romero had filed a complaint on April 12 over threats he had received. The source of those threats was not specified. Received threats Romeros wife Veronica Rodriguez said he had regularly received threats over his work, which sometimes rubbed local government officials the wrong way. He had received a lot of threats. Too many threats. The authorities in Mexico City knew about them, Rodriguez, 40, told AFP news agency. The last time wasnt even two weeks ago. They threatened him, saying that if he didnt do what they wanted, they were going to kill him They said they knew where our son studied, that they were going to throw him off a bridge, she said. Reporters Without Borders said Romero received a phone call at 5am on Thursday, informing him about some incident at a local nightclub called the Gotta Gentleman Club. Although he had four bodyguards, provided by the government, he had sent them home at 10pm the night before, it said in a statement. Romero, who also had a panic button to alert the authorities if his life was in danger, went without them to the club. His body was found an hour later. Witnesses said he was beaten and shot twice in the face, the organisation said. Romero was under an official protection programme for journalists since 2018, according to Balbina Flores, Mexico director for Reporters Without Borders. The government programme provides different kinds of security to under threat journalists and human rights activists, ranging from panic buttons to home surveillance to bodyguards. 170516185056461 Reporters Without Borders said the killing officially made Mexico the deadliest country in the world for journalists so far this year. Five journalists have been killed in the country in 2019. Across Mexico, more than 100 have been murdered since 2000. The vast majority of those killings remain unpunished. Last year, the watchdog group ranked the country the third most dangerous in the world for the press, after Afghanistan and Syria. We urge Russia to work with us to change the trajectory of the relationship for the benefit of both nations, asks Pompeo Todays meetings were a positive step forward, Pompeo said via Twitter on Tuesday. US and Russia have demonstrated in the past that we can cooperate on key international issues. We urge Russia to work with us to change the trajectory of the relationship for the benefit of both nations. Source: Pompeo Urges Moscow to Work With Washington to Change Path of Relationship Sputnik International Oops sorry, we lied about wanting to work together. I guess we will sanction you again and again and again The US Treasury Department announced the sanctions days after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited the Russian city of Sochi and held talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and President Vladimir Putin. Source: Moscow Vows to Respond to US Sanctions Against Chechen Special Team Terek Sputnik International Yes Russia, the USA is two faced and never in a million years trust worthy Russia as an American I will give you a hint; the US Gov will turncoat and cut their own peoples throats. Do you seriously thing that they will treat people from other countries, much less other countries, better? How is that USA wanting to work with you Russia? WtR US hotel owner sued by thousands for failing to protect them during mass shooting that killed 58 and wounded hundreds. Casino giant MGM Resorts has told regulators in the United States it may pay up to $800m to settle liability lawsuits stemming from the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas the deadliest in the countrys modern history. The company believes it is reasonably possible that a settlement will be reached by next May, it told the Securities and Exchange Commission in a quarterly report released on Thursday. MGM Resorts also said it had $751m in insurance to pay towards a settlement. However, a lawyer handling mediation talks for plaintiffs called it premature for the corporate owner of Mandalay Bay resort to report a possible settlement range between $735m and $800m. Not even close, Robert Eglet said about the amount disclosed by MGM Resorts. /indepth/opinion/las-vegas-massacre-reveals-troublesome-global-truth-171006054512920.html He said he represented about 4,200 claimants, including those who have sued in Nevada, California and other states, and people who have not formally filed for damages. Its true that a settlement is possible, Eglet said. But I will tell you its not probable. Nothing is signed. We have a long way to go before we have an agreement. Eglet said talks are ongoing with MGM Resorts lawyers, and that he was aware the company would make its report to the SEC. MGMs defence MGM Resorts has defended itself against liability claims, outraging victims last summer when it filed lawsuits against more than 1,900 people in a bid to consolidate claims in one federal court. The plaintiffs are seeking compensation for a range of physical and psychological harm after a gunman rained gunfire from a Mandalay Bay suite into an open-air concert crowd, killing 58 people and wounding more than 800. They accuse MGM Resorts, which owns the high-rise hotel and owned the concert venue across Las Vegas Boulevard, of failing to adequately protect the 22,000 people attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival. They point to findings that the gunman, Stephen Paddock, spent several days amassing an arsenal of assault-style weapons and ammunition in the two-room suite. Eglet said he reviewed the SEC document on Thursday and agreed that a settlement needed to be reached within a year. Company spokeswoman Debra DeShong said progress had been made after multiple mediation sessions over several months. The goal was to resolve these matters so that all impacted can move forward in their healing process, she said. Paddock was a 64-year-old retired accountant and high-stakes video poker player. Police and the FBI say he acted alone, firing out of the windows with guns equipped with rapid-fire bump stocks then killing himself before officers reached his room. Paddock did not leave a note or a manifesto, and authorities closed investigations saying they did not identify a motive. Pyongyang says its lakes and reservoirs are drying up as the country received only 56.3mm of rain in the year. North Korea is experiencing its worst drought in over a century, according to its state media, days after the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) expressed very serious concerns about the situation in the country. In the year to Wednesday, the country received just 56.3mm of rain or snow, the Rodong Sinmun newspaper reported on Friday, the lowest since 1917. Water was running out in the countrys lakes and reservoirs, said the paper. The ongoing drought is causing a significant effect on the cultivation of wheat, barley, corn, potatoes and beans, the report said. In their most recent estimates, the UNs Food and Agriculture Organisation and WFP said about 10.1 million North Koreans 40 percent of the population were suffering from severe food shortages, a similar figure to recent years. We have very serious concerns about the situation in North Korea, WFPs executive director David Beasley said during a visit to South Korea earlier this week. Last week, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) also raised alarm over the drought. We are particularly concerned about the impact that this early drought will have on children and adults who are already struggling to survive, said Mohamed Babiker, the head of IFRCs country office in North Korea. Even before this drought, one in five children under five years old was stunted because of poor nutrition. We are concerned that these children will not be able to cope with further stress on their bodies, he said. Help from Seoul South Korea is planning to provide food aid to the North a politically controversial move after Pyongyang launched several short-range devices earlier this month with nuclear negotiations deadlocked with the United States, its first such tests for more than a year. The issue of food aid should be considered from a humanitarian perspective as fellow Koreans, regardless of the security issues, South Koreas NSA Chung Eui-yong said on Friday. International sanctions against Pyongyang technically do not ban humanitarian aid, but strict interpretations of restrictions on banking transactions and imports by North Korea along with a travel ban for American citizens have hampered relief groups activities. The last time North Korea reported it was experiencing its worst drought in 100 years was in June 2015. The isolated, impoverished country which is under several sets of sanctions over its nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programmes has long struggled to feed itself, and suffers chronic food shortages. Given the shipping industry is responsible for a significant proportion of the global climate problem, change cannot come soon enough. Bosses of the worlds biggest shipping companies are meeting in London to discuss ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Their industry moves 90 percent of the worlds trade and has the same carbon footprint as Germany. Al Jazeeras Nick Clark reports from Norway. Palestinian foreign minister urges international community to take the lead in the Israel-Palestine peace process. Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki has described the anticipated US Israel-Palestine peace plan as a consecration of Palestinian suffering. The US deal of the century is the consecration of our century-old ordeal: no independence, no sovereignty, no freedom, no justice, al-Maliki said on Friday at the London-based Chatham House think-tank. And if they do not think that this situation will have an impact on the future of Israel and the region, one way or the other, they are the ones that are delusional, not us. The foreign ministers speech comes amid diplomatic efforts by the Palestinian administration to garner foreign support as the US prepares to release its peace plan, devised by Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trumps son-in-law and senior adviser. The US has not confirmed details of the plan, which it says could be presented next month. Previous US attempts to revive the peace process between Israel and Palestinian leaders have failed to reach a final agreement, with the status of Jerusalem and the ongoing expansion of the Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories key obstacles. In early May Kushner suggested the plan could pull back from long-standing mentions of a two-state solution and accept Jerusalem as Israels capital. The plan has been described by Palestinians such as Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the UN, as being dead on arrival. Israel has not adopted an official position on the plan. Palestinian leaders have refused to participate in the US-led effort since December 2017, when the Trump administration turned its back on decades of US policy by recognising Jerusalem as Israels capital and moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv. A surrender act Al-Maliki also criticised the US administration for preparing to give its stamp of approval to Israels colonial policies. He expressed appreciation to the international community for standing up against the embassy move and against cuts to UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, but urged the world to take a more proactive stance in leading the peace process, saying that the world left the steering wheel in the hands of a reckless driver. We disagree with the view that we should wait till he goes over a cliff or runs over the Palestinian people to do something about it, al-Maliki said. 190303130838617 The foreign minister said there were two options to end the conflict a peace accord or capitulation. Al-Maliki said Palestinians are ready to negotiate a peace accord based on the internationally recognised pre-1967 borders under international monitoring holding parties to account, but that they will never be ready to sign a surrender act. If people struggling against oppression across history surrendered to the odds, they will all be in chains today. We have defied the odds many times before and we will again, al-Maliki said. He added that the two-state solution should be examined and that the international community should ensure that the cost of having ties with the settlements and their associated regime far outweighs the benefits, for both officials, entities, companies and governments. Defeating colonialism, apartheid and achieving peace cannot be our purpose alone, al-Maliki added. 190423123902553 The freedom of the Palestinian people and peace for all the peoples of the region is a worthy objective that deserves much more from everyone. Last week al-Maliki expressed alarm at a United Nations meeting, saying that the US was not crafting a peace plan, but rather conditions for surrender. Kushner has said the peace plan will be released sometime in June after the conclusion of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Chinese-born architect was the mastermind behind the Louvre pyramid in Paris and the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha. I M Pei, the versatile, globe-trotting architect who forged a distinct brand of modern building design with his sharp lines and stark structures, has died at age 102. Peis death was confirmed on Thursday by Marc Diamond, a spokesman for the architects New York firm, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. One of Peis sons, Li Chung Pei, told The New York Times his father had died overnight on Wednesday into Thursday. Peis works added elegance to landscapes worldwide with their powerful geometric shapes and grand spaces, seen as embracing modernity tempered by a grounding in history. The Chinese-born architect was the mastermind behind the bold Louvre pyramid in Paris, the landmark 72-storey Bank of China tower in Hong Kong and the striking Museum of Islamic Art in Qatars capital, Doha. Other creations included the trapezoidal addition to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, to the chiselled towers of the National Center of Atmospheric Research that blend in with the reddish mountains in Boulder, Colorado. Pei painstakingly researched each project, studying its use and relating it to the environment. But he also was interested in architecture as art and the effect he could create. At one level my goal is simply to give people pleasure in being in a space and walking around it, he said. But I also think architecture can reach a level where it influences people to want to do something more with their lives. That is the challenge that I find most interesting. The Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar [Hassan Ammar/AP Photo] Born in China in 1917, Pei immigrated to the United States and studied architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. He advanced from his early work of designing office buildings, low-income housing and mixed-used complexes to a worldwide collection of museums, municipal buildings and hotels. He fell into a modernist style blending elegance and technology, creating crisp, precise buildings. His big break was in 1964 when he was chosen over many prestigious architects, such as Louis Kahn and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, to design the John F Kennedy Memorial Library in Boston. At the time, Jacqueline Kennedy said all the candidates were excellent, But Pei! He loves things to be beautiful. The two became friends. A slight, unpretentious man, Pei developed a reputation as a skilled diplomat, persuading clients to spend the money on his grand-scale projects and working with a cast of engineers and developers. I.M. Pei was really one of those people who was able to push the envelope with innovative new things and yet make architecture that was interesting to a broad range of people, Paul Goldberger, an architectural critic, author and columnist, told Al Jazeera from New York. So he could create a building like the National Gallery in Washington, DC that was incredibly popular and yet was also avant-garde, he added. He was somehow able to, almost magically, blend the cutting edge with things that people were interested in and wanted and liked and responded to so, he made modern architecture something that people loved. The I.M. Pei-designed Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, located on the shores of Lake Erie in Cleveland [File: Mark Duncan/AP Photo] Some of his designs were met with much controversy such as the 22-metre faceted glass pyramid in the courtyard of the Louvre museum in Paris. French President Francois Mitterrand, who personally selected Pei to oversee the decaying, overcrowded museums renovation, endured a barrage of criticism when he unveiled the plan in 1984. Many of the French vehemently opposed such a change to the symbol of their culture, once a medieval fortress and then a national palace. Some resented that Pei, a foreigner, was in charge. But Mitterrand and his supporters prevailed and the pyramid was finished in 1989. It serves as the Louvres entrance, and a staircase leads visitors down to a vast, light-drenched lobby featuring ticket windows, shops, restaurants, an auditorium and escalators to other parts of the vast museum. All through the centuries, the Louvre has undergone violent change, Pei said. The time had to be right. I was confident because this was the right time. The Bank of China building in Hong Kong, designed by I M Pei [File: Kin Cheung/AP Photo] In 1988, President Ronald Reagan honoured him with a National Medal of Arts. He also won the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize, 1983, dedicating the $100,000 prize money he was awarded to setting up a scholarship fund for Chinese students to study the craft in the United States, on the condition they return home to design and build. He also won the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal, 1979, while President George H W Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992. Pei officially retired in 1990 but continued to work on projects. Two of his sons, Li Chung Pei and Chien Chung Pei, former members of their fathers firm, formed Pei Partnership Architects in 1992. Their fathers firm, previously I M Pei and Partners, was renamed Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. Peis wife, Eileen, who he married in 1942, died in 2014. A son, Ting Chung, died in 2003. Besides sons Chien Chung Pei and Li Chung Pei, he is survived by a daughter, Liane. Hospitals and schools bombed by Syrian forces aided by Russia, UN says, putting millions at risk in rebel stronghold. The United Nations has warned of a humanitarian crisis unfolding in Syrias northwest province of Idlib, as Western powers challenged Syria and its ally Russia to provide assurances that attacks on hospitals and schools would stop. Speaking at a UN Security Council meeting on Friday, UN humanitarian affairs coordinator Mark Lowcock said there had been concern about the escalating situation in Idlib for months. Last September, he (UN secretary-general) stressed that it was absolutely essential to avoid a full-scale battle in Idlib, and he warned that would unleash a humanitarian nightmare unlike any we have seen in Syria, said Lowcock. When I briefed you here on September 18, I said a full-scale military onslaught could result in the worst humanitarian tragedy of the 21st century. Despite our warnings, our worst fears are now coming true. The UN warned that three million civilians are at risk as Syrian President Bashar al-Assads forces backed by Russians have launched an offensive. The council was meeting in an emergency session to discuss the surge of fighting in the Idlib region that has raised alarm of an imminent all-out assault which could lead to a humanitarian catastrophe. The session in New York came as the White Helmets, a volunteer rescue group that operates in rebel-held parts of Syria, said at least six people were killed in 15 others wounded in air raids by pro-government forces in Idlib. Four civilians lost their lives in Maarat al-Numan and two others in nearby Kafarruma, the group said. Separately on Friday, Syrias official news agency SANA said Syrian air defence batteries in Damascus had intercepted projectiles coming from Israel and downed a number of them. Residents said loud blasts were heard across the capital, while state TV showed footage of the night sky with a point of light firing up into it and the sound of shooting. There was no immediate report of casualties or material damage, and no immediate comment from Israel. We need answers 190515163715038 The violence in Idlib has effectively shattered a ceasefire negotiated by Russia and Turkey, in place since September. Russia has firmly backed Assads government in the eight-year war, while Turkey has supported rebel factions. Over the past three weeks, more than 180,000 people have been displaced due to the latest violence, Lowcock said. Up to 160 people have been killed. Meanwhile, at least 18 hospitals and clinics have been destroyed or damaged by air raids and shelling, several of which were on UN no target lists that detail exact locations of the health facilities to the warring sides, the UN aid chief told the council. Lowcock said 49 health centres had partially or totally suspended activities, some for fear of being attacked, while 17 schools had been damaged or destroyed and many more closed. Calling for an end to the attacks, Britain and the United States pressed Russia and Syria to provide assurances to the council that the situation would not continue. Russia and Syria are the only countries that fly planes in the area, British Ambassador Karen Pierce told the council. I think we need answers today. 190511093135241 If the answer is the Russian and Syrian air forces, I call on both ambassadors here today to give us the assurance that the attacks will stop. The acting US ambassador to the UN said Russia and Syria were responsible for attacks on health facilities and said it was most alarming that some were on the no target lists. Speaking from UN headquarters in New York, Al Jazeeras diplomatic editor James Bays said that members of the council felt the need to address the issue of Idlib in an open meeting after attempts to address it behind closed doors seemed to fail. Some members of council hoped that by raising this (the situation in Idlib) in a closed meeting a week ago, that perhaps Russia would not like the pressure on them and that they might back down. Theyve now decided that didnt work and the bombardment by the Russians and the Syrian air force has continued. Theyve gone on to the next level which is to raise them in an open meeting hoping that some countries such as China may be able to restrain the Russians and the Syrians. But Russia said that hospitals and other civilian infrastructure were not being targeted and stressed that military operations were aimed at wiping out terrorists. We categorically reject accusations of violations of international humanitarian law, Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzya told the council. Not the Syrian army, or the Syrian air force, or Russia are conducting hostilities against civilians or civilian infrastructure. Our goal is the terrorists, he said. Hayet Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Syrias former al-Qaeda affiliate which is on the UN terror list, controls most of Idlib province as well as parts of neighbouring Aleppo, Hama and Latakia provinces. Deliberate targeting of schools and hospitals Meanwhile, some 70 aid groups called for an immediate end to the fighting in Idlib, saying conditions have reached a crisis point. The groups said violence has forced at least 16 humanitarian organisations to suspend their operations in the region, adding that staff were either displaced themselves or the facilities came under attack. 190508184935412 In a statement to the council meeting, Amnesty International called on members states to pressure Russia over the deliberate targeting of health and education facilities and ending the onslaught against civilians. Bombing hospitals carrying out their medical functions is a war crime, said Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty Internationals director of research for the Middle East. The international community has so far utterly failed to protect civilians in Syria from the horrors of this conflict, she said. Staff from four hospitals in Idlib and Hama told Amnesty that they had been targeted despite sharing their coordinates with the Syrian and Russian governments. Corroborating UN statements, Physicians for Human Rights said it had verified that over the past four weeks Syrian government forces and their Russian allies have carried out nine attacks on hospitals and medical facilities. The aid groups said that at least 15 health facilities and 16 schools were reported to have been significantly damaged or destroyed. At least two health workers were killed. Taiwans parliament has legalised same-sex marriage in a landmark vote that made the self-ruled island the first in Asia to adopt such legislation. The lawmakers comfortably passed a law on Friday, allowing same-sex couples to form exclusive permanent unions and a second clause that would let them apply for a marriage registration with government agencies. The vote is a major victory for the islands LGBT community who have campaigned for years to have similar of equal marriage rights as heterosexual couples and places the island at the vanguard of Asias burgeoning gay rights movement. In recent months conservatives had mobilised to rid the law of any reference to marriage, instead putting forward rival bills that offered something closer to limited same-sex unions. But those bills struggled to receive enough votes. Hundreds of gay rights supporters on Friday gathered despite heavy rain near the parliament building in the capital, Taipei, as legislators were set to vote on a series of bills that could offer same-sex couples similar legal protections for marriage as heterosexuals. The vote came after Taiwans top court ruled that not allowing same-sex couples to marry violates the constitution. Judges gave the government until May 24 this year to make the changes or see marriage equality enacted automatically. But they gave no guidance on how to do that. Bitter divisions In a Facebook post, President Tsai Ing-wen said ahead of the vote that she recognised the issue had divided families, generations and even inside religious groups. Today, we have a chance to make history and show the world that progressive values can take root in an East Asian society, she added in a Twitter post. Tsais ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) holds the majority in parliament, occupying 68 out of 113 seats. Taiwans LGBT community has been left in limbo the last two years, with many couples planning weddings before the May 24 deadline but unsure of what marriage equality would look like. The world is watching to see if Taiwans parliament will write a new page in gender equality or deal another blow to Taiwans hard-fought democracy, human rights and the rule of law, said Jennifer Lu, a spokeswoman for Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan. For the gay communities what matters the most is whether we can legally get married on May 24 and be listed as the spouse in ID cards, to be treated and respected as the spouse in the whole legal system and whether same-sex families can obtain legal parental rights for their children. Cindy Su was one of the thousands of gay marriage supporters gathered outside parliament on Friday in the run-up to the debate. We are just a group of people who want to live well on this land and who love each other, she told the crowd. Hashmatullah Falahat Pishe appeals for Iran-US dialogue in either Iraq or Qatar to de-escalate Gulf friction. A senior Iranian legislator has called for the United States and Iran to hold talks in Iraq or Qatar to defuse tensions amid a US military build-up in the Gulf. Hashmatullah Falahat Pishe, head of the Iranian parliaments national security and foreign policy committee, urged negotiations on Friday, citing attempts by third-parties to provoke a conflict despite senior officials in Tehran and Washington rejecting war. There must be a table in Iraq or Qatar where the two sides can meet in order to end this tension, the independent legislator said in a post on Twitter. The appeal came as US President Donald Trump also softened his rhetoric on Iran. Asked on Thursday if Washington was going to war with Tehran, the president replied, I hope not. That comment came a day after he expressed a desire for dialogue, tweeting: Im sure that Iran will want to talk soon. Trumps tone contrasted with a series of moves by the US and Iran that have sharply escalated tensions in the Middle East in recent days. On May 5, John Bolton, US national security adviser, announced that the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group would be rushed from the Mediterranean to the Gulf ahead of schedule in response to a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings. He did not give details on the nature of the threat from Iran, but warned that the US would use unrelenting force should Iran stage an attack on its troops in the region. De-escalation Since then, four oil tankers, including two belonging to Saudi Arabia, were targeted in an apparent act of sabotage off the coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to officials in the region, and Iranian-aligned Houthi rebels from Yemen attacked a Saudi pipeline. The US also ordered non-essential staff out of Iraq and dispatched additional military assets to the region. The US moves came a year after Trump pulled Washington out of a 2015 international accord that put curbs on Irans nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief. The Trump administration then reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran and also designated the countrys elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a terrorist entity. Iran responded by declaring US Centcom a terror organisation. Trump has said he wants to negotiate a new deal with Iran that includes imposing tougher limits on its nuclear and missile programmes and on its support for proxies in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. However, Washingtons hardline approach has exacerbated bellicose rhetoric and prompted fears of a conflict. On Friday, an IRGC official warned that Iranian missiles can easily reach warships in the Gulf and elsewhere in the Middle East. The semi-official Fars news agency quoted Mohammad Saleh Jokar, deputy for parliamentary affairs of the IRGC, saying that Irans missiles have a range of 2,000km. The Mehr news agency quoted Irans army chief warning the US against miscalculations. If the enemy miscalculates and commits a strategic error, it will receive a response which will make it regret [its action], said Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi. Soon after Falahat Pishes call for dialogue, Irans supreme national council, headed by President Hassan Rouhani, said remarks by an individual should not be taken as a statement of policy, according to Al Jazeeras Zein Basravi. Reporting from Tehran, Basravi said the council reiterated that only it had the power to set policy on behalf of the government. Sitting by the phone Senior Iranian officials, including an IRGC commander, have also rejected Trumps previous invitations for talks, saying the US was unreliable. Earlier this week, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei said Tehran would not negotiate another nuclear deal with Washington. He also said there would be no war with the US. Irans foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, has urged the nuclear deals remaining signatories Russia, China, the UK, France and Germany to take concrete steps to protect the pact. In Washington, a senior administration official said the US was sitting by the phone but has had no message from Iran that Tehran is willing to talk directly. We think they should de-escalate and come to negotiations, the official, who declined to be named, told Reuters. Mohammad Marandi, professor of English literature at Tehran University, said Iran is unlikely to enter into fresh negotiations with the US on its nuclear programme as it does not trust the US. The Iranians are saying we cannot trust a government that does not abide by agreements made by the state. Hypothetically, if Iran reaches another agreement with the US, Trump could tear that up, too, whenever he wants, he told Al Jazeera. In addition to this, by [engaging in talks] Iranians are saying they would be appeasing the US and encouraging it to violate agreements in the future in order to get more concessions. United States President Donald Trump has decided to wait up to six months before determining whether to impose a 25 percent tariff on imported cars and parts from the European Union and Japan. This gives trade talks more time for the US to make a deal. The White House had faced a Saturday deadline to make a decision on US Commerce Department recommendations to protect the domestic auto industry from foreign imports on national security grounds. In addition to averting domestic pain, delaying the decision avoids what was shaping up to be a new dramatic escalation in the Trump administrations trade disputes around the world including its trade war with China. But now Trump is directing US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to pursue further negotiations and report back within 180 days. If those discussions are unsuccessful, Trump will then decide whether and what further action needs to be taken. In a proclamation released on Friday, Trump said he agreed with a Commerce Department Study that found some imported cars and trucks are weakening our internal economy and threatening to harm national security. Important innovations are occurring in the areas of engine and powertrain technology, electrification, lightweighting, advanced connectivity, and autonomous driving, said the proclamation. The United States defence industrial base depends on the American-owned automotive sector for the development of technologies that are essential to maintaining our military superiority. Fierce opposition Trumps proclamation said domestic conditions of competition must be improved by reducing imports. But auto tariffs face strong resistance from both parties in Congress, to whom Trump has not released the Section 232 investigation report. Automakers have strongly opposed the tariffs, arguing they would raise prices, threaten hundreds of thousands of US jobs, and decrease industry spending on self-driving cars. The administration cited statistics that show US-owned companies now account for a far smaller share of the total US automobile market than they used to, comprising 67 percent of the market in 1985 (10.5 million units) versus 22 percent (3.7 million units) in 2017. During the same time period, the administration said, imports nearly doubled, from 4.6 million units to 8.3 million units. Trumps decision could impact some 47 billion euros ($53bn) worth of car and auto part exports. US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told Trump that successful negotiations could allow American-owned automobile producers to achieve long-term economic viability and increase R&D spending to develop cutting-edge technologies that are critical to the defence industry. But many foreign cars are made on US soil by American workers using US parts, and so the foreign-car distinction is often blurry. Toyota Motor Corporation has said the tariffs threaten US manufacturing, jobs, exports, and economic prosperity. General Motors last year warned that import tariffs could hurt workers and lead to a a smaller GM while isolating US businesses from the global market. You cant have both The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a trade group representing Toyota, General Motors and others, said that companies remain deeply concerned that the administration continues to consider imposing auto tariffs. The group said that since 2017, automakers have invested $22.8bn in new and existing facilities in the US, but increased auto tariffs threaten to undo this economic progress. At the end of the day, you can have tariffs or investment, but you cant have both. Trump had agreed last July not to impose punitive tariffs on imports of EU cars as both sides looked to improve economic ties. Meanwhile, EU steel and aluminium makers remain subject to punitive US import tariffs. The measures, also based on concerns about national security, prompted EU countermeasures, with increased tariffs on motorbikes and other US products. At the same time, Europe has also engaged in talks with the US and Japan to rewrite global trading rules to limit state subsidies and forced technology transfer, with eyes clearly on China. And though future car tariffs might not send the EU rushing to Beijing, they could undermine efforts to bring US allies on board with China trade policies. The G5 Joint Force was set up by the Sahel countries Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Burkina Faso and Niger two years ago, but its still barely operational, lacking funding and key equipment. Burkina Faso has appealed to world powers to form a new international coalition to combat increasing violence in Africas Sahel region. The countrys foreign minister made the plea to the United Nations, which already has a task force in the area. Al Jazeeras diplomatic editor James Bays reports. The major gold miners' stocks are drifting sideways with gold, their early-year momentum sapped by the recent stock-market euphoria. But they are more important than ever for prudently diversifying portfolios, a rare sector that surges when stock markets weaken. Their just-reported Q1'19 results reveal how gold miners are faring as a sector, and their current fundamentals are way better than bearish psychology implies. The wild market action in Q4'18 again emphasized why investors shouldn't overlook gold stocks. Every portfolio needs a 10% allocation in gold and its miners' stocks. As the flagship S&P 500 broad-market stock index plunged 19.8% largely in that quarter to nearly enter a bear market, the leading gold-stock ETF rallied 11.4% higher in that span. That was a warning shot across the bow that these markets are changing. Four times a year publicly-traded companies release treasure troves of valuable information in the form of quarterly reports. Required by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, these 10-Qs and 10-Ks contain the best fundamental data available to traders. They dispel all the sentiment distortions inevitably surrounding prevailing stock-price levels, revealing corporations' underlying hard fundamental realities. The definitive list of major gold-mining stocks to analyze comes from the world's most-popular gold-stock investment vehicle, the GDX VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF. Launched way back in May 2006, it has an insurmountable first-mover lead. GDX's net assets running $9.0b this week were a staggering 46.6x larger than the next-biggest 1x-long major-gold-miners ETF! GDX is effectively this sector's blue-chip index. It currently includes 46 component stocks, which are weighted in proportion to their market capitalizations. This list is dominated by the world's largest gold miners, and their collective importance to this industry cannot be overstated. Every quarter I dive into the latest operating and financial results from GDX's top 34 companies. That's simply an arbitrary number that fits neatly into the tables below, but a commanding sample. As of this week these elite gold miners accounted for fully 94.3% of GDX's total weighting. Last quarter they combined to mine 274.4 metric tons of gold. That was 32.2% of the aggregate world total in Q1'19 according to the World Gold Council, which publishes comprehensive global gold supply-and-demand data quarterly. So for anyone deploying capital in gold or its miners' stocks, watching GDX miners is imperative. The largest primary gold miners dominating GDX's ranks are scattered around the world. 20 of the top 34 mainly trade in US stock markets, 6 in Australia, 5 in Canada, 2 in China, and 1 in the United Kingdom. GDX's geopolitical diversity is excellent for investors, but makes it more difficult to analyze and compare the biggest gold miners' results. Financial-reporting requirements vary considerably from country to country. In Australia, South Africa, and the UK, companies report in half-year increments instead of quarterly. The big gold miners often publish quarterly updates, but their data is limited. In cases where half-year data is all that was made available, I split it in half for a Q1 approximation. While Canada has quarterly reporting, the deadlines are looser than in the States. Some Canadian gold miners drag their feet in getting results out. While it is challenging bringing all the quarterly data together for the diverse GDX-top-34 gold miners, analyzing it in the aggregate is essential to see how they are doing. So each quarter I wade through all available operational and financial reports and dump the data into a big spreadsheet for analysis. The highlights make it into these tables. Blank fields mean a company hadn't reported that data as of this Wednesday. The first couple columns of these tables show each GDX component's symbol and weighting within this ETF as of this week. While most of these stocks trade on US exchanges, some symbols are listings from companies' primary foreign stock exchanges. That's followed by each gold miner's Q1'19 production in ounces, which is mostly in pure-gold terms. That excludes byproduct metals often present in gold ore. Those are usually silver and base metals like copper, which are valuable. They are sold to offset some of the considerable expenses of gold mining, lowering per-ounce costs and thus raising overall profitability. In cases where companies didn't separate out gold and lumped all production into gold-equivalent ounces, those GEOs are included instead. Then production's absolute year-over-year change from Q1'18 is shown. Next comes gold miners' most-important fundamental data for investors, cash costs and all-in sustaining costs per ounce mined. The latter directly drives profitability which ultimately determines stock prices. These key costs are also followed by YoY changes. Last but not least the annual changes are shown in operating cash flows generated, hard GAAP earnings, revenues, and cash on hand with a couple exceptions. Percentage changes aren't relevant or meaningful if data shifted from positive to negative or vice versa, or if derived from two negative numbers. So in those cases I included raw underlying data rather than weird or misleading percentage changes. Companies with symbols highlighted in light-blue have newly climbed into the elite ranks of GDX's top 34 over this past year. This entire dataset together is quite valuable. It offers a fantastic high-level read on how the major gold miners are faring fundamentally as an industryand individually. While the endless challenge of growing production continues to vex plenty of the world's larger gold miners, they generally performed much better in Q1'19 than today's low gold-stock prices reflect. Last quarter was also a big transition one as the recent gold-stock mega-mergers continued to settle out. Production has always been the lifeblood of the gold-mining industry. Gold miners have no control over prevailing gold prices, their product sells for whatever the markets offer. Thus growing production is the only manageable way to boost revenues, leading to amplified gains in operating cash flows and profits. Higher output generates more capital to invest in expanding existing mines and building or buying new ones. Gold-stock investors have long prized production growth above everything else, as it is inexorably linked to company growth and thus stock-price-appreciation potential. But for several years now the major gold miners have been struggling to grow production. Large economically-viable gold deposits are getting increasingly harder to find and more expensive to exploit, with the low-hanging fruit long since picked. Gold miners' exploration budgets have cratered since gold collapsed in Q2'13, plummeting 22.8%! That was the yellow metal's worst quarter in an astounding 93 years, which devastated sentiment and scared investors away from this sector. Much less capital to explore shrank the pipeline of new finds to replace relentless depletion at existing mines. That left major gold miners just one viable option to grow their output. They either have to buy existing mines and/or deposits from other companies, or acquire those outright. That's unleashed a merger-and-acquisition wave that culminated in recent quarters. In September 2018 gold giant Barrick Gold announced it was merging with Randgold. Not to be outdone, in January 2019 the other gold behemoth Newmont Mining declared it was acquiring Goldcorp in another colossal mega-deal. I wrote a whole essay analyzing these mega-mergers in mid-February, and believe they are bad for this sector for a variety of reasons. For our purposes today, Q1'19 was the first quarter fully reflecting the new Barrick including Randgold. But Newmont's acquisition of Goldcorp wasn't finalized until April 2019, so that isn't included in NEM's Q1'19 results. And unfortunately Goldcorp's weren't published separately either. That makes analyzing the GDX top 34's gold production last quarter more complicated than usual. As far as I can tell, Newmont released nothing on Goldcorp's Q1 operations. As usual when one company buys out another, the acquired company's website is quickly effectively deleted. It is replaced with a tiny new website largely devoid of useful information, that redirects to the new combined company's main website. So Goldcorp's Q1 results were apparently cast into a black hole, never to be seen by investors. Across last year's four quarters, Goldcorp ranked as the 5th-to-7th-largest GDX component. So excluding it from this leading gold-stock ETF skews all kinds of Q1 numbers. This discontinuity will resolve itself over the next couple quarters as Newmont and Goldcorp are fully integrated into the new, wait for it, "Newmont Goldcorp". In Q1'19 these top 34 GDX gold miners produced 8.8m ounces of gold, which was down a sharp 6.3% from Q1'18's levels. But Goldcorp averaged 574k ounces of quarterly production in 2018. If that is added in, Q1'19's climbs to 9.4m ounces which is only off a slight 0.2% YoY. Stable gold output is a victory for the major gold miners, as there have been plenty of recent quarters where their production has declined. But depletion is still a huge challenge for them, as they are losing market share to smaller gold miners that aren't so unwieldy to manage. The World Gold Council publishes the best global gold fundamental supply-and-demand data quarterly. According to its latest Q1'19 Gold Demand Trends report, total world mine production actually climbed 1.1% YoY in Q1. So the larger gold miners continue to underperform. On a quarter-over-quarter basis since Q4'18, the GDX top 34's gold production plunged 8.8%! But again that is overstated by Goldcorp's missing-in-action Q1 output. Add in that 2018 quarterly approximation, and that decline moderates to 2.8% QoQ. The quarter-to-quarter output dynamics among the major gold miners are somewhat surprising. Gold is notproduced at a steady pace year-round as logically assumed. Going back to 2010, the world gold mine production per the WGC has averaged sharp 7.2% QoQ drops from Q4s to Q1s! For many if not most major gold miners, calendar years' first quarters mark the low ebb in their annual output. The gold miners attribute this Q1 lull to new capital spending that slows production as mine infrastructure is upgraded. That weaker output in Q1s is regained with big jumps in following quarters. In that same decade-long WGC dataset, Q2s saw world mine production average big 5.4% QoQ surges from Q1s! That sharp acceleration trend continued in Q3s, which averaged additional 5.3% QoQ growth from Q2s. Then that petered out on average in Q4s, which were only 0.5% better than Q3s. So it is normal for gold miners' production to fall sharply in years' Q1s before rebounding strongly in Q2s and Q3s. There's more to this intra-year seasonality than capital spending though. Mine managers play a big role in how they plan their ore sequencing. Individual gold deposits are not homogenous, but have varying richness throughout their orebodies. Mine managers have to decide which ore to mine in any quarter, which is fed through their fixed-capacity millsfor crushing and gold recovery. Ore grade determines output. The more gold per ton of ore dug and hauled in any quarter, the more gold produced. Mine managers choose to process more lower-grade ores in Q1s, then move to higher-grade ore mixes in Q2s and Q3s. That helps maximize their incentive bonuses. Q3 results are reported in early-to-mid Novembers soon before year-ends. Higher production boosts stock prices heading into that year-end bonus-calculation time! Realize that Q1 results reported from early-to-mid Mays generally show a year's weakest gold output. It is surprising to see investors sell gold stocks hard when Q1's production declines from Q4's, as this is par for the course in this industry. The bright side is excitement later builds throughout the year as Q2's and Q3's production grows fast. The gold miners look better fundamentally later in years than earlier in them! With year-over-year gold production among the GDX top 34 effectively flat in Q1'19 with Goldcorp's likely output added back in, odds argued against much of a change in gold-mining costs. They are largely fixed quarter after quarter, with actual mining requiring the same levels of infrastructure, equipment, and employees. These big fixed costs are spread across production, making unit costs inversely proportional to it. There are two major ways to measure gold-mining costs, classic cash costs per ounce and the superior all-in sustaining costs per ounce. Both are useful metrics. Cash costs are the acid test of gold-miner survivability in lower-gold-price environments, revealing the worst-case gold levels necessary to keep the mines running. All-in sustaining costs show where gold needs to trade to maintain current mining tempos indefinitely. Cash costs naturally encompass all cash expenses necessary to produce each ounce of gold, including all direct production costs, mine-level administration, smelting, refining, transport, regulatory, royalty, and tax expenses. In Q1'19 these top-34-GDX-component gold miners that reported cash costs averaged $616 per ounce. That actually fell a sharp 7.7% YoY, down on the low side of recent years' cash-cost range. Investor sentiment in gold-stock land has been really poor, as recent months' extreme stock euphoria has really stunted interest in gold. If stock markets seemingly do nothing but rally indefinitely, then why bother prudently diversifying stock-heavy portfolios with counter-moving gold? There's been increasing chatter lately about the gold-mining industry's viability, which isn't unusual when psychology waxes quite bearish. Those worries are ridiculous with the major gold miners' cash costs averaging in the low $600s even in Q1's low-quarterly-output ebb. As long as gold remains well above $616, this neglected sector faces no existential threat. And Q1's top-34-GDX-average cash costs are even skewed higher by one struggling gold miner, Peru's Buenaventura. In Q1'19 it suffered a sharp 22.2% YoY plunge in gold production. That was primarily due to the company stopping extraction operations at one of its key mines in January to rejigger and centralize it. That lower output to spread mining's big fixed costs across was enough to catapult BVN's Q1 cash costs 33.1% higher YoY to an extreme $1049 per ounce. Those are expected to mean revert much lower in coming quarters. Ex-BVN the rest of the GDX top 34 averaged merely $600. Way more important than cash costs are the far-superior all-in sustaining costs. They were introduced by the World Gold Council in June 2013 to give investors a much-better understanding of what it really costs to maintain gold mines as ongoing concerns. AISCs include all direct cash costs, but then add on everything else that is necessary to maintain and replenish operations at current gold-production levels. These additional expenses include exploration for new gold to mine to replace depleting deposits, mine-development and construction expenses, remediation, and mine reclamation. They also include the corporate-level administration expenses necessary to oversee gold mines. All-in sustaining costs are the most-important gold-mining cost metric by far for investors, revealing gold miners' true operating profitability. The GDX-top-34 gold miners reported average AISCs of $893 per ounce in Q1'19, up merely 1.0% YoY. These flat AISCs are right in line with flat production when Goldcorp's likely output is added back in. The big operational challenges at Buenaventura also rocketed its AISCs an incredible 82.3% higher YoY to an anomalous $1382 per ounce. Excluding BVN, the rest of the GDX top 34 averaged $874 AISCs in Q1. That's right in line with the past couple calendar years' quarterly average of $872. The major gold miners, despite still struggling to grow their production enough to exceed depletion, are still holding the line on all-important costs. Those stable costs regardless of prevailing gold prices are what make the gold stocks so attractive. They have massive upside potential as their profits amplify the higher gold prices still coming. The gold price averaged $1303 in Q1'19. Subtracting the major gold miners' average $893 AISCs from that yields strong profits of $410 per ounce. While recent years' universal stock-market euphoria has capped gold at $1350 resistance, it has still been grinding higher on balance carving higher lows. Gold is getting wound tighter and tighter towards a major upside breakout to new bull highs well above $1350. Like usual gold investment demand will be rekindled when the stock markets inevitably roll over materially again, propelling gold higher. A mere 7.7% upleg from $1300 would carry gold to $1400, and just 15.4% would hit $1500. Those are modest and easily-achievable gains by past-gold-upleg standards. During essentially the first half of 2016 after major stock-market selloffs, gold blasted 29.9% higher in 6.7 months! At $1300 and Q1's $893 average AISCs, the major gold miners are earning $407 per ounce. But at $1400 and $1500 gold, those profits soar to $507 and $607. That's 24.6% and 49.1% higher on relatively-small 7.7% and 15.4% gold uplegs from here! This inherent profits leverage to gold is why the major gold stocks of GDX tend to amplify gold uplegs by 2x to 3xor so. Investors enjoy large gains as gold rallies. Despite investors' serious apathy for this sector, the gold miners' costs remain well-positioned to fuel big profits growth in a higher-gold-price environment. Investors love rising earnings, which are looking to be scarce in the general stock markets this year. The better gold miners' stocks are likely to see big capital inflows as gold continues climbing on balance, which will drive them and to a lesser extent GDX much higher. The GDX top 34's accounting results weren't as impressive as their flat production and costs in Q1. The lack of Goldcorp's operations being accounted for last quarter again distorted normal annual comparisons. So all these Q1'19 numbers are compared to Q1'18's excluding Goldcorp. Last quarter's average gold price being 1.9% lower than Q1'18's average also played a role in weaker year-over-year performance. The GDX top 34's total revenues fell 5.2% YoY ex-Goldcorp to $9.2b in Q1'19. That's reasonable given the slightly-lower production and gold prices. Lower byproduct silver output also contributed, as a half-dozen of these elite major gold miners also produce sizable amounts of silver. Again without Goldcorp, the total silver output among the GDX top 34 fell 8.0% YoY to 27.3m ounces in Q1 weighing on total sales. Their overall cash flows generated from operations mirrored this weakening trend, down 9.1% YoY to $2.8b last quarter. Still the GDX-top-34 gold miners were producing lots of cash as the big profits gap between their AISCs and prevailing gold prices implied. Only two of these major gold miners suffered significant negative OCFs, and one of those was naturally Buenaventura with all its production struggles. These elite gold miners remained flush with cash at the end of Q1, reporting $11.1b on their books. That is 11.3% lower YoY without Goldcorp. The gold miners tap into their cash hoards when they are building or buying mines, so declines in overall cash balances suggest more investment in growing future output. Investors fretting about the gold-mining industry today aren't following their strong operating cash flows. Last but not least are the GDX top 34's hard accounting profits under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. These are the actual quarterly earnings reported to the SEC and other regulators. Overall profits excluding Goldcorp only declined 7.2% YoY to $731m in Q1'19. That's really impressive in light of the 5.2%-lower revenues. Prior quarters' big mine-impairment charges on lower gold prices also dried up. So the major gold miners included in this sector's leading ETF are doing a lot betterthan investors are giving them credit for. There's no fundamental reason for this critical portfolio-diversifying contrarian sector to be shunned. Gold stocks' only problem is the lack of upside action in gold, which will quickly change once the stock markets decisively roll over again. December 2018 proved these relationships still work. As the S&P 500 plunged 9.2% that month, investors remembered the timeless wisdom of keeping some gold and gold miners' stocks in their portfolios. So they started shifting capital back in, driving gold 4.9% higher that month which GDX leveraged to a big 10.5% gain! Gold and its miners' stocks act like portfolio insurance when stock markets sell off. Everyone really needs a 10% allocation in gold and gold stocks! That being said, GDX isn't the best way to do it. This ETF's potential upside is retarded by the large gold miners struggling to grow their production. Investment capital will seek out the smaller mid-tier and junior gold miners actually able to increase their output. It's far better to invest in these great individual miners with superior fundamentals. While plenty are included in GDX, their relatively-low weightings dilute their gains. GDX's little-brother ETF GDXJ is another option. While advertised as a "Junior Gold Miners ETF", it is really a mid-tier gold miners ETF. It includes most of the better GDX components, with higher weightings since the largest gold majors are excluded. I wrote an entire essay in mid-January explaining why GDXJ is superior to GDX, and my next essay a week from now will delve into the GDXJ gold miners' Q1'19 results. Back in essentially the first half of 2016, GDXJ rocketed 202.5% higher on a 29.9% gold upleg in roughly the same span! While GDX somewhat kept pace then at +151.2%, it is lagging GDXJ more and more as its weightings are more concentrated in stagnant gold super-majors. The recent mega-mergers are going to worsen that investor-hostile trend. Investors should buy better individual gold stocks, or GDXJ, instead of GDX. One of my core missions at Zeal is relentlessly studying the gold-stock world to uncover the stocks with superior fundamentals and upside potential. The trading books in both our popular weeklyand monthlynewsletters are currently full of these better gold and silver miners. Mostly added in recent months as gold stocks recovered from deep lows, their prices remain relatively low with big upside potential as gold rallies! If you want to multiply your capital in the markets, you have to stay informed. Our newsletters are a great way, easy to read and affordable. They draw on my vast experience, knowledge, wisdom, and ongoing research to explain what's going on in the markets, why, and how to trade them with specific stocks. As of Q1 we've recommended and realized 1089 newsletter stock trades since 2001, averaging annualized realized gains of +15.8%! That's nearly double the long-term stock-market average. Subscribe today for just $12 per issue! The bottom line is the major gold miners performed pretty well last quarter. Their production held steady despite lower prevailing gold prices and inexorable depletion. That led to flat costs right in line with prior years' average levels. That leaves gold-mining earnings positioned to soar higher in future quarters as gold continues slowly grinding higher on balance. Another major stock-market selloff will accelerate that trend. Stock investors are making a serious mistake ignoring gold and its miners' stocks. The bearish sentiment plaguing this sector today is irrational given miners' solid fundamentals. Diversifying is best done before it is necessary, buying low with gold-stock prices so beaten-down. This is the only sector likely to rally fast amplifying gold's upside when stock markets inevitably swoon again. Don't overlook the great opportunity here! ### As India goes to polls, Al Jazeera looks at its intensifying unemployment crisis and the politics that surround it. Bengaluru/Mandya Shehla Blossom moves from one workstation to the other, collating the hourly production of branded Arabian thobes being manufactured at an export-oriented garment factory in Mandya, a small town about 100km from Bengaluru in south India. The task is hardly the company job the 23-year-old dreamed of when she finished her postgraduate degree in commerce. Her monthly salary of 5,000 rupees ($79) is less than what the factory workers make. After a year spent looking for a job, she said she compromised because the clock was ticking on her student loans. Her single mother, a helper at the local anganwadi, a government-run childcare centre, earns nearly the same as her. My degrees feel wasted. Im the first postgraduate in my neighbourhood, so people keep asking why I dont have a company job, said Shehla. People dont get that its not just about qualifications. You either need experience or must have the right connections. Back from his third job interview this week, Mohan Kumar S shows the three resumes he carries, never sure which one to send: one has him down as mechanical engineer, another mentions his post-graduate qualifications in thermal power engineering. The third reveals the two jobs hes worked since his graduation in 2017. Six-month contracts, both factory jobs did not require more than a technical diploma, Mohan said. He was paid around 15,000 rupees ($216) a month. I dont want to hide anything. But just today an interviewer told me Im too qualified, said the 24-year-old, who is a Dalit one of the former untouchable caste who still face segregation and social exclusion in India. Like Shehla, he insists references matter. Every company asks for a referral. And thats where caste connections, or the lack of it, hold you back, he explained. Mohan has applied to be a delivery partner at a popular app-based food delivery company, part of Indias rapidly-growing gigs economy, where scores of his engineer friends work. His father, a security guard at a factory on Bengalurus outskirts, is against it. He thinks its beneath someone like me, who was ranked second in engineering masters. But one needs money to be able to wait also, no? Indias youth have struggled to get jobs [Deepa Kurup/Al Jazeera] Shehla and Mohan, both first-generation university graduates from smaller towns, embody the grim reality facing the 10 to 12 million young Indians entering the labour market each year and the interlinked crises of unemployment and what economists call underemployment, or unemployment in disguise. This is how Indias much-talked-about demographic dividend, economists say, is being squandered. Nearly two-thirds of Indians are of working age, between 15 and 64, but an increasing number of them are sliding into the countrys climbing unemployment statistics. At 6.1 percent, Indias formal unemployment is the highest its been in 45 years, according to a leaked government report. It has almost tripled in the six years since 2011-2012 when the last comparable survey was conducted by the National Sample Survey Office. This figure doesnt reflect the extent of the problem; many who are unable to find formal jobs settle for low-paying, irregular work in Indias vast informal sector, which employs 81 percent of the workforce. The politics of unemployment In Indias ongoing national polls, the leaked job report is the arrowhead of the opposition parties campaign against the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government. Political opponents frequently remind Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is seeking a second term, of his unfulfilled promise to create 10 million new jobs every year. Modi has repeatedly said that Indias government statistics dont capture the complete employment picture. The problem, he has said, is not one of the lack of jobs, but that of data. The governments refusal to formally release employment figures triggered the resignations of two prominent members of the National Statistical Commission (NSC) in January. Unemployment figures in the leaked report also contest official narratives on two major economic policies. The survey is the first official appraisal of the aftermath of Modis decision to ban 85 percent of Indias currency in 2016 and to chaotic roll out a national tax code, the Goods and Services Tax, the year after. PC Mohanan, the NSCs interim chairman who resigned in protest, told Al Jazeera, The suppression of the employment report was part of a general attempt to maintain certain narratives of the government regarding economic performance and job scenario. In 2016, the Modi government also discontinued the Labour Bureaus household and enterprise-level employment-unemployment surveys. Young, educated and unemployed Over the next two decades, roughly 18 to 20 million Indians will enter the job market every year, the Indian census shows. But half of them do not enter the workforce, according to the leaked report. Indias gross enrolment ratio in higher education has risen from 19.4 to 25.8 percent between 2010 and 2018. This is one reason why the young, 15 to 26 years of age, are over-represented in unemployment figures: having invested heavily in higher education, many would rather wait for a formal job than enter informal, low-paying employment. Chaithra TK, a 24-year-old economics postgraduate, has been sitting at home. She said shed rather be out of work than settle for a job that doesnt match her qualifications. Chaithra TK, an economics postgraduate, is waiting for a job [Deepa Kurup/Al Jazeera] Her family of landless agricultural daily wage labourers borrowed heavily from relatives and friends to put her through a private university, paying tuition of around 150,000 rupees ($2,150). Theyve been supportive but are now unhappy that shes been jobless for two years, even though they know how hard she worked, studying late into the night after a long commute to attend classes in Mandya town. It was my dream to be a postgraduate. But now, the market only offers small jobs and that too needs references. Its not just the poor pay; I dont want to be trapped forever in jobs that need no more than high-school training, she said. Many university graduates from her village have returned to join their families in farming, she said, which is not an option for her because her family has no land to fall back on. Her quest for a respectable job led her where hordes of graduates are now heading: preparations for entrance exams for a government job. In the absence of employment numbers, anecdotal accounts of a glut of applicants for even the lowest-grade jobs advertised by the government are revealing. Applications to Indias largest employer, Indian Railways, serve as a prime example. In 2019, nearly 19 million applied for 62,907 group-D vacancies. At least 44 percent of the applicants were university graduates or postgraduates, including a half-million engineers, according to railway recruitment board figures. Group-D jobs only require a high school diploma. The monthly basic pay at entry level for the jobs, which include track-men, gatemen and helpers in various departments, is 18,000 rupees ($258). The media is awash with reports of a superabundance of candidates applying for state and central government jobs. In another instance, the Uttar Pradesh police advertisement for 62 peon posts received 93,000 applications, including 3,700 PhD holders, 50,000 university graduates and 28,000 postgraduates. The minimum requirement for the job was a primary education. This spike in demand for lower-grade government jobs attests to a crisis that isnt just about a scarcity of jobs but that of quality employment, in terms of remuneration and job security. Another indicator that a private sector job is no longer the dream is the widespread agitation by many powerful caste groups such as Patels, Jats, Gujjars and Marathas who claim financial disadvantage despite their dominant social status. They demand the inclusion of their caste into the Other Backward Classes (OBC) list, which would make them eligible for reserved spots in government jobs and higher education. In January, hot on the heels of electoral defeat in three key BJP-held states, the government announced a 10 percent quota in government jobs for economically weak sections, or those with annual earnings less than 800,000 rupees ($11,430). However, a look at the governments record shows that recruitment through three major central government agencies fell by 11 percent between 2014 and 2017 Modis first three years in power. The existing employee strength in central public sector enterprises fell by 10 percent between 2013 and 2017. Meanwhile, government posts lie vacant by the millions: over 412,752 central government civilian jobs, about one million state and central government teaching posts, and nearly half-a-million jobs in the state police. Sector-wise employment appraisal Any appraisal of jobs outside of government jobs is hampered by rampant informality. But, snapshots from the organised sector indicate the promise of jobs expansion remains unmet. Take the manufacturing sector, which employs 10 percent of Indias workers. Employment growth fell in 2012-2013 and has since remained in the single digits. It rose modestly between 2014 and 2017, the last available data from the Annual Survey of Industries. Net employment in organised manufacturing rose by just 1.02 million in this period. This falls significantly short of the targets set by the BJP government to create 100 million manufacturing jobs by 2022. These targets were associated with Modis flagship Make in India initiative which aimed to make the country a global leader in manufacturing. Manufacturing contributes 16 percent of Indias GDP, well below the government target of 25 percent. In the wake of the note ban, fresh investments in manufacturing fell sharply as projects were stalled, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, a private research firm, reported. In the services or tertiary sector, a leading source of formal employment is the information technology sector, which contributes 10 percent of national income. IT employment growth slid from double digits in 2011-2012 to low single in recent years, according to industry body Nasscom. The software sector, which was the dream for the highly-qualified, especially engineers, can no longer absorb the roughly one million engineers graduating every year. This glut means that large numbers of fresh engineers are either unemployed or underemployed. Worse, in Indias software services hubs Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad and Chennai many big IT companies shed workers in 2015 and 2017, the media reported. Government schemes galore On employment, the BJPs policies underlined promoting export-oriented manufacturing, incentivising self-employment and entrepreneurship, and boosting employability through skills development. For instance, the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) called the job multiplier by Modi extends collateral-free credit to microenterprises. But 88.6 percent of its loans were categorised Shishu, where credit is capped at 50,000 rupees ($716), its annual report said. These micro-loanees are unlikely to be employment multipliers or provide decent jobs. The government has withheld its survey of jobs generated under the scheme. Beyond self-employment, there are numerous government incentives through which the government claims to have unleashed Indias entrepreneurial spirit. The experience of Narasimhamurthy, owner of SS Apparels in Mandya, an export-oriented garment factory employing 70 women, indicates otherwise. His application for central government-funded subsidies for small and medium textile manufacturing units has been pending for nearly two years. His capital investment of 8,000,000 rupees ($114,500) was raised through multiple loans that he had hoped to pay back with the promised investment and interest subsidies, totalling 40 percent. This is why many companies dont last more than a couple of years. Often, the subsidy is delayed so much that the entrepreneur can only use it to pay off the interest and shut shop, said the 40-year-old first-time entrepreneur, a Dalit. He said getting a bank loan or requisite permits were hard without access to the right caste networks, which is why he is the only Dalit entrepreneur he knows. Academic research corroborates this: Researcher Aseem Prakashs book Dalit Capital details how a majority of Dalit entrepreneurs were denied credit by state-owned banks and government agencies. Narasimhamurthys observations on the mortality of new firms also square with the experience of start-ups, another core focus area of the governments Startup India initiative. A 2017 Nasscom report found that nearly a quarter of start-ups shut down within two years of being set up. This was attributed to the inability to scale up, issues with market demand and inability to raise funds. The governments flagship Skills India mission also fell short of its promise. The Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), which set out to offer free skills training to 10 million Indians by 2020, had achieved barely one-third of its target by January 2019. And barely one million of them landed jobs, the government said. BJPs national Vice President Vinay Sahasrabuddhe told Al Jazeera that critics present a distorted scenario because government agencies do not account for livelihood opportunities. The concept of jobs is undergoing sea-change world over. Now it is about livelihood opportunities, which are being created in great numbers thanks to several [government] welfare programmes. Jobs: a structural crisis In the ongoing elections, opposition parties have focused on the BJPs unmet promises on employment but much of what theyre saying now mirrors what the BJP had said in its 2014 campaign. Thats because the employment problem is structural. First, Indias economic growth story averaging 6.6 percent in 1990-2000 and 6.8 percent in the current decade has been characterised by economists as jobless growth. This means employment became delinked from growth. So, even as the economy grew faster it did not generate jobs at a fast enough rate. Second, Indias economic expansion in recent decades was led by its services sector. So, while farm workers exited agriculture in large numbers, manufacturing did not expand. These workers were absorbed into construction and services, both sectors dominated by low-paying, low-skilled and informal jobs. The services sector contributes to more than half the economy but employs only 28 percent of Indias workforce. This gap is the widest in India among top 15 services producer nations, Indias Economic Survey (2016-2017) said. This unusual trajectory of economic transformation sets the stage for the unemployment crisis that India faces today. For now, the crisis features widely in the campaigns and manifestos of Indias major political parties. Whether future governments will address these structural failures will determine the course of Indias flailing demographic dividend. Managing Director's Address to Shareholders Melbourne, May 17, 2019 AEST (ABN Newswire) - iSignthis Ltd ( ASX:ISX ) ( FRA:TA8 ) provides the Company's latest presentation.iSignthis is publicly listed on the Australian Securities and Frankfurt Stock Exchange ( ASX:ISX ) ( FRA:TA8 ).We are the only neobank offering payments, eMoney deposit taking and identity verification across multiple jurisdictions.As a neobank, we are authorised as an EEA authorised Monetary Financial and Payment Institution, with license to issue emoney, IBAN bank accounts, and operate transactional banking and card services across Europe and which will soon also be available in Australia.We provide services to cross border, regulated and high value businesses, which includes a complete customer onboarding solution, remote identity verification, credit scoring to payment processing, settlement, spot FX and deposit taking emoney services.Our inhouse developed Paydentity(TM), Probanx(R) and ISXPay(R) platforms make delivery of these services possible. We have identified more than 1.6m customers to a full AML KYC standard using our patented technology. Most of these customers would be considered high middle to upper income category or high net worth individuals.The iSignthis Probanx(R) platform now underpins core banking and core networking software to more than 25 banks, credit unions, and payment institutions in North America, Asia Pacific and the EU/EEA, as well as to iSignthis itself in the EU and Australia (as an ADI applicant) .Q1 FY 2019 Financial PerformanceiSignthis Group- Revenues : $1.85m UP 78% from $1.042m (from Q4 2018)- Cash Receipts : $1.4m UP 55% from $0.9m (from Q4 2018)- Recurring costs consistent with budget expectations.- One off (non recurring) costs this quarter included Scheme and APRA related infrastructure/audits/setup.ISXPay- End Q1 > Annualised GPTV $380m > as at 9/5/19 Ann GPTV $542m (based on actual weekly run rate)- MSF% (average) greater than 125bps- ISXPay Card Processing : Gross Profit contribution of $620k, with a major reduction in COGSTechnology Group (Probanx + BBS)- Technology Group : Positive EBIT contribution of $286k to group by Probanx + BBSNote : MSF% = Merchant Services Fee is applied across each merchants Gross Processed Transaction Volume (GPTV) and is gross profit for card servicesTo view the full presentation, please visit:About iSignthis Ltd iSignthis Ltd (ASX:ISX) (FRA:TA8) is a hybrid monetary financial institution and also a RegTech leader in remote identity verification, payment authentication with deposit taking, transactional banking and payment processing capability. iSignthis provides an end-to-end on-boarding service for merchants, with a unified payment, electronic money and identity service via our Paydentity(TM) and ISXPay(R) solutions. By converging payments and identity, iSignthis delivers regulatory compliance to an enhanced customer due diligence standard, offering global reach to any of the world's 4.2Bn 'bank verified' card or account holders, that can be remotely on-boarded to meet the Customer Due Diligence requirements of AML regulated merchants in as little as 3 to 5 minutes. Paydentity(TM) has now onboarded and verified more than 1.5m persons to an AML KYC standard. iSignthis Paydentity(TM) service is the trusted back office solution for regulated entities, allowing merchants to stay ahead of the regulatory curve, and focus on growing their core business. iSignthis' subsidiary, iSignthis eMoney Ltd, trades as ISXPay(R), and is an EEA authorised eMoney Monetary Financial Institution, offering card acquiring in the EEA, and Australia. ISXPay(R) is a principal member of Mastercard Inc, Diners, Discover, (China) Union Pay International and JCB International, an American Express aggregator, and provides merchants with access to payments via alternative methods including SEPA, Poli Payments, Sofort, PRZ24 and others. Probanx Solutions Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of iSignthis Ltd, provides API based access to CORE Banking solutions, SEPA Core, SEPA Instant and SEPA business scheme, for neobanks, banks, credit unions and emoney institutions, and provides a bridge to the Eurosystem's Central Bank of Lithuania's CENTROLink service. Another week, another school shooting this time, at a Colorado middle school, where an 18-year-old alleged shooter, and an alleged juvenile accomplice, killed one student. Does anyone think it a coincidence that the more Democrats have infiltrated and infested our culture and our industries, the more our youths commit cold-blooded murder? America is now witnessing what unchecked and unfettered Democrat influence and indoctrination begat. Death, violence, injury, and destruction are all inherent in the political terrorism of "it takes a village," "democratic socialism," and "fundamental transformation." Why do kids kill kids? The poisoning of our youth's hearts, souls, and minds by Democrats is at DEFCON 1 urgency. There are two problems that constitute the main battle in the existential war to preserve our republic: 1. For some of our youth, the damage has already been done. We must be as vigilant as possible in protecting our children from murderous teenagers and juveniles. 2. Reversing or preventing the social engineering and exploitation of youth who are undamaged. As much as it pains me to say this, some youths are damaged irreparably. The only question is, how many are in our communities and schools? A body count isn't the only result of terrorism; so is living in fear. The only nonviolent pathway forward for America is the re-education of our youth, which starts at home. Handguns have existed for centuries. AR-15s have existed for approximately 22,000 days; the NRA was founded 54,000 days ago. "All Quiet on the Western Front" was released 32,000 days ago, and Hollyweird has produced thousands of violent films. So what are the causes of kids killing kids at the highest frequency in American history? Democrats and the DMIC (Democrat Media Industrial Complex) never engage in honest attempts to answer this question because they know they are the primary culprit of this political ill. In my upcoming first book, 10 Warning Signs Your Child is Becoming a Democrat, I avoid policy and hone in on parenting. I believe that if my playbook is followed, we can ensure that future generations of our youth don't grow up to be Democrats. Substantive health care fixes, cures for cancer and AIDS, and the first man and woman on Mars will be as useless as a Willard Romney endorsement if we don't win the youth battle within the four walls of our homes. Democrat Abortionists Go I'd be remiss if I failed to mention the abhorrently increasing zeal for abortions during any stage of pregnancy. The residual effects of Democrat polices, in addition to producing killer kids, also kill our unborn. All of it is by design; nothing in politics is coincidental. To defeat an opponent, one must keenly understand the tactics, methodology, psychology, and motives. Pro-abortion propaganda is genius because its basis is "keep the government out of my life" the core, fundamental tenet of guaranteed constitutional liberties. It's genius also because it sells the belief that restrictive abortion laws won't stop women from aborting children funny, but gun-owners always say the same about gun control. Joesph Goebbels, the Nazi minister of propaganda, as well as Vladimir Kozhevnikov, the founder of Pravda, would blush at the effectiveness of Democrat and DMIC pro-abortion propaganda. It's not enough for Democrat abortionists to peddle the infanticidal mania of zero-restriction abortions. A few weeks ago, Democrat John Rogers, an Alabama state legislator, said: "Kill them now or you kill them later." The "them" are unwanted children, who either are killed in the womb or die on the streets or in prison. There was a truth to what Rogers stated, and I doubt he realized his own irony: he not only confirmed that "it takes a village" a third-world family structure in which the State is the parent and provider is guaranteed to fail, but also admitted that abortion is murder. Rogers didn't stop there; he channeled his inner Josef Mengele, the Nazi concentration camp physician, by suggesting that the final solution to preventing abortions is forced sterilization of men. The United Almost Socialist States America is the one country that has come closest to voluntarily implementing socialism and communism, thanks in large part to the burgeoning love affair between our youth and these -isms. In no way are we in the clear. The war will be long and arduous; 2016 wasn't the end, but the beginning. The youth are the palette by which the Democrats create their art; our young dying is just the cost of doing business to Democrats, who seek not to represent or govern us, but to rule over us, as a monarchy does over its serfs. "He alone who owns the youth gains the future," said Hitler. "Give me just one generation of youth, and I'll transform the whole world," Lenin said. (There's that "transformation" again, the raison d'etre of all tyrants, despots, and Democrats.) It's not just that Democrats want our guns, due process, religious liberties, and other God-given rights; they want the innocence of our children. The most useful political pawns of the Democratic Party are children, precisely because they're defenseless. I don't fault parents, most of whom are good and decent law-abiding Americans, for their ignorance; they don't think about their kids as prey for Leninist Democrats. In the past, Democrats entangled children in their web surreptitiously and covertly in middle-of-the-night doses. Now? Nurse Ratched Nancy Pelosi no longer hides her pursuit of our children; recently, she said, "Capture kids when they're in high school," referring to her support of lowering the voting age to 16. We're no longer up against simple tax-and-spend Democrats; we're up against Democrats whose ideology an amalgam of the worst mass-murdering and mass-suffering ideologies in world history has made killers of our kids. The true victims of "it takes a village" crime, poverty, and squalor are our youths. That fact should keep all of us up at night. And with all due respect, if you're not kept up at night over something anything Democrats do day in and day out, then you're not paying close enough attention. Rich Logis is host of The Rich Logis Show, at TheRichLogisShow.com, and author of the upcoming book 10 Warning Signs Your Child Is Becoming a Democrat. He can be found on Twitter at @RichLogis. NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, remains a problem for the U.S. Did it lose its purpose and objective after the Soviet Union was declared dissolved by Mikhail Gorbachev on December 25, 1991, or is it still a useful instrument of Western military and political policies? The organization did not disband, but rather altered its mission and expanded in numbers, including former Warsaw Pact members Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The U.S., though troubled by these changes, did not withdraw from NATO. Germany remained as the crucial European partner. Though Russia was obviously concerned about these developments, it is unlikely that this NATO expansion was a significant reason for Russia's more aggressive posture in recent years. On April 4, 2019, NATO celebrated its 70th birthday at a gathering of the foreign ministers representing the 29 countries now members of the military pact. The pact began with 12 members in the atmosphere of the Cold War as a shield against aggression of the Soviet Union. Seventy years later, fear of the return of the Cold War is a less substantial phenomenon, and the charge of "collusion" between the presidential campaign of Donald Trump and unnamed Russian officials has been dismissed by the Mueller Report. Yet, there is a hazy line between Russian attempts at subversion of the West, using modern scientific methods as well as traditional activity, and overt conflict. NATO has always differed from other military organizations in that it claims that it is not only a military pact, but also an alliance of countries with shared values, individual liberty, democracy, human rights, and rule of law, and it has a mechanism for collective defense and military command. From the start, there have been ironies in the composition of this "North Atlantic" alliance and in these claims. Geographers have been obliged to accept Balkan countries, and Hungary and Bulgaria as well as Turkey, as countries within the designated region of North Atlantic. In addition, the portrait of Turkey is less democratic than autocratic, under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is the holder of all executive power and who in 1996 defined democracy as "not a goal, but an instrument." A constant source of friction is finance by member-nations. Funding is needed in three areas: military; civil, investment, communications, other non-military costs; and security investment. U.S. president Donald Trump made the disparity in spending by the different countries central to his attitude to NATO, arguing that the U.S. alone cannot account for the vast majority of NATO defense spending. At the NATO summit in 2014, the members committed themselves to spending 2% of GDP for defense. At least 20% of that is supposed to be spent on weapons and improving military capabilities. The basic problem is that only seven of the 29 members, the U.S. (3.57%), the U.K. (2.12%), Greece (2.36%), Poland, and the three Baltic states, meet the 2% target. Germany has never met its commitments to NATO. It is spending 1.5% and may go lower to 1.25%. Germany argues that to raise its defense expenditure to 2% would mean increasing its budget to $65.8 billion from the present $41.6 billion. The political problem is that German Social Democrats, if they gain power, promise more social spending, not defense spending. However, European countries have increased their defense budgets since the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 and aggressive posture since. Many countries are near the 2% mark. NATO has been confronted by a considerable number of strategic, military, and political challenges. One problem is agreement or differences among members on specific issues. Europe and the U.S. have been divided on a number of issues: Kosovo, 19989, when the Kosovo Liberation Army in the conflict was assisted by NATO air support; the Iraq war; the 2015 nuclear weapons deal with Iran; the tension between Spain and Catalonia; the persecution of Muslims in Bosnia; policy in Syria; the security of Libya; membership of Montenegro. Moreover, some members were more sympathetic to Russian interests than others, as in refusal to condemn Russian annexation of Crimea, or are prepared to make deals with the Russians. Turkey insisted on a purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defense system, partly because it could not buy U.S. Patriot missiles. It also threatens the Kurdish region of Rojava in northeast Syria. The Trump administration has differed on the exact relevance and purpose of NATO today as well as on specific issues. Among them are ethnic cleansing in the Balkans; peacekeeping in Bosnia; the war in Iraq, 1991; the extension of security and stability beyond European borders; withdrawal from an intermediate-range nuclear missile treaty with Russia; and withdrawal from Afghanistan. For the Trump administration, NATO should be more focused on issues of terrorism, mass migration, and international trade than on present NATO policy. One indication of the Trump preference is the designation on May 9, 2019 of Brazil as a non-member partner of the NATO alliance, a decision that allows Brazil access to U.S. military technology. Trump also supports Brazil as a member of the OECD, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. More important are two factors: the rivalry, economic, political, and strategic, between the U.S. and China, and a trade war that Trump sees as operating to U.S. disadvantage, and the increase in Russian power and ambitions. The U.S. administration is aware of Russia as a powerful and dangerous force. This was clearly shown by the role of the Su-27, flanker fighters, advanced jet fighters, which patrol the Baltic and challenge NATO planes in international air space. Russian planes in June 2017 flew close to a U.S. Boeing RC-135 reconnaissance plane; at another time, they intercepted a B-52 over the Baltic. The development of Russian missiles means the whole NATO area is in danger. To meet the Russian threat, NATO in July 2018 set up two new military commands and activity to counter cyber-warfare and new plans to protect Poland and the Baltic states. It sent 4,000 troops to the area, accompanied by air and sea patrols. The dilemma remains for Trump. A clear policy should be formulated. At various moments, Trump has doubted the value of NATO and declared that the U.S. would not automatically defend an attacked NATO country, though at the same time, he is still committed to Article 5 of the treaty, which states that if one NATO member is attacked, then all members are attacked. He is certainly opposed to the development of a European Army, which French president Emmanuel Macron appears to have suggested. Is Trump a nationalist or a moderate internationalist, or both? He is skeptical of being involved, as were previous U.S. presidents, in promotion of democracy in the Middle East, as some Europeans have urged as an objective. His focus, clearly articulated, is on specific U.S. interests. The outstanding question is whether, if NATO is ended, Trump can build coalitions of nations with similar values and strategic objectives. Some of my international university students just returned from Ethiopia. The trip is optional for gap year students learning about the Jewish people. There is a backstory to the Ethiopian Jews returning home to Zion that is more exciting and fraught with Israel's good intentions that continues decades later. Their travel guide was one of my Ethiopian Jewish former students who is now a serial entrepreneur living back in Ethiopia. "It's not like anything in any country I've seen before," one young woman from South Africa told our class in Middle East politics. The students joined Ethiopians still living there in prayer with tallis and tefillin. The women dress modestly. They eat kosher, observe the Shabbat, and study Jewish texts with visiting rabbis, she told the class. Controversy rages in Israel whether these remaining practicing Jews have any claim to Jewish lineage. Yet Israel is bringing them home to Zion because nobody gets left behind. "Why don't they bring the rest of [the Ethiopians] to Israel?" asks another incredulous student. "There's only a handful left, and they told us their relatives are already here. It's really wrong what Israel is doing." Right or wrong, this student and other observers give short shrift to the nuances and definitions of "who is a Jew." Rachel Sylvetsky, editor at Aurutz Sheva, on the other hand, has firsthand experience in this field. She explains the situation to me like this: There is a vast difference between the Ethiopian Bete Israel who walked through Sudan in the first aliya, one of whom I hired as the first Ethiopian oleh rabbi in the Israeli educational system, and the later falashmura who converted to Christianity decades ago for economic reasons. Israel accepted them anyway, and they underwent conversion as families because it was really "return," not conversion, but it was far from an easy decision. Those remaining in Ethiopia are being "returned" by Israel to Zion on humanitarian grounds and offered the opportunity to undertake special conversions. Israel's seminal mission is never to leave behind a Jewish refugee. It has fulfilled the mission triumphantly. There are 65 million refugees worldwide in 2019, and not refugee is a Jew without a country to flee to. Israel's Operations Moses, Brotherhood, and Solomon decamped nearly 100,000 exilic Ethiopian Jews in the 1980s and1990s. In thrilling adventures, the kind of which books are written and Hollywood movies are made, teams of Mossad agents, IDF members and civilians, with the help of America and other countries, planned, organized, and went deep into hostile nations of Ethiopia and Sudan. Sudan sent armies in '48 and '73 to fight Israel. It was in Khartoum following the Six-Day War that the Arab Summit rejected any peace with Israel. So Mossad had to construct cover stories for its Operations. Nothing stopped the Israelis or the Jewish Ethiopians. The forlorn walked across vast deserts to meet Israeli agents, who packed them into the largest airplanes on Earth and transported others aboard camouflaged ships. They bravely flew miles above and across unsuspecting African countries and waterways sandwiched between enemy Arab countries in their return to Zion. The stories about Operation Moses are engrossingly told in Mossad Exodus (Geffen Publishing House, 2018). Former Mossad agent Gad Shimron is an author with boots-on-the-ground experience. The book is hard to put down. It is gripping. Shimron writes like any great spy novelist fraught with background, but these are true adventures. The reader feels the pain and angst of the Ethiopians and the brotherly commitment of the Israelis. That's why a Hollywood movie based on the book is in production. The inspiration came from thennewly elected prime minister Menachem Begin. Begin besought the Mossad Chief, "I ask you to use the Mossad to find a way to bring these dear Jews to Israel. Bring the Ethiopian Jewry to me." The Jews in Ethiopia suffered from famine, political and religious oppression, and violence and were under the suspicious eyes of neighbors willing to inform authorities. The Israelis needed a cover story. The Mossad purchased from Italians and remodeled a bankrupt tourist resort on the sea as cover for the true mission. They refurbished an abandoned, dusty airstrip. Both were staging areas to extricate the Ethiopians. There are eight pages of pictures in the book giving gravitas and color. There is plenty of gossip Shimron shares. He talks about interpersonal relationships. There are swashbuckling characters. One has courage that borders on insanity. Field agents resent the big egos of their bosses, whom they find mendacious and petty. His Khartoum bar description and encounters remind me of Bogart in Casablanca. "A couple of Hungarian musicians, a pianist, and a violinist, provided musical ambiance in the bar, which boasted the romantic name Sunset." Then there are the peripatetic international agencies' representatives, charity workers, and Swedish nurses. The reader learns from Shimron that operations are lurching works in progress despite planning to the smallest detail. Timing and preparedness build teamwork. Practice turns behaviors into habits and instinct. Then there are the unanticipated buggers making the reader bite nails to the quick. Things turn bad for the most innocuous reasons and nearly scupper the operations: Avoid suspicious looking phone activity; it is best to stay in touch with headquarters calling "from the outhouse." Sand dust eats away at mechanical devices, causing trucks to break down. Food storage and distribution equipment must be upgraded in the field, or famine lurks. Threaten the mission to medevac a young girl with a high fever. Chase an elderly woman who has run off into the desert, fearful of the noise from the huge airplanes. Do not engage when a Sudanese unit fires a SAM missile at a Hercules transport plane and another launches a high-speed chase after the Mossad. A foreign aid worker starts talking in Hebrew to the agents and nearly blows their cover. "I know you are Israelis...only Israelis cut their salad vegetables so thin." Shimron movingly writes, "I'm no longer objective about anything pertaining to Ethiopian Jews. I admire them, their inner calm and the stamina that enabled them to stand up to terrible hardships on their way to freedom. It is the stamina of heroes. And their smiles and the sound of laughter of Ethiopian children have a unique sound. I heard it for the first time in that remote wadi somewhere in eastern Sudan." About Israel: "Our mission in Sudan was one of the sorts that made the Mossad a legend in the spy world. What other country would be ready to invest tens of millions of dollars to set up an operational infrastructure for secret activity in an enemy country, involving large army forces, only to save several thousand famished refugees in civil war-torn Africa?" Only Israel! Dr. Harold Goldmeier teaches Middle East Politics in Tel Aviv and is a free public speaker to business and community groups. He was an R&T fellow at Harvard and manages an investment fund. The trade negotiations between the Trump administration and the People's Republic of China (PRC) are not rooted in commercial disputes. Though media discussions are dominated by issues about opening markets for U.S. exports limited by Chinese policy, the real issue is national security and the need to keep the balance of power tilted in America's favor. Business is the means, not the end. Comparative national capabilities in industry and technology determine military potential, and financial strength supports economic development and diplomatic influence. China's rapid growth has moved the country from the seventh largest GDP in 1980 to the second largest today with the world's largest manufacturing capacity. Beijing's rise threatens to overturn world politics in the same way Germany did when it overtook Great Britain at the end of the 19th century. It was only because the U.S. economy surpassed the industrial might of Germany that the world wars turned out as they did. Though China's growth rate has slowed from 10% to about 7%, it is still moving at twice the rate of the U.S. economy even with the boost given to it by President Donald Trump. China needs to be slowed down, which means ending the massive flow of capital and technology that has built Beijing's capabilities and which have then been supported by the trade deficit. Americans sent a net $419 billion to China last year by buying their goods, keeping their factories open and their workers employed. Americans bought almost five times the value of goods from China as American-based producers sold to China. Over the last ten years, Americans have sent to China over $3 trillion net via the deficit in goods. Yet this is only the tip of the iceberg. It has been the transfer of technology and its diffusion across the Chinese economy that has empowered the regime, giving it the resources to build military strength and the confidence to adopt an aggressive foreign policy. The tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump are justified by the U.S. Trade Representative's (USTR) "findings of its exhaustive Section 301 investigation that found Chinas acts, policies and practices related to technology transfer, intellectual property and innovation are unreasonable and discriminatory and burden U.S. commerce." Chinese regulations force joint ventures which give majority control to Chinese "partners" of American firms. PRC policy also mandates technology transfers, facilitate "the systematic investment in, and acquisition of, U.S. companies and assets to generate large-scale technology transfer... [and] support cyber intrusions into U.S. commercial computer networks." Beijing's claim it is "opening up" means feasting on the fruits of American innovation. The Trump team has not limited itself to tariffs. It has been waging a major diplomatic campaign against the use of Huawei's 5G technology in the next generation of digital systems. Huawei wants to build a "fully connected world" but has raised concerns about whether a Chinese-built system will have built-in hacks. Huawei is the world's largest telecom firm, its rapid rise heavily subsidized by the government. Its low prices indicate an objective of control more than profits. It was founded in 1987 by Ren Zhengfei, who had worked for the Information Technology Unit of the People's Liberation Army. On May 15, President Trump declared a national emergency and issued an executive order prohibiting U.S. companies from using telecom services that are solely owned, controlled, or directed by a "foreign adversary," meaning Huawei. The administration has also threatened to curtail sharing information with foreign governments if data would be transmitted through a Huawei network. The Secretary of Defense's annual report to Congress on The Military and Security Developments Involving the Peoples Republic of China 2019 lays out the economic component of Beijing's "comprehensive national strategy." The report sees China's leaders "focused on realizing a powerful and prosperous China that is equipped with a 'world-class' military, securing Chinas status as a great power with the aim of emerging as the preeminent power in the Indo-Pacific region." The economic role in this expansion includes "China has mobilized vast resources in support of defense modernization, including 'Made in China 2025' and other industrial development plans, as well as espionage activities to acquire sensitive, dual-use, or military-grade equipment." Key to this mobilization is the effort "to align civil and defense technology development to achieve greater efficiency, innovation, and growth. In recent years, Chinas leaders elevated this initiative, known as Civil-Military Integration (CMI), to a national strategy that incentivizes the civilian sector to enter the defense market." International projects that expand Chinese trade and investment will also yield strategic gains. As the report states, "Chinas advancement of projects such as the 'One Belt, One Road' Initiative (OBOR) will probably drive military overseas basing through a perceived need to provide security for OBOR projects." In short, Beijing thinks seriously about international economics. It rejects out of hand liberal theories about global interdependence that permeate Western discourse and provide cover for transnational business interests who care little about higher national strategy. As the Pentagon report states, "China leverages foreign investments, commercial joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), academic exchanges, the experience that Chinese students and researchers gain from studying in foreign nations, state-sponsored industrial and technical espionage, and the manipulation of export controls for the illicit diversion of dual use technologies to increase the level of technologies and expertise available to support military research, development, and acquisition." Beijing has targeted key sectors such as aerospace and shipbuilding but also pharmaceuticals, rare earth elements, and the tool and dye industry to wipe out foreign competition and gain control of vital supply-chains. While the term "trade war" has often been overused and exaggerated, when applied to the Great Power rivalry between China and America, the term has standing. Unfortunately, American politics is not as unified and determined to maintain national preeminence as is the Chinese dictatorship to gain it. Petty concerns about whether consumer prices might go up due to tariffs are only part of the problem. It's lobbying by Wall Street behind the scenes that pushes the case for appeasement. In his book Appeasing Bankers, Cornell professor John Kirschner argued, "The preferences of finance, especially since they are not felt with equal force in all states, affect the balance of power between states and influence the pattern of international conflict." In China, finance is under state control and serves state interests. Four of the world's ten largest banks are Chinese state-owned entities, with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China number one. Along with other state-owned or guided institutions they will provide the capital for the OBOR. They will not object to Beijing's assertive policies in the South China Sea, or to its support for Iran, or to hikes in the military budget. Kirschner notes, "Typically, but not exclusively, the financial community will be aligned with conservative political parties" in the West. American conservatives are also the ones who most favor a strong military and an active foreign policy in defense of American preeminence. The need is to keep the "capitalist" and "national security" wings united behind programs that generate both wealth and power, the twin foundations of Great Powers. President Ronald Reagan achieved this to bring down the Soviet Union by leveraging superior economic might Moscow could not match without adopting reforms that collapsed the regime. Controls had kept U.S.-Soviet trade to a minimum. President Trump is trying to do the same, but in different circumstances. He has to reverse decades of foolish policies based on a fantasy view of the world. President Trump has explicitly said that his tariffs will compel American firms to move operations out of China. But the real message is that business ties to Beijing are no longer politically tenable. Conservatives must help the general public focus on the larger stakes of the contest with China. America can prevail because it is still stronger. Washington can use its advantages to contain Beijing before it becomes a true peer rival. William R. Hawkins is a consultant specializing in international economic and national security issues. He is a former Republican staff member on the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee. For the last two years, the media have been complaining that Donald Trump was violating the Constitution's emoluments clause and enriching himself. There has been a series of nuisance lawsuits because heaven forbid people from foreign countries be staying at or playing at Trump properties. There is no indication that Trump is charging anyone extra or handing out favors for them staying there, but the lawsuits and garbage stories go on. Under those rules, no one who owns businesses that have any foreign customers need apply for the presidency. That way, only career politicians can win. Now the Washington Post and others are running stories cheering that Trump's businesses are faltering. Shouldn't that show that he isn't using the presidency to enrich himself? The media have run fake news stories for over two years about Russian collusion, obstruction when there is no crime, and any number of other things where they are essentially campaigning for Democrats while seeking to destroy Trump and other Republicans. The truth and the American people haven't mattered for a long time only putting Democrats back in power, which makes the media much more dangerous to our freedom and the integrity of our elections than anything Russia or China has done or is doing. While journalists are up in arms because people from foreign countries are staying at Trump properties, they never cared about Hillary and her family enriching themselves greatly while she was in office, selling access to foreign countries. They also didn't care as Obama handed out taxpayer money and jobs to big contributors. The media looked the other way as Obama and his team confiscated money from taxpayers and set up slush funds at CFPB, Justice, and the IRS and illegally diverted funds for political purposes and to reward supporters. They also didn't care when Obama saved big supporters Google and Netflix huge amounts of money by allowing them to mooch off internet providers when he implemented Net Neutrality. (Congress did not pass Net Neutrality. Obama used the stacked FCC to implement the rules.) Frequently, Obama used his pen and his phone to dictatorially implement things he liked, yet the media didn't deride him as a dictator. Google essentially had complete access to Obama through his entire eight-year term and was rewarded handsomely. How much support did Obama and Democrats get from high-tech companies in political contributions and in unpaid support when they manipulated search results and censured people who have opposing views? After Obama left office, he and Michelle were awarded a $50-million contract. What a nice kickback. In summary: The media and other Democrats are claiming that Trump is corrupt and unqualified for the presidency because people from foreign countries happen to stay at hotels with his name on them in the ordinary course of business but were willing to overlook the continuous corruption of Obama, Hillary, and others for eight long years. The abuse of power, criminal activity, and obstruction of justice were real under Obama. They are made up charges against Trump. California's election has unsettled many, given the role of ballot-harvesting in supposedly flipping Reagan-country Orange County entirely blue in the last midterm. But the details rolling out now are getting far more disturbing. RealClearPolitics investigative reporter Susan Crabtree has put together a string of criminalities surrounding the way California runs its elections which makes one wonder if California has adopted the Venezuela Model of electoral goverance. She starts with a sickening new report that California's election was hacked through its "motor-voter' system, the system the state has to register as many votes as possible. If a California resident applies for a drivers license in the state, he (or she) gets registered to vote whether he likes it or not. An applicant can only say 'no' to the registration, not 'yes,' the 'yes' is embedded into the system. It's a set-up that relies on the "honor system" for a voter's claims of valid citizenship to vote and there is no verification. Naturally, such a system is vulnerable to foreign cyberattacks from abroad and one actually happened, from Croatia, and it was one they tried to cover up. Here's what occurred, according to Crabtree's report: The state has had a motor-voter system up and running for years, but a new law required the Department of Motor Vehicles to electronically transmit information on drivers who are eligible to vote and who visit the Golden States DMV offices to the states voter rolls, unless they opt out. Among the concerns surfacing now is that state officials never publicly acknowledged the hacking until California media reported on it last month. And there are lingering questions and serious doubts over whether the systems numerous glitches have been fixed in the lead-up to the 2020 presidential primary and general election. California officials moved up the states primary from June to March to boost its role in determining who wins the Democratic nomination for president, making it even more critical to ensure the integrity of voter registrations, election watchdogs argue. Up until now, most of us in this state have been pretty confident that our election was hack-proof because it involves paper ballots filled in with a stylus pen on punch-card. It's pokey, but no one can change the ballot a voter casts. This hack is done at a higher point upstream in the system, where voters have no control, and they can't even watch their vote being changed by the computer system (as the Venezuelans could) to know there was fraud going on. Here's the other disturbing implication of the hack - Crabtree notes that activists say there now are privacy concerns. What a normal person might ask from that is whether some Big Brother manipulating this hackable system might be knowing and recording just how you vote. If hackers can do it, you can bet the state counting the ballots can do it. It's certainly cause for concern. Crabtree headlines her report as a hacker issue worth watching, but her report is brimming with other kinds of irregularities going on in the state as a result of the state's one-party rigged system. She writes: The entire rollout was bogged down with bugs and glitches responsible for upwards of 100,000 inaccurate voter-registration records, including wrong party preferences, voters incorrectly being designated as wanting to vote by mail, and at least 1,500 noncitizens wrongly allowed to register to vote. Among these were 1,500 illegally registered to vote non-citizens. Those are the ones they found. Who knows how many this bunch of one-party riggers didn't 'find.' Crabtree notes that none of these non-citizen registrations were of illegals, but expresses skepticism at the blithe claims. She's right because declaring one's immigration status honestly is pretty much done on an unverified honor system. If there's a coyote you owe money to as an illegal, and he's got connections to the Sacramento mob for favors paid, how can we be surprised that well... what happens, happens. With that possibility, it doesn't help that the state is being pretty unforthcoming about whether any non-citizens voted at all. The state officials running this, led by secretary of state Alexa Padilla, would an interest in ensuring that that information does not get out. It gets worse. Officials involved in this motor-voter rollout have been fired or ousted, Crabtree writes, two big ones. That's signals something apparently so bad that even California's public employee unions, who will defend any incompetence and keep the world's crappiest workers on the job, could not stop. The state is getting sued by an electoral integrity watchdog group, for its bad motor-voter rollout, which obviously, it thinks it can win. Here's another problem: Not only did a lot of people (such as me) get ballots in the mail we didn't ask for, the better to provide opportunities for the state's abundant ballot harvesters, some of whom are illegal immigrants, people who asked for ballots sent to them by mail didn't get them. Were those ballots in Republican areas of Orange County. According to Crabtree's report, it sounds like it. I know my parents didn't get theirs, and had to walk on canes to the polling places to cast their ballots provisionally. Apparently this happened to a lot of people. Worse still, there were long lines, and even worse than that, voting booths ran out of supplies, prompting them to tell voters 'too bad' and ending their right to vote after waiting in long lines. One wonders how many Republican areas were affected by this even as leftists went ballot-harvesting in illegal-immigrant-rich districts, often with illegals collecting the ballots. There was no supply shortage reported on that front. Yet despite the automation, Crabtree notes that provisional ballot counts due to problematic registrations went down not at all in this past election. Democrats just got the result they wanted. Had enough? Several states these day are suing to keep Republicans such as President Trump off the ballot. With garbage like this going on, it would seem that a better lawsuit would be to keep California's tainted ballots from being counted. They are being tainted across the board and apparently even beyond the U.S. One can only hope that the slew of lawsuits wending their way through the state's courts can have an impact. There are quite a few fair-minded judges in the state and one can only hope that a case lands on one of their dockets. During a recent drive through California's central coast, my husband and I stopped in a small town to refuel and buy some drinks. In the mini-mart, I discovered the spork, an amusingly shaped hybrid between a spoon and a fork. I showed it to Jeff and said, "Look! Transgendered cutlery!" We laughed and ate our lunches with our sporks. I shared my little joke on Facebook, along with a photo of a plastic fork; a plastic spoon; and, to the right of them both, the spork. I thought it was funny and I knew many of my Facebook friends would get a laugh. Many people immediately "liked" it, and a few added their own pointed observations, such as "If you like your old cutlery, you can keep your old cutlery." I also knew I'd get pushback by the mirthless and myopic members of the P.C. brigade. In less time than you can say "I'm feeling triggered," they pounced. "There's nothing new about sporks, just as there's nothing new about transgendered people, if you hadn't noticed," huffed one woman, perhaps from the safety of her Handmaiden's cloak. A man whom I have not seen or spoken to in more than fifteen years called me a bigot who surely hates transgendered people. My "intent wasn't only to malign transgender people, it was to malign the fact that they have a voice in society," he accused. While he was at it, he listed many other categories of minorities I had hurt or trivialized on Facebook over the years. Like a KGB agent, he had been watching me. And he kept a list. Heavy charges, indeed, from the woke elite! This hysterical and vitriolic response to a mild joke about plastic cutlery demonstrates why most Americans have developed a well deserved case of "PCSD" Politically Correct Stress Disorder. Symptoms include joining secret Facebook groups of like-minded people, indigestion, and uncontrollable eye twitches upon hearing the words "cisgender," "cultural appropriation," and "marginalized." Humor needs room to breathe. The vise grip of P.C. extremists has had a chilling effect on comedy. Many stand-up comics will no longer perform on college campuses, because a minority of snowflake students can no longer tolerate any joke they may find offensive. People's careers have been destroyed by an inappropriate joke, even after they apologize. Since I work for myself, I was safe from being fired, which emboldened me to post my spork joke on social media. More seriously, though, I'm unwilling to be silenced by the P.C. police. Last fall, The Atlantic ran a story titled "Americans Strongly Dislike PC Culture," which revealed that 80 percent of Americans who responded to a study believe that P.C. culture has stifled free conversation. Even Bill Maher agrees, having warned during interviews that the bullying and threatening tactics of P.C. warriors are dangerous and self-defeating. Humor is an essential life tool, not a luxury. Funny and clever jokes and stories help us relax a little, regain perspective, and avoid gloom, even during painful times. Shared laughter is also a bonding experience, creating some of life's most precious memories. If we laugh hard enough, humor even doubles as aerobic workout, burning up calories and tightening our abs! Humor will always be subjective, and humor without a point of view isn't even funny. There is no pleasing everyone, but you are almost guaranteed always to offend someone. For example, much of my writing has focused on my Jewish religious practice, yet I have received fan mail from a Muslim in Saudi Arabia and angry mail from a Jew in Brooklyn who accused me of spreading damaging speech when I poked fun at the Jewish obsession with Chinese food. Go figure. Maybe it's time to gather up the failed experiment of hypersensitive political correctness, with its endless restrictions on our speech, and stick a spork in it. Judy Gruen's latest book is The Skeptic and the Rabbi: Falling in Love with Faith (She Writes Press, 2017). Her work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, New York Daily News, Boston Globe, Aish.com, the Jewish Journal, and many other media outlets. It's always so good to hear from Nikki Haley! The former ace United Nations ambassador went after Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with a brickbat, calling out the socialist congresswoman for her cowardly failure to articulate any response to the ugly effects of socialism run by a vile dictator in Venezuela. When a reporter asked Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez if the Maduro regime is legitimate, she offered this non-answer: I defer to caucus leadership on how we navigate this. A simple no would have sufficed. https://t.co/GIGQd7ffOh Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) May 15, 2019 What she highlighted was the sheer weirdness of Comrade Ocasio-Cortez's socialism, describing Ocasio-Cortez's reply as a 'non-answer.' Ocasio-Cortez, of course, continued to defend the regime after she was called out on it - not with vigor and gusto - but in a creepily new tone, redolent of brainwashd socialist commissar automatons of the Soviet era - stating that she was deferring to the collective. If that's not proof of socialism's deadening effect as its inevitable failures mount, what is? It also tells us a lot about Ocasio-Cortez. Her cowardly deferral to some sort of collective wisdom signals that she could be one odious tyrant if she ever found herself in a position of power. Someone who would defend the Maduro dictatorship in the face of all it's repulsive actions and say it was a group decision is not someone who is ever going to stand up for what's right. She's what Soviet dissident writer Vladimir Voinovich called a "blotting paper" bureaucrat. Which doesn't speak well for her. The Daily Caller noted that it's not the first time Haley has exposed the socialist claptrappers in Congress for what they are. Here's a two-week-old smackdown tweet they found of Haley giving Ocasio-Cortez's fellow socialist Rep. Ilhan Omar the facts of life on how socialist Venezuela has become a hellhole: .@IlhanMN the avg Venezuelan adult has lost 24 lbs. Babies have no medicine. Families have to walk miles in the heat to get the only meal they may have that day. All bc of the corrupt Maduro regime. Your comments are so far from the truth. Cuba and Russia appreciate your support. https://t.co/o1ADtlwrtN Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) May 1, 2019 These tweets are a public service for common sense. They are very redolent of Haley's brave stance for Venezuela as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, hopping down with the Venezuelan protestors at the United Nations with a bullhorn, and not only telling Maduro he needed to go, but heartening the Venezuelan democracy fighters. Thanks, Nikki. And hey, Nikki? Quit being a stranger! Provides Update, Will Host Investor Conference Call Perth, May 17, 2019 AEST (ABN Newswire) - LNG Limited ( ASX:LNG ) ( OTCMKTS:LNGLY ) (LNGL or the Company) continues to market Magnolia LNG across the globe consistent with our plan to sign customers on a 'first come first serve basis' regardless of a buyer's location. Our commitment remains two-fold: achieve a final investment decision for Magnolia LNG while providing a fair return to our shareholders. At the same time, we continue to manage our cash prudently in this demanding market. The entire LNG Limited team is resiliently working to execute contracts and ready Magnolia for construction.Recent trade and geopolitical developments, particularly the ongoing trade dispute between the United States and China, have impacts on the global LNG market. The main effect is long-term deals between business entities from the U.S. and China will not be signed until this dispute is settled. This pause impacts the entire LNG market, as others around the globe are being cautious with decisions while this dispute is ongoing, especially when coupled with other emerging factors including a soft spot market for LNG. It is our strong hope that China and the U.S. will strive for an agreement as businesses in both nations remain anxious to transact with each other. A resolution to the China-U.S. trade issue will also likely lead to increased urgency in other global LNG markets.LNGL invites analysts, shareholders, and other interested parties to join a conference call with senior management on Wednesday, 22 May, at 9:00 a.m. (AEST - Sydney Time) which is 6:00 p.m. (U.S. - CST) on Tuesday, May 21, or 7:00 p.m. EST. During the call, management will provide an update on LNGL's strategy and current activities.The conference call will be recorded and placed on the Company's website.Conference call (toll free) numbers are as follows: Australia: 1800 123 296 or +61 2 8038 5221Outside Australia:Canada: 1 855 5616 766China: 4001 203 085Hong Kong: 800 908 865India: 1800 2666 836Japan: 0120 994 669New Zealand: 0800 452 782Singapore: 800 616 2288United Kingdom: 0808 234 0757United States: 1 855 293 1544After dialing the conference call number above, please then dial the:CONFERENCE ID:6178067ABOUT MAGNOLIA LNG PROJECTMagnolia LNG proposes to construct and operate up to four liquefaction production trains, each with a capacity of 2.2 mtpa or greater using the Company's patented OSMR(R) LNG process technology. Construction and operation includes two 160,000 m3 full containment storage tanks, ship, barge, and truck loading facilities, and supporting infrastructure. The LSTK EPC contract includes all elements of the project necessary to bring the facility into full guaranteed production operations. Magnolia LNG is fully permitted, having received its FERC Order and both FTA and non-FTA approval from the DOE. Final investment decision and initiation of construction is expected upon execution of sufficient offtake agreements to support financing.About Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd Liquefied Natural Gas Limited ( ASX:LNG) ( OTCMKTS:LNGLY) (LNGL) is an ASX listed company whose portfolio consists of 100% ownership of the following companies: - Magnolia LNG, LLC (Magnolia LNG), a US-based subsidiary, which is developing an eight mtpa or greater LNG export terminal, in the Port of Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA; - Bear Head LNG Corporation Inc. (Bear Head LNG), a Canadian-based subsidiary, which is developing an 8 12 mtpa LNG export terminal in Richmond County, Nova Scotia, Canada with potential for further expansion; - Bear Paw Pipeline Corporation Inc. (Bear Paw), which is proposing to construct and operate a 62.5 km gas pipeline lateral to connect gas supply to Bear Head LNG; and - LNG Technology Pty Ltd, a subsidiary which owns and develops the Company's OSMR LNG liquefaction process, a midscale LNG business model that plans to deliver lower capital and operating costs, faster construction, and improved efficiency, relative to larger traditional LNG projects. We have been repeatedly told, especially by neo-liberal, neo-conservative, and libertarian proponents, that we need to knock down barriers to trade as we seek as much free trade as possible with all players. Part of why this is said is because it will help existing authoritarian, totalitarian, and corrupt nations transition toward greater liberty and better treatment of their people, as well as reduce potential hostility to other nations. We are already beginning to see the consequences of this naive view. Firstly, are these nations necessarily treating their people better because of this greater degree of freer trade? Using China as an example, although for some time it appeared as if China was losing its grip on its people, allowing a greater degree of freedom, the increasing crackdown on religious freedom, as well as the recently unveiled social credit system, suggests otherwise. If freer trade was supposed to improve upon such things, why is it not happening now? Free trade is also considered a tool to reduce global and regional hostility. Concerns over what led to the Second World War have been pushed as to why we should not put up trade barriers. But have we really stopped this problem or merely delayed it (and weakened ourselves in the meantime)? China has grown ever more powerful as it trades its goods to the West while not always providing the same level of trade access to its own economy. Through this, the Chinese have enriched themselves, enhanced their technological standing, and grown their military power. In addition, they have used their newly found economic prowess to become the most aggressive economic colonizer in the world, especially (though not exclusively) in Africa, and have been often cited as a bad actor in relation to economic espionage. With this greater economic and military power, China has begun to leverage its position in the world, especially regionally. It has also weakened the industrial position of nations like the U.S., who have seen cheaper, frequently lower-grade products flood their markets, leaving the domestic industries floundering and their populations and governments less amenable to China as a trading partner. (To be fair, there are other factors involved, but to say this isn't an ingredient would be unreasonable.) To say all this will not lead to eventual hostile actions is naive and ignorant of the past. China is the prime but not the only example. Other "bad actors" could be pointed to, such as Saudi Arabia with its well known human rights abuses and support of terrorist-oriented Wahhabism. Should we trade with such nations or, at the very least, consider curtailing our trade, especially when we know full well they are taking advantage of the conditions of any such trade to benefit themselves at our ultimate expense? Although, as a rule, I do not believe that tariffs are the answer, it should be noted that they have been used to great effect during the rise of all Western nations. Indeed, as much as we speak of abolishing them in our current trade agreements, such has practically never been done. They exist today, though often better hidden. Perhaps a more realist approach is needed: to enhance trade with "good actor" nations, including reduced tariffs, while using tariffs and other measures to ensure a more arm's-length approach in trade relations with "bad actor" nations. Western nations, along with more similarly minded nations such as Japan and South Korea, should create a stronger economic bloc, with other nations kept more at bay (if not completely cut off) until clear signs of real, positive change are visible, whereupon trade policy could be re-evaluated. For far too long, we have played a truly naive game that assumed that all nations are fundamentally the same, without appreciating that such cultural relativism has little to no foundation in reality. Cam is a married father of three. He currently lives on the left coast of his native Canada, notorious for its milder winters and consistent levels of liberal thinking. He's a university educated educator, blogger, former generally indifferent employee within the financial sector, and failed musician. A Christian, of what has usually been termed politically conservative leanings, he prefers to be labeled a realist at this time, mostly for lack of a better term, as too often conservatives have been little more than slow-motion liberals. Few people have the audacity to speak the truth about the underlying problem with the efforts to engineer diversity which in practice means that blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans receive a share of jobs, college admissions, income, and other products of achievement at least proportional to their share of the population. Fortunately, Heather Mac Donald of the Manhattan Institute has a lot of guts. Last night, Ms. Mac Donald appeared on Tucker Carlson Tonight and discussed the newly-announced adversity score adopted by the College Board publishers of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). As explained by the New York Times: The company announced on Thursday that it will include a new rating, which is widely being referred to as an adversity score, of between 1 and 100 on students test results. An average score is 50, and higher numbers mean more disadvantage. The score will be calculated using 15 factors, including the relative quality of the students high school and the crime rate and poverty level of the students neighborhood. The rating will not affect students test scores, and will be reported only to college dmissions officials as part of a larger package of data on each test taker. The Wall Street Journal expresses the decision factors in this graphic: Source: Wall Street Journal In his introduction Carlson outlined many problems with the whole idea: Its kept a secret. Trust us, in effect, they say. There is no appeal possible. And as a black box whose inner workings are secret, it becomes an ideal vehicle for engineering the racial results admissions offices desire. It is easily gamed fake addresses, even possible income manipulation (by claiming a lot of depreciation, for instance, the way that Donald Trump reported negative income in the 1980s) And it provides perverse incentives, rewarding victim status, not achievement. Parents who start out with no advantages and work hard to provide a better life for their kids will now be handicapping them if they have high incomes and live in nice neighborhoods with good schools. But leave it to Heather Mac Donald to cut to the chase: all of this diversity engineering is driven by the seemingly intractable racial achievement gap. If we could close the gap by changing culture, the whole diversity discussion would go away. She explains that the gap is driven by culture. The acting white syndrome common in contemporary black culture stigmatizes effort. The high scores achieved by children of poor Asian immigrant families prove the point. Their parents culture emphasizes effort, persistence, and deferred gratification. Those cultural values are not inherent in any race, but are embraced by members of different cultures to different degrees. The Wall Street Journal provides excellent evidence of the SAT score distribution reported by race and by household income and parents educational level, which can serve as proxies: Source: Wall Street Journal She says that the idea that privilege, not hard work, persistence and discipline drive better scores is ridiculous. She adds that blacks kids know that they are not held to the same standard, have less incentive to push themselves, making the problem worse. Watch: Some further thoughts from me: Since college admissions are a zero-sum issue (for every person who gets in, another person is denied submission), what is called an adversity score used to grant an advantage becomes a privilege penalty for those who do not have an adversity plus added to their admissions file. This is precisely why the federal prosecutions of families that paid bribes to gain advantages for their children in elite college admissions are harming the public. Their crimes have victims. So does the SATs scheme. Heather Mac Donald states that David Coleman, the head of the College Board (and also called the architect of the common core curriculum in the media) has thrown the College Board into the excuse-making grievance industry, which is true. But it is important to add that the financial self-interest of his organization is at stake. The College Board is reacting to demand from colleges, many of which are making use if the SATs optional, or even dropping the requirement entirely, precisely because it does not yield the desired racial distribution of scores. Fewer students taking the test, because colleges dont require it, means less money for the College Board. By adding the adversity score and therefore a veneer of pseudo-science to the racial engineering of outcomes, the College Board is feathering its own financial nest. So it's not only about hypocrisy, racial engineering, and achievement gaps, it's also about the money. Socialism is the subject of much talk in the United States, fueled by would-be Democratic presidential candidates who lean toward some version of that socioeconomic model -- and polls in which many voters sympathize with that view. As someone who has witnessed varieties of socialism in Latin America and Europe, I think the real danger in the United States is not the ideological radicalization of the Democratic Party, the political conversion of millions of Americans, or the emergence of a viable socialist party on a national scale. Rather, the real danger is the impact that the countrys intractable structural problems could have on peoples idea of how capitalism works. We have already seen how the financial crisis of 2008, the governments ensuing rescue of major corporations, the prolonged recession, and the temporary dislocations brought about by globalization have fueled illiberal populism, right and left, in recent years. Many people blame market capitalism for the failure, a decade ago, of a system in which government intervention -- specifically, a politically engineered credit boom -- played a much bigger role than free enterprise. Given that the last 10 years have seen a major boost to financial assets and corporations (again, through monetary easing and other interventionism) while part of the middle class was painfully reducing its debts, it is likely that the next crisis and recession will reinforce the notion that what is failing is the free market. We have learned that the U.S. budget deficit grew 15 percent in the first half of fiscal 2019: between October and March, expenses exceeded revenue by almost $700 billion. Contrary to widespread perceptions, the reason had little to do with tax cuts and revenue -- which actually grew 1 percent while spending grew 5 percent. The Treasury has released its 2018 financial report, and it isnt pretty. Although in recent years the governments primary deficit (not counting the servicing of the debt) has tended to go down and growing interest payments seemed to be the main problem, projections indicate that both are now headed in the wrong direction. The crux of the matter is the unsustainable commitments the U.S. government has made and refuses to pare down. We tend to talk of the U.S. debt as equivalent to 100 percent of GDP, but that proportion will be dwarfed in the not-too-distant future if nothing changes soon. The debt will double in less than three decades if we leave out government-sponsored entities --such as Freddie Mac; if we include them (which, of course, we should), the doubling will occur much sooner. The Treasury has also calculated the net present value of future liabilities (essentially Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid) to more realistically estimate the debt. If we take that into account, we are talking about five times GDP. Various studies have projected expenditures to exceed revenues in one of the Social Security trust funds as soon as 2022, and one of the Medicare trust funds has been running a deficit for several years; it will likely be depleted by 2029. By way of consolation, the United States is not alone. The net present value of pension liabilities amounts to several times GDP in many European countries (more than three times in Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Italy). None of this has anything to do with the free-enterprise capitalist system -- quite the opposite. But the populist and, dare I say, socialist zeitgeist in which this crisis of government is taking place will push millions of people to lose faith in markets as the prime drivers of prosperity and social mobility when these imbalances come to a head and produce the inevitable financial and economic disruptions; that is, unless a consensus develops among decisionmakers about the urgent need to attack the statist root of the problem. Alvaro Vargas Llosa is a senior fellow at the Independent Institute. He is the author of Global Crossings: Immigration, Civilization and America. Thomas Alva Edison's invention, or shall we say perfection, of the light bulb helped brighten up homes of people all across the world, but he is especially revered in Japan. Cleveland-based newspaper The Plain Dealer says Japanese people represent the largest percentage of visitors to Edisons childhood home in Milan, Ohio. Edison shares an unlikely connection with Japan. His admirers are at every corner of the country, but the relationship is especially deep with the citizens of Yawata City, in Kyoto Prefecture. There is a monument to Edison at the Iwashimizu Hachiman Shrine, and at the foot of the mountain where the shrine is located, there is a small shopping district called Edison Street with a bronze statue of him. Yawata City is also a sister city to Milan, where Edison was born, and since the early 1980s, many happy exchanges of gifts have been made between the people of both places. The bamboo grove near Iwashimizu Hachimangu Shrine in Kyoto. Bamboo from this area was used to make filaments for the first light bulbs. Photo credit: mTaira/Shutterstock.com Edison began experimenting with incandescent light bulbs in 1878. Incandescent lamps produce light by using electricity to heat a thin strip of material, called a filament, until it gets hot enough to glow. Many inventors had tried to perfect the incandescent lamp but the bulbs they built had extremely short lives. Others were expensive to make which made them impossible to apply on a large scale commercially. Still others drew large amounts of current that required excessively thick wires that again raised costs. Finding a good material for the filament was one major problem that Edison eventually overcame. Edison realized that in order to keep current flow down he has to find a material that has high resistance. In order to prolong the life of the filament, the material should also be durable to heat. After testing thousands of materials, ranging from platinum to beard hair, Edison discovered that a filament made of carbon has the properties he was looking for. Edison decided to try a carbonized cotton thread filament. That bulb glowed for a record fourteen hours. Edison immediately applied for a patent, where he described that the carbon filament could be made from various materials such as cotton and linen thread, wood splints, papers coiled in various ways. Edison continued to experiment with different organic materials which he carbonized in his laboratory. He contacted biologists and had them send different plant fibers from the tropics. He sent his workers to different places around the globe looking for the perfect material. Edison estimated that he tested no fewer than 6,000 vegetable growths, and ransacked the world for the most suitable filament material. Carbon filament lamps. Photo credit: Ulfbastel/Wikimedia One of Edisons workers, William H. Moore, sent him samples from a bamboo grove growing near the Iwashimizu Hachiman Shrine in Kyoto in 1880. The species, Phyllostachys bambusoides, is native to China and Japan, where the hollow bamboo stems are used to make flutes and in numerous arts and crafts. The bamboo also made fine fishing rods. Edison himself had encountered one of these rods during a fishing trip to Wyoming, two years earlier, where he recalled examining a few threads from the bamboo fishing pole. Its not clear whether Edison asked Moore to send him that particular species of bamboo, or Moore sent them to Edison of his own volition. In any case, Edison discovered that carbonized bamboo made excellent lamp filaments. To make these filaments, pieces of a single bamboo plant was sliced lengthwise into extremely fine strips, and bent to their desired hairpin or looped shapes in order to fit into the bulb. They were then covered with powdered carbon and heated inside a furnace at an extremely high temperature for several hours before allowing them to cool. During this process, the bamboo strips turns from its initial cellulose structure to a pure carbon structure, ready to be mounted in the glass bulbs. However, the bamboo filament can only be as long as the distance between two joints of the bamboo cane. This restricted the length of the filament, and thus put a limit to how bright a carbon filament light bulb could be. Light bulbs made from carbonized bamboo filament did not burn much brighter than a candle, but they did burn significantly longer than any existing filament at that time. Some of the bulbs Edison and his team built burned for over 1,200 hours. Iwashimizu Hachiman Shrine. Photo credit: Patrick Vierthaler/Flickr Carbon filament became the dominant material in the manufacture of incandescent lamps until the development of the tungsten filament that lasted longer and gave brighter light than the carbon filament. The first tungsten filament lamps were made by a Hungarian company called Tungsram in 1904. By 1911, Edisons company, General Electric, had switched to tungsten. Edison died in 1931. Three years later, the Thomas Alva Edison Monument was built within the Iwashimizu Hachimangus precincts at the top of Mt. Otokoyama. When Madeleine Edison Sloane, Edison's daughter, visited Iwashimizu Hachimangu in 1964, she was said to have been deeply moved to see the memorial and remarked that she had never seen such a marvelous monument in the U.S. Every year on the occasion of Edisons birth and death anniversary, a light festival takes place at Iwashimizu Hachiman Shrine in which traditional bamboo lanterns are lit around the monument along with the playing of the American national anthem. Photo credit: Katie/Flickr Photo credit: Douglas Sprott/Flickr The polarizing ban intervening in the United States private sector that President Donald Trump signed earlier this week and effectively banned Huawei from doing any sort of business in the country will inevitably cause significant economic harm to America, the Chinese firm said in a brief statement sent to media outlets following the White Houses latest effort to control domestic trade. A spokesperson for the Shenzen-based conglomerate argued the newest executive order doesnt serve anyones interest in the long term, explicitly stating Huawei is entirely opposed to the initiative authorized on the behest of the Bureau of Industry and Security, a unit within the U.S. Commerce Department. Huawei is predicting the ban will eventually impact tens of thousands of U.S. jobs and wreak havoc within its supply chain to the point of disrupting international relations with China, primarily due to the fact the company is still the biggest telecom equipment manufacturer in the world, as well as the number-two smartphone maker, trailing only behind Huawei. Needless to stay, Huaweis statement is nothing more than a pro forma reaction to the newest development; the company is neither expecting the Trump administration to back down from the move anytime soon nor does it believe a hit to Washington-Beijing relations is anything the White House is particularly concerned about. After all, antagonizing China has quite possibly been the most consistent policy of this cabinet since it took office in early 2017. Advertisement Sure, Huawei did vow to seek immediate legal remedies to counter the ban but the stateside judicial system generally doesnt stand in the way of the executives interventionism when such actions come alongside formal justification of preserving national security. Due to that exact same reason, most industry watchers give Huawei essentially zero chances of successfully suing the U.S. government for discriminating against its products and services. The company filed for litigation earlier this year, not long after its Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada upon request of the American DOJ. Its legal team argued Washington has zero evidence of any sort of spying against American entities being conducted on the part of Huawei because no such thing ever happened, either on the behest of Chinas communist administration or on its own. Regardless, with the firm being repeatedly labeled a national security threat due to its close ties to Beijing, a scenario wherein it sees even the smallest of legal victories against the American government is extremely improbable. While the executive order signed by the President on Wednesday marked one of the rare few occasions that saw Washington prohibitively intervene in the 21st-century private segment, its far from unexpected; last summer, Congress approved a spending bill with a late amendment barring federal agencies and contractors from pretty much the same thing: buying or licensing any sort of technologies either made and merely associated with Huawei, with the only difference being that the original order specifically mentioned the Chinese firm by name, in addition to hitting ZTE, another telecom and consumer electronics firm from the Far Eastern country, with identical sanctions. Posted on: May 17, 2019 1:30 PM Archbishop Ian Ernest, the Bishop of Mauritius and former Primate of the Anglican Church of the Indian Ocean, is to become the Archbishop of Canterburys next Personal Representative to the Holy See and Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome. He will take up his new role towards the end of the year following an official Papal Visit to Mauritius by Pope France in September. In his current role, Archbishop Ian has worked closely with his Roman Catholic counterpart, the Bishop of Port Louis, Cardinal Maurice Piat. The two have written joint statements on environmental and social issues and have delivered joint Christmas messages for Mauritian television. The two co-lead one of the top schools on the Mauritian island of Rodrigues, the ecumenical Rodrigues College, which was formed in 1973 by the merger of St Louis Roman Catholic School and St Barnabas Anglican School. When Archbishop Ians mandate as Archbishop and Primate of the Indian Ocean was renewed in 2012, he invited a Roman Catholic priest to preach the sermon. I feel deeply honoured and humbled by this appointment, Archbishop Ian said. It is a calling from God which I accept with all humility. I will try my best to honour this calling and to honour the office. I look forward to working in close collaboration with the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Board of Governors of the Anglican Centre in Rome. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said that he was delighted with the appointment, saying that it comes at an exciting time in the growing and important relationship between the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church. He added: The Anglican Centre in Rome was established just over 50 years ago at the time of the first public meeting between a Pope and an Archbishop of Canterbury since the Reformation. Over the past 50 years the relationship between my predecessors and successive Popes; and the connections between people involved in official ecumenical dialogues, has deepened that relationship. It is bearing much fruit as the joint Anglican, Catholic and Presbyterian retreat at the Vatican last month for the political leaders in South Sudan demonstrates. Archbishop Ian will bring to his new role a wealth of experience in practical ecumenical engagement; and significant connections throughout the Anglican Communion. I look forward to working with him as we continue to develop our relationship with the Catholic Church. Bishop Michael Burrows, the Bishop of Cashel, Ferns and Ossory in the Church of Ireland, chairs the Anglican Centres Board of Governors. He welcomed the appointment, saying that Archbishop Ian brings with him to Rome great enthusiasm for the task, a warm personality and vast experience of his own province and the wider Anglican Communion as a former Archbishop of the Indian Ocean. He will be very well suited to the work of an ambassador for the whole Communion in Rome, and to strengthening the role of the ACR as a place of hospitality and study. His track record in practical ecumenism is highly impressive, and the Governors look forward to working with him in the coming years and cherishing his great vision and energy. His experience in ecumenism dates to his childhood, when his father became the first Anglican priest to preach in a Catholic Church in Mauritius. He attended Roman Catholic primary and secondary schools and, when he was studying for ordination, attended some courses at a Roman Catholic seminary. Archbishop Ian has been involved in wider ecumenical work with other Christian churches, and worked with other Christian leaders in Mauritius to establish an ecumenical training college for both clergy and laity. He was awarded the Cross of St Augustine for services to the Anglican Communion in 2008 by the then-Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams. In March this year, he was made Grand Commander of the Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean (GCSK) the highest rank or distinction of Mauritius civilian honours by the countrys Acting President, Barlen Vyapoory. He is a member of the Archbishops Task Group, established following the 2016 Primates Meeting to restore relationships, rebuild mutual trust, heal the legacy of hurt and explore deep differences in the Anglican Communion, and was a member of the Design Group for the 2008 Lambeth Conference of Anglican Bishops. Posted on: May 17, 2019 3:06 PM The Bishop of Lincoln, Christopher Lowson, has been suspended from office, following information passed to the Archbishop of Canterbury by the police. In a statement, Archbishop Justin Welby stressed that there has been no allegation that Bishop Christopher has committed abuse of a child or vulnerable adult. But he said that if the information provided to him was proven, I consider that the bishop would present a significant risk of harm by not adequately safeguarding children and vulnerable people, Archbishop Justin said. The authority to suspend a bishop is set out in section 37 of the Clergy Discipline Measure 2003 English law made by the Church of Englands General Synod and approved by the UK Parliament. It says that before suspending a bishop, the Archbishop must seek the consent of the two most senior diocesan bishops in the province. In his statement, Archbishop Justin confirms that consent was received by the Bishops of Birmingham and Worcester. It should be noted that suspension is a neutral act and nothing further can be said at this stage while matters are investigated, Archbishop Justin said. I ask for prayers for all affected by this matter. The Bishop of Grimsby, David Court, will take on episcopal leadership of the diocese during the suspension. Bishop Christopher said that he was bewildered by the suspension, and said he would fully cooperate. For the sake of the diocese and the wider Church I would like this to be investigated as quickly as possible to bring the matter to a swift conclusion, he said. The reason for the suspension and the nature of the information provided by the police have not been made public. Last month, the BBCs Panorama news and current affairs programme broadcast a report detailing failings in the Diocese of Lincolns handling of safeguarding matters. Last week the official statutory independent public inquiry in child abuse in England and Wales, IICSA, published its first report into its Anglican Church investigation. Its case study into the Diocese of Chichester concluded that the Churchs response to claims of child sexual abuse was marked by secrecy, prevarication and avoidance of reporting alleged crimes. The Church of Englands lead bishop for safeguarding, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, Peter Hancock, said last week: We thank the Inquiry for the report and note the findings and recommendations which we will now study in full. "The report states that the Church of England should have been a place which protected all children and supported victims and survivors and the Inquirys summary recognises that it failed to do this. It is absolutely right that the Church at all levels should learn lessons from the issues raised in this report. Today, Bishop Peter joined three others: the Bishop of Durham, Paul Butler; the Bishop of Newcastle, Bishop Christine Hardman; and the Bishop of London, Sarah Mullally; in a joint statement following this weeks meeting of the Church of Englands House of Bishops, where the IICSA report was discussed. Writing on behalf of the whole House of Bishops, the four said that We recognise that the publication of [IICSAs] report causes most hurt and concern to survivors themselves. It reopens wounds. At this weeks meeting of the House of Bishops, Archbishop Justin asked every one of us to read and study the full report in detail and we are absolutely committed to this. The Church has failed survivors and the report is very clear that the Church should have been a place which protected all children and supported victims and survivors. We are ashamed of our past failures, have been working for change but recognise the deep cultural change needed takes longer than we would like to achieve. We welcome the recommendations. The report will now go to the National Safeguarding Steering Group next month so the Church can formulate a detailed response to the findings and recommendations as we approach IICSAs wider Church hearing in July. The lead bishop for safeguarding has been asked to report back to the House and to General Synod. Earlier this month, the international Anglican Consultative Council agreed new global safeguarding guidelines and commended them to the 40 member churches of the Anglican Communion. Posted on: May 17, 2019 4:02 PM [ACNS, by Rachel Farmer] Church of Ireland leaders have called for Christians to lead the way with respectful discussion and engagement around Brexit and the political changes affecting the whole Island of Ireland, as they gathered for their General Synod in Londonderry this week. Speaking at the opening of the three-day meeting, Dr Richard Clarke, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, called on members to be responsible Christian citizens in both practice, thinking and voting. Both parts of Ireland Northern Ireland which is part of the United Kingdom and the independent Republic of Ireland in the south and west will vote next week to elect members to the European Parliament, while the UK government continues to look for parliamentary agreement over implementing its departure from the EU. Archbishop Richard said: we need to be conscious . . . of how we all wherever we may live on this island can too easily be carried along mindlessly on a wave of popular and populist emotion, where mantras and knee-jerk soundbites are replacing reasoned, respectful and nuanced discussion. In the public square, anger has too often replaced decency, and a binary black and white polarisation has replaced any supple, generous and complex discourse. In an interview before the meeting, Bishop John McDowell, who chairs the Church of Irelands Commission for Christian Unity and Dialogue said the churches needed to stand up for a good quality of debate. Bishop John said: I think the church has something to say, not whether it was right for people to vote for Brexit or not to vote; people with good consciences voted in whichever way they wanted to. But I think that the Church has an interest in a couple of areas, one being in relation to the common good on the Island of Ireland. He said Ireland was in the unique situation of having one part that will remain in the European Union and, if the UK leaves, another that probably wont. He said: the Church of Ireland stretches across both of those. . . We need to say that we wish both parts of our island, both jurisdictions, prosperity, peace and a certain amount of social cohesion. Therefore, anything that will affect that, we should at least be aware of, and if we need to say things, we should. He said the churches could bring a contribution through helping set the tone of the debate, by respecting and considering other points of view before engaging in the argument. Whichever way Brexit works out", he said, everyone is predicting a period of some sort of economic dislocation . . . and what happens when there are economic bumps in the road is, its the people at the bottom of the pile that suffer the most. We need in the churches to be vigilant to try to provide a voice for the people who might be collateral damage as there is an adjustment in the economy. Private VSAT Network Ensures Uptime for Hospitals' Critical Operations Creates Custom Connectivity Solution for Hospitals in Papua New Guinea Sydney, May 17, 2019 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Speedcast International Limited ( ASX:SDA ) ( OTCMKTS:SPPDF ), the world's most trusted provider of remote communication and IT solutions, today announced that it is providing the Western Highlands Provincial Health Authority, in Papua New Guinea, with a custom private C-band VSAT network for more reliable, cost-effective connectivity for several local hospitals. This solution will ensure consistent internet service and reliable hospital to hospital communications.Western Highlands Provincial Health Authority required high-availability internet and a WAN connectivity solution at Mount Hagen Hospital in Papua New Guinea (PNG), as well as at other district and provisional hospitals.Speedcast worked with Western Highlands Provincial Health Authority to develop a customized MESH solution that guarantees service uptime of 99.5% availability. The solution will bring reliable connectivity to each hospital and also allow district and provisional hospitals to connect to Mount Hagen Hospital. In the first stage of the project, Speedcast will provide 10/10 Mbps of internet connectivity to Mount Hagen Hospital. Next, Speedcast will install a Mini-HUB solution to connect the remaining district and provisional hospitals."Speedcast worked closely with us to create a solution that would fit our specific connectivity and budget requirements," said the Chief Executive Officer of the Western Highlands Provincial Health Authority, David Vorst. "Thanks to Speedcast's help, we can now bring a much-needed, reliable internet connection to Mt. Hagen and connect to our other Western Highlands regional and provincial hospitals reliably and at high speed". Mr. Vorst went on to say that telemedicine, teleradiology and telepathology are important aspects of quality patient care and become extremely critical in countries such as PNG where there are few specialist doctors outside Port Moresby. For example, the Speedcast network allows doctors to send x-ray or ultrasound images to anywhere in the world so they can have these reported to support the diagnosis made by clinicians in areas where there are no radiologists."Since the Western Highlands province is in a very remote location within PNG, we decided a customized satellite network would provide the most reliable connectivity solution for the staff and patients at hospitals in the Western Highlands," said Erwan Emilian, EVP Enterprise & Emerging Markets, at Speedcast. "We look forward to continuing to assist Western Highlands Provincial Health Authority with their critical operations."About Speedcast International Ltd Speedcast International Ltd (ASX:SDA) is the world's most trusted communications and IT services provider, delivering critical communications solutions to the Maritime, Energy, Mining, Media, Telecom, Cruise, NGO, Government, and Enterprise sectors. With more satellite capacity than any other provider, Speedcast enables faster, seamless pole-to-pole coverage from a global hybrid satellite, fiber, cellular, microwave, MPLS, and IP transport network with direct access to public cloud platforms. The company also integrates differentiated technology offerings that provide smarter ways to communicate and distribute content, manage network and remote operations, protect and secure investments, and improve the crew and guest experience. With a passionate customer focus and a strong safety culture, Speedcast serves more than 3,200 customers in over 140 countries. Learn more at www.speedcast.com. Marysville, CA (95901) Today Overcast with showers at times. Low 41F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.. Tonight Overcast with showers at times. Low 41F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph. Unfortunately, one neednt be a lawyer to realise that in the mass trial against the 1 October vote, the law and certain legal concepts have been twisted in order to connect at any cost events relating to the referendum to crimes which have been selected and decided beforehand. We saw it happen with the infamous crime of rebellion, which doesnt have a leg to stand on, but which they are determined to make stick, as it forms the basis of the case brought by the now-deceased Public Prosecutor Maza, the investigating judge, Llarena, and Barcelonas Court Number 13 (which Judge Ramirez Sunyer, also deceased, used to preside over, though not without first having been praised by the then President of the Supreme Court, Carlos Lesmes, for having "changed the course of history" and having saved Spain). As bizarre and interminable as it seemed, the succession of police officers giving evidence in court as to their subjective perceptions (those which Justice Marchena dismisses out of hand when given by witnesses for the defence) regarding what took place on the day of the referendum had but one purpose: to paint a picture of a rebellious horde attacking the forces of law and order. Furthermore, they were not depicted as acting on their own initiative, but are seen to have been induced to take action by the defendants. If rebellion doesnt stick, then perhaps incitement to rebellion will. And basically the same can be said of the charges of sedition. The main goal, in any case, is to add years to the sentences, when they are handed down. Now its the turn of the Prosecutor's Office, at Voxs bidding, to call for charges of belonging to a criminal organization to be brought against twenty-eight Catalan government officials, including the general managers of public media organisations, TV3 and Catalunya Radio. Its hard to imagine the directors of RAI, France Televisions, the BBC or even RTVE being accused of an offence as serious as engaging in organized crime. The charges have nothing to do, for example, with having misappropriated funds destined for the public media, but with having broadcast ads for a referendum, even if it had been prohibited by the Constitutional Court. But this is precisely what is happening in this instance. Nevertheless, its not so hard to believe if we consider what is also or ought to be unimaginable in any country governed by the rule of law: not only that a party on the far-right such as Vox can participate in such a key trial, one whose nature is clearly political, but that judges and prosecutors accept the demands of said party, and that its Secretary General, Ortega Smith, leads the private prosecution while simultaneously participating in the general election campaign (during which he says that women "can cut their nails", but cant choose to have an abortion). Quite simply, this puts justice in the hands of the far-right: a justice, to mention a case which isnt connected to Catalonia, capable of handing down a sentence on mortgages only to overturn it the next day, this time in the banks favour. To celebrate, Ortega Smith attended Madrids Fiestas de San Isidro dressed in the regions traditional costume and launched into a chotis [a local dance]. The Hubert commando is one of the seven commandos of the French Navy, considered as the most prestigious of them and as the most selective and complete unit of special forces of the whole French Army. Made up of combat swimmers, the Hubert commando specializes in underwater action and in maritime counter-terrorism actions. Two of them were killed in the night of 9 to 10 May while releasing hostages in Burkina Faso. French Special Forces during a live demonstration in France. (Picture source Army Recognition) The insignia of the unit is adorned with a naval anchor, a dagger and an eagle, traditional symbols of the commandos. It recalls the perfectly versatile dimension of the Hubert commando whose operators are specialists in three environments (land, air and sea), being both combat swimmers and paratroopers, experts in HALO-HAHO jumps (Hi-Altitude jumping, Hi-altitude parachute Opening - Hi-Altitude Low-Opening). Direct heir of the 1st Bataillon de Fusiliers marins commandos that was formed during World War 2 in UK, it is named after Lieutenant Augustin Hubert, killed in action June 6, 1944 in Ouistreham, and who is buried in the British military cemetery of Hermanville-sur-Mer. Created in December 1947, it becomes, in 1953, a unit of combat swimmers and takes the name of CASM (submarine action commando) Hubert. It is the only unit of combat swimmers in the French Army and also trains swimmers for other military units or state services, such as candidates for the DGSE's Action Service (secret service). The Commando Hubert has the reputation of being the best unit among the French special forces, with the 1st Regiment de Parachutistes d'Infanterie de Marine (1 RPIMa, Navy Airborne Regiment). This elite unit is the counterpart of the US SEAL Team 6. With 100 men, all combat swimmers and HAHO-HALO qualified paratroopers, the Hubert commando is articulated in 2 companies. The 1st company is composed of about fifty combat swimmers and HAHO-HALO qualified paratroopers; it is divided into four sections (or squads): * Section A, Command and Control Cell, deals with the operational support of the company and aligns the crews of semi-rigid craft (about 15 members); * Section B is responsible for maritime counter-terrorism. Squad having an ability to operate underwater, it works closely with the GIGN (Groupe d'Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale); * Section C consists of crews of PSM (submarine propulsors). Its mission is to bring the teams of swimmers in front of the objective from a surface vessel or a submarine; * Section D is responsible for recognition and support. Its mission is underwater channel and beach reconnaissance. The 2nd company serves as a support unit and works as a rear base. Comprised of thirty people, most of them are not qualified combat swimmers. . Belonging to this Commando, master sergeants Cedric de Pierrepont and Alain Bertoncello ("maitres" in the French navy ranking system), were killed in the operation carried out in the night of 9 to 10 May in northern Burkina Faso, not far from the Mali border, during an audacious operation aiming at releasing hostages. The operation, first involving Saber resources (Special Forces in the Sahel), was conducted with the direct assistance of French Operation Barkhane, Burkinabe armed forces, and US intelligence support, the French Chief of Staff, General Francois Lecointre, said. Four hostages were freed from their terrorist captors (two groups are active in the sector: the Islamic State of the Great Sahara and Ansar ul Islam, linked to Al Qaeda): the two Frenchmen kidnapped on May 1 in northern Benin, as well as an American and a South Korean nationals whose presence was a surprise. The action took place in a camp and four kidnappers were "neutralized", but two French commandos were killed during the intervention. [Garin Nugrohos] Memories of My Body follows four stages in the life of Juno, a young boy in a Central Java village who becomes infatuated by the lengger lanang, a traditional dance that often has male dancers taking the role of female dancers. Indonesian films with LGBT themes have been released in the past with little incident, but this one has been banned by cities, denounced by politicians, and garnered its director death threats. The Guardian In recent years, the Israeli contemporary dance troupe has faced petitions and demonstrations by BDS activists almost everywhere it has performed abroad. Back home in Tel Aviv, the companys planned dance center and arts complex, co-designed by David Adjaye for the site of the citys old central bus station, is being heavily criticized by anti-gentrification campaigners. Haaretz (Israel) Aditya Ghosh stepped down last year as there were differences with the promoters over fleet expansion. Co-founders Rahul Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal hold 38.26 per cent and 36.69 per cent stake, respectively, along with their families. Mumbai: The ongoing tussle between the promoters of Indigo has taken its toll on the stock as investors are worried about the eventual fate of the companys expansion plans and growth. The share price of InterGlobe Aviation, the parent of IndiGo Airlines, has reacted sharply to the development, plunging over 10.5 per cent this week. According to sources, the difference between the co-founders cropped up over their divergent outlooks on IndiGo's expansion strategy. The co-founders of IndiGo, Rahul Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal, hold 38.26 per cent and 36.69 per cent stake in the airline, respectively, along with their families. Industry sources said while Gangwal sought aggressive expansion to tap into India's aviation market, Bhatia called for a balanced and cautious approach. Last year, Indigo President and Wholetime Director Aditya Ghosh had stepped down as there were differences with the promoters over fleet expansion. Just two months before this announcement, Gangwal had claimed to increase the airline's capacity by nearly 52 per cent to 250. On the other hand, questioning this, the Bhatia camp had reportedly raised the issue of "overcapacity" and "yield". The trouble brewed further after Ghosh's exit and the appointment of foreign executives on key management posts, including Gregory Taylor as its CEO, industry sources said. Most of these new appointees had worked with United Airlines earlier in their careers, just like Gangwal. The promoters also have different strategies for IndiGo's international thrust, which is further widening their rift, although both believe that they can grab the space left by the grounding of Jet Airways. Analysts were expecting that the airline could have exploited the space left vacant by Jet Airways. This could raise the airlines yields as much as 5 percent, according to UBS estimates. IndiGo has an order book of 530 aircraft but delivery for 359 aircraft is pending. According to Paarth Gala of Prabhudas Lilladher, "IndiGo is likely operating on its most profitable routes in the country. It is safe to say that any incremental capacity deployed domestically shall be either less profitable or making an outright loss." The CBI move gained significance as the Lok Sabha results are to be declared on May 23. New Delhi: With the Lok Sabha poll results yet to be declared, the Central Bureau of Investigation, in a surprise move on Thursday, first withdrew from a Delhi court its application seeking permission to further probe the Rs 64-crore Bofors payoffs case, and then in a swift U-turn within hours, said its probe into the politically-sensitive case would continue. The CBI move gained significance as the Lok Sabha results are to be declared on May 23. In view of certain revelations made by one Michael Hershman, the CBI sought permission of the trial court to conduct further investigations in the Bofors case, its spokesperson Nitin Wakankar said. He said on May 8, the court had observed when the right and power to investigate the case on its own was available to the CBI, was was such an application being filed in the court. Mr Wakankar said: After obtaining legal opinion, the CBI filed an application on May 16 in the court of chief metropolitan magistrate, Rouse Avenue Courts, stating that for conducting further investigations under Section 173(8) CrPC, the courts permission was not mandatorily required by the CBI and an intimation to the court in this regard will suffice. The probe in the Bofors case will continue. The Bofors deal ran into a controversy in 1987, when the Swedish Radio alleged that the arms manufacturer had paid bribes to top Indian politicians and defence officials through middlemen. Then defence minister V.P. Singh had resigned, putting the Rajiv Gandhi government in the dock. Former Prime Minister V.P. Singh (who has since died) built his campaign for the 1989 Lok Sabha polls on the Bofors payoffs issue. His Janata Dal came to power as the Congress lost the election with then PM Rajiv Gandhis image getting a serious beating. In January 1990, the CBI under the V.P. Singh government lodged an FIR in the case naming then Bofors president Martin Ardbo, alleged middleman Win Chadda and the Hinduja brothers for criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery. The V.P. Singh government collapsed and after a brief tenure of the Chandra Shekhar government, mid-term elections to the Lok Sabha were announced. In the course of the Lok Sabha election campaign, Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a suicide bomber in Tamil Nadu in May 1991. On Thursday, the CBI told CMM Navin Kumar Kashyap that it wants to withdraw the application filed on February 1, 2018. The investigative agency had moved the trial court seeking permission for a further probe in the matter saying it had come across fresh material and evidence. The CBI submitted before the court that a decision on the further course of action would be taken by it and wanted to withdraw the application for now. Taking note of the CBIs stand, the CMM said the CBI had the right to withdraw its application as the agency was the applicant in the case. The CMM said: For the reason best known to the CBI, in case they want to withdraw the application, they have the right as they are the applicants. Last year, the court questioned why the CBI required its permission to further probe the matter. The CBI had also filed an appeal in the Supreme Court on February 2, 2018 against the May 31, 2005 verdict of the Delhi high court discharging all accused in the case. The Supreme Court had on November 2, 2018 dismissed the CBIs appeal in which it had sought condonation of the 13-year delay in filing an appeal against the high court judgment. The Supreme Court had said that it was not convinced with the CBIs grounds to condone the delay of over 4,500 days in filing the appeal. Meanwhile, police in Coimbatore district denied permission for the actor to undertake campaign for the Sulur bypoll on Friday. Haasan, founder of new political outfit Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), kicked up a controversy this week with his comment that 'free India's first extremist was a Hindu', a reference to Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse. (Photo: ANI | Twitter) Aravakurichi: After stones and eggs were hurled at a public meeting of Makkal Needhi Maiam founder Kamal Haasan said, I feel the quality of polity is going down. I don't feel threatened. Every religion has their own terrorists, we cannot claim that we are sanctimonious. History shows that all religions have their extremists. Two unidentified persons allegedly hurled eggs and stones at the dais, police said. Meanwhile, police in Coimbatore district denied permission for the actor to undertake campaign for the Sulur bypoll on Friday. No one was injured in the incident at Aravakurichi which happened when Haasan was getting off the stage after completing his address. He was escorted to safety, police said. MNM workers roughed up the two persons suspected to have hurled stones and eggs, before police rescued them and took then away for questioning. MNM workers staged a protest but police officials held talks with them. The incident comes a day after footwear was hurled towards a vehicle from which Haasan was addressing an election meeting in the Tirupparankundram Assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday evening. Read: Slipper hurled at Haasan amid Godse remark, 11 named in complaint Speaking on protest over Godse remark, Haasan said he was not afraid of being arrested. Let them arrest me. If they do that it will only create more problems. It is not a warning but only an advice, he added. Haasan, founder of new political outfit Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), kicked up a controversy this week with his comment that "free India's first extremist was a Hindu", a reference to Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse. Police said permission has not been granted for Haasan to undertake the bypoll campaign in Sulur in Coimbatore in the backdrop of the ongoing controversy. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analysis et al. Happy reading. Police had opened fire on agitating peasants in district headquarters of Mandsaur killing five of them. Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh appeared to have moved on after the June 6, 2017 police firing incident in which five farmers were killed. (Photo: PTI) Mandsaur(MP): Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh appeared to have moved on after the June 6, 2017 police firing incident in which five farmers were killed. The tragedy, that provoked Congress president Rahul Gandhi to announce debt relief for farmers helping his party return to power in MP after a gap of 15 years in the last years assembly elections, has found literally no mention in the campaigning by ruling Congress in Mandsaur Lok Sabha constituency. Mandsaur is going to polls along with seven other seats in MP in the seventh and final phase of parliamentary elections in the state on May 19. The issue had hardly made any impact on the last years assembly elections in the region. BJP had won seven out of eight assembly seats under Mandsaur Lok Sabha constituency then. Hence, we have decided to play it down in the ensuing LS polls in Mandsaur, a senior leader of Mandsaur district Congress committee (DCC) disclosed to this newspaper on Thursday requesting not to be quoted. The incident took place when BJP was in power in MP. Police had opened fire on agitating peasants in district headquarters of Mandsaur killing five of them. Incidentally, Malwa-Nimad region of MP comprising Mandsaur is the most prosperous agriculture belt of the state. Mandsaur is particularly known for cultivation of best quality opium in the country. Meenakshi Natarajan of Congress, a close associate of Mr Gandhi, is pitted against sitting MP Sudhir Gupta of BJP in a multi-cornered contest in Mandsaur LS seat. We are banking on farm loan waiver scheme being implemented by our government in the state to harvest electoral gains in this poll, a Congress spokesman said. According to local party leaders, Mr Patil has also been instrumental in implementing key development projects in this constituency. BJP supporters wear masks of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an election rally for the last phase of the Lok Sabha polls in Patiala on Thursday. (Photo: PTI) Varanasi: The election office of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Varanasi sees many visitors from Gujarat these days. More than 50 leaders and numbers of party workers from Gujarat are campaigning here for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is contesting the Lok Sabha election from here for the second time. Four Gujarat BJP leaders, along with local party leaders, are working to ensure Mr Modi wins with a record margin. Since the Prime Minister is busy campaigning in the rest of the country, it is these four leaders who are managing the campaign for him here. Though Mr Modis victory is almost certain, they are not taking any chances. Sunil Oza, former MLA from Bhavnagar, Gujarat, is in charge of the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat. He had managed Mr Modis election here in 2014 and since then he has been here to take care of the MPs office. For local BJP workers, Mr Oza is the PMs man here. Another Gujarat leader and former Gujarat home minister, Gordhan Zadafia, is co-in charge of party affairs in UP. He is also a part of the decision making process. Interestingly, both Mr Zadafia and Mr Oza were rebels in the past. They had revolted against the party and particularly Mr Modi, then Gujarat chief minister. They had also formed their own political outfit and fought assembly elections unsuccessfully against Mr Modi and the BJP. Mr Zadafia re-joined the BJP ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha election after Mr Modi was declared the prime ministerial candidate. Modiji knows politics well. He knows how to use leaders skills better even if they are rebels, said a BJP leader on condition of anonymity. BJP president Amit Shah is also getting confidential reports on a daily basis from local leaders. Gujarat MP C R Patil, with his team of party workers is doing his job silently. His team makes phone calls to each and every panna pramukh (party worker in charge of a page of the voters list, who is expected to focus on voters whose names appear on that page) to ensure maximum voting in favour of Mr Modi. According to local party leaders, Mr Patil has also been instrumental in implementing key development projects in this constituency. Apart from these leaders, Mr Parindu Bhagat, known as Kakubhai, is monitoring legal matters with the Election Commission and taking care of election expenditure. Many other leaders from Gujarat are meeting Gujarati families living here and canvassing for Mr Modi. The AICTE asked the J&K government to persuade students not to enrol themselves in any institution in PoK. Srinagar: Academicians and politicians in Jammu and Kashmir have given the thumbs down to the University Grants Commission (UGC)s diktat asking students of the state not to seek admissions in professional colleges in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK). They have questioned the move on the premise that politics should not be involved in academic matters nor should bitter relations between India and Pakistan come in the way of students choosing better options to pursue their careers. The UGC, through a recently issued advisory, has asked students to refrain from taking admissions in PoK professional colleges and other educational institutions, saying the territory is an integral part of India and educational institutions there have neither been established by the government of India nor are these recognised by it or the countrys other statuary authorities such as All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and Medical Council of India (MCI). Rajnish Jain, secretary UGC, said, Students are cautioned and advised against taking admission in any college, university or technical institution in any territory under illegal occupation of Pakistan, including the so-called AJK and Gilgit Baltistan which are not currently recognised in India. Separately, the AICTE asked the J&K government to persuade students not to enrol themselves in any institution in PoK. The council in a letter written to J&Ks Higher Education and General Administration departments said, The ministry of external affairs and AICTE have discussed the cases of 25 students. It is requested to advise students studying in AICTE-approved institutions, state government technical colleges and polytechnic colleges not to take admissions in PoK institutions for education. The cases of these 25 students enrolled in PoK institutions had earlier reached the Indian High Commission in Islamabad for attestation. A report from Islamabad said that in view of the Indias reservations, they have since been shifted to various educational institutions in Pakistan so that they dont face any problems in future. The UGC advisory and the AICTEs writing a formal letter to the J&K government asking it to dissuade students from heading for PoK to pursue their studies have raised eyebrows in the state. I fail to understand why such a diktat has been issued. Theres no ban on choosing a place in anywhere in the world deemed better by the children of our country to pursue their studies. Why are then Kashmiri students being denied such a choice? asked former lawmaker and CPI(M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami. He said, No doubt, we have differences with Pakistan. Also, our relationship has been plagued by hostility and suspicion, a situation which has fed vested interests of politicians in power in the two countries. But politics should be kept out of education. Another former MLA and Awami Itehad Party (AIP) leader Engineer Rashid met J&K governor, Satya Pal Malik, here on Wednesday to express his deep concern and displeasure over the AICTE directive. It simply means politicising of education. Also, the directive is just to victimise Kashmiri students, he said later. He asserted, India should have appreciated the initiative of Pak government to provide admissions to Kashmiri students in professional institutions as it is New Delhi which has been accusing Islamabad of imparting arms training to Kashmiri students. He sought the Central governments intervention on the issue and said that the AICTE authorities must be stopped from issuing such meaningless, illogical and narrow-minded diktats. Some educational experts too have termed the governments directive as unwarranted and said that it tantamounts to politicising education. Such directions negate the basic principle of SAARC cooperation, where both India and Pakistan are signatories, said G.N. Var, chairman of Private Schools Association of Jammu and Kashmir. He added, India is part of SAARC group and all educational institutes in all the countries should be treated at par. One cannot pick and choose educational institutes in a particular region. Mr. Var also sees in the move an attempt to portray PoK as a different place, which, he says, is politically incorrect. He said, The Indian Constitution says that PoK is an integral part of Jammu and Kashmir and India. By virtue of AICTE directions, the government is trying to play politics. If there is no problem with educational institutes in Pakistan then why educational institutes in PoK are being singled out. He pleaded, Since PoK has got some good professional institutions, it should be left to students to take admission wherever they like. The AICTE directive will mar the career of hundreds of students. Six per cent of medical seats are reserved for students of J&K in PoK medical colleges. On an average, about two dozen students from J&K are granted admissions in these colleges annually. Roughly more than 250 students from J&K are currently pursuing studies in Pakistan under scholarship program for SAARC students and other schemes. Also, scholarships are offered for MBBS and engineering seats to J&K students mainly the wards of victims of violence under various schemes of the Pakistan government. However, National Investigation Agency (NIA) had in its chargesheet on alleged terror funding claimed that Pakistan is offering scholarships to Kashmiri students in order to prepare a generation of doctors and technocrats in Kashmir who will have leanings towards Pakistan. This reaction has received a lot of praise all over the internet and is seen as a marketing stunt by some. The restaurant later tweeted saying that the customer had 'mistakenly' received the wrong bottle. (Photo: File I Representational) Mumbai: A customer got really lucky on one of the busy nights in Manchester's Hawksmoor Steakhouse and cocktail bar. He ordered a humble 2001 Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande worth 260 pounds. Little did he think that he would receive one of the most expensive items on the list at the same price! The restaurant later tweeted that the customer had 'mistakenly' received a bottle of Chateau Le Pin Poerol, 2001, red wine which comes under the 'rarities' section of the restaurant's menu and cost around 4500 pounds. It was a very busy night at the restaurant and a very simple mistake. A member of staff picked up the wrong bottle, mistaking it for another Bordeaux of the same vintage. The wine went out and was served to the customer. The customer didnt know and it was only afterwards that one of the managers picked up what had happened, a spokesperson of the restaurant told the HuffPost UK. What was more enthralling was the way the manager reacted to the waiter who caused the mixup. Instead of getting angry at the waiter, he easily forgave him saying "Chin-up. One-off mistakes happen and we love you anyway" and hoped that the lucky guests enjoyed his evening. To the customer who accidentally got given a bottle of Chateau le Pin Pomerol 2001, which is 4500 on our menu, last night - hope you enjoyed your evening! To the member of staff who accidentally gave it away, chin up! One-off mistakes happen and we love you anyway Hawksmoor Manchester (@HawksmoorMCR) May 16, 2019 This reaction received a lot of praise all over the internet. The mix-up was seen as an effective marketing stunt for the restaurant as people are getting to know about it and they hope the same can happen to them, HuffPost reported. 'We will stay true to our promises. Vote for new India,' Robert Vadra, husband of Priyanka Gandhi stated in his social media post. Vadra took to Facebook to take a dig at the incumbent government. (Photo: File) New Delhi: Businessman Robert Vadra, husband of Congress General Secretary in-charge for Uttar Pradesh (East) Priyanka Gandhi, on Friday accused Bharatiya Janata Party of making "false" and "hollow" promises. Vadra took to Facebook to take a dig at the incumbent government and said: "Congress will give to the people what it has promised. Not make false, hollow promises like the BJP did, and never delivered even one promise. We will fulfil every need." Vadra also posted two pictures. While in one photo he urged voters to vote for the Congress, in the other photo he could be seen giving food to the poor. "We will stay true to our promises. Vote for new India," the photo stated. Robert Vadra has three cases - Bikaner land deal money laundering case, 2009 petroleum deal case under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) era and United Kingdom assets case, going on against him. As many as 59 parliamentary constituencies spread across 7 states and 1 Union Territory will go to polls in the last and seventh phase of the Lok Sabha elections on May 19. The results will be announced on May 23. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses etc all. Happy reading. The Congress has pitted Mr Singh against BJPs Pragya in Bhopal, which had gone to polls on May 12. A file photo of a mass havan by seers to demonstrate that Hindutva is no longer the monopoly of BJP. Bhopal: The out of the box campaign strategy adopted by the Congress to counter the saffron tide, caused by fielding of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, the rookie Hindutva face, by the BJP in Bhopal Lok Sabha constituency in the just-concluded polls, has been a subject of intense debate in political and intellectual circles in Madhya Pradesh. The grand old party, uncharacteristically, had brazenly taken recourse to Hindutva route to neutralise the impact of the religious appeal, Sadhvi Pragya was supposed to have cast on the electorate, particularly the rural women folk during electioneering in Bhopal, considered a BJP bastion, leaving elite mass of the capital city and even traditional Congress men bewildered. I have never seen Congress flaunting its affinity to Hindutva so blatantly in public in my life. The public endorsement of complex rituals associated with Brahminical culture has dented secular credentials of veteran leader like Digvijay Singh, a professor of sociology department in Barkhatullah University here told this newspaper unwilling to be quoted. Congress has turned into BJP and BJP into Congress in Bhopal elections, a senior IPS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre observed. Hundreds of Hindu seers drawn from various parts of the country had literally laid siege to the historical city of Bhopal, treasure trove of ancient Persian art and architecture, by staging a massive roadshow led by Mr Singh in the run-up to May 12 polls in the constituency to rid him of his anti-Hindu image, thrust on him for his unpleasant utterances in recent times. The roadshow was preceded by a mass havan by seers, performed in the presence of Mr Singh and his wife Amrita apparently to invoke divine blessings to ensure his victory. The Congress has pitted Mr Singh against BJPs Pragya in Bhopal, which had gone to polls on May 12. We had hosted the show of sahdus to demonstrate that Hindu seers and Hindutva are no longer the monopoly of BJP, a senior Congress leader, loyal to Mr Singh, reasoned out. Mr Singh had been left with no other option than to counter BJPs Hindutva and hyper-nationalism with a hard dose of Hindutva like this, a Bhopal-based social activist S.Jain said. A maverick politician that he is, 72-year-old Mr Singh had initially devised his campaign strategy based on a narrative of secularism vs communalism to counter his BJP rival, not declared then, in Bhopal. He had packaged the narrative with a plank of development of Bhopal to make it a winning formula. However, he was caught unawares when the BJP fielded 2008 Malegaon terror blast accused Pragya, in whom the right wing party saw nationalism, Hindutva, and a woman victim of Congress conspiracy to defame Hindu religion, all rolled into one its poll plank, to take on mighty Mr Singh, known in political circles as the Chanakya. Mr Singh had later revisited his strategy taking a plunge straight into Hindutva to counter the religious appeal of Pragya on rural voters. Temple runs, visiting seers, sitting for hours at religious discourses by seers and staging rallies of sadhus by him had led to complete saffronisation of his campaigning. If talks going round the Congress circles are to be believed, Mr Singhs camp had even won over every priest of temples in Bhopal to influence the devotees thronging their shrines in his favour. The overdose of Hindutva allegedly played by him seemed to have unnerved BJP. Mr Singh has now taken recourse to mirch (chilli) havan to win elections. This clearly indicated that he lost faith in people, former chief minister and BJP national-vice president Shivraj Singh Chouhan observed. We are sceptical of Mr Singhs form of Hindutva yielding any electoral dividends. He would never be able to shed his anti-Hindu image whatever he does, a spokesman of BJP here said. His view had interestingly found many takers in a section of Congress. We fear he has distanced himself from a section of Muslims, the support base of the Congress, by playing the Hindutva card which may hurt his poll prospects, a senior Congress leader remarked unwilling to be quoted. Bhopal LS constituency, constituting around 21 lakh electors, has around 4 lakh Muslim voters. Besides adding saffron hues to his campaigning, Mr Singh had also taken recourse to traditional Congress campaigning method of reaching out to leaders of various communities belonging to all the religions for their support. His mass contact programme wooing particularly Hindu communities such as Thakurs, Yadavs, scheduled caste and scheduled tribe people in Bhopal seat had led to the erosion of Hindu base of BJP in the seat, yielding electoral gains for him, Mr Singhs close aides claimed. The outcome of Bhopal elections on May 23 will alone establish the efficacy of his unconventional electoral strategy. Addressing a press conference here, she said, Everyday we are getting some kind of news from Bengal for which the BJP and RSS are responsible. Lucknow: Rallying behind Mamata Banerjee, BSP supremo Mayawati Thursday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah of targeting the West Bengal chief minister as part of a conspiracy and said it reflected a dangerous attitude. A day after the Election Commission curtailed campaigning in West Bengal, Mayawati charged that the poll body acted under pressure of the central government. Addressing a press conference here, she said, Everyday we are getting some kind of news from Bengal for which the BJP and RSS are responsible. As far as election-related violence is concerned there, it can be seen clearly that BJP and the government led by PM Narendra Modi and his chela (follower) BJP president Amit Shah, under a planned conspiracy, have been targeting the Mamata Banerjee government, Mayawati said. During Lok Sabha elections, Mamata Banerjee and her government are being targeted under a conspiracy to divert peoples attention from failures of the Modi government, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister charged. The manner in which the guru and chela are after the Mamata Banerjee government is also indicative of a dangerous attitude which is not only wrong but unjustified, she said. Such a conspiracy to defame Mamata Banerjee and her government is unbecoming of a PM, she said. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analysis et al. Happy reading. Sinha claimed that he had to pay a price for standing by LK Advani when he was in the BJP. Shatrughan Sinha also asserted that he kept speaking against the policies of Modi-led NDA government. (Photo: File) Patna: Congress leader Shatrughan Sinha on Friday claimed that the Narendra Modi wave (lahar) in the country has now turned into chaos against the Prime Minister. "Modi lahar has turned into Modi qahar (Modi wave has turned into Modi havoc)," he said at a press conference which was attended by several leaders of the grand alliance, adding that the "gali-gali me shor hai, chowkidar chor hai" was being raised frequently. Launching a scathing attack on BJP chief Amit Shah, Sinha stated that people of Bihar will show him his "aukat" (worth) in the upcoming elections. "Amit Shah said he will show Bihari Babu (Sinha) his worth (aukat). The way Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked of Bihar's DNA, people showed him his worth during the assembly elections. After the roadshow that happened today, they (BJP and its allies) will be aware of their worth. And whatever is left, people of Bihar will let them know of their worth in the upcoming elections," he asserted. Sinha claimed that he had to pay a price for standing by LK Advani when he was in the BJP. "As someone elected by people, I raised the voice of the general public although sycophants in the (NDA) government could not do so. I stood with Advaniji in that party when he was sidelined. I said he is a friend, philosopher, guide, it should not be done. Some say I paid a price for it," said the former BJP leader. He also asserted that he kept speaking against the policies of Modi-led NDA government. "All I want to say is, I have never done anything that you can say is selfish. I never fought any battle for myself. I spoke against demonetisation. I said the party is bigger than the individuals and the country is bigger than the party. I kept speaking for the betterment of the country. I spoke against the complicated GST," he said. "People said I am rebelling against the party. I respect several members of the party even now. But democracy ended and dictatorship began. Democracy was there during the term of scholar Dr Manmohan Singh, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Now you see, it has become a one-man show and two-man army," he added. The Congress candidate from Patna Sahib Lok Sabha constituency also lamented that he could not stand against the "propaganda machine." "I did not speak against him (Modi). I spoke against his policies. They said I am saying it because I was not made a minister. I could not stand before their propaganda machine. I asked if the same yardstick would be applied to Advani ji, Murli Manohar Joshi, Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie as well," he said. "They threatened me. They said I won't be given a ticket. They threatened to expel me from the party. I said do it but remember Newton's third law that there will be a reaction against every action. Now, you are seeing that reaction," he asserted. Sinha also lauded Congress president Rahul Gandhi for his "tried, tested and successful" leadership. "Under the tried, tested and successful leadership of Rahul Gandhi, Congress won three elections within a year of him becoming party president," he said. Terming Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Yadav as the "victim of revenge politics", Sinha claimed that people of Bihar want to see him free. "Jail ka phatak tootega, Lalu Yadav chhutega- this is what the people of Bihar want," he said. As Sinha's opponent, BJP has fielded Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad from Patna Sahib, which will go to polls on May 19. The counting of votes will be done on May 23. Patna Sahib and Patliputra are two seats where the grand alliance is locked in a fierce electoral battle against the BJP. Patna: Ahead of the last phase of voting, both the grand alliance and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) are trying to woo voters by campaigning aggressively in Bihar. AICC president Rahul Gandhi was in Patna to campaign for party candidate Shatrughan Sinha and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Yadavs eldest daughter Misa Bharti. On Thursday, Mr Gandhi, flanked by partys nominee for the Patna Sahib constituency, held a massive roadshow and urged people to vote for the grand alliance. Patna Sahib and Patliputra are two seats where the grand alliance is locked in a fierce electoral battle against the BJP. Film star turned politician Shatrughan Sinha, a two-time MP from Patna Sahib, is contesting against Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who is known for his fiery speeches but has never contested elections. While campaigning for Ms Bharti in Bikram, which falls under the Patliputra seat, Mr Gandhi said that the people would bid a farewell to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP on May 23. In this election did this chowkidar speak about eliminating corruption? Nobody ever heard him speaking about unemployment or the farmers issues. What happened to the `15 lakh that he was supposed to deposit into the peoples bank account? These days he only teaches us how to eat mangoes. People will say goodbye to the Modi government on May 23, Mr Gandhi said while campaigning for Ms Bharti in Patna. Questions were raised when RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav skipped the roadshow, which was supposed to be a show of strength for the grand alliance. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analysis et al. Happy reading. 'The statements of all the party leaders are their personal opinion, BJP has nothing to do with it,' said BJP president Amit Shah. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on Friday denied to back the statements made by the party leaders in support of Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse. (Photo: File) Mumbai: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on Friday denied to back the statements made by the party leaders in support of Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse. Shah also said the disciplinary committee will seek an explanation from all the three leaders Ananthkumar Hegde, Sadhvi Pragya Thakur and Nalin Kateel -- submit the report to the party within 10 days. The statements of Ananthkumar Hegde, Pragya Thakur and Nalin Kateel are their personal opinion, BJP has nothing to do with it. They have withdrawn their statements and apologised. BJP has taken their statements seriously and sent these statements to the disciplinary committee," said Amit Shah. BJP's Pragya Singh Thakur on Thursday stoked yet another controversy by terming Nathuram Godse, the man who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi, as a 'deshbhakt' (patriot). "Nathuram Godse was a 'deshbhakt', is a 'deshbhakt' and will remain a 'deshbhakt'," Pragya said when questioned about actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan's remark that India's first terrorist was a Hindu, referring to Godse. Later, the BJP leader and candidate for the Bhopal constituency Pragya Singh Thakur apologised to the party. Following the remark, Opposition demanded an apology from BJP's candidate who is pitched against Congress' Digvijay Singh in Bhopal. Union Minister Anant Kumar Hegde had tweeted: "Am glad that 7 decades later today's generation debates in a changed perceptional environment and gives good scope for the condemned to be heard upon. #NathuramGodse would have finally felt happy with this debate!" Soon after BJP distanced itself from the remarks by the leader, he deleted the tweet and posted: "My Twitter account has been breached twice in the past one week and certain tweets have been posted on my timeline which has been discarded and deleted. Regret the posts attributed to me." My Twitter account has been breached twice in the past one week and certain tweets have been posted on my timeline which has been discarded and deleted. Regret the posts attributed to me. Chowkidar Anantkumar Hegde (@AnantkumarH) May 17, 2019 "Godse killed one, Kasab killed 72, Rajiv Gandhi killed 17,000. You judge who is more cruel in this??" - Nalin Kateel had tweeted amid a raging controversy over Sadhvi Pragya's comment glorifying Godse as a patriot on Thursday night. Nalin Kateel, a two-time BJP parliamentarian, is contesting the election from Dakshina Kannada. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses etc all. Happy reading. In a battle of Kayasthas, BJPs Prasad seems to have an edge over Sinha. New Delhi: A Union minister and four-time Rajya Sabha MP slogging it out in his first Lok Sabha contest and an actor-star who has switched sides barely a month before. Throw in the deciding votes of a politically aware and empowered Kayastha community and you have all the ingredients of a political pot-boiler when Patna Sahib goes to polls on May 19. The constituency which has suddenly acquired VIP status due to this proverbial clash of the titans, has seen the whos who of the political arena from BJP President Amit Shah, home minister Rajnath Singh to Congress President Rahul Gandhi holding road shows to woo the voters not to mention the star parade all thanks to Congress candidate Mr Shatrughan Sinhas bollywood connections. While there is no one deciding factor in these elections for this seat, a visit to the constituency makes one feel that the BJP would hold on to this traditional bastion not withstanding the changing of sides of its sitting MP Mr Sinha barely a month before the polls. The Patna Sahib seat consists of six Assembly segments of which BJP had won five even when the party performed poorly in the state. Kayastha are the highest chunk of the electorate in Patna Sahib. The Congress party which inducted Mr Sinha amid much fanfare is banking on his star power and his ability to pocket the Kayastha votes, a community to which the star belongs. However, pre-empting this, the BJP has fielded another Kayastha and son of the soil Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. The party has also made it a prestige battle as before leaving BJP Mr Sinha kept up a strong line of attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Mr Prasad, however, claims that he does not indulge in caste-based politics. Neither will I make any personal attacks or even name my opponent, he told this newspaper after a road show in Deegha area of the city. While, both parties are running a tough campaign, a closer look reveals that it is Mr Prasads which is the more visible face rather than Mr Sinhas. The reason, Congress workers at the partys local office at Sadqat Ashram say is that the actor has found it difficult to settle down into his new partys structure so fast. Thus, while youth Congress workers take out motorcycle rallies wearing Nyay T-shirts and cycle rickshaws are draped in posters of Bihari Babu Shatrughan Sinha, the candidate himself seems to be missing in action. In sharp contrast is BJPs Mr Prasad, who is literally slogging it in his first Lok Sabha contest holding almost three road shows in a day. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analysis et al. Happy reading. Last phase of seven phased polling will be over on May 19 and the results will be out on May 23. New Delhi: With exactly a week remaining for the 2019 general polls mandate to be out, the BJP on Thursday claimed that the groundswell in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is becoming stronger as an aspirational society looks for a better tomorrow and is averse to suicidal choices. Taking a jibe at the Opposition, the ruling party said that the frightening and scary scenario that the Opposition promises will be responsible for its rout. Last phase of seven phased polling will be over on May 19 and the results will be out on May 23. In a blog post titled: The frightening and scary scenario of Indias Opposition, Union minister Arun Jaitley said the PMs acceptability among the masses are his decisiveness, integrity and performance, delivery of resources to the poor and his security doctrine which has been a game changer. He said that unlike the Opposition camp, the NDAs strength has been a complete absence of any confusion about leadership or programme and an absolute consensus. The not so positive reason for the Prime Ministers high acceptability levels is the absence of any cogent or coherent alternative. Conventionally, it used to be referred to as the TINA factor. This effectively means that There is no alternative. If the Opposition is giving vague assurances of an alternative, the same is either too scary or absolutely frightening, wrote the senior BJP leader. Calling the Opposition camp fractured, the senior leader said Opposition parties have no agreement on either a leader or programme and the comman point betweeb them is just to get rid of one person. They are a completely fractured opposition which could not come together before or during the election. Who will believe their assurance that they can come together after the election?, asked the Union minister. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analysis et al. Happy reading. The victims family, however, distanced itself from the remarks against the minority community. The Tyagi community called for a panchayat to mourn the death of the businessman. New Delhi: A mahapanchayat was held at Basai Darapur area in Moti Nagar where businessman Dhruv Raj Tyagi was stabbed to death on Sunday when he confronted his neighbour who passed lewd comments at her daughter. The area still remains tense as members of the Tyagi community held a protest and a prayer meeting for the deceased. A Delhi police officer said that the protest by the Tyagi community, to which the family of the deceased belongs, was largely peaceful and were also joined by others. Traffic was also affected due to the massive protest. The Tyagi community called for a panchayat to mourn the death of the businessman. We have decided that no Muslim migrant should be given any house or shop on rent. We do not have any issue with the local Muslims here. We live peacefully here. But Muslims from outside Delhi create trouble here, Amreesh Tyagi, general secretary of Tyagi community said. The victims family, however, distanced itself from the remarks against the minority community. If a Muslim stabbed my uncle, then another Muslim tried to save him and my cousin and rushed them to the hospital. We do not have anything against any community and our family does not support anyone trying to give the communal angle to this incident, said a nephew of the deceased who did not wish to be named. A delegation of the Aam Aadmi Party MPs also met Delhi police commissioner and condemned the attempts to communalise the crime. The protesters also demanded compensation from the Delhi government for the victims family and sought for government jobs for the two daughters of the deceased. Anticipating tensions, the police had already beefed up security in the area. Over 50 Delhi police personnel were deployed and senior officials including joint commissioner of police (West) Madhup Tiwari and deputy commissioner of police (West) Monika Bhardwaj were also present at the venue, a senior official said. The official added patrolling has been intensified in the area and a female company of police personnel has also been deployed in the area to ensure that no untoward incident happens. The police also said they have started door-to-door verification of tenants staying in and around the neighbourhood to ensure no such incident takes place in the future. Cardinal Sako Slams Christian Discrimination and Marginalization in Iraq Baghdad -- Iraqi leaders and the powers-that-be must "put their political differences aside, and be the voice of moderation, national sovereignty and tolerance," writes Patriarch Card Louis Raphael Sako in a message on "minorities and migrations" sent to AsiaNews. In his note, the head of the Chaldean Church calls on the country's religious and political leaders to eliminate the root causes of its problems, especially those that lead to divisions, such as "religious extremism that uses violence." Looking at the spiral of violence that began with the US invasion in 2003 until the rise of the Islamic State (IS) group, Card Sako calls the offences committed in the name of God and religion "mortal sins". To do the right thing, the Iraqi government must seriously undertake "fundamental reforms, including: the application of the law with no fear or favouritism; disarming militias; providing security and stability; [and] combating extremism, discrimination, terrorism and corruption". Iraq's constitution must guarantee respect for "peaceful" coexistence in light of the country's "diversity", adopting policies that promote the values aaof citizenship and the common good. The country's charter should be inspired by "the principles of freedom, dignity, democracy, social justice and the relationship among all Iraqi citizens regardless of their religious, cultural and ethnic affiliations". It must also "promote coexistence with Muslims." However, principles and good intentions often clash with reality, one in which minorities are marginalised and discriminated, Christians included, as the cardinal suggests by citing a couple of examples. One case involves Maryam Maher, "a young Christian graduate with high grades", who was "listed by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (HESR) among the outstanding college graduates for the academic year 2016-2017, with a recommendation to be appointed," which "the implementing agency ignored because she is Christian". Another example refers to "an official letter from the Secretary General of the Council of Ministers Dr. Mahdi Mohsen Al-Alak, on 27 January 2019," calling for replacement "of the current head of Hamdanyia University with a more able professor, a Christian, a decision that was not implemented". Here too, religion played a role. These are two examples among many, but they are symptomatic of the country's "institutional weakness", of the chaos that prevails when it comes to "justice and equality", as well as of the interplay of personal interests at the expense of "integrity and principles". Historically, Christians have played a leading role in Iraq's social, economic and cultural development, not to mention in education, public administration and social services. The country's diversity constitutes "a beautiful mosaic of ethnic, religious, cultural, linguistic and traditional components". However, rise of the Islamic State in recent years and the violence it perpetrated -- the worst since the Armenian, Assyrian and Chaldean massacres of the First World War -- have reduced the Christian population to a paltry 2 per cent through emigration. "Iraqi laws ought to provide good conditions that guarantee Christians and other religious minorities full citizenship and freedom to explicitly practise their faith and preserve their heritage (archaeological and historical) as an integral part of Iraqi civilisation, thus enabling them to continue to live with dignity." Lastly, the cardinal notes that, unlike Muslims, Christians and other minorities do not have their own "special courts" and often have to abide by the decisions of Islamic courts in "spiritual and religious matters, such as marriage, inheritance, etc." In light of this, "We may wonder why we don't apply civil law to all Iraqis." The ordinance will give the SEBC Act a retrospective effect following which the admission will be upheld. Mumbai: The state Cabinet on Friday approved an ordinance to uphold the admission of all the postgraduate medical and dental Maratha students on Friday who were affected by the Supreme Courts decision to scrap admissions under the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act for this year. The ordinance will give the SEBC Act a retrospective effect following which the admission will be upheld. The ordinance will be sent to the governor for his approval. The state has also decided to seek 217 additional seats, including 22 for dental courses, and has given an approval in principle to provide scholarship to the open category students who are seeking admission in a deemed university (private colleges). The revenue minister and chairman of the Cabinet sub-committee on matters pertaining to Maratha reservation, Chandrakant Patil, said that the ordinance has been brought to ascertain that no student from the Maratha community is overlooked in the admission process. The revenue minister said, The ordinance will protect the interests of those students who had already got admission under the Maratha quota but were affected after the process was stayed by the court. The ordinance will go to the governor for his signature. After this step, the admission of these students will remain effective and a third round of admissions will also immediately commence. The Cabinet has approved the amendment in section 16(2) of the SEBC Act by the ordinance. The section says that the provisions of this Act shall not apply to admissions in educational institutions and the cases in which the admission process has already been initiated before the commencement of this Act and such cases shall be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of law and the government orders, as they stood before such commencement. Mr Patil said that the admission process has been clarified in the ordinance. The Centre is expected to take a decision on it by May 21. Maratha students welcome decision Maratha students Friday welcomed the decision to amend the Socially and Economically Backward Classes (SEBC) Reservation Act, 2018, to provide reservation to them in post-graduate medical courses. However, they said that their protest would continue till they got joining orders from the Maharashtra Common Entrance Test (CET) cell. Earlier this month, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay HC said that the 16 per cent reservation given to Marathas by the state under the Socially and Economically Backward Classes (SEBC) category will not be applicable to admissions to post-graduate (PG) medical and dental courses this year. The apex court upheld the verdict of the high court. Post this, the CET cell issued a notice of cancellation of admissions under the SEBC quota, which affected around 290 students in the state. A protesting student, Dr Sharad More, said that until they got the order from the Maharashtra CET cell to join colleges, they would continue the protest. Another student, who did not wish to be identified, said that they had not yet received a copy of the ordinance. So, we are not aware of the conditions laid down and the provisions made in it. We will be satisfied only if we get the same seat and same branch, he said. The government on November 30, 2018 passed a law reserving 16 per cent seats for Marathas under the SEBC category. According to the court, since the admission process was initiated on November 3, the reservation under SEBC category could not be granted for this years admissions to post-graduate medical courses. The BJP, in contrast, has not done the hard work and failed to build a party grid of significance. The Bharatiya Janata Party had hoped this time that West Bengal would turn out to be its Uttar Pradesh of 2014. In the 2019 edition of the polls, the party dreamt that even if its strike rate did not match the phenomenal 91 per cent in UP, at least it would go beyond being an impressive also-ran, to a party that could harness anti-incumbent sentiment and also win a significant number of seats. It hoped that the expected losses in the Hindi-speaking states would be somewhat compensated by gains in West Bengal. Undoubtedly, ever since the Trinamul Congress stormed to power in West Bengal in 2011, Mamata Banerjee faces her sternest test. In many ways, this election will go down in history as a watershed, not just in the state but nationally too, and the stakes are unprecedentedly higher. Most people are quick to point out the violent character of elections in the state. Yet few took note that the state has a 50-year old history of the ruling party de facto seizing control of the state, especially the law-enforcement machinery. Whether one likes or not, parties need a combination of cadre network and muscle power, and the absence or weakness of either hinders victory. This culture of competitive political violence exists from the late 1960s. The balance shifted in favour of the challenger for the first time by the Left From in 1977, when it seized political power from the incumbent Congress Party. Thereafter, the Communist parties remained entrenched till 2011 when Mamata Banerjee wrested power. It took her a decade and a half of consistent grassroots political campaigning to build an enviable party network which could challenge the Left, and once this was in place, muscle power flowed into its organisation. On both occasions, the defeat of the incumbent was possible only because of challengers organisational network. The BJP, in contrast, has not done the hard work and failed to build a party grid of significance. It banks solely on Prime Minister Narendra Modis image, with other national leaders bringing up the chorus. Their high visibility and the lack of a charismatic local leadership resulted in the organisational structure either remaining weak in areas where it was present, or not taking ground where it did not exist prior to 2014. The situation made the BJP increasingly desperate. Speeches by the top brass indicated a realisation that the sangathan deficit and the shakti that flows towards it after its full construction, could be countered only by staging jhamela, the word used in the self-video circulated by a low-level BJP functionary. But then, Mamata Banerjee is no genteel foe who can be bowed into submission. For every vituperative attack, she had a retort. For every snort, she had a grunt. She and Mayawati are the political subalterns challenging the leader who once moralistically claimed to be an outsider, yet became the establishment overnight. The desecration of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagars statue by the lumpen brigade after BJP president Amit Shahs motorised cavalcade put them in the same club as adventurist Naxalites who almost half a century ago embarked on beheading statues of icons of the Bengal Renaissance and Bengali culture. The romantic rebels rebelled against the past as they considered these iconic characters, ranging from Raja Rammohun Roy, Vidyasagar, Ram Krishna Paramhansa, Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore and several others, contributed to the emergence of the bhadralok, essentially the enemy of the people. It would be easy to dismiss the vandalism at Vidyasagar College as an act of political violence where the target was any statue. However, one cannot but factor the enormous symbolism of Vidyasagar in the campaign directed against communalism, prejudice and discrimination, the three tenets which are integral to the Hindutva idea in some form or the other. Moreover, Mamata Banerjee is an eyesore for the newly-created Hanuman brigade, which the BJP has sent to bat for it on the streets of Bengal. She, after all, stands against patriarchal stereotypes not good looking (by market standards), single and fiercely independent, verbally offensive to the core on any given day, yet caring for her people in many ways the real-life parallel of Ritwik Ghataks immortal protagonist in Meghe Dhaka Tara. The chief minister is, in many ways, the very girl that Vidyasagar wished every girl to become and thus the attack on his statue becomes an attack on his idea of the real-life character deified in Durga and Kali Pujas every year in Bengal. Into this macabre Hindutva plot, where Ram Bhakti was introduced as a political tool, as distinct from the cultural form of the public religious ceremonies of Bengal, and where Hindu anxiety has been pumped for political gains in a culture which had rejected the ideas of Hindu nationalistic stalwarts like Syama Prasad Mookerjee and N.C. Chatterjee after a few years, the Election Commission stepped in and decided to play a role. That the referee has played a partisan role across India has been widely commented on, but its decision to curtail the campaign by a day was blatant one-sidedness. It is no coincidence that the commission acted in West Bengal only after Amit Shah accused it of being blind to what was unfolding. The ECs order was based on hearsay, that Trinamul leaders warned that Central forces will leave after the elections while we will remain. It cited the same points that its critics did while criticising the ECs inaction on charges of violations of the Model Code of Conduct by Prime Miniser Narendra Modi and Mr Shah: Democracy forms the basic structure of the Constitution; and Free and fair elections are the bedrock of all democratic institutions. Was not the EC aware of these observations of the Supreme Court when it chose not to act after the Opposition complained? Furthermore, why did the commission not curtail the campaigning immediately? Was it to enable Mr Modi to address two planned rallies on Thursday? Whatever be the verdict on May 23, the shadow of this election in West Bengal will cast its shadow on the republic for long. In his words: "I am just a professional writer, which means I don't do blogs and try and get money for whatever I write." The suffix was added to distinguish the death-cult from one of the popular religions of the world. Its not the same in attacks on Muslims by supposed other Muslims in mosques and shrines in Pakistan. Just because you think it, Doesnt make it true Conviction is no test of truth Neither for me nor you Descartes came close when he declared I think therefore I am! Dont be like Dracula who dared To mistake blood for jam. From The Taste of Dhoka Cola by Bachchoo Idiots blow themselves up in Sri Lankan churches killing hundreds of people at prayer. These idiots the media say have been brainwashed, believing that they will go straight to paradise and be afforded earthly luxury and 72 virgins. (Are all women suicide bombers lesbians?). I disagree not with the notion of going to paradise and its rewards but with the statement that they have been brainwashed. One has to have a brain for someone to wash it. These murderers must, like creatures great and small, possess some protoplasm in their skulls, but calling it a brain is an insult to every human being and even to the birds that sing. These robotic persons have put themselves beyond earthly justice through being programmed with a doctrine, which its cowardly perpetrators call Islam. For the last three decades, perhaps from the appearance in the public eye of Al Qaeda, the vicious death-cult and several variations of it, have been labelled Islamism. The suffix was added to distinguish the death-cult from one of the popular religions of the world. It shouldnt have been. Islam should not in any way have been associated with the death-cults and their convictions and preaching. Any perusal of Islam, by laymen, by theologians, by scholars and renowned Imams will prove that the religion does not, in any interpretation, instruct people to tie explosives to themselves and kill innocent people Neither does any interpretation of the Quran or the Hadith justify driving vans into people walking on the pavements of Westminster Bridge. These are far-fetched willful medieval interpretations unacceptable to most Muslims in the contemporary world, Innocent Muslims are also being slaughtered, some by right-wing maniacs who target mosques in New Zealand or in Finsbury Park, London. It is likely that both these attacks were not motivated by any knowledge of the teachings of Islam. They were murderous attacks on places where Muslims would gather to pray and were racially anti-immigrant in their animus. Its not the same in attacks on Muslims by supposed other Muslims in mosques and shrines in Pakistan. Those are, through the genocidal boasts of the perpetrators, attacks by Sunnis on Shias and Sufi worshippers not racial in nature but motivated by historical and theological divisions attributed by the murderers to their own interpretations of Islam. Then there are the bombs and slaughters in Palestine by Israel (not through the theology of Judaism versus Islam but by territorial ambition and imperialism); the proxy war of Wahhabi Saudi and Shia Iran in Yemen with millions of Muslims caught in the conflict; the wars for control throughout the Middle East and north Africa And lets not neglect a mention of the anti-Muslim rhetoric and actions of Hindutva groups, politicians and murdering vigilantes in India. In the wake of attacks on Muslims in Britain, fatal and verbal, the present government is considering a new definition of Islamophobia. The proposed definition is: Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness. This definition has been accepted by the Labour Party, the Liberal Democratic Party and by Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London. Not, gentle reader, by me. Britain certainly needs a definition of and even a punishable law against Muslimophobia. There have been an increasing number of attacks on mosques so far not anything like the massacres in New Zealand or Pakistan and these, or the instigation to perpetrate such attacks, ought certainly to be defined and prohibited in law. So also, the instances of attacks on individual Muslims and that includes hate crimes which may not be physical in nature. The proposed definition comes close to defining Muslims as a race in the eye of the Muslimophobe. To call the acts they seek to ban Islamophobia can be interpreted as a new, restrictive, blasphemy law, which were laws Britain abolished years ago. One can openly disagree with the Bible or the Quran without fear of criminal prosecution. When Salman Rushdie published The Satanic Verses it was perceived by Ayatollah Khomeini and by millions who hadnt or couldnt read it, as anti-Islamic. What the book wasnt, or isnt, is anti-Muslim and despite demonstrations against it the government of Margaret Thatcher, a constant target of Salman Rushdies politics, decided quite rightly, to afford him full protection. Martin Hewitt, a senior police chief and chair of the National Police Chiefs Council, has written to the Prime Minister pointing out that this definition proposed by a committee chaired by a Tory called Baroness Warsi, may inhibit the investigation or worse make it illegal to investigate people and premises suspected of terrorism in the cause of Islamism. Another objection to this definition comes from Trevor Phillips of the Policy Exchange think tank. He quotes the case of schools in Birmingham which were investigated for teaching extreme forms of Islamism as a result of having been infiltrated by Islamists who joined as senior staff or school governors. The investigation into what was labelled the Trojan Horse phenomenon would be prohibited as Islamophobic under this definition and the besieged pupil-Trojans of Birmingham would be institutionally subject to brainwashing, protected, if not by statute, by this inhibiting definition. While rejecting it as an inhibition to free speech and recognising chief Hewitts and Mr Phillips reservations about applying such a definition and enshrining it in law or in any code of practice in Britain, I wonder if it would be useful in the recent political climate in India. I think the Mahagathbandhan and even Amit Shah, who professes to love all Indians, should have a look at it, even after the election results. Rohit Sharma was jailed at Isleworth Crown Court in London after pleading guilty to stalking, harassment and failing to appear in court. The man began stalking his victim, aged in her 20s, after she served him in a shop in Wembley, north-west London, in November 2017. (Photo: Twitter) London: An Indian man who stalked a woman over a period of 18 months after she attended to him just once in a shop in London has been jailed for 29 months. Rohit Sharma was jailed at Isleworth Crown Court in London on Wednesday after pleading guilty to stalking, harassment and failing to appear in court. The 28-year-old Indian national will be deported back to India at the end of his sentence. "Stalking and harassment has a devastating impact on the lives of those targeted. There is intrusion into the victim's life, and they are left to feel vulnerable, distressed and threatened," said detective Constable Nicola Kerry from the Metropolitan Police West Area Command Unit, who led the investigation. "Sharma was incessant in his pursuit of his victim. He would phone her up to 40 times a day and use around 15 different numbers to contact her, making it near impossible to block his calls, and would also get friends and relatives to contact her on his behalf," she said. The man began stalking his victim, aged in her 20s, after she served him in a shop in Wembley, north-west London, in November 2017. After that brief interaction, Sharma returned later that same day with his father and asked her to marry him. Four days later, the victim changed jobs, but Sharma found out where she worked and managed to obtain her phone number. His behaviour escalated and he bombarded the victim with multiple messages via phone, text and social media, the Met Police said. The victim reported Sharma to police and in February 2018 he was issued with a harassment warning. However, the court was told that this did not deter him and his campaign of stalking and harassment continued. This consisted of the victim receiving up to 40 calls a day and Sharma continually watching her at her place of work. In July 2018, Sharma was charged with harassment but after being bailed from court he continued to pursue his victim. He failed to attend a court hearing in November 2018 and was circulated as wanted by police. "Sharma's stalking continued persistently to such a point that the victim quit her job and moved away from the area in an attempt to get away from him. However, this only seemed to fuel his campaign and he systematically began contacting people who knew the victim, trying to find out where she had gone," the Met Police said. In April 2019, Sharma was arrested by police after intelligence linked him to an address in Wembley. He was subsequently charged and, due to the weight of evidence against him, was left with little option but to plead guilty at court. In a statement, the unnamed victim said: "This whole experience has completely shattered my nerves, I have gone from being a confident young woman to constantly feeling scared and on edge. I have no desire to socialise or meet new people, which has really taken its toll and ruined the university experience I had always envisioned. "I cannot understand why this male became so obsessed with me. It is so unfair and completely undeserved. I just want him to realise what he has done and to know that he cannot do this to me or anyone else. I now want to move on knowing that he is locked away and cannot harm or hurt anyone else like he has done to me. The victim has been left devastated by Sharma's actions and I can only hope that his imprisonment offers some form of respite for her. She has shown immense bravery in reporting him to police and supporting this court case," added detective constable Kerry. Sharma was handed down a sentence of 22-month imprisonment for stalking, six months for harassment, and one month for failing to appear at court. Concerns about the possible conflict have flared after the US dispatched warships and bombers to the region to counter a threat from Iran. A state-aligned Saudi newspaper went further, running an editorial calling for 'surgical' US strikes on Iran in retaliation. (Photo:AP) Dubai: Saudi Arabia accused Tehran of being behind a drone strike that shut down a key oil pipeline in the kingdom, and a newspaper close to the palace called for Washington to launch surgical strikes on Iran, raising the spectre of escalating tensions as the US boosts its military presence in the Persian Gulf. Concerns about the possible conflict have flared after the US dispatched warships and bombers to the region to counter an alleged but unspecified threat from Iran. There also have been allegations that four oil tankers were sabotaged on Sunday off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, and Iran-aligned rebels in Yemen claimed responsibility for Tuesdays attack on the Saudi pipeline. Fears have grown out of President Donald Trumps decision last year to withdraw the US from the 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and world powers and impose wide-reaching sanctions the latest levied as recently as last week that have crippled Irans economy. But Trump took a soft tone Thursday, a day after tweeting that he expected Iran to look for talks. Asked if the US might be on a path to war with the Iranians, the president answered, I hope not. Saudi prince Khalid bin Salman, who is King Salmans son and the countrys deputy defence minister, tweeted that the drone attack on two Saudi Aramco pumping stations running along the East-West pipeline were ordered by the regime in Tehran, and carried out by the Houthis a reference to the Yemeni rebel group. A state-aligned Saudi newspaper went further, running an editorial calling for surgical US strikes on Iran in retaliation. Iran has been accused by the US and the UN of supplying ballistic missile technology and arms to the Houthis, which Tehran denies. The front-page editorial in the Arab News, published in English, said its clear that (US) sanctions are not sending the right message and that they must be hit hard, without elaborating on specific targets. It said the Trump administration had already set a precedent with airstrikes in Syria, when the government there was suspected of using chemical weapons. Ali Shihabi, who runs the Saudi-leaning Arabia Foundation in Washington, said theres a sense that if the Iranians can get away with targeting Saudi oil infrastructure, then the whole security infrastructure in the Gulf will be called into question and security premiums on oil will rise. He said it would seem that Riyadh would like to coordinate with Washington how it responds to Iran, but eventually what may happen is that just Saudi Arabia and the UAE may have to do something. Nobody is going to start a war with them (Iran), but I think they should be defanged and, you know, things like their naval capabilities, things like their missile capabilities should be downgraded at least to make their capacity to inflict such dangerous activity more painful, more costly, Shihabi said. Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, who also is defence minister and controls major levers of power in the Sunni kingdom, has not commented publicly on this weeks incidents. In a Saudi TV interview in 2017, he said the kingdom knows it is a main target of Shiite Iran and there is no room for dialogue with Tehran. A top Emirati diplomat said late Wednesday the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen would retaliate hard for attacks on civilian targets, without elaborating. However, Anwar Gargash also said the UAE is very committed to de-escalation after the alleged sabotage of the tankers off the countrys coast. He declined to blame Iran directly, although he repeatedly criticised Tehran. In response to the oil pipeline attack, the coalition said it launched airstrikes on Houthi targets in the rebel-held capital, Sanaa, killing at least six people, including four children. At least 40 other people were wounded, according to Yemens Health Ministry. Residents of Sanaa scrambled to pull wounded people from the rubble of a building hit by the airstrikes. Fawaz Ahmed told The Associated Press he saw three bodies a man, a woman and a child, all buried together. The coalition, which includes the UAE, has been at war with the Houthis since 2015, carrying out near-daily airstrikes. The pipeline attack marked one of the rebels deepest and most significant drone strikes inside Saudi territory since the conflict began. Washington already has warned shipping companies that Iran or its proxies could be targeting maritime traffic in the Persian Gulf region and said it deployed an aircraft carrier strike group and B-52 bombers there to counter the threat. Last week, US officials said they had detected signs of Iranian preparations for potential attacks on US forces and interests in the Middle East but did not provide any evidence to back up the claims. The US State Department has ordered all nonessential government staff to leave its embassy and consulate in Iraq. Germany and the Netherlands both suspended their military assistance programs in the country in the latest sign of tensions. Iraq is home to powerful pro-Iranian militias, while also hosting more than 5,000 US troops. The US militarys Central Command said its troops were on high alert, without elaborating. European nations have urged the US and Iran to show restraint. Also, a senior British officer in the US-backed coalition fighting the Islamic State group, Maj Gen. Chris Ghika, said earlier this week that there had been no increased threat from Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and Syria. His comments exposed international skepticism over the US military buildup. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said during a visit to Tokyo that Iran has the right to respond to the unacceptable US sanctions, but has exercised maximum restraint. Speaking about Irans nuclear deal with world powers, Zarif was quoted as also saying: A multilateral deal cannot be treated unilaterally. Iran recently said it would resume enriching uranium at higher levels if a new nuclear deal is not reached by 7 July. That would potentially bring it closer to being able to develop a nuclear weapon, something Iran insists it has never sought. Pakistan has been regularly raising this issue with India, especially 'after the acquittal to which India has no reply'. The blast in Samjhauta Express took place near Panipat in Haryana on February 18, 2007, when the train was on its way to Attari in Amritsar, the last railway station on the Indian side. (Photo: File) Islamabad: Pakistan on Thursday said it is considering to move international forums against the acquittal of the 2007 Samjhauta train blast case suspects that left 68 people, mostly Pakistanis, dead. The blast in Samjhauta Express took place near Panipat in Haryana on February 18, 2007, when the train was on its way to Attari in Amritsar, the last railway station on the Indian side. A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Haryana's Panchkula on March 20 acquitted Naba Kumar Sarkar, alias Swami Aseemanand, and three other accused in the case. "Swami Aseemanand, the mastermind who confessed to this heinous act of terrorism before a magistrate, was acquitted. Such a decision cast aspersions on the credibility of the Indian judicial system," Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal told a weekly media briefing here. He said Pakistan has been regularly raising this issue with India, especially "after the acquittal to which India has no reply". "Presently, we are considering different options to take up this case with the relevant international forums," he said. DLA Piper said that lawyers from its New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, and UK offices also supported the deal. DLA Piper previously worked on the ASX listings of US tech companies, including Credible Labs and Updater. DLA Piper has been fortunate to advise a number of US tech companies on their ASX listing journey. With a deep heritage in Silicon Valley and one of the most active technology practices globally, DLA Piper has become the go-to law firm for tech based equity raisings and IPOs in Australia, Ryan said. The work has earned praise from Itamar Novick, Life360 chief business officer, whom the firm worked closely with in managing the IPO. The DLA Piper team is developing a strong reputation in the Australian market as being the go-to firm in helping list US tech companies on ASX. We can now attest to this having witnessed first-hand how they expertly guided us through all the twists and turns of our IPO and listing process. The team is very commercial and always adopts a pragmatic solutions-focussed approach. We quickly knew we could trust them to help us successfully execute our vision, he said. Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe served as the US legal adviser to Life360. The firms team was headed by Silicon Valley partner Gregory Heibel. He was supported by partners Andrew Thorpe, Joseph Perkins, Christine McCarthy, Emily Tabatabai, and Steve Malvey; of counsel Kathryn Montalvo; managing associates Laura Bloxham and Thomas Joraanstad; and associates Jevon Potts and Jake Routhier. The most important recall has to do with Ram 1500, 2500 and 3500 pickup trucks equipped with eight-foot cargo beds and manufactured for model years 2015-2018, up until March 31, 2018. In all, 410,351 such vehicles are to be sent to the dealers in the coming months.In these pickups, FCA found that a small shared component in the power locking mechanisms in the tailgates may break over time, potentially leading to the tailgate to unlatch.The redesigned-for-2019 Ram 1500 is not affected. Its tailgate mechanism features a new design that delivers enhanced functionality, such as lift-assist. Trucks equipped with manual tailgate locks also are excluded, says FCA in a statement.Separately, 198,731 Chrysler Pacifica minivans manufactured between 2017 and 2019 are being recalled for an electrical issue. An extra 10,000 are affected to the north and south of the border, in Canada and Mexico.Problems might arise because of a potential issue with a wiring harness in the battery assembly. This component may be contaminated with sealer, leading to interruptions in the electrical circuit and subsequent loss of power steering or stalling.FCA claims that if a Pacifica stalls as a result of this issue, it can be immediately restarted, and power steering loss does not mean the cars entire steering capability is gone.FCA says there have been no injuries or accidents reported as a result of the two problems.The carmaker said owners of the affected trucks will begin being notified starting later this month. For owners of the Pacifica, the start of the recall campaign has not yet been announced.As usual in such cases, all the needed repairs, if any, will be conducted free of charge. With a variety of options at its disposal to launch humans toward the Moon, NASA's primary concern is having a human lander ready in time for the mission five years from now. As already stated, the agency will not develop its own lander, but will buy it from private companies.NASA has $1 billion saved for the human lunar landing system, money which it plans to use to buy a working machine of this type from commercial partners.To accelerate our return to the Moon, we are challenging our traditional ways of doing business. We will streamline everything from procurement to partnerships to hardware development and even operations, said Marshall Smith, NASA's director of human lunar exploration.Our team is excited to get back to the Moon quickly as possible, and our public/private partnerships to study human landing systems are an important step in that process.On Thursday, NASA announced the names of the companies that are now in the race to come up with the best solution. There are 11 companies in total, fighting to put $45.5 million of NASA's NextSTEP money to good use and come up with the best lander study.The list opens with space exploration behemoths like Aerojet Rocketdyne Northrop Grumman and Boeing, but also includes smaller companies, like Dynetics, Masten Space Systems or OrbitBeyond.The two superstars of the modern space race, SpaceX and Blue Origin, are also in the cards. Elon Musk's company is researching a descent element for the lander, while Jeff Bezos' a descent element and two transfer vehicles.Despite being a tad behind SpaceX when it comes to commercial rocket launches, Blue Origin just unveiled a lander prototype, the Blue Moon A formal solicitation for building the lander will be made by NASA later this summer. DCT AMG HP About a month ago, we showed you a video of the Veloster N with agearbox and suggested the i30 N wasn't far behind. And it seems both are already common sights at the Nurburgring track now, as fresh spy footage has become available.Of course, you can't see the gearbox itself, but the sound a powerful 2-liter turbo makes when the twin-clutch gearbox blips it is unmistakable. You hear it on everything from anto a SEAT.Adding Hyundai to that list is not trivial. Sure, Volkswagen has been offering the DSG on its performance compacts for nearly two decades now, but other manufacturers didn't follow despite encouraging sales. The Honda Civic Type R, for all its lap records, is manual-only, as was the Focus RS. So if you wanted a fast, convenient car that's relatively affordable, it was probably going to have a Volkswagen badge somewhere. Of course, the Europeans now have a Renault alternative as of last year, soon to be joined by the Focus ST.According to Hyundai's own statements, the DCT is developed in-house, unlike most affordable twin-clutch autos that come from Getrag. It's supposed to have eight speeds and a setup that's compatible with lots of torque (wet clutch).The DCT should be available on both the 250 and 275versions of the Veloster N and i30 N, which should be ready by the end of the year. Fingers crossed, prices won't go up too much. 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. Former Vice President Joe Biden has released a climate and energy plan with the goal of achieving net-zero U.S. greenhouse gas emissions no later than 2050. Why it matters: As the race for 2020 heats up, climate change has emerged as a key issue for primary voters with many of Biden's competitors putting climate policy front and center. In a CNN poll released in April, 96% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents said it's very or somewhat important for a presidential candidate to promise aggressive action on climate change. Driving the news: Biden released his climate and energy plan on Tuesday outlining the legislative, executive and international actions he seeks to enact, if elected. Key details of Biden's climate plan Legislative goals: A bill that requires emissions cuts with an "enforcement mechanism" to reach his 2050 goal. A bill that requires emissions cuts with an "enforcement mechanism" to reach his 2050 goal. Big spending increases on low-carbon energy and "resilient infrastructure" funded by reversing Trump's 2017 corporate tax cuts. A suite of tax code changes. Executive actions: Include methane limits for oil and gas, new fuel economy standards, tougher appliance and building efficiency standards. Include methane limits for oil and gas, new fuel economy standards, tougher appliance and building efficiency standards. His plan also outlines social justice and equity provisions and steps to help fossil fuel workers. International: Biden wants to go further than just rejoining the Paris Climate Deal. Biden wants to go further than just rejoining the Paris Climate Deal. This includes pushing other countries to increase their emissions-cutting ambitions through diplomacy, new policies to incorporate climate into trade policy, and potential fees or quotas on "carbon-intensive goods" from countries that aren't meeting their climate obligations. Green New Deal: Biden's platform praises the Green New Deal, calling it a "crucial framework for meeting the climate challenges we face." Biden's platform praises the Green New Deal, calling it a "crucial framework for meeting the climate challenges we face." Personnel: Biden is seeking a pragmatic path on climate policy and brought on Heather Zichal, a former top Obama aide, as an informal adviser, according to a Reuters report. Biden is seeking a pragmatic path on climate policy and brought on Heather Zichal, a former top Obama aide, as an informal adviser, according to a Reuters report. Fossil fuel money: Biden plans to sign the "no fossil fuel money" pledge on contributions. Biden plans to sign the "no fossil fuel money" pledge on contributions. EV: Wants to deploy 500,000 charging stations by 2030. His vehicle standards are aimed at ultimately ensuring 100% of light- and medium-duty sales are EVs, although no date is provided. Yes, but: Several key portions would require legislation, Axios' Ben Geman notes. That's a big lift unless Democrats regain the Senate and ease filibuster rules or use special budget-related legislation that could allow provisions to pass with a simple majority. In early May, before releasing his plan, a Biden adviser said he would take a middle ground approach to his climate policy. That comment sparked attacks from the left, but the plan Biden announced Tuesday has tempered that criticism. Context: Biden does have a 30-plus-year history of policy positions based on his time as a senator and as vice president. Go deeper: Joe Biden on the issues, in under 500 words Prosecutors on Wednesday said the 2 suspects involved in the May 7 school shooting at STEM School Highlands Ranch that left 1 student dead and 8 wounded, were formally charged with more than a dozen counts of murder and attempted murder as well as theft and arson, reports the AP. Details: All injured students have been released from Denver area hospitals. Wednesday's hearing was just hours before a memorial service for Kendrick Castillo the 18-year-old student who was killed. A tweet previously embedded here has been deleted or was tweeted from an account that has been suspended or deleted. The latest: On Wednesday, May 15, Judge Theresa Slade refused a request from the defense to allow the 18-year-old suspect to be unshackled for the hearing and ruled that information related to the case including arrest affidavits will not be made public. The 18-year-old suspect's next court date is set for June 7. What we know: Authorities responded to a middle school administrator's phone call just before 2 pm MST on Tuesday, May 7. Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock said at a press conference the 2 suspects were believed to be students of the school. They were armed with at least 2 handguns, which they could not have purchased on their own due to their ages, he said. Authorities said at a news conference 3 students who leapt from their desks to tackle the gunman saved lives, the AP reports. Among them was Castillo. His friend Brendan Bialy said he called out to Castillo after wrestling the gun away, but he was unresponsive. "Kendrick went out as a hero," Bialy said. Spurlock said the 2 suspects engaged students at 2 separate locations. The FBI is leading the crime scene investigation. Thus far, no motive has been determined. A Denver Post journalist on the scene shared video of a car being towed away from a suspect's house. "A pentagram was spray painted on hood, with the numbers 666," the reporter, Kieran Nicholson said in his tweet. Highland Ranch schools went into lockdown for several hours, according to the Douglas County School District. White House adviser Ivanka Trump canceled a visit to the nearby Colorado city of Littleton because the administration "did not want to divert resources or attention" from the shooting, according to the Denver Post. She tweeted her reaction to the 4th school shooting in Colorado since the Columbine massacre, as did many 2020 presidential candidates and her father, President Trump. A letter from December 2018 has surfaced from an anonymous parent to the director of the STEM School, flagging concerns about student violence due to a high-pressure environment, and harkening back to the Columbine massacre of 1999, Reuters reports. In the letter, the parent told Douglas County School Board of Education Director Wendy Vogel that many students are suicidal and violent in school. Several students have reported sexual assault and nothing is being done. On his Air Force One flight to Louisiana earlier this week, President Trump tried to persuade Rep. Steve Scalise to run for governor of Louisiana, according to two sources familiar with the president's private conversation. Why it matters: The president's personal appeal to the second highest ranking Republican in the House shows how determined Republicans are to knock off Louisiana Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards. As Louisiana's largest daily newspaper, The Advocate, reported: "Edwards' re-election bid has already drawn national interest from Republicans hoping to unseat the only Democratic governor in the Deep South." Scalise has previously said he's not running. Behind the scenes: As Trump travelled to southwestern Louisiana on Tuesday with several members of Congress, including Scalise, the president pulled out polling numbers to show Scalise how popular Trump is in Scalise's home state, according to a source with direct knowledge. Trump told Scalise that he would win easily if he ran for governor and that he should think about entering the race. Trump told Scalise that his congressional district was safe, that another Republican could win his seat, and that "everyone" in Louisiana "loves" Scalise, so he'd have the best chance of beating the Democratic incumbent governor. Trump also told Scalise that he could help him win which is why he showed him the polling of his own popularity in Louisiana. (According to Morning Consult's tracking of Trump's approval ratings across the country, Louisiana is tied for third trailing Wyoming and Alabama when it comes to states whose voters favor Trump.) Between the lines: Scalise seemed flattered by Trump's pitch, but politely dismissed the idea, according to a source with direct knowledge. The election is in October and the deadline to enter the race is early August. Florida's Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said he will fight any federal plans that include "dumping" hundreds of migrants in southern Florida from the U.S.-Mexico border even if that means taking it to President Trump directly, reports the AP. Why it matters: The federal government has reached capacity for processing the thousands of migrants crossing the border, forcing officials to find other options while they await court processing. DeSantis said shipping migrants to Florida could stress "resources, the schools, the health care, law enforcement, state agencies," per AP. Details: Palm Beach and Broward County officials say they were notified that almost 1,000 migrants could be sent to southern Florida each month starting in two weeks, but federal officials have said there are no immediate plans to relocate these people to Florida, per AP. Context: Trump and DeSantis have a historically strong relationship, with Trump's endorsement helping DeSantis to secure his gubernatorial seat. DeSantis recently signed a bill banning sanctuary cities. A Russian aluminum company has approved a $200 million investment in a planned mill in Ashland, Ky., to which Democrats wrote a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, calling on the Trump administration to investigate the deal, expressing concern about Russian influence and national security. "Russia remains a central threat to U.S. national security and prosperity and is, along with China, one of our most aggressive and capable adversaries. The proposed investments by En+ - a company that is majority owned by a U.S.-sanctioned Russian national and Russian state bank - in an American aluminum mill, raises serious questions of national security, particularly given the mill promises to supply materials to the Department of Defense." House Democrats in a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin Why it matters: The Russian aluminum company, Rusal, was sanctioned last year, banning the business from U.S. operations. Its owner, oligarch Oleg Deripaska, had been accused of "malign activity." House Democrats are "deeply alarmed" the company's U.S. investment. Go deeper: U.S. lifts sanctions on 3 Deripaska-linked companies President Trump addressed two stories on Iran one from the New York Times, which said his administration was considering military action, and one from the Washington Post, which said he was not convinced of an attack by his advisers in a pair of Thursday tweets. "The Fake News Washington Post, and even more Fake News New York Times, are writing stories that there is infighting with respect to my strong policy in the Middle East. There is no infighting whatsoever. Different opinions are expressed and I make a decisive and final decision - it is a very simple process. All sides, views, and policies are covered. Im sure that Iran will want to talk soon." Context: Trump's statement that "Iran will want to talk soon" actually fits the thrust of the Post's report, which said the president "prefers a diplomatic approach to resolving tensions and wants to speak directly with Irans leaders." Flashback: Trump denies report that U.S. may deploy 120,000 troops to counter Iran A dispute over Houthi withdrawals from critical ports in Yemen is threatening the success of a deal negotiated late last year with the country's internationally recognized government. Why it matters: The Stockholm agreement, considered a breakthrough when announced in December, was intended to improve Yemens dire humanitarian situation and build confidence between the government and the Iran-backed Houthis. But scant progress has been made, raising concerns about the UNs ability to broker a permanent peace between the warring parties. Background: For the past 5 months, Yemen's government has pointed to the Houthis reluctance to withdraw from the Yemeni ports of Hodeidah, Salif and Rass-Issaas as evidence of their insincerity. The initially planned withdrawal reached a stalemate last December, when questions were raised about the Houthi ties of Yemeni Coast Guard units who had been set to assume control of the port. Where it stands: The Houthi withdrawal finally began last weekend, and UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths briefed the Security Council on Wednesday on its progress. Yemens government declared the withdrawal a sham, on the basis that it was prevented from monitoring and verifying the operation in violation of their agreement, leaving Houthi loyalists in charge. The UN views any Houthi pullback as vital to ensuring the flow of humanitarian aid. It would also allow for removing mines from around the ports and responding to a derelict oil tanker anchored off Salif that could explode at any time. Whats next: Yemen's government has been left in a difficult position after the withdrawal, worried about the UN's ability to act as a neutral arbiter and the threat posed by Houthi forces positioned just outside Hodeidah. Objections aside, the government is likely to withdraw as planned a few kilometers back from where they are currently stationed in Hodeidahs outskirts, while pressing for neutral port management by professional staff and law enforcement officials employed before the Houthi takeover in 2014. The UN's ceasefire statement has already been contradicted by reports of clashes between the Yemeni government and Houthi forces in Hodeidah. Absent an enforcement mechanism for the UN to hold violators accountable, the violence could quickly escalate. The bottom line: Unless the special envoy can guarantee the neutrality and safety of the port, the most critical part of the Stockholm agreement is in danger of collapse. Fatima Abo Alasrar is a senior analyst at the Arabia Foundation. Islamist militants operating in Syria and Iraq could flock to Azerbaijan in case of a major escalation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian claimed on Friday. There are large numbers of militants of radical Islamist groups in Syria, and they realize that they have no place in Syria and Iraq anymore, Pashinian told Russian journalists in Yerevan. According to our information, they are now looking for a new place where they can move. If a new escalation starts in our region, that would be a good excuse for them to go to, say, Azerbaijan, he claimed. For them, thats a very convenient point from which they could extend their operations towards Iran, Russia, the South Caucasus and Central Asia. A war in Karabakh, Pashinian went on, could therefore spill over into neighboring countries. He said he hopes Russia, Iran and Azerbaijan realize this. According to the Sputnik news agency, Pashinian also stated that Moscow is capable of preventing renewed large-scale fighting in Karabakh. Im sure that Russia has all the leverage to prevent an escalation in the Karabakh region, he said. And I cant believe that Russia will not use that leverage when necessary. Together with the United States and France, Russia has been spearheading international efforts to broker the conflicts resolution. As recently as on April 15, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov hosted a fresh meeting of his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts in Moscow. It was the latest in a series of high-level Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations held since September 2018. Public statements made by the conflicting parties and the international mediators in recent months have raised some hopes for progress in the protracted peace process. We will not be rushing the process, but we will not be putting the brakes on it either because the conflict is there and I dont think its right to forget about it, said Pashinian. The owner of a TV channel critical of Armenias government faced arrest on Friday after being charged with assaulting another man at the start of former President Robert Kocharians trial in Yerevan. Vardges Gaspari, a well-known activist, was confronted by Kocharian supporters inside a court building on Monday after holding up a poster that branded the ex-president a murderer. One of them wrested the poster and ripped it up. Gaspari, who is known for staging lone protests against the countrys former governments, says that he was also hit in the face by a plastic bottle. Several Kocharian backers were briefly detained and questioned by police later on Monday. Among them was Armen Tavadian, the official owner of the pro-Kocharian Fifth Channel. A spokeswoman the Investigative Committee, Naira Harutiunian, told RFE/RLs Armenian service that Tavadian was formally charged with grave hooliganism. She said the law-enforcement body also asked a court in Yerevan to allow his pre-trial arrest. Tavadian, who will risk up to five years in prison if convicted, dismissed the accusation as incomprehensible when he spoke to reporters. That is why I refused to testify, he said. I understand that they accuse me of being in the court building on that day, he said. They tried to put pressure on me so I give some testimony, claimed the suspect. How can I testify if I dont understand what Im accused of? Tavadians lawyer, Narek Aloyan, described the indictment as an act of political persecution. Aloyan said the court will open hearings on his clients arrest late on Friday or Saturday. Kocharians supports packed the small courtroom during the first four sessions of his high-profile trial. Also, dozens of his loyalists as well as detractors demonstrated outside the court building on a daily basis, shouting insults at each other. The former accused the authorities of prosecuting Kocharian for political reasons while the latter blamed him for the 2008 post-election violence in Yerevan, which left ten people dead. The rival groups were kept apart by riot police. By Trend Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops 26 times, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said on May 17, 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 Leman Mammadova Enjoying strong strategic partnership, Azerbaijan and the Czech Republic maintain close bilateral ties and aim to realize new beneficial projects to further expand the scope of economic cooperation. A delegation led by President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic Radek Vondracek visited Baku on May 16. On the same day, President Ilham Aliyev received the Czech delegation. Stressing successfully developing bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and the Czech Republic, President Aliyev noted good prospects for the economic cooperation and underlined the necessity of enhancing relations in economic, trade and investment spheres. The President expressed confidence that the visit of the Czech delegation to Azerbaijan would be fruitful and would contribute to the strengthening of the bilateral ties. Vondracek, in turn, emphasized that the main goal of the visit of the delegation to Azerbaijan was to contribute to the development of very good relations between the two countries. He praised the ongoing drastic reforms in various areas in Azerbaijan and said that Czech investors show great interest in Azerbaijan. Vondracek also stressed the importance of intensifying the work of the joint intergovernmental commission. Later in the day, the Czech delegation attended the Azerbaijani-Czech Business Forum. Today there are great opportunities for joint ventures between the countries, Rufat Mammadov, Azerbaijans Deputy Economy Minister, said at the forum, noting that Azerbaijan proposes creating joint ventures in the fields of agriculture, industry and energy. He noted that the trade between the two countries grew by 57 percent in 2018 compared to 2017 and exceeded $1 billion, adding that Azerbaijan accounts for more than 88 percent of the Czech Republics trade with the South Caucasus countries. In his words, at present 26 companies with Czech capital operate in Azerbaijan. Czech companies participated in projects worth $2.8 billion in Azerbaijan. More than 30 documents were signed between the countries in various fields, including agreements on the protection and promotion of investments, the avoidance of double taxation, said the deputy minister. Mammadov further noted that the investment of Czech companies in Azerbaijani economy amounted to $33.5 million, while Azerbaijan invested about $50 million in Czech economy. He stressed that Azerbaijan considers the Czech Republic as one of the most promising partners in Europe and expects further expansion and strengthening of ties in many areas of bilateral cooperation. In turn, Radek Vondracek stressed the need to expand trade relations in various sectors of the economy. He noted that the expansion of trade and economic cooperation with Azerbaijan is a priority for Czech economy and the Czech Republic intends to further strengthen partnerships between the countries. So far, a significant share of the trade turnover between the two countries accounts for the purchase of oil and oil products from Azerbaijan, he said. Meanwhile, the Czech Republic is ready to organize the export of various Czech products to Azerbaijan. Presently, the greatest emphasis is on the development of cooperation in the oil sector, resulting in an imbalance in bilateral trade, Vondracek noted. He went on to add that Czech refineries are configured to process Azerbaijani oil and currently more than 33 percent of the total refining accounts for Azerbaijani oil. The Czech Republic, as one of the most developed countries of the European Union, intends to cooperate with Azerbaijan in the long-term refining of oil and oil products and offers to expand bilateral cooperation in other areas, he said. In turn, President of the Union of Industry and Transport of the Czech Republic Jaroslav Hanak noted that Azerbaijan is considered the leading country in the region as it has been demonstrating strong economic growth in recent years. Hanak stressed that Azerbaijan is the guarantor of European energy security and the Czech Republic attaches great importance to this. We are one of the most developed countries in Europe in the industrial sphere, and today we propose to establish close cooperation in this area, as we could share our experience in expanding this area, he said. The Union president also mentioned that the Czech Republic is interested in cooperation with Azerbaijan in agriculture and investment sectors. For example, we could build agricultural enterprises in Azerbaijan to be used in livestock production. Hanak further stressed that the Czech Republic is one of the leaders in the modern nano-technologies, biotechnologies, and in IT-technologies. We believe that the cooperation of Azerbaijan with the Czech Republic in these areas, as well as the exchange of experience could bring mutual benefits to the two states, he noted. Azerbaijan is a strategic partner for the Czech Republic and plays an important role in ensuring the country's energy security. Azerbaijan is the second biggest oil supplier to the Czech Republic after Russia. The volume of exported oil totals 2-2.5 million tons per year, making up a third of the oil consumed in the Czech Republic. Currently, Azerbaijan and the Czech Republic hold talks to sign a new energy agreement to underline the strategic importance of supplies of Azerbaijani oil to the Czech Republic and to facilitate the cooperation in the development of alternative energy sources. The countries bilateral cooperation does not cover only the energy sector. The close relationship between Azerbaijan and the Czech Republic is evidenced by the fact that the Czech Republic takes the 9th place in terms of foreign investment in the Azerbaijani economy. Czech companies are also interested in the development of relations with Azerbaijan in such areas as mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, transport, tourism, construction and infrastructure projects. Czech companies actively participate in modernization of road and rail networks in Azerbaijan. The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is the most important project of Azerbaijan, in which the Czech Republic is involved. Czech company Moravia Steel has been involved in the reconstruction process of the Azerbaijani BTK segment. The Czech Republic is interested in cargo transportation via the BTK railway. Recently, a memorandum was signed between Ganja Automobile Plant and Czech Tatra company, that envisages the assembly of Czech-made Tatra trucks in Azerbaijan. The production will be launched within the next two years. This year, the next meeting of the Azerbaijani-Czech intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation will be held in Prague. --- Leman Mammadova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @leman_888 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Laman Ismayilova Mindaugas Survila, Lithuanian director and cinematographer, is a talented filmmaker who makes a great contribution to the development of modern documentary cinema. For many years, the film director captures viewers' attention with his successful and critically acclaimed works. He enjoys working on projects which require powerful visual storytelling. Survila has visited the City of Winds, Baku, where he presented his documentary "The Ancient Woods" to the cinema lovers. He spent almost ten years making the film which immerses the viewers in the life of an ancient Baltic forest. His patience has resulted in an enchanting film. The documentary offers an exciting journey into the world of nature, starting with forest thickets, wolves' caves and a black stork's nest, then plunging into the depths of the underwater forest and returning to the people inhabiting this land. Survila had a dream to create this film since he was in the fifth grade. "All young children have their own secret places, say, near the garage or somewhere else. And my secret place was in the forest. Once, when I went there, I saw that the whole forest was cut down. I wanted to tell people: 'What are you doing? It was such a great place, but now everything is cut down here.' Then I realized that there are different ways to talk about this problem. You can just talk, or you can take pictures, and then more people will know about it. But then I realized that the movie will have the greatest impact on people," he told Trend. Survila said that in his film, he wanted not only to tell people that a forest is not merely trees that can be cut down to get money; he also wanted to show the spirit of the forest itself. The issue of deforestation in the film 'The Ancient Woods' is global in nature and applies to the whole world, not just Lithuania," he added. The filmmaker devoted 12 years to the project. He faced with many difficulties while filming "The Ancient Woods". "There were a lot of difficulties. For example, we were filming at the top of trees. So, you should know how to build a tent and what kind of construction should be used. It took a lot of time to come up with a solution. Another challenge was to sit on a tree for 23 hours. The tent was small and it was on the tree on 27 meters high. There was no possibility to go outside because there were only two of us. I stayed in the tent while my colleague was outside and vice versa. I could not leave the tent; I did so only the next night. The place was quite north, so nights there were very short: only one hour, so 23 hours I had to sit on the tree, no matter if it was raining or storming, I did not have any possibilities to go outside. And the underwater shooting was also very hard," Survila noted. The premiere of the film took place at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA). "It is the biggest documentary film festival in the world and it was a big honor to be there. After the festival, we asked the cinema directors about the number of people that might come to see the movie after the film's release. We made a big advertisement campaign for the movie and 8,000 people came to see it on the first weekend. Now we have about 67,000 comments that our movie is a popular documentary," the film director said. After the first weekend, the film crew decided to spend half of the money for an interactive platform project, and the other half for a special foundation that will buy the forest so that nobody will be able to bring harm to it. So far, we have about 60,000 euros. However, it is not a big amount, considering the forest's cost. Thus, we invite all the people to join us to buy more of these lands so our children will have possibility to visit the forest. It will be a private fund, the government will not have any influence over this place," Survila added. In his films "The Ancient Woods" and "The Field of Magic", the filmmaker was both the film director and the director of photography. "I myself act as a director and a cameraman, because it is not always possible to ask another cameraman to replace me, since I spend a lot of time looking for a suitable frame, and also because of the climatic features," said Survila. "In addition to new films, I have plans to create an interactive platform. For example, a it can be a web page where we see the forest, hear the sounds of wind and birds. When we hear the sound of an animal or a bird, a link to the movie about this or that animal will appear on the screen. In his interview, the filmmaker said that he always sought to make films, despite the fact that he is a biologist by profession. "I studied biology at university. After the graduation, I worked as a volunteer with many famous directors. Since childhood, I had the desire to make films. I worked with professionals, and one of them said to me, 'There are no books that teach what to do and how to do it. You have to catch the frame yourself. If you read about movies, you will make films like everyone else,' Survila noted. Master classes by other directors are also very helpful, as you learn their techniques and ways to solve problems, he added. In the movie you have to be unique, that is what matters the most. I focus on the environment in my films. For example, the film 'Field of Magic' tells the story of people who live near a landfill. I just watch the wildlife and the environment and film them. We do not have a specific scenario, and this is more difficult, because you do not know the ending of the film in advance," the director said. Speaking about his visit to Azerbaijan, the film director said that he would be happy to take a walk around the city and get acquainted with its sights. "After the presentation of the film, we will have time to see the sights of Baku. My first impression is that Baku is a very good city. There are beautiful architectural buildings here," he said. Survila held a master class for Azerbaijani undergraduates studying cinema art. At the master class, he talked about the film making process. "After all, it took us eight years for preparatory work - finding the right locations, special equipment, and the shooting itself took four years. Ours is not a typical film about nature. There is no voice-over and no music; only sounds of the nature and the magical atmosphere of the forest," he said. The film director noted that the film was shown in 30 countries at 50 film festivals. "I am glad to come to Baku. I receive many invitations to visit different countries like France and Spain. Sometimes I do not have time to visit all countries, but I was very pleased to receive the invitation to visit Azerbaijan. I hope that at the presentation in Baku all viewers will get something good for them," he concluded. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Abdul Kerimkhanov Azerbaijan and Armenia need to take a serious political approach to the solution in order to sit down and complete the process, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said in Brussels on May 15. Mammadyarov made the remarks while answering questions from Armenian journalists during the Eastern Partnership Summit. Replying to the Armenian journalists statement that without joining the illegal regime created in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan to the negotiation process it is impossible to achieve a real settlement of the conflict, Mammadyarov replied that it is not quite right. "Over the years, while we were negotiating, the co-chairs visited the region, traveled to Karabakh and communicated with Armenian community representatives of Nagorno Karabakh," he noted. FM expressed hope that the co-chairs inform the Armenian community representatives of Karabakh about everything that is happening in the negotiations both under the former and the current administration. "The question is not whether they are participating or not. The question is that we need to take a serious political approach to the decision in order to sit down and complete the process," he stressed. Mammadyarov added that this is what he deems "substantive negotiations." "In what language should I say, read your Constitution, the Constitution of the 1990s, and then we will talk. You sit there and deceive yourself, you want to deceive the Armenian people. I am asking you - what did the Armenian people get during the 30 years of war with Azerbaijan?" the minister asked the Armenian journalists. Answering the Armenian journalist's counter question about what the Azerbaijani people have received over the years, he listed the opening of roads, the construction of a gas pipeline and an oil pipeline. "Is that not enough?" Mammadyarov asked. Mammadyarov noted that when people talk about the preparation of nations for peace, it is, first of all, the preparation for peace in Armenia. "You have closed borders with at least two out of four countries, and the third one is about to get closed. And? Think and ask yourself," the Azerbaijani FM concluded. By Mirsaid Ibrahimzade Implementation of new big projects aimed at increasing the combat capability of the Azerbaijani Army is underway and the results of joint activities with other states in this sphere are impressive. The 9th International Exhibition of Arms Military Machinery MILEX-2019 is underway in Minsk, Belarus, from May 15 to May 18. Within the framework of the opening ceremony, the prime minister of Belarus read out a congratulatory letter from the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko addressed to the exhibitors. Yahya Musayev, Azerbaijans Deputy Minister of Defense Industry, attended the official opening of the event. The exhibition, organized by the State Authority for Military Industry of Belarus, includes 170 companies from 10 countries - Belarus, Azerbaijan, Germany, Italy, Kazakhstan, China, Poland, Russia, Serbia and South Africa. The Ministry of Defense Industry of Azerbaijan has its own stand at this exhibition. Warfare products for export such as sniper rifles, assault rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers, mortars, ammunition of various calibers and other products are presented at the MILEX-2019 exhibition. It is considered one of the largest exhibitions in Eastern Europe in terms of infrastructure and number of participants. As part of the exhibition, Yahya Musayev will meet with delegations from a number of countries and representatives of leading firms and companies in the defense industry. Azerbaijan leaves behind many CIS and regional countries to take its place among the first 52 strongest armies of the world, according to the Global Firepower survey center. The country, which is in war with neighboring Armenia over the latter's groundless territorial claims during more than 20 years, keeps in focus the armament. While creating its own armament, Azerbaijan works closely with companies leading in various fields of military industry. -- Mirsaid Ibrahimzade is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @MirsaidIbrahim1 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has sent a congratulatory letter to King of Norway Harald V. On my own behalf and on behalf of the people of Azerbaijan, I am delighted to congratulate you and all the people of your country on the occasion of the Constitution Day of the Kingdom of Norway, Ilham Aliyev said in his letter. On this joyful day, I wish you the best of health and happiness, and the friendly people of Norway lasting peace and prosperity. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz President Ilham Aliyev has received ambassadors and heads of diplomatic missions of Muslim countries to Azerbaijan on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan. The head of state addressed the meeting. Speech of President Ilham Aliyev - Dear ambassadors. Our meetings in the holy month of Ramadan are traditional in nature. First of all, let me ask you to convey my warm greetings and best wishes to the heads of state and government of the countries you represent. As you know, we have very close cooperation with Muslim countries. There is an active dialogue in the political sphere. Of course, we are very interested in a more active economic cooperation. The growth of trade, mutual investments and joint activities in other areas can be of great importance for our peoples. During my numerous meetings with leaders of Muslim countries, these issues are always on the agenda. Of course, we would very much like the companies of the countries you represent to take a more active part in various projects in Azerbaijan. As you know, tourism has been developing fast in Azerbaijan in recent years. I am very pleased that tourists from Muslim countries are coming to Azerbaijan and their number is growing every year. In short, our relations in a bilateral format are successfully developing. There are very good conditions and opportunities for the further development of these ties. We actively cooperate within the framework of international organizations and support each other in the UN and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. This mutual support is a manifestation of the high level of our relations. In particular, the support of Muslim countries for the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is very important for us. As you know, Armenia has been keeping Nagorno-Karabakh, which is an integral part of Azerbaijan, and seven districts adjacent to it under occupation for many years. As a result of this conflict and the policy of ethnic cleansing, more than a million Azerbaijanis have found themselves in the status of refugees and displaced persons in their native land. This is a violation of international law. Despite the fact that international organizations have adopted various decisions and resolutions in connection with this issue, unfortunately, they do not exert adequate pressure on the invader state. The UN Security Council, the highest body in the world, has adopted four resolutions, which state that the occupying forces must unconditionally withdraw from the occupied lands. But these resolutions remained on paper, which is a manifestation of double standards. The whole world recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Nagorno-Karabakh is our historical land, and the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan enjoys full international support. However, there is not enough pressure on the occupier. The position of our country in connection with the settlement of the conflict is unequivocal. This conflict must be resolved within the framework of the territorial integrity of our country. I want to once again express my gratitude to Muslim countries for their support in international organizations. Azerbaijan, for its part, also constantly supports Muslim countries in international organizations. As you know, we attach great importance to strengthening Islamic solidarity, and practical steps are being taken in this direction. The numerous events held in Azerbaijan contribute to the strengthening of Islamic solidarity. We know quite well that strengthening Islamic solidarity is one of the main issues on the agenda. Azerbaijan is taking and will take very serious steps in this direction. As you know, numerous events related to intercultural dialogue are held in our country. The recent Fourth Forum on Intercultural Dialogue held in Baku is one such event. I should also note that Azerbaijan is making great efforts to promote Islamic culture in the world. Conferences, exhibitions and presentations are held in many countries around the world, so we introduce Islam to the world as a religion of peace and mercy. Last year, our ancient city of Nakhchivan was declared the Capital of Islamic Culture. We are grateful to all Muslim countries for this decision. I should also note that the Organization of Islamic Cooperation appreciates the role of Azerbaijan in the strengthening of Islamic solidarity. Please accept my warm greetings again. Once again, please convey my sincere greetings to the heads of your states and governments. I wish the peoples of the countries you represent peace, tranquility and happiness. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Eighteen issues will be considered at the plenary meeting of the Azerbaijani parliament on May 17, Trend reports. The MPs will discuss the amendments and additions to the Civil and Labour Codes, the laws "On State Duty", "On Telecommunications", "On Road Traffic", "On Chamber of Accounts", "On Execution" and others. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Abdul Kerimkhanov Reforms in the Armenian army may well be the subject of many speeches of humorists and satirists. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Defence Minister David Tonoyan regularly promise to purchase new, modern weapons for Armenian army. At the same time, they manage to complain that Azerbaijan continues to equip its army with the most modern weapons of the defence industry of Israel, Turkey, Russia, Belarus, Pakistan and other countries of the world. Besides, Pashinyan and Tonoyan managed to voice new territorial claims against Azerbaijan, and by contrast, they are trying to pretend to be fighters for peace in the region. The statement of the Armenian Prosecutor General Artur Davtyan is remarkable in its content. He said that for the most part the number of crimes in the army is connected with officers, according to statistics. Davtyan noted that they develop mechanisms to change the punishment for officers who have committed crimes. It is amazing, how much time Davtyan spent on acknowledging these obvious facts. The Armenian media, the parents of the soldiers who suffered from bullying in the Armenian army, for a long time specifically pointed out that they were raped, humiliated, forced to pay bribes by Armenian officers. The numbers of the military units in which all this happened were also named, as well as the names of these officers who mocked their subordinates. However, Davtyan was unaware of the above problems. He believed that the Armenian soldiers were raped, humiliated, demanding bribes from their officers. However, hopes of the Prosecutor General did not come true, as the statistics evidences. Davtyan made a new statement after statistics publication. He proudly stated that a number of cases aged 10-20 years old are currently under investigation. It means, those who committed crimes in the Armenian army in the last century, have not yet received punishment. It turns out that those who committed crimes during the presidency of Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan did not receive punishment until now. Davtyan seems to have forgotten that any crime should have a statute of limitations. It is obvious that an adequate Prosecutor General cannot be proud of such a speed of decision making on the accused. But, people in Armenia have long been accustomed to be proud of the fact that they cannot, in reality, be a source of pride. Another recognition by Davtyan turned out to be amusing. As he said, the punishment will be changed for the Armenian army officers who committed crimes. He noted that there are some problems in the implementation of strict punishment by judicial authorities. It means that the Armenian officers not always found guilty of crimes receive a well-deserved punishment in the courts. Thus, investigation of cases is delayed for decades, and there are also big problems in the matter of fair punishment of the guilty. Although this is a problem of Armenian soldiers parents who became victims of the lawlessness perpetrated by the officers. In turn, for the officers themselves, everything continues to be fine. This is how post-revolutionary Armenia conducts reforms in the army. --- Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Abdul Kerimkhanov Armenian officials decided to refresh the entire Elevator Fund of Yerevan at the expense of citizens. The fee for the elevator services in Yerevan will increase by 20 percent to reimburse the modernization costs of the Elevator economy of the Armenian capital, Yerevan Deputy Mayor Hayk Sargsyan said at a press conference. He said that the repair, re-equipment and replacement of 3,600 elevators requires a huge amount of 30 billion drams ($62.2 million), adding that Yerevan cannot allocate these funds. Sargsyan pointed out that the financial model for replacing elevators designed for 20-25 years, during which part of the amount will be compensated by increasing the operating fee. This decision has already caused a public outcry as it was made on the background of irreversible intention to raise official wages to the city administration contingent. According to the business plan, as many as 140 elevators will be modernized annually in Yerevan and each of these elevators will cost an average of 8.5 million drams ($17,620). About 1.2 billion drams will be spent annually on elevators i.e. $2.5 million. The amount is not large, and is all pathetic when considering the program scale. If to take into account the fact that the new city administration announces a contest of ideas with $1 million prize Fund and intends to increase salaries by 30 percent to 1,700 employees of the city hall, then 2.5 million a year for officials is considered a trifle. Thus, the mayor's office complains that the amount of money is so large that neither the municipality nor the government can take on this financial burden and pay for the upgrade of passenger elevators, while a period of 25 years can be considered as humiliating for citizens. As a result of the accidents in 2012-2018, as many as six people died in Yerevan and five citizens were injured. The average service life of elevators in Yerevan is 25 years. Well, ordinary people can only hope that they will be able to live up to the day when a large-scale, expensive program, the implementation of which takes decades, will be implemented. Wait-and-see attitude -- nothing more. By Abdul Kerimkhanov The coal industry of Tajikistan is characterized by a variety of geographical locations, mining and geological conditions and technical equipment. The country produced 450,000 tons of coal in January-April 2019, Tajik Ministry of Industry and New Technologies said in a message. This figure by 135,000 tons exceeds the coal production indicator for the same period of 2018. At present, as many as 5,000-6,500 tons of coal are produced daily in Tajikistan. The country produces hard coal and brown coal. Hard coal production volume during this period amounted to more than 366,400 tons. Twelve domestic and foreign companies are engaged in coal mining and production in the country. As many as 400,000 tons of coal is stored in the enterprises warehouses, taking into account last years reserves. It is noteworthy that the coal production volume in the country amounted to more than 1.9 million tons in late 2018. As the ministry notes, more than 200 enterprises currently use coal as fuel in Tajikistan. The coal production volume in Tajikistan is increasing every year. The country produced more than 870,000 tons in 2014, 1 million tons in 2015, 1.4 million tons in 2016, and 1.7 million tons in 2017. In January-April 2019, as many as 3,554 tons of coal were exported abroad, including to Pakistan (3,527 tons) and Uzbekistan (27 tons), according to the Tajik Customs Service. The main deposits and enterprises for coal mining in Tajikistan are Fon-Yagnob, Ziddi, Nazar-Aylok, Shurob and Sayyod. The main consumers of coal in Tajikistan are enterprises working on this fuel, as well as the population, especially rural residents. --- Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Abdul Kerimkhanov The oil and gas industry of Uzbekistan has become a truly leading sector of the economy, which plays a crucial role in the socio-economic development of the country. Tatneft, a Russian oil and gas company, may adopt a project to implement plans for the oil fields development in Uzbekistan by the end of summer, Rustam Sharapov, Head of the Contract Maintenance Department at Tatneft, told reporters at the international exhibition Oil & Gas Uzbekistan - 2019. Bahodir Sidikov, Uzbekneftegaz representative, said that Tatneft has signed an agreement on the basic conditions for conducting geological exploration in Uzbekistan. Exploration will take no more than three months. The company is currently developing economic models and draft agreements for several oil fields development. Tatneft plans to improve and expand the number of fields in the Andijan region within the framework of the project. Earlier, Uzbek authorities informed that Tatneft intends to begin construction of gas stations network in Uzbekistan in spring. In late 2018, the Russian company registered its sales subsidiary Tatneft-Gas Station-Tashkent in Nurafshon city. Tatneft is one of the largest Russian oil companies today and is an internationally recognized vertically integrated holding. The industrial complex of the company includes steadily developing enterprises of crude oil and gas production, petroleum refining, petrochemicals production, the tire-manufacturing complex, network of filling stations and services. Tatneft also has a stake in the financial sector companies (banking and insurance). The accumulated financial capacity of Tatneft now allows carrying out large-scale investment projects at the expense of both internally available and borrowed funds, while maintaining a high level of financial stability and liquidity. --- Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Leman Mammadova International tourism fairs are considered to be a great opportunity for every country to promote its tourism potential as well as to meet with world's tourism industry participants to stimulate tourist flow to the country. Azerbaijani delegation has participated in ITB China international exhibition in Shanghai in order to promote the countrys tourism potential. With the support of the State Tourism Agency and Azerbaijan Tourism Board, the country was represented at the exhibition by Heydar Aliyev International Airport, Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL), Baku Convention Center, Silkway Travel, Flame Travel, HIS, China Travel and Turizm.az companies. At the exhibition, where Azerbaijan was represented for the first time, the country introduced new tourism products as well as its tourism potential for Chinese market. Florian Sengstschmid, Executive Director of Azerbaijan Tourism Board, noted that China is one of the key priority markets for attracting tourists to Azerbaijan. He stressed that the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the State Tourism Agency and the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism is an important step towards intensifying tourism relations. Sengstschmid also noted that marketing and propaganda work is underway in major cities in China, which is one of the target countries in accordance with the new tourism strategy of Azerbaijan. He added that participation in ITB China is an integral part of this process. The number of Chinese tourists [in Azerbaijan] has grown by 50 percent in the first four months of the year compared to the same period of last year. We believe that these figures will further increase by the end of the year, he said. ITB China, an international exhibition focused on China's travel industry, brought together many tourists from the world's tourism industry to give countries opportunity to showcase their tourism opportunities to the Chinese market. More than 800 companies from 84 countries demonstrated the latest innovation and information technologies in the tourism industry. Recently, Azerbaijan signed a memorandum of understanding with the leading Chinese travel company ETI-Holidays (Beijing HUAYUAN International Travel Co., LTD), that envisages increasing the flow of Chinese tourists to Azerbaijan via Beijing-Baku flight and from here to other countries in order to increase Bakus transit capacity. At present, AZAL carries out Baku-Beijing-Baku direct regular flights. It is also planned to launch flights from Baku to other Chinese cities. The direct flights between Azerbaijan and China, as well as the Azerbaijani government's simplifying visa regime for Chinese tourists are of great potential for developing relations between the two countries in the field of tourism. Since 2018, the official tourism representative office operating in China is actively working to introduce Azerbaijan's tourism potential in major Chinese cities. The National Tourism Promotion Bureau considers the Chinese market to be one of the priority for attracting tourists. Since 2017, the tourism potential of Azerbaijan has been more actively promoted in this country. In addition, Azerbaijan and Chinese tourism companies signed a cooperation agreement in April 2018. In first period, the companies specializing in health tourism are eager to attract 2,000 more tourists per year on the basis of this agreement. Chinese experts say that about 1 million Chinese patients travel abroad every year for health tourism. They consider that their citizens will mostly like Naftalan. Recently, Azerbaijan and China signed a Memorandum of Understanding on simplifying group visits of Chinese tourists to Azerbaijan. --- Leman Mammadova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @leman_888 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Abdul Kerimkhanov Travel lovers will have the opportunity to enjoy more frequent trips between Baku and Russias Kazan already this summer. Flights to Baku from Kazan International Airport will be carried out daily from June 17, the airport press service said in a message. The flights will be carried out on 106-seat Embraer E190 aircraft. The plane is manufactured by Embraer, the largest aircraft manufacturer in the world after Boeing and Airbus. Since the internal diameter is wide enough, the range between the seats, passageway width, height of ceiling and legroom are very comfortable for passengers. Currently, two Azerbaijani airlines operate on this route: Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) and low-cost airline Buta Airways. The airlines operate three flights a week between Kazan and Baku. AZAL currently operates Boeing-787, Boeing-767, Boeing-757, as well as A340, A320, A319 and Embraer E190 aircraft. It is a major air carrier and one of the leaders of the aviation community of the CIS countries. The total route network of the airline is 40 destinations in 25 countries. Aircrafts of the Azerbaijani civil aviation fully meet the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards. AZAL is a member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which is the most prestigious civil aviation association. Buta Airways is a structural division of Azerbaijan Airlines. It was founded in December 2016 and began operations in September 2017. Currently, the low-cost airline carries out flights to the near abroad with flights from the airports of Baku and Ganja to international destinations in Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Iran and Bulgaria. Since the beginning of its operation, Buta Airways has been in high demand both among the citizens of Azerbaijan and in other countries. Loading of aircrafts on the majority of destinations is not less than 85 percent. The fleet of Buta Airways includes modern comfortable Embraer E190 aircrafts. As the number of new destinations increases, the airline plans to expand its fleet of aircrafts. --- Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz This spring, a budding crop of real estate professionals tackled the nations affordable housing crisis as they did battle in the inaugural Corcoran Case Competition. Out of an initial 120 entrants on 28 teams, one team of three Boston College students pitched a residential redevelopment plan that survived two rounds of expert judging to garner the $5,000 top prize, sponsored by the Carroll Schools Joseph E. Corcoran Center for Real Estate and Urban Action. The housing problem is acute, alarmingly so in the region that Boston College calls homethe average Massachusetts family cannot afford the average Massachusetts home. But there are tools for developers who want to build homes within reach of the middle and working classes. One is the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC), which Corcoran Center Executive Director Neil McCullagh hoped to educate students about through the case competition. Since 1986, this federal tax credit, administered by states, has generated two million housing units for households making up to 60 percent of their areas median income. (In booming markets like Bostons, that means a salary in the $60,000 range.) On March 22, the Corcoran Center released the case to the 28 teams who signed up last fall. Based on a real-life request for proposals issued by the Boston Housing Authority, the case focused on an 80,000-square-foot parcel of the Gallivan Boulevard Public Housing Development in Mattapan, near the border with Dorchester. Donning the hats of developers, the students had to devise a housing complex consisting of 80 units with the right mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments, meeting the needs of the community as far as they could glean from online research and two (real) letters to the city from neighborhood associations. They had to include green space and meeting space in their proposals, and even address Mattapans historically poor access to public transit. And they had five days to do it. Some long nights, said Phil Giordano 21 of the hours of research and spreadsheet work he put in with his partners, Ryan Horning 21 and Greyson Cohen, MCAS21. The trio took the name Golden Eagle Development Group. One of the biggest challenges was calculating the debts, funding sources [e.g., LIHTC], and cash flows, said Horning. Indeed, at the competitions kickoff in November, panelist Karen Kelleher, MCAS90, of Local Initiatives Support Corp. Boston had told students that financing affordable housing often feels like a math problem that doesnt work. Just nine teams managed to come in under the deadline. On March 28, a panel of judges reviewed the submissions in order to whittle the field down further, to three finalists. The judges were Rodger L. Brown, Jr., MCAS77, managing director of real estate development at Preservation of Affordable Housing; Bernie Husser 81, managing member at BPH Investment Company LLC; and Dayna Hutchins, LSOE96, LAW05, partner at Holland & Knight LLP. That morning, while taking a brief break from reviewing submissions, Husser said the judges were looking for proposals that understood that the financial feasibility of a project is paramount. You have to make sure the numbers hold together, Husser said. The math problem is worth solving, noted Brown. Its a huge need, he said of housing affordability, and its not going to get any better in the near future. So we need some talent, people who can bring smarts and a sense of mission. And Then There Were Three The judges selected the final three teams, which included Golden Eagle. On March 29, the students worked with experts to tweak and hone their pitches. Then on March 30, they donned business suits and made oral and visual presentations to a new round of judges in a small lecture hall in Fulton. The judges were Joseph J. Corcoran, president of the Joseph J. Corcoran Company; Jeff Goldstein, executive vice president and COO & director of real estate for Boston Capital; and Kathy Millhouse, managing director at Citigroup. With 15 minutes to present and 15 minutes to answer questions, each team pitched variations on a multistory apartment building that incorporated community meeting space, green space, parking, security features, and amenities such as partnerships with local banks to bring financial advising workshops to residents. All demonstrated that theyd studied the Mattapan community and thought about how to meet its needs, and each project featured some distinctive elements. For example, Golden Eagle imagined bike storage, a key fob security system, floor-to-ceiling storage units hidden behind panels in the residential units, and a partnership with Carney Hospital to provide flu shots and other health services. Arabella Housing Groupfinance major Drew Boland 19 along with Morrissey seniors Jesse Rascon, Jorge Mejia, Austin Tarullo, and Allison Choienvisioned a communal space focused on empowerment, from inspirational slogans on the walls to skills workshops led by the Job Training Alliance. DWG Development GroupMichael Davidson, Joseph Gatti, and Michael Warren, all CSOM21proposed that one apartment be rented at a discount to a young teacher, who could provide after-school tutoring, and another apartment be set aside for a police officer, whose presence would bolster safety in the complex. The students education continued even during the Q&A, at times prompting some quick thinking. Corcoran mentioned that the resources Arabella proposed would best be coordinated by a full-time staffer, which wasnt included in their accounting. Later, in answer to a question about how the team would spend its developer fee, Mejia answered: Invest it back into the project to hire a residential resource coordinator. Good answer, said Corcoran. I was going to say Pay off my student loans, muttered Tarullo to chuckles. A Better Place to Live In their final questions, the judges asked the presenters to shed their fictive developer personae and share what theyd learned as students. The scope of the housing crisis and the importance of the LIHTC were big takeaways, but there was more. Speaking for the Golden Eagle team, Cohen said, We realized that anything you build has an impact on the neighborhood around it. So make it a better place to livea place people want to live in, and that also helps boost the economic value of the properties. Horning added: The importance of building the right team, making the project fit the market and, of course, staying on budget. The students as well as the alumni real estate professionals in attendance then filed into the Fulton Honors Library for sandwiches while the judges deliberated. At last, the judges appeared and Goldstein announced their verdict: Golden Eagle was the winner; Arabella claimed second place, and DWG third. Did the experience turn any of the students into potential affordable housing developers? Most certainly, said Giordano, who this summer will intern at MassHousing, the states quasi-public agency devoted to financing affordable housing. Boland, too, said the competition sparked an interest in the field. The Gallivan proposal humanized the housing issue, he said. It was inspiring to work to improve the lives of people I would never meet. Being able to do that on a day-to-day basis as a career would be incredibly rewarding. Weird and Wonderful Above Oregon Coast, Portland: Milky Way Gone, Meteors Published 05/16/2019 at 5:53 AM PDT By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff (Oregon Coast) Some weird and wonderful things are in the sky above the Oregon coast right about now as well as the rest of the state, such as Portland, Eugene, Bend and so on. (Above: top of Cape Foulweather, Depoe Bay, with the Milky Way still around). Look for some decent meteor shower action just before dawn, but you may also be looking and finding something glaringly missing. Where is the Milky Way? You may be wondering that as you wander the nocturnal beaches of locales like Brookings, Seaside, Newport or maybe even the Washington coast. According to OMSI astronomer Jim Todd, the Milky Way will be missing in May. At our mid northern latitudes during the month of May, the great band of stars known as the Milky Way simply vanishes from the evening sky, Todd said. On May evenings, the disk of our Milky Way galaxy lies flat, nearly parallel to the plane of your horizon. The Milky Way from our perspective is lying on its side and has dipped itself below the horizon. Todd said the equator of the rest of our home galaxy stars, nebulae, black holes and all are circling the rim of what we see as the horizon of Earth. Whats called the North Galactic Pole is standing high overhead in the constellation Coma Berenices, or Berenice's Hair. In this direction, where the glare and the dust of the Milky Way are minimal, the sky beckons you to look at the deep-sky objects beyond the Milky Way, Todd said. Todd said if you were standing on a world near that North Galactic Pole, you would see our sun and the solar system revolve clockwise around the center of the galaxy otherwise known as the nucleus of our galaxy. The galactic plane is the area where the majority of the mass of the galaxy resides, within that disc-shaped field of stars that are thicker, which is what we see and culturally recognize as the galaxy. Technically, just about all the stars we see are the galaxy, actually. The directions perpendicular to the galactic plane point to the galactic poles, Todd said. Most often, in actual usage, the terms galactic plane and galactic poles are used to refer specifically to the plane and poles of the Milky Way." Unfortunately, we cant see other galaxies from here without extremely high powered optics. It was less than 100 years ago that Earth people realized there were other galaxies beyond this one. Luckily, as it gets later in May, the Milky Way returns closer and closer to midnight. Even now, you can see it in the wee hours of the night - a perfect stay-in-one-spot exploration when the bars get out. By early June it shows up before midnight again. Now, from the vantage of places like Portland or the Oregon coast, May brings our home galaxy to a weird spot just below where we can see it. Todd said this means were halfway between the March equinox and the June solstice. It's easy to imagine that the hoarfrost of winter is giving way to the fireflies of summer, Todd said. There are some meteors to look for around the state, although they will be sporadic, with one publication predicting only two or three per hour in the evening hours. However, closer to dawn, with the Oregon coast being right around the 45th parallel, scientists say the early morning hours close to dawn should yield as much as 11 per hour for a little while. The Eta Aquarids reached their peak in Oregon and along the coast on May 5 and 6, but they linger through May 28. The 45th parallel runs right through an area just north of Salem and very close to Neskowin. Th Eta Aquarids are named for the Aquarius constellation, the point in the sky from which they may seem to emerge. This is called the radiant. They come from the remnants of Halleys Comet, which Earth passes through twice a year. It will happen again in October, creating the Orionid meteor showers. Oregon Coast Lodgings for this event - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging..... More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining..... Coastal Spotlight LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles Back to Oregon Coast Contact Advertise on BeachConnection.net All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted Houstonians loves free stuff. And they'll put in the work to get it. Rapper Yo Gotti performed Thursday at Revention Music Center for local fans. Houston was selected as part of the TIDAL X: Yo Gotti "Only The Streets Know" Fan Appreciation Tour contest. The Kirbyville CISD School Board on Thursday approved the resignation of the districts controversial superintendent, then adjourned without providing any details about why or what terms they had agreed to. Superintendent Tommy Wallis left the meeting without comment. Nice try, no way, he said when questioned by a reporter. The board members similarly rushed from the meeting. They had spent 36 minutes in executive session, then voted to accept Wallis request for retirement without any discussion. They were gone within a minute of adjourning the brief public phase of the meeting. Wallis and board member Joey Davis did not return phone calls afterward seeking more details. Superintendents secretary Donna Morgan said she would not release anything before receiving a formal public information request. Morgan said earlier Thursday that she and others within the district were notified about Wallis plans to retire about one week ago. As of Thursday afternoon, she said, there were no plans in place to hire a new superintendent and that board members must take care of several things before that can happen. Wallis has been an object of controversy since his arrival at Kirbyville CISD three years ago. He was hired six months after he was forced to resign as superintendent of Bryan ISD. Documents released to the Enterprise last year claimed he created an intimidating, hostile and offensive work environment in Bryan, forcing employees to work under distress. Four administrators outlined more than a dozen alleged violations of his contract, state standards and the districts ethics code. Those documents were not available earlier because Wallis had sued in 2017 to keep his records private. Then in March of this year, a wrongful-death lawsuit was filed against Wallis and 12 other defendants following the May 23, 2017, suicide of high school principal Dennis Reeves. Reeves shot himself in his pickup in the high school parking lot less than an hour after he was confronted by Wallis and Assistant Superintendent Georgia Sayers about an alleged affair with a district employee. Wallis contract with the district began on April 1, 2017, and runs through June 30, 2020. According to data from the Texas Education Agency, he earned a base pay of $152,595 for the 2018-19 school year, an increase of about $23,000 from his initial salary. Mark Meredith, a parent who is active in the district and attended Thursdays meeting, expressed his dismay afterward. I want to see a complete overhaul of the way things are done in this district, Meredith said. I want to see more transparency, I want our officials to be accountable. awhitney@jaspernewsboy.com A $150 million investment planned for downtown Port Arthur from petrochemical giant Motiva Enterprises could be the largest of its kind and spark a rebirth of the town ravaged by Tropical Storm Harvey in 2017, officials said. At a Thursday evening ceremony to formally announce the companys plans to purchase and renovate at least three buildings and move employees into the long-neglected city center, Motiva executive Travis Capps said theres a lot of stuff under consideration but that getting the buildings up and running is the priority. He doesnt mind the swirling rumors that Motiva might bring more activity. I love all the rumors, he said. The rumors are great because theyll encourage other developers to come down and do stuff, too. Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Pat Avery gushed to a crowd of about 450 residents, elected officials, public servants and Motiva executives and employees that, For Port Arthur, Motiva is the artist. >> Related: Port Arthur mayor: Motiva to purchase third historic downtown building The event also included comments from the mayor and a song about downtown Port Arthur from resident Dwight Wagner. May 16 was also deemed, Imagine Port Arthur Day. Port Arthur City Manager Derrick Freeman earlier this year called Motiva's planned purchase of the Hotel Sabine from the city earlier this year as part of its in-lieu-of-taxes agreement a "done deal."f But Thursdays ceremony focused on two other buildings the company has purchased the Adams and Federal buildings at 440 and 500 Austin Ave., respectively. The company plans to use the first building for short-term corporate lodging with some retail on the bottom floors. The latter two buildings will ultimately house 500 office workers and help the company get rid of 220 trailers at the plant that many of them currently work in. So now as we look forward to the next decades, and what we need to house our offices and our employees, these buildings were staring at us. I see the refinery right up the street, Capps said. We need about offices for 500 people, and thats what these two buildings can do. Its pretty straight-forward, from my perspective. He denied rumors that the company plans to purchase still more buildings downtown. Even without the purchase of additional buildings, the planned investment of $150 million downtown is one of the largest in an opportunity zone in the United States, Freeman said. The city also has a Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone in the area, which means the city will take the increased tax revenue from the added value in the area and put it back into infrastructure in the area, including road improvements, streetscapes, waterfalls and other features. Freeman also took Thursdays ceremony as an opportunity to make a sales pitch to other investors looking to come to Port Arthur. He listed the tools in Port Arthurs tool belt that could be used to make investment downtown more profitable for investors and give the city more money to make improvements. So please, I encourage you to come on down, he said. Motiva already had safety fences surrounding the buildings on Thursday evening, ready for internal demolition and rebuilding. Executives stressed that the historic facades would be preserved. >> Related: Officials question Motivas motives in tax suit Motiva hasnt always been hailed as a boon for the citys residents, though. Early last month, the Port Arthur ISD superintendent accused the company of trying to shortchange the struggling public school system by not paying its fair share in property taxes. As a part of that, Superintendent Mark Porterie wrote a 1,400-word op-ed piece saying Motiva had breached the social contract that companies like Motiva made with this community so long ago. That criticism comes from an action by the company to contest its local refinerys valuation on the Jefferson County tax rolls, which if successful, would mean the company would pay less in taxes. The lawsuit is the first time Motiva has expressed a problem with its assessed value, which happens to be after a tax abatement agreement with the school district ran out. Motiva countered in a statement at the time that it is committed to paying its fair share in taxes, however it believes the assessed value is excessive. An 18-year-old LaPorte man pleaded guilty Friday to robbing a Liberty County bank, according to information from the U.S. Attorney's Office. Aaron Gonzalez reportedly walked into a Texas First Bank on FM 834 in Hull on March 6 and handed a clerk a threatening note. Englewood, N.J.-based The Center for Musculoskeletal Disorders acquired Bergenfield Surgical Center, a nearby ASC with two operating rooms, according to The Jewish Link of New Jersey. "It was a state-of-the-art facility very close to our offices in Englewood and Teaneck [N.J.], and it was being underutilized, so it was a natural fit for us to take both a leadership and ownership role," said CMD Logistics Director Isaac Abramchayev, who led the acquisition. CMD, an orthopedic and pain management practice, expects that taking majority ownership will help it boost efficiency, improve patient satisfaction and adapt as procedures migrate to outpatient settings. In its four-plus years of operation, Bergenfield Surgical Center has expanded to include three spine surgeons, two orthopedic surgeons, a hand surgeon and a podiatrist. CMD surgeons have already performed multiple lower extremity surgeries and several spinal procedures at the ASC. Hattiesburg (Miss.) Clinic recognized an ASC nurse who called off work to comfort a patient, according to Hub City Spokes. Three quick highlights: 1. Janet Dawson, RN, was named Hattiesburg Clinic's employee of the quarter. She was selected from more than 150 candidates. 2. Ms. Dawson has been with Hattiesburg Clinic for nearly two decades and works in the urology department's ASC, having played an integral role there since it was established. 3. Recently, Ms. Dawson went the extra mile to put a patient at ease. She took a day off work to visit the patient, who was undergoing surgery at another facility. She arrived before the surgery to offer support and sat with the patient's family until his operation was over. Microsoft's second annual group of recipients of its AI for Accessibility grant were announced this week, in conjunction with Global Accessibility Awareness Day on May 16. The grant was established in 2018, with the tech giant allotting a total of $25 million for funding artificial intelligence-powered, accessibility-focused projects over the course of five years. Each chosen company receives a one-year grant consisting of funding, engineering support and free use of Microsoft's Azure AI platform. Here are the seven new AI for Accessibility grantees. University of California Berkeley: The university's Video and Image Processing Lab is developing an app that uses a smartphone's sensors and cameras to provide captions and audio descriptions of surroundings for vision-impaired users. The university's Video and Image Processing Lab is developing an app that uses a smartphone's sensors and cameras to provide captions and audio descriptions of surroundings for vision-impaired users. Massachusetts Eye and Ear: The Harvard Medical School teaching hospital's SuperVision Search app guides vision-impaired users in 12 cities to exact bus stop locations. The Harvard Medical School teaching hospital's SuperVision Search app guides vision-impaired users in 12 cities to exact bus stop locations. Voiceitt: The Israeli startup is building speech recognition technology that can comprehend non-standard speech patterns, improving communication for people with speech disabilities. The Israeli startup is building speech recognition technology that can comprehend non-standard speech patterns, improving communication for people with speech disabilities. Birmingham City University: Researchers at the English institution are creating assistive technology that will allow individuals with limited mobility to use voice commands and eye movements to control digital platforms. Researchers at the English institution are creating assistive technology that will allow individuals with limited mobility to use voice commands and eye movements to control digital platforms. University of Sydney: The Australian university's scientists are developing a real-time brain signal processing system that can predict when an epilepsy patient's next seizure will strike. The Australian university's scientists are developing a real-time brain signal processing system that can predict when an epilepsy patient's next seizure will strike. Pison Technology: The Boston-based company's wearable neuromuscular sensing device enables easier communication for users with neuromuscular disabilities such as ALS and MS via microgesture-based control of digital platforms. The Boston-based company's wearable neuromuscular sensing device enables easier communication for users with neuromuscular disabilities such as ALS and MS via microgesture-based control of digital platforms. Our Ability: The nonprofit, based in Glenmont, N.Y., fosters more inclusive hiring practices in scientific fields by helping people with cognitive disabilities prepare for job interviews with the help of an AI-enabled chatbot. More articles about AI: Machine learning detects high-risk lung nodules in radiology reports Optum funnels $16M into AI startup Health[at]Scale IBM's AI distinguishes between healthy, cancerous cells in breast tumors Phoenix Children's Hospital's on-premise virtual servers were inaccessible for hours May 16 due to an internet outage at the hospital, ABC affiliate KNXV reports. In a statement provided to Becker's Hospital Review, a Phoenix Children's Hospital spokesperson said the internet outage did not disrupt patient care During the outage, which lasted a few hours, "critical" information technology systems were down and patient records were inaccessible, a hospital employee told KNXV. "The affected system was back online within a few hours," Phoenix Children's Hospital COO David Higginson said in the statement provided to Becker's. "Our staff followed the planned protocols we regularly practice. Patient records were accessible at all times." The Department of Veteran Affairs' transition to a Cerner EHR may move more quickly than previously anticipated, FCW reports. The VA partnered with Cerner in May 2018 to develop and deploy an EHR across its care network. While the department said in March that it would use the full 10 years of its $16 billion contract with the EHR vendor, VA Deputy Secretary Jim Byrne told the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee May 16 that the project could potentially move faster. "When we roll out the [initial operating capability], we're going to get a much clearer picture of our ability to accelerate this rollout across the country," Mr. Byrne told lawmakers at his May 16 confirmation hearing, FCW reports. "Ten years is an incredibly long time." Mr. Byrne is the senior official in charge of the Cerner project and was nominated in April to permanently fill the position of VA's deputy secretary, according to Military.com. Three New York City healthcare organizations have formed a for-profit partnership to open a proton therapy center in June, according to The Wall Street Journal. Seven things to know: 1. The partnership which involves Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Montefiore Health System and Mount Sinai Health System will open the New York Proton Center, the first in the state. Thus far, patients in New York have been referred to proton therapy facilities in New Jersey for treatment. 2. The center will be managed by the Lake Success, N.Y.-based ProHEALTH company. 3. The center was initially estimated to cost $300 million and open to patients in 2018. However, its opening was delayed and its cost will likely rise to $330 million by July, Dr. Simone told the Journal. 4. The center will feature four treat rooms and will have a capacity of 1,400 patients per year, which includes 200 pediatric patients. Patients will also have support of in-house social workers and nutritionists 5. Proton therapy is a type of radiation therapy that uses energy from protons, which are positively charged particles, to treat cancer and benign tumors, according to Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic. 6. Proton therapy can be aimed with more precision that standard therapy, allowing oncologists to avoid damaging the heathy tissue surrounding the tumor, Charles Simone, CMO of the center, told the Journal. 7. However, some researchers note that it is more expensive than radiation therapy and its benefit in the long term is not certain, particularly among pediatric patients. Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill May 13 that creates a long-term care benefit for eligible residents, according to The New York Times. The governor's office said the long-term care benefit is similar to a Medicare benefit. Under the bill, eligible residents will have access to a $100-per-day allowance for long-term care services, starting in 2025, according to the Times. The money will last up to a year. To receive the money, residents will pay into a state fund through a payroll tax $290 for every $50,000 in income that starts in 2022. The governor's office said the bill is designed to help residents who struggle to afford long-term care services. The office notes that Medicare does not cover most types of long-term services and support, and Medicaid only covers services for people who have serious medical needs and have no income or savings. "Washington workers pay into the trust through a payroll assessment and are then able to become eligible for benefits that help with a range of daily tasks, ranging from bathing and dressing to taking medicine," the governor's office said. The tax will not apply to people with long-term care insurance and will be voluntary for self-employed individuals. Washington is the first state to pass such legislation, according to the Times, which cites the National Conference of State Legislatures. More articles on healthcare finance: Nevada governor signs surprise-billing lawNevada governor signs surprise-billing law Moody's: Nonprofit health systems pursuing alternative growth strategies with differing credit risk levels JPMorgan Chase buys healthcare payments technology company InstaMed for $500M+ Josiah Zayner, PhD, biophysicist and founder of at-home genetic engineering startup The Odin, is under investigation by the state of California, according to an official notice he shared on Instagram this week. The letter was sent from the health quality investigation unit of the state's department of consumer affairs. In it, Dr. Zayner's presence is requested at a meeting with the agency and a district medical consultant regarding a complaint of "unlicensed practice of medicine" filed against him by an unnamed party. In response, Dr. Zayner wrote on Instagram, "The truth is that I have never given anyone anything to inject or use, never sold any material meant to treat a disease and never claim to provide treatments or cures because I knew this day would come." The self-described "biohacker" has made a name for himself with his well-publicized genetic self-experimentation in recent years. In 2016, he attempted a fecal microbiota transplant in a hotel room; the following year, he tried to genetically alter his skin, then, a few months later, livestreamed himself injecting his arm with CRISPR gene editing technology in an attempt to stimulate muscle growth. Dr. Zayner has had run-ins with government safety agencies before: In 2016, when the FDA requested that The Odin discontinue sales of a kit for brewing glow-in-the-dark beer, the company complied. However, The Odin has continued to sell its kits enabling consumers to conduct their own genetic self-experiments despite a 2017 FDA warning. More articles about health IT: IBM's AI distinguishes between healthy, cancerous cells in breast tumors Phoenix Children's Hospital experiences internet outage, EHR downtime How hospitals are responding to Microsoft operating system vulnerability University of California workers went on strike May 16 at the school's 10 campuses and five medical centers to protest job outsourcing. The strike involves university professional and technical employees represented by the UPTE-CWA 9119, as well as members of AFSCME Local 3299, which represents the university's service and patient care technical workers. It is union members' fifth strike in more than a year, and it is focused on their concerns about outsourcing, according to The Sacramento Bee. In a media advisory about the walkout, the AFSCME claims that UC has acted illegally with its privatization plans that allow jobs to be outsourced to contracting companies. "The University of California has bypassed its workers at every turn, refusing to meet and confer about plans to outsource middle-class jobs in California to poverty wage contractors," said AFSCME Local 3299 President Kathryn Lybarger. "By cutting workers out of decisions about who will be providing the services that UC patients and students rely on, its clear that UC is focused on one thing paying its lowest wage workers even less." For instance, union leaders contend UC administrators won't bargain over plans to outsource ongoing work at a joint venture: a new rehabilitaiton hospital in Sacramento, Calif., that the school will own and operate with Kindred Healthcare, a Louisville, Ky.-based private equity company. UC spokesperson Claire Doan expressed disappointment about the strike and stated that AFSCMEs service-contract contract claims lack merit. "Despite union leaders' claims about fairness, AFSCME is demanding nearly triple the raises the university has given to other employees. Their push for an 8 percent annual wage increase would cost this taxpayer-funded university hundreds of millions of dollars over the life of the contract, beyond the significant amount UC has already offered in raises," she said in a statement to Becker's. Ms. Doan also called union leaders' claims "a red herring," saying that union members are striking to gain leverage in negotiations. She noted, "UC's agreements with AFSCME explicitly bar the university from contracting out solely to save on wages and benefits. Furthermore, UC cannot terminate an employee due to a sub-contracting decision." More articles on human capital and risk: ER nurses allowed to combine rest breaks, US labor board rules Hospitals and unions: 8 recent conflicts, agreements Kaiser Permanente agrees not to outsource Northern California landscaping ] Acts of violence and harassment are forcing physicians to hide their identities while treating Ebola patients in the Democratic Republic of Congo, reports The Washington Post. Five things to know: 1. Community members in cities affected by the country's Ebola outbreak have demonstrated great distrust of outside health workers due to the spread of misinformation. 2. The Congo has seen 119 attacks on health workers this year, and 85 workers were injured or killed, according to the World Health Organization. 3. Faced with this threat of violence, many physicians are trading in their scrubs for street clothes, lying about their profession and using motorbikes to get around, which blend into traffic more than SUVs. 4. This mistrust and violence not only endangers health workers, but also complicates outbreak containment efforts. Ebola infections have continued to climb in the Congo, making it the second-worst Ebola outbreak in history. 5. As of May 16, health officials reported 1,760 confirmed and probable cases linked to the outbreak, including 1,161 deaths. From its origins as a single operating room facility to its peak as a national spine-focused orthopedic chain, Tampa, Fla.-based Laser Spine Institute performed about 100,000 surgical procedures before a rash of lawsuits and cash flow issues eventually caused it to shut down and cease all clinical operations March 1. Here is a timeline of coverage on Laser Spine Institute's journey: 2005: Laser Spine Institute opens in 2005, the Tampa Bay Times reports. 2007: LSI opens locations in Arizona, Philadelphia and Oklahoma City. 2007-18: Several entities sue Laser Spine Institute, including most notably Terry "Hulk Hogan" Bollea, who alleges Laser Spine performed a series of ineffective procedures that cost him $50 million. August 2013: LSI opens an outpatient surgery center in The Woodlands, Texas. June 2014: LSI readies to open practices in Cleveland, St. Louis and Cincinnati before the end of 2014. LSI had surgery centers in Tampa, Scottsdale, Ariz., Philadelphia and Oklahoma City at the time. September 2014: LSI plans to open a $56 million headquarters and ASC in Tampa. June 2016: LSI lays off 70 employees, or 6 percent of its 1,200-employee workforce. December 2016: LSI appoints Roger Cary as president and CEO. Mr. Cary would serve as LSI's last leader. At the time, LSI had locations in Tampa, Scottsdale, Philadelphia, Oklahoma City, Cleveland, St. Louis and Cincinnati. 2018: A Pennsylvania court orders LSI to pay $20 million to the estate of a deceased Ohio woman. October 2018: LSI announces its Oklahoma City location will close Nov. 30. December 2018: A federal court rules that LSI owed a competing laser spine surgical center $264 million in damages. The competing center brought the lawsuit in 2006, accusing LSI of breach of fiduciary duty, conspiracy, defamation, slander, tortious interference and violation of a Florida law. Late 2018, early 2019: LSI closes three surgical centers, reduces operating cost structure. Feb. 22, 2019: LSI's banks freeze the company's accounts and strip the cash out of them. Feb. 25, 2019: LSI management reaches a deal with a bank to fund accrued payroll and make limited other payments. The bank gives a timeline to find an investor. March 1, 2019: LSI closes its Tampa headquarters as well as its remaining Ohio, Arizona and Missouri locations after it was unable to find an investor. LSI lays off 354 employees and cancels all procedures. Helena, Mont.-based St. Peter's Health opened an orthopedic urgent care center on its main campus, ABC Fox Montana reports. What you should know: 1. Clinicians will treat common orthopedic injuries at the clinic. 2. St. Peter's Health plans to grow their orthopedic staff by recruiting another orthopedic surgeon and a new physician assistant. 3. St. Peter's Health orthopedic surgeon Kerry Hale, MD, said the center has seen about 15 patients a day since it opened in early May. An Illinois appeals court ruled that orthopedic surgeon Sarmad Elias, MD, did not act in good faith when he agreed to a $25,000 settlement with a patient, reports Law 360. Dr. Elias faced potentially millions of dollars in liability after he treated former Illinois Central Railroad worker Antwon Ross' on-the-job injury. Five details: 1. The settlement which was found to be low due to Mr. Ross owing Dr. Elias hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills was entered amid "undeniably damning" evidence that Dr. Elias deviated from the standard of care when he treated Mr. Ross over a period of years, according to the court. 2. Mr. Ross sued ICR for what the company estimates is a $3.5 million claim over his injuries after a workplace fall, but an expert hired by ICR concluded that his injuries were due to unnecessary surgeries from Dr. Elias. The settlement between Dr. Elias and Mr. Ross cut off ICR's claim against Dr. Elias. 3. ICR said that most of Mr. Ross' medical bills were due to Dr. Elias' alleged malpractice a figure that the court said, "pales in comparison to the $25,000 Dr. Elias paid to extricate himself from this case." 4. According to the three-judge panel, Mr. Ross was treated by Dr. Elias for two vertebra-stabilizing procedures, a spinal fusion, multiple nerve blocks for pain control, steroid injections, dozens of office visits, and 173 physical therapy sessions and never returned to work. 5. Dr. Elias and Mr. Ross settled for $25,000, intended to resolve all claims for contribution against Dr. Elias but it did not mention the medical liens he had placed against Mr. Ross and depended on the court finding the deal in good faith, according to the panel. Here are eight spine and neurosurgeons making the headlines this month. Anthony Petraglia, MD, joined bioavailable cannabis solutions company, Geocann, as CMO, and chairman of the Scientific and Medical Advisory Board. Kevin T. Foley, MD, has joined Salt Lake City-based 3D imaging startup nView Medical as board director and investor. Paul McCormick, MD, co-surgeon-in-chief of NewYork-Presbyterian Och Spine Hospital and co-chair of the Spine Patient Safety Summit in New York City discussed the biggest trends in spine patient safety with Becker's. Robert N. Holtzman, MD, was chosen for the Lifetime Achievement Award by the International Association of Top Professionals for his outstanding leadership and commitment to neurosurgery. Mark Hornyak, MD, joined The William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich, Conn., and the Hartford HealthCare Ayer Neuroscience Institute, also in Norwich. Twin Cities Orthopedics welcomed the first ever neurosurgeon, Frederick Harris, MD, to its medical staff. Board-certified neurosurgeon Brian R. Gantwerker, MD, provides his insight into the evolution of spinal fusions, implant surface technology and the future of 3D printing in spine with Becker's. Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has named Gregory J. Zipfel, MD, head of the department of neurosurgery. Orthopedic surgeon and medical director of the spine program at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Dennis Devito, MD, has won the Physician Award for the 2019 Health Care Heroes Awards, reports Atlanta Business Chronical. Dr. Devito focuses on the treatment of pediatric spine patients and has traveled to El Salvador twice a year for the past 23 years to treat children with complex spinal conditions. His areas of interest are scoliosis, spondylolysis and degenerative disc disease. Outside of helping patients, one of Dr. Devito's highlights of practicing medicine is utilizing the latest technological advancements. Dr. Devito is board-certified by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Trauma Surgeons, a member of the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America and a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The new chief executive of Airbus has hinted the European aerospace giant could buy Bombardiers Northern Ireland operation. Speaking in London, Guillaume Faury, who took over in April, confirmed the Toulouse-based group is looking at the option of an acquisition. It is two weeks since Bombardier announced its plan to exit the commercial aircraft business and end its 30-year relationship with Northern Ireland. Its aerostructures operation includes sites next to Belfast City Airport, Newtownabbey, Dunmurry and Newtownards, specialising in aircraft components, including engine nacelles (casings), fuselages and wings. Crucially for Airbus, it manufactures wings for the A220 aircraft. The European airframer acquired a majority stake in the jet series, formerly Bombardiers C-series, last summer. We will make sure that whatever happens preserves our interest, Mr Faury told The Guardian during a visit to London. US aerostructures manufacturer Spirit Aerosystems and Worcestershire-based aerospace components giant GKN have both been named as potential front-runners for the Bombardier business. The chief executive said Airbus is open to the prospect of the Northern Ireland aerostructures business being run by another third-party supplier. We think wings are very close to our own business. The production could be coming from suppliers if they are reliable and have a long-term perspective. These are the options we will be looking at. Airbus already operates its own wing manufacturing facilities for other aircraft in its portfolio at Broughton in north Wales and in Filton, near Bristol. In November the Canadian firm announced plans to shed 490 jobs, which would leave its workforce here at 3,600, around half of what it was in 2002. Northern Ireland should have its own overseas food marketing body, according to the head of one of the region's biggest meat processors. George Mullan, managing director of Irish meat giant ABP, which has factories in Lurgan and Newry employing 650 people, called for the initiative. As well as meat processing, ABP is part of a joint venture locally with Fane Valley and Kettyle Irish Foods. Through both sets of operations, Mr Mullan said the companies supported 9,000 beef farmers here. Speaking at the Ulster Bank lunch at Balmoral Show, he was joined by Keelings Retail chief executive David Keeling and Ulster Bank senior agriculture manager Cormac McKervey. The panel said the Republic's food sector had a strong champion in food promotion body Bord Bia. Mr Mullan added: "The potential for Northern Ireland's food and drink sector is huge. "Improved access to international markets assisted by the relevant expert marketing support has the potential to position Northern Ireland as a global centre of excellence when it comes to the production of quality naturally produced food." Mr Keeling said the Balmoral Show was an opportunity for the Co Dublin-based fruit processor to meet its retail customers on this side of the border. He added that sales of its products like blueberries and raspberries had "grown like a rocket" as consumer tastes had changed. "We have been very lucky and our biggest challenge has been to keep up with significant growth every year, and we've been investing in people and processes," he added. With one-fifth of its sales here, Mr Keeling said: "Not living and being based in Northern Ireland is perhaps to our disadvantage and that's perhaps something we would have to work on in the future." Mr Mullan said ABP was also reacting to changing consumer tastes, launching a plant-based burger to cater for the growth in veganism. However, he added that the company would remain first and foremost a red meat business and consumers would lean towards a "flexatarian" approach of avoiding eating red meat seven days a week but not eliminating it altogether. Richard Donnan of Ulster Bank said: "Both ABP and Keelings are examples of firms responding positively to consumer trends with new and innovative ideas and initiatives. "Ulster Bank is committed to continuing to support investment and innovation throughout the food chain and our principal sponsorship of the Balmoral Show helps us communicate that and our active engagement with the sector as a whole." The opening day of the Balmoral Show on Wednesday. The civil servant in charge of the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) has said he has "absolutely no doubt" that Northern Ireland's agri-food sector will adapt and succeed beyond Brexit. Speaking at the Balmoral Show, DAERA permanent secretary Dr Denis McMahon confirmed that Brexit has been a major focus for the department in the past year. He told over 100 delegates yesterday morning: "Only through collaboration and engagement with stakeholders and industry can we find solutions and resolutions to difficult issues such as Brexit. "We continue to work at pace providing information and analysis to ensure Northern Ireland gets the best deal for our industry, our environment and our rural communities. "Beyond Brexit, I have absolutely no doubt that Northern Ireland's agri-food industry will survive, adapt and develop to new levels of success. "We have a talent-driven industry consistently attracting hugely capable innovators and leaders." But despite operating without a functioning Executive or with the oversight of a minister for more than two years, he told the delegates at Balmoral Show that "DAERA has seen a very successful year". He listed the establishment of the Tuberculosis Eradication Partnership and said some 30m had been committed across 700 projects under the EU LEADER programme, creating over 1,000 full-time equivalent jobs. He also said the Farm Business Improvement Capital Scheme has the potential to leverage over 72m of investment in the industry. Dr McMahon said the agricultural industry is now worth over 4.5bn to the Northern Ireland economy, with over 100,000 people employed in the agri-food sector. But he said his department faces a range of complex challenges in the coming year. "We cannot face them, or indeed overcome them, alone," he said. Restrictions on cruise ships docking in Dublin will see a dramatic reduction in the number coming to Belfast from 2021, a senior business figure has claimed. Lorcan O'Connor is managing director the Carroll's Group, which owns two tourism stores in Belfast. He has joined figures from across the business and tourism industry to oppose plans by Dublin Port Company to cut down on the number of cruise ships docking while it carries out major works to increase its capacity in response to Brexit. The All-Ireland Cruise Ship Action Group (AICSAG) said while the numbers are being cut, the length of time ships can drop anchor is also being reduced. Some 150 cruise ships arrived in Dublin Port last year. Many of those cruise companies also choose to dock twice on the island in either Belfast or Cork. DUP leader Arlene Foster has already written to the Republic's Transport Minister Shane Ross to express concern that the move will hit arrivals in Belfast. Mr Ross has reportedly claimed that Cork and Belfast will fill the gap. However, Mr O'Connor said that, in reality, cruise companies which can't access Dublin won't come to Ireland at all. "Cork and Belfast are obviously going to get some ships, but I think the numbers are going to be dramatically decreased," he said. The Carroll's boss said he believed Dublin Port Company is increasingly moving away from the cruise business. He was speaking yesterday as 3,600 North American tourists arrived on a 'turnaround' cruise, which involves travellers flying home, while another 3,600 fly in to board. "Dublin Port have explicitly said that they will be banning these turnarounds from 2021 and the Irish tourism industry will be paying the price," he said. A spokesperson for Dublin Port said the berth restrictions from 2021 are intended to last three years to allow for major construction works on Alexandra Quay West, a 400-metre quay wall. Between 140 and 160 cruises have been booked into the port between 2019-20. That will drop to 80 from 2021-23, and return to 150 from 2024. Dublin Port said additional work will take the cruise capacity to over 200 from 2026. Moy Park president Chris Kirke has said the poultry giant will spend 45m upgrading its factories this year, with a significant amount earmarked for its key Northern Ireland sites. Making his first visit to the Balmoral Show yesterday, Mr Kirke said Moy Park's US owners remain "deeply committed" to Northern Ireland, where it employs 6,000 people. Pilgrim's Pride acquired Moy Park from Brazilian group JBS in September 2017 for 1bn, replacing chief executive Janet McCollum with Mr Kirke eight months later. "They massively support the organisation. They are acutely aware of the heritage and it's something they want to preserve," he said. "We will be an important fixture in Northern Ireland ongoing. We are their European division and they want this to be a bridgehead for further opportunities right across Europe." Mr Kirke yesterday said he has spent the past year focused on Moy Park's internal workings. "We have been very focused on getting our operation right internally. We've been very opaque in terms of what that looks like." He also confirmed that Moy Park had experienced a slight decrease in its processing plants in recent months, but said it was linked to the weather. The company president said he expects the UK poultry market to grow by 3% this year, creating demand for an extra 600,000 birds per week. Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, Mr Kirke described how the company has been preparing for Brexit by stockpiling non-poultry ingredients, including packaging. He said contingencies had been developed for how it can move products between its two main sites in Northern Ireland its main Great Britain sites. "Where we have frozen products, we're making sure we have enough stock of finished good material that we are able to supply into the market," he added. Mr Kirke also said that the decision to close a kill line at Moy Park's Ballymena plant in April was a temporary measure with no job losses. "We've looked at our entire network and we've looked at where we process our birds. Ballymena was representing 5% of our whole bird killing. "So we've taken the kill capacity out temporarily as we don't need that capacity and we've redeployed significant numbers of the workforce into our added-value facility that operates there. "We really do understand how important we are to Northern Ireland both as an employer and as a member of the community," he added. "We want to work closely with our growers and suppliers alike, and be a sustainable employer for 12,000 people, 6,000 of those who are in Northern Ireland." Craigavon shopping centre Rushmere has said it's now at full occupancy after the opening of a store by budget grocer Iceland, creating 32 new jobs. It's the supermarket's 36th branch in Northern Ireland. The new format shop has self-service check-outs and new product ranges including chilled foods and fresh foods. Rushmere said that as a result of the opening of the Iceland store, all of its units are now fully let. And it said visitor numbers had also increased and were up 8.5% for the full month of April compared to last year. And over the year to date, visitor numbers were up by just over 6%. The 42-year-old shopping centre draws more than 6.5 million visitors a year. Last year it began an investment programme of 2m to increase its hospitality offering, adding a new Five Guys burger restaurant as well as chicken joint Nandos. Centre manager Martin Walsh said: "With our prime location, mix of retail stores and variety of big brands, Rushmere Shopping Centre continues to build on the success of 2018 by adding to our retail offering. "We are delighted to welcome the new format Iceland store to Rushmere Shopping Centre. Our customers come to us because of our strong retail mix, catering for all budgets, and the addition of Iceland only strengthens this offering." Other recent openings at Rushmere include fashion and footwear brand DV8, as well as womenswear retailer Vogue. Rushmere is owned by property company Central Craigavon, controlled by brothers Peter and John Robinson. The shopping centre's positive performance has bucked a wider trend for retail, with the latest research suggesting a general increase in vacancy rates. Information company Springboard said the Northern Ireland vacancy rate had accelerated from 14% to 14.9% between March and April, the highest level since October 2017. However, footfall data suggested Northern Ireland's retail centres continued to outperform the rest of the UK. A 0.5% rise in footfall in April was the ninth month of growth in the past 12 here, against the UK average decline of 0.5%. Alan Johnston who was killed by the IRA in 1988 The sister of a young man murdered by the IRA more than 30 years ago has accused dissident republicans of dancing on his grave. Sandra Harrison, whose brother Alan Johnston was killed in 1988, spoke out ahead of a commemoration event this weekend by Saoradh. The group, believed to be the political wing of the New IRA, will commemorate IRA hunger striker Raymond McCreesh with a black flag vigil in Newry tomorrow. Ms Harrison has called for an end to the glorification of terrorists and asked how such public displays fit with republican calls for an 'all-inclusive' society. Mr Johnston was just 23 when he was shot in the back by the IRA on his way to work on February 15, 1988. The part-time UDR Lance-Corporal, a member of the Young Unionist Association, had arrived to begin his shift at Kilkeel Joinery Works when he was followed by a gunman who opened fire at close range. The IRA claimed that one of its units had been involved in a "brave action in Kilkeel". Tomorrow, Saoradh will commemorate McCreesh at the Newry children's play park named after him. Ms Harrison, who is chair of victims charity MAST (Mourne Action for Survivors of Terrorism) in Kilkeel, said the event shows dissidents "still take delight in rubbing our noses in it". "Alan was a fantastic, law-abiding young man, on his way to work, a lunchbox in one hand, a toolbox in the other," she recalled. "He was shot in the back by a coward. He didn't stand a chance. "We've picked up the pieces but we're living and seeing it every day, watching Sinn Fein in government, accepting Northern Ireland for what it is today. "We've remained dignified, kept our pride, but there's nothing dignified or proud about what this commemoration stands for. "Our wounds are still there. They're not being allowed to heal by people who still, no matter how much society casts them aside and reviles them, feel it appropriate to celebrate a terrorist. That's what Raymond McCreesh was." McCreesh, from Camlough, south Armagh, was one of 10 republican prisoners who died in a hunger strike in the Maze Prison in 1981. His convictions included attempted murder, conspiracy to murder, possession of firearms with intent to endanger life and IRA membership. McCreesh was caught with a shotgun which had been used in the 1976 Kingsmill massacre, when 10 Protestant workmen died. Ms Harrison added: "He was no hero to celebrate. How long can these people carry on trying to glorify what McCreesh and his like put our country, our community, through? "Time after time take another kick in the teeth. "We're disgusted every time and it's gut wrenching to see them out there in the streets as if these actions are something to celebrate, showing their faces as if they have something to be proud about. "Murder is nothing to be proud about. "We know they want a reaction. They do this to get into our faces even though society has shunned them and what they stand for, condemned them, particularly these past few weeks since the murder of Lyra McKee," she added. Ms Harrison said most in society did not want events like the one tomorrow. She added: "We've never had an apology over Alan's murder. We've never had justice of any sort. But we're strong, we'll keep going. Despite the disgust at the actions of Saoradh, the strength of the victims will shine through. "We are very proud of our loved ones who lost their lives, murdered, and we have nothing to be afraid of. We have truth on our side. "But if republican politicians continue to call for an 'all-inclusive' society, can they tell me what they mean? "Does that include me and so many others who are appalled by the continued celebration of terrorists who took loved ones from us, murdered them and now celebrate people like Raymond McCreesh? "Is constantly getting in the faces of the community, winding them up, dancing on the graves of our family members part of that all-inclusive society republican politicians aspire to?" The naming of McCreesh Park sparked a long-running controversy. Unionists demanded the name be changed, while republicans insisted it be retained, with the SDLP caught in the middle. Last autumn, unionists and the SDLP backed plans to sell the park, stating that the current facility was "surplus to requirements" and the naming of the area would be a matter for the new owners. Ahead of tomorrow's planned commemoration, Saoradh spokesperson Stephen Murney said the group was "immensely proud of the sacrifice Raymond McCreesh made for his country's freedom" and hailed him a hero. "This commemorative event will give everyone the opportunity to remember Raymond in a dignified and fitting fashion," he said. "No better place to have this event than in the heart of the community who hold him in such hi gh esteem. "Ray McCreesh was a revolutionary IRA volunteer and local hero. "He made a massive sacrifice and suffered for us all in an unimaginable way." A man has been arrested after schoolchildren were stung by nettles in a game said to have "got out of hand". It happened at Abbots Cross Primary School on Wednesday. It is understood a group of children had been playing a game before the incident occured. "It just appeared to get out of hand at some point when nettles became involved," a source told the Belfast Telegraph. Parents at the school were said to be upset with the incident. The school has not commented, instead referring Press to the Education Authority. It has reportedly sent a letter to homes asking parents to note any nettle stings on their children and informing them of the arrest. The Education Authority (EA) has begun an investigation. EA is taking this allegation seriously and a full investigation is being carried out," a spokesman said. "The safety and wellbeing of pupils is of the utmost importance to EA and as such the allegations will be fully and thoroughly investigated. Police said they attended and arrested a man aged in his 40s. He was later released pending further investigation. A west Belfast man arrested as part of an investigation into dissident republican activity has launched a legal challenge to police remotely monitoring interviews with terror suspects. Risteard O Murchu was detained by detectives on Wednesday but released later that night unconditionally. While in custody the 49-year-old was allegedly informed that his interviews were to be "downstreamed" - observed at another location by other individuals. The Ballymurphy man's lawyers said they secured a police undertaking that no monitoring would be carried out after bringing an emergency case to the High Court. Mr O Murchu has now commenced a wider attempt to have the policy declared unlawful. A judicial review hearing has been listed for next month. Mr O Murchu's solicitor, Michael Brentnall, confirmed: "Our client is challenging the use of remote monitoring, or downstreaming, of his interview under the Terrorism Act. "He asserts there is no explicit statutory or legal basis to underpin this process, thus rendering the procedure illegal." According to Mr Brentnall there are no codes of practice or guidelines in place. He added: "Without this there are no safeguards, leaving the process open to abuse." Church of Ireland Primate Archbishop Richard Clarke has underlined the challenges facing the Church in general and also the people of Londonderry. He was addressing the 500 members from all over Ireland gathered for the annual General Synod at the Millennium Forum in Derry yesterday. The synod is the legislative and governing body deciding on legislation for the Church. Committees present reports which are then debated by synod members. This is the first time in its 150-plus year history that the synod is being held in the Maiden City. The event comes just weeks after the murder of journalist Lyra McKee in Derry. Archbishop Clarke referred to the trauma of recent times. He said: "We cannot but be aware of the challenges and the great sadness that recent events in this city have brought to its people, and they are indeed in the prayers of us all. "Our prayer is that, as this city has in so many ways demonstrated to us over the past years, there is a wholesome way forward following decades of division and violence, so the people of Derry/Londonderry will be enabled to show us again what can be done for the good of all the people of the city, and the whole country." The archbishop warned that the world "is hurtling forwards into a very different and somewhat menacing future". He added: "Men and women feel that they have been stripped of their dignity and have become deeply resentful of what they perceive as corrupt and unaccountable elites who are taking their dignity and identity from them." He also warned how anger is consuming society. "We all on this island can too easily be carried along mindlessly on a wave of popular and populist emotion where mantras and knee-jerk sound bites are replacing reasoned, respectful and nuanced discussion," he said. "In the public square, anger has too often replaced decency, and a binary 'black and white' polarisation has replaced any supple, generous and complex discourse. "Christians cannot opt out of what is happening around them, privatising their religion so that it has no function other than ensuring their individual salvation." The archbishop also warned about "a fourth industrial revolution", where "machines can increasingly do most of what needs to be done for humans, and where humans are becoming ever less necessary for production, or the wellbeing of others". Earlier yesterday at the synod's communion service in St Columb's Cathedral Bishop Ferran Glenfield of Kilmore claimed that "the tide is going out" for Christianity in Ireland, adding that "denominations like ours are in retreat". "Hope is in short supply, and is there any word of encouragement?" he said. "There is in the Gospel of God, in Christ alone, by faith alone, through Grace alone. "Wickedness, folly failures, rebellion, guilt and shame, envy, lying and cheating all gone, for the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin." During the three-day meeting the members will consider a wide range of subjects. These will include the persecution of Christians in other parts of the world, liturgical developments, suggested restructuring of the General Synod, the possible amalgamation of two dioceses in the Irish Republic, and marking the 150th anniversary of the disestablishment of the Church of Ireland. The wife of a man killed in a loyalist bomb attack in Dublin has called for Leo Varadkar to release secret files on the atrocity. Edward O'Neill died in May 1974 when the Ulster Volunteer Force exploded a bomb in Parnell Street. He was among 33 people killed when a series of bombs exploded in Dublin and Monaghan on May 17 1974. Martha O'Neill said there are secret documents held in the taoiseach's office which could help families get justice for their loved ones. The files were left in the Taoiseach office by the McEntree Commission which investigated the Garda inquiry at the time. Expand Close The devastation caused by the UVF bombing of Dublins Talbot Street in 1974 / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The devastation caused by the UVF bombing of Dublins Talbot Street in 1974 Ms O'Neill told the BBC: "I personally ask the taoiseach to consider this reasonable and fair request." Her sons, Billy, then aged seven, an Eddie junior, aged five, were both badly injured in the attack but survived. The boys had been with their father getting a haircut when the bomb went off. Friday marks the 45th anniversary of the bombing, with relatives of those killed set to gathering in Dublin to mark it. In the past relatives have used the anniversary to call on the British government to release classified security files on the atacks. A Co Fermanagh man allegedly raided a holidaymaker's boat for cash and took a car while its owner was using a leisure centre, the High Court has heard. Prosecutors claimed father-of-seven Richard Maughan, 39, was prepared to take significant risks to go stealing in broad daylight. Maughan, of Sallys Wood in Irvinestown, faces charges of burglary, theft, taking a motor vehicle without authority and driving while disqualified. He is accused of taking the Audi Q7 SUV from Fermanagh Lakeland Forum on March 31. Crown lawyer Natalie Pinkerton said the vehicle's keys had been stolen from a changing room locker at the leisure centre. The Audi's owner described seeing a man acting suspiciously in the area before the theft, the court heard. He then used his vehicle's tracking device to locate it in the Republic of Ireland, where Maughan was arrested. Ms Pinkerton alleged the accused can be identified on CCTV footage from the leisure centre. Maughan is further accused of breaking into a boat moored at the Lakeland Forum during a separate incident on May 5. It was claimed that a man challenged at the scene as he peered into vessels said he was "looking for a lift". The suspect was seen exiting a Doral 360 yacht with a purse which he threw into the water after removing its contents, according to the prosecution. A witness followed him to a local pub where police subsequently arrested Maughan. Ms Pinkerton alleged the accused had handed over money to the bar tender, stating there was 600 euros but he was too drunk to count it. "The owner of the boat said she had been staying on it while on holiday with her family when her purse was stolen," the barrister added. "She stated there was 600 euros missing... that has not been recovered." Opposing bail, counsel contended: "These offences are said to have been committed in broad daylight. They are not sophisticated. "However, that shows no regard to the risk of being apprehended." Defence lawyer Dessie Hutton argued that no CCTV footage of the alleged car theft from the leisure centre was produced during police interviews of his client. He added that no formal identification process has taken place over the boat incident, and questioned the cash said to have been stolen. "I'm instructed when the applicant was arrested he had no 600 euros on his person," Mr Hutton submitted. With Maughan said to suffer from depression, Mr Justice McAlinden granted bail on condition that he seeks medical help for related alcohol issues. The judge also imposed a curfew and electronic tagging. Police at the scene of an attempted ATM theft at a Topaz filling station on the Gilnahirk Road in Belfast. Photo By Justin Kernoghan A Belfast primary school has been damaged in an attempted ATM robbery, a local Alliance councillor has said. Police arrested four men after they tried to steal the ATM machine in east Belfast. The attempted theft took place at a service station on the Gilnahirk Road on Friday morning. The men, aged 30, 33, 37 and 41 are currently in custody assisting police with their enquiries. Alliance councillor Ross McMullan said that nearby Gilnahirk Primary School was damaged as the men behind the theft attempted to make their escape. "I offer my support and help to the school and businesses, which are at the heart of the local community," he said. I am glad there has been a swift response by the PSNI and I hope it marks the end of this spate of ATM robberies. If anyone has any information on this incident or others, I urge them to contact police with it. Detective Chief Superintendent Darren Evans appealed for anyone with information to come forward. Police would ask anyone who observed any suspicious activity in the area or have information that may assist with the investigation to contact police on 101," he said. "Alternatively, information can also be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 which is 100% anonymous and gives people the power to speak up and stop crime." A triple killer died of his injuries in Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital after being discovered with gunshot wounds at the republican plot in Milltown Cemetery yesterday afternoon. The dead man was named locally as former INLA prisoner Martin McElkerney. Police have said they are not searching for anyone else in connection with the incident. The Air Ambulance was scrambled to the scene of the shooting just yards from the busy Kennedy Centre on Thursday afternoon. Last night the site where the shooting happened at the west Belfast cemetery was guarded by PSNI vehicles. Investigating officers wearing protective masks carried out a fingertip search among the headstones - with one officer seen carrying a mobile phone which had been placed into a protective plastic envelope. Close by, a republican Starry Plough banner fluttered on its flagstaff. A Northern Ireland Ambulance Service spokesman told the Belfast Telegraph: "We received a call at 1.53pm and attended the scene following a report of an incident at Milltown Cemetery. "We dispatched two emergency crews to the scene. The Charity Air Ambulance and HEMS team also attended. "One person was transported to Royal Victoria Hospital." West Belfast man Martin McElkerney was jailed in 1987 for his role in a 1982 booby-trap explosion which killed two local schoolboys and a soldier. Expand Close Martin McElkerney / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Martin McElkerney McElkerney was identified in court as the look-out for the INLA bomber who planted the device at Divis Flats in 1982. Schoolboy Kevin Valliday (11), his friend Stephen Bennet (14) and 20-year-old Lance Bombardier Kevin Waller all died as a result of the blast. Lance Bombardier Waller, who served with the Royal Artillery Regiment, died of his injuries four days after the booby-trap explosion, just hours after the funeral of Kevin Valliday, who had died from his wounds the day after the blast. Another soldier received life-changing injuries as a result of the Divis Flats bomb. The inquest was told that the device had been detonated by someone who could not see the walkway where the soldiers were patrolling. Lost Lives, which catalogued the thousands of deaths during the Troubles, said the Divis bombing sparked an outpouring of anger in west Belfast. More than 200 people marched in protest to the Irish Republican Socialist Party headquarters on the Falls Road "where they left a note on the door accusing the INLA and IRSP of having 'the blood of our children on your hands'," the book records. In 1987, Mr McElkerney was given three life sentences for his role in the bombing. He was released in 1999 under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. Mr McElkerney was also among four former INLA prisoners pictured at a press conference in February 2010 announcing that the left-wing paramilitary group had disposed of its weapons. It's believed that the INLA was responsible for more than 120 deaths during the Troubles. Lost Lives records that 44 of its members were themselves killed during the conflict. In a statement issued yesterday, the PSNI said: "Police are currently in attendance at an incident at the Milltown Cemetery in west Belfast this afternoon. "There are no further details at this stage." Lyra McKee was shot dead by dissident republicans opposed to the peace process during unrest in Londonderry (McKee family/PA) The political wing of the New IRA in Londonderry has been slammed for threatening the media almost a month to the day after the dissident republican terror group murdered journalist Lyra McKee. Yesterday, the PSNI carried out a series of raids in Derry linked to the 29 year-olds fatal shooting. No arrests were made, and several items were taken away for examination. Hours later dissident group Saoradh issued a statement claiming that a film crew accompanied the PSNI in the home invasions and where (sic) clearly complicit in the attacks on Republican families. Read More In a sinister warning, the group stated that this may in future, given the environment, endanger members of the press. They also emailed photos of the police and people wearing jackets marked Press to the media. The National Union of Journalists hit back at the intimidation. NUJ Irish Secretary Seamus Dooley said: The NUJ will not be lectured on ethics by Saoradh. The statement displays a shocking degree of arrogance. NUJ members reject any attempt to blame the media for the public backlash arising from the murder of Lyra McKee or to shift the focus from the killing of our member in the course of her work as a reporter. NUJ General Secretary Michelle Stanistreet added: If there are legitimate complaints about policing these can be investigated by the appropriate authorities. This demand for the NUJ to investigate an alleged incident is a smokescreen. We want to see the killers of Lyra brought to justice and that investigation is our priority. Lyra was denied the fundamental human right, the right to life, and in these circumstances Saoradhs reference to rights is completely hypocritical. A PSNI spokesperson said officers from their Major Investigation Team conducted searches under the authority of search warrants at two residential properties in Londonderry as part of their investigation into the murder of Lyra McKee "No entry was forced at either premises, no damage was caused and no arrests were made. A number of items have been seized for examination," "During the search of one premises, a cameraman and producer were present to record the work of the Major Investigation Teams. They were present with the consent of the Senior Investigating Officer and did not enter any premises. They remained in public areas at all times. The PSNI said its Serious Crime Branch "are seeking to record a documentary to help to inform the public about the work of its Major Investigation Teams." This is an important piece of work to enable the public to see behind the scenes of complex and challenging homicide investigations. "The filming today represents one aspect of our work, which is under a constant public spotlight. Providing the media in general with access to major investigations is a critical element of public accountability. Publicly demonstrating policing professionalism is a key factor in building public confidence. " The officer leading the investigation into Lyra McKees murder said: "Searches are a necessary and important aspect of investigating serious crimes. As with every other part of this investigation, we have worked closely with local policing to ensure that we are sensitive to the local community. "If evidence exists, it is important that we identify and retrieve it, but our experience tells us that this evidence will not land at our door. Our job is to go and find it. The public have supported us in seeking justice for Lyra McKee and her family and I am grateful for their help and continuing patience." Jailing Smille, Judge Piers Grant described the content as graphic brutal and cruel and demonstrated in each case that the children are in pain". A Portavogie man who had thousands of images and videos of kids being sexually abused and in pain has been jailed for a year. Jailing Steven Richard Smillie at Downpatrick Crown Court and ordering him to spend a further year under supervised licence conditions, Judge Piers Grant told the 45-year-old he should be utterly ashamed of himself. As well as the jail sentence, Smillie was ordered to sign the police sex offenders register for the next ten years and was banned from working with children. Children should be able to live their lives in total innocence, without a care in the world," Detective Sergeant McPhillips after the hearing. "However, there are people who choose to exploit and expose children to their dark, depraved underworld. My message today is clear, my officers will not cease in their endeavour to catch those who exploit the most vulnerable in our society. This conviction should serve as a warning to those who think their own activity will go unnoticed or unpunished. "Everyone leaves a digital footprint when downloading, viewing or making indecent images of children. We will be relentless in our pursuit of offenders and when we catch them the repercussions will be far reaching. Smillie, from the Springhill Road in the fishing town, had previously pleaded guilty to 14 counts of making indecent photographs or pseudo images of children, two counts of possessing a prohibited images of a child and two counts of possessing an extreme photographic image in dates between 31 May 2014 and 2 February 2017. The court heard how Smillie was caught with over 2,000 images and at least five videos which ranged between category A, the most extreme and graphic images, category B and category C which he had downloaded to his phone. Jailing Smillie, Judge Piers Grant condemned the content as graphic brutal and cruel and demonstrated in each case that the children are in pain". Describing the images as absolutely disgusting, he said: Its quite clear the these children have no choice with whats happening to them....this is something against their will. Judge Grant told Smillie those who viewed and download such images bear a responsibility for them by creating a market for children to be hurt. A father-of-one was allegedly knifed to death after a "trivial" row among friends escalated at a drug-fuelled house gathering, the High Court has heard. A judge was told Niall Magee, 21, was slashed suddenly at the property in Crumlin, Co Antrim last month. Details emerged as bail was refused to a 29-year-old man said to have been in the house on Cairn Walk on Friday. Derek Armstrong, of Olympia Drive in Belfast, is not accused of any offences connected to the killing of Mr Magee. At the time he was on bail facing charges of robbery, attempted robbery, possession of an offensive weapon and common assault over alleged incidents in February and March. The court heard police called to the stabbing in Crumlin on April 27 located Armstrong near the house. Prosecutor Natalie Pinkerton said he had blood on him, and that his medical card was found inside the Cairn Walk address. "There was significant drug usage and alcohol found in that property," she added. Another man, 26-year-old Michael McManus, of Cairn Walk in Crumlin, is charged with Mr Magee's murder. Armstrong was returned to custody over alleged breaches of his release conditions. His barrister, Joe Brolly, insisted he fully co-operated with detectives investigating the killing. "There is no suggestion he was involved in anything, apart from being traumatised and taken to hospital," counsel said. The court was told another of those at the house had "exonerated" Armstrong. Mr Brolly said a legal colleague had described it as "the most traumatic scene he has ever come across". He claimed that the situation "became very grave, very quickly". The barrister went on: "All of these young men were close friends; it appears at some point in time there was quite a trivial row between the group who was present." Mr Magee then allegedly received a sudden and fatal knife wound, the court heard. Refusing bail, Mr Justice McAlinden pointed out that Armstrong was previously released on the basis that he seeks help for drug addiction issues. The judge said: "What I do have is proof he was present in a house where drugs were taken and someone gets slashed in the throat and dies." 100,995 crimes were recorded by police in Northern Ireland in the last year (stock photo) More than 100,000 crimes were recorded in Northern Ireland last year, representing a rise of 2.9% on the previous year. The annual crime figures published on Friday reveal that 100,995 crimes were recorded by the PSNI in the 12 months from April 1 2018 to March 31 2019. An increase of 2,875 when compared with the previous 12 months. Increased crime levels were seen in violence against the person offences, sexual offences and drug offences. While criminal damage, burglary and vehicle offences showed falling levels. Police recorded crime in Northern Ireland has moved in a generally downwards direction over the last 15 years. Falls in burglary, robbery, criminal damage and vehicle offences have contributed to this. Last year there was 36,472 violence against the person crimes recorded, a 6.8% rise from the previous year. The number of violence without injury crimes was 16,896. There was an increase by 113 in sexual offences to reach 3,547, three times higher than the lowest level recorded in 2000/01. 1,099 rapes were recorded, nearly five times higher than the lowest level recorded in 2000/01 (232 offences). The number of drug offences recorded increased by 662 to reach 7,106, more than six times higher than the lowest level in 2001/02. The number of possession of weapons offences increased by 65 to 1,064, when compared to the previous year. Recorded crime in Belfast City was up by 1.6%, while in Derry City & Strabane, it was down by 1%. PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Tim Mairs said: "While it is disappointing that across Northern Ireland, the recording of crime overall seems to have increased by just under 3%, this figure needs to be wholly understood. "How police record some offences has changed - which has had an impact on these statistics." "We fully recognise the impact crimes such as robbery can have on people's lives and livelihoods. "We are not complacent about any crime or any offence - and police officers will continue to work round the clock to keep people and communities safe. "Of course, an increase in the reporting of crime to police can also indicate greater confidence in policing. "We believe this is the case around domestic abuse - where in 2018/19, we saw in increase of 11.4% in this type of crime on the previous 12 months." The levels of anti-social behaviour in Northern Ireland are at their lowest since 2006/07. This year there were 56,503 incidents of ASB which is a 7.7% decrease on the previous 12 months. Nine of the 11 policing districts showed lower levels of anti-social behaviour. We work in a challenging environment: we have less officers in the Police Service and in the last five years have also experienced cuts to our budget of 150m. Despite this, we will continue to work hard in the communities we serve and strive to be an even more effective and efficient Police Service. It is vital that people continue to tell us about crime when they see it or experience it. We can only work to address issues when we know about them. I would encourage anyone who has been a victim of crime or has information about crime to report it to us. Anne Connolly, Policing Board chair, said: These figures provide an insight into the range of crime types and resulting demands on the PSNI in its service to the community "Since 2016/17, when the lowest level was recorded, the figures have shown an annual increase but still remain relatively low when compared with other policing areas. "That said, in this report there are some notable increases in a number of reported crime types which require further analysis. There are also areas where crime reports have fallen so it is equally important to understand why this is the case. "As a board, we are mindful that behind every statistic is a crime victim and we want people to have the confidence to report crime and be satisfied in how their case has been handled by the police and the wider criminal justice system. "The board will be questioning the chief constable at the June meeting so that there can be full scrutiny and understanding of the published figures. Lyra's sister Nichola Corner and mum Joan McKee with her award. Murdered journalist Lyra McKee has been honoured at the Regional Press Awards. Ms McKee was the recipient of the Journalists' Charity Award at the award ceremony at Savoy Place in London. Her sister Nichola Corner received a standing ovation when she accepted the award on Lyra's behalf. Her mum Joan was also in attendance. Mrs Corner said that Lyra would not be forgotten. Since Lyra was taken from us in the most horrific way, our family has said that her death should not be in vain and the ideals she held dearly are remembered," she said. "We have been deeply moved by the support we have received and are very thankful that Lyras qualities as a person and as a committed journalist have been recognised with this special award. Chief Executive of the Journalists' Charity James Brindle said that Lyra's death has been a huge loss to journalism. What we learned about Lyra in the hours and days that followed her death showed all too clearly that wed lost a journalist with very special qualities," he said. Lyras courage in bearing witness to violence on the streets of Derry is the type of commitment that journalists admire and hope to possess themselves. In addition, she championed the under-represented, gave a voice to those who werent being heard and held those in power to account. She reached out across the journalistic community to offer her support to people she didnt even know - changing lives with a hand of friendship. Expand Close Lyra's sister Nichola Corner accepted the award. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Lyra's sister Nichola Corner accepted the award. Ms McKee was killed last month during rioting in the Creggan area of Londonderry on April 18. Dissident republican group the New IRA have claimed responsibility for her murder. Since Ms McKee's death her work as a journalist has been widely shared on social media. She was published in a wide variety of publications including Mosaic, Private Eye, BuzzFeed News and the Belfast Telegraph. Ms McKee also served as editor for Mediagazer, a news aggregator website. In 2016 Forbes Magazine named her as one of its '30 under 30 in media'. On Friday morning Detective Superintendent Jason Murphy appealed for the gunman who killed Ms McKee to hand himself in. Nichola, sister of murdered journalist Lyra McKee, accepts Journalists Special Award on her behalf. Standing ovation at #RegPressAwards pic.twitter.com/I0W4SpeR2O Gail Walker (@GWalker9) May 17, 2019 Dramatic footage circulating on social media shows more than a dozen people fighting inside the bar area Dramatic footage circulating on social media shows more than a dozen people fighting inside the bar area Dramatic footage circulating on social media shows more than a dozen people fighting inside the bar area Security staff had to intervene after a mass brawl broke out at the Balmoral Show on Friday evening. Dramatic footage circulating on social media shows more than a dozen people fighting inside the bar area. Security staff are seen restraining several men as punches and kicks are thrown. Footage of the fight goes on for more than two minutes before things those involved are dragged off. In a statement, the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society said it would be investigating the incident. "There was an altercation at the bar area, which was quickly brought under control by the event security personnel and we believe no one was seriously injured," the said. "It is sad that a few people resorted to this behaviour when tens of thousands of people enjoyed a fun family day out. The society will be fully investigating this matter and appropriate action taken." A spokesperson for the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service said they were not called to the scene. Police searched the wrong homes as part of their probe into ATM thefts. (stock pic) Police apologised after raiding the wrong homes as part of a search operation into the recent spate of ATM thefts. One resident took to Facebook to share their anger after their home was "turned upside down" during the searches. He said that his mother "came home to a broken door due to a battering ram" after the searches and said a search warrant was left on the kitchen table for a "completely different address in a completely different village". An MLA said police had relied upon satnav or Google Maps for the operation. Police swooped on homes in Granemore outside Armagh on Monday. The man said police had "left a widow with three children to pick up the pieces and restore the house to good order". "My mother is extremely upset and feels like she isn't safe in her own home, which infuriates me and my siblings as she has done her absolute best to support and raise us in a safe environment," the post read. "To know that 10-plus PSNI officers were in my family home looking through our documents and belongings for no reason is appalling." Police confirmed that they "mistakenly entered two wrong addresses" on Monday while conducting searches across the Newry and Armagh areas in relation to ATM thefts. Detective Inspector Keith Gawley said that police "regret the mistakes made" and had apologised to householders. Expand Close Megan Fearon / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Megan Fearon "We have also advised our officers of the matter in order to prevent similar incidents occurring in the future," he said. It is very important that police are able to fight crime effectively and our aim is always to protect communities and make them safer. Thousands of searches are carried out every year within Northern Ireland which are vital in detecting crime and bringing people before the courts. Unfortunately, whilst it is not our intention, damage to property can occur as a result of searches. Where appropriate, compensation will be paid to the householder where damage is caused to their property. Sinn Fein MLA Megan Fearon said that the policing operation was "shambolic and incompetent". She said that the Police Ombudsman has been contacted to investigate the searches. They raided houses that people had moved out of many years ago. Their approach of locating target houses using satnav or google map was embarrassingly incompetent," the Newry and Armagh MLA said. It was very obvious that the PSNI were working on dated and erroneous intelligence. "What has happened has undermined public faith, trust and confidence in the PSNI." Police at the scene of an attempted ATM theft at a Topaz filling station on the Gilnahirk Road in Belfast. Photo By Justin Kernoghan Police have said they believe four men arrested after an attempted ATM theft in Belfast are members of a gang linked to several other thefts in recent months. Three of the men were arrested after they attempted to steal a cash machine at a service station on the Gilnahirk Road on Friday morning. A fourth man was arrested later at a house in east Belfast. The would-be thieves did not manage to steal any money. Read More The men, aged 30, 33, 37 and 41 are currently being questioned at Musgrave Police Station. Detective Chief Inspector David Henderson said: We believe these individuals are members of a gang linked to recent ATM attacks in the greater Belfast area in the last few months. "ATM crimes have been a priority for the Police Service of Northern Ireland. In recent months we have carried out 41 searches across Northern Ireland, during which we recovered over 51,000 and made 19 arrests. "As a result of these arrests, detectives have now charged five men in relation to ATM thefts in Fintona, Antrim and Tully Road, Nutts Corner and also charged two men, for other offences including theft, driving offences and possession of criminal property. "Six of these men have been remanded in custody." Alliance councillor Ross McMullan said that nearby Gilnahirk Primary School was damaged as the men behind the theft attempted to make their escape. "I offer my support and help to the school and businesses, which are at the heart of the local community," he said. "I am glad there has been a swift response by the PSNI and I hope it marks the end of this spate of ATM robberies." DCI Henderson said that, despite the progress made in tackling such crimes, police will not become "complacent" and they will continue night patrols at ATM vulnerable to attack. I would again appeal to the public to remain vigilant and report any suspicious or unusual activity, such as people or vehicles loitering in areas close to ATMs," he said. This remains a key priority for us. The idea that ATM thefts are a victimless crime is simply wrong as these attacks cause untold loss and disruption to people, businesses and whole communities, in terms of the loss of very expensive machinery, delays in production, damage to the local economy. "If you hear machinery late at night or in the early hours please call us on the non-emergency number 101 or 999 if you think a crime is in progress." Information can also be provided anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Police are investigating after a series of burglaries in south Belfast. In the first incident, while responding to an alarm call at commercial premises in Castle Street just after 9.50pm on Thursday, police officers assisted by a police dog located and arrested a 43-year-old male on suspicion of burglary. He is currently helping police with enquiries. A 39-year-old male detained on suspicion of a number of burglaries and attempted burglaries in the Agincourt Avenue area is also helping police with enquiries. The arrest was in response to a call from a member of the public at 11.15pm, reporting that a male had gained entry to a property along with a description of the suspect. This male is also still helping police with enquiries. Police are also investigating an incident reported after 8am on Friday morning when a resident in the Rodney Street area disturbed a male who had climbed onto the roof of their property at 6.30am. Chief Inspector Gavin Kirkpatrick said, If anyone has any information about any of these incidents, please contact police on 101, or alternatively, information can also be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 which is 100% anonymous and gives people the power to speak up and stop crime. I would also like to remind everyone to take this opportunity to review their home security measures by taking the following precautions: Close and lock all doors and windows even if you are only going out for a few minutes. Leave a light on if it will be dark before you get home. Consider security lights. To a burglar, a dark house is an empty house. Keep your valuables out of sight. Dont leave car keys near your door, letterbox or windows. Always check who is at the door. Not sure? Dont open the door. Set your alarm when going out. If you do not have an alarm, consider installing one. Always keep sheds and outbuildings locked and secure ladders. Most importantly, please report any suspicious activity, with as much detail as possible, by calling us on 101 straightaway, or on 999 if it is an emergency," Mr Kirkpatrick added. Police have issued a warning about the dangers of buying dogs through unlicensed puppy farms and online adverts. Posting on social media, PSNI Dungannon and South Tyrone described a typical situation where puppies are advertised for sale through various websites and on social media. "Answer the advert from the recently created profile then call the random unregistered mobile to get directions," they wrote. Read More "Youll be told to meet an unlit location, the pups arent there, theyre at a nearby house but its hard to find so well take you there." After arrival at the house, hundreds of pounds are quickly handed over for a dog. "Make the most of the week youll have with the pup, itll be dead within seven days from a Parvovirus, not to mention the hundreds of pounds of vets fees," police said. "As long as the above keeps happening and it is on a regular basis - then the illegal breeders and puppy farms will continue. Sounds obvious but do not buy dogs from random adverts and puppy farms." Police said they are investigating a number of such cases in the Coalisland area. They have urged anyone with any information regarding those who may be involved in the practice to contact them on 101. A leading Scottish academic said yesterday that the Presbyterian Church's treatment of a Belfast professor of theology reminded him of "the Inquisition". Rev Professor Laurence Kirkpatrick (62), who worked at Union Theological College for 22 years, was dismissed after being found guilty of "gross misconduct" by a disciplinary panel of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, which runs the institution. His dismissal as Professor of Church History came after he told BBC Radio Ulster's Talkback programme that he would be "horrified" if students were taught that same-sex relationships were sinful. Respected academic Ian Hazlett, Emeritus Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Glasgow, supervised Professor Kirkpatrick's doctoral studies there. Prof Hazlett told the Belfast Telegraph that "Laurence Kirkpatrick's dismissal from his academic post by non-academic churchmen will in no way damage his good standing and reputation, academic and religious, outside Ireland. Rather, it will enhance them". The academic also said he felt that the Presbyterian Church in Ireland "seems to be turning itself into an exclusivist holiness sect, a ghetto increasingly devolved from evolving mainstream Christian tradition... thereby destined for contraction and marginalisation". In a personal statement, he added: "The long, semi-secret plotting and public leaks putting psychological stress on Prof Kirkpatrick and his family reminded me in some respects of the Inquisition." The Inquisition was an institution within the Catholic Church which for centuries was used to root out heresy and was notorious for the severity of its torture and widespread killings. In its letter of dismissal to Professor Kirkpatrick, the Presbyterian Church said that his contribution to the Talkback programme had brought Union Theological College, and by association his employer the Church itself, into disrepute. Prof Kirkpatrick, who told the Belfast Telegraph last month he was now on Jobseeker's Allowance, is appealing the decision by the Presbyterian Church to sack him. He is also pursuing a claim of discrimination at an employment tribunal. A Church spokesman said last night: "As with all employers, it is never appropriate to comment on any employment matter." Last month Queen's University said that it intended to sever its links with Union College. The Presbyterian-run college admits around 150 undergraduate students a year. It teaches Presbyterian theological students, and has currently no female academic staff or female students. The decision by Queen's to break its ties with Union College means that the university will no longer award theology undergraduate degrees or postgraduate courses after the current students finish their programmes of study. People in a Co Tyrone parish have been left disgusted at an attack on their priest, who was forced to flee down a street while being chased by a drunken man. Fr Roland Colhoun of Ardstraw East and Newtownstewart parish was pursued by the heavily intoxicated man who is understood to be from the local Traveller community. A resident captured the extraordinary incident on his mobile phone, showing Fr Colhoun running down the street in Newtownstewart seconds before the man shouts at him. The Ulster Herald reported that the man was understood to have been drinking for quite some time last Friday and had been making a nuisance of himself before Fr Colhoun tried to intervene. Sinn Fein councillor Kieran McGuire said people were upset about what had happened. "People are shocked and a bit disgusted about what happened to Fr Colhoun," he said. "I think this happened last weekend when Travellers came in for the first communion on Saturday. "Some of the Travellers in Newtownstewart have children in the local primary school and they were making their first communion. This man was running around all day making a bit of a nuisance of himself and Fr Colhoun went up to the caravan to him and that was the reaction he got. "To be fair, the rest of the Travellers didn't bother with this man all day. "He was acting on his own, it wasn't as if there was a whole drinking session. "This man was on his own. Fr Colhoun tried to bless this man's camper van, but he was having none of it. "No matter what your religious belief, no man of the cloth should have been treated in this way." Lord Saville led the inquiry into the events of Bloody Sunday in January 1972 The judge who led the inquiry into Bloody Sunday has said Troubles soldiers should be prosecuted if there is strong evidence against them. Lord Saville made the comments after new Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt said a statute of limitations would be introduced putting a time limit on any prosecutions of soldiers accused of committing crimes. However, this legal protection would not apply to soldiers who served in Northern Ireland. Lord Saville, speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, said a political solution was needed to decide how to deal with soldiers alleged to have committed crimes. "There are very strong views on both sides," he said. "Those families who lost members through the actions of soldiers can say with considerable justice that the soldiers should face a trial if they appear to have committed a criminal offence. "On the other side, as the years and decades go by, it can be said that it is starting to become unfair that soldiers should face such prosecutions so long after the event. These are difficult questions but they are questions that call for a political answer and I am not a politician." Expand Close Bloody Sunday, when British Army killed 14 innocent civilians / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Bloody Sunday, when British Army killed 14 innocent civilians When pressed on if soldiers should be brought to trial if evidence was available, Lord Saville agreed. "If there is strong evidence then cases should be brought but the next question arises is why they were not brought earlier," he said. "As time goes by justice delayed, in the end, is no justice at all." Lord Saville said it was important to look at each case separately. "It is very important to look at the circumstances of each individual case, very important indeed," he said. "Because if you try and put a blanket rule in place you are quite likely to cause injustice either to the individuals being threatened with prosecution or to those who suffered loss from the action of the person concerned." Expand Close Soldiers take cover behind their sandbagged armoured cars while dispersing rioters with CS gas in Londonderry, where a civil rights march resulted in 13 men being shot dead (PA) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Soldiers take cover behind their sandbagged armoured cars while dispersing rioters with CS gas in Londonderry, where a civil rights march resulted in 13 men being shot dead (PA) Lord Saville chaired the Bloody Sunday inquiry, looking into the events of 1972 when British soldiers shot 28 unarmed civilians during a protest march in Londonderry. Fourteen people died. A former soldier, known as Soldier F, has been charged with murdering two people after troops opened fire on the civil rights demonstrators. Only 68% of Northern Ireland respondents expressed confidence in the PSNI compared to 78% in police forces in England and Wales (stock photo) Confidence in policing in Northern Ireland is well below levels in England and Wales, new figures show. The findings emerge in a report, 'Perceptions of Policing and Justice: Findings from the 2017/18 Northern Ireland Crime Survey'. Only 68% of Northern Ireland respondents expressed confidence in the PSNI compared to 78% in police forces in England and Wales. Read More Just 51% here rated the police in their area as doing an excellent or good job in the Department of Justice survey. While this figure has increased from 41% a decade ago, it is lower than the equivalent rate in England and Wales (62%). Some 36% of people in Northern Ireland said police were doing a fair job while 13% rated their performance as poor or very poor. Only 38% of people agreed that the police and other agencies seek their views about anti-social behaviour and crime issues that matter in their local area, while 43% felt police were dealing with these issues. Three-fifths of Northern Ireland respondents to the survey thought the criminal justice system as a whole was fair but only 44% believe it is effective. This compares with 69% and 53% respectively in England and Wales. However, 84% of people here believe that Catholics and Protestants are treated equally, an increase of 11 percentage points on the first police confidence survey published in 2003/04. As in previous years, 32% of those surveyed said public confidence in the criminal justice system here could be improved if tougher sentences were imposed. A further 18% called for more action on anti-social behaviour and minor crime, while 17% said they want more offenders brought to justice and a more visible police presence on the streets. One of the most senior Catholic members of the RUC, Peter Sheridan, said yesterday that he believes low confidence in police here is partly linked to the ongoing absence of a functioning devolved government at Stormont. Mr Sheridan, now the chief executive of Co-Operation Ireland, served 32 years in the police here, firstly as an RUC officer, before retiring in 2008 as a PSNI Assistant Chief Constable. He added that the "unfinished business" of dealing with the legacy of the Troubles, as agreed at Stormont House in 2014, is still affecting the police service here. "The police are seen as one of the front faces of government and so when you don't have one in place then there is public dissatisfaction," he said. "There are still the outstanding issues of the conflict and the fact that we haven't dealt with legacy in Northern Ireland means the past continues to contaminate the new policing service." Mr Sheridan also pointed out that at the time of the survey, Northern Ireland did not have a functioning Policing Board to scrutinise the work of the PSNI and engage with the public on policing issues. Until last December, the Policing Board had not met since the collapse of Stormont in January 2017 which took away the board's legal authority to carry out its work. The board resumed meetings after a new Bill from Secretary of State Karen Bradley was approved in the House of Commons. With George Hamilton due to retire from his role as PSNI Chief Constable next month after five years in the job, Mr Sheridan said retaining confidence in policing will remain a key concern for whoever takes over the post. "Police take their legitimacy from the public and therefore the higher the confidence you have in the community, the better likelihood that people will come forward to report incidents and assist in investigations," he added. Assistant Chief Constable Tim Mairs welcomed the report. "Confidence in the police service and accountability mechanisms is critical to the delivery of successful Policing with the Community. I am pleased to see that overall confidence in policing and our accountability remains high," he said. "And, while more respondents than 10 years ago feel we are doing a good or excellent job at a local level, we are not complacent and will continue to work hard in the communities we serve to increase that figure." Angry Tory MPs have hit out at the Government after reports that plans to protect armed forces veterans from prosecution will not apply to Northern Ireland. The Government was accused of making a "rancid backstairs deal" with Sinn Fein, as MPs lined up to urge better protection for ex-servicemen and women from "vexatious attacks" and being pursued through the courts. Following an announcement by Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt that British veterans would have greater protection against prosecution for actions on the battlefield, there were calls to extend the protection to those who served in Northern Ireland. Speaking in the House of Commons, Tory MP Mark Francois dubbed proposals to re-investigate every fatality during the Troubles from the late 1960s onwards as "IHAT mark two", after the controversial Iraq Historic Allegations Team (IHAT) investigation, which was shut down over fraudulent claims of criminality by soldiers. Granted an Urgent Question in the Commons, he said: "After the appalling, tragic events in Londonderry, we all want to see the Northern Ireland Executive re-established but that cannot be at the price of som e rancid backstairs deal between the Northern Ireland Office and Sinn Fein IRA to sell Corporal Johnny Atkins down the river at the price of establishing the executive." Mr Francois said Parliament should "not allow the scapegoating of our veterans to pander to terrorists". In response, Northern Ireland minister John Penrose said: "We will have no rancid political deals under my watch." He added that the idea of one was "not acceptable". Former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith called for a change in the law to improve the situation. Mr Duncan Smith added: "When natural justice collides with the law, we change the law." He told MPs he had served in Northern Ireland, and what was then Rhodesia. "They were both operations, and we were sent to Northern Ireland and I lost friends and, particularly, Robert Nairac, I'm sorry I wasn't able to be here for that. I don't know how I can honestly, with a clean heart, say that my Government represents the best interests of ex-servicemen and women who have served their country." Mr Penrose responded, saying that the Government is talking about bringing forward a Bill in order to change the law to "put this right". Tory MP Bob Stewart said: "I completed seven tours in Northern Ireland, all with the infantry or associated units. I lost many men, and I was involved in fatality shootings. "I was investigated, along with others. The investigations were thorough, aggressive, and bloody awful to go through." Mr Stewart said soldiers who had been to court and been proved innocent should not be asked to go through that again. He added: "How the hell can our Government allow such people to be possibly investigated again?" Mr Penrose said there needed to be a situation where "unless there is some brand new piece of evidence that changes the situation", people should not be pursued further through the courts. Attacking the plans to set up a commission going back over every fatality in Northern Ireland since 1968/69, Mr Francois said that - due to so-called "letters of comfort" given to suspected IRA killers - armed service personnel would be investigated but "the alleged terrorists will not". "So this entire process would be utterly one-sided because service personnel and members of the RUC would be liable for prosecution, those with letters of comfort are scot-free," he added. Mr Penrose said the "letters of comfort" were not "an amnesty from prosecution" and in future would not be "a body armour against prosecution" for suspected terrorists. Mr Penrose also denied that any commission to re-investigate British soldiers had been "demanded as a price in the talks" by Sinn Fein on bringing back the Stormont assembly. Shadow Northern Ireland secretary Tony Lloyd said soldiers should be protected from "vexatious attacks", but said no-one should be immune if they "wilfully" broke the law. Police have warned of potentially tragic consequences after youths threw objects off a flyover in Co Antrim, onto vehicles travelling on the motorway below. The PSNI has received a number of reports in recent days involving young people throwing things from the Crebilly Road flyover in Ballymena onto vehicles travelling on the M2. An officer, posting on PSNI Antrim's Facebook page, asked parents to speak to their children about the potential consequences of such actions. "I cant believe we are actually having to post this," the officer said. "We all know what could happen next time." The officer added: "Imagine, a car doing 70mph and impacting with a stone, apple or something else which has been thrown from a height. Definitely not a good combination. "Theres an equation for it velocity x distance etc but the result could have potentially tragic consequences. "We are asking parents to speak with their children about the obvious dangers and for the public to be vigilant and report if they see any youths acting suspiciously on flyovers/bridges in the area." The DUP has labelled Sinn Fein "democracy deniers" over the party's refusal to accept the result of the 2016 Brexit referendum. Sinn Fein European election candidate Martina Anderson has been campaigning under the slogan "show Europe the DUP does not speak for you". DUP MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said the Sinn Fein campaign slogan will "backfire". Sinn Fein are in the democracy deniers family in this election," he said. "They, along with others, dont want to accept the will of the people from the 2016 referendum. This ad campaign is about misrepresenting and ignoring the will of those who believe in the Union and democracy." Sir Jeffrey said the European Union was trying to foist a deal on Northern Ireland unionists which would undermine the economic and constitutional integrity of the UK. "Whilst Sinn Fein want the wrong message sent to Brussels, unionists must use this election to send an unmistakeable message to London and Brussels," the Lagan Valley MP added. "Even Sinn Fein accepts that people far beyond these shores are watching the DUP vote." Meanwhile, Sinn Fein has slammed those responsible after a number of Martina Anderson's election posters were defaced with misogynistic abuse. The posters on the North Circular and Ballysillan Roads in Belfast were removed and defaced. The word 's***' was scrawled across at least one of the posters. Sinn Fein councillor JJ Magee said those who attacked the European election posters would not deter Ms Anderson campaigning to return to the European Parliament. Cllr Magee said: The theft and defacing of election posters is a criminal offence and a direct attack upon the democratic process. There is no place for misogynism or any other kind of discrimination in our society." An Ulster Unionist candidate for the European Parliament has ruled out a no-deal Brexit as a step into the unknown. Danny Kennedy said a sensible agreement would protect businesses and the agri-food sector while maximising future opportunities for young people in Northern Ireland. He said holding a second referendum would only deepen division. Mr Kennedy is running for one of the regions three seats in Brussels in this months poll. He said: We simply cannot afford to take a step into the unknown. I understand that people are keen to see Brexit delivered, but it has to be done in a way which protects business, our agri-food sector and gives maximum opportunity to our young people for the future. It is not in Northern Irelands interests and it is certainly not in the interests of the pro-union population here. Expand Close Danny Kennedy is running for one of Northern Irelands three seats in Brussels in this months poll (Liam McBurney/PA). PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Danny Kennedy is running for one of Northern Irelands three seats in Brussels in this months poll (Liam McBurney/PA). Sinn Feins Martina Anderson and Democratic Unionist Diane Dodds are tipped to take two of the three seats. Nationalist SDLP leader Colum Eastwood and Alliance Party leader Naomi Long are also competing for the final place. Mr Kennedy added: No deal has the potential to do serious damage, if not fatal damage, to many of our industries. As someone who loves Northern Ireland, I could not stand up and advocate that and I am astonished that anyone who loves the union as much as I do would be prepared to tolerate that. Do you want: A sensible Brexit deal? No new borders? A secure future within the U.K.? Vote Danny Kennedy 1 on 23 May pic.twitter.com/77jEnDeDRv Ulster Unionist (@uuponline) May 10, 2019 DUP Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson has previously said a no-deal Brexit would not bring back a hard Irish border. His party has been clear that protecting the union is its primary concern. The border backstop has been a major stumbling block for the DUP and prevented Prime Minister Theresa May from securing the support of her erstwhile parliamentary allies for her Withdrawal Agreement. I am disappointed that those who have been loud opponents to a hard border on the island fall silent when it comes to the prospect of a hard border in the Irish SeaDanny Kennedy Unionists are concerned the backstop insurance policy keeping Northern Irelands regulations in line with the Republics could produce divergence from the rest of the UK and threaten the countrys integrity. Mr Kennedy said: I am disappointed that those who have been loud opponents to a hard border on the island fall silent when it comes to the prospect of a hard border in the Irish Sea. Unionist concerns around the backstop are just as valid and are afforded equal protection under the Good Friday Agreement as those of our nationalist neighbours about a hard land border. The former minister in the Stormont Executive said the two-and-a-half year absence of devolved powersharing at Stormont was also a major issue on the doorsteps. Veteran Ulster Unionist MEP Jim Nicholson is retiring. Ulster Unionist leader Robin Swann said: This election is about who you want to represent you in Brussels now, not a re-run of a vote taken in 2016. It is about looking to the future, and the future relationship that the United Kingdom including Northern Ireland has with the European Union. Chief Justice Frank Clarke has said more funding should be available for legal aid in Ireland (PA) The Chief Justice of Ireland has called for greater access to legal aid in the courts. Mr Justice Frank Clarkes comments came as a leading legal assistance charity warned courts are now less accessible, and becoming limited to the wealthy. Mr Justice Clarke said money saved by the taxpayer in the current common law system, which moves the burden of expense on to the parties involved, is a powerful argument for the expansion of legal aid. The EU Commissions annual comparative Justice Scoreboard, published last month, showed Ireland has the third-lowest expenditure on the courts as a share of GDP, at 0.2%. The Chief Justice argued a civil law system, like those operated in China, Japan, Germany, France and Spain, costs the taxpayer almost three times as much as a common law system, and a percentage of those savings should be transferred to legal aid expansion to ensure every person in Ireland has equal access to justice. It seems to me very powerful argument for a significantly expanded system of legal aidMr Justice Frank Clarke In civil law countries, judges are often described as investigators and take on the lead role in cases, with less need for solicitors or barristers. Common law countries operate with lawyers making presentations to the judge or jury and examining witnesses, with the proceedings refereed by the judge. The Chief Justice estimates the civil law system costs around three times as much as the common law system, making huge savings for the state. The suggestion thereby is that the Irish taxpayer is probably saving somewhere between 250 to 350 million a year by passing the buck on to the parties, Mr Justice Clarke said. If thats correct, it seems to me very powerful argument for a significantly expanded system of legal aid. The taxpayer is saving by running a system which places a greater burden on the parties, and when the parties dont have the resources to provide that catch-up themselves, there is a powerful argument for significantly increasing legal aid. Former FLAC volunteer Mr Justice Frank Clarke giving the official opening address at the #A2Jcon2019 with @TCDLawSchool @tcddublin Next up, AG Seamus Woulfe SC to chair discussion between Lord Briggs of Westbourne from @UKSupremeCourt and Andrea Coomber of @JUSTICEhq pic.twitter.com/aTsY2N1vIQ FLAC (@flacireland) May 17, 2019 If the savings are anywhere in the order of magnitude I suggested, a fraction of that would, I suspect, make the legal aid board very happy. He added that other elements for making the legal system cheaper should be explored, but legal aid will remain a significant part of the equation and I think the saving the taxpayer is benefiting from can be used as a powerful argument. He was speaking at Trinity College, Dublin, to mark the 50th anniversary of the human rights organisation Free Legal Advice Centres (FLAC), which promotes equal access to justice. The Chief Justice is a former FLAC volunteer, and has made access to justice a key focus of his tenure, with a particular interest in family court. FLAC chief executive Eilis Barry warned on Friday that due to scant resources, injustices are left ignored and human rights infrastructure is unenforced when large parts of the population cannot access the court system. She said: The challenges FLAC is being contacted about on a daily basis involve individuals trying to navigate the court system without legal representation. Due to the limitations on the availability of legal aid, the door to justice is shut in front of these people. Access to the courts is built around the assumption that litigants will have legal representation, and increasingly legal representation is beyond what most individuals can afford. Frank Clarke CJ notes importance of increased financial supports for legal aid in light of relatively low cost born by tax payer in Ireland as a common law system, when compared to the equivalent in a civil system, "legal aid is a significant part of the equation." #A2JCon2019 TEJPUCC (@tejpucc) May 17, 2019 The more marginalised and disadvantaged individuals are, the more inaccessible justice becomes. The charity is seeking a range of reforms, including an effective legal aid system, with less restrictive financial eligibility criteria and greater coverage of the scheme to allow for access in cases involving employment, discrimination, housing and homelessness. Ms Barry said homelessness is one of the most challenging issues facing Ireland today. An environmental expert has said eating less beef will help to reduce peoples carbon footprints (Jonathan Brady/PA) People need to eat less beef if they want to reduce their carbon footprint, a environmental expert has said. UCC environmental engineering professor Jerry Murphy emphasised the need for everyone to make changes if Ireland is to reach its climate change targets. If we want to decarbonise, and again this is something which is very difficult to say, we should eat less beef, he said. I hope I dont have to apologise in a week for saying that. If we grew fish there is 10 times less carbon per calorie in fish [than beef], he added. He made the comments at an ESRI climate change conference in Dublin on Friday. Professors and industry experts came together to discuss whether Ireland can meet its 2030 greenhouse gas emissions and renewable power targets. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar came under pressure from farmers earlier this year for saying he was trying to eat meat less as part of his own efforts to reduce his carbon emissions. Expand Close Members of the Irish Farmers Association protested over Leo Varadkars comments (Michelle Devane/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Members of the Irish Farmers Association protested over Leo Varadkars comments (Michelle Devane/PA) It prompted farmers to ask wheres the beef, ya vegan as they heckled him in Cork during a protest in early May calling for increased support for beef farmers. Professor Murphy told those gathered at the conference that it was possible for farming to become more carbon neutral. He cited an organic farm in Denmark as an example. Theres no fertiliser, theres no weed control, they digest all of their feed stuffs and theyre certified as greenhouse gas negative in milk production, he said. He also predicted that spreading slurry on land would most likely cease in years to come as farming practices become more environmentally friendly. Mr Murphy said Ireland has a lot of water quality problems associated with excess amount of slurry. The idea of spreading slurry raw on the land, I reckon, will cease. I spent about eight years working on urban waste water directive. We were told by Europe we had to treat waste water. I reckon Europe is going to tell us you cant put slaughter waste into the land anymore, you cant put slurry on the ground and pollute water courses. Climate Change Minister Richard Bruton said the farming sector would be challenged by having to reduce carbon emissions but he said there would also be huge opportunity for smart farming. There is a tendency to look on this as someone outside has put a burden on us that we have to adapt to, he said. But the reality is the world has changed and if we want to be resilient in that world and competitive in that world we have to change ahead of it. Mr Bruton said broadband and connectivity was key to efforts to reduce carbon emissions. I absolutely believe that the future of regions, like the midlands, is around being able to do your work remotely, being able to adopt smart farming methods, being able to have remote working, being able to have access to health based on e-health as opposed to always physically turning up, he said. [The] capacity for a region like midlands to attract multi-national investment is greatly enhanced if people have the confidence that theyll have private secure lines for them to be able to deliver their workforce working remotely and servicing a centre. A Garda inspector arrested as part of a corruption probe within the force has been released, but is suspended from duties. The officer was arrested on Thursday morning, along with a superintendent and a rank-and-file garda. The latter two remained in custody on Thursday evening, Expand Close The arrested officers are a superintendent, an inspector and a rank-and-file garda (PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The arrested officers are a superintendent, an inspector and a rank-and-file garda (PA) A Garda spokesman said of the released inspector, that a file will be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions. Immediately upon his release he was placed on suspension from duty, he said. A Garda superintendent and a member of Garda rank also arrested have had their periods of detention further extended and remain in Garda custody. The superintendent has been arrested on suspicion of the unlawful disclosure of Garda information. The inspector was detained over suspected drugs offences, and the garda has been held on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Deputy Commissioner John Twomey said: An Garda Siochana is fully committed to investigating any alleged wrong-doing or corruption involving Garda personnel, and will work with other relevant agencies in doing so. As this is a live and ongoing investigation, it is not appropriate to make any further comment at this time. The arrest operation was led by the Assistant Commissioner for Special Crime Operations, John ODriscoll. It involved the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (GNBCI) and the Garda National Drugs & Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB). Speaking in Dublin, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar described the arrests as serious but said he had not yet been briefed on the matter. I havent received a briefing from the Minister of Justice on that so I dont know the background to it but obviously its a serious development, Mr Varadkar said. Former SDLP leader Mark Durkan is running for Fine Gael in the European elections in Dublin (PA) A row has erupted between Fine Gael and RTE after minister Regina Doherty claimed that one of the partys candidates has been excluded from an upcoming TV debate. Ms Doherty said her party was not allowed choose which of their two Dublin candidates will appear on Monday night's Claire Byrne Live debate as the criteria set out by RTE meant Mark Durkan was disqualified. Former SDLP leader and Northern Ireland deputy first minister Mr Durkan is running for Fine Gael in the capital alongside former Tanaiste and Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald. Read More The debates are only open to elected MEPs, TDs, councillors and Senators as well as politicians that got more than 5pc of the vote in the most recent European, General, Local or Presidential elections. Ms Doherty said: "As Director of Elections for Fine Gael Im disappointed that our national broadcaster dictated who we would put on the airwaves next week." She added: "I dont think its right that our national broadcaster should have excluded him." She said Ms Fitzgerald will take part in the debate on Monday but that "RTE took that choice away from us". RTEs managing editor of current affairs David Nally responded to Ms Dohertys remarks. He said: RTE current affairs decides who appears on its programmes in the best interests of the viewing public and not anybody else. He said that the reason Ms Fitzgerald was selected ahead of Mr Durkan is that RTEs criteria for the debates say that where a party has two candidates in the same constituency, the one that is currently elected will be invited. He said: Frances Fitzgerald is currently elected to the Dail and Mark Durkan is not currently elected to any body. Its the same reason why we invited Mairead McGuinness and not Maria Walsh, he added - referring to the Midlands/North-West debate to be broadcast on Tuesday. Police are searching for a 13-year-old boy who has been reported missing in the Highlands. Imants Driksna was last seen at around 7pm on Wednesday in the Fort William area. When last seen he was wearing a white shirt, black trousers and black trainers. He is described as 4ft 11ins tall with green eyes and a shaved head. Anyone who has seen Imants or has any information regarding his whereabouts is asked to contact Police Scotland on 101 and quote reference number 3813 of May 15. Kirsty Boden was one of eight people killed (Metropolitan Police/PA) A woman dubbed the Angel Of London Bridge was killed after rushing in to help a victim of the terror attack, saying: Im a nurse. I have to go and help. Australian Kirsty Boden, 28, suffered a devastating head wound after going to the aid of Boro Bistro waiter Alexandre Pigeard, 26, on June 3 2017. She was caught on film bending over the stricken Frenchman on the ground when she was set upon by all three knifemen. The Old Bailey heard how Khuram Butt, 27, appeared to make a stabbing motion before Rachid Redouane, 30, and Youssef Zaghba, 22, also moved in. Im a nurse. I have to go and help. I need to see if they need helpKirsty Boden, before she was fatally attacked The tip of Butts 12-inch pink ceramic blade was later found embedded in Ms Bodens head. CCTV footage showed her clearly injured as she fled the carnage before she collapsed. Alexandre Colou said he thought she had tripped when he looked over his shoulder and saw Ms Boden on the floor before he noticed there was blood everywhere. He told the court he knelt down and looked into her eyes to check on her. He said: Her eyes were moving wildly. She had difficulties breathing. I was talking to her and then her eyes stopped moving. I said stay awake, stay awake, stay with me. Ms Boden had been dining in Boro Bistro with two friends, Harriet Mooney and Melanie Schroeder, when the attackers van crashed into railings above. In a statement read to court, Ms Schroeder said: Kirsty jumped up and said Im a nurse. I have to go and help. I need to see if they need help. Kirsty headed off and I thought nothing of it. The next thing I remember was hearing screaming and thinking to myself calm the f*** down its just a crash. At first Ms Schroeder wanted to wait for Ms Boden but then joined the stampede as diners fled the restaurant. She said: As I was walking back to the Boro Bistro I saw Kirsty lying on the corner. I recognised the person lying in the floor as Kirsty because of her bright pink cardigan. I screamed Kirsty and ran down the alleyway. Ms Boden had suffered stab wounds and was alive but unable to speak, she said. Ms Schroeder helped with first aid along with a GP Saira Khan who gave chest compressions before saying she was gone and there was nothing more they could do, the court heard. Dr Khan and her friends had also fled the Boro Bistro as people knocked over chairs and tables in a desparate bid to get away. She found Ms Boden on the ground with her friend saying: Kirsty, what have they done to you? Describing the nurses condition, she said: She was still. There was no movement. She looked like her eyes were open just staring. Emergency services were called and the doctor went to get a first aid kit from a police car before she concluded Ms Boden was dead. Dr Khan said she agreed to carry on CPR after the victims friend begged her to continue. But at 10.23pm, she pronounced Ms Boden dead and went on to help another victim with a stab wound to the neck. She told the court the situation had been difficult to overcome without any equipment. Gareth Patterson QC, for Ms Bodens family, said the nurse had got up from her table within seconds of the crash, thinking of others rather than her own safety. The senior staff nurse at Guys Hospital was right there in the thick of it when she tried to help Mr Pigeard. Mr Patterson said the tip of Butts knife was found embedded in Ms Bodens head, most likely from the blow caught on CCTV. Ms Boden was one of eight people killed when three terrorists mowed down pedestrians on London Bridge and ran amok around Borough Market. Xavier Thomas, 45, Christine Archibald, 30, Mr Pigeard, 26, Sara Zelenak, 21, Ms Boden, 28, Sebastien Belanger, 36, James McMullan, 32, and Ignacio Echeverria, 39 all died in the atrocity. Their attackers were shot dead near Borough Market in less than 10 minutes. Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay said a no-deal scenario could be mitigated and was preferable to giving up on the process of leaving the European Union. Mr Barclay stressed that he was committed to getting Theresa Mays deal and the Withdrawal Agreement Bill through Parliament as the best way to deliver Brexit. But if as the clock ticked down to October 31 the UK was faced with the choice of a no-deal Brexit or revoking Article 50 and staying in, Mr Barclay said the negative effects of leaving without an agreement could be limited. Expand Close Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay (left) with Liam McCaffrey, CEO of Quinn Industrial Holdings (Brian Lawless/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay (left) with Liam McCaffrey, CEO of Quinn Industrial Holdings (Brian Lawless/PA) The Brexit Secretary pinned the blame on Labour for the collapse of cross-party talks aimed at finding a consensus at Westminster. He said: The division in the Labour Party over the second referendum, I think thats why theyve not been able to move forward. Mr Barclay has said that if the Withdrawal Agreement Bill is defeated, the deal thrashed out with the EU would be dead and the UK would be left with the options of no deal or no Brexit on October 31. Speaking during a visit to a cement works on the border with Ireland in Derrylin, County Fermanagh, Mr Barclay acknowledged the disruption a no-deal scenario would cause but it was better than cancelling Brexit. I think both options are undesirable but I think on no-deal we would have to do all we can to mitigate the disruption there would be disruption and I have always been quite candid about that, which is why I think a deal is what we should be backing. But revoking Article 50 and the biggest vote in our history would cause damage to democracy, while another referendum would mean a further year of uncertainty for business. The damage if we were to go back on our vote would be huge, he said. The failure to reach a deal with Labour means the Withdrawal Agreement Bill faces a tough task getting through the Commons. Expand Close Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer, who Steve Barclay partly blamed for the breakdown in talks (Dominic Lipinski/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer, who Steve Barclay partly blamed for the breakdown in talks (Dominic Lipinski/PA) Mr Barclay questioned whether Labour ever intended to reach an agreement given the public statements made by shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer and shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry about a second referendum on any deal. He insisted the Government had been prepared to compromise during the negotiation process. It is clear, and even some of the Labour negotiating team has said, that the Government has moved, he said. There has been movement on things such as the phase two negotiating objectives and the role of Parliament. There has been movement in terms of workers rights, there has been movement in terms of commitments on environmental standards. We were having discussions around where we were on customs arrangements, or the benefits of a customs union. The issue is, if it is the case that for people like Keir Starmer and Emily Thornberry there is no deal that is acceptable without a second referendum, then it begs the question why have they taken six, seven weeks for talks?' Labour said the leadership battles at the top of the Tory party meant that any deal that could have been reached may not have survived under Mrs Mays successor. Mr Barclay was asked if he wanted to run for the top job and responded with a joke aimed at Cabinet colleague James Brokenshire over his much-mocked kitchen photo shoot. I am focusing on what I am doing, he said. I will leave it to my colleagues to pose in their kitchens. A deer is seen swimming and running in Manchester (Pictures courtesy of @kateerskine__ and @rosemaryogden) A deer spotted in central Manchester startled locals after it swam and galloped through parts of the city. Sightings were reported from around noon as the deer was spotted in a canal swimming past the Well Pharmacy offices in Castlefield, as well as running down Oxford Road. Kate Erskine, from Manchester, told the Press Association: The deer swam past the Well Pharmacy offices in Castlefield and got to a dead end. People were trying to help but there wasnt much that could be done. It got to a shallow point in the canal and managed to jump out, before running towards Deansgate, which was worrying. Both the RSPCA and police were made aware. Later on Wednesday afternoon the Greater Manchester Police city centre Twitter account shared a photo of the deer heading into Whitworth Park, accompanied by the caption: Currently a deer in the City Centre first seen near the canal in Castlefield. CCTV asked for a description of the animal erm, its brown & a deer replied the officer. Last seen in this photo taken by a PCSO heading into Whitworth Park. No i-deer where it is heading next. Currently a deer in the City Centre first seen near the canal in Castlefield. CCTV asked for a description of the animal "erm, it's brown & a deer" replied the officer. Last seen in this photo taken by a PCSO heading into Whitworth Park. No i-deer where it is heading next. pic.twitter.com/5xz2YHRJJ4 GMP Manchester City Centre (@GMPCityCentre) May 16, 2019 An RSPCA spokesperson told the BBC: We received a report from the police that a medium-sized female deer was in the canal in Manchester city centre this afternoon but it managed to get out. We were then told the deer was stranded on some land near the canal but it again managed to get free and ran away before our officers could attend. Militant group Hamas has thanked Jeremy Corbyn for a message of support for Palestinians. The group issued a statement to salute the Labour leader for his stance and said it had received his message with great respect and appreciation. The move was in response to a message Mr Corbyn sent to a march in support of Palestinians in London on Saturday. The Hamas statement said: We have received with great respect and appreciation the solidarity message sent by the British Labor Party Leader, Jeremy Corbyn, to the participants in the mass rally. The statement added: We also salute Mr Jeremy Corbyn for his principled position in rejecting the so-called Trump Plan for the Middle East or the Deal of the Century if it was based on erasing Palestinian rights, primarily the right to an independent state. On this occasion we emphasize that no peace plan can succeed at the expense of the rights of the Palestinian people, that the Palestinians will not allow this deal to pass, and that it will be doomed to failure. We also call on the current British government to stop supporting the Israeli occupation state and to listen to the voice of wisdom and reason and adopt policies in support of the Palestinian legitimate rights that will lead to stability in this vitally important and highly turbulent region. Mr Corbyns statement in support of the rally said: We cannot stand by or stay silent at the continuing denial of rights and justice to the Palestinian people. The Labour Party is united in condemning the ongoing human rights abuses by Israeli forces, including the shooting of hundreds of unarmed Palestinian demonstrators in Gaza most of them refugees or families of refugees demanding their rights. A Labour spokesman said: Jeremy has a long and principled record of solidarity with the Palestinian people. That is the right thing to do. The Foreign Office is warning dual Britain-Iranian nationals against all travel to Iran, saying they face an unacceptably higher risk of detention and mistreatment. In a statement, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt also urged Iranian nationals living in the UK to exercise caution when returning to Iran to visit family or friends. The move comes amid heightened tensions between Tehran and the West with the United States deploying an aircraft carrier group. It follows the reported sentencing earlier this week of Aras Amiri, an Iranian national working for the British Council in London, to 10 years imprisonment on spying charges. She was detained in March last year when she returned to Iran to visit her elderly grandmother. The British Council has said it firmly rejects the allegations against her. Expand Close Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been held in Iran since 2016 (Family handout/PA) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been held in Iran since 2016 (Family handout/PA) It is one of a number of similar cases, the most high profile being that of the Anglo-Iranian mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe who has been held since 2106, also on spying charges which she denies. In a statement, Mr Hunt said: Dual nationals face an intolerable risk of mistreatment if they visit Iran. Despite the UK providing repeated opportunities to resolve this issue, the Iranian regimes conduct has worsened. Having exhausted all other options, I must now advise all British-Iranian dual nationals against travelling to Iran. The dangers they face include arbitrary detention and lack of access to basic legal rights, as we have seen in the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has been separated from her family since 2016. Regrettably, I must also offer a message of caution to Iranian nationals resident in the UK, but who return to visit family and friends, especially where the Iranian government may perceive them to have personal links to UK institutions or the British government. Expand Close President Donald Trump has sought to play down fears of a war with Iran (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp President Donald Trump has sought to play down fears of a war with Iran (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP) The announcement comes amid warnings of a heightened threat to US and other coalition forces in the Middle East including those in Iraq and Syria from Iranian-backed militias. Mr Hunt said on Thursday he shared the US assessment of the threat as officials confirmed the security of British personnel in Iraq was being kept under constant review. His comments followed a public clash between the Ministry of Defence and the Pentagon after the senior British officer with the coalition said there was no increased threat from Iranian proxies. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has sought to play down fears that the two sides could be sliding towards war, after national security adviser John Bolton earlier month dramatically ordered the dispatch of the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group to the region. The president reiterated his desire for dialogue, tweeting: Im sure that Iran will want to talk soon. A retired senior officer has criticised the Royal Navy for sacking the captain of the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth over misuse of an official car, saying it smacks of political correctness. Nick Cooke-Priest is no longer in charge of HMS Queen Elizabeth because he is believed to have driven the aircraft carriers official car on weekends, according to The Sun. A Royal Navy spokesman said: We can confirm Captain Nick Cooke-Priest has been reassigned to a new role. We can only say that management action is ongoing and it would therefore be inappropriate to comment further. Expand Close Nick Cooke-Priest has been sacked for misusing the carriers official car (Rowan Griffiths/Daily Mail/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Nick Cooke-Priest has been sacked for misusing the carriers official car (Rowan Griffiths/Daily Mail/PA) Commodore Cooke-Priest, who joined the Royal Navy in 1990, had only been in command of the 280-metre, 65,000-tonne vessel described by the Royal Navy as an awe-inspiring warship capable of carrying up to 40 aircraft since last October. He was never warned that using the Ford Galaxy for personal journeys was in breach of rules, the paper reports. A retired commanding officer of a Royal Navy aircraft carrier, who did not want to be identified, told the Press Association that without knowing the terms of the lease of the vehicle to Cdre Cooke-Priest, he felt the decision to remove him from his position was an over-reaction to a minor error. He said: On the face of it it seems quite harsh but it would depend on the terms on which it was leased. A number of people in government use cars for all sorts of purposes. I know of him and he is seen as a fine chap, it seems somewhat harsh and smacks of political correctness. And Admiral Alan West, former First Sea Lord and security adviser to Gordon Brown, said: Nick Cooke-Priest is a very good officer and highly competent and nice officer and I would be surprised he has done anything dishonest but I dont know the details so I cannot comment further. A former officer told The Sun: Nick adores the Navy and has lost his career by doing what captains have done for decades using the company car to get home. An innocent mistake has cost the Navy one of its best. It is believed that major Royal Navy warships and their captains are loaned a car for use on official duties. Expand Close Mr Cooke-Priest with the Prince of Wales in 2015 (PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Mr Cooke-Priest with the Prince of Wales in 2015 (PA) An investigation found he had used the Ford as if it was his own, and found him guilty of an error of judgment, according to The Sun. He paid for the petrol and there is no allegation of fraud. He had specialised as a Lynx helicopter observer after joining the Royal Navy. A decade of flying appointments followed, primarily at sea, and included an instructional tour and as Flight Commander of HMS Exeter. He was promoted to Commander in 2009 and that year in HMS Kent escorted the Queen during a royal tour. On HMS Iron Duke, he was deployed to the Arabian Gulf and in 2011 to Libya as part of Operation Ellamy. Assuming command of HMS Bulwark, the Fleet Flag Ship, in January 2015 and leading the UKs contribution to the Gallipoli centenary commemorations in the same year are other highlights of his successful career. He is a married father of three sons and was awarded an OBE in 2016. Nigel Farage has made a pitch to SNP voters in Scotland, saying Scottish independence while still in the EU is the most dishonest political discourse Ive ever seen anywhere in the world. Urging pro-independence voters to lend your votes to the Brexit Party, Mr Farage told a passionate rally in Edinburgh that the party was set to revolutionise British politics. He told supporters, who had paid 2.50 to attend the event in the Scottish capital: Our politics is full of deception because here in Scotland we have the extraordinary situation where Nicola Sturgeon talks about independence. She says that separating from the United Kingdom but staying part of the European Union means that Scotland will be independent. What you ought to do folks, is at this election lend your votes to the Brexit Party. Let's get out of the European Union and then have an honest debate about the future of ScotlandNigel Farage It is, I think, the most dishonest political discourse Ive ever seen anywhere in the world. You cannot be independent if youre governed from the European Court of Justice. You cannot be independent if youre in the EUs customs union and single market. You cannot be independent if youre governed by Monsieur Barnier and Mr Juncker. He suggested that up to 30% of SNP voters do not want to be part of the EU, and added: Even though Im very unionist, I would say to those voters: unless we get Brexit, you cannot really have an intelligent debate about Scotlands future. Actually, what you ought to do folks, is at this election lend your votes to the Brexit Party. Lets get out of the European Union and then have an honest debate about the future of Scotland. Responding to comments by Scottish candidate Louis Stedman-Bryce that the party would not stand in the way of a second independence referendum, Mr Farage told reporters: He said he wouldnt stand in the way of it, but he also said that given that it was said at the time that it was a once-in-a-generation vote it shouldnt happen for a very long time. The same thing applies to the Brexit referendum, we were told this was a once-in-a-generation decision. Expand Close Protesters outside the Brexit Party rally at the Corn Exchange, Edinburgh (Tom Eden/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Protesters outside the Brexit Party rally at the Corn Exchange, Edinburgh (Tom Eden/PA) Asked about receiving 450,000 of funding from Aaron Banks in the year after the 2016 referendum a claim he earlier denied but one that Mr Banks reportedly confirmed Mr Farage claimed that the issue was a private matter. He said: Whatever happened after the referendum, I was leaving politics, it was happening mostly in America, had nothing to do with politics, nothing to do with the Brexit Party, it was purely on a personal basis. I was looking for a new career and a new life, its got nothing to do with anything. Its a purely private matter. Pressed on whether he declared it, he said: Of course not, of course not. Its a purely private matter, non-political in absolutely every way. It was me, in America, seeking a new media career which I was looking forward to until Brexit was denied and so Im back now in politics. What the papers say May 17 (PA) Theresa May agreeing to discuss a timetable for her departure from 10 Downing Street makes headlines in Fridays papers alongside Boris Johnson appearing to throw his hat into the ring. The Times says the Prime Minister refused to set a departure date and will only set a timetable after MPs have voted on Brexit legislation next month. The Times 17/5/2019 Boris Johnson attends the 2019 BIBA conference in Manchester, May 16, 2019. The former foreign secretary confirmed he is 'going for it', to run for Prime Minister. Photo : BIBA 2019 Conference/Reuters#thetimes #tomorrowspaperstoday @thetimes pic.twitter.com/ph3FJez32a The Times Pictures (@TimesPictures) May 16, 2019 The Daily Telegraph says Mrs Mays fate was sealed in an hour-long meeting, with the paper saying she will leave by June 30 at the latest. The Financial Times reports on a lack of optimism about Mrs Mays Withdrawal Agreement passing the Commons at the fourth time of asking, while the countdown to the leadership election has begun. Just published: front page of the Financial Times, UK edition, Friday 17 May https://t.co/BVcdsXLcEI pic.twitter.com/Ji9ibMk0sS Financial Times (@FinancialTimes) May 16, 2019 The i carries the headline Johnson: make me your prime minister, reporting that the former foreign secretary is keen on the top job. The Independent reports that the race to succeed Mrs May has begun in earnest. While the Daily Mirror carries the headline May ends in June, but adding Mr Mays departure opens the dreaded prospect of Boris Johnson becoming PM. While the Daily Mail said Mr Johnson made a dramatic pitch for the job. In other news, The Guardian leads on Iran reportedly telling Iraqi militias to prepare for a proxy war. Guardian front page, Friday 17 May 2019: Iran tells militias to prepare for proxy war in Middle East pic.twitter.com/7figcIXPju Guardian news (@guardiannews) May 16, 2019 The Metro carries the latest from an inquest into the deaths of those killed in the London Bridge attack with the court hearing an off-duty nurse confronted one of the attackers. The Sun says the captain of the HMS Queen Elizabeth has been sacked for misusing its official car. Tomorrow's front page: HMS Queen Elizabeth's captain has been sacked for "misusing" its official car https://t.co/yuYDd56bQz pic.twitter.com/YQrre8fGRT The Sun (@TheSun) May 16, 2019 The Daily Express leads on a mothers campaign to get a drug for cystic fibrosis sufferers available on the NHS. In tomorrow's @Daily_Express - Give children the drugs they need to keep them alive #cysticfibrosis - Old enemies remember Monte Cassino - Rocketmania as Elton's movie magic at #Cannes2019 #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/Le9xLC5TYB Daily Express (@Daily_Express) May 16, 2019 And the Daily Star leads with a Love Island contestant calling for the show to be scrapped. The youngest paratrooper to serve in the D-Day landings is being honoured with a plaque in the street where he lived. Portsmouth City Council is placing information panels on each of the roads where the 119 men from the Hampshire city lived who took part in the Normandy campaign. They served with all three armed services as well as the Merchant Navy. They ranged in age from 16-year-old Private Robert Johns, who served with the Parachute Regiment, to 47-year-old Warrant Engineer William Smith, who was killed when HMS Mourne was torpedoed. Pte Johns ran away from home at the age of 14 and was the youngest to pass the jump course. Expand Close Robert Johns with his mother Daisy (Portsmouth City Council/PA) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Robert Johns with his mother Daisy (Portsmouth City Council/PA) He was shot dead by a sniper on 23 July 1944, aged 16, and is buried at Ranville War Cemetery, Normandy. Major Jack Watson, A Company commander from the 13th (2/4th South Lancashire) Battalion, is reported to have said of Johns: He was quite a big lad when he did his training and it was only when he died that we found out he had lied about his age. Jenny Ward, the niece of Pte Johns, who attended the unveiling of the plaque outside his former home in Jervis Road, Portsmouth, said: I am so moved to think that 75 years later Bob has been remembered, and feel certain my grandparents would have been so proud that their dear son is being honoured this way by their home town of Portsmouth. Steve Pitt, deputy leader of Portsmouth City Council, said: The immediate picture we have of the invasion is thousands of men landing on beaches, but these plaques break down what happened into individual human stories, which is very important. So many people in Portsmouth had relatives involved in D-Day and the fighting that followed. The plaques show the level of commitment and sacrifice shown by the city. A council spokesman said: The campaign started with the launch of Operation Overlord D-Day on 6 June and continued until 31 August 1944, with the Battle of Normandy and the liberation of Paris after the allies had crossed the Seine. The 119 men were killed at a rate of more than one a day during the length of the campaign a similar rate to battles like the Somme and Passchendaele during the First World War. Portsmouth will be hosting the national commemorative event for the 75th anniversary next month, which is to be attended by US President Donald Trump and the Queen. A search has been launched for a Trinity College professor who has gone missing while descending Mount Everest after reaching the summit. Father-of-one Seamus Lawless (39), from Bray, Co Wicklow, had been part of an eight-member expedition team attempting to conquer the world's highest peak. Led by fellow climber Noel Hanna, Mr Lawless is believed have gone missing after falling from an altitude of 8,300m. It is understood he slipped while in an area known as the Balcony after reaching the mountain's summit early yesterday. It's understood his wife Pam and daughter Emma (4) are being kept up to date with developments from the Himalayas. The other Irish climbers are reported to be safe. According to the Himalayan Times, sherpa guides accompanying the expedition said the other climbers had descended to Camp Four, but the status of Mr Lawless was still unknown. Trinity College said the university's thoughts were with Mr Lawless and his family during this "extremely distressing time". "This morning his family, friends and colleagues shared his joy on reaching the peak of Mount Everest," it said. "We hope that Seamus is found safely as soon as possible and until then we will be offering any support we can to his family." Just weeks ago Mr Lawless said the climb was part of a trip of a lifetime ahead of his 40th birthday this summer. He said that he was climbing in a bid to raise 25,000 for a charity which provides support for seriously ill children and their families. Dee Ahearn, chief executive of the Barretstown charity, said that everyone there was thinking about Mr Lawless' loved ones as the search continues. "This is a dreadfully upsetting and uncertain time for Seamus and his family. "Our thoughts, and indeed the thoughts of the entire Barretstown community, are with Seamus, his family and friends," Ms Ahearn said. Mr Lawless said when he was a child his father gave him a National Geographic map of the route up the south face of Mount Everest. It stayed on his bedroom wall as he grew up, staying there until he left for Nepal in April. The father-of-one said that he had been preparing for the challenge alongside fellow climbers from Ireland for four years. "I turn 40 in July," he said in February. "My friends are joking that climbing Everest is my mid-life crisis." A Texas man used a hacksaw to cut off his mothers head before fleeing and leading police on a chase into Oklahoma before they arrested him, authorities have said. Isaac Israel Warriner, 22, is being held in a Denton County jail on charges including the abuse of a corpse. He has not been charged with killing his mother, Sarah Warriner, 65, although authorities have not yet confirmed whether such charges could be coming. #Denton PD News | Suspect in Suspicious Death Investigation Extradited to Denton. Read more: https://t.co/P0SCvXAFrA pic.twitter.com/xwfC5SCA4f Denton Police Department (@DENTONPD) May 17, 2019 Police in Denton, about 35 miles north west of Dallas, were called to an apartment complex on May 5 by a neighbour who said Warriner was acting weird and carrying around cleaning supplies, according to an affidavit. Officers found his mothers headless body and the hacksaw inside the Warriners unit. Her head was not found in the apartment and it is not clear whether it has been located. Authorities believe Sarah Warriner had been dead for two days before her body was found. Days earlier, a nurse at a Denton hospital called security when Warriner threatened to kill his mother and himself, according to the affidavit. It is not clear why he was at the hospital, but he left before police arrived. Warriner was spotted in his mothers car on May 6 and led police on a chase up Interstate 35 into Oklahoma, where he was arrested and held before being returned to Denton. His father Kenneth Warriner told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram this month that his son suffered a mental breakdown a few months ago. She had allowed him to stay with her after his last rehabilitation stay, Mr Warriner said of his ex-wife. He was prescribed psychotic drugs to try and help, but that didnt seem to work. Donald Trump has said he hopes the US is not on a path to war with Iran amid fears that his two most hawkish advisers could be angling for conflict. Asked if the US was going to war with Iran, the president replied I hope not, a day after he repeated a desire for dialogue, tweeting: Im sure that Iran will want to talk soon. The tone contrasted with a series of moves by the US and Iran that have sharply escalated tensions in the Middle East in recent days. For the past year, national security adviser John Bolton and secretary of state Mike Pompeo have been the public face of the administrations maximum pressure campaign against Tehran. The friction has rattled legislators who are demanding more information on the White Houses claims of rising Iranian aggression. The Islamic Republic of Iran has engaged in an escalating series of threatening actions and statements in recent weeks. Any attacks by them or their proxies against U.S. citizens or our interests will be answered with a swift and decisive response. Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) May 10, 2019 Leaders in Congress received a classified briefing on Iran on Thursday, but many other legislators from both parties have criticised the White House for not keeping them informed. Iran poses a particular challenge for Mr Trump. While he talks tough against foreign adversaries to the delight of his supporters, a military confrontation with Iran could make him appear to be backtracking on a campaign pledge to keep America out of foreign entanglements. Legislators and allies worry that any erratic or miscalculated response from Mr Trump could send the US into conflict. He pulled the US out of the Iran nuclear deal last year and reinstated sanctions on Tehran that are crippling its economy. Expand Close USS Abraham Lincoln (Kaitlin McKeown/Virginian-Pilot/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp USS Abraham Lincoln (Kaitlin McKeown/Virginian-Pilot/AP) Tensions rose dramatically on May 5 when Mr Bolton announced that the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group would be rushed from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf ahead of schedule in response to a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings. Since then, four oil tankers, including two belonging to Saudi Arabia, have been targeted in an apparent act of sabotage off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, according to officials in the region, and a Saudi pipeline was attacked by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels from Yemen. The US also ordered non-essential staff out of Iraq and has dispatched additional military assets to the region. The Senate will receive a classified briefing on Iran on Tuesday, according to Jim Risch, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. The House has requested a classified briefing as well. Expand Close Nancy Pelosi (J Scott Applewhite/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Nancy Pelosi (J Scott Applewhite/AP) House speaker Nancy Pelosi said briefings are necessary because informing leaders is no substitute for the full membership of the Congress. She said a failure to inform legislators is part of a pattern for the Trump administration that is not right because the power to declare war resides with Congress. I hope that the presidents advisers recognise that they have no authorisation to go forward in any way against Iran, Ms Pelosi said. Mr Trump has dismissed suggestions that any of his advisers, particularly Mr Bolton, are pushing him into a conflict. John has strong views on things, but thats OK. I actually temper John, which is pretty amazing, isnt it? he said recently when asked if he was satisfied with Mr Boltons advice. I have different sides. I mean, I have John Bolton, and I have other people that are a little more dovish than him. And ultimately I make the decision. Two more mountaineers have died on Nepals famous Himalayan peaks, while another two are missing, officials have said. Indian climber Ravi Thakar, 28, died on Thursday while sleeping in his tent at Mount Everests highest camp site, according to Thaneswar Guragai of the Seven Summit Treks, which organised the expedition. Mr Thakar had scaled the 29,035ft summit but did not appear to be well on the way back and was discovered to have died a few hours after entering his tent. JUST IN: At least two Indian climbers died while descending from the summit of Mt #Everest and Mt Makalu last night, according to the expedition organiser. https://t.co/m4DbG0o3eG #Everest2019 Everest Today (@EverestToday) May 17, 2019 Also on Thursday, another Indian climber, Narayan Singh, fell ill and died on Mount Makalu. Attempts are still being made to bring his body down, said Mira Acharya, a director at Nepals Department of Tourism. An Irish climber, Seamus Lawless, is missing after falling while returning from Everests summit, Mr Acharya said. An assistant professor in artificial intelligence at the School of Computer Science and Statistics at @tcddublin, has gone missing near balcony area of Mt #Everest when he was descending from the summit point this afternoon. https://t.co/wM2ygU1mgk Everest Today (@EverestToday) May 16, 2019 A Chilean climber is missing on Mount Kanchenjunga, the worlds third highest peak, where two more Indian climbers died earlier this week. Pasang Sherpa, of Peak Promotion in Kathmandu, said one of them had scaled the worlds third tallest peak while the other was on the way up but became ill and died. They were believed to be suffering from high altitude sickness and had frostbite, he said. Two Indian climbers died above Camp IV of Mt Kanchenjunga while descending from the summit of the worlds third highest mountain last night, according to the expedition organiser. https://t.co/Eao2Hbzao4 Everest Today (@EverestToday) May 16, 2019 The climbers, identified as Biplab Baidya, 48, and Kuntal Kanrar, 46, fell ill just below the 28,160ft summit. Hundreds of foreign climbers and their guides attempt to scale Nepals high Himalayan peaks during the popular spring climbing season that begins around March and ends this month. 'It is in our interests that the PSNI is given full support in its fight against crime because criminals can strike at any time' (stock photo) The past continues to haunt the PSNI. This is one of the conclusions that can be drawn from Perceptions of Policing and Justice: Findings from the 2017/18 Northern Ireland Crime Survey, which shows that confidence in the police here is 10% below that enjoyed by forces in England and Wales. The same difference is noted when people were asked if the police were doing an excellent or good job in their area. To young people in Northern Ireland the past may seem like ancient history, but it is sufficiently recent to still contaminate the reformed policing service. Read More It was only in January 2007 that Sinn Fein finally signed up to supporting policing and justice here. And it would seem self-evident that the lower figures noted above owe a lot to republican and nationalist historic - and continuing - ambivalence towards policing. While there was an initial surge of Catholic members to the PSNI, bringing the percentage of the force from that background to 30%, dissident republicans have attempted to quell acceptance of policing by killing and maiming a number of Catholic officers and intimidating their families. One statistic that police can take solace in is the fact that 84% of respondents, an increase of 11%, felt the PSNI treats Catholics and Protestants equally. A perceived partiality from the largely Protestant RUC was ruthlessly exploited by republicans during the Troubles. It was also encouraging that some 140 people came forward to give evidence to the police following the recent murder of journalist Lyra McKee by dissidents. The feeling, however, must be tempered by the fact that to date none of that evidence seems of sufficient quality to justify a prosecution of the alleged killers. Policing, especially in a community of divided loyalties and allegiances, requires a nuanced response, and feelings that policing is not effective in tracking down dissidents or loyalist paramilitaries feeds into the feelings of discontent. More responsible voices within the broad nationalist community - mainstream political parties and Church leaders - need to be more vocal in calling for people from that community to support policing. It is in our interests that the PSNI is given full support in its fight against crime because criminals can strike at any time. Members of the Indonesian counterterrorist force Densus 88 (in black uniforms) present militant suspects (in orange outfits) during a news conference at National Police Headquarters in Jakarta, May 17, 2019. Indonesian police said Friday they had arrested 29 militant suspects who were allegedly plotting to bomb a political gathering when official full results of the countrys general election are announced next week. The suspects were caught in raids across Indonesia during the past month and were believed to be members of Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), a local militant network affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) extremist group, national police spokesman Muhammad Iqbal told a news conference in Jakarta. They were planning to carry out amalia, or a terrorist act, by attacking a crowd of people on May 22 using bombs, Iqbal said. Next Wednesday, Indonesian election officials are expected to announce complete results of presidential, legislative, regional and municipal polls, which were held in the worlds most populous Muslim-majority nation on April 17. Two of the suspects in custody were veterans of the Syrian conflict who had been deported after learning bomb-making skills in Aleppo, Iqbal said. The police spokesman said the suspects planned to use remote-controlled explosives to target supporters of opposition presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, who were expected to rally on May 22 against alleged electoral fraud in front of the General Election Commission headquarters. The suspects hoped to exploit the demonstration and create chaos through a bomb-attack, Iqbal said. We dont want this to happen to the crowd. Imagine, if there are only 100 people, how many people will fall victims? Iqbal told reporters. We cannot underestimate it and we continue to work. We dont know for sure if there are still [plotters] out there, he added. In recent days, the Indonesian government said it was deploying up to 32,000 security personnel in the capital Jakarta to safeguard the official announcement of vote results. We cannot underestimate it and we continue to work. We dont know for sure if there are still [plotters] out there, he said. Also on Friday, the U.S. embassy in Jakarta issued a security alert in connection with the official announcement of Indonesian poll results on May 22. It advised American citizens to avoid areas where demonstrations or political rallies are occurring and exercise caution if within the vicinity of any large gathering. Indonesian police officials have publicly cited a heightened risk of terrorism in connection with the finalization of election results, and media has reported recent arrests of Indonesians on terrorism charges, said the alert posted on the embassys website. Suspects share bomb-plot details While arresting the suspected JAD members, police seized five homemade bombs, detonators, an air rifle, five bullet caches and a knife from the suspects, according to Iqbal, the national police spokesman. At Fridays press conference, officials also played a video produced by police in which two of the suspects in custody talked about the terror plot. I led a number of brothers to carry out amalia [a terrorist attack] on May 22 by using a remote as there will be a crowd on that day. This will be a good opportunity to carry out an attack because democracy is a major form of polytheism, said one of the suspects, whom police identified as Dedi Yusuf. Another suspect, who was identified only by his initials, E.Y., said in the video: [The attack] will be carried out by placing the bombs we have assembled and using a remote control as a detonator. So far in 2019, the Indonesian polices counter-terrorist force, Densus 88, has arrested at least 60 militant suspects and killed eight others during raids nationwide, Iqbal said. Security minister: We want to prevent a concentration of people With more than 80 percent of the votes counted, incumbent President Joko Jokowi Widodo was leading with 56 percent in the presidential contest against Prabowo, according to official results through Friday. But his challenger has vowed to reject the official results and alleged that the election was rigged in Jokowis favor. On Thursday, Security Affairs Minister Wiranto urged the police, military and local governments to prevent Prabowos supporters from leaving for Jakarta to carry out their protest on May 22. We want to prevent a concentration of people. Dont let people leave their home towns for Jakarta, Wiranto told reporters. He tried to assure the public that there was no massive or systematic fraud in last months polls. "The election is over and the results are there, Wiranto said. (ANSA) - Rome, May 17 - Deputy Premier and Labour and Industry Minister Luigi Di Maio said Friday that his 5-Star Movement (M5S) would not back a budget law that causes Italy's big public debt to climb even higher. Earlier this week fellow Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, the leader of the League, said Italy should breach the EU's 3% deficit limit if it is necessary to boost the economy and create jobs. The comment has been linked to a sharp rise in Italy's bond spread. "The issue is not the spread or the 3% limit," Di Maio told State broadcaster RAI. "The problem is that when you say you want to breach the 3% limit, that would increase the public debt. "So I say clearly - the M5S will never vote for a budget law to increase the public debt". Di Maio also pledged that the government will avert a rise in value-added tax set to kick in at the start of 2020 unless alternative budget coverage can be found. The stalled Thai Deep South peace talks apparently will have to go on without one of the chief negotiators who on Friday announced his plan to resign. Sukree Hari, the chief negotiator for MARA Patani, posted a short letter announcing his plans to step down from negotiations. MARA Patani is an umbrella group that has represented southern separatist rebel groups and factions in Malaysia-brokered talks with Thailands military government since 2015. The full letter, which was posted on the Thai PBS television station and did not state the reason for his resignation, read: To Ustaz Awang Jebat, the head of Patani Consultative Council. Re: Resignation as the head of delegation of peace dialogue of Patani Consultative Council. As mentioned above: Since Patani Consultative Council being formed, I, Ustaz Sukree Hari has been given the trust and a mandate as a head of delegation of peace dialogue on behalf of the Patani Consultative Council with the Thai government to find solution to the never-ending conflict in Patani and I believed that I have done well. Alhamdulillah. With that said, I am going to resign from the post effective Wednesday. Thank you, wassalam. The Patani Consultative Council is another name for MARA Patani, and Patani is a Malay word that southern Thai separatists use to refer to the predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking Deep South. When contacted late Friday to confirm the news, MARA Patani spokesman Abu Hafez Al-Hakim said he had just learned about Sukrees letter. He said it was not the first time that Sukree, who is believed to be 53, had spoken about leaving the negotiating table. He expressed his intention to resign because of health reasons a few months ago, Abu Hafez told BenarNews. The spokesman said MARA Patani likely would wait until after the Eid al-Fitr holiday in June to name Sukrees replacement. Divisions within MARA Two years ago, Ustaz Ahmad Chuwo temporarily replaced him for a few months because of health reasons, Abu Hafez said. Sukrees resignation could have been based on something other than his health, according to assistant professor Srisompob Jitpiromsri, who directs Deep South Watch, a think-tank based in Thailands southern border region. It could be because of MARAs internal rift. MARA and the Thai peace talk team were at odds, so that could be the reason for his resignation, Srisompob told BenarNews. Meanwhile, a security source in the Deep South who asked not to be named said internal issues among the MARA Patani team could be to blame. We know that MARA members have different thoughts and could not work together, the source told BenarNews. Sukree may have had it enough and quit his position. Sukrees letter came as a surprise to Malaysian facilitator Abdul Rahim Noor, who was appointed by Malaysias new government in August 2018. Im not aware of his resignation. I was not informed, Rahim Noor told BenarNews. Talks stalled Peace talks have been on hold following a failed meeting in February. Rahim Noors effort to host an introductory meeting between the two sides in the talks fell apart when the Thai governments recently named chief negotiator failed to show. Thai chief negotiator Udomchai Thammasarorat, who was promoted to the post in late 2018, claimed he was never meant to attend the meeting, which he described as technical-level only. Rahim Noor told BenarNews at the time that Udomchais strange behavior shocked him, adding that negotiators from both sides had arrived in Kuala Lumpur for the introductory dialogue. Udomchai told Malaysian facilitators that he would meet with Sukree only despite all negotiators being present, and he returned to Thailand the next day. Shortly afterward, Sukree issued a video statement announcing that peace talks would be delayed until after the Thai elections in late March were finished and the new government was in place. Earlier this month, the Election Commission announced final poll results for the lower house of parliament and the government announced the names of 250 senators who are expected to select the new prime minister on May 27. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, who took over in 2014 after leading a military coup, is the leading candidate for the top post. MARA Patani includes representatives from the National Revolutionary Front (BRN), the largest and most powerful of southern insurgent groups, but its hardcore leaders have stayed away from the peace talks. The Deep South borders Malaysia and encompasses Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala provinces as well as four districts in Songkhla province. Nearly 7,000 people have been killed in violence in the region since the insurgency flared up again in early 2004 after a dormant period. Mariyam Ahmad in Pattani, Thailand, and Noah Lee in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report. The Apocalypse? What does that word mean? According to Dictionary.com, it means revelation, disclosure, uncover, reveal. I found the title page to my mothers 1982, Holman Bible Publishers, King James Version, it reads: THE REVELATION TO JOHN (The Apocalypse)." Or in todays vernacular, an account the Lord Jesus Christ gave of Himself to the Church and events that will occur at the end of this age. We hear The Book of Revelation and our minds race to the last days. End of the agecoupled with doom, gloom, and disaster. Jesus instructed all believers to read, hear, and heed the words of this uncovering. But Jude, half-brother of Jesus, adds a very interesting verse: And about these also Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all (Jude 1:14-15a NAS). If we consult biblical timelines, we know Adam lived around 4,000 B.C. The seventh generation from Adam would put Enoch living sometime around 3,300 B.C. Before the flood. And, according to Jude, Enoch was already prophesying about the Apocalypseover 5,300 years ago. Before we dive into the apocalypse it is appropriate to note the different interpretive approaches and views of the millennium: Different Interpretations of the Apocalypse in Revelation Preterists hold that Revelation describes events that would "soon take place" for John and his first-century readers. hold that Revelation describes events that would "soon take place" for John and his first-century readers. Futurists typically interpret Revelations chapters 4-22 as referring to historical events in the distant future for John and the churches of Asia Minor, including a final crisis period followed by Jesus' return to establish his kingdom on earth, judge evil, and usher in the new creation. typically interpret Revelations chapters 4-22 as referring to historical events in the distant future for John and the churches of Asia Minor, including a final crisis period followed by Jesus' return to establish his kingdom on earth, judge evil, and usher in the new creation. Historicists interpret 6:1-20:6 as a prophetic outline of the major historical developments from John's day (6:1) until Jesus' return (19:11) often focusing on Western church history. Few today follow this. interpret 6:1-20:6 as a prophetic outline of the major historical developments from John's day (6:1) until Jesus' return (19:11) often focusing on Western church history. Few today follow this. Idealists believe that Revelation symbolically depicts the ongoing conflict between the forces of God and of Satan throughout the church age. Idealists are reticent to identify John's symbols with particular past or future historical events, though many idealists affirm that Jesus will return to establish His eternal kingdom in the new creation. Eclecticism or Mixed views - many readers argue for a mixed approach that combines key insights from futurism, preterism, and idealism. Preterists are probably correct that the whole book, not simply chapters. 1-3, addresses the circumstances and concerns of John's first-century readers. Idealists rightly affirm that Revelation has ongoing relevance throughout history and that John's symbolic visions may have multiple fulfillments. Futurists correctly stress that Jesus will return to judge evil, save people, and establish God's everlasting kingdom. The "millennium" is the thousand-year period in Revelation 20:1-6. Interpretations are divided over this as well. Premillennialists believe that Jesus will return before (pre-) the millennium to defeat and destroy the beast and false prophet (19:11-21). Then Satan will be "bound" for a thousand years (20:2), during which time some believers (martyrs and perhaps others) will receive resurrection bodies and will reign with Christ on earth over the descendants of those surviving the battle of Armageddon (20:4; cf. 16:16). believe that Jesus will return before (pre-) the millennium to defeat and destroy the beast and false prophet (19:11-21). Then Satan will be "bound" for a thousand years (20:2), during which time some believers (martyrs and perhaps others) will receive resurrection bodies and will reign with Christ on earth over the descendants of those surviving the battle of Armageddon (20:4; cf. 16:16). Postmillennialists (affirmed by most historicists and preterists) believe Jesus will return after (post-) a literal or symbolic millennium. Most modern postmillennialists (like amillennialists) understand a symbolic thousand-year period to be coextensive with the church age, while others understand the millennium to come at the end of the church age after the church's gospel proclamation brings about the nations' conversion and a golden age of God's blessing. (affirmed by most historicists and preterists) believe Jesus will return after (post-) a literal or symbolic millennium. Most modern postmillennialists (like amillennialists) understand a symbolic thousand-year period to be coextensive with the church age, while others understand the millennium to come at the end of the church age after the church's gospel proclamation brings about the nations' conversion and a golden age of God's blessing. Amillennialists (affirmed by idealists and some preterists and historicists) view the millennium as a symbolic time frame between Jesus' ascension and his return when deceased believers reign in heaven with Jesus. Amillennialism is sometimes called "inaugurated" or "realized millennialism" to clarify the nature and timing of the millennium. (They believe Satan was bound through Jesus' death and resurrection and that he is prevented from deceiving the nations or hindering the spreading of the gospel during the church age. He will be released temporarily for his onslaught against the church, upon which Christ will return to judge his enemies and vindicate his people). Amid these many interpretive approaches, Revelation's central message is clear: God sovereignly rules history and will complete his plans to judge and save through Jesus, the slain Lamb and returning King. Major Approaches to Interpreting Revalation is an adapted excerpt from the NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible edited by D. A. Carson and published by Zondervan (pages 2276-2277). Here are 10 things Christians should know and ask about the apocalypse: 1. Both the Old and New Testaments Describe Apocalyptic Events Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill (Matthew 5:17 NAS). In 2019, some within the church believe the Old Testament is irrelevant. These naysayers think the Old Covenant is of no consequence because were under the New Covenant. But in Matthew 5, Jesus invalidates this conclusion. Enoch walked with God three hundred sixty-five years And Hebrews 11:5 tells us, and he was not found because God took him up... Gone in a moment. Raptured. Fast-forward to 852 B.C. Elijah prophesied during the reign of Israels King Ahab. What do these two prophets have in common besides their faith in God? there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven (2 Kings 2:11 NAS). Another prophet MIA. Raptured. 2. The Holy Spirit Restrains For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way (2 Thessalonians 2:7 NAS). Forty days after Jesus resurrection, He and His disciples were talking and a cloud swept Him into the heavens. Two men dressed in white told them He would return in the same manner as they watched Him go. Jesus was raptured. Paul tells of being caught up to the third heaven and was allowed to hear inexpressible words, which man is not allowed to speak (2 Corinthians 12:2-4). Paul was raptured. Revelation 4:2 tells us John heard words from heaven, Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things. John was raptured. Thats three. The Holy Spirit of God, the one who restrains will be taken out of the way before the Day of the Lord occurs. Where does Gods Spirit reside today? In the soul of every believerHes the down payment of our inheritance. When the Holy Spirit is removed from this world, dear one, every believerthe Churchthe body of Christgoes up with this indwelling part of GodAnd thus, we shall always be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 NAS). Approximately three and one-half years after that event, Revelation 11 tells us the two witnesses, whove testified, together with the 144,000 young Jewish men for 1,260 days, will be killed. And as they lay dead in the streets of Jerusalem, Scripture tells us the breath of life from God will come into them. They will stand, while the world watches as a loud voice from heaven says, Come up here. These two witnesses will also be raptured. 3. What Daniel Tells Us about the Apocalypse And from the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 daysBut as for you, Daniel, go your way to the end; then you will enter into rest and rise again for your allotted portion at the end of the age (Daniel 12:11,13 NAS). Rabbis have told Israel the Book of Daniel is about dreams and dont teach from this Old Testament prophet. Daniel lived his faith when taken captive to Babylon as a teen, and God blessed his faithfulness. Had the Jewish Rabbis understood Daniels prophecies, they would have known about their return from captivity, when and where Jesus would be born, and that Jerusalem would be destroyed in 70 A.D. (Daniel 9:20-27 NAS). The Angel Gabriel appeared to Daniel telling him about the 70 weeks decreed and how his people would be desolate. Educated by the angel, Daniel knew about the coming kings and the abomination of desolation and the time of his appearance (Daniel 11:32-35). Gabriel introduced Daniel to the great prince, Michael, who stands guard over Israel. (Daniel 10:21). But he promised, at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. He told Daniel about this dreadful three and one-half years. Then God sealed up Daniels words until the end of time, but we have come to understand Daniels words. 4. Will There Be a New Temple in Jerusalem? And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate (Daniel 9:27 NAS). By reasoning together, this Old Testament scripture, tells us five things will happen: A covenant of peace will be signed with Israel. A Tribulation Temple will be built in Jerusalem. Jewish sacrifices will be stopped after 3 years. One week is referred to as seven biblical years. God decrees the one who makes desolate will be destroyed. In order to reinstate the sacrificial system, there must be a temple. There has not been a temple or sacrifice since 70 A.D. To put this sacrificial system in place, the ashes of a red heifer are required to cleanse the site. March 6, 2019, Rabbi Ariel reported there are two possible red heifer candidates. (Numbers 19:2-10) 5. When the Rapture Will Occur In My Fathers house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also (Matthew 14:2-3 NAS). Here one minute, gone the next. No warning. The church will be gone. The dead in Christ will rise first, then those who are alive and have been washed in the blood will be snatched up together with them to meet the Lord in the air. Stop and think about this eventregardless of what youre doing, if you belong to Jesus, youll be gone in a Nano-second. Caught up together. Transformed. Raptured to meet the Lord in the air. And so, shall we ever be with the Lord. Think of the fall-out . . . the consequential chaos this brings on earth. Five raptures have occurred, as referenced in Section 1 and 2 above. We arent given the date and time God will rapture the church, but we are told it will come like a thief in the night. No one but God knows the time. We are to be ready. Waiting . . . always looking to Christ. Listening for the shout and the trumpet. After an engagement, Jewish tradition requires the groom to go to his fathers house to prepare a place for his bride. In the middle of the night, when the father approves, the groom and friends go to the brides house to bring her to the wedding. As they go, they call, Behold, the bridegroom cometh. Could this be the shout we will hear? 6. What Happens to the Church in the Rapture? If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or upon is hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb (Revelation 14:9-10 NAS). Are there preachers who refuse to preach about sin and the blood of Jesus Christ? Are there church members who have never experienced the mercy and grace of God? Church members, whove never repented and asked forgiveness of their sins? Are there regular attenders whove never heard: For God so loved the world He gave His only Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16 NAS)? Churches will be packed the Sunday after the rapture. But services will be like a funeral rather than a celebration. Grief and fear will saturate the sanctuary. Remember, how folks rushed to church following 9/11, but a few months later those same folks had slipped back into the normality of their lives. Yes, there will be church after the rapturebut not a church preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Til reality sinks in. From the moment two witnesses preach in Jerusalem, those left behind can begin the countdown . . . in 1,290 days these two witnesses will be murdered, then raptured 3 days later when worship and the object of worship changes. 7. Will People Be Saved during the Tribulation? All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. If anyone has an ear, let him hear (Revelation 13:8-9 NAS). The short answer is yes. But those trusting Jesus will pay with their lives. The scene abruptly changes between the sixth and seventh trumpets; the Anti-Christ will be killed. He descends to the abyss, is restored to life, and puts to death the two witnesses (Interpreters throughout church history have debated whether these witnesses refer to individual prophets or symbolize the church. -D.A. Carson, NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible). Then he marches into the Temple blaspheming the name of the Lord God and His Son Jesus and declares himself to be god and demands all worship him. God has granted him authority to reign for forty-two months, and together with the false prophet, a statute will be erected. You must bow before the statute, take the mark of this beast, the number 666, on your forehead or in your hand if you want to buy or sell anything. If you refuse you will be beheaded. But those losing their life will be given white robes and hidden under the altar until their number is completed (Revelation 6:9-11). 8. What Changes Does the Apocalypse Bring to Earth? Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in midheaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound (Revelation 8:13 NAS). With the breaking of the sixth seal (Revelation 6:12-17) the sun turns black and the moon becomes like blood. Stars fall from the sky and we see the first great earthquake. All men great and small know the wrath of God and the wrath of the Lamb have come. They ask the mountains to fall on and hide them. The angel of Revelation 8:5 throws a censer of fire to earth and we have a second earthquake. A third of the earth is burned up, a third of the sea becomes blood, a third of the sea creatures die, and a third of the ships are destroyed. A third of the rivers and springs become bitter, and a third of the sun, moon, and stars are darkened. The 5th trumpet and first woe bring on five months of locust who sting like scorpions. Men beg to die but cant. The 6th trumpet releases the four angels whove been bound at the Euphrates River. An army of two hundred million horsemen kill a third of mankind. And Revelation 9:20-21 tells us the rest of mankind not killed by these plagues did not repent. Stop and thinktwo great earthquakes, a third of the earth burned up, a third of the sea, rivers, and springs ruined, and then the locust and the army of two hundred million. The earth borders catastrophe and the bowl judgments are still to come. 9. The Occurrence of the Third and Fourth Earthquake and Hail Storm The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever (Revelation 11:15 NAS). Within the hour the two witnesses are raptured, a third great earthquake destroys a tenth of Jerusalem. Seven thousand people are killed and those left alive are terrified and give glory to the God of heaven. Could these glorifiers of God be the Jews Jesus warns to flee when they see the Abomination of Desolation in the temple? Revelation 11:15-19 immediately takes us back to heaven where we see Jesus beginning to reign on earth. Twenty-four elders surround the Throne saying, Jesus reigns and its time to reward His bond-servants and those who fear His name and to destroy those who destroy the earth. The temple of God in heaven is opened, and the ark of the covenant appears in His temple. And there is a fourth earthquake and a great hailstorm. 10. God Finishes What He Begins He Wastes Nothing I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book (Revelation 22:18-19 NAS). The bowl judgments that follow are hideous and swift (Revelation 16). Those still alive refuse to repent of their deeds, and as the 7th angel pours out his bowl on the air, a loud voice comes from the temple in heaven, It is done. And a final 5th great earthquake, like no other, shakes the whole earth. Islands vanish and mountains disappear. Hailstones weighing one hundred pounds each fall from heaven, but men still blasphemed God. In Revelation 19:11-16 heaven opens and King Jesus accompanied by His armies of angels and the armies clothed in fine linen following our King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The battle is brief as He strikes the nations with the sword from His mouth. The earth is transformed into a broad plain with Jerusalem as its center. There is no sea, but a clear river flows from the temple where Jesus will rule and reign for 1,000 years to fulfill Gods covenant with Abraham and his descendants. The last words of this Apocalypse are found in Revelation 21 and 22, words I pray will bring you hope, confidence, strength, and joy. Our God is Sovereign over the universe. His Word is Truth. Wife, mother, and Mimi, freelance artist and photographer, DiAne Gates writes for children, young adults, and non-fiction for adults through her blogs, http://dianegates.wordpress.com/ and www.floridagirlturnedtexan.wordpress.com. She also facilitates a GriefShare support group. DiAnes award winning, ROPED, first in her western adventure series released July of 2015, and the second book, TWISTED, released by Pelican Book Group July 14, 2017. Third book in this series, UNTIED, is her WIP. You can find DiAne on Facebook. Photo credit: GettyImages/Javier_Art_Photography (ANSA) - Rome, May 17 - Families from the migrants rescued by the German NGO ship SeaWatch3 were authorised to land on Friday, the NGO tweeted. "The Italian authorities have given us permission to land the families present on board: children, mothers, fathers and an injured woman," it said. "The offloading onto the Coats Guard launch is underway". Interior Minister Matteo Salvini had said the 65 migrants would not land in Italy. Expands global footprint for complex API manufacturing Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. the world leader in serving science, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a drug substance manufacturing site in Cork, Ireland, from GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) for approximately 90 million in cash. The Cork site will expand capacity to meet customer demand for the development and commercial manufacturing of complex active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). With more than 400 employees, the site produces highly specialized APIs for treating diseases including childhood cancer, depression and Parkinson's. Thermo Fisher will continue to produce APIs for GSK under a multi-year supply agreement and plans to expand use of the site to develop and produce complex APIs for other customers as well. The site contains 270 cubic meters of reactor capacity, 10 production buildings, an R&D pilot plant and lab infrastructure to support process development, scale-up and physical characterization of APIs. "The GSK Cork site will enhance our API offering by expanding our development and commercial capabilities to provide much-needed capacity for APIs currently in development," said Michel Lagarde, senior vice president and president of Pharma Services for Thermo Fisher Scientific. "This transaction is another great example of our strategy to build on our strong foundation by adding capacity and capabilities to our pharma services offering through a combination of capital investments and M&A." This announcement follows the recently completed acquisition of Brammer Bio, a leader in viral vector manufacturing for gene and cell therapies. Thermo Fisher is also investing $150 million to expand its sterile fill-finish sites in Monza and Ferentino, Italy, and Greenville, North Carolina, and plans to complete the previously announced $50 million expansion of its St. Louis, Missouri, biologics facility later this year. The GSK transaction, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2019, is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. Upon completion, the site will become part of Thermo Fisher's Pharma Services business within its Laboratory Products and Services Segment. Mainly Jem's Birding & Ringing Exploits in the Eastern Province & Ringing Trips to Bahrain #IABSummit19: Marcel Botha to speak on manufactured stories Ahead of this year's IAB Summit, taking place 30 May at the Joburg Theatre in Braamfontein, we interviewed speaker Marcel Botha, founder and CEO of 10XBeta to find out what to expect from his talk on 'manufactured stories' and what this year's theme of the 'new now' means to him... Marcel Botha What are you most looking forward to regarding speaking at this years IAB Summit19? What are you most looking forward to regarding speaking at this years IAB Summit19? Over the last few years we have actively experimented with large multinational brands to tell stories about what is cool, the future, robots, sustainability and more. I colloquially refer to these as manufactured stories and look forward to sharing the insights gleaned from these brand partnerships and activations as they relate to having more impact on the world and society around us, while driving opportunities for incredibly successful, metrics-driven consumer engagement. Youre going to be speaking about manufactured stories. What are you planning to share on the topic? Youre going to be speaking about manufactured stories. What are you planning to share on the topic? Tell us a bit about 10XBeta and your role at the firm. Tell us a bit about 10XBeta and your role at the firm. What do you hope delegates will take away from your talk/your key message? What do you hope delegates will take away from your talk/your key message? Comment on the current state of digital transformation in your industry. Comment on the current state of digital transformation in your industry. What does the new now mean to you? What does the new now mean to you? Jessica Tennant's articles About Jessica Tennant Jess is Senior Editor: Marketing & Media at Bizcommunity.com. She is also a contributing writer. Jess is Senior Editor: Marketing & Media at Bizcommunity.com. She is also a contributing writer. moc.ytinummoczib@swengnitekram Don't miss BizTrends2022 - 7 keynote speakers forecast trends shaping business in our region! Register now! I have been studying and working abroad for close to 20 years. In 1997 I was offered a scholarship to go to advertising school in Johannesburg based on a campaign I did for Durex. It was a cheeky commentary on the incessant layers of protection that our society clamoured towards as we learned how to navigate what was at that stage a brand new South Africa. 22 years on it remains applicable, but unfortunately critical, in a life imitates art way.My work and that of 10XBeta has focused on equitable ways to bring transport, healthcare, shelter, sustainability, access to art and joy to all walks of life globally. In many ways, I have always been driven to invest in my community, locally and globally.I will share both a series of questions and answers, relating to how we can use brand activations to drive impressions, engagement but also more meaningful long-term stories and product credibility.10XBeta is a product development firm in New York City with satellites in San Francisco, Amsterdam, Johannesburg and Cape Town. We divide our time between new ventures, advertising technologies and more serious scalable product and engineering challenges. We attempt to filter for relevance and scale but are no strangers to entertaining fun and the occasional absurd request.I founded 10XBeta in 2010 and the name is derived from the idea that we are always in Beta, a state of constant innovative forward motion. I am the CEO, surrounded by a talented team of individuals who help me realise the high-quality product outcomes that we get to share at IAB.I want delegates to think about the long tail of brand stories and product activations. How can we use this really powerful platform to align brands with meaningful impact and long-term social investment in South Africa and further afield?It is an incredibly hard challenge and requires navigating many gatekeepers, committed product champions and really creative use of sometimes very limited budgets.I would argue that for 20 years I lived on this bleeding edge of digital transformation in architecture, product development, manufacturing and more recently cheap electronic prototyping methods. The latter giving rise to the most sought-after species in modern advertising the creative technologist. He or she is really just a person who has a visceral command of contemporary technology culture, with the ability to apply these technologies in new creative and engaging ways.The new now represents to me and 10XBeta a way of thinking, innovating and engaging seamlessly at a local, national and international level. It requires each of us to more critically assess how we are engaging and reinforcing meta-themes of sustainability, climate change, education and youth access.It is my hope that 10XBeta South Africa can actively engage with these brand attendees over the coming 10 years to create meaningful outcomes for the local community, while actively influencing the quality of our partner engagements and brand stories. Nando's joins the Loeries to celebrate design Design from Africa and the Middle East finally gets the recognition it deserves with the expanded Nandos Design category at the Loeries in 2019. This years category has been extended to recognise design from a much broader range of creative professionals.Weve expanded the design category beyond only brand communication to include areas of design such as retail furniture and product design, fabric, wallpaper, lighting, architecture and interior design, and even the design of signage programmes, says Loeries CEO Andrew Human.He adds that the Loeries has long been recognised as the highest accolade in advertising and brand communication. A strong design award has been lacking for our region and this is a great opportunity for all designers to showcase their work and achieve recognition.Design is woven into the Nandos DNA, making Nandos a natural partner for the Design category. Design and creativity have been an intrinsic part of the Nandos way of doing business. Nandos is the first local brand to collaborate with local designers at the scale it does, says Deirdre King, Nandos Brand Experience GM.She adds: Putting our support behind the design community is important to doing business well. Our PERi-PERi power has charted new paths and careers for many local artists and their art. Putting that same fire behind the extended Design category for the 2019 Loeries gives us a chance to spice things up for the wonderful designers who will imprint their names onto this exciting category.According to Gaby de Abreu, Loeries board member and creative head of Switch Design, the awards are invaluable because they offer a chance for designers to showcase their work to a far greater audience.The Nandos Design category at the Loeries is an opportunity to showcase excellence across disciplines in countries throughout Africa and the Middle East. For independent designers, its a unique chance to achieve recognition across the industry, reaching creatives internationally, says de Abreu.For a furniture designer working in an independent workshop or a graphic designer outside of the agency network, this years Loeries offers a chance to show the world what youve achieved, he adds.The Nandos Design category at the Loeries is open to designers across all the main disciplines. The entry deadline is 15 May and more information can be found on loeries.com While proudly South African, Nandos is an international flame-grilling, PERi-PERi chicken restaurant group. We offer a twist of Afro-Portuguese with an upmarket and comfortable dining experience. Two friends, Robert Brozin and Fernando Duarte, opened the first Nandos in 1987 in Johannesburg, South Africa. All Nando's PERi-PERi chicken is marinated for 24 hours, locally sourced and never frozen, ensuring our customers only get the finest flavours. Our unique PERi-PERi recipe includes herbs, spices, garlic, lemon juice and birds eye chilli. Nando's authentic PERi -PERi has captivated its customers all over the world, making it the largest South African restaurant group to expand internationally.The Loeries, a non-profit company, is Africa and the Middle Easts premiere initiative that recognises, rewards, inspires and fosters creative excellence in the brand communication industry. As the highest accolade for creativity and innovation across our region, the Loeries promotes and supports creativity by helping marketers, agencies and consumers appreciate the value of ideas and fresh thinking. Culminating in the biggest creative gathering in Africa and the Middle East, Loeries Creative Week Durban brings together the best innovative minds from our industry for a festival of networking, inspiring minds and recognising great work. Our region's creative economy is world-class and has great potential to grow and to offer employment both to our talented youth. The growth occurring throughout Africa and the Middle East is very exciting, and a major focus of the Loeries is to increase the standard of brand communication in the region.Major Partners of the Loeries:DStv Media Sales, GearhouseCategory Partners:AB InBev, Barron, Brand South Africa, Facebook, Gagasi FM, Google, JCDecaux, Nandos, Tsogo Sun, WoolworthsAdditional Partners and Official Suppliers:AAA School of Advertising, Antalis South Africa, Aon South Africa, Backsberg, BEE Online, First Source, Fresh RSVP Guest Logistics, Funk Productions, Gallo Images, Grid Worldwide, Hetzner, Mama Creative, Newsclip, Paygate, Rocketseed, Shared Value Initiative, Shift Social Development, Vega School, VQI Communications NigeriaEndorsed by:Association of Communication and Design, Brand Council South Africa, Commercial Producers Association, Creative Circle, EXCA, IAB, South African Institute of Architects, IIDOfficial Media PartnersBetween 10and5, B&W Report, Bizcommunity.com, Book of Swag, Brand Communicator Nigeria, Business Insider by Pulse, Campaign Middle East, Film & Event Media, iDidTht.com, The Redzone.Twitter: @loeriesInstagram: LoerieawardsFacebook: The Loeries Krispy Kreme's signature glazed doughnuts will soon be available in Cape Town as the company has announced plans to open its first store in the Mother City towards the end of 2019. Brandon Alms via 123RF Details are slim on the exact location of the outlet, but it will be a flagship store in "the heart of the Mother City".It may be as good a time as any to expand into the Cape as competition has slimmed since Grand Parade Investments announced in February the shuttering of all Dunkin' Donuts stores in the country.In existence since 1937, Krispy Kreme says it sets itself apart from other sweet treat competitors through "freshly made innovative products, premium coffee, delectable frozen beverages and a joyful guest experience".The US franchise opened the first South African Krispy Kreme store in Rosebank, Johannesburg in November 2015, followed by more openings across Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. It also expanded into off-premise sales with more than 20 mini-stores opening at local petrol stations and supermarkets.Krispy Kremes unique hot doughnut experience has certainly created memories in South Africa since our iconic sweet treat brand launched in 2015. Its been a long time coming but the establishment of the Cape Town market is hugely significant and extremely exciting, says Gerry Thomas, managing director of Krispy Kreme South Africa."We cant wait to touch and enhance lives in Cape Town through the joy of Krispy Kreme, Thomas adds. Italian woman among four 'top innovators' in Europe For inventing food Dna-tracking labels (ANSAmed) - ROME, MAY 17 - Italy's Michela Puddu is one of the four winners of the European Union prize for Women Innovators funded by the EU Horizons programme, organisers said Friday. Puddu hatched the idea of using food DNA anti-fraud labels to track products. "I hope the winners can in their turn inspire many other women to undertake innovative activities," said European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, Carlos Moedas, announcing the winners of the international competition VivaTech. Along with Puddu, who received 50,000 euros as an emerging innovator in the Under 35 class, prizes of 100,000 euros each were awarded to Irina Borodina of Lithuania, whose biotech company produces pheromones to use in alternative to pesticides; Martine Caroff of France, the head of two biotech companies specialised in components for vaccines and immunotherapies against cancer; and Shimrit Perkol-Finkel of Israel, whose company is specialised in ecological coastal infrastructure. (ANSAmed). Priyanka Chopra Jonas' White Attire Made Us Think About Princess Diana's Cannes Scarf Dress Bollywood Wardrobe Devika Tripathi Before she attended the Cannes Film Festival, Priyanka Chopra Jonas took to her Instagram feed to share the Cannes moments of the legendary fashion icons. One of those icons was Princess Diana, who had graced the Cannes Film Festival in 1987 and she wore a pale blue chiffon gown by Catherine Walker for the occasion. Princess Diana also teamed her dress with a matching scarf that was coiled around her neck and tied at the back. So, with the scarf, this dress became iconic and we feel Priyanka had a touch of scarf element to her attire, which she wore for the premiere of 5B Film. So, Priyanka's attire was splashed in a pristine white hue and was a cross between traditional and modern. This attire of hers came from the Lebanon-based brand, Honeyda. The outfit consisted of a strapless corset bodice and a column panelled skirt that was flared towards the hemline. A complementing scarf with an asymmetrical cut was also wrapped around her neck and it fell like a drape, which added a dramatic element to her ensemble. The diva teamed her ensemble with beige-hued pointed pumps, which went well with her attire. She kept her look minimal and elegant with delicate earrings and rings. The actress also carried a mini white-hued tote bag with her that completed her all-white look. Her makeup was lit up by bronzer and marked by a deep brown lip shade and fierce smoky kohl. The impeccable puffed sleek tresses notched up her vintage avatar. Priyanka upped her fashion game with this attire and made us reminiscent of Princess Diana's famous pale blue gown. So, what do you think about her attire and look? Let us know that in the comment section. Reciba en su email: noticias de ultima hora, analisis tecnicos o el cierre de mercado Email no valido Nombre requerido Recibira las informaciones mas relevantes del dia en tiempo real Que informacion desea recibir? Noticias de Ultima hora Boletin Cierre de Mercado Boletin analisis tecnico Boletin Fundsnews Debe seleccionar un tipo de boletin Acepto la Politica de privacidad Debe aceptar la politica de privacidad Responsable EMPRESAS DEL GRUPO WEB FINANCIAL GROUP Finalidad La remision de informacion, novedades y promociones Establecimiento o mantenimiento de Relaciones Comerciales. Legitimacion Consentimiento del interesado. Interes legitimo en el desarrollo de la relacion comercial Destinatario Empresas del Grupo WEB FINANCIAL GROUP Derechos Acceso, rectificacion, supresion, limitacion, oposicion y portabilidad Informacion adicional Politica de Privacidad de nuestra pagina Web + INFORMACION ROME - Three hospitals in Syria will provide a total of 15,000 free treatments to impoverished Syrian citizens in a programme called "Open Hospitals" supported by the Apostolic Nuncio to Syria, Cardinal Mario Zenari, and created by the Italian NGO AVSI Foundation. The programme aims to reach 50,000 free treatments within the next two years. Card. Zenari will present the programme on May 31 in a meeting at the Italian Embassy to the Holy See. The programme aims to respond to the neediest people in Syria, whose suffering has been dramatically exacerbated by the civil war in the country, which has been going on since 2011. In Aleppo, more than two million people do not have access to hospitals, and over a million people have no access to hospitals in Damascus. The project will be offered in these two cities at three non-profit hospitals: Italian Hospital and French Hospital in Damascus, and St. Louis Hopsital in Aleppo. ANSAmed - Weekly diary from May 20 to May 26 (ANSAmed) - ROME, MAY 17 - Weekly diary of the main events in the Euro-Mediterranean area from May 20 to May 26: MONDAY, MAY 20 VALLETTA - First court appearance for three migrants, of whom two are minors, accused of terrorism in relation to the alleged "hijacking" of the ship El Hiblu, which, according to charges, on March 28 was "forced" by the migrants to reroute to Malta with 108 migrants aboard after their rescue in international waters. TUESDAY, MAY 21 MILAN - Milano ArchWeek kicks off (until 26/5). GENOA - Global Fiware Summit 2019, international event on open source technologies (also 22/5). WEDNESDAY, MAY 22 CAGLIARI - Villanova Coworking - Meeting with journalist Giampaolo Cadalanu and MP Andrea Frailis on the war and the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, as part of the VII International Meeting on Mediterranean Politics. THURSDAY, MAY 23 VARIOUS EU CITIES - European elections (until 26/5). PARIS - Council of Europe. PALERMO - EU, visit by Commissioner Julian King who will give a speech at the event commemorating the mafia attacks in Capaci, organised by the National Association of Magistrates and the Falcone Foundation. FRIDAY, MAY 24 VARIOUS EU CITIES - European elections (until 26/5). SATURDAY, MAY 25 VARIOUS EU CITIES - European elections (until 26/5). SUNDAY, MAY 26 VARIOUS EU CITIES - European elections. (ANSAmed). As Westman farmers get this years crops in the ground, worries abound about how much their harvests will be worth when it comes time to bring them to market. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 15/5/2019 (956 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Advertisement Advertise With Us A charitable canola crop is harvested in Westman last September for the Canadian Foodgrain Bank. The profitability of this year's canola crops is up in the air as a result of international trade disputes. (File) As Westman farmers get this years crops in the ground, worries abound about how much their harvests will be worth when it comes time to bring them to market. The value of commodities continues to plunge as China gives Canada a cold shoulder in the wake of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhous deportation hearings. The price per metric ton of canola has dipped three dollars this week as China continues to block Canadian canola exports. Bruce Dalgarno of Pen-Dale Farms in Newdale told The Sun that his 2018 canola crops have been sold, but a big question mark hangs over whether hell be able to sell his 2019 harvest. Dalgarno said that the federal governments increase to the amount of money canola farmers can borrow against the expected value of their crops is unlikely to help farms like his. The amount of money farmers can borrow is based on how much canola farmers can grow. Last year, Dalgarno grew 4,000 acres of canola and wasnt eligible for the previous loan limit of $400,000. "Unless youre a 10,000-, 20,000-, 30,000-acre farm, then it wont do you any good at all," said Dalgarno. Mitch Janssens, a farmer in Boissevain and vice-president of Keystone Agricultural Producers, said that he hasnt changed how much canola hes growing this year. "Were keeping things the same because theres not much else we can grow on the Prairies," he said. "Quite honestly, I didnt know what else to grow." Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau briefly met with her Chinese counterpart on Monday, where she expressed Canadas concern with the suspension of canola exports to China over claims they are contaminated. Both were attending the G20 Agriculture Ministers Meeting in Japan on Monday. A news release from the agriculture ministry says the two officials had "an introductory conversation on the margins of the G20," where Bibeau urged that the issue needs to be resolved quickly. The release says Bibeau expressed that the Canadian government "stands firmly behind its robust inspection system and good reputation of being a reliable supplier of quality products worldwide." Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also said last week that the decision by Beijing to ban Canadian canola is linked to the trade war between China and the U.S. Trudeau said Canadian canola is "unimpeachable in terms of its quality" and China is using concerns over it "as an excuse to prolong what is fundamentally a conflict, not even with Canada, but between the two largest economies in the world." Two pork exporters in Quebec have also had their products blocked by China. Soybean exporters have also faced issues getting their products to market in China, and the price of soybean futures recently hit a 10-year low before recovering somewhat. The price of wheat has dropped from 460 cents per bushel to 439 cents per bushel in the last month. "These types of issues dont resolve themselves quickly," said David Derwin, a commodities/equities investment adviser specializing in agriculture for investment firm PI Financial. Derwin told The Sun that agricultural-related business and businesses that sell to farmers could be the next affected. "No ones going to be all that keen on spending half-a-million on a combine or upgrading equipment when prices are weak and theres a lot of trade uncertainty." Derwin said that for his own clients, he hedged at the higher February canola prices to mitigate risks. "This year in particular I think its been useful to have some knowledge and awareness and actually use options and futures to manage their commodity risk." Dalgarno doesnt think that more government programs will be able to help farmers. "They gotta get this China thing solved and get the price of canola back where it should be." Brandon-Souris Conservative MP Larry Maguire said that the federal government should take more action in the dispute. "To show the sincerity of the situation, give it the presence it need, we should have an ambassador in place." Canadian Ambassador to China John McCallum was asked to resign in January after he made public comments about Meng Wanzhows case. Maguire said that he also believes that Canada should withdraw $256 million it has invested in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in response to Chinese actions. "I believe that the government needs to be taking stronger measures in regards to where theyre at with this." cslark@brandonsun.com, with files from The Canadian Press Twitter: @ColinSlark NOTE: This article was updated on May 16 to reflect the correct spelling of Meng Wanzhou's name. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/5/2019 (954 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Advertisement Advertise With Us By Chelsea Kemp Downtown Brandon was rumbling from the thunder of hundreds of engines Thursday evening as hundreds of car enthusiasts rolled into town for the first cruise night of the summer. Ron Murray looks at the engine of a 1969 Camaro 502 during Cruise Night in Downtown Brandon hosted by Brandon & Area Car Enthusiasts on Thursday evening. (Chelsea Kemp/The Brandon Sun) Road Rebels president Dave Burba said he was pleased to see the vehicles that rode onto Rosser Avenue for the Cruise Night in Downtown Brandon hosted by Brandon & Area Car Enthusiasts. "This is awesome. Car guys are just itching to get out there and bring their cars out, show them off and talk about them and see everybody elses cars. ... This is what we wait for." Burba brought his 1979 Oldsmobile Toronado to settle in on the street among classic cars, hotrods, custom imports and everything in between. Bill Bridges and Adam Demark admire Demark's 1948 Harley Davidson Sportster during Cruise Night in Downtown Brandon hosted by Brandon & Area Car Enthusiasts on Thursday evening. (Chelsea Kemp/The Brandon Sun) Burba said he was happy with the turnout for the show, especially given that is the first one of the year and they never know what to expect in regards to the weather. However, it was a bittersweet show, as it also served to celebrate the life of car enthusiast Derek Byers, who died in November 2018 at the age of 36. "He was a great supporter of all the car clubs," Burba said. "He was loved by everybody." A guest drives away from Thursday evening's Cruise Night in Downtown Brandon, which was hosted by Brandon & Area Car Enthusiasts. (Chelsea Kemp/The Brandon Sun) A cutout of Byers was placed at the start of the show welcoming people as they arrived, as he used to, and dash plaques with a tribute to Byers and his work in the community were handed out to attendees. Car shows are a great chance to get out and meet people, Burba said, and always a great chance to see the new cars that are on the streets and seeing what is out there. "Sometimes its hard to make it the end because you talk to so many people," Burba said with a chuckle. Kevin Stokes, 15, buffs his dad's 1969 Oldsmobile at Cruise Night in Downtown Brandon. (Chelsea Kemp/The Brandon Sun) It is always fun to head down Rosser Avenue, he said, because its a chance to stroll down memory lane with some of the older vehicles, reconnect with motorhead friends or make meet some new ones. Everyone is welcome to the show, but Burba advises to resist touching the cars unless asking permission. "Just be courteous," he said. Guests walk along the Cruise Night in Downtown Brandon, which was hosted by Brandon & Area Car Enthusiasts on Thursday evening. (Chelsea Kemp/The Brandon Sun) Cruise nights will take place on the first Thursday of every month until September on Rosser Avenue. The next show is scheduled for June 6. ckemp@brandonsun.com Twitter: @The_ChelseaKemp The provincial government announced the recipients of cannabis licences in the second round of licensing since legalization Thursday morning. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/5/2019 (954 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Advertisement Advertise With Us The provincial government announced the recipients of cannabis licences in the second round of licensing since legalization Thursday morning. Retailers in Altona, Flin Flon, Lac du Bonnet, Niverville, the Municipality of Russell-Binscarth, Swan River and Virden were chosen to receive licences via randomized draw. The communities chosen for the expansion of the provinces legal cannabis market had been previously announced in March. Keith Horn In Virden, the company that owns the Northern Hotel on Main Street in Winnipeg will be offered a chance at a licence. "Its always good to win something," co-owner Keith Horn said of winning the draw. Horn told The Sun that he and his business partner Vladimir Krukovsky entered the draw for every community in the second phase cannabis rollout to maximize their chance of getting picked. Horn said that his company has no set plans in place or a timeline to open a store in Virden as of yet, but he and his partner intend on confirming their interest with the government. "We havent even worked out logistics or spoken with anybody from Virden, anything like that," said Horn. In the Municipality of Russell-Binscarth, the Corktown Cannabis Company based out of Torontos East End gets first crack at a licence. Like Horn and Krukovsky, Corktown Cannabis entered the draw in multiple communities. The owners of Corktown Cannabis own other businesses, but the Russell-Binscarth location will be their first cannabis outlet. Corktown Chief Executive Officer David Jacobs told The Sun that the company decided to start in Manitoba because the recent round of applications coincided with similar opportunities. David Jacobs Jacobs said that the companys application was nearly derailed by a comedy of errors. The Toronto-based company arranged for someone in Winnipeg to pick up their files and deliver them to the appropriate office. On deadline day, there were numerous technical difficulties getting the files sent and printed off, so their representative was in a rush. When driving to the office, the representatives GPS sent him driving the wrong way down a one-way street, so he pulled over and ran on foot. He dropped the application off with a minute to spare. "I think this is going to be a lot of fun," said Jacobs. "I just want everyone to know that were going to be a good, responsible neighbour and if there are any concerns that anyone has, they should feel free to reach out because its a small community and we really do need to respect [them]." The announcement marks the first time cannabis will be available outside cities and certain First Nations communities in Manitoba. The province has previously stated that the goal is to have legal cannabis available within a 30-minute drive for 90 per cent of Manitobans. Businesses have 10 days to confirm their interest in opening a cannabis store, at which point a standby retailer will be offered a licence instead. Manitoba has 23 existing cannabis stores in Brandon, Dauphin, Keeshkeemaquah, Morden, Opaskwayak Cree Nation, Portage la Prairie, Thompson and Winnipeg. cslark@brandonsun.com Twitter: @ColinSlark While tensions mounted as the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike and the Brandon Sympathy Strike came to life, inside Grahams Dance Hall music and laughter filled the air. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/5/2019 (954 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Advertisement Advertise With Us A more than century-old commercial building in the 300 block of 10th Street is being demolished so the land can be sold for new development. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun) While tensions mounted as the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike and the Brandon Sympathy Strike came to life, inside Grahams Dance Hall music and laughter filled the air. On Thursday, the old dance hall at 338 10th St. was in the process of tumbling down and with it another piece of Brandons rich history. Only the street-facing facade remained upright Thursday afternoon. Believed to be the citys oldest existing wooden commercial building, the structure served many masters over the years, a search of Hendersons city directories from past decades reveals. In 1919, when The Brandon Suns directory collection begins, it was the home of Grahams Dance Hall, later to become the Connaught Dance Hall in the Roaring 20s as Flappers and their male partners tore up the dance floor doing the Charleston. In the 1940s, it was known as the Esquire Dance Hall, where soldiers returning home from the war cuddled with their sweethearts. The building abandoned its musical roots and joined the citys commercial hub as The Trading Post in 1953. In 1970, Economy Textiles Centre took over the building, and in 1977 it became Fiesta Fabrics, which occupied the space until 1994, after which it sat vacant for a time. Other business ventures have since come and gone, including Happy Paws Doggy Daycare and The Ceramic Cellar. What will next take on life at that location is yet to be seen. Building owner Solomon Yilma said Thursday the plan is to sell the empty lot for someone to develop. Last week, The Sun met with Yilma, whose workers demolishing the building discovered a stack of 100-year-old newspapers. The papers were in the rafters of the building and had been used for insulation. brobertson@brandonsun.com Twitter: @BudRobertson4 WINNIPEG - A woman testified Friday that she helped hide another woman's dead body in a barrel filled with chemicals because the man accused in the killing had total control over her after years of abuse. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/5/2019 (954 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. WINNIPEG - A woman testified Friday that she helped hide another woman's dead body in a barrel filled with chemicals because the man accused in the killing had total control over her after years of abuse. "He probably could have told me to try and catch the sun and I would have done it," Holley Sullivan, 30, told jurors at Perez Cleveland's first-degree murder trial. Perez Cleveland is seen in this undated police handout photo. A Crown prosecutor says a man on trial for first-degree murder maintained control over multiple women he lived with through surveillance, drugs and abuse. Perez Cleveland, 46, has pleaded not guilty in the death of Jennifer Barrett, 42, whose body was found in a barrel behind their Winnipeg home in December 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Winnipeg Police Service *MANDATORY CREDIT* Cleveland, 46, has pleaded not guilty in the death of 42-year-old Jennifer Barrett, whose body was found in a barrel behind their Winnipeg home in 2016. Earlier this week, court heard that Cleveland shared the house with his adult daughter and five women who were described in court by one of them as "sister wives." Sullivan told court that she started dating Cleveland after they met while working at a call centre in Toronto in 2010. She was 21 and he was 36. At first, the relationship was like a honeymoon, Sullivan said, but then it turned abusive. When she moved in with Cleveland the following year, she learned that another woman he was in a relationship with also lived with him. Sullivan decided to stay. "Perez was very charming," she said. Yet she described years of physical violence in the household. On one occasion, he threatened her with a meat cleaver while she was stripped naked and wrapped in duct tape. GRAPHIC WARNING: This story contains details that may disturb some readers. Another time, he tied her to a bed and attempted to sexually assault her with a hot curling iron, Sullivan said. He also threatened to hurt her family if she ever tried to leave. "I stayed because that's where I thought my loyalty was to," she testified. Court heard that the unusual group which Barrett joined in 2012 had moved to Quebec and British Columbia before settling in Winnipeg in 2014. Soon after, Sullivan was jailed for a credit card scam that she said she did at Cleveland's behest. When she was released in 2016, two more women had joined them, including Jessica Reid, 36, who testified Thursday about beatings in the home with hammers, golf clubs and extension cords. Cleveland's lawyer has argued that Reid was jealous of Barrett's relationship with Cleveland and acted violently toward Barrett. Reid is also charged with being an accessory after the fact, but her case has not yet gone to trial. "Perez had an uncanny knack of making them think the abuse he inflicted on them was their fault," Sullivan testified. She told court that in August 2016 Cleveland began to punish Barrett over several days in the basement of their house because he believed she was cheating on him. There were bruises, welts and burn marks on Barrett's body, said Sullivan, who added she helped the woman shower because she couldn't lift her arms. "She was literally black and blue from head to toe," she said. Cleveland later told her Barrett had died and asked her and Reid to disposed of the body, Sullivan said. She researched liquid cremations online. The two women placed Barrett's body in a barrel with a mix of drain cleaner and water, Sullivan said. They heated up the barrel with a blowtorch to speed up decomposition. When asked why she continued to live with Cleveland after Barrett's death, Sullivan said she was under his complete control. "I genuinely feared for my life and my family's life," she said. "I didn't have anywhere else to go." OTTAWA - Here is a timeline of key events in Canada's dispute with the United States over NAFTA, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement and American tariffs on steel and aluminum: Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/5/2019 (954 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. OTTAWA - Here is a timeline of key events in Canada's dispute with the United States over NAFTA, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement and American tariffs on steel and aluminum: June 28, 2016: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump declares his antipathy for the North American Free Trade Agreement in a campaign speech in Pittsburgh, in the heart of a Rust Belt state that he would eventually win to secure the presidency. "NAFTA was the worst trade deal in history," says Trump, pledging to renegotiate the pact "to get a better deal for our workers." He promises to leave the agreement if Canada and Mexico refuse to bargain with him. Aug. 16, 2017: Canada, Mexico and the United States begin the renegotiation of NAFTA in earnest. The Trump administration opens with a lecture, upping the ante from earlier remarks that it simply wants to "tweak" the deal. Trump's trade czar Robert Lighthizer declares: "We feel that NAFTA has fundamentally failed many, many Americans and needs major improvement." October: The U.S. introduces so-called "poison pills" that Canada says it simply can't accept. The U.S. wants to increase American content in automobiles, get rid of Canada's supply-management system in agriculture, introduce a five-year sunset clause to force regular renegotiations, do away with a dispute-settlement mechanism and reduce Mexican and Canadian access to bidding on U.S. procurement projects. The three countries do eventually reach a new deal on autos, while the U.S. backs away from the other demands. March 14, 2018: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada won't be "bowled over" at the NAFTA talks by Trump. Trudeau makes the remarks while visiting steelworkers in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. "We're standing up for ourselves. But we know there's a win-win-win we can get to," Trudeau says. "We're pushing back on some things that we think might not be the right suggestions, which is what people would expect from Canada." May 31: Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross declares that the Trump administration is making good on its threat to slap hefty tariffs on Canadian metals exports 25 per cent on steel and 10 per cent on aluminum on the grounds that foreign steel dependency poses a threat to American national security. However, Ross signals clearly the tariffs are linked to the trade talks: "As to Canada, Mexico, you will recall that the reason for the deferral (of tariffs) had been pending the outcome of the NAFTA talks," he said. "Those talks are taking longer than we had hoped." June 7: Trump hurls a series of personal insults at Trudeau from Air Force One after a G7 summit in Quebec. The president calls Canada's prime minister "dishonest" and "weak" after Trudeau repeats his objections to the steel and aluminum tariffs. The incident marks a new low in prime ministerial-presidential politics across the 49th parallel at a time when NAFTA negotiations remain deadlocked. July 1: Canada imposes dollar-for-dollar tariff "countermeasures" of its own on up to $16.6 billion worth of imports of steel, aluminum and other products from the U.S. everything from flat-rolled steel to playing cards and felt-tipped pens. Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland calls the U.S. tariffs illegal and counterproductive; Trudeau calls it inconceivable that Canada could be seen as a national-security threat to the U.S. Aug. 27: Mexico and the United States announce their own bilateral trade deal after weeks of negotiations that were supposed to be only about autos. Instead they negotiated a sweeping text covering the full scope of the trading relationship. Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland blows up a trip to Europe and diverts to Washington, starting a month of intense negotiations to bring Canada into the NAFTA fold. Sept. 20: Liberal government insiders indicate that as the NAFTA talks come down to the wire, the so-called Section 232 tariffs so named for the obscure U.S. trade-law provision under which they were imposed remain a major sticking point. Some observers suggest negotiating the tariff dispute separately would mean a shorter path to a deal. Sept. 26: Trump strikes again, this time at the UN General Assembly: "Frankly, we're thinking about just taxing cars coming in from Canada," he says when asked about the stalled talks. "We're very unhappy with the negotiations and the negotiating style of Canada," he continues, adding, "We don't like their representative very much" a reference to Freeland. Sept. 30: Staring down a midnight deadline to provide a text of an agreement to Congress, Trump's and Trudeau's team work out last-minute details that bring Canada into a renewed continental trade pact. Trudeau leaves the Prime Minister's Office after a late-night cabinet meeting and says six words: "It's a good day for Canada." Oct. 19: Liberal government officials make it clear Canada will not accept any sort of a quota restriction on steel and aluminum exports to the U.S. in exchange for lifting the tariffs. Meanwhile, Mexican officials fuel speculation that the U.S. plans to lift the tariffs once the new agreement is signed during a G20 summit in Argentina. Nov. 30: Trump, Trudeau and outgoing Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto sign the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, at the summit but there is no sign of movement on tariffs. Jan. 30, 2019: Kevin Brady, the ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee (its senior member from the minority Republicans), sends the first clear signal that the tariffs could be a problem for both Democrats and Republicans when it comes to ratifying the new trade deal. "They're not really willing to consider this agreement until the steel and aluminum tariffs are ensured to be lifted off, including quotas," Brady tells a trade conference in Washington. Feb. 21: David MacNaughton, Canada's ambassador to the U.S., declares publicly that he's confident the tariffs will be lifted "in the next few weeks" comments he later acknowledges were aimed at lighting a fire under recalcitrant U.S. negotiators. Later that same week, Transport Minister Marc Garneau tells a gathering of governors in the U.S. capital that Canada would struggle to ratify the agreement with the tariffs still in place. "I got the message loud and clear," responds Larry Kudlow, Trump's senior economic adviser. May 17: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suddenly adds a trip to a Stelco plant in Hamilton, Ont., to his schedule. He confirms reports that an agreement on tariffs has been reached and that the levies will be gone within 48 hours. "This decision reflects what is known to be true by friends on both sides of the border," Trudeau says. "Canada has been America's most steadfast ally for more than 100 years, and our long-standing partnership and closely linked economies make us more competitive around the world and improve our combined security." OTTAWA - The RCMP says a Canadian-based company that peddled an illicit trove of 1.5 billion user names and associated passwords has pleaded guilty to criminal charges. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/5/2019 (954 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The RCMP logo is seen outside Royal Canadian Mounted Police "E" Division Headquarters, in Surrey, B.C., on April 13, 2018. The RCMP says a Canadian-based company that peddled an illicit trove of 1.5 billion usernames and associated passwords has pleaded guilty to criminal charges. In a news release, the Mounties say Defiant Tech Inc. admitted in court Friday to trafficking in identity information and possession of property obtained by crime a year after charges were laid in the probe. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck OTTAWA - The RCMP says a Canadian-based company that peddled an illicit trove of 1.5 billion user names and associated passwords has pleaded guilty to criminal charges. In a news release, the Mounties say Defiant Tech Inc. admitted in court Friday to trafficking in identity information and possession of property obtained by crime a year after charges were laid in the probe. The investigation began three years ago, when the RCMP learned the website LeakedSource was being hosted on servers in Quebec. The website, now shut down, had a total of some three billion pieces of data for sale, earning the company about $247,000. The Mounties say they had valuable help from the Dutch national police and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation on the probe. At a January 2018 news conference announcing the charges, the RCMP said the force believed that several Canadians were affected there was no precise number and might still be at risk due to the information being available online through various dark-web sites. The extensive database was assembled using personal information stolen by hackers in recent years from domains like networking site LinkedIn and extramarital-affair hub ashleymadison.com, the police force said. OTTAWA - Five things to keep in mind in the wake of Friday's news that Canada and the U.S. reached an agreement to end punitive American tariffs on steel and aluminum exports: Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/5/2019 (954 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. OTTAWA - Five things to keep in mind in the wake of Friday's news that Canada and the U.S. reached an agreement to end punitive American tariffs on steel and aluminum exports: 1.The devil is in the details. So far, it's not clear what concessions Canada made in order to convince a famously stubborn White House to abandon the tariffs, which survived not only the reaching of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement last September, but also its ceremonial signing two months later in Buenos Aires. What, exactly, prompted the self-proclaimed "Tariff Man" to finally stand down? All that's known is that Canada agreed to "prevent" the import of unfairly subsidized or "dumped" steel, and work with the U.S. to prevent transshipment foreign steel that moves through either country to the other. Reaching an "agreed-upon process" to monitor metals trading is also part of the deal, which allows the U.S. to reimpose tariffs should import levels spike. 2.Next, the new NAFTA. never mind Democratic intransigence on Capitol Hill; the tariffs emerged in recent months as the number-one obstacle to getting the USMCA ratified not only in the U.S., but in Canada and Mexico as well. It's unknown if the tariff detente will jar loose the long-standing logjam in Congress, where conventional wisdom says many Democrats are reluctant to give President Donald Trump even a whiff of victory as the 2020 election approaches. However, there are signs that opposition may be dwindling: House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, widely seen as holding the fate of the agreement in her hands, sent positive signals about her party's desire to "get to Yes" after a "productive meeting" earlier this week with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. 3.The China conundrum. Canada has been caught in the crossfire between the U.S. and China ever since Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou was detained in Vancouver late last year at the behest of the U.S. Justice Department. Meng, who is caught up in an American indictment that accuses Huawei of violating U.S. sanctions against Iran, is awaiting an extradition hearing to determine whether she will be sent stateside to face charges. China has since detained two Canadians on claims of espionage and sentenced a third to death for drug smuggling. Friday's tariff agreement, which enlists Canada's help in policing the North American steel market against Chinese dumping, could be seen as pushing Canada even deeper into America's corner. 4.Canada's election. With voters headed to the ballot box this fall, polls suggest Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in trouble. But Trump is deeply unpopular, and the tariffs haven't helped; Friday's news will give the governing Liberals the chance to portray themselves as the only party with experience and success in dealing with the famously unpredictable and combative commander-in-chief. Look for the hard-charging Conservatives to do their level best to counter that perception when the House of Commons comes back May 27 after next week's break. 5.America's election. As 2020 approaches, look for Trump to mount a full-court press to get the USMCA ratified in Congress and give him badly needed campaign-trail ammunition. Will the Democrats, who control the House of Representatives and have never been known as free-trade fans, be willing to hand him a victory? Or are they content to fight other, higher-profile battles, wary of the blowback from constituents who want to see the deal passed? POMPANO BEACH, Fla. - Florida police say they have arrested a 28-year-old man in connection with the murder of an elderly Quebec couple found dead in March in their mobile home in Pompano Beach, north of Fort Lauderdale. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 16/5/2019 (955 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. POMPANO BEACH, Fla. - Florida police say they have arrested a 28-year-old man in connection with the murder of an elderly Quebec couple found dead in March in their mobile home in Pompano Beach, north of Fort Lauderdale. The Broward County Sheriff's Office said Thursday in a news release they arrested Quinton Johnson for the murder of 80-year-old Marc and 78-year-old Rita Gagne. Police found the couple's bodies in their bedroom on March 22, 2019. A Florida medical examiner said they died as a result of blunt force trauma to the head and ruled their deaths as homicides. Police said they arrested Johnson on April 1, 2019, in connection with the shooting and robbing of another man at a bank machine. The Broward County Sheriff's Office's said forensic evidence "placed Johnson at the scene" of the Gagne murders. Johnson is currently in a Broward County Sheriff's Office jail. "He has a long criminal history of occupied burglaries and grand theft and had been released from prison in February 2019, after serving a seven-year sentence," the police force said in a statement. News reports indicated the couple were from St-Come-Liniere, Que., about 120 kilometres southeast of Quebec City. The Gagne's Florida neighbours had said the couple split their time between the Pompano Beach area and Quebec. CALGARY - Alberta Premier Jason Kenney is calling for a full-court press to kill Ottawa's proposed B.C. coast tanker ban now that it has been defeated in a Senate committee. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 16/5/2019 (955 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney attends a photo opportunity with Ontario Premier Doug Ford at the Ontario Legislature in Toronto on Friday, May 3, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young CALGARY - Alberta Premier Jason Kenney is calling for a full-court press to kill Ottawa's proposed B.C. coast tanker ban now that it has been defeated in a Senate committee. Kenney says he hopes the full Senate will follow the lead of its transportation and communications committee and reject Bill C-48. He says that in the meantime he hopes to rally support for his cause by meeting with Alberta senators next week and having his energy minister head to Ottawa to make Alberta's case to senators there. The Alberta legislature will also be putting forward a motion next week calling for the Senate to reject the bill. Bill C-48 would put into law a long-standing voluntary moratorium on coastal tanker traffic between the northern tip of Vancouver Island and the Alaska border something Alberta says would frustrate efforts to grow its oil industry. The House of Commons passed the bill a week ago. Kenney says he will also keep pushing to have the Senate reject Bill C-69, proposed legislation opponents say would make it difficult to get future energy megaprojects approved. "We will continue to work on behalf of Albertans in speaking truth to power," Kenney said Thursday. The Senate committee rejected Bill C-48 with a 6-6 vote Wednesday night. The committee's five Conservative senators voted against it, as did Alberta independent Paula Simons. Five other independents and one self-identified Liberal voted in favour. A tie vote meant the proposal failed. Simons said she wasn't confident that enough homework had been done to justify a permanent ban. By Dean Bennett in Edmonton OTTAWA - The Liberals used their majority on a House of Commons committee Thursday to block an opposition attempt to launch an inquiry into the failed prosecution of Vice-Admiral Mark Norman. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 16/5/2019 (955 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Liberal MPs Sherry Romanado, Sven Spengemann, Yves Robillard, Mark Gerretsen and Darren Fisher wait for the start of the Standing Committee on National Defence, Sherry on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Thursday, May 16, 2019. The meeting was requested by four members to undertake a study of the government's conduct in the investigation and prosecution of Vice-Admiral Mark Norman. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang OTTAWA - The Liberals used their majority on a House of Commons committee Thursday to block an opposition attempt to launch an inquiry into the failed prosecution of Vice-Admiral Mark Norman. Conservative and NDP members of the Commons defence committee forced a special meeting to debate a Tory motion that would have initiated an investigation into how the military's former second-in-command came to be prosecuted on breach-of-trust charges. The case fell apart last week, when Crown prosecutors told the judge that new evidence they'd received from Norman's defence team had led them to conclude there was no reasonable chance of convicting him. The admiral had been accused of leaking government secrets to Quebec's Davie shipyard, supposedly to help it nail down a $700-million contract for a navy supply ship that had been approved by the previous Conservative government and which the new Liberal government decided to review in 2015 before eventually finalizing it. Vice Admiral Mark Norman reacts during a press conference in Ottawa on Wednesday, May 8, 2019. The Liberals have used their majority on a House of Commons committee to block an attempt to launch an inquiry into the failed prosecution of Vice-Admiral Mark Norman. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick Conservatives on the committee charged that the case was politically motivated and an inquiry is needed to get to the bottom of it. "There is more growing and growing evidence that Prime Minister (Justin) Trudeau and the Liberal government politically interfered in this case and tried to destroy Vice-Admiral Mark Norman. They besmirched his reputation and good character," Conservative defence critic James Bezan told the committee. "This whole case has been politically motivated since Day One." But Liberal committee members countered that both the RCMP and the Public Prosecution Service of Canada have publicly affirmed that they operated completely independent of the government in conducting the investigation, deciding to prosecute Norman and then ultimately to stay the charges. They accused Conservatives of ignoring the facts and wasting the committee's time in a bid to tar the governing party just five months before an election. "What seems politically motivated is that the Conservatives refuse to accept the fact that there was no political interference in this because it doesn't fit the narrative that they're trying to advance," said Kingston Liberal MP Mark Gerretsen. "It's symptomatic of the fact that we are in an election year that we have seen an increase in partisan attacks from the official Opposition and that's the case because they have no substance on policy," added Toronto-area Liberal Sven Spengemann. NDP defence critic Randall Garrison attempted to find a compromise, reducing the Conservatives' lengthy list of proposed witnesses including Trudeau, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan and Gen. Jonathan Vance, chief of defence staff, among others to just one: Norman. He appealed to the Liberals to give Norman a chance to tell the story of his two-year ordeal at committee, the one place where he'd be protected by parliamentary privilege from any repercussions from speaking out. As a serving member of the military, Norman is prohibited from saying anything critical of the government he serves, noted Conservative MP Erin O'Toole, a former member of the forces. Spengemann said all committee members agree that Norman should have a chance to tell his story but he argued the committee was not the right forum. "We should not insert him into a politically charged forum to make the case that he needs to make." Spengemann suggested that it might be different if Norman were to request a chance to testify before the committee, rather than being invited by committee members with political agendas of their own. Garrison's proposed compromise was defeated on a vote of 5-4, as was the original Conservative motion. Denying Norman the right to testify at committee, makes it "very difficult to make Vice-Admiral Norman whole," and leaves him with "his reputation in tatters," Garrison said after the meeting. OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau must launch a public inquiry into the case of Vice-Admiral Mark Norman, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer said Friday. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/5/2019 (954 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Conservative leader Andrew Scheer speaks to reporters following a caucus meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, May 15, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau must launch a public inquiry into the case of Vice-Admiral Mark Norman, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer said Friday. Speaking on Parliament Hill, Scheer said a full investigation is justified to examine how the military's former second-in-command came to be charged over alleged leaks of cabinet secrets about a shipbuilding contract. The Opposition leader also said he has questions about Trudeau's role in launching the original leak investigation and whether the government behaved improperly in resisting the release of documents to Norman's lawyers. "I call on Justin Trudeau to conduct a formal public inquiry into exactly how and why the RCMP were called in to investigate Vice-Admiral Mark Norman and to any other relevant issues surrounding this affair," Scheer said. Norman faced one count of breach of trust, over an alleged attempt to undermine the federal cabinet's decision on buying a refitted supply ship for the navy from Quebec's Davie shipyard by slipping Davie confidential information. The case collapsed last week after Crown prosecutors got new information from the defence that convinced them they stood no reasonable chance of landing a conviction evidence apparently related to direction Norman received from the previous Conservative government about dealings with Davie. On Thursday, the Liberal majority on the House of Commons defence committee rejected an opposition effort to start a committee investigation into the Norman affair, accusing the Conservatives of ignoring the facts in a bid to tar the governing party five months before an election. Despite statements from prosecutors that the prime minister didn't put political pressure on them Kathleen Roussel, the head of the federal prosecution service, sent an unusual statement to that effect after the case ended Scheer alleged Friday that Trudeau interfered. "His fingerprints have been on this from Day 1," Scheer said, adding that Norman deserves a personal apology from the prime minister. At an event for Royal Military College graduates in Kingston, Ont., Gen. Jonathan Vance told CTV News that Trudeau played no role in suspending Norman before he was charged. "The prime minister did not pressure me to suspend him, OK?" said the chief of the defence staff, Norman's only superior in the Canadian Armed Forces. "My decision, my decision alone because of the Code of Service Discipline and the Queen's Regulations and Orders. Not the prime minister, not the minister, me. I own it." The Tories will try to keep the issue alive when the House of Commons returns after a break week. On Friday, the party gave formal notice of a motion demanding the Prime Minister's Office release a 60-page memo on the case that Michael Wernick, the then-clerk of the Privy Council, sent Trudeau in October. WYTHEVILLE, Va. - A vigil was held Thursday evening for a Nova Scotia woman who survived a knife attack on the Appalachian Trail and for the man who died in the incident. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/5/2019 (954 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. WYTHEVILLE, Va. - A vigil was held Thursday evening for a Nova Scotia woman who survived a knife attack on the Appalachian Trail and for the man who died in the incident. James Jordan, 30, of West Yarmouth, Mass., is charged with murder and assault with intent to commit murder in the attack, which left an Oklahoma man dead. Wythe County police have said 43-year-old Ronald Sanchez Jr., 43, was found dead early Saturday, about 100 metres from where the suspect was arrested. Foster did not have the name of the injured woman but said it was his understanding that she was from Nova Scotia. The president of the Appalachian Trail, Suzanne Dixon, said Thursday that users of the popular hiking trail are hoping for a full recovery of the injured woman and are reaching out in sympathy to Sanchez's family. The group held a vigil Thursday evening at a baseball field in Damascus, Va. Hiking groups have said the entire event came as a shock, as the Appalachian Trail has a reputation for being safe even for people who hike alone. According to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, it is the longest hiking-only footpath in the world, stretching roughly 3,500 kilometres from Georgia to Maine. More than 3 million people visit the trail every year and over 3,000 people attempt to hike the entire footpath in a single year. Name: Geraldine King Occupation: CEO of the National Recruitment Federation Background: Voluntary organisation set up to establish and maintain standards and codes of practice for the Recruitment Industry in Ireland. Founded in 1971, the NRF represents recruitment agencies throughout the country and it also promotes professional competence within the industry. Since its foundation almost a half-century ago, the National Recruitment Federation (NRF) has been tasked with providing support to its membership and promoting professional competence within the industry. As part of this mission it has inaugurated a formal education programme in recruitment practice to ensure all new entrants to the industry have a solid grounding in legislation, customer service operations and sales. Over recent decades the recruitment industry has changed significantly with the introduction of job boards and social recruitment having presented challenges to the fundamentals of how the industry operates. Recognised as the foremost representative body for the industry in Ireland, the NRF also lobbies at national and European level in relation to changes that impact on its members. The NRF has grown considerably over the last decade in particular due to putting a focus on membership and its value, explains Geraldine King, who joined in 2009. It was the middle of the recession and our industry was probably one of the hardest hit, and our members found themselves dealing with a totally different market. "It was a time when we needed to give our members tangible and workable toolkits to help them sustain and grow the business that they had. In her role as CEO, Geraldine King has lobbied government on labour market issues including barriers to womens participation, the Agency Workers Act, investment in education and labour market skills and zero hours contracts. As part of expanding NRF members services, she has also helped introduce the accredited Certificate in Recruitment Practice to the industry. The main driver of the lobbying team resulting in the first apprenticeship programme for recruiters on the National Academic Framework, she also successfully secured a dedicated NRF Skillnet, providing subsidised training for members. To be involved in policy today is more important than ever before. An Illinois small business owner discusses why Main Street retailers should make their voice heard. #SmallBusinessWeek National Retail Federation (@NRFnews) May 10, 2019 We champion employment laws and any kind of legislative governance to help the worker, and maintain a good relationship with the Government and all those departments that are applicable to where we need to go. "And while we have to lobby locally for what is best for the Irish labour market, we are very conscious that it is often a challenge for smaller companies to make changes that have been enacted. "For this reason, we provide workshops and breakfast briefings to help them implement what the new legislation directs. The NRF is currently taking applications for its Programme in Recruitment Practice, the only dedicated programme of its kind in Ireland, and presented in partnership with the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) and City & Guilds. One of my first briefs coming into the NRF was to implement an education portfolio for members, and coming from a background in recruitment, I could see the need for it also helped by my pre-recruitment background in training. "We put in place this certificate of recruitment practice which is the only one of its kind in Ireland, and which does tick a lot of boxes. Designed to instigate a uniform standard across the industry, the qualification will give holders a competitive edge: The programme is a must for those new to the industry or for those with experience who wish to validate and improve their knowledge. "Agency clients will be secure in the knowledge that they are employing a qualified recruiter, and successful graduates will be entitled to use the NRF certRP title after their name, she adds. In addition, the NRF has also recently applied for an apprenticeship programme, which would be a first in the world degree of its kind. It is already written and we hope to have it in the market by January 2020, and we are only waiting on red tape to be completed, she said. It speaks so much for the thought leadership of the industry to have recognised the fact that there is no official career path for recruiters anywhere in the world and Ireland will be the first to lead that with this degree. Another issue with relevance for an Ireland currently at almost full employment is the research revealing that women over the age of 35 have lower participation rates in the workforce than their EU counterparts. The cost of childcare is the single biggest inhibitor of women with children returning to the workforce, she says. Lack of affordable day-care and after-school childcare means one parent, usually the woman, but sometimes the man, has to give up their career, or to limit their contribution. With childcare costs in Ireland amongst the highest in the OECD, she cites the success of the Swedish system where state-supported childcare and education is fundamental to welfare policies and budget spending. Affordable childcare is a pipe dream for most Irish families when paying out monthly costs amounting to almost a second mortgage. There needs to be an holistic and determined approach where affordable childcare is the first hurdle, followed by further practical steps, she believes. Encouraging the provision of flexible working options by employers, including the State, to assist parents integrate back into the workforce, with back-to-work training and a stepped return to build confidence and allow better preparation. Last September, Geraldine King and Frank Farrelly, CEO and president of the NRF, respectively, were ranked on a prestigious European listing for business leaders in the staffing arena. The Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA), European Business Leaders Top 100 List recognised their roles in developing formal education and training supports within the Irish recruitment sector. Having two of the NRF executive included in this industry roll of honour is very satisfying and reflects the challenges currently faced by the recruitment sector in Ireland, navigating the world of work through the rapid shifts in the marketplace of late, she said of the honour. Growth in 2019 could be half of official estimates as the effects of the recent VAT hike and the possibility of a hard Brexit may cost Irish tourism close to 1 billion. The new chairperson of the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation, Ruth Andrews, has warned that a demonstrable lack of Government focus will negatively impact Irelands largest indigenous industry and biggest regional employer. We are fearful that a hard Brexit, coupled with the VAT hike in the last budget, will cost Irish tourism close to 1 billion. Were at a key junction in Irish tourism and the Government must take a lead to help restore the industrys competitiveness at this uncertain time. ITIC estimates that growth in 2019 at 3% will only be half of official estimates, citing Government inaction on tourism, the soaring costs of business, inadequate overseas marketing budgets, new regulations curbing self-catering tourism accommodation, and increased taxation and labour regulations. ITICs Tourism: An Industry Strategy for Growth to 2025 estimates that revenue can grow by 65% and that 80,000 jobs will be created across tourism and hospitality in the coming years. However, this is predicated on the policy recommendations within the strategy being implemented by industry, tourism agencies and Government. Andrews, who has just commenced a two-year term, said that pro-tourism policies were vital and urged the speedy lifting of the planning restrictions for the new runway at Dublin Airport, which is the key gateway for tourism to the island. In its progress update, Eoghan OMara Walsh, CEO of ITIC, noted that, of the 51 recommendations within the strategy, 13 had been implemented, 28 are a work-in-progress and warrant increased focus, while 10 are heading in the wrong direction. He highlighted that although tourism was at a record high, 2019 would be tougher than anticipated with hotel occupancy in decline for the year to date. Brexit is already having a material impact with Britain, our biggest market, down 3% in March. British visitors have the best seasonal and regional spread, so this will inevitably effect the regions most, he said. OMara Walsh urged more investment by the Government in tourism, stating the modest increase this year only brings tourism funding back to 2008 levels that is a long decade of under investment. If the Government is serious about doubling Irelands global footprint it needs to prove its commitment to the tourism sector, he added. He also pointed out that the tourism industry has committed approximately 2.5 billion over the next three years with more than 5,000 new hotel bedrooms currently on-site across the country. Mr OMara Walsh added: The hospitality industrys competitiveness has been seriously weakened by the Governments decision to hike the tourism VAT rate by 50% and unsustainable business cost increases for SMEs which are the backbone of the sector. An online car hire business fears it will go out of business because the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) won't allow it to pick up its customers at the airport, the High Court has heard The claims have been made by ER Travel Ltd, which trades under the name Easirent.com, and is part of a group of companies that offers online car rental services in the UK, the US as well as Ireland. It has sued the DAA for damages over the on-going refusal by the DAA to allow it to collect its customers at the airport and take them to its offices 2km away where they pick up their rentals. The DAA denies the claims. It says the company is carrying on unlicensed business activity at the airport's facilities which the DAA claims breaches by-laws governing the airport. As part of its action, where it seeks damages against the DAA, Easirent seeks an injunction preventing the DAA from stopping the car hire business from collecting its customers from the airport's public car park. The injunction, if granted would remain in place pending the final outcome of the action. The injunction application, which the DAA says should not be granted, is before Mr Justice Tony O'Connor. The company commenced operations in 2016, employs 33 people and its offices are located 2.1km from the airport. High O'Keeffe SC told the court that Easirent collects its customers from the airport and brings them to its offices where its customers pick up their rented cars. Counsel said a few months after it started trading the DAA sent it a cease and desist letter. The company found this strange as it does not operate in the airport. In August 2016, counsel said the Airport Police, who work for the DAA, refused the company's employees access to the airport car park. It also threatened taxi and hackney drivers that their licences would be revoked if they carried passengers who used Easirent.com's services. There were other incidents, but things then settled down. Last April, there was "an increased level of hostility from the DAA" when Easirent's drivers taking it customer's from the airport to its offices were again stopped, counsel said. Counsel said this disturbance is having a "catastrophic" effect on his client's operations and claims there is a concerted effort by the DAA to "destroy its business". Counsel said the DAA's actions are anti-competitive and are being carried out because his client, unlike other car hire companies, does not operate out of Dublin Airport and does not have a licence agreement with the DAA. In a sworn statement to the court, the firm's Managing Director Paul Hanley said Airport Police have also been watching their activities away from the airport itself. He said they "park outside our premises and they clearly give the impression of being concerned only with our activities and not with the Dublin Airport car park". This was very unsettling for his customers, he added. The DAA, represented by James Doherty SC, opposes the application and said the claims concerning the alleged behaviour of the Airport Police are "vigorously denied". It also says that no taxi nor hackney was told their licences would be revoked, as claimed. It says that it has tried to resolve the ongoing breaches of the by-laws with the company, but said it has repeatedly informed Easirent that it is in breach of the by-laws. Counsel said that the DAA position is that permission is required by any firm or entity wishing to pick up clients at the airport. The case continues next week. The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) has teamed up with the State-owned forestry business Coillte to combat wildfires using drones. The use of drone technology will initially be rolled out in the Dublin Mountains and comes after an Orange fire warning (the third highest of four warning levels) was issued by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine earlier this week, with more warnings expected during the summer months ahead. Drones will be used for the first time in Ireland to survey areas and spot fires before they spread out of control. If the pilot initiative is successful, both NPWS and Coillte will look to roll out this technology in other areas. Over recent years, many rural and remote communities are hugely impacted by wildfires, which can cause significant environmental and economic damage. Josepha Madigan, Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, which oversees the NPWS, said she is delighted that Coillte is joining the initiative: Its not just a commercial loss when these fires happen, there is a huge environmental loss resulting from forest fires. The drones will be able to help establish firebreaks and keep wildfires from spreading and reduce the risk of environmental damage. Pat Neville, Coillte communications manager, said the use of drones could prove a lifesaver. Utilising this technology will allow drones to become our eyes in the skies, and enable our teams to spot the earliest moment a fire starts, helping to save not only the environment but most importantly peoples lives, he said. Last year Coillte tackled more than 150 forest fires with the largest and most dangerous of these incidents occurring in the Slieve Blooms in Laois and Offaly. In 2018, more than 600 hectares of the Coillte estate was damaged by forest fires and it cost the State more than 4m. Mr Neville added: Drones can be equipped with infrared cameras that peer through smoke, as well as sensors for wind direction and other weather variables that affect how fires spread. "They will capture continuous footage of areas deem as high-risk and spot small fires that otherwise could not have been detected until they had become much larger and harder to contain. "With the Forest Fire weather warning still in place, we ask people to remain vigilant, he added. A High Court jury, in a majority verdict, has awarded 160,000 damages to solicitor Gerald Kean after finding he was defamed in a newspaper article concerning a visit by members of the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) to his Dublin office. Mr Kean will also get his costs of the eight-day hearing. A majority of at least nine jurors found the March 11, 2016 article in the Irish Daily Star meant Mr Kean was subject of a probe by CAB into the criminal activities of the Hutch/Kinahan gang following the Regency Hotel shootings. A majority could not agree on whether the article meant Mr Kean was suspected by CAB of being associated with gangland crime and of facilitating criminal activity in his profession as a solicitor. A majority also found, in the circumstances of the case, the manner and extent of publication was more than was reasonably sufficient; the article was not published in the course of, or for the purpose of, the discussion of a subject of public interest, the discussion of which was for the public benefit; and it was not fair and reasonable to publish it. Mr Kean was in court with his brother, senior counsel Richard Kean, and a friend when the verdict was announced just after 2pm today. An application for a stay on the damages order will be heard by Mr Justice Bernard Barton next Wednesday when he will also hear submissions concerning whether the article breached Mr Keans privacy. That issue is not for a jury to decide. After the verdict, Mr Kean said he was very pleased with the verdict. It was not a case I took lightly, it was very upsetting for me. I felt I was left with no alternative, Im delighted with the outcome. He also thanked his lawyers, senior counsel Jim OCallaghan and Paul OHiggins, solicitor Simon McAleese, his family and friends and the thousands of well-wishers who had contacted him. Mr Kean sued over an article published in the Irish Daily Star on March 11, 2016, headlined Kean Caught Up in CAB probe. It concerned a visit by CAB officers on March 9, 2016 to the solicitors offices at Upper Pembroke Street with a view to getting a conveyancing file relating to the purchase in 2015 of a house at Kildare Road, Crumlin by a client of the firm, Sean McGovern, whom CAB suspected of involvement with the Kinahan crime gang. CAB had secured warrants from the District Court to search 18 premises, including Mr Keans, on March 9, 2016 as part of its long-running investigation into the assets of the Kinahan gang. The file was provided to the CAB officers by Mr Keans office and a senior CAB officer told the court it ultimately lead to Mr McGoverns house being forfeit to the state as having been purchased with the proceeds of crime. Mr Kean said he was distressed and shell-shocked by the article and claimed it wrongly meant he was linked to gangland crime and had damaged him personally and professionally. Independent Star Ltd denied the article bore the meanings alleged and denied defamation. It and also pleaded a defence under Section 26 of the Defamation Act to the effect of fair and reasonable publication for purpose of discussion of a matter of public interest in the public benefit. Michael OToole The newspapers Crime Correspondent Michael OToole, who wrote the article, said it was fair, reasonable and accurate and he did not consider it was sensationalised. His view was that there was, and is, a public interest in revealing that Mr Kean, a significant public figure, had been caught up in the CAB operation, he said. The jury of five women and seven men went out to consider their verdict about 3.40pm on Thursday after they were instructed on the applicable law by Mr Justice Barton. They were sent home about 6.45pm and returned to court to resume deliberations at 10am today. At 11.10am, the foreman told the judge they could not reach a unanimous verdict, more time would not assist them in doing so and they wanted guidance on their options. Mr Justice Barton told the jury it was open to them to reach a majority verdict on which at least nine of them must agree. The same nine must agree on the answers to each aspect of the questions, he also said. The jury resumed their deliberations and returned at 2pm with their verdict. Adoption campaigners have hit out at the "hypocrisy and dishonesty" of the Government in refusing to launch an inquiry into forced and illegal adoption. It comes as a number of prominent independent politicians introduced a motion in the Dail calling for an immediate inquiry and for immediate redress to be offered to survivors of Mother and Baby Homes. The current inquiry into Mother and Baby Homes is limited to adoption practices and procedures of agencies and individuals with a direct connection to a mother and baby home. For more than a decade now, campaigners have called for a full State inquiry into adoption practices across all agencies. Paul Redmond of the Coalition of Mother and Baby Home Survivors (CMABS) said the increasing support for a full inquiry into is encouraging: "This Dail motion has exposed the hypocrisy and dishonesty at the heart of a Government who have decided on a 'deny till they die' policy towards an elderly and dying survivor community. Leo Varadkar's office still refuses to answer CMABS' calls for a meeting and wilfully ignores correspondence. Shame on Zappone and Varadkar, this is their true political legacy behind their slick spin doctors and expensive publicity machines. Enough talk, survivors demand action. The motion was introduced by independent TD Clare Daly and is supported by a number of other independent TDs including Mick Wallace, Joan Collins, Catherine Connolly, Maureen O'Sullivan, Thomas Pringle and Thomas Broughan. Ms Daly said it is clear from evidence already in the public domain with regard to illegal adoptions that a separate inquiry into adoption practices in Ireland is required. She cited the "heroic work" done by the Irish Examiner in exposing forced and illegal adoption practices since 2010. She pointed out that children's minister Katherine Zappone's decision to launch a scoping exercise into illegal birth registrations was not appropriate and did not go far enough. The Irish Examiner revealed in April that the long-delayed scoping exercise is looking at a sample of just more than 1% of records held by Tusla and the Adoption Authority of Ireland (AAI) and is not looking for evidence of illegal adoptions. Instead, records are being compared against a set list of 24 labels or "markers" which might indicate an illegal birth registration has occurred. It is unclear if any completed adoption orders are being examined as part of the inquiry. The scoping exercise was announced by children's minister Katherine Zappone last May following the discovery by Tusla of 126 cases in which births were illegally registered between 1946 and 1969 in the records of the former St Patricks Guild adoption agency. Some of these records were marked "adopted from birth". The records transferred to the agency in 2016. The Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA) had previously declined to reveal the sample size of the 150,000 records to be examined as part of the review or the methodology involved. In response, Ms Zappone said the issue of forced and illegal adoption, and issues surrounding Mother and Baby homes, had "left a stain on our nation" but said the current Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes had "sufficient scope" to examine the issues. Former Labour Party TD and Minister for State Joe Costello has settled a High Court defamation action over an article in the Irish Mail on Sunday. The terms of settlement included an apology were read in court to Mr Costello today. Mr Costello, who is a candidate in the forthcoming elections for Dublin City Council and was in court with his wife Emer, had sued Associated Newspapers (Ireland) Ltd over an article published in the Irish Mail on Sunday on February 14, 2016. Today, Declan Doyle SC, for Mr Costello, told Mr Justice Bernard Barton the case had settled on terms including an apology to be read in court by counsel for the newspaper. It stated: We wish to apologise to Mr Joe Costello for the contents of the article about him in the edition of the Irish Mail on Sunday of the 14th February 2016. The picture accompanying the article was headlined HYPOCRISY! on the front page. The story continued on pages four and five. We accept that the assertion of hypocrisy and the further assertion that Mr Costello was posing gleefully with Mr Gerard Hutch aka the monk was incorrect and untrue. "Mr Costellos political career as a City Councillor, Senator, TD and Minister for Trade and Development has been one of the utmost probity and integrity. We apologise to Mr Costello for the distress and embarrassment caused to him by our report. After the apology was read, Mr Justice Bernard Barton made an order on consent striking out the proceedings. A man who fired eight shots from a semi-automatic pistol as he raided a Dublin post office has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. Glen Kavanagh, 43, held a Makarov pistol to a customers head and then leapt over the counter before he was tackled to the ground by a passing ESB repairman, a court has heard. Counsel for Kavanagh told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that his client had no memory of carrying out the raid as he was out of control on drugs at the time. Kavanagh of Upper Oriel Street in Dublin pleaded guilty to robbery and unlawful possession of a firearm at Woodbine Park Post Office, Blackrock, on January 19, 2016. Judge Melanie Greally sentenced him for possessing the Makarov pistol. She said that the unlawful possession of a firearm offence came close to the top of the upper range of 10 to 14 years imprisonment and merited a headline sentence of 13 and a half years. Judge Greally gave Kavanagh credit for his guilty plea, his assistance to the investigation, as well as the link between the offending and his use of heroin and crack cocaine. She noted letters from his siblings outlining that he had been exposed to violence and criminality from an early age. She took into account his recent efforts at rehabilitation and the content of reports before the court. Judge Greally imposed ten years imprisonment on the firearms charge which she backdated to January 2018. At an earlier hearing, Sergeant Trevor Hayes told Fionnuala OSullivan BL, prosecuting, that a woman had been buying a dog licence at the post office at the time of the raid. The woman later told gardai that while she was at the counter, a man wearing a white face mask came in with a gun. He put one hand around her neck and held a gun to her temple with the other hand, saying give me the money, the woman reported. She told gardai she then heard a number of shots being fired and saw the glass shattering between the counter and the public area, before the raider tried to climb over the counter. The court heard that an ESB repair man who had been working outside with colleagues had seen a masked man on a bicycle approaching and entering the post office and, thinking it suspicious, followed him in. This man told gardai he saw legs going over the counter so he grabbed the raider and pulled him back into the public area, marking the beginning of an aggressive struggle between them. The repairman said he got a fright when he heard a shot go off as he hadnt realised the raider had a gun. He said he felt in fear of his life but decided his best option was to continue to try and contain the man. Both men eventually fell outside the door of the post office and the repairman kicked the raider on the ankle, causing the gun to fly out of his hand and hit an ESB colleague on the head. CCTV This man later required stitches to his head. The raider made his escape but was later identified on CCTV by gardai. 455 was stolen from the post office during the course of the raid. Gardai recovered the 9mm-calibre semi-automatic Makarov pistol and eight discarded cartridges. Sgt Hayes said the guns original barrel had been replaced, the serial number deliberately effaced and the muzzle adapted to accommodate a silencer. Kavanaghs DNA was found on a Supervalu bag he had been carrying and also in a bloodstain on the street outside. He has 46 previous convictions, of which 12 are Circuit Court offences. In 2011 Kavanagh was convicted for the robbery of a jewellers shop and the possession of a loaded, sawn-off shotgun, for which was sentenced to eight years with three suspended. The court heard that none of the witnesses at the post office raid wished to make a victim impact statement as they wanted to get on with their lives. Sgt Hayes agreed with Sean Gillane SC, defending, that Kavanagh had a long standing, deep-seated chronic drug problem to heroin and crack cocaine. Mr Gillane said Kavanagh had had a difficult childhood due to his fathers alcoholism and had become addicted to drugs in his teens. He said the CCTV footage which was played in court showed just how out of control Kavanagh was on the day in question. The court heard that Kavanagh was very remorseful and apologised in a letter to all the members of the public who were present at the scene. Kavanagh has been in custody on the matter since April 10 last year. Judge Greally adjourned sentencing on the robbery charge to July 31, pending the preparation of a probation report. A man who repeatedly sexually abused his young niece has been jailed for 11 years. The man, who cannot be named to protect the anonymity of the victim, played perverted games with the child during which he would pretend to be a baby or dress up as her mother. During the mammy and daddy game he would be naked and use her baby doll to pretend he was having a baby. He would then sexually assault the child. In the baby game, he would be again naked and pretend to be sick. He would tell the victim, who was aged four when these assaults began, that she needed to make the baby better and would force her to rub him intimately. The attacks took place regularly while he was babysitting the child at weekends when her parents went to the pub. The abuse continued until the child was 11 and resulted in her developing an eating disorder into her teenage years. The Dublin man pleaded guilty to 28 sample counts out of 78 charges of indecent assault of his niece on dates between 1982 and 1988. A Probation Service report stated that he has displayed insight into victim awareness. Reading from her victim impact report, the woman said her uncle is a depraved paedophile who took away her innocence. I was intimidated and controlled. He knew what was right and what was wrong and he chose wrong. She said she refused to allow the abuse to destroy her, stating: He took away my innocence, but he can never take away my spirit to survive. Judge Karen O'Connor said the court must sentence him based on his level of maturity at the time of the offending. She said he was a child when it began but his moral culpability increased as the abuse continued. She said the abusive behaviour escalated as he grew older. She described increasing levels of depravity and degradation being inflicted. During one later attack, the man attacked her with a poker and in another he raped her in the shed of her granny's home. Judge O'Connor set an overall sentence of 11 years. She suspended the final year for two years on condition he keep the peace and engage with the Probation Service. Conditions include that he engage in sex offender treatment if deemed suitable, and with addiction counselling services. The court heard that when the victim disclosed the attacks to her mother, her uncle was no longer asked to babysit. The victim said she was told to be quiet about the abuse because if her granny found out she would drop dead with a heart attack. She cut her wrists when she was aged 15 and was hospitalised. A member of her family visited her and warned her not to disclose the reason behind her suicide attempt. She said she was let down by every adult in her life. She said, as a teenager, she tried to make herself sick and thought dying was the only way to make the abuse stop. After his arrest in 2016, the man claimed he was drinking a lot at the time and had a poor recollection of events. Paddy McGrath SC, defending, said his client initially found it very difficult to face up to his actions but he never queried the woman's account. He said the man now fully accepts his responsibility. He said he is a heavy drinker who began drinking at an early age and drinks heavily every day in his local pub. The woman said her childhood was brutally taken away in the most vicious and terrifying way by her uncle's perverted nature and selfish actions. I considered myself utterly filthy. I felt so unloved and worthless. It was a very dark and lonely place to be in my mind. I wanted to die. She said as a young child she heard the words rest in peace said in church and longed for the possibility of such peace where nobody could touch her body. A man who repeatedly sexually assaulted a toddler for over four years has been jailed for ten years. The man, who cannot be named to protect the victim, began abusing his cousin when she was aged around two and a half. The abuse continued until she was aged five. He was aged under 18 for the majority of the assaults. The Dublin man, now aged 52, continues to deny the offending. Following a trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court last January, a jury convicted him of 56 charges of sexual assault committed between January 1982 and August 1986 at a place in Dublin. In a victim impact statement, the woman said she has no recollection of a time when she was not terrified. She said her abuser stole her ability to love and feel her home to be a place of refuge. The court heard she tried to kill herself at the age of 15 and later felt guilty during the trial about making a fuss. The woman said she was stunned to hear the man take to the stand and deny the offending. She said this revealed the absence of any honesty in him. Without that, a man is a monster and can do monstrous things, she told the court. Detective Garda Dominic McGrath told Diana Stuart BL, prosecuting, that the man has no other criminal convictions. Paul Greene SC, defending, handed the court in a number of testimonials from family which he said showed his client is not the man he was when he abused the victim. Counsel said there is evidence that his client has been a loving father and of assistance to his wife who is a depressive. Judge Patricia Ryan said she took into account, when considering her sentence, the nature of offending, the disparity of ages between the accused and victim, the long period of time over which the offending occurred and effect it has had on the injured party. Judge Ryan said the mitigating factors in the case were the man's previous good character, his not having come to adverse garda attention since, his excellent work record, his voluntary work in the community and the hardship his being in custody will have on his family. She said the appropriate global sentence for all of the charges after taking into account the mitigating factors was a sentence of ten years imprisonment. Health Minister Simon Harris has said an appropriate external review is warranted into the controversy over a pregnancy termination at the National Maternity Hospital. The couple at the centre of the case are described as being "utterly devastated" and want an external review, after an abortion took place in March following test results showing a fatal foetal abnormality. In follow-up results received after the termination, it emerged the unborn baby had no genetic disorder. Holles Street says it is continuing discussions with the UK Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists regarding investigating the case and cannot comment further. The couple's solicitor, Caoimhe Haughey, says the couple are still grieving but want to be central to any inquiry. They want answers and they must be at the heart of any investigation. Reacting to the controversy today the Life Institute has said babies aborted after a misdiagnosis of a severe abnormality must not become "collateral damage" in the rush to establish a new regime after the repeal of the 8th amendment. Spokeswoman Niamh Ui Bhriain said: "There must be safeguards to ensure families are not rushed into aborting baby, and positive alternatives such as perinatal hospice care must be promoted." - Additional reporting by Viviene Clarke Couple at centre of Holles Street termination case 'mentally and physically devastated,' solicitor says Earlier The solicitor for the couple at the centre of the Holles Street termination case has said that the couple are utterly, utterly mentally and physically devastated by what has happened. They want answers and they must be at the heart of any investigation, Caoimhe Haughey told RTE Radios News at One. She said that a genetic expert must form part of the investigation, but that the family is unaware of the terms of reference of the investigation or of who will participate. The couple wants answers, the truth and transparency. This comes as the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in Britain has said that it has not yet received a formal approach to undertake a review into the circumstances surrounding the termination of a pregnancy. The abortion is understood to have been carried out in the NMH in Holles Street in the last few weeks. A spokesperson for the RCOG disputed initial reports suggesting they were reviewing the case. "We can confirm the RCOG has not yet received a formal approach to undertake this review. Should an approach be forthcoming, this will be considered in the usual way, they said in a statement. Earlier: 'No formal approach' to review termination of pregnancy at NMH, says UK group The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in Britain has said that it has not yet received a formal approach to undertake a review into the circumstances surrounding the termination of a pregnancy at the National Maternity Hospital. A couple were left devastated after aborting their baby because tests showed that it had a fatal foetal abnormality - only for a subsequent test after the abortion to show that it did not. The abortion is understood to have been carried out in the NMH in Holles Street in the last few weeks. Yesterday, a spokesman for the NMH said the hospital does not comment on individual cases but said that the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in Britain is to review an issue that arose recently. However,a spokesperson for the RCOG disputed this today saying: "We can confirm the RCOG has not yet received a formal approach to undertake this review. Should an approach be forthcoming, this will be considered in the usual way. Professor Fergal Malone Meanwhile, he Master of the Rotunda maternity hospital Professor Fergal Malone has explained that a diagnosis of fatal foetal abnormality can be quite complex to interpret. While he did not have the details of the specific case now the subject of an inquiry at Holles Street hospital, Prof Malone said that such diagnoses are very technical. Speaking on RTE radios Today with Sean ORourke show he said that early screening tests are carried out by a blood test and an ultrasound If there is a query in relation to these tests, then a diagnosis is sought through a CVS test or amniocentesis. He explained that the CVS test involves placental cells while amniocentesis is carried out directly on the foetus. However, sometimes there can be different genetic readings between cells in the placenta and the foetus. One of the caveats from the laboratories is that the CVS test should be interpreted in conjunction with an ultrasound, he added. When the CVS test is taken two different samples are sent, one for a rapid result which comes back within 48 hours and the other which can take up to two weeks and it is 100%. Prof Malone acknowledged that the rapid test can give a false positive. Thats why it is necessary to look at the total picture. If there is no ultrasound abnormality most laboratories recommend to wait for the full two weeks. But some patients are not prepared to wait the two weeks and want to continue to termination. Generally, we recommend that they get the total picture. He said he was aware of one case in the Rotunda where an abnormality was identified in the rapid CVS test, but there was no indication in the ultrasound and when the result came through in two weeks the result was normal. Different laboratories in the UK have different protocols, but the laboratory with which most Irish hospitals work, have the caveat that action should not be taken on rapid test results unless there is other corroboration. Prof Malone said he did not think that this case would affect the publics confidence in the screening and diagnostic service in the country. Patients should be confident that they will get good advice. It is important to get the total picture. Since the beginning of this year 500 DNA genetic screening tests using blood samples have been taken at the Rotunda, he said. Women over the age of 35 are at a higher risk of fatal foetal abnormality, Trisomy18, which has led to the rise in such tests, he explained. "The vast majority come back showing they are unlikely to have that genetic problem. A small number then opt for the CVS test or amniocentesis. Prof Malone said that in cases where there is a diagnosis of a fatal foetal abnormality two thirds chose to terminate once the two weeks CVS result has come back, but some opt to let nature take its course. Update: The Housing Minister has said a change to planning guidelines on the height of buildings will help with the housing crisis. Eoghan Murphy has acknowledged that thousands of new apartments are needed to tackle the issue. Latest CSO figures show an increase in the number of home completions in the first quarter of the year. The guidelines on height and density were amended last year. Minister Eoghan Murphy says the measure is aimed to improve housing availability across the country. He said: "While last year we changed the planning guidelines so people could build a lot higher and also increased the densities as well, not just in city centres and not just in Dublin but also around transport corridors too. "What we are trying to do is, yes, allow for very tall buildings that can have many functions from retail to commercial to residential. But actually it's about increasing the shoulder height across the city, that's how you really achieve density." Earlier: Co-living needs to be part of solution to solve housing crisis, says Minister The Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy has insisted that co-living is part of the solution to addressing supply issues. The model provides en-suite bedrooms with shared, communal living areas and is similar to student accommodation but aimed at young, working professionals. New figures from the CSO this week show a 23% increase in home completions in the first quarter of this year. However, opposition politicians have been highly critical of the government's policies. Minister Murphy says we need to start building the right type of homes. "The challenge we face at the moment, as supply is increasing, is becoming more of a question of not increasing supply, which is happening now quite dramatically, but what we're building and where," he said. "It becomes more of a planning issue. So as we increase supply, we have to make sure we're building the right types of homes. "That means student accommodation, it also means accommodation for the elderly. It also means places to rent. So what we're doing with co-living is bringing around another option, another choice for people, if they choose to go for it. "In the guidelines that we have published, it's about bringing forward apartments with some co-living space as well," he said. Both the Government and Cork County Council have refused to say why they did not publish warnings they received about the safety of Haulbowline Island over two years ago. The details of a two-year-old report, detailed by the Irish Examiner earlier this week, revealed that Cork County Council was warned that the pollution on Haulbowline has the potential to cause risks to any users of a potential future park on the site. The report found analyses of ground samples identified elevated concentrations of arsenic, lead and PCBs in shallow soil with the potential to cause risks to any users of a potential future park and also commercial site users. The former Ispat/Irish Steel site has seen remedial works carried out on the nine-hectare waste site on Haulbowline known as the East Tip, which was a dumping ground between 1996 and 2001. Cork County Council plans to open a park on this section of the island this year. However, work has yet to be carried out on decontaminating the remaining 11 hectares on the island outside the East Tip. The report was released following a request by Friends of the Irish Environment. It has written to the Minister for Agriculture and to the Chief Executive of Cork County Council to highlight that Access to Information on the Environment Regulations require that: "In the event of an imminent threat to human health or the environment, whether caused by human activities or due to natural causes, a public authority shall ensure that all information held by or for it, which could enable the public likely to be affected to take measures to prevent or mitigate harm, is disseminated immediately and without delay." In this case, the Minister has done exactly the opposite, FIE said in a statement. "He and the Council have been in possession of this report, which demonstrates the ongoing dangers to public health and the environment, for two years." An artist's impression of the Haulbowline park. The Irish Examiner asked both Cork County Council and the Department of Agriculture why neither body published the findings of the 2017 report sooner. Both bodies issued subsequent statements to this newspaper, but neither answered this question. Cork County Council said the 2017 study was a risk assessment of the former steelworks site, which "is separate to, and at a remove from, the former East Tip", and directed further queries to the Department. In its statement, the Department summarised the remediation efforts on the island to date. While the priority has been remediation of the East Tip, work on assessing a suitable solution for the former steelworks factory site has also been advanced in preparation for the next phase of the remediation project, it said. The search for a missing Trinity College professor on Mount Everest has been temporarily suspended due to bad weather conditions on the mountain. Seamus Lawless, an Assistant Professor at the School of Computer Science and Statistics at Trinity College Dublin, had been part of a four-strong Irish expedition team which had successfully conquered the world's highest peak. He had successfully scaled Everest but slipped and fell from an area known as the Balcony while descending from the summit. The search is unlikely to get back underway today as night falls on the mountain and the situation will be reassessed tomorrow morning Mountaineer Pat Falvey, who has climbed Everest twice, said the rescue search which was mounted this morning had to be called down due to the inclement conditions. He told Newstalk radio that the high altitudes and wind chills of around 43 degrees below zero were hampering search efforts. Mr Falvey said that at the moment there is hope for the missing climber. He told RTE radios Morning Ireland programme that it was a sad incident after what was a glorious day when three Irish people reached the summit. It is one of the most amazing places on earth. It is spectacular. However, he said that any attempt on the worlds highest mountain was going to be dangerous as there is always a risk. 39-year-old Seamus Lawless from Bray, Co Wicklow, is married with a four-year-old daughter. He was climbing the mountain in an effort to raise 25,000 for the Barretstown charity which provides support for sick children and their families. A spokesperson for Trinity College said yesterday that Mr Lawless and his family "are in our thoughts during this extremely distressing time". Meanwhile, two Indian climbers have died while descending from the summit, it has been reported. A spokesperson for Seven Summit Treks, the same guiding company which was part of the expedition involving Mr Lawless, told the Himalayan Times that the two men had passed away. Indian Army soldier Narayan Singh died after he suffered from altitude sickness on the descent, while Ravi Thakar was found dead inside his tent at Camp IV on Everest early this morning. A third Indian climber is said to have gone missing from the high camp of Mt Makalu in eastern Nepal. Additional reporting by Vivienne Clarke A Limerick farmer has been sentenced to six years in prison for raping his ex-girlfriend following a high-speed car chase with gardai. Eamon Roche (aged 28) of Ballymorrough, Templeglantine, Co Limerick, texted the victim hours after he raped her saying, Sorry for being a bollocks, the Central Criminal Court has heard. Roche denied the sole count of rape in a rural area of Co Cork on March 21, 2015. The complainant was in a car driven by Roche when he refused to stop for a garda patrol and embarked on a high-speed chase. She said Roche was driving at crazy, ridiculous speeds and she was roaring like a maniac for him to stop, thinking she was going to die. Roche drove to a lay-by and despite her repeated protests and attempts to push him off, he climbed on top of the woman and raped her. Roche was found guilty by a jury after a trial at the Central Criminal Court last month. It was the third time the case had gone to trial; the first jury was discharged by direction and the second disagreed on a verdict. Reading from her victim impact statement, the young woman said her confidence had been shattered by the rape and she had found it extremely hard to go through the courts three times. I sometimes felt like I was on trial, having to prove that what I said was the truth, she said, thanking the jury, the gardai and her legal team for their support. The mother-of-one said she has suffered with her mental health, particularly with anxiety, since the rape and that she has difficulty sleeping as her mind keeps reliving the trauma. I find myself waking up sometimes not knowing who I am and crying for no reason, she said. The young woman said she found it difficult to trust people and felt crippled by anxiety and crowds. She had to abandon her chosen career because of the pressure of the court proceedings. Passing sentence today, Justice Paul McDermott said it was a crime of serious sexual violence that had enduring consequences for the young woman who had to live with constant reminders of the abuse as it occurred close to her home. The judge set a headline sentence of seven years but reduced this by a year because of mitigating factors, including letters describing Roche as a valued member of his family and community. Mr Justice McDermott refused to allocate any suspended portion to the sentence because of Roches unwillingness to accept the guilty verdict, which he said was a cause for concern. He ordered Roche never to contact the complainant in any way, including on electronic media or via a third party. The court heard that the victim wishes for Roche's name to be published. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar must scrap the Government's 2040 national development plan if he is serious about climate change, Green Party leader Eamon Ryan has said. Mr Ryan insisted the promise-filled plan is binned to help address growing climate change fears at a Green Party European elections event on Friday. Speaking alongside his parties candidates senator Grace O'Sullivan for Ireland South, councillor Ciaran Cuffe for Dublin and Saoirse McHugh for Midlands-North West, Mr Ryan said it is not good enough for Government to take "symbolic" climate change steps. Insisting on real reforms to back up the headline-grabbing promises, he said if Mr Varadkar is genuine about his recent climate change comments then he must scrap the 2014 national development plan. "What the Taoiseach said last week says it all, he said our approach to climate change is symbolic. That is not good enough. We had the top European civil servant in the Oireachtas on Thursday saying every country has to commit to going 'net zero' emissions by 2050. "[French] president Emmanuel Macron and eight other countries agreed to that last week, but our Taoiseach didn't. "It's difficult for the Taoiseach, but he has to give up the 2040 national development plan because it is not fit for purpose. It only gets us 30% of the way towards our 2030 target, but does nothing to bring us to the longer target. "We are calling on the Taoiseach to stop the symbolism, start taking real action, start joining other progressive European countries admit the national development plan which had no climate assessment done is not fit for purpose and has to go," Mr Ryan said, adding: "We want real action, not just words." Mr Varadkar launched the 2040 national development plan in February 2018, saying it will see almost 116bn invested in a series of road, housing and infrastructure projects over the next two decades. The Government insists the plan is needed to ensure there is a coherent framework in place that will not be repeatedly changed depending on which party is in power. However, opposition parties have constantly questioned the value of the plan, saying it amounts to Government promising measures in the distant future which have no way of being proven accurate or not at this stage. Meanwhile, speaking at the same launch - which saw candidates hold up placards calling for EU support for energy community schemes, community farms and greater bio-diversity protections - Mr Cuffe said the climate change message is "resonating" with voters. Ms O'Sullivan said there is a "need to support enterprising communities like farmers and fishermen, that's the real approach to climate change", while Ms McHugh said climate change is not just a middle class issue as "lower income communities will be affected first and worst". Tanaiste Simon Coveney says he is frustrated that much of the discussion about a directly elected Mayor for Cork, Limerick, and Waterford has focussed on the salary that would come with the position, and asked the public to inform themselves on the responsibilities of the role. Speaking a week ahead of voting, Mr Coveney also said another plebiscite could happen in Cork in the event of a No vote on Friday - if the role is proven a success elsewhere. I really would ask people to think about it, to make an informed decision and not get distracted by some of the commentary which focuses on a very small element of this office, around the salary of the Lord Mayor, Mr Coveney said at a Fine Gael press conference in Cork yesterday. He was joined by Junior Local Government Minister John Paul Phelan, former TD Bernard Allen, and Senators Colm Burke and Jerry Buttimer in calling for a Yes vote. The truth is any increased cost that comes from this change will be picked up by national government. Mr Phelan has confirmed that. So there is no knock-on reduction in budget in City Hall for other areas of expenditure, Mr Coveney said. I find it's very frustrating that there's been a focus on the salary here, a salary that is essentially benchmarked against a Minister of State who has responsibility, but this person [an elected Mayor] has huge responsibility. And this will be a really demanding job, probably 12-hour days, I suspect with a lot of responsibility, and it's going to take a lot of political skills to be a successful Lord Mayor. "If we're going to attract people, from all walks of life in Cork, from business, from sports, from the voluntary sector, and so on, it's probably someone who's going to have to give up a very good job to do it. Is somebody seriously suggesting that we could ask someone to do this job almost on a voluntary basis? I just don't think that's realistic, he said. Mr Coveney said a directly elected Cork Mayor would be the most powerful politician outside of cabinet, who would lead the city into its most dramatic phase of growth since independence. The Tanaiste said all political parties with the exception of some hard left individuals support the creation of the role, which would oversee an annual budget of a quarter of a billion euro in Cork after the citys boundary is extended. He said: We're talking about now having political accountability for how that money is spent, and political accountability for the manifestos and the vision for Cork, which is about using that money most effectively, around housing, around planning policy, around commercial policy, transportation, and so on. If people decide not to go for this, in my view, we will have missed a golden opportunity to increase Cork's influence nationally, through the creation of this office." He also refused to rule out a second poll should the No vote win out next week. Mr Coveney said: I think what you will see if people vote against this is that in five or 10 years time, people may well be looking for another plebiscite when they see how a directly elected Mayor is working in Waterford or Limerick, or potentially in Dublin and they'll want it here. "So it's possible, of course, in the future to ask people again. But I think it would be a real missed opportunity if Cork doesn't decide to go first here." Lyra McKee has been honoured with a special award for outstanding commitment and contribution to journalism. The Journalists' Charity presented the posthumous award to her mother Joan McKee, and sister, Nichola Corner, at a ceremony in London today. Lyra was killed while observing rioting in the Creggan area of Derry on April 18. Ms McKee, a 29-year-old published author from Belfast, was shot in the head during the riots by dissident republicans linked to the New IRA. Lyra McKee's sister, Nichola Corner, at today's ceremony. Her sister, collecting the award on Lyra's behalf today, said: Since Lyra was taken from us in the most horrific way, our family has said that her death should not be in vain and the ideals she held dearly are remembered. "We have been deeply moved by the support we have received and are very thankful that Lyras qualities as a person and as a committed journalist have been recognised with this special award. Lyras sister and mother were presented with the award by James Brindle, chief executive of the Journalists Charity. He said: What we learned about Lyra in the hours and days that followed her death showed all too clearly that wed lost a journalist with very special qualities. Lyras courage in bearing witness to violence on the streets of Derry is the type of commitment that journalists admire and hope to possess themselves." In addition, she championed the under-represented, gave a voice to those who werent being heard and held those in power to account. She reached out across the journalistic community to offer her support to people she didnt even know - changing lives with a hand of friendship. Lyra McKee's mother, Joan McKee, and her sister, Nichola Corner, at today's ceremony. Ramsay Smith, chairman of the Journalists Charity, said: Lyra demonstrated the same qualities of compassion and commitment that led to the founding of the Journalists Charity more than 150 years ago and remain our values to this day. We are honoured that Joan and Nichola travelled from Belfast to receive this award. Charlton booked their place in the League One play-off final after beating Doncaster on penalties at the Valley. Doncaster won 2-1 on the night in normal time to level the tie at 3-3 on aggregate. Four-time All-Ireland SFC winner Anton O'Toole has died, aged 68. O'Toole, who made his senior debut for the Dubs in 1972 passed away after battling an illness. He won All-Ireland titles in 1974, '76, ''77 and '83. Tributes have been pouring in for O'Toole with many paying tribute to the Dublin legend. It is with sadness this morning that we report the passing of the great Anton OToole . Our condolences to his family and all his many friends from all of us at TSS. More to follow ... pic.twitter.com/R7wHXeJ5sP Templeogue Synge St (@Tempsyngest) May 17, 2019 A father of the city, Anton O'Toole, passed away. A hero who became a fast friend, a wise and kind big brother. That apple-cheeked smile, like his deeds, will live forever. The Blue Panther, he was Dublin in the rare oul' times. Rest easy Tooler. You are loved.@Hill16Army#GAA Roy Curtis (@RoyCurtis68) May 17, 2019 Am so sorry to hear of the death of Anton O'Toole. A GAA legend and one of the best and kindest people I have ever met. Sincere sympathies to all his family and many friends. RIP Anton. Mary Carolan (@MaryCarolanIT) May 17, 2019 All-Ireland winner Eamon Fennell also paid tribute to the 'Blue Panther' saying: "I was very fortunate to have met Anton O'Toole lots of times over the last few years. Like the rest of the lads from the 70's, he was a gentleman. "They helped shape the culture of today's [Dublin] team and Anton was a huge part of helping shape that I was very fortunate to have met Anton O'Toole lots of times over the last few years. Like the rest of the lads from the 70's, he was a gentleman. They helped shape the culture of today's @DubGAAOfficial team and Anton was a huge part of helping shape that #RIPTheBluePanther EamonFennell (@EamonFennell) May 17, 2019 Minister for Sport Shane Ross added his condolences: It is with great sadness that I learned this morning of the passing of Anton OToole," he said. "He was an extremely popular player who went on to give back to his club off the field. My thoughts are with his family and close friends at this sad time. Dozens of international aid groups have warned that humanitarian conditions in Syria's north west have reached a new "crisis point", as government troops push to retake the rebels' last stronghold. The violence has effectively shattered a ceasefire negotiated by Russia and Turkey, in place since September. Russia has firmly backed President Bashar al Assad's government in the eight-year civil war, while Turkey has supported rebel factions. In their appeal, 70 aid groups called for an immediate end to the fighting. They said the violence has displaced an estimated 180,000 people in the last two weeks alone. The rebel enclave, which stretches between northern Hama and most of Idlib provinces, is home to three million people. The violence has forced at least 16 humanitarian organisations to suspend their operations in the region, the groups added. The staff were either displaced themselves or the facilities came under attack. Physicians for Human Rights said it has verified that over the last four weeks Syrian government forces and their Russian allies have carried out nine attacks on hospitals and medical facilities. The aid groups said at least 15 health facilities and 16 schools were reported to have been significantly damaged or destroyed. At least two health workers were killed. The groups said at least four clearly identified humanitarian posts were targeted, and condemned the "failure" to observe international law. In a statement, Amnesty International called on the UN Security Council to pressure Moscow over the "deliberate" targeting of health and education facilities and to end the "onslaught" against civilians. "Bombing hospitals carrying out their medical functions is a war crime," said Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty International's director of research for the Middle East. She said it was part of a "well-established" pattern by the Syrian government and its allies. "The international community has so far utterly failed to protect civilians in Syria from the horrors of this conflict," she said. Staff from four hospitals in Idlib and Hama told Amnesty International they had been targeted despite sharing their co-ordinates with the Syrian and Russian governments. In fighting on Friday, activists and insurgents said government forces attempted to push into a new village in western Hama but were repelled. - Press Associaiton By Deborah Goonan, Independent American Communities A buyer should always read and review the Covenants, Conditions, & Restrictions, (CC&Rs), plus additional rules and regulations, before closing on the sale of a home in an HOA-governed community. If you dont think you can live with the CC&Rs and written standards, then youre better off walking away from a sale agreement. But what if you can see that the HOA does not enforce certain rules? And what if you talk to residents before agreeing to buy, and they tell you that the HOA hasnt enforced certain rules in years? You may think that its OK to buy into a community with an HOA thats lax on enforcement of a rule that you dont like. But a recent report about Ocoees Wesmere subdivision might make you think twice about ignoring the governing documents, and hoping that the HOA will never start cracking down on homeowners for violating its restrictions and rules. Zombie Rule rises from the dead Wesmere Maintenance Association (WSA) recently resurrected a Zombie Rule 30 years after it had gone dormant: a restriction against parking vehicles on the street. That means all residents must park their vehicles in their garage or in their own driveway. Theoretically, a home with a 2-car garage will have parking space for 4 vehicles 2 in the garage, plus 2 in the driveway. But, as we all know, in the real world, a lot of people use the garage for storage. That usually eliminates one or both garage parking spots. If more than two residents of a home are drivers, they will inevitably park additional cars on the street. And in Wesmere, that was common practice for decades. Some residents have owned their homes in the community for decades, during which time the HOA didnt enforce a street parking ban. That is, until a new HOA board took over in 2017. Now the HOA tickets and tows vehicles parked on the street. Parking restrictions a growing problem Wesmere HOA isnt alone. Across the U.S., Im reading a lot of reports of other HOAs enforcing a ban on street parking. In 2017, Rosedale Place HOA, in Bossier City, Louisiana, asked the city to enforce its street parking ban. Ant the City of Greenwood, Indiana, denied a similar request from the Tuscany Village HOA in 2018. Following a dispute over aggressive towing, owners in Kings Lake, Hillsborough County, Florida, filed a class action lawsuit against their HOA. These are just a few examples. The root of the problem is that many common interest developments emphasized maximizing the number of homes or condos in the community, sacrificing adequate space for parking. Unfortunately, homeowners and residents are left to deal with the consequences of poor planning decisions. Pros and cons of a street parking ban Some homeowners are happy about renewed enforcement of parking restrictions. Without cars parked along the curb, the narrow streets in the gated community are less crowded and easier to navigate. And some homeowners are pleased that more unsightly parked vehicles are hidden in a garage. But the new push for parking enforcement puts many families with 3 or more drivers in a bind. Where will they now park their extra vehicles? Or, alternatively, where will they store all the stuff they have to take out of their garage, to make room for two cars? Plus, parking two cars in the driveway creates an inconvenient game of musical cars every time a driver needs to back out of the garage. But, even if the residents have enough space to park their own vehicles, there wont be enough space left in the driveway for guest vehicles. You might say that a street parking ban is a de facto ban on inviting guests to your home. Should your HOA have that kind of authority over your social life? Probably not Frustrated homeowners respond Needless to say, a lot of homeowners are not happy with the HOA boards renewed enforcement of parking restrictions. According to a report from WKMG, one group of homeowners gathered 315 signatures on a petition to do away with the street parking ban. WMA has 565 homes, and 315 is a majority (about 56%) of the total membership. But the HOA board reportedly wont accept the petition as an official mandate to change the rules and restrictions. Thats why two residents have filed separate lawsuits in Orange County Civil Court against the Wesmere Maintenance Association. Theyre hoping to get a judge to issue an injunction against enforcing the parking ban, until the matter is resolved through the legal process. Can the HOA do that? You might wonder why the HOA didnt overturn the street parking ban in response to a petition of homeowners. Can they get away with ignoring a majority of homeowners? Maybe. Maybe not. It depends on a number of factors, including the governing documents. However, WMA does not make its governing documents publicly accessible on its website. So I was unable to read the CC&Rs and the rules. Therefore, its unclear if the parking ban is written into the CC&Rs, or whether its an HOA-board enacted rule. Amendments to CC&Rs generally require at least two-thirds of all HOA members vote in favor of changing a restriction. Some CC&Rs require a higher percentage. Either way, an amendment to the CC&Rs would require more than a simple majority of all members. Rules and regulations, on the other hand, are often easier to challenge and overturn, with a lower threshold that doesnt require as many votes from homeowners. But what about the HOA-industry trade groups claims that, if the HOA doesnt enforce a rule consistently, they lose the right to enforce the rule at all? If thats true, it would seem that WMA has lost its legal right to ticket and tow vehicles parked on its streets. So the answer to this question is about as clear as mud. A judge will have to decide whether or not the HOA can still enforce a street parking ban that has not been enforced for 30 years. Regardless of the outcome, it looks like a lot of homeowners are going to be unhappy. Source: Wesmere subdivision homeowners sue HOA over street parking Residents say HOA didnt previously enforce street parking bylaws By Nadeen Yanes Reporter Posted: 6:23 PM, May 09, 2019Updated: 8:41 AM, May 10, 2019 One of the country's most influential money managers has warned many Australian fund managers risk going out of business due to an "asinine" and "absurd" approach to investing. Rob Luciano, the executive chairman of VGI Partners, said Australia's funds management industry "has a massive problem" and is facing enormous disruption as industry superannuation funds and other wholesale clients move investment functions in-house. VGI Partners' Rob Luciano. Credit:James Brickwood "I think the Australian funds management industry is like the stockbroking industry was 20 years ago," Mr Luciano told the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age. "It's on the cusp of a structural reset which will result in declining industry profits". VGI Partners, which is known for its short-selling campaigns against major companies including Slater & Gordon and Corporate Travel Management, is preparing for a public listing next month. Iron ore prices have leapt higher again pushing Rio Tinto shares through the landmark $100 level, in the wake of reports of low inventories and record steel production in China and fresh supply concerns from Brazil. Rio chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques at the miner's Australian AGM in Perth last week. Credit:Will Russell Prosecutors in Brazil on Friday warned another dam belonging to the world's biggest iron ore miner, Vale, could be at risk of rupture within days. The news underlines the massive challenges that have plagued Vale since the January collapse of its Brumadinho dam killed hundreds of people. Iron ore prices have jumped almost 30 per cent since. A benchmark price for the steel-making commodity surged 3.2 per cent on Thursday to $US98 per tonne ($A141.84) as analysts predict the price will smash through the $US100 ($A144.73) level and climb higher. Over the years Shuttleworth has developed another great passion in addition to the rocks that are the mainstay of Fortescue's Pilbara mines. She simply loves being underwater, and is an experienced scuba diver who travels to places as far away as the Galapagos Islands, more than 900 kilometres west of Ecuador, to dive. Once I got into the mining industry and started earning money one of the first things I did was get my scuba diving course. Julie Shuttleworth, Fortescue deputy chief executive Tallied up across an extensive scuba diving career, she has spent more than six weeks under water. She is a qualified dive master, but her diving is focussed on fun and underwater photography. "Once I got into the mining industry and started earning money one of the first things I did was get my scuba diving course," she says, in an interview with The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. "Its very relaxing, (there are) no phones. And I just enjoy looking at marine life and being in that sort of nature." Fortescue's Julie Shuttleworth (left), with Fortescue CEO Elizabeth Gaines. Her two favourite diving locations are the Galapagos Islands, and Ningaloo Reef, at Exmouth in Western Australia. She has scuba dived deep underwater and had rays and sharks brush her arms and legs as she swam, but asked if diving has generated any heart-stopping moments, such as coming face to face with a great white pointer, the answer is no. "It's not frightening, I never watched Jaws," she says. "And I mostly dive up north now where there's less chance of big sharks." Loading Underwater reefs might be a long way from mines, but Shuttleworth sees a connection between mining and diving. "In scuba diving you're always thinking about safety, and obviously that's our priority in the mining industry," she says. Shuttleworth's company has been riding a wave throughout 2019, starting with an $899 million half-year profit announced in February that easily eclipsed analyst expectations. And in April, the miner announced a $3.7 billion mine and processing joint venture that will enable it to sell higher-grade iron ore. Fortescue is on track for a much bigger second half than first half profit, given the iron ore price is up more than 20 per cent since a fatal dam disaster in Brazil in January put a significant dent in the production of Vale, the world's biggest iron ore producer. Illustrating the surging revenue being generated Fortescue this week unveiled a 60 cents per share out-of-cycle dividend for shareholders, that in aggregate will total $1.85 billion of payments to shareholders next month. Julie Shuttleworth, deputy chief executive officer of Fortescue Metals Group. Before joining the workforce Shuttleworth studied a bachelor of science at Perth's Murdoch University, completing a double major in extractive metallurgy and chemistry. Her first roles in mining were in Australian gold mining. But in 1999 her career took an international turn as she said goodbye to the gold mines of WA and moved to China joining Sino Mining International, which operated a gold/nickel mine in Shaanxi Province. After a short stint back in Australian mining in 2000, Shuttleworth then headed overseas again, this time working in Tanzania's gold mining industry. She performed a number of roles there including general manager of the 30 million tonne per year Buzwagi gold mine, where she was responsible for more than 1500 employees and contractors and a $350 million annual budget. I think its very important to help mentor other people, not just women but all people in the mining industry. Julie Shuttleworth "I really enjoyed it. I only thought I was going to go for two years and ended up staying 10," she says, of the decade she spent working in Tanzania. Shuttleworth joined Fortescue in 2013, has been general manager of two of its very large mines, and became deputy chief executive in January 2018. Shuttleworth, who has been in the mining industry for a quarter of a century, acknowledges that she is viewed as a role model for women in business. "Fortunately within Fortescue weve got many successful female role models at all levels of our organisation, from our board to our executive team to management and superintendent levels, all through our organisation," she says. One of these role models is Gaines, but the company also has five women on its nine member board, including deputy chair Sharon Warburton. "I think its very important to help mentor other people, not just women but all people in the mining industry. And provide opportunities for them to see (that) no matter where your career starts and what area you start out in, you can be successful," Shuttleworth says. Asked if anyone had been a special inspiration for her, Shuttleworth declines to name anyone, but says she has worked "with a number of mentors" during her career, who have provided valuable support. Think the 61 per cent protest vote against the Commonwealth Banks 2016 remuneration report, or the historic 88 per cent vote (of the votes cast) against National Australia Banks executive pay packet scheme in 2018. A proxy vote is a vote cast by an investor before a meeting. Investors use proxy advisory houses to assist them in deciding whether to support or oppose motions put forward by a company. The increased activism of shareholders has sparked concerns that proxy advisers have too much sway. Directors at some companies - including the big banks - claim they are pushed into risk-taking by investors and their proxy advisers because they refuse to consider "softer" metrics like treating customers well. In recent years, proxy advisers have also raised the ire of non-bank company directors. Goodman Group chairman Ian Ferrier said "proxy advisers have made errors in their judgment", South32 chairman and former Lendlease chairman David Crawford called their reports "formulaic", and Harvey Norman executive chairman Gerry Harvey blasted the sector as a "sore on corporate Australia". Its against this backdrop that Ownership Matters Paatsch and Lawrence find themselves when they sit down with The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age for this story. Ownership Matters is often characterised as an industry fund proxy adviser, but Paatsch says only about 25 per cent of its clients are from that sector. "We would be one of the biggest suppliers to the Australian funds management industry," he says. Illustration: Joe Benke Credit: The group has also become well-known for its outside-of-AGM-season research reports on companies with balance sheet issues and their deadly affect, as demonstrated by one-time market darlings Blue Sky and Big Un. Blue Sky suffered a catastrophic share price drop and Big Un is in liquidation. Its these reports combined with their proxy advisory work that has added the men behind Ownership Matters to the list of problems that make Australias captains of industry lose sleep. So much so that few directors are willing to put a target on themselves and put their name to criticism of the group. Shareholder activism The rise of Ownership Matters power follows a near decade-long period of sustained shareholder activism sparked by the global financial crisis. The introduction of a new rule in Australia, known as the two-strike rule - where if more than 25 per cent of investors vote against a companys executive pay plan at consecutive meetings, then the board faces a spill motion - further enlivened investor interest. We have to deal with a lot of these sorts of groups but there is one group, one group that I hate, says one chairman of a top 50 company making it clear that its Ownership Matters in his sights due to its views on the focus on risks in remuneration structures. Paatsch and Lawrence have been known quantities in the business community since well before Ownership Matters formation eight years ago. Both have worked in the governance advisory space for many years including at ISS Governance (previously known as Risk Metrics) and in Paatschs case founding industry super governance body the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees. I think one thing that your country background does for you is that youre not particularly impressed or overawed by private school boys in pinstriped suits. Dean Paatsch Its a bit unsurprising to find that the plucky men who enjoy causing such a stir in corporate Australia hail from the country. Paatsch is from the decidedly unglamorous city of Colac in Victorias Western District, while Lawrence is from Armidale, the Northern Tablelands city in NSW. I think one thing that your country background does for you is that youre not particularly impressed or overawed by private school boys in pinstriped suits, Paatsch says. Its the quality of your argument. Not that you have a hyphenated surname and went to Shore. Paatschs story of how he fell into super advisory has been told before - as a 22-year-old law-commerce student at Melbourne University, he bowled up to the offices of the Australian Council of Trade Unions to quiz them on compulsory super and rather than being sent away was welcomed by now deceased superannuation pioneer Mavis Robertson. Lawrence has an equally unusual route to governance advisory, having first grabbed headlines while a 20-year-old student at Charles Sturt University when he ran for Labor in the 1999 NSW election and was resoundingly thumped by controversial independent candidate Richard Torbay. "I think I was the most unsuccessful Labor candidate in the election," Lawrence says. Paatsch quips: "I would have voted for you, Martin." But not everyone would vote for Lawrence, Paatsch and Connals mob. 'Professional pessimists' Ownership Matters has faced criticism in recent years particularly over a lesser-known part of their business - bespoke research reports into balance sheets and other risks of particular companies. One-time venture capital darling Blue Sky Alternative Asset Management, retailer Harvey Norman, controversial tech group Big Un and more recently Bingo Industries have all piqued the interest of Ownership Matters. So have countless other companies. So what are the "pay dudes" doing combing through accounts? Paatsch says its a pretty simple progression from advising on how to vote on remuneration reports to conducting in-depth research on companies. We look for the trifecta of aggressive accounting, bad incentives, dopey boards. Dean Paatsch "Incentives are our way in. Why does someone [legally] cook the books? They normally do it to optimise their own incentives or to keep the share price up while theyre selling," he says. "Thats a pretty good triage system to look at companies that are at risk of a significant earnings re-statement of accounts or delaying bad news. We look for the trifecta of aggressive accounting, bad incentives, dopey boards." Lawrence acknowledges that being professional pessimists doesnt make Ownership Matters very popular. Nor does its war against unusual, sunny-side up earnings metrics that are increasingly favoured by large listed companies as a way of demonstrating a strong underlying business in the face of variable market conditions. We are interested in companies which make heroic efforts to take every bad thing out of earnings, Lawrence says, before summing it up more simply: So, underlying earnings. This process can lead to other discoveries of issues for concern or high-risk elements in companies accounts. Its not a new business for Paatsch and Lawrence. The duo and their colleagues won praise for their research more than a decade ago over their reports warning about Allco Finance, Babcock and Brown, and Macquarie Infrastructure Fund. Those who listened saved their investments. Those who did not were torched. More recently some Australian market darlings have been unravelled by reports from Ownership Matters. Between 2013 and late 2017, Blue Sky was a market darling with its shares rocketing to $14.70 from a humble base of 78. Its executives (often plucked from obscurity) were near celebrities, if there is such a thing, in the venture capital space. In the case of Blue Sky, Ownership Matters had questioned the companys lack of independent directors and the groups reliance on ever-increasing asset values to hit their earnings targets in early 2017. A follow up report to clients in late 2017 by one of the group's analysts, Peter Wuchatsch (ex JBWere), was a brutal dismantling of Blue Skys forward facing statements, governance and reporting. Its share price plummeted. As of this week, Blue Skys shares were trading at 18. Months later Blue Skys newly installed managing director Kim Morrison would concede the company should have listened more carefully to Ownership Matters concerns. Gerry Harvey isn't a fan. Credit:Ben Rushton Ownership Matters veil-piercing reports have also led to conspiracy theories in the market that it is secretly working with short sellers (investors who bet on share prices falling). A believer in this theory is billionaire retailer Gerry Harvey, who feels Harvey Norman was unfairly targeted over the structure of his companys accounts. "I hate Dean Paatsch," he says. "Hes never had anything nice to say. "Why would I bodgy up my accounts, it just doesnt make any sense. My opinion is they are a dreadful organisation." Harvey has a reason to spit some venom. His company was forced to re-state its accounts following a review by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission after concerns in the market. Paatsch looks tired and annoyed when asked about Harveys claim his organisation is actually working with the "bad guys" to orchestrate the downfall of companies. "We have firmly thrown our lot in with the long-only brigade, 96 per cent of our revenue that comes from our clients that are long only," Paatsch says. "There are some clients that do take short positions but we are studious at never being reverse brokered," he says, describing a process where a short seller has determined what the story should be and gives it to a research house to lend credence to its claims. "No one could pay us enough to rent our brand. Ultimately, people pay for our independent view." He does acknowledge what he says is a "natural affinity" with short sellers, "given that were bad news merchants". Good sport for some One senior executive at a top tier global investment manager says he thought Ownership Matters report on Harvey Norman was "overwrought" but says he values the research the group provides on company risks. "They play an important role, much like the independent analysts that used to provide these great research reports in the 1990s. I think independent scrutiny is very important so that prospective buyers know what they are purchasing," he says. "Theres a lot of short sellers in the market and it makes good sport of some companies, but they are not very transparent. Thats why I appreciate Ownership Matters because they are not commercially tainted." Ownership Matters main game is proxy advising to large institutional investors ahead of annual and extraordinary company meetings, particularly on remuneration. How much say investors have on votes is an area of serious contention in the listed company space. The introduction of the two-strike rule in 2011 gave investors more power to protest out-of-control pay packets. But the vote is non-binding, a strike does not mean you have to change your pay structure. Recently Will Heath, a partner at leading law firm King & Wood Mallesons, called for the two-strike law to be disbanded. "Its now being used by shareholder activists for other reasons. Weve seen boards getting beaten up for perceived failures of short-term financial performance," he said. Lawrence and Paatsch scratch their heads in bewilderment when they hear arguments like this. "Most grievances emerge as part of a non-binding vote on executive pay. Its a non-binding vote. Its a rubber bullet, OK," Paatsch says. Lawrence adds: "Its just that these are people who because of their being accustomed to being agreed with, even a rubber bullet is terrifying for someone who has only ever received a wet lettuce slap." Rob Ferguson, the retired chairman of Primary Health Care and GPT Group and a former BT executive, has praise for proxy advisers, particularly Ownership Matters, despite having led the Primary board during a strike against its remuneration report. "They are wonderful. They give a bit of stick to the corporate sector and the corporate sector needs it," Ferguson says. "I particularly like Ownership Matters because they are very accessible and they are forensic rather than formulaic." Former Primary Health Care boss Rob Ferguson says Ownership Matters is 'forensic rather than formulaic'. Credit:Sahlan Hayes The countrys reluctant banking regulator, the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority, also created issues for companies and proxy advisers after it recommended banks include "softer measures" like whether companies do the right thing by their customers. Some senior bankers have complained they now have to choose between going against the regulator or their shareholders. Its hard to tell which half of the Ownership Matters duo is angrier at APRAs intervention. APRA seemed to have formed this view," Lawrence says, "that appears to be informed by discussions with bank directors which is that 'my evil greedy money-grabbing fund managers make us rip-off our clients and insist on us having targets that do not take into account how we treat our customers and operate in the community'. It is utterly uninformed by any form of evidence whatsoever and it is quite terrifying that it has been put forward by the prudential regulator. Paatsch points out that the banks have all had mechanisms to hold their executives accountable for poor behaviour to their customers. Its just that bank boards have been unwilling to do it, he says. APRA havent shown us that they really understand the issue. They will make a bad problem even worse unless they address the issue of director discretion. Unless they understand that bank boards have been unable to say no to the demands of their executives for outsized bonuses, they really shouldnt be involved in the discussion. (Both Paatsch and Lawrence have praise for Macquarie Groups handsome pay practices where its chief executive, Shemara Wikramanayake, got a $17 million pay packet because the majority of that amount is locked up in company shares for seven years.) Paatsch points to a level of hysteria in the banking and wider business community about the increasing protests against executive bonuses from institutional investors. "I had one director tell me that this whole thing was Salem. 'We are living in Salem', he said," Paatsch quips. Proxy advisers faced their own reckoning in 2017 when ASIC launched an investigation into the practices and conflicts of the big four proxy advisory groups. The proxy advisory houses handed over reports to the regulator for them to assess the level of mistakes in the reports and other issues. The review found there was nothing wrong in the sector. Indeed, its report shows Ownership Matters regularly meets with company boards before writing a report and responds to criticism. "It was humiliating for ASIC in my view, to take those concerns that were presented entirely without evidence and then run an inquiry," Paatsch says. "There is no evidence that there is abhorrent outcomes or that capitalism is stopping as a result of publishing views that are different to boards, that should be helpful for capitalism." And so, possibly unfortunately for many listed companies, Ownership Matters plans to continue its questioning of the perceived excesses of executives. It's been vindicated by ASICs clear bill of health and enlivened by the banking royal commissions uncovering of a litany of bad behaviour in the financial services sector. Ask someone why they don't read more poetry and they'll probably say the form intimidates them. Free from the constraints of linear time and grammar, many are afraid they won't immediately grasp what's on the page. There is a generosity inherent in Andy Kissane's work. Credit: Andy Kissane's latest collection of poetry, The Tomb of the Unknown Artist, is a refreshing antidote for those who prefer to swim in prose's calmer waters. Like a song or beautiful painting, Kissane's lyrical effortlessness welcomes you in and demands little in return. The poems are packed full of imagery; the writer keenly aware of human suffering but also the small joys to be found in domestic intimacies. The book's first poem, Alone Again, was awarded the Australian Poetry Journal's poem of the year in 2015. It's easy to see why. It is an intimate portrait in which the speaker imagines his final moments on earth overflowing with taste and touch. The piece is the perfect primer, given that so much of the book is devoted to death and the ravages of time. However, Alone Again also throws the reader back to the moment when it all began. The water in the poem reminds us of the "dark certainty of the womb", a place from which we emerge wet and gasping for air. In the subsequent poems, the speaker watches a parent die. The poet's gaze is unflinching: "Parched lips, eyes firmly shut, your white hair combed / back against the pillow." Kissane gives voice to the idea that grief and memory are closely intertwined. Walking, especially among nature, is therapeutic. Indeed, on and off the page the mind "flows/like a river". One of this collection's strengths is the sequence from the perspective of a Vietnam veteran. The pieces aren't so much about the war itself but the aftermath: scars physical and psychological. There is a stomach-dropping turn in the award-winning poem Rock the Baby's final stanza, while the daily comforts of civilian life are tipped upside down in the shorter piece Back Home. The smaller, companion piece to Australia Day is Grants contribution to the MUP On series, On Identity. Here, in fewer than 100 small pages Grant rails against what he sees as a demand to choose between his white and black identities, seeing in the Are you Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander? box on many forms a demand that he disown the love and kindness of his white grandmother. Love is central to Grants concerns here as, on his analysis, identity has no space for love. In both books, Grant openly wrestles with aspects of his identity; both how he is known and understood in contemporary Australian society and what this identity might mean for him personally as both descendant and progenitor of mixed families. Australia Day picks up where Stan Grant's Talking to my Country left off. Credit: Inside the front cover of Australia Day Grant is described as a Wiradjuri and Kamilaroi man while the books opening sentence declares I am Australian. Inside the cover of On Identity he expands on this complexity, describing himself as A self-identified Indigenous Australian who counts himself among the Wiradjuri, Kamilaroi, Dharrawal and Irish. His identities embrace all and exclude none. These layers of identity are, of course, not necessarily at odds with one another. Yet for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia there is often a tension between belonging to Australia as a citizen with all the assimilatory implications of that kind of absorption and standing apart from mainstream Australia. Grant acknowledges this conundrum, writing that as an Indigenous Australian he has felt torn between embracing and celebrating all that is great in our nation while simultaneously living with the all too painful reality that it is not so great for everyone; that like so many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, his own family has paid a terrible price for the greatness of Australia. Stan Grant rails against being forced to choose between his black and white identities. Credit: These reflections are deeply personal, and Grant reveals much of himself in these public reckonings with the colonial legacy. In On Identity he acknowledges that these questions consume him, describing the struggle of grappling with the existential dilemma of identity for anyone with mixed ancestry. In Australia Day he writes of unresolved, and perhaps unresolvable questions the tension between a deep Aboriginal spirit and the yearning to be Australian lead him to wonder whether he can live in the Enlightenment and the Dreaming?; whether he can be black and white? Elsewhere he writes of himself as the conquered and the conqueror, the coloniser and the colonised, but concludes that if he cannot first and foremost be Australian he is not sure he can really be anything. It is easy to see what it is in these dilemmas that often sets Grant at odds with many of his Indigenous peers. Identity is always complex in colonial societies, and I have heard many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people refer to their own struggles on this front; light skin described as a prison; a constant reminder of the sexual exploitation that was part and parcel of the domination of the Indigenous peoples of this continent. These tensions have been ruthlessly exploited by governments over generations, in policies of assimilation and child removal that deliberately targeted children of mixed ancestry, including in Grants own family. In this context, the assertion of Indigenous identity is an assertion not only of identity but of resilience and survival, of belonging to this place, and of sovereignty never ceded to an invading interloper. For arguably the majority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, Indigenous identity does indeed set them apart from mainstream Australia, and their political struggles lie not with the settler state but in the survival and resurgence of their First Nations. This diversity of view and of experience is to be expected on this vast continent. On their own such differences are no bad thing. Questions about identity ought to be a conversation rather than a contest, and it is this conversation that Grant seeks to advance. His writing in both volumes is, as always, lyrical and captivating. Seemingly written for a primarily non-Indigenous audience, both these books will engage the many readers who will empathise with the dilemmas he articulates. Loading Yet it is hard to avoid the fact that Grant also sits in judgment. His stated concern with both identity and identity politics, which he describes as among the great perils of our time, animates both books. In On Identity he declares that Identity does not liberate; it binds. In Australia Day he is troubled by the fact that so many people prize identity more than citizenship, a position that, he suggests leaves us only to define ourselves in opposition to each other. A killing gig Val McDermid loves to sing. Last time I saw the Scottish crime writer in action was one blisteringly hot night during Adelaide Writers Week after a publishers dinner, the consumption of a lot of strong drink, and everyone had adjourned to a karaoke bar in a dodgy part of town. There was McDermid, clad in shorts and Hawaiian shirt, belting out a version of Madonnas Like a Virgin in her Kircaldy brogue. So enthusiastic was she that no one could snatch the microphone from her and we were treated to a variety of hits given her own, idiosyncratic treatment. Val McDermid, not singing - yet. Credit:Vince Caligiuri Things will be slightly different come June 29 when she and her band will be appearing on the acoustic stage at Glastonbury. The band is called the Fun Lovin Crime Writers (murdering songs for fun) and consists of McDermid as leader singer of course and fellow crime writers Christopher Brookmyre, Doug Johnstone, Mark Billingham, Luca Veste, and Stuart Neville. Other acts appearing on that stage that weekend include Hawkwind, Nick Lowe and Rickie Lee Jones. McDermid told Bookmarks the gig would be the band's biggest ''by a factor of 10 ... We're trying very hard to be cool about it, but every so often we curl up and scream''. Being the only woman in the band, McDermid said she had to be ''den mother and keep cool and tell them all they're amazing and they'll be fabulous''. And there's more: in addition to that and the singing job, she has to drive the van - apparently, none of the blokes has driven a big one one with nine seats and space for all the equipment they need. Underland by Robert MacFarlane. Credit: MacFarlanes latest response to this challenge has been to throw himself into yet another intrepid adventure, but this time one that involves a more direct descent into the dark heart of the problem. Starting in the Mendip Hills of Somerset he sets out on a series of deep-time dives under the earth, largely foregoing his taste for crisp mountain air in favour of the more enigmatic, gaseous and often fetid enclosures of spelunkular exploration. As it turns out, this is a cannily strategic response to the above dilemma. It allows him to continue to satisfy his taste for physical adventure while simultaneously elaborating a narrative analogy for the darkness of our era. The many mythological tropes of the underworld do not, after all, abound with charming old ways or sublime vistas. Instead they threaten with the monstrous connotations of Hades, the Inferno, the Stygian zone, as well as their modern analogue: the collective unconscious. And the bottom line is that these underworld realms are the habitats of death itself: the cold dark earth, the granitic tomb, the immurement of us all in a non-negotiable clasp of unfeeling eternity. Implied then in the quest of Underland is a notion that if we are to begin to correct our warping of the climate we must necessarily start looking into the parts of our nature, and of our society, that are the most difficult to access, and to face. For the most part MacFarlane leaves this inbuilt metaphor to do its own work, rather than enmeshing us in the more obvious fields of depth-psychology, or turning his book into a mythological encyclopaedia. Nevertheless, this is his most meditative book so far and what he is at pains to make explicit here is how we are not separate from, or transcendent of, the planet we live on, be it above or below the ground. By this approach all those other more obvious mythopoeic and psychoanalytic resonances are heard. The laboratory at Boulby mine takes advantage of the lack of cosmic radiation noise so far underground. Credit:Alamy MacFarlane explores a range of subterranean cultures in the course of the book, including the karst landscapes of Northern Italy, the perforated hollow lands of Slovenia, the starless river of the Timavo, and the immensely confronting reality of underground nuclear-waste facilities in Finland. Part of his purpose must necessarily be to shine some light on the human industry taking place hundreds and thousands of feet below our daily lives, in a territory we prefer to think of as either beyond our purview, impenetrable to our fancies, or simply as caverna nullius. The history of mining has already been well and variously documented so MacFarlane is a little pickier here with the Charonic realms he chooses to unveil. He visits the Boulby potash mine, for instance, Englands deepest, a kilometre deep under the Yorkshire coast, from which a million tonnes of fertiliser are extracted each year. But the Boulby mine is also home to a high-end astrobiological laboratory created on the site to take advantage of the lack of cosmic radiation noise so far underground. MacFarlane emerges from the intense industrial juxtapositions of Boulby back into the light, but the complexity of its Promethean darkness doesnt leave him. Time feels differently reckoned after the mine, he writes. My sense of nature feels differently reckoned too: further disturbed, further entangled. This personal disturbance that MacFarlane undergoes points to the real value of this book, which swings between dark confrontations and mercurial upmergings, as its author wrestles with the consequences of his species behaviour. Ultimately we find that MacFarlane has become as capable of outbleaking the bleak as he is of swooning on a mountaintop. Beneath the fascinating physical adventures of Underland, the story MacFarlane tells is of how the challenges of what has become manifest in our era has forced him to become not just a nature writer but a human nature writer. We watch compelled as a landscape romantic of the old stamp faces our dark materiality as if in real time, while trying to meet the challenge of being, among other things, the father of young children. Its not surprising, then, that among the slew of alternative neologisms for the Holocene, MacFarlane resolutely prefers Albrechts coinage Symbiocene. Unlike the far more commonly used Anthropocene, Symbiocene implies a more collaborative networking of living things in the biosphere, a working-together inside the critical zone of animated life, and with a redemptive rather than an apocalyptic sense of the future. The books most sylvan chapter, Understory, focuses on the co-operative system by which the trees of a forest share their nutrients with each other via hyphae, or long strings of mycorrhizal fungi. MacFarlane fashions hope from scientific understandings of how the forest does not exist in fierce competition with itself but rather co-operates by an organic method resembling not only a socialist system of resource distribution, but also the information networks of the internet. Some of the most important environmental legacies of late prime minister Bob Hawke included the pursuit of proposals initially opposed by advisers or cabinet colleagues, Barry Jones, his former science minister, recalled. Mr Hawke, who died on Thursday, used his "extraordinary powers of persuasion" to secure international support for the 1991 Madrid Protocol that imposed a 50-year moratorium on mining in Antarctica, Mr Jones said. Bob Hawke, right, and Barry Jones, left, at the Questacon science centre in Canberra in 1987. Credit:David James Bartho "The advice from Foreign Affairs was, 'Dont even try, itll never work, you wont get consensus,' " he said. "That only made Hawke all the more determined. "A number of people would say there are no votes in Antarctica - penguins arent voting for us - [so] why bother?" Scott Morrison is giving his victory speech at the Sofitel Hotel in Sydney. Prime Minister declares victory in the 2019 election. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer Loading He was mobbed on his way to the stage by Liberals still flabbergasted at his spectacular upset. "I have always believed in miracles," he begins to rapturous applause. There is so much movement in the room the camera is shaking. "How good is Australia?!" he asks. "And how good are Australians?!" "This is the best country in the world in which to live," he says to more cheers. He looks toward his wife Jenny as he says Australia is a country where you can "meet someone amazing." "For me and for my government, for all of my team it's all about you...tonight is about every single Australian." "Our government will get back to work just as Gladys Berejiklian got back to work in New South Wales, just a few months ago." He is delivering loads of herograms to MPs who won their seats against the odds and "pretty much the entire state of Queensland." There is huge applause for Andrew Hirst, the Liberal party's federal director who has overseen his first campaign. The room is shouting "Hirsty." And the re-elected prime minister ends in a very American fashion 'God bless Australia.' Labor has gained a crucial lead over the Coalition in key mainland states at the end of the federal election campaign, securing an edge in NSW and Victoria and a swing in its favour in Queensland. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten goes into the final day of campaigning with a boost in the Labor vote in most states compared to the narrow outcome at the last election, with a significant lead of 53 to 47 per cent in Victoria. But Prime Minister Scott Morrison remains preferred leader and has narrowed the gap against Labor in two-party terms in most states, including a recovery in Queensland over the past six months. Scott Morrison is still the preferred Prime Minister, but Labor has gained ground in two-party preferred terms. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer In a sombre end to the campaign, the two leaders marked the death of Bob Hawke with high praise for an Australian political giant, while Shorten also changed his campaign plan to remember Mr Hawke at events in Sydney in Melbourne. Victorian voters could hold the key to the outcome of todays federal election with several must-win seats in the state still too close to call as the campaign drew to a close on Friday. The Coalition government of Scott Morrison is widely expected to lose seats in Victoria but strategists on both sides believe that if losses in the state can be kept to one or two seats, then the Coalition has a fighting chance of a return to government. The importance of Victoria to the national contest has meant frequent campaigning appearances in the state by both Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Labor Leader Bill Shorten, who lives in Melbourne, with both men making big-spending election promises to the state. Loading State-wide polling puts Labor ahead of the Coalition by four points, two-party preferred, but the worry for the Opposition is that the swing against the government will fail to tell in the key seats. Former prime minister John Howard has backed Tony Abbott's "completely unexceptional" statement on the death of Bob Hawke, despite widespread condemnation of the remarks including a warning from Scott Morrison that fellow Liberals shouldn't be too "partisan". Mr Abbott shocked the community with a statement that attempted to score political points just hours after Mr Hawke's death, describing the Labor legend as having "a Labor heart but a Liberal head", and bemoaning modern Labor's drift from his legacy. Former prime minister Tony Abbott said his predecessor Bob Hawke had "a Labor heart but a Liberal head". Credit:Janie Barrett Mr Howard held a press conference in Sydney to pay his own tribute to Mr Hawke as "an outstanding prime minister". But he agreed with Mr Abbott's statement and dismissed the former prime minister's critics as partisans attacking Mr Abbott for political gain. "That sounds like outrage for the sake of outrage to me," Mr Howard said of the criticism. "It seems as if there's a cohort of people in the Australian community at the moment - probably not friends of the Liberal Party - who just want to seize on anything Tony Abbott says and criticise it irrespective of the merit and the substance involved." But this week, both Liberal and Labor camps suggested the men will be returned. Mr Porter holds the outer-northern metro seat of Pearce by 3.6 per cent and has faced a well-resourced campaign from Labor's Kim Travers. But there is a significant mortgage belt across the seat and Liberal messaging on the abolition of negative gearing on investment properties has been on target. Labor is hoping a last minute campaign surge on Friday will get it across the line. In Hasluck, which the Liberals hold with a 2.1 per cent margin, Mr Wyatt should hold on thanks to his strong personal vote. Labor candidate James Martin was not the party's first choice and was slotted in last July after its first pick Lauren Palmer pulled out of the race. 2. Swan's way: Another Beazley in Canberra? When Kim Beazley retired from parliament in 2007, WA had sent a Beazley to Canberra in all but three years since the end of World War II. Kim Beazley Senior and Junior represented the seats of Fremantle, Swan and Brand. WA Governor Kim Beazley's daughter Hannah will be trying to knock off Liberal Steve Irons in the marginal seat of Swan, which the veteran MP has held since 2007. Both camps seemed confident of winning the seat this week, but Labor has been pouring in the resources. Swan was always the top of its wish list. Steve Irons' on-the-ground campaign was still confident late this week and taking nothing for granted. Despite a high-profile name, Ms Beazley was sending out material aimed at raising her profile after pre-polling had opened, suggesting her campaign was struggling with last-minute problems. But she has been in the field for 17 months and can boast support from Labor state MPs Kate Doust and Bill Johnston, two of Labor's most formidable campaigners west of the Nullarbor. 3. Campaign surprises? Retiring Stirling MP Michael Keenan was sitting on 6.1 per cent when he pulled the pin, leaving his replacement as Liberal candidate Vince Connelly with less than three months to campaign against a Labor candidate who had been in the field since 2017. Although Labor's Melita Markey did not start the campaign with a profile, she found herself ahead of the Liberals when Mr Keenan announced his retirement earlier this year. Labor insiders have suggested a high-profile woman might've fared better for the Liberals, and Mr Connelly has struggled to establish name recognition at the commencement of the campaign. The contest has been hard-fought, with both sides spending big. Stirling will be close and one to watch. In Cowan, Liberal Isaac Stewart is neck-and-neck with Labor's Anne Aly. The seat has been on the Liberal wish-list, but with the tide turning against the Coalition, taking it off Labor might have proved ambitious. 4. Curtains for ambitious indy Progressive campaigns to wrest the western suburbs seat of Curtin have been mired in disaster this election. First, Labor's Melissa Parke didn't last a week after WAtoday revealed controversial comments she made about the Palestinian conflict with Israel. Then progressive independent Louise Stewart forwarded polling which was later revealed to be fabricated to a newspaper which published it. Although Ms Stewart said she didn't fake the polling, her campaign was mortally wounded. Amid this a dirt campaign has been run against Liberal candidate Ceilia Hammond, who is seeking to replace Julie Bishop in the seat. Both camps expect a swing against her because of the loss of Bishop's personal vote. Ms Hammond should retain the seat with a buffer from last election of 20.7 per cent. But watch out for the primary vote of Ms Stewart. 5. Hastie off the hook Labor had been making confident noises about high-profile Liberal Andrew Hastie's seat of Canning, but its federal campaign team worked out a win was off the cards when they saw him speaking in support of striking Alcoa workers. Mr Hastie has been running strong local campaigns in the seat since he was elected in a 2015 byelection. There is some talk he could defy the trend against the Coalition and increase his margin. 6. Liberal outliers Moore, Durack and Tangney The swing won't be so kind to three Liberal MPs in safer seats who have been keeping a somewhat lower profile this election. There have been indications significant swings could eat into Liberal margins in Moore, Tangney and Durack. Ben Morton holds Tangney with a safe margin of 11.1 per cent, but some have speculated there could be a high independent vote in the seat. Labor strategists say the seat is a missed opportunity. Additionally, Mr Morton has spent most of the campaign travelling with the PM instead of wearing out shoe leather on the ground. Lacklustre Liberal campaigns in Moore and Durack could see MPs Ian Goodenough and Melissa Price lose ground in these safe seats. 7. The festival of the minor parties The outcome of the senate won't be decided tonight, but of the six seats up for grabs, Labor and Liberal will take two apiece, with a fight to determine the last two. Doctors fear people with mental illnesses are increasingly turning to alternative treatments and medications and could be putting their health at serious risk. In March one such therapy, kambo, made headlines for all the wrong reasons. The giant green monkey tree frog, which produces "kambo". Kambo, a poisonous substance secreted from the skin of an Amazonian tree frog, is applied to open burn wounds in secretive group or individual ceremonies. Participants vomit and sweat; some empty their bowels. They are advised to bring their own buckets. On the wall of the Carlisle Castle Hotel in Newtown there is a large mural of a great Australian. He has the broadest smile. And he is holding a beer and a newspaper open at the crossword puzzle page. This is Bob Hawke, Australias 23rd, and greatest, prime minister. It says a lot about Bob that artist Scott Marsh chose to represent Bob Hawke as a knockabout everyman. Former prime minister Bob Hawke with Anthony Albanese at the launch of the book Albanese: Telling it Straight. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Generations of Australians know Bob Hawke as a passionate, intelligent, fun-loving larrikin, a leader with the common touch who was just as at ease with battlers as he was around boardrooms or with presidents. Bob really was one of us. His appeal crossed political and class divides. It was almost universal. Everyone loved him. They recognised his humanity and it reminded them of theirs. A treaty with Australias Indigenous people and addressing climate change were two issues of unfinished business that Bob Hawke saw for Australia, according to one of his oldest friends and most important collaborators. Bill Kelty, a former head of the Australian union movement who knew Mr Hawke for more than 50 years, told The Age and Sydney Morning Herald on Friday that he had seen Mr Hawke just a few weeks ago. Bob Hawke chats with former ACTU warrior Bill Kelty at Parliament House in 2011. Credit:Andrew Meares He knew he was dying, but he was still thinking deeply about the world, Mr Kelty said. Mr Hawke wanted to live long enough to see a treaty with Indigenous Australians. Early onset dementia sufferers have pleaded for governing bodies and aged care facilities to provide more support for victims of the disease during the final day of public hearings in Sydney for the Royal Commission into aged care. Trevor Crosby, 69, who was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia four years ago, told the commission on Friday he first noticed something was up when he wasnt his usual self while on a group holiday. Trevor Crosby at the Royal Commission on Friday. At the time I thought it was just old age - pity it wasnt. When I received my diagnosis I was dumbfounded, he told the royal commission. I choked, I cried, all my defences had been smashed. I felt helpless, pathetic. Im going to die, I said. Detective Inspector Tank, of the major crime squad, said police had been surprised to discover the remains. It is believed that when police opened the vault on Thursday they were overcome by the stench of decay, and immediately declared it a major crime scene. Families of the three missing people were notified by police, although the number of bodies and their identities will not be known until tests are completed next week. It is believed that the remains were partially stored in liquid thought to have been acid or some other agent to hasten decomposition. But Detective Superintendent Denis Edmunds against speculation. Let's wait and see what the scientists say." he said. He said he was hanging the statement as his last act in the hope that its presence demanded of those that followed that they continue efforts to find solutions to the abundant problems faced by Aboriginal people. Speaking before hanging the statement, Mr Hawke at once celebrated his governments achievements in Indigenous affairs and recognised that it had not done nearly enough. The statement had been presented to Hawke by Galarrwuy Yunupingu and Wenten Rubuntja in 1988 and Hawke adopted its central purpose as policy. But as he was forced from office in 1991 it had not been done. In his very last act as prime minister, a minute before Paul Keating was sworn in, Bob Hawke hung upon the walls of Parliament House the Barunga statement, a manifesto painted upon bark calling for the formal recognition of the Aboriginal people of Australia and for a treaty recognising their sovereignty. Mr Yunupingu released a statement on Thursday after Mr Hawke's death, via the Yothu Yindi Foundation where he serves as chairman, saying that Hawke had been a friend of the Yolngu people whose efforts to bridge the gap between black and white were sincere and extended after his prime ministership. We did not achieve all that was set out in the Barunga statement, but it remains in Parliament, and we continue to pursue its aspirations. We will remember Mr Hawke fondly, a smile on his face. Mr Hawke had first mentioned a treaty in 1987, before the Bicentenary celebrations his government had endorsed and which had attracted protest from Aboriginal groups. I think what's important is that before 1988 starts, is that the Australian community as a whole should publicly and quite specifically acknowledge, as we go into 1988, that's going to be a celebration of 200 years of European settlement which comes on top of a long history of 40,000 years of Aboriginal history and culture and tradition, he told the ABC during a 1987 trip to Alice Springs. Now that means, I think, that before 1987 is finished, it would be good that there be some clear statement, acknowledgment that in those 200 years of European settlement, considerable injustices have been done to the Aboriginal people ... Whether that leads to a thing called a treaty, or we simply enshrine into the statute books of this country a statement of those things, I don't think matters so much. I don't think it's the word that matters, it's what is the attitude and commitment of the people, and I think that certainly has to be made clear. Little did they know that the fire would turn out to be a bonanza for the Burgess father and son because, within days of the fire, their newly vacant site, added to their adjoining site in Taylor Street, became hot property as the potential new headquarters of the APVMA. The day before the fire the government announced a tender process for an Armidale site to house the 150 people who worked at the APVMA. Bookmakers Greg Burgess, far left, and his father Garry Burgess, far right. Credit:Gareth Gardner It was no secret about the authoritys relocation as Mr Joyce, then agriculture minister, had been pushing the move for some time, even though the authority faced a catastrophic loss of scientific expertise as the majority of staff had indicated they would not move to Armidale. Only five days before the fire Mr Joyce was grilled on the ABCs Insiders about the move saying it makes abundant sense because the University of New England could team up with the APVMA due to their shared expertise. However, as the university was to point out, its expertise was in agriculture whereas the APVMAs was chemical. As the regulatory body with oversight for the use of chemicals in agriculture and animals, the APVMA didnt deal with farmers, they told Mr Joyce, they dealt with the companies who manufactured and marketed chemicals and those companies were not in Armidale. This point had already been made in a $270,000 Ernst & Young report which analysed the cost/benefit of the move. The report, which parliament later heard gave a damning assessment of the relocation, estimated that the cost of the move would be more than $23 million. Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce accused of 'pork-barelling' over the relocation of the AVPMA from Canberra to his electorate. Credit:Nic Walker Asked on Insiders whether the cost-benefit report was going to be made public, Mr Joyce replied that it wasnt going to be released because a decision [to re-locate the APVMA] has already been made by the Australian people. At 11.30am on the day after the fire, Heath McNally, 38, who had worked as a security guard at the club earlier in the year, shot himself in a local park. His phone was found at the crime scene as was an empty bottle of Jack Daniels. The club didnt stock that brand and another establishment confirmed selling the alcohol to McNally hours before the fire. On his body police found a USB which contained photos of other fires which had occurred around the state. The police settled on McNally as their chief suspect, having discounted Ms Richards, who was underinsured and had been trading well. They also discounted the Burgess father and son, acknowledging that with the building uninsured, they had nothing to gain. The coroner found that McNally had relationship problems and had been depressed prior to his death. While his death was a matter of real coincidence there was no conclusive forensic evidence to connect him to the arson, the coroner found. With the government tender process having been announced the day before the fire, local real estate agent John Sewell said the local agents phones immediately lit-up with calls from big developers from Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane keen to secure potential sites for the proposed APVMA headquarters. The government created a mini real-estate boom in Armidale, he said. The Burgess site was one of six potential sites, said Mr Sewell. Later, father and son granted options to three potential developers, promising to sell their Beardy/Taylor street site should any of the developers win the contract to build the APVMA headquarters. A new Department of Youth Justice will be created and led by one of Queensland's most senior police officers amid an unfolding crisis involving children being held in adult watchhouses. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced the measure on Friday, following a week of heavy criticism over detention of children in maximum security cells built for adults, some for weeks at a time. Deputy Police Commissioner Bob Gee has been announced as the director-general of the Department of Youth Justice. Credit:AAP/Dave Hunt. Deputy Commissioner of Police and State Disaster Coordinator Bob Gee has been appointed as director-general of the department, and will start in his new role on Monday. He said he wanted to get children out of watchhouses as soon as possible but could not say when that would be achieved. Bronze screens to be installed in Brisbanes Anzac Square will cost an unexpected $2.3 million - $800,000 more than expected - but the council says the refurbishment project is still under budget despite criticisms from Labor. In May last year the council entered into a contract with Kane Constructions Pty Ltd to complete the fourth and final stage of the squares major renovations, for an agreed contract of $6.9 million. Anzac Square was open in time for Anzac Day, with councillor Fiona Hammond (Marchant) saying the feedback from the community had been very positive. Credit:AAP/Darren England The contract included a $1.5 million provisional fund for any unexpected costs, and the council also put aside an undisclosed contingency fund. Stage four, allocated $16.7 million out of the state-and-council shared projects $22 million budget, was for major refurbishments and upgrades throughout the park. Fifty years ago in Queensland, there was only one place to suck back a milkshake with your date or pick up a packet of cigarettes after 10pm - the local Greek cafe. Many Queensland children who were around before the 1970s, probably blew their first stash of pocket money on lolly teeth or gobsmackers at the milk bar down the road. The lolly counter at the Paragon Cafe, Dalby, 1936. Milton Samios is behind the counter. Credit:State Library of Queensland Others probably remember the thrill of being sent down to the shop to pick up bread and milk for the first time. For almost 100 years, there seemed to be a milk bar or cafe on every street corner, and they were almost always owned by a Greek family. Access to a hotel room with his boss sleeping and a briefcase full of cash was too tempting for a Japanese man who has been jailed for pinching $140,000 and blowing it at Crown Casino. Cash-strapped Takuro Yanagida, 23, was visiting Melbourne in October 2018 with his boss Gohsuke Kotani, who ran a sports marketing business. The man exchanged his boss's money for chips - and lost the lot. Credit:James Davies But as Mr Kotani, his wife and business partner slept at their hotel, Yanagida used a key to unlock his employer's suitcase before taking nearly half of the $300,000 cash stashed inside. County Court Judge Robert Dyer described the theft as a "naive, amateurish and unsophisticated" act. Thousands of students disadvantaged by technical glitches during this year's NAPLAN Online tests will be allowed to resit the assessment. State and federal curriculum authorities held emergency talks this week to discuss the validity of the results after students struggled to access and complete tests due to connectivity issues. The disconnection message that flashed up on students' screens while they were sitting NAPLAN on Tuesday. Credit:Twitter On Friday, it was agreed that curriculum authorities should be allowed to let affected students resit the test on Tuesday, May 28. Victorian Education Minister James Merlino said letting impacted students resit the test was the "best and fairest course of action". Midland, Joondalup and Mirrabooka are among the hardest-hit policing districts when it comes to shoplifting. Police are being kept busy with shoplifters across the state. Credit:Marina Neil New figures tabled in parliament show 3878 people were arrested or summonsed state-wide for shoplifting last year. The Midland policing district which incorporates suburbs such as Ellenbrook and Forrestfield was hit the worst, with 417 people arrested or summonsed last year. The Joondalup district was the second highest area in WA for the offence with 394 offenders, followed by Fremantle with 347. Meredith Munros electricity bills regularly top $100 a month. The other elderly residents in her small Port Melbourne public housing estate also often struggle, on their pensions, to pay their power bills. Public housing tenants Meredith Munro and Jason York want solar panels built on the roof of their sheds. Credit:Chris Hopkins A lot of people dont turn on their power in winter to save money, said the 72-year-old retired teacher. Most tenants on the Williamstown Road estate live independently, but many are sick or immobile. Everybody has got some sort of ailment, said Ms Munro. It means most are home a lot meaning their power bills are higher. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams The police are looking back into an investigation of a driver who hit a cyclist on Vanderbilt Avenue and fled the scene, after this paper reported the incident on May 16. Cops with the 88th Precinct initially closed the case of a the motorist who sideswiped Queens resident Jason Gan near Willoughby Avenue on May 6 without making arrests, because they didnt have the cars license plates, according to a spokeswoman for the department but decided to give it another look after this reporter sent the department a first-person video of the incident that Gan posted online on the day of the collision. I spoke to the commanding officer and was informed the report was closed because the cyclist was hit by an unknown vehicle, Det. Denise Moroney said in an emailed statement. I shared the plate information and the complaint has since been opened and the squad is looking into the matter. Gan sustained injuries to his arm and leg after the gold-colored Nissan Altima with out-of-state plates knocked him off his bike and sped off. The 22-year-old told this paper he was on his way back from running errands in Gowanus and the driver honked at him when he swerved to avoid a double-parked car, just before 5:30 p.m. After that I moved all the way over to the right as close as I could to the parked cars, Gan said. But the driver apparently grew impatient and sped up, hitting Gans handlebar with his side mirror, knocking him into the cars back panel before he hit the asphalt, according to cyclist. All of a sudden I can hear him accelerating towards me and the minute I see his front panel, I can tell that he is way closer. Then his mirror got my handlebar and back panel hit my body, he said. The cyclist believes that the driver intentionally hit him because the car was able to pass another biker right behind him without a problem. He also said that the driver sped off because there was a police car about a block ahead of them. Theres a cop car like 50 feet in front of me I think thats why the guy sped off so fast, because he saw that and reacted to that, he said. It just sucks a lot. This is his third time a motorist has struck Gan and made a run for it, the cyclist said. The first time, a driver hit him in East Williamsburg, leaving him with a concussion last October and he said he was struck again in Greenpoint in February. Brooklyns streets are proving to be treacherous for cyclists. Since the beginning of this 2019, 10 cyclists died at the hand of drivers, with eight of the fatal collisions in Brooklyn and three of those in just the last four days. Gan was happy to come out of the incident with just minor injuries and was thankful for the other cyclists and pedestrians who stayed on the scene with him until police arrived. He was also glad to hear that the department is reopening his case, but said he has learned from his previous interactions with the Boys in Blue that they dont take cases seriously where the victims arent severely hurt. Unless theres a serious injury broken bones or something like that the police treat it as a motor vehicle accident, not a felony, he said. But the department spokeswoman said that police takes every accident seriously. The NYPD takes every accident seriously and investigates every case with sensitivity and care, Moroney said. We courage all people to share information that could further an investigation. Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was an iconoclast. So, the spectre of breaking statues would have amused him more than disturb. That he has run up the dubious record for having his statues disfigured whenever there are talks of a change might not have surprised him, either. He also had a wonderful sense of humour. At a gathering at the house of Bengals Lieutenant Governor, when he was asked why Bengali pundits did not wear a turban, he remarked they were lightening the load on their motherland, whom they had been unable to defend. Thanks to his unorthodox beliefs, Vidyasagar has been less ... Chinas state media signalled a lack of interest in resuming trade talks with the US under the current threat to escalate tariffs, while the government said stimulus will be stepped up to buttress the domestic economy. Without new moves that show the US is sincere, it is meaningless for its officials to come to China and have trade talks, according to a commentary by the blog Taoran Notes, which was carried by state-run Xinhua News Agency and the Peoples Daily, the Communist Partys mouthpiece. The Ministry of Commerce spokesman said Thursday he had no ... In the run up to the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trumps opponents could often be seen waving copies of the US Constitution, reminding him of the words of Americas founding fathers that, in their view, would constrain his excessive impulses. These days it would not be surprising to see Trump taunting his opponents with the Constitution. Although some would argue it has curbed his worst excesses, this widely venerated document has actually enabled him. After all, it began by handing him the presidency. Drafted in 1787 and ratified the following year, the US ... Property crowdfunding offers an alternative for home buyers, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said on Friday, after he warned banks that he may take action against them for rejecting housing loan applications without reason. But if the banks refuse to lend, it will be not only just an option, he said in Kuala Lumpur. It may be more than that. The crowdfunding model lets Malaysians bypass banks for loans and ... Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor President Donald Trump is wary of drawing the US into a war with Iran, in part out of concern that an armed conflict with the Islamic Republic would imperil his chances at winning a second term, according to people familiar with the matter. There is division within the administration over the approach to Iran, some of the people said. At the same time, the president is cognizant that he was elected in part on promises to withdraw the US from Middle East wars -- not start new ones, they said. Privately, Trump has said he doesnt want war with Iran, one person familiar with the ... At least 17 Afghan policemen were killed in a friendly airstrike carried by the Coalition Forces in Nahr-e-Saraj district in the southern Helmand province on Friday, said the provincial council. Attaullah Afghan, head of the provincial council, said that at least 17 policemen were killed in the airstrike which was carried by the Coalition Forces "by mistake", reported Tolo News. However, Afghan's Interior ministry has said that the death toll is seven and that too is not clear whether the casualties were due to friendly airstrike or scuffle with Taliban. The ministry said at least 11 other policemen have suffered injuries. Attaullah Afghan, head of Helmand Provincial Council, said that at least 17 policemen were killed in the airstrike which was carried by the Coalition Forces "by mistake". Coalition forces led by the United States of America with it allied forces--United Kingdom, Australia, Spain, and Poland-- are deployed in West Asia and middle east. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Six kg of gold worth Rs 2 crore has been seized by Air Intelligence Unit from different passengers at the airport here in a span of two days. "6 kg gold of 24 K purity valued at Rs 2 crore was recovered in different cases on Thursday and Friday and seized under Customs Act 1962," said the Customs Department. In all cases, gold in the rubbery spread was found concealed in the rectum of the accused, said the Customs Department. All the accused had boarded the flight for Chennai from various locations including Colombo, Dubai, and Mumbai. All the accused have been arrested. Further investigation in the case is on, said the Customs Department. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) PM at last rally for LS polls Khargone (Madhya Pradesh) [India], May 17 (ANI): Narendra Modi on Friday chanted the slogan 'ab ki baar 300 paar, phir ek baar Modi Sarkar' at his last rally before campaigning for Lok Sabha elections comes to an end. "People throughout the country are saying 'phir ek baar Modi sarkar, abki baar 300 par'," said the Prime Minister Modi at his rally in Khargone of Madhya Pradesh. Former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and other BJP leaders were also in attendance. Modi began his speech by comparing his first election rally for the Lok Sabha polls in Meerut with the concluding public meeting. "I started my poll campaign from Meerut and today I am ending it from here. Both these cities are united with the inspiration of nationalism and fight of independence from British. Meerut is known for the sacrifice of Mangal Pandey who fought against British in 1857 and in Khargone, Bhima Nayak began Adivasi revolution was martyred for the cause. I pay tributes to Bhima Nayak," he said. He explained that the 2019 Lok Sabha polls are different from previous polls as this time people are not voting for a particular political party, but for the country. "I am satisfied that people are standing together for our brave soldiers and there is unanimity in people against terrorism," said Modi. The Prime Minister also hit out at Congress on the issue of terrorism and slammed Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy for his " children from poor families join armed forces" remark. "No one will vote for Congress for 100 years because of this statement. This is an insult of armed forces and brave sons of the country. When armed forces are on the border they are ready to die for the nation," Modi lashed out. On April 11, Kumaraswamy at a public rally had said, "Those who safeguard the borders are not children of rich people. They are children from poor families who cannot afford two square meals." Prime Minister Modi further said, "I am working for education of tribals and we are developing a network of schools named Eklavya. We are working to increase forest produce and to make tribal handcrafts reach far off places through online retail." Modi detailed his plan for farmers and mentioned plans to build solar panel in farms so that peasants have easy access to water and electricity. He also pitched his government's Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme. "After attaining the age of 60 years, all small farmers, workers, traders will get pension every month. We are also planning to remove middlemen from farm trade," Modi added. Prime Minister Modi slammed opposition by calling it 'mahamilavati' and said that the Congress and its allies only know how to betray people. "In assembly polls in the state, Congress made false promises to the people as they did not waive off farm loans, which they promised to do in ten days," said Modi. "As far electricity is considered, the Congress party had promised to reduce electricity bills by half, instead, they started providing half of the electricity," the Prime Minister remarked. Modi also accused Congress government of corruption saying, "Whatever money we have sent for tribals is being used by Congress here for their poll campaign." He also mentioned "Tughlaq Road election scam," in which BJP accused Rahul Gandhi dealing in huge sums of black money at this residence in New Delhi. Poor have been provided with toilets and free gas connections, Modi said. Enlisting his election promises, Modi promised houses for all the poor by 2022. "In the last five years, we made 1.5 crore houses. Till 2022 we plan to give a house to all poor. Under Ayushman Bharat scheme, Rs 5 lakh insurance has been given to poor for free...I began my poll campaign by saying that in the last five years the basic facilities were provided by our government and in the coming five years the aspirations of the people will be fulfilled," he said. Modi urged people to vote for BJP and said that opting for the party translates to contributing for security, women's security, and development of youth. "When you press the lotus button, within 5 seconds you become the owner of my five years. When you vote for lotus you are pressing the trigger to kill a terrorist," Modi said. Concluding his last campaign rally for elections, Modi said, "I thank you all for the time you have given to me for the past five years. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BJP president Amit Shah on Friday sought to do damage control on the Godse controversy by saying the statements made by Sadhvi Pragya Thakur and two MPs--Anant Kumar Hegde and Nalin Kateel--were against the official stand and ideology of the party and has referred the matter to disciplinary committee for action. "The statements given by Shri Anantkumar Hegde, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Shri Nalin Kateel in the past two days are their personal statements. BJP has nothing to do with them," Shah said on Twitter as a controversy raged over backing Godse, the assassin of the father of the nation. Shah's second tweet said that the statements made by three leaders go against BJP's ideology and would be dealt with strictly after the internal disciplinary committee files a report. "They have retracted their statements and have also apologized for them. Still these statements, made in public, go against BJP's ideology and dignity and are being taken seriously by the party which has decided to send the three statements to the disciplinary committee," the tweet read. "The disciplinary committee has been asked to collect the response of the three leaders and submit a report on the same within 10 days to the party," his final tweet read. On Thursday, Pragya Singh Thakur had started a controversy by saying "Nathuram Godse was a 'deshbhakt', is a 'deshbhakt' and will remain a 'deshbhakt'". Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde and another party MP Nalin Kateel on Friday took to twitter to add fuel to the controversy. Hegde said, "Am glad that 7 decades later today's generation debates in a changed perceptional environment and gives good scope for the condemned to be heard upon. #NathuramGodse would have finally felt happy with this debate!" Nalin compared Godse with former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and 2008 Mumbai terror attack convict Ajmal Kasab. He tweeted, "Godse killed one, Kasab killed 72, Rajiv Gandhi killed 17,000. You judge who is more cruel in this??" As their tweets attracted attention, both of them deleted their controversial remarks. Shah's second tweet said that the statements made by three leaders go against BJP's ideology and would be dealt with strictly after the internal disciplinary committee files a report. "They have retracted their statements and have also apologized for them. Still, these statements made in public, go against BJP's ideology and dignity and are being taken seriously by the party which has decided to send the three statements to the disciplinary committee," the tweet read. "The disciplinary committee has been asked to collect the response of the three leaders and submit a report on the same within 10 days to the party," his final tweet read. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will visit the officials of Election Commission (EC) on Friday. Naidu's Telugu Desam Party (TDP) had on Thursday "strongly opposed" the Election Commission's decision to hold repolling at five booths under Chandragiri and Chittoor parliamentary constituencies and termed it as "partial one-sided and undemocratic". "I am writing this letter to strongly oppose the partial one-sided and undemocratic motivated actions of the EC. The decision to conduct repolling in five polling stations under 166-Chandragiri and 25-Chittoor parliamentary constituencies," Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said in the letter. The EC had on Wednesday declared the poll held on April 11 in these five stations as void and ordered that a re-polling be conducted from 7 am to 6 pm on May 19. Meanwhile, Naidu might also meet Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Farooq Abdullah and Sharad Yadav, today. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) CPI (Maoist) on Thursday threatened TDP leaders of dire consequences if the police did not release jailed tribal villagers. In a letter addressed to TDP minister Chintakayala Ayyanna Patrudu, Kidari, Sravan Kumar, Paderu MLA Giddu Eswari and local leaders of Visakhapatnam, East Division committee of CPI (Maoist) made the threat. According to sources following the threat, the police have shifted all the said leaders to a safe place and have directed them to not travel anywhere without giving prior information. "There are 30 tribal village people nearby Chapagadda, RV Nagar and Siribala estate. Villagers boycotted to work under the Andhra Pradesh Forest Development Corporation (APFDC) in 2017. Till now, the police and APFDC are filing fake cases against them in the name of Maoists supporters. Police has detained 6 members of farmers illegally on International Labours Day May 1. Till today, they were not released," the letter said. "What's going on in the tribal area? Is it democracy or police ruling? We (Maoist) hope that TDP leaders are behind the police and extortion categories. TDP should take responsibility and release villagers immediately, if not then TDP leaders have to face the consequences for our (Maoists) actions next time," it said. The threat comes months after Araku TDP MLA Kidari Sarweswarao and ex-MLA Siveri Soma were killed by Maoists in September 2018. The CPI (Maoist) asserting that tribal people are fighting for their rights on the forest for the last 35 years, added, "Tribal people have protested against Andhra Pradesh Forest Development Corporation (APFDC) possession of coffee farms in Visakhapatnam. Both police and APFDC management should respect individuality and freedom of tribal people. But they are harassing them." . (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Enraged by the decision of re-polling, people of NR Kammapalli village here on Thursday prevented Mohit Reddy, son of YSR Congress Party's candidate Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy, from entering the village. Women allegedly tried to attack Mohit with broom sticks. Later, Mohit along with his party workers sat at the entrance of the village to stage a protest. TDP candidate P Nani who is contesting against Chevireddy Bhaskar from Chandragiri assembly seat also reached the spot, following which the police also arrived to pacify the tense situation. Earlier this month, YSR Congress candidate Chevireddy Bhaskar lodged a complaint with the EC stating that voters belonging to a particular community were not allowed to exercise their franchise when polling was conducted on April 11. Moreover, the CEO reportedly received some complaints from other sources as well. On Wednesday, the ECI declared the poll held on April 11 in these five stations as void and ordered re-polling on May 19. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At a rare press conference as Prime Minister, Narendra Modi took no questions but expressed confidence about coming back to power with increased majority. Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who has often criticised Modi for not addressing media during his tenure, was quick in taking a jibe over the media interaction at the BJP headquarters called at the end of Lok Sabha campaign. "I am a disciplined soldier. In our party, the president is everything," Modi said directing questions put to him to party president Amit Shah after a reporter enquired if she can ask the Prime Minister something. As Shah kept replying to questions, another reporter sought to put a supplementary to Modi. Shah shot back to the reporter saying the question has been answered and the prime minister need not answer queries on everything. Soon after the media interaction was over, Gandhi took a dig at the Prime Minister in a tweet. "Congratulations Modi Ji. Excellent Press Conference! Showing up is half the battle. Next time Mr Shah may even allow you to answer a couple of questions. Well done!" he wrote on the micro-blogging website. Gandhi, who held a parallel press conference at the time Modi and Shah were meeting reporters, repeatedly urged Modi to debate him on several issues. "Prime Minister holds a press conference just 4-5 days before the election ends. Unprecedented, Prime Minister of India is holding a press conference for the first time," he said mockingly. At the presser, Modi termed the Lok Sabha elections a "spectacular" and "positive exercise". "In my opinion, our full majority government will return to power, such a thing will happen after a long time in the country. It will happen after a long time in the country," Modi said. On the contrary, on being asked about his projection of results Rahul said that the public will decide the future course of May 23. Elections to 59 parliamentary constituencies will be held on May 19 in the seventh and last round of polls. Counting of votes for all 543 seats 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 Ministry of Civil Aviation held a meeting on Friday with representatives of all domestic airlines to discuss reallocation of grounded Jet Airways' international slots. Though Air India too is grappling with mounting debt but still running, Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola said preference will be given to the government-owned airline. Among Indian carriers, Air India reportedly has the maximum number of international flights and serves 380 routes. It operates 33 weekly flights to Chicago, New York JFK, San Francisco, Washington Dulles and Newark in the United States, besides 66 to London, Vienna, Paris, Frankfurt, Copenhagen, Madrid, Rome, Milan, Stockholm and Birmingham in Europe. Before cash-strapped Jet Airways stopped operations on April 17, it served over 350 international routes. More than 85 aircraft of its 119-strong fleet have been de-registered, which means lessors with unpaid dues have been allowed to lease them to other airlines. Other airlines have officially given their preferences of slots vacated by Jet Airways. But SpiceJet, GoAir, IndiGo, Vistara and Air Asia India do not have wide-bodied planes to fly on long-haul routes in Europe and the United States. Hence most Air India may end up getting these routes. However, private airlines may get routes like Dubai, Colombo or Singapore from and to Indian cities. Meanwhile, Jet Airways is under the management control of State Bank of India-led consortium of lenders following a debt-restructuring plan. But no firm bids have come forth yet to revive the airline. Most of its senior executives, including Chief Executive Officer Vinay Dube and Chief Financial Officer Amit Agarwal, have resigned from their positions. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Campaigning in the bitterly-fought high-stakes Lok Sabha elections came to an end with the BJP claiming that it will get more than 300 seats and ensure return of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister, while Congress president Rahul Gandhi refused to hazard a guess on the numbers the opposition will get and on who could be the prime minister if the incumbent is defeated. As the campaign in 59 constituencies spread over six states and one union territory on May 19 came to a close, BJP president Amit Shah and Gandhi held press conferences at their party headquarters about how electioneering went in the last two months. "We will get more than 300 seats along with our pre-poll allies. We will have the government. It'll be a coalition government," Shah said at the press conference also attended by Prime Minister Modi. He also did not rule out new allies coming into NDA after the poll results. "We are open to having anybody who will accept our agenda," he said. At his press conference, Gandhi said a decision on the prime ministerial post of a non-BJP government at the Centre would be taken after the Lok Sabha poll results are out on May 23. "People will deliver their mandate on May 23. I will not comment on it before their decision is out. I do not want to prejudge the judgement of Indian people. We will take the decision on the basis of what people decide," Gandhi said. While campaigning in five states and Chandigarh ended on Friday, it came to a close in West Bengal on Thursday night after the Election Commission cut short electioneering by a day in the wake of violence during Shah's road show on Tuesday. The seventh and final phase on May 19 will cover 13 seats in Uttar Pradesh; all 13 in Punjab, nine in West Bengal, eight each in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, all four constituencies in Himachal Pradesh, three in Jharkhand and the lone seat of Chandigarh. A total of 918 candidates are in the fray to test their destiny in the last phase. Those whose fortunes will be decided in the final phase are Modi in Varanasi, former Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal (Ferozepur), his wife and union minister Harsimrat Kaur (Bhatinda), another union minister Hardeep Puri (Amritsar) and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's wife Praneet Kaur in (Patiala) (all in Punjab), three-time MP Anurag Thakur in Himachal Pradesh's Hamirpur, former Jharkhand chief minister Shibu Soren (Dumka) and former union minister P K Bansal, who faces sitting MP Kirron Kher in Chandigarh. Winding up the gruelling campaign that lasted over 50 days, Modi addressed a meeting in Khargaon in Madhya Pradesh, claiming that the BJP and the NDA would return to power with more than 300 seats. But opposition leaders predicted a rout for the BJP saying Modi would be shown the door. However, they were not sure who would be their prime minister. "I am not in the race for running a government. I will be steering the nation," Modi said in an interview before close of campaigning which witnessed highly personal attacks by leaders against each other. Modi had termed former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi as "corrupt no 1" while Rahul Gandhi kept chanting the slogan of "chowkidar chor hai" in reference to Modi While Modi led the NDA campaign assisted by his party president Amit Shah and other leaders, the Congress charge was led by Rahul Gandhi, aided by his sister Priyanka Gandhi and other leaders. BSP Chief Mayawati and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav came together to form a mahagathbandan (grand alliance) to take on the BJP juggernaut in Uttar Pradesh and held rallies in all regions of the politically-crucial Uttar Pradesh which has 80 seats in Lok Sabha. Other regional parties tied up among themselves against BJP and NDA in several states. Modi, who is contesting from Varanasi, did not go for campaigning to his constituency Varanasi where he did a massive road ahead of filing of nominations. Congress leader Ajay Rai, who lost to Modi in the last elections, will again face the prime minister while SP has fielded Shalini Yadav. 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.) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday suspended its Madhya Pradesh spokesperson Anil Saumitra from the primary membership of the party for calling Mahatma Gandhi "the father of Pakistan." Saumitra, in a Facebook post, had referred to Mahatma Gandhi as the "father of Pakistan". "Pakistan was born with the blessings of Bapu, therefore, Mahatma Gandhi can be called the father of Pakistan and not of India," he wrote on a Facebook post yesterday. Madhya Pradesh BJP unit chief Rakesh Singh conducted an investigation into the matter and directed Saumitra, who is also the chief of BJP's media relations department, to reply within seven days. This comes a day after BJP's Bhopal Lok Sabha candidate Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur hailed Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse as a "true patriot". "Nathuram Godse was a deshbhakt, is a deshbhakt and will remain a deshbhakt," Thakur had said while commenting on actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan's statement on independent India's first terrorist being a Hindu, referring to Godse. Thakur, who faced backlash from the Opposition and her party alike, apologised for hurting sentiments of people. "If someone has been hurt then I apologise for it. What Gandhi ji did for this country cannot be forgotten. I respect him a lot. My statement was misinterpreted and twisted by the media," she had told ANI on Thursday. Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi had said he will never forgive Thakur for insulting Mahatma Gandhi by calling Nathuram Godse a patriot. "The statements given about Gandhiji or Godse are very bad and are wrong for the society. Though she (Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur) apologised but I will never forgive her," Prime Minister Modi said in an interview with News24 TV channel. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sitting alongside Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the end of gruel and long campaigning, BJP president Amit Shah on Friday exuded confidence that BJP-led NDA would get more than 300 seats and come back to power with its allies. Notwithstanding the confidence on getting a majority on their own, he said the BJP would welcome new allies after the results. "In 2014, we came to power with a historic verdict. In 2019, we will return with a bigger majority. For the first time, a non-Congress government came to power with a huge majority. We have now come to the end of election campaign. The BJP has run the most extensive campaign in history," Shah said while addressing a press conference at the party headquarters. Modi, however, did not take questions, saying "In BJP, everything is the party president." "Narendra Modi has been accepted by the people, I guarantee you that BJP, under Narendra Modi's leadership, is going to form the next government. People have been ahead of us in their determination to form a Modi government once again," he added. Shah said this will be the first time that a non-Congress government with a single party majority will come back to power on the basis of its performance. "We will get more than 300 seats along with our pre-poll allies. We will have the government. It'll be a coalition government," he said in response to questions. Asked about taking the help of new parties, he said, "We are open to having anybody who will accept our agenda." He dismissed the possibility of Opposition alliances gaining seats saying, "if two leaders form alliances in AC rooms in Delhi, it doesn't mean that people will follow them like bonded labour." Replying to a question on Congress chief Rahul Gandhi saying that Modi did not join debate with him on the Rafale issue, Shah said, "Rahul Gandhi should go to the Supreme Court with whatever material he has. There was no compromise on the deal and no favouritism was done. Not a paisa was involved in any corruption." Recalling various schemes launched by the NDA government in the last five years, Shah said that the central government has ensured that 'vikas' (development) reached the lowest section of society through its schemes. "There's a Modi wave in the country which will re-elect Prime Minister Narendra Modi again. In the whole world, India is recognised as a powerful country. Since Independence, these elections have been the biggest for BJP," he said. Shah went on to add that BJP started its election campaigning from January 16 in a bid to win the 120 Lok Sabha seats it lost in the previous elections. "We are confident that we will receive good results. We will get more seats in West Bengal, Odisha and even in Karnataka," he added. Seven-phase Lok Sabha elections, which began on April 11, will conclude on May 19. Results of the electoral exercise will be out on May 23. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) by Shafique Khokhar The two were sentenced to the death in 2016 for shoving a Christian couple into a brick kiln because of false charges of blasphemy against them. We request the honourable Supreme Court to check the pressures of the extremists in the case of Shama and Shahzad, says activist. Lahore (AsiaNews) The High Lahore Court has acquitted two men accused of lynching and burning alive Shahzad and Shama Masih, a poor Christian couple they believed to be guilty of blasphemy. In 2016, the Lahore Anti-Terrorism Tribunal had sentenced the two to death, along with three other people, in connection with the double murder. The High Court confirmed the death sentence of the other three. "The murder did not take place secretly in some remote area of the country. The whole village was present, says Hamza Arshad, educator and journalist. There were many witnesses. Although someone did not participate, everyone knew, including the police." Those acquitted are Muhammad Hanif and preacher Hafiz Ishtiaq; the other three are Mehdi Khan, Riaz Kambo and Irfan Shakoor. In March 2018 the same court freed another 20 accused, giving them the benefit of the doubt. The religiously-motivated double murder took place in 2014. The couple was stoned and thrown alive into the brick kiln where Shahzad worked. The incident began on 4 November 2014 when a mob of 400 people attacked the two after they were accused of blasphemy. In fact, the charge of insulting Islam was an act of revenge by Christian labourers Muslim employer over an unpaid debt. At the time of the attack, his wife was pregnant with their fifth child. "We live in a country where a High Court judge is forced to flee after sentencing the killer of the governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer, Hamza Arshad explains. Although "The release of Asia Bibi is good news, yet events show the power of extremists, but The state had to show its power. In his view, the outcome of the Masih case may be due to poor prosecution or blindness of justice vis-a-vis marginalised communities. For Naveed Walter, president of Human Rights Focus Pakistan, "it is shocking that five years have passed and justice has not been given to the victims family. Sadly, several cases regarding minorities are still pending from years in courts. "It is well known that in the cases where minorities are victimised the process of justice becomes prolonged due to the influence of religious groups on judges. In the end, delaying of justice is actually an encouragement of culprits. Samson Salamat, president of Rwadari Tehreek, an Interfaith Movement for Tolerance, notes that "The acquittal of two of of five defendants is a disappointment for already terrified religious minorities, and this forces them to believe that justice will not be served in the case of the other three accused. Rwadari Tehreek is concerned that the justice system will fail to provide relief to minorities in cases of attacks against their lives, places of worship and other properties. In light of this, We request the honourable Supreme Court to check the pressures of the extremists in the case of Shama and Shahzad because this kind of pressure has been visible in many similar cases. Campaigning in the bitterly-fought high-stakes Lok Sabha elections, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking a second term, came to an end this evening with parties making claims about their victory ahead of polling in 59 constituencies spread over six states and one union territory on May 19. In West Bengal, campaigning in the last nine constituencies ended on Thursday night after the Election Commission cut short electioneering by a day in the wake of violence during BJP president Amit Shah's road show on Tuesday. The seventh and final phase will cover 13 seats in Uttar Pradesh; all 13 in Punjab, nine in West Bengal, eight each in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, all four constituencies in Himachal Pradesh, three in Jharkhand and the lone seat of Chandigarh. A total of 918 candidates are in the fray to test their destiny in the last phase. Those whose fortunes will be decided in the final phase are Modi in Varanasi, former Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal (Ferozepur), his wife and union minister Harsimrat Kaur (Bhatinda), another union minister Hardeep Puri (Amritsar) and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's wife Praneet Kaur in (Patiala) (all in Punjab), three-time MP Anurag Thakur in Himachal Pradesh's Hamirpur, former Jharkhand chief minister Shibu Soren (Dumka) and former union minister P K Bansal, who faces sitting MP Kirron Kher in Chandigarh. Winding up the gruelling campaign that lasted over 50 days, Modi addressed a meeting in Khargaon in Madhya Pradesh, claiming that the BJP and the NDA would return to power with more than 300 seats. But opposition leaders predicted a rout for the BJP saying Modi would be shown the door. However, they were not sure who would be their prime minister. "I am not in the race for running a government. I will be steering the nation," Modi said in an interview before close of campaigning which witnessed highly personal attacks by leaders against each other. Modi had termed former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi as "corrupt no 1" while Rahul Gandhi kept chanting the slogan of "chowkidar chor hai" in reference to Modi. While Modi led the NDA campaign assisted by his party president Amit Shah and other leaders, the Congress charge was led by Rahul Gandhi, aided by his sister Priyanka Gandhi and other leaders. BSP Chief Mayawati and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav came together to form a mahagathbandan (grand alliance) to take on the BJP juggernaut in Uttar Pradesh and held rallies in all regions of the politically-crucial Uttar Pradesh which has 80 seats in Lok Sabha. Other regional parties tied up among themselves against BJP and NDA in several states. Modi, who is contesting from Varanasi, did not go for campaigning to his constituency Varanasi where he did a massive road ahead of filing of nominations. Congress leader Ajay Rai, who lost to Modi in the last elections, will again face the prime minister while SP has fielded Shalini Yadav. 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.) As the Lok Sabha election reaches its last leg, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu is slated to meet Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday here, and will fly to Lucknow later in the day to meet Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief is also likely to meet NCP leader Sharad Pawar, CPI secretary general Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy, and Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD) leader Sharad Yadav. On Friday, Naidu met Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora regarding re-elections at five polling stations that fall under Chittoor parliamentary constituency in Andhra Pradesh on May 19. Accusing the Election Commission of being a "biased body" that takes "pro-government decisions," Naidu, while speaking to reporters here, had said, "It is unfortunate that we are fighting against the EC. In Andhra Pradesh, they ordered re-polling in five polling stations." "I do not want re-polling. I want the EC to be transparent. The way the EC is working, I am questioning that as a senior politician of the country. I have never seen such an attitude of the EC in the last 25 years of my political career," he said. Naidu had also written a letter to the poll body, saying, "The EC has already conducted re-polling in five other polling stations in three districts of Andhra Pradesh on May 6, based on certain complaints. If there were any issues in the polling stations in Chandragiri assembly constituency, why didn't the Commission enquire into the same and conduct the re-polling on May 6?" He even criticised the EC for taking cognisance of the complaints filed by the YSRCP and ordering re-polling. "We have seen polling being conducted in different phases, but have never come across re-polling also being held in phases," he said. Hours after his meeting with Arora, Naidu visited Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at the latter's residence. Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was also present in the meeting. The TDP chief also met CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury. Seven-phased Lok Sabha elections, which began on April 11, will conclude on May 19. The 25 Lok Sabha and 175 assembly seats at stake in Andhra Pradesh went for polls simultaneously on April 11. The counting of votes will take place on May 23. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Businessman Robert Vadra, husband of Congress General Secretary in-charge for Uttar Pradesh (East) Priyanka Gandhi, on Friday accused Bharatiya Janata Party of making "false" and "hollow" promises. Vadra took to Facebook to take a dig at the incumbent government and said: "Congress will give to the people what it has promised. Not make false, hollow promises like the BJP did, and never delivered even one promise. We will fulfil every need." Vadra also posted two pictures. While in one photo he urged voters to vote for the Congress, in the other photo he could be seen giving food to the poor. "We will stay true to our promises. Vote for new India," the photo stated. Robert Vadra has three cases - Bikaner land deal money laundering case, 2009 petroleum deal case under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) era and United Kingdom assets case, going on against him. As many as 59 parliamentary constituencies spread across 7 states and 1 Union Territory will go to polls in the last and seventh phase of the Lok Sabha elections on 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.) Delhi High Court on Friday permitted Nitin Johri, Bhushan Steel's former chief financial officer who is in judicial custody since May 8, to visit his ailing mother in the hospital for few hours. Johri, through senior counsel Sudhir Nandrajog, had approached the court for interim bail on account of his mother's drastically deteriorating terminal illness. Justice Sunil Gaur granted permission to Johri to meet his mother in the hospital while remaining in the custody. Nitin Johri was arrested by SFIO (Serious Fraud Investigation Office) earlier this month. According to the sources, Johri was managing the firm and looking after inter alia the affair of raising of funds from various banks and financial institutions. He was one of the signatories to the financial statements of Bhushan Steel (BSL) till the fiscal 2016-17 and was also a member of the "Committee of Board of Directors on Borrowing, Investment and Loans" of BSL along with Brij Bhushan Singal and Neeraj Singal. The SFIO probe alleged that there were fraudulent practices in the company, including manipulations in the accounts and financial statements when Johri was its CFO. These included maintaining inflated inventories for availing enhanced working capital. Sources said Johri was one of the prime perpetrators of the fraudulent arrangement of manipulations through the instrument of Letters of Credit (LCs) by filing false documents with various banks. A number of LCs, amounting to more than Rs. 20,000 crore, were opened using false documents on behalf of the BSL over a period of time starting from the financial year 2014-15. By way of the said modus operandi, sources said, BSL inter alia availed working capital to avoid getting their loan or credit accounts declared as NPAs by banks. LCs worth more than Rs. 3000 crore were finally devolved, sources mentioned. CBI has accused Singhal and others of availing loans from 33 banks and financial institutions from 2007 to 2014 and defaulting on payments worth over Rs 2,000 crore. They have also been accused of fraudulently diverting a huge amount of bank funds through shell companies. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi Police on Friday filed a detailed charge sheet in a court here in connection with a case pertaining to the alleged harassment and intimidation of a woman journalist at a rally organised by Gujarat Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Jignesh Mevani. As per the charge sheet, the Delhi Police, as part of the investigation, recorded the statement of the complainant, studied the footage, interrogated the accused and went through documents submitted by the accused, an alleged aide of Jignesh Mevani. The charge sheet, which was filed before Metropolitan Magistrate Preeti Parewa in Patiala House Court, mentioned that the police gathered evidence against the accused including a CD containing a video of the alleged offence. According to the charge sheet, the Delhi Police recorded the statement of the complainant - a journalist working with Republic TV - and also interrogated the accused. The charge sheet was filed under section 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a women)/ 506 (Punishment for Criminal intimidation)/ 341 (punishment for wrongfully restraint)/ 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) IPC and stated, "the accused is joining the investigation and without arrest and accused may please be called through notice a difference witnesses through summons during the course of trial. It also mentioned that the accused has joined the investigation and interrogation was conducted. During the course of investigation, search of other persons was also conducted but no whereabouts of other persons could be obtained, it added. The police also called Mohit Pandey of NSUI to investigate about the persons participating in the rally, but he refused to give any list or information about the names of all persons as it was an open call for people to join the rally, the charge sheet stated. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi Police Crime Branch has arrested gangster Vijay Farmana, who is wanted in 11 murder cases, from a mall in Lucknow on May 15, police said on Friday. A weapon and two live cartridges were recovered from his possession, police said in a statement. A cash reward of Rs 50,000 was earlier declared by both Delhi Police and Haryana Police on the arrest of the gangster. "A special team of the Crime Branch led by Inspector Gagan Bhaskar nabbed Farmana in a mall in Gomtinagar area of Lucknow on May 15. The gangster went to the mall to meet one of his girlfriends," read a statement issued by the police. "On seeing the police, Farmana tried to flee but he was cornered by the police. The gangster took out his pistol to fire but he was overpowered by police officials," the statement added. Farmana is wanted in 11 murder cases, including triple murders and various cases of robberies and carjackings of luxury vehicles. The police said during the interrogation, Farmana, a resident of Sonipat in Haryana, confessed that all 11 murders were committed by him. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BJP Lok Sabha candidate from Bhopal, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur has said that the people should not vote for those, who speak against the nation. "This is India. Any person who has a sense of tolerance can live here without being discriminated. If you go to China or Britain, they do not tolerate those who speak against the country," said Pragya while campaigning for BJP candidate Mahendra Singh Solanki on Thursday. "But here in India the people even give votes to those, who speak against the nation. People should change their mind this time...People should not vote for the 'Tukde Tukde' gang," she said. She said: "Will you defeat terrorism in India? Will you teach a lesson to those who honour terrorists?" The last phase of the Lok Sabha election will be held on May 19 when eight seats in Madhya Pradesh will also go to polls. The result will be announced on May 23. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) ULFA leader Pranamoy Rajguru and a TV actress Jahnabi Saikia have been remanded to 10 days police custody, in connection with the grenade blast here on Wednesday in which 12 people, including two SSB personnel, were injured. Both the accused were produced by the police in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) here on Friday. The police arrested both of them on Thursday and recovered explosive materials in huge quantity from their possession in connection with the grenade blast outside a mall on Zoo Road in the city. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh also on Thursday spoke to Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal regarding the blast. In the grenade blast took place at 8 pm on Wednesday, 12 people were injured when two unknown bike-borne suspects lobbed a grenade on the state police troops and fled from the spot. "Now they will be produced in the court on 27 May. The police asked for their 14-day custody. However, the court granted the remand of only 10 days," said Bhaskar Dev Kumar, the counsel for the accused. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Addressing the first press conference of his tenure, Prime Minister Narendra Modi termed the Lok Sabha elections "spectacular" and expressed confidence of coming to power again. "In my opinion, our full majority government will return to power, such a thing will happen after a long time in the country. It will happen after a long time in the country," Modi told reporters. Hailing India as the world's largest democracy, Modi said that it is everyone's duty to showcase the strength of this democratic system to the world. "It should be a matter of appreciation for the world, the variations we have in our democratic system," Modi said at his maiden press conference as Prime Minister. Modi thanked the people of the country, "I am overwhelmed with the support that I got. I want to thank the people for all the love and support," he said. Party president Amit Shah, at the same dais, affirmed that their party will run the government for a second term."We are confident that we'll receive good results." he said. Congress president Rahul Gandhi was addressing a parallel press conference where he took potshots at Modi and termed his media address "unprecedented". Elections to 59 parliamentary constituencies will be held on May 19 in the seventh and last round of polls. Counting of votes for all 543 seats will take place on May 23. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Farmers are the real 'Chowkidars' (watchmen), who protect their crops from the attack of animals on their own, said Congress general secretary east Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday. "When stray animals destroy fields, then farmers protect their crops on their own. Where is your 'Chowkidar' at that time? Farmers are real 'Chowkidars' (watchmen)," said Priyanka while addressing an election rally here. Criticising the policies of BJP government, she said: "Due to demonetisation 50 lakh jobs were lost. The sugarcane farmers have lost Rs 10,000 crore. The money of your Kisan Bima (insurance) has been transferred to big industrialists." Priyanka further said: "When farmers from all states marched to Delhi and raised their issues, our Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) remained silent. They wanted to meet the Prime Minister but he did not step out from his office even for five minutes. He does not have time for the poor and farmers." Campaigning for RPN Singh, who is contesting against BJP's Vijay Kumar Dubey from Kushinagar seat, Priyanka said: "When the Congress came to power in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh, then Rahul Gandhi started waving off farmers' loan." "Everywhere I go, I see disappointment instead of development. No matter how much advertisement is done but the people know the real state of affairs. Democracy means power belongs to people. But under BJP, voices of dissent have been silenced," she said. The voting for 13 Lok Sabha seats including Mirzapur and Robertsganj seats in Uttar Pradesh will go to polls in the last phase of General Elections on May 23. 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.) EU sanctions target Syrian regime and its supporters for their ongoing repression of civilians. The sanctions regime covers 270 people and 70 entities. Oil is among the items under restrictions. In recent weeks, several Catholic figures criticised the sanctions against a people torn by conflict. Damascus (AsiaNews/Agencies) The Council of the European Union voted today to extend by a year (until 1 June 2020) sanctions imposed on Syrias Assad regime and some of its leading figures. The Council decided to maintain its restrictive measures against the Syrian regime and its supporters as the repression of civilian population continues, reads its statement. The names of five individuals who have died and two entities have been removed from the blacklist. "The list now includes 270 persons and 70 entities targeted by a travel ban and an asset freeze for being responsible for the violent repression against the civilian population in Syria, benefiting from or supporting the regime, and/or being associated with such persons or entities." EU sanctions were first imposed on 1 December 2011 and are subject to an annual review. They include an oil embargo, as well as "restrictions" on certain types of investments, a freeze on assets held by Syrias central bank in the EU, and restrictions on exports to Syria of equipment and technology, such as those that could be used to monitor telephone and internet communications. In recent weeks, AsiaNews heard the stories of a number Syrian Catholic religious (Trappist nuns in Azeir, the Maronite archbishop of Damascus and Aleppo Latin parish priest Fr Ibrahim Alsabagh), who all criticise European (and US) sanctions. Embargo and sanctions, Christian leaders note, only end up hurting civilians already battered by eight years of conflict. European sanctions are compounded by those imposed by the United States against Syrian leaders and the Assad family, whose aim is regime change. As a result of US sanctions, fuel imports are impossible and transport is paralysed. Going to school and university is hard, and patients are hard pressed to see a doctor. Although drugs and hospitals are not included in the embargo, health workers are idle and equipment is not used for lack of spare parts. Sanctions come on top of the war and its devastations: almost half a million dead, more than three million permanently disabled, about 11 million almost half of the population forced to leave their homes. Over 80 per cent of Syrians live in extreme poverty, with less than two dollars a day. Since 2009, just under 60 per cent of Syrian businesses have moved abroad with the net result that unemployment jumped from 10 per cent in 2010 to more than 50 per cent in 2015. GDP losses between 2011 and 2016 totalled US$ 226 billion. Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday asserted that the Lok Sabha elections were about protecting the institutions which give "voice to people of this great country" and said that his party has done "A-grade" job fighting the BJP and RSS ideology. "I am proud to say that we have fought Narendra Modi and BJP. We have protected the institutions of this country, which is our main duty, from Narendra Modi, the BJP, and the RSS. This fight was about protecting Supreme Court, RBI, the Constitution and all the institutions that make this great country and give voice to people," he said at a press conference here as the campaign came to a close in the Lok Sabha polls. He said, "We have given a good fight (to the BJP). Our strategy was to raise people's issues and we effectively did it. We played A-grade role of the Opposition. We incircled Modi and dismantled his idea. We raise farmers issues. We told to people that Rs 15 lakh cannot be given but 3.6 lakhs can be given in 5 years." Gandhi accused the BJP of exorbitant use of the money during elections. He said: "Modi and BJP have so much money. there is a comparison in our wealth. I think it would be around 1:20. They have unlimited money, unlimited marketing, unlimited TV, whereas we have the only truth. The truth will triumph." "I am, as an Indian, extremely proud that millions of people stood with us and stopped Narendra Modi," Gandhi said. The Congress chief, however, refused to comment on Congress' seat tally in the elections and alliance with other Opposition parties, saying that it would be disrespect of the Indian people to comment on their decision before it is out. He said that a decision on the prime ministerial post of a non-BJP government at the Centre would be taken after the Lok Sabha poll results are out on May 23. "People will deliver their mandate on May 23. I will not comment on it before their decision is out. I do not want to prejudge the judgment of Indian people. We will take the decision on the basis of what people decide," Gandhi said when asked if the Congress would compromise on the prime minister's post. Gandhi refused to comment on BSP chief Mayawati and other leaders' aspirations for the top job but asserted that "secular formations" will win the maximum number of seats in the polls. "Secular formations are going to win the maximum seats in the election," he said. Gandhi scion said: "I made it very clear to Priyanka and Jyotiraditya Scindia that their first motive was to ensure BJP's defeat then pushing Congress ideology and win Vidhansabha elections in UP." "I do not want to comment on Mayawati ji or any other leader. Ideologically, they are broadly on the same page as we are on. I do not see Mamata ji, Naidu ji, Mayawati ji or Mulayam Singh supporting the BJP," he said. He alleged that the Election Commission's role in this election was "evidently" biased. Gandhi said: "EC's role in this election is biased. Modi says whatever he wants to but other people are curtailed to speak. Partiality is evident. It is also clear in EC's schedule. We only can believe on the poll schedule." The Congress chief took a dig at Modi for holding the first press conference since he took power, days before the declaration of poll results. "Very good, very impressive. PM's first press conference happens just 4-5 days before election results. Unprecedented!" he said. "Randeep ji told me that the doors have been locked to prevent journalists who want to enter there. Let me ask as to why did he not debate with me on Rafale issue. I challenged you (Modi) to talk about Anil Ambani, I want to ask you why you gave Rs 30,000 crore of Air Force to (Ambani)," he said. Gandhi complained to the media for allegedly not asking Modi hard questions like to him. "I have a complaint to the press, you ask hard questions to me but you ask the PM how he eats mango, you ask him about Balakot," he said. On the issue of PM raising dragging his family members in the polls, he said: "I said that I respect Narendra Modi, his parents and PM post. No matter how much hatred he hurls at me, I will return the love. If Narendra Modi's parents, who are not in politics, even if they did something wrong, I will not comment but if he wants to use foul words for my family, he is free to do that." On the question of Sonia Gandhi' role in Opposition government formation, he said: "Sonia and Manmohan, our seniors, have so much of experience. I'm not Narendra Modi. I do kick out the experience. We will get the benefit from their experience." Campaigning for the phase of seven-phased Lok Sabha elections ended on 5 pm today. Counting for votes will begin on May 23 to decide the next federal government. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde on Friday came out openly backing Nathuram Godse, notwithstanding BJP's condemnation of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur calling Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse a "true patriot". However with his remarks attracting attention, he later deleted the tweet. "My Twitter account has been breached twice in the past one week and certain tweets have been posted on my timeline which has been discarded and deleted. Regret the posts attributed to me," he said in a fresh tweet. In the earlier tweet, Hegde, known to courting controversies, was quoted as saying he felt that these debates give "good scope for the condemned to be heard upon." "Am glad that 7 decades later today's generation debates in a changed perceptional environment and gives good scope for the condemned to be heard upon. #NathuramGodse would have finally felt happy with this debate," the tweet said. On Friday, BJP's Bhopal candidate, Thakur, created a huge controversy by calling Godse a true patriot, a comment from which her party distanced itself and strongly condemned it. It asked her to publicly apologise for it which she first refused but later complied. She said she did not want to hurt anyone and if anyone felt hurt by her statement she apologised for it. Not new to controversies, Hegde, in January earlier this year, had said that Shah Jahan bought the Taj Mahal from King Jayasimha, who had actually constructed a Shiv temple--Tejo Mahalaya. At the same event, he also said that "if a Hindu girl is touched by a hand, then that hand should not exist." Last year, Hegde had hit out at secular intellectuals, saying the latter does not have an understanding of the difference between a living human being and a dead body. On Friday, Hegde also attacked on Rahul Gandhi after the Congress president posted a meme on social media introducing the word 'Modilie'. "This m***n Rahul Gandhi is hell bent on proving himself that he is one of his own kind of international idiotic skill master and hence the horizons have extended beyond the boundaries. No one can prevent his growth....Amazing," Hegde tweeted. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Deepika Padukone stunned everyone on Thursday on the Cannes red carpet where she looked like a princess straight out of a classic tale. Expressing her excitement over the star-studded event, the actor shared pictures where she can be seen prepping up for the event. Taking to her Instagram, the 'Padmavat' actor gave a glimpse of all that went into the red carpet look by posting pictures and videos of her preparations to look best at the event. "Cannes 2019," she captioned a video. In other pictures posted by the 'Piku' actor, she can be seen sitting calmly in a bathrobe and getting her makeup done. The actor had heads turn as she walked the red carpet in an off-white gown by Peter Dundas with a black-brown bow. The long trail of the gown further adds the oomph to the outfit and the beautiful eye makeup adds to the overall look of the actor. Deepika gave her fans a stroll at the red carpet by posting a series of amazing pictures of her look at the Cannes red carpet. "Cannes-16th, May 2019," she captioned the post. In the pictures, there are several close up shots of the actor where she can be holding up that elegance and poise look by flaunting her style. She can also be spotted waving and giving flying kisses to her fans and well-wishers at the red carpet. Even designer Peter Dundas shared pictures of the actor on his Instagram giving a brief of the entire look. 'DEEPIKA LOVE," he captioned the post. Deepika kept her fans updated with her trip to Cannes by posting pictures on her Instagram. Earlier on Thursday, the actor shared pictures as she arrives at the airport in France. The diva was spotted in a rocking chic avatar as she wore a white button-down shirt, paired with a chambray shirt and loose denim pants. She accessorised her look with polarized black shades and red stiletto heel. Simple red lips and centre parted straight hair completed her look. Last year, Deepika wore an origami gown from Ashi Studio's Summer/Spring 2018 Collection.In another look, she wowed the fashion police in a sleeveless figure-hugging Zuhair Murad gown with plunging neckline and fully beaded in white shimmering stones with matching cape. Apart from Deepika, Priyanka Chopra, Kangana Ranaut, Selena Gomez were some of the A-list celebrities who were seen dazzling at the 72 Cannes Film Festival red carpet. Meanwhile, on the work front, the 'Bajirao Mastani' actor will be seen next in 'Chhapaak' where she essaying the character of an acid attack survivor. The film which is being helmed by Meghna Gulzar also stars Vikrant Massey in a pivotal role. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Huma Qureshi who is set to make her Netflix debut with the mini-series 'Leila', shared the trailer of the series on Friday. The 'Gangs of Wasseypur' actor shared a two-minute three-second clip on Twitter and captioned, "Can't wait for you guys to see this one! #Leila, coming soon." In what looks like a mystery trailer, Huma's life turns upside down after a group of fanatics takes her daughter away, while a slogan 'Hail Aryavarta' is quite recurring in the clip. The trailer also makes it evident that Qureshi married a person out of her caste and the government takes away the children born to such couples. 'Project Balee' is what will keep the viewers on their toes as it comes as the surprise element towards the end of the clip. Huma, who has given the best of her efforts in the series is garnering huge praises from people of her fraternity. Akshay Kumar, who shared the screen with Qureshi in 'Jolly LLB 2' appreciated her in a tweet and wrote, "I know which series I'm going to be watching this June...#Leila looks so intriguing, looking forward to it! Sending my best." Film director, choreographer Farah Khan also expressed her excitement after watching the trailer and wrote, "Oh my goddd Huma Qureshi this has given me goosebumps in both good n bad ways!! Can't wait to catch this on Netflix India .. All the very best." Huma's performance also overwhelmed others like Aftab Shivdasani, Rajeev Masand, Neeraj Ghaywan, to name a few. 'Leila' is being helmed by much-acclaimed director Deepa Mehta, Shanker Raman and Pawan Kumar. Mehta, who is known for the critically appreciated trilogy 'Fire', 'Earth' and 'Water', is also the creative executive producer of the show. The upcoming Netflix series is based on a book by journalist Prayaag Akbar, based on a mother's hunt for her lost daughter. Netflix recently unveiled a bunch of original series and feature films for its Indian market including 'Sacred Games', 'Typewriter', 'Bulbul' and 'Chopsticks'. Huma was last seen in 'Kaala' in which she starred opposite superstar Rajinikanth. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indian Air Force Chief BS Dhanoa flew a number of solo sorties in MiG-21 fighter aircraft in Sulur, Coimbatore over the last few days. MiG-21s are one of the oldest aircraft in the Air Force fleet. Most of them are on the verge of being phased out from the inventory of the Air Force. The aircraft played a stellar role in Kargil war by bombing enemy supply lines. Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa commanded the 17 squadron during Kargil war which had MiG-21s. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, flying a MiG 21 fighter plane had shot down a Pakistani Air Force F-16 during the aerial confrontation on February 26. On February 26, IAF launched an attack on terror camps of Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad in Balakot, less than two weeks after the Pulwama attack which claimed the lives of 40 CRPF personnel. On February 27, a day after the IAF bombed the terrorist camps, PAF attempted to carry out an attack on Indian military installations in Jammu and Kashmir. The attack was foiled by IAF pilots, who used specific manoeuvres on their MiG-21s to dodge the multiple AMRAAMs fired by PAF F-16s. Varthaman had shot down an F-16 plane using a Russian air-to-air missile. However, his plane also crashed and he was taken into custody by the Pakistani Army after crossing over to the neighbouring country. Under severe pressure from India and several other nations, Pakistan released Abhinandan on March 1. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said that BJP's Bhojpuri actor Ravi Kishan, who is contesting from Gorakhpur, a seat that the CM had represented in Parliament for five times, will give a new direction to Bhojpuri culture and art. "By bringing in Ravi Kishan, a new direction will be provided to Bhojpuri language, Bhojpuri art and culture," Adityanath said while addressing an election rally at Sahjanwa here on Friday. BJP had suffered a shock defeat in Gorakhpur last year in the byelection after Adityanath vacated the constituency on becoming chief minister. After the 2018 defeat, in which BJP candidate Upendra Shukla was defeated, the chief minister is lending his support to Ravi Kishen. At Sahjanwa, he asked people to vote the actor into power. Adityanath appealed voters to not to vote on the basis of caste but rather on the developmental work done by the NDA government and the schemes floated and accomplished by the Prime Minister. "While giving you the houses, gas connections, electricity connection, roads, health insurance Prime Minister Narendra Modi has never seen or asked about your caste. The schemes benefitted all without any discrimination. While giving schemes if he has not seen your caste and you should also not cast your vote keeping the caste in your mind," said Adityanath. He added that Prime Minister's motto was "sabka saath , sabka Vikas". "Your every vote on lotus will directly go into the account of Prime Minister Narendra Modi," he said. The chief minister also reiterated that the Prime Minister-led Modi government has secured India by striking deep inside the territory of Pakistan. Adityanath said that in 'new India' when Modi gives a speech in Ballia then Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan begins to sweat sitting in Islamabad. Elections to 484 constituencies stand completed in the first six phases. The remaining 59 seats would go to poll on May 19 in the final phase of the Lok Sabha elections. 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.) Tata group-led Indian Hotels Company Limited on Friday signed a strategic partnership with Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC for an investment framework to the tune of Rs 4,000 crore over a period of three years. The capital platform will be used to acquire fully operational hotels mainly in the luxury, upper upscale and upscale segments in India. It allows the hospitality company to pursue acquisitions in an asset-light format, with the equity contribution from Indian hotels at 30 per cent and the balance contributed by GIC in the next three years. The acquisitions are intended to be housed in a separate special purpose vehicle with its own funding. The hotels acquired within the framework will be managed by Indian Hotels under its marquee brands. This framework will complement Indian hotel's current growth aspirations via management contracts. In February 2018, Indian hotels had outlined a development strategy 'Aspiration 2022' to drive its inventory growth. Through this strategy, the company aspires to create greater enterprise value and make Indian Hotels South Asia's most profitable and hospitality company. Indian Hotels owns brands like Taj, SeleQtions, Vivanta, The Gateway, Ginger, Expressions and TajSATS. Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) is a sovereign wealth fund established in 1981 to manage Singapore's foreign reserves. GIC is a global long-term investor with over 100 billion US dollars in assets in over 40 countries worldwide. . (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hollywood filmmaker James Gunn-produced horror film 'Brightburn' will release in India on May 29. Announcing the release date on Twitter, film critic and trade analyst, Taran Adarsh wrote, "A superhero - horror film... Brightburn to release on 24 May 2019 in India..." Introducing a new twist to the superhero culture, this film focuses on a radical new genre: superhero horror. The plot revolves around a child belonging from another world, who crashes-land on earth and instead of transforming into a hero with superpowers that can be used to save mankind from unknown threats, he turns into something far more sinister and dark. The film will feature Elizabeth Banks (Pitch Perfect), David Denman (After Earth), Jackson A. Dunn (Gone Are the Days), Matt Jones (Dreamworld), and Meredith Hagner (Set It Up). Helmed by David Yarovesky and scripted by Gunn's brother Brian Gunn and his cousin Mark Gunn, the film will feature Elizabeth Banks. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A student of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) was found hanging from a ceiling fan in a room inside the university premises, said police on Friday. The police came to know about the incident when a professor called the police informing them that he has received a suicide note on his e-mail. The student has been identified as Rishi Joshua Thomas, who was a student of MA second year at the School of Languages, JNU. Police reached the School of Language after contacting the caller. In the basement of the library, one room was locked from inside. On knocking no one responded. When seen from the window, a boy was found hanging from the ceiling fan. The door was broke open. He was rushed to the university health centre where doctors declared Thomas dead. The body of Thomas has been shifted to Safdarjung Hospital. Relatives have been informed. His cousin brother Mathew Varghese has reached the JNU. Police said 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 California federal judge on Wednesday allowed a massage therapist to pursue a sexual assault lawsuit against Kevin Spacey while keeping his identity anonymous. Back in 2018, the masseur filed a suit against Spacey, alleging that the 'Horrible Bosses' actor tried to kiss him and forced him to grab his genitals during a private massage appointment at the actor's residence in Malibu. According to the Hollywood reporter, reacting to these allegations, Spacey's attorneys had requested Judge Ronald Lew to dismiss the suit because it was filed anonymously. To this, the massage therapist's attorneys argued that revealing his name could result in loss of business and expose him to potential physical harm. Announcing his ruling on Wednesday, Lew allowed the sexual assault victim to remain anonymous as he pursues the sexual assault lawsuit. "Plaintiff's vulnerability to humiliation, harassment, and threats, is further exacerbated by the nature of Defendant's status as a high-profile celebrity and the media attention that comes with it. The Court finds that anonymity is necessary to protect Plaintiff's privacy and to protect against any further trauma," Lew said. This is not the only such allegation Spacey has faced by far. Former Boston TV anchor Heather Unruh has accused Spacey of sexually assaulting her son, who was at that time 18-year-old, in a bar where he worked as a busboy. In February 2017, a man reported that he had been sexually assaulted by Spacey in 2008 in Lambeth. Many other allegations have been made against him since 2017. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) by Paul Wang The Architect of Chinese origin died at 102 years of age. A pupil of Walter Gropius, founder of the Bauhaus, he imposed an idea of modernity made of pure geometric shapes, flat surfaces, natural light. He leaves works in France, the United States, Hong Kong, but also in Qatar, Luxembourg and China. Hong Kong (AsiaNews) - Ieoh Ming Pei, one of the most famous architects worldwide, died yesterday at the age of 102. Among his most famous (and even controversial) works are the glass pyramid in front of the Louvre in Paris (photo 1) and the angular Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong (photo 2). When the modern pyramid opened in front of the old building of the Parisian museum, many Frenchmen branded the building as "an annex of Disneyland". In much the same way, when the tower of the Bank of China was inaugurated, seven years before the passage of the territory to China, many people in Hong Kong criticized the structure - which did not "respect the feng shui" of the island - and the two antennas, ironically defined "the two sticks" [chop sticks], which placed vertically are bearers of misfortune. In reality, in his work, Pei has imposed an idea of modernity made of pure geometric shapes, flat surfaces, natural light. Born on 26 April 1917 in Guangzhou, in a family originally from Suzhou (the so-called "Venice of the East"), Pei emigrated to the United States in 1935, where he obtained a diploma from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and another in design at Harvard, where he was a pupil of Walter Gropius, founder of the Bauhaus. He became an American citizen in 1954, he pursued academic work at Harvard and in 1955 he founded his office. Since then he has designed museums, public buildings, hotels, schools made of stone, steel and glass. His international style spread to France, the United States, Hong Kong, but also to Qatar, Luxembourg and China. He has won several awards. In 1983 he was awarded the Pritzker Prize, with the motivation that "he gave this century some of the most beautiful interior spaces and among the most beautiful external forms". Pei used the $ 100,000 scholarship award for Chinese students who wanted to study architecture in the United States. He was married since 1942 he was married to Eileen Loo, with whom he had four children, two of whom are architects. His wife died in 2014. A local court here on Friday awarded life imprisonment to six people convicted in the case where five girls of an NGO were raped in Kochang, Khunti last year. "Father Alfonso Aind and 5 others have been convicted. Alfonso Aind was identified as the conspirator in the case. The Court has given maximum punishment to all the accused," said Sushil Jaiswal, Public Prosecutor in the case. On June 19 last year, five women, associated with an NGO, were gang-raped at gunpoint in Jharkhand's Khunti district after they were abducted while performing a street-play in a nearby village. On June 22, the Commission of Women (NCW) wrote a letter to Jharkhand Director General of Police (DGP) directing him to apprise the commission about the action taken in Khunti gang-rape case. The NCW also informed that the commission has constituted a three-member inquiry team to investigate the case and submit recommendations on the matter. In its report submitted on June 28, The Commission for Women (NCW) stated the Khunti gang-rape incident seemed to be "planned" and "executed in a professional manner". It also expressed doubt over the conduct of Father Alfonso Aiend, the manager of RC Mission School, who the NCW team suspected to have been a part of the conspiracy. On June 23, Jharkhand Police arrested two of the accused. The five women were associated with an NGO which worked towards raising awareness on issues like human trafficking. On one such campaign, the women had gone to the nearby village of Kochang to perform a street-play. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Fast-growing electronics retail chain Kohinoor, concluded the third edition of India's largest consumer electronic festival - Kohinoor Consumer Electronics Show 2019. With participation from over 50 Indian and International brands, the 2019 edition of the show attracted over 80,000 shoppers across 10 days. "The Kohinoor Consumer Electronics Show has been growing with each passing edition. This year, we have seen a 25 per cent increase in participation as compared to last year's edition. We believe it is the brands promise that connects the most with customers and vice versa. This year, products were curated keeping in mind consumer demands and interests", said Vishal Mewani, Director, Kohinoor Tele Video. "In short, we had thoughtful products for our consumers. Over 20 extremely innovative products were launched during the show. We will continue to stick to our brand promise of Selling Joyfully and look forward to yet another edition of the Kohinoor Consumer Electronics Show next year", he added. Promoting an inclusive environment, 40+ specially-abled kids from Reach Foundation and Yash Trust were invited by Kohinoor to the Kohinoor Consumer Electronic Show 2019 to experience the event, witness innovation and get a look and feel of the products displayed. Electronics brand LG also organized a blood donation camp at the venue. Additionally, brands including LG, Vu, Siemens, VIVO, Amazon, IFB, Samsung, and TCL launched exclusive India first products at the show. Blue Star, Mi, Lenovo, HP, Sony, Philips, Nokia, Samsung, Lloyd, Hitachi, Unilever, Havells were a few of the other leading brands that had a strong presence at the 2019 edition of the consumer electronics festival. Senior leaders from various brands and renowned personalities including Aditi Govitrikar, Ali Asgar, Mohit Marwah, and Sajid Khan also visited the show. The show did not simply serve as a platform for brands to showcase products and innovation but provided them with an opportunity to engage and understand more about consumers and their purchase habits. 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.) Narendra Modi is not the prime minister of Indian masses, but of one per cent elite population, said SP chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav here on Friday. "These elections are the elections to save the country. He (Narendra Modi) is neither mine nor your Prime Minister but the Prime Minister of only one per cent elite population. In the last five years, he has done no work of a Prime Minister and has only done advertisement," said Yadav while addressing a joint election rally with BSP chief Mayawati here. "He has made his government on the basis of lies and hatred," he said, while accusing Prime Minister Modi of doing something contrary to what he claims. "He has always done things just opposite to what he says. He talked about bringing back the black money but the truth is that the country is going backward. In the last five years during the BJP rule, the nation's debt has increased from Rs 35 lakh crore to Rs 70 lakh crore." "If this money has not reached poor and farmers, then has where all the money gone? A few people with a huge amount of money have left India in planes," said Yadav, in an apparent reference to Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi, and Vijay Mallya, who owe a huge amount of money to Indian banks. The voting for 13 Lok Sabha seats including Mirzapur and Robertsganj seats in Uttar Pradesh will go to polls in the last phase of General Elections on May 23. 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 leader Shatrughan Sinha on Friday claimed that the Narendra Modi wave (lahar) in the country has now turned into chaos against the Prime Minister. "Modi lahar has turned into Modi qahar (Modi wave has turned into Modi havoc)," he said at a press conference which was attended by several leaders of the grand alliance, adding that the "gali-gali me shor hai, chowkidar chor hai" was being raised frequently. Launching a scathing attack on BJP chief Amit Shah, Sinha stated that people of Bihar will show him his "aukat" (worth) in the upcoming elections. "Amit Shah said he will show Bihari Babu (Sinha) his worth (aukat). The way Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked of Bihar's DNA, people showed him his worth during the assembly elections. After the roadshow that happened today, they (BJP and its allies) will be aware of their worth. And whatever is left, people of Bihar will let them know of their worth in the upcoming elections," he asserted. Sinha claimed that he had to pay a price for standing by LK Advani when he was in the BJP. "As someone elected by people, I raised the voice of the general public although sycophants in the (NDA) government could not do so. I stood with Advaniji in that party when he was sidelined. I said he is a friend, philosopher, guide, it should not be done. Some say I paid a price for it," said the former BJP leader. He also asserted that he kept speaking against the policies of Modi-led NDA government. "All I want to say is, I have never done anything that you can say is selfish. I never fought any battle for myself. I spoke against demonetisation. I said the party is bigger than the individuals and the country is bigger than the party. I kept speaking for the betterment of the country. I spoke against the complicated GST," he said. "People said I am rebelling against the party. I respect several members of the party even now. But democracy ended and dictatorship began. Democracy was there during the term of scholar Dr Manmohan Singh, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Now you see, it has become a one-man show and two-man army," he added. The Congress candidate from Patna Sahib Lok Sabha constituency also lamented that he could not stand against the "propaganda machine." "I did not speak against him (Modi). I spoke against his policies. They said I am saying it because I was not made a minister. I could not stand before their propaganda machine. I asked if the same yardstick would be applied to Advani ji, Murli Manohar Joshi, Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie as well," he said. "They threatened me. They said I won't be given a ticket. They threatened to expel me from the party. I said do it but remember Newton's third law that there will be a reaction against every action. Now, you are seeing that reaction," he asserted. Sinha also lauded Congress president Rahul Gandhi for his "tried, tested and successful" leadership. "Under the tried, tested and successful leadership of Rahul Gandhi, Congress won three elections within a year of him becoming party president," he said. Terming Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Yadav as the "victim of revenge politics", Sinha claimed that people of Bihar want to see him free. "Jail ka phatak tootega, Lalu Yadav chhutega- this is what the people of Bihar want," he said. As Sinha's opponent, BJP has fielded Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad from Patna Sahib, which will go to polls on May 19. The counting of votes will be done on May 23. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Amid buzz that Nana Patekar has been given a clean chit from the police as no eyewitness has confirmed the incident that was reported by Tanushree Dutta under #MeToo, Tanushree revealed it is a false rumour. The actor issued a statement clarifying that the investigation is still going on while accusing Patekar's public relation team of spreading the false rumour. "There is a false rumour floating in the media that Nana Patekar has been given clean chit by police in the harassment case. I wish to clarify that the Mumbai police have given no such statement and that the investigation on the matter is still ongoing as confirmed by my advocate Nitin Satpute and the Mumbai Police," she asserted. "There is major foul play going on here with all sorts of lies being spread by Nana's team," the statement read. She also claimed that Nana's public relation team is spreading all these false rumour because "the accused in harassment cases are not getting any work in the industry and this is their attempt at damage control and fixing his public image." In her statement, she also alleged that the investigation process has slowed down "due to constant threat calls from Nana's people received by many key witnesses from our side who have been unable to record their statement due to fear and intimidation." She even claimed that false witnesses have been presented to mislead the investigation and in spite of all that has happened, she still hopes to see Nana Patekar, choreographer Ganesh Acharya, producer Sami Siddique and director Rakesh Sawant behind bars "for orchestrating the harassment and mob attack on me and my family in our car." Addressing the concluding paragraph of her statement to Nana, Ganesh, Sami, and Rakesh, Tanushree said that nothing can make her drop the case until justice is served, no matter how long it takes. "10 years I stayed away from the industry because of the trauma of the mob attack, the harassment and the public humiliation you put me through, I will not let you get off the hook so easily. Let the sword of jail and public scrutiny hang over your heads at least a decade till you are brought to your knees in humility and repentance!! An eye for an eye and a decade for a decade unless you are forgiven by grace. You will repent and ask for forgiveness until then I'm not dropping this case. Let it go on for as long as it can. I have time on my side," she said. In September last year, Tanushree alleged that Nana Patekar misbehaved with her on the sets of 'Horn Ok Pleasss' in 2008 while shooting for a special dance number for the movie, and filed an FIR against the 'Welcome' star. However, Patekar has refused the allegations against him. Patekar's lawyer Aniket Nikam, told ANI, "All allegations against him (Nana Patekar) are false and far from the truth". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress leader Navjot Kaur Sidhu on Friday blamed Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and party's Punjab affairs in-charge Asha Kumari for denial of ticket to her from Amritsar Lok Sabha seat. "I was denied Amritsar seat by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and Asha Kumari, citing that Dussehra incident has hampered my image. Amritsar is my home seat. I and my husband have worked hard to develop the region," she told ANI. "It was not fair to tell me to go to Bhatinda where I do not know anyone. I do not know about a single booth worker there. I do not know about the infrastructure of the region," she said. The Congress leader said that apart from Amritsar, she wanted to contest from Anandpur Sahib Lok Sabha constituency because of Kartarpur corridor factor. "I was also thinking about contesting from Anandpur Sahib because of Kartapur corridor factor. Sikhs wanted me to contest from there, but then I thought if I live in Amritsar, then why not to contest from there," she said. Kaur Sidhu, wife of Punjab Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, said the Congress would not be wiped out in the Lok Sabha polls, as its rivals are not in a position to sweep the polls. She also said all the party workers must work together as a team so that the Congress gets a majority on its own in 2024 Lok Sabha polls. It is worth mentioning that Sidhu earlier in the day backed his wife's claim that she was denied the ticket due to Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh. However, rejecting Kaur's claims on the denial of ticket to her from Amritsar, Captain Amarinder had said that the former was offered the ticket to contest from the holy city but she herself refused. Punjab, where 13 parliamentary seats are at stake, will go to polls on May 19. The counting of votes will be done on May 23. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Disapproving the 'first Hindu terrorist' remark made by Kamal Haasan on Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse, Congress leader Navjot Kaur Sidhu on Friday said that it was not correct to link terror with religion. She said that everyone should shun this apprehension that a terror group is linked to a particular religion. "The whole world believes that main terror groups are linked to religion. This is not right. It is not correct to link religion with terror because both are completely different," Sidhu told ANI. Haasan, the chief of Tamil Nadu-based Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) party, had courted controversy recently by referring to Godse as the "first Hindu terrorist in independent India." "I am not saying this because many Muslims are here. I am saying this in front of Mahatma Gandhi's statue. The first terrorist in independent India is a Hindu. His name is Nathuram Godse," Haasan had said while campaigning in Tamil Nadu's Aravakurichi assembly constituency on May 12. Haasan's comment drew flak from the BJP leaders and Hindu outfits. Later, while issuing a clarification over his remark, Haasan had said, "I have said the same thing before. It's not the first time but it's been blown out of proportion." The actor-turned-politician said that every religion has its own terrorists and one cannot claim oneself as "sanctimonious," adding that "history has shown that all religions have their extremists. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of shedding crocodile tears over Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur's statement that Nathuram Godse, who killed Mahatma Gandhi, was a "patriot." "Prime Minister Modi is the one who had made Thakur the party's Lok Sabha candidate from Bhopal. The Prime Minister's crocodile tears will not work. He must take away her candidature and voting right. Every person who talks against Mahatma Gandhi should be deprived of his voting right," said Singh while speaking to media persons here. After the opposition parties questioned the Prime Minister's silence on Thakur's remarks on Godse, Modi said that he would never forgive Sadhvi Pragya for insulting Bapu by calling Nathuram Godse a patriot. "The statements given about Gandhi Ji or Godse are very bad and wrong for the society. She has (Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur) apologised but I will never forgive her," Prime Minister Modi had said in an interview with the news channel -- News24. Digvijaya said that he would blame the ideology which has developed hatred for Mahatma Gandhi in the hearts of the people. "Not only Sadhvi, but I will also blame the ideology which develops hatred for Mahatma Gandhi. Nathuram Godse killed Gandhi with such hatred. Just like Pragya, Amit Shah and Prime Minister Modi have similar sentiments for Gandhi," said he. Digvijaya also cornered BJP spokesperson Anil Saumitra for calling Bapu 'Father of Pakistan.' "Gandhi's principles teach us about love, non-violence, and peace while Godse's ideology promotes hatred and violence. Union Minister of State Anant Kumar Hegde is supporting such statements," he said, asking if the BJP would suspend Hegde and Thakur from the party. "Nathuram Godse was a 'Deshbhakt' (patriot); is a 'Deshbhakt' and will remain a 'Deshbhakt," Thakur had said while commenting on actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan's remark that India's first terrorist was a Hindu, referring to Godse. Soon after her remarks, which stirred controversy, the opposition parties mounted an attack on Thakur saying that what she said reflected the mindset of the people nurtured by the ideology of RSS. Digvijaya, who has faced Thakur in Bhopal Lok Sabha seat, had also sought apology from PM Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah, and the state BJP leadership for Thakur's statement about Godse. "Modi Ji, Amit Shah Ji, and the state BJP should give their statements and apologise to the nation. I condemn this statement. Nathuram Godse was a killer. Glorifying him is not patriotism. It is sedition," Singh had said. Later, Thakur apologised for her statement. "If someone has been hurt, then I apologise. What Gandhi ji did for this country cannot be forgotten. I respect him a lot. My statement was misinterpreted and twisted by the media," she said, while talking to ANI. It is worth mentioning that earlier Pragya had also faced the people's wrath for her comments on Hemant Karkare, chief of Mumbai Police's ATS, stating that he died as she had cursed him. Karkare had arrested Pragya along with others in Malegaon blasts in Maharashtra in September 2006 in which six people were killed and 100 others were injured. Karkare was martyred while fighting terrorists in Mumbai terror attack. Madhya Pradesh's remaining eight Lok Sabha seats will go to polls on May 19, the last phase of seven-phased parliamentary elections. 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.) A sessions court in Pune on Friday ordered that copies of the forensic science laboratory report be provided to the two accused of Bhima Koregaon violence case. Judge KD Vadane, however, added that only those documents which have been submitted to the court by the Investigating Officer in the case can be copied and provided to the accused. The court also ordered that sealed copies of the reports be kept for the perusal of the court. The accused Surendra Gadling and Arun Ferreira had moved an application seeking access to copies of the forsensic lab reports. These reports include several emails and letter correspondence allegedly with the wanted naxals. It also includes a letter which allegedly mentions a plan to murder Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The case relates to the January 2018 violence that erupted during the 200th anniversary of the Bhima Koregaon battle in Pune. One person was killed and many were injured in the clashes on January 1, 2018. The court gave its order under section 207 of the criminal procedure Code. "In any case, where proceeding has been instituted on the police report, Magistrate shall without delay furnish to the accused, free of cost copies of any other documents or relevant extract thereof forwarded to the Magistrate with police report" the section 207 states. Five persons, including Surendra Gadling and Arun Ferreira, were arrested in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case in August 2018. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Election Commission of India ordered on Thursday re-poll at a polling booth in Chandni Chowk parliamentary constituency. The poll body declared re-poll at polling station no. 32 of Chandni Chowk Assembly Segment after the presiding officer forget to delete the test votes before the actual polling on May 12. The re-poll will be conducted on Sunday. In Chandni Chowk, sitting BJP MP and Union Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan is contesting against four-time Lok Sabha MP and Congress leader Jai Prakash Agarwal and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Pankaj Gupta. 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.) South Africa: MEC Zikalala dismisses audio clip doing the rounds KwaZulu-Natal Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs MEC, Sihle Zikalala, has dismissed reports that allege he knew about the imminent arrest of eThekwini Municipality Mayor Zandile Gumede. This follows an audio clip which has been widely circulated on social media. In the recorded conversation of two males - one purportedly to be an investigator who is working with the Hawks - Zikalalas name is mentioned. It is alleged that the supposed investigator of a forensic company telephoned Zikalala requesting a meeting with him. Zikalala, who is the provinces Premier-elect, said he takes serious exception to any suggestion he had any prior knowledge of any arrest. I wish to state that I have had no contact nor any discussion with any investigator involved in the case, Zikalala said. He has instructed his office to hand over the audio-clip to law enforcement agencies and cyber experts for investigation. We need to establish the identity of the voices behind the conversation and reasons behind making such unfounded allegations. I want to assure the people of this province and the country as a whole that our main focus at the moment is on establishing the government of the people, Zikalala said. Gumede, along with an eThekwini Municipality councillor and a businessman appeared in the Durban Commercial Crimes Court on Tuesday. They are facing charges of fraud and corruption relating to a R208 million Durban Solid Waste (DSW) tender. They were released on R50 000 bail. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2019-05-17. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. The victim Umme Samina was 18 years old. She refused fasting for health reasons. Do not refrain from drinking and eating is allowed by the Islamic tradition in different circumstances. Islamabad (AsiaNews / Agencies) - A Pakistani from the province of Punjab killed his daughter because she did not want to fast for Ramadan. It happened late yesterday evening in the 71 / D village of Malka Hans, in the Pakpattan district. The victim was called Umme Samina and was 18 years old. According to investigators, the young woman had refused to observe the sacred fast for Islam for health reasons. The police of Malka Hans arrested Gulzar Ahmed, Samina's father. The case came to light thanks to the complaint of Mukhtar Ahmed, the girl's uncle. He said his brother had been furious that his daughter had not woken him up for the Sehri, the morning meal h eaten before the sun came up. The murderer is a man with alcohol addiction and a criminal record, for which he served two years in prison. Faced with the 18-year-old's opposition, he took a gun and shot her. The girl died instantly. Ramadan, which began on May 6, is the sacred month that Islam dedicates to fasting and prayer. It is one of the five pillars (duties) of Islam together with the pilgrimage to Mecca, the canonical prayer, the testimony of faith and the payment of almsgiving. For almost a month, Muslims refrain from eating and drinking from sunrise to sunset; smoking and sexual relations are also prohibited. The Iftar, which breaks the fast, is the main meal within 24 hours and is consumed in the evening. According to Islamic tradition, every person who has passed puberty and is healthy in body and mind must follow the precept. Those with psychological problems are exempt, children under the age of puberty, the elderly, the sick, travelers and pregnant, nursing, or just entering the menstrual cycle. Although non fasting is permitted in the cases mentioned, those who do not abstain from food and drink during Ramadan are the object of discrimination, or even persecution, in most countries where Islam is a state religion. The Supreme Court on Friday issued a notice to Hindi film director and producer Hyder Jamilhussain Kazmi, who is accused of allegedly raping an actress. The actress had approached the apex court seeking the cancellation of bail granted to him in April this year. The apex court bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and Sanjiv Khanna sought the response from Kazmi and Maharashtra Police on the plea of the woman and posted the matter for further hearing in July. The woman had claimed that she was raped in 2012 when she went to meet Kazmi in his office where she was offered tea laced with a sedative. The woman alleged that Kazmi's sister, Anish Kazmi, had made a video of the rape incident and threatened her to put it on the internet if she disclosed the incident to anyone. She accused Kazmi of continuing a sexual relationship with her with threats of leaking the video on social media. The woman filed a complaint with the police last year after she was physically assaulted by the director-cum-producer in public. The Bombay High Court had recently granted bail to the accused after he spent six months in judicial custody. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court will take up the matter of Hapur lynching on May 28. A petition in this regard was filed by senior lawyer Vrinda Grover, submitting that "the investigation in the lynching case is not going in a proper manner." In June last year, 38-year-old Qasim, a cattle trader, was lynched to death and 65-year-old Shamsuddin was severely injured in Uttar Pradesh's Hapur district after a group of people attacked them on suspicion of being involved in cow slaughter. In September last year, the top court had said that the investigation in the matter would be conducted under the supervision of Meerut's Inspector General of Police (IG). On May 2, Uttar Pradesh Police had filed a status report on the investigation carried out in the matter on a petition filed by Samiuddin, a survivor. The petitioner had demanded the constitution of a Special Investigating Team (SIT) for an "impartial" investigation into the matter. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Thursday said that he ordered the strengthening of security at the United States' former embassy here despite US action against pro-government activists protecting the Venezuelan embassy in Washington. Tensions between the United States and the Maduro-led Venezuelan authorities are high since earlier this year when Washington recognised Venezuelan National Assembly President Juan Guaido as the official interim President of the South American nation. Maduro has accused the US of plotting a coup to oust him from power, labeling Guaido as a US "puppet". Following this, all US staff left the Caracas embassy, especially after Maduro severed diplomatic ties with the United States in the wake of the political crisis. "I have ordered to boost the legal police protection of the building of the former US embassy which belongs to the US government. We will protect it because Venezuela follows conventions and international law. Criminals are sitting in the White House," Sputnik quoted Maduro as saying. Embassy Protection Collective activists started living inside the Venezuelan embassy in Washington DC on April 10 in a bid to prevent the United States and the Guaido-led government from seizing the premises. US Secret Service agents forcibly entered the embassy on Monday, ordering all activists to leave the premises or face prosecution and imprisonment. The four activists who ignored the threats and continued to remain were detained by the law enforcement officials earlier on Thursday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) South Korea on Friday said it would provide USD eight million as humanitarian aid to help North Korea's malnourished children and pregnant women, as the communist country faces severe drought and a food crisis caused by its worst harvest in decades. "The South Korea government has decided to first provide funds for international organisation projects (eight million dollars) including Food Program's (WFP) nutrition support program for North Korean children and pregnant women and UNICEF's maternal and child health care project," the country's Unification Ministry said in a statement. "The government, while garnering public opinion on food aid to North Korea, will review specific options for aid including direct government support and funding international organisations," the statement said. South Korea has, however, made it clear that it would not regard the current stalemate in talks over the North's nuclear programme as a reason to deny the aid, the ministry said. The sum of money represents funds that the South had originally planned to donate in 2017, through the WFP and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). But the donation was shelved after North Korea launched a ballistic missile over Japan that year and Shinzo Abe, Japan's leader, argued for delaying it, The New York Times reported. The WFP and the Food and Agriculture Organisation announced this month that about 10 million North Koreans, or nearly 40 per cent of the North's population, were facing "severe food shortages." On Wednesday, Pyongyang said it was experiencing its worst drought in 37 years, raising fears that crops due to be harvested next month, like wheat and barley, will also suffer. The United Nations has also raised concern over starvation cases in North Korea which may likely be reported in the coming months "if no proper and urgent humanitarian actions are taken." President Moon Jae-in's government hopes good-will gestures like the aid package will help persuade North Korea to return to dialogue with the United States. It has said that President Trump supports the idea of the South providing humanitarian aid. The UN has imposed a series of tough sanctions on the North over its nuclear program since 2016, which have deprived the country of important sources of income, as well as undercutting its ability to import food. The UN sanctions do not prohibit humanitarian aid to the North. But as its nuclear and missile work has escalated in recent years, international relief agencies have been unable to collect substantial donations for chronically malnourished children and nursing mothers in North Korea. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The United States on Thursday reiterated support for Sri Lanka in its fight against terrorism. The support came in the wake of the Easter Sunday coordinated bombings which killed more than 250 people across the country last month. US Secretary of State Michael R Pompeo met Sri Lanka Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana here on Thursday and the two attended a high-level meeting that focused on security, counter-terrorism and transnational organised crime among other matters. In a statement, the State Department said, "The Secretary (Pompeo) reiterated the United States' condemnation of the attacks that Sri Lanka suffered last month, which also killed five Americans and strong US support for Sri Lanka in its fight against terrorism." "Foreign Minister Marapana noted appreciation for U.S. support in the aftermath of the bombings and conveyed Sri Lanka's interest in deepening cooperation to prevent future attacks," the statement said. Pompeo and Marapana further welcomed the approval of a USD 480 million Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) compact as an important development that will contribute to prosperity and economic sovereignty in Sri Lanka. The MCC is an innovative and independent US foreign assistance agency that helps to curb global poverty, provides time-limited grants promoting economic growth, and strengthening institutions. The Daily Mirror reported that the two officials and the delegates of the two countries are also expected to discuss Indo-Pacific strategy, Sri Lanka and the Asian region, military-to-military relations, visiting forces agreement and assistance to Sri Lanka's Peacekeeping-Capabilities. The deadly terror attacks targeted three churches and three high-end hotels located across the cities of Colombo, Negombo, Kochchikede and Batticaloa. Over 500 people were injured in the April 21 attacks. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning will go back to jail after refusing to testify before a grand jury probing WikiLeaks. She was found guilty on charges of espionage in 2013 for leaking thousands of military documents to WikiLeaks. Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison, a sentence which was commuted by former US President Barack Obama in 2017, following which she was released. The former military officer was again jailed for two months on March 8, after she refused to testify before a grand jury here. She was let go on May 9, after the two-month period expired. Following a two-hour hearing on Thursday, US District Judge Anthony Trenga ordered imprisonment for Manning, according to Fox News. He found Manning in civil contempt for refusing to cooperate in the investigation. She will now head to the Alexandria Detention Center, where she may be faced with a prison sentence that can last up to 18 months. The time period is the length of the grand jury term, and she may be let out earlier if she agrees to cooperate with the investigations. Reacting to the sentence, Manning said that she'd rather be imprisoned "forever" than testify to the grand jury investigating Wikileaks. She also told the judge that she would "rather starve to death" than comply with the subpoena. "Facing jail again, potentially today doesn't change my stance...The prosecutors are deliberately placing me in an impossible situation," she said before heading to the hearing. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday said that he will "accept responsibility and resign" if the Congress party does not perform well in the Lok Sabha elections in Punjab. "I would take responsibility and would quit if the Congress was wiped out in the state in these Lok Sabha elections. All ministers and MLAs have been made responsible for the Congress party's performance in the state," the Chief Minister said in a statement. "The party high command had decided to hold the ministers and legislators accountable for the victory/defeat of the Congress candidates. I am ready to take the same responsibility for the state but I am confident that Congress will sweep all Lok Sabha seats in Punjab," Amarinder said. Amarinder Singh returned as chief minister of Punjab in 2017 after a decade rule of Akali Dal (SAD) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Congress had won 77 out of the 117 seats in assembly elections with a vote share 38.5 per cent. Singh's first term as the chief minister of the state from 2002 to 2007. Punjab will witness polling for its Lok Sabha seats 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.) Apollo Tyres Ltd is quoting at Rs 175.7, down 0.2% on the day as on 13:24 IST on the NSE. The stock tumbled 38.56% in last one year as compared to a 7.06% rally in NIFTY and a 27.2% fall in the Nifty Auto index. Apollo Tyres Ltd dropped for a fifth straight session today. The stock is quoting at Rs 175.7, down 0.2% on the day as on 13:24 IST on the NSE. The benchmark NIFTY is up around 0.77% on the day, quoting at 11344. The Sensex is at 37720.85, up 0.88%.Apollo Tyres Ltd has lost around 19.81% in last one month.Meanwhile, Nifty Auto index of which Apollo Tyres Ltd is a constituent, has eased around 11.05% in last one month and is currently quoting at 7891.9, up 1.13% on the day. The volume in the stock stood at 12.37 lakh shares today, compared to the daily average of 30.68 lakh shares in last one month. The benchmark May futures contract for the stock is quoting at Rs 175.55, down 0.54% on the day. Apollo Tyres Ltd tumbled 38.56% in last one year as compared to a 7.06% rally in NIFTY and a 27.2% fall in the Nifty Auto index. The PE of the stock is 13.64 based on TTM earnings ending March 19. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indian Hotels Co has signed a strategic partnership with Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, GIC for an investment framework to the tune of about Rs. 4000 crore or USD 600 million over a period of three years from the date of signing. This capital platform will be used to acquire fully operational hotels mainly in the Luxury, Upper Upscale and Upscale segments in India. Key Highlights of the framework are: This platform allows IHCL to pursue acquisitions in an asset light format, with the equity contribution from IHCL at 30% and the balance contributed by GIC, over a period of three years. The acquisitions are intended to be housed in a separate SPV with its own funding. The hotels acquired within the framework will be managed by IHCL under its marquee brands. This framework will complement IHCL's current growth aspirations via management contracts. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) From January to May 15 last, only 56.3 millimeters of rain or snow fell. Drought is feared in the agricultural sector. Last year, agricultural production reached its lowest level since 2008. 40% of the population is in urgent need of food. Seoul (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Rainfall in North Korea has fallen to its lowest level in over 100 years, state media reports today, raising fears that the current drought is worsening the already serious food shortage affecting the population. From January to 15 May, only 56.3 millimeters of rain or snow fell on the national territory. The weather experts of the Party's Rodong Sinmun, predict "that the rain will fall twice by the end of May, due to the low pressure in the northern area"; but they don't think it will rain "enough to overcome the drought". "These weather conditions will probably continue until the beginning of June," they conclude. The North Korean media have highlighted growing concerns about the lack of rain, calling for all-out efforts to combat the phenomenon and minimize its negative impact on cereals and crops. After a visit to North Korea earlier this month, the World Food Program (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report that last year's agricultural production in the country touched the lowest level since 2008. About 10 million people, or about 40% of the population, are in urgent need of food. South Korea is drawing up plans to provide food assistance to Pyongyang, to counter the emergency and keep the negotiations stalled, despite the recent missile tests in the North. A Jharkhand court on Friday sentenced six people, including a Christian priest, to life imprisonment for their involvement in a gang rape. The sentencing by Additional District Judge (ADJ) Rajesh Kumar of the Khuti District Court was earlier scheduled for Wednesday but was deferred until Friday. There were a total of eight accused in the case. While one remains at large, a minor has been sent to juvenile court. A probe is going on against two nuns of an NGO in the case. Five girls were gang-raped in June 19, 2018 in Arki in Khuti district. Based on the statements of the victims, the police arrested seven people including Father Alphonso. The vicims had gone to Arki to perform a drama to create awareness regarding government schemes. They were abducted and assaulted. --IANS ns/ksk/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Stones and eggs were thrown by two persons at the dais where actor-politician Kamal Haasan addressed an election rally at Aravakuruchi in Tamil Nadu. The two, who were taken into custody by the police, threw stones and eggs at Haasan when he was coming down the dais after addressing an election rally on Thursday night. Cadres of Haasan's party Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) attacked the two persons before police intervened and took the two to safety. Later Haasan tweeted: "Dear MNM family and fans, this is an acid test for our decorum and demeanour. Do not listen to their noises and be drawn into their violence. They are extremists who are slighted by the Truth. Naalai Namadhey (tomorrow is ours)!" The attack on Haasan follows the slipper thrown at him at Thiruparankundram at a poll rally on Wednesday night. Police said the person who threw the slipper has been taken into custody. The slipper fell before the dais and not near Haasan. At the meeting, a group of people shouted slogans. The police took 11 persons into custody. On Sunday, at the Aravakuruchi Assembly constituency, Haasan, while campaigning for his party candidate, said about the killer of Mahatma Gandhi: "The first extremist of independent India was a Hindu -- Nathuram Godse. It all started from there." Tamil Nadu Minister K.T. Rajenthra Bhalaji said the actor-politician's tongue "should be cut". Haasan, not resting on Friday, said in a tweet that it is ignorance to have the name Hindu given by Mughals or by others who had ruled the nation before that. Haasan said the 12 Alwars (Vaishnavite poet- saints) or the 63 Nayanmars (Saivaite poet- saints) did not mention the word Hindu. Haasan said the term Hindu was given by Mughals or by others who came earlier to rule. "The British who later ruled the nation seconded the term Hindu". "When we have various identities, it is ignorance to have a title given by a foreignor as a religion," Haasan said. According to Haasan, even though the identity 'Indian' is of recent origin, it will live long. He said: "It is a wrong choice of commercial politics and spiritualism to restrict our vast nation into a religion". --IANS vj/prs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In an embarrassment to the BJP, four persons including two women and a local saffron party leader, were arrested for allegedly carrying unaccounted cash of Rs 24.12 lakh at Baruipur in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district, ahead of the last phase polls to be held on May 19, police said on Friday. "About Rs 24.12 lakh of unaccounted cash wrapped in a scarf with BJP party's emblem has been seized from four persons, including two women, when they were travelling in a car from Baruipur to Bakulta,a police said. State's ruling Trinamool Congress has been accusing the BJP of distributing money among voters across districts to buy votes. Refuting the allegation, the BJP's district officials said the cash seized from party's Baruipur mandal secretary Mintu Halder was his personal. However, the Election Commission sought a factual report on the incident, Additional Chief Electoral Officer Sanjoy Basu said. Earlier this week, a man, who claimed to be a personal assistant to BJP's West Bengal unit chief Dilip Ghosh, was arrested along with an accomplice after Rs one crore of unaccounted money was seized from them in Asansol station. Kolkata Police on Wednesday had seized unaccounted cash worth more than Rs one crore and arrested three persons in two separate raids in the city. --IANS bdc/prs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress on Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah of unleashing their party leaders to abuse freedom fighters, national heroes and martyrs of the country. Addressing the media, Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said, "BJP leaders at the behest of Modi and Shah are determined to insult the freedom fighters, martyrs and national heroes of the country." Naming three leaders of the BJP, Surjewala said, "Anant Kumar Hegde, Nalin Kateel and Anil Saumitra have again used abusive language against 'Bapu'." "It seems the Modi-Shah duo have waged a war on freedom fighters, historical personalities and martyrs of the country. Everyday a Modi follower wearing a mask tries to insult the soul of the Mahatma. This is a type of guerrilla warfare against the country's dignity," the Congress leader said. He said in 1948, Godse killed Mahatma Gandhi and from 2014 to 2019 the staunch followers of Modi, by calling Godse a "nationalist", have killed the soul of the country several times, Surjewala said. He also expressed confidence that a Congress-led government will be formed in the country and under its leadership, the 130 crore people of the country will get "Nyay" (justice), in a reference to the party's minimum income guarantee scheme called 'Nyuntam Aay Yojana' or NYAY. --IANS rbe/kr/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Friday warned the BJP that its policy of divide and rule would not work with the SP-BSP-RLD alliance. Addressing a rally in Mirzapur, the BSP President said, "The BJP is worried in this last phase of elections because it knows that it is on its way out. They are trying to weaken our alliance by spreading canards but they will not succeed. This alliance signals a social change and will go a long way." She said that the final phase of elections will be even better for the alliance. "Bad days will begin for the BJP from May 23 and (Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister) Yogi Adityanath will also begin preparing to return to his temple," she stated. Mayawati said that the promises made by the BJP to the weaker sections of society had not been met and only the rich had benefitted in this government. The farmers were in distress due to stray animals and the BJP governments were busy catering to industrialists. She also slammed the Congress and said that the party had remained in power for several decades but did not ensure development in the right direction. "Dr Ambedkar had rightly said that the key to power must be given to the weaker sections in order to ensure that they get the benefit of development and law. If the BJP is in power today, it is because of the faulty policies of the Congress," she said. Addressing the rally, Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav said the people had only suffered in the five years of Modi rule and two years of the Yogi Adityanath's rule. "The BJP could not even accept the challenge of a jawan and got his nomination cancelled. How will the government face the challenge of so many people? The country needs bullet proof jackets for jawans and not bullet trains. Mirzapur is located next to the Prime Minister's constituency Varanasi but the winds of development have not reached here. In fact, the youth have lost job opportunities too," he stated. --IANS amita/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Boeing said that it has completed software update and tests for the 737 MAX planes that have been grounded worldwide since March following two deadly crashes involving the aircraft model that took place within a span of five months. The plane maker said in a statement on Thursday that it has flown the aircraft with the updated software on 207 flights for more than 360 hours, reports CNN. The software heads next to the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and its counterparts in other countries that want to review it. "We're committed to providing the FAA and global regulators all the information they need, and to getting it right. We're making clear and steady progress and are confident that the 737 MAX with updated MCAS software will be one of the safest airplanes ever to fly," Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg said in the statement. "Boeing has developed enhanced training and education materials that are now being reviewed with the FAA, global regulators and airline customers to support return-to-service and longer-term operations," the company statement said. "This includes a series of regional customer conferences being conducted around the world." An FAA spokesman however, said later Thursday that the Boeing materials, including the software, have not yet been submitted. The development comes ahead of an international gathering of aviation regulators in Dallas next week to discuss the reviews of the MAX. The 737 MAX 8 and 9 were grounded worldwide after the March 10 Ethiopian Airlines crash that investigators have described as appearing similar to a Lion Air accident that took place in Indonesia last October. A total of 346 people died in the two crashes. In both accidents, the automated Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS, pushed the planes' noses down while the pilots struggled to regain control. Multiple investigations, including the initial crash investigation, are ongoing. Criminal prosecutors, Congressional staffers and the Transportation Department inspector general are reviewing the initial certification of the 737 and the FAA's processes. Aviation regulators in other countries will complete their own reviews of the software separate from the international Joint Authorities Technical Review the FAA has organised. --IANS ksk/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Campaigning for the May 19 by-elections for four Assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu -- Aravakuruchi, Sulur, Thiruparankundram and Ottapidaram -- ended on Friday evening. Voters in these four constituencies will decide the electoral fate of 137 candidates in the fray. However, the main contest will be between the ruling AIADMK, principle opposition party DMK, and an Independent legislator-floated AMMK party. Actor-politician Kamal Haasan's party Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) candidates are also in the contention. By-elections for 18 Assembly constituencies were held on April 18 along with the Lok Sabha polls in the state. While the parties traded charges and counter charges during their campaigning for the May 19 by-elections, Haasan towards the end created a nationwide row with his Hindu terrorist remark. On Sunday, at the Aravakuruchi Assembly constituency, Haasan, while campaigning for his party candidate, said about the killer of Mahatma Gandhi: "The first extremist of independent India was a Hindu - Nathuram Godse. It all started from there." The statement drew angry responses from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the AIADMK. Haasan has applied for anticipatory bail as a case has been registered against him in the Aravakuruchi police station. Political analyst Raveendhran Dhuraiswamy told IANS that the two stage by-elections for the 22 Assembly seats is advantageous for the ruling AIADMK and also for Dhinakaran's AMMK. According to analysts, the AIADMK may not find it difficult to win eight seats out of the 22 to continue in power. In the 234 member Tamil Nadu Assembly, the ruling AIADMK has 113 members (including the Speaker), DMK 88, Congress 8, IUML and Independent one each. To attain a simple majority, the AIADMK has to win just five seats in the by-elections. In order to be safe against switching of camps by some of the lawmakers, the AIADMK has to win seven or eight seats. Interestingly, three AIADMK legislators were issued show cause notices by Speaker P.Dhanapal as the ruling party felt that they were moving towards Dhinakaran. However, the Supreme Court has stayed the disqualification proceedings against the three lawmakers. On the other hand, the DMK (88 members) has to win all the 22 seats to take the tally along with its allies -- Congress (eight members) and IUML (one member) -- to 119, just one number over the simple majority. DMK President M.K. Stalin said that along with the change in the Central government after May 23 - the day on which the Lok Sabha and by-election results will be declared -- there will be a change of government in Tamil Nadu. One interesting factor in this situation will be the election result for the Kanyakumari Lok Sabha seat. The Congress party's H. Vasanthakumar, representing the Nanguneri Assembly constituency, is contesting in the Lok Sabha polls from Kanyakumari constituency. It will be interesting to see whether he would retain the Assembly membership or opt for Lok Sabha membership if he wins in the Lok Sabha polls. "It will be an acid test for Stalin's leadership. Assuming Dhinakaran's AMMK wins some seats, what action Stalin will take will have to be seen," Dhuraiswamy had told IANS earlier. It has to be seen whether the AMMK will join hands with the DMK combine to topple the AIADMK government. "If the BJP retains power at the Centre and the political situation in Tamil Nadu turns fluid then the former can suspend the Assembly for sometime to stall the DMK," political commentator Maalan Narayanan told IANS. --IANS vj/mag/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said he will never forgive BJP's Lok Sabha candidate from Bhopal Pragya Singh Thakur and others for glorifying Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse as "deshbhakt" (patriot). "Whatever statements have been made on Gandhiji or Godse are very bad. They need to be criticised as these are not acceptable to the society. Those who have said so would need to think 100 times. Although she has sought apology but I will never forgive her for insulting Bapu," the Prime Minister told Hindi news channel News24 in an interview. Modi's remarks came a day after the comment by Thakur, an accused in the Malegaon blast case, provided fodder to the Congress to target the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). "Nathuram Godse was a 'deshbhakt', is a 'deshbhakt' and will remain a 'deshbhakt'. People calling him a terrorist should instead look within. Such people will be given a befitting reply in these elections," Thakur told reporters in Bhopal on Thursday. As her statement went viral, two BJP MPs -- Union Minister Anant Kumar Hegde and Nalin Kumar Kateel -- also came out in her support. --IANS bns/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Apna Dal, Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) and the Nishad Party. These are the three caste based political outfits that will decide the outcome of elections to the Lok Sabha in the final phase. These three parties have forced the elections in eastern Uttar Pradesh to be contested on caste arithmetic. The Apna Dal is a Kurmi-based outfit and its area of influence extends from Varanasi, Mirzapur to Allahabad and Pratapgarh. The Apna Dal, led by Union Minister Anupriya Patel, is with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) while its breakaway faction led by Anupriya's mother Krishna Patel is in alliance with the Congress. The Anupriya Patel-led Apna Dal is contesting two seats - Mirzapur and Robertsganj - in the final phase and is ensuring Kurmi support to the BJP. The Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) was a BJP ally till recently when its President Om Prakash Rajbhar declared that he was snapping ties with BJP and fielding his own candidates in the elections. The SBSP's area of influence is in districts like Ghazipur, Mau, Varanasi and Ballia. In all these constituencies, Rajbhar voters have a sizeable number - 50,000 to one lakh. Om Prakash Rajbhar has announced his support to Congress in Mirzapur form where Anupriya Patel is contesting. Political pundits are now speculating the extent of damage that Rajbhar could cause the BJP in the final phase. The Nishad Party, which has emerged as a force to reckon with in recent months, enjoys the support of the Nishad community in Gorakhpur and in districts along the Ganga river. It was Nishad Party leader Pravin Nishad who had contested on a Samajwadi ticket and won the Gorakhpur seat in a by-election last year. He has now joined the BJP. Though the Nishad Party is supporting the BJP, the Nishad community, by and large, is upset with the BJP which has not fulfilled its promise of installing a statue of Nishad Raj in Gorakhpur. It is noteworthy that the BJP had scripted its victory in 2014 and 2017 UP Assembly elections by bringing SBSP and Apna Dal into its fold and projecting a pro-OBC image. The caste slant in the final phase of elections is evident from the fact that even Prime Minister Narendra Modi had to underline the fact that he belonged to the OBC category in his election speeches. The OBC votes in the final phase will play a decisive role since they form almost 40 per cent of the voter population. --IANS amita/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A day after BJP's Lok Sabha candidate from Bhopal Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur kicked up a major row by describing Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse as a "deshbhakt" (patriot), the Congress on Friday changed its Twitter handle profile picture with an image of Mahatma Gandhi. The party's official twitter handle earlier carried its poll symbol 'hand' as the profile picture. The move came a day after Thakur, an accused in the Malegaon blasts, described Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse as a "deshbhakt" (patriot). "Nathuram Godse was a 'deshbhakt', is a 'deshbhakt' and will remain a 'deshbhakt'. People calling him a terrorist should instead look within. Such people will be given a befitting reply in these elections," she had said. The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Anant Kumar Hegde and Nalin Kateel have also praised Godse as they came out in Thakur's support. Earlier in the day, BJP President Amit Shah said that the statements made by Thakur, Hegde and Kateel were their personal comments and that the party had nothing to do with them. "However, they have retracted their statements and have also apologised. The BJP has taken a decision to send their statements to the party's disciplinary committee. The committee will submit a report within 10 days after receiving the replies of the three leaders over their statements that are against the ideology of the party," Shah said. The BJP President's announcement came as the party faced criticism over the controversial remarks ahead of the final phase of Lok Sabha elections. Godse shot dead Mahatma Gandhi at a prayer meeting in New Delhi on January 30, 1948. He was hanged after a trial. --IANS aks/arm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The law was approved today. Starting on 24 May, gay couples, aged 18 and over, will be able to register their union, adopt their partner's biological children, have access to the same medical coverage, and inherit. Marriage is not allowed with people from countries where same-sex unions are not recognised. Taipei (AsiaNews) The island of Taiwan, the Republic of China, has become the first country in Asia to legalise same-sex marriages. The countrys parliament passed a law that allows gay couples to register their marriage, adopt the biological children of the other partner, transfer medical coverage, and inherit spouses assets. Starting on 24 May, same-sex couples, aged 18 or over, will be able to register their marriage contract at the municipal offices, countersigned by two witnesses. Despite pouring rain, a crowd of thousands holding signs, banners, and flowers gathered at parliament building and gave a loud round of applause when the law was approved this morning. They were confronted by thousands of counter-protesters opposed to the law (picture 2). President Tsai Ing-wen immediately congratulated the gay community "for being able to win societys blessing. She also thanked all "those who have different beliefs" but backed the law. Legalising same-sex marriage fulfils one of Tsais campaign promises, but is strongly opposed by conservative groups, Christians, and many ordinary Taiwanese. According to some legislators, the decision tramples the will of the people. Last November, a majority of voters, 7.65 million against 2.9 million, voted in a referendum to retain the Civil Code's old definition of marriage as between a man and a woman However, the Constitutional Court ruled in 2017 that same-sex couples in Taiwan have the same right to marry and if parliament did not enactea law within two years, same-sex marriage would be automatically allowed. There is one limitation under the new act, namely that even if same-sex marriage is legalised in Taiwan, a Taiwanese national cannot enter into a legally recognised union with a partner from a country where gay marriage is not legal. Curfew continued for the second day on Friday in tension-ridden Bhaderwah town of Jammu and Kashmir after one man was killed by so-called cow vigilantes a day ago. Officials said there would be no relaxation in the curfew even as police said five people have been detained in connection with the murder. Protesters pelted stones at police station demanding the culprits be handed over to them. Tension gripped the frontier town in Doda district early on Thursday when Nayeem Shah was killed allegedly by the group of men when he was transporting livestock. The Army was called to assist the civil administration maintain law and order as clashes erupted between two groups over the murder. Apart from the curfew, authorities have also suspended mobile Internet services to prevent spread of inflammatory posts and pictures online. --IANS sq/in (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Distancing from the statements of party leaders Pragya Singh Thakur, Ananth Hegde and Nalin Kumar Kateel calling Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse a "patriot", BJP President Amit Shah on Friday said the party's Disciplinary Committee will inquire into the matter and submit a report within 10 days. Saying the statements by the three leaders was against the party's ideology, Shah tweeted: "The statements made by Pragya Thakur, Ananth Hegde and Nalin Kateel in the last two days are their own statements. The BJP has no relation with their statements. "However, they have retracted their statements and also apologized. The BJP has taken a decision to send their statements to the Disciplinary Committee. The committee will submit a report within 10 days to the BJP after receiving the replies of the three leaders over their statements that are against the ideology of the party," he said. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President's announcement came as the party faced criticism over the remarks ahead of the final phase of the Lok Sabha elections. Pragya Thakur was the first among the three party leaders to call Godse a "patriot", leading the Election Commission to seek a report from the Madhya Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer. As her statement went viral, two BJP MPs -- Union Minister Anant Kumar Hegde and Nalin Kumar Kateel -- also came out in her support. Godse shot dead Mahatma Gandhi at a prayer meeting in New Delhi on January 30, 1948. He was hanged after a trial. --IANS rak/mag/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Department of Telecom (DoT) has chalked out plans to speed up USO funded mobile connectivity projects by resolving the unsettled issues relating to the northeastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya, Jammu and Kashmir, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the border areas on a priority basis, according to an internal action plan report of the DoT . The key project to watch out for would be mobile connectivity in Arunachal Pradesh and parts of Assam, which is pending for the last five years after approval. All these projects run by the government of India are funded by the Universal Service Obligation (USO) Fund (USOF), a corpus having accumulated cess from the telcos which is currently a Rs 50,000 crore fund. "The proposal under submission is for resolving issues pertaining to the BSNL tender for implementation of mobile services in Arunachal Pradesh and two districts of Assam, as the projects are stalled after the issuance of APO (Advance Purchase Order) due to a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court and other issues," said an internal note of the DoT. The Arunachal Pradesh and Assam projects got stuck after an SLP was filed in the Supreme Court against the use of 2G technology, terming it as outdated. Ninong Ering, Congress' Lok Sabha MP from Arunachal East, had also raised the issue of old technology. The USO Fund too refused to fund the project, saying 2G technology was old and obsolete. But looking at the difficult terrains in the northeastern states, 2G-based mobile service is said to be suitable for the uncovered regions there in the absence of broadband backhaul where advanced technology may be found to be underutilised. BSNL, the executing agency for 2,817 mobile towers, also supported this view and had said in its submission to the Supreme Court that the SLP was misconceived while the use 2G and 4G equipment together was mandated only in May 2018, much later than the awarding of the contract. These issues have been left unresolved for some time now, and can be expected to be resolved in the near future. The Northeast project was approved in 2014, but it has still not seen the light of day as the SLP and bureaucratic delays have stalled it. There are also other projects under the pipeline, where some actions are now envisaged after much delay. The DoT note also stated that part of the immediate agenda are "approval of the Digital Communication Comission (DCC) for provision of mobile services in uncovered villages and National Highways of Meghalaya and Leftwing Extremist (LWE) areas Phase II as per cabinet approval and floating of request for proposal (RFP), and capacity augmentation in Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep." The DoT's immediate action plan also includes finalisation of a list of uncovered villages in 115 Aspirational Districts and the preparation of the DCC note. The DoT will also prepare the tender document and issue an NIT (notice inviting tender) for provisioning mobile services in the uncovered areas of Ladakh and Kargil in Jammu and Kashmir, the border areas and other priority areas, it said.Anjana Das can be contacted at anjana.d@ians.in --IANS ana/arm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Election officials in West Bengal are gearing up for an altogether different kind of battle with boats, HAM radios and power generating equipment as the world's largest mangrove, the Sundarbans, votes on Sunday. District officials of the North and South 24-Parganas have made arrangements for their movement in the delta spanning over a sprawling area with nearly 43.28 lakh voters. The Sundarbans also expands into Bangladesh. "Sundarban region is spread across 17 Assembly constituencies in the districts of North and South 24 Parganas," Sundarban Affairs Minister Manturam Pakhira told IANS. Bengal's 54 inhabited and 48 forested islands of the archipelago falls under three Lok Sabha constituencies -- Mathurapur, Jaynagar and Basirhat. Assembly segments such as Gosaba, Patharpratima and Kultoli of South 24 Parganas are also part of the Sundarban region which, as per a 2014 census, is home to 74 endangered Royal Bengal Tigers. District officials though explained that none of the polling stations is situated in the core region, hence there is no fear of tiger attacks. "To address connectivity issues we are using HAM (amateur) radio systems and walkie talkies. For the movement of the poll officials in 178 island polling stations we have a fleet of boats ready," Antara Acharya, District Magistrate of North 24-Parganas, told IANS. Traditional as well as mechanised boats will be used. Apart from the hustings, the officials have taken up the opportunity to create awareness among the voters on environmental issues like soil erosion. The voters' awareness programme was done very creatively. "We tried to make it more colourful and visited the ghats (banks) with EVMs," said one official. Special measures have been taken to safeguard the of the Unesco World Heritage Site. "All the polling material are either made of paper or jute. We are not using plastics." With polling continuing till sunset, and some of these places lacking electricity, measures have been taken to ensure uninterrupted power supply. Four polling stations in Mathurapur will operate with generators. The officials will also carry charged emergency lights. Mostly schools and Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) centres are being used for the process and they are all 'pucca' structures and the poll personnel will move along with security. Trinamool's sitting MPs Pratima Mondal and C.M. Jatua will defend their seats in Jaynagar and Mathurapur constituencies respectively. In Basirhat, the state's ruling party has pitched debutant Nusrat Jahan, a Bengali actress, who will face BJP's Sayantan Basu. Along with these three seats, six others in West Bengal will go to the polls in the seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha elections. The counting will take place on May 23. --IANS bnd/ssp/in/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An fighter jet returning to March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley of in the US has crashed into a building after its pilot was ejected, the media quoted base officials as saying. The jet slammed into the side of a commercial building off the base, on Van Buren Boulevard, about 3.45 p.m. on Thursday, March Air Reserve Base Deputy Fire Chief Timothy Holliday was quoted as saying. The Riverside County Sheriff's Department confirmed on that the crash occurred around Van Buren and the 215 Freeway, Xinhua news agency reported. The pilot was ejected and being medically evaluated. "Multiple agencies responding. Please stay out of area and clear emergency vehicles," the department tweeted. Details on the crash and the pilot's condition have not been disclosed. Authorities did not have details on any other injuries. A criminal investigation has been launched against a French doctor over the poisoning of 17 people in France. Frederic Pechier, an anaesthesiologist, has already been investigated for seven other cases of poisoning, in total leading to nine deaths, the BBC reported on Thursday. Prosecutors allege he deliberately tampered with his colleagues' anaesthesia pouches to create an emergency and show off his talents. Pechier denies all allegations, and faces a life sentence if found guilty. His lawyer, Jean-Yves Le Borgne, told a media outlet that the investigation proved nothing. "There is a possibility that Pechier committed those poisonings but this hypothesis is nothing but a hypothesis," said Borgne. "The presumption of innocence must be stressed." An examining judge in the eastern city of Besancon placed Mr Pechier, 47, under investigation in May 2017 for the first seven poisonings. The doctor was later released but disbarred from practising medicine. This week he was questioned by police about 66 cases of cardiac arrest during operations on patients who were considered low risk. The latest accusations are from these cases, involving patients aged four to 80. Prosecutor Etienne Manteaux told the media that Pechier had been "the common denominator" in each instance, and had been in open conflict with colleagues. "He was most often found close to the operating theatre" when the cases occurred, said Manteaux, and had made quick diagnosis on which action to take, "even when nothing allowed anyone to suspect an overdose of potassium or local anaesthesia". Pechier has denied the claims, and his lawyers have accused police of tampering with statements he gave during initial questioning. "Whatever the outcome of all this, my career is over," he told reporters at a press conference on Thursday. "You cannot trust a doctor who, at one point, has been labelled a poisoner... My family is broken and I am afraid for my children." --IANS pgh/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Upcoming Bollywood film "India's Most Wanted" has been granted a U/A certificate by the censor board after directing omission of scenes making a reference to religious books Bhagavad Gita and Quran, said its director Raj Kumar Gupta. The teaser of the Arjun Kapoor-starrer had created a stir with a terrorist citing the Bhagavad Gita. In a leaked teaser doing the rounds online, Arjun's character is seen quoting the Quran. Asked about the cuts suggested by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), Gupta told IANS: "It (the reference to the Quran) was there in the film and it was in the film's teaser when it came for the first time. It was allowed in the teaser, but when we submitted the film for certification, they informed us that it is a little sensitive. "They asked us can we remove the Gita and Quran from the film because it is sensitive, and because it is something sensitive in nature, we did it." Did he find it unfair? "I don't know if it's unfair but we respect all religions, so we have to look at the sensitivity factor of it. That is why when the request came, we decided to remove it. Although it was there in the teaser, so the motivation was because it was allowed in the teaser, it would be allowed in the film. But because it was sensitive in nature and they requested us, we submitted the film without the Gita and Quran mention." Any more cuts in the film? "This one is a major cut, rest are small things," he said, adding that the movie has got a U/A certificate and will release on May 24. Arjun said the censor board would have taken the decision for the betterment of the film. "The CBFC must have had their reasons. I wasn't in the room when this discussion happened. I'm an actor who delivered the line without having an agenda. I think the audience is sensible enough to not see it as an agenda. But there is a section of society that might use it to create friction. "I don't think that feels worth it to the CBFC. They also have to keep that in mind, so we have to respect that. They have a much broader point of view... It's an important story to be told and to be caught up in a small struggle for one word.... I think the film in itself will make the point that that one line has to make. I trust the audience," the actor told IANS. "India's Most Wanted" is inspired by a "true story" related to a terrorist. It is about a mission of five people to nab India's most wanted terrorist -- described in the movie as India's Osama -- without any weapon or support in just four days. On speculation that the film is about the Indian Mujahideen militant group's founder Yasin Bhatkal, Gupta told IANS: "I want people to come and watch the film, and then discuss. We want a discussion in the sense that the person whose life inspires this film was one of the wanted terrorists in India. "Not only is the film inspired by that, but by how he was captured by these five unlikely men without firing any bullets or official support from authorities." Gupta's motivation to make the film came from how it was an "incredible story" to tell. "This is a film which is inspired by one of those incidents which is a landmark as far as human intelligence is concerned. It portrays the reality with which our forces, our intelligence agents or people working for the country go through with the danger of being in a job like that. Still they go out and protect us, keep us safe. This film is an attempt to say 'thank you' to them." --IANS dc-rb/bg (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indian Air Force chief Birender Singh Dhanoa flew a number of MiG-21 sorties in Sulur, Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. Though chiefs have flown fighters in the past as a morale boosting gesture, Dhanoa's latest act comes in the backdrop of ageing Soviet-era jet shooting down a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) a far superior F-16 in an aerial combat on Line of Control (LoC) in February this year. Dhanoa undertook a sortie on the two-seater trainer version of the aircraft and followed it up with three solo flights on Mig-21 Type 96, the oldest variant of the aircraft. Dhanoa had commanded the 17 squadron ( flying Type 96) during the Kargil operations. The shooting down of an F-16 by an IAF MiG-21 was hailed as a major achievement even though PAF is yet to acknowledge that it had taken a hit during the dogfight. The MiG-21 flown by Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthman had shot down the F-16 which was part of a large package of PAF fighters trying to cross the border in Jammu and Kashmir to drop bombs at military installations in retaliating to IAF's bombing of terrorist training camps in Pakistan 's Balakot. --IANS gd/prs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actress Tanushree Dutta helped trigger the #MeToo movement in India last year, and months have gone into the investigation of her sexual harassment case. But her sister and actress Ishita Dutta says that thanks to her sister, now people are acknowledging that harassment is a serious issue. Tanushree alleged that she was sexually harassed by actor Nana Patekar on a film's set in 2008. She revisited the incident last year, sparking India's #MeToo movement. The actress is still fighting for justice. Asked if the police are slowing down the investigation, Ishita told IANS here: "I don't know about the case, but I know about that day. Had they (police) not reached at that minute, things would have got worse." Referring to a video of Tanushree's car being attacked in 2008, Ishita said: "You must have seen the video. Had it not been the cops, probably the car's windshield would have broken." She is glad that the former beauty queen spoke up about the incident and encouraged others to follow suit. "We were all there and heard it. It was all in the media. Unfortunately, that time people didn't really understand. Now, I think women have also taken it as a responsibility to speak up or support. "A movement can't happen with just one person...and not just women, a lot of male actors have come together to support this. They are now acknowledging that harassment is a serious issue. People are ready to listen. That's what has changed," she said. The 2008 incident didn't make Tanushree demotivate her younger sister from joining showbiz. "She is one of the reasons why I joined the industry... She motivated me a lot. And now, a lot of women look up to her. They are so proud of her for speaking up and starting something which was so required," said Ishita, who made her acting debut with a Telugu film in 2012. Did she warn Ishita against harassment in the industry? "I have been lucky enough not to face anything like this, but I know that a lot of friends have... in different industries. It does leave a scar. It's a very tragic and traumatising thing to happen," she said. Ishita will soon be seen as Pragati in the upcoming show "Bepanah Pyaarr". "It is a love story and a thriller. People are going to find my character very cute and sweet. She is a girl of today. She is very confident, but clumsy at the same time. For her, her job is very important. "Her relationship with her father is also very interesting. In the entire mystery, she is a little different. How she gets involved with Raghbir (actor Pearl V Puri) and how things unfold, that's her journey," she said. --IANS nn/rb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Mike Bezos, father of the richest man in the world, Jeff Bezos, was just 16 when he boarded a flight in Cuba for Miami, a city in Florida, US. He came to the US alone in 1962, knowing little English. But that could not stop him from living the "American dream." "When he came here from Cuba at 16, not only was he all alone, but he only spoke Spanish. His grit, determination, and optimism are inspiring," Jeff Bezos said in a recent tweet. The Amazon CEO also shared on Thursday a video to celebrate his father's journey. "My dad's journey to the US shows how people come together to help each other. We got a chance to celebrate him last night for the opening of the Statue of Liberty's new museum. This is his story," said the tweet. The opening of the new Statue of Liberty Museum at Ellis Island in New York City was attended by other stars including Oprah Winfrey and Hillary Clinton, CNBC reported on Thursday. Mike Bezos is not the biological father of Jeff Bezos. But he raised the future Amazon founder. Jeff Bezos was just four years old, when his mother, Jacklyn Gise, married Mike Bezos. When he came to the US, Mike Bezos brought with him three shirts, three pants, three underwear, (and) a pair of shoes. He came wearing a coat that his mother had hand-stitched from cleaning rags. "His mom imagined America must be super cold. So she made him something special for his journey, which we still have," Jeff Bezos, who also features in the video, said. "He was all by himself. I have a hard time even imagining that, but his parents sent him here because under Fidel Castro, they felt like they had to, to protect him," Jeff Bezos, who was born to 17-year-old high school student Jacklyn Gise on January 12, 1964 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, said. His biological parents married, but Gise divorced Ted Jorgensen in 1965, and in 1968 married Mike Bezos, CNBC reported. --IANS gb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A "Seda" reporter detained and interrogated Reformist MP: "Great Concern", this is the "wrong way to overcome difficult times". On the home front, the authority of President Rouhani weakens undermined by fundamentalist wing and the judiciary. Tehran (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The special section dedicated to the media and culture of the Court of Tehran ordered the suspension of the reformist weekly "Seda" [The Voice, in Persian] and ordered the arrest of a journalist. To determine the provision, dating back to 11 May, the publication of an article that evoked the possibility of a war with the United States. A possible conflict between the Islamic Republic and the Americans is one of the major stories in recents weeks, as well as an element of great fear among international diplomacies. "The suspension of Seda magazine - stressed Fatemeh Saeidi, reformist member of Parliament - and the arrest of one of his reporters are a source of serious concern." This is the "wrong way", adds the politician, "to overcome these difficult moments". Official ministry sources did not want to explain the reasons behind the publication suspension, which had already hit the magazine in the past. However, it comes the day after the publication of an article entitled "Crossroads between war and peace", accompanied by a cover photo of a US warship. In response to the piece, the official state media - which have close ties with the military and security departments - condemned the article, for having "suggested" the path of negotiations and end the escalation of tension to Washington and Tehran. On May 12, the day after the magazine was closed, security forces raided the home of journalist Ali Malihi and arrested him for questioning, and then released him a few hours later. In 2010, Malihi was sentenced to four years in prison for participating in the 2009 protests, following the re-election of conservative leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He was released in August 2011, in the context of a general amnesty approved by the supreme leader. Meanwhile, increasing US pressure on Iran is undermining moderate president Hassan Rouhani and his government, the architect of the nuclear agreement and economic growth, favoring the rise of the fundamentalist wing that is fighting for a confrontation with the United States. Analysts and experts say that Rouhani's authority is fading: his brother, a key adviser to the 2015 nuclear agreement, was sentenced to prison with the generic accusation of corruption. One of his most bitter rivals was elected to head the judiciary and the executive is targeted by critics for having been overly docile to the sanctions imposed by US president Donald Trump. In these weeks Rouhani, re-launching the line of dialogue on the domestic front as well as internationally, urging the opposing factions to work together for the good of the country. He also stressed the "limited powers" available, in a nation where the executive elected by the people must in any case be subject to the dictates imposed by the religious leadership, the judiciary and the security forces. The fiancee of Jamal Khashoggi has asked the US to lead an international investigation into the murder of the Washington Post columnist last October inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. "Jamal's killing was a violation of the most basic, universal human right: the right to live," Hatice Cengiz said in written testimony on Thursday to a US congressional panel. "What happened to him is part of a global pattern of journalists and those who speak and write freely being killed. Escaping abroad in search of safe harbor is no longer a guarantee of protection." Cengiz, a Turkish citizen, used her appearance before the House Foreign Affairs sub-committee on human rights to urge lawmakers to press for an international probe of Khashoggi's October 2, 2018, killing, reports Efe news. Once part of the Saudi establishment, Khashoggi became estranged from the government in Riyadh as a result of his criticism of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and had been living in self-imposed exile in the US since 2017 at the time of his visit to the consulate in Istanbul to obtain documents he needed to marry Cengiz. Making her first visit to the US since Khashoggi's murder, Cengiz also called for sanctions against Saudi Arabia while reproaching both President Donald Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for failing to hold Riyadh accountable. "In the first days after the event, President Trump invited me to the White House. In those days I thought US values would help solve this. In the early days President Trump said this would be so. Ms. Pelosi talked about how unacceptable this was, but eight months later nothing has been done and that is why I'm here today," Cengiz said, speaking through an interpreter. It took the Saudi government weeks to acknowledge that Khashoggi died inside the consulate in Istanbul and Riyadh's initial account said that he was killed in a fight. Revelations by the Turkish government ultimately forced the Kingdom to admit that Khashoggi was murdered and his body cut up. While Saudi prosecutors have charged a dozen government officials for the murder, the Kingdom continues to insist that the Crown Prince had not had any prior knowledge of the operation in Istanbul, whose original aim was to bring Khashoggi back to Riyadh. "We still don't know why they killed him. We don't know where is body is," Cengiz told lawmakers. "If someone had told me seven months ago I would come here without Jamal, to ask about justice for him, I would not believe it," she said. "I still can't understand the world hasn't done anything about this." The Trump administration has been unwilling to blame the Crown Prince for Khashoggi's death. --IANS ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The trailer of Huma Qureshi's Netflix show "Leila", which was dropped online on Friday, showcases the search of a mother for her missing daughter in an imagined world, where there is discrimination. Pegged as "India's first dystopian story", "Leila" is set in the imagined world of "Aryavarta" in which there is great suffering, extreme and totalitarian rules of engagement and fictional extremes constructed around an obsession with purity, communal and divisive societal dramas and grit, read a statement. The show is helmed by Deepa Mehta, Shanker Raman and Pawan Kumar. Its two-minute long trailer opens in Aryavarta, a digitised Indian city. It introduces Shalini (Huma), who marries outside her community and has to face harsh treatment. Her fight to get back her daughter, who gets kidnapped over her "mixed blood", forms the crux of the show. Huma is seen in most bits of the trailer, but actors Siddharth and Rahul Khanna's presence is felt too. The trailer is being widely appreciated by social media users, and the film fraternity has lauded it. Actor Akshay Kumar found it "intriguing". "I know which series I'm going to be watching this June...'Leila' looks so intriguing, looking forward to it! Sending my best wishes to Huma," he wrote. Praising Huma for her performance, her brother and actor Saqib Saleem tweeted: "Best thing on the Internet. Huma, this is what we expect from you! All the chats we have had about this show...the trailer has totally lived up to that." "Stree" actor RajKummar Rao is looking forward to watch the show, and commented: "This is stunning Huma." "Leila" is set to release on June 14. It also stars Sanjay Suri, Seema Biswas, Akash Khurana and Arif Zakaria. The show is based on a book by Prayaag Akbar. Talking about the series, Mehta had earlier said: "'Leila' is about awareness, about paying attention, about looking at the world around us and asking pertinent questions about our future." Huma, who is all set to appear at the 72nd edition of Cannes Film Festival, thanked people for liking the trailer and showering her with praises. "When you land at the airport and your phone just explodes with messages. Thank you everyone... So humbled with all the love. 'Leila' is special and I can't wait to share it with you all," Huma posted on Twitter. --IANS sim/rb/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A woman was stabbed to death by her neighbour in Delhi after she objected to him spilling water outside her home, police said on Friday. The accused was arrested. The incident occurred in Mahipalpur on Thursday at around 7.50 p.m. in Rangpuri Pahadi. "The accused identified as Gopal was arrested from Mahipalpur soon after he killed Rekha," DCP Devender Arya said. "Rekha was rushed to the AIIMS Trauma centre where the doctors declared her brought dead. She had multiple stab injuries," the police officer added. --IANS sp/in (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) British Prime Minister Theresa May has promised to set a timetable for the election of her successor after the next Brexit vote in the first week of June. The agreement follows a meeting between the Prime Minister and senior Tory MPs who are demanding a date for her departure from Downing Street, the BBC reported on Thursday. If she loses the vote on her Brexit plan, already rejected three times, sources told the BBC she would resign. Meanwhile, Boris Johnson has said he will run for leader once May goes. The Prime Minister survived a confidence vote by Conservative MPs at the end of last year and party rules mean she cannot formally be challenged again until December. But May has come under increasing pressure to leave Downing Street this summer, amid the Brexit impasse and poor results for the Conservatives in the recent local elections in England. Informed sources told the BBC it was "inconceivable" the Prime Minister could remain in office if MPs rejected her Brexit plans for a fourth time. But the paragraph tucked into the short formal letter from Graham Brady to Tory MPs all but marks the end of Theresa May's premiership and the beginning of the official hunt for the next leader of the country. After the lines in the short note restate the prime minister's determination to get Brexit done, it confirms in black and white that after the next big vote, in the first week of June, the prime minister will make plans with the party for choosing a successor. Right now, the expectation is that vote will be lost (although it is not impossible, of course, that Number 10 could turn it round). And the conversation that's been arranged won't just be a gentle chat about what to do next. The chairman of the 1922 committee of Conservative MPs, Graham Brady, said he had reached an agreement over the prime minister's future during "very frank" talks in Parliament. He said the committee's executive and May would meet again to discuss her future following the first debate and vote on the Withdrawal Agreement Bill in the week beginning June 3. Graham said there was now "greater clarity" about the situation. Asked if that meant the Prime Minister would quit immediately if MPs rejected her Brexit plans once more, he said that scenario went "beyond" what had been agreed. MPs have rejected the prime minister's Brexit agreement with the EU three times. But she will have another go at gaining their support in the week beginning June 3, when the Commons votes for the first time on the EU Withdrawal Agreement Bill -- legislation needed to implement her deal with the EU. --IANS pgh/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N. Chandrababu Naidu on Friday accused the Election Commission of being pro-government and demanded action against BJP's Bhopal candidate Pragya Thakur for "insulting" Mahatma Gandhi. Talking to media after meeting EC officials, Naidu said, "The decisions of the Election Commission are very controversial, one-sided, pro-establishment." Accusing the EC of supporting the government, Naidu said: "We are fighting against the Election Commission and it is very unfortunate for all of us". He also questioned the EC for ordering re-polling in Andhra Pradesh after 25 days. The TDP chief said action should be taken against BJP's Bhopal candidate Pragya Thakur for insulting Mahatma Gandhi. "Even now you are not taking any action. If it is BJP MPs, Prime Minister, Amit Shah, you are not taking action. This is not right. I have complained to them (EC officials)," he said. Thakur came under widespread criticism after describing Gandhi's killer Nathuram Godse as a "deshbakht" (patriot). On West Bengal, Naidu said the Commission had no right to transfer any official. "It is against the spirit of federalism...transferring officials is akin to surrendering to the Central government," Naidu said. He also targeted the EC for curtailing the election campaign in West Bengal by invoking Article 324 of the Constitution, raising questions over permission given to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to conduct two meetings in West Bengal. "I am a senior politician of this country and I have seen so many elections. But I have never seen this type of (Election) Commission," he said. With less than a week for announcement of Lok Sabha poll results, Naidu has planned meetings with several opposition leaders during his two day visit to the national capital.A He met Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury and Aam Aadmi party leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday evening. On Saturday, he is expected to meet Congress President Rahul Gandhi here and later Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati in Lucknow. --IANS spk/prs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The US space agency NASA has selected 11 companies including Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, Elon Musk's SpaceX to develop prototypes of human landers for its Artemis lunar exploration programme. NASA aims to put the first woman on the Moon's south pole by 2024 and establish sustainable missions by 2028. "To accelerate our return to the Moon, we are challenging our traditional ways of doing business. We will streamline everything from procurement to partnerships to hardware development and even operations," said Marshall Smith, director for human lunar exploration programs at NASA Headquarters. Apart from Blue Origin and SpaceX, others selected companies are Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Sierra Nevada Corporation among others. The total award amount for all companies is $45.5 million. "Our team is excited to get back to the Moon quickly as possible, and our public/private partnerships to study human landing systems are an important step in that process," Smith said in a statement late Thursday. The selected companies will study and develop prototypes during the next six months that reduce schedule risk for the descent, transfer and refueling elements of a potential human landing system. NASA's proposed plan is to transport astronauts in a human landing system that includes a transfer element for the journey from the lunar Gateway to low-lunar orbit, a descent element to carry them to the surface, and an ascent element to return to them to the Gateway. NASA is sending astronauts to the Moon and then on to Mars, in a measured and sustainable way. Trump has announced that he was adding $1.6 billion to NASA's budget "so that we can return to Space in a BIG WAY!" NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said on May 13. "Under my Administration, we are restoring @NASA to greatness and we are going back to the Moon, then Mars," he tweeted. The budget increase is on top of the initial $21 billion budget request from NASA to accelerate the return to the lunar surface. --IANS na/in (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Vice President and Minister Surya Narayan Patro on Friday said Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is fit to be the Prime Minister of the country. "The people of India and Odisha want Naveen Patnaik to be the Prime Minister of India. In the past, there was a talk in favour of (former Chief Minister) Biju Patnaik to be the Prime Minister," Patro told media persons here. The statement came just six days before the announcement of the Lok Sabha poll results on May 23. With regional parties coming together to play a crucial role in the next government formation, the BJD hopes to gain if no national party gets a majority. The BJD Vice President, however, said that Naveen Patnaik should not be the Prime Minister with the support of the Congress. The grand old party's history says it has pulled out support prematurely after making Prime Ministers in the past, he added. He also said BJD will no longer adopt the equi-distance policy and it will extend support to whoever works for Odisha's interest. Notably, Naveen Patnaik had earlier stated that his party would play a key role in the formation of next government at the Centre as no national party would get the majority in the Lok Sabha elections. Both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress are trying to form the government with the support of regional parties. Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had praised Naveen Patnaik for rescue and relief operations in cyclone Fani affected areas in the state. UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi has sent letters to non-NDA parties including BJD for a meeting on May 23, the day results of the Lok Sabha elections are to be announced. --IANS cd/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A mass HIV detection programme in a village in Pakistan has resulted in more than 400 children and 100 adults diagnosed with the virus following widespread social alarm that broke out after a doctor was reported for negligence, authorities said on Friday. "In Ratodero village, 15,200 people have been screened so far, out of whom 434 children and 103 adults tested positive for HIV" since the campaign kicked off on April 25, Efe news quoted Sikandar Memon, head of the AIDS control programme in Sindh province, where the village is located, as saying. He said "there is a 60 per cent chance that it spread due to reuse of syringes". "This has become a serious issue as it's not a small number (of children infected) and looks like it spread only because of negligence," said Memon. "Those involved should be strictly punished." A local doctor who was also infected with HIV was arrested on April 27 in connection with the outbreak after residents complained, police said. The doctor has defended his innocence. An investigation is underway. --IANS mag/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bangladesh authorities made a series of new arrests in their crackdown on the right to free speech, Human Rights Watch said on Friday. The arrests were based on vague charges such as "hurting religious sentiment" or undermining "law and order". Those arrested include Abdul Kaium, a human rights activist, Henry Sawpon, a well-known poet, and Imtiaz Mahmood, a lawyer. All three were detained and charged under section 57 of the draconian Information Communication and Technology (ICT) Act or its more abusive successor, the Digital Security Act 2018. "Arresting activists, poets, and lawyers for exercising their right to free speech is straight out of the authoritarian playbook," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "The Bangladesh government should stop locking up its critics and review the law to ensure it upholds international standards on the right to peaceful expression." A group of writers, artists and journalists staged a protest in Dhaka's Shahbagh square on May 15, saying they would go on an indefinite strike if Sawpon and Mahmood were not released. Both Sawpon and Mahmood were granted bail on May 16 but Kaium remains in detention. The ICT Act was widely criticized for granting police wide-ranging powers to make arrests on broad and vaguely defined grounds for any electronically published content, effectively curbing lawful criticism and dissent. --IANS mr/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BJP President Amit Shah on Friday defended the candidature of party's Lok Sabha nominee from Bhopal Pragya Singh Thakur as 'satyagrah' against the fake case of saffron terror, saying after her reply to the show-cause notice, the party would take appropriate action. "Pragya Thakur's candidature is a 'satyagrah' against a fake case of bhagwa (saffron) terror. The then Congress government compromised with national security for vote-bank Her candidature was 'satyagrah' against it," Shah told a press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi by his side. Shah accused the Congress of defaming Hindu-culture and sought an apolgy from Congress President Rahul Gandhi over the issue. "A fake case of bhagwa terror was made in which all the accused have been acquitted. Even court has said that the bhagwa terror was imagination. Some people were earlier arrested in 'Samjhauta Express' case who were related to LeT. American agencies also supported it," he said. "Who compromised with the national security? Who was responsible for it? This incident defamed Hindu culture. The Congress President should apologize for it," he asked. He said the party has served a show-cause notice to Pragya Thakur and has asked her to reply within 10 days. "We initiated prompt action. After she files a reply, party's disciplinary committee will take its call. According to that, we will take appropriate action," he said. Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he will never forgive Pragya Singh Thakur and others for glorifying Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse as "deshbhakt" (patriot). The developments came a day after the comment by Thakur, an accused in the Malegaon blast case, provided fodder to the Congress to target the Bharatiya Janata Party. "Nathuram Godse was a 'deshbhakt', is a 'deshbhakt' and will remain a 'deshbhakt'. People calling him a terrorist should instead look within. Such people will be given a befitting reply in these elections," Thakur told reporters in Bhopal on Thursday. As her statement went viral, two BJP MPs -- Union Minister Anant Kumar Hegde and Nalin Kumar Kateel -- also came out in her support. Besides Thakur, Hegde and Kateel have also been served show-cause notices by the party's disciplinary committee. --IANS bns-sp/prs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Lebanese and foreign dignitaries as well as ordinary people paid tribute to the cardinal. The incumbent Patriarch al-Rahi described his predecessor as an "unshakable rock" and a "man of reconciliation". For Card Sandri, he performed his mission in turbulent circumstances". Emile Lahoud, who was president during the Syria era, and Hezbollah were among the few no-shows. Beirut (AsiaNews) Thousands of people, from every walk of life and religious background, travelled to Bkerke to take part yesterday afternoon in the farewell ceremony of former Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir, who passed away last Sunday. The funeral of the Patriarch Emeritus, celebrated as the great guardian of national unity, began at 5 pm with the arrival of Lebanese President Michel Aoun, Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri. In the funeral prayer the incumbent Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi spoke for all Lebanese when he said that Card Sfeirs death is "a national loss". Viewed as "the patriarch of the second independence, he was an iron patriarch and an unshakable rock", the man of "national reconciliation" capable of resisting "without weapons, sword, or missiles". Patriarch Sfeir worked on removing barriers, enhancing national unity and strengthening coexistence, which he considered to be Lebanon's essence," Rahi added. Card Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches, attended the service. In his address, he said that the Patriarch was a "free and brave man who performed his mission in turbulent circumstances like those of war and Syrias occupation. He always defended "his country's sovereignty and independence" and promoted dialogue in Lebanese society at the ecumenical, interreligious and social level. Lebanese President Michel Aoun awarded Card Sfeir the Lebanese order of merit of the Grand Cordon grade. In addition to Lebanese officials, the funeral was attended by Vatican officials (including the Apostolic Nuncio to Syria Card Mario Zenari), French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and representatives of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan. "Patriarch Sfeir is the father of peace and coexistence in Lebanon and today we're taking part in the funeral at the Saudi leadership's orders," Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Walid al-Bukhari said. Amid the many political figures stood out the absence of former Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, a major figure of the "Syrian" era, and pro-Syrian Shia party Hezbollah representatives. By contrast, the Druze delegation was already present at the Patriarchate in the morning. The formal aspects of the ceremony notwithstanding, the liturgical service saw huge crowds with people coming from every part of the country. Since the morning, families, groups and single individuals attended the hourly Masses, praying in the small church of the patriarchate before the body of the late cardinal. "He is the father of all the Maronites, said a man from Tabarja, the father of our Church; a man of rare strength whose contribution is as important as that of Saint Maron, the first Maronite patriarch. Echoing such view, Maha, a woman who came from Ksara along with a religious fraternity, said that "Someone wanted to make him a partisan of this or that faction. In reality, Patriarch Sfeir was simply a nationalist who fought against injustice and defended Lebanon in all its denominational and partisan components. I waited for his homily every Sunday. He embodied our only hope against the [Syrian] occupation." BJP President Amit Shah on Friday said that party leader Pragya Singh Thakur's praise of Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse as a "patriot" was against the BJP's ideology. Distancing the party from the comments made by its leaders Pragya Thakur, Ananth Hegde and Naveen Kateel in support of Godse, Shah said the party's disciplinary committee would inquire into the matter. "The statements made by Pragya Thakur, Ananth Hegde and Naveen Kateel in the last two days are their own statements. The BJP has no relation with their statements," Shah tweeted. "However, they have retracted their statements and also apologized. The BJP has taken a decision to send their statements to the disciplinary committee of the party. The committee will submit a report within 10 days to the BJP after receiving the replies of the three leaders over their statements that are against the ideology of the party," he said. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President's announcement came as the party faced criticism over the remarks ahead of the final phase of the Lok Sabha elections. Pragya Thakur was the first among the three party leaders to call Godse a "patriot", leading the Election Commission to seek a report from the Madhya Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer. As her statement went viral, two BJP MPs -- Union Minister Anant Kumar Hegde and Nalin Kumar Kateel -- also came out in her support. Godse shot dead Mahatma Gandhi at a prayer meeting in New Delhi on January 30, 1948. He was hanged after a trial. --IANS rak/mag/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A principal and a teacher were arrested in Sri Lanka for alleged links to the Islamist group National Thowheed Jamaath (NTJ), which has been blamed for the Easter suicide bombings, police said on Friday. The arrests took place on Thursday in Horowpathana, reports the Daily Mirror. According to the police, the 56-year-old principal worked at a school at Weerasole while the 47-year-old teacher was from a school in Ataweerawewa. The NTJ is believed to have links with the Islamic State terror group that claimed the April 21 Easter Sunday bombings that claimed over 250 lives. --IANS ksk/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Pune government school teacher, accused of molesting at least 12 minor girls, has been sent to police custody for three days till Saturday, an official said on Friday. Vikram Shankar Potdar, 42, has been booked under various sections of the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSCO) Act and the Indian Penal Code, said investigating officer Chitra Choudhary. "Following a complaint and an internal probe, the accused was arrested on charges of molesting 12 girls for around six months at the Zilla Parishad Girls School No.2 in Lohegaon," Choudhary told IANS. The molestation incidents, mostly during lunch break, continued for so long as Potdar allegedly threatened the victims, all in Class VI, aged around 12. According to the police, the girls complained that he used to "touch them inappropriately" and warned them against informing anyone. However, a few months ago, one of the victims gathered courage and confided her plight to the Education Officer of Haveli, Nilima M. Mehetre. Taking serious note, a committee was formed to probe the matter which found credence to the charges against Potdar and the police complaint was registered on Wednesday. --IANS qn/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Rajasthan High Court on Friday, terming the administration and police a "failure", issued notice to the Ashok Gehlot government on the rising incidents of rape in the state. A bench of Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice Vineet Mathur issued notice after taking cognisance of two recent rape incidents reported in Bharatpur and Jhalawar. "The administration and police have proved to be failure," it said, giving the government time till May 27 to respond. Several cases of rape and molestation of women have been registered following the Alwar gang-rape case. The BJP had recently submitted a list of atrocities against woman to Governor Kalyan Singh, which cited 46 incidents of rape, including of minors, and murders. In the last five months, 12 gangrapes, and 20 rape cases have been registered in state, including 8 minor victims. Two of these minor victims were murdered in Jaipur and Tonk. --IANS arc/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) South Korea on Friday announced it would donate $8 million in humanitarian aid to North Korea through international agencies, at a time when its neighbour faces a possible food shortage and drought. Seoul had originally approved the aid package in 2017, but the repeated testing of weapons by Pyongyang, the imposition of international sanctions on North Korea and later the lack of progress in North's denuclearisation had prevented the proposal's actual implementation, Efe news agency reported. "We plan to provide $8 million through international agencies such as the World Food Program (WFP) and United Nations Children's Fund for projects to support the nutrition of children and pregnant women and their health," the South Korean Ministry of Unification said in a statement. Seoul said it had approved the aid irrespective of the political situation, at a time when the denuclearisation dialogue with Pyongyang has been stuck since the failed US-North Korea summit in Hanoi in February. According to media reports, North Korea is facing a severe food shortage and has witnessed the worst spring drought in four decades. A recent report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation and the WFP said that due to the worst harvest in a decade, some 10 million North Koreans - 40 per cent of the total population - face an imminent food shortage. The government, led by President Moon Jae-in, on Friday also authorized South Korean businesspersons' first visit to the Kaesong inter-Korean industrial park since the complex was shut down in 2016 due to Pyongyang's weapons tests. Seoul's announcements come after Pyongyang stepped up pressure on South Korea and the US last week to soften their positions in the denuclearisation dialogue by carrying out two consecutive missile tests. --IANS mag/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court on Friday vacated the interim protection granted to former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar from arrest by the CBI in the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam case. The investigating agency has accused Kumar of tampering with the evidence in the chit fund scam to shield powerful politicians. The court has expressed concern over the manner in which the chit fund scam case has panned out, while vacating its February 5 order granting interim protection from arrest to Kumar. A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Sanjiv Khanna said: "We would withdraw the protection given to Mr. Rajeev Kumar, former Commissioner of Police, Kolkata, vide our order dated February 05, 2019 restraining the CBI from arresting him and thereby, leave it open to the CBI to act in accordance with the law." The court, however, granted seven days to Kumar to take appropriate legal remedies. "At the same time, we direct that the interim order dated February 05, 2019 would continue for a period of seven days from the date of pronouncement of this order to enable Kumar to approach competent court for relief, if so advised," said the court. The court observed that in the contempt proceedings it cannot determine whether or not Kumar should be arrested by the CBI for custodial interrogation. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has accused Kumar of destruction of evidence in the scam, but the court noted that there is no FIR registered against Kumar. "Under Sections 201/202 of the Indian Penal Code, but for which no First Information Report (FIR) has been registered, which contention is disputed by the CBI on the ground that the present investigation is connected with the FIRs registered in the chit-fund scam cases pending investigation," said the court. The court noted that it attempted to resolve the controversy by ensuring interrogation of Kumar by the CBI, in view of the allegations levelled by the investigation agency, yet barred the CBI from arresting him. "This, however, has not worked out," it said. The court observed that Kumar had fully cooperated with the CBI, a fact which can be verified from the video recording of the 40 hours of interrogation, on different dates in Shillong. The court did not delve into the merits of the case, rather limited or confined itself "to the application filed by the CBI for modification of the February 5 order, by which court restrained them from arresting Kumar." The West Bengal government told the court that laptop and mobile phones was examined by the Serious Fraud Investigation Unit, Enforcement Directorate and other agencies, which did not find them to be relevant and incriminating, and therefore, returned. "Besides, the data downloaded from mobile and laptop was not compromised and is available with the agencies," the government told the court, although the CBI alleges that Kumar has played a key role in the destruction of the electronic evidence. Earlier, during the arguments, senior counsel Indira Jaising, appearing for Kumar, argued that the CBI was being vindictive and had cooked up a false case against the police officer. To support her argument, she referred to Kumar's unblemished career and said he was a decorated officer and never had any doubts cast on his integrity. He was awarded the President's Medal in 2015, after due diligence and scrutiny by the Home Ministry to select a candidate who had not been implicated in a case or departmental inquiry, she added. Jaising said till date, the CBI had been unable to establish Kumar's criminal intent in suppressing evidence in the investigation. "And yet they are seeking his custodial interrogation. There is a media trial going on," she said. She claimed that there was a reason why the CBI singled out Kumar in the case. "(Then interim) CBI Director Nageshwar Rao actually set the investigation agency after Kumar, because there is an FIR against Rao's wife in West Bengal," she said. Recalling the February incident when the CBI went to question Kumar and the entire episode took a political turn, Jaising said the agency tried to raid Kumar's house in his absence. "His wife, a public servant, was in the house. They levelled false charges that he has hidden evidence at his residence," she argued. She also contended that the CBI was deliberately going after Kumar, but never questioned Arnab Ghosh, the then Director General of Police (DGP) who was also part of the Special Investigation Team probing the scam. Jaising also said no evidence of value was found on the electronic devices that were seized in the investigation into the scam. Appearing for the CBI, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had insisted that the investigating agency was not hounding Kumar. "We asked them a simple question regarding the FSL report of the electronic devices seized during the investigation, but they did not give us any report," he said. He also said it was impossible to establish the authenticity of electronic data seized during the scam in the absence of a forensic science laboratory (FSL) report. Insisting that the FSL report was crucial to solve the case, he said: "We have been demanding it since the case was handed over to the CBI. How do we know that mobiles, laptops, pen drives, etc, have not been compromised?" At this, Jaising said the data was seized by different agencies -- the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), the Assam Police and the Enforcement Directorate -- and not by the West Bengal Police alone. --IANS ss/kr/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court on Friday refused to grant protection from arrest to the SP-BSP candidate Atul Rai, who is on the run in an alleged rape case, from Ghosi parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh. A vacation bench comprising Justices Indira Banarjee and Sanjiv Khanna said: "Absolutely no case," at the beginning of the hearing. Rai's counsel sought to bring urgency of relief to the case by emphasizing that polling is due in Ghosi in the last phase of the 7-phase general election on May 19. The court, however, said, "It is not a case for quashing. Fight the election and this case too...Sorry, you are well aware about the procedure of quashing". An FIR was registered against Rai on May 1 on a complaint by a college student who alleged that Rai had sexually assaulted her. Rai moved the Supreme Court on Tuesday seeking protection from arrest till the end of the general election on May 23. Rai's counsel told the court that an FIR was lodged after he filed nomination papers for contesting the polls on April 26 and indicated the political nature of the case. The counsel contended before the court that two cases of similar nature, wherein similar allegations have been leveled by the complainant, have already been resolved through compromise. The court queried the counsel on the documents related to these cases. "You have not filed documents. We do not know what you are saying is truth or not." The court also reckoned that the counsel's attempt to give a political colour to the case is simply "vague". The court also refused to grant any interim relief in any coercive action, a possible arrest in the case, against Rai till May 19. Rai's counsel cited the absence of any provision of anticipatory bail in Uttar Pradesh and told the court that the High Court on May 8 dismissed his petition seeking protection, and that he is certainly exposed to arrest in the case. He also sought protection from arrest at least till May 23, the day of declaration of election result, but the court did not relent. The court has adjourned the plea to May 27. Earlier, this week, Rai' counsel had mentioned his plea as urgent, seeking anticipatory bail before the vacation bench comprising Justices Sanjeev Khanna and Indira Banerjee. Rai is reportedly absconding after an FIR was registered against him in a police station in Varanasi by a college student on May 1. Rai's counsel contended that it is a politically motivated case to prevent him from campaigning in the ongoing general election. The Ghosi parliamentary constituency is located in Mau district, eastern Uttar Pradesh, where polls are due on May 19. --IANS ss/prs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court on Friday refused to grant any relief to SP-BSP candidate in Uttar Pradesh, Atul Rai, who is on the run in an alleged rape case from the Ghosi Lok Sabha constituency. Rai had moved the Supreme Court on Tuesday seeking protection from arrest till the end of the general election on May 23. The court had agreed to hear his plea on Friday. However, on Friday a Vacation Bench comprising Justices Indira Banerjee and Sanjiv Khanna adjourned the plea to another date. Rai's counsel earlier urgently mentioned his plea seeking anticipatory bail. Rai is reportedly absconding after an FIR was registered against him in a police station in Varanasi by a college student on May 1. The victim has alleged that Rai has sexually assaulted her. Rai's counsel contended that it is politically motivated to prevent him from campaigning in the ongoing general elections, and eventually sabotage his prospect as a candidate from the constituency. Ghosi parliamentary constituency is located in Mau district in eastern Uttar Pradesh and is scheduled to go to polls on Sunday in the final phase. --IANS ss/in (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who engaged in a candid interview with American talk show host David Letterman, says he was thrilled and honoured to share his story with one of the most famous talk show personalities. "I've watched David Letterman's late-night talk show for years and I'm a huge fan of his style of interviewing. I'm thrilled, and honoured to share my story with him. "That this is on Netflix is even more special - I'm working with the team on various projects and it's always been exciting partnering with them," Shah Rukh, who will make his appearance on Letterman's show "My Next Guest Needs No Introduction", said in a statement issued on Friday. Shah Rukh took to Twitter, where he shared a photograph of himself along with Letterman. He thanked the talk show host for making him feel like himself. "No more footprints... this is The Abominable Snowman!! Before Batman and Spiderman, there is Mr. Letterman thanks for your generosity. Had too much fun being interviewed. Not because it was about me but because you were kind enough to make me feel I can be me. You are an inspiration sir," he captioned the image. The show will be presented as a stand alone special on Netflix and combines two interests for which Letterman is known for -- in-depth conversations with extraordinary people, and in-the-field segments expressing his curiosity and humour. After interviewing SRK in front of a live audience, Letterman said: "The best part of this job that Netflix has been happy to provide for me is to meet people. And after each one of these sessions I think to myself, it is a very smart, very lovely person from whom I have learned things. You would maybe be at the top of that list." He has hosted the first season of the series featuring names such as former US President Barack Obama, actor George Clooney, Pakistan Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai, hip-hop star Jay-Z, actress Tina Fey and radio producer Howard Stern. The second season will include conversations between Letterman and Kanye West, Ellen Degeneres, Tiffany Haddish, Lewis Hamilton and Melinda Gates. --IANS dc/ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After two cases of cars exploding in China, electric vehicle (EV)-maker Tesla is planning to upgrade the battery systems of some of its cars. The decision comes after a Tesla vehicle caught fire in Hong Kong last week, marking the second time a Tesla was found burning recently, CNN reported on Saturday. "Out of an abundance of caution, we are revising charge and thermal management settings on Model S and Model X vehicles," the report quoted the company spokesperson as saying. Last month, a viral footage showed a Tesla Model S appearing to explode at a car park in Shanghai. The company said it sent a team to the site of the Hong Kong fire to investigate the incident alongside the Chinese authorities. EVs are generally far less likely to catch fire than gasoline vehicles. The EV-maker also said its battery packs are designed "so that in the very rare instance a fire does occur, it spreads very slowly and vents heat away from the cabin, alerting occupants that there is an issue and giving them enough time to exit the vehicle," the spokesperson added. As Tesla works towards improving its cars, the company "believes the right number of incidents to aspire to is zero," the report noted. --IANS rp/bc (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Muslims in South Dagon were allowed to use three buildings during Ramadan, but a mob of 200 extremists forced Islamic leaders to promise not to pray there anymore. For one activist, there are no legal protections for minorities. Naypyidaw (AsiaNews) Threats by a group of Buddhist nationalists have led to the forced closure of three temporary Islamic places of prayer, set up for Ramadan in South Dagon, a township southeast of Yangon. Regional authorities had granted the Islamic community permission to use three residential buildings for religious purposes, for the duration of the holy month (6 May-7 June) in South Dagons Wards 26, 106 and 64 respectively. Three days ago, a crowd of about 200 people including some monks gathered at the designated building in Ward 26, a local official told the Irrawaddy newspaper. After inspecting it, they declared it illegal and forced Muslims community leaders to sign a pledge not to use the facility for prayers. An RFA reporter present at the scene said that all this happened under the eyes of government officials, who did not intervene. The same scene was repeated the following day, at the other two temporary prayer rooms. U Michael Kyaw Myint, who led the nationalist protests, says Islamic religious activities in residential buildings are unacceptable and promised to shut down places of worship frequented by Muslims in other neighbourhoods. They [the authorities] may accept this but we dont, he said, adding that his group plans to find more in this township and stop them. According to U Nyi, a member of the Yangon regional parliament, local Muslims have sought to build a permanent place of worship in the area for some time, but South Dagon Township residents have raised objections in the past, hence the temporary Ramadan sites. Ko Mya Aye, a member of the 88 Generation group, a pro-democracy group that led a student protest against the countrys military regime 30 years ago, noted that nationalists disregard the rule of law by going over the heads of government officials. If theres no official permission, then legal action can be taken. However, this is showing there are no legal protections for minorities. This is not good for the country, he lamented. As our country is facing many pressures from the international community, this incident is using religious affairs to affect the politics of the country. Our countrys image is affected badly in the face of the international community. In 'dry' Bihar and Gujarat, liquor has found a new route as road routes are being guarded by paramilitary and the local police to enforce the model code of conduct to check smuggling of liquor and cash. A senior Railway Ministry official said that after the model code of conduct came into force across the country on March 10, trains going to the dry states like Bihar and Gujarat in the last two months have reported a spurt in the number of the incidents of 'chain-pulling' (to stop a running train). "As Bihar and Gujarat are dry states, transporting liquor in these two states has become very tough as the road routes are being guarded by paramilitary forces as well as the state police, which conduct extensive checking of vehicles for liquor smuggling and cash flow," said the official. "Thus it forced the bootleggers to shift to the train route to transport their shipments, which in return has resulted in a spurt in the incidents of alarm chain pulling (ACP) in trains in these two states. Forcing trains to stop badly affects the schedule," he said. The manufacture, storage, sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages of liquor was completely banned in Bihar after the Nitish Kumar government returned to power in 2015 in the state, while in Gujarat the sale, consumption and storage of liquor is banned since 1960. Worried over the incidents of the alarm chain pulling (ACP), L.C. Trivedi General Manager of East Central Railways and Ravindra Verma Inspector General of Railway Protection Force (RPF) held a meeting with the Bihar Director General of Police (DGP) Gupteshwar Pandey at its zonal headquarters in Hajipur. ECR spokesperson Rajesh Kumar told IANS: "The DGP and the GM of ECR have discussed the spurt in incidents of ACP during odd-hours and at odd locations far away from the stations." He said three railway routes in the state -- Ara-Patna, Chapra-Hajipur and Hajipur-Muzaffarpur -- have reported high incidents of 'chain pulling'. He said following reports of the ACP at off-hours in the long-distance trains, the railways formed a flying squad and also increased patrolling along the three routes. "The task of the flying squad and the patrol team was to arrest those who pulled the ACP to stop the train at an unscheduled location," he said. Kumar said that in April, 362 cases of ACP were received and 393 people were arrested. The railways also collected a fine of Rs 2.91 lakh in April in Bihar. He said that the from May 1 to May 12 in Bihar, 125 cases of ACP were recieved and 190 people arrested. He said so far none of railway employee has been detained for illegal smuggling of liquor. However, railway sources indicated that the local railway employees were also playing a major role in liquor smuggling. A senior ECR official said that from January 1, 2019 to April 30, 2019 a total of 909 ACP incidents were reported and 1,460 people were arrested. Western Railway spokesperson Ravinder Bhaker said, "Following a spurt in the incidents of the ACP in the western railway zone, we sent teams in plain clothes to arrest those who stopped the train by using the ACP". He said in the Western Railway zone, the Vapi-Surat route was most affected, reporting high incidents of chain pulling. A senior railway official said that the Vapi-Surat route was most affected due to its proximity with Daman and Diu, known for illegal liquor trade. However, Bhaker did not share the number of the incidents of chain pulling and the people arrested in the case. During this election season, the Election Commission has seized liquor worth Rs 285 crore till the end of the sixth phase of polling on May 12. (Anand Singh can be contacted at anand.s@ians.in) --IANS aks/prs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump has proposed a sweeping change to the immigration system to make it "merit-based" favouring professionals and well-educated people who will be high earners. Unveiling his plan at the White House on Thursday, he said the current immigration system discriminates against "genius" and "brilliance" and that he wanted to correct this with a new system he called "Build America Visa" that favours those with demonstrated potential. The plan is modelled on the immigration systems of Canada, Australia and New Zealand, which prioritise admission based on points awarded for various qualifications. It will preserve the immigration of spouses and children of permanent residents or Green Card-holders, but eliminate preferences for other relatives like siblings and parents. "We prioritise the immediate family of new Americans - spouses and children", Trump said. "The loved ones you choose to build a life with, we prioritise... They go right to the front of the line". Trump said he wants to increase the current allocation of 12 per cent of Green Cards for highly skilled professionals to 57 percent at the expense of certain categories of relatives and people immigrating from certain countries based on a lottery system. This would reverse the current system of reserving about 60 per cent of Green Cards for relatives. About 1.13 million people get permanent resident visas or Green Cards every year. Making his case for the merit system, he said that companies were moving offices abroad because the current system prevented them from retaining highly skilled and even "totally brilliant people". The emphasis on merit has the potential to help Indian professionals who have to wait for ten years or more to get a Green Card -- but only if the national quotas is lifted. Currently each country's quota is about 25,000 regardless of its population size. It is not clear if that would happen because Trump did not say if the national limits would be removed or modified. Some members of both houses of Congress, including presidential aspirant Senator Kamala Harris, have introduced legislation, Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act, to remove the national quota limits for professionals. Trump was also silent on the H1-B visas that are given temporarily to skilled professionals. His administration has sought to make the qualifying standards more stringent and has raised the rejection rate for the visa making it an area of contention between India and the US. Trump's plan will also give preference to those who have been educated in the US. Packaged in Trump's plan crafted by his son-in-law Jared Kushner and a controversial adviser, Stephen Miller, are proposals for tough new measures against illegal immigrants and for strengthening border security by building a wall and tightening asylum requirements. These will be opposed by Democrats. However, the ambitious plan that essentially restates many of his previous proposals is unlikely to get past Congress. "Trump's proposal has no chance of becoming law in this Congress," said Doug Rand, who worked on immigration policy at the White House during Barack Obama's presidency and is the co-founder of Boundless Immigration, a company provides help with navigating the system. Trump himself admitted as much, pinning his hopes on his re-election. If it did not pass in his current term it would "be passed after the election, when Republicans take back the House, hold the Senate and keep the presidency", he claimed. "This is classic election talk and is designed to cater to the President Trump's voter base" said Vivek Tandon, the CEO of EB5 BRICS, an immigration advisory firm. "I don't believe this to be meaningful proposal". Democratic Party leaders voiced their strong opposition to the Trump plan even before it was formally unveiled. Speaker Nancy Pelosi decried the use of the word "merit", telling reporters: "It is really a condescending word." Democratic Party leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, denounced it as "anti-immigration reform". "It repackages the same partisan, radical, anti-immigrant policies that the administration has pushed for the two years," he said. Trump hit back at the Democrats accusing them of favouring open borders and lowering wages. But a leading senator of his own party Lindsey Graham, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, also expressed doubts about the plans viability to become law. The Trump plan's biggest weakness in getting Democratic Party support is the failure to grant permanent immigration status to those who came to the US illegally as children and are referred to as "Dreamers" for their pursuit of the American dram. Obama had granted them temporary protection against deportation, but Trump has tried to revoke it, while saying at the same time that he wants it to be made permanent without making a concrete proposal. Democrats insist that any immigration effort should start with "Dreamers". The "merit-based" reform of awarding points proposed by Trump would favour younger immigrants, those with higher educational qualifications, English language proficiency, job offers with h better wages, and entrepreneurs capable of creating jobs. The preference for entrepreneurs "is good news for potential investors" according to Lawrence Chang, the president, Maryland Center for Foreign Investment. David Finkelstein, the CEO of American Immigration Group, said that Trump's proposal for increasing the number of skilled immigrants is in line with the EB5 programme, which provides Green Cards for investors. He added that it "has attracted high net worth families that are highly educated which is exactly what President Trump is supporting, rather than those that are not educated and require continued financial support from our social system". (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis) --IANS al/ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump reported income of at least $434 million in 2018, according to his annual financial disclosure released by the White House. The income also include $40.8 million in revenue from his Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC, just blocks from the White House, CNN quoted the disclosure as saying on Thursday. Trump reported that his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida generated $22.7 million, a slight drop from the $25.1 million he disclosed for 2017. Overall, Trump's income appears to have gone down from last year, when he reported making at least $450 million. Trump reported holding outstanding debt of at least $315 million. The disclosure forms allow filers to report ranges, and five of Trump's loans are reported at "over $50 million" making the actual debt total impossible to calculate. Financial disclosure documents do not reveal as much about finances as a tax return, which include granular details about income and asset valuations, along with other information. Since taking office, Trump has broken presidential precedent by maintaining his interest in the Trump Organization, which is run on a day-to-day basis by his sons Donald Jr. and Eric. He's also the first President in decades not to release his personal tax returns, though he has submitted his required financial statements each year to the Office of Government Ethics. The fresh disclosures come as the Trump administration faces a Friday deadline to respond to a subpoena from House Democrats for six years of tax records. --IANS ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump has unveiled a plan to reform the nation's immigration system, intended to favour high-skilled immigrants and restrict family-based migration. Speaking at the White House, Trump on Thursday said that his plan aims to create a "fair, modern and lawful system of immigration for the US", Xinhua news agency reported. "The biggest change we make is to increase the proportion of highly skilled immigration from 12 per cent to 57 per cent, and we'd like to even see if we can go higher," Trump said. "This will bring us in line with other countries and make us globally competitive." "We cherish the open door that we want to create for our country. But a big proportion of those immigrants must come in through merit and skill," said the president, noting that immigrants, under the plan, will also be "required to learn English and to pass a civics exam prior to admission." According to the White House, the proposal would tighten family-based migration to focus on allowing nuclear families who migrate to the US, rather than extended family members. Currently, about two-thirds of the 1.1 million people allowed to migrate to the nation each year are given green cards granting permanent residency because of family ties. Trump's plan, which does not add protections to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival recipients, is expected to draw little support from Democrats who have railed against the administration's lack of support for so-called "Dreamers," who were brought to the United States as children by undocumented parents. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slammed the proposal as "condescending," signalling that Democrats would not support legislation that does not include a pathway to citizenship. "They say family is without merit -- are they saying most of the people that come to the US in the history of our country are without merit, because they don't have an engineering degree," Pelosi asked at her weekly press conference on Thursday. The speaker also told reporters that Democrats have yet to receive a formal briefing on the administration's plan. The effort, championed by Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, also focuses on beefing up border security. Trump has claimed that the nation is being overrun by migrants and asylum seekers and sought to build a wall along the southern border with Mexico by declaring a national emergency so as to bypass Congress and unlock billions of US dollars in funding. --IANS pgh/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US Ambassador to India Kenneth Ian Juster met Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga and discussed possible areas of cooperation in road infrastructure and health care among others, an official release said here on Friday. Accompanied by five other officials, including US Consul General in Kolkata Patti Hoffman, the Ambassador arrived here on Thursday on a two-day visit. "Juster yesterday (Thursday) held meeting with the Chief Minister at the latter's residence and discussed state policies and possible areas of cooperation especially in road infrastructure and health care," the official release said. "Strengthening cooperation in tourism and creating more avenues for higher education in the US for students from the northeastern states also figured in the discussion," an official of the Mizoram government said. The release said that on Friday, the US diplomat visited American government funded project on HIV/AIDS. He also interacted with the senior functionaries of "Shalom", an NGO working on HIV/AIDS, human rights, nutrition, prisoners' issues, women's empowerment and youth affairs. "The US envoy held meeting with church leaders at Synod office here and senior officials of Excise and Narcotics Department," the release added. Juster, after his appointment as the 25th US Ambassador to India in November 2017, had visited other northeastern states including Assam and Tripura. --IANS sc/rs/in (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least 17 Afghan police officers were killed and 14 others injured after the US Air Force mistakenly targeted its allies, an official said on Friday. The involuntary massacre occurred overnight during clashes between Afghan security forces and Taliban insurgents in Helmand province's Nahr-e-Saraj district, Attaullah Afghan, head of Helmand Provincial Council, told Efe news agency. After the Taliban attacked a security check-post on the highway, police rushed to push the militants back and the US forces carried out the strikes to support the officers but erroneously targeted the allies, he said. Omar Zwak, the spokesman for the Governor of Helmand, confirmed the incident and said it was being investigated. A spokesman for the Taliban, Qari Yusuf Ahmadi, confirmed to Efe news agency that US forces "carried out strikes on their own hirelings, killing 35 police, including their four commanders". --IANS mag/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) has come to the aid of homebuyers who struggle to get possession of their flats for years. The apex consumer commission has determined a time period of one year for stalled realty projects beyond which homebuyers can claim refund from builders. NCDRC has mandated real estate builders to refund the homebuyers for failing to hand over the possession of an apartment in case of a delay. According to a report in the Times of India, NCDRC said in an order that, "It is now established that allottees have the right to ask ... Two college students played good samaritans by handing over an abandoned week-old boy baby to the government hospital here after they found the newborn on a road, police said Friday. The students - Sathyadharan and Chandrasekhar - were walking down the road Thursday night, when they heard the baby crying. They saw the baby wrapped in a cloth and placed on the roadside, the police said. The college-goers alerted the ambulance service, and they picked up the baby and took it to the hospital. The doctors, upon examining the baby, found it to be in good health, hospital sources said. The students won the appreciation of the public and the hospital staff for their good deed. Police have registered a case and are in search of the woman who abandoned the newborn. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Five drug peddlers were arrested in separate operations from different districts of Jammu and Kashmir, the police said on Friday. On a specific information, a police team patrolling the highway near Sahar Khad in Kathua apprehended two drug peddlers-- Sumit Kumar and Daljeet Singh-- and seized 95 grams of heroin from them. A case was registered against the duo and further investigation is on, they said. In another case, two persons were asked to stop by the police at a checkpoint in Ramban district. However, the tried to flee but were caught by the police. Brown sugar weighing about 80 gm was recovered from Vishal Singh and Yasir Ahmed and a case was registered against them, they said. The police arrested another drug peddler-- Amit Rana-- from Panjtirthi area of Jammu city and recovered intoxicant drugs from him, they said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) by Vladimir Rozanskij For days there have been protests because the Orthodox Church wants to build a sacred building in the city park. Police violence against demonstrators. Putin calls for attention to the population: "The churches must unite, not divide". It is the first case of opposition to the project of Patriarch Kirill to build "200 churches a year". The nemesis of the Bolshevik state which in the past destroyed churches; now it builds them. Moscow (AsiaNews) - The population of Yekaterinburg has risen against the Orthodox Church for the decision to build a church in the city park, eliminating the public green. Since May 13, the protests have taken on an intense nature, which have led to the arrest of over 70 people, including some minors. People destroyed the railings that protected the construction site of the new church building, and began to clash with building workers. The following day the authorities interrupted construction, but the demonstrations did not stop: the "defenders of the park" occupy the area while walking, singing songs and doing carousels around the construction site. The city's deputy mayor, Ekaterina Kuzemka, has promised to conduct a population survey to decide on the project's continuation. President Putin himself suggested hearing the citizens of Yekaterinburg about the need to build the new cathedral, stating that "churches must unite, not divide, better rely on the opinion of the majority of the local population; and if you really have to build the church, then they must re-build the park in another place". The protests against the construction site are joined by those for police violence, who wounded the arrested protesters with broken wrists, to force them to sign an admission of guilt. Even a journalist, Vladislav Postnikov of Otkrytaja Rossija, was arrested and then released with the obligation to appear; Postnikov said he had not broken any laws, but had been arrested after filming some members of the security services, mingles among the crowd. The construction of new churches is one of the most important projects of the patriarch of Moscow Kirill (Gundjaev), which set important goals for the opening of "200 churches a year", to make the services of the Orthodox liturgy accessible to all Russians. The churches are built both in historic centers and in the suburbs, with the help of local authorities and private citizens, especially the wealthier entrepreneurs, the so-called "oligarchs". The Yekaterinburg protest is the first sensational case of opposition to this widespread diffusion of ecclesiastical influence in the country, and of its connection with the power elites. The city of the Ural mountains has a high symbolic value, being the place where the assassination of Tsar Nicholas II and his family took place in July 1918. The construction of the new cathedral was decided last year, on the centenary of the commemorations of the martyrdom of the tsar, when the entire Synod of Russian bishops met in Yekaterinburg. Among other things, the city is also the birthplace of Boris Yeltsyn, the first president of post-communist Russia. In fact, in other situations protests had already taken place, again due to the occupation of public green spaces to build churches, as had happened in Moscow in the summer of 2015 at the Torfjanka park in the Losinoostrovskij district, but the bad mood returned. At that time Patriarch Kirill had tried to quell the spirits, thanking the supporters of the construction of the new churches, but "only when the support is expressed in peaceful and legal forms". In Moscow, in fact, the members of the Sorok Sorokov movement protested. Their name "Forty quarantine", an name that recalls the ancient "quarantine" bells of the churches of Moscow, later destroyed by the Bolsheviks. The group is a kind of team of orthodox fundamentalists, who often use rather violent means, as had happened two years ago for the protests against the "sacrilegious" anti-Tsarist film Matilda, even bombing cinemas to when in order to prevent the screening . The paradox is that to suppress the protests of the citizens, methods typical of the repression of Soviet dissent are used, when instead the churches were closed or destroyed. The Orthodox Church risks being seen as a continuation of its own denial, that is to say as an instrument of denial of human rights. : Five Bangladeshi nationals were arrested Friday for illegally staying here, police said. The illegal immigrants are suspected to have entered India about a year ago by crossing the border in Kolkata, the police said. Based on a tip-off, a search was conducted and the five were arrested for not having any valid documents and immigration papers. The five were produced before a court, a police official told PTI. He further said there may be some more foreign nationals staying illegally and a search is on. The five immigrants were said to be working for a slaughterhouse, the police official added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Six kg of gold worth Rs 2 crore was seized in three separate incidents at the Chennai airport, Customs officials said Friday. The seizure was effected in separate incidents reported over the last two days. Three passengers were intercepted after their arrival from Dubai on Friday, the officials said in a statement issued here. A personal examination revealed that the three passengers had concealed the yellow metal in their rectum, it said. On Thursday night, the sleuths recovered gold from four passengers, who had arrived from Colombo. Nineteen people, all hailing from Ramanathapuram, were intercepted at the airport Thursday morning after their arrival from Colombo. They had concealed gold in their rectum, according to the statement. In total, six kg gold valued at Rs 2 crore was seized by the sleuths, it said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani Friday asked Vadodara civic authorities to take action against errant officials in connection with supply of dirty water in the city's eastern and southern parts for the past few days. Vadodara Municipal Commissioner Ajay Bhadoo suspended a civic engineer in this connection recently and served notices on two private firms tasked with maintaining the civic body's filtration plant. Water from Ajwa Lake is treated at the filtration plant before being supplied to the city. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Income Tax Department briefly stopped a sitting MP from Tamil Nadu at the airport here as he was carrying Rs 25 lakh in cash, officials said. He was allowed to go after questioning. The parliamentarian, V Elumalai of the AIADMK, is seeking re-election from his Arani Lok Sabha seat. "After ascertaining that the cash was withdrawn from his bank account in Delhi and it was meant for personal purposes, the cash was not seized," a senior tax official said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A special court here conducting trial in the 2008 blast case, Friday directed all the seven accused, including BJP's Bhopal Lok Sabha candidate Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Purohit, to appear before it once a week. Upset over the frequent absence of the accused during the trial, NIA court judge Vinod Padalkar gave this direction. He also directed that exemption sought without cogent reasons will be rejected. The court, at present, is recording the testimony of the witnesses in the case.The matter will be next heard on May 20. Besides Purohit and Thakur, Major (retired) Ramesh Upadhyay, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Sameer Kulkarni are other accused in the case. They are all out on bail. In October last year, the court had framed charges in the case against all the seven accused for terror activities, criminal conspiracy and murder, among others. The accused face trial under sections of the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC). They were charged under sections 16 (committing terrorist act) and 18 (conspiring to commit terrorist act) of the UAPA. Under the IPC, they were charged under sections 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 153 (a) (promoting enmity between two religious groups). The accused were also charged under relevant sections of the Explosive Substances Act. On September 29, 2008, six people were killed and over 100 injured when an explosive device strapped on a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon, a town about 200 km from here in north (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 Madras High Court has granted bail to four AMMK workers who were arrested for allegedly attacking election officials on April 16 when they had inspected a premises where Rs 1.48 crore in cash was stashed. The cash allegedly meant for distribution among voters in Theni district, where Assembly bypolls were held on April 18. Vacation judge A D Jagadish Chandra directed the AMMK supporters to execute a bond for Rs 10,000 each with two sureties of similar amount. The four were arrested and sent to judicial custody on April 17. He also directed them to stay in Chennai and report to police daily at 10.30 AM and 5.30 PM until further orders. The prosecution had submitted that the election officials had on April 16 gone to the office of a travel agency, where the amount was kept. When the team reached the spot, they found the office closed. However, they noticed some packets when they peeped through a window. Soon around 150 people, including the accused, came there, attacked them and tried to take away the money. Police then fired in the air to disperse the crowd, after which the officials broke open the door and seized the cash from the office. Following this, a case was registered against the accused. Counsel for the petitioners contended that his clients are innocent and that they were implicated in the case as they were from the TTV Dhinakaran-led Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Oscar-nominated filmmaker Shekhar Kapur and veteran Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor have teased that they are working together on something super exciting, 31 years after the release of cult classic Mr. India. The filmmaker took to Twitter to tease their new project. Discusssing the look for the next Mr India 2, or another movie together? You tell them @AnilKapoor, Shekhar tweeted alongside a picture in which he can be seen adjusting the actor's cap. Anil also shared the same photograph on social media and said he is excited about working with the filmmaker again. Feels like deja vu. @shekharkapur and I are deep in discussion about something new and super exciting. We're hoping to create the same magic we did before with Mr. India...The cap adjustment was lucky then, and it might do the trick this time as well, the actor, 62, tweeted. Mr. India, which released in 1987, also featured Amirsh Puri, Sridevi and Satish Kaushik. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) / -- Acharya Dhanwant Singh, Founder and Chancellor, Apex Professional University received the award on behalf of Apex Professional University being recognized as one of the best Brands of 2019 Apex Professional University, one of the leading universities of North East India, was recognized in the prestigious ET Best Brands 2019, which honors brands with exemplary initiatives, practices and innovations across the Higher sector. The award ceremony was organized at Sahara Star Hotel, Mumbai. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/694069/Apex_Professional_University_Logo.jpg ) (Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/888824/ET_Best_Brand_APU.jpg )In its felicitation, The Economic Times acknowledged the leading educational institutions in all genres across the country that are transforming the educational landscape of India. Institutions were recognised for their contribution in creating an environment to foster the young minds to be ready for their dynamic future. Receiving the award, Acharya Dhanwant Singh, Founder and Chancellor, Apex Professional University, said, "We are honoured to be recognized by the Economic Times as one of the 'Best Education Brands of 2019'. Our team works with commitment and zeal to provide the best pedagogy for our students and getting this kind of recognition motivates us to continue further pushing our boundaries. Since inception, APU has established itself as a truly different Education Brand with a strong focus on the mission to discover, preserve and disseminate ancient Indian knowledge to educate the present and the future generation of global citizens." "In this trend setting journey of six years in achieving excellence in higher education, we would like to thank our teachers, students and Team APU for all the support and motivation they have provided to make us one of the Best Education Brands. This award puts an additional responsibility on all of us to continue to do the good work we have been doing with much more vigor so that we are able to realise our vision of making Apex Professional University a world-class university," said Dr. Kanwal Singh, Vice Chancellor, Apex Professional University. The Economic Times Best Education Brands 2019 conference has unveiled and launched the Best Education Brands 2019 Coffee Table Book as well as brought together leading educationists and academicians who are not just keeping pace with the international education standards but are also making significant contribution towards making India a truly global educational hub. The performance of the brands was analyzed by Economics Times based on market capitalization, diversity of offerings and Brand Recall. The winners were chosen after going through a comprehensive quantitative and qualitative analysis of the overall performance of the universities, before making it to the final list. About Apex Professional University Apex Professional University (APU) is a non-profit university established by the Government of Arunachal Pradesh and Apex Foundation, Bangalore under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Scheme. Government of Arunachal Pradesh has legislated Apex Professional University Act, 2012 (No. 7 of 2013) as a Statutory University vide notification No. LAW/LEGN-17/2012 dated 10th May, 2013.APU started functioning in July 2013 under the sponsorship of Apex Foundation, Bangalore, one of the top charitable organizations in the field of education. The University Grants Commission (UGC) has accorded its recognition to Apex Professional University as a state private university vide its letter F.NO8-13/2013(CPP-I/PU) dated 28th June, 2013 in accordance with section 2(f) of UGC Act, 1956. As per Ministry of HRD, Government of India, Apex Professional University is empowered to award Degrees as specified in section 22 of UGC Act, 1956. Apex Professional University, Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh is approved by Bar Council of India, New Delhi, Council of Architecture (CoA), New Delhi and is a member of Association of Indian Universities (AIU), New Delhi. The APU has also obtained no objection letter from the AICTE, New Delhi for conducting technical and management programme. Apex Professional University, Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh is empowered to register external (private) students in accordance with Apex Professional University Act (No. 7 of 2013) and the consent of the Distance Education Bureau (DEB), University Grant Commission, New Delhi. For more details about APU, visit: http://www.apexuniversity.ac.in https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8DEslSNZ4AawA9JgLNTeRw https://www.facebook. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Yes Bank Friday said appointment of former RBI Deputy Governor R Gandhi as an additional director on its board is a positive move which will not impede smooth functioning at the private sector lender. Welcoming the appointment in a statement, the city-headquartered bank said the appointment is "very positive and constructive measure" to strengthen the board. It added the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is supportive of a "strong and successful" Yes Bank. It can be noted that there are very few precedents of such action by RBI in the private sector bank space and none in the new-age private sector banks. The Yes Bank scrip took a beating since the appointment of Gandhi, but was trading 0.40 per cent up at Rs 138.35 a piece at 1310 hrs Friday. "We warmly welcome the appointment of R Gandhi to the Board of Yes Bank by RBI under Section 36AB of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. This is a very positive and constructive measure aimed at further strengthening the Board," a bank statement said. "This will not impede the smooth, independent and effective functioning of the Bank in any way," it said. The RBI had cut short the term of the lender's promoter-chief executive Rana Kapoor on concerns over governance. The RBI action had come after two consecutive years of the bank having been found of under-reporting its stock of NPAs. The bank hired former Deutsche Bank India head Ranveer Gill to replace Kapoor. In the first quarter under Gill, it reported a maiden loss of Rs 1,506 crore. Gill had said the bank expects significant losses on its exposure to low-rated borrowers and made provisions for the same, resulting in the loss. Analysts had also welcomed the appointment of Gandhi, saying this signifies that the RBI is working in tandem with the bank's new management. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An Army jawan, who was injured in an encounter with militants in district of Jammu and Kashmir, has succumbed, police said. "The injured Rohit Kumar Yadav has succumbed at the hospital and attained martyrdom," a police spokesman said. Yadav had suffered grievous injuries during a gun battle with three militants in Handew area of on Thursday. All the three ultras were killed. The spokesman identified the slain militants as Yawar Ahmad Dar, Shakeel Ahmad Dar and Ishtiyaq Bhat. They were affiliated with proscribed terror outfit "As per police records, Yawar Dar was involved in planning and executing series of terror attacks in the area and many other civilian atrocities. He was involved in the terror attack on Zainpora Police Guard last year in which four policemen were martyred," he said. Six militants and a civilian were killed in two encounters in and districts in the state on Thursday. Two soldiers including Yadav were also killed in the operations. The Army Friday paid floral tributes to Sepoy Rohit Kumar Yadav who was killed during an encounter with militants in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir. Yadav sustained bullet injuries during a fierce anti-militancy operation at village Handew of Shopian District in south Kashmir on Thursday. He was provided immediate first aid and evacuated to 92 Base Hospital, but succumbed to the injuries. "In a solemn ceremony at BB Cantonment, Lt Gen K J S Dhillon, Chinar Corps Commander and all ranks paid homage to the martyr on behalf of a proud nation. In a show of solidarity, representatives from other security agencies also joined in to pay their last respects to the martyr," an Army spokesperson said. The mortal remains of the martyr were taken for the last rites to his native place, where he would be laid to rest with full military honours, the official said. "In this hour of grief, the Army stands in solidarity with the bereaved family of the martyr and remains committed to their dignity andwellbeing," the spokesperson added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Asian markets were mixed Friday as another rally on Wall Street and data indicating a strong US economy were offset by the increasingly tense trade and technology stand-off between China and the United States. The Brexit saga also moved back into view, with the pound at three-month lows on renewed concerns Britain will leave the EU with no deal as Prime Minister Theresa May tries to push her divorce deal through again. And oil prices sank as trade worries overshadowed tensions in the Middle East where the US and Iran are growing increasingly hostile. New York's three main indexes rose for a third successive day on the back of better-than-expected housing construction data and a dip in US jobless claims, while solid earnings from Walmart and tech firms Cisco Systems and Nvidia reinforced optimism. The figures boosted sentiment after almost two weeks of volatility sparked by Donald Trump's threat, and implementation, of higher tariffs on Chinese imports. The move threw a spanner in the works for high-level China-US talks that seemed to be close to conclusion and led to a retaliation in kind from Beijing, fanning fears of a painful trade war between the economic titans. Then on Wednesday Trump barred Chinese telecoms firms -- effectively taking aim at giant Huawei -- from the US market and added it to a blacklist restricting US sales to the firm. China hit out at the move and warned against further harming trade ties. But in light of the Wall Street rally, OANDA senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley said investors seem "to have temporarily given up trying to predict the fluid situation that is US-China trade relations and concentrate on the here and now". However, Rodrigo Catril at National Australia Bank said it was "hard to get too excited as the flows on the trade front points to an escalation rather than an ease in tensions". He said observers were suggesting the drive against Chinese telecoms companies "effectively means the president has taken the 'nuclear option' and it has now moved towards a 'fully fledged' tech war with China". Hong Kong fell 1.2 percent in the afternoon and Shanghai tumbled 2.5 percent while Seoul shed 0.6 percent and Taipei dived 0.9 percent with Singapore dropping 0.7 percent. Tokyo finished 0.9 percent higher, Sydney rose 0.6 percent, Manila soared more than one percent and Mumbai jumped 0.8 percent. In early trade London fell 0.2 percent, Paris eased 0.3 percent and Frankfurt was off 0.5 percent. Uncertainty among investors was reflected in a drop in high-yielding, riskier units, with the Chinese yuan at lows not seen since November. The pound was also under pressure after May said she would set out her timetable for leaving office after her Brexit deal with the EU, which has already been rejected by parliament three times, goes to MPs early next month. May has already said she will leave once Brexit is delivered but with pressure building on her some observers suggest she could step down if the vote, as expected, fails again. Investors sold sterling on worries her likely defeat could lead to a no-deal Brexiter taking her post, which most commentators warn would hammer the economy. In a sign of things to come, arch-Brexiter Boris Johnson has said he will run for the PM's job once it is vacated. "The chances of a feasible Brexit solution being achieved seem to be falling by the day, much like the government's chance of re-election -- any light at the end of the tunnel being a train coming the other way," said Halley. Oil prices retreated in the afternoon as investors fret about the impact of the China-US stand-off on demand. The drop reversed an earlier rally that came as tensions mounted in the Gulf, with crude-rich Iran rejecting negotiations with Washington following the deployment of extra US forces to the region. Fears of a conflict have surged in the past week after the US sent an aircraft carrier strike group and B-52 bombers to the Gulf. There has also been a drone attack on a Saudi Arabian pumping facility in the Red Sea and sabotage attacks on four ships, including two Saudi oil tankers, in the United Arab Emirates. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called the US escalation "unacceptable" and said there was "no possibility" of negotiations. Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.9 percent at 21,250.09 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng: DOWN 1.2 percent at 27,934.39 Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 2.5 percent at 2,882.30 (close) London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2 percent at 7,339.42 Dollar/yen: DOWN at 109.57 yen from 109.85 yen at 2100 GMT Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2780 from $1.2798 Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1180 from $1.1174 Oil - West Texas Intermediate: DOWN two cents at $62.85 per barrel Oil - Brent Crude: DOWN 17 cents at $72.45 per barrel New York - Dow: UP 0.8 percent at 25,862. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least eight Afghan police were killed in an airstrike during a clash with the Taliban, an official said Friday, in the latest incident of potential friendly fire in the conflict. Police were fighting the Taliban in Helmand province late Thursday when the Afghan forces called for air support. "I can confirm an airstrike on the Afghan police, and unfortunately, eight police were killed and 12 others were wounded," Omar Zwak, Helmand provincial government spokesman told AFP. The death toll was confirmed by interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi on Facebook. He said 11 more police had been wounded in the strike. Rahimi said a joint delegation has been appointed to investigate the incident. Meanwhile, another official -- head of the Helmand provincial council Ataullah Afghan -- gave a different toll, saying 18 Afghan police were killed and 14 others were wounded. Only Afghan and US forces in Afghanistan conduct airstrikes. There was no immediate comment from US forces. Afghan and US forces have intensified the aerial bombardment of Taliban and Islamic State group militants in recent months. According to US Air Force Central Command, the US dropped 7,362 bombs in Afghanistan in 2018, the highest number since at least 2010. Incidents known as "friendly fire" are not unheard of in Afghanistan, and have bred deep mistrust between local and foreign forces. In one of the deadliest, 16 Afghan policemen were killed in 2017, when they were mistakenly targeted by US airstrikes in Helmand. Civilian deaths from airstrikes have also risen sharply this year. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Azerbaijan's Ambassador to India Dr Ashraf Shikhaliyev called on Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal here on Friday and discussed issues of mutual interests between his country and Assam. Shikhaliyev expressed his country's interest in investing in Assam's tea and import of it to his country, officials said. Referring to Azerbaijan's tea drinking habits, he said that Assam tea will be in huge demand in his country. The Ambassador stated that Information Technology and tourism are other two sectors in which both Assam and Azerbaijan can work together, they said. Giving a presentation of the core sectors of business in Assam, Sonowal said that both Azerbaijan and Assam should work to send their respective delegations to both geographical entities. Expressing his keen interests in strengthening his country's bilateral relations with Assam, Shikhaliyev invited Sonowal to Azerbaijan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) : Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi, whose 'powers' have been curtailed by the court for 'interfering' in the functioning of the territorial government, Friday said her office has not received files from it for days now. In a whatsapp message to mediapersons here, Bedi said her office 'has received no files relating to either service matters of the staff or those relating to financial approvals for several days now.'. She said she feared "this would have an impact on the routine working of the administration and thereby the people of Puducherry.". The former IPS officer further said the officials were trying to trace the files and that she had to tell them that the files were not with Raj Nivas, the office of the Lieutenant governor. She voiced her concern over the officials running from office to office 'to track the matter and we do not know where the files are, be it service matters or files requiring financial approvals as per the law governing the Union Territory administration and the Business Rules which are still in force and have not been amended.' She maintained that the lieutenant governor or the administrator of the union territory was for the people. Therefore, she said, "It is my duty to inform the people of the union territory that the lieutenant governor's office has not been receiving for last several days any file from the government." Bedi and Chief Minister V Narayanasamy have been at loggerheads on administrative issues ever since she assumed office in May 2016. The Chief Minister had been consistently saying that the Lieutenant governor had no powers to function independently of the elected government. Also, he had drawn the attention of the Union Home Ministry bringing to the Centre's notice the unenviable predicament of the government here with Bedi taking a negative stand on almost all administrative matters, but to no avail. A writ petition was filed by the Congress legislator K Lakshminarayanan last year protesting the interference of the Lieutenant governor in the routine activities of the government. The Madras High Court, in its verdict on April 30, stated that the Lieutenant governor 'cannot interfere with the activities of the elected government.' Also, the court set aside the two communications of the Union Home Ministry issued in January and June 2017 elevating the powers of the lieutenant governor. The court held that the lieutenant governor should not interfere in the activities of the government which would be tantamount to having a parallel government. In the wake of the verdict, the Chief Minister was maintaining that the officials should also adhere to the verdict that the elected government's decisions should be acted upon lest they face contempt of court. The Centre, in the meanwhile, has preferred an appeal in the supreme court over the Madras High Court verdict curbing the powers of the Lieutenant governor. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Telecom operator said Friday that about Rs 25,000 crore rights issue has been "over-subscribed" as per the preliminary information received. The company's rights issue, which had opened on May 3, closed for subscription on Friday. "The company would like to bring to your notice that, based on preliminary information received, the rights issue has been over-subscribed," the company said in a regulatory filing. The applications received in the rights issue are subject to verification and clearing of payments, and finalisation of the basis of allotment, it added. Airtel had announced the rights issue to raise up to Rs 25,000 crore through issuance of fully paid-up shares at a price of Rs 220 per share, and additional Rs 7,000 crore through a foreign currency perpetual bond issue. The company had said the will help it continue investments in future rollouts to build large network capacity and create content and technology partnerships to ensure the strong customer experience. The company had previously also received commitment from its single-largest shareholder promoters, and Government of Investment Corporation (GIC) Singapore to participate in the Rs 32,000-crore fundraiser. Singapore telecom major said it will infuse Rs 3,750 crore in by subscribing to the rights issue of the company, while GIC, on behalf of Singapore government and the Monetary Authority of Singapore, had made a commitment of Rs 5,000 crore in the proposed plan. While the offer price was fixed at Rs 220 per share, the scrip ended at Rs 328.20 apiece on the BSE, 0.84 per cent higher than the previous close. Sources pointed out that the company's ex-rights price in the market continues to trade at a high premium to rights price. Earlier this month, Bharti Airtel reported a surprise 29 per cent surge in March quarter net profit as exceptional income gains and Africa business helped offset losses in India mobile services operations. The company -- whose profitability has been battered by intense price competition posed by richest Indian Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio -- earned a net profit of Rs 107.2 crore in January-March against Rs 82.9 crore it earned in the same period of the previous fiscal. This marked the first rise in profit after several quarters for the company. Its revenue soared 6.2 per cent to Rs 20,602.2 crore for the three months ended March 31, 2019. Criticising the BJP government in Gujarat over the recent incidents of wedding processions of Dalits being stopped by some sections of the society, Bhim Army founder Chandrashekhar Azad Friday issued a warning saying such atrocities will no longer be tolerated. Talking to reporters here, Azad said 'jungle raj' is prevailing in Gujarat as members of the Scheduled Caste (SC) community are deprived of their fundamental rights given by the Constitution. "I came to Gujarat because many incidents of atrocities on Dalits have happened recently. It seems that Constitutional provisions do not apply in Gujarat. Article 15 of the Constitution, which protects all the citizens from discrimination, has been removed by the Gujarat government," said Azad alias Ravan. Not just for taking out wedding processions, Dalits in Gujarat were persecuted for keeping moustache and suffixing 'Sinh' in their names, he said. "They are still not allowed to visit temples. This is nothing but 'jungle raj'. I want to tell the government that Dalits will not tolerate this insult anymore. We want the government to wake up and come to its senses," he added. The Bhim Army chief added that he would visit all those villages of Gujarat where wedding processions of Dalit grooms were stopped. These incidents took place at Lhor village in Mehsana, Sitvada village in Sabarkantha and at Khambhisar in Arvalli district. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ahead of the countiung of votes on May 23, Odisha's ruling Biju Janata Dal Friday said it will no more adhere to its policy of maintaining "equal distance" from both the BJP and the Congress. "We will not adopt the equal distance (from BJP and Congress) policy any more. The BJD will support any front which supports Odisha," BJD vice-president and minister S N Patro told reporters. The regional party, which had a decade long alliance with the BJP, had severed ties with the saffron party ahead of the 2009 elections over a dispute on seat sharing. A BJD-BJP coalition government existed in Odisha from 2000 to 2009. After severing ties with BJP, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had dubbed the saffron party as "communal" and the Congress as "corrupt. "Even Patnaik in the midst of election campaign this time, also continued his impression on BJP and also called it as "communal." However, Patnaik has meanwhile made his party's stand clear that the BJD will support any front, may be led by BJP or the Congress, which protects Odisha's interest. The regional party has been demanding special category status for Odisha and this was a major poll issue for the regional party this time also. Patnaik also kept the BJD's door open for the proposed third front which may stake claim for govenment formation after results were counted on May 23. The BJD president, meanwhile, has received praise from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and also an invitation from UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, party sources said. Replying a question on possibility of installing Patnaik as the Prime Minister after polls, Patro said: "The people of India and Odisha want Naveen to be the Prime Minister of India. The people had earlier favoured legendary leader and Chief Minister Biju Patnaik as the the next Prime Minister of the country. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) "Whatever the brand, poison kills," says CPI(M) Politbureau member Brinda Karat, warning people in West Bengal against voting for either the BJP or the state's ruling TMC. With the saffron party making inroads into the state and the fear that Left votes are getting transferred to it enmasse, Karat tried to explain the vacuum created by the Left in a state it ruled for 34 years. "You can't think that you can taste this poison or that. The TMC's policies have led to great discontent among the people of Bengal against the party. The BJP is using its central-state powers and huge money to claim that it's the only alternative here. It is like offering people two choices of poison - BJP and TMC," Karat told PTI in a recent interview. Sitting in the CPI(M) office in Belpahari, once a Maoist stronghold, around 200 km from Kolkata, she warned the electorate to not vote for either the Trinamool Congress or the Bharatiya Janata Party and said, "Whatever the brand, poison kills." Discussing the recent clashes in Kolkata, she said it is shameful that participants in a procession led by BJP president Amit Shah vandalised and desecrated a statue of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, a beloved symbol of the Bengal renaissance. "This unprecedented action by these goons is shocking and condemnable and shows the real face of the sangh parivar and its culture. The TMC also played a role to provoke a confrontation as it is equally interested in creating an atmosphere of polarisation. "The Election Commission must immediately release the unedited official footage of the procession and subsequent events. People of Bengal and indeed all citizens have the right to know the truth," she said. The extent of the BJP's influence in West Bengal can be seen in Jhargram where the party won in all former Maoists strongholds at the gram panchayat level - Lalgarh, Belpahari, Jamboni, Gopiballavpur, Nayagram and Sankrail - indicating a shift towards the saffron party and a definite transfer of the Left vote. BJP won two of the state's 42 seats in the last Lok Sabha polls. According to Karat, the intensity of the attacks on Left cadres has grown from 2011 to 2016. Claiming that there are one lakh false cases against Left leaders and supporters and approximately 20,000 CPI(M) cadres are still unable to go back home because of continuing TMC terror, Karat said it is difficult to be a Left supporter in the state. "This is not terror from one party on another. This is a concerted effort in using the state government, the police, and therefore, if you look at it, in all the cases filed by CPI(M) on the attacks there is no chance of justice," she said, decrying what she termed the TMC's "culture of violence and lumpenism". According to Karat, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee and the BJP see the Left as their main opposition in West Bengal and efforts are on to target its supporters. "This district, where we are now, is predominantly an adivasi district. In the last decade, we have lost approximately around 468 of our best cadres here in the name of Maoist or the Maoist-TMC-BJP gang up. All over Bengal, there is a concerted attack on the democratic rights of anyone who is considered even remotely Left leave alone a CPI(M) cadre," she alleged. Asked why the BJP had its eye on West Bengal, from where it launched its election campaign earlier this year, Karat said the party's traditional areas are seeing "angry resistance" and rejection of its policies. "All across the North, particularly in Uttar Pradesh where there are 80 seats to be fought, the 'mahagathbandhan' of the BSP-SP-RLD is playing an extremely important role in the struggle to beat the BJP and RSS... In Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, the BJP is done, so naturally the BJP is looking for other states. "They are also using the most shameful communal propaganda to try and make inroads," she said. Attributing the failure of the BJP to implement its 2014 poll promises to its failures in the states, Karat said it is "running away" from any debate or accountability. "They are replacing this with highly objectionable and toxic language. I say that whenever (BJP president) Amit Shah opens his mouth, it's not words which come out, it's poison," Karat said. She also alleged a "compromise" between the TMC and the BJP in the state. "In Raiganj, TMC attacked the Left booths but didn't touch the so-called booths where BJP was present... "The BJP has used its agencies against Lalu, against DMK, Chandrababu Naidu. Which opposition party has been left out except Mamata? Why for five years on Sharada, Narada where there is so much evidence, were they so soft? Who will answer these questions?" The West Bengal chief minister, she added, has also never mentioned the Rafale fighter jet deal. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Condemning a TIME magazine article which described Prime Minister Narendra Modi as 'divider in chief', BJP leaders in Telangana Friday said the prime minister in reality is a "unifier, integrator and harmoniser". "The press conference is to condemn the article written by a UK citizen, a Pakistani Muslim, on Narendra Modi," Karuna Gopal, BJP national manifesto sub-committee member, told reporters here. BJP takes serious objection to the portrayal of Modi as a "divider" and "communal bigot", she said. A nation-wide protest is being launched against the magazine and the author of the article, she said. The article distorted facts and presented "lopsided, skewed information about India, its development parameters, Narendra Modi's focus," she said. The timing of the article is totally objectionable, she added. "Don't you think this article is going to influence the electoral outcome?" she said. Modi is not a divider and is, in fact, a "unifier, harmoniser and an integrator," Gopal said. She said Modi visited northeastern states 30 times in four-and-half years and transformed the region with transportation (airports, rail and bridges), telecom and tourism plans. The Modi government's schemes, such as Jan Dhan Yojana, 'Ujwala', 'MUDRA' and 'Swachh Bharat', benefited all sections of society, including Muslims, Christians and backward sections, she said. "How dare this author label the Honourable Prime Minister of the country, the largest democracy of the world, a bigot and a communal bigot that too?," she said. "If you see this (development work), can anyone believe the Prime Minister is one (a bigot)? No one can question the intention behind all his development schemes. He is empowering every person in the country," she said. If Modi is a communal bigot, then why would Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates honour him with civilian awards, she asked. "Why would countries like America and France accept him wholeheartedly?" "So, Muslims have accepted him internationally. Christians have accepted him. It is just one or two journalists who have written a completely negative article at the time of elections to influence its outcome with malafide intentions," she said. Gopal said protests would be taken up on the article and that she herself plans to file a PIL in the Supreme Court. At the press meet, Gopal and her colleagues held copies of the TIME magazine and tore the portion of the cover page which had the "divider" word on it. They displayed placards saying Modi is a "unifier, integrator and harmoniser". Replying to a query, Gopal said: "If you see the leaning, you would certainly believe our opposition... it is an opposition triggered article..." A previous article on Modi in the same magazine had facts and figures, she said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) He added that document automation is a rapidly developing market in which there is an acute skills shortage, but in which NRF and SYKE are leading providers. Squire Patton Boggs partner elected to Chinas NPC A partner at Squire Patton Boggs in Hong Kong has been elected to the highest organ of state power in Peoples Republic of China. Nick Chan is now a publicly elected member of the 13th National Peoples Congress (NPC) of the Peoples Republic of China. He is one of 36 NPC deputies based in the Hong Kong Special Administrative region serving at the national level but is the only lawyer from an international law firm currently serving in that role. At Squire Patton Boggs, the Medal of Honour recipient advises governments, private sector clients, funds, and non-governmental organizations on an array of different projects across Asia Pacific, the US and the UK. Digital courtrooms adopted for civil litigation cases in SA Courtrooms in South Africa will be paperless in a move towards the countrys Office of the Chief Justices vision for a single, transformed, and independent judicial system with integrity and protection for all. Boko Haram jihadists have killed 13 villagers in eastern Chad, where they have become increasingly active, local authorities told AFP Friday. Armed militants targeted the village of Ceilia early Thursday morning, killing the local chief and his family and setting fire to homes before killing another nine people on their way out, said Dimouya Soiapebe, a Lake Chad province official. Soldiers did not arrive in time to stop the killings. The attackers "came very early in the morning to surprise the villagers in their sleep", during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan," said Soiapebe. Soldiers are sweeping the area, and the security presence in the area will be reinforced, a high official said. Boko Haram's decade-long uprising to establish a hardline Islamic state in Nigeria's northeast has spilled into neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon. A regional military coalition is battling the radical Islamist group, but at least 27,000 people have been in killed in Nigeria alone, and some two million forced from their homes. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Britain sees huge potential buyers of products from Keralas 'Maker Village' which is one of the largest electronic incubator in India, a top official said Friday. The United Kingdom plans to bring a special team to the Maker Village to convince the countrys industry captains about the quality of the products of the pioneering governmental initiative here, British Commission deputy director (trade, economics & prosperity-South Asia) Amo Kalar was quoted as saying in a press release here. It said the official was on a visit to the 60,000-square-feet technology innovation zone at the Kinfra Hitech Park in Kalamassery, 20 km from here. Britain stands fourth in the world rankings on start-up companies, he said. Kalar said he was impressed with the quality of Maker Village products in three segments: environment, medical technology and power-run vehicles. "Some of the healthcare products I saw here looked ideal for use by us in Britain," he said hailing an equipment that senses and gauges air pollution. The official recalled that an India-UK conclave held last year had boost the ties between the two countries in the modern technology sector. Hardware start-up is the sector that is benefiting the most from the event, he added. Maker Villages products, Kalar noted, are useful from the industry point of view given that they are of social value. This feature makes a visit by a British delegation to the Maker Village crucial, he said. The official, during his round of the Maker Village, was accompanied by senior investment advisor, Department of International Trade, British High Commission, Chennai, Deepthi Pasumarthy. Kalar held talks with Maker Village CEO Prasad Balakrishnan Nair as well as other top functionaries of the establishment, and highlighted the need for more frequent interactions between start-up entrepreneurs of both Britain and India. Nair said Kalars visit has given high hopes of Maker Village for increased cooperation with business relations with Britain. Only a couple of months ago, British Deputy High Commissioner Jeremy Pilmore-Bedford visited Maker Village. The official, while hailing the Maker Village products for their quality, had said more British companies would visit the Kochi establishment to learn more about incubating start-ups, the release added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two brothers have been arrested for attacking their brother-in-law in an alleged attempt of honour killing, police said Friday. According to the police, Neeraj (32) and Nitin (28), residents of Hastsaal village, tried to kill their sister's husband in Uttam Nagar on Tuesday night as she married against their wish. They were arrested from Gurgaon. "On Tuesday night when the victim was passing a gym along with his friends, he met one person and started talking to him. The elder brother of his wife was also nearby. Suddenly, his wife's younger brother came on a motorcycle and pulled out his pistol," Rajesh Deo, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime), said. The victim, a gym trainer, tried to flee from the spot but the accused fired at him and the bullet hit in his right hand after which he fell down on the spot, the officer said. The brothers also allegedly thrashed the victim but soon police reached the spot after they heard gun shots. The accused had fled from the spot, the officer added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BSP president Mayawati Friday termed the BSP-SP-RLD alliance a combine of ideas and said it will not sit silent till the Yogi Adityanath government in the state and the Narendra Modi government in the Centre were uprooted. "Unlike the Bharatiya Janata Party, this alliance is that of ideas and it will not sit silent till it uproots the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh along with the Narendra Modi government," the Bahujan Samaj Party president said, addressing rallies for the candidates of the alliance in Mirzapur and Chandauli. "The sad faces of the BJP leaders after the completion of six phases of polling indicate that they know it's time for the Narendra Modi government to go. Their bad days will start from May 23. After that, preparations for Yogi to return to his Mutt will start," she said. Seeing the bad state of affairs in the polls, the BJP and its supporters tried to create misunderstanding between the BSP and the Samajwadi Party but they failed, Mayawati said. "This alliance has been formed after due consideration and will last long," she asserted. Mayawati exhorted the electorate to ensure BJP state unit president Mahendra Nath Pandey, in the fray for the Chandauli seat, losses his deposit. Mayawati said the amount of work the BSP and the SP have done for the sisters and daughters of the state had not been done by any other party. She said when in power her government had taken steps to connect Naxal infested areas with development works. "Instead of killing Naxals, we extended employment and food. We gave employment to the poor people of Sonebhadra (naxal infested area) and later the SP government did a lot of work in this direction," she said. Stating that SP president Akhilesh Yadav had put in a lot of effort to ensure BSP candidates fared well in the polls, Mayawati said it was the BSP's moral responsibility to ensure the victory of SP candidate from Chandauli. Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, in his address, said the 'mahagathbandhan' had wiped off the BJP in the six phases of polling because of which their leaders were having sleepless nights. "As May 23 is nearing, their (BJP) fear is rising," he said. Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Akhilesh said, "He (Modi) wants to teach us about socialism. Says that Samajwadis do not know anything about socialism. I want to say the PM will have a lot of time after two days. We will send some books of Dr Ram Manohar Lohia. He will get to know a lot about India once he reads 'Hindu Banam Hindu' and 'Itihas chakra'. "If he doesnt read them, he will not know about those for whom this alliance has been formed. Poor, Dalits, backwards, minorities who have not got their rights... This alliance has been made to get them their rights," he said. "Those who want to break this alliance will themselves get broken," he averred. The SP president said in the past five years the prime minister had pushed the country backwards in the race for development and harmed the economy. "Modi is not the prime minister of mine or yours, he is the prime minister of one per cent rich people," he claimed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The sister-in-law of a police officer allegedly committed suicide by shooting herself with his service revolver in Chhattisgarh's Jashpur district, an official said Friday. Varsha Yadav (24) allegedly shot herself Thursday night at the official residence of Narayanpur police station SHO Surendra Manikpuri, Jashpur Superintendent of Police Shankar Lal Baghel said. "Manikpuri is Yadav's sister's husband. He had left his revolver at home and she shot herself with it on Thursday night. The SHO's wife was at home at the time. Preliminary probe has found Yadav was availing treatment for some mental ailment," Baghel said. "SHO Manikpuri has been suspended for negligence as he left his service revolver at home," the SP informed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Maharashtra Cabinet Friday gave its approval to promulgate an ordinance to amend the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Reservation Act, 2018 to provide reservation to Maratha students in post- graduate medical courses. The cabinet also gave its approval to reimburse the fees to the candidates from the general category, who will be affected following the promulgation of the ordinance. A minister said the general category students can seek admission under management quota in private colleges. The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court had disallowed to grant 16 per cent reservation to Maratha community for admissions to post-graduate medical courses on the grounds that the admission process had begun much earlier. The Supreme Court had upheld the high court's decision. Talking to reporters after the cabinet meeting, Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil said the draft of the ordinance is being sent to the Governor for promulgation. "The ordinance will provide relief to those students who had already got admission under Maratha quota, but were affected after the process was stayed by the court. Now, the third round of the admission would start," he said. Those students from the general category, who will be affected, should try for admissions in private colleges and the government will reimburse their fees, he said. The students from open/general category should seek management quota and the government will assist them, Patil added. According to him, the state government will approach the Supreme Court to extend the admission time frame from May 25 to 31. "We will also seek additional 213 seats in the medical courses," he said. A meeting has been scheduled on May 21 on this issue, the minister said, adding that demand from other states is also being addressed to. "We will move the court to seek reservation be appliedfor the additional seats," he said. The minister also said the state government will file caveats in the Bombay High Court and its Aurangabad and Nagpur benches and the apex court to ensure the ordinance is not challenged. Meanwhile, a statement from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said the cabinet also reviewed the drought situation, El-Nino effect, weather-related predictions, water storage in various dams, fodder availability and seeds stock. Currently, 5,493 tankers are in operation in 4,331 villages. Rs 162 crore have been given for fodder camps. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis directed to speed up issuance of ration cards in rural areas, especially in drought-prone areas. He also directed the local administration to ensure more works under the Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Campaigning for the last phase of polling in Jharkhand came to a close at 4 pm on Friday where polling will be held in three Lok Sabha seats on Sunday. A total number of 45, 64, 681, including 22,00,119 female and 21 third gender voters, will decide the fate of 42 candidates, an Election Commission of India (ECI) release said here. Polling will be held from 7 am to 4 pm, an ECI official said, adding, Dumka (ST), Rajmahal (ST) and Godda are the constituencies going for polls on Sunday. A total of 15 candidates are in the fray from Dumka, 14 candidates from Rajmahal and 13 candidates from Godda. In Dumka, eight-time MP and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) president Shibu Soren is being challenged by BJP's Sunil Soren. He had lost to the former chief minister in 2014 and 2009 from the same constituency. Sitting BJP MP Nishikant Dubey is taking on Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) MLA Pradip Yadav, who is backed by the 'Mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance), in Godda. JMM's sitting MLA Vijay Kumar Hansda is facing BJP's Hemlal Murmu in Rajmahal. Murmu had been a minister in the past during Shibu Soren-led government and he joined the BJP in 2014. He had lost to Vijay Kumar Hansda last time. The JMM and the Congress are part of the "Mahagathbandhan" (grand alliance) in Jharkhand. Adequate security arrangements have been made to conduct free, fair and peaceful elections, the police said. The ECI release said a total of 6,258 polling stations have been set up for the last phase of elections. Polling for 11 out of the 14 LS constituencies in Jharkhand was held on April 29, May 6 and May 12. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The campaign for the remaining 13 Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, which will see Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking re-election from Varanasi, ended Friday evening. Polling in the state on Sunday will also decide the fate of 10 other BJP leaders, including Union minister Manoj Sinha, who is seeking re-election from Ghazipur and Bhojpuri actor Ravi Kishan, who is trying to reclaim the saffron party's stronghold of Gorakhpur. Kishan is in the fray from Gorakhpur with its sitting SP MP Pravin Nishad having already switched over to the BJP, which fielded him from Sant Kabir Nagar in the previous phase. UP BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey is also seeking re-election from Chandauli in this phase. The Uttar Pradesh parliamentary constituencies going to polls in this phase are: Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Deoria, Bansgaon (SC), Ghosi, Salempur, Ballia, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Varanasi, Mirzapur and Robertsganj (SC). The final phase of the Lok Sabha polls in the state, which have been spread over all the seven phases of the country-wide elections, will also decide the fate of eight candidates of the Samajwadi Party and five of the Bahujan Samaj Party. The SP-BSP alliance is being seen as giving a tough fight to the BJP in the state. The electioneering saw Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra holding back-to-back roadshows Friday in Kushinagar and Mirzapur and Union minister Smriti Irani riding a scooter in a two-wheeler rally in Gorkahpur. Campaigning came to an end at 6 pm. Priyanka Gandhi staged the roadshow in Kushinagar for her party candidate R P N Singh, a Union minister in the previous UPA government, following it up with another roadshow in Mirzapur for party candidate Laliteshpati Tripathi. Tripathi is seeking to unseat sitting MP and Union Minister Anupriya Patel, the chief of another BJP ally Apna Dal (Sonelal), which is also contesting the Robertsganj (SC) seat. The party flags of Om Prakash Rajbhar-led Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party were also seen in Priyanka Gandhi's Mirzapur rally. SBSP is a BJP ally in UP and had won four seats in the 2017 UP assembly elections. The party's chief Rajbhar is also an UP Cabinet minister, but is perceived to be upset with the BJP. In a bid to brighten Ravi Kishan's chances from his stronghold Gorakhpur, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath addressed an election meeting in the city. Adityanath had vacated the seat to take charge of the state as its chief minister after which it was won by Nishad in a by-election as an SP candidate. In all, there are 167 candidates in the fray for 13 Lok Sabha seats, which will go to polls on May 19. The highest number of 26 candidates in the fray are from Varanasi -- the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Modi. The least number of four candidates are fighting the polls from Bansgaon (SC) Lok Sabha seat. Over 2.32 crore voters are expected to exercise their franchise in last phase of this election in Uttar Pradesh. As many as 25,874 polling booths have been set up in 13,979 polling centres in the final phase, the Election Commission said. There are a total of 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state out of which the BJP had won 71 seats and its ally Apana dal (Sonelal) two seats in the 2014 polls, leaving two for the Congress and five for the Samajwadi Party. The BSP had won no seat in the last general elections. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The campaign for the high-stakes by-elections to four constituencies in Tamil Nadu ended Friday evening, with the polling all set to take place on Sunday, amidst heavy deployment of around 16,000 personnel. The outcome of the by-polls to a total of 22 seats will decide the future political course in Tamil Nadu as the results would determine the continuance of the two year-old Palaniswami government. While by-elections to 18 seats were held on April 18, along with the 38 Lok Sabha segments, four others--Sulur, Aravakurichi, Ottapidaram and Thiruparankundram go to the polls on May 19. Arch rivals AIADMK and DMK have left no stone unturned to ensure victory, with their leaders, Chief Minister K Palaniswami and DMK President M K Stalin embarking on a hectic campaign trail in order to win the race. Seeking to play spoilsport to the two Dravidian majors, T T V Dhinakaran-led AMMK, Kamal Haasan's Makkal Needhi Maiam and actor-director Seeman's Naam Tamizhar Katchi have fielded candidates in the four constituencies, making the contest multi-cornered. The campaign trail turned hot in its last leg, after Haasan stoked a major political row with his Hindu extremist remarks, labelling Mahatma Gandhi's killer Nathuram Godse as one. He had said "free India's first extremist" was Godse and that he was a Hindu, drawing strong condemnation from BJP and the AIADMK, even as cases were filed against Haasan. He, however, found support from the Congress' state unit and rationalist outfit Dravidar Kazhagam. In the 234-member Tamil Nadu assembly with 22 vacancies, the AIADMK has a strength of 113, excluding the Speaker. The simple majority mark in the full House is 117. The principal opposition DMK, along with its allies, including Congress, has 97 MLAs. Its partner IUML has one legislator. Incidentally, two MLAs of AIADMK's alliance parties, designated as its members in the assembly records since they contested on its symbol, have shown signs of stress with the ruling party. Legislator S Karunaas, leader of Mukkulathor Puli Padai, has been anti-government for some time, while Manithaneya Jananayaga Katchi MLA M Thamimun Ansari,a strident BJP critic, backed the DMK-led alliance in the Lok Sabha polls after the AIADMK struck a poll pact with the saffron party. Further, three AIADMK MLAs, siding with rival leader and AMMK founder TTV Dhinakaran, had been recently served notices by Speaker P Dhanapal for alleged anti-party activities. While Stalin has been insisting Palaniswami will not continue as Chief Minister after the polls following the electoral mandate, the AIADMK Joint Coordinator has maintained his government's performance record will help the ruling party secure a comfortable win. On Friday, Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo said 137 candidates are in the fray in the four Assembly segments, with Aravakurichi topping at 63 MLA aspirants. A total of 15,939 police personnel will be on duty to avert any law and order issues, he told reporters here. "The heavy police deployment is to ensure there is no law and order issue," he said. Further, 5508 polling personnel will be on duty, he said. Since the model code of conduct came into effect on March 10, a total cash Rs 156 crore had been seized by EC teams, he said. Besides, the Income Tax department had recovered Rs 79.75 crore, he added. Of the Rs 156 crore, Rs 114.5 crore has been returned to the owners. while the balance amount of Rs 42.36 crore "is still under investigation," Sahoo added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Campaign for the Panaji bypoll, wherein the BJP is striving to retain the seat, while the Congress is eyeing to win it back from the ruling party after a gap of around 25 years, drew to a close Friday evening. The by-election, to be held on May 19, was necessitated due to the death of former Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar in March this year. Total 22,482 voters are eligible to cast their votes. Parrikar had represented the constituency for nearly two-and-a-half decades since 1994. Total six candidates, including two independents, are in the fray. The BJP has fielded Siddharth Kunkolienkar as its candidate. He had won this assembly seat twice in the past when Parrikar was elevated as the Defence Minister. The Congress has fielded former minister Atanasio Monserratte, who is currently facing several criminal charges, including rape. Former RSS Goa Chief Subhash Velingkar is contesting his first election on the Goa Suraksha Manch (GSM) ticket. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has fielded Valmiki Naik, who had lost the 2017 assembly election against Kunkolienkar. Two independent candidates- Dilip Ghadi and Vijai More- are also trying their luck. Thecampaignwas laced with allegations and counter allegations between the BJP and the Congress, which are the main contenders. The issue of shifting off-shore casinos from Mandovi river was the major poll plank for the political parties. While BJP manifesto remained silent on the issue, Congress, AAP and GSM assured to shift them out of the river. There are currently six-off shore casinos in Mandovi. The BJP is banking on the sympathy wave in the absence of Parrikar. The saffron party has appealed to the voters to cast their votes in its favour as a tribute to Parrikar. The party also left no stone unturned to target the Congress for promoting a candidate, who is facing criminal cases. Monserratte has been booked for raping a minor girl. He was allegedly also involved in the incident of attack on a police station. The election saw no star campaigners, except senior BJP leader and Union minister Nitin Gadkari, who addressed a poll rally on Thursday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Campaigning for the last phase of the staggered Lok Sabha elections spread over more than a month drew to a close Friday as top leaders sought to muster a final show of strength in the contest for 59 seats with Prime Minister Narendra Modi among those in the fray. Polling will be held on Sunday in the seventh phase in all 13 seats in Punjab, as many seats in Uttar Pradesh, nine in West Bengal, eight seats each in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, four in Himachal Pradesh, three in Jharkhand and the lone seat Chandigarh. Electioneering also drew to a close for the bypoll in Panaji, necessitated due to the death of former chief minister Manohar Parrikar in March. In a first, campaigning in West Bengal came to an end 20 hours before the scheduled time on the orders of the Election Commission. The poll body had Wednesday ordered campaigning in West Bengal constituencies to end at 10 pm on Thursday in the wake of violence between the BJP and the TMC in Kolkata during Amit Shah's roadshow. The campaign was marked by attacks and counter-attacks by leaders across the political spectrum and the use of derogatory language and objectionable remarks forced the EC to step in. Adequate security arrangements have been made to conduct free, fair and peaceful elections, officials said. BJP chief Amit Shah held a press conference in Delhi highlighting the government's work. Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi was by his side and made some opening remarks, he did not take any questions. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi also addressed a press conference in which he hit at the BJP and the government of the state of affairs in the country. In Punjab, the high-octane poll campaigning witnessed blistering attacks by the Congress, the SAD-BJP and AAP with 1984 anti-Sikh riots and desecration of religious scriptures remaining the central theme of the political narrative. The polling will decide the fate of SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar and Aam Aadmi Party's Punjab unit chief Bhagwant Mann and also of two union ministers Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Hardeep Singh Puri. Bollywood actor Sunny Deol, making his maiden electoral debut from Gurdaspur, and several other political heavyweights including former union ministers and Congress nominees Manish Tewari (Anandpur Sahib) and Preneet Kaur (Patiala) are also in the fray. The dust and din of campaigning also settled Friday for the lone Chandigark Lok Sabha seat which is witnessing three a cornered contest among BJP, Congress and AAP. Sitting MP and BJP candidate Kirron Kher is seeking a re-election with her main rivals being former union minister Pawan Kumar Bansal (Cong) and AAP's Harmohan Dhawan. In Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Modi is seeking re-election from Varanasi. The seventh phase of the polls will also decide the fate of 10 other BJP leaders, including Union Minister Manoj Sinha, who is seeking reelection from Ghazipur, and Bhojpuri actor Ravi Kishan, who is trying to reclaim the saffron party's stronghold Gorakhpur. The polls will also decide the fate of eight candidates of Samajwadi Party and five of Bahujan Samaj Party of the SP-BSP alliance, which is being perceived as giving a tough fight to the BJP in the state. The electioneering saw Priyanka holding two back-to-back roadshows in Kushinagar and Mirzapur during the day and Union minister Smriti Irani riding a scooty in Gorkahpur. Eight Lok Sabha seats in Bihar and three in Jharkhand will witness elections on Sunday. The constituencies which go to polls in Bihar on Sunday are Patna Sahib, Pataliputra, Arrah, Buxar, Sasaram, Karakat, Jehanabad and Nalanda. Seven of these were won by the NDA in 2014. In Jharkhand, a total of 15 candidates are in the fray from Dumka, 14 candidates from Rajmahal and 13 candidates from Godda. In Dumka, eight-time MP and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) president Shibu Soren is being challenged by BJP's Sunil Soren. The JMM and the Congress are part of the "Mahagathbandhan" (grand alliance) in Jharkhand. Dewas, Ujjain, Mandsaur, Ratlam, Dhar, Indore, Khargone and Khandwa seats in Madhya Pradesh, all currently held by the BJP, will also go to polls on May 19. Former Union ministers Kantilal Bhuria, Arun Yadav are in the fray from Ratlam and Khandwa, the latter seeing a tough fight between Yadav and ex-MP BJP chief Nandkumar Singh Chauhan. At the centre of the campaigning has been the Congress-led government's farm loan waiver scheme, which has been debunked by the opposition BJP in the state. Even Prime Minister Modi had raised the issue at his rallies and said the Kamal Nath government in MP was sending police and recovery notices to farmers rather than writing off their loans. Congress chief Gandhi had hit back by claiming the loan waiver had benefited several lakh farmers and even showed papers at rallies to prove that loans of ex-chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's brother Rohit and nephew Niranjan had been written off. Campaigning also ended Friday evening for elections to all four Lok Sabha constituencies in Himachal Pradesh. As many as 45 candidates, including five legislators, are in the fray. Prime Minister Modi had addressed two rallies on May 10 and 13, whereas Shah held three rallies on May 12. Rahul Gandhi campaigned in the state even on the last day of electioneering and addressed a rally in Solan on Friday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) There can be differences in ideology but one should respect the prime minister's post, former TMC MP and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's kin Krishna Bose said, amid a war of words between Narendra Modi and Mamata Banerjee. The octogenarian said Modi, too, should not forget that state governments are elected and have powers. "I may not agree with the ideology of the BJP but as long as Narendra Modi is the elected prime minister of the country, I have to be respectful towards him. I will respect him as the PM of the country but not as the head of a political party with whom I do not agree," Bose told PTI in an interview. Referring to Modi's "speed-breaker didi" jibe at Banerjee and her "expiry prime minister" retort, the former four-time Lok Sabha MP said the remarks were absolutely unnecessary. "I do not take it only as a part of a speech of an election campaign saying who is a speed breaker or who is not a prime minister at all. It is much more serious than that... But I do not think such comments should not have come from both the sides... Otherwise a federal government will not be able to function properly. Both the governments are elected ones," she said. When pointed to the BJP's allegations that Banerjee was appeasing the Muslims in West Bengal, Bose said leaders should refrain from blaming head of another elected government. She said "everyone should remember that India is a multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-religious country and if you do not follow that ideal then you cannot really rule India. In that way, Modi has to remember this and not blame others for what they are doing or not doing". "And if you are talking about appeasing the Muslims, that is not new but it had been going on for a very very long time and that is why the community is left behind. Had the political parties thought of the real good of them then something else should have been done," she said. She said how can one just blame Banerjee. "Everybody has been doing it. Everyone is questioning it at the time of the elections. I cannot blame Mamata for that," Bose opined. On the rise of the BJP in West Bengal, Bose reasoned the growing dissatisfaction among the people of the state with the TMC government. Bose claimed Mamata has done certain good things for the development of West Bengal, but all her good work has been spoilt by some people around her. "People here are also unhappy with two things, the syndicate and secondly that they could not vote in the last panchayat election held here. The present government should have taken strong steps," Bose said. She added the BJP was quickly filling up the vacuum in the state created by little presence of the CPI(M) and the Congress. Bose, however, was critical about the manner the ruling Trinamool Congress was "trying to stop" the rise of the BJP in West Bengal. "Today's ruling party in Delhi has a particular ideology. They say it openly. They want Hindutva. But in Bengal, the manner we are trying to stop that by competing with them is not the way.Think of Netaji and Gandhiji and how they fought this thing by not competing," Bose said. When asked whether the Election Commission was biased towards the BJP-led central government, Bose said, "The EC, the judiciary, the Army never came into our political process. The EC must be free, independent, so it can do whatever it wants to. These were checks which had kept the election alive". The EC had curtailed the campaigning on Thursday, a day before its scheduled deadline, in the wake of violence between BJP and TMC workers in Kolkata during a rally of BJP chief Amit Shah. "By what is happening, it seems they are unable to control the situation. It looks like they are either afraid of being independent or they are partisan to different parties in different situation," she said. Bose said if bodies like the EC gets "diluted and were not allowed to function independently" then the future was not far away when this would become a "threat to the Indian democracy". "Now you sort of dilute these bodies and if the EC is afraid to do their own work and do not have the independence or they fall to such a level that they listen to certain parties then you cannot keep democracy any more and free and fair elections now look like a joke to us," she pointed out. Bose, who has witnessed polling since the first elections in the country, questioned the need of deploying central forces almost in every polling booths in West Bengal. "Why should we at all need central forces or police or the state police. This itself means that we are unable to control the election and organise a free and fair polling. I have been seeing the elections since 1952 and at the beginning we did not have these problems. "In a democracy, people want free and fair elections. But that is not happening. Our Constitution is very good and that is the reason we could keep our democracy intact for so long. But I am sceptical for how long our democracy will be intact," she said. On the chances of 'Mahagatbandhan' (grand alliance), Bose said, "I believe they definitely have a chance. I cannot deny that, but we have to wait for that. But if they come together and preserve unity and not fight among themselves I think they may have a good future". More than 20 parties had come together during a rally hosted by the Trinamool Congress in Kolkata in January, vowing to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party in Lok Sabha polls. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning has been ordered back to jail for refusing to testify to a grand jury, even after telling a judge she'd rather "starve to death" than cooperate with prosecutors. US District Judge Anthony Trenga ordered her to remain incarcerated at the Alexandria jail either until she agrees to testify or until the grand jury's term expires in 18 months. He also imposed fines that will kick in at USD 500 a day after 30 days and USD 1,000 a day after 60 days. Manning already spent two months in jail for refusing a previous subpoena to testify to a grand jury investigating WikiLeaks. She was released last week when that grand jury's term expired, but prosecutors quickly hit her with a new subpoena to testify to a new grand jury. Manning has offered multiple reasons for refusing to testify, but fundamentally says she considers the whole grand jury process to be unacceptable. Trenga was unimpressed with her rationale and noted that grand juries are embedded in the Constitution. He said he hopes that while incarcerated "Ms. Manning would reflect on the principles she says she's embracing ... and whether those views are worth the price she's paying for them." Manning's lawyers had argued that she should not be jailed because she has proven that she will refuse to testify no matter how long she's jailed. Under federal law, a recalcitrant witness can be jailed for civil contempt only if there's a reasonable possibility that the incarceration will coerce the witness into testifying. If a judge were to determine that incarcerating Manning were punitive rather than coercive, Manning would not be jailed. "Whatever you might think of her, Chelsea Manning is a principled person," said her lawyer, Moira Meltzer-Cohen. "She's more willing to put herself at grave risk than to betray her deeply held principles." Manning herself told the judge directly: "I would rather starve to death than change my principles in this regard." Prosecutors, though, said that so far Manning has only faced up to two months in jail. She has not faced the reality of being incarcerated for up to 18 months. "Simply put, Ms Manning has not spent enough time in jail to arrive at the time" where she could argue that she can't be coerced into testifying, prosecutor Thomas Traxler said. US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia G Zachary Terwilliger said after Manning's hearing that Manning is not being asked to do any more than any other citizen who might have relevant information. He noted that the grand jury has given her immunity for her truthful testimony and that grand juries' role in the legal system is to serve as a check on prosecutors by requiring them to present evidence to a group of ordinary citizens before obtaining an indictment. "All we want is for her to truthfully answer any questions," he said. Manning served seven years in a military prison for leaking a trove of documents to WikiLeaks before then-President Barack Obama commuted the remainder of her 35-year sentence. The grand jury in Alexandria has already obtained a separate indictment of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for his role in helping disclose the documents Manning gave him. Manning has argued that Assange's indictment is proof that her testimony is no longer needed and is merely intended to harass her. Grand juries, though, often issue superseding indictments that can outline additional charges to those spelled out in an additional indictment. Terwilliger declined comment on why Manning's testimony is needed now. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Beijing hit back Friday at concerns voiced by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over Hong Kong's plans to allow extraditions to the Chinese mainland, accusing Washington of an attempt to "intervene" in the city's internal affairs. Hong Kong's government is pushing a bill through the city's legislature which would allow case-by-case extraditions to any jurisdictions it doesn't have an already agreed treaty with, including mainland China. Historically the city has balked at mainland extraditions because of the opacity of China's criminal justice system and its liberal use of the death penalty. The extradition plan has sparked huge protests and mounting alarm within Hong Kong's business and legal communities -- as well as foreign governments -- who fear it will hammer the semi-autonomous financial hub's international appeal. Pompeo "expressed concern" about the bill and its potential to undermine rule of law in the city during Thursday talks in Washington, a State Department spokeswoman said. But Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the bill was needed to "to plug legal loopholes" in Hong Kong's judicial system and prevent the financial hub from becoming "a haven for criminals". "It is a mistake to intervene in Hong Kong in any form," Lu told a regular briefing. "Trying to take advantage of the opportunity to create chaos in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will not be popular or successful." Pompeo spoke on the bill during a meeting with a delegation headed by Martin Lee, a founder of Hong Kong's opposition Democratic Party. In an opinion piece this week in the Washington Post, Lee warned that the extradition law could make Americans and other foreigners "potential hostages to extradition claims driven by the political agenda of Beijing". "The time for the world to act to protect Hong Kong's free society and legal system is now -- not when Hong Kong people and others are taken to be jailed in China," he wrote. A recent report by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, an advisory body set up by the US Congress, warned that the extradition bill posed "serious" security risks to the estimated 85,000 US citizens in Hong Kong. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court Friday expressed "disappointment and dismay" over the feud between CBI and West Bengal Police during probe into the Saradha chit fund scam case and said though the situation was "grim", there was no administrative mechanism to avoid or resolve such conflicts. While withdrawing the protection from arrest granted earlier by it to former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in the case, the apex court said that despite orders and words of advice, "antagonism and acrimony" has escalated between the two forces of the country. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said that due to the "clash" between the Central Bureau of Investigation and West Bengal Police, lakhs of small town and rural investors who have been deprived of their savings in the case are "at the receiving end". "They (CBI and West Bengal Police) have forgotten that the primary purpose and role of the police is to investigate crime, collect evidence and prosecute the offenders. Situation is grim as both sides have hardened their stand and there is no administrative mechanism in place to avoid and resolve such conflicts between the two wings of the police force in the country," said the bench, also comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna. The bench noted that by slew of orders passed in the case, including the one on February 5 this year, granting protection from arrest to Kumar, the apex court had sought to "allay confrontation and clash" between the CBI and the Police Force in the State of West Bengal (WBSPF). "With regret, we acknowledge and accept that despite orders and words of advice, antagonism and acrimony has escalated and not ebbed as is evident from the pleading and arguments addressed before us," the bench said. "To avoid prolixity and as limited controversy arises for consideration, we are not referring the earlier orders for the purpose of the present judgment, albeit express our disappointment and dismay seeing the CBI and the WBSPF pitted and casting aspersions against each other and being embroiled in this feud," the court said. Referring to the fued between the two forces, the bench said, "At the receiving end are silently waiting lakhs of small town and rural investors who have been deprived and looted of their savings." It noted that keeping in view the magnitude, plight of investors, inter-state ramifications and need for swift and efficient investigation, the apex court had on May 9, 2014 transferred chit-fund scam cases lodged in different police stations in West Bengal and Odisha from state police agencies to CBI. The apex court said its May 2014 order had required that the state police agencies investigating these cases provide "fullest cooperation" to CBI, including assistance in terms of manpower and material, to enable them to conduct and complete the investigation expeditiously. It said CBI has alleged non-cooperation and charged the West Bengal Police with "obfuscating the investigation by causing impediments and roadblocks with a view to protect big names and members/leaders of the ruling party in the state of West Bengal." It noted that state government, West Bengal Police and Kumar have alleged "political vendetta" and made allegations against former acting CBI Director M Nageswara Rao. Earlier, Kumar had alleged in the apex court that he was targeted by CBI in the chit fund case due to "mala fide intent" and "conflict of interest" of M Nageswara Rao as his family members were under the scanner post-demonetisation. He had alleged that post demonetisation in November 2016, investigation was initiated into some shell companies that prima facie were involved in receiving huge deposits and a FIR was registered. In his affidavit, Kumar had said that during the probe of shell companies, role of one firm Agela Mercantiles Pvt Ltd came under the scanner for collecting money from public unauthorisedly. He had also alleged that during further investigation of the case names of wife and daughter of Rao have come to light and the matter is being further probed. In its Friday's order, the apex court withdrew the protection from arrest granted to Kumar and left it open to CBI to act in accordance with the law. It, however, made it clear that the interim order of February 5 would continue for a period of seven days from today to enable Kumar to approach competent court for relief, if so advised. Kumar was earlier heading the West Bengal Police's special investigation team (SIT) probing the chit fund scam. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The government has declined to share information on cases received from Switzerland, citing confidentiality. Replying to an RTI query, the Finance Ministry said India and share information on on a case to case basis as per the investigations being carried out. "It is an ongoing process," it added. "The information shared by on cases is governed by confidentiality provisions," it said in reply to the RTI application filed by a PTI journalist. The ministry was asked to provide details of black money cases received from Switzerland, including the names of firms and individuals, besides the details of action taken on the information. India and are signatories to Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (MAAC). India and Switzerland have an automatic sharing of financial account information between the two countries as both have signed a joint declaration on November 22, 2016, it said. "The necessary legal arrangements have been put in place and from 2019 onwards, India will receive information of financial accounts held by Indian residents in Switzerland for the calender year 2018 and subsequent years," the ministry said. This, it said, will be useful in tracing unaccounted income and assets of Indian residents in Switzerland and bringing the same to tax. There is no estimation of amount of black money in circulation both inside and outside the country, the ministry said. The Finance Ministry was also asked to provide details of black money cases received from other countries. The ministry said, based upon the information received from France under the Indo-French Double Taxation Avoidance Convention, assessment proceedings have been completed in all 427 actionable HSBC bank account cases. "In these cases, undisclosed income of about Rs 8,465 crore has been brought to tax on account of deposits made in the unreported foreign bank accounts. Out of the above mentioned 427 cases in which assessments have been completed, concealment penalty of about Rs 1,291 crore has been levied in 162 cases," the ministry said. In reply to an earlier RTI application, the Finance Ministry had declined to share copies of three reports on the quantum of black money held by Indians inside the country and abroad, saying they were being examined by a parliamentary panel and disclosing details will cause a breach of privilege of the House. These reports were submitted to the government more than four years ago. The UPA government had in 2011 has commissioned studies by the Delhi-based Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) and the Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) and the Institute of Financial Management (NIFM) in Faridabad. The study reports of the NIPFP, NCAER and NIFM were received by the government on December 30, 2013, July 18, 2014, and August 21, 2014, respectively. The reports and the government's response to it had been forwarded to the Lok Sabha secretariat for placing them before the Standing Committee on Finance. The Lok Sabha secretariat has informed that the same has been placed before the committee for examination, it had said while replying to the RTI application in February. "The issue of black money has attracted a lot of public and media attention in the recent past. So far, there are no reliable estimates of black money generated and held within and outside the country," the Finance Ministry had said while ordering the studies in 2011. These estimates were based on various unverifiable assumptions and approximations, it had said. The Terms of Reference (ToR) for the studies included the assessment or survey of unaccounted income and wealth, and profiling the nature of activities engendering money laundering both within and outside the country. The studies were to identify, among other issues, important sectors of the economy in which unaccounted money was generated and examine the causes and conditions that resulted in the generation. French car manufacturer Citroen is planning to increase production to 1.5 million units by 2021-22 globally with new range of vehicles, and India will considerably contribute to this growth story, a top company official said. "I have an objective to grow the volumes from 1 million units to 1.5 million units by 2021-22 worldwide. The key aspect is - I need to become more international because I cannot be totally reliant on Europe. I need to have a balanced portfolio of regions. So, if something goes wrong in Europe, I know I have strong regions to bank on," Citroen Global chief executive officer Linda Jackson said here. She said, after the flagship vehicle Citroen C5 Aircross is launched in India by 2020, there will be new products coming in from 2021. "So, by 2023-24, we are expecting the culmination of that building exponentially. So, the 1.5 million will grow further. But, before that 1.5 million will not be much from India because India would literally have launched one vehicle by 2021. By three years, it will be much bigger as a proportion of the total mix," she added. Today, France is the company's biggest market, while China is the second. "By 2023-24, India needs to be moving up the ranking," Jackson added. The auto company is planning to exploit growth potential for Citroen in geographies such as Southeast Asia, India, South America. It is already present these regions. "We believe we have got opportunities and India is a big part of how we can improve. Look at the size of the market. By 2025, somebody tells me it could be 6 million. India will be one of the biggest market," the CEO said. Citroen Senior Director (marketing operations in India), Saurabh Vatsa said the commercial production of C5 Aircross SUV will begin in India from the third quarter of next calendar year. "We will import the components and locally assemble them. However, in the next phase under our C Cubed program, we will locally integrate 90 per cent to be competitive," Vatsa said. Meanwhile, Citroen Senior Vice President (sales and & marketing in India) Roland Bouchara, said the company is also planning to manufacture accessories that can be easily fitted at home. "We will manufacture these accessories in India to customise the exterior and the interior of our vehicles in different colours and styles to suit different tastes. It can customise their cars or change the look in every few months or years," Bouchara said. Citroen is a brand of PSA Group, which has another four car brands -- Peugeot, DS, Opel and Vauxhall. The company, at the beginning of 2017, had signed two joint venture agreements with CK Birla. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Over 60 civil society organisations from across the world have written to the Director General of WHO demanding revision of the global health body's 'Guidelines on Evaluation of Similar Biotherapeutic Products (SBPs)' which were adopted in 2009. The regulatory framework for approval of SPBs, put in place by many countries, including India, is in accordance with the WHO guidelines, which the groups claim are "unnecessarily cumbersome". They allege that the "failure" of the WHO secretariat to update the guidelines in line with current scientific evidence and technological advances, "compromises access to affordable biotherapeutic products" and has "grave consequences for the realization of the right to health and the right to enjoy scientific progress." Biotherapeutic medicines, also known as biologics, are produced through biological processes and differ from the older generation small-molecule medicines that are derived through chemical synthesis. They have advantages over small molecule medicines as they can be designed to hit specific 'targets' in the body and currently dominate treatments for cancers and autoimmune disorders. Biotherapeutics such as Humira (adalimumab), Keytruda (pembrolizumab), Enbrel (etanercept), Herceptin (trastuzumab) and Avastin (bevacizumab) and Rituxan (rituximab) are among the top selling medicines globally in 2018 in terms of revenue. Just as generics are non-innovator versions of small molecule medicines, biotherapeutic products or "biosimilars" are follow-on versions of innovator biologic products. "Unfortunately, both accessibility and affordability of this new class of medicines in developing countries is abysmally poor, owing largely due to their high prices. "Unlike small molecules, where generic uptake is high, the road to uptake of similar biotherapeutic products is paved with many obstacles, including but not limited to technology, intellectual property and regulatory requirements," said Chetali Rao, an independent lawyer working on law and policy related to biotherapeutics. Civil society groups claim that even though a Resolution of the World Health Assembly in 2014 mandates the Director General to convene the WHO Expert Committee on Biological Standardization to update the 2009 guidelines, till date, the secretariat has neither updated the SBP guidelines nor has the WHO given any scientific reasons for the decision. In particular, the groups have raised concerns that the "current SBP guidelines insists on head to head comparison of non-originator biotherapeutic product with the originator product with the goal of establishing similarity in quality, safety, and efficacy". Citing a memorandum signed by eight scientists calling for revision of the SBP guidelines, they claim that "this insistence of comparative clinical trials makes development of non-originator biotherapeutic products expensive and time consuming. In addition, there is increasing robust scientific evidence that calls into question the need for comparative clinical trials for the approval of non-originator biotherapeutic products. The groups including Cancer Patients Aid Association (India), Section 27 (South Africa), Third World Network (Malaysia), Fundacin IFARMA (Colombia) and Treatment Action Group (USA) have demanded that WHO, in its capacity as the directing and coordinating authority on international health, promptly make public the scientific reasons for insisting on comparative clinical trials for the approval of SBP, urgently take measures to update the SBP Guidelines. They also sought public consultations be held to review the scientific evidence with respect to the need for comparative clinical trials, among other things. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal Friday here claimed that the Congress would be "wiped out" from the state in the Lok Sabha polls. Sukhbir Badal's assertion came a day after Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said he would quit if the Congress performed poorly in the state. "Wait for a few days. The Congress will be wiped out from Punjab. The chief minister's wife Preneet Kaur and state Congress chief Sunil Jakhar will lose by huge margins,"claimed Sukhbir Badal, who is in contention from Ferozepur. Preneet Kaur is contesting from Patiala while Sunil Jakhar is trying his luck from Gurdaspur against actor-turned-politician Sunny Deol. On Thursday, Amarinder Singh had said, "If the Congress is wiped out in Punjab, what do you think I will do? Obviously, I will accept the responsibility and resign. Lashing out at Amarinder Singh over poll promises, Sukhbir Badal accused the Congress-led government of "stalling" all development work and welfare schemes in the state ever since it came to power in 2017. Stressing that the nation needed a "decisive" prime minister like Narendra Modi, Badal described opposition leaders led by the Congress as "confused". "People will have to choose between confused leaders and a strong PM," said the SAD president. On Amarinder Singh's charge that he and his wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who is a Union minister and sitting Bathinda MP, were "power hungry", the SAD president said, "How does seeking votes amounts to being power hungry? If that is the case then Amarinder Singh and his wife are both power hungry." "In any case, the hunger for power is associated with royals like him, not with those who follow the democratic path," the SAD chief added. Polling to 13 Lok Sabha constituencies in Punjab will take place on May 19. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A man from Haryana wanted in three triple murder cases was arrested by the Delhi Police's crime branch from Lucknow where he had gone to meet his girlfriend, officials said Friday. With the arrest of the accused contract killer Vijay Farmana, a resident of Sonipat in Haryana, the police claimed to have solved 11 cases of murder and various robbery, rape, attempt to murder and car jackings cases in Delhi and Haryana. According to the police, the accused had taken a contract to kill a politician in Nagaland after the general elections. In April, Farmana, along with associates Sharad Pandey and Kapil Chitania, went to the northeastern state and got a contract to kill a political leader (name not revealed), officials said, adding Pandey had taken the contract for Rs 80 lakh. "The accused was arrested after police managed to track his location to Lucknow. He was nabbed when he was with his girlfriend at a mall in Gomti Nagar area there," Additional Commissioner of Police (crime) Rajiv Ranjan said. Delhi Police had announced a cash reward of Rs 50,000 on information leading to Farmana's arrest. Haryana police had declared two cash rewards of Rs 50,000 and Rs 10,000 for the gangster's arrest, the officer said. In the last few months, luxury vehicles were being stolen after their drivers were kidnapped at gunpoint, he added. During interrogation, the accused disclosed to have committed 11 murders in total, and an attempt to murder in Haryana. "Farmana and with his associates are members of a syndicate involved in several cases of carjacking. They have stolen various luxury vehicles, including Fortuner, Ford Endeavour, Innova Crysta, Creta, from the area outside Vasant Kunj Mall, Saket Mall, Vasant Vihar in Gurgaon, IGI Airport and on national highways," Ranjan said. The stolen vehicles would be sold in northeastern states and Nepal, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Chinese ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaoming on Thursday said that China does not want a trade war but will fight its corner, slamming protectionism as the common enemy of the world. The photo of an article by Ambassador Liu Xiaoming published on the Evening Standard. [Photo: chinese-embassy.org.uk] Liu said in an article on the Evening Standard that there has been no change of position as far as China is concerned over the trade talks with the United States. He stressed that China takes a firm stance on safeguarding its legitimate interests. Liu noted that China has always believed in responsibility and cooperation as a way to resolve differences in negotiations. "Raising tariffs and taking unilateral measures only harms the interests of the people and businesses of the two countries," he said, "A sound and stable economic partnership between the US and China is important for not only the two countries but also the world economy." The Chinese diplomat called protectionism "the common enemy of the world", saying g that the trade friction between China and the US is a question of openness and connectivity versus exclusion and protectionism. "The real troublemakers in the global economy are those who rely on their superior power and frequently resort to the threat of raising tariffs, and who trigger 'trade wars' at will, even against their allies, without hesitation," he said. The Council of Europe, the continent's main human rights body, adopted a declaration Friday that restores Russia's voting rights following a spat related to its annexation of the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. Foreign ministers from the council's 47 member states voted overwhelmingly to support a declaration that says that all members should be "entitled to participate" in the council's two main organs "on an equal basis." That means Russia's voting rights have been restored. The council, which is based in Strasbourg, France and is open to all European countries regardless of whether they are in the European Union or not, suspended Russia's voting rights after the annexation of Crimea, a move that Ukraine and most of the world views as illegal. Russia, a member since 1996, then stopped paying its membership fees in protest. Senior Russian officials have threatened to pull out of the Council of Europe altogether. Such a move would mean that ordinary Russians would lose access to the European Court of Human Rights, which has become an important tool for those who have lost faith in Russian courts. Ministers are meeting in Finland, but Ukraine's foreign minister on Thursday unexpectedly canceled his attendance, a sign that Ukraine is expecting Russia's reinstatement. Ukraine's envoy to the Council on Europe Dmytro Kuleba said in a tweet that Ukraine and five other countries voted against the motion which he described as a result of "cynical diplomacy" to save a "long-term partner." France which will take over the rotating presidency at the council on Friday and Germany have been vocal about the need to bring Russia back in the fold for the benefit of millions of ordinary Russians. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, who is meeting his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov later in the day, said before the meeting that "it is not in our interests" to keep Russia out. "Russia belongs in the Council of Europe with all of the rights and responsibilities that go with it," Maas said, adding that he hopes to be able to take a "decisive step forward" at the ministerial meeting. French President Emmanuel Macron told the Council of Europe president earlier this month that "the Council of Europe needs Russia like Russia and the Russians need the Council of Europe, which means that their rights as a member state are respected but also that Russia fulfills its obligations towards the institution." Russia's exit from the Council of Europe would mean that Russians wouldn't be able to turn to the European Court of Human Rights as the last point of appeal for criminal proceedings in Russia. The ECHR over the years has become an important tool of legal redress for Russians who are often unable to find justice in Russia's notoriously corrupt and government-dependent court system. More than 20 per cent of all cases heard at the ECHR last year came from Russian nationals, according to the court's annual report. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A sessions court here Friday denied bail to television actor Karan Oberoi, arrested on charges of raping and blackmailing a woman. Additional Sessions Judge S Baghele turned down the actor's bail plea. Oberoi, 40, who has acted in some television serials and appeared in commercials, was arrested earlier this month after the woman, who was in a relationship with him since 2016, lodged a complaint with Oshiwara police that he allegedly raped her on the pretext of marriage. Oberai's lawyer, Dinesh Tiwari, said the allegations levelled by the woman were "false" and that they will apply for bail in the high court. The woman had also alleged that he shot some objectionable videos of her and demanded money from her while threatening to release the clips. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Japanese car giant shook up its executive board on Friday, adding a top director from partner as it battles the fallout from the saga and disappointing results. The firm will propose to shareholders a new board structure with 11 members, six of whom will be external, as attempts to improve corporate governance in the wake of former chairman Ghosn's arrest for alleged financial misconduct. "With the lessons from the recent executive misconduct still fresh, resolves to rigorously pursue separation of supervisory and executive functions," said the firm. chief executive Thierry Bollore will join his colleague from the French firm, chairman Jean-Dominique Senard on the board, with the two partner firms are at odds on how close their ties should be. The appointment appears intended to calm tensions between the firms. A source close to the matter said Bollore's appointment was a major concession from Nissan towards "given that Nissan's management has very little confidence" in the French executive. Bollore stood by Ghosn for a long time after his arrest, sparking anger at Nissan, whose internal investigation brought down its former boss. Another source said Senard "had pushed for this appointment but the Japanese refused at the beginning." Senard has already been sitting on the Nissan board since he was elected to replace Ghosn at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting in April. "For Renault, it's about having someone on the board, next to Senard, who knows the story, a heavyweight who will share Senard's views," said the second source. Nissan boss Hiroto Saikawa will keep his job despite mounting pressure on him to step down after a set of disastrous results, with net profits expected to plunge to a decade-low in the coming year. Several shareholders have called for Saikawa to be sacked before his term comes up for renewal in June but the former Ghosn protege has insisted he wants to stay on and guide the reforms he hopes will return Nissan to profitability. The firm has been crippled by the reputational damage caused by the legal woes of former chairman Ghosn, who faces four formal charges of financial misconduct. He denies any wrongdoing. But analysts point to several problems for Nissan beyond Ghosn, including apparently declining relations with its French partner Renault and a dearth of new products. "At this time of radical transformation in the automotive industry, Nissan urgently needs to establish a highly effective governance structure to enhance business capabilities and achieve sustainable corporate value," the company said in its statement. Saikawa has brushed off calls for his resignation, saying he wanted to launch a fresh start for the firm and would discuss the timing of his stepping down "at the appropriate time." Nissan, Renault and Motors make up an unusual three-way alliance that has grown to become the top-selling car group. Ghosn was the driving force between bringing the firms together and has since alleged that Nissan launched an investigation into him over fears he was hoping to merge the Japanese and French Saikawa has admitted "differences of opinion" with Senard on the future make-up of the alliance, including the capital partnership between the two Renault is pushing towards a merger of the two firms but Nissan executives are more sceptical. Days ahead of the declaration of the Lok Sabha poll results, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N met his counterpart Arvind here on Friday, with the terming it a "courtesy visit". Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and senior leader Sanjay Singh were also present at the meeting. According to sources, Naidu and discussed the scenario after the election results are declared and what role their parties, the TDP and the would play in government formation if such a situation rises. However, the AAP maintained that Naidu paid a courtesy visit to Earlier in the day, TDP president Naidu, who has been rallying regional parties to form a non-BJP coalition, met CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury in the national capital. Sources said that Naidu is likely to meet Congress president Rahul Gandhi in the national capital and BSP chief Mayawati in Lucknow Saturday. The TDP chief had met the election commission earlier in the day and told reporters that but any outfit which is against the saffron party are welcome to join a grand alliance after the election results are declared. Results of the general elections will be declared on May 23. The Delhi Police has filed a charge sheet before a court here against a person for allegedly harassing and intimidating a female journalist during a rally in January 2018. In the final report, filed before Metropolitan Magistrate Preeti Parewa, Noida resident Apurva Singh has been accused of wrongful restraint (section 341), using words, gestures or acts intended to insult the modesty of a woman (section 509) and criminal intimidation (section 506). The charge sheet has cited a number of documents,, including a CD containing video of the alleged offence and FSL reports. Singh, who was not arrested during the probe, was interrogated by police. However, whereabouts of other accused persons could not be obtained, police said. On January 9, 2018, the accused persons, who were around 20 in number, allegedly harassed the journalist working with a private TV channel by making lewd gestures, and shouting intimidating slogans while she was reporting from a rally of Gujarat's Independent MLA Jignesh Mevani at Parliament Street, police added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Deputy Mayor of Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) Imran Ahmad Sheikh Friday joined the People's Conference headed by Sajad Gani Lone. Sheikh joined the People's Conference at Lone's residence in presence of senior party functionaries including general secretary Imran Ansari. SMC Mayor Junaid Azim Mattu was also present. Sheikh had become the deputy mayor of SMC with Congress support. The Mayor and Deputy Mayor have been fighting each other publicly since November 2018 with both of them accusing each other of malpractices. Sheikh was injured during a meeting of the corporators in January, a month after a woman corporator had accused Mattu of sexual harassment. The mayor had claimed that the woman corporator was working at the behest of his deputy. Now Mattu and Sheikh will be working for the same party. (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 given its nod to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's proposed visit to Kedarnath and Badrinath shrines in Uttarakhand beginning Saturday while "reminding" the prime minister's office that the model code of conduct is still in force. The prime minister's office is learnt to have sought the views of the Election Commission on the two-day official visit of Modi to Uttarakhand. As it is an official visit, the Commission has only "reminded" the PMO that the model code of conduct which came into force on March 10 with the declaration of Lok Sabha polls, is still in force, sources aware of the development said. The last and seventh phase of Lok Sabha polls is on May 19. "The visit is official so it can be undertaken. But the office of the PM has been reminded that the poll code is still in force," a source said without elaborating. Modi will undertake a two-day visit to Uttarakhand beginning May 18. While he will be in Kedarnath Saturday, he will visit Badrinath on Sunday before returning to the national capital in the afternoon. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress veteran and former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit Friday demanded that the Election Commission "cancel" Pragya Singh Thakur's candidature from Bhopal for calling Mahatma Gandhi's killer Nathuram Godse a "patriot". Dikshit alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah had "handpicked" Thakur as a party Lok Sabha candidate and said they should also be held "morally accountable" for her "highly condemnable statement". Prime Minister Modi Friday said he will never forgive Thakur for insulting Mahatma Gandhi by calling his assassin Nathuram Godse a patriot. "The Election Commission should cancel the candidature of BJP Lok Sabha candidate from Bhopal Pragya Thakur for terming Mahatma Gandhi's killer Nathuram Godse as a patriot," Dikshit, who contested the Lok Sabha elections from the North East Delhi seat, said. "Modi and Shah should have withdrawn her candidature themselves for her toxic statement," she said in a statement. Dikshit also said it was shameful that Thakur despite her "deplorable statement" was not "condemned" by any top leader of the BJP. "Such a person not only does not deserve to contest the parliamentary election, but she is also unfit to be part of a civil society," said the Delhi Congress president. During a roadshow in Madhya Pradesh's Agar town, Thakur had said Godse was a patriot and will remain a patriot. BJP president Amit Shah Friday came out strongly against the controversial remarks of his party leaders, including Pragya Singh Thakur, over Nathuram Godse, saying the BJP has taken serious note of their statements, which are against its ideology. Shah has asked the party's disciplinary committee to submit a report on the issue in 10 days for further action. The BJP chief also said these comments were their personal statements and had no link with the party. As campaigning for the 2019 general elections ended on Friday, the BJP was pushed to corner and forced to ask three of its leaders to explain their comments on Godse. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi pardoned 560 prisoners, including a prominent journalist and several women. The pardons, announced in the official gazette late Thursday, coincide with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan when authorities traditionally release detainees as a goodwill gesture. The journalist, Abdel Halim Qandil, was sentenced to three years in absentia in December 2017 for "insulting the judiciary". He surrendered in October 2018 as Egypt's highest appeals court upheld his verdict. He was pardoned for health reasons. Qandil was tried in a case that included 17 other defendants, among them ousted Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi, on the same charges. Among those pardoned are eight women who had been sentenced in 2018 to several years in prison on grounds of belonging to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood organization and staging an anti-government protest in the Delta province of Damietta. Egyptian authorities have not said yet when the prisoners will be released. El-Sissi has waged an unprecedented crackdown on dissent in recent years, arresting thousands mostly Islamists but also prominent secular activists and rolling back freedoms won after the 2011 uprising. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A joint statement from the embassies of 29 mostly Western countries in Bucharest, as well as the European Commission, urged Romania on Friday to protect its LGBTI citizens from discrimination. "On the occasion of the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, we express our solidarity with all marginalised groups in Romania, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity and sexual characteristics," said the statement, a copy of which was sent to AFP by the British Embassy. "LGBTI persons continue to face discrimination... We believe that only when diversity is appreciated and supported can a country achieve its full potential,, the statement added. Romania ranks 25th out of the 28 EU countries for progress in eliminating discriminatory legislation and hate speech against LGBTI people, according to the ILGA-Europe network of rights groups. Only Bulgaria, Poland and Latvia have a worse raking in the European Union. Romania's left-wing government was accused of fuelling hate earlier this year after organising a referendum aimed at changing the current definition of marriage as between "spouses" to explicitly being between a man and a woman. Although gay marriage is not legal in Romania, the proposal was seen as an attempt to block it ever being approved. Despite a large majority of those voting approving the change, the referendum was declared invalid due to insufficient turnout. The 2019 Bucharest Pride March will take place on June 22. Last year, a record number of more 3,000 people participated and marched through the city centre. The statement from the embassies stressed that "we support all the lawful and peaceful manifestations to enhance the importance of the International Day of Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia in Romania". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The European Union is prolonging sanctions against the Syrian regime of President Bashar Assad for a year due to its continued crackdown against civilians in the war-ravaged country. EU headquarters said Friday that the 28-nation bloc "decided to maintain its restrictive measures against the Syrian regime and its supporters as the repression of civilian population continues." It means that 270 people and 70 entities like companies or organisations will have travel bans and asset freezes against them extended until June 1, 2020. The sanctions are due to alleged violence against civilians, benefiting from or supporting the regime, or being associated with people who do. The EU has also imposed an oil embargo on Syria and bans equipment that could be used in a crackdown on Syrian civilians. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actor-politician Kamal Haasan, who is at the centre of a raging row over his Hindu extremist remarks, Friday said "every religion has its own terrorists" and no one can claim to be sanctimonious. The Makkal Needhi Maiam chief also said that he was not afraid of being arrested but warned any such action would escalate tensions. Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo said a report has been sought from the District Election Officer (DEO) on Haasan's Hindu extremist remarks made at Aravakurichi in Karur. Haasan said the remarks made during the Aravakurichi Assembly segment by-poll campaign meet on Sunday were not made for the first time, even as he asserted that "every religion has its own terrorist" and "this shows that all religions have their extremists." The actor-politician, who had filed an anticipatory bail plea after an FIR was registered in Aravakurichi in Karur district for his remarks, said he had made similar comments in Chennai during the Lok Sabha election campaign but it was being taken note of now by those people "whose confidence is dipping." "Let me tell you, terrorists abound in all religions. Around history, you can list many people from many religions. So I was talking in that (sense). Every religion has its own terrorists and we cannot claim that we are sanctimonious and we have not done that. History shows you that all religions have their extremists," he told reporters here, adding his focus in Sunday's campaign speech was on maintaining harmony. Haasan was asked if he could have avoided mentioning Godse's Hindu religion. The actor-politician said he stood firm on his remarks made on Sunday. He claimed there were no tensions after he made the remarks, and alleged "tensions were created", apparently by his detractors. Asked if he had filed the anticipatory bail plea in the Madras High Court fearing arrest, Haasan replied in the negative. "I don't fear arrest but I have got campaigning to do. Let them arrest, but if they arrest me tensions will escalate. This is not my request but an advice. Better not to do that," he said. He also alleged that the media selectively edited his speech that day. Meanwhile, Sahoo said a report has been sought from the DEO on the matter. In Kamal Haasan's case, already FIRs have been registered and the police has informed us. Political parties have also represented," he told reporters. The matter was being investigated by the DEO and "we are waiting for the DEO report," Sahoo added. Haasan, when asked if he felt 'intimidated' by state Minister Rajendra Bhalaji saying the actor's tongue should be cut off for his remarks or incidents like stone-pelting in his public meetings, said he didn't even feel threatened. "No, I am not even threatened. I feel that the quality of the polity is going down. I will not indulge in this mud slinging back and forth," he said. Asked what he thought about the Minister's remarks, he said "it shows his character." When a scribe asked if he would apologise to Hindus without any party leanings for his remarks, he said one should differentiate between Hindus and the RSS. "We should differentiate who are Hindus, who is RSS. You can't generalise. Political functionaries will get hurt any time, non-political persons with a faith will only wonder for sometime why he has spoken like this...things like getting hurt, getting angry and attacking are political tools. They are violent tools," he said. Even in the past, various groups had protested against him, "but people later realised they were not proper," he said without referring to any particular incident. Incidentally, Haasan had faced the ire of Muslim groups who wanted his 2013 flick 'Vishwaroopam' banned, after they took umbrage to the depiction in some scenes of the community in the film and had staged vociferous protests. His 'Dasavatharam' (2008) too faced release-time issues when a Vaishnavite organisation had moved the court against the very title of the film, which means the Ten Incarnations of Lord Vishnu, besides objecting to certain scenes. On Prime Minister Narendra Modi's reported statement that a Hindu cannot be a terrorist, Haasan said, "History and history teachers are there to respond to him." "Many think he is very knowledgeable. Therefore history and history professors are there to respond to him," the MNM chief said. The actor further said he will always reach out to all faiths. With regard to police denying him permission to undertake campaigning in Sulur Assembly constituency in Coimbatore on Friday, the MNM chief asked if there was problem then why can't the by poll be postponed. "If government or police feel the situation is not conducive, fear law and order (problem), they should probably postpone Sulur bypoll," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Facebook, facing criticism for enabling disruption of elections worldwide, said it was taking down hundreds of accounts linked to an Israeli political consultancy. The social media platform said it was banning the Israeli company, Archimedes Group, which on its website boasts of "winning campaigns worldwide". The US giant said Thursday it had removed 265 accounts on its Facebook and Instagram platforms, Facebook Pages, Groups and events "involved in coordinated inauthentic behaviour". The sites' activity focused on several African countries and on Latin America and Southeast Asia, and was intended to sway voters by peddling misinformation. The individuals behind the fake network tried to hide their identities but some of the activity linked back to Archimedes Group, which Facebook said had "repeatedly violated" its policies. "This organisation and all its subsidiaries are now banned from Facebook, and it has been issued a cease and desist letter," the US company's head of cybersecurity policy, Nathaniel Gleicher, wrote in a blog post. There was no immediate comment from Archimedes, which says it is a leader in "large-scale campaigns worldwide" through its expertise in consulting, lobbying and social media. About 2.8 million individual accounts followed one or more of the banned Pages, and $812,000 was spent on related ads on Facebook from 2012 to April this year, Gleicher said. Nine public events were organised by the Pages, most recently this month, but Facebook said it could not confirm whether any of the events had actually occurred. Facebook has been trying to address the criticism that it has long turned a blind eye to political actors abusing its platforms to sway elections, including the 2016 presidential vote in the United States. "We are making progress rooting out this abuse, and, as we've said before, it's an ongoing challenge," Gleicher said. This week, Facebook joined other tech giants in issuing the "Christchurch Call" to stamp out violent extremist content on the internet, following massacres at two New Zealand mosques in March. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A day after a professor and two other employees at a government college in Faridabad were suspended over allegations of sexual harassment, the Haryana Women Commission Friday found its internal complaints committee to deal with such matters is not active. The complainant had alleged that an assistant professor, a peon and a laboratory assistant would befriend girl students at the time of admission and later they would target those who had to reappear for exams, promising to help them. She had alleged that the accused sought sexual favours from the girls on the pretext of helping them in the exams. "I met the girl at the college today. She gave a detailed account what she had to face... She said that she had secretly recorded a video-audio conversation with one accused," Haryana State Commission for Women Renu Bhatia said. She said an FIR had also been registered and police would investigate the matter. Bhatia said that during her meeting with the officials of the college, it was found that its Internal Complaints Committee was not active. "Another thing where we found the college lacking was that the girl had approached them nearly a fortnight ago, but it took a few days to take cognisance of her complaint. The college did form a committee, but it took some days," she said. The matter came to light when the complainant recorded her conversation with the laboratory assistant and narrated the incident to the college principal. The incident had triggered outrage, with senior Congress leader and Kaithal MLA Randeep Singh Surjewala Thursday demanding strict action against the culprits. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Noida Police on Friday registered a case against e-commerce giant Amazon for allegedly hurting "Hindu sentiments" after rugs and toilet seat covers with pictures of Hindu gods were available for sale on its US website. An online campaign to "boycott Amazon" was initiated by several social media users Thursday over the issue, with an Amazon spokesperson saying all sellers must follow the company's selling guidelines and those who do not comply will be subject to action, including potential removal of their account. "The products in question are being removed from our store," the spokesperson added. A complaint was made at the Sector 58 police station for allegedly promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, the police said. "The foreign-based company regularly puts up products on its website which hurts the sentiments of Hindus. This may lead to communal tension in our country anytime. "Hence, it's a request to take strict action against the company so that such incidents are not repeated and Hindus can live with their pride and dignity peacefully," complainant Vikas Mishra said. Circle Officer, Noida 2nd, Piyush Kumar Singh said the FIR has been registered under Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code -- promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony. "The matter is being probed," he added. In 2017, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had received several complaints about Amazon selling flip-flops with Mahatma Gandhi's image. There were also reports of Amazon Canada selling on its platform doormats depicting Indian flag. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Fortis Healthcare Friday said its subsidiary Fortis Healthcare International will sell its entire stake in Medical and Surgical Centre Ltd (MSCL). Mauritius-based Fortis Healthcare International holds 28.89 per cent stake in MSCL. "Fortis Healthcare International Ltd (FHIL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Fortis Healthcare Ltd, which is incorporated in Mauritius, has entered into a share purchase agreement with CIEL Ltd, CIEL Healthcare Ltd and MSCL, for, sale of the entire shareholding held by FHIL in MSCL, representing 28.89 per cent (164,670,801 shares) holding of the total issued and paid up equity share capital of MSCL," it said in a regulatory filing. It added that the proposed transaction is subject to the approval of Fortis Healthcare Ltd's shareholders as well as regulatory approvals, if required. "Upon consummation of the proposed transaction, the entire stake of FHIL in MSCL will be divested," it added. Share of Fortis Healthcare closed at Rs 126.95 apiece, down 0.47 per cent. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Boko Haram fighters in northeastern Nigeria massacred at least 14 people in separate attacks on Thursday, including farmers and fishermen beside a lake, locals said Friday. The attacks in neighbouring Borno and Adamawa states are the latest in a long line of massacres by Boko Haram militants, who have intensified attacks in recent months. In the first attack, which happened at noon on Thursday, jihadists on motorcycles attacked people beside a reservoir in Maichulmuri village, just outside Borno state capital Maiduguri. "The insurgents fired on groups of irrigation farmers watering their crops, fishermen at the dam and herdsmen grazing their livestock," militia leader Babakura Kolo said. "We have so far recovered nine dead bodies." More were feared killed as the gunmen chased people as they fled into the bush, said villager Modu Alhaji Sheriff, who gave a similar death toll. "We are afraid to venture further afield," Sheriff said. "Boko Haram may be lurking around." The area has been repeatedly attacked by fighters loyal to Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau. In a separate attack, in neighbouring Adamawa state, jihadists killed five people in three villages in Madagali district, 285 kilometres (177 miles) north of the state capital Yola. The militants stormed into Shuwa village around dusk, killing three people including a policeman, before soldiers fought them back, residents said. "Three people died in the attack on Shuwa," local resident Paul Waramulu said. Leaving that village in flames, the fighters stopped off at the nearby village of Kirchina -- torching that too -- and then drove to Kuda village. "They killed two people," said Kuda resident Simon Damina. The decade-long jihadist conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and forced millions from their homes. The violence has spread to neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) From a giant poll-themed rangoli at the Gandhi Maidan here to public walls bearing art works on election-related activities, city authorities have taken a number of initiatives to urge voters to go out and exercise their franchise on May 19. Besides the Patna district administration, the capital city's municipal corporation has also taken a slew of measures to build awareness on voting. Patna district has two constituencies, Patna Sahib and Pataliputra. While the district administration has put up a massive rangoli themed on the Election Commission's tagline of leaving no voter behind at the lawns of Gandhi Maidan in the heart of the city, the local civic body is raising awareness through colourful Mithila paintings on walls. The SVEEP (Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation) Patna team on May 15 also shared on social media a video shot by drone of the 260x160 sqm canvas which has been created by students of the College of Arts and Crafts, Patna, and a group of volunteers. The Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC), which has been creating murals across the city since last October as part of its Mithila Meets Magadh initiative to turn dull walls of the city into vibrant spaces, has also used this as a vehicle to build awareness. In various municipal schools and public places, Mithila-themed artworks on walls are either showing voters casting ballot or flashing inked fingers, among other works. At other places, the murals urge voters to not be lured by money to cast their vote in favour of a particular party but exercise their own choice judiciously. We have incorporated election theme into part of our overall project, but it is just a temporary initiative as election are underway. "Our paintings are part of a larger goal of creating a smart city with proper sanitation system, PMC commissioners Anupam Kumar Suman told PTI. The PMC has put up installations at various public places like a huge inked finger at Rajdhani Vatika in the heart of the city where the district administration has installed selfie points for voters as well. In many of our schools, we have got such artworks done on the inside of the school premises too, as they will be used as polling booths. We have also got some toilets installed at many of these schools, which can be later used by students, Suman said. Ashish Ranjan, a second-year student at the College of Arts and Crafts, and a team member in the wall painting project, said, Some of the election-themed murals have been painted at a school in Mithapur and a few other places. It is a wonderful step by the PMC. Walls of a school in Malahi Pakdi in Kankarbagh falling under the Patna Sahib constituency have been donned with colourful murals raising awareness on voting. The PMC has also initiated development of green booths named 'Vasundhara' at its circle offices for the general elections. These booths will be attractively designed with bio-degradable materials, along with green leaves and flower pots. The voters will be gifted a plant. The motto behind this setup is to make aware people about greenery and promote eco-friendly environment, according to officials. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An inter-state gang of drug smugglers was busted with the recovery of ganja worth Rs 50 lakh from two people in the district Friday, said police. "While the two have been arrested, the kingpin of the gang is yet to be nabbed,"SSP Satyarth Aniruddha Pankaj told reporters. The SSP said their team seized a truck containing around 540-kg ganja from the Govardhan crossing under the Chhata kotwali. The SSP said the accused, identified as Jasvant and Kiranpal, both residents of Palwal district in Haryana, had hid the ganja under onion bags. The accused disclosed that they had brought the narcotic from Odisha and were taking it to Palwal at the behest of kingpin Chandrapal, the SSP said. The search for the kingpin is on. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Goa Deputy Chief Minister Vijai Sardesai has discussed the possibility of student exchange programme between Goa and Hebrew University at Rehovot in Israel, during his visit there. Sardesai is currently on a private visit to Israel. He has been visiting various state government agencies and institutions to work out ties between Goa and that country. Talking to PTI over phone on Thursday, Sardesai said during his meeting at the Faculty of Agriculture of the Hebrew University, talks were held over various topics, including the possibility of students exchange programme between Goa and the Hebrew University. Sardesai said he also discussed with Prof Aliza Fleischer, Head of School for Agri Sciences at the Robert H Smith Faculty of Agri, Food & Environment at Rehovot on how post-graduate students from Goa could take admission in the university in order to help the Goan farmers. Sardesai, who holds the agriculture portfolio in the Pramod Sawant-led ministry, is head of the Goa Forward Party, which is an ally of the ruling BJP in the state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Amid strong objections from the Goa Forward Party (GFP), the Goa University has withdrawn its advertisements issued for recruitment of teachers, in which it had dropped the 15-year domicile clause. The GFP, a constituent of the BJP-led government in the state, had expressed its opposition to the advertisements, saying the exclusion of the domicile clause would lead to non-Goans applying for all the 80-odd vacancies. In a release issued on Thursday, the university Registrar said, "The Goa University has withdrawn the three advertisements released on March 8, 2019 for recruitment of teaching positions, including for backlog, shortfall and regular vacancies." Goa Youth Forward, the youth wing of the GFP, had taken up the issue after it noticed that the advertisements did not mention the domicile clause. Taking strong objection to the advertisements, GFP chief and Deputy Chief Minister Vijai Sardesai had recently said that they were willing to go anywhere to protect the interest of Goans. "And if our government has made a mistake, then we will weaponise them (youth) to ensure that Goanness is protected," he had said. The Goa Congress had complained to the Election Commission (EC) against Sardesai over his "weaponising" the youth remark, and demanded that he be charged with sedition. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The making of friends; the loss of friends; the country's freedom and its division; changes everywhere, this is how Ruskin Bond remembers Independence Day of 1947. Bond had just turned 13 then and was studying in Bishop Cotton residential school in Shimla. His best friends were Azhar Khan, who was his age; Brian Adams, who was a year younger; and Cyrus Satralkar, who was the youngest. They called themselves the Fearsome Four', although there was nothing very fierce about them. Azhar was a quiet, soft-spoken boy. He came from the North-West Frontier Province, but there was nothing unruly or rough about him, as many might have imagined. Satralkar was the smallest boy in his class. I think he was Iranian. Brian's home was in Bangalore, he recalls. They were not in the least interested in each other's religion or regional backgrounds. Adults seemed to think it is important; but at 13, friendship and loyalty seemed to matter more. The catalyst for their bonding was that early-morning rouser for PT or physical training. Bond recalls an incident when the four of them overslept one morning and failed to turn up on the first flat for their exercises. Our absence was duly reported by a senior prefect, and we were summoned to the headmaster's study for the usual punishment, he writes in his latest book Coming Round the Mountain: In the Years of Independence, the third in a series of short memoirs. They were flogged and after that they promised never to be late for PT again. But then in 1947, life was about to change quite dramatically for most of them. Bond says Cyrus knew more about the political situation than he did. Although I knew a bit about Gandhi and Nehru and other leaders, I had no real interest in politics. I would accept whatever came along. My stepfather was an Indian and a Hindu and he wouldn't be going anywhere, nor would my mother and small brothers and sister; in truth, there was nowhere for us to go, he writes. On the 15th of August, 1947, Bond and his friends were roused by the ringing of the bell. No PT that morning. That was a good sign. We went into breakfast in a happy frame of mind, and as a special treat we were given laddoos, halwa and samosas, then marched up to town to take part in a flag-raising ceremony, he revisits the historic occasion. All this went off gloriously - or as gloriously as the rain would allow, for nature waits upon no man - and we sang the national anthem as vigorously as any in the crowd. Unfamiliar with Hindi, we had been practising it for weeks! All the big speeches were being made in New Delhi, but we had our share of them too, and the massive crowd on the Ridge listened patiently, applauded generously and went home happily. The entire school had attended the ceremony, he says. The boys had worn their suits and ties and caps. The school cap, so British, so public school, was still a part of our uniform. On our way back to school we split into groups, and the Fearsome Four lagged behind. Brian took off to purchase a supply of roasted bhuttas. Munching happily, we marched on through the rain, singing a few songs of our own. When asked by his friends how he felt being in a different country now, Bond replied, It will take time to sink in. Right now, the rain is the same as it was yesterday. But with Independence came a division of the country and the violence spread like wildfire, even up to Shimla, he says. The school management then decided that the entire Muslim contingent would be evacuated -roughly one-third of the school. Four or five army trucks were provided by the government, and these were manned by soldiers, both Indian and British. The convoy was to leave at midnight, when the town was supposedly asleep. It was all very hush-hush, writes Bond in the book, published by Puffin. He was asleep when someone shook him by the shoulders, and he woke up to find Azhar leaning over him. Azhar was going home under army escort. He stood besides Bond, his arm around his shoulders. Time to say goodbye. I'll write to you. We'll meet again - some day, somewhere, Azhar told Bond. Azhar's departure left quite a gap in Bond's life. He had been someone to whom I could talk freelt, someone to whom I could confide and share my dreams, Bond writes about his friend. Towards the end of that year, Bond received a letter from Azhar. He replied and have his home address, but did not hear from Azhar again. Perhaps the letters were lost, for there were many new borders. History, it seems, is all about shifting borders, Bond writes. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The defence ministry and the armed forces have given in-principle approval to accord ex-servicemen status to the Military Nursing Service (MNS) officers post-retirement, military sources said Friday. They said officers serving as Brigadiers and above rank in the MNS will also be allowed to display staff plates on their official vehicles on par with other officers of the three services. The staff plates carry rank of the officers. The ex-servicemen (ESM) status will allow retired MNS officers to get a number of benefits including applying for re-employment in public sector undertakings (PSUs) and other government bodies, the sources said. They said granting retired MNS officials the status of ESM will require some tweaking in existing norms and the Department of Personnel and Training is examining the issue. Around 10 years back, a group MNS officials had approached the armed forces tribunal, and in 2010 it has favoured granting them ESM status. At present, the MNS has over 5,000 officers. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Shares of Jet Airways have fallen over 24 per cent in one month since the cash-starved airline suspended operations. Jet Airways stopped flying on April 17 after it ran out of cash. In one month, shares of the company tumbled 24.28 per cent to Rs 124.10 on the BSE Friday from Rs 163.90 on April 18. Markets were closed on April 17 for Mahavir Jayanti. The scrip of the firm hit its one-year low of Rs 120.25 on May 15. Its market valuation has eroded by Rs 451.26 crore to Rs 1,409.74 crore on BSE during the one month's time. Jet Airways witnessed top-level exodus earlier this week, with four senior executives, including chief executive Vinay Dube and his deputy Amit Agarwal, quitting the crisis-hit airline. The carrier on Tuesday announced the exit of Dube, Agarwal, Company Secretary Kuldeep Sharma and Chief People Officer Rahul Taneja. Last month, Independent Director Rajshree Pathy, Non-Executive and Non-Independent Director Nasim Zaidi as well as Whole Time Director Guarang Shetty had quit. In late March, Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal along with his wife Anita Goyal as well as Etihad Airways' nominee director Kevin Knight stepped down from their respective positions following a debt-recast plan. Naresh Goyal also stepped down from the post of chairman. Lenders are scrambling to find a suitor for the cash-starved carrier. On behalf of the lenders, SBI Caps had sought bids for sale of up to 75 per cent stake in Jet Airways. After the first round of bids, private equity firms IndiGo Partners and TPG, Etihad Airways and National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) were shortlisted. Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways submitted its bid to acquire a minority stake in Jet Airways with a lot of riders that involved finding more investors, leaving little hope for the airline's survival. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress president Rahul Gandhi Friday dared Narendra Modi to a debate on corruption, saying he has just four questions to ask which the prime minister will not be able to answer. The Congress president threw the challenge on the last day of electioneering while addressing a public meeting at Solan police ground in support of his party's Shimla candidate, Solan MLA Dhani Ram Shandil. "I am ready to engage in debate with Modi on corruption at any place," he said. "Give me 15 minutes, I will ask only four questions. And Modi may take three-four hours to answer. He will not be able to show his face to citizens of the country after the debate," he added. Reiterating his allegations of corruption in Rafale fighter jet deal, Rahul Gandhi said the government struck an overpriced deal for the jets to benefit Anil Ambani. Criticising Modi on demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the Congress president said, "The countrymen say Modi committed mistakes by implementing demonetisation and GST but Modi will never admit it." The small and medium industrialists, traders and unemployed youth were adversely affected with demonetisation and GST, he added. Rahul Gandhi went on to claim that Modi had locked up his entire Cabinet members in the Race Course zone before implementing demonetisation. Rahul also ridiculed the prime minister over his reported remarks in an interview that he felt the cloud cover would help IAF fighter jets evade Pakistani radars during Balakot air strikes. "Modi keeps on hiding his knowledge and does not hold any press conference whereas I keep on talking to media every other day," he said. Rahul also accused Modi of not fulfilling his poll promises of "depositing Rs 15 lakh" in bank account of each citizen and providing jobs to two crore youths every year. The Congress president also spoke in detail on how, if voted to power, he would implement the Nyay scheme for a minimum annual income of Rs 72,000 to the 20 percent of the poor. Former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh, state Congress president Kuldeep Singh Rathore, state's party in-charge Rajni Patil and Shimla Congress candidate Dhani Ram Shandil, Solan MLA also spoke on this occasion. Prime Minister Modi had earlier addressed a rally in Solan for his party's Shimla candidate Suresh Kashyap on May 13. While six candidates are in fray from Shimla Lok Sabha seat, a direct contest is expected between Solan MLA Dhani Ram Shandil of the Congress and Pachhad MLA Suresh Kashyap of the BJP. Voting for all the four seats in the state - Shimla (SC), Mandi, Hamirpur and Kangra - will take place on May 19. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Facing severe backlash over his recent Hindu extremist remarks, Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) founder Kamal Haasan Friday claimed that the very term 'Hindu' was not a native description, but only a foreign coinage. Neither the Alwars nor the Nayanmars, the famed Vaishnavite and Shaivite saints, had made any note on 'Hindu,' he said in a statement uploaded on Twitter. The citizens were identified only as 'Indians' and confining it to religion was "erroneous," he said. "There has been no mention of 'Hindu' by the 12 Alwars or Nayanmars. We were christened Hindu by Mughals or those (foreign) rulers who predated them," he said. The British, who ruled the nation, "endorsed" that coinage, he said. "While we have so many of our own identities, it is ignorant to have something given to us by non-native as name and faith," he added. While the identity "Indian is recent," it was "eternal", the MNM chief said. "It is erroneus, in terms of commerce, politics and spirituality, for us to try to confine our vast country into religion," Haasan said. "To put it in layman's terms, living in harmony has a million benefits," he said referring to a Tamil saying. Earlier, stoking a controversy, Haasan had said "free India's first extremist was a Hindu," referring to Nathuram Godse, who shot dead Mahatma Gandhi. "I am not saying this because this is a Muslim dominated area, but I am saying this before a statue of Gandhi. Free India's first extremist was a Hindu, his name is Nathuram Godse. There it (extremism) starts," he had said in bypoll bound Aravakurichi. The remarks had resulted in a major row, with the BJP and AIADMK tearing into Haasan, even as cases were filed against him in Tamil Nadu and Delhi. However, the Congress' state unit and rationalist outfit Dravidar Kazhagam backed him. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The captain of HMS Queen Elizabeth, the British Royal Navy's largest and most powerful warship, has been sacked from his role for allegedly misusing an official car on weekends, media reports said Friday. The Royal Navy confirmed that Commodore Nick Cooke-Priest had been reassigned to a new role, without giving a reason. But navy sources told the BBC that his removal was over his use of a car of the Ministry of Defence for personal trips. A new commanding officer has been appointed to the aircraft carrier, the report said. It is believed that major Royal Navy warships and their captains are loaned a car for use on official duties. However, according to The Sun, an official investigation found he had used the Ford Galaxy as if it was his own and found him guilty of an "error of judgement". The HMS Queen Elizabeth, commissioned in 2017, is the lead ship of the Queen Elizabeth class of aircraft carriers, the largest warships ever built for the Royal Navy. It is capable of carrying up to 40 aircraft. The report noted that while the offence may appear relatively minor, it was felt that his position had become untenable and that the commanding officer must be beyond reproach. A Royal Navy spokesman said: "We can confirm Captain Nick Cooke-Priest has been reassigned to a new role. "We can only say that management action is ongoing and it would therefore be inappropriate to comment further," he said. Commodore Cooke-Priest, who joined the Royal Navy in 1990, had been in command of HMS Queen Elizabeth since October. A former Royal Navy Captain told Sky News: "This was an honest mistake that should have been dealt with swiftly at flotilla level. "It wasn't and has now escalated far too far. The navy hasn't got enough people as it is - they certainly shouldn't be dismissing their very best," the former officer was quoted as saying. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Honeywell employee was among four people killed in a plane crash near Dubai airport, the US tech giant said on Friday, denying it owned the aircraft. The UK-registered Diamond Aircraft plane went down Thursday five kilometres (three miles) south of the international hub, the United Arab Emirates state agency WAM said, citing civil aviation authorities. "The four-seat plane crashed while on a mission to calibrate terrestrial navigation systems at the airport, with all crew members, three British and one South African, killed," WAM said. A statement from Honeywell received by AFP said one of those killed was a company employee, although it did not give the victim's nationality. "We are deeply saddened by the that a small, chartered plane crashed in Dubai yesterday evening and our heartfelt condolences are with the victims' families," it said. "A Honeywell employee was among the four victims. The plane was not owned or operated by Honeywell but by a third party engaged by Honeywell," it added, denying an earlier WAM report. The crash, according to civil aviation authorities, was due to a technical malfunction. It caused some disturbance at the airport on Thursday night, including the diversion of some flights, before the situation returned to normal. Dubai's international airport is one of the world's busiest aviation hubs. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Voters may complain that the competitive zing was missing in the prime minister's constituency but the BJP had a clear-cut strategy to keep the campaign ship sailing -- entrusting senior leaders and celebrities to canvass for votes while a handful of carefully chosen lieutenants managed the back end. A string of senior leaders such as Sushma Swaraj and Yogi Adityanath visited the town to address meetings and Bhojpuri showbiz stars Manoj Tiwari and Nirahua added a dash of glamour in the campaigning for the BJP's most prestigious seat. The campaigning ended on Friday evening, ahead of the last round of the seven-phase elections on Sunday. Behind the scenes, three BJP leaders from Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state, have been silently running the show, said party insiders. Parindu Bhagat, also known as Kakubhai, looks at the overall election management of Varanasi and the expenditure, local BJP leaders said. Bhagat, a lawyer by profession, received Modi's winning certificate from the district magistrate in Varanasi in the last general elections. Modi's trusted ally for years, Bhagat handles all legal matters related to elections in Varanasi and operates from an office in Mahmoorganj in Varanasi. The second man behind the scenes is Sunil Oza, another leader from Modi's home state and former MLA from Bhavnagar. He is overall in charge of the Varanasi and Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seats. According to party workers, Oza managed Modi's election in 2014 as well and was the person assigned for door-to-door campaigning and reaching out to voters across the constituency. The third is BJP's MP from Navsari, C R Patil who has been assigned to stay in constant touch with BJP's panna pramukhs', local councillors and village headmen. He also looks after developmental work in two of the villages adopted by Modi. While the trio from Gujarat handled the nitty-gritty, the others managed the optics of the voter outreach. Two Union ministers Piyush Goyal and J P Nadda along with Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya have been camping here for more than a week. Goyal held small meeting of professionals such as doctors and lawyers, Nadda addressed small public meetings in various localities in Varanasi and Maurya travelled to nearby villages. They were joined by Swaraj and Adityanath who also addressed meetings and rallies. Bhojpuri film star Tiwari helped add colour to the campaign, seeking votes for Modi by singing songs, while Dinesh Lal Yadav alias Nirahua drove a cycle rickshaw across town. Locals said the feverish excitement of 2014, Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal contested against Modi, was missing this time from the temple town. Summing up the mood among people in the town in one line, Ramlal Mishra, a local shopkeeper in Varanasi's Lanka area suggested Modi is the clear favourite to win and said,Maza nayi hai iss baar, pura one sided ho gaya hai. (Didn't have too much fun this time. It was totally one sided)."urite. Standing in his shop, Krishnpal Patel, added, Pichli baar gazab ka mahol tha, ek dum mela jaisa, is baar vo baat nahi hai (Last time the atmosphere was amazing, like a carnival. This time it was not like that)." According to both Mishra and Patel, 2014 was Modi's first election so there was a certain craze. In 2014, Modi defeated his nearest rival Kejriwal by more than 3.5 lakh votes. Varanasi is considered a comfortable seat for BJP, which has won in every election since 1991, except for 2004 when the seat went to the Congress. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union minister Jitendra Singh Friday asked if then prime minister Indira Gandhi can be credited for the victory in the 1971 war, why shouldn't Prime Minister Narendra Modi get the credit for a successful air strike in Balakot. Singh, the Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, said, that throughout the Lok Sabha election campaign, the Congress and its allies have been attacking the BJP and the PM for allegedly taking credit for the successful strikes by the Indian Air Force on terror camps in Pakistan's Balakot. Since Independence, whenever there was an armed conflict with a foreign nation, the credit or discredit obviously went to the ruling dispensation and its head, he said. By the same logic, Indira Gandhi's greatest achievement as PM is still remembered to be the victory in the Indo-Pak war of 1971 which led to the liberation of Bangladesh, he said. Similarly, the blame for the Himalayan debacle in the Indo-China war of 1962 is even today primarily put on the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Singh was quoted as having said in a statement issued by his office. If people of India are enthusiastically lauding the PM for the successful Balakot air strikes, which reinforced India's confidence and prestige in the world arena, on the basis of which parameters can the Congress and its allies dissuade the common masses from giving credit to Modi, Singh asked. Recalling the BJP precursor Bharatiya Jan Sangh's stand during the 1971 war, the minister said, in spite of ideological and political differences, the Jan Sangh offered unconditional and absolute support to the then PM Indira Gandhi in the war against Pakistan. But, ironically today, the Congress leadership has been so miserably blinded by its lust for power that it has resorted to denigrating the incumbent prime minister, thus indirectly or directly echoing the interests of Islamabad, he alleged. The Congress and mahagathbandhan parties' unconcealed dislike for Narendra Modi has gone to such limits that it has begun to manifest as dislike for mother India itself, he said. Talking about Article 370, that grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir, Singh said, Jawaharlal Nehru had himself conceded that it is going to be a temporary provision. "However, with the passage of time, after 1960s, Article-370 has become a vested interest for Congress and National Conference," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tata Group's hospitality arm IHCL Friday said it has tied up with Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC to invest Rs 4,000 crore to acquire hotels. The Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) will put in 30 per cent equity in every such acquisition, while the rest will come from GIC, according to an official statement. Investments will be done over the next three years and the joint platform will look at potential hotel assets in India, it said, adding fully operational hotels in the luxury, upper upscale and upscale segments in India. "This collaboration is in line with Aspiration 2022 and our vision to scale up, create greater enterprise value and make IHCL South Asia's most iconic and profitable hospitality company," IHCL's managing director and chief executive Puneet Chhatwal said. The company, which runs hospitality brands including Taj, Vivanta and Ginger expects to acquire strategic and marquee assets that need new ownership, branding and positioning through the platform, he said. Each acquisition is intended to be in a separate special purpose vehicle with its own funding, the statement said, adding that hotels acquired will be managed by IHCL under its various brands and complement the company's current growth aspirations via management contracts. "As a long-term investor, we are confident on the outlook of India's hospitality sector. We look forward to working closely with established partners such as IHCL to pursue attractive opportunities and capture the sector's growth potential," GIC Real Estate's chief investment officer Kok Sun Lee said. The IHCL scrip was trading 1.44 per cent up at Rs 143.95 apiece on the BSE. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) / -- IIM Udaipur Placement 2019 concluded with its MBA students grabbing international offers from multiple global locations like Singapore, Dubai, Kuwait and Oman. The Institute witnessed higher average salary as compared to the previous years and welcomed many first-time recruiters for the 2017-2019 batch. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/791394/IIMU_Logo.jpg ) Domestic and international offers were made by 78 recruiters to 205 students of the Institute. Ambuja Cement, Flipkart, GAIL, HSBC, IDFC FIRST Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Reliance Home Finance and Zydus Cadila were among the first-time recruiters. Some of the prominent recruiters returning to campus included Aditya Birla Capital, Accenture Strategy, Amul, Axis Bank, Dell, Deloitte, ICICI Lombard, KPMG, Landmark, L&T, Tata Steel, United Breweries, Xpress Money and Yes Bank. The largest number of offers were made in banking, financial services and insurance sector, followed by consulting. In terms of roles, the highest number of offers were made in sales, marketing and business development. Along with an average salary of Rs. 13.20 lakhs, the highest domestic offer stood at Rs. 27.5 lakhs, an increase of 41% from the previous year. Among the domestic placements, the average salary of the top 10 percentile students and 25 percentile students was Rs. 19.63 lakhs and Rs. 16.97 lakhs respectively. Average salary and highest domestic salary have been consistently increasing in the last three years. 20% of the students were offered pre-placement job offers and pre-placement interview opportunities based on their performance during the Summer Internships. Three students opted out of the placement process to pursue entrepreneurship. To support the students in these endeavours, IIM Udaipur will provide them with a 2-year placement holiday and financial support in the form of a monthly hardship allowance. One of the former batch students benefited from the placement holiday policy of the Institute in this year's placement process. Janat Shah, Director, IIM Udaipur, said, "The corporate world reinstated its faith in IIM Udaipur with many past recruiters returning and multiple new recruiters participating in the placements. Our long-term relationship with numerous corporates is a testimony to the exemplary performance of IIMU alumni. In addition, the confidence of new recruiters in the Institute is an acknowledgement to our academic rigour and transformational " About Indian Institute of Management Udaipur (IIMU)According to the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), IIMU is consistently ranked among the top Indian b-schools and first among the second generation IIMs. It is also consistently ranked among the top five schools in India for research in the field of management according to the methodology used by UT Dallas which tracks publications in the leading global journals. IIMU is also the youngest institution in the country to receive accreditation from AACSB. Website - https://www.iimu.ac. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) On a day Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he can't forgive her for terming Nathuram Godse a patriot, Pragya Singh Thakur was asked by the party to stay away from a road show on the last day of the Lok Sabha poll campaign Friday. The Malegaon blast accused and BJP candidate from Bhopal Lok Sabha seat had reached Burhanpur to participate in the road show for party colleague Nand Kumar Chauhan, pitted against former Union minister and Congress candidate Arun Yadav in the Khandwa Lok Sabha constituency. However, the party asked her to "keep off" from the public, after which she did not lead the road show in MP, a state BJP leader said. As a result, the saffron-clad Thakur stayed put in her hotel room, the leader added. Thakur was unwell and so did not take part in the road show, another state BJP leader said. Modi Friday said he will never forgive Pragya Singh Thakur for insulting Mahatma Gandhi by calling his assassin Nathuram Godse a true patriot. Modi said her comments were detrimental to society. On Thursday, in response to a question over actor- turned-politician Kamal Haasan's remark that "free India's first extremist was a Hindu", Pragya had said, "Nathuram Godse was a deshbhakt (patriot), he is and will remain a deshbhakt. Those calling him an extremist should look at themselves. They will be given a befitting reply in this election." Pragya later apologised for her comment and retracted the statement. "It was my personal opinion remark. My intention was not to hurt anyones sentiments. If Ive hurt anyone I do apologise. What Gandhiji has done for the country cannot be forgotten. My statement has been twisted by the media," she said. Earlier this month, the Election Commission had barred Pragya from campaigning for three days for violating the Model Code of Conduct by stirring up communal feelings. The poll watchdog had said that the decision came in light of her comments against slain IPS officer Hemant Karkare and on the demolition of the Babri Masjid. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Eight major political partes had planned at least 16 events in West Bengal for Friday, the day when campaigning was to actually end in the state for the May 19 Lok Sabha elections. On Wednesday, the Election Commission had ordered campaigning in nine West Bengal constituencies to end at 10 pm on Thursday, a day before its scheduled deadline, in the wake of violence between BJP and TMC workers in Kolkata. The Trinamool Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress, CPI(M), CPI, Bahujan Samaj Party, All-India Forward Block and the Revolutionary Socialist Front had planned a total of 16 events for Friday, according to available data. These events included processions and meetings. On Thursday, The Trinamool Congress, Congress, BJP, BSP, CPI and the CPI(M) had sought permission from poll authorities in West Bengal to hold at least 20 campaigning events, including processions, meetings and 'street corner' meets. Citing planned events, sources in the commission had on Thursday said that the poll panel took a "judicious" decision to ban campaigning in West Bengal from Thursday night, and not morning, as it was against abruptly taking away the right of the political parties to seek votes, but at the same time, wanted the violence to end ahead of the May 19 polls. The commission has come under attack from political parties for not curtailing campaigning in the nine Lok Sabha seats in the state from Thursday morning. The opposition alleged that it was done to accommodate the rallies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the state. The campaigning in West Bengal ended at 10.00 pm Thursday. It was otherwise scheduled to end on Friday at 6.00 pm. The EC's action on Wednesday came a day after parts of Kolkata witnessed widespread violence during BJP president Amit Shah's massive roadshow in the city. A bust of 19th century Bengali icon Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar was also vandalised during the violence. The constituencies where campaigning has been curtailed are -- Dum Dum, Barasat, Basirhat, Jaynagar, Mathurapur, Diamond Harbour, Jadavpur, Kolkata Dakshin and Kolkata Uttar. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The 200th birth anniversary of Queen Victoria, the Empress of India during the British Raj era, will be marked with a special exhibition that explores her complex love affair with the country that was her colony. 'Victoria: Woman and Crown' opens at Kensington Palace in London next Friday, 200 years since her birth on May 24, 1819 at the same palace as Princess Victoria. "Her complex love affair with India will form one of the central themes, from the forced Anglicisation of a deposed Maharaja (Duleep Singh) in the 1850s to her personal appointment of an Indian Secretary (Abdul Karim) in 1888," Historic Royal Palaces said in a statement, announcing the bicentenary exhibition. As the former ruler of the Sikh Empire, deposed during the Anglo-Sikh wars with the annexation of Punjab under Maharaja Ranjit Singh, his son Maharaja Duleep Singh was exiled to Britain, where he was first introduced to Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace. After this meeting, the Queen described the young Maharajah in her journal as "16 & extremely handsome...(he) has a pretty, graceful & dignified manner. He was beautifully dressed & covered with diamonds". The meeting is believed to have kicked off a lifelong interest in Singh and his family, with Victoria acting as godmother to his daughter Sophia, and offering his children "grace and favour" accommodation at Hampton Court Palace following his death. "Examples of the Maharajah's opulent wardrobe go on display at Kensington Palace for the first time, alongside a portrait of Duleep Singh commissioned by Victoria from one of her favourite artists," noted Historic Royal Palaces. The other Indian connect explored as part of the exhibition is the role played by Victoria's Indian servant Abdul Karim, on whom the Queen bestowed the title of "Munshi" or teacher. Their close friendship has been captured in 'Victoria and Abdul: The Extraordinary True Story of the Queen's Closest Confidant' by London-based author Shrabani Basu and was recently also adapted for the screen with Dame Judi Dench taking on the role of Queen Victoria. Under the Munshi's tutelage, the monarch learned to read and write Urdu and one of her diaries carefully inscribed in the language form one of the star items of the display, set alongside items showcasing Victoria's relationship with her Empire. Polly Putnam, exhibition curator at Historic Royal Palaces, said: "Although considered one of the most famous women in history, Queen Victoria's personality, passions and politics remain little known. "To mark the 200th anniversary of her birth at Kensington Palace, this year we'll be re-examining the life of this fascinating and contradictory monarch, whose cultural legacy and impact on world affairs are still felt to this day." The new display, alongside a tour of the rooms the Queen inhabited as a young girl at Kensington Palace, is aimed at exploring the private woman behind the public monarch, and re-examine Victoria's later life and legacy. As the birthplace of the Victorian era, Kensington Palace played a central role in the shaping of the monarch. It was at Kensington that Victoria spent her formative years under the gaze of her ever-present mother the Duchess of Kent, and it was in her apartment at the palace that she went to bed a princess and woke up a queen. As the head of an ever-growing family, Victoria had the unique challenge of balancing the role of wife and mother with that of Queen of an expanding empire. The exhibition will also assess her power and influence, and how she carefully curated her own public image. As the most famous woman in the world at the dawn of the photographic age, Victoria understood and consciously harnessed this new technology, using it both to project an image of Imperial power across continents and document the minutia of family life. Similarly, the display will consider how her organisation of the marriages of her nine children and those of her 42 grandchildren into the ruling families of Europe marked a deliberate exercise in shaping dynastic politics across the European continent, and earned her the nickname "the Grandmother of Europe". Victoria's long reign also saw the birth of four future kings. A poignant portrait of her with her son, grandson and great-grandson (the future Edward VII, George V and Edward VIII respectively) will go on display, reunited with the delicately embroidered black bodice Victoria wore when sitting for the artist. With the death of her husband Albert in 1861, Victoria adopted a wardrobe of black gowns as a potent and public symbol of her grief. Responding to this central theme of loss, a specially commissioned installation created by artist Jane Wildgoose titled 'In Sorrow Shut' will consider the enduring symbolism of Victoria's widowhood. Rare survivals from Victoria's private wardrobe will go on display at Kensington Palace for the first time including a simple cotton petticoat dated to around the time of her marriage, and a fashionable pair of silver boots recently acquired by Historic Royal Palaces with support from Art Fund providing a stark contrast to the exquisitely made, black satin gowns she was so famous for wearing. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sitting MP and Punjab Democratic Alliance candidate from Patiala, Dharamvir Gandhi, feels the BJP's nationalism is chauvinism and that India will go Pakistan's way if the armed forces are "intermixed" with the political class. The 67-year-old lawmaker also accused the Narendra Modi government of usurping the power of states and giving a free hand to right-wing "fringe" groups such as the Hindu Mahasabha, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad the Bajrang Dal. On the BJP's high-pitched nationalism narrative, Gandhi said, "It's not nationalism but chauvinism. To be nationalistic is one thing, to be chauvinist and spread hatred is other." "I am not for chauvinistic agenda. I am a proud Indian and a proud Punjabi, but I do not hate Pakistan. It is as beautiful as India," he said. He also said it's wrong on the part of the Modi government to take credit for the surgical strikes conducted by the armed forces. "It is definitely wrong (taking credit for surgical strikes). The only thing why India has not gone Pakistan's way is that the Army was kept away from the government agenda and the political class... Pakistan has borne the brunt of intermixing its army with the civil administration. India will be no different," he said. Asked if the Congress tried to score brownie points by saying that former prime minister Indira Gandhi liberated Bangladesh, the cardiologist said, "Definitely. I don't endorse Pakistan's oppression against Bangla people, but India's role in it was wrong." Accusing the NDA government of polarising society, he said, "The events which have happened, for example, Poona in Gujarat, Bhima Koregaon in Maharashtra, burning of churches and mosques, etc. This polarisation and divisive agenda are detrimental to the unity of the country. "India is a bouquet of different religious, cultural, linguistic and racial identities. If you try to pluck a flower, the bouquet will fall apart. Also, a bouquet with only one kind of flowers doesn't look beautiful." On the issue of the continuing farm crisis in Punjab, Gandhi said, "There's a need for some drastic steps. Subsidising and incentivising agriculture is imperative to save small farmers. The big corporates have their eyes set on the farm sector. It will be either cooperative or corporate." "Agriculture has already become a loss-making business. The farmer is the only person who doesn't have the right to fix the price of his produce. The government decides the price of his produce and the market economy decides the price of inputs. That's why lakhs of people have quit farming or have committed suicide," he said. In 2014, Gandhi, who was then with the Aam Aadmi Party, had stunned Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's wife Preneet Kaur. This time, he hopes his clean image and a stellar report card would help him trounce Kaur again. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India may have no representation when it comes to films at Cannes, but Indians stars Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Kangana Ranaut and Deepika Padukone put their best foot forward at the red carpet on day three. The three Indian stars, who are promoting different brands at the French Riviera, opted for sharp and powerful looks. Priyanka, in her debut Cannes appearance, oozed glamour in a custom black-and-rose gold sequin Roberto Cavalli creation. The strapless shimmery outfit with thigh-high slit complemented her curves. She completed her look with her hair side-parted in vintage waves and silver Chopard earrings and rings. Priyanka also took to Instagram to share another look from the day. The Quantico star looked fabulous in white ensemble by Saudi designer Honayda. The dress featured a pleated bottom, corset top and a pleated flowy neckpiece. Deepika, who is representing cosmetic brand L'Oreal Paris at the movie extravaganza, is known for making safe fashion choices, stepped out of her comfort zone for her first appearance of 2019. The Bollywood star wore an over-the-top Peter Dundas creation in off-white colour with huge bow, plunging neckline and thigh-high slit. The actor also experimented with her make-up as she went for dramatic reverse winged eyes and a high ponytail. Dundas shared pictures of the actor on his Instagram giving a brief of the entire look. DEEPIKA LOVE he captioned the photo. Unlike her contemporaries, Kangana, went the desi' way with her golden Kanjeevaram saree designed by Madhurya creations. The actor, teamed up her traditional attire with a shimmery corset by Falguni and Shane Peacock. Kangana is at the festival representing Grey Goose and for the party thrown by the French vodka brand she opted for a black pantsuit paired with off-white corset. Apart from the three Bollywood divas, popular TV actor Hina Khan also walked the red carpet in a Ziad Nakad Couture creation. She attended the premiere of Brazilian drama film Bacurau. Cannes Film Festival runs till May 25. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indian painters such as Tyeb Mehta and Maqbool Fida Husain are among a host of modern and contemporary artists from South Asia to be celebrated at an auction in London next month. Christie's annual summer auction of 'South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art', to be held on June 11, comprises 77 lots, almost entirely from private collections from Europe, India, Asia, US and Australia. Following India's participation and Pakistan's debut at this year's Venice Biennale, this year's auction will celebrate art from both the countries, the auction house said. "The auction is led by the striking 'Falling Figure with Bird' painted in 2002 by Tyeb Mehta (1925-2009). This compelling composition manifests the sense of angst, helplessness and fear that Mehta felt at the societal violence and tragedy he experienced in the aftermath of Partition," the auction notes read. The painting, estimated to fetch between 1,500,000 pounds and 2,000,000 pounds, depicts entwined avian and human figures, drawn perhaps from Greek mythology characters like Icarus or Phaethon, who failed in their quests of flight and union with divinity. The sale also includes exceptional paintings by members of the seminal Progressive Artists' Group and their associates, which are completely fresh to the market and provide new documentation of the critical formative period in the development of the Indian modern art. These new discoveries are described as "jewels" in the auction and highlight the touching friendships that inspired some of the Indian artists in the 1950s and 1960s on the path to becoming the major modern masters. These include MF Husain's colossal, eight feet, 1958 painting, 'Untitled (Village Scenes)', estimated between 500,000 pounds and 700,000 pounds. It is described as a "visual almanac of the artist's early oeuvre". Christie's notes: "Each constituent vignette in this multipart composition represents Husain's most iconic tropes, quintessential to his artistic output, establishing his assured draftsmanship and mastery of line and colour." According to the catalogue, the 'Untitled (Village Scenes)' is from a rare and seminal series of large-scale works encapsulating the charm and vibrancy of the Indian countryside creating a storyboard of the nation. A further 1966 Husain entitled 'Gopees and Krishna', estimated between 250,000 pounds and 350,000 pounds, was acquired directly from the artist by the Seventh Earl and Countess of Harewood and represents the close friendship they developed over several visits to India in the 1960s and 1970s. They became lifelong friends and Husain visited Harewood House in Yorkshire, where the painting was exhibited in 2007 only a few years before his death, Christie's reveals. The auction also offers works by Sayed Haider Raza from the early 1950s, coming from the collection of his close friend and classmate at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts in Paris, Lydia Lavrov-Nordentoft. The catalogue notes: "Each painting extolls Raza's love of his quintessential genre, landscape, in unique and contrasting ways." 'Untitled (Church in Landscape)' is estimated between 150,000 pounds and 200,000 pounds. Another Raza painting, 'Untitled (Cityscape)', is also estimated between 150,000 pounds and 200,000 pounds. The painting is a delicate rendering of rooftops executed in gouache. These were most likely the rooftops seen from Raza's apartment window in Paris. The auction next month will also feature a key example of Ram Kumar's restrained portraits of the 1950s '(Untitled)' that express the artist's despondent reaction to the harsh realities of urban life that he came face to face with at the time in France and India. In the painting, which is estimated between 180,000 pounds and 250,000 pounds, the central figure, a young man in a grey suit, becomes a universal symbol of this disenchantment, and sense of individualism being subsumed by the anonymous homogeneity of the city Kumar portrays him in. The painting was acquired directly from the artist by the eminent author and critic Shamlal, who authored a series of monographs on Indian artists, known as the 'Sadanga Series on Modern and Contemporary Indian Art'. Francis Newton Souza's 'The Prophet' was painted in 1955 at the apex of his career in London. The painting depicts an austere anguished man dressed in a business suit, pierced by a single arrow in his neck, representing the fundamental themes of religion, sinners, saints and martyrdom. The auction will also include the largest ever selection of modern and contemporary works by artists from Pakistan and its diaspora, spanning the period of colonial rule in the Indian Subcontinent to the present. This comprehensive selection include works by Abdur Rehman Chughtai, Allah Bux, Anwar Jalal Shemza, Sadequain, Rashid Rana, Shahzia Sikander, Imran Qureshi, Waqas Khan, Ali Kazim and Bani Abidi, among others. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Indian Navy has successfully test-fired a Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM), achieving a significant milestone to enhance its anti-air warfare capability, the defence ministry said Friday. The test-firing of the missile was undertaken on the western seaboard by Indian naval ships Kochi and Chennai. "The Indian Navy achieved a significant milestone in enhancing its anti air warfare capability with the maiden cooperative engagement firing of the MRSAM," the defence ministry said in a statement. The test-firing of the missile was carried out jointly by the Indian Navy, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Israel Aerospace Industries. The DRDO has jointly developed the missile in collaboration with Israel Aerospace Industries. The MRSAM has been manufactured by Bharat Dynamics Limited. "These surface to air missiles are fitted onboard the Kolkata class destroyers and would also be fitted on all future major warships of the Indian Navy," the ministry said. "With the successful proving of this cooperative mode of engagement, the Indian Navy has become a part of a select group of Navies that have this niche capability," it added. The ministry said the missiles will significantly enhance the combat effectiveness of the Indian Navy. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An Indian-origin man in the US has been indicted for committing wire fraud to the tune of USD 98 million, the Department of Justice said on Friday. The 34-count indictment charges Gopalkrishna Pai from Texas, previously residing in Puerto Rico, of being engaged in a scheme to defraud merchant processors and others by submitting false information and falsified documentation to create merchant accounts in the name of straw companies to process credit card and electronic payments and to receive a substantial financial benefit. The fraudulent scheme employed by Pai disguised his involvement and use of over 100 companies formed to facilitate the processing of approximately USD 98 million in gross revenue in online retail sales, the Department of Justice alleged. As a part of the conspiracy, Pai owned and operated F9 Advertising LLC (F9), a for profit limited liability company organised in Puerto Rico in May 2014 and registered under the Export Services Act, Puerto Rico Act 20 of 2012. F9 engaged in the sale of personal care products, including skin creams, through the internet utilising a negative option marketing model. Negative option marketing is a category of commercial transactions in which sellers interpret a customer's failure to take an affirmative action, either to reject an offer or cancel an agreement, as assent to be charged for goods or services. Pai allegedly created over 100 liability companies (Straw Companies), obtained individual Employer ID Numbers (EINs) from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for each Straw Company and opened individual commercial bank accounts under his control for each straw company. False documents were then created and submitted to merchant processers to create merchant accounts to process online sales, and to disguise Gopalkrishna Pai's involvement. Federal prosecutors alleged that the true owner and operator of the Straw Companies was disguised through the falsification of bank records and EIN tax documents and other information in order to prevent merchant processors and their related financial institutions from having knowledge of the true owner and operator, which was the defendant. Credit card and other payments processed by the merchant processors were paid to accounts in the name of the Straw Companies, controlled by the defendant, and transferred to F9. As part of the scheme to defraud the merchant processors, Pai exchanged email communications and internet transmissions through interstate wire to submit documents, including applications, containing materially false representations and falsified documentation, which included real individuals' personal identification information like names, social security numbers and signatures. This fraud scheme and conspiracy generated approximately USD 98 million in total revenue, processed based on materially false information, through the Merchant Processors in the names of the Straw Companies. This individual took advantage of Puerto Rico and Law 20 to create a company, F9 Advertising, to generate significant revenue through a fraudulent scheme based on lies and falsified documents, US Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodrguez-Vlez said. The indictment underscores the USAO's commitment to the investigation and prosecution of all types of fraud and to our continued efforts to ensure that Puerto Rico is not a safe haven for criminal activity, she said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Perth-based Indian restaurant has been fined a whopping 25,000 Australian dollars for multiple food regulation breaches, according to a media report. The Curry Club Indian Restaurant on South Street and its owner Nilish Dokhe were convicted after the restaurant fell short on a number of fronts when it came to cleanliness and not providing appropriate hand washing facilities. The restaurant was found breaching seven food acts, including failure to store food properly protecting it from the likelihood of contamination, failure to maintain food premises to a standard of cleanliness and failure to clean and sanitise food contact surfaces. Health inspectors during their visit to the restaurant last December found non-compliance in relation to sewage and water disposal, mouldy cutting boards and a lack of hot water and soap, The West Australian reported. A spokesman for the City of Fremantle said inspectors found a number of breaches, including an open spoon drain that had been cut across the floor and was covered in mould and slime. "Waste water was also observed leaking directly onto the floor in the main kitchen from drainage pipes located under the sink," he said. Waste water appeared to spill from the wash sink, drains and bucket trap and flow around into the cool room, posing a further risk of cross contamination, the spokesman said, adding that a number of chopping boards used for food preparation were warped and mouldy. The spokesman said a chest freezer was observed to be rusty, mouldy and full of old food scraps, while the cool room door was covered in a build-up of dirt, mould and grease. Drainage pipes under the sink were mouldy and slimy, while no hot water, hand soap or hand towels were available. There was also no chemical sanitiser used to clean food contact surfaces, the dishwasher was not working and several dirty and mouldy dishwashing racks were found. A manhole cover in the ceiling was missing, leaving a large opening directly into the ceiling space, the spokesman said. The breaches amounted to a fine of 25,000 dollars for the restaurant. The report quoted the restaurant owner Dokhe as saying that he was not on site during the inspection, however, ensured the kitchen was cleaned to the proper standard the next day. Other issues identified in an improvement notice issued by the city's health officers, such as cracked tiles, were fixed in the following weeks. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Aurangabad Industrial City (AURIC) in Maharashtra is looking to attract investments of up to Rs 70,000 crore over the next 12 years, which can create over 1.5 lakh jobs, its joint managing director Gajanan Patil said Friday. Patil was speaking at a road show event organised here to interact with investors and apprise them about the business and growth opportunities at the 10,000 acre industrial city near Aurangabad. AURIC is a special purpose vehicle of Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (DMICDC) and Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC). "AURIC is a well-planned greenfield smart industrial city over an area of 10,000 acres in Maharashtra as a part of DelhiMumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC). About 52 industrial plots have been allotted. "Two mega projects, one is of about Rs 200 crore, and 11 SME units have already started their production there. The city is ready for investors," he told reporters on the sidelines of the event. AURIC is eyeing investments in the range of Rs 60,000-70,000 crore from domestic as well as foreign investors for setting up their units, he said, adding that this can lead to creation of over 1.5 lakh jobs. There are tremendous business opportunities for investors in AURIC and companies can invest in areas like back offices, manufacturing units, equipment assembling units, food packaging units, sales office, among others, he said. The city is strategically located at a distance of 15 minutes from the Aurangabad International Airport and 40 km from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust's dry port and container terminal at Jalna, he added. "The entire land has been acquired under Maharashtra Industrial Development Act from farmers/land owners on consent basis, hence there will be no land issue for the investors," he said. While 60 per cent of the total land in AURIC is to be used for industrial purpose, 40 per cent is for residential, commercial, institutions, open spaces and social-cultural amenities, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the nation's biggest oil firm, has tied up imports from the US and taken additional volumes from Saudi Arabia to make up for the bulk of the volumes lost because of sanctions prohibiting buying oil from Iran, top officials said Friday. Iran supplied more than a tenth of India's oil needs before the reimposition of US sanctions against the Persian Gulf nation stopped supplies this month. "We have tied up supplies from alternate sources. No single country can make up for the volumes lost, that's why we are keeping our sourcing diversified. We are fairly diversified in our sourcing and we have robust sourcing in place to make up for all of the Iranian oil," IOC Chairman Sanjiv Singh told reporters here. India bought close to 24 million tonnes of crude oil from Iran in the fiscal ended March 31 (2018-19). Of this, IOC sourced about 9 million tonnes from Iran. IOC and other Indian refiners stopped importing crude oil from Iran this month following the US' move to end sanction waivers. To make up for the shortfall, IOC has used optional volumes available from suppliers such as Saudi Arabia. Also, it has for the first time signed term import contracts with two US suppliers, he said, adding in all 4.6 million tonnes of crude oil from the US has been signed up for 2019. IOC Director (Finance) A K Sharma said the company has an annual contract to buy 5.6 million tonnes of crude oil from Saudi Arabia. On top of this, it has the option to import an additional 2 million tonnes. "We have exercised our optional volumes with Saudi Arabia and will be importing 2 million barrels of additional crude oil from Saudi Arabia in six months period beginning July," he said, adding the optional volumes imported from July to December total to about 1.5-1.6 million tonnes. From the US, IOC has signed a deal with Norwegian oil company Equinor for buying 3 million tonnes of crude during the year and an additional 1.6 million tonnes from Algerian national oil company Sonatrach. Equinor and Sonatrach produce crude oil in the US. Singh said refiners import crude oil from a wide range of sources and have been lining up alternate supplies for the past months. "The US was to take a decision on waiver extension in April and Indian refineries had prepared plans for all eventualities. We have alternate sources lined up to make up for any shortfall," he said. US President Donald Trump last year withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers and revived a range of sanctions against the Persian Gulf nation. It, however, granted a six-month waiver from sanctions to eight countries -- China, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, Italy, and Greece -- but with a condition that they would reduce their purchases of Iranian oil. The waiver began in November 2018 and expired on May 2. India had agreed to restrict its monthly purchase to 1.25 million tonnes to get the waiver. But since it had made robust purchases in the period prior to November 2018, India's overall crude oil imports from Iran totalled nearly 24 million tonnes in 2018-19 as compared to 22.6 million tonnes bought in the 2017-18. "We have optional volumes (over and above the term contracts) from a number of suppliers which we can exercise to make up for any shortfall from Iran," Singh said. "We can also go to the spot (or current) market to source crude." IOC has the option to take 0.7 million tonnes of crude oil from Mexico on top of its committed purchase of 0.7 million tonnes during the year. Similarly, it has optional volumes of 1.5 million tonnes from Kuwait and another 1 million tonnes from the UAE, Sharma said. "We have all the supplies tied up and I think globally crude will be readily available but it is difficult to say what the impact will be on price," Singh added. India, the world's third-biggest oil consumer, meets more than 80 per cent of its oil needs through imports. Iran was its third-largest supplier after Iraq and Saudi Arabia and was meeting more than 10 per cent of its total needs. Iranian oil is a lucrative buy for refiners as the Persian Gulf nation provides 60 days of credit for purchases, terms not available from suppliers of substitute crudes -- Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Nigeria, and the US. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Friday urged "friends" including and to take "concrete action" to safeguard the 2015 nuclear deal after the US withdrew from the agreement. On a visit to Beijing, Zarif said he would also talk with Chinese officials about "bilateral ties and the very dangerous issues that are ongoing in our region today," according to a video published on the Iranian foreign ministry website. Amid rising tensions in the Gulf, Iran on Thursday rejected negotiations with the US and said it was showing "maximum restraint" after Washington sent extra military forces to the region against what it claimed was an imminent threat from Tehran. Zarif called on the community to save the JCPOA, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The landmark 2015 deal between Iran and world powers including the EU and the United States offered sanctions relief to Iran for scaling back its nuclear programme. In May 2018 President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the deal and reinstated unilateral economic sanctions. "If the community and other JCPOA member countries and our friends in the JCPOA like and want to keep this achievement, it is required that they make sure the Iranian people enjoy the benefits of the JCPOA with concrete actions," Zarif said. Zarif said last week that only and had supported Iran and helped it keep the nuclear deal going, and accused other parties to the agreement of letting Tehran down. China was one of the eight global buyers -- India, Turkey, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Italy and Greece -- that was allowed to import Iranian crude oil before the US ended waivers in early May. Zarif's China trip comes after visits to Turkmenistan, India and Japan in the past week. Despite Washington's campaign of "maximum pressure" against Iran, the Islamic Republic has vowed to keep selling oil to its main customers, especially China, even if it takes using indirect means. On May 8, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Iran would stop observing restrictions on stocks of enriched uranium and heavy water agreed under the nuclear deal in retaliation for the US withdrawal and the reimposition of sanctions. In his announcement, Rouhani threatened to go further if the European members of the deal failed to start delivering on their promises to help Iran circumvent US sanctions within 60 days. China in response called on all parties to uphold the nuclear deal in what it called a "shared responsibility". The Islamic State group Thursday claimed an ambush on an army patrol in Niger that killed at least 28 troops. A military patrol was ambushed on Tuesday near the village of Tongo Tongo in the western Tillaberi region, near the Mali border, security sources told AFP. The ambush came one day after insurgents attacked Niger's high-security Koutoukale jail, which holds the country's most dangerous detainees, including jihadists from groups active in the Sahel area and from Nigeria's Boko Haram. IS claimed responsibility for both the ambush and the prison attack in a statement published on its social media channels. It said Tuesday's ambush killed and wounded around 40 soldiers. Niger is one of a number of poor, fragile countries in the Sahel region that have been hit by jihadist violence. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Japan and China have agreed to boost their relations ahead of a planned visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Japan in June, his first since coming to power in 2013. China's top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, told Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday that the timing is appropriate for the two sides to deepen ties. Abe said Xi's visit would be a catalyst for further developing relations. Yang is meeting top officials in Japan to discuss details of Xi's visit, when he will attend a Group of 20 summit. The two Asian powers have disputes over the ownership of tiny islands and undersea deposits in the East China Sea, as well as over wartime history, but their relations have improved recently amid the U.S. trade war with China. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A local court Friday sentenced a missionary school head and five others to life imprisonment in connection with the gang-rape of five tribal women in Khunti district last year. Additional District Judge Rajesh Kumar pronounced life sentence to Father Alfonso Aiend, the principal of the missionary school, John Jonas Tudu alias Yusuf and Balram Samad under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 109 and 111 (abetment of crime) of IPC, Public Prosecutor Sushil Kumar Jaiswal said. The other three convicts -- Ayub Sandi Purti, Jonas Mundi and Baji Samad the banned People's Liberation Front of India (PLFI), a splinter group of the CPI (Maoist), -- were awarded life sentence under sections 376 (rape), 354B (assault or use of criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 363 (kidnapping), 365 (kidnapping with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine a person) among others, he said. The court, which had convicted the six on May 7, also slapped a fine of Rs 1 lakh on each of them. All the six were arrested after the gang-rape on June 19 last year. Aind was arrested on the charge of aiding and abetting the crime. The victims were part of a troupe that visited a school in Kochang in Khunti district to enact a play on anti-human trafficking and migration when the five persons took them forcibly to a nearby forest and raped them at gunpoint. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Jammu and Kashmir High Court Friday ordered Youtube, Facebook and Twitter to remove all posts from their platforms which disclosed the identity of a three-year-old victim of rape in Bandipora district of the state. A division bench of Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Tashi Rabstan also issued notices to five Kashmir valley-based newspapers for disclosing the young girl's identity. "We forthwith direct the Youtube, Facebook and Twitter to remove all materials, posts or publications which tend to disclose the identity and name of the infant victim of the sexual violence in the May 8, 2019 incident in the Bandipora district and to ensure that no such material is uploaded on their channels, the bench said. The court gave the direction after it was apprised by amicus curiae Farah Bashir of the photos and screen-shots displaying the victim's pictures on Youtube and circulated on Twitter and Facebook. The court earlier on May 15 had sought from amicus curiae Bashir to submit a report to it on the print and electronic media publications identifying the minor victim of the sexual violence. In her report, Bashir named five publications which allegedly disclosed the victim's name and identity. "The Registry shall also issue court notice without process fee to the five newspapers to show cause as to why action be not taken against them for the violations of section 23 of the POCSO Act committed by them," said the court in its order, seeking newspapers' replies by May 28. The court also directed the state's Information Department to place before it a report on measures taken by them to comply with the provisions of section 44 of the J-K POCSO Act, which requires the government to make wide publicity of the provisions of the law aimed at curbing the violence against children. After issuing the notices, the court listed the matter for next hearing on May 28. The state high court had taken suo moto cognizance of the May 8 rape of the three-year-old girl in Bandipora on Wednesday. The court had also directed inspector general of police (Kashmir zone) to file a status report by Friday, which was placed before the court by senior Additional Advocate General B A Dar in a sealed cover. The young girl was allegedly raped by her neighbour, leading to widespread outrage and protests against the incident. The accused has been arrested by police, which have set up a special investigation team for a speedy probe into the incident. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Kamala Harris, the first Indian-origin Senator castigated President Donald Trump's merit-based immigration plan saying it was "short-sighted" and invoked her unique background as a Democratic candidate for the White House in 2020 -- being the daughter of an Indian immigrant. Trump on Thursday rolled out the system that would prioritise high-skilled workers over those who already have relatives in the country when determining who receives green cards. Harris, Senator from California, criticised the proposal, which Democratic leaders have vowed to fight, saying that Americans routinely celebrate a "unified culture" and the US Constitution guarantees equality for all people. "I found the announcement today to be short-sighted," said the 54-year-old California Democrat, slamming the Trump plan before an Asian American audience in Las Vegas. On the plan's intention to award immigrants certain points based on education or skills, Harris said, "We cannot allow people to start parsing and pointing fingers and creating hierarchies among immigrants." "The beauty of the tradition of our country has been to say, when you walk through the door, you are equal. We spoke those words in 1776, 'we are all equal' and should be treated that way. Not, oh well, if you come from this place, you might only have a certain number of points, and if you come from that place you might have a different number of points." Asians have historically immigrated as family units, Harris pointed out. At an event hosted by an Asian American group, One APIA Nevada, Harris dove into her barrier-breaking election to the US Senate as the first South Asian to serve in the body's history. She acknowledged her presidential run as a biracial woman helping to shatter notions about being black, Asian and a woman. The first South Asian-American US senator in history her mother is Indian, her father is Jamaican Harris said breaking barriers was more than about personal achievement as she eyed becoming the first woman commander in chief. "It's about making a statement about who can do what and redefining images about who can do what and how they do it," she said. Trump and others have "perverted" the issue of immigration, Harris added, as she echoed her call for pathway to citizenship. She noted how as California attorney general she had alerted county sheriffs that they were not required to comply with detainer requests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In a lighthearted moment, an audience member asked Harris if she would commit to wearing a traditional Indian garment to her inauguration, known as a sari. "Let's first win," Harris said, smiling. "My mother raised us with a very strong appreciation for our cultural background and pride. Celebrations that we all participate in regardless of how our last name is spelled. It's the beauty of who we are as a nation." In her campaign stump speech, Harris always includes stories about how her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, impacted every aspect of her life. And while she has spoken about visits to India during her book tour, Harris on the trail has leaned far more into the African American identity her mother raised her to embrace. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A woman from Kyrgyzstan has been arrested by customs officials at the airport here for allegedly trying to smuggle in gold and cigarettes worth Rs 27 lakh, the customs department said Friday. The accused was intercepted after her arrival from Osh (Kyrgyzstan) via Moscow on Thursday. A detailed personal and baggage search of the passenger resulted in the recovery of four gold chains (collectively weighing 803 grams) and 5,000 sticks of Davidoff brand cigarettes, the customs department said in a statement. The gold and cigarettes worth Rs 26.73 lakh has been seized and the passenger was arrested, it said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Expressing concern over muted private investments, 15th Finance Commission chairman N K Singh Friday said in order to push economic growth, the new government should take on the challenge of introducing reforms in areas including land and labour. He also noted that fiscal rectitude is an important intergradient in sustaining long term economic growth and is the core of long term macro economic stability. Macro economic stability is one of the things that will guide India's high growth trajectory, he said at an event organised by Assocham here. On the reforms front, Singh said "one single thing that we could not reform was factors of production -- labour, land and capital. We were unable to achieve success on reforming factors of production." Labour laws remain extremely complicated and there is need to bring reform by revisiting some of the issues like long term contracts and dispute resolution, he said. Besides, there is a need to visit the area of cost, procedure and processes of land acquisition, he said and added that the cost of capital remain high which needs to come down so that business become globally competitive. "The fact that our economy is not competitive is ... connected with inability of successive governments to be able to take on this difficult challenge. In terms of wishlist for any new government it would be that in this first year in office will they look to this...it needs political will". "That is why I think the sagacity of the Indian people to elect strong, stable government will be one of the important factors which will bring reform in some of the factors of production," he added. With regard to high debt-to-GDP ratio, he said, this ratio is misaligned with other peer group countries. The effort of the government is to bring this down and both centre and state governments are well on track to bring debt-GDP ratio to prescribed level, he added. He also said the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Committee 2017, has suggested bringing down the debt-to-GDP ratio to 60 per cent by 2024-25. The FRBM committee, which was headed by Singh, also recommended that the states should bring down their debt-to-GDP ratio to 20 per cent by the same period. Central government debt is estimated at 48.9 per cent as a percentage of GDP for 2018-19. It is expected that Central government liabilities will come down to 47.3 per cent of GDP this fiscal, as per Budget 2019-20. The outstanding liabilities of the state governments stand at 23.4 per cent of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) at end-March 2017, with a range of 46.3 per cent in Punjab and 15.1 per cent in Chhattisgarh, as per an RBI study on state budgets. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sri Lankan Police said on Friday that they have arrested a school principal and a teacher for their alleged links to the local Islamist extremist group National Thawheed Jamaath (NTJ) blamed by the government for the deadly Easter Sunday bombings which killed nearly 260 people. "The 56-year-old principal and the 47-year-old teacher at a school in Ataweerawewa were arrested from Horowpathana city on Thursday, " police officials said. "The Special Task Force in Horowpathana made the arrests," they said. The suspects have been identified as Noor Mohamed Addu Ul and Ajibul Jabar, residents of Kapugollewa and Horowpathana, Colombo Page reported. The police have received information that they have had direct ties with the NTJ and the leader Mohamad Sahran Hashim, who carried out the suicide attack on Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo on April 21, it said. The suspects will be produced before the Kebithigollewa Magistrate court Friday, it added. Nine suicide bombers, including a woman, carried out a series of devastating blasts that tore through three churches and three luxury hotels, killing 258 people and injuring over 500 others on the Easter Sunday. The claimed responsibility for the attack, but the government has blamed the NTJ for the bombings. Widespread communal riots have followed the Easter blasts in Sri Lanka. Anti-Muslim riots have killed one person and caused extensive damage to homes, businesses and mosques in Sri Lanka this week. The Sri Lankan police have said over 70 people have been arrested for attacking the Muslims. Lawyers for a jailed Moroccan journalist Friday urged a UN special rapporteur to request that authorities release his phone, to retrieve an "exchange of messages" with murdered Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi. "Arbitrarily detained Moroccan journalist Taoufik Bouachrine's defence urges Agnes Callamard, UN Special Rapporteur" to make a request to the Moroccan authorities for access to Bouachrine's phone, the detained journalist's lawyers said in a statement. Khashoggi -- a contributor to the Washington Post and a critic of the Saudi government -- was killed and dismembered in October at the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul by a team of 15 agents sent from Riyadh. His body has not been recovered. Callamard, UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, is conducting an independent inquiry into Khashoggi's grisly demise. The statement said Bouachrine's counsel had sent a letter to Callamard urging her to request release of the phone, which it said had been confiscated by Moroccan authorities. Bouachrine has said that his phone "contains messages from Jamal Khashoggi warning him of existing threats against him", the statement added. It cited messages exchanged between October 2017 and January 2018 as likely to be of particular relevance to the special rapporteur's investigation. Khashoggi's warnings to Bouachrine regarding his safety stemmed from "the many articles he (Bouachrine) had published that were critical of Saudi Arabia and (Crown Prince) Mohammed bin Salman", the statement by Bouachrine's lawyers added. A Moroccan court sentenced Bouachrine to 12 years in prison in November 2018, after he was found guilty of human trafficking, abuse of power for sexual purposes, rape and attempted rape. Bouachrine maintains his innocence and has described his convictions as politically motivated, while rights group Amnesty International has called for his release. Bouachrine's newspaper Akhbar Al-Yaum has long been known for editorials and cartoons critical of the Moroccan authorities. Khashoggi told Bouachrine "not to travel to Saudi Arabia, and also alerted him that he was in danger of being killed" even in Morocco's capital Rabat, the statement said. A UN Human Rights Council working group reported in January that Bouachrine was the victim of "arbitrary detention" and "judicial harassment". It also cited a lack of evidence and alleged witness intimidation. Moroccan authorities firmly deny the accusations. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Maharashtra Congress Legislature Party (CLP) will meet on May 20 to choose its new leader after the resignation of Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil as CLP leader and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, state unit chief Ashok Chavan said Friday. Addressing a press conference, Chavan said AICC general secretary Mallikarjun Kharge will be present at the meeting. Vikhe Patil had quit after his son Sujay joined the BJP when the NCP refused to the leave Ahmednagar Lok Sabha seat for ally Congress. Chavan also said candidates have been asked to submit campaign reports, hoping that these would come in by May 20. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Maharashtra Congress president Ashok Chavan Friday criticised Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for "failing" to ensure effective drought relief measures in the state. Addressing a press conference, Chavan said Fadnavis should come out of his "air conditioned office and use of technology" to oversee drought relief measures and asked him to tour the state instead to know people's hardships. He was referring to the "audio bridge technology" that Fadnavis uses to get updates on the drought on his mobile phone. Chavan, a former CM, also targeted Fadnavis for making it mandatory for cattle camps to use software produced by a particular company for bar-coding and tagging animals there. Chavan also said TDS has been deducted on GST levied to procure fodder in cattle camps. "This was found by our committee which traveled in drought affected areas to see if whether relief measures are being implemented," he said. Chavan said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had declared Jalyukt Shivar programme a success and 16,000 villages have become water neutral, and went on ask how the drought happened in that case. "How did the drought happen, if the scheme was a success? Where has the money spent for the scheme gone? It was said that Rs 4,300 crore has been given by the Centre for drought relief. The state government should give district-wise breakup of how this money has been spent," he said. Chavan said as per the report prepared by the party's committee which toured drought affected areas in the last ten days, people have to pay Rs 4000 per big water tankers and Rs 2000 for each small tanker. "Without much delay, the government should give Rs one lakh per hectare for horticulture farmers in drought areas and Rs 50,000 per hectare for crop loss in dryland areas," Chavan said. "Tankers for drinking water are not supplied regularly is one of the complaints of the local people. Water quality is also extremely poor," he said. Chavan said drought in the state has been very severe and due to lack of planning by the Fadnavis government, people were suffering. He said farmer suicides were a black spot on the state's history. Chavan said the Congress would send its drought report to the chief minister. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A traffic constable was Friday convicted for taking a bribe of Rs 1000 in September 2014 and sentenced to two years in jail. Sessions Judge Rahul R Bhosle also fined Constable Vilas Gore Rs 4,000, said additional public prosecutor Kadambini Khandagale. "He had asked a bribe of Rs 1,000 to allow the complainant's tankers to ply freely on the streets. He was caught in an ACB trap while accepting the money on September 16, 2014," Khandagale said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The 'lahar' (wave) of 2014 has degenerated into 'kahar' (disaster) in the last five years and the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar is all set to blow away the BJP- led NDA, actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha claimed here Friday. He said in the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh too, where his wife has been fielded by the SP-BSP combine, though the is contesting separately, the will be similarly swept away. "Mahagathbandhan un logon ke parkhachche udaa dega" (grand alliance will blow them away), Sinha, who seeks to retain his Patna Sahib seat on a ticket, said at a press conference here on the final day of campaign. He is pitted against Union minister Ravishankar Prasad in Patna Sahib seat that will see voting on May 19. Lambasting the BJP, for claiming that Sinha had been unhappy over not getting a ministerial berth in the Narendra government, the actor, quipped this is tantamount to "chori oopar se seenazori" (commit a wrongdoing and then brazen it out). "Let us, for a moment, assume that I had issues over not getting a ministerial berth, Now could the one man show and two man army (a term Sinha has been using to describe the under and Amit Shah) explain why it treated badly stalwarts like L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi," he asked. "The should also explain why an intellectual giant like Arun Shourie, who was with the party, is now so bitterly opposed to it and what led Yashwant Sinha, who was once such a powerful leader, to quit the party in disgust," Sinha, who was accompanied by party colleague and former Union minister Subodh Kant Sahay, said. "Their problem was, I was speaking the truth, I was speaking about the huge inconvenience caused to the people and harm done to the economy through demonetization, I was speaking against the shoddy implementation of the GST, which has made our traders suffer and I was asking the government to come clean on the Rafale deal," the second-term MP from Patna Sahib said. "At Yesterday's roadshow held by Rahul Gandhi, where the turnout was historic and the enthusiasm verged on hysterical, somebody teased me with the question 'Chhenu aaya tha' (did Chhenu come), I said I was not sure but Chowkidaar chor hai certainly reverberated through the air," he added "Chhenu aaya tha" is a popular dialogue from the old movie Mere Apne wherein Sinha had played the role of the antagonist named Chhenu a street ruffian fond of delivering pungent one-liners. Sinha showered praise on coalition partners for making the roadshow a success and lambasted the BJP for meting out ill- treatment to jailed supremo Lalu Prasad, who is serving sentences in fodder scam cases. The slogan "jail ka taala tootega, Lalu Yadav chootega" (the padlock on the jails gate will be prised open and Lalu will be set free) would soon become a reality, he hoped. Speaking at the press conference, Sahay said the BJP once bragged it was going to get 400 plus. Now it has scaled down its bluster by 100 seats. Seriously speaking, we are confident of emerging as the single largest party and we acknowledge that states like Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Orissa where we do not have an alliance with the dominant regional parties, will play a major contributory role in formation of the next government. He ducked queries about the possibility of becoming the Prime Minister saying we will discuss that at meetings of opposition parties scheduled in New Delhi on May 21 and then again after results are out on May 23. We do not believe in the BJP style of authoritarian leadership. Sonia Gandhi had ample support for taking up the top post after the 2004 general elections, but she decided otherwise in national interest, the former Union minister remarked. Industrialist Anand Mahindra Friday said Mahatma Gandhi's legacy is "sacred" to us, and equated attempts to damage the same with the Taliban militia's acts of destroying statues in Afghanistan. Mahindra's comments in a tweet come amid a controversy stoked by BJP's Bhopal candidate Pragya Thakur, a terror accused, praising Gandhi's killer Nathuram Godse as a patriot. "For 75 years, Indias been the land of the Mahatma; a beacon when the world lost its morality. We used to be pitied for being poor but we were always rich since Bapu inspired billions globally," the outspoken industrialist, who chairs the diversified USD 20 billion group, said. "Some things must remain sacred. Or we become the Taliban, destroying statues that sustain us," he said, without naming Pragya or referring explicitly top her comments. The tweet was retweeted by over 6,000 users in a matter of hours, including by Niti Aayog chief executive Amitabh Kant. During an election rally in Madhya Pradesh, Thakur had Thursday said "Godse was a patriot, is a patriot, and will remain a patriot. Those who call him a terrorist should look within they will get a reply in this election." The remarks, a reaction to actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan's comments calling Godse as the first Hindu terrorist, led to a widespread criticism, including from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Thakur, who is facing trial in the Malegaon blast case that killed six people, has apologised for the statement. Economist Rathin Roy, a member of the Prime Minister's economic advisory council, questioned if an apology is enough and called on all the political parties to come out against her statements. "I must speak as a citizen. She abuses martyr Karkare, celebrates the assassin of Gandhi. She is a Lok Sabha Candidate? Politicians from all parties not mobilising to end this? Apology is enough? Your silence is complicity. Act together to save the republic. If you can," he said on the micro-blogging site. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India's automobile majors, Mahindra and Tata, made their presence felt at Africa's biggest annual agricultural expo with their new range of products useful for farming and construction. Hundreds of farmers from across the continent flocked the four-day Nampo Agricultural Trade Show in Bothaville in South Africa (NAMPO) that ended on Friday. Mahindra and Tata, who have been taking part in the event for some time now, were among the 800 exhibitors that showcased their products during the expo. Mahindra South Africa's new range of tractors and farming implements, which were unveiled recently, were on display for the first time at the exhibition. The company also showcased its full range of products, including generators, PikUps, SUVs and construction equipment. With the PikUp now locally manufactured, we are able to develop special edition models that fit our customers' tastes, while still keeping our affordable prices, Rajesh Gupta, CEO of Mahindra South Africa, said. It is very fitting to launch the S6 Kalahari at NAMPO, as it celebrates our first year of local PikUp production. We have proudly built over 1,500 new PikUp models in Durban since officially opening the plant in May last year, he added. Mahindra has also unveiled a special Farmer's Kit, which includes cattle rails, a front wrap-around replacement bumper and a rear replacement bumper and a snorkel, all which can be added to the Pik Up vehicles. The farming community holds a very special place for us. Local farmers first supported us when we first launched our vehicle range in 2004 and they remain one of our largest customer groups, he added. Boet Erasmus, who owns several farms in Gauteng Free State province, said he would sign up for several of the new tractors and replacement of equipment on his farms. I have been a Mahindra fan since I first bought one more than 10 years ago, and the value they deliver has seen me coming back to them repeatedly, Erasmus said. Tata Automobile Corporation South Africa (TACSA), which has been exhibiting at NAMPO for the past 11 years, added its Korean Daewoo commercial trucks to the range of models in the display that featured a variety of commercial transport applications, including farming, construction and buses. The key message we want to deliver this year is that Tata and Daewoo commercial vehicles are cost effective, reliable and easily suited to a huge number of applications and business requirements, said TACSA spokesperson Charl Wilken. Thabo Maluleka from North West Province said Tata vehicles are perfect for farming conditions because of their inherent ruggedness, durability and reliability. Why I come back to Tata every time is because they always aim to keep the cost of ownership for emerging Black farmers like us as low as possible while providing effective back-up service, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Ramgarh fast track court Friday sentenced a man to 10-years imprisonment for raping a 15-year-old girl in August 2017. Ramgarh Additional District Judge (I), Babita Prasad, sentenced Suraj Barla to 10-years imprisonment for rape and five years for cheating the girl of Rs 65,000. Both the sentences will run concurrently, Additional Public Prosecutor S K Shukla said here. The judge also sentenced Rajesh Munda, an associate of Barla to five years imprisonment. The court imposed a fine of Rs 2,000 on Barla and Rs 1,000 on Munda. According to the FIR filed with Mandu police station on August 4, 2017, Barla, and his associate took the minor to Hyderabad on the pretext of a tour plan in August that year. The minor, who hails from the same village under the Mandu block, was raped and cheated of Rs 65,000, Shukla said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Maratha students Friday welcomed the Devendra Fadnavis government's decision to amend the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Reservation Act, 2018 to provide reservation to them in post-graduate medical courses. The Maharashtra Cabinet Friday gave its approval to promulgate an ordinance in this connection. The students, however, said their protest would continue till they get joining orders from the Maharashtra Common Entrance Test (CET) Cell. The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court had earlier this month said 16 per cent reservation given to the Maratha community by the state under the Socially and Economically Backward Classes (SEBC) category will not be applicable to admissions to the post-graduate (PG) medical and dental courses this year. The Supreme Court had upheld the verdict of the High Court. Following the apex court's decision, the CET Cell had issued a notice of cancellation of admissions under the SEBC quota, which affected around 290 students from the state. "Until we get the order from Maharashtra CET cell to join colleges. we will continue with the protest," Dr Sharad More, a protesting student, said. Another student, who did not wish to be named, said, they have not received the copy of the ordinance as yet. "So, we are not aware of the conditions laid down and provisions made in it. We will be satisfied only if we get the same seat and same branch," the student said. The cabinet Friday also gave its approval to reimburse the fees to the candidates from the general category, who will be affected following the promulgation of the ordinance. A minister said the general category students can seek admission under management quota in private colleges. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Dressed in a sweat-stained uniform, Lalji Vishwakarma wears a jaded look on his face as he waits the door at an economy hotel near the Varanasi railway station. The 'chowkidar' (watchman) with a slight built and a big moustache sits on a plastic stool in a corner, getting up promptly every now and then to welcome guests with a salute. In between, he also assists the hotel staff in room service, a routine he has followed for the last several decades. Ask him about the election buzz in Varanasi -- his hometown and parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vishwakarma, who has never voted in nearly 70 years of his life, says, "I am just waiting for this poll 'tamasha' (theatrics) to end". "Elections are held time and again, politicians come and go, they urge us to vote for them, they become MLAs, MPs or ministers, but we remain wherever we are," he said, with a note of pessimism in his voice. Born in 1950 in the temple town, Vishwakarma, who has seen multiple governments and elections come and go, recalled how his father struggled with the "faulty system". "As a child, I would see my father struggle to get work done at government offices. He worked in the furniture making sector and did not earn much. In local offices, he would either be expected to pay a bribe to get his work done or wait with little hope," the 69-year-old lamented. "To get access to ration and other facilities, I would see him get frustrated with the faulty system. So, when I turned 18, I decided to not vote for anyone. And I am still not interested in any party as I have lost faith in all of them. They are all the same, mere vote seekers," he said. The high-pitched campaigning and elaborate election manifestos of political parties have failed to enthuse Vishwakarma. "I know the city is now under the spotlight after Modiji became the MP from here. Big parties are doing big roadshows, I see so many ordinary people running behind those leaders, chanting slogans and showering flower petals on them. But what happens to people like us after elections? Do our lives change? Do lives of our children change?" he asked. A father of three daughters and two sons, Vishwakarma works 12 hours a day (from 8 am to 8 pm), gets no weekly off and earns a meager Rs 8,000 per month. His wife, who works as a cook, and his son, a carpenter, supplement the family income. He said his experience with the system hasn't been very different from that of his father. "When my son was little, I went to a government school to get him admitted there without any fees as we belong to the economically backward category, but in vain. Last December, I married my third daughter, Babita, with my savings. Somebody had suggested me to approach the state government department to seek financial assistance under a scheme for daughters' marriage for the poor, but that also did not work out," he said. "Why should I vote then, for what, to remain poor?" he asked. Speaking about Modi's 'Main bhi chowkidar' (I too am a watchman) campaign, which has brought the country's watchmen into the limelight, Vishwakarma said so many people want to be a 'chowkidar' today, but no one understands how tough a life it is. The word 'chowkidar' has dominated the electoral discourse this year, with both the BJP and the Congress using it to their advantage. Modi, who often projects himself as the 'chowkidar' of the country, has said that this word has now become synonymous with patriotism and honesty. To counter him, Congress president Rahul Gandhi coined the slogan 'chowkidar chor hai' (watchman is a thief). To turn the tables on the Congress, Modi launched the 'Main bhi chowkidar' campaign on social media. Senior BJP leaders and party supporters across the country responded by adding the prefix 'chowkidar' to their Twitter handles. The prime minister has often urged people in his speeches to "be a chowkidar of the country by voting in this election". However, Vishwakarma remains unmoved. "I will boycott this election too as I still have no hope from any party," he said. Asked, if he has a voter card, he said, "Yes, my father had got it made for me and my children also have them. But, I have told my wife and all my children to boycott all elections, and so they have also never voted, though my children want to." If a voter wants to reject all candidates, he or she can opt for NOTA (none of the above) on the EVM, but Vishwakarma said he is unaware of it. "NOTA? What is that? I don't know, but I am in no mood to vote. It is not that I don't have faith in democracy, I just don't have faith in politicians," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Army on Friday said a member of its 18-personnel expedition team to Mount Makalu in Nepal, which claimed to have spotted mysterious footprints of mythical creature Yeti, died while descending from the summit point. The team had successfully climbed Mt. Makalu (8,485 metre) on Thursday. "While descending from the summit point to Camp IV (first camp during the descent), one of the team members, Naik Narayan Singh, died," the Army said. The Army said Singh was a keen mountaineer and had earlier taken part in other mountaineering expeditions, including to Mt. Kamet. Singh had joined the Army in 2002 and hailed from Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand. He is survived by his wife and three young children. Mt. Makalu is considered amongst the most dangerous and challenging peaks to summit. The Army said it had undertaken this mountaineering expedition in furtherance of the objective of climbing challenging peaks above 8,000 metre. During the expedition, the team also claimed to have spotted mysterious footprints of mythical creature "Yeti" close to Nepal's Makalu Base Camp. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi High Court has held that a #MeToo allegation against an individual ought not to be turned into an "unbridled and unending" campaign to sully him forever as the right to privacy includes rights to be forgotten and left alone. The ruling came when the court was hearing the plea of a man seeking to stop publication and re-publication of articles written by a media house on the basis of harassment complaints received against him. The high court had in December last year, in an interim order, directed the media house to take down the two articles and it had agreed to do so. However, on May 9, the man's lawyers told the court that the said articles had been picked up by another digital platform, which was attributing the publications to the media house. Taking note of the situation, Justice Prathiba M Singh said that once the media house, the original source, pulled down the articles on court orders, republication of the same "would not be permissible". "The allegations having been made as part of #MeToo campaign and the three individuals (complainants) having chosen to remain anonymous and the publisher (media house) of the articles having already agreed to pull down the said two articles, further re-publication of the same is liable to be restrained. "The campaign also ought not to become an unbridled and unending campaign against an individual with other electronic/digital portals or platforms picking up the pulled down content through archived material," the court said. It further said,"#MeToo campaign cannot become a 'Sullying #UToo' campaign forever. If re-publication is permitted to go on continuously, the plaintiff's rights would be severely jeopardised." "Accordingly, recognising the plaintiff's right to privacy, of which the 'right to be forgotten' and the 'right to be left alone' are inherent aspects, it is directed that any republication of the content of the originally impugned articles dated October 12, 2018 and October 31, 2018, or any extracts or excerpts thereof, as also modified versions thereof, on any print or digital or electronic platform shall stand restrained during the pendency of the present suit," it said. The man, who claims to be the managing director of a well-know media house, had said in his suit that due to the publication of the stories, "he underwent enormous torture and personal grief due to the baseless allegations made against him". He has also said that the one-sided accounts in the articles "tarnished his reputation". His plea further said that his personal and professional life "have been hampered irreparably" and further damage was likely to be caused if appropriate relief is not granted against the republication of these two articles. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A journalist was murdered in a resort town on Mexico's Caribbean coast Thursday after receiving death threats, authorities said, the fifth reporter slain this year in one of the most dangerous countries for the press. Francisco Romero, who was enrolled in the Mexican government's protection program for journalists and activists, was found dead in a pool of blood outside a nightclub in Playa del Carmen, his hometown, according to prosecutors in the eastern state of Quintana Roo and AFP reporters at the scene. The state prosecutor's office opened a homicide investigation, saying Romero had filed a complaint on April 12 over threats he had received. Reporters Without Borders said the killing officially made Mexico the deadliest country in the world for journalists so far this year. Last year, the watchdog group ranked the country the third most dangerous in the world for the press, after war-torn Afghanistan and Syria. Mexico has been hit by a wave of violence linked to drug trafficking and political graft in recent years, and asking too many questions about crime or corruption can be a deadly business. Romero's wife, Veronica Rodriguez, said he had regularly received threats over his work, which sometimes rubbed local government officials the wrong way. "He had received a lot of threats. Too many threats. The authorities in Mexico City knew about them," Rodriguez, 40, told AFP. "The last time wasn't even two weeks ago. They threatened him saying that if he didn't do what they wanted, they were going to kill me.... They said they knew where our son studied, that they were going to throw him off a bridge." Rodriguez, who has three children -- one with Romero and two from another relationship -- would not say who had made the threats, saying she feared for her life. Reporters Without Borders said Romero had received a phone call at 5:00 am informing him about some supposed at a local night spot called the Gotta Gentleman Club. Although he had four bodyguards provided by the government, he had sent them home at 10:00 pm the night before, it said in a statement. Romero, who also had a panic button to alert the authorities if his life was in danger, went without them to the club. His body was found in the parking lot an hour later. Witnesses said he had been beaten and shot twice in the face, the organization said. Romero worked for one of the state's leading newspapers, Quintana Roo Hoy, and ran a Facebook-based site called "Ocurrio Aqui" (It Happened Here) that covers local politics and crime and has more than 17,000 followers. He had been under the official protection program for journalists since 2018, according to Balbina Flores, Mexico director for Reporters Without Borders. The government program provides different kinds of security to threatened journalists and human rights activists, ranging from panic buttons to home surveillance to bodyguards. Flores said Romero had been enrolled in it after the murder last year of one of his collaborators, fellow Playa del Carmen journalist Ruben Pat. Four journalists have now been murdered in the state of Quintana Roo in the past year. Across Mexico, more than 100 have been murdered since 2000. The vast majority of those killings remain unpunished. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra Friday dubbed Narendra Modi an "actor" and said Amitabh Bachchan would have been a better choice for the prime minister's post. In another Bollywood reference, she likened Modi to Asrani's character in Bachchan-starrer Sholay. "Prime Minister Modi is not a leader, he is an actor. It would have been better if Amitabh Bachchan was made the prime minister," she said at an election meeting at the end of her roadshow in Mirzapur. In Gorakhpur, she asked the crowd, Have you seen the Sholay' movie and Asrani's role in it? He used to always say 'angrezon ke zamane mein' (in the time of the British). And in the same way Modi ji talks about Jawaharlal's work, Indira Gandhi's work and Rajiv Gandhi's work. Why doesn't he talk about his work in the last five years? she said. "The aim of the BJP is to grab power. Modi has been unable to fulfil the promises made during the last general election, she said in Mirzapur. The Congress on the contrary does not make false promises, but works in the interests of the farmers, the poor and the youngsters," she added. At both events, she referred to the stray cattle menace in Uttar Pradesh. "When stray animals come and destroy your crops, do the 'chowkidars' turn up? They do not come. They had claimed that demonetisation will bring back black money. Has black money come back? Nothing has come to the country except troubles, she said. What kind of government is that which neither listens to the farmers, nor saves your farms from stray animals? she said. She also claimed that there has been a loss of jobs during the Bharatiya Janata Party's term, and accused the Modi government of weakening MGNREGA, the rural employment guarantee scheme launched by the previous Congress-led government. She halted her Mirzapur address during the 'azaan', resuming it after the call for prayers was over. "The prime minister has been unable to present his account on development work done for the farmers, labourers and youngsters in the last five years, she said. The Congress leader accused the Modi government of weakening democratic institutions. The roadshow in support of the party's Mirzapur candidate Laliteshpati Tripathi started from Dankeenganj and ended at Waasliganj, covering about two kilometres. The crowd chanted 'Priyanka didi' and showered flowers on her. The Congress leader waved back at the people. She also pulled a child on to her vehicle, and they covered some distance together. The flags of Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party, whose leader Om Prakash Rajbhar is still a minister in the BJP-led government in Uttar Pradesh, were also seen at the rally. The SBSP, which won four seats in the 2017 assembly polls, has fielded its own candidates this time. Apna Dal (Krishna Patel faction) workers also took part in the roadshow, waving their party flags. Addressing another meeting after a roadshow in support of Kushinagar candidate R P N Singh, Priyanka Gandhi criticised the BJP of suppressing the voice of the people. She accused the BJP government of giving farmers money to big businessmen. Your insurance money is going into the pockets of big industrialists and insurance companies and when Rahul ji talks about waiving farmers' loan they make fun of him, she said. Rahul ji showed how loans are waived in three days in Congress-led states, she said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress president Rahul Gandhi Friday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi got his entire cabinet locked up before announcing his decision to demonetise high-value currency notes. Addressing a rally in Himachal Pradesh's Solan, Gandhi claimed he was given this information by members of the Special Protection Group (SPG), the agency which guards him. "During demonetisation Narendra Modi put his cabinet under lock and key (taley se band kiya thha) on Race Course Road, he said, referring to the earlier name of the road on which the PM's official residence is located. This the truth, Gandhi said. The SPG people provide me also with security. They told me that do you know that the prime minister of India locked up his entire cabinet, he said. He also criticised Modi over the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). "Countrymen say Modi committed mistakes by implementing demonetisation and the GST. But Modi will never admit it," he said. The small and medium industrialists, traders and unemployed youth were adversely affected by demonetisation and GST, he added. Rahul Gandhi also dared Narendra Modi to a debate, saying he has just "four questions" to ask which the prime minister will not be able to answer. "I am ready to engage in a debate with Modi on corruption at any place," he said. "Give me 15 minutes, I will ask only four questions. And Modi may take three-four hours to answer them. He will not be able to show his face to the citizens of the country after the debate," he added. Reiterating his allegations of corruption in the Rafale fighter jet contract, Rahul Gandhi said the government struck an overpriced deal for the jets to benefit industrialist Anil Ambani. The charge has been repeatedly denied by the government and the Bharatiya Janata Party. Gandhi also ridiculed Modi over his reported remark that he felt the cloud cover on the day IAF struck Balakot will help the fighter aircraft evade Pakistan's radars. "Modi keeps hiding his knowledge and does not hold any press conference while I talk to the media every other day," he said. The Congress leader also accused Modi of not fulfilling his poll promises of providing jobs and "depositing Rs 15 lakh" in the bank account of every citizen. He reiterated that a Congress government will implement the Nyay scheme, which promises a minimum annual income of Rs 72,000 to 20 percent of the poorest families. Former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh, state Congress president Kuldeep Singh Rathore, state's party in-charge Rajni Patil and Shimla's Congress candidate Dhani Ram Shandil also spoke at the meeting. Earlier, Prime Minister Modi had earlier addressed a rally in Solan for his party's Shimla candidate Suresh Kashyap on May 13. Polling will take place for all four Himachal Pradesh seats on Sunday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The tension in the air is palpable at the Basai Darapur village in west Delhi's Moti Nagar with several Muslim residents living under constant fear of backlash-- days after a member of the majority Tyagi community was killed by his neighbours from the minority community. While several Muslim families who had have fled their homes have returned after assurances from the Delhi Police, members of the Tyagi community have decided to boycott Muslims from outside Delhi. Locals claim that the village, around 10 km from the power corridors in Lutyens' Delhi, remained peaceful even in the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition back in 1992. However, the murder of 51-year-old Dhruv Tyagi on May 12, allegedly for resisting youths who passed lewd remarks at his daughter, has not only shook both the communities to their core but is now threatening the bonhomie that has characterised Basai Darapur for decades. "Even during the Babri Masjid demolition, we have never witnessed any such instance. Hindus and Muslims have always stayed as a family here for ages. This is the first time something horrific like this has happened," Irfan Salami, a property dealer in the area said. Salami who has been living here for the last 44 years said he was forced to move his family to a relative's place after he heard that thousands of people from the Tyagi community would be flooding the area. "I returned this morning after assurances from the police," he added. The SHO of Moti Nagar Police Station had met the Muslims of the area personally to assure them that there would be no threat to their safety. While the victim's family has appealed to not give the incident a communal colour, the locals have alleged that some fringe groups were trying to flame communal passions. "Just to achieve political mileage, some fringe elements are trying to create a rift between the two communities," Salami said. His views were corroborated by 32-year-old Riyaz Ahmed, who was among those who took the profusely bleeding Tyagi and his son to the hospital. "I shifted my family to my younger sister's house in Uttam Nagar. It was only after the assurance of the police that we returned," Ahmed, who has been living in the area for the last 35 years said. Recalling the fateful night, Ahmed said, as soon as he heard noises, he rushed to rescue Tyagi and his son but by the time he reached there, they had been stabbed. "I tried to rescue his daughter from the accused and then immediately rushed the two to hospital. There were so many people watching the entire incident, but none of them came forward to help instead they filmed the episode," he said. The minority community has condemned the incident, saying crime has no religion and the culprits involved in the act should be hanged to death. Hundreds of locals joined the victim's family in a condolence meeting in the village on Thursday and demanded financial compensation for Tyagi's kin and death penalty for his killers. A Mahapanchayat called by the Tyagi community on Thursday decided that Muslims from outside Delhi should not be allowed to stay as tenants or be given shops on rent, which has left the minority community unnerved. However, the Muslims of the area alleged that many among the protesters raised hateful slogans against their community and even filmed the entry and exit routes of the village mosque. "A recce was conducted to ascertain the number of Muslim residents living here. Most of them who stay here as tenants were threatened by hateful comments made by the protesters," Ahmed said. "Even the entry and exit routes of mosque were being filmed. Now, who will take the responsibility if anything untoward happens here?" he asked. Another local, Shahbaaz Ahmed (27), reminisced about the days gone by when the two communities dwelled together in unity and harmony. "I along with my relatives - about 26 of us moved to Okhla fearing for our lives. Although we have returned, panic has gripped the area. We are feeling unsafe and I have never ever felt like this before," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The West Bengal government is sending a two-member team to recover the bodies of Biplab Baidya and Kuntal Karar near Mount Kanchenjunga summit, even as there are reports of a third missing person from Kolkata during his ascent to Mount Makalu. Dipankar Ghosh, who hails from Bali near Kolkata, is reportedly missing since Friday morning. He was part of the Seven Summits Treks expedition team to the fifth highest mountain Mt Makalu in which Indian Army officer Narayan Singh died at camp four on Thursday night while climbing down from the 8485-metre peak. Earlier, Baidya and Karar were reported to be dead but their bodies are yet to be recovered and expected to be lying somewhere between camp four and the summit of Mount Kanchenjunga, the world's third-highest peak at 8586-metre. "There have been attempts to get them back by helicopter but so far no of recovering both the bodies. I'm constantly in touch with Nepal government and the deputy high commission there for a coordinated approach," Surajit Roy, additional director and EO joint-secretary in the department of youth services, told PTI. Roy will reach Kathmandu on Saturday afternoon while the state government has already sent mountaineering advisor Debdas Nandy to recover the bodies. Painting a grim picture, Roy said if they are not recovered within a couple of days the operation would have to be abandoned for a year or so. "The weather is rough at the moment. If it does not happen within one or two days then the window period is gone. Maybe we will have to one more year for another recovery operation. "Body lying at an altitude of 8,000-metre or more. It's a huge height. It has to be carried to a lower camp. If the weather is rough no sherpa team will be ready to go," Roy said. He further said they cannot declare the duo dead unless they recover their bodies. "It's not technically correct. Technically we say they are 'missing'. You cannot 'declare dead' as then the insurance and all sorts of formalities come in place. It's declared dead only after you get the body and autopsy is done. I'll be there to coordinate and facilitate recovery as soon as possible." Meanwhile, two other mountaineers Ramesh Roy and Rudra Prasad Halder, who had suffered serious frostbite while attempting to climb Mt Kanchenjunga, have been evacuated from Camp II early Friday. "They are stable and being admitted to a hospital in Kathmandu. They are out of danger," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Madhya Pradesh BJP functionary was suspended from the primary membership of the party for uploading an objectionable post about Mahatma Gandhi and dubbing him "Pakistan's father of the nation". State BJP chief Rakesh Singh has suspended the primary membership of Saumitra, who was the party's media sampark department's state convener, with immediate effect, informed BJP state media in charge Lokendra Parashar in a press release. In a Facebook post on Thursday night, Saumitra claimed, "He (Gandhiji) was the father of the nation, but of Pakistan, there were millions of sons like him in India some worthy and some worthless." Parashar said action was taken as Saumitra had breached party discipline, adding that the latter was given seven days to clarify. After action on him by the BJP, Saumitra Friday claimed, "The concept of Pakistan was prepared by Britishers and its promulgators were Nehru (first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru) and Jinnah (Mohammed Ali Jinnah), who were in a hurry to become prime ministers. This process was blessed by Mahatma Gandhi." Justifying his stand, he added, "Since Pakistan was carved out due to the silent blessings of Mahatma Gandhi, so he could be Rashtrapita of Pakistan.""India was a nation since sanatan period, several saints and sages were its sons. So, this nation could have sons and not a father. Father of nation is an European concept, Gandhi could be a good son but, in known history, there is no father of nation in India," Saumitra claimed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Eight teams formed by the Jhabua district returning officer (DRO) Friday reached Gujarat to bring back migrant workers to enable them to vote here on May 19, district panchayat chief executive officer (CEO) Jamuna Bhide said. According to officials, thousands of poor workers, mostly tribals, migrate from these parts to neighbouring Gujarat in search of jobs. "The teams have been asked to contact the managers of establishments employing such migrant workers and facilitate leaves so that they can vote here on May 19," said Jhabua DRO and Collector Prabal Sipaha said. He said the teams sent to Gujarat have been asked to contact 38,000 people there as per the district's record. He said the move has been initiated under Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation Programme, better known as SVEEP, an Election Commission initiative for education, awareness and promoting voter literacy in India. The teams are going to contact migrant workers in Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Surat, Jamnagar, Baroda, Rajkot, Kota and other places of that state, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Many Muslims in eastern UP may not want to vote for the BJP but they face a dilemma over choosing between the SP-BSP alliance and the Congress. Though some members of the community speak in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the development carried out in Gorakhpur, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's bastion, they harbour a sense of insecurity. Mufti Mohammed Waliullah, who leads prayers at Gorakhpur's biggest mosque, said the Muslims are not "unanimous" over their choice of parties. "Less literate Muslims will vote for the 'mahagathbandhan' (the opposition alliance) and the educated will vote as per their understanding," he said. Waliullah expressed anguish over the BJP questioning the nationalism of Muslims, reminding that the community is indigenous to India. "Only a few Muslim clerics visited India and people who lived in the country adopted Islam. India is our country," he said. Muslims account for about 10 per cent of population in Gorakhpur, which will go to the polls on May 19, along which other 12 Lok Sabha seats in the state. The Gorakhnath temple headed by Adityanath is in a locality dominated by Muslims. The temple employs people from the minority community. In 2014, the BJP had got 233 out of 330 votes polled at a booth from where from Adityanath votes. Around half of the voters from the booth are estimated to be from the Muslim community. Seeking to allay the fears of the community, Adityanath told PTI that not a single incident of rioting has occurred in the state since his government took over two years ago. "Like here (Gorakhpur), Muslims feel safe in other parts of the state," he said. The chief minister said all religious festivals in the state are celebrated in harmony. It proves that every individual in the state want to live in peace, he added. "All those who unnecessarily disturb law and order have realised its consequences" Adityanath said. Besides Gorakhpur, other parliamentary constituencies going to the polls in the last phase include Maharajganj, Kushinagar, Deoria, Bansgaon (SC), Ghosi, Salempur, Ballia, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Varanasi, Mirzapur and Robertsganj (SC). A total of 167 candidates are in the fray from the 13 Lok Sabha seats. As far as the SP-BSP gathbandhan is concerned, the Samajwadi Party is contesting from eight seats, while the Bahujan Samaj Party is contesting from five seats. The BJP is contesting on 11 seats, while its ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) is in the poll fray from two seats. In Kushinagar, from where former Union minister R P N Singh is in the fray, insecurity is a key factor driving the decision of the community. Ahmad Kamaal Abdur Rehman Nadvi, who runs a madarssa in Kasia tehsil, said the crimes against the community have increased. The administration is hand-in-glove with criminals, he alleged. "People have to live to see development. We feel very insecure under this government. Crimes against minority have increased and it is not recorded by the administration. On the other hand our love for nation is challenged. Our forefathers have fought for freedom of India. Soldiers are being insulted by this government and we are being questioned," Nadvi said. In the Maharajganj parliamentary constituency, Mohd Arshad -- who is a graduate in political science and works as a taxi driver -- said the BJP government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi should be given another chance for the good work it has done. "I have been driving since the last three-four years here and mostly ferry outstation passengers. It is easy to travel now as roads have been constructed everywhere and they are well lit. AIIMS is coming up in Gorakhpur. It will benefit everyone," he said. Arshad said the Muslims in the area feel insecure but there have been no riots under Adityanath. "Hindu Yuva Vahini members often created problem for the community but they have been silent after Adityanath became chief minister. We want peace, which is there," he said. He also heaped praise on the BJP government, saying Muslims in his locality have been provided toilets, electricity connections, among other facilities. Mohammad Bilal, a tailor and who also runs a madarssa in Siswa Bazaar town of Maharajganj, said Muslims will not vote for Modi but this is the first that there has been uninterrupted power supply during the month of Ramzan. Muslims account for about 15 per cent of the population in the Maharajganj constituency. "Our village has not decided on voting yet. No one from our village is in favour of Modi. There was a huge crowd when Priyanka Gandhi came here. We will discuss it (voting)," said a Muslim labourer from Thoothibari block of Maharajganj. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sri Lanka's minority Muslim in riot-hit areas attended Friday prayers amid tight security at mosques vandalised in mob attacks in the aftermath of the deadly Easter Sunday bombings. Anti-Muslim riots have killed one person and caused extensive damage to homes, businesses and mosques in the island nation this week. "We conducted prayers as usual," said Mohamed Jaleel, a resident of Kottampitiya town in the North-Western province. He said the community members offered prayers at smaller mosques, which were not as badly damaged as the bigger mosques in the mob attacks. "A Buddhist monk and a Catholic priest also came to the mosque to express their solidarity with us (Muslims)," said Irshad Hameed, a resident of Minuwangoda -- one of the worst-affected areas. "The damages were more extensive in some of the bigger mosques and it was not possible to conduct prayers in them," he said. The communal violence is a fresh backlash from the Easter Sunday attacks where nine suicide bombers, including a woman, carried out a series of devastating blasts that tore through three churches and three luxury hotels, killing 258 people and injuring over 500 others. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, but the government has blamed a local Islamist extremist group, the National Thawheed Jamaath (NTJ), for the bombings. The mob attacks forced a nationwide curfew for three nights and a temporary blockade on social media platforms. The ban on social media platforms was lifted this evening, while the nationwide curfew was lifted on Thursday. "Peace has been restored in all parts of the island," police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said. The Sri Lankan police have said over 70 people have been arrested for attacking the Muslims. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Naxals have called for a 'bandh' in Gadchiroli district of on May 19 to protest the killings of two fellow women in an encounter last month, police said. Naxals had put up banners in some villages in Etapalli tehsil of Gadchiroli on Wednesday night, in which they gave the 'bandh' call, an official from Gadchiroli superintendent of police (SP) office said Thursday. In the banners, the Naxals alleged that the killings of the women cadres- Ramco alias Kamla Narote and Shilpa Durva- by the securtiy forces on April 27 was an infringement of their constitutional rights. "The ultras said in the banners that as a mark of protest against the encounter killings, a 'bandh' would be observed in Gadchiroli on May 19," the official said. The two women Naxals were killed in an encounter in Gunderwahi forest in Gadchiroli when commandos of C-60 squad, police's anti- unit, were combing the area. Ramco and Durva were carrying rewards of Rs 16 lakh and Rs 4 lakh on their heads respectively, police said. Over 250 Nepali journalists on Friday staged a sit-in protest outside the Parliament here demanding the withdrawal of the proposed Media Council Bill that aims to curtail press freedom by imposing strict penalty on media outlets. Nepal has proposed the new media bill aimed at imposing a hefty fine of up to Rs 1 million on media outlets found guilty of damaging anyone's reputation, raising alarm among journalists who say the government seeks to punish the press in the name of regulation. The new Media Council bill aims to replace the existing Press Council Act and will have more authority to issue hefty fines and give the government more say in the hiring and firing of the council members. The journalists protested under the banner of Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) against the proposed bill and warned of escalating the agitation if the bill was not rolled-back. Senior journalists, including FNJ President Govinda Acharya and other human right activists, said that there was a need to ensure press freedom in the country. National and international media watchdogs, including the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), have expressed their serious concerns over some of the provisions in the Bill, saying that the provisions of the bill have wide-ranging implications on the media. Another media law, Bill on Mass Communications, has proposed Rs 5 million to Rs 10 million in penalties or 10 to 15 years in jail or both for journalists publishing or broadcasting any content undermining national sovereignty, territorial integrity or nationality. The bill has also proposed confiscation of media equipment if the media outlets and journalists are found publishing offensive contents. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Reserve Bank-appointed committee headed by Aadhaar architect submitted its suggestions on promoting digital payments to Governor Shaktikanta Das Friday, the central bank said. In January, the had set up the five-member panel on deepening digital payments with a view to encouraging digitisation of payments and enhance financial inclusion through digitisation. In a statement, the Reserve Bank said the committee held its deliberations including consultations with various stakeholders and submitted its report Friday to Governor Das. "The will examine the recommendations of the committee and will dovetail the action points, wherever necessary, in its Payment Systems Vision 2021 for implementation," it said. The panel was tasked with reviewing the existing status of digitisation of payments in the country, identifying the current gaps in the ecosystem and suggesting ways to bridge them and assessing the current levels of digital payments in financial inclusion. It was also asked to undertake cross country analyses with a view to identify best practices that can be adopted in our country to accelerate digitisation of the economy and financial inclusion through greater use of digital payments. Besides Infosys co-founder Nilekani, former deputy governor H R Khan, former MD and CEO of Vijaya Bank Kishore Sansi and former secretary in ministries of IT and steel Aruna Sharma were also member of the panel. The fifth member is Sanjay Jain, chief innovation officer, Centre for Innovation, Incubation & Entrepreneurship (CIIE), IIM Ahmedabad. Earlier this week, the released a vision document for ensuring a safe, secure, convenient, quick and affordable e-payment system with an aim making India a 'cash-lite' society. The 'Payment and Settlement Systems in India: Vision 2019 - 2021', with its core theme of 'Empowering Exceptional (E)payment Experience', envisages to achieve "a highly digital and cash-lite society" through the goal posts of competition, cost effectiveness, convenience and confidence (4Cs). TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu, who is spearheading an effort to cobble up an anti-BJP front, Friday said not only the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) but any outfit which is against the saffron party are welcome to join a grand alliance after the election results are declared. Naidu has stepped up efforts to bring together parties which are against the BJP ahead of a possible meeting of the grand alliance after the election results are declared on May 23. The Andhra Pradesh chief minister met CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury and Aam Admi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Friday and discussed with them about the possible tie-up in the post-election scenario. According to sources, Naidu is likely to meet Congress president Rahul Gandhi in the national capital and BSP chief Mayawati in Lucknow Saturday. "We welcome not only the TRS but any party which is against the BJP. We are welcoming all such parties to be a part of our grand alliance," Naidu told reporters after meeting the Election Commission of India (ECI) here. He was responding to a query if a Congress-led grand alliance will join hands with the TRS, which is trying to bring together all regional parties to forge a non-Congress, non-BJP front, after the election results are declared. "I am meeting everybody. Will chalk out a plan after discussing with all leaders," Naidu added. In the meeting with the ECI, the TDP president said that he requested the poll panel to take a serious note of the series of complaints filed by his party including against the repoll ordered in Chandragiri Assembly segment in the Andhra Pradesh and counting of votes in the entire constituency if discrepancy found in VVPAT slips with five mandated Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in any part of the country. "As on today, the ECI's decisions are very controversial, one-sided, pro-establishment and pro-government. During the entire election, they were supporting the government. It is unfortunate," he told reporters after the meeting. Questioning the working style of the poll panel, Naidu said, "I am the party president for the last 25 years. I have never seen this type of Election Commission." The transfer of the West Bengal home secretary for alleged interference in the election process is an "unnecessary interference" of the poll panel, he said, adding, "We don't want to surrender our powers to the ECI or the Government of India." Invoking of Article 324 to abruptly curtail the campaign period in West Bengal and "giving time to Prime Minister Narendra Modi" to hold two rallies is "unfortunate and not correct", Naidu said. Further, the ECI is "not taking action" against the BJP's Bhopal candidate Sadhvi Pragya Thakur who has "insulted" Mahatma Gandhi. Thakur, an accused in the Malegaon blast case, ignited a fresh controversy Thursday by claiming that Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse "is and will remain a patriot". "The ECI not taking action against any BJP MPs, Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) and Amit Shah (BJP president)," he said while protesting the "unfair approach" of the poll panel. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao Friday asked officials to look into organising the Independence Day, Republic Day and state Formation Day without causing any inconvenience to the people and also more impressively. "Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao instructed the officers concerned to examine the possibilities of organizing the Independence Day, the Republic Day and the State Formation Day Celebrations without causing any inconvenience to the people and also to conduct more gloriously and decently, a release from his office said. Rao held a meeting with minister Koppula Eshwar and senior officials on conducting the State Formation Day celebrations and National Festivals (in Hyderabad), it said. During the review discussions were held on whether the Independence (Day), Republic Day and the State Formation Day celebrations could conducted in the same fashion as in the past or if there should there be changes. Discussions were also held on whether to involve school children, police Jawans and others for the state formation day on June 2, which is most likely a hot summer day, it said. Rao asked Chief Secretary S K Joshi to take a final decision after discussing with officials, on where and how to conduct the celebrations and if any changes are to be made, it said. The release also said the programme details for state formation day on June 2 have been finalised. In view of the hot weather, the event would commence at 9 AM and the main programme would conclude at 10.30 AM, it said. Rao would pay tributes at martyrs statue in memory of those who laid down their lives for the cause of separate statehood. It would be followed by flag hoisting, play of police band and National Anthem, Guard of Honour and CMs speech, it said. At 10.30 AM, the Chief Secretary would host a At Home, and at 11 AM, a meet of poets on the theme of state formation would be held. The department of culture would organise an awards presentation ceremony in the evening, the release added. Telangana came into existence on June, 2, 2014 as the 29th state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi Friday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his comments that he would never forgive BJP candidate in Bhopal Pragya Singh Thakur for insulting Mahatma Gandhi. "Your drama, though, has to stop. This culture of demeaning every national icon & institution was started by you.Sadhvi is taking it to its logical end. After all, dont you have Godse's conspirators portrait in your office?," Owaisi tweeted. Modi Friday said he would never forgive Pragya Singh Thakur for insulting Mahatma Gandhi by calling his assassin Nathuram Godse a true patriot. Owaisi, who is seeking re-election from Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency, also attacked Modi in two other tweets on the press conference addressed by the latter. "@PMOIndia nice presser. It'd have been better if you actually took questions, instead of just sitting there. You were all about that DEEDAR but not about answering questions But sure, everyone has to start somewhere: " he said. "In Hyderabad, we have MUNH DIKHAYI ceremony for newlywed couples. Was @PMOIndia silent like he, too is likely to leave?," he asked. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan's seriousness to act against proscribed terror outfits and its efforts to curb money laundering and terror financing were questioned by members of a regional affiliate of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) at a meeting held in China, according to a media report. A 10-member delegation, led by Finance Secretary Mohammad Younas Dagha, attended the two-day meeting of the Asia-Pacific Group (APG) of the Paris-based FATF in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou where it defended Pakistan's efforts against money laundering and terror financing. According to a Dawn report, some participants, particularly those from India, raised very tough questions about Pakistan's seriousness to act against proscribed organisations and effectiveness of internal controls. On May 3, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said India will ask the FATF to put Pakistan on a blacklist of countries that fail to meet international standards in stopping financial crime. The APG will submit to the FATF its analysis of the compliance report submitted by Pakistan at the meeting, which concluded yesterday, and the progress made since the group's on-site inspection in Islamabad and Karachi in March, the report said. The APG report will become the basis for the FATF to decide whether to exclude Pakistan from its grey list or not. The delegation briefed the meeting about Pakistan's updated actions against currency smuggling, proscribed organisations and tightening of financial and corporate sector systems and operational effectiveness, the report said. Giving examples of the measures taken by it, Pakistan cited arrests of key operatives of some proscribed outfits, putting more such groups and their affiliates in the list of banned outfits, blocking their accounts and financial flows and taking control of their assets. In March, bowing down to international pressure, Pakistan launched a major crackdown on Jaish-e-Mohammad, Jamat-ud-Dawa, Falah-i-Insaniyat Foundation and other banned outfits and took over the control of their assets throughout the country. The Pakistan delegation said the country was very close to accomplish the milestones set under the FATF action plan well before the September deadline. It also said the government recently revised its national risk assessment of the corporate sector, strengthened customs procedures on borders and inland movement of funds and assets. Besides, internal control of the banking and non-banking financial institutions, insurance companies and stock exchanges has been strengthened to curb the possibility of money laundering and terror financing. The delegation cited the creation of a specialised directorate of Cross-Border Currency Movement (CBCM) in Islamabad to maintain a database of currency seizures. The APG had earlier flashed contradictory situations and poor coordination among stakeholders, including law enforcement agencies, in fighting money laundering and terror financing in Pakistan. Last month, it expressed serious reservations over insufficient physical actions on ground against proscribed organisations to block flow of funds and activities. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hours after BJP Panaji bypoll candidate Siddharth Kunkolienkar's car was attacked, the opposition Congress refuted allegations that its workers could be behind the incident. Kunkolienkar filed a complaint with Panaji police station in the early hours of Friday after two unidentified youth threw bottles on his car. "In the light of cowardly attack, I request my @BJP4India karyakartas and people of Panaji to remain united and calm. We will not get disturbed by such acts of #Goondagiri. Let us stay focused and work hard to ensure a @BJP4India win in Panaji with a historic margin," he tweeted Friday morning. Goa Congress chief Girish Chodankar said his party had nothing to with the incident and, in a sarcastic vein, asked the state government to provide Kunkolienkar a security detail of "100 guards and five escort vehicles". The bypoll is slated for May 19. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Piracy and sea robbery incidents in the South East Asia region have sharply declined by 62 per cent to 76 incidents from 2015-2018, according to a Singapore-based multi-national maritime security information centre which links ships and ocean monitoring with 41 countries, including India. An average of 1,700 incidents per year were reported for the last few years in the immediate region of Singapore, noted Singapore's Senior Minister of State for Defence Maliki Bin Osman as the Information Fusion Centre (IFC) provided insights into its monitoring efforts at the International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference here. From 2015 to 2018, piracy and sea robbery incidents in the region have declined from 200 to 76 incidents, which is a drop of 62 per cent. In particular, there has been a 92 per cent drop in piracy and sea robbery incidents in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore, The IFC reported. "This is a tip of the iceberg, as there are more cases which go unreported, adding to the magnitude and complexity of the problem," said Maliki, recalling the 2008 deadliest attack on several locations in Mumbai by terrorists who made their way from Pakistan by boat to carry out the coordinated attack in Mumbai. Felicitating IFC on its 10th anniversary, Maliki underlined that information-sharing continues to be relevant, and more critical than before. "There are many 'unknown unknowns' in the maritime environment such as unidentified vessels, unreported illegal activities, and smuggling routes," he pointed out. "In fact, what happens in your immediate waters could invariably affect the security of mine." Information sharing can bridge these information and time gaps, by providing actionable information to the correct parties, for operational responses, he pointed. "This is why the IFC was established:, he stressed, adding that it was born out of necessity in 2009 to help manage the full range of mairitime security threats in this region." The IFC is one of the most comprehensive maritime monitoring set up and brings together Open & Analysed Shipping Information System with India's Maritime Surveillance Information System, Italy's Virtual Regional Maritime Traffic Centre and Brazil's Maritime Traffic Information System. It has upgraded its Real-time Information-Sharing System (IRIS) which was launched on 14 May 2019 at the Changi Command and Control Centre where it is hosted by the Republic of Singapore Navy. Over the last decade, the IFC has been at the forefront of providing actionable information to cue responses by regional and international navies, coast guards and other maritime agencies to deal with the full range of Maritime Security (MARSEC) threats and incidents. "While the IFC's model has served as us well, we must continuously seek ways to stay relevant. In today's digital age, information flows much faster and easier across multiple domains," said Maliki. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Police in Chicago charged three people Thursday in connection with the murder of a pregnant teenager whose unborn baby was taken from her womb after her death. Police said Marlen Ochoa-Lopez, 19, was lured to the home of someone she knew on April 23 with the promise of free baby supplies, was instead strangled to death, and her baby extracted from her womb. Clarisa Figueroa, 46, and her daughter Desiree, 24, have been charged with first degree murder. Piotr Bobak, 40, whom police described as the elder Figueroa's boyfriend, was charged with concealing the murder. At a conference, Chicago police chief Eddie Johnson called the crime "disgusting and thoroughly disturbing." "I can't even pretend to imagine what that family is going through right now. They should be celebrating the birth of a young baby. Instead, they're mourning the loss of the mother and possibly that young child," Johnson said. Police allegedly discovered Ochoa-Lopez's body hidden in a garbage can while serving a search warrant at Figueroa's home Tuesday night. "Apparently, Miss Ochoa had bought other baby items from Clarissa, so they knew each other," deputy chief Brendan Deenihan said. On the day of Ochoa-Lopez's disappearance, Figueroa allegedly spoke with her through Facebook. The nine-months-pregnant teen went to Figueroa's home expecting to gather some baby clothes and other donated items, police said. Authorities allege Figueroa and her daughter Desiree strangled the expectant mother with a coaxial cable and extracted the baby. Within four hours of when Ochoa-Lopez was last spotted driving on a road by surveillance cameras, the elder Figueroa called emergency services claiming she had delivered a baby that was not breathing. The child has been hospitalized and reportedly is in serious condition. Police declined to confirm the baby's medical status. Police said their missing person case took a turn when they first learned of the Facebook conversation and interviewed the Figueroas on May 7. They obtained a search warrant after DNA evidence proved the baby was related to Ochoa-Lopez. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday ended his election blitzkrieg at Khargone in Madhya Pradesh on the same note he started it 50-days ago in Meerut attacking Congress on the emotive issues of nationalism, armed forces and strikes across border and projecting his "decisive government". In his first rally after announcement of election dates in Meerut on March 28, Modi had said, "It was this chowkidar's government that had the courage to conduct surgical strikes on land, sky and space. India should develop, India should be secure from enemies." Maintaining the tempo, Modi again highlighted his "decisive policy" to eliminate terrorism and naxalism in Khargone. "We have got strong support of people for our policies to eliminate terrorism and naxalism. This is the feeling of the country that the terrorists should be killed in their safe heavens (ghar me ghus kar mara jaye)," he said in Khargone on Friday. In a veiled reference to the Balakot strike, the Prime Minister asked the people in his signature style if they agree or not that killing terrorists in their homes is right, evoking a positive rapturous response from the crowd. "Are you happy or not? When Modi kills (terrorists) in their homes, you feel proud or not. Your chests fill with pride or not. Your head is held high or not. Every Indian feel proud or not. This feeling has been answered by our brave sons. This should be the policy of new India," he said. The Prime Minister continued his attack on principal opposition Congress on the issues of security like he did in Meerut at the time of start of the campaign for the seven-phase general election, where he is seeking mandate to govern again. Playing on the words 'saboot' and 'sapoot', the Hindi words for proof and good son, he had attacked the opposition in Meerut for seeking evidence of the surgical strike. "Do we need 'saboot' or sapoot... those who seek evidence are challenging the sapoot." The theme remained unaltered in Khargone as well where he put Congress in a spot by taking up an alleged statement of Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy that those who don't get a square meal join the army and become soldiers. He urged the crowd to never vote of Congress which has made Kumaraswamy as chief minister saying the statement was an insult to tribal community youths who serve in the army not for bread but to brave the bullet. "Congress has gone to people with promises of taking back special powers of soldiers, and repealing treason law that have been rejected by the country. The country is unanimous that people who support separate prime minister for Jammu and Kashmir should be served severe punishment," he said. Like in Meerut the Prime Minister continued to urge people to vote for "him" by pressing Lotus button on the EVM. "Your five second in pressing Lotus button on EVM, you will have me in service for next five years," Modi said in Khargone. However, Prime Minister did not assert "Chowkidar" in his speech in Khargone while it was a key highlight in Meerut where he had said,"I will give all answers and I will also seek answers. As you know I am your 'Chowkidar', I will want answers for what they did in 70 years." "On one side there is 'dumdar chowkidar' whereas the opposition is full of daagdaars," he had said in Meerut. Modi also sought to highlight the freedom struggle link of the places where he held his first and last rally of this Lok Sabha poll campaign. "My election campaign started from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. Now the last rally is happening in Khargone, Madhya Pradesh. From a historical perspective, there is a connection between Meerut and Khargone, which is often not noticed. Both the cities are associated with the 1857 War of Independence," he said. Both the cities have inspired nationalism, Modi added. "In Meerut, Indian soldiers rebelled against the British and in Khargone, freedom fighter Bhima Nayak led a tribal agitation and attained martyrdom," he said. "The election of 2019 is different from all the previous general elections. In this poll, people of India are voting for their country and not for any party. They are voting to build a New India," Modi said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Rajasthan government's decision to remove a picture suggesting self-immolation from a school textbook has drawn flak from two leaders from the state's ruling party, including a minister. The Congress government has tasked a committee to make changes in the textbooks introduced by the previous BJP government. The panel had recommended the removal of a picture suggesting self-immolation under Sati or Jauhar from a Class 8 English textbook. It was replaced with that of a hill fort. "We need to understand the practice of Jauhar. Without understanding the sensitive issue, any leader, be it from the Congress or the BJP, should refrain from making a statement," said state Transport Minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas. "Being on a ministerial post, we cannot change history. We should not make the mistakes which the BJP made," he told reporters Friday. Former MP and state Congress vice-president Gopal Singh Idwa too expressed his disagreement with the decision. "It will not be right to play with history. I have discussed the issue with the deputy chief minister and will also write to the chief Minister. The minister should know the difference between Sati and Jauhar," Idwa said. Recently commenting on the issue, School Education Minister Govind Singh Dotasara had said,"The practice of Sati is banned and Jauhar has no connection with chapters of English. It wasn't clarified if the picture was related to Sati or Jauhar." Meanwhile, BJP leaders criticised the revision of textbooks. BJP leader Abhimanyu Singh Rajvi said, "The state government has made an effort to malign history by not calling Maharana Pratap great, removing picture of Jauhar and prefix Veer from the name of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Anil Ambani-led has said it has repaid Rs 650 crore of non-convertible debenture that were due on Friday. The disclosure comes at a time when and some others, are facing liquidity troubles. At least two entities in the group, Reliance Commercial Finance and Reliance Home Finance, have witnessed rating downgrades on their borrowings earlier this month, which led to the stock coming under pressure. in a brief note said, "Reliance Capital repays Rs 650 crore of NCDs that were due today (Friday)." Meanwhile, in a separate filing Reliance Capital said that it has invited its partner, Nippon Life Insurance Co. Ltd, to make an offer to acquire up to 42.88 per cent stake held by it in Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management Ltd (RNAM). Nippon Life Insurance Co. Ltd. already holds 42.88 per cent stake in RNAM. "Further announcements shall be made at the appropriate time," the company said in a clarification to the exchanges. BSE had sought clarification from Reliance Capital (RCap) earlier Friday regarding reports related to the transaction. Shares of Reliance Capital rose by over 2 per cent Friday after the company reiterated that it had invited Nippon Life Insurance to acquire up to 42.88 per cent stake in Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management. There is resentment among the people of the country due to the of the ruling BJP government at the Centre, Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot said on Friday. Referring to the violence in West Bengal and BJP nominee Pragya Thakur's statement on Nathuram Godse, Pilot said it is for the first time that a constitutional institution like the Election Commission of India had to face several questions. "The type of that BJP has done in past few days, it has created an environment of resentment in not only the Congress and other political parties but also in the entire country," Pilot said at a press conference here. "None of the senior BJP leader neither stopped nor objected to Thakur's statement calling an individual who killed Mahatma Gandhi as a patriot," he added. "The party leadership has neither refuted the statement nor terminated her (Thakur) membership. The BJP's sidelining itself from the statement is not enough," he said further. Pilot, who is also the Rajasthan Congress chief, said that the feedback on six phases of Lok Sabha election indicates that the BJP is trailing in all phases. He said that the frustration of losing in elections can be gauged from the statements of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party chief Amit Shah and other senior leaders. Talking about recent violence reported in West Bengal during electioneering, Pilot said, "The facts that have come to fore from ground in Kolkata clearly indicate that the BJP brought people from outside Bengal to for their roadshow. Whatever happened there is condemnable and indecent." Pilot also criticised Modi for comparing West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, her party and its leaders with stone pelters of Jammu and Kashmir. "You can evaluate that the prime minister of the country is comparing an elected chief minister with the stone pelters who follow a separatist ideology," he said. The Bharatiya Janata Party is condemning the violence in West Bengal but is not able to see the attack on a Congress legislator from Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh, Pilot said further. Congress MLA Aditi Singh and members of the zila panchayat were Tuesday injured in an attack while they were on their way to vote on a no-confidence motion against zila panchayat head Avadesh Singh. Avadesh Singh is the brother of Dinesh Pratap Singh, the BJP candidate from Rae Bareli. The BJP and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath have condemned the incident. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Michelle Rodriguez is reprising her role of Leticia "Letty" Ortiz in "Fast & Furious 9" after managing to bring a female screenwriter on board. The actor, who has been attached with the action franchise since the beginning, had threatened to walk out of the films in an 2017 Instagram post unless producers showed "some love to the women of the franchise on the next one". "I felt like there was not enough of a female voice in the franchise. You should evolve with the times, not just pander to certain demographics that are stuck," she said at the Bloomberg Future of Equality Summit in London. Justin Lin, who directed "Fast Five" and "Fast & Furious 6", is returning to helm the ninth and tenth films. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India's beloved children's author Ruskin Bond will celebrate his 85th birthday on May 19 this year with the release of a new memoir set against the backdrop of the partition. The book titled "Coming Round the Mountain", will be released officially by the author at Cambridge bookstores in Mussourie, where he signs books for his readers every week on Monday. "This is the first time Ruskin Bond has penned his experiences about his time during the independence year. Evocative, poignant and full of spirit and hope, this book is an absolute classic; a collector's edition and a must-have for every Ruskin Bond fan!" publishers Puffin books said in a statement. "Coming Round the Mountain" is the third installment of Bond's award-winning memoir series for children that includes "Looking for the Rainbow" and "Till the Clouds Roll By". In "Looking for the Rainbow", Bond described the two years he had spent with his father when he was just nine years old, and in "Till the Clouds Roll By" he talked about the sudden change in his circumstances, the efforts he had to make to adjust to a new and very different life with his mother and stepfather. Now, the third part of the series will deal with Bond's story as a boy of thirteen during the crucial year of India's partition. "In 'Coming Round the Mountain', I have dwelt on my schooldays, in particular one memorable year, 1947, during which a lot of things happened to me and around me. The making of friends; the loss of friends; the country's freedom and its division; changes everywhere... But there was one constant- my love of books, and an inclination for putting things down on paper-and it was this that gave me the confidence and self-belief to take on the uncertainties of living in a changing world. "'Be true to yourself,' my father always told me, 'and if you are true to yourself, you will be true to others'," Bond said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court Friday vacated its order granting protection from arrest to former Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar in the Saradha chit fund scam case. The apex court said its February 5 order granting interim protection to Kumar will continue for seven days from Friday to enable him to approach the competent court for legal remedy. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi asked the CBI to act in accordance with law in the case. One of the advocates who appeared for Kumar said that as per the apex court order, Kumar cannot be arrested in the next seven days. "We have withdrawn the protection given to Rajeev Kumar vide order dated February 5," the court said while pronouncing the order. The judgment was pronounced by Justice Sanjiv Khanna who was part of the bench headed by the CJI and Justice Deepak Gupta. Pronouncing the operative part of the order, Justice Khanna said, "We are leaving it to the CBI to act in accordance with law." "Our February 5 order will continue for seven days form today to enable Rajeev Kumar to approach the competent court for relief," he said. At the outset, Justice Khanna, while pronouncing the order, said, "We have expressed our concern as to what has happened in the matter." The apex court on February 5 had granted protection from arrest to Kumar while directing him to appear before the CBI and "faithfully" cooperate into the investigation of cases arising out of the scam. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court Friday withdrew protection from arrest given to former Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar in the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam, in which the CBI wanted to interrogate him in custody. The top court also expressed concern over the confrontation between the CBI and the West Bengal Police in the case, saying that "at the receiving end are silently waiting lakhs of small town and rural investors who have been deprived and looted of their savings". It said however that its February 5 order granting protection from arrest to Kumar would continue for another seven days from Friday to enable him to approach the competent court for relief. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna left it open to the Central Bureau of Investigation to act in accordance with the law. "Therefore, in the given facts, we would withdraw the protection given to Rajeev Kumar, former Commissioner of Police, Kolkata, vide our order dated February 5, 2019 restraining the CBI from arresting him and thereby, leave it open to the CBI to act in accordance with the law," the bench said. "At the same time, we direct that the interim order dated February 5, 2019 would continue for a period of seven days from the date of pronouncement of this order to enable Rajeev Kumar to approach competent Court for relief, if so advised," said Justice Khanna, who pronounced the eight-page verdict. The bench, which was dealing with an application of CBI seeking to vacate the February 5 order, clarified that contentions and reasons raised in the probe agency's application would not be grounds to accept or reject the request of custodial interrogation or grant of protection, if any such petition is moved. It disposed of the application in pursuant to the directions and said that the CBI's petition seeking contempt action against Kumar for creating hurdles in the investigation of Saradha chit fund case would be taken up in the due course. Taking serious note of "confrontation and clash" between the CBI and state police, the bench said, "With regret, we acknowledge and accept that despite orders and words of advice, antagonism and acrimony has escalated and not ebbed as is evident from the pleading and arguments addressed before us". It said due to limited controversy in CBI's application for vacating of February 5 direction, it was not referring to the earlier orders but "express our disappointment and dismay seeing the CBI and the West Bengal State Police Force (WBSPF) pitted and casting aspersions against each other and being embroiled in this feud". The bench said the situation is grim as both sides have hardened their stand and there was no administrative mechanism in place to avoid and resolve such conflicts between the two wings of the police force in the country. "They (CBI and Police) have forgotten that the primary purpose and role of the police is to investigate crime, collect evidence and prosecute the offenders...At the receiving end are silently waiting lakhs of small town and rural investors who have been deprived and looted of their savings", the bench said. It noted that CBI had issued three notices on October 18 and 23 of 2017, and on December 8, 2018 asking Rajeev Kumar to appear and join investigation, but he had not respond. "Compelled, the CBI alleges their officers had made a bona fide visit to Rajeev Kumar's residence on February 3, but were prevented from entering and interrogating Rajeev Kumar by the WBSPF, who in retaliation had laid a seige around the CBI Office at Kolkata," it noted. The court also noted that West Bengal government and Kumar have alleged "political vendetta" and have made allegations against M Nageswara Rao, former interim CBI director. Earlier, Kumar in an affidavit before the court had alleged that he was targeted by CBI in the chit fund case due to "mala fide intent" and "conflict of interest" of Rao as his family members were under the scanner post-demonetisation. The Election Commission on Wednesday had ordered the removal of Kumar, who was posted as Additional Director General, CID, in West Bengal for allegedly failing to control incidents of violence in the state and had asked him to report to the Union Home Ministry on Thursday. Kumar was removed along with West Bengal's Principal Secretary (Home) Atri Bhattacharya after parts of Kolkata witnessed widespread violence during BJP president Amit Shah's massive road show in the city. In its order, the court said that CBI had alleged non-cooperation and charges WB state police with "obfuscating the investigation by causing impediments and roadblocks with a view to protect big names and members/leaders of the ruling party in the State of West Bengal". The court noted the CBI's claim of having substantial material implicating Rajeev Kumar, the then Commissioner, Bidhannagar Commissionerate, of connivance and complicity with the principal accused. The CBI had told the apex court that it wanted custodial interrogation of Kumar as there was prima facie evidence that he was allegedly trying to destroy or tamper with evidence and "shield high and mighty" in the case. The apex court, on February 5, had granted protection from arrest to Kumar while directing him to appear before the CBI and "faithfully" cooperate into the investigation of cases arising out of the scam. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a relief to 20 trainee IAS and IPS officers who had challenged the Centre's cadre allocation process for the 2018 batch, the Supreme Court Friday said they will be accommodated by increasing of one post in the state cadres of their preference this year. The apex court ordered this while hearing the appeal filed by the Centre challenging the Delhi High Court's verdict which had quashed the entire cadre allocation of IAS and IPS officers of the 2018 batch. A vacation bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and Sanjiv Khanna praised Solicitor General Tushar Mehta for showing "exemplary fairness" in suggesting that 18 petitioners who had approached the high court and two others who had moved the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) on the issue would be accommodated without considering '99' in their respective choices. As per the Centre's cadre allocation policy for 2018 batch, the candidates had to enter "99" for no preference in zones and cadres in the online form. "This will be done by increasing one post in the respective state cadres this year, which will have to be adjusted in coming years. The suggestion is accepted by the respondents," the bench noted in its order and said it is an "exemplary fairness" that Mehta has suggested this. The bench, which modified the high court's order, directed the Centre to accommodate the 20 trainee officers in the manner suggested by the Solicitor General. "It is made clear that such accommodation is being made as an exceptional case and will not be treated as a precedent for other candidates of the same batch or in future as only these 20 persons approached the court/ tribunal in time," the bench said. "Needless to mention that the original cadre allocation of the other candidates shall not be disturbed," the court said while disposing of the petitions. It said however that "all questions of law are kept open". During the arguments, the bench said that it was a "very serious matter" and also observed that language of the office memorandum of September 5, 2017 relating to cadre allocation policy was "extremely vague". "Your circular should have been more clear and if required, you should have given examples also," the bench told Mehta. However, Mehta said that out of around 400 candidates, only 19 have raised grievances over the cadre allocation process. He said that trainee IAS and IPS officers have undergone training as per local language and local revenue laws of the respective state where they will be posted. On May 13, the top court had agreed to hear the Centre's plea challenging the high court's May 3 verdict which had quashed the Centre's cadre allocation of IAS and IPS officers of the 2018 batch under the new policy and ordered fresh cadre allocation. The high court had said that it was inclined to grant relief to petitioners considering that they have approached the court at the very earliest and at a stage when neither IAS nor IPS officers of the 2018 batch have commenced their on-site training which are cadre-specific. The high court's verdict came on four petitions filed by various officers challenging the notification of the central government allocating cadres to candidates of Indian Police Service (IPS) on the basis of results of the Civil Services Examination (CSE), 2017. They had sought direction to the Centre to issue a new list allocating respective cadres to selected IPS candidates in the CSE, 2017, purely on the basis of merit and preferences indicated in the online form, by correctly interpreting the Office Memorandum (OM) of September 5, 2017. The pleas had claimed that the interpretation of Cadre Allocation Policy 2017 adopted by authorities was unreasonable and grossly unfair, unjust and arbitrary. As per the 2017 office memorandum on cadre allocation policy, states and joint cadres were divided into five zones. According to that policy, candidates were required to first give their choice in the descending order of preference from amongst various zones. Thereafter, candidates will indicate one preference of cadre from each preferred zone. The candidates will indicate their second cadre preference for every preferred zone thereafter. Similar process will continue till a preference for all cadres is indicated by the candidate. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Regulator Sebi Friday refused to lift the market ban imposed on Allied Financial Services and seven entities in a case of alleged misappropriation of clients' securities. However, the watchdog revoked the directions against three former directors -- Rajeev Kumar Asopa, Lalit Agarwal and Rajendra Prasad Basia -- of the company in the same case. In an interim order in February, Sebi barred Allied Financial and ten others from securities market till furthers directions besides imposing various other restrictions. The ruling had come after Sebi found that mutual funds of Novjoy Emporium Pvt Ltd, OCL India Ltd and Dalmia Cement East Ltd were allegedly transferred illegally by Allied to IL&FS Securities Services as a collateral for margins of Allied. Further, various other violations were found to have been committed by the Allied. In its confirmatory order on Friday, the regulator said there is no case for revocation of the directions passed against Allied and seven entities, including two directors Awanish Kumar Mishra and Jitendra Kumar Tiwari. Others are Money Mishra Financial Services, Money Mishra Overseas and two partners at Digi locker -- Pankaj Garg and Jitender Malhotra. "Further proceedings, if any, initiated based on findings of forensic audit by NSE/ Sebi investigation shall take place before the competent Whole Time Member," the regulator said in the order. The NSE has appointed a forensic auditor to look into the matter and Sebi probe is also underway. In addition, Sebi said rejected a request of Allied regarding annulment of a particular trade. In April, Allied requested Sebi to annul certain contract expiring in June citing that those cannot be hedged due to the regulator's interim order. The request cannot be entertained in the present proceedings, Sebi said on Friday, adding that such requests for annulment of trades are dealt by stock exchanges or clearing corporations in accordance with their bye-laws. Sebi also cited the latest ruling by the Securities Appellate Tribunal regarding annulment of trade. In an order on Wednesday, the tribunal directed IL&FS Securities Services to approach National Securities Clearing Corporation regarding its plea for annulment of certain trades that were executed for stock broker Allied Financial Services. Noting that IL&FS Securities is a clearing member and not a trading member, the tribunal had asked the company move an appropriation application to National Securities Clearing Corporation for annulment of the trade. "If such an application is filed, the said clearing corporation will decide the matter at the earliest after hearing all concerned parties," the tribunal had said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) superstar and veteran talk show host David Letterman have collaborated for a stand-alone special. As per the press release issued by the streaming service, the show will be all about in-depth conversations, for which Letterman is renowned, and in-the-field segments expressing his curiosity and humour. The 53-year-old Indian star said he was honoured to share his story with Letterman. "I've watched David Letterman's late-night talk show for years and I'm a huge fan of his style of interviewing. I'm thrilled, and honoured to share my story with him. That this is on is even more special I'm working with the team on various projects and it's always been exciting partnering with them," Shah Rukh said. No more footprints...this is The Abominable Snowman!! Before BatMan & SpiderMan, there is Mr. LetterMan @Letterman Thx for ur generosity. Had 2 much fun being interviewed.Not becos it was about me but becos u were kind enough to make me feel I can be me. U r an inspiration sir. pic.twitter.com/8MkFpWJ0WK (@iamsrk) May 17, 2019 After interviewing SRK in front of the live audience on Thursday in New York, Letterman, 72, said the actor was one of the loveliest persons he has ever spoken to. "The best part of this job that has been happy to provide for me is to meet people. And after each one of these sessions I think to myself, it is a very smart, very lovely person from whom I have learned things. You would maybe be at the top of that list," Letterman said. Netflix has not announced the premiere date of the special. The BJP has issued showcause notices its three leaders, including Lok Sabha candidate Pragya Singh Thakur, over their remarks on Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse, party chief Amit Shah said Friday, promising "appropriate action" against them. The entire BJP regrets the remarks and that is why prompt action has been taken, Shah said at a press conference, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi alongside him. The party's disciplinary committee has issued a notice to them and has given 10-days time to respond, he said. "We will immediately decide on appropriate action on them after that," Shah said. The Pandora's box opened on Thursday with BJP's Bhopal Lok Sabha candidate and Malegaon blast accused Thakur lauding Godse as a "patriot" and issuing an apology hours later, saying she respected Gandhi and his work for the country cannot be forgotten. As the row over Thakur's remarks escalated, BJP's MP from Karnataka Nalin Kumar Kateel compared Godse with former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. "Godse killed one, Kasab killed 72, Rajiv Gandhi killed 17,000. You judge who is more cruel in this??" Kateel tweeted on Thursday, equating Godse with 26/11 Mumbai terror attack convict Ajmal Kasab, and Rajiv Gandhi. Union minister Anantkumar Hegde also found himself in the with a purported tweet justifying Godse's action. However, later the minister claimed his account was hacked into. "The BJP does not associate with the comments of the three leaders. We not only consider such remarks as personal but also we have issued notices to those responsible and disciplinary proceedings have been initiated against them," Shah said. He asserted that Thakur's candidature from Bhopal is the party's "satyagraha" against fake "saffron" terror case. "The Congress compromised on the country's security for vote bank politics," he said. "Some people were caught in the Samjhauta Express case, the CBI said these people are associated with the LeT. American agencies also supported this that these people are associated with the LeT. A fake case of saffron terror was made in which all have been acquitted," Shah said. The courts have said that saffron terror is imaginary, he said. "So, who is responsible for the people released and given Rs 5 lakh compensation and security compromised for vote bank The Congress party is responsible. I demand that the Congress president apologise for defaming Hindu culture and compromising national security," he said. Earlier, in a series of tweets, Shah said the remarks made by Thakur, Hegde and Kateel are against the BJP's ideology, and the party has taken serious note of their statements. Shah also said these comments were their personal statements and had no link with the party. "They have withdrawn their statements and have also apologised. However, their remarks are against the decorum of public life and the BJP, and also against the party's ideology. "Taking serious note of their remarks, the party has decided to send them to the disciplinary committee," Shah said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Sikh trader in a tribal district of northwest Pakistan is giving discounts to Muslim worshippers in the holy month of Ramzan as a special gesture to promote peace and brotherhood in the restive region. Naranj Singh opened a shop in tehsil Jamrud of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where essential items are sold at prices less than the rates fixed by the government's Price Control Committee. The edible items are sold at prices less than Rs 10 to Rs 30 as that of the original rates. Singh said he considered it "an act of charity" and is performing the special gesture to promote peace and amity among Muslims and the minority Sikh community. Most of the Sikhs residing in Peshawar are those whose families previously resided in different parts of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) but shifted to Peshawar and started a business. Renowned Sikh religious leader and rights activist Charnjit Singh was gunned down in Scheme Chowk area in the outskirts of the city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in May last year. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Sikh youth was refused entry in a restaurant here for wearing a turban when he went there to meet friends after midnight, leaving him "hurt and embarrassed," according to a media report. Gurvinder Grewal, 23, went to Harbor Grill in Port Jefferson after midnight on Saturday but the security at the restaurant did not let him in with his religious head wear, citing new policy of the eatery. I felt shocked, embarrassed and hurt. I never encountered a situation where I was refused a service or entry into an establishment for wearing a turban, Grewal, a graduate from the Stony Brook University, said. He said that he explained to the manager that he wore the turban to practice his religion and want to spend time with friends for the night, the New York Post reported. However, the manager at the Harbor Grill did not allow him inside, citing a new policy introduced at the bar that enforces a dress code after 10 pm on Friday and Saturday nights, restricting all head wear, the report said. [He was] wearing what would be more widely perceived as the slang term dew rag' or a stocking cap' and not a traditional turban, the restaurant wrote in a Facebook post after residents expressed outrage. We do not allow hats or head wear in order to more capably identify people inside the establishment, the restaurant said. Clarifying their stand, the restaurant said that Harbor Grill embraces people of all races and religions, and does not discriminate against anyone for their creed or colour. We sincerely apologize for any distress that this incident may have caused. Please know that our weekend dress code policy is in place for the safety of all of our patrons, the restaurant said. Anyone wearing any type of hat is welcome during normal restaurant hours, it said. Grewal said that Port Jefferson Mayor Margot Garant apologized to him for the incident and advised him on actions to take on the issue. He tried to obtain a police report today at a Suffolk County precinct but was told that it was a civil matter, not a criminal matter, the report said. The officer recommended I contact a civil attorney or the ACLU. I plan to reach out to them today or tomorrow, he said. Throughout my life, I've faced verbal abuse and bullying about my appearance, mostly throughout school. However, my basic freedom of entering public accommodations was never infringed upon, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Silicon Valley-based IT company has filed a lawsuit against the US government for denying the most sought-after to a highly qualified Indian professional, terming the renunciation "arbitrary" and a "clear abuse of discretion". Xterra Solutions alleged in its lawsuit that the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) improperly denied to Praharsh Chandra Sai Venkata Anisetty, 28, whom it had hired as a Business System Analyst. The company's H-1B petition on behalf of Anisetty was denied on the sole ground that the job offered to him did not qualify as an H-1B specialty occupation, the lawsuit said. "The denial is not supported by substantial evidence in the record, is contrary to established legal precedent, and is arbitrary, capricious and constitutes a clear abuse of discretion," the company alleged and urged the Northern District of California US District Court to set aside the USCIS order. The is a non-immigrant visa that allows to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China. The most sought-after visa has an annual numerical limit cap of 65,000 visas each fiscal year as mandated by the The first 20,000 petitions filed on behalf of beneficiaries with a US masters degree or higher are exempt from the cap. ALSO READ: Bad news for India engineers and IT professionals looking for US job Anisetty holds a Bachelor's degree in Engineering (Electronics and Communication Engineering) as well as a Master's of Science degree in Information Technology and Management from the University of Texas at Dallas. He currently holds valid H-4 dependent status through his wife, the principal beneficiary of an H-1B application. From 2014 to 2016, Anisetty held valid F-1 non-immigrant status as a student enrolled in the information technology and management master's program at Texas University. Later, he also participated in Curricular Practical Training, an employment-training programme with an established academic curriculum in the form of cooperative education programmes offered by sponsoring employers through agreements with F-1 students' universities. The company asserted that Anisetty's current position as a Business Systems Analyst meets one or more of the criteria for an H-1B specialty occupation. "USCIS's decision dated February 19, 2019 denying Xterra's H-1B petition, filed on behalf of Anisetty, was arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and not in accordance with the law," the lawsuit said. The USCIS gave no explanation as to why, despite Xterra's significant evidentiary submissions in its request for evidence, documenting that Anisetty's position as a Business Analyst met all four criteria for a specialty occupation, it denied Xterra's petition to change Anisetty's status to that of the principal beneficiary of an H-1B petition, it said. The company alleged that the USCIS acted arbitrarily and capriciously in finding that the current position offered to the Indian professional did not meet criterion that "a baccalaureate or higher degree or its equivalent is normally the minimum requirement for entry into the particular position". Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has issued a standing order stating that he will hold the power to create posts in government departments, PSUs and boards, and directed officers to bring important service matters to his notice. In February this year, the Supreme Court had given a split verdict on the contentious issue of who should control administrative services in Delhi and had referred the matter to a larger bench of the apex court. In his order issued last month, Sisodia, who also holds the finance portfolio, said proposals involving major deviations from rules and precedents will be disposed of at the level of the finance minister. It stated that proposals for allotment of land free of cost or at concessional rates will be examined by the department's deputy secretary or special secretary or top officers, but will be disposed of by the finance minister. On appeals to the Lt Governor under the Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, Sisodia, in his order, said such matter will be examined by a joint secretary or special secretary, but the principal secretary will submit it to the L-G and the finance minister. Files pertaining to this matter to the L-G will be routed through the finance minister, he said. "All important matters requiring policy decision may be brought to the notice of deputy CM/FM. "Where a proposal has the support of the minister of an administrative department and it is not considered proper to accord concurrence to the proposal, the case should be submitted through principal secretary to the finance minister," Sisodia said in the order. According to him, pending decision of the Supreme Court in this regard, service matters in the domain of service department will be disposed of as per interim orders of the apex court but they will be brought to the notice of finance minister as specified in the schedule. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A small plane involved in upgrading a runway at Dubai International Airport crashed Thursday night, killing four people and halting traffic at the world's busiest airport for international travel for nearly an hour. Authorities gave no explanation for what caused the crash of the Diamond DA62 aircraft with a tail number belonging to Flight Calibrations Service Ltd. of Shoreham, England. The UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority said the three British citizens and one South African on the plane were killed. Early Friday morning, police, paramedics and flight investigators worked at the crash site, some 8 kilometers southeast of the airport in Mushrif Park near the city-state's water reservoirs. Police told Associated Press journalists they could not visit the crash site, which was hidden from view by sand dunes. The airport, home to long-haul carrier Emirates, is the world's busiest for international travel. It halted flights from 7:36 p.m. until 8:22 p.m. over the crash. Flight Calibrations Service announced in November it signed a contract to work on the airport's "navaids," the beacons around an airport that show pilots where runways are and how to land on them. Dubai International Airport later told The Associated Press that the plane "was being used to calibrate the approach systems" at the airport. An employee at Flight Calibrations Services, which has two Diamond DA62s stationed in the United Arab Emirates, declined to comment on the crash Thursday night. The work comes as Dubai has shut down its southern runway for resurfacing and replacing the light and support infrastructure. It closed on April 16 and officials hope to reopen it on May 30. Dubai has cut back on some of its scheduled flights and redirected others to Al Maktoum Airport at Dubai World Central, the city's second airport. Dubai is a major city in the United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula. The city-state's last major aircraft incident happened on Aug. 3, 2016. An Emirates Boeing 777-300 coming from Thiruvananthapuram, India, crash landed, but no lives were lost among its 300 passengers and crew. A firefighter was killed in a subsequent explosion of Flight EK521. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) I.M. Pei (PAY), the versatile, globe-trotting architect who revived the Louvre with a giant glass pyramid and captured the spirit of rebellion at the multi-shaped Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, has died at age 102. Chinese architect of the Louvre Pyramid Ieoh Ming Pei smiles in the Napoleon courtyard of the Louvre museum in Paris on June 22, 2006. [Photo: AFP] Pei's death was confirmed Thursday by Marc Diamond, a spokesman for the architect's New York firm, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. One of Pei's sons, Li Chung Pei, told The New York Times his father had died overnight. Pei's works ranged from the trapezoidal addition to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., to the chiseled towers of the National Center of Atmospheric Research that blend in with the reddish mountains in Boulder, Colorado. His buildings added elegance to landscapes worldwide with their powerful geometric shapes and grand spaces. Among them are the striking steel and glass Bank of China skyscraper in Hong Kong and the Fragrant Hill Hotel near Beijing. His work spanned decades, starting in the late 1940s and continuing through the new millennium. Two of his last major projects, the Museum of Islamic Art, located on an artificial island just off the waterfront in Doha, Qatar, and the Macau Science Center, in China, opened in 2008 and 2009. Pei painstakingly researched each project, studying its use and relating it to the environment. But he also was interested in architecture as art and the effect he could create. "At one level my goal is simply to give people pleasure in being in a space and walking around it," he said. "But I also think architecture can reach a level where it influences people to want to do something more with their lives. That is the challenge that I find most interesting." Pei, who as a schoolboy in Shanghai was inspired by its building boom in the 1930s, immigrated to the United States and studied architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. He advanced from his early work of designing office buildings, low-income housing and mixed-used complexes to a worldwide collection of museums, municipal buildings and hotels. He fell into a modernist style blending elegance and technology, creating crisp, precise buildings. His big break was in 1964, when he was chosen over many prestigious architects, such as Louis Kahn and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, to design the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library in Boston. At the time, Jacqueline Kennedy said all the candidates were excellent, "But Pei! He loves things to be beautiful." The two became friends. A slight, unpretentious man, Pei developed a reputation as a skilled diplomat, persuading clients to spend the money for his grand-scale projects and working with a cast of engineers and developers. Some of his designs were met with much controversy, such as the 71-foot (22-meter) faceted glass pyramid in the courtyard of the Louvre museum in Paris. French President Francois Mitterrand, who personally selected Pei to oversee the decaying, overcrowded museum's renovation, endured a barrage of criticism when he unveiled the plan in 1984. Many of the French vehemently opposed such a change to their symbol of their culture, once a medieval fortress and then a national palace. Some resented that Pei, a foreigner, was in charge. But Mitterrand and his supporters prevailed and the pyramid was finished in 1989. It serves as the Louvre's entrance, and a staircase leads visitors down to a vast, light-drenched lobby featuring ticket windows, shops, restaurants, an auditorium and escalators to other parts of the vast museum. "All through the centuries, the Louvre has undergone violent change," Pei said. "The time had to be right. I was confident because this was the right time." Another building designed by Pei's firm the John Hancock Tower in Boston had a questionable future in the early 1970s when dozens of windows cracked and popped out, sending glass crashing to the sidewalks, during the time the building was under construction. A flurry of lawsuits followed among the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co., the glass manufacturer, and Pei's firm. A settlement was reached in 1981. No challenge seemed to be too great for Pei, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which sits on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. Pei, who admitted he was just catching up with the Beatles, researched the roots of rock 'n' roll and came up with an array of contrasting shapes for the museum. He topped it off with a transparent tent-like structure, which was "open like the music," he said. In 1988, President Reagan honored him with a National Medal of Arts. He also won the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize, 1983, and the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal, 1979. President George H.W. Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992. Pei officially retired in 1990 but continued to work on projects. Two of his sons, Li Chung Pei and Chien Chung Pei, former members of their father's firm, formed Pei Partnership Architects in 1992. Their father's firm, previously I.M. Pei and Partners, was renamed Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. The museum in Qatar that opened in 2008 was inspired by Islamic architectural history, especially the 9th century mosque of Ahmed ibn Tulun in the Egyptian capital of Cairo. It was established by the tiny, oil-rich nation to compete with rival Persian Gulf countries for international attention and investment. In 1948, New York City real estate developer William Zeckendorf hired Pei as his director of architecture. During this period, Pei worked on many large urban projects and gained experience in areas of building development, economics and construction. Some of his early successes included the Mile High Center office building in Denver, the Kips Bay Plaza Apartments in Manhattan, and the Society Hill apartment complex in Philadelphia. Pei established his own architectural firm in 1955, a year after he became a U.S. citizen. He remained based in New York City. Among the firm's accomplishments are the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. Pei's wife, Eileen, who he married in 1942, died in 2014. A son, T'ing Chung, died in 2003. Besides sons Chien Chung Pei and Li Chung Pei, he is survived by a daughter, Liane. (Story includes material sourced from AP.) A social worker was arrested on Friday by the Noida Police for allegedly hatching a conspiracy to extort Rs 2 crore from Union minister and BJP leader Mahesh Sharma, officials said. Usha Thakur, in her 60s, was held from her house in Sector 31 at around 10 am, a police official said. Thakur is accused of extortion, forgery and criminal conspiracy linked to a pre-election "sting operation" done by a gang helmed by a man who ran a local channel that was shut down after demonetisation, according to the police. The gang was demanding Rs 2 crore from Sharma after threatening to make public an "objectionable" video, the officials said, adding that three people directly linked to the case were already arrested in April. "Usha Thakur was arrested this morning from her house. She has been arrested following detailed interrogation of other accused involved in this case," SHO of the Sector 20 police station Rajvir Singh Chauhan said. "Thakur had facilitated the meeting between the people who conducted the so-called sting operation and the Union minister. She has been arrested based on evidences of her role in the whole conspiracy," he said. She was produced before a local court, which remanded her in judicial custody, Chauhan said. Earlier in April, the police had arrested Aalok Kumar, the owner of the now defunct channel, from Kolkata along with his aide Nisha. She was held from Sharma's Kailash Hospital. Nisha had reached the hospital with a message from Aalok Kumar that the minister must pay the ransom amount or otherwise the 20-minute video, that was reportedly recorded on March 24, would be made public. One more man, identified as Khalid, who worked in the gang and is named in the FIR, is absconding, the SHO added. Thakur is the granddaughter of the brother of legendary Hindi poet Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar'. She has worked for a long time in Noida as a social worker and hogged limelight for her work in getting justice for victims of the sensational Nithari serial murder case. About the footage, Noida Police Chief Vaibhav Krishna had said in April that when investigated it was found that the blackmailer's claim of "it being objectionable were unfound and were only to create pressure". "It was a normal video where the minister was purportedly heard talking to some people," Krishna, the senior superintendent of police, had said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A social worker was arrested on Friday by the Noida Police on charges of trying to extort Rs 2 crore from Union minister and BJP leader Mahesh Sharma, officials said. Usha Thakur, in her 60s, was held from her house in Sector 31 at around 10 am, a police official said. Thakur is accused of extortion, forgery and criminal conspiracy linked to a pre-election "sting operation" done by a gang helmed by a man who ran a local channel that was shut down after demonetisation, according to the police. The gang was demanding Rs 2 crore from Sharma after threatening to make public an "objectionable" video, the officials said, adding that three people directly linked to the case were already arrested in April. "Usha Thakur was arrested this morning from her house. She has been arrested following detailed interrogation of other accused involved in this case," SHO of the Sector 20 police station Rajvir Singh Chauhan said. She was produced before a local court, which remanded her in judicial custody, he said. One more man, identified as Khalid, who worked in the gang, is absconding, the SHO added. Thakur has worked for a long time in Noida as a social worker and hogged limelight for her work in getting justice for victims of the sensational Nithari serial murder case. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) says it has completed its updates to the flight-control software on the 737 MAX and tested it for more than 360 hours on 207 flights, after two deadly crashes resulted in the grounding of the aircraft globally, including in India. The 737 Max 8 and 9 models were grounded worldwide after an Ethiopian Airlines crash on March 10 that investigators have described as appearing similar to a Lion Air crash on October 29 last year. A total of 346 people died in the two crashes. In both accidents, the automated Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), pushed the planes' noses down while the pilots struggled to regain control. "With safety as our clear priority, we have completed all of the engineering test flights for the software update and are preparing for the final certification flight," Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg said on Thursday. The update is expected to prevent erroneous angle of attack sensor readings from triggering the MCAS, something that initial investigation reports indicate occurred in both accidents involving Max aircraft. He said in a statement that has completed development of the updated software for the 737 MAX, along with associated simulator testing and the company's engineering test flight. To date, Boeing has flown the 737 MAX with updated MCAS software for more than 360 hours on 207 flights, he said. The statement comes ahead of an gathering of aviation regulators in Dallas next week to discuss the reviews of the Max. Boeing is now providing additional information to address Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requests that include detail on how pilots interact with the airplane controls and displays in different flight scenarios. Once the requests are addressed, Boeing will work with the FAA to schedule its certification test flight and submit final certification documentation. "We are committed to providing the FAA and global regulators all the information they need, and to getting it right. We are making clear and steady progress and are confident that the 737 MAX with updated MCAS software will be one of the safest airplanes ever to fly. He said the two accidents have only intensified Boeing's commitment to its values, including safety, quality and integrity, because "we know lives depend on what we do". In addition, Boeing has developed enhanced training and education materials that are now being reviewed with the FAA, global regulators, and airline customers to support return-to-service and longer-term operations. This includes a series of regional customer conferences being conducted around the world, the statement said. The company has said its fix will feed MCAS with data from two, rather than just one, sensor, making the plane less susceptible to a crash because of bad data, CNN reported. It will also make the system less potent, which is expected to prevent the steep dives seen in the two crashes, and provide additional training materials, it said. All Max aircraft being operated by Indian carriers have been grounded since the Ethiopian Airlines crash in March. SpiceJet has been most affected by the grounding of 737 Max aircraft as it has 12 of them in its fleet. Jet Airways has not been affected as its five 737 Max aircraft have already been grounded - even before the grounding decision of the government -- due to non-payment of dues to lessors. Meanwhile, multiple investigations, including the initial crash investigation, are ongoing. Criminal prosecutors, congressional staffers, and the Transportation Department inspector general are reviewing the initial certification of the 737 and the FAA's processes. The FAA's aircraft certification chief, Earl Lawrence, told Congress on Wednesday the agency has been reviewing a preliminary version of the software provided by Boeing. "I would call it the beta version," Lawrence said. "The reason why they submitted it to us is so we can stick it in the simulator so we could test it, so we can also look at their system safety analysis and see whether it will appropriately address it." Pilots are expected to undergo extra training on the new system once it receives certification. Aviation safety analyst Todd Curtis told the BBC that it would take a lot to convince the pilots and other flight crew members that the Boeing MAX aircraft was safe. Sanjiv Goenka Group's Spencer's Retail Friday said it will acquire Godrej Industries' grocery chain Nature's Basket for Rs 300 crore. Natures Basket's acquisition will make Spencer's Retail a national player, giving it access to the western parts of India through its 36 stores in prime locations in Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore. "...The Board of Directors of the company....has approved a proposal for acquisition of entire 100 per cent stake held by Godrej Industries Ltd in its wholly owned subsidiary Nature's Basket Ltd, subject to requisite approval of the shareholders of the company and execution of a share purchase agreement for undertaking the transaction contemplated above. "This acquisition will bring in many synergies in Spencer's business and fits in well with Spencer's omnichannel strategy," Spencer's Retail said in a regulatory filing. Spencer's Retail will acquire Nature's Basket's entire share capital comprising 44,58,30,000 fully paid-up equity shares of Rs 10 each. Spencer's Retail said the consideration for the proposed transaction is Rs 300 crore (+/- any agreed adjustments) in terms of the SPA to be executed with Natures Basket and Godrej Industries, and subject to the requisite approval of the shareholders and consumation of the transaction. Natures Basket Limited (NBL), a 100 per cent subsidiary of Godrej Industries and reported turnover of Rs 338.28 crore for the year 2018-19. The company sells various food products and beverages through its retail stores and online platform. Kolkata-based Spencer's Retail, part of RP Sanjiv Goenka Group, is a multi-format retailer that provides products across categories such as food, personal care, fashion, home essentials, electrical and electronics. "Looking forward, we realised that to further unlock the immense potential of this brand and to grow it to even greater heights, we need to pass on the torch to owners who have prioritised retail in their portfolio strategy and have the relevant ecosystems to take the business to the next level," said Tanya Dubash, Executive Director and Chief Brand Officer, Godrej Group. Dubash said Spencer's Retail is very keen to further strengthen the brand and strongly accelerate the growth of the business. "Both Spencer's and Nature's Basket are positioned as experiential grocery retailers, and that is the first of many synergies that this acquisition brings. Nature's Basket has a strong portfolio of private label brands which has huge traction with its consumers. We believe there is huge potential to expand this to Spencer's stores," said Shashwat Goenka, Sector Head - Retail & FMCG, RP Sanjiv Goenka Group. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Members of Delhi University's Academic and Executive Councils Friday wrote to the varsity's vice-chancellor, saying the decision of St Stephen's college to include a member of Supreme Council in the interview panel for students "will compromise with the academic integrity in the admission process". The letter addressed to Professor Yogesh Tyagi was written by Executive Council members J L Gupta and Rajesh Jha, Academic Council members Seema Das, Richa Raj, Sudhanshu and Pradip Kumar, and Finance Committee member Rajpal Singh Pawar. "We request you to preserve and protect the academic integrity in the admission process and dignity of the teachers of St Stephen's college, which is under serious threat by some recent decisions of the college administration," the letter read. "We respect the status of the minority institution, but we also demand respect for the university's statutory framework and service conditions of the teachers," the members said in the letter. It stated that the warning letters issued to the three teachers must be withdrawn immediately as they were performing their duty as the members of Governing Body. "Including a member of the Supreme Council in the admission panel is clearly an encroachment on the administration of the college and will compromise with the academic integrity in the admission process," the members said. Students and staff members of St Stephen's college Friday staged a protest against the alleged interference of the church by including a member of the institution's Supreme Council in a panel to select students. The Supreme Council is a subset of six members of the Governing Body (Managing Committee) and comprises all members of the church of North India. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) State governments should contribute in funding for defence, national highways and railways projects, said Bibek Debroy, Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to Prime Minister (EAC-PM). When the Centre provides funds for healthcare, which is a state subject, should states not contribute their bit for defence, railways and national highways, Debroy wondered. "Railways is important, national highway is important. If they are important then state govts should contribute just as Union government contributes on health, even as health happens to be (on the) state list," Bibek argued "By the same token, state governments should also contribute for their share in defence, national highways, railways," he said at an event organised by industry body Assocham. Noting that India as a country is excessively centralised, Debroy said, "In other words, I think we have come to a cusp when we need to debate the present package of central sector and (CSS)". Stressing that fiscal consolidation is important, he said there is a need to prioritise and decide areas that are important from point of view of public administration. Pointing out that India's tax to GDP ratio is low at 17 per cent, Debroy said, "As long as we have tax exemptions we will not have simplified tax structure". Debroy also said that for a country like India, the largest contribution to growth and productivity will probably come about from more efficiently using land, labour and capital, thus they must be used more efficiently. "Our titling systems are pretty pathetic, there are states in India where cadastral surveys are obsolete and unless we update them, unless we have some kind of reasonable titling system it would be extremely difficult to use land efficiently," he said. Students and staff members of St Stephen's college Friday staged a protest against the alleged interference of the church by including a member of the institution's Supreme Council in a panel to select students. The Supreme Council is a subset of six members of the Governing Body (Managing Committee) and comprises all members of the Church of North India. While the protesters wore black bands and held posters demanding perseverance of academic integrity, the students' union of the prestigious college has written an open letter to the college principal citing lack of communication opportunities with him. "We want that the warning letters to teacher representatives, who objected to the interference of church, be withdrawn and the academic integrity of the teachers be upheld," said Nandita Narain, one of the three members of the governing body who condemned the institution's decision. The protest call by the staff members had on Thursday prompted college authorities to put up a notice signed by Principal John Varghese, saying there should be no "disturbance of working environment" in the college and those doing that will be dealt within the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules. The college has also banned the entry of media persons in the premises. The notice put up by the college authorities also stated that there are examinations being conducted at present in the institution and any form of disruption to the exams will be dealt with strictly. "We have always asked for a proper communication channel between the administration and the students. The students are having lots of concerns about the recent outcry in the college. As an elected body, we feel it is our duty to seek clarification from you so that everyone has a clear idea about what is happening and peaceful atmosphere can be restored in college," the open letter by students union read. According to the college constitution, the Supreme Council of the college shall have the control of the religious and moral instruction of students of the college and of all matters affecting its religious character as a Christian college of the Church of North India. Three members of the governing body -- Narain, N P Ashley and Abhishek Singh -- condemned the "illegal and unacademic decision taken by the Principal", that "could compromise the academic integrity of our admissions process" while demanding its withdrawal. They were also issued warning letters. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sundaram-Clayton Ltd, a TVS Group company, Friday said its first overseas auto-component manufacturing facility in the United States has commenced operations. The facility, set up at a project cost of Rs 630 crore (USD 90 million), would make Sundaram-Clayton Ltd (SCL) a global player. It would produce 1,000 tonnes of castings in the first year which could be scaled up to 10,000 tonnes in five years. SCL would manufacture a range of high-pressure die-cast and gravity die-cast parts at the unit. The plant has been set up on a 50 acre land in Dorchester County in Ridgeville Industrial Park, South Carolina. The facility would supply auto-components for vehicles from two-wheelers to large trucks to major global players. "The long-term outlook for both the American and the Indian automotive industries are strong. OEM vehicle makers are focused on light-weighting and better fuel economy," company Joint Managing Director Lakshmi Venu said. "Our strategy of expanding in both these markets enable us to support our customers with a more responsive supply chain in an increasingly dynamic world," she said. South Carolina governor Henry McMaster, who inaugurated the facility, said "Our State is leading the way in economic development, and the fact that Sundaram-Clayton is already announcing additional jobs is another testament to that." "This (facility by SCL) is a big win for Dorchester County and the entire state, and we are excited to see what the future has in store for this great company..," he said. The United States Department of Commerce and its trade promotion arm, the US Commercial Services in Chennai, played a key role in facilitating the project. According to SCL, US is the biggest export market for SCL constituting 60 per cent generating 40 per cent revenue. Such an onshore facility would enable SCL to sharply reduce delivery lead times, giving it a competitive advantage in an increasingly demanding market for automotive components. SCL recently set up an additional manufacturing unit at Oragadam near here to serve automobile companies. Sundaram-Clayton Ltd clocked revenues of Rs 1,932.94 crore during FY18-19 and has four manufacturing facilities in India besides the one in the US. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actor and BJP candidate from Gurdaspur Sunny Deol Friday moved the Punjab and Haryana high court here "fearing misuse of official machinery" by the ruling Congress and sought adequate measures, including deployment of additional paramilitary forces, to ensure free and fair polling. Deol also demanded that the Gurdaspur constituency be declared "super sensitive", claiming it was prone to violence. He cited the incidents of poll-related violence in the border constituency during panchayat polls which were conducted across the state in December 2018. "We moved the court because we feared the official machinery could be misused in the elections by the Congress," advocate Pankaj Jain, the counsel for Deol, told reporters. He said after they filed the petition before a division bench of justices Daya Chaudhary and Sudhir Mittal, the court sought to know from the Election Commission about the measures being taken to ensure free and fair polls in Gurdaspur. The petitioner's counsel submitted before the court that the "Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat is a prestigious constituency as not only the petitioner is a popular figure, he is contesting the election against a candidate, who is a state president of the Congress". The counsel representing the Election Commission informed the court that 24 companies of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) would be deployed at 866 polling booths in the parliamentary constituency. As many as 111 polling booths have been categorised as "critical" and 467 as "vulnerable", the court was informed about the measures taken by the EC. At 1014 booths, Micro Observes have been appointed and 1034 booths will be covered by webcasting. Besides, three General Observers have been appointed, the court was informed. In many booths, multiple security measures, including adequate deployment of state police force, have also been undertaken, the EC counsel further informed the court. "In view of the action taken, no further direction is required to be issued in this petition and the present petition is disposed of accordingly," the bench said in its order. Punjab's Additional Chief Electoral Officer Sibin C told reporters that "the court was satisfied with the measures being taken by the Election Commission for Gurdaspur constituency". Deol is pitted against Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar, who is the sitting MP from Gurdaspur. Campaigning for the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab, including Gurdaspur, ended Friday evening. The polling will be held on Sunday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday met Afghanistan's High Peace Council Secretary Umer Daudzai, who briefed her on the outcome of the recently held 'Loya Jirga' or peace meeting in Kabul. A historic "loya jirga" peace summit in Kabul was held earlier this month with delegates from across Afghanistan demanding an immediate and permanent ceasefire, and President Ashraf Ghani saying he was conditionally prepared to implement the call. The 'loya jirga' or grand assembly saw about 3,200 religious and tribal leaders, politicians and representatives try to find a breakthrough in Afghanistan's gruelling conflict. Daudzai, who is also President Ghani's special envoy, also met Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale. "EAM @SushmaSwaraj & Foreign Secretary met Afghanistan's High Peace Council Secretary & President Ghani's Special Envoy @Umerdaudzai2 ,who briefed the Indian leadership on the outcome of the recently held Loya Jirga. India expressed its support for sustainable peace in Afghanistan," Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Syria called Friday on all parties to exercise "restraint" in the Gulf as its ally Iran comes under mounting pressure from the United States, state media said. "The Syrian government calls on all sides to exercise restraint because escalating tensions in the Gulf would not benefit countries in the region," state agency SANA quoted a foreign ministry source as saying. "Dialogue... would undoubtedly reduce tensions and would ensure stability, security and peace," the source said. Washington has deployed an aircraft carrier strike group and B-52 bombers to the Gulf citing alleged threats from Tehran. The ministry source underlined Syria's rejection of any attempt to disrupt Gulf shipping, after four ships, including two Saudi oil tankers, were damaged in still unexplained sabotage attacks in the nearby Sea of Oman on Sunday. Iran's region rivals Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have invited France, Norway and the United States to join an inquiry into the attacks, which Tehran has called "alarming and regrettable". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Flooding in Tanzania has killed five people and forced about 2,500 to flee their homes after a week of torrential rain in the country's south, an official said Friday. Schools have closed in Kyela, a district on the border of Lake Malawi, and families fled to shelters after losing everything in the rising waters. "The damage from these floods is enormous," Salome Magambo, the district's administrative secretary, told AFP. "Since the beginning of the week we have reported five people killed and 2,570 homeless, some of whom are staying with friends or in schools and churches." Food and medical services have been extended to those stranded, she added. Farming land in the district known for its rice production has also been inundated, destroying crops and raising fears of food shortages in coming months. In April 2018 at least 14 people were killed in torrential rains and flooding in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's economic capital. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) : Telugu Desam Party Friday sought re-poll in 18 polling stations spread over seven assembly constituencies in Andhra Pradesh. A delegation of TDP leaders, including ministers and legislators, met Chief Secretary L V Subrahmanyam in the Secretariat and submitted a memorandum in this regard. The TDP alleged irregularities in the polling stations as the opposition YSR Congress resorted to unlawful methods during polling on April 11. As such, it wanted re-poll ordered in the 18 polling stations. The TDPs petition came in the backdrop of a similar petition filed by YSRC MLA Chevireddy Bhaskara Reddy early this month, alleging that a certain section of voters was not allowed to exercise their franchise on April 11 in his Chandragiri Assembly constituency in Chittoor district. After an inquiry, the Election Commission ordered re-poll in five polling stations in Chandragiri on May 19. Taking umbrage to this, the TDP filed a counter petition seeking re-poll in two polling stations in Narsaraopet, four in Rajampet, two each in Koduru, Satyavedu and Jammalamadugu and three each in Sattenapalli and Chandragiri constituencies. Talking to reporters after meeting the Chief Secretary, ministers N Anand Babu, D U Rao and others alleged that the ECI was trashing their petitions while acting promptly on YSRC complaints. It was unprecedented that re-polling was conducted in the state in phases, they pointed out referring to the re-poll held in five polling stations in the state on May 6. "We requested the Chief Secretary to take steps on our petitions in the same manner in which he acted on the YSRCs complaint, they said. Official sources said the Chief Secretary forwarded the TDP petition to the state Chief Electoral Officer for 'necessary action. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A teenaged boy was Friday apprehended at a metro station here for allegedly carrying five live bullets in his bag, officials said. The juvenile was held by the CISF personnel at Mayur Vihar Phase-I metro station around 4 pm after the baggage scanner detected the bullets, they said. The accused, a resident of Surajpur village in Noida, was then handed over to the local police by the Central Industrial Security Force for further investigation, officials said. Carrying arms and ammunition in Delhi Metro is banned. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An Indian climber has died in Nepal while descending the summit of Mount Makalu during an expedition to the world's fifth highest mountain, an official said Friday, days after two mountaineers from the country perished in the Himalayan nation. Narayan Singh died at camp 4 on Thursday night while climbing down from the 8,485-meter summit, Nepal Tourism Ministry official Mira Acharya said. "Indian climber Narayan Singh died in Mt Makalu. He died at camp 4 while descending the summit," Acharya told PTI. Two Indian climbers from West Bengal - Biplab Baidya (48) and Kuntal Karar (46) - died in Nepal on Wednesday due to high altitude sickness near the summit of Mount Kanchenjunga, the world's third tallest peak. Another climber from Chile is missing from above Camp IV of Mount Kanchenjunga since Wednesday evening. Makalu is the fifth highest mountain in the world. It is located in the Mahalangur Himalayas 19-kilometer southeast of Mount Everest, on the border between Nepal and Tibet Autonomous Region, China. Hundreds of climbers flock each year to Nepal - home to several of the world's highest mountains, to scale Himalayan peaks during the spring season that begins around March and ends in June. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi BJP leader Tajinder Pal Bagga Friday sought to compare Mahatma Gandhi's killing and the 1984 riots, saying people involved in both the cases weren't patriots, and asked Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to state her stand on the "murderer" of Sikhs. Bagga was reacting to a tweet by Priyanka Gandhi in which she dared the BJP's "nationalistic luminaries" to spell out their stand on their Bhopal candidate Pragya Singh Thakur calling Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse a patriot. Without naming anybody, the Delhi BJP spokesperson said his party has stated its stand on the "murderer" of Mahatma Gandhi and asks the Congress general secretary to specify her stand on "murderer of 10,000 Sikhs". In a tweet, Priyanka Gandhi has said, "Bapu's murderer a patriot? Hey Ram! Distancing yourself from your candidate is not enough. Nationalistic luminaries of the BJP, have the guts to spell out your stand." Tweeting in Hindi, Bagga said, "Neither Bapu's murderer can be a patriot nor the murderer of 10,000 Sikhs. Both are murderers. BJP has stated its stand on the Bapu's murderer, now you state your stand on murderer of 10,000 Sikhs." BJP president Amit Shah Friday came out strongly against the controversial remarks of his party leaders, including Pragya Singh Thakur, over Nathuram Godse, saying the BJP has taken serious note of their statements, which are against its ideology. Shah has asked the party's disciplinary committee to submit a report on the issue in 10 days for further action. In a series of tweets, he said the remarks made by Lok Sabha candidate Thakur, Union minister Anantkumar Hegde and BJP MP Nalin Kateel are against the BJP's ideology, and the party has taken serious note of their statements. Shah also said these comments were their personal statements and had no link with the party. As campaigning for the 2019 general elections ended on Friday, the BJP was pushed into a corner and forced to ask three of its leaders to explain their comments on Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Thousands of civilians are fleeing fighting between the Democratic Republic of Congo's army and militia groups in the eastern South Kivu province, a local official told AFP on Friday. Some 25,000 of them have gathered in Minwembe, the rural commune's deputy mayor Charles Sadiki told AFP. "They are fleeing the fighting. Their homes have been burnt and pillaged. They have spent the night out of doors. They have no shelter. They have no food. No assistance," he said. Sadiki said gunfire had been heard near Minembwe, where UN-funded Okapi radio reported that three militiamen were killed in combat with troops. The United Nations said this week it had warded off several attacks on Minewemba. Dozens of armed groups are active in the North and South Kivu provinces of DRC. In the city of Beni in North Kivu, a local official said five civilians and a soldiers were killed Friday in an attack attributed to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). "The civilians were surprised in the fields by the ADF, who killed five of them by machete and took two with them," an administrator of Beni, Donat Kibwana, told AFP. "One soldier was killed and another injured, and the search is continuing" for the abducted individuals, added army spokesman Mak Hazukay. "We are still urging our political-military authorities to save the people of Beni from this situation," residents' representative Noella Muliwavio said. The ADF, forced out of Uganda in the mid 1990s, is frequently accused by DRC authorities of attacking army positions in North Kivu. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A high ranking Chinese official has said that the ongoing trade war with the US could slash China's GDP by one per cent, in the first such admission by Beijing that the tariff war with Washington is biting the world's second largest economy. The Chinese economy which is on a downward trend slowed down to 6.8 per cent last year and the government this year officially slashed the GDP growth to be between 6.5 and six per cent. US President Donald Trump, who kicked off the trade war last year, is demanding China to reduce the massive trade deficit which has climbed to over USD 539 billion last year. He is also insisting on Beijing for verifiable measures for protection of intellectual property rights (IPR), technology transfer and more access to American goods to Chinese markets. The US-China trade war could slash one percentage point off Beijing's economic growth this year, Wang Yang, one of the seven members of the elite Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) which virtually rules the country, was quoted as saying by the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post. Speaking to a group of Taiwanese business people whose companies are based in mainland China on Thursday, Wang said the government had assessed the impact of the near year-long dispute and estimated that in the worst-case scenario gross domestic product growth would be one percentage point lower than expected. While Wang did not outline any plans for dealing with the fallout from the trade war, he is the first official from the top policymaking body to speak so candidly about its possible impact on headline targets, the report said. A member of the audience at the event in Beijing said despite the official's frank assessment, he did not seem too worried about the long-term effects of China's spat with the US. "Wang said that although the trade war would have an impact on the mainland's economic development, and had caused significant waves it would not lead to any structural changes," the unnamed delegate was quoted as saying. China and US had 11 rounds of talks headed by trade officials of both the countries to work out a trade deal. So far the two countries slapped billions worth of tariffs on each other's exports. Trump had threatened to slap tariffs on the remaining Chinese exports. He has also been asserting that China is at a disadvantage as its economy was not so good and the tariff war would hurt Beijing badly. The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said Trump's remarks were baseless. "The fact is, the Chinese economy is growing steadily with a positive momentum. Trade protectionist measures of the US side will have some impact on our economy, but we can totally overcome it. We have the confidence and capability to guard against any external risks and impacts," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang had told a media briefing. Introduced by a Scotsman in the Kashmir valley 118 years ago, Trout farming has become a major economic activity with the establishment of 533 units in the private sector apart from trout beats set up in 142 rivers, streams and lakes of the state. Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) has recorded nearly 600 tonnes of trout production in the last financial year. "J&K has setup 533 units of trout farms in private sector. There are 59 trout rearing units and hatcheries", Director, Fisheries department of J&K, R N Pandita said. Not only this, trout farming has been practised in over 142 rivers, streams and lakes in Jammu and Kashmir. "There are about 150 fishing beats spread over 40 streams with an aggregate length of 500 km, besides, there are 12 high altitude lakes ranging from 8,000 feet to 12,000 feet above the sea level having Brown Trout," Pandita said. The first batch of Trout ova of 10,000 eggs arrived from the UK in 1899 with the courtesy of Duke of Bedford, to whom the Kashmir Maharaja presented an excellent Kashmir stag trophy through Sir Adelbert Talbot, British Resident at Srinagar. "Kashmir's trout fisheries history goes back to 1898 when Mr Mitchel, a Scotsman, introduced trout for the first time in Kashmir with the help of Pandit Sodhama Miskeen and Khwaja Gafarjoo. The fish seed was obtained from England. Half of it perished in transit because there were no airplanes those days and sea route was the only option," environmentalist and former educationist B L Koul said. He said from Mumbai (then Bombay) the seed had to be carried first by rail up to Rawalpindi and, then by bus to Srinagar in containers of water. "The water had to be changed frequently. The first attempt failed but subsequent attempt in 1900 to breed trout succeeded," Koul added. The Maharaja of Kashmir was then approached and a Department of Fisheries with Mitchel as director and Pt Sodhama as an inspector came into existence. The initially seed farms in Kashmir were established and trout beats were established in streams such as, Lidder, Sindh, Ferozpur nullah, Madhumati, Kishenganga nullahs, Chenab and other streams of Jammu province. Many lakes and springs like Gangabal, Verinag were also used to stock trout fish. The trout fishing of Kashmir had become a great tourist attraction by twenties and thirties of the last century, the Maharaja of Kashmir was requested by many princely states to supply seed and expertise to them for the introduction of trout in their fast running streams-a precondition for trout to thrive, Prof Koul said, "Thus, Pt Sodhama travelled to Nilgiris in the South and Himachal (then part of Punjab) and UttaraKhand (then part of Uttar Pradesh) and Muree (now in Pakistan) to introduce trout fish there", he said. The department under takes brood stock management to achieve better fertilization during spawning. "These two projects have the capacity to produce more than 3 million eggs per year. The department has established a net work of 59 trout rearing units and hatcheries across the state and, more units are coming up", Pandita said. The beautiful geographical variations of Jammu and Kashmir, along the course of each river and lake, offer endless possibilities for anglers, he said. "The various waterways, crisscrossing the state, are important fishing retreats rich in trout. The state of Jammu and Kashmir is known as a paradise for fishing enthusiasts", he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ahead of the Lok Sabha election results next week, the TRS is hedging its bets and bracing for different post-poll scenario, as it seemingly keeps its options open. A senior TRS leader also said his party expects the Congress to not cross the 100-seats mark. "If the Congress falls flat and does not cross 100, it does not make sense at all (to join forces with it) as it will not be able to lead (the government)", the leader said. Sources said the TRS response would depend on how the BJP and Congress approach the situation in the event of NDA and UPA falling short of the majority mark. "More importantly, they (BJP and Congress) would want to keep the other out from power," another leader of TRS (Telangana Rashtra Samithi) led by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said. "Right now, the situation is fluid. Let's see how things shape up. We are keeping a close watch," sources said. Rao had been pushing the idea of a federal front of non-Congress, non-BJP federal front of regional parties, but sources in the TRS said the party is unsure about the position these outfits would take vis-a-vis government formation. "Five states (Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana) and six leaders (Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav, Mamata Banerjee, Naveen Patnaik, Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and Rao) hold the key for government formation," a TRS functionary claimed. "We have to wait and see whether these leaders will be together or choose their own options," he said. Another TRS leader said in the event of BJP-led NDA falling short of a majority, YSRCP and BJD may offer outside support to the BJP-led alliance if they have the required numbers. "Patnaik and Jagan Mohan Reddy are a little bit insecure in their states and may be looking for help from Government of India", he claimed. Sources in the TRS said the party has nothing to lose and "is not worried" as it's anyway "sitting pretty" in Telangana after returning to office last December. But they also said TRS, which is projected to sweep the Lok Sabha elections in Telangana, might be pursued by the BJP or the Congress if the party's strength becomes crucial in government formation. TRS had partnered with Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM for the Lok Sabha election, and a party leader said "because of minority, Christian and Dalit votes in the State, TRS is not keen to join hands with the BJP". A TRS Rajya Sabha member also said the "art of coalition has matured in India, and regional outfits coming together to form government is no longer seen as a 'khichdi' by people and parties". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Democratic members of the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday urged President Donald Trump to nominate Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, an important diplomatic post that has been vacant in the 28 months of his administration. This is for the first time in the history of the State Department's Bureau of South and Central Asia that this critical position has remained vacant for so long. Indian-American Nisha Desai Biswal was the last diplomat to hold this position in the Obama Administration, which she left on January 20. "The position has remained without a confirmed appointee since the beginning of the Trump Administration, hampering the State Department's ability to conduct diplomacy and shape policy in a critical region of the world," Democratic lawmakers from the House Foreign Affairs Committee said. "The State Department's lack of senior-level involvement on a variety of matters related to South Asia has been deeply disturbing," said the letter which among others was signed by Congressman Eliot Engel, Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. "From the failure of the Department's senior officials to engage directly with Sri Lankan government officials during the country's October-December 2018 constitutional crisis, to the Department's failure to form a coherent India policy, to the mishandling of the US-Afghanistan relationship in the midst of seeking a peace deal with the Taliban, it is clear that American leadership -- when it is needed most -- is missing in action," the letter said. "We believe that these failures are at least in part the result of not having a confirmed Assistant Secretary," rued the Democratic lawmakers including Indian American Congressman Dr Ami Bera. Noting that candidates with deep South Asia experience in and outside of the State Department have been considered for the Assistant Secretary position, the lawmakers said so it is difficult to understand why it remains unfilled. "We strongly urge you to nominate a qualified individual to fill this critical Assistant Secretary position as soon as possible," they said. Stressing that having no Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia "more than two years into your term is not acceptable", the Congressmen said the absence of a confirmed official to lead the Department's efforts at advancing some of American's most important relationships, including with India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, has had a demonstrably negative impact on US interests and regional stability in South Asia. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two Indian climbers, including an Indian Army soldier, have died and another has gone missing in Nepal after one of them successfully scaled the world's highest peak Mount Everest, the expedition organiser said Friday, days after two mountaineers from the country perished in the Himalayan nation. Army soldier Ravi Thakar, 28, was found dead inside his tent at Camp IV on Mount Everest early Friday while Narayan Singh died at Camp IV on Thursday night when he was climbing down from the 8,485-meter Mount Makalu summit, world's fifth highest mountain. Dipankar Ghos, 52, from Kolkata went missing from above Camp IV while returning from the Mount Makalu summit, said Mingma Sherpa, Chairman at Seven Summit Treks. A search team, which reached the area from where the climber is suspected to have gone missing, however, failed to trace him, Sherpa said. Ghos climbed Mount Everest in 2011 and has also scaled Mount Kanchenjunga, Mount Lhotse, Mount Manaslu and Mount Dhaulagiri among other peaks. Thakar died after he suffered from high altitude sickness. "Fellow climbers found him dead inside the tent," Sherpa was quoted as saying by The Himalayan Times. Ravi was part of an eight-member expedition led by renowned Irish climber Noel Richard Hanna. He along with other members made it to the summit of Mount Everest on Thursday morning. Another member of the same expedition Seamus Sean Lawless from Ireland slipped from the balcony area while descending from the summit point. "Fate of the missing Irish climber is still unknown," Sherpa said. "Indian climber Narayan Singh died in Mt Makalu. He died at camp 4 while descending the summit," Nepal Tourism Ministry official Mira Acharya told PTI. Two Indian climbers from West Bengal - Biplab Baidya (48) and Kuntal Karar (46) - died in Nepal on Wednesday due to high altitude sickness near the summit of Mount Kanchenjunga, the world's third tallest peak. Another climber from Chile is missing from above Camp IV of Mount Kanchenjunga since Wednesday evening. Makalu is the fifth highest mountain in the world. It is located in the Mahalangur Himalayas 19-kilometer southeast of the 8,848-meter Mount Everest, on the border between Nepal and Tibet Autonomous Region, China. Hundreds of climbers flock each year to Nepal - home to several of the world's highest mountains, to scale Himalayan peaks during the spring season that begins around March and ends in June. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union minister Anantkumar Hegde and his party lawmaker Nalinkumar Kateel Friday jumped into the Nathuram Godse row with tweets about Mahatma Gandhi's assassin that left the BJP red-faced and triggered outrage. The tweets by Hegde and Kateel, seeking re-election from Karnataka in the Lok Sabha polls, came days after BJPs Bhopal candidate and Malegaon blast accused Pragya Singh Thakur lauded Godse as a patriot, before her party distanced itself from her remarks. She issued an apology hours later saying she respected Gandhi and his work for the country cannot be forgotten. Joining the Godse debate, Kateel tweeted, "Number of people killed by Nathuram is 1. Number of people Ajmal Kasab killed is 72. Number of people Rajiv Gandhi killed is 17,000. Now you tell me who is the most cruel person?" Another related tweet appeared on union minister of state for skill development and entrepreneurship Anantkumar Hegdes official Twitter handle. Sharing a woman's tweet, Hegdes tweet read, "Am glad that 7 decades later todays generation debates in a changed perceptional environment and gives good scope for the condemned to be heard upon. #NathuramGodse would have finally felt happy with the debate. Another tweet that appeared on Hegdes page said, "Time to assert and move away from being apologetic! If not now... When??? It was a comment while sharing Shakuntala Iyer's tweet "Freedom of Expression isn't propriety of JNU libtard ecosystem. If they could stand by Kasab, a Paki, who murdered Indians in daylight that too with evidence captured, Why not at least READ the defence written supporting Godse and against Gandhi. Agree or disagree. The tweets were later found deleted and another tweet surfaced on Hegdes timeline. It read, "My account was hacked since yesterday. There is no question of justifying Gandhi ji's murder.There can be no sympathy or justification of Gandhi ji's murder. We all have full respect for Gandhi ji's contribution to the nation. Hegdes explanation that the Twitter handle was hacked did not amuse party president Amit Shah who came out strongly against the party colleagues' controversial remarks. Shah said they had withdrawn their statements and have also apologised. However, he added, their remarks were against the decorum of public life and the BJP, and also against the party's ideology. "Taking serious note of their remarks, the party has decided to send them to the disciplinary committee," Shah said. The remarks of Hegde and Kateel drew widespread flak especially from the Congress in Karnataka, which has decided to stage a statewide protest against them Saturday. Speaking to reporters at Hubballi, Congress state president Dinesh Gundu Rao said, "Tomorrow we are going to stage demonstration across the country against Pragya Singh Thakurs statement that Nathuram Godse was a patriot. Hegde and Kateel too are standing in support of her statement." He said if the BJP did not endorse her view, then prime minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah should have thrown her out of the party. Condemning the statements of Thakur, Hegde and Kateel, former chief minister Siddaramaiah said: "Pragya Singh Thakur is the daughter of RSS. She is like a terrorist. Can we expect anything better from her? You cannot expect anything better about Godse from a person with a terrorist mindset. The BJP is full of such people. There is one Anantkumar Hegde who is out to change the constitution. Another one is Kateel, who is Mangaluru MP," Siddaramaiah told reporters in Hubballi. The Congress leader wondered how to call "these people" patriots, "who have no respect for those who fought for the freedom of the country..." Hegde is no stranger to controversies and has often landed himself in trouble with his remarks on various issues. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Days after the Congress said the BJP should name itself the Bharatiya Jinnah Party, an Uttar Pradesh minister has suggested that the opposition party should get its ally Indian Union Muslim League to denounce Pakistan's founder. After Partition of India, the 'jinn' (genie) of Jinnah emerged as the Muslim League, and the Congress entered into an agreement with the Muslim League, UP's Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma said, equating the IUML with the pre-Partition Muslim League. The Congress should have sought an affidavit from the Muslim League stating that Jinnah was a traitor and was responsible for Partition of India, the BJP leader told PTI. And those who proclaim themselves as the Indian Muslim League must disown and dissociate themselves from Jinnah. This was the 'jinn' released by Jinnah, which has got stuck with the Congress, he said, referring to its alliance with the IUML in Kerala. He said the 'jinn' will not leave the Congress until the voters send the party into political exile. Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera had on Monday dubbed the BJP "Bharatiya Jinnah Party". This followed the Bharatiya Janata Party's Ratlam-Jhabua Lok Sabha candidate's claim that Partition could have been avoided had Jawaharlal Nehru allowed Mohammad Ali Jinnah to become the country's first prime minister. Khera had slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for going to Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh to campaign for BJP candidate Guman Singh Damor. Earlier, when Congress president Rahul Gandhi filed his nomination papers from Wayanad in Kerala, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had called the IUML a virus. The IUML had strongly objected to this and similar remarks, saying it did not need a certificate about its patriotic credentials from anyone. Dinesh Sharma also accused Congress leaders of holding a record for taking vacations abroad. In five years, they undertake foreign tours for 59 months and for one month they treat the elections as a picnic, he charged. Claiming that the Congress is set to lose these Lok Sabha elections, he suggested that it leaders should book their tickets in advance. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) / -- Vidyashilp Community Trust in association with Vidyashilp Academy (VSA) has adopted 21 Government Schools in the N4 region of Bangalore. The Trust will work to provide government school children with a comprehensive holistic, quality which allows each child to reach their potential. The primary objective of the School Adoption Programme is to transform the rural, semi-urban and urban Government schools into model schools so that they are at the same level, as the best schools in the city in terms of quality, facilities, infrastructure and performance. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/766744/Vidyashilp_Academy_Logo.jpg) Vidyashilp Community Trust has impacted the lives of nearly 3,577 children since 2018. The MoU, signed for the next five years, was exchanged between the Department of - Government of Karnataka and the Vice President, Mr. Ravindra Pai - Vidyashilp Community Trust. The first school to be adopted by the trust was the Government School at Byatarayanapura. Vidyashilp Academy (VSA) has been involved with this school on various projects, one such was with U&I - an NGO that works on ensuring impactful, high-quality for underprivileged students in order for them to lead successful lives. Students from VSA have been teaching the basics of English language and this has made a great impact with some students wanting to pursue teaching as a profession. The continuous interactions by the trust have not only catered to infrastructure but also have focused on future readiness for the school. The Vidyashilp Community Trust will now benefit 3,900 plus children of 21 government school for this year. This adoption program will also focus on improving the student-teacher ratio, by hiring more teaching staff, thus providing for special attention required for slow learners by supplementing studies through English language programs and facilitating holistic development through sports, health and environmental awareness. This program is being further bolstered by seeking participation from within the community by building partnerships for engagements such as Youth for Seva and People4People. The central goal of the trust is to ensure opportunities for children, especially those from marginalized backgrounds. The core purpose is to provide age-appropriate learning with a broad curriculum, based on active learning that exposes students to a variety of subjects such as language, mathematics and development of skills such as problem-solving, critical thinking, use of technology and collaborative learning. The community outreach programmes by the students of Vidyashilp Academy have done significant work in the field of education over the last 20 years. Vidyashilp Community Trust will now programme along with its volunteers in curriculum, pedagogy, assessment, school management, teacher education. Further, it is committed to expanding its role in education by adding new dimensions to its vision. Speaking on the momentous occasion, Ms. Kiran Pai, Director-Vidyashilp Academy and Vidyasagar Preschools, said, "With the aim to transform the educational landscape in the state, we also want to make education accessible to every child in the society. The trust's vision is to make the government schools future ready and with our association with various NGOs; we believe that we will be able to achieve steady transformation. The goal is to see that no child in the state is deprived of the right to education, due to the lack of inadequate infrastructure, lack of professional learning techniques and weak academic outcomes." Mrs. Indukala P.B, the Principal of the Government Lower Primary School of Kenchenahalli, said, "We welcome this collaborative effort from VCT and Vidyashilp Academy. There is a big hope to see how this interaction will benefit each student's future for the better. Our children are bright and have great ideas; they need only attention and encouragement to soar high."Vidyashilp Academy (VSA) students have been involved with the government school on various projects, with U&I along with other NGOs such as Paint for a cause. The collaboration with the NGO is to ensure impactful, high-quality education for underprivileged students in order to lead successful lives. About Vidyashilp Academy: Vidyashilp Academy is a private, co-educational school located in Jakkur, Bangalore, India. The school is affiliated to The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) and the University of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE). Education at Vidyashilp goes beyond the confines of a textbook. The pedagogical focus lies in enabling students to learn from application and experience and inculcate critical thinking from the very start. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The US believes it is "possible" Turkey will decide against buying a Russian air defense system whose proposed purchase has strained relations between the NATO allies, a top official said on Thursday. Washington has warned for months that Turkey's adoption of the Russian S-400 missile system would endanger Western defense and jeopardize Ankara's planned purchase of 100 of the US's F-35 stealth fighter jets. Asked on Thursday if Turkey may ultimately change its mind on the S-400, US Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson replied "it's possible." "The diplomats are continuing the work on that," she said, reiterating that the S-400 is "incompatible with having the F-35." The US in April placed a freeze on a joint F-35 manufacturing program with Turkey, and US law furthermore provides for sanctions on any country concluding arms deals with Russian companies. Two of the planes were delivered to Turkey in June 2018 but remain at a US Air Force base near Phoenix, Arizona, officially so Turkish pilots can train on them. "We're continuing to train the Turkish pilots at Luke Air Force Base but we don't think that we can deliver those aircraft into a country that has the S-400," Wilson said. Ankara says it won't reconsider purchasing the S-400 air defense system and that delivery of the first of the equipment may come as soon as June or July. But Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said last month that Turkey is aware of the US's concerns. Turkish media has reported that the government is mulling not using the Russian batteries or selling them to a third party in order to resolve the dispute. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Goa government Friday said even if the monsoon is delayed, the water storage in the reservoirs is enough to meet the drinking requirement of the state for over a month. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted that the southwest monsoon onset is likely to set over Kerala on June 6, as against the normal onset date of June 1. "There is sufficient water in the reservoirs of the state. Even if the monsoon is delayed, there is no need to worry as the storage is enough for over a month," B V Pujari, superintendent engineer of Goa water resources department, told PTI. The current water level of Selaulim dam, the biggest in the state, is 30.20 metres, much above the dead level of 20.42 metres. The reservoir has been the main source of drinking water for entire South Goa district, which includes the port town of Vasco. Pujari said there is sufficient water in Selaulim dam to fulfil the requirement for the next 75-80 days. Anjunem dam, located in north-eastern part of the state in Sattari taluka, also has 73.22 metres of water. Its dead storage level is 61.50 metres, Pujari said. He said that even if there is no rain, water in this dam is sufficient for the next 30-35 days. As per data available with the water resources department, the storage in Amthane (North Goa) dam is at 45.57 metres as against the dead storage level of 29 metres. Another dam at Panchawadi village in South Goa currently has 21.01 metres of water as against the dead storage level of 14.7 metres and Chapoli dam (South Goa) has 31.82 metres as against dead level of 22 metres, Pujari said. According to him, the department had witnessed problems with a facility at Opa near Ponda town in North Goa due to low water supply from Opa river. "The river had started drying out since January this year, due to which there were problems. But we have managed to tide over the crisis by pumping in water into this facility from various sources," he said. The department is pumping 35 million litres per day (MLD) water from a similar facility at Ganjem village in North Goa, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With each of the Indian vying for maximum share of the Jet Airways' foreign flying rights, Civil Aviation Secretary P S Kharola said Friday the ministry will create a transparent standard operating procedure (SOP) to allocate these rights on a temporary basis. "We had asked to confirm their requirement of (domestic) slots and (international) traffic rights...Their requests have been officially logged in. Our people will do an analysis now and we will evolve a transparent SOP based on which the rights will be given," Kharola said. He was speaking to reporters after holding a meeting -- which was focused on temporary allocation of foreign flying rights of -- Friday morning with senior executives of the Indian The airfares have risen dramatically on many international routes since suspended its operations on April 17. The central government, therefore, is planning to allocate Jet Airways' international flying rights to other airlines such as IndiGo, Air India, SpiceJet, GoAir and Vistara. Kharola said all airlines have made requests to get international flying rights. "Air India always gets (international flying rights) on priority, and we have given them a few routes," he added. He clarified that allocation of such rights would be temporary and subject to Jet Airways' revival. With out of picture, Air India remains the only airline in the country that has wide body aircraft to operate non-stop long-haul flights to areas such as Europe and the United States. However, other have major international expansion plans and, therefore, each of them is trying to get maximum share of Jet Airways' foreign flying rights, a senior government official said on the condition of anonymity. The official added the Centre has already allocated 480 domestic slots -- out of 750 that were vacated due to Jet Airways' suspension of operations -- to other airlines. Generally, after negotiation between two countries, a bilateral aviation framework is signed between them that specifies the maximum number of passengers one country's airlines can fly to another per week. This weekly seat entitlement is termed as foreign flying rights. Once bilateral aviation framework is signed, both the countries are free to allocate foreign flying rights to their respective airline Punjab minister and Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu said Friday that he would resign if the punishment was not given to those involved in desecration of religious scriptures. Though he did not clarify whether he would resign from the cabinet or the party. Addressing a poll rally in favour of Congress' Bathinda candidate Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Sidhu lashed out at the Badal family for allegedly "ruining" Punjab during the previous SAD-BJP regime. On the last day of poll campaigning, Sidhu addressed several elections rallies in Bathinda, which is considered a stronghold of the Akali Dal. "I had earlier left Rajya Sabha seat (when he was in the BJP)," Sidhu told the gathering. He claimed that the BJP in 2014 had asked him to leave the Amritsar seat and contest from other parliamentary constituency. "If a punishment is not given to the guilty of sacrilege (of religious scriptures) and if Guru does not get respect... Sidhu will resign," said state's tourism and cultural affairs minister. At a rally in Faridkot on May 15, Congress president Rahul Gandhi had promised strict action against those involved in the desecration of Guru Granth Sahib in 2015. From Bathinda, Warring is pitted against Union minister and SAD candidate Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Punjab Ekta party chief Sukhpal Singh Khaira and AAP's Baljinder Kaur. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Zambia's President Edgar Lungu on Friday told international mining companies to leave the copper-rich country if they opposed a new tax regime, as he ratched up a dispute over possible job losses. Lungu has targeted the mining sector to generate revenue as the country struggles under growing debt, but businesses have warned that the tax proposals could trigger a mass withdrawal of investment and thousands of redundancies. "Sales tax is here to stay... and those who don't want it, will leave," Lungu told cheering supporters in Ndola, around 300 kilometres (190 miles) north of the capital Lusaka, as he started a tour of Zambia's mining belt. Piling on criticism of mining giants operating in Zambia such as Vedanta and Glencore, he added: "I am saying this without fear or favour -- they have externalised a lot of money. "Enough is enough, people are tired and we are not scaring investors because others will come." Lungu said he would meet union officials and industry representatives in the Copperbelt province during his tour. "Zambia is increasingly at risk of debt distress," Nick Branson, analyst at Verisk Maplecroft consultancy, said in recent briefing paper. "In a desperate attempt to balance the books, the finance ministry has aggressively targeted industrial mining companies." Zambian public debt is officially around USD 15 billion, 70 per cent of GDP, but some analysts have alleged that the government could be hiding some loans -- as happened in neighbouring Mozambique. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) I am not quite sure why these shoes are called joggers. They dont even feel like shoes. The Indian-born shoes made from Australian merino wool looked so delicate I thought they would be perfect to pad about a hotel room in. But then I decided to step out in them to find out where they stand. Design 3/5 Indian shoes made of wool are unusual, to say the least. Still, the two-year-old Hyderabad-based company, Neemans, thought it was a good idea to make the shoe upper from merino wool and market it heavily even in the summer. Well, I can confirm that the pair does stay ... Even as the lenders to the now wingless Jet Airways scramble to find a suitor, the recent top level exodus has thrown up a lot of new concerns for the airline. CEO Vinay Dube as well as the airline's CFO, company secretary and chief people officer have all put in their papers earlier this week. Here are 10 recent developments that will have a bearing on its future, if it ever manages to get off the ground again: ALSO READ: Etihad nominee on Jet Airways board Robin Kamark quits; 5th top executive to step down this week Jet Airways' stock is currently trading 2.16% down at around Rs 124 apiece. On Wednesday alone, it had tumbled 6.85 per cent to Rs 120.25 - its 52-week low - on the BSE. This was the third straight day of losses on news of the exodus. With few top executives now left to steer the debt-ridden airline, the buzz is that the State Bank of India, the lead lender to Jet Airways, may consider putting a court-appointed receiver at the helm. "For this, the lenders will have to approach the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) or the High Court," a banking industry source told The Hindu Business Line, adding that the bank may come up with a list of two or three aviation experts for the role. Of the four entities that had submitted expressions of interest, Etihad, which owns 24% of Jet Airways and is the second largest stakeholder, was reportedly the only one to submit a highly-conditional bid. In addition, the SBI-led consortium of 26 lenders claim to have received a few unsolicited bids for a stake in the troubled airline. Among them, Darwin Platform Group of Companies' officials met SBI Caps on Wednesday "to understand the liability and assets of Jet Airways", its CEO Rahul Ganpule said. His Group has made a Rs 14,000-crore offer to take over the entire liabilities of the airline. Meanwhile, just days after India-born industrialist brothers, Srichand and GP Hinduja, reclaimed the title of Britain's wealthiest with fortunes of 22 billion pounds to their name, reports suggest that they have been approached to buy a stake in the grounded Jet Airways. The Hinduja Group is expected to meet Etihad executives and Jet Airways' lenders in the coming days. Investors estimate that Jet Airways will need up to Rs 20,000 crore over the next three years to fly again, and the Hindujas certainly boast deep enough pockets to step up to the challenge. Their long-standing interest in the aviation space is only fanning speculation. The consortium of lenders is currently planning to get all bids legally verified before beginning negotiations with the interested parties. Sources told IANS that the lenders may also try to stitch a deal involving two bidding parties. If this does not work out, they may have to fall back on options like the Debt Recovery Tribunal and NCLT. As many as 83 planes of the grounded airline have been deregistered since its cash-crunch began. This means that the lessors can take their aircraft out of country and lease them to other players. The DGCA reportedly now has 11 more planes in its sights - it is considering requests to deregister three of Jet Airways' Boeing 737s, six ATRs and two Boeing B777s. With all the remaining domestic carriers vying for maximum share of the Jet Airways' foreign flying rights, the civil aviation ministry has announced that it will evolve a transparent standard operating procedure (SOP) to allocate these rights on a temporary basis, subject to Jet Airways' revival. This move is an attempt to bring down airfares that have risen dramatically on many international routes since Jet Airways suspended its operations on April 17. On Wednesday, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) fined Jet Airways, among 250 others, for non-compliance with various listing regulations for the quarter ended March 31, 2019. The exchange has reportedly imposed a fine of Rs 4.15 lakh on the beleaguered airline with a debt of over Rs 8,500 crore. The income tax department is set to appoint an independent auditor to conduct a special audit of the Jet Airways books. Sources in the know told the Business Standard that this audit is in connection with the commission paid by the airline to its Dubai-based group entities for allegedly evading Rs 850 crore in taxes. The grounding of Jet Airways along with the troubles with the banned Boeing 737 Max aircraft have hurt the domestic aviation sector. From being one of the world's fastest growing domestic air travel market, India has now dropped down to the 4th position, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). According to the trade association, presently, Russia, the US and Japan are the top three growing markets. ALSO READ: Will create transparent SOP to allocate Jet Airways' foreign flying rights to other airlines: Civil Aviation secy With PTI inputs Nestle SA is in exclusive talks to a group led by EQT Partners and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority to sell its skincare business for an amount of $10.1 billion. Once followed through, it would become one of the biggest private-equity deals this year. This is also Nestle's biggest divestment in more than a decade. CEO Mark Schneider is dismantling the business that the CEO before him, Paul Bulcke, called a promising new avenue just a couple of years ago. Schneider has instead been focusing on products such as coffee, water and pet food. According to a report in Bloomberg, the skincare unit that has products like Cetaphil and Proactiv proved to be a weak spot for the company. Activist investor Dan Loeb believes that the skincare unit was unrelated to its core portfolio. The skincare arm also witnessed an efficiency drive, which led to the shedding of a fifth of its employees. While the sales for the products have seen an uptick, it has proven not to be part of Schneider's strategy. The deal will be the biggest in Europe so far in 2019, boosting Nestle's position for further acquisitions. The company is also planning to sell its Herta lunch-meat business by mid-year and has put medical unit Prometheus Laboratories Inc on review. The skincare unit of Nestle attracted a range of bidders including KKR & Co., as mentioned in Bloomberg. Colgate-Palmolive Co and Unilever NV also eyed the consumer arm. The skincare business was built in 1981 as a joint venture between Nestle and L'Oreal SA. Nestle eventually paid more than $3 billion to L'Oreal to buy the business out in 2014. Also read: Homebuyers can now seek full refund with 10% interest if flats get delayed beyond 1 year Also read: DHFL in talks with US Company to sell Rs 18,000 crore loans Regulator Sebi Thursday slapped a fine of over Rs 1 crore on Basil International Ltd and its three individuals for not complying with earlier orders to refund money pooled from investors. Susanta Kumar Jana and Nirmalendu Bhowmik are present directors of the firm, while Mohammed Afaque Ahmed is a former director, according to Sebi's order. The regulator in May 2013 had asked the firm and its directors not to collect any money from the investors it was found that the firm had pooled Rs 92 crore till March 2012 from various investors through issuance of redeemable preference shares (RPS) in violation of public issue norms. Subsequently, in February 2015, the regulator directed the entities to refund the money to investors. In its fresh order, the regulator has said the entities not only failed to refund the money as directed but also collected about Rs 5 lakh even after the May 2013 order. "Failure to comply with direction for refund and directions prohibiting raising of further money/funds is a serious irregularity affecting the interest of a large number of investors, who were duped into giving further funds into schemes held to be in violation of law," the regulator said. The quantum of penalty needs to be sufficient to deter such non-compliance in order to safeguard the interest of investors, it added. Accordingly, a fine of Rs 1 crore was imposed on the firm and two directors to be paid ''jointly and severally.'' Apart from the Rs 1 crore fine, a separate fine of Rs 10 lakh was levied on Ahmed, two present directors and the firm. In a separate order, Sebi slapped a total penalty of Rs 14 lakh on two promoters of Action Financial Services for failing to make requisite disclosures upon change in their shareholding in the firm. Milan Ramniklal Parekh and Bakul Ramniklal Parekh are the two promoters. Besides being promoters, Milan Ramniklal Parekh is also the chairman and managing director of the company while Bakul Ramniklal Parekh is a joint manager director of the firm. Also read: SEBI fines IFCI Financial Services for not complying with power of attorney norms Also read: Sebi bans Ritman Infra, 6 officials from markets for violating LODR norms Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn is planning to invest Rs 600 crore in his multiplex venture NY Cinemas Llp (based on the initials of his children Nysa and Yug Devgn) over the next five years. The 50-year-old actor said that he is aiming to open at least 250 screens across the Northern and Western parts of India. Devgn added that the first launch of his multiplex venture is slated in June in Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh. The NY Cinemas will target people who don't have access to modern theatres and live in remote parts of the country, said Ajay Devgn. Although he has not revealed much about the project but said that it will be unlike any other multiplex in the market. Till now, the actor has bought two single-screen theatres in Uttar Pradesh's Hapur and Ghazipur. According to Rajeev Sharma, Chief Executive of NY Cinemas, the plan to open the multiplexes will mainly target the Tier II and III cities where cinema penetration is still in its infancy. On Thursday May 16, NY Cinemas tied up with realty firm Elan group for setting up a 5-screen multiplex in a Gurugram shopping mall which is being developed at a cost of Rs 450 crore. This is the first ever tie-up of NY Cinemas in north India. Elan Group is investing Rs 450 crore to develop a luxury retail project 'Elan Epin' at Gurugram with a built-up area of 7.5 lakh sq ft. This project will house a 5 silver screen multiplex with an area of 46,000 sq ft. Elan group MD Ravish Kapoor said, "We are confident that this association will not only enhance the experience of moviegoers in Delhi-NCR but also allow NY Cinemas to offer its services to a much wider audience." Earlier, NY Cinemas had roped in Colour Craft Studio to create a brand and cinema styling strategy. The venture currently has 15 operational screens across the country and has already signed 60 more. On the work front, Ajay Devgn will next be seen in the film 'De De Pyaar De', directed by Akiv Ali, and written by 'Pyaar Ka Punchnama' fame Luv Ranjan. The film has hit the theatres today. (With PTI inputs) India has begun a probe into alleged dumping of digital printing plates from China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam on a complaint by a domestic manufacturer, a commerce ministry notification said. The probe is being carried out by the directorate general of trade remedies (DGTR) on an application filed by Technova Imaging Systems for imposition of anti-dumping duty on imports of 'digital offset printing plates' from the five countries. If established that alleged dumping has caused material injury to the domestic manufacturer, the DGTR would recommend imposition of anti-dumping duty on the imports. The final call to impose the duty would be taken by the finance ministry. In a notification, DGTR said it has "sufficient evidence of dumping" of the plates from certain companies of these five countries. "The authority hereby initiates an investigation into the alleged dumping, and consequent injury to the domestic industry...to determine the existence, degree and effect of alleged dumping and to recommend the amount of anti-dumping duty, which if levied, would be adequate to remove injury to the domestic industry," it said. It noted that there was sufficient evidence to show that the normal value of the plates in these countries is higher than the ex-factory export price, indicating that the product is being dumped into the Indian market by exporters of these five nations. The period of investigation covers July 2018 to March 2019. However, it would also analyse the data of previous three years (2015-18). The product is used in the printing industry for transferring data as an image (dot patterns or text) onto paper or on tin sheets or poly films. In international trade parlance, dumping happens when a firm exports an item to other country at a rate lower than the price of that product in its domestic market. Dumping impacts price of that product in the exporting country, hitting margins and profits of manufacturing firms. According to global trade norms, a country is allowed to impose tariffs on such dumped products to provide a level-playing field to domestic manufacturers. The duty is imposed only after a thorough investigation by a quasi-judicial body, like DGTR in India. In its probe, the directorate has to conclude whether the dumped products are impacting domestic industries. Imposition of anti-dumping duty is permissible under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) regime. The duty is aimed at ensuring fair trading practices and creating a level-playing field for domestic producers vis-a-vis foreign producers and exporters. India is one of the most attractive markets for global producers due to its large middle class population. China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam are key trading partners of India. Also Read: Sebi slaps over Rs 1 crore fine on Basil International, 3 others for failing to refund investors' money Also Read: Open for partnership with Indian carriers: Qatar Airways In March 2018, the french naval Group, the erstwhile DCNS, the manufacturer of Scorpene submarines, grabbed headlines by seeking approval for 100 per cent foreign direct investment, or FDI, to manufacture Air Independent Propulsion, or AIP, systems, which give submarines substantially greater endurance. For a country which has managed to attract only $5.13 million foreign funding in defence manufacturing in the last two decades, this was a big deal. It was a test for policy changes Prime Minister Narendra Modis government had been making to attract investment in local defence manufacturing that included abolishing the cumbersome process for Cabinet Committee on Security's (CCS's) approval for all FDI proposals above 49 per cent. However, it hit the wall of Nirmala Sitharaman-led defence ministry after the DRDO convinced it that this was not "modern technology" saying it, along with the Naval Group, was already working to install AIP in the last two of the six Scorpene P-75 submarines. This when India's armed forces are trying doubly hard to catch up with neighbours in defence preparedness and are desperate to induct more and better artillery guns, warships, fighter planes, submarines and missiles to their arsenals. In the last five years, the NDA government has increased the FDI limit in defence from 26 per cent to 49 per cent (in 2014) and then to 100 per cent (in 2016) on a case-by-case basis. Still, the country has been able to attract only $1 million FDI in defence manufacturing since 2014/15. It attracted $60 billion in other sectors during the period. The Control Question Clearly, India's attempts to attract foreign capital in local defence manufacturing have fallen flat. While one reason is the good old bureaucratic red tapism, the bigger reason is excessive controls the FDI policy imposes on foreign players. The policy, for instance, keeps technology at the centre of the decision-making process. "Transferring technology is not in the hands of the corporate. It requires government approvals," says the CEO of a top MNC interested in India's aerospace sector. In fact, the US is on record stating that the 49 per cent FDI limit is a hindrance in transfer of jet engine technology, while New Delhi has said it is willing to remove the cap on a case-to-case basis if there is a compelling case. "It is unrealistic to believe that countries will share state-of-the-art technologies with any other country, irrespective of friendliness," says R.K. Tyagi, former Chairman of Hindustan Aeronautical. This was one argument naval experts had given in support of the French Navals proposal before the government rejected it. The government might have changed its policies but has failed to get past the bureaucratic hurdles and reform the process for acquisition of crucial weapons. This is not only impacting funds from foreign shores but also investments from home-grown corporate houses. "The domestic players have to struggle right from RFQ to disbursal of payments. If these issues are ironed out, the Indian defence sector can flourish," says Ashok Atluri, CEO of Hyderabad based Zen Technologies. Hobson's Choice There is always a debate on foreign vs indigenous players and which ones should be given preference. Like Atluri, there are several who say indigenous players should be given opportunities to grow. "Just imagine, even in liberal economies like the US, all strategic assets are with domestic companies. Even the British BAE is asked to fill their management with US nationals. We will have to develop models to use our iconic organisations such as ISRO and DRDO to help domestic private sector players," says Rahul Chaudhry, former CEO of Tata Power SED; he chairs the industry lobby group, the Defence Industry and Innovators' Association. The views are echoed by Atluri, who says innovators will eventually develop technology and not only hold intellectual property rights but also help the country develop products for its own requirements. "At present, there is no process to accept single bidders. This doesn't compliment innovation," he says. In 2016, India shifted to a policy to buy indigenously designed, developed and manufactured products. The intent was to develop domestic players and substitute imports before seeking more FDI. Is this goal discouraging investors? While this seems true in case of FDI, the reality is more complex, as local Indian players seem to be getting a piece of the pie. The factories under the Ordnance Factory Board and defence public sector enterprises increased production from Rs 43,277 crore in 2013/14 to Rs 58,160 crore in 2017/18. "Out of this, 40 per cent is outsourced to the private sector," says a defence ministry official. However, in FDI, it is a different story. "At present, the ticket size is too low to excite foreign players with technology to come in," says a market insider. In the last two decades, only 33 FDI proposals have been approved, six of them in the last five years. The list includes a Rs 40 crore investment by Mauritius-based Aegus Mfg Investment Ltd and Canadian firm CAE's Rs 37.82 crore investment to support a helicopter training firm. Consultants blame lack of orders for such poor numbers. "FDI will not come without purchase commitments," says Dhiraj Mathur, Partner, Leader, Aerospace & Defence, at Indian chapter of PricewaterhouseCoopers. Waiting for Orders On February 12 this year, the defence ministry issued an expression of interest to shortlist Indian strategic partners and foreign manufacturers for procuring 111 Naval Utility Helicopters. These will replace the 1960 vintage Chetak helicopters, Before this, in July last year, the Defence Acquisition Council, or DAC, of the defence ministry started the process to buy 110 fighter aircraft. Both these projects are part of the recently adopted Strategic Partnership Policy for manufacturing defence platforms and equipment such as aircraft, submarines, helicopters and armoured vehicles. The policy has come after several lessons learnt over the last two decades - a) it is difficult to convince manufacturers and their home countries to share cutting-edge technology, b) defence investments have long gestation periods and many foreign investors are not ready for that, c) as a buyer government has a monopoly, it makes the project risky for foreign players. So, the new policy allows domestic companies to collaborate with original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs, to acquire niche technologies and set up facilities in India. "This policy is better. Here, the government is coming up with a firm order and a purchase commitment," says the CEO a foreign OEM. But critics say these OEMs are not sharing cutting-edge technologies they offer to their respective defence agencies. Other than this, there is criticism of availability of funds for these acquisitions. In the 2018/19 Budget, the allocation for modernisation was Rs 74,116 crore, Rs 35,928 crore less than the requirement. In 2019/20, there is an additional allocation of Rs 7,198 crore. Earlier this year, at the Bangalore Aero Show, US major Lockheed Martin offered to make the F-21 multi-role fighter jet for India locally with Tata Group as a partner. Market insiders say the US company intends to move the only operational line producing F-16s from Texas to India. US defence forces use the much advanced version of this plane. As per the DAC officials, there are six competitors for this, including Boeing's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, Lockheed Martin's F-16 Fighting Falcon, Dassault Aviation's Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon, Saab's Gripen and Russian United Aircraft Corporation's MiG-35. Meanwhile, by May end, officials at the defence ministry are expecting responses from Indian as well as foreign players for their interest in helicopter orders. Officials told BT that players like Tata Advanced Systems Ltd, Mahindra Defence, Adani Defence, Larsen & Toubro and Bharat Forge are in conversation with Lockheed Martin, Airbus Helicopters, Bell Helicopters and Russian export agency Rosoboronexport. Experts are hoping that these two big orders will be a turning point in the history of Indian defence manufacturing. @anileshmahajan In Uri: The Surgical Strike movie, actor Paresh Rawal, portraying National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, goes to the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for help in identifying terrorist launch pads near PoK. Instead of going for advanced unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) offered to him, he chooses an untested drone in the form of a bird developed by a DRDO intern in his free time. The bird, the intern claimed, could fly for four hours on single charge, travel up to 12 kms, had GPS, infrared, night-vision, 60-megapixel camera and could hover at one place for take-off and landing. DRDO scientists told BT some DRDO labs developed a bird with flapping wings, but the project never came to the product level. Why? "A flapping-wing bird is highly inefficient when compared to other drones. It needs a lot of energy," says Alok Mukherjee, a scientist at DRDO. Whether in fiction or reality, UAVs, or drones, are playing a big role in modern warfare. Drones, used for just reconnaissance till a few years ago, are being increasingly used for communication and combat. While Indian defence forces have a lot of catching up to do with the developed world in use of drones for combat, they have of late taken a host of steps to reduce the gap. "The same [Balakot strikes] could have been done by drones like the US is doing in Afghanistan. The US is using an airfield in this region to carry out precision strikes in Afghanistan, but identification of targets is being done out of Nevada. We are moving towards picking that capability. It is understood that we have a G2G agreement to pick up Heron TPs, the armed version of Heron from Israel," says Commodore Shiv Tewari (Retd), Founder Director, Arista Risk and Corporate Solutions - a firm that matches defence forces' needs with private sector capabilities. India is also planning to buy combat Predator drones from the US. This is going to be a big leg-up for Indian defence forces. Combat drones have surveillance capabilities, can travel faster and carry payload. "The demand for UAVs in the defence sector is going to grow. The users are coming to an understanding that this technology gives them a huge advantage," says DRDO's Mukherjee. Navigating the Challenges In India, the use of drones in defence started in late 1990s, and domestic capabilities - in both defence and private sectors - are largely limited to micro- and mini-drones. For large drones, categorised as MALE (medium-altitude, long endurance) and HALE (high-altitude, long endurance), India is still primarily dependent on foreign countries, particularly Israel. However, the DRDO and private sector players are making attempts to make large drones which can fly above 20,000 ft. altitude. The DRDO's Rustom programme was the first indigenous MALE-class model built for tactical surveillance; its advanced version - Rustom-II - is an unmanned aerial combat vehicle. Rustom-II is yet to finish all trial evaluations, and is expected to be inducted into the armed forces next year. The Adani Group is building (large) Hermes 900 UAVs in Hyderabad for an order of the Israeli armed forces. E-mail queries to Adani Group were not answered. The Business Angle In India, the smaller drones have a big market as they are used for counter-terrorist operations, surveillance and monitoring. Defence forces have been procuring these drones in the past couple of years but the demand has been sporadic. "The defence opportunities are seasonal. The demand spikes after every two-three years and then it lulls. Capital procurements have a long lead time. Smaller procurements come from the revenue budget and have a shorter lead time of 18-24 months," says Ankit Mehta, Founder, ideaForge - a drone manufacturer focussing on micro- and mini-drones. Besides, the specs keep changing, making things difficult for companies. For instance, if an army command is buying drones with one-hour duration in a particular year, the next year they would take drones with a three-hour duration. Two commands never buy the same product. "Decision-making is the most time-taking process in the government. We have to tweak our products every time," says Mehta. Increasingly, end users are finding that operational flexibility and ease of use are extremely crucial. Operational flexibility means ability to fly in any terrain. Most global companies have built drones around regular fixed wing aircraft, just like airplanes, which need large space to land and take-off. Most Indian deployment terrains are hilly. Earlier, defence forces felt that fixed-wing products would be relevant. But now they are going for pure vertical take-off and landing systems or for hybrid configuration where the drone takes off like a helicopter but converts into a fixed wing in flight (fixed-wing vehicles consume lesser energy). Globally, over 200 companies make drones, primarily based in Israel and the US. Anybody can tie up with these companies to make drones for Indian defence forces (100 per cent FDI is allowed in defence, of which up to 49 per cent is under automatic route). In spite of the fact that many players vie for defence contracts, a handful qualify. For instance, if 10-15 companies participate in the tender, two-three come for trials, and 80 per cent of the times only one-two qualify. It's easy to rake up an average solution but customers want cutting-edge solutions at low prices. "It's easy to assemble a drone, even a hobbyist can do it, but is your product fit for military use?" says Arista's Tewari. The opening up of the civil drone space last December is expected to give a boost to Indian start-ups which will be able to support defence functions. At present, companies operating on the civil side fall short of meeting defence requirement since such products require better technology, higher resilience and operational capabilities. "How does a company reach that point? Only if it gets supported by civil use cases. The process for defence or paramilitary procurement is long. A start-up cannot sustain in that environment. When a company manufactures for civil use, its production cycle, technology and cash flows improve, and then it can get into the defence sector," says Arista's Tewari. "A few players have come up in the UAV market. But it will take some time. Supplying equipment to defence or security forces is different from selling in the commercial market. The system has to work in adverse conditions like Pokharan range and Leh Ladakh," says DRDO's Mukherjee. Militaries across the world are hugely relying on drones for homeland security and defence. A push to both civil and defence UAV development will move India to the next level of defence preparedness. @manukaushik 5:14 PM (2 years ago) Priority is to defeat BJP: Rahul Gandhi Posted by :- anwesha madhukalya "I respect the fact that BSP-SP decided to fight the elections together in UP. From the Congress party perspective, I have to push the Congress ideology in UP. I made it very clear to Jyotiraditya and Priyanka that priority number one is to make sure BJP losses. Priority number two is to push Congress ideology, priority number three is to win the Vidhan Sabha election. But ideological they are on the same page like us, I don't see Mayawati Ji, Mulayam Singh Ji, Mamata Ji, Chandrababu Ji supporting Narendra Modi govt," said Rahul Gandhi. Qatar Airways, which has sought additional seat capacity on temporary basis for its flights from Indian cities to Doha, Thursday said it will "seriously" consider any proposal for partnership from Indian carriers. The blockade on Qatar and withdrawal of 28 weekly between Doha and cities of New Delhi and Mumbai has increased the pressure on available seat capacity in Qatar-India routes, the airline said. Jet Airways shut down operations temporarily on April 17 after it ran out of cash. "Qatar Airways is always open for partnership with other airlines, including Indian carriers. We will seriously consider any proposal for partnership from Indian carriers," the airline said in a statement to PTI. The Gulf carrier has submitted a formal request to the Indian authorities for an additional capacity on a temporary operating permit basis to meet the air traffic demand in Qatar-India routes. The airline asked the civil aviation ministry to favourably consider its request for additional seat capacity "to help evacuate the stranded Indian passengers in Doha". Airfares have already significantly increased due to the unexpected unavailability of restricted capacity during this summer peak season, it added. The allocated seat capacity in the Qatar-India aviation market has not been increased since 2009. Bilateral air traffic rights are negotiated between the two countries. According to the airline, the "illegal blockade" imposed on Qatar in June 2017 by the UAE, Saudi, Bahrain, and Egypt has restricted the movement of not only Qataris but also Indian expats living in Qatar. People do not have the flexibility of travelling to nearby airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Manama, for their travel to India. This has reduced their options for air connectivity and further increased the pressure on the available seat capacity in Qatar-India routes, the statement said. "Salt in the wound Jet Airways' sudden, unexpected, unplanned, and immediate withdrawal of 28 weekly passenger flights during summer peak season between Doha and two Indian cities: New Delhi and Mumbai. "All these have resulted not only in lesser available seat capacity but also significantly higher air ticket fares, which is set to continue for at least another three months," the airline said. Qatar Airways flies to 13 Indian cities. It has 14 weekly flights to the national capital and 11 weekly flights to Kochi, among other cities. Also read: Jet Airways crisis: Qatar Airways seeks addition of seats on flights to India Also read: Qatar Airways to wait one year before deciding on India venture The ongoing turbulence at the country's largest airline may have been triggered by an uneven control over the cockpit, apart from differences between the promoters over its expansion strategies. Reacting to this negative news, the share price of InterGlobe Aviation, the parent of IndiGo Airlines, has dived nearly 10.5% since May 15. The co-founders of IndiGo Rahul Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal hold a 38.26% and 36.69% stake in the airline respectively, along with their families, The Economic Times reported. But despite this near equal-stake, Bhatia has enjoyed greater control over the board and management. His holding company, Inter-Globe Enterprises (IGE), has the right to appoint key managerial personnel - the chairman, MD, CEO and president - apart from the right to nominate three non-independent directors, one of whom will be non-retiring. On the other hand, the Rakesh Gangwal (RG) Group has the right to nominate just one non-retiring, non-independent director, as per filings with the Registrar of Companies. The IGE Group represents InterGlobe Enterprises, Bhatia, his wife Rohini and father, Kapil. The RG Group represents Gangwal and his wife Shobha, his Caelum Investments and The Chinkerpoo Family Trust. The articles of association (AoA) also gives IGE operational control over the company. "IGE Group shall at all times control the company in all aspects and manner including management and operational control thereof," it reads. The RG Group has to "fully comply with the terms of the shareholders' agreement and these articles" by voting at the general meetings as dictated by the IGE Group. The shareholders' agreement also makes it difficult for the promoters to consider parting ways. "If any member of either the RG Group or the IGE Group proposes to transfer its shares to a third party purchaser (not being an affiliate) otherwise than on a stock exchange or by way of a pre-negotiated sale on a stock exchange, then the other group will have the right of first refusal and tag along right," states a clause. Furthermore, neither group can "transfer, either directly or indirectly, without the prior written consent of the other group, any of its shares to a competitor or to any person" in any deal that triggers an open offer as per SEBI's norms. "In hindsight, would Gangwal change some clauses in the articles of association and shareholders' agreement? Absolutely! But there are other, bigger issues too," a source close to the development told the daily. Since the shareholders' agreement is inscribed in the company's AoA, any change will require a special resolution and approval of 75% of the shareholders. According to experts, failing that, the National Company Law Tribunal can be moved under Sections 241 and 242 of the Companies Act, 2013. These sections provide that any member of a company can make an application to the tribunal seeking relief in case of oppression, prejudicial conduct of company affairs and mismanagement. Significantly, the AoA reportedly states that the shareholders' agreement "will automatically expire on the fourth anniversary of the initial public offering". Since IndiGo went public in October 2015, the agreement will expire after three months. Differences between the co-founders also cropped up over their divergent outlooks on IndiGo's expansion strategy - while Gangwal sought aggressive expansion to tap into India's aviation market, Bhatia called for a balanced and cautious approach. Last April, Aditya Ghosh had stepped down as IndiGo's President and Whole Time Director after a 10-year stint with the airline. His "before time departure", as some in the aviation circle dubbed his resignation, was reportedly spurred by the airline's rapid fleet expansion. Just two months before his announcement, Gangwal had claimed to increase the airline's capacity by nearly 52% to 250. Questioning this approach, the Bhatia camp had reportedly raised the issue of "overcapacity" and "yield". The crises deepened after Ghosh's exit and the appointment of foreign executives on key management posts, including Gregory Taylor as its CEO. Most of these new appointees had worked with United Airlines earlier in their careers, just like Gangwal. The promoters also have different strategies for IndiGo's international thrust, which is further widening their rift, although both believe that they can grab the space left by the grounding of Jet Airways. While Bhatia believes wide-bodied aircraft could be helpful in achieving IndiGo's international dream, Gangwal pushed narrow-bodied aircraft, like Boeing 737, for all its operations and codeshare agreements with other global carriers. When asked to clarify news reports regarding the differences between Bhatia and Gangwal, InterGlobe said in a regulatory filing on Thursday that "the Company is not in a position to comment on such news as it relates to the promoters". The duo have reportedly roped in their respective legal advisers - J. Sagar Associates for Bhatia, and Khaitan & Co for Gangwal - to iron out their differences. Also read: IndiGo CEO soothes nerves after promoter dispute crashes stock 9% Also read: IndiGo to start six new flights connecting Kolkata from July 20 The European Union will provide Irish beef farmers with 50 million euros of exceptional aid to compensate for the fall in beef prices suffered as a result of the Brexit process, the European Commission's agriculture chief Phil Hogan said. Ireland's economy is considered the most vulnerable among the remaining 27 EU members to the impact of its neighbour's decision to leave the bloc, particularly for sectors with close trading links to Britain such as agriculture. The Commission has already promised Irish farmers that they can expect significant help if Britain leaves the EU without an agreed deal. The terms and timing of Britain's departure are still uncertain, but Hogan said on Thursday that the bloc's executive was intervening now due to an exceptional aid requirement. Under the terms of the package, the Irish government can top up the fund by 100 percent, which would bring it up to the 100 million euros farmers have demanded, citing the difference between recent beef prices and those they achieved before Britain's 2016 referendum on leaving the EU. "The Irish beef sector exports over 50 percent of the total EU requirement of beef to the United Kingdom, so Ireland and Irish beef farmers are more exposed than any other sector in the European Union," Hogan told Irish national broadcaster RTE. "So we are responding now to a very unique situation and it's a one-off payment to take account of the market sentiment that has been going in the wrong direction for many, many months in relation to beef to the United Kingdom." Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who was met by protests from angry farmers at a recent cabinet meeting held outside Dublin, said he expected farmers to receive the money in the next couple of months. (Reuters) Source: www.businessworld.ie Britain's tumultuous divorce from the European Union was again in disarray on Friday as last-ditch cross-party talks teetered on the brink of failure in the twilight of Prime Minister Theresa May's premiership. Nearly three years after the United Kingdom unexpectedly voted in a referendum to leave the EU, it is still unclear how, when or if it will ever indeed quit the European club it joined in 1973. Brexit talks between May's Conservatives and the opposition Labour Party are about to close without an agreement, the BBC said, hours after May agreed on Thursday to set out a timetable for her departure in early June. "If the talks are not going anywhere, from my point of view that leads to only one conclusion," Hilary Benn, the chairman of parliament's Brexit committee, told BBC radio. "There are only two ways out of the Brexit crisis that we've got: either parliament agrees a deal or we go back to the British people and ask them to make the choice." After the Brexit deal that May struck with Brussels was defeated a third time by parliament, she announced on April 2 that she would open talks with Labour. But the two parties have failed to agree on major issues such as the opposition party's demand for a post-Brexit customs union. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, a veteran socialist who voted against membership of the EU in 1975, has said that May refused to budge on key demands. May's hands have been tied, knowing that to make concessions to Labour would lead to fury in her divided party. Labour has feared that any compromises on issues such as workers' rights would be torn up by May's successor. The two party leaders will now move to a second phase, aimed at agreeing on a process for parliamentary votes designed to find a consensus, the BBC said. May agreed on Thursday to set out a timetable for her departure in early June, after a fourth and final attempt to push her Brexit deal through parliament. May has promised to step down after it is approved by lawmakers. But many in her party want her to quit if the deal is rejected again and others are demanding her immediate departure. Boris Johnson, the face of the campaign for Britain to leave the European Union, said he would be standing as a candidate to replace May as Conservative leader. "Tories must go with Boris Johnson if they want to survive or theyll end up as dead as a dodo," Sun columnist Trevor Kavanagh said. "Even sopping wet Remainers can see the writing on the wall and want Theresa May out as fast as possible." The winner of a leadership contest will automatically become prime minister and will take control of the Brexit process, which has plunged Britain into its worst political crisis since World War Two. Johnson has been one of May's most outspoken critics over Brexit and supports leaving the EU without a deal. But the current parliament has repeatedly said it doesn't want a no-deal Brexit. A YouGov poll for the Times ahead of European elections on May 23 showed that the far smaller Liberal Democrats opposition have overtaken Labour while the Conservatives have been pushed into fifth place, with the newly-formed Brexit Party in first. (Reuters) Source: www.businessworld.ie Former JP Morgan Banker Charged With Bribery in Hong Kong By Wei Yiyang and Liu Jiefei / May 17, 2019 03:59 PM / Business & Tech A former JP Morgan executive faces bribery charges for allegedly offering a job to the son of a logistics company chairman in exchange for favorable treatment by the company during its IPO. Catherine Leung Kar-cheung, former managing director of JP Morgan Chase's Asia-Pacific securities subsidiary, offered the job to the son in January 2010, the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption said Thursday. The offer was intended to secure the bank special consideration when the logistics firm, which was not named, looked for a bank to hire for its listing. Its unclear when the IPO took place. There had been no charges against Leung before she left the company in 2015. This isnt the first time the bank has been involved in corruption charges. In 2016, JP Morgan Chase agreed to pay $264 million to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to settle charges that the bank provided favors including jobs for sons and daughters of foreign government officials to win business in the Asia-Pacific region. JP Morgan Securities began more than a decade ago to hire candidates referred by its clients or potential clients under a client referral program. Employees at or above the rank of executive director or managing director, such as Leung, were also allowed to refer candidates for the junior posts of analyst or associate, ICACs statement said. ICAC is pressing charges against Leung specifically, instead of the bank, Caixin learned from a person close to the matter, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue. The referral program was terminated after the bank settled with the U.S. regulator, the person said. Hong Kongs corruption watchdog has charged a former managing director of JP Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Ltd. (JPMS) with bribery, alleging she offered a job to the son of the chairman of a logistics company to help the bank win work on its initial public offering. Catherine Leung Kar-cheung, 51, who headed the arm of U.S. investment banking giant JP Morgan Chase & Co., was charged under Section 9 of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance, the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) said in a statement Thursday. The ICAC didnt name the company or its chairman. Leung, who left JPMS in 2015, faces two charges of bribery and is due to appear in court on May 20. One of the charges alleges that on Jan. 19, 2010, she offered the chairman of the logistics company a contract of employment for his son as a reward for the chairman showing favor to JPMS in hiring the bank to work on its initial public offering. The other alleges that between June 28, 2010 and Oct. 28, 2011, Leung again offered to employ his son at JPMS. The charges against Leung relate to the banks hiring practices in Asia from around 2006 to 2013. In what became known as the Sons and Daughters program, it involved bankers in the region offering employment or internships to the relatives of prospective or existing clients to win business. Leung is the latest former senior JP Morgan executive in Asia to be ensnared in the scandal. Fang Fang, who was chief executive of JP Morgan Chases China investment banking business until his departure in March 2014, was arrested in May that year as part of the investigation. Historical case The ICAC said that under the client referral program, senior staff at or above the rank of executive director or managing director, such as Leung, could refer candidates to JP Morgan or JPMS for the junior post of analyst or associate. In an emailed statement to Caixin, a Beijing-based JP Morgan spokesperson did not comment on the charges against Leung, but said the program was a historical case that the bank had reached agreement on and settled with U.S. regulators in 2016. We strengthened our compliance procedures and controls around hiring and reinforced the high standards of conduct expected of our people. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) opened an inquiry into JP Morgans hiring practices in Asia in 2013. The bank agreed in 2016 to pay various U.S. authorities a total of $264 million to settle charges that it had provided jobs and internships to the relatives and friends of foreign government officials, which had enabled it win business in the Asia-Pacific region, in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The SEC said that over a seven-year period, JPMS hired around 100 interns and full-time employees under the referral program, which brought in more than $100 million in revenues to the bank. According to U.S. media reports, people hired under the program included the son of Tang Shuangning, former vice chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission and former president of state-owned China Everbright Group, and the daughter of a former deputy chief engineer of a department of the Ministry of Railways before it was broken up in 2013. Contact reporter Liu Jiefei (jiefeiliu@caixin.com) Huawei Prepares Alternative Chips to Cope With U.S. Ban By Zhao Runhua and Qin Min / May 17, 2019 12:23 PM / Business & Tech Wartime generals plan for the worst. And the head of Huaweis chip unit has drawn up her battle plan, according to a recently leaked document. The chip units CEO He Tingbo said Huawei foresaw years ago that the U.S. government might suppress the company and cut channels for it to acquire chip-related technology from the U.S. And indeed, this fear has become a reality. The U.S. Department of Commerce said Wednesday it was putting Huawei on a blacklist that could ban it from doing business with its American suppliers. The company responded that it will pursue remedies immediately and find a resolution if its business is banned in the United States. The move may especially disrupt Huaweis chip production, which depends heavily on American components. Therefore, the chip unit, called HiSilicon, has developed alternative chips for just such a scenario though it did not expect the situation to actually happen, the letter reveals. As the U.S. made the insane decision to put Huawei on the blacklist with no evidence, and history has made the choice to put all reserved alternative chips into formal use in one night, the letter said. Meanwhile, Huawei's smartphone business is plowing forward. It unveiled its 5G smartphone Mate 20 X in London on Thursday, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported. The Mate 20 X uses the Balong 5000 chip, which was released in January before Huawei's shift toward using "alternative chips." Related: China Opposes U.S. Unilateral Action Against Huawei China Unicom Steps Up Mixed-Ownership Reform in Yunnan By Qin Min and Han Wei / May 18, 2019 05:15 AM / Business & Tech The Yunnan branch of China Unicom, one of the three big state telecom carriers, will set up a new joint venture with three private partners to develop telecom networks across the southwestern province, marking a major step forward in the state telecom giants mixed-ownership reform. Yunnan Unicom signed an agreement Friday with Hengtong Optic-Electric Co. Ltd., Ningbo Akin Electronic Technology Co. Ltd. and Anhui Sinonet & Xinlong Science & Technology Co. Ltd. on the new venture. The three private investors would jointly hold 85% of the venture, Caixin learned. The tie-up marks the first mixed-ownership reform initiative in a provincial subsidiary of China Unicom as the central government pushes state enterprises to invite private investors to invigorate business. China Unicom was one of the first to join the pilot reform program two years ago when it formed a partnership with some of Chinas biggest high-tech names, which were invited to buy a stake in one of its major units. Yunnan Unicom has been operating at a loss for several years, and its business has long lagged behind archrival China Mobile in the province. In 2018, the company reported about 1 billion yuan ($145 million) of net loss. Yunnan Unicom started negotiations with potential private investors in October and reached preliminary agreements with the three companies in December. Related: Unicom Ties Up With Outside Investors in Autonomous Driving Donna Davies Hosts 5 de Diciembre Duplex Open House Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - Timothy Real Estate Group agent Donna Davies will be hosting an Open House at Casa 5 de Diciembre, a multi-family property in an up-and-coming neighborhood just north of downtown Puerto Vallarta, on Friday, May 17, 2019 from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm - and you're invited! Conveniently located near the heart of El Centro, close to shopping, grocery stores, restaurants, and night life, and only 7 short blocks to the beach, Casa 5 de Diciembre combines Old World Mexico charm and character with modern conveniences and comfort! This 4-floor, fully furnished and air-conditioned duplex is a great investment property for anyone interested in owning a home in Puerto Vallarta, while also having some rental income. You can live in one half of the home and rent out the other, or rent them both, creating revenue that can highly reduce monthly and yearly expenses. Located on Calle Costa Rica 1270, Casa 5 de Diciembre features a common pool area for everyone to enjoy, and the Master Suite features a private palapa rooftop terrace with gorgeous views of Banderas Bay, the city and the mountains. Everyone is welcome to join us Friday, May 17, 2019 from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm for the Casa 5 de Diciembre Open House! Listed at just $499,000 USD, is a must see for anyone interested in owning a Puerto Vallarta vacation rental or retirement property. For more information, visit the Facebook event page, or call Donna L. Davies on her cellular at 322.779.9406 or at the Timothy Real Estate Group office at (322) 223-5300. The number one selling and listing agency in the greater Bay of Banderas region since 2011, Timothy Real Estate Group is a locally-owned and operated real estate brokerage with a strategic location in the city's Romantic Zone. Because the Puerto Vallarta area has varying neighborhood personalities, we practice localized real estate and, with 5 sales offices around the bay, we know our communities well. If you are looking to sell or purchase a property in the Banderas Bay area, please contact one of the Timothy Real Estate Group agents for the best experience in Puerto Vallarta real estate. For more information, visit TimothyRealEstateGroup.com. 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. Employer Matching Gifts Double the Impact of Your Previous Donationsat no cost to you! Thousands of companies match their employees' charitable contributions, and CBN is eligible for many of these matching gift programs. Your gifts to CBN can go further and help more people . Many more families can be fed Many more hurting people can receive aid Many more men, women and children can learn about God's love It's as easy as 1-2-3. Once you've made a donation to CBN, follow these steps to have your donation matched. 1 Search Will my employer match my charitable donations? To find out if your company has a matching gift program, please enter your employer's name in the window below and click "Search." 2 Apply Print or request the matching gift form from your human resources department, review the guidelines, and fill it out completely. 3 Send Mail the completed form to CBN at the address below or e-mail it to matchinggifts@cbn.org. The Christian Broadcasting Network Employer Matching Gifts 977 Centerville Turnpike Virginia Beach, VA 23463-0001 CBN will notify you when the application is received and processed. Questions? Ask your human resources department or call CBN at 888-584-3937. Xem them (Construction) - On December 3, in Hanoi, the Ministry of Construction held a conference to appraise the General Plan for Construction Project of Cao Bang Border Gate Economic Zone to 2040. ... Tin bai cuoi cung Khong con du lieu e load Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 17) Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa should urgently be held responsible for enforcing the bloody war on drugs, an international human rights group said, as the country's former top cop is poised to win a Senate seat. "Now that Dela Rosa is a policymaker, there is renewed urgency in bringing all those responsible for 'drug war' crimes to justice," Carlos Conde of the Human Rights Watch's Asia division said in a statement Thursday. Dela Rosa is so far at fifth place in partial and official tally in the Senate race. Conde said Dela Rosa, along with other officials involved in the anti-drug campaign, "shouldnt receive a get-out-of-jail-free card," a term in a game board, despite their victories in the May 13 midterm elections. Dela Rosa was chief of the Philippine National Police when President Rodrigo Duterte launched the drug war in 2016. Under his watch, Duterte suspended the flagship anti-drug campaign "Oplan Tokhang" amid alleged police abuses, and tasked the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency to take the lead role in the fight against drugs. Government data show over 5,000 suspects have been killed in anti-drug operations. Critics say the President's public pronouncements have resulted in thousands more extrajudicial killings, a claim Malacanang has repeatedly denied. "Dela Rosa presided over a Philippine National Police that routinely shot and killed drug suspects, claiming without proof they resisted arrest," Conde said. He stressed, however, that investigations made by the HRW and other human rights groups show that the police planted weapons and drugs to justify the killings. The International Criminal Court is looking into the killings to the dismay of Duterte, who even threatened to have its prosecutor arrested if she sets foot in the country. He also withdrew the Philippines from the Rome Statute, the treaty that formed the ICC, and stressed he will never submit to a probe. Spains cement demand up 9% in March, exports continue to fall ICR Research By 17 May 2019 Spanish cement consumption increased 8.7 per cent YoY in March 2019, according to Oficemen, the domestic cement association. In the rolling 12-month period (April 2018-March 2019) the associations Cement Barometer estimates domestic demand at 13.58Mt, up from 12.48Mt in the April 2017-March 2018 period. The association has attributed the rise mainly to the construction of 100,000 housing units in 2018. We welcome this data with optimism, since [the construction of] more than 100,000 homes has not been started in our country since 2010; but we continue insisting that the main destination for cement consumption should be civil works, which remain at historic lows, said Oficemen President, Jesus Ortiz. However, clinker and cement exports continue to drop, down 17 per cent in February, resulting in a 22-month period of decline. Between March 2018 and February 2019 exports reached 7.7Mt. "From Oficemen we have been warning for months about the very strong loss of competitiveness that the Spanish cement industry is suffering, mainly due to the rise in the prices of CO2 emission rights and the increase in electricity costs", explained Mr Ortiz. "In the last two years, almost 2Mt of exports have been lost, a figure equivalent to the average annual production of three cement factories," he added. "In addition, in the first two months of the year imports of cement from non-EU countries have grown by 30 per cent, driven by the high production costs we have in Spain and the competitive voracity of countries such as Turkey and Algeria, where devaluations monetary policies are leading to a significant decline in competitiveness and production in our country, said Mr Ortiz. Published under Belarusian president calls to improve cement exports 17 May 2019 The president of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, has called to raise the cement exports of the country during a meeting to appoint Alyaksandr Dawhala as the new CEO of Belarusian Cement Co, according to BelaPAN. "There is enough cement in our country," said Mr Lukashenko. "Cement industrialists once told me that they would like to double output and modernise production facilities. We invested money and modernised [production facilities], but it is necessary to effectively work in external markets. We had a lot of problems in this regard." However, the Belarusian leader was informed that the countrys cement export performance has improved recently. The export market has begun to diversify beyond Russia, with the country now exporting more cement to Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine. Mr Lukashenko also noted that attempts to privatise the industry, especially with regards to Hrodna Building Materials, would not be welcomed. Instead this should only be done after the businesses become successful and as a last resort. Published under I first want to acknowledge that even though I personally have strong differences of opinion with many of the supporters of UnifiEd regarding the true nature of UnifiED, I have much admiration for efforts to improve education in Hamilton County. Many of the supporters of UnifiED are good friends and distinguished business and civic leaders. However, I strongly believe that UnifiED itself is not who they claim to be. Make no mistake about it. UnifiED is not for education it is a well-constructed political machine that has flipped the Hamilton County School Board to a progressive agenda. UnifiED now has as its goal flipping the Hamilton County Commission and bringing the county a huge tax increase. Think of a wolf in sheeps clothing a Trojan horse. That is UnifiED. UnifiED and its close cousin, Organized for Action (whose CEO is a union organizer and married to UnifiEDs COO), are tools for Barack Obama and George Soross plan to push the United States to the radical left. UnifiEDs founding executive director served on Mayor Berkes campaign and ran his ground campaign. UnifiEDs founder had a history as a Democratic party operative for political campaigns. UnifiEDs current CEO worked from 2007 to 2012 for America for Obama as a political community organizer. One of UnifiEDs board members is a seven-year veteran of Barack Obamas advocacy and electoral organizations, serving as Tennessee State Director of Organize for Action. He served as Andy Berkes chief of staff from 2014 through 2017. These people have no background in education they are professional community organizers. Consider that UnifiED has received over $2 million from local foundations since 2014 and now has nine full-time staff and has established chapters is most of Hamilton Countys local high schools. What do you think students in those school chapters are learning? Learning the basics of community organization? What would you think is UnifiEDs textbook? Saul Alinskys Rules for Radicals? What is their 2019 club project? Canvassing door-to-door, harassing citizens into emailing their respective county commissioner to support the $43 million tax increase. What will that tax increase do? I would venture much of the tax increase will be used to support UnifiEDs manifesto the APEX report that demands their leftist and progressive goals be funded. Dont be fooled. UnifiED is not about education. UnifiED is about expanding Barack Obama and George Soross plan to socialize the United States one county at a time. UnifiEd has smugly assured the non-profit community of Chattanooga that the political machine they have created will deliver the necessary commissioner votes to approve the tax increase. County commissioners please say No to UnifiED and No to UnifiEDs wasteful tax increase. Tom Decosimo * * * Everything Tom Decosimo said in his letter is exactly correct-UnifiEd is nothing but a political organization. All anyone had to do when they showed up in Hamilton County to save us from ourselves, was to Google their organizers. The original head of UnifiEd was Elizabeth Crews. Elizabeth touts one of her accomplishments on her profile as, Trained 20 National Social Justice agencies in different facets of political and community organizing. She was also a rield organizer for the Obama campaign. On Ms. Crews list of accomplishments for UnifiEd in Hamilton County, she brags that she managed a budget of $500,000 and that she successfully raised over $1.5 million during her tenure here. I still shake my head when I see Republicans who even are willing to meet with UnifiED. What good could this liberal organization possibly do them? UnifiEds goal is to create confusion, disruption and division that elected officials must address and your tax dollars must fix. Thank you, Tom, for your well thought out letter of warning. I hope the citizens and elected officials in Hamilton County will pay attention. Rhonda Thurman * * * Once again, the voices of negativity rise in opposition to any move by the County Commission, School Board, and community groups to improve and modernize our public schools. As usual, they do not offer any positive input, preferring to criticize, and demonize, any and all the ideas of others, and they now stoop to wild eyed conspiracy theories and racially charged code words, instead of detailed policy objections, in their attempts to impede any meaningful change in our schools. Mr. Decosimo claims that UnifiEd and Organized for Action are not legitimate community organizations, but tools for Barack Obama and George Soross plan to push the United States to the radical left. Instead of logical arguments enumerating his areas of disagreement with the group's recommendations, he spouts only conspiracy theories and code words that resonate with those on the extreme right. Whatever else the members of these groups are, they are members of our community with a vested interest in our schools whose only agenda is to improve our schools, the health of our community and the quality of life for all the folks of Hamilton County. Disagree with their proposals if you will, but dont question their legitimacy, especially with such silly wing-nut stuff. If you have a gripe, Mr Decosimo, lay it out and, as I have asked of Ms Thurman, and other contributors to this op-ed page, many times, give us your ideas. Tell us what you think will work. "Barack Obama and George Soros" are neither relevant nor constructive. As for Ms Thurman, she got her wish. She had her man appointed as superintendent and her ideas instituted a few years ago and we all know how that worked out. She seems to think that just associating the efforts of Unified and Organize for action with Barack Obama and the alleged evils of community organizing is enough to discredit them, but she throws in liberal for good measure. Instead of just repeating far-right ideological talking points, Ms. Thurman, lay out your specific complaints with the proposals of these organizations, tell us what you think needs to be done and lets have a good public discussions of the relative merits of each. I must once again remind you, however, that segregated schools has already been tried and proven to be a dismal failure. Any viable plan must seek to provide quality education for all Hamilton County Students. You might also tell us of your accomplishments for our schools as a long serving school board member. The bottom line is that, if anyone has legitimate complaints, or something constructive to say, a plan that he/she thinks has merits, lets hear it. If all you can do, however, is proffer nebulous arguments and/or ideological gibberish designed not to raise legitimate objections, but to demonize, and serve only to hinder any real progress, please get out of the way and let those who do have ideas and plans a chance to implement them. Harry M. Hays * * * During last weeks Hamilton County Commission meeting, Patrick Hampton, a former Hamilton County Schools teacher, pointed out that Rutherford County Schools students scored significantly better on statewide tests than Hamilton County Schools students, yet Rutherford County spent roughly the same amount as Hamilton County while serving more students. Commissioner Sharpe responded that 31 percent of Hamilton County school-age children attend private schools, which pulled down Hamilton County Schools scores on the statewide report card. Yet if UnifiEd and the Hamilton County School Board actually care about improving scores while helping kids especially those whose families are most desperately seeking alternatives to the worst-performing schools why did HCS Superintendent Dr. Johnson actively lobby against school vouchers passed for other state school systems, but exempted in Hamilton County? All while using your tax dollars to lobby against the interests of Hamilton County property owners. Wouldnt providing vouchers for, say, 1,000 kids in the most underperforming county schools help improve the scores on the states report card? Wouldnt that be a worthy test to pursue on a parallel track in the midst of the equity proposals in UnifiEds APEX Project report, the primary driver of the HCSs $34 million budget increase? Thanks to Senator Todd Gardenhire, we may never know. Brendan Jennings Chattanooga Tea Party The Soddy Daisy commissioners adopted the fiscal year 2019-2020 budget ordinance at the Thursday night meeting on first reading. No citizens spoke for or against the ordinance at the public hearing that was held prior to the vote. A second and final vote will be required. This budget includes no tax increase, the rate remains at $1.3524 per $100 of assessed value of a property. Commissioner Jim Adams said that the city is in good financial shape with money in the bank and no debts and that will allow investments in capital projects. Mayor Gene Shipley said that if the amount of growth that Soddy Daisy has been seeing continues, he feels like the city can continue with this tax rate indefinitely. Included in this budget is a two percent across the board raise for the citys employees. The purchase of four vehicles is planned for use by the police department. Analogue radios used by the police and fire departments have become obsolete and repairs cannot be made to them so the budget includes replacing them with digital radios that will be universally used. Included also is the replacement of 20 sets of turnout gear for the fire department. The playground is also getting all new equipment. The city will be responsible for $165,000 of the total cost of $330,000 because a 50/50 Grant from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation was received for the project. About eight miles of Dayton Pike will be paved with help from another grant that will pay 80 percent of the total cost. The budget will be available at city hall for review. One of the two backhoes used by the public works department is in the shop, and to fix it will cost about $33,000. Because it is 15 years old, it was decided not to spend that amount of money on such an old machine, but to instead buy a new one. Steve Grant, public works director has received a quote for $92,500 as a replacement. This unexpected purchase was not included in the new budget. Mr. Grant also told the commissioners that an old wall built by WPA, along Dayton Pike that fell is the citys responsibility to replace. Theres no saving it, he said. He said it was undermined with all the rain this year. The dangerous debris that collected in the lake, also due to heavy rains, remains a hazard. The city is in the process of determining a method for removing it. An update to the citys lien on property where the old Green Gables Motel sat, was discussed at the commission meeting. The city condemned and demolished the building several years ago and placed a lien on it for the $40,000 it took to remove asbestos along with the buildings. There are four or five other liens on the property that take precedence over Soddy Daisys, City Attorney Sam Elliot told the board. Mayor Shipley would like the land to be available for new development. On May 20 at 7 p.m., "The Backlot" at Heritage House, 1428 Jenkins Road in Chattanooga, presents a newly-restored print of the classic crime drama "Detour," directed by Jewish emigre Edgar G. Ulmer, and preceded by a presentation on "The Lost? World of Yiddish Cinema" by award-winning diversity author and Huffington Post journalist Deborah J. Levine. "The Backlot" at Heritage House Arts & Civic Center was begun in February of 2012 as a way to connect film-lovers, film-makers and those fascinated by what goes on "behind the camera." "The Backlot" usually meets every third Monday of the month, with additional monthly events sometimes created to accommodate special guests. Activities at "The Backlot" include film screenings, presentations by working professionals, casting calls, script readings and the like. Admission is free and is preceded by an informal/optional potluck dinner at 6 p.m. Review - Detour: The Essential B Movie Noir Detour tells the story of Al, a down-on-his-luck piano player (played by Tom Neal) who decides to hitch his way west to catch up with his girlfriend Sue (Claudia Drake), who has left him working a dive bar in New York City in order to pursue her dreams of Tinsel Town stardom. Only soon after Al sticks out a thumb, his ambitious plan begins to quickly unravel. This now-classic noir was rediscovered in the 1970s and is now hailed by film scholars worldwide, even being included in critic Roger Eberts first volume of his series, The Great Films. About Director Edgar G. Ulmer: Edgar G. Ulmer fled Germany in the 1930s after serving as an assistant to legendary silent director F.W. Murnau on such films as "The Last Laugh" and "Sunrise." Thus, Ulmer now provides a direct link between the German Expressionism which influenced his own dark tales with the exaggerated lighting and askew camera angles characteristic of film noir. About Author Deborah J. Levine: Author of numerous books on cultural diversity as well as her own Jewish experience, writer Deborah Levine has served as an advisor to both the federal government as well as several major American corporations. Most recently, she was appointed to Mayor Andy Berke's Council Against Hate, as part of Chattanooga's own drive toward inclusion. A woman with a knife jumped a fence at East Ridge Elementary School on Thursday, according to a social media post. School officials steered the woman away from nearby children and hurried them into the school, it was stated. The school went into full lockdown. There was also a lockdown at East Hamilton Middle/High. Officials said it was related to alleged threats on social media. The post on the situation at East Ridge Elementary says: We had a pretty good scare at school today. She had a knife. My team and the principals worked together to steer her away from the children and then picked up our kids and rushed inside. We went on full lockdown and had our kiddos locked in the bathroom with an employee. The intruder proceeded to bang on our outside door still screaming. The police got there and took her into custody. We had just gone out to the playground for our annual water day when an intruder jumped over our fence extremely messed up on something, screaming that someone was trying to kill her.She had a knife. My team and the principals worked together to steer her away from the children and then picked up our kids and rushed inside. We went on full lockdown and had our kiddos locked in the bathroom with an employee. The intruder proceeded to bang on our outside door still screaming. The police got there and took her into custody. Tonight Im so thankful that things didnt turn ugly, it could have happened so quickly. Im thankful for safe kiddos and that our team was able to think and act quickly. Thankfully our kids were so excited about water day that they didnt realize what all happened. They thought it was so cool that they hung out in the bathroom together, singing loudly (It helped that I sent in a whole lollipop tree with them so they had endless amounts of dum dums ). Im thankful that things didnt turn ugly. It could have so quickly. Im thankful for safe kiddos and that our team was able to think and act quickly. Please pray for the families of my students. I cant imagine how scared they were for their children. Im sure they are snuggling them extra close tonight. District 8 Hamilton County Board of Education Member Tucker McClendon will hold a District 8 Community Budget Information Session for the public on Tuesday, May 21 at 6 p.m. at East Ridge High School. Representatives from Hamilton County Schools will be present to provide information about the school district budget for the 2019-2020 school year. The $443 million school budget includes a 5 percent raise for teachers and funds to hire more counselors, social workers and staff to support special education, support teachers in the classroom by addressing social and emotional needs of children and improve reading skills for children. The FY 2020 approved budget also includes providing at least five post-secondary courses or industry certifications for high school students and access to more STEM, arts and innovative programming. Improving school facilities is also a priority in the budget. Find more detailed information about the budget for Hamilton County Schools on the districts website. Click on About Us, then select Budget. Details about the FY 2020 budget can be found under Budget Transparency on the Budget page. Maj. Fiser gives command of Chattanooga Choo Choo Senior Squadron to 1st Lt. Ed Dempsey, as outgoing commander, Maj. Kelly Williamson stands behind Dempsey. On Wednesday evening, inside hangar 13 at Wilson Air, about three dozen locals attended the Change of Command ceremony for two of Tennessees Civil Air Patrol units. The colors were presented by the Chattanooga Composite Squadron Color Guard Team, which was followed by an invocation given by CAP Chaplin Capt. Wayne Layton. Before the Change of Command, Tennessee Group II Commander, Maj. Deming Gray used the opportunity to express appreciation for several key leaders in the group, and presented a Commanders Commendation Award to three CAP members (Maj. Kelly Williamson, Maj. Gary Fiser, 2d Lt. Byron Poe, and Maj. Larry Stewart) who helped lead the 2018 Wreaths Across America program. Additionally, he made Commanders Commendation Awards to Maj. Linda Quiet, the soon to retire Commander of Cleveland Composite Squadron. Tennessee Wing Commander, Col. Dent Young also presented the Meritorious Service Award to Maj. Marty Nix, for his role as the Location Leader for the 2018 Wreaths Across Chattanooga event held at the Chattanooga National Cemetery in December. Under Maj. Nixs leadership, approximately three times more funding was raised for wreaths placed at Chattanooga National Cemetery than at any time in the programs 13-year history. Also in attendance was USAF Col. Chris Dooley (ret.) who also serves on the Wreaths Across Chattanooga committee, and is past president of Chattanooga Area Veterans Council. Then Col. Young conducted the first of the two Change of Command ceremonies. Maj. Fiser previously served at the Chattanooga Choo Choo Senior Squadron Commander (2007-2010), TN Group II Commander, Maj. Deming Gray, who succeeded Fiser as Choo Choo Squadron Commander (2011-2015), before taking command of TN Group II in 2016. After addressing the members and guests for a few minutes, Maj. Fiser conducted his first official duty as TN Group II Commander, and oversaw the second Change of Command ceremony of the evening. Maj. Williamson assumed command of the Choo Choo when Maj. Gray relinquished command in 2015. Cadet Capt. Calloway of the Chattanooga Composite Squadron Color Guard Team stands in the background of both photos. Capt. Calloway and the rest of the Color Guard Team heads for Nashville on May 17 to complete in the Tennessee Wing Color Guard competition. Civil Air Patrol, the longtime all-volunteer U.S. Air Force auxiliary, is the newest member of the Air Forces Total Force. In this role, CAP operates a fleet of 560 aircraft, performs about 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and is credited by the AFRCC with saving an average of 80 lives annually. CAPs 63,000 members also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. In addition, CAP plays a leading role in aerospace/STEM education, and its members serve as mentors to over 26,000 young people participating in CAPs Cadet Programs. Visit www.GoCivilAirPatrol.com or www.CAP.news for more information. Although no ceremonial recognition is given, Maj. Deming Gray, a Master Rated Mission Pilot, now assumes a new role as the Tennessee Wing Vice Commander. Additionally, he heads up the drone program, officially known as the small Unmanned Aerial Services (sUAS) for the Southeast Region of the U. S. At Fridays Leadership Luncheon honoring the 2019 class of Leadership Chattanooga, the Leadership Chattanooga Alumni Association presented Scottie Goodman Summerlin the Julie Baumgardner Leadership Award for her outstanding service in education and extensive support of Leadership Chattanooga. We admire Scottie for her courageous spirit and her heart for education, said Rhey Houston, president of the Leadership Chattanooga Alumni Association. Shes a true community-builder and were lucky to have her as a supporter of Leadership Chattanooga and lucky to have her as a member of our community who constantly goes above and beyond to help others. An experienced broadcaster and consultant, Ms. Summerlin discovered her passion for education and service to the community when her twin sons entered school. Since then, she has served in several board positions in local PTAs, as well as Communications vice president for Hamilton County PTA and Communications Council chair for the Tennessee PTA. In 2012, she was chosen as Tennessee Delegate for Mom Congress. She volunteers as a communications consultant for Signal Mountain Middle/High School and the Mountain Education Foundation. Outside of education, she has served on the boards of the Chattanooga Room in the Inn, American Lung Association and Youth Leadership Chattanooga. For years she has assisted Leadership Chattanooga in coordinating projects and identifying talented candidates for the program. Recently, she received the Elise Chapin Moon Sustainer of the Year award from the Junior League of Chattanooga and is a Chattanooga Woman of Distinction honoree. Ms. Summerlin lost her husband to cancer several years ago. In a Healthscope Magazine feature last year, she commented on that experience: As a way to honor his legacy, I look for ways to help others. As part of that effort, she launched a group at her church for widows raising children, helping support more than 40 other women. Every change we face in life presents opportunities to connect with people in new ways and discover things about ourselves and others, Ms. Summerlin said. Ms. Summerlin is the third recipient of this award, established in 2017 in honor of Julie Baumgardners dedication to shaping Leadership Chattanoogas curriculum. The award continues to honor nominees with an exemplary record of community leadership. Last year, Ronald Harris, co-founder of the BlueCross BlueShield Association Diversity Alliance, received the award. Find more information about Leadership Chattanooga here, and more information about the Alumni Association here. This is my opinion about a few things supported by some factual statements and I do not ask anyone to change their mind or take any kind of action based on my Constitutionally protected freedom of expression. First, I struggled to find anything kind to say about Congress. The best I can come up with is they have a very nice building in which to work. Beyond this, I can find no words that I want credited to me expressing my disappointment in their performance for more years than I care to recall. If America is Superman then Congress is our Kryptonite; they weaken us to the point of death. Second, no registered to vote American citizen should be pleased to hear any member of Congress say, two/three/four or other term member. This is an affront to logic and no one should get more than one term. You cannot argue that experience in Congress helps our country; maybe the person and their party but not America. Third, the facts about Congress are clear: Medicare is broke, Social Security is broke, our nations medical and mental healthcare system for veterans and military service personnel is abysmal and embarrassing, our roads, highways and bridges are tinkering on the verge of collapse, public education is underwhelming. There is not a single member of Congress today who has the intellect, leadership skills, or courage to take on the great challenges facing our country. Nope, they all march to their partys tune in order to ensure fundraising, re-election, and the promotion of their agenda. Congress is the perfect example of, when all is said and done more is said than done. Lastly, members of Congress are not to blame for all of our nations woes and problems. Americans citizens (me included) are responsible for the failures. We get to vote yet we do not and when we do its based on party allegiance, a clever slogan, the candidates appearance, or apathy toward the entire process. Americans: Rise up. Do better. God Bless America. Dewayne Belew Tennessee House District 26 Rep. Robin Smith Friday announced two legislative initiatives designed to further strengthen public trust in members of the Tennessee General Assembly. Rep. Smith announced she would be working with the Office of Legal Services over the summer to craft legislation targeting conflicts of interest in the use of campaign funds. She intends to specifically address instances when a member uses his or her campaign funds to compensate family members who are not providing campaign services. The second piece of legislation being crafted by Rep. Smith will restrict alcoholic beverages being served at events hosted by lobbyist. Rep. Smiths intent is to require lobbyist to demonstrate an ability to limit and track the serving of alcohol to one drink per attendee during these events. Most come to Nashville for the right reasons, Rep. Smith said in announcing her legislation. We believe in public service and giving of our time to make Tennessee an even better place to live, work and raise a family. In the six months that I have been elected to serve, I have been honored to sponsor legislation that prioritizes the needs of Tennesseans. I also have a duty to make sure I do my part to ensure the public trust in our legislative and campaign conduct. Rep. Smith said she is highlighted the importance of responding to the need for Tennesseans to know they have a voice in government and a trust that their public servants operate ethically. The legislation I am proposing will address two common beliefs that I hear as a representative and as a member of the House Ethics Committee. Tennesseans often believe their values are not reflected due to salacious and sensational stories related to the misbehavior of a few. Too often, the public is left with the impression that elected officials are looking out only for ourselves. As a member of the House Ethics Committee for four months, Ive seen clearly the need to establish guidelines that ensure the public trust and best set expectations to reflect a commitment to that trust. Enacting responsible controls on lobbying activity and campaign fund use are two steps we can take in the right direction. Rep. Smith will introduce this legislation for the new session of the 111th General Assembly in January of 2020 with ongoing work to introduce other legislation based on research and review to address professional conduct in the Tennessee General Assembly. Jacks Restaurants continues to expand its southern roots outside of Alabama as they open their newest location in East Ridge on Monday. When the doors open at 5 a.m., the biscuit makers will already be well into their day. East Ridge will be the home of Jacks 166th restaurant, located at 4209 Ringgold Road. The store will welcome their new neighbors by celebrating Five Days of Jacks, which features a different giveaway each day for customers making a purchase (while supplies last). On Day One (Monday), the first 50 customers will receive free breakfast for a month. At 6 p.m., giveaways of Jacks Swag and $500 in gift cards will begin. Later, from 7-10 p.m., Jacks will partner with East Ridge High School for Spirit Night (featuring the East Ridge High School band). The following four days will feature coupon giveaways while supplies last: Tuesday - Free Single Gravy Biscuit Coupon Wednesday - Free Single Scoop of Ice Cream Coupon Thursday - Free Sausage Biscuit Coupon Friday - Free Cheeseburger Coupon Vice President of Marketing Jake Taylor says the company looks forward to each new grand opening. Every time we open a store, we get excited about the chance to meet new neighbors and become part of a new Southern community. Our mission at Jacks is to serve quality handmade food and Southern hospitality, every day. Thats something that should fit right in to East Ridge, Mr. Taylor added. Dustin Buttram, a boating officer for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, has been named the Tennessee Boating Officer of the Year. The honor comes from the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA). Mr. Buttram serves in TWRAs District 31 and the area includes Center Hill, Cordell Hull, Great Falls and Dale Hollow reservoirs. In addition, the area also includes the busy fishing and paddling Caney Fork River. In his position, Mr. Buttram has also embraced the challenge of providing boating education opportunities to the public. In 2018, he taught more than 20 boating safety classes and certified 207 students who are required to have the boating education by law, plus numerous others not required by law to have the certification. In addition to teaching on Saturday mornings at marinas on Center Hill or Dale Hollow, Mr. Buttram taught classes in four high schools and for seven school fishing teams. He offered classes on weeknights for those who could not attend weekend classes. Mr. Buttram maintains a personal watercraft and Boating Under the Influence (BUI) simulator trailer in which he designed new graphics for a wrap to make it more bright and noticeable. He took this simulator to safety fairs in Putman, DeKalb, Jackson and Cumberland counties and utilized it to educate young boaters as well as adults on the dangers of excessive drinking while boating. Mr. Buttram attended county fairs and engaged with sportsmen and boaters. He taught a law enforcement class at Tennessee Tech University which included boating safety. He also made several visits to schools to give boating safety talks to the students. In addition to providing boating education opportunities, Mr. Buttram patrolled on the water on enforcement boats, personal watercrafts and kayaks from which he checked more than 1,900 boats in 2018 for safety violations. He is usually the lead officer in accident investigation in his area and assisted rescue squads and sheriffs officers in the search for drowning victims on Center Hill and Dale Hollow Lakes. Mr. Buttram joined the TWRA in 2011, working as a wildlife officer in the Nashville area. He transferred to his current position in 2014. Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 Hottest Stuff On CheatCC! Hottest Stuff On CheatCC! Go to Gwenpool's room in the Avenger's mansion. It is located on the second floor in the main hall, the door in the back left. It becomes unlocked as part of the tutorial in the Avenger's mansion, right after completing the first mission. Enter one of the following codes on Gwenpool's computer to unlock the corresponding bonus: Result Code Antman BCR7QJ Baby Groot (Ravager) QG3VH9 Captain Britain M68P3L Crimson Dynamo CDS278 Darkstar S947TP Giant-Man (Hank Pym) GAVK9R Grandmaster (Ragnarok) LBYT59 Green Goblin XG7SAL Hawkeye G6K2VM Hellcow NCMJU4 Hulkling 5G7HFS Loki JDNQMV Maestro HCE926 Militant UUTZNC Misty Knight BK9B3Y Ragnarok HL7L7Y Scarlet Spider JD9GQA Songbird D6LJ4P Spider-Man UK RMADXF Spider-Woman CW9BRS Vision (Civil War) 4U9DAT Vulture (Homecoming) 7KDY3L Winter Soldier 8KD3F6 Successfully complete one of the following tasks to get a trophy: Cassie Randolph won Colton Underwoods heart on his season of The Bachelor. Coltons on record saying he stopped thinking of other women ever since their one-on-one date in Vietnam. The two spent much of their date making out in the water, making out on the beach, making out in the shower, making out standing up, making out sitting down and apparently also getting to know each other and forming a lasting connection (that part just wasnt shown on TV). Cassie and Colton | Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images But many viewers thought it was painfully clear that Cassie just wasnt that into Colton. Even her own family wasnt sure their sister and daughter really had feelings for The Bachelor. There are hundreds of other guys out there, too. So if hes not %100 the one, like if theres any doubt, dont shove that down. I know you better than anyone and I literally think that youre perfect. So I want you to be with somebody whos perfect. Like, this could actually be somebody that is forever, you know? I dont want you to settle for anything less, Michelle Randolph told her sister through tears during Cassies hometown. Cassie just didnt seem that into Colton When Cassie went on dates with Colton, it just didnt seem like she was romantically interested in the former Bachelor. The clips ABC aired would show Colton being head-over-heels smitten and Cassie just lukewarm about the whole thing. The final straw was when her dad flew to Portugal to make sure his daughter didnt carry on with a relationship her heart wasnt in. She decided to leave the show only to be convinced to stay by Colton with the promise that they could proceed at their own pace. Cassie hearing Colton broke up with the other girls for her but knowing she doesnt even like him. #TheBachelor pic.twitter.com/zCq87BeR9Z Summer Key (@sumlyn_7) March 13, 2019 When the couple appeared at the finale together, they were excited to announce that they were, indeed, mutually in love. But many fans still werent convinced. This whole thing is weird because Cassie clearly doesn't really like Colton. #TheBachelor Trent (@BarstoolTrent) March 13, 2019 How we know Cassie really loves Colton According to Cassie, she does love Colton. She just needed some extra time and less pressure to get there. The couple really does seem happy together today. Their Instagram posts are filled with photos of them traveling together and PDAing all across America. Additionally, Cassie and Colton just did an interview with Jenny McCarthy on The Jenny McCarthy Show on SiriusXM, and Cassie spoke about how hard it was for her to watch Coltons season back and see him have connections with other girls. If that doesnt sound like someone whos in love we dont know what does. It was really hard watching himhonestly the making out I can get over. But having actual connections with girls and having deep conversations with them was really hard because I was like Oh, ok. You guys actually had deep conversations that I have to watch, said Cassie. Girls say that emotional connection sometimes is harder to swallow than the physical, replied Jenny. Yes! That was harder to watch. Exactly, Cassie agreed. Navy corpsman finally finds peace at Vietnam Veterans Memorial After 27 years, Wes Anderson came to accept who and what he was. So it was that, in 1995, after years of personal struggles he came out as a Vietnam veteran. Two years later he made pilgrimage to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. It took three days of sightseeing around the Capital before Anderson finally made his way toward The Wall, a monument featuring a 246-foot-9-inch long, black opaque wall built of 144 highly polished granite panels sunk unobtrusively into the ground. Anderson rode the metro from his hotel, arriving at the west end of the sprawling Capital Mall in the early morning. He visited a bronze statue called The Three Servicemen, each representing a different ethnic group European American, African American and Hispanic American who served in Vietnam before sitting on a bench for several hours feeding a squirrel peanuts. Then he ventured to the wall itself. On the Walls panels are inscribed 58,339 names, each belonging to a serviceman eight are female nurses who deployed to war-torn Vietnam between roughly 1959-1975 and never came home alive. The names are not listed alphabetically, but by the day the person was killed, so its theoretically possible to see men killed in the same firefight listed together. Anderson went to a particular panel. Thats where my friends are, he said. Anderson served as a Navy Corpsman with a Marine Corps infantry unit in Vietnam. Corpsman are affectionately and collectively known as Doc by the Marines they serve with. Doc Anderson arrived in the hot, sticky, foreign-smelling air of Vietnam in November 1966 with basic Hospital Corpsman schooling under his belt, plus five-weeks of additional training at Marine Corp Base Camp Pendleton, Calif. It wasnt nearly enough, he said. Two days after arriving he was in the field, with a rudimentary med bag, figuring things out as he went. After that I dont want to get into it, Anderson said. It took me so long to get over it. Because there was a shortage of corpsman, his initial 12-month tour was extended. He spent a total of 19 months patching up wounded Marines, watching over his charges, and keeping otherwise insignificant wounds from festering in the humid climate. Infection was a big thing, Anderson said. Before he finally flew home in June 1968, he survived one of the bloodiest of Vietnam War engagements: The Battle for Hue, one of the many battles that were part of the overall North Vietnamese Tet Offensive. Once the dust of the destroyed city had settled a little over a month after it started, 668 U.S. Marines, U.S. Army soldiers, and Army of the Republic of Vietnam troops were killed and another 3,707 wounded in the fierce, house-to-house urban combat. Now retired, Anderson is today on his second tour as state chaplain for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, a group started in 1899 following the Spanish American War that advocates for veterans. He is involved in a variety of groups, including a veterans task force being launched by Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers. But Doc Andersons path to where is he is today wasnt easy, and he spent many troubled years trying to put Vietnam behind him. Like many others, his arrival back home was less than heroic. No tickertape parades for combat-shocked Vietnam vets, but instead vilification. Even though he and his returning comrades were advised to wear civilian clothes, it didnt help. Protesters, Anderson recalled, were watching for them to arrive. I literally had to fight my way through SeaTac to get to my (connecting) plane, he said, noting that he broke two fingers punching one protester in the jaw who apparently got in his way and pushed the wrong button. I was mad when I faced those protesters, he said. The son of a family with a long history of military service, including a sister who served in Iraq and Afghanistan as a nursing officer, Anderson said he didnt understand protesters lack of gratitude for what he and other combat veterans had experienced. I couldnt understand why they were ungrateful, he said. We were doing our job, our duty. What did we do wrong? After his discharge he packed both his uniforms and his feelings away in a box that has long since gone AWOL. Instead of capitalizing on his combat medic experience and going into the medical field, Anderson earned a degree in business administration, and spent the rest of his working life in the lending industry. Asked why he didnt pursue medicine after Vietnam, he said, Id had to make decisions about who I could and couldnt save. I didnt want to make that decision anymore. Anxieties after highly stressful events have always been part of the human condition. It wasnt until the mid- to late-19th century after the American Civil War that more modern attempts at treatment began. Called, among other things, soldiers heart, gross stress reaction, and shell shock, what is now an accepted psychological condition called post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, didnt exist as a diagnosis for men returning from Vietnam, according to the Department of Veteran Affairs. We were told to suck it up, Anderson recalled. Theres nothing wrong with you. After years of personal struggles he wouldnt discuss on the record, Anderson finally sought out therapy on his own, which he paid for out of pocket. Anderson said he didnt say goodbye to anyone when he was informed that his Vietnam tour was over and he would be flying back to the U.S. He checked in his weapon and other gear, grabbed a bag of personal belongings the size of a briefcase, and spent the night near the flight line waiting for his helicopter flight the next morning. I didnt say goodbye to anyone, he said. When I left Vietnam, I never really knew what happened to those guys. I left them behind. It took 27 years for him to finally say goodbye on that day at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. He said he felt a sense of relief afterward. I made my peace with them, he said. Anderson refused to speculate about how many lives he may have helped save in combat. Asked why, he replied, I dont want to know. I would like to think that they all made it home safe. Today, Anderson talks with a lot of veterans of Americas modern wars. Even though hes a Vietnam combat veteran, he noted that most wont discuss their experiences, even among themselves. Those who cant hold it in any longer he refers to the Spokane Veterans Outreach Center for counseling, or the VA if they are in the system. A friend of Andersons, and fellow corpsman, Petty Officer Third Class Mike Judd, was serving with a Marine reconnaissance platoon when he was killed in combat when the CH46 helicopter he was riding in took on enemy fire and crashed in 1967. He was eventually listed as killed in action, body not recovered. His remains were later found in 2013 and buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors, according pownetwork.org. As remains of missing servicemen are found and repatriated to their families, their names are added to The Wall. Dedicated in 1982, the original wall listed 57,939 names. Over 400 names have since been added. Of the roughly 10,000 Navy corpsman who served with Marine Corps units, 645 were killed and more than 3,300 wounded, according to the U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. The Moving Wall, a half-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. will be in Medical Lake from Thursday-Sunday, June 13-16, and will be available for viewing at 250 S. Prentis St., on the Medical Lake Middle School playfield. Each day will include an opening and closing ceremony. For more information about The Traveling Walls visit to Medical Lake go to http://medicallake.org/vmwall/. Lee Hughes can be reached at lee@cheneyfreepress.com. Taiwan has approved same-sex marriage, becoming the first in Asia. Friday, the Taiwan legislature will allow full marriage rights to same-sex couples, according to CBN News. The Taiwan Constitutional Court ruled in May 2017 that the constitution allows same-sex marriages, and it gave parliament two years to adjust laws if needed. The new law will go into effect May 24, according to CNN. The island of Taiwan reportedly has a large gay community and even hosts an annual gay pride event. However, in November 2018, the country tried to pass a referendum approving same-sex marriage. Nearly 70 percent of voters rejected the referendum. But this week, Taiwanese lawmakers voted on a Cabinet bill to approve same-sex marriages. Wu Tzu-an, a gay activist from Taipei, said the vote was the best result for the country. "It's also a sign to show that Taiwan was different from China," he added, referring to mainland China where same-sex marriage has not been legalized. "Personally I don't have plans to get married, but I think it's a sign for equality." Xiaogang Wei, who is the leader of the Beijing Gender Health Education Institute, said the bill is historic. "It will have a very positive impact on China's LGBT community, offering us a lot of hope," he told CNN. "The Chinese government has pointed to cultural tradition as a reason for same-sex marriage being unsuitable in China. But the decision in Taiwan, which shares a cultural tradition with us, proves that Chinese culture can be open, diverse and progressive." Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights executive director, Victoria Hsu, said she hopes heterosexual families will see the bill doesnt mean they lose anything. Also commenting on the vote was Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, who tweeted, "We took a big step towards true equality, and made Taiwan a better country." Photo courtesy: Pixabay The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs has agreed to a settlement with a Christian apologetics student group who were de-affiliated with the college for stipulating that leaders in their group must adhere to mainline Christian beliefs. The university agreed to pay the plaintiff's representing Ratio Christi some $20,574 in damages and will also reinstate the group as an official student club. In addition, the college also promised to review its Club & Organization Handbook and ensure that it contained information making it clear that clubs are at liberty to only appoint leaders who share the fundamental beliefs of their group. Alliance Defending Freedom, the group who represented Ratio Christi, was delighted with the outcome of what has been an arduous and protracted legal battle. It would be absurd for the university to require the vegan student group to appoint a meat-lover as its president, said counsel Travis Barham in a statement on the outcome. Thankfully, the university quickly fixed its policy by adding provisions that respect students rights to free association, no longer forcing Christian students to let atheists or other non-Christians to lead their Bible studies in order to become a registered club. The case began last November when, much to the clubs despair, the university allegedly began to force the group to allow atheists or other non-Christians to lead their Bible studies. In its original lawsuit, Ratio Christi argued that the college was not allowed to prefer some viewpoints and denigrate others by forcing them to appoint leaders who fundamentally disagreed with their core values. In a statement at the time, the group insisted that students of any faith or no faith can become a member of Ratio Christi, as long as he or she supports the groups purpose. When it comes to leaders of the group, however, Ratio Christi insisted that they must retain a level of autonomy. Like any other student group at a public university, religious student organizations should be free to choose their leaders without the government meddling, added ADF Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer, who is also director of the ADF Center for Academic Freedom. Todays university students will be tomorrows legislators, judges, university presidents, and voters, and were grateful the University of Colorado, has chosen to correct course, encourage diversity of thought, and protect students constitutional freedoms. Photo courtesy: Public Domain/Dwillsey Chick-fil-A to become 3rd largest fast-food chain in US sales amid growing popularity Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Chick-fil-A is set to become the third largest fast-food chain in the United States as their signature chicken sandwiches and waffle fries continue to soar in popularity. Over 50 years after opening the first restaurant in the Atlanta area, Chick-fil-A's sales numbers have risen significantly, bested only by McDonald's and Starbucks, according to food-service consultancy Technomic Inc, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. The company remains privately-owned. Weve been pretty consistent in how, over multiple decades, were going to take it slow and steady, said Mark Moraitakis, a Chick-fil-A senior director, speaking of the companys growth. Its paid off for us. In the past 10 years, the restaurant's sales have tripled to $10.2 billion in 2018. The restaurant is especially popular among Christians in part because of the vision and values of the founding family. The restaurant chain has maintained over the years its policy of being closed on Sunday to honor the keeping of the Sabbath. The restaurant is also known for friendly customer service from staff. When customers say "thank you" to the employees they are trained to respond with "My pleasure." Chick-fil-A has approximately twice as many locations as they did in 2007, many of which are located in the South. "Each year since 2015, Chick-fil-A has been the top-rated fast-food restaurant on the American Customer Satisfaction Index, which considers factors such as staff courtesy and restaurant cleanliness," the WSJ noted. "Among limited-service U.S. restaurants that mainly serve chicken, Chick-fil-As market share rose to 33% last year from 18% in 2009, while the market share of Yum Brands Inc.s KFC chain fell to 15% from 29% in that time, according to data tracker Euromonitor." Chick-fil-As success has also reportedly lessened hamburger sales, according to consultants and industry executives. The company has continued to make headlines for its consistently good customer service but has also received negative press as it continues to draw the ire of liberal groups and politicians because of the stated views of the restaurant's owners and previous donations to groups that oppose same-sex marriage. In March, the city council of San Antonio, Texas, voted to bar the chain from opening in the city airport over what they called "anti-LGBT behavior." We hope they will experience for themselves that Chick-fil-A embraces all people, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity, Chick-fil-A told CP in a statement, after it reached out to the city for a dialogue with the council. This was preceded by Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, rejecting a student body request to allow a Chick-fil-A restaurant on campus. The university claimed that the fast food companys views on LGBT issues have not sufficiently progressed enough. In response, one of the schools deans, Cynthia Newman of the College of Business who is a committed Christian, submitted her letter of resignation in February in protest the school's move. Chick-fil-As corporate values first came under fire in 2012, when its President Dan Cathy affirmed his stance in support of traditional marriage. In 2014, he said he regretted wading into the marriage debate. The fast-food company announced in July its plans to open its first location outside the U.S., in Toronto, Canada. Southern Baptist 'deep state'? Cryptic Falwell Jr. tweet highlights SBC turmoil Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Southern Baptists are responding to the idea of a "deep state" within their denomination amid comments from Jerry Falwell Jr. and the recent removal of stained glass windows from an SBC seminary. Crystallizing this notion was a Monday tweet from Liberty University President Falwell Jr. where he said that his friend Jerry Vines, who is both a former SBC president and former pastor of First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida had told him that Adam Greenway, the new president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, is not a part of a "deep state regime" within SBC ranks. This "regime" is supposedly led by Russell Moore, the current president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Convention, the SBC's policy arm. My good friend @jerryvines just told me Dr. Adam Greenway is a wonderful man and not part of the @drmoore SBC deep state regime trying to subvert the will of the church members! So glad to hear this news! @toddstarneshttps://t.co/ra7vCnutj9 Jerry Falwell (@JerryFalwellJr) May 14, 2019 Greenway was nominated to serve as the new president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in February. Those who do believe that such an operation exists within the SBC say that Moore and like-minded Southern Baptists are leading denomination in a more progressive direction theologically, one that many parishioners do not support and say is a departure from their values. Falwell's tweet came on the heels of his remarks at Liberty University's baccalaureate service Friday in which he praised Vines, the baccalaureate speaker, for his role in what is known as the "conservative resurgence" in previous decades, when theological conservatives wrested control of key denomination agencies and seminaries. Vines was instrumental in returning the SBC to to more accurately reflect the values of most Southern Baptist members," Falwell said. Falwell added: [U]nfortunately, a new generation has taken the Convention away from those values in many ways. Falwell's church, Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, gained a place in Southern Baptist life when it became a part of the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia and gave to the mission causes of the state convention and the national convention before the 1998 SBC annual meeting in Salt Lake City, according to a bio of Jerry Falwell Sr. in Christian Index. Falwell and several of his members attended the 1998 Utah convention and voted as messengers. Before that, Falwell and Thomas Road were independent Baptist. In the lead-up to its annual meeting in Dallas last year, the denomination endured somewhat of a crisis as numerous reports emerged regarding SBC leaders mishandling instances of sexual misconduct in churches and affiliated institutions. Old audio footage resurfaced of an interview where former SWBTS president Paige Patterson offered what many saw as dangerous advice to a woman who was being abused by her husband. Patterson was eventually ousted from his post at SWBTS and the seminary ultimately removed stained glass windows of key SBC figures in the conservative resurgence from their premises. The windows were reportedly paid for with donations and Falwell Jr. wanted two of them back Falwell Sr. and Vines. The Capstone Report, a conservative Southern Baptist site that believes the SBC is trending liberal and needs to be preserved, is vocally backing Falwell. CR writers insisted Monday that Falwell's deep state comment was said in jest but "it does have some truth in it." They argued that Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Al Mohler's "disciples" now lead SBC entities and that a number of appointments have been made to key SBC entities that promote "Woke Theology." According to Liberty University, "Falwell demanded that SWBTS return the money donated for the windows and sent a plane to Fort Worth, Texas, this week to retrieve them." The Falwell Sr. and Vines stained glass windows will be displayed in the Jerry Falwell Museum on Liberty's campus. Among the other windows, Paige Patterson and his wife Dorothy are depicted, as are California megachurch pastor and author Rick Warren, former SBC presidents W.A. Criswell, Adrian Rogers, Charles Stanley, Ed Young and Ronnie Floyd, who has been recently elected to serve as the new SBC executive committee president. Meanwhile, Relevant magazine noted Tuesday the tense intra-denominational dynamics and events in recent years that have contributed to the ongoing divide within the SBC, particularly Moore's comments in opposition to then-candidate Donald Trump in the months leading up to the 2016 presidential election. Since then "Moore has been relatively quiet on the Trump front following a private meeting with the SBC higher-ups, but apparently, thats not good enough for Falwell, who still sees him as part of the 'SBC deep state,'" the magazine explained. "Given the conspiratorial verbiage, its a little hard to take an accusation like this seriously but it is nevertheless a pretty serious accusation." Yet other Southern Baptists took to Twitter to joke about the idea of such a thing, believing it to be ridiculous. "#SBCdeepstate people are on Libertys campus too," Southern Baptist Pastor Alan Cross wrote in a lengthy tongue-in-cheek tweet thread response. "Anyone who follows Jesus, sacrifices their life, seeks Gods Kingdom first, and refuses to bow the knee to the culture/state can join." "Members of the SBC Deep State are loudly decrying and mocking its existence, which is *exactly* what you would expect them to do ergo, it obviously exists," tweeted Jacob Denhollander, a graduate of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and husband to Rachel Denhollander, an attorney who spearheaded the effort to expose USA gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar and has made repeated calls for churches to do better with regard to handling sexual abuse allegations. National Review writer and former Alliance Defending Freedom attorney David French, criticized Falwell. "This tweet is a spectacular example of Trumpism infecting the church. 'Deep state regime' isnt a theological argument. Its a petty personal insult based not on faith but instead on a weird sort of Christianized populism when nothing about Christianity is populist," he said in response to Falwell's "deep state" jab. A Bonfire campaign intended to respond to Falwell's remark with humor was set up and is selling custom t-shirts with the words "SBC Deep State" printed on them. Malcom Yarnell, a professor at SWBTS voiced support for Moore, in an apparent attempt to dispel the idea of a SBC deep state. He tweeted Monday that he wrote an essay in a collection of writings published in honor of Vines, and shared his passion for Scripture, and is privileged to serve with Greenway at the seminary. "And I am blessed to serve @drmoores @ERLC Research Council advocating biblical ethics," he said in defense of the ERLC leader. The Christian Post reached out to Vines for comment on this article but received no response. Likewise, no representative from the ERLC was available to respond, the group's staff told CP in a Wednesday email. Moore is presently on vacation. The phrase deep state has become more common on the American political right in recent years and is often spoken of in conspiratorial tones. "Deep state" has come to mean layers of corrupt government officials attempting to govern the nation as they see fit, undermining democratic processes and President Trump's actions in particular. UMC Bishops advance 'full communion' agreement with Episcopal Church Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The United Methodist Churchs Council of Bishops approved sending a resolution to the 2020 General Conference to approve a full communion agreement with The Episcopal Church. Bishop Gregory V. Palmer, co-chair of the United Methodist-Episcopal Dialogue Committee, told those gathered at a meeting last week where they approved the resolution by a unanimous voice vote, that it was important to explain what the full communion proposal is and what it is not. Its not an organic merger, two denominations becoming one, but the reminder that we see in one another the signs of church one holy catholic and apostolic church, said Bishop Palmer, as reported by the United Methodist News Service. As part of the agreement, the UMC and the Episcopal Church will officially acknowledge each other as partners in ministry, recognize each others baptism and communion and share clergy. The bishops approved a resolution brought by the Dialogue Committee, which came from a committee meeting held in Austin, Texas, on April 29-30. In a statement released on May 1, the committee acknowledged that their resolution comes amid great internal debate within the UMC over LGBT issues, which they believed might introduce sharp and as yet unanswered questions about the prospects for full communion between our churches. And yet, we believe that what we are experiencing in the various crises of our denominational life is the birth pangs of something remarkable, something new, stated the committee. We believe that the forces of polarization, mistrust, and animosity in our society and in our ecclesial life will not have the last word. Earlier this year, the UMC reaffirmed its official opposition to homosexuality, gay marriage, and the ordination of noncelibate homosexuals at a special session of General Conference. By contrast, over the years The Episcopal Church has become increasingly supportive of the LGBT movement, allowing openly gay clergy and same-sex marriage, which has prompted many congregations and members to leave the denomination in protest. The two mainline Protestant denominations officially began their bilateral dialogues in 2002, with the Dialogue Committee announcing the draft proposal for full communion in 2017. "The relationships formed over these years of dialogue, and the recognition that there are presently no theological impediments to unity, paved the way for this current draft proposal," stated the committee in 2017. "We believe that this proposal represents a significant witness of unity and reconciliation in an increasingly divided world and pray that you will join us in carrying this work forward." Last November, the Council of Bishops voted to approve the preparation of legislation for the 2020 General Conference that would carry out the full communion proposal. "We are blessed in that neither of our churches, or their predecessor bodies, have officially condemned one another, nor have they formally called into question the faith, the ministerial orders, or the sacraments of the other church," noted a committee statement from last year. Museum of the Bible to unveil world's longest illustrated Bible on National Mall Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., has announced its plan to unfold a facsimile of what is believed to the worlds longest illustrated Bible along the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on the National Mall. The Museum of the Bible said it will be the first to completely unveil the Wiedmann Bible in the U.S. on June 1. The Wiedmann Bible, completed in 2000, features a continuous illustrative narrative of the Old and New Testament in 3,333 images throughout 19 leporellos (accordion-style books). It was created by German artist Willy Wiedmann, known for his gallery in Stuttgart, over the span of 16 years. Unfolded, the work of art is believed to be nearly one mile long. June's complete unveiling will require at least 1,000 volunteers, the museum estimates. Museum of the Bible is honored to be part of this historic event, Museum of the Bible CEO Ken McKenzie said in a statement. The Wiedmann Bible exhibit is one of the most popular at the museum, and yet, you cant truly understand the artifacts uniqueness until you see just how long it is. I encourage everyone who is able to literally reach out their hands and join me in making history on June 1. Wiedmann, who died in 2013, did not have the opportunity to publish his work, according to the Wiedmann Bible website. Instead, Wiedmann stored his illustrations in the attic of his gallery. His son, Martin Wiedmann, found four aluminum boxes that contained the leporellos when he reopened his fathers gallery. Since then, the Wiedmann Bible is on its way to fulfill its mission: sharing the Bible with everyone through images, thus giving them a new way to access as well as an understanding of it, the website explains. The original Wiedmann Bible was presented for the first time in public in the German town of Stuttgart in 2015. The Museum of the Bible become the first entity in the U.S. to display the Wiedmann Bible when it opened up an exhibit last October. The exhibit is scheduled to run through September 2019. A mobile app has also been launched to give users access to his fathers Bible across the globe. For the price of $4.99, the app can be downloaded to give users an interactive visual narrative of the Wiedmann Bible. Since February 2018, the Wiedmann Bible has also been available in book form. King's College London launched last November the Visual Commentary on Scripture website, a $2 million project designed to allow people to visually comprehend the Bible through classic and contemporary works of art. With ongoing contributions, the project aims to eventually cover every book in the Christian Bible. Having opened in November 2017, the museum has featured a number of different temporary exhibits. In April, the Museum of the Bible announced that it will launch a year-long exhibition that will examine the often contentious relationship between science and the Bible over the course of history thanks to millions of dollars in grants received from the John Templeton Foundation. The exhibit looks to provide insight into six of the worlds most pressing questions: How did it all begin? What keeps the universe running? Are we different from animals? What are we made of? Where are we going? Are we alone? The exhibit also looks to refute myths that have emerged in the science-faith discussion debate. The new exhibit will open in the summer of 2020. Calif. parents take kids out of school, protest controversial 'gender-inclusive' sex education Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Parents across California kept their children out of school on Friday to protest the state's sex-ed curriculum that supports the belief that some people are born in the wrong body and can change their sex. Those are just two topics being taught to children as part of the state's "gender-inclusive" comprehensive sex education curriculum and related materials. Parents in the Golden state are resisting the implementation of the California Healthy Youth Act (AB 329), particularly Comprehensive Sex Education, and many decided to withdraw their children from school on Friday. In addition to keeping their children home from school, parents across the state gathered at their respective County Board of Education buildings to protest public school system overreach, including the teaching of "gender-fluid theory" to pre-kindergartners, said the Informed Parents of California in a statement shared with CP on Friday. The group said that AB 329 is a model for other organizations that back these kinds of curriculum materials that sexualize children and promote destructive social change that undermine families. We will not tolerate the states overt attempts to push their extreme and damaging agenda, IPOC founder Stephanie Yates said. "We will not allow our kids to be sexualized in the classroom and our parental rights stripped. We will not allow our childrens hearts and minds to be stolen and used for political social experiments and radical activist agendas. We will stop at nothing to protect our kids. The materials also assert that biological sex is not necessarily determined by DNA but is "assigned at birth," Yates added. In California, school officials are being pressured to accept the health education framework under threat of lawsuits from the ACLU and other groups, sources told CP on Thursday, noting that not every school administrator is so familiar with the actual flexibility they have legally at the district level, and schools generally want to avoid negative attention. Writing at the Federalist on Wednesday, Mary Hasson of the Washington-based Ethics & Public Policy Center noted that transgender activists are publishing educational materials arguing that puberty is "gender-inclusive." Activists at Gender Spectrum a group whose stated mission is to "create a gender-inclusive world for all children and youth" by helping "families, organizations, and institutions increase understandings of gender and consider the implications that evolving views have for each of us" released a publication earlier this year called "Principles of Gender-Inclusive Puberty and Health Education." The phraseology "gender-inclusive puberty" and "gender literacy" is rooted in the notion of gender identity, which, although it has never been defined with clarity, holds that both sex can be changed and gender is self-determined and not based in biology. These and other terms are unpacked and explained through a distinct ideological lens and have been packaged and presented as health education. "The real goal is to normalize transgender and nonbinary identities and the drastic medical and surgical interventions that 'affirm' them," Hasson explained. The Equality Act an update to the 1964 Civil Right Act that on Friday passed the House by a vote of 236173, with all Democrats and eight Republicans voting in favor of the bill seeks to enshrine gender education of this type to be taught in public schools couched in protecting students who identify as trans from discrimination, she continued. But even if the federal legislation fails to pass the Senate, the push for this kind of content in educational arenas is advancing, she said. Another principle of teaching gender-inclusive puberty is that "multiple pathways" exist to becoming adult bodies and the pubertal processes can be suppressed with hormones. "Puberty is the time of life when a childs body begins developing into adult form. It looks very different for each person Some young people will start puberty at such a young age that they may be given medication to slow down the process. Puberty can also be delayed. Some young people will experience puberty in a way that does not feel right for their gender and medication can be used to pause that process Each body is different," the Gender Spectrum material reads. Teenage girls who take puberty blockers and go on a testosterone regimen are said to be receiving "medical support" that affirms their new path to a masculine-looking adult body. The material urges teachers not to imply that the only reason bodies change is to produce children and start families. "In short, trans activists want confused kids to feel good about taking hormones that will render them infertile before they are legally old enough to order a beer because 'just as there are many pathways to your adult body, there are also lots of ways of becoming a parent,' Hasson concluded. The Principles of Gender-Inclusive Puberty and Health Education from Gender Spectrum is backed by Planned Parenthood, the Gay and Lesbian Straight Education Network, and the flagship LGBT rights organization the Human Rights Campaign. What children learn about human sexuality at school has long been a bitterly contested subject in American politics. On April 23 last year, Sex Ed "sit outs" occurred around the country where parents withdrew their children from school in protest of sexually graphic school sex-ed resources under the guise of health education. In collaboration with the California Family Council, parents have been successful at getting several of the recommended sexually explicit books scrapped from the framework but others remain listed. In response, state education officials insisted they were not "mandating" the books that they ultimately removed and that they had become "a distraction." The goal is that the curriculum framework be useful, David Sapp, the deputy policy director for the State Board of Education, told KCRA 3 NBC News in Sacramento amid the fallout last Wednesday. A resource that is still recommended as part of the educational framework for fifth graders is the book, Sex, Puberty, and all that stuff: A Guide to Growing Up by Jacqui Bailey. The book features graphic descriptions of masturbation, sexual slang terms, and shows and a picture of a cartoon boy measuring his genitals with a ruler expressing worry that his penis is shrinking. When girls masturbate it is "trickier," and it "can take patience to get to know your clitoris," the book instructs. "Above all, remember that there are lots of ways to show you love someone having sex is only ONE of them," it reads. Challenging Roe: 5 states that have passed strict anti-abortion laws in 2019 Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Over the past few months, multiple states have passed laws that greatly restrict or all but outlaw abortion, in large part as a way to challenge and possibly overturn the 1973 United States Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade. Many activists and politicians saw the confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court as creating a pro-life majority on the highest court that could overturn Roe. Several states have considered increased restrictions on abortion, especially bans on abortions once the heartbeat of an unborn baby is detected. Both Missouri and Louisiana are close to passing such laws. Here are 5 states that have recently passed restrictive laws against abortion. These include laws that ban abortion when an unborn babys heartbeat can be detected and one law that makes abortion a felony. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next Christian teen raped, forcibly 'converted' and forced into Islamic marriage in Pakistan Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A Christian teenager in Pakistan claims to have been beaten, forced to convert to Islam and married off to a 45-year-old Muslim man as religious minority females in the Muslim-majority country continue to face extreme persecution because of their gender and faith. Neha Pervaiz, a 15-year-old who lives in the Ittehad Town neighborhood of Karachi, recently told ucanews.com about how she was forced into an Islamic marriage last month when she went to her aunts house with the intent of taking care of a sick relative. I was taken by my aunt, a Muslim convert, to her house on April 28 to help her look after her sick son, Pervaiz told ucanews.com, an outlet that exclusively covers Catholic news in Asia. But there I was asked to marry a Muslim man named Imran. When I refused, they beat me up and threatened to kill my minor brother who was with me. Pervaiz alleged that she was taken to a room where she was raped by Imran, a divorcee. They then pressurized me to convert to Islam and marry Imran, she added. The next day, Pervaiz said that she was taken before an Islamic cleric, where she was forced to recite the Quran and was given a new name: Fatima. Then on April 30, Pervaiz said she was taken to a court where she was legally married to Imran. It wasnt until May 5 that Pervaiz was able to escape from the home with the help of her captors daughter. The whole time she was away, Pervaizs mother said that she was left clueless about what was being done to her daughter. I was shocked to learn what had happened to my daughter as I was under the impression that she was at her auntys house to help her, Jamila Masih told the website. What happened to Pervaiz is not uncommon in the South Asian nation, where countless religious minority girls are kidnapped, forcibly converted and forced into marriages with older men. In 2014, the NGO Movement of Solidarity and Peace estimated that between 100 to 700 Christian girls are abducted, raped and forced into Islamic marriages in Pakistan every year. Pakistan, a 96 percent Muslim-majority country, ranks as the fifth worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors USA. It was also named last year by the U.S. State Department as a country of particular concern for religious freedom violations. Forced conversion of Hindu and Christian young women into Islam and marriage, often through bonded labor, remains a systemic problem, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom wrote in its 2019 annual report. Several independent institutions, including the National Commission of Justice and Peace and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, recognize that an estimated 1,000 young women are forcibly converted to Islam each year. USCIRF noted that Hindu and Christian women are particularly vulnerable because of the societal marginalization and lack of legal protections for religious minorities, combined with deeply patriarchal societal and cultural norms. USCIRF, a congressionally mandated and bipartisan watchdog commission, also criticized the Pakistan government for not adequately prosecuting perpetrators of crimes against religious minorities. In Pervaizs case, police were reportedly reluctant to register the familys complaint but a case was filed on May 13 with the help of a local pastor. Pastor Ghazala Shafiq of the Church of Pakistan told ucanews.com that the marriage was illegal because of the fact that Pervaiz is only 15. Girls under 18 years of age are considered minor and those doing this are punishable according to Pakistans Penal Code. We will fight her case in court, the pastor was quoted as saying. Last month, the Lahore High Court ordered the return of a teenage Christian girl who was abducted and forced into an Islamic marriage in March. I was violated and abused by my captor but he has not broken my spirit, Shalet Masih told the British Pakistani Christian Association. I spoke in court and will testify again and again until the monster is jailed he should not be allowed to do this to anyone else ever again." Earlier this month, an Associated Press report revealed that hundreds of Christian girls in Pakistan have been trafficked to China through an operation in which Pakistani pastors are paid to find brides for Chinese men among the impoverished communities they shepherd. Parents of the sex trafficked girls reportedly receive between $3,500 to $5,000 and are told that their daughters will be married off to wealthy Christian converts. House passes LGBT Equality Act; conservatives say it 'undermines womens equality' Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The Democrat-controlled U.S. House of Representatives passed the Equality Act Friday afternoon, hotly-debated legislation seeking to codify LGBT non-discrimination protections into federal law. H.R. 5 passed by a vote of 236-173. The bill would expand the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to also ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition in housing, public accommodations and hiring. The bill was first introduced in 2015 but never passed in the Republican-controlled House. However, it is unlikely to be voted on in the Republican-controlled Senate. But LGBT advocates and supporters consider the bills passage in the House historic and a sign of progress because it is the first time a comprehensive LGBT civil rights bill has come to the floor in Congress To bring our nation closer to the founding promise of liberty and justice for all, we, today, pass the Equality Act and finally, fully end discrimination against LGBTQ Americans, Democrat Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said on the House floor. LGBTQ people deserve full civil rights protections in the workplace, in every place in education, housing, credit, jury duty, service and public accommodations. No one should be forced to lose his or her job, their home or to live in fear because of who they are and whom they love. Christian conservatives and religious freedom advocates have voiced strong opposition to the bill in fear it could encumber religious freedom for communities and organizations that uphold traditional teaching on issues like marriage, abortion and sexuality. Americans are becoming more tolerant every day, which is why the Equality Act is so counterproductive, Utah Republican Mike Lee wrote in a tweet. It unnecessarily pits communities against each other and divides our nation when patience and understanding are so sorely needed. With the vote along party lines, Idaho Republican Rep. Russ Fulcher announced in a video Friday that he was voting against the bill and questioned if his Democrat colleagues even read the legislation before voting in favor of it. I dont think they read it. I dont think they really understand what is in it because womens rights get eliminated, Fulcher said. Fulcher argued that the bill would "erase gender from federal law." For example, if I were a male inmate at a penitentiary and I identified as a woman that day, I could demand to be incarcerated on the female side of the penitentiary. If I were a male athlete and I wanted to be placed in the womens draw, I could identify as a woman," he said. "School curriculum: it could be mandated to have transgender training. Adoption agencies could be mandated that only certain people can adopt children. The list goes on. The traditional families get eroded and religious freedom is no more because religions identify gender. Critics have expressed concern that the Equality Act opens the door for more potential legal battles spawned by the intersection of LGBT rights and First Amendment rights of religious conservatives who feel homosexuality and transgender identity is unbiblical. In response to the House vote, lawyer Kristen Waggoner, who successfully defended Christian baker Jack Phillips at the U.S. Supreme Court last year for his refusal to bake a custom cake for a gay wedding, argued that the Equality Act fails to respect constitutionally guaranteed freedoms. It undermines womens equality by denying female athletes fair competition in sports, depriving women of business opportunities designed for them, and forcing them to share private, intimate spaces with men who identify as female, Waggoner, an attorney for the Alliance Defending Freedom, said in a statement. Like similar state and local laws, it would also force Americans to participate in events and speak messages that violate their core beliefs, all in the name of an equality that tolerates no dissenters. Across the nation, conservative Christian business owners, organizations and health professionals have come under legal fire for refusing to violate their religious or moral convictions relating to various issues including abortion, marriage, sexuality, gender identity, and gender reassignment. A group of 21 Christian conservative pastors and activists including Franklin Graham and James Dobson urged members of Congress this week to vote against the bill in a letter stating that the legislation carries with it religious freedom concerns. The letter argued that the language of the bill indicates that the bill is also the largest expansion of taxpayer-funded abortion this country has ever seen. "[T]he Equality Act is unacceptable because it is anti-life and creates a right to demand abortion from health care providers, the letter contends. The termination of human life in the womb is unacceptable to any biblically and historically faithful Christian. The responsibility to care for the least of these (Matt. 25:40) is a fundamental responsibility of Christs church, and any proposal that undermines a culture of life must be rejected. While Christian conservatives have spoken out against the Equality Act, left-leaning Christians have backed it, including Rev. Jennifer Butler, the head of the clergy network Faith in Public Life and former chair of the White House Council on Faith and Neighborhood Partnerships during the Obama administration. My faith teaches that everyone is created in the Holy image of God, Butler said in a statement. The passage of the Equality Act is an important step to make sure that the innate dignity of every person is recognized and protected in our country. Waggoner argued that LGBT activists want to con Americans into thinking that disagreement on important matters such as marriage and human sexuality is a form of discrimination that requires the government to enforce one view over another. But that is obviously wrong, she said. This bill undermines human dignity by threatening the fundamental freedoms of speech, religion, and conscience that the First Amendment guarantees for every citizen. Americans deserve better than the profound inequality that this intolerant, deceptively titled legislation offers. Joel Osteen account offering prayers for money is a scam, Lakewood Church warns Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Lakewood Church is warning the public about a fake Joel Osteen Ministries account that is offering prayers in return for large monthly donations. In a message posted Wednesday on their Facebook page, the Texas-based megachurch warned people that a Joel Osteen Ministries page soliciting donations for prayer requests is fake. Joel Osteen Ministries never requests money for prayer. You can post your prayer requests here as well as pray for others: c.osteen.co/prayers, stated the church, whose warning has gotten nearly 700 shares and over 1,200 likes on Facebook. Lakewood Church posted the message that the scam account was sending, with large red letters reading FAKE plastered on top of it. The scam account messages people on Facebook, telling them that their prayer request account can only be activated if they donate $24.99 each month, which gives access to three prayer requests a month. The scam message goes on to state that to become a Platinum Prayer Request member, a person must donate $49.99 a month. In return, they would get more prayer requests. This is not the first time that Osteen has been the subject of a scammer. In 2013, a scammer set up a fake Osteen Facebook account to solicit financial donations. The 2013 scam operation included not just Osteen, but other notable pastors including Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest and Miles McPherson of the Rock Church in San Diego, California. In response, Joel Osteen Ministries posted a message thanking the many who contacted them about the scam and directed them to a link where they could report the fake accounts. Also in 2013, a fake Joel Osteen Ministries was set up and claimed that Osteen had resigned from Lakewood Church after having become an apostate. I believe now that the Bible is a fallible, flawed, highly inconsistent history book that has been altered hundreds of times, said the fake website, falsely quoted Osteen. That website has since been taken down. Latter-day Saints Church drops Mormon, LDS from mobile apps, tools Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced that they have dropped the names LDS and Mormon from their mobile apps and tools in keeping with a recent decision by church leadership over how the religious group should be labeled. In an announcement released Thursday, the LDS church explained that the name changes were made to align with recent direction from church leaders regarding the naming of church products. The terms LDS and Latter-day Saint should not be used to qualify objects, such as temples, scriptures or doctrine, that belong to the Lord or His church, stated the religious group. Instead of Latter-day Saint temples, for example, the appropriate references would be temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or house of the Lord. Specific changes listed by the LDS church included: LDS Tools changed to Member Tools, LDS Media Library changed to Gospel Media, Mormon Messages changed to Inspirational Messages, LDS Music changed to Sacred Music, and LDS Sing-Along changed to Sing-Along Hymns. Various other services and mobile apps, such as LDS Seminary and Institute, will simply remove LDS from the name, added the church. In August of last year, President Russell M. Nelson announced that they would no longer use shortened names like "Mormon" and "LDS Church" to identify themselves. "The Lord has impressed upon my mind the importance of the name He has revealed for His church, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," stated Nelson at the time. "We have work before us to bring ourselves in harmony with His will. In recent weeks, various church leaders and departments have initiated the necessary steps to do so." Among the entities given a name change was the renowned musical ensemble the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, which officially became The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square last October. Ron Jarrett, president of the famed music organization, said in a statement last year that the new name for the choir "will represent a change after so many years." "But we have always been a forward-looking people, and we are focused on what is not changing: the world-class musicianship, the inspiring arrangements and programming, and our weekly Music and the Spoken Word broadcast continuing a tradition begun 90 years ago," stated Jarrett in 2018. "The name may change, but everything that people know and love about the choir will not only be the same but will get better and better." In response to the news, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Albert Mohler said in a podcast that he believed the name change was the LDS church making "a truth claim" and reaffirming their belief that "all other Christian churches are not real churches." "The official teaching of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, popularly known as the Mormons, is that their church is the restoration of the true Church, which had disappeared on earth between the time of the disciples, properly the Apostles, all the way until Joseph Smith in the United States in the 19th century," said Mohler last year. "Notice the definite article, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In that name, there is a clear claim to identity with Jesus Christ, but a clear claim of discontinuity and absolute distance from the church from the time of the Apostles until Joseph Smith." Mohler added that "there is far more than the question of nomenclature when the president of the Mormon church says that Mormons shall no longer be known as Mormons." "That's not just a name, it's a claim. It's a truth claim and evangelical Christians had better understand it clearly," said Mohler. Man charged with torching Pa. church says he was mad at God Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A man charged with the arson of a Pennsylvania church that banned him for unspecified reasons said he was angry at God. Wilmer Jose Ortiz Torres, 43, was charged with twice setting fire to Iglesia Pentecostal De Bethlehem, as well as burglary and criminal trespass. Ortiz Torres spoke briefly with the media after waiving his right to a preliminary hearing, explaining that he did set the fires and was mad at God, The Morning Call reported on Thursday. Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli explained to the media that Ortiz Torres had some mental health issues, according to The Morning Call. Ortiz Torres is believed to have set the first fire to the church after midnight on April 23, which damaged the sanctuary. A second fire was set two days later on the churchs roof. Who would do this again? They already burned everything inside, said Nitza Colon, the daughter of the pastor's daughter in an interview with a local CBS affiliate after the second fire. When we got the call this morning it was like who would do this again? The law knows how to take justice and we just pray for that person because we dont know whats gonna happen. Authorities arrested Ortiz Torres for the fires when security camera footage from a nearby intersection showed a person identified as the suspect walking around the area just before the arson. Irma Rivera, sister of Ortiz Torres, told local news station WFMZ that her brother had a long history of mental illness and claimed that he was bullied by the congregation. He was always quiet (and) respectful to everyone, Rivera told WFMZ. All he wanted to do was sit down in (the) church that he loves and feel safe and listen to God's words. And instead he got humiliated and bullied once again. Iglesia Pentecostal De Bethlehem was founded about 50 years ago and has a mostly Hispanic congregation of about 150 people. Theologian makes biblical case for why white Christians need to support reparations for black Americans Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment White Christians need to get behind a growing movement pushing for reparations for African Americans because it is a biblical principle endorsed by Jesus, associate professor at Princeton Theological Seminary Keri Day recently contended. Day, who teaches constructive theology and African-American religion at the Ivy League seminary, made the argument earlier this month in a lecture at the historic Riverside Church in Manhattan. She defended her argument using the story of Zaccheus the tax collector. When we turn to the Gospel, we see that Jesus is clear that reparations or restitution to those who have been exploited and rendered vulnerable is not optional but required. Consider Jesus encounter with Zaccheus in Luke 19, Day said. Zaccheus is a tax collector who has participated in Roman imperial oppression against marginalized Jewish populations. Jesus sits with Zaccheus but is clear with Zaccheus on what his reparative response needed to be and that this reparative response as Zaccheus was tasked to do was not simply and only a political response but was more deeply a theological response, she explained. In his encounter with Zaccheus, I want to suggest that Jesus sets forth a reparations ethic . Zaccheus is expected to give back that which he has stolen so that he can be reconciled with others and God. Reconciliation cannot occur until he has given back what he has stolen. Days argument came on the 50th anniversary of iconic civil rights leader James Formans famous interruption at the church where he presented the Black Manifesto, which sent shockwaves across white America in 1969. Forman and other blacks who had attended the National Black Development Conference that year, demanded $500,000,000 in reparations from white churches and Jewish synagogues for black Americans, arguing that they were complicit in upholding the system of slavery that exploited blacks. The demanded sum would have worked out to approximately $15 each for the approximately 30 million black American population. This is a low estimate fro (sic) we maintain there are probably more than 30,000,000 black people in this country. $15 a negger isnt a large sum of money and we know that the churches and synagogues have a tremendous wealth and its membership, white America, has profited and still exploits black people, the group argued. We are also not unaware that the exploitation of colored peoples around the world is aided and abetted by the white Christian churches and synagogues. This demand for $500,000,000 is not an idle resolution or empty words. Fifteen dollars for every black brother and sister in the United States is only a beginning of the reparations due us as people who have been exploited and degraded, brutalized, killed and persecuted, the manifesto said. Hilda Clark, a longtime Riverside Church member who was present during Formans interruption, recalled the tension that was created by his protest. I saw this young man, protest down the aisle and I wondered whats up with this. He mounted the stage began to speak and people began to get, I guess something between annoyed and perplexed. Riverside at the time was a fairly formal operation and this man was violating protocol for sure. And immediately a few people got up and left but I decided to sit and see what would happen, Clark said. Later on I heard words like reparations. Not something I knew a lot about but I got the message. He then started talking money and masses of people got up and walked out and they were mostly white but there were a few black people who walked out also. While Formans group did not get the $500 million they demanded, a year later in 1970, The New York Times reported that many mainline churches committed approximately $127 million toward social programs for black Americans in response to church protests which had expanded beyond Riverside Church. A long time coming Prior to making her argument for a Bible-based reparations ethic, Day explained that black Americans have been making the case for reparations since the end of the Civil War. Callie House, a formerly enslaved black woman, argued to Congress after the Civil War that every ex-slave should get a pension in order to be equal citizens. Even Martin Luther King Jr., in his Economic Bill of Rights for the Disadvantaged, maintained that public and private sectors, including white churches, needed to provide some sort of economic repayment for the collective years of slavery and racial oppression. The well-known phrase "Forty Acres and a Mule" also emerged in the South after the Civil War, and it asserted the right of newly freed slaves to redistributed lands especially plantations confiscated by U.S. troops during the war. The land was supposed to serve as reparations for unpaid labor during slavery. Historians credit the phrase to General William T. Sherman's Special Field Order Number 15, issued on Jan. 16, 1865, which set aside a 30-mile tract of land along the South Carolina and Georgia coasts for former slaves. It also promised the army's help securing loaned mules. The Freedmen's Bureau was also initially authorized to divide abandoned and confiscated lands into 40-acre tracts for rental and eventual sale to refugees and former slaves. The efforts of Radical Republicans to redistribute the land during the Reconstruction period, however, were eventually abandoned and whites reclaimed their land in the south and blacks were forced into sharecropping, which kept them poor and powerless. The experience with "Forty Acres and a Mule" was later used to advocate for affirmative action programs developed from the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Day also highlighted the Freedom Budget for All Americans that was proposed by A. Philip Randolph and a coalition of black, socialist, and progressive leaders, including Martin Luther King Jr., who had come together to organize 1963s March on Washington. The ambitious policy proposal was created in the fall of 1965, after the Voting Rights Act passed with a goal to end poverty in the United States without cost to taxpayers. It proposed using strong economic growth to provide a federal jobs guarantee, universal health care and a basic income. This bill required $10 to $12 billion from the combined efforts of public and private sectors and it was understood that the private sector would include religious communities such as churches, Day said. There are some scholars that say even requiring some sort of financial reparative work is seen in some of the work that King was doing as well. In fact, the number of white pastors, Episcopal, Methodist, some Baptist pastors, agreed in principle with some sort of economic payment for a history of economic disenfranchisement among blacks. These were those marching with King, she added. Reparations in 2019 Riverside Churchs commemoration of Formans interruption comes as the reparations discussion has emerged as a major talking point among 2020 Democrat presidential candidates. Many in the crowded field, including Andrew Yang, Beto ORourke, Julian Castro and Kamala Harris, have voiced strong support for reparations for the descendants of slaves. I have said several times during the last several weeks that I have long believed that our country will never truly heal until we address the original sin of slavery, Castro, the former secretary of U.S. Housing and Development under former President Barack Obama, said last month. 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? In January, Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee introduced the H.R. 40 bill, called the Commission to Study and Develop Reparations Proposals for African Americans Act, to look more deeply into the discussion. Reparations and repentance In her biblical argument for reparations, Day argued that the story of Zaccheus demonstrates, in her opinion, what true repentance looks like. I recognize that for some theologians and biblical scholars, it would be a stretch to interpret this interpersonal encounter between Zaccheus on a structural systemic level. Such encounters, so the argument goes, do not always translate perfectly within larger institutional contexts, she said. I want to take that seriously. You have conservative voices that say its a personal ethic altogether, but you have some other voices. I would consider myself standing in the tradition of Reinhold Niebuhr, who essentially says there is no perfect justice. And in some ways, some of the ethics that you find in the Bible they do not translate into larger institutional settings where power and interest sort of mark or characterize what the world is, she continued. I do want to say that while imperfect, this encounter that Jesus has with Zaccheus does indeed translate into a larger structural context. I think that Jesus own reparations ethics when He tells give back what is stolen and then can be reconciled with others and with God, sheds light on what is central to Gods economy, which includes restitution and real material repair as the grounding of Gods salvific work in history, Day explained. So Gods salvific work is not merely the existential but it is also the material. Such discussions are not separate or unrelated to the reign of God. Instead, Jesus own thoughts here to Zaccheus, provide evidence that reparative work is Kingdom work. It is part of what constitutes the unfolding of the Good News. And most importantly, what I think is being communicated in this encounter is that Zaccheus salvation could only be made complete in his action to repair. How does this translate into this moment even in thinking about the salvific work or history, what God has done in Jesus Christ that salvation history is always ongoing, redemption is seen as always ongoing, that part of that redemption is not fulfilled and complete until what has been stolen is returned and repaired and restitution has occurred? White Christians, Day argued, should see reparations as an act of worship. White Christians should see themselves, I would argue, as held underneath the same signs of the times, with the Zaccheus commissioning of sorts, that the reign of God involves repair as ones spiritual act of worship. What might it mean to wrestle with how Jesus ministry empowers white Christian communities to see reparations not only as a theological imperative but as a spiritual act of worship, she contended. White Christians supporting reparations for black Americans would also reset the notions and practices of repentance, she argued. Repentance in some Christian traditions is too easily seen as verbal in the form of simple apologies. So in this account repentance involves acknowledging wrongdoing in the past, feeling contrition for injury that has been caused, and promising to not do it again in the future. The future in this account is a qualitatively different point on the time continuum that the past. The past and the future are inter-related in this account but located at different points altogether. The call for repentance in this account stresses to leave behind the past by not committing the same infraction again. But this view of time, I would argue, in thinking about repentance, has no way of tracking how the past stretches into the present, how the past is the future, how the past is a becoming into the present, Day said. In my estimation, we get repentance wrong. And we get repentance wrong because we have a distorted idea of time, of temporality. And I want to note here that I think in some ways I think part of it is just hegemonic interest, so I dont want to say, where people get repentance wrong is in some ways is this insufficient notion of time. I think that theres real interest. In other words, white interest is very important to why white communities do not take up this very important work. But I also do think that the past is construed in a very particular way in this country. And it deeply shapes how we think about the gospels and how we think about salvation and therefore how we think about repentance. 'Unplanned' author Abby Johnson named ambassador for new pro-life clothing brand Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Pro-life activist Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood clinic manager who wrote the popular memoir-turned-movie Unplanned, will be the face of a new clothing line for pro-life professionals. Johnson, the author of a memoir that was the focal point of the 2019 movie Unplanned, has been named global ambassador for Culture of Life 1972, whose owners hail as the only pro-life fashion brand in the United States. COL1972 was launched earlier this year in the lead up to the 2019 March for Life by conservative homeschool mother and childrens author Carla D'Addesi and her three daughters in Pennsylvania. COL1972 vows to give 10 percent of its proceeds to organizations that work to protect a culture of life, including March for Life and Students for Life of America. Johnson, who is expecting her eighth child in two weeks, will be the namesake of the brand's first line of professional women's clothing. "We look around and we see companies say, This is ethically sourced. A lot of these companies that claim to be ethically sourced are donating to Americas biggest abortion provider, which is incredibly unethical," Johnson told The Christian Post. "We want to have ethically sourced fashion that is actually going to protect women and their children. Momentum is growing within the pro-life movement and we see all these heartbeat bills being passed. People want alternatives." COL1972 aims to serve as a clothing and accessory alternative for pro-life women who are disappointed that popular brands like Gap, Ann Taylor, Nike, Macys, Levi Straus and Dockers support abortion organizations such as Planned Parenthood. "I spend a lot of time at speaking events and pro-life events, even going to church. I spend a lot of time in dressier, professional clothing," Johnson explained. "There is just not any pro-life options out there that supports that pro-life movement." In the first few months of COL1972's existence, the company has largely focused on selling casual clothes that appeal to millennials. But Johnson's new line that will be unveiled in late June at the Pro-Life Women's Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, will feature options like button-down blouses, dresses, skirts, cardigans, and lightweight sweaters. Johnson, 38, formerly served as an administrator of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Texas for eight years before leaving the industry in 2009 and going on to become one of the nation's most prominent pro-life activists and speakers. Johnson is the founder of And Then There Were None, a pro-life nonprofit that believes the end of abortion starts with abortion clinic workers leaving their jobs and finding healing from their past work. The group says it has already helped over 500 workers leave the abortion industry. DAddesi told The Christian Post that Johnson called her last week expressing interest in partnering with COL1972 after voicing her frustration on social media about the lack of pro-life clothing options. She is a gift from God to our brand, DAddesi stressed. Johnson, who has shared her story across several different media platforms, is invited to speak at a number of different pro-life gatherings each year. As part of her role as a global ambassador with COL1972, she will be styled for her speaking engagements by DAddesi and her daughters. My sisters and I all read Abbys book and watched 'Unplanned' together, co-founder Vittoria DAddesi said in a statement. This is a dream come true. Johnson says she left the abortion industry in October 2009 shortly after seeing an abortion at 13 weeks of gestation on ultrasound. Elements of Johnsons story have been questioned by media outlets and contested by Planned Parenthood. However, Johnson has argued that patient information presented by Planned Parenthood attempting to refute her story was likely falsified because Planned Parenthood isnt a trustworthy organization. "Here is what I know to be true. I know that I am not a person who has a record of being dishonest since leaving Planned Parenthood. I also know that Planned Parenthood does have a considerable rap sheet where they have been proven to be dishonest," she told CP. "They are the ones with a credibility issue. My story has stayed the same ever since I walked out on October 6, 2009. Their story continues to change." Johnson took to Instagram earlier this month to voice her frustration with the lack of pro-life clothing alternatives. It was that social media post that served as the impetus for her eventual ambassadorship with COL1972. I dont need any more T-shirts. Im talking about real clothes, she wrote in a post. Clothes you can wear to church, go out to dinner in. Clothes I can speak in. I dont need everything in my closet to have a logo or graphic on it. I just want cute clothing that is nice, modest and gives money back to pro-life orgs. 21 Christian leaders: Equality Act would gut religious freedom protections Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Twenty-one prominent conservative Christian leaders including Franklin Graham and James Dobson are calling on congressional leaders to oppose the pro-LGBT Equality Act because of the threats to religious liberty the legislation poses. In the letter sent to both House and Senate leaders as well as Vice President Mike Pence, the religious and political leaders decried the much talked about bill that, among other things, would codify discrimination protections on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation in federal law. Not only is it incompatible with Gods Word (the Bible) and the historic teaching of the church, but the Equality Act is also riddled with threats to religious liberty and the sanctity of human life, the letter stresses. For these reasons, we must state that we adamantly oppose this proposed legislation. The Equality Act also known as H.R. 5 has been labeled by critics the most extreme LGBT bill ever written that at the same would be the largest expansion of taxpayer-funded abortion this country has ever seen. The act would expand the 1964 Civil Rights Act to not only protect on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity but also protect on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition. "[T]he Equality Act is unacceptable because it is anti-life and creates a right to demand abortion from health care providers, the letter contends. The termination of human life in the womb is unacceptable to any biblically and historically faithful Christian. The responsibility to care for the least of these (Matt. 25:40) is a fundamental responsibility of Christs church, and any proposal that undermines a culture of life must be rejected. Along with Dobson and Graham, the letter was signed by leading social conservative activists Tony Perkins from the Family Research Council and Ralph Reed of the Faith & Freedom Coalition. Other signatories include Texas megachurch pastors Robert Jeffress, Robert Morris and Todd Wagner, former Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, televangelist James Robison, former Southern Baptist Convention president Jack Graham, African-American Maryland Bishop Harry Jackson, Oklahoma Wesleyan University Everett Piper and conservative talk show host and author Eric Metaxas. [T]he ideology enshrined in the Equality Act which falsely equates ones sexual conduct with immutable characteristics like skin color and ethnicity is a falsehood that openly contradicts the scriptural mandates we were given for our good (1 Thess. 4:3-8), the letter reads. We cannot remain silent and allow this lie to harm countless men, women, and children whether in this or any other legislation. The leaders argue that passage of the bill would lay the groundwork for the lie of LGBT equality to enter classrooms across the nation. They also fear that public educators could be compelled to teach it to their students. [T]he Equality Act would gut religious freedom protections even the freedom currently enjoyed by houses of worship, the letter argues. Under its changes to the employment nondiscrimination provisions in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, some houses of worship would be barred from ensuring their leaders and other employees abide by their beliefs about marriage, sexual behavior, and the distinction between the sexes. The leaders warn that women who identify as men would have to be accepted as men and be potentially eligible to serve in positions reserved for men, such as a Catholic priest or Jewish rabbi. The conservative leaders warn that religious employers who fall under Title VII law could be forced to offer insurance coverage for hormone therapy, sex reassignment surgery or other procedures that violate their consciences. [T]he Equality Act would expressly do away with the Religious Freedom Restoration Acts application to its provisions, thereby precluding any religious freedom claims which clergy or others might bring, the letter adds. Under such restrictions, the pathway for the gospel would slowly be closed off. While the Equality Act has been praised and supported by LGBT activists and Democrats, conservative-leaning think tanks and legal organizations have voiced concerns that the bill would impact those who dont affirm the gender ideology pushed in the bill. The Equality Act was reintroduced by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi in March. Critics have contended that it could compel speech, lead to the closing of nonprofit adoption and foster care providers, allow biological men to compete in womens sporting events and even coerce medical professionals to do procedures that go against their consciences. As some parents have already lost custody for their refusal to support a childs wishes for gender transition, critics feel such a situation will become more common if the Equality Act were to pass. In an op-ed this week, Perkins, a Baptist pastor, stressed the fact that the Equality Act expands the meaning of the 1964 Civil Rights Act to include pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition. In other words, under the terms of this proposal, pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition shall not receive less favorable treatment than other physical conditions, Perkins wrote. Under this big new umbrella of discrimination, any American who doesnt want to fund, offer, perform, or participate in abortion on demand will have no real choice. They can conform or they can be punished. If the Equality Act were to pass in the House, it would likely stall in the Republican-controlled Senate. Ala. lawmakers pass bill making abortion a felony; Gov. Kay Ivey defends it Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A bill that would make it a felony for a doctor to perform an abortion in Alabama was defended Wednesday by Gov. Kay Ivey after the states Senate voted to pass what many say will be the strictest abortion ban in the nation. If the bill becomes law, it would be a Class A felony for a doctor to perform an abortion and a Class C felony for attempting to perform an abortion in six months. The only exemption under the bill is if there is a serious health risk to the mother. There is no exception in the bill for victims of rape or incest. The fate of the controversial bill, which was passed 25-6 in the Senate on Tuesday night and passed earlier by the Alabama House, now rests in the hands of Ivey, who told reporters Wednesday morning that all human life is precious when asked about victims of rape and incest being forced to carry their babies to term. The measure, which was designed to challenge and overturn Roe v. Wade in the Supreme Court, is expected to trigger a costly legal battle for the state. Even though she wont make a decision on the bill before she has a chance to review it late Wednesday, Ivey said defending the unborn shouldnt be limited by cost. You certainly cannot deter your efforts to protect the unborn because of cost, even if it means going to the United States Supreme Court, she said. Live Action founder and President Lila Rose celebrated the anti-abortion crusade on Wednesday as inspiring. So proud of Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio. Of all the women & men that stood up against the abortion industry & the crusade of lies, misinformation & fear-mongering, & said we will fight so our laws protect LIFE. We will make our states a safer home for mothers & children, she tweeted. And Georgia! The work of these states in the last six months has been incredible and inspiring. One state, one community at a time: eradicate the industries that profit from deaths & make our communities safer for children & families. As pro-life advocates celebrated the passage of the bill, abortion advocates, including many 2020 Democrat presidential candidates, decried it as a backward step for women. The Alabama Senate voted to outlaw nearly all abortions. These hypocrites decry big government, yet they want to control every aspect of women's bodies, private decisions, and futures. Our job is to fight at every step to protect reproductive rights, Sen. Bernie Sanders noted on Twitter. Andrew Yang, said he doesnt believe government should be involved in making decisions for women. The Alabama law banning and criminalizing abortion even in cases of rape or incest is a dramatic step in the wrong direction. Government should not be making decisions on behalf of women. I would protect womens right to choose, he tweeted Wednesday afternoon. Staci Fox, president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood Southeast Advocates, told The New York Times, Today is a dark day for women in Alabama and across this country. Banning abortion is bad enough. Imprisoning doctors for providing care goes beyond the brink. Alabama politicians will forever live in infamy for this vote and we will make sure that every woman knows who to hold accountable. Colorado university reaches settlement with Christian student group, pays damages Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A university in Colorado reached a legal settlement with a Christian apologetics student group that it previously refused to recognize, giving them official recognition and paying over $20,000 in damages. The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs agreed to a settlement which will allow Ratio Christi to become a registered student club among resubmitting an application, as well as pay the plaintiffs a one-time amount of $20,574 in damages. The University also agreed to revise its Club & Organization Handbook to include a provision explaining that all student clubs can require leaders to adhere to the beliefs of their group. In return, Ratio Christi will dismiss its lawsuit against the University and amend its membership standards to clarify that non-Christians can become members and participate in its activities. Travis Barham, senior counsel with the Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented Ratio Christi, said in a statement released Tuesday that he commended the University for quickly implementing this common sense policy reform. It would be absurd for the university to require the vegan student group to appoint a meat-lover as its president, stated Barham. Thankfully, the university quickly fixed its policy by adding provisions that respect students rights to free association, no longer forcing Christian students to let atheists or other non-Christians to lead their Bible studies in order to become a registered club. Last November, the Universitys Ratio Christi chapter filed a lawsuit when the school refused to grant them official recognition over their requirement that members and leaders be Christian. Filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, the lawsuit accused the University of violating the student groups First Amendment rights and denying them access to the marketplace of ideas. It has enforced these policies to deny registered status to Ratio Christi even though it has granted registered status to other student organizations that include and enforce similar requirements, thereby favoring some viewpoints over others, read the lawsuit. It has promised to register Ratio Christi only if the group changes its leadership and membership criteria. That is, Plaintiffs must agree to abandon their rights to free speech, free association, free exercise of religion, freedom from unconstitutional conditions, due process, and equal protection to access campus resources available to all other student organizations. Earlier this week, the ADF argued a separate case related to the question of Christian student expression on college campus before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. In Uzuegbunam v. Preczewski, the ADF argued that a free speech zone policy at Georgia Gwinnett College unjustly limits the ability of Chike Uzuegbunam to preach on campus. Uzuegbunam filed the suit in December 2016. In May of last year, U.S. District Court Judge Eleanor L. Ross ruled in favor of the College, labeling the former students arguments moot in light of campus policy changes and the student having graduated in 2017. 'God led us': Missing Kentucky toddler found alive after spending three days alone in woods Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Kenneth Howard, the 22-month-old boy who vanished from his family home in Kentucky on Sunday, has been found alive and in remarkably good condition, prompting authorities to credit divine intervention for his miraculous survival. Following a three-day multi-agency search, the 22-month-old was found sitting on a 50-foot rock ledge less than 2,000 feet away from his home in rural Kentucky, reported CBS News affiliate WYMT. Rescuers say they heard the boy crying and found him on a cliff area. The child was taken quickly by an emergency medical services helicopter to be examined, but while he was dehydrated and exhausted, he appeared otherwise healthy. After he was rescued, Kenneth said repeatedly, "Here all night," according to rescuers. Carter Conley, of Magoffin Search and Rescue, said Kenneths rescue was nothing short of miraculous: I told the father that its a proud day, Conley said. It was a team effort, and God led us in the hands and to move that way. "I have been on a lot, and this is one of few that were successful," he said. "I'm very thankful this one was successful. It was all a team effort." Kenneth spent more than 60 hours alone and outside after wandering off from his family's home on Mother's Day, according to NBC affiliate WSAZ. A search involving the state police, more than 300 volunteers, helicopters, drones with thermal cameras, off-road vehicles and dogs ultimately returned him safely to his parents. His father, who told WSAZ he had feared Kenneth had been abducted and offered a $5,000 reward for his return, said his son's safe recovery was the "best thing that ever happened to me." Disbelief for a while till they told me they were sure it was him," said Elden Howard. "I saw a picture of him and said thats my boy. It tickled me to death. Kenneth's sister Tasha Howard, told WSAZ her brothers recovery was evidence of Gods presence: Its been difficult, but I never did give up because I have faith," she said. "I know God is with us because we wouldnt have found him. The Kentucky State Police are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the boy's disappearance. Family members believe he may have walked out the back door of the house while his father was in the front yard. At the time, Trooper William Petry of the state police told People that the toddler was likely at risk for hypothermia, as he disappeared without a jacket on amid low temperatures. He added there are coyotes, bears and red foxes in the area, saying, We have a large amount of wildlife that could be a danger to the child. Following Kenneths disappearance, vigils were held across Eastern Kentucky to show support for the boys family. Hundreds gathered to lift each other with prayer and song, hoping for the boy's safe return, WKYT reported. Pastors at one vigil urged gatherers to pray for Kenneth every hour on the hour until he was found, the outlet reported. "If there's one miracle from God left out there, just please let it be for him, WKYT quoted one attendee as saying. On Thursday, the Magoffin County Sheriff Department celebrated the boys return: Thanks to all who prayed, searched and helped in any way!! This is the best news ever !!! Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Google, Facebook and Twitter are private companies, so the constitutional guarantees of free speech generally do not apply to people using their platforms. But its not that simple. The tech giants have been playing fast and loose with labeling themselves platforms v. publishers, trying to claim protections from both of them. As publishers, the companies can restrict speech on their platforms as they see fit. Their editorial decisions (not those of their customers) are protected by the First Amendment. However, they are open to lawsuits over the content. As a platform, or provider of a computer service, a company cannot be liable for content users post on their sites. This is from Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. When Facebook was sued by the app startup Six4Three, the tech giants lawyers claimed it was a publisher. Six4Three accused Facebook of maliciously removing app developers access to friends data, forcing it out of business. Facebook claimed it was acting as a publisher and was allowed discretion of what to permit. But in that same case, Facebook asserted that it was a platform and not liable for users content. The big tech giants act as publishers when they weed out offensive content, much like a news publication would. A true platform does not engage in these kinds of restraints. For example, a PC is a platform. You can do whatever you want on your PC and no one is going to censor you. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted to Congress that the company is responsible for the content on its platform. We didnt take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big mistake, he said. It was my mistake, and Im sorry. I started Facebook, I run it, and Im responsible for what happens here. Facebook is proactive about removing content. For example, instead of waiting for someone to complain, it reviews urls the first time they are posted on the site. It even reviews urls sent over its Messenger chat program. The government actually could jump in and regulate free speech within the big tech companies. In Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission, the Supreme Court held that the First Amendment does not disable the government from taking steps to ensure that private interests not restrict . . . the free flow of information and ideas. But this would be a dangerous erosion of the First Amendment. The courts have already found a limited forum on the pages Facebook allows for government officials, departments and agencies. A federal district court judge ruled that President Trump blocking people on Twitter violates free speech (the case is on appeal). If they are a platform protected by Section 230, tech companies are allowed a limited amount of moderation to ban offensive speech. However, this is not the same as regulating political speech, which goes too far. Big tech regularly engages in censorship, especially of conservative viewpoints. Banning Infowars, Laura Loomer and Milo Yiannopoulos is banning political speech. It may not be likable speech, but it is nevertheless political speech, not the offensive type of speech Section 230 had in mind. Once those people are banned, it becomes easier to ban regular conservatives. On April 19, Twitter suspended actor James Woods from accessing his account. Woods is a regular conservative who happens to have a large following and is very witty. The tweet that got him suspended was in response to the Mueller report exonerating the Trump campaign from Russian collusion, "If you try to kill the King, you better not miss. #HangThemAll." How is this any different from the revered free speech of Patrick Henry, Give me liberty or give me death! And unlike Woods, Henry meant his statement literally. By engaging in censorship, big tech is behaving more like publishers than platforms. Lydia Laurenson came up with an easy test for companies to determine which category they fall into: Does your company want to change the world by making the tool everyone uses or would you prefer to change the world by being the voice that everyone trusts? Big tech is trying to be a new type of hybrid media platform. But they cant have it both ways and use the benefits of both to mistreat conservatives. It doesnt follow the law. Law professor Adam Candeub recommends that either Congress or the courts step in and clarify the matter. As the companies continue to engage in censorship of conservatives, it is clear they are acting as publishers. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment As Christians in an age of skepticism, we often talk about making the case that Christianity is true. But more often than not, the question of our culture today is whether Christianity is good? Does it make the world a better or worse place? Thats the question well be wrestling with this weekend, from a variety of angles. Our annual Wilberforce Weekend conference taking place across the river from Washington, D.C. starts today. Helping us think through the goodness of Christianity for the world is an amazing lineup of speakers, including John Lennox, Star Parker, Rick Warren, Kelvin Cochran, Jeremiah Johnston and more. For a schedule and to sign up for the free livestream, come to BreakPoint.org. Still, the definitive answer will come tomorrow night. This years Wilberforce Award ceremony will honor a Coptic Christian woman known around the world as Mama Maggie. Thirty years ago, Maggie Gobran was a well-to do Egyptian woman who loved traveling from Cairo to Europe with her husband for parties and shopping. That all changed when she and some friends from church visited one of Cairos garbage slums. Some 60,000 people live there, most of them Christians, and they gather and sort garbage in appalling conditions for a few coins a daybarely enough to live on. As she spoke with the parents and hugged the children, Maggies life was transformed. Ellen Vaughn writes in her biography of Mama Maggie that Maggie fell in love with the privilege of being a part of their lives. So she began visiting the slums every day, and eventually founded a ministry called Stephens Children, named for the first Christian martyr. Three decades later, Stephens Children now helps 33,000 children through home visits, camps, vocational training, schools, and medical care. Just this fact alone is staggering: Mama Maggie has started over 100 schools. A few years ago, Mama Maggie hugged a little boy named Karim. As she placed her hand over his heart, she knew at once that something was wrong. So she asked a Stephens Children leader to take Karim to her brother, who is a cardiologist. Karim had a hole in his heart and needed surgery, but his desperately poor family couldnt afford to pay for it. So Stephens Children paid the entire cost of the operation. Once Karim recovered, ministry volunteers visited him regularly, brought the family food, and invited Karim to take part in a Stephens Children camp. Then theres the story of Sharif, another boy who attended a Stephens Children camp. Just before Mothers Day one year, Stephens Children volunteers visited his home to give him a little money to buy his mother a gift. But no one was home. The leaders went back several times, although they normally didnt do this. On their fifth visit, they found Sharif with a baby girl in his arms. The baby was sick, but her father had no money to pay for the medicine she needed. Stephens Children volunteers gave Sharif the money, who immediately handed it to his father. Buy Baby Sarah whatever she needs, he told him. When Sharifs father discovered how many times the leaders had come back to his house, he began to cry. For ten years, he said, I have never set foot in a church. I believed that God had forgotten me. But because of what happened today, I will go back to church. There are thousands and thousands of other stories like this. But heres just one more. You might remember those 21 Coptic Christians that were beheaded by ISIS terrorists on that beach back in 2015. Each one refused to renounce their faith. At least seven of those martyrs attended Mama Maggies schools. For her thirty years of serving others in the Cairo slums, the Colson Center is awarding Mama Maggie the 2019 Wilberforce Award. Her life and work echo that of the great British parliamentarian William Wilberforce, who labored for 40 years to banish the slave trade in Britain and reform a broken society. It will be my distinct privilege to present the Wilberforce Award to Mama Maggie tomorrow night. And remember, if you cannot join us in person, we will be livestreaming the conference and the awards banquet on BreakPoint.org. You can get free access by going to BreakPoint.org/Livestream. Download the MP3 audio here. Resources Stephen's Children website 2019 Wilberforce Weekend livestream link Mama Maggie: The Untold Story of One Woman's Mission to Love the Forgotten Children of Egypt's Garbage Slums, Marty Makary and Ellen Vaughn | Thomas Nelson Publishers | 2015 Originally posted at Breakpoint. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment (JNS) South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigiegs upstart presidential campaign has gone far better than anyone could have predicted. The mainstream media and elites on both coasts have championed him as possibly the first openly gay president of the United States, as well as a Middle America everyman and military veteran with wide appeal. But when speaking in Las Vegas this week, he made a remark that generated criticism from both the Jewish right and the left. The comments in question came in a speech Buttigieg gave for an LGBTQ-rights advocacy group at a Las Vegas casino. The mayor noted that while he was a guest in Sheldon Adelsons town, he believed that real democracy means that the voice you have in our political process is gauged by the merits of what you have to say and not by the number of zeros in your bank balance. His message didnt go over the heads of the audience, which loudly booed at the mention of the casino mogul/philanthropists name. The fact that he mentioned only Adelson, who gives lots of money to Republicans like U.S. President Donald Trump, as an example of someone that he thinks has a baleful influence on the country rather than, say, George Soros, Michael Bloomberg or Tom Steyerwho give their wealth to Democratic candidatesmade it clear that this was a cheap shot. However, some Jews were offended by the remark. Matt Brooks, the executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, jumped on the comment and called it an anti-Semitic dog whistle. Perhaps Brooks was merely mocking the way Democrats use that term to demonize Republicans, but a leading voice on the Jewish left agreed with him. Forward editor Batya Ungar-Sargon tore into Buttigieg on Twitter. Noting that he was the only top-tier Democratic candidate who accepted money from Washington lobbyists until a recent about-face, she pointedly asked, I guess its just Jewish money thats dirty, Mayor Pete? She went on to assert that, Of course, one can criticize Sheldon Adelson without using anti-Semitic dog whistles. But if blaming George Soros is a dog whistle, so is this. Either all money is dirty or no money is dirty. But when you focus on Jewish money, youre talking to people who hate us. Give Ungar-Sargon credit for consistency. The Forward has championed the notion that any time Republicans attack Democratic sugar daddies like Soros, Bloomberg and Steyer for throwing their money around to promote liberal causes and Democrats, its a dog whistle intended to signal to far-right voters their hostility to Jews. Left-wingers have used this sort of reasoning to attack mainstream Republicans like House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy for his willingness to note the way the aforementioned liberal mega-donors have helped congressional Democrats. Indeed, whenever Republicans try to hold to account Democrats like Representatives Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) for trafficking in anti-Semitic tropes and hatred for Israel, some on the left bring up McCarthyan ardent supporter of Israelin a bout of whataboutism aimed at making us ignore overt anti-Semitism. The trope that Jews use money to buy influence or manipulate non-Jewsthe very theme Omar and Tlaib have championedis a classic tactic in the anti-Semitic playbook. But the idea that Jewish political donors are off-limits for criticism when they engage in partisan politics is preposterous. Attacking political donors is an effort to divert the voters attention from the issues and the candidates. Thats true whether its aimed at Republicans or Democrats. But while Buttigiegs use of this tawdry gambit does him no credit, it doesnt necessarily mean that he was dog-whistling to the growing numbers of anti-Semites on the left who buy into false intersectional arguments, and who despise Adelson because he is Jewish and an ardent supporter of Israel. The billionaire has poured a great deal of his wealth into Jewish philanthropies. But hes also a big giver to Republicans. Such donations are a form of constitutionally protected political speech, but Democrats like Buttigieg are entitled to not like his choices and to say so publicly. The fact that Adelson is Jewish doesnt make Buttigieg an anti-Semite for criticizing his donations. The same applies to those on the right who have bashed Jewish big givers to Democrats like Soros, Bloomberg and Steyer. The problem here is not just that there is a lot of hypocrisy about weaponizing this issue on both sides of the political spectrum. Its that all this talk about dog-whistling is an effort to distract us from real anti-Semitism. Too many on the left have spent the last two-and-a-half years twisting themselves into pretzels while making arguments claiming that the most pro-Israel president in U.S. history is really an anti-Semite. Theyve gone all out to connect the dots between Trump and the tiny minority of far-right white nationalists who present a clear and present danger to Jewish safety in this country. But such arguments about dog whistles are risible because they are merely lazy slurs intended to appeal to those who dont really care if the attacks on people they already hate lack intellectual rigor or credibility. Their advocates are trying to sell us on a thesis that works, even ifas in the case of Trumpthe dots dont actually connect. There are plenty of reasons to oppose Buttigieg, just as there are to be against Trump, McCarthy and the GOP without invoking false accusations of anti-Semitism. But Mayor Petes attack on Adelson should be the moment when we should all, regardless of our partisan loyalties, stop assuming that any criticism of a Jewish donor is inherently anti-Semitic. As Omar and Tlaiband multiple synagogue shooters keep reminding usthere are enough real examples of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel bias for us to focus on, without cheapening the subject by mistaking partisan cheap shots for genuine Jew-hatred. Originally posted at JNS. Jonathan S. Tobin is editor in chief of JNS Jewish News Syndicate. Follow him on Twitter: @jonathans_tobin. Ala. abortion ban, Equality Act, Promise Keepers Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment We've compiled the top stories of the week. Here's what you need to know: Alabama governor signs abortion ban Alabama became the latest state to approve an abortion ban deemed the strictest in the nation this year. The Human Life Protection Act makes abortion a felony offense (the woman is not held criminally culpable). The law, which takes effect in six months, allows one exception when the mothers life is at risk or if theres a serious risk of physical impairment for her. Gov. Kay Ivey said she and the bills sponsors hope the U.S. Supreme Court will revisit the 1973 decision, Roe v. Wade, that legalized abortion. [T]his legislation stands as a powerful testament to Alabamians deeply held belief that every life is precious and that every life is a sacred gift from God. Ivey Read how The Church of God in Christ is campaigning against abortion by assisting women with unwanted pregnancies. House passes Equality Act The U.S. House of Representatives passed on Friday the Equality Act, which would extend civil rights protections to LGBT persons. It also prohibits discrimination against pregnant people, which conservative Christians argue would prevent health care providers from objecting to performing abortions. Not only is it incompatible with Gods Word (the Bible) and the historic teaching of the church, but the Equality Act is also riddled with threats to religious liberty and the sanctity of human life. open letter by conservative Christians Promise Keepers preps for relaunch It was one of the largest and most popular mens ministries in the country but its been more than 20 years now since Promise Keepers held a stadium event. Now, Promise Keepers is planning a major relaunch with a stadium event in Texas next year to encourage and strengthen Christian men. The one thing I've heard so many times from literally hundreds of men is there's nothing like the sound of 70,000 men singing 'Amazing Grace' together. Promise Keepers Chairman Ken Harrison PBS show Arthur features gay wedding The popular childrens show Arthur featured this week Mr. Ratburn Arthurs teacher walking down the aisle with a male partner. Conservative family groups expressed dismay, with some launching a petition asking PBS to pull the episode. PBS Kids should stick to entertaining and providing family-friendly programming, instead of pushing an agenda. One Million Moms Read The Christian Posts feature on Why many multisite churches are now moving toward autonomous congregations Check out CPs latest podcast: How a Wall St. executive lost everything but felt more satisfied than ever Pray for Christian refugees in Sri Lanka who are in hiding after last months bombings Families of Christians who were killed in Burkina Faso New releases Film: A Dogs Journey (May 17) Albums: Untitled Hymn: A Collection of Hymns by Chris Rice (May 17) Clean by Adam Crabb (May 17) Books: Finding the Bright Side: The Art of Chasing What Matters by Shannon Bream (May 14) Twisted Scripture: Untangling 45 Lies Christians Have Been Told by Andrew Farley (May 14) In Mexico, children are missing out on education because of religious discrimination Alma, 17, hasn't been able to enrol in school ever since her family was forcibly displaced from their village in December 2017. Her family and around 60 others were made to leave their homes in Bolanos Municipality, Jalisco state, in the west of the country, because they are Protestant Christians. According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), religious minorities in Mexico have been forced to take part in religious activities that go against their beliefs and have faced insults and pressure - including at the hands of the authorities - to convert. When they have refused, they have been deprived of basic services, such as the education of their children. In some extreme cases, Christians have been forcibly displaced from their homes and, in the ensuing turbulence, the children have found themselves without the required paperwork to enrol in school after their families have settled elsewhere. In Alma's case, by the time her family found a new place to live - in a disused church hall - she had missed the enrollment deadline. CSW recently facilitated meetings with her pastor and government officials in Mexico City in an attempt to get her back into school, but over two years after she was displaced, she is still out of formal education. CSW has been encouraging Alma and other children in similar circumstances by inviting members of the public to write letters to their Mexican embassies and hold 'solidarity parties'. Despite the reality of her circumstances, Alma has not lost hope of one day being able to resume her studies. "I have always wanted to be a nurse," she told CSW. "I plan to be a nurse and study a career, I am going to continue studying." Impulso 18, a locally-based human rights organisation and CSW partner, is campaigning on this issue. It explains here how education is being used as a tool to discriminate against Protestant children. CT: How many children are affected by this kind of education discrimination in Mexico? Impulso 18: The government does not keep track of these numbers and there is not a central registry so the exact amount is hard to determine, but groups like Impulso 18 and CSW have documented multiple examples of this in the states of Chiapas, Hidalgo, Oaxaca and Jalisco. Often children are unable to re-enroll in schools after they have been displaced as they don't have the paperwork they need. Sometimes this was lost during a violent forced displacement and sometimes it still exists but the family is prevented from returning to recover it. Schools in the new community do not make allowances for the lack of paperwork. CT: What kind of impact does it have on the children, both in terms of their personal development and emotionally-speaking? Impulso 18: Children need to go to school to develop socially. When they can't, they lose their friends, their language. It also makes it harder for them to have a career. Even if children are able to re-enroll, things can remain difficult for them. Because they are separated from their community of origin, classes may not be in their language. They may suffer bullying or feel alone and isolated. CT: Are the children able to access any other form of education outside of school enrollment, such as homeschooling? Impulso 18: In most cases, this is not possible because they do not have a house or a new school, or even a decent place to study. The idea of homeschooling sounds like a good one because native teachers may help them to accept and adapt to their new life, but the question is who would be able to provide homeschooling? In most cases both parents have to work to provide for their families, so it is not possible for one to stay at home and teach their children. Also, since the majority of displaced families come from poor communities, they cannot afford to buy the necessary resources for homeschooling. And many parents may be only semi-literate or illiterate themselves. CT: Presumably, the children will be behind other children their age if and when they are able to return to school? Impulso 18: Yes, of course because they miss out on years of classes. Most of those affected are from impoverished backgrounds. On the rare occasion that they they can go back to their hometowns, first they have to help their families to rebuild their houses and spend some time working for the family and then go back to school. CT: Why is this form of discrimination happening? Impulso 18: Because of the differences in their religious beliefs. Mexico's Law of Uses and Customs allows indigenous communities to govern themselves according to traditional laws and customs. The law is meant to be applied in accordance with the constitution, but in reality the government does little to enforce this at the state or federal level. As a result, the rights of religious minorities are often violated. Communities that convert away from the majority religion in areas governed by the Law of Uses and Customs experience a wide range of violations, including discrimination, violence, illegal fines, cutting of basic services, denial of access to education, arbitrary detention and forced displacement. Most violations take place at the local village or municipal level, but state governments and the federal government have largely failed to hold those responsible to account. CT: Is this happening all across Mexico and is it affecting all Christians or just Protestants? Impulso 18: This discrimination takes place in all the country and predominantly affects Protestant Christians, but there are cases where Catholics are affected too. And it is both in the cities and out in the rural areas. Some states like Oaxaca, Chiapas, Hidalgo and Jalisco suffer more because they are more isolated and sometimes unaware of their rights, and it is more difficult for communities to access justice, as many local authorities lack an understanding of freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), and how the Law of Uses and Customs must be applied in accordance with Mexican constitutional law. CT: Children in countries that enjoy religious freedom have been writing letters to Mexican embassies protesting the discrimination. How important is it for the affected children to feel the solidarity of other children and supporters worldwide? Impulso 18: It can make a difference because children can feel supported by other children of their age. It shows them that they are not forgotten or alone, as much as it may feel like that at times. It can reassure them that their voices are being heard and their cases are being raised with people in power, giving them hope that their situations may improve. CT: What change do you want to see in Mexico so that children and their families will not suffer because of their faith? Impulso 18: We need to apply the law in all levels and at the political, social and religious areas. The Mexican government fails to treat violations like these as actual crimes, which has created extremely high levels of impunity and the breakdown of rule and law. People often attempt to justify crimes by saying they were done under the Law of Uses and Customs and/or for religious reasons, prompting the government to treat the crime differently. State government narratives about violations of freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) are often confusing and contradictory, and are frequently aimed primarily at reducing the number of reported cases. This along with a lack of proper investigations means that a culture of impunity surrounds the majority of cases. The government needs to ensure that they have a FoRB expert on hand to review any agreements made to resolve cases and make sure they are in line with the Mexican Constitution and international law. This is the only way to guarantee public security in the long term. If perpetrators of crimes are not prosecuted, crimes will be committed again; a culture of impunity becomes the norm when there is no justice for victims. And 'religious reasons' or 'in the name of Uses and Customs' are insufficient reasons to leave crimes unpunished. There is a need for the government to make a national campaign for human rights, especially dedicated to religious freedom. It is particularly important that children are taught about these matters. The Most Extensive and Reliable Source of Information Related to the Mexican Drugs Cartels. You will not find this level of coverage anywhere else, join us! Send information, pictures or videos, you remain 100% anonymous. Envia fotos, videos, notas, enlaces o informacion todo 100% Anonimo. Borderland Beat? We love to have you in our team, send Sol Prendido or HEARST an email! Want to be a contributor or citizen reporter forBorderland Beat?We love to have you in our team, sendoran email! WARNING: Posts may contain strong violent material, discretion is advised. COMMENTS: We do not publish all comments, and we do not publish comments immediately. A conversation with the Colombian artist in her studio in Bogota, in which she talks candidly about her emotional relationship with light, colour and space The career of pioneering Colombian artist Olga de Amaral dates back to the 1950s, when she began making abstract sculptures out of textiles. She has continued to produce shimmering variations of these pieces ever since. In some cases, they hang against a wall; in others, they hang from the ceiling in the middle of a room, as installations to be walked around. They are all created by the painting and weaving of myriad threads and since the 1980s, de Amaral has been applying gold and silver leaf, too. The majority of de Amarals contemporary works are composed of linen, gold, paper and gesso. All my things have to have those four elements, she explains from her spacious studio. But if I were to make all these things myself, it would take me forever. The artist has enlisted the help of a dedicated team: My helpers are wonderful, very sensitive, she says with a warm smile. They love what they do. De Amarals first full series with gold leaf, Alquimia, includes pieces now in the collections of the Tate Gallery and Metropolitan Museum of Art. Another, Alquimia XII from 1983, sold for $137,500 in the Latin American Art sale at Christies in New York on 22 May 2019. Bridgeland will add two types of rental options totaling 432 units this fall with the debut of Lakeside Row The Residences, according to Howard Hughes Corp. The development, at 11250 Mason Road adjacent to Josey Lake in Cypress, will add 312 apartment units with up to three bedrooms to the Bridgeland master-planned community. The perimeter of Lakeside Row will have 120 for-rent townhomes within 12 two-story buildings. Each townhome unit will include a one- or two-car garage, and many will have private fenced yards. Carlos Hernandez is removing the word "interim" from his title. Irving, Texas-based engineering, procurement and construction company Fluor has tapped Hernandez to serve as CEO. Hernandez had been serving as the company's interim CEO since May as part of the company's already established succession plan when David Seaton stepping down from the role after 34 years of service. In a statement, Hernandez said he is proud to lead a company with 100 years of global leadership in the industry. He pledged to work closely with management to review the company's business and operations, which include building refineries and other projects for the oil and natural gas industry. "While I recognize our challenges, first and foremost, I believe the underlying business fundamentals are strong," Hernandez said. "Currently, most of our projects are profitable, and my immediate priority will be to ensure we have appropriately applied our project governance review methodology and fully identify the underlying issues on the few projects that have contributed to recent underperformance." Service Sector: Sasol petrochemical plant in Louisiana now complete Earning a bachelors degree in civil engineering from Purdue University and a law degree from the University of Miami, Hernandez is no stranger to Fluor. He started with the company as chief legal officer and secretary in October 2007. Originally from Cuba, Hernandez is the first Latino to serve as CEO of Fluor. As part of Hernandez's appointment as CEO, Fluor's board of directors named John R. Reynolds as the company's new chief legal officer. "We have great confidence in Carlos and trust that he will provide the strong leadership necessary to support the next phase of Fluor's growth and future success," Fluor Board Chair Alan Boeckmann said in a statement. Fuel Fix: Get daily energy news headlines in your inbox Founded in 1912 by John Simon Fluor as Fluor Construction Company in Santa Ana, California, the company quickly grew and expanding by building refineries and other infrastructure for the oil and natural gas industry around the world. The company moved its headquarters to the Dallas suburb of Irving in 2006. Now with more than 53,300 employees across the globe, the company posted a $224.8 million profit on nearly $19.2 billion of revenue in 2018. Kevin Nealon Comedy show featuring actor and stand-up comedian, Kevin Nealon, best known for his appearances on Saturday Night Live, Happy Madison films and the Showtime series Weeds. When: 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. Friday, 7 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday Where: Houston Improv Comedy Club, 7620 Interstate 10 W., Suite 455 Details: $25-$35; improvhouston.com NEW FILMS ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: 'John Wick: Chapter 3,' 'A Dog's Journey,' 'The Sun Is Also a Star' Empty Bowls Houston For a minimum $25 donation, attendees can select a bowl from hundreds of hand-crafted bowls donated by Houston area ceramists and craft artists, then receive a simple lunch of soup and bread freshly prepared by the Houston Food Bank. Pottery and woodturning demonstrations and live music will be featured at the event. When: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday Where: Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, 4848 Main Details: houstonfoodbank.org/upcomingevent/empty-bowls-houston The Uncreated Gathering Event features live art, photo meet-up, mini market, yoga flows, health and beauty services, local food vendors and live music from Gio Alejandro of Gio Chamba, Carley Coy, George West and more. Monetary donations for the Art Reach Texas will be accepted at the door. When: 1-10 p.m. Sunday Where: Houston Warehouse Studios, 1506 Lorraine Details: facebook.com/events/2283200811767296 ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: 'John Wick: Chapter 3' is the action movie we need right now Houston Pasta Festival More than 20 Houston-area restaurants and their chefs will present their interpretations of Italy's gift to the world. Admission includes parking, food tasting and wine sampling. When: 1-4 p.m. Sunday Where: Bayou City Event Center, 9401 Knight Details: $35-$40; iacctexas.com/houston-pasta-festival-2019 Love Street Music Fest Festival features live performances from Walk the Moon, lovelytheband, the Toadies and more. Cold refreshments from Karbach Brewing Co. When: 1 p.m. Sunday Where: 2032 Karbach Details: $40-$150; karbachbrewing.com ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Get your beef fix at these top Houston steakhouses Tacos Over Texas El Tiempo Cantina and The Original Ninfas on Navigation bring together chefs from around the country to share their cooking skills in a friendly competition that celebrates the history and transformation of Houstons passion for multicultural food. Guests will enjoy live music and unlimited samplings from participating chefs and restaurants, plus beer and margaritas. When: 1-4 p.m. Sunday Where: The Original Ninfa's on Navigation, 2704 Navigation Details: $25-$200; tacosovertexas.info Celeste Ng Author will read from her book Little Fires Everywhere in conversation with Natalia Sylvester. Q&A and signing to follow. When: 7 p.m. Tuesday Where: St. Pauls United Methodist Church, 5501 Main Details: $17, includes a paperback copy of the book; brazosbookstore.com Taste of the Nation FREE RIDES: Houston BCycle is giving free 30-minute rides for Bike to Work Day Event offers unlimited sips and bites from some of the citys finest chefs, sommeliers and mixologists, in support of the No Kid Hungry organization. When: 7-9 p.m. Wednesday Where: Silver Street Studios, 2000 Edwards Details: $125-$200; events.nokidhungry.org/events/houston-taste-nation PREVIEW: Get experts picks for concerts, kids stuff, fine arts, movies and more delivered to your inbox weekly. Megan Thee Stallion has arrived. In truth, the Houston rapper has been blowing up expectations and snatching wigs for awhile. But today marks the release of "Fever," her official debut album. And if all indications are correct, she's about to become a superstar. Spotify hosted a release party Thursday night for "Fever" at Neon Boots Dancehall & Saloon, transforming the club into "The Hottie Ranch." The crowd was beautiful, the temperature was rising and the drink menu included "How Down Punch," "Cognac Queen" and "Hottie Juice." FLASHBACK: Mixtape Tour brings NKOTB, Debbie Gibson, Salt-N-Pepa to Houston Megan Thee Stallion galloped through the parking lot after 10 p.m. riding a white horse and wearing chaps. Her fans, known as "Houston hotties," couldn't get enough. "Fever" makes the most of Megan Thee Stallion's aggressive, explicit persona and introduces a new alter ego, Hot Girl Meg. The album is currently No. 3 on the iTunes hip-hop/rap album chart and top 10 on the all-genre chart. And more importantly, it sounds like the birth of a hip-hop giant. It was preceded by last year's "Tina Snow" EP and breakout single "Big Ole Freak," her first Billboard chart entry. Megan Thee Stallion is currently a junior at Texas Southern University, where she's studying health administration and, along with ruling the rap world, hopes to opening assisted-living facilities in Houston. Joey Guerra is the music critic for the Houston Chronicle and also covers everything from "Drag Race" to "Idol." Follow him on Twitter. Send him news tips at joey.guerra@chron.com. We're back in the Hill Country exploring a new neighborhood of the beautiful acreage community, Vintage Oaks. These newly released, one-acre homesites offer the community's most expansive views. Learn more here: http://bit.ly/2WMaGV9 As the one-year anniversary of a mass shooting at Santa Fe High School nears, the school district and community are planning two days of "service and healing" for students and local residents to pay tribute to the survivors and 10 victims of the tragedy. On Friday, Santa Fe High School will observe a Day of Remembrance and Resilience, with attendance optional for students. The day will consist of student-led activities and community service projects, including game sessions, yoga and culinary classes, and letter-writing to military service personnel and veterans. Counselors will also offer group sessions for students and staff. Barbara Winburn had already played shy, fragile Laura in a 1970s production of The Glass Menagerie when she was cast as the shows domineering mother, Amanda, in a version of Tennessee Williams classic memory play that is onstage May 16 through June 2 at College of the Mainland Community Theatre in Texas City. Amanda is one of the great stage roles for women, said Winburn, who lives in Santa Fe. It is a delight and a challenge to bring her to life. Her biggest goal, said the actress, is to thwart any perception by the audience that Amanda is not a very nice person based on how sternly she treats her children. You cant emphasize enough that Amanda loves her children immensely, said Winburn, explaining that Williams is widely considered to have based the character on his mother. Likewise, the character of Tom is a stand-in for the playwright, while Lauras limp is a symbol for the mental instability of the authors beloved sister, Rose. Amanda is a single parent in 1937 who has had to make a go of it since her husband abandoned them 16 years ago, Winburn said. One of my favorite lines of hers is Life calls for Spartan endurance. In contrast, Tom is a dreamer who longs for the life of a poet rather than working in a shoe warehouse to help support his mother and sister in a cramped St. Louis apartment. When Amanda insists that Tom invite a gentleman caller home to dinner to meet Laura, Tom chooses genial Jim OConnor, a go-getter who attempts to bring Laura out of her shell. David Wheelis of League City plays Tom, with fellow Clear Falls High School graduate Jordyn OBanion as Laura. The Glass Menagerie When: 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sundays Where: College of the Mainland Community Theatre, 1200 Amburn Road, Texas City Tickets: $10-20. Details: 409-933-834; www.com.edu/theatre. See More Collapse Gerik Lussy of Dickinson portrays Jim. The production is helmed by guest director Brian Hamlin of League City. Winwood was born in Hillje and graduated from Louise High School in 1972 before attending Wharton County Junior College. With no formal training as an actress, and even though she wasnt a theater major, Winburn landed the role of Laura in the colleges production of The Glass Menagerie. The characters of Laura and Amanda are a study in contrasts, said the actress. Amanda, by her very nature is outgoing. Laura is closed-in, said Winburn, describing how Laura likes to escape into a world of tiny figurines, including her favorite, a glass unicorn. In 1976, Winburn received a bachelor of science degree in medical records administration at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. It wasnt until 2001 that she returned to the stage, playing wealthy socialite Margot Mary Wendice in Dial M for Murder for a theater group in La Marque and long-suffering Grace Miller in Requiem for a Heavyweight at College of the Mainland, whose theatre holds open auditions for students or non-students. Since then, Winburn has played more than 25 roles at various Bay Area playhouses, including Clear Creek Community Theatre, Pasadena Little Theatre and Dinner Theatre at Francas. Winburn, who has two stepsons, retired in January from the University of Texas Medical Branch. She has been married for 19 years to Mike Winburn, who grew up in Deer Park and recently retired as the executive director of the Gulf Coast Center, the mental health authority for Galveston and Brazoria counties. The couple has four grandchildren. Performances of The Glass Menagerie will be at 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sundays at the theater, 1200 Amburn Road. Tickets range $10 to $20. For further information, call 409-933-8345 or visit www.com.edu/theatre. Don Maines is a freelance writer who can be reached at donmaines@att.net The city of West University Place hosted the 2019 Star Citizens Awards and Friends Appreciation Luncheon on May 8. The awards recipients were the 2017 and 2018 Fathers & Flashlights Chairs Alison and Gary Moorhead; Julia and Carl Williams; and Mitra and Josh Woody. The two events raised $178,000 cumulatively. Recipients also included the 2019 Park Lovers Ball Chairs Jennifer and Scott Allison, Megan and Brian Cushing, Stephanie and Ryan Fleck and Caroline and Kevin Walter. The annual gala raised $200,000 for West U parks. Oil pared its weekly advance as concerns over the U.S.-China trade war came back to the fore. Futures in New York fell 0.2% on Friday, while Brent also declined. Yet, both benchmarks still posted the biggest weekly rise since early April. While tensions in the Middle East increased earlier this week following pipeline and tanker attacks, the threat of an escalating trade war remains present, with China's state media signaling a lack of interest in resuming talks with the U.S. When it comes to the trade war, there were "expectations of this trade deal being signed before it was signed and now we are dealing with the repercussions of that optimism," said Ashley Petersen, an oil analyst at Stratas Advisors LLC in New York. Prices are losing steam "because there hasn't been as much geopolitical news over the last two days or so, but that's definitely what led to support to the week overall." PREVIOUSLY: Oil rallies as Mideast tensions flare over Saudi pipeline attack The recent attacks on oil tankers and pumping stations have highlighted how disruptive a major war in the Middle East would be to crude flows. Still, investors remain concerned that the escalation of the U.S.-China rift will only hurt global oil demand. Tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran have helped support crude prices, yet the market's reaction has been "pretty measured," said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC, a New York hedge fund focused on energy. "The deterioration of the U.S.-China trade situation is a big negative for crude and a big negative for the Asian economy." WTI crude for June delivery slid 11 cents to settle at $62.76 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices rose 1.8% for the week. REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK: Can women succeed in energy without acting like men? Brent for July settlement fell 41 cents to end the session at $72.21 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The global crude benchmark was up 2.3% for the week. Meanwhile, traders will be watching this weekend's meeting of OPEC producers and allies in Jeddah for signals as to whether the group will aim to fill supply gaps following U.S.-imposed sanctions on Iran. --With assistance from James Thornhill, Sharon Cho and Grant Smith. 2019 Bloomberg L.P. Breezy Point is beautiful in the summertime, a quaint neighborhood sitting on a slim peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic just south of New York City. In a storm, though, that dreamy setting can become a nightmare. Breezy Point was devastated by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Flooding, high winds and fires destroyed more than 300 homes, with many more left damaged and unlivable. Now, seven years later, architect Illya Azaroff has designed and built a home there he says can withstand a storm even more powerful than Sandy, maintaining operation, even if all else fails. Welcome to the home of the future in a time of climate change. As weather gets wilder and less predictable, firms that design, construct or improve housing with storm safety and resiliency in mind are increasingly in demand, said Matt Belcher, a builder in tornado-prone St. Louis. Its a powerful marketing message that cuts across the political divide, he said. The frequency and severity of the storms are increasing, said Belcher, who builds houses designed to withstand 140 mile-an-hour winds. Whether people credit it to climate change or think its cyclical, it doesnt matter if your house is destroyed. Either way, resiliency applies. In 2008, the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety, an industry research group, created a set of construction standards that generally exceed local building codes, certifying that a home is likely to survive hurricane-force winds and rain. The needle barely moved on the number of homes meeting the designation in a handful of hurricane-prone states from 1,122 in 2008 to 1,638 in 2014. By 2018, the number jumped ten-fold to 11,031 homes, and its moved to 12,530 in the first four months of 2019. Expanding reach The fortified designation is provided by trained evaluators primarily based in Texas, Florida, the Carolinas and Alabama, though the institute is now expanding the numbers of states they serve. In some areas, the designation can help homeowners with insurance and renovation costs. When the consumer has a different perception of the risk, it changes the demands they make on home builders, said Roy Wright, the groups leader and a former head of risk mitigation at the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The home building industry will respond to the market, they always do. The Breezy Point design by Brooklyn-based Azaroff, who also serves as the New York disaster coordinator for the American Institute of Architects, keeps Sandys devastation in mind, from the bottom up: The house is elevated more than three feet above average flood elevation, with open concrete posts sunk deep into the ground and vents that let flowing water easily escape underneath the house. The walls and floor are made with concrete-filled forms made from polystyrene and recycled plastic that can withstand driving rain and 300-mile per hour winds. It has fire-resistant fiber cement-board siding, and inflexible, interlocking polymer roof shingles locked in with screws. Safety glass in the windows can withstand a 9-pound piece of wood flying at 34 miles per hour. And the roof is held in place with ultra-strong connectors. Cost control Cost remains key for homeowners. The hurricane-strong house, as Azaroff has labeled it, is about 7 percent to 9 percent more expensive to build. But with energy and insurance savings, the upgrades should pay for themselves in 8 to 10 years, he said. While the Breezy point house is built to withstand hurricanes, architects elsewhere face other issues. Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska are the center of a region sometimes called Tornado Alley, and other times known as Hail Alley. Extreme weather there can can mean violently rotating winds that move in excess of 110 miles an hour. Q4 Architects Inc., a Canada-based group, has designed a home that will not only keep residents safe during a tornado, but allow them to live at home for months, even if basic services are cut off. At the houses center is a concrete and steel reinforced space that includes the kitchen, bathroom, laundry and an emergency supply closet. Theres a cistern that captures rainwater and filters it, solar panels for electricity, a sun tunnel that can be opened or closed for natural light, and Murphy beds. A tornado can destroy a home in four seconds, said Jason Sampson, an architect at Q4. The initial ideal was to ensure some sort of comfortable living situation while disaster relief was put into place, he said. This could take months, so lets make sure they have the right systems in place to live there. Rima Taher, a civil and structural engineer who teaches at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, has published the textbook Building Design for Wind Forces. The strategies behind recent improvements in housing resiliency can be attributed to improved building codes based on research in wind engineering that started back in the 1960s, she said. We have more knowledge in this field now, and building codes and standards are stronger, Taher said by telephone. Taher frequently gets calls for advice, she said, noting that a couple of important things to focus on are roof design and strong connections between walls, between the walls and the roof, and between the structure and its foundation. Taher advises hurricane ties, or straps, to join the roof tightly to walls, and says roofs should be designed with multiple slopes with overhangs limited to less than 20 inches. The roof can be the first thing to go, she said. Material impact Architects and builders are searching out materials designed for every environment, said Wright, the insurance institute chief executive officer. The group tests home designs in a giant wind tunnel that can simulate hurricanes, rain, hail and flying fire embers, he said. Products made by some of the worlds largest businesses for years are increasingly coming into play, he said, as builders and architects move to meet consumer demands. A DowDupont Inc. roof membrane that keeps the indoors cooler is being tested in brutal heat in India. LafargeHolcim Ltd. makes a lightweight concrete cladding that was used on a shoreline museum in Miami to add strength to window casings and walls. While few of these materials are new, they are more frequently being experimented with in designs for new homes in storm-prone areas. But its not just new houses being worked on with extreme weather in mind. Older houses on the East Coast offer other opportunities for builders. In the Carolinas and on New Yorks Long Island, local contractors have raised hundreds of houses six-to-eight feet higher within the past few years, taking advantage of government programs that popped up after major hurricanes. Mike Roms company, Long Island House Lifting, now raises 45 to 50 homes a year at a cost of between $150,000 and $300,000 apiece. In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, he said, every other house is up in some neighborhoods. But its not just the big storms that are a problem, according to to Rom. Shoreline areas that used to see street flooding at most two or three times a year now see it monthly, he said. Billy Ward, co-owner of AABC House Moving in Camden, S.C., used to raise only one or two homes a year. Thats changed in the wake of hurricanes Matthew, Irma and Florence in 2016, 2017 and 2018. We all talk about it, Ward said. How things have gotten a lot worse. Although the Barbara Bush Library has reopened after Hurricane Harvey in 2017 when the library received feet of floodwater, Harris County Flood Control District is working to ensure the library will not flood again. During the latest meeting of the Barbara Bush Library Friends, a nonprofit organization with the mission of improving and volunteering for the Barbara Bush Library, Harris County Precinct 4 representatives told the crowd about plans for floodplains and flood prevention for the library and surrounding areas. Will Sherman, property manager for HCFCD, said HCFCD is deciding where to build detention basins to mitigate flooding. In August 2018, HCFCD received approval for a $2.5 billion bond to mitigate flooding and upgrade flood prevention methods in the greater Houston area. Sherman said HCFCD is currently working on floodplain preservation by buying undeveloped land and buying homes from residents in floodplains if they volunteer to do sell. Sherman said there are no mandatory buyout programs in the nearby area at this moment. The area surrounding Barbara Bush Library is in both the 100-year and 500-year floodplains. CYPRESS CREEK: Development proceeds amid resident concerns A lot of times we get the funds from FEMA and we have certain criteria for when we can or cant purchase, he said. A lot of times if its bought with FEMA theres never going to be anything built on that property. Of course, were obtaining right of way for future detention basins. Areas directly surrounding the Barbara Bush Library, specifically the back of the library closest to Cypress Creek and in nearby neighborhoods, tend to have ponding, Sherman said. Ponding causes streets to overflow and take longer to drain than usual, carrying floodwaters even farther toward nearby bayous. Stay Informed Text CHRON to 77453 to get breaking news alerts by text | Sign up to receive breaking news alerts delivered to your email here. See More Collapse Sherman said the implementation of flood basins will significantly improve flood prevention in the area, and that HCFCD and HCED do not plan to build other structures on land bought. Sherman said Harris County is currently trying to buy undeveloped land in previously flooded areas. As of today, we have more than 6,000 acres of property and 300 acres of detention basins in Cypress Creek, he said. Its kind of an older area as far as the infrastructure goes so weve had quite a few failures (during heavy rain events). Were working with the precinct to be more proactive. RELATED: Flood mitigation projects along Cypress Creek are underway, officials say Sherman said floodplains in the area will be updated and upgraded for flooding within the next two to three years for Little Cypress Creek and Cypress Creek watersheds. He said the process of specific projects, such as flood basin building and storm water drainage fixes, have yet to be implemented. Some residents have expressed concern over two apartment complexes planned near Cypress Creek and Pillot Gully in The Vintage. Nearby homes, businesses and the cultural district experienced flooding during Hurricane Harvey. I know theres some controversial projects around Vintage Park, so were definitely working in the future to try to try to get everything that we can before its developed. That way, at the very least, it can be turned into park land. To aid another fire department in need, Klein Volunteer Fire Department and Harris County Emergency Services District No. 16 has given one of their own vehicles to Jones Creek Volunteer Fire Department. The vehicle, a 2003 mini pumper truck with a 340-gallon tank and 20-gallon fire retardant foam cell, was given to Jones Creek VFD on May 17 during a small ceremony between members of the organizations before being transferred to Jones Creek, TX. Gus Cancino, fire chief for Jones Creek VFD, said the department is glad to receive the vehicle considering the poor condition of the truck they currently use for wildland fires. The skid (on the current truck) right now needs to be replaced and were not funded by a whole bunch of people, he said. Were non-city funded. We get ESD money, a little bit of county money and then we have fundraisers we have to do, which we only do one fundraiser a year. The two departments were able to collaborate after meeting during a public relations event, Cancino said. After initially speaking with Dennis Bonnen, Speaker of the Texas House, Cancino was connected with Jeremy Wagner, chief law enforcement for Texas A&M Forest Service. Wagner said he would talk to an ESD that could possibly help out, Cancino said. After some back and forth for a few weeks, Cancino received a call from Klein VFD telling him Jones Creek VFD would be receiving one of their trucks. Cancino said he is thankful for the potential of the truck, including brush work and traffic control, for the smaller department south of Houston. This is going to help us because were more rural than anything else, he said. We have one blinking light in town and everything else is grass and ranchers and stuff like that so its a big deal that have something like this to help us out in that area. Rich Jones, president of HCESD No. 16, said the truck is surplus equipment for Klein VFD and has been used plenty by the organization since 2003. The truck is the signature color of Klein VFD, which Jones referred to as Klein slime green. Its been a brush truck, its been a medical truck, its actually fought several house fires, he said. Weve kept it up, its in really good shape and were really happy that Jones Creek can use it because we remember the days when we were like Jones Creek, which was years ago. If anybody wouldve given us something like this, wed have been very happy. Baron Edmiston, duty chief for Klein VFD, said the department gives surplus equipment, including boots, nozzles and staff vehicles to fire departments in the surrounding area, as well as forestry services. Jones and Cancino said their organizations may work together in the future. Its a good neighbor policy, Jones said. Were all in the same boat, so to speak. chevall.pryce@chron.com Katy Christian Ministries is partnering with Katy Responds and Supply Bridge Ministries to collect and distribute cleaning supplies to residents in south Fort Bend County affected by the May storms. Last week, central and southern Fort Bend County experienced some very heavy downpours resulting in nearly 12-inch rainfall totals within a few days, said Tom Pretti and Chelsea Lucas of Katy Responds. That resulted in approximately 200 homes experiencing short-term/flash flooding, across three communities: Needville area, Richmond and Sugar Land. In discussion with those impacted communities, they've indicated they have the manpower to address the needs but they were in need of supplies. Katy Responds is glad to partner with community partners like Katy Christian Ministries and Supply Bridge Ministries to provide awareness and distribution support of the supplies. We continue to pray that Katy is not impacted by another disaster in the near-future, but we know that Texans and Americans will always rise up to support one another in times of need, they said. Supplies on the list include bleach, rag towels, mops/mop buckets, floor cleaner, brooms/dust pans, laundry soap, gloves, face masks, Concrobium/Shockwave/mold treatment, liquid fabric softener to eliminate odors, contractor trash bags, air fresheners/Lysol, plastic bins/tubs to save items in, new bath towels/wash cloths and sponges/scrub brushes. Items can be dropped off at the KCM Administration Offices at 5504 First St. in Katy. Items also can be ordered online by visiting smile.amazon.com and selecting Katy Christian Ministries as the charity. Items can be shipped to the KCM Administration Offices. Email info@ktcm.org or call 281-391-5261 for more information. Katy Responds is a network of churches and other organizations established in 2018 to focus on the long-term recovery effort to rebuild the community after Hurricane Harvey in August 2017. Visit https://katyresponds.org for information. Katy Responds continues to work across the Katy community to assist the 1,500+ still suffering from Hurricane Harvey's impact. Opportunities to help exist. The nonprofit is using volunteers to canvass neighborhoods to identify homes still in need, raise awareness of remaining hardships homeowners are facing, raise funds to continue the rebuild efforts, and organize resources to bring the community back to full restoration. The website for Supply Bridge Ministries says it supports communities in need by bridging the gap between supply sources and distribution organizations. Visit www.supplybridgeministries.org for information. Candidates elected by Katy voters on May 4 took their office at a special May 14 Katy City Council meeting following a canvassing of the vote and the word of the day was unity. Referring to the pledges to the United States and Texas, Ward A Councilman Frank O. Carroll III said he didnt see why officials couldnt pledge to be one city, one indivisible. I know there are people who thrive on conflict and there are people that like conflict. But I will tell you youre going to be sorely disappointed. This was a divisive election but this is a good and pleasant community and Im looking forward to coming together with everyone in this community and getting us back to the way we were after Hurricane Harvey united because we are much stronger together than we are apart. Quoting from the Bible, Carroll referred to Psalm 133:1 which tells us how good and pleasant it is for Gods people to live together in unity. Mayor Pro Tem Durran Dowdle started the 5:30 p.m. meeting about 15 minutes late in the absence of Katy Mayor Chuck Brawner who when he arrived apologized to the packed council chambers. Brawner explained that he had the wrong time written down for the start of the meeting. City Council meetings usually start at 6:30 p.m. The Tuesday special meeting also followed an abbreviated City Council session on May 13 that ended when council lost its quorum after At-large Councilman Chris Harris and Ward B Councilman James Jimmy Mendez left. They wanted to postpone discussion of ordinance amendments relative to re-employment of previously suspended employees and providing a penalty for the public release of executive session information. A majority of council voted 3-2 to proceed with an executive session which prompted the two officials to leave. At the May 14 meeting, City Secretary Melissa A. Missy Bunch read the results of the May 4 election which were canvassed by City Council. The official totals are: Mayor Chuck Brawner 847 and William (Bill) Hastings 1,246; Ward A Council: Carroll 637; Ward B Council: Steve Pierson 595 and Jenifer Jordan Stockdick 671. Jocelyn Urech, city associate judge, administered the oath of office to Carroll, Hastings and Stockdick. Well, this is a very honoring and humbling night, said Hastings. I want to thank everyone that supported me. This was a tough race for everyone. There was a lot of controversy in it which the city of Katy normally has never seen. I spoke with everybody on council. We all have one common goal. Were all up here for the same reason, said Hastings. That is to continue to make Katy, Texas, the city and the community that everybody wants to move here for. So, all differences aside. You know differences are what makes a good council. He said it wasnt necessary for council and city administrators to have the same thought process. Its kind of like it takes a group to make a wise decision, said Hastings. He referred to his service as police chief and remembered thinking that he had come up with a wise decision. After meeting with officers, Hastings said he would leave the meeting wondering where he had gotten his hair-brained idea and talked of the importance of different views. I think were fortunate enough to have up here different views, different characteristics, different personalities, he said of City Council, and with that I dont see how we can do anything but succeed. Were all here for one purpose: To serve the citizens of this community. Stockdick also thanked everyone for their support and prayers. Im super excited to be doing this. I feel thrilled and honored to really be part of the city and continue to serve. She has served on the citys Convention and Tourism Bureau and is an alternate to the citys Zoning Board of Adjustment. We really want to be a united city. We want to come together, she said. We are here to serve you all. We want to hear what your input is. Were doing our best to make it happen. I just look for us all to come together as one. Outgoing officials Mendez and Brawner received praise for their service from the public and other officials at the May 13 and 14 meetings. Dr. Oto Cantu, who has criticized Hastings actions and comments, spoke at the May 14 meeting. Later, Hastings said, Dr. Cantu, you have pestered me for 10 years. I appreciate your comments. Youre quite entertaining and I look forward to seeing you again. Thank you for being here. Deer Park Chamber of Commerces annual business expo on May 16 gave the Jimmy Burke Activity Center the flavor of a casino, with guests playing slot machines and circling tables to play roulette, craps and other games of chance. An estimated 500 visitors at the center traveled among booths of local businesses to earn chips to play casino-type games. Winnings were cashed in for raffle prizes. Officials with the City of Houston said property owners should take preparations in advance of the lowering of Lake Houston over the next two weeks. The lake will be lowered six inches Monday, May 20 to allow contractors to begin work on the Lake Houston dam, officials said in a release. The lake will be lowered another six inches Tuesday, May 28, for a total of one foot. "Property owners should be prepared, as advance notice may not be possible," officials said in the release. Work on the dam will continue through the end of the year, per the release. The lake was previously lowered for planned maintenance in February that included rehabilitation of two structures on the downstream portion of the dam, according to previous reporting by the Chronicle. RELATED: Lake Houston water levels lowered for a week for dam maintenance The Houston area could see strong to severe thunderstorms this weekend. Officials also said in the release Lake Houston may be temporarily lowered to 41.5 feet in anticipation of a severe weather event. Lowering will take place only if the lake is already above 41.5 feet and the National Weather Service (NWS) predicts greater than 3 inches of rain in a 48-hour period, the release stated. Lake Houston has a normal pool elevation of 42.5 feet "Property owners should secure property along the shoreline," officials said in the release. There is a 30 percent chance the Houston area could see showers and thunderstorms late Friday, according to the NWS. By Saturday, there is a 50 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms, with rainfall amounts predicted between a tenth and quarter of an inch. Storms are less likely to happen Sunday, with only a 30 percent chance of rain predicted for the Houston area. Areas north of Columbus, Livingston and College Station have the greatest risk for severe weather this weekend, per the NWS. Residents can monitor current water levels at Lake Houston here. Rebecca Hennes covers community news. Read her on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | rebecca.hennes@chron.com | Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message The Social Committee of the April Sound Country Club, chaired by Donna Kopecky, wants everyone to know about a great upcoming event here in April Sound. On Memorial Day, May 27, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. the Social Committee will be hosting the second Memorial Day Vintage and Classic Car Show. The show is free to all April Sound residents and guests. The cars will be displayed in rows on the Reserve F property to the right of the Boulevard near the Club. Tom Cunningham, a resident and retired Houston Police Detective, who calls himself a gearhead has taken on the Chairmanship of the Car Show and has contacted every car club in the area, sent fliers created by Marge Schroeder, and talked with folks at every car show he has recently attended with his own red and white 55 Chevrolet Bel Air. The event is listed on many websites for classic and antique car enthusiasts. Of course, all April Sound residents are welcome to exhibit their cars! Last years first ever Vintage/Classic Car Show brought in over eighty cars, and this year, with Toms vigilance, the committee expects even more. Tom will be awarding plaques for Best Car, Best Truck, Most Unique, Best Hot Rod, Most Original, and Best of Show. In conjunction with the Car Show there has been an on-going collection of donations for Operation Lone Star - Texans Supporting Our Troops. Finding the organizations website, I learned that it is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation founded by families who have had or currently have loved ones serving in the Armed Forces of our country. The mission is to provide fellowship, guidance, encouragement, and support to members of the United States Armed Forces and their families and friends. Representatives of Operation Lone Star will be on-hand during the Car Show to sell t-shirts and accept donations of both supplies and money. It costs $20 to send one box to one military person, so funds are always welcome. There is a long list of accepted donation items including packaged food items, personal care items, cotton socks, small games, current magazines, and much more. If you cant attend the Car Show, you can drop your donations in the collection box any time the Club is open until after Memorial Day. I urge you to check the Operation Lone Star website and read about the challenge coin that is given to the Wounded Warriors. AWESOME!! Around 150 attendees looked on as bag pipes played and a blue ribboned yellow carnation wreath was presented Thursday during the Conroe Police Officer Memorial held at Heritage Place park. The scene appeared to mirror the American flag being carried across the park, as white cumulus clouds skittered above navy-uniformed officers who stood on a hill overlooking red shirted Sacred Heart Catholic Elementary students seated at the base. Angela Robinson pushed her blond tresses aside as she held her camera, snapping photos of the ceremonial proceedings as her two small sons dutifully stood beside her. Their father, Conroe Police Officer William Robinson was among the officers present. Its good to have them see what their dad does, how many people support him. Especially today with how hard it is out there, she said. The community, she added, doesnt get to see (the officers commitment) day in and day out. Her thoughts on the hardship police face reflect the number of law enforcement who in 2018 perished in the line of duty. The number stands at 158, according to numbers made available Monday through Conroe Police. Many of the faces of last years fallen ran across a TV screen in a video presented during the ceremony. Their images each captioned Enough is enough. Conroes police force has lost one officer, Sgt. Ed Holcomb, in September 1982. He succumbed to injuries sustained during a response to a domestic disturbance three weeks prior. His widow attends the event yearly. Their son Chris Holcomb, an area peace officer, also attends. Conroe residents and businesses had been encouraged by Conroe Police to lower their flags at half staff on Wednesday to mark Peace Officers Memorial Day, part of National Police Week observed this year between May 13 and 18. The LED lights of Conroe City Hall and the Montgomery County Courthouse were turned blue in this week, said Conroe Police Chief Jeff Christy. A three-volley salute followed by a rendition of taps helped close out the event, now in its 35th year. Its always a touching ceremony for me, Conroe Mayor Toby Powell said. jose.gonzalez@chron.com twitter.com/jrgzztx FALLS TOWNSHIP >> The Falls Township Board of Supervisors took steps to create more than 500 new jobs on Dec. 20. The board approved a minor subdivision and lot line change for Stalwart Equities, the developer of a large-scale warehouse planned for more than 95 acres along the Delaware River. The companys sketch plan, which the board reviewed last year, called... The Montgomery board of adjustments will host a public hearing for a new car wash in the city that may have to change the appearance of its business to comply with city law despite receiving approval. City officials said the city engineer and building inspector approved the design of BlueWave Car Wash, which is constructed on Texas 105 with concrete mason units on its exterior. The material is not allowed by the citys corridor enhancement ordinance, which city officials said was amended in January 2017 to prohibit the cement material. The purpose of the ordinance is to provide for the enhancements of the overall visual image and perception of the city, including along its main entryways and corridors such as Texas 105, FM 149, and FM 1097. The car washs building permit, which included plans for the cement blocks on the exterior walls, was approved July 2018. City documents state that the city engineer and building inspector did not realize the review for compliance with the districts exterior requirements was part of their consideration. However, City Administrator Jack Yates said the city can still require the business to adjust its appearance to comply with the citys law or withhold the businesses certificate of occupancy which has not yet been granted. There is a legal principal called constructive knowledge that everyone in the city is considered to realize the ordinances in the city, Yates said. The mistake of an employee or staff member does not release the requirement of the ordinance. The easiest and cheapest way for the business to get in compliance as the with the citys law that building inspector recommended, is for the business to put a facade-stucco over the existing material. According to an estimate by the building inspector, Yates said the facade could cost about $18,000. A variance has been requested for the business, which Yates said the board of adjustments has the option of approving. Compliance with the section of the ordinance would create a hardship for the owner as the building is completed with the split face CMU exterior, Project Manager Helen Stallkamp with Stantec Consulting Services, Inc. stated in city documents. The owner relied on the securing the appropriate building and development permits from the city as approval of the elements of the project. Respectfully seeking approval of this variance from the board. City documents stated that the business could make a claim against the city for the cost of compliance, which the city would turn into the citys insurance company. However, city officials stated the insurance company doubted they would cover the loss. The board of adjustments public hearing has been set for June 12. mellsworth@hcnonline.com Michael Minasi, Staff Photographer / Houston Chronicle A charitable organization through the National Rifle Association has awarded the Montgomery County Sheriffs Office with a $3,710 grant to purchase training equipment. The sheriffs office will be receiving the money to furnish five simunition rifle training bolts and five glock simunition conversion kits. They will be used to enable training using non-lethal marking cartridges. The board of trustees of the NRA Foundation, a 501 (c)3 organization, approved the grant last month, according to Sheriffs Office press release. Communities around the nation recently saluted their first responders in blue in recognition of National Police Week. Missouri City joined the nationwide effort. To highlight the excellence of Missouri Citys Finest and their commitment to serving the citizens, MCPD members were presented a City Council Proclamation at the Monday, May 6, Regular Meeting by Mayor Yolanda Ford. A video of the presentation can be seen at http://bit.ly/2Hbemul. The citys police department is comprised of 105 sworn officers and 44 civilian staff, manages crime prevention and safety programs, maintains an open data initiative, oversees Code Enforcement and is dedicated to building community partnerships. To learn more about the Departments award-winning operations, go to www.missouricitypolice.org. An ongoing focus on public safety by Show Me City residents, City Council members, staff and stakeholders is a key reason Missouri City has been recognized nationally. Missouri City is also the only Platinum Scenic City in the region, thanks in large part to greenspaces and strict development regulations. To further set the Police Department apart as a leader in law enforcement, Missouri City earned Re-Recognized Accreditation Status for the third time in 2017. Police Chief Mike Berezin said this accomplishment is significant in that roughly 2,000 municipal police organizations are eligible for this recognition, only 146 have been recognized, only 58 have been recognized twice and only 23 in the State have been recognized three times and the Missouri City Police Department is among those that have achieved this status. The accreditation program is conducted by the Texas Police Chiefs Association, which audits agencies to gauge their compliance with 164 Texas Law Enforcement Best Practices. These practices were developed by state law enforcement professionals to assist entities in the efficient and effective delivery of service, the reduction of risk and the protection of individuals rights. Innovative strategies, community partnerships and prevention programs have helped MCPD reduce crime to record lows citywide in the past five years, Berezin said. Berezin, a 30-year veteran of the citys police department, pointed out that one of MCPDs programs DDACTS (Data-Driven Approach to Crime and Traffic Safety) has been essential to achieving crime reduction goals. The initiative is aimed at reducing the incidence of crime, crashes and traffic violations by drawing on the deterrent of highly visible traffic enforcement and the knowledge that crime often involves the use of motor vehicles. The departments public safety initiatives are so effective that many of the worst felonies, classified as Part 1 crimes, dropped double digits over the past five years. The citys Police Department also manages Code Enforcement. In Fiscal Year 2018, Code Enforcement officers conducted more than 14,500 inspections. That is almost 1,200 inspections per month; a significant metric given that the Citys Code division only has a staff of 8 officers, and one supervisor. This performance is reflective of the priority City Manager Anthony J. Snipes and his team has placed on maintaining the Platinum Scenic City status through the Nuisance Abatement Team, which consists of members of Code Enforcement, the Police Department, Municipal Court, Development Services, the City Managers Office, Communications and the Legal Department. The performance is also reflective of the widespread utilization of SeeClickFix by residents citywide; this online reporting tool allows citizens to assist staff by directly notifying the City of potential code issues, thereby helping to improve operational efficiencies. The safety of our citizens and the community at-large is a strategic priority and I commend Chief Berezin and his team for using innovative programs like DDACTS, for earning the competitive re-accreditation designation, for their transparency in reporting and for the high quality of service they provide to our residents and businesses, Snipes said. Another key performance component in the Police Department is community engagement, resulting in the Show Me City: Making SafeHome.orgs 2017 list of the Safest Cities in the U.S., ranking No. 13 in Texas. Ranking among the top safest municipalities in Texas by the Home Security Advisor, an online resource website. The Show Me City was listed at No. 42 among all cities rated in the report and at No. 5 among cities with a population of 50,000 or more; learn more:http://bit.ly/2PYNbpp. Earning the No. 30 rank in a list of 136 Texas cities rated by Alarms.org, the official site of the National Council for Home Safety and Securityan association of licensed alarm companies, installers, contractors and trade groups. Learn more: http://bit.ly/2JBTfmp. These accolades and MCPDs longstanding partnerships illustrate why their reform initiative DDACTS and other programs like it have helped the city maintain its safe streets in all areas. The achievements serve as a foundation that elected officials, citizens and stakeholders can build on for decades to come. The city has achieved so much by being proactive and not reactive, by leveraging our resources and by building on our partnerships, Snipes said. And through it all, we never lose sight of our city credo Together, we excel! The 50th annual St. Theresa Catholic Church Bazaar will be Saturday, May 18, from 6 to 11 p.m. and Sunday, May 19, from 11a.m. to 7 p.m. Chairing this year's Golden Anniversary event are Gary Blanchette and Larry Moller, who invite everyone to join them for food, games and general fellowship. There will be silent and live auctions, a garage sale and a raffle. There is no admission charge. The garage sale will be open 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday. It will reopen from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. on Sunday at the St. Theresa Community Center. A silent auction will be held from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday at the Knights of Columbus No. 4204 Hall. The hall will host a live auction, which accepts VISA and MasterCard, on Sunday starting at 2 p.m. Some of the bazaar activities, which will operate both days include Spaceball Ride, Elephant Ride, Wizzer Ride, Petting Zoo, Face Painting, Rock Wall, Obstacle Course, Kountry Kitchen, Plants, Books, Game Booths as well as various beverage and ethnic food booths, such as Filipino, Nigerian, Mexican and Italian sausage/meatball sandwiches. There will, also, be crawfish, hamburgers, turkey legs and other food choices. New to the bazaar will be funnel cakes. Vendor tents will be selling various items on Sunday. At 7 p.m. Sunday, drawings will be held for prizes: First- $4,500 in VISA gift cards; Second - $3,00 in VISA gift cards; third- $1,500 in VISA gift cards; fourth - $1,000 VISA gift card; fifth - $500 VISA gift card and sixth - BBQ grill. Raffle tickets will be available at the bazaar both days and winners (who must be at least 18 years old) need not be present to win. All activities will be held on the church grounds or in the parish buildings. St. Theresa Catholic Church is located at 705 St. Theresa Blvd. in Sugar Land. Proceeds from the bazaar are for ongoing parish capital improvements. For further information, contact Moller at 832-594-2355 or Blanchette at 281-389-9672. Or visit the church website at www.sugarlandcatholic.com/event for information. A father accused of beating his newborn daughter to death in January is now behind bars, Houston police say. The baby girl, Yeimy Lizcano, was barely two weeks old when police say her father 21-year-old Adrian Lizcano violently and fatally beat him shortly after midnight Jan. 30 inside his home in north Houston. He was arrested Thursday after a judge signed off on a murder warrant, records show. Lizcano lived with his wife, Yeimy and their other two-year-old daughter, police said. Yeimy's grandmother and the grandmother's boyfriend also lived in the household. The day before her death, Yeimy's parents brought her to the doctor for a routine hearing test before the three took a trip to Target along the North Freeway at Cypresswood Drive, Houston Police Department homicide detectives said in court documents. While there, deputies arrested Yeimy's mother on a shoplifting charge, meaning the two children were left with Lizcano for the ride home, according to court documents. 2016 INCIDENT: Ex-METRO officer sentenced in beating of sleeping man at rail station Later that night, Lizcano, the grandmother, her boyfriend and the two children went shopping bond companies to help bail Lizcano's wife out of jail. Their attempts to bail her out that night were apparently unsuccessful, court records show. The five returned home around midnight that night, and the grandmother and her boyfriend went to sleep, court records show. It was between then and around 4 a.m. that Yeimy was injured. The family barged into the emergency room at Memorial Hermann Greater Heights Hospital at 4:11 a.m. that morning with Yeimy appearing lifeless, records show. She was pronounced dead by a doctor a mere seven minutes later. When speaking with detectives, Lizcano said he left Yeimy in the care of his two-year-old daughter on his bed while he washed dishes in the kitchen, court records show. He claimed that the older daughter ran into the kitchen and said Yeimy fell off the bed, police said. Lizcano then told police that he told his older daughter to pick up her younger sister, which is when she accidentally dropped her again on her face, records show. He told detectives that the couple typically allowed the older daughter to carry Yeimy, they said. FAMILY: Woman fatally shot by Baytown police was not a monster When police interviewed Lizcano's wife, who was released from jail the day after Yeimy was killed, she said they never allowed the older daughter to carry Yeimy. She also picked up on other inconsistencies that detectives noticed, such as Lizcano's frequently changing story, detectives said. She indicated to detectives that she believed Lizcano was angry because he might have thought the baby was fathered by another man, court records show. Ultimately, an autopsy determined that Yeimy died of multiple skull fractures and a brain bleed, none of which were consistent with Lizcano's story or could have been caused accidentally, police said. Detectives filed charges against him Wednesday. He's facing up to life in prison, if he's convicted. Jay R. Jordan covers breaking news in the Houston area. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan | Email him at jay.jordan@chron.com | Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message Mary Wilson loves to dance. For her first performance on the dance floor, Wilson wore a short gray dress with a rhinestone and feather headband. I saw it in the store and I said, I know what Im going to wear, she said. Wilson, 67, a resident at the Heights of North Houston, showed off her moves along with other dancers who spun, swayed and moved side to side either on foot or in their wheel chairs during Dancing with the Seniors competition on Wednesday, May 15. Her daughter, Keshandra Wilson, cheered on as Wilson cut a rug to Mambo No. 5 with nurse Patty Hudspeth. Kenshandra also cheered when Wilson returned in jeans and a long-sleeve shirt to dance to Dont Mess with My Toot Toot with Natasha Brown, medical records clerk. Shes like an upbeat type of person. She always dances with everybody. Shes on the floor with us and shes always been dropping it like its hot, Keshandra said. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, Kindred Hospital CEO Angel Lozano, Kindred Hospital executive fellow Sohail Azeem, Michele Regan with Methodist Hospital and Kimberly Denson with the Houston Northwest Hospital judged the dancers performances on the dance floor. All five judges awarded nine to 10 points to all 10 dancers. Wilson said she learned her moves from her mother, who taught her how to dance the jitterbug and swing. Keshandra Wilson said her mother had been at the nursing home since 2017 after moving from Louisiana. Linda Collins, 63, danced to At the Hop in her wheel chair, which she had practiced earlier. I like the music. It made me happy. Id do it again, she said. Nursing home administrator Erika Parrish said that some of the residents participating in the competition had previously been too ill to move on their own. Some of the residents that you will see here today have had debilitating strokes where it renders them unable to move one side of their body. One thing that strokes or any disease cannot steal from you is to have fun, she said. Patients range between short-term to long-term residents who receive 24-hour care while living at the facility. At the end of competition, the judges awarded Wilson a disco ball trophy, which she proudly clutched. Its great. I got to be the grand champion, she said. mayra.cruz@chron.com Only hours after hundreds of people attended a public forum and call to action seminar aimed at stopping suicide and increasing mental health care throughout Montgomery County, several dozen advocates for better suicide prevention efforts lobbied The Woodlands Township board on Thursday night to approve a new position to help with the issues. Two local activists, Kim Moayed and Jodie Janacek who are co-chairpersons of the annual Out of Darkness suicide awareness and prevention walk and also volunteers with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the Greater Houston Chapter gave a more than 45-minute presentation on the issue of suicide, showing slides with terms, explanations and steps for prevention. The duo also shared their own experiences with suicide and mental health issues, which they said had led them into activism to help find solutions to the complex epidemic that has affected not only Montgomery County and The Woodlands, but all of the country. Were not doing an excellent job helping, Janacek said of suicide prevention efforts. Suicide is extremely complex it is a mesh of problems that come together. The presentation included numerous slides that described things such as the various risk factors and events that may trigger a suicide attempt; the prevention-intervention-postvention approach to helping people struggling with mental health issues; and ways to reduce the risk of someone attempting suicide, both Janacek and Moayed said they believed The Woodlands Township could play a pivotal role in helping stop the epidemic by hiring a community outreach director for mental health awareness and suicide prevention efforts a full-time staff member with dedicated duties related to the issue. Moayed said the potential staff members would make mental wellness efforts a priority, allowing the township board to use their platform as community leaders to education the community and elevate discussion of the issue. She also said what she and others envision is a partnership similar to what the township does in regard to funding Safe Harbor, a program to stop child abuse and online predators. (You) Go from talking about a problem to saying were going to solve the problem, Moayed explained. (With Safe Harbor) You saw a problem, felt a need to solve it and found a way to fund it. We feel this (idea) would mirror that. The idea of adding a special staff member to focus solely on suicide prevention and mental health awareness was appealing to each of the seven board members in attendance, with all expressing their belief it would be beneficial to the community. However, calls by Director John McMullan to take action to approve the position on Thursday were quashed after other board members said it was better to do the process slowly rather than hastily in order to best utilize community collaborations. Part of the reason I support this is because I dont have the skills to understand this, McMullan said of suicide prevention efforts. Were going to need the opinion of someone who is truly an expert who would help the community and elected leaders in making policy. Township board Chairman Gordy Bunch reminded attendees and Moayed and Janacek that he had introduced a 2020 budget initiative earlier in the day at the townships budget planning session aimed at expanding existing mental health and crisis intervention training for the townships firefighters and EMTs. Bunch, along with Director Bruce Rieser, advocated waiting to decide how to move forward so the best possible outcome was achieved. However McMullan continued to push the idea of taking action immediately. I think we should start the process of hiring an outreach person tonight, McMullan added. I think we should take that step tonight: hire someone to help this board. After McMullans statements, Bunch told township staff to add discussions and explorations of adding a full-time suicide prevention resource officer to the townships list of budget initiative for 2020 in addition to the additional training for firefighters and EMTs. Rieser said while he understands McMullans point on the issue, he believed that working on the issue with other entities over a period of time will result in a better program as opposed to an immediate decision after one night of discussion. What we need to do is sit down and start partnering with groups. Im not sure hiring one person at the township is the most effective (approach), Rieser said. You are going to need a team, a pretty good-sized one, to make a difference. We would be better served to spend the money as wisely as possible to get the broadest reach (for suicide prevention) possible. Following the debate on the issue, the board made an informal decision which means it was not voted on as usual to explore creating a position. The board also tabbed Director John Anthony Brown to be a liasion for the board with area groups working to stop suicides. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 17) Former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Chief Nela Charade Puno, who was fired by President Rodrigo Duterte for supposed corruption, said she is oblivious to the allegations. "I take exception to the mention of so-called ' corruption allegations' because I am clueless to what these are... I served as the Director General of the FDA for two years and 10 months with complete honesty, diligence, dedication, and loyalty," she said in a statement on Friday. She said that if she is involved in corrupt practices, there have been no legal proceedings or any official investigations related to the claims. "It is completely unnecessary to sully the personal and professional reputations of people who sacrifice to render public service," she said. Despite Duterte's order to sack her, Puno said she accepts his decision with no ill feelings. In the order signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea on Wednesday, Malacanang said the decision to sack Puno is in line with Duterte's mandate to to eradicate graft and corruption in the government. Puno, who was appointed by the President in 2016, was the latest to fall on Dutertes chopping block for corruption allegations. Research News For teens, online bullying worsens sleep and depression By MARCENE ROBINSON Cyber victimization on the internet and social media is a unique form of peer victimization and an emerging mental health concern among teens who are digital natives. Teens who experience cyberbullying are more likely to suffer from poor sleep, which in turn raises levels of depression, a UB study has found. Although research has examined the relationship between online bullying and depression, the UB study is one of the few to explore the connection between cyber victimization and sleep quality. The study surveyed more than 800 adolescents for sleep quality, cyber aggression and depression. The research will be presented by Misol Kwon, first author and a doctoral student in the School of Nursing, at SLEEP 2019, the 33rd annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, being held June 8-12 in San Antonio. Cyber victimization on the internet and social media is a unique form of peer victimization and an emerging mental health concern among teens who are digital natives, Kwon says. Understanding these associations supports the need to provide sleep hygiene education, and risk prevention and interventions to mistreated kids who show signs and symptoms of depression. Nearly one third of teens have experienced symptoms of depression, which, in addition to changes in sleep pattern, include persistent irritability, anger and social withdrawal, according to the U.S. Office of Adolescent Health. And nearly 15 percent of U.S. high school students report being bullied electronically, Kwon says. At severe levels, depression may lead to disrupted school performance, harmed relationships or suicide. The risks of allowing depression to worsen highlight the need for researchers and clinicians to understand and target sleep quality and other risk factors that have the potential to exacerbate the disorder. The research was supported by a $1.8 million grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in the National Institutes of Health awarded to Jennifer Livingston, principal investigator and associate professor in the School of Nursing. Additional School of Nursing investigators include Suzanne Dickerson, professor and chair of the Department of Biobehavioral Health and Clinical Sciences, and Eunhee Park, assistant professor. Young Seo, a doctoral candidate in the UB Graduate School of Education, is also an investigator. I.M. Pei, the Chinese-born American architect who began his long career working for a New York real-estate developer and ended it as one of the most revered architects in the world, has died. He was 102. His son Chien Chung Pei said on Thursday that his father had died overnight. Pei was probably best known for designing the East Building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington and the glass pyramid that serves as an entry for the Louvre in Paris. In Houston, Pei and his firm designed the Texas Commerce Tower, now Chase Tower, the adjacent 20-story building at 601 Travis, the old control tower at Bush Intercontinental and an office building at 2425 W. Loop South. He was hired by William Zeckendorf in 1948, shortly after he received his graduate degree in architecture from Harvard, to oversee the design of buildings produced by Zeckendorfs firm, Webb & Knapp. ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Texas Medical Center redesigns massive TMC3 project At a time when most of his Harvard classmates considered themselves fortunate to get to design a single-family house or two, Pei quickly found himself engaged in the design of high-rise buildings, and he used that experience as a springboard to establish his own firm, I.M. Pei & Associates, which he set up in 1955 with Henry Cobb and Eason Leonard, the team he had assembled at Webb & Knapp. In its early years, I.M. Pei & Associates mainly executed projects for Zeckendorf, including Kips Bay Plaza in New York, finished in 1963; Society Hill Towers in Philadelphia (1964); and Silver Towers in New York (1967). All were notable for their gridded concrete facades. The firm became fully independent from Webb & Knapp in 1960, by which time Pei, a cultivated man whose quiet, understated manner and easy charm masked an intense, competitive ambition, was winning commissions for major projects that had nothing to do with Zeckendorf. Among these were the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, completed in 1967, and the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, New York and the Des Moines Art Center in Iowa, both finished in 1968. DOWNTOWN: Hines bets on growth with second residential tower They were the first in a series of museums designed by Pei that would come to include the East Building (1978) and the Louvre pyramid (1989) as well as the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, for which he designed what amounted to a huge glass tent in 1995. It was perhaps his most surprising commission. Get alerts Text "Houston" to 77453 to receive HoustonChronicle.com alerts on your phone. See More Collapse Pei, not a rock n roll fan, initially turned down that job. After he changed his mind, he prepared for the challenge of expressing the spirit of the music by traveling to rock concerts with Jann Wenner, the publisher of Rolling Stone. The Cleveland project would not be Peis last unlikely museum commission: His museum oeuvre would culminate in the call to design the Museum of Islamic Art, in Doha, Qatar, of 2008, a challenge that Pei, a longtime collector of Western abstract expressionist art who admitted to knowing little about Islamic art, accepted with relish. As with the Rock & Roll museum, he saw it as an opportunity to learn about a part of culture he did not claim to understand. He began his research by reading a biography of the Prophet Muhammad, and then commenced a tour of great Islamic architecture around the world. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. The Chronicle's J.R. Gonzales contributed. CARSON CITY, Nev. - She didn't plan to say it. Yvanna Cancela, a newly elected Democrat in the Nevada Senate, didn't want to "sound crass." But when a Republican colleague defended a century-old law requiring doctors to ask women seeking abortions whether they're married, Cancela couldn't help firing back. "A man is not asked his marital status before he gets a vasectomy," she countered - and the packed hearing room fell silent. Since Nevada seated the nation's first majority-female state legislature in January, the male old guard has been shaken up by the perspectives of female lawmakers. Bills prioritizing women's health and safety have soared to the top of the agenda. Mounting reports of sexual harassment have led one male lawmaker to resign. And policy debates long dominated by men, including prison reform and gun safety, are yielding to female voices. Cancela, 32, is part of the wave of women elected by both parties in November, many of them younger than 40. Today, women hold the majority with 23 seats in the Assembly and 10 in the Senate, or a combined 52 percent. No other legislature has achieved that milestone in U.S. history. Only Colorado comes close, with women constituting 47 percent of its legislators. In Congress, just one in four lawmakers is a woman. And in Alabama, which just enacted an almost complete ban on abortion, women make up just 15 percent of lawmakers. The female majority is having a huge effect: More than 17 pending bills deal with sexual assault, sex trafficking and sexual misconduct, with some measures aimed at making it easier to prosecute offenders. Bills to ban child marriage and examine the causes of maternal mortality are also on the docket. "I can say with 100 percent certainty that we wouldn't have had these conversations" a few years ago, said Assembly Majority Leader Teresa Benitez-Thompson, a Democrat. "None of these bills would have seen the light of day." - - - Nevada didn't reach this landmark by accident. A loosely coordinated campaign of political action groups and women's rights organizations recruited and trained women such as Cancela, who became political director of the 57,000-member Culinary Workers Union before she turned 30. One of those organizations, Emerge Nevada, said it trained twice as many female candidates ahead of the 2018 midterm election as it had in the preceding 12 years. Meanwhile, the election of President Donald Trump in 2016 mobilized Democratic women nationwide, including in Nevada, where women already held 40 percent of statehouse seats. Along with the gender shift has come a steady increase in racial diversity: Of 63 lawmakers in Nevada, 11 are African American, nine are Hispanic, one is Native American and one, Rochelle Thuy Nguyen, 41, is the legislature's first Democratic female Asian American Pacific Islander. The result may seem surprising in a state more often defined by the hypersexuality and neon-lit debauchery of the Las Vegas Strip. Until 2017, the legislature included an assemblyman who had briefly appeared as an extra in a film about women being kidnapped and forced to live naked in kennels, according to PolitiFact. But that lawmaker, Republican Stephen Silberkraus, 38, was defeated by a woman, Democrat Lesley Cohen, 48, who highlighted the film during her campaign. (Silberkraus told reporters that he had been unaware of the film's sexual nature.) As a member of the Assembly, Cohen is leading a study on conditions for female sex workers in Nevada's rural brothels, the nation's only legal bordellos. "Outsiders ask why and how Nevada - of all places - became first," Cohen said. "But I say, why not Nevada? Why not everywhere?" - - - Carson City is a tiny frontier town, cradled among the snow-capped Sierra Nevada. For decades in the statehouse, charges of sexual harassment often were shrugged off or belittled, and bills sponsored by women were sometimes mocked. In 2015, Sen. Patricia Ann Spearman, now 64, said legislative leaders refused to schedule a hearing on her bill to promote pay equity for women. "The boys club was like, 'Why do we need that?' " Spearman, a Democrat, said. "It was a very misogynistic session." As recently as 2017, when the legislature approved a public referendum to repeal the "pink tax" on necessities such as tampons and diapers, one assemblyman argued against it, saying it would create a slippery slope. "Can I add my jockstrap purchases to your list? You might argue it's not a necessity, but I might beg to differ," Republican Jim Marchant, said at the time. Last November, voters agreed to repeal the tax - and replaced Marchant with a woman, Shea Backus, a Democrat. Even now, female lawmakers in both parties say they receive anonymous phone calls from men commenting on their looks or threatening sexual violence. GOP women "share a lot of common ground and lived experiences with Democratic women," said Republican Assemblywoman Jill Tolles, 45. Still, Nevada also has long history of female leadership. The first woman was elected to the legislature in 1918, before the U.S. Constitution guaranteed women the right to vote. And although the state has never elected a female governor, it has had at least four female lieutenant governors, the first appointed in 1962. These days, a giant banner strung across Main Street advertises a hotline for victims of sexual harassment and assault. Set up two years ago, after state Sen. Mark Manendo, D, now 52, resigned amid allegations of sexual harassment, witness tampering and other misconduct, the hotline has been buzzing during the current legislative session. Many women called with allegations of harassment against Assemblyman Michael Sprinkle, 51, a Democrat who stepped down in March. In a statement announcing his resignation, Sprinkle said that he was "taking full responsibility for my actions," would "continue to seek therapy," and asked his accusers and family for forgiveness. "There's change in this building that is just this amazing story of transformation," said Assemblywoman Heidi Swank, 51 and a Democrat who helped bring the allegations against Sprinkle to light. "And it really highlights the importance of the female majority being not just here, but finally being heard." Some female lawmakers say the old guard is literally dying. In November, voters in rural Nevada elected Republican Dennis Hof - a 72-year-old reality TV star and owner of several legal brothels, including the Love Ranch and the Moonlite Bunny Ranch - to the state Assembly. At the time, Hof had been dead for three weeks. While many female lawmakers say they have found strong male allies this session, a few older men seem to be finding life in the minority difficult. Democratic Assemblywoman Shannon Bilbray-Axelrod, 45, who keeps a "No Bulls--t Allowed" sign on her desk, said one assemblyman frequently asks, "Have you been a good girl today?" "It's so inappropriate on so many levels, and it's that old guard trying to hang on," she said. "Calling this out is the way you change the world." The assemblyman, co-Deputy Minority Leader John Ellison, 66, said he has "great respect" for Bilbray-Axelrod. After being contacted by The Washington Post, Ellison, a Republican, sent her a handwritten card asking her to "please accept my apology if I ever said anything offensive to you." Bilbray-Axelrod said the moment shows that "there is hope for everyone." Historically, state legislatures have been "stubborn, slow-to-change institutions, which were heavily male-dominated," said Kelly Dittmar, a scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. Although it's notable that "one state has crossed into the 50-percent mark to represent women," she said, "it's probably a lot more significant that we have 49 legislatures left to go." - - - Assemblywoman Selena Torres, a Democrat, never expected to be here. The 23-year-old teacher who helps Hispanic students learn English said she was inspired to run when she heard Trump on TV saying "awful things about immigrants." "I think growing up, you have this idea that politicians aren't us. They don't look like me. They don't have my type of hair. They don't come from our background. They don't have to send money back to El Salvador to make sure that their family can make ends meet," Torres said. "But then you come to realize: That's the problem." Torres signed up for workshops by Emerge Nevada, a national Democratic organization that recruits and trains female candidates. In the legislature, Torres said she has found a spirit of sisterhood. Benitez-Thompson, 40, has mentored her and given her suits and blazers. She and some of the other women share apartments and joke that they could star in a fun but wonky reality show called "The Real World: Carson City." Meanwhile, the women are savoring their first legislative victories. Cancela, who has the logo of the culinary union tattooed across her rib cage, noted that the Senate recently passed her Trust Nevada Women's Act, which would codify and update abortion rights. It's now awaiting a vote in the assembly. Cancela said she was nervous when she defended the measure with a reference to vasectomy that day in March. But she said she willed herself to summon the courage to disrupt the usual order. "I wanted to be respectful," she said. "But also make a point." Campus News Three receive Meyerson mentoring awards By ROBBY JOHNSON UB faculty members Colleen Culleton, Kwang Oh and David Schmid have been named recipients for the 2019 President Emeritus and Mrs. Meyerson Award for Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching and Mentoring, UBs highest honor given for undergraduate mentoring. The Meyerson award honors faculty members for the crucial guidance and support they provide undergraduate students to help them develop the necessary skills for research, creativity, critical thinking and innovation. It was established through a generous gift by the late President Emeritus Martin Meyerson, who served as UBs 10th president, and his wife, Margy Ellen, to recognize exceptional teaching and mentoring at the university. The recipients will be recognized at the annual Celebration of Faculty and Staff Excellence this fall. Each year, the Meyerson Award recognizes the impact quality mentoring has on the student experience and academic achievement, says Ann M. Bisantz, dean of undergraduate education. As UB strives to deepen and enrich student involvement across the campus, we look to our faculty to cultivate rich opportunities that will give students an advantage in their chosen fields. Colleen Culleton Culleton, associate professor of Spanish, is a scholar of modern Spanish and Catalan literature and culture, ecocriticism, spatial analysis and theories of narrative. She has served as UBs Fulbright program administrator and is a member of the Modern Language Association. She previously was on the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and received a doctorate in Hispanic studies at Cornell University, where she also was a Sage Graduate Fellow. Kwang Oh Oh, professor of electrical engineering and biomedical engineering, focuses his research pursuits on bioMEMS, microfluidics and sensors, important areas that continue to impact development of lab-on-chip, point-of-care, high-throughput cell study and unconventional microfluidic applications. He has authored or co-authored more than 50 peer-reviewed journal articles and holds 21 U.S. patents and 49 foreign patents. He has mentored several doctoral and masters students, and more than 20 undergraduate research students. Oh is a recipient of the 2019 Qualcomm Faculty Award for research that inspires students and sparks new approaches in key technology areas. He was named an Emerging Investigator by the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2012, and before joining the UB faculty worked at the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT), Samsung Electronics in Korea. He holds a doctorate in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Cincinnati. The Memorial Day weekend signifies the kickoff to the Summer season for many people. Its a perfect three-day weekend for enjoying a barbecue with family and friends, relaxing by the pool or maybe a short trip to Galveston Island. But Americans need to remember why they observe Memorial Day; a patriotic holiday in which the country honors the men and women who sacrificed their lives serving this country. This month, The Village of River Oaks unveils its Wall of Honor for Veterans. The community is proud to recognize residents who proudly served in the United States armed services and to the commitment of liberty and freedom for all. The Wall of Honor offers a sense of pride for its residents who are veterans, but more importantly, its the communitys gratitude to veterans for their service to the country. The city of Houston on Thursday swore in 66 fire cadets to the department ranks after Mayor Sylvester Turner rescinded the pink slips they received last month under his plan to implement Proposition B. A state district judge ruled the pay parity measure unconstitutional and void Wednesday, prompting Turner to announce that no city employees would receive layoffs. Prop B required the city to grant firefighters the same pay as police of corresponding rank and seniority, and Turner said the layoffs were necessary to offset the $79 million-a-year cost. As part of his plan to pay for firefighters raises, Turner also sent 60-day layoff notices to 47 municipal workers and secured city council approval to lay off 220 firefighters. Those layoffs also will be reversed, Turner said Wednesday. Many of the new firefighters will begin work at Houston fire stations as early as Saturday, according to a city news release. Turner previously had refused to promote the cadets, while continuing to swear in police cadets. The fire cadets were the first city employees to receive pink slips. The mayor congratulated the new firefighters in a statement late Thursday. Todays swearing-in represents the culmination of their hard work and dedication to serving the citizens of Houston, the mayor said, adding that he hopes to hear soon from the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association to begin discussions on a raise the city can afford. Fire union President Marty Lancton said union members heartily welcome (the cadets) to the fire service. Its great to see them finally recognized for their hard work and commitment to serving Houston, and not simply used as political hostages by the mayor, Lancton said in a statement sent before Turner made his comments. The fire union has filed notice that it is appealing the judges ruling. Fire Chief Sam Pena praised the cadets for their commitment to the fire department and said he looks forward to seeing them succeed in their career path." jasper.scherer@chron.com A firefighter was hospitalized, and more than a dozen families were displaced after an intense fire ripped through more than 30 Galleria area apartment homes Friday afternoon. The fire which eventually reached four alarms sparked around 12:30 p.m. at the Greenridge Place apartment in the 3000 of Greenridge, just north of Westheimer. Houston firefighters rolled into the complex within minutes of residents' several 911 calls and started attacking the flames, Houston Fire Department Assistant Chief Michael Mire said. Within minutes, officials pulled a second alarm, then a third and fourth as southerly winds fueled the blaze. "The size and layout of the building is quite a challenge," Mire told Chron.com sometime between the third and fourth alarm. "Given the other conditions the firefighters are facing, it's a matter of personnel and resources." The fire appeared to have started inside a first-floor apartment on the north side of the building, eventually making its way through the second and third stories. Flames were shooting from the roof and spreading through the shared attic space when firefighters arrived. While fighting the fire, at least one firefighter suffered severe heat exhaustion, and was rushed to an area hospital by ambulance. Two other firefighters and a resident of the complex were treated on scene for smoke inhalation, officials said on scene. At least 18 apartment homes were destroyed in the blaze, HFD spokesperson Sheldra Brigham said. "Everything, she's lost everything," Talisha Johnson said of her daughter's apartment and possessions. "Everything's gone in a matter of seconds." She said her daughter heard a pop and then saw thick, black smoke right outside her window. That was around the same time that Corniesha Johnson heard a commotion and saw the building was on fire. "Someone actually screamed out 'fire' and said a mattress was on fire on the first floor," she said. "I went out and screamed out, 'fire, fire' to everyone, because people were sleeping. Even a baby. By that time, the whole apartment was actually on fire. When the firefighters got here, they were on the third floor. I yelled out and screamed out to go to the first floor." Johnson, whose apartment was also damaged, was overcome with emotion while being interviewed by reporters and couldn't speak for much longer. Many of the residents inside the complex are unemployed, making a recovery from a fire such as this that more difficult, Johnson said. "A lot of these people ... might need help and assistance," she said. "If you can reach out to them, please do." Arson investigators with the Houston Fire Department are working to determine what started the blaze. The American Red Cross was called out to assist those residents who were displaced. Jay R. Jordan covers breaking news in the Houston area. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan | Email him at jay.jordan@chron.com | Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message They look like they rolled straight out of a Terminator movie. Futuristic robotic combat vehicles were on display this week at a Texas A&M campus to show off existing military technology to the Army Futures Command, an Austin-based post that develops future war fighting concepts for the U.S. Army. It was the first such demonstration at the A&M Rellis campus, a 2,000-acre former military training base that gave the vehicle operators plenty of space to work with, university spokesman Laylan Copelin said. "They spent all week putting [the vehicles] through their paces and evaluating the vehicles," Copelin said. Academic researchers, military members and reporters got the chance to see the tanks and Humvees in action this week. To participate, the vehicles had to travel off-road and on paved roads at speeds up to 75 miles per hour, carrying a payload of 1,000 pounds, the release said. The vehicle needed to be capable of operating out of the line of sight in all weather conditions. They also needed to work at a distance of 500 to 700 meters from the operator station. Some vehicles had mounted gun turrets, but they didn't live fire during the demonstration, Copelin said. The vehicles did, however, drive through simulated urban environments to "see how [the vehicles] navigate city streets." Col . Warren Sponsler, deputy director of the Next Generation Cross-Functional Team, said robotic combat vehicles will help reduce the risk to soldiers. "There are a lot of dirty, dangerous things our soldiers do on the battlefield today," he said in a university news release. "Robotic combat vehicles could do those things for them." >>> Click through the gallery to see the futuristic vehicles Julian Gill is a digital reporter in Houston. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | julian.gill@chron.com | NEWS WHEN YOU NEED IT: Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message | Sign up for breaking news alerts delivered to your email here. It has been one year since a single student brought multiple guns to Santa Fe High School, located near Houston, and began firing. The attack remains one of the deadliest in U.S. and Texas state history. Read the story of the police officer battling through recovery after getting taking fire at Santa Fe High School shooting on HoustonChronicle.com The tragedy claimed 10 lives and left 13 injured. These were friends, fathers, mothers, daughters, brothers and sons who were taken too soon. Educators Glenda Perkins and Cynthia Tisdale who began the school day in the art room were among those killed. As were students Jared Black, Shana Fisher, Christian Riley Garcia, Aaron Kyle McLeod, Angelique Ramirez, Sabika Sheikh, Christopher Jake Stone and Kimberly Vaughan. In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, they were remembered best by those who knew them as heroes and caregivers. However, their courage and sacrifice, as individuals and as a group, will be reaffirmed on the one-year anniversary of the tragedy and for many years after. Above you can see their faces of all who gave their lives on that terrible day in Santa Fe last spring. Peter Dawson is a digital reporter in Houston. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | Peter.Dawson@chron.com | NEWS WHEN YOU NEED IT: Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message | Sign up for breaking news alerts delivered to your email here. On May 17, 2016, 11-year-old Josue Flores was walking home from school in the 1900 block of Fulton in his Near Northside neighborhood. Somewhere along the way, Josue was reportedly stabbed some 20 times. His death still haunts the neighborhood. On the third anniversary of Josue's murder, Houston police issued a call to find a person of interest in the case. They say the man they are looking for may be the same person they once had in custody and charged in the case before releasing him. During a Friday morning news conference, HPD re-issued photos of a black male seen along the METRORail tracks near the crime scene shortly after Josue's death. Investigators say they would like for people in the neighborhood who spoke to media about a possible suspect to step into the light with their information. "I personally know, having reviewed media clips from back then, there were people who chose not to show their face or give their name," said Det. Ramon Cervantes with the HPD Cold Case Squad. "We need those people to come forward." While police are looking for any information about the man seen in the video, they admit it is possibly Andre Jackson, a man they once questioned, and even charged in connection with Josue's death. The charges were later dropped by then District Attorney Devon Anderson. Josue Flores case: Murder charge dropped against homeless man accused in stabbing On July 19, 2017 the Harris County DA announced Tuesday that DNA evidence and blood analysis were inconclusive for Andre Timothy Jackson, 29, who was arrested June 3, 2016, in the death of the Marshall Middle School student. Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said the DNA evidence did not eliminate Jackson as a suspect. Acevedo said DNA from the Josue Flores case was sent to a forensics lab in Utah that has testing not available in Houston, and that forensic techniques have improved since the time of Josue's death. As for Jackson's whereabouts, investigators believe he is still in the Houston area, but not not necessarily in the neighborhood where the crime was committed. "I'm telling this mom that we are not giving up," said Acevedo. "But we need the community to help." Houston Crime Stoppers is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Josue Flores' killer. Anyone with information in the case should call Houston Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS. STAY INFORMED: Text CHRON to 77453 to get breaking news alerts by text | Sign up to receive breaking news alerts delivered to your email here. Canadas Maritime Provinces experiencing fastest population growth in decades Provincial nominee programs in PEI, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick playing key roles Canadas Maritime Provinces experiencing fastest population growth in decades Provincial nominee programs in PEI, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick playing key roles Canadas Maritime Provinces experiencing fastest population growth in decades Provincial nominee programs in PEI, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick playing key roles CIC News Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif Sans Font Size A A Immigration is helping drive the fastest population growth in decades in Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, says a new report by the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council. The three provinces, collectively known as Canadas Maritime provinces, have been the focus of intensive efforts to attract and retain skilled foreign workers and their families in recent years. Immigration is seen as key to reversing population and labour force declines caused by migration to other provinces, low fertility rates, and their older populations. This emphasis on immigration has combined with a drop in the number of residents leaving the region for work opportunities elsewhere in Canada to spark population growth rates in the Maritime provinces unseen since at least 1991, the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council (APEC) reports. Prince Edward Island, known as PEI, has experienced what APEC described as an incredible population growth rate of two per cent year-over-year since 2016. The report said net international immigration was the biggest contributor to these results in PEI, with the province recording the largest number of new immigrants in Canada in 2016-2018, relative to the size of its population. Nova Scotia posted an average growth rate of 0.8 per cent during the same period, which the council said was its fastest since the mid-1980s. New Brunswick averaged an annual growth rate of 0.5 per cent, which was its highest since the early 1990s. Newfoundland and Labrador was the only province in Atlantic Canada to register a negative growth rate, with its population decreasing by 0.2 per cent per year. Provincial Nominee Programs biggest source of newcomers According to the APEC report, provincial nominee programs in Canadas Atlantic provinces brought 22,000 newcomers to the region between 2016 and 2018, making them the biggest source of new immigrants. Provincial nominee programs, or PNPs, allow participating Canadian provinces to nominate a specified number of economic immigration candidates each year for permanent residence in Canada. Each PNP is divided into a number of streams that are designed to meet diverse labour force needs in the province. The Atlantic Immigration Pilot, a federal-provincial initiative launched two years ago to attract international workers to the region, has brought in an additional 1,600 new immigrants since late 2017, APEC said. The pilot provides a fast-track to Canadian permanent residence for foreign workers hired by employers in the Atlantic Canada region for jobs they havent been able to fill locally. While encouraging, APEC said it is still too early to determine whether the impressive population growth experienced in PEI, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in recent years will be sustained. Find out if you are eligible for immigration to Canada 2019 CICNews All Rights Reserved One of the most powerful experiences I can share as a marketing executive is a great customer success story. Its the proof in the pudding that affirms the real business results the customer is realizing from their experience. We live in an always-on culture, and with this, consumers have come to expect an always-on experience. This means businesses must implement an IT infrastructure which provides access to business and consumer data 24/7, without interruption, regardless of any catastrophe, natural disaster, planned outage or security breach. A recent IDC study found 84% of respondents reported some level of business disruption in the last two years due to technology. This number calls into question the ability of traditional backup to meet customers increasingly insatiable appetites for connectivity and security and highlighting the need to be truly resilient. Backup is not resilience, said Jayme Williams, senior systems engineer fromTenCate, to John Moore of TechTarget after experiencing multiple ransomware attacks aimed at his company. TenCate and many organizations have recognizied the need to reevaluate their data backup and DR plans and solutions, ultimately choosing a fully robust IT resilience solution to ensure uninterrupted service to their clients. Here are a few examples: Vanessa Babcock, Senior Systems Engineer in Information Systems, Canton-Potsdam Hospital We needed to ensure that Meditech [the organizations electronic health record] was recoverable, because we only had tape backups at the time. And such a backup, using tape, would take days in order to achieve full recovery. Recovering from tape just wasnt a viable option any longer; we needed a solution that could take the time and human resources out of that, said Vanessa Babcock, senior systems engineer in information systems, Canton-Postdam Hospital via an interview with Healthcare Innovation. Benny Yazdanpanahi, CIO, The City of Tyler We strive to provide services to all of our internal users by making sure all critical data and databases are available to city employees 24/7. And we use Zerto to replicate all of our data to make sure that all three of our datacenter locations can simultaneously copy each other in case of a disaster so we can revert to a certain time and recover our data, especially for our public safety and our public works applications. said Benny Yazdanpanahi, CIO, The City of Tyler. Tristan Hargreaves, IT Manager, Gleadell Agriculture Over the years, Ive seen so many problems caused by snapshots. Having a solution that doesnt use them means I can go to bed without worrying about whether things will still be there in the morning, said Tristan Hargreaves, IT Manager at Gleadell Agriculture. Organizations across industries have chosen to acknowledge the increasingly important role data is fulfilling within companies, going on to review their IT infrastructure, examine the benefits of converging DR with backup and resolving that legacy data protection models no longer represent a strategic businesses investment. They have chosen IT resilience and continuous data protection because their customers rely on them to be there, 24/7, despite any challenges the day presents. Challenges will arise, but they also know with a robust IT resilience program, they will be able to provide seamless service to their customers. To learn more about the total economic impact of being a truly IT resilient organization, read the Forrester report. 28808 FREMONT, CA: Brightflag, an artificial intelligence powered enterprise legal management (ELM) platform, announced Kevin Cohn as their new Chief Customer Officer (CCO). The inclusion of Cohn with Brightflag's experienced executive team will help the company to achieve the milestone of the world's largest enterprise. Brightfield has experienced a tremendous amount of growth in 2018 and is likely to continue its expansion with April's Series A investment of $ 8.5 million. With the sizeable growth in all six continents from offices and data centers in North America, Australia, and Europe, the company plans on doubling its body count to meet the global requirement for contemporary legal services. Prior to signing in with Brightflag, Cohn was a prominent figure in the development of Smartling, a smart language translating platform. Cohn brings in a wealth of SAAS experience onto the table with his extensive expert experience as a COO for Atypon, a leading software developer for an academic publisher. According to Ian Nolan, co-founder, and CEO of Brightflag, the sudden outburst of their company was lead due to the ability to centralize and align customers legal invoice management and commercial broadcasting capabilities. The robust language analytical technology possessed by the platform helped to elevate consumer's real savings from 8 percent to 12 percent. To help general counsel, legal operation professionals, and in-housing lawyers to gain a superior status, Brightflag is architecting an intelligent ELM system. The company's state of the art artificial intelligence unwinds every aspect of legal operation from completing the task on individual matters to reporting on legal spends. AI-powered reviews allow consumers to compare different law firms against billing guideline and flag savings and in turn, granting consumers access data visibility to get greater control on external legal spend. Brightflag also provides a dedicated centralized portal for managing accruals, spending reports by law firms, and customizing billing guidelines for outside counsel management. Availing the platform lets users construct a legal data dashboard enabling them to personalize and analyze reports and guide them to take better legal decisions. See More: Top Legal Technology Companies in APAC Top Legal Tech Consulting Companies Over 100 homes burnt down in Mankon Whatsapp The Governor of the North West region,Adolphe Lele Lafrique, has consoled victims of Mile 8, Alachu attacks in Bamenda, announcing President Paul Biya will compensate them for their losses. He was on the field one day after separatists killed two military officers in that neighbourhood, which led to the burning of over 100 homes.The governor condemned the act, during a brief meeting with the traditional ruler of Mankon, His Royal Highness, Angwafor III, and the mayor of Bamenda II sub division. Mayor Balick Awah Fidelis expressed regrets that over 200 persons have been affected by the incident. Although most witnesses laid blame on the military for burning down these homes, the Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Defense, Joseph Beti Assomo, rather said investigations have been opened to determine the perpetrators who burnt and looted properties of civilians. He reassured national and international community that the military was determined to carry out its missions of preserving national integrity and eradicate terrorism by all means. He called on the population in the affected areas to collaborate massively with the military. Ambazonia fighters killed two soldiers in Mile 8,Alachu Mankon on Wednesday, May 15. This led to a retaliation and man-hunt exercise from the military said to have destroyed several houses, a local clinic, a church and cars amongst others. This is not the first time that a village has been reduced to ashes by the military after one of theirs was killed in the area. Reports highlight that at least 100 houses have been destroyed in the Anglophone regions by soldiers in a man-hunt for separatists hideout. Farah Louis was elected to the New York City Council on Tuesday, topping seven other candidates on the ballot including Monique Chandler-Waterman, the top choice of Jumaane Williams, who vacated the seat after being elected New York City public advocate. But Louis built a coalition and won the race with an impressive 42% of the vote. Now the City councilwoman-elect is participating in meetings and getting her feet wet before being sworn in later this month. Louis talked to City & State about feeling at home at City Hall, whether she expected Williams endorsement and how shell win again next months primary. Youve been working in the City Council as a staffer since 2013, and now youve been elected councilwoman. Is this going to be an easy transition? Today when I went to City Hall, I knew where everything was. I had a lengthy conversation with the speakers staff on what Im planning to do next. The members all knew who I was. They congratulated me, they talked to me about some things that are coming up in their committees and how I can be helpful to them and how they could be helpful to me. Everyone greeted me peacefully, respectfully, and it was just great to be back home. I consider the City Council chambers and City Hall to be home, so it was great to be back. The Parks and Recreation Committee is currently without a chairperson. Would you be interested in taking that? What committees do you want to join? As chair, no. But I would be interested in the committee, since I do have some parks in my district that need resources. Some of the committees that Im interested in are Housing, Economic Development, Education, Land Use. Those committees I feel can be helpful in the issues that are happening in my district. You just won a hard-fought special election against seven other candidates. What was your strategy? It was definitely a team effort. Im really grateful for all the unions that endorsed me. Im grateful for the elected officials that endorsed me, and all the volunteers. I feel like they played a major part in winning this race. We were just focused on community, putting my name out there, letting people know that I was running. Branding. The unification platform ensuring that folks knew that I was all about unification and getting folks to remember me. Remember that I fought for them and advocated for them when it came to funding community initiatives, going to community board meetings and civic meetings and taking all of their questions and concerns back to the City Council to address those matters. We were boots on the ground. We were knocking on doors, meeting people on the street. So it was a collective effort and we just wanted to ensure that the community knew who I was, remembered who I was and encouraged them to go out and to exercise their right to vote. Were you surprised to not get Jumaane Williams endorsement in the race? I was surprised, seeing that we did have a conversation about him staying out. But Im fine that I didnt get his support because the support came from the community. It came from the voters. It came from the folks that needed the support from me to ensure that I was providing the resources back to the community. So it was fine. Youre just the latest Haitian-American elected to public office in the state. Does it feel like the community is growing in political power? Weve always had a platform, a voice in the community. Weve always been influential. There is a Haitian bloc here in New York City, and Im proud of my heritage. Im proud and Im thankful that Haitians came out to support me in this race. That they remembered me and that they know my work and that I am a true advocate for the community at large. But the support wasnt just from the Haitian community. The support was from the community at large. Thats the Orthodox Jewish, the Haitian, the Muslim community, the South Asian community. I work for everyone. And unifying above the ethnic titles is whats important to me You are up for election once again on June 25. Whats the strategy? Do you expect the other candidates to campaign hard against you? I dont really have thoughts on June in regards to other candidates and what that looks like on their end. Im not focused on that. What I am focused on is strengthening, rejuvenating and rebooting the team to go back out there. We had a really tough race. We won because we stuck it out until the end and we built a collective effort within. The goal right now is just to keep pushing forward, keep pushing the same platform. And, for me, its balancing the work that I have to do in the City Council and running for the City Council seat. Do you have any close allies in the Council, or colleagues youve worked with well? Yes, Council member Helen Rosenthal has been an ally. Ive worked closely with her office. Ive always tapped on her shoulder or knocked on her door if I had a question, and she was always there to lend her support and speak with me. Same thing with Council member Justin Brannan, hes always been someone that I could sit down and talk to, as well as his staff. Council member Rafael Espinals staff and I are very close. Council member Carlos Menchacas office. There are so many different Council members that I have worked with their offices directly, like Council member Alicka Samuels office, City Council member Vanessa Gibson. Theres so many! I want to continue to cultivate those relationships and continue to work with their staff. The city budget is due at the end of June. Do you have any particular priorities you want to get funded? Before I left the Council in March we submitted the budget already to the speakers office, so everything will remain the same. The goal is to fund the same groups we funded last year, adding a few more on. The priorities for me is to work on the parks equity initiative, the DOVE initiative, which is the domestic violence initiative in the City Council, theres an initiative for formerly incarcerated folks, theres so many different ones. The City Council has recently sanctioned members for sexual harassment. At your victory party, Kings County Democratic leader Frank Seddio reportedly commented on your looks. Were you comfortable with those comments? Did you talk to Seddio afterwards? Spokeswoman Tanisha Colon-Bibb: Were not going to speak on that right now. The now-abandoned plans to bring half of Amazons second headquarters to Long Island City, Queens, elicited a swell of demonstrations from the resurgent left wing of the Democratic Party in Queens and resulted in the tech sectors deeper foray into local politics. For the elected officials cut out of the agreement to bring Amazon to New York, HQ2 inspired a slew of bills to ensure that the states economic development approach to landing the internet powerhouse would never be repeated although they have yet to garner much support. Between November when HQ2 was announced and just before Amazon dropped its plans in February, at least four pieces of legislation were introduced in Albany to reform related economic development practices. Among them are amendments to the federal opportunity zone program, bans on company-specific subsidies and nondisclosure agreements, and a prohibition on dealing in real estate based on private knowledge of government deals like the one with Amazon. While the backlash to the deal to bring Amazon to Long Island City largely centered around the oft-cited $3 billion in combined state and city tax incentives and subsidies, the proposed bills to reform New Yorks economic development approach would mostly target programs that didnt contribute to that total. The majority of that $3 billion came from the states Excelsior Jobs Program, and New York Citys Relocation and Employment Assistance Program as well as its Industrial & Commercial Abatement Program. Legislation introduced in the wake of the HQ2 announcement largely deals with some of the overlooked conditions of the deal to woo Amazon. The Amazon experience pulled the curtain back on a flawed economic development approach across the board, said state Sen. Michael Gianaris, who represents Queens and was one of the most outspoken critics of the HQ2 deal. Gianaris introduced three bills aimed at ending the techniques used by both Amazon and the state to seal the deal behind closed doors. The first would prohibit nondisclosure and other confidentiality terms from being included in certain government contracts something Amazon required in its request for proposals. Another would make it a felony to use insider information to buy and sell real estate as some did before the HQ2 site was made public. The third bill would end state tax breaks for capital gains when investments are made in federal opportunity zones a tax law intended to encourage development in impoverished areas but which can also be applied to areas already experiencing gentrification, like the planned Long Island City site of HQ2. Its a very worthy goal, Gianaris said of the federal opportunity zone program, which has stirred controversy before. But the way its administered, it allows the states to include neighboring tracts that are not actually impoverished. And thats exactly what happened here. That area of Hunters Point in Long Island City, which is very wealthy, happens to be close by to Queensbridge Houses, which is very poor. And the state designated the surrounding wealthy area. Gianaris is also a co-sponsor on a fourth bill introduced by state Sen. Julia Salazar and Assemblyman Ron Kim that would create an interstate compact prohibiting company-specific subsidies taking a direct shot at Amazons HQ2 competition-turned-bidding war, which drew 238 proposals from municipalities, many of which included subsidies. There were a number of lessons learned from that experience about flaws in the states economic development programs and approach, Gianaris said. Amazon drove a freight truck through those openings, which led to a lot of the problems that were experiencing. Now, with a month left in the session, Gianaris is hoping to pass his legislation, even if that means some bills will be prioritized above others. I think the opportunity zone program reform is going to get a lot of attention, he said, when asked about which bills he thinks could advance by June. Im hoping the nondisclosure ban will also get some attention. The insider trading Im pushing, but defining what that means is taking some work. As of May, Gianaris bills still sit in committee, each with only one co-sponsor, state Sen. Jessica Ramos, and they lack companion bills in the Assembly. Kims bill in the Assembly is being co-sponsored by Phil Steck, Patrick Burke, Karines Reyes and Yuh-Line Niou. While the fervor of the HQ2 opposition may have flamed out slightly since the company pulled out in February, Gianaris is looking to make these bills about more than one particularly controversial economic development deal, even if they dont pass this session. I would recommend that we spend a fair amount of time after session is over looking at ways to improve things for the entire state, not just looking at what went wrong for one particular project, he said. Given the strength of his opposition to HQ2, Gianaris stated intention to follow through on his proposals is not surprising. But even those who supported HQ2 are pushing back against New Yorks economic development practices. Jonathan Bowles, the executive director at the Center for an Urban Future, supported the planned Amazon headquarters, but argued that companies like Amazon arent coming to New York for the subsidies. I am very worried that were getting in a situation where any company in the tech sector that is expanding is going to expect a tax break, Bowles said. Of all the industries, this is one where I just think theyre not needed. Whether lawmakers like Gianaris and Salazar can continue to use the momentum of HQ2 to attract their colleagues to economic development reform with only weeks left remains to be seen. I know theres a number of members that have spoken to me since this whole thing, and they share this interest, Gianaris said. So I think its going to be a wider priority for many of us, not just for me because of one project. I think its going to end up being a bigger deal, and something thats been long called for in the state. Bill de Blasio is running for president. After months spent deciding whether hed run, the New York City mayor officially jumped into the Democratic primary with a three-minute, seven-second video posted on his YouTube channel early Thursday morning. We took a closer look at the announcement from the 23rd Democratic presidential candidate to enter the race. Inside De Blasio in sky blue dress shirt, open collar. Close-up, staring at camera. De Blasio, emphatically: Theres in this world. Theres plenty of money in this country! Its just in . Establishing shots of New York the Brooklyn Bridge, the Lower Manhattan skyline. Cut to the mayor in the backseat . Cue upbeat easy-listening-funk instrumental music, heavy with horns. De Blasio, voiceover: Here in New York City, a place that is and big and complicated. De Blasio, on camera, in backseat. Video is shot largely looking at the city . Good thing about New Yorkers is they look the same, whether theyre at you or they like you. Quick cuts of smiling people alone and in groups, diverse in race and age. De Blasio, voiceover: We built an agenda that puts working families first. all over the city, all over the state, to make sure that people got a decent wage. We are raising the wage to 15 dollars an hour. Cheers. Overlaid graphic: $15 MINIMUM WAGE Waitresses and dishwashers and store clerks and people who work in small manufacturing firms the backbone of New York City Cheers. Overlaid graphic: PAID SICK LEAVE You will have the for the first time of paid sick leave. Cut to de Blasio at , holding up NYC Care card. Overlaid graphic: GUARANTEED HEALTHCARE INCLUDING MENTAL HEALTH This has never existed in this country: fully comprehensive, guaranteed health care. Cut to de Blasio holding hands across a table with , lovingly looking into each others eyes. My wife Chirlane and I believe . It has to be available for all. It has to be affordable. And it has to include . Cut to de Blasio and McCray walking outside a townhouse they own on 11th Street in . McCray voiceover: Everything begins with being healthy. And theres no health without mental health. Overlaid graphic: FREE PRE-K FOR ALL. De Blasio, voiceover: Today we announce free, full-day, high-quality, pre-K. Cut to McCray and de Blasio, shaking hands with New Yorkers on 6th Avenue in Park Slope. People come up to Bill every day and thank him for making that possible. It makes a real difference in the childs life. It makes a real difference . Transition, with the rumble of a freight train, the symbol of rural life. Cut fun music and cue somber piano tones. Show more people alone and in groups, diverse in race and age, but nobody is smiling. De Blasio voiceover: It doesnt matter if you live in a city or a rural area, a big state, a small state. It doesnt matter what your ethnicity is. People feel stuck or even like theyre going backwards. But the . Transition, with aerial shots of the White House, followed by photos of Latino migrant children, surrounded by . Cut somber piano and cue anxious strings. Let the orchestra come in with a dramatic knock-off of The Avengers theme. De Blasio: Im a New Yorker. Ive known for a long time. This is not news to me or anyone else here. And I know . When Donald Trump started separating families Cut to de Blasio at June 20, 2018 press conference outside shelter where unaccompanied minor immigrants were being held: Our message to the federal government is simple: stop this broken, inhumane policy right now. Cut back to de Blasio inside Grace Mansion, staring off camera, as if being interviewed. - we sent lawyers to the border to help protect those families. When he told us he was going to cut off our security funding, we took him to court, and we beat him. Transition, with the rumble of a thunderstorm. Satellite shot of a hurricane forming, followed by power plants, polluted water. De Blasio: When we saw our national government walk away from the Paris Agreement, we . Cut to de Blasio at an April 22, 2019 press conference touting new limits on greenhouse gas emissions for large buildings. This battle to save our earth will be won or lost in our lifetime. Theres no second chance. Cut back to de Blasio inside Grace Mansion, staring off camera, as if being interviewed. Dont back down in the face of a bully. Confront him. Take him on. Cut to dramatic shots of New York City. De Blasio walking on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade as the Manhattan skyline rises behind him. As president, I will . I will take on the . I will not rest until this government serves working people. As mayor of in America, Ive done just that. Quick cuts of determined-looking people alone and in groups, diverse in race and age. Cut to de Blasio near Bowling Green, posing for a cell-phone picture with a woman. Woman: De Blasio for president, guys! Back to Gracie Mansion interior. De Blasio staring into the camera, emphatically: must be stopped. Ive beaten him before, and I will do it again. Cut to de Blasio, posing on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. Overlaid graphic: Bill de Blasio, Mayor, New York City. Im Bill de Blasio, and Im running for president because its time we put working people first. Cut to campaign logo, blue, green and white. Slogan: Working people first. Cookie Preferences Cookie List Cookie List A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website when visited by a user asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting for our advertising and marketing efforts. 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HERE IS A SELECTION OF LETTERS AND EMAILS weve received since March, including in response to the Perception Issue of our magazine. Please send correspondence to [email protected], along with your name, address, and any relevant affiliation. Confrontation and giggles at Jacob Wohl press conference, by Jared Holt (May 9) Its worth noting that this lie blew up on Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman before it could even get started. Too often, the debunking happens too late, and their lies are allowed to circulate. The result is their lies never go away. Journalists must do better at calling out their lies earlier. JJ Mulvey, via Facebook Sign up for CJR 's daily email Should the media quit Facebook?, by Mathew Ingram (May 9) Journalists ought to be where the people are. Speculations like this are dangerous, even taking full account on the arguments in your article. Filippos Dizen Otinanoglou, via Facebook Should broadcast outlets quit Facebook? Yes. Individual credentialed journalists? No. The social media presence of a broadcast outlet should be represented by individual pages administrated by individual journalists. The broadcast outlet itself, as an entity, should be contained to its own web page. Amy Pachla, via Facebook As NewsGuild holds election, members say union has been too passive, by Lyz Lenz (May 6) This piece should have been labeled Opinion, because it doesnt come close to objective journalism. Im a longtime NewsGuild member and veteran of several leadership elections, and all I see in this piece is a slanted and limited view of how the election process works and whos running and why. I also see cherry-picking in whos quoted and how. Take this vague statement, for example: Journalists also say that NewsGuild hasnt had a cohesive and organized response to the new unions. What journalists? A lot of LA Times people are quoted in the piece, who are colleagues of one of the candidates. Theres also a reference to other journalists of newly organized newsrooms. The implication of both statements is that all or most journalists have a common view of the Guild and its leadership. But not all NewsGuild members think the same wayabout this election, or anything else. Nothing in this article shows any attempt to express the opinions of journalists (from newly organized newsrooms or longstanding Guild units) with different points of view. Kathy Wilmore, NewsGuild member New York, New York As chairman of the NewsGuild election committee, I feel compelled to try to explain that just because someone chooses to ignore, or resent, the rules of the NewsGuild Constitution does not mean they do not apply. Throwing out a phrase like independent oversight may sound very democratic, but it means little when there are already rules providing for just thatrules which cannot be set aside, on the eve of an election, to implement some undefined alternative which has never been approved by Guild members. The committee I chair, which has complete control over this election, was not appointed. It was elected by delegates at the same Guild Sector conference where Jon Schleuss [who is challenging the incumbent NewsGuild president, Bernie Lunzer] was nominated. It should also be noted that anyone who supports Schleuss could have nominated someone else to sit on the committee had they wished. They did not. The election committee is independent of the Guild leadership, although it does sometimes direct and rely on senior Guild staff and the executive vice president. Those staff members and officers have in no way interfered with or compromised the ability of the committee to do its work; their assistance has in fact ensured that all those who are eligible to vote have the opportunity to do so. It is not for me to comment on various claims by Schleuss or his supporters. They are trying to win an election and using whatever means they see fit. But I do resent claims that this elected, all-volunteer committee is in any way failing in its duty to provide independent oversight of the democratic process that has served NewsGuild members for decades. Scott Edmonds, chairman of the NewsGuild Sector Election and Referendum Committee The Media Are Complacent While the World Burns, by Mark Hertsgaard and Kyle Pope (April 22) The mainstream media deserve credit and respect for their significant and growing attention to global warming. Press coverage has focused on two key elements of the problem: the peril of delaying meaningful restrictions on greenhouse-gas emissions and the fact that, even now, the consequences of climate change are evident in blighted croplands, coral bleaching, advancing desertification, frequent forest fires, glacial melt, and sea-level rise. But while much newsprint and online resources have provided sophisticated copy on the need for carbon taxes, narratives have been largely descriptive. Ive seen little in the way of quantitative specifics about the conditions taking hold and the people impacted. Id vote for greater press attention to the dilemma of meeting the needs of ongoing climate-impacted people around the world. Joel Darmstadter Chevy Chase, Maryland There are two main threats to civilization: climate change and nuclear proliferation. The latter is also barely mentioned in the press. A nuclear war can start at any time, with the presidents finger on a button. With saber rattling and with a $1.3 trillion increase in our nuclear arsenal, this threat should certainly be mentioned more frequently in the press. Ronald Kaprov The Crisis in covering Indian Country, by Jenni Monet (March 29) The dearth of media attention to issues affecting indigenous people has been going on for decades. Lately, though, I have discovered a number of indigenous sources of Indian Country news, some originating in Canada and some from reservations in the United States, which Ive shared on social media. In this manner I was able to pass along some coverage of the floodings taking place on Pine Ridge and in other Indian Country territories in the United States. I also posted contact information regarding assistance available in these areas. Reparations and respect for the indigenous people are long overdue. Further, its my belief that the restoration of our environment cannot be accomplished in this country, let alone in the rest of the world, without the inclusion of our indigenous populations. Anonymous Devin Nunes accidentally stumbled on the truth about social media companies, by Jared Schroeder (March 20) While I respect my friends well-argued opinion, I argue that Professor Schroeder has it wrong on Section 230. The provision is functionally protecting speech, and in the Nunes case, it is providing vehicles for the most important speech in our society: the criticism of public officials. Like all legal mechanisms that function to facilitate speech, 230 has created some speech that people object to, but the First Amendment protects even political speech in the gutter In many legal battles over free speech, the effort to suppress offensive speech sometimes results in magnifying it. This fundamental lesson in the operation of the marketplace of ideas, which Devin Nuness lawsuit has refreshed, is as true today as ever. Section 230 was included in the Communications Decency Act, which was passed in 1996, in part to help regulate online pornography and indecency by then-Nebraska Senator James Exon; in fact, the heavy-handed effort to regulate and control online pornography, once tested in court, actually helped create an environment for it to flourish. Whether you like online speech or hate itor whether your view depends on who is speakingthere is little doubt that the internet we use today was shaped by the existence of Section 230. Providing liability protections to platforms which host third party content, such as YouTube and many others, also enables social media and the corresponding opportunity to freely engage speech and ideas. Critics of 230 protections often fall into the first trap of First Amendment law by engaging in viewpoint-based discrimination. Yet Section 230 is not speech itself; instead, it creates the park for speakers, whatever they believe, to have their say. Other criticisms of Section 230 revolve around protections provided to bad platforms. The poster-child for bad behavior by a website, Backpage.com, spurred a series of legal battles which resulted in the first significant chink in Section 230s armor. Specifically, efforts to limit advertising by sex workers resulted in several websites shutting down and others removing content, rather than face liability for third-party ads. In reverse, this showed that Section 230 works to facilitate online speech. It is easy to imagine how platforms might be sued now for content they did not create. After all, if I tweeted something defamatory, youd be foolish not sue Twitter rather than me, because Twitters pockets are much deeper than mine. Christopher Terry, University of Minnesota As You Like It, by Lauren Smiley, in the Perception issue (Winter 2019) You are the first person in the years of Yellowhammer Newss existence to report that Republican lobbyists owned it from the start. Also, you are the first reporter to have examined Yellowhammer for what it is and what it represents in broader terms. Its nothing short of shameful that Alabama media didnt do a story along these lines years go. As a journalist myself, I assumed, but never proved anywhere near to my satisfaction, that Howes firm in some sense financed Yellowhammer. But outright owned the thing? I dont think I even suspected that. These might be just details for you and CJR. But for my purposes, and for many followers of Alabama politics, what you found was big. Eddie Curran Journalisms Bad Reflection; Honolulu, Hawaii, by Sophia Yan, in the Race Issue (Fall 2018) The Fall issue of CJR focused on the continuing failure of newsrooms to reflect the diversity of the communities they cover. Ten cities were examined where the mismatch seemed particularly notable, and Honolulu topped the list, with a profile of Civil Beat, an investigative news website. In a city that rightfully prides itself for multiculturalism, Civil Beats lack of diversity is shameful. Furthering the injury is the rationale given for its hiring decisions: that local job candidates lack the talent for its style of journalism and show problems with objectivity. As Civil Beat editor Patti Epler says in the piece: The local media here sucked. And one of the reasons they sucked is theyre very go along, get along. We dont want to do just press releases; we want to go deeper. Epler seems to think good journalism began in Hawaii when Civil Beat was established in 2010 AD. Her comments ignore a long history of watchdog journalism in Hawaii, which I experienced firsthand when I was a newspaper and television reporter here. In the days when there were competing newspapers, The Honolulu Advertiser and the Honolulu Star-Bulletin regularly published stories about government and corporate malfeasance. Their staffs were as aggressive as they were ethnically and culturally diverse. Reporters hired from outside Hawaii worked side-by-side with reporters born and raised here, like myself, who went to public schools and who had an intimate understanding of the community and the people who live here. Now, as Chad Blair, Civil Beats politics and opinion editor, says in the profile, As I look out at the newsroom, I see white people. Epler acknowledges the criticism, but her response rings hollow when she tells CJR: We just cant find people here locallyCivil Beat does a specific kind of journalismwe do a harder edge, an aggressive thing that people arent used to here. It doesnt seem as if Civil Beat has made much of an effort looking because there are a lot of talented and experienced Hawaiian men and women journalists out there, as well as young journalists graduating from the University of Hawaii every year. Eplers comments are shockingly backwards and seem a throwback to Hawaiis plantation era. In fact, I suspect Civil Beat would be the first to denounce such paternalism if was being practiced by any other institution. Ive seen the lack of newsroom diversity at Civil Beat and depth of community knowledge emerge in its coverage. In 2011, for instance, it published a story on data from the US Census Bureau showing that Filipinos were had overtaken Japanese as the top Asian ancestry group in Hawaii. The story used the phrase the flip is coming, which subsequently resulted in this correction: The word (flip) can also be used as a slang to refer to persons of Filipino descent. But flip is not just a slang, it is a slur against Filipinos. Use of the word in the first place and then the failure to acknowledge it as a slur illustrates the problem. I dont mean to be altogether glum in my assessment. Civil Beat provides an important public service in Hawaii, especially at a time when theres only one statewide newspaper, the Star-Advertiser. But good journalism requires diversity in hiring, training, and promoting journalists. Civil Beat would be wise to heed the comments in CJR by former Governor John Waihee: The richness of the news, of the content itself I think is enhanced by the diversity of reporters. Youre much more capable of, first of all, recognizing where news may exist, and secondly, by understanding it from a different point of view. Gerald Kato, Chair of the University of Hawaii at Manoas School of Communications, and a former reporter Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today The Editors are the staffers of the Columbia Journalism Review. The stage has been set for yet another war in the Persian Gulf. This week, the Trump administration battened down the hatchesevacuating non-essential personnel at US embassies and consulates in Iraq, sending B-52 bombers and Patriot missiles to US bases in the regionto prepare for what was supposedly a looming Iranian storm. US officials floated military options against Iran involving 120,000 soldiers, and cyberattacks to shut down the countrys power grid. Iran hawks hit the airwaves. Why the US is suddenly on a war footing with Iranwhen even the president doesnt want a conflict, as he reportedly told the Pentagonis difficult to understand, however, because of the hysterical way Americas relationship with Iran is covered in the US press. I covered Iran about a decade ago, when I was Time magazines Middle East correspondent. Its a difficult country to report on. Jailing reporters pretty much guarantees bad press, but when catastrophes happenlike the recent floods that killed dozensor when the humanitarian toll of sanctions begins to mountlike when commercial airplanes crash because they cant get spare partstheres almost no one in Iran from the Western media to put human faces to the tragic headlines. In the absence of empathetic coverage, a dynamic has developed in Iran reporting, a kind of paranoid feeding frenzy, that helps anti-Iran Trump administration hardliners like John Bolton, the National Security Advisor, build momentum for confrontation. So if there ends up being a war with Iran, the broken US media echo-chamber will bear some of the blame, as it has before. Heres what the latest anti-Iran news cycle looked like to me: Last week, mostly unnamed sources in the national security apparatus, including Bolton, started telling Washington reporters that there is a specific but unspecified Iranian threat to US interests in the Middle East. On that basis, the story already sounded shady. Trump media sycophants on Fox News (Pentagon Beefs Up Military Presence in Persian Gulf as Iran Ramps Up Threats Against US Interests) and elsewhere ran it without skepticism. Washington correspondents from reputable outlets who carried memories of the flawed case for the Iraq War were less credulous. But editors still made Irans threat a top storyafter all, its national security!caveating it with attribution, as in this headline from The New York Times: Citing Iranian Threat, US Sends Carrier Group and Bombers to Persian Gulf. But within a few days of the news cycle, sourcing got dropped. CNN published: Patriot Missiles Deployed to Middle East Amid Iran Threats. Were these threats real and serious? Maybe. There are always dangers, but the US has a long historydating back to the Spanish-American war, through the Gulf of Tonkin, to Saddams non-existent weapons of mass destructionof going to war over some exaggerated or fabricated menace. In this case, the threat warnings were coming from Israeli intelligence and being shopped around by the government of Benjamin Netanyahu. The US hardliners who pick them up are aiming to justify increased pressure on Iransomething that both Israel and the US have long advocated for. Sign up for CJR 's daily email But the headlines and blurbs at the beginning of the news cycle werent framed in a way that made the fingerprints of the hardliners obvious. Major newspapers didnt run headlines like Trump Administration Ratchets Up Anti-Iran Rhetoric or Bolton Puts US on Iran War Footing. Nor did they course correct after last Monday, when the US Naval Institute News discovered that the the aircraft carrier group supposedly being sent to respond to Iran had already been en route, on routine orders planned long ago, and that Boltons pronouncements linking that movement with alleged threats was theatrical. The closest approximation of responsible coverage was this, from the Times: US Reviews Iran Planswhich hardly qualifies, since it suggests that our government is calmly responding to a situation rather than manufacturing one. The broad psychological takeaway of reading the news is inevitably that Iran is a threat. Even balanced appraisals of Iranthat note, for example, that the Iranian Revolution occurred in 1979 in part as a reaction to the American antidemocratic coup there, in 1953 get lost amid the noise of buzzwords like terror, mullah, nuclear, proxies, and militias. Even though the Trump administration pulled out of the nuclear deal that Iran had negotiated with the Obama administrationa deal that stopped Irans nuclear enrichment programmost headlines and talking points on air tell us that Iran is threatening to resume the production of nuclear material. In reality, Irans reaction to the US is a natural retort rather than an escalation. Its government has been jilted; despite shutting down its nuclear program, Iran never received much in the way of benefits from the lifting of sanctions. And, by the way, as a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (that it has never been found to have violated), Iran is legally allowed to restart its program. Even when, on Wednesday, Ayatollah Khamenei, Irans Supreme Leader, spoke out to downplay tensions, National Public Radio immediately followed with the threatening to resume nuclear activities chestnut, accompanied by this headline: Aggressive Rhetoric Ramps Up Between US And Iran. The US, it must not be forgotten, has done its fair share to threaten Iran: encouraging Iraq to invade Iran in the 1980s and kill hundreds of thousands of Iranians, invading Iraq in 2003 and soon after eyeing Iran, selling billions of dollars worth of weapons to anti-Iranian Middle Eastern autocrats, embracing a known anti-Iranian terror cultthe MEKin the hope of fomenting a regime change. Its important to have that history in mind while reading paragraphs like this, in the Times, on the Pentagons Iran war plans: officials said they believed the most likely cause of a conflict will follow a provocative act, or outright attack, by the Revolutionary Guards navy. The Guards fleet of small boats has a history of approaching American Navy ships at high speed. Revolutionary Guards commanders have precarious control over their ill-disciplined naval forces. No mention of the US Navy shooting down an Iranian civilian airliner over the Persian Gulf in 1988, which killed 290 civilians. For the Times, its Iran thats unpredictable and out of control in the Persian Gulf. The Iranian government has much to answer for, especially for its role assisting the Bashar al-Assad regime in the murderous suppression of the Syrian democracy movement, which was once peaceful. But to counter Irans regional military power with the application of more American military power is neither moral nor practical. Im pretty sure that most of the reporters and editors at CNN, the Times, and NPR know this. And Im sure that most of them know exactly what game the Trump administration is playing. But there is some deep-seated loyalty to something like balance or objectivity that is misplaced, and ends up looking like regulatory capture. When we take the Pentagons fear-mongering seriously, we get articles from Washington analyzing military options with Iran in case it restarts its nuclear program. Only on Wednesday, when British intelligence and other serious foreign security outfits start to call horse-hay did you start seeing headlines like Skeptical US Allies Resist Trumps New Claims on Threats from Iranas if you need to source a spade before you call it one. The best option, of course, is just to rejoin the nuclear deal. But for many reporters covering foreign policy from Washingtonincluding those who take issue with Republican hawkishnessexpectations of what peace and stability in the Middle East should look like resembles a wish list. They point out that, though Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal with Iran, the deal didnt lead to Iran changing its behavior in in areas beyond the scope of the deal, like its testing of ballistic missiles, or its support of anti-Israeli militant groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas. The problem with this way of thinking is that it is both ahistorical and unbalanced. The US did next to nothing to assure international businesses that they would not be penalized for investing in Iran, and the Iranian economy saw little economic stimulus from the deal beyond the renewal of oil sales to foreign countries. And yet Iran is expected to stick to the nuclear deal, even when the US wont, and expected to stop aiding its allies in the Middle East, even when no one thought the nuclear deal would mean that the US would stop supplying weapons to its allies, Saudi Arabia and Israel. Why the amnesia and partisanship from the media? Perhaps because its hard to tell Americans that a country full of angry-looking men with black turbans and beards who have captured our diplomats and designed bombs that kill our soldiers have real, legitimate reasons to be angry and afraid of us. And perhaps because its hard even for those American reporters who know the Middle East to keep that unconscious bias from slipping into our copy, especially in headlines and photo choices. Raised on American exceptionalism, its hard to swallow that our misdeeds in the Middle East may not be exceptions, but an extension of American rule. Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Andrew Lee Butters is a former Time magazine Beirut bureau chief and Middle East correspondent. He now teaches journalism at Yale College. He graduated from Columbia Journalism School in 2003. The dwindling number of states that have no fee schedule, or that set fees according to a percentage of billed charges, are paying far more for outpatient surgery than states that have adopted some version of Medicares payment system, according to a report released Thursday by the Workers Compensation Institute. WCRI compared payments to hospitals for outpatient surgery in 36 states that together account for 88% of workers compensation benefits paid in the United States. Six of those states had no fee schedule and four capped fees according to a percentage of the amount billed. The research showed that hospital payments per surgical episode in those 10 states were 62% to 212% higher in 2017 than the states with fixed-amount and other type of fee schedules. Average costs were also growing faster in the states with no fee schedule or charge-based fee schedules. The latest study, the eighth in a series, adds to a body of evidence that workers compensation medical services cost less in states that set prices according to Medicares resource-based relative-value scale, which is established by research that establishes the actual cost of providing services. Other WCRI studies have shown physician services cost less in states with fixed fee schedules, said WCRI spokesman Andrew Kenneally. The 2017 cost of hospital outpatient surgery services in the 36 states studied ranged from 35% below Medicare rates in Nevada to 508% above Medicare in Alabama. In Nevada, hospitals were paid an average of $3,595 per each surgical episode, while hospitals in Alabama were paid an average of $22,734 each, according to the study. Alabamas fee schedule is based on a percent of the amount charged, as are the fee schedules in Louisiana, South Dakota, Minnesota and Nebraska. Hospital outpatient surgery center costs were 391% of the Medicare rate in Louisiana and more than 200% of the Medicare rate in each of the other states with charge-based fee schedules. In states with no fee schedule, outpatient surgery by hospitals costs from 112% to 384% of the Medicare rate. Two states that did have fixed fee schedules, Illinois and Florida, nevertheless paid far above the median for outpatient surgery by hospitals. In Florida the average cost was $22,120 347% of the Medicare rate. In Illinois, insurers and employers paid an average of $15,787 for each surgery, 202% of Medicare. The study notes that both Illinois and Florida established fee schedules that are based on frozen historical hospital charges. Illinois adopted a fee schedule for hospital outpatient surgeries in 2009, setting rates at 90% of billed charges after excluding outlier charges that were far higher or lower than the median. Florida adopted a fee schedule in 2015 that set in place outpatient fees that at that time were equal to 75% of billed charges. Ten states adopted fee schedules based on Medicares prospective payment system during the 13-year period analyzed during the study. Seven of those states Connecticut, North Carolina, Georgia, Indiana, Idaho, Colorado and South Carolina saw reductions in hospital outpatient costs after the fee schedules were implemented. Costs increased in Mississippi, Massachusetts and Texas after the change. The report noted that Kansas adopted a fixed-amount fee schedule that took effect on Jan. 1, 2017, replacing a fee schedule that was based on a percentage of hospital charges. Costs for outpatient surgery dropped 8.4% that year, while the average growth rate in 27 states for which WCRI had data increased by 7.8%. Colorado had similar results when it abandoned a percentage-of-charges fee schedule in 2006 and set fees at 160% of the Medicare rate. Costs dropped 23% in the first year. In 2017, Colorado increased the maximum fees to 180% o f the Medicare rates, and average costs increased 35%. Virginia adopted a hybrid fee schedule that took effect in 2018. It incorporates elements of both a fixed-price and a percent-of-charges based system. No data on the impact is yet available. In Florida, legislation was introduced to in the House of Representatives that would have capped fees for scheduled outpatient surgeries to 160% of the Medicare rate, but the bill died in the committee. Steven A. Bennett, an assistant general counsel who tracks workers comp issues for the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, said his group was disappointed when the Florida legislation failed. However, insurers were happy to see Virginia finally adopt a fee schedule, even though lawmakers chose a hybrid system that is more complicated than it needs to be. Bennett said the latest WCRI report shows that fixed-rate fee schedules lead stabilize medical costs. He said Medicare is the best basis for fee schedules because its a well-known system. We will remain patient and hope that (lawmakers) can see the results of the WCRI study, and the results that the other states are seeing from fee schedules, Bennett said. The report can be downloaded here. About the photo: Emergency responders assist a passenger injured in a crash of a Taquan Air plane in mountainous terrain on Prince of Wales Island Tuesday, July 10, 2018, in Ketchikan, Alaska. All nearly a dozen passengers on board survived the incident, and were flown to Ketchikan aboard Temsco helicopters and transferred for medical care. (Dustin Safranek/Ketchikan Daily News via AP) ANCHORAGE, Alaska Two sightseeing planes carrying cruise ship passengers in Alaska collided at about the 3,300-foot (1,006-meter) level before they crashed, the National Transportation Safety Board announced after a team arrived from Washington, D.C., to investigate the crash. The two planes collided in midair Monday, and the Coast Guard raised the death toll to six people on Tuesday after finding the bodies of two people who had been missing. Five of the dead were passengers and the sixth was the pilot of one of the planes. Federal investigators said the larger plane, a de Havilland Otter DHC-3 with 10 passengers and its pilot, had descended from 3,800 feet feet and collided with a smaller de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver, carrying four passengers from the same cruise ship, the Royal Princess, and the pilot. The federal investigation into the cause of the crash could take months, but a preliminary report is expected to be released within two weeks, said Peter Knudson, a spokesman for the NTSB. Coast Guard Lt. Brian Dykens said Tuesday evening that his agency and the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad found the two bodies of those who were missing near the crash site of the smaller plane involved in the collision, a single-engine de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver. The planes came down about a mile and a half apart, with some of the debris falling on land near George Inlet, about 8 miles (13 kilometers) from the cruise ship port of Ketchikan. The Beaver, the smaller plane, appears to have broken apart in midair, according to Jerry Kiffer, duty incident commander of the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad. He said the planes tail and section of the fuselage were 900 feet from the aircrafts floats, which landed near shore. The smaller plane was partially submerged in the shore of George Inlet after the single-engine plane overturned and hit some trees before crashing, according to Coast Guard Lt. Brian Dykens. The larger Otter landed in water and sank, he said. One passenger on the larger plane died, as did two passengers and the pilot on the smaller plane, Princess Cruises said in a statement. Alaska State Troopers in a statement late Tuesday identified the passengers who died as 46-year-old Louis Botha of San Diego, 56-year-old Simon Bodie from Temple, New South Wales, Australia, 62-year-old Cassandra Webb from St. Louis, 39-year-old Ryan Wilk from Utah and 37-year-old Elsa Wilk of Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. Also killed was the pilot of one of the planes, 46-year-old Randy Sullivan of Ketchikan. The larger plane was operated by Taquan Air of Ketchikan and passengers booked the flights through the cruise ship as an excursion. The other plane was operated by Mountain Air Service of Ketchikan, and the four booked the flight independent of the cruise ship, Princess Cruises said. After the crash, the 10 injured people were initially taken to a hospital in Ketchikan. Four patients with broken bones were later transferred to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, spokeswoman Susan Gregg said. Three survivors were released from PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center in Ketchikan on Tuesday. Hospital spokeswoman Marty West says the remaining three are in fair condition. The Royal Princess left Vancouver, British Columbia, on May 11 and was scheduled to arrive in Anchorage on Saturday. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Des bus incendies le 10 juillet 2018 au terminal routier de Buea, au Cameroun, lors de violences dans les zones separa AFP/Archives/- The Human Rights Watch group has organised an online discussion platform, on the crisis rocking the North West and South West regions since 2016. After announcing its senior researcher, Ilaria Allegrozzi had been denied entry into Cameroon, they choose to organise a discussion platform on the Anglophone crisis on their Facebook page, calling on Cameroonians to join by 11am for the chat. It is one of their measures to track reports on human rights abuses, after they were denied to enter and do some findings on increasing human rights concerns in the Anglophone regions. Before joining Human Rights Watch, Allegrozzi was part of the team that won the Peabody Award for documenting and verifying abuses caught on video in Cameroon. Ilaria Allegrozzi, was stopped from entering Cameroon on April 12, despite the fact that she received a three-month visa on March 25. Allegrozzi explained in her visa application that she planned to travel to the Anglophone regions of the country to conduct research for Human Rights Watch on abuses committed by both government and armed separatist forces, as well as the impact of the crisis on people with disabilities.Authorities in Douala are said to have given no explanation for Allegrozzi not to enter Cameroon. On May 2, the group published a report published a report, stating that Cameroons action is an attempt to curb reports of abuse by security forces, but they will continue to document and publicise human rights violations in Cameroon. Phillipe Bolopion, deputy global advocacy director at HRW, said Denying entry to our researcher is a clear step back for Cameroon. The government is doing everything it can to keep the world in the dark about its ongoing abuses, but it wont succeed. They continued that officials at Douala international airport refused to allow. The group has published more than three reports on Cameroon, accusing government forces of carrying out violent acts against civilians, which the government keeps denying. OLMSTED FALLS, Ohio -- Judy and Ralph Pesta often stopped to admire the sketches, paintings, sculpture, photography and other artwork on display throughout the Olmsted Falls High School gym. The Olmsted Falls couple attended the schools annual May Art Show Friday (May 10). While they were searching for granddaughter Abbie Katitus work, they were astonished at what they saw. These pieces are amazing, Judy said. The more I walk around, the more I am amazed. I keep asking myself, Where do they get such talent?' Ralph agreed. These are great. The artwork is just great. Bulldog senior Jamie Bridle stands among her artwork inside her booth at the annual Olmsted Falls High School May Art Show. (Joanne Berger DuMound, special to cleveland.com) The show annually features top artists who are in art teacher Amber Wests senior portfolio prep class. The students create 8-foot-by-8-foot rooms or booths around the perimeter of the gym to showcase their work. Their entire families help them set up the booths. Each room portrays the artists own personality. The rest of the gym resembles an art gallery, complete with just about any type of art form that high school students have created throughout the year. There is a separate area where artwork from community members, staff, alumni and other district students are showcased. Senior Jamie Bridle had various art forms throughout her booth. Her short biography in the booth explained that she loves to focus on things that make us human. She said she wants to show that every subject has something happening in both their head and their heart. That came through quite vividly in her work. Jamie is particularly proud of her piece called Moonlit Martyr. She drew a young woman looking upward with her clutched hands touching her chest. Jamie drew it on paper, transposed it to wood and used oil paint, then acrylic on top for detail. There is gold leafing forming a halo behind the woman, similar to religious artwork in the Middle Ages. Student Chloe Thach holds a replica of her artwork that is a state winner in The Ohio Governors Youth Art Exhibition. It is entitled Dancing with the Sunlight and is on display in Columbus. (Joanne Berger DuMound, special to cleveland.com) I painted it as a religious theme, but showing it contrasting with its negativism, Jamie said. I wanted it to look ambiguous so it would emulate what others saw in it. She did a great job in that perspective -- and in her artwork. What I saw was a young woman like St. Joan of Arc looking toward heaven, possibly seeking spiritual advice or silently praying. Jamie had a slightly darker perspective, but I could see that impression, too. She said the artwork is on wood that she shaped as a gravestone. One may even see a tear or two forming in the womans eyes. The piece received a Staff Pick ribbon award. The May Art Show displays varied forms of art students create throughout the school year. (Joanne Berger DuMound, special to cleveland.com) Jamie plans to attend The Ohio State University where she will major in art and psychology pre-med. I like illustrations and creating scenes. I would really like to make that a career, but I took a psychology class here and really like it, too, she said. The show reflects such talent found in our students, staff and community. If you missed it, be sure to attend next years show. Memorial Day parade: The Olmsted Falls Memorial Day Parade is May 27. The event has a new location and route. It will not be held at the Village Green or march down the familiar local residential streets. It will kick off from Olmsted Falls City Hall at 9:30 a.m. after those in the parade gather there at 9. The parade will head east on Bagley Road and turn north on Columbia Road. As marchers approach the curve, they will walk down Main Street to the Charles A. Harding Memorial Bridge, where the ceremony remembering our fallen military will occur. Parade vehicles will leave the parade at Main Street as they continue along Columbia Road. Why not line your chairs along the parade route or meet at the covered pedestrian bridge to commemorate those who gave their lives for our country. Girl Scout honor: Olmsted Township Trustee Jeanene Kress, who is seen and involved in so many community activities, has received kudos from a Greater Cleveland organization. Jeanene was one of 10 women the Girl Scouts of North East Ohio named as 2019 Women of Distinction. She was honored at a luncheon that not only honored women who go above and beyond to make local communities better places to live, work and raise a family, but raises funds for scholarships and financial aid. Congratulations, Jeanene. You are truly deserving of this honor. Class of 1979 reunion: Members of the Olmsted Falls High School class of 1979 will celebrate their 40th reunion over the Heritage Days weekend, Aug. 2-4. The main event is at 6 p.m. Aug. 3 at Suds Maguire on West Bagley Road in Berea. The cost is $25, which includes food. There will be a cash bar. The group has a facebook page at OFHS Class of 1979 40th reunion, where more details are listed, including where to send checks for the Suds Maguire event. Other activities will be highlighted on the facebook page, but there is always the Heritage Days events that occur during the reunion in which to participate, too. There is a block of 10 rooms available at North Olmsteds Hampton Inn. The cost is $104 plus tax. To reserve, call 440-617-6306. Fat Little Buddies race: The annual Fat Little 5K and 1-mile walk starts at 9 a.m. June 8. Proceeds benefit the Alzheimers Association. Registration is $25. The races late registration/early packet pickup is from 4 to 7 p.m. June 7 at Fat Little Buddies, 26906 Cook Road. You may also register from 7:30 to 8:45 a.m. race day. Register online at runsignup.com/Race/Register/?raceId=22598. The tavern will present race awards and offer lunch specials and music after the race on its patio. For more details, go to the Fat Little Buddies facebook page. Kampus kudos: Olmsted Townships Sarah Balfour was named to the Southeast Missouri State Universitys Deans List for the spring semester. Congrats, Sarah. Olmsted Townships Jordan Jaeckin received a BSE at Ohio Dominican Universitys Commencement ceremony recently. Night out with Frank n Dean: St. Mary of the Falls Knights of Columbus Chapter 11416 invites you to a Fathers Day special. The event offers a Frank & Dean performance June 15 at St. Mary of the Falls Parish Hall. This fun and entertaining event, which starts at 6:30 p.m., includes a chicken parmesan dinner, sideboards, basket raffles and dance music. Relive the days of the Rat Pack with these highlighted performers in song. Tickets are $30 for adults and $25 for seniors. They are available by contacting Steve Hupp at 440-239-0057 or by email at stevenmhupp@hotmail.com. Local student winner: Finn Pasatta, an eighth-grader who attends Menlo Park Academy in Cleveland, placed third in the Individual Performance category at the Ohio History Day State Contest at Ohio Wesleyan University. He portrayed Dr. Robert Oppenheimer, the wartime head of the Los Alamos Laboratory during World War II and among those credited with being a father of the atomic bomb, according to a news release. Finn is the son of Tina and Jeremy Pasatta of Olmsted Falls. Congrats, Finn. Finn Pasatta, an Olmsted Falls resident attending Menlo Park Academy, portrays Dr. Robert Oppenheimer during a competition. (Photo courtesy of Menlo Park Academy) Polaris state contest: Polaris Career Center students Edmund Leung, a junior, and Victor Jauregui, a sophomore, both from Olmsted Falls, placed third in the SkillsUSA state competition in Columbus. They are in Polaris engineering program and placed in the Robotics: Urban Search & Rescue competition. The two had to build a robot and arm mechanism prior to the competition, then remotely operate it. The robot had to locate, grab and move simulated items on a challenge course. Hundreds of students across Ohio competed in many different events at the competition. Congrats to these fine students. Question: The community usually offers a program on the National Day of Prayer, which is the first Thursday in May. I dont believe there was one this year. I hope the tradition returns again in 2020. If the organizers need help, let me know and well get the word out to begin that process for next year. Reminders: Olmsted Falls Middle School students continue to collect plastic bottle caps through May 24. They will accept bottle tops of all sizes and colors at the school to create an environmentally friendly art display. Olmsted Falls and Berea Animal Rescue are sponsoring a low-cost dog and cat vaccine clinic from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 25 at East River Park. Individual vaccines are $17; heartworm, $25; cat vaccine package, $55; and dog vaccine package, $65. For more details, call 440-234-2034. East River Park is on Lewis Road just north of the railroad tracks. Information, please: To include news, tidbits, honors or activities in Olmsted Falls and Olmsted Township, contact Joanne DuMound at jdumound@yahoo.com. She also is on Twitter, @JoanneDuMound. The columns online version at cleveland.com/olmsted has direct links for many news items. Read more news from the Sun Post Herald here. CLEVELAND, Ohio A federal judge Cleveland has said he will take senior status early next year. U.S. District Judge Christopher Boyko will take senior status on Jan. 6, nearly 15 years to the day after taking the federal bench. Senior status is a sort of semi-retirement; judges who take it continue hearing cases but can elect to take a reduced workload. The president is tasked with nominating Boykos replacement. The U.S. Senate must confirm a nominee. Boyko, 64, said Thursday in an interview in his chambers that he opted for senior status to give himself more flexibility with his time. I intend to maintain pretty much a full docket, but maybe a little less to enable me to travel and sit on other courts that need help, Boyko said. He also said he has been offered to teach U.S. law at universities in Ukraine and Saudi Arabia, and that having more flexibility will allow for that. He said he previously taught in Ukraine and enjoyed it. President George W. Bush nominated Boyko for the federal bench in 2004, and he was sworn in the following year. He was a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court judge and the city of Parmas law director before getting on the federal bench. When asked what has changed since he became a federal judge, Boyko cited a worsening drug problem nationwide, as well as a growing division in the country. He said he can see it when victims testify as to how someone harmed them, and described how that fear can spread to a victims family and throughout a community. Division hurts, and its felt everywhere, I think, the judge said. However, he said he still enjoys the work. Its meaningful, its rewarding, frustrating at times, just like anything else, the judge said. But overall, I couldnt ask for a better job. Boyko is the third federal judge in the Northern District of Ohio to announce they were taking senior status in the past few years. Judge Donald Nugent, whose courtroom is also in Cleveland, took senior status in 2017. U.S. District Judge Jack Zouhary in Toledo will also be a senior judge effective June 30. President Donald Trump nominated Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Pamela Barker to replace Nugent, and she is awaiting Senate confirmation. The president has not yet nominated anyone for Zouharys seat. Ohio Sens. Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown have made recommendations to Trump for other district judge seats in Ohio after seeking input from a bipartisan commission. The senators are expected to form another one in the near future. Boyko said he gave advance notice of his pending senior status to give the senators time to accept applications and make the recommendations to the president. Trumps administration, as well as the Republican-controlled Senate, have worked hard since 2017 to confirm as many federal judges as they can. The Senate has confirmed more than 100 Trump judicial nominees, and others are awaiting votes. Federal judges often work hard to maintain their judicial independence, as the appointment is a lifetime one, but the federal courts have been ground zero for partisan issues such as abortion and voting rights. In Cleveland, as in other parts of the country, federal judges routinely preside over cases stemming from police use-of-force lawsuits. CLEVELAND, Ohio Police say three people were wounded late Thursday night in a shooting on the East Side. The shooting occurred on the 9500 block of Cardwell Avenue, which is just west of Broadway Avenue and north of Garfield Park Reservation. The unidentified victims were taken to MetroHealth Medical Center. Cleveland EMS declined to release information on their conditions Thursday night, but WOIO Channel 19 reports all three were in serious condition. Police did not release further details on the shooting or whether any arrests have been made. To comment on this story, visit Thursdays crime and courts comments page. CLEVELAND, Ohio The City Club of Cleveland on Friday will host a conversation about how where you live can affect your life expectancy. A 2016 study found that a baby in Glenville has a life expectance 12 years shorter than a baby in Lyndhurst. The shorter life span in inner-city communities like Glenville are due to racial and economic disparities, researchers say. The gap is caused by heart disease and other chronic illnesses that develop because healthy foods are scare and safe places to play are hard to find. A City Club panel will discuss ways to close this gap, and programs and policies that show promise in reducing health disparities. Panelists include: Toby Cosgrove, M.D., Executive Advisor; Former CEO and president, Cleveland Clinic Amy Acton, M.D., MPH, Director of Health, Ohio Department of Health Watch live in the video player above at 12:30 p.m. MENTOR, Ohio Nearly 5,000 customers were without power in Lake County for a short time late Thursday night after a raccoon got into a transformer, according to FirstEnergy. Most of the outages were in Mentor, with nearly 4,100 customers without power around 11 p.m. Concord Township had nearly 600 and Mentor-on-the-Lake just over 300. Power had been restored to nearly all customers by 11:50 p.m. CLEVELAND, Ohio A Los Angeles-based bail reform group is coming to Cleveland to free Cuyahoga County jail inmates who cant afford even low bond amounts. The nonprofit Bail Project, established in 2017 and now operating in about a dozen communities, aims to combat mass incarceration by using a national revolving fund to post bonds for poor defendants. A Cleveland program is expected to be up and running by mid-to-late June, said Ezra Ritchin, the organizations national director of operations. Arrival of the Bail Project coincides with bail reform efforts in Cleveland Municipal Court and Cuyahoga Common Pleas Courts as well as cleveland.coms Justice For All series, which advocates for a more equitable criminal justice system. Bail-reform advocates want to eliminate so-called cash bail because they say it discriminates against the poor. Defendants who cant afford bond spend time away from work and family that can lead to even more problems. Often that inconvenience encourages a defendant to plead guilty to a crime against that persons better judgement, Ritchin said. If you are sitting in a jail and you are offered a plea that allows you go to home there is a very solid chance that you will take that plea deal, he said. Defendants who are locked up also have a more difficult time preparing for their defense, according to Ritchin. The Bail Project has collected data that shows the threat of losing money isnt necessary to encourage defendants to return to court. Ritchin said his organization views itself as a bridge to a time when cash bail is no longer used. At the end of the day were trying to put ourselves out of business, he said. The Bail Project plans to initially hire two client advocates, also known as bail disruptors, to work in Cleveland. They will screen defendants for eligibility. Advocates likely will have familiarity with the local criminal justice system and may have even experienced it first hand, Ritchin said. Once the advocates are trained, they will meet with defendants in the jail to review the circumstances of their incarceration. Thats where an advocate might learn, for example, that a defendant failed to appear in court on a prior case because of a complication in that persons life rather than a willful attempt to evade court. The median bond amount for someone released with the help of the Bail Project is about $1,000, Ritchin said. Ritchin said a big part of the advocates job will be staying in touch with defendants once they are released to make sure they return to court. That could mean helping them find transportation or child care. They also may encourage defendants to seek drug treatment or mental-health therapy, although compliance with such recommendations would not be mandated. The Bail Project expects to find defendants who cant make bail through referrals from a variety of sources, including the County Public Defenders Office, but also from people in jail, their families and friends. Most defendants charged in Cuyahoga County appear first in a municipal court, generally within 48 hours of arrest, where their bond is initially set. If they are facing a felony, their case is transferred to the County Common Pleas Court. The Bail Project grew out of the Bronx Freedom Fund in New City and has programs in Queens, N.Y, St. Louis, Tulsa, Detroit, Louisville, Indianapolis, Spokane, Wash., Compton, Calif., San Diego and Baton Rouge, La. Ritchin said the Bail Project targeted Cleveland, in part, because the community already has an interest in bail reform. WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday voted largely along party lines to pass a bill that would make it illegal to discriminate against people on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Passed in a 236 to 173 vote, the Equality Act would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other statutes to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in employment, public education, access to credit, jury service, federal funding, housing, and public accommodations. Ohios Democrats supported the bill while the states Republicans voted against it, except for Bill Johnson of Marietta and Mike Turner of Dayton, who missed the vote. Niles-area Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan also missed the vote, although he cosponsored the bill. Advocates noted it was the first time a comprehensive LGBTQ civil rights bill had ever come to the House floor. They compared it to laws that ensured civil rights for women and African Americans. A diverse group of organizations including the Ohio Manufacturers Association, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, NAACP, National Retail Federation and American Medical Association publicly backed the bill. For too long, conversations surrounding Americas LGBTQ community have focused on tolerance. But tolerance is a condescending word. As we pass the #EqualityAct today, we take pride in this community and all they have & will achieve. pic.twitter.com/I53StyYFxK Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) May 17, 2019 This long overdue legislation will provide millions of LGBTQ Americans protections from being denied medical care, fired from their jobs, or thrown out of their homes simply because of who they are, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler of New York argued on the House floor. Today, we have an opportunity to send a message now to help end discrimination in our country and set all of our people free," Georgia Democratic Rep. John Lewis, a longtime civil rights activist, said to applause. Republicans argued the bill would lead to biological males dominating womens sports, violate religious freedom and require doctors to provide minors with sex change surgeries without parental consent. They predicted it wont come up for a vote in the GOP-controlled U.S. Senate. The Senate counterpart of the bill has 46 cosponsors, including Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, but just one Republican backer: Maines Susan Collins. Conservative organizations like the American Family Association, Family Research Council and Faith and Freedom Coalition opposed the bill, arguing it would bar some houses of worship from ensuring their leaders and other employees abide by their beliefs about marriage, sexual behavior, and the distinction between the sexes. This is the brave new world House Democrats propose under the name of equality, California Republican Rep. Tom McClintock said on the House floor. Standing with my colleagues in opposition to the so-called Equality Act as it undermines human dignity, freedom of speech, religion, and conscience, and puts parental rights at risk. pic.twitter.com/R5n7cokAJK Warren Davidson (@WarrenDavidson) May 16, 2019 Bowling Green GOP Rep. Bob Latta released a statement that said he voted against the bill because it lacked protections for free speech, freedom of religion, freedom of conscience, and parental rights. Among the most egregious components is the explicit exclusion of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, leaving churches, synagogues, mosques, and other places of worship subject to regulations prohibiting practices central to their religious identities," said a statement from Latta. "This goes against our countrys foundational values and I couldnt support it. At a Thursday news conference to oppose the legislation, Ohio Republican Rep. Warren Davidson of Troy said cases like that of a Cincinnati teen whom courts allowed to undergo gender transition over parental objections would become the norm if the proposal becomes law. Parental rights and womens rights are at risk with the so-called Equality Act, which attacks our freedoms of speech, religion, and conscience," said a statement from Davidson. "The bill creates a whole new class of discrimination against parents, who are looking out for the best interests of their children. When it comes to minor children making potentially irreversible decisions, from minor injuries to transgender surgery, parental rights in guiding such decisions should be affirmed not attacked by misguided legislation. People need to oppose this anti-Constitution anti-religious freedom act. The bills author denied it would undermine programs for women or harm womens sports, keep parents from controlling their childrens medical decisions, force clergy to perform same sex marriages against their beliefs, or force doctors to provide treatment against their best judgment or religious beliefs. It insures every child of an LGBTQ parent will not be turned away from the pediatricians office, said Rhode Island Democratic Rep. David Cicilline. It insures that transgender teenagers can attend school without fear for their safety, and it insures that LGBTQ employees cant get married Saturday, post pictures on social media on Sunday and get fired on Monday. The equality act is quite literally a lifesaving bill that addresses some of the fundamental inequalities that still exists in the American legal system." Thomas Awah Junior Unity Foundation Cameroon Journalists in Cameroon are mobilising funds to assist one of theirs, Thomas Jr. Awah Dzenyagha, publisher of "Aghem Messenger", arrested and detained at the Yaounde Central prison in Kondengui. According to field reports, Thomas is said to be in distress and has reached out to some journalism associations for help. The Cameroon Association of English Speaking Journalists(CAMASEJ), is one amongst the associations, preparing to assist Thomas. However, individual actions too have seen Thomas and co, benefitting from foodstuffs and other items of need at Kondengui jail. He was arrested in Bamenda in January 2017, and was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment on the 25th of May 2018 , on charges of secession, spreading of false information and inciting public unrest. He was sentenced along with Mancho Bibixy, journalist at Abakwa FM radio in Bamenda, as well as Tsi Conrad, a photojournalist in same town. The journalist who has been suffering from a mental instability for seven years now, was rushed to the Yaounde General hospital in September last year, as his health condition deteriorated. His poor health condition at Kondengui prison, sparked outrage on social media last year, which used many associations to mobilise funds to help him get treated. The Cameroon Journalist Trade Union (CJTU), and the Committee for the Protection of the rights of Journalists (CPJ), championed thunderous distress calls for the intervention of the global community for the imprisoned journalist be released, at least briefly for medical attention. Several reports highlight feeding and health care remains a cause for concern in Cameroon's prison cells. The international community has been advocating for the release of arrested prisoners, arrested within the context of the Anglophone crisis. President Paul Biya's recent outing on forgiveness, has pushed many to remain confident that, he might grant a presidential pardon for a third time to these Anglophone prisoners, and Thomas as well. Rotunda Rumblings Do it for the kids: The Ohio House of Representatives earlier this month took Gov. Mike DeWines already child-friendly state budget and made it even friendlier. As cleveland.coms Andrew Tobias writes, a ride-along that House Speaker Larry Householder recently took with a Coshocton County social worker, his ideological compatibility with DeWine and his burgeoning partnership with House Minority Leader Emilia Sykes all are factors that explain why Householder has taken steps that have thoroughly impressed childrens advocates. Smoke detector: The American Cancer Society and the Preventing Tobacco Addiction Foundation oppose the plan to raise the Ohio smoking and vaping age to 21, cleveland.coms Laura Hancock writes. The public health organizations dont believe the plan as proposed will decrease the smoking rate because its too hard on teens and doesnt have a retail enforcement component. Free offer: If you havent signed up yet for Project Text, heres your chance to do it for free. For the month of May, youll get behind the scenes insights and observations via text messages from the reporting team that produces Capitol Letter. No obligation and no credit card needed. After that, you can decide whether to subscribe for $3.99 a month. You can sign up for the free trial here. And if youre interested in other exclusive texts on subjects like the Browns, Buckeyes and even beer, theres more info here. Books behind bars: During the past couple of years, an increasing number of Ohio prison wardens have prevented inmates from receiving reading materials donated by volunteer groups. But as cleveland.coms Jeremy Pelzer reports, the states prisons agency says its working to create a statewide process that would lift such restrictions. Aishas Law gets green light: Householder included a bill named after Aisha Fraser, the former wife of Lance Mason, an ex-judge and ex-state lawmaker who is accused of stabbing her to death last November, in a package of priority bills announced Thursday. As Tobias writes, the bill aims to better protect domestic-violence victims through a mix of new legal requirements and tougher penalties for people convicted of domestic violence. The governors office is reviewing the bill with keen interest, a spokesman said. Setting priorities: Householder rolled out four other priority bills on Thursday. One targets infant mortality, another one aims to make permanent the Office of Drug Policy DeWine previously created through an executive order. The third aims at expanding broadband access and the fourth is meant to streamline job-training credentialing. Slow and steady: Householder said Thursday House Bill 6, the bill to bail out the Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear plants, in a perfect world would come to a vote next week. But this is not a perfect world, he said. Another good quote: Householder was asked about his talk with state Rep. Nino Vitale, the Republican chairman of the committee overseeing HB 6 debate, after angry Democrats walked out of a committee hearing on Wednesday, complaining about how Vitale was running the committee. He said: With term limits, we have chairmen out there... who dont have quite the level of experience that others have. And maybe they dont always handle situations quite like someone who has a little more experience would handle it. It gave us the opportunity to have a nice little discussion and talk about it. Aging Ohio: Ohio is on pace to become one of a handful of states mostly in the Midwest and Northeast that will have more residents age 60 and older than people under age 20, cleveland.coms Rich Exner found. This was not the case for any state, or any Ohio county, in 2000. But the shift has been dramatic and swift, with Ohios young population shrinking and the older population growing. This means increased needs for senior services and fewer kids in the classrooms. Good drive-time listening: The latest episode of This Week in the CLE, the cleveland.com podcast, includes a discussion about a quirk that Rich Exner found in the Ohio Houses tax plan and a lively exchange about Seth Richardsons fun comparison of the warring factions on Game of Thrones to the political factions in todays America. They need a roadmap: Speaking to members of the Ohio Senate Government Oversight Committee Thursday, state Solicitor General Ben Flowers said the three-judge federal panel that ruled the states congressional maps unconstitutional earlier this month hasnt provided much guidance about how to redraw the maps, the Columbus Dispatchs Jim Siegel reports. I just didnt see a whole lot, said state Sen. Bill Coley, the committees chairman. They said a lot about what they didnt like. From Russia with love: John Weaver, an adviser to former Ohio Gov. John Kasichs presidential campaign and a vocal critic of President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, was roundly condemned on social media after Politico reported Wednesday night that Weaver was going to be paid $350,000 over six months to lobby for a subsidiary of a Russian state-owned nuclear energy company. By Thursday, Weaver had backed out, acknowledging it was a mistake and a distraction to efforts to defeat Trump. A tax benefit Republicans oppose: Ohio Republican U.S. Reps. Bob Latta and Bob Gibbs have signed on to cosponsor a bill that would end the Internal Revenue Service policy of allowing legal abortion expenses to count as a tax deductible medical expense, cleveland.coms Sabrina Eaton reports. The bill is unlikely to come up for a vote in a legislative body controlled by Democrats who support abortion rights, Eaton writes. Last day to show your sticker love: The deadline is today to vote for one of three designs for the new I Voted sticker. Secretary of State Frank LaRose launched the contest in March to redesign the stickers given to Ohio voters at the polls. Heres more info. Take it from Jim: President Donald Trumps lawyers are taking a page out of conservative Ohio Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Jordans playbook, per Politico. Trumps outside legal team is taking cues from Jordan, adopting many of his arguments and even asking a federal judge to obtain documents from Jordan in order to build their legal case against Democrats myriad investigations targeting the president, according to Politico. More room on the bench: U.S. District Judge Christopher Boyko, a federal judge in Cleveland, is entering semi-retirement in January, cleveland.coms Eric Heisig writes. That means that Trump will get to pick a replacement for Boyko, whom George W. Bush appointed to the federal bench in 2005. Sherrod shocked: Sen. Sherrod Brown on Thursday said he continues to be shocked by Trumps stunningly underwhelming depth of knowledge on issues he cares about including trade, infrastructure and taxes. Brown also told a panel on the American workforce convened by The Hill that Trumps pattern of divisiveness, racism and name-calling will cost him re-election in 2020. Passing the baton: Now-former Mahoning County Democratic Party David Betras, a vocal critic of the state party who resigned his party spot Wednesday, has endorsed a successor, writes David Skolnick for the Youngstown Vindicator. Hes tapped Joyce Kale-Pesta, the partys first vice chairwoman/secretary and the director of the county board of elections. County Democrats will meet next month to pick Betrass replacement. Happening today: U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is the keynote speaker at the Ohio Democratic Party Legacy Dinner in Columbus tonight. Buckeye Brain Tease Question: Ohios Wilberforce University is the countrys oldest private historically black college or university. What two other institutions of higher learning were born out of Wilberforce? Email your response to capitolletter@cleveland.com. The first correct respondent will be mentioned in next weeks newsletter. Thanks for responding to last weeks trivia question: Portland, Ohio is a community in Meigs County. But its not Ohios only Portland. What was the first city with that name? Last weeks answer: Sandusky was called Portland when it was founded in 1817, according to the Ohio History Connection. Capitol Letter reader Garland John Gates of Shelby was the first to send in the correct answer. Thanks to everyone who responded! On The Move Eric Fingerhut, former congressman and state lawmaker from Northeast Ohio, is stepping down as president and CEO of Hillel International and will become president and CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, according to the Columbus Dispatch. DeWine has reappointed Dewey R. Stokes and Mark J. Palmer of Columbus to the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation board. He also appointed Suzanne R. Kiggin of Powell and Terry S. Jacobs of Cincinnati as new members of the BWC board. Member Chauncey A. Cochran of New Albany has been named board chairman. Birthdays Friday, 5/17: Paula Levitt, Ohio House leadership receptionist Saturday, 5/18: Sen. John Eklund; George Boas, Ohio Senate Democrats deputy chief of staff; Kathleen Clyde, Portage County commissioner and former state representative Sunday, 5/19: William White, legislative aide for state Rep. Brian Baldridge Straight From The Source Youll impress your friends with your knot tying abilities, and your ability to build a campfire. -Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, to a group of Boy Scouts who traveled to the Ohio Statehouse on Thursday to deliver a report on the achievements, activities, and other notable facts about their region of the Boy Scouts. LaRose is an Eagle Scout. 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. A recent story by McClatchy News highlighted growing interest in Washington in taxing vehicle miles driven, to augment or replace the gas tax. As vehicles become more fuel-efficient, reliance on the gas tax has created a deficit in infrastructure and road-repair dollars. Oregon has been experimenting with the vehicles miles traveled (VMT) tax concept for years, and recently Washington state started a pilot -- both so far voluntary for participating drivers. The state of Idaho and city of Surrey, British Columbia also are looking at joining this regional effort. Some European countries already levy a VMT tax. In Ohio, at the end of the Ted Strickland administration, a task force reported favorably on the idea, recommending further study after Gov. Strickland said he would not support a fuel-tax increase, the task forces No. 1 recommendation. The VMT idea in Ohio appears to have died in the John Kasich administration. The Oregon pilot, started in 2006, has now expanded to more than 5,000 vehicles and light trucks. It uses private vendors to handle the technical side -- drivers can choose to have a GPS-enabled device installed, or use a black box, or an app. The VMT tax is charged as an offset for gas taxes, so participants get reimbursed for gas taxes they pay at the pump -- this keeps the test project revenue-neutral for participating drivers. (A scanner at the pump scans the GPS receiver to determine miles driven since the last scan.) The pilots primary purpose is to test the technology, costs, public buy-in, satisfaction, etc. Overhead is low and one unexpected result is that volunteers have cut back on miles driven. Privacy concerns are supposedly minimized under this system since the state only collects odometer readings, not location. In Illinois, where a VMT pilot involves trucks only, a lawmaker suggested adding cars earlier this year but hastily withdrew the idea after social media savaged the proposal. So what does our Editorial Board Roundtable think of this concept? Is it a way to start making transportation taxes fairer and more innovative, or just another way for big brother to invade our privacy? Thomas Suddes, editorial writer: Whatever VMTs financial aspects, pro and con, recording drivers mileage would become an opening wedge into even more government surveillance of Americans. Thats the last thing we need. Eric Foster, editorial board member: Its worth exploring ways to make transportation taxes more equitable and sustainable. If the VMT tax is a better way, then the state should try it. I wonder about the difference in revenue created under a VMT tax versus a gas tax. Given the privacy issues created by -- and implementation costs of -- a VMT tax, would the increased revenue potential be worth the investment? May Cay Doherty, editorial board member: Although we need money for infrastructure, the VMT tax violates Americans privacy rights and squanders tax dollars. The government has no business tracking American citizens, and privacy protection assurances offer little comfort. Additionally, VMT tax implementation costs (including salaries for administrators) would undoubtedly eat into the revenue. Instead, lawmakers should refashion the gas tax as a general roadway tax and apply it to all vehicles. Lisa Garvin, editorial board member: Better fuel efficiency, coupled with the rise of electric vehicles and driverless cars, signals the need for a more equitable way to raise desperately needed revenue for our crumbling transportation infrastructure. A tax pinned to actual usage may seem fair on its face, but a mileage tax will be a hard sell. Its increasingly clear, however, that we must seriously consider any and all gas tax alternatives and soon. Victor Ruiz, editorial board member: Seems like a fair way to tax drivers. Im unsure how this can be executed in an efficient manner. Another concern is the burden that it might place on people if they must pay the tax all at once, versus spread out every time you fill the tank. We need to be conscious of the burden that this might put on people who rely on their cars to get to work. Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, cleveland.com: This is an innovative idea that should be fully explored instead of just tiptoeing into the concept by making it voluntary and revenue-neutral, as Oregon has done. Yes, theres an element of big brotherism in GPS devices that count miles but remember, driverless cars are coming; well have to tackle the privacy issues one way or another. Have something to say about this topic? * 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, and look for updates via the small blue bell in the lower right as you look at more stories on cleveland.com. * 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 board roundtable to Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, at esullivan@cleveland.com. When you have a program thats bringing opportunity, excitement and young talent to the local economy, you build on it. You dont discard it. Thats why the Ohio Houses attempt to leave on the cutting-room floor Ohios successful 10-year-old film tax credit is so perplexing. The tax credit, capped at $40 million a year, is so popular, its typically snapped up in days. Filming of Marvels two Avengers" movies and of Captain America: The Winter Soldier in Cleveland -- featuring the citys vintage architecture and a memorable road fight along the West Shoreway -- is just the leading prong of more than 300 films, videos, commercials, interactive games and other digital media productions the tax credit has helped bring to Ohio. The movie work has generated thousands of local jobs and hundreds of millions in economic impact, according to the Greater Cleveland Film Commission. And its stoked creation of Ohios first stand-alone film school, itself underwritten with $7.5 million in state money. The film school at Cleveland State University opened last fall with nearly 300 students. As state Sen. Matt Dolan, a Chagrin Falls Republican who chairs the Ohio Senate Finance Committee, put it to cleveland.com reporter Laura Hancock: When you create unpredictability and instability by removing something thats working, thats a wet blanket over economic growth and investment." Lets put this wet blanket in the trash and look at ways to improve the tax credit, not end it. House leaders seem to see eliminating the film tax credit as a handy way to help defray $300 million in proposed annual tax cuts. But sacrificing a proven jobs program makes no sense. Luckily, the Houses bid to end the tax credit is not likely to fly in the Ohio Senate, where senators last week unanimously passed Senate Bill 37 to improve and expand the film tax credit to include Broadway shows. SB 37 is sponsored by state Sen. Kirk Schuring, a Republican from Canton whos been one of the leading champions of the film tax credit. SB 37 would divide Ohios tax credit funding into two tranches of $20 million each to make it last longer. And it would add new requirements to state evaluations of who gets the 30 percent credit, giving priority to big job creators and to ongoing or recurring film projects like miniseries and TV series. Schuring has been trying in recent years to get the film credit fattened even more, to $100 million, but hes wise to seek narrower reforms, for now. At the same time, the Senate champions of this measure should take note of the film industry backlash against Georgia, No. 3 in the country in film work, after its punitive heartbeat bill legislation was enacted recently, effectively banning abortions -- not far different from the heartbeat bill Gov. Mike DeWine recently signed into law in Ohio. To attract cutting-edge business -- whether energy tech, automotive tech or Hollywood tech -- Ohio lawmakers need to project that Ohio is a welcoming, inclusive place that looks to the future. A robust film tax credit is just part of such a portfolio. 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. Edith Kah Walla, presidente du CPP Archives The Cameroon People's Party(CPP) under the leadership of Edith Kahbang Walla has announced it will not take part in national day celebrations across the country come May 20. In a message released this Thursday May 16, by the CPP of Kah Walla asked Cameroonians to focus on building national unity by organising meetings and gatherings, bringing together Cameroonians to discuss the true meaning of national unity and the best way to build it in the current context. The Cameroon People's Party had boycotted national day celebrations in 2016, when the Anglophone crisis gained steam, and also in 2017. This 47th edition, would be their third boycott so far. She revealed that her party had been illegally and unjustifiably excluded since 2011 from the national day parade in Yaounde, as well as the participation of CPP members in other cities in 2012. Based on arguments that she was running an illegal faction of the CPP party, Kah Walla says there is only one CPP. "It is not possible to accept the illegal and unfounded decision that we could march in some cities and not in Yaounde, the capital". This boycott decision of May 20, follows that of other opposition parties, including the Social Democratic Front(SDF) of John Fru Ndi and the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM) of Maurice Kamto. The CPP under Kah Walla has continuously stood against the management of the Anglophone crisis by the government and other societal challenges. She condemned the numerous killings, destruction of property by Cameroonian soldiers, and the blamed government for the aggravating the crisis. Wall Street has seen what happens when "irrational exuberance" comes back down to reality in the long-awaited Uber and other companies that have come public this year, CNBC's Jim Cramer said. The cannabis cohort is another group that has had a similar result as American states gradually legalize the drug and taboo dies down. "Whenever you see this kind of boom, you need to take the more exuberant pronouncements with a grain of salt," the "Mad Money" host said. "I think we're witnessing a pretty straightforward problem. I wanna call it reefer madness." While some stocks of marijuana companies have performed much better than others, such as Cramer's favorite cannabis pick Canopy, many have been "too promotional for my taste," he said. Looking at Tilray, Cramer noted that its stock shot u from $100 to about $300 within a matter of days last October prior to legalization in Canada. The stock collapsed to $100 a month later, and has since drifted below $50. "In Tilray's case, there haven't been any major negative catalysts," he said. "It's just the stock should never been so high in the first place." Get Cramer's full insight on cannabis picks here Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 17) Manila Mayor-elect Francisco Isko Moreno Domagoso on Friday said he is offering his services to lead the country's capital for three terms, or nine years, just to carry out his long-term plans. Of course. When we plan, I want to introduce a continuous government. Yun ang gusto namin [Thats what we want,] Moreno told CNN Philippines The Source. He said some of his long-term programs will tackle tourism, traffic and health. Hindi yan ikinaila sa mga taga-Maynila... pinaliwanag ko sa tao, Wag ho kayong maiinip ha. Sampung taon ho ito mangyayari, Moreno said. [Translation: That wasnt hidden from Manila residents I explained to people, Dont get impatient. This will happen in 10 years.] But Moreno said some of his programs can be implemented as soon as 2020, when a fresh budget is given to the city. Among these is a monthly allowance to students of city-run Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila and Universidad de Manila. Libre na lang yung pagaaralan, pero to sustain yung daily needs. So gusto ko pa rin siya i-stimulate. Sabi ko, sige para wala ka nang dahilan [para hindi mag-aral,] bigyan kita ng 1000, Moreno said. [Translation: Education is now free, but they still need to sustain their daily needs. So I still want to stimulate it. I said, okay so that you no longer have any reason not to go to school, Ill give you 1000.] Moreno also wants to revive a Marcos-era feeding program in schools with the nutribun, a nutrient-enriched bread. Manila has implemented a pilot run of the nutribun feeding program in 2014, when Moreno was vice mayor under the leadership of Joseph Erap Ejercito Estrada. The city fed the nutribun to 2,000 students at Corazon Aquino Elementary School in Baseco compound in Tondo everyday for 120 days. Moreno also wants to clean up the capital, assuring the public that garbage trucks will collect trash according to schedule and that waterways will be cleared on a daily basis. He also wants to implement a trash for food program by handing out food coupons to families in exchange for recyclable trash. He added that he will order garbage trucks not to collect trash from food chains that do not segregate their waste. Meanwhile, senior citizens who still want to work may do so, as Moreno said he would require businesses to hire the elderly, mimicking a scheme in other countries like Singapore and Japan. If they can do it there, why cant they do it here? This is an opportunity for any senior citizen who is physically able, Moreno said. Moreno won in the heated Manila mayoral race, with 147,320 votes ahead of his former ally, outgoing Mayor Estrada, denying him his third and last consecutive term. He also bested another former ally, former Mayor Alfredo Lim. Moreno may be a fresh face at the top seat at the Manila City Hall, but he is no stranger to politics. From being plucked out of the slums to become an actor, Moreno became a city councilor, before serving a three-term vice mayor. He tried for a Senate seat in 2016, but lost, landing three places short at rank 15th. Student loans aren't the reason there's a student debt crisis in this country. The real problem is that there's not adequate education, information or support systems in place to help students (and their families) make smarter college choices while they are still in high school. Nationwide, college student loan debt was $517 billion in 2006. There are more than 44 million borrowers who now collectively owe $1.5 trillion in student loans, according to the latest statistics for 2019. The government spends a great deal of money on regulation and education on teen alcohol abuse, tobacco, and drug use and prevention. We, as a society, have decided that teens shouldn't be able to legally use these substances, and we provide education and extremely clear warnings about the danger of their use. Yet we are all somehow enablers of teen student loan use. Sadly, 90% of private student loans now have an adult co-signer. I don't blame parents, because as a parent of two myself, I know we just want what is best for our children. A college education is part of the American dream and parents want their children to have access to higher education, which, in most cases, leads to considerably higher lifetime earnings. More from Personal Finance: Public college costs jump 55% in a decade 3 ways to save and succeed at a community college Parents are latest victims of student debt crisis So, whose responsibility is it, then, to provide the financial literacy and other support to help educate students and their families about student loans and which colleges and majors are worth it? The government, of course. Since a wide variety of failed policies and programs has made the federal government the main cause of this crisis, it's up to the government to fix the problem. It's up to state and local governments to find ways to fund education programs for students and their families. To that point, new research from Harvard University suggests that the use of certain technology can significantly alter college choices. The Harvard study found that Naviance, a college counseling software used by more than 40% of high schoolers, shifted students' choices about which colleges to apply to and attend based on information on classmates submitted about their admissions experiences. Districts using Naviance would likely spend less time and money educating students about where they can get in, and more on what they can get out of college. The government isn't likely to adopt this approach tomorrow so, in the meantime, financial institutions and employers committed to financial literacy and wellness could invest more in helping families make smarter college choices. People walk past a part of the wreckage at the scene of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 302 plane crash, near the town of Bishoftu, southeast of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia March 10, 2019. Tiksa Negeri | Reuters Boeing 737 Max planes around the world remain grounded more than two months after the second of two fatal crashes of the jets that killed a total of 346 people. Multiple investigations have since been opened, both into the crashes themselves and the regulatory process to approve the planes. Lawmakers and federal investigators are specifically examining how the Federal Aviation Administration in 2017 gave a green light to the jet a more fuel-efficient version of Boeing's workhorse aircraft that's been flying since the late 1960s without disclosures to pilots about a new anti-stall system, which has been implicated in the two air disasters. Since the second crash, on March 10, the Chicago-based manufacturer's stock has lost more than 16%, closing at $353.81 Thursday, as the number of probes and lawsuits grew and Boeing suspended deliveries of its best-selling jets. Here is a look at what is happening and what to expect with the 737 Max grounded as the busy summer travel season approaches. Ongoing investigations Multiple federal investigations are examining the Max and how it was approved by regulators, along with the plane's new anti-stall system, known as MCAS. Boeing is also facing lawsuits from the families of crash victims. In March, the FBI joined an investigation of the certification process for the company's 737 Max jets. House and Senate panels have each launched investigations. Boeing said Thursday it has developed a software update for the 737 Max, a key step in getting the aircraft flying again. The company said it completed more than 360 hours of testing on 207 flights with the updated software. It has also developed new training materials that the FAA is reviewing. The FAA requested more information, including how the pilots would operate the controls and displays in different circumstances, Boeing said. "We're committed to providing the FAA and global regulators all the information they need, and to getting it right," CEO Dennis Muilenburg said in a statement on Thursday. "We're making clear and steady progress and are confident that the 737 MAX with updated MCAS software will be one of the safest airplanes ever to fly." Boeing aims to make the anti-stall system less powerful and give pilots greater control. Investigators have pointed to the system as a factor in the crashes, since the jets' noses were repeatedly pushed down after the system was fed erroneous information from a sensor. The updated system will also use data from multiple sensors instead of one. It's unclear how long the FAA will take to approve the fix and deem the planes safe to take to the skies again. In April, the FAA said Boeing's update was "operationally suitable" in an initial review, and recommended that pilots take additional computer-based training for MCAS. Boeing has also taken a lot of heat following reports that it knew of problems with one of the safety features well before the two crashes, but did not disclose the issues to airlines or regulators until after the October Lion Air crash in Indonesia. A group of men and boys examine electronics taken from a pile of twisted metal gathered by workers during the continuing recovery efforts at the crash site of Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302 on March 11, 2019 in Bishoftu, Ethiopia. Jemal Countess | Getty Images The economic toll Airlines have already missed out on hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue after aviation authorities ordered them to ground the planes. Southwest Airlines, which has 34 Boeing 737 Max jets in its fleet of about 750 planes, said the grounded jets contributed to $200 million in lost revenue during the first three months of the year. American Airlines, which has 24 Maxes, has canceled at least 15,000 flights through August The cancellations due to the grounded Max each day equal about 2% of American's daily summer flying and will reduce the airline's pretax earnings this year by $350 million, the carrier said on April 26. Boeing said its costs in the first quarter rose by $1 billion from the groundings, though it can't predict its financial performance for the rest of the year because deliveries of Max jets are on hold. It has a backlog of more than 4,000 orders for the jet and recently cut monthly production of it from 52 to 42 planes in April. Analysts have speculated that the company faces billions of dollars in payments to airlines and families of crash victims. Several banks expect Boeing's production cuts to hit U.S. GDP. Wells Fargo said in April that Boeing's production cuts will reduce second-quarter GDP growth by 0.2%. Earlier in March, JP Morgan's CEO said GDP could fall by 0.6% if production of the plane is halted temporarily. "Boeing's production cuts are large enough to negatively impact incoming reads on the economy," said Wells Fargo senior economist Sarah House. Scrambling to restore trust Boeing has scrambled to persuade airlines and passengers to rally behind the Max jet following the company's clumsy response to the two fatal crashes. In an effort to win back public trust, Boeing is reportedly hiring some major public relations firms to help reintroduce the jet. On an earnings call in April, Muilenburg said that pilots would act as key messengers. "We think a key voice in all of this will be the pilots for our airlines, and their voice is very important," he said. "That bond between the passenger and the pilot is one that's critical, and so we're working with our airline customers and those pilot voices to ensure that we can build on that going forward." Muilenburg hasn't said there's anything wrong with the 737 Max design. Pilots and airlines have complained to Boeing for failing to provide information about new software after the first crash, as well as incomplete information about safety features in the cockpit. Even assurances from Boeing and airlines that the planes are safe may not necessarily resonate with travelers. A Barclays' survey of airline passengers published earlier this month showed that many people will avoid the Max "for an extended period" once it's allowed to fly again, with over half of respondents saying they'd choose a different aircraft if given the choice. However, some aviation experts have said the stigma associated with the Max, and damage to Boeing's reputation, will likely dissipate. "If Boeing does what it needs to do to fix the problem, if the airline is certified by safety regulators and goes on to fly reliably, then the stigma that exists now will fade away," Henry Harteveldt, president of Atmosphere Research Group, told CNBC in April. What's next New Orleans new airport terminal. Source: City of New Orleans | MSY Fly into New Orleans and you immediately see the construction of the airport's new north terminal with 35 gates, 14 TSA lanes and plenty of room to handle the growing number of people flying in and out of the Big Easy. "As this market continues to grow we are in better position to handle the growth in this market," said Kevin Dolliole, director of aviation in New Orleans. When the $1.3 billion New Orleans terminal opens later this year, it will completely replace the existing gates at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. It's the latest upgrade and expansion of an airport in the U.S., a key part of America's infrastructure sorely in need of major renovations. The Airports Council International, a global industry trade group estimates U.S. airports will need $128 billion in upgrades by 2023. "We are way, way, way behind," former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said of the state of America's airports compared with the other terminals around the world. New Orleans new airport terminal. Source: City of New Orleans | MSY LaHood's assessment is based on years of traveling around the globe both as a congressman and later as a member of former President Barack Obama's Cabinet. And he thinks Americans who fly around the world are tired of traveling out of cramped, dated airports in the U.S. and landing in spacious, gleaming new ones overseas. "When they go into an airport in Dubai, or Abu Dhabi or they go into an airport even in Seoul, South Korea, where I've been recently, these airports are state of the art." Nancy Ney | Photodisc | Getty Images As the cost of college rises, more parents are cosigning private loans for their children's education. That move can wreak havoc on older people's financial lives if their child struggles to repay the debt. Some 45% of adults over 50 who took on education-related debt for someone else did so in the form of cosigning a private loan, according to a new survey by AARP, an advocacy group for older Americans. Cosigning a loan, in which a person with good credit essentially promises to repay the debt if the primary borrower fails to do so, was the most common way people went into education debt for someone else (usually a child, although sometimes a grandchild or spouse). "Parents want to provide the best education possible for their child," said Lori Trawinski, director of banking and finance at AARP's Public Policy Institute. "Many times they'll take any action they can to help their kid." Once students have exhausted their federal student loans, it can be hard to get a private loan without a cosigner. Around 90% of private student loans to undergraduate students require one, according to Mark Kantrowitz, the publisher of SavingForCollege.com. "I think cosigned loans should come with a black box warning label," he said. "Cosigning a student loan may be hazardous to your wealth." What am I signing up for by cosigning? "Some people, incorrectly, believe cosigning to be like giving a reference," Kantrowitz, said. "In fact, a cosigner is a co-borrower, equally obligated to repay the debt." That means that if your child falls behind on his or her student loan bill, or goes into default, both of your credit scores will take a hit. (A private student loan can go into default after 120 days.) Even if your child is in good standing on the loans, your credit will be impacted, said Elaine Griffin Rubin, senior contributor and communications specialist at Edvisors, a financial aid site. More from Personal Finance: A way to get guaranteed income while delaying Social Security Those credit scores you see may not be what lenders use Trump vs. the Fed: What it means for your money It could be harder for you to secure another loan or refinance your house, since lenders will take your existing debt into account when considering an application. Some private student loans don't come with a "death discharge," meaning you'll still be responsible for the debt if your child passes away. In some cases, lenders will release a cosigner after the student has graduated and picked up employment. What are my other options? Mirisch expressed confidence the measure will pass next week. A draft ordinance received support last week from the council. To become law, the ordinance still would require a second reading and final vote by the council June 4. "Given that no other city in the United States has adopted a comprehensive ban on all tobacco products, the city is likely to face legal challenges," according to a report prepared for the mayor and City Council. Back in 1987, Beverly Hills became the first city in California to ban smoking in restaurants and retail stores, although it exempted hotels. Also, the California city known as a playground of the rich and famous adopted an ordinance in 2017 to curb smoking in and around multi-unit residences such as condominiums and apartments. "We're a city that has been kind of in the forefront of smoking controls and our tobacco policy in general," Mayor John Mirisch told CNBC in an interview this week. "Ultimately, public health can and should outweigh just profits or short-term business decisions." Critics of the measure argue it would shift sales of tobacco to neighboring jurisdictions such as the city of Los Angeles and hurt local small businesses. But supporters contend it would promote healthy living and send a message about the risks of tobacco use. The ordinance would apply to cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco and electronic cigarettes sold in gas stations, convenience stores, pharmacies and grocery stores. Hotels and high-end cigar lounges are exempt under the proposed measure. LOS ANGELES The Beverly Hills City Council will consider a first-in-the-nation ban on all tobacco sales next Tuesday. Cigarettes are displayed on store shelves Tuesday, May 7, 2019, in Beverly Hills, Calif. Beverly Hills is considering outlawing the sale of tobacco products, a move that would make the glamorous California city the first in the nation to enact such a ban. "The majority of the current retailers that have a tobacco license in the city of Beverly Hills are your mom-and-pop gas stations, liquor stores, and other vendors that do sell tobacco products," said Jaime Rojas, a West Coast consultant for the National Association of Tobacco Outlets, a trade association representing more than 30,000 retailers. Rojas estimates the impact for local tobacco sellers could be a decline of 25% to 45% in monthly income. He said some of it is from lower sales of other products, such as water, snacks and gas. "No one is going to go into a store just to buy tobacco products, no matter how much they like their vendor," said Rojas. "It's just a matter of convenience. They will go to a place where they can get everything at once." Two dozen tobacco-selling establishments would be affected by the proposed ordinance. If approved, the ban would take effect in 2021. "This ban would have a significant impact on us," said Nick Miller, operator of a gas station in Beverly Hills. He said sales could fall by "more than 30%" when factoring in other categories affected. Under the proposed ordinance, hotels would be exempt from the ban along with three upscale cigar lounges, including the Grand Havana Room. The city received dozens of letters in support of exempting cigar lounges, including some from prominent members. "Great cities are defined by their great people, places and institutions, and the Grand Havana Room is a signature location where these three things come together in Beverly Hills," actor and former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wrote in a letter dated March 11 to a city panel considering the tobacco ban. Added the former GOP governor: "It is unthinkable that the city might adopt a policy that would intentionally or unintentionally cause the closure of this character-defining institution, and it should not do so." Miller criticized the city's plan to allow exemptions for high-end hotels. "The level of hypocrisy that has been displayed at this time by the Beverly Hills Council is just astonishing," Miller said. "They're allowing hotels to maintain the sale of cigarettes because apparently to somebody buying a $4,000 a night room." Hotels would only be allowed to sell the tobacco products to guests through concierge services. The Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce urged the city to retain a hotel exemption, noting the importance of international visitors. "Approximately 80% of our guests were from cities outside of the United States, many from cultures where smoking is more prevalent," Chamber CEO Todd Johnson said in a letter dated April 17 to the city. "It is our concern that a ban on tobacco sales will deter such visitors, including prominent dignitaries, from staying in Beverly Hills, and will both hurt hotel revenues upon which the city depends as well as encourage people to stay elsewhere." Things are looking pretty good for activist investor Bill Ackman. The net asset value of Pershing Square Holdings, Ackman's publicly traded vehicle, rose 36.9% in the first quarter of 2019 and remains up more than 38% so far this year, according to a shareholder letter released Friday. By comparison, the S&P 500 is up 14.7% and has returned 15.6% this year. The 2019 gains may help attract flows back into Ackman's fund, which suffered a string of losses in recent years. In early 2018, the fund's assets were down by roughly half from their $20 billion peak in 2015. Pershing Square's net asset value dropped by 4% in 2017 while the rose nearly 20% that year. Pershing's 2019 success is in large part thanks to the outperformance of a handful of Ackman's stock picks. He manages the public vehicle's portfolio though investment firm Pershing Square Capital Management. In his letter, Ackman highlighted "significant progress" at burrito chain Chipotle Mexican Grill under CEO Brian Niccol, noting same-store sales and transaction growth of 10% and 6%, respectively, in the first quarter. "Despite the 63% year-to-date increase in the share price, we believe that Chipotle is in the early innings of its transformation," he wrote to stakeholders. "Key drivers for continued same-store sales progress in the coming quarters include the new loyalty program launched in March, the completion of the rollout of the digitized second make line by the end of 2019 from half to all stores, and a continued focus on improving speed of service and store employee retention," he added. A second make line is a feature Chipotle is adding to its kitchens to increase productivity, specifically for digital orders. Pershing and other shareholders applauded Niccol's appointment to chief executive officer in 2018 after a successful tenure at Taco Bell. For Ackman long a proponent of menu and service innovations at his restaurant investments Niccol's hand in Taco Bell's "Live Mas" tagline and popular Doritos Locos Tacos likely represented a chance to bring similar ingenuity to Chipotle. Ackman first bought Chipotle stock in 2016 at an average price of $405 per share. Since then, the stock has gained 76% to about $713 Friday. Restaurant Brands International is also well ahead of the S&P 500 this year, buoyed by organic pretax earnings growth at each of its three brands. Canadian coffee chain Tim Hortons in particular should be set for big sales growth following the launch of its loyalty program less than one month ago; nearly 20% of Canadians have already enrolled, Ackman wrote. To compare, about 5% of the U.S. population is enrolled in the Starbucks Rewards loyalty program. Pershing Square is also an investor in the Seattle-based coffee company. Martin Villig, co-founder of ride-hailing firm Bolt, which was formerly known as Taxify. PARIS Ride-sharing giants in Europe have urged reforms for the transport industry, in the hope that it will help them expand further within the continent and face less barriers to innovation. Co-founders from two of the region's largest mobility firms, BlaBlaCar and Bolt formerly Taxify said the lack of a common framework on carpooling and ride-hailing makes it more difficult to operate across the European Union. The main issue is that the EU, though a collective bloc of 28 or soon to be 27 nations, does not have a unified "definition" of what it means to be a ride-sharing start-up, and therefore this creates a fragmentation among the different member states. "I think it would help even in our industry if there would be some kind of harmonization of the transport regulations," Bolt co-founder Martin Villig told CNBC in an interview at the Viva Technology conference in Paris. The firm has been barred from entering countries like Germany, Italy, Spain and Denmark, Villig said, because those territories do not yet permit transportation start-ups to operate freely. In Spain, for instance, firms like Uber and Spanish company Cabify have faced a local pushback due to discontent in the traditional taxi industry. "I think that there is a big opportunity to open that market," Bolt's co-founder said of untapped markets like Germany and Spain, adding that "giving some general harmonization guidelines from a European level" would help, "and then maybe some smaller details can be handled." After BP's 2018 carbon emissions rose to their highest in six years, the London-based major is being lobbied by activists and an increasing number of shareholders to ensure its operations are in line with goals set by the 2015 Paris climate deal to curb global warming. BP will face pressure at a meeting next week to set tougher targets to combat climate change, the latest signal from investors that they want the oil and gas industry to do more to clean up its act. BP has already backed a resolution being put to investors on Tuesday for it to be more transparent about its emissions, link executive pay to reducing emissions from BP's operations and show how future investments meet Paris goals. The motion, proposed by BP and a group of 58 shareholders holding 10 percent of its shares, known as Climate Action 100+, is expected to pass at BP's annual meeting in Aberdeen. But some investors want BP to go further and follow the lead of rival Royal Dutch Shell, which bowed to years of lobbying and set the toughest industry targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. "BP now is at the same stage as Shell was two to three years ago," said Eric Rutten, head of the responsible investments committee of Aegon, BP's biggest Dutch investor with shares worth $26 million in the $142 billion firm, Refinitiv data show. His investment company is backing a resolution drawn up by activist group Follow This that would require BP to reduce emissions not just from its own activities but also from the fuel and products it sells to customers. While the resolution stands little chance of passing, even those not backing it still want BP to step up its commitments. "We'd like to see the company set its own targets," Ashley Hamilton Claxton, head of responsible investment at Royal London Asset Management, a top-20 BP investor with a 0.4 percent stake. "We'd consider supporting more stringent targets, such as those proposed by Follow This, if the board fails to make meaningful progress," she said, adding her company would abstain over the Follow This resolution rather than vote against it. BP said in a statement it welcomed engagement with shareholders and wanted "to be a constructive partner in the energy transition. We're working on this with governments, society and our investors." "It's the power to manipulate what we think, what we believe." "The reason why we worry about monopolistic behavior is when you have this concentration of wealth and power in one company or two companies, really it's a power that transcends democratic forms of government," he added. "One of the tools in the toolbox definitely has to be a consideration of breaking up companies like Facebook ," he said on " Closing Bell ." When it comes to dealing with tech giants like Facebook there should be a "menu of options" available including splitting them up, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich told CNBC on Friday. Joseph Huff-Hannon sets up a display of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg cutouts on the east lawn of the Capitol ahead of his testimony before a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary and Commerce Committees on the protection of user data on April 10, 2018. In an interview with CNBC on Friday, Facebook's chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, pushed back against the idea of breaking up the social media giant. "You could break us up, you could break other tech companies up, but you actually don't address the underlying issues people are concerned about," Sandberg told CNBC's Julia Boorstin. But one former Facebook staffer, co-founder Chris Hughes, has called for regulators to break up the company. When asked about Sandberg's comments, Brnovich replied: "We need to be really careful when the people that helped create the problem are now telling us how best to address the problem." Brnovich is one of several state attorneys general studying the issue, thanks to concerns over things such as the manipulation of what's being seen by users and the lack of competition, and secondary issues, such as the effect on traditional reporting. And no matter the party affiliation, "We all recognize this is a major and significant problem," he said. "It is one of the biggest issues facing the country, and we need to get on top of it because there are ramifications for all of us." Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment. "The tariff war is negative for China especially at a time when its policy makers are battling problems of rising debt and increasing leverage in its economy," analysts at ratings agency DBRS said in a note. "The economic impact on China of rising tariffs would be broader than just via its trade with the U.S." China's credit remains strong despite a weakening economy and a high-stakes tariff battle it is engaged in with the U.S. However, should the impasse linger on, the damages could become greater and start having some deeper impacts. Escalations in its trade dispute with the U.S. not only could dent China's economy but also impact its credit standing, according to ratings agencies. An accompanying release said the impact of more central bank intervention could impact "the future of [China's] public debt ratio and China's rating." Reductions in credit ratings often translate to higher interest rates for a country's bonds. China's debt is currently equivalent to $5.3 trillion in U.S. dollars, or about 43% of its GDP. DBRS, the fourth-largest ratings agency in the world, has China rated "A," which is its third-highest classification. However, it recently changed the outlook to negative as the tariff issues pile up. "China remains a middle-income country that generally lacks the historic openness, institutional credibility and transparency of the major global financial centers," the firm said in an earlier note. Negotiators on both sides say they remain optimistic a deal can be reached, though markets have been focused on the more immediate impacts of existing tariffs and threats of ones to come. The U.S. this month hiked its tariffs to 25% from 10% on $200 billion of Chinese goods. China retaliated by raising its tariff rate from 10% to 20%-25% on $60 billion of U.S. imports. The U.S. is seeking a number of concessions, particularly focused on opening Chinese markets and halting the theft of intellectual property and forced technology transfers. Should the U.S. not get what it is seeking, President Donald Trump has threatened to slap tariffs on another $300 billion in Chinese imports. The U.S. had a $419.2 billion trade deficit with China in 2018, on $539.5 billion in imports and just $120.3 billion in exports. The deficit through the first three months of 2019 was just shy of $80 billion. Other ratings agencies have noted the danger to further intensifying relations. "An abrupt breakdown in trade talks, if that were to occur, will inject considerable policy uncertainty, increase risk aversion and lead to an abrupt repricing of risk assets globally," Moody's analyst Madhavi Bokil said in a note. "In China, increased US tariffs will have a significant negative effect on exports amid an already slowing economy." Fitch said China could offset the additional tariffs with more monetary easing, but noted it expects GDP to fall to 6.1% this year from 6.6% in 2018. Should the U.S. extend its sanctions, that could knock off another half-point from the growth figure, the agency said. "But if trade tensions eventually lead to blanket U.S. tariffs on all Chinese goods, the potential rating impact could be greater, as it may tempt the authorities to abandon their restrained approach to policy easing, and adopt credit stimulus measures that exacerbate the country's already significant financial vulnerabilities," said Brian Coulton, Fitch's economist. Reaction from American chief executive officers to the escalating U.S. trade war and stalled trade talks with China ranges from thinking President Donald Trump is "stupid" for taking such a hard line to thinking they can actually stop him, CNBC's Jim Cramer said Friday. "There are some CEOs who think Trump is stupid and that this is all bad and it will go away in the election," Cramer said on "Squawk on the Street." "There are CEOs who say, 'You know what, we're not going to let this happen.'" Cramer continued, "Then there are CEOs who have been trying to get into China for years and never been allowed and they're the companies, the companies going higher." Cramer also speculated Friday that Trump does not want "sincere talks" with China over trade because the president feels like he has "got them on the run" and "feels this is how you get re-elected." Last week, Cramer reported people were saying that U.S. companies that did not reduce their China exposure after months and months of watching Washington and Beijing clash over trade and economic issues have only themselves to blame. The Trump administration, at 12:01 a.m. ET last Friday, increased duties on $200 billion worth of Chinese products from 10% to 25%. On Monday, in retaliation, China announced plans to raise tariffs rates on $60 billion in U.S. goods. The president has also been threatening all along to put tariffs on the rest of China's imports. Wall Street has been concerned higher tariffs could eventually harm U.S. businesses, especially those with lots of exposure to China. The moves from the Trump administration led to a massive sell-off to start the week. But stocks clawed back most of their losses through Thursday's close. Cramer on Friday said, "Why is everyone so confused by these [China moves from Trump]? I don't think he could be more clear. He's saying, 'Listen, I'm not going to do what the previous presidents have done.'" "Trump doesn't want American companies to do business with China," the "Mad Money" host added. "Trump doesn't want any sort of effort that makes China militarily better, that makes them ahead of us in terms of 5G," the next generation wireless technology. Tesla CEO Elon Musk arrives at federal court, April 4, 2019 in New York City. A federal judge will hear oral arguments this afternoon in a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that seeks to hold Musk in contempt for violating a settlement deal. Tesla CEO Elon Musk told employees in a companywide email Thursday that $2 billion in new funds raised this month were only enough to get through 10 months if Tesla keeps spending as it did in the first quarter of 2019. He requested that everyone at the company take "hardcore" measures to pull back on spending. Musk wrote in the email to employees, which was obtained by CNBC, that he would take extreme action to control spending. He also urged employees to do the same. He said Tesla's CFO will review and sign every expense going forward. Musk said he will personally sign off on every 10th page of expenses. "It is important to bear in mind that we lost $700 million in the first quarter this year, which is over $200 million per month," Musk wrote in the email. "Investors nonetheless were supportive of our efforts and agreed to give us $2.4 billion (our net proceeds) to show that we can be financially sustainable." Tesla shares dipped Friday by more than 5% after safety regulators determined that its Autopilot (driver-assist system) was engaged at the time of a fatal Model 3 crash in Florida in March 2019. That deadly crash was at least the third where federal investigators concluded Autopilot was engaged before impact. Their findings raised questions about the safety and integrity of its cars and semi-autonomous systems. In recent weeks, Musk touted the company's future as a self-driving technology business that would be operating robotaxis, commercially, taking on not just other electric car makers, but money-losing ride-hailing platforms like Uber and Lyft. Autonomous vehicle tech should grow the company into a $500 billion market-cap business, Musk said on a recent investor call. Those promises helped Tesla raise more than $2 billion to support its next stage of growth. A Tesla spokesperson was not immediately available to comment. Here's the full email Musk sent to Tesla employees: The EU's competition commissioner told CNBC Friday that Europe, and the rest of the world, must push for a solution on digital taxation to create fairness among companies. In March, the French government introduced a digital tax aimed at internet behemoths like Google, Facebook and Amazon. This came after the European Union, as a whole, failed to agree on a region-wide system with several nations voicing opposition. During the same month, Chip Harter, the U.S. Treasury's top international tax official, said digital levies were "ill conceived" and discriminatory against U.S. businesses. The EU's Margrethe Vestager has already taken on U.S. internet giants in her role as competition commissioner and she is now standing for Europe's top job, that of EU Commission president. Speaking to CNBC's Karen Tso at the VivaTech conference in Paris, the Danish official said she wanted to see "fairness" in digital taxation. "There are so many companies that do pay their taxes. They create jobs, they contribute to the economy," she said, before adding: "It is not fair that they have to see competitors for capital, for skilled employees, get away with paying less than half the same amount of taxes." Vestager said while France and some other European states had created their own rules, there should be a wider and more unified approach. European stocks traded lower Friday as trade fears ratcheted up, while Brexit talks between the U.K. Conservative government and main opposition Labour Party broke down. The pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.34% in trade, autos leading the losses with a fall just shy of 1%. The notable contributor to auto losses was BMW, which saw its shares slip 5.2%. The day's biggest loser was British tour operator Thomas Cook, which saw its shares plummet almost 40%, hitting their lowest since July 2012 and on track for the biggest one-day drop since November 2011. Citigroup analysts downgraded the company's stock to "sell" after its latest profit warning Thursday and cut its target price to zero. Investors continued to monitored the trade war between the world's largest economies. Meanwhile, the Trump administration confirmed Friday that it will delay tariffs on European auto imports for up to six months, which EU finance chiefs dubbed a "wise decision." On Wall Street Friday, stocks were lower during the morning session. Shares of Facebook were trading lower early in the session as markets continued to focus on trade tensions between the U.S. and China. You could break us up, you could break other tech companies up, but you actually dont address the underlying issues people are concerned about, Sandberg said. Facebook's chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg , sat down for an interview with CNBC's Julia Boorstin on Friday calling for regulation of American tech companies but pushing against the idea of breaking up the social media company. "While people are concerned with the size and power of tech companies, there's also a concern in the United States with the size and power of Chinese companies, and the realization that those companies are not going to be broken up," Sandberg said. She said people are concerned about election security, content, privacy and data portability. Sandberg noted that every one of Facebook's engineering and product teams now have their own safety and security functions focused on people's privacy. "We know at Facebook we have a real possibility to do better and earn back people's trust," she said. Additionally, Sandberg said that although Facebook's pivot to privacy will impact its ability to target ads, the company does not expect a long-term impact on revenue. "We believe deeply that doing the right thing for people on our service is the only way to protect our long-term business, and it's the right thing to do," Sandberg said. WATCH: Here's how to see which apps have access to your Facebook data and cut them off Sundar Pichai, chief executive officer of Google, is sworn in during a House Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018. Google tracks a lot of what you buy, even if you purchased it elsewhere, like in a store or from Amazon. Last week, CEO Sundar Pichai wrote a New York Times op-ed that said "privacy cannot be a luxury good." But behind the scenes, Google is still collecting a lot of personal information from the services you use, such as Gmail, and some of it can't be easily deleted. A page called "Purchases" shows an accurate list of many though not all of the things I've bought dating back to at least 2012. I made these purchases using online services or apps such as Amazon, DoorDash or Seamless, or in stores such as Macy's, but never directly through Google. But because the digital receipts went to my Gmail account, Google has a list of info about my buying habits. Google even knows about things I long forgot I'd purchased, like dress shoes I bought inside a Macy's store on Sept. 14, 2015. It also knows: I ordered a Philly cheesesteak on a hoagie roll with Cheez Whiz and banana peppers on Jan. 14, 2016. I reloaded my Starbucks card in November 2014. I bought a new Kindle on Dec. 18, 2013, from Amazon. I bought "Solo: A Star Wars Story" from iTunes on Sept. 14, 2018. And so on. Take a look at this sample, which covers some things I bought within the last week: Helen Sloan | HBO I think we can all remember exactly where we were when we saw Ned Stark beheaded. It was shocking. It was unexpected. It was not how the story was supposed to go. But, that's "Game of Thrones" for you. HBO's fantasy drama grabbed audiences from its very first episode in 2011 when it ended its premiere by tossing a 10-year-old boy out a window. The series has held its viewers for nearly a decade through its last episode, which is due this Sunday. A lot has changed in the television industry since then streaming services have come to rival and even dethrone cable services, consumers binge episodes instead of waiting for weekly installments and the number of shows available to watch has nearly doubled. But one thing has remained the same fans still tune in en masse to watch "Game of Thrones." Each year "Game of Thrones" has seen its audience grow, a rarity for television shows that typically lose viewership over the course of their runs. The show has continued to smash viewership records since its debut. On April 28, the show set a new single-night record for the series, reaching 17.8 million viewers, beating the previous series high from its season eight premiere. "I think TV has changed gigantically since 'Game of Thrones' came on the air and I don't know if we will ever see another thing like it because of that," Doug Creutz, analyst at Cowen, said. The pendulum has swung in favor of binge-watching over the last decade, with more streaming services opting to release new episodes of hit shows all at once instead of parsing them out in weekly installments. "Game of Thrones," however, strays from that trend, thriving on the buzz from social media chatter and speculation about plot points and fan favorite characters that comes in the time between episodes. Without building a community this way, it will be hard for other shows to achieve this level of fervor. Movie quality CGI & big budgets The TV series, created by D.B. Weiss and David Benioff, comes from the mind of George R.R. Martin, best-selling author of "A Song of Ice and Fire," a series of novels set in the fictional land of Westeros. "Harry Potter" and "Lord of the Rings" proved that the mainstream audience will pay to watch fantasy content, but "Game of Thrones" was still a risk for HBO. With excessive nudity, gore and incest there was no guarantee that it was going to be a massive success. Not to mention, it was expensive. Episode budgets were in excess of $15 million each, which was uncommon in the industry previously. Not only that, but the producers had to reshoot a costly pilot, swapping out actors and scenes, to make the show more unambiguous for viewers. The first time around Weiss and Benioff didn't make it clear that Jaime and Cersei Lannister were twins, so their incestuous scene at the end of the premiere didn't have the same punch at first. HBO / AT&T The lofty episode budgets went toward manufacturing weaponry, setting up locations in a dozen countries, cast and crew salaries, and dozens of special effects houses needed to bring some of the show's more fantastical elements like fire-breathing dragons to life. Quality computer-generated imagery up until this point was really only found on the big screen. "Individual episodes were like individual movies with motion picture values," Peter Csathy, founder of Creatv Media, said. Large production budgets are now more common. Shows like Netflix's "The Crown," which costs about $13 million per episode, and veteran sitcoms like "The Big Bang Theory," where most core cast members, of which there are half a dozen, make between $750,000 and $1 million per episode. Toby Holleran, senior analyst at Ampere Analysis, said "Game of Thrones" was likely a major reason Netflix invested around $100 million in the first two seasons of "House of Cards" in 2013. Subversive storytelling & social media What "Game of Thrones" is, perhaps, most known for is its disregard for conventional storytelling. Martin's novels subverted the typical hero's journey trope in favor of more realistic plot outcomes. Case in point: season one's main hero Ned Stark loses his head when he decides to be noble and warn Queen Cersei that he has discovered her darkest secret all of her children were born of incest. Two seasons later, his eldest son, the new "hero" of the show is murdered at a wedding before he can avenge his father. "The storytelling was done in a way that was unpredictable in an era of cookie-cutter storytelling," Csathy said. HBO / AT&T Like "The Walking Dead," the fact that no character was safe from death made each episode all the more thrilling and incited a desire in audiences to watch each episode when it aired so that they wouldn't miss out. "Game of Thrones" is by no means the first show to gain notoriety for killing off major characters. "Grey's Anatomy," "24" and "Sons of Anarchy" all had shocking deaths of major characters during their runs. However, "Game of Thrones" has done so with so much consistency, that it is a rarity when a named character doesn't die during an episode. Tweet 1 Tweet 3 Social media became a place for fans to commiserate about their favorite characters' demises and to share theories about who might be next or who will make their way onto the Iron Throne by the series' end. For the first four seasons, fans of the books had the upper hand. They knew what was coming. Until season five, that is, when Weiss and Benioff began to deviate from Martin's source material because Martin hadn't finished the final books in his series. "Part of the really unique experience of the show is that you had, for the first five or six seasons, a large portion of the audience that basically knew what was going to happen and a large portion that had no idea what was going to happen," Creutz said. Fans of the books took pride in videotaping their friends and family members watching shocking plot twists like the Red Wedding and uploading those reactions to social media. Red Wedding Reaction Tweet This fervor manifested into group watch parties, people gathering to view the episode together at home or at local bars. Watching "Game of Thrones" has become akin to watching a live sporting event. Bar reaction Tweet Bar sings GOT theme Tweet More content, less community The community of fans so devoted to "Game of Thrones" is a rarity these days, save for massive franchises like "Star Wars," "Star Trek" and Marvel. Part of this is due to the fact that there is so much content out there for audiences to watch, that you can't watch everything you have to prioritize. Since 2011, the number of scripted shows in the U.S. rose 86%, from 266 shows to 495 in 2018, according to an annual report released by FX Networks research team. The more channels and shows that are out there for consumers to watch, the smaller audiences become per show, Creutz said. Not to mention, some analysts see streaming services becoming hindered by one of the things that made them so popular in the first place binge-watching. Kit Harington as Jon Snow featured in the "Game of Thrones" season 6, episode 9 Helen Sloan | HBO Shares of Huawei's key U.S.-listed suppliers stumbled on Thursday following a new rule that requires American firms to seek government approval before selling to the Chinese tech giant. Earlier this week, Huawei was added to the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security's so-called Entity List. That means American firms will need to get a license from the government to sell or transfer technology to Huawei. Huawei has over 30 U.S. companies that it deems "core suppliers," selling it components to go in everything from its smartphones to its telecom networking equipment. Many of those firms are publicly listed and took a battering by the close of U.S. trade on Thursday. Qualcomm was down 4%, Micron was nearly 3% lower, and semiconductor firms Qorvo and Skyworks were down 7% and 6%, respectively. CNBC reached out to all four of those companies for comment about Huawei's inclusion on the Entity List. None have replied. Huawei, for its part, said the U.S. government's move could meaningfully hurt such American firms. "This decision is in no one's interest. It will do significant economic harm to the American companies with which Huawei does business, affect tens of thousands of American jobs, and disrupt the current collaboration and mutual trust that exist on the global supply chain," a Huawei spokesperson said on Friday. "Huawei will seek remedies immediately and find a resolution to this matter. We will also proactively endeavor to mitigate the impacts of this incident." It appeared that Huawei has been preparing for this situation for some time. The world's largest telecom equipment maker told some suppliers six months ago that it wanted to build up a year's worth of crucial components to prepare for any U.S.-China trade war-related issues, according to a report from the Nikkei Asian Review on Friday. Over the past few years, Huawei has also been trying to reduce its reliance on U.S. companies by investing in its own chip technology for consumer products, particularly smartphone processors and 5G chips. 5G refers to the next generation of mobile networks which promises super-fast speeds and the ability to support new technologies like driverless cars. He Tingbo, president of Huawei chip division Hi-Silicon, called the American decision to put it on the Entity List "insane" in a letter to employees translated by CNBC. She said the company has been preparing for it for several years, and that Huawei has been creating "spare tires" apparently referring to extra components that would allow the company to survive if the U.S. cut off the fresh supply. "All the 'spare tires' we've created are no longer spare," He said in the letter. The Huawei logo is seen on the side of the main building at the company's production campus on April 25, 2019 in Dongguan, near Shenzhen, China. Kevin Frayer | Getty Images News | Getty Images The stockpiling along with the development of its own chip technology could help Huawei weather the storm in the near term, experts said. Still, it's bad news for major suppliers. "While it could hit Huawei quite a bit, it will also hit these companies as Huawei has grown big enough to be substantial portion of these companies' revenues," Neil Shah, a research director at Counterpoint Research told CNBC. "Huawei has ... started to stock enough components for next 8-12 months so ideally should be little affected in the near term. Huawei would be expecting to get this resolved by then but there will always be a hanging sword," Shah added. Stockpiles may not be enough While Huawei has been investing in some components, there are other parts that make up a smartphone for which it doesn't have its own technology and for which it heavily relies on American parts. "It'll be catastrophic for Huawei," Edward Snyder, managing director of Charter Equity Research, told "Squawk Box Asia" on Friday. "So yes, they have some internal (parts), but they're missing a large portion of what they need to do the most advanced stuff, and there's no way around buying American for that," he added. The analyst said that Huawei's smartphone business, which has helped drive the consumer division to be the company's biggest by revenues, could "suffer." "Huawei's phone business is going to suffer, in my opinion, significantly from this, and that means they're going to lose shares. Well someone's going to sell those phones, and it won't be ZTE, because they don't have much of a phone business at all. It'll probably be Samsung, and maybe perhaps other (original equipment manufacturers) like Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi who do buy a lot of Qualcomm," Snyder said. US company reaction CNBC reached out to 11 U.S.-listed Huawei suppliers. Corning, a maker of specialist glass, said it will continue to comply with trade regulations. "Corning's optical communications business segment has a large global customer base. We are confident that our optical communications business segment will remain on track to deliver on its goal of $5 billion in 2020 sales, with continued growth beyond," a spokesperson told CNBC. "We do not believe that this issue will have a material impact on Corning's overall financial performance." A spokesperson for Flex, a U.S.-listed design and manufacturing company, said it is "monitoring the situation closely and reviewing" the Entity List to determine the impact on its business. Several other companies have not replied to CNBC's request for comment. A concern is that there could be some retaliation from the Chinese government to suppliers with exposure to China, such as Qualcomm. But analysts said they are not worried about that yet. Italy's antitrust authority announced Friday it has opened an investigation into Google over alleged abuse of its dominant market position. The competition watchdog said the probe relates to Google's alleged abuse of its position in the smart device market. In a press release, originally in Italian, the Italian Antitrust Authority said it had approved the initiation of a preliminary proceeding against Alphabet Inc., Google LLC and Google Italy S.r.l., collectively referred to as Google. The authority confirmed that officials carried out inspections Thursday in some of the companies concerned. The antitrust authority claims Google had refused to integrate the "Enel X Recharge" app, developed by Enel, in its Android Auto app. Japan has agreed to lift longstanding restrictions on American beef exports, clearing the way for U.S. products to enter the market regardless of age, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Friday. The news comes on the heels of other important trade developments on Friday, including the Trump administration's plans to delay auto tariffs on the EU and Japan and lift steel tariffs on Canada and Mexico. In 2005, Japan imposed restrictions on cattle over 30 months old for U.S. beef imports in response to the outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, sometimes known as mad cow disease. According to the USDA announcement, Japan agreed to remove that age limit for U.S. beef imports. The new terms, which take effect immediately, allow U.S. products from all cattle, regardless of age, to enter Japan for the first time since 2003, the government said. "This is great news for American ranchers and exporters who now have full access to the Japanese market for their high-quality, safe, wholesome, and delicious U.S. beef," Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said in a statement. "We are hopeful that Japan's decision will help lead other markets around the world toward science-based policies." American beef sales to Japan topped $2 billion last year, representing approximately one-fourth of all U.S. beef exports. The U.S. Meat Export Federation estimates that expanded access without the age restrictions could increase U.S. beef sales to Japan 7% to 10%, or by $150 million to $200 million annually. It said the ability of the industry to use beef from over-30-month cattle also will lower costs for companies exporting processed beef products to Japan. On the news, Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures moved higher, reversing some recent weakness. The August feeder cattle contract was up more than 1%, and the August live cattle contract also was slightly higher. "There are countries and regions where it takes decades to build up to $200 million in beef exports," said Joe Schuele, a spokesman for USMEF. "And yet in Japan, we're going to add that business in really a short period of time. So in a way, this is kind of like opening up a whole new medium-sized market." Japanese regulators banned imports of U.S. beef and beef products in 2003 in response to mad cow disease being confirmed on a farm in Washington state. In late 2005, Japan agreed to restore partial access to U.S. beef but with age-based restrictions. The U.S. is Japan's largest beef supplier in terms of value and ranks second behind Australia in volume. Still, export competition is intensifying as New Zealand, Canada and Australia get reduced Japanese tariffs under the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the 11-nation trade deal the U.S. withdrew from in 2017 under President Donald Trump. "Tariff rates grab all the headlines, but non-tariff barriers are often just as important, if not more so, when it comes to determining market access," said National Cattlemen's Beef Association President Jennifer Houston. "Hopefully, this will help spotlight this important point and lead to more trade victories in the near future." Bill Marvin and Chris Seib (CTO and co-founder) action shot Meagan Ebersole | JP Morgan Chase J.P. Morgan Chase is buying medical payments technology firm InstaMed to push more deeply into the $3.5 trillion market for U.S. health-care spending. The bank agreed on Friday to purchase the Philadelphia-based company of about 300 employees that processed $94 billion in transactions last year, according to the two companies. J.P. Morgan is paying more than $500 million for the business, making it the lender's largest takeover since buying Bear Stearns and the bank assets of Washington Mutual in 2008, according to people with knowledge of the situation. The move shows that the nation's largest bank views the fast-changing world of payments as a battleground worthy of aggressive wagers. When it comes to keeping pace with emerging technology in lending or investing, J.P. Morgan has typically partnered with fintech firms like OnDeck or used its own engineers to build solutions like the brokerage app YouInvest. But payments, being transformed by global technology giants and surging due to the rise of e-commerce, offers a rare growth opportunity for banks. In fact, one of J.P. Morgan's only other sizable acquisitions of the past decade was its 2017 purchase of WePay, a competitor to PayPal and Stripe. (That year, J.P. Morgan also weighed a bid for Worldpay, a merchant acquirer, before a competitor bought it for $9.9 billion.) So last year, J.P. Morgan surveyed the health-care landscape for ways to ramp up investment, according to Takis Georgakopoulos, the bank's head of wholesale payments. The decision was based on the vast size and complexity of the market: U.S. health spending, pegged at $3.5 trillion in 2017, is projected to reach $6 trillion by 2027, according to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Network effects "One of my favorite stats is approximately 90 percent of all health providers still use paper billing," Georgakopoulos said in an interview. "What InstaMed has created is both the platform and the network that allows them to simplify and streamline payments across payers, providers and consumers across the ecosystem." InstaMed, founded in 2004 by former Accenture consultants Bill Marvin and Chris Seib, automates medical billing with electronic rails for the delivery of health-care information and payments. It connects those in the health-care ecosystem involved in demanding payments, from hospitals to labs and urgent care clinics, with groups like insurers and HMOs that make payments. An illustration: Instead of filling out paper forms at a hospital reception desk and later paying by paper check, a consumer can enter information via an InstaMed app and pay with a credit card. Information flows between doctors, payers and users seamlessly. Apart from its cloud-based platform, the company has created a network that many of the country's health providers, from large hospital groups to small doctor practices, have signed on to, as well as most U.S. health plan insurers. Takis Georgakopoulos Meagan Ebersole | JP Morgan Chase "We obviously always look at whether we should build something or buy it," Georgakopoulos said. "In this case, what InstaMed has done is not just the platform, but it's also the network, which took them 15 years to build. We thought it would probably take us that long to build, and so it was kind of a unique opportunity." With this acquisition, J.P. Morgan will integrate itself into the technological underpinning of the labyrinthine U.S. health-care system in a way that's unusual for a bank. The plan is to embed J.P. Morgan's vast payments infrastructure into InstaMed to offer a complete solution to clients, Georgakopoulos said. The business will sit within his wholesale payments division, which moves $6 trillion a day for corporations around the world. The bank will also offer InstaMed to its entire universe of clients, from huge corporations to smaller businesses, and potentially integrate it with its J.P. Morgan Chase bill paying apps, he said. "The idea is, you take their platform and our payments expertise and you bring it together as one package to our customers," Georgakopoulos said. Separate from Haven In a volatile stock market, Microsoft could be your best bet, says one trading expert. While Microsoft shares have gained nearly 27% this year, with the company's market cap topping $1 trillion after its most recent earnings report, any dip presents an opportunity to buy the software play, according to Todd Gordon, founder of TradingAnalysis.com. "I like the look of Microsoft here," Gordon said Thursday on CNBC's "Trading Nation." "The stock gapped up on a strong earnings report. We've since closed that gap in this little bit of market volatility. I think this pullback is an opportunity to get long." A stock closing its gap which occurs when a given security opens well above or below its closing price is typically seen by technical analysts as a bullish sign. Gordon also noted that Microsoft's 50-day exponential moving average has provided key support during the stock's rise this year. "We're seeing relative strength here in Microsoft," he said. "I think the overall market's beginning to stabilize, and it looks like we should begin to push higher." Gordon added that Microsoft's options were cheap, which enabled him to put on a bullish call spread, an options trade that limits losses by creating a strike-price range. Using July monthly options, Gordon bought a $130 call for $4.35 and sold a $140 call for 97 cents, a net cost of $341. "That's the max loss that you have in this trade," he explained, adding that the maximum profit was "roughly $660. ... Now, I'm going to manage this trade at about 50%. So if the $3.40 premium that I want to pay now gets cut in half down to, say, $1.70, [the] trade is probably not working." In that unique situation, Gordon's advice was simple: "Cut the trade, move on." "Remember, that debit spread is a fixed investment," Gordon said. "We're going to risk half of what we paid, so kind of price that in in terms of percent risk to your overall portfolio or account or whatever you're trading. Be sure to position-size it correctly." Shares of Microsoft were fractionally higher Friday afternoon, trading at $129.18. As the American student debt crisis continues to grow, educators are beginning to explore alternative ways of financing education. On Thursday, the San Diego Workforce Partnership (SDWP), a non-profit workforce development board, and the University of California San Diego Extension school (UCSDx) announced the Workforce ISA Fund. An ISA, or an "income share agreement," is a contract between a student and a training program or school. Students are not required to contribute to the cost of their education or training upfront. Instead, they agree to contribute a pre-determined percentage of their income once they have completed the program and are gainfully employed. Organizations that participate are incentivized to prepare students to be competitive candidates for in-demand jobs in fact their future funding is dependent on graduates securing paid employment. "An ISA acts very differently than a loan," Josh Shapiro, assistant dean of research affairs at UCSDx, said during the program's announcement. "A loan is debt. It's an obligation that needs to be repaid regardless of circumstance, and an ISA flips the model and it can be seen as an investment in an individual that is only repaid contingent upon students' success." It's a concept that's gaining traction. In 2016, Purdue University became one of the first major universities to launch an ISA, the Back A Boiler program, which gave roughly $2 million to 160 Purdue students during the 2016 - 2017 school year. Since then, other large universities, including the University of Utah have rolled out similar programs. According to NPR, colleges in Colorado, Pennsylvania and New York also are launching ISA programs. Andy Hall, COO of the SDWP tells CNBC Make It that the Workforce ISA Fund is the "first ISA originated by a public workforce development board and the first in the UC system." He and Shapiro expect that the ISA will support 500 students by 2021 and will be fully self-sustaining by 2025. "Our philanthropic dollars are taking risks for students' success, and we think that's how it should be," he says. "The more successful we are, the larger the fund gets and the more we can sustain it and scale it." Andy Hall, COO of the San Diego Workforce Partnership How it works The SDWP has raised $3.35 million for the fund over the past several years, including a $1.2 million gift from Strada Education Network, an education non-profit based in Indianapolis, a $1.2 million gift The James Irvine Foundation, a private non-profit grant-making foundation based in California and a $450,000 donation from Google.org. The Workforce ISA Fund will allow 100 students to take a six-month online and in-person course at UCSDx in digital marketing, business intelligence, Java programming or web development. The course would ordinarily cost $6,500. Graduates are not expected to make contributions to pay back the cost of the course until they have a job that pays at least $40,000 a year. Hall says the program has received about 320 applications so far for the courses, the first of which begins in July. He says over 90% of current applicants are first-generation college students, and nearly 30% qualify for public food assistance. Income share details vary across the four programs based on projected earnings, but graduates can expect to contribute anywhere from 36 monthly payments of 6% of their income to 60 payments of 8% of their income. Graduates are not expected to pay more than 1.8 times the cost of the program, or about $11,700. Costs and repayment Critics have raised concerns about the fact that ISA participants often end up paying more, ultimately, than the total cost of the program. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median salary for a computer programmer in 2018 was $84,280. Under San Diego's Workforce ISA Fund, a Java programmer contributing 6% of their salary in 36 monthly payments would end up paying significantly more than the face value of the program. That's why repayment is capped at 1.8 times the cost of the program. Darrell Silver is the CEO and co-founder of Thinkful, an online coding school. Two years ago, Thinkful began offering an ISA payment plan for their courses worth about $10,000. Silver says between 20% to 25% of Thinkful's students select an ISA plan wherein graduates who make over $40,000 pay 15% of their salary for three years. Payment is capped at $28,000. "It's good for the student, because even though ISAs are often more expensive than other options, the lowered risk for the student can be very meaningful, and it allows a lot of students to trust in us," Silver tells CNBC Make It. "Many students who choose ISAs even though they could afford a traditional monthly payment are saying to themselves, 'Look, I'm happy to pay more later, but I just don't want to get suckered into an education that that may or may not work. And I'll pay more for that privilege.'" That overpayment is also what makes ISAs self-funding programs that consistently graduate high-earning students receive additional funds they can use to expand the program. "You are paying it forward for your neighbor to have a shot," says Hall. "None of our financing partners are going to get any return on this. It's just about sustainability and scalability." Jacobs Stock Photography Ltd | Getty Images Andrew Dunckleman, Head of Education and Economic Opportunity at Google.org tells CNBC Make It that the organization intends to invest roughly $2 million across several ISA experiments around the country as part of a larger commitment to invest $50 million towards economic opportunities initiatives between 2018 and 2019. "We know that people are going to need faster access to skills, more dynamic ways of building skills, instead of just one-and-done college education," says Dunckleman. "In order to promote that new way of thinking about skills, we're going to need new financing mechanisms." He points to pointing to research from the Bookings Institution that estimates that over two-thirds of jobs today require a medium or high-level of digital skills. Dunckleman says that while ISAs may not eliminate the issue of student debt, they could provide a sustainable model to help workers gain skills that employers like Google have an increased demand for. Results are still unclear Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong told reporters and analysts on Friday that an order for 31 Boeing 737 Max jets remains "intact" despite the aircraft model's two deadly crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia. That comes after Singapore Airlines' regional affiliate SilkAir grounded six Boeing 737 Max jets in March. However, Goh told CNBC's Sri Jegarajah that the grounding adds "some complications" to the planned merger between Singapore Airlines and SilkAir. With the 737 Max jets originally planned to be part of the restructuring program grounded, SilkAir will have to retain its older 737 NG aircrafts which were set to be moved to Scoot, a low-cost carrier owned by Singapore Airlines, he explained. That means that the airline will have to decide on whether or not to carry out cabin upgrades on the old 737 NG aircrafts instead, Goh said. This also has a "consequential impact" on Scoot, which will now have to "look at growth without the 737 NG," he added "In both cases, we're looking at solutions. We believe we will have them," Goh told CNBC. In March, a 737 Max 8 operated by Ethiopian Airlines crashed minutes after takeoff, killing all 157 people on board. That accident came less than five months after the same model plane operated by Indonesia's Lion Air crashed shortly after taking off from Jakarta, killing all 189 on board. Singapore Airlines on Thursday reported its highest-ever annual revenue, driven by high passenger demand. Higher fuel costs, however, took a big chunk out of the airline's profits, which nearly halved to about S$682.7 million. Reuters contributed to this report. Pedro Sanchez's attempts to form a stable government in Spain took a blow this week. The acting prime minister and the country' Socialist party leader was hoping to appoint Miquel Iceta, the socialists' leader in Catalonia, to Spain's senate. But in a surprising move, Catalan separatists voted against it on Thursday. Iceta's selection was supposed to pave the way for PSOE, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, to form a government with a Catalan separatist party. However, the ongoing trial of 12 Catalan separatist leaders, for their role in the failed independence bid back in 2017, along with disputes among separatist parties resulted in pro-independence parties rejecting the appointment. It's likely that Sanchez will have until July to form a coalition government before Parliament votes on who will become prime minister. Subscribe to CNBC International on YouTube. Check out the companies making headlines before the bell: Deere The heavy equipment maker reported quarterly profit of $3.52 per share, 10 cents a share below estimates. Revenue exceeded analysts' expectations. Deere cut its full-year forecast, saying "persistent uncertainty" in its agricultural markets is weighing on its outlook, but that its long-term fundamentals and overall economic conditions remain positive. Pinterest Pinterest lost $41.4 million during the first quarter in its first quarterly report since going public in April. Pinterest reported $201.9 million in revenue, but noted that expenses grew by almost a third compared to a year earlier due mostly to the cost of adding new employees. Pinterest reported a higher-than-expected number of monthly active users. Applied Materials Applied Materials reported adjusted quarterly profit of 70 cents per share, beating consensus estimates by 4 cents a share. The semiconductor manufacturing equipment maker also reported better-than-expected revenue, and its guidance for the current quarter is largely above analysts' forecasts. The results are alleviating some concerns about a slowing semiconductor market. Luckin Coffee Luckin priced its initial public offering at $17 per share, at the high end of the projected range. Luckin is the second largest coffee train in China, trailing only Starbucks. Nvidia Nvidia beat estimates by 7 cents a share, with adjusted quarterly profit of 88 cents per share, The graphics chipmaker also reported slightly better-than-expected revenue. Nvidia's results were helped by growing demand for its gaming chips. Baidu Baidu missed estimates on both the top and bottom lines in its latest earnings report. The China-based search engine company also gave a quarterly revenue outlook that falls below analysts' expectations. Amazon.com Amazon has taken a stake in British online food delivery company Deliveroo, a competitor to Uber's Uber Eats and other delivery services. Deliveroo said Amazon was the lead investor in a new funding round that raised $575 million. Hewlett Packard Enterprise HPE announced a deal to buy supercomputer maker Cray for $35 per share or $1.3 billion in cash. It expects the deal to be accretive to profit in the first full year after the deal closes Tesla Tesla CEO Elon Musk has told employees he will scrutinize expenses even more closely, as the electric car maker tries to cut costs further. Separately, the automaker's Autopilot system was engaged during a fatal March 1 crash of a 2018 Model 3 in Delray Beach, Florida, in at least the third fatal U.S. crash reported involving the driver-assistance system, the National Transportation Safety Board said on Thursday. Iamgold Iamgold is exploring a possible sale of all or parts of its gold mining business, according to a Bloomberg report. Boeing Boeing has completed a software fix for its grounded 737 Max jet fleet, but the company said regulators are asking for additional information about the fix. Under Armour Under Armour was upgraded to "overweight" from "neutral" at J.P. Morgan Securities, following meetings with CEO Kevin Plank and other members of the apparel maker's management team which emphasized a focus on innovation and a "stacked" product pipeline. Foot Locker Foot Locker was upgraded to "buy" from "neutral" at B. Riley, which pointed to improving trends in the retailer's footwear business and a pullback in promotions, among other factors. Reuters contributed to this report. monkeybusinessimages | iStock | Getty Images Demand for IT engineers in the U.K. grew faster than any other job over the last year, according to new research from global job site Indeed. Advertisements for IT engineers have jumped by more than a third since April 2018, making the role the fastest growing on the British job market. Elsewhere in the technology sector, mobile developers saw growing job opportunities in the same period, as employer demand for people to fill the role rose by 28%. Indeed's findings come as official data showed that the U.K.'s unemployment levels are currently at their lowest since 1974. In the three months to March, Britain's unemployment rate edged lower to 3.8 per cent. The shrinking pool of available workers means companies are having to fight harder to attract new employees, Indeed noted. "It's striking that the roles seeing the greatest growth in demand often reward highly skilled people with high salaries, even at entry level," Bill Richards, U.K. managing director Indeed, said in a press release Friday. "For jobseekers, the message is clear no matter where you are in your career path, opportunity is there if you feel like a change." Fastest growing sectors Toyota Motor said President Donald Trump's latest move in the administration's international trade war was a "major setback" for American consumers, shows the company's investments in the U.S. are "not welcomed" and that contributions from its American employees are "not valued." Trump issued a new directive Friday giving Japan and the European Union six months to renegotiate their trade deals with the U.S. so that the "American automobile industry, its workforce, and American innovation" are protected. The Japan automaker's comments Friday come after the White House said U.S.Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will "address the threatened impairment" of national security from auto imports. "Our operations and employees contribute significantly to the American way of life, the U.S. economy and are not a national security threat," Toyota said in a statement. EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom also denounced Trump's comments, saying "we completely reject the notion" that Europe's car exports are a national security threat. Tweet Toyota said it has been "deeply engrained" in the U.S. for more than 60 years and has invested over $60 billion in the country, employing more than 475,000 Americans. Toyota added that "history has shown" that limiting imports of vehicles and parts is "counterproductive in creating jobs, stimulating the economy and influencing consumer buying habits." The automaker said auto tariffs would reduce consumer choice and even impact American automakers because vehicle parts used for manufacturing in the U.S. come from various countries. "If import quotas are imposed, the biggest losers will be consumers who will pay more and have fewer vehicle choices," Toyota said. The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment. Read Toyota's full statement: Secretary of Treasury Steve Mnuchin testifies at the U.S. Capitol on May 15, 2019 in Washington, DC. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig are expected to defy congressional subpoenas requesting years of President Donald Trump's federal tax returns by Friday afternoon. By ignoring the 5 p.m. ET deadline, the administration officials would spark the latest point of contention between Democrats, who have lodged dozens of subpoenas for information from the White House and Trump-related figures, and the president, who has vowed to fight "all the subpoenas." If the deadline isn't met, the battle over the president's tax information could be headed to the courts. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., made a formal request for six years of Trump's personal and business tax returns last month. But Mnuchin refused to release the president's returns to Congress. Last Friday, Neal issued subpoenas to Mnuchin and Rettig for the returns. "While I do not take this step lightly, I believe this action gives us the best opportunity to succeed and obtain the requested material," Neal said in a statement. Hours before the deadline, Neal told reporters on Capitol Hill that he anticipated Mnuchin and Rettig would blow off the subpoenas. "The result will be that we will likely proceed to court as quickly as next week," Neal said. Asked if he foresaw his committee moving to hold Mnuchin in contempt for defying the subpoenas, Neal said "I don't see that right now as an option." The debate has focused on a specific section of the federal tax code, which states that the Treasury secretary "shall furnish" an individual's tax returns when a written request from the tax committee is made. Mnuchin says that the request "lacks a legitimate legislative purpose" and that it could therefore not "lawfully" be fulfilled. At a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing Wednesday, Mnuchin strongly suggested that he and the IRS chief will not cooperate with those subpoenas. Lawmakers can "guess which way we're leaning" on how he and Rettig will respond to the Democrats' requests, Mnuchin testified. The Treasury Department did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment on whether or not the deadline will be met. It would be better to turn to the courts to try and hash out the "difference in interpretation" between Democrats and the Trump administration, Mnuchin said at that hearing. "This is why there are three branches of government, so if there is a difference of opinion this will go to the third branch of government to be resolved." Mnuchin and Republicans on the Ways and Means Committee have both claimed that Democratic lawmakers are attempting to "weaponize" the IRS in order to damage Trump, rather than use their powers to further a legislative interest. "It has become obvious that your supposed legislative purpose is just a pretext, and your request is merely a means to access and make public the tax returns of a single individual for purely political purposes," said Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, the Ways and Means Committee's ranking member, in a letter urging Neal to let go of his pursuit for the tax returns. Neal, however, argued that the request was "reasonable" and that reviewing the president's tax returns constitutes "a necessary piece of the committee's work" as an oversight body. Trump's returns would be used as part of an effort to "assess the extent to which the IRS audits and enforces the federal tax laws against a sitting president and to determine if those audits need to be codified into federal law," Neal said. Trump refused to make his tax returns publicly available as a presidential candidate, breaking with the precedent set by most other candidates in recent decades. Trump claimed during the campaign and after the election that he could not release his returns until the completion of an audit even though there is no legal barrier to him sharing that information while being audited. In his proclamation, Trump argued in part that "domestic conditions of competition must be improved by reducing imports." "United States defense and military superiority depend on the competitiveness of our automobile industry and the research and development that industry generates," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. "The negotiation process will be led by United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and, if agreements are not reached within 180 days, the President will determine whether and what further action needs to be taken." In a proclamation Friday, Trump said he directed U.S.Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to seek agreements to "address the threatened impairment" of national security from auto imports. Trump could choose to move forward with tariffs during the talks. The Trump administration will delay tariffs on cars and auto part imports for up to six months as it negotiates trade deals with the European Union and Japan. The White House had to decide by Saturday whether to slap duties on autos. Earlier this year, the Commerce Department said Trump could justify the move on national security grounds. By law, the administration can push back its decision by up to six months if it is negotiating with trading partners. In a statement Friday, EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said "we completely reject the notion that our car exports are a national security threat." She added that the trade bloc "is prepared to negotiate a limited trade agreement" including cars, but not so-called managed trade, in which the partners could set targets like quotas. Malmstrom said EU officials will discuss the issue with Lighthizer next week in Paris. Malmstrom tweet: We note that US postpones decision on car tariffs for 180 days. But we completely reject the notion that our car exports are a national security threat. The EU is prepared to negotiate a limited trade agreement incl cars, but not WTO-illegal managed trade. Levying the auto tariffs threatened to open new fronts in a global trade war that could drag down the U.S. economy. The EU has already prepared a list of American goods to target with tariffs if Trump goes ahead with the car duties. Automakers and some U.S. lawmakers opposed the potential tariffs. The American car industry said the duties would put jobs in jeopardy and raise prices for consumers. The decision comes after the U.S. and China fired new shots in their trade war. The White House is working to salvage a deal with Beijing to address what the U.S. calls trade abuses amid the widening conflict. Trump also used the national security justification last year to put tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, including metals coming from allies such as the EU, Canada and Mexico. Europe previously retaliated after those duties. Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube. European finance ministers have expressed their relief at a likely delay to car tariffs by the President Donald Trump administration, and warn that any new levies would weigh on global growth. The White House has until midnight Friday (Washington time) to decide whether to impose tariffs on European cars and car parts. However, four sources told CNBC earlier this week that the U.S. administration will delay the decision by six months. "That's a wise decision," French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told CNBC Thursday in Brussels. "I think we should avoid any kind of sanctions, tariffs and trade war because, you know, the deep conviction of the French government is entering any kind of trade war will have a very negative effect on global growth, growth for the U.S., growth for China, and of course for all European countries," he added. Imposing duties on European car imports would likely hurt Germany the most, given that it is one of the largest direct car exporters to the U.S. This economic threat is an acute concern for European leaders at a time when the euro zone is already showing signs of weakness. Recent manufacturing and growth data have led the European Central Bank (ECB) to cut its growth projections for the year. Growth in the region and especially Germany is sensitive to external shocks due to its export-driven economy. The United States has reached a deal to lift steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada and Mexico, removing one key obstacle to passing updates to the North American Free Trade Agreement. In a joint statement Friday, the Canadian and American governments said the U.S. will scrap the metals duties within two days. Canada will remove tariffs levied on American goods in retaliation for the steel and aluminum duties. The countries will also: Drop all pending litigation in the World Trade Organization related to the tariffs Set up measures to "prevent the importation of aluminum or steel that is unfairly subsidized and/or sold at dumped prices" and "prevent the transshipment of aluminum and steel made outside of Canada or the United States to the other country" Make an "agreed-upon process for monitoring aluminum and steel trade between them" In a separate statement, the Mexican government also said it would remove retaliatory tariffs it put on the U.S. and cease pending litigation. Mexico also said it would set up measures to stop unfair trade practices in the aluminum and steel markets and to monitor trade of the metals in North America. Trump referenced the tariff removal during remarks Friday to the National Association of Realtors, saying, "I'm pleased to announce we've just reached an agreement with Canada and Mexico to sell product without the imposition of major tariffs." The Canadian and Mexican governments, along with top U.S. lawmakers, have pushed the Trump administration to remove the tariffs before the countries approve the United States Mexico Canada Agreement. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke earlier Friday about the duties on metals and the tariffs Canada slapped on U.S. goods in retaliation, according to a spokesman for Trudeau. Usain Bolt's Mobility company has launched a two-seater, all-electric and zero-emission vehicle. Dubbed the Bolt Nano, it was unveiled at the VivaTech conference in Paris Thursday. Whilst detailed information about the vehicle has yet to be revealed, prices start at $9,999, with deliveries starting in 2020. Those interested in the Bolt Nano can put down a refundable deposit of $999 to reserve a vehicle, which has a swappable battery and seats one passenger in the front and one in the back. The vehicles are small enough for four to fit into one parking space. The launch of the Bolt Nano comes in the same week that the firm announced it was rolling out its e-scooter offering in Paris. Users of the scooter service locate their vehicles via an app, paying for their ride through an account with the company. In the U.S., it costs $1 to unlock a vehicle and then 15 cents per minute. Speaking to CNBC's Karen Tso Thursday, Bolt said that, having retired from sport, he was entering a new chapter of his life. "Through traveling, through my times as a track athlete, I've learned that the cities around the world need help with congestion," he said. Bolt, one of the most successful and iconic athletes of all time, is a co-founder of the business. The firm says its aim is to cut congestion and people's reliance on "personal vehicles" by partnering with city governments to "weave transportation alternatives into the fabric of urban environments." Sarah Haynes is also co-founder of the firm. She told CNBC that there was a "big, big appetite for finding solutions for transportation issues." "The cities that we have today are the same ones that have been there for centuries, and they're not made for this many cars," she explained, going on to add that the firm was "looking at a fleet of transportation solutions that are electric. Our designs with our scooters are all customized so we can recycle every single part, including the batteries." The way people move around urban areas is changing, with ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft now offered in major cities across the world. Well established cycle-share schemes are also available in capitals such as London and Paris. In the electric scooter market, Usain Bolt's venture is one of many looking to tap in to the shared transport sector. Firms such as Bird, Lime, and Bolt formerly known as Taxify also offer users a platform that allows them to locate and hire electric scooters using their smartphone. Whether electric scooters take off and become a popular mode of transport for urban commuters remains to be seen. Regulatory hurdles pose a significant challenge to their mass adoption. In the U.K., for example, e-scooters are considered to be "powered transporters." This means that, currently, they are defined as being "motor vehicles" and it is illegal to use them on a public road without complying with several requirements, which in practice is difficult. Use of powered transporters on U.K. pavements and cycle lanes is also prohibited. Change is afoot, however. In March 2019, the government announced what it described as "the biggest review into transport in a generation." The review will look at regulations surrounding vehicles such as e-scooters and e-cargo bike trailers and will explore modernizing old laws that date back to the 1800s. Walmart is getting new digs. The biggest retailer in the world, headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas, is one step closer to moving into a new home office for more than 14,000 people, which will be outfitted with fitness centers for employees and their families, a child-care facility, more diverse dining options like food trucks, trails for hiking and biking, and tons of windows yes, more windows. Walmart's current home office is notorious for lacking natural light. Walmart's existing headquarters, built in 1971, is made up of more than 20 buildings scattered around the corner of Southwest Eighth Street and Walton Boulevard in Bentonville. The new space will be built along J Street, the company said when it first revealed its plans to move, in September 2017. Walmart on Friday released a blog post with more details about the new office and photos offering a first look at the facilities, which will span more than 300 acres. Demolition of the existing buildings on that land is expected to start this summer, and construction of the new campus will begin over the next two years, with workers moving in phases, the company said. Walmart said the goal of getting into more modern facilities with an open floor plan and better food, parking and fitness options is to "attract the next generation of talent." That's as Amazon arguably Walmart's biggest rival in retail today is embarking on opening a new headquarters in Virginia and another office space in Tennessee. (Amazon, which has its main headquarters in Seattle, was planning an office in New York City, but that fell through thanks to plenty of local opposition.) For Walmart, though, the company didn't think about leaving its roots behind in Bentonville, Dan Bartlett, executive vice president of Walmart's corporate affairs team, said Thursday on a call with members of the media. "This was not a hard decision for us to keep our home office in northwest Arkansas. ... We are a part of this community," he said. Walmart has been able to establish a presence in other cities across the U.S. through its acquisitions, like when it bought Jet.com, giving Walmart an office in Hoboken, New Jersey. "Arkansas has been good to us, and there's nowhere else we'd rather call home," CEO Doug McMillon said. Walmart's big move follows McDonald's opening a $250 million headquarters in Chicago's West Loop last year. The fast-food chain's CEO, Steve Easterbrook, sits on Walmart's board, and Bartlett said Walmart has taken some inspiration from that design, as well as from visits to other corporate offices such as Apple's and Deloitte's, and from college campuses. The company hasn't announced the lead architect for this project. It also hasn't disclosed a price tag for the move. But Bartlett said it will fall into Walmart's "typical annual budgeting process" and that the company"feels good" about the capital it has on hand to pursue this. Since the move is happening in phases, the expenses will be spread over the span of a few years, not hitting on a particular quarter all at once. Walmart also is still deciding what will become of its current home office once everyone has moved out of those buildings. Bartlett said it's likely those buildings will be demolished, but the company will work with city and state leaders to turn the area into something the surrounding community can use. "I think [our founder] Sam Walton himself would say: 'Don't conflate history with what needs to be done in the future,'" he said. "We are a company that is aggressively on the move as we continue to shape ... the future of retail." Here's a glimpse of what Walmart's new home office will look like. Drone-delivery businesses cropped up all over the globe in recent years, but most focused on last-mile logistics for food and retail. The concept of air dropping a burrito to a hungry college co-ed is a fun one. But one drone-delivery business that has pulled ahead of the pack, Zipline, gained commercial traction by flying lifesaving medical supplies to thousands of rural clinics instead. Now Zipline, which ranked No. 39 on the 2019 CNBC Disruptor 50 list, has raised $190 million in venture funding and attained a $1.2 billion valuation from its investors. Its backers include Baillie Gifford, The Rise Fund (which is TPG's global impact fund), Temasek, Alphabet's investment arm GV and Katalyst Ventures. The funding brings Zipline's total capital raised to $225 million. CEO Keller Rinaudo, who co-founded Zipline with Keenan Wyrobek and William Hetzler in 2011, says that with the new funding, Zipline will be able to set up delivery hubs at 2,600 health facilities in Rwanda and Ghana by the end of this year. And it will soon be making deliveries of medical supplies in the U.S., starting in North Carolina, where it has secured permission from the FAA to do so. "People think what we do is solving a developing economies problem. But critical-access hospitals are closing at an alarming rate in the U.S., too, especially if you live in the rural U.S. Life expectancy there has declined over the past several years," Rinaudo said. According to data from the National Center for Health Statistics, drug overdose deaths have been a major factor in lower life expectancy in the U.S, especially in rural areas. 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 Shahid Kapoor unveils his wax figure at Madame Tussauds Singapore Shahid Kapoor is the newest actor to join the ever-growing list of Bollywood stars in the Ultimate Film Star Experience (UFSE) at Madame Tussauds Singapore. At the unveiling of his wax figure on Thursday, May 16, Kapoor did it in true Bollywood fashion flanked by dancers led by Lavania Hajji, founder of Dance Embassy. Known for his exceptional dancing skills and powerful performances, Shahid Kapoor brings an element of interactivity to guests like never before. Through augmented reality at the interactive dance set supported by real-time camera capture, visitors have the chance to be part of a Bollywood chorus of dancers and become the ultimate film stars themselves just like Shahid. As an Indian actor, it is an incredibly special moment to be surrounded by the best of Indian cinema icons at Madame Tussauds Singapore, in this unique Ultimate Film Star Experience. Unveiling my very own wax figure here is definitely a lifetime achievement it is truly a dream come true, said Shahid Kapoor. The King of Dance will captivate guests whether they are long-standing Indian cinema fans or new to the scene. We will continue to work with more cinema legends, as well as add exclusive celebrity content into the zone throughout the year, said Alex Ward, General Manager, Madame Tussauds Singapore. Watch the video below to have a glimpse of the excitement at the unveiling: Singapore business summit involves envoys from 18 countries; HCI Jawed Ashraf to deliver keynote speech Singapore-based publishing company Sun Media will commemorate its 20th anniversary with a multinational investment conference on May 22 at the Fullerton Hotel. The World Opportunities Forum (WOF) will see 18 countries represented by their ambassadors and high commissioners present the latest on business opportunities, policies, and next steps for investments. This is the first time that the diplomats will collectively present information to CEOs, SMEs, entrepreneurs and investors, reflecting the event objective of using Singapore as a hub to Create, Connect and Cross invest. HE Jawed Ashraf, High Commissioner of India, Singapore, has always highlighted the potential and desire for partnership between India and Singapore. As at the Inspreneur Summit last year, he will be speaking on investment opportunities in India at the WOF. Photo: Connected to India According to HE Jawed Ashraf, Indian High Commissioner to Singapore and WOF Panelist, Singapore is an ideal place to hold this event as it is one of the most globally integrated and open countries in the world and therefore, the Forum presents both opportunities around the world as well as opportunities to advance economic relations in this region. He will be the main speaker in the Keynote Session of the forum on 'India presents opportunities in the age of disruption'. The WOF is presented by Sun Media Pte Ltd to commemorate its 20th year as a custom publishing house that specialises in creating newsletters, magazines and content. Sun Media has worked with more than 50 foreign diplomatic missions in Singapore and the region since 1999. It is supported by Enterprise Singapore, the Singapore Manufacturing Federation and the Singapore Business Federation. While contemplating how to celebrate this milestone, we zeroed into something that has remained consistent and constant in all the countries we have been promoting, and that is, attracting the investment dollar. Investment binds nations, businesses, people and changes lives, said Nomita Dhar, Managing Director of Sun Media. Nomita Dhar, Managing Director of Sun Media. Photo courtesy: Sun Media The publisher and Editor-In-Chief based in Singapore added that the forum is a means to find ways to Connect, Create and Cross invest for a larger good in todays world of disruption. India is the Partner Country for the Forum and the other participating countries are Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, Finland, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Asia Europe Foundation. Together, they will present valuable market intelligence and insiders information. We think that the Forum is going to bring opportunities in Saudi Arabia for Singaporeans who are interested in investing and doing business or having projects over there. We are going to talk about these projects and opportunities in the Forum, said HE Saad Saleh I Alsaleh, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Singapore, who will be taking part in the session on Saudi Arabia's 'Vision 2030 & Next Steps for Investors'. The envoy added that his country is hoping to see more businessmen and women and companies coming and sharing their views about what they are hoping to see in Saudi Arabia and also what they are willing to do for the country. HE Saad Saleh I Alsaleh, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Singapore. Photo courtesy: Sun Media The tailor-made sessions on the countries will focus on the Investment Climate, Policy & Projects and The Next Steps, making accessible, a unique platform where diplomats, policymakers, CEOs, entrepreneurs, innovators and thought leaders will come together to create opportunities for growth. V Srivathsan, Managing Director/ CEO, Africa & Middle East, Olam International, will be speaking in a panel discussion on 'Africa, the next Investment Frontier' involving representatives from Egypt, Nigeria, Rwanda and South Africa and Singapore companies. Connecting and Cross investing is the hot topic of the day, and we at Olam are very excited to participate and support this forum. Personally, I am looking forward to hearing the various speakers and also share my two bits in my panel, he said. V Srivathsan, Managing Director/ CEO, Africa & Middle East, Olam International. Photo courtesy: Sun Media The Guest of Honour for the event is Mr Douglas Foo, president of Singapore Manufacturing Federation and Nominated Member of Parliament. The sessions will be moderated by Ambassador Ong Keng Yong, Executive Deputy Chairman, Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Mr Johan Burger, Africa Specialist & Lecturer in African Studies (Singapore and South Africa), Mr Vikram Khanna, Associate Editor, The Straits Times, Mr Rahul Pathak, Associate Editor, The Straits Times, Mr Shivaji Das, MD & Partner, Frost & Sullivan, Asia Pacific and Mr Syed Mohamad Alsagoff, Middle East Specialist & Partner-Yamako Pacific & IConsilium Pte Ltd. Ambassador Ong Keng Yong. Photo courtesy: Sun Media Ambassador Ong said, It is an event to zero in on potential prospects and, moving forward, this Forum can be an avenue to create more than what we have today. Ambassadors and high commissioners from 18 countries will present the latest business opportunities for investments to companies and entrepreneurs at the forum. World Opportunities Forum Date: Wednesday, May 22, 2019 Time: 8:30 AM 5:00 PM Venue: The Fullerton Hotel, Ballroom 1, Singapore Leadership 1) May agrees to set a timetable for a new PM Nightmare of never ending departure Janet Daley, Daily Telegraph Rivals to be the new leaders see advantages in delay Financial Times It is in the national interest for May to stand down John Whittingdale, The Guardian The country hasnt the patience for another enigma Leader, Daily Telegraph When the moment she had been dreading finally came, Theresa May raged against the dying of the light. The Conservative Partys most powerful backbenchers had just made it clear that her premiership was at its end, but the Prime Minister pleaded with them to be given more time. Tears welled in her eyes as she made her argument for just a little longer in Downing Street. She dabbed at her nose with a handkerchief. Yet the sympathy and patience of the 1922 Committee had run out. She voiced her view about Brexit, which she regards as a debt of honour, said one of those present. She was emotional a lot more emotional than I have ever seen her before...In practical terms, it means that Mrs May must resign by the end of June to allow enough time for the leadership election to run its course before Parliament rises for the summer. She would stay on in Downing Street until her successor was appointed, giving the new prime minister the whole of the summer recess to organise and plan before the Conservative Party Conference at the end of September. Daily Telegraph >Today: ToryDiary: The Conservatives need a new leader by the end of July >Yesterday: Leadership 2) The PM resists setting a date before another Commons vote on the Withdrawal Agreement The attempt by Downing Street to delay a contest appears to be an effort to preserve Mrs Mays room for manoeuvre even after a fourth defeat for her deal. Although Mrs May controls when to start the race, its structure and length will be decided by the 1922 Committee and the partys ruling board. However, even her allies concede that it will be difficult for her to remain in office beyond July if she loses another Commons vote. No 10 has yet to decide whether to publish the Withdrawal Agreement Bill before MPs leave parliament on a ten-day recess that starts next Thursday, the day of the European elections. To meet that deadline Mrs May would have to have struck a deal with Mr Corbyn by Tuesday. She could introduce the bill when the Commons resumes on June 4 but that would give MPs little time to study it before the vote on whether to give it a second reading. The Times Leadership 3) Johnson confirms that he will stand Impulsive bid catches his team off guard The Times Its hard to imagine what he believes in apart from himself Jonathan Maitland, The Times He is the only leadership contender with mass backing among the Tory party members who will ultimately choose the next occupant of No 10 Peter Oborne, Daily Mail Mundell hits out at SNP demonising of Johnson The Scotsman Leadership 4) Malthouse and Cleverly set up campaign teams Boris Johnson today confirmed he will join the battle to be the next Tory leader as Theresa May faces being ousted potentially within weeks. The former foreign secretary confirmed he was going for it as he was grilled during an appearance at a business conference in Manchester. Mr Johnson has been effectively running a shadow campaign for months, after resigning from the government in protest at Theresa Mays Chequers plan for Brexit. But until now he has not publicly confirmed his intentionsHis trademark mop of blonde hair has become a more manageable mane and the keen runner and cyclist has managed to lose a noticeable amount of weight. Daily Mail Two rising star Tory MPs have launched leadership bids after being urged to take on failing Cabinet big beasts. Housing minister Kit Malthouse and Brexit minister James Cleverly are discreetly setting up campaign teams to challenge for the nations top job, The Sun can reveal. Both are mainstream Leavers who were only first elected four years ago in 2015, and will run as unity candidates untarnished by the Tories bitter Brexit civil war.Their entry into the already overcrowded race takes the number of serious contenders who are organising bids to a massive 17. The Sun Im backing Liz Truss Madeline Grant, Daily Telegraph Leadership 5) Duncan Smith: Departure plans are too vague Another General Election is all but inevitable Julian Harris, City AM Brexit 1) Cross party talks to be abandoned The lowest moment of all, however, came with the bizarre announcement of an agreement between Sir Graham Brady and Mrs May to set out a timetable for her departure after that vote has been held. This is deeply unsatisfactory not least because the wording is so vague. What the party and the country is crying out for is clarity. We need to know whether a leadership contest can be concluded before parliament rises for the summer recess in late July. This has to be the deadline for a new leader taking office if anything is to be achieved on Brexit over the summer. Iain Duncan Smith, Daily Telegraph Brexit talks between the Conservatives and Labour are about to close without an agreement, the BBC has learned. Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn will now move to a second phase, aimed at agreeing on a process for Parliamentary votes designed to find a consensusThe UK was due to leave the EU on 29 March but the deadline was pushed back to 31 October after MPs rejected Mrs Mays proposed deal the withdrawal agreement that was negotiated with the EU three times. That prompted attempts to find a way to end the impasse through cross-party talks between Labour and the Conservatives. But BBC Newsnight political editor Nicholas Watt said Tory whips had given up hope of finding agreement with the Labour leader on a Brexit deal. He said on the other side of the negotiating table Labour has fears about the durability of a deal agreed with a weak prime minister. BBC Most Europeans expect the EU to fall apart within 20 years The Sun If the deal doesnt go through we risk a Corbyn Government Leader, The Sun Stop blaming Brexiteers for Brexit and ask yourselves why, Lord Falconer tells Remainers Daily Telegraph >Yesterday: Tom McLaren on Comment: Labours Brexit policy almost guarantees a second referendum Brexit 2) Lee faces a no confidence vote Hollobone warns Tory MPs could resign en masse Daily Express Rebel Tory MP Philip Lee is to face a no confidence vote by local party Brexiteers trying to oust him, The Sun can reveal. The outspoken MP for Bracknell resigned as a justice minister last year to back a second referendum.He is the latest in a series of pro-EU Tories to face deselection attempts. The vote will be held on June 1, after 53 members signed a petition calling for one.Last night outspoken Dr Lee said the move was not wholly unexpected and blamed entryism by UKIP supporters. The Sun Euro Elections 1) Conservatives fall to nine per cent in the latest poll The Liberal Democrats have overtaken Labour while the Tories are pushed to fifth place, according to a poll for The Times before the European elections. The Lib Dems appear to be picking up support from Labour and Green voters after Sir Vince Cable argued that opponents of Brexit should vote for his party. YouGov interviewed 7,192 British adults between Sunday and Thursday this week. When asked whom they would support in the European elections, 35 per cent said the Brexit Party, up 1 point on the week before. Lib Dems were on 16 per cent, up 1, Labour on 15 per cent, down 1, Greens on 10 per cent, down 1, Conservatives on 9 per cent, down 1, Change UK unchanged on 5 per cent and Ukip unchanged on 3 per cent. The Times Media outnumber the public at Change UK Rally The Guardian Labours Brexit tactics are failing spectacularly Peter Kellner, The Guardian On the stump with the Brexit Party Daily Telegraph These elections are tailor-made for a major SNP triumph Alan Cochrane, Daily Telegraph The results will force Conservatives to back a No Deal Brexit The Sun >Today: John Redwood on Comment: Why populists reject the establishment and no longer believe what it tells them Euro Elections 2) Tory MEP candidate using his own money to fight campaign Arron Banks gave 450,000 funding to Nigel Farage after Brexit vote The Guardian Brexit Party may back tax cuts Daily Telegraph Better to leave the EU than make a hero of Farage Philip Collins, The Times Camerons memoirs to be published in September Inside Conservative campaign headquarters, the strategy is that minimum exertion will give Theresa May an excuse for doing so badly after the results of the polls come in on 26 May. Centrally, the party is resigned to losing half their MEPs, and possibly coming fifth. But one of the more energetic campaigners is Sajjad Karim, an MEP for 15 years, who is a remainer topping the Conservative list in the Brexit-backing north-west, and expects to just about keep his seat. However, he is fighting his campaign virtually single-handedly, with no staff and using his own money. Its crazy. Ive had more support when Ive fought council elections in one ward in Lancashire than Ive had to fight the entire north-west of England, he says, alone on the campaign trail in Manchester. The Guardian David Cameron will finally hit back at his legion of critics over Brexit this September when he publishes his long-delayed autobiography. In an explosive intervention, the ex PM is bringing out his tell-all memoirs, pointedly titled For The Record, the week before the Tory party conference.Mr Cameron will reveal in intimate and frank detail what really went on in No 10 when he decided to call the EU referendum, his publishers said.His book will lob a hand grenade into the Brexit debate just when Tory leadership contenders scramble to woo the grassroots at their annual get-together. Mr Cameron has repeatedly delayed publishing the book after promising Theresa May he would not rock the boat while she was trying to negotiate Brexit. The Sun His advance is 800,000 The Times Skidmore demands universities take action over anti-Semitism Hamas thanks Corbyn for his support Daily Mail Corbynistas want the Shadow Defence Secretary removed Universities in the UK must do more to stamp out campus anti-Semitism, says a government minister. In a letter to vice-chancellors, universities minister Chris Skidmore said it was unjust that some Jewish groups had been asked to pay up to 2,000 for their own event security. He urged universities to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism. The move comes amid ongoing concern about university free speech. BBC Labours defence chief is facing a Corbynista plot to sack her after she backed new laws to protect veterans from legal witch hunts. Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt said she plans to bring in laws to stop ex-troops being charged after a time limit of 10 years unless overwhelming new evidence comes to light.Shadow Defence Secretary Nia Griffith appeared to back the move, saying she supports measures to deal with false or vexatious claims. But she is facing a furious backlash from leftie activists who have demanded Jeremy Corbyn boot her out. In an open letter, over 100 Corbynista activists including Momentum boss Jon Lansman demanded her sacking. The Sun Tory fury at reports Troubles soldiers wont get immunity Belfast Telegraph >Yesterday: Columnist Henry Hill: Mordaunt signals support for extending legal protection to Ulster veterans A billion pounds wiped off the value of the National Grid, due to Labours renationalisation plan Dont fall for Labours tea and sympathy Iain Martin, The Times Trump proposes merit based immigration system Jeremy Corbyns Venezuela-style plot to renationalise utility firms would leave millions of pension savers out of pocket, experts warned last night. Nearly 1 billion was wiped off the value of National Grid yesterday as Labour outlined plans to snatch Britains energy network out of the hands of shareholders at below market value. Shares in the FTSE 100 giant which are held in the pension pots of millions fell by more than 3 per cent. The slide reduced the value of National Grid by 965 million, leaving it worth 27.8 billion. Daily Mail US President Donald Trump has outlined plans for a new US immigration system designed to favour younger, better educated, English-speaking workers. In an address at the White House, he proposed moving away from the current system that favours applicants with family ties to the US. He said border security would be beefed up and a tougher line taken on asylum seekers. Senior Democrats dismissed his ideas as dead-on-arrival. They say the proposed new system fails to offer a route to citizenship for so-called Dreamers hundreds of thousands of people brought to the US as children but who still have no legal right to remain. BBC Conrad Black pardoned The Times Ban on Huawei will not sway UK decision making, says Culture Secretary Daily Telegraph It is dangerous to allow Huawei to be involved in the UK Ross Clark, Daily Express >Today: Columnist Iain Dale: God help the UK Conservatives so to speak if they become religious fanatics. Like the American Republicans. Nelson: Banning Islamophobia would suppress debate News in brief Theresa May is clinging on, but not for much longer James Forsyth, The Spectator The simple tax reform that would help small business thrive James Heywood, CapX The Conservative Partys attacks on honourable Brexiteers have driven me to quit its Candidates List Adam Lake, Brexit Central More runners and riders than the Grand National is exactly what we need in this leadership race Harry Phibbs, The Article Childlessness wont save the world, it will destroy it Will Jones, Conservative Woman In the interview that got him sacked, Sir Roger Scruton described his admiration for Muslims who settle into the Meccan way of life, saying they were perfect citizens with inner serenity. We ought to learn to appreciate that, he said, and encourage it. That he could then be fired as a suspected Islamophobe by a minister who hadnt properly read what he said showed the Government had itself succumbed to a kind of mania. That it was time to for a step back and a long think. Perhaps in a reaction to the Scruton debacle, the Government now appears minded to reject the new Islamophobia definition. Legally problematic, it says. Morally problematic too. Anyone ought to be at liberty to examine, discuss and disagree with any religion, just as anyone should be free to practise one without harassment. This ought not to be a difficult case to make. Fraser Nelson, Daily Telegraph Sir John Redwood is MP for Wokingham, and is a former Secretary of State for Wales. His new book We Dont believe you: Why Populists reject the Establishment is published today. Parliament has decided to take on the people. Many MPs elected in 2017 on a Labour or Conservative Manifesto to get us out of the EU, with or without a deal, have gone back on their promises. Some of them sneer at Brexit voters, telling us we were too stupid to know what we were voting for. They say we now need to vote again, think again, or accept a such a watered-down version of Brexit that it looks just like staying in, without vote or voice to complain. The EU project of ever-closer union, deeper integration and more EU Commission government control rolls on. It is killing most political parties that embrace it. On the continent, the Euro austerity scheme swept Pasok and New Democracy out of government in Greece, to be replaced by more radical Syriza. In France, the Republicans and the Socialists, the Conservative and Labour looka ike parties of the last century, have been relegated to also rans. En Marche and National Front fought out the last Presidential election, and they are the front runners for the forthcoming Euro-poll next week. The one is very pro-more integration and now also has a very unpopular leader as a result, whilst the other is Eurosceptic. In Italy, a populist governing coalition of Five Star and Lega has pushed aside the old duo of Christian Democrats (later Forza) and the Democratic party, the Socialists. These two parties used to alternate in office. Everywhere throughout a Eurozone with high youth unemployment, slow growth and weak real incomes, we see political tensions and a search for new ideas and people. Even in Germany, the huge winner from the Euro scheme, with high employment and a big surplus thanks to an undervalued common currency, the traditional parties tumbled when they adopted high migration policies as part of their EU commitment. Today for the Euro elections, the polls show the Christian Democrats, their sister party CSU in Bavaria, and the Social Democrats with well below half the vote between them. The Eurosceptic AFD challenge them from one side, the Greens from the other. The same pattern of decay and decline of the old centre-left and centre-right governing parties is to be seen in Spain, the Netherlands and elsewhere. My new book looks at the challenger parties and the movements which are sweeping aside traditional politics and politicians and demanding change from complacent and unpopular establishments. This is most acute in response to poorly judged EU policies, but has also been visible in the USA, Brazil and other democracies. In America, Donald Trump took over the Republicans with a new brand of populist rhetoric. His tax-cutting America First agenda revitalised the Republican vote and kept change within an old party. Meanwhile, the Democrats ripped themselves apart with a major battle between a more socialist alternative in Bernie Sanders seeking to wrestle the nomination from the elite candidate, Hillary Clinton. This battle for the soul of the Democrats and the argument to change the demographic of who they try to attract is likely to continue in the run up to the Presidential contest of 2020. I show that great parties can collapse quickly if they misjudge the mood. In the UK during the 1990s, the Conservatives plunged into a long period of unpopularity thanks to backing the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. That put the economy through a violent boom and bust cycle which destroyed the partys reputation for economic competence until Labour made a worse economic mistake at the end of the last decade. In the 2017 general election, the Conservatives and Labour commanded an impressive 82 per cent of the vote between them, detaching themselves from the savage declines of traditional parties in the ill-fitting Eurozone. They both adopted Brexit, which collapsed the UKIP vote and gave them good results. This year, they were still high in the polls until the Government made the fateful decision to delay our exit beyond the promised date of 29 March. Both parties have now spiralled downwards, hitting around 35 per cent together in the polls for the European election. Labour has torn up its promise to support Brexit and now favours staying in much more of the current EU arrangements. It is also holding out the prospect of a possible second referendum to reverse the decision. The Conservative Government failed to take us out on 29 March with or without a deal as promised, and stopped saying that No deal is better than a bad deal. The Conservatives never honoured their manifesto promise to negotiate the future relationship at the same time as any withdrawal issues, and to keep to their mantra of nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. These failings by Labour and Conservatives led directly to the sharp retreat in the polls. The clash between peoples and governments is particularly intense because there is little agreement about what the problems are, let alone what the solutions should be. The elite tell the people the issues are climate change, European integration, the integrity of the Euro, political correctness, military interventions in the Middle East and international co-operation through Treaties and global quangos that prevent local decision taking. The voters bellow back that they are fed up with austerity, want less migration, want money spent at home on their priorities and want cheap energy, better-paid jobs and an ability to change things by the pressure of public opinion and by taking action in the ballot box. Many voters think the establishment patronises them and ignores their legitimate complaints. The war is pursued between social media and conventional media, with the elite often using traditional channels to push out their assertions that their way is the only way, and voters and challenger parties battling back through the social media. Each side accuses the other of putting out fake news. People want to take back control, and to make their democracies work for them. Smart establishments will flex a bit and respond positively. If the establishment just denies and sneers, it will be swept from power by popular movements and landslide voting changes. Iain Dale: God help the UK Conservatives (so to speak) if they become religious fanatics like the American Republicans. Iain Dale presents the evening show on LBC Radio and is a commentator for CNN. There are two sides to Twitter. It can be a wonderful medium to learn about whats going on in the world, and it has enabled well-known people to more easily contactable and accountable. On the reverse side it can be a sewer particularly if you are in any way remotely in the public eye. Let me give you two examples. First, the upside. On Sunday night I saw a frantic tweet from Harry Cole, asking if anyone knew the address of a Twitter follower of his who was threatening to take his own life. This same person had phoned me several times over the last few months, and each time I managed to talk him down. I phoned Harry to tell him the background and, without going into too much detail, his address was established via Twitter, the police and ambulance services were called, and they got to him in time. Its impossible to say for sure, but I do think that if Twitter had existed, this person might not now be alive. Now for the downside. On Tuesday evening, I was on a Newsnight panel with Polly Toynbee and Paul Waugh talking about the apparent death of the political manifesto. Polly launched into a tirade against Nigel Farage, and his interview with Andrew Marr. I put the counter view and disagreed with her. I used phrases like What Nigel was trying to say. I thought I was being quite nuanced in my response, and trying to analyse and explain where Farage was coming from. Twitter was having none of it. Nor was the Daily Express website, which carried the headline: Farage was Right Iain Dale attacks the BBC. Even I started to doubt myself. So I went back and watched the tape which I rarely do because, believe it or not, I dont get a kick out of indulging in the equivalent of a TV wank. And sure enough, I didnt defend: I explained. But once the narrative has caught alight, there is no way of extinguishing it. I was fawning over Farage. I had become a Farage fan boy. I did point a few of the Twitter critics to the interview I did on April 28th with Farage and, to be fair to several of them, they came back and withdrew their accusation, given thatmy lines of questioning could hardly be described as those which a fan boy would put. Change UK. Bless their little cotton socks. When I first went to the United States in 1987, I was proud to support the Republican Party of Ronald Reagan. There were a few differences between the Republicans and the UK Conservative Party, but there was little doubt that they were sister parties. Since the mid-1990s, the two parties have drifted apart both in philosophy and politics. The Republican Party has in large part been taken over by religious zealots. It is less of a political party nowadays; more of a religious sect. This week 25 white, middle-aged Republican state senators in Alabama voted en bloc to ban abortion in Alabama. Ban it. Not restrict it, ban it. Even in cases of rape or incest. Theyve done it in the full expectation, or even hope, that it will be challenged in the courts. Their expectation is that it will be used to overturn Roe v Wade in the Supreme Court. They believe that Trumps two conservative Supreme Court appointments, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, will vote the right way. Well see. Its very difficult now for any pro-choice Republican to run for office any longer. Absolutism has won the day. And if you show any signs of not being a fully-fledged God-fearing Christian, then youre well advised to do something else with your life. I dont know how many agnostics or atheists run for Republican office nowadays, but I suspect its a very low percentage. God help this country (if youll pardon the expression), or indeed the Conservative Party, if we ever venture down this road. The radio listening audience figures came out yesterday. Its always squeaky bum time for any radio presenter or production team. Given my to LBCs evening show in September I wasnt expecting good news but, when the first set of figures came out in February, it showed I had achieved a record share in both terms of reach an audience share. Again, this week, both reach and share went up, with 603,000 people tuning in each week. This is the highest in LBCs 47 year history for the evening show, and its 12 per cent up year on year. But youre only as good as your last quarterly figures, and its now time to start worrying about the next quarter because what goes up, can also come down. Nothing was concluded, but everything has changed. Admittedly, no firm date has been set for Theresa Mays departure as Party leader. We cannot even be certain that a Withdrawal Agreement Bill will be presented to Parliament, let alone that it will have its Second Reading soon after the Whitsun recess: after all, the Government has reneged on commitments to hold Brexit votes before. But for the Prime Minister not to bring forward the Bill in June would provoke a further confrontation with the 1922 Committees Executive. Early June will see the aftermath of the European elections, and the Peterborough by-election: neither will soothe the nerves of Conservative MPs. For May to retreat from her commitment would be for her openly to defy the committee. It would have no alternative under such circumstances but to change the leadership challenge rules if it wanted to maintain its credibility, at any rate. That would usher in a ballot which she would be very unlikely to survive. Some will damn the Executive for indecision. And we would certainly have preferred the Prime Minister to go now as Party leader: the longer she stays in that post, the deeper the damage is to the Conservatives standing. There is a danger that the failure to deliver Brexit on March 29, as promised by her over a hundred times, and the taking-place of European elections instead despite her calling their holding unacceptable will so wreck the Partys reputation for trustworthiness that her successor will be unable to recover it. None the less, there is a certain rationale for the Executives modus operandi. It is undertaking a very Conservative coup, in which it gets what a majority on the committe want, but without the Prime Minister losing face in the process. First, Tory MPs wrung out of her a commitment to go if her deal passed. Then, earlier this week, Graham Brady and company effectively forced her to commit to bringing in the Withdrawal Bill. Now she faces the prospect of being forced out of Downing Street whether the Bill does or doesnt succeed. Above all, she will want to avoid the public humiliation of the National Convention debating no confidence in her on June 15. One might almost say of the Executive, as of the Canadian mounties, that it always gets its man (or woman, in this case). Please note that Mays opponents now have a very clear extra incentive to oppose it at Second Reading since she would have no alternative in the wake of its defeat but to quit. The third Meaningful Vote whittled those opposed to her deal down to 34. But 117 of her colleagues expressed no confidence in her earlier this year. So the number of those Conservative MPs who vote against the Bill at Second Reading is likely to rise from the mid-30s. Labour may yet come to the Prime Ministers rescue, but that is very doubtful indeed. Whatever happens, Mays replacement needs time to settle down over the summer, get dug in, appoint Ministers, make some announcements and changes, and at least try to set the agenda before facing the Commons in the autumn. This will be impossible if the leadership election drags on throughout August into September. The 22 has charge of the Parliamentary stage and the Board control of the membership stage. Sir Graham and his colleagues will want to get the first over as soon as possible. Sources in the voluntary party say that the second could be completed in two to three weeks. All that points towards electing a new Party leader by the time the Commons rises at the end of July. The leadership election that returned David Cameron took over six months. Parties in opposition have the luxuxy of time. Parties in government dont especially this one. 100% Website cm-sesimbra.pt uses latest and advanced technologies. It supports HTTPS. The main html page has a size of 340415 bytes (332.44 kb uncompressed). This CoolSocial report was updated on 2021-10-18, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. 63% Website iplol.kr uses latest and advanced technologies like: Boostrap and Java. It supports HTTPS. The main html page has a size of 15451 bytes (15.09 kb uncompressed). This CoolSocial report was updated on 2019-09-28, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. 100% Website tgpsaigon.net uses latest and advanced technologies like: JQuery and Boostrap. It is very popular on the web, it's within the 1 million most visited websites of the world at position 178627 by Alexa. It supports HTTPS. The main html page has a size of 165765 bytes (161.88 kb uncompressed). This CoolSocial report was updated on 2021-10-14, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. 100% Website usalesiana.edu.bo uses latest and advanced technologies like: Boostrap. It supports HTTPS and GZIP compression. The main html page has a size of 110355 bytes (107.77 kb uncompressed) and 15896 bytes (15.52 kb compressed). This CoolSocial report was updated on 2021-11-24, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 17) The Liberal Party (LP) has asked the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to look into the glitches during the midterm elections. In a manifestation and motion filed Thursday, LP formally asked COMELEC to create an independent body which would investigate the alleged poll irregularities, particularly the seven-hour data outage of the transparency servers. Mondays election was marred by technical glitches including defective vote-counting machines (VCM), malfunctioning secure digital (SD) cards, and a delay in the transmission of votes. These prompted some groups to speak up on election officials alleged mishandling of the poll tasks. The political party, through the document released Friday, also asked the poll body to identify the areas where the machines and SD cards were deployed. It also sought for the release of transparency servers audit and system logs, as well as the full technical report of the technical glitches. Meanwhile, COMELEC said it has already begun to work on the partys requests. All of the suggestions made in the Liberal Party's manifestation echo the steps already being taken by the COMELEC, spokesperson James Jimenez said in a media briefing Friday. A joint congressional panel will hold its own investigation on the issue, Senator Koko Pimentel said. The probe is scheduled for June 4. Malacanang, however, maintained the recently-concluded polls were credible, despite the reported glitches. READ: PPCRV granted access to audit logs amid delay of poll results' release Polar Latitudes will add a new vessel come the 2021-2022 Antarctica season, chartering the Bremen (to be renamed Seascape) from Scylla, according to John McKeon, president. The ship became available to us and we talked to the owners. Then we went down and saw it in Ushuaia and we really liked it, McKeon told Cruise Industry News. "I like the fact its got a much upgraded ice-class and we like the larger physical size of the ship. With 155 berths on the Bremen, Polar Latitudes isnt planning to run the ship at full capacity, and will use the bigger footprint to build a science lab and add more adventure equipment. The deal with Scylla is a five-year seasonal charter with additional options, McKeon said, noting the ship represented a really good opportunity. The company currently operates the Hebridean Sky and Island Sky in Antarctica, also on seasonal charter agreements. Whether they extend those charter deals will depend on the performance of the 2019-2020 season, with McKeon noting significant capacity growth coming in Antarctica. The number of new ships coming into the market has everyone a bit spooked. The Vermont-based operator plans to have its 2021-2022 season in the market this summer, and with slightly more berths on the Bremen, should be able to offer competitive retail rates. We are totally enamored with this thing, McKeon continued. We think it will deliver a traditional Antarctic experience. We are convinced there is still a huge market for a relatively small ship. It is slightly larger than our Sky ships, but still relatively small passenger-wise and there is great future for that. A Florida man was arrested Thursday after Transportation Security Administration officers at Bradley International Airport stopped him from boarding a plane with a loaded handgun. The man was identified as David Charles Schultz, 74, of Plant City, Fla. It marked the fourth gun confiscated at the Windsor Locks airports checkpoint this year. TSA officers caught nine firearms at the Bradley checkpoint in 2018. TSA officers, who spotted the gun when Schultzs fanny pack entered the X-ray machine, contacted State Police, who arrived at the checkpoint, confiscated the gun and bullets, and detained the man. Schultz was taken for questioning before being arrested on state weapons charges. The man, who was not identified was carrying a .22 caliber handgun loaded with 10 bullets alongside a box with 50 additional rounds of ammunition. He was also charged with tampering with airport equipment and released on a $500 bond. He will appear in Enfield Superior Court on May 30. TSA also has the authority to assess civil penalties of up to $13,333 for weapons violations. A typical first offense for carrying a handgun into a checkpoint is $3,900. Passengers are permitted to travel with firearms in checked baggage if they are properly packaged and declared. Firearms must be unloaded, packed in a hard-sided case, locked, and packed separately from ammunition. Firearm possession laws vary by state and locality. Nationwide last year, 4,239 firearms were discovered in carry-on bags at checkpoints across the country, averaging about 11.6 firearms per day, approximately a 7 percent increase nationally in firearm discoveries from the total of 3,957 detected in 2017. Eighty-six percent of firearms detected at checkpoints last year were loaded and nearly 34% had a bullet in the chamber. TSA has details on how to properly travel with a firearm posted on its website. WESTON A second student at Weston Middle School has been linked to threats made against the school in early May, according to officials. The student had no access to weapons, and students and staff were never at a safety risk, said a letter sent by Weston Public Schools Superintendent William McKersie. The letter, sent to families and staff on Friday, said the documents statements were threatening and are a direct violation of Board of Education policy. McKersie said the Weston police were notified, and the student is not currently in school. The superintendent said the second student was identified as part of an ongoing investigation of the student threat in early May. The Weston community was notified of the incident on May 1. Weston Public Schools administrators, mental health staff, the School Resource Officers and the Weston Police Department have worked in coordination to review the situation and ensure the well-being of all staff and students. It is unnerving and disappointing to have another student fail to understand that threatening statements are completely inappropriate, McKersie said. He went on to say that threatening statements, even if they are meant as jokes, violate policies and school rules. He urged parents and guardians to work with the children to make sure they understand that words and phrases matter, and that if they see or hear something they should tell an adult. Weston is a caring and safe community, with strong support and protection from the Weston Police Department, McKersie said. Our schools have skilled educational, mental health and security professionals working tirelessly to help students and families in crisis. We cannot and will not let these situations diminish our vibrant school district. Brandi Stankovic Youre having a bad day. That could affect the interactions you have with your colleagues. But if you understand your emotions and how they impact you, it might allow you to turn unpleasant interactions with others into something good. Emotional intelligence is a critical component to leadership development. Its about self-awareness and self-management, says Brandi Stankovic, chief marketing officer at CU Solutions Group. Strong leaders recognize the impact emotional intelligence has on their own communication and social capacity. And our ability to manage and recognize our own emotions helps us better facilitate and empower the emotions of other people. Knowing your emotions, the triggers that activate those emotions, and how those emotions affect your communication with others and decision-making process is key. Sister City Committee Celebrates Relationship with Uruapan, Mexico From April 11 to 15 a delegation of 8 traveled to Uruapan, Mexico, on behalf of the Culver City Sister City Committee (CCSSC). Uruapan is Culver City's very first sister city, a relationship that was formally established on February 24, 1964. Members of the delegation included elected officials Culver City Vice Mayor Meghan Sahli-Wells and School Board President Kelly Kent. Additional participants included former Council Member and Mayor Jim Clarke, CCSSC President Nancy Perdomo, CCSSC Uruapan Chair Sonia Karroum, CCSSC Secretary Maren Neufeld, CCSSC Board Member Marta Valdez and Joanna Brody, wife of Mayor Thomas Small. "This was a historic trip, as we recently celebrated our 55-year relationship with Uruapan," said CCSSC President Nancy Perdomo. "This was Culver City's first visit after a 15-year hiatus." CCSSC was warmly welcomed by Uruapan Mayor Victor Manriquez, the Uruapan International Affairs' staff led by Alfredo "Freddy" Ramirez, and members of the Committee of Sister Cities of Uruapan headed by its President Lau Mata. Highlights of the trip included visiting the Orphanage Casa Hogar. Former City Administrative Officer Dale Jones first visited this same orphanage in the early 60s, and CCSSC has been supporting it ever since. The delegation shared an art project with the children, and delivered toys donated by Sonia Karroum's family and neighbors, and school supplies donated by CCSCC. Additional highlights included dinner with the Mayor of Uruapan and several other elected officials; and marching in the parade that welcomed local artisans to the largest traditional handcraft festival in Latin America, the Tianguis Artesanal. The delegation also visited the spectacular national park, Barranca del Cupatitzio National Park, with its abundant streams, waterfalls and lush vegetation. The delegation was warmly welcomed by members of the local neighborhood, who wore traditional dress to greet CCSSC. Among the locals was Lucia Quezada whose father Bernardo Quezada was the first visitor from Uruapan to Culver City in 1962. Barranca del Cupatitzio is located on Calle Culver City, a major boulevard in Uruapan named in honor of our fair city! The delegation also toured Aztecavo, a new state-of-the art avocado packing plant that is well known for its innovative technology and progressive human resource practices. With Uruapan as the world capital of avocados, the plant processes 30 tons of avocados per day. CCSSC delegation at Calle Culver City - with Uruapan Sister City officials Freddy Ramirez (white hat) and Andre Patino (braids) Lastly, the delegation got to see, touch and peak inside one of the two ambulances that Culver City donated to Uruapan in the last few years. CCSSC Uruapan Chair Sonia Karroum drove that very ambulance from Culver City to the Mexican border in mid-October 2006, when she worked on the Culver City staff. Photo by Sergio de la Cruz "All in all, the trip was a wonderful experience of friendship that allowed us to learn more about our sister city and its people, and to reactivate the exchange between our two sister cities," said CCSSC President Nancy Perdomo. "We had the opportunity to share ideas and strengthen ties. We hope we will soon get the chance to welcome our friends from Uruapan to Culver City, so that we may reciprocate their gracious hospitality." Fire Chief David Whites recent presentation on Disaster Preparedness alarmed many, because we live near the largest urban oil and gas producing field in the USA. It made me realize that we are in a severely high fire risk zone that can destroy our homes and all that we own. The poisonous toxic fumes can destroy our health or even kill us. Winds can spread these chemical fires and fumes for miles. Do we need to live with this ever-present threat? No! We can do something about it NOW! Besides clearing the brush around our homes, we need to do what we did in the 2018 Culver City Council election. For the upcoming 2020 elections lets start talking with neighbors NOW! Lets start talking to the Supervisor candidates who want our vote to rule us. (Yes, each of the 5 districts Is like a fiefdom with fellow Supervisor following the lead of the one who runs or rules it.) So, lets make fracking and urban drilling front and center of both the L.A. County District Supervisor election for our District #2, and the upcoming Culver City Council election. Lets ask each candidate what they have already done to address the ever-present threat to our health, homes and very lives. Climate disruption with ever hotter summers makes these threats even those imminent. Lets start talking now! What will each candidate promise to accomplish in their first 100 days to shut down! What will each candidate promise to accomplish in their first 100 days to shut down the oil field? Aretha Franklin became the first woman to earn a Pulitzer Prize Special Award and Citation the Georgia Star. Could it be true? In the State of Delaware Democratic law makes have again introduced legislation allowing school districts to raise taxes without voter approval. U.S.A. Today. Do you realize Al Seib a columnist for the Los Angeles Times found nearly 330 California jurisdictions have switched to by-district council elections because of a 2002 law. I just might be wrong but some of us believe the best kept secret in Culver City is the wall of tiles in the Friends of the Sandy Segal Youth Health Center. May I suggest those who donate $250 have the honor of getting four tiles with their name(s) and or design. According to the Philadelphia Trumpet the world economy is propped up by the U.S. economy, but he U.S. economy is a house built on a bad foundation. The U.S. government collected $3.3 trillion in taxes last year but spent $4.1 trillion. It had to borrow $779 billion just to meet expenses. The national debt rose more than $1.2 trillion to an unbelievable $21.5 trillion. Net interest on this debt rose to $371 billion. The Congressional Budget Office estimates America will be spending more on interest than National defense within a decade. Rarely do I pick up telephone calls on my cell phone from the are code I dont recognize. Its a long story. The American Legion calls it Robocall epidemic because 47.8 billion was the number of robocalls in the U.S. in 2018 an increase of over 56% from the year before. Weaving its way through Congress is H.R.8, Background checks for all gun sales. This Bill is supported by over 70 percent of National Rifle Assn. members as well as over 90 percent of Americans. For all the right reasons Congress needs to pass this legislation. American Legion Magazine. I just bet our Culver City Fire Chief (Chief White) has on his desk the May 2019 issue of Popular Mechanics Magazine. Could it be the Chief has read reread and read again the exciting article on page 21 as it relates to the self-contained breathing unit firefighters carry into burning buildings. The unit is heavy, bulky and limited in capacity. With a new procedure an air line is run through the hose back to the truck. This eliminates another reason that ladies cannot physically do the job. If you go to Culver City to see the latest footwear fashions as noted in the April 2019 issue of Los Angeles Magazine you can see them at Bird Brooklyn (8870 Washington Blvd) you will find the latest trend in footwear and at 8840 Washington Suite 106 one will discover classic hats. After shopping enjoy an Italian meal at Robertas 8810 Washington Suite 104. For those who missed an article, all my commentaries can be found at http://www.culvercityobserver.com; strolling down the page and underneath Opinion look for Rubenstein. Our own Bruce Siwy and Eric Kieta talk about their true-crime cases in Return To View: The Roundtable Dear Editor: Kingston Mayor Steve Nobles Art in Public policy proposal claims to encourage artists to create artwork that engages with the public, but the regulatory policy discourages community engagement and censors public art through unnecessary bureaucracies. Last October, I facilitated the Art in Public panel at the O+ Festival, focusing on the question: Who owns public space? When we read the mayors proposal with eyes attuned to this question, its clear that access, voice and freedom of expression are absent. There are no clear qualifications, representation stipulations or placement processes listed for the five appointees. The application process includes a $25 fee, permits and site approvals (additional fees?), along with a potential 30-day period for approval/rejection. There is no information about the monthly panel meetings (day/night? child care? open/closed to public?). It states that determinations will not be made based on content, but provides no criteria. What about those who cant afford the process, the leisure time, or the child care required to present their proposal in person upon appeal? Will they be criminalized for gifting the city their art (attracting tourists and boosting our local economy)? And what of the O+ organizers who have spent a decade building relationships with community members, ensuring that wall space is equitably distributed, which is particularly important for marginalized and underrepresented mural artists? The proposed policy fits neatly with other efforts by our local government to privatize public space (e.g. the $10 million in revitalization funds benefiting The Kingstonian). Kingston residents should oppose the policy proposal unequivocally. Jessica Pabon Kingston, N.Y. Photo: Contributed One of Canada's most renowned authors is headed to Kelowna. Lawrence Hill returns to Kelowna on behalf of the Central Okanagan Refugee Committee on May 27. Hill will be offering a reading and reflection on his work including his bestselling novels The Book of Negroes and The Illegal, both of which won Canada Reads competitions. Hill spoke in Kelowna to a sold-out crowd in 2015, shortly after the federal election and the subsequent wave of 25,000 Syrian refugees being welcomed to Canada. All proceeds from the evening will support several of CORCs upcoming sponsorships, including families from Syria, Yemen, and Burundi. The event takes place at 7 p.m., hosted by First United Church at 721 Bernard Ave. Tickets are $25 and are available at kelownatickets.com Photo: Connor McCron A Lake Country man snapped a photo of Orin Lucas after he caught the young man trying to break into his car. An 18-year-old Kelowna man who stole at least four vehicles, seriously injured a man in a crash and assaulted another with bear spray, all in the past six months, will spend three more months behind bars. A stolen Ford F-150 pickup crossed the centre line of Leathead Road and collided with a red Mitsubishi Outlander on Dec. 5, 2018, seriously injuring the young man behind the wheel of the SUV. Orin Lucas, the 18-year-old driving the stolen truck, fled the scene, hiding in a nearby industrial area until he was located by a police service dog. On Wednesday, Lucas pleaded guilty to nine charges from seven different incidents dating back to last November. The first occurred on Nov. 7, when Lucas pulled up next to a young man on Saucier Avenue and called the man's brother a goof. He then punched the man in the head with a Tazer glove, and sprayed him with pepper spray before driving away. A month later, police found Lucas in a stolen Honda Accord on Morrison Road the night of Dec. 4, and they followed him as he drove downtown. While police surveilled Lucas for some time, they eventually lost him. The very next morning, Lucas crashed the stolen truck into the Mitsubishi SUV in Rutland. The driver of the SUV was rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries to his hip and pelvis, a lacerated spleen, multiple facial fractures, a perforated bowel and other soft tissue injuries. Despite his arrest, two months later Lucas was released on bail with an evening curfew. During his bail hearing, Lucas's lawyer Michael Stephenson told the court the two months his client had spent at the Okanagan Correctional Centre had been an eye-opening experience." But just four days after his release, Lucas failed to answer the door when police made a curfew check on Feb. 11, and on Feb. 28 he failed to report to a scheduled meeting with his bail supervisor. On Feb. 25, police found a stolen Honda Civic in Kelowna's Quail Ridge area with his fingerprints inside. A month later, a police officer saw Lucas driving a stolen Honda CRV through the Wendy's drive-thru on Harvey Avenue on March 26, but the officer lost contact with him. Later that night, just after midnight, Connor McCron caught Lucas trying to break into his vehicle outside his home in Lake Country. McCron tackled Lucas and held him on the ground until police came, and Lucas was again arrested and charged. He has remained in custody since his arrest, and on Wednesday, Justice Andrew Tam handed him a total sentence of nine months for the nine convictions. Lucas was credited with six months of enhanced pre-sentence custody for the 116 days he's already spent behind bars, leaving him with another three months to serve. He'll serve 18 months of probation following his release. Until my semi-retirement last December, when I left the staff of the Daily Mail to set up as a self-employed freelance, I hadnt realised quite what a nightmare small businesses have to face every three months as they negotiate Britains absurd tax system. Did I say absurd? I meant deranged and from this month, its all about to get worse. For a start, it came as an unpleasant surprise to me that since my turnover was likely to exceed 85,000 (yes, I know, Im spoiled rotten) I would have to start charging VAT to anyone who employed my services. Now, Ive often confessed that I struggle with maths. But even I can see that 95 (to be fair, a thoroughly reasonable fee for an accountant) is a somewhat larger sum than the 12.70 she saved me [File photo] In my case, that meant demanding an extra 20 per cent on top of the fees Im paid by this newspaper, since I dont write for anyone else. Every quarter, I then have to pass on to the taxman the VAT Ive amassed in my capacity as an unpaid tax collector. And heres where the madness kicks in. For no sooner have I handed over the cash to HMRC than the Mail claims it back from the Treasury as a tax-deductible business expense. And so this ludicrous money-go-round keeps spinning, with the Government gaining nothing. Less than nothing, in fact, since its saddled with the expense of employing officials to oversee the farcical transfer of VAT from the Mail to me, then from me to HMRC and then back from the taxman to the Mail. A colleague in a similar position to mine tells me that years ago, he raised this lunacy over lunch with the then Chancellor, Gordon Brown, asking him what he proposed to do about the waste of everyones time and money. In my case, that meant demanding an extra 20 per cent on top of the fees Im paid by this newspaper, since I dont write for anyone else. Every quarter, I then have to pass on to the taxman the VAT Ive amassed in my capacity as an unpaid tax collector [File photo] According to my friend, the future Prime Minister simply couldnt understand what the fuss was about. In fact, the system is even less efficient than Ive described. This is because Im entitled to reclaim the VAT I pay on such essentials for my job as notebooks, pens, telephone calls and a small proportion of my utility bills, since I now use my house as an office about one day a week. Well, when I first registered for VAT at the end of last year, I simply couldnt be bothered to reclaim anything from the taxman. Not only would it have meant filling in mind-numbing forms, but I would also have had to keep a record of everything I spent on paper, printer ink, staples and suchlike. So I just bunged the taxman every penny of the VAT Id been paid and he gave it all back to the Mail. The truth is that my line of work lands me with very few business expenses. Yes, I suppose its possible that a clever tax lawyer could argue that every penny I spend is essential to my job, since most of my meanderings are about the joys, trials and tribulations of everyday life and the human condition. But it wont wash: almost everything I spend, I would have spent anyway, whether a column came of it or not petrol to visit my mother-in-law in Oxfordshire, a top-of-the-range dog-flap for Minnie, our hyperactive puppy, birthday and Christmas presents for Mrs U and the boys . . . The last thing I wanted was to spend my declining years in dispute with the taxman, who likes nothing better than persecuting minor chancers while he negotiates sweetheart deals with giants such as Amazon and Google. Far better, I thought, to pay slightly more than my due and save myself a whole lot of paperwork, once every three months than risk the horror of an investigation by HMRC. But my friends told me I was bonkers not to reclaim what I could. One said hed only once been investigated by the taxman and that was for reclaiming too little! So against my better judgment, I took his advice, started keeping my VAT receipts for stationery and the like and hired a charming and efficient tax consultant to complete my quarterly returns for me. Which brings me to this Wednesday, when my new accountant emailed with the sensational news that she had saved me a princely 12.70 on my VAT bill for the period from the beginning of February to the end of April. The sheer complexity of the system and the paperwork involved eat away hours of valuable time that could more profitably be spent in developing, producing and marketing products and services [File photo] She enclosed the bill for her services. It came to 95, with the cheering message attached: These fees are also tax deductible! Now, Ive often confessed that I struggle with maths. But even I can see that 95 (to be fair, a thoroughly reasonable fee for an accountant) is a somewhat larger sum than the 12.70 she saved me. And it will still be somewhat larger, even after Ive reclaimed the tax on it. Theres no getting away from the truth that both HMRC and I would have been better off if Id stuck to my guns, shunned any professional help and simply paid the taxman all the money Id collected in VAT. But my accountant had more bad news for me when I gently suggested that, grateful though I was for her help with the VAT form, I could probably manage without her in future. From this month, she said, HMRC is bringing in a whole new system, Making Tax Digital (MTD), under which I must register separately for VAT. Whats more, from now on returns will have to be filed by MTD-enabled software advertised on the internet at 10-30 a month. Cue chaos. This is entirely new so we are not sure how it is going to work. But watch this space, she said. My heart sank. Oh, well, Id better leave my VAT returns in her professional hands though who would have thought the taxman would make it so difficult for a layman like me to overpay him? The last thing I wanted was to spend my declining years in dispute with the taxman, who likes nothing better than persecuting minor chancers while he negotiates sweetheart deals with giants such as Amazon and Google [File photo] Indeed, it strikes me that the only people who benefit are accountants. Its no surprise, therefore, that Spreadsheet Phil Hammond, the Chancellor who introduced MTD and who insists on four VAT returns every year, instead of just one is himself one of natures accountants. Of course, my minor expense and inconvenience pale into insignificance beside the three-monthly ordeal faced by proper small businesses, with significant expenses, struggling to survive or expand. Leave aside the pernicious way in which the VAT rules so often bring growth screeching to a halt. This is because as soon as a company starts getting somewhere, with turnover crossing the 85,000 threshold, it is forced to slap an extra 20 per cent on its prices, putting it at a huge competitive disadvantage against smaller rivals. The sheer complexity of the system and the paperwork involved eat away hours of valuable time that could more profitably be spent in developing, producing and marketing products and services. And its not just VAT they have to worry about. As Home Secretary Sajid Javid highlighted on Wednesday, firms also have to contend with three other taxes: business rates, national insurance and corporation tax. Endorsing a pamphlet from the Centre for Policy Studies, which recommends rolling all four into one consolidated tax, Sajid Javid said: This report shows how bureaucracy and paperwork are stifling the growth of our small businesses, and offers a series of compelling ideas for how government can roll back the tide and show that the Conservatives are backing entrepreneurs. Mind you, I wish I had a tenner for every time Ive heard a politician pledging to simplify the tax system. Nor has it escaped my notice that such promises come thicker and faster whenever theres a leadership contest in the offing. But as small business owners tear out their hair, four times a year, wouldnt it be hugely refreshing if instead of just talking about it, HMRC matched action to its slogan: Tax doesnt have to be taxing? Everyone knows that the show has been in terminal decline for some time, turning a once-respected format into a bear-baiting travesty of its former glory. The audience is full of roaring boobies, while those on stage are little better: a shaming assemblage of beef-faced idiots who talk utter mustard about the issues of the day, alongside a smirking host who cannot control the resulting mayhem. However, thats enough about Fiona Bruce and Question Time. Lets move on to the real TV story of the week ITVs decision to axe The Jeremy Kyle Show. The irony is that The Jeremy Kyle Show ended just like a Jeremy Kyle show always did, in a ferment of recrimination, accusation and chaos The irony is that The Jeremy Kyle Show ended just like a Jeremy Kyle show always did, in a ferment of recrimination, accusation and chaos. A man called Steve Dymond died from a suspected suicide shortly after taking part in an edition where he failed a lie detector test, which he hoped would prove to his fiancee that he wasnt a love cheat. His episode was not, and never will be, broadcast. One hoped, despite the terrible forces of darkness that gathered around Mr Dymond in his last days, that at least now he could rest in peace, but no. A woman to whom he was once married popped up to say she wasnt mourning his tragic death. Good riddance, he was a paedophile, she told a newspaper, without offering any supporting evidence. I hope he burns in hell. If Jeremy Kyle were still here to exploit this most Jeremy Kyle of moments, he would certainly be asking her some hard questions about her statements. And would that really be such a bad thing? Im afraid I cant join the chorus of showy disapproval and snobbery that has greeted the end of this controversial programme. For 14 years, it featured the trials and tribulations of those on the margins of society. Yes, there were sometimes contemptible humiliations, glorifications of the undeserving and situations that seemed manipulated to an uncomfortable degree but you could say that about any TV programme featuring members of the public. There was a troubling reliance on lie detector tests not acceptable in a UK court of law and some discussions seemed engineered to shame and titivate (My Boyfriend Thinks I Cheated With Another Man Through The Letterbox). Yet, while the JKS was far from perfect, it gave a voice to those rarely heard. In addition, it often showed people triumphing over their reduced circumstances and featured life stories that were brave and redemptive all of this in a forum with a surprisingly strong moral code. Because, in Kyles world, drugs and infidelity were bad, loyalty, love and tolerance were good, while child support always, always had to be paid. Yet Left-wing commentators such as Owen Jones have claimed that the JKS fuelled an agenda of demonising the poor, which helped legitimise cuts to the welfare state. Oh, please. In the past, Jones has also complained about comic creations such as Vicky Pollard and Wayne and Waynetta Slob. The pious undertow seems to be that the lower orders and coming from a council housing estate, I count myself among them are somehow sacrosanct, beyond reproach or lampoon; worthy only of praise and always to be depicted in a heroic light. Preferably in a Jimmy McGovern drama that depicts their blameless, but noble, struggle. In this rose-tinted wonderland, Kyle, along with other popular TV series such as Benefits Street, Cant Pay? Well Take It Away! and Rich House, Poor House, are dismissed as poverty porn. Yet the experiences and lives they depict are part of the fabric of British life and surely worthy of honest scrutiny. Isnt it more patronising to suggest that those who appeared on Kyles show were duped, to be served up as fodder for posh people to laugh at? Especially when posh people were far too busy laughing at everyone on Made In Chelsea instead. The reality is that The Jeremy Kyle Shows viewing demographic was overwhelmingly the same demographic that appeared on the show and they are the ones who now lose out most. For many participants, being on the programme was a highlight; something worthy of peer group praise, an experience that made their lives better, not worse. Latest Rajar ratings show that losing Chris Evans to Virgin Radio wasnt much of a blow to Radio 2 after all. Around one million hardcore fans have followed Evans over to the new station, which has caused barely a dent in Zoe Balls nine million audience at the Beeb. Evanss audience will no doubt continue to grow, but at this moment, it is the BBC, and not Virgin, that has the greatest cause to celebrate. Well done, Zoe! Advertisement To imply otherwise is to suggest that JKS contributors were not intelligent enough to make informed choices of their own and that you know better than them: treacherous ground for any socialist demagogue. For, after more than 3,000 episodes broadcast over various channels for a decade-and-a-half, you can hardly say the contestants didnt know what to expect. Still, one imagines ITV boss Dame Carolyn McCall leapt at the chance to rid her schedule of this distressingly popular programme quelle mortification! that many regard as toxic. If she watched it at all, it must have been with a peg on her nose. Now she can attend dinner parties without fear of mockery or complaint about the ugly thorn in the ITV crown. I feel its swift demise has parallels with BBC bosses expeditiously axeing Jeremy Clarkson and Top Gear another top-rated show loved by the lower orders, but loathed by the higher-ups. Once again, it was the chatterati versus the chaverati, and we know who usually wins that one. My God, The Jeremy Kyle Show had terrible faults. Yet it was interested in the lives of people most of us choose to ignore. It staged thousands of reunions, rehabilitations and interventions, for which it deserves much praise. Maybe the time is right for it to go, but it is wrong to forget all the good it did along the way. Ugly truth about Charlize's odd couple romance Charlize Theron, pictured, appears in the new rom-com Long Shot with Seth Rogen In Charlize Therons new rom-com, Long Shot, she stars as a glamorous U.S. Secretary of State (what else?) who reunites with her old babysitting charge, loser journalist Seth Rogen. Charlize is intelligent and beautiful, while Seth is an overweight he-frump with a great pelt of beard. But guess what? Charlize manages to look beyond the ugly shell to see the pearl within, shucks. In this Princess Charming-meets-Cinderfella tale, the unlikely couple fall in love. But in Hollywood, could this romantic scenario ever be made the other way around, with the hunk falling for the ugly girl? (Asking for a friend.) Doubtful. It would only work if there had been a nuclear war and Plain Jane was the last female left alive. Even then, Mr Hunky would be unwilling to commit to anything serious just in case Scarlett Johansson suddenly emerged from a hidden bunker in a bombed-out bikini. You know Im right. Are you pulling our cork? Hawksmoor restaurant in Manchester scored a marketing triumph on social media this week. To the customer who accidentally got given a bottle of Chateau Le Pin Pomerol 2001, which is 4,500 on our menu, last night hope you enjoyed your evening! To the member of staff who accidentally gave it away, chin up! One-off mistakes happen and we love you anyway, they tweeted, rather glutinously. Did this really happen? Restaurants with 4,000-plus bottles of wine will usually keep them under lock and key, away from dopey servers and the racks of day-to-day gluggers. And in the unlikely event of a waiter giving away the single most expensive bottle on the wine list, its hard to imagine a chain restaurant like Hawksmoor being so affable and magnanimous in such a tough trading climate and in an industry obsessed with margins. A restaurant that charges 4.75 for chips is hardly going to laugh at losing a four-figure profit, is it? At least now we know they serve ridiculously expensive wines here if anyone is daft enough to buy them. Cheers! The Baftas? Yes, Killing Eve was terrific, but did it really deserve so many awards, coasting to the podium on a wave of modish popularity? Who didnt love Jodie Comer as murderous Villanelle but Ruth Wilson (Mrs Wilson) or Keeley Hawes (Bodyguard) would have been worthier winners. Keeley love her in everything! was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Mrs Wilson alongside Ruth Wilson. Wait. It gets even more confusing because she lost out to Killing Eves Fiona Shaw, who played a spymaster role in Mrs Wilson almost identical to her award-winning turn in Killing Eve. Worst of all was the failure of the sitcom Mum to win any major awards, despite glorious performances from Lesley Manville and Peter Mullan, who acted everyone off the small screen last year. Still, some consolation series three of Mum began on BBC2 this week and its as wonderful as ever. Love among the ruins for caring Kitty Since last summer, Lady Kitty Spencer, 28, has been dating 60-year-old fashion tycoon Michael Lewis Don't you just love Kitty Spencer? The daughter of Earl Spencer and Victoria Lockwood may have it all, but she still really cares. About what? About everything, darling. Lady Kitty has money, prestige, connections and looks. Most of all looks. The niece of Diana and cousin of Princes William and Harry is the most beautiful Spencer girl, and thats saying something. But she knows how lucky she is thats why she has such a big social conscience. I guess its balance and perspective, she once told a rapt reporter from a glossy magazine. Having awareness and gratitude is important. As long as Im compassionate, strong and hardworking, Ill be happy. You need to be able to look back on your life and think you were passionate about something and that you did your bit to help . . . Thats ultimately what it means to be alive on this planet. Since last summer, the 28-year old has been dating 60-year-old fashion tycoon Michael Lewis. This might be taking her kindness and compassion towards the elderly a step too far, but still, isnt she a wonderful example to us all? Theresa May, in her final weeks as Prime Minister, is leaving a hideous and debilitating legacy to her successor. Unwittingly, she has made a Jeremy Corbyn government seem more likely. That is a terrible result of her failure over Brexit and is quite an extraordinary achievement considering some of the policies that the Labour leader espouses. Most calamitously, a desperate Mrs May invited him to join Brexit talks and thus elevated his status to a level where the public have begun to see him as a man of influence on the national stage. Yesterday, Jeremy Corbyn patronised Theresa May in a letter to her, saying he had pulled out of the talks due to the increasing weakness and instability of the Conservative government Even a blind man could have told her such talks were bound to fail. Mrs May is diminished by their failure. Mr Corbyns image is enhanced. The truth is that a cunning Mr Corbyn outmanoeuvred her at every turn. He only joined the talks to prove the Prime Minister was dependent on Labours support and to use this leverage to humiliate her and make a general election more likely, sooner rather than later. Yesterday, Mr Corbyn patronised her in a letter to her, saying he had pulled out of the talks due to the increasing weakness and instability of the Conservative government. There is much truth in his withering denunciation. Labour, led by a man written off for so long by so many including by several of his own MPs is now the bookies favourite to be the party with most Commons seats at the next general election. Possibly relying on the support of Scottish Nationalists, Labour could easily be in power by the end of this year, if not sooner. Consider this scenario. Mrs May quits early next month and a new Tory leader is installed by late summer. Her replacement (probably Boris Johnson) would find it just as hard to push through Brexit and therefore could be forced to call a general election. With the Tories popularity plummeting and party wounds from the leadership contest still raw, Mr Corbyn would present himself to voters as a force for stability. If elected prime minister, he would introduce a swathe of hard-Left policies that he has championed ever since cutting his political teeth as a young man on a Trade Union Studies course at North London Polytechnic. Whatever his faults, Mr Corbyns supporters believe in what they see as his authenticity. Hes never made a secret of his socialist principles and support for what he considers fairness and equality. So we would have a Labour government nationalising energy, water, the rail firms and Royal Mail, raising taxes for the higher paid, increasing pay for teenagers, scrapping university tuition and investing billions of pounds in public services. Even a blind man could have told her such talks were bound to fail. Mrs May is diminished by their failure. Mr Corbyns image is enhanced Be in no doubt: a Corbyn government would try to bring about a fundamental transformation of Britains society and economy. As the 69-year-old inches closer to No 10, weve had an insight over the past week into what he would do as Prime Minister. Im afraid the prospect is terrifying. First, Labour has promised to raise the minimum wage to 10 an hour and to extend that to those under 18. Currently, the minimum for youngsters is 4.35 an hour. This policy is a brazen bid to woo young voters just like the promise to scrap college tuition fees, which it has been estimated would cost taxpayers 8 billion a year. Employers across the country are convinced not only that Labours minimum wage policy risks putting small firms out of business, but also that it is flawed in principle. Young people need to learn on the job and, through no fault of their own, theyre not worth 10 an hour. As night follows day, it would result in a surge in youth unemployment. Professor Len Shackleton, of the Right-leaning Institute of Economic Affairs, has warned: Such a rate hike could raise youth unemployment to levels comparable with those in continental Europe. In Greece, the rate is around 39 per cent and in Spain its 34 per cent. Another example of Labours economic naivety was Shadow Business Secretary Rebecca Long-Baileys misunderstanding of the expected knock-on effects of her plans for the State to buy back the National Grid. She accused energy companies of operating the grid to rip customers off, line the pockets of the rich and not invest properly in renewable energy. The truth is that under state ownership, energy was more expensive and there were more power cuts. To all but the most blinkered ideologue, its obvious that energy privatisation has done good rather than harm. Also, where would a Labour government find the billions to buy back these companies, and how on earth would MPs be qualified to assess their value for the buy-back? Whats more, John McDonnell, the Shadown Chancellor, has said that these companies will be bought back at market rates. This sounds like theft to me, as National Grid shareholders would be most unlikely to get fair compensation for their assets, currently worth 64 billion. Indeed, the City took fright at Labours plans to renationalise utility firms and leave millions of pension savers out of pocket. In just one day this week, 965 million was wiped off National Grids value. Whatever Labour claims, it wont be the rich who suffer, but millions of elderly because their pension funds would be severely hit. Consider this scenario. Mrs May quits early next month and a new Tory leader is installed by late summer. Her replacement (probably Boris Johnson) would find it just as hard to push through Brexit and therefore could be forced to call a general election Since so many of the shareholdings in British energy companies are thought to come from overseas, much-needed foreign investment will be driven out of the British economy. In general, the danger is that a Corbyn government would go on a public spending binge at a time when tax revenues collapsed because many businesses might decide to quit Britain. Inevitably, this would lead to more unemployment and spiralling national debt. Whatever the faults of Mrs Mays Government, she can boast a solid record of economic achievement. Employment is at record levels, while the deficit (the difference between what the Government spends and what it receives) is falling and growth has been sustained. The signs are that Mr Corbyn would wreck all this. Very dangerous times undoubtedly lie ahead. The Tory Party must cease tearing itself to shreds and, instead, aim its fire on the man who could wreak great damage to Britain. A stain on Britain's moral integrity Almost a year has passed since the Government promised a decision about whether to begin an independent judge-led inquiry into deeply disturbing evidence that British intelligence agencies repeatedly colluded with torture. The worst allegations date back to the Tony Blair government, when we now know for sure that Britain colluded with America in the brutal ill-treatment of post-9/11 terror suspects. Nine years ago, when he became prime minister, David Cameron said he was determined to get to the bottom of what happened and ordered a judge-led inquiry under Sir Peter Gibson. Despite an interim report, nothing happened. Yesterday, the United Nations Committee Against Torture lost patience. It demanded that Britain should establish without further delay an inquiry on alleged acts of torture and other ill-treatment of detainees held overseas committed by, at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of British officials. This is very embarrassing for the Government, and we lose all moral authority if it covers up offences our men and women are accused of committing. A 26-year-old chef who suffered severe acne has claimed her skin completely cleared up within two weeks of drinking tea with maggots. CJ Grant, from Perth, said she tried everything imaginable, including lotions and prescribed medication - to get rid of her bad breakouts but nothing seemed to work. Between her teenage years and her early 20s, CJ said she was so ashamed of her blemishes, she didn't want anyone to see her face or take pictures. But when she was holidaying in Thailand, she discovered an unusual remedy after a local woman at the market urged her to drink the tea to help her stubborn acne. And within days of drinking the tea without knowing what was in the ingredients, CJ claimed she saw dramatic improvements in her skin. Scroll down for video Chef CJ Grant (pictured left with her acne and right with maggots) who suffered severe acne has claimed her skin completely cleared up within two weeks of drinking tea with maggots How does maggots work for skin? Maggot secretion contains an anti-bacterial enzyme, which is so effective in cleaning wounds and slowing bacterial growth. Studies previously suggested maggots might be helpful, potentially offering antibacterial and healing benefits in addition to keeping the wound clean - but not all researchers are convinced insects are the way to go. Advertisement CJ - who will appear in SBS's upcoming show Medicine or Myth? - said she returned to the market with a translator to find out more what exactly was in the tea. From there, she was told the tea included dried, grounded up maggots. 'I was shocked, horrified and disgusted. No one wants to be told that you've been drinking this beautiful tea with bugs in it,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'But I tried to push through the fact that there's maggots in it, and focus on the fact it was making my face better because nothing else seemed to work. 'This incredible tea has changed my life.' CJ said the hot beverage tastes like 'dirt' and she finds it easier to drink when she mixes grounded maggots with flavoured teas. 'It tastes very earthy, it's very unique that's for sure,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'I usually mix the maggots with whatever flavoured tea I like to drink it with. My favourite is peach, or anything fruity. 'I find flavoured teas accentuates the flavour - and masks the flavour of maggots.' CJ - who will appear in SBS's upcoming show Medicine or Myth? - said she found the tea at a market in Thailand - and within two weeks of drinking it, her skin completely cleared up CJ said she sources her own maggots from suppliers, with half a kilo costing her anywhere between $50 to $60. 'I try to buy them live so I can make sure they don't have any nasties in their tummy. I also feed them myself, usually with carrion meat so they're cleaned out.' Next she dehydrates them in the oven before grounding them up. She adds the grounded up maggots to the flavoured tea and then adds boiling water. Despite her skin being completely cleared now, CJ admitted she still drinks the tea when feels a little pain coming on. 'Every now and then, I'd feel a breakout coming so I'd just have a cup of tea, and it just stops it down its tracks. It's fantastic,' she said. 'I probably drink it once every few months. It really helps prevent any acne from coming.' CJ said she has received mixed responses from her family and friends. 'I didn't tell my mum I had live maggots in the house but when she found out, she was pretty angry. My friends think it's hilarious,' CJ said. CJ said she buys live maggots from a supplier, and then dehydrates them in an oven. Once dried, she grounds them up and then adds it to her favourite tea leaves CJ said the hot beverage tastes like 'dirt' and she finds it easier to drink when she mixes grounded maggots with flavoured teas Three years ago, CJ said a local woman at a market in Thailand approached her before advising her to drink the tea leaves to help her acne. 'At this point, I was ready to try anything,' CJ told a panel of medical experts, led by renowned Australian neurosurgeon Dr Charlie Teo. 'So it wasn't until a week later that I'd been drinking this tea every day, and my acne just cleared up. I thought the only thing I've done different is drink this tea. 'By the end of the two weeks, my acne was gone and my skin was clear.' She now swears by the tea for changing her life. 'It's very controversial... It's not for the faint hearted but trust me, it works,' CJ said. Dr Charlie Teo (pictured) said he was very intrigued by the remedy, saying he grew up suffering from severe acne so he would have considered trying the maggot tea himself Dr Teo said he was very intrigued by the remedy, saying he grew up suffering from severe acne so he would have considered trying the maggot tea himself. 'Acne is such a terrible problem, it afflicts so many people,' Dr Teo said. 'I had bad acne when I was a child, same as [CJ], I didn't want to socialise, I wanted to hide my face. It was terrible. If someone said to me "all you've got to do is dry up some maggots, and drink them, I would've done it immediately.' Despite Dr Teo expressing his interests, the panel said the trial could never work because it would be very difficult to convince people to stomach maggots. 'I do appreciate it. It's very difficult to run a trial but I think what you've done is underscore the importance of looking for an alternative treatments for something that is as bad as acne, [you're] very brave,' Dr Teo said to CJ. This article contains general information only and does not recommend or endorse any particular treatment. It is not intended to replace the advice provided by your own doctor or medical or health professional. Medicine or Myth? premieres on SBS on May 20 at 8.30pm. Photo: Police photo Florida police say they have arrested a 28-year-old man in connection with the murder of an elderly Quebec couple found dead in March in their mobile home in Pompano Beach, north of Fort Lauderdale. The Broward County Sheriff's Office said Thursday in a news release they arrested Quinton Johnson for the murder of 80-year-old Marc and 78-year-old Rita Gagne. Police found the couple's bodies in their bedroom on March 22, 2019. A Florida medical examiner said they died as a result of blunt force trauma to the head and ruled their deaths as homicides. Police said they arrested Johnson on April 1, 2019, in connection with the shooting and robbing of another man at a bank machine. The Broward County Sheriff's Office's said forensic evidence "placed Johnson at the scene" of the Gagne murders. Johnson is currently in a Broward County Sheriff's Office jail. "He has a long criminal history of occupied burglaries and grand theft and had been released from prison in February 2019, after serving a seven-year sentence," the police force said in a statement. News reports indicated the couple were from St-Come-Liniere, Que., about 120 kilometres southeast of Quebec City. The Gagne's Florida neighbours had said the couple split their time between the Pompano Beach area and Quebec. Prince Albert Victor is a largely forgotten figure, yet 125 years ago he was as important to the British people as Prince William is today. He was the heir to the heir to the throne his father was the Prince of Wales and his grandmother Queen Victoria. He was the countrys future, a king-emperor in the making, and it was, everyone agreed, a pretty dismal prospect. The twenty-something Eddy, as he was known in the family, was a lazy, oafish character, dismissed by his own father as a damned fool for all the scrapes he got into. Prince William Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence, pictured, was the son of the Prince of Wales and grandson of Queen Victoria. He was known in the family, was a lazy, oafish character Princess Alix of Hesse, pictured, was chosen to be a wife for Eddy but she loved Nicholas, heir to the Russian throne. They married in 1894 and were killed in 1918 with the rest of the family He was debauched, a frequenter of brothels (both male and female) and infected by venereal disease. So low was his reputation that years later he was seen as a plausible suspect in the Jack the Ripper murders. For the queen, there could be only one solution for her dissolute grandson: she had to find him a wife whod straighten him out. And who better as a matchmaker than her? She did not even have to look far from home. With nine children of her own and 42 grandchildren, this tiny woman sat at the centre of a spiders web of royal connections across Europe. To slow down fast Eddy, her gaze alighted on his beautiful and serious cousin, Princess Alix of Hesse. Queen Victoria, pictured, decided to find her grandson a wife to straighten him out and try to save his poor reputation Tall and elegant with golden red hair and blue eyes, she was the daughter of the queens own daughter Alice (who had died of diphtheria when Alix was just six). Eddy was smitten with her. But just when he was on the point of proposing, Alix backed off. Rumours of him being involved in a homosexual scandal involving aristocrats and Post Office messenger boys put her off. So did her own heart, which was leaning towards Nicholas, the heir to another throne Russia. The thwarted queen was annoyed that this slip of a girl was refusing the greatest position there is. But undaunted, Victoria, now in her 70s, switched her focus to Princess May of Teck. Though she was lower in the pecking order a simple Serene Highness she had just enough royal blood (via George III, her grandfather) to be acceptable. Queen Victoria had nine children and 42 grandchildren. Pictured, at the Christening of her great-grandson Edward, future King Edward VIII, in 1894. Also pictured, Queen Victoria's grandson George, future King George V, right, and her son Edward, future King Edward VII Eddy did his duty and proposed and May accepted, happy to take a leap to a position where she would one day be a queen herself. The nation thrilled to the thought of a royal wedding only for the prince to go down with flu, which turned to pneumonia and killed him a few weeks before the ceremony. The queen said she felt broken-hearted, crushed and bewildered. But not beaten. Eddys younger brother, the dull but much safer George, took his place in the pecking order. He was unmarried and his grandmother, not wanting to see an opportunity go to waste, steered him towards... Princess May! The wooing was slow, but love blossomed eventually. The future King George V married the future Queen Mary in 1893 and they did indeed live happily ever after. Queen Victoria's marriage plotting meant that eight of her children were married into royal houses. She is pictured in 1900 with her great-granchildren at Osborne House, Isle of Wight. The Queen with Princes Edward, Albert, Henry and Princess Mary Victorias plotting had paid off. But her grand vision which had inspired all that matchmaking eluded her. Her husband Albert had dreamt of a Europe held together by family connections, and Victoria was determined to carry out his wishes. Eight of their children married into royal houses, starting with Vicky, who wed the Crown Prince of Prussia. The next generation fanned out further, to the thrones of Russia, Greece, Norway, Romania and Spain. Yet there were growing challenges to monarchies from democrats, republicans, reformists, anarchists and communists. Protests were violent, assassination more common. And power plays between nations could not be contained by a word in a cousins ear or a sharp word from Victoria herself. The European cousin-hood, writes historian Deborah Cadbury, proved to be powerless even harmful in the face of tectonic shifts in political power during the early 20th century. Thirteen years after Victorias death, the edifice of family unity she had tried so hard to build came crashing down in 1914 as the nations of Europe went to war with each other, her legacy in ruins as her grandchildren fought each other for power. Millions paid the price with their lives. Queen Victorias Matchmaking by Deborah Cadbury is published by Bloomsbury, priced 25. The queen was not amused when she became the victim of possibly the first celebrity stalker in history. At 5am on 14 December, 1838, when she was 19, the night porter at Buckingham Palace spotted a boy with a blackened face and gave chase, but he escaped. A search revealed that the intruder must have entered Victorias private apartments, but that night, fortunately, she was at Windsor. He was eventually caught with several items of female underwear Her Majestys bloomers stuffed down his trousers, and the police surmised he had entered through a chimney, greasing himself to aid his escape. An engraving showing Edward Jones peeping at Queen Victoria and Prince Albert Everybody remarked on the boys repellent appearance. He claimed that he had been hiding behind furniture in the Palace for 11 months, eavesdropping on meetings with ministers and wandering about at night. It was only when his father, a poor tailor, saw newspaper stories about the mysterious break-in that the boy was identified as 14-year-old Edward Jones, who had an obsessive interest in the queen and palace life. When he was charged with theft there was no mention of the queens drawers, and his destitute father managed to borrow money to pay a barrister who after much hilarity in court got the boy acquitted. Fourteen months passed and Victoria married. Then in December 1840, shortly after the birth of Princess Vicky, her midwife collared an intruder hiding under a sofa in the royal dressing room: it was the Boy Jones up to his tricks again. The queen was in bed in the next room. This time, to avoid salacious revelations, the case was heard in secret by the Privy Council and the boy was allowed no legal representation. He claimed he had got in through a window, stolen food from the kitchen, sat on the throne, toured the queens apartments then hid under the sofa. Perhaps Victorias best-kept secret was that of her prettiest daughter Louises rumoured illegitimate son. Louise is pictured after becoming the Duchess of Argyll He heard the baby squealing, he bragged. He was sentenced to three months hard labour. But only two weeks after the boy was released, he was nabbed yet again in the Palaces Picture Gallery. Hed wanted to eavesdrop on the queens conversations so he could write a book and make his fortune. By now the boy was famous, celebrated in popular ballads such as The Boy wot visits the Palace, and the authorities wanted him gone. So they lured him onto an emigrant ship bound for New Zealand, but the captain refused to have the miscreant aboard. At last, disguised in a wig, they got him onto a merchant ship bound for Brazil. Four months later the boy was back in Liverpool where he got a job as an errand boy in a cigar shop, but he was being watched by mysterious men determined he wouldnt get anywhere near the Palace. This time he was press-ganged into the Navy, an unwilling sailor (he jumped overboard twice), until his father petitioned the House of Lords in 1847 and he was discharged after five and a half years. Victoria's daughter was said to have had a baby with her brother's tutor who was later adopted by the family's gynaecologist. Pictured is a portrait of the Queen Back home he kept away from Buckingham Palace but was arrested for burglary. After several years on the hulks prison ships moored on the Thames and Medway rivers he was transported to Australia in 1853. He died an alcoholic, in his 70s, in 1893 having never rummaged in the queens knicker drawer again! But perhaps Victorias best-kept secret was that of her prettiest and flightiest daughter Louises rumoured illegitimate son. In 1866, when Louise had just turned 18, her haemophiliac brother Leopold acquired a new tutor, a young lieutenant named Walter Stirling. Leopold was Louisas favourite brother and the three became good friends, until four months later, when Stirling was suddenly dismissed with the excuse that Leopold needed someone with more experience of dealing with invalids. Leopold was distraught as this left him at the mercy of his abusive footman Archie Brown, younger brother of John Brown, the queens obnoxious Highland servant. Stirling certainly defended his young charge against these dreadful Scotch servants and that alone might explain his dismissal. But it caused gossip, and gave rise to rumours (never proved or disproved) that Louise was pregnant. Fashions in the 1860s made it easy to conceal a bump under corsets and frills, but could the wayward princess secretly have given birth to an illegitimate son? Certainly she made few public appearances towards the end of that year, and the queen noted that she eschewed the help of a ladys maid to dress. When Victoria wrote to a friend that she dreaded Stirling might gossip, was it because she feared prurient revelations about her own relationship with John Brown, or something even more scandalous about her daughter? Since the 1860s a story has passed down the family of Sir Charles Locock, Queen Victorias gynaecologist, the natural person to turn to if a daughter was in trouble. In December 1867, Lococks newly married son Frederick and his wife Mary adopted a baby named Henry (whose birth certificate has never been found). In later life Henry Locock would claim he was Princess Louises biological son and that she had access visits during his childhood. He recalled parties with other royal children and playing croquet at Osborne House even walloping his cousin, the future Kaiser Wilhelm, for cheating. To add to the mystery, Walter Stirlings mother had visited Sir Charles shortly before the adoption. And in royal letters from the time, a great secret is mentioned, while Louise refers to feeling tearful and sad. The gossip has never died down. In 2004, the countrys highest Church court was asked to permit the exhumation of a body for DNA tests to discover if it was Princess Louises secret love child. Unsurprisingly, permission was refused, and Henry Locock, who died in 1907, lies undisturbed in the family vault in a graveyard in Sevenoaks, Kent. Queen Victorias Stalker by Jan Bondeson is available on Amazon Kindle. The Mystery Of Princess Louise, Queen Victorias Rebellious Daughter by Lucinda Hawksley is published by Vintage, 14.99. A couple who didn't have sex before they got married have admitted that they're still struggling with an intimate connection years later. British couple Nana, 29, and Nyasha, 27, appear in tonight's Sex Tape in Channel 4, for which they allowed cameras to film them in the bedroom for a week in a bid to improve things between the sheets. The pair admitted that they found it hard to go from dating to being a sexually active married couple, while Nyasha said he didn't know what his wife finds enjoyable. Although the show didn't reveal how long they've been married, the couple have an 18-month-old son meaning it's been at least two-and-a-half years. When reviewing the footage alongside two other couples, Nana teared up as she revealed their relationship could be linked to her experience of sexual abuse as a child. She said: 'It's just that growing up I was abused so I don't know if that has a link. Maybe in my head I don't want to have a link.' Nana opened up about being abused growing up, and expressed her concern that it could be impacting her relationship with her husband, during an episode of Channel 4's Sex Tape Sex Tape sees three couples film themselves over the course of a week and then discuss the footage together as a group. Joined by Dan and Rachel, Eloise and Jack and therapist Angela, they opened up about their problems in an effort to improve the level of intimacy in their relationship. The couple, who have an 18-month-old son Nathaniel, reveal that their religion had caused them to wait till marriage to have sex. But Nyasha revealed that it wasn't all they'd hoped it would be, deeming it 'terrible'. Nana and Nyasha said that due to their religion they'd waited till marriage to have sex, but had deemed their first time 'terrible' The couple, who called christianity the foundation of their marriage, said they both felt insecure in their sexual relationship He said: 'We were excited to have sex together, we slept together on our wedding night - it was a bit weird.' Calling Christianity 'the foundation of our marriage', the couple explained that they felt they hadn't had enough guidance from the church on going from 'nothing' to suddenly feeling sexually liberated. The couple said they'd put 'intimacy' at the bottom of the things they needed to work on in their relationship. Nyasha explained: 'How do you go from courting to marriage? That gap was never really explained for us actually.' When pressed by therapist Angela, Nana burst into tears and opened up about being abused growing up He called for better sexual education for children in church, saying: 'It would help children who are there, so that when they get married they're not like "oh heck what is going on".' 'I only realised how much it affected us after we got married, because now I don't know how to touch her, I don't know what she finds enjoyable.' Meanwhile Nana revealed she struggles to initiate things with her husband, saying: 'The actual sex is OK, but the getting to it is the problem. I think that's where we could improve.' She revealed she feels 'weird and shy' about it, admitting she can't even remember having sex with Nyasha for the first time. The devastated Nana explained that she felt she was 'over it' but was worried that that it could be leading to her low sex drive She explained: 'I just feel weird to initiate. In my head I'm thinking of it, but when it comes to actually going through with it.' But as Angela pointed out that Nana looked like a lost 'little girl' by playing with her hair, the therapist asked: 'How old are you when you do that?' Nana coudn't help but burst into tears, and deemed it 'so annoying'. Through tears, she said: 'It's just that growing up I was abused so I don't know if that has a link. I think maybe in my head...I don't want to have a link.' She went on: 'I feel like I'm over it. I think I've got past it but I guess when you said little girl...it took me back.' Nana and Nyasha opened up to a group of two other couples, as well as therapist Angela. They praised Nana for being so open about her experience Meanwhile Nyasha said he's known about the abuse since early on in their relationship. He explained that he's always there to support her through any memories she may have, saying: 'It wouldn't chase me away. I'm there to listen, I always listen to her if she brings it up or anything. It's never going to be an issue in our marriage. 'But if it is affecting us then yeah we need to talk about it.' Their fellow contestants deemed her 'so brave' for opening up, and said that she deserves happiness. Nyasha revealed that he would always support his wife, and that 'it's never going to be an issue in our marriage' And it's revealed at the end of the programme that the couple are working through their problems together. A month on, Nana revealed: 'This process has definitely made me feel more confident, but I'm also very aware that it's a process.' 'All we needed was a bit more foreplay.' Sex Tape airs tonight at 10pm on Channel 4 Meghan Markle is determined to show 'she is still her own woman' according to royal experts. The Duchess of Sussex, 37, has become renowned for her love of designer clothing, and is rarely pictured in the same outfit twice. Royal experts revealed they consider her wardrobe to indicate her desire to 'hang on to her former self' and mesh her former career as an actress with her new life as a royal. The suggestion was revealed in a new True Royalty TV documentary, Meghan Markle: Inside the Wardrobe of a Princess. Royal expert Hannah Betts revealed: 'Meghan is telling us she is early in her career as a royal, that she brought a career with her and she is trying to mesh the two.' According to experts, Meghan Markle, pictured here in 2014, has been trying to mesh her former life with her royal career Meghan donned a very similar dress in October 2018. Experts believe the Duchess of Sussex is desperate to mesh her two seperate lives The Duchess of Sussex has become renowned for her chic monochrome designer wardrobe, which has changed little since she became a royal. Meghan rarely wears the same outfits twice, selecting new outfits from favourite designers such as Givenchy and Victoria Beckham on almost every appearance. She pairs the expensive pieces with royal jewellery to elevate the fashionable looks. Royal fashion is often seen as a way of communicating with the public in ways they are unable to vocalise. Meghan, pictured here in 2016, has a love for designer clothing including Givenchy and Victoria Beckham Her maternity wardrobe is said to be worth over 500,000 and is full of chic designer outfits reminiscent of a life in Hollywood Experts in the documentary said it's her way of using her royal wardrobe to 'push boundaries' and show people she has her own identity separate from the royals. Meghan had a successful career as an actress, most known for starring in American TV series Suits. So far she has used her new platform to speak on the messages she is most passionate about, vocalising her support for feminism, improving mental health and women's education. Her wardrobe is near identical to what she wore before she became a royal, despite various rules about what she may, or may not wear. In May 2014, she donned a crisp white dress for an event in New York City, and four years on, wore an almost identical shape and style while on the royal tour in New Zealand. Meanwhile in July 2016, around the time that she met Harry, then-actress Meghan appeared in a navy shirt dress to make an appearance on the Today Show. She would later wear a similar style dress while visiting Fiji in 2018. Meanwhile royal bloggers Heather Cook and Jessica Morgan revealed that she was 'trying to hang on to' her identity as she navigates her new life as a royal. Meghan, pictured here in 2015, is determined to show that she is still 'her own woman', according to royal experts The royal is keen to push boundaries, and continues to wear outfits remisicent of her life before joining the royal family They said: 'She may be a duchess but she is still her own woman. 'She has been trying to hang on to her former self and it'll be interesting to see if that continues or if she evolves.' She has been known to push the boundaries of the fashion rules in the royal family, including donning off-the-shoulder tops. Meghan donned nail vanish at the British Fashion Awards, which is said to be against the rules of royal fashion Controversially, she even wore nail vanish, which is strictly banned for the royals, at the British Fashion Awards last year. The documentary goes on to suggest that Meghan was determined not to have a 'floofy princess' gown for her wedding to Prince Harry. Explaining Meghan wanted something 'chic and elegant', Morgan revealed: 'She's a grown up. So I think for her she was trying to walk the line bwteen chic elegant bride but not foofy princess.' Experts revealed Meghan didn't want to have a 'foofy princess' dress for her royal wedding, opting instead for something chic and elegant The Duchess of Sussex has even recycled a few of her own outfits from her life before royalty, including this green parka jacket (pictured in India in January 2017) A historic cat has become the perfect railway employee as the feline draws people from hundreds of miles away to just catch a glimpse of the celebrity kitty. Dirt, the aptly named railway cat, is an unofficial employee of Nevada Northern Railway, a heritage organization featuring some of the United States' oldest steam engines in the middle of the desert. The history of the railway is literally engrained in the eleven-year-old cat, as he loves nothing more than rolling in the coal dust left on the engine house floor, giving him his distinctive sooty style. Furry friend: Dirt, a railway cat, is an unofficial employee of Nevada Northern Railway Permanent employee: The organization Dirt lives with features some of the United States' oldest steam engines Enjoying life: The 11-year-old cat has become a permanent resident of the area, as he enjoys rolling around in the coal dust left on the engine floor Happy to be here: The dusty engine floor inspired his name Dirt because he has a distinctive sooty look Striking photos of the work cat include a proud Dirt posing in the engine room where he was abandoned by his mother, joyfully rolling around in catnip, and greeting an enchanted guest at the railway museum. Part-pet, part-employee, and part brand-ambassador, Dirt has been a crucial component of the East Ely Railroad Depot Museum's day-to-day running for over a decade now. Home: Dirt was reportedly born at the railway station 11 years ago and then abandoned 'Dirt was born in our engine house 11 years ago, his mom was a stray cat that got into the building, had some kittens, and once they were done nursing, mom and the other kittens left and ran off,' explained Eric Mencis, Dirt's spokesperson and head of guest services at Nevada Northern Railway. 'Dirt was left behind all alone hiding under our 1907 rotary snowplough, a giant steam powered snow blower for trains. 'He was too timid to come out so the crews left a can of tuna out every night for him by morning it was always gone.' 'Dirt soon got used to us and got his name because he was always rolling in the muck in the back of our engine house, that area of the building has a floor made of regular dirt and also cinders from our locomotives over the years it seemed like the natural choice and it sure suits him. 'He is actually an orange and white cat, but you can't tell that anymore. 'There's no doubt he's happy being dirty that way, and in a way keeps him clean because the dirt keeps bugs and other things from sticking to his fur. 'He does not lick himself and clean himself like normal cats. He's not at all like other cats.' Part of the family: So he made his own home among the employees at the station since his birth 11 years ago Friendly: 'As a museum we offer tours of our engine house and Dirt loves to come out and greet the visitors,' explained Eric Mencis, head of guest services at Nevada Northern Railway Rolling around: Eric described Dirt as the 'John Wayne' of cats because of his personality Before long the grubby feline became a tourist attraction in his own right. 'Growing up in the 100-year-old rail yard, Dirt has gained a personality,' Eric said. 'You can look into his eyes and see that he is an old railroad man who has many stories to tell. 'He walks around like he owns the place I suppose he does in a way and is fiercely proud of his crew and his trains. 'It's often noted that he walks around like he is inspecting the trains and making sure not a bolt is lost or a bearing incorrectly oiled. 'Many see him as an old soul from a railroader born into a cat. 'He is like the John Wayne of cats he is tough, a little chubby, has his distinct walk and an imposing air. 'But when it comes to people he as friendly and as loving as a cat can be. Fandom: Due to social media, Dirt has acquired a fan base around the world who enjoy seeing pictures of the cat around the area Popular: 'We've known people make 400-mile round trips just to catch sight of Dirt,' Eric added Eric continued: 'As a museum we offer tours of our engine house and Dirt loves to come out and greet the visitors. 'I would say most that come to visit get to meet him but he's a busy cat and does enjoy the occasional cat nap. 'People fall in love with him right away if they do meet him though. 'He's proved so popular that we now stock a whole range of Dirt merchandise.' Thanks to a push on social media, the small town of Ely in Nevada, which Eric claims is '200 miles from anywhere', now receives over 30,000 visitors a year and Dirt has fans on every continent. 'We've known people make 400-mile round trips just to catch sight of Dirt,' Eric added. 'He's certainly a character.' 'Mama' June Shannon's boyfriend Geno Doak is refusing to take care of her while she is suffering from mini-strokes and he even goes as far as running away from her as she begs him to say. In a preview clip from Friday night's dramatic episode of the We TV reality series Mama June: From Hot to Not, the 39-year-old matriarch is left in hysterics after Geno threatens to leave her for good if she doesn't go to the hospital. Geno, 43, is concerned she is going to have a stroke, but after she says she wants to do the show, he gets fed up with her and storms off. Scroll down for video Drama: 'Mama' June Shannon is left in hysterics when her boyfriend Geno Doak, 43, runs away from her on Friday's episode of We TV's reality series Mama June: From Hot to Not Awkward: Geno is concerned Mama June is going to have a stroke, but he gets fed up with her and storms off 'Where are you going?' Mama June shouts, prompting Geno to yell: 'Please shut the f**k up, man... Don't follow me!' 'I gotta go with you,' she responds, leading Geno to take off running. 'Run, run b***h,' he says as he sprints away from her. Mama June goes chasing after him, begging him to stop. 'Please. Please, stop. Please f**king stop!' she yells. When she finally catches up with him at her car, she pleads with him to talk to her to no avail. 'Please!' Mama June goes chasing after him, begging him to stop Hard to believe: Mama June's daughter Lauryn 'Pumpkin' Shannon (right) is frustrated to see her mom chasing after Geno Mama June's 19-year-old daughter Lauryn 'Pumpkin' Shannon can't figure out why her mother would subject herself to this type of treatment. 'If Mama really has the nerve to stick around with Geno after everything's been saying about her, then maybe she really is crazy. Maybe she does need help,' Pumpkin says in her testimonial. Pumpkin, who followed her mom, can't help but ask her why she keeps chasing after Geno. 'Just let go. Let me talk to him, please!' Mama June responds. Geno insists there is nothing to talk about, so she tries another tactic. Fed up: 'If Mama really has the nerve to stick around with Geno after everything's been saying about her, then maybe she really is crazy,' the 19-year-old said in her testimonial Leave me alone: When Pumpkin asks her mom she keeps chasing after Geno, Mama June tells her to just let her go 'I don't want to talk. I just want to sit here for a minute without all these cameras,' she tells him, but he isn't having it. Geno offers her the keys to her car and heads off for a second time while she continues to plead with him. When she asks why he is doing this, Pumpkin points out that he's worried about her health. The mother-of-four has been having transient ischemic attacks or mini-strokes, which produce similar symptoms as a stroke but only lasts a few minutes and cause no permanent damage. Mini-strokes occur when there is not enough oxygen reaching the brain, usually due to a blood clot. Not having it: Mama June begs Geno to just let her sit next to him, but he refuses Dispute: Geno offers her the keys to her car and heads off for a second time while she continues to plead with him Calling the shots: Geno warns that if she doesn't go to the hospital to treat her mini strokes, he will leave her for good 'If you don't go to the hospital, I won't be there when you get home,' he tells her. 'Bye. F**k off stupid.' Geno warns her that if she keeps following him, he will leave her for good. 'Damn what is wrong with Geno?' Mama June asks. He don't f***king care anymore.' He insists he doesn't care because she doesn't care, stressing that he won't just sit there and watch her die. 'Go to the f**king hospital because I can't help you,' he yells. 'Go to the f**king hospital or I'm leaving you. Go to the f**king hospital or we're not together anymore. Period. Bye.' The episode was filmed just months before Mama June and Geno were arrested after 911 callers claimed the two were having a domestic dispute. Mugshots: Mama June was charged with possession of crack cocaine in March. Geno was also taken into custody and charged along with the reality star Inseparable: The couple reportedly defied a judge's orders to stay away from each other and checked back into the Wind Creek Montgomery casino in Alabama earlier this month Needing an attorney: Last week, it was reported that their shared lawyer George B. Bulls II dropped them after they failed to communicate with him The Macon County District Attorney's Office charged both Geno and Mama June with possession of crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia. Last week, TMZ reported that their lawyer George B. Bulls II filed a request to be taken off the case after making several attempts to contact them with no avail. He claimed their refusal to speak with them means they've 'failed to comply' with their attorney/client agreement and the judge signed off on him being removed as their lawyer. Geno was ordered to stay away from Mama due to his third-degree domestic violence charge stemming from their March 13 arrest at an Alabama gas station. However, they reportedly checked back into their favorite casino, the Wind Creek Montgomery, in Alabama earlier this month, according to The Blast. In March, their now-former attorney argued that Mama June wanted the court to lift the order because it was all a 'misunderstanding' and she depends on Geno because 'she is partially blind,' TMZ reported. Geno, who previously served time at Coastal State Prison, reportedly has a long rap sheet which includes burglary, theft, and criminal damage to property. Advertisement Hidden away on a secluded patch of sand by Earimil Beach South in Mount Eliza, Victoria, lies a little beach box dubbed Melbourne's 'most stylish'. And you only need to step inside to see why, with the $150,000 space completely transformed into a 'luxurious oasis' fitted out with a rotating bar, Moroccan decor and a lounge area. Alicia Morgan and her husband Des Bankier purchased the 'designer' beach box in 2017 because of its 'unique' location and their inability to afford a home by the ocean at that time. Hidden away on a secluded patch of sand by Earimil Beach South in Mount Eliza, Victoria, lies a little beach box dubbed Melbourne's 'most stylish' And you only need to step inside to see why, with the $150,000 space completely transformed into a 'luxurious oasis' fitted out with a rotating bar, Moroccan decor and a lounge area Alicia Morgan and her husband Des Bankier purchased the 'designer' beach box in 2017 because of its 'unique' location and their inability to afford a home by the ocean at that time Speaking to realestate.com.au, Ms Morgan said she then got to work on the 'blank canvas' to transform it into the ultimate secluded oasis. This included installing a custom rotating bar that swivels out from the wall, a couch, a chic coffee table, a bookcase, secure storage space underneath for sea gear and a Moroccan metal pendant light. 'We spent New Year's Eve down there last year. It was really secluded - like we had the whole beach to ourselves,' Ms Morgan told the publication, adding that it's the perfect spot for entertaining friends and enjoying fish and chips by the beach. Speaking to realestate.com.au , Ms Morgan said she then got to work on the 'blank canvas' to transform it into the ultimate secluded oasis This included installing a custom rotating bar that swivels out from the wall, a couch, a chic coffee table, a bookcase, secure storage space underneath for sea gear and a Moroccan metal pendant light 'We spent New Year's Eve down there last year. It was really secluded - like we had the whole beach to ourselves,' Ms Morgan said The strip of beach is home to only a few beach boxes and unlike those on the famed Brighton Beach, owners don't need to be local residents or rate payers. Other features of the little space include bi-fold doors, sealed timber floors, pop art shutters, a shelving unit and a private deck area. 'Some are passed down through generations... this one has a pretty unique sense of style, plus views to the city and sunsets straight out the front,' Eview Group real estate agent, Jonathan Rivett, said of the rare box. The strip of beach is home to only a few beach boxes and unlike those on the famed Brighton Beach, owners don't need to be local residents or rate payers 'Some are passed down through generations... this one has a pretty unique sense of style, plus views to the city and sunsets straight out the front,' Eview Group real estate agent, Jonathan Rivett, said of the rare box The beach box, which is just under a two hour drive away from Melbourne, has also been named in the 'Top 10 Beach Boxes of 2017' list by Property Observer. At the time, the box had been sold for $110,000 and was praised for its 'quaint deck' and 'postcard views of the water'. Beach Box 100 is currently for sale as Ms Morgan and Mr Bankier now own their dream waterfront home in Cannon's Creek. A young mother has bravely confessed to having post natal depression so severe that, she feared her toddler might kill her baby, that strangers would snatch her from her pram, or that she would harm her own children. Milli Richards Clack, 35, from Walthamstow, east London, was already mother to daughter Aida, three, with her IT consultant husband, Mark, 38, when she welcomed her second child Winnie in March 2018. The birth triggered PND so intense she was plagued by terrifying thoughts that she or others would put her children's lives in danger. The mother-of-two eventually saw a specialist who diagnosed her with the condition, and she is now urging others to talk about their depression. Scroll down for video Milli Richards Clack, 35, from Walthamstow, east London, was already mother to daughter Aida, three, (left) with her IT consultant husband, Mark, 38, (far left) when she welcomed her second child Winnie in March 2018, seen right Speaking out to mark Mental Health Awareness Week, Milli said: 'After Winnie was born, I would have terrifying thoughts about all the awful things that could happen to the girls, including thoughts that I might harm them. 'I got scared that Aida would kill Winnie with one of the knives in the house and thought if I did take the children out, that Aida would run off, Winnie would get snatched by strangers and I would run someone over.' No stranger to depression, Milli has battled with the condition throughout much of her life - first experiencing an extreme low when she left the Cheshire home where she had grown up to start university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, when she was 18. She was studying Geography and Spanish and admits to feeling out of her comfort zone and unable to fit in from the start. The birth of little Winnie triggered PND so intense, Milli was plagued by terrifying thoughts that she or others would put her children's lives in danger 'In my first year, I drank a lot, skipped lectures and put on a front,' said Milli. 'I felt hopeless and worthless and although I never self-harmed, looking back I often put myself in risky situations.' Living away from home where no one really knew her, Milli said it was easy to hide her depression, but when she dropped out of university aged 19, she spoke to a doctor who told her to tell her parents how she was really feeling. 'I did say 'I think I am really down,' but I don't think my parents realised I was properly depressed,' she said. 'They just tried to jolly me out of it, saying, 'You've got nothing to be down about.' 'We have a very good relationship, but it left me feeling awkward talking about how I felt. ' Millie, seen with Mark, eventually saw a specialist who diagnosed her with the condition, and she is now urging others to talk about their depression Milli, seen with Mark, has battled with the condition throughout much of her life - first experiencing an extreme low when she left the Cheshire home where she had grown up to start university in Leeds Aged 20, Milli returned to her studies, but this time took a degree in public relations, graduating from Leeds Metropolitan University now known as Leeds Beckett aged 23 and landing a top job with a London broadcast agency. 'I moved in with friends and starting again in London felt like I'd pressed a 'reset button' and banished my depression,' she said. She met her now husband Mark in 2010 through the dating site Match.com and together they renovated a flat, and then a house they owned, with a view to starting a family. But by the time Milli reached her 30th birthday, she was back on the rollercoaster of depressive feelings - including severe anxiety - which started to affect her performance at work. 'I knew I was coming down with another bout of depression and that I wouldn't be able to just bounce back,' she recalled. 'I would find myself sobbing before work every morning and was avoiding social situations. Eventually my husband told me to see the doctor and get myself signed off work and when I did go back, I told them I wanted to leave.' Milli, seen with her brother Charlie and Winnie, was pleasantly surprised when, rather than intensifying her depression, when her first child, Aida, was born on 10 April 2016, her mood immediately improved Milli with Winnie and friends Lucy, left, and Alice, right, said within six months of having Aida (not pictured) she was in the grip of such a bad depression, she contacted a local charity which offered affordable counselling Describing dealing with depression as feeling like 'walking uphill through treacle,' Milli, who now works for her husband's IT consultancy company, said the effort required to cope means that every time something goes wrong from little things like losing the car keys to bigger problems like a financial set back it gets worse. 'Constantly overwhelmed by worry and stress, I became used to feeling angry and being a bad-tempered person all the time,' she said. But, she was pleasantly surprised when, rather than intensifying her depression, when her first child, Aida, was born on 10 April 2016, her mood immediately improved. She said: 'I don't know what happened. I had always yearned to be a mum and when Aida was born, I took to motherhood like a duck to water. 'It was as if having Aida pulled me out of the darkness of depression. I felt so at ease.' But six months later, Milli - who admits that to the outside world, it looks as if she has everything anyone could ever want - was in the grip of such a bad depression, she contacted a local charity which offered affordable counselling. 'I don't know what happened, but all the anger came back. I would tell the therapist I thought my husband and friends hated me, when the truth was I hated myself,' she said. Talking to the counsellor helped, but it did not banish her depression. By the time Milli - who was married in August 2017 - had her youngest daughter Winnie, now one, she was so unwell she feared for her children's safety and thought she might even harm them or herself (L-R) Aida, Charlie, Mark, Charlie's wife Heather, Milli and Winnie. Milli admits that it looked as though she was happy from the outside but this was far from the truth And, by the time Milli - who was married in August 2017 - had her youngest daughter Winnie, now one, she was so unwell she feared for her children's safety and thought she might even harm them or herself. Fortunately, all her fears were in her head, but she was imagining terrifying scenarios, which included one daughter stabbing the other or strangers snatching her baby. When she did manage to leave the house, Milli knew she needed help. 'I hated feeling sad all the time and I felt guilty about not being grateful for everything I had,' she said. 'I wanted the world to just swallow me up and didn't want to be here. I didn't want to live feeling so sad any more, but I knew I had to get better for my children's sake. 'I knew a friend of mine had suffered with post natal depression and had gone for treatment at The Priory Clinic in London so, thanks to my parents' generosity and offer to help pay, I joined the group therapy sessions there and went every day for a month.' On the way to her first session, a sobbing Milli started to have doubts. She continued: 'I told my husband, 'I'm fine, I've made it all up.' But Mark replied, 'The very fact you're even saying that shows just how far removed from reality you've become.'' Milli was officially diagnosed with post natal depression by a psychiatrist at The Priory in April 2018. Milli and Aida, Milli was officially diagnosed with post natal depression by a psychiatrist at The Priory in April 2018 and is now coping far better After attending therapy sessions at The Priory for a month, and having been under the care of her perinatal team for a year and taking antidepressants, which she said 'take the edge off' the bad feelings and leave her mind clearer, Milli is coping far better. She said: 'I still have bad weeks and down days, but now I'm able to tell myself nothing bad is going to happen and can think about what changes I can make to cope better.' One of the most valuable lessons Milli, who is working with the campaign Time To Change, has learned has been not to keep depression to yourself. She advised: 'Putting on a mask won't make it go away. In fact, it makes it worse. If you are depressed, you need to let other people know what's going on inside. 'From the outside, I came across as someone who was very capable and someone with everything I ever wanted. 'But I was having horrendous thoughts and it hurts me to think about others going through the same thing and suffering in silence. 'We all need to talk more about depression and other mental health issues and be more open about it.' A burns survivor who was called 'a monster' for 15 years and likened to film villain Freddy Krueger has landed the role of an acid attack survivor in a major new feature film. Vicky Knight, 23, from Essex, has burn scars covering more than a third of her body after being trapped in a burning flat when she was eight in July 2003. The blaze at the Prince of Wales pub in Stoke Newington claimed the lives of her two young cousins Christopher, 10, and Charlie, five, and the man who rescued her - a local plumber called Ronnie Springer, 45. Vicky spent three months in hospital afterwards undergoing multiple skin graft operations and says she was bullied at school and even beaten up due to her scarred skin. Scroll down for video Vicky Knight, who was called 'a monster' for 15 years and likened to film villain Freddy Krueger due to her burns scars, has landed the role of an acid attack survivor in a major new feature film She has now been cast in Dutch director Sacha Polak's new film Dirty God, in which she plays Jade, a young mother whose ex-boyfriend doused her in acid. Vicky admits she was 'suicidal' before being given the opportunity to launch an acting career. 'I had pretty much given up,' she told The Guardian. 'I was self-harming, I was sleeping all the time. I wasn't going to work. I was suicidal.' The film is littered with close-ups of Vicky's scarred skin, which proved challenging for the novice actress - who usually works as a healthcare assistant in the burns unit at Broomfield hospital in Chelmsford, where she was cared for throughout much of her childhood. Vicky was cast in Dutch director Sacha Polak's new film Dirty God, in which she plays Jade, a young mother whose ex-boyfriend doused her in acid. Vicky has burn scars covering more than a third of her body after being trapped in a burning flat when she was eight in July 2003. Pictured in hospital age eight following the fire Vicky, pictured age eight, spent three months in hospital after the fire, undergoing multiple skin graft operations and says she was bullied at school and even beaten up due to her scars 'I've hidden my scars for 15 years, and I've been called a monster for 15 years,' she said. 'To be able to have a camera so close... I had breakdowns on set.' Vicky, who juggles her budding acting career with night shifts at the hospital, said she almost quit, especially as some scenes required nudity and for her to masturbate, which left her feeling 'degraded'. But she claims the film has helped her to overcome her demons - and she's now keen to do more. The fire at the pub in Stoke Newington claimed the lives of her two cousins, Christopher, 10 (right) and Charle, five (left) Local plumber and pub regular Ronnie Springer, 45, rushed into the burning building in July 2003 to rescue Vicky - but later died from his injuries Vicky, pictured as young mother Jade in Dirty God, admits she was 'suicidal' before the opportunity to launch an acting career was presented to her. Vicky admitted she thought she'd only be good for horror movies, having been likened to A Nightmare on Elm Street serial killer Freddy Krueger countless times while growing up. She told how cruel bullies would wave lighters and lit cigarettes in her face and branded her 'burnt toast' at school. When a teacher suggested she make a video explaining what had happened to her - which went viral - Vicky was contacted by a production company in London who recruited her for a dating television programme. Vicky admitted she thought she'd only be good for horror movies, having been likened to A Nightmare on Elm Street serial killer Freddy Krueger countless times while growing up The actress, pictured in her role as Jade in Dirty God, told how cruel bullies would wave lighters and lit cigarettes at her face and was called 'burnt toast' at school Vicky, who juggles her budding acting career with night shifts at the hospital, said she almost quit her role, especially as some difficult scenes required nudity Despite being gay, she was set up on a date with a man - and only found out a week before it aired that the show was called Too Ugly For Love. When she complained, she was asked whether she'd consider going on The Undateables. Her video caught the eye of casting director Lucy Pardee, who set up a meeting for her with director Sacha Polak, 36, who 'immediately fell for her'. Vicky, pictured with Dutch film director Sacha Polak, 36, said doing the film has given her a new outlook on life As part of her research for the film, Polak visited the Katie Piper Foundation, a charity dedicated to burns rehabilitation. Pictured is Vicky, right, with her cousin, left, and Katie, whom she met when she set up her own charity Scar Quality Since the fire, Vicky said the only support she's received has been from her mother Kim, and credits her for instilling strength in her. She added that the film has provided her with 'another window to look out', and she now sees herself as a human, not 'a monster'. Dirty God will be released in UK cinemas on June 7. The Norwegian Royal Family waved to crowds from the palace balcony on Friday afternoon during a celebration to mark the country's national day. Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit and their children changed out of traditional dress to wear smart suits, dresses and top hats. Princess Ingrid Alexandra, 15, and Prince Sverre Magnus, 13, joined their parents, as did King Harold and Queen Sonja. Prince Sverre Magnus looked stylish as he donned a pair of sunglasses, while Princess Ingrid Alexandra yawned and in a sweet moment rested her head on her brothers shoulder. The Norwegian Royal Family waved to crowds from the palace balcony on Friday afternoon during a celebration to mark the country's national day Prince Sverre Magnus looked stylish as he donned a pair of sunglasses in the sunshine this afternoon Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit and their children changed out of traditional dress to wear smart suits, dresses and top hats Earlier in the day the Norwegian Royal Family's pets stole the show today during a celebration. Adorable Labradoodles Milly Kakao and Muffin Krakebolle posed proudly beside their owners on the steps of their grand residence in Skaugum, sporting patriotic bow ties. Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit both wore traditional dress to mark Norwegian Constitution Day, clutching bouquets of flowers in the nation's red and white flag colours. They were joined by their children Princess Ingrid Alexandra, 15, and Prince Sverre Magnus, 13, as they waved to the crowds. King Harold and Queen Sonja joined the rest of the royal family on the balcony of the palace Princess Ingrid Alexandra yawned and in a sweet moment rested her head on her brothers shoulder King Harold dresses in a smart suit, a top hat and a tie during a celebration to mark the country's national day Crown Princess Mette-Marit, 45, looked radiant in a bunad, wearing her blonde shoulder-length locks sleek and flowing. Princess Ingrid followed her mother's lead, sporting the costume which is renowned for playing a central role on special occasions in the Scandinavian country. Crown Prince Haakon wore a male version of the traditional folk dress, which has around 400 different regional variations. Unlike the rest of his family, Prince Sverre Magnus opted for a smart blue suit, with a ribbon on his jacket to pay tribute to the patriotic occasion. Earlier in the day the Norwegian Royal Family 's pets stole the show today during a celebration Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus during the celebrations of the National Day at the Palace Balcony The Norwegian Royal Family sported national dress to celebrate the country's national day at the residence in Skaugum Crown Princess Mette-Marit, pictured, and Princess Ingrid bent down to tend to their cute hounds, who clearly enjoyed the attention bestowed upon them Adorable Labradoodles Milly and Muffin sported patriotic bow ties - but it all became too much for one of the hounds, who lay down with their head nestled underneath Princess Ingrid's skirt Princess Ingrid followed her mother's lead, sporting the costume which is renowned for playing a central role on special occasions in the Scandinavian country Both Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Princess Ingrid bent down to tend to their cute hounds, who clearly enjoyed the attention bestowed upon them. At one point it all became too much for one of the dogs, who lay down with their head nestled underneath Princess Ingrid's skirt as the family watched the local children's parade. Norwegian Constitution Day is the nation's national day and is an official public holiday observed on May 17 each year. It marks the signing of the country's constitution at Eidsvoll on the day in 1814. Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit clutched bouquets of flowers in the nation's red and white flag colours as they watched local children's parade Prince Sverre Magnus of Norway, Crown Princess Mette Marit of Norway and Crown Prince Haakon Magnus of Norway and Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway sang the nation's national anthem The constitution declared Norway to be an independent kingdom in an attempt to avoid being ceded to Sweden after DenmarkNorway's devastating defeat in the Napoleonic Wars. For a number of years during the 1820s, King Karl Johan banned the celebration of the event, believing it to be a kind of protest and disregard even revolt against the union between Norway and Sweden. His attitude changed following the Battle of the Square in 1829, which resulted in such a commotion that the king had to allow commemorations on the day. Norwegian Constitution Day is the nation's national day and is an official public holiday observed on May 17 each year. Pictured are Prince Sverre Magnus of Norway, Crown Princess Mette Marit of Norway and Crown Prince Haakon Magnus of Norway and Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway and their pet dogs Teenager Princess Ingrid sported the traditional bunad dress, which is renowned for playing a central role on special occasions in the Scandinavian country Princess Ingrid bent down to pet her well-behaved pooches Milly Kakao and Muffin Krakebolle Four years later in 1833, an official celebration took place for the first time near the monument of former government minister Christian Krohg, who had spent much of his political life curbing the personal power of the monarch. After 1864 the day became more established when the first children's parade was launched in Christiania, at first consisting only of boys. In 1899, girls were allowed to join in and have done ever since. In 1905, the union with Sweden was dissolved and Prince Carl of Denmark was chosen to be King of an independent Norway, under the name Haakon VII. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 17) Ambassador Petronila Garcia is back in Manila on Friday after the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) pulled out its envoys in Canada, as the foreign country missed its deadline to retrieve tons of garbage shipped to the Philippines about six years ago. A source from the Manila International Airport Authority said Garcia arrived home via a Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight which landed at 3:50 a.m. Friday. Garcia was aboard PAL Flight 119 which left Toronto, Canada at 11:30 a.m. Manila time, which was less than four hours after Locsin made the announcement on Twitter. On Thursday morning, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr. announced on Twitter that he has sent recall letters to the ambassador and consuls stationed in Canada to retaliate against the North American country. Canada missed the May 15 deadline given by the Duterte administration to pick up the some 2,000 tons of garbage it shipped to local ports in 2013. Locsin said diplomatic ties between the Philippines and Canada will be at "de minimis" until the garbage is shipbound to Ottawa. The trigger: Locsin learned that Canadian officials supposedly did not show up to a meeting with the local Bureau of Customs days before the deadline. On Thursday night, the Canadian government said they are "disappointed" by Garcia's recall. "However, we will continue to closely engage with the Philippines to ensure a swift resolution of this important issue," Global Affairs Canada spokesperson Brittany Fletcher told CNN Philippines. READ: Trash woes won't affect PH-Canada relations, Trade chief says Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Malacanang was informed about Locsin's order, pointing out that the recall puts pressure on Canada to fast-track the process and even threatened that the Philippines will "sever relations with them." "Nandiyan pa rin ang relasyon but yung action ni Secretary Locsin is a message that this is a very serious matter, we're so concerned about this and they better do soemthing about it because it's (garbage) been lying there for several years," Panelo said on CNN Philippines' Newsroom Ngayon on Friday. A total of 103 container vans with trash were dumped in the Philippines via several shipments to Subic and Manila from 2013 to 2014. Canadian-based firm Chronic Plastics, Inc., which exported the containers, misdeclared their contents as plastic scrap materials. An angry President Rodrigo Duterte had earlier threatened to go to war with Canada for failing to retrieve their garbage. The Canadian government reportedly offered to shoulder shipping costs for the return of the waste, but has been saying since 2017 that they are "finding a solution" to the problem but are faced with legal barriers. Photo: Facebook A photo of one of the thieves breaking into a condo unit at Big White. UPDATE: 10:45 a.m. Two people believed to be responsible for several break and enters at Big White earlier this week were arrested Friday morning after they were spotted walking down Highway 33 towards Kelowna. At least five vacant units at Big White's Raven's Crest condo building were broken into earlier this week and thousands of dollars worth of electronics, appliances and ski equipment were stolen. Thursday afternoon, the owner of one of the ransacked units drove up to Big White to assess the damage, when she noticed one of her stolen mirrors in the back of a parked pickup truck, just down the road from where the thefts occurred. She called the police, and several residents worked together to box in the truck. While the two people believed to be responsible for the thefts fled the scene, they were spotted early Friday morning, walking along Highway 33 near Mission Creek. Photos of the couple were posted to a Big White community Facebook page where residents had been sharing information about the thefts. The couple appeared to be soaking wet, and members of the group speculated the couple had walked from Big White through the night. Cpl. Jesse O'Donaghey of the Kelowna RCMP confirms a 32-year-old man and a 26-year-old woman were found walking along Highway 33 Friday morning, and they were arrested without incident. The man was already wanted by police on unrelated warrants. The couple now face potential charges and Cpl. O'Donaghey says anyone with information on the thefts can call the RCMP at 250-762-3300. As one Big White resident put it: "Bottom line, don't mess with the Big White community." ORIGINAL: 5 a.m. A rash of break-ins at Big White this week has residents and property owners on edge. Earlier this week, several vacant units at the Raven's Crest condo building were broken into and thousands of dollars of electronics, appliances and ski equipment were stolen. Lee Keenan and his girlfriend live in one of the burglarized units during the winter months. On Thursday, Keenan's girlfriend and their landlord went up to the hill to assess the damage. Upon arrival, the landlord noticed her mirror that had been stolen was sitting in the back of a pickup truck outside of a nearby home. She called 911 and called Paladin (Security) and got the whole community involved, Keenan said. They blocked the street, but (the suspects) obviously knew something was up, so one guy was arrested and the other two, the two main ones, high-tailed it. He says police know the identities of the two people who got away, but as of Thursday night, he doesn't believe they were caught. While an RCMP file has been opened on the thefts, police did not provide comment on the case by publication time. Several TVs, dishwashers, washers and dryers and other electronics were stolen, and the thieves even appeared to try to steal an oven. Keenan and his girlfriend had a bunch of their valuable ski equipment stolen, but the worst loss was of a sentimental value. One of the goggles belongs to my stepkids' dad, who unfortunately passed away a couple years ago, Keenan said. He said he's only heard about break-ins at the Raven's Crest condo building, but there could be others that haven't been discovered yet. Surveillance footage of a man suspiciously looking through the front windows of other residential buildings at Big White was posted on a Big White community Facebook page. Organized through the online group, Big White residents are working together to keep an eye out for the thieves. These extraordinary photos capture people who bear a striking similarity to characters from Game of Thrones. Whether it is a student who is paid to impersonate Jon Snow (Kit Harrington), or an Italian 24-year-old who wowed the internet with her likeness to Emilia Clarke's Daenerys, each has a fascinating story about how it has impacted her life. In perhaps the most extraordinary tale, a Pakistani waiter who had not even heard of the show has since landed a TV role thanks to fans saying he looks like Tyrion Lannister, played by American actor Peter Dinklage. Scroll down to see them all and decide who you think is the most convincing... JON SNOW (KIT HARRINGTON) Jon Snow... or no? Giammarco Buccellato, 20, from Palermo, Sicily, left, is paid to make appearances as Kit Harrington's character Jon Snow, right Giammarco Buccellato, 20, from Palermo, Sicily, bears such a striking resemblance to Game of Thrones heartthrob Kit Harrington that he is regularly stopped by fans asking him for autographs. He has turned his unusual likeness into a part-time profession, with him taking part in events all over Italy and Europe. The fine arts student says it all started 18 months ago, while he was still unfamiliar with Game of Thrones and 'hundreds' of people told him he should check the show out. Giammarco has invested in costumes to make himself look even more like the character Giammarco said: 'Some people genuinely believe I am Kit Harrington. Especially when I visit big touristy cities like Rome or Venice, people go crazy and think that I am Kit pranking them by speaking Italian.' Giammarco, a painter and aspiring actor, says his resemblance to Jon Snow has now become such a big part of his life that he can't help but feel personally involved when he watches the show. DAENERYS TARGARYEN (EMILIA CLARKE) Stealing her crown! Roberta Pattaro, from Torino, Italy, has become a viral star thanks to her likeness to Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke, right in character as Daenerys Targaryen Roberta Pattaro, from Torino, Italy, has become a viral star thanks to her likeness to Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke. The 24-year-old posted pictures of herself in character as Daenerys Targaryen for the first time in April last year and has since built up a devoted fan base. Roberta, who has been working on her cosplay for almost three years, says the amount of attention was unexpected but a nice reward for the effort she's put in to bring the character to life. The film student said: 'I never thought I would receive so much praise. This was just something I did to feel like Daenerys for a couple of days, and to have fun with my grandma who helped me with the costume. 'Then I started getting attention at events, where people would stop me to take pictures, even on the lifts and the subway. 'The funny thing is most people who stop me are adults, there are even people over 50 or 60 years old who get very excited seeing me in my costume. 'I was incredibly happy, it is great to see people supporting you and complimenting you for your work. 'I chose this character because she's very similar to me, she's a strong and loyal person, and despite last Sunday's episode, she's been one of the pillars of the show.' TYRION LANNISTER (PETER DINKLAGE) Pakistani waiter Rozi Khan, left, had never even heard of the smash HBO show until he started getting photo requests from strangers who thought he looked like Tyrion Lannister, played by American actor Peter Dinklage (right) Pakistani waiter Rozi Khan had never even heard of the smash HBO show until he started getting photo requests from strangers in the city of Rawlpindi. Fans believe Mr Khan bears a striking resemblance to one of the show's central characters Tyrion Lannister, played by American actor Peter Dinklage. Mr Khan, who is 24 years Dinklage's junior, said: 'I don't mind. A lot of my pictures have been taken, that's why I have become very famous everywhere.' Dinklage has played the witty and wily nobleman since the hit series' first season in 2010. Not only are Mr Khan and Dinklage's faces said to be strikingly similar, they are also the same height at around 135 cms (4 ft 5in). Khan has since appeared in a Game of Thrones-themed commercial for the delivery service Cheetay. ARYA STARK (MAISIE WILLIAMS) Stefany Lauren of Toronto, Canada, left, claims she doesn't see the resemblance between herself and British actress Maisie Williams, who plays Arya Stark, right Stefany Lauren of Toronto, Canada, claims she doesn't see the resemblance between herself and British actress Maisie Williams. She said: 'If I'm being honest, I don't actually see any resemblance between us, other than the fact that we both have power brows.' However Stefany still enjoys cosplaying as Williams' character Arya Stark and took a series of photos in costume that took the internet by storm. Stefany, a budding actress herself, even won praise from Kristian Nairn, the actor who plays Hodor on the show. Marks and Spencer have announced their popular Percy Pig sweets will remain vegetarian. Last month the retailer withdrew the gelatine ingredient from the sweet's recipe, prompting outrage from some disappointed fans. Many social media users claimed the sweet no longer tasted the same, calling for M&S to keep a vegetarian and to reintroduce the original version. However after the store invited 100 Percy Pig lovers to a panel vote last night, with the 60 per cent majority voting to keep the sweet 100 per cent vegetarian for the foreseeable future. Scroll down for video Marks and Spencer have announced their popular Percy Pig sweets will remain vegetarian, after 100 of their biggest fans took to a panel to vote on whether to reintroduce gelatine to the ingredients last night M&S confirmed: 'Last night we invited 100 of Percy Pigs mega fans into Percy HQ to take the big vote; deciding if M&S should bring back a special edition classic Percy Pig pack with the gelatine back in, or, whether classic Percy should remain 100% veggie friendly. 'At 8pm, the results of the secret ballot were revealed and showed 60% in favour of keeping classic Percy 100 per cent vegetarian forever.' They continued: 'The mega fan electorate were selected from a staggering 6,000 M&S customers and colleagues who entered a social media competition to locate the UKs ultimate Percy Pig fans and form the Percy Pig Panel. 'The chosen panellists included Leah Hutchinson-Saxon from Manchester, who refuses to eat any other sweet and dresses up as her idol Percy, Hannah Leicester from Hampshire who will feature Percy Pig sweets on her wedding top table in four weeks time and Jason Green, who works at the M&S Worcester Blackpolen store has Percy Pig tattoos'.' The 60 per cent majority voting to keep the sweet 100 per cent vegetarian for the foreseeable future Fans went the whole hog, journeying from as far afield as Inverness and Belfast, with a total of over 7,500 miles travelled to be part of this decision. The event was a pig deal for the mega fans as they excitedly queued for temporary tattoos of Percy and got the opportunity to meet and greet with Percy and his wife Penny in the 'VIPig' area while they pigged out on Percy Pigs all night long. An M&S spokesperson on Percy Pig's behalf said, 'Percy would like to wholeheartedly thank all his mega fans who took time out to take part in this momentous vote. 'He's really happy that customers have taken the final decision and he can be 100 per cent veggie-friendly alongside his family and friends in the Percy range. 'He's a modest pig and has found the media attention a little overwhelming but he's deeply grateful to all the customers who expressed their views and is humbled that people care so much about him.' Lat month Marks & Spencer announced they would be letting their 100 biggest fans decide whether gelatine should be reintroduced to their Percy Pigs sweets after shoppers blasted the new vegetarian recipe Taking to Twitter at the time, they announced: 'Calling all Percy fans! Watch this Percy update, tell us why you're the ultimate Percy mega fan and you could be one of the 100 people on our Percy Pig Panel who'll decide if we should introduce a special edition Percy pack with gelatine back in Last month Marks & Spencer announced they would be letting their 100 biggest fans decide whether gelatine should be reintroduced to their Percy Pigs sweets after shoppers blasted the new vegetarian recipe. The retailer said: 'M&S wanted as many people as possible to be able to enjoy Percy Pigs and that's why the pork gelatine has been removed from the classic Percy pack to make it suitable for veggies. 'All the other Percy Pig packs were already veggie friendly as well as Colin the Caterpillar, with the classic Percy pack the last to join the veggie party.' They added: 'M&S is recruiting 100 mega fans to form the Percy Pig Panel on 16th May to vote on whether a special edition, classic Percy pack with the gelatine back in should be introduced. 'Percy's mega fans are being asked to pitch for their place on the panel by sharing why they love Percy on the M&S Facebook page or M&S Twitter page where the video from Percy can be viewed #PercyPigPanel'. In the video the retailer admitted that not everyone has taken to the new recipe, adding: '..others have got their tail in a spin'. Fans quickly took to Twitter and Facebook to share their opinion on the announcement and declaring that they would love to join the panel. One wrote: 'Parents and kids both love them. But I don't understand why you've decided to change them? Surely customer choice is the best judge? Then the piggies can live beside each other in perfect harmony and everybody's happy'. Agreeing, another said: 'M&S you made a mistake! The new percy pigs do not taste as good. Keep the original version for meat eaters and keep the veggie version for non meat eaters. 'There was nothing wrong with this for years! The saying if its not broken dont fix it comes to mind! I havnt bought the new ones since i tasted them after the changes & I normally buy a packet a week. Bring back old Percy!' Sharing their delight fans took to Twitter and Facebook to share their opinion on the announcement and declaring that they would love to join the panel However some defended the move, arguing: 'I'm not vegetarian or vegan, I don't eat much meat, but that's due to the fact I don't like red meat, BUT, why in goodness sakes, are we getting our knickers in a twist over the fact gelatine has been removed from a sweet!' Several also questioned the need for the change as 'Veggie Percy' packets are already available. However some defended the move, arguing: 'I'm not vegetarian or vegan, I don't eat much meat, but that's due to the fact I don't like red meat, BUT, why in goodness sakes, are we getting our knickers in a twist over the fact gelatine has been removed from a sweet!' Another added: 'I love Percy. I love that no animal is harmed in the making of him. Who needs bone broth to enjoy a sweet?? Good for you M&S, please don't go backwards.' Disappointed shoppers branded the new recipe 'disgusting' and 'inedible' on Twitter The rollout of the updated Percy Pigs was not formally announced by the retailer, meaning shoppers were surprised to find their favourite sweet had changed. One shopper named Amy tweeted: 'We have LOVED percy pigs for years. However, we bought a pack recently and myself and my children strongly disliked the taste and we didn't eat them. 'I assumed it was just a bad batch but it happened again. So when I was in the store today I looked at the packets on the shelf and some of them now say 'suitable for vegetarians' on the back, while some of them do not. 'Have the ingredients changed? Is that why they don't taste nice any more? Huge shame if they've changed after all these years!' Customers told how Percy Pigs had long been a favourite but that they were now considering giving up the sweets because of the new taste A post from M&S on Twitter suggests Veggie Percy will soon be phased out of stores She added: 'No announcement from M&S and nothing on the packaging to indicate a new recipe! That's why I thought I'd bought a 'bad batch'.... and then bought them again. Very misleading and disappointing.' A Marks & Spencer representative responded saying: 'Hi Amy our Percy Pigs are now gelatine free but we're sorry you and your children don't like the taste. 'We'll let our Food team know what you've said - all feedback is really helpful for future recipe reviews.' What is gelatine? Gelatin is a protein obtained by boiling skin, tendons, ligaments, and/or bones with water. It is usually obtained from cows or pigs. Gelatin is used in shampoos, face masks, and other cosmetics; as a thickener for fruit gelatins and puddings (such as Jell-O); in candies, marshmallows, cakes, ice cream, and yogurts; on photographic film; and in vitamins as a coating and as capsules, and it is sometimes used to assist in 'clearing' wines. Source: Peta Advertisement Amy's views were echoed by shoppers across the UK. A woman named Julie posted: 'Bought two packs today as I'd given them up for Lent... Awful, these are the same recipe as the Christmas pigs and I gave them ones away... Mine are going to be returned.. no notice on the pack that you'd changed the recipe.' Meanwhile a disappointed customer named Morven added: 'Completely agree - new recipe inedible.' Percy Pigs were first released in 1992. In 2011 the retailer introduced a vegetarian version of the classic sweet, 'Veggie Percy', so 'even more people can enjoy them'. A number of iterations have followed in the years since, including the introduction of 'Penny Pig' in 2013, 'Globetrotting Percy' in 2014 and 'Percy piglets'. There have also been seasonal offerings including 'Percy meets the Easter Bunny', 'Merry Percymas' and 'Pumpkin Percy' for Halloween. An M&S spokesperson said: 'After a lot of hard work (and tasting) we've finally perfected a 100% vegetarian Percy - something our customers have been asking us for, for a while! 'Rest assured we've tested the new recipe thoroughly to make sure he's as close to the original as possible and we have haven't changed any of the really important things that people love about Percy; the flavour is the same, he still has real fruit juice and never has artificial colours or flavours.' A PrettyLittleThing customer was left baffled after discovering a 50 bikini she purchased from the retailer isn't suitable for swimming as it can't be worn in water. On closer inspection of the brand's website, Alisha, from the UK, discovered the teal and gold sequined two-piece is for 'poolside posing only'. She took to social media to complain that the blue dye 'runs everywhere' when the item is placed in water. Sharing pictures of the bikini bottoms in a sink full of blue water to show how the colour bled from the garment, Alisha captioned her post: 'Be cautious when buying SWIMwear from @OfficialPLT this summer because it's only for 'poolside posing' and they'll still charge you 50 a set, absolutely laughable.' A PrettyLittleThing customer was left baffled after discovering a 50 bikini she purchased from the retailer isn't suitable for swimming as it can't be worn in water Fellow Twitter users were equally bemused by the idea of non-waterproof swimwear, with many questioning how you're supposed to wash the garment. Alisha contacted PrettyLittleThing directly, admitting: 'I love the bikini, I just don't know how to stop the dye from running everywhere when it's in water, just doesn't seem normal to me.' She was then stunned by the brand's response, which advised her not to wear the bikini in water. PrettyLittleThing worker Hakim said: 'Great to hear that you love the bikini, but on the website it does say that the set shouldn't be worn in water and colour may transfer.' While it does state the colour may transfer due to the polyester fabric used, the website doesn't mention it's not suitable to be worn in water. Twitter user Alisha shared pictures of the bottom half of the set in a sink full of blue water, showing how the colour bled from the garment Alisha contacted PrettyLittleThing directly, admitting she loves the bikini but it 'doesn't seem normal' that it can't go in water Alisha replied to PLT: 'I've spoken to about five people and all they've offered is a discount code so they've passed it on to complaints because I do not think "poolside posing" is sufficient when disclosing that this item is not water-safe.' Her Twitter post racked up more than 17,600 retweets and 54,000 likes, with hundreds taking to the comments to share Alisha's frustration. Twitter user @itsnotsimma wrote: 'Pool side posing. Lmao, so they're making swimwear strictly for Instagram models now?' On closer inspection of the brand's website, Alisha, from the UK, discovered the teal and gold sequined two-piece, which costs 20 for the bottoms and 30 for the top, is for 'poolside posing only' Alisha's Twitter post has now racked up more than 17,600 retweets and 54,000 likes, with hundreds taking to the comments to share Alisha's frustration Another with the username @n00rvana commented: 'LOL at these pathetic quality brands. Because they're generally cheap, affordable, accessible they make loads of sales and use that money for marketing, promotion etc instead of improving quality and devoting the brand on a creative and environmental level.' 'What even is poolside posing!? Stop,' commented @evandrra. Fellow Twitter users slammed the brand, asking how you're supposed to wash a bikini that isn't suitable for water And @irieniels said: 'Even if it's for "poolside posing" how are you supposed to be able to wash it? That's crazy!' Meanwhile @Olviaandrewx joked: 'Primark would never lol.' Later on last night, Alisha posted an update where an employee from PrettyLittleThing offered her a full refund plus 40 per cent off her next purchase. A spokesperson for the brand told FEMAIL: 'PrettyLittleThing does advise customers on the styles which we do not recommend be worn for swimming. 'These are highlighted as 'poolside posing' only and are designed for day/evening wear holiday dressing/poolside posing. If customers are unsure, our customer service team are available to advise further on which styles cannot be worn for swimming.' The shaman boyfriend of Princess Martha Louise of Norway will lead a spiritual workshop in London next week. Shaman Durek, 44, real name Durek Verrett, will fly to the UK following a five-city Scandinavian speaking tour with his royal girlfriend, 47, which kicks off in Copenhagen on Sunday. Durek, who describes himself as a 'sixth generation healer', will lead a session at the London Wellbeing Festival, where he promises to give participants a 'Shamanic clearing of unwanted energies'. Shaman Durek, 44, real name Durek Verrett, will fly to the UK following a five-city Scandinavian speaking tour with his girlfriend Princess Martha Louise of Norway, 47, which kicks off in Copenhagen on Sunday. Pictured, the couple in a photo shared online this week Durek, who describes himself as a 'sixth generation healer', will lead a session at the London Wellbeing Festival, where he promises to give participants a 'Shamanic clearing of unwanted energies'. Pictured, Durek teaching a workshop to followers He will also teach followers how to 'activate their light intelligence mentality' and 'learn the meanings of "windows, doors and ladders" for quantum expansion. A day ticket to the festival costs 11 or 13 and participants then book onto Durek's two-and-a-half hour workshop separately. The appearance will come just two days after the final stop on he and Martha Louise's joint speaking tour, dubbed The Princess and The Shaman. The couple will take paying crowds 'on a journey into the mysteries of life' that will focus on 'shamanic exercises and meditation'. Yesterday the couple appeared together on Good Morning Norway and revealed Durek had already been introduced to King Harald V and Queen Sonja. Pictured, after the appearance Tickets to the two events - which are called The Princess and the Shaman and the more intense, Activating Divinity - are being sold online for between 50 ($65) and 110 ($140) each. Princess Martha Louise announced her relationship in an Instagram post this week in which she described Durek as her 'twin flame'. Yesterday the couple appeared together on Good Morning Norway and revealed Durek had already been introduced to King Harald V and Queen Sonja. Durek went on to describe the King and Queen as 'lovely, wonderful, amazing'. 'It was the most beautiful experience,' he said of meeting them. Princess Martha Louise and Durek on Good Morning Norway yesterday. At one point during the interview, Durek took Princess Martha's hand and kissed it as she was answering questions The couple also addressed the recent controversy surround Durek's work and his spirituality. He denied claims that he could cure cancer and that he could defy aging. Durek said he had never claimed he had the cure for cancer. saying that science and medicine were so important to him. 'What we are doing is helping to facilitate and awareness of self,' he said. 'When people come to me, it's mostly because they have ailments they are dealing with from the therapies they are going through - it could be mental, it could be emotional - so I help them with these types of situations.' The couple announced their romance on Instagram on Monday in separate posts Princess Martha said she had no desire to give up her royal title, despite being urged to do so by some in her country due to her chosen spiritual lifestyle. 'I am a princess. I have chosen this way of living,' she said. 'I am part of that family and it'll stay that way.' Their interview came soon after Durek arrived in Oslo on Tuesday and was greeted by his girlfriend at the airport. Princess Martha divorced her husband author Ari Behn, in 2016 after 14 years of marriage. At the time they said they had simply grown apart but that they planned to share custody of their three children. She has not had any notable romances since then until meeting Durek. In announcing their relationship on Instagram, the princess said Durek was her 'twin flame'. It is unclear where they met or when but photographs of them together date back to November last year. Writing on Instagram about her new love, the princess penned: 'Durek has changed my life, like he does with so many' Pictured, the couple together. It is unclear how or when they met Sources told DailyMail.com they are 'madly in love' and that she was one of his clients. Durek, who was born in Sacramento, claims he first became 'aware' of his shamanic abilities when he was five but that he didn't start training until age 11 and that he is a 'sixth generation healer'. His mother, who he says was who exposed him to the spirit built when he was a baby, was Norweigan-Indian and his father was African-Haitian. Durek, who on social media says he is romantically interested in both men and women, claims she predicted his romance with the divorcee royal. The mother-of-three, who divorced husband Ari Behn in 2017, described her beau as her 'twin flame' and vowed to love him from 'this eternity to the next' in the gushing post, pictured 'When I was a teenager my mother told me that one day someone from her heritage in Norway would find me and bring so much joy in my heart. 'I asked her "who mother"? She said a princess... she was right my kindred spirit found me,' he said in a recent Instagram post. After spending 'years' training, Durek has cultivated a strong celebrity following and now counts Gwyneth Paltrow, Nina Dobrev and other stars among fans. He is regularly featured on Hollywood shows and on his website, he sells meditation tracks for around $10 each. He also has a collection of books on Amazon. The designer behind Princess Diana's iconic wedding dress has hit out at her daughter-in-law Mehgan for not championing more British designers in her royal wardrobe. In an exclusive interview with Yahoo UK's The Royal Box, fashion Designer David Emanuel, 62, urged Meghan use her profile to support British brands both through her own choices and how she dresses her son, Archie. 'I really do feel very strongly that now she is married into the Royal Family "The Firm" as we know it, I think she should be supporting British designers quite frankly,' he said. 'I followed the Royal tour - she was in Australia, Fiji and Tonga and I think there was only something like three British designers represented,' he added, although the true number was in fact 20 British designers out of 74 labels. He also noted that Meghan's love for designer labels, including Givenchy, saying: 'As we know, French couture is not inexpensive. Meghan loves to wear couture, but the designer behind Lady Diana's wedding dress said he wished she'd wear more British brands (pictured: Wearing a coat by Sentaler and dress by Aritzia - both Canadian designers and a bag by American Gabriella Hearst in Birkenhead in January) David Emmanuel (pictured), 62, said Meghan's wardrobe should be more British, as she is a member of the royal family Meghan, wearing a coat by Italian brand Emporio Armani and pregnancy dress by Swedish budget brand H&M Following the birth of baby Archie, Emanuel said he could see Baby Sussex sporting English fashion, such as ' little shirts, Peter Pan collars, Mother of Pearl buttons and little shorts as he gets older.' 'But American is Meghan. Meghan is American. So who knows, he might be in baby Ralph Lauren? Who knows,' he said. Emanuel added that dressing a baby in all Ralph Lauren would be 'expensive' and 'unnecessary,' adding: 'But you know she's the Mother. If she wants to put him in baby Ralph Lauren, it will be in baby Ralph Lauren.' Emmanuel complained that, while Givenchy, the dress worn by Meghan on her wedding day to Prince Harry has been made in France (pictured) Meghan and Harry with their son Archie, born on 6 May. Will Archie be Baby Classic English or will his America mother dress him in Ralph Lauren? 'But please, Meghan, if anything, buy British!' he exclaimed. Emanuel, who famously designed the dress worn by the late Lady Diana on the day of her wedding to Prince Charles in 1981, said he was sad to see royals turn to non-British designers for their bridal gowns. 'The last couple of weddings is that they've gone off-piste a bit. The Duchess of Sussex for instance, she went to Givenchy,' he said. 'Yes it was a British designer, but the gown was made in France.' Meghan and Prince Harry exiting Westminster Abbey on Commonwealth Day in March. Meghan is wearing a matching coat and dress from Victoria Beckham 'It's not for me to say, but I think it must have cost a small fortune.' Talking about the late Diana, and how she would seeing Harry experience fatherhood for the first time, he said: 'She loved children. I should imagine she would be gloriously happy to see Harry with a baby. It could have been and should have been fabulous. But unfortunately it didn't turn out like that.' While Diana turned to Emanuel for her gown, her daughter-in-law Kate Middleton made the unexpected decision to turn to Alexander McQueen for her gown. Emanuel designed the dress worn by Lady Diana in 1981, with its 7.62 meter-long train, on the day of her wedding to Prince Charles Meghan's love for designers is well-known, and she will gladly wear one brand head to toe. She's often seen wearing haute couture brands such as French Dior and American Ralph Lauren. However, her love of fashion also spreads to British designers' pieces as much as foreign's. For instance, on Commonwealth Day, Meghan sported a matching coat and dress from British designer - and her close friend - Victoria Beckham. During her pregnancy, some of Meghan's outfit carefully incorporated at least one item by a British designer. A royal biographer claims Meghan Markle's father is staying away from the limelight in a bid to win back his daughter's affection. Speaking to Yahoo's Royal Box, UK royal biographer Andrew Morton claimed that Meghan's estranged father, 74, has been turning down well-paid TV offers, following the birth of his grandson Archie Harrison. 'Tom Markle has been very quiet recently,' Morton said. 'He's been approached by Italian, French and German and other TV stations to talk about his relationship with Meghan, or non-relationship, and he turned them down,' he added. Meghan and Prince Harry, pictured, welcomed their first child Archie Harrison on 6 May. Now a royal biographer claims her estranged father is trying to get back into her good books Meghan's estranged father Thomas (pictured during a satellite interview with Good Morning Britain) is said to be staying under the radar in order to mend his relationship with the Duchess of Sussex Royal biographer Andrew Morton said Thomas Markle was refusing well-paid TV appearances in order to get back in Meghan's good books 'So what I'm saying is he's trying to keep his nose clean Thomas has been quiet and will remain quiet if he's not prodded.' Morton believes Thomas is avoiding public appearances in order to get back into his estranged daughter's good book, following their fall-out in 2018. Also appearing on the show was public relation expert Nick Ede, who suggested that Thomas would be the one to 'heal the rift' between Meghan and her father's side of the family. 'I think Thomas of all of them is going to be the one who actually wants to build this bridge and heal that rift,' he said. PR expert Nick Ede (pictured) said he felt Thomas could be the one building a bridge with Meghan to heal their family rift From left to right: Nick Ede, historian Anna Whitelock and Andrew Morton discussed the relationship between Meghan Markle and her father Thomas Referring to Meghan's half sister, he said: 'I think Samantha, on the other hand, is very much about headlines, financial gain, so I don't think she's going to go quiet, but I do think Thomas will definitely.' Meanwhile, Royal historian Anna Whitelock said that much of the fall out and its consequences had in fact been hidden from the public. 'We do not know what kind of conversations may or may not have taken place. 'So I think absolutely there is this sense that her father has been a loose cannon in the media around the time of the marriage,' she added. 'In the last few weeks he has been noticeably absent from the airwaves. He did, I think an appropriate statement on the birth, so I think we have to give them the benefit of the doubt for now.' Thomas doted on Meghan and played an important role in her education, with the pair enjoying a close relationship as she grew up. Pictured: Meghan Markle as a child with her father Thomas Markle first fell out of favour with the royal family when he staged a paid paparazzi shoot ahead of Meghan's nuptials to Prince Harry. When news of his set-up photoshoot emerged, Thomas pulled out of the wedding due to poor health. The ceremony took place without Thomas in Windsor on May 19, and while Meghan was publicly supportive of her father at the time, communication between the duo reportedly became strained. To add fuel to the fire, Thomas then gave a series of public interviews where he disclosed several pieces of private information. In the months following the wedding Thomas spoke to Piers Morgan on ITVs breakfast show Good Morning Britain, revealing Harry had said Donald Trump ought to be given a chance, and that he was open to the experiment of Brexit. Continuing his less than delicate approach to the royal family's private lives, he then discussed the prospect of Meghan becoming a mother, remarking theres got to be a child in the making, somewhere soon. After he was reportedly met by radio silence from Meghan and the palace, he then followed up the clumsy interviews with further scathing remarks. However things soon became strained and last summer Thomas Markle spoke to Good Morning Britain by satellite, where he said he feared he would never meet his grandchild 'Meghan would be nothing without him, he declared in a follow-up interview, before he added: I made her the duchess she is today. Everything Meghan is, I made her. Revealing that he had been totally ostracised by the royal family, he then proclaimed: Perhaps it would be easier for Meghan if I died. Disclosing further private information, Thomas then claimed that when Harry phoned him after his heart attack, the prince had been so rude to him about the interviews, that he was 'forced' put the phone down on his son-in-law. Meghan was said to be so upset by her estranged father's repeated attacks in the media, that she wrote him a letter begging him to stop 'victimizing' her. In January five 'close unnamed friends' of the Duchess told People that Meghan penned a letter to her father, Thomas Markle, shortly after her wedding to Prince Harry. The letter, which was written following his flurry of interviews on her last summer, was released in January and read: 'Dad, I'm so heartbroken. I love you. I have one father. 'Please stop victimizing me through the media so we can repair our relationship'. The five friends, reported to be in Meghan's innermost circle, then claimed Thomas responded with a long letter of his own - in which he asked his daughter for a photo shoot. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle sharing their first kiss outside of St George's Chapel in front of the thousands of people who came to witness their union. Thomas Markle could not attend the wedding of his daughter for health reasons Meghan Markle's mother Doria Ragland, 62, won the hearts of the nation with her demure and discreet appearance at the royal wedding and is set to play an active role in her grandchild's life. Pictured: Doria at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle on the day of her daughter's wedding to Prince Harry 'I think she will always feel genuinely devastated by what he has done,' they told the magazine. The group of anonymous friends also voiced their concerns over his public rants about her, suggesting at the time that they could be taking its toll on Meghan and Harry's unborn child. 'We worry about what this is doing to her and the baby,' they said. 'It's wrong to put anyone under this level of emotional trauma, let alone when they're pregnant.' Months earlier Thomas spoke out to criticize his daughter for her ongoing refusal to speak with him, confessing that he was 'really hurt that she's cut me off completely', while hitting out at his daughter over her 'sense of superiority'. Pictured: Meghan as a child with cousin Tyler Dooley, Thomas Markle Sr, Thomas Dooley, and Samantha Markle However, Meghan's friends insisted that Thomas knew exactly how to reach his daughter, but reportedly never tried to get in contact. 'He knows how to get in touch with her,' added one longtime friend, saying that Meghan's phone number had stayed the same, despite Thomas insisting previously that her contact information had been changed. 'He's never called, he's never texted. It's super painful because Meg was always so dutiful. And at the same time, because she's a daughter, she has a lot of sympathy for him,' the unnamed friend added. According to reports Thomas Markle was not an attentive father to Samantha, 51, and Thomas Junior, 53, - who is also estranged from him by his own attempts to cash in on Meghans ascent to the Royal Family. His relations with them are said to be cordial but distant. However, he is said to have doted on Meghan whom he called his little buckaroo from the day she was born, devoting his time to her upbringing. Her parents divorced when she was seven, sharing custody, but during her teens when her mother often worked away she lived mainly with her father. Two years ago, she acknowledged her enormous affection for him with an internet Fathers Day message. Accompanied by a picture of her father holding her as a baby, she wrote: Im still your buckaroo and to this day our hugs are still the best in the whole wide world. Thanks for my work ethic, my love of Busby Berkeley films and club sandwiches, for teaching me the importance of handwritten thank you notes, and for giving me the Markle signature nose. I love you. But following his series of public outbursts, insiders claim he alienated himself from his daughter so completely, that the Duchess did not call him when she discovered she was pregnant. A friend of Mr Markle told the Mail that, in his letter of congratulation concerning the pregnancy, he had told Meghan she would make a great mother because - despite their recent difficulties - he believed she remained a very loving and compassionate woman. He thinks she will be naturally maternal, the source added. He said he had been remembering when Doria found out she was pregnant with Meg, and how emotional he felt. He only hopes he can share some of the joy. The statement, delivered through a friend, was perhaps Thomas way of apologising - his first, tentative attempt at effecting a rapprochement, but fans have yet to see whether their rift can be repaired. Talk about a dream job for wine-lovers! A US brand is hiring a 'rose influencer' to travel on an all-expenses-paid trip to France to taste and pose with lots of vino. Rose All Day announced on Instagram this week that it's currently on the hunt for a new influencer, who will be tasked with traveling to a French chateau and creating content for social media. In addition to snagging a free trip, the lucky person selected will also snag a $10,000 paycheck. Dream gig: Rose All Day announced on Instagram this week that it is hiring a 'rose influencer' for $10,000 Cheers to that! The lucky person selected will travel on an all-expense paid trip to France to taste and pose with lots of vino For a chance, applicants need only post 'killer #RoseAllDay content and tag @Rose_All_Day' before September 2. 'Were looking for beautiful, bright imagery that shows your love of rose. We want to see you, your friends, your events, your pups, and anything unique to showcase why youre the perfect #RoseAllDay influencer. The more entries, the more likely you are to win!' says the brand. After Labor Day, the company will select its finalists, which will ultimately be whittled down to a single winner. That lucky person will then be flown to France for four nights, where they will stay at the brand's chateau in the Languedoc region. And the job itself? The influencer need only to share one rose post on the account per month for a year, though they're encouraged to do more. Oui, merci! The winner will then fly to France for four nights, where they will stay at the brand's chateau in the Languedoc region Easy peasy: The influencer need only to share one rose post on the account per month for a year, though they're encouraged to do more The rose influencer gig is just the latest 'dream job' to capture the imagination of regular nine-to-fivers. Also this month, London-based luxury retailer HushHush announced that it's looking to hire a yacht tester. The person selected gets 1,000 ($1,274) per yacht tested, and could review up to 50 per year. For reach review, the person will have to live on a yacht for a week, where he or she will test everything on board And in February, Mondelez International which is behind brands like Cadbury, Oreo, and Milka advertised for four people to join its chocolate-tasting team. Yum! Last year, Ferrero hired 60 'sensory judges' to taste-test its products, which include Nutella, Ferrero Rocher truffles, Tic Tacs, and Kinder chocolate candy Last year, a similar job listing for taste-testers at Ferrero earned quite a bit of attention. The sweets company which makes Nutella, Ferrero Rocher truffles, Tic Tacs, and Kinder chocolate candy planned to select 60 non-professional taste testers to move to Alba, Italy for a three month training course. After learning the tricks of the trade and sampling plenty of candy the group was to be winnowed down to 20 people, who earned part-time jobs. Tiffany Trump was all smiles while enjoying a shopping trip in London with her billionaire boyfriend Michael Boulos on Thursday. The 25-year-old first daughter, who recently finished up her second year of law school at Georgetown University, was seen happily showing off her sparkly pink sneakers to her beau on the sidewalk before heading inside Harrods. The two were dressed casually for their two-and-a-half-hour shopping trip inside the British department store during her visit to London, where Michael is based. Check them out: Tiffany Trump happily showed off her sparkly pink sneakers to her boyfriend Michael Boulos while visiting Harrods department in London on Thursday Flashy: The pink sneakers, which were from Aruna Seth, featured a small platform and were covered in glitter Take a look: The first daughter was seen showing Michael her sparkly pink sneakers before they headed into the British department store President Donald Trump's youngest daughter wore black cropped jeans, a sparkly T-shirt, and a pale pink blazer that matched her flashy Aruna Seth sneakers. When she stepped outside of the Secret Service SUV that dropped her off at Harrods, she was wearing dark sunglasses that she later removed. Her long blonde hair was center-parted and worn loosely around her shoulders. She accessorized her look with a $6,800 gold Cartier Juste Un Clou bracelet and an Aruna Seth butterfly ring on her ring finger on her left hand. Tiffany carried not one but two handbags: a pink tote filled with papers and a black Saint Laurent crossbody bag. She was only briefly seen holding the pink tote, and it's likely that she left it inside the vehicle or with one of her Secret Service agents during her visit to Harrods. Baggage: Tiffany carried not one but two handbags: a pink tote filled with papers and a black Saint Laurent crossbody bag Outfit of the day: Tiffany donned black cropped jeans, a sparkly T-shirt, and a pale pink blazer that matched her flashy sneakers Added touches: She accessorized her look with a $6,800 gold Cartier Juste Un Clou bracelet and a butterfly ring on her ring finger on her left hand Shades: When she stepped outside of the Secret Service SUV that dropped her off at Harrods, she was wearing dark sunglasses that she later removed A plainclothes Secret Service agent remained close to Tiffany as she chatted with Michael and showed him her new shoes. The law student held her sunglasses and cellphone in her hand before she and her beau headed inside the store. Michael, the heir to the multi-billion-dollar Nigerian trading conglomerate Boulos Enterprises, was dressed even more casually than his girlfriend. He looked comfortable in a black hooded sweatshirt, a pair of Adidas tearaway track pants, and black Nike sneakers, topping off his look with a Louis Vuitton messenger bag. Michael wore his hood on top of his head while outside, shielding his face from the cameras. In good spirits: The law student had a bright smile on her face as she stepped out of her Secret Service vehicle Comfortable: Michael, the heir to the multi-billion-dollar Nigerian trading conglomerate Boulos Enterprises, wore a hooded sweatshirt, Adidas tearaway track pants, and Nike sneakers Excited: Tiffany started showing him her sneakers before he even stepped on to the sidewalk The couple spent two and a half hours shopping in Harrods, and they stopped in a few other stores as well, including Aruna Seth's showroom in Knightsbridge. The shoe designer took to her Instagram Stories on Thursday to share a photo of Tiffany trying on a pair of of hot pink pumps adorned with crystal embellishments. In the snapshot, Aruna and Tiffany are sitting side by side on a pink velvet settee inside the showroom. Tiffany liked the image so much, she also posted it on her Instagram Stories. The first daughter has a close relationship with Aruna, and she even wore the British designer's $800 green suede ankle boots featuring crystal butterfly embellishments to her father's inauguration in 2017. Aruna had her head of marketing hop on a plane and deliver her brand's Farfalla boots to a hotel near the White House just a few days before President Trump's swearing-in ceremony. Meet and greet: The first daughter carried her sunglasses and cellphone in her hand while chatting with her boyfriend Incognito: Michael wore his hood on top of his head while outside, shielding his face from the cameras Catching up: The two chatted on the sidewalk fora bit before making their way inside the store First stop: Tiffany traveled to London to visit her boyfriend just one day after her spring semester at Georgetown Law officially came to a close Helping hand: A plainclothes Secret Service agent was later seen putting shopping bags inside Tiffany's black SUV Excursion: The couple spent two and a half hours shopping in Harrods, and they stopped in a few other stores as well Strike a pose: Tiffany tried on hot pink crystal-embellished pumps at Aruna Seth's showroom in Knightsbridge and happily posed for a photo with the British shoe designer Throwback: The first daughter has a close relationship with Aruna, and she even wore the British designer's $800 green suede ankle boots to her father's inauguration in 2017 The last time Tiffany and Michael were seen shopping together, he made it a point to spoil his new girlfriend by buying her five fur coats at Serbian designer Irena Grahovac's boutique while visiting Belgrade. Tiffany traveled across the pond to visit Michael right after her law school exams and papers were finished. Michael was raised in Lagos, Nigeria, but he is now based in London and the pair have a long-distance relationship. The first daughter was spotted out with Michael on Sunday evening, just one day after her spring semester at Georgetown Law officially came to a close. For the evening out on the town, Tiffany donned a black sleeveless dress with a mock turtleneck that was cinched at the waist and matching heels. Meanwhile, her boyfriend sported jeans and a black long-sleeve shirt. Out and about: Tiffany and Michael were spotted leaving Novikov Restaurant and Bar in London's affluent Mayfair district on Sunday evening Keeping busy: Just last week, the law student was sharing a photo of her computers while writing her final papers and studying for her exams Serious business: Tiffany may be planning on spending the summer with Michael. She brought him along to Mar-a-Lago last month to celebrate Easter with her family Time with dad: Tiffany and Michael spent some quality time with her father, President Donald Trump, and her stepmom, Melania The pair dined at Novikov Restaurant and Bar in London's affluent Mayfair district and were spotted exiting the restaurant after their meal. It remains unclear what else Tiffany and her boyfriend have planned for the rest of her trip away from Washington D.C. Tiffany, who Donald's only child with his second ex-wife Marla Maples, usually spends her summer vacations traveling around the world with her mother. Last year, the two headed to England, and before she started law school in 2017, they went island hopping in Italy ahead of their final stop in Rome. But it looks like she may be spending some quality time with her boyfriend this summer as things continue to heat up between them. Tiffany started dating Michael last summer, and things seem to be getting serious between the two as they near their one-year anniversary. Before her trip to London, they were last seen together when she invited him to Palm Beach, Florida, last month to stay at her father's Mar-a-Lago resort and attend church with her family on Easter Sunday. Bristol Palin traveled from Texas to her home state of Alaska with her eldest daughter Sailor Grace to watch her youngest sister Piper Palin graduate from high school this week. The 28-year-old took to Instagram on Thursday to post a photo of herself holding her three-year-old daughter while posing with the 18-year-old Wasilla High School graduate, her friend Allie Gleason, and another little girl. 'My best fwiends,' Bristol captioned the image. 'Congrats tiny sis @piper.p, love you the most!!' Scroll down for video Big day: Bristol Palin traveled to Alaska with her daughter Sailor Grace (far right) to attend her sister Piper Palin's high school graduation. They are pictured with family friends All together: Todd and Sarah Palin happily posed for photos with their children Willow, Trig, Piper, and Bristol (left to right) Baby girl: Piper, 18, is Todd and Sarah's youngest daughter and the second to last of their children to graduate from high school Sister, sister: Piper was all smiles as she posed with her sisters Bristol, 28, and Willow, 24 The mother-of-three also posted videos of Piper's graduation ceremony on her Instagram Stories, including footage of her little sister and her classmates entering the gymnasium. Bristol sat in the stands with her parents, Todd and Sarah Palin, her sister Willow, her little brother Trig, and her daughter Sailor. Her son Tripp, 10, and youngest daughter Atlee Bay, two, didn't appear to be in Alaska with her at the time. It's possible that Tripp was visiting his father Levi Johnston, or he and his sister Atlee could have been staying with her dad, Bristol's ex-husband Dakota Meyer. In the clips that Bristol shared, she and her family can be heard yelling for Piper during her class's procession into the gym. Milestone: Bristol posted videos from Piper's graduation ceremony on her Instagram Stories, including footage of her little sister and her classmates entering the gymnasium In the stands: Bristol sat next to her 11-year-old brother Trig while watching the ceremony Reunited: Bristol's daughter Sailor happily sat on her grandfather Todd's lap She also posted a video of Piper being called to the podium to receive her diploma. Bristol later filmed Piper wearing a white lace dress while reciting her senior quote, which came from Kylie Jenner. 'I feel like this year is really about, like, the year of just realizing stuff. And everyone around me, we're all just, like, realizing things,' the reality star said in 2016, and Piper couldn't help but laugh while repeating it for the camera. Willow, 24, also shared plenty of photos from Piper's graduation, writing: 'SO PROUD OF THIS GIRL! @piper.p.' Lookalikes: Willow also posted snapshots from Piper's graduation, including a picture of herself posing cheek to cheek with the graduate Touching: Piper held on to her bouquets of flowers while giving her little brother a hug Heartwarming: Trig leaned in and gave his big sister a hug before posing for photos with her Look of love: In one particularly sweet shot, Piper is squatting down in her red cap and gown to give her niece Sailor a big hug Can't help but laugh: Bristol later filmed Piper wearing a white lace dress while reciting her senior quote, which came from Kylie Jenner. 'We're all just, like, realizing things,' she said In one image, Willow and Piper are posing cheek to cheek while the latter is wearing her cap and gown. Another snapshot shows Piper hugging 11-year-old Trig. While Piper's sisters are clearly proud of her, their mother Sarah, 55, couldn't resist sharing tons of photos of her on her big day. The mother-of-five posted pictures of herself and her husband posing with Piper as well as funny outtakes and family photos from throughout the day. In one particularly sweet shot, Piper is squatting down in her red cap and gown to give her niece Sailor a big hug. Class of 2019: Sarah couldn't resist sharing tons of photos of her family watching Piper graduate from Wasilla High School Making memories: The proud mom captured a few candid shots of Piper with a friend Instagram versus reality: The former Republican vice presidential candidate shared funny outtakes of their family photos Stunning portrait: On Thursday, Sarah posted a snapshot of Piper standing in front of the mountains in her red cap and gown Family celebration: Piper's cousins McKinley Wooten and Kier Heath also graduated from high school this week Style: Piper and McKinley posed for photos in lace dresses that they wore under their gowns Say cheese: Sarah threw her niece, nephew, and daughter a graduation party in her garage All smiles: The three graduates happily posed for photos in front of their cake Mother-of-three: Bristol's son Tripp, 10, and youngest daughter Atlee Bay, two, didn't appear to be in Alaska with her on the day of Piper's graduation The former Republican vice presidential nominee also shared a video of Piper and her classmates throwing their caps in the air after graduation. 'Everyone needs a Piper Indi Grace in life,' Sarah captioned the post. 'Girl makes the world a better place.' Sarah's niece and nephew McKinley Wooten and Kier Heath also graduated this week, and the mom happily posted photos of Piper and her cousins posing in their cap and gowns on Thursday. She threw a party for them inside their garage, and they all posed together in front of their graduation cake that had their names on it. 'In the blink of an eye - daughter, niece & nephew graduate this week - turned our shop into their family GradBlast!!' she wrote on Instagram. With wild mushrooms and truffle oil, it's no wonder Australian foodies are raving about this $3.99 Italian-made pasta. Aldi's Casa Barelli Porcini Mushroom & Truffle Triangolis has been praised by home cooks who insist it tastes just as good as 'fine-dining' pasta. The gourmet triangle-shaped raviolis are available in the fresh food, fridge section of the budget supermarket stores across the country. Australian foodies are raving about this $3.99 Aldi pasta with truffle oil and wild mushrooms Casa Barelli Porcini Mushroom & Truffle Triangolis has been praised by home cooks Filled with egg pasta made with soft wheat flour and durum wheat semolina, the pastas are filled individually with porcini mushrooms and truffle oil - an authentic recipe created from the Piedmont region of Italy - the homeland of truffle. And it's not hard to see why it's become a deliciously cheap staple in many family homes after the pasta was crowned the 2015 Product of the Year. Many foodies shared their views, as well as the ingredients they usually include in their pasta. 'I hope Aldi never takes this off their shelves. Such an easy and fast meal that tastes [amazing],' a woman said, revealing she usually adds butter, cherry tomatoes, green vegetables and cheese to the dish. The gourmet triangle-shaped raviolis are available in the fresh food, fridge section of the budget supermarket stores across Australia (file image) One mother said: 'My daughter is vegetarian and we tried these and they were amazing. I just did a quick creamy, blue cheese sauce for on top.' Another home cook said she serves her pasta with a 'dash of garlic, olive oil and burnt butter, topped with Parmesan cheese. Many foodies even compared the supermarket pre-made packaged meal to 'fine-dining' pasta, as it contains 'high quality' ingredients. Photo: The Canadian Press A criminal pardon U.S. President Donald Trump personally delivered to Conrad Black over the phone amounts to complete exoneration, the author and former media mogul said on Thursday. In an interview with The Canadian Press, Black also said he had yet to decide whether to try to regain the Order of Canada of which he was stripped following his now undone conviction in the United States. "This completes the destruction of the spurious prosecution of me," Black, 74, said. "It's a complete final decision of not guilty. That is finally a fully just verdict." On May 6, Trump phoned Black at his home in Toronto to announce the pardon for his 2007 convictions on obstruction of justice and fraud for which he spent more than three years in a federal prison in Florida. The convictions related to what prosecutors called his scheme to siphon off millions of dollars from the sale of newspapers owned by Hollinger Inc., where he was chief executive and chairman. Under U.S. law, pardon represents full legal forgiveness for a crime. Black said he initially thought he was being pranked by a brilliant impersonator but quickly realized the person on the other end of the line was Trump himself. The two men have long been acquaintances and Black recently wrote a glowing book called "Donald J. Trump: A President Like No Other." Their relationship, which Black described as good but not intimate, was secondary when it came to the pardon, he said. "If I was one of these people who slagged him off and accused him of being an asset of the Kremlin and a traitor to the United States and so forth, I would not count on him having bestirred himself to do anything about it," he volunteered. "To those who say it was just a back-scratching operation and it's just a payoff to me for being a supporter, I would decline to comment on that." Black has always maintained he was the victim of an unjust U.S. criminal justice system. The pardon from the highest legal authority in the United States was a "great comfort," but Trump went even further: "It was a bad rap and unjust verdict, and I should never have been charged," Black cited the president as telling him. One practical impact of the pardon is that Black is now free to travel to the United States, which he called a "great country." While he could have applied for a special entry waiver, he never did because of the "outrageous way" the system treated him. The conversation with Trump, he said, was "most cordial" and the president expressed a wish to see him again. However, Black said his only plans are to spend time in England this summer and visit New York in September. What's important, he said, is that the pardon signals the end of a long, dark chapter. "It was a very unpleasant business for a long time. It's no day at the beach having the government of the United States and its Canadian quislings on your back for years on end. I survived it and we drive on." Black's conviction led to a rare revocation of his Order of Canada in 2014. He said he hadn't decided whether he would try to regain it. "I'll think about it," he said. "That whole thing was so disagreeable, I don't know if I want to reopen it." A Japanese appliance company is selling a $270 toaster which can only toast a single piece of bread at a time. Mitsubishi Electric Corp. debuted its 'Bread Oven' in Japan last month, selling the single-function appliance for for 29,000 to 30,000 yen ($263.49 to $272.58, or 207.09 to 214.23). But the compact machine, which is shaped similarly to a waffle maker and has four different buttons, is designed so that it may only cook one piece of toast at once. Fancy schmancy! Mitsubishi Electric Corp. debuted its $270 'Bread Oven' in Japan last month Every home needs one! The waffle iron-like appliance can toast just one piece of bread at a time and seals in moisture 'We're not asking customers to get rid of their toasters, but to enjoy this as an entirely different category,' said a spokesperson The Bread Oven is meant to make the perfect piece of toast it's less concerned with efficiency. 'We wanted to focus on the single slice, and treat it with respect,' Akihiro Iwahara, who runs technical development for Mitsubishi Electric's, told Bloomberg. Unlike a toaster that is open on top or a toaster oven which has lots of room for air to circulate, the Bread Oven completely closes to trap and seal moisture inside, toasting the bread without drying it out. A slice is placed inside two metal plates and heats on the top and bottom, which can get up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit (260 degrees Celsius). It's also designed to look nice, as it's meant to sit on a dining table and not be hidden away on a kitchen counter. Unsurprisingly, social media users have had quite a lot to say about the appliance. Peak Japan: Twitter users have had a lot to say about the toaster oven Brilliant: Several joked about the necessity and importance of such an appliance Capitalism: Another thought he might find a market for a $500 butter spreader 'In Japan, perfection matters. Toasters in Japan sell for over $200 & focus on making *one* piece of toast at a time,' wrote one, quoting Mr. Iwahara. 'We've reached peak Japan.' 'I know its late but look at this toaster. Its $270 but its peak Japanese Industrial Design. It only does one slice at a time but who cares,' wrote another. 'I mean, can you put a price on a perfect piece of toast?' joked Bloomberg's Alice Truong. 'Its crap without the $500 butter spreader Im selling...' quipped another user While a few said they'd definitely 'buy this,' most couldn't imagine splashing out so much on a toaster. 'My toaster costs $10. For a net profit of $260 I think I'm fine with slightly dry toast, given that putting butter or jam on it regardless,' wrote one. Melted: While some aren't so excited about its toast capabilities, they have high hopes for how grilled cheese would turn out in the contraption Customer base: Some people said they'd most certainly buy it, though some may have only been half-serious Works OK! This person, though, is perfectly fine with his much less expensive toaster Not splurging just yet: Others said their cheap toasters work perfectly well Some in particular latched onto a quote by Kaori Kajita, founder of the Japan Butter Toast Association, who said that there's nothing more 'enchanting' than the perfect slice of toast. According to Bloomberg, though the price seems outrageous, there is a market for the oven in Japan. Toast made with a square white bread called shoku pan has become in increasingly popular, particularly to eat with breakfast. Another brand called Balmuda even debuted a $230 toaster a few years ago. 'Given Japanese tastes, there are a lot of people looking for a refined and delicate experience,' Hiroaki Higuchi, general manager for marketing at Mitsubishi Electrics home-appliance unit, told the outlet. 'We're not asking customers to get rid of their toasters, but to enjoy this as an entirely different category.' It's been hailed as a wonder drug with the potential to extend the lives of thousands of people with cystic fibrosis. But patients across the UK still can't get their hands on Orkambi - despite it being a year since Theresa May promised to take action. The drug, which slows lung deterioration, received its European licence three-and-a-half years ago, in which time over 200 people have died from the cruel condition. However, the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has been unable to reach an agreement with its manufacturer. The Goverment-run body and NHS England have been in a deadlock with US firm Vertex over the drug, which costs an estimated 104,000 per patient per year. On the anniversary of the Prime Minister's pledge on May 16, furious campaigners marched to 10 Downing Street to share their frustrations. Mrs May responded last night by telling the firms to do 'everything they can' to break the deadlock. And MailOnline has spoken to three cystic fibrosis sufferers, who have begged the parties to make headway. Hannah Chew nee Lindley, 23, Shiloh Howells, nine, and Lorcan Maguire, two, are desperate for the chance to try Orkambi. Three cystic fibrosis sufferers have begged the NHS to fund a 'wonder drug' to combat the crippling condition. Lorcan Maguire, of Downpatrick, Northern Ireland, is two Shiloh Howells, nine, has lungs so fragile that she is expected to have a risky double lung transplant by the age of 12. Her mother, Nichola Howells, said it's heartbreaking knowing Orkambi could prevent the operation Hannah Chew nee Lindley, 23, of Leeds, said CF has stolen her joy, childhood and her best friend she tragically had to watch her sister, Iona Kesteven, pass away from the disease. Pictured on her wedding day in August 2018 WHAT IS ORKAMBI AND WHO WOULD BENEFIT? Orkambi can slow decline in lung function - the main cause of death among people with cystic fibrosis - by 42 per cent. CF is a progressive, genetic disease that causes the mucus in various organs to become thick and sticky and trap bacteria. It causes persistent lung infections and limits the ability to breathe over time, limiting the life expectancy to mid-40s. There are almost 3,000 people in Great Britain who have two copies of the F508del mutation - around half of patients - that could benefit from Orkambi, according to the 2014 UK Cystic Fibrosis Registry Report. There are 2,834 people in England, 243 people in Scotland, 118 people in Wales and 101 people in Northern Ireland. Vertex refused an offer from NHS England of 500million for a five-year supply, the biggest offer it has ever made, and talks have completely broken down. The drug is only ever prescribed on rare compassionate grounds, which many charities say is too late. Advertisement Mrs May said she wanted a 'speedy resolution' in the ongoing negotiations so CF patients could have access to Orkambi and Symkevi - another drug that treats the root cause of the condition but is also not available on the NHS. Since then, there have been no resolutions. Vertex reached an agreement with Scotland for access to Orkambi and Symkevi in December, but the fight for the drug is still raging on in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Yesterday, the Cystic Fibrosis Trust handed a letter to Theresa May at number 10 Downing Street. Zoey Jones, the distressed mother of one-year-old Eve, who has cystic fibrosis, was also there to give 65 roses - a term used by children to help them pronounce the name of the condition. David Ramsden, chief executive of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, said: 'This tragic situation cannot continue. Every day the health of thousands of people in this country is deteriorating and this is damage to their lungs that cant be undone.' 'Were asking for Prime Minister, Theresa May to attend the Westminster Hall debate on Monday 10 June and update the house on what the next steps are.' 'My sister died waiting for that drug' Hannah Chew nee Lindley, 23, said CF has stolen her joy, childhood and her best friend she tragically had to watch her sister, Iona Kesteven, pass away from the condition. Hannah Chew nee Lindley, 23 said her and her sister Iona, right, who passed away, are best friends When Hannah looks back on her childhood, she mostly remembers Iona, who died at the age of 19, being ill. Pictured on holiday Around the age of eight, Hannah remembers the illness taking a tighter hold of Iona, and they were put in separate bedrooms. Pictured, in hospital, date is unclear Hannah, of Leeds, isn't afraid to admit that her life with CF, apart from some happy memories, has been 'horrific'. She said: 'A lot of people mask it over which annoys me because it needs to take it seriously. 'It's stolen my joy, health and mobility. It stole my childhood and my best friend my sister. I had to watch her die. 'There are some days you feel better and there are others you question why you are on this planet.' When Hannah looks back on her childhood, she mostly remembers Iona, who died at the age of 19, being ill. She said: 'We lived life permanently in a touch and go situation. I remember my sister being taken ill all the time and not knowing if she was going to live or die and constantly living with the fear of - is this the time she dies?' In November 2015, Iona's lung collapsed due to multiple lung infections and she was rushed back into hospital. A week later she passed away. Pictured on holiday before Hannah's parents tried to make their lives as normal as possible, taking the girls to ballet, piano lessons and performing groups. She said: 'We even went to the theatre to perform from the hospital. We did our makeup in the hospital. We didn't want to be another number of kids stuck on the ward. We minimalised being in there as much as possible.' But around the age of eight, Hannah remembers the illness taking a tighter hold of Iona, and they were put in separate bedrooms. People with CF grow bugs in their lungs which are usually harmless to people who don't have the condition, but can be easily transmitted from one person with CF to another, including siblings, and be very harmful. Hannah said: 'I felt a lot of guilt because I wasn't as poorly as she was.' Hannah, who married Nathan Chew, 23 (pictured), in August 2018, isn't afraid to admit that her life with CF, apart from some happy memories, has been 'horrific' Iona was known to her consultants as being a complex patient, but Hannah believes it was May 2015, when Iona picked up a stomach bug on the flight home from a holiday, that things went severely downhill. In November 2015, her lung collapsed due to multiple lung infections and she was rushed back into hospital. A week later she passed away. Hannah, who married Nathan Chew, 23, in August 2018, said: 'One of the consultants was in shock because they believed she would have survived longer. 'She could still be here with Orkambi. My sister died waiting for that drug. It was approved on compassionate grounds two weeks after her death but it was too late. 'The healthier you are, the better chance you have, so they shouldn't be waiting for them to get to a certain point.' Hannah, who is finishing exams to become a music teacher, won an award for Outstanding Young Person at the Cystic Fibrosis Holiday Fund awards, sponsored by CLC World Resorts and Hotels. She also gained more than 23,000 signatures on a now closed petition. She said she is frustrated that CF patients with other mutations are given drugs that can treat them despite being happy for them. She said: 'It's disgusting. It's like saying we will treat breast cancer but not lung cancer. Or type 1 diabetes but not type 2.' 'Orkambi could help me avoid a double lung transplant at the age of 12' Shiloh Howells, nine, has lungs so fragile that she is expected to have a risky double lung transplant by the age of 12. Doctors say the extremity of her condition is far worse than other CF patients her age, having had a lobectomy - surgery to remove part of her damaged right lung, in October 2017. Her mother, Nichola Howells, 40, said just knowing Orkambi exists is heartbreaking, considering it could preserve what lung function Shiloh has left. Shiloh, pictured with her mother, Ms Howells, and grandmother, has very fragile lungs with a baseline lung function of around 60 per cent Shiloh's lungs so fragile that she is expected to have a risky double lung transplant by the age of 12. Pictured in hospital where she goes for routine treatment every two months Ms Howells said: 'It would mean everything to get Orkambi within that time. With a lung transplant, there is no guarantee you'll survive it. It's still life-threatening. 'Her condition isn't stable and it's frightening. If she had that drug, within a year who knows what an improvement it wold make. 'It's soul destroying for us. It's money and finance over a life. We are angry and frustrated.' In March 2018, ex-Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt visited Great Ormond Street Hospital in London and was welcomed by Shiloh who gave him a teddy bear, the hospital's mascot. But, according to Ms Howells, as soon as he was told Shiloh was being treated for CF, he swiftly moved on amid the price-war outrage. Ms Howells said: 'While she was in mid conversation he stood up and walked away. Maybe he was worried we would bombard him with questions. We were all taken back.' From the age of six weeks, Shiloh has been having routine hospital admissions every three months to receive treatment to avoid infections. Pictured, with medication In March 2018, ex Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt visited Great Ormond Street Hospital and was welcomed by Shiloh. But Ms Howells claims he was dismissive as soon as he heard she had CF From the age of six weeks, Shiloh has been having routine hospital admissions every three months to receive treatment to avoid infections. WHAT IS CYSTIC FIBROSIS? Cystic fibrosis is an incurable genetic disease that affects around 70,000 people worldwide. A defective gene causes a build-up of mucus in the airways, making it increasingly difficult to breathe over time. Mucus also blocks the natural release of digestive enzymes, meaning the body does not break down food as it should. Signs and symptoms: A persistent cough that produces thick mucus (sputum) Wheezing Breathlessness Exercise intolerance Repeated lung infections Inflamed nasal passages or a stuffy nose While healthy people cough naturally, that does not happen for people with CF. Eventually, lung function depletes to the point that sufferers will need a double lung transplant to survive. Source: Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Advertisement 'But she wasn't making the three month mark before getting ill,' Mrs Howell said. 'So she now goes to Great Ormond Street Hospital every two months for antibiotic and IV treatment, staying between two weeks and three months.' During Shiloh's longest stay, aged eight, she stayed for three months when her lung function dropped to 36 per cent. Her baseline lung function is 60 per cent, but it used to sit around the 75 per cent mark. However, always positive and smiling, Shiloh managed to go to school for a solid two months recently the longest period in two years. Ms Howells, who has an older daughter called Essence, 20, said: 'She's been on the brink but thankfully she picks herself up. But it's getting harder and harder. 'Her lungs are already very delicate. To prevent other stories like hers, patients should be given Orkambi as early as possible. 'CF is all about prevention. We are forever throwing medication at the sufferers to try and make them as comfortable as we can. But Orkambi tackles the genetic side.' 'It's a lot for a wee man, and he is still going to die' Having just turned two, Lorcan Maguire, of Downpatrick, Northern Ireland, is still unaware of how different his life is to other children's. Every day he has 18 tablets, two nebuliser treatment for antibiotics, another nebuliser for a drug to thin the mucus, two fifteen minutes of physiotherapy and vitamins because he can't absorb them properly from food. His mother, Jen Maguire, 34, said: 'It's a lot for a wee man, and he is still going to die. 'The estimate now is mid 40s. But Orkambi has shown to add 20 years to current life expectancy. 'It's such a terrible situation. I wish he had the same life expectancy as his sister. Jen Maguire, 34, said her family, including husband Dermot, 45, 11-month-daughter, Saorla (left), and son Lorcan, who has CF, are on the verge of moving to the Republic of Ireland to get Orkambi 'He just thinks his life is like everyone else's. I hope we get Orkambi before he is aware of the situation. 'It must be so harder for older people with CF who know the government just don't care.' Mrs Maguire, who also has an 11-month-daughter, Saorla, said the condition has ruined Lorcan's infancy and it's only the beginning. She said: 'He can play with other children but we are constantly using bacteria gel and keeping eyes opening and ears open. 'As soon as you hear a cough or smell a cigarette we would whip him away immediately.' When Lorcan was diagnosed with CF two weeks after birth, Mrs Maguire and her husband, Dermot Maguire, 45, a social worker, had barely heard of the condition which would change the whole family's life. They are on the verge of moving to the Republic of Ireland, where Orkambi has been given to eligible patients since 2017. Mrs Maguire said the condition has ruined Lorcan's infancy and it's only the beginning. Currently he is trying to fight an infection called pseudomonas aeruginosa, which has been persistently difficult to treat since November 2018. Pictured, the two together while sorting out one of Lorcan's medications Mrs Maguire said she wishes Lorcan had the same life expectancy as his sister, pictured Since January, Orkambi has been licenced but not funded for two-year-olds in the UK. WHAT DID THERESA MAY SAY? On the 16th May, Theresa May told MPs in the House of Commons that she had sought a 'speedy resolution' to the price row for Orkambi. She said: 'Cystic fibrosis is obviously a terrible, life-limiting condition, and it is right that patients should have access to cost-effective, innovative medicines and technologies. 'The issue has been taken up by Members from across the House and, as the hon. Lady mentioned, there is an ongoing dialogue between NHS England and Vertex, but I am keen to see a speedy resolution to the negotiations. I understand that several Members have asked to see me about the issue, and I am happy for that to happen.' Advertisement Mrs Maguire, who has put her PhD studies in education on hold because she is too stressed to study, said: 'If nothing has happened by summer holidays we are thinking of renting out our house and moving down there. 'We are hoping something will happen before then, because it's not ideal. It's scary knowing how quickly things worsen with CF.' Currently Lorcan is trying to fight an infection called pseudomonas aeruginosa, which has been persistently difficult to treat since November 2018. He's just returned from a ten day stint in hospital, isolated in a room to avoid contracting more infections from other CF patients. Drugs were being pumped through an IV line, after three months of antibiotics failed to treat the infection. The doctors are still unsure if it has gone. Mrs Maguire said: 'Can you imagine a two-year-old confined to a room? He was screaming and screaming as they put the IV lines in and he shakes every time. 'It's worrying because the infection is becoming more resistant to drugs but it causes a lot of damage. 'Orkambi has been shown to reduce bacteria and hospitalisation by 60 per cent. It deals with the root cause by making the mucus less sticky. 'It's not good to pump children with these drugs that only treat symptoms when you could stop something in the first place.' MailOnline contacted NICE and Vertex for comment, who both said talks are ongoing. In a statement, Vertex said: 'Vertex is in ongoing discussions with NHS England and NICE. We are unable to comment further at this time .' NICE said: 'We would welcome re-engagement from Vertex. Vertex, NICE and NHS England met in March and have agreed to continue discussions.' For more information on cystic fibrosis and the fight for Orkambi visit the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. A mother gave birth and started the menopause weeks apart after 'the change' was triggered by her bowel cancer treatment. Sima Davarian, from Plymouth, thought she had piles when she saw bright red blood in the toilet while 35 weeks pregnant. But a hospital examination revealed a small lump in the then 34-year-old's rectum, with a biopsy confirming she had stage-three cancer. Just five days after her devastating diagnosis in September 2015, Mrs Davarian gave birth to her daughter Mathilda via a C-section. She was given a few weeks to recover before having chemo, radiotherapy and surgery to remove her colon, leaving the English teacher with a stoma bag. Although cancer-free, radiotherapy triggered an early menopause, leaving the mother-of-one unable to have any more children. Sima Davarian was diagnosed with stage-three bowel cancer just five days before she gave birth to her daughter Mathilda. Pictured left the day before her C-section, she could not start treatment until after Mathilda was born. Tests revealed the cancer was in her lymph nodes, forcing the mother-of-one to endure four rounds of chemotherapy (pictured right) Three years on Mrs Davarian (pictured with her husband Michael and daughter on their way to the Canary Islands) is cancer free. However, she required radiotherapy to fight off the disease, which is thought to have attacked the cells in her ovaries, plunging her into the menopause Mrs Davarian never thought she may have cancer when she saw blood in the toilet in her third trimester. But she went to her GP to be on the safe side and was referred for a biopsy. 'My husband Michael, who works in travel destination marketing, was abroad at the time, so I went to the hospital appointment on my own, expecting the tests to show I had haemorrhoids or piles,' Mrs Davarian said. 'I was nervous but not really worried, until the consultant said he hadn't expected to find what he discovered, which was a small lump measuring just over an inch. 'He told me it had nothing to do with the pregnancy and took a biopsy, after which I had to wait for 12 days for the next appointment with the colorectal, or colon specialists, at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth. 'It was a strange time. I went through lots of emotions but eventually felt quite peaceful thinking whatever happens happens.' Giving birth to Mathilda was a bittersweet moment for Mrs Davarian (pictured together left when her daughter was a newborn). Mrs Davarian (pictured right in hospital) had just a few weeks to recover from her C-section and bond with her daughter before starting radiotherapy Mrs Davarian and her husband, 43, attended the follow-up appointment together, where doctors broke the devastating news she had an advanced tumour that had embedded itself into her intestinal wall. 'It's like having a pause button on your life when you hear those words,' she said. 'We were all taken aback, including the doctors and the nurses. My husband cried and I felt something drop in the pit of my stomach. 'The doctors told me it is very rare for someone of my age to have this cancer and there were no more tests that could be done until after I'd given birth. 'I would need major surgery and a colostomy - diverting my waste into a stoma bag.' However, Mrs Davarian had to continue with her pregnancy and give birth before she could start treatment. 'The doctors made it clear there was no choice about this and left Michael and I alone in the room for a while with a box of tissues,' she said. Pictured with her toddler, Mrs Davarian has accepted she will not get pregnant again CAN CANCER TREATMENT TRIGGER THE MENOPAUSE? Some cancer treatments can cause a woman to start the menopause before the age of 45-to-55, which is when it typically occurs. Known as treatment-induced menopause, this can be brought on by the removal of both ovaries, chemo, radiotherapy or hormonal treatments. If both ovaries are removed, the treatment-induced menopause will be permanent because the woman's body will be unable to produce oestrogen. Whether or not chemotherapy triggers the menopause generally depends on a woman's age. There is more of a risk of it being permanent if the woman is within a few years of going through the menopause naturally. The type of drug, dose and duration of treatment also influence the risk. Radiotherapy can cause temporary or permanent treatment-induced menopause. Some hormonal treatments cause the menopause, while others just trigger its symptoms, such as hot flushes and changes to a woman's period. Source: Canadian Cancer Society Advertisement Mathilda arrived less than a week later, weighing 5lbs 8oz, in a bittersweet moment for the first-time parents. 'It was surreal, strange and traumatic,' Mrs Davarian said. 'It was very, very difficult to become a new mother in those circumstances.' After bonding with her daughter, Mrs Davarian soon began treatment. This involved having radiation therapy every day for a week to shrink the tumour before going under the knife on October 26, 2015. 'I had an abdominal perineal resection, which means surgeons took away my rectum, anus and the descending colon to make sure they removed all the cancer in a six-hour operation,' she said. 'It was brutal, but we knew it was for the best. Because I was so young, they wanted to be as thorough as possible to ensure it could never come back. 'It was becoming hard to untangle being a patient from being a new mother.' Mrs Davarian struggled to come terms with the prospect of not having more children, but her doctor reassured her it was for the best. 'He told me it was highly curable with the operation and we had caught it in the nick of time,' she said. 'If I went ahead with everything they recommended, it would mean I would most likely live until old age, as normal.' Doctors then discovered Mrs Davarian had cancer cells in her lymph nodes, which forced her to endure four rounds of chemotherapy. 'The chemotherapy knocks the stuffing out of you,' she said. 'Both my white blood cells and platelets were low, so I was high risk for infection and was hospitalised with the flu during the chemotherapy treatment. 'It was a hard slog just to get up in the morning. My immune system was battered and I was running on empty. 'That meant Michael had to be even more hands-on with Mathilda, doing the night feeds and so on. It was tough on all of us.' Chemotherapy 'knocked the stuff' out of Mrs Davarian (pictured left with her husband and newborn). Mr Davarian therefore had to be very 'hands on' and do the night feeds. Pictured right with Mathilda in hospital, Mrs Davarian found treatment and parenthood a 'slog' Pictured after their daughter's birth, the new parents found it 'surreal, strange and traumatic' Three years on, Mrs Davarian's cancer has not returned, however, the radiation therapy is thought to have attacked her ovaries, plunging her into an early menopause. Since May 2016, she has been taking HRT to compensate for her loss of oestrogen. 'I was suffering from awful cramps and nausea,' Mrs Davarian said. 'The doctors thought perhaps, despite the radiation treatment, my ovaries may have some slight function which was causing that - but this has now settled down, because of hormone therapy.' Despite enduring hot flushes, fatigue and low mood, Mrs Davarian is trying to live life to the full with her husband and daughter, and credits her other half for supporting her throughout the ordeal. 'It was very hard for both of us when it all started,' she said. 'Michael wasn't sure how best to help me and so threw himself into looking after Mathilda when he wasn't working, meaning we were often apart. 'If I woke up having a bad day after a round of chemotherapy it was hard for him to go to work and leave me, but somehow, we got by.' The health scare has also made Mrs Davarian more appreciate of what she has. 'It is very sobering to have a brush with your own mortality at such a young age,' she said. 'I do feel strong for managing to get through it all and I am now much more appreciative of what's important - which is family and friends.' She is speaking out to raise awareness of bowel cancer, particularly in young people. 'I remember feeling like the only person under 40 who had it, but it can and does affect young people,' Mrs Davarian said. 'It's important to remove any stigma about it to learn to talk about uncomfortable things.' Find out more about bowel cancer here. Doctors fighting an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo are being forced to wear disguises in case they're attacked by militiamen. Health workers are ditching their scrubs and wearing plain clothes in an effort to conceal their identities and avoid conflict. Others are riding on motorbikes that blend into traffic instead of medical jeeps that could draw attention to them. A total of 1,161 people have died during the Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of the Congo since it began in August Doctors fighting the epidemic are afraid to wear scrubs in case they're attacked by militiamen. Pictured: Health workers carry a coffin of a victim of the virus 'Our staff has to lie about being doctors in order to treat people,' Tariq Riebel, emergency response director for the International Rescue Committee (IRC), told The Washington Post. The Congo is currently facing the second deadliest outbreak of the killer virus ever, with the death toll climbing to 1,161 on Thursday. The infection count, meanwhile, has shot to 1,760, Congo's Ministry of Health said. Armed militiamen believe Ebola is a conspiracy against them and have repeatedly attacked health workers battling the epidemic. There have been 119 attacks this year against aid workers, with eighty-five being wounded or killed, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). It comes as aid groups warn they could run out of money in weeks. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said that unless it gets more funding it won't be able to continue providing support to crews burying Ebola victims. Funerals were a major source of virus transmission during the worst ever Ebola epidemic in 2014-2016. Each Ebola burial costs the equivalent of 400 for, among other things, the protective gear for workers. The Congo Ebola epidemic has escalated sharply over the past month. The health ministry says 20 per cent of all cases since August have been reported in just the last three weeks. Health experts warn that because of security issues it has been difficult getting into some areas to vaccinate those most at risk. The response to the Ebola outbreak has been hit by multiple setbacks the World Health Organization has warned it is in danger of running out of money, a doctor was killed earlier this month, and last week was the worst so far for the number of cases recorded WHO WARNS IT MAY RUN OUT OF MONEY FIGHTING EBOLA OUTBREAK The World Health Organization's director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has warned the UN body is short of around $104million (80m) it needs to keep fighting Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The funding gap must be filled so health workers can continue battling the virus to the end of July and beyond, Science reported. 'We cannot intensify our efforts if we do not have enough funds,' Dr Tedros said. 'The current funding gap has meant that we have had to slow down preparedness activities in neighboring countries.' The UK's International Development Secretary, Penny Mordaunt, echoed Dr Tedros's sentiment and said other countries need to step up and contribute more. She said this month: 'The UK has been a major donor since the start. But this outbreak requires a truly global response if we're to stop this threat. 'It's time for other countries to step up. Diseases like this do not respect borders and it's in all of our interests to help contain the spread of Ebola.' The UK Government has refused to disclose how much it is contributing to the effort. Advertisement Last month an attack on a hospital in Butembo killed a Cameroonian epidemiologist working for the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO said a surge in cases showed the current strategy of vaccinating those known to be directly exposed to the virus was no longer working. More than 111,000 people have already received the protective jab, through a so-called ring vaccination approach. But this has not proved enough to stop the highly contagious virus from spreading in regions of DRC wracked with insecurity. Health workers have implemented a 'ring' strategy, vaccinating anyone directly exposed to known cases of Ebola, and a second ring of those exposed to people in the first ring. 'The number of new cases continues to rise, in part due to repeated incidents of violence affecting the ability of response teams to immediately identify and create vaccination rings around all people at risk of contracting Ebola,' the WHO said in a statement. WHO experts have suggested giving the vaccine to entire neighbourhoods and villages where cases have been reported within the past 21 days. Last week experts warned the outbreak in the Congo could end up as disastrous as the West Africa epidemic of 2014. Dr Osman Dar, a global health expert at Chatham House and member of the Royal College of Physicians Edinburgh and Public Health England, said the death toll could spiral to rival the 11,310 who were killed in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone five years ago, he said. On April 28, the Congo experienced its most devastating outbreak so far, with a record 27 cases diagnosed in a single day. Dr Dar told MailOnline a lack of security where the outbreak is happening is the 'key issue' facing the organisations trying to stop it. The 2014 outbreak in West Africa began when an 18-month-old boy in Guinea got infected by a bat in December 2013, and the illness quickly spread to neighbouring countries. By the time the World Health Organization released its first situation report in August 2014, more than 3,000 people had been infected and 1,546 killed. A year later the number of cases had rocketed to 28,073 and 11,290 people had died. More than a million people may have missed out on a life-saving meningitis vaccine due to an NHS IT blunder. Following the emergence of a particularly deadly strain of meningitis in 2015, the Department of Health signed off a computer system that flagged to GPs when an at-risk patient had not been immunised. However, it has come to light the system was automatically in an 'off' setting to avoid 'alert fatigue', with many GP surgeries being unaware they had to manually turn it 'on'. The charity Meningitis Research Foundation (MRF) claims this led to 'deaths in young people who should have been offered the vaccine'. Tim Mason (pictured) died at just 21 years old in March last year from meningitis and septicaemia. His parents blame a blundered IT system that failed to alert GPs when patients were eligible for a vaccine against a particularly deadly meningitis strain Vinny Smith, chief executive of MRF, said: 'It's a tragedy for a young person to die from an illness they should have been protected against through vaccination. 'It seems absurd to us an emergency vaccination programme to protect young people against a lethal disease had systems in place that were switched off. 'Practices needed to activate the MenACWY alert protocol in order to use it but this would rely on them knowing how to do so. 'Practices told us they did not know how to activate the alert and we know deaths from MenW disease have occurred in young people who should have been offered the vaccine.' MenACWY was introduced in August 2015 for teenagers and young people to stop a new strain of meningitis taking hold. MAN, 21, DIES AFTER HIS GP FAILED TO ALERT HIM TO A LIFE-SAVING MENINGITIS VACCINE DUE TO A COMPUTER BLUNDER A 21-year-old man died after his GP failed to alert him he was eligible for a free meningitis vaccine due to a computer blunder. Tim Mason began to fell unwell on March 15 last year but pushed on regardless. The following day, Mr Mason, of Tunbridge Wells, Kent, woke in the early hours violently vomiting, prompting his mother Fiona Mason to rush him to hospital. Despite barely being able to walk, doctors dismissed his symptoms as gastroenteritis and sent him home, only for him to 'feel like he was dying' hours later. After going back to hospital, medics realised he was battling meningitis and septicaemia, which occurs when large amounts of bacteria enter the bloodstream. Despite doctors' best efforts to save him, Mr Mason died 21 hours and 15 minutes after his symptoms began. Tim Mason (pictured) died of meningitis and septicaemia 21 hours and 15 minutes after his symptoms began. Doctors initially dismissed his vomiting as gastroenteritis Mr Mason was at college training to be an electrical engineer when he started to feel poorly. 'He felt sufficiently unwell to go to the doctor, who advised him to take a few more days off and rest,' Mrs Mason said. Mr Mason was sent home only to wake the next morning violently throwing up. 'My instinct told me something was seriously wrong so we took him to hospital,' his mother said. 'By the time we got to Tunbridge Wells Hospital he had a high temperature and could barely walk. After a long wait he was misdiagnosed with gastroenteritis and sent home at about 8:45am.' By 2.30pm, Mr Mason had taken a turn for the worse and his mother rushed him back to hospital. 'This time doctors began treatment but it was too late to save his life,' she said. 'He died that evening. It was 21 hours and 15 minutes from visible first symptoms to death.' Mrs Mason and her husband Gavin believe the IT blunder led to their son's death. 'The system failed Tim in more than one way,' she said. 'He should have received a letter from the GP calling him in for his vaccine, which would have prevented him getting MenW in the first place, but no letter was ever received. 'Tim had attended several GP appointments during the years after the vaccine was introduced in the UK. 'Had the EMIS alert been activated, he would have been flagged to staff at those appointments as a patient eligible for the vaccine. This didn't happen.' The couple also believe their son's symptoms should have alerted hospital staff to the possibility of meningitis at his first visit. 'All we can do now is try to raise awareness of these issues and make sure improvements are made to stop this happening to other families,' Mrs Mason said. Advertisement Students who left school at 17 or 18 in 2015, 2016 or 2017 were entitled to the free jab from their GP, however, uptake in this age group has always been worryingly low. The software developer EMIS, which is used by most GP practices across the UK, was therefore installed with an alert that flagged to doctors when they were treating a patient who was eligible for MenACWY. A letter from Seema Kennedy MP to MRF read: 'The protocol was not activated by default, but instructions were sent out for local activation.' MRF campaigned for the system to be turned 'on' as standard. Ms Kennedy's note added: 'It has been agreed this alert will be enabled for all EMIS users in England.' NHS Digital also confirmed the EMIS alert has automatically been 'on' in GP Practices in England as of April. 'It's positive news from [the] Government that the alert has now been activated across England and patients attending GP appointments opportunistically will now be made aware if they are eligible for the vaccine,' Mr Smith said. 'It is vital that systems are improved so that this never happens again.' The MenACWY vaccine is routinely offered to children who are around 13 years old in England and Wales. Anyone born between September 1 1996 and August 31 1999 is eligible for the vaccine from their GP practice up until their 25th birthday; as are those under 25 who are going to university for the first time. Brazilian butt-lift surgeons have been warned on how to properly inject fat during the procedure. Concerns are growing over the increasingly popular cosmetic surgery due to an 'alarming' number of deaths. It involves taking fat from various parts of the body, normally the stomach, and injecting it back into the butt to create a fuller shape. But injecting the fat into the muscle - rather than just beneath the skin - means fat cells can enter the bloodstream, researchers say. Scientists found this could cause a blockage to the arteries in the lungs, which is life-threatening because it reduces blood flow. Although they suggest there is a 'safe' way to administer the injections, British experts are not convinced. The warning comes after Danea Plasencia, 28, of Florida, died of complications soon after she underwent a Brazilian butt lift last week. Brazilian butt-lift surgeons have been warned on how to properly inject fat during the celebrity-loved procedure. Danea Plasencia, 28, died on May 10, 2019, from complications after she had undergone the operation at Mia Aesthetics The increasingly popular cosmetic surgery is a growing concern among experts due to an 'alarming' number of deaths, including that of Ms Plasencia, pictured The researchers, in Boston, reassured that the procedure is still safe, but only if injections are done properly. Dr Daniel Del Vecchio, a plastic surgeon and leading global expert in the field, and colleagues analysed patterns of fat spread in the buttocks area after injection. Four approaches to the injection, which may be used by surgeons, were evaluated using deceased bodies. In three of the four injection techniques, the spread of the simulated fat stayed in the area beneath the skin, called the subcutaneous area. HOW COMMON IS THE BRAZILIAN BUTT LIFT? With a Brazilian butt lift, fat is taken from various parts of the body and put with the buttocks. It has grown increasingly popular in the United States, becoming the fastest-growing type of plastic surgery, according to 2015 statistics from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. The rate of buttock lift procedures rose 252 percent from 2000 to 2015. The total went from 1,356 to 4,767 procedures over the course of that time. More than 24,000 buttock augmentation with fat grafting procedures were performed in 2018, an increase of 19 per cent over the previous year, according to ASPS. Injecting fat into the butt can lead to problems if done improperly, including fat embolism - which is when fat enters the bloodstream and blocks a blood vessel. The estimated death rate for BBL is 1 in 3000, according to PlasticSurgery.org. Advertisement Even when small holes, sometimes multiple, were made through the fascia, which is a web of connective tissue layer separating the muscle from the subcutaneous space, the fat hardly spread into the muscle. However, in the fourth approach, where multiple punctures were made in the gluteal muscle, large amounts of fat cells were found under the muscle. This demonstrated that 'deep intramuscular migration' had occurred, which could have serious consequences. When fat has migrated into the submuscular space, damage to the veins in that area could allow fat cells to enter the circulation, with a potential risk of pulmonary embolism. A pulmonary embolism is a blocked blood vessel in the lungs, usually caused by a blood clot travelling up from one of the deep veins the leg. It can be life-threatening if not treated quickly. The researchers said when the fat is limited from spreading out from the subcutaneous area, this is the 'safe zone'. The researchers said: 'These persuasive findings are profound enough to propose a new standard of care: no subfascial or intramuscular injection should be performed, and all injections should be done exclusively into the subcutaneous tissue. 'If you are considering buttock augmentation procedures, please do so safely.' But Dr Paul Harris, president of The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS), said the procedure is not recommended to be undertaken by UK surgeons at all because it is not safe enough. He told MailOnline: 'As of yet, it's not proven that it is safe to go ahead. 'This paper is a good step in the right direction and essential in finding out what the critical factors are. But it's not enough. 'Alarmingly, in recent weeks, there has been a death in the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Miami.' The Brazilian butt lift was pioneered by Dr Foued Hamza, a French cosmetic surgeon, and can cost between 6,500 and 10,000. According to Dr Harris, surgeons are divided on whether injecting into the fat or the muscle gives the best results. More than 24,000 buttock augmentation with fat grafting procedures were performed in 2018 in the US, according to statistics from American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), an increase of 19 per cent over the previous year. As well as BAAPS, the ASPS issued an urgent warning regarding the 'alarming' number of deaths related to the procedure. Generally, implants, which are still being used in the UK, are regarded as safer. Despite sometimes causing pain, uneven results and rejection in some cases, there are no known deaths. But Dr Harris said if surgeons worldwide can make the Brazilian butt lift safer, it will have the best outcomes. The study appears in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). One in four new NHS medics come from countries that are 'banned' from working for the health service, figures have revealed. The NHS' Code of Practice lists 97 nations that 'should not be actively recruited from' because they receive aid or suffer from a shortages of medics. But an investigation has shown certain NHS trusts have used agencies to recruit staff from these prohibited nations, which include Egypt, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. And the number of doctors joining the NHS from these countries has doubled in the past two years, the figures show. Map reveals the number of doctors who registered to work in the NHS between 2014 and 2018, and lived in countries the health service is prohibited from 'actively recruiting from' Richard Murray, chief executive of the Kings Fund, worries the NHS is too desperate to check if recruitment agencies are 'ethical'. He told The Telegraph: 'The workforce shortages in the NHS mean it does need international recruitment but it needs to be done ethically. 'Increases on this scale from these countries are going to bring the UK into disrepute. 'I think organisations are so desperate to get staff they just arent checking whether it is done ethically.' General Medical Council figures reveal 4,161 doctors registered to work in Britain last year despite coming from countries that should not be recruited from. This is a 1,955 rise from the 2,206 medics that came over from the same countries in 2016. In the past five years, more than 12,000 registrations took place from nationals of these regions. And now 27 per cent of all new doctors working in the NHS are said to have come from 'banned' countries, compared to just 13 per cent in 2014. THE NUMBER OF DOCTORS FROM 'BANNED COUNTRIES' WHO REGISTERED TO WORK IN THE UK BETWEEN 2014 AND 2018 COUNTRY NUMBER OF NEW MEDICS Pakistan 3,413 Nigeria 1,995 Egypt 1,775 Sri Lanka 826 Sudan 797 Bangladesh 444 Iraq 325 Myanmar 312 South Africa 290 Nepal 166 Jordan 160 However, some of these individuals may have applied to work in the UK off their own backs rather than being actively recruited. Concerns 'banned countries' are being exploited come as NHS officials prepare to launch a global recruitment drive to fill vacancies. JUST HOW MANY NHS WORKERS ARE LEAVING THE HEALTH SERVICE? An ongoing recruitment crisis has struck all aspects of the NHS and reached unprecedented levels. Experts warn frustrated medics are fleeing the health service in their droves because of funding issues, relentless pressure and even Brexit. Figures released earlier this year showed 33,000 nurses in England quit in 2017 - around one in ten posts. It is the first time there have been more leavers than joiners in the profession. And official figures show that 41 per cent around 10,000 doctors are 50 or over and are expected to quit within the next five to ten years. And data last October showed around 10,000 EU nationals quit the NHS between since the Brexit vote in June 2016 and 2017 - up 42 per cent from 2015. Estimates suggest the NHS needs 190,000 more staff overall by 2027 in order to meet the demands of a growing and ageing population. But the Health Education England, the body responsible for the NHS workforce, warned in December only 72,000 new staff could be expected to join the service in the next 10 years. Advertisement The NHS staffing crisis is so critical it cannot be fixed by training more doctors and nurses alone, according to a major report in March. Shortages of GPs in England will almost triple to 7,000 and double in nursing to 70,000 within five years unless action is taken. Despite the Government vowing to create 5,000 additional GP posts by 2020, recent figures suggest a further shortfall of 1,300 full-time family doctors has developed. Many are choosing go abroad for better lifestyles, while high numbers are a retiring early to avoid hefty taxes that kick in when their pension pot exceeds 1million. In the past six years, the number of nurses leaving has grown by 25 per cent and one in nine staff left the NHS in 2017/18. One NHS recruitment firm Remedium Partners boasts of placing 900 permanent medics from more than 60 countries into the NHS. But the company has been accused of targeting doctors in Nigeria and Myanmar, as well as running events in Egypt and Bangladesh. Its social-media sites also claim it is planning to visit Pakistan, The Telegraph reported. Remedium said eight medics from Myanmar reached out to them and were subsequently placed in a job. But the firm has put out an appeal to recruit doctors in Sri Lanka. And one of its social-media sites includes a testimonial from a medic from Zimbabwe who it placed in the NHS. One doctor praised the firm for 'running around' to find him his first job in the UK, which is thought to have been a junior doctor role for Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Trust in April. The trust has been approached for comment. NHS Employers highlights recruitment agencies that act in accordance with the Code of Practice. A spokesperson said Remedium is not on its list of agencies that have committed to adhering to the code. London North West Trust claims to have recruited 47 doctors from India and seven from Nigeria via Remedium. Recruitment from India is generally acceptable aside from in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal, which receive aid from the Department for International Development. Dave Howard, marketing director for Remedium, adds the firm works with doctors who are 'actively seeking opportunities within the UK' as part of the 'next step in their career'. Consuming fruit juices is just as bad for your health and likely to lead to an early death as drinking cola or lemonade, research suggests. A new study found an increased risk of dying early from any cause for people who consumed a lot of sugary drinks. US researchers compared, for the first time, 100 percent fruit juices with sugar-sweetened beverages such as cola and lemonade. They found very similar associations for both fruit juices and sugary drinks with an increased risk of dying early, though they said more research was needed. An expert described the study as important but said there was no risk from a single 150ml glass of fruit juice per day. Researchers from Emory and Cornell found excessive soda consumption increased the risk of early death by 11%. Excessive consumption of fruit juice increased the risk of early death by 24% The new research, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), analyzed data from 13,440 people. Their intake of sugary drinks and 100 percent fruit juices was recorded via a questionnaire on how often they consumed the drinks. During an average follow-up of six years, there were 1,000 deaths from any cause and 168 deaths from coronary heart disease. Typically, people in the study got 8.4 percent of their calorie intake each day from sugar-sweetened drinks and 4 percent from 100 percent fruit juice. People were considered to have a high intake of these drinks if 10 percent or more of energy intake came from these drinks compared with those with a low intake (less than 5 percent). After factors such as obesity were taken into account, those with the highest intake had an 11 percent increased risk of dying from any cause for every extra 12oz of sugar-sweetened drink consumed, and a 24 percent increased risk for every extra 12oz of fruit juice consumed. The researchers, including from Emory University in Atlanta and Cornell University in New York, said: 'These results suggest higher consumption of sugary beverages, including fruit juice, is associated with increased mortality. 'The nutrient content of 100 percent fruit juices and SSBs (sugar-sweetened beverages) is very similar. 'While 100 percent fruit juices contain some vitamins and phytonutrients that are missing from most SSBs, the predominant ingredients in both are sugar and water. 'Although the sugar in SSBs is added during processing and the sugar in 100 percent fruit juice occurs naturally, the specific sugars they provide for the body to process are essentially the same, and the biochemical response when metabolized is the same.' The authors suggested a few possible reasons for the increased risk of dying from consumption of sugary drinks. Obesity is obviously the main factor, they said, but once that is taken into account, research suggests that sugary drinks increase insulin resistance. Other factors may be that consuming fructose alters blood lipid levels, markers of inflammation and blood pressure, while high glucose consumption has been associated with insulin resistance and diabetes. Dr Gunter Kuhnle, associate professor in nutrition and health at the University of Reading, said: 'This is a very important study, especially as fruit juices are often seen as a 'healthy' alternative to sugar-sweetened beverages, even though they often contain much more sugar (especially smoothies). 'Fruit juices can provide vitamins and even some fiber, but there is little health benefit beyond this: the amount of phytochemical found in juices is too low to have any further beneficial effect, and there is no beneficial health effect from so-called antioxidants. 'If the association is shown to be causal (which we don't know yet), this would have a number of implications: first of all, it would suggest that it does not matter whether sugary drinks are lemonades or fruit juices. 'This is important, as fruit juices and smoothies are not commonly perceived as sugary drinks. Secondly, it would suggest purported health benefits of fruit juices are not sufficient to counteract their sugar content. 'Fruit juices are a poor replacement for actual fruit consumption, in particular as they can be much more easily over-consumed. 'Indeed, a 150ml glass of orange juice is made from about two oranges - but it takes much longer to eat two oranges than to drink the juice. 'In the UK, the general recommendation is that a 150ml glass of fruit juice can provide one of the five-a-day, but not more. 'This is less than half of the amount found in this study to result in a modest increase in mortality, so there is no suggestion from this study that one glass a day is problematic.' In the aftermath of the 2016 election, many Americans reported elevated levels of stress, which some labeled 'post election stress disorder.' A number of psychologists jumped on board with the term, and affirmed that their clients were unusually tense, but others clapped back, saying that to call this stress a 'disorder' was to trivialize PTSD. Now, a new study attempts to parse out who was really pushed to an emotional brink by the election, and whose stress was more closely akin to political outrage. Researchers from Stanford University and Microsoft analyzed post-election searchers for mental health assistance and found that while Democrats' stress levels didn't rise to a mental health issue, Latinos' did. Many Americans reported that their mental health suffered after Donald Trump's 2016 election. New research on online search data suggests it was 'real' for Latinos - but that Democrats did not seek out any more information on depression, anxiety or therapy Research has shown that violence spiked in cities that had hosted campaign rallies on behalf of Trump, while others studies showed an increase in women choosing long-lasting birth control following his promises to appeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which could affect access to shorter-acting contraceptives. Meanwhile, the economy surged on the heels of Trump's promises to make the best deals. Amongst it all, reports of crippling anxiety, news fatigue, emotional eating to cope, and 'post election stress disorder' abounded. 'Distress' is much harder to measure than other aspects of society after an election, such as concrete data on the economy, rates of violent assaults, and birth control choices. Dr Jennifer Sweeton wrote a Psychology Today article describing 'post-election stress disorder' and CNN and Kaiser Health News reported that the number of people making appointments with the only therapy platform Talkspace tripled post-election. Some suggested that they were seeing this distress in clients of all political affiliations. But - as even Dr Sweeton notes - post-election stress disorder is not listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, psychologists laundry list of mental conditions. The team of collaborators from Microsoft and Stanford went a step further, and questioned whether the the increase in mental distress Americans were reporting - both anecdotally on social media and in surveys was purely psychological or perhaps a form of political speech. Specifically, they wondered this about 'Democrats and Spanish-speaking Latinos.' They compared over one million Bing searches for mental health assistance from before and after the election made by Democrats as compared to Republicans, and Spanish-speakers compared to English-only speakers. Democrats, they found, were no more likely to do online searchers related to mental health after the election than they had been before, and their searches remained as elevated as ever compared to Republicans. Women did not search for 'anxiety,' 'depression' or the names of antidepressants any more post-election, and searchers for 'suicide' decreased. But women were more likely to search 'stress or therapy.' The election did have real mental health effects for Spanish-only speakers, however, according to the Stanford and Microsoft methodology. For five out of the six search terms that the study authors used to gauge mental health concerns - suicide/suicidal, anxiety, depression, antidepression/anti-anxiety medications, minus therapy - Spanish speakers made significantly more online searchers after the election. 'This clear and consistent result shows that Spanish-speaking searchers, and by proxy, Latinos, were indeed more likely to search for mental-health-related terms after the election than before, while English-only searchers showed no consistent change,' the wrote in Sage Journals. Admittedly, other groups may have expressed their stress to therapists if they already had them, to friends and family, through activism, or not at all. For their part, the study authors took this to mean that 'some Democrats reported mental health declines after Trumps election as a form of reverse cheerleading, where partisans report evaluations that are more negative than their true beliefs to reflect badly on a president of the opposing party.' But for Latinos and Spanish speakers - some of whom Trump promised to build a wall to keep out, and called 'rapists' - the fear and mental health distress that followed the election was very real, according to the study. Gel manicures dry instantly, are resilient to chips, and last up to a month - weeks longer than a standard paint job. However, those glossy, strong tips may come with risks - such as infections, aging skin, and skin cancer. Studies on gel manicures are scant, largely given that technique varies wildly between salons. But dermatologists suggest taking some precautions to protect yourself either way. 'There's enough for us to recommend to patients to protect their skin,' Dr Chris Adigun, MD, a dermatologist in Chapel Hill, North Carolina who wrote guidelines for the American Association of Dermatology, told DailyMail.com. Dermatologists can't know for certain how gel manicures put you at-risk of cancer because each salon's techniques vary, but there are some things we can be sure of, and ways to mitigate any risks WHAT ARE THE RISKS? Gel manicures are set using LED lamps that emit UVA rays. While UVB rays can give you a burn (as from the sun), UVA is the kind responsible for aging, skin damage, and cancer. And though there are studies on gel manicures, it's hard to quantify how well they reflect real life. 'The problem' for understanding how risky gels are, Dr Adigun says, 'is that there's no standardization as to how this treatment is carried out from salon to salon.' What we do know about skin cancer risk is based on the sun, not LED lamps placed at varying distances from our hands, sometimes once a year, once in a lifetime, once a month, or even every two weeks. 'There's no one standing by your side saying, "time's up!" in the salon,' Dr Adigun says. 'Most are probably getting a lot higher dose than we see in studies.' WHO IS MOST AT-RISK? Again, we don't really know. But there are some mediating factors. Genetics, pigmentation, and cancer history may all play a role - as with anything that increases the risk of skin cancer. Medication is another thing to be aware of, and something many may not think of, Dr Adigun says. Some types of chemotherapy or antibiotics can make you more susceptible to UVA rays and their effects. It stands to reason that those who get multiple gels a month would be at higher risk due to repetitive UV exposure. While there is no way dermatologists can definitively recommend a limit, Dr Joshua Zeichner, MD, a dermatologist at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City says gel lovers should capitalize on the longevity of their manicures, for the sake of their health. 'The benefit of gel manicures is that they last for several weeks at a time, so most people do not need to get them any more frequently than once per month,' he told DailyMail.com. WEAR PROTECTION Of those that do wear protection to get their gels, there are a few popular techniques. The most common are: nail-less gloves and sunscreen. Dr Adigun recommends the former. 'I recommend to cover up the skin, I don't care if it's gloves, a scarf, whatever it is, but something that is protective against UV rays,' Dr Adigun says. There are too many issues with using sunscreen, she says. First, 'many take 20 minutes to be effective, and no one's going to put it on then wait 20 minutes.' Second, the whole procedure of getting a gel manicure ('you have the massage, and the cuticle cutting') may get in the way of putting your sunscreen on, and may even wipe off the protection you so diligently applied. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly: sunscreen was not approved for use under LED lamps. 'All of our sunscreens have been tested under rays similar to those emitted from our sun,' Dr Adigun explains. 'The level emitted from UVA lamps is much higher than our sun so I don't even know if they would be effective.' Dr Zeichner also recommends gloves, but he is not opposed to the sunscreen idea. He says those particularly concerned about the risks can use sunscreen and speak with their manicurist about adjusting their technique so that it stays on. 'Make sure to apply a broad-spectrum high SPF sunscreen to your fingers, including the skin around the nails, to protect against the UVA light,' Dr Zeichner told DailyMail.com. TAKING THEM OFF CAN BE PROBLEMATIC Acetone is used to take off the gel, which is tightly cured to the nail. One study suggests even one removal can drastically thin-out your nails. But Dr Adigun does not recommend peeling them off manually. 'I've had more than one patient who's peeled off all of their finger nails. They didn't know they were removing their entire nail, but the gel was cured more tightly to their finger than to their nail.' Photo: The Canadian Press James Oler returns to court after a lunch break in Cranbrook in 2017. A former leader in a fundamentalist Christian sect that practises polygamy in Bountiful, B.C., has been found guilty of removing an underage girl from Canada to be married in the United States. B.C. Supreme Court Justice Martha Devlin says it is reasonable to believe that James Oler knew the 15-year-old girl would be subject to sexual activity when he arranged her marriage to an older member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Oler was acquitted in 2017 by a judge who was not convinced Oler did anything within Canada's borders to arrange the girl's transfer to the U.S., but the B.C. Court of Appeal overturned the decision, saying that proof of wrongdoing in Canada was not necessary and ordered a new trial. Oler was self-represented and did not call any witnesses or make a case in his defence during the retrial. Lawyer Joe Doyle, who is serving as a friend of the court to ensure a fair trial, argued that a four-day gap in the whereabouts of the 15-year-old girl is enough to dispute whether she was removed from Canada in 2004. A special prosecutor argued Oler should have known the girl would be subject to sexual activity following her marriage based on the nature of church doctrine and the disempowered role of women in the faith. LCF scandal: Fraud investigators have reportedly blocked four men from selling properties worth 12m Fraud investigators have reportedly blocked four men at the heart of a huge savings scandal from selling properties worth 12million. The Serious Fraud Office has obtained freezing orders against the properties as part of its investigation into the collapse of investment company London Capital & Finance (LCF), which went bust earlier this year owing 237million to 11,500 customers. It is not known on what basis the SFO obtained these orders. However, it is able to stop the sale of assets if they belong to people suspected of making money from criminal behaviour. Land Registry records show there are restraint orders on properties owned by LCF boss Andy Thomson as well as the families of three other men closely connected to the scandal, according to the London Evening Standard. They are Spencer Golding, patron of a horse-riding stables business which was given multi-million-pound loans from LCF; and Simon Hume-Kendall and Elten Barker, who ran firms which were handed savers funds. Several of the properties hit by orders are said to be luxury homes worth more than 2million. At around 3.45pm on November 5, 2015, the Fundao waste dam at the Samarco iron ore mine began to leak. Despite attempts to plug the opening, the dam ruptured. Millions of tons of toxic mud and water spewed over the surrounding landscape of rolling green hills and pretty villages in southeastern Brazil. Devastation: Waste left after the Fundao waste dam at the Samarco iron ore mine burst Less than two miles away, Terezinha Custodia Quintao Silva had been told about the collapse by customers and colleagues at her cousin's restaurant in the village of Bento Rodrigues, where she was working as a chef. But Terezinha, 52, first saw the disaster when a huge dust cloud swept past the restaurant before a several-feet-high wall of mud poured into the town. She fell while fleeing. Others helped her up and they piled her into her brother's truck, and she escaped the flood. But not everyone did. Nineteen died 14 workers at the Samarco site and five community members in Bento Rodrigues. Terezinha continues to suffer from a raft of psychological injuries, developing symptoms of PTSD, depression, anxiety and insomnia. After the collapse of another dam in Brazil earlier this year, which triggered more symptoms, she sleeps no more than two hours a night and is unable to find a job. Victim: Local resident Terezinha Custodia Quintao Silva suffers psychological injuries Terezinha's story is just one in a tragedy that led to a huge legal case being mounted against FTSE 100-listed mining giant BHP, which owned the Samarco dam with Vale. The landmark lawsuit is the largest group claim in British legal history. The 5bn case, which was filed in Liverpool's High Court by law firm SPG Law last week, is seeking redress for 235,000 individual clients ranging from villagers in Bento Rodrigues to municipal governments and members of indigenous communities. BHP, however, intends to defend the claim. SPG claims the millions of tons of waste products from the iron ore mine seeped into the Rio Doce, killing 11 tons of fish, polluting water supplies and damaging vast areas of protected forest and areas considered sacred by indigenous communities. Much of the money the lawsuit is aiming to recover would go towards remedying the environmental destruction, such as restocking fish and replanting trees. But the case is also aiming to highlight the social and psychological toll the so-called 'soft' impact of a disaster that SPG claims BHP has left behind. It is seeking financial compensation for 'moral damages' for many victims whose injuries are not physical but have severely disrupted their lives. The iron ore mine was operated by Samarco, a joint venture company 50 per cent owned by BHP and 50 per cent owned by another mining giant, Vale. In the wake of the collapse, BHP and Vale set up the Renova Foundation to compensate those affected by the tragedy. BHP put aside around 1.6billion for the foundation, a sum matched by Vale. Renova runs 42 programmes that are a mixture of cash, rebuilding and environmental projects. It has already spent 1billion on these schemes and its activities are subject to an existing agreement with government authorities, prosecutors, community committees and has been ratified under Brazilian law. But according to Tom Goodhead, the SPG partner leading the case, local people are 'absolutely furious' with the foundation. He says it has been an 'utter failure' and has neglected to take into account the ongoing psychological and community impacts of the disaster. 'Basically Renova are judge, jury and executioner. They judge everybody by how much they think they've been affected,' said the 36-year-old barrister. Although BHP and Vale jointly owned Samarco, SPG claims in court documents there is evidence executives at BHP knew there were problems with the dam. They are alleged to have kept ramping up production anyway, increasing pressure on the walls even though there were already drainage issues. SPG still has more documents to file to the court, and when this happens BHP will have four weeks to reply to the allegations. But it may ask for that period to be extended. Goodhead told the Mail a preliminary trial could take place this year or early in 2020. '5bn is our best estimate of the degree of the environmental remediation required,' he said. A BHP spokesman said: 'We confirm that we have been served with proceedings in the Business and Property Courts in Liverpool relating to the failure of the Fundao tailings dam at Samarco. We intend to defend these proceedings.' The FTSE 100 closed 4.89 points down at 7,348.62 while the pound dropped to its lowest level in four months following the collapse of Brexit talks. Sterling fell below $1.277, its lowest level since mid-January. Against the euro, the pound was 0.5 per cent lower at 1.139. In company news, Amazon is leading a 450million investment round in London-based Deliveroo - a move that is set to have repercussions throughout the food delivery sector. Just Eat shares suffered from the announcement, falling by 8 per cent. Meanwhile, Easyjet has reported a half-year loss of 275million, but revenue jumped more than 7 per cent. Shares in the FTSE 100 company rose more than 5 per cent. And Thomas Cook shares crashed nearly 40 per cent after Citigroup downgraded the shares to sell with a 0p price target. Online juggernaut Amazon has sent shockwaves through the UK food sector today after deciding to plough millions into London-based delivery firm Deliveroo. Jeff Bezos's tech firm is leading a 450million ($575million) investment round in Deliveroo, joining existing investors Rowe Price, Fidelity and Greenoaks. The stake takes the total raised by the fast-growing food firm to 1.2billion ($1.53billion). Fast food wars: Deliveroo is a London-based, international food delivery company, founded in 2013 by Will Shu. It has taken the fight to FTSE-listed Just Eat The City has been awaiting Amazon's next move and trying to second guess when and how it would lay down the gauntlet in the UK food sector. Amazon's decision to back Deliveroo piles further pressure on its FTSE-listed rival Just Eat, which has also come up against fast-growing Uber Eats. Just Eat's shares slumped by more than 8 per cent to 6.22 today amid fears that the UK market leader may now struggle to keep up. 'Given its financial firepower it is little wonder that Amazon effectively parking its tanks on Just Eat's lawn is spooking investors,' said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould. The cash injection from Amazon will allow Deliveroo to hire more engineers at its London headquarters, make improvements to its tech platform and test out new concepts, such as delivery-only kitchens. Will Shu, who founded Deliveroo in 2013, said: 'This is great news for the tech and restaurant sectors, and it will help to create jobs in all of the countries in which we operate.' Amazon's UK boss Doug Gurr said: 'We're impressed with Deliveroo's approach, and their dedication to providing customers with an ever increasing selection of great restaurants along with convenient delivery options. Deliveroo became very popular after it signed exclusive deals with chain restaurants like GBK and Zizzi. It has even been experimenting with alcohol delivery 'Will and his team have built an innovative technology and service, and we're excited to see what they do next.' The deal has already sparked speculation that Amazon may one day attempt to buy Deliveroo. It has also fuelled suspicions that Deliveroo is plumping for a stock market float. The delivery firm became very popular after it signed exclusive deals with chain restaurants like GBK and Zizzi. It has even been experimenting with booze deliveries. Last year, reports suggested that Deliveroo was in talks with ride-hailing company Uber over a possible tie-up, but discussions are thought to have stalled over differences in valuation. At the time, just the threat of a newly created delivery giant sent Just Eat's shares tumbling. Micheal Hewson from CMC Markets said the backing from Amazon is a 'shot across the bows' of companies like Just Eat and Uber, as margins in the sector now face the prospect of being squeezed further. 'This could be the thin end of the wedge and the beginning of an attempt by Amazon to broaden its delivery footprint, with respect to same day delivery, as well as expand its move into the food sector,' he added. Amazon had its own ill-fated attempt to break into this market Amazon Restaurants UK which started in 2016 but closed two years later. A search operation has resumed today after an Irish professor went missing on Everest after slipping on his descent from the summit. Seamus Lawless, 39, fell on the 27,000-ft high 'balcony' area of the world's highest mountain early on Thursday. Sherpa say guides have intensified their search for the mountaineer, an assistant professor at the School of Computer Science at Trinity College, Dublin. Mr Lawless, from Bray in County Wicklow, was part of the eight-member Irish climbing team attempting to scale the daunting 29,000ft mountain. This morning, it emerged that tragedy had struck the expedition when Ravi Thakar from India was found dead in his tent at Camp IV. Missing Irish mountaineer Seamus Lawless after scaling Alaska's 20,000-ft Mount Denali, the highest peak in North America, last summer in preparation for his Everest attempt 'Fellow climbers found him dead inside the tent,' Seven Summit Treks chairman Mingma Sherpa, whose company organised the expedition, told The Himalayan Times. The 'fate of the missing Irish climber is still unknown.' he added. Search and rescue teams called off their efforts as night fell on Thursday, but resumed them in the morning, the Irish Times reported. Sherpas with the expedition told The Himalayan Times that the rest of the climbers had descended to the mountain's Camp IV, but that Mr Lawless's fate was unknown. Missing Trinity College professor Seamus Lawless tries on a snowsuit (left) while shopping for gear ahead of his bid to climb Mount Everest, where he was photographed with a fellow mountaineer (right) But seasoned Irish mountaineer Pat Falvey, who has scaled Mount Everest twice, told Ireland's RTE radio that there was still hope for the missing climber. Mr Falvey said the incident was a sad end to 'what was a glorious day' when three Irish mountaineers reached the summit together. 'It is one of the most amazing places on earth. It is spectacular,' he said. The veteran climbers said that while 'there is a risk' in ascending the world's highest mountain, 'everybody is prepared for that.' 'Seamus and his family are in our thoughts during this extremely distressing time,' a Trinity College spokeswoman said. 'This morning his family, friends and colleagues shared his joy on reaching the peak of Mount Everest,' she added. 'We hope that Seamus is found safely as soon as possible and until then we will be offering any support we can to his family.' Missing mountaineer Seamus Lawless posted these photos of the Irish climbing expedition's camp on Mount Everest (left) and on a trek from Perichet to Loboche at over 16,00 feet (4,900 metres) altitude Mr Lawless had taken time off from his post at Trinity College's School of Computer Science and Statistics to follow his dream of conquering the world's highest peak with the 2019 Irish Everest Expedition. 'I turn 40 in July,' he said in a newspaper interview in February before setting off. 'My friends are joking that climbing Everest is my mid-life crisis.' Mingma Sherpa and Nalpali Deartment of Tourism direcor Mira Acharya, also confirmed that Narayan Singh, a member of the Indian army's maiden expedition to nearby Mount Makalu had died on Thursday. The sherpa said the soldier had died from altitude sickness at 26,900 feet (8,200 metres) while descending from Mount Malaku. At 29,029 feet (8,848 metres), Mount Everest is the world's highest mountain. It was finally conquered in 1973 by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepali sherpa Tenzing Norgay And Dipankar Ghos from Kolkata, India went missing above Camp IV on Everest on Thursday while returning from the peak, Mingma Sherpa said. Two Indian climbers died earlier this week on Mount Kanchenjunga, the world's third highest peak, possibly from high altitude sickness. A Chilean climber is missing. Hundreds of foreign climbers and their guides attempt to scale high Himalayan peaks during the popular spring climbing season in Nepal that begins around March and ends this month. Instagram has launched new voting themed stickers ahead of the Australian election this weekend. The social media site has released four stickers including a democracy sausage and 'we voted' icons encouraging users to post stories to their page. They are designed to celebrate the right to vote in Australia and were created in collaboration with artist Tony Albert. Instagram has launched new voting themed stickers (pictured) ahead of the Australian election on May, 18th The stickers will be available on Instagram from May, 16, through to election day (pictured is Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his wife) 'Voting may feel like an individual act, but ultimately it's something we do together as a nation. This sticker reminds us that Australia is a place where we can all stand proudly togetherfor a sausage, a smile, and a selfie!,' Mr Albert said. The stickers will be available on Instagram from May, 16, through to election day on May, 18. Users will also be able to access information about voting and booth locations by tapping on the icons. Users will also be able to access information about voting and booth locations by tapping on the icons 'Around the world, we see voters using Instagram to engage with major civic moments and elections,' said John Tass-Parker, Head of Politics and Government at Instagram. 'Here in Australia, we're celebrating the election through a customised product, designed in collaboration with Tony Albert to bring a uniquely Aussie flavour.' Similar stickers were available during the American elections in 2018 and more than 1000 people were using them per minute. Similar stickers were available during the American elections in 2018 (pictured is Australian Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and his wife) The son of Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin says he is happy to put his life on the line for his wildlife encounters, despite the tragic demise of his famous father. Robert Irwin, 15, insists that his dangerous TV interactions with wild animals are 'his passion' no matter the potential perils, he tells DailyMailTV. He even joked that driving in Los Angeles posed more threats than his work as a TV host, wildlife conservationist and zoo advocate. Displaying his adventurous nature, the 15-year-old added that 'there's always, always going to be close calls with wildlife and it's exciting.' He feels that his time on earth must be packed with daredevil animal encounters as 'we never know how long we are going to be on this earth for, you've got to make the most of everyday.' And his supportive mother Terri - whose husband Steve died in 2006- fully supports her son's desires to push boundaries on TV. Robert Irwin (left) tells DailyMailTV that dangerous interactions with wildlife are 'his passion' and he's happy to put his life on the line for his animal encounters Robert is the 15-year-old son of the late Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin, the family (L-R) Robert, Terri, Steve and Bindi are pictured together months before his death in 2006 The Irwins were in Los Angeles to promote their second season of Crikey! It's the Irwins on Animal Planet Robert, Terri and daughter Bindi spoke up about their passion for showing animals in the world through TV despite the dangers at the Paley Center's Evening with the Irwins to promote their second season of Crikey! It's the Irwins on Animal Planet. Robert admitted: 'I definitely get asked a lot about this - is what you do dangerous, this is crazy, jumping on crocodiles and all this crazy stuff. But the thing is, driving to this event was probably 10 times more dangerous than any crocodile I've ever jumped on by far. So the thing is, we all live dangerous lives to a certain extent, whether we realize it or not. 'We never know how long we are going to be on this earth for, you've got to make the most of every day. But I think for me, the wildlife work that I get to do, it's what I live for. It's what I love, it's my passion, it's what dad was passionate about, it's what my family is passionate about. It's something that I definitely want to continue for the rest of my life, it's what I've dedicated my life to. 'That's the thing, there's always, always going to be close calls with wildlife and it's exciting, that's what makes it fun. It's edge of your seat because you don't know what's going to happen. It's completely unpredictable and it's the spice of life, it's great. 'I'd rather be doing that then a desk job for sure.' His mother Terri says she cannot quash Robert's passion. 'I think it's about learning about wildlife and having those experiences. If you love to ski, you always love that more challenging slope. And if you love mountain biking, you don't want to do the little tiny jumps. So I understand that butterflies are beautiful but bears are kind of awesome so I get that and I share that with him and his passion as well.' 'We never know how long we are going to be on this earth for, you've got to make the most of everyday,' Robert tells DailyMailTV Robert, pictured with his late father months before his death, said wildlife is 'what I love, it's my passion, it's what dad was passionate about, it's what my family is passionate about' Robert is pictured swimming with a turtle and says his animal encounters are 'the spice of life' and he'd rather be doing that than a desk job Terri explained to DailyMailTV that her husband's death was simply a freak accident rather than him dicing with death. Irwin died at 44 after being pierced in the heart by a stingray barb while filming an underwater documentary called Ocean's Deadliest. Terri defended the shoot: 'Steve would have been as shocked as anybody for an ocean pancake to kill him. I mean think about it, these are beautiful, shy, really special animals. And with this particular ray, it had been interacting with Steve on it's own accord for a long time, so I think when Steve did a final ending shot, I think the ray might have forgotten about him and thought he was a shark or something and was acting defensively. So I don't want anyone to not love rays. 'They're beautiful, please don't be afraid of them. The last time an accident like that happened in Australia was 75 years earlier. It was just a fluke accident. And I can remember Steve used to say to me, I hope a crocodile doesn't get me because I don't want people to hate crocodiles. 'None of us know, when your time is up, you need to reveal in every day,' she said. 'Every day has to be special, and Steve did that so I really feel no regrets and I'm very proud of the way he lived.' Sister Bindi, 20, famous for winning Dancing With The Stars, admitted that Robert's outlook on life mirrors his father. 'He's a lot like dad. Honestly, he is more and more like dad every single day. Where he walks like dad, talks like dad, he likes to deal with more challenging animals like dad. 'I am so proud of him. And of course being the older sister, I am very protective and worried about him always but he is so good with every animal and in this next season you'll see he's taking on a lot of new challenges. 'Some that are quite large and a little intimidating but he is so kind and patient and really intelligent that we always know that he's going to be safe, and we're always here for him so no matter what at the end of the day we're a family and always going to support each other.' Robert, Terri and Bindi continue Steve's mission to bring people closer to animals through their show Crikey! It's the Irwins on Animal Planet Steve's wife Terri insists that her husband's passing was unexpected and not him putting his life on the line, calling the fatal sting ray accident a 'fluke' 'I think it's interesting where as a family, we've worked with wildlife our whole life. I mean, since the moment I can remember, since I was born, honestly, I was playing with animals and working with them and educating people about how special they are, the role they play in our environment. 'And I think, to tell you the truth, I am more comfortable being around a giant salt-water crocodile or a giant Burmese python than I am with people. My dad always used to say I love working with crocs because you know they are always going to try and eat you. 'You know what you are going to get with a crocodile. With people, they will try to be your friend first. So you know, I think we're pretty lucky where our whole life has been spent trying to educate others on these beautiful animals so we're not really risk takers, we're more teachers and we've been put on this earth with a reason and a purpose.' Terri, Bindi, and Robert Irwin continue Steve Irwin's mission to bring people closer to animals and ignite the connection that will ensure an abundance of wildlife for generations to come on their series. From running Australia's largest family-owned zoo, Australia Zoo in Queensland, to crisscrossing the world protecting and celebrating the most wondrous animals on the planet, the show gives audiences an all-access, front-row seat to experience the sights and sounds of their thrilling wildlife adventures and the amazing animals that continue to inspire their conservation efforts. After almost six weeks of hard campaigning, election day has finally arrived and polls have opened to 16 million Australians. Prime Minister Scott Morrison's Coalition Government and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten's Labor Party have promised billions to woo voters to their side. Hospitals and schools will be pumped with cash, climate change tackled, power bills cut, immigration restricted, and houses made more affordable. However, the two sides have in many cases vastly different ideas on how to get this done - and whose vision becomes reality is a choice for the people. Daily Mail Australia has sifted through pages of complicated policy and boiled it down to make your decision on who to vote for easier. Immigration Coalition Scott Morrison's government would put a 18,750 cap on the number of humanitarian visas Australia would issue in a year, with 60 per cent of them to be for females. It would boost the percentage of refugees resettled in regional areas from 30 to 40 per cent to ease pressure on crowded cities. These refugees would need to live in regional areas for at least three years to qualify for permanent residency. Overall permanent immigration would be capped at 160,000, down from the present net level of 190,000, 110,000 of which would be skilled migrants plus 47,000 family places. Scott Morrison's government would put a 18,750 cap on the number of humanitarian visas Australia would issue in a year, with 60 per cent of them to be for females Labor An ALP Government would increase the refugee cap to 27,000 by 2025, plus another 5,000 sponsored by individuals or community groups. The Coalition claims this plan would cost another $6.2 billion a year. Both parties support offshore processing and turning back refugee boats. Australia's actual intake has only exceeded the Coalition's cap twice since the early 1980s, accepting 19,998 in 2012-13 and 21,968 in 2016-17. Labor agreed to the Coalition's 160,000 immigration cap. The Opposition has also promised to remove the 15,000 cap on visa places and allow families to sponsor both sets of parents. It would slash the fee for the newly introduced temporary sponsored parent visa by 75 per cent. This would take the cost of a five-year visa down to $2,500, down from $10,000 now. The cost of a three-year visa would fall to $1,250 from $5,000. Foreign aid Coalition Mr Morrison's budget last month slashed foreign aid by $117 million to just over $4 billion a year and focused it on the Pacific Islands with cuts to Asian countries. Labor Bill Shorten promised to boost the foreign aid budget by $1.6 billion over the next four years in what he said was an effort to offset $11 billion of Coalition cuts. The ALP would also give an extra $380 million to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees over the same period. Just days before the election, the Prime Minister responded to Labor's negative gearing policy by by announcing a re-elected Coalition government would set up a $500million First Home Loan Deposit Scheme Housing Coalition A re-elected Coalition government would set up a $500 million First Home Loan Deposit Scheme. LABOR'S NEGATIVE GEARING PLAN Labor promised to restrict negative gearing to new homes and halve the capital gains tax discount from 50 per cent to 25 per cent. The existing policy gives housing investors a tax break if they make short-term losses on real estate investments. This provides an incentive for property buyers who can sustain short-term losses for long-term profits. The idea is to make housing more affordable for first-time buyers and those who can't afford to own homes after the property boom that lasted until 2017. Advertisement Taxpayers would stump up the cost of a home loan deposit with property first-timers only needing to put in five per cent to get a mortgage instead of the usual 20 per cent. It would be available for single people earning less than $125,000 and couples earning a combined salary of less than $200,000. Labor Hours after the government proposed its first home buyer scheme, Labor declared it would match it. The Opposition's National Rental Affordability Scheme pledges to build 250,000 new affordable homes over 10 years for people on lower incomes and in 'essential services'. To get this done, the ALP would give $8,500-a-year subsidies to build homes for the rental market, which would be offered at 20 per cent below market rate and give tenants more security. Labor's centerpiece policy is to restrict negative gearing to new homes from January 2020 and halve the capital gains tax discount from 50 per cent from 25 per cent. It estimated this will save the budget $32.5 billion over the next decade and make buying a house more affordable by stopping investors from competing with first-home buyers. Labor's centerpiece policy is to restrict negative gearing to new homes and halve the capital gains tax discount Power prices Coalition Mr Morrison pledged to cut power bills by 25 per cent by setting energy companies a 'price target' it claims will save families up to $185 a year. The case for a new coal power station in Queensland will be examined and $1.38 billion will be spent building the Snowy 2.0 hydro power scheme. Labor Instead of new coal plants, Labor wants to put solar panels on schools and spend $5 billion to upgrade transmission infrastructure. Renewables would be a focus, such as $141 million to fund $2,000 rebates for 100,000 households, earning less than $180,000 a year, to install home battery systems. The Clean Energy Finance Corporation would also get $10 billion to develop more renewable power sources and technology. Mr Morrison pledged to cut power bills by 25 per cent by setting energy companies a 'price target' it claims will save families up to $185 a year (stock image) Climate change Coalition Contrary to some climate hardliners' wishes, the government will stay in the Paris Agreement and spend $3.5 billion on a package to meet its targets. A $2 billion Climate Solutions Fund will provide cash for environmental projects for small business, farmers, and Aboriginal communities over 15 years. Labor The opposition's targets are more ambitions. It wants renewable energy to provide half of power generation by 2030, just over double the current proportion. Australia's pollution would be slashed by by 45 per cent on 2005 levels by 2030 and bet at net zero pollution 20 years later. About 250 big polluting companies would be issued a cap on their emissions, which they would have to offset with carbon credits. Mr Shorten also aims for half of all new cars sold in Australia to be electric by 2030 Mr Shorten also aims for half of all new cars sold in Australia to be electric by 2030. There would be no subsidies but $50 million would be spent on building charging stations over three years. Electric cars only have a market share of about 0.2 per cent, selling about 2,500 a year which would need to be dramatically upped to 600,000 in 11 years. There is, however, no talk of a carbon tax or emissions trading scheme. Income tax Coalition Where will the money come from? * $58.2 billion over 10 years from cracking down on franking credits, or tax refunds, for retirees * $32.5 billion raised from ending negative gearing tax concessions on existing properties * $29.8 billion from changing superannuation concessions * $26.9 billion from changes to family trusts * $6.9 billion from cracking down on multinational tax avoidance * $6.3 billion from the budget repair levy on high income earners * Labor will also reverse the coalition's $285 billion long term income tax cuts, but has built in an assumption of future tax cuts at some point Advertisement Mr Morrison would cut taxes by $158 billion over 10 years by doubling tax offsets for low and middle-income earners and tinkering with thresholds. Every bit of income between $40,000 and $200,000 a year would be taxed at 30 per cent, scrapping all the thresholds in between. This would equal about $1,080 a year in tax relief. Labor The ALP has a similar plan but will spend an extra $1.05 billion over four years on tax cuts for voters earning less than $48,000 a year. Labor would also end cash refunds on franking credits for self-funded retirees, which is where shareholders who receive dividends are given a tax refund. This is so they aren't effectively doubled-tax, since a listed company has also already paid corporate tax under the dividend imputations system. The Opposition estimates this will save $58.2billion over the next decade, and sparing taxpayers $4.4billion in 2020-21. Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen promised a Labor government would deliver bigger and faster surpluses than the Coalition by cracking down on negative gearing for landlords and tax refunds for rich retirees Families Coalition The government argued its means-tested child care subsidy had already made childcare more 'accessible and affordable' for nearly one million families, leaving a typical family about $1,300 a year better off since it began in July 2018. The government argued its changes had reduced childcare household out-of-pocket costs by more than 10 per cent. The Coalition also pledged $78 million for women and children escaping domestic violence. Labor Labor would spend $15.9 billion over the next decade subisidising childcare, bosting the current $7,613 per child yearly rebate by up to $2,100 for families earning less than $174,000 a year. Working parents earning $69,000 to $100,000 will have to pay $21 a day for childcare, compared with $37 under the Coalition. The government argued its means-tested child care subsidy made childcare more 'accessible and affordable' for nearly one million families, leaving a typical family about $1,300 a year better off since it began in July 2018 Labor also promised to boost the wages of childcare workers by $11,300, costing $9.9 billion over the next decade Then there is another $8.6 billion over the next decade to give every three-year-old child subsidised access to kindergarten for at least 15 hours a week. Labor allocated $660 million for early intervention and education, 20,000 payments of $10,000 to help women escape bad situations, and 10 days paid domestic violence leave. Industrial relations Coalition Coalition will keep with its plan to cut penalty rates but promised jail for employers that exploit workers and establish a registry for dodgy labour-hire companies. Labor ALP's main promise is to reverse the penalty rate cuts to millions of retail and other workers and get the Fair Work Commission to make the minimum wage a might higher 'living wage'. Coalition will keep with its plan to cut penalty rates but promised jail for employers that exploit workers and establish a registry for dodgy labour-hire companies Health Coalition Mr Morrison's government would spend $461 million on youth mental health and suicide prevention, and more for Aboriginal mental health. The two parties matched each other's commitment to lift the freeze on Medicare rebates from July 1 after five years, and spend $448.5 million to improve GP care of the elderly. Young people would get a 10 per cent discount on private health insurance, but the government has effectively cut the rebate from 30 to 25 per cent while in office. From 2020 pensioners will only need to pay for 60 prescriptions a year before the rest are free, down from 80. This will all cost $308 million and new drugs will be subsidised. The two parties matched each other's commitment to lift the freeze on Medicare rebates from July 1 after five years, and spend $448.5 million to improve GP care of the elderly Labor The opposition promised $4.5 billion over a decade to boost the Medicare rebate for cancer scans, tests, appointments, and various other out-of-pocket expenses. Another $1 billion would cut cancer and elective surgery waiting lists and fund improvements in hospital emergency departments. Private health insurance premiums would not be allowed to rise by more than two per cent for the next two years. The current Medicare child dental cover would be extended to seniors, saving them up to $1,000 every two years. Education The ALP promised the reverse of the Coalition - it will instead pump an extra $14 million into public schools over 10 years and none extra to private (stock image) Coalition Catholic and independent schools will get $4.6 billion worth of extra funding. About $525 million will be spent funding 80,000 new apprenticeships and improving vocational education and training. Labor The ALP promised the reverse of the Coalition - it will instead pump an extra $14 million into public schools over 10 years and none extra to private. Another $10 billion will be spent uncapping university places so another 200,000 can attend, $100 million improving TAFE campuses, and more giving 100,000 TAFE students free rides. Transport Coalition The government will spend $100 billion on various transport infrastructure projects around the country. Most of this is not new money. Labor A $1 billion high-speed rail line would run from Brisbane to Melbourne via Sydney and Canberra, with the Brisbane to Sydney travel time being just 2.5 hours. The proposal was for an ultra high speed hyperloop system between Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane, reaching speeds of 1,1223 km/h Australian Republic Coalition The government supports the status quo constitutional monarchy with the Queen as head of state. Labor Mr Morrison promised to hold a public vote in 2021-22 on whether to become a republic, costing $55 million. It would then likely be followed by a referendum on what type of model of republic Australia would adopt. A woman abused as a child by convicted paedophile imam Hafiz Rahman (above) has slammed police for failing to arrest him - even though they know where he is after he fled the UK to avoid prison A woman abused as a child by a paedophile imam who fled the UK to avoid prison has slammed police for failing to arrest him - even though they know where he is. Hafiz Rahman, 60, escaped to Bangladesh three years ago after being found guilty of abusing two children at his mosque in the West Midlands in the 1980s. Detectives were unaware he had a second passport, but it can be revealed officers have now located him and are consulting with the Crown Prosecution Service for an extradition warrant. But one of the victims, who was abused by Rahman for five years from the age of seven in the late 1980s, told MailOnline she was terrified he could be still targeting children. The police let him escape the first time,' she said. 'This must not happen again. Every extra minute he is free means he could take off again. He needs to be arrested straight away. I know they have found where he is. I cant understand why he isnt in chains and on a flight back with the police. The 60-year-old managed to escape to Bangladesh three years ago after being found guilty of abusing two children at his mosque in the West Midlands in the 1980s. One of the victims (above, now 42) told MailOnline: 'Every extra minute he is free means he could take off again' He is a horrible, evil man and my worry is that he is continuing being this fake righteous imam and is doing to kids in Bangladesh what he did to me.' The recently married now 42-year-old went on: He must be laughing at us over here. 'The police neglected to find out that he had access to a second passport and then all that time and money was wasted on getting him convicted and he just took off. He was found guilty of sexually abusing me and another girl and I believe there would have been many more victims too scared to tell anyone. ' Rahman, a father of seven and grandfather of 10, was arrested in a police raid in 2015 after a MailOnline journalist worked with one of the victims to track him down. She had gone to police a year before saying she had been abused daily between the ages of seven and 11, but was told Rahman was believed to be abroad. However, he was still officiating at a mosque in Dudley, living locally and detectives were informed. After a five day trial, Rahman was found guilty of five charges of indecent assault at Wolverhampton Crown Court on October 8, 2016. He had repeatedly sexually abused two young girls at Queens Cross mosque in Cradley Heath, West Midlands, during religious studies in the late 1980s. During his trial he feigned illness and his defence team told the court he was too unwell to attend the final two days. Rahman was found guilty of five charges of indecent assault at Wolverhampton Crown Court on October 8, 2016. He had repeatedly sexually abused two young girls at Queens Cross mosque (above) in Cradley Heath, West Midlands, during religious studies in the late 1980s The night before he was due to be sentenced, police visited him at home to make sure he was complying with his bail conditions. But they did not know he had a second passport and was secretly making plans to flee and he bought a one-way ticket to Bangladesh As his passport had been confiscated he was allowed home as he was not considered a flight risk. The night before he was due to be sentenced, police visited him at home to make sure he was complying with his bail conditions. But they did not know he had a second passport and was secretly making plans to flee and he bought a one-way ticket to Bangladesh from an agency. He was sentenced in absentia to 11 years imprisonment and made to sign the sex offenders register with a protection order enforced banning him from working with children again. Judge Nicholas Cartwright told the court: There was no need to be suspicious that he would not attend his sentencing hearing so no warrant was issued for his arrest after he was convicted. One of Rahmans sons, asked by MailOnline if the abuser had contacted his family in the UK since he turned fugitive refused to comment. West Midlands police said: Continued efforts are being made to ensure the person responsible is returned to the UK to face justice. We understand his victims' frustrations but we are continually liaising with the CPS and Home Office in a bid to secure his extradition. We will, of course, update the victims with any developments.' A police source added: We know where he is and we will be trying to get him back as soon as possible but there is a whole legal and diplomatic road to go down ahead of that. He was sentenced in absentia to 11 years imprisonment and made to sign the sex offenders register with a protection order enforced banning him from working with children again. West Mids Police know where he is and are 'trying to secure his extradition' As Rahmans victim waits for him to brought to justice, she called for tighter scrutiny of mosques and imams. I worry that other young girls like me are too scared to tell anyone they are being abused. Rahman abused me and made me a scared little child. I didnt think people would believe me and I never told anyone. When he knew I was getting upset, he would turn up at my house and convince my parents that he was a good Islamic teacher knowing that would make me more scared. I cant wait to see him brought back to jail and not worry about what he might be doing to kids in Bangladesh. A U.S. Navy SEAL was sentenced to one year in military prison on Thursday for his role in the 2017 hazing-related death of a U.S. Army Green Beret in Africa. Adam Matthews is the first of four U.S. service members to face military court proceedings as well as punishment for the strangulation death of Army Staff Sgt. Logan Melgar, a Texas native. Matthews was sentenced by a military judge at a Navy base in Norfolk, Virginia, following a plea agreement he made the same day. Prosecutors dropped a murder charge in exchange for his testimony against another Navy SEAL and two Marines. Melgar had accused them of bringing prostitutes back to the safe house and skimming cash from a fund used to pay local informants. Further details of the long-simmering feud between Melgar and his SEAL housemates were revealed during the testimony. U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Logan Melgar (pictured) , a Green Beret, who died from non-combat related injuries in Mali in June 2017. Navy SEAL Adam Matthews, plead guilty Thursday to hazing, assault and other charges. But a murder charge was dropped Matthews' attorney, Grover Baxley, said that Melgar's death 'was an unforeseen accident that has dramatically impacted the lives of everyone involved.' The attorney added that Matthews takes full responsibility for his role in the incident and helped the Navy to resolve the case. 'I've carried the weight of Staff Sgt. Melgar's death every minute of every day since that night in Mali,' Matthews said. The emotionally charged, daylong court proceedings provided a window into the lives of some of the country's most elite service members. 'I freaking hate them,' Melgar told his wife Michelle in one of the messages she handed over to authorities. The SEALs had their own beef with Melgar though, according to the documents. In the weeks leading up to the assault, Melgar brought foreigners to the residence, angering his fellow troops, another soldier who also lived there later told Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents, according to the military documents. The soldier also said that Melgar had engaged in 'frat-like' behavior and had acted in ways that got them both 'uninvited' from events at the U.S. Embassy. The soldier also confessed that everyone in the safe house engaged in drinking, in contravention of military regulations for deployed troops. The soldier told investigators that the SEALs became so incensed with Melgar that they banned him and another Special Forces soldier from their operations center. Two Special Operation sources alleged that Melgar (above, right) was targeted because he'd discovered the pair of SEALs were skimming off of the top of an informant fund Family, friends and colleagues of both Melgar and Matthews took stock of the contributions of each man and the fallout from that night. Matthews also offered the first detailed public account of Melgar's death, which he described as a botched attempt to 'embarrass' him over 'slights' perceived by the other men. Matthews said he joined the group in Mali's capital of Bamako only 36 hours before the incident in June 2017. He said colleagues quickly filled him in on their concerns about Melgar. Petty Officer 1st Class Anthony E. DeDolph (above) is one of the four men charged Among the perceived slights was an incident in which Melgar was driving his motorcycle to a party at a diplomatic embassy in the capital city. Two Marines were following in another vehicle before Melgar drove off, Matthews said. Matthews suggested that the Marines felt Melgar had abandoned them in an unsafe city that's been the target of terrorist activity. Sometime later, Matthews said that he and the others broke down Melgar's bedroom door with a sledgehammer for 'dramatic effect.' Then they bound his wrists and ankles with duct tape. They planned to record the incident on video to embarrass Melgar in what Matthews described as a 'known remediation,' or hazing ritual, within the special forces community. At some point, Matthews said, the other Navy SEAL applied a chokehold to Melgar, who became unresponsive and was unable to be resuscitated. 'I am truly sorry,' Matthews told the court. Matthews, 33, pleaded guilty to hazing and assault charges as well as attempts to cover up the crime. During the sentencing phase, friends and family described Matthews as that '100-pound kid who wanted to be a Navy SEAL that nobody thought could be.' Melgar was a native of Lubbock, Texas. He had deployed to Afghanistan twice before his death in Bamako, Mali, in June 2017 Matthews displayed a picture of the Twin Towers at his home and suffered injuries in Afghanistan, earning a Purple Heart, among other medals. Melgar was a native of Lubbock, Texas. He had deployed to Afghanistan twice before his death in Bamako, Mali, in June 2017, Army officials said. Melgar was fearless and 'unflappable' under enemy fire, his colleagues said. He was meticulous when it came to his job, which included finding explosives in Afghanistan at night while bullets struck the trees above him. His wife, Michelle Melgar, testified that her husband told her about the 'immature' SEALs that he was having trouble with. She also thanked Matthews for coming forward with the truth. Melgar's mother, Nitza Melgar, was less forgiving. She told Matthews: 'You are a disgrace to your Purple Heart.' Melgar was fearless and 'unflappable' under enemy fire, his colleagues said Matthews still faces the possibility of receiving a military discharge for bad conduct, which could lead to a loss in veteran's benefits. Judge Capt. Michael Luken said the type of discharge will be left up to an admiral. It will also be contingent on Matthews' continued cooperation and input from the Melgar family, the judge said. The two Marines charged in the case are listed as being part of Special Operations Command. The SEALs belong to the Navy Special Warfare Development Group and are Petty Officer 1st Class Anthony E. DeDolph and Matthews. The unit is better known as SEAL Team 6, which participated in the May 2011 raid that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden at his compound. Accused of participating in the slaying are Marines Gunnery Sgt. Mario Madera-Rodriguez and Staff Sgt. Kevin Maxwell, were assigned to Marine Corps Special Operations Command. On the night Melgar died, the soldier said that he incited the SEALs' fury by ditching them on the way to a party at the French Embassy. He claims that when Melgar returned to the safe house a few hours later, he boasted that he had made the right decision leaving the Navy men behind, because it had been a 'high class' event. The soldier said that Melgar said he had two or three beers at the Embassy party. It was previously reported that Melgar didn't drink alcohol. The furious SEALs went out on the town for a night of heavy drinking, and hatched a plan for revenge over whiskey and beer at the Appaloosa bar and a nightclub called Byblos, according to the documents. According to documents, the SEALs decided to haze Melgar as payback, and enlisted the help of the Marines who lived nearby. The Marines retrieved some duct tape and a sledgehammer from their residence, planning to burst through Melgar's door to 'surprise him', Matthews stated in a stipulation of facts effectively admitting to his involvement. According to the Military Times, DeDolph and Matthews initially told investigators they found Melgar unresponsive in his room. Meglar's superiors suspected foul play and dispatched an investigating officer to the scene within 24 hours. The SEAL pair then tried to cover their involvement by telling superiors that Melgar was drunk during combat training - or hand-to-hand fighting exercises - and that is how he got himself knocked out and killed. Brig. Gen Donald Bolduc, who is the Commander of the Special Ops Command-Africa, was allegedly skeptical of the SEALs stories and the initial reports about Melgar's death, and told commanders in Mali to preserve any evidence. Photo: Twitter Theresa May Talks between Britain's Conservative government and the opposition Labour Party seeking a compromise over Brexit broke down without agreement Friday, plunging the country back into a morass of uncertainty over its departure from the European Union. Each side blamed the other for the collapse. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said the talks with Prime Minister Theresa May's government had "gone as far as they can." "We have been unable to bridge important policy gaps between us," Corbyn said in a letter to May released by Labour. And with May set to announce within weeks that she plans to step down, Corbyn said divisions within the ruling Conservative Party meant "it's a government that is negotiating with no authority and no ability, that I can see, to actually deliver anything." But May said divisions within the Labour Party had contributed to the breakdown. "In particular, we have not been able to overcome the fact that there isn't a common position in Labour about whether they want to deliver Brexit or hold a second referendum, which could reverse it," she said. May's spokesman, James Slack, confirmed the two sides had not reached "complete agreement" and that no further talks were planned. The two sides have held weeks of negotiations to try to agree upon terms for Brexit that can win support in Parliament. The talks began after British lawmakers rejected May's divorce deal with the EU three times. But the Conservatives and the left-of-centre Labour differ on how close an economic relationship to seek with the EU after the U.K. leaves the bloc. Labour wants to stick close to EU rules in order to guarantee seamless trade, while the government wants a looser relationship that would leave Britain freer to strike new trade deals around the world. Britain was due to leave the EU on March 29, but amid the political impasse in the country, the EU extended the Brexit deadline until Oct. 31. That deadlock has deepened this week with the breakdown of the cross-party talks and intensifying pressure on May from within the Conservative Party to quit. Pro-Brexit Conservatives are furious that Britain hasn't yet left the EU, almost three years after voters backed Brexit in a referendum. Many of them blame May and want her replaced with a more staunchly pro-Brexit leader such as former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. On Thursday, May agreed to set out a timetable for her departure early next month, raising the prospect that Britain will get a new prime minister before it leaves the EU. British Steel has announced it has the backing of its key stakeholders, including shareholders and lenders, and its operations will continue as normal. The company had asked for a 75million package of support to tackle Brexit-related issues and has been holding talks with the Government, raising fears for the future of the company, which employs more than 4,000 workers, mainly in Scunthorpe. But the firm said today that it planned to continue operations as normal after obtaining the backing of key stakeholders. British Steel has announced it has the backing of its key stakeholders, including shareholders and lenders, and its operations will continue as normal. Above: its plant in Scunthorpe A British Steel spokeswoman said: 'British Steel has the backing of its key stakeholders, including shareholders and lenders, and operations continue as normal. 'As the business navigates the significant uncertainties caused by Brexit, and explores options to strengthen the business for the long term, we are pleased to confirm that we have the required liquidity while we work towards a permanent solution. 'We are grateful for the support that our stakeholders and the British Government have provided to date.' Alasdair McDiarmid, of the Community Union, said it was welcome news that British Steel owner Greybull has found sufficient funds to give the business a chance. He added: 'However, Greybull and the Government must continue to focus on finding a solution that secures jobs and the long-term future of British Steel. 'At this critical time, we would urge everyone involved, including suppliers and contractors, to hold their nerve and refrain from taking any knee-jerk actions that could create further barriers to a successful outcome.' British Steel had asked the government for 75million in emergency funding to prevent its collapse, raising fears for thousands of job losses. The firm employs more than 4,000 workers, mainly in Scunthorpe Alasdair McDiarmid, of the Community Union, said it was welcome news that British Steel owner Greybull has found sufficient funds to give the business a chance Unite national officer Tony Brady said: 'Unite has been in dialogue with the company to ensure wages continue to be paid and orders fulfilled, in addition to talking to Government ministers to ensure the future of British Steel is secured. 'These are deeply unsettling times for our members and their families. Unite will continue to fight for the future of British Steel to ensure it continues to be a source of decent, well-paid jobs which sustains communities across the UK. 'We urge the Government and Greybull to agree a package which guarantees the long-term future of British Steel as quickly as possible to safeguard jobs and confidence in the company.' Casino giant MGM Resorts told federal regulators Thursday it might pay up to $800 million to settle liability lawsuits stemming from the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas that left 58 dead and 800 injured. 'The company believes it is reasonably possible that a settlement will be reached' by next May, it told the Securities and Exchange Commission in a quarterly report. The lawsuits say MGM Resorts, which owns the high-rise hotel and the concert venue across The Strip, of failing to protect the 22,000 people attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival. They also point to findings that gunman Stephen Paddock, 64, was able to build an arsenal of weapons and ammunition in his two-room suite over several days before he opened fire onto the crowd below. People carry flowers as they walk near the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino during a vigil for victims and survivors of a mass shooting in Las Vegas (File photo from April 2018) Casino giant MGM Resorts is telling federal regulators it thinks it might pay up to $800 million to settle liability lawsuits Stephen Craig Paddock, 64, released a hail of bullets from his hotel room on the 32nd floor MGM Resorts International had previously asked federal judges to step in and declare the resort company free from liability in the incident, however it now appears hundreds of millions have been set aside in anticipation of the suits. However, a lawyer handling mediation talks for plaintiffs called it premature for the corporate owner of Mandalay Bay resort to report a possible settlement range between $735 million and $800 million. 'We're not even close to resolving all the terms and issues before we have a settlement,' attorney Robert Eglet said. He said he represents about 4,200 claimants, including those who have sued in Nevada, California and other states, and people who have not formally filed for damages. 'It's true that a settlement is possible,' Eglet said. 'But I will tell you it's not probable. Nothing is signed. We have a long way to go before we have an agreement.' The October 2017 mass shooting became the deadliest in modern U.S. history Police officers stand at the scene of a shooting near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas. Earlier this year, the FBI concluded its investigation into the shooting but could not determine a motive Eglet said talks are ongoing with MGM Resorts attorneys, and that he was aware the company would make its report to the SEC. Eglet said he reviewed the SEC document on Thursday and agreed that a settlement should be reached within a year. Company spokeswoman Debra DeShong said progress has been made after multiple mediation sessions over several months. The goal is 'to resolve these matters so that all impacted can move forward in their healing process,' she said. MGM Resorts has defended itself against liability claims, outraging victims last summer when it filed lawsuits against more than 1,900 people in a bid to consolidate claims in one federal court. Cops found $41,000 worth of weapons in Paddock's suite at the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas from where he launched his shooting spree. His hotel room pictured above Police scrambled on the scene to help the injured and the close in on Paddock. He took his own life following the shooting The plaintiffs are seeking compensation for a range of physical and psychological harm after a shooter rained gunfire from a Mandalay Bay suite into an open-air concert crowd, killing 58 people and injuring more than 800. Paddock was a retired accountant and high-stakes video poker player. Police and the FBI say he acted alone, firing out the windows with guns equipped with rapid-fire bump stocks then killing himself before officers reached his room. Paddock didn't leave a note or a manifesto, and authorities closed investigations saying they didn't identify a motive. Mexico 's most powerful drugs cartel is seeking to boost recruitment of police and soldiers. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel put out a message on WhatsApp calling on current and former law enforcement to join their ranks. The Spanish written message that read: 'Fellow federal police officer, dont worry if you are fired, we will recruit you here. 'The CJNG invites all of the former federal police offices who were unjustly let go. Come join us. You are already trained. Dont think twice. Come over, we will pay.' The message was signed off by 'M-1', a nickname for senior commander Isidro Lara, who oversees operations in a cell that covers the nation's capital, Mexico City. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel sent out a message via WhatsApp and other social media networks seeking to recruit police officers to join the criminal organization, telling its prospective recruits in the Spanish written message: 'Come join us. You are already trained. Dont think twice. Come over, we will pay' The Jalisco New Generation Cartel is led by Nemesio 'El Mencho' Oseguera Cervantes. The group, considered the most powerful in Mexico, is looking to beef up its syndicate by hiring former and even current police officers Mexican authorities are investigating court magistrate Isidro Avelar Gutierrez for his alleged dealings with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel The organization has depended on several branches of the law enforcement and judicial system to carry out is criminal objective. Authorities on Tuesday revealed they were investigating court magistrate Isidro Avelar Gutierrez, who in 2018 ordered the release of Francisco Aguilar Santana, a top lieutenant in the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. He allegedly received $18 million pesos, almost $940,000, between 2010 and 2016 for favors rendered to the cartel. On Friday, the United States Department of Treasury sanctioned Gutierrez for the bribes he accepted the Jalisco New Generation and another group known as Los Cuinis. The judge was designated under the Kingpin Act, which targets drug trafficking. Mexican authorities are also searching for Jose Roberto Sanchez Cortes, who abruptly switch sides and ditched the police department for a senior role with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. Sanchez Cortes, who once served as a prosecutor and police agent for the Public Ministry office in Veracruz, first joined the rival The Zetas before jumping over to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. He is also known as Commander 80 or The 80, and is rumored to be the leader of the cartel's cell operating out of Veracruz. He is wanted for his role in the February 2019 decapitation of a mother-of-two. The recruitment drive came as a Mexican journalist revealed that the group offers inexperienced, incoming recruits a monthly salary of $16,000 Mexican pesos, approximately $836 USD, according to Nacion 321 . It's unknown how much the current and former cops would get paid. One-time prosecutor and police officer, Jose Roberto Sanchez Cortes, is wanted by Mexican authorities for his alleged dealings with the country's most powerful gang, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel The Jalisco New Generation Cartel is led by Nemesio 'El Mencho' Oseguera Cervantes - who is the most-wanted man in Mexico and has a $1.6million bounty on his head. El Mencho is one of the 10 most-wanted men on the FBI's list and the U.S. Department of Justice is also offering a $10million reward for his arrest. According to the United States Drug Enforcement Agency, El Mencho's organization operates in 22 of 32 states in Mexico and has shipped cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl-laced heroin to the United States. It also has established that the group has a presence in Europe, Asia and Australia. His gang is waging several wars against opposing criminal groups, including the Sinaloa Cartel, which was once headed by Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman. It has also been involved in some vicious clashes with the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel, which has a major control the illicit sale of gasoline in Mexico. Tests for Covid and isolation rules for travellers will stay in place until at least the end of January, according to aviation sources. Such a move would add to the woes of an already beleaguered travel industry. Thousands of holidays for Britons during the festive period - including cruises and Austrian skiing trips - have been cancelled due to coronavirus restrictions imposed by destinations. 'We don't anticipate any measures being scrapped until at least the end of January. Even with the promise of a review every three weeks by the Department for Transport, there have been suggestions they'll be in place for two or three months,' one senior aviation insider told The Times. In a bid to tackle the Omicron variant, all international arrivals to the UK must currently take a PCR test on or before the second day following their arrival in the country - and they have to self-isolate until they test negative. Travellers also have to take pre-departure lateral flow or PCR tests. (Pictured left: skiers in the Italian resort of Bormio have their Covid-19 'green passes' checked; top right: Heathrow Terminal 5, on Friday; and bottom right: passengers at Heathrow's Terminal 3.) Taiwan's top court has ruled that not allowing same-sex couples to marry violates the constitution Taiwan will decide whether to pass Asia's first gay marriage law on Friday as conservative lawmakers launch a last-ditch attempt to scupper the bill despite a court ruling ordering same-sex marital equality. Protesters on both sides of the debate will gather outside Taipei's parliament for what looks set to be a mammoth legislative debate over an issue that has bitterly divided the island. Parliament is up against a ticking clock. Taiwan's top court has ruled that not allowing same-sex couples to marry violates the constitution. Judges gave the government two years to make necessary changes by May 24, 2019 or see marriage equality enacted automatically. With that deadline fast approaching, three bills have been tabled for Friday -- which also happens to be the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. The most progressive is the government's bill, the only one to use the word "marriage" and offer limited adoption rights. It is backed -- begrudgingly -- by gay rights groups who see it as the closest thing to full equality with heterosexual couples, despite its limitations. Opponents warn that "forcefully" passing a gay marriage law will intensify tensions Opponents have tabled two other versions which avoid the word marriage, offering something closer to same-sex unions with no adoption rights. Conservative and religious groups have been buoyed by a series of referendum wins in November, in which voters comprehensively rejected defining marriage as anything other than a union between a man and a woman. President Tsai Ing-wen has said the government's bill respects both the court judgement and the referendum. "I hope everybody can be considerate and tolerate different opinions to show Taiwan is a mature civil society that is capable of handling a divisive issue," she said on Tuesday. Tsai's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) holds the majority in parliament, occupying 68 out of 113 seats. But there is no guarantee her own lawmakers will vote for the more progressive bill, especially as many fear being punished by conservative voters at the ballot box in January. One of the rival bills was proposed by a DPP lawmaker. Taiwan's LGBT community has been left in limbo the last two years Taiwan's LGBT community has been left in limbo the last two years, with many couples planning weddings ahead of the May 24th deadline but unsure of what marriage equality will look like. "We will have a clear answer this week about how this country will treat gay couples in the future," said Jennifer Lu, a spokeswoman for Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan. "The cabinet's bill is already a discounted version but it covers the most for now. The other bills are not only unconstitutional but discriminatory." Opponents warn that "forcefully" passing a gay marriage law will intensify tensions. "The cabinet's bill ignores the referendum results and that is unacceptable," said Lai Shyh-bao of the opposition Kuomintang party, who proposed one of the bills backed by conservatives. A 28-year-old tradesman has been jailed after he charged at his girlfriend's ex boyfriend with a knife after being released from prison only hours before. Tony Harrison arrived at the man's house with his partner on April 10 to pick up his girlfriend's three children, Southport Magistrates Court reportedly heard on Thursday. Harrison told the ex-boyfriend to 'go for a walk' before he produced a knife, according to the Gold Coast Bulletin. Tony Harrison, 28, has been jailed after he charged at his girlfriend's ex boyfriend with a knife after being released from prison only hours before The victim ran inside as Harrison began to charge at him, Constable Lewis Butterfield said when reading the previously agreed upon facts. Mr Butterfield noted the man's six-page criminal history during the sentencing. In a similar event Harrison had previously threatened an associate with a machete along with stalking and domestic violence offences in his history. The tradesman pleaded guilty to going armed to cause fear. Harrison's defence lawyer said the man had been 'wanting some sort of closure' on issues between the two parties His lawyer also argued 'both parties were egging on each other' and said the victim had made false complaints to several agencies including the Department of Child Safety. Harrison was jailed for 12 months and will first face parole on August 9. Harrison had previously threatened an associate with a machete along with stalking and domestic violence offences in his history Sydney is set to experience a property boom with a projected 192,000 homes built over the next five years. A forecast released by the NSW Department of Planning revealed rates of growth have increased in certain parts of Sydney from predictions three years ago. Figures from 2016 had estimated the city would see 185,000 new developments pop up in the five year period. NSW Department of Planning predicts about 192,000 homes will be built across Sydney over the next five years - an increase from a previous prediction of 185,000 Top five: Paramatta in the city's west will see the most developments with a 22,100 homes constructed by 2023, second in place is Blacktown, then the City of Sydney followed by the Liverpool and The Hills Parramatta, in the city's west, is expected to see the most homes with 22,100 constructed by 2023, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. In second place is nearby Blacktown with 18,300, then the City of Sydney with 14,850, followed by Liverpool and the Hills, each with just below 12,000. The predictions were determined based on developments that are already underway, approved developments and areas that have been rezoned for residential purposes. The new figures also indicated a decrease in projected growth in the city of Sydney, Canterbury-Bankstown, Ku-ring-gai and Georges River, compared to the 2016 forecast. Meanwhile, Blacktown, Liverpool, the Hills, Cumberland and Ryde will increase. In addition to the new properties, Planning and Public Spaces Minister, Rob Stokes told the publication the government will develop further infrastructure to accompany the growing suburbs. PREDICTED DEVELOPMENTS IN SYDNEY SUBURBS SUBURB DEVELOPMENTS 1. PARAMATTA 22,100 2. BLACKTOWN 18,300 3. SYDNEY 14,850 4. LIVERPOOL 11,950 5. THE HILLS 11,700 6. CUMBERLAND 11,400 7. CAMDEN 10,950 8. RYDE 10,000 9. BAYSIDE 9,400 10. PENRITH 8,650 11. CANTERBURY - BANKSTOWN 8,500 SOURCE: NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment 'For the first time, we are effectively delivering housing alongside the important infrastructure that local communities need - the new schools, hospitals, transport and quality open spaces - in areas of strategic growth,' Mr Stokes said. Mr Stokes also said he hopes to eliminate 'spot rezoning', a system in which developers draw up new zones in the city to develop property outside of planning controls. The growing number of developments have raised concerns in some suburbs, including Ryde where local MP Victor Dominello had campaign against the high levels. Last year, 42,500 new properties were raised and the government forecast states about 36,000 new homes a year must be built over the next 20 years. I.M. Pei, the preeminent Chinese-American architect who forged a distinct brand of modern building design with his sharp lines and stark structures, has died. He was 102 years old. Pei was the mastermind behind the bold Louvre glass pyramid in Paris, the landmark 72-story Bank of China tower in Hong Kong and Doha's Museum of Islamic Art, works seen as embracing modernity tempered by a grounding in history. In his adopted home country the United States, Pei became perhaps best known for his landmark East Building at Washington's National Gallery of Art, deftly melding sharp modern angles with the monumental grandeur the US capital is known for. Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei accepts the Lifetime Achievement Award during the 2016 Asia Game Changer Awards ceremony in New York on October 27. Pei has died at age 102. Pei's big break was in 1964, when he was chosen over many prestigious architects to design the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library in Boston. At the time, Jacqueline Kennedy (pictured above in 1964) said all the candidates were excellent, 'But Pei! He loves things to be beautiful' Pei was the mastermind behind the bold Louvre glass pyramid in Paris, France. His proposal became the centre of an international controversy when it was first unveiled Pei's death was confirmed Thursday by Marc Diamond, a spokesman for the architect's New York firm, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. One of Pei's sons, Li Chung Pei, told The New York Times his father had died overnight. Ieoh Ming Pei was born in Guangzhou in 1917, and moved to the US at the age of 18 to study at Pennsylvania, MIT and Harvard. He worked as a research scientist for the US National Defense Research Committee during World War Two, and went on to work as an architect, starting his own firm in 1955. The museums, municipal buildings, hotels, schools and other structures that Pei built around the world showed precision geometry and an abstract quality with a reverence for light. They were composed of stone, steel and glass and, as with the Louvre, he often worked glass pyramids into his projects. Ieoh Ming Pei was born in Guangzhou in 1917, and moved to the US at the age of 18 to study at Pennsylvania, MIT and Harvard. Above, Pei pictured in New York in September 1956 French President Francois Mitterrand shakes hands with Pei, as Louvre Museum director Michel Laclotte looks on, during the public opening of the Louvre Pyramid on March 29, 1989 Pei's works ranged from the trapezoidal addition to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., to the chiseled towers of the National Center of Atmospheric Research that blend in with the reddish mountains in Boulder, Colorado. His work spanned decades, starting in the late 1940s and continuing through the new millennium. Two of his last major projects, the Museum of Islamic Art, located on an artificial island just off the waterfront in Doha, Qatar, and the Macau Science Center, in China, opened in 2008 and 2009. Pei painstakingly researched each project, studying its use and relating it to the environment. But he also was interested in architecture as art - and the effect he could create. 'At one level my goal is simply to give people pleasure in being in a space and walking around it,' he said. 'But I also think architecture can reach a level where it influences people to want to do something more with their lives. That is the challenge that I find most interesting.' French President Francois Mitterrand, who personally selected Pei to oversee the decaying, overcrowded museum's renovation, endured a barrage of criticism when he unveiled the plan to redesign the Louvre in 1984. Above, the Louvre Pyramid under construction in 1987 French President Francois Mitterrand inspects a glass pane to be used in the construction of the Louvre Pyramid, accompanied by Pei (second, left) and entrepeneur Idelson (right), during his visit to the building site on April 10, 1987 Pei laughs while posing for a portrait in front of the Louvre glass pyramid prior to its inauguration in Paris on March 29, 1989. A French newspaper described the pyramid as 'an annex to Disneyland' Pei, who as a schoolboy in Shanghai was inspired by its building boom in the 1930s, immigrated to the United States and studied architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. He advanced from his early work of designing office buildings, low-income housing and mixed-used complexes to a worldwide collection of museums, municipal buildings and hotels. He fell into a modernist style blending elegance and technology, creating crisp, precise buildings. His big break was in 1964, when he was chosen over many prestigious architects, such as Louis Kahn and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, to design the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library in Boston. At the time, Jacqueline Kennedy said all the candidates were excellent, 'But Pei! He loves things to be beautiful.' The two became friends. Pei is pictured with Jacqueline Kennedy in December 1964. The two became friends In 1988, President Ronald Reagan honored him with a National Medal of Arts. He also won the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize, 1983, and the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal, 1979. The entrance of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, designed by Pei A slight, unpretentious man, Pei developed a reputation as a skilled diplomat, persuading clients to spend the money for his grand-scale projects and working with a cast of engineers and developers. Some of his designs were met with much controversy, such as the 71-foot (22-meter) faceted glass pyramid in the courtyard of the Louvre museum in Paris. French President Francois Mitterrand, who personally selected Pei to oversee the decaying, overcrowded museum's renovation, endured a barrage of criticism when he unveiled the plan in 1984. Many of the French vehemently opposed such a change to their symbol of their culture, once a medieval fortress and then a national palace. Some resented that Pei, a foreigner, was in charge. Many of the French vehemently opposed such a change to the Louvre, a symbol of their culture, once a medieval fortress and then a national palace. Some resented that Pei, a foreigner, was in charge But French President Francois Mitterrand and his supporters prevailed and the pyramid was finished in 1989. It serves as the Louvre's entrance, and a staircase leads visitors down to a vast, light-drenched lobby featuring ticket windows, shops, restaurants, an auditorium and escalators to other parts of the vast museum A French newspaper described Pei's pyramids as 'an annex to Disneyland' while an environmental group said they belonged in a desert. But Mitterrand and his supporters prevailed and the pyramid was finished in 1989. It serves as the Louvre's entrance, and a staircase leads visitors down to a vast, light-drenched lobby featuring ticket windows, shops, restaurants, an auditorium and escalators to other parts of the vast museum. Pei said the Louvre was undoubtedly the most difficult job of his career. When it opened in 1993 he said he had wanted to create a modern space that did not detract from the traditional part of the museum. 'All through the centuries, the Louvre has undergone violent change,' Pei said. 'The time had to be right. I was confident because this was the right time.' 'Contemporary architects tend to impose modernity on something,' he said in an New York Times interview in 2008. 'There is a certain concern for history but it's not very deep. I understand that time has changed, we have evolved. But I don't want to forget the beginning. A lasting architecture has to have roots.' 'All through the centuries, the Louvre has undergone violent change,' Pei said. 'The time had to be right. I was confident because this was the right time' The East Building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, photographed in 2007 The landmark 72-story Bank of China tower in Hong Kong, made with striking steel and glass Another building designed by Pei's firm - the John Hancock Tower in Boston - had a questionable future in the early 1970s when dozens of windows cracked and popped out, sending glass crashing to the sidewalks, during the time the building was under construction. A flurry of lawsuits followed among the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co., the glass manufacturer, and Pei's firm. A settlement was reached in 1981. No challenge seemed to be too great for Pei, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which sits on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. Pei, who admitted he was just catching up with the Beatles, researched the roots of rock 'n' roll and came up with an array of contrasting shapes for the museum. He topped it off with a transparent tent-like structure, which was 'open - like the music,' he said. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan honored him with a National Medal of Arts. He also won the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize, 1983, and the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal, 1979. President George H.W. Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992. The Museum of Islamic Art, located on an artificial island just off the waterfront in Doha, Qatar, was one of Pei's last major projects No challenge seemed to be too great for Pei, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which sits on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio Pei officially retired in 1990 but continued to work on projects. Two of his sons, Li Chung Pei and Chien Chung Pei, former members of their father's firm, formed Pei Partnership Architects in 1992. Their father's firm, previously I.M. Pei and Partners, was renamed Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. The museum in Qatar that opened in 2008 was inspired by Islamic architectural history, especially the 9th century mosque of Ahmed ibn Tulun in the Egyptian capital of Cairo. It was established by the tiny, oil-rich nation to compete with rival Persian Gulf countries for international attention and investment. Pei was born April 26, 1917, in Canton, China, the son of a banker. He later said, 'I did not know what architecture really was in China. At that time, there was no difference between an architect, a construction man, or an engineer.' Pei came to the United States in 1935 with plans to study architecture, then return to practice in China. However, World War II and the revolution in China prevented him from coming back. A reflecting pool sits in a large plaza on the walk up to Dallas City Hall, a building designed by Pei. When Pei won the international Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1983, he used the $100,000 award to start a program for aspiring Chinese architects to study in the United States Pei's death was confirmed Thursday by Marc Diamond, a spokesman for the architect's New York firm, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. One of Pei's sons, Li Chung Pei, told The New York Times his father had died overnight. Above, Pei pictured on June 22, 2006 in front of the Louvre During the war, Pei worked for the National Defense Research Committee. As an 'expert' in Japanese construction, his job was to determine the best way to burn down Japanese towns. 'It was awful,' he later said. In 1948, New York City real estate developer William Zeckendorf hired Pei as his director of architecture. During this period, Pei worked on many large urban projects and gained experience in areas of building development, economics and construction. Some of his early successes included the Mile High Center office building in Denver, the Kips Bay Plaza Apartments in Manhattan, and the Society Hill apartment complex in Philadelphia. Pei established his own architectural firm in 1955, a year after he became a U.S. citizen. He remained based in New York City. Among the firm's accomplishments are the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. Pei's wife, Eileen, who he married in 1942, died in 2014. A son, T'ing Chung, died in 2003. Besides sons Chien Chung Pei and Li Chung Pei, he is survived by a daughter, Liane. A rail company has curbed free refreshments for first-class passengers at weekends because they were eating and drinking too much. First-class ticket-holders were allowed unlimited tea, coffee, water, fruit juice, biscuits and crisps on Greater Anglias Intercity trains between Norwich and Liverpool Street in London. However, the company has now discontinued the service for some passengers. The company said that, under the new policy, free drinks and snacks are still provided to first-class season ticket holders at weekends but not to anyone with an ordinary first-class ticket [File photo] A spokesman said: We found that the system of offering complimentary refreshments was being abused at weekends and it was no longer commercially viable. Greater Anglia declined to reveal how many free drinks and snacks were being taken by first class passengers. The decision has angered many. One passenger from Ipswich, who asked not be named, said: Greater Anglia is trying to make even more money out of us. The train service is pretty bad and the free refreshments were a small way of helping to make up for it. I am not aware of the service having been abused. It is just penny-pinching. The company said that, under the new policy, free drinks and snacks are still provided to first-class season ticket holders at weekends but not to anyone with an ordinary first-class ticket. During the week, first-class customers are still able to enjoy the perk when they show their tickets in the buffet carriage. Hugh Jackman is expected to pocket an estimated $25million if Australian boot and clothing firm R.M. Williams is sold for its expected value of $500million. The X-Men star owns 5 per cent of the iconic Australian firm and became its brand ambassador in March this year. The brand is majority-owned by Singapore-based L Catterton Asia, who have been shopping around the brand through investment bank Goldman Sachs. A sale via auction was expected later this year with estimates of its value put as high as $500 million. Hugh Jackman is expected to make $25million if Australian bootmaker RM Williams sells for up to $500million Jackman, 50, became involved with the company as an ambassador after starring in the movie Australia alongside Nicole Kidman in 2007. Then in 2015 he bought his stake in the firm, setting him up for a lucrative return upon its approaching sale. 'R.M.'s have been a part of my life across the entire journey, from my early stage days to where I am today,' Hugh Jackman previously told The Land. 'It's an honour to be a part of the R.M.Williams family and to wear the brand's iconic craftsman boot for the Undeniable Character campaign.' R.M. Williams was founded in Adelaide in 1932 by the famed bushman of the same name. The company's iconic boots are a popular item both locally and overseas, and the brand has stores in New York, London, New Zealand and in Scandanavia. The brand's sales increased to from $126million in 2017 to $142million in the most recent financial year. Hugh Jackman owns 5 per cent of RM Williams and became its brand ambassador in March this year L Catterton Asia - the private equity owners of R.M. Williams - bought a 49.9 per cent stake in the company from former News Corp boss Ken Cowley in six years ago, before it took control of the company together with superannuation fund IFM Investors in 2014. L Catterton Asia is backed by LVMH Moet Hennessy, a French luxury goods business that owns Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Givenchy and Moet Henessy champagne. Photo: The Canadian Press Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. Canada's year-long standoff with the Trump administration over punitive U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs is finally over, sources say, removing a key hurdle in efforts to ratify the new North American trade pact. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is making an unscheduled, last-minute trip to Hamilton, Canada's steel-manufacturing capital, where he's expected to confirm the breakthrough at an event at steel giant Stelco with Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and Finance Minister Bill Morneau. At midday, the news had Stelco shares (TSX:STLC) up $1.79, or 11.7 per cent, at $17.11 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Word of the agreement began to trickle out amid reports that U.S. negotiators had backed off long-standing demands for a hard limit on imports of Canadian steel and aluminum, part of an effort to keep cheap Chinese product out of the country. Late Friday morning, President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wrapped up their third phone call in less than a week on the tariff dispute, including Canada's decision to retaliate with more than $16 billion of its own punitive levies on American products. "The two leaders discussed the United States' Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum and Canada's retaliatory tariffs," the Prime Minister's Office said in a readout of the call. They "also discussed relations with China, uranium, and the new NAFTA." One year ago, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the tariffs on Canada, as well as Mexico, were necessary to prevent a flood of cheap Chinese steel into the U.S. through its NAFTA partner countries. Ross also said the U.S. was imposing tariffs on Canada and Mexico because the trade talks were taking too long, even though they were ostensibly imposed under a section of American trade law that gives the president that authority to do that to protect national security. The Trudeau government has branded the tariffs as illegal, absurd and insulting, while Canada and Mexico say that it will be tough to ratify the new continental free trade agreement the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement if they remain in place. Ottawa has also been working to demonstrate to Washington that it has taken steps to stem the flow of cheaper Chinese metals into the Canada. But Canada has stood firm with the U.S. on one key, related point: it has steadfastly refused to agree to quotas or other limits on its exports in order to get the tariffs lifted. Canadian sources have described the idea of a quota system as a non-starter and a concession that Canada was not prepared to make. Now, it appears Canadian negotiators have persuaded their American counterparts to accept that position paving the way for a compromise that could allow the Trump administration to holster one of its favourite new trade weapons, while claiming to have enlisted the help of an ally in its ongoing fight. "We have always said we are not the problem and that USMCA wouldn't pass as long as the tariffs were in place. We would never accept a hard quota. I think they finally heard us," said one source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, citing the delicate new phase of the current negotiations. "Now we can work together to deal with over production outside of North America and approve the improved free trade deal." A California lawmaker has been cleared of child cruelty after denying he hit his seven-year-old daughter and left her with a bruise. Prosecutors alleged that assemblyman Joaquin Arambula had squeezed and struck the girl on the face while disciplining her in December and left a bruise on her temple from his wedding ring. Arambula has said he spanked the girl but did not hit her face or know how she got the bruise. A former emergency room doctor who represents Fresno, Arambula has been on leave from the Assembly during the case. Arambula spokeswoman Felicia Cousart Matlosz said he would return to work at the state Legislature on Monday. California Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula, has been cleared of child cruelty for spanking his seven-year-old daughter, pictured far left with her mother, because she was acting up Arambula (center) turns to his lawyer after a judge read the not-guilty verdict 'To my wife and my daughters, you know how much I love you. I want to say it publicly so that everyone can hear it,' Arambula told reporters, according to a video from KMPH-TV in Fresno. Arambula, his wife, mother and two of his three daughters testified during the case. His attorneys painted the oldest daughter as an unreliable witness who wanted attention. They argued there were several ways the girl could have been bruised, including fighting with her sister or jumping on beds before Arambula grabbed and spanked her. Arambula said he believed his daughter went to school angry the morning after he spanked her and told a teacher about what had happened. The girl told authorities that her father had caused her injury. All three of their daughters were taken away by Child Protective Services for two days and stayed with his parents after he was arrested. 'There is no evidence to suggest that Dr. Arambula intentionally struck his child in the head,' attorney Michael Aed told jurors. Prosecutor Steve Wright likened Arambula to 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,' saying his public persona did not match his actions at home, where he could become angry and violent toward his three daughters. Wright criticized the strategy of painting the girl as unreliable. 'I can't understand throwing your daughter under the bus in order to protect your own reputation,' Wright said in his closing remarks. After the verdict, Arambula asked reporters to respect his family's privacy, asking to 'let today's verdict be the end of this chapter.' 'It is time for me to do what I do best as a father: To sit and to play with my girls on the ground, to tuck them into bed at night, to read them a story and to let them know that their family loves them and will always love them,' he said. Prosecutor Steve Wright likened Arambula to 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,' saying his public persona did not match his actions at home, where he could become angry and violent toward his three daughters Both Joaquin and his wife Elizabeth were interviewed by police over the incident. Arambula has said he spanked the girl but did not hit her face or know how she got the bruise A child sex abuse victim came face-to-face with her attacker in court as he was handed down 25 life sentences to run concurrently. Ex-Las Vegas police officer Bret Theil, 39, was found guilty of 28 counts of charges including sexual assault, lewdness with a child, child abuse and kidnapping. Theil was accused of sexually abusing a woman, now 21, from the age of 8 to 18 in Nevada. Bret Theil, 39, (pictured), was sentenced to 25 life sentences to run concurrently after being found guilty of 28 counts of child sex abuse and kidnapping She said that during the first sexual assault, Theil brought her to a friends house and took her into a downstairs bathroom. In subsequent assaults, she said, he tied her to a bench, blindfolded her and hit her with a whip. Prosecutors say Theil forced the girl into more than 50 sexual encounters. Police records revealed Theil often used police issued handcuffs and secured the girl to a bed as he yelled at her. He then would force her to do sex acts, 3 News Las Vegas reported. After the indictment, Theil was suspended from the Metropolitan Police Department without pay pending the result of the trial. His victim spoke of the harrowing impact the abuse had on her as Theil calmly observed her in the courtroom before sentencing. She said: 'I was turned into a human pet. With my voice silenced and my pride kept under wraps. The victim said she still lives with the nightmare of Theil physically and emotionally hurting her. Theil, an ex-Las Vegas police officer, would often use handcuffs to secure his victim to a bed as he forced her to perform sex acts on him Judge Stefany Miley, (lefr), sentenced Theil to life in prison on 28 counts of sexual assault, kidnapping, and child abuse. The former metro police officer stood still with no reaction 'I have to live with it for the rest of my life. I can't count the nights I spent sobbing, scratching at my skin,' the victim said. Theil's defense attorney Craig Mueller told District Court Judge Stefany Miley all the charges against his client were a lie and maintained Theil was an innocent man. 'She's lying. She has been lying. These accusations did not happen at any time. Any man can be accused by a woman and if the jury believes then he loses his life,' Mueller said. Judge Miley sentenced Theil to life in prison on 28 counts of sexual assault, kidnapping and child abuse. The former metro police officer stood still with no reaction. Theil's victim, (not seen in picture), gave evidence of the devastating impact the abuse by Theil had on her in a Nevada courtroom Due to the structure of the sentencing, Theil would be eligible for parole in 2412. Back in February, Prosecutor Stacey Kollins said the woman had nothing to gain from making the allegations, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. 'Theres no pot of gold at the end of the sexual assault rainbow,' Kollins said in closing arguments Tuesday. After the verdict, Kollins said she believed the jury made the right decision. 'The jury got it right, and they heard the victims voice,' she said. Kollins argued that Theil was a flight risk because of the gravity of his convictions and his prior standoff. District Judge Eric Johnson, who filled in for Miley on Thursday, agreed, and Theil was remanded into custody. The UK Government should legalise same-sex marriage in the absence of Stormont power-sharing, Lyra McKee's partner has said. Sara Canning will address a rally calling for change in Northern Ireland at Belfast City Hall on Saturday. Miss McKee, 29, was a promising journalist shot in the head by dissident republican group the New IRA during clashes with police in the Creggan estate in Londonderry last month. The UK Government should legalise same-sex marriage in the absence of Stormont power-sharing, Lyra McKee's partner has said. Miss McKee, 29, was a promising journalist shot in the head by dissident republican group the New IRA during clashes with police in the Creggan estate in Londonderry last month Sara Canning (left) will address a rally calling for change in Northern Ireland at Belfast City Hall on Saturday. Ms Canning said that, as things stand, the law in Northern Ireland 'says that the love that Lyra and I shared is not equal' Organisers predicted large numbers would march in Belfast on Saturday for what they termed marriage equality. Same-sex marriage is not allowed in Northern Ireland, although civil partnerships are recognised. Fresh Stormont political talks were kick-started by Miss McKee's death. Miss Canning said: 'Lyra and I wanted to get married, surrounded by our families and friends, because we shared a love which meant we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. 'But, as things stand, the law in Northern Ireland says that the love that Lyra and I shared is not equal. 'It is unbelievable and simply unacceptable that in 2019 this discrimination is allowed to continue in any part of the UK or Ireland.' She added: 'With Stormont out of action for almost the last two and a half years, we need the UK Government to step in. 'That's what I told Theresa May at Lyra's funeral and that's what I will be saying at the march for marriage equality in Belfast. 'I hope the Prime Minister is listening. Couples like Lyra and I should not have to wait a day longer for the law to recognise us as equals.' She added that it was 'unbelievable and unacceptable' that the 'discrimination' was allowed to continue in any part of the UK. Above: Ms McKee and Ms Canning in a picture which was uploaded to Ms Canning's Facebook account The ban is one of the disputes at the heart of the power-sharing impasse in Belfast, with the DUP resisting Sinn Fein calls for a law change. The socially conservative DUP is firmly opposed to any redefinition of the law, insisting marriage should be between a man and a woman. Tributes and flowers at the scene where the journalist was fatally shot in April A majority of Stormont members were in favour of lifting the prohibition when the issue last came to the floor of the chamber but the DUP triggered a contentious voting mechanism the petition of concern to block it. Before she was shot dead, Ms McKee had told friends that she planned to propose to Miss Canning during a planned 'dream' trip to New York. Miss Canning was standing alongside Miss McKee at a police patrol in Londonderry when the journalist was struck by a stray bullet believed to have been fired by a gunman from the New IRA republican terrorist group. A Japanese hospital has apologised after a cleaner flushed a stillborn baby down the toilet by mistake, leaving the mother traumatised by the sound of the chain being pulled. The mother had given birth at 14-weeks to the stillborn baby while in the bathroom of Saitama Red Cross Hospital in Saitama, north-central Japan. Local media reported that a pregnant 36-year-old woman was hospitalised at the facility and the following day she was in the delivery room when she asked to leave to go to the toilet to urinate. The apology was issued after the incident at Saitama Red Cross Hospital (pictured), located in the city of Saitama in Japan's north-central Kanto region on the main island of Honshu Her 39-year-old husband says she then delivered her 14-week-old stillborn as she was sitting on the toilet. Reports state she then moved to a different room on the staff's instructions and a member of the hospital's cleaning staff then flushed the toilet she had used. Doctors could reportedly be heard screaming after the janitor flushed the toilet but it is unclear why nobody had removed the baby from the toilet beforehand. The baby's heart had reportedly stopped beating four days before it was delivered but the couple are said to have hoped to name the baby and keep a picture of it along with a handprint. The mother, 36, and father, 39, had been hoping to name their stillborn baby, take a picture and say a proper goodbye The husband says the hospital have now written to the family to apologise and he says they have taken measures to stop similar incidents occurring in the future. He added: 'We offer prayers to an empty urn every day. My wife is traumatised by the sound of a flushing toilet. I don't want a similar incident to occur again.' It is unclear if the cleaner has been fired or if the couple are suing the hospital. It is not known who cut the baby's umbilical cord. Boris Johnson has already met 200 Conservative MPs during a lengthy charm offensive to get him on the Tory leadership ballot, it emerged last night. He has warned them that the party faces an 'existential' crisis and that only he can save them from both Nigel Farage and Jeremy Corbyn. Yesterday the former foreign secretary formally declared that he wants to succeed Theresa May as Prime Minister. But his campaign for the top job has been in full swing for months. Sources say he has hosted around 200 MPs, over half the Parliamentary party, in an attempt to rally them to his cause. Boris Johnson has formally declared that he wants to succeed Theresa May as Prime Minister Sources say Boris (pictured at an insurance conference in Manchester) has hosted around 200 MPs, over half the Parliamentary party, in an attempt to rally them to his cause MPs have been meeting him in 15-minute slots in his fourth-floor office in Portcullis House. A whiteboard on the wall lists all the slots for the day. While other candidates have been parading their credentials with media appearances, Mr Johnson has barely been seen in public while he focuses on winning over MPs. Before the leadership vote is put to the Tory membership, Mr Johnson must first reach the final two after a secret ballot of MPs meaning he must win his colleagues over to succeed. After David Cameron quit in 2016, Mr Johnson was a strong favourite to succeed him but pulled out after his Brexiteer colleague Michael Gove withdrew support at the last minute. MPs who have met Mr Johnson in recent weeks say his new pitch is a simple one. 'He says the Tory Party is in an existential crisis,' said one. 'He says he can see off Farage and beat Corbyn in any election when it comes.' He argues that he can deliver Brexit but is also focused on domestic policy and keen to stress his credentials as a One Nation Tory, MPs say. After David Cameron quit in 2016, Mr Johnson was a strong favourite to succeed him but pulled out after his Brexiteer colleague Michael Gove (left) withdrew support at the last minute He has a settled campaign team, and speaks to Lynton Crosby (pictured), the Australian political strategist nicknamed the 'Wizard of Oz', every day One minister who saw him recently but isn't yet backing him said that unlike many of the other candidates he can talk about both Brexit and broader policy issues, and be 'both a peacetime and wartime leader'. Mr Johnson's charm offensive contrasts sharply with his chaotic 2016 run, which fell apart when his campaign chairman, Michael Gove, turned on him to launch his own bid for the leadership. Mr Johnson pulled out, fearing he did not have enough support among MPs, having not made enough effort to woo potential supporters. This is a decision he deeply regrets. This time, allies insist, it will be different. They are keen to stress the 'rigour and discipline' of his campaign and his resolve. Since resigning as Foreign Secretary over Mrs May's Chequers deal last July Mr Johnson has also lost weight and got a more conventional haircut. His second marriage of 25 years ended last summer but he is happily living with his new girlfriend, Carrie Symonds. He has a settled campaign team, and speaks to Lynton Crosby, the Australian political strategist nicknamed the 'Wizard of Oz', every day. His second marriage of 25 years ended last summer but he is happily living with his new girlfriend, Carrie Symonds (pictured with Boris in Italy) Boris has warned them that the party faces an 'existential' crisis and that only he can save them from both Nigel Farage (pictured at an Essex rally) and Jeremy Corbyn However, it's unlikely the discipline will last the entire campaign. Indeed, yesterday's announcement, at an insurance industry convention, was not planned. His allies admit it's difficult to control a 'maverick'. But this latest step is unlikely to make much difference in the long campaign. 'Everyone knows he is running anyway,' said a source close to Mr Johnson. 'It's an open secret. And half the Cabinet have declared. It looks better than weaselling around the question.' Mr Johnson, who is still bruised by what he considered to be disloyal briefings by Foreign Office staff, is understood to have made reform of the civil service a priority of any premiership. His hero: Jaws mayor who kept beach open He's not averse to opening his mouth wide. But in an unusual pitch for Britain's top political job, Boris Johnson yesterday revealed an unlikely hero the mayor from Jaws. In the 1975 movie, Amity Island mayor Larry Vaughn refuses to close the beaches despite the panic as a great white shark devours swimmers. But Mr Johnson told yesterday's audience the character could provide inspiration at a time when Britain needs 'politicians who aren't afraid of some short-term downside to their own political careers'. 'The hero of Jaws is obviously the mayor,' he said. Mr Johnson said he 'saw the pressure and stress on the shops and businesses' of Amity Island as the shark spread terror among beach-goers. 'In real life he would have been right,' he added. Although he admits the mayor's decision was ultimately questionable, Mr Johnson said 'sometimes we've also got to be bold and think for the long term'. Advertisement Six months ago, the prospect of a Boris victory seemed remote. But now even MPs who are not his natural supporters admit his campaign has got momentum. With every defeat for Theresa May's EU withdrawal deal, and every fall in the polls, his prospects have improved as MPs look to someone who they think can save their seats. If Mr Johnson can fend off rival Brexiteers such as former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab and gather enough votes to make it to the final round, the darling of grassroots Tories will strongly fancy his chances in the vote among party members enraged that Brexit hasn't happened. With so many enemies in Parliament, however, that's still a big if. Now he has formally announced, the sizeable number of MPs who want Anyone But Boris will also start gearing up His critics, most of whom are on the Remain side of the party, argue that Mr Johnson is fundamentally unfit for high office. They fear he will drag the party away from the centre ground and adopt 'populist' policies and rhetoric. Mr Johnson once said that he would like to be Tory leader 'if the ball came loose from the back of the scrum', and this time around he's determined to grab it. The contest is likely to be decided by whether anyone can stop him. A new filing by Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office reveals the extent of the cooperation of former National Security Advisor Gen. Mike Flynn including with matters related to potential obstruction of justice. The filing, which argues for leniency in Flynn's sentence following his guilty plea to lying to investigators, reveals that Flynn relayed contacts from people 'connected to the Administration and Congress that could have affected both his willingness to cooperate.' 'The defendant even provided a voicemail recording of one such communication,' according to prosecutors, according to the filing, which was unsealed Thursday. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ordered transcripts of the recording to be made public no later than May 31. Former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn provided 'substantial assistance' to prosecutors in the Russia probe It doesn't state who the lawmaker or Administration official who reached out to Flynn's team was, but states it occurred on 'multiple instances.' The action is described under a section of the filing titled: 'Potential efforts to interfere in the Special Counsel's Office's investigation. In some of the instances where Flynn provided information, Mueller's office 'was unaware of the outreach until being alerted to it by the defendant,' according to the filing. The filing references a voicemail from someone connected to the Administration or Congress The outreach to Flynn, who became a key cooperating witness after he was the first major Trump campaign figure to be charged, involved 'multiple' times both before and after his guilty plea, involved occasions 'where either he or his attorneys received communications from persons connected to the Administration or Congress that could have affected both his willingness to cooperate and the completeness of that Cooperation.' The redacted document does not name Administration officials or lawmakers who took part. It then includes six lines of redacted material. His early cooperation was 'particularly valuable,' according to the letter, which was signed by Mueller. The Mueller report mentioned outreach by one of Trump's lawyers to Flynn's team and hints at the fury when Flynn's lawyer made clear they were no longer on the same side. President Trump fired Flynn after it was revealed he had lied about his Russia contacts during the transition Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team is pushing for leniency toward Flynn due to his cooperation 'On November 23, 2017, Flynn's attorneys returned the call from the President's personal Counsel to acknowledge receipt of the voicemail,' the report says. 'Flynn's attorneys reiterated that they were no longer in a position to share information under any sort of privilege. According to Flynn 's attorneys, the President's personal counsel was indignant and vocal in his disagreement.' Flynn took part in 19 interviews as prosecutors investigated any links between Russians the President Trump or his team. He helped with links between the Trump transition team and Russia, discussion within the campaign about WikiLeaks release of Democratic emails in the fall of 2016, and 'potential efforts to interfere' with the Mueller probe. He also disclosed information about his own contacts with Russia's former ambassador to the U.S., Sergei Kislyak. Flynn gave information on which Trump transition officials he spoke to before he was in contact with Kislyak, according to the filing. It makes clear the importance of WikiLeaks to the probe, since it put out emails that a Russian 'intelligence service stole during the campaign.' Following the release of stolen DNC emails and emails from former Hillary Clinton campaign chair John Podesta, Flynn provided information Trump campaign officials made about which 'only a select few people were privy.' The election is just hours away, but the pressure doesn't seem to be getting to Pauline Hanson. Making the final rounds before Australians head to the polling booths on Saturday, the One Nation leader was filmed dancing in Goulburn Valley in Victoria's north. Josiah and Elly from Hit Goulburn Valley managed to encourage the Queensland Senator to dance to the popular Lil Nas X song 'Old Town Road' on Thursday. Making the final rounds in the days before Australians head to the polling booths, the One Nation leader was filmed dancing on Thursday in Goulburn Valley in Victoria's north Video footage shows Ms Hanson laughing while being shown how to do the cowboy-inspired dance move. The video, posted to Facebook, has garnered a positive reaction from people in the comments. 'She is the woman,' one person wrote, praising Ms Hanson's dancing. 'OMG. I can't believe she did it' another woman said. The video was filmed just hours after the One Nation leader launched a withering attack on Today Show host Deborah Knight, saying she's the blame for the show's poor ratings. Her spray was prompted by Knight asking her about One Nation's falling support ahead of Saturday's Federal Election. Video footage shows Ms Hanson laughing while being shown how to do the cowboy-inspired dance move 'The latest Newspoll, it shows support for One Nation collapsing to four per cent, on par with Clive Palmer's party,' Knight said. 'In light of all the things you've faced, all the scandals, all the things that have been going on, can you really blame people for having their doubts about One Nation and considering Clive over you?' But the Queensland Senator didn't miss a beat as she hit back at Knight, attacking both the show's ratings and Knight's performance in Stefanovic's position. 'I've actually gone up since the last election, unlike your show, Deb, since you have taken over you have gone down in your viewership,' Ms Hanson said. The video was filmed just hours after the One Nation leader launched a withering attack on Today Show host Deborah Knight, saying she's the blame for the show's poor ratings 'So, should you hand over your job or should we bring Karl back? Should we bring Karl back? You have a go at me about this all the time.' Senator Hanson even shared the entire moment to her own Facebook page, with the caption: 'I got a little fired up in this interview but when the media attacks you have to hit back.' 'Funny how they deleted my comments about their terrible ratings from the videos they put out on twitter and Facebook,' Ms Hanson wrote. 'Just goes to show you can't trust the media to let you know what really happened!' er decision sets her on a collision course with President Trump before his visit Theresa May is set to defy Donald Trump and push ahead with plans to let Chinese firm Huawei help build Britains 5G network. The Prime Minister is adamant that, despite security warnings, she wants the firm to be able to supply non-core equipment such as antennae. She is understood to have not been deterred by a stark warning from US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that such a move would threaten intelligence sharing. Details of her unwillingness to follow suit came after Mr Trump effectively blocked Huawei products from the US. The Prime Minister is adamant that, despite security warnings, she wants the firm to be able to supply non-core equipment such as antennae [File photo] Her decision sets her on a collision course with President Trump just weeks before his state visit to Britain next month. Details of her unwillingness to follow suit came after Mr Trump effectively blocked Huawei products from the US. He signed an order declaring a national emergency and barring American companies from using equipment made by firms that pose a national security risk. America also banned such firms, which could include Huawei, from buying vital US technology without special approval. She is understood to have not been deterred by a stark warning from US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that such a move would threaten intelligence sharing. The pair are pictured together in 10 Downing Street earlier this month The two rulings threaten Huaweis ability to continue to sell many products because of its reliance on Americas suppliers. China threatened to retaliate, accusing Mr Trump of engaging in industrial sabotage by using state security as a pretext for suppressing foreign business. Foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said: We urge the US to stop this practice and instead create better conditions for business co-operation. The blacklisting follows reports last month that Mrs May was ready to let the Huawei supply some parts of the UKs 5G infrastructure, much to the fury of the Trump administration. Details of the PMs decision were leaked from a top security meeting and the then defence secretary Gavin Williamson was blamed and sacked. Since then the PM has been warned not to go ahead with the plans, but sources claim she was sticking to her guns. Former MI6 chief Sir Richard Dearlove said yesterday that giving Huawei a role in building the UKs 5G network could give the Chinese government a potentially advantageous exploitative position. Details of the PMs decision were leaked from a top security meeting and the then defence secretary Gavin Williamson was blamed and sacked In a report by the Henry Jackson Society think-tank, he said it was a risk... we simply do not need to take. The report, co-authored by Tory MP Bob Seely, said Huawei claimed to be a private firm, but in China it acts like and is treated as a state-owned enterprise, and was subject to Chinas National Intelligence Law, which means it could be required to assist Chinas intelligence agencies in their operations and research and development. A Huawei spokesman said: We are an independent, employee-owned company which does not take instructions from the Chinese government. It was claimed yesterday that Dutch intelligence services were investigating whether Huawei had helped create a cyber back door for Chinese spies. Daily newspaper De Volkskrant said data from devices in the Netherlands may have been hacked as a result. Huawei said: In every country where we do business, we abide by the laws and regulations and protect the privacy of our customers. Australia is among only a dozen countries that enforce compulsory voting - and the consequences of failing to cast a ballot can be more serious than people believe. Citizens who fail to vote can be fined and those who do not pay can have their driving licences taken away or even be forced to do community service. The fine for not voting in the federal election is $20. But it can get much worse than that. Beachgoers from the electoral district of Coogee vote at the Bondi Beach Surf Club in Sydney in 2007 The Electorial Commission South Australia posted this image to show the penalties for not paying the fine If a voter fails to pay the modest fine, the figure racks up in stages to a maximum of $180. If they still fail to pay, the Australian Electoral Commission can take them to court to force them to cough up. This happened in 2016 to Darwin pensioner Frank Bost who refused to vote on principle. He pleaded guilty to violating section 245 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act of 1918 and was ordered to pay $308 which included the fine and the AEC's legal fees. The Australian Electoral Commission website says: 'Anyone who chooses not to pay the court-ordered fine will be dealt with by the Court accordingly, and this may involve community service orders, seizure of goods, or other court imposed sanctions.' It can get more even more serious than that. When Tasmanian woman Emma Louise Pearce failed to vote at the 2016 federal election, it ended with her getting slapped with a criminal conviction. Ms Pearce was taken to court by Commonwealth prosecutors and said she disagreed with the voting system. The court then hit her with a $180 fine, legal costs plus the criminal sanction. A beachgoer votes at Bondi Beach in Sydney during the federal election of 2007 Australian Opposition Leader Bill Shorten hands out election material for local Labor candidate for Reid Sam Crosby to commuters at Rhodes train station in Sydney LOSING YOUR DRIVER'S LICENCE AND HAVING YOUR CAR SEIZED: THE CONSEQUENCES OF FAILING TO VOTE AT STATE ELECTIONS The fine for not voting in the New South Wales state election is $55. A voter must respond within 28 days of the issue date of the penalty notice and if they do not pay, they will be referred to Revenue NSW. The agency can issue a penalty notice enforcement order which can lead to the cancellation or suspension of driver's licence, or the cancellation of a car registration. In Queensland, the fine is $126.15 for not voting. Outstanding cases are referred to the State Penalties Enforcement Registry for further action. The body can suspend a driving licence, seize a vehicle and even take money from wages. Prime Minister Scott Morrison poses for photographs with supporters as he visits the Golden Century Seafood Restaurant in Sydney In Victoria the fine is $81.00, rising to $106.10 if not paid within 28 days. If a person fails to pay then the matter is referred to Fines Victoria which has the power to wheel clamp, cancel a car registration, and seize property. In South Australia the fine is $70, rising to $125. Penalties can include losing a driving licence, having wages taken and assets frozen. In Western Australia the penalty for first time offenders is $20 but this increases to $50 if the person has previously paid a penalty or been convicted of this offence. If a person fails to pay a fine, the matter is referred to the Fines Enforcement Registry which can suspend a driving licence. In Tasmania the fine is also $20 and can be referred to the Monetary Penalties Enforcement Service which can impose community service orders. Many bought a stake in British Gas in the 1980s after the Tell Sid campaign Jeremy Corbyns Venezuela-style plot to renationalise utility firms would leave millions of pension savers out of pocket, experts warned last night. Nearly 1billion was wiped off the value of National Grid yesterday as Labour outlined plans to snatch Britains energy network out of the hands of shareholders at below market value. Shares in the FTSE 100 giant which are held in the pension pots of millions fell by more than 3 per cent. The slide reduced the value of National Grid by 965million, leaving it worth 27.8billion. Jeremy Corbyns Venezuela-style plot to renationalise utility firms would leave millions of pension savers out of pocket, experts warned last night. Shares in the FTSE 100 giant which are held in the pension pots of millions fell by more than 3 per cent Experts warned that shares would fall further if Labour looked like it was on course to win a general election and implement its plans. Shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey yesterday refused to answer ten times how much the partys energy nationalisation plans would even cost. More than 800,000 individual savers own National Grid shares outright, including many who originally bought a stake in British Gas in the 1980s encouraged by the Tell Sid campaign. Millions of others own a slice of the company through their pension funds and other investments. Mrs Long-Bailey, who was in Salford, Greater Manchester, with Mr Corbyn to announce Labours green energy policy, faced ridicule after claiming that renationalising National Grid would not harm British families because most of the shareholders are foreign investors Dan Neidle, a partner at law firm Clifford Chance, yesterday warned that Labours plan to pay below market value to buy back assets would contravene international law and lead to court action. The courts have never said that is acceptable, and the various decisions of the European Court of Human Rights and international arbitration tribunals go in completely the other direction, Mr Neidle told BBC Radio 4s Today programme. You have to look quite hard for examples of governments that have done that. The one in recent times is Venezuela, which has nationalised dozens of companies, often at less than market value. They ended up in dozens of international arbitration tribunals shelling out billions of dollars in compensation, so that is where this goes. The Global Infrastructure Investor Association estimates that more than 5.8million UK pension pots are invested in Britains energy networks, including National Grid. Former pensions minister Sir Steve Webb, now director of policy at insurers Royal London, said: Theres no question that if you nationalise utilities... its going to have an impact on peoples pensions. Even where you have not directly invested in these companies, but have invested in the stock market as a whole through a tracker fund for example, you are now going to start to see an effect even before anything happens. You simply cannot buy back the shares of major firms without having an impact on shareholders and that in turn means pension funds. Laith Khalaf, a senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, added: Theres a huge cloud of political doubt hovering over the share prices of UK utility companies, which populate the UKs pension funds as they are traditionally seen as slow and steady income producers. Nearly 1billion was wiped off the value of National Grid yesterday as Labour outlined plans to snatch Britains energy network out of the hands of shareholders at below market value [File photo] Labour has also outlined plans to nationalise water companies, rail firms and Royal Mail. A report by the Centre for Policy Studies last year estimated that Labours renationalisation plans would cost at least 176billion. This would add around 10 per cent to the national debt or nearly 6,500 for every household in Britain. Mrs Long-Bailey, who was in Salford, Greater Manchester, with Mr Corbyn to announce Labours green energy policy, faced ridicule after claiming that renationalising National Grid would not harm British families because most of the shareholders are foreign investors. There is a small proportion of pension funds within the National Grid shareholder pot and what we have said is we dont want any employees or potential pensioners to be worse off, she said. But while some of the largest stakes in National Grid are held by foreign investors, they look after the pensions and savings of many British families. Among the biggest shareholders are US financial services giants Blackrock and Vanguard Group. A report by the Centre for Policy Studies last year estimated that Labours renationalisation plans would cost at least 176billion. Labour has outlined plans to nationalise water companies, rail firms and Royal Mail [File photo] Vanguard alone has more than 55,000 British savers among its clients. Other big shareholders include Lazard, which manages 5.8billion on behalf of UK pension funds, and Legal & General which handles 1trillion of savers money. Labour backbencher Darren Jones yesterday criticised his own partys failure to set out how much renationalising the companies would cost. He tweeted: Can we reinstate a golden rule please? When making policy announcements its a good idea to know (i) how much itll cost; (ii) how were going to pay for it; and (iii) why its a good use of taxpayers money. Tory vice-chairman Chris Philp said: The fact Labour have no clue about how much this would cost the taxpayer proves they cannot be trusted with our finances or the economy. And heres what his other policies will cost taxpayers Analysis by Ross Clark for the Daily Mail Increase minimum wage to 10 an hour for all Policy: Raise the National Living Wage (NLW) to 10 an hour for all workers aged 16 or older. Result: The NLW is currently 4.35 an hour for workers under 18 and 8.21 an hour for the over-25s. Young workers could therefore see their incomes double. Labours costings: No figures supplied. True cost: In the private sector, employers would have to pay with the risk that they would shed jobs to balance the books. In the public sector, taxpayers would fund the measure. The Living Wage Foundation estimates that there are 1.2million public sector workers earning less than 10.55 an hour in London and 9 an hour outside the capital. If these workers, working 40 hours per week, were given an extra 1 an hour, it would cost taxpayers 2.5billion per year. Renationalise Royal Mail Policy: Reverse the privatisation of Royal Mail at the earliest opportunity. Result: Labour says this would benefit consumers, ensuring that their interests are put first while also increasing democratic accountability. Labours costings: None in the 2017 manifesto. [Shadow Chancellor] John McDonnell argues that shares could be exchanged for government bonds rather than bought outright. True cost: Royal Mail shares are now worth two-thirds of sale value when the service was privatised in 2013. Buying back shares at current prices would cost 2.34billion, while converting the shares to bonds would add debt to the Governments books. Scrap tuition fees Policy: Scrap university tuition fees and restore maintenance grants to cover living costs for poor students. Result: The industry body Universities UK warns the move could reduce the number of courses. Better-off students would disproportionately benefit as they are more likely to attend university. Labours costings: 11.2billion per year, funded by increasing corporation tax to 26 per cent. True cost: Some experts believe that raising corporation tax will reduce the overall tax-take by forcing large British companies to relocate. Renationalise water firms Policy: Replace our dysfunctional water system with a network of regional publicly owned water companies. Result: Labour claim householders would save 220 a year as it reverses the 40 per cent real-terms rise in water bills since the industry was privatised in 1989. Yet the main reason bills have risen is not corporate greed but the 140billion invested by water companies in infrastructure. Labours costing: 14billion, according to Mr McDonnell. Labours 2017 election manifesto, however, claimed the move would have no net cost because shares would be converted into bonds. True cost: 69billion, as calculated by watchdog Ofgem, if shareholders are compensated for the value of their assets or up to 100billion if they are given the full market value. In addition, taxpayers would fund future investment. Photo: Colin Dacre The City of Penticton is proposing a new bylaw that would make it illegal to sit or lie on some sidewalks in the downtown core during summer months. Next week council will debate amendments to a bylaw that would ban sitting or lying on sidewalks on the 100-700 blocks of Main Street, 200-400 Martin Street and 100-300 Ellis Street between May 1 and Sept. 30. In a news release, the city says the locations are places where pedestrian traffic gathers and support investment in projects aimed at bringing more people and vibrancy into the downtown. In order to have a thriving downtown, the citys good neighbour bylaw requires updating to address circumstances and conditions not considered when the bylaw was originally developed, including the frequency and location of individuals occupying space for the purpose of sleeping, drug use, antisocial behaviour or panhandling, said director of development services Anthony Haddad. The ban targeting panhandling would only apply to the three named streets 17 per cent of the downtown core in an effort to make it compliant with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The city also announced an initiative that will invite opportunities for improving public spaces in the downtown such as sidewalks and areas in front of vacant storefronts, Nanaimo Square, Gyro Park, vacant parking lots and more. The city news release says it is hoping to foster pop-up event spaces, local artist and musicians spaces, vending opportunities and public space beautification. Monday Night Dinners at Nanaimo Square, which feeds the neighbourhoods homeless every Monday, stated on Facebook they were being evicted from their home because of the initiative. Haddad, however, said thats not true and Nanaimo Square will remain a public space for the community to use. The bakery on the corner has licensed a portion of the square for a patio, but the remainder will stay public. Monday Night Dinners are not getting the boot, he said. Council will debate both issues Tuesday. While most Australians will vote Liberal or Labor in Saturday's election, some will be lending their vote to the minor parties. And one women outside a pre-polling booth in Adelaide was among them - revealing rather bluntly how she will be voting for a party that advocates legalising drugs. 'I chose the party based on my lifestyle. So I voted for the Marijuana Party,' she said, smiling. 'I chose the party based on my lifestyle. So I voted for the marijuana party,' the woman said The Help End Marijuana Prohibition (HEMP) Party's policies include to re-legalise and regulate Cannabis for personal, medical and industrial use. They are also pushing to separate Cannabis from the 'criminality of the black market and end consequent corruption'. The video has already been viewed 39,281 times in the last 13 hours with hundreds of comments. 'Bless her little cotton mouth,' one commented. 'Why voting should not be compulsory,' a user suggested. 'This is the best thing ever,' someone else wrote. 'Here we have Adelaide's finest,' another wrote. 'More like, I chose the party because there was f*ck else to vote for,' another user commented. Hundreds of workers from KFC, Pizza Hut and Carls Jr will go on strike this weekend over issues surrounding pay and staff treatment. The Unite Union said members will strike from 2pm Friday until 2am Monday after negotiations with parent company Restaurant Brands in New Zealand failed. 'After six full days of negotiations Restaurant Brands is still insisting on cutting the margins for skilled and trained employees above the starting rate,' said the union's national secretary and lead negotiator, Gerard Hehir. Hundreds of workers from KFC and Pizza Hut will go on strike from 2pm Friday until 2am Monday over issues surrounding pay and staff treatment The 89 per cent of union members who voted shot down the latest offer from the fast food companies, and 88 per cent of the 763 employees voted to on go strike. The Kiwi union blamed what is calls inadequate pay for 'skilled workers' after starting pay was raised to $18 to meet the standards of competitors. The union also raised issue with overtime allowances being cut, an 'inadequate' pay increase of three per cent for salary workers, under staffing and preferential treatment of shifts assigned to new employees over existing staff. 'There have been numerous media reports of customers shocked and angry at long delays in service,' Mr Hehir said. Parent company Restaurant Brands argues its treatment and pay increases are above their rivals in the industry 'We receive daily reports from stressed-out staff unable to take breaks, reeling from angry customers and unable to ensure the stores are clean and correct food preparation procedures are followed.' Parent company Restaurant Brands said that its average pay increase was already above the existing and said its pay and conditions are above rivals in the industry. 'These increases also balance the impact of minimum wage increases with the need to minimise increases to the consumer,' said Arif Khan, Restaurant Brands New Zealand CEO. There's no suggestion the companies' Australian affiliates will similarly strike. Universities must do more to tackle anti-Semitism amid an appalling spate of attacks on Jewish students, the higher education minister has warned. Chris Skidmore said it is unacceptable that Jewish societies have to pay up to 2,000 for security at events because they are often gate-crashed by thugs. In a letter being sent to all universities this week, he will urge them to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism to help clamp down on incidents. It follows complaints from Jewish students that they are being made to feel unwelcome at UK universities. Chris Skidmore said it is unacceptable that Jewish societies have to pay up to 2,000 for security at events They are often targeted by hard-Left groups aligned to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who has seen his party engulfed by scandal over its handling of anti-Semitism. Timeline of trouble for students February 2016: Alex Chalmers, co-chairman of Oxford University Labour Club, quit claiming many members of both OULC and the student Left have some kind of problem with Jews. October 2016: 100 anti-Israel protesters tried to barge in on an event at University College London featuring a talk by Israeli activist Hen Mazzig. February 2018: Sixty students tried to stop a talk at the Kings College Israel Society by former Israeli deputy PM Dan Meridor. February 2019: A bid to create a Jewish Society at Essex University was voted against by 200 people. Officials declared the vote void. Advertisement This week it emerged that a dossier of leaked Labour messages about the crisis will be submitted to the equalities watchdog. Meanwhile, Jewish societies have told how events hosting Israeli speakers are often stormed by aggressive pro-Palestine activists. Mr Skidmore said: In this context, it is unacceptable to oblige certain groups of students to incur additional costs because of their race or religion, just to counteract the actions of others. Union of Jewish Students campaigns organiser Daniel Kosky said there had been a rise in anti-Semitic incidents at universities which had come from both the hard-Right and the hard-Left. Universities UK, which represents vice chancellors, said: We recommend universities do all they can to tackle anti-Semitism, including considering the IHRA definition, whilst also recognising their duty to promote freedom of speech within the law. The IHRA defines anti-Semitism as a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Advertisement Stunning landscape images show a 10-mile-long lake that formed after rare torrential downpours in Death Valley, California, which is one of North America's hottest and driest locations. A huge lake formed near Salt Creek last week after a storm packed with tropical moisture affected Southern California, triggering flooding on several park roads last March. Photographer Elliott McGucken was in Death Valley to photograph the storm and its aftermath on March 7, when he happened upon the temporary lake and started shooting. Stunning images show a 10-mile-long lake, (pictured), that formed after torrential downpours last March in Death Valley, California, which is one of North America's hottest and driest locations A huge lake has formed in near Salt Creek last week after a storm packed with tropical moisture affected Southern California, triggering flooding on several roads within the grounds of the national park And the stunning series of otherworldly images have been picked up by several news outlets at home and aboard and have been widely shared on social media, with hundreds of users commenting on them since they were first published in March. McGucken was planning to visit Badwater Basin to take some photos after a storm had passed through. However, he could not reach the Basin because of this other, larger lake along Salt Creek. The National Park Service estimates that the picturesque lake, which has not yet been given a name, stretches some 10 miles. 'It's a surreal feeling seeing so much water in the world's driest place,' McGucken, who also writes books on physics told the San Francisco Gate. Photographer Elliott McGucken was in Death Valley to photograph the storm and its aftermath on March 7, when he took images of the temporary lake McGucken was hoping to photograph Badwater Basin where he thought water might have also accumulated, but he couldn't access the area due to flooding and stumbled upon the ethereal lake 'There's an irony even though I couldn't get down to Badwater Basin. Overall, I think these shots are probably more unique.' McGucken said Death Valley is usually windy blustery conditions were creating ripples on the water when he first happened upon the lake. 'Then, the wind died down and it got really calm,' he said. This enabled him to capture a selection of images as reflection of the rugged Panamint Range, its tallest Peak frosted in snow, can be seen in the crystal clear waters. He claimed that the day following the rare rains and flooding provided him with a 'panorama of a lifetime' opportunity In composing the photograph, McGucken set the horizon at the golden cut in the height of the panorama and used a golden ratio in the composition, which is a classical technique in art oft referred to as the 'divine proportion' 'Nature presents this ephemeral beauty, and I think a lot of what photography is about is searching for it and then capturing it,' he said. On the lake's size, the park said in an email: 'I believe we would need aerial photos to accurately determine the size. From the road, it looks like it stretched from approximately Harmony Borax Works to Salt Creek right after the rain, which is a little less than 10 road miles. Patrick Taylor, chief of education and interpretation, claimed that he had never seen a lake of that size near Salt Creek in the six years he has worked in the park The Park received .87 inches of rain over March 5 and 6, which is almost three times the average for that month in a given year 'But, the road does curve a bit, so it's not an entirely accurate guess.' It is understood that flooding occurred because on March 5 and 6, the Park received .87 inches of rain, almost three times the average for March. The downfall represents about one-third of Death Valleys total annual precipitation, Pam Wright of Weather.com told Smithsonian.com. Because soil in the desert is completely sapped of moisture and due to its compacted nature, large amounts of water or rain cannot be absorbed quick enough. 'Because water is not readily absorbed in the desert environment, even moderate rainfall can cause flooding in Death Valley,' Weather.com meteorologist Chris Dolce explains. The National Park Service estimates that it stretches about 10 miles although it it difficult to estimate its exact size The shallow lake was discovered by photographer Elliott McGucken on March 7 as he intended to picture a nearby beauty spot 'Flash flooding can happen even where it is not raining. Normally dry creeks or arroyos can become flooded due to rainfall upstream.' McCucken said of taking the images: 'I was not too surprised that it took a couple hours to hike to the water's edge, as the lake grew and grew, until it did indeed become quite vast.I had planned to visit and photograph Badwater Basin that day, but the flooding had closed the roads leading out that way. 'In composing the photograph, I set the horizon at the golden cut in the height of the panorama, thusly using the golden ratio in the composition--a classical technique in art oft referred to as the 'divine proportion.' As many as 100,000 households are thought to be stuck on onerous leases Families who are trapped in homes on toxic leases have been given fresh hope after the competition watchdog pledged to launch an investigation. In a victory for campaigners and the Daily Mail, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it would probe claims that thousands of families were mis-sold their properties. As many as 100,000 households are thought to be stuck in homes on onerous leases, with some forced to pay doubling ground rents or extortionate fees for minor changes to their property. Housing Secretary James Brokenshire has accused developers of presiding over a culture of consumer exploitation, while the committee said the scandal could be the PPI of the housing industry The CMA investigation could pave the way for these contracts to be overturned if they are found to contain unfair terms. It could also leave developers exposed to legal action. The move came after Housing Secretary James Brokenshire and the Commons housing committee called on the watchdog to look into the potential mis-selling of leaseholds. Mr Brokenshire has accused developers of presiding over a culture of consumer exploitation, while the committee said the scandal could be the PPI of the housing industry. Yesterday, the National Leasehold Campaign said: We are thrilled the CMA has listened to the housing committees concerns... and we hope this is the first of many of their recommendations to be implemented. Leaseholders effectively purchase the right to live in their property for an agreed period. The contracts usually include obligations such as the payment of a ground rent to the freeholder. Such agreements were historically used for flats but, in recent years, developers controversially started selling leasehold houses as well. The Mail has led the way in exposing the scandal, which has seen families trapped in homes rendered unsellable and unmortgageable because of the toxic clauses in their contracts. Some included doubling ground rents, and charges for permission to build conservatories or change carpets. As many as 100,000 households are thought to be stuck in homes on onerous leases, with some forced to pay doubling ground rents or extortionate fees for minor changes to their property [File photo] Many leaseholders have seen the freehold of their home sold to shadowy investment firms. The Government banned the sale of new houses on leases in 2017. In March, the Commons housing committee found many buyers were unaware of the differences between freehold and leasehold. MPs raised concerns about a lack of clarity for buyers and called on the CMA to investigate claims of mis-selling. The CMAs investigation is likely to put the sales tactics of developers under close scrutiny. Housebuilders, including Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon, have insisted that the terms were explained to buyers. The Home Builders Federation said: We welcome the CMA investigation that should accurately set out the wider issues around leasehold and so help dispel some of the incorrect claims made. Leasehold remains a safe and secure tenure for millions of people. Sajid Javid compared his upbringing to Margaret Thatcher's yesterday as he sought to boost his own leadership bid. The Home Secretary also argued online retail giants must pay their fair share of tax to support threatened high street shops. Painting himself as a champion of small businesses, Mr Javid spoke about his father's experience running a shop and a market stall, and told how he would 'rush home from school' to help out. Sajid Javid compared his upbringing to Margaret Thatcher's yesterday as he sought to boost his own leadership bid Humble beginnings: Former prime minister Margaret Thatcher's father owned two grocery shops in Grantham, Lincolnshire Mr Javid, 49, told an audience at the Centre for Policy Studies think-tank: 'My story and Margaret Thatcher's story, that link to small business, is of course a story for countless people, millions of people throughout our country.' The minister, whose father worked as a bus driver after coming to Britain from Pakistan, added: 'What I haven't said much is the reason that my dad was a bus driver was he wanted to get a job that could just give him enough savings so that he could do what was burning away in his heart which was to start his own business. 'He did manage to do that after a few years, when he started with market stalls, selling ladies' clothing. Mr Javid, 49, told an audience at the Centre for Policy Studies think-tank: 'My story and Margaret Thatcher's story, that link to small business, is of course a story for countless people, millions of people throughout our country 'And then he managed to buy a shop, which me and my mother and the whole family lived above. 'I remember selling the blouses, the tights, the skirts... you could say I know more about ladies' clothing than any other male MP.' A new report by the Centre for Policy Studies found six in ten small company owners do not feel supported by the Government. Responding to the study, Mr Javid said yesterday: 'Whilst small businesses are paying their fair share of tax, they see tech businesses pay a piddling share of tax if anything at all. It's not fair, it's not right, and it's not acceptable.' Scott Morrison and Bill Shorten have made their final pitches to voters on the last full day of the election campaign by appearing on breakfast TV. The Prime Minister promised Australians lower taxes as he appeared in the nation's most marginal seat on Friday morning, warning Labor would tax the 'Australian life' if it won Saturday's election. 'I back Australians on their vision, on their ambitions, their future,' he told the Today show host Deborah Knight. Scott Morrison (pictured) has made his final pitches to voters on the last full day of the election campaign (pictured is the Prime Minister 'That's why I want to tax them less so they can keep more of what they earn and they can invest in themselves and their future.' Mr Morrison did a live cross from Townsville in north Queensland within the ultra-marginal Labor seat of Herbert, which Cathy O'Toole won by just 37 votes in 2016. A Galaxy poll published on Thursday showed Labor and the Liberal candidate Phillip Thompson, an Afghanistan war veteran, each tied at 50:50 after preferences. This means minor parties like Pauline Hanson's One Nation, Katter's Australian Party and mining magnate Clive Palmer's rebranded United Australia Party could decide a series of tight races in north Queensland. The government has gone into the election promising $158billion worth of tax cuts, over the next decade, which will see Australians earning $48,000 to $90,000 a year receive $1,080 in relief during the next financial year. Mr Shorten, the Opposition Leader, chose to spend the morning of election eve in Sydney, where opinion polls show Labor struggling to take marginal seats from the Liberal Party and defend one of its own marginal electorates. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten chose to spend the morning of election eve in Sydney, where opinion polls show Labor struggling to take marginal seats from the Liberal Party and defend one of its own electorates With Australia mourning the death of Labor's longest-serving prime minister Bob Hawke, aged 89, Mr Shorten vowed a government led by him would offer stability, following the overthrow of Liberal PMs Tony Abbott in 2015 and Malcolm Turnbull last year. 'What Australians want is they want a fighter,' he told the Nine Network. 'Fundamentally what Australians want is they just want an end to the infighting. 'They want to pick one prime minister, one government for three years.' Mr Shorten also defended Labor's plan to spend $9.3billion over the next decade giving pensioners free dental treatment. With Australia mourning the death of Labor's longest-serving prime minister Bob Hawke (pictured on May 6), Mr Shorten vowed a government led by him would offer stability, following the overthrow of Liberal PMs Tony Abbott in 2015 and Malcolm Turnbull last year It has also vowed to spend another $4.5billion during that time on Medicare rebates for cancer treatment and $15.9billion on more generous childcare rebates. Labor is also vowing to slash Australia's carbon emissions by 45 per cent by 2030. 'We've put forward positive policies which go towards the climate change, real action,' Mr Shorten said. 'Go towards helping working families for the cost of childcare. 'Helping the pensioners with their teeth. We want to build on Medicare. 'We want to make it even better than what it is so that when you get a diagnosis of cancer, you don't go poor. And of course we want to get wages moving.' Labor is also vowing to stop share-owning retirees, who don't pay income tax, from receiving franking credits, in a bid to save $58.2billion over a decade. In Sydney, a Galaxy poll showed Labor struggling to reclaim the inner-west seat of Reid. It showed the Liberal Party's Fiona Martin (pictured with Scott Morrison) leading Labor's Sam Crosby 52 to 48 per cent after preferences Should it win Saturday's election, negative gearing tax breaks will be abolished for existing properties from January, in a bid to save $32.5billion between now and 2029, as the capital gains tax discount is halved to 25 per cent from 50 per cent. Mr Morrison accused his opponent of wanting to tax the 'Australian life' from 'owning your first home to saving for your retirement'. 'Bill Shorten wants to tax all of that more,' the Prime Minister said. In Sydney, a Galaxy poll showed Labor struggling to reclaim the inner-west seat of Reid, which the Liberal Party holds by 4.7 per cent. It showed the Liberal Party's Fiona Martin, a TV child psychologist, leading Labor's Sam Crosby 52 to 48 per cent after preferences. Opinion polls and betting markets had the Liberal Party as the favourite to regain from Labor the Penrith-based seat of Lindsay, where sitting member Emma Husar was disendorsed following bullying allegations from staff. Nationally, a Newspoll this week showed Labor leading the Liberal-National Coalition 51 to 49 per cent after preferences, which would produce a narrow victory for Mr Shorten in the House of Representatives. Bob Hawke's daughter has broken her silence following her father's death and has opened up about his parenting skills. Susan Pieters-Hawke spoke to ABC's News Breakfast on Friday morning to pay tribute to her father, and said she was still in shock. 'I don't think I have quite gotten that he's gone,' she said. Asked about what sort of father he was, Ms Pieters-Hawke (in orange) confessed that 'parenting was not his strong suit' (pictured far left is Bob Hawke) Asked about what sort of father he was, Ms Pieters-Hawke confessed that 'parenting was not his strong suit'. 'He was enormously pleased and relieved our mother was such an extraordinary parent because he had deficits on that front,' she laughed. Despite her father being Australia's third-longest serving prime minister and knowing parenting wasn't his strongest talent, Ms Pieters-Hawke still looked up to her dad. 'In the normal sense of parenting, he wouldn't rate highly, but in some of the less normal senses of parenting, I think he was a fabulous and inspiring dad,' she said, 'You absorb so many of your values from your parents and dad was never too busy to explain the meaning of a complicated word he used.' Ms Pieters-Hawke is one of four children from her father's first marriage to Hazel Masterson The pair were married in 1956 before divorcing in 1995 after publicly admitting to the affair with writer Blanche d'Alpuget Ms Pieters-Hawke is one of four children from her father's first marriage to Hazel Masterson. The pair were married in 1956 before divorcing in 1995 after publicly admitting to his affair with writer Blanche d'Alpuget. Mr Hawke and Ms d'Alpuget met in 1970 in Jakarta before she began research for his biography while he was married to his first wife. They had a secret love affair over two decades while Ms d'Alpuget was married to Tony Pratt, with whom she had a son Louis before divorcing in 1986. The news of Mr Hawke's affair with the blonde writer 14 years his junior emerged in 1991 and shocked the public. After admitting his infidelity, the father-of-four divorced Hazel in 1995 and married Ms d'Alpuget that same year. After admitting his infidelity, Mr Hawke divorced Ms Masterson in 1995 and married Ms d'Alpuget (pictured left) that same year Mr Hawke died on Thursday aged 89. 'Today we lost Bob Hawke, a great Australian - many would say the greatest Australian of the post-war era,' his wife Blanche d'Alpuget said. 'Bob was dearly loved by his family, and so many friends and colleagues. We will miss him.' Former Labor and Liberal leaders praised the former prime minister and shared heartwarming stories of their memories with him. He was Labor's longest-serving PM, winning elections in 1983, 1984, 1987 and 1990. Advertisement Huge protests across Brazil over education spending freezes should serve as a warning to far-right President Jair Bolsonaro who faces a 'perfect storm' of political crises, analysts say. Wednesday's nationwide demonstrations - the first since Bolsonaro took office on January 1 - came as the ultraconservative government struggles to get its signature pension reform through Congress, which is seen as crucial to kickstarting growth in Latin America's biggest economy. Tens of thousands of students, teachers and professors marched in 'defence of education' in Brazil's biggest cities after the government said it would suspend 30 percent of discretionary spending for public universities in the second half of this year. Huge protests across Brazil over education spending freezes should serve as a warning to far-right President Jair Bolsonaro who faces a 'perfect storm' of political crises, analysts say. Above: A man walks past a burning bus during a protest organised by the National Students Union (UNE) on Wednesday sing unemployment and slowing economic growth, which Bolsonaro had promised in his election campaign to reverse, have contributed to a sharp drop in his popularity in the first few months of his presidency The freezing of post-graduate scholarships for students in science and humanities has also fueled anger. Bolsonaro hit back at the largely peaceful protesters, calling them 'useful idiots manipulated by an expert minority that makes up the heart of federal universities in Brazil.' He also accused leftist militants of stoking the protests. The government is heading 'in the direction of becoming unviable,' warned Claudio Couto, a political scientist at the Getulio Vargas Foundation think tank. 'We have a paralyzed economy, more mobilized streets and loss of support in Congress: it is the perfect storm for a presidential fall in Latin America,' he said. 'All we need is a scandal involving the government.' Wednesday's nationwide demonstrations - the first since Bolsonaro took office on January 1 - came as the ultraconservative government struggles to get its signature pension reform through Congress, which is seen as crucial to kickstarting growth in Latin America's biggest economy. Above: The clashes saw special units of military police deployed On the eve of the protests, economy minister Paulo Guedes reduced the government's forecast for 2019 economic growth to 1.5 percent from 2.2 percent and urged legislators to speed up reforms, warning Brazil was 'at the bottom of the well.' Rising unemployment and slowing economic growth, which Bolsonaro had promised in his election campaign to reverse, have contributed to a sharp drop in his popularity in the first few months of his presidency. On the eve of the protests, economy minister Paulo Guedes reduced the government's forecast for 2019 economic growth to 1.5 percent from 2.2 percent and urged legislators to speed up reforms, warning Brazil was 'at the bottom of the well.' Adding to Bolsonaro's woes is growing anger over his decree last week allowing millions of Brazilians to carry loaded weapons in public, which is being challenged in Congress and the Supreme Court. 'The demonstrations weaken the government, which was already weakening with internal fights,' said Couto. 'These demonstrations happened because the government provoked society and fueled them.' The crisis over public education has reminded many Brazilians of the existence of a political opposition, which has been largely dormant since Bolsonaro was swept to power last October and ended decades of center-left rule, said Thomaz Favaro, political analyst at Control Risks consultancy. 'The demonstrations should empower the opposition and push it to adopt a more forceful stance against the government,' said Favaro. But Couto said the process would be slow owing to the deep divisions between left-wing parties. 'The government is weak, but the opposition is too,' Couto said. Further demonstrations were likely because Brazil, which returned to democracy in 1985 after more than 20 years of military dictatorship, had 'legitimized protests as a tool,' said Favaro. Brazilians launched massive protests in 2016 in support of Congress's removal of left-wing president Dilma Rousseff and in 2013 over price increases for public transport. Tens of thousands of students, teachers and professors marched in 'defense of education' in Brazil's biggest cities after the government said it would suspend 30 percent of discretionary spending for public universities in the second half of this year. Above: Students and university professors Education minister Abraham Weintraub has not ruled out further cuts, telling journalists on Tuesday that 'the only certainty in life is death and taxes,' O Globo reported. The right-wing Free Brazil Movement, which played a leading role in the demonstrations against Rousseff, admits the left could benefit from the crisis caused by the government. 'The government became entangled and the left took advantage of... the opportunity to make one of its biggest demonstrations since the impeachment (of Rousseff),' the organization tweeted. Despite a $60 million advertising campaign Clive Palmer's United Australia Party could finish with no Senate seats leaving One Nation and the Centre Alliance party holding the balance of power. The Australia Institute, a left-leaning think tank, released a report based on the averages from the last three polls of Senate voting intentions from market database service Dynata. The report predicted that despite a massive months-long advertising campaign Palmer's UAP will struggle to secure a single Senate seat on May 18. Despite a multi-million dollar advertising campaign Clive Palmer's United Australia Party could miss out on Senate seats leaving One Nation and Centre Alliance holding the balance of power after the May 18 election 'Despite United Australia Party's growth in popularity and their significant ad spend, One Nation are still most likely to win the sixth seat in Queensland,' the report stated. 'The possibility remains for Clive Palmer to be a dark horse.' Current polls have the UAP on 3.3 per cent in Queensland, 3.6 per cent in South Australia and 2.9 per cent in Western Australia. The low figures indicate that Palmer's United Australia Party wont garner enough votes to secure a Senate seat in any of those key states. The report predicted the best Senate outcome for Labor would be 28 seats, seven to nine seats for the Greens and 32 to 34 seats for the Coalition. 'Our analysis shows the crossbench will remain large and diverse,' the report read. The Greens are expected to secure Senate seats in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria in the upcoming election Ben Oquist, the executive director of the Australia Institute, said it would be very unlikely for either of the major parties to secure a Senate majority. 'Neither Labor nor the Coalition is anywhere near securing a Senate majority, the crossbench including the Greens and Centre Alliance will remain diverse and powerful in the 46th Parliament,' he said. 'South Australia and Tasmania could be the crucial states in determining the final make-up and dynamic of the Senate.' One Nation looks to have a chance of securing one of the final two senate seats left in Tasmania while the Greens, One Nation, Centre Alliance and the Liberal Party will contest for the final two seats in South Australia One Nation looks to have a chance of securing one of the final two senate seats left in Tasmania while the Greens, One Nation, Centre Alliance and the Liberal Party are in the contest for the final two seats in South Australia. One Nation's Malcolm Roberts is on track to secure a Queensland Senate seat with a vote of 10.7 per cent, 18 months after he was disqualified for being a dual British citizen. The Centre Alliance could also secure a South Australian seat with a vote of 6.2 per cent. This could see former MP Skye Kakoschke-Moore elected to the Senate at the expense of Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young less than two years after she too was disqualified for being a dual citizen. The results of the institute's research lead them to conclude a Labor and Greens coalition would likely not be enough to secure a Senate majority. 'Meaning that the Labor government will be dependent on Centre Alliance or One Nation to pass its reform agenda,' the report stated. The same Senate fate would also be likely for the Coaltion which would also require them to rely on minor parties to pass legislation through the upper house. 'The Coalition faces a possible 'nightmare' scenario where they will need all non-Labor, non-Greens crossbenchers,' the report stated. Photo: Contributed Video of a Mountie interrogating a young Indigenous woman disclosing sexual abuse in B.C. foster care drives home in a "visceral way" a reality that Canadians should be shocked by and one that they need to see, former Truth and Reconciliation commissioner Murray Sinclair said Friday. The 2012 video, shot at the Kelowna RCMP detachment and released as part of a lawsuit against B.C.'s Ministry of Children and Family Development, prompted Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale to call its contents "absolutely abhorrent." In the video, the officer can be heard asking her questions, including whether she was "at all turned on ... even a little bit" during the abuse she is describing. The young woman replies that she was not, adding she was "really scared." The apparent attitudes and techniques on display in the video were "profoundly outdated, offensive and wrong," Goodale added. In an interview with The Canadian Press in Ottawa, where Manitoba's first Aboriginal judge is now a senator, Sinclair said Friday that Canadians have been told over many years that this type of treatment continues, but he's not sure they believe it. Any parent would be quick to complain to supervising officers over that interrogation, Sinclair said, noting the young woman was not an accused person and should have been treated more carefully and respectfully. "I don't think people believe us until they see it ... That's what the official RCMP position is, that we don't mistreat witnesses, particularly sexual-assault victims." Canadians want to have faith, confidence and trust in police agencies and officers, Sinclair added. "When they see that, it should shock them," he said. "It should cause them to question the integrity of what it is they are being told by those agencies of policing and it should cause them to be more supportive of those who say that police officers need more oversight." Policing is expected to be a key theme in the upcoming report by a federal commission on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada. It is scheduled to be released in Gatineau, Que. on June 3. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission heard that the vast majority of Indigenous women who had been sexually victimized in residential schools felt they were not believed if they spoke to police, Sinclair said. "They were of the view that not only did the officer not believe them but that he and it was almost always a male was disrespectful towards them," he said. "As a result, I expect that the same kind of evidence would have come out at the hearings of the missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls inquiry, and so I would not be surprised that they highlight that fact again in their report." A homeless man was trapped inside the back a garbage truck for over an hour after being dumped in there because he was sleeping inside a wheelie bin. The 30-year-old man was asleep in the bin at the back of a St Vincent's de Paul charity shop in Victoria Street in Kerang, Victoria, about 7.50am on Friday. The bin was lifted off the ground by the garbage truck's automatic crane, with the man falling 2.5 metres into back of the truck. A homeless man was trapped inside the back a garbage truck for over an hour after being dumped in there because he was sleeping inside a bin that was emptied into the rear hopper during the regular rubbish collection (stock photo) CFA brigade captain at Kerang, Ramon Steel, said the driver of the garbage truck had no idea a man was inside the bin. 'He had to get out of his truck to shift this particular bin around so the forks will go into it. That's when he heard a gentleman yelling in the back of the truck.' Mr Steel said to ABC. 'He managed to get up, probably climbing up on the rubbish and onto the roof of the truck. But it was far too slippery for him to get down so we were called to rescue him.' Mr Steel said the man was very lucky the garbage truck was not full of rubbish. 'If he had have been compacting the truck, the outcome would've been much different.' The 30-year-old man was asleep in the bin out the back of a Vinnies op shop in Victoria Street in Kerang, northern Victoria (pictured), shortly before 7.50 on Friday. The bin was lifted off the ground by the garbage truck where the man fell approximately 2.5 metres into the back cabin Paramedics were called to rescue the man and struggled for over an hour to free him from the truck. The man was taken to Kerang District Health where he was treated for back injuries and a broken tooth. He has been provided with emergency accommodation by local volunteers. A paedophile dwarf who pretended to be a personal trainer on Facebook to trick girls into sending him nude pictures will learn his fate today. Daniel James Knuth, 21, appeared grim-faced as he arrived at the Townsville District Court with his father, Queensland state Liberal National Party MP Shane Knuth. Knuth has pleaded guilty to 35 child sex offences. The charges included possession of child exploitation material, using a carriage service for child exploitation material and grooming a child under 16. Daniel Knuth was accompanied by his father, Queensland MP Shane Knuth at his sentencing at at Townsville Court on Friday morning The paedophile with dwarfism is facing up to 15 years in prison after he admitted to grooming young girls on Facebook He admitted to using a fake Facebook account to trick young girls into sending him nude photographs, saying no one would talk to him on his real profile He admitted to using a fake Facebook account to trick young girls into sending him nude photographs, saying no one would talk to him on his real profile. Under the guise of a personal trainer, Knuth engaged in sexually explicit conversations with 27 child victims between October 2016 and September 2017, the Townsville Bulletin reported. At an initial sentencing hearing in December, Knuth's defense barrister claimed prison would be a 'very difficult' environment for him due to his stature. The defence lawyer said Knuth had undergone 17 surgeries to correct bone deformities. Judge Greg Lynham said he had never seen this type of criminal behavior with such a high number of victims, and signalled he would be sending Knuth to jail. Knuth pleaded guilty to 35 child sex offences including possession of child exploitation material, using a carriage service for child exploitation material and grooming a child under 16, in December The 21-year-old is the son (bottom) of KAP Member for Hill Shane Knuth (middle) admitted to using a fake Facebook account to trick young girls into sending him nude photographs, saying no one would talk to him on his real profile But Judge Lynham was held off sentencing him until the court had a complete understanding of the vulnerabilities of people with dwarfism face in a prison. In March, the matter was brought to court again, where Judge Lynham ordered the Director of Public Prosecutions contact the manager of the Townsville Correctional Centre, to determine what Knuth's sentencing outcome would be. 'They can accommodate (some) sorts of conditions quite well', Judge Lynham told the court, 'but we have unique features here that I'm not sure whether the Townsville Correctional Centre has been confronted with before. 'In fairness to them they need to have an opportunity to consider how they might accommodate,' Judge Lynham said. The businessman father who gassed himself and his family to death had lost his $300,000-a-year job and had an affair with a teenage girl in the Philippines before the killings. Fernando Manrique, 44, Maria Lutz, 43, and their children Elisa, 11, and Martin, ten, were found dead, along with the family dog, in their Sydney home in October 2016. The father-of-two set up an elaborate system of pipes in the ceiling to emit an odourless gas throughout the house while the family slept. Lutz and the two children were found dead in their beds, while Manrique was found face down in the hallway. An inquest into their deaths today laid bare details of the family's dire finances, marital problems and revealed Manrique did intend to kill himself. Manrique, who emigrated from Colombia to Australia in 2000, had been struggling to stay afloat after he was made redundant at his $300,000-a-year job at Fuji Xerox in 2013. Fernando Manrique, 44, Maria Lutz, 43, and their children Elisa, 11, and Martin, ten, were found dead, along with the family dog, in their Sydney home in October 2016 An inquest into their deaths has laid bare details of the family's dire finances, marital problems and revealed Manrique did intend to kill himself He later started working at Drake Business Logistics the following year where he took a significant pay cut making $190,000 a year. The role required Manrique to manage the business in Australia as well as in the Philippines, and he split his time travelling there every two weeks. For the most part, the father was perceived as a 'very calm and measured type of person', and did not show signs of stress, his business partner Grant Mackenzie told the court. However, Mr Mackenzie revealed months before his death, Manrique expressed he was overwhelmed with his job after the company's manager had become frustrated with his performance. Over time, Manrique began to struggle in supporting his family and had racked up thousands of dollars in debt to the Australian Tax Office, as he was not accustomed to preparing his own taxes at his previous job. Records showed that by September 2016, just one month before he died, Manrique owed $15,462.91 to the ATO. The family trust credit card also had a $28,000 balance and they had been paying only interest on their $510,000 mortgage. The family had just $6 in its trust account, and a few thousand in other accounts. At the time, Manrique was supporting himself, his family, as well as a girl named Jamilyn, or Jamie, with whom he was in a 'serious relationship' in the Philippines. The inquest heard Ms Lutz, a lawyer, was devoted to her children and was planning to return to work after getting help from the National Insurance Disability Scheme Maria Lutz, 43 and her children Elisa, 11, and Martin, 10, were found dead, along with the family dog, in their Sydney home in October 2016 The beloved dog died beside the young autistic boy, inside the house as collateral damage The inquest found Manrique and Maria had been having problems in their marriage since 2013 due to Manrique's constant travelling for work. His wife had told friends that the couple were no longer having sex and were sleeping in separate rooms. Manrique also confided in a friend about his extramarital affairs revealing he often 'hooked up' with other women when he was overseas and dated people for extended periods of time. At the time of his death, Manrique had been dating Jamie for four months after the pair first met when she was working at bar at age 17. He spent two weeks with her before suggesting she quit her job and offered to financially support her, Jamie told police. He also told the teen he planned to buy property in the Philippines but he never followed through. Jamie recalled Manrique appeared stressed during his final visit to the Philippines and was drinking heavily. It was later revealed he told Mr Mackenzie his wife had learned of his affair and he decided to move out and find a new place in the city. Days before their deaths, Manrique opened an account with gas company BOC, ordering two cylinders of carbon monoxide to set up a gas delivery system in the family house (pictured) Those close to Maria, however, gave a conflicting account staying Maria had kicked him out of the house after she became fed up with him neglecting their children. After their son Martin fainted at school due to his medication in August 2016, the mum called Manrique at work to notify him to which he replied saying he was busy in a meeting. The incident appeared to be the final straw for Maria, who ordered him to move out and she told friends she was going to file for divorce. Having no place to go, Manrique managed to convince her to let him stay for a few more weeks while he found a new place to live. During this time, Maria said Manrique appeared to have turned it around and began acting like 'father of the year.' Unbeknownst to her, he then began concocting his sinister plan to poison his family and opened an account with gas company BOC and ordering cylinders of poisonous gas. FROM COLOMBIA TO SYDNEY: A TIMELINE Early 2005: Fernando Manrique and Maria Claudia Lutz move to Sydney, Australia from Colombia. February 2005: The couple purchase a home in Davidson, in Sydney's north, for $590,000. May 2005: Their first child Elisa is born. August 2006: Mr Manrique and Ms Lutz's son Martin is born. Both their children have non-verbal autism. January 2009: Ms Lutz's parents visit the family in Sydney. November 2009: Ms Lutz's brother and sister-in-law travel to Sydney for a holiday. 2012: Elisa starts school at St Lucy's School for children with disabilities in Wahroongah. 2013: Martin starts school at the same place. Their mother was a regular helper at the school canteen and well-liked within the community. November 2013: Mr Manrique starts work at Drake Business Logistics as Chief Technology Officer. May 2015: He is named the Executive Director of Drake Business Services Asia. The father frequently travels for work with this new role. October 2016: Family and their pet dog found dead at their home. Believed to have been deliberately gassed. Advertisement Manrique had told his friend Jairo Campos he needed the canisters to test gas levels in enclosed carparks and asked him if he could store them in his home offering him $300 to $500. Mr Campos reluctantly accepted and the cylinders were delivered on October 7 by delivery driver Robert Lamont. Mr Lamont later told police he found it odd that the gas was being delivered to a residential address and prompting him to call the home and confirm he did not make a mistake. A second delivery man Daniel Reilly, who delivered the second gas cylinder to theom also expressed he found it strange after only having delivered the gas to businesses or lab facilities in his ten years on the job. On October 17, police discovered the bodies of the family members while conducting a welfare check after they didn't turn up to work or school. Mr Manrique's body was in the living room, Ms Lutz and Elisa were next to each other in a bedroom, and Martin was found in a third room beside their bull mastiff Tequila. Ms Lutz has been described as a vivacious and loving woman who is believed to have spent many sleepless nights caring for her children, who needed frequent therapy and doctors appointments. She often posted about her children on social media and said her 'worst nightmare' was either of her kids getting lost or going missing. Detectives later suggested Manrique may not have intended to kill himself and believed he was going to flee to the Philippines to live with Jamie. However, the inquest report suggests it was possible he did intend to take his life as evidence showed he destroyed his computer and hard drives and never discussed moving to the Philippines permanently. There were also no signs that he made plans to travel. The inquest also examined whether tighter restrictions on obtaining poisonous gasses were needed. The Counsel Assisting has proposed recommendations to address the issue of accessing the gas for illegitimate use. Post mortem reports revealed the all four had gas levels in their blood exceeding 70 per cent. Saturations exceeding 30 per cent are usual considered lethal. For confidential support in Australia LIFELINE: 13 11 14 www.lifeline.org.au . Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467 This is the incredible moment hundreds of cownose rays swam through waters off Sydney's Bondi Beach. The rays shimmered in the clear ocean as they were captured on camera by a drone used for watching out for sharks. The footage was uploaded to Facebook by the Drone Shark App on Thursday. This is the incredible moment hundreds of cownose rays swam through waters off Sydney's Bondi Beach It was captioned: 'We haven't seen this before so it's a first. 'Two species of cownose Ray can be found in #australianwaters. Apparently they don't come down as far as this so I'm assuming it's the warmer water we have had recently.' Viewers were left impressed by the footage. 'Phenomenal!! Beautiful nature at its best,' one person wrote. 'I've never seen anything like that! Beautiful,' added another. One wrote: ' Amazing capturing all of this aerial footage that would normally pass us by.' The cownose ray is a species of eagle ray found throughout a large part of the western Atlantic and Caribbean, from New England in the United States to southern Brazil. A separate sub-species is known on Australia. Cownose rays grow rapidly, and male rays often reach about 90cm long. The rays shimmered in the clear ocean as they were captured on camera by a drone used for watching out for sharks A former government sniper who gunned down his ex girlfriend on a Manhattan street in broad daylight will spend at least 18 years behind bars. Vincent Verdi, 63, a one time federal intelligence officer, admitted he shot Elizabeth Lee-Herman - who he met on Match.com - outside Cooper Union in New York City, in November 2017. Verdi, who stalked and fired at the innocent mother-of-two from point blank range, hitting her stomach and chest, claimed to be remorseful for his horrific actions. Vincent Verdi, 63, a one time federal intelligence officer, admitted he shot Elizabeth Lee-Herman, who he met on Match.com, outside Cooper Union in New York City, in November 2017 'These words come of a heavy heart,' Verdi said in Manhattan Supreme Court. 'On November 1st, 2017, I intentionally caused the death of Elizabeth Lee-Herman by shooting her with a firearm on Astor Place in Manhattan. 'My sorrow for what I did has no limit, and is also true of my regret for the pain and anguish I have caused to many, many people. Elizabeth Lee Herman, 56, was shot dead by her ex-boyfriend Vincent Verdi as she arrived at work in Manhattan on Wednesday morning 'After decades of serving my country as an Army officer in war zones around the world and comporting myself with honor and discipline. 'I don't know how I arrived at this place where I could commit this act, nor how I can ever atone for the damage I have caused.' After shooting Lee-Herman, Verdi turned the murder weapon on himself but survived the bullet to the head. Verdi, who worked on special projects with the CIA and Defense Department in Afghanistan, was charged with murder, weapons possession, aggravated criminal contempt and stalking. Verdi, who had a history of stalking, was previously arrested for obsessively following the victim and even tracked the 56-year-old Lee-Herman to the dentist's office. Police said he stalked her for months at her home, her workplace, and even while she was out on other dates in a campaign of obsessive intrusion forcing her to file a restraining order and distibute his mug shot image to security guards at the school she worked at. The scene following the horrific shooting in Astor Place, Manhattan in 2017 But Verdi ignored the court order, and confronted Lee-Herman after her daily bike commute from her Upper East Side home where he carried out the murder in cold blood. The Grace Church School, where Herman worked as an administrative assistant, issued a statement following her death. 'We are deeply saddened to announce the loss of a beloved colleague, Elizabeth Lee, to an unthinkable act of violence,' they said. 'Elizabeth was a dearly loved member of our community for 17 years, first as a Grace Parent, Parents' Association Chair and most recently the assistant to the Assistant Head of School. 'We are all heartbroken over this tragedy.' A vile child predator who violated boys and babies before sharing his horrific exploits online has been called 'every child's worst nightmare' and jailed for 40 years. Child predator Ruecha Tokputza is dubbed one of South Australia's most evil predatory sex tourists, after grooming Australian and Thai children for sex. Over six-and-a-half years Tokputza, 30, violated at least 13 boys and babies as young as 15 months of age and filmed their torment, encouraging others to do the same. On Friday, District Court Judge Liesl Chapman branded Tokputza as 'every child's worst nightmare' and 'every parent's horror', Adelaide Now reported. Child predator Ruecha Tokputza (pictured) is dubbed one of South Australia's most evil predatory sex tourists, after grooming Australian and Thai children for sex Judge Chapman sentenced the 30-year-old to 40 years and three months behind bars and is not allowed to seek parole for at least 28 years. In April, Tokputza pleaded guilty to 50 charges including aggravated indecent assault, unlawful sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 14, having sex with children outside of Australia, persistent exploitation of a child outside Australia and transmitting child exploitation material. During sentencing, Judge Chapman said Tokputza was deluded by the belief he was helping the children and that they loved him. But she said the hundreds of videos he filmed while abusing the children showed there was never any love in his eyes, only pain. 'You are a child's worst nightmare,' she said. 'You are every parent's horror, you are a menace to the community.' 'Unfortunately there are many like you out there fortunately, you have been caught.' Court documents revealed Tokputza had a collection of up to '12,500 image files' and '650 video files'. Included in the predator's sickening film library was boys changing at an Adelaide swimming pool the location of which has not been disclosed. Over six-and-a-half years Tokputza, 30, violated at least 13 boys and babies as young as 15 months of age and filmed their torment, encouraging others to do the same Tokputza admitted he indecently filmed the boys, under the age of 17, on May 21, 2017. Last month, Prosecutor Heath Barklay SC said it was difficult to think of worse offending and said the sexual exploitation of the children was 'simply breathtaking'. He was liberal in sharing his collection with child sex predators and used an online messaging app to distribute images and video files. In one chat, he urged a man to visit Thailand and 'engage in sexual activity with children under the age of 16'. Investigators have compared the scale of Tokputa's abuse to Families SA paedophile Shannon McCoole. He was arrested in January 2018 after a joint investigation from Australian Federal Police, South Australia Polcie, NSW Police and Interpol. A small airplane made an emergency landing on a Florida highway ramp during rush hour and crashed into a car. News outlets report the plane landed Thursday around 5:30 p.m. on an Interstate 4 on-ramp in Maitland, just north of Orlando. Maitland Police Lt. Louis Grindle revealed in the aftermath of the crash there were no injuries. The plane came to rest on an Interstate 4 on-ramp in Maitland near Orlando at around 5.30pm The driver of the car the plane hit talks to police officers following the shocking incident on Thursday evening Grindle also said the pilot claimed the airplane had run out of fuel. The Greater Orlando Aviation Authority revealed the aircraft had been heading to Orlando Executive Airport. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating. 'I just made a hard landing on the highway,' the pilot said at 5:25 p.m. Maitland fire rescue officials said while the plane was making an emergency landing, it hit a car on the on-ramp. No one was injured. 'We're lucky it was just minor damage to the plane and the car,' Maitland Lt. Louis Grindle said. 'It definitely could have been a lot worse' Grindle said the pilot was flying from South Carolina. The plane made an emergency landing on a highway ramp and crashed into the car as the pilot touched down Donnie Johnson, 68, was executed on Thursday in Nashville, Tennessee The state of Tennessee has executed a man convicted of killing his wife decades ago at a camping center he managed in Memphis. Donnie Edward Johnson, 68, was executed by lethal injection on Thursday night inside a maximum-security Nashville prison for the 1984 suffocation of his wife, Connie Johnson. In his dying moments, the religious inmate uttered a long prayer, asking for forgiveness. He asked the warden if he could sing, and he sang two hymns. The last words observers could hear were 'no more dying here.' He was pronounced dead at 7.37pm. Johnson had initially blamed his wife's slaying on a work-release inmate who confessed to helping dispose of the body and who was granted immunity for testifying against Johnson. Donnie Johnson, 68, was executed for the murder of his wife Connie Johnson, (pictured), in Memphis. He suffocated her in 1984 by shoving a 30-gallon trash bag down her throat Johnson became the fourth person executed in Tennessee since August. The last two inmates executed in Tennessee chose the electric chair, saying they believed it offered a quicker and less painful death than the state's default method of lethal injection. Johnson had spent half his life on death row and seen three execution dates come and go as his appeals played out in court, including challenges to Tennessee's lethal injection protocols. Johnson became very religious on death row and preached the Gospel to other inmates The state's present default method is a three-drug combination that includes the sedative midazolam, which inmates have claimed causes a prolonged and excruciating death. Three more executions are scheduled for later this year in Tennessee. Request for clemency denied Governor Bill Lee announced Tuesday that he would not intervene, following 'prayerful and deliberate consideration' of Johnson's clemency request. Johnson's legal team had asked the state for a reprieve, claiming that he turned his life around s from 'a liar, a cheat, a con man and a murderer' to an ordained elder in the Seventh-day Adventist Church 'with a flock in prison.' Religious leaders, including the president of the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church, to which Johnson belongs, had asked Lee to spare Johnson's life. In a letter, Johnson wrote to his children Cindy and Jason and to his former wife's family pleading with them to forgive him - describing himself as a 'monster' at the time of her death Connie Johnson's daughter, Cynthia Vaughn, said she'd forgiven Johnson and joined in the request for clemency. Other relatives had sent a letter to the governor asking that the execution move forward. 'I ask you to please bring justice to our family after 35 years of exhausted heartache, sorrow, and emptiness,' wrote the victim's sister, Margaret Davis. On Wednesday, the inmate's attorneys made public a statement from Johnson to his son, stepdaughter and other members of Connie Johnson's family in which he begged for their forgiveness. 'I am truly sorry and if I knew something that I could do to ease your pain I would gladly do it,' Johnson wrote. Abigail and Jonathan Dysinger, center, pray during a vigil for Donnie Johnson in Nashville. Johnson was executed by lethal injection Thursday for suffocating his wife People pray during a vigil for Donnie Johnson at Riverside Seventh-Day Adventist Church Attempts to donate last meal Defense attorneys said Thursday that the inmate declined to request a special last meal, instead asking supporters to provide a meal to a homeless person. Public Defender Kelley Henry said Johnson had requested that a vegetarian pizza be delivered to a homeless person instead of him getting his final meal, but this request was denied. Fox 17 reported him as saying: 'Mr. Johnson realizes that his $20 allotment will not feed many homeless people. Public Defender Kelley Henry said Donnie Johnson, (pictured), had requested that a vegetarian pizza be delivered to a homeless person in lieu of his last meal, but this request was denied. 'His request is that those who have supported him provide a meal to a homeless person.' The Nashville church where the inmate is an ordained elder was collecting grocery gift cards for a meal next week for the homeless and planned a vigil as the execution hour loomed. Alabama administered a lethal injection Thursday evening to 41-year-old Michael Brandon Samra. He and a friend, Mark Duke, were convicted of capital murder in the deaths of Duke's father, the father's girlfriend and the woman's two elementary-age daughters in 1997 after a dispute over use of a pickup truck. Duke's sentence was subsequently overturned because he was 16 at the time of the killings and the Supreme Court later banned executing inmates younger than 18 at the time of their crimes. The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to consider extending its ban on executing juvenile offenders to people as old as 20 when they committed their crimes, denying a stay to Samra . He was 19 at the time of the quadruple murder. Details of the crime In 1984, Donnie Johnson was working at Force Camping Center in Memphis. Connie Johnson also worked there until about 18 months before her death as she decided to stop because her daughter was starting school, according to The Tennessean. Johnson killed his wife there. A Shelby County medical examiner claimed that she had cuts and bruises on her head and had bled internally. Her body also showed signs of a struggle, indicated that she fought back as Johnson killed her. Donnie Johnson's coworker, a work release inmate, helped him move her body to her van, which they left in a shopping mall parking lot. Johnson died by lethal injection on Thursday at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Tennessee, (pictured) Donnie Johnson had spoken about divorcing her before her death, witnesses testified in the trial. He also said that he had previous divorces and couldn't afford another one. Police investigating the murder also believed there were signs that Connie Johnson was going to leave her husband, the Tennessean reported. 'There was testimony that she would have been conscious during the terrifying ordeal and that from one to four minutes would have elapsed before she expired,' Tennessee Supreme Court Justice William Harbison wrote in an opinion after the murder conviction. 'The homicide was inhuman and brutal to an almost indescribable degree.' Johnson had admitted to being previously unfaithful to Connie although he denied involvement with another woman at the time of his wife's death. Over a year before her death, Connie Johnson had purchased a life insurance policy and named Donnie as the primary beneficiary and her sister as contingent beneficiary. Following her death, both her sister and Johnson had made claims for the policy proceeds of $50,000. A young Japanese man has been jailed in Melbourne for stealing $140,000 from his boss's suitcase and losing it at Crown Casino over four hours. Takuro Yanagida, 23, was visiting Melbourne with his boss, when he used a key in October 2018 to unlock his employer's suitcase at their hotel in a 'naive, amateurish and unsophisticated' act. Yanagida had developed a 'precarious financial position' and become involved in gambling in the months leading up to the incident. A young Japanese man has been jailed in Melbourne for stealing $140,000 from his boss's suitcase and losing it at Crown Casino over four hours He went to Crown Casino and exchanged the money for chips, proceeding to lose the 'entire sum over a four-hour period' in a 'panic-driven, opportunistic crime'. Yanagida initially denied what he'd done, but made full admissions after Crown Casino was called and identified him as the person who'd exchanged the money for chips. 'Your offending may have been initiated by a naive belief that you could use (your employer's) money to win at the casino and pay off your financial situation,' County Court Judge Robert Dyer said while sentencing on Friday. The judge accepted Yanagida's early plea was indicative of genuine remorse before jailing him for eight months. Yanagida has already served 207 days in pre-sentence detention, meaning he must serve another month before he is freed, and deported to Japan. A woman charged with murder for pushing an elderly passenger off a bus to his death in Las Vegas has been released on bail. Cadesha Bishop, 25, from Las Vegas, was free Wednesday after posting $100,000 bond, the New York Post reported. She is now on high-level electronic monitoring ahead of her preliminary hearing on May 23. It wasnt clear from the records on what day she was released. Cadesha Michelle Bishop, 25, who was charged with murder for pushing an elderly passenger off a bus to his death in Las Vegas, has been released on bail Serge Fournier was allegedly telling Bishop to be nicer to other passenger on the bus after she was heard cursing when he was shoved off the vehicle and landed head first on the sidewalk. Video shows the 74-year-old being shoved down the steps of the public transit bus and smashing his face on the concrete ground. In the CCTV clip taken from the bus' security cameras, a woman can be seen talking to Fournier as he walked past carrying a walker and heading towards the door. Then as his back was turned she violently shoved him with both hands, sending the elderly man crashing down the steps. Bishop was arrested on a murder warrant last Monday after he died in hospital of his injuries. She was allegedly yelling and swearing at others on the bus when Fournier asked her to stop during the March 21 incident at around 4.50 pm. Fournier initially survived but spent a month in hospital before he succumbed to his injuries, KSNV reports. Clark County coroner ruled his death was a homicide resulting from his injuries on April 23. Serge Fournier was shoved from a bus in Las Vegas and died of his head injuries in hospital a just over a month later In video footage released by Las Vegas police, Fournier could be seen falling face first into the sidewalk after being pushed from the vehicle A police report says Fournier was moving up the aisle of the Regional Transportation Commission bus when he asked a woman who had been cursing at other people to be nicer to passengers, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. In police documents Bishop is accused of shoving Fournier out the door 'with enough force that he never touched any of the steps' before hitting his head about eight feet from the bus. According to the arrest report, witnesses saw her walking away from the bus without offering Fournier help, grabbing her sons hand and leading him away. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department released footage of the altercation on Tuesday in an appeal for more witnesses to come forward. Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 23. Fournier allegedly told Cadesha Bishop to stop shouting and cursing at fellow passengers as he walked down the aisle of the Regional Transportation Commission bus on March 21 Serge Fournier hit his head on a sidewalk during the incident and the Clark County coroner ruled his death a homicide resulting from his injuries a month later 'No matter what his age, she should not have done that. People need a little more patience than what they have these days,' said the man's neighbor, Trevor Taylor. Taylor asserted that Fournier was a 'wonderful person' and shared that he would never forget his friend. 'He was an excellent neighbor. Very nice, religious person,' he added. Fournier leaves behind a wife, who is disabled. 'I know it caused several financial problems for his wife,' said Ken Mallen, who was familiar with the couple. The Las Vegas Sun reported that Bishop was identified in part by a 'Love' emblem on her jacket and her son's distinctive Spider-Man backpack. Police said she was seen in the security video, which has yet to be released, walking away holding the boy's hand. Court records show that Bishop was convicted twice, in 2014 and 2015, of misdemeanor domestic battery charges. Labor's deputy leader Tanya Plibersek has slammed investors who negatively gear multiple properties while failing to mention she owns four properties, including one in Slovenia. The woman who could be deputy prime minister in a few days took aim at millionaire real estate moguls who rented out their properties at a loss and claimed a tax break. 'What we really need to do to help first home buyers into the housing market is stop subsidising people buying their 10th or 20th investment property to compete with first home buyers at every auction that they're attending,' she told ABC News Breakfast on Thursday. Ms Plibersek was defending Labor's plan to scrap negative gearing for existing properties from January 2020, should it win Saturday's election, in a bid to make it easier for young Australians to buy their first home. ABC interviewer Virginia Trioli did not ask Ms Plibersek about the fact she owns four homes, including a rental investment at Ljubljana in Slovenia, which are all declared on her pecuniary interest register. The deputy leader of the Labor Party and her husband Michael Coutts-Trotter, a senior New South Wales bureaucrat, bought their house in Sydney's inner-south, for $1.1million in March 2005. They list this four-bedroom, older-style home as their main place of residence. The couple also own an apartment in the ritzy Canberra suburb of Kingston, near Lake Burley Griffin. Ms Plibersek also has a stake in a Carringah flat, in Sydney's Sutherland Shire, which falls within Prime Minister Scott Morrison's Cook electorate. Labor deputy leader Tanya Plibersek (pictured right) and her husband Michael Coutts-Trotter (left), a senior New South Wales bureaucrat own several properties together Ms Plibersek has slammed investors who negatively gear multiple properties while failing to mention she owns four properties, including one in Slovenia She inherited this property as a deceased estate from a family member and declared this as a source of rental income. It is also only a short drive from Oyster Bay, where she grew up on the Georges River in Sydney's south. Should Labor win Saturday's election, negative gearing for existing properties will be abolished from January, as the capital gains tax discount for those who sell is halved from 50 per cent to 25 per cent. The Opposition estimates this will save taxpayers $32.5billion over the next decade. Ms Plibersek was also asked about shadow treasurer Chris Bowen's remark that as a young home buyer he weathered negative equity, where a borrower owes more than their home is worth as the market falls. They bought their house in Sydney's inner-south for $1.1million in March 2005 ABC interviewer Virginia Trioli did not ask Ms Plibersek about the fact she owns four homes, including one at Ljubljana (pictured) in Slovenia, which are all declared on her pecuniary interest register 'Well, I think if you hold on to your property and it recovers in value, that's a different proposition but obviously it's not a good thing for anyone to owe more than their property is worth. You would seek to avoid that,' she said. Labor has vowed to match the Coalition's plan whereby taxpayers would help first-home buyers fund a 20 per cent deposit, so they would only need to stump up five per cent equity. 'We see this as a modest measure around the edges of home ownership and housing affordability,' Ms Plibersek said. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has promised to allow singles earning less than $125,000 a year and couples earning less than $200,000 a year to get into the housing market for this scheme, designed to benefit 10,000 people. Bill Shorten has admitted that his wife Chloe's popularity has surpassed his own - urging people to 'vote one Chloe's husband'. Mrs Shorten has emerged as her husband's most valuable political ally during the Labor campaign ahead of Saturday's Federal Election. 'I think one of the nicest things in the campaign has been the rest of Australia being able to see a bit more of this fantastic woman who I married. As they say, vote one Chloe Shorten's husband,' he told news.com.au. Bill Shorten has admitted that his wife Chloe's popularity has surpassed his own - urging people to 'vote one Chloe's husband' Mrs Shorten has emerged as her husband's most valuable political ally during the Labor campaign ahead of Saturday's Federal Election Mrs Shorten said her husband was not a 'showman', and he said his wife had helped his popularity with the Australian public. 'She's been irreplaceable. This has been a real shared effort,' he said. Poll Who would you vote for? Bill Shorten Chloe Shorten Who would you vote for? Bill Shorten 9 votes Chloe Shorten 15 votes Now share your opinion Mr Shorten said his wife had taken on the burden of raising the three children - Rupert, 17, Georgette, 16, and Clementine, 9 - in their blended family. 'While she's not a sole parent, she's sort of one-and-a-half parents. I've asked a lot of Chloe and the kids to pursue my political ideals... For her, parenting isn't just a love. It's all-embracing. She's very good at it. She loves her children like they'll never be loved,' Mr Shorten said. Mrs Shorten is widely seen as a sunnier, softer antidote to her husband's harder image as a former union leader and 'faceless' party machine man. 'Let me talk about the one who I love - caring, smart, funny, gentle, he is a wonderful dad, a terrible dancer, and a very proud bulldog owner,' Mrs Shorten told supporters at the party's campaign launch in May. The 47-year-old feminist is a passionate ambassador for equal opportunity and women and children's health, and an advocate against family violence. Mrs Shorten first met Mr Shorten professionally in 2007 when she was working in corporate relations and he was the Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Children's Services. The Shortens have long been settled in Melbourne's Moonee Ponds. Labor has lost ground to the Coalition according to the latest Ipsos poll published in Nine Newspapers. Mrs Shorten said her husband was not a 'showman', and he said his wife had helped his popularity with the Australian public In the two-party preferred poll, Labor is just ahead of the Coalition at 51-49. The Coalition's primary vote rose from 36 to 39 per cent, while Scott Morrison continues to lead Bill Shorten as preferred prime minister. Marginal seat polling carried out by YouGov and published in The Australian showed Labor gained six per cent on the Coalition in Victoria and is increasingly likely to win Gilmore on the NSW Central Coast. Meanwhile, Bob Hawke's death two days before the election was his final gift to the Labor Party and could help them win the election, supporters and political experts said last night after he passed away at home aged 89. In a touching tribute on ABC News, veteran journalist Barrie Cassidy, who was Mr Hawke's press secretary from 1986, said his old friend showed a great 'sense of timing'. 'It's an extraordinary day for the Labor Party when you think about it,' he said. 'Bill Shorten was out there today where Gough Whitlam gave the famous 'It's Time' speech and then Bob Hawke, with what a sense of timing.' Others described it as Mr Hawke's 'last gift to the Labor Party. A New Hampshire school cafeteria worker's kindness may have gotten her fired. Bonnie Kimball was terminated on March 28 by her employer, a vendor that supplies food to the Mascoma Valley Regional High School in Canaan, after five years on the job. Her firing came a day after she gave a student lunch, even though he couldn't pay for it, the Valley News reported. 'Im just dealing with so much right now: the public, paperwork. One minute Im mad and the next minute, I just want to forget it all happened,' she said. 'I guess Im mourning my job.' Cafe Services, the food provider Kimball was employed by, said the company couldn't discuss why an employee was terminated, but that an employee 'would not be let go because they provided this lunch to a student.' However, a letter from the company provided by Kimball seems to suggest she was fired for giving the student items without collecting payment. DailyMail.com reached out to Cafe Services but did not immediately receive a reply. Bonnie Kimball was terminated on March 28 by her employer, a vendor that supplies food to the Mascoma Valley Regional High School in Canaan, one day after giving a child without money a lunch Fresh Picks Cafe, a subsidiary of Cafe Services, is responsible for providing the food and the workers that make lunch hours run smoothly at Mascoma Valley Regional High School. As a Cafe Services employee, Kimball was in charge of running the cash register at the school, where she would also make ice cream sundaes and smoothies for the student body of 326 children every day. 'We didnt even call it work,' Kimball said. 'We got up in the morning, we took care of our families and we went to take care of the kids.' She said on March 28, a district manager was on site due to the nearing end of Cafe Services contract with the school, and Kimball said she was told, 'Dont cause any scenes with the contract.' Under this directive, Kimball said when a student's account showed no funds, she quietly told him, "Tell (your) mom you need money," and provided the student with a lunch. She claims the district manager asked what was on the boy's plate and walked away, but the next day she was called into the office and fired. Kimball said she doesn't blame Mascoma Valley Regional High School (pictured) for her firing, as she worked for Cafe Services Cafe Services, the food provider Kimball (pictured) was employed by, said the company couldn't discuss why an employee was terminated, but that an employee 'would not be let go because they provided this lunch to a student' A spokesperson for Manchester-based Cafe Services (logo shown) said in a statement on Thursday that it 'would never authorize an employee to not feed a student or staff member a meal' A spokesperson for Manchester-based Cafe Services said in a statement on Thursday that it 'would never authorize an employee to not feed a student or staff member a meal.' 'Although we are not at liberty to discuss the confidential details regarding an employee's employment or termination from employment, we can share that the company has policies and procedures in place that are shared with and acknowledged by team members,' Jaime Matheson, the director of human resources, said in a statement. 'When established policies and procedures are not followed corrective action is put in place up to and including termination.' Kimball provided a letter dated April 9 to the Valley News, which appeared to confirm her reasoning behind being let go. The letter read: 'On March 28, a District manager was on-site and witnessed a student coming through the line with multiple food items that you did not charge him for. This is a strict violation of our Cash Handling Procedures, the Schools Charge Policy and Federal Regulation governing free meals.' Whatever the reason, the firing of Kimball has angered her co-workers, some of whom quit in protest, according to the Valley News. Parents at the school also said they were upset by Kimball's sudden departure and demanded she be rehired. 'These guys really took care of our kids. They put our kids first and their focus was really our kids,' Christina Moodie, whose son attends the high school, said. 'I know Bonnie went above and beyond for the kids.' The Mascoma Regional School Board voted on Tuesday to continue using the company for another year, despite the controversy involving Kimball. 'The people working in the school lunch program are employees of Cafe Services, and Cafe Services is responsible for employment decisions regarding those employees,' the district said in a statement. Aletter dated April 9 from the company, however, seems to describe the reasoning for her firing as providing unpaid items to a student during lunch 'School district policy is to make healthy nutritious school meals available to every child whether or not the child has sufficient funds to cover the cost of the meal.' Kimball said she doesn't blame the school district for her firing. The incident comes as schools across the country are struggling to deal with how to address students who can't pay for their lunches. A 2011 survey found that a majority of districts had unpaid lunch charges and that most dealt with it by offering students alternatives meals. But even that approach has been controversial. After a flurry of angry Facebook posts, one Rhode Island district was forced to abandon plans to deny a hot meal to students who couldn't pay. Last month, federal lawmakers also introduced 'anti-lunch shaming' legislation to protect students with unpaid lunch bills. The USDA also discourages practices that stigmatize students, but allows districts to set their own policies. A 26-year-old woman has been charged over the death of a six-month-old boy who died of traumatic head injuries. The baby went into cardiac arrest at a New Lambton home in Newcastle on February 9 at 4.30am and was raced to John Hunter Hospital where he died the next day. Detectives arrested the woman at a Marrickville home in Sydney's inner-west on Thursday and she was charged with acting with intent to pervert the course of justice, failure to the provide for the child and causing danger of death and driving while disqualified. A 26-year-old woman has been charged over the death of a six-month-old boy with head injuries The baby boy went into cardiac arrest on February 9 and was rushed to hospital, where he died the next day The woman was arrested at a Marickville home in Sydney's inner-west on Thursday In February, Jie Smith - who was dating the infant's mother for a short time - was charged with the boy's murder and reckless grievous bodily harm. The 28-year-old appeared before Wyong Court in February and will reappear in court again on May 23. A neighbour who desperately tried to save the life the baby boy has spoken of how she 'hasn't been the same' since. The neighbour told Channel 7 she rushed to the aid of the small boy after Mr Smith rushed over seeking help. 'I don't even know these people,' the resident said, who has not been identified. 'I tried everything I could to help the little man - I'm so sorry.' Smith (right) appeared in Wyong Court on Thursday charged with murder and reckless grievous bodily harm The woman called paramedics and then started CPR on the child until emergency services arrived. Paramedics raced him to hospital in critical condition, but he died the next day. Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad Commander Detective Superintendent John Kerlatec told The Daily Telegraph the allegations were 'horrific'. 'Anyone losing a child cannot begin to fathom the trauma the mother is going through (and) the father (not the accused) is distraught about the loss of his son,' he said. 'The mother wasn't there when the incident happened but the 28-year-old took the injured boy to the neighbour's house before emergency services were called.' The baby's mother and Smith had been dating for a short time before the alleged murder, according to police. Police arrested Smith at Budgewoi, on the Central Coast, before he was charged with murder and reckless grievous bodily harm. In court, the accused waved to his family and did not request bail, Channel 7 reported. Multiple schools were put into lockdown on Friday afternoon and police are on the hunt for a woman following an 'incident' at a Queensland pub. Officers were called to the Gowrie Road Hotel in Toowoomba, west of Brisbane, about 11am on Friday. A Queensland police spokesman said police went to the hotel to execute a search warrant in relation to an 'ongoing matter'. Officers were called to the Gowrie Road Hotel (pictured) in Toowoomba, west of Brisbane , about 11am on Friday 'They have subsequently taken one man into custody,' the spokesman said. 'They are looking for a woman in relation to the incident.' Police cordoned off the pub as they continued to search the area for the woman. A man was taken to hospital under police guard following the incident, on Friday afternoon. According to The Chronicle, a number of schools in the area were immediately put into lockdown following the incident. The schools include St Ursula's College, St Mary's College, The Glennie School, Newtown State School and Our Lady of Lourdes, as well as the Pathways Early Learning Centre. The schools were beginning to come out of lockdown about 2pm. Investigations are continuing. Angenette Marie Missett went viral with her smiling mugshot after a DUI arrest A drunk driver whose smiling mugshot went viral after a fatal crash has been sentenced to 11 years in prison. Angenette Marie Missett, 45, sobbed during the sentencing hearing on Thursday in Ocala, Florida, as she begged forgiveness from the family of 60-year-old Sandra Clarkson. 'I am truly, truly sorry and if I could change spots with your mother I would in a heartbeat. I am sorry. I am sorry. I am truly, truly sorry,' Missett said before she was sentenced, WESH-TV reported. Clarkson died after Missett rear-ended the sedan she was riding in on a highway in Orlando just before noon on May 10, 2018. In a victim statement, Clarkston's daughter told the court about the devastating impact of Missett's actions. 'I lost my only remaining parent because of the defendant's selfish and conscious decision to drink and drive,' Clarkston's daughter, Keonna Sciacca said in court. Angenette Marie Missett, 45, sobbed during the sentencing hearing on Thursday in Ocala, Florida as she begged the victim's family for forgiveness Despite her pleas, a judge sentenced Missett to 11 years in prison at the hearing The family still have Clarkson's totaled car, and had it towed to the courthouse on Thursday The family still have Clarkson's totaled car and had it towed to the courthouse on Thursday as powerful statement for the sentencing hearing. After pleading no contest to manslaughter, Missett faced a minimum of four years in prison and a maximum of 15 years. Missett is seen in a second mugshot after her charge was upgraded to manslaughter Judge Steven Rogers handed down the sentence of 11 years After the crash, Missett told police that she had been distracted because she dropped her phone, but a field sobriety test revealed that her blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit. The driver of the sedan, 18-year-old Shiyanne Kroll, walked away with minor injuries, but her mother Clarkson suffered critical injuries and died in the hospital days later. Missett was married one week after the crash, dropping her maiden name of Welk. Her original mugshot when she was charged with DUI causing great bodily harm sparked outrage because had a big smile on her face. A new mugshot was taken on May 18, 2018 when charges were upgraded to manslaughter, showing a grimmer visage. Shiyanne Kroll, 18, center, was driving the car that Missett rear-ended. Kroll walked away with minor injuries but her mother, Clarkson, right, who was in the passenger seat, suffered critical injuries and died in the hospital days later Missett was driving her 2011 Chevrolet Avalon on U.S. Highway 27 when she failed to break in time and slammed into Kroll's Hyundai Elantra, sandwiching it between the Avalon and a tractor-trailer in front of them. Missett was arrested at the scene of the crash after police smelled alcohol on her breath and a breathalyzer indicated her BAC was .172 - more than double the legal driving limit. The mother-of-one was charged with driving under the influence, DUI with property damage and DUI with great bodily harm and posted bond soon after being taken to Marion County Jail. Clarkson, a mother-of-three, was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center where she underwent several operations but was left paralyzed and brain-dead, family members said. When they saw the beaming smile on Missett's face in her mugshot, the family was outraged, calling for the 45-year-old to be given the maximum sentence. 'That disgusts me and that means she has no remorse for what she did at all and I hope that judge sees that picture and says the same thing,' Kroll told ClickOrlando days after the accident. Missett's vehicle rear-ended Kroll's vehicle so hard that it was sandwiched between the tractor-trailer ahead of them, as shown in the screen grab from the crash site above Clarkson's family was outraged when they saw Missett's smiley mugshot. (pictured) Kroll said: 'That disgusts me and that means she has no remorse for what she did at all' The 18-year-old's sister Keonna Sciacca said: 'It's destroyed us. Our lives are changed forever. 'It's definitely wrecked our family forever, not just temporarily, this was a permanent thing that [Missett] did. '[I'm] trying to cope with the fact I won't see her walk again, she won't be home when I get home from work or in the mornings when I get home from work. I won't be able to talk to her, I won't see her laugh, she won't see me laugh. I can't hug her I can't tell her: 'Goodnight, I love you.'' On Saturday the family's protests were answered and police arrested Missett on DUI manslaughter charges. Court records indicate that she has posted $30,000 bond. The penalty for DUI manslaughter in Florida is a minimum of 124.5 months in prison. Missett, a mother-of-one, was re-charged Saturday. Court records show she has posted bond After receiving the news Sciacca said she was upset that Missett was released at all. 'I think she should still be sitting in jail,' she told Click Orlando. 'It's like a murder case, like you shot somebody.' Sciacca added that she hopes others will pay attention to this tragedy and choose to avoid driving while intoxicated. 'If we can get a couple people to stop and think and take a different approach to going out and partying so this doesn't happen to them or someone else's family, that's the good that came out of this,' she said. A man who claimed he acted in self-defence when he fatally stabbed his friend during a drug binge at an Airbnb rental has been jailed for at least seven-and-a-half years. Henry Walcott was found guilty of manslaughter by a jury in February after attacking Cameron Bradley in the neck during a struggle at a property in Leura, 100km West of Sydney in November 2016. In the NSW Supreme Court on Friday, Justice Robert Allan Hulme sentenced the 30-year-old to a maximum of 10 years in jail with a non-parole period of seven-and-a-half years. Henry Walcott (pictured) who claimed he acted in self-defence when he fatally stabbed his friend Cameron Bradley during a drug binge at an Airbnb rental in Sydney has been jailed for at least seven-and-a-half years Walcott told police after his arrest that Mr Bradley had said 'only one of them would be leaving the house alive' and made other verbal threats during their two-night stay at the house. The man said that when he first tackled the victim he only wanted to subdue him, according to News.com.au. Walcott, who previously pleased not guilty to the murder, told the jury on the night of the event his friend started behaving very strangely. 'He mentioned how Hitler had created methamphetamine so he could keep his soldiers awake, that was why they could kill people.' 'He said to me a couple of times that he was going to be a martyr for the truth.' The turning point came when Mr Bradley placed a knife on the table and Walcott took it for his own safety before he stabbed him. 'While I must accept that the offender believed that it was necessary to do what he did in order to defend himself, his response was grossly disproportionate and unreasonable,' Justice Hulme said on Friday. The victim's eldest brother Andrew Bradley (centre) told an earlier court hearing that Cameron Bradley was loved and his death had deeply affected his family and friends 'There were a range of non-violent means of diffusing the situation or removing himself from the threat the offender perceived. 'While Mr Bradley may have been verbally threatening, it was the offender who initiated physical violence.' The pair got little, if any, sleep and had consumed drugs including cocaine, GHB and ice, Justice Hulme said. The victim's eldest brother told an earlier court hearing that Mr Bradley was loved and his death had deeply affected his family and friends. 'His life should not be devalued because of the fact that he struggled with his mental health and with drug addiction,' Andrew Bradley said in a victim impact statement. Walcott's jail term was backdated to April 23 last year to account for time already served. A woman has been given 15 years in jail for helping her boyfriend break out of jail by impersonating a sheriff's deputy. Maxine Feldstein, 30, pleaded guilty on Monday to several charges, including criminal impersonation, and was sentenced to 30 years in prison at a courtroom in Arkansas. However half of her sentence was suspended by the judge, so she will serve 15 years, KFSM reported. Maxine Feldstein (left) from Feyetteville,Arkansas, posed as a deputy to help boyfriend Nicholas Lowe (right) escape Washington County Detention Center July 27 Feldstein presented false paperwork to the Washington County Detention Center in July 2018, which fooled jailers into releasing her boyfriend, Nicholas Lowe in July 27. Lowe pleaded guilty to third degree escape and was given a one year jail term in February. With credit for time already served taken into account, he will likely be out by August. It took the Ventura facility two days to figure out they had been duped by the fake deputy, named 'L. Kershaw' they had liaised with on the phone. They only figured it out when a real Ventura County Sheriff's Office deputy made the call to say he was coming to collect Lowe. An affidavit states that Lowe convinced his girlfriend to use the excuse that they were 'having issues with overcrowding and all low-priority extraditions have been suspended'. The couple were later arrested in Fayetteville about a month after the incident. In court earlier this week, Feldstein pleaded guilty to second-degree criminal impersonation, forgery and third-degree escape. In February Lowe pleaded guilty to third degree escape and was given one year in prison, with credit for 167 days served. This means he could be out of jail by August, although it is not known if he faces charges related to separate incidents. Warrants for the arrests of both Lowe and Feldstein, (pictured), were issued on August 1 and both were booked into Washington County jail on August 17, according to online jail records Maxine Feldstein had half of her sentence was suspended by the judge, so she will serve 15 years He must abide by a five-year suspended sentence after he is released from the Arkansas Department of Correction. Washington County verified that the documents were not real and that a deputy by that name didn't even exist. After checking video surveillance they believe the plan was hatched when the jailed man's partner visited him. Feldstein had been in the same jail when they were both arrested July 14 but she was released on bail the next day. She was arrested on suspicion of possessing a controlled substance. The Ventura County District Attorneys Office had filed felony identity-theft charges against Lowe in May 2018 after an investigation by the Simi Valley Police Department. Footage shows Feldstein brazenly make his way out of the detention center as he passes through the waiting room Lowe told Feldstein to get the fax number for the sheriffs agencies from both counties and to pose as a member of the Ventura County Sheriffs Office According to Ventura County sheriffs spokesman Capt. Garo Kuredjian, deputies had made arrangements to retrieve Lowe from Arkansas to face local charges, the Ventura County Star reported. It is not known if he has yet been sentenced in relation to the initial charges he was held on. An affidavit states Lowe had convinced his girlfriend to use the excuse that they were 'having issues with overcrowding and all low-priority extraditions have been suspended'. With Lowe facing a felony charge of second-degree escape, they were held on respective bails of $16,500 and $15,000, with Feldstein getting the higher bond. Feldstein presented false paperwork to the Washington County Detention Center, (pictured), in July 2018, which fooled jailers into releasing her boyfriend, Nicholas Lowe in July 27 Lowe pleaded guilty to third degree escape and was given one year in prison, with credit for 167 days served. He must abide by a five-year suspended sentence after he is released from the Arkansas Department of Correction Warrants for the arrests of both Lowe and Feldstein were issued on August 1 and both were booked into Washington County jail on August 17, according to online jail records. When the incident happened,the sheriff's office is figuring out how to make sure nothing like this is repeated. Spokeswoman, Kelly Cantrell, told 5newsonline.com, they are 'still evaluating to determine the best corrective action needed to ensure this doesn't happen again.' Despite the accident happening so easily, she confirmed they do in fact have existing measures to verify these kinds of things. 'There is a procedure to ensure requests are legitimate, and that hasn't changed,' she added. A thug who brutally punched a random man in an unprovoked attack that left him clinging to life has been sentenced to jail. Daniel Vaofusi appeared in the County Court of Victoria on Friday and was sentenced to five years in jail with a non-parole period of three years for his one-punch hit on Levent Babacan. Vaofusi, who holds both Samoan and New Zealand nationality, faces deportation once released. The horrific incident occurred outside a Cairnlea laundromat in Melbourne's west in December 2017. The horrific incident occurred outside a Cairnlea laundromat in Melbourne's west in December 2017 Vaofusi could be seen walking staunchly towards Mr Babacan before he threw a brutal punch at his head CCTV footage shows Mr Babacan outside the laundromat, minding his own business, when Vaofusi walks out. Vaofusi can be seen walking towards Mr Babacan before he throwing a brutal punch at his head. Mr Babacan falls to the floor as Vaofusi turns to head back into the laundrette, and was seen with his partner and young child. The victim rushed to hospital where he underwent emergency surgery and suffered bleeding of the brain and a haemorrhage. The court heard that Vaofusi claimed that his victim peered into the laundromat's window looking for his friend and that he mistook it for him looking at his partner, ABC News reported. Mr Babcan was left on the floor following the vicious attack and was then rushed to hospital where he underwent emergency surgery The disgusting punch has left Mr Babacan (pictured) with brain damage with long-term effects, including affecting his speech, the court heard Vaofusi's partner asked why he punched Mr Babacan to which he responded, 'he knows why'. The disgusting punch has left Mr Babacan with brain damage with long-term effects, including affecting his speech, the court heard. The vicious attack also caused Mr Babacan to defer his studies. 'Psychologically and mentally it's been a long road, it's been a roller-coaster ride, but I'm moving forward,' he told the publication. 'Psychologically and mentally it's been a long road, it's been a roller-coaster ride, but I'm moving forward,' Mr Babcan said Judge Paul Lacava described the attack as 'a sickening, violent act that was unprovoked'. 'This was a thuggish act which as we've seen in society too often can cause catastrophic circumstances.' 'I can see you regret punching the victim however I don't believe this comes from remorse, it's the situation [the punch] has put you in,' he said. Vaofusi was sentenced to five years' jail with a non-parole period of three years. He could be released within a year and a half for time already served. 'This was about the sentence I was expecting so now I want to get a job in accounting and just move forward,' Mr Babacan told the ABC outside of court. He wished Vaofusi all the best on getting his life back on track for himself and his family. A man accused of nearly disembowelling his girlfriend's ex-boyfriend in a bizarre love triangle murder has died in jail from a brain tumour before he could face trial. Milo Manu Felix Wild, 27, was spending the night with his new girlfriend, Emma Thompson, when they decided to go to his Military Road apartment in North Bondi, in Sydney's east, on August 26. When they arrived, they found Jordan Byrne, 26, there with a woman before the pair got in a fight and Wild allegedly stabbed Mr Byrne. Milo Manu Felix Wild (pictured), accused of nearly disembowelling his girlfriend's ex-boyfriend in a bizarre love triangle murder has died in jail from a brain tumour before he could face trial Jordan Byrne (pictured) was allegedly stabbed to death in an apartment in Bondi in the early hours of August 26 According to The Daily Telegraph, Wild allegedly thrust a knife into Mr Byrne's stomach, nearly disembowelling him. Friends said Ms Thompson, 36, had previously dated Mr Byrne before moving on to a relationship with Wild. Ms Thompson and Wild are understood to have arrived back at his Military Rd unit where Mr Byrne was hanging out with Wild's female flatmate, Natasha Jones, just before midnight on Saturday. Neighbours inside the unit block reportedly heard the two men arguing loudly about 12.30am. Mr Byrne stumbled out of the apartment where neighbours attempted to help stop the bleeding until paramedics arrived to the scene. Milo Manu Felix Wild, 27, was spending the night with his new girlfriend, Emma Thompson (pictured), when they decided to go to his Military Road apartment Mr Byrne stumbled out of the apartment where neighbours attempted to help stop the bleeding until paramedics arrived to the scene He was rushed to hospital suffering horrific stab wounds to his face and abdomen, but died in surgery. Wild was also taken to hospital for minor injuries he sustained in the scuffle, but was soon after released and arrested. He was charged with murder and was spending his time behind bars awaiting trial in the Northern Territory. However, on Thursday, Wild died while in jail due to a brain tumour - his murder trial was expected to begin at some point this year. The United States is not sincere about wanting to resume trade talks with China and has damaged the atmosphere for negotiations with its recent moves, a state media social media account said. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Wednesday he will likely travel to Beijing soon to continue negotiations with Chinese counterparts as the world's two biggest economies try to salvage talks aimed at ending their months-long trade war. But China's Commerce Ministry said on Thursday it had no information on any plans for a U.S. trade delegation visit. China has also been infuriated by the Trump administration hitting Chinese telecoms giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd with severe sanctions this week. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, (left), said on Wednesday he will likely travel to Beijing soon to continue negotiations with Chinese counterparts. Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He, (right), was in Washington for talks this week Without sincerity there was no point in coming for talks and nothing to talk about, Taoran Notes, a WeChat account run by the Economic Daily, said in a post late on Thursday that was re-posted by the ruling Communist Party's official People's Daily. "The U.S. side has been saying it wants to talk, and at the same time has kept up with its little tricks, damaging the atmosphere for talks," it said. "There can't be seen any substantive negotiating sincerity from the United States. Conversely, methods of extreme pressure are spreading," the post added. "If the U.S. side ignores the opinions of the Chinese people, I am afraid that it will no longer receive an effective response from China." The post noted that the United States is talking again about coming back to the negotiating table and about a meeting of the two countries' leaders at the G20 Summit in Osaka next month, it said. "From my perspective, if there is no new substantive action taken by the United States (to address Chinese concerns), then even if they come to talk it will be fruitless." China might as well stop the talks completely and return to "our normal working routine: countering with retaliatory measures while concentrating on taking care of our own business", it added. Donald Trump and his administration has complained about a Chinese system that encourages intellectual property theft, devalues the Yuan to control prices, subsidizes industries to drive competitors out of the market and erects barriers to U.S. exports Chinese President Xi Jinping was in talks recently on the country's trade with the U.S. China's ambassador to the United Kingdom threw down a new gauntlet Thursday in his country's trans-Pacific trade fight with the U.S., saying Beijing will never back down from Donald Trump. 'It is obvious that some promises are broken,' Liu Xiaoming wrote in an Evening Standard op-ed, 'not by China but by those brandishing the baton of tariffs against China.' That's a reference to Trump, who has raised the stakes nearly a half-dozen times in a bid to price Chinese exports out of America's markets. 'China does not want a "trade war" but it is not afraid of one and would fight one if necessary," Liu wrote. 'China is always open for talks but it would fight to the end should a "trade war" break out.' China Vice Premier Liu He (left) says goodbye to US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer after trade talks in Washington on May 10 The Trump administration has complained bitterly about a Chinese system that encourages intellectual property theft, devalues the Yuan to control prices, subsidizes industries to drive competitors out of the market and erects barriers to U.S. exports. The latest round of tariffs have raised the cost of practically everything Chinese companies ship to America. Beijing's retaliation has been more modest. The U.S. is on pace to have a $320 billion trade deficit with China this year, meaning duties can be slapped on more goods traveling in one direction than in the other. Trump said this week that the U.S. is better positioned than China to weather the storm. That, says Liu, is selfish talk. '[W]hat a responsible big country should do is to stop thinking about "us first" at the expense of others,' he wrote Thursday. 'China will continue working with the U.S. to ensure the steady and sound development of their economic partnership.' And despite trade barriers keeping some American industries perpetually frozen out of China, Liu claimed that 'protectionism is the common enemy of the world.' 'The real troublemakers in the global economy,' he wrote, 'are those who rely on their superior power and frequently resort to the threat of raising tariffs, and who trigger "trade wars" at will, even against their allies, without hesitation.' Trump insists he won't back down from his 'squabble' with China regardless of the toll the dispute takes on markets. Israel Folau was today officially sacked from the Australia rugby union team for a homophobic Instagram post. The decision makes the devout Christian the first Australian athlete dismissed for expressing religious beliefs. Folau, 30, has the right to appeal and have his case heard at a second code of conduct hearing by a new panel. But he will reportedly skip that process and head straight to court to argue that he is being persecuted for his religion. In a press conference this afternoon, Rugby Australia CEO Raelene Castle said Folau was a 'great player' but that everyone has the right to be respected regardless of sexuality, race, gender or religion. After Folau was sacked, former Wallabies coach Alan Jones said Rugby Australia had 'internationally destroyed his name for quoting a passage from the bible'. On Wednesday, Folau was seen flying out of Sydney bound for South Australia where wife Maria plays for the Adelaide Thunderbirds. On Wednesday, Folau (pictured) was seen flying out of Sydney bound for South Australia where wife Maria plays for the Adelaide Thunderbirds Ms Castle said she had not told Folau (pictured) directly about the decision to terminate his contract as there was a 'process in place' In a press conference this afternoon, Rugby Australia CEO Raelene Castle (pictured) said Folau was a 'great player' but that everyone has the right to be respected regardless of sexuality, race, gender or religion Folau (pictured with his wife Maria) is the first Australian athlete dismissed for expressing religious beliefs Ms Castle said Rugby Australia 'did not choose to be put in this position.' 'We want to stress that this outcome is a painful outcome for the game. Rugby Australia did not choose to be in this situation, but Rugby Australia's position remains that Israel, through his actions, left us with no choice but to pursue today's outcome,' she said. 'This has been an extremely challenging period for rugby. This issue has created an unwanted distraction in an important year for the sport and the Wallabies team. 'Our clear message today is that we need to stand by our values and the qualities of inclusion, passion, integrity, discipline, respect and teamwork.' Ms Castle said she had told all rugby players in Australia that RA supports their rights to their own beliefs. 'But when we are talking about inclusiveness in our game, we are talking about respecting differences as well,' she said. 'When we say rugby is a game for all, we mean it. People need to feel safe and welcoming in the game, regardless of their race, background or sexuality. 'When players sign a contract with the Wallabies, they sign up to the values of the team and the sport. Christian Reds and Rebels players huddle on the pitch after their match last weekend in solidarity with Folau 'Israel is a great rugby player. We are disappointed and saddened by the by the fact that he will not be seeing out his four-year contract and commitment to the Wallabies and also the Waratahs.' Ms Castle said she had not told Folau directly about the decision to terminate his contract as there was a 'process in place'. 'We understood that the posts Israel made did create some concern among a portion of our community and did create some harm,' she said. 'At the end of the day Israel has 72 hours to appeal and that will be left with him to make the decision about where this goes next. 'This is a decision that will change the landscape for sport across Australia and perhaps internationally. 'It will be a landmark, it will be important, and it is a big decision. He is a very important player in our game and he has been for a long period of time and we wanted to make sure we took the time to get it right.' Ms Castle said she had spoken directly to Folau and with his manager about Rugby Australia's 'very clear expectations'. She also said there had been discussions among the lawyers about a payout for Folau but the suggestion had 'not advanced to a stage where they could be brought to Rugby Australia for consideration'. Ms Castle said she was '100 per cent' confident there wouldn't be a rift in the national side due to Folau's contract termination. 'I'm confident because those players understand that everybody has a right to their own views or religious beliefs, and as long as they continue to express them in a respectful way we will continue to support them,' she said. 'And I have absolute confidence that Michael Cheika will build a rugby team that is incredibly competitive for the World Cup.' Ms Castle said she could not imagine Folau playing professional rugby again if his Instagram post remains up and he is unapologetic. 'We have many players who quote the Bible on their social media platform. We had a prayer circle on the ground between players after the game last weekend and Rugby Australia and the Waratahs are completely supportive of that and that is an expression of their religious views as well,' she said. Ms Castle said she was 'disappointed' that Folau had not apologised. 'He hurt some people, it was acknowledged and he did it anyway. It is disappointing in this situation.' Ms Castle said Rugby Australia's sponsors had an 'expectation' that Rugby Australia has similar values to them. Folau caused huge controversy with an Instagram post in April that claimed homosexuals were going to hell unless they 'repent'. He was immediately stood down from his club team, the New South Wales Waratahs. After a week-long code of conduct hearing in Sydney, a three-person panel last week retired to decide on Folau's sanction. The trial stretched far beyond the rugby pitch, triggering a wider debate in Australia about freedom of speech and the power of employers to control their employees away from the workplace. The panel made the decision today to terminate his $4million contract. The Wallabies star (pictured with his wife), 30, has been sacked from the Australia team The offending post, which has attracted 54,000 'likes' and 48,000 comments, remains on Folau's Instagram page. Folau has played 73 Tests for the Wallabies and became Super Rugby's all-time leading try-scorer earlier this year. The fullback of Tongan descent was given a formal warning by Rugby Australia last year after sharing a similar homophobic post that claimed gay people were destined for hell. He then signed a lucrative contract extension in October. Folau's career kicked off in rugby league, where he played 91 NRL games, five Origin games for Queensland and represented Australia on eight occasions. He also played 13 games for AFL club GWS Giants in 2011-12. Folau was issued with a 'high-level' breach notice last month after he shared this social media post which claimed homosexuals were going to hell unless they 'repent' Iranian General Qassem Suleimani rallied militias in Iraq three weeks ago according to intelligence sources, telling Tehran's men to 'prepare for proxy war' Iran's top general has called on their axis of resistance of thousands of battle-hardened jihadists throughout the Middle East to prepare if war with the US erupts. From Lebanon and Syria to Iraq, Yemen, and the Gaza Strip, Tehran's influence has expanded in the past decade, forging deep and powerful ties with ruthless fighters. Today it was revealed General Qassem Suleimani had told allies in Iraq to 'prepare for proxy war,' as US warships stand on guard in the Persian Gulf. And an official of the Revolutionary Guard bragged on Friday their arsenal of missiles could 'easily reach [those] warships.' US intelligence experts told the Guardian, General Suleimani rallied militias in Baghdad three weeks ago. A source told the paper: 'It wasnt quite a call to arms, but it wasnt far off.' In reaction to the meeting, the U.S. decided to evacuate all non-essential diplomatic personnel from Iraq. While, on its military bases, the threat level was raised. Iran has missile capabilities to strike Israel and they claimed today, US warships in the Persian Gulf. Over the last decade they have expanded their 'axis of resistance' in the Middle East Palestinian militants of the Islamic Jihad group take part in their military exercises in Deir el-Balah, the central Gaza Strip in December 2014 Hezbollah fighters parade during the inauguration of a new cemetery for their fighters who died in fighting against Israel, in a southern suburb of Beirut in 2010 The ominous manoeuvring comes against a backdrop of soaring tensions in recent weeks with a war of words between Washington and Tehran. There have been accusations of sabotage attacks on oil tankers off the coast of the UAE, drone attacks on Saudi pipelines claimed by Yemeni rebels allied to Iran and, crucially, the dispatch of U.S. warships and bombers to the region. Last week, officials said they had detected signs of Iranian preparations for potential attacks on U.S. forces and interests in the Middle East, but Washington has not publicly released any evidence to support claims of an increased Iranian threat. General Suleimani's cry to arms to the Iraqi militias is just a flavour of the havoc they can wreak with tens of thousands of jihadists loyal to Tehran throughout the Middle East. At a mass rally in February in Beirut, a Hezbollah commander Hassan Nasrallah declared: 'If America launches war on Iran, it will not be alone in the confrontation, because the fate of our region is tied to the Islamic Republic.' Hezbollah is one of the most prominent members of the self-styled 'axis of resistance,' armed groups with tens of thousands of Shiite Muslim fighters beholden to Tehran. The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group transits the Suez Canal in Egypt on its way to the Persian Gulf last week amid mounting tensions with Iran An F/A-18E Super Hornet aircraft launches from the flight deck the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Persian Gulf on May 10, as tensions mount with Tehran over President Donald Trump's sanctions Members of the Palestinian Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad group, march with their rifles in December 2017 Hezbollah fighters stand near a four-wheel vehicle positioned at the site where clashes erupted between Hezbollah and al-Qaida-linked fighters in Wadi al-Kheil on the Lebanon-Syria border in July 2017 While Hezbollah strike fear into foes in Lebanon; the Iranians are backing Hamas and the Islamic Jihad group in the Gaza strip. In Yemen, they are behind the Houthis in a vicious proxy war with the Saudis which has raged for four years. And in Iraq they have established a network of control through a trio of militants: Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Kataeb Hezbollah and the Badr Organization. Hezbollah, whose name means 'Party of God,' was established by Iran's Revolutionary Guard during Lebanon's civil war in the 1980s. Today it is among the most effective armed groups in the region, extending Iran's influence to Israel's doorstep. In a paper for the Brookings Institute earlier this year, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman described the group as revolutionary Iran's 'most successful export' and Tehran's 'multi-purpose tool.' Hezbollah was formed to combat Israel following its invasion of Lebanon in 1982. It waged an 18-year guerrilla war against Israeli forces, eventually forcing them to withdraw from Lebanon in 2000. Six years later, it battled Israel to a bloody stalemate in a month-long war. Today, the group has an arsenal of tens of thousands of rockets and missiles than can reach deep into Israel, as well as thousands of highly disciplined and battle-hardened fighters. Hezbollah has fought alongside government forces in Syria for more than six years, gaining even more battlefield experience and expanding its reach. Houthis, march during a gathering aimed at mobilizing more fighters into battlefronts to fight pro-government forces in several Yemeni cities in January 2017 Houthis, pose for a photo as they secure a road, as people take part in a march from Sanaa to the port city of Hodeidah, Yemen in April 2017 At home, the group's power exceeds that of the Lebanese armed forces, and along with its allies has more power than ever in the parliament and government. Despite the rhetoric, Hezbollah says it is not seeking another war with Israel, and it is not likely to join in any regional confrontation - at least not in the early stages - unless provoked. Hezbollah has lost hundreds of fighters in Syria, exacting a heavy toll on the Shiite community from which it draws most of its support. In Yemen, Iran has backed the Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, who swept down from the north and captured the capital, Sanaa, in 2014. A Saudi-led coalition entered the conflict on the side of the government the following year. The war has since killed tens of thousands of people and generated the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Saudi Arabia views the Houthis as an Iranian proxy, and along with Western nations and U.N. experts has accused Tehran of providing arms to the rebels, including the long-range missiles they have fired into Saudi Arabia. Iran supports the rebels but denies arming them. The Houthis have given up little ground since the coalition entered the war, and have targeted the Saudi capital, Riyadh, with long-range missiles. Earlier this week they claimed a drone attack that shut down a major oil pipeline in Saudi Arabia, which responded with airstrikes on Yemen's rebel-held capital that killed civilians. Iraqi Shiite militia group Imam Ali Brigades chant slogans against the Islamic State group at the battlefield in Tikrit, 80 miles north of Baghdad in March 2015 Iran has trained, financed, and equipped Shiite militias in Iraq that battled U.S. forces in the years after the 2003 invasion and remobilized to battle the Islamic State group a decade later. The groups include Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Kataeb Hezbollah and the Badr Organization, all three led by men with close ties to General Qassem Soleimani, the leader of Iran's elite Quds Force and the architect of Tehran's regional strategy. The militias fall under the umbrella of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces, a collection of mostly Shiite militias that were incorporated into the country's armed forces in 2016. Together they number more than 140,000 fighters, and while they fall under the authority of Iraq's prime minister, the PMF's top brass are politically aligned with Iran. U.S. forces and the PMF fought side-by-side against Islamic State militants after Iraq's parliament invited the U.S. back into the country in 2014. But now that the war is largely concluded, some militia leaders are calling on U.S. troops to leave again, threatening to expel them by force if necessary. This week, the U.S. ordered all nonessential government staff to leave Iraq, amid unspecified threats in the region said to be linked to Iran. In Palestine, Tehran has long supported militant groups, including Gaza's Hamas rulers and particularly the smaller Islamic Jihad group. Hamas fell out with Iran after the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, losing millions of dollars in monthly assistance. The group today is in a severe financial crisis; its employees and public servants in Gaza have not been paid full salaries in years. Young Shiite volunteer militia members prepare to attack Islamic State fighters in Tikrit, north of Baghdad, Iraq in March 2015 Tehran is said to have continued its military support to Hamas' armed wing, but the group appears to get most of its aid from Qatar, making it less likely that it would rally to Tehran's side in a regional conflict. Islamic Jihad, another Sunni militant group, is seen as much closer to Iran but still not as deeply intertwined as Hezbollah or other groups. Hamas and Islamic Jihad launched hundreds of rockets from Gaza during a bout of fighting with Israel earlier this month. Israel accused Islamic Jihad of triggering the violence, which was the worst since a 2014 war. The movement did not deny the Israeli accusations. Scott Morrison was aware of the secret swap involving two Rwandan refugees accused of murdering eight tourists - two years before they were accepted in Australia, it has been revealed. Accused terrorist Leonidas Bimenyimana and Gregoire Nyaminani were granted refuge as part of a deal brokered between former PM Malcolm Turnbull and former US President Barack Obama in late 2016. The men, former members of a Hutu rebel army, were accused of killing tourists with machetes and axes in a Ugandan rainforest in 1999. However, the US advised the Australian government that the men were no longer considered threats. Mr Morrison, who had recently come under pressure to explain why Australia agreed to take the alleged killers, addressed reporters on Friday Under a contentious refugee swap negotiated by former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and former US President Barack Obama, two of the men were brought to Australia in November In return, the US accepted up to 1250 refugees from Manus Island and Nauru. Details of the deal were disclosed to members of the national security committee including then treasurer, Scott Morrison, home affairs minister, Peter Dutton, and foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, the Guardian has reported. Mr Morrison, who had recently come under pressure to explain why Australia agreed to take the alleged killers, addressed reporters on Friday. He said government security agencies under Turnbull's term reviewed the allegations between April and July last year and determined the men did not pose security risks. 'In these cases these specific allegations were reviewed by our security agencies and by our immigration authorities, and they were not found to be upheld in their view, and as a result they were allowed to come to Australia', Mr Morrison said. He failed to explain why the family of the victims were not notified the men were in the country, citing privacy concerns for refugees. David Roberts, the father of a 23-year-old killed in the Uganda attack, told ABC he only learned the men were living in the country after watching the news on TV. 'After 20 years, you start to get over it a little bit and get on with life a little easier, and this has just brought it all back, really totally unnecessarily', he said. Bimenyimana and Nyaminani arrived in Australia in November after being accepted as 'humanitarian' entrants, or refugees, US site Politico reported. The men were previously arrested under terrorism charges and had faced the death penalty. Rwandan men accused of murdering eight tourists 20 years ago have recently moved to Australia as part of a secret refugee deal A bloody attack in the Ugandan rainforest in 1999 saw eight tourists killed with machetes and axes, and three Rwandan men were arrested and taken to the US However, the case was dropped in 2006 when a US judge found their confession was obtained under torture and they were held in a Virginia immigration detention facility. On Thursday, Mr Morrison did not comment directly on the case saying: '[I] simply assure Australians that they are the processes that we undertake and these are the same security agencies that have thwarted 15 terrorist attacks'. He was pressured by reporters on Thursday, but said he doesn't 'intend to make a commentary on allegations that have been made'. 'Simply to assure Australians that they are the processes that we undertake and these are the same security agencies that I worked with five-and-a-half years ago to put an end to the border chaos that we inherited,' Mr Morrison said. 'Matters of national security aren't things that I have ever canvassed in specifics in open forums such as this. Allegations, I know, have been made out there in the public forum.' 'But what I can assure Australians of is this - our government will always ensure that those character and national security considerations are undertaken for anyone who seeks to enter this country.' The men are accused of killing eight vacationers who were on a gorilla-watching tour at the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Among them were two Americans, Susan Miller and husband Rob Haubner, two New Zealanders and four British tourists. Expecting to wake up by the sounds of the forest, the tourists woke up to gunfire and saw 100 to 150 fighters armed with AK-47s as well as self-made weapons and spears. Among the people who were killed were Americans Susan Miller (pictured left) and her husband Rob Haubner (pictured right) The fighters charged into the grounds and collected terrified vacationers and within minutes they were taken prisoner. The rebels were members of the Army for the Liberation of Rwanda, who wanted to end their aid to Tutsi-led government in Rwanda. Up to 17 people were taken and forced to walk through the jungle without shoes, with one American woman escaping by faking an asthma attack and others left behind because they were too slow. At the time, New Zealand Foreign Ministry officials said Rhonda Avis, 27, and Michelle Strathern, 26, were believed to have been slain, while Ms Avid's husband survived. Among the four Britons killed include Mark Lindgren, who was 23 and a new graduate of Nottingham University, and Steven Roberts, 27, from Edinburgh. Joanne Cotton, 28, and Martin Friend, 24, were the other two British tourists killed. Survivors of the brazen attack said the execution-style killings came after some of the women in the group were raped, The New York Times reported. The Australian Home Affairs Department refuses to comment on the matter, but according to Politico, the men were relocated thanks to the undisclosed deal with Australia. In November, the two men moved to Australia with no public announcement. The controversial 'refugee swap' deal was made in 2016, and in November the men dropped a legal challenge and promised never to re-enter the US. The US agreed to accept up to 1250 refugees from Manus Island and Nauru who passed detailed security vetting, but weren't going to be allowed into Australia. While the deal was accepted by Mr Turnbull and President Obama, current US President Donald Trump was angered by the deal - as he doesn't believe it's in the country's interest. Australia also agreed to re-settle people the Obama Administration wanted to get out of the US in what Politico described as a 'secret arrangement'. Current US President Donald Trump was angered by the deal - as he doesn't believe it's in the country's interest Despite taking two men, it was reported that Australia refused to take the third alleged killer, Francois Karake, as he was involved in a fight with a US jail guard in 2015. The report said it was unclear whether accepting the Rwandan men was a precondition of the deal with the US, but may have been a 'reciprocal gesture that could nudge the swap deal along'. President Trump expressing his views on the deal during an intense phone call with Mr Turnbull in 2017. Mr Turnbull outlined the deal to the US President, including the promise to accept people the US didn't want. Details of the 'people swap' remain classified, but according to a transcript of the call leaked to the Washington Post, Mr Turnbull promised to take more people. 'We will take more. We will take anyone that you want us to take,' he said. An unregistered nurse who had never prepared anaesthetic before she took part in a fatal breast enlargement operation has avoided a jail term. Chinese woman Yueqiong Fu filled five syringes with an anaesthetic and delivered a pain killer intravenously before beauty clinic owner Jean Huang's heart stopped on the operating table of a Chippendale clinic in August 2017. Miss Huang died in hospital two days after the incident. Unregistered nurse Yueqiong Fu (pictured) who had never prepared anaesthetic before she took part in a fatal breast enlargement operation has avoided a jail term Beauty clinic owner Jean Huang's (pictured) heart stopped on the operating table and she died in hospital two days later Downing Centre District Court Judge Sharon Harris noted Fu had already spent 51 days in custody before handing her a two-year good behaviour bond and ordering she complete 150 hours of community service. On May 3, Fu admitted to recklessly administering bags of anaesthetic to endanger life and lying to investigators. During her trial Fu told the Downing Centre District Court she'd worked at the clinic for three months, had a nursing degree from a Sydney university and clinical experience in China. However Fu was not registered to practice at the time of the fatal incident, Fu also admitted she'd never prepared local anaesthetic before that day. Downing Centre District Court Judge Sharon Harris noted Fu had already spent 51 days in custody before handing her a two-year good behaviour bond and ordering she complete 150 hours of community service 'At that time, I was just using Chinese thinking for (obeying the) doctor's instruction,' she told her sentence hearing in early May. The husband of the victim sobbed in court as he explained he was planning a 'full life' with his wife before the 'irreversible' change to their lives in August 2017. The nurse said she was remorseful for her role in the procedure. 'Before I do anything, I should know what things I do and what things I can't do,' Fu said. During her trial prosecutors agreed a jail sentence would not be appropriate for Fu but also completely rejected her hopes that she would avoid conviction all together. Saffie Roussos, eight, was among 22 people who died in the attack at Manchester Arena The parents of the youngest person to die in the Manchester Arena terror attack have labelled the Government's 11,000 compensation offer a 'complete insult'. Saffie Roussos, eight, was among 22 people who died in the attack at an Ariana Grande concert in May 2017. Her parents Lisa and Andrew Roussos, from Leyland, Lancashire, who are launching a charity to help support families affected by terror attacks, said they felt let down by the Government. Speaking to the BBC, Mrs Roussos, 48, said: 'We was offered 5,500 each for death of Saffie. It's a complete insult.' Saffie was at the concert with her mother and sister, Ashlee Bromwich, when suicide bomber Salman Abedi, 22, detonated a device in the arena's foyer. Injured victims, or the families of those killed in the attack, could apply for compensation to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA), under the Government's criminal injuries compensation scheme. The authority's complex rules mean relatives of those killed in crimes often get less than people who suffer even minor injuries. Mr Roussos, 44, said 11,000 for Saffie's death was the 'maximum' offer. 'A charity needs to be there to help the victims of terrorism,' he added. 'There's no help.' Saffie's mother Lisa Roussos (pictured together) said she felt let down by the Government Lisa and Andrew Roussos, pictured at Saffie's funeral at Manchester Cathedral in July 2017, are launching a charity to help support families affected by terror attacks The couple said they felt 'stuck in 2017' and had struggled to come to terms with Saffie's death following the bombing. Mrs Roussos is taking part in part in the Great Manchester Run on Sunday to launch charity MCR 22 after overcoming injuries she suffered in the blast and learning to walk again. She spent six weeks in a coma and only learned of Saffie's death when she regained consciousness. Describing the moment she woke up in hospital with her husband at her bedside, she said: 'I can remember thinking: Why has he not mentioned Saffie?' Saffie's father Andrew and his son Xander at her funeral at Manchester Cathedral in July 2017 Who is entitled to what from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority? The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) has a highly complex tier system of deciding who is eligible for awards. Injuries must be serious enough to merit compensation, and the scheme takes into account factors such as burns, paralysis, illness, mental injury and sexual abuse in deciding what tier the victim falls under. The minimum amount for a successful claim on the scheme is 1,000 with the maximum being 250,000. Often those who were direct victims of a violent crime and were affected in some way - whether that be from physical or sexual abuse, disfigurement or loss of earnings - are paid out more. For example, someone who has a serious disfigurement can get up to 3,500, and the loss of both legs can receive 110,000 But relatives who lose someone as a result of a violent crime often receive less, and can only be awarded up to 5,500. In May, a recruitment consultant won nearly 87,000 compensation from a man who raped her after they met on a night out. In one case, a teacher, 57, secured 9,611 from the CICA after being assaulted by a pupil known to have aggressive behaviour. Last year, a 28-year-old man, from Croydon, was awarded 22,000 in damages after being deliberately infected with HIV. Advertisement 'And I knew. I just knew. I thought: 'If I'm this badly hurt and she was a tiny eight-year-old then what chance would she have?' I said 'she's gone, isn't she?'' A Ministry of Justice spokesman told MailOnline: 'The Manchester Arena attack was an abhorrent act of terrorism and our thoughts remain with the family of Saffie and with the other victims. 'No amount of money can compensate for the loss of a loved one, but payments from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme aim to address the mental and physical impact of such a tragedy. 'That is why CICA has a dedicated team to assess Manchester applications as quickly as possible, which has already awarded more than 1 million to hundreds of victims and made interim payments of 211,300 to others awaiting a decision.' Bereaved families, injured victims and those suffering psychological trauma also received money donated by members of the public. Payments from the We Love Manchester fund set up after the attack, were separate to the Government's scheme with more than 20million handed out by this year. Saffie's parents spoke out as a 16-year-old girl who was just five yards away from the attacker when he detonated his bomb has revealed she still has nightmares about it. Eve Senior spent ten nights in hospital after suffering 18 shrapnel wounds, a severed nerve in her leg and burns in the attack by Abedi that killed 22 people. The schoolgirl from Queensbury, West Yorkshire, became the face of the attack in after being photographed limping away from the scene covered in blood. Now, two years after Eve was helped away barefoot with her jeans ripped apart, she has spoken of how she feels Abedi is watching her in her room when she sleeps. Eve Senior, a schoolgirl from West Yorkshire, became the face of the Manchester Arena bombing in May 2017 after being photographed limping away from the scene covered in blood Eve (left, in August 2017) feels attacker Salman Abedi (right), 22, is watching her in her room Eve's mother Natalie also spent ten nights in hospital after the explosion at the concert She told the Daily Mirror: 'I just remember his face. He didn't look at me, he was just looking straight forward. He walked past, then it was literally two seconds.' Eve said she began to have nightmares about Abedi from the second day in hospital, including 'dreams where he's hurting me, or sometimes he's watching me'. She added: 'I have this same dream where he does watch me. I had it in hospital, he came into the hospital room. I've had it at home also he comes into my bedroom. 'Sometimes if I close my eyes just before I sleep, it's as if he is chasing me. I never see his body, it's his head, his face and his hair.' Eve's mother Natalie also spent ten nights in hospital after the explosion at the Ariana Grande concert, although her younger sister Emilia was not badly hurt. Eve began her GCSEs this week and wants to be a paediatric nurse after taking inspiration from those who helped her in the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital. In December 2017, Eve defied the odds to perform in her dance school's Christmas show Eve is pictured with her mother Natalie and father Andrew, three months after the blast She has previously spoken about this desire to go into nursing, saying: 'Before Manchester I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grow up. 'But staying in hospital and seeing what the nurses do and how good they are - when I'm older I want to be a nurse.' In December 2017, Eve defied the odds to perform in her dance school's Christmas show after battling through three operations. She said at the time: 'I can't dance the same as I used to and I won't for quite a long time, but I just thought, no, it will be possible. I wasn't going to sit and watch.' A report found in March 2018 that some victims were forced to wait two hours for help from firemen after 'riskaverse' bosses kept them away. As ambulances flooded to the scene, fire chiefs moved officers to a station three miles away because they feared a marauding terrorist was still on the loose. Iranian General Qassem Suleimani rallied militias in Iraq three weeks ago according to intelligence sources, telling Tehran's men to 'prepare for proxy war' An Iranian general has called on the axis of resistance of thousands of battle-hardened jihadists throughout the Middle East to prepare if war with the US erupts. From Lebanon and Syria to Iraq, Yemen, and the Gaza Strip, Tehran's influence has expanded in the past decade, forging deep and powerful ties with ruthless fighters. Today it was revealed a top a Iranian general had told allies in Iraq to 'prepare for proxy war,' as US warships stand on guard in the Persian Gulf. And an official of the Revolutionary Guard bragged on Friday their arsenal of missiles could 'easily reach [those] warships.' US intelligence experts told the Guardian Qassem Suleimani rallied militias in Baghdad three weeks ago. A source told the paper: 'It wasnt quite a call to arms, but it wasnt far off.' Iran has missile capabilities to strike Israel and they claimed today, US warships in the Persian Gulf. Over the last decade they have expanded their 'axis of resistance' in the Middle East Palestinian militants of the Islamic Jihad group take part in their military exercises in Deir el-Balah, the central Gaza Strip in December 2014 Hezbollah fighters parade during the inauguration of a new cemetery for their fighters who died in fighting against Israel, in a southern suburb of Beirut in 2010 That cry to arms was said to be a factor in US President Donald Trump's decision to pull all non-essential government staff from Iraq last week. And Iran's allies stretch far beyond Iraq. At a mass rally in February in Beirut, a Hezbollah commander Hassan Nasrallah declared: 'If America launches war on Iran, it will not be alone in the confrontation, because the fate of our region is tied to the Islamic Republic.' Hezbollah is one of the most prominent members of the self-styled 'axis of resistance,' armed groups with tens of thousands of Shiite Muslim fighters beholden to Tehran. While Hezbollah strike fear into foes in Lebanon; the Iranians are backing Hamas and the Islamic Jihad group in the Gaza strip. In Yemen, they are behind the Houthis in a vicious proxy war with the Saudis which has raged for four years. And in Iraq they have established a network of control through a trio of militants: Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Kataeb Hezbollah and the Badr Organization. The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group transits the Suez Canal in Egypt on its way to the Persian Gulf last week amid mounting tensions with Iran An F/A-18E Super Hornet aircraft launches from the flight deck the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Persian Gulf on May 10, as tensions mount with Tehran over President Donald Trump's sanctions Members of the Palestinian Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad group, march with their rifles in December 2017 Hezbollah, whose name means 'Party of God,' was established by Iran's Revolutionary Guard during Lebanon's civil war in the 1980s. Today it is among the most effective armed groups in the region, extending Iran's influence to Israel's doorstep. In a paper for the Brookings Institute earlier this year, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman described the group as revolutionary Iran's 'most successful export' and Tehran's 'multi-purpose tool.' Hezbollah was formed to combat Israel following its invasion of Lebanon in 1982. It waged an 18-year guerrilla war against Israeli forces, eventually forcing them to withdraw from Lebanon in 2000. Six years later, it battled Israel to a bloody stalemate in a month-long war. Today, the group has an arsenal of tens of thousands of rockets and missiles than can reach deep into Israel, as well as thousands of highly disciplined and battle-hardened fighters. Hezbollah has fought alongside government forces in Syria for more than six years, gaining even more battlefield experience and expanding its reach. At home, the group's power exceeds that of the Lebanese armed forces, and along with its allies has more power than ever in the parliament and government. Despite the rhetoric, Hezbollah says it is not seeking another war with Israel, and it is not likely to join in any regional confrontation - at least not in the early stages - unless provoked. Hezbollah has lost hundreds of fighters in Syria, exacting a heavy toll on the Shiite community from which it draws most of its support. In Yemen, Iran has backed the Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, who swept down from the north and captured the capital, Sanaa, in 2014. Hezbollah fighters stand near a four-wheel vehicle positioned at the site where clashes erupted between Hezbollah and al-Qaida-linked fighters in Wadi al-Kheil on the Lebanon-Syria border in July 2017 Houthis, march during a gathering aimed at mobilizing more fighters into battlefronts to fight pro-government forces in several Yemeni cities in January 2017 Houthis, pose for a photo as they secure a road, as people take part in a march from Sanaa to the port city of Hodeidah, Yemen in April 2017 A Saudi-led coalition entered the conflict on the side of the government the following year. The war has since killed tens of thousands of people and generated the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Saudi Arabia views the Houthis as an Iranian proxy, and along with Western nations and U.N. experts has accused Tehran of providing arms to the rebels, including the long-range missiles they have fired into Saudi Arabia. Iran supports the rebels but denies arming them. The Houthis have given up little ground since the coalition entered the war, and have targeted the Saudi capital, Riyadh, with long-range missiles. Earlier this week they claimed a drone attack that shut down a major oil pipeline in Saudi Arabia, which responded with airstrikes on Yemen's rebel-held capital that killed civilians. Iran has trained, financed, and equipped Shiite militias in Iraq that battled U.S. forces in the years after the 2003 invasion and remobilized to battle the Islamic State group a decade later. The groups include Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Kataeb Hezbollah and the Badr Organization, all three led by men with close ties to General Qassem Soleimani, the leader of Iran's elite Quds Force and the architect of Tehran's regional strategy. Iraqi Shiite militia group Imam Ali Brigades chant slogans against the Islamic State group at the battlefield in Tikrit, 80 miles north of Baghdad in March 2015 The militias fall under the umbrella of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces, a collection of mostly Shiite militias that were incorporated into the country's armed forces in 2016. Together they number more than 140,000 fighters, and while they fall under the authority of Iraq's prime minister, the PMF's top brass are politically aligned with Iran. U.S. forces and the PMF fought side-by-side against Islamic State militants after Iraq's parliament invited the U.S. back into the country in 2014. But now that the war is largely concluded, some militia leaders are calling on U.S. troops to leave again, threatening to expel them by force if necessary. This week, the U.S. ordered all nonessential government staff to leave Iraq, amid unspecified threats in the region said to be linked to Iran. In Palestine, Tehran has long supported militant groups, including Gaza's Hamas rulers and particularly the smaller Islamic Jihad group. Hamas fell out with Iran after the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, losing millions of dollars in monthly assistance. The group today is in a severe financial crisis; its employees and public servants in Gaza have not been paid full salaries in years. Tehran is said to have continued its military support to Hamas' armed wing, but the group appears to get most of its aid from Qatar, making it less likely that it would rally to Tehran's side in a regional conflict. Young Shiite volunteer militia members prepare to attack Islamic State fighters in Tikrit, north of Baghdad, Iraq in March 2015 Islamic Jihad, another Sunni militant group, is seen as much closer to Iran but still not as deeply intertwined as Hezbollah or other groups. Hamas and Islamic Jihad launched hundreds of rockets from Gaza during a bout of fighting with Israel earlier this month. Israel accused Islamic Jihad of triggering the violence, which was the worst since a 2014 war. The movement did not deny the Israeli accusations. Taiwanese lawmakers have voted to legalise same-sex marriage, becoming the first in Asia to do so. Parliament passed a bill describing the partnerships as 'same-sex marriage' on Friday, seeing off attempts to water down the phrasing to 'same-sex family relationships' or 'same-sex unions' instead. But conservative groups threatened to 'strike back' at next year's general election, saying the voice of 7million people who voted against same-sex marriage in a referendum last year 'had been trampled.' Taiwanese lawmakers became the first in Asia to pass a bill legalising same-sex marriage after the top court struck down a definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman Gay rights campaigners celebrated in Taipei on Friday as lawmakers passed the bill despite opposition from conservative groups Lawmakers had been presented with three bills - two of which described the partnerships as 'family relationships' and 'unions' - but passed a law describing them as 'marriages' Gay rights supporters celebrate outside Parliament in Taipei after lawmakers legalised same-sex marriage The vote came two years after the country's top court struck down the definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman Despite joyous scenes outside parliament as the law was passed, a referendum last year showed widespread opposition to the law The vote comes two years after the self-governing island's constitutional court struck down a definition of marriage as being only between a man and a woman and gave ministers a two-year deadline to enshrine the ruling in law. That deadline had been due to expire on May 24. Conservative groups rallied against the change and in November last year held a referendum asking to keep the old definition of marriage. In total, 7.6million people voted in favour of defining marriage as between a man and a woman, with 2million voting against, providing a comfortable victory. Nevertheless, Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen pressed ahead with the change, tweeting ahead of the vote that 'we have a chance to make history and show the world that progressive values can take root in an East Asian society. A couple kisses as they celebrate after Taiwan became the first place in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage The law change has been divisive in Taiwan, which is known for its liberal views but nonetheless faced a conservative backlash While putting same-sex marriages on the same footing a heterosexual unions, the new law does not grant homosexual couples the same rights to adopt children Conservative groups promised to 'strike back' at the government in next year's elections, saying the 'will of the people' had been trampled in Friday's vote A supporter of same-sex marriage wears a badge outside the parliament building as a bill for marriage equality is debated Same-sex marriage supporters cheer outside the Legislative Yuan, Taiwan's parliament, on Friday after the bill was passed 'Today, we can show the world that Love Wins.' After the vote, she added: 'On May 17th, 2019 in #Taiwan, #LoveWon. We took a big step towards true equality, and made Taiwan a better country.' Outside parliament, campaigners hugged in the driving rain while chanting 'way to go Taiwan' and 'Asia's first!' Despite lawmakers passing the most progressive of three bills they were offered, it still fails to give same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual couples when adopting children. Nevertheless, gay rights campaigners supported the law, seeing it as a big step in the right direction. In November last year Taiwan held a referendum, launched by conservative groups, which found overwhelming opposition to gay marriage (pictured, supporters celebrate) Taiwan also held a referendum rejecting homosexuality being taught in schools, shocking many young residents (pictured, rights campaigners celebrate) Supporters of same-sex marriage react as they gather outside the parliament building as a bill for marriage equality is debated North Korea is experiencing its worst drought in over a century, official media has reported, days after the World Food Programme expressed 'very serious concerns' about the situation in the country. The North -- which is under several sets of sanctions over its now-suspended nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programmes -- has long struggled to feed itself, and suffers chronic food shortages. It recorded its worst harvest for a decade last year, according to the United Nations, down by 500,000 tonnes as natural disasters combined with its lack of arable land and inefficient agriculture hit production. As seen from an airplane, much of North Korea's countryside is dry and parched as the country suffers from what state media says is the worst drought in a century In the year to Wednesday the North received just 56.3 millimetres of rain or snow, the Rodong Sinmun newspaper reported on Friday, the lowest since 1917. Water was running out in the country's lakes and reservoirs, said the paper, the official mouthpiece of the ruling Workers' Party, adding: 'The ongoing drought is causing a significant effect on the cultivation of wheat, barley, corn, potatoes and beans.' In their most recent estimates, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Programme (WFP) said about 10.1 million North Koreans -- 40 percent of the population -- were suffering from severe food shortages, a similar figure to recent years. This photo of North Korea's border county of Kaepoong, Taken from a South Korean military post in the Demilitarised Zone May 17, shows no sign of the drought reportedly affecting other parts of the North On Tuesday, state news agency KCNA accused the US of an 'illegal act of robbery' after it seized a cargo ship that had been impounded in Indonesia for a year and towed it to American Samoa. Hundreds of thousands are believed to have died during a famine in the mid to late 1990s, a period known as the 'Arduous March' in the North. Pyongyang has been frequently condemned by the international community for decades of prioritising the military and its nuclear weapons programme over adequately providing for its people -- an imbalance some critics say the UN's aid programme encourages. But neighbouring areas are also seeing low rainfall this year. The South received just 157 mm of rain in the same period this year, less than half the 364 mm in 2018, Seoul's Korea Meteorological Administration said, describing it as a 'mild drought'. And according to China's National Meteorological Centre, rainfall in northeast China -- which includes the provinces of Liaoning and Jilin, which border North Korea -- was 27.6 mm in the year to May 9, down 55 percent on 2018. An aerial shot of farmland north of Pyongyang taken on February 12. The North's Rodong Shinmun newspaper said the country had only hgad 56.3 millimetres of rain from January to May 'We have very serious concerns' about the situation in the North, WFP's executive director David Beasley said during a visit to the South earlier this week. Seoul is currently planning to provide food aid to the North -- a politically controversial move after Pyongyang launched several short-range devices earlier this month with nuclear negotiations deadlocked with the United States, its first such tests for more than a year. 'The issue of food aid should be considered from a humanitarian perspective as fellow Koreans, regardless of the security issues,' South Korea's National Security Advisor Chung Eui-yong said Friday. International sanctions against Pyongyang technically do not ban humanitarian aid, but strict interpretations of restrictions on banking transactions and imports by the North -- along with a travel ban for American citizens -- have hampered relief groups' activities. The North previously reported it was experiencing its 'worst drought in 100 years' in June 2015. A man who was indecently assaulted as a teenager by a NSW magistrate has told a court Graeme Curran's physical acts were impossible to forget and his manipulation 'crippling'. In a victim impact statement read to the NSW District Court, the man said he'd been subjected to significant emotional trauma and his life had been 'stunted and twisted by a perverse sense of guilt and confusion'. 'While the physical acts have been impossible to forget, Graeme Curran's psychological manipulation of me proved crippling, ' he said at a sentence hearing on Friday. A man who was indecently assaulted as a teenager by a NSW magistrate has told a court Graeme Curran's (pictured) physical acts were impossible to forget Graeme Bryan Curran (left) arrived with his lawyer (right) for a sentence hearing at John Maddison Tower Sheriff's Office in Sydney on Friday 'The stories and lies that were made to keep me silent, and the resulting emotional breakdowns of my late childhood, left me with a chronic sense of helplessness, changing the direction of my life momentarily.' Curran, now 69, was in April found guilty of seven charges after denying nine counts of indecently assaulting the boy in the 1980s. The jury cleared him of the other two charges. He was sworn in as a magistrate in 2002 but was suspended after being charged in November 2017. The NSW chief magistrate's office previously said he would remain suspended until all criminal proceedings had concluded. Curran, now 69, was found guilty in April of seven charges after denying nine counts of indecently assaulting the boy in the 1980s A British father is fighting for his life after he fell from a hill on to a dual carriageway and hit a car in Spain. Haydn Atwood, 39, tripped and fell while running down the hill with his son Ashley, 17, on the first day of their family holiday in Malaga. The carer, from Caerphilly in South Wales, was on holiday with his girlfriend Joanne and son Ashley who saw his father fly through the air after colliding with the car. Haydn Atwood (left), 39, is fighting for his life after hitting a car when he tripped and fell while running down a hill in Malaga with his son Ashley (right), pictured boarding the plane together at Bristol Airport The carer from Caerphilly, South Wales, was on the first day of his holiday when the incident happened Mr Atwood's sister Hailey said: 'Haydn and Ashley were running down a hill at about 10pm when Haydn fell into the path of an oncoming car. 'Ashley witnessed the sight of his dad being thrown into the air. 'Haydn had to be resuscitated on the side of the road. He had internal bleeding but he's had surgery and they managed to stop the bleeding inside. 'But he also had a bleed on the brain and his skull is fractured on one side. He's on life support and he's got a tube down his throat. His organs are damaged from the impact. Sister Hailey said he was running with his son at 10pm when he fell into the dual carriageway The Atwood family are flying out to Spain to be with him thanks to money raised by their local community as he does not have medical insurance. 'He's in a bad way.' Mr Atwood was rushed to the Hospital Clinico Universitario where he remains on a life support machine. His family are flying out to Spain to be with him thanks to money raised by their local community in Caerphilly, South Wales, because he does not have medical insurance. Mr Atwood had to be resuscitated on the side of the road and is still on a life support machine in the Hospital Clinico Universitario His sister said: 'He needed surgery on his heart, but was too weak. 'He's highly sedated at the moment but they're going to try and reduce the sedation on Friday.' 'It was their first day out there and they had gone for a walk but as they were jogging down the side of a mountain momentum picked up and they didn't stop. 'Haydn went straight onto the motorway and got hit by a car. His son saw his father fly up in the air. 'I couldn't believe it when I was told. He hasn't got travel insurance, so getting him home could prove be costly.' The chief of the Met Police has said the corruption on hit show Line of Duty is 'utterly unimaginable' but highlighted it does showcase the difficult decisions officers face. Cressida Dick said that the BBC show has helped spark interest in the profession and that dramas are a good way of encouraging people to get involved in the force. Speaking on Good Morning Britain today, ahead of an event at Westminster Abbey, celebrating 100 years of women in the Met Police, she said she recently met actress Vicky McClure, who plays Detective Inspector Kate Fleming in the show. 'I met Vicky McClure not long ago, a brilliant strong woman playing a strong part and I think its great to see strong women in the police in drama. It seems to rouse interest and the dilemmas are interesting. Cressida Dick (pictured above) has said the interest in dramas like Line of Duty is a good thing for the force Vicky McClure plays Detective Inspector Kate Fleming (above) on hit BBC show Line of Duty Cressida had been on the show to highlight that it's been 100 years since a woman joined the Met Police (above London police women posing in their new uniforms) 'The police force that she seems to work in is astonishingly appallingly corrupt in a way that is utterly unimaginable.' She added that most of what happens on the programme is 'way beyond the boundaries.' 'However, the sort of nature of the dilemmas and decisions the officers have to make, they have obviously thought hard about that. 'There are great characters and we find that on balance I think, the fact that people are interested in the dramas, whether they are rather extreme or on some occasions rather ridiculous is getting people interested and thinking about police and caring about police and wanting to get involved in policing thats really important'. Cressida Dick (left) met Vicky McClure (right) at Stylist's Remarkable Women Awards, where she scooped the 'Glass Ceiling Award' on March 5, 2019 in London Dick had appeared on the show to talk about the 100 Years of Women in the Met campaign and spoke about the 'instinctiveness' that was needed to be an officer. Asked is health and safety got in the way of police officers acting on their instinct and whether there was still room for that sort of policing she said: I think you have to be, to be a really good police officer you have to be instinctive.' She added: 'A lot of that instinct comes from experience and expertise and they are very well trained now and we go through lots of scenarios and yes of course they will go through risks. 'Every day, every week I will be thanking someone for their extraordinary actions and every day I am hearing about extraordinary actions by officers who have had no time to think about it and have just done the right thing, the brave thing'. Three women police-constables of the Metropolitan Police Special Patrol Group who received public order training WPC Dilys Puddephatt (left) is shown wearing the new uniform for female officers of the Metropolitan Police, designed by Norman Hartnell, London, UK, 14th September 1967 Looking back on the progress of the force in the last 100 years she said it's 'fantastic' to see how it's come. 'I think those early pioneers really broke through for the rest of us. It was a real challenge for them and they werent welcomed everywhere. Some of them went on and did 30 years having joined in 1919. Here we are now with thousands, over 8,000 police women and this wonderful service at the Abbey today, some of which joined in the 50s and 60s.' The service will be held at Westminster Abbey today as it is 100 years to the day that new police women were seen in uniform for the first time at a war memorial service at the abbey. Twins Susan and Sally Potts (left and right) part of Croydon London Women's officers Today 12 female officers are set to appear in 1919 replica uniforms. During the show, Dick was also quizzed praised for the amount of women in the force going up, and was questioned on the level of women in the force in general. The numbers of women are up and I would like them to go up further and we have been having a big recruiting campaign in the last six months and we will continue with that. 'We have been seeing a lot of interest from that from young women and even young girls and older women as well. Cressida (pictured above) said she has been working hard and campaigning to get more women into the force Overall the police service in London is about a third of women, but overall police officers are rather slightly less than that so there is still some considerable way to go, but they are in every role, every specialism, every rank.' She also highlighted the lack of women who were on the force who were from ethnic minorities. We police the most diverse city in the planet so its very important for us and we are at about just under 15 percent black minority ethnic officers, which is lower amongst women. Weve been doing a lot of campaigning in communities, Ive been out in schools, colleges, we are talking to women and trying to work out the barriers and in some communities there are cultural barriers, where perhaps people feel less certain about their young women joining us. And in other areas theres obviously a historic issue where people have just well the police service wouldnt be a place for somebody like me, for a variety of reasons and we need to break down those barriers. Britain's knife death toll has hit 100 for 2019 so far - with the youngest victim just 14 years old. John Lewis, 32, died in Middlesbrough on May 14, bringing the number of fatal stabbings up to 100. Charlotte Huggins, 33, was the first of the year, having been killed shortly after celebrating the start of 2019. On January 8 Jaden Moodie, who was just 14 years old, was knocked off a moped and stabbed to death in Leyton, east London. Ellie Gould (left), 17, died from stab wounds, police said. On January 8 Jaden Moodie (right), who was just 14, was knocked off a moped and stabbed to death in Leyton, east London Jaden had moved to the capital from Nottingham with his mother just six months before his death. Showjumper Ellie Gould, 17, was pronounced dead at an address believed to be her home in Calne, Wiltshire - with police revealing she had died of stab wounds. The year 12 pupil died on May 3, and a 17-year-old boy has appeared in court charged with murder. The oldest victim, great-grandmother Barbara Heywood, 80, was stabbed to death at her Bolton home on March 27. Statistics show that knife crime has soared to its highest level since the Second World War Pictured: A map of murders in London this year. So far there has been one fatal stabbing every 1.45 days this year in England Wales She was described as a 'generous, kind-hearted lady who loved life'. An 88-year-old man was subsequently arrested on suspicion of murder and detained under the Mental Health Act. Almost half of this year's victims were under 30 - and 83 of the 100 dead were male, the BBC reported. England and Wales saw knife crime soar to record levels in 2017-18, with the number of fatal stabbings at its highest number since the Home Office started records in 1946. So far there has been one fatal stabbing every 1.45 days this year in England Wales, and if the current rate continues this year's total would be just under the 285 stabbing deaths in 2017-18. ONS statistics showed a drop in the number of officers in England and Wales and a rise in knife offences 'Devoted family man' and computer programmer Lee Pomeroy, 51, died after he was attacked on a South Western Railway train Romanian Tudor Simionov, 33, was working as a doorman at a private party in Mayfair on New Year's Eve and was stabbed to death in the early hours of 1 January. 'Devoted family man' and computer programmer Lee Pomeroy, 51, died after he was attacked on a South Western Railway train bound for London Waterloo on January 4. He had been travelling to London from Guildford for a day out with his 14-year-old son when he was stabbed nine times on the train. Earlier this year MailOnline revealed that police forces across the UK had quietly slashed the number of Police Community Support Officers by 5,500 over the last ten years - with London axing two in every three. The number of PCSOs in the Metropolitan Police was cut 68 per cent from 4,300 in March of 2008 to 1,369 in March of 2018, analysis of Home Office data revealed. Across the whole of England and Wales in the same period, police forces lost 5,450 PCSOs out of 16,255 - more than a third of the workforce. PCSOs are not warranted officers - they are paid less than constables and do not have powers of arrest - but they were introduced to provide an additional visible police presence to deter crime on Britain's streets. A teenager driver had a lucky escape when she failed to yield to a semi-truck as she merged onto a highway in Oklahoma - and was sent spinning after crashing into it. Shocking dashcam footage shows the 18-year-old motorist attempting to join the Muskogee Turnpike, a state toll road that connects Tulsa and Interstate 40. Instead of letting the truck in the occupying lane pass, she tries to merge in front of it - but ends up hitting the huge vehicle and spinning out of control. As her car swerves across the road, it also hits the central barrier and then an oncoming red car - destroying its hood - before coming to a stop. The teenage girl attempts to join the Muskogee Turnpike - a state toll road that connects Tulsa and Interstate 40 - while a semi-truck heads down the occupying lane After she fails to yield, the 18-year-old's car collides with the massive vehicle during the incident on Friday, May 10 The teen's car is sent spinning across the highway and crashes into the central barrier, seen above in her dashcam footage Her vehicle then turns while a red car approaches the scene of destruction with no time to stop The shocked teen, who is heard gasping, and the occupants of the red car were uninjured, according to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol (OHP), Fox 10 reported. Footage of the accident, which occurred on Friday, May 10, was posted on the OHP's Facebook page after the girl's father sent the video to them for training purposes, and has had more than 1.5million views. The teen driver did not yield to the semi, according to OHP officials - and many commenters on the post reinforced the 'always yield the right of way to ongoing traffic' rule. The teen driver collides with the red car, completely destroying its hood. The girl's father later send the video to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol so it can be used for training purposes One wrote: 'As a retired state trooper, the car in fact does have to yield to the traffic on the interstate. 'If they can't get over for reasons, such as the red car beside them, then the car getting on the interstate should slow down until they can safely merge.' Another said: 'Not a wise decision to try and outrun the vehicle already at freeway speed or play chicken. Slow down and merge when safe!' Meanwhile, a truck driver commented: 'I drive semi-truck and this type of situation happens quite often. 'Sometimes, we are just unable to move over and accelerating for us is basically out of the question. Hard to move forty tons very fast at all.' A far-right paedophile gave a Nazi salute today as he was jailed for life after plotting to murder Labour MP Rosie Cooper and threatening to kill a police officer. Jack Renshaw bought a 19-inch replica Roman sword and announced his plans to kill the West Lancashire MP as part of a 'white jihad' at a pub in Warrington in July 2017. The 23-year-old, from Skelmersdale in Lancashire, also threatened to kill detective Victoria Henderson, who was investigating him for grooming two young boys. His plan was scuppered by whistleblower Robbie Mullen, from Widnes, Cheshire, who was at the same Cheshire pub when Renshaw revealed his chilling plans. Last month a re-trial failed to reach a verdict on whether Renshaw remained a member of the far-right terrorist group National Action after it was banned. But today he was jailed for life at the Old Bailey in London for the plot against Ms Cooper and threats towards DC Henderson and told he must serve a minimum term of 20 years. As he was led away, Renshaw raised his arm in an apparent Nazi salute as a supporter in the public gallery shouted 'we're with you Jack'. Jack Renshaw (pictured above) had previously attended National Action rallies before plotting to kill an MP. A re-trial last month failed to reach a verdict on whether Renshaw remained a member of the far-right terrorist group after it was banned Jack Renshaw (left) bought a 19-inch replica Roman sword and announced his plans to kill Labour MP Rosie Cooper (right) as part of a 'white jihad' at a pub in Warrington in July 2017 The contents of Renshaw's suitcase was revealed after he was arrested. It was shown to hold clothing emblazoned with the Swastika Renshaw bought a 19-inch replica Roman sword, known as a 'Gladius knife' to kill Ms Cooper and exact revenge on detective Victoria Henderson who was investigating him for child sex offences Sentencing Renshaw, Mrs Justice McGowan said: 'Your perverted view of history and current politics has caused you to believe it right to demonise groups simply because they are different from you.' She added: 'This is a case in which only a sentence of life imprisonment can meet the appalling seriousness of your offending.' The judge also commended MP Rosie Cooper and police officer Victoria Henderson. 'The dignity and bravery they have demonstrated show the true public spirit and public interest that motivated their work,' she said. Speaking after the hearing today, Ms Cooper said in a statement: 'My deepest wish is that this case is the last occasion when any public servant, any politician, has their life threatened for simply doing their job. 'I believe today justice has been served. Not for me personally, but for every MP and public servant, and for our democratic way of life which affords us the privilege of free speech, without fear of violent retribution.' Jack Renshaw (right) had once been a British National Party youth leader. He is pictured here alongside Nick Griffin, who served as chairman and then president of the BNP from 1999 to 2014 Neo-Nazi Jack Renshaw, 23, has been jailed at the Old Bailey for life with a minimum term of 20 years after plotting to murder Labour MP Rosie Cooper and threatening to kill a police officer The extreme right-wing group National Action was banned in in December 2016 by then-Home Secretary Amber Rudd after the group declared its support of the murder of Batley and Spen MP Jo Cox While Ms Henderson told the court today that knowing what Renshaw was planning to do to her: 'makes me feel physically sick.' Will Chatterton, head of investigations for counter terrorism policing in the North West, said the jail term reflected 'the vile and shocking nature' of Renshaw's views and plans. Asked about the Nazi salute given by Renshaw in court, he added: 'I believe that was towards members in the upper section (public gallery). 'Again a sort of vile and disrespectful act which I guess demonstrates the fact that he's a dangerous individual who still holds appalling and extreme views.' Following his re-trial in April it was revealed that Renshaw, a former BNP youth leader, is a convicted paedophile who was jailed last June for 16 months. He was found guilty of grooming two underage boys - aged between 13 and 15 at time - using a fake Facebook profile. Who is Jack Renshaw and what are his offences? 2010 Becomes involved with the EDL and joins the BNP aged 15 against his parents' wishes September 2013 Studies politics at Manchester Metropolitan University and becomes the face of the BNP Youth 2014 Declares in a blog that Jewish people are traitors and should be killed. He also appears in a video titled 'BNP Youth Fight Back' September 2015 Is forced to leave university after an investigation into his incitement of racial hatred April 2016 - He called for counter protesters at a rally in Blackpool to be put 'in the chambers' and called Nazism 'natures politics' Yorkshire Forum for Nationalists 2016 tells people that Hitler was wrong in showing Jewish people mercy November 2016 Faces criminal charges over incitement to racial hatred January 11, 2017 - Arrested for hate crimes and terror offences after the arrest of National Action members across the UK May 19, 2017 arrested for child grooming July 1, 2017 tells friends he would murder Rosie Cooper and take hostages in a pub July 5, 2017 charged by the CPS under pressure from the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism April 2018 found guilty of stirring up racial hatred after calling for the genocide of Jewish people June 2018 jailed for 16 months for grooming April 2, 2019 - trial for membership of National Action where the jury was unable to reach a verdict May 17, 2019 - jailed for life with a minimum term of 20 years for plot against Labour MP Advertisement 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. But he denied membership of banned extreme right-wing group National Action and a jury was discharged when they failed to reach a verdict. The organisation is hostile to democracy and the British state and has sought to radicalise young people through violent imagery and 'hate-filled' social media messages, as well as street demonstrations and intimidation of local communities. It was banned in in December 2016 by then-Home Secretary Amber Rudd after the group declared its support of the murder of Batley and Spen MP Jo Cox. Renshaw had become involved in politics during his teenage years, joining the English Defence League first and then moving to the British National Party after meeting its then leader Nick Griffin at an event. Born in Lancashire, he eventually travelled to Manchester to attend the city's Metropolitan University where he studied economics and politics. But was asked to leave because of his far-right activism. He spent years in the BNP, where he appeared in posters, videos as as a speaker at events. He also stood for Blackpool Council and worked at the European Parliament in Brussels for a time. He later became involved with National Action, but denies being a member after it was banned in 2016. National Action leader Christopher Lythgoe, 32, of Warrington, and his right-hand man Matthew Hankinson, 24, from Merseyside, were present when Renshaw outlined his plans to murder Ms Cooper. Both were convicted of membership last year. He had revealed his intentions just a year after Labour MP Jo Cox was stabbed and shot by a fellow far-right extremist, Thomas Mair. Renshaw had been arrested on January 11, 2017 for stirring up racial hatred in relation to two speeches he made, and as a part of the investigation his phone was examined. Detective Victoria Henderson discovered evidence of Renshaw's perverted affairs with the underage boys and arrested him again on May 19. Renshaw had told DC Henderson in interview that she was fabricating evidence for 'the two worst things anyone could be - a homosexual and a paedophile'. He was released on bail and began researching DC Henderson in preparation for the revenge attack. The paedophile was so determined to stop the detective revealing his paedophilia that he plotted to kill his local MP in a pub. He claimed this would involved taking hostages and luring in DC Henderson to silence her before committing 'suicide by cop'. It was at the Friar Penketh pub in Warrington that he revealed his plans, at a meeting with the leader of National Action, Christopher Lythgoe and others. Detective Superintendent Will Chatterton (pictured), Head of Investigations for Counter Terrorism for the North West, spoke outside the Old Bailey following Renshaw's sentencing today He told the Old Bailey at an earlier hearing how he spent just under a month planning to kill Ms Cooper to 'send the state a message'. Renshaw had criticised Adolf Hitler for what he believed was showing Jewish people 'mercy'. Jurors heard a speech he delivered to the Yorkshire Forum for Nationalists in 2016 in which he said: 'I do actually have some problem with the statement 'Hitler was right' in many senses but you know where he was wrong? 'He showed mercy. He showed mercy to people who did not deserve mercy. 'As nationalists, we need to learn from the mistakes of the National Socialists and we need to realise that no, you do not show the Jew mercy.' Renshaw had planned to make a 'white jihad' video explaining his motives for the terror attack. But he was arrested on July 5, 2017. Renshaw was convicted of four counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, between February 2016 and January 2017, and two counts of inciting racial hatred. He had also conducted internet searches during May 2017 in relation to cutting of the jugular artery and how long it would take to die after suffering such a wound in preparation for his plan. It was at the Friar Penketh pub in Warrington that Renshaw revealed his plans, at a meeting with the leader of National Action, Christopher Lythgoe and others At an earlier hearing, Robbie Mullen, who reported Renshaw's plans to Hope Not Hate, recalled hearing Renshaw reveal his plans in the pub. 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 said he would wear a fake suicide vest so he would be killed by police, Mr Mullen added. Renshaw 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.' Ms Cooper earlier this year spoke in the House of Commons about the planned attack by Renshaw, as she slammed the abuse politicians sometimes face. 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. Tory support ahead of the EU elections is into single figures today as the Prime Minister heads out on the campaign trail and Boris Johnson accidentally launched his leadership bid. Theresa May's Conservatives are expected to get nine per cent of the votes and are now 26 points behind the Brexit Party, a YouGov poll says. Yesterday Tory MPs forced Mrs May to confirm she will announce her resignation with a bloodbath predicted next Thursday because of her failure to deliver Brexit. Today's latest opinion poll also delivers bad news for Labour, with Jeremy Corbyn's party getting 15 per cent and being overtaken by the Liberal Democrats, who are polling at 16 per cent. The Greens are on 10 per cent followed by Change UK on five per cent and UKIP on three per cent. Mrs May is out campaigning for the European elections in Bristol today with her party tanking and is now weeks from exiting office with up to 20 Tory MPs vying for her job. She said: 'The Conservative Party didn't want to be fighting these. We wanted to be out of the European Union. Indeed if Parliament had backed our Brexit deal we could already have left the EU, but we're a national party, we fight national elections. 'Nigel Farage can't deliver Brexit: every few years he pops up, he shouts from the sidelines, he doesn't work constructively in the national interest'. Mrs May is campaigning for the European elections in Bristol today (pictured) as the Brexit Party raced ahead and took aim at Nigel Farage Tory support is leaking away ahead of the EU elections with the party now in fifth place, miles behind the Brexit Party Boris Johnson (pictured today) has formally declared that he wants to succeed Theresa May as Prime Minister Yesterday former foreign secretary Boris Johnson formally declared that he wants to succeed her as Prime Minister, but did it earlier than his team expected. May vote plan sets up explosive few days for UK politics in June MPs will get a vote on the Withdrawal Agreement Bill in the first week of June, setting up a busy few days for the Government. The legislation will be tables in the week beginning June 3, which is also when US president Donald Trump and his wife Melania visit the UK. They will be in the country from Monday June 3 to Wednesday June 5. On Thursday June 6, a by-election will be held in Peterborough to find a replacement for MP Fiona Onasanya, who lost her seat through a recall petition after serving time in prison for lying about a speeding offence. There are also due to be a host of events to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day the same day. Advertisement Mr Johnson told the British Insurance Brokers' Association conference in Manchester that 'of course' he was 'going for it'. He said: 'We've failed over the past three years to put forward a convincing narrative about how we exploit the opportunities of Brexit. All I can say, as tactfully and usefully as I can, is that I have a boundless appetite to try to get it right, and to help the country to get on the right path'. But he fled for a cab afterwards and refused to answer questions from chasing reporters. Mr Johnson has already met 200 Conservative MPs during a lengthy charm offensive to get him on the Tory leadership ballot, it emerged last night. He has warned them that the party faces an 'existential' crisis and that only he can save them from both Nigel Farage and Jeremy Corbyn. Yesterday the former foreign secretary formally declared that he wants to succeed Theresa May as Prime Minister. But his campaign for the top job has been in full swing for months. Sources say he has hosted around 200 MPs, over half the Parliamentary party, in an attempt to rally them to his cause. MPs have been meeting him in 15-minute slots in his fourth-floor office in Portcullis House. A whiteboard on the wall lists all the slots for the day. While other candidates have been parading their credentials with media appearances, Mr Johnson has barely been seen in public while he focuses on winning over MPs. Tory support has plummeted to just 25 per cent - the lowest for 17 years - according to the Ipsos MORI survey for the Standard Before the leadership vote is put to the Tory membership, Mr Johnson must first reach the final two after a secret ballot of MPs meaning he must win his colleagues over to succeed. After David Cameron quit in 2016, Mr Johnson was a strong favourite to succeed him but pulled out after his Brexiteer colleague Michael Gove withdrew support at the last minute. MPs who have met Mr Johnson in recent weeks say his new pitch is a simple one. 'He says the Tory Party is in an existential crisis,' said one. 'He says he can see off Farage and beat Corbyn in any election when it comes.' Since resigning as Foreign Secretary over Mrs May's Chequers deal last July Mr Johnson has also lost weight and got a more conventional haircut. His second marriage of 25 years ended last summer but he is happily living with his new girlfriend, Carrie Symonds. Mr Johnson is deeply unpopular within the Scottish Conservatives, with some senior figures plotting a 'Stop Boris' campaign. They fear the party's revival in Scotland could grind to a halt if he succeeds Mrs May. Ruth Davidson also plans to take a central role in the leadership contest and intends to rate candidates on whether or not they will bring the UK back together after Brexit. Mr Johnson last week praised the Scottish Tory leader, saying it was because of her that the party prevented the 'calamity' of a Labour-led government. But she said recently: 'Fair to say, it would be unlikely that I would be his campaign manager'. As the Brexit carnage poured down on Labour and the Conservatives, new YouGov revealed that the public like Nigel Farage more than the two main party leaders. Theresa May's net favourability score has slumped from -39 in late March to a new all-time low of -49. But her main rival Jeremy Corbyn is still liked less at -50, marginally better than his score of -53 in March, which was itself his own all-time low. May and Corbyn's scores make the two party leaders less popular than Nigel Farage with the Brexit Party leader having a net favourability score of -39. The least unpopular party leader is Change UK's Heidi Allen, with a net favourability score of -11. Lib Dem Sir Vince Cable sits on -18. The Brexit Party led by Nigel Farage (pictured campaigning in Brentwood) is leading the polls for the European elections, which are being held next week May May last night bowed to Conservative demands to agree a timetable that will see her quit before the end of July. Following a 'tense' and 'frank' 90-minute meeting between the Prime Minister and senior Tories, sources said Mrs May had agreed to resign in time for the party to elect a new leader for its September conference. The decision paves the way for a Tory leadership contest to begin in earnest. Mrs May resisted pressure to name a date for her departure yesterday, arguing it would undermine her fragile authority still further as she prepares for a fourth and final attempt to pass her Brexit deal next month. But sources said she was 'realistic' about the party's demand for fresh leadership. In a statement agreed with No 10, Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, said Mrs May was 'determined to secure our departure from the EU' and devoting her efforts in the coming days to passing her Brexit deal, which will be voted on by MPs in the week beginning June 3. He added: 'We have agreed that she and I will meet following the second reading of the bill to agree a timetable for the election of a new leader.' Sir Graham said discussions in Mrs May's Commons office had been 'very frank'. Some committee members urged Mrs May to quit immediately and told her they were willing to change the party's rulebook to force her out. Speaking ahead of the meeting, Bob Blackman, the committee's executive secretary, said: 'If she doesn't give us a clear timetable, it will be set for her.' Mr Blackman later said he was 'satisfied' with the outcome. Others, including Sir Graham, urged her to bow out with 'dignity' in the coming weeks rather than force them to mount a coup. A committee source last night told the Mail that Mrs May would step down by the end of July. 'That is the backstop date,' the source said. 'The mood on the committee was for her to go much more quickly. 'It was a tense meeting difficult at times because she doesn't want to go. But she has accepted she is going to have to step down this summer so that we have a new leader in place by September.' Another member of the committee said Mrs May was 'incredibly frustrated' at the prospect of stepping down without having delivered Brexit. But sources denied reports that she had been close to tears. Mrs May told members the party risked choosing the wrong leader if she was forced out before Britain's departure. An ally said: 'She told them it would be a much better contest if you have got the first stage of Brexit out of the way because then you can look to the future. If we are out, you can look at how you renew the party in office to take on Jeremy Corbyn, you can talk about things that are not Brexit and have a proper debate about where the party should be going.' Tory activists last night warned they would press ahead with a no-confidence motion at an extraordinary meeting of the party's National Convention on June 15 unless Mrs May has announced her resignation by then. Dinah Glover, chairman of London East Area Conservatives, said the leadership contest 'needs to start straight away, with the PM stepping down immediately'. Downing Street said Mrs May was now focused on trying to pass the withdrawal agreement bill, which would put her Brexit deal in law. Commons leader Andrea Leadsom confirmed that MPs will be asked to vote on it in the week beginning June 3. With Mrs May due to host Donald Trump and mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy that week, Westminster sources said the most likely date was Friday, June 7. BoJo's charm offensive: Would-be PM launches his bid for the top job by meeting 200 fellow Tory MPs and warning them he is the only one who can save Britain from Farage and Corbyn By Jack Doyle Boris Johnson has already met 200 Conservative MPs during a lengthy charm offensive to get him on the Tory leadership ballot, it emerged last night. He has warned them that the party faces an 'existential' crisis and that only he can save them from both Nigel Farage and Jeremy Corbyn. Yesterday the former foreign secretary formally declared that he wants to succeed Theresa May as Prime Minister. But his campaign for the top job has been in full swing for months. Sources say he has hosted around 200 MPs, over half the Parliamentary party, in an attempt to rally them to his cause. Sources say Boris (pictured at an insurance conference in Manchester) has hosted around 200 MPs, over half the Parliamentary party, in an attempt to rally them to his cause MPs have been meeting him in 15-minute slots in his fourth-floor office in Portcullis House. A whiteboard on the wall lists all the slots for the day. While other candidates have been parading their credentials with media appearances, Mr Johnson has barely been seen in public while he focuses on winning over MPs. Before the leadership vote is put to the Tory membership, Mr Johnson must first reach the final two after a secret ballot of MPs meaning he must win his colleagues over to succeed. After David Cameron quit in 2016, Mr Johnson was a strong favourite to succeed him but pulled out after his Brexiteer colleague Michael Gove withdrew support at the last minute. MPs who have met Mr Johnson in recent weeks say his new pitch is a simple one. 'He says the Tory Party is in an existential crisis,' said one. 'He says he can see off Farage and beat Corbyn in any election when it comes.' He argues that he can deliver Brexit but is also focused on domestic policy and keen to stress his credentials as a One Nation Tory, MPs say. After David Cameron quit in 2016, Mr Johnson was a strong favourite to succeed him but pulled out after his Brexiteer colleague Michael Gove (left) withdrew support at the last minute He has a settled campaign team, and speaks to Lynton Crosby (pictured), the Australian political strategist nicknamed the 'Wizard of Oz', every day One minister who saw him recently but isn't yet backing him said that unlike many of the other candidates he can talk about both Brexit and broader policy issues, and be 'both a peacetime and wartime leader'. Mr Johnson's charm offensive contrasts sharply with his chaotic 2016 run, which fell apart when his campaign chairman, Michael Gove, turned on him to launch his own bid for the leadership. Mr Johnson pulled out, fearing he did not have enough support among MPs, having not made enough effort to woo potential supporters. This is a decision he deeply regrets. This time, allies insist, it will be different. They are keen to stress the 'rigour and discipline' of his campaign and his resolve. Since resigning as Foreign Secretary over Mrs May's Chequers deal last July Mr Johnson has also lost weight and got a more conventional haircut. His second marriage of 25 years ended last summer but he is happily living with his new girlfriend, Carrie Symonds. He has a settled campaign team, and speaks to Lynton Crosby, the Australian political strategist nicknamed the 'Wizard of Oz', every day. His second marriage of 25 years ended last summer but he is happily living with his new girlfriend, Carrie Symonds (pictured with Boris in Italy) Boris has warned them that the party faces an 'existential' crisis and that only he can save them from both Nigel Farage (pictured at an Essex rally) and Jeremy Corbyn However, it's unlikely the discipline will last the entire campaign. Indeed, yesterday's announcement, at an insurance industry convention, was not planned. His allies admit it's difficult to control a 'maverick'. But this latest step is unlikely to make much difference in the long campaign. His hero: Jaws mayor who kept beach open He's not averse to opening his mouth wide. But in an unusual pitch for Britain's top political job, Boris Johnson yesterday revealed an unlikely hero the mayor from Jaws. In the 1975 movie, Amity Island mayor Larry Vaughn refuses to close the beaches despite the panic as a great white shark devours swimmers. But Mr Johnson told yesterday's audience the character could provide inspiration at a time when Britain needs 'politicians who aren't afraid of some short-term downside to their own political careers'. 'The hero of Jaws is obviously the mayor,' he said. Mr Johnson said he 'saw the pressure and stress on the shops and businesses' of Amity Island as the shark spread terror among beach-goers. 'In real life he would have been right,' he added. Although he admits the mayor's decision was ultimately questionable, Mr Johnson said 'sometimes we've also got to be bold and think for the long term'. Advertisement 'Everyone knows he is running anyway,' said a source close to Mr Johnson. 'It's an open secret. And half the Cabinet have declared. It looks better than weaselling around the question.' Mr Johnson, who is still bruised by what he considered to be disloyal briefings by Foreign Office staff, is understood to have made reform of the civil service a priority of any premiership. Six months ago, the prospect of a Boris victory seemed remote. But now even MPs who are not his natural supporters admit his campaign has got momentum. With every defeat for Theresa May's EU withdrawal deal, and every fall in the polls, his prospects have improved as MPs look to someone who they think can save their seats. If Mr Johnson can fend off rival Brexiteers such as former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab and gather enough votes to make it to the final round, the darling of grassroots Tories will strongly fancy his chances in the vote among party members enraged that Brexit hasn't happened. With so many enemies in Parliament, however, that's still a big if. Now he has formally announced, the sizeable number of MPs who want Anyone But Boris will also start gearing up His critics, most of whom are on the Remain side of the party, argue that Mr Johnson is fundamentally unfit for high office. They fear he will drag the party away from the centre ground and adopt 'populist' policies and rhetoric. Mr Johnson once said that he would like to be Tory leader 'if the ball came loose from the back of the scrum', and this time around he's determined to grab it. The contest is likely to be decided by whether anyone can stop him. Advertisement French rail operator SNCF has spent more than 12 million painstakingly restoring an iconic train of the Orient Express, as the consider fully relaunching the fabled service to the East. The last true Orient Express travelled from Paris to Istanbul in 1977, drawing the curtain on almost a century of taking travellers on the fabled route from western Europe to the shores of the Bosphorus in Turkey. The train also entered popular culture, playing a central role in celebrated books and movies, not least Agatha Christie's 1930s novel 'Murder on the Orient Express' which has inspired several films. SNCF have spent seven years to restore the train with precision, scrutinising the original plans and using the best replicas of every fibre of the old carriages, to put on their exhibition in Paris. SNCF hired the best experts in the business to restore the carriages to their former glory, including finding the finest replicas of the fabrics of the original curtains and the rich leathers and brass bolts of the original upholstery. They spent a total of 12.2 million bringing the train back to life. A lounging carriage on the opulent train is fitted with plush armchairs, table lamps and flowers, as well as wooden partitions to allow passengers privacy on board. SNCF is exhibiting seven original carriages at Gare de l'Est station in Paris which have been returned to their original splendour after seven years of restoration. Champagne, Sir? A waiter on board the train lines up champagne flutes and wine glasses at the bar which is surrounded by wooden panels decorated with golden etchings. SNCF picked up the brand from la Compagnie internationale des wagons-lits (CIWL), after the Orient Express service stopped in 1977, but only began restoring the carriages from 2011 The seven carriages of the glorious blue and gold train stand in the sunshine at their exhibition at the Gare de l'Est station in Paris. SNCF are considering fully relaunching the fabled journey to the East, popularised in novels and in Hollywood movies The brand name was acquired by French rail operator SNCF and they are this week exhibiting seven original carriages at Gare de l'Est station. Three are dining cars which were used on the actual Orient Express in its heyday while the four others were used on routes run by the company in the south of France and other European routes. The cars display the height of luxury with plush armchairs for seats, immaculately varnished wooden tables and art deco fittings. SNCF picked up the brand from la Compagnie internationale des wagons-lits (CIWL), after the Orient Express service stopped in 1977, but barely exploited it until it began restoring the carriages from 2011. The height of luxury is seen throughout the carriages, including cosy armchairs for seats, immaculately varnished wooden tables and art deco fittings. 'To restore them, we went into our archives to find the original plans or samples of tissues and so forth,' said Guillaume de Saint Lager, the executive director of Orient Express. 'We used exceptional experts.' The interior of the train, fitted with art deco figures. SNCF chief executive Guillaume Pepy said: 'It is clearly a big investment, some 14 million euros (12.2 million), but it is an investment in railway heritage.' A shimmering blazon on a carriage of the restored train, bearing the original iconic insignia. After intense research, the SNCF found historic Orient Express carriages in a siding in Poland close to the border with Belarus and can now boast a set of 16 carriages - including 9 sleeping cars and four saloons. The glorious interior of the dining carriage, in art deco patterns of browns and gold. In the distance the barman can be seen polishing champagne flutes and wine glasses at the exhibition in the Paris train station. 'To restore them, we went into our archives to find the original plans or samples of tissues and so forth,' said Guillaume de Saint Lager, the executive director of Orient Express. 'We used exceptional experts.' For SNCF chief executive Guillaume Pepy the display at the Gare de l'Est could be the start of a new beginning for the Orient Express. 'It is clearly a big investment, some 14 million euros (12.2 million), but it is an investment in railway heritage,' said Pepy. 'They are a shop window for the expertise of the SNCF in preserving heritage.' Pink lamp shades compliment the brown and gold interior of one of the restored carriages. SNCF last year sold 50.1 percent in holding rights to the Orient Express brand to French hotel group Accor, which wants to open luxury hotels under the name Many will be hoping SNCF are not simply teasing a full relaunch of the service as they wander through the train's fine interior. An exhibition at Paris' Museum of the Arab World in 2014 on the Orient Express proved a smash hit and encouraged SNCF to restore the carriages The shining brass letters and numbers of the newly restored carriages which took seven years and 12.2 million to bring back to its former glory. The chief executive said: 'Our aim is to have the Orient Express on the rails all around Europe' After intense research, the SNCF found historic Orient Express carriages in a siding in Poland close to the border with Belarus and can now boast a set of 16 carriages - including 9 sleeping cars and four saloons. SNCF last year sold 50.1 percent in the company holding the rights to the Orient Express brand to French hotel group Accor, which wants to open luxury hotels under the name. Meanwhile the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express - a privately owned luxury train first established by an American entrepreneur in the 1980s - currently plies a route between Calais in northern France, Paris, Verona and Venice in Italy. An exhibition at Paris' Museum of the Arab World in 2014 on the Orient Express proved a smash hit and encouraged SNCF to restore the carriages. As well as the long rooms for lounging after dinner there are more private shuttered compartments where guests can relax in style with nobody to bother them. The train's winding corridors are very different to the straight lines of modern carriages. 'We need to look at the state of the carriages and see under what conditions they could travel again and how they could be brought in line with the security specifications that exist in Europe,' Pepy said 'Our aim is to have the Orient Express on the rails all around Europe,' said Pepy. But whether a re-launched Orient Express will again steam between Paris and Istanbul remains to be seen. 'We need to look at the state of the carriages and see under what conditions they could travel again and how they could be brought in line with the security specifications that exist in Europe,' Pepy said. 'We are doing the technical work now and hope we can have a positive decision this summer,' he added. A British expat jumped to his death from the roof of a 50ft office block while hallucinating on LSD and ketamine during a New Year's Eve party in Australia, an inquest heard. Aarron McKay, 27, was seen by witnesses clambering up the side of the five-storey Telephone Exchange building in Sydney, before throwing himself off the top when police tried to talk him down. The sales consultant, from Helsby, near Chester, suffered multiple injuries in the fall and died at the scene just 20 minutes later. Aarron McKay (pictured), 27, was seen by witnesses clambering up the exterior of the five story building, in Sydney, before throwing himself off the top when police tried to talk him down Tests revealed Mr McKay had taken a cocktail of the party drugs, including cannabis, and officers found 20 capsules containing MDMA in the form of white powder as well as 'laughing gas' cylinders stuffed in his underwear. Ruling a verdict of death by misadventure, the coroner said there was no evidence that Mr Mckay intended to take his own life and he died as a result of the effects of the hallucinogenic drugs. Australian investigators probing the tragedy in Sydney, New South Wales, concluded the party loving bachelor may have become 'paranoid' at the sight of police officers, panicked and then ran away from them 'unable to appreciate he was at a height.' An inquest in Warrington, Cheshire heard Mr McKay had been a 'high achiever' who worked in finance at companies across the globe including Dubai, Jakarta and Spain. The sales consultant, from Chester, suffered multiple injuries in the fall and died at the scene just 20 minutes later Tests revealed Mr McKay had traces of the party drugs as well as cannabis in his system and officers found 20 'laughing gas' capsules containing MDMA stuffed in his underwear In 2014 he moved to Australia to work with his cousin who ran an employment agency in Sydney but it is thought he lost his job after being caught taking illegal drugs. He started working in Melbourne in the promotions industry and had tried to cut down his partying but he ended up virtually penniless and was staying with friends at an apartment in Bondi, the inquest heard. Mr McKay did not have a place of his own and was making ends meet working as a DJ or selling utility contracts. The hearing was supplied details of an inquest held in Australia last March, which said in the run up to his death Mr McKay had told a friend he had been using ketamine and LSD tablets on a 'regular basis.' During one incident, he took LSD at a music festival and became paranoid that the police were 'looking for him.' The tragedy occurred on December 31 2016, when Mr McKay planned to attend a party in Rose Bay followed by another at Balmain, Sydney, where he said he would take two LSD tabs and some ketamine. On the evening of his death, diners at nearby restaurants spotted him climbing up the exterior of the Telephone Exchange building at 9.30pm, using its external ledges and wire mesh covering the windows as footholds. Ruling a verdict of death by misadventure, the coroner said there was no evidence that Mr Mckay intended to take his own life and he died as a result of the effects of the hallucinogenic drugs During his ascent, Mr McKay momentarily stopped to drop a backpack onto one of the ledges before climbing up to the top and wandering around the roof. One unnamed witness gave a statement to the Australian authorities, saying: 'His movements were erratic as though not knowing what to do.' Another said: 'He seemed intoxicated because he was swaying and seemed cocky'. A third said: 'He looked as though he was not even conscious of the fact that anyone was there, he looked like he was either mentally disturbed, on drugs or very drunk.' Police arrived at the scene and three officers were dispatched to the roof. PC Peter Hibbert urged Mr McKay to walk over to them whilst a colleague added: 'Come on mate come away from the edge we just want have a conversation'. An inquest in Warrington, Cheshire heard Mr McKay, from Helsby, near Chester had been a 'high achiever' who worked in finance at companies across the globe When PC Hibbert was asked to describe Mr McKay's demeanour while on the roof, he told Australian investigators he was 'pacing a few steps left and right as we tried to speak with him and he appeared to have a very blank expression on his face. I guess quite upset.' The Brit then suddenly turned on heels and sprinted toward the edge of the roof before jumping. Australian consultant pharmacist John Farrar said users of LSD can 'experience visual hallucinations and intense emotional experiences, as well as unpleasant reactions involving anxiety, paranoid ideation and panic.' Users of the drug can have 'desperate and irrational responses' from their paranoia, 'leading to misadventure', he added. In 2014 he moved to Australia to work with his cousin who ran an employment agency in Sydney but it is thought he lost his job after being caught taking illegal drugs Mr Farrar said ketamine, which is used to induce anaesthesia, can cause a trance-like state and users can feel as though they are 'watching a film which they are in' and it can 'distort time sense of time and space'. He said: 'The ketamine and LSD which Aarron had ingested would be expected to have caused significant cognitive impairment, some degree of acute dissociation, and grossly impaired perception.' In a statement read to the Warrington hearing, Mr McKay's mother Julie Robinson said her son was supposed to return home for Christmas but had recently got a new girlfriend and had decided to go on a trip to Bali with her. She said: 'We stayed in contact all the time, he would write or call. The last time I spoke to him was on December 29th 2016. He was fine, he had his girlfriend and he was about to go into a new business venture and he looked forward to that. He started working in Melbourne in the promotions industry and had tried to cut down his partying but he ended up virtually penniless and was staying with friends On the night of his death, Ms Robinson was on a trip to Ireland and had tried to phone her son at around 11am, which would have been midnight in Australia. She said: 'By that time, I think the incident had already happened. My sister found out and phoned my husband. I was still in Cork with friends and I couldn't return home because of the bank holiday. 'They were all out celebrating New Years Eve. I understand they were taking something and somehow he got into the roof of the building. Ms Robinson added that she has 'found it hard to come to terms with losing Aarron' and is still taking medication to cope with the 'devastating loss'. The Brit then suddenly turned on heels and sprinted toward the edge of the roof before jumping Recording a verdict of death by misadventure Cheshire Coroner Alan Moore said: 'There is no evidence he intended to take his own life when jumping from the roof of the building. 'The most likely explanation for his actions are the effects of hallucinogenic drugs he had taken which were in his system at the time of his death, most notably ketamine and LSD. 'The evidence confirmed each of those drugs has hallucinogenic effects, and taken together the hallucinogenic effect will therefore be higher.' 'Aarron's cognitive and perceptive factions were impaired as a result of the effect of those hallucinogenic drugs. This is the unintended consequence of an intended act.' For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123, or visit a local Samaritans branch. See samaritans.org Bus driver Jonathan Hastings, 38, has been spared jail after causing a six-car crash when he fell asleep at the wheel A bus driver who fell asleep at the wheel and caused a six-car crash after working 14-hour shifts has been spared jail. Jonathan Hastings, 38, was driving a bus with three passengers in Swinton, Greater Manchester, when he fell asleep. The bus started to drift to the left and hit a kerb as it headed towards stationary traffic which had stopped for a red light, Manchester Crown Court heard yesterday. It collided with a car, which then caused a domino effect with six cars in total being damaged. Four of the cars were written off, and in total 30,000 of damage was caused following the crash at about 7pm on October 11 last year. Two people were treated for whiplash but neither were seriously hurt. The bus had been travelling within the speed limit at the time, estimated to be around 25mph. Hastings, a father-of-one from Salford, was spared jail after he appeared in front of a judge. He pleaded guilty to a single count of dangerous driving. The court was told that Hastings had been working long shifts for Diamond Bus at the time of the crash. Hastings had started working shifts with unsociable hours the previous month, his barrister David James said, and he was still getting used to them. In the three days prior to the crash, Hastings had worked from 9.30am until 11.30pm, the court heard. Hastings told Manchester Crown Court he had been working legal 14-hour shifts from 9.30am to 11.30pm with Diamond Buses (stock image) Within that shift pattern, which the court heard is legal, Hastings took a number of breaks. Mr James said the work had created 'a chronic tiredness that is not so evident', which 'almost becomes part of normal life'. Mr James said: 'It is that that the defendant feels must have overtaken him.' Hastings had formerly worked in warehouses, a job which he found 'mundane'. He wanted to find a 'better career to provide for himself and his family', and became a bus driver. Mr James said: 'His full intention is to go back to the type of work he was trying to escape from.' The bus driver said the shift pattern with Diamond Buses caused him to develop a 'chronic tiredness' (stock image) Judge Suzanne Goddard QC sentenced Hastings to nine months in prison, suspended for 15 months. He has been ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and was barred from driving for two years. The judge told Hastings: 'This incident could have been so much worse, had you been going at a higher speed on that particular day. 'You as a commercial bus driver know the importance of if you are tired, you have to pull over and make alternative arrangements. 'You didn't pull over. 'That having been said, you are a man of good character. You have no previous convictions. 'I don't think it is necessary for you to be punished to an immediate custodial sentence today.' Diamond Buses refused to confirm if Hastings is still working for the company, citing data protection reasons. A new music festival is set to be the first in the country to bring in a mobile phone ban to stop social media-obsessed revellers from taking photos. Punters at the two-day FLY Open Air Festival, starting tomorrow in Edinburgh, will have their phones locked away in special cases. The ban is being brought in for its Boiler Room stage and festival-goers cannot open the sealed pouches - with security tags on them - until the end. There will also be a selfie stick ban across the entire festival, and the contraptions are named on a list of prohibited items alongside weapons and drugs. FLY Open Air festival in Edinburgh will lock away the phones of guests attending its Boiler Room stage Phones will be placed into secure pouches, which guests keep with them, that can only be unlocked from outside the venue Festival director Tom Ketley hopes this will allow people to 'live in the moment' while they enjoy the music of artists such as Jasper James and Kornel Kovacs. Mr Ketley said: 'You wouldn't go to the cinema and watch the film through your phone, so I don't see how this is any different. 'Dance music is becoming more popular within youth culture and more and more young people are getting addicted to their phones.' He added: 'When you're out dancing the last thing you want is a flashlight shined in your face. 'I want people to live in the moment and enjoy the music,' he said. 'We felt like there was no other way do this other than take quite drastic action. 'If you put stickers over people cameras they just take them off.' The security pouches are similar to those used by Jack White and Ed Sheeran to ban phones at their concerts. Up to 8,000 of the cases, specially made by US start-up Yondr, are being shipped over from America. In future, Mr Ketley would like the whole of the Edinburgh-based festival to be phone free. He said: 'One day I would like to do that, but at the moment we thought we would test it on a small scale.' Festival director Tom Ketley wants festival-goers to be able to 'live in the moment' He said: 'You wouldn't go to the cinema and watch the film through your phone, I don't see how this is any different' Selfie sticks have been banned from the entire festival and appear on a list of prohibited items alongside weapons and drugs Mr Ketley hopes that as Boiler Room is broadcasting the stage live online, social media-obsessed millennials will not worry about having their phones locked away. The FLY Open Air festival is at Hopetoun House, Edinburgh and ends on Sunday. Dance artists such as Sven Vath, Seth Troxler and Nina Kravitz are headlining. The ban comes as more venues across the country are clamping down on phone use. New east London nightclub FOLD puts stickers over the cameras of revellers' phones as they arrive. DJ Eoin Fenton - who organises club nights in Bristol - explained for artists it's a dilemma between creating the best atmosphere, and promoting yourself through social media. He added: 'When you're out dancing the last thing you want is a flashlight shined in your face Up to 8,000 of the cases, specially made by US start-up Yondr, are being shipped over from America He said: 'It gets infuriating, because half the time it's just a sea of phones. 'You don't get to see people having a good time and enjoying the music. 'But we're in a social media generation. I take full advantage of it. 'If someone sends a video of me, I post it on my social media and it makes good content.' But chart-topping band Alt-J said phones would not be banned on future tours. Gus Unger-Hamilton, who plays keyboard for the Mercury Prize winners, said: 'My view is people have paid their money and they should be allowed to do what they want. 'But as a performer and a music fan it does make me sad that a lot of people's main fixation seems to be with taking photos and videos they can post on social media to say they were at the gig, rather than focusing on enjoying it in the moment.' Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 17) Trade Secretary Mon Lopez is confident the ongoing tension between the Philippines and Canada over tons of garbage shipped to Philippine ports will not affect the two countries' trade relations. "Hindi 'yun, sa tingin ko, makaka-apekto. Kasi business to business ang transaction natin pagdating sa trade and investment with Canadian companies. They will simply continue. They see the opportunities in the Philippines," he said in a chance interview on Thursday. He believes the trade relations is a separate issue from the trash woes hounding the two countries. He added he doesn't expect the issue to lead to severance of ties. "Napaka-tagal na nung relationship natin para umabot sa ganun or maapektuhan yung long term relationship with Canada. Pero pag if, in the remote possibility nga as you say, hypothetically mangyari yun, Im sure magkakaroon na ng impact 'yun pagdating sa time na 'yun. Lalong lalo na kung mawalan din ng confidence yung mga Canadian companies," he said. Out of 221 countries, Canada was the 20th major trading partner of the Philippines in 2018, according to the Department of Trade and Industries. It said the total trade between the two nations that year reached P1.34 billion. A total of 103 container vans containing trash were shipped to Subic and Manila in several batches from 2013 to 2014. Canadian-based firm Chronic Plastics, Inc., which exported the vans, misdeclared their contents as plastic scrap materials. In late April, President Rodrigo Duterte gave Ottawa a week to take the trash back but the deadline was pushed back to May 15. The North American country missed the deadline to retrieve tons of garbage shipped to Philippine ports, which led to the Department of Foreign Affair's order for Filipino diplomats to pull out of Canada. Cheryl Grimmer (right) vanished from outside a surf club at Fairy Meadow Beach in Wollongong, south of Sydney, on January 12 1970 and her body was never found The family of a three-year-old girl who has been missing for 49 years have suffered another blow after authorities announced they won't appeal the case against her suspected killer. NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman admitted on Friday it was a 'kick in the guts' to the devastated family who had been waiting almost half a century for justice. Cheryl Grimmer vanished from outside a surf club at Fairy Meadow Beach in Wollongong, south of Sydney, on January 12 1970 and her body was never found. In March 2017, a man who was 15 at the time of Cheryl's death and can't be named, was arrested in Victoria, extradited to New South Wales and charged with murder. The man pleaded not guilty in September 2018 to murdering the three-year-old. The murder charge was dropped in February following a judge's ruling that his 1971 police interview, where he confessed to the crime, was inadmissible and could not be used in a trial. Justice Robert Allan Hulme's decision was based on the fact there was no parent, adult or legal practitioner present at any stage of the interview. The Director of Public Prosecutions decided not to appeal and subsequently withdrew the murder charge due to a lack of other evidence. Cheryl's brothers, Ricki Nash (centre), Stephen Grimmer (second left), and Paul Grimmer (right) address the media in December 2016 Mr Speakman, who sought independent legal advice on behalf of Cheryl's brothers, told reporters in Sydney an appeal would fail. 'I know this decision is a kick in the guts for the Grimmer family but I can't bring an appeal which is doomed to fail,' Mr Speakman said on Friday. 'I can't think of any other path for the Grimmer family.' Mr Speakman apologised to the family and said he wished he could change the circumstances. 'For almost half a century the Grimmer family has lived with an unresolved murder,' he said. 'I wish I could re-write history, I wish the circumstances at the interview in 1971 were different. 'Unless there is fresh and compelling evidence, this is probably the end of the road for any prosecution for (the man).' In a statement, Mr Speakman confirmed he spoke to the Grimmer family on Friday morning. In March 2017, a man who was 15 at the time of Cheryl's death and can't be named, was arrested in Victoria, extradited to New South Wales and charged with murder (Cheryl is pictured right) 'Today, I have told members of Cheryl's family that I have concluded that any appeal against the Supreme Court's decision will fail and that I will not be bringing any appeal,' he said in a statement. 'I am sorry for the further distress this will bring to Cheryl's family, who seek justice for her.' 'I am sorry that today I am unable to help end that search.' Earlier in the month, Cheryl's brother, Ricki Nash, told The Australian of the guilt he lived with in the years following the toddler's death. He was at the beach with siblings Stephen, five, Paul, four, and Cheryl when they went to the beachside shower block after leaving the water. Mr Nash, who was seven at the time and can still see it 'crystal clear', said Cheryl was being her cheeky self and wouldn't leave the female change rooms, despite his requests. He walked away for 90 seconds to get his mother Carole but when he returned the playful toddler was no where to be seen. 'I just didn't want to go into the ladies' toilets. That's when I made the fatal mistake of leaving and going to get my mother,' Mr Nash said. An Australian brewery has launched a new beverage in a bid to lure back beer drinkers who have turned to trendier brands. Coopers, based in South Australia, will compete in the growing craft beer market with its new extra pale ale. The company, which has been around since 1862, wanted to launch into the 'on trend' XPA category to attract a new crowd, senior brand manager Tanya Wojcik said. Coopers, based in South Australia, will compete in the growing craft beer market with its new extra pale ale She said the company wanted to appeal to those who have moved away due to wider market choice. 'Coopers is often known as the original craft beer - we were one of the very few,' Ms Wojcik said. 'People who started drinking Coopers in their early 20s, and then started to look at other beers as craft emerged, are coming back to us.' Marketing and innovation director Cam Pearce said XPA was still developing as a category in Australia but had grown strongly elsewhere. The brewery that has been around for hundreds of years is trying to appeal to the generation that turned to craft beer 'We believe we have the opportunity to influence how the category progresses in Australia by providing a high-quality example of this style of beer with high drinkability,' Mr Pearce said in a statement on Friday. XPA is made from American hops with a citrus character and Australian malt, which Mr Pearce describes as 'a smooth and very drinkable hoppy beer'. Coopers will roll out XPA kegs to hotels around the country following its launch in Melbourne on Friday. A father has been sentenced to life in prison for the brutal murder of his wife and three young children in Germany. Georg K, 31, was found guilty on Wednesday of fatally stabbing 29-year-old wife Olesija, their two sons Maikel, nine, and Dima, seven, and three-year old daughter Anastasia in June last year. The court heard how Georg, who has a history of violence against his family, plotted the murder down to the last detail as revenge for his wife leaving him. Georg K, 31 (left), has been jailed for life without possibility of release for the murder of 29-year-old wife Olesija, their two sons Maikel, nine, and Dima, seven, and three-year old daughter Anastasia (pictured together) Georg had a history of violence towards his family, prompting Olesija to announce she was leaving him. She was killed five days later The tragedy began when, five days before the murders, police were called to the family home in Ansbach to reports that Georg had beaten up his sons. The police issued a restraining order banning Georg K. from visiting the house and the immediate area, or contacting his family. He was also forced to hand over his keys as part of the restraining order, but kept hold of a spare set that his wife was unaware of. Fearful of Georg, Olesija had her brother come and stay with the family to keep them safe while she made alternative living arrangements. But on June 26 Georg managed to lure his brother-in-law out of the apartment by asking for laundry and a charging cable. While the man was waiting outside for Georg to arrive, the father sneaked into the apartment and opened the door using the spare key. Armed with a knife and wearing nothing but socks to muffle the sounds of his movements, he attacked his family. A court heard how Olesija's brother was staying with her after Georg was kicked out of the apartment for protection, but he lured the man outside by asking for laundry and a charging cable (pictured, bodies carried out of the apartment) As the brother waited outside, Georg sneaked into the house using a spare key that his wife was unaware of, and butchered all four of his family in a two-minute orgy of violence When the brother ran upstairs he found Georg standing in the hallway with a bloody knife, before the father jumped off the balcony in a failed escape attempt Within two minutes Georg had stabbed all four of them to death, starting with his two sons before his daughter, then his wife last. Neighbours said they heard him shouting: 'You made a mess of my life, you see what you get!' Hearing a bang from downstairs, the brother-in-law ran back up to the apartment and found Georg standing in the hallway with a bloody knife. In an apparent attempt to escape, Georg threw himself from the third-floor flat's balcony, landing on a grassy area but severely injuring himself. He suffered severe pelvic and lung injuries and was rushed to hospital, where he was put in an artificial coma while receiving treatment. Even while Georg was still unconscious, a judge issued an arrest warrant and once he had recovered he was charged with quadruple homicide. Georg was initially placed in a psychological unit while evaluations were carried out, but when doctors found him to be sane he was transferred to jail. A judge said that he was compelled to sentence Georg to the maximum penalty available to him, since the death penalty was abolished 70 years ago (the family's flat block, pictured) Arguing the case against him in court, prosecutors said that only the maximum penalty would suffice because of Georg's history of violence, and the calculated way he planned the killings. They argued that Georg throwing himself off the balcony was not a suicide attempt, but an attempt to escape that backfired because he jumped down legs-first on to a grassy area. Even Georg's own lawyers did not attempt to argue his innocence, but said he should be given a diminished sentence. However, a judge ruled that - since Germany abolished the death penalty 70 years ago - he had no choice but to sentence Georg to life in prison without the possibility of early release. The judge said he would arrange for Georg's immediate transfer to Straubing prison, one of the largest in Germany. 'In the penitentiary of Straubing sit felons, and you belong among them,' he said. Growing a cannabis plant could become legal in one Australian state if new legislation passes through parliament. The Northern Territory (NT) could be the centre of a new industrial hemp industry after a trial in Katherine proved the region's climate conditions are beneficial to the plant's growth. Legislation introduced on Thursday will make it legal to grow the plant, which has low levels of the active chemical tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Legislation introduced in the Northern Territory will make it legal to grow cannabis when it passes through parliament (file image) Primary Industry Minister Paul Kirby told the NT News a commercial hemp industry in the Northern Territory would create jobs and improve the economy. However, it is still unknown when farmers will be able to start putting seeds in the ground. 'This legislation, when passed, will set the authorising environment that will allow farmers, researchers and other private interests to conduct the necessary research required with establishing an industry,' he said. Mr Kirby claimed a certified seed earns up to $10,000 a tonne. Canadian medicinal cannabis company, the Wayland Group, purchased more than 50 per cent of Darwin-based business, Tropicann, last year. The Wayland Group said they would like to ensure the business obtains a license to cultivate cannabis in Australia and were looking to grow the plant in the NT. 'The location provides Wayland with ideal climate conditions in a globally respected and sovereign country with a large and fast emerging market of over 250 million people just four hours north,' Wayland CEO Ben Ward said. 'This acquisition accelerates Wayland's growth strategy in becoming a truly global cannabis company.' Minister for Primary Industry and Resources, Ken Vowles, said: 'This is a very real and exciting opportunity for the people of the Northern Territory to enter and participate in a new growth sector in the global economy.' 'It also offers the possibility of creating value-added products through processing here in the Northern Territory,' Mr Vowles said. An air rage passenger attacked both pilots in a Boeing 737 cockpit and broke the leg of a steward - before his flight had even taken off. Maxim Pashnin, 36, who was drunk, also pushed a female flight attendant before he was overcome by the captain and his co-pilot and handed to police. At one point, he is said to have been 'knocked down' by the flight deck crew. The disturbing 'air hooliganism' incident was on a 10.30am Aeroflot flight departing from Novosibirsk in Siberia to Moscow with 158 passengers. Maxim Pashnin (in checked shirt) is confronted after shoving a female flight attendant and hitting the captain and co-pilot on an Aeroflot flight - inside the cockpit - before it has taken off The drunk plumber is said to have been 'knocked down' by the pilots during his rampage. Above, Pashnin 'goes wild', as some of the 158 passengers look on in disgust At one point, Pashnin tells a male flight attendant he will 'smash' his face. Above, a member of the crew keeps a watchful eye on the passenger on the Novosibirsk, Siberia to Moscow flight Pashnin stands just outside the cockpit after the violent incident. He now faces six years in jail Pashnin, a plumber, was removed from the aircraft before it flew to the Russian capital - and now faces up to six years in jail. The alleged violent cockpit attack involving the two pilots and a stewardess was not caught on video. However, a camera picked up another sequence just inside the plane's door, when the angry passenger was arguing with and pushing a male flight attendant who ordered Pashnin to stop being aggressive to his female colleague. The passenger is heard threatening to 'smash your face'. A police source said: 'Pashnin pushed the young woman stewardess inside the cockpit and then hit the pilots - the captain and the co-pilot. 'These three crew members resisted and managed to block the hooligan, and to pass him into the hands of police. The plane flew without the man.' Media outlet BAZA reported: 'The pilots managed to knock down Pashnin and soon he was picked up by police.' The drunken passenger is restrained by police. He faces a series of charges relating to air hooliganism and violence against law enforcement officers Pashnin, from Chelyabinsk, sits in a caged cell in Novosibirsk airport's police department following the plane brawl A police officer stands guard over Pashnin, who is now banned from flying Aeroflot, according to the airline The Western Siberian Prosecutor's office confirmed: 'This incident really did take place. Maxim Pashnin was removed from the plane because he was going wild.' The intoxicated passenger later attacked police, it is alleged, and now faces a series of charges relating to air hooliganism and violence against law enforcement officers. A second video shows him behaving aggressively in Novosibirsk airport's police department where he was eventually put in caged cell. In the video on the plane, a steward is heard saying: 'Hey, hey, don't touch the young woman [flight attendant]. Why are you raising your hand on her? Why are you raising your hand to a woman?' Pashnin replies: 'Shall I smash your face?' The steward tells him: 'You don't have a right to touch this young woman.' The thuggish passenger replies: 'She put her camera on me!' In a second video, Pashnin spits in his cage, and is also seen banging his head on a table But the steward says: 'You are behaving badly. Could you be quiet?' The terrifying incident came as other passengers were trying to board the plane. Pashnin, from Chelyabinsk, had arrived at the plane smoking and the fracas began after he was told to put out his cigarette. A female passenger said: 'It's lucky all this happened at the airport rather than when we were flying. Can you imagine the terror if he had gone crazy during the flight?' Doctors later confirmed the man was 'intoxicated', said law enforcement sources. He is reported to have told police: 'It is hard to fly Aeroflot when you are sober' - and referred to the recent plane inferno at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport in which 41 people died. The fracas is believed to have begun after Pashnin (pictured) arrived at the plane while smoking and was told to put out the cigarette Aeroflot confirmed that a steward had suffered a broken leg in the flight brawl. 'An incident took place onboard an Aeroflot SU1307 flight from Novosibirsk to Moscow on May 14 due to the destructive behaviour of one passenger,' said a statement. 'Having got on board with signs of alcohol intoxication, the man has violated the rules of behaving on board Aeroflot planes. 'He pushed away the steward and the aviation technician and tried to enter the cockpit. 'After that, the man initiated the fight with passengers and with policemen who arrived to remove the hooligan from the flight. 'As a result, the senior steward has got an injury his leg was broken. The flight was 20 minutes delayed.' The airline is pressing for the harshest possible punishment for the passenger. 'Aeroflot intends to demand the maximum punishment with damages paid to both the aviation company and its employees.' Pashnin is to be banned from flying with Aeroflot, said the airline. The heartbroken brother of Pua Magasiva paid tribute to his younger sibling just hours before the beloved actor was laid to rest. The 38-year-old film star was found dead at a property in central Wellington in New Zealand in the early hours of Saturday morning. Police have since confirmed there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of the actor, who was best known for playing Red Wind Ranger Shane Clarke in Power Rangers Ninja Storm. The heartbroken brother of Pua Magasiva has paid tribute to his younger sibling (Pictured: The Instagram image Robbie Magasiva shared) 'My heart is broken I miss you so much Pua we all do. Rest now. I love you Pua,' Robbie wrote alongside an image of Mr Magasiva smiling brightly On Friday, just hours before Mr Magasiva's family held a private ceremony in a Catholic church in the country's capital city, his brother Robbie Magasiva shared a moving post on social media. 'My heart is broken,' Robbie wrote alongside an image of Mr Magasiva's smiling brightly. 'I miss you so much Pua we all do. Rest now. I love you Pua.' The Samoa-born actor was raised in Wellington and had just celebrated his first wedding anniversary with wife Lizz Sadler. The body of Mr Magasiva's (pictured with wife Lizz Sadler), 38, was found early on Saturday morning in a Wellington home Robbie Magasiva (pictured alongside fellow actor Oscar Knightley) shared the emotional post on the same day the beloved actor's family laid him to rest The pair married in April last year, 18 months after meeting on Instagram. Mr Magasiva leaves behind a young daughter from his first marriage. Friends and fans have been left shocked by his sudden death, and tributes have flooded in online for the icon. Sally Martin, who starred in Shortland Street alongside Mr Magasiva, paid a touching tribute to the star in the form of a lengthy poem, where she spoke of how much she loved and missed the actor. He rose to fame playing Shane Clarke, the Red Wind Ranger in Power Rangers Ninja Storm The star had just celebrated his first wedding anniversary with wife Lizz Sadler. Both have children from previous relationships 'I hate your demons. But I love your guts. And man, I'mma miss you,' the concluding line of her poem read. Co-star Shane Cortese shared a touching post online: 'My heart goes out to the Magasiva family and the extended television alumni who had the honour of seeing the glint in his eye and the sound of his hearty laugh close hand.' 'Rest In Peace Pua Magasiva. Thoughts and prayers to the family,' Olympic gold medalist Valerie Adams tweeted. 'Sending my love to his friends and family - he would always stop and say hello to anyone that would say hi to him - bloody good guy,' radio star Mike Puru shared. The official Twitter account of Shortland Street also paid tribute to the star. 'We are all absolutely devastated at the tragic news regarding Pua Magasiva,' the post read. Mr Magasiva leaves behind a young daughter from his first marriage '[Pua] was a much loved member of the South Pacific Pictures' family for many years and our hearts and thoughts go out to his family at this time.' Fans of the actor and former radio host also flocked to social media to pay their respects to Mr Magasiva. 'Lots of love to you Robbie and to your whanau. I didn't really know Pua but know that the love and respect for him in Aotearoa runs deep and that he will be very sadly missed by many. Arohanui to you,' one wrote. '[Pua] was one of the all time great Power Rangers in the series' long, illustrious history. If the rumours of the are true, then it's more incredibly sad and tragic. 'Childhood heroes can have the same demons that we too have,' another wrote. 'Rest in love [Pua]. May your heavenly ascent be as beautiful as the memories you created. xoxo,' a third said. Nigel Farage has reignited his war of words with the BBC, blasting the broadcaster for failing to feature members of his Brexit Party enough on television. He hit out at a rally last night as the weekly political panel show Question Time was shown without a member of the party despite it leading European election polls. The episode, filmed in the Scottish town of Elgin, featured a panel predominantly from the country. It saw Tory MP Bim Afolami joined by Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard, Edinburgh Lib Dem Christine Jardine, the SNP's John Swinney and Brexiteer human rights lawyer Eilidh Douglas. Speaking in the West Midlands last night Mr Farage, who has appeared on Question Time 33 times, said: 'We can choose to buy different newspapers. We can choose to listen to different commercial radio stations. 'Where I have a problem is when we are effectively taxed 150 a year just to have a television in our house. 'When the public service broadcaster does not put a single representative of this new party on any major television programme, even when we have gone from nothing to topping the polls.' Mr Farage laughed as he added: 'And when we finally do get a one on one interview, I'll leave it there!' The right-wing eurosceptic launched a tirade against the BBC at the weekend after after he was given a rough ride by Andrew Marr on his Sunday morning television programme. Mr Farage complained the 'public service broadcaster does not put a single representative of this new party on any major television programme, even when we have gone from nothing to topping the polls' The Brexit Party is enjoying a growing lead in a new EU election poll with the Tories now in fifth Last night's Question Time was filmed in the Scottish town of Elgin and featured a panel predominantly from the country After being quizzed on comments where he suggested replacing the NHS and lavished praise on Vladimir Putin, Mr Farage asked how they were relevant to the election taking place on May 23. Mr Farage vowed to hasten Theresa May's exit from Number 10 by winning the European elections with his Brexit Party. With his party riding high in the opinion polls, Mr Farage predicted that success would add to pressure on the Government to back a no-deal Brexit. Speaking before the Brexit Party rally in front of hundreds of supporters in Willenhall in the West Midlands, he said: 'The plan is to top the poll. 'The plan is to put leaving on WTO terms back on the agenda. The plan is to hasten the exit of Mrs May, who has not played straight with the British electorate. 'And the plan also is to get people from the Brexit Party as part of the Government's negotiating team as we head up to October 31.' Mr Farage then travelled to Edinburgh where he spoke to reporters before addressing a rally in Scotland's capital The arch-Eurosceptic has been buoyed by a recent surge in the polls which put his Brexit Party as the front-runners heading in to next Thursday's elections His comments came as Hitchin MP Mr Afolami told Question Time that his own parents were voting for Mr Farage's party. He said: 'My family have told me they are voting for the Brexit Party, who didn't even vote for Brexit in the first place. 'When I ask them why they say: "My faith in our whole system is being severely tested". 'She (Theresa May) has to take to responsibility because she is Prime Minister. If it were me I would have spoken to the opposition parties sooner - straight after the 2017 general election because it was a hung Parliament. 'Whoever is elected the Tory leader and Prime Minister will be faced with the same arithmetic and Labour and the Lib Dems not voting for any deal trying to create political chaos.' Asked for his assessment of Boris Johnson, the bookmakers' favourite in the race to replace Mrs May, Mr Farage challenged him to set out where he stood on Brexit and the Prime Minister's deal. 'Do you stand for Mrs May's treaty or do you stand for a clean-break Brexit? 'We'll find out over the next few weeks.' The former Ukip leader has been targeted by anti-Brexit campaigners, who have put up a series of billboards taking aim at him by highlighting past statements he and his candidates have made. Photos show the billboards in place at locations including Taunton in Somerset, Coventry and Neath in South Wales, with slogans such as 'attack the NHS' and 'less maternity pay' next to comments attributed to Brexit Party members. The billboard in Coventry cites a quote Mr Farage gave during a speech where he said: 'We need to move to an insurance-based system of healthcare.' They all feature the Brexit Party branding and logo. The group Led by Donkeys wrote on Twitter: 'Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage hasn't written a manifesto so we've done it for him, based on statements by him and his candidates. 'Billboards going up across the country this week.' Advertisement A baby rabbit made a lucky escape after a crow swooped in and seized it in its clutches in a nail-biting ordeal captured by a wildlife photographer. In incredible photographs, the crow mercilessly preys on the rabbit by dive-bombing and grabbing it by the scruff of the neck in its beak on Formby beach in Merseyside. Taking flight with its potential meal, the ruthless crow hoists the baby rabbit from the ground and it is soared through mid-air, appearing to be terrified of its looming fate. A baby rabbit made a lucky escape after a crow swooped in and seized it in its clutches in a nail-biting ordeal captured by a wildlife photographer In incredible photographs, the crow mercilessly preys on the rabbit by dive-bombing it and grabbing it in its beak by the scruff of the neck on Formby beach in Merseyside The crow swoops down on the rabbit and captures it before quickly taking off again with it in its clutches It was only until wildlife photographer Ray Pownall, 74, threw sticks at the crow in an attempt to save the rabbit that it decided to release it from its clutches. In a dramatic turn, the mother rabbit can be seen coming to its baby's rescue, and charges at the crow to fend it off. Mr Pownall had gone to Formby beach in Merseyside with the intention of photographing red squirrels on Thursday but was shocked by the sheer number of rabbits on the sand dunes. Only a few minutes into taking his snaps, Ray noticed a crow had also focused its attention on the same baby rabbit he was admiring, and soon it was being carried away in its clutches. Taking flight with its potential meal, the ruthless crow hoists the baby rabbit from the ground and it soars in mid-air, appearing to be terrified of its looming fate A crow focused its attention on the same baby rabbit he was admiring, and soon it was being carried away in its clutches It was only until wildlife photographer Ray Pownall, 74, threw sticks at the crow in an attempt to save the rabbit that it decided to release it from its clutches Mr Pownall had gone to Formby beach in Merseyside with the intention of photographing red squirrels on Thursday but was shocked by the sheer number of rabbits on the sand dunes But determined not to let the bird get away, the retired ambulance station officer managed to pick up and throw a stick at the crow, allowing the bunny to escape - all in front of his camera lens. Ray, from St Helens, Merseyside, said: 'It was just reaction, I felt like I had to do something and thankfully it distracted the crow just enough to drop the baby. 'When it was back on the ground the baby bunny didn't know where to go, it was just running around in circles trying to find a hole and the crow was swooping in again. 'Thankfully the mummy rabbit came out and started jumping at the crow, giving the baby enough time to get away down a rabbit hole and its mother soon followed.' Watching the action from behind a fence, Ray said he was relieved to see both rabbits escape the crows clutches safely. He added: 'I felt relieved, it's mother nature in action but it's not the nicest to see at times. It's the same when I go to Canada to take pictures of the American Bald Eagles.' The retired ambulance station officer managed to pick up and throw a stick at the crow, allowing the bunny to escape - all in front of his camera lens In a dramatic turn, the mother rabbit can be seen coming to its baby's rescue, and charges at the crow to fend it off UFC fighter Rachael Ostovich Berdon asked a judge in Honolulu for leniency for her husband as he was sentenced to four years of probation for assaulting her. The mixed martial arts expert, 28, filed for a temporary restraining order against Arnold Berdon in November, alleging her husband punched her in the head, face and ribs. He hit her after a night out with family and she fell to the ground, gasped for air and escaped through a balcony, according to her petition for an order of protection. She said she coughed up blood and threw up several times after the attack in Hawaii. Judge Trish Morikawa sentenced Berdon, who is also an MMA fighter, to four years of probation after hearing from Ostovich Berdon, who said: 'I do have the power to move forward, walking in forgiveness and I have.' UFC fighter Rachael Ostovich Berdon asked for leniency for her husband as he was sentenced to four years of probation for assaulting her in Honolulu Arnold Berdon, pictured right, hit her after a night out with family and she fell to the ground, gasped for air and escaped through a balcony Hawaii News Now reports that she added: 'Although we are no longer together, we have a daughter together. I know how crucial it is to have her father present in her life. I hope he gets the help he needs to become a better father.' Deputy Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney Robert Rawson had asked for five years in prison, but Ostovich Berdon didn't ask for additional jail time. He spent two days in jail for the attack. 'You really hurt your wife, you hurt your family,' said Judge Morikawa. The judge gave him credit for two days he spent in jail and said Berdon doesn't need additional time behind bars to be motivated to do the right thing. 'This wasn't a single act, it wasn't a single punch. This was a sustained brutal assault,' Rawson said, adding that a portion of it was recorded by a bystander. 'For nearly 10 minutes, the defendant assaulted the victim while she begged for him to stop.' Berdon listened to the audio the bystander recorded and was 'deeply troubled by what he heard,' said his defense attorney, Myles Breiner. Berdon loves his wife, Breiner said. She said in court: : 'Although we are no longer together, we have a daughter together. I know how crucial it is to have her father present in her life. I hope he gets the help he needs to become a better father' The judge gave him credit for two days he spent in jail and said Berdon doesn't need additional time behind bars to be motivated to do the right thing In December Hawaii News Now shared a fraction of the recording, which was cut and censored because of its extreme violent nature. Berdon can be heard yelling: 'You're so f*****g pretty... you can get anybody you like.' The 27-year-old victim is heard weeping in the background as she says during the assault: 'Arnold stop!' At one point Berdon seemingly threatens to kill her: 'I'm going to murder you... I'm going to f*****g murder you.' The incident happened around 2am November 18 at the couple's residence in the Waianae section of Honolulu County. The physical abuse can be heard in the clip. At one point, Ostovich becomes silent, when she is believed to have fallen unconscious. 'Granted, they both had been drinking that night, but it doesn't change the fact that although both of them are professional mixed martial arts fighters and intoxicated, the fact that it rose to the level that his wife had to jump off the balcony ... to run for safety, still troubles Arnold,' Breiner said. 'He thinks about it all the time.' Police initially arrested Berdon on a charge of second-degree attempted murder. Prosecutors later charged him with second-degree assault. After pleading no contest to assault in March, Berdon said he wanted to spare his family from a legal battle. Following the incident, Ostovich Berdon dropped out of a January UFC Fight Night match against Paige VanZant but later decided to go through with it, saying she was healing. Berdon has fought for some minor MMA promotions. The couple's divorce decree was filed Wednesday, with full custody of the couple's 6-year-old daughter going to Ostovich Berdon. Berdon will have supervised visits with his daughter and will ask for reconsideration of custody after completing anger management and domestic violence intervention classes. 'I thank my wife for being strong for my daughter,' Berdon said. Britain's youngest female double killer boasted to the police about her brutal murders and even told officers: 'You'll find my footprint on my dad.' Lorraine Thorpe was 15 when, along with her 'role model' Paul Clarke, 41, she savagely tortured and beat Rosalyn Hunt before smothering her own father Desmond to death. Ms Hunt, 41, was beaten to death in Ipswich in 2009 following a row over a dog, with Thorpe responsible for kicking, punching and stamping on her head. Lorraine Thorpe became Britain's youngest female double murderer at the age of 15 after the brutal killings of her father Desmond and Rosalyn Hunt Thorpe and Clarke carried out two days of torture on Ms Hunt including grating her face with a cheese grater and rubbing salt in the wounds. Mr Thorpe, 43, a 'vulnerable' alcoholic, was then smothered amid fears he would tell the police about the first murder. In a new documentary series, it is revealed how Thorpe was initially disregarded by police because of the horrific violence involved in the double murders. The teenage killer then started boasting to her friends about how she tortured her victims and told police she had stamped her father's head so hard it had left a trainer print, saying: 'You'll find my footprint on my dad.' The show Britain's Deadliest Kids, which airs tomorrow, reveals how Thorpe laughed uncontrollably throughout her trial after the savage killings. Paul Clarke carried out the brutal killings alongside Thorpe in 2009 Speaking in the documentary, DCI Rick Munns, the investigating officer who worked on the case, said of Thorpe during her initial police interview: 'She didn't show any particular remorse around the death of Rosie Hunt, and completely denied any involvement in her father's death.' As more evidence came to light, it became apparent that Desmond Thorpe was subjected to a similar level of violence to Rosalyn Hunt. Consultant forensic psychologist Dr Keri Nixon said: 'She laughed about the level of violence they used again Rosalyn Hunt. 'In my experience, I have never seen this level of violence, these types of injuries, enacted by a 15-year-old girl. 'Usually, in cases like this, they will partake in some violence. But to be actively involved in such torturous activity, is incredibly rare.' She said Thorpe didn't passively watch her father die but rather 'actively engaged in the violence' towards him. Thorpe, who was diagnosed with ADHD, showed no remorse during her trial, and even giggled throughout the court proceedings. Rosalyn Hunt's brother, Adrian Provins, speaks exclusively in the documentary, saying: 'The first time I went to court, all I remember is Lorraine Thorpe laughing and giggling to Paul Clarke as if it was all a big, big joke. Rosalyn Hunt was tortured over days by the pair with psychologists saying they had never seen such a level of violence from a young girl 'No one stopped her. I felt disgusted, I felt like I wanted to jump over and just rip her head off.' Both Lorraine Thorpe and Paul Clarke were found guilty of murder, making Thorpe Britain's youngest female double murderer. Clarke was sentenced to 27 years but was found dead in his cell four years later. She was sentenced to a minimum term of 14 years in prison, making her eligible for release by the time she turns 29. The judge ruled she had been brought up 'with no real understanding of what is right and what is wrong'. Mr Justice Saunders said she could be 'manipulative' and was not acting entirely under Clarke's control, adding: 'She found violence funny and entertaining.' The judge said Clarke, also an alcoholic, was the 'instigator' in the murder of Ms Hunt, although Thorpe 'played a full part'. 'Far from being sorry, Lorraine appears to have gloried in it, describing to her friends at one stage how she stamped on Rosalyn's head,' he said. Dr Keri Nixon, a consultant forensic psychologist, said Thorpe's crimes could have been avoided if she had never met Clarke. She said: 'I start to feel complete empathy for the girl that was let down by society and professionals. No girl should be living with her alcoholic father at the age of 12. 'She was lost. She went from her mother to foster care, and then she ran away to be with her father and eventually social services lost her and she was living on the streets drinking with alcoholic men. That shouldn't happen in our society. 'I believe she was groomed by Paul Clarke and living a life that no teenager should be living. 'But then we look at the level of violence she enacted on Rosalyn Hunt. It was so extreme, so vicious, and that's where it's difficult to look at the vulnerable girl. 'Would those murders have taken place if she wasn't part of that drinking community, and if she hadn't met Paul Clark? No, I don't believe they would have done.' Britain's Deadliest Kids airs on Saturdays at 10pm on Quest Red and on the QuestOD app 2009: Mehajer is convicted of possessing or attempting to possess a 'prescribed restricted substance' and of possessing a police uniform. The convictions are later overturned on appeal. March 2011: Mehajer unsuccessfully runs as an independent member of the Legislative Assembly for Auburn at the NSW state election. He is subsequently investigated by the Election Funding Authority of New South Wales, which did not take any action against him. January 2012: Mehajer loses control of his $300,000 Ferrari and injures a mother and daughter in Sydney's west. He is convicted of negligent driving and sentenced to 150 hours community service. The conviction is later overturned on appeal. September 2012: Mehajer is elected as an independent councillor for the City of Auburn and later elected to deputy mayor. February 2013: His construction firm SM Project Developments is forced into liquidation by the ATO over unpaid taxes. February 2014: A property owned by Mehajer in Lidcombe is damaged by a suspicious fire. June 2014: He is suspended from civic office for a month by the Division of Local Government for failing to disclose his business and property interests. The punishment is overturned in December. August 2015: The then deputy mayor of Auburn marries his partner Aysha in the so-called 'wedding of the century'. Mehajer is fined $220 by Auburn council over the closure of Frances Street, Lidcombe. A petition is launched to have him sacked over the wedding. October 2015: Several contractors launch legal action over allegedly unpaid debts, including a stonemason who installed a staircase at his Lidcombe home. The same month, he is pulled over twice in less than half-an-hour behind the wheel of an allegedly unregistered Ferrari. September 2015: Mehajer is re-elected as deputy mayor of Auburn, despite the petition demanding his sacking. October 2015: He reveals that he hopes to one day work his way to 'the top spot' in federal politics. November 2015: Mehajer announces he wants to study medicine and become a mental health specialist - as he tells fellow councillors he had stood down as director from six of his seven development companies. The same month, he is forced to defend allegations he intimidated the father of a Lindt Cafe siege survivor. December 2015: The Australian Federal Police investigate Mehajer over allegations he forged documents to rig the 2012 Auburn City Council election. January 2016: He is suspended from civic office for four months for failing to disclose his financial interest in a property. It was found he voted on changes which added $1million to its value. July 2016: Mehajer is reportedly investigated by police after he allegedly transferred $20million to Lebanon. The same month, he is told he must stay at least 50 metres away from his wife Aysha until at least 17 August after police took out an AVO on her behalf. August 2016: Mehajer refuses to reveal who videos allegedly containing threats of sexual abuse and death threats - made by him - were intended for. September 2016: He is banned from managing corporations for three years after losing an appeal against a ruling made by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. November 2016: Mehajer is publicly arrested by local police in the Spanish party island of Ibiza after an argument with a taxi driver. April 2017: Mehajer is arrested and charged after assaulting a taxi driver outside The Star casino in Sydney. Just hours later, he is charged with assault after slamming Channel Seven reporter Laura Banks' hand in a car door. June 2017: Mehajer's sister Fatima pleads guilty to 77 charges of electoral fraud relating to the 2012 Auburn City Council election. The same month, his property development companies, Sydney Project Group and SET Services, are placed in the hands of administrators. September 2017: Mehajer is accused of manipulating the courts over the approval of his plans for a western Sydney shopping mall and apartment block. October 2017: He is hit with a $1million bill after allegedly failing to pay for work on his Lidcombe 'marble palace' home. The same month, Mehajer is rushed to hospital after being involved in a car crash on his way to a court hearing over the taxi driver incident. Also in October, a phone recording is leaked in which Mehajer allegedly threatens to rape a custom car mechanic. November 2017: Police raid the Mehajer's home as part of an investigation into the alleged staging of the car crash on the way to court. Mehajer is arrested and charged with breaching an AVO preventing him from seeing his estranged wife Aysha Learmonth. February 2018: Mehajer is found guilty of assaulting female TV reporter Laura Banks with a car door outside a Sydney police station last year. He is also handed a three-year good behaviour bond and ordered to undergo anger management counselling after pleading guilty over the taxi driver assault. March 20, 2018: Mehajer is declared bankrupt by a Federal Circuit Court judge after one of his companies failed to pay a debt of over $200,000 to its creditors. May 17, 2018: Mehajer is given an 18-month good behaviour bond after pleading guilty to intimidating his estranged wife. June 22, 2018: Mehajer is ordered to serve 11 months behind bars for electoral fraud. His sister Fatima is given a two-month suspended sentence. May 17, 2019: The disgraced businessman is slugged with eight charges for allegedly supplying the details of another driver and information for four speeding offences he had committed between 2012 and 2013. Jihadi John's beard and the way he walked was the key to the missile strike that killed him, a new documentary has revealed. The merciless executioner was identified by a drone flying at night over the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa in Syria, which beamed back infrared pictures to military chiefs in the US. Within 15 seconds a missile was launched which obliterated the fanatical Londoner as he spoke on the phone. Drones had been searching for Jihadi John, whose real name was Mohammed Emwazi A grab of drone footage from the new Channel 4 documentary The Hunt for Jihadi John A Channel 4 documentary being broadcast on Monday reveals for the first time details of how Jihadi John, whose real name was Mohammed Emwazi, was hunted down and killed with the help of state-of-the-art tracking and identification technology. Colonel Steve Warren, the Pentagon spokesman at the time, tells the programme: 'Because of the conditions it was night we were using infrared. 'You can't see his face but we could sort of see how he moved, the cut of his jib, so to speak. The angle of his beard, these things we could see. 'Eventually we were convinced that this is Jihadi John. And so the floor commander at the time orders, 'Take the shot.' Within 15 seconds a missile obliterated Emwazi.' Drones had been searching for the ISIS terrorist for a year but any attempt to wipe him out was made difficult because he always surrounded himself with women and children and made sure he was in crowded areas. British aid workers Alan Henning (left) and David Haines (right) were murdered by Jihadi John American journalists Steven Sotloff (left) and James Foley (right) were also killed by him A trailer for the Channel 4 documentary features drone footage, also this is a stock video General Richard Barrons, former Commander Joint Forces Command, who was involved in the operation, told MailOnline: 'We knew where he was and had drones looking for him. 'We identified Emwazi very quickly after the execution videos he appeared in but finding him was much harder because we did not have any people on the ground in Raqqa. Emwazi had been under surveillance by MI5 until he disappeared in 2012 'The tracking was all done electronically but eventually, it was his beard and the way he walked that gave him away.' Emwazi became one of the world's most wanted men after executing a number of western hostages in horrifying videos that were used by ISIS as propaganda tools. The first appeared in August 2014 when he killed American journalist James Foley. Officials at GCHQ knew within a matter of hours that it was Emwazi, establishing his identity through voice recognition technology and comparing the pattern of the veins in his left hand in which held a knife pointed directly towards the camera with images of him in archive photographs. GCHQ used recordings of his voice from previous wire taps taken during a three-year surveillance operation and compared it to the disguised voice used in the ISIS video. Emwazi's identity was not publicly confirmed until February 2015. A still image from The Hunt for Jihadi John, which will be on Channel 4 next Monday evening Once the hunt for him was underway, Emwazi used his background as a former computer science student at Westminster University to evade American and British authorities. Emwazi was engaged twice but on both occasions these relationships ended He used encryption programmes, private networks and wiped clean every computer he ever sent messages on. He was eventually discovered after he contacted his wife and child who lived in Iraq, kicks staring a year-long hunt. Douglas Wise, who helped oversee the CIA's Middle East operations, compared the mission to locate Emwazi to searching for a 'needle in a haystack full of needles.' He said: 'If he had any hope for survival he had to blend in to the citizens of Raqqa. He had to look from a distance just like them.' The programme also traces Emwazi's life in Britain after arriving as a six-year old from Kuwait and shows rare footage of his time at school. He attended Quintin Kynaston Community Academy, in St John's Wood, North London, where he was bullied for having bad breath and is filmed constantly holding his hand over his mouth. Emwazi used his background as a former computer science student at Westminster University to evade American and British authorities. He is pictured above as a teenage boy Emwazi's family home in Britain was in a flat in this block in Queens Park, West London Emwazi was also engaged twice but on both occasions the relationships ended after security services informed his fiances about his terrorist activities. Emwazi had been under surveillance by MI5 until he disappeared in 2012, before emerging as the ISIS executioner dubbed 'Jihadi John' two years later. MI5 even made an unsuccessful attempt to recruit him as an informant before he fled to Syria. The programme claims that Emwzi was driven by a desire for personal vengeance against the west while the authorities made killing him a priority because of his propaganda value to ISIS. The Hunt for Jihadi John will be on Channel 4 on Monday, May 20 at 9pm Kirsty Boden bravely ran towards the terror attack in June 2017 to help other victims The heroic final moments of a woman dubbed the Angel of London Bridge have been revealed today, including how she told friends: 'I'm a nurse, I have to go and help', before she was attacked by all three terrorists. Kirsty Boden, 28, was excitedly talking about plans to be a bridesmaid at her friend's wedding after getting the last table at Boro Bistro when French waiter Alexandre Pigeard, 26, was knifed amid the slaughter on June 3, 2017. Desperate to help, she ran to his aid and now CCTV footage has revealed her brave final actions. She is seen entering the restaurant and getting the last table, before the knife rampage ensues. Noticing Mr Pigeard in trouble she tells her friends to stay behind, holding her arm in the air as a warning. Not seen in the footage, she then rushes over to the stricken waiter before she is brutally set upon by all three knifemen. The Old Bailey heard how Khuram Butt, 27, appeared to make a stabbing motion before Rachid Redouane, 30, and Youssef Zaghba, 22, also moved in. The tip of Butt's 12-inch pink ceramic blade was later found embedded in her head. CCTV video showed her clearly injured as she fled the carnage before she collapsed. Alexandre Colou said he thought she had tripped when he looked over his shoulder and saw Ms Boden on the floor before he noticed there was 'blood everywhere'. Nurse Kirsty Boden (pictured with her fiance James Hodder), also known as the Angel of London Bridge, was stabbed as she went to the aid of another victim Miss Boden is captured on a CCTV camera moving towards the injured during the attack Miss Boden was also captured on an internal camera on the night of the London Bridge attack He told the court he knelt down and looked into her eyes to check on her. He said: 'Her eyes were moving wildly. She had difficulties breathing. I was talking to her and then her eyes stopped moving. I said 'stay awake, stay awake, stay with me'.' Ms Boden had been dining in Boro Bistro with two friends, Harriet Mooney and Melanie Schroeder, when the attackers' van crashed into railings above. After she had been attacked, Ms Schroeder helped with first aid in an attempt to save their friend's life, as Ms Mooney tried to get further medical assistance. They both held Ms Boden's hand in her final moments, with her body covered in a blanket until police arrived to help them to safety. PC Charlie Guenigault (left) and PC Wayne Marques (right) arrive at the Old Bailey today In a statement read to court, Ms Schroeder said: 'Kirsty jumped up and said 'I'm a nurse. I have to go and help. I need to see if they need help'.' Kirsty headed off and I thought nothing of it. 'The next thing I remember was hearing screaming and thinking to myself 'calm the f*** down it's just a crash'.' At first Ms Schroeder wanted to wait for Ms Boden but then joined the 'stampede' as diners fled the restaurant. She said: 'As I was walking back to the Boro Bistro I saw Kirsty lying on the corner. 'I recognised the person lying in the floor as Kirsty because of her bright pink cardigan. I screamed 'Kirsty' and ran down the alleyway.' Ms Boden had suffered stab wounds and was alive but unable to speak, she said. Ms Schroeder helped with first aid along with a GP Saira Khan who gave chest compressions before saying she was gone and there was nothing more they could do, the court heard. PC Guenigault and PC Marques were among the heroes on the night of the terrorist attack Rachid Redouane (pictured left), 30, was the terrorist who stabbed nurse Helen Kennett and killed waiter Alexandre Pigeard. One of his accomplices Youssef Zaghba, 22, is pictured right Khuram Butt (left) was shot dead in the attack (the aftermath of which is pictured right) Dr Khan and her friends had also fled the Boro Bistro as people knocked over chairs and tables in a desparate bid to get away. She found Ms Boden on the ground with her friend saying: 'Kirsty, what had they done to you?' Describing the nurse's condition, she said: 'She was still. There was no movement. She looked like her eyes were open just staring.' Emergency services were called and the doctor went to get a first aid kit from a police car before she concluded Ms Boden was dead. Dr Khan said she agreed to carry on CPR after the victim's friend begged her to continue. But at 10.23pm, she pronounced Ms Boden dead and went on to help another victim with a stab wound to the neck. A map of the London Bridge area shows where each of the victims were injured in June 2017 The terrorists tied 12-inch knives to their wrists with tape before they launched their attack The battered Renault van used by terrorists during the attack on London Bridge in 2017 She told the court the situation had been 'difficult to overcome without any equipment'. Gareth Patterson QC, for Ms Boden's family, said the nurse had got up from her table within seconds of the crash, thinking of others rather than her own safety. The senior staff nurse at Guy's Hospital was 'right there in the thick of it' when she tried to help Mr Pigeard. Mr Patterson said the tip of Butt's knife was found embedded in Ms Boden's head, most likely from the blow caught on CCTV. Ms Boden was one of eight people killed when three terrorists mowed down pedestrians on London Bridge and ran amok around Borough Market. Xavier Thomas, 45, Christine Archibald, 30, Mr Pigeard, 26, Sara Zelenak, 21, Ms Boden, 28, Sebastien Belanger, 36, James McMullan, 32, and Ignacio Echeverria, 39 all died in the atrocity. Their attackers were shot dead near Borough Market in less than ten minutes. Survivor begged for her life as London Bridge terrorist tried to 'cut her head off' A survivor of the London Bridge attack has told how she begged for her life, fearing the terrorists were trying to cut off her head. Marie Bondeville had been dining with her boyfriend Oliver Dowling at Lobos Meat and Tapas restaurant on the evening of June 3 2017. As they left, they saw three shadowy men coming at them, with one 'walking like a boxer going into a fight' with closed fists and hunched shoulders. The two hero officers who suffered horrific injuries in attack Two policemen who tackled knife-wielding jihadists during the London Bridge terror attack were awarded the George Medal by the Queen for their bravery. PCs Charlie Guenigault and Wayne Marques suffered horrific injuries when they confronted the three terrorists wearing fake suicide vests in June 2017. Off-duty officer PC Guenigault was out with friends in the London Bridge area when the terrorists smashed their van into a nearby restaurant. PCs Charlie Guenigault (left) and Wayne Marques (right) arrive at the Old Bailey Instead of fleeing from the attack at about 10pm, he ran towards the attackers to protect others as they lashed out with 12in kitchen knives. He received stab wounds to his head, leg, back and stomach, and had to undergo a three-hour operation to remove his spleen. PC Marques was armed only with a baton when he confronted the attackers, who stabbed him repeatedly near London Bridge. The British Transport Police officer was temporarily blinded when he was wounded above his right eye and also suffered significant injuries to his head. Despite his wounds, he continued to fight - even with a knife sticking out of his leg. The officer later said he was 'overwhelmed' by messages of support. He told how well-wishers he had never met had sent 'genuine, heartfelt, caring messages' following news of his bravery becoming public. Advertisement In a statement read out at the Old Bailey, she said: 'I felt a punch to the right side of my face. I instantly covered my face and heard Oliver shout something like 'oi what the f***' and fall to the floor. 'It was at this moment I saw blood on my hands and thought maybe he had broken my noise. Oliver seemed to fall instantly without any kind of struggle. 'He fell in stages, firstly down to his knees and then his upper body down to the floor.' Ms Bondeville said she also fell to the floor in 'overwhelming pain' with the taste of blood in her mouth. 'I tried desperately to reach Oliver and touch him. He was lying in the road about two metres away from me. 'I was in a foetal position trying to cover my face in my hands. 'I was devastated that Oliver might have died and I was unable to reach him. I kept looking at Oliver. I thought he was dead. I was begging for them to stop and calling for help saying 'please please'. 'The punches just came again and again and again.' The witness said she kept wondering why they were spending so much time on her and at one point thought she was being attacked by two people at once. She went on: 'I just knew the more I begged the more they attacked me because I was still alive. I recall thinking they were trying to cut my head off.' Following a huge blow as if from a 'hammer or axe', she disconnected from the pain and 'played dead', the inquest heard. She said the worst part of the attack was not the pain, but the thought that her boyfriend had died trying to protect her and she could not reach him. Ms Bondeville described her attacker as looking like a 'junkie' with 'empty' eyes. She was taken to hospital with 18 stab wounds and put into an induced coma, the court heard. Mr Dowling was also badly injured with wounds to his cheek, shoulder and chest, but survived the onslaught. He said in his statement that he felt as if he had been punched and heard his girlfriend say: 'What are you doing, leave him alone.' He said: 'I immediately tried to hit the person that was over her. It looked like he was punching her or what I thought was punches.' Mr Dowling said he tried to get help from people standing nearby, but no-one came. He recalled an 'undercover' police officer arriving before he knelt down by Ms Bondeville. He said: 'I thought she was dead. I only realised she was not when the paramedics started working on her.' Who were the victims of the London Bridge terror attack? (Top, from left) Christine Archibald, James McMullan, Alexandre Pigeard, Sebastien Belanger, (bottom, from left) Kirsty Boden, Sara Zelenak, Xavier Thomas and Ignacio Echeverria Ignacio Echeverria Spaniard Ignacio Echeverria was stabbed to death as he tried to fight off the terrorist attackers with his skateboard. The 39-year-old had been in the UK for over a year was working as a financial crime analyst at HSBC. Mr Echeverria joined unarmed police constables Wayne Marques and Charlie Guenigault in fighting off the three attackers as they set upon Marie Bondeville, hitting at least one terrorist with his skateboard. 'His courageous efforts were to seek to stop the attack,' Chief Coroner Mark Lucraft said. Kirsty Boden Mr Echeverria was the youngest of five siblings and was a Catholic who went to mass every week. He could speak English, German and French fluently. Nurse Kirsty Boden was fatally stabbed as she tried to tend to the wounded and the dying. Miss Boden, 28, moved to London in 2013 from the small town of Loxton, in South Australia. She was a senior staff nurse at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital and lived with her British boyfriend James Hodder in a flat in Hampstead. Mr Hodder said: 'She loved people and loved her life helping others. To Kirsty, her actions that night would have been an extension of how she lived her life.' Alexandre Pigeard Alexandre Pigeard was working as a waiter at Boro Bistro when he was attacked. The 26-year-old Frenchman had moved to London to further his ambitions as a dance music DJ. Minutes before he was fatally stabbed, he video-called his father Philippe during a break from work at the French restaurant. Mr Pigeard had planned to return to France in the autumn of 2017 to help open a restaurant in Nantes and to record an EP with his musician father. Mr Pigeard senior told the inquest: 'I'm present here as a devastated father who has lost a child in such circumstances - an inconsolable father.' James McMullan James McMullan was stabbed in the chest near the Barrowboy and Banker pub while he was celebrating getting financial backing for his online education company. The British-Filipino entrepreneur was watching the Champions League final with friends in the pub. The 32-year-old, from Hackney in East London, was attacked when he stepped outside to have a cigarette. He had dreamed of helping children without access to education through his e-learning company. Mr McMullan's father Simon described his son as 'funny, charming and clever' and said 'his fearlessness could never be underestimated'. Sebastien Belanger The mother of chef Sebastien Belanger said she does not forgive the terrorists who 'mutilated and killed him'. Her 36-year-old son was drinking at the Boro Bistro when he was stabbed repeatedly in the chest. His mother Josiane Belanger said: 'We miss him so much, his smile, his joie de vivre. I do not forgive what they did to him.' Originally from Angers in western France, Mr Belanger started work at the Coq d'Argent in the City and was promoted to the role of head chef. Australian au pair Sara Zelenak was on the 'trip of a lifetime' when she was stabbed to death while on a night out with a friend. Sara Zelenak Miss Zelenak's mother Julie Wallace said 'every sliding door' put her daughter in 'harm's way'. 'She was meant to be working and at the last minute she got the night off,' Mrs Wallace said. 'At 10pm Sara's phone rang and her friend said 'I've finished at the rugby' and so she left her safe haven and walked out into a terrorist attack and was stabbed to death.' Before leaving for UK in March 2017, Miss Zelenak worked with her stepfather Mark as a crane truck operator in Brisbane to save up for her trip. Her parents have since set up Sarz Sanctuary to help other families to cope with grief. Xavier Thomas Xavier Thomas was walking over London Bridge with his girlfriend Christine Delcros when they were hit by the van. The 45-year-old father-of-two was catapulted into the Thames and his girlfriend suffered life-changing injuries. His body was recovered downstream three days later. Mr Thomas, who had arrived in London on the day of the attack, lived near Paris and worked for American Express. Miss Delcros said: 'Since Xavier disappeared in such tragic and traumatic circumstances our whole world has fallen apart.' Canadian tourist Christine Archibald told her fiance Tyler Ferguson she loved him seconds before she was mowed down. Christine Archibald Miss Archibald and Mr Ferguson were walking across London Bridge after dinning at a nearby restaurant when the atrocity unfolded. Her fiance said: 'At one point Chrissy stopped me out of nowhere, grabbed me close and gave me a passionate kiss after telling me she loved me. 'I remember it being a warm summer's evening and the sun had just gone down.. And then the attack took place and Chrissy was killed. 'No words can express how I felt when this happened. I was absolutely devastated and inconsolable. Nothing has ever been the same since.' Miss Archibald's engagement ring was lost during the attack, but later recovered from the bridge. Mr Ferguson now wears it on a chain around his neck. The Pound slumped to a four-month low today as business leaders warned the Brexit gridlock at Westminster is a 'disaster'. Sterling dived to its lowest level against the US dollar since January at $1.27 as markets reacted to the failure of cross-party talks and impending departure of Theresa May. The Pound also slipped compared to the Euro, reaching its lowest since February. The news came after CBI chief Carolyn Fairbairn urged politicians to find a way through the 'paralysis' over Brexit. Sterling dived to its lowest level against the US dollar since January at $1.27 as markets reacted to the failure of cross-party talks and impending departure of Theresa May Speaking to 330 businesses from across the UK at the annual City of London Business and Industry Dinner, Ms Fairbairn said she was making a plea 'from the heart of British business to the heart of British politics to resolve this gridlock' because every day without a deal is 'corrosive'. She stated: 'Do whatever it takes, do it fast, find common ground and reach a solution. 'If the cross-party talks fail, move on to the next stage. 'If that fails, move on to something else.' There was no sign of a breakthrough in the impasse today, as Jeremy Corbyn formally broke off talks with Theresa May over a Brexit compromise. The Labour leader said the discussions had 'gone as far as they can', complaining about the 'weakness and instability' of the government. Mrs May was effectively told by senior Tory MPs yesterday that her time is up as party leader. The 1922 committee announced that a leadership contest will be triggered next month, whether or not the EU Withdrawal Bill clears its first Commons obstacle. A hero dog saved a newborn baby after leading his owner to the boy who had been buried alive in the dirt by his teenage mother. The pooch called Ping Pong was seen scratching at earth alongside a farmer's field in Korat, north eastern Thailand, on Wednesday morning. Ping Pong's owner Usa Nisaika, 41, went over to look and noticed the infant's tiny leg poking up from the earth. He frantically dug up the 5.2lbs baby and rushed him to hospital where he was found not to have suffered any serious injury. The newborn baby after being rushed to hospital where he was deemed healthy by doctors in Thailand Ping Pong the dog with his owner - he was seen by Usa Nisaika scratching around at the edge of a field in Korat The 15-year-old mother told officers she buried him to try to hide the birth, because she was afraid that her parents would be angry The infant has been deemed healthy and police have arrested his 15-year-old mother on suspicion of attempted murder. Usa said his dog - which only has three working legs having been hit by a car when he was younger - was a 'hero'. He said: 'I have had Ping Pong since he was born and he has always been very loyal and obedient. 'When he was younger a car hit him and his back leg was injured. He cannot use it but he still helps me when I'm herding cows. 'Everybody in the village is amazed by what he has done now. He is a hero because he saved the life of the baby.' Ping Pong's hind leg was injured by a car when he was younger but Usa said he remains a worthy servant Fortunately the baby did not sustain any injury thanks to Ping Pong's timely intervention The edge of the farmer's field in rural Thailand where the teenage mother dumped her newborn The scene where the child was hidden by the mother, covered with blankets after being buried Police began investigating and interviewed local residents. None of them knew any pregnant women in the area but a shopkeeper said that a teenage girl had recently bought an unusually large amount of sanitary towels. The teenager was arrested on Thursday and admitted giving birth to the baby boy. She told police that she buried him to try to hide the birth, because she was afraid that her parents would be angry. Officers have now kept the baby under supervision in hospital, but the girl's parents have offered to take care of the infant. Nakhon Ratchasima governor Wichian Chantharanothai and Trairat Witthayanumart, the chief of the Chumpuang district, said they have visited the infant in hospital and he is healthy. Locals and police attend the site where the infant was buried - the girl's parents have offered to take care of the infant Usa gestures to where he found the child which was buried by the young mother for fear of her parents reaction An officer examines the ground where the baby was discovered as they investigate the mother Nakhon Ratchasima governor Wichian Chantharanothai and Trairat Witthayanumart, the chief of the Chumpuang district, said they have visited the infant in hospital and he is healthy Governor Wichian said: 'The baby is recovering and he is healthy. His weight when he was born was 2.4kg. 'The parent of the mother have offered to take care of the baby when he leaves hospital but that has not been agreed yet. 'A team of police and government welfare workers need to consider the safety of the children.' Police interviewed the teenager mother on suspicion of attempted murder but they are waiting for for her to be assessed for her mental health. Governor Wichian added: 'Police officers are preparing to prosecute the mother but she is also a child and we must consider her mind and be professional. It is important that she is nurtured and treated fairly.' Ivan Milat's nephew says the convicted backpacker killer is so firm in his claims of innocence that he signs off his letters with 'Ivan Innocent' and a drawing of a saint. Milat, 79, was taken from Goulburn's supermax prison, about 200 kilometres south-west of Sydney, to the Prince of Wales Hospital in Randwick on Monday for a series of health checks. His family have since been told the notorious serial killer is suffering from terminal cancer of the oesophagus and stomach and only has weeks to live. Alistair Shipsey, 60, who believes Milat is innocent and was framed, has stored numerous letters sent from his uncle while locked up for the murders of seven backpackers. Ivan Milat's nephew says the convicted backpacker killer signs off his letters with 'Ivan Innocent' and a drawing of a saint (pictured) Milat's family has since been told the notorious serial killer is suffering from terminal cancer of the oesophagus and stomach and only has weeks to live The letters are signed off with 'Ivan', a stick-finger drawing of a saint and 'innocent' written below, 10Daily reported. The most recent letter was to Mr Shipsey's mother, where Milat spoke of his ailing health. 'He was just talking about how he can't eat, he's lost a lot of weight, can't keep anything down,' Mr Shipsey said. Mr Shipsey said there would be no 11th hour confession from Milat, despite being on his deathbed. 'If you read all the letters, 24 years of letters, his passion's there. I know he's innocent,' Mr Shipsey told 10Daily. Milat is due to be moved from hospital to Long Bay Jail Hospital, Malabar, in the coming days, where he is expected to take his last breath. Alistair Shipsey, 60, who believes Milat is innocent and was framed, has stored numerous letters sent from his uncle while locked up for the murders of seven backpackers The most recent letter was to Mr Shipsey's mother, where Milat spoke of his ailing health Mr Shipsey said he wants to see Milat, who he describes as one of his favourite uncles, before he dies. 'I know he's innocent and I know he's been framed, 100 per cent, otherwise I wouldn't stick my head out here,' he said. He questioned why his uncle had not received medical help earlier, claiming that Milat and those around him in prison would have known about his ill-health for months. Milat was sentenced in 1996 to seven consecutive life sentences for murdering seven backpackers whose bodies were found in makeshift graves in NSW's Belanglo State Forest between 1989 and 1993. Three children were found dead after accidentally locking themselves in a car where they suffocated in 35C heat. The young cousins named Agatha Morales, aged nine, Shamel Alghela Morales, aged eight, and Pauline Keziah Morales, aged six, were playing together in Bataan province, the Philippines on May 13. Agatha's father Jessie Morales, 31, an oil refinery worker, returned home from work at 4pm and parked the green car outside their home. Agatha Morales, aged nine (left), and eight-year-old Shamel Alghela Morales, who are cousins, were found dead inside a hot car in the Philippines after accidentally locking themselves inside Pauline Keziah Morales, aged six, died alongside her two older cousins as the trio played inside Agatha's father's car outside her home But after going inside to eat, the youngsters are believed to have opened a door and climbed inside to play - before it locked behind them and they were unable to get out again. A friend of the young girls noticed them four hours later at around 8pm. They were all lifeless inside the vehicle. Police are now investigating the death of Shamel (pictured) and her cousins for possible negligence She ran to tell the two parents who were at home a few yards away. Jessie ran outside and found the three children inside the vehicle but they were already dead. Jessie said: 'They were not able to breath because of the heat inside.' The family of the victims said that they believe it was an accident and no further investigations should be conducted. They blamed a faulty lock on the car door which allowed the children to climb inside to play but prevented them from opening the door to escape. The local police are now investigating the case to find out if there was negligence on the part of the parents. Bataan Police chief Dennis Orbista said: 'The father opened the door but the kids were not responding. He brought them to the hospital where they were pronounced dead due to suffocation. 'To parents of children who are of the same age of the victims, always watch over the children because out of curiosity, they play with all things in the surroundings.' Relatives of the girls say a faulty lock on the back door of the car (pictured) allowed the girls to climb inside but stopped them getting back out Agatha Morales (pictured) was playing at her house with her two cousins on Monday when her father arrived home around 4pm, and then climbed inside his car to play Huawei will turn to its own 'Noah's Ark' of microchips after the U.S. officially banned it from buying parts and components from American companies without special approval - amid an escalating trade war between Beijing and Washington. A board member of Huawei Group today called the move from Washington 'the craziest decision', but claimed Huawei had a 'Plan B' to ensure a steady supply for its customers. Huawei created a backup plan many years ago to prepare for a worst case scenario when they could no longer obtain advanced U.S. chips and technologies, according to He Tingbo, who is also the President of Huawei's chip arm HiSilicon. Chinese telecom giant Huawei says it will turn to its own chip making arm HiSilicon after the U.S. restricted it from using American suppliers amid a trade war between the two nations The President of Huawei-owned HiSilicon criticised the U.S. restriction, calling it 'ruthless', 'utterly baseless' and 'the craziest decision'. Pictured, a chip by Huawei's subsidiary HiSilicon is displayed at the Huawei China Eco-Partner Conference in Fuzhou, China, on March 21 The Trump administration has banned Huawei and 68 affiliates in more than two dozen countries from buying parts and components from American firms without special approval The Trump administration on Thursday officially added China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd to a trade blacklist, immediately enacting restrictions that will make it extremely difficult for the telecom giant to do business with U.S. companies. The Commerce Department issued a rule, promised on Wednesday, to put Huawei and 68 affiliates in more than two dozen countries on its so-called Entity List. This means Huawei is blocked from buying parts and components from American firms without approval from the U.S. government. The action comes as the world's two largest economies ratchet up tariffs in a battle over what U.S. officials call China's unfair trade practices. President Donald Trump (right) expanded his tariff regime to include practically everything China exports to the US; Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) retaliated Monday but said his own tariffs won't go into effect until June. The pair are pictured in November 2017 China announced Monday it would raise tariffs on $60 billion in US exports by next month, responding in kind to President Donald Trump's decision last week to hike duties on hundreds of billions of dollars in Chinese merchandise In a letter to her staff sent during the wee hours today, He Tingbo claimed that Huawei staff had spent 'thousands of days and nights' creating the backup plan, which she billed as Huawei's 'spare tires in the safe'. He said Huawei had invested heavily in the backup plan which would ensure the company to carry out research and development continuously under 'extreme circumstances'. She criticised the U.S. restriction, calling it 'ruthless', 'utterly baseless' and 'the craziest decision'. She said the ban had brought Huawei to 'a dark moment'. 'Today is the choice of history. The spare tires we made a long time ago are 'promoted' overnight,' He wrote. She concluded the letter by writing: 'Heroes only show their true power while facing towering waves. [Huawei has overcome] hardship to build [its] Noah's Ark.' In a one-two punch, the U.S order came a day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order declaring a national emergency and barring U.S. companies from using telecommunications equipment made by firms posing a national security risk. The United States believes Huawei's smartphones and network equipment could be used by China to spy on Americans, allegations the company has repeatedly denied. Huawei's founder Ren Zhengfei (file photo from 2015) said he would 'shut the company down' if his phone company was ever used by the Chinese government to carry out surveillance Huawei created a backup plan many years ago to prepare for a worst case scenario when they could no longer obtain advanced U.S. chips and technologies, according to He Tingbo (left), the President of Huawei's chip arm HiSilicon. He wrote a letter to her staff at wee hours today Huawei has already been using chipsets called Kirin, designed by HiSilicon in its high-end smartphones, with the manufacturing handled by so-called foundry companies such as Taiwan's TSMC. Huawei also uses some chipsets from California-based Qualcomm Inc and Taiwan-based MediaTek Inc. In an interview with Reuters in March, Huawei's rotating chairman Eric Xu had said the unit produced more than $7.5 billion worth of chips last year. That compares with an estimated $21 billon worth of chips that Huawei acquired from outside vendors. A similar U.S. ban on China's ZTE Corp, based in the Chinese city of Shenzhen like Huawei, had almost crippled business for the smaller Huawei rival early last year before the curb was lifted According to a Huawei spokesman, Huawei will use HiSilicon products to substitute for banned American components where possible. The spokesperson declined to give details. A similar U.S. ban on China's ZTE Corp had almost crippled business for the smaller Huawei rival early last year before the curb was lifted. Huawei was founded in 1988 by Ren Zhengfei, 74, who had served in the Chinese military before becoming a businessman. The company beat Apple to become the world's second largest smartphone maker after South Korea's Samsung last August. In 2017, it raked in 603.6 billion yuan (68.7 billion) revenue. Western areas of the United States are expected to receive two months rainfall in a matter of days, according to weather reports. The National Weather Service in San Francisco have said California will experience an unseasonal storm system that could bring 150 to 200 per cent of its monthly rainfall to lowers areas. It was also reported that higher areas around the Sierra Nevada could receive up to 30 inches of snow in the same amount of time. A pedestrian makes his way up Park drive in Wrightwood, Calif., Thursday, May 16, 2019, as rain and fog from a storm blankets the area Snow showers have been reported across the Sierra Nevada including at the Mammoth Mountain ski resort in California (photo taken by Mammoth Mountain) It is believed to be due to a series of 'atmospheric rivers' that are moving over California from the Pacific Ocean, after sucking up water vapor from the ocean. Accuweather claim that a block in the jet stream is pushing storms further south onshore, which is keeping the Sierra Nevada and mid-Californian areas wet 'A block in the jet stream is forcing storms to take a much more southern route onshore of western North America than usual for the middle to latter part of May,' said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson. 'The heaviest rain with the storm this weekend is likely to fall on Northern California and along the lower western slopes of the Sierra Nevada.' Satellite imagery of water vapour shows the 'atmospheric river' moving from the Pacific over California early on Thursday morning Drivers make their commutes in the pouring rain along the Hollywood Freeway in Los Angeles on May 16, 2019 The state has already experienced large amounts of rainfall, with the second of three systems expected to bring rain and snow to California on Friday through Saturday. A weaker third system could then will move through across the state during next week before Memorial Day weekend, which will push precipitation levels into record figures. Lower elevations in coastal areas will see rainfall, but the Sierra Nevada mountain range will have snowfall. Some areas could see up to 30 inches of snow through Friday morning. The National Weather Service Sacramento said: 'A couple of storm systems will bring moderate to heavy snowfall to the Sierra Cascade range over the next several days. Travel impacts over the passes are likely. Traffic camera footage from Donner Summit, California shows snowfall on the Interstate 80. Officials have warned that parts of the Sierra Nevada will become 'impossible to pass' over the next week 'If traveling through the mountains, check the latest road and weather reports before departure.' Southern areas near the Sequoia National Park are already under a winter weather warning, with officials saying travel will be impossible at times. Conditions will also be made more dangerous by expected high winds. This storms are not unusual but they normally happen in winter, and help to pull much of California out of drought. The first atmospheric river moved through on Wednesday and set daily rainfall records and snow in north Sierra Nevada. A touching letter from four Chinese students has emerged thanking Bob Hawke for allowing them to stay in Australia. The note and flowers paid tribute to the former Prime Minister, who allowed 40,000 students to stay in the country following the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. Mr Hawke, who died just two weeks before the 30th anniversary of the devastating event on June, 4, extended temporary permits and granted many Chinese citizens permanent visas. A touching letter from four Chinese students thanking Bob Hawke for allowing them to stay in Australia has emerged The letter read: 'Dear Bob, thank you for give[ing] new life to me and 40,000 Chinese students stayed [sic] in Australia in 1989.' 'You have made our life better and beautiful with opportunities that we could have never imagined. Our love to you forever!' The Chinese-Australian community have continued to show their gratitude to the Labor leader who wept as he read his speech at the Chinese Memorial at Parliament House. Australian journalist Frances Mao told ABC news Mr Hawke's decision is the reason her parents were able to stay in the country. 'It kind of matters to hear it from your knockabout Aussie bloke to hear someone standing up for you, and to hear someone being so... open and embracing of multiculturalism and embracing new migrants,' she said. 'Many of the Chinese-Australians growing up in the 90s, so many of my friends and my classmates, their parents would have done the same thing as my parents.' Other Chinese-Australians have also expressed the importance of the former prime minister's announcement. 'Thirty years ago he granted asylum to all Chinese students in Australia after Tiananmen Square massacre. My mum was one of them. My family are forever grateful for this opportunity to live and thrive in this beautiful and democratic country,' one person said. 'My parents were also the beneficiaries of Bob Hawke's promise to all Chinese students to be able to stay in Australia in 1989... I was just a toddler at the time, but his decision changed my life and is the reason I can call Australia home,' another said. Ashley Priola, 26, reportedly turned up drunk to work on Tuesday this week A saloon dancer in Oklahoma was fired on Tuesday for 'drunkenly throwing billiard balls at her boss'. Ashley Priola, 26, reportedly showed up to work drunk to her job at the Red Dog Saloon in Oklahoma City but was given permission to work and dance on stage. But after she fell over twice her manager fired her for coming to work intoxicated. One witness then told police Priola took a billiard ball and threw it at her manager, striking her in the face. She then reportedly grabbed a second ball and thew it, narrowly missing her again, before fleeing the scene. When police arrived, they found Priola in a convenience store in the back room of the Red Dog Saloon. Priola was then arrested by authorities for assault and battery. Priola allegedly took a billiard ball and threw it at her manager at the Red Dog Saloon in Oklahoma City On her way to Oklahoma County Jail, however, she allegedly became hysterical and offered officers 'all her money' if they took her home. The officers refused, which prompted Priola to start banging her head on the window of the car in an attempt to break it. She was later booked at Oklahoma County Jail for assault with a dangerous weapon and assault and battery. Newly-single Wendy Williams was spotted smiling after leaving a salon in New York city as she deals with the end of her 22-year marriage. The chat show host, 54, covered up her locks with a navy hooded rain jacket as she walked down the street, days after she spoke about embracing her new life as a bachelorette. Williams filed for divorce from Kevin Hunter last month after DailyMail.com revealed he had fathered a child by another woman - his longtime mistress Sharina Hudson. But it seems single Williams is already starting to mingle, telling viewers of her show on Tuesday that she is back on the dating scene and rediscovering her 'love of men'. 'I don't have a boyfriend, but I must admit I'm rediscovering my love of men. And, you know, transparency, I do date and I date pretty often,' she said. Newly-single Wendy Williams was spotted leaving a salon in New York city as she deals with the end of her 22-year marriage Williams smiled as she battled to keep her face partially covered by her hood. She kept her outfit low-key, pairing the jacket with a pair of black leggings and a plain black shirt Williams filed for a divorce from Kevin Hunter last month after DailyMail.com revealed he had fathered a child by another woman - his longtime mistress Sharina Hudson Williams smiled as she battled to keep her face partially covered by her hood. She kept her outfit low-key, pairing the jacket with a pair of black leggings and a plain black shirt. She accessorized with a white Chanel bag and a pair of large sunglasses as she walked past paparazzi. Williams served Hunter divorce papers last month and gave him just 48 hours to clear out of their home. She reached her tipping point with Hunter after learning he had been living the high life with Hudson, splurging on Rolls-Royces, Ferraris and gifting her with diamonds - all paid for with her money. Last week she addressed the affair on her show, saying: 'There are a lot of women with no respect for a marriage. 'For you lonely girls who can't keep your hands off other people's men, there is a hot place in hell for you!' Since the break-up, Williams has moved into a new apartment on the lower west side of Manhattan. Hunter, pictured with Williams in July 2018, had been living the high life with his mistress Hudson, splurging on Rolls-Royces, Ferraris and gifting her with diamonds - all paid for with her money Since the break-up, Williams has moved into a new apartment on the lower west side of Manhattan Two giant pandas that had been on loan to the United States have returned home to China. Bai Yun, a 27-year-old female giant panda, and her son, six-year-old Xiao Liwu, arrived in their ancestral homeland of Sichuan province in south-west China yesterday after a long-term conservation agreement ended, according to Xinhua News. Their departure comes amid escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing over trade and national security. But the zoo in San Diego has said that the return of the pandas has nothing to do with the trade war between the two nations. Bai Yun cuddles her son, six-year-old Xiao Liwu, at the San Diego Zoo in California. The pair arrived in their ancestral homeland of Sichuan province in south-west China yesterday after a long-term conservation agreement ended between the US zoo and China The pandas are being transported in a large lorry to the Dujiangyan Base of the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Pandas in Sichuan province Bai Yun settles in her new home at the Dujiangyan Base of the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Pandas after arriving in Sichuan yesterday morning The departure of the pandas mark the first time in more than 20 years that the San Diego Zoo will be without pandas. It marked the end of a 23-year-long conservation project between the zoo and Chinese authorities to jointly protect and research on giant pandas. China usually loans out their pandas for a period of 10 years and the lease may be extended. The cost for a zoo to 'rent' a pair of pandas from China is about US$1 million a year, according to previous reports. Officials at the San Diego Zoo told media in March that the return of the pandas was not prompted by any sudden request from the Chinese government. A large group of excited volunteers and workers were seen welcoming the animals with a banner that reads 'Welcome Giant Pandas Bai Yun and Xiao Liwu back home' Bai Yun and Xiao Liwu seem to be settling in well in their home, and caretakers at the Dujiangyan centre said they are in good health following checkups San Diego Zoo is one of four zoos in the United States that have participated in the panda-loaning programme. There are still pandas at Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington DC, Zoo Atlanta and the Memphis Zoo. Bai Yun arrived at the San Diego Zoo in 1996 as a tiny cub and soon became a star attraction of the park, one of very few in the US to have giant pandas. Erica Kohler, director of operations of the zoo, said Bai Yun and Xiao Liwu attracted about two million visitors to the centre each year. Bai Yun, which means 'white clouds' in Chinese, has given birth to six cubs at the zoo during her 23-year-stay. Xiao Liwu, which means 'little gift', was her last baby and born in 2012. Bai Yun and Xiao Liwu (pictured above) seem to be settling in well in their home, and caretakers said they are in good health following checkups Xiao Liwu, which means 'little gift' in Chinese, enjoys a meal of bamboo in his new home Xiao Liwu's father, Gao Gao, returned to China last year. Last month, the San Diego Zoo held a three-week farewell event for the giant pandas, with more than 1,000 Americans lining up to say goodbye to the adorable pair. Video footage released by China News shows the pandas being transported in a large lorry to the Dujiangyan Base of the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Pandas. A large group of excited volunteers and workers were seen welcoming the animals with a banner that reads 'Welcome Giant Pandas Bai Yun and Xiao Liwu back home.' Last month, the San Diego Zoo held a three-week farewell event for the giant pandas, with more than 1,000 Americans lining up to say goodbye to the adorable pair Bai Yun, which means 'white clouds' in Chinese, has given birth to six cubs at the zoo during her 23-year-stay. Xiao Liwu, which means 'little gift', was her last baby and born in 2012 Erica Kohler, director of operations of the San Diego zoo, said Bai Yun and Xiao Liwu attracted about two million visitors to the centre in California every year Bai Yun and Xiao Liwu seem to be settling in well in their home, and caretakers said they are in good health following checkups. 'They will be under quarantine for a month to help them adapt to the conditions in China,' said Zou Wenyong, a spokesman for the Dujiangyan center. The centre's veterinarian Deng Linhua added that the panda's enclosure will also be thoroughly disinfected every day and caretakers will conduct health checks to make sure they are not carrying any diseases. 'Although we are sad to see these pandas go, we have great hopes for the future,' said San Diego Zoo chief operating officer Shawn Dixon in late March when the zoo announced their departure. Xiao Liwu, right, celebrates his first birthday on July 29, 2013. He was treated to a birthday cake made of ice, bamboo and fruit at the party at the San Diego Zoo Xiao Liwu eats a meal of bamboo at the San Diego Zoo prior to his repatriation to China with his mother Bai Yu, bringing an end to a 23-year-long panda research program at the park Last month, the San Diego Zoo held a three-week farewell event for the giant pandas, with more than 1,000 Americans lining up to say goodbye to the adorable pair 'Working with our colleagues in China, San Diego Zoo Global is ready to make a commitment for the next stage of our panda programme,' he added. China has been shipping giant pandas to other countries as 'diplomatic gifts' allegedly as early as the Tang Dynasty (618-907). It is said the country's first female emperor, Empress Wu Zetian of the 7th Century, sent two pandas to Japan. In modern times, the most famous case of 'panda diplomacy' took place in 1972. China has been shipping giant pandas to other countries as 'diplomatic gifts' allegedly as early as the Tang Dynasty (618-907) 'Although we are sad to see the pandas go, we have great hopes for the future,' said San Diego Zoo chief operating officer Shawn Dixon in March when the zoo announced their departure China's then Premier Zhou Enlai gave two of the cute animal ambassadors to the US two months after Richard Nixon made his landmark visit to Beijing to end 25 years' of tension between the two nations. After Baiyun and Xiaoliwu's return, the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda has welcomed 17 returnee giant pandas. The species was threatened with extinction when the zoo teamed up with China 25 years ago as part of a conservation programme. Today, pandas are listed as a vulnerable species. That means that while their survival is still threatened, conservation efforts have helped reduce their danger of extinction. Bai Yun celebrates her 22 birthday with an ice cake at the San Diego Zoo in California. On the right, the female giant panda settles in her new home at the Sichuan base in China Fewer than 2,000 pandas live in the wild, mostly in Sichuan and Shaanxi. There were 375 giant pandas in captivity at the end of 2013. Above, Xiao Liwu at the San Diego Zoo last month Fewer than 2,000 pandas live in the wild, mostly in the provinces of Sichuan and Shaanxi. There were 375 giant pandas in captivity at the end of 2013. Chinese state media yesterday claimed America is 'not sincere' about holding more trade talks as economic tensions mount between the two countries. China announced Monday it would raise tariffs on $60 billion in US exports by next month, responding in kind to President Donald Trump's decision last week to hike duties on hundreds of billions of dollars in Chinese merchandise. However, US President Donald Trump left open the door for reconciliation, saying he expected a 'fruitful' meeting next month with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at a Group of 20 summit in Japan. American aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln reached the Arabian Sea after what Washington called an 'imminent threat' from Iran. The carrier and its strike group, comprised of four vessels including destroyers and cruisers, arrived two weeks ahead of schedule after being hastily redirected from operations in the Mediterranean, Fox News reported. Meanwhile the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard said the country's missiles can 'easily reach warships' in the Middle East. The Guard's deputy chief in charge of parliamentary affairs, Mohammad Saleh Jokar, said Iran's short-range missiles with a range of 1,250 miles are capable of targeting any point within the region. Washington has already warned shipping companies that 'Iran or its proxies' could be targeting maritime traffic in the Persian Gulf. But President Donald Trump, according to a New York Times report, is telling his top national security aides including the hawkish John Bolton that he doesn't want war with Tehran. Trump called that story 'fake news' on Friday, but tweeted that it might serve to confuse Iran's mullahs. The USS Abraham Lincoln and its carrier group has arrived in the Arabian Sea after it was hastily dispatched following what the US called an 'imminent threat' from Iran (pictured, the carrier is seen on May 8) The Lincoln had been on operations in the Mediterranean with ships from Spain, France and Britain (pictured, Lincoln front left) before it was redirected to the Arabian peninsula Meanwhile, Jokar is warning that a conflict would endanger the world's oil supply, a third of which is shipped through the gulf. 'If a war happens, the world will suffer,' he said. Trump, stung by the Times report's open airing of a private briefing in the top-secret White House Situation Room, unleashed his anger on Twitter. 'The Fake News Media is hurting our Country with its fraudulent and highly inaccurate coverage of Iran,' he wrote Friday. 'It is scattershot, poorly sourced (made up), and DANGEROUS. At least Iran doesnt know what to think, which at this point may very well be a good thing!' He tweeted later: 'With all of the Fake and Made Up News out there, Iran can have no idea what is actually going on!' Asked Thursday whether the U.S. is headed for war with Iran, Trump responded: 'I hope not.' President Donald Trump is steamed at The New York Times over a report that he told top military aides he doesn't want open war with Iran Trump tweeted twice on Friday to call the report about his secret Situation Room discussions 'fake news,' and spun the result to suggest it would keep Tehran off-balance Among those arguing for open conflict to force regime change in Tehran is National Security Advisor John Bolton. Trump, the Times reported, has joked in meetings that 'if it was up to John, wed be in four wars now.' Tensions have spiralled across the Middle East this week after America identified what it called a 'credible threat' from Iran. The 'threat' is believed to have come from overhead images of small boats in the Persian Gulf with fully-assembled Iranian missiles on board. U.S. officials, unfamiliar with this tactic from Iran, believed they were about to be fired on as naval targets. Combined with bomb attacks on four oil shipping vessels and attacks on two oil pumping stations earlier in the week, it persuaded officials that an attack was imminent. America reacted by withdrawing non-essential embassy staff from Iraq, redeploying the Lincoln and heightening security alerts across the region. Hezbollah became the latest organisation to wade into the melee on Friday, warning the U.S. that Iran 'will not be alone' in any confrontation. A view from the flight deck as the Abraham Lincoln travels through the Suez Canal, en route from the Mediterranean to the Middle East That message was delivered by the leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group to a rally in Beirut in February marking the 40th anniversary of Iran's Islamic Revolution. 'If America launches war on Iran, it will not be alone in the confrontation, because the fate of our region is tied to the Islamic Republic,' Hassan Nasrallah said. Mohammad Saleh Jokar said Iran's missiles, the most diverse stockpile in the Middle East, could easily range US ships in the region From Lebanon and Syria to Iraq, Yemen, and the Gaza Strip, Tehran has significantly expanded its footprint over the past decade, finding and developing powerful allies in conflict-ravaged countries across the Middle East. Hezbollah is one of the most prominent members of the self-styled 'axis of resistance,' armed groups with thousands of Shia fighters beholden to Tehran. Iran has used such groups in the past to strike its regional foes, and could mobilize them if the latest tensions with the United States lead to an armed conflict - dramatically expanding the battlefield. Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Zarif met with Chinese diplomats in Beijing and urged their government and Russia to defend the nuclear pact the country signed with the US under President Obama. President Trump tore up the accord, which was designed to stop Iran developing nuclear weapons, declaring it unfit for purpose. Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warned of a 'dangerous' situation in the Middle East as he met with his Chinese counterpart in an attempt to save the nuclear deal Hezbollah (fighters, pictured) told the US on Friday that Iran would 'not be alone' in any conflict that breaks out in the Middle East Zarif said he would talk with Chinese officials about 'bilateral ties and the very dangerous issues that are ongoing in our region today', according to a video published on the Iranian foreign ministry website. Washington has deployed more troops in the Gulf, one of the world's most strategic waterways, in what US officials said was a reaction to photographs showing Iran had loaded missiles onto small traditional boats. On Wednesday the US State Department ordered the evacuation of most personnel from the US embassy and consulate in Iraq, fearing an attack by Iranian-directed Shiite militias. Iran on Thursday rejected negotiations with the US, but said it was showing 'maximum restraint'. Amid escalating tensions in the region, Zarif has called on the international community to save the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA. Iran signed the deal with China, Russia, Germany, Britain, France and the United States. International sanctions were eased in return for curbs on Tehran's nuclear programme. But last year President Donald Trump walked away from the accord. The US has since then slapped sweeping sanctions on Iran. 'So far the international community has mostly released statements rather than taking action,' Zarif said. 'If the international community and other JCPOA member countries and our friends in the JCPOA like China and Russia want to keep this achievement, it is required that they make sure the Iranian people enjoy the benefits of the JCPOA with concrete actions,' he added. This calf born with a single central eye and no nose has been hailed as a 'miracle' by Indian villagers. Locals have flocked to the village in the Ranaghat area of West Bengal state where the 'cyclops' calf was born. 'Everything is fine until the neck, it is just the head that is bizarre,' one villager is heard to say in Bengali. People have flocked to a village in the Ranaghat area of India's West Bengal state to worship this one-eyed calf as an incarnation of the Hindu god Brahma 'We all think this is a miracle of God and we think this is Lord Brahma who has taken birth in our home in the avatar of the cow,' said the calf's owner 'I have never heard of or seen anything like this in my life,' another woman adds. 'The people from the neighbouring village have now flocked to our home and are asking us if they can worship it,' said the calf's owner, who declined to be identified. 'We all think this is a miracle of God and we think this is Lord Brahma [creator god in Hinduism] who has taken birth in our home in the avatar of the cow.' But vets say cyclopia is a naturally-occurring birth defect, and that calves with the condition typically only survive for a few weeks. Cyclopia is a rare congenital disorder that occurs in both humans and animals. It develops in the womb when the left and right hemispheres of the brain do not separate as they are meant to early on in pregnancy. In January, another cow was born with the disorder in the Bardhaman district of West Bengal This leads to the formation of a single central cavity with one eye, or sometimes partially fused or separate eyeballs and often the complete absence of eyelashes and eyelids are absent. The nose is also deformed, with an underdeveloped upper jaw. A creature with cyclopia may be able to distinguish light and dark but will not have proper vision because the retina won't form properly. Creatures with the condition are normally stillborn or die shortly after due to breathing and brain problems. In January, another cow was born with the disorder in the Bardhaman district of West Bengal. In video footage shared online, the one-eyed calf could be seen sticking out its tongue and gasping for breath. An illegal dumper could be fined $7,500 for leaving a delivery box on a nature strip and leaving a careless clue. One angry neighbour found the box for a Soniq smart TV from JB Hi-Fi delivered to Lilyfield in Sydneys inner west on Saturday, May 11. A delivery sticker on the box revealed the culprit's name, address and phone number. The neighbour took photos and texted them to the number asking: 'This yours?' One angry neighbour found the box (pictured) for a Soniq smart TV from JB Hi-Fi delivered to Lilyfield in Sydneys inner west on Saturday, May 11 A delivery sticker (pictured) on the box revealed the culprit's name, address and phone number. The neighbour took photos and texted them to the number asking: 'This yours?' They followed up the text with a 'Report Illegal Dumping' sign by the NSW Environmental Protection Authority. 'Send it all to the EPA,' one person suggested after the photos were posted to Reddit. 'Don't f****** litter,' another said. Another person said not to contact the EPA since it could an accident. 'Let them know what happened but I would not be calling council or the EPA,' one person said. 'Dobbing people in for such small things is very unAustralian... if this was on purpose then sure cause trouble for them.' The concerned samaritan up the text with a 'Report Illegal Dumping' sign (pictured) by the NSW Environmental Protection Authority One in three people illegally dump and feel comfortable doing it because they see their neighbours doing it, according to an EPA survey. People who illegally dump can be fined up to $7,500 by the EPA or $4,000 by local councils or police. Repeat offenders can be jailed for up to two years. Corporations can be fined up to $15,000 by the EPA or $8000 by council or police for the same crime. 'Our penalty notice amounts are now Australias toughest,' an EPA report said. Police have arrested the boyfriend of a woman whose 15-year-old daughter they believe was murdered when she went missing 10 days ago in West Virginia. They said they are 'very confident' decomposed remains discovered Thursday on a steep drop-off at North Mountain belong to the girl. Riley Crossman vanished May 7 and law enforcement said the partner of the teen's mother, 41-year-old Andy J. McCauley, Jr., has been a 'suspect from day one' after K9 dogs traced the odor of a dead body to his construction site work truck. Crossman's mother Chantel Oakley noticed she was missing May 8, after she learned she didn't attend Berkeley Springs High School the day after her maternal grandmother last saw her around 7pm. Oakley has seen her 3.30pm that day when she arrived home from school to wake her up for work. Riley Crossman vanished May 7 and was last seen going to bed at her West Virginia home Crossman's mother reported the girl (picture right) vanished on May 8. Cops then began watching mother's boyfriend 41-year-old Andy McCauley, Jr. (left) 'I got home from work around 10pm. Her door was shut, so by all accounts she was in her room, but I didnt actually see her,' Oakley told Dateline. She had reportedly texted her boyfriend Haydn at 10.30pm and friends until midnight. She then reportedly attempted to video call her boyfriend around 5.40am via Facebook Messenger on May 8. Oakley and the girl's father Lance Crossman said their calls went straight to voicemail that evening as they tried to find her. Crossman's boyfriend posted on Instagram a week ago: 'Doing everything I can to try and find her, I havent slept since shes been missing and I physically cannot sleep or function without her Im worse than ever right now and I need her to be here and safe. 'I cant go any longer without her I just want her with me right now Ive been worried to death and I just need something to make me feel better but shes the only one who can do that.. I really hope youre ok baby just please be safe.' Mother Chantel Oakley said she last saw her when her daughter came to wake her up May 7 She had reportedly texted her boyfriend Haydn at 10.30pm and friends until midnight. She then reportedly attempted to video call her boyfriend around 5.40am via Facebook Messenger on May 8. Police teams searched the area for her and said they were also looking for a possible suspect in the week following her disappearance. Then on Wednesday a group of 300 volunteers began hunting in collaboration with agencies from Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia Natural Resources Police. A volunteer from the latter discovered a corpse on North Mountain at the 5500 block of Tuscarora Pike in Berkeley County 'over an embankment in a rural mountain road section'. While the body has not been identified as Crossman, cops do believe she is dead. An autopsy will confirm whether it is the Berkeley Springs girl. McCauley was taken into custody Thursday after being under surveillance at his job in Berkeley County since last week. He agreed to go to the station and was arrested there. It was after K9 dogs followed the scent of a deceased person to his work truck. Drywall mud - who to repair holes - splattered in the bed of the truck underneath the utility box carried the scent. The girl's body had drywall mud on the shoulder and foot. McCauley was taken into custody Thursday after being under surveillance at his job in Berkeley County since last week. He agreed to go to the station and was arrested there A social media image appears to show him holding mushrooms in his hand. He denied shooting up drugs when asked during an interview but later admitted he does It was after K9 dogs followed the scent of a deceased person to his work truck. McCauley initially would not admit to driving a work truck but later told police he drove it to collect drugs from unknown people The truck was gone from 9am for four hours and 40 minutes the day Crossman disappeared, which contradicted his story of leaving for two hours. McCauley initially would not admit to driving a work truck but later told police he drove it to collect drugs from unknown people. A witness said they spotted the vehicle outside his Greenway Drive residence in Berkeley Springs around 10am. Surveillance video also showed his direction of travel was not consistent with his story but instead with a route on which the body was found if he had traveled from Berkeley Springs to Hedgesville. A clip showed he traveled east in the green Dodge in the 8000 block of Apple Harvest Drive at 12.41pm but he claimed he drove east on the 9. ABC 8 reports a witness told troopers he had cocaine on him when he left the work site. He claimed he used the 9 to return to the site and shoot up cocaine with a needle. He had denied shooting up drugs when asked in another interview, claiming he sniffs instead, but he later admitted he does. A social media image appears to show him holding mushrooms in his hand. It's not clear how long he has been dating Oakley but his Facebook profile states he has been in a relationship since 2004. Photographs hint they may have children with another woman. Morgan County Sheriff K.C. Bohrer said they had no other reason to suspect others in the case of the missing teen. He alongside Chief John Walter, Deputy Luke Shambaugh, Cpl. Fred Edwards and Cpl. Janette See responded to the scene of the discovered remains. McCauley is being held at Eastern Regional Jail. Wednesday a group of 300 volunteers joined the hunt with West Virginia-area agents. Thursday a decomposed body was found on Tuscarora Pike in Berkeley County and cops believe it is Crossman Former teacher who is a pastor, Josh Rider, said she was able to love and compassion to kids Police are waiting to find out the cause of death and how long the body had been there. Her school said it was providing counselors to help students process Crossman's disappearance and possible death. Thursday evening also saw a prayer vigil take place at Berkeley Springs State Park. 'We wanted a better outcome,' Sheriff Bohrer said about locating the remains of who they believe is the Berkeley Springs High School girl. He said McCauley will be charged with murder. A friend named Jada told LocalDVM.com: 'She posted online a bit about how she thinks that no one cared about her. So seeing all of this probably would have made her feel so cared about.' Her former teacher who is a pastor, Josh Rider, said at the gathering: 'She was able to love, show compassion to kids, that I wish all students could do at her age when I had her in sixth grade. 'We come today acknowledging that we have lost an individual that we loved, but we come together as a family, and as a community and we are binded together by the Lord and the love that we have for one another.' A GoFundMe page described Crossman as an 'exuberant, dependable' girl. Buffy Ross lights a candle Thursday during a vigil at Berkeley Springs State Park More than 300 people attended the vigil to remember Crossman on Thursday evening It said her father Lance Crossman and stepmother Jess have been positively humbled by the outpouring of love and support to help bring Riley home safely. The page noted none of the family members had worked since the child vanished. While they were not asking for monetary donations themselves, the family member who created the crowdfunding page wanted to raise money 'so that Riley can come home to her normal life, and so that her siblings in each household can live as normally as possible while they are exhausting all efforts to bring their big sister home'. By Friday they had raised $3,845 of a $10,000 goal towards flyer printing, meals, fuel, postage and advertising fees. If anyone has any information, please call the Morgan County Sheriff's Department at 304-258-1067. Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his wife Jenny have revealed intimate details about their private life on the eve of the Federal Election. The childhood sweethearts, who got married when they were just 21 years old, have opened up about their relationship and undeniable admiration for each other. The leader of the Liberal Party had nothing but nice words to say about his wife who he said had the 'biggest heart' of anyone he knew and who he praised as a 'love machine'. Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his wife Jenny (both pictured) have revealed intimate details from their private life on the eve of the Federal Election 'Her capacity to love is amazing, and all of our family, all of our friends, our family, our kids - this is the thing, if you get to know Jen, you get to know what love is. That's what she is. She is just a love machine,' Mr Morrison told news.com.au. 'It's about the real love of caring for others in a selfless way. That's what Jen's about. And that's the thing that has always just made my life so much richer, to have Jen in it. And to be honest, when you have that overwhelming you all the time, there are no things that irritate. Because it's overwhelmed by everything else.' The 51-year-old politician also insisted his wife, who he shares two daughters with, had no flaws - although Mrs Morrison quickly quashed his claim stating she was 'very indecisive'. She also noted that Mr Morrison had a tendency to be 'very messy' a trait which she admits drives her 'insane'. The 51-year-old politician (pictured alongside his wife and two daughters) also insisted his wife, who he shares two daughters with, had no flaws Mr Morrison (pictured) also paid tribute to the late former Prime Minister Bob Hawke in the interview Meanwhile Mrs Morrison gushed about her husband, and said voters might miss certain aspects of his personality. She added that if voters ever bumped into Mr Morrison in the pub, he would be sure to win them over. 'They might not get to his humour, his softer side. Like his girls, you know, they've got him wrapped around their little finger. So people don't get to see that,' she said. 'I think they might find him a bit harder, maybe, because they don't get to know him.' Mr Morrison also paid tribute to the late former Prime Minister Bob Hawke. He said Mr Hawke was a person 'Australians trusted' because he understood and appreciated different people's lives. Mrs Morrison (pictured alongside Mr Morrison and their two daughters) gushed about her husband and said voters might miss certain aspects of his personality Mr Morrison also spoke briefly about why he chose a political career, citing the fact 'he loves people' as a reason for pursuing the particular path. Mrs Morrison reiterated her husband's sentiments and said she 'loves meeting Australian people'. But the couple did admit that the demands of the job mean Mr Morrison is away from his family more than he'd like to be. The couple also touched on their religious beliefs, and Mrs Morrison admitted she struggled to understand the unwavering public interest in their beliefs. Mr Morrison said while he didn't see his faith 'as a policy textbook' he said he thought it was 'fair' for people to know religion was a big part of his and his family's lives. President Donald Trump said Friday that government officials and others who conspired to conduct surveillance on his 2016 campaign should be subject to long prison terms for committing treason. 'My Campaign for President was conclusively spied on,' he wrote in an early morning tweet. 'Nothing like this has ever happened in American Politics.' 'A really bad situation. TREASON means long jail sentences, and this was TREASON!' The president didn't name anyone he thinks committed treason. But he has previously applied that word, and other similar brands like 'traitor,' to numerous former senior officials. Former FBI Director James Comey, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and others have roused his ire. In another tweet on Friday, Trump quoted an unspecified person on the morning's 'Fox & Friends' broadcast explaining the likely fallout from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's decision not to claim the president committed a crime. 'What happened is that Donald Trump won. Down goes Comey,' the quote read. President Trump said Friday that people who spied on his campaign committed treason and must be held accountable Treason 'means long jail sentences,' the president tweeted, but he didn't name any names Attorney General WilliamBarr has appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut John Durham to investigate whether the FBI's methods of collecting intelligence on Trump's 2016 campaign were legal A federal law defines treason as an action that 'levies war' against the United States 'or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere.' The crime is punishable by death, or by a jail sentence that's 'not less than five years.' Barr said the presence of an infamous 'anti-Trump 'dirty dossier' among the FBI's investigative documents gave him pause. 'Its a very unusual situation to have opposition research like that, especially one that on its face had a number of clear mistakes and a somewhat jejune analysis,' he said. 'And to use that to conduct counterintelligence against an American political campaign is a strange, would be strange development.' 'The answers Im getting arent sufficient,' Barr added. Attorney General William Barr has opened an investigation into how the Justice Department's broad Russia probe began, including the process through which the DOJ persuaded a judge in a secret federal court to grant surveillance warrants against then-Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page. Barr told Fox News on Thursday that his preliminary look isn't reassuring. Durham, the new spy-hunter, has previously served as a special prosecutor investigating allegations of impropriety by intelligence officials 'Ive been trying to get answers to the questions and I've found that a lot of the answers have been inadequate and some of the explanations I've gotten don't hang together,' Barr said. 'In a sense I have more questions today than when I first started.' 'People have to find out what the government was doing during that period,' he said. 'If we're worried about foreign influence, for the very same reason we should be worried about whether government officials abuse their power and put their thumb on the scale.' Barr emphasized that he hadn't yet drawn any conclusions. 'I'm not saying that happened but it's something we have to look at,' he said. Trump has long believed that Obama-era DOJ officials plotted to prevent his victory over Hillary Clinton, citing text messages from a former FBI agent and his FBI lawyer paramour. Peter Strzok and Lisa Page famously chatted that they would 'stop' Trump's ascent. They both worked on Special Counsel Robret Mueller's expansive investigation. Citing them and others, Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity in March that 'they wanted to do a subversion. It was treason. It was really treason.' 'If the Republican Party had done this to the Democrats, if we had done this to President Obama, you'd have 100 people in jail right now and it would be treason. It would be considered treason and they'd be in jail for the rest of their lives.' Trump has insisted that he didn't order Barr to take an investigative baton and run with it aggressively. 'I didn't ask him to do that,' Trump told reporters outside the White House before departing for Louisiana Tuesday morning. 'I didn't know it, but I think it's a great thing that he did it.' 'It was the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the people of this country,' Trump said of the Russia probes. 'And you know what, I am so proud of our attorney general that he is looking into it. I think it's great. I did not know about it, no.' Barr appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut John Durham to investigate the origins of the Russia probe. Durham will examine whether the FBI's methods of collecting intelligence on Trump's 2016 campaign, which ultimately led to the investigation, were legal. Previously, Durham served as a special prosecutor investigating improper behavior by intelligence officials. The attorney general signaled during a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee last month that he wanted to review the law enforcement agency's surveillance of the Trump campaign. He said 'spying did occur,' but clarified that it was not necessarily illegal spying. Trump and Republicans assert that the FBI used 'illegal' and irregular methods to obtain the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant, which allowed the agency to spy on Trump's campaign adviser Carter Page. A former lawyer at the FBI admitted that the agency relied heavily on the Steele Dossier, a document authored by former British spy Christopher Steele that Russians allegedly used to blackmail Trump, to obtain a FISA warrant to spy on Page. During the hearing, Barr said it was possible some of the elements of the dossier could be part of a disinformation campaign by Russia. If it is found that the FBI obtained the FISA warrant to spy on Trump's campaign illegally, it would bring into question the whole origins of the Russia probe. Barr was brought to testify before the committee in April following the release of a redacted-version of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia report. Initially, Barr issued a four-page summary of the 448-page report in late March, and later in mid-April gave Congress a version where 10 per cent was blacked out for various reasons. That version was made public. The report found that Trump, including those within his campaign and administration, had not conspired with the Russian government to influence the 2016 election. 'They want to look at how that whole hoax got started,' Trump said of the federal prosecutor's appointment. 'It was a hoax. And even Mueller not a friend of mine even Bob Mueller came out, 'no collusion.'' Trump has complained about a growing list of Obama-era Justice Department officials in the past, calling many of them 'traitors' and saying the Mueller probe was 'treasonous'; pictured, clockwise from top left, are former FBI Director James Comey, his former deputy Andrew McCabe, former FBI lawyer Lisa Page and former FBI senior agent Peter Strzok Even though the report found there was no collusion, it did outline 10 'episodes' where the president could have potentially attempted to obstruct justice throughout the investigation. Trump claims the report fully exonerated him from all crimes related to the Russia investigation, but Democrats feel there is enough evidence to begin impeachment proceedings on grounds of obstructing an ongoing investigation. Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee have subpoenaed Barr to produce the full, unredacted report, complete with grand jury testimony. When he refused, the committee said it would hold Barr in contempt of Congress. Despite the subpoena, Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure prohibit the attorney general from disclosing a matter that occurred before the grand jury. If he were to reveal this information to Congress, he could be held in contempt of court. Alan Tutin (pictured), 71, assaulted the victims at the Merrow Park Practice in Guildford between 1980 and 2004, where his wife was also a practitioner A GP who groped 15 female patients, including a child aged just 12, over a period of two decades, has been jailed for 10-and-a-half years. Alan Tutin, 71, assaulted the victims at the Merrow Park Practice in Guildford between 1980 and 2004, where his wife was also a practitioner. He sexually assaulted the patients 'under the guise of breast examinations or vaginal examinations' and the court heard he even squeezed a patient's breasts in a 'really immature Benny Hill way' as if they were 'a couple of melons'. Jailing him at the Old Bailey on Friday, Judge Nigel Peters QC said he 'violated patient's faith' and carried out unnecessary examinations 'to fuel his own sexual gratification.' He said: 'There cannot be a more serious abuse of trust that these courts have to deal with than that of a doctor and a patient.' A court heard he groped women during breast exams for totally unrelated conditions including a head cold and appendicitis. Tutin, of Tonbridge, Kent, was first accused of sex attacks against patients in 1999, leading to two trials at which he was cleared both times. He was later accused of sexual assault by another woman in 2003, but the General Medical Council opted to take no further action, instead sending him a warning letter about the need for chaperones during examinations with female patients. He sexually assaulted the patients 'under the guise of breast examinations or vaginal examinations' and the court heard he even squeezed a patient's breasts in a 'really immature Benny Hill way' as if they were 'a couple of melons' However another criminal investigation was launched in 2013 following several complaints and letters were sent to thousands of former patients at the practice asking about his conduct. Tutin was convicted of 15 counts of indecent assault against victims as young as 15 after a nine-week trial at the Old Bailey. He was cleared of a further seven charges at that trial, and then cleared of three more sex assault allegations at a retrial at Blackfriars Crown Court. Tutin was also struck off for abusing five patients for his own sexual gratification by the GMC in 2009. He strenuously denied the latest claims, insisting: 'I have always tried to do my best for patients throughout my career.' He strenuously denied the latest claims, insisting: 'I have always tried to do my best for patients throughout my career.' The case can now be reported after Judge Nigel Peters QC, lifted reporting restrictions following the latest verdicts at Blackfriars Crown Court. Tutin qualified as a doctor in 1974 and spent the next few years doing hospital jobs in general medicine. He then moved into general practice and after completing his year as a trainee GP, spent a year in a practice in Essex before joining the Merrow Park Practice in Guildford in 1980. He remained a partner there for over 25 years, initially as a junior, rising to become senior partner. Tutin was convicted of 15 counts of indecent assault against victims as young as 15 after a nine-week trial at the Old Bailey His wife Angela was also a GP there and they lived with their four children in Guildford. One of his victims was 17 when she went to see Tutin to be prescribed the pill between 1981 and 1983. She told jurors Tutin used both hands to rub her breasts during the 'uncomfortable, creepy, horrible' appointment. In 1984 or 85, an insurance company required a midwife at the practice to have a medical. Tutin used 'totally inappropriate language' when he told her to 'get her kit off' and commented on the size of her breasts. The midwife said she 'felt dirty and violated' and afterwards told two of her colleagues while she was in tears. Tutin worked at Merrow Park Practice, pictured, in Guildford, Surrey, between 1980 and late 2004 and committed the offences there Another woman described feeling 'mortified, embarrassed and ashamed' when the GP groped her while she was a teenager after going to see him for something innocuous like a wart on her foot. Tutin 'embarrassed' a 16-year-old girl who went to see him in 1994 when he appeared to be 'feeling her breasts' instead of checking for lumps as he claimed. Another woman told jurors Tutin cupped her breast when she was just 12 after asking her to remove her top when she came in to see him over a head cold. In 1995 or 1996 Tutin abused a 26-year-old woman during a vaginal exam while another 26-year-old woman told police how Tutin 'panted' as he groped her inside her bra for 'a good handful and a feel' of her breast before 'rubbing her vagina'. An air hostess in her mid-twenties reported how the 'smirking' doctor groped one of her breasts and appeared to be 'staring' at them during an appointment for a renewal of her contraceptive pill in 1999. Mr Tutin was sentenced to 10-and-a-half years in prison this Friday. A five-year-old boy with Autism has been abandoned by his mother at a KFC chain in a train station in China. The child was found sitting on his own while eating French Fries believed to be left over from other customers by staff at the fastfood chain. His mother, 28, claimed she could no longer afford to raise her son after her husband walked out on them three years ago, according to a note found by police in the boy's pocket. CCTV footage shows the mother taking the boy to the fastfood chain, seeing him walking into the dining area before turning away and leaving the restaurant in Hangzhou, China The boy, known as Le Le, was abandoned at the KFC chain at Hangzhou Train Station in the provincial capital of Zhejiang on Monday afternoon. His mother, known by her surname Ye, left the boy at the restaurant because 'at least he would have food to eat and be found easily', she told Hangzhou police. Surveillance footage of the incident has been released by China's Zhejiang News. The child (right) was found by staff at the canteen while eating French Fries believed to be left over by other customers, said police. His mother (left) has been taken into police custody A handout from Hangzhou police shows the mother in a subway station after leaving her son The clip shows the woman bringing the boy to a dining area upstairs. She stood with the boy by the stairs for a few moments. The boy then walked into the dining area. Seeing the child had left, the mother walked downstairs in the other direction. Police said in an online statement that staff at KFC called them after noticing the boy had sitting by himself for a long time. Officers said they tried to ask the boy questions about himself, but he would not answer. Eventually they found a note in one of his pockets. The woman has admitted to the abandonment after police found her at her home Wednesday According to the note left by Ye, the boy has autism. She claims she has run into massive debts in order to pay for the boy's therapy. The note says she is forced to desert her son after feeling exhausted physically and mentally from bringing up the boy alone. It also says Ye came to the decision after discovering that orphanages in China would only take in abandoned children, not those taken to them by the family. The mother accuses that her husband had never shouldered the responsibility of raising their child and disappeared without a trace in 2016. The couple have divorced. The boy was left at the Hangzhou Train Station (pictured), one of the busiest hubs in China The mother said she left the boy at a KFC chain (file photo) because 'at least he would have food to eat and be found easily'. She put a note in one of the boy's pockets before leaving him She says she earns about 3,000 yuan (340) a month working as a customer service representative at an online shop; while the daycare fee for her son costs 2,000 yuan (227) a month. In addition, she has to pay for the expensive therapy bills for the boy. It's understood that the boy has non-verbal autism. Police said the child would not speak to them despite the fact that they had tried to ask him for his name and home address for hours. Non-verbal autism is not an official medical diagnosis, but usually refers to the approximate one-third of sufferers who never learn to speak more than a few words. Around one in 68 children in the US are on the autism spectrum. The condition affects approximately 695,000 people in the UK. The Chinese healthcare system does not cover the cost of any therapy for citizens suffering from Autism. The general understanding of the condition is little. Hangzhou police released the boy's information and a picture of him on social media on Tuesday, hoping the public could help them find the mother. They then located her and visited her in her home on Wednesday night. The woman claimed she could no longer afford to raise her son who has Autism (file photo) Officers informed her that her behaviour had broken the law and could lead to imprisonment. The mother cried and admitted to the abandonment. She told police: 'I thought about it for a long time and this was the only way for both of us to survive. If I lose my job, we will end up starving to death.' She said she was willing to be punished by law. Police are still investigating the case. The boy is being looked after by Hangzhou Children's Welfare Institute. Ye has been taken into police custody, but it remains unclear if the mother will face any formal charges. Under the Chinese criminal law, any parents who desert their children can be imprisoned for up to five years. However in reality few of them are given punishment by the police due to a lack of law enforcement. Zhi Min Chen, 44, was arrested last year by police investigating the death of 21-year-old Tracy Wylde A fast food shop owner who choked a young mother to death and evaded justice for more than two decades has been jailed for at least 20 years after police linked his DNA to the murder. Zhi Min Chen, 44, was arrested last year by police investigating the death of 21-year-old Tracy Wylde, who was found dead in her in Barmulloch, Glasgow flat in November 1997. He pleaded guilty at the city's High Court in April and was today sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 20 years. Lord Arthurson branded the killing 'brutal and cowardly', telling Chen: 'You should be under no illusions concerning the damage and trauma you murderous attack has caused down the decades and beyond to her family. 'You...proceeded to enjoy the prime years of your adult life in undetected freedom including establishing a family and a business during those years. 'You committed a brutal, cowardly and murderous attack on a vulnerable young woman in her own home.' The court heard Chen had met Ms Wylde at her flat before a row broke out between them. A large scale manhunt to catch the killer - initially lasting two and a half years - proved fruitless, and Chinese-born Chen continued to live in Glasgow, getting married and also setting up a takeaway restaurant. Chen pleaded guilty at the High Court in Glasgow in April and was today sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 20 years (pictured: An image of Ms Wylde, who was choked to death in 1997) Chen pleaded guilty at the High Court in Glasgow in April and was today sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 20 years (pictured: The family of Tracey Wylde outside the High Court Glasgow) A cold case review in 2013 did not yield results, but police had a breakthrough last summer after Chen was held for an alleged assault in Glasgow's Cowcaddens. His DNA matched samples found at the scene at time. Father-of-two Chen was today jailed for life at the High Court in Glasgow having earlier admitted a murder charge. Chen kept his head bowed as he sat in the dock throughout the hearing, refusing to look at members of Ms Wylde's traumatised family as he was lead to the cells. How police caught Zhi Min Chen more than 20 years after the murder DNA from an unknown man was found on Ms Wylde's body and clothes as well as a number of fingerprints in the area, following her death in November 1997. But no suspect was found before the investigation was closed. In 2013, police then carried out a thorough review of unsolved cases including Tracy's killing. Prosecutor Steven Borthwick said no progress was made at that time. It was then in July 2018 that Zhi Min Chen was held for two alleged assaults. Mr Borthwick said: 'His fingerprints were found as being a match with the unidentified fingerprints from the murder scene.' Chen was quizzed - but initially denied any involvement in the killing. Advertisement The court earlier heard Ms Wylde had gone into Glasgow city centre on November 23 1997 and was last spotted on CCTV around 3.20am the next morning in the city's red-light area. Prosecutor Steven Borthwick said it was about 4.40am when neighbour Mary McAnemy heard arguing in Ms Wylde's flat. Mr Borthwick said: 'She could not make out what was being said and could only hearing mumbling voices.' But the neighbour was then alerted to Ms Wylde yelling for Mary's mother. The prosecutor said: 'The argument culminated in Tracy shouting: "Sadie, Sadie". 'Mary went to investigate...but she could not see into Tracy's flat. 'She continued to listen, but could not hear anything further.' The last thing Mary heard was Ms Wylde's door being slammed shut and keys being rattled. Friends of Tracy visited that day, but got no reply. The alarm was raised when the mother then failed to show for an appointment at a support group. A worker from the group appeared at Tracy's flat and noticed a balcony door was left open. The woman then spoke to Mary McAnemy, who managed to get into Tracy's home. They then made the grim discovery of her body. Mr Borthwick said: 'She was lying on her back with a dressing gown over her body. 'She was observed to be fully dressed...there were marks and bruising around Tracy's neck.' Father-of-two Chen was today jailed for life at the High Court in Glasgow having earlier admitted a murder charge (pictured: The family of Tracey Wylde outside the High Court Glasgow) File CCTV image of Tracy Wylde with Zhi Min Chen on the night of her murder in 1997 The cause of death was found to be 'manual strangulation'. The court heard the initial police probe lasted more than two years. Chen had arrived in Scotland illegally in the mid-1990s fearing human traffickers in his homeland, the court was told. Donald Findlay QC, defending, said the killer initially had a 'lonely and solitary' life in the country. Mr Findlay said: 'He was fearful for a number of reasons - not only an arrest and a return to China - but there police are not seen as agents of good.' Chen choked Ms Wylde, fled the scene and went on to live 'an ordinary life'. Lord Arthurson told the killer he had caused decades of damage and trauma to Ms Wylde's relatives - not least her daughter who was three years old when her mother was murdered - while going on to enjoy a family life himself. Following his guilty plea, police said Ms Wylde's family had 'never lost faith' that her killer would be brought to justice. Detective Inspector Gordon MacKenzie said previously: 'It is a real shame that Tracy's mother Fay, who died a couple of years ago, is not here to see her daughter's killer held accountable. 'The conclusion of this case sends an important message regarding Police Scotland's commitment to unresolved murders. 'These cases will always be a key priority and our specialist detectives will continue to use the latest advances in technology and any new information which comes to light to provide answers for the families of victims and bring their killers to justice.' A predominantly white Houston high school has cancelled the remaining day of its spirit week after receiving flack for hosting a 'thug day' for rising senior week. Approximately 30 students at Memorial High School in Hedwig Village dressed as 'thugs' for the special day by wearing chains, jerseys, sported fake tattoos and even put their hair in cornrows. As of 2017, the school is said to be 66% white with just 2% of students identifying as black. 'Memorial High School's 'thug' day for rising senior spirit week... yes this ACTUALLY happened TODAY at an actual high school but y'all keep saying 'racism isnt a problem anymore'... right alright,' said a woman who initially shared photos of the day. Approximately 30 students at Memorial High School in Hedwig Village dressed as 'thugs' for the special day, prompting the Houston school to cancel the remaining spirit days 'Memorial High School's 'thug' day for rising senior spirit week... yes this ACTUALLY happened TODAY at an actual high school but y'all keep saying 'racism isnt a problem anymore'... right alright,' said a woman who initially shared photos of the day Her post has been shared almost 17,000 times and has brought a series of comments from previous students sharing that the school has a history of insensitive days Her post has been shared almost 17,000 times and has brought a series of comments from previous students sharing that the school has a history of insensitive days. The same initial poster shared images from 2015 that show that the theme has been carried out for a few years The same initial poster shared images from 2015 that show that the theme has been carried out for a few years. A former student then shared that her peers raised concerns about the 'mean spirited' days in 2016 but that admin failed to act. The alum also noted criticism for another theme - called 'fiesta day' - also fell on deaf ears. 'This has been an issue that admin hasn't said anything about for at least 4 years. It was only when the racism caught attention outside of SBISD this year did Lisa Weir cancel the theme,' said the user. 'She doesn't care about students of color that confronted her 4 years ago abt 'fiesta day'.' Alum Paige Moskowitz shared that the school even hosted a 'Seniorita' day. Alum Paige Moskowitz shared that the school even hosted a 'Seniorita' day Another former student shared: 'And this is why my senior year was my worst year of high school. Memorial high school-- do better. When I transferred to your school RACISM and CLASSISM was the biggest issue and I see you've done nothing about it! And probably never will!' A former student then shared that her peers raised concerns about the 'mean spirited' days in 2016 but that admin failed to act 'Still on the topic of memorial high school theme days bc it's absolutely awful - my year there was a 'senoritas' day when people literally pretended to be border control & brought a lawn mower to school & asked people in exaggerated accents if they wanted their lawns mowed,' she added. Another former student shared: 'And this is why my senior year was my worst year of high school. Memorial high school-- do better. When I transferred to your school RACISM and CLASSISM was the biggest issue and I see you've done nothing about it! And probably never will! Monica Day, a former student at the school, stated that the thug day was referred to as 'senior swag day' when she was a student at the school. A group of students - now alums - pose for a photo and can be seen wearing bandannas with their getup Monica Day, a former student at the school, stated that the thug day was referred to as 'senior swag day' when she was a student at the school She also said that secret flyers for the day would also be shared by students at the school, KHOU reports. One student at the school shared that students who saw the posts on Snapchat had issues with the theme. 'I saw a lot of people from other schools reposting this and talking about how inappropriate it is,' she said. Administrators at the school sent a statement home to parents and admitted that they had approved the day. Administrators at the school sent a statement home to parents and admitted that they had approved the day 'Memorial High School has a longstanding tradition for its rising juniors to have special dress days during the week before finals to celebrate the fact that this student class will soon be seniors,' they said in the statement. 'MHS junior class officers worked together with students and administrators to create approved Monday-Friday dress-up themes: Hippie, Jersey, 2000s, USA/America, Hawaiian. 'On Tuesday, some rising juniors wore inappropriate dress and body/hair decorations as part of an alternative, unapproved response to the theme day. As a shared expectation about the theme was clearly violated, MHS has cancelled all remaining dress theme days for the remainder of this week. 'While the majority of rising juniors followed the approved dress theme on Tuesday, any instance of an inappropriate or offensive dress violation will not be tolerated. Students found to be in violation of the Student Code of Conduct and dress code will be given a consequence. 'MHS is focused today on preparing all students for finals and ending the school year well.' A teenager who admitted he 'couldn't control himself' in a 000 call after stabbing two students and a teacher during roll call has been sentenced to four years in jail. The 18-year-old, who was underage at the time, walked into the classroom at Bonnyrigg High School, in Sydney's west, on February 2, 2017, with weapons in his schoolbag. Students filled into the room and the teenager, who cannot be named, approached science teacher Carolyn Cox and stabbed her in the back with a kitchen knife. Ms Cox, who suffered a fractured rib and injury to the lung, collapsed to the ground and felt a wetness at the point of impact, Sydney Morning Herald reported. A teenager who admitted he 'couldn't control himself' in a 000 call after stabbing two students and a teacher during roll call has been sentenced to four years in jail Two students - a boy and girl, aged 16 and 15, were also stabbed by the teenager during the frenzied attack. A third student was then approached by the knife-wielding teenager but was able to jump out of the way. The teenager left the scene and waited in a nearby car park to be arrested. Judge Donna Woodburne told the court on Thursday the teenager called 000 when police did not show up for him. The teenager told the operator he stabbed three people and said: 'I'm scared that I'll do it again, I can't control myself.' 'I don't know what I've done, I don't know what I've done. Please help me ... I don't want anyone else to die.' The 18-year-old, who was underage at the time, walked the classroom at Bonnyrigg High School, in Sydney's west, on February 2, 2017, with weapons in his schoolbag Judge Woodburne said the large and 'fearsome-looking' knife was only one weapon the teenager packed in his bag that day. He also carried a box cutter, a pair of scissors, two screwdrivers and a meat cleaver. Judge Woodburne said the teenager formed the plan to stab someone the night earlier. 'I'm satisfied that your plan was to stab a teacher, and others that might be present, with a view to being expelled from your school and not ever having to return,' she said Woodburne said. Judge Woodburne said Ms Cox was stabbed because it was the teenager's first opportunity to commit the planned act of violence, rather than having an issue with the teacher. Students filled into the room and the teenager, who cannot be named, approached science teacher Carolyn Cox (pictured) and stabbed her in the back with a kitchen knife Judge Woodburne said the large and 'fearsome-looking' knife was only one weapon the teenager packed in his bag that day (pictured is a policeman inspecting a meat cleaver found in the student's bag) The teenager pleaded guilty to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and wounding while being reckless to causing actual bodily harm. In sentencing, the use of an offensive weapon to commit an indictable offence was taken into consideration. The teenager completed his HSC in custody and has since begun studying a university course. He said he was 'deeply sorry' for the attack in a letter to the court. Judge Woodburne sentenced him to four years behind bars, with a maximum penalty of six years and nine months. The teenager, who will serve his time in juvenile detention, will be eligible for parole in February 2021. Jason Smith, 48, of Arizona, has been charged with kidnapping and aggravated assault for allegedly keeping a woman in a se dungeon and beating her An Arizona woman who previously claimed to have been locked in a sex dungeon for three months and tortured with a shock collar and a whip by her accountant boyfriend, leading to his arrest, has now recanted her allegations and come out strongly in his defense. Jason Smith, 48, of Scottsdale, was taken into custody and charged with assault and kidnapping charges after his alleged victim escaped from his home on May 5 and went to the police, accusing him of abuse. The victim has walked backed some of her statements and told a local news outlet 'I love him to death', but there is no indication the charges against him will be dropped. According to court documents made public this week, Smith, a former certified public accountant, met the unnamed woman on a dating app called either SeekingArrangement.com or Secretbenefits.com earlier this year, reported AZCentral. The woman told investigators that Smith made her aware that he was leading an alternative lifestyle that he described as '50 Shades of Grey with a twist,' which she said did not bother her. After they spoke online, the pair met up in person several times and soon began a sexual relationship, which she characterized as 'very normal' and not concerning. According to the records, the woman was homeless at the time, so she agreed when Smith asked her to move in. The woman said she knew that he had converted the main living space, which he called 'the great room,' into a BDSM-style sex dungeon, complete with implements of torture including a guillotine-like frame, metal rack, chains and whips. At first, the victim said nothing seemed abnormal, but after a few days Smith allegedly required her to sign a 'contract' with him, which listed all the things he wanted her to do in return for her living at his home. Scroll down for video The alleged victim (pictured from the back) has since changed her story and come to Smith's defense, saying, 'I love him to death' Smith had built a sex dungeon, complete with torture implements, in the living room of his Scottsdale, Arizona, home (pictured) Under the terms of the agreement, Smith was allowed 'to use as much force as he wanted ' against the woman. She had to refer to herself as 'the slave' and to Smith as 'master.' The contract included provisions that required the woman to sleep in a cage, and barred her from holding down a job, having money, or using personal electronic devices without her masters permission. Smith also insisted that they have no 'safe words' in their dominant-submissive relationship. A safe word refers to a pre-arranged and agreed upon term that signals the end of a sexual activity in the BDSM community. According to the court documents, the woman initially refused to sign the contract, but ultimately relented because she had nowhere to go. She described how Smith insisted that she be naked at home and beat her if she disobeyed him. On one occasion, on March 3, the woman said Smith pretended like he was going to give her a shoulder rub, but instead grabbed her by the hair and dragged her through the bedroom to the sex dungeon, where, according to a probable cause statement, he proceeded to place a shock collar around her neck. He then tied her to the guillotine-like frame, restrained her arms and proceeded to shock her. He made his initial court appearance on Thursday, during which prosecutors said he had been arrested in the 1990s under similar circumstances The woman repeatedly uttered her safe word, 'purple,' to which Smith allegedly replied, F*** your safe words. The victim struggled so hard against the restrains that she allegedly broke one of her wrists. According to the papers, Smith then shocked the woman and proceeded to strike her 50 times with a bull whip as he continued to shock her. When he grew tired of beating the woman, according to the statement, Smith threw her into the metal cage. The victim said Smith would switch from sweet to intolerable without warning, but noted that he never raped her, and then whenever they had sex, it was consensual and non-violent, reported Fox10. After going through several bad experiences with Smith and giving up on the idea of building a relationship with him, the woman said she decided to flee,. She managed to escape on the night of May 5 after gaining access to her phone and calling the daughter of Smiths business partner. Three days later, police came to arrest Smith and found the victim back with him. He was booked into the Maricopa County Jail on charges of aggravated assault and kidnapping. He has since been freed after posting $250,000 and ordered to wear an ankle monitor and have no contact with the victim. Over the past week, the victim has dramatically changed her story. In an interview with Fox10, she defended Smith, whom she called her 'boyfriend. She accused police of making Smith out to be a dirt bag' and mischaracterizing their unconventional relationship. If I was bound and gagged and I was a prisoner and this was the seventh circle of hell for me, why am I here? she asked rhetorically while sitting in Smiths house. The woman sent a letter to the court, saying she does not want Smith to be prosecuted. She said she threw out all of him bondage instruments since his arrest. I love him to death, she told AZFamily.com of Smith. During his initial court appearance on Thursday, prosecutors told a judge that Smith had been arrested in the 1990s under similar circumstances. Public records indicate that Smith was a certified public accountant in California who lost his license in 2015 for professional misconduct, which included fraud. Alfred Purcell, 57, was arrested Thursday after he was caught planting ammunition at Southbridge High School in Massachusetts A biology teacher in Massachusetts has been arrested after he was caught on camera planting live ammunition in a stairwell at his high school. Surveillance footage captured Alfred Purcell, 57, removing the 9mm bullet from the pocket of his pants at Southbridge High School on Thursday morning before he dropped it on the floor and quickly left the scene. He returned to the area 10 minutes later and pretended to discover the ammunition, before alerting administrators and sending the school into lockdown. After reviewing the surveillance footage, police took Purcell into custody where he reportedly told them he planted the bullet it in order to prove 'the school needed metal detectors'. Purcell has been charged with two counts of the unlawful possession of ammunition, two counts of carrying ammunition on school grounds, disturbing a school assembly, disorderly conduct, and disturbing the peace. Purcell was captured on surveillance camera peering over the stairwell to make sure nobody was coming, before he dropped the 9mm bullet and walked off Southwell High School (pictured) was sent into lockdown following the incident Officers also discovered 102 live rounds of shotgun ammunition in the trunk of Purcell's car. They later learned his license to carry a firearm was expired in his home state of Connecticut. Following the incident, Chief Shane Woodson of the Southbridge Police Department stated: 'There were no kids that were injured, nobody was seriously impacted by this other than that we went into a lockdown for an hour and we had to investigate a teacher who was doing things he shouldn't be doing'. Meanwhile, Southbridge High School superintendent Jeffrey Purcell stated: 'This individual acted in a disgusting manner. I feel very badly for our students because it is an adult who failed them'. Purcell has been ordered to stay away from Southbridge High campus. He had been told prior to Thursday's incident that his contract at the school would not be renewed, according to WCVB. The long-time teacher was released on a $500 cash bail following his arraignment. Thousands of students across Australia will resit their NAPLAN exam after it was plagued by glitches as the test moved online - but it's optional. Affected students who could not log in to take the test or lost online connection in the middle of their test can re-sit the exam on Tuesday, May 28. Students who do not want to take the test again do not have to, leading Chris Presland, president of the Secondary Principals Council in NSW, to label the exam 'a farce'. Mr Presland told the Sydney Morning Herald there were no guarantees the debacle wouldn't happen during a second round of testing, meaning students could endure double the stress for still no result. 'We are at the stage where the entire process has become polluted,' he said. 'It's just a farce.' Those who retake the test will have their second test result recorded instead of their first for NAPLAN 2019. Affected students who could not log in to take the test or lost online connection (pictured) in the middle of their test can re-sit the exam on Tuesday, May 28 Technical hiccups 'may have caused distress to students' according to Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), which runs the exam. 'Schools have worked hard to prepare for NAPLAN Online, so it is important to ensure that all students have a fair opportunity to demonstrate what they know and can do in NAPLAN,' the ACARA said in a statement. The glitches affected students taking the first lot of tests on Tuesday. The ACARA said the cause of connectivity issues is still being investigated. Over 1.5 million tests were submitted by the end of the first week of online testing. Those who retake the test will have their second test result recorded instead of their first for NAPLAN 2019 (stock image) Some states are considering a return to pencil and paper after the hampered roll out. 'It simply isn't good enough that some students have been unfairly disadvantaged by the incompetence of federal authorities,' Victorian Education Minister James Merlino said on Wednesday. 'Despite states and territories raising numerous concerns about the test - the federal Liberal government and ACARA have created this chaos.' Outages also affected students in Western Australia according to the state's education director general Lisa Rodgers. 'These are very big issues and we're getting the calls from schools in terms of support in regards to access to the tests,' she said. Australian Education Union president Correna Haythorpe said on Wednesday the worst affected states were South Australia and Victoria. 'It is clearer than ever NAPLAN is in no way fit for purpose and that the farcical move to NAPLAN online has been hasty and ill-conceived,' Ms Haythorpe said in a statement. 'After last year's debacle with the delivery of NAPLAN online, Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan had the opportunity to institute a full review of NAPLAN. However he failed to do so.' The ACARA said the cause of connectivity issues is still being investigated. Over 1.5 million tests were submitted by the end of the first week of online testing (stock image) But Mr Tehan said more than 350,000 online tests were successfully submitted on Tuesday and every state and territory agreed to the transition in 2014. 'There are procedures in place to manage issues and tests can be paused, resumed and rescheduled so that all students have the opportunity to complete NAPLAN testing,' he said. 'Online delivery of NAPLAN brings significant benefits including better and more precise assessment.' Schools and students participating in the online test can switch to paper tests if needed. NAPLAN results for each school are published on the My School website, that helps parents and educators assess the performance of schools. Former Senator Randy Schoonover, 65, says deputies used excessive force, subjected him to cruel and unusual punishment A one-armed man whose wrist was handcuffed to his ankle has filed a federal lawsuit against the sheriff's department in Clay County, West Virginia. Former state Sen. Randy Schoonover says deputies used excessive force, subjected him to cruel and unusual punishment, and never told him why he was approached or what he was charged with. Schoonover, 65, said he was unreasonably arrested by deputies Morris and Holcomb, while he was at his brother's home in September 2018. He had gone to the house to get a ride to hospital after experiencing chest pains but after finding his son wasn't at home. Schoonover was walking up his brother's driveway when Morris drove up in his sheriff's vehicle and turned on the lights. The officer asked for Schoonover's license and registration which he did not have on him. Morris allowed Schoonover to enter his brother's home to take an aspirin. Schoonover ended up calling Clay County Magistrate Jeff Boggs 'to ask him to stay after 4 p.m. in the event he would be brought in front of him,' Atkinson said in the lawsuit. Former State Senator Randy Schoonover is pictured being taken into custody yesterday by Clay Sheriff Andy Holcomb in 2009 When Schoonover went back outside, he told Morris that he had spoken to Boggs after he was asked who he had been talking to. 'Then, Deputy Morris told the plaintiff that he would have to arrest him because he called Magistrate Boggs,' Atkinson said. Holcomb took Schoonover into custody by cuffing his right wrist to his right ankle, and he placed Schoonover into Morris' vehicle. Schoonover became addicted to painkillers after losing his arm in an ATV accident. In May 2004, his left arm was amputated after he crashedan ATV, which pinned his arm beneath it. Schoonover ended up being trapped by the wrecked vehicle for a day before emergency responders found him. He ended up becoming addicted to prescription painkillers, and he eventually was sentenced to six months in a recovery center Schoonover was previously arrested by Clay Sheriff Andy Holcomb in 2009 as reported in the HubHerald. The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that Schoonover's lawyer filed a second lawsuit Thursday in an unrelated case against one of the same deputies. In that suit, Rita Kaye Taylor says Jonathan Holcomb and another deputy, Michael Patrick Morris, searched her home even though she never gave them consent and repeatedly asked for search warrants. Both lawsuits seek punitive damages. ISIS plotted to use WIFI to remotely detonate backpacks full of explosives, as Indonesian police say they have rounded up dozens of skilled bomb-makers. Indonesian police said Friday that they have arrested Islamic-State linked terror suspects, including some who planned to detonate bombs at political demonstrations when election results are announced next week. Police said militants wanted to take advantage of any political unrest to spark chaos by using use WiFi to remotely detonate bomb-filled backpacks at crowded demonstrations. 'So we're urging the public not to go out on the streets on May 22 because it could be dangerous as they (the suspects) wanted to attack crowds and police officers,' a police spokesman told reporters in the capital Jakarta. Suspected militants are escorted by anti-terror police officers shortly before a press conference at the police headquarter in Jakarta on Friday Indonesian national police spokesman M. Iqbal (centre) shows the evidence including bomb-making materials and ammunition seized in the arrest of suspected militants during a press conference Suspected militants are escorted by armed forces during the press conference after the police revealed the suspects' plans for carnage during the election results next week Some 29 suspects were rounded up this month alone, with 60 in all detained since the start of the year in raids across the Southeast Asian nation, they said. Eight other suspects had been killed in confrontations with authorities, police said, including the wife of a militant who blew up herself and a child following a dramatic standoff at their home in March. Some arrested suspects were skilled bomb makers and had fought alongside the jihadist group in Syria, as well as members of local extremist network Jemaah Anshurat Daulah (JAD), police said. JAD has pledged allegiance to IS and was blamed for a wave of suicide bombings at churches in Indonesia's second-biggest city Surabaya last year. The world's biggest Muslim majority nation has seen a string of attacks by Islamist militants since the 2002 Bali bombings, which killed more than 200 people, including scores of tourists. National police spokesman Muhammad Iqbal on Friday described the latest arrests as a 'preventative strike' before the official announcement of Indonesian elections, which were held on April 17. There are concerns about street demonstrations after presidential challenger Prabowo Subianto, a retired military general, warned that protests could erupt over his claims of massive electoral fraud. Indonesian Special Detachment 88 anti-terror police unit escorting terror suspects on Friday The suspects were taken to the press conference with hoods on and handcuffs as the police announced they were aware of a plot to target the populace with bombs using WiFi National police spokesman Brig. Gen. Muhammad Iqbal (centre) holds evidence as ammunition, explosive-making materials and other evidence were confiscated from suspected militants Subianto has vowed not to recognise next week's results if they hand a re-election victory to president Joko Widodo, who has a lead of about 12 percentage points, according to unofficial polls. Some 32,000 security personnel are expected to fan out across the capital next week, including in front of the General Elections Commission. Subianto has attacked the Commission over allegations it was complicit in widespread electoral fraud. Theresa May today launched the Tory EU election campaign in a near-empty room by blasting Nigel Farage before she appeared to fluff her lines when promising to leave the EU. In an extraordinary moment Mrs May began to say the Conservatives 'will' deliver Brexit - but stumbled and stopped herself - and then said 'can' instead - as her despairing MEP candidates watched on. It came Tory support ahead of the EU elections collapsed into single figures today as a YouGov poll predicted the party would get just nine per cent of the votes on Thursday - 26 points behind the Brexit Party. Taking aim at Mr Farage she said: 'Nigel Farage can't deliver Brexit: every few years he pops up, he shouts from the sidelines, he doesn't work constructively in the national interest'. Mrs May is out campaigning for the European elections in Bristol today with her party tanking and is now weeks from exiting office with up to 20 Tory MPs vying for her job. She said: 'The Conservative Party didn't want to be fighting these. We wanted to be out of the European Union. Indeed if Parliament had backed our Brexit deal we could already have left the EU, but we're a national party, we fight national elections'. Yesterday Tory MPs forced Mrs May to confirm she will announce her resignation with a bloodbath predicted next Thursday because of her failure to deliver Brexit. At the same time former foreign secretary Boris Johnson declared that he wants to succeed her as Prime Minister, but shocked his advisers by doing it earlier than expected. Conservative MEP candidates Faye Purbrick, Ashley Fox, Claire Hiscott and Emmeline Owens all look serious as Prime Minister Theresa May launched the Tory campaign in Bristol Mrs May began to say the Conservatives 'will' deliver Brexit - but stumbled and stopped herself - and said 'can' Mrs May is campaigning for the European elections in Bristol today (pictured) as the Brexit Party raced ahead and took aim at Nigel Farage Tory support is leaking away ahead of the EU elections with the party now in fifth place, miles behind the Brexit Party Boris Johnson (pictured today) has formally declared that he wants to succeed Theresa May as Prime Minister Minister warns Tories it would be 'madness' to 'try to out-Farage Farage' in swing to right International Development Secretary Rory Stewart said that the party needed to be more 'radical' but do it in the centre ground. A new Cabinet minister and leadership challenger has warned the Tories it would be 'madness' for the party to 'try to out-Farage Farage'. International Development Secretary Rory Stewart said that the party needed to be more 'radical' but do it in the centre ground of politics if it wants to be successful in the future. The former prisons minister, who was promoted earlier this month, was reacting to new figures showing the ages of people voting for different parties. The polling by YouGov showed that support for Nigel Farage's Brexit Party was concentrated voters aged 55 and over. At the same time support for Labour and Remain-supporting parties was concentrated in those aged between 18 and 40. Cumbrian MP Mr Stewart retweeted the findings, saying: 'These terrifying statistics show again why it would be madness for the Conservative party to try to out-Farage Farage...the only answer is to be far more radical in the centre ground.' The minister surprised Westminster by openly admitting he would like to be prime minister days after being appointed by Theresa May. Advertisement Today's latest opinion poll also delivers bad news for Labour, with Jeremy Corbyn's party getting 15 per cent and being overtaken by the Liberal Democrats, who are polling at 16 per cent. The Greens are on 10 per cent followed by Change UK on five per cent and UKIP on three per cent. Boris Johnson told a British Insurance Brokers' Association conference in Manchester yesterday that 'of course' he was 'going for it'. He said: 'We've failed over the past three years to put forward a convincing narrative about how we exploit the opportunities of Brexit. All I can say, as tactfully and usefully as I can, is that I have a boundless appetite to try to get it right, and to help the country to get on the right path'. But he fled for a cab afterwards and refused to answer questions from chasing reporters. Mr Johnson has already met 200 Conservative MPs during a lengthy charm offensive to get him on the Tory leadership ballot, it emerged last night. He has warned them that the party faces an 'existential' crisis and that only he can save them from both Nigel Farage and Jeremy Corbyn. Yesterday the former foreign secretary formally declared that he wants to succeed Theresa May as Prime Minister. But his campaign for the top job has been in full swing for months. Sources say he has hosted around 200 MPs, over half the Parliamentary party, in an attempt to rally them to his cause. MPs have been meeting him in 15-minute slots in his fourth-floor office in Portcullis House. A whiteboard on the wall lists all the slots for the day. While other candidates have been parading their credentials with media appearances, Mr Johnson has barely been seen in public while he focuses on winning over MPs. Tory support has plummeted to just 25 per cent - the lowest for 17 years - according to the Ipsos MORI survey for the Standard Before the leadership vote is put to the Tory membership, Mr Johnson must first reach the final two after a secret ballot of MPs meaning he must win his colleagues over to succeed. After David Cameron quit in 2016, Mr Johnson was a strong favourite to succeed him but pulled out after his Brexiteer colleague Michael Gove withdrew support at the last minute. May vote plan sets up explosive few days for UK politics in June MPs will get a vote on the Withdrawal Agreement Bill in the first week of June, setting up a busy few days for the Government. The legislation will be tables in the week beginning June 3, which is also when US president Donald Trump and his wife Melania visit the UK. They will be in the country from Monday June 3 to Wednesday June 5. On Thursday June 6, a by-election will be held in Peterborough to find a replacement for MP Fiona Onasanya, who lost her seat through a recall petition after serving time in prison for lying about a speeding offence. There are also due to be a host of events to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day the same day. Advertisement MPs who have met Mr Johnson in recent weeks say his new pitch is a simple one. 'He says the Tory Party is in an existential crisis,' said one. 'He says he can see off Farage and beat Corbyn in any election when it comes.' Since resigning as Foreign Secretary over Mrs May's Chequers deal last July Mr Johnson has also lost weight and got a more conventional haircut. His second marriage of 25 years ended last summer but he is happily living with his new girlfriend, Carrie Symonds. Mr Johnson is deeply unpopular within the Scottish Conservatives, with some senior figures plotting a 'Stop Boris' campaign. They fear the party's revival in Scotland could grind to a halt if he succeeds Mrs May. Ruth Davidson also plans to take a central role in the leadership contest and intends to rate candidates on whether or not they will bring the UK back together after Brexit. Mr Johnson last week praised the Scottish Tory leader, saying it was because of her that the party prevented the 'calamity' of a Labour-led government. But she said recently: 'Fair to say, it would be unlikely that I would be his campaign manager'. As the Brexit carnage poured down on Labour and the Conservatives, new YouGov revealed that the public like Nigel Farage more than the two main party leaders. Theresa May's net favourability score has slumped from -39 in late March to a new all-time low of -49. But her main rival Jeremy Corbyn is still liked less at -50, marginally better than his score of -53 in March, which was itself his own all-time low. May and Corbyn's scores make the two party leaders less popular than Nigel Farage with the Brexit Party leader having a net favourability score of -39. The least unpopular party leader is Change UK's Heidi Allen, with a net favourability score of -11. Lib Dem Sir Vince Cable sits on -18. The Brexit Party led by Nigel Farage (pictured campaigning in Brentwood) is leading the polls for the European elections, which are being held next week May May last night bowed to Conservative demands to agree a timetable that will see her quit before the end of July. Following a 'tense' and 'frank' 90-minute meeting between the Prime Minister and senior Tories, sources said Mrs May had agreed to resign in time for the party to elect a new leader for its September conference. The decision paves the way for a Tory leadership contest to begin in earnest. Mrs May resisted pressure to name a date for her departure yesterday, arguing it would undermine her fragile authority still further as she prepares for a fourth and final attempt to pass her Brexit deal next month. But sources said she was 'realistic' about the party's demand for fresh leadership. In a statement agreed with No 10, Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, said Mrs May was 'determined to secure our departure from the EU' and devoting her efforts in the coming days to passing her Brexit deal, which will be voted on by MPs in the week beginning June 3. He added: 'We have agreed that she and I will meet following the second reading of the bill to agree a timetable for the election of a new leader.' Sir Graham said discussions in Mrs May's Commons office had been 'very frank'. Some committee members urged Mrs May to quit immediately and told her they were willing to change the party's rulebook to force her out. Speaking ahead of the meeting, Bob Blackman, the committee's executive secretary, said: 'If she doesn't give us a clear timetable, it will be set for her.' Mr Blackman later said he was 'satisfied' with the outcome. Others, including Sir Graham, urged her to bow out with 'dignity' in the coming weeks rather than force them to mount a coup. A committee source last night told the Mail that Mrs May would step down by the end of July. 'That is the backstop date,' the source said. 'The mood on the committee was for her to go much more quickly. 'It was a tense meeting difficult at times because she doesn't want to go. But she has accepted she is going to have to step down this summer so that we have a new leader in place by September.' Another member of the committee said Mrs May was 'incredibly frustrated' at the prospect of stepping down without having delivered Brexit. But sources denied reports that she had been close to tears. Mrs May told members the party risked choosing the wrong leader if she was forced out before Britain's departure. An ally said: 'She told them it would be a much better contest if you have got the first stage of Brexit out of the way because then you can look to the future. If we are out, you can look at how you renew the party in office to take on Jeremy Corbyn, you can talk about things that are not Brexit and have a proper debate about where the party should be going.' Tory activists last night warned they would press ahead with a no-confidence motion at an extraordinary meeting of the party's National Convention on June 15 unless Mrs May has announced her resignation by then. Dinah Glover, chairman of London East Area Conservatives, said the leadership contest 'needs to start straight away, with the PM stepping down immediately'. Downing Street said Mrs May was now focused on trying to pass the withdrawal agreement bill, which would put her Brexit deal in law. Commons leader Andrea Leadsom confirmed that MPs will be asked to vote on it in the week beginning June 3. With Mrs May due to host Donald Trump and mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy that week, Westminster sources said the most likely date was Friday, June 7. BoJo's charm offensive: Would-be PM launches his bid for the top job by meeting 200 fellow Tory MPs and warning them he is the only one who can save Britain from Farage and Corbyn By Jack Doyle Boris Johnson has already met 200 Conservative MPs during a lengthy charm offensive to get him on the Tory leadership ballot, it emerged last night. He has warned them that the party faces an 'existential' crisis and that only he can save them from both Nigel Farage and Jeremy Corbyn. Yesterday the former foreign secretary formally declared that he wants to succeed Theresa May as Prime Minister. But his campaign for the top job has been in full swing for months. Sources say he has hosted around 200 MPs, over half the Parliamentary party, in an attempt to rally them to his cause. Sources say Boris (pictured at an insurance conference in Manchester) has hosted around 200 MPs, over half the Parliamentary party, in an attempt to rally them to his cause MPs have been meeting him in 15-minute slots in his fourth-floor office in Portcullis House. A whiteboard on the wall lists all the slots for the day. While other candidates have been parading their credentials with media appearances, Mr Johnson has barely been seen in public while he focuses on winning over MPs. Before the leadership vote is put to the Tory membership, Mr Johnson must first reach the final two after a secret ballot of MPs meaning he must win his colleagues over to succeed. After David Cameron quit in 2016, Mr Johnson was a strong favourite to succeed him but pulled out after his Brexiteer colleague Michael Gove withdrew support at the last minute. MPs who have met Mr Johnson in recent weeks say his new pitch is a simple one. 'He says the Tory Party is in an existential crisis,' said one. 'He says he can see off Farage and beat Corbyn in any election when it comes.' He argues that he can deliver Brexit but is also focused on domestic policy and keen to stress his credentials as a One Nation Tory, MPs say. After David Cameron quit in 2016, Mr Johnson was a strong favourite to succeed him but pulled out after his Brexiteer colleague Michael Gove (left) withdrew support at the last minute He has a settled campaign team, and speaks to Lynton Crosby (pictured), the Australian political strategist nicknamed the 'Wizard of Oz', every day One minister who saw him recently but isn't yet backing him said that unlike many of the other candidates he can talk about both Brexit and broader policy issues, and be 'both a peacetime and wartime leader'. Mr Johnson's charm offensive contrasts sharply with his chaotic 2016 run, which fell apart when his campaign chairman, Michael Gove, turned on him to launch his own bid for the leadership. Mr Johnson pulled out, fearing he did not have enough support among MPs, having not made enough effort to woo potential supporters. This is a decision he deeply regrets. This time, allies insist, it will be different. They are keen to stress the 'rigour and discipline' of his campaign and his resolve. Since resigning as Foreign Secretary over Mrs May's Chequers deal last July Mr Johnson has also lost weight and got a more conventional haircut. His second marriage of 25 years ended last summer but he is happily living with his new girlfriend, Carrie Symonds. He has a settled campaign team, and speaks to Lynton Crosby, the Australian political strategist nicknamed the 'Wizard of Oz', every day. His second marriage of 25 years ended last summer but he is happily living with his new girlfriend, Carrie Symonds (pictured with Boris in Italy) Boris has warned them that the party faces an 'existential' crisis and that only he can save them from both Nigel Farage (pictured at an Essex rally) and Jeremy Corbyn However, it's unlikely the discipline will last the entire campaign. Indeed, yesterday's announcement, at an insurance industry convention, was not planned. His allies admit it's difficult to control a 'maverick'. But this latest step is unlikely to make much difference in the long campaign. His hero: Jaws mayor who kept beach open He's not averse to opening his mouth wide. But in an unusual pitch for Britain's top political job, Boris Johnson yesterday revealed an unlikely hero the mayor from Jaws. In the 1975 movie, Amity Island mayor Larry Vaughn refuses to close the beaches despite the panic as a great white shark devours swimmers. But Mr Johnson told yesterday's audience the character could provide inspiration at a time when Britain needs 'politicians who aren't afraid of some short-term downside to their own political careers'. 'The hero of Jaws is obviously the mayor,' he said. Mr Johnson said he 'saw the pressure and stress on the shops and businesses' of Amity Island as the shark spread terror among beach-goers. 'In real life he would have been right,' he added. Although he admits the mayor's decision was ultimately questionable, Mr Johnson said 'sometimes we've also got to be bold and think for the long term'. Advertisement 'Everyone knows he is running anyway,' said a source close to Mr Johnson. 'It's an open secret. And half the Cabinet have declared. It looks better than weaselling around the question.' Mr Johnson, who is still bruised by what he considered to be disloyal briefings by Foreign Office staff, is understood to have made reform of the civil service a priority of any premiership. Six months ago, the prospect of a Boris victory seemed remote. But now even MPs who are not his natural supporters admit his campaign has got momentum. With every defeat for Theresa May's EU withdrawal deal, and every fall in the polls, his prospects have improved as MPs look to someone who they think can save their seats. If Mr Johnson can fend off rival Brexiteers such as former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab and gather enough votes to make it to the final round, the darling of grassroots Tories will strongly fancy his chances in the vote among party members enraged that Brexit hasn't happened. With so many enemies in Parliament, however, that's still a big if. Now he has formally announced, the sizeable number of MPs who want Anyone But Boris will also start gearing up His critics, most of whom are on the Remain side of the party, argue that Mr Johnson is fundamentally unfit for high office. They fear he will drag the party away from the centre ground and adopt 'populist' policies and rhetoric. Mr Johnson once said that he would like to be Tory leader 'if the ball came loose from the back of the scrum', and this time around he's determined to grab it. The contest is likely to be decided by whether anyone can stop him. Advertisement These misshapen, incomplete blobs are how British people sketch their own coastlines when asked to do so from memory. Two in three people forgot to include at least one nation when asked to sketch the United Kingdom for a study. And Welsh people were superior to the English at pointing to London on a blank map. Some people couldn't even locate their own hometown, with half landing it in the wrong county as part of Premier Inn's Great British Memory Map. This is how respondents drew the United Kingdom from memory as part of a study to test geographical recollection and accuracy. In the top-left corner is how Britain should appear when drawn Researchers used artificial intelligence to combine 144 drawings into one representation of how the average respondent recalled the UK's shape. It shows a sprawling southern England running into a stunted Scotland with half of Wales apparently submerged and one tiny scrap of Northern Ireland surviving. The hundreds of individual drawings on which the final piece was based feature a variety of strange takes, including Britain in the shape of an upside-down triangle with to islands off its west coast. Pictured, left: An accurate map of the United Kingdom also showing the Republic of Ireland. Right: A synthesis of 144 memory maps designed to show how the average respondent recalls Britain This shows how accurately people could place London on a map as part of the Premier Inn study, which revealed that Welsh people were better than the English at placing the capital People from Northern Ireland were the most proficient at locating their capital city on a map and were about 11.6 miles off on average. But a fifth of them placed Belfast in the Republic of Ireland. Meanwhile, one in 10 non-Welsh respondents located Cardiff in England. And the issue of where to place England's north-south divide proved to be as contentious as ever. A combination of 180 takes on where the divide sits placed the end of the south in Birmingham, West Midlands, and the start of the North in Leicester, East Midlands. But 10 per cent of people shunted the divide right down to Cambridge. Pictured, main: The variety of points at which participants place the north-south divide. Inset: The culmination of 184 people's opinion on where the line falls, showing that the majority of the Midlands appears to be disputed territory The researchers found that English people had a tendency to place Cardiff on the wrong side of the border when asked to place it on the map This graphic shows the varying degrees of accuracy to which people were able to locate Belfast on a blank map of the UK Pictured: The yellow portions of the heat map show just how far some English people believed Edinburgh was compared with its actual location The study found that younger people were more confident in their memory than older participants, with 44 per cent of Millennials believing they were at least 60 per cent accurate. By contrast, just 35 per cent of Generation Xers were so sure and only 26 per cent of Baby Boomers rated themselves so highly. But it was older generations that cartographers found produced the most accurate memory maps. Fifteen per cent of Baby Boomers received an accuracy rating of 60 per cent or higher, with just 12 per cent of Gen Xers hitting that mark. Millennials were the worst, as just 10 per cent attained accuracy of 60 per cent or greater when drawing their maps. The research also found male participants to be more confident than women, but that this confidence was misplaced as their female counterparts were generally more accurate. A day after unveiling a sweeping immigration policy that didn't address illegal immigration, President Donald Trump vented on Twitter and warned people sneaking into the U.S. to pack their bags for deportation. 'All people that are illegally coming into the United States now will be removed from our Country at a later date as we build up our removal forces and as the laws are changed,' he vowed. 'Please do not make yourselves too comfortable, you will be leaving soon!' Trump promised in November 2015 amid a contentious Republican primary fight that he would round up and evict illegal immigrants as president. 'You're going to have a deportation force, and you're going to do it humanely,' he said then. President Donald Trump said Friday on Twitter that he plans to round up immigrants who aren't qualified to stay after they are released into the U.S. pending court hearings People who cross the border into the U.S. and are apprehended and released, Trump tweeted, are being 'registered' so immigration authorities can find them and eject them from the country at a later date About 11.3 million people are living illegally in the U.S., according to the Migration Policy Institute. The organization says about two-thirds of them have jobs and roughly 900,000 are students enrolled in schools. Many of those millions came via legitimate programs but overstayed their visas. The Roughly two-thirds of illegal immigrants in the U.S. have been here for more than 10 years, according to the Pew Research Center. But a sea of humanity continues to cross into the country from Mexico. That latter group was Trump's Twitter target on Friday. 'Border Patrol is apprehending record numbers of people at the Southern Border,' he tweeted Friday. 'The bad 'hombres,' of which there are many, are being detained & will be sent home.' 'Those which we release under the ridiculous Catch & [R]elease loophole, are being registered and will be removed later!' Trump misspelled 'Release' as 'Telease,' fitting a pattern that has White House aides exasperated. Trump wants to see as many illegal immigrants as possible send outside the U.S., and has taken steps to force asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico as America's legal process unfolds The prospect of locating people who are released into the interior of the U.S pending asylum hearings can be a danuting one. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement statistics show a large majority of them don't return to court. From the government's point of view, they vanish entirely. At minimum, there is no guarantee that 'registering' them upon their release will help authorities find them later. ICE officials said this month that they have released more than 160,000 immigrants who crossed illegally into the U.S. since December 2018. The Department of Justice established a pilot program, a fast-track immigration court system, which created expedited court proceedings in 10 border cities But 87.5 per cent of immigrants in the program failed to appear before a judge. Republican proposals for solving the problem of finding illegal immigrants have been scattershot and varied. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said in August 2015 that if he were president he would ask FedEx to devise a system to track non-citizens when they come in. 'At any moment, FedEx can tell you where that package is. It's on the truck. It's at the station. It's on the airplane,' Christie told a crowd in Laconia, New Hampshire. 'Yet we let people come to this country with visas, and the minute they come in, we lose track of them.' 'We need to have a system that tracks you from the moment you come in, and then when your time is up ... however long your visa is, then we go get you. We tap you on the shoulder and say, 'Excuse me. Thanks for coming. Time to go',' he said. Nearly four years later, with Democrats in control of the more camera-hungry half of Congress, Trump has found himself making a political case for a tougher immigration policy in the hope of helping Republicans reclaim all of Washington's power-levers. House Democrats have declared most of his proposals dead on arrival. 'The Democrats now realize that there is a National Emergency at the Border and that, if we work together, it can be immediately fixed. We need Democrat votes and all will be well!' he tweeted Friday, 'Will the Democrats give our Country a badly needed immigration win before the election? Good chance!' His Border Patrol is now advertising for contractors to move 60,000 people a year from the border to elsewhere in the country to be put in shelters as family units, or as unaccompanied children. The contract, revealed by Fox News, would move them by plane to unspecified destinations. But a parallel plan sparked anger in Florida Friday, with its Republican governor - elected by a razor-thin margin - voicing fury at a plan to process immigrants in two of its counties. Ron DeSantis said he will fight a federal plan to fly hundreds of immigrants from the Mexican border to Broward and Palm Beach, where county officials said they were notified by Border Patrol that more than a 100 immigrants would be sent weekly to each of the counties starting in about two weeks. 'We cannot accommodate in Florida just dumping unlawful migrants into our state. I think it will tax our resources, the schools, the health care, law enforcement, state agencies,' DeSantis told reporters in Sarasota after a bill signing ceremony. Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said Thursday he was notified of the plans by the Miami-based office of the U.S. Border Patrol, and that a total of 1,000 people per month would be brought to the two counties from the El Paso, Texas, area. He said immigrant parents and children would be processed in both Florida counties, given a notice to appear in court, and then released into the community. 'If you believe what was leaked and reported, the plan would be to simply put migrants out on the street,' DeSantis said. 'This would be potentially just releasing people into our society. With someone just coming across the border, we have no idea what their background is, we don't know what type of criminal activity they've been involved in. We don't know anything.' He said he would appeal directly to Trump, saying he believed it was not the president's plan. Palm Beach County is where Trump's Mar-a-Lago club is located. It also emerged Friday that Trump wants the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico to be painted black and have spikes at the top so it looks more intimidating, former and current administration officials told The Washington Post. According to the sources, Trump is micromanaging the project down to the smallest details. Recently he told White House aides, Homeland Security officials and military engineers that the wall should be painted 'flat black' so it would absorb more heat in the summer and make it harder for climbers to scale the metal. The president, at one point, considered a design plan that included a field-tested anti-climbing surface and rounded metal cylinders, but he said he didn't like the appearance, claiming metal points would look more intimidating. He told a group of aides that spikes would cut climbers' hands and be a more effective in deterring them from scaling the wall. A DHS official says Trump thinks the wall can be 'effective' and 'doesn't have to be an eyesore' Although the wall will not be a concrete barrier, like the president originally touted, he is OK with a steel 'slatted' fence. While on the 2016 campaign trail, Trump would often tell crowds chanting, 'build the wall,' that it would be big and 'beautiful.' 'He thinks not only can the wall be effective, it doesn't have to be an eyesore,' a Homeland Security official said. 'He wants one standard uniform height. That's what he's going for, and we have to match that with operational reality.' Engineers and aides are often left confused with Trump's ever-shifting instructions and suggestions for even the smallest details of the border wall. The president has demanded that while the wall should be physically imposing, it should also be aesthetically pleasing. An administration official familiar with Trump's opinions said, 'He thinks it's ugly.' The White House is diverting billions in defense and military funds to fast-track the border barrier construction. Pentagon documents revealed last weekend that the Department of Defense would be reassigning $1.5 billion of its funding from other projects to the constructing 80 additional miles of southern border wall. That money was originally allocated to other programs, including ground maintenance for Minuteman III, a nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile with 450 missiles, and plans for planes that provide surveillance and communication to fighter jets while airborne. The documents, and acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, say that the plans will not affect military preparedness. In addition to the $1.5 billion, another $1 billion in Army personnel money was set aside in March, and $3.6 billion in military construction projects are being delayed for additional border wall allocations. DHS officials say the president has demanded on several occasions that they come to the White House on short notice to discuss wall construction. The officials also said that Trump would often wake up former DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen early in the morning to discuss the project. Nielsen was ousted as Defense secretary last month over her conflicting views with the president. Trump expressed concern with officials when he was told it would take years to complete construction, and has even suggested that some of his friends and associates in New York would have ideas on how to get it built faster. A 10-year-old schoolboy has suffered severe burns to his face, arms, hands and legs after he and two of his friends threw a can of spray paint into a raging fire. Curtis and two other boys, both under the age of 10, are understood to have been at the North Parmelia Primary School oval in southern Perth when the horrific incident occurred on Wednesday evening. The three boys, who were drenched in red paint, were injured when one of the cans they chucked in the fire exploded, it was confirmed at the time. Scroll down for video Curtis (pictured) and two other young boys, both under the age of 10, are understood to have been at the North Parmelia Primary School oval in southern Perth when the horrific incident occurred Curtis (pictured) ,who was the most seriously injured, has already undergone emergency surgery at Perth Children's Hospital All three are understood to have suffered burns as a result of the explosion. Curtis, who was the most seriously injured, has already undergone emergency surgery at Perth Children's Hospital and is expected to need several more procedures. His distressed mother has spoken about the long road to recovery Curtis now faces. 'My son is seriously hurthe has weeks, maybe months ahead of him in hospital,' she told Nine News. Curtis' (pictured) mother said he was 'seriously hurt' and had weeks, or potentially months, ahead of him in hospital 'Yes the boys have made the wrong choicebut my son is definitely paying for it now, and is going to be for quite some time, with scars that will be there forever.' The other two boys are expected to be released from hospital in the next few days. At the time of the incident, local residents had been alerted to a commotion after they heard the boys scream out in pain. Neighbours are understood to have approached the scene and discovered the burning fire in the school field. The three boys sought help at a nearby residence, and hosed themselves down. But before the ambulance arrived at the scene the three boys had gone home. The boy's parents then called for help and the boys were taken immediately to the city's children hospital. Police in central China are searching for a four-month-old baby boy who was snatched from his mother in broad daylight. Authorities in Zhoukou, Henan province said the infant was 'stolen' from his mother who had fainted on the street near a park at about 11:45am yesterday. Chilling footage released by Chinese media of the purported child kidnapper shows the suspect pushing the child in a pram across a road after taking him from his unconscious mother. Chilling footage released by Chinese media purportedly shows an individual pushing the child in a pram across a road after taking him from his unconscious mother in Zhoukou, Henan Authorities in Zhoukou, Henan province said the four-month-old infant was 'stolen' from his mother who had fainted on the street near a park at about 11:45am yesterday A reward of 50,000 yuan (5,670) will be given to anyone with information leading to the child's discovery as well as the suspect's capture, according to a statement released by Zhoukou police on their official Weibo account. The woman was talking her child for a walk near Zhoukou Park on Wenchang Avenue when she passed out due to hypokalemia, a low level of potassium in a person's blood, the police said. 'When she regained consciousness, she realised that her child is missing,' the statement said, adding that an investigation had been launched. The child's father, identified by his surname Zhu, accused the child snatcher of having 'poor conscience'. The mother was talking her child for a walk when she passed out due to hypokalemia, a low level of potassium in a person's blood. Above, the suspect pushing the baby The baby's father, identified by his surname Zhu, accused the child snatcher of having 'poor conscience' as the person ignored the sick mother and 'just took the child' (pictured) 'Honestly, the person completely disregarded the safety of the adult, didn't even call emergency services and just took the child,' the devastated father told Beijing News. The father, who works in public security, said he believed that the incident wasn't premeditated. The incident angered many on social media, with net users calling for stiffer sentences for child kidnappers. 'What? Not only did the person fail to call an ambulance after the mother passed out, they just took away her child! She should be severely punished!' one top-rated comment read on Weibo. 'Sinner, what you took isn't just money or any other object, it's a human being! Please return the baby as soon as possible!' one person said. The incident angered many on social media, with net users calling for stiffer sentences for child kidnappers. Currently, convicted buyers of human trafficking victims face no more than three years in prison Child abduction and trafficking has long been a serious social problem in China, with an estimated 70,000 children going missing each year for forced labour, adoption or prostitution, according to a previous report by China Daily. Chinese courts ruled on 2,806 cases involving the abduction and trafficking of women and children between 2015 and 2018, according to the Supreme People's Court cited by Global Times. Zhang Baoyan, a delegate to the 13th National People's Congress, in March called for an amendment to the Chinese law to impose the death penalty on those convicted of trafficking women and children. Zhang, who has been a long-time advocate for women's and children's rights in the country, also called for a stiffer punishment for buyers, who fuel the trade but are seldom held accountable. Currently, convicted buyers of human trafficking victims face no more than three years in prison. Britain is facing another tumultuous spell as politicians desperately try to find a way through the Brexit crisis. Theresa May is facing the imminent end of her premiership after Tory MPs said she must set a schedule for her departure early next month. That will trigger a potentially brutal Conservative leadership contest, with Boris Johnson, Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt among the contenders. But before that the PM will have one more desperate try at getting her Brexit deal through the House of Commons - in the same week that US President Donald Trump makes a potentially stormy visit to the UK. Here is how the drama could play out over the next few months. Theresa May (pictured campaigning for European elections in Bristol today) is facing the imminent end of her premiership after Tory MPs said she must set a schedule for her departure early next month May 23 - European elections Mrs May never wanted the European elections to take place on May 23, having originally planned that the UK would be out of the EU by the end of March. And the vote is set to show why she hoped to avoid them - with the Tories on course for a drubbing at the hands of Nigel Farage's new Brexit Party. The picture is also likely to be grim for Labour when the results emerge on Sunday 26 and Bank Holiday Monday, as both main parties pay the price for years of chaos and inaction since the referendum in 2016. In an effort to limit the fallout, the government has sent MPs off on a long half-term break immediately after the election. However, keeping Tory politicians away from Westminster will not be enough to save the PM from a massive backlash. The Tories on course for a European elections drubbing at the hands of Nigel Farage (pictured campaigning in Brentwood this week) and his new Brexit Party. June - Withdrawal Agreement Bill, Trump visit Mrs May has pledged to bring the EU Withdrawal Agreement Bill - the legislation known as WAB that would implement her deal - before the Commons for a crucial vote in the week of June 3. The promise succeeded in buying her a few more weeks grace from an increasingly restive Cabinet and Tory MPs. But the failure of talks with Labour on a compromise deal, along with stubborn opposition from Brexiteers and the DUP, mean she now has little hope of winning the vote. If the situation was not fraught enough, the PM must also contend with the arrival of Donald Trump for a long-awaited and controversial three-day State Visit from June 3-5. The leaders are pictured together at Chequers last July A defeat would be the fourth time her deal with the EU has been rejected by MPs - and Brexit Secretary Steven Barclay has admitted the package would then be 'dead'. If the situation was not fraught enough, the PM must also contend with the arrival of Mr Trump for a long-awaited and controversial three-day State Visit. He has not been shy of voicing his disapproval for her Brexit deal, and is widely expected to throw some grenades into the debate. The powerful Tory 1922 committee has told Mrs May that even if by some miracle the Commons vote on WAB is won, she must still immediately set out the timetable for handing over to another leader. June-July - Tory leadership contest The battle to succeed Mrs May as Tory leader should formally kick off early in June. Under the process, MPs will whittle what looks to be a crowded field of candidates down to two - with ordinary Conservative members voting to decide the victor. Mr Johnson is considered the front runner to take the top job, but historically such contests have thrown up surprises. Party chiefs hope that the first stage can be completed within a few weeks. The run-off could then either be rushed through in July, or take place over the summer parliamentary recess. Boris Johnson (pictured at a business conference in Manchester this week) is considered the front runner to succeed Mrs May, but historically Tory contests have thrown up surprises September 29-October 2 - Conservative Party conference The Tory gathering in Manchester this autumn will be the natural time for a new leader to take the stage and try to unite the fractured party. Assuming no way has been found to force a Withdrawal Agreement through Parliament by this point, they will need to spell out how they intend to approach the Brexit process. Victory for a harder-line Brexiteer such as Mr Johnson could see the party vow to leave the EU in a matter of weeks, with or without a deal. They will also need to consider whether such a policy can be pushed through the Commons with the current batch of MPs - or whether a general election or another referendum has become unavoidable. October 31 - the new Brexit date The Brexit extension Mrs May thrashed out with the EU expires on October 31. Unless another postponement can be agreed, the UK is still scheduled to leave the bloc at this point. MPs have previously shown a willingness to do anything possible to avoid crashing out of the EU without a deal. However, the calculation for many Tory MPs might be changed by the mounting threat from the Brexit Party. With EU leaders such as France's Emmanuel Macron increasingly frustrated by the Brexit limbo, the Commons could be forced into a straight choice between revoking Article 50 - which would cancel the process altogether - or no-deal Brexit. A Northern California man has been exonerated and freed after serving 17 years in prison for a drive-by shooting that left its victim paralyzed. Lionel Rubalcava, 40, who had been serving his sentence at Pleasant Valley State Prison, became a free man Wednesday when a Santa Clara County judge dismissed charges against him as around 20 of his family members erupted in shouts of joy. Rubalcava said he wouldn't have been able to handle the past 17 years if it hadn't been for his family's support and help from a legal team with the Northern California Innocence Project at Santa Clara University School of Law. 'Them, and the fact that I knew I was innocent, that kept me going, hoping the evidence at some point would prove that,' he told the Mercury News in San Jose. Lionel Rubalcava, pictured with his attorney, was freed on Wednesday after serving 17 years in prison for a drive-by shooting that left its victim paralyzed At the hearing in San Jose, California, around 20 members of his family erupted in shouts of joy Rubaclava is pictured with his mother Maria Guttierez and his nephew that he never had the chance to meet before Rubalcava was convicted in the drive-by shooting in San Jose even though shortly after it happened he was on a date in Hollister, 46 miles away. He offered cellphone tracking evidence and testimony from the woman who accompanied him to the movies in Hollister, his attorney Paige Kaneb, of the Innocence Project, told The Associated Press. Rubalcava became a suspect two days after the shooting when he was driving on the street where the shooting occurred and stopped to talk to a friend who lived near the targeted home. A neighbor called police after seeing Rubalcava pull up to the wrong side of the street just as the shooter had done. After eyewitnesses picked him out of a phone lineup, he was arrested and charged in the shooting, Kaneb said. 'The jury heard about his alibi and how it was almost impossible for him to have committed the crime. But they also heard the eyewitnesses were positive and certain Lionel had shot him and that's why he was convicted,' Kaneb said. There was no physical evidence tying him to the shooting, as well as no motive. Rubalcava was convicted in the drive-by shooting in San Jose even though shortly after it happened he was on a date in Hollister, 46 miles away The prosecution relied on identification by the victim, which was presented to the jury as unequivocal even though the man had told multiple people, including his mother and a detective, that he did not think Rubalcava was the shooter, Kaneb said. Kaneb said the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office was helpful to Rubalcava's new legal team from the time they took the case five years ago. They opened a new investigation and re-interviewed the victim, who told prosecutors he had never been confident about his identification of Rubalcava and admitted he only caught a glimpse of the shooter's face. On Wednesday, Assistant District Attorney David Angel expressed 'profound regret' over Rubalcava's case on behalf of his office and apologized to him and his family, who had to sell their home to pay for attorneys and to travel to visit him at different prisons, Kaneb said. 'It was a beautiful thing to see,' Kaneb said. 'They recognized there were two tragedies the victim who was shot and paralyzed and Lionel, who lost 17 years of his life,' she said. After Lionel was released Wednesday, he, his family and legal team went to dinner and he had a steak and shrimp meal surrounded by the people he loves, Kaneb said. 'Lionel had a huge grin on his face, and his mother looked so relaxed and happy and that's worth everything,' she said. President Donald Trump wants the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico to be painted black and have spikes at the top so it looks more intimidating, former and current administration officials told The Washington Post. According to the sources, Trump is micromanaging the project down to the smallest details. Recently he told White House aides, Homeland Security officials and military engineers that the wall should be painted 'flat black' so it would absorb more heat in the summer and make it harder for climbers to scale the metal. The president, at one point, considered a design plan that included a field-tested anti-climbing surface and rounded metal cylinders, but he said he didn't like the appearance, claiming metal points would look more intimidating. He told a group of aides that spikes would cut climbers' hands and be a more effective in deterring them from scaling the wall. President Donald Trump told administration officials and aides that he wants there to be spikes at the top of the border barrier between the U.S. and Mexico He also wants to paint the 'slats' a 'flat black' so it absorbs more heat from the sun and makes it harder for climbers to scale the wall Although the wall will not be a concrete barrier, like the president originally touted, he is OK with a steel 'slatted' fence. While on the 2016 campaign trail, Trump would often tell crowds chanting, 'build the wall,' that it would be big and 'beautiful.' 'He thinks not only can the wall be effective, it doesn't have to be an eyesore,' a Homeland Security official said. 'He wants one standard uniform height. That's what he's going for, and we have to match that with operational reality.' Engineers and aides are often left confused with Trump's ever-shifting instructions and suggestions for even the smallest details of the border wall. The president has demanded that while the wall should be physically imposing, it should also be aesthetically pleasing. An administration official familiar with Trump's opinions said, 'He thinks it's ugly.' The White House is diverting billions in defense and military funds to fast-track the border barrier construction. Pentagon documents revealed last weekend that the Department of Defense would be reassigning $1.5 billion of its funding from other projects to the constructing 80 additional miles of southern border wall. A DHS official says Trump thinks the wall can be 'effective' and 'doesn't have to be an eyesore' That money was originally allocated to other programs, including ground maintenance for Minuteman III, a nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile with 450 missiles, and plans for planes that provide surveillance and communication to fighter jets while airborne. The documents, and acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, say that the plans will not affect military preparedness. In addition to the $1.5 billion, another $1 billion in Army personnel money was set aside in March, and $3.6 billion in military construction projects are being delayed for additional border wall allocations. DHS officials say the president has demanded on several occasions that they come to the White House on short notice to discuss wall construction. The officials also said that Trump would often wake up former DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen early in the morning to discuss the project. Nielsen was ousted as Defense secretary last month over her conflicting views with the president. Trump expressed concern with officials when he was told it would take years to complete construction, and has even suggested that some of his friends and associates in New York would have ideas on how to get it built faster. College Board president David Coleman poses for portrait in his office in Manhattan, NY, on February 29, 2016 The man behind the new plan to assign adversity scores to every student who takes the SAT is the same person who championed the controversial Common Core K-12 curriculum standards that remain a point of contention among parents, teachers and political leaders in many states. David Coleman, president of The College Board, which administers the SAT, was the 'architect of Common Core' which several states dropped after its adoption due to pressure from local communities and educators, according to Fox News. Proponents of Common Core say the method was meant to establish a baseline of curriculum standards for K-12 education, with a focus on math and English language arts literacy. It implemented broad new standards for how much a student should know and be able to do at the end of each scholastic year, leading to what critics said was 'teaching to the test' or a system in which teachers are under so much pressure to get their students to perform well on the test that other educational priorities fell by the wayside in favor of test preparation. Coleman co-founded Student Achievement Partners, a nonprofit that ultimately developed the Common Core state standards. The Common Core was adopted in 2010 by 45 states and Washington D.C. with bipartisan support. The goal was to move students away from reiterating memorized facts and toward the ability to analyze complex information. Anita Stapleton, of Pueblo, Colorado, holds up a sign in protest of Common Core educational standards in February 2014. Stapleton was in front of the Colorado Department of Education offices providing info against the Common Core program The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation poured $400 million into the effort, bolstering taxpayer funds to implement the Common Core standards. Soon after, local communities and educators began criticizing the switch, saying that it undermined local authority over curriculum. Further complicating things were teacher criticisms that the standards were too confusing, too rigorous and out of touch with what students really needed to learn. At least six states have repealed Common Core, though some have maintained similar standards with different labels. As the criticism soared, Coleman left Student Achievement Partners to join The College Board. This graph breaks down the average (mean) score for all test takers, as well as for those of different races. Source: The College Board Now critics are saying that Coleman's new effort to establish adversity scores is a stab at relevancy as more questions arise about whether standardized testing is fair. That point is relevant in the wake of a college admissions bribery scandal that has ensnared more than 50 people including actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, who were accused of paying big money to get their teen daughters into top universities. The scandal has raised serious questions about how privilege helps many students buy their way into the nation's best schools - or at the least allows wealthy families to pay for tutors, extra-curriculars and SAT test prep that low-income households could never afford. 'Promotion of adversity scores is the latest attempt by the College Board to defend the SAT against increasingly well-documented critiques of the negative consequences of relying on admissions test scores,' Bob Schaeffer, the public education director at FairTest, the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, told US News & World Report. The new scores are intended to level the playing field between people with different social and economic backgrounds, but critics say children of affluent parents could be penalized by the system. The new system will use 15 different factors to weigh a student's adversity score, based on things such as the crime and poverty rates in the neighborhood where the teens grew up. Other elements of the adversity index include housing values, family median income, whether a student is a child of a single parent, or speaks English as a second language. The new system will use 15 different factors to weigh a student's adversity score, based on things such as the crime and poverty rates in the neighborhood where the teens grew up. Source: The College Board The quality of the high school that students attend will also be factored into the final adversity score. 'There is talent and potential waiting to be discovered in every community the children of poor rural families, kids navigating the challenges of life in the inner city, and military dependents who face the daily difficulties of low income and frequent deployments as part of their family's service to our country,' Coleman said in a statement Thursday. 'No single test score should ever be examined without paying attention to this critical context,' he added. However critics, including Michael Nietzel, president emeritus of Missouri State University, have said 'there's not a straight line from socioeconomic background to SAT performance.' 'At a time when standardized testing is under increased scrutiny and is even being discontinued or minimized as an admission tool by hundreds of colleges, one must wonder whether adversity scores are primarily an attempt to protect the SAT's market or to promote social mobility,' Nietzel wrote in an opinion piece for Forbes. 'Colleges that are genuinely concerned about the bias built into the tests or the cheating associated with the SAT or the ACT, have a simpler choice: don't require students to take them,' he added. A woman in India died in a freak accident with flames and smoke pouring from the mouth as she was having her stomach pumped. The woman, named as Sheela Devi, 40, was rushed to the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College hospital in the city of Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh state, by police on Wednesday after reportedly taking poison. Horrifying CCTV stills show the moment when doctors inserted a tube to suck the toxin, which they believed to be sulfuric acid, from her stomach, and flames erupted from her mouth. Smoke rises from flames that burst from the mouth of patient Sheela Devi, 40, as doctors attempted to pump toxins from her stomach on Wednesday Ms Devi subsequently died. Doctors were reportedly investigating the cause of the unprecedented fatal incident, but suspect that the substance she consumed reacted either with air or with stomach acid. 'Some explosion occurred in her mouth and flames along with smoke came out while the team of medics were trying to suck out poison from her stomach,' the hospital's chief medical officer SS Zaidi said. 'There could be a possibility that she allegedly consumed aluminium phosphate which released phosphine gas in addition to aluminium oxide and other gases,' Mr Zaidi said 'the explosion occurred when it came in contact with gastric acid.' Mr Zaidi believed the accident was the first of its kind in medical history. Smoke begins to rise as flames erupt from patient Sheela Devi's mouth as doctors attempted to pump her stomach This is the dramatic moment police officers in Canada raced to help save the life of a man who was trapped underneath a car, holding the weight of the vehicle for an astonishing one minute and 44 seconds. Nine Saskatoon Police officers in total worked to stop the 22-year-old man being crushed underneath the weight of the vehicle and a video released this week shows their heroic efforts. While the aerial clip begins with just a few of them struggling to hold the motor up, more cops are seen dashing toward the scene and contributing their strength. Another video shows the Saskatchewan-based law enforcement team desperately balancing the body of the car with their bare hands until firefighters arrive to pull the victim out. Saskatoon Police officers helped lift car off man after impaired driving incident around 3am. Left they are seen lifting the vehicle and right after firefighters arrive to save him 'Watch in awe as we did when our patrol members use teamwork, the best tool we have as police officers to lift a car and rescue someone trapped underneath,' the department wrote on social media this week. 'Here is to the everyday HEROS watching out for all of us on this.' They released the intense footage after the officers were recognized at the SPS Exemplary Service Awards. With National Police Week in progress they deemed it the right time to share clips from around 2.53am following the 2.46am incident on September 3, 2018. Aerial clip shows a few cops holding up the body of the motor then more run to help out The incident involved nine police officers from the Saskatchewan-based law enforcement team in Canada. They allowed the victim to breath Nine officers were recognized at the SPS Exemplary Service Awards for their heroic actions 'We know that on any given day, our members go above and beyond in the course of their duties,' they captioned dashcam footage of the Labor Day incident. 'One such effort happened late one night last year. In response to an unknown problem, officers located a man pinned underneath a car, being crushed and struggling to breath under its weight.' They said the incident in which the police allowed him to 'breath until he could be pulled from underneath' was connected to a frantic 911 call from the 400 block of Confederation Drive. Emergency teams arrived after a frantic 911 call came from Confederation Drive Medavie Health Services transported the male to hospital with life threatening injuries. At the time a 21-year-old woman was charged with Impaired Driving Causing Bodily Harm and Exceeding .08 following the collision. 'Having that little bit of a reprieve from the officers lifting was able to make sure that this man survived,' Saskatoon Police Service spokesperson Kelsie Fraser said. Officers are seen out of breath and bent over in recovery positions after the incident A three-year-old girl who was abducted by her mother and illegally taken from Australia to the UK has been ordered to return to her father by a British judge. Yoga teacher Peter Uhd, 57, had been battling with his estranged partner, Victoria McKay, 43, since she took their daughter from Australia last September and fled to the UK. Ruby McKay-Uhd disappeared with her mother, who is also a yoga teacher, last year and a family court judge in Melbourne ordered her return to Australia. A High Court judge based in the Family Division of the High Court in London made a public appeal for help in February to find missing Ruby, who was believed to be living with her mother in a camper van. Mr Justice Keehan said Ruby, who was born in Australia, had wrongfully been brought to the UK by her mother. Ruby McKay-Uhd disappeared with her mother, who is also a yoga teacher, last year and a family court judge in Melbourne ordered her return to Australia Both were found safe and well in the Outer Hebrides about a month later following widespread publicity. Another judge based in the Family Division of the High Court has ruled that Ruby must return to her father in Australia. Ms McKay, who comes from Birmingham but had been living in Australia for more than 20 years, argued that Ruby would be exposed a 'grave risk of exposure to physical or psychological harm' if returned to in Australia. Mr Uhd disputed that claim and said Ruby should return to Australia. Mr Justice MacDonald has ruled in favour of Mr Uhd and ordered Ruby's return to Australia. 'I am satisfied that the mother's actions in removing Ruby from the jurisdiction of Australia represented a blatant and premeditated act of child abduction,' said the judge in a written ruling published online. 'That conclusion is reinforced by the fact that having abducted Ruby from the jurisdiction of Australia, the mother sought to go to ground in the Outer Hebrides in an effort, I am satisfied, to avoid detection.' Mr Justice MacDonald said he had been 'left with the strong impression' that 'thereafter the mother sought before this court to distort and misrepresent the facts'. Yoga teacher Peter Uhd, 57, had been battling with the mother of his child, Victoria McKay, 43, since she took their daughter from Australia last September He said Australian judges should analyse any parental disputes centred on the little girl. The judge had considered rival arguments at a private hearing in the Family Division of the High Court in London in early May. During the public appeal in February, Mr Justice Keehan said: 'I am extremely concerned about this young child, who has been abducted from Australia wrongfully by her mother. 'It is believed she is living an itinerant lifestyle with her mother in a camper van.' Mr Uhd said: 'She's got this camper van that's not even a proper camper van, it's a converted work van sort of thing. It had a pop-top roof but it would be freezing up there.' But he said he had decided to publish a ruling in which Ruby and her parents were named after a journalist argued that such a move would be in the public interest because there had already been widespread reporting of the little girl's disappearance. He said: 'It seems to me that there is merit in (the) submission that it is in the public interest for the press to be able to report the final outcome of these proceedings in circumstances where there has been significant publicity during the initial stages of the same and, more widely, to report the consequences of this case of child abduction.' Facebook is partnering with two powerful federal agencies to identify and eliminate foreign meddling on the social media platform in the lead-up to the 2020 election. Sheryl Sandberg said in an interview on CBS This Morning that the embattled company has 'war rooms in place' and 'a working relationship with the FBI and homeland security,' that are all meant to combat any attempts to interfere with the upcoming election. The Facebook COO did not actually detail what Facebook, the FBI or homeland security was doing to combat this issue, but did seem to suggest that those federal agencies were somehow to blame in part for Facebook's influx of Russian interlopers during the 2016 election by noting 'both of them are working on this in a way they never have before.' Sandberg, in a very sincere tone, then stated: 'And we're all working together to protect. So I guess what I want you to know is...' That is when a visibly annoyed Gayle King shut down Sandberg, interrupting her diatribe to declare: 'In less than ten seconds, Sheryl.' Scroll down for video Word salad: Sheryl Sandberg (above on Friday) was asked to address how Facebook was responding to a few of the privacy and security issues facing the company while on CBS This Morning Captivated crowd: She followed that up with a string of affirmations, prompting Gayle King to cut her off and state: 'In less than ten seconds, Sheryl' (l to r: King, Jiohn Dickerson and Vladimir Duthiers) Sandberg had been spinning her way around questions about Facebook for almost five minutes when she got that 10-second warning from King. The interview came just one month after the man who killed 50 people in two New Zealand mosques was able to livestream the massacre on the social media site. That was just the latest example of how the world's largest social network - which boasts 2.7 billion users - has managed to anger the public over its approach to privacy and user data. First up was a question about Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes' recent call for Facebook to be broken up, in an editorial where he described the behemoth as 'a monopoly that crowds out entrepreneurship and restricts consumer choice.' Sandberg offered up a few vague and hollow remarks in response to that searing and specific statement from Hughes, saying: 'We're fundamentally changing how we run the company. We have massive teams in place whose whole job is to protect people's privacy, protect elections, go through our systems and find things.' King then tried to get an actual answer out of Sandberg by interjecting: 'Yet it still keeps happening Sheryl. We know that Facebook has taken its knocks ... but some people say it really hasn't changed.' She then pointed out that when Hughes was on he program earlier in the week he said that Facebook was not just too big to fail, but too big to even care. Given another very specific statement and criticism of the company, Sandberg paused for a moment, smiled and once again started to spin. 'We made a commitment. Mark and I have said we're going to do everything it takes to fix these systems, and we believe we can do that,' said Sandberg. 'They go systematically through things. We have built other tools. You see these reports.' King, John Dickerson and guest host Vladimir Duthiers made no secret of their frustration with Sandberg's responses, especially after Dickerson asked Sandberg what impressions she has of Facebook. 'Look. I woke up yesterday morning and I got on Facebook and I saw two things. I saw a picture from my sister of my nephew, he's 7, going off to a school camping trip and I saw a colleague who is raising money for a close friend of hers who has two young children and very late-stage cancer.' Dickerson then cut off Sandberg, stating: 'Right, but what do people - what do you think your customer thinks of Facebook. 'That's what I think the customer thinks,' said Sandberg. Dickerson then laughed at Sandberg and declared: 'Cause I see a different view.' Heartwarming footage shows a kayaker rushing along a beach to save wild seals which have deadly nylon netting trapped around their necks. Naude Dreyer, who has rescued more than 600 wild seals from dangerous discarded rubbish, was filmed rescuing the animals at Pelican Point, in Walvis Bay, Namibia. In the clip, the 36-year-old chases down the panicked seals to cut away the tight netting from around their necks. Naude Dreyer, who has rescued more than 600 wild seals from dangerous discarded rubbish, is filmed rescuing the animals at Pelican Point, in Walvis Bay, Namibia Holding the animal between his legs, he keeps one hand behind their head as he frees it from the nylon coils Mr Dreyer spends much of his time searching the sea to save seals from an untimely and unnatural death - as part of his mission to highlight the dangers of plastic pollution In some cases, the injuries are truly horrific - as the net slices through their skin like a garrotte Holding the animal between his legs, he keeps one hand behind their head as he frees it from the nylon coils. In a matter of moments, the seal is freed and heads back to the ocean. In some cases, the injuries are truly horrific - as the net slices through their skin like a garrotte. Turning to the camera, Dreyer says, 'These are gillnets. Completely illegal in Namibia. It's the worst thing in the ocean. In a matter of moments, the seal is freed and heads back in to the bay which leads out in to the South Pacific Ocean Turning to the camera, Dreyer says, 'These are gillnets. Completely illegal in Namibia. It's the worst thing in the ocean' The netting is caught around the seal's neck before Mr Dreyer works to free it from the trap 'It catches anything - turtles, fish, dolphins. Anything that swims through here will die.' A gillnet is a form of net which catches fish by trapping them through their gills. Mr Dreyer began his career running a kayaking tour around the bay, which he still operates today. But he spends much of his time searching the sea to save seals from an untimely and unnatural death - as part of his mission to highlight the dangers of plastic pollution. Plans for a new drive-thru pasty shop in Cornwall have sparked outrage among locals who fear it will be so popular that traffic will grind to a halt. Residents in Penzance worry the demand of the baked favourite will attracts hoards of tourists and motorists causing roads to be constantly blocked due to the queuing traffic. They also fear they would be kept awake by the idling engines of late-night pasty eaters and argued the development should be blocked as it is 'easy enough to get a pasty round here.' Residents in Penzance worry the demand of the new shop (pictured in artist's impression) will attracts hoards of tourists and motorists and roads will be constantly blocked due to the queuing traffic The concerns have come to light after The Cornish Oven submitted a pre-planning application to the council for the proposed drive-thru shop in Penzance, Cornwall. Sarah Blight, who has lived in the area for 28 years, said: 'We really don't know how we will be able to enter and exit our road with the extra traffic that this proposal will bring. 'We already have pasty shops less than a quarter of a mile away. It really isn't hard to get a pasty locally. We must be allowed to have a quality of life where we live, surely. 'This proposal will make a huge impact on us with noise, traffic idling at the take-away, petrol pollution, extractor fans and lighting. They also fear they would be kept awake by the idling engines of late-night pasty eaters (stock image) 'If this proposal were to go ahead it would be catastrophic for highways with traffic jamming.' Fellow resident Patricia Groves added: 'This development is going to cause a huge traffic problem situated right next to a very busy roundabout. The area is already a traffic bottleneck at certain times of day. 'We already have two busy fast food outlets within a matter of a few hundred yards. 'I hope you consider the residents who have to live very near by. The increase in traffic will cause absolute chaos.' The submission to Cornwall Council by the Cornish Oven reads: 'There is no defining character or identity to the area; the industrial and retail estates and road dominate. 'As is typical of industrial and retail estates, there is little to no attempt to respond to the local vernacular, with the area being populated by blank, characterless and featureless buildings.' A decision on the application will be made at a future date. Since 2011 the Cornish Pasty has had Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status in Europe, and is traditionally filled with beef, sliced or diced potato, swede and onion and seasoned with salt and pepper, and is baked. The world's first Cornish pasty drive-thru also opened in Pool, Redruth in 2015. A secret insurance industry report has found Iran's Revolutionary Guards are 'highly likely' to have been behind a submarine drone attack on tankers in the Gulf. Last Sunday four tankers, including two Saudi ships off Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates were damaged, amid flaring tensions over Washington's sanctions on Tehran. Analysis of shrapnel fragments has found the assault was likely carried out by a boat operating close by which released underwater drones carrying 65-110lbs of high-grade explosives to detonate on impact. The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Norway are investigating the attacks, which also hit a UAE and a Norwegian-flagged vessel. UAE Navy boats are seen next to the Saudi tanker Al Marzoqah off the Port of Fujairah last week after it was struck - a confidential intelligence report says it was carried out by underwater drones deployed by the Iranians The damaged tanker Andrea Victory is seen off the Port of Fujairah, United Arab Emirates last week Iran's President Hassan Rouhani speaking during a government meeting in Tehran earlier this month - Tehran has ramped up its rhetoric against the Americans whose warships have been sent to the Gulf Earlier this month, Washington decided to try and cut Iranian oil exports to zero which has caused an escalation in rhetoric and threats of war from Tehran, as US warships patrol the Gulf. Iran has in the past threatened to block all exports through the Strait of Hormuz, through which an estimated fifth of the world's oil passes. According to The Norwegian Shipowners' Mutual War Risks Insurance Association (DNK), it was highly likely that the attacks had been intended to send a message to the United States and its allies that Iran did not need to block the Strait to disrupt freedom of navigation in the region. The Norwegian Shipowners' Mutual War Risks Insurance Association report was based on a number of factors: A high likelihood that the IRGC had previously supplied its allies, the Houthi militia fighting a Saudi-backed government in Yemen, with explosive-laden surface drone boats capable of homing in on GPS navigational positions for accuracy. The similarity of shrapnel found on the Norwegian tanker to shrapnel from drone boats used off Yemen by Houthis, even though the craft previously used by the Houthis were surface boats rather than the underwater drones likely to have been deployed in Fujairah. The fact that Iran and particularly the IRGC had recently threatened to use military force and that, against a militarily stronger foe, they were highly likely to choose 'asymmetric measures with plausible deniability.' DNK noted that the Fujairah attack had caused 'relatively limited damage' and had been carried out at a time when U.S. Navy ships were still en route to the Gulf. Advertisement DNK said Iran was also likely to continue similar low-scale attacks on merchant vessels in the coming period. Iranian officials and the Revolutionary Guards' spokesman were not available for comment. Tehran had already rejected allegations of involvement and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had said that 'extremist individuals' in the U.S. government were pursuing dangerous policies. No one claimed responsibility for the attacks. DNK's managing director Svein Ringbakken declined to comment, except to say that 'this is an internal and confidential report produced to inform shipowner members of the DNK about the incidents in Fujairah and the most likely explanation.' The UAE has not blamed anyone for the attack. Two U.S. government sources said this week that U.S. officials believed Iran had encouraged Houthi militants or Iraq-based Shi'ite militias to carry out the attack. In a joint letter seen by Reuters and sent to the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Norway said the attacks had been deliberate and could have resulted in casualties, spillages of oil or harmful chemicals. 'The attacks damaged the hulls of at least three of the vessels, threatened the safety and lives of those on board, and could have led to an environmental disaster,' the letter said. Port officials take a photo of the damaged tanker Andrea Victory at the Port of Fujairah, United Arab Emirates on Monday Last month, the United States designated the entire Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organisation. Washington had previously designated entities and individuals connected with the Revolutionary Guard, which controls vast segments of Iran's economy. Tehran responded by designating the regional United States Central Command (CENTCOM) as a terrorist organisation. German MPs have become the first in Europe to denounce the boycott of Israel as anti-Semitic after saying it was reminiscent of the Nazi-era slogan 'Don't buy from Jews'. The non-binding motion, passed on Friday, said the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign was 'reminiscent of the most terrible chapter in history'. It urges the German government not to support events organised by BDS or other groups that actively pursue its aims and vowed that parliament wouldn't finance any projects that call for a boycott of Israel or actively support the movement. German MPs have approved a resolution denouncing the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions movement against Israel and describing its methods as anti-Semitic The motion was brought by Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling Christian Democrat Union party and its coalition partners the Christian Social Union of Bavaria and the Social-Democratic Party. Two opposition parties also backed the motion, which passed by a large majority. Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said on Twitter that the motion represents 'an important step which we hope will be adopted by other European legislative bodies.' The BDS movement has grown in popularity overseas in recent years. It advocates boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israeli businesses, universities and cultural institutions. Comparing it to the past anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, supporters of BDS say it is using nonviolent means to resist unjust policies toward Palestinians. Israel says the movement masks its motives to delegitimise or destroy the Jewish state. The German motion stated that 'the pattern of argument and methods of the BDS movement are anti-Semitic.' 'The campaign's calls to boycott Israeli artists, along with stickers on Israeli goods that are meant to dissuade people from buying them, are also reminiscent of the most terrible phase of German history,' it added. 'The BDS movement's 'Don't Buy' stickers on Israeli products inevitably awake associations with the Nazi slogan 'Don't Buy from Jews!' and similar scrawls on facades and shop windows.' The lower house in Berlin voted down two rival motions. One, from the Eurosceptic Alternative for Germany party, or AfD, called for a ban on the BDS movement. The other, from the Left Party, condemned 'all anti-Semitism' in BDS calls for boycotts. AfD, which opposes immigration, has itself been accused of playing down Nazi crimes. Helge Lindh, a lawmaker with the governing Social Democrats, said: 'We clearly say no to AfD's cheap attempt to instrumentalise anti-Semitism for its anti-Muslim racism.' Advertisement A talented artist has been investigated by Trading Standards because his drawings were so good people thought they were made using an app. Professional artist John Fisher, 36, was visited at his home by two inspectors from the watchdog, who questioned him over the authenticity of the highly detailed pencil drawings which he does on commission. An anonymous source reported Mr Fisher from South Ayrshire claiming he was 'scamming' people by using an app to produce his work, including portraits and landscapes, Professional artist John Fisher, 36, has been investigated by Trading Standards after someone thought his lifelike drawings were being made with an app His attention to detail and realism such as this drawing of Clint Eastwood prompted the anonymous source to get in touch with Trading Standards But the artist showed the officers examples of his photo-realistic artwork and it didn't take long to convince them that it was genuine. He said: 'They had a complaint about my artwork and said they'd been told it's not pencil and that I was using an app and trying to scam people. 'I invited them inside and showed them sketches and even rubbed some bits out to show them it was real pencil. The source said Mr Fisher was 'scamming' people by pretending the pictures were his own, a mistake which could have cost him business Mr Fisher had to show the Trading Standards inspectors the pictures were done by pencil and he rubbed some of it off to prove. Pictured: an Angela Lansbury work in progress, left, and completed, right 'I asked if there was anything else I could show them but they said it was pretty black and white it was pencil drawings.' Despite quickly dispelling any doubts over his artwork, John said the malicious report could have deterred customers and cost him his business, which he runs from an attic studio. His incredibly detailed work is often mistaken for photographs because it is so realistic. Mr Fisher said: 'It's always a bit of an annoyance that someone would go to that length without doing a bit of homework first. 'People should at least back up what they're saying because that sort of thing could cost me business.' Nearly two years ago John gave up his job as a chef to turn his talent into a full-time business. Nearly two years ago John, pictured here in a self-portrait, gave up his job as a chef to turn his talent into a full-time business Family portraits are one of the most popular things he is asked to draw and he said he only draws from photographs, not real life Having spent his weekends working at a bistro more than 100 miles away in Argyll, Mr Fisher quit the kitchen after his father John, 54, convinced him to pursue art. He said: 'I'd been gradually reducing my hours in the kitchen then took the plunge. 'I was working with my dad at the weekends and getting four-and-a-half hour buses and coming back on Mondays to work at a hotel in Ayr. 'It was pretty scary at first, you're taking a big risk and obviously a big drop in your income, but I was a bit fed up of kitchens. 'There was only so many commissions I could do while chefing so I had to get a feel if I could get enough work in.' An officer from Trading Standards left their card with the artist after the unexpected visit. Mr Fisher said: 'I invited them inside and showed them sketches and even rubbed some bits out to show them it was real pencil' The artist, who has drawn pictures ranging from the late comic book hero Stan Lee to a white horse, said he struggled during the first few months but he is gaining attention online Despite initially struggling to find his feet, Mr Fisher is now selling his works across the UK and has more than 2,000 social media followers. He said: 'For the first couple of months I struggled a bit but I posted a lot online and got commissions through sharing fresh work. 'At this point it's 50-50 between stuff being sent around Scotland and down to England.' The talented artist, who said horses, dogs and family portraits are the most popular things he is asked to draw, has also been in contact with celebrities. Mr Fisher, who draws from photographs, said his works can take him between hours to days to complete. He said: 'I can't draw from life, people would be sitting for days - it'd be impossible. A Trading Standards spokesman said: 'Our Trading Standards team is there to protect consumers, so if we receive information that products/services are possibly being sold under false pretences, we will carry out an investigation. 'We will generally visit the registered premises and if we are satisfied that everything is above board, then no further action will be taken.' Jeremy Hunt has warned all citizens holding dual British and Iranian nationality to avoid travelling to Iran because of 'an intolerable risk of mistreatment' at the hands of its ruling regime. The Foreign Secretary hit out at the situation in the hardline Islamic state days after a female Iranian British Council worker was jailed for 10 years after being accused of spying for the UK. Aras Amiri, 32, was arrested in March last year after visiting her home country to see her ailing grandmother. The British Council has said it firmly rejects the allegations against her. It is one of a number of similar cases, the most high profile being that of the Anglo-Iranian mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe who has been held since 2106, also on spying charges which she denies. And Mr Hunt's warning comes amid rising tensions between Tehran and Western powers - most notably the United States, over sanctions. Mr Hunt said today: 'Dual nationals face an intolerable risk of mistreatment if they visit Iran' British Council employee Aras Amiri, a 32-year-old Iranian national, was arrested in March last year in Iran. She was identified by her family as the woman jailed for 'spying' Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe with her daughter Gabriella. She is serving a five-year prison sentence after being convicted in 2016 of spying charges, which she denies Mr Hunt said today: 'Dual nationals face an intolerable risk of mistreatment if they visit Iran. 'Despite the UK providing repeated opportunities to resolve this issue, the Iranian regime's conduct has worsened. 'Having exhausted all other options, I must now advise all British-Iranian dual nationals against traveling to Iran. 'Regrettably, I must also offer a message of caution to Iranian nationals resident in the UK but who return to visit family and friends especially where the Iranian government may perceive them to have personal links to UK institutions or the British government.' The USS Abraham Lincoln and its carrier group has arrived in the Arabian Sea after it was hastily dispatched following what the US called an 'imminent threat' from Iran (pictured, the carrier is seen on May 8) American aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln has arrived in the Arabian Sea after what Washington called an 'imminent threat' from Iran. The carrier and its strike group, comprised of four vessels including destroyers and cruisers, arrived two weeks ahead of schedule after being hastily redirected from operations in the Mediterranean, Fox News reported. Meanwhile the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard said the country's missiles can 'easily reach warships' in the Middle East, amid a standoff between Tehran and Washington. The Guard's deputy chief in charge of parliamentary affairs, Mohammad Saleh Jokar, said Iran's short-range missiles with a range of 1,250 miles are capable of targeting any point within the region. Washington has already warned shipping companies that 'Iran or its proxies' could be targeting maritime traffic in the Persian Gulf. A Greek far-left extremist is in intensive care following a 15-day hunger strike that has triggered violent protests by political sympathisers. Dimitris Koufodinas, who was an assassin for the far-left November 17 terrorist group, has claimed 'political responsibility' for the group's acts. Koufodinas was moved to intensive care for monitoring Friday in a hospital in the central town of Volos, Greece. Dimitris Koufodinas, who was an assassin for the far-left November 17 terrorist group, has claimed 'political responsibility' for the group's acts. Koufodinas' lawyer, Ioanna Kourtovik, said he could suffer kidney failure 'at any moment' Koufodinas, 61, has vowed to continue his hunger strike 'to the end' unless authorities allow him a new temporary prison leave. November 17 killed 23 people from 1975-2000, including Americans and other foreign diplomats. Koufodinas was convicted in 2003 and is serving 11 life terms. He had been granted six furloughs since late 2017, but last week judges ruled that he still poses a threat to society and should not be let out temporarily. These brief leaves from prison, combined with Koufodinas' transferal from a maximum-security Athens jail to a laxer unit near Volos, have been criticized as unduly lenient by relatives of November 17's victims and U.S. authorities. Koufodinas' lawyer, Ioanna Kourtovik, said he could suffer kidney failure 'at any moment.' 'His health has deteriorated rapidly, and he is in danger of suffering irreversible damage,' she told The Associated Press. Kourtovik added that, according to doctors, Koufodinas has not fully recovered from a two-week hunger strike last summer, again held to press for a furlough which he eventually received. Greece's top prosecutor has asked to be briefed on the grounds for the rejection of Koufodinas' furlough request, and on the state of his health. Koufodinas' cause has been strongly backed by Greek anarchist groups, who have mounted a series of attacks to show their support - including throwing firebombs at Athens police stations, vandalizing shops and banks, and throwing paint at the U.S. ambassador's central Athens residence. Anarchists have also held marches in several Greek cities, and plan a new motorcycle protest in central Athens Saturday. Lindsey Halstead, 29, a former gym and substitute teacher from upstate New York, has been charged with sexual misconduct and endangering the welfare of a child involving her 16-year-old male student A former psychical education teacher from upstate New York has been charged with having sex with her 16-year-old student after contacting him on Snapchat and sending him nude selfies. Lindsey Halstead, 29, of East Bloomfield, was arrested on Tuesday on two counts of sexual misconduct and one count of endangering the welfare of a child, but New York State Police say additional charges are pending. Halstead was a gym teacher with the Waterloo School District from September of 2014 through February 2018, when she left to take a job as a long-term substitute teacher at the Midlakes School District. She was fired by the district in April 2018, after just three months. According to court documents obtained by WROC, the victim had been Halsteads student at Waterloo High School. Just weeks after she quit to become a substitute teacher, she reached out to the teen on Snapchat. State police say Halstead met the victim while teaching physical education at Waterloo High School (pictured) between 2014 and 2018 In an interview with police, the 16-year-old said that Halstead sent him nude photos of herself and asked if he was going to send her something in return. During their exchanges on Snapchat, the 29-year-old educator allegedly arranged for them to meet in person in early November 2018. The boy said Halstead picked him up in her SUV at a Waterloo library and drove him to a location behind the Hampton Inn in Seneca Falls, where the pair had sex in the back seat. In November 2018, Halstead allegedly picked up the boy in Waterloo, New York, drove him to a spot behind this Hampton Inn hotel in Seneca Falls and had sex with him in the backseat After the intercourse, the boy recalled that Halstead seemed upbeat. 'I was pretty quiet and I just said a few words, he was quoted as telling investigators of his post-coital demeanor. The 16-year-old subsequently blocked Halstead on Snapchat. She allegedly began harassing him on Instagram, so he blocked her there too. According to the court papers, Halstead was asking the teen if he told anyone about what happened. State police are looking into the possibly there may be other victims. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin defied a congressional subpoena seeking six years of President Donald Trump's tax returns on Friday, all but guaranteeing a federal court battle with Congress over the records. In a widely expected move, Mnuchin rejected a demand for the documents from House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, saying the panel lacks 'a legitimate legislative purpose' for obtaining the tax records that Democrats view as critical to their efforts to investigate Trump and his presidency. 'We are unable to provide the requested information in response to the committee's subpoena,' Mnuchin said in a letter to Neal, released ahead of a 5 p.m. Eastern deadline for delivering the documents. Neal later issued a statement, saying he was 'consulting with counsel on how best to enforce the subpoenas moving forward.' Hours earlier, the Democratic chairman had said he was inclined to turn to federal court to obtain Trump's tax returns, if the administration missed the deadline. 'We will likely proceed to court as quickly as next week,' Neal had told reporters. Another subpoena defied: Trump's tax returns are not being handed over to the House Ways and Means Committee Middle finger to Democrats: 'We are unable to provide the requested information in response to the committee's subpoena,' Mnuchin said in a letter to the House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal How he did it: The letter Mnuchin sent to Richard Neal on Friday - saying that Attorney General Bill Barr's Justice Department will publish its legal opinion on why he should defy the order Asked whether he would also pursue contempt charges against administration officials, Neal told reporters: 'I don't see that right now as an option. I think that the better option for us is to proceed with a court case.' Trump's refusal to cooperate in numerous congressional probes of him, his family and his presidency is forcing Democrats, who control the House of Representatives, to look to the courts to enforce their oversight powers under the U.S. Constitution. The likely decision to avoid contempt proceedings disappointed some Democrats on Neal's tax panel. 'This is a way for some congressmen to go south on the issue: leave it to the courts. It really absents us from our responsibilities,' said Representative Bill Pascrell, who helped lead the push to obtain Trump's tax returns. Unlike Neal, other top Democrats faced with administration defiance over inquiries have moved toward contempt charges. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler's panel voted last week to recommend that the House cite Attorney General William Barr with contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena for U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller's unredacted Russia investigation report. Trump's decision to assert executive privilege over Mueller-related material last week has stymied efforts by Democrats to get current and former members of the executive branch to testify, including Mueller himself, according to congressional aides. Refused: Richard Neal, the House Ways and Means Committee chairman, said the Democrats' next move will be in court next week Democrats had sought to have Mueller testify by May 23, but sources familiar with the matter said on Friday that Mueller was unlikely to appear before the committee. Democrats could move forward with more contempt citations as early as next week. Nadler has threatened to hold former White House counsel Don McGahn in contempt, if he fails to show up for a hearing slated for Tuesday. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff is also planning 'enforcement action' against the Justice Department over a separate Mueller-related subpoena. Democratic leaders are considering bundling separate contempt citations into a single House of Representatives package to bring to a floor vote later this year. On Wednesday, White House counsel Pat Cipollone sent a letter to Nadler, saying Congress has no right to conduct a 'do-over' of Mueller's Russia probe, and that it would not participate in his committee's investigation. But congressional pressure on Trump is only expected to intensify. Schiff's committee meets on Monday to release closed-door testimony by former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, who is in prison. Cohen talked to the panel in March about issues including Trump's involvement in pursuing a Moscow tower project during the 2016 presidential election. Trump at the time publicly denied any links to Russia. On Thursday, House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings announced another probe into the Trump administration, targeting what Cummings called 'secret ethics waivers' allowing political appointees to continue working on matters they worked on before entering government. In a statement, Cummings said he had requested that the administration turn over copies of waivers for political appointees to let them conduct official business, despite potential conflicts of interest. A Zimbabwean fisherman has been killed by a crocodile that reportedly devoured his penis. Paul Nyamhanza, 27, of Hopley in Harare, was killed near Beatrice in Mashonaland, some 34 miles (54 km) southwest of the capital. He was casting nets for fish with his younger brother Jeremiah, 19, at the Elladale Farm Dam when the reptile attacked him, Bulawayo 24 reported on Thursday. Paul Nyamhanza, 27, of Harare was attacked and killed by a crocodile while casting his nets. Park rangers found his body with his penis missing When Zimparks rangers recovered his body later they found his penis had been bitten off. Mashonaland East provincial police spokesperson Inspector Tendai Mwanza confirmed the grisly circumstances of Mr Nyamhanza's death. 'I confirm the death of a man from Hopley in Harare, who was attacked by a crocodile at a dam in Beatrice,' he said. 'The deceased was in the company of another adult man casting their fishing nets when he was attacked by the reptile.' Inspector Mwanza warned fishermen and others to stay away from waters where crocodiles are known to lurk. A master forger has claimed he is the man behind a 'Picasso' painting thought to be worth 1 million - but was bought for just 230. The 'early version of Picasso's Seated Bather', was bought by antiques collector Philip Stapleton at a car boot sale months ago and he decided to try to auction it off. He initially thought it was a fake and left it at home - but he took it to Brighton and Hove Auction Rooms in East Sussex, where experts said it could be real. They say it could be an early draft of the 1930 painting by the world-renowned Spanish artist because it has a signature on the back which appears to have been penned many years ago. It is believed to have been produced between 1915 and 1918. But now David Henty, a famous master forger who has made a living out of selling art for thousands - including replicas of Picasso's work - insists he is behind it. The painting is set to go under the hammer at the Brighton and Hove Auctions on June 7 David Henty claimed he is the man behind the 'Picasso' painting thought to be worth 1 million - but was bought for just 230 Henty told the Brighton Argus newspaper: 'It's definitely mine. It's just one I gave away about three years ago. 'The inscriptions on the back give it away - the stencils and the Roland Penrose bit. I had another similar one I gave to a friend a while ago. 'I only did it for a bit of fun. I wasn't planning on selling it, I just painted it for pleasure.' He said the auction house has not tried to authenticate the work, adding: 'There's no reserve on a painting that they claim is worth one million pounds. You wonder if they've done due diligence on it.' Philip Stapleton, from Crawley, West Sussex, assumed the piece was a good fake. Rosie May, of Brighton and Hove Auctions, spotted four tell tale hallmarks that could indicate the piece is a genuine study painting by Pablo Picasso (pictured: Rosie May and auctioneer Andrew Potter) Mr Stapleton bought the painting at a car boot sale in Crawley, West Sussex, and also on the back of it is a message addressed to Roland Penrose - a close friend of Picasso's who lived in the East Sussex village of Chiddingly. He previously told the Brighton Argus: 'I've been collecting antiques for a few years, but I rarely pick up artwork. 'I just had a good feeling about it. At first it looked like a fake. I picked it up and looked at the back and there was an inscription at the bottom that interested me. Even if it was a fake I thought it was worth buying. 'But now everything seems to add up to it being real. It could be phenomenal. Five thousand pounds is a lot of money to me, I'd be happy with that. It could bomb out on the day or go for far more.' Mr Henty told the Brighton Argus newspaper that the painting was 'definitely his' Ms May pointed out four tell-tale signs that could indicate the piece is genuine - including faint writing on the back. 'We took the back off and on the back of the actual painting in very faint pencil you can clearly see the Picasso signature,' she said 'It's a later signature now and a message in pencil and you can make out the word ''To Roland'' and a date,' she added Hitting back at Henty's claims, Rosie May, of Brighton and Hove Auction Rooms, said: 'It's great if it's true. It's a mystery solved. But he's made money out of lying about paintings, so I don't believe a word he says. 'I'm not surprised he's said it's his. If I wanted to know my bank details I'd listen to my bank manager over Ronnie Biggs. But I think it's sad to stamp on someone's possibility of good fortune.' Ms May previously said: 'First of all we dismissed as someone had copied a Picasso and put it in a frame. But Ms May added: 'We can't authenticate it, other than having paint analysis done on it, but that costs thousands' 'The signature did not sit well with me, the Seated Bather is 1930s and this was an early signature. 'But it caught our attention and we looked on the back and in very faint writing it said the words ''Roland Penrose Estate.'' 'She said there was so much circumstantial evidence that it is likely genuine - and if it was authenticated it would be worth roughly 750,000. But she added: 'We can't authenticate it, other than having paint analysis done on it, but that costs thousands. Large Picassos go for 2.5million. 'Because its a study, because of the history with it and the messages its about 750,000. 'The owner is not willing to pay out thousands to have the further authenticity done and is happy to see what it goes for in our auction. 'Art collectors quite often are happy to spend a lot of money on the off chance it might be. 'We would hope for between 10,000 and 50,000. It's really exciting because we are relatively small auction house. He said he's a man of his word and he would leave it with us and he has.' The painting is set to go under the hammer at the Brighton and Hove Auctions on June 7. Georgia residents are by law allowed to hunt up to three 'gobblers per season' Carter said his main concern was that the shooting season was ending and he had not yet reached his 'limit' He fell and broke his hip earlier this week on the way to a turkey shoot 39th US President expected to teach at Maranatha Baptist Church this week Former President Jimmy Carter is expected to get back to teaching Sunday school days after breaking his hip. The 94-year-old fell at his home while on the way to a turkey shoot earlier this week. Carter has spent most Sundays since his retirement in the 1980s attending Maranatha Baptist Church and leading the Sunday school in his home state of Georgia. In a statement, the Carter Center said: 'President Carter was released from Phoebe Sumter Medical Center today and will continue to recuperate at home. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter speaks to the congregation at Maranatha Baptist Church before his injury. He also teaches Sunday school at the church in his hometown of Plains, Georgia The accident came just a month after Carter went hunting with Tyler Jordan, who features on the show Realtree Outdoors with his father Bill on the Outdoor Channel 'He will undergo physical therapy, as part of his recovery from hip replacement surgery. President Carter plans to teach Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church this weekend.' Carter immediately underwent surgery to repair his hip, with wife of 72 years Rosalynn Carter by his side. It was also revealed that the former First Lady had to be treated in hospital during the Mr Carter's stay. President Donald Trump wished the former Commander in Chief well, saying that 'he will be fine!' in his recovery from a broken hip Jimmy Carter's office sent out a light-hearted statement about the accident, saying that the 94-year-old's only concern was that the turkey shooting season was ending 'Yesterday, former First Lady Rosalynn Carter felt faint and was admitted overnight to the hospital for observation and testing. She left the hospital with President Carter this morning,' the Carter Center announced. 'Both President and Mrs. Carter extend their thanks to the many people who sent well wishes the past few days.' But it seems the serious injury was far from the Nobel Peace Prize winner's mind. Instead, Carter revealed that his 'main concern' was that turkey season was ending this week and 'he has not reached his limit'. Georgia state residents are by law allowed to hunt up to three of the 'gobblers per season'. A statement said that Carter 'hopes the state of Georgia will allow him to roll over the unused limit to next year'. The accident comes just a month after Carter went hunting with Tyler Jordan, who features on the show Realtree Outdoors with his father Bill on the Outdoor Channel. Several presidential hopefuls including Democratic candidate Pete Buttigieg (right, with husband Chasten Glezman, left, and Carter) have stopped by to listen in on Carter's Sunday schools Jordan posted a photo of him and Jimmy with a turkey, smiling wide and dressed in head-to-toe camouflage. '94 years old and bustin' beaks!' Jordan wrote in the caption. 'An unforgettable morning in the woods with President Carter at Realtree Farms.' The one-term Commander-in-Chief has remained very active throughout his retirement, and recently became the oldest living president following the death of George H W Bush Snr. But health concerns have plagued the last few years. Carter announced in August 2015 that he had melanoma that had spread to his liver and brain. After a successful round of treatment with immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab, doctors said his scans no longer showed any signs of cancer in December 2015. The ex-Georgia peanut farmer continues to enjoy his retirement, and is still valued on the political landscape. Even presidential hopefuls have stopped by at Carter's Sunday school class, with runners Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris, and Amy Klobuchar all sitting to listen to the Democrat. The former president has taken on volunteer projects like Habitat for Humanity, which hosts an annual Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project to renovate or build homes in the United States or internationally. This is the moment two cafe workers have a lucky escape when a bungling woman driver crashes a huge SUV through the front of the building. CCTV footage shows one of the cafe workers desperately scrambling to get out of the car's path as its plows through tables in the small eatery. The incident took place in the city of Rosario in the north-central Argentine province of Santa Fe when the cafe was still closed to the public. According to reports, the woman, who appears elderly in the footage, is believed to have stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake pedal by mistake and lost control of the vehicle. Two workers can be seen cleaning the cafe as a white SUV turns into the entrance. However, as the vehicle straightens, it appears to accelerate sharply and crashes straight through the front of the building. The cafe workers look up in horror to see the white SUV being driven through the front of the cafe, which was closed to the public at the time of the incident The glass frontage is completely ripped off as the car makes its way through the first set of tables and appears to hit one of the workers The woman driver smashes into tables and chairs and knocks a female worker onto a chair which slides across the wooden floor. She quickly stands up to get out of the way, but almost gets hits again as the car lurches forward. As the worker tries to calm herself, the confused driver attempts to push tables out of the way to open her car door. A female worker is knocked onto a chair by the car which then slides across the floor of the cafe from the force of impact. As the car then stops, the worker jumps up to try to get out of the way The car lurches forward again as the worker hugs the wall to avoid being run over. The confused female driver then attempts to shove the car door open while it is blocked by tables and chairs According to reports, the employees called the emergency services and police and paramedics arrived on the scene. Miriam, the female worker seen in the clip, told local media that the driver did not even ask how she was after the accident. She said: 'I was shocked. I spent 40 minutes with the ambulance staff who treated me. In all that time, she never came over to ask me anything.' The driver's children reportedly arrived after the accident and asked paramedics to treat their mother. It is unclear whether the police are investigating the incident. Germany has vowed to pay compensation of up to 10,000 euros ($11,000) each to victims of the former Nazi paedophile sect 'Colonia Dignidad' in Chile. The news came the week after German prosecutors dropped their case against the sect's former doctor Hartmut Hopp, 74, citing a lack of evidence that he was complicit in the sexual abuse of children. The sect was founded in 1961 by Paul Schaefer, a former Wehrmacht soldier, lay preacher and convicted paedophile, who abused, drugged and indoctrinated residents and kept them as virtual slaves. His group had close ties to the 1973-1990 dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet and would torture and 'disappear' regime critics. Germany has vowed to pay compensation of up to 10,000 euros ($11,000) each to victims of the former Nazi paedophile sect 'Colonia Dignidad' in Chile. The news came the week after German prosecutors dropped their case against the sect's former doctor Hartmut Hopp (pictured in 2000), 74, citing a lack of evidence that he was complicit in the sexual abuse of children Pictured in 2005: Paul Schaefer, a one-eyed former Nazi soldier who founded the commune in 1961 Relatives of disappeared prisoners asking for the whereabouts of their missed family members during a demonstration at the grounds of Colonia Dignidad in October 1997 A German boy rides his bicycle in Villa Baviera or Bavaria Village, formerly known as Colonia Dignidad, Chile in 2016 Pictured: The Colonia Dignidad commune in Chile, which was the scene of child sex abuse for over thirty years Eligible for the payments will be some 240 German and Chilean survivors, including about 80 who now live in Germany, from a fund valued at an initial 3.5 million euros until 2024. Some will also receive pension-style payments. A long-time campaigner for the victims, German Greens lawmaker Renate Kuenast, labelled the payments largely 'symbolic' but 'acceptable'. The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights however charged that Germany's foreign ministry was 'dodging its legal responsibility to compensate the victims' more fully, adding that 'many Chilean victims were left out'. A German government and parliamentary committee in its report said Friday that Schaefer 'tore families apart, abused countless children and actively collaborated with Pinochet dictatorship henchmen on torture, murder and disappearances. 'The survivors still suffer massively from the severe psychological and physical consequences after years of harm caused by violence, abuse, exploitation and slave labour.' Schaefer boarding a Chilean Air Force Plane in Buenos Aires in 2005 after he was expelled from Argentina to Chile where he was sought for eight years and charged in absentia for child abuse However, it also said that the German government 'is of the opinion that no legal claims against the Federal Republic of Germany have arisen' from the abuses in Colonia Dignidad. The support measures for victims would be paid 'exclusively out of moral responsibility and without recognition of a legal obligation', it said. Germany's President Frank-Walter Steinmeier had acknowledged in 2016, when he was foreign minister, that 'for many years ... German diplomats at best looked the other way - and clearly did not do enough for the protection of their compatriots in this colony'. The scale of the atrocities committed at the fenced-in mountain commune 350 kilometres (215 miles) south of Santiago came to light only after the end of Pinochet's regime. Schaefer, having initially run from justice, was arrested in Argentina in 2005 and then jailed in Chile for child sexual and other abuses. He died behind bars in 2010 at the age of 88. His right-hand man Hopp, who ran the compound's clinic, was convicted in Chile of complicity in Schaefer's sex crimes but fled to Germany in 2011 before the court ruling could be imposed. A German court initially upheld the jail sentence but a higher court, and state prosecutors, have since found that the evidence provided by the Chilean court fell short of that required by German justice. Missouris Republican-led House has passed legislation designed to survive court challenges, which would ban abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy. If enacted, the ban would be among the most restrictive in the U.S. It includes exceptions for medical emergencies, but not for pregnancies caused by rape or incest. Doctors would face five to 15 years in prison for violating the eight-week cutoff. Women who receive abortions would not be prosecuted. Republican governor Mike Parson is expected to sign the bill. Abortion-rights supporters in the Missouri House chamber chanted, 'When you lie, people die' before being ejected. Representatives voted 110-44 for the bill. The Missouri legislation comes days after Alabamas governor signed a bill making performing an abortion a crime in nearly all cases. Moment it passed: The Republican-dominated Missouri House voted 110-44 for the bill Drama: The chamber was hit by protests as voting took place Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday slammed Democrat-led states for what he called 'extreme' pro-abortion laws, following the passage of an Alabama anti-abortion bill that critics have similarly labeled as extreme Protests: Pro-choice groups launched a protest in the halls outside the House chamber in the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City Over to you: Republican governor Mike Parson now has to decide whether to sign the bill into law. He is on the record as pro-life - although in Ohio, John Kasich previously vetoed an abortion law despite being personally pro-life because of the huge cost of litigation which would ensue and what he said was the certainty of it being overturned WILL REPUBLICANS GET TO CHALLENGE ROE V. WADE AT SUPREME COURT? The growing list of 'heartbeat' abortion bans are designed openly to get the Supreme Court to reconsider Roe v. Wade, with many Republicans gambling that a 5-4 conservative bench would overturn it. But is that the case? Here is how the case may - or may not - reach the Supreme Court. ROUND ONE: LITIGATE IN STATE COURTS The outcome does not matter too much in legal terms because the aim is to get to: ROUND TWO: PRO-CHOICE CHALLENGE Each of the laws passed by the states is going to be challenged in the local federal court by pro-choice groups, with Planned Parenthood and the ACLU litigating some already and getting ready for more. The heartbeat bills are fairly clearly incompatible with Roe v. Wade so it is likely a federal judge would first grant an injunction against them to keep them from being enacted, and order a full-scale hearing. This could be the pro-life movement's first chance to ask for a Supreme Court hearing, by appealing the injunction rather than waiting for a full trial in a federal court. Or they could wait for a trial - but either way the next stage is: ROUND TWO: FEDERAL APPEALS COURT All federal cases can be appealed to the next level - a federal appeals court. The country is divided into 12 geographical circuits and some swing liberal, some conservative. The best bet for the pro-life group to force a Supreme Court hearing is to get an appeal into a liberal circuit, where judges are likely to vote down a heartbeat bill. Cases are heard by three judges and can be appealed to the entire bench of the circuit. Missouri is in the liberal-leaning Eighth Circuit, so if its bill becomes law, look here for a challenge which would come from the state or its pro-life supporters going to the next stage: ROUND THREE: PETITION THE SUPREME COURT - AND GET JOHN ROBERTS ON SIDE Anyone involved in a federal appeals case can petition the Supreme Court to ask for review of the outcome. But the tricky part for the pro-life movement is that the Supreme Court is not compelled to take up a petition. So assuming a heartbeat bill has been blocked by an appeals court, the pro-life petitioners have to find a way to get a majority of the justices to agree to hear their appeal. That means getting Chief Justice John Roberts - the swing vote - to agree to hear the case. But he has made clear since his confirmation hearing that he wants a court respected by all sides and seen as above politics. So it is an uphill task to persuade him not to do the simple thing: keep the hypothetical block on the heartbeat bill in place without a hearing, ending the process without a public and divisive airing of the issues. Exactly that scenario has already happened in North Dakota, whose restrictive laws got struck down by the liberal Eighth Circuit. The Roberts court simply declined to intervene. But assuming a pro-life lobbyist or state, or group of states, succeeds in getting Roberts to agree to a hearing, the next challenge is: ROUND FOUR: WHAT EXACTLY WILL THE JUSTICES REVIEW? Just because the justices have taken up the case a pro-life lobby group want to push doesn't mean their dream of a full-scale Roe v. Wade challenge is anywhere near complete. The justices can look as widely or narrowly at the issue as they want, so could consider a detail in the case rather than looking at abortion in full. Roberts has been a 'gradualist' before, on issues such as gay marriage, so he might guide the court to consider far narrower issues. Examples could include allowing states to make licensing of abortion clinics more difficult, or restricting reasons for having an abortion, such as banning Down Syndrome diagnosis as a reason for termination. Pro-choice groups fear the most likely outcome of the heartbeat bills is not sweeping new abortion bans, but Roberts leading the conservatives to allow more restrictions to stay in place state-by-state without Roe v. Wade being overturned. Advertisement GOP-dominated state legislatures have been emboldened by the possibility that a more conservative Supreme Court could overturn its landmark ruling legalizing abortions. 'Pro-life state lawmakers and activists saw the shift on the Court, 'Mallory Quigley, a spokesperson for the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List, told DailyMail.com.' Vice President Mike Pence said Thursday that Democrats in some states are enacting 'extreme' laws expanding the availability of abortions, at a time when Republicans elsewhere are drawing fire for trying to completely ban the procedure. 'Sadly, many states around the country are ... adopting extreme pro-abortion legislation,' Pence told reporters in Wisconsin. He singled out New York for what he said was an 'embrace' of late-term abortion. The vice president is a former Indiana governor and congressman who won his elections on the strength of unwavering conservative credentials, including his strict evangelical Christian views. This week Alabama's governor Kay Ivey signed legislation that bans all abortions except those performed to protect a pregnant woman's health. The law doesn't carve out exceptions for pregnancies cause by rape or incest. Answering a direct question about those new restrictions, the nation's tightest, Pence said he is 'proud to be part of pro-life administration.' 'I know many states around the country are embracing life,' he added. Quigley said state legislators across America have introduced more than 250 pro-life bills so far this year. 'One thing that hasnt been reported is that other blue states were supposed to follow after New York but the abortion lobby hasnt seen much success,' she said. 'New Mexico had a similar ... bill that failed, thanks to pro-life Democrats, Illinois efforts have stalled, so too Rhode Island. The Democratic Party has become too extreme on abortion even for its own base.' Pence also complained Thursday about Democrats in the U.S. Senate who have blocked the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act in procedural votes. The bill would guarantee medical attention for children born alive after failed abortion attempts. All but three Senate Democrats voted against it in February. Its language requires doctors and other healthcare professionals to 'exercise the same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence to preserve the life and health of the child' as they would to 'any other child born alive at the same gestational age.' Senate Democrats killed the bill in February, arguing that it was an unwarranted attack on abortion rights. 'Frankly, the fact that the United States Senate today refuses even to vote on a bill that would protect children that are born alive is deeply troubling to millions of Americans,' Pence said Thursday. President George W. Bush enacted a similar law in 2002, which guaranteed legal and civil rights to babies born alive after botched abortions. It defines such a child as a 'person' and a 'human being.' The law also defines a 'born alive' infant as one with a heartbeat, breath, voluntary muscle movement or a pulsating umbilical cord. Missouri's Republican-led Senate passed a wide-ranging bill on Thursday that bans abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy, acting only hours after Alabama's near-total abortion ban became law and began a six-month countdown to taking effect. The Missouri bill needs another vote of approval in the GOP-led House before it can go to Republican Gov. Mike Parson, who has voiced support for an earlier version. It includes exceptions for medical emergencies, but not for pregnancies caused by rape or incest. Doctors would face five to 15 years in prison for violating the eight-week cutoff. Women who receive abortions wouldn't be prosecuted. Pence has been an unapologetically pro-life conservative during his time in Congress, as Indiana governor, and now as vice president; that has angered anti-abortion protesters who see the Trump years as a period of wandering in the political wilderness Anti-abortion protesters are hopefully awaiting a day when Roe v. Wade can be reopened in light of 46 years of shifting public sentiments on abortion rights, and new legislation in Alabama, Missouri and other states could be the catalyst The U.S. Supreme Court could soon see abortion on the docket again as lawsuits targeting the new Alabama and Missouri laws work their way through federal courts This photograph released by the state shows Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signing a bill that virtually outlaws abortion in the state on Wednesday Republican Senate handler Sen. Andrew Koenig described it on Thursday as 'one of the strongest' abortion bills yet passed in the U.S. Missouri U.S. Senator Josh Hawley, a conservative who replaced liberal Claire McCaskill this year, said Thursday on 'Fox & Friends' that the wave of abortion bills is a backlash against more and more permissive laws that have gone over the edge. 'Its a direct response to the extremism weve seen in places like New York and Virginia,' Hawley said. 'It's just incredible the extremism that we're seeing. And I think you're seeing these states responding.' 'Democrat politicians are actually advocating abortion in the final weeks of pregnancy,' Hawley said. 'These are policies that only a few countries in the world like Iran, like China allow. Weve got to stop this kind of extremism.' Hawley said he believes Roe v. Wade was 'wrongly decided,' and that individual states should be free to make their own reproductive rights laws. Outnumbered Missouri Senate Democrats launched into an attack on the bill before Republican supporters had a chance to bring it up for debate on the Senate floor. 'So much of this bill is just shaming women into some kind of complacency that says we are vessels of pregnancy rather than understanding that women's lives all hold different stories,' St. Louis-area Democratic Sen. Jill Schupp said. Missouri is among a growing number of states where abortion opponents are working with renewed enthusiasm following President Donald Trump's appointment of more conservative high court justices. Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio and Georgia have approved bans on abortion once fetal cardiac activity can be detected, which can occur in about the sixth week of pregnancy. Similar restrictions in North Dakota and Iowa have been struck down in court. Supporters say the Alabama bill is intentionally designed to conflict with the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationally in hopes of sparking a court case that might prompt the justices to revisit abortion rights. Missouri's bill also includes an outright ban on abortions except in cases of medical emergencies. But unlike Alabama's, it would kick in only if Roe v. Wade is overturned. A Chinese woman suspected of swindling 14 million yuan (1.6 million) out of more than 190 people has been arrested by police after she revealed her location in a live-stream video. The suspect, surnamed Zhang, who had fled to Myanmar, inadvertently turned herself in last month when she filmed herself and posted the clip on short video app Tik Tok. 'Hello babies, I heard that the whole world is looking for me. I'm right here!' she gloats while laughing into the camera. The suspect, surnamed Zhang, who had fled to Myanmar, inadvertently turned herself last month when she filmed herself and posted the clip on short video app Tik Tok Police have been looking for the woman since October, when she was reported to the authorities for running shell companies and illegal fundraising. Together with three other people, Zhang had targeted elderly people or those who had become wealthy from property demolition compensation schemes, promising them an interest of between 1.3 per cent and 2 per cent for their investment, Guiyang police in Guizhou province said in a statement on Monday. However, none of her companies, including a wine business and a wealth management house, operated legally, police said. Buy the time officers started investigating, Zhang had already fled the country. 'Hello babies, I heard that the whole world is looking for me. I'm right here!' Zhang gloats Police were able to arrest Zhang's three accomplices, they were unable to locate her - until they saw the live-stream video While police were able to arrest Zhang's three accomplices, they were couldn't locate her - until they saw the video online. One officer recognised the background of the video as somewhere in Myanmar, according to state broadcaster CCTV. With the help of Myanmar authorities, Zhang was arrested at a casino in April and was brought back to China for investigations. The Chinese government has stepped up efforts to hunt overseas criminals in the past five years, according to South China Morning Post. From 2014 to December 2018, China has hunted down more than 5000 fugitives from 120 territories and recovered more than 10 billion yuan (1.1 billion) of illicit assets, CCTV said. The Michigan judge who opened up her courtroom to all of Larry Nassar's victims at his sentencing last year said she would rather quit the bench than be banned from letting those young women have their day in court. Judge Rosemarie Aquilina sat down with Cynthia McFadden for an interview that will air Friday on NBC Nightly News, and in a clip obtained by DailyMail.com responds to some of her critics. 'I've done this for 15 years, so I know that when I talk to a victim it is healing for them,' explains Judge Aquilina. 'It's the power of the robe. I try to use my gavel for justice. Sometimes I have to pound it for law and order. And sometimes it really should be seen as a wand of healing.' She then added: 'I know there are critics. I've heard from them. And maybe they'll disbar me. Do I care? I'd do it again. If I can't do this, I'll walk off the bench and lobby for it. It's the right thing to do.' The rest of that interview will air Friday at 6:30pm on NBC. Scroll down for video Rosie the riverter: The Michigan judge (above at Nassar's trial) who famously allowed any Larry Nassar victim who wanted to speak appear at his sentencing last year says she stands by that decision The Ingham County judge and grandmother previously expressed this same sentiment in an interview on Today last year. In a sitdown with Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb, Judge Aquilina doubled down on her decision to let any Nassar victim who wished to come forward speak at the seven-day sentencing hearing while defending her sentencing of the disgraced doctor. She also spoke about the moment before sentencing when she chose to toss a copy of the letter Nassar had written to her from his prison cell, and informed him that she had just signed 'his death warrant.' 'He still has no idea what he did,' said Aquilina. 'He still thinks he's a good doctor, that it was medical. It's not medical, sir.' Judge Aquilina also spoke about the strength she drew from the girls to Glamour after they were selected for the magazines annual Women of the Year list. 'They energized me as they got their power back from him and said, "I am NOT a number I am a name. And here's what you did to me,"' explained Judge Aquilina. 'If I can't do this, I'll walk off the bench and lobby for it. It's the right thing to do,' says Judge Aquilina (Nassar above) 'They took their power back, they know they mattered and then when we spoke they were just transformed into butterflies.' That not only helped them in their own lives, but also saved the lives of women and men around the world according to the Judge Aquilina. 'There's been a change around the world, women have contacted me and said, "I felt those girls were telling my story verbatim and when you spoke to them and you believed them your words are healing me, and I'm not committing suicide today, I've stopped cutting, I'm eating, I've sought out therapy, I want to live and it's because you believed me.' Some even taped the seven-day hearing to watch back when they are feeling down, said Judge Aquilina. She later spoke about the moment she became the star of one of the year's most popular GIFs after literally tossing Nassar's letter into the courtroom. 'I tossed it because he wrote a bunch of junk in there,' said Judge Aquilina. 'And the primary problem they had with his letter is that he still thinks he's a doctor and he still thinks that he was performing medical [procedures].' The spotlight her case received is still a shock for Judge Aquilina though, but she is grateful that it reached so many people. R-Ali cry: She then responds to critics who have called for her to be disbarred by stating she would rather walk off the bench then silence those young women (Ali Raisman above staring down Nassar) 'No one is more surprised than me and I'm just so pleased that really the world took notice because this is a worldwide epidemic,' explained Judge Aquilina, who went on to applaud the 'responsible journalism' done by the media over those seven days as well as the 'sister survivors' and their families. 'It really opened up the world to #MeToo, to say let's start the discussion which should have happened years ago and this never would have happened.' She also revealed what speaking out did for the women, while defending her decision to let them speak. 'It catapults their healing and I know this because I always, for 14 years as a judge, let everyone speak,' said the first female JAG in the state of Michigan. 'And so I hear back in the community how well they're doing now.' She then spoke about the growth of the women. 'And when they came, they came very hesitant about what was going to happen. I am going to face not just a judge but Nassar in the eyes,' she said. 'And as they spoke, I literally watched them grow ten feet and they got their power back, and it was so transformational even for me.' To end the interview, she discussed having every victim speak and said not only does she stand by it but would step down if it were not allowed in her courtroom. 'It was important to hear the whole story, to see the picture of his grooming his control, and I am fair and impartial at sentencing,' said Judge Aquilina. 'The fact that I kept listening is justice. I always listened to both sides, and considered that he didn't have anybody.' She continued: 'And his words were simply, I'm not sorry. I'm still a doctor. I shouldn't be here. So I considered all of that fairly and partially in conjunction with the Constitution and the law and I made my decision.' 'But it is the people's courtroom first and foremost and when somebody tells me it's not I'm off the bench. And I will fight for it to be people's courtroom.' President Donald Trump said Friday that there was no way for him to know that retired Army General Michael Flynn was under investigation while he was still campaigning in 2016. Trump lamented that he should have been informed of the investigation while he was campaigning against Hillary Clinton since there was a 50/50 chance at the time that he would be become president. 'It now seems the General Flynn was under investigation long before was common knowledge,' Trump tweeted Friday morning. 'It would have been impossible for me to know this but, if that was the case, and with me being one of two people who would become president, why was I not told so that I could make a change?' Flynn served as Trump's national security adviser until he was fired in February 2017. His forced resignation occured after information surfaced about how he misled the FBI and Vice President Mike Pence about his communication with Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak. Trump says he should have been informed that Michael Flynn was under investigation while he was campaigning in 2016 and before he brought him on as his national security adviser when he took office Flynn was fired in February 2017, a little less than a month after Trump as inaugurated At the time of his firing, Trump cited trust as a big issue. 'I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI,' Trump said less than a year after he fired Flynn 'I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI,' Trump tweeted December 2, 2017, almost a year after Flynn departed the White House. 'He has pled guilty to those lies. It is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide!' A new filing from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office was unsealed Thursday, and revealed the extent of cooperation from Flynn with the special counsel's investigation. The new information includes details of instances where the president, and those with ties to the administration, could have potentially obstructed justice and attempted to prevent Flynn from cooperating with Mueller. The filing was originally submitted to a federal judge in December, and on Thursday an unredacted version was unsealed. 'The defendant informed the government of multiple instances, both before and after his guilty plea, where either he or his attorneys received communications from persons connected to the Administration or Congress that could've affected both his willingness to cooperate and the completeness of that cooperation,' part of the newly revealed portion of the filing reads. A new unredacted filing from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation was unsealed Thursday and outlines the extent Flynn cooperated with the probe Flynn told the special counsel about times when those connected to Trump, his administration and Congress attempted to keep him from cooperating with the investigation which could be potential instances of obstruction of justice 'The defendant even provided a voicemail recording of one such communication,' it continued. Mueller concluded his Russia investigation earlier this year and handed over a 448-page report to Attorney General Bill Barr in late March. The report found no evidence that Trump, or any of his administration, campaign or associates, had conspired with the Kremlin to influence the 2016 presidential election. Although Barr, and Trump, claim the report also exonerates the president from obstruction of justice, the special counsel outlined 10 'episodes' of potential obstruction. Democrats claim this is enough evidence to prove that the president attempted to obstruct justice during the investigation, and have called for impeachment proceedings against Trump. This can be used for facial recognition technology and could stop ticket touts Concertgoers will need to take a photo of themselves when buying event tickets People who post offensive content online could be denied entry to concerts and events by a new events website that can spot abusive messages in customers' social media posts. A barrister specialising in technology law and two security consultants have set up a new platform which will examine social media posts for sentiment via algorithms scanning through content. Richard Ryan, who is also CEO of security firm SentiaGPR, has created a new platform called Vertus Fusion which can be used by venues, artists and ticket providers. A barrister specialising in technology law has set up a new platform which will measure posts for sentiment via algorithms which scan through content online. A ticket will not be issued if the platform discovers the customer has posted offensive material [File photo] Ticket buyers will need to take a photo of themselves when buying a ticket online which can be used for facial recognition technology at the event. When customers provide their details and take a picture of themselves, their identity can be verified using the internet. If the platform discovers the customer has posted offensive material including hate speech online, then a ticket will not be issued. The platform will also cancel the tickets of concertgoers if they have been bought using stolen credit cards, and the photo recognition process could stop ticket touts. The platform also monitors social media output around an event using a 'geo-fence', which can monitor posts put out on more than 40 social media platforms in any language. Mr Ryan set up the company alongside his business partners who have backgrounds in the military and New Scotland Yard. It follows an interview last week where another top security expert said that stadiums have not changed in almost two years since the Manchester Arena attack at an Ariana Grande concert. Mr Ryan said: 'We have developed a secure ticket platform which can work with ticket providers and venues. 'Details are sent from the ticket provider, we can verify their identity, and we can remove that ticket if they have given another identity or if they have posted hate material or inciteful things'. The Manchester Arena bombing killed more than 20 people almost two years ago in May 2017. Ticket buyers will need to take a photo of themselves when buying a ticket online which can be used for facial recognition technology. The platform will cancel the tickets of concertgoers if they have been bought using stolen credit cards [File photo] It was reported that the attacker had posted on social media hours before the attack with pro-Islamic State messages. Mr Ryan said: 'Terrorists want to put this information out there to say what they are going to do. We can put a geo-fence around any arena in the world, in any language, and monitor it. 'If someone comes up as a threat, we analyse that person's profile by going to different places on the web where we can make a decision on risk. Mr Ryan hopes the platform will be extended to railway stations, airports and any other crowded places. On the issue of privacy, the barrister and CEO said: 'We do take data sensitivity seriously and we are GDPR compliant. 'We are looking to prevent harm to people by using what is out there on the internet. 'How much do you put on the cost of life? If I'm sending children to a concert, I want to know that security teams are looking out for them and also that venues are doing the most they can to protect them'. A former member of alleged cult Nxivm has accused a New York doctor of branding female members who were alleged sex slaves. Dr. Danielle Roberts, 37, from New York, was identified as a bikini-clad brunette pictured looking relaxed as Nxivm's lush resort headquarters in a 2014 photo that was shown in Brooklyn federal court on Thursday and that also featured at least three alleged slaves, as reported by New York Post. The photo was taken by member-turned-whistleblower Mark Vicente and was shown among others at Keith Raniere's ongoing sex-trafficking trial giving jurors a look at the Fijian island that Seagram heiress and Nxivm bankroller Clare Bronfman helped buy. Raniere faces charges in federal court of forming a secret society within his self-help organization that forced women to have sex with him. Dr. Danielle Roberts, 37, was identified as a bikini-clad brunette pictured looking relaxed as Nxivm's lush resort headquarters in Fiji In the picture Roberts is seen looking relaxed as she poses in idyllic surroundings surrounded by other women. Vicente spent 12 years as a high-ranking Nxivm member. Referring to Roberts, Vicente accused her of being 'a slave and a master, and the person who actually did the branding,' he said in Brooklyn federal court. 'She was the brander,' he added. Vicente has accused Roberts of using a cauterizing pen to sear Nxivm founder Keith Raniere's initials into women, all members of the Nxivm subset called DOS. Roberts hasn't been charged with a crime but according to court documents she is under investigation on suspicion of violating state standards for doctors by branding several women with Keith Raniere's initials, the onetime leader of the group called NXIVM. If convicted of federal charges including sex trafficking and child pornography, Keith Raniere faces life in prison. He is pleading not guilty to all charges Officials launched the inquiry into suspected professional misconduct by Roberts in response to a 2017 complaint, which involved the branding of female initiates with a cautery pen without anesthesia and under duress,' according to a ruling last year by Acting Supreme Court Justice Kimberly O'Connor. In another photo shown to the court Vicente was pictured with other members of the group's Vancouver center including 'Smallville' actress Kristin Kreuk who's denied she was involved in the group as a sex slave and joined it for self help therapy. Witnesses in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn have testified that the leader, Keith Raniere, presented himself as 'some kind of god' and that female members of the group, Nxivm, a purported self-help organization, appeared broken. Earlier this week Vicente testified in court that leader Keith Raniere was having sexual relationships with approximately two dozen members of the cult including Smallville actress Allison Mack and billionaire heiress Clare Bronfman. Lauren Salzman, whose mother, Nancy Salzman, was president of the group, and admitted to recruiting members into the upstate New York group, is expected to detail her role Friday. Both Salzmans have pleaded guilty to taking part in the scheme. Vicente testified in court that leader Keith Raniere was having sexual relationships with approximately two dozen members of the cult including Smallville Allison Mack (left) and billionaire heiress Clare Bronfman (right) Lauren Salzman will be a cooperating witness against Raniere, testifying Friday. 'Smallville' actress Allison Mack, Bronfman and accountant Kathy Russell have all pleaded guilty. If convicted of federal charges including sex trafficking and child pornography, Raniere faces life in prison. His lawyer has argued at trial that the women became members of Nxivm voluntarily and were never coerced into doing anything against their will. Raniere has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Nxivm, which started under another name in 1998 and is pronounced 'Nexium,' was based in Albany, New York, and operated self-improvement centers across North and Central America. James L. Jordan, 30, has been charged with one count of murder and one count of assault with intent to murder following Saturday's attack The man accused of stabbing an Iraq War veteran to death on Virginia's Appalachian Trail last Saturday shared a series of bizarre messages in the days leading up to the brutal murder. James L. Jordan, 30, took to Facebook four days before he reportedly killed Ronald S. Sanchez to pen a dark and long-winded Facebook status declaring that he was 'the captain of the hit squad'. In the ten-line post, uploaded May 7, Jordan wrote: 'Just got free from my seven years got being scrambled I'm the king of the get 'em squad I got a clear hall pass.' Later, he writes: 'I am the captain of the hit squad. I have all the cash, keys and plastic, I'm in Kings Port tonight'. The same day Jordan reportedly sent a text message to a friend - later shared on Facebook - which asked them to join along on the Appalachian Trail. 'Come to the AT (Appalachian Trail) with me. It's not to (sic) late to change your soul to better days and better ways,' the alleged murder's chilling text read. Less than a week later, Jordan allegedly went on his alleged machete rampage. James L. Jordan shared this bizarre post to Facebook on May 7, just four days before his alleged machete attack on the Appalachian Trail On May 7, Jordan reportedly sent a text to a friend telling him to join him on the Appalachian Trail to 'change his soul' According to a federal affidavit, Jordan first approached Iraq War veteran Sanchez and his three companions on a part of the trail in Smyth County, Virginia, on Friday afternoon. Jordan was 'disturbed and unstable' and was 'playing his guitar and singing' as he approached the four hikers. The group set up camp before Jordan approached their tents 'making noises and threatening to pour gasoline on them and burn them to death'. The affidavit states that when the four hikers tried to get away from Jordan, he allegedly chased two of them with a knife. He then returned to the campsite and began stabbing Sanchez. A woman watched the unfolding attack before fleeing, at which point Jordan chased her down before stabbing her several times. When she feigned death, Jordan left her to find his dog. The severely injured woman managed to get help from the two other hikers, who walked six miles to call the emergency services who took the woman to hospital. Her identity has not been released. A Smyth County Sheriff's Office tactical team headed for the campsite on Saturday, where they found and arrested Mr Jordan. Jordan is charged with one count of murder within the special maritime territorial jurisdiction of the United States and one count of assault with the intent to murder within the special maritime territorial jurisdiction of the United States. James was arrested on Saturday following the stabbing spree and he remains in prison after being charged with two serious offences Iraq War veteran Ronald S. Sanchez, 43, was stabbed to death on the Appalachian Trail Sanchez, 43, was three-tour US Army Iraq war veteran from Oklahoma. Following his murder, his sister Brenda told CNN: 'To survive those deployments in Iraq and to die like this is just devastating.' She further told the network told how her brother had used outdoor activities to help recover from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), despite the knee and back injuries he suffered during deployments. 'He was adventurous and he got out of his shell and we were so proud of that because for a while he was in darkness,' she said. Multiple sources indicate Jordan had been harassing and menacing hikers in the region for weeks. Larry Smith from South Carolina told The Daily Beast he met Jordan on the Trail in April when he entered a shelter and started 'ranting and raving' and threatening to 'burn this shelter down.' Later that month, Jordan pleaded guilty in late April to drug possession and criminal impersonation after a confrontation with hikers on the Appalachian Trail Tennessee, near the North Carolina border. He was released on probation. A Vermont woman convicted of manslaughter in the death of her severely disabled son, who had vodka poured into his feeding tube, has lost an appeal over her manslaughter conviction. Melissa Robitille, 43, of Hardwick, was sentenced in November 2017 to four to 12 years in prison. Robitille had been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the 2014 alcohol poisoning death of her 13-year-old son, Isaac, who suffered from a brain abnormality that required round-the-clock care. Scroll down for video Melissa Robitille, 43, who was convicted two years ago of manslaughter in the alcohol poisoning death of her disabled 13-year-old son, Isaac, has lost an appeal The Vermont mother was sentenced in November 2017 to four to 12 years in prison (pictured in court at the time) Prosecutors said Robitille and her boyfriend, Walter Richters, poured vodka in her son's feeding tube to keep him quiet because he was being fussy. The boy later died. Robitille had appealed to the Vermont Supreme Court, arguing that the state produced insufficient evidence to support that she delivered the fatal dose of alcohol, among other factors. The Vermont Supreme Court on Friday disagreed. 'Although I.R.'s [Isaac Robitille's] doctors would not have expected one ounce of alcohol to kill him, he weighed forty-nine pounds at the time; he was extremely vulnerable to fluid imbalances due to his diabetes insipidus and other conditions; even a small amount of alcohol could be fatal,' the ruling read, according to the station WCAX. Richters was sentenced to three years in prison after being convicted of manslaughter for his role in the boy's death. Prosecutors said Robitille and her boyfriend, Walter Richters (right), poured vodka in her son's feeding tube to keep him quiet, resulting in his death Isaac suffered from a brain abnormality that required round-the-clock care On the morning of August 22, 2014, Robitille called the police to report that she had found Isaac unresponsive in his bed. Isaac's brain condition was listed as the cause of death by the Vermont Medical Examiner, while alcohol was listed as a 'contributing' factor. His death was ruled a homicide. An autopsy found his blood alcohol content was 0.146 percent, about twice the legal limit for driving. The 13-year-old was blind, had no ears, a cleft palate, and developmental delays in terms of walking and talking, and needed at least 80 hours of care-taking every week. Feeding tubes supplied him with a diet of a pediatric nutritional drink, baby formula, water and vitamins. The 13-year-old was blind, had no ears, a cleft palate, and developmental delays in terms of walking and talking Isaac was having a particularly bad night when Robitille decided to put vodka in his feeding tube to make him settle down. She allegedly told her then-fiance Walter Richters that the alcohol wouldn't harm him. The couple were both charged in October 2015. During Robitille's trial in the spring of 2017, the defense tried to paint her as a loving, devoted mother who made a mistake, citing a blog that she kept about Isaac's condition. At her sentencing, Robitille's own family members asked the judge for a harsh sentence, painting her as an abusive, neglectful mother. Robitille was previously married to a man nearly 30 years her senior and has four older children. A man jailed for nine years for sexually abusing his teenage stepdaughter who later killed herself by running in front of a train has lost his appeal An evil stepfather whose sexual abuse of a teenage girl led to her jumping in front of a train has been told he must stay behind bars. The ordeal suffered by 16-year-old Georgia Walsh was laid bare from beyond the grave at Brett Connell's trial and resulted in him being jailed for nine years. But the South African added to her family's heartache when he launched an appeal against both conviction and sentence. He claimed it was 'unfair' for the prosecution at his trial to rely on Georgia's account she gave to police of the abuse as it could not be challenged by his legal team. The hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice was heard shortly after the second anniversary of the teenager's suicide. But the appeal was thrown out, and Connell, imprisoned in April last year, was also told that his jail term would not be reduced. Georgia Walsh, 16, took her own life at Dunton Green station near Sevenoaks, Kent in March 2017, shortly after Connell was released on bail after denying charges. A court heard that just four weeks earlier she had been interviewed by police about the abuse she had repeatedly suffered at the hands of 36-year-old Brett Connell Having already served a year in custody it means the 37-year-old now faces another three-and-a-half years behind bars before qualifying for automatic release at the halfway stage. Connell was found guilty by majority verdicts of 13 sexual offences, five of which related to Georgia. Just days before she killed herself by running into the path of an oncoming train at Dunton Green station near Sevenoaks, the schoolgirl had revealed to police the extent of abuse she repeatedly suffered. A suicide letter, in which she wrote she could no longer cope and hoped her stepfather would 'rot in hell', was found with her coat near the tracks and read out during his trial at Maidstone Crown Court, Kent. The jury also watched her video recorded account to police of how, when she was aged 13 or 14, her stepfather would molest her as he tucked her in bed at night. She also recalled an occasion when he took a photo of her as she showered. Georgia also claimed Connell, from Sevenoaks in Kent, progressed to touching her breasts The schoolgirl described feeling 'confused, lost and scared', and said she believed she had to 'stay silent'. But in February 2017 she finally confided in her mother, Jennifer, telling her she could not let Connell back into their family home. Mrs Connell, who gave evidence for the prosecution, said her daughter was sobbing and physically shaking as she revealed his perverted behaviour. The former pub manager however claimed Georgia had told 'wicked lies' following a row about the family home being untidy. During an emotionally-charged trial at Maidstone Crown Court in Kent, Georgia's account of what happened was given from 'beyond the grave' when her video recorded interview was shown She killed herself just after 8pm on March 17, 2017. Connell had been arrested but released on police bail. Georgia wrote in her suicide note: 'I can't do this anymore. The stress from the current situation is too much to handle. 24/7 I feel guilty because of what happened. 'Make sure that bastard rots in hell for what he has done.' Connell, of Clare Way, Sevenoaks, Kent, was told on sentencing by the trial judge that his behaviour was the 'principal' reason Georgia had killed herself. She had been described by her mum as 'incredibly talented, very artistic and dedicated'. Miss Welsh had left a suicide note in which she wrote that she could no longer cope, and hoped her stepfather would 'rot in Hell' for what he had done. Pictured: Maidstone Crown Court Speaking at the end of Connell's trial, Georgia's grandmother Carol Sharpe described the impact of his abuse on the family as 'a bomb'. Choking back tears she said: 'I think he's evil. With children, you are there to protect them, to look after them. He completely abused that trust.' Mrs Sharpe also urged other children affected by abuse to speak up. 'If any other child finds themselves in a position like Georgia was, contact someone. Don't be afraid to contact the police or reach out to a family member. Take that step and get some help.' A British Airways jet carrying up to 300 passengers came within 20ft of smashing into an illegally flown drone, a report revealed today. The dramatic near miss is believed to have been the closest ever near miss between a BA jet and a drone. The B777 jet had the close call while flying at around 330mph at a height of 6,000ft, just south east of Potters Bar, Hertfordshire. A British Airways Boeing 777 narrowly avoided a suspected drone flying at 6,000 feet over Potters Bar in Hertfordshire. The passenger jet had just departed Heathrow Airport en-route to Abu Dhabi on February 26 when the pilot saw the unmanned flying object less than 20 feet from his aircraft The pilot reported the suspected drone to the UK Airprox Board which classed it as a Category A incident - the most serious A report by the UK Airprox Board which investigates near misses rated it as the highest Category A incident where there was a serious risk of collision. The terrifying incident happened at 1.35pm on February 26 this year soon after the twin-engine jet had taken off from Heathrow for Abu Dhabi. The report said that both pilots of the B777 saw 'a white, square-shaped object straight ahead and marginally lower.' It added: 'About half a second later it passed underneath the left wing. There was insufficient time to take avoiding action.' The near miss was reported to air traffic controllers who warned the aircraft behind the B777 of the presence of the drone. The pilots rated the risk of collision as 'high ', according to the report. The drone was being flown at 15 times the normally permitted legal height of 400ft when the incident happened. The report said: 'The drone was being flown above the maximum permitted height of 400ft and within controlled airspace such that it was endangering other aircraft at that location. The Boeing 777 was flying at 6,000 feet above Potters Bar when it almost collided with a drone 'The Board agreed that the incident was therefore best described as the drone was flown into conflict with the B777.' The operator of the drone could have been jailed for up to five years for endangering an aircraft, but it is believed they were never traced. A British Airways spokesperson said: 'We take such matters extremely seriously and our pilots report incidents so that the authorities can investigate and take appropriate action.' Last month it was revealed that another BA jet flying at 220mph at 3,000ft came within 30ft of smashing into a drone. The Airbus A319 carrying up to 160 passengers had the close call as it was coming in to land at Manchester airport after a flight from Heathrow. A report by the UK Airprox Board which investigates near misses said the pilot saw the drone in 'a gap between scattered cloud'. He described it as 'a dark object slightly left of the nose, slightly above and approaching almost head-on' at 1.20pm on February 11 this year. As he flew nearer, he realised it was 'rectangular quadcopter with four long legs hanging down' which appeared to be hovering, said the report The report added: 'The encounter only lasted about five seconds before they passed the drone. 'He opined that if they were being filmed it would have looked spectacular, but whilst the drone's position was stable, it was a close encounter.' The board also rated the near miss closet o Manchester as the most serious Category A incident. President Donald Trump renewed his attacks on reporters Friday, saying unnamed sources were 'bulls**t' in a story describing White House infighting about Iran policy. The New York Times reported Thursday that Trump's decisions about whether to take military action against Tehran following a series of aggressive provocations hung in the balance until he told his acting Pentagon chief that he didn't want to wage war. Times reporters also wrote that Trump sees National Security Advisor John Bolton as a saber-rattler who would march the U.S. to war in the Middle East without a countervailing force to balance his hawkish tendencies. The story was based on unnamed sources who the Times said were present during a meeting in the White House's ultra-secure Situation Room. 'You know, they say, "Confidential sources." Did you ever notice, they never write the names of people anymore?' Trump asked during a Washington, D.C. speech to the National Association of Realtors. 'Everything is, "A source says" There is no source,' he said. 'The person doesn't exist. The person's not alive.' 'It's bulls**t, okay? It's bulls**t. President Donald Trump is steamed at The New York Times over a report that he told top military aides he doesn't want open war with Iran; on Friday he called the use of anonymous sources in the article 'bulls**t' The USS Abraham Lincoln and its carrier group has arrived in the Arabian Sea after it was hastily dispatched following what the US called an 'imminent threat' from Iran (pictured, the carrier is seen on May 8) Trump tweeted twice on Friday to call the report about his secret Situation Room discussions 'fake news,' and spun the result to suggest it would keep Tehran off-balance By the time the president spoke in mid-afternoon to the National Association of Realtors, he was visibly upset at what he said was 'very dishonest' reporting from 'bad people' '"Three people who were at that meeting!"' he vented, 'you know, a meeting of like seven. "Three people have confirmed that this happened, and that happened." There were no three people. They make it up.' 'These are bad people,' he said of the political press corps, pointing to a row or reporters in the back of a hotel ballroom. 'Fake news!' he boomed. 'It's a hoax.' Trump claimed that news outlets 'put out so many false messages that Iran is totally confused.' 'I don't know, that might be a good thing,' he mused. 'These people right back here, they put out messages that I'm angry with my people! I'm not angry with them. I make my own decisions,' Trump said. 'Mike Pompeo's doing a great job. Bolton's doing a great job. But they make it sound like it's a conflict.' In an email, New York Times spokeswoman Eileen Murphy said: 'We stand by the story.' A snakebitten Trump had already unleashed his anger on Twitter hours earlier, venting about 'fraudulent and highly inaccurate coverage of Iran.' 'It is scattershot, poorly sourced (made up), and DANGEROUS,' he wrote. Trump tweeted later: 'With all of the Fake and Made Up News out there, Iran can have no idea what is actually going on!' Asked Thursday whether the U.S. is headed for war with Iran, Trump responded: 'I hope not.' Bolton is reportedly among those arguing for open conflict to force regime change in Tehran. Trump, Times reporters wrote, has joked in meetings that 'if it was up to John, wed be in four wars now.' Trump's mental knife-throwing at the media unfolded as the an American aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, reached the Arabian Sea after what Washington called an 'imminent threat' from Iran. The carrier and its strike group, comprised of four vessels including destroyers and cruisers, arrived two weeks ahead of schedule after being hastily redirected from operations in the Mediterranean, Fox News reported. Meanwhile the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard said his country's missiles can 'easily reach warships' in the Middle East. The Guard's deputy chief in charge of parliamentary affairs, Mohammad Saleh Jokar, said Iran's short-range missiles with a range of 1,250 miles are capable of targeting any point within the region. Washington has already warned shipping companies that 'Iran or its proxies' could be targeting maritime traffic in the Persian Gulf. Meanwhile, Jokar is warning that a conflict would endanger the world's oil supply, a third of which is shipped through the gulf. 'If a war happens, the world will suffer,' he said. The Lincoln had been on operations in the Mediterranean with ships from Spain, France and Britain (pictured, Lincoln front left) before it was redirected to the Arabian peninsula Tensions have spiralled across the Middle East this week after America identified what it called a 'credible threat' from Iran. The 'threat' is believed to have come from overhead images of small boats in the Persian Gulf with fully-assembled Iranian missiles on board. U.S. officials, unfamiliar with this tactic from Iran, believed they were about to be fired on as naval targets. Combined with bomb attacks on four oil shipping vessels and attacks on two oil pumping stations earlier in the week, it persuaded officials that an attack was imminent. America reacted by withdrawing non-essential embassy staff from Iraq, redeploying the Lincoln and heightening security alerts across the region. Hezbollah became the latest organisation to wade into the melee on Friday, warning the U.S. that Iran 'will not be alone' in any confrontation. Mohammad Saleh Jokar said Iran's missiles, the most diverse stockpile in the Middle East, could easily range US ships in the region That message was delivered by the leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group to a rally in Beirut in February marking the 40th anniversary of Iran's Islamic Revolution. 'If America launches war on Iran, it will not be alone in the confrontation, because the fate of our region is tied to the Islamic Republic,' Hassan Nasrallah said. From Lebanon and Syria to Iraq, Yemen, and the Gaza Strip, Tehran has significantly expanded its footprint over the past decade, finding and developing powerful allies in conflict-ravaged countries across the Middle East. Hezbollah is one of the most prominent members of the self-styled 'axis of resistance,' armed groups with thousands of Shia fighters beholden to Tehran. Iran has used such groups in the past to strike its regional foes, and could mobilize them if the latest tensions with the United States lead to an armed conflict - dramatically expanding the battlefield. Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Zarif met with Chinese diplomats in Beijing and urged their government and Russia to defend the nuclear pact the country signed with the US under President Obama. President Trump tore up the accord, which was designed to stop Iran developing nuclear weapons, declaring it unfit for purpose. Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warned of a 'dangerous' situation in the Middle East as he met with his Chinese counterpart in an attempt to save the nuclear deal Hezbollah (fighters, pictured) told the US on Friday that Iran would 'not be alone' in any conflict that breaks out in the Middle East Zarif said he would talk with Chinese officials about 'bilateral ties and the very dangerous issues that are ongoing in our region today', according to a video published on the Iranian foreign ministry website. Washington has deployed more troops in the Gulf, one of the world's most strategic waterways, in what US officials said was a reaction to photographs showing Iran had loaded missiles onto small traditional boats. On Wednesday the US State Department ordered the evacuation of most personnel from the US embassy and consulate in Iraq, fearing an attack by Iranian-directed Shiite militias. Iran on Thursday rejected negotiations with the US, but said it was showing 'maximum restraint'. Amid escalating tensions in the region, Zarif has called on the international community to save the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA. Iran signed the deal with China, Russia, Germany, Britain, France and the United States. International sanctions were eased in return for curbs on Tehran's nuclear programme. But last year President Donald Trump walked away from the accord. The US has since then slapped sweeping sanctions on Iran. 'So far the international community has mostly released statements rather than taking action,' Zarif said. 'If the international community and other JCPOA member countries and our friends in the JCPOA like China and Russia want to keep this achievement, it is required that they make sure the Iranian people enjoy the benefits of the JCPOA with concrete actions,' he added. A former headteacher killed himself after quitting his post following a staff vote of no confidence because of a critical report into his leadership at his former school. Garry Phillips, 47, was discovered dead by his wife at their home in Plymouth, Devon, three days before last Christmas. He had recently resigned as head of City College Plymouth after a vote of no confidence by college staff last November but within weeks he died. A former headteacher killed himself after being 'publicly undermined by his peers', an inquest heard today. Garry Phillips, 47, was discovered dead by his wife at their home in Plymouth, Devon, three days before last Christmas Staff passed the no confidence vote after a critical report into his leadership at his former school, Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College. Under his leadership the college went from a 5.7million surplus in 2015-16 to an 8 million deficit in 2016-17. The University and College Union were also concerned at his 260,000 salary at West London College- the fifth highest paid principal in the country. He had recently resigned as head of City College Plymouth (pictured) after a vote of no confidence by college staff last November but within weeks he died The father of two was also under pressure from unions to pay back 100,000 he had received in bonuses while there. The coroner heard he left no note and did not suffer from mental illness. His widow Pamela told the inquest at Plymouth Coroner's Court his teaching roles caused him 'considerable challenges' and he was left feeling 'undermined'. Staff passed the no confidence vote after a critical report into his leadership at his former school, Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College He hanged himself and a post mortem showed no alcohol or drugs in his system. Senior Plymouth coroner Ian Arrow concluded he had taken his own life. Outside the hearing Mr Phillips' family said: 'He was an exceptional principal at three colleges and dedicated the majority of his career to further education and helping thousands of students to achieve their career aspirations. Headteacher Thomas Brendan Tapping sparked fury from parents of pupils at St Wilfrid's RC College in South Shields, South Tyneside, who branded the letter 'appalling' A school has been forced to apologise after its head sent a letter to pupils which told them their GCSE results would determine the kind of CAR they could expect to drive as an adult. The words of headteacher Thomas Tapping sparked fury from parents of pupils at St Wilfrid's RC College in South Shields, South Tyneside, who branded the letter 'appalling'. In it Mr Tapping states: 'Your level of success in National (SIC) examinations will probably have a key role to play in the type of home you live in, the car you drive and holidays you can afford.' Posting on social media furious Tom Cooke wrote: 'Absolutely disgusted by the letter given to the kids at St. Wilfs from their head teacher. 'Achieve results or drive a sh** car, live in a cr** house and have cr** holidays. 'Mr Tapping you have seriously gone down in my estimations today.' The letter was sent out to accompany revision guides to help pupils prepare for their GCSEs. But it sparked an angry backlash. Megan Johnston commented: 'That's disgusting. The letter warning students that their results will influence their future including 'the type of home you live in, car you drive and holidays that you can afford' 'I have 10 gcses, As and Bs and I don't have a car, can't afford holidays and can't buy a house. Gcses don't count for sh**.' Simon May added: 'Just appalling. Little wonder the mental health of our youngsters becomes more of an issue each day.' And Alexandra Kenyon said: 'That is an astonishing amount of pressure on a young person.' Iain Cunningham agreed, saying: 'What an absolute helmet. The amount of pressure those kids are under is ridiculous as it is, without added pressure from someone who they should feel they could go to if they're struggling.' St Wilfrids RC college sent a second letter apologising for the words used in the first Alex Lewis commented: 'Shocking. What an appalling way to motivate the people who will shape our future.' Matthew Hunt added: 'That's a terrible attitude to have. Academic success is only the start it's a hard working attitude that will earn you the money once you get onto the real world. 'That's what they should be instilling in our kids not setting them up for the fear of failure. Being a Christian school perhaps he should look at the Christian attitude to personal wealth and possessions.' The school have since sent a second letter home to parents apologising for the first. It reads: 'We recently sent a letter to accompany student revision guides, regarding preparation for the end of year examinations. The school said they only wished to emphasise the importance of the examinations by using the example and that their ethos was 'leave no child behind' 'In this we mentioned the importance of examinations to the future prospects of our students and how the level of success in examination would probably have an impact on the 'type of home you live in, car you drive and holidays you can afford'. 'Our intention by using this phrase was simply to illustrate how important examinations are potentially to some future pathways and to encourage our students to work as hard as possible in order to achieve their full potential. 'Our ethos has always been to support every single child in their aspirations, leaving no child behind, and will continue to be so. 'We apologise if this has caused any offence.' Personal items handed over by Lawrence of Arabia to the son of his landlady are going under the hammer next month. T.E Lawrence, who was given the name 'Lawrence of Arabia', was living in a boarding house run by Fanny Hatcher in Birmingham Street, Southampton, Hampshire in 1933. The war hero was living under an assumed name, Aircraftman Shaw to avoid the attentions of the press who had learned of his wartime service. A family in Southampton was given several items from TE Lawrence - better known as Lawrence of Arabia, shortly before his death in 1935. The items, pictured, are going up for auction next month David Convery of Great Western Auctions believes this RAF cap could be worth up to 15,000 Lawrence handed over several items to Mrs Hatcher's son Donald, 13, shortly before he died in 1935. Mr Hatcher's mother was not initially aware of her famous lodger's identity. The former soldier stayed with the family for 18 months. When he was leaving the house, to return home for the final time, Lawrence handed over an original Arabian Janbiya dagger, a Lund and Son's campaign knife as well as an RAF Cap. The items are being sold at Great Western Auctions in Glasgow on June 14 and 15. The RAF cap is expected to sell for between 10,000 and 15,000. The Janbiya dagger is worth between 8,000 and 10,000 while the William Lund knife is worth between 6,000 and 8,000. Several signed letters written by Lawrence are expected to sell for 3,000 and 5,000. This knife is believed to be worth up to 10,000 in next month's auction in Glasgow These hand-written and signed letters will sell for approximately 5,000 A spokesman for Great Western Auctions said: 'This collection of items from 13 Birmingham Street has come to light for the first time after being safeguarded by the Hatcher family for over 80 years. 'These personal possessions and letters give us a glimpse into Lawrence's private and secret life, his desire to avoid fame and to separate himself from the icon he had become.' Democratic front-runner Joe Biden is the only primary candidate who would beat President Donald Trump outside the margin of error in a new poll published Thursday. The Fox News poll has the former vice president leading Trump by 11 points in hypothetical 2020 matchups. Among all registered voters, 49 per cent say they would vote for Biden if he were up against Trump in 2020, with 38 per cent saying they favor the incumbent president. The poll was taken May 11-14 and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points, it does not state what percentage of respondents are registered Democrats, Republicans or independents. Biden is the only one who defeated Trump outside the margin of sampling error in the poll, and the only candidate that pushed the president's support below 41 per cent. A new Fox News poll shows that former Vice President Joe Biden is the only Democratic candidate that would beat President Donald Trump outside the survey's 3 percentage point margin of error in a hypothetical matchup In the poll, Biden earned 49 per cent of the vote among all likely voters while in that theoretical election, only 38 per cent of respondents said they would vote for Trump over the former Vice President Two other candidates, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren also beat Trump in the poll, but fell within the margin of error. Sanders earned 46 per cent of the vote in his matchup compared to Trump's 41 per cent, and 43 per cent of registered voters said they would vote for Warren if she faced Trump, while only 41 per cent said they would prefer Trump. California Senator Kamala Harris tied with Trump, both earning 41 per cent of the vote, and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg trailed the president 40 per cent to 41 per cent. Biden emerged as a clear front-runner in the 2020 race, even before he officially announced he was running in late April. He regularly polls first among the crowded field of Democratic primary contenders, which grew to 24 this week when former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced he was entering the race. Both independent Senator Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren also beat Trump in the poll, but fell outside the margin of error, Sanders 46 to 41 per cent and Warren 43 to 41 per cent Trump predicted he would face one of four white men in the elections, Sanders, Biden, Pete Buttigieg or Beto O'Rourke. At a campaign event Thursday night, Warren said Trump 'would like it to be that way' Thirty-eight per cent of respondents in the poll said they would reeelct Trump if the elections were held today, and 54 per cent said they would vote for a different candidate In the poll, 38 per cent of respondents say they would reelect Trump and 54 per cent say they would back someone else if they 2020 elections were held today. Trump said it appeared the Democratic primary race was down to four candidates, all white men. He said on Tuesday he would either face Biden, Sanders, Buttigieg, or former Texas Representative Beto O'Rourke, who didn't even make the top five in the Fox News poll. He mocked the candidates as 'Crazy' Bernie Sanders, 'Sleepy' Joe Biden, 'Reboot' Beto O'Rourke and 'Boot-Edge-Edge,' a play on the openly gay mayor's hard-to-pronounce last name. The front-runner in the president's mind, however, is still Biden, who he predicted he would likely face in the 2020 presidential elections. When Warren, who defeated Trump in the poll, was asked Thursday at a rally in Fairfax, Virginia about Trump's assertion that he would likely face a man in 2020, she told Dailymail.com that he 'would like it to be that way.' Ken Baker fell victim to distraction burglar Edward Delaney who stole 700 and a packet of Penguin biscuits after tricking his way into his Sandford Hill home by pretending to be from the Gas Board A 91-year-old man who bravely gave evidence against a traveller targeting elderly people across Stoke-on-Trent died a day before justice was served. Ken Baker fell victim to distraction burglar Edward Delaney who stole 700 and a packet of Penguin biscuits after tricking his way into his home in the Sandford Hill area by pretending to be from the Gas Board. Mr Baker was one of several vulnerable victims father-of-eight Delaney's gang preyed on during a reign of terror. But Mr Baker - who was battling cancer at the time - lost his fight for life a day before Delaney appeared in court to plead guilty. Now Mr Baker has been handed a posthumous award by Staffordshire Police after his evidence was crucial to securing a conviction. Detective Chief Superintendent Jav Oomer said: 'Mr Baker was a key witness as many of the other victims who had suffered similar circumstances were too afraid, frail or vulnerable to come forward. 'Unfortunately he died the day before the offender went to court and pleaded guilty so he didn't get to hear the good news, but we're so grateful for his courage and help in bringing Delaney to justice.' Delaney - known as Ned - was jailed for 10 years at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court on October 5 for his part in the conspiracy to commit 10 distraction burglaries which saw the four men steal almost 20,000 from their victims, who were aged between 72 and 94. Mr Baker was one of several vulnerable victims father-of-eight Delaney's gang preyed on during a reign of terror The gang took more than 10,000 from one couple in Great Wyrley in South Staffordshire, which the victims - who were in their eighties - had saved up over their entire married life. The three other men remain at large. During the crime spree members of the gang claimed to be from authorities including the 'water board' and 'the council' to trick their way inside the homes of vulnerable pensioners, most of whom lived in Stoke-on-Trent, before stealing cash. Crimes the gang carried out in Stoke-on-Trent during March and April included: Stealing more than 5,000 from an 87-year-old woman living in Meir, after claiming to be from 'the council'; Tricking their way into the home of an 87-year-old woman in Meir, on the premise of checking her water supply and getting away with 1,500; Walking into the home of a blind 84-year-old inMeir - who had left the door open for her carers - and going into her bedroom while she was resting in bed. Mr Baker was not attacked physically but felt threatened and was about to undergo chemotherapy at the time. His niece Patricia Webster travelled from France to pick up the Certificate of Appreciation on his behalf. She told StokeonTrentLive: 'I was very close to my uncle, he was in very poor health when this happened - he had prostate and bowel cancer - and has since passed away. 'I was caring for him when this happened but was out at the time. When I found out what had happened I was devastated for him. Now Mr Baker has been handed a posthumous award from Staffordshire Police after his evidence was crucial to securing a conviction They are dreadful people, because of who they target. 'I would like to thank Hanley CID for their diligence and care during the investigation, they have been incredible.' Delaney, of Little Meadows, Hilton, Cheshire, He has previously served long prison sentences for similar offences - and was on licence when he committed his latest crimes. Detective constables Natalie Edwards and Lee Cartwright were also commended for their work during this investigation. The 'womb raider' accused of strangling a pregnant teenager to death distracted her with a photo album of her dead son then ambushed her with an electrical cable and then used a butcher's knife to cut her baby out from her womb, it was claimed on Friday as fresh, sickening details of the murder emerged. Clarisa Figueroa, 46, her daughter Desiree, 24, and her boyfriend Piotr Bobak, 40, were all denied bond on Friday during their first court appearance in Chicago. Cameras were not allowed inside the courtroom for the hearing. They will return before a judge on June 3. After their appearance, prosecutors shared the bond proffer they presented to convince a judge not to grant them bail. It contained harrowing details about the killing including the fact that it was the second time victim Marlen Ochoa-Uriostegui, 19, had been to the home and the fact that Clarisa told her daughter in October last year that she was pregnant despite having had her Fallopian tubes tied. Clarisa Figueroa, 46, and her daughter Desiree Figueroa, 24, ambushed Marlen Ochoa-Uriostegui, 19, on April 23 while she looked at a photo album in their home. Both were denied bond on Friday The revelations on Friday included that; Clarisa claimed she was pregnant in October 2018 to her daughter Desiree On April 1, Marlen went to their home to get baby clothes and Clarisa wanted to kill her that day She escaped with her life because Clarisa's daughter's boyfriend was there After presenting her with a photo album on April 23, the next visit, Clarisa climbed on top of Marlen and strangled her with an electrical cable It went on for four to five minutes until the pregnant teenager died Clarisa used a butcher's knife to slice her stomach from side to side She retrieved the baby, placenta and umbilical chord and put them in a bucket At hospital, she was checked and doctors found no evidence she had given birth It remains unclear if anyone called police to report how suspicious she was Blood was found on the living room carpet of the home and the bathroom Police found her boyfriend bleaching and hosing a rug on Wednesday Desiree, who is four months pregnant, has made a full confession to the plot A month before the murder, Claris also told her adult daughter - who made a full confession on Thursday - that she 'needed help killing a pregnant woman and taking a baby.' Social media posts reveal that she had been obsessed with babies since last year and was telling friends she was pregnant with a baby she planned to call Xander. Marlen's first visit to their home was on April 1 when she went to pick up free baby clothes Clarisa offered her on a Facebook group for women in need where the teenage other had made appeals for strollers and baby clothes she couldn't afford. During that visit, Clarisa told her daughter that she wanted to kill her and steal her baby. The only reason Marlen escaped with her life that day was that Desiree's boyfriend, who was also there, refused to help them. Clarisa passed off her murderous intentions as an 'April Fool's joke.' On April 23, Marlen returned to the house for more goods and the boyfriend was not there. While she was in the living room, Desiree - who is four months pregnant herself - and her mother turned up the music inside the home, according to the proffer. They then gave her a photo album of Clarisa's dead adult son. Police previously said his name was Xavier and that he had died aged 26. Marlen Ochoa-Uriostegui had gone to the house first on April 1 after meeting Clarisa on Facebook. During that visit, the 46-year-old allegedy wanted to kill her but was stopped by her daughter's boyfriend. On April 23, the second time she went to the home, she fought for her life by putting her fingers between her neck and an electrical cable as she was strangled but was outnumbered. Clarisa then used a butcher's knife to cut her son out from her womb. He remains in neonatal intensive care with zero brain activity In their proffer, prosecutors said he was in fact 20, called Xander, and that he had died only last year. Desiree 'distracted' Marlen with a photo album of him while her mother crept behind her on the couch with an electrical cable, according to prosecutors. She then ambushed her, wrapping the cable around her neck, but the 19-year-old was able to slip her fingers in between her neck and the cable. As she struggled to get it away from her neck, Clarisa yelled out to Desiree, who was watching: 'You're not doing your f****** job!' Clarisa's boyfriend Piotr Bobak, 40, tried to help them cover up the murder by washing the house of blood. When police arrived at the home on May 14, he was hosing and bleaching a rug in the backyard At that, Desiree 'stepped up' and started 'peeling' Marlen's fingers away from her neck. Clarisa then climbed on top of her and continued to strangle her for 'four to five minutes', until she urinated. It was then that she realised she had died, she told her daughter, because she'd read that 'a person will urinate on themselves when they die.' Once she was dead, Desiree brought her mother a butcher's knife, blanket and bucket. Clarisa then cut the pregnant teen's belly open 'from side to side' and retrieved the baby, the placenta and the umbilical cord. She placed him in a bucket with the placenta and left the umbilical cord sticking out, the proffer states. Clarisa then wrapped her in a blanket and 'lugged' her to an outdoor trash can with the cable still tied around her neck. Social media screen grabs show she began posting about a baby as early as February 5 On March 5, more than a month before she went to the house, Marlen and Clarisa spoke on the group, with Clarisa offering her baby clothes Figueroa also posted this in the mother's group in March. After one woman responded 'right here', she replied: 'I don't feel lonely anymore yay' In March, on her Facebook page, Clarisa Figueroa posted a photo of the nursery in her home. It showed that a mural of a tree had been painted to surround 'Xander' That is when she called 911, claiming to have just given birth and saying the baby was not breathing. She was covered in blood when paramedics arrived but it was the victim's. Once at the Christ Hospital, she was cleaned of the victim's blood by an OB Technician. Though she showed 'no signs consistent with a woman who had just given birth', she was not arrested. The hospital declined to comment on the case when asked by DailyMail.com if it alerted authorities on April 23. 'Our top priority is to provide the safest and highest quality care for the patients and communities we serve. 'Out of respect for patient privacy and in compliance with federal and state regulations, we are unable to provide comment. 'We have been cooperating with authorities and as this is an ongoing police matter, were referring all inquiries to local law enforcement,' a spokesman said. Instead, over the next three weeks, they cleaned the home with the help of Clarisa's boyfriend Bobak and set up a GoFundMe account claiming the baby was hers and asking for money. This is the home where the young mother's body was found and where the baby was born three weeks ago. Paramedics went to the house on April 23 after Clarisa called 911 saying she had just given birth but they never went inside. Instead, she brought the baby out Police were seen inspecting a fire pit in the woman's backyard on Wednesday night (pictured). Her body was found in a trash can They were arrested on Wednesday after police received a tip about the Facebook interaction Marlen had been having with her from one of her friends. The young mother had been missing for three weeks and her distraught husband was frantically looking for her, allegedly with little help from the police. When authorities went to the home for the first time on May 7, they encountered Desiree who told them that her mother had just given birth. They then located the victim's car a block away - Desiree had put it there - and ordered a DNA test of the baby who was and is still in a neonatal intensive care unit with zero brain activity. That is when they discovered the plot and arrested all three suspects. Once in custody, Desiree made a full confession. It is unclear if Bobak or Clarisa have confessed. Marlen's body was found in a trash can in the back yard with the cable still around her neck. Clarisa Figueroa posted this photo to a fundraising page, pretending the baby was hers, asking for donations for him The suspects created a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for the baby's medical expenses. Police say Clarisa Figueroa called 911 claiming she had just given birth at home 'These defendants were not that wise. The body's in a garbage can on the premises with the murder weapon,' one official said on Wednesday. Police are also now looking into whether they tried to lure any other expectant mothers to the home. According to neighbors, all three lived in the basement of the house which belongs to Clarisa's parents, Jose, 70, and Angelita, 60. Marlen's family is distraught. '[They are] in complete agony mourning the loss of the child,' translator Julie Contreras told DailyMail.com shortly after the arrests. Contreras added that Ochoa-Uriostegui 'suffered a horrific death at the hands of monsters.' 'The family wants justice for Marlen,' she said. A Pennsylvania mother was detained after she allegedly drove drunk and crashed into multiple vehicles and a street light while her three young children was inside. Mackenzie Stanley, 23, was speeding in a gray Dodge Caravan in Levittown after a domestic disturbance with her husband, who was also under the influence and running after the vehicle on May 9. The Bucks County mother lost control of her SUV and crashed into a light pole and two vehicles before crashing into a bush. She was said to have been going at more than 60mph in a 25mph zone. Scroll down for video Mackenzie Stanley, 23, was speeding in a gray Dodge Caravan in Levittown after a domestic disturbance with her husband on May 9 Dashcam footage from a Levittown resident's vehicle shows the moment that Stanley slammed into his car while driving down Forsythia Drive South. 'I truly believe if she didn't hit me she would have gone head on into a house & killed her kids,' said Christian Gallardo, who shared the footage of the video to Facebook. 'Or if I didn't redirect her when she hit me she might have killed a neighbor's boy playing in their backyard 10 feet from where a Bush stopped her.' Gallardo shared with NBC10 that he was shocked to discover that two of the children weren't restrained when he went over to check on them after the crash. His car crashed into a lawn of a nearby home. Mackenzie crashed into a parked vehicle. The Bucks County mother lost control of her SUV and crashed into a light pole and two vehicles before crashing into a bush. She was said to have been going more than 60mph in a 25mph zone Dashcam footage from Christian Gallardo's vehicle shows the moment that Stanley slammed into his car while driving down Forsythia Drive South 'I picked the kid up and I froze because I couldn't believe the kid wasn't buckled in and the kid didn't go flying.' Gallardo also shared a photo from inside the woman's car. It was littered with several bottles of Fireball Cinnamon Whisky. The three children are believed to be two, one and five months old. Gallardo's vehicle crashed into a lawn of a nearby home while Mackenzie crashed into a parked vehicle Police say that the mother was 'uncooperative and belligerent' when they arrive at the scene, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by DailyMail.com. Gallardo also shared a photo from inside the woman's car. It was littered with several bottles of Fireball Cinnamon Whisky Stanley's behavior prompted authorities to hold off on giving her a field sobriety test. The mother was detained for drinking under the influence but transported to Saint Mary Medical to have her blood drawn. She consented to having her blood drawn and she was returned to her residence, according to the arrest affidavit. Stanley was blasted with 16 charges: one count for stop sign violation, three counts of driving under the influence, one count for an accident involving property damage, three counts reckless endangerment, three counts of endangering children, reckless driving, careless driving, operating a vehicle without financial responsibility and a count for speeding. Her husband's name has not been released and it is unknown what he was charged with. Mackenzie's next court appearance date has not been released. According to the woman's mother, Stanley does have a driving problem and has been trying to get help. Really Im just ashamed and embarrassed and mortified but very, very thankful no one was injured, said Amy Herzog. Holding his head high and staring dead-eyed straight ahead outside the Manhattan Criminal Court, suspected serial killer Nicholas Brent Gibson coolly confessed to 32 murders in front of a gaggle of reporters. Gibson, 32, at first claimed to have killed 77-year-old Erik Stocker with his bare hands, then seemingly contradicted himself by saying that he used a big samurai sword, and alleged that the victim wanted to die. The Florida drifter was arrested nearly two weeks ago in the a New York City subway in connection to the killing of his former housemate, Stocker, who was stabbed with a samurai sword inside the Miami Beach apartment the two men shared in April. Convicted sex offender and accused killer Nicholas Brent Gibson, 32, waived extradition back to Florida during a Friday hearing at Manhattan Criminal Court (pictured left and right) As he was being escorted by US Marshals out of the courthouse, Gibson made a series of chilling statements to the press The 32-year-old Florida drifter appeared impassive and spoke in a clam voice Gibson had his hands restrained and his ankles shackled as he emerged from the courthouse at 100 Centre Street in Manhattan Friday Dressed in a tan jail garb, with his wrists restrained and his ankles shackled, the heavily tattooed convicted sex offender appeared before a judge on Friday morning for an extradition hearing. After waving extradition back to Florida to potentially face murder charges, he was led outside by a pair of US Marshals. While awaiting transport, a reporter asked Gibson if he killed 'the guy in Florida.' 'With my bare hands,' he replied while motioning with his tattooed hands cuffed at the waist level. When another member of the media noted that it has been reported that the murder weapon was a sword, Gibson replied, 'Yes. A big one.' Asked by a reporter if he killed Erik Stocker in Florida, Gibson replied, 'With my bare hands' The 32-year-old suspect gestured with his heavily tattooed hands that were restrained at the waist level He confirmed previous reports that he had begun killing people at age 12, and after a long pause put his tally of victims at 32 A third reporter inquired of the accused killer why he took Stocker's life, to which he simply said, 'He wanted to go.' As Gibson shuffled to an awaiting car to be taken back to jail, he played with the chain looped around his waist, admired the buildings in downtown Manhattan and continued answering reporters' questions with a placid expression on his face. Tattoo artist Nicholas Brent Gibson, 32, has admitted to a string of murders across the United States since 1999 when he was 12. Now he claims he killed a Finnish tourist in Florida He confirmed previous reports that he had begun killing people at age 12, and after a long pause reportedly put his total tally of victims at 32. Investigators in three states are currently looking into through cold cases and missing persons reports to determine whether Gibson's crimes are real, or are nothing more than empty boasts meant to waste police time and makes his infamous. Police sources told DailyMail.com last week that Gibson insisted he was 13 when he claimed his first victim, bashing a 'black man' with a brick in 1999. He said the murder took place in woodland near his home in Kennesaw, Georgia, where he struck again one year later, throwing a special needs child into a river. Gibson was convicted of rape in June 2000 and spent seven years locked up at the Illinois Youth Center in Harrisburg, Illinois. The one-bedroom home (ringed) of Erik Stocker in the Miami Beach, Florida complex where his body was found on April 30. Nicholas Gibson has confessed to the murder, said to have been committed with a samurai sword Mystery death: Essi Puhakka, 27, was a Finnish woman found drowned in Biscayne Bay, Florida, in February 2015. An autopsy was inconclusive. Nicholas Gibson, 32, tells cops he killed her. They are now investigating; records suggest he was in prison in Georgia at the time He told detectives that after his release he killed a Russian man in Tampa Bay, Florida before slicing the throat of an African American man he smoked marijuana with in Compton, California. THE CONFIRMED CRIMES OF NICHOLAS GIBSON June 20, 2000 Nicholas Brent Gibson, then only 13, was convicted of rape in Illinois. He served his seven year sentence at the Illinois Youth Center in Harrisburg December 26, 2007 Arrested for raping and indecently assaulting a person under 16 in Tyrone, Pennsylvania May 29, 2008 Pleaded guilty to rape and failing to register as a sex offender, and given a four-and-a-half year prison sentence August 17, 2012 Arrested in Cobb County, Georgia for failing to register as a sex offender. He then absconded February 19, 2013 Arrested by Miami Beach Police Department, Florida, for failing to register as a sexual predator.Sentenced to 90 days in custody May 10, 2013 Extradited to Cobb County, Georgia. Jailed for six months for failing to register as a sex offender, released October 24 November 11, 2013 Arrested by Cobb County Sheriff's Office, Georgia for failing to register as a sex offender. February 6, 2014 Sentenced to 2 years in prison. Federal marshals say he was released from Dooly State Prison in Unadilla, Georgia in November 2015 June 11, 2016 Arrested at Dunkin' Donuts, Jupiter, Florida and charged with failing to register as a sex offender. He was put in custody pending trial March 30, 2017 Sentenced to 30 months, released November, 23, 2018 Advertisement He claimed to have used the same knife as in the Compton killing to murder a homeless man in Key West, his supposed fifth slaying. Gibson said he murdered his penultimate victim, a female tourist, by drowning her in Biscayne Bay, close to Miami Beach, in 2015. One of the investigators from the Miami Beach Police Department remembered a similar case from February of that year, when the body of Finnish national Essi Puhakka, 27,was found along a seawall. Gibson's criminal history seems to suggest he was behind bars when the body was found, having been sentenced to two years in prison in February 2014 for failing to register as a sex offender in Cobb County, Georgia. Stocker's decomposing body was found on April 30 after neighbors reported a foul odor coming from his first floor apartment in South Beach. Cops believe he had been dead inside for about two weeks but the corpse went undetected because most of the neighboring units are vacation homes. Tattoo artist Gibson, who sources said was living with Stocker and possibly serving as a health aide, allegedly killed and mutilated him, then stole his wallet and credit cards. The former barman and Dunkin' Donuts server then used one of the cards to buy a bus ticket to New York City, where he used it again at a Pronto Pizza near the Rockefeller Center on May 3. Two days later police saw him get off an L train in Manhattan's East Village and detained him after a brief struggle, before charging him with resisting arrest and being a fugitive from another state. Since his first rape conviction at age 13 and subsequent release in June 2000, Gibson, who also goes by the alias 'Brent Savage,' has drifted from state to state, repeatedly re-offending and failing to alert authorities to his whereabouts. The wiry pervert, who also goes under the name Brent Savage, pleaded guilty to raping a person under 16 in Tyrone, Pennsylvania in May 2008 and was given a four and a half year sentence. Since his release in June 2012 he has been convicted of failing to register as a sex offender on four different occasions. During one stint behind bars, Gibson's then girlfriend Stephanie Stocks gave birth to his only child in early 2017. According to friends, Stocks died from an overdose four months later and the child was taken into care. A female officer of the New York Police Department has been arrested after she allegedly conspired to have her ex-husband murdered by a hitman, authorities revealed Friday. Valerie Cincinelli, 34, is said to asked her 'sugar daddy' - who reportedly paid for her car and bills - to hire an assassin to murder her former spouse, Isaiah Carvalho Jr. The mother-of-one was arrested on Friday by the FBI, with the NYPD Internal affairs department assisting with her apprehension. Records show Carvalho filed for divorce against Cincinelli last year and a court date had been set for June. Valerie Cincinelli (pictured left in 2017 with ex-husband Isiah Carvalho and her daughter), 34, is believed to have tried to have asked her current partner to hire an assassin to kill her ex-husband. She received a 'Cop of the month' award in July 2017 (shown above) Video courtesy PIX 11 According to the NBC4, Cincinelli joined the police department in 2007 and worked out of the Queens 106th Precinct, in Ozone Park. However, she was stripped of her badge and gun and placed on modified assignment in 2017 following a number of domestic incidents, an official said. Its alleged that Cincinelli became romantically involved with an older local man - described as a 'sugar daddy' - who she met while working. But when she ended the relationship the man told the Internal Affairs Bureau that she had spent time at his Howard-Beach Home while on-duty, the NY Post reported. Isiah Carvalho Jr. is said to be left 'shaken-up' by the ordeal but doing well 'with all things considered'. He filed for divorce against Cincinelli last year and a court date had be set for June Cinicinelli's father, however, has jumped to his daughter's defense insisting the allegations against her are 'bulls***'. 'They were married, they have a kid together and then they got divorced. There is no way on the planet my daughter would have someone try to murder him. Thats nonsense!' he told the Post on Friday. He also added that his daughter had been 'going out with some wacko who made an allegation against her before that she tried to kill him.' Refusing to identify the man, he said that he was 'sure' the unnamed partner was behind the allegation. Meanwhile, Carvalho Jr. is said to be left 'shaken-up' by the ordeal but doing well 'with all things considered'. The Bronx-based mechanic declined to speculate whether he believed the allegations against his ex-wife were true or not. Cincinelli joined the New York police department in 2007 and worked out of the Queens 106th Precinct (above) in Ozone Park Before her demotion, Cincinelli had been an award-winning officer and was even crowned Cop of the month by the Jamaica Rotary in June 2017. The Oceanside, Long Island resident had recently been working at the Viper Unit, monitoring cameras in public housing prior to her arrest. A graduate of Longwood University, Cincinelli returned to the school in 2016 to be interviewed about her work in the NYPDs domestic violence unit. We want kids to like us. Thats the next generation; theyll be adults in 10 years. I love kids; theyre my soft spot. I feel like Im making a difference by helping children and their families, she said. Unfortunately, when I say hello to kids out walking with their parents, the parent sometimes says, Dont talk to them. Some parents teach their kids to hate the police. Cincinelli will appear before a judge on Monday. She was immediately suspended without pay after her arrest. A hero police officer who was temporarily blinded in the London Bridge attacks has described how he took on all three terrorists as they set upon him like a 'wolf pack'. British Transport Police officer Wayne Marques told an inquest he just tried to 'hold on and keep them fighting until the cavalry arrived'. PC Marques suffered horrific injuries when he confronted the three terrorists wearing suicide vests in June 2017 while armed only with a baton. PC Wayne Marques suffered horrific injuries when he confronted the three London Bridge terrorists, who were wearing suicide vests, in June 2017 while armed only with a baton He was repeatedly stabbed by the 'cold and calculating' killers after coming to the aid of Marie Bondeville, her boyfriend Oliver Dowling and Richard Livett who were injured on the evening of June 3 2017. Police Constable Marques had been on patrol when he was alerted by a woman's scream and people running up and down Borough High Street. He saw a group of people outside a nightclub staring in the same direction 'looking like statues' as if they were 'rabbits caught in a headlight', he said. As he went to investigate, he was accosted by a man running, pointing and saying: 'Mate, mate this guy's been stabbed. He said: 'I turned around to see who was screaming and where it was coming from. 'I could see a white lady. She seemed to be almost stumbling and that was when I saw the first attacker get her in a head lock. British Transport Police officer Wayne Marques told an inquest he just tried to 'hold on and keep them fighting until the cavalry arrived' 'She appeared to be trying to run, stumbling, coming towards my direction.' The attacker appeared to punch Ms Bondeville three or four times and she fell face down. The Asian man straddled her with her head between his hands, he said. Pc Marques told the Old Bailey: 'He seemed to look up and I believe he then let go of Marie and stood up.' The officer went on to describe how Mr Dowling was stabbed in the head and neck. The officer got out his baton and took a deep breath, then charged in. He said: 'I knew I did not have long before Oliver was probably going to die in front of me. I got my baton out and charged the first attacker. 'I just sucked in as much as I could as if I was going in for a fight. He was repeatedly stabbed by the 'cold and calculating' killers after coming to the aid of Marie Bondeville, her boyfriend Oliver Dowling and Richard Livett who were injured on the evening of June 3 2017. Above: Police come to the aid of one of the terror victims 'My intention was to hit him as hard as I could with all my weight behind me with everything I had. 'I knew he was trying to kill the man on the floor.' He hit as hard as he could and connected to his head. He decided he had to 'take the fight to the attacker' to protect the people on the floor, and punched again at 'close quarters'. As the attacker began to 'crumble' Pc Marques felt an 'almighty blow' to the head as if from a crowbar. 'I stumbled a few steps backwards and my right eye was put out of commission, I could not use it. Within 10 minutes, Khuram Butt, 27 (left), Rachid Redouane, 30, and Youssef Zaghba, 22, had killed eight people and injured 48 more before they were shot dead near Borough Market Rachid Redouane (pictured left), 30, was the terrorist who stabbed nurse Helen Kennett and killed waiter Alexandre Pigeard. One of his accomplices Youssef Zaghba, 22, is pictured right 'I looked with my left eye and towards the direction of where the attack was coming from. 'At this point I saw a knife coming towards me. Through instinctive reaction I defended myself.' He got into a 'messy fight' with the second attacker then spotted a third attacker running over. Pc Marques said: 'I was aware I was being stabbed and cut but did not really feel the pain as such. Fighting for your life, the adrenaline has taken over. 'My job at that stage was to hold on and keep them fighting until the cavalry arrived.' He felt his leg shaking and looked down to see a knife in it. Off-duty officer PC Charlie Guenigault was out with friends in the London Bridge area when the terrorists smashed their van into a nearby restaurant Pc Marques told the court the attackers appeared well trained and 'knew what they were doing'. He said: 'One of the things that stood out to me was the quite cold and calculating way they went about things. They were attacking almost like in a formation.' He said they were standing 'shoulder to shoulder' like a 'wolf pack'. 'I ended up having a voice in my head just telling me 'don't go down, don't go down'. 'My thought process was to hold on as long as I could. I knew there were people on the floor and I knew people were running away.' His next clear memory was of the three attackers backing away 'whether it was because I was falling around like a crazy person I have no idea'. One of the men shouted 'Allahu Akbar' three times, as if they were preparing to 'finish' him off, but the attack never came, Pc Marques said. The officer suffered nine injures, including eight knife wounds, but has since returned to work and received the George Medal. Off-duty officer PC Charlie Guenigault was out with friends in the London Bridge area when the terrorists smashed their van into a nearby restaurant. Instead of fleeing from the attack at about 10pm, he ran towards the attackers to protect others as they lashed out with 12in kitchen knives. He received stab wounds to his head, leg, back and stomach, and had to undergo a three-hour operation to remove his spleen. Pc Guenigault had been walking home after watching the Champions League final in a pub when he heard Mr Livett say: 'Help I've been stabbed.' PCs Charlie Guenigault and Wayne Marques suffered horrific injuries when they confronted the three terrorists wearing fake suicide vests in June 2017 The Met Police officer made a 999 call before he was approached by Pc Marques and his colleague. He ran over to help when he saw the two BTP officers appearing to break up a fight. He said: 'I sprinted over towards them. I just threw myself into this bundle of people. 'I remember pushing people away. At that point, in terms of the scrap, it's unclear to me what happened. 'I'm now faced with three people in vests with knives in my direction.' He said their eyes were dilated and they appeared 'very stern' and 'angry'. He said: 'They wanted to kill me.' Two of the attackers came over and stabbed him in the back and eye. Pc Guenigault, who also received the George Medal for bravery, said he thought it would 'not end well', before his legs collapsed from beneath him and he 'played dead'. He said: 'I thought I would get one in the head and one in the chest to finish me off.' Within 10 minutes, Khuram Butt, 27, Rachid Redouane, 30, and Youssef Zaghba, 22, had killed eight people and injured 48 more before they were shot dead near Borough Market. The victims were Xavier Thomas, 45, Christine Archibald, 30, Alexandre Pigeard, 26, Sara Zelenak, 21, Kirsty Boden, 28, Sebastien Belanger, 36, James McMullan, 32, and Ignacio Echeverria, 39. The court heard how Ms Boden was awarded an Australian bravery medal and Queen's commendation for bravery. Ms Boden, dubbed the Angel of London Bridge, was killed after rushing in to help victims outside Boro Bistro restaurant, saying: 'I'm a nurse. I have to go and help.' She was caught on film bending over French waiter Mr Pigeard on the ground when she was set upon by all three knifemen. The tip of Butt's 12-inch pink ceramic blade was later found embedded in her head. Adjourning the Old Bailey inquest, chief coroner Mark Lucraft QC said: 'It has been a case of extraordinary bravery in the face of extraordinary brutality.' Who were the victims of the London Bridge terror attack? (Top, from left) Christine Archibald, James McMullan, Alexandre Pigeard, Sebastien Belanger, (bottom, from left) Kirsty Boden, Sara Zelenak, Xavier Thomas and Ignacio Echeverria Ignacio Echeverria Spaniard Ignacio Echeverria was stabbed to death as he tried to fight off the terrorist attackers with his skateboard. The 39-year-old had been in the UK for over a year was working as a financial crime analyst at HSBC. Mr Echeverria joined unarmed police constables Wayne Marques and Charlie Guenigault in fighting off the three attackers as they set upon Marie Bondeville, hitting at least one terrorist with his skateboard. 'His courageous efforts were to seek to stop the attack,' Chief Coroner Mark Lucraft said. Kirsty Boden Mr Echeverria was the youngest of five siblings and was a Catholic who went to mass every week. He could speak English, German and French fluently. Nurse Kirsty Boden was fatally stabbed as she tried to tend to the wounded and the dying. Miss Boden, 28, moved to London in 2013 from the small town of Loxton, in South Australia. She was a senior staff nurse at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital and lived with her British boyfriend James Hodder in a flat in Hampstead. Mr Hodder said: 'She loved people and loved her life helping others. To Kirsty, her actions that night would have been an extension of how she lived her life.' Alexandre Pigeard Alexandre Pigeard was working as a waiter at Boro Bistro when he was attacked. The 26-year-old Frenchman had moved to London to further his ambitions as a dance music DJ. Minutes before he was fatally stabbed, he video-called his father Philippe during a break from work at the French restaurant. Mr Pigeard had planned to return to France in the autumn of 2017 to help open a restaurant in Nantes and to record an EP with his musician father. Mr Pigeard senior told the inquest: 'I'm present here as a devastated father who has lost a child in such circumstances - an inconsolable father.' James McMullan James McMullan was stabbed in the chest near the Barrowboy and Banker pub while he was celebrating getting financial backing for his online education company. The British-Filipino entrepreneur was watching the Champions League final with friends in the pub. The 32-year-old, from Hackney in East London, was attacked when he stepped outside to have a cigarette. He had dreamed of helping children without access to education through his e-learning company. Mr McMullan's father Simon described his son as 'funny, charming and clever' and said 'his fearlessness could never be underestimated'. Sebastien Belanger The mother of chef Sebastien Belanger said she does not forgive the terrorists who 'mutilated and killed him'. Her 36-year-old son was drinking at the Boro Bistro when he was stabbed repeatedly in the chest. His mother Josiane Belanger said: 'We miss him so much, his smile, his joie de vivre. I do not forgive what they did to him.' Originally from Angers in western France, Mr Belanger started work at the Coq d'Argent in the City and was promoted to the role of head chef. Australian au pair Sara Zelenak was on the 'trip of a lifetime' when she was stabbed to death while on a night out with a friend. Sara Zelenak Miss Zelenak's mother Julie Wallace said 'every sliding door' put her daughter in 'harm's way'. 'She was meant to be working and at the last minute she got the night off,' Mrs Wallace said. 'At 10pm Sara's phone rang and her friend said 'I've finished at the rugby' and so she left her safe haven and walked out into a terrorist attack and was stabbed to death.' Before leaving for UK in March 2017, Miss Zelenak worked with her stepfather Mark as a crane truck operator in Brisbane to save up for her trip. Her parents have since set up Sarz Sanctuary to help other families to cope with grief. Xavier Thomas Xavier Thomas was walking over London Bridge with his girlfriend Christine Delcros when they were hit by the van. The 45-year-old father-of-two was catapulted into the Thames and his girlfriend suffered life-changing injuries. His body was recovered downstream three days later. Mr Thomas, who had arrived in London on the day of the attack, lived near Paris and worked for American Express. Miss Delcros said: 'Since Xavier disappeared in such tragic and traumatic circumstances our whole world has fallen apart.' Canadian tourist Christine Archibald told her fiance Tyler Ferguson she loved him seconds before she was mowed down. Christine Archibald Miss Archibald and Mr Ferguson were walking across London Bridge after dinning at a nearby restaurant when the atrocity unfolded. Her fiance said: 'At one point Chrissy stopped me out of nowhere, grabbed me close and gave me a passionate kiss after telling me she loved me. 'I remember it being a warm summer's evening and the sun had just gone down.. And then the attack took place and Chrissy was killed. 'No words can express how I felt when this happened. I was absolutely devastated and inconsolable. Nothing has ever been the same since.' Miss Archibald's engagement ring was lost during the attack, but later recovered from the bridge. Mr Ferguson now wears it on a chain around his neck. Tourists are being warned to steer clear of a restaurant in Rome after a photograph of a bill totaling more than 70 for two burgers and three coffees went viral. The receipt posted to travel review website TripAdvisor shows that the meal at for two at Caffe Vaticano, near the Vatican, came to 81.40 (70.62). The website was inundated with social media users slamming the restaurant for its 'extortionate' prices; which include 25 for a burger and 8 for a cappuccino. The receipt from May 9 2019 shows two people were billed 25 for each burger and 8 for each coffee at Caffe Vaticano in Rome The menu of Caffe Vaticano showing the prices - including the 25 euro burgers Emma Cheppy shared the image on Facebook, with a warning to expats and tourists to avoid the venue. 'VISITORS OF ROME BEWARE: Caffe Vaticano has been ripping off tourists for ages apparently,' she wrote. 'Just skip it and find another place to eat near the Vatican. There's tons!' She also noted that the restaurant does not have any prices listed on the menu, a complaint shared by hundreds of visitors on TripAdvisor. 'The food was average and the prices are double if not triple what you pay elsewhere is Rome. The menu without prices should have been a warning sign,' wrote one reviewer. The website was inundated with social media users slamming the restaurant (interior pictured) for its 'extortionate' prices Caffe Vaticano (pictured), located near the Vatican, has been slammed for its 'extortionate' prices online 'Terrible customer service and rude people. No price on the menu, they decide what they want to charge looking to the person,' claimed another. Others described their experience as 'daylight robbery'. Caffe Vaticano is rated just 1.5 stars out of 5 on Tripadvisor, based on 1,811 reviews dating back more than a decade. Of these, the vast majority (1,417 reviews) call it 'terrible' - the worst option the website offers. Caffe Vaticano is rated just 1.5 stars out of 5 on Tripadvisor, based on 1,811 reviews dating back more than a decade Tripadvisor temporarily disabled the comments on Caffe Vaticano's page after the receipt went viral on social media, as users flocked to leave reviews. Some were reportedly violating the website's policy by leaving negative comments despite never having visited. Italian restaurants have long faced accusations of ripping off tourists. In January 2018, a group of Japanese students were charged almost 1,000 for four steaks and a plate of fish and mineral water in a Venice restaurant. The group four students had eaten at Osteria de Luca restaurant close to St Mark's Square when they were handed a 1,145 bill. And in November 2017 Luke Tang, a university lecturer from Birmingham, complained to Venice's mayor after being charged 463 for lunch at Trattoria Casanova. Tripadvisor temporarily disabled the comments on Caffe Vaticano's page after the receipt went viral on social media Mr Tang, who dined with his 70-year-old parents, wrote to mayor Luigi Brugnaro pointing out that there was no price on the menu for the platter of fish he ordered. But in an interview on Italian television, Mr Brugnaro said: 'Theyre cheapskates. Someone eats and drinks in a restaurant, then says they cannot understand the language? 'If you come to Italy you need to learn Italian, maybe even a few words of Venetian would be good too.' 'They ate lobster. They left nothing on their plates. They didnt even leave a tip. If you come to Venice, you need to shell out a bit. Youre welcome, but you need to spend.' Nigel Farage vowed to cause an earthquake at the centre of British politics in a rallying cry to Brexit Party supporters in Scotland ahead of next week's European election when he is expected to romp to victory. Speaking in Edinburgh this evening, he lashed out at the country's two main parties and also took aim at Nicola Sturgeon for peddling the 'most dishonest political discourse ever seen in the world'. To thunderous applause and chants of 'Nigel!', he told a packed room that the Brexit Party had got mainstream politicians 'on the run' after being 'stunned' at the Eurosceptic group's surge in popularity. Nigel Farage vowed to cause an earthquake at the centre of British politics in a rallying cry to Brexit Party supporters in Scotland To thunderous applause and chants of 'Nigel!', he told a packed room that the Brexit Party had got mainstream politicians 'on the run' Praying for a good campaign! Since the party's launch five weeks ago, it has been buoyed by a climb up the polls and is the clear front-runner heading into Thursday's European Parliament election Since the party's launch five weeks ago, it has been buoyed by a climb up the polls and is the clear front-runner heading into Thursday's European Parliament election. And Mr Farage said that the Brexit Party was 'here to stay' and would seek to fight the next General Election alongside fielding candidates in the devolved administrations such as the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood. The arch-Eurosceptic was given a standing ovation as he ended his speech by shouting 'we are the party of democracy! We are the party of liberty! We are the party of the nation!' He said: 'We have been openly and willfully betrayed by our political class... and having spent 25 years of my life having fought election after election and wondering if I would go down in history as the patron saint of lost causes... but I kept going and kept going.' Speaking in Edinburgh this evening, he lashed out at the country's two main parties and also took aim at Nicola Sturgeon for peddling the 'most dishonest political discourse ever seen in the world' Mr Farage spoke to reporters before addressing the rally in Scotland's capital this evening He also continued his bitter feud with the BBC whose coverage he branded 'an absolute disgrace' and hit out at presenter Andrew Marr for dredging up quotes 'from decades ago'. The former Ukip leader, who left the party amid claims it had become sympathetic to the far-right, said: 'I hadn't expected to see anyone here this evening. 'Because I have been studying what the SNP say, studying what the media say and studying what the BBC - including that distinguished Scot Andrew Marr - say and Id been led to believe that there wasnt a single Brexiteer in Scotland.' He added: 'We launched the Brexit Party five weeks ago in a factory in Coventry, and what we have achieved in that time exceeded even my optimistic expectations... 'The political class are stunned. We've got them on the run! We've got them genuinely scared and the Tory and Labour votes seem to be genuinely disappearing, as they should!' Kosovo police said Friday they had arrested four people, including two women, on suspicion of involvement in organ trafficking. The four are suspected of 'illegal transplantation and trafficking of human organs and cells', a police statement said. They were arrested on Thursday during a raid on a private clinic in the Pristina region, it said. One of the four suspects had been released while three will remain in 48-hour detention, the statement added. Kosovo police officers arrested four people suspected of organ trafficking on Thursday during a raid on a private clinic in the Pristina region (file image) Seized evidence include copies of medical documentation and other documents. No other details were provided. Organ transplants are illegal in Kosovo. In April, police arrested two doctors and two nurses working at a private clinic in a Pristina suburb on suspicion of similar offences. Last May, a Pristina court jailed two Kosovo doctors for harvesting kidneys and selling the organs to wealthy patients for up to 100,000 euros ($112,000) each. The two performed surgery on kidney donors brought to Kosovo mainly from Turkey, Russia, Moldova and Kazakhstan. In an earlier trafficking case, prominent Pristina urologist Lutfi Dervishi (centre) was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years for 'organised crime and human trafficking' Their kidneys were harvested and sold on to patients, mainly Israelis. The donors were paid just 15,000 euros each. Urologist Lutfi Dervishi and anaesthetist Sokol Hajdini were jailed for seven-and-a-half years and one year respectively. The court heard the two doctors worked together at the Medicus clinic in Pristina in 2008. Police raided the clinic in 2008 after a Turkish man, whose kidney had been removed, collapsed at Pristina airport as he waited for a flight back to Istanbul. Boris Johnsons Tory opponents began cranking up a campaign to stop him becoming Prime Minister within 24 hours of his announcement he would stand for the party leadership, it can be revealed today. The Stop Boris campaign swung into action in Westminster last night amid warnings that some Tories could force a general election rather than give him the keys to Number 10. Mr Johnson is the runaway favourite to succeed Theresa May as Tory leader following a coup by backbench MPs this week that will see her step aside this summer. His hopes were boosted last night by a poll showing he is the Tory most likely to beat Labour. The exclusive Survation poll for the Daily Mail put the former foreign secretary more than 20 points ahead of Sajid Javid, his nearest rival for Theresa Mays job. But two ministers said opposition to the former foreign secretary is so strong that some would be prepared to vote against him if he tried to introduce a Queen's speech - sparking an election this summer. The 'Stop Boris' campaign swung in to action in Westminster last night - amid warnings some Tory MPs could force an election rather than allow him to enter Downing Street and pursue a No Deal Brexit. He is pictured yesterday opening a school playground gym in Uxbridge One said: Boris cannot form a government, certainly not on a No Deal platform and probably not on any other. There are at least a dozen people on our side, me included, who would be prepared to vote against him on the Queens Speech. Even with the DUP on board, that is the majority gone. Then we are straight into an election. Another minister said: Boris is extremely popular with the members, but the situation is the opposite among his colleagues at Westminster. He could obviously win a leadership election in the country but there is a real question mark about whether he can command a majority in Parliament. Mr Johnson was streets ahead of the others on 32 per cent. His closest rival was Home Secretary Mr Javid on 11 per cent. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd were next, both with 7 per cent Conservative MP Phillip Lee issued a public warning that no Tory leader campaigning on a No Deal platform could hope to govern without an election. Dr Lee, who is facing a deselection attempt in his Bracknell constituency after backing a second referendum, said: Boris is not fit for purpose as prime minister, but this is not just about Boris the person. If any leader tries to make No Deal official Conservative policy then the Government does not last it is going to lose a confidence vote. Supporters of Mr Johnson insisted that he could reinvigorate a deflated Tory party, deliver Brexit and defeat Jeremy Corbyn. Leading Eurosceptic Jacob Rees-Mogg said: Boris would win back voters because he would deliver Brexit. Nadine Dorries said: Boris would shore up the Tory vote he is the best placed candidate to beat Corbyn. 'Election could let in Corbyn', warns health minister Matt Hancock Health Secretary Matt Hancock has warned a general election could allow Jeremy Corbyn into No. 10 and lead to Brexit being 'killed altogether'. Mr Hancock urged MPs to 'deliver Brexit and move forward' to also prevent Nigel Farage's Brexit Party getting any traction if the country went to the polls. Theresa May will present another version of her exit plan to MPs next month and there are fears an election could be called if it is rejected again to give her successor more of a mandate. He told the Daily Telegraph: 'A general election before we've delivered Brexit would be a disaster. People don't want it. I'm with Brenda from Bristol. We need to take responsibility for delivering on the referendum result.' He added: 'A general election before that [Brexit] not only risks Jeremy Corbyn but it risks killing Brexit altogether. We've got to deliver Brexit in this Parliament, then we can move forward.' Advertisement The Survation poll showed he was also the candidate with the highest ratings on the question of who would make a good prime minister and on who would be a vote winner. A YouGov poll for The Times yesterday found he was the first preference of 39 per cent of Tory members far ahead of his nearest rival Dominic Raab on 13 per cent. But, under the terms of the Tory leadership rules, he must first persuade his fellow MPs to rank him in the top two candidates whose names will go forward for election by the partys 125,000 members. The poll also said only 10 per cent of Remain-voting Tory members supported him, while 31 per cent believe he would be a 'poor leader'. Meanwhile Health Secretary Matt Hancock has warned a general election could allow Jeremy Corbyn into No. 10 and lead to Brexit being 'killed altogether'. Mr Hancock urged MPs to 'deliver Brexit and move forward' to also prevent Nigel Farage's Brexit Party getting any traction if the country went to the polls. Theresa May will present another version of her exit plan to MPs next month and there are fears an election could be called if it is rejected again to give her successor more of a mandate. He told the Daily Telegraph: 'A general election before we've delivered Brexit would be a disaster. People don't want it. I'm with Brenda from Bristol. We need to take responsibility for delivering on the referendum result.' He added: 'A general election before that [Brexit] not only risks Jeremy Corbyn but it risks killing Brexit altogether. We've got to deliver Brexit in this Parliament, then we can move forward.' The exclusive Survation poll for the Daily Mail put the former foreign secretary more than 20 points ahead of Sajid Javid, his nearest rival for Theresa Mays job Environment Secretary Michael Gove, who torpedoed Mr Johnsons 2016 campaign and is widely expected to stand again, yesterday said he would make his own leadership intentions known 'in due course'. As Mrs Mays hopes of passing a Brexit deal were seriously damaged by the acrimonious collapse of cross-party talks with Labour: Jeremy Corbyn pulled the plug saying it was impossible to negotiate with an unstable government; Business groups reacted with dismay, complaining about six wasted weeks; The Prime Minister attended the low-key private launch of the Tory European election campaign; She also drew up a bucket list of policy announcements for her final weeks in office. The detailed poll of more than 1,000 people, conducted yesterday, asked who was most likely to beat Labour under Mr Corbyn. Mr Johnson was streets ahead of the others on 32 per cent. His closest rival was Home Secretary Mr Javid on 11 per cent. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd were next, both with 7 per cent. In head-to-head contests, Mr Johnson also triumphed against every other candidate. He was 17 points ahead of Michael Gove and Dominic Raab, ten ahead of Mr Hunt and 19 ahead of Matt Hancock. Significantly, 20 per cent of Labour voters said Mr Johnsons leadership would make them more likely to vote Tory. Theresa May spoke at an EU election campaign event in Bristol today. She also drew up a bucket list of policy announcements for her final weeks in office However he also had the highest negative ratings: he was seen as likely to be a good prime minister by 32 per cent of the public, but bad by 45 per cent. Asked if Mr Johnsons leadership would make them more likely to vote Conservative, 28 per cent of those questioned said yes the highest figure for any candidate. But 38 per cent said they would be less likely to vote Tory. If there was a general election tomorrow, the poll showed the Tories on 27 per cent, five points behind Labour, with the Brexit Party on 13 per cent. But with Mr Johnson as leader, the parties were neck and neck on 24 per cent, with the Brexit Party on only 7 per cent. On Brexit, the poll found that opinion has barely changed from the referendum result nearly three years ago, with 49 per cent wanting to leave the EU and 51 per cent to remain. But the survey suggested Mr Johnson is seen as much more likely than Mrs May to make a success of Brexit. It confirmed the Conservatives were likely to sustain heavy losses at the hands of Nigel Farages Brexit Party in Thursdays European Parliament elections. The Tories were in third place on 14 per cent behind the Brexit Party on 30 per cent and Labour on 24 per cent. The Lib Dems were on 12 per cent and Change UK in the doldrums on just 3 per cent. President Donald Trump mocked Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren for drinking a beer in an Instagram Live video this past New Years Eve. 'Pocahontas. That's another beauty,' Trump said Friday, using a nickname he gave the lawmaker for her claims to Native American heritage. 'She's doing really well so far, isn't she? Her and her beer commercial.' The president was taking a jab at a video the Massachusetts senator put out before officially announcing she was running in 2020. Many claimed the Instagram Live video was an attempt to appear relatable, especially to younger voters. At the beginning of the video, Warren said she had to leave frame quick to 'go get me a beer.' When appearing back in the image, she had a bottle of beer in hand and brought her husband Bruce Mann into the frame where she lovingly referred to him as her 'hunny,' and asked if he wanted a beer, too. While speaking at a National Association of Realtor's event on Friday, President Trump mocked Elizabeth Warren for drinking a beer on camera this past New Years Eve and yanking a kid on stage for a photo op in February In a live-streamed video this New Years Eve, Warren said she had to leave the frame to 'get me a beer.' She also brought her husband on camera, called him 'hunny' and asked if he wanted a beer, too In the video she discussed her presidential run and made shoutouts to those joining to watch the live stream. Most on social media said the video was a failed attempt to relate to American citizens and seem like the 'cool' Democratic candidate. The president also targeted Warren for an on-stage gaffe during an announcement even in February where she pulled a young child in front of her for a photo-op. 'How 'bout the kid? Did you see the way she got the kid? Did anybody see that? Anybody see?' Trump asked the audience. 'Whether she wanted the child brought in front of her? -- WHAH! Boy that kid moved quickly.' Trump made his attacks on Warren while speaking at the National Association of Realtors Legislative Meetings and Trade Expo on Friday. He also made reference to Warren's role in designing the legislation that would create the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a amendment to Dodd-Frank. 'We've freed local lenders from the heavy-handed regulations also,' Trump touted during his remarks Friday. 'You know what was going on there. That were crushing community banks and threatening the housing market.' When appearing at her announcement rally, she yanked a young child over to her to appear side-by-side in a photo op During his remarks, Trump also dubbed Warren as 'angry' and bashed her history with helping establish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and said she 'enjoyed destroying these local lenders' 'Pocahontas had an agency that was -- I mean, she was a disaster,' Trump said, again using the derogatory name for the 2020 candidate. 'She enjoyed destroying these local lenders. I think she got pleasure out of destroying beautiful local lenders who have been lending to your clients and probably yourselves for years, and they were going out of business and they were living in fear.' Warren was the hidden hand behind creating the agency when she was advising Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee, before she became a senator. Despite her hand in the creation of the agency, former President Barack Obama never nominated her to run it. 'She's got a lot of pent-up anger,' Trump said of Warren and her history with lending. 'She's an angry person! But you know, making it very tough on people you know. You know what I'm talking about.' The CFPB levied $5 billion in fines, and used some of that money to create a slush fund that doled out money to pro-Obama community organizers. Before becoming the acting chief of staff for Trump, Mick Mulvaney took over running the CFPB, and put an end to the slush fund. Trump calls Warren Pocahontas because she made claims to Native American heritage when applying for a law school professorship and when filling out a registration application to take the Texas Bar exam. Trump believes the four front-runners that he is likely to face in 2020 are former Vice President Joe Biden (top left), Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders (top right), South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg (bottom left) and former Texas Congressman Beto O'Rourke Warren said at a campaign rally in a suburb of Washington, D.C. on Thursday that Trump wants to face a white man in 2020. He 'would like it to be that way,' Warren told Dailymail.com Warren would also often make reference to her aboriginal heritage when speaking at events and to constituents. Trump said that he would donate $1 million to the charity of Warren's choosing if she took a DNA test and it showed she was Native American. A bit later, Warren made the result of a DNA test public that showed she could be as little as 1/1024th American Indian, which is less Native American than the average white European American. Trump says he believes the front-runners in the Democratic primary race so far are former Vice President Joe Biden, independent Senator Bernie Sanders, South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg or former Texas Representative Beto O'Rourke. Warren, however, emerged as a like Democrat that could beat Trump in 2020 if she were to win the nomination. A new Fox News poll, released Thursday, showed Warren beating the incumbent president among all likely voters with 43 per cent support, compared to Trump's 41 per cent. When asked at a campaign event in Fairfax, Virginia about Trump's assertion that he would face a white male in 2020, Warren told Dailymail.com he 'would like it to be that way.' Senior military staff yesterday condemned as ridiculous the decision to sack the captain of the Royal Navys most powerful ship for misusing its official car. Despite a glittering career, Nick Cooke-Priest was removed from the helm of HMS Queen Elizabeth when it emerged he had driven the Ford Galaxy on personal trips. Under naval rules, the captain of the 3.1billion aircraft carrier was only allowed to use the vehicle for official duties, such as driving on bases. Despite a glittering career, Nick Cooke-Priest was removed from the helm of HMS Queen Elizabeth when it emerged he had driven the Ford Galaxy on personal trips While it remains unclear what trips he made, there are understood to be no accusations of fraud and he also paid for his own fuel. Commodore Cooke-Priest, who was in charge of a crew of around 700 on the warship which can hold up to 40 aircraft, was relieved of his duties earlier this week. Major General Julian Thompson, who commanded 3 Commando Brigade during the Falklands War, said: This is a ridiculous overreaction. A slap on the wrist would have been sufficient. It was a mistake and a silly thing to do. I would have made a note on his report and docked him some seniority, which would mean he would not get promoted so quickly, if at all. He added: We live in a different age than the one I served in. We were far more bothered about defeating the enemy than that. Lord West, a former First Sea Lord, said: Nick Cooke-Priest is a very good officer and a highly competent and nice officer and I would be surprised if he has done anything dishonest. Under naval rules, the captain of the 3.1billion aircraft carrier was only allowed to use the vehicle for official duties, such as driving on bases He added: Clearly, if all he has done is just driven this car once or not abused it then it does seem like an overreaction. But without knowing the full details of what has happened it is very difficult to say. A retired navy officer, who wished to remain anonymous, said: Its a classic case of trying too hard to do the right thing and so doing the wrong thing. Cant believe they sacked him for that. Former British Army intelligence officer Philip Ingram said: On the surface of it it seems completely over the top, an example of how the military put process not people first. Major General Julian Thompson, who commanded 3 Commando Brigade during the Falklands War, said the sacking was a 'ridiculous overreaction'. Lord West, a former First Sea Lord, said: Nick Cooke-Priest is a very good officer and a highly competent and nice officer and I would be surprised if he has done anything dishonest' Crew on the Queen Elizabeth nicknamed Big Lizzie are thought to have been told of the decision to move their captain to a new role earlier this week. An investigation by the Navy found that Commodore Cooke-Priest made an error of judgement by using the vehicle in his own capacity, according to The Sun. A defence source insisted that the decision was proportional and the correct thing to do because the captain of the warship needs to be seen by its crew as whiter than white. In the past, ship captains were loaned vehicles by Jaguar Land Rover but the agreement with the British manufacturer ended and the Ford Galaxy used by the Queen Elizabeth captain was paid for by the MoD He was using if for personal reasons so he had to be punished, they added. A Ministry of Defence source said: You have to be beyond reproach. You cannot stand there and demand the highest standards if you dont follow the rules yourself. In the past, ship captains were loaned vehicles by Jaguar Land Rover but the agreement with the British manufacturer ended and the Ford Galaxy used by the Queen Elizabeth captain was paid for by the MoD. Commodore Cooke-Priest, a married father of three sons from Hampshire, had been in the position since October, describing the role as an immense honour. The vessel, currently docked at Rosyth naval base in Scotland, is Britains largest ever warship, weighing 65,000 tonnes and boasting a 70-metre wide flight deck. It will eventually have a crew of 1,600 at full complement. When commissioning the ship in 2017, the Queen said it embodied the best of British. Commodore Cooke-Priest, pictured with Prince Charles, had been captain of HMS Elizabeth since October, describing the role as an immense honour It is still unclear how Commodore Cooke-Priest will be punished, with the MoD refusing to comment on whether he is appealing against the decision. But the incident is likely to effectively end his chances of further promotion. The warship captain is the son of Colin Cooke-Priest, a former helicopter pilot whose distinguished naval career saw him promoted to rear admiral in 1989. Mr Cooke-Priest, 80, was made extra gentleman usher to the Queen in 2009. His son started his naval career in 1990, specialising as a Lynx helicopter observer before a decade of flying appointments. He became a commander in 2009, escorting the Queen during her Western Isles royal tour on HMS Kent. The 'exceptional and popular captain' was dismissed for allegedly driving the ship's Ford Galaxy (similar to above) 'as if it was his own' Following his promotion to captain in 2014, Commodore Cooke-Priest led the UKs response to the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean and received an OBE in 2016. A Royal Navy spokesman said: We can confirm Captain Nick Cooke-Priest has been reassigned to a new role. 'We can only say that management action is ongoing and it would therefore be inappropriate to comment further. When Sherrie Sharp was still in her mothers womb, a young surgeon saved her life with a pioneering blood transfusion. Three decades later, they crossed paths again when the same specialist helped save Sherries son in her womb in an operation that has only just started being done in the UK. Professor Kypros Nicolaides, the worlds leading expert in foetal medicine, offered Miss Sharp, 29, the ground-breaking procedure after pregnancy scans revealed her baby had life-threatening spina bifida. Professor Kypros Nicolaides, the worlds leading expert in foetal medicine, offered Sherrie Sharp, 29, the ground-breaking procedure after pregnancy scans revealed her baby had life-threatening spina bifida She was 23 weeks pregnant when she was told her baby had spina bifida, which results in the spine failing to form properly. It leads to nerve damage that can cause paralysis and brain damage Six weeks after the operation, baby Jaxson was born. He is now four weeks old and can kick his legs and wriggle around movement made possible by the operation. Miss Sharp, from Horsham, West Sussex, said: Hes amazed us all hes a miracle Sherrie Sharp (pictured left with her newborn last month) underwent keyhole surgery to repair her son Jaxson's spina bifida while he was still in the womb in the first operation of its kind in the UK. Jaxson (right) is wriggling his legs. Without surgery he could have been immobile Ms Sharp (pictured with Jaxson) refused to have an abortion when a 20-week scan revealed his spinal cord was bulging out of his back. She opted to have the surgery at 27 weeks Hero they call the miracle worker When parents first meet Professor Kypros Nicolaides, it tends to be on one of the worst days of their lives. They have often just been told their unborn child is likely to die and their only hope rests in the hands of the surgeon known as a miracle worker. Professor Nicolaides has spent 40 years caring for the tiniest and most vulnerable of NHS patients. He leads the world-renowned Foetal Medicine Department at Kings College Hospital in London, where his office is adorned with pictures of hundreds of babies whose lives he has saved. His work has revolutionised foetal medicine. The first doctor to perform laser surgery in the womb, he specialises in pioneering techniques that allow him to diagnose, treat or even prevent certain conditions before a baby is born. Professor Nicolaides was born in Cyprus in 1953 and trained at Kings College Medical School. He has held the position of Professor of Foetal Medicine since 1991. Advertisement He led a team of doctors who operated on her using keyhole surgery when she was six months pregnant. Three small incisions were made in Miss Sharps abdomen, and a thin camera and surgical tools were inserted into her uterus. Doctors then repaired the babys spinal cord during a three-hour operation at Kings College Hospital in London. Six weeks later, baby Jaxson was born. He is now four weeks old and can kick his legs and wriggle around movement made possible by the operation. Miss Sharp, from Horsham, West Sussex, said: Hes amazed us all hes a miracle. She was 23 weeks pregnant when she was told her baby had spina bifida, which results in the spine failing to form properly. It leads to nerve damage that can cause paralysis and brain damage. Miss Sharp was offered a number of options, including abortion, before her mother Jacqueline, 56, suggested she approach Professor Nicolaides. The surgeon had saved Miss Sharps life in 1990 by giving her blood through her mothers umbilical cord when she developed severe anaemia inside the womb. Professor Nicolaides, 66, said: When Sherrie came to see me, she asked if I remembered her. Of course I did! I remember everything about operating on her mother, even if it was 30 years ago. The procedure is not a cure but will reduce Jaxson's (pictured) risk of complications Jaxson (pictured) was born at 33 weeks last month, with his back 'healing nicely' Doctors have repaired spina bifida via keyhole surgery in the mother's womb in a UK first HOW CAN KEYHOLE SURGERY IN THE WOMB REPAIR SPINA BIFIDA? Spinia bifida is a birth defect that causes a baby's spinal cord to not develop properly. Left untreated, this can cause nerve damage that leads to leg paralysis, incontinence and a build-up of fluid in the brain. The keyhole surgery involves doctors making a few small incisions across a mother's abdomen. They then insert a camera and surgical tools into the womb, before pushing the baby's spinal cord into place. The baby's muscles and skin have to be closed to prevent its spinal-cord fluid leaking. And a 'patch' is used to cover its vertebrae. This is preferable to corrective surgery after the baby is born, with complications becoming more severe the longer the spinal cord is exposed to amniotic fluid. It is also better to make a few small incisions rather than one large one due to the risk the uterus may rupture during a woman's subsequent pregnancies. Advertisement It was a pioneering operation and her mother was one of the first I operated on. He added: I immediately felt a very close bond with Sherrie. It was a very nice feeling to see someone I had treated as a foetus coming back to me 30 years later, although it made me feel very old. Sherrie said she needed to pay me back for saving her life by letting me test this new technique. I have saved two generations of the family I dont think I will be around for the third! I was so happy when I met Jaxson. I felt like it was my child. Miss Sharp, a pharmacy worker, was the second woman to undergo the keyhole spina bifida surgery in the UK. She said: Im only here today thanks to the specialists at Kings, so I wanted my baby to have the same chance. Hes got a lot of movements in his legs. We were told hed have minimal movements if we didnt have the surgery or he wouldnt be able to move them at all. Its not a complete cure but it means Jaxson will be able to do things he otherwise wouldnt have done. Her mother said: When I met Kypros while pregnant in 1990, Sherrie was severely anaemic and in a critical condition. He had to take my blood, freeze it, clean it and put it back into my umbilical cord. Without him, Sherrie had no chance of surviving. He helped me through the rest of my pregnancies. Now I have five children and seven grandchildren, all thanks to him he is part of the family. Kings College Hospital is the first centre in the UK to carry out keyhole surgery on babies with spina bifida while still in the womb. A marketing intern played dead after being stabbed 18 times because she feared the London Bridge terrorists were about to decapitate her, the Old Bailey heard yesterday. Marie Bondeville had enjoyed a romantic meal with boyfriend Oliver Dowling, 34, when they were attacked by three knife-wielding fanatics. Miss Bondeville thought she was being repeatedly punched as she fell but suffered a series of stab wounds to her face and body. As she lay in the foetal position on the pavement, she begged for the attack to stop and kept calling for help. Marie Bondeville had enjoyed a romantic meal with boyfriend Oliver Dowling, 34, when they were attacked by three knife-wielding fanatics during the London Bridge terror attacks on June 3, 2017 Giving evidence at the inquest into the atrocity, Miss Bondeville said: I just knew the more I begged the more they attacked me because I was still alive. I recall thinking they were trying to cut my head off when they went for the front of my neck. I moved on to my front and tried to protect my neck. It was then that I felt I would die. She then felt a huge blow between her shoulder blades. It was like I had been hit with a hammer or an axe, she said. It was then that I would say I disconnected from the pain and just played dead. Miss Bondeville, from Bordeaux in France, said the worst part of the attack was not the pain, but the thought that her boyfriend had died trying to protect her and she could not reach him. Giving evidence at the inquest into the atrocity, Miss Bondeville said: I just knew the more I begged the more they attacked me because I was still alive' Mr Dowling, a business analyst from New Zealand, suffered nine stab wounds, but also survived. He felt he had been punched when he tried to stop her attackers. He told the court: I now know that I had been stabbed. The second blow knocked me to the ground. Miss Bondeville was put into an induced coma for a week and left hospital 25 days later. The couple both made a full recovery and married in France last year. University lecturers have become the most strike-prone group of workers. Two thirds of all days lost to strike action last year were in the education sector, according to the Office for National Statistics. The stoppages were due mainly to disputes involving employees of universities. Altogether, 273,000 working days were lost to strikes in 2018, the sixth-lowest total since records began in 1891. Hospitality Strikes in Leicester Square in October 2018 striking against poverty pay, precarious contracts and a lack of union recognition The ONS said there were just 81 strikes nationally, the second lowest total since counting began in 1930. Last year lecturers in more than 50 universities stopped teaching over changes to their pension scheme. The stoppage was responsible for the bulk of the 179,400 working days lost last year to disputes in education. Theresa May is said to be mulling giving MPs a multiple choice vote on the kind of future relationship the UK should have with the EU in order to get her Brexit deal through Parliament next month. The proposal would use a preferential vote system under which MPs would rank different options in order of preference. The government is considering holding the series of 'indicative votes' before MPs vote for the fourth and final time on her Brexit deal in the week beginning June 3. In a bid to secure a majority Mrs May is considering giving MPs multiple choice votes on their preferred future relationship with the EU It is unclear whether any path will be able to command a majority. The Prime Minister is running out of options after cross-party Brexit talks with Labour collapsed yesterday, hours after Mrs May agreed to set out in early June a timetable for her departure. Both sides blamed each other for their failure to reach a consensus. Meanwhile the Prime Minister is said to have created a bucket list of policy announcements for her final weeks in the job in an attempt to salvage her legacy. Mrs May is expected to make a series of interventions on paternity rights, student funding, technology and social housing. As she delivered a televised message to voters ahead of the European Parliament elections, Mrs May said: 'When we come to bring the legislation forward we will think carefully about... the outcome of these talks. The Prime Minister (pictured in Bristol campaigning for the EU elections) has blamed Labour as Brexit talks officially collapsed 'We will also consider whether we have some votes to see if the ideas that have come through command a majority in the House of Commons.' Jeremy Corbyn said Labour would oppose Mrs Mays deal when it returns to parliament, but that Labour would look at any proposal from the government concerning the indicative votes. 'This is a novel process which we will obviously look at whenever it comes to parliament,' he said. Jeremy Corbyn said it was hard to have Brexit talks with a Government in disarray and pulled the plug on any deal The plan, disclosed in a memo leaked to the Evening Standard, will infuriate Labour's second referendum supporters because it reveals that a new EU vote was not included as a Brexit alternative and would be voted on separately. MPs will instead be given four forms of customs arrangement with the EU and asked to rank them in order of preference. One of the options on the table is a full and permanent union, another is a union for goods only, and a third is for a looser temporary plan lasting until the next general election. The plan with the fewest votes would be eliminated and second preferences reallocated. Another free vote for MPs would ask them to simply choose yes or no on the questin of whether the deal should be subject to a second referendum. Mrs May has agreed to set out in early June a timetable for her departure as Prime Minister A Labour source confirmed that the document was genuine but was presented to the party by the Government and they did not agree to any of it. The Brexit talks between the Tories and Labour imploded after 42 days, with the Labour leader writing to the Prime Minister to say they have 'gone as far as they can' due to 'the increasing weakness and instability' of her premiership. Mr Corbyn said with a Tory leadership battle now weeks away he has no 'confidence' in the 'Government's ability to deliver any compromise agreement'. Hinting that any deal would be torn up he added: 'The Prime Minister has announced the date she's leaving, there have been increasing noises off stage by Conservative Cabinet ministers and others who don't agree with much of the talks or any of the discussions we are holding, so we are concluding the talks'. Mr Corbyn also blamed Liam Fox for the impasse, saying the Trade Secretary insisted that importing chlorinated chicken from the US after Brexit had to remain 'on the table'. Responding to Jeremy Corbyn's decision to end Brexit talks, Theresa May said: 'We have not been able to overcome the fact that there is not a common position in Labour about whether they want to deliver Brexit or hold a second referendum which could reverse it.' As talks broke up today an ugly war of words started a No 10 source said Labour's chief negotiator Sir Keir Starmer's push for a second referendum was the biggest sticking point in the talks. Downing Street insiders claimed splits within the Labour ranks - particularly on the issue of a second referendum - had made it harder to reach an agreement, with shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer singled out for his 'strident' views. Sir Keir has publicly stated that a deal would be unlikely to pass without it being subject to a public vote. Blame game after 6 weeks of Brexit talks end in failure by Jason Groves Political Editor for the Daily mail Cross-party Brexit talks collapsed amid acrimony yesterday as Downing Street said senior Labour figures were not serious about leaving the EU. Jeremy Corbyn yesterday pulled the plug after six weeks, saying it was impossible to negotiate with a government that had become ever more unstable and its authority eroded. The Labour leader said the prospect of a new Brexiteer Tory leader raised serious questions about the Governments ability to deliver on any compromise agreement. But Downing Street hit back last night, blaming the strident views of Labour Brexit spokesman Sir Keir Starmer, who has demanded a second referendum as the price of any deal. May plans policy blitz for last days By Jack Doyle for the Daily Mail Theresa May has drawn up a bucket list of policy announcements for her final weeks as Prime Minister. In an attempt to salvage her legacy, Mrs May is expected to make a series of interventions on paternity rights, student funding, technology and social housing. Allies said she would return to the theme of tackling burning injustices in British society that the Prime Minister set out when she came to office in July 2016. A source said: Shes going, we all know shes going. But there are some things she still wants to do that feed back to the steps of Downing Street. She wants to focus on social justice and social mobility and getting the country ready for the future. Mrs May is expected to stand aside as Tory leader before the end of July to allow the contest to find her successor to begin. Advertisement Business leaders reacted with dismay saying the talks had taken up six wasted weeks and there was now an increased risk of a No Deal Brexit. The CBI employers group last night called for Parliament to cancel the coming 11-day Whitsun recess to focus on thrashing out a deal. Sources said the failure could leave MPs facing the very unpalatable choice of either No Deal or no Brexit if Parliament refuses to back Mrs Mays deal for a fourth time when it returns to the Commons next month. Irish leader Leo Varadkar described the failure of the talks as a very serious development and a very negative development, unfortunately. Mrs May yesterday said the issue raised fundamental questions about whether the Labour leadership wanted to leave the EU at all. Speaking in Bristol during her only campaign event for next weeks European Parliament elections, she said: We have not been able to overcome the fact there is not a common position in Labour about whether they want to deliver Brexit or hold a second referendum which could reverse it. Mr Corbyn entered the talks in April on the understanding that any cross-party deal would not automatically be subject to a second referendum. But Sir Keir, seen as a potential leadership rival, made a public pitch for a confirmatory vote involving a second referendum if a deal was struck. A senior minister said the Labour leader had been outmanoeuvred by Sir Keir and deputy leader Tom Watson. To be fair to Corbyn and his team they were serious about a deal, the minister said. But Starmer never wanted it to work he was more interested in trying to ingratiate himself with Labour members who want to stop Brexit. It doesnt take a genius to work out why he wants to be leader. A Labour source suggested the blame for the talks collapse lay with Eurosceptic Tories who had criticised the decision to negotiate with Mr Corbyn. CBI director-general Carolyn Fairbairn said that it was another day of failed politics, another dispiriting day for British business six wasted weeks while uncertainty paralyses our economy. The growing list of 'heartbeat' abortion bans are designed openly to get the Supreme Court to reconsider Roe v. Wade, with many Republicans gambling that a 5-4 conservative bench would overturn it. But is that the case? Here is how the case may - or may not - reach the Supreme Court. ROUND ONE: LITIGATE IN STATE COURTS The outcome does not matter too much in legal terms because the aim is to get to: ROUND TWO: PRO-CHOICE CHALLENGE Each of the laws passed by the states is going to be challenged in the local federal court by pro-choice groups, with Planned Parenthood and the ACLU litigating some already and getting ready for more. The heartbeat bills are fairly clearly incompatible with Roe v. Wade so it is likely a federal judge would first grant an injunction against them to keep them from being enacted, and order a full-scale hearing. This could be the pro-life movement's first chance to ask for a Supreme Court hearing, by appealing the injunction rather than waiting for a full trial in a federal court. Or they could wait for a trial - but either way the next stage is: ROUND TWO: FEDERAL APPEALS COURT All federal cases can be appealed to the next level - a federal appeals court. The country is divided into 12 geographical circuits and some swing liberal, some conservative. The best bet for the pro-life group to force a Supreme Court hearing is to get an appeal into a liberal circuit, where judges are likely to vote down a heartbeat bill. Cases are heard by three judges and can be appealed to the entire bench of the circuit. Missouri is in the liberal-leaning Eighth Circuit, so if its bill becomes law, look here for a challenge which would come from the state or its pro-life supporters going to the next stage: ROUND THREE: PETITION THE SUPREME COURT - AND GET JOHN ROBERTS ON SIDE Anyone involved in a federal appeals case can petition the Supreme Court to ask for review of the outcome. But the tricky part for the pro-life movement is that the Supreme Court is not compelled to take up a petition. So assuming a heartbeat bill has been blocked by an appeals court, the pro-life petitioners have to find a way to get a majority of the justices to agree to hear their appeal. That means getting Chief Justice John Roberts - the swing vote - to agree to hear the case. But he has made clear since his confirmation hearing that he wants a court respected by all sides and seen as above politics. So it is an uphill task to persuade him not to do the simple thing: keep the hypothetical block on the heartbeat bill in place without a hearing, ending the process without a public and divisive airing of the issues. Exactly that scenario has already happened in North Dakota, whose restrictive laws got struck down by the liberal Eighth Circuit. The Roberts court simply declined to intervene. But assuming a pro-life lobbyist or state, or group of states, succeeds in getting Roberts to agree to a hearing, the next challenge is: ROUND FOUR: WHAT EXACTLY WILL THE JUSTICES REVIEW? Just because the justices have taken up the case a pro-life lobby group want to push doesn't mean their dream of a full-scale Roe v. Wade challenge is anywhere near complete. The justices can look as widely or narrowly at the issue as they want, so could consider a detail in the case rather than looking at abortion in full. Roberts has been a 'gradualist' before, on issues such as gay marriage, so he might guide the court to consider far narrower issues. Examples could include allowing states to make licensing of abortion clinics more difficult, or restricting reasons for having an abortion, such as banning Down Syndrome diagnosis as a reason for termination. Pro-choice groups fear the most likely outcome of the heartbeat bills is not sweeping new abortion bans, but Roberts leading the conservatives to allow more restrictions to stay in place state-by-state without Roe v. Wade being overturned. Advertisement The discovery of 137 new stone 'jars of the dead' that date back more than a thousand years ago has deepened Laos' abiding archaeological enigma. The cup-like carved stones vary in size, reaching up to 10 feet (3 metres) in height and two tons in weight. Exactly how the jars were used is unknown, however it has been suggested that they served as 'burial urns' for storing human remains while local myths claim they were goblets once used by a drunk horde of giants. Researchers led from the Australian National University found the new jar sites in a remote and mountainous forest during a survey that began in 2015. The jars were buried with decorated stone discs, mysterious smaller jars made of clay and a variety of more conventional stone age artefacts like beads and jewellery. The discoveries show that the mysterious practices involving the jars were more widely performed than previously thought and could help us interpret them. Laos' abiding archaeological enigma has deepened with the discovery of 137 new stone 'jars of the dead' that date back to around a thousand years ago Laos' jars of the dead remain one of archaeology's most intriguing puzzles. Dotted across thousands of square kilometres of the Xieng Khouang plateau, which has become known as the 'Plain of Jars', the mysterious stone jars are giant, with some standing up to 10 feet (three metres) in height. Researchers believe that that giant stone vessels had some relation to the disposal of the dead, however little is known for certain about the jars' original function and the people that deposited them where they are now found. Now, archaeologists Dougald O'Reilly and Nicholas Skopal from the Australian National University and colleagues have catalogued 137 new jars, found across 15 freshly-identified sites, in remote and mountainous forest. The discoveries show that the ancient burial practices associated with the jars 'were more widespread than previously thought,' said Dr O'Reilly. 'These new sites have really only been visited by the occasional tiger hunter,' said Mr Skopal. 'Now we've rediscovered them, we're hoping to build a clear picture about this culture and how it disposed of its dead,' he added. There is no evidence that the region where the jars were found was occupied. 'Why these sites were chosen as the final resting place for the jars is still a mystery,' said Dr O'Reilly. 'It's apparent the jars, some weighing several tonnes, were carved in quarries, and somehow transported, often several kilometres, to their present locations.' Another hypothesis suggests that the jars were made to capture monsoonal rainwater for later boiling and use by caravans passing through the region. Researchers led from the Australian National University found the new jar sites in a remote and mountainous forest during a four-year survey that began in 2015 The discoveries show that the mysterious practices involving the jars were more widely performed than previously thought and could help us interpret them According to local mythology, the jars were once used as goblets by a drunk horde of giants Some of the new jars were found accompanied by beautifully-carved discs, which researchers believe may be a form of burial marker. The carved images on the discs include animals, human figures and patterns of concentric circles. 'Decorative carving is relatively rare at the jar sites and we don't know why some discs have animal imagery and others have geometric designs,' Dr O'Reilly said. Oddly, the researchers found that all of the discs were buried with their decorated sides positioned face-down. WHAT IS THE PLAIN OF JARS? Carved from huge blocks of sandstone and limestone, the jars on the Xieng Khouang plateau date from 500 BC to 500 AD. They appear to have been quarried from several areas in the Xieng Kouang foothills before being spread over more than 90 sites, numbering from just a handful in some areas to hundreds in others. Each has a cylindrical shape with the bottom wider than the top and most have lip rims, raising suspicions that the jars originally had lids. However, few stone lids have ever been found at the sites. Little is known about how the jars were created but some archaeologists speculate that the people who made them used iron chisels to carve them. Just one jar has been found to have been decorated with a human 'frogman' relief carved on the exterior. Advertisement The jars were buried with decorated stone discs, mysterious smaller jars made of clay and a variety of more conventional stone age artefacts like beads and jewellery The images on the discs include animals, human figures and patterns of concentric circles Alongside the stone jars, the researchers also found typical iron-age artefacts, including decorative ceramics, discs that were worn as ear rings, iron tools, glass beads and spindle whorls that were used to manufacture cloth. But one of the other finds was of particular note. 'Curiously, we also found many miniature jars, which look just like the giant jars themselves but made of clay,' said Dr O'Reilly. 'We'd love to know why these people represented the same jars in which they placed their dead, in miniature, to be buried with their dead,' he added. The researchers are also planning to look for possible connections between the jars of the dead in Laos and similar large stone jars that have been found in Assam, India, and Sulawesi in Indonesia. Researchers believe that that giant stone vessels had some relation to the disposal of the dead, however little is known for certain about the jars' original function and the people that deposited them where they are now found The gene responsible for causing breathing problems and wheezing in short-nosed dogs has been identified by scientists. Future short-nosed dogs may not suffer with the chronic breathing problems they are infamous for as a result, they say. Scientists have discovered a DNA mutation that could be behind their notorious wheezing. The faulty gene is linked with fluid retention and causes the lining of the airways to swell. Genetic tests looking at the ADAMTS3 gene could help vets identify animals at risk and help breeders avoid producing affected pups. It has long been believed the desire of owners for squat skulls and a scrunched up face led to the problem, but this study casts doubt on that belief. Scroll down for video The faulty gene is found in popular flat-nosed dog breeds such as French (pictured) and English Bulldogs. Scientists have now discovered a DNA mutation that could be behind their notorious breathing problems It is found in popular flat-nosed dog breeds such as French and English Bulldogs, pugs and the Norwich terrier, which has a proportional nose but suffers with the same issues. The discovery means the shape of the breed's skull may not be the only factor causing breathing hardship for dogs. Many of the dogs with shortened noses are affected by a condition called Bracycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome, or BOAS. This can often leave dogs gasping and short of breath. Dr Jeffrey Schoenebeck and his team at the Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh's Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies analysed DNA from more than 400 Norwich terriers. Vets also carried out clinical examinations of the dogs to check their airways for signs of disease. The Norwich terrier (pictured), which has a proportional nose, also suffers from Bracycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome, or BOAS. The researchers pinpointed a DNA mutation in a gene called ADAMTS3, which causes fluid retention and swelling WHY DO SOME DOGS SUFFER WITH BOAS? Many dogs with shortened noses are affected by a condition called Bracycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome, or BOAS. This can often leave dogs gasping and short of breath. This includes the French bulldog, bulldog, pug, pekingese, shih tzu, Japanese chin, boxer and Boston terrier - known asbrachycephalic breeds. The most distinctive feature of these breeds is their short muzzle. They have been selectively bred to have a normal-sized lower jaw but a much shorter upper jaw. This has led to medical conditions where they are predisposed to upper airway tract obstruction and subsequent respiratory distress. Although not all brachycephalic dogs suffer clinical signs, the incidence and severity of the respiratory disorders has increased. The respiratory disease related to brachycephalic confirmation is called brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome (BOAS). Advertisement The mutated version of the gene was also common in French and English bulldogs, which may help to explain why some dogs of these breeds develop breathing problems and complications after surgery to treat them. Dr Schoenebeck said: 'We conclude that there are additional genetic risk factors, that if inherited, will likely lead to airway disease in dogs regardless of their face shape. 'The challenge ahead is to integrate these ideas, and implement sensible breeding practices and treatments that consider various health risks including those presented by the mutation of ADAMTS3. BOAS is a complex disease. 'Although skull shape remains an important risk factor, our study suggests that the status of ADAMTS3 should be considered as well. 'More studies are needed to dissect the complex nature of this devastating disease.' Senior specialist surgeon Dr Jon Hall, who leads a specialist clinic for dogs with upper airway problems called BREATHE, said: 'This discovery is a step change in our understanding of upper airway problems in dogs, which we hope will allow us to identify dogs at greater risk of catastrophic airway swelling before it happens.' Along with helping dog breeders be safer in their practices, screening for the mutation may also help veterinarians identify dogs which are at risk of UAS, and in particular identify the dogs at risk of swelling of their airways after surgical treatment, which is a common, life-threatening post-operative complication. The findings were published in the journal PLOS Genetics. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 17) The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) citizen arm hopes to finish its analysis of poll audit logs in the next three days, it said Friday. The audit logs serve as historical record of the transparency servers activity before it stopped releasing poll results to the public. COMELEC granted the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) access to the logs to check the server before and after the seven-hour delay in the release of results on May 13. The logs will be turned over today (Friday) and if it's straightforward, we probably will be able to accomplish things by this weekend hopefully, latest is next week, said Myla Villanueva, PPCRV Chair. We'll just continue to do our work and again I think by Monday we will have something anyhow. COMELEC seeks to proclaim the list of winning senators by Monday. The poll body earlier said there was no problem with the transmission of poll results no problem with the transmission of poll results to the servers, as it is an issue with the application that transmits the results to the media terminals. So our tech experts will take a look at the specific software that was pointed out by COMELEC is the reason, Villanueva said. She said some failure was expected given the machines were rather old. She said machine failure rate was at the two percent level but whether it affected the credibility of the election or not, Villanueva said they still have to check. The PPCRV will determine the credibility of results through the transparency server, what occurred in the fix, and through validating the physical election returns to the returns from the transparency server. Right now, the match rate that we have is at 99.98 percent. So that's quite good and I hope that trend continues, she said. Meanwhile, Villanueva commended the peaceful conduct of the polls. Maybe logistically, it could have been better but on our end in PPCRV, the good news is that it's a peaceful election. I mean it was relatively peaceful and for that we're very happy, she said. Being a dog-lover is not a choice, it is in your DNA. This finding from a team of researchers in Sweden and England sheds some light on how man's best friend came to be and found being a dog owner is may be genetic. A study of twins found that getting a dog is influenced by an individual's genes and may even be inherited. It is impossible to say which genes are involved from the study but identical twins agreed far more than non-identical pairs on whether they would have a pet pooch. Scroll down for video Man's best friend has been with us for at least 15,000 years, but why we have formed such a bond with them has been much debated. Scientists now think the love of dogs may be in the DNA of pet owners (stock) Previous research found if we had a pet as a child we are more likely to like animals and own a pet in adulthood. But it was unclear if genetic differences between families contribute to this association. Lead author Professor Tove Fall, of Uppsala University, said: 'We were surprised to see that a person's genetic make-up appears to be a significant influence in whether they own a dog. 'As such, these findings have major implications in several different fields related to understanding dog-human interaction throughout history and in modern times. 'Although dogs and other pets are common household members across the globe, little is known how they impact our daily life and health. 'Perhaps some people have a higher innate propensity to care for a pet than others.' Researchers studied the heritability of dog ownership using information from 35,035 twin pairs from the Swedish Twin Registry. It compared the genetic make-up of twins to determine whether dog ownership has a heritable component. Identical twins share their entire genome while non-identical twins on average share only half of the genetic variation. They used this to determine that how much the twins agree can be used as a gauge for if it is a genetic preference. Their findings supported the view that genetics indeed plays a major role in the choice of owning a dog. 'The relationship between humans and dogs is the longest of all the domestic animals. 'Yet the origin and history of perhaps our most iconic companion animal remains an enigma, and a topic of much ongoing scientific debate. Study of twins found that getting a dog is influenced by an individual's genetics and may even be inherited. It is impossible to say which genes are involved but identical twins agreed far more than non-identical pairs on whether they would have a pet pooch (stock) 'Decades of archaeological and more recent genetic investigations across the world have so far failed to resolve the fundamental questions of where, when and why wolves formed the transformational partnership with humans that finally resulted in the first domestic dog. 'Over the subsequent millennia this 'special relationship' developed apace throughout most cultures of the world and is as strong and complex today as it has ever been. 'Dogs have long been important as an extension to the human 'toolkit', assisting with various tasks such as hunting, herding, and protection, as well as for more social activities such as ritual and companionship. 'The diverse roles that dogs fulfilled most likely introduced a range of selective advantages to those human groups with domesticated dogs.' Co-author Dr Carri Westgarth, of the University of Liverpool, added: 'These findings are important as they suggest that supposed health benefits of owning a dog reported in some studies may be partly explained by different genetics of the people studied.' The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports. A teenager has discovered a jaw of a mastodon - an ancient relative of the elephant and mammoth - on a farm in southern Iowa by a teenager. The bone still has a row of teeth attached and is the second fossil to have been discovered on the farm in the last 30 years. It is thought to have belonged to a young member of the prehistoric animal that may have stood up to seven foot tall and lived in ancient Iowa around 34,000 years ago. The species went extinct around 10,000 years ago, possibly due to changes to their habitat, say scientists. Scroll down for video A teenager has discovered a jaw of a prehistoric mastodon (pictured) - an ancient relative of the elephant in southern Iowa on a farm where another mastodon fossil was found 30 years ago Humans have long been blamed for hunting the American mastodon to extinction but DNA testing shows they died out long before. The latest specimen was discovered by the school student while out looking for arrowheads. The latest is the second Mastodon fossils in 30 years onsite, with the last discovered by the couple who own the farm while fishing on the property. They have handed over the new bones to the University of Iowa (UI) and has asked to stay anonymous so fossil hunters do not visit their property. The remains are now kept in a cupboard at the Trowbridge Hall at the University of Iowa. Tiffany Adrain, collections manager at the UI's Palaeontology Repository, said these remains are somewhat common, particularly along waterways in Iowa. 'We were notified a couple of weeks ago that somebody had found a fossil in the middle of a small river on the property. 'It was actually a high school student who had found the object, and the landowners contacted us and notified us [and] sent us photographs. 'Now we could tell right away it was a jaw bone of a mastodon,' she added. These discoveries are more common than people think, said Ms Adrian. UIs Palaeontology Repository has a number of prehistoric fossils from Iowa, many of which are large mammals that lived in the last 150, 000 years. The image shows a nearly complete lower jaw bone with worn down teeth of an adult mastodon from the university The species (pictured) went extinct around 10, 000 years ago, possibly due to changes to their habitat, although scientists remain unsure (stock picture) 'I think people are finding stuff all the time,' she said. 'Maybe they are out canoeing or fishing on a bank. Farmers, in particular, on the land can spot things pretty easily.' UIs Palaeontology Repository has a number of prehistoric fossils from Iowa, many of which are large mammals that lived in the last 150, 000 years. These include sloths, beavers, short-faced bears, bisons as well as camels. While it was traditionally thought that mastodons roamed areas in the Arctic and Subarctic when it was covered with ice caps, scientists now think that that the area was only temporarily home to the animals when the climate was warm. The massive animals' preferred habitat of forests and wetlands abundant with leafy food. They also disappeared before humans colonised the region according to radiocarbon dating of fossils from the mammal. Last year, fossil hunters Michigan unearthed the bones of a mastodon which they claim is the most complete skeleton recovered in the region since the 1940s. The remains are one of the most complete specimens uncovered in decades (pictured) The bone has the teeth of the mammal still attached and is the second fossil to have been found on the same farm (show in map) in the last 30 years The findings indicated that mastodons suffered local extinction several tens of millennia before either human colonisation - the earliest estimate of which is between 13,000 and 14,000 years ago. They also hinted that the creatures died out before the onset of climate changes at the end of the ice age about 10,000 years ago, when they were among 70 species of mammals to disappear completely in North America. Last year, f ossil hunters Michigan unearthed the bones of a mastodon which they claim is the most complete skeleton recovered in the region since the 1940s. The enormous Ice Age beast would have roamed the region almost 13,000 years ago, and may have been taken down by a group prehistoric human hunters, before laying undisturbed in the soil for millennia. The Asian Longhorn Beetle has been eradicated in the UK after six years, according to the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs. It posed a serious threat to the timber and fruit production industries in the UK and is believed to have originated from China. The announcement comes after a project designed to trap and monitor them by the UK government following the 2012 outbreak. The infestation is thought to have originated from imported wood packaging and led to thousands of trees felled in Kent. Scroll down for video The Asian Longhorn Beetle (pictured) has been eradicated in the UK according to the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs The spotted black and white beetle, which has antennae twice the length of its body, infects trees during its breeding season in August and September. Following the outbreak of the tree-killing beetles the UK government warned they could wipe out thousands of acres of woodland. The bugs, which are capable of flying for more than a mile at a time, were first spotted in Kent and later spread to 2,116 trees throughout the county. The insects were labelled a 'serious threat' to natural woodlands and farms as they are able to bore through foliage, disrupting timber and fruit production in the UK. The pest feeds on a range of broadleaved trees, such as birch and oak trees, while its larvae feed on the wood of living trees, boring galleries - or tunnels - in the trunks and branches. It was thought the bugs were accidentally shipped to Britain in wood used to package goods imported from China. The larvae live in living trees but can also survive in the wood of freshly felled trees although they do not live in dead wood, such as that found in houses and homes. These are capable of penetrating all the way from the outer layer to the heart wood, and a severe infestation can kill the tree. The Government thought it had brought the problem under control until researchers recently discovered the bugs in Sussex and in Hampshire. It was thought the bugs were accidentally shipped to Britain in wood used to package goods imported from China Out of over 2,000 trees felled and investigated, 66 trees contained Asian longhorn beetle. The most frequent host has been identified as sycamore: 70 per cent of the total larvae found were found in sycamore; and 98 per cent of the adults found had emerged from sycamore trees. Nicola Spence, Defra Chief Plant Health Officer said: 'Asian Longhorn Beetle would pose a serious threat to our treescape if allowed to establish, so it is great news that it has been officially eradicated in the UK. 'Strong biosecurity relies on everyone playing their part in our forests, at borders or when buying plants. 'It is important that we continue to raise awareness of the simple things that people can do to protect against pests and diseases, such as sourcing plants from a reputable nursery.' NASA has selected nearly a dozen companies to help design spacecraft that will bring humans back to the moon, including a woman for the first time. According to NASA, throughout the next six months, the selected partners, which include some of the biggest names is aerospace engineering, will work to design various elements of its upcoming Artemis mission slated for 2024. As a part of the mission, NASA plans to begin building a space station called 'Gateway' which will act as a waypoint for astronauts exploring the moon. The station will begin construction in the next few years, and will eventually be launched into lunar orbit. Scroll down for video NASA has selected nearly a dozen companies to help design spacecrafts that will bring humans back to the moon, including a woman for the first time. Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin was one of the companies. The firm revealed their model earlier this month (pictured) Companies selected by NASA will focus on three different components of the Artemis mission, including a 'transfer element' that can shuttle astronauts between Gateway and low-lunar orbit, as well as a decent and ascent element that can take them from the surface of the moon and back. The collaboration between NASA and the private sector will mark a new frontier not only for NASA's exploration of space, but the way the agency operates. 'To accelerate our return to the Moon, we are challenging our traditional ways of doing business,' said Marshall Smith, director for human lunar exploration programs at NASA Headquarters in a statement. 'We will streamline everything from procurement to partnerships to hardware development and even operations.' 'Our team is excited to get back to the Moon quickly as possible, and our public/private partnerships to study human landing systems are an important step in that process,' Smith said. In all, the companies were awarded a little more than $45 million, and each individual company is required to fund at least 20 percent of the cost -- a move that NASA hopes will help keep the future missions cost to taxpayers down. Below is a complete list of the NASA-selected companies vying to be a part of the next manned mission to the moon. Aerojet Rocketdyne Developing powerful thrusters is a part of Aerojet Rocketdyne's business. The company has helped do so for a deep space vessel called Orion This California-based company will work on studying the development of a transfer vehicle in the upcoming mission. The company has developed thrusters that power the Boeing Starliner, a craft capable of transporting up to seven passengers for missions on low-Earth orbit and is also involved in NASA's mission to develop a spacecraft capable of carrying humans into deep space and back called Orion. Blue Origin Blue Origin is owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos and recently announced its intention to develop a lunar lander capable of carting cargo One of the buzziest companies to be selected by NASA is the Amazon-adjacent Blue Origin which is funded by billionaire e-tailer, Jeff Bezos. For their part in NASA's mission to bring humans back to the moon, Blue Origin will be studying a descent element, a transfer vehicle, and will also be designing a prototype of the transfer vehicle. Blue Origin made a splash recently after announcing its 'Blue Moon' project that will develop a lander capable of delivering cargo to the moon. SpaceX Last month, SpaceX's Dragon crew capsule that flew to the International Space Station in March was engulfed in smoke and flames on an engine test stand. Above, the SpaceX Crew Dragon is pictured during its approach to the ISS SpaceX has its hands in a number of projects and frontiers in space and has said that it wants to send someone to the moon in its Big Falcon Rocket Another high-profile space company owned by Tesla CEO, Elon Musk will join the Artemis mission and contribute only one descent element study. The firm has been at work developing the crew version of its Dragon capsule, in hopes to launch with astronauts on board for the first time as soon as this year. In a major setback, however, the Crew Dragon capsule blew up during a test 'anomaly' last month. It's yet unclear how this will affect the timeline. SpaceX is also tied up in an array of its own space missions that range from traditional rockets to launching internet satellite into low-Earth orbit. The latter of those two projects was recently delayed to update the satellites software and run additional checks. Boeing The Starliner has been delayed several times throughout the last several months as Boeing battles with safety concerns. The aerospace juggernauts Boeing will also participate in the Artemis mission according to NASA, developing prototypes and studies for a transfer vehicle, refueling element, and a descent element. Boeing is eyeing a test flight of its human-passengered, Starliner, that is slated to take place in August. The test was delayed this March after safety concerns of the mission's safety. Dynetics Dynetics is an Alabam-based company that dabbles in space and also high-powered military-grade weaponry Alabma-based Dynetics will design a whopping five descent element prototypes according to NASA. The company has excelled in designing a myriad of useful components for space, including satellites, propulsion systems, vehicles, satellites and more. The company also contracts for the U.S. military and recently won a $130 million contract to make a high-energy laser weapon. Lockheed Martin NASA's gateway satellite will be integral to conducting future space missions by giving astronauts a waypoint on their journey The well-known weapons and defense contractor, Lockheed Martin will design four descent element prototypes and study transfer vehicles and refueling elements. Lockheed Martin has been involved with NASA's Gateway project and has also been contracted to build Orion, which will be capable of carting humans to deep space. Masten Space Systems Masten develops different kinds of lunar landers, including one as a part of NASA's 'Catalyst' partnership This California-based aerospace company will develop a descent element prototype and has designed different types of space craft and engines in the past. The company is currently building the XL1, a lunar lander, as part of NASA's 'catalyst' program to help create public-private partnerships. Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems Attached to the orbital in this rendering is the cargo delivery craft Cygnus, designed by Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems. The versatile aerospace and aviation company will design and study descent elements and refueling according to NASA. From commercial satellites to robotic spacecraft, the company already dabbles in several areas of space travel and exploration. OrbitBeyond OrbitBeyond wants to tap the space economy by making cheap and reliable missions to the moon and eventually beyond a possibility. This New Jersey company bills itself as a different kind of aerospace business and is focused on not just getting to the moon, but achieving repeatable missions. 'Our expandable spacecraft platform enables us to build lunar transportation capacity at a scale and cost that cannot be matched,' says the company's website. 'This dramatic cost reduction will create new markets for discovering and utilizing resources in Space, making in-space economy accessible and sustainable in the near future.' OrbitBeyond will design two refueling element prototypes. Sierra Nevada Corporation Sierra Nevada Corporation has hlped work on the architecture of NASA's gateway station. The midwestern aerospace company based in Wisconsin, will study and/or design descent elements, vehicle prototypes, and refueling elements. It has already begun developing the architecture of NASA's Gateway station which it says will support both crewed and unmanned missions. SSL PODS is a system that would enable the launch of small satellites. The method would be more cost-effective says its proprietors, SSL. SSL is a rocket manufacturer based out of Palo Alto California and will contribute a refueling element study and prototype. And has desinged a number of space systems including its Payload Orbital Delivery System (PODS) which bills itself as a cost-effective way of sending small satellites into orbit. US telecom giants say they've finally stopped collecting their customers' location data and sharing it with third parties. Verizon, Sprint, AT&T and T-Mobile made the claim in a series of letters to the Federal Communications Commission published on Thursday. It comes one year after a number of bombshell reports indicated major phone companies were selling user data to shady firms, who could then track their whereabouts, raising the ire of privacy advocates and lawmakers around the country. Scroll down for video US telecom giants say they've finally stopped collecting their customers' location data. Verizon, Sprint, AT&T and T-Mobile made the claim in letters to the FCC published on Thursday HOW WERE THEY ABLE TO TRACK A USER'S LOCATION? Motherboard first reported how bounty hunters were selling access to users' real-time location data for only a few hundred dollars. Bounty hunters obtained the data from location aggregators, who have partnerships with AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile. They were able to estimate and track a user's location by looking at 'pings' from phones to nearby cell towers. But companies could also collect assisted-GPS, or A-GPS, which could even guess a user's location inside a building. Advertisement Last May, a New York Times report discovered carriers were selling user data to LocationSmart, a little-known phone tracking service, which then shared it with Securus, a prison technology company, giving them the ability to track any phone 'within seconds.' Then, a Motherboard investigation published in January found that hundreds of bounty hunters had access to highly sensitive user data thanks to every major U.S. wireless carrier. Now, carriers say they have either put an end to the practice, or are in the process of ending the data sharing. The letters show that it took the carriers many months to wind down the shady data sharing programs. FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel expressed frustration around the agency's silence on the issue, as well as the slow response from carriers. 'The FCC has been totally silent about press reports that for a few hundred dollars shady middlemen can sell your location within a few hundred meters based on your wireless phone data,' Rosenworcel said. 'Thats unacceptable.' 'This is an issue that affects the privacy and security of every American with a wireless phone. '...I do not believe consumers should be kept in the dark. That is why I am making these letters available today.' AT&T claims it stopped sharing user data with third parties on March 29th. 'Our contracts require all parties who have received AT&T customer location data in connection with those arrangements to delete that information and we are verifying that they have done so, subject to any of their preservation obligations,' the company wrote. Similarly, Sprint said it would cease to work with location aggregators starting May 31st, however, the firm may continue to provide some user location data to some customers for that provide roadside assistance services, as well as a company that facilitates compliance with state lottery requirements. LocationSmart (pictured) only required users to request a free demo and they'd be able to track anyone with AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon phones within a few hundred feet In these cases, the data will be encrypted and only shared 'as necessary to fulfill its obligations under the contract.' T-Mobile wrote that it terminated all 'service provider access to location data' on February 8th and ended all 'location-based service contracts' as of March 9th. Verizon shut down its location aggregator program last November, aside from some roadside assistance programs. Its contracts with four companies for roadside assistance programs were officially terminated in March. 'Those, and all other third-party entities no longer have access to Verizon subscriber location information through the aggregators,' the company added. The shady practices were first revealed last month and, at the time, telecom firms claimed they were isolated incidents. However, a Motherboard investigation discovered that's far from the case. About 250 bounty hunters were able to access users' precise location data. In one case, a bail bond firm requested location data some 18,000 times. AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint sold the sensitive data, which was meant for user by 911 operators and emergency services, to location aggregators, who then sold it to bounty hunters, according to Motherboard. The companies pledged last month to stop selling users' location data to aggregators. Location aggregators collect and sell user location data, sometimes to power services like bank fraud prevention and emergency roadside assistance, as well as online ads and marketing deals, which depend on knowing your whereabouts. Motherboard discovered last month that bounty hunters were using the data to estimate a user's location by looking at 'pings' sent from phones to nearby cell towers. But it appears that the data was even more detailed than previously thought. CerCareOne, a shadowy company that sold location data to bounty hunters, even claimed to collect assisted-GPS, or A-GPS, data. This A-GPS data was able to pinpoint a person's device so accurately that it see where they are in a building. Telecom companies began collecting this data in order to give 911 operators a more approximate location for users when they're both indoors and outdoors. Instead, it was being sold to aggregators, who then sold it to bail bondsmen, bounty hunters, landlords and other groups. A bail agent in Georgia told Motherboard it was 'solely used' to locate 'fugitives who have jumped bond.' Neither AT&T, T-Mobile nor Sprint explicitly denied selling A-GPS data, according to Motherboard. CerCareOne was essentially cloaked in secrecy when it operated between 2012 and 2017, requiring its customers to agree to 'keep the existence of CerCareOne.com confidential,' Motherboard said. Location aggregators use the data from carriers to estimate a user's location by looking at 'pings' cent to cell towers. But they've also been found to sell assisted-GPS, or A-GPS, data, which can pinpoint a person's device so accurately they can see where they are in a building The company often charged up to $1,100 every time a customer requested a user's location data. CerCareOne said it required clients to obtain written consent if they wanted to track a user, but Motherboard found that several users received no warning they were being tracked, resulting in the practice often occurring without their knowledge or agreement. While CerCareOne is no longer operational, its prior use and existence by location aggregators raises serious concerns about how users' data is being utilized by these companies. AT&T and other telecoms sought to minimize the use of CerCareOne. 'We are not aware of any misuse of this service which ended two years ago,' the firm told Motherboard. 'Weve already decided to eliminate all location aggregation servicesincluding those with clear consumer benefitsafter reports of misuse by other location services involving aggregators.' At least 15 U.S. senators urged the FCC and the FTC to take action on shadowy data broker businesses, according to Motherboard. 'This scandal keeps getting worse,' Democratic U.S. Senator Ron Wyden told Motherboard. 'Carriers assured customers location tracking abuses were isolated incidents. Now it appears that hundreds of people could track our phones, and they were doing it for years before anyone at the wireless companies took action. 'That's more than an oversight -- that's flagrant, wilful disregard for the safety and security of Americans,' he added. Advertisement The University of Bristol has released a statement distancing itself from a piece of research claiming an academic cracked the mysterious Voynich manuscript. Questions raised by rival academics questioned the validity of the research, despite it being peer-reviewed and published in the respected journal Romance. Dr Gerard Cheshire claimed it was written in a dead language - proto-Romance - and by studying symbols and their descriptions he deciphered the meaning some of the letters and words - a process that according the the original release, took just two weeks. Claims from Cheshire's critics said that proto-Romance language is 'not a thing' and even go as far as calling his theory 'aspirational, circular, self-fulfilling nonsense'. The beleaguered academic has defended his work saying that protocol was followed 'to the letter' and accused the experts of being unable to let go of 'preconceptions even when presented with new evidence'. Today, the university released a statement saying concerns had been raised 'about the validity of this research from academics in the fields of linguistics and medieval studies'. Scroll down for video Within the manuscript there is a foldout illustrative map, provided here, that provides the necessary information to date and locate the origin of the manuscript. Vignette A illustrates the erupting volcano; B, depicts the volcano of Ischia; C shows the hows the islet of Castello Aragonese and D, represents the island of Lipari The statement from the university read: 'Following media coverage, concerns have been raised about the validity of this research from academics in the fields of linguistics and medieval studies. 'We take such concerns very seriously and have therefore removed the story regarding this research from our website to seek further validation and allow further discussions both internally and with the journal concerned.' The research was part of a double-blind study and published in Romance Studies but received a significant backlash following widespread media coverage. 'Sorry, folks, 'proto-Romance language' is not a thing. This is just more aspirational, circular, self-fulfilling nonsense,' Lisa Fagin David, executive director of the Medieval Academy of America, tweeted. 'I tried several years ago to reproduce Cheshire's Voynich results, because initially I was intrigued. But when you apply his Roman-letter substitutions and then try to translate the result, you have no choice but to be subjective. It's gibberish. The methodology falls apart,' she added in a later tweet. Dr Cheshire told MailOnline: 'The paper has been blind peer-reviewed, verified and published in a highly reputable journal, which is the gold standard for scientific corroboration, so it is officially supported and protocol has been followed to the letter. 'The manuscript is an unusual case though, due to the mythology that surrounds it, which means that some people find it difficult to let go of preconceptions even when presented with new evidence, such is their passion. 'In time, other scholars will publish their own papers based on translation of the manuscript using the solution, so the small tide of resistance is bound to wane.' 'Sorry, folks, 'proto-Romance language' is not a thing. This is just more aspirational, circular, self-fulfilling nonsense,' Lisa Fagin David, executive director of the Medieval Academy of America, tweeted 'I tried several years ago to reproduce Cheshire's Voynich results, because initially I was intrigued. But when you apply his Roman-letter substitutions and then try to translate the result, you have no choice but to be subjective. It's gibberish. The methodology falls apart,' she added in a later tweet Experts previously claimed that the Voynich manuscript - known as one of the 'world's most mysterious texts' - contained codes, magic spells, alien messages and even communist propaganda. It was thought to have been written in accordance with the Catholic and Roman pagan religious beliefs of the time and has been carbon-dated to around the mid-15th century. Dr Cheshire wrote in the study that it was compiled by Dominican nuns as a source of reference for Maria of Castile, Queen of Aragon, who is the great aunt to Catherine of Aragon. There are also images of Queen Maria (140158) and her court conducting trade negotiations whilst bathing as well as many other images of naked women bathing, he wrote. Also within the manuscript is a foldout illustrative map that Dr Cheshire used to date and locate the origin of the manuscript. He said that the map tells the story of a rescue mission, led by the Queen of Aragon, to save the victims of a volcanic eruption in the Tyrrhenian Sea in 1444 off the western coast of Italy. In an email to MailOnline, he wrote that his work was 'largely intuitive': He said: 'I could just see that it was possible. My unrelated academic work involves a lot of thought experiment and lateral thinking, so I employed a similar technique. 'The most important thing is to think creatively and play with ideas, but always go for the most likely possibilities. That is known as Occam's razor, in scientific circles. 'Thus, the language proto-Romance was deduced to be the most likely for the time and place, even though there were no other known examples.' This figure shows two women dealing with five children in a bath. Dr Cheshire described in his research that the words describe different temperaments: tozosr (buzzing: too noisy), orla la (on the edge: losing patience), tolora (silly/foolish), noror (cloudy: dull/sad), or aus (golden bird: well behaved), oleios (oiled: slippery) This figure, he said, shows the word 'palina' which is a rod for measuring the depth of water, sometimes called a stadia rod or ruler. The letter 'p' has been extended and marked with the triple calibrations seen on a palina, according to the academic The Voynich manuscript, named after Wilfrid M Voynich, a Polish book dealer who bought the manuscript in 1912, was written in Central Europe in around the 15th century, according to academics. Its date, origin and language have been debated as vigorously as its puzzling drawings and undeciphered text featuring botanical and scientific drawings. Among those who have famously attempted to crack the code are Alan Turing and his colleagues at Bletchley Park and the FBI during the Cold War. Proto- Romance was claimed to be ancestral to today's 'Romance' languages including Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian, Romanian, Catalan and Galician. Some of the symbols were unfamiliar to scholars studying the text because they have different geographical origins or because they have different variants which indicate particular phonetic accents. The language was ubiquitous in the Mediterranean during the Medieval period, but it was seldom written in official or important documents because Latin was the language of royalty, church and government. 'I experienced a series of 'eureka' moments whilst deciphering the code, said Dr Cheshire. The text was compiled by Dominican nuns as a source of reference for Maria of Castile, Queen of Aragon, the great aunt to Catherine of Aragon. Although the purpose and meaning of the manuscript had eluded scholars, including Alan Turing, for over a century, it took only two weeks to identify the language and writing system This, he said, was followed by a sense of 'disbelief and excitement' when he realised the magnitude of the achievement, both in terms of its linguistic importance and the revelations about the origin and content of the manuscript. 'What it reveals is even more amazing than the myths and fantasies it has generated. 'It is also no exaggeration to say this work represents one of the most important developments to date in Romance linguistics. 'The manuscript is written in proto-Romance - ancestral to today's Romance languages including Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian, Romanian, Catalan and Galician. 'The language used was ubiquitous in the Mediterranean during the Medieval period, but it was seldom written in official or important documents because Latin was the language of royalty, church and government. 'As a result, proto-Romance was lost from the record, until now.' The next step is to use this knowledge to translate the entire manuscript and compile a lexicon, which Dr Cheshire acknowledged will take some time and funding, as it comprises more than 200 pages. 'Now the language and writing system have been explained, the pages of the manuscript have been laid open for scholars to explore and reveal, for the first time, its true linguistic and informative content,' he added. Sheryl Sandberg has pushed back on claims that Facebook should be broken up in the wake of a string of scandals. Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer, said in an interview with CNBC that doing so wouldn't address any of the issues that have prompted widespread backlash toward the social media giant. It comes after Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes published a scathing op-ed in the New York Times, in which he called for the firm to be broken up and argued that Facebook has become a monopoly. Scroll down for video Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer, said in an interview that breaking up the social media giant wouldn't address any of the issues that people are concerned about 'You could break us up, you could break other tech companies up, but you actually don't address the underlying issues people are concerned about,' Sandberg told CNBC. 'They're concerned about election security, they're concerned about content, they're concerned about privacy and data portability.' Instead, Sandberg repeated what CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other Facebook executives would rather see happen, which is an increase in government regulation of tech companies. 'We have large teams of people in the company whose only job is to safeguard elections, protect content, protect privacy,' Sandberg told CNBC. 'But we also know that we can't do it alone, so we're calling for regulation.' She added that Facebook has doubled down its efforts on safeguarding user data, noting that every team has a dedicated group of people working on safety and security. 'We know at Facebook we have a real possibility to do better and earn back people's trust,' Sandberg told CNBC. Sandberg didn't elaborate on what increased regulation of Facebook would look like, but Zuckerberg in March published an op-ed in the Washington Post, where he discussed the need for 'new rules' for the internet. In it, he said there should be regulation established for harmful content, election integrity, privacy and data portability. However, many believe that regulation isn't enough to curtail Facebook's growing dominance and say antitrust actions should be considered instead. Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes recently published a scathing op-ed in the New York Times , in which he called for the firm to be broken up and argued that Facebook has become a monopoly Among those advocating for breaking up Facebook include Senators Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris. 'I think we have to seriously take a look at [breaking up Facebook,' Harris told CNN's Jake Tapper. 'We have to recognize it for what it is. It is essentially a utility that has gone unregulated.' FACEBOOK'S $5 BILLION FTC FINE Facebook revealed in its latest quarterly earnings report that it expects to take on a one-time charge between $3 billion and $5 billion related to a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC opened an investigation into Facebook's privacy dealings last March in response to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The investigation remains ongoing, which means the terms of the settlement could change. However, the $3 billion fine is still a fraction of Facebook's quarterly revenue, which grew 26 percent to $15.1 billion compared to the same period in 2018. Critics have argued Facebook should face stronger punishments relative to the severity of privacy missteps it has made over the past year. Advertisement Warren has proposed undoing Facebook's acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, an argument that was echoed by Hughes in his op-ed. 'Until recently, WhatsApp and Instagram were administered as independent platforms inside the parent company, so that should make the process easier,' Hughes wrote. 'But time is of the essence: Facebook is working quickly to integrate the three, which would make it harder for the FTC to split them up.' Facebook has plans to merge the messaging functions of its 'family of apps,' which include the core Facebook app, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp, making the services further embedded within each other. In her argument against breaking up Facebook, Sandberg said Chinese tech firms are equally as powerful as US tech giants, but they won't be broken up. 'While people are concerned with the size and power of tech companies, there's also a concern with the size and power of Chinese tech companies, and the realization that those companies are not going to be broken up' Sandberg said. 'So the question for us is how do we make sure we protect privacy, how do we make sure that the right regulatory framework is in place.' When asked about the coming FTC settlement, Sandberg gave few details beyond saying the company would 'have the right oversight.' Last month, Facebook said it expects to get hit with a one-time charge worth $3 billion to $5 billion as a result of the FTC's probe into the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which resulted in 87 million users' data being harvested and shared with the Trump-affiliated campaign research firm. Work has begun on a new airport that will be used by tourists visiting Machu Picchu, sparking outrage among historians and environmentalists. Bulldozers are currently clearing land for the new hub in Chinchero. It lies 36 miles from the world-famous tourist attraction, near Cusco, and is considered to be the gateway to the Sacred Valley. The Chinchero plateau and the surrounding area is rich in Inca history and culture and protesters say that the project means this incomparable landscape will be destroyed. Work has begun on a new airport that will take tourists directly to Machu Picchu, pictured, but it has caused outrage among historians and environmentalists So far, almost 7,000 people have signed an online petition urging the Peruvian president, Martin Vizcarra, to stop all clearing work and cancel the planned airport. The petition was started on change.org by Natalia Majluf, a Peruvian art historian at Cambridge University. She wrote: 'The airport planned in the town of Chinchero is a serious threat to the conservation of one of the most important heritage sites in the world. The Chinchero plateau and the surrounding area is rich in Inca history and culture and protesters say that this incomparable landscape will be destroyed by the airport 'In addition to affecting the integrity of a complex Inca landscape, building an airport in the vicinity of the Sacred Valley will have irreparable effects due to noise, increased traffic and uncontrolled urbanization. 'We call on the President and the Government of Peru to reconsider this project.' Meanwhile an open letter signed by hundreds of historians, archaeologists and environmentalists, has also been sent to President Vizcarra slamming the building work. It reads: 'We do not pretend to deny that Cusco, a magnet for tourists from all over the world and a driver of the country's growth, deserves to have a more adequate airport. The town of Chinchero, where the airport is being built, is regarded as the gateway to the Sacred Valley (pictured) 'Happily, the region offers other suitable areas for an efficient and modern construction able to meet a greater demand of visitors. 'Leaving this project with so much conflict and changing it to look for new viable alternatives would represent a minimum loss for the State in comparison with the seriousness of the destruction of a universal heritage.' In 2012, the Peruvian president Ollanta Humala announced plans to build the multi-billion dollar airport in a bid to further boost tourism to the area. Humala also enacted a law allowing the expropriation of land in Chinchero, but promised that local residents would be compensated. Currently, visitors to Machu Picchu must fly into Cusco airport, which is more than 50 miles from the ruins, and then take a bus or train or follow the Inca trail to the ancient site. The airport only has one runway and only small narrow-body aircraft can land there. Most flights arrive from Peruvian capital Lima and Bolivian capital La Paz. The new Chinchero airport would be able to accommodate larger planes flying international routes from the rest of Latin America and the US. Machu Picchu is a Unesco World Heritage Site and currently limits visitor numbers to around 3,000 a day in order to reduce the environmental impact on the site. Advertisement They are the hotel rooms that are, according to the inspectors - 'perfect'. Forbes Travel Guide has unveiled its list of the world's best hotel rooms for 2019 - and they all received maximum marks. Undercover reviewers stayed at hundreds of properties across the globe assessing them on comfort, convenience, cleanliness and maintenance. And according to Forbes Travel Guide, those on the best-of list have 'rooms and bathrooms that are not only beautiful, but exceptionally comfortable, functional and elegantly appointed with special touches such as high-quality linens, an array of luxurious bath amenities and well-designed technology'. The country with the most hotels on the list of 41 is the United States, with 12 properties recognised including The Peninsula Beverly Hills, Nobu Ryokan Malibu and The St Regis Aspen Resort. China has the second most entries with six hotels on the list, followed by France with four. Filip Boyen, Forbes Travel Guide CEO, said: 'Forbes Travel Guide's Verified List for the World's Best Rooms of course showcases the most beautiful accommodations, but it goes beyond how the rooms look. Every hotel on this list was thoroughly tested and proved to be supremely comfortable, quiet and outfitted with superior amenities and technology.' Scroll down to see some of the beautiful boudoirs that have made the list... Inspectors for Forbes Travel Guide said everything about the Bulgari Hotel London, pictured, 'exudes refined glamour and sophistication'. They also describe the suites here as 'palatial' The Bulgari Resort Bali, pictured, is a hidden property on a clifftop on the Indonesian island. It is made up of 59 villas and mansions that come complete with custom Italian furnishings COMO The Treasury, pictured, is located in the Western Australian city of Perth. Forbes says it has 48 'elegant, understated rooms and suites' Located on Abu Dhabi's waterfront, the Four Seasons Hotel Abu Dhabi at Al Maryah Island is praised by Forbes for being 'contemporary and glossy' The Peninsula Beijing, pictured, is one of the best-known hotels in the Chinese capital. Forbes describe it as 'classic luxury in the heart of the city' The Peninsula Beverly Hills, pictured, makes the list with Forbes praising the hotel for its 'old-school attention to service' as well as its modern in-room technology The two tower hotel of the Peninsula Manila, pictured, is in the city's central business district. Forbes describes the rooms as having 'sleek wood furniture' Inspectors for Forbes were particularly impressed with the technology in the Peninsula Chicago, pictured. Forbes says: 'A bedside control panel allows you to adjust the room's temperature, lighting, music and even the curtains all without having to leave the comfort of the 300-thread-count sheets' Hotel de Crillon, A Rosewood Hotel in Paris, is housed in an 18th-century palace originally commissioned by Louis XV. According to Forbes, all rooms feature 'plush bedding, a neutral color palette and plenty of artwork' The Four Seasons Hotel Guangzhou is located in the upper third of the 103-story IFC tower in China's third largest city. Forbes says it is 'a towering example of modern grace' The Palace Hotel Tokyo is inside a 23-story tower that opened in the Japanese capital in 2012. The rooms are described as 'spacious and light with clean-lined, contemporary fixtures' The Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat, a Four Seasons Hotel, is located midway between Nice and Monte Carlo. Forbes says it is an 'opulent mix of old world grandeur and sleek, pristine modernity' The Chedi Andermatt in Switzerland opened in 2013 with 123 rooms. Forbes inspectors were especially pleased with the luxe Hastens beds The Fullerton Bay Hotel Singapore makes the list and it is described as a 'chic waterfront hotel'. The inspector who stayed here said the room 'featured thick, plush carpeting and vintage photographic prints of Singapore' A sprawling five-acre property, the Alpina Gstaad is perched beside a Swiss mountain. The 56 rooms are described by Forbes as 'fusing glossy contemporary style and alpine tradition' The Encore Macau is described by Forbes as being 'no shrinking violet'. Inspectors who stayed here noted 'floor-to-ceiling windows in the hotel's suites let light flood in, adding light to the bold, eye-catching space' Located just two blocks from Central Park, the Park Hyatt New York has 210 rooms, including 92 suites. Forbes says it is 'midtown Manhattan's artsy masterpiece' The Wynn Macau is a five-star hotel overlooking Nam Van Lake. Forbes says the rooms in this hotel have duvet-topped beds, overstuffed sofas and cutting-edge technology The Park Hyatt Vienna is set within a 19th-century bank headquarters in the city's old town. Forbes says that the suites here 'allow for room to work at your oakwood desk or unwind in a lounge area furnished with comfortable leather sofas' Forbes describes the One& Only Royal Mirage in Dubai as 'resembling a palace'. The hotel has 48 rooms and suites that Forbes says 'evoke a sense of old world Arabia' The Shangri-La Hotel at The Shard, London, has floor-to-ceiling windows in each of its rooms that offer sweeping views across the city She is the queen of Burlesque. But on Wednesday, Dita Von Teese - real name Heather Renee Sweet - reigned on the red carpet at the Rocketman premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. The 46-year-old oozed glamour in an elegant navy gown with a deep V-neck line that drew attention to her cinched waist. Red carpet ready: Dita Von Teese - real name Heather Renee Sweet - reigned on the red carpet at the Rocketman premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday Her frock featured fishnet ruffles that went up and down her dress, as well as a small train that followed. She accessorised with an eye-catching floral choker necklace, diamond earrings, a sparkling clutch and elevated her ensemble with a pair of Christian Louboutin heels. For make-up the stunner did not stray from her trademark look - a bold rouge pout, lashings of mascara, and a subtle hint of blush on her cheeks that contrasted her flawless visage. Turning heads: The 46-year-old oozed glamour in an elegant navy gown with a deep V-neck line that drew attention to her cinched waist Beauty: Her frock featured fishnet ruffles that went up and down her dress, as well as a small train that followed Stunning: Meanwhile her raven tresses were sweptback and styled into an elegant bun, which showcased her stunning facial features Meanwhile her raven tresses were sweptback and styled into an elegant bun, which showcased her stunning facial features. Dita's red carpet appearance comes after she recently reunited with her ex-husband Marilyn Manson at the Libertine Fall/Winter 2019 show in Los Angeles last month. The pair, who divorced in 2006 after dating since 2001, looked cosy together as they posed and stole the show wearing their usual striking ensembles as they were also joined by Marilyn's new girlfriend Lindsay Usich. Marilyn and Dita married in November 2005 after a five-year romance, but she filed for divorce in December 2006. Marilyn discussed his ill-fated romance with the burlesque star during a 2015 Cannes interview. Vampy: Dita added to her glamorous look with a slick of red lipstick Dazzling: Dita accessorised with an eye-catching floral choker necklace, diamond earrings, and a sparkling clutch Standing tall: Dita elevated her ensemble with a pair of Christian Louboutin heels Wow: Dita looked absolutely breathtaking in her red carpet ensemble Icon: Dita is the queen of Burlesque and is known for her sensational curves Good friends: Dita's red carpet appearance comes after she recently reunited with her ex-husband Marilyn Manson at the Libertine Fall/Winter 2019 show in Los Angeles last month When shown a picture of his former wife, the goth god said at the Grey Music Seminar with Grey Group's Tor Myhren: 'I last time I was in Cannes, I was with Dita. 'Even though it failed, she was my longest relationship yet, other than Johnny Depp,' he joked about his long-term actor friend. In 2016, Dita appeared on Khloe Kardashian's chat show, Kocktails With Khloe, and said she still remained friends with the rocker despite their divorce over a decade previous. 'He was super encouraging,' she said. 'There was a lot of cross-over in our careers and he would have that creativeness he encouraged all of my eccentricities.' Rose Byrne looks every inch the style icon as she poses for a cover shoot in the June issue of Instyle Australia. The 39-year-old stunner wears a series of edgy retro looks in the spread. In one, Rose shows off her tiny waist and washboard abs in a floor-length gown as she reclines back on an armchair and stares seductively into the camera. Lets Do The Time Warp Again! Rose Byrne stuns in a series of edgy androgynous looks for retro InStyle Australia photo shoot Her peroxide blonde locks are coiffed in a quirky updo to help showcase her gold Cartier earrings. Rose's look is completed with a pair of strappy silver stilettos. Meanwhile, the mother-of-two stuns the cover of the magazine in a pale pink semi-sheer gown by Dior, teamed with delicate gold Cartier jewels. Her platinum blonde locks fall around her face and shoulders in soft tousled waves. Cover girl: The mother-of-two stuns the cover of the magazine in a pale pink semi-sheer gown by Dior teamed with delicate gold Cartier jewels Her beauty look consists of a natural makeup palette, which includes a soft brown eye shadow and a nude lip that accentuates her striking facial features. In a third look, Rose shows off her side profile as she poses in a skin-tight leopard-print blouse. The blonde beauty's hair is up again to showcase her chiseled jawline. Wild thing! In a third look, Rose shows off her side profile as she poses in a skin-tight leopard-print blouse She also dons a pair of gold statement earrings by Cartier. Rose has been with New Jersey-born Bobby Cannavale since 2012. The couple share sons Rocco, three, and Rafa, one, with Rose also being stepmother to Bobby's son Jake from a previous relationship. Jen Harley has been arrested after allegedly throwing an ashtray at her ex, Jersey Shore star Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, on New Year's Eve. Authorities arrested Harley Thursday at 3AM in Las Vegas on a warrant that was issued a month ago, according to TMZ. The star was arrested after calling police early Thursday morning, claiming someone was in possession of a gun. Arrested: Jen Harley has been arrested after allegedly throwing an ashtray at her ex, Jersey Shore star Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, on New Year's Eve (pictured February 2018) However, after running a background check, police ultimately arrested Harley when the warrant appeared. Jen and Ronnie reportedly got into a physical fight at the Hustler Club in Las Vegas around 2 a.m. on January 1. Us Weekly confirmed that Ortiz-Magro filed a battery report against his ex after she allegedly threw a glass ashtray at him during their dispute. In security footage from the venue, the reality star is seen a few minutes before midnight, wiping away blood from his nose with a tissue in the video obtained by TMZ. Fight: Jen and Ronnie reportedly got into a physical fight at the Hustler Club in Las Vegas around 2 a.m. on January 1 (pictured December 2018) The video doesn't show the actual attack, but sources claim his now-ex-girlfriend Jen Harley, 'allegedly nailed him with an ashtray.' They called it quits again following the NYE outing. 'Ronnie and Jen got into a fight on New Years Eve. They broke up before New Years Eve, got back together right before then and got in a big fight on Monday night,' an insider told Us. 'Theyre currently broken up. But its the same story every time: They are together, they fight, they break up and then get back together.' Going south: The pair have had a rocky relationship documented through social media and even Ronnie's reality show, Jersey Shore: Family Vacation The Famously Single alum reportedly hesitated to contact the authorities because 'he did not know what would happen to his daughter Ariana, whom he shares with Harley, according to the publication. He was concerned that involving the police would lead to officials coming after his child, according to their insider. However, when Harley - who lives separately from Ronnie - arrived back at her home, she found it had been ransacked, and she called the police and said Ronnie was the culprit. Among the damage was broken glass, overturned furniture, destroyed artwork, a smashed flat-screen TV, a broken vase and a hole in the all. Filing a report: Us Weekly confirmed that Ortiz-Magro filed a battery report against his ex after she allegedly threw a glass ashtray at him during their dispute (pictured March 2018) Ronnie is listed as a person of interested in the pending case, and while there is no physical proof yet that the Jersey Shore star ransacked the house, there is evidence of his allegedly destructive behavior. It is just the latest chapter in the couple's turbulent relationship history. The pair have had a rocky relationship documented through social media and even Ronnie's reality show, Jersey Shore: Family Vacation. Jen was previously arrested in 2018 for allegedly dragging Ronnie with her car, though she wasn't charged due to a lack of evidence. Advertisement The Big Bang Theory closed out its run as television's top-rated comedy Thursday with an emotional series finale that saw some big changes for the show's group of geeky misfits. The long-running series on CBS concluded with two final episodes, The Change Constant and The Stockholm Syndrome, in an hour-long farewell. The series exited the TV airwaves with the most episodes for a multi-camera series ever with 279 episodes. It edged past NBC's Cheers, which aired for 11 seasons and 275 episodes. Series finale: Sheldon Cooper [Jim Parsons] and Amy Farrah Fowler [Mayim Bialik] waited to learn if they won a Nobel Prize on Thursday's series finale of The Big Bang Theory on CBS The Big Bang Theory debuted in 2007 and overcame early doubts to become a cult classic after some questioned the show's chances of survival. The show was led by a crew of nerdy starring Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Johnny Galecki, Mayim Bialik, Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar and Melissa Rauch. The final episodes were filled with a few surprises: a pregnancy, cameos and a speech about the importance of friendship in the series' emotional conclusion. After an anxious wait, Parson's character Sheldon and Bialik's Amy discovered they had indeed won the Noble Prize. TV couple: Leonard Hofstadter [Johnny Galecki] and Penny [Kaley Cuoco] kept their pregnancy a secret to prevent upstaging Sheldon and Amy Cuoco and Galecki's characters Penny and Leonard learned they are having a baby. And in an amusing moment for fans, the final episode also highlighted the fate of the broken elevator, which finally started working again after being out of order for the whole series. In a moving moment, the finale included a scene in which Bialik, who is a neuroscientist in real life, urges young girls to pursue careers in science. 'Little girls who dream about science' should pursue it as a career and ignore naysayers, she said. Moving moment: The finale featured Amy, played by real neuroscientist Bialik, giving a moving speech that urged young girls to pursue careers in science The first half-hour episode opened with a brief recap of the past 12 seasons. Theoretical physicist Sheldon and his neurobiologist wife Amy were then shown at 2:45 am waiting to hear if they won a Nobel Prize for their Super-Asymmetry concept. They were joined by experimental physicist Leonard and his wife Penny. The call: Amy fielded a call at the start of the episode from the Nobel committee as Leonard, Sheldon and Penny looked on Everyone drank coffee to stay awake except for Sheldon who then immediately dozed off. Sheldon got a prank call from his rival Barry Kripke and a call from mechanical engineer Howard [Simon Helberg] and his microbioloist wife Bernadette [Melissa Rauch] checking to see if they won. Amy then finally took the call from the Nobel committee. Still asleep: Amy broke the good news but Sheldon was not sure if he was awake 'Hello? Yes. This is Doctor Fowler. I see. OK, thank you. We won,' Amy said in subdued shock after getting the official word. 'Congratulations!,' Penny exclaimed. Sheldon wasn't sure if he was dreaming and Leonard slapped him in the face to assure he was awake. 'We won the Nobel Prize!,' Sheldon declared. Face slap: Leonard slapped Sheldon in the face to make sure he wasn't dreaming Good times: Sheldon, Amy, Leonard and Penny celebrated after learning about the Nobel Prize win Winning the Nobel Prize had its downside as Sheldon struggled with all the change, including Amy's new haircut and makeover that she got at the urging of Raj Koothrappali [Kunal Nayyar]. Sheldon told Amy that he did not like her new look as she modeled for him in the living room. 'It's the last straw. I can't take anymore,' Sheldon said as he bolted from their apartment. Penny at that moment surprisingly came out of the elevator that had been broken the entire series. 'Can you believe it? They finally fixed the elevator,' Penny said. New haircut: Amy got a new haircut and clothes after winning the Nobel Prize and Sheldon said he didn't like her new look It works: The elevator that has been broken since the series premiered in 2007 was suddenly working Fixed it: Penny was surprised that the elevator was fixed after being broken during the entire series She chased after Sheldon and they had drinks together as he admitted the change was overwhelming him. Penny pointed out how much Sheldon has changed over the years and he acknowledged that 'inevitability of change might be a universal constant'. The second episode titled The Stockholm Syndrome picked up two months later and showed the group traveling to Sweden for the Nobel Prize awards ceremony. Feeling overwhelmed: Sheldon admitted to Penny that he was overwhelmed by all the change in his life, but she reminded him how much he has changed Leonard and Penny were keeping their pregnancy a secret to avoid stealing the limelight. Sheldon on the airplane flight wondered if Penny was sick because of her frequent trips to the bathroom. 'That's the fourth time she's been to the bathroom in the last two hours. ...She clearly has some sort of stomach distress. If it's viral, we're all susceptible. ..What if we infect the King of Sweden? That's how wars start,' Sheldon told Amy. He confronted Leonard with his suspicion that Penny was sick and he was going to catch it. Pregnancy secret: Leonard and Penny kept their pregnancy a secret Plane flight: Sheldon got suspicious on the plane when Penny kept going to the bathroom Candid conversation: He confronted Leonard about Penny being sick and his fear that he would catch it Penny came back to her seat and allayed Sheldon's fear by sharing the secret. 'I'm pregnant, Sheldon,' she told him. 'You're right. I can't catch that,' Sheldon said and returned to his seat. Pregnancy announcement: Penny told Sheldon that she was not sick but was actually pregnant He told Amy the 'good news' that Penny wasn't sick but 'just pregnant'. Leonard chided Sheldon for not congratulating them and told him how they were keeping it a secret so they wouldn't upstage his Nobel Prize win. 'Oh, please. You couldn't upstage us. We won the Nobel Prize. Any idiot can have a baby,' Sheldon said. Good news: Sheldon told Penny the good news that Penny wasn't sick but was 'just pregnant' Leonard called him a 'selfish jerk' and declared he wasn't going to the awards ceremony. 'To hell with you and your Nobel Prize,' Leonard said. Howard and Bernadette also said they were leaving to take care of their sick children. (Fans also got their first ever glimpse of the couple's children Hallie and Neil.) Leonard had a change of heart and Howard's children were feeling better so they all went to the ceremony. Sick children: Bernadette and Howard decided to leave Sweden as their children were sick There they are! Fans got their first ever glimpse of Howard and Bernadette's children Hallie and Neil Sheldon complained that everyone was being selfish and Amy told him that he was the master of the subject. 'They are abandoning us because you broke their hearts,' Amy told him. 'I didn't mean to,' Sheldon protested. Feeling abandoned: Sheldon said his friends were being 'selfish' by abandoning them The expert: Amy told her husband that he was the expert on being selfish Amy said that was the only reason that people tolerated him, including herself at times. Hopeless romantic astrophysicist Raj [Kunal Nayyar] met Buffy The Vampire Slayer star Sarah Michelle Gellar on the flight from LA to Sweden and she accompanied him to the awards ceremony as a plus-one. Sheldon ditched his 'somewhat self-centered' acceptance speech and at first thanked his family and then spoke of his second family of friends. The winners: Amy and Sheldon accepted their awards and gave emotional speeches 'Is that Buffy the vampire slayer?,' he asked as Raj was shown with the actress. She nodded yes and he gave her a small wave. 'I have been encouraged, sustained, inspired and tolerated not only by my wife, but by the greatest group of friends that anyone ever had,' Sheldon said as he continued his speech. It's Buffy!: Sarah Michelle Gellar made a cameo and was Raj's plus-one for the awards ceremony Sheldon then asked all of his friends to stand up as he introduced them to the audience, calling Penny and Leonard his 'two dearest friends in the world'. He said their baby would be 'smart and beautiful' as Leonard predicted when they first met. 'Thanks, Sheldon, I haven't told my parents yet,' Penny said. Baby on board: Sheldon during his acceptance speech said that Penny and Leonard would have a 'smart and beautiful' baby Sheldon then apologized to his friends if he ever hurt their feelings. 'I want you to know that in my way I love you all,' he said. 'And I love you,' he said turning to Amy. 'Thank you.' The series ended with the group eating together in the apartment living room as Sheldon and Amy wore their Nobel Prize medals and the theme song by the Barenaked Ladies played. Final scene: The sitcom ended with the friends sitting in the living room eating and laughing together The finale was followed by a retrospective looking at some of the most memorable moments over the last 12 years. The Big Bang Theory began in 2007 and went on to win 10 Emmy awards, four of them for Parsons. Five years later, it was the No. 1 comedy on U.S. television with an audience of some 20 million people, and as far afield as Russia and France. 'Were a show about 'the other people.' And I think everyone has a little bit of 'not belonging' in them,' said Bialik, explaining the show's popularity. Over the years, the show's 'Bazinga!' catchphrase, used by Sheldon when playing a prank or telling a joke, entered pop culture and inspired the name of a species of bee found in Brazil and a jellyfish found in Australia. The series also saw cameos by the likes of British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk, Apple Inc co-founder Steve Wozniak, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, 'Star Trek' actors William Shatner and George Takei, and Marvel comics legend Stan Lee. HOW THE BIG BANG THEORY BECAME AN UNLIKELY RATINGS HIT THAT RIVALS GAME OF THRONES When The Big Bang Theory debuted in 2007 with a cast of mainly socially awkward geeks and jokes centered around physics references, it seemed destined to appeal to a niche audience. But as the show reaches its conclusion, it has become one of the most-watched series in the world. The show, which airs on US network CBS, has carved its place at the top of American television, with more than 12 million live viewers for much of the most-recent season (17 million when including delayed watchers) - similar levels to Game of Thrones. In fact last week The Big Bang Theory beat the HBO juggernaut with 12.6million in live viewers against GoT's 12.5million according to Nielsen. It was the second week in a row that the CBS sitcom beat the dramatic series on premium cable. The Big Bang Theory's characters have amused fans for 12 seasons. Pictured from left: Rajesh Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar), Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg), Bernadette (Melissa Rauch), Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons), Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik), Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki) and Penny (Kaley Cuoco) Big Bang was one of the five most popular shows in the world last year, according to research firm Parrot. It was a streak CBS would have been happy to continue - were it not for Sheldon actor Jim Parsons having announced he would leave the show after the 12th season. For producer and writer Stephen Engel, who worked on it at the beginning of its run, Big Bang owes much of its success to the annoying-but-loveable character. 'It was a serendipitous blending of a character and an actor that was just magic,' he told AFP. Depicting a brilliant scientist who is socially clueless, Sheldon's portrayal was 'just a perfect marriage of point of view, jokes, voice and actor that made that character jump off the screen,' Engel said. Rise of geek culture But Sheldon's charm alone can't explain how a series that wasn't critically acclaimed or even breaking into the top 50 most-popular at the end of its first season went on to run longer than American sitcom classics like Friends, The Cosby Show and Seinfeld. According to conventional wisdom, it was The Big Bang Theory's depiction of characters like Sheldon, Leonard, Howard and Raj as proud geeks - obsessed with TV series, video games and obscure sub-genre interests - that allowed for its longevity. Back where it all began: The show debuted in 2007 with a cast of mainly socially awkward geeks and jokes that centered around physics. Couco's ditzy Penny and Parsons' brainy Sheldon proved comedy gold Long associated with niche interests, geek, or nerd, culture has made its way into the mainstream, thanks to sagas like The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Game of Thrones and others, meaning there was a growing audience that could feel an affinity with The Big Bang Theory's characters. 'There was a tendency in the wake of Friends to just to put as many good looking people in a room as possible and just hope people would look at them and just want to watch the show. Big Bang Theory just decided because they were nerds, we can get the funniest actors we can find,' Engel said. 'They don't have to be handsome.' The end of the sitcom? The Big Bang Theory is officially the longest-running multicamera series. Parsons, Helberg and Cuoco seen here in season one Though The Big Bang Theory differs from most shows in its popularity and subject matter, the series still relies on a variety of tried-and-true sitcom conventions: the episodes, shot on multiple cameras, are made up of a series of punchlines interspersed by a laugh track, some of it edited in later (the show is filmed in front of a studio audience). The end of the series, which coincides with the end of ABC's Modern Family, which will finish with its 11th season next year, marks the end of an era for the genre. Sitcoms on traditional networks, such as Big Bang spin-off Young Sheldon, and Mom, also the work of Big Bang creator Chuck Lorre, just don't bring in the same audience numbers. And Netflix has tried its hand at the format, with Fuller House and One Day at a Time, though neither will be returning after the end of the year. By 2020, the classic sitcom will be absent from nearly every major streaming platform, including Amazon and Hulu. 'I've lived in many periods in this business where people have said: the sitcom is dying,' said Stan Zimmerman, who worked on Roseanne' as a producer and writer. 'And then it somehow comes roaring back.' Coupled with the decline of the traditional sitcom, the fragmentation of audiences means there is concern that universal series, capable of capturing the attention of large swaths of the public, like The Big Bang Theory or even Game of Thrones was able to do, is gone. 'I think it's wonderful that we are being so diverse in the programming and the voices that we are hearing and we just need to have more of that,' said Zimmerman, who is working on a show called 'Silver Foxes,' a comedy centered on aging gay men. But he says he wouldn't count out water-cooler series just yet. 'There's still room for a big, general-audience show that everybody could sit and watch and laugh and talk about the next day at work,' he said. 'There's room for everything now.' With reporting by AFP Advertisement WHY THE BIG BANG THEORY IS OVER: INSIDE JIM PARSONS' DECISION TO QUIT EMMY-WINNING SHELDON COOPER ROLE So long, Sheldon Cooper: Jim Parson, pictured in New York on Thursday, decided last year to quit the role. His decision lead to the show coming to an end The Big Bang Theory's Jim Parsons shocked fans - and his co-stars- when he revealed his plans to quit his role as Sheldon Cooper last year. While the show is an ensemble, Parsons' character was central to the key story-lines and beloved by fans. His decision ultimately lead to the show coming to an end after 12 season. Series creator Chuck Lorre admitted he considered continuing without Sheldon, but ultimately decided against it. The Big Bang Theory began in 2007 and went on to win 10 Emmy awards, four of them for Parsons, 46. Five years later, it was the No. 1 comedy on U.S. television with an audience of some 20 million people, and as far afield as Russia and France. When asked about his decision to quit the show, Parsons told The Hollywood Reporter earlier this month: 'It was the first time in my life of doing this show that it occurred to me that I might want to not do another contract after [Season] 12 was up,' he explained. 'I don't know if it's because I'm an Aries or just because maybe I'm in touch with myself. Whatever it is, once I had that thought, I was like, 'Well, that's your answer.'' 'There was no factor; there was no situation that I was like, 'Well, I've had enough of that.' No. There was nothing like that. It was justwhen you know, you know. And you're susceptible and thrown around by the whims of your own existence and getting to a certain age and your life changes and suddenly you just think different,' Parsons continued. 'It has been fascinating to think about who I was 12 years ago. And sometimes when I have trouble learning a line or saying a line of Sheldon's right now, it's hard to know why specifically. But it's like, you're not the same person you were. There is a possibility that this actually became more difficult for you in a way. And I don't know what that means but it's like you just change.' Back in August, he wrote an emotional message to fans about the end of the show: 'It is hard (nearly impossible, actually) to really accept that this is a picture of the first of the final 24 episodes we will shoot for The Big Bang Theory,' Parsons wrote. 'I feel very fortunate that we have another 23 episodes to shoot this season because I am hopeful that with each and every one, my level of REALLY accepting this fact will sink in.' Beloved character: Parsons won four Emmys for his portrayal of Sheldon Cooper. He will continue his voice-over role on the prequel spin-off Young Sheldon, which stars Iain Armitage 'And while I know that they already know it, it bears repeating again and again: I am so terribly grateful for the cast in this picture and the cast members who aren't pictured here whether they were in one scene or many episodes along the way; you are all my playmates that I have fallen in love with and who have become a part of my life on set and off,' he continued. 'You are my playmates when we don't feel like playing but have to because it's our job to get out there and communicate and pretend we're these other fictional people and we look into each other's eyes and say these words and end up creating this weird, other reality that has enriched my life more than I will fully ever understand. I will miss all of you and all of this more than I can say and more than I can know at this time.' Lorre explained he couldn't envisage a Big Bang Theory without Sheldon, telling The Hollywood Reporter: 'I couldn't wrap my head around the idea of going on without the whole ensemble and the whole ensemble is why we succeeded. 'In pulling it apart and re-approaching it as a fraction of what it was just never felt right to me. I've seen other shows try and fail to take a character out of their realm and carry on. And maybe Frasier is the only thing I could think of off the top of my head where it really did work, thanks to the lightning strike of David Hyde Pierce.' Parsons, who married his long-time partner Todd Spiewak in 2017, will continue his voice-over role on the prequel spin-off Young Sheldon, which stars Iain Armitage. Next up, he'll reprise his Broadway role in the Netflix adaptation of The Boys in the Band. Advertisement SO WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE BIG BANG THEORY CAST? With The Big Bang Theory ending after 12 seasons, viewers can comfort themselves with reruns. The cast has those - and residuals - but not the reassuring workplace rhythm and camaraderie. During the closing days of taping the hour-long finale Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Johnny Galecki, Mayim Bialik, Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar and Melissa Rauch opened up about what they'll do next... Jim Parsons: 'I'm still very focused on continuing to seek out work as an actor almost exclusively. I'm not finding anything like writing or directing or anything else that's overtly calling me. I'm just trying to keep moving and active as I can so that the right next thing will speak loudly when I see it.' Kaley Cuoco: 'For me, producing. I'd love to continue to work as an actor but I love the development process, and I just started dipping my toe into it a year ago. I enjoy putting pieces together.' Simon Helberg: 'I picture myself growing a beard, and waking up at noon and sitting at the piano playing music, or trying to get into photography. Sounds kind of romantic. My favorite thing to do is act, so I'm going to do a play in the fall.' Coming to terms with life after the Big Bang: Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar, Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch pictured at Handprint Ceremony at the TCL Chinese Theatre last week Kunal Nayyar: 'When we started "Big Bang," there weren't a lot of opportunities for South Asian actors. And now what's happening you're getting the best of both worlds (here) and in India. We make 900 movies a year in Bollywood. Now you have Netflix India, you have Amazon India. There are many beautiful, big novels that are being made for this cross-cultural platform, and they're looking for talent and I hope I can help fill some of those roles.' Mayim Bialik: 'I have a couple of projects that I'm looking to produce for other women, and obviously the science space is somewhere that I live in always. But I think I've never been at a place in my career where I could have more of a voice.' Johnny Galecki: 'I really enjoy being more a part of the storytelling. I made the same mistake a lot of actors do, assuming that the process starts with your first day on set and ends with the wrap party. To be in the room when the seminal idea is hatched and nurtured through to the end is really exciting for me.' Melissa Rauch: 'My husband and I write together, and we have our production company here at Warner Bros. And also just spending time with my kiddo is a good thing to do.' With reporting by AP 'The last supper with my TV family': Kaley Cuoco shared this picture with her fans on Wednesday ahead of the finale Advertisement Keeping Up with the Kardashians starlet Kylie Jenner posted a behind-the-scenes snap Thursday of herself modeling a skimpy knit bodysuit during an outdoor shoot with photographer Sasha Samsonova. It was the same day the 21-year-old Lip Kit mogul uploaded a six-minute video demonstrating her 'everyday skincare routine,' which involved no less than six products from her Kylie Skin line launching next Wednesday. Kylie - who boasts 188.5M followers/subscribers - noted: 'I actually wrote all of these descriptions on the back. Handwritten by Kylie!' 'Remain calm': Kylie Jenner posted a behind-the-scenes snap Thursday of herself modeling a skimpy knit bodysuit during an outdoor shoot with photographer Sasha Samsonova In the six-minute infomercial, Jenner claimed her foaming face wash 'brings your skin back to life,' she said she 'could take a bath' in the vanilla milk toner, and that her face moisturizer 'changed my life.' 'My sisters taught me at a really young age to wear eye cream,' the Calabasas socialite said. 'I feel like you could start as early as you want. It's just a good preventive to keep your under eyes hydrated and moisturized.' And the 'self-made billionaire' is just getting started as she's already applied to trademark Kylie Hair and Kylie Baby with the US Patent and Trademark Office for her ever-expanding empire, according to TMZ. Tutorial: It was the same day the 21-year-old Lip Kit mogul uploaded a six-minute video demonstrating her 'everyday skincare routine,' which involved no less than six products from her Kylie Skin line launching next Wednesday Kylie - who boasts 188.5M followers/subscribers - noted: 'I actually wrote all of these descriptions on the back. Handwritten by Kylie!' Infomercial: In the six-minute vlog, Jenner claimed her foaming face wash 'brings your skin back to life,' she said she 'could take a bath' in the vanilla milk toner, and that her face moisturizer 'changed my life' The Calabasas socialite said: 'My sisters taught me at a really young age to wear eye cream. I feel like you could start as early as you want. It's just a good preventive' On the personal front, Kylie lewdly announced April 30 that she and rapper babydaddy Travis Scott want to give their 17-month-old daughter Stormi a sibling. Catch more of the pro-choice activist on the 16th season of her reality show, which airs Sundays on E! Back in 2017, Jenner and the rest of her famous family signed a massive $100M deal with the cable network through 2020, according to Variety. Kylie Cosmetics factory: And the 'self-made billionaire' is just getting started as she's already applied to trademark Kylie Hair and Kylie Baby with the US Patent and Trademark Office for her ever-expanding empire (pictured Monday) 'Let's f*** around and have another baby!' On the personal front, Kylie announced April 30 that she and babydaddy Travis Scott want to give their 17-month-old daughter Stormi a sibling John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is back, on another incontinent and indeed inter-continental killing spree. It all began, you might recall, when someone killed his puppy in the first film. Wick is a dog-lover, and if you harm his canine best friend, then good luck to you. You might have time to kiss your loved ones goodbye before he blows your head off, but probably not. He is one-third Doris Day, two-thirds Dirty Harry. Having followed the trail of corpses through the first two films, I sat down to this one determined to keep track of how, as well as how many, Eastern European, North African and Asian heavies Wick sends to the Great Hereafter. Wick has 1,000 ways of killing a man who has crossed him, and 500 ways of killing a man who hasnt, but simply knows someone who has. John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is back, on another incontinent and indeed inter-continental killing spree Unfortunately, my resolve melted after the very first burst of extreme violence, which takes place in the New York Public Library. There, Wick has an altercation with a thug the size of a wardrobe, eventually battering him to kingdom come with a book of Russian folk tales. Its like a deranged version of Cluedo, not that theres any mystery identifying the killer when Wick is in town. Anyway, thats when I knew I had to bail out early from any attempt at a body count. When it kicks off with death by textbook, its only going to get weirder. And it does, of course. The third film starts where the second ended, with Wick, the greatest professional assassin of all time, himself in mortal danger of assassination. His only real friend is a pitbull, although this is not one man and his dog as the late Phil Drabble would have recognised it. Nobly, Wick prioritises the dogs safety even before his own. Theres a $14 million bounty on his head and he is running as well one might through the rain-lashed streets of Manhattan before the contract goes open, meaning anyone can terminate him. Having followed the trail of corpses through the first two films, I sat down to this one determined to keep track of how, as well as how many, Eastern European, North African and Asian heavies Wick sends to the Great Hereafter Anyone with a death wish of their own, that is. Trying to whack Wick is even more perilous than knocking off his pooch. Later, in Morocco, a bunch of Arab would-be fundamentalists have a go, but by then Wick has enlisted the help of his old friend Sofia (Halle Berry), who shares his soft spot for all things canine, leading to what can really only be called the films Wick whack Jihadi attack, give the dog a bone segment. First things first, though. In New York, the shadowy assassins guild called the High Table is closing in on Wick. Its flint-hearted female emissary, The Adjudicator (Asia Kate Dillon), has a nasty way of discouraging anyone who might help Wick from doing so. These include his old sparring partner Winston, the worlds most menacing hotel manager, played by a typically saturnine Ian McShane, and an underground crime lord known as the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne). Director Chad Stahelski, who also brought us John Wick chapters 1 and 2, cant be faulted for the quality of his supporting cast. Even Anjelica Huston pops up, playing the heavy accented director of a dance company who goes back longer than most in Wicks life, for reasons I cant possibly divulge, not if I know whats good for me. Wick, while rarely stringing together more than five consecutive words, certainly knows whats good for him. In one of his more voluble outbursts, he seeks a meeting with the one who sits above the Table. The Adjudicator, meanwhile, wants him to reaffirm his fealty to the Table. If the non-stop killing doesnt eventually give you the giggles during this film, the dialogue will. Anyway, with New York too dangerous for Wick, given that every cab driver and down-and-out seems to recognise him, he legs it to Casablanca. Sofia doesnt seem too happy to see him. Are they former lovers? All we know of Wicks romantic past is that he had a wife who expired in the first film, rendering him even more heartbroken than the puppy snuffing. For Wick, grief has a way of resurfacing as homicidal frenzy. Hes been slaughtering battalions of hitmen ever since. In Casablanca, the killing slows down only to accommodate a spot of dismemberment and torture flay it again, Sam. Otherwise, its wall-to-wall murder. Sofia might not seem too sure about Wick, but once her killer Belgian shepherds take a shine to him, theyre a deadly gang of four, leaving another huge pile of corpses behind. By now, in fact well before now, the violence in John Wick 3 has become like nudity in a porn film it has been leached of all excitement, all meaning, by the sheer, ludicrous, de-sensitising abundance of it. Undoubtedly, the fight choreography which even yields the bizarre spectacle of Wick nobbling motorcycle executioners while galloping through Manhattan on horseback is terrific. And Reeves gives a charismatic lead performance, tearing another page from the Clint Eastwood manual of laconic hard men. But if I never again see John Wick loading a new cartridge into his gun just in time to shoot a hoodlum in the head, it will still be slightly too soon. Jessica Alba has been in The Big Apple all week promoting her new television series, L.A.'s Finest, that co-stars Gabrielle Union. Come Thursday, and the 38-year-old stunner was caught enjoying a rare break in her hectic schedule as she took a casual stroll along the bustling streets of Manhattan with one of her handler always close by her side. Alba it kept casual-cool for her walk both in the fashion department and with her laid back demeanor. Hot in the city: Jessica Alba was spotted enjoying a casual stroll in New York City Thursday Oozing movie star charisma, the California native paired blue denim jeans with a stylish black blazer. Underneath the jacket, she rocked a sheer black shirt that gave a hint of her toned body and black undergarment. She rounded out the ensemble with black leather boots, large framed sunglasses, and a Cuyana belt bag. She wore her brown tresses long ans straight with a part in the middle. Even more noticeable: her confident smile she flashed as photographers snapped away. Movie star charm: The California native rocked a pair of blue denim jeans and a black blazer Stylish: Her sheer black shirt gave a int of her toned body and black undergarment Alba has been out in force in promotion of LA Finest's, that has included spots on Live With Kelly And Ryan, Good Morning America and Build Series NYC, among others. The police drama, which is an offshoot of the Bad Boys film franchise, focuses on Drug Enforcement Agent Sydney Burnett (Union), who was last seen in Miami taking down a drug cartel. With her complicated past behind her, she relocates and becomes an LAPD detective who's partnered with working mom Nancy McKenna (Alba). The show premiered May 13 on the Spectrum Originals. Charter Communications has given a 13-episode series order for the drama. Honing it in: The 38-year-old rounded out the ensemble with black leather boots, large framed sunglasses and wore her brown tresses long ans straight with a part in the middle En force: The actress, who has been in NYC promoting her new television series LA's Finest, paired her ensemble with a Cuyana belt bag Entrepreneur: While in New York City, Alba also attended to some promotional duties and daily affairs as the owner and face of The Honest Company While in New York City Alba also attended to some promotional duties and daily affairs as the owner and face of The Honest Company, which was valued at just shy of $1 billion in October 2017. It is known for producing safe household products that don't use 'health-compromising chemicals or compounds. Alba has been married to Cash Warren since May 2008. They met while filming the Fantastic Four in 2004, and soon after began dating. WWE Superstar Ashley Massaro took her own life eight months after the dismissal of a lawsuit where she claimed head injuries sustained from her wrestling career made her spiral into depression, The Blast reports. Massaro died at the age 39 from undisclosed, but non-criminal causes after being rushed from her home on Long Island to a hospital on Thursday morning. She was discovered unconscious at her New York home after she failed to show at her local radio job and insider claimed. The wrestler and model was a WWE Superstar from 2005 to 2008, and rose to even greater notoriety among a mainstream audience after appearing on the cover of Playboy. WWE Superstar Ashley Massaro reportedly died by suicide at the age 39. Officials said she passed from undisclosed, but non-criminal causes after being rushed from her home on Long Island to a hospital on Thursday morning. Massaro is pictured at The 2014 Exxxotica Expo, Edison, New Jersey on November 8, 2014 She spoke in the past about spiraling into depression and addiction in a class action lawsuit and said it was triggered by injuries sustained in her work for WWE. But it got dismissed in September 2018 Massaro was transported from her $500,000 residence (shown) in Suffolk County, New York to the hospital early on Thursday morning, where she passed away, officials said Officials responded to her Suffolk County home following a call reporting an unconscious female and administered CPR during the ride to the hospital, according to dispatch audio obtained by The Blast. She passed away in hospital, officials told TMZ. Massaro joined a class action lawsuit against WWE related to potential head injuries in November of 2016, filed by attorney Konstantine Kyros, the Boston Globe reported. Massaro accused the company of concealing risks of injury known to cause neurological damage as well as alleging the company discouraged her from reporting an alleged sexual assault she survived on a US military base in Kuwait in 2006 during a WWE tour. That lawsuit was dismissed in September 2018. Massaro said in her 2017 affidavit: 'Aside from my on-going physical injuries that were sustained in the ring, and my former battle with addiction, to this day I suffer from depression, for which I take medication; migraine headaches; and severe short-term memory loss. 'I attribute these issues to my work-related injuries sustained while working for the WWE, and specifically to the routine repetitive blows to the head, I received in the ring over the course of my career which were not properly diagnosed or treated.' Officials responded to her home following a call reporting an unconscious female and administered CPR during the ride to the hospital, according to dispatch audio Massaro had one daughter, Alexa (left), who will turn 19 years old in July She posted via Instagram: 'I wish i could have gotten more recent pictures' Alexa (right as a child) posted: 'I love you mommy i want to wake up in your arms more than anything i want to give u a big hug please come back this cant be real' Massaro claimed it caused her severe and ongoing pain and suffering, emotional distress and financial hardship'. She said the organisation 'used narcotics as a tool to allow me and other wrestlers to perform through our injuries' leading to addiction which she sought treatment through the WWE Former Talent Rehab Program in September 2010. Massaro remained in the program for 42 days but said there was no monitoring after the program and claimed WWE ignored other aspects of the head trauma. She also referenced one neck-breaker injuring during a match with Torrie Wilson in 2005 that caused damage. Wrestler Mick Foley tweeted about his friend and neighbor's death on Thursday Kelly Klein said she was kind and encouraging whenever they met each other Wilson was among many colleagues who paid tribute to Massaro on Friday, tweeting: 'I cant even begin to explain how devastated I am to hear about [Ashley Massaro] legit one of the sweetest people Ive ever known. When we fall into a dark place it can seem like it will never change but if you are there PLEASE keep hope & reach out for help.' The WWE organization released a statement in response to Massaro's death, offering their condolences to the fighter's family and friends. 'We are saddened to learn of the tragic death of former WWE Superstar Ashley Massaro,' the statement read. The organization said Massaro 'was beloved by her fellow Superstars and fans around the world. WWE offers its condolences to Ashleys family and friends.' WWE said Massaro 'was beloved by her fellow Superstars and fans around the world. WWE offered its condolences to Ashleys family and friends' Massaro's former colleagues have expressed their upset over the news of her passing On Wednesday before her Thursday death Massaro shared images of fan mail she had received Massaro had one daughter, Alexa, who will turn 19 years old in July. She posted via Instagram: 'I wish i could have gotten more recent pictures' and 'I love you mommy i want to wake up in your arms more than anything i want to give u a big hug please come back this cant be real.' Massaro used to date fellow wrestler Matt Hardy. Hardy is now married to Reby Hardy and they have two children. Mrs Hardy was criticized on social media following the news of Massaro's death, claiming she doesn't care about the passing of her spouse's ex. She replied to a tweeter: 'People desperately trying to force me to care about something I dont give a f**k about & looking for it in s**t that aint there. Im out here tweeting about drag race but Im fat & ugly cuz I aint in mourning lol.' Mrs Hardy tweeted Massaro last November after she posted about finding an old CD Mr Hardy burned for her in 2005. 'You think I forgot you tried to come over here with pills in '11?' she said in a longer expletive-filled tweet. Massaro's former colleagues have expressed their upset over the news of her passing with former WWE Diva Jillian Hall telling Heavy.com she was 'absolutely devastated heartbroken' by the news. The two competed together as part of Zero1 Professional Wrestling USA, a lesser-known professional wrestling ring, in 2017. The cause of death has not yet been revealed, but it has been classified as 'non criminal' Reby Hardy - wife of Massaro's ex - posted that she didn't care about her death Thursday Last November Mrs Hardy angrily tweeted Massaro after she shared a memory about her ex Massaro used to date fellow wrestler Matt Hardy but the man is now married with children In an eerily foreshadowing Instagram post shared on January 5, Massaro wrote: 'Those who died yesterday had plans for this morning. And those who died this morning had plans for tonight. Don't take life for granted. In the blink of an eye, everything can change. So forgive often and love with all your heart. You may never get to have that chance again.' Massaro's WWE career started in 2005, after she won the Raw Diva Search. The win came with a $250,000 award and a one-year contract with the WWE. During her time with the WWE, she battled rival Melina for the Women's Championship title at Wrestlemania 23 in 2007, but was defeated. That same year she competed on Survivor: China, but was voted off in the second episode. During her time with the WWE, she battled rival Melina for the Women's Championship title at Wrestlemania 23 in 2007, but was defeated. Massaro is pictured at Trump Tower in New York City in March of 2007, where she announced the details of Wrestlemania 23 Also in 2007, Massaro competed on Survivor: China, but was voted off in the second episode During an episode of WWE's 'Smackdown,' Massaro revealed that she appeared on the April 2007 cover of Playboy magazine. She also became a valet for WWE tag team champions Paul London and Brian Kendrick, charming fans as she escorted the fighters to the ring. Massaro is said to have previously dated London. Massaro asked to be released from the WWE in mid-2008 after her only daughter, Alexa, became sick and required Massaro's care. Born on July 23, 2000, Alexa was weeks away from turning eight at the time. During an episode of WWE's 'Smackdown,' Massaro revealed that she appeared on the April 2007 cover of Playboy magazine. She is shown holding the issue Massaro is pictured on the April 2007 cover of Playboy magazine Massaro graduated from the State University of New York at Albany with a Bachelor of Science degree in Communication and a minor in Business, according to an archived version of her Survivor profile on CBS's website. Massaro grew up in Babylon, New York on Long Island. Her father, brother and uncle competed in amateur wresting, preparing her at a young age for the life that was to come for her. She was a former gymnast, who competed in beauty pageants and was crowned Miss Hawaiian Tropic USA in 2002 and Miss Hawaiian Tropic Canada in 2005. She lived in Smithtown in a large home, tucked away behind trees along the water. The estimated value of the home is $509,217, according to Zillow. Massaro grew up in Babylon, New York on Long Island. Her father, brother and uncle competed in amateur wresting, preparing her at a young age for the life that was to come for her They're known for their experimental red carpet style. And on Thursday night, Sydney socialites Christian Wilkins and boyfriend Andrew Kelly commanded attention in quirky ensembles as they attended a Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week after party in Sydney. The 24-year-old son of Today show's Richard Wilkins flashed his underwear in a sheer dress boasting a thigh high slit. No wallflowers here! Christian Wilkins and beau Andrew Kelly stood out in bizarre ensembles as they attended the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week after party in Sydney on Thursday Paired with an embellished deep blue scarf, Christian put his best foot forward in a pair of matching sandals. Meanwhile, Andrew stole the show in navy corduroy suit adorned with stunning floral display. He complimented the look with heavily applied layer of rouge on his cheeks. Sheer daring! The 24-year-old son of Today show's Richard Wilkins flashed his underwear in a sheer dress boasting a thigh high slit Blooming lovely! Meanwhile, Andrew stole the show in navy corduroy suit adorned with stunning floral display The pair attended the event along Christian's father Richard Wilkins and his girlfriend Virginia Burmeister. The couple also posed with former Foreign Minister Julie Bishop while attending the fashion spectacular. It's been a busy few days for the pair, with both being a fixture at this year's Fashion Week. The Fash Pack: The pair attended the event along Christian's father Richard Wilkins and his girlfriend Virginia Burmeister. The couple also posed with former Foreign Minister Julie Bishop while attending the fashion spectacular Christian has been documenting his appearances at the event on Instagram Stories, sharing a series of photos and videos. 'I love using Fashion Week as an excuse to drink in the morn,' he captioned a photo of himself sipping a cocktail. A second photo shared to Christian's Instagram Stories showed Andrew getting his face licked by a small dog. She moved to Italy with her family for a year-long 'gap year' several months ago. And now Kate Langbroek is starring in an Italian-themed photo shoot for Sunday's Stellar magazine. On the cover, the 53-year-old stuns in a figure-hugging black mid-length dress designed by Marina Rinaldi. Mamma Mia! Radio host Kate Langbroek, 53, flaunts her incredible figure in an Italian-themed cover shoot for the upcoming edition of Stellar magazine To finish off her elegant look, the comedian wears a pair of white retro heels and an oversized gold necklace. Kate's blonde locks are left to fall around her face and shoulders in tousled waves. The television presenter shows off her youthful complexion, with a dewy makeup finish and a bold red lip for a pop of colour. Moving abroad! Kate, Peter and their children (pictured) have been living in Bologna, Italy since the start of the year In the interview Kate talks all things family and her life in Italy. Kate, Peter and their children have been living in Bologna since January. Just days before packing her bags and leaving Melbourne, Kate said on The Project that she had 'no idea' why she was moving to Europe. 'She's having the time of her life!' It comes after Dave Hughes said his radio co-host Kate (pictured with her children) 'spends all afternoon on the pasta and wine' after moving to Bologna, Italy 'I can't tell you why because I've got NFI [no f**king idea],' she said nervously. 'But at the time it seemed like a good idea that we would take our four children and go to live in Italy for a year. Why? I don't know. I'm hanging by a thread.' Kate's radio colleague Dave Hughes, 48, recently revealed earlier this year that she's 'having the time of her life' after moving to Europe. During an appearance on Channel Nine's Today Extra, Dave joked that Kate was 'spending all afternoon on the pasta and wine'. The finale of their megahit sitcom airs tonight. And the stars of The Big Bang Theory shone on Thursday as they arrived en masse for an appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. The high profile cast were led by show's breakout stars Kaley Cuoco and Jim Parsons. Spot the star! The stars of The Big Bang Theory shone on Thursday as they arrived en masse for an appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert Kaley, 33, wore a polkadot ensemble, matching her black and white skirt to the similarly spotted blouse. On her feet she wore black leather low-heeled shoes. The blonde beauty wore her wavy blonde tresses in a low, loose pony tail and had applied distinctive cats eye makeup. Going dotty: Kaley Cuoco, 33, wore a polkadot ensemble, matching her black and white skirt to the similarly spotted blouse Meow: The blonde beauty wore her wavy blonde tresses in a low, loose pony tail and had applied distinctive cats eye makeup Jim, 46, meanwhile was dapper in a blue tartan suit with matching shirt and tie. On his feet, the Young Sheldon executive producer wore a pair of patent leather shoes. On his face the actor wore a pair of dark-rimmed glasses. Sheldon himself: The blonde beauty wore her wavy blonde tresses in a low, loose pony tail and had applied distinctive cats eye makeup Specs appeal: On his face the actor wore a pair of dark-rimmed glasses Johnny Galecki, 44, meanwhile wore a bright blue vest beneath a matching jacket as he made his way into the show's New York studios. Kunal Nayyar, 38, was also dapper in his brocade tuxedo and black bow tie. And Simon Helberg, also 38, went with a blue theme too, slipping on a light blue shirt beneath his royal blue suit. Veteran: Johnny Galecki, 44, meanwhile wore a bright blue vest beneath a matching jacket as he made his way into the show's New York studios Blossom! Co-star Mayim Bialik went casual for her appearance on the high profile talk show Lauded: The Big Bang Theory began in 2007 and went on to win 10 Emmy awards, four of them for Parsons The Big Bang Theory began in 2007 and went on to win 10 Emmy awards, four of them for Parsons. Five years later, it was the No. 1 comedy on U.S. television with an audience of some 20 million people, and as far afield as Russia and France. 'Were a show about 'the other people.' And I think everyone has a little bit of 'not belonging' in them,' said Bialik, explaining the show's popularity. Over the years, the show's 'Bazinga!' catchphrase, used by Sheldon when playing a prank or telling a joke, entered pop culture and inspired the name of a species of bee found in Brazil and a jellyfish found in Australia. The series also saw cameos by the likes of British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk, Apple Inc co-founder Steve Wozniak, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, 'Star Trek' actors William Shatner and George Takei, and Marvel comics legend Stan Lee. Meilssa Rauch: The actress plays Bernadette Rostenkowski on the CBS hit Kyle Sandilands has hit out at Today Show host Deborah Knight after she put down Bill Shorten in an interview following former prime minister Bob Hawke's death. Knight compared the popularity of the two politicians, suggesting Shorten was less popular than Hawke, and asked the Labor leader why he was 'struggling to get voters'. Pointing out that Shorten and Hawke had been good friends, Sandilands slammed the insensitive question, which came just a day after Hawke passed away. ''Have some decency' Kyle Sandilands slammed Deborah Knight for her insensitive question, which compared Bill Shorten's popularity to Bob Hawke - a day after the former prime minister's death The 47-year-old addressed the interview on his KIIS FM radio show (The Kyle and Jackie O Show) and criticised Knight for her line of questioning. 'That's a nice thing... your friend's dead - why doesn't anyone like you?' he sarcastically said. Slamming Knight further, Sandilands said: 'Have some decency when someone is dealing with the death of a friend.' Harsh: Pointing out that Shorten and former prime minister had been good friends, Kyle said on his KIIS radio show: 'Have some decency when someone is dealing with the death of a friend' Legend: Bob Hawke was the country's longest serving prime minister and passed away on Thursday night (16 May) at his home, aged 89 years old Bob Hawke was the country's longest serving prime minister and passed away on Thursday night at his home, aged 89 years old. The legendary politician's wife Blance d'Alpuget confirmed his death in a moving statement. 'Today we lost Bob Hawke, a great Australian - many would say the greatest Australian of the post-war era,' she said. 'Bob was dearly loved by his family, and so many friends and colleagues. We will miss him.' Paying tribute: Shorten had appeared on the Today Show on Friday morning to pay tribute to Hawke as- 'one of his heroes' and 'biggest influences' Shorten had appeared on the Today Show on Friday morning to pay tribute to Hawke - 'one of his heroes' and 'biggest influences'. He was asked if he felt a greater responsibility to win the election in light of Hawke's death, to which he replied: 'Bob was generous in his last remarks to me and he said we were doing really well and he was very proud of me. 'I already feel a responsibility to millions of people to win. But sure, I want to do it for Bob as well tomorrow. I don't want to let his memory down.' Sandilands, meanwhile, paid his own tribute to Hawke live on air as he sculled a bottle of beer in his honour. He declared: 'In honour of one of the greatest Prime Ministers that ever lived. Cheers to Bob Hawke. Chug it everyone!' Bob Hawke was recognised by the Guinness Book of Records for skolling 2.5 pints (1.12 litres) of beer in 11 seconds at university. He even launched a beer brand, Hawkes Brewing Co., in 2017, with one hundred percent of his royalties being donated to environmental group Landcare Australia. Robert Pattinson will play the Caped Crusader in the upcoming The Batman flick slated for a June 25, 2021 release. The 33-year-old British actor is the next in line to play the DC Comics superhero after Ben Affleck last played Bruce Wayne in 2017's Justice League. Pattinson is in talks to play Batman in the Matt Reeves led project according to Variety on Thursday night. Caped Crusader: Robert Pattinson will play the Caped Crusader in the upcoming The Batman flick slated for a June 25, 2021 release according to Variety Back in January it was reported that Ben Affleck was out of the project which he was originally set to star in, write, and direct. According to Variety's sources negotiations are not fully complete but Pattinson is the top choice and the deal is expected to close shortly. Pre-production on the Matt Reeves directed film is expected to begin this summer. According to Deadline, the role may not only be Pattinson's for the taking as Nicholas Hoult is also atop the 'short list' for the coveted role. Dark night: Back in January it was reported that Ben Affleck was out of the project which he was originally set to star in, write, and direct (he is pictured in 2017's Justice League) Back in January, it was officially announced that Affleck would not be returning as the Caped Crusader as Deadline reported that The Batman will focus on a 'younger Bruce Wayne.' Affleck made his DC Extended Universe (DCEU) debut as the Caped Crusader in 2016's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, while making a cameo in 2016's Suicide Squad and then starring in 2017's Justice League. Affleck was originally slated to co-write the script for The Batman with former DC Entertainment president Geoff Johns, while also directing and starring as the title character. For your consideration: According to Deadline , the role may not only be Pattinson's for the taking as Nicholas Hoult (pictured in LA last week) is also atop the 'short list' for coveted role Reeves (War For the Planet of the Apes) came aboard to write and direct in February 2017, replacing Affleck at the helm while rewriting the script. Pattinson last starred in period-piece The Lighthouse with Willem Dafoe which is set to debut at the Cannes Film Festival this weekend. He is best known for his vampire role of Edward Cullen in the Twilight Saga of films which released five films from 2008 to 2012. Ariel Winter is back home in Los Angeles after reuniting with her Modern Family castmates this week for ABC's upfront presentation in New York City. And keeping with her almost daily routine, the 21-year-old actress hit the gym on Thursday in the Studio City neighborhood of Los Angeles. For the workout, Winter opted for a sporty look that showcased her newly sculpted figure. Sporty: Ariel Winter, 21, was spotted leaving a gym in the Studio City neighborhood of Los Angeles on Thursday The Los Angeles native wore black and white patterned leggings with a grey sweatshirt that had 'I just want all the dogs' written on the front. She also added a pair of grey sneakers and carried a black leather purse over her left shoulder. The star went makeup free and wore her fiery new red hair long, straight and flowing to the middle of her back with center part. Workout gear: The Modern Family star showed off her womanly curves in black and white patterned leggings with a grey sweatshirt that had ' I just want all the dogs' written on the front The Modern Family star left the gym just like she arrived: carrying her cell phone. Trailing close behind was her beau of more than two years, Levi Meaden. He went with an all black ensemble of black jeans, black t-shirt and black Vans Sneakers. The Canadian born Meaden, who's also an actor, is best known for his roles on The Killing and the Canadian series Aftermath. He also has appeared in film like Pacific Rim Uprising and Breaking In. Young love: Winter's beau, Levi Meaden, followed close behind when she left the gym Work trip: The actress just returned from a trip to New York where she reunited with her Modern Family castmates at ABC's upfront presentations Winter was joined by her Modern Family co-stars Sofia Vergara, Ed O'Neal, Eric Stonestreet, Sarah Hyland, Ty Burrell, Julie Bowen and Aubrey Anderson-Emmons for ABC upfront presentation at the Lincoln Center in New York on Tuesday. ABC announced its full 2019-2020 fall schedule that included Modern Family retaining its Wednesday 9 PM time slot for its 11th and final season. The hit sit-com closed out its 10th season last week, which was originally thought to be the show's last. But just as the episodes began airing, rumors started to spread about the cast and producers engaging in talks with the network for one more season. ABC made it official and confirmed it had renewed Modern Family for its 11th and final season in February. She's one of Hollywood most in-demand stars. And in-between shooting back-to-back blockbusters, Margot Robbie has taken some time out to enjoy her own backyard, the Australian Outback. Sharing a series of stunning images to Instagram on Thursday, the 28-year-old documented her trip to the Northern Territory to explore the rugged terrain surrounding Uluru. 'It's just too beautiful out here!' Margot Robbie has gone on an Outback adventure this week in the Northern Territory Donning a beanie, activewear and a pair of retro shades, Margot took a selfie with a grinning camel. And in an adorable display, she also shared a photo of herself cradling a baby joey at the Kangaroo Sanctuary outside Alice Springs. Captioning the photographs, Margot wrote: 'Outback adventure in @Australia. No filters, its just that beautiful out here.' Say cheese: Margot sported a pair of retro shades while taking a selfie with a grinning camel Tagging Tourism Australia's official Instagram handle, it suggests Margot may be the latest ambassador for the organisation, following in the footsteps in Chris Hemsworth. It comes shortly after the A-list jetted home to the Gold Coast earlier this month in time to attend her grandmother's burial. Margot joined her loved ones, including brother Cameron Robbie, at Dalby in Queensland's Darling Downs. How cute: In an adorable display, the star shared a photo of herself cradling a baby joey at the Kangaroo Sanctuary outside Alice Springs Her grandmother Verna, 92, who was affectionately called 'Narnie', passed away on April 13. However they decided to delay the burial in order for Margot to arrive home in time. Just days prior to the burial, the I, Tonya star was pictured looking understandably downcast in New York. She's the glamour model girlfriend of Kyle Sandilands who is known to push the boundaries with fashion. But on Thursday, for day five of Australian Fashion Week, Imogen Anthony tried a new look on for size. The 28-year-old dressed rather modestly, channelling the boho chic look in a leather pinafore and embroidered floral blouse. That's different! Imogen Anthony dressed channelled the boho chic in a leather pinafore and embroidered floral blouse at Australian Fashion Week on Thursday She boosted her height with beige platform ankle boots and carried her essentials in a denim clutch with an embroidered floral print. Imogen accessorised further with gold chandelier drop earrings and Celine round-rimmed perspex sunglasses. Her platinum locks were styled into a sleek chignon at the nape of the neck, and her makeup look was demure. That's 70's Show! Imogen accessorised further with gold chandelier drop earrings and Celine round-rimmed perspex sunglasses In the post's caption, the red carpet regular described the look as being a '70's flower child that just ditched Woodstock (music festival) for Fashion Week'. It marks a change for Imogen, who turned heads on Monday with an eccentric oversized statement coat and blonde dreadlocks. She emphasised the quirky style with retro sunglasses, a chain necklace and a teddy bear clutch. Bold: It marks a change for Imogen, who turned heads on Monday with an eccentric oversized statement coat and blonde dreadlocks Memorable: However, her most eccentric Fashion Week ensemble was in 2017, when she wore a metallic blue phallic bralet and a black mini skirt However, her most eccentric Fashion Week ensemble was in 2017, when she wore a metallic blue phallic bralet and a black mini skirt. Imogen draped an abstract print jacket draped over her forearms, greased her locks back and added blue reflective sunglasses. In May last year, the Sydney-based starlet defended her colourful, flesh-baring outfits, telling The Daily Telegraph that she likes to push boundaries. Imogen said at the time: 'Everyone takes themselves so seriously. I'm all for people wearing streamlined business shirts and pinstripe suits, but just let me do what I do, too. It's dress-up, let's be honest, and it's fun!' She's a popular actress, blogger, and author of the hit parenting book Six Under Eight. And on Friday, Madeleine West opened up about a 'magnificent learning' experience she had while hugging a homeless women during a visit to Melbourne. Writing in her 9Honey column, the 38-year-old described her encounter with 'Brenda', a homeless woman who lives on the banks of the Yarra river. 'I ask for a hug': Madeleine West opened up about a 'magnificent learning' experience she had while hugging a homeless women during a visit to Melbourne 'As I make to depart, I ask for a hug,' Madeleine penned. 'She obliges, but when I refuse to disconnect once the customary time assigned by politeness expires. 'I feel each sharp gear change course through her: confusion, then resistance, fear, uncertainty, acceptance,' she continued. The Neighbours star went on to explain that 'Brenda' ultimately appreciate the physical gesture. 'Havent done that since I was married,' Brenda responded. 'Theyll shove ya, theyll wanna do ya, theyll blank ya, even hit ya... but no-one wants to hold ya.' Writing in her 9Honey column, the actress, 38, described her encounter with 'Brenda' who lives on the banks of the Yarra river Madeleine ultimately called the experience 'a magnificent learning opportunity' and an 'illuminating snapshot of modern-day humanity' in the pensive article. Meanwhile, the mum-of-six's spiritual awakening comes after she revealed in a piece for 9Honey that she lost her 'sense of self' when she couldn't communicate after losing her voice. 'It was a truly horrid sensation, and it was only the knowledge that with rest, honey and lemon, a disinfectant gargle and a decent dose of antibiotics, my voice, my sanity and my sense of self would be returned to me,' she wrote. 'I caught a glimpse of what life looked like!' Her spiritual awakening comes after she revealed that she lost her 'sense of self' when she couldn't communicate after losing her voice She added: 'For the first time, I caught a fleeting glimpse of what life looked like for those who truly have no voice, be it literal or metaphorical, for whom there is no immediate remedy.' Madeleine's confession came after she and her long-term chef partner Shannon Bennett announced their separation after 13 years together. The pair share six children under fourteen: son Hendrix, 10, and daughters Phoenix, 13, Xanthe, seven, Xascha, eight, and four-year-old twins, Xahlia and Margaux. However, the pair appear to be reconciling their relationship, as they were recently spotted on a family outing day out in Bryon Bay in March, where the family are now thought to be based. He once played himself in an episode of the hit CBS sitcom. And Mark Hamill has paid tribute to The Big Bang Theory on the day of its final episode, in a tweet. Taking to his popular social media account, the 67-year-old signed off the tweet, 'Your fan, Bark Hamill,' a reference to the name of the actor's lost dog in his season 11 episode. Big fan: Mark Hamill has paid tribute to The Big Bang Theory on the day of its final episode, in a tweet The Star Wars actor's full tweet read: 'Congratulations @bigbangtheory for 12 history-making years of laughter, elevating nerd-culture to unimagined new heights & triggering countless folks to ask me if I would please officiate at their weddings.' This was a reference to his episode's storyline, which concerned Mark officiating Sheldon't wedding as a reward for another character finding his dog, Bark. Plenty of other fans took to social media to share their own tributes to the show as it ended after a 12 year run. Memorable: Taking to his popular social media account, the 67-year-old signed off the tweet, 'Your fan, Bark Hamill,' a reference to the name of the actor's lost dog in his season 11 episode LOL: This was a reference to his episode's storyline, which concerned Mark officiating Sheldon't wedding as a reward for another character finding his dog, Bark However not all were complimentary, including New York Times writer Wajahat Ali. 'The only time I saw the #bigbangtheory was on airplanes when there was nothing else to watch,' began the journalist. 'I never laughed and I never understood why it was a big hit. That being said, I dig all the actors and congrats on an epic run.' Not a fan: However not all were complimentary, including New York Times writer Wajahat Ali Winnie! Another tribute came from one time actress on the show, Danica McKellar Another tribute came from one time actress on the show, Danica McKellar. The star of classic TV drama The Wonder Years played Raj Koothrappali's 'love interest' in one episode of the sitcom. The 44-year-old actress wrote, '#tbt to my episode in 2009, when I played Koothrappali's love interest.' 'Wishing everyone involved in #tbbt a *wonderful* finale! And a big thank you for so many years of laughs...and science.' Other fans were glowing in their praise of the last episode of the show that made actors like Jim Parsons and Kaley Cuoco household names Other fans were glowing in their praise of the last episode of the show that made actors like Jim Parsons and Kaley Cuoco household names. 'The best finale ever #BigBangTheory hands down. Goodbye to a great show,' wrote one Twitter user. Many others called out the fixed elevator scene, itself a payoff of a long-running Big Bang Theory gag about the building's permanently broken lift. 'Is it normal to cry over a fixed elevator? Asking for a friend,' wrote @huskerkas. Many others called out the fixed elevator scene, itself a payoff of a long-running Big Bang Theory gag about the building's permanently broken lift After 12 years on air, The Big Bang Theory is officially coming to an end tonight. But the cast of the hit comedy series are still saying their emotional goodbyes to the show. Kaley Cuoco, 33, began the farewells over social media, posting a photo of the show's stars taking their final bow. Going out with a Big Bang! Kaley Cuoco, 33, began the farewells over social media, posting a photo of the cast taking their final bow 'FINAL BOWS TONIGHT,' she captioned the photo. She also posted a sneak peek photo from the finale, an image of her and Jim Parsons 'not paying attention' inside their iconic apartment. 'A final "not paying attention" shot from tonight's @bigbangtheory_cbs finale! #findyourlens,' she captioned the photo. She even posted a photo from her 'last supper with my tv family,' a snap of the cast laughing and having a good time over dinner. Strike a pose: The actress at the finale party for her show earlier this month Caught them off guard! Cuoco captioned a snap of her with co-star Jim Parsons, 'A final "not paying attention" shot' Feast with the TV family: Cuoco shared a photo from her 'last supper' with the cast Grape toss! Johnny Galecki posted photos from his final scene with Kaley, who plays his wife Penny The stars have been going through an array of emotions as they process the end of their series, and Kaley even compared the finale to a 'death.' 'It was kind of like a death, in a way,' she admitted during a Thursday appearance on CBS This Morning with co-star Johnny Galecki. 'It's been a long, long time together.' 'Someone came up to me the other day, and I think she was like 10, "I love the show!" I was like, "Oh when did you start watching?" She was like, "Well it started before I was born." And I was like,' she said, giving a frowning expression. Setting the scene: The co-stars took a breather from filming Emotional: The pair shared a tight embrace as they filmed their last scene together Johnny also posted a photo from his very last scene with Kaley, who plays his wife Penny. 'Filming Leonard's & Penny's last scene. @kaleycuoco (Throwing grapes at photographers is a favorite pastime.),' he captioned the photo. In the photos, Johnny playfully tossed a grape towards the photographer, before pulling his co-star in for a tight embrace. Bazinga! Parsons posted a photo of the cast in a group hug after filming their final scene all together Jim Parsons, who plays fan favorite Sheldon Cooper, shared a photo of the cast locked in a group hug after filming their final scene together. 'It was really hard to pick the right pic for this post, so here is a shot of us in a hug after we filmed the last group scene we would ever film for the series... and TONIGHT is THE NIGHT... it's the series finale at 8pm EST and then there's the Young Sheldon (season!) finale, and then a special behind the scenes show hosted by @kaleycuoco and @sanctionedjohnnygalecki and then the entire cast is on @colbertlateshow I hope you get a chance to tune in and i hope you enjoy all of it. 'If you enjoy it even half as much as we've enjoyed (LOVED) creating this show for the past 12 years, then that'll be a WHOLE WHOLE lot of enjoyment. All of us will miss seeing you in this format, but we will be around in all sorts of ways, I assure you... love love love.' Lights, camera, action! Melissa Rauch posted photos from her very first day playing Bernadette Rostenkowski Fancy! The actress said she couldn't believe she would be getting her very own dressing room Group photo! Mayim Bialik kept her tribute short and sweet as she wrote, 'Oy. The emotions' Kunal Nayyar, who plays Raj Koothrappali, shared a the same snap as Kaley from their recent cast dinner, calling it 'heaven.' 'Where you at nyc? #love,' he wrote. Melissa Rauch posted a series of cast photos taken over the years, along with a throwback from her very first day playing Bernadette Rostenkowski. 'Every heart expanding adventure begins with a single step. This was mine for @bigbangtheory_cbs... My first episode. Or my first "step-isode" ~ if you will. The second pic is shortly after I joined the cast (I couldnt believe I had my very own dressing room)! The friendships and memories that would build from these moments simply overwhelm me.' Hugs: The cast shared an embrace beside the perpetually broken elevator Aww! Bialik alongside her on-screen husband, Parsons Mayim Bialik, who plays Amy Farrah Fowler, kept her message short and sweet. 'Oy. The emotions,' she wrote, along with flashback photos from the set. The Big Bang Theory premiered in 2007 and followed the lives of a group of scientist friends working at Caltech. The long-running series was the recipient of numerous awards, and made Jim the winner of the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series multiple times. The final episode of The Big Bang Theory airs on CBS tonight at 8/7c. A strong bond: The cast and crew watched the final scene of The Big Bang Theory together Rosie Huntington-Whiteley certainly stood out as she stepped out in Sydney's Bondi Beach on Friday. All eyes were on the statuesque supermodel as she left a casual brunch at popular eatery Bills in an incredibly chic ensemble. The 32-year-old was dressed for business in a tailored beige suit jacket and matching shorts. She means business! Supermodel Rosie Huntington-Whiteley stunned in a trendy beige jacket and matching shorts during a brunch in Sydney's Bondi Beach on Friday Shielding her eyes from the sun, she donned a pair of black sunglasses and accessorised with an envelope clutch and gold earrings. She completed her sophisticated look with a pair of black mules. Rosie is in Australia to attend the beauty event of the year, Meccaland. The bareMinerals Beauty Ambassador will be joined by Hollywood makeup artist and fellow bareMinerals ambassador, Nikki DeRoest, and the pair set to hit the Main Stage for a beauty masterclass on Friday. Rosie appears to be travelling solo on this trip, leaving her husband Jason Statham and their son Jack back in Los Angeles. A suit-ably stunning appearance: Shielding her eyes from the sun, she donned a pair of black sunglasses and accessorised with an envelope clutch and gold earrings The former Victoria's Secret star and her beau have been together since 2010, and got engagement back in January 2016. Rosie and Jason announced in February 2017 that they were having their first child, a son named Jack, who was born in July 2017. The beauty was first discovered at the age of 16, securing her first modeling gig with Levi's. Well-heeled: She completed her sophisticated look with a pair of black mules She signed to Victoria's Secret in 2006, making her Victoria's Secret Fashion Show debut that year. Rosie transitioned to acting with a starring role in 2011's Transformers: Dark of the Moon, and later starred as The Splendid Angharad in 2015's Mad Max: Fury Road. Jason most recently put in an appearance at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, to promote his Fast & Furious spin-off Hobbs & Shaw with Dwayne Johnson. The spin-off, which also stars Idris Elba, Eiza Gonzalez and Vanessa Kirby, is slated to hit theaters on August 2. He is also slated to star in an untitled Hong Kong action thriller from director Kurt Wimmer. She made one of the most memorable entrances at the Met Gala last week. And Lily Collins can still turn heads while dressed down. The 30-year-old actress looked effortlessly stylish while on a solo outing in Los Angeles on Thursday. Strutting her stuff: Lily Collins looked effortlessly stylish while on a solo outing in Los Angeles on Thursday She rocked a chic tan coat over a white sweater, light blue boyfriend jeans and a pair of light brown suede Tory Burch booties. Lily accessorized with designer aviator shades and a brown leather designer bag draped over her shoulder. Her brunette tresses were worn down in a middle part as she accentuated her porcelain skin with complementary make-up topped off with pink lip. Earlier this week Lily talked about her look at the Met Gala as her jewelry garnered all of the attention, behind-the-scenes. Stunning: The 30-year-old actress rocked a chic tan coat over a white sweater, light blue boyfriend jeans and a pair of light brown suede booties Vibes: Lily accessorized with designer aviator shades and a brown leather designer bag draped over her shoulder During an appearance on The Late Late Show With James Corden Tuesday night, Collins admitted she had a security team keeping a keen eye on her and her Cartier necklace that was on loan. 'Not only its own security guard but there was also a woman,' she confessed to Corden, 'the only woman who had the key to unlock it!' Collins went on to explain: 'There's a device used for this specific necklace and at the end of the night I had to have her there to take it off.' Forbes reported that the high-end piece was made of diamonds, platinum, rock crystal, onyx, and black lacquer. Fashion confession: Lily dished about the jewelry she wore to Met Gala during an appearance on The Late Late Show With James Corden on Tuesday Revelation: Collins revealed that the necklace she wore to the Met Gala came with a security team to host James Corden and actor Charles Melton The goods: Corden held up a picture of the actress wearing the Cartier necklace Security detail: Collins went on to explain: 'There's a device used for this specific necklace and at the end of the night I had to have her there to take it off' Unusual request: Collins also laughed when she talked about asking the security guard for a special request before they took the jewelry off in her hotel room But even with all the extra safety precautions taken on the festive night, Collins still found the courage to ask the security guard for a special request before they took the jewelry off in her hotel room. 'I know this is weird, but could you take a picture of me in the bathtub?' she asked the female officer, which has been an off-beat tradition of sorts for the actress when she goes to high-profile events. 'She thought I was really weird, but she nailed it. I got the photo.' Quirky: 'I know this is weird, but could you take a picture of me in the bathtub?' Collins asked the female officer, which has been an off-beat tradition of sorts for the actress Collins, did in fact, share the photo of herself in the Giambattista Valli Haute Couture gown while laying in the bathtub on Instagram. 'This dilemma again... after party or bath?...' she joked in the caption. For the night, the English-American actress showed off her legs while wearing sky high black stilettos. She also wore her teased dark locks in a sky high pouf with a single curl falling gracefully over her shoulder and added a white headband with tiny flowers over her inflated hairdo. She stars in a new series for Netflix called What/If. And on Thursday, Renee Zellweger shone at the premiere for the show held in West Hollywood. The actress, 50, was flawless in a below-the-knee A.W.A.K.E. Mode dress with long sleeves and a v-neckline. Dazzling: She stars in a new series for Netflix called What/If. And on Thursday, Renee Zellweger shone at the premiere for the show held in West Hollywood Zellweger wore her blonde hair in an updo with tendrils left loose to soften the look. She stepped out in pointed toe black heels with an ankle strap. In the series produced by Robert Zemeckis, the Cold Mountain Oscar winner plays a schemer and seductress in what's billed as a modern-day morality tale. Reminiscent of the 1993 movie Indecent Proposal that starred Robert Redford, Demi Noore and Woody Harrelson, What/If sees Zellweger make a newlywed couple the offer of a lifetime - if the husband sleeps with her, she will fully fund the wife's fledgling business to the tune of $80 million. Looking good: The actress, 50, was flawless in a below-the-knee A.W.A.K.E. Mode dress with long sleeves and a v-neckline that she paired with pointed toe black heels Small screen role: In the series produced by Robert Zemeckis, the Cold Mountain Oscar winner plays a schemer and seductress in what's billed as a modern-day morality tale Temptation: In What/If, Zellweger makes a newlywed couple, played by Jane Levy and Blake Jenner, the offer of a lifetime - if the husband sleeps with her, she'll fund the wife's business The newlyweds are played by Jane Levy and Blake Jenner, who joined Zellweger for the screening. Levy, 29, whose credits include Castle Rock and Suburgatory, arrived in a striking boldly patterned dress with long sleeves and a peek-a-boo bodice. She wore her hair flat against her head and styled back from her face. Former Glee actor Jenner, 26, paired a tan jacket over a white top with black trousers and shiny shoes. The 10-episode series also stars Samantha Marie Ware, who, like Jenner, was on Glee, and Dave Annable from NBC's Heartbeat. Striking: Levy, 29, whose credits include Castle Rock and Suburgatory, arrived in a boldly patterned dress with long sleeves and a peek-a-boo bodice Dapper: Former Glee actor Jenner, 26, paired a tan jacket over a white top with black trousers and shiny shoes Unmissable: The 10-episode series also stars Samantha Marie Ware, who, like Jenner, was on Glee. She put on an eye-popping display in a very revealing striped outfit Indigenous Australian actor Ernie Dingo's latest show, Going Places With Ernie Dingo, appears to be going from strength to strength. The show - which began airing in 2016 - follows the 62-year-old veteran TV presenter touring some of Australia's most scenic areas. Due to its popularity, the hit travel series will move from NITV to SBS next month to debut its third season. Scroll down for video He's Going Places! Ernie Dingo's (above) hit travel series is moving to prime-time viewing on SBS for its third season 'Going Places with Ernie Dingo has been a firm favourite with NITV audiences for the last two seasons and I am thrilled that it will be reaching even more Australians on SBS,' NITV Channel Manager Tanya Orman said in a statement to TV Week on Friday. He also meets with locals, who share their personal stories with him as he travels across the country. 'His open and relaxed interview technique brings out some amazing stories, and viewers are in for a real treat as he visits some of the most beautiful places in our country,' added Tanya. Making the move: The hit travel series - which began airing in 2016 - will move from NITV to SBS next month. Pictured at the AACTA Awards in January 2014 in Sydney In an interview with SBS in April, Ernie joked that TV execs were trying to get rid of him when they gave him his latest show. 'All the good jobs were taken. Mate, they wanted me out of town. I said, "Where am I going?" They said, "Places",' he joked. In an interview with The West Australian back in September, Ernie said a highlight for him was getting to go back to his hometown in Mullewa in Western Australia. Travel with heart: The show sees the 62-year-old veteran TV presenter touring some of Australia's most scenic areas 'I've traveled all over the world, promoting other places. Everyone knows Im from the Murchison, but we hadnt done a program on that,' he said. He added: 'I told my producer Rima Tamou theyve gotta take me home or Im leaving the program. They buckled under the pressure.' Season three of Going Places With Ernie Dingo will air Wednesdays at 7.30pm from June 12 on SBS She wore endless glitzy ensembles during her recent stint on Dancing With The Stars. But Michelle Bridges swapped the sequins for laid-back glamour on Friday as she arrived at an entrepreneurial event in Cairns. The 48-year-old former Biggest Loser trainer kept things casual in a leopard-print T-shirt and a lace-edged skirt. Looking good: Fitness star Michelle Bridges, 48, looked fresh-faced in a chic lace skirt and Converse trainers as she arrived at an entrepreneurial event in Cairns on Friday Michelle completed her stylish look with a pair of simple white Converse trainers and slung a khaki cashmere sweater over her shoulders. Sweeping her dark tresses back into a tousled ponytail, the fitness fanatic appeared to go makeup free. Michelle told Daily Mail Australia last year she maintains her incredible physique by taking an active approach to daily life. Chic: Michelle completed her stylish look with a pair of simple white Converse trainers and slung a khaki cashmere sweater over her shoulders 'I try not to think of exercise as an isolated activity in my day, but a way of approaching simple, everyday tasks,' she said. 'Rather than doing everything I can to make it to the gym, I try to think more efficiently about what needs doing, and how I can get my heart rate up while doing it. 'For instance, if I am playing on the carpet with my son Axel, I might throw in some lunges and push-ups at the same time.' Fitness fanatic: Michelle told Daily Mail Australia last year she maintains her incredible physique by taking an active approach to daily life Back in 2014, Michelle told News Corp that she was not opposed to Botox, but did not confirm or deny whether she had ever used it. 'I am a fan of anything that makes a person feel good about themselves and more confident,' she said at the time. The personal trainer added that sleep is her most powerful beauty tool. 'I am a big believer in [sleep] being majorly anti-ageing. Nothing enhances your features like a gratitude attitude and manners,' she added. Rocketman premiered at Cannes on Thursday night, and wowed critics thanks Taron Egerton's performance and the film's candid portrayal of Elton John's rise to fame. The 'true fantasy' film depicts the musician's rise to fame in the 1970s, and director Dexter Fletcher called it 'Eltons magical retelling of his own life'. And early reviews from the biopic's premiere at the French film festival has shown that the film is sure to be an even bigger hit than 2018's Bohemian Rhapsody. Wow! Rocketman's Cannes premiere on Thursday wowed critics with its candid portrayal of Elton John's rise to fame as they heaped praise on lead actor Taron Egerton Daily Mail's Brian Viner gushed about the production, as he wrote: 'This is an intoxicating musical, which brilliantly uses Eltons songs (convincingly sung by Egerton) to convey the thrilling ups and precipitous downs of his life. 'You really cant compare it with Bohemian Rhapsody. Rocketman is on a different planet. Some of the song-and-dance routines take the breath away.' While he went on to add that while 'it pulls no punches' about Elton's life of debauchery in his early years as a musician, he claimed it was 'a hugely exhilarating picture.' Impressed: Daily Mail's Brian Viner gushed about the production, as he wrote: 'This is an intoxicating musical' David Rooney gushed about Taron's take on Elton in the film, for his review in The Hollywood Reporter, as he called the actor the 'driving force of the film.' He added that the fact the Kingsman star's 'does his own singing with such confidence adds a whole other layer to the characterisation, appropriating the style of John without ever veering into impersonation.' Meanwhile Robbie Collin of The Telegraph said that Fletcher's 'fabulous' production is 'a heart-racing, toe-tapping, all-glitter-cannons-blazing triumph on its own terms.' Impressed: David Rooney gushed about Taron's take on Elton in the film, for his review in The Hollywood Reporter , as he called the actor the 'driving force of the film' Striking: Peter Debruge of Variety said musicians 'should be so lucky as to have someone as casually adorable as Egerton play them' Time Out's Philip De Semlyen opened his review by giving credit to director Dexter Fletcher, who was drafted in to finish off last year's Queen biopic after Bryan Singer was fired from the role, as he said Dexter: 'really comes of age as a filmmaker here, that any thoughts of Bohemian Rhapsody fade away in the first few minutes.' While he said of Taron: 'If theres one thing Rocketman does have in common with Bohemian Rhapsody, its a commanding central performance. 'Like Rami Maleks Freddie Mercury, Taron Egerton combats a lack of close physical resemblance by nailing Johns physicality in micro detail: Hes a flamboyant showman onstage, but almost diffident off it, with an endearing boyish quality.' And Peter Debruge of Variety heaped praise on Taron, as he said that 'all white men fortunate enough to commission big-screen versions of their own life stories should be so lucky as to have someone as casually adorable as Egerton play them on screen. High praise indeed: Time Out 's Philip De Semlyen opened his review by giving credit to director Dexter Fletcher, as he said he: 'really comes of age as a filmmaker here' Wonderful portrayal: Tim Grierson of Screen Daily complimented Taron's performance, as he wrote that 'Egerton nails the singers cocky vocal cadences and onstage theatrics' 'Not because hes an especially strong actor but because even with various unflattering wigs and a gap-toothed bridge (infinitely more convincing than the horsey dentures Rami Malek wore in Bohemian Rhapsody), Egerton has a hard time looking dumpy.' And he added: 'Dexter Fletcher has fashioned an ebullient monument to pop superstar Elton John - featuring a likable turn from Taron Egerton in the lead role - that's cliched in the telling, but gets by on the strength of his early catalog.' Tim Grierson of Screen Daily complimented Taron as he 'gives us an Elton John whos wilfully flamboyant but also laid low by his gnawing self-loathing.' But added: 'Egerton nails the singers cocky vocal cadences and onstage theatrics, but Rocketman is far less confident when its telling just another story of a rock god crippled by his ego, vices and excesses.' Rocketman: Early Reviews Brian Viner - Daily Mail This is an intoxicating musical, which brilliantly uses Eltons songs (convincingly sung by Egerton) to convey the thrilling ups and precipitous downs of his life. You really cant compare it with Bohemian Rhapsody. Rocketman is on a different planet. Some of the song-and-dance routines take the breath away. David Rooney - The Hollywood Reporter The driving force of the film is Egerton in a fully committed performance that ranges from exuberant stage showmanship through maudlin seediness and private misery, then back up again with the raw vulnerability and hard self-examination of someone stepping away from the precipice to take responsibility for his near flameout. The fact that Egerton does his own singing with such confidence adds a whole other layer to the characterization, appropriating the style of John without ever veering into impersonation. And in this age of flawlessly gym-toned young movie stars, the slight hint of chubbiness he's acquired for the role is adorable. Robbie Collin - The Telegraph Dexter Fletchers fabulous Elton John musical is a heart-racing, toe-tapping, all-glitter-cannons-blazing triumph on its own terms but because of its subject matter and crowd-pleasing approach, the early reviews will almost certainly compare it to Bryan Singers Freddie Mercury wiki-biopic. Philip De Semlyen - Time Out If theres one thing Rocketman does have in common with Bohemian Rhapsody, its a commanding central performance. Like Rami Maleks Freddie Mercury, Taron Egerton combats a lack of close physical resemblance by nailing Johns physicality in micro detail: Hes a flamboyant showman onstage, but almost diffident off it, with an endearing boyish quality. Peter Debruge - Variety Frankly, all white men fortunate enough to commission big-screen versions of their own life stories should be so lucky as to have someone as casually adorable as Egerton play them on screen not because hes an especially strong actor but because even with various unflattering wigs and a gap-toothed bridge (infinitely more convincing than the horsey dentures Rami Malek wore in Bohemian Rhapsody), Egerton has a hard time looking dumpy. Tim Grierson - Screen Daily Egerton gives us an Elton John whos wilfully flamboyant but also laid low by his gnawing self-loathing. (Lee Halls screenplay points to Johns distant father and a fear that his homosexuality would doom him to loneliness as the causes.) Egerton nails the singers cocky vocal cadences and onstage theatrics, but Rocketman is far less confident when its telling just another story of a rock god crippled by his ego, vices and excesses. Jordan Farley - Games Radar The result is a far more honest-feeling depiction of the stratospheric highs and cavernous lows of one of our greatest musical minds, with a never-better Egerton wearing his heart on his sleeve throughout. But for all Fletcher's sincere efforts to distinguish Rocketman from the countless other musical biopics that have come before, it's a film that hits too many familiar beats to ever truly dazzle.But for all Fletcher's sincere efforts to distinguish Rocketman from the countless other musical biopics that have come before, it's a film that hits too many familiar beats to ever truly dazzle. Geoffrey Mcnab - The Independent At times, Rocketman risks turning into a chronicle of woe. Much of the film focuses on the years when Elton was abusing alcohol and drugs. He was miserable in his own life and took out his unhappiness on those closest to him. This doesnt make him very good company. His behaviour is brattish and self-indulgent. It can become tiresome to hear him say yet again how much he hates himself. However, Fletcher films even the darkest scenes in a very flamboyant fashion and manages to leaven matters with some ironic humour. Peter Bradshaw - Guardian Egerton looks the part and carries off the costumes and glasses, the sequinned baseball costumes and jaunty bowlers well enough, but I felt he never quite delivers Johns woundedness when those he loved let him down; he couldnt quite do the lower-lip-trembling humiliation and hurt which fed into the rage and the fear. I found myself wondering what Bell would have been like in the role. Advertisement Jordan Farley, of GamesRadar, also said Taron 'is every bit as lively and flamboyant as you want from Elton John' and the critic praised him for 'relishing the surreal situations hes thrown into during several fantasy sequences.' While he said of the film itself: 'The result is a far more honest-feeling depiction of the stratospheric highs and cavernous lows of one of our greatest musical minds, with a never-better Egerton wearing his heart on his sleeve throughout. 'But for all Fletcher's sincere efforts to distinguish Rocketman from the countless other musical biopics that have come before, it's a film that hits too many familiar beats to ever truly dazzle.' The Independent's Geoffrey Mcnab commended Rocketman for dealing 'frankly and without prurience with its subjects sexual life and the misery it sometimes caused him. His attraction to John Reid is made very obvious.' But then went on to criticise it for risking 'turning into a chronicle of woe' as 'much of the film focuses on the years when Elton was abusing alcohol and drugs.' Uh oh: The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw seemed to be less impressed by the film, as he said that while Taron 'looks the part and carries off the costumes and glasses' he didn't 'quite deliver' What if: The critic also said he watched the film 'wondering what [Jaime] Bell (R) would have been like in the role' The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw seemed to be less impressed by the film, as he said that while Taron 'looks the part and carries off the costumes and glasses' he didn't think that he 'quite delivers Johns woundedness when those he loved let him down.' Explaining his reasoning, the critic wrote: 'He couldnt quite do the lower-lip-trembling humiliation and hurt which fed into the rage and the fear. I found myself wondering what Bell would have been like in the role.' While he added bluntly: 'Lee Halls dialogue, robust enough, is often a bit on the nose, making sure we know what were supposed to be thinking and feeling. Its a bit by-the-numbers but again, it could well sound better on stage.' Honest: The Independent 's Geoffrey Mcnab commended Rocketman for dealing 'frankly and without prurience with its subjects sexual life and the misery it sometimes caused him' Taron is joined by a star-studded cast, which includes the likes of Jamie Bell (Bernie Taupin), Richard Madden (John Reid), and Bryce Dallas Howard (Sheila Eileen). Director Dexter Fletcher previously told Daily Mail's Baz Bamigboye: 'It's about Elton navigating personal and family relationships. 'He looks for love in all the wrong places, he abuses himself with drugs and booze yet he's a genius who has survived for over half a century in showbusiness.' Producer Matthew Vaughn added: 'This film is going to make people's jaws hit the ground, Elton just said "Tell it all. Go as R-rated as you need to". And we do just that, with his blessing. The flaws and the genius are all there.' Although the movie, written by Lee Hall, is based on fact, some of Eltons story has been fictionalised, while Welsh-born Egerton does his own singing. The film is slated for release in the UK on May 22 2019, and in the USA on May 31. She has been setting Cannes alight with her sensational outfit choices. And Amber Heard didn't disappoint as she was seen emerging in the French sunshine during the 72nd annual film festival on Thursday. The American actress, 33, looked an absolute vision in a plunging black and gold foiled dress with a chic tasselled hem. Wow: Amber Heard, 33, looked an absolute vision in a gold foiled dress with a chic tasselled hem as she stepped out during the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday The number perfectly showcased Amber's flair for fashion with it's extensive plunge and trendy design. The tasselled hem perfectly caught the wind as she strutted along in towering gold high heels. Amber sported a casual hairdo and complemented her blonde locks with a statement red lipstick. The beauty looked in high spirits as she was seen making her way back to her hotel. Fashionista: The tasselled hem perfectly caught the wind as she strutted along in towering gold high heels Glamorous: Amber sported a casual hairdo and complemented her blonde locks with a statement red lipstick Amber's time in Cannes comes amid her ongoing $50million defamation lawsuit battle against her former husband Johnny Depp, who she was married to from 2015 till 2017. She is being called to give even more evidence on her messy divorce from actor Johnny, 55, according to the latest filing in one of the Pirate of the Caribbean star's ongoing legal battles, exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com. There were 10 more videos released from her August 2016 deposition in which she detailed her now-ex's alleged abuse. According to DailyMail.com's report, the award-winning actor is suing his former law firm for $30million over claims of negligence. Oh so chic! She has been setting Cannes alight with her sensational outfit choices The firm - Bloom Hergott Diemer Rosenthal LaViolette Feldman Schenkman & Goodman - says Johnny has recently accused them of malpractice in connection with his divorce from Amber and therefore will need to depose the actress in order to build a defence in the case. The firm asks that the plaintiffs - named as Depp and his film companies Scaramanga Bros and Infinitum Nihil, respond in writing to their questions and demand the ability to ask Depp more questions over his 'newly articulated theories'. Magic Mike XXL star Amber filed for divorce from the Kentucky native in May 2016 stating that he had been 'verbally and physically' abusive towards her. Their divorce was finalised in January 2017, with the actress receiving a $7million settlement. Ex: Amber's time in Cannes comes amid her ongoing $50million defamation lawsuit battle against her former husband Johnny Depp, who she was married to from 2015 till 2017 Gwendoline Christie has revealed she 'went to pieces and couldn't stop crying for two hours' after filming her final scenes for Game Of Thrones. The actress, 40 - who has appeared as Brienne of Tarth in the series since its second season aired in 2012 - said she 'felt fine all day' but fell apart when the cast and crew gave speeches after filming wrapped. Speaking on The Graham Norton Show, set to air on Friday night, the Star Wars favourite said: 'I have been telling myself for years that it will end and that I have to be prepared to let go. Emotional: Gwendoline Christie has revealed she 'went to pieces and couldn't stop crying for two hours' after filming her final scenes for Game Of Thrones 'When it came to the final episode, I got through it and I felt fine all day. 'But, when it came to the speeches, I finally went to pieces and couldn't stop crying for two hours. People got bored with me in the end, but I got it out of my system.' Gwendoline's character was safely tucked away in Winterfell in the penultimate episode of the fantasy drama, when Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) destroyed King's Landing with dragon fire in a deadly siege against Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey). Brienne, who opted to stay in the north with Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner), has had a bittersweet season so far. Tough: The actress, 40 - who has appeared as Brienne of Tarth in the series since its second season - said she 'felt fine all day' but fell apart when the cast and crew gave speeches After being knighted the night before the much-anticipated Battle of Winterfell, she finally gave in to her affection for Jamie Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) - who soon abandoned her to reunite with his sister in King's Landing. But when asked if she could spill any details about the final episode, which airs on Sunday, she gave an emphatic 'No'. The actress also spoke to guest host Jack Whitehall about her upcoming role in an adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Bridge Theatre in London. Gwendoline, who will portray fairy queen Titania, said the project came with a 'heavy cloak of secrecy' because there are 'surprises involved'. Speaking on Friday night's The Graham Norton Show, she said: 'When it came to the speeches, I finally went to pieces and couldn't stop crying for two hours' She said: 'Interestingly, the projects I tend to be involved with come with a heavy cloak of secrecy, so you would assume that this being Shakespeare that I would be able to tell you everything about the production. 'But yet again, I cannot tell you anything about it because there are some surprises involved. In a world full of darkness, this production has much needed joy.' The Hunger Games star added she is excited to finally be seen differently to how many Game of Thrones fans have viewed her since 2012. She said: 'It is terrifying, but I wanted the opportunity to be part of a company and this one has so much energy. I am very different to how I may have been seen before, the armour may be off.' Gwendoline previously revealed her role in Game of Thrones squeezed 'every last drop of juice' out of her as she confessed she 'feels emotional' about the end of the show. Recap: Gwendoline's (pictured last month) character was safely tucked away in Winterfell in the penultimate episode of the fantasy drama Details: When asked if she could spill any details about the final episode, which airs on Sunday, Gwendoline gave an emphatic 'No' (pictured with Maisie Williams as Arya Stark) Speaking to the Guardian newspaper, she said: 'It was just a lot, a lot, a lot. It was a lot. They squeezed the orange. Every last drop of juice out of that orange! And just a husk was left behind. 'That character has changed my life. I feel emotional. I feel emoji. Tears straight down, and the scream.' The actress also revealed she was 'surprised' when people liked her character - who is the only surviving child of Lord Selwyn Tarth, Lord of Evenfall Hall. She said: 'No one was more surprised than me that people liked my character. I just assumed that, because she wasn't a conventionally attractive woman, people wouldn't get behind her.' The Graham Norton Show airs on BBC One on May 17 at 10.35pm. Jameela Jamil has lashed out at her critics after she was blasted for revealing she underwent an abortion when she was younger. The Good Place star, 33, took to Twitter on Thursday to follow-up on her admission, which was in response to Georgia's 'heartbeat bill' which has made it illegal for women to have an abortion after a heartbeat has been detected in the womb. She revealed that since opening up about her past experience, she has been branded a 'w***e' by men online and has also been accused of not using contraception - however she insisted the preventative measures failed her. Honest: Jameela Jamil has lashed out at her critics after she was blasted for revealing she underwent an abortion when she was younger Earlier this week, Jameela weighed in on the new law by drawing on her own experiences, as the model explained she had an abortion because she wasn't 'emotionally, physically or financially' ready to have a child. She wrote: 'I had an abortion when I was young, and it was the best decision I have ever made. Both for me, and for the baby I didnt want, and wasnt ready for... 'Emotionally, psychologically and financially. So many children will end up in foster homes. So many lives ruined. So very cruel.' Later in another post, Jameela defended her decision to have an abortion as she insisted it was 'my body, my choice' when she hit out at the legislation. Shock: The Good Place star, 33, took to Twitter on Thursday to follow-up on her admission, which was in response to Georgia's 'heartbeat bill' which has made it illegal for women to have an abortion after a heartbeat has been detected in the womb The Good Place star slammed the anti-abortion law in Georgia as 'so upsetting, inhumane and demonstrative of a hatred of women'. Revealing the aftermath of her confession, she went on to write: 'Call me whatever you like. Im not sorry about my abortion. Contraception failed me and I did what was best for my mental and physical health at the time... 'And I would do it again if I had to. I dont feel at ALL ashamed, and if you had one too, for any reason, neither should you. Anyone who has a problem with this can suck on my GIANT curry flavoured balls. #prochoice'. Hurt: She revealed that since opening up about her past experience, she has been branded a 'w***e' by men online and has also been accused of not using contraception - however she insisted the preventative measures failed her She also revealed the response she has received, as she went on: 'A LOT of men calling me a whore and telling me I shouldnt have opened my legs and that I should have used contraception... 'Not that it justifies my right to choose, but I DID use contraception, and it didnt work, it doesnt always work. It could happen to you, you utter clowns.' In light of the new abortion law, the actress opened the floor for discussion with her 808,000 followers on Twitter and her 1.9million fans on Instagram. Jameela clarified she wasn't insulting foster homes but she warned Georgia could become 'inundated with unwanted children' making it harder to re-home them. Her comments follow American actresses Busy Phillipps and Alyssa Milano speaking out against the anti-abortion law. Busy, 39, defended the rights of 'women and their doctors' during an episode of her late night talk show on Tuesday night. 'The statistic is that one in four women will have an abortion before age 45,' she said. 'That statistic sometimes surprises people, and maybe you're sitting there thinking, "I don't know a woman who would have an abortion." Well, you know me.' Last year, Busy revealed she turned to the Pope for advice during a school trip after she had an abortion at the age of 15. The Dawson's Creek star recalled falling pregnant with her first serious boyfriend and having a termination. She explained the only way she was able to move past the traumatic experience was to speak with Pope John Paul II. In her book This Will Only Hurt a Little, Philipps' added that her parents discovered the news by reading her diary and that at the time her mother told her she was 'being selfish' and was 'going to murder a baby.' Busy said ultimately her mother supported her through the heartbreaking experience. She said: 'My mother is who you want in your corner.' He has a starring role in the TV juggernaut Line Of Duty. And two weeks after the dramatic series five finale bought in record viewing figures, Martin Compston is back to work on a new crime drama. The popular actor was spotted shooting scenes with his co-star Molly Windsor, who earned a BAFTA for her role in 2017 BBC drama Three Girls, on the streets of Bolton on Thursday. Action: Martin Compston was spotted shooting scenes for his new drama Trace with co-star Molly Windsor on the streets of Bolton on Thursday Martin, 35, who had ditched the facial hair his Line Of Duty character Steve favours, sported a black jacket and jeans for his busy day on set. Molly, 21, meanwhile was colourful in a green crop top and printed trousers, teamed with sneakers and a denim jacket. The talented actors seemed to be shooting a tense scene as Martin was seen yelling after Molly as she walked down a Bolton street. Acclaimed actress: Molly, 21, was colourful in a green crop top and printed trousers, teamed with sneakers and a denim jacket Filming on Traces, which has been written by Coronation Street actress Amelia Bullmore and based on an original idea by best-selling crime writer Val McDermid, kicked off in Manchester last week. With much of the action taking place in Dundee, the show also marks a return to Scotland for Compston, who was born and raised in Renfrewshire coastal town Greenock. The drama follows three female forensic investigators as they work together to bring a killer to justice. Drama: The talented actors seemed to be shooting a tense scene as Martin was seen yelling after Molly as she walked down a Bolton street Back in the UK: Martin, who lives in Las Vegas, is back home in the UK to film for the TV project Change of look: The actor, 35, who had ditched the facial hair his Line Of Duty character Steve favours, sported a black jacket and jeans for his busy day on set While Martin's role has not been confirmed, it is thought he will feature prominently alongside co-star Molly. The actress, who was seen recently in acclaimed ITV thriller Cheat, stars as Emma, a lab assistant with a dark past. She is joined by Laura Fraser (The Missing) and Jennifer Spence (You Me Her) as two forensic science professors. The drama also features Laurie Brett, Vincent Regan, Michael Nardone and John Gordon Sinclair. As well as its writer Amelia, Traces is being made by an all-female production team with directors Rebecca Gatward and Mary Nighy at the helm of the project. The six-part show will air on UKTV channel Alibi, although an air date is yet to be established. Crime: The drama follows three female forensic investigators, one of which is played by Molly, as they work together to bring a killer to justice New role: While Martin's role has not been confirmed, it is thought he will feature prominently alongside co-stars Molly who plays Emma, a lab assistant with a dark past She's set to light up the screens once again in upcoming BBC drama The Trial Of Christine Keeler. And Ellie Bamber continued to remain in the spotlight as she turned heads at the Extracurricular Activities at the Laemmle's Monica Film Center in Santa Monica, California on Thursday. The actress, 22, looked chic in a sheer floral top adorned with white and blue flowers, which she teamed with a baby pink mini skirt. Stunning: Ellie Bamber turned heads at the Extracurricular Activities at the Laemmle's Monica Film Center in Santa Monica, California on Thursday The star's daring top, which also featured green foliage, showed a peek of her white, lace bra underneath. Ellie added height to her frame with a pair of pointed, white stilettos. The actress allowed her blonde tresses to cascade over her shoulders, while her minimal make-up highlighted her pretty features. While at the glitzy event, Ellie - who plays Mary Alice Walker in the film - took the opportunity to pose for pictures with her fellow actors. Pink lady: The Les Miserables actress, 22, looked chic in a sheer floral top adorned with white and blue flowers, which she teamed with a baby pink mini skirt Fashionista: The star's daring top, which also featured green foliage, showed a peek of her white, lace bra underneath The blonde beauty snuggled up to fellow Extracurricular Activities star Colin Ford and the film's producer Jay Lowi. She also posed up a storm with American actress Christine Ko, 26, who took the plunge in a black low-cut sheer top and leather mini skirt. Extracurricular Activities is a dark comedy which sees high-school student Reagan Collins murder the overbearing parents of his fellow peers. However, when police officer Cliff Dawkins starts to notice a connection between Reagan and the kids of the dead adults, it results in a battle of wits as Reagan ties to keep his after-school business afloat. Style Queen: Ellie added height to her frame with a pair of pointed, white stilettos, which finished off her outfit perfectly Strike a pose: The actress allowed her blonde tresses to cascade over her shoulders, while her minimal make-up highlighted her pretty features New film: Extracurricular Activities is a dark comedy which sees high-school student Reagan Collins murder the overbearing parents of his fellow peers Ellie recently split from Bodyguard star Richard Madden, 32, with a source saying that the split has come as a huge blow to the pair, but they believe the decision is in their best interests. They told The Sun: They were arguing almost daily towards the end and, despite considering couples therapy, it became evident there were far too many issues that could not be fixed. Richard is the toast of Hollywood at the moment, and understandably wants to let his hair down. Ellie is a bit quieter, and wants to focus purely on her work. It felt like their day-to-day lives were increasingly becoming worlds apart.' They continued that Richard and Ellie were never apart during the early days of their relationship, which meant that families became close too, therefore those close to them are also devastated by the break up. Fun times: The blonde beauty snuggled up to fellow Extracurricular Activities star Colin Ford and the film's producer Jay Lowi (left) Stylish: Ellie posed with fellow film star Colin Ford, who also rocked a floral top on the night Their fleeting romance caused ructions on The Only Way Is Essex. And it seems Chloe Sims and Dan Edgar are in no rush to quash the scandalous union, which has also involved his ex-girlfriend Amber Turner, as they were spotted putting on an extremely cosy display on Thursday evening. The 36-year-old show veteran looked sensational in a white ensemble as she larked around in Essex's King William pub alongside a doting Dan, 26 - despite recently lamenting being 'rejected' by her hunky co-star. Oh dear: Chloe Sims and Dan Edgar are in no rush to quash the scandalous union, which has also involved his ex-girlfriend Amber Turner, as they were spotted putting on an extremely cosy display on Thursday evening Chloe and Dan's romance has stretched out on screens in a painful fashion as she desperately attempted to make the union work before discovering he was also seeing his ex Amber at the same time. On Sunday night's episode of TOWIE, she was seen chatting to her pal Pete Wicks about the demise of their romance and his 'rejection'. Despite the latest developments, Dan, who is best friends with Chloe's cousin Joey Essex, looked happy to be united with Chloe on Thursday night. The blonde beauty looked sensational as she threw herself into the animated chat with her hunky co-star, who looked dashing in a T-shirt and suit jacket. Shock: The 36-year-old show veteran looked sensational in a white ensemble as she larked around in Essex's King William pub alongside a doting Dan, 26 - despite recently lamenting being 'rejected' by her hunky co-star All forgiven? Chloe did not look too perturbed by Dan's behaviour as they headed out Shocker: Chloe and Dan's romance has stretched out on screens in a painful fashion as she desperately attempted to make the union work before discovering he was also seeing his ex Amber at the same time Chloe's romance with Dan may have been short lived but drama-filled that has been showcased ever since the pair began their dalliance on a trip to Thailand along to his two-timing the mother-of-one with his girlfriend Amber. Dan set up separate meetings with both his love interests in order to extinguish both relationships and admit to his wrongdoings. In a bid to comfort Chloe, Gemma Collins branded Amber the 'easy option' as she was keen to get the latest scoop on what really went down between Chloe and Dan. On the up? Despite the dramas, the duo seemed on fond terms Teehee: She looked very cosy as they chatted fondly in the bar Happy days: In GC's brash fashion, the Dancing On Ice star demands she needs all the gossip from her pal as she chimes 'fill me in sister' Speaking to her mourning co-star, she said: 'He's always going to go for the easy option. That's Amber. You ain't anyone's easy option Chloe!' In GC's brash fashion, the Dancing On Ice star demands she needs all the gossip from her pal as she chimes 'fill me in sister'. Gemma asks what happened when Amber made a comeback shortly after Chloe had set her heart on Dan during their romantic time together in Thailand. Chloe wore her heart on her sleeve as she admitted she was left 'gutted and humiliated' by her short-lived romance with Dan. In depth: Chloe wore her heart on her sleeve as she admitted she was left 'gutted and humiliated' by her short-lived romance with Dan The look of love? Dan and Chloe seemed at total ease together despite their woes She has jetted off to America to film her new six-part show Diva Forever, in which she attempts to make it big in the States. And Gemma Collins made sure to turn heads in a bold Louis Vuitton copycat tunic and trouser co-ord as she headed out for dinner at Barton G. in Los Angeles on Thursday. The TOWIE starlet, 38, made a statement in the blue, yellow and orange set as she was joined by close friend Jonathan Cheban, 45, at the busy restaurant. Bold: Gemma Collins made sure to turn heads in a bold Louis Vuitton copycat tunic and trouser co-ord as she headed out for dinner at Barton G. in Los Angeles on Thursday Gemma paired her designer-inspired ensemble with metallic gold trainers as she embraced the Keeping Up With The Kardashians regular outside the venue. The television personality tied her platinum locks back with a white and gold headscarf and opted for a natural no-makeup look for the occasion. Gemma's appearance comes amid claims she has taken to hiking up Runyon Canyon to burn 400 calories at a time - a similar tactic to that used by Victoria Beckham, 45. A source revealed Gemma is determined to keep off the weight she lost during her stint on Dancing On Ice, and she wants to shed even more. Dinner date: The TOWIE starlet, 38, made a statement in the blue, yellow and orange set as she was joined by close friend Jonathan Cheban, 45, at the busy restaurant Pals: Gemma paired her designer-inspired ensemble with metallic gold trainers as she embraced the Keeping Up With The Kardashians regular outside the venue This comes as her boyfriend, James Argent, 31, was told he could die if he doesn't lose 10 stone. 'She is going on a Runyon Canyon hike which will burn at least 400 calories a time - like Victoria Beckham,' a source told The Sun. 'She knows she needs to work up a sweat to keep her weight down and she misses the endorphins from when she used to do three hour rehearsals on Dancing On Ice.' The source also claimed that Gemma has fallen head over heels for the Hollywood lifestyle and doesn't plan on coming home to Essex any time soon. Sporty Spice? Gemma is taking inspiration from Victoria Beckham and hiking Runyon Canyon while she is out in Los Angeles shooting her reality show Diva Forever (pictured last week) A source said: 'Gemma loves the vibe in LA - she even fell in love with the airport when she landed and was waiting thee hours for her crew to arrive so she was just exploring. 'She loves the laid back lifestyle. She is on a soul searching mission and she is trying to find herself. She sees LA as her spiritual home.' Gemma visited a cosmetic surgeon in a bid to have fat removed from her face after he two and a half stone weight loss earlier this week. Dr Simon Ourian, a favourite of the Kardashians, was recommended to Gemma by her pal Jonathan, who is best friends with Kim. Under the knife: Gemma visited the Kardashians' cosmetic surgeon Dr Simon Ourian in a bid to have fat removed from her face earlier this week Taking to Instagram Stories on Wednesday, the former TOWIE star shared a video from her consultation with the acclaimed surgeon. She told her fans: 'Guys, I'm with the top, top cosmetic surgeon in LA Doctor Ourian.' Jonathan then says that Dr Ourian, who has a three month waiting list, had worked with a ton of A-listers and not just 'Instagram stars'. Gemma said: 'They've all been here and now I'm here and I can't wait to show you the results. I need this fat sucked out of my face pronto because I've just lost 2.5 stone but the face don't get any thinner.' The reality star will attempt to crack America with her new six-part show Diva Forever, in which she will be reunited with former Dancing With The Stars partner Matt Evers. The show is set to air later this year. Lizzie Cundy has become locked in an explosive row over her new man Jeremy Gordeno, 53, after his fiancee discovered them together. The 49-year-old former WAG was stunned when she was posing for an OK! Magazine shoot alongside Jeremy at his mansion before Candice Hodge arrived to discover and confront the duo over their union. Speaking to The Sun, Candice revealed she branded Lizzie a 'f**king whore' in the showdown, as she explained: 'All the cameras were around her. I dont normally swear but I couldnt help myself. I shouted, "You f***ing whore!".' Happy days: Lizzie Cundy has been locked in an explosive row, after discovering her new man Jeremy Gordeno, 53, has a fiancee who discovered them together Clearly heartbroken, Candice claimed Jeremy had revealed he wanted to start a family with her. They have been a couple since 2016 but friends of Jeremy say he broke off the relationship before romancing Lizzie. After the nightclub owner proposed in Italy, she revealed she had made the shocking discovery of his romance with Lizzie. She said: 'I felt everything crumble around me. I couldnt believe what I was seeing and I couldnt believe he was telling me to leave and not her. We have been through so much together. 'I was crying. I said to him, Three years and you treat me like this for her? As I was leaving I said, He asked me to marry me, we have been looking for rings, why have you done this?.' Her guy: After the nightclub owner (pictured) proposed in Italy, she revealed she had made the shocking discovery of his romance with Lizzie Oh near: The 49-year-old former WAG was stunned when she was posing for an OK! Magazine shoot alongside Jeremy at his mansion before Candice Hodge arrived to discover and confront the duo over their union All parties have made it clear the attack was in no way physical. Police were called about the incident but did not attend. A source close to Jeremy told MailOnline: A friend of Jeremy said that he ended his relationship with Candice before Christmas... 'Candice is very bitter and attacking Lizzie for it all. Lizzie had no idea about Candice and recently has received harassing messages that the police are now dealing with'. A source revealed: 'Jeremy assured Lizzie that he wasnt with Candice and they have continued to see each other romantically since December. Lizzie is now just completely floored by it all. She doesnt know what to believe.' Lizzie's spokesperson said: 'In recent weeks she has received harassing messages which were reported to the police, as was the abusive incident against my client on Tuesday.' Tough times: The ladies were at loggerheads over Jeremy Tough times: Speaking to The Sun, Candice revealed she branded Lizzie a 'f**king whore' in the showdown, as she explained: 'All the cameras were around her. I dont normally swear but I couldnt help myself. I shouted, "You f***ing whore!"' The explosive argument comes in the lead up to her upcoming release of her tell-all book Tales From The Red Carpet. The WAG, whose ex-husband is former Chelsea player Jason Cundy, will be spilling the beans on Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and Kim Kardashian as well as Al Pacino. She plans to leave celebrities quaking in their boots with her no-holds barred revelations about them. Lizzie also told MailOnline: 'I want to help others with my book because I've really seen it all over the years and I've been through a lot. I've had dark times but I've come out of the other side, with a little help from my friends.' Gwyneth Paltrow's lifestyle brand, Goop, is throwing a weekend long party with intimate workshops, private workouts and a cocktail party - but not without a price! The Hollywood actress, 46, is offering a three-day Wellness Weekend Pass in London in June at a grand cost of 4500 for a select 25 'Goopies' as they are called. For those with a little less spare change, 1000 day passes are available for a Saturday ticket only. You've GOOP to be joking! Gwyneth Paltrow is charging a staggering 4500 for a weekend at her wellness summit in June which includes INTIMATE workshops and a 289 London hotel Gwyneth and the site's chief content officer, Elise, will host the summit on June 29, a day devoted to wellness, held on the same weekend as Glastonbury. A note from Goop reads: '[There will be] chats with cutting-edge doctors and scientists, thought leaders, and some of the women (and men) who inspire us the most. 'Therell be restorative classes and intimate workshopsfor the spirit, for the body, for the mind, and for beautyplus our signature retail hall, food, and drinks.' Bargain: The Weekend Pass includes a stay at London's Kimpton Fitzroy hotel, which is currently booked up through the month of June but costs around 289 a night in May Similar events have taken place in New York and LA but for smaller groups of about 200 people. The Weekend Pass includes a stay at London's Kimpton Fitzroy hotel, which is currently booked up through the month of June. Rooms are being sold in May for 289 a night, according to Booking.com. Gwyneth, 46, made headlines recently for selling this racy silk bra, knickers and garter set on the site for a staggering 563. Pictured, a model in the barely-there three-piece The cupless 'Frame Bra', pictured, which leaves the breasts totally exposed, costs 245 ($250) Goop writes: 'The festivities kick off on Friday afternoon and continue with a cocktail party, private workouts, the summit itself on Saturday, a private dinner after, in-room gifts, and more. 'Its definitely a social experience, whether you book your ticket with some friends or are looking to make some new ones.' People booking are told it is 'highly recommended' to book before Monday if you are planning to come.' MailOnline has contacted a spokesperson for Gwyneth Paltrow for further information. Gwyneth's net worth is thought to be around $60m and her Goop brand is incredibly popular with a reported net worth of $250m. On the rise: Gwyneth's net worth is thought to be around $60m and her Goop brand is incredibly popular with a reported net worth of $250m Earlier this month, Gwyneth was encouraging fans to embrace their inner 'sex appeal' with a very racy lingerie set. The actress sells the dry clean-only bra, knickers and garter set for a staggering 563 ($575) The cupless 'Frame Bra', which leaves the breasts totally exposed, costs 245 ($250) alone, while the 'Welcome Back Panty' - featuring 'sexy straps spotlighting your best assets' - will set you back 171 ($175) and the 'Garter Belt' a further 147 ($150). The site previously claimed its Jade Egg and Rose Quartz Eggs - intended to be placed in the vagina - could balance hormones, regulate menstrual cycles and improve bladder control. The company reached a $145,000 (112,000) settlement over the unproven claims. A Goop statement said the settlement acknowledged no liability on the companys part and addressed only advertising, not the products themselves. She recently returned from a sun-soaked honeymoon in Dubai with her new husband Michael O'Neill. And Danielle Lloyd, 35, was proudly displaying her holiday tan on Thursday, as she arrived for a charity event at the Nuvo bar in Birmingham. The star put on a leggy display in an off-white ensemble as she proudly displayed her new wedding ring at the psychic live charity event, which aimed to raise money for Widowed In Need. Stylish: Danielle Lloyd, 35, was proudly displaying her honeymoon tan on Thursday, as she arrived for a charity event at the Nuvo bar in Birmingham Danielle cut a stylish figure in an off-white ruched body-con skirt and matching top that perfectly accentuated her golden tan. The mother-of-two carried a matching box clutch and added some extra height with towering white pointed-toe heels. Danielle was in high spirits as she made a chic arrival for the charity event just a few weeks after returning from her lavish Dubai honeymoon with Michael, 31, after surprising fans by tying the knot in a secret ceremony. Happy: The star put on a leggy display in an off-white ensemble as she proudly displayed her new wedding ring and her holiday tan at the event Danielle and Michael said 'I Do' in Dubai following a three-year engagement last month. The former model and her new spouse married on the beach before celebrating their nuptials at the Summersalt Beach Club with a boozy Champagne-filled reception. Danielle and Michael had announced their engagement in March 2016 after just six months of dating. Mr and Mrs: Danielle finally tied the knot with electrician Michael, 31, in Dubai last month over three years after announcing their engagement Lavish: The couple shared a glimpse of their lavish nuptials on Instagram, including the moment Danielle tossed her bouquet On Loose Women in 2016, Danielle revealed that Michael presented her with a stunning sparkler which he designed and had made by a jeweller. The couple had to delay their wedding after Danielle became pregnant with their first child together, Ronnie, who was born in September 2017. Their baby was a welcome addition to the bombshell's young brood, three sons - Archie, eight, Harry, seven and George, five - who she shares with ex-husband Jamie O'Hara. Czech model Petra Nemcova looked incredible when she was pictured out at the 72nd annual Cannes Film Festival on Friday. The 39-year-old wore a summery red mini dress which had a detail at the cleavage as she arrived backat the Hotel Martinez. She teamed it with a pair of red strappy sandals, which flashed the star inkings on her foot, as she gave a wave to a few fans who were waiting outside. Looking lovely: Petra Nemcova looked incredible in a red summery keyhole mini dress and matching strappy sandals as she arrived back at her hotel in Cannes Her long caramel locks cascaded down past her shoulders and she hid her eyes behind designer shades. Petra is the currently the global face of Chopard, but it's her work away from the camera that truly impresses. She is the co-founder of All Hands And Heartsa relief organisation that helps to rebuild safe, resilient schools in areas impacted by natural disasters. Well-heeled: Petra's red strappy sandals flashed a hint of her 'star' tattoos as she made her way inside The model helped kick-start the initiative after being caught up in the devastating 2004 tsunami that swept across the Indian Ocean. The environmental disaster claimed 227,898 lives, among them her fiance, British photographer Simon Atlee. She spent eight hours clinging to a palm tree as the waves wrecked the Thai landscape. Once rescued, doctors believed her injuries would prevent her from ever walking again. All Hands And Hearts, originally Happy Hearts Fund, launched in 2006just two years after the natural disasterand has garnered her worldwide attention. Petra recently attended the TIME 100 event in New York last week and shared a picture of her red carpet look on Instagram. She wrote: 'Celebrating the #Times100 most influential people from all over the world and from different walks of life who are shaping our world in their own way. 'Many will be able to use this @time platform to shine light on issues or needs in the world even more powerfully. Thank you #TimeMagazine!' They have teamed up to star in upcoming comedy movie, Late Night, which is set for release on June 7. And Emma Thompson and Mindy Kaling posed on the roof of the Corinthia Hotel on Friday as they attended a photocall for their latest project. Emma, 60, cut an effortlessly glamorous figure in a gorgeous blue and white blouse with oversized sleeves as she smiled alongside Mindy, 39. New role: Emma Thompson, (left) and Mindy Kaling, (right) posed on the roof of London's Corinthia Hotel on Friday as they attended a photocall for movie, Late Night The Academy Award winner paired the statement top with wide-leg navy blue trousers and black peep-toe heels. She completed her sophisticated ensemble with gold and blue drop earrings and wore her silver locks pushed back from her face. Mindy, who also wrote the screenplay for Late Night, opted for a blue and black floral print midi dress for the photocall. Effortless: Emma, 60, cut an effortlessly glamorous figure in a gorgeous blue and white blouse with oversized sleeves as she smiled alongside Mindy, 39 The Office star paired the dress with black studded heels and wore her raven locks loose around her shoulders. Late Night, directed by Nisha Ganatra, was premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January and is set for release in theatres in the US and Canada on June 7. The comedy drama follows veteran late night talk show host Katherine Newbury (Thompson), who hires her first female writer (Kaling) after she is accused of being 'woman who hates women'. Her new hire, Molly Patel, then teams up with the temperamental host as the pair attempt to save the show's ratings and keep Katherine from being replaced amid pressure from above. Summer fashion: Mindy, who wrote the screenplay for Late Night, opted for a blue and black floral print midi dress for the photocall Stylish: The Office star paired the dress with black studded heels and wore her raven locks loose around her shoulders Mindy's first feature-length screenplay was inspired by her experience as the only woman in an all-male writer's room for The Office. She told The Hollywood Reporter: 'I vividly remember my experience coming up in the industry with no connections, not having gone to Harvard, being the only diverse person in the room. 'But I also even more vividly because I was living it when I wrote this remember what it's like to be in a power position where you're the show-runner and the star of something. 'You're impatient. You're a little complacent, and you're just kind of a demanding boss that worries a little bit that you've lost touch with people.' Katie Price had her plump pout and new heart tattoo on full display on Friday as she returned from her make or break holiday with boyfriend Kris Boyson. The former glamour model, 40, cut a relaxed figure as she headed through the terminal with Kris, 30, as it appears the couple have reunited after their one-day split. It comes as sources also claimed that Katie furiously branded her ex-husband Peter Andre, 46, a 'glorified babysitter' in a drunken rant on the flight. Flawless: Katie Price, 40, had her plump pout and a new heart tattoo on full display on Friday as she returned from her make or break holiday with boyfriend Kris Boyson, 30 They're back: The former glamour model had flown to Turkey with boyfriend Kris, after the couple reconciled following their one day split A source told The Sun: 'She started to really make a scene a few hours into the journey by telling staff that Pete is a glorified babysitter. New ink: Katie also gave a glimpse of a new tattoo on her left wrist, which appeared to be the outline of a heart with lashes It came out of nowhere Kris started to panic and told her to quieten down saying she didn't know who could be listening. But she said no one would care and carried on. 'Katie and Kris bickered the entire flight if it was a make or break holiday then it definitely sounded like it was over between them.' The source also claimed that Katie continued to complain about her swollen face and being in pain, after undergoing a facelift, Brazilian bumlift and liposuction last month. Representatives for Katie Price and Peter Andre declined to comment when contacted by MailOnline. Katie's rant may prove surprising to many fans, after she declared her love for Peter, while apologising for hurting him in a shock tweet just days before the 10th anniversary of her split. Angry; It comes as sources also claimed that Katie furiously branded her ex-husband Peter Andre a 'glorified babysitter' in a furious rant on the flight Former flame: The mother-of-five allegedly branded Peter a 'glorified babysitter' in the furious rant, ten years after their marriage ended (above in April 2009) Shocking: Katie's rant may prove surprising to many fans, after she declared her love for Peter, in a shock tweet just days before the 10th anniversary of her split earlier this month Earlier this month the star tweeted: 'I had a tough year last year! 'A person stirred trouble with me and Pete which he reacted to protect our children!- with Pete thanking her for the apology soon after. 'Yes I said things but I was upset and didnt mean harm! Me and Pete love each other really lol !Im sorry @MrPeterAndre if I hurt you!' Busy: Katie and Kris were seen strolling through the terminal after returning from Turkey, amid claims they bickered on the whole flight Casual: The star cut a relaxed figure in tight dark grey sportswear as she headed home after her recent dental surgery Katie and Kris appeared to be deep in conversation as they strolled through the terminal together. It was reported that the couple were jetting to Turkey together so they could both undergo some dental work. A source revealed to The Sun: 'Katie and Kris headed out to Turkey on Sunday evening after a rocky weekend together. 'Kris has been looking after Katie since her last surgery and has now decided to jump on the bandwagon by going to the same place she went to get a new set of teeth. 'He recently had his car pimped up just like Katie and now hes following in her footsteps with cosmetic alterations.' Reunited: Katie and Kris' trip comes after it was reported that the couple had reconciled, just one day after their split United? It was recently claimed Katie had been dumped by a 'mortified' Kris following her antics at the Porn Idol competition last Thursday Inappropriate: The star is said to have 'embarrassed' the personal trainer 'beyond belief' after flashing her breasts and getting groped by a drag queen while judging a Porn Idol competition Upset: Sources also claimed that Kris felt 'completely betrayed' by Katie's raucous behaviour The trip to the dentist comes just days after the pair got back together, with their Turkey trip deemed to be a 'make-or-break' holiday. It was recently claimed Katie had been dumped by a 'mortified' Kris following her antics at the Porn Idol competition last Thursday. The star is said to have 'embarrassed' the personal trainer 'beyond belief' after flashing her breasts and getting groped by a drag queen during a wild night of judging a Porn Idol competition. Tense: As they touched down in the UK, Katie and Kris seemed keen to keep some distance after a reportedly awkward flight Shocking: Katie stunned fans with her incredibly raucous behaviour last week as she flashed her breasts and was groped by a drag queen during her Porn Idol appearance Fixing it? Despite reports Kris had 'stopped talking' to Katie, it was then claimed that the couple had jetted off for the make or break holiday to Turkey Kris was said to have called time on the couple's on-off year-long relationship and felt 'completely betrayed' by the mother-of-five's actions. A source told The Sun: 'Kris was mortified when he saw the pictures of Katie at the event and on Friday he decided he had enough. They had a furious row about it all and Kris called her tramp and told her she had embarrassed him beyond all belief. 'He admitted he was an idiot thinking she would ever change and has said he feels completely betrayed by her.' Awkward: Katie is said to have been 'surprised' by her boyfriend's reaction to her behaviour and insisted 'a drag queen licking her nipples isn't cheating' Off we go! After exiting the flight, Kris was seen rifling through his and Katie's luggage before they made their way home Transformed: Last month, Katie also jetted to Turkey for a facelift, Brazilian bumlift and liposuction, and a source also claimed that during her flight she complained about the pain Although Kris 'stopped talking' to Katie, he was then believed to have jetted off to Turkey on the make-or-break holiday to see if they can work things out because they 'can't keep away from each other'. The source added: 'They have split up before and that time won't be last - but they can't keep away from each other. Katie knows that Kris loves the media attention and he has to complete on the filming schedule.' Katie is said to have been 'surprised' by her boyfriend's reaction to her behaviour and insisted 'a drag queen licking her nipples isn't cheating', adding that she was simply 'playing up for the crowd'. Pierce Brosnan's estranged son Chris was seen out in London during a rare appearance on Friday. The filmmaker, 46, puffed away on a cigarette during a stroll with a friend, almost 15 years after the former 007 actor, 65, revealed he had 'cut him off' following his refusal to kick his drug habit and various brushes with the law. Chris is the biological son of Pierce's late first wife, Australian actress Cassandra Harris, and her ex-husband Dermot. Pierce adopted both Chris and his late sister Charlotte when their birth father died in 1986 while he was married to Cassandra. Out and about: Pierce Brosnan's son Chris, 46, was seen out in London during a rare appearance on Friday Family woes: Chris' sighting comes nearly 15 years after the actor, 65, revealed he had 'cut him off' following his refusal to kick his drug habit (Pictured together in 2007) Chris - who has worked as an assistant director on Pierce's films, Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough - kept things low-key with a black jacket worn over a tartan shirt, complete with blue jeans and red trainers. A black beanie added to the casual look as he enjoyed a cigarette while enjoying his outing. Chris's mother Cassandra, tragically passed away at the age of 43 following a battle with ovarian cancer, back in 1991. Pierce - who shares biological son Sean, 35, with Cassandra - adopted Chris, as well as his sister Charlotte, when their father Dermot Harris died in 1986. Casual: The filmmaker is the son of the late actress Cassandra Harris and was adopted by Pierce when their birth father died in 1986 Sighting: Chris kept things low-key with a black jacket atop a tartan shirt, complete with blue jeans and red trainers Chilling: A black beanie added to the casual look as he enjoyed a cigarette while enjoying his outing Laying low: Chris has rarely been seen since his appearance on the original Love Island series in 2005 Family: Chris is the biological son of Australian actress Cassandra Harris - who passed away at the age of 43 following a battle with ovarian cancer in 1991 (Pictured with Pierce in 1983) Charlotte tragically died from ovarian cancer - the same illness that took the life of her mother - in 2013 at the age of just 41. Chris fell into a downwards spiral and suffered from cocaine and heroin addictions, and once fell into a coma following an overdose. In 1997, the director was jailed for three months for drink-driving after being fined 1,000 for the same offence the year earlier. Chris, who starred on the original Love Island series in 2005, was also involved in a massive brawl at Browns nightclub in London and was later banned from the venue. He was also arrested for theft at another club Chinawhite, but charges were later dropped. Together: Pierce - who shares biological son Sean, 35, with Cassandra (M) - adopted Chris (L), and his sister Charlotte (R), when their father Dermot Harris died in 1986 Heartbreak: Charlotte (R) tragically died from ovarian cancer - the same illness that took the life of her mother - in 2013 at the age of just 41 (Pictured 2003) Troubles: Chris fell into a downwards spiral and suffered from cocaine and heroin addictions, and once fell into a coma following an overdose Brushes with the law: In 1997, the director was jailed for three months for drink-driving after being fined 1,000 for the same offence the year earlier Pierce was open and honest about their relationship at the time, claiming that Chris' woes had prompted him to 'cut him off'. Speaking to Playboy in 2005, Pierce said: 'Christopher is still very lost. Shockingly so. I know where he is, but he's having a hard life. 'I can only have strong faith and believe he will recover. He has tested everybody in this family but none more so than himself. He knows how to get out. He doesn't want to. Proving that it was a case of tough love, Pierce continued: 'It's painful because you shut down. You never completely cut them off, but I have cut Christopher off. I had to say, "Go. Get busy living, or get busy dying". He has my prayers.' Consequence: Chris was also involved in a massive brawl at Browns nightclub in London and was later banned from the venue Bad times: He was also arrested for theft at another club Chinawhite, but charges were later dropped 'He has tested everybody': Pierce was open and honest about their relationship at the time, claiming that Chris' woes had prompted him to 'cut him off' (Pictured together 1998) Candid: Proving that it was a case of tough love, Pierce admitted: 'I have cut Christopher off. I had to say, "Go. Get busy living, or get busy dying". He has my prayers' Pierce went on to marry Keely Shaye Smith. The pair have been together since 1994 and tied the knot at Ballintubber Abbey in County Mayo, Ireland, in 2001. The actor has often been vocal about how Keely saved him from depression following his personal tragedies, describing her as a 'strength I wouldnt be able to live without'. Pierce has suffered a great deal of personal tragedy after losing his first wife Cassandra in 1991, and then his adoptive daughter Charlotte in 2013. Speaking in 2014 at the Stand Up To Cancer telethon in LA, he revealed: 'To watch someone you love have his or her life eaten away bit by bit by this insidious disease, that kind of sorrow becomes an indelible part of your psyche. Filmmaker: Before his woes kicked off, Pierce worked as an assistant director on Pierce's films, Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough Moving on: Pierce went on to marry Keely Shaye Smith. The pair have been together since 1994 and tied the knot at Ballintubber Abbey in County Mayo, Ireland, in 2001 'Strength I wouldnt be able to live without': The actor has often been vocal about how Keely saved him from depression following his personal tragedies 'I held the generous, strong, beautiful hand of my first wife Cassie as ovarian cancer took her life much too soon.' 'And just last year (2013), I held the hand of my funny, wonderful daughter Charlotte before she too died from this wretched, inherited disease.' Gushing about Keely to The Independent in 2015, Pierce revealed: 'I love her vitality, her passion. She has this strength that I wouldn't be able to live without. When Keely looks at me, I go weak. They are now parents to Dylan, 22, and Paris, 18 - who are both pursuing careers as models. She is one of Hollywood's most esteemed stars. And Penelope Cruz certainly proved herself to have all the makings of a screen siren on Friday afternoon as she stepped out at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival in the latest in her string of stunning looks throughout the event. The 45-year-old Vanilla Sky stunner, who is showing her latest movie Pain and Glory at the festival, opted for a flirty mini dress with a high-rise hem while also adding in a statement touch with her tumbling extensions. Wow: Penelope Cruz certainly proved herself to have all the makings of a screen siren on Friday afternoon as she stepped out at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival in the latest in her string of stunning looks Penelope was a vision in the white mini which showed off her slender frame and endless legs with its figure-skimming shape. Her lengthy locks skimmed the bottom of her back in length and were in stark contrast to the choppy fringe she donned at last Monday's Met Gala. As she stepped into the Martinez Hotel, she wore a bold slick of red lipstick while shielding her eyes with a pair of round lens sunglasses. Boosting her height and lengthening her already endless legs, Penelope was a vision as she emerged in sky-high heels paired with an elegant white bag. Sensational: The 45-year-old Vanilla Sky stunner, who is showing her latest movie Pain and Glory at the festival, opted for a flirty mini dress with a high-rise hem while also adding in a statement touch with her tumbling ponytail A vision: Penelope was a vision in the white mini which showed off her slender frame and endless legs with its figure-skimming shape Pain and Glory is a Spanish film about a director in his decline as he reflects and revisits big moments and decisions in his life. The Zorro star was joined at the event by his glamorous banker girlfriend Nicole Kimpel, 38, and her twin sister Nicole. He and Nicole have been dating for four years after he split up with his then-wife of 19 years Melanie Griffiths. Wow: Boosting her height and lengthening her already endless legs, Penelope was a vision as she emerged in sky-high heels paired with an elegant white bag All white? Boosting her height and lengthening her already endless legs, Penelope was a vision as she emerged in sky-high heels paired with an elegant white bag Perfecting the look: She wore a barely-there mini dress to best show off her endless legs Actress Elle Fanning, French graphic novelist Enki Bilal and the Oscar-nominated director of The Favourite, Yorgos Lanthimos, are among jury members during the annual event. Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is presiding over the panel that decides on prizes, including the top Palme D'Or award. The jury for the festival's 72nd edition will also include Pawel Pawlikowski, the Polish filmmaker and screenwriter named best director at Cannes last year for the impossible love story Cold War. Happy days: She was a vision in the sexy ensemble as she made her way into the venue Legs eleven: She looked incredible in stunning ensemble which highlighted all her best bits Maimouna N'Diaye, who has directed documentaries and acted in films such as Otar Iosseliani's Chasing Butterflies will also sit on the panel, alongside two other female directors. Kelly Reichardt, whose Wendy and Lucy starring Michelle Williams was a contender for Cannes' Un Certain Regard award in 2008, directed 2016's Certain Women. Italy's Alicia Rohrwacher won best screenplay at Cannes last year for her film Happy as Lazzaro, a satirical fable about a peasant family. French filmmaker Robin Campillo, who took Cannes by storm in 2017 with 120 BPM - Beats Per Minute, winning the Grand Prix for his movie about an AIDs activist, will complete the line-up. Legs eleven: Her endless legs were on full display as she strutted her stuff Rebel Wilson is embroiled in a 'construction war' with neighbours over renovations, a new report claims. According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the 39-year-old is undertaking work at her $3.76 million waterfront home in Birchgrove, Sydney. The waterfront property is undergoing a $900,000 renovation which will add 'a loft master bedroom with its own ensuite and roof terrace [with] stunning water views'. House rules! The Sydney Morning Herald claimed on Saturday that Rebel Wilson (pictured) is embroiled in a 'construction war' with neighbours over renovations near her $3.76 million waterfront home in Sydney's Birchgrove But the star's neighbours are undergoing their own works, and that is what Rebel has reportedly taken exception to. Next door, renovations will reportedly be extensive, including putting in a library, sauna, food cellar and landscape deck. Rebel fears her neighbour's elaborate renovations will worsen her 'mould and damp issues' and block her Sydney Harbour Bridge view. Cool place! The waterfront property is undergoing a $900,000 renovation which will add ' a loft master bedroom with its own ensuite and roof terrace [with] stunning water views' The iconic view is the main reason the actress bought the property, the paper claims. The star has reportedly complained of 'jack hammering and rock hammering over a long period of time', the paper says. The Sydney Morning Herald also claims Rebel is concerned about damage to the structure of her home, and noise from the pool area. Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Rebel Wilson for comment. Nice digs: The star's neighbours are undergoing their own works, and Rebel fears her neighbour's elaborate renovations will worsen her 'mould and damp issues' and block her Sydney Harbour Bridge view. Pictured: Rebel's home The waterfront home in Birchgrove was the Pitch Perfect star's first Sydney purchase, made in 2015. The Isn't It Romantic star snapped up the sprawling freestanding Victorian home through local real estate agents Cobden & Hayson. It's estimated she's spent around $1 million renovating the three bedroom, three level home, which even has a private deep water berth and a jetty. The star added another Sydney property to her portfolio last year when she snapped up an $1.88 million pad in the leafy suburb of Balmain. Julianne Moore put on a dazzling display as she attended the photocall for The Staggering Girl movie at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival on Friday. The 58-year-old looked incredible in a sparkling green mini dress which had layered ruffles, which sparkled in the sunshine. She teamed the magical number with a pair of nude strappy sandals which lengthened her legs. All that shimmers: Julianne Moore, 58, dazzled in a ruffled green sequin dress as she attended The Staggering Girl photocall in Cannes on Friday The stunning redhead held hands with designer Pierpaolo Piccioli, creative director at Valentino, who worked on the movie with screenwriter Michael Mitnick. The Staggering Girl is a 35 minute movie, which has been directed by Luca Guadagnino, who was also the brains behind the blockbuster, Call Me By Your Name and horror movie, Suspiria. The new short also stars Mia Goth, KiKi Layne, Kyle MacLachlan, Marthe Keller and Alba Rohrwacher. New role: The Staggering Girl is a 35 minute movie, which has been directed by Luca Guadagnino, who was also the brains behind Call Me By Your Name and Suspiria Support: The stunning redhead held hands with designer Pierpaolo Piccioli, creative director at Valentino, who worked on the movie with screenwriter Michael Mitnick According to All About Italy, 'the art film, is a journey into the feminine world, in which haute couture becomes part of the narrative portraying different chapters in a womans life through her relationship with her mother. 'Julianne interprets the main character Francesca, an Italian-American writer who lives in New York and who has to return to Rome to look after her elderly mother, a painter interpreted in different moments of the movie by Keller and Goth. 'When Francesca returns to the childhood home in Rome, the storyline goes in and out of various individual stories that took place during the course of their entire relationship.' New: The film is a journey into the feminine world, in which haute couture becomes part of the narrative portraying different chapters in a womans life The dream team: Luca Guadagnino, Marthe Keller, Julianne and Pierpaolo All of the male characters are played by Kyle MacLachlan. Julianne has been pretty busy of late as she also stars on the cover of July's Tatler magazine. In an interview, she reveals she has always 'loathed' her freckles and says she was really unhappy in her early 30s as she hadn't prioritised her personal life.' Superstar: Pierpaolo is the acclaimed creative director at Valentino Advertisement Penelope Cruz made a glamorous arrival at the premiere for her film Pain And Glory at the Cannes Film Festival on Friday. The actress, 45, stunned in an intricate floral lace gown as she headed to the red carpet event in France. Penelope stars opposite Antonio Banderas in the Spanish drama Pain And Glory, which tells the tale of a director in decline as he reflects on big moments and decisions in his life. Amazing: Penelope Cruz, 45, made a glamorous arrival with her co-stars at the premiere for her film Pain And Glory at the Cannes Film Festival on Friday Penelope stunned in the intricate blue and white lace gown with a prom-style skirt as she made a beautiful arrival on the red carpet. The Spanish superstar's dress boasted a classy high neck before moving into a plunging back as she finished the ensemble with delicate diamond earrings. Penelope pulled her glossy brunette tresses into an incredible sleek up-do, as she stunned onlookers with her elegant ensemble. Pain and Glory marks the sixth time that Penelope has worked with director Pedro Almodovar, who previously won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1999 for All About My Mother. A vision: The actress stunned in an intricate blue and white lace gown as she headed to the red carpet event in France Grand arrival: Penelope oozed glamour in an intricate blue gown with floral embroidery as she made her way down the red carpet Star-studded: (L-R) After arriving on the red carpet, Penelope reunited with her co-stars including Asier Etxeandia, Nieves Alvarez, Pedro Almodovar, Antonio Banderas and Leonardo Sbaraglia Amazing: Penelope's incredible beauty was on full display as she made her way into the premiere for the film in her amazing embroidered gown Pals: The gorgeous star beamed with delight as she reunited with actor Antonio after their appearances in the film Off she goes! Penelope was also seen leaving her hotel earlier in the day in her beautiful gown as she prepared for the latest star-studded premiere Dressed up: The Vicky Cristina Barcelona star carried her essentials in a matching beaded clutch bag as she exited her hotel for the star-studded event Talented duo: Pain and Glory (Dolor y gloria) is a Spanish film about director Salvador Mallo in his decline - played by Banderas - as he reflects and revisits big moments and decisions in his life, including his childhood in the 1960s and when he emigrated with his family Penelope's other work with Pedro includes Live Flesh and Volver - which earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. The acclaimed star also won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her work in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, and was nominated for the same award the following year for her work in Nine. Pain and Glory - translated from Dolor y gloria - is a Spanish film about a director named Salvador Mallo in his decline - played by Banderas - as he reflects and revisits big moments and decisions in his life, including his childhood in the 1960s and when he emigrated with his family. Other encounters the film documents include Salvador's search of prosperity, the first desire, his first adult love in the 1980s, the pain of the breakup of this relationship, writing as a therapy to forget and the premature discovery of cinema. Turning heads: The superstar displayed her slender figure in the gown with boasted a large prom-style skirt as she posed for photographers on the red carpet Grand occasion: The stars were out in force to celebrate the official debut of the new film after Cannes finally began on Tuesday May 14th Star-studded: Penelope joined her co-stars as they celebrated the premiere of Pain And Glory - or Dolor y gloria in Spanish Say cheese! The cast eagerly posed for snaps as they made their way along the red carpet The film sees Antonio Banderas, 58, play the lead role, and the red carpet also saw the actor make an appearance with his banker girlfriend Nicole Kimpel, 38. The Zorro star has been dating Nicole for four years after he split up with his then-wife of 19 years Melanie Griffith, 61. The 2019 Cannes Film Festival takes place at the iconic Palais des Festivals from Tuesday until May 25. Actress Elle Fanning, French graphic novelist Enki Bilal and the Oscar-nominated director of The Favourite, Yorgos Lanthimos, will be among jury members during the annual event. Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu will preside over the panel that decides on prizes, including the top Palme D'Or award. Loved-up: Antonio Banderas, 58, was packing on the PDA with girlfriend Nicole Kimpel, 38, as they shared a tender kiss while walking down the red carpet Romantic: The couple were hand-in-hand as they made their way up the stairs on the red carpet Suave: Antonio cut a dapper figure as he reunited with Spanish actor Leonardo Sbaraglia, who plays Federico in the film Smart: The Zorro star cut a dapper figure in a silk black blazer as he exited his hotel to head to the premiere earlier in the evening Romantic: Nicole looked equally stunning in a floor length navy gown with nude platform heels as she made a glamorous entrance to the event Delighted: Antonio also happily signed autographs for fans who were waiting outside of his hotel Jovial: The legendary actor was in good spirits as he headed into the lavish red carpet event The jury for the festival's 72nd edition will also include Pawel Pawlikowski, the Polish filmmaker and screenwriter named best director at Cannes last year for the impossible love story Cold War. Maimouna N'Diaye, who has directed documentaries and acted in films such as Otar Iosseliani's Chasing Butterflies will also sit on the panel, alongside two other female directors. Kelly Reichardt, whose Wendy and Lucy starring Michelle Williams was a contender for Cannes' Un Certain Regard award in 2008, directed 2016's Certain Women. Italy's Alicia Rohrwacher won Best Screenplay at Cannes last year for her film Happy as Lazzaro, a satirical fable about a peasant family. French filmmaker Robin Campillo, who took Cannes by storm in 2017 with 120 BPM - Beats Per Minute, winning the Grand Prix for his movie about an AIDs activist, completes the lineup. Piers Morgan is used to making his Good Morning Britain guests feel slightly hot under the collar thanks to his direct and challenging interview approach. But it was the TV host, 54, who was left feeling slightly red-faced on Friday after his son Spencer revealed he has hung a gigantic portrait of himself at their family home. However the quick-witted presenter was sure to fire back at his 'impertinent' son, as he joked that he was putting his inheritance at risk by sharing the image on Twitter. Ouch! Piers Morgan, 54, was left feeling slightly red-faced on Friday after his son Spencer revealed he has hung a gigantic portrait of himself at their family home Spencer, 25, took to the micro-blogging site to share an image of Piers' portrait, which was resting on a hallway table surrounded by other knickknacks. Clearly displeased with the new addition, Spencer penned alongside the snap: 'Gone back home and @piersmorgan has put this up in the hall. Big bonfire tonight.' However Piers was quick to fire back, writing: 'Any more of this impertinence & the only thing you'll be burning is your inheritance.' 'Bonfire tonight': Spencer, 25, took to the micro-blogging site to share an image of Piers' portrait, which was resting on a hallway table surrounded by other knickknacks. Hitting back: However Piers was quick to fire back, writing: 'Any more of this impertinence & the only thing you'll be burning is your inheritance' But Spencer had evidently inherited his father's tendency for a clever comeback, as he responded by saying he had already burnt his inheritance by buying the picture. Piers and Spencer's jokey online Twitter spat comes after he reignited another feud with his old nemesis Lord Alan Sugar, which began in 2007 when the business mogul fired him in Comic Relief Does The Apprentice. Twelve years on, Piers proved there was still bad blood as he waged war on the 72-year-old after Lorraine Kelly branded him 'rather gorgeous'. Green with envy, the GMB Presenter, appeared couldn't resist making a plastic surgery jibe after Lorraine charmed Lord Alan via videolink on Tuesday's show. Family affair: Piers pictured with his sons Stanley (centre) and Spencer (right) in November 2018 Clever: But Spencer had evidently inherited his father's tendency for a clever comeback, as he responded by saying he had already burnt his inheritance by buying the picture On Good Morning Britain, Piers and Lord Sugar broke into a furious row, discussing how Theresa May has failed to implement Brexit. Lorraine then appeared to talk about what was coming up on her show, the TV host asked the 59-year-old: 'Any last thoughts on Lord Sugar Lorraine?' To which she replied: 'Well he's rather gorgeous don't you think?' Astounded, Piers quipped back: 'What?' Feud rumbles on: Piers and Spencer's jokey online Twitter spat comes after he reignited another feud with his old nemesis Lord Alan Sugar Lorraine gushed: 'Well there is something about him, don't you think?' As the camera went to Lord Alan, Susanna Reid commented: 'He's grinning from ear-to-ear.' Annoyed and seething with jealousy, Piers hit back: 'Despite efforts of his plastic surgery, that's not gorgeous.' To which The Apprentice star told him: 'Oh, shut up.' 'Rather gorgeous': Green with envy, the GMB presenter appeared couldn't resist making a plastic surgery jibe after Lorraine charmed Lord Alan via videolink Piers and Lord Sugar's feud has rumbled on for years. After The Apprentice, the pair have been at loggerheads on Twitter and nothing has been off limits. On Monday, the businessman rubbed salt into the wound as he shared a selfie with his BAFTA after Piers declared GMB's BAFTA TV loss a 'travesty'. Lord Sugar wrote: Hi Piersy. Shame @gmb didn't get a Bafta. I think the team deserved one but it was the thought of you by the committee that let them down . By the way I have 2 @piersmorgan.' And while their relationship might look hostile, the pair are secretly good friends, with Lord Sugar even being invited to Piers' 50th birthday bash four years ago. Lord Sugar previously told The Mirror: 'Look, lets make it very clear here. He insults me on Twitter - but there's actually a certain camaraderie on there because I look after him. When people say, 'You're not fit to live with the pigs,' I come back and say, 'Well, no stop it because he is!'" He's been busy promoting his latest film at the elusive event. And Antonio Banderas shared the spotlight with his girlfriend Nicole Kimpel at the premiere of his new film Pain And Glory at Cannes Film Festival, on Friday. The 58-year-old Spanish actor couldn't resist packing on the PDA with his girlfriend Nicole Kimpel, 38, on the star-studded red carpet. Loved-up: Antonio Banderas shared the spotlight with his girlfriend Nicole Kimpel at the premiere of his new film Pain And Glory at Cannes Film Festival on Friday The duo put on a cosy display, posing for pictures and they later shared a tender smooch in front of onlookers. Antonio cut a dapper figure in a tailored tuxedo, featuring a jacket with a subtle jacquard print and a white bow tie. While Nicole looked effortlessly elegant in a black floor-length halterneck gown by Pronovias, featuring a backless detail. The 38-year-old's frock featured a perilously deep neckline that drew attention to her delicate gold star necklace, ample assets and cinched waist. Mwah!: The 58-year-old Spanish actor couldn't resist packing on the PDA with his girlfriend Nicole Kimpel, 38, on the star-studded red carpet Her ensemble was accessorised with a glittery studded handbag. The blonde beauty's luscious locks were styled in voluminous waves that cascaded down her shoulders. For makeup the stunner opted for dramatic eyes with lashings of mascara, eyeliner and glossy pink lips. Hand-in-hand: The 58-year-old Spanish actor cut a dapper figure in a tailored tuxedo, featuring a jacket with a subtle jacquard print and a white bow tie Cosy: Antonio and Nicole couldn't hide their love for one another as they put on a loved-up display on the red carpet Antonio and Nicole have been dating for four years after he split up with his then-wife of 19 years Melanie Griffiths. Pain and Glory is a Spanish film that follows a director Salvador Mallo, played by Banderas, in his decline as he reflects and revisits big moments and decisions in his life. He stars opposite Penelope Cruz who plays Salvador's mother in flashback scenes from his childhood in the 1960s. Ben Affleck was on daddy duty on Friday as he was spotted in Brentwood with kids Seraphina and Samuel. The 46-year-old actor looked great as he kept it casual in jeans, a T-shirt shirt and leather jacket as he walked with his two children in their local neighborhood. Seraphina, 10, and Samuel, seven, looked studious as they carried big backpacks with them. Ben Affleck is pictured out with kids Seraphina and Samuel on Friday in his local neighborhood of Brentwood Affleck co-parents his three children, Seraphina, Samuel and Violet, 13, with ex-wife Jennifer Garner who we was married to from 2005 to 2018. The outing came as it was reported that British star Robert Pattinson will play the Caped Crusader in the upcoming The Batman flick slated for a June 25, 2021 release. The 33-year-old actor is the next in line to play the DC Comics superhero after Affleck last played Bruce Wayne in 2017's Justice League. Pattinson is in talks to play Batman in the Matt Reeves led project according to Variety on Thursday. Casually clad: The 46-year-old actor looked great in jeans, a T-shirt and leather jacket School's out: Seraphina, 10, wore a colorful backpack as she lead the way According to Variety's sources negotiations are not fully complete but Pattinson is the top choice and the deal is expected to close shortly. It was reported in January that Affleck was out of the project which he was originally set to star in, write, and direct. Deadline reported that The Batman will focus on a 'younger Bruce Wayne.' Affleck co-parents his three children, Seraphina, Samuel and Violet, 13, with ex-wife Jennifer Garner who we was married to from 2005 to 2018.\ Affleck made his DC Extended Universe (DCEU) debut as the Caped Crusader in 2016's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, while making a cameo in 2016's Suicide Squad and then starring in 2017's Justice League. Pre-production on the Matt Reeves directed film is expected to begin this summer. According to Deadline, the role may not only be Pattinson's for the taking as Nicholas Hoult is also atop the 'short list' for the coveted role. Big shoes to fill: British star Robert Pattinson is being lined up to play the Caped Crusader in the upcoming The Batman flick slated for a June 25, 2021 release Advertisement Some of Hollywood's finest turned out in style for the glittering Chopard party at this year's Cannes Film Festival on Friday. Leading the way was actress Elle Fanning, 21, who turned heads in a princess-inspired flowing fuchsia dress with a scooped neckline and a pleated finish. Coming complete with dark pink ruffles underneath, the film star added a touch of glamour to her look with a diamond necklace and matching earrings. Stars: Some of Hollywood's finest turned out in style for the glittering Chopard party at this year's Cannes Film Festival on Friday Julianne Moore, 58, fresh from her Thursday appearance at the Rocketman premiere, looked in high spirits at the bash where she wore a black, long-sleeved dress with structured shoulders and a multi-coloured sequined print. Also wearing matching bracelets, the Oscar winner styled her fame-haired locks into an updo. Chopard is a luxury Swiss manufacturer of jewellery and watches and has been a corporate sponsor for the Cannes Film Festival since 1998, sponsoring both the Trophee Chopard prize and the coveted Palme d'Or trophy. Burlesque star Dita Von Teese, 46, cut a sultry figure for the evening, arriving in style in an emerald green dress with black trimmings and matching sheer sleeves. Stylish: Julianne wore her auburn locks back in a chic bun, with her fringe pulled forward to frame her face well Event: Julianne, fresh from her Thursday appearance at the Rocketman premiere, looked in high spirits at the bash Fashion: Elle added a touch of glamour to her look with a diamond necklace and matching earrings Cinderella chic: Elle looked stunning in her hot pink ensemble Pairing her garment with a matching green clutch bag, Dita also wore a green necklace and drew attention to her visage with a red lip. Fellow actress Priyanka Chopra, 36, attended the swanky event with her husband Nick Jonas, 26, by her side. The former Miss World wore a lavender sleeveless dress with a turtle-neck collar and a sheer finish. The couple tied the knot last year in a lavish wedding at Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur, India. Nick popped the question while the couple were on holiday in Crete. Speaking previously to Vogue, he recalled how Priyanka took her time in giving him an answer. Stunning: Dita Von Teese looked gorgeous in her black and emerald green ensemble Bombshell: Burlesque star Dita cut a sultry figure for the evening, arriving in style in an emerald green dress Work it: The beauty posed from ever angle to show of her gorgeous outfit, which highlighted her incredible figure Dazzling: The Burlesque star complemented her ensemble by wearing a diamond and emerald necklace Setting pulses racing: Dita was sure to turn heads in her gorgeous attire He said: 'I got down on one knee, again, and I said: Will you make me the happiest man in the world and marry me? 'No jokeshe took about 45 seconds. Forty-five seconds of silence. "Im going to put this ring on your finger now unless you have any objections".' Jeremy Meeks, 35, attended the event with brunette bombshell Andreaa Sasu, 29. The male model cut a dapper figure at the event, donning a black blazer with an eye-catching gold trimming and spikes going around the collar. Romance: Priyanka Chopra attended the swanky event with her husband Nick Jonas by her side Breathtaking: The former Miss World wore a lavender sleeveless dress with a turtle-neck collar and a sheer finish What a pair: Nick wrapped his arm around Priyanka's waist during the dinner Relationship: The couple tied the knot last year in a lavish wedding at Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur, India Delighted: Priyanka couldn't help but smile as she spent time with Nick Smitten: The happy couple walked hand-in-hand at the event Sweet: The pair put on a loved-up display as they enjoyed the Love Night dinner party He paired it with matching trousers and dark shoes, completing his look with a silver chain. Andreea looked nothing short of sensational for the bash, wearing a silver top with matching tassels and a plunging neckline that displayed her lithe figure. Cinching her waist with a belt, the lower half of the garment featured a daisy print which she paired with a sheer dress. It comes after Jeremy and Andreea stepped out in the French riviera town earlier on Friday, after he insisted he is 'still very much in love' with heiress 'fiancee' Chloe Green. Guests: Jeremy Meeks attended the event with brunette bombshell Andreaa Sasu, walking arm-in-arm down the black carpet Model: Brazilian beauty Izabel Goulart sported a daring ensemble to the glitzy bash, donning a black gown, with several cut out sections and a high thigh slit. Daring: Izabel was sure to set pulses racing thanks to her outfit's revealing side slit that showed off her slender legs Amber Heard, 33, arrived to the party in a red off the shoulder dress which featured a large, ruffled top and a thigh-high leg slit. She added height to her frame with a pair of matching red boots and slicked her blonde locks back, highlighting her visage. Rocketman star Richard Madden, 32, cut a suave figure, donning a classic black suit with a crisp white shirt and bow tie. Dapper: Bodyguard star Richard Madden looked handsome in his black tuxedo Elegant: Amber Heard was every inch the film star in a red off the shoulder number while Richard Madden was dapper in a classic black suit Vision in red: The actress was sure to turn heads with her gorgeous ensemble Lady in red: Amber's dress also featured featured a large, ruffled top and a thigh-high leg slit while she added height to her frame with a pair of red boots Modelling prowess: Amber posed from every angle to show off her outfit as she made her stylish arrival Petra Nemcova, 39, looked every inch the supermodel at the event, wearing a bright red long-sleeved dress with a plunging neckline and a pleated finish. Brazilian beauty Izabel Goulart, 34, sported a daring ensemble to the glitzy bash, donning a black gown, with several cut out sections and a high thigh slit Also at the event were models Catrinel Marlon, Maria Borges and actress Araya A. Hargate who added further glamour with their ensembles The 2019 Cannes Film Festival takes place at the iconic Palais des Festivals from Tuesday until May 25. Stunning: Petra Nemcova looked every inch the supermodel at the event, wearing a bright red long-sleeved dress with a plunging neckline and a pleated finish Striking: Petra's sunburnt orange ensemble was sure to make her stand out from the crowd Putting on a show: Eva stepped out in a gorgeous chiffon gown as she glided down the runway Telling a story: Models helped to show off Chopard's products during the stunning show Floral beauty: Sui He looked stunning in her floral plunging gown Style mavens: Models made their way down the runway Elle Fanning, French graphic novelist Enki Bilal and the Oscar-nominated director of The Favourite, Yorgos Lanthimos, will be among jury members during the annual event. Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu will preside over the panel that decides on prizes, including the top Palme D'Or award. The jury for the festival's 72nd edition will also include Pawel Pawlikowski, the Polish filmmaker and screenwriter named best director at Cannes last year for the impossible love story Cold War. Radiant: (L-R) Petra, Dita and Izabel all knew how to work their angles as they posed up a storm at the party for the luxury jeweller Supermodel: Eva Herzigova was the picture of elegance for the evening in a shimmering black dress with a plunging neckline and long sleeves Stunning: Eva showcased her natural beauty by wearing light touches of make-up Maimouna N'Diaye, who has directed documentaries and acted in films such as Otar Iosseliani's Chasing Butterflies will also sit on the panel, alongside two other female directors. Kelly Reichardt, whose Wendy and Lucy starring Michelle Williams was a contender for Cannes' Un Certain Regard award in 2008, directed 2016's Certain Women. Italy's Alicia Rohrwacher won best screenplay at Cannes last year for her film Happy as Lazzaro, a satirical fable about a peasant family. French filmmaker Robin Campillo, who took Cannes by storm in 2017 with 120 BPM - Beats Per Minute, winning the Grand Prix for his movie about an AIDs activist, will complete the line-up. Guests: Also at the event were models (L-R) Catrinel Marlon, Maria Borges and actress Araya A. Hargate who added further glamour with their ensembles Looking good: Ellen Von Unwerth rocked a turquoise satin jacket with a black blouse and flared trousers as she posed up a storm with Erica Pelosini Legs eleven! Madison Beer put on a very leggy display in a tiny pink mini dress which she teamed with a pair of hoop earrings 18 million fans tuned in to watch the The Big Bang Theory finale on Thursday night. According to Deadline, an average of 18 million people viewed the two-part finale on Thursday, giving the hour-long program a 3.1 rating in the key 18-49 demographic group. Thursday night's rating was a seven percent increase from last year's season finale, which received a 2.9 rating in the same demographic group. Bazinga! 18 million fans tuned in Thursday night to watch the very last episode of The Big Bang Theory According to fast national stats, the finale averaged 17.994 million viewers in overall audience. After 12 years on air, The Big Bang Theory ended Thursday night with Leonard Hofstadter and Penny becoming pregnant and Sheldon Cooper and Amy Farrah Fowler becoming winners of a Noble Prize. New beginnings aside, the show ended in familiar fashion - with the friends gathered around in their living room, eating Chinese food. The scene marked the last time the pals would all gather together, and producers added a sentimental touch to the moment eagle-eye fans may have noticed Thursday night. Looks familiar! Kaley Cuoco wore the same top in the very last scene as she did in the pilot episode (pictured, 2007) It's an honor: Sheldon Cooper and his wife Amy Farrah Fowler (played by Jim Parsons and Mayim Bialik) became winners of a Nobel Prize for their Super-Asymmetry concept Showing their support: The couple (played by Cuoco and Johnny Galecki) attended the Nobel Prize ceremony 'Penny is wearing the top she wears when she first appears on-screen in the pilot, which was really cool,' executive producer Bill Prady told Glamour. Indeed, Penny (played by Kaley Cuoco) was sporting the same blue floral print top she wore in the pilot, the same episode she met her future husband Leonard (Johnny Galecki). The final scene was shot multiple times, and Prady believed the many technical aspects to the scene distracted the cast from getting 'overly emotional.' Parenthood! Howard Wolowitz and his wife Bernadette (played by Simon Helberg and Melissa Rauch) with their children Plus one! Buffy The Vampire Slayer actress Sarah Michelle Gellar made a surprise appearance as Raj Koothrappali's (Kunal Nayyar) date 'We shot it early in the week of filming. There was a lot of focus on the technical stuff in that scene, like how we wanted the camera to move. We shot it over and over in different ways. 'The cast was ad-libbing dialogue to each other, and because there were so many technical things happening, I think it kept it from getting overly emotional, even though they knew it was going to be the last scene.' The long-running series on CBS concluded with two final episodes, The Change Constant and The Stockholm Syndrome, in an hour-long farewell. The series exited the TV airwaves with the most episodes for a multi-camera series ever with 279 episodes. It edged past NBC's Cheers, which aired for 11 seasons and 275 episodes. The final episodes were filled with a few surprises: a pregnancy, cameos and a speech about the importance of friendship in the series' emotional conclusion. Going up! The perpetually broken elevator was finally fixed on the finale April Love Geary revealed she had an abortion in 2014 in an Instagram post to quiet negative online chatter about her support for reproductive health. The 24-year-old model posted a photo of her post-baby body after trolls attacked Geary for throwing support toward the pro-choice movement after the state of Alabama passed a law essentially banning all abortions on Wednesday. 'Ive been getting a bunch of DMs saying things like "how could you support abortion when youre a mother yourself" so this is MY body, MY body after having an abortion in 2014, a miscarriage in 2017, delivering a baby in 2018 & 2019,' she wrote. Strong: April Love Geary revealed she had an abortion in 2014 in an Instagram post to quiet negative online chatter about her support for reproductive health April wore a floral underwear and held up her white tank top to show her stomach, which carried her two baby girls Mia and Lola. 'Im glad I was able to make decisions about MY body without facing any type of punishment,' she wrote. 'Its scary to think that women wont be able to choose to abort if thats what they want/whats necessary. 'You can be anti-abortion for yourself and pro-choice for anyone who isnt you because you realize you shouldnt get to make the rules for someone elses body and youre not going to a single thing for the child they cant/dont want to carry. This is possible and necessary.' 'Our country hates women,' April posted on Instagram Thursday, with a slew of comments to follow from her 164,000 followers Mom: April gave birth to Mia on Feb. 22, 2018 and welcomed daughter Lola into the world with fiance Robin Thicke on Feb. 26, 2019; seen on Instagram April gave birth to Mia on Feb. 22, 2018 and welcomed daughter Lola into the world with fiance Robin Thicke on Feb. 26, 2019. Celebrities have taken to social media in droves with the #YouKnowMe tag to share abortion stories and support reproductive healthcare in the wake of HB 314 which was signed into law on Wednesday in the state of Alabama. The law, which follows similar restrictions in states including Ohio, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia, Iowa and North Dakota, would block abortions in the event of rape and incest, and features an exception only in cases where the pregnant persons health is at risk. Emily Ratajkowski posed naked for a photo where she decried the '25 old white men' who voted to ban abortion earlier this week. Family: April and Robin have dated for more than four years and he asked her to be his bride on Christmas Eve; seen on Instagram Talk about it: Emily Ratajkowski posed naked for a photo where she decried the '25 old white men' who voted to ban abortion earlier this week 'These men in power are imposing their wills onto the bodies of women in order to uphold the patriarchy and perpetuate the industrial prison complex by preventing women of low economic opportunity the right to choose to not reproduce. 'The states trying to ban abortion are the states that have the highest proportions of black women living there. This is about class and race and is a direct attack on the fundamental human rights women in the US deserve and are protected by under Roe vs. Wade. Our bodies, our choice. Emily later shared a throwback photo on her story from when she joined hundreds of thousands of people to protest against Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court in October. Ratajkowski carried a sign which read 'respect female existence or expect our resistance' and was later arrested at the event alongside Amy Schumer. HB 314 was approved by a vote of 25-6 in the Republican-led Senate and is set to come into effect in six months, and doctors who defy the law could face 99 years in prison. Marching on: Emily later shared a throwback photo on her story from when she joined hundreds of thousands of people to protest against Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court in October Horrible: Milla Jovovich recounted her emergency abortion at '4 1/2 months pregnant' while shooting on location in Eastern Europe Milla Jovovich recounted her emergency abortion at '4 1/2 months pregnant' while shooting on location in Eastern Europe. 'I went into pre term labor and told that I had to be awake for the whole procedure,' she wrote. 'It was one of the most horrific experiences I have ever gone through. I still have nightmares about it.' Rihanna, Miley Cyrus, Kylie Jenner, Jameela Jamil, Minka Kelly and Busy Philipps are just a few of the many celebrity names protesting against the restrictive bill and using the #YouKnowMe tag. The image circulating of the 25 Republican Alabama senators includes (from left to right, top to bottom): Sam Givhan, Clyde Chambliss, Will Barfoot, Arthur Orr, Jabo Waggner, Shay Shelnutt, Greg Reed, Cam Ward, Greg Albritton, Dan Roberts, Andrew Jones, Tim Melson, Tom Butler, Larry Stutts, Steve Livingston, Jim Mclendon, Garlan Gudger, Gerald Allen, Clay Scofield, Donnie Chesteen, David Sessions, Randy Price, Chris Elliott, Del Marsh and Jack Williams. US News and World reported that the state of Alabama received the second lowest overall ranking in annual scorecards evaluating education, environmental and economic standards in each state. Luann de Lesseps is fighting back after being accused of violating her probation twice. The Real Housewives of New York City star is requesting evidence from a Palm Beach County, Florida, judge of her alleged failed alcohol test. Court documents obtained by The Blast show that Luann, 54, wants copies of prosecutor's evidence, such as police reports, witness statements, testimonies in the case as well as 'results of physical or mental examinations and of specific tests, experiments or comparisons.' Wanting proof: Luann de Lesseps is demanding prosecutors turn over evidence against her that she violated her probation terms The reality star is due back in court on Thursday for a hearing in the ongoing case. It was reported earlier this month that the Bravo star was in trouble for drinking a couple of mimosas - the popular brunch cocktail made of champagne and orange juice. The Housewife formerly known as The Countess was forbidden to consume alcohol based on the terms of her probation, stemming from a 2017 drunk and disorderly incident in Palm Beach, Florida. Last month Luann had admitted to her probation officer that she indulged in 'two glasses of mimosas' following one of her recent cabaret shows in Chicago. She was swiftly handed a court date for violating her terms. Legal trouble: It was reported earlier this month that the Bravo star was in trouble for drinking a couple of mimosas. She is forbidden from consuming alcohol for a year based on the terms of her probation stemming from a 2017 drunk and disorderly incident in Palm Beach, Florida According to a violation report from the Florida department of corrections de Lesseps was first given a 'breath test', which she failed, by her New York probation officer on April 21. She admitted to drinking two days later during an April 23 meeting. According to the probation terms stemming from her 2017 arrest, she was supposed to stay free from alcohol for a whole year. Two months ago Luann was also found in violation of probation for 'failing to attend two AA meetings per week as directed by the court.' The legal papers show that the Connecticut native only has documentation for attending a total of five AA meetings. When her probation officer recommended that she enroll in treatment or wear an ankle monitor, she dismissed both suggestions, saying she was too busy 'with her touring schedule' to do inpatient treatment while also claiming an alcohol ankle monitor was too 'intrusive.' Mug shot: In July 2018 she agreed to a plea deal to the misdemeanor charges of battery, disorderly intoxication and trespassing Violation: According to a violation report from the Florida department of corrections Lesseps was first given a 'breath test', which she failed, by her New York probation officer on April 21 Against the terms: The legal papers show that the Connecticut native only has documentation for attending a total of five AA meetings 'The subject has not made herself an active participant in her rehabilitation and shows signs of denial that she has a sobriety issue,' her probation officer went on to note in their violation report. Further documents reveal that the star is due in court May 23 2019 at 8:30AM. If she fails to appear in court, a warrant will be issued for her arrest. And since the original crime occurred in Palm Beach, Florida, she'll be required to travel to the Sunshine State for her court appearance. Sources claimed earlier this month that Luann was 'not taking probation seriously.' Time in court: Further documents reveal that the star is due in court May 23 2019 at 8:30AM But she clapped back while talking to Page Six, telling the tabloid: 'I take my sobriety very seriously and like many in my situation, it is a daily struggle. I remain committed to doing whatever it takes to continue living a healthy sober lifestyle.' The mother-of-two - who lost her Countess title when she married Tom D'Agostino Jr. for eight months in December 2016 - had been under supervision for six months, and is also supposed to complete community service but has only done half of her required time. She was charged with disorderly intoxication, resisting arrest, battery of an officer and making threats against a public servant after a wild night in Palm Beach, Florida following the demise of her relationship with Tom. In addition, Luann was charged with a third-degree felony before entering an alcohol treatment program in January 2018. She settled the arrest in July when she agreed to plead guilty to the misdemeanor charges of battery, disorderly intoxication and trespassing. Her boyfriend was arrested on Thursday morning for domestic violence following a physical altercation at their home in Los Angeles. And Hayden Panettiere's friends and family are reportedly 'more worried than ever' for the safety of the 29-year-old actress following the incident, according to People. Police noticed 'redness and marks' on Hayden's body and arrested Brian Hickerson at the couple's house around 2 a.m. after the pair came home from a night of drinking, according to TMZ. Tough: Hayden Panettiere's friends and family are reportedly 'more worried than ever' for the safety of the 29-year-old actress following the incident, according to People; seen in January 'Hayden knows Brian has a bad temper and can be controlling, but there is an extreme attraction to it,' a source said. 'And despite warnings from family and friends, the relationship seems solid.' TMZ reported that Brian posted a $50,000 bond and was released later in the day after the altercation. 'Brians reputation as a party boy is no secret in Hollywood,' the source said. 'Those close to Hayden are more worried than ever about this and his temper.' Panettiere was first spotted with Brian in August 2018, and reports shortly followed that she had split with fiance Wladimir Klitschko after nine years of dating. Not great: Police noticed 'redness and marks' on Hayden's body and arrested Brian Hickerson at the couple's house around 2 a.m. after the pair came home from a night of drinking, according to TMZ; seen in January 'Hayden is taken with him,' the source said. 'She thinks he is what she needs in her life now.' Hickerson was involved in another domestic dispute with his father David last fall and Hayden was present during the time. Police reports from the incident say cops were greeted by an apparent 'drunk and frantic' Hayden when they responded to a call for assault and battery at a private residence in South Carolina in October 2018. Panettiere revealed in 2017, to GMA, that she checked into rehab after suffering postpartum depression following the birth of her daughter Kaya. 'Hayden knows Brian has a bad temper and can be controlling, but there is an extreme attraction to it,' a source said. 'And despite warnings from family and friends, the relationship seems solid'; seen in January Over: She split with fiance Wladimir Klitschko after nine years of dating; seen in 2013 Panettiere revealed in 2017, to GMA, that she checked into rehab after suffering postpartum depression following the birth of her daughter Kaya. Lending advice to anyone else going through the same thing, she said: '[Going to rehab/treatment] doesnt make you a bad person, doesnt make you a bad mother. It makes you a very strong, resilient woman. Youve just got to let it make you stronger.' The two time Golden Globe nominee has been taking a break from acting following the finale of Nashville, which wrapped up in 2018. Before playing a country diva on the ABC-turned-CMT series, Hayden got her start on daytime TV as a child with appearances on One Life To Live and Guiding Light. Her star continued to rise in the mid 2000s with her role as cheerleader Claire Bennet on the NBC sci-fi series Heroes. Among her other credits: Remember The Titans, Ally McBeal, Scream 4, Custody, Ice Princess and more. Access to a hotel room with his boss sleeping and a briefcase full of cash was too tempting for a Japanese man who has been jailed for pinching $140,000 and blowing it at Crown Casino. Cash-strapped Takuro Yanagida, 23, was visiting Melbourne in October 2018 with his boss Gohsuke Kotani, who ran a sports marketing business. But as Mr Kotani, his wife and business partner slept at their hotel, Yanagida used a key to unlock his employer's suitcase before taking nearly half of the $300,000 cash stashed inside. County Court Judge Robert Dyer described the theft as a "naive, amateurish and unsophisticated" act. Yanagida had developed a "precarious financial position" and become involved in gambling in the months leading up to the crime. He went to Crown Casino and exchanged the money for chips, proceeding to lose the "entire sum over a four-hour period" in what Judge Dyer described as a "panic-driven, opportunistic crime". Yanagida initially denied what he'd done, but made full admissions after Crown Casino was called and identified him as the person who exchanged the money for chips. He has since pleaded guilty to one charge of theft. "Your offending may have been initiated by a naive belief that you could use Mr Kotani's money to win at the casino and pay off your financial situation," Judge Dyer said while sentencing on Friday. "The loss of $140,000 has significantly impacted on his business activities while in Australia." Judge Dyer added the theft had eroded Mr Katani's trust in his workers. Yanagida started working for the company after the two men met in South Korea. A translator conveyed the judge's remarks to Yanagida in court on Friday. Judge Dyer accepted Yanagida's early plea was indicative of genuine remorse before jailing him for eight months. Yanagida has already served 207 days in pre-sentence detention, meaning he must spend another month behind bars before he is released. After his stint in jail, Yanagida will be deported to Japan. Iran's President Hassan Rouhani speaks during a government meeting in the capital Tehran on May 14, 2019 In face of soaring tensions with the United States, Iran has so far steered clear of inflammatory rhetoric, its leaders insisting the Islamic republic is not seeking a war with its arch-enemy. "This face-off is not military because there is not going to be any war. Neither we nor (the US) seek war. They know it will not be in their interest," Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tuesday. "The definite decision of the Iranian nation is to resist against America," he added, before repeating his opposition to any negotiations with the United States. A day later, US President Donald Trump said on Twitter that he was "sure that Iran will want to talk soon". For Amir Mohebbian, a conservative Iranian politician and analyst, Khamenei's words reflected Tehran's belief that Trump "is not ready to launch a large-scale war in a sensitive region". Officials in Iran, especially commanders of the Revolutionary Guards, Iran's ideological army, often make comments deemed provocative in the West. But in recent days they have chosen their words carefully. The US has sent a naval strike group to the region amid heightened tensions with Iran Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in Tokyo on Thursday that "we exercise maximum restraint" in the face of an "unacceptable" escalation by the United States. Other officials have warned the US against attacking Iran, predicting it would fail, while insisting their own country is not hostile. President Hassan Rouhani declared on Monday that Iran is "too great to be intimidated by anyone". - 'No war, no negotiations' - "The Iranian authorities are adhering the supreme leader's policy of 'no war, no negotiations' with the Trump administration," said Clement Therme, an Iran specialist at the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS). "The rhetorical one-upmanship" on the Iranian side "is hindered by the limited military means" of the Islamic republic, the researcher said. Iran has some 475,000 soldiers in its regular army and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to the IISS. But an international arms embargo has left it with an ageing and relatively small air force, a crucial weakness in any conflict. Iran's military strength Its economy crippled, Iran has limited means to increase defence spending. That is in stark contrast to the United States, whose GDP is 47 times that of the Islamic republic, according to the International Monetary Fund. Relations between Tehran and Washington have become even more tense in recent weeks, a year after Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from a nuclear deal under which Iran agreed to curb its nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief. Iran said on May 8 that it had stopped respecting limits on its nuclear activities agreed under the 2015 nuclear accord. The same day, the United States tightened the screws with further sanctions, before announcing it was boosting its military presence in the Middle East in response to alleged Iranian threats. - Trump 'trap' - Trump's approach was to apply ever more pressure on Iran, but the Islamic republic "has tried very hard not to fall into his trap", said the Iranian conservative Mohebbian. So far, he said, Iran had acted "in a flexible and restrained manner to show the world that it's Trump who's trying to destroy the deal". In April, the United States blacklisted Iran's Revolutionary Guards as a "foreign terrorist organisation". In response, Iran declared the US a "state sponsor of terrorism" and American forces in the Middle East and beyond as "terrorist groups". But any Iranian move against the US faces difficulties as it risks harming ties with neighbours, including Iraq, Therme said. However, "the main factor in favour of maintaining a cold peace is the strong opposition to war among people in both countries," the analyst told AFP. "In Iran, the Iran-Iraq war is still very much alive in the collective memory," he said. "One of the main strengths of the Islamic republic is ensuring stability", in contrast to its war-torn neighbours Iraq and Afghanistan. The 1980-88 war between Iran and Iraq exhausted both sides and saw neither make any territorial gains. It is estimated to have left a total 680,000 people dead or missing on both sides. Convicted murderers Michael Samra (L), 41, and Donnie Edward Johnson (R), 68, are to be executed in Alabama and Tennessee respectively A Tennessee man who killed his wife and an Alabama man convicted of a quadruple murder were executed by lethal injection Thursday. Donnie Edward Johnson, 68, was convicted in 1984 of murdering his wife, Connie Johnson, in Memphis, Tennessee, by stuffing a plastic garbage bag down her throat and suffocating her. Michael Brandon Samra, 41, was convicted in 1998 for his involvement in the murders of Randy Duke, Duke's girlfriend Dedra Mims Hunt, and Hunt's six-year-old and seven-year-old daughters. Samra, who is described as being of "borderline intelligence" in court documents, was 19 years old at the time of the 1997 murders in Pelham, Alabama. He carried out the slayings with Duke's 16-year-old son, Mark Duke, who was angry because his father had denied him the use of his truck. Randy Duke and Dedra Mims Hunt were shot to death while the two young girls had their throats slit. Mark Duke was also sentenced to death but his sentence was changed to life in prison after the US Supreme Court ruled in 2005 that offenders who were under 18 years old at the time of their crimes should not be executed. Samra had appealed his death sentence on the grounds that the death penalty should not be applied to offenders who were under 21 years old at the time of their crimes but the Supreme Court has declined to raise the age. His lawyers had also asked Alabama Governor Kay Ivey to grant Samra clemency on the same grounds. But she refused, saying Thursday's execution showed "justice has been delivered" and that "Alabama does not tolerate murderous acts of any nature." In Tennessee, Johnson asked Governor Bill Lee to stay his execution because he had been redeemed through Seventh-Day Adventist religious practice during his time in prison. Despite support for clemency from the head of his church, Catholic bishops and the daughter of his victim, Lee declined. Before his execution, Johnson said, "I commend my life into your hands. Thy will be done. In Jesus's name I pray. Amen." There were five previous executions in the United States this year, three in Texas, one in Georgia and one in Alabama. Nemmouche was sentenced to life in prison in March for the anti-Semitic rampage in Brussels Belgian authorities have transferred Mehdi Nemmouche, the French jihadist who killed four people at a Jewish museum in 2014, to Paris for questioning over his suspected role in the kidnapping of four journalists in Syria in 2013, a legal source said Friday. Nemmouche, 34, was sentenced to life in prison in March for the anti-Semitic rampage in Brussels, when he gunned down two Israeli tourists, a French volunteer and a young Belgian employee. The museum attack came after his return from Syria's battlefields, where Nemmouche is accused of acting as the jailer of four French journalists taken hostage by jihadists in the northern city of Aleppo in 2013. During his Brussels trial two of the journalists testified they had no doubt Nemmouche was one of their captors. He was brought to France on Wednesday and is being held at the Meaux-Chauconin prison east of Paris, the legal source said, confirming a report in French magazine L'Express. Nemmouche and Nacer Bendrer, his accomplice in the museum attack, were already expected to serve their sentences in France. Even before the Brussels trial a French judge had summoned Nemmouche to France for questioning about the kidnapping, but he had refused to speak. The journalists were held by the Islamic State group in Aleppo for 13 months until their release in April 2014, when they were found blindfolded and with their hands bound in the no-man's land on the border between Syria and Turkey. Nicolas Henin, one of the kidnapped journalists, described Nemmouche in a magazine article later that year as "a self-centred fantasist for whom jihad was finally an excuse to satisfy his morbid thirst for notoriety. A young man lost and perverse." Late April to the end of May is the peak climbing season for Mount Everest (centre R) and many Himalayan mountains Mount Everest claimed Friday its first fatality of the main spring climbing season, an Indian man, while an Irish mountaineer was also missing, expedition organisers in Nepal said. A Bulgarian climber also died on adjoining Mount Lhotse as he was descending, government officials said, and an Indian soldier died on nearby Mount Makalu. Ravi Thakar, 28, was found dead inside his tent at Everest Camp 4 at an elevation 7,920 metres (26,000 feet) on Friday morning as his team was resting after a successful summit. "Efforts are underway to bring his body back," Mingma Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks told AFP. A day earlier his team lost an Irish member, Seamus Lawless, 39, when he slipped from below the "balcony" area at around 8,300 metres. Sherpa said that guides have intensified their search for him. The two were part of an eight-member team that included Saray Khumalo, who became the first black African woman to summit Everest. The Indian soldier, 35, from the Indian Army's expedition to Mount Makalu died at around 8,200 metres as he was returning from the summit. The team was in the news last month after tweeting a picture of "yeti" footprints, sparking ridicule and jokes online. Another Indian climber also went missing on Mount Makalu on Thursday night as the team the 52-year-old was with was descending. "The weather was not good and he probably lagged behind. A search team this morning could not find him, but we will keep looking," Sherpa said. Many Himalayan mountains -- including Everest -- are at peak climbing season, with the window of good weather between late April and the end of May. The death toll is already mounting, however. On Wednesday two other Indians died on Mount Kanchenjunga, the world's third-highest peak, with one Chilean missing. Last week Peruvian climber Richard Hidalgo died on Makalu, the world's fifth-highest summit. A Malaysian died in April after being rescued from Annapurna, where he spent two nights in the open near the summit. Hundreds of climbers flock each year to Nepal -- home to eight of the world's 14 highest peaks -- creating a lucrative mountaineering industry for the impoverished country. Last year five people died on Everest alone. US President Donald Trump at the White House From the crises with Iran and Venezuela to the drawn-out negotiations with China and North Korea, President Donald Trump's foreign policy is hitting a rough patch. While just a few months ago Trump was hopeful for big wins on the international scene, has recently appeared frustrated on multiple fronts. - Tensions soar with Iran - A US Navy image of the USS Abraham Lincoln, which the Trump administration says was deployed to the region in response to Iran Trump a year ago took the United States in a sharply different direction on Iran as he pulled out of a multinational deal negotiated under his predecessor, Barack Obama, under which Tehran drastically scaled back its nuclear work in return for promises of sanctions relief. Trump instead has imposed an ever-mounting series of unilateral sanctions, including vowing to stop all countries from buying Iran's chief export of oil, as he seeks to curb the clerical regime's "destabilizing" role in the region. But a year later, Iran has not met any of the 12 demands laid out by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and European powers are openly dismissive of their US ally as they try to preserve the nuclear accord. The showdown sharply escalated this month when the United States said it was deploying an aircraft carrier strike group and nuclear-capable bombers to the region in response to what officials called an imminent threat from Tehran. But Trump ran for office on promises to scale back costly overseas interventions and a series of reports say he has begun to doubt the approach of his hawkish national security advisor, John Bolton, who for years has advocated attacking Iran. Trump has said he wants dialogue with Iran -- which looks unlikely to reciprocate in a substantive way. - Impasse on North Korea - Cut-out boards of President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Seoul Unlike Iran, which still is observing the nuclear deal, North Korea has tested nuclear weapons -- and is estimated to be producing enough material for a new bomb every two months. "This is a defeat. The end result of Trump will be that North Korea will continue to proliferate and Iran will return to proliferation," a European diplomat said. North Korea was supposed to be the main success story for Trump, who held two landmark summits with leader Kim Jong Un in hopes of negotiating a deal to end its nuclear arsenal. But the last encounter, in Hanoi in February, ended in stalemate with Trump's aides firm against lifting sanctions until North Korea comprehensively gives up its nuclear weapons. Trump has voiced hope for reviving talks. But little headway is visible and North Korea recently tested two short-range missiles -- not seen as a violation of agreements, but still a sign of how much the situation has worsened. - Frustration in Venezuela - Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido (left) is in an extended showdown with President Nicolas Maduro Trump had long criticized the US policy of regime change, advocated by neo-conservatives within his Republican Party in the 2000s. But the president himself has found an exception -- Venezuela. In January, Trump declared President Nicolas Maduro -- a socialist who presides over a crumbling economy and whose re-election was tainted by widespread allegations of irregularities -- to be illegitimate and recognized opposition chief Juan Guaido as interim leader. In a rare success at finding allies, more than 50 countries now back Guaido including most powers in Latin America and Europe. But an April 30 uprising planned by Guaido quickly fizzled out, with the Trump administration saying several key figures in the Maduro regime failed to carry out promises. Venezuela remains in a stalemate, with the United States refusing dialogue with Maduro. Guaido nonetheless said he sent delegates to Norway, which is seeking to mediate, although he denied talks with Maduro. - Power struggle intensifies with China - The Huawei logo seen in March 2019 Trump as a candidate promised a tough line with China on trade and has carried through, recently slapping tariffs on a $200 billion tranche of Chinese merchandise and effectively barring telecom giant Huawei from the US market. But a resolution on the trade disputes between the world's two largest economies remains elusive, despite rounds of talks and several indications that an accord was imminent. China has announced its own retaliatory tariffs and has struck back, in particular by drastically cutting purchases from US farmers and ranchers -- a crucial voting base for Trump in next year's election. - Syria, Afghanistan withdrawal - Zalmay Khalilzad, who is leading US negotiations with the Taliban, speaks in April 2019 in Kabul Trump took office vowing to end seemingly perpetual wars that have brought enormous costs to the United States over the past two decades. But his promise in December to withdraw all of the estimated 2,000 US troops in Syria triggered a backlash that contributed to the resignation of his respected defense secretary, Jim Mattis. Trump has since walked back the promise, with US officials saying that the United States will keep a small force in Syria. On Afghanistan, where the United States has been at war for nearly 18 years, veteran diplomat Zalmay Khalilzad has entered talks with the Taliban and both sides have voiced optimism for future rounds. But the Taliban refuse to speak to the government in Kabul and have not given up on violence, earlier this month killing nine people in an attack on a US-funded non-profit group. LONDON (AP) - The Latest on Brexit talks (all times local): 11:30 a.m. The German government says it still has a "great interest" in Britain reaching a domestic agreement on how to move forward on Brexit, after talks between government and opposition broke down. Martina Fietz, a spokeswoman for Chancellor Angela Merkel, said Friday that she can't comment specifically on the latest development. But she said that the German government's interest in Britain agreeing how to organize the country's exit from the European Union and get it through Parliament "is of course still there, and we are watching with interest what is happening in London." Britain was due to leave the EU on March 29, but the bloc has extended the Brexit deadline until Oct. 31. German Foreign Ministry spokesman Rainer Breul said "we of course expect from the British side that they use this time frame and don't face the same situation in October that we had a few weeks ago." FILE - In this Thursday, March 21, 2019 file photo, British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks outside EU headquarters in Brussels. Cross-party talks in Britain aimed at striking a compromise Brexit deal broke down on Friday May 17, 2019, without agreement. Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn says the talks with Prime Minister Theresa May's government have "gone as far as they can." (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, file) ___ 10:50 a.m. Cross-party talks in Britain aimed at striking a compromise Brexit deal have broken down without agreement. Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn says the talks with Prime Minister Theresa May's government have "gone as far as they can." The two sides have held weeks of negotiations to see if they can agree on terms for Britain's exit from the European Union that can win support in Parliament. The talks began after lawmakers rejected May's divorce deal with the EU three times. But the Conservatives and Labour differ on how close an economic relationship to seek with the bloc after the U.K. leaves. Britain was due to leave the EU on March 29, but Brexit has been delayed until Oct. 31 amid the political impasse. SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The Latest on a California court weighing Trump's plan to seek Pentagon funding for border wall (all times local): 1:40 p.m. Arguments have concluded in a federal courtroom in California where billions of dollars that would allow President Donald Trump to build his border wall is at stake. U.S. District Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. heard arguments in two cases that seek to block the White House from spending money secured for wall construction under Trump's declaration of a national emergency in February. California and 19 other states brought one lawsuit; the Sierra Club and a coalition of communities along the border, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, brought the other. They plaintiffs sought an injunction to block the government from moving forward with its construction plans. The judge said he will make a decision next week. FILE - In this Dec. 12, 2018 file photo, Honduran migrants, one carrying a child, who plan to turn themselves over to U.S. border patrol agents, walk up the embankment after climbing over the U.S. border wall from Playas de Tijuana, Mexico in Tijuana, Mexico. The group crossed to apply for asylum. A federal judge on Friday, May 17, 2019, in California will consider a challenge to President Donald Trump's plan to tap billions of dollars from the Defense and Treasury departments to build his prized border wall with Mexico. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo, File) ___ 8:30 a.m. President Donald Trump is moving fast to spend billions of dollars to build a wall on the Mexican border with money secured under his declaration of a national emergency, but he first must get past the courts. On Friday, a federal judge in Oakland, California, will consider arguments in two cases that seek to block the White House from spending Defense and Treasury Department money for wall construction. California and 19 other states brought one lawsuit; the Sierra Club and Southern Border Communities Coalition, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, brought the other. On Thursday, a federal judge in the nation's capital will consider a bid by the U.S. House of Representatives to prevent Trump from spending any Defense Department money for a border wall. At stake is billions of dollars that would allow Trump to make major progress on a signature campaign promise heading into his campaign for a second term. FILE - In this Friday, April 5, 2019 file photo, President Donald Trump speaks as he visits a new section of the border wall with Mexico in Calexico, Calif. A federal judge on Friday, May 17, 2019, in California will consider a challenge to Trump's plan to tap billions of dollars from the Defense and Treasury departments to build his prized border wall with Mexico. Twenty states brought one lawsuit; the Sierra Club and Southern Border Communities Coalition, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, brought the other. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File) FILE - In this Dec. 9, 2018 file photo, a woman and children are ushered into cars by U.S. Border Patrol agents after crossing illegally over the border wall into San Diego, Calif., as seen from Tijuana, Mexico. A federal judge in California on Friday, May 17, 2019, will consider a challenge to President Donald Trump's plan to tap billions of dollars from the Defense and Treasury departments to build his prized border wall with Mexico. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File) By Brad Brooks RIO DE JANEIRO, May 17 (Reuters) - The FBI is investigating corporate giants Johnson & Johnson, Siemens, General Electric and Philips for allegedly paying kickbacks as part of a scheme involving medical equipment sales in Brazil, two Brazilian investigators have told Reuters. The firms are suspected by Brazilian prosecutors of channeling illegal payoffs to government officials to secure contracts with public health programs across the South American country over the past two decades. Brazilian authorities say more than 20 companies may have been part of a "cartel" that paid bribes and charged the government inflated prices for medical gear such as magnetic resonance imaging machines and prosthetics. The four multinationals, with a combined market capitalization of nearly $600 billion at Thursday's market close, are the largest foreign enterprises to be investigated in an unprecedented anti-corruption push in Brazil in recent years. Big U.S. and European firms found to have engaged in wrongdoing in Brazil could also face heavy fines and other punishment under the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Since 1977, that law has made it illegal for American citizens, U.S. companies or foreign companies whose securities are listed in the United States to pay foreign officials to win business. Foreign firms are the latest targets of government corruption probes in Brazil. Over the past five years, prosecutors have uncovered pervasive graft in state institutions and private-sector companies seeking to do business with them. The sprawling investigations by prosecutors and federal police, including the famed "Car Wash" dragnet centered on Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras, have toppled business and political leaders across Latin America. Authorities say plea-bargain testimonies garnered from suspects alerted them to other possible schemes, including alleged bribes paid by multinationals to obtain public contracts in Brazil. 'CONSTANTLY SHARING' Brazilian federal prosecutor Marisa Ferrari confirmed in an interview with Reuters that U.S. authorities from the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission were assisting in the Brazilian medical equipment investigation she helps lead. In 2016, U.S. and Brazilian prosecutors jointly negotiated the world's largest-ever compliance penalty, a $3.5 billion fine against Brazilian construction conglomerate Odebrecht SA for its part in the Car Wash scandal. "We are constantly sharing information with the FBI on this (medical equipment) case. They ask for documents and we send them, and they are assisting our investigation in return," Ferrari said. In addition, Ferrari said, "we've received a lot of material from the Department of Justice and from the SEC." She declined to name which companies U.S. law enforcement agencies were investigating. Two Brazilian investigators with direct knowledge of the matter confirmed to Reuters that Johnson & Johnson, Siemens AG, General Electric Co, and Koninklijke Philips NV were being targeted by the FBI for alleged bribery in Brazil. The people requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the U.S. side of the investigation. The FBI would not confirm or deny the existence of any investigations. The SEC, which also investigates FCPA allegations, said by email that it declined to comment. Boston-based GE declined to comment on any investigation related to its business in Brazil. It said in an emailed statement that "we are committed to integrity, compliance and the rule of law in Brazil and every other country in which we do business." Siemens, which is based in Munich, said in an emailed statement that the firm "is not aware of any FBI investigation of the company related to cartel activity in Brazil." It said its policy is always to cooperate with law enforcement investigations when they occur. Amsterdam-based Philips confirmed in an email that it is under investigation in Brazil. In its 2018 annual report, Philips acknowledged that it "has also received inquiries from certain US authorities in respect to this matter." In its emailed response to Reuters, Philips said "it is not uncommon for US authorities to show an interest in these matters and it is too early to draw any conclusions." New Brunswick, New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson said in an emailed response that the Department of Justice and the SEC "have made preliminary inquiries to the company" in regard to a raid by Brazilian federal police on its Sao Paulo offices last year, and that the firm is cooperating. 'TRULY MASSIVE' Ferrari, the Brazilian prosecutor, said the medical equipment investigation was in its early stages. Still, she said evidence points to widespread bribery and price-gouging by firms looking to tap into Brazil's public healthcare system, one of the world's largest, serving 210 million people. "Because the Brazilian government's health budget is so huge, this scheme is truly massive," Ferrari said. "This first case is just a tiny sliver of what is to come." In addition to paying kickbacks through intermediaries to secure contracts, some suppliers charged Brazil's government inflated prices - up to eight times the market price - to help cover the cost of their bribes, according to court filings and plea-bargain testimony secured by prosecutors. GE's former chief executive for Latin America, Daurio Speranzini, and 22 others were charged last year in the first case connected to the alleged scheme. Prosecutors say that case, focused on Rio de Janeiro state, saw Brazilian taxpayers bilked out of at least 600 million reais ($149.38 million) between 2007 and 2018 through padded contracts awarded to crooked medical equipment suppliers. Lawyers for Speranzini, who left GE in November, said by email that he is innocent. Prosecutors allege Speranzini first took part in the cartel as the head of the Philips Healthcare operation in Latin America from 2004 until the end of 2010. A whistleblower told Philips' compliance office about the fraud, and Speranzini was fired after an internal probe, according to the documents. He was hired by GE a few months after leaving Philips. Investigators say they have strong evidence that Speranzini continued with the scheme while at GE. GE declined to comment on Speranzini's hiring or exit from the company. ($1 = 4.0165 reais) (Reporting by Brad Brooks Editing by Marla Dickerson) By Lefteris Papadimas ATHENS, May 17 (Reuters) - Greece's National Bank (NBG) plans to securitise three billion euros of non-performing mortgage loans by 2022, its chief executive said on Friday, as the country's lenders battle to deal with a legacy of bad debt. Non-performing exposures in the Greek banking sector totalled 81.8 billion euros ($91.3 billion) in December, which at 46.7% of their loan books is the euro zone's highest. The government and central bank have come up with more radical initiatives involving securitisations as the urgency for Greek banks to slash their soured loans rises. Presenting the 2019-2022 strategy of the country's second-largest lender, Chief Executive Paul Mylonas told a news conference that NBG also plans to sell three soured loans portfolios within 2019. NBG said on Thursday that it aims to reduce its non-performing loan portfolio to around 5% of total loans by 2022, from 41% at the end of 2018. This target does not take into account the possible inclusion of its soured loans into two different schemes that Athens and the central bank have been working on, Mylonas said. One plan to solve the problem is an asset protection scheme (APS) that was put together by the finance ministry and the country's bank rescue fund HFSF, which holds stakes in Greek banks after taking part in three recapitalisations. It involves special purpose vehicles (SPVs) that would issue bonds with a government guarantee for senior tranches, similar to a model known as GACS which has been tried in Italy. A second plan proposed by the Bank of Greece is a scheme to have banks transfer NPEs to an SPV, aiming for a single-digit NPE ratio within two to three years. Banks would transfer a portion of NPEs and deferred tax credits to an SPV that would fund the transfer with securitisations. Under an EU-approved restructuring plan to divest non-core assets, NBG twice failed to sell a 75 percent stake in its wholly-owned insurance unit last year. On Friday, Mylonas said that NBG will start talking to potential investors for the sale of its insurance business soon. "We have an obligation to sell it by 2020," he said. Asked if there was serious interest in the unit at the moment, Mylonas said "no". NBG is also looking at its operational costs, which are the highest about the country's four biggest lenders, and will soon launch a new voluntary redundancy scheme, Mylonas added. ($1 = 0.8955 euros) (Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas; Editing by Alexander Smith) By Robin Emmott and Alissa de Carbonnel MALAGA/DUBLIN/BUDAPEST, May 17 (Reuters) - A convoy of black Mercedes pulled up at the 'Bar El Gusto' near Malaga, disturbing the peace of European pensioners sitting in beachwear, and a man in a dark suit and tie stepped onto the terrace. German politician Manfred Weber, the top conservative candidate in next week's European Parliament elections, had come to Spain's Costa del Sol as part of campaigning for the May 23-26 poll, undaunted by his lack of star power. "He certainly looks important," said Maartje Martens, 73, a Belgian retiree sitting at the bar, who had not heard of Weber. For the first time in five decades of these elections, Weber and his rivals are trying to create a buzz about EU policies touching the lives of 427 million voters who have gradually lost interest, with voter turnout steadily falling. "To be a winner in today's globalised world, our only chance is together as Europeans," Weber, running for the centre-right European People's Party (EPP), told a group of British, Belgian and German expatriates near Malaga. Despite being the world's second-biggest democratic election, the poll for the 751 seats in the parliament is essentially a collection of 28 national votes where individual parties and their candidates campaign on local issues. The EU, the world's largest trading bloc, has no significant pan-European media, political parties or true body politic and has not moved beyond national democracies. The European project is regularly criticised for being distant from citizens. "What you are doing on a daily basis in the European Parliament is lawmaking and that is always of course tedious, technical, legalistic, but behind it there is always political messaging," Bas Eickhout, a lead candidate for the Greens, told Reuters as he campaigned in the Hungarian capital Budapest. Europeans can only vote for people in the country they live in or are from. Despite support from French President Emmanuel Macron and others, the idea of pan-European seats is opposed by many. So Europe-wide campaigning is of marginal significance. Only Germans can vote for Weber, the Dutch for Eickhout. Yet the 2009-2012 euro zone crisis, Britain's 2016 decision to quit the bloc, the rise of populist anti-establishment parties and global issues such as climate change, which are too great for a single EU state to deal with, do appear to have spurred an urgency among pro-European groups. WHAT ELECTION? Weber's Socialist rival Frans Timmermans calls the 2019 election a litmus test: "Are we able to show that we understand local issues and the link with Europe?" he told Reuters during a stop in Dublin as part of a European odyssey he has dubbed the 'Tour de Frans'. Political "families" such as the EPP, the Green Party and the Socialists also want their top candidate to have a shot at being elected as the European Union's next chief executive, as "Spitzenkandidat", or German for lead candidate. While an attempt was made in the last elections in 2014 to generate a more pan-European campaigning process, lawmakers say it was last-minute, largely ignored by the media and involved just a few ad-hoc campaign events outside Brussels. This time round, liberals, Greens, conservatives and Socialists are trying something more akin to a U.S.-style presidential campaign, hiring planes, printing campaign T-shirts, going to canvass for votes, talking on radio shows across Europe and participating in televised debates. Still, obstacles to cross-border efforts are enormous, starting with the physical fatigue of travelling to cities and towns across 28 countries over just a few weeks. After dawn early this month, Timmermans stepped into his black Mercedes in Dublin after taking three different commercial flights from an EU summit in Sibiu, Romania, the night before. Later that day he went on to Hanover and then to Porto. During Timmermans' seven-hour campaign stop in Ireland, his day included canvassing for votes at Maynooth railway station outside of Dublin, dancing with African immigrants at a community centre in the seaside town of Bray and having tea with retirees at a new housing complex in Dublin. Reaching voters can prove difficult too. "I didn't even know the elections were on," said a woman in Maynooth who gave her name as Louise as she rushed through the station ticket barrier. She had never heard of Timmermans despite his being well-known in the Netherlands, where he used to be foreign minister before his current job as deputy head of the European Commission, the EU's executive in Brussels. "But I'll probably be voting in the elections now," she said as a member of Timmermans' team thrust a leaflet into her hand. DIFFERENT TOWN, SAME PROBLEM Eickhout, 42, spent a day in Budapest in early May to lend his support to the embattled Green party there, hoping to win one seat in the new EU legislature. "It's important to show ... we are not alone here," said Gabor Vago, who heads the small opposition LMP party's list. Unlike Weber, 46, and Timmermans, 58, Eickhout eschewed limousines, hopping on the metro to speak to local TV crews at an anti-nuclear rally and strolling to meet climate activists. With no pan-European presence, lead candidates are forced to rely on their national party networks, and even linguists such as Timmermans, fluent in five EU languages, are limited by cultural barriers when away from their home countries. Weber was piggy-backing on a People's Party (PP) rally in Malaga just before Spain's April 28 national election, stepping onto a stage with giant screens, pumping rock music. Fired-up Spanish PP voters cheered and applauded the German. But delivering his stump speech to a non-English speaking audience, Weber faced the hum of distracted chatter in the audience as Spanish-language subtitles failed to scan on screen. Still, Weber, Timmermans and Eickhout say they take heart from discovering during their campaigns that the same issues resonate with Europeans, regardless of their nationality. "In this campaign, wherever I go, people link their problems directly with Europe. It's jobs or housing or social security or the environment. They understand that Europe has a role in that, and that understanding has deepened," Timmermans said. (Editing by Anna Willard) The mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, Hafiz Saeed, could be roaming free in Pakistan but his brother-in-law, Abdul Rehman Makki, has been put behind bars, reportedly on charges of delivering hate speech. Abdul Rehman Makki, head of the Jamaat-ud-Dawas (JUD) political and international affairs wing and in charge of its charity Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF), was arrested during a government crackdown against the outlawed organisations. Hafiz Saeed's Brother-in-Law: Abdul Rehman Makki is currently under arrest. (Source: Twitter) Makki stands accused of delivering hate speech against the crackdown and criticising steps taken by the government under the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) guidelines, the report said. In February, after the Pulwama terror attack that killed 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel in Kashmir, international terror financing watchdog FATF decided to continue the 'Grey' listing of Pakistan for its failure to stop the funding of terrorist groups such as the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the JuD. Pakistan was on the grey list of countries of risk between 2012 and 2015 as well. The Pakistan government has now apparently launched a crackdown against the outlawed organisations under the National Action Plan 2015 to eliminate militancy and extremism from the country. And Makki has hit the limelight with his arrest at a time when Hafiz Saeed has been maintaining a low profile. An Ominous Quiet? Hafiz Saeed has been maintaining a low profile in Pakistan. (Source: Twitter) The Imran Khan-led government has been taking some steps to show it is serious about acting against terrorism. Makkis arrest should be seen in the same light. The government has also announced the freezing of accounts and theseizure of assets linked to organisations banned by the UN Security Council. The government banned 11 organisations for having links with the proscribed outifts JuD, FIF and JeM on May 11. After the February 14 Pulwama terror attack, in which 40 Indian security personnel were killed by a suicide bomber from the Pakistan-based JeM, Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan had said Islamabad would not spare any group involved in militancy or found using Pakistani soil for any kind of terror activity against other countries. The FIF, like the JuD, was also banned in March by the Pakistan government. However, despite Makki's arrest, knowing Pakistan, it is clear that not much is going to come out of these moves and Makki too would be a free man soon, much like Hafiz Saeed. Also read: Hafiz Saeed is in the news: Why this is significant in a post-Pulwama time Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA provides dialysis care and related dialysis care services in Germany, North America, and internationally. It offers dialysis treatment and related laboratory and diagnostic services through a network of outpatient dialysis clinics; materials, training, and patient support services comprising clinical monitoring, follow-up assistance, and arranging for delivery of the supplies to the patient's residence; and dialysis services under contract to hospitals in the United States for the hospitalized end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients and for patients suffering from acute kidney failure. The company also develops, manufactures, and distributes dialysis products, including polysulfone dialyzers, hemodialysis machines, peritoneal dialysis cyclers, peritoneal dialysis solutions, hemodialysis concentrates, solutions and granulates, bloodlines, renal pharmaceuticals, and systems for water treatment; and non-dialysis products, such as acute cardiopulmonary and apheresis products. In addition, it develops, acquires, and in-licenses renal pharmaceuticals; offers renal medications and supplies to patients at homes or to dialysis clinics; and provides vascular, cardiovascular, endovascular specialty, vascular care ambulatory surgery center, and physician nephrology and cardiology services. The company sells its products to dialysis clinics, hospitals, and specialized treatment clinics directly, as well as through local sales forces, independent distributors, dealers, and sales agents. As of December 31, 2020, it operated 4,092 outpatient dialysis clinics in approximately 150 countries. Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Bad Homburg, Germany. Read More CompuGroup Medical SE & Co. KGaA develops and sells software and information technology solutions for the healthcare sector worldwide. It operates in four segments: Ambulatory Information Systems (AIS), Pharmacy Information Systems (PCS), Hospital Information Systems (HIS), and Consumer & Health Management Information Systems (CHS). The AIS segment provides practice management software and electronic medical records for registered physicians, medical care centers, and physicians networks, as well as offers supplementary Internet and intranet solutions. The PCS segment provides administrative and billing-related software applications for pharmacies. Its software solution provides information and decision support to manage various aspects of supply chain for medication. The HIS segment provides clinical and administrative solutions for the inpatient sector. This segment serves acute care hospitals, rehabilitation centers, social services, multi-location hospital networks and regional care organizations, and medical laboratories. The CHS segment provides IT security services, data-based product offers, software interface for sharing of information, clinical decision-making support, and medication and treatment databases for healthcare service providers, as well as digital healthcare stock, consumer portals, and mobile apps. This segment also offers security solutions for healthcare providers. It serves pharmaceutical companies, health insurance companies, and other healthcare IT companies and consumers. The company was formerly known as CompuGroup Medical SE and changed its name to CompuGroup Medical SE & Co. KGaA in June 2020. CompuGroup Medical SE & Co. KGaA was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Koblenz, Germany. Read More Ensign Energy Services Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides oilfield services to the crude oil and natural gas industries in Canada, the United States, and internationally. The company offers shallow, intermediate, and deep well drilling, as well as specialized drilling services, including horizontal, underbalanced, horizontal re-entry, and slant drilling for steam assisted gravity drainage applications; and equipment and other services. It also provides coring and oil sands drilling services to the mining, and oil and natural gas industries; directional drilling and related services for conventional and horizontal drilling applications; shallow to deep well services, such as completions, abandonments, production, workovers, and bottom hole pump changes for oil and natural gas producers; and interactive pressure drilling services with self-contained systems comprising nitrogen generation and compression equipment, and surface control systems. In addition, the company rents drill strings, loaders, tanks, pumps, rig mattings, blow-out preventers, waste bins, and wastewater treatment equipment for the drilling and completions segments of the oilfield industry. Further, the company offers transportation services. As of December 31, 2020, it operated a fleet of 271 land drilling rigs, 21 specialty coring rigs, and 99 well servicing rigs. The company was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada. Read More Athabasca Oil Corporation engages in the exploration, development, and production of light and thermal oil resource plays in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin in Alberta, Canada. The company operates in Light Oil and Thermal Oil divisions. Its principal properties are in the Greater Placid and Greater Kaybob areas near the Town of Fox Creek in northwestern Alberta; and the Leismer and Hangingstone projects located in the Athabasca region of northeastern Alberta. The company produces light oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids; and bitumen from sand and carbonate rock formations. As of December 31, 2020, it held approximately 1,208,000 net acres of mineral resource leases, licenses, and permits, which include approximately 608,000 net acres of oil sands leases and permits in the Athabasca region of northeastern Alberta and approximately 357,265 net acres of petroleum and natural gas leases in northwestern Alberta with approximately 242,000 net acres; and had an interest in approximately 269 gross wells of crude oil and natural gas. The company was formerly known as Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. and changed its name to Athabasca Oil Corporation in May 2012. Athabasca Oil Corporation was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada. Read More Boyd Group Income Fund operates as an unincorporated open-ended mutual fund trust. The company, through its operating company, The Boyd Group Inc., operates non-franchised collision repair centers. Its collision repair centers offer automotive collision and glass repair, and related services. The company operates its autobody/autoglass repair and related services facilities, as well as auto glass retail facilities under the Boyd Autobody & Glass, Assured Automotive, Gerber Collision & Glass, Glass America, Auto Glass Service, Auto Glass Authority, and Autoglassonly.com trade names in the United States and Canada. Further, it provides Gerber National Claim Services, a claim administrator service, which offer glass, emergency roadside, and first notice of loss services with approximately 5,500 glass provider locations and 4,600 emergency roadside services providers. The company is headquartered in Winnipeg, Canada. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of EnerSys: ABSL Power Solutions Inc., ABSL Power Solutions Ltd., Acumuladores Industriales EnerSys SA, Alpha Alternative Energy Inc., Alpha Broadband Services Inc., Alpha Innovations Industria e Comercio de Produtos Eletronicos Ltda., Alpha Innovations Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Alpha Mexico Network Power S.A. de C.V., Alpha Tech Energy Solutions India Private Limited, Alpha Technical Services Ltd., Alpha Technologies Ltd., Alpha Technologies Pty. Ltd., Alpha Technologies Services Inc., Alphatec Technologies (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., Argus Research Ltd., Batterias Hawker de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Battery Power International Pte Ltd., Coppervale Enterprises Inc., DCPM Engineering Sdn Bhd, EH Batterien AG, EH Europe GmbH, EH Global Holdings GmbH, EH Swiss Holdings GmbH, ENAS Industrial Batteries Morocco Sarl, EnerSys (Chaozhou) Huada Batteries Company Limited, EnerSys (China) Huada Batteries Company Limited, EnerSys (Chongqing) Huada Batteries Company Limited, EnerSys (Jiangsu) Huada Batteries Company Limited (94.7%) *, EnerSys (Luxembourg) Finance Sarl, EnerSys (Yangzhou) Huada Batteries Co. Ltd., EnerSys A/S, EnerSys AB, EnerSys AD, EnerSys AE, EnerSys AS, EnerSys Advanced Systems Inc., EnerSys Argentina S.A., EnerSys Asia Limited, EnerSys Australia Pty Ltd., EnerSys BV, EnerSys BVBA, EnerSys Battery Private Limited, EnerSys Brasil Ltda., EnerSys Bulgaria EOOD, EnerSys Canada Inc., EnerSys Capital Inc., EnerSys Cayman Euro L.P., EnerSys Cayman Holdings L.P., EnerSys Cayman Inc., EnerSys Delaware Inc., EnerSys Delaware LLC I, EnerSys Delaware LLC II, EnerSys Delaware LLC III, EnerSys Delaware LLC IV, EnerSys Delaware LLC V, EnerSys Energy Products Inc., EnerSys Europe Oy, EnerSys European Holding Co., EnerSys GmbH, EnerSys Holdings (Luxembourg) Sarl, EnerSys Holdings UK Ltd., EnerSys Hungaria Kft., EnerSys India Batteries Private Ltd., EnerSys JSC, EnerSys LLC, EnerSys Ltd., EnerSys Malaysia Sdn Bhd, EnerSys Mexico Holdings LLC, EnerSys Mexico Management LLC, EnerSys Participacoes Ltda., EnerSys Reserve Power Pte. Ltd., EnerSys S.r.l., EnerSys SARL, EnerSys SNC, EnerSys South East Asia Pte. Ltd., EnerSys de Mexico II S de R.L. de CV, EnerSys de Mexico S de R.L. de CV, EnerSys s.r.o., EnerSys sp. z o.o., EnerSystem Chile Ltda., Enersys Aku Sanaya Dis Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Esfinco LLC, Hawker GmbH, Hawker Power Systems Inc., Hawker Powersource Inc., Hawker Systems GmbH & Co. KG., ICS Industries Pty Ltd, ICS Industries Pty Ltd., ICS Sheet Metal Pty Ltd., Industrial Battery Holding Ltda., International Communication Shelters Australasia Pty Ltd., Lancord Pty Ltd., Lenmic Pty Ltd., MIB Energy Sdn Bhd, N Holding AB, National Infrastructure Pty Ltd., National Infrastructure Services Pty Ltd., NaviSemi Energy Pte Ltd., NaviSemi Inc., New Pacifico Realty Inc., NorthStar Battery Company LLC, NorthStar Battery Company LLC, NorthStar Battery DMCC, Outback Power Technologies Inc., Powercom (NSW) Pty Ltd., Powersonic S de R.L. de CV, Purcell Systems, Purcell Systems Inc., Purcell Systems International AB, Quallion LLC, Riverfront Holding S. de R.L. de C.V., Shenzhen Huada Power Supply Mechanical & Electrical Co. Ltd. , SiteTel Shanghai Co Ltd., SiteTel Sweden AB, Telecomponents & Supply (Hong Kong) Ltd., The Enser Corporation, UTS Holdings Sdn Bhd, UTS Technology (JB) Sdn Bhd, UTS Technology (PG) Sdn Bhd, YCI Inc., and Yecoltd S. de R.L. de CV. Surge Energy Inc. explores for, develops, and produces oil and gas in western Canada. The company holds interest in the Greater Sawn Lake assets located in Northern Alberta; Valhalla/Wembley property located in northwestern Alberta; Sparky assets located between Provost and Wainwright in eastern Alberta and western Saskatchewan; and Shaunavon properties located to the southwest of Swift Current, Saskatchewan. It holds an average working interest of approximately 83% in approximately 109,941 net developed acres and approximately 92% in approximately 152,344 net undeveloped acres in Greater Sawn area; approximately 70% in approximately 16,032 net developed acres and approximately 74% in approximately 8,208 net undeveloped acres in Valhalla area; and approximately 76% in approximately 80,213 net developed acres and 96% in approximately 58,598 net undeveloped acres in Sparky area; and approximately 61% in approximately 88,178 net developed acres and approximately 39% in approximately 10,483 net undeveloped acres in Edmonton and other minor areas. As of December 31, 2020, it held interests in 316 net oil and 13 net gas wells in Greater Sawn area; 56 net oil and 4 net gas wells in Valhalla area; 466 net oil and 10 net gas wells in Sparky area; 176 net oil wells, as well as an average working interest of approximately 100% in approximately 23,409 net developed acres and 13,698 net undeveloped acres in the Shaunavon properties; and 28 net oil wells and 7 net gas wells in Edmonton and other minor areas. The company was formerly known as Zapata Energy Corporation and changed its name to Surge Energy Inc. in June 2010. Surge Energy Inc. was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada. Read More iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF's stock was trading at $39.49 on March 11th, 2020 when Coronavirus reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization. Since then, IEUR shares have increased by 46.1% and is now trading at $57.68. View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19. South Africa: Telkom connects township school to the world A high speed, quality fibre connection, provided by Telkom, is set to make a big difference in the lives of learners of Orlando High School in Soweto. The internet will be an enabler for us as learners from the township. The teaching and learning environment will change drastically and [it] will open a whole new world for us. We will not be left out as the world moves into the Fourth Industry Revolution, said Orlando High student representative Thatho Mahlatsi on Friday morning. The school, which has a rich political history dating back to the liberation struggle, received a fibre connection earlier today as the country marks World Telecommunications and Information Society Day (WTISD). WTIS Day is spearheaded by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and has been celebrated annually since 2006. The day focuses on the importance of ICT and issues relating to the information society. Speaking at the activation, Telkom CEO Sandile Maseko said the fibre connection at the school marks the start of a broader investment into South Africas 26 000 estimated schools. Maseko views the roll out of fibre internet as a catalyst for economic development and education. Our focus is to ensure that many South Africans are connected to quality and fast internet. With more people connected, the less the data will cost, Maseko said. Telkom is exploring partnering with government to roll out a fibre network to public places like schools, hospitals and police stations so that they get connectivity at zero-rated costs. With the right technology, Maseko said, this fibre connection can contribute to many other sectors and contribute to revitalising the township economy. Communications Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, who led the WTISD Day celebrations, said information and communication technologies are important tools for advancing a more equitable and prosperous South Africa. She encouraged the learners to use the connectivity to their advantage and tell the world their stories and history. Governments plan is to ensure that policies and regulations are in place so that Telkom and others are able to roll out internet connectivity throughout the country. As much as government has made investments in the digital space the main drivers are the industry role players. This is why as government we are calling on many other networks to join in connecting the unconnected. The minister said as much as government is driving the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the issue of speed and the quality of the connectivity becomes crucial. She said while President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on investors to invest in the country, government had to ensure the best infrastructure was in place for their investments. Government will be establishing the Digital Development Fund to assist in the rollout of this infrastructure and move the country towards the realisation of the 2030 National Development Plan (NDP) goals. Radio frequency spectrum allocation policy NdabeniAbrahams said government is moving towards finalising the radio frequency spectrum allocation policy directive. She has extensively engaged the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) to ensure the regulator is adequately resourced to effectively conduct the spectrum licencing process once the policy directive is issued. The Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services has reprioritised its finances and has already transferred R10 million to ICASA which will be used to provide for the requisite additional human and financial resources that will be borne by the regulator. To ensure an inclusive approach, Ndabeni-Abrahams said she has invited sector stakeholders to provide written submissions on their interpretation of the definition of the spectrum licencing process. We want to ensure everybody that we are in charge of the process and that everybody will get what they deserve according to the countrys priorities. Through spectrum licensing, government wants to fast-track 4G spectrum assignment which operators have been waiting for for many years. It will also help transform the sector by attracting new investments while also hastening the growth of mobile communications in the country. Broadcasting Digital Migration With regards to the implementation of broadcasting digital migration, the Minister said one of the reasons for the delay was that few people have registered to receive the subsidised set top boxes, which are needed to facilitate the switch from analogue broadcasting to digital. With this in mind, they have extending the rollout until 2020 so as to bring everybody on board. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2019-05-17. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Tacloban City (CNN Philippines, May 17) Eight people died in a collision between a passenger van and a truck in Leyte Friday. According to PLt. Melvin Ay-ay, the crash happened around 6:15 a.m. on the national highway in Sitio Tab-ang, Barangay District III. Speaking to CNN Philippines, Ay-ay said it was a head-on collision. The van was headed to Tacloban City, while the truck was on its way to Babatngon. The Babatngon municipal health officer said eight people in the van died on the spot. Thirteen others, including both drivers and a truck passenger, were brought to the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center in Tacloban, around 27 kilometers from the crash site. Ay-ay said an investigation on going. He added they would wait for the families of those who died on whether or not to press charges. Stringer Wilmark Amazona contributed to this report. CoreLogic, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides property information, insight, analytics, and data-enabled solutions in North America, Western Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates in two segments, Property Intelligence & Risk Management Solutions (PIRM) and Underwriting & Workflow Solutions (UWS). The PIRM segment combines property information, mortgage information, and consumer information to deliver housing market and property-level insights, predictive analytics, and risk management capabilities. It also offers proprietary technology and software platforms to access, automate, or track the information and assist its clients with decision-making and compliance tools in the real estate and insurance industries. This segment primarily serves commercial banks, mortgage lenders and brokers, investment banks, fixed-income investors, real estate agents, MLS companies, property and casualty insurance companies, title insurance companies, government agencies, and government-sponsored enterprises. The UWS segment combines property, mortgage, and consumer information to provide comprehensive mortgage origination and monitoring solutions, including underwriting-related solutions, and data-enabled valuations and appraisals. This segment also provides proprietary technology and software platforms to access, automate, or track the information and assist its clients with vetting and onboarding prospects, and meeting compliance regulations, as well as understanding, evaluating, monitoring property values. It primarily serves mortgage lenders and servicers, mortgage brokers, credit unions, commercial banks, fixed-income investors, government agencies, and property and casualty insurance companies. The company was formerly known as The First American Corporation and changed its name to CoreLogic, Inc. in June 2010. CoreLogic, Inc. was incorporated in 1894 and is headquartered in Irvine, California. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of SYNNEX: 2117974 Ontario Inc., Afina Peru S.A.C., Afina S.R.L., Afina Sistemas Informaticos Limitada, Afina Sistemas Informaticos S.L, Afina Sistemas Sociedade Ltda., Afina Venezuela C.A., Afinasis S.A. de C.V., Asset Ohio Fourth Street LLC, BPO Holdco Cooperatief U.A., Beijing Jumeng Technology Development Ltd., Brazil HoldCo Limited, CNX Services Jamaica Limited, Chongqing Jumeng Technologies Development Ltd., ComputerLand Corporation, Comstor Colombia S.A.S., Concentrix (Canada) Limited, Concentrix (Suzhou) Information Consulting Co. Limited, Concentrix Beteiligungen GmbH, Concentrix Brazil Outsourcing of Processes Administrative Services and Technologies to Enterprises Ltda., Concentrix Business Services UK Limited, Concentrix CMG Canada ULC, Concentrix CRM Services Germany GmbH, Concentrix CRM Services Hungary Kft, Concentrix CRM Services RO S.R.L., Concentrix CRM Services UK Limited, Concentrix CVG (Mauritius) Ltd, Concentrix CVG Brite Voice Systems LLC, Concentrix CVG CMG Insurance Services LLC, Concentrix CVG CMG UK Limited, Concentrix CVG Contact Tunisie S.A.R.L., Concentrix CVG Corporation, Concentrix CVG Customer Management Australia Pty. Ltd., Concentrix CVG Customer Management Colombia S.A.S., Concentrix CVG Customer Management Delaware LLC, Concentrix CVG Customer Management Group Inc., Concentrix CVG Delaware Inc., Concentrix CVG Delaware International Inc., Concentrix CVG Egypt Limited Liability Company, Concentrix CVG France S.A.R.L., Concentrix CVG Funding Inc., Concentrix CVG Global Services AZ Inc., Concentrix CVG Global Services El Salvador S.A. de C.V., Concentrix CVG Global Services Honduras S.A., Concentrix CVG Global Services Hong Kong Limited, Concentrix CVG Government Solutions LLC, Concentrix CVG Group Limited, Concentrix CVG Holding LLC, Concentrix CVG Intelligent Contact Limited, Concentrix CVG International Bulgaria EOOD, Concentrix CVG International Holding Ltd., Concentrix CVG International Sp. Z.o.o., Concentrix CVG Ireland Contact Services Limited, Concentrix CVG Ireland Limited, Concentrix CVG Italy S.R.L., Concentrix CVG LLC, Concentrix CVG Learning Solutions LLC, Concentrix CVG Malaysia (Phillipines) Sdn. Bhd., Concentrix CVG Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Concentrix CVG Philippines Inc., Concentrix CVG Pte. Ltd., Concentrix CVG Services Singapore Pte. Ltd., Concentrix CVG Servicios Informaticos S.L, Concentrix CVG Singapore Holdings Pte. Ltd., Concentrix CVG Tunisie BPO S.A.R.L., Concentrix CVG Tunisie S.A.R.L., Concentrix Corporation, Concentrix Costa Rica S.A., Concentrix Daksh Services India Private Limited, Concentrix Daksh Services Philippines Corporation, Concentrix Digital Services Limited, Concentrix Duisburg GmbH, Concentrix Dusseldorf GmbH, Concentrix Europe Limited, Concentrix Frankfurt a. M. GmbH, Concentrix Free Trade Zone S.A., Concentrix Gera GmbH, Concentrix Global Services GmbH, Concentrix Gmbh, Concentrix HK Limited, Concentrix Halle GmbH, Concentrix Insurance Administration Solutions Corporation, Concentrix International Europe B.V., Concentrix International GmbH, Concentrix International Services Europe B.V., Concentrix Investment Holdings Corporation, Concentrix Investment Holdings Singapore 1 Pte. Ltd, Concentrix Investment Holdings Singapore 2 Pte. Ltd, Concentrix Investment Holdings Singapore 3 Pte. Ltd, Concentrix Investments Europe B.V., Concentrix Legal Services Company Limited, Concentrix Leipzig GmbH, Concentrix Logistics Corporation, Concentrix Management Holding GmbH & Co. KG, Concentrix Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V, Concentrix Munster GmbH, Concentrix New (BVI) Corporation, Concentrix NewHK Limited, Concentrix Nicaragua S.A., Concentrix Osnabruck GmbH, Concentrix Receivables Inc, Concentrix Rechenzentrum GmbH, Concentrix Romania S.R.L., Concentrix Schwerin GmbH, Concentrix Services (Colombia) S.A.S., Concentrix Services (Dalian) Co. Ltd., Concentrix Services (Germany) GmbH, Concentrix Services (Ireland) Limited, Concentrix Services (Netherlands) B.V., Concentrix Services (New Zealand) Limited, Concentrix Services (Poland) spolka z o.o., Concentrix Services (Saudi Arabia) Corporation LLC, Concentrix Services (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Concentrix Services (Thailand) Co. Ltd, Concentrix Services (Uruguay) S.A., Concentrix Services Bulgaria EOOD, Concentrix Services Corporation, Concentrix Services GmbH, Concentrix Services Holdco (Netherlands) B.V., Concentrix Services Hungary KFT, Concentrix Services India Private Limited, Concentrix Services Korea Limited, Concentrix Services Mexico S.A. de C.V., Concentrix Services Philippines Inc., Concentrix Services Portugal Sociedade Unipessoal LDA, Concentrix Services Pty Ltd, Concentrix Services Slovakia s.r.o., Concentrix Services Spain S.L.U., Concentrix Services UK Limited, Concentrix Services US Inc., Concentrix Software Technologies (HK) Limited, Concentrix Solutions Corporation, Concentrix Technologies (India) Private Limited, Concentrix Technologies Limited, Concentrix Technologies Services (Canada) Limited, Concentrix Tigerspike Technology FZ-LLC, Concentrix VN Technologies Services Company Limited, Concentrix Verwaltungs GmbH, Concentrix Wismar GmbH, Concentrix Wuppertal GmbH, Convergys, Convergys Customer Management Group Canada Holding Inc., Convergys Customer Management International Inc., Convergys Customer Management Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Convergys Holdings (GB) Limited, Convergys Holdings (UK) Limited, Convergys India Services Private Limited, Convergys International Inc., Convergys International Nordic AB, Convergys Services Denmark ApS, Convergys South Africa (Pty) Ltd., CyberLogistics Corporation, Dalian Jumeng Information Services Ltd., Dalian Jumeng Technology Development Ltd., EMJ America Inc., Encore Receivable Management Inc., Foshan Jumeng Information Technology Service Co. Ltd, GLS Software S. de R.L., Guiyang Jumeng Technology Development Ltd., Hyve Design Solutions (Taiwan) Corporation, Hyve Design Solutions Corporation, Hyve IT Solutions Israel Ltd, Hyve IT Solutions South Africa (PTY) Ltd., Hyve SNX Solutions Ireland Limited, Hyve Solutions (Taiwan) Corporation, Hyve Solutions Canada Limited, Hyve Solutions China Limited, Hyve Solutions Corporation, Hyve Solutions Europe Limited, Hyve Solutions HK Limited, Hyve Solutions Holding Company Limited, Hyve Solutions India Private Limited, Hyve Solutions Japan K.K., Hyve Solutions Korea Limited, Hyve Solutions Malaysia SDN.BHD., Hyve Solutions New Zealand Limited, Hyve Solutions Singapore Pte. Ltd, Hyve Solutions US Global Holding Corporation, IBM World Wide Customer Care, Intervoice Acquisition Subsidiary Inc., Intervoice Colombia Ltda., Intervoice GP Inc., Intervoice GmbH, Intervoice LP Inc., Intervoice Limited, Intervoice Limited Partnership, Intervoice do Brasil Comercio Servicos e Participacoes Ltda., Jack Of All Games Inc., Japan Concentrix KK, LATAM HoldCo Limited, Lasting Holdings Corporation, License Online Inc, Minacs, Minacs Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., PT Concentrix Services Indonesia, PT Convergys Customer Management Indonesia, Pegasus Telecom LLC, SCGS (Malaysia) SDN. BHD., SGS Holdings Inc., SIT Funding Corporation, SYNNEX Canada Limited, SYNNEX Finance Hybrid II LLC, SYNNEX Holdco Inc., SYNNEX Information Technologies (Beijing) Ltd., SYNNEX Information Technologies (Chengdu) Ltd., SYNNEX Information Technologies (China) Ltd., SYNNEX Japan Corporation, SYNNEX Japan Holdings K.K., SYNNEX Servicios S.A. de C.V., SYNNEX de Mexico S.A. de C.V., SYNNEX-Concentrix UK Limited, Sennex Enterprises Limited, Servicios Afinasis S.A. de C.V., Shenzhen Shunrong Telecommunication Technologies Ltd., Sichuan 86Bridge Information Technology Ltd., Stream Business Process Outsourcing South Africa (Proprietary) Ltd., Stream Florida Inc., Stream Global Services - US Inc., Stream Global Services Inc., Stream Holdings Corporation, Suzhou Ke Wei Xun Information Services Co. Ltd., Tech Data, The Global Email Trustee Limited, Tigerspike Co. Ltd, Tigerspike FZ-LLC, Tigerspike Holdings Pty Ltd, Tigerspike Inc., Tigerspike Ltd, Tigerspike Products Pte. Ltd., Tigerspike Pte. Ltd., Tigerspike Pty Ltd, Velami Holdings Corporation, Vietnam Concentrix Services Company Limited, VisionMAX, WG-UK Holding Company Limited, WG-US HoldCo Inc, Westcon Brasil Ltda., Westcon CALA Inc., Westcon Canada Systems (WCSI) Inc., Westcon Corporation Ecuador WCE Cia. Ltda, Westcon GDS LLC, Westcon Group Colombia Limitada, Westcon Group Costa Rica S.A., Westcon Group Inc., Westcon Group North America Inc., Westcon Group Panama S.A., Westcon Mexico S.A. de C.V., Westcon-Comstor Americas, Xi'an Jumeng Technologies Development Ltd, and eTelecare Philippines Inc.. The following companies are subsidiares of Textron: AAI Corporation, AAI Services Corporation, ALSTOM Gears, Able Aerospace, Able Aerospace Services Inc., Able Engineering & Component Services, Aeronautical Accessories LLC, Airborne Tactical Advantage Company LLC, Arctic Cat, Arctic Cat ACE Holding GmbH, Arctic Cat France SARL, Arctic Cat GmbH, Arctic Cat Inc., Arctic Cat Production LLC, Arctic Cat Production Support LLC, Arctic Cat Sales Inc., Arctic Cat Shared Services LLC, Arctic Cat UK Ltd., Arkansas Aerospace Inc., Avco Corporation, Aviation Service servis letal doo Ljubljana, Aylesbury Automation, B/K Navigational Equipment sro, Beech Aircraft Corporation, Beech Holdings, Beechcraft Defense Support Holding LLC, Beechcraft Domestic Service Company, Beechcraft Germany GmbH, Beechcraft International Holding LLC, Beechcraft International Service Company, Beechcraft New Zealand, Beechcraft Service Company UK Limited, Bell Helicopter GK, Bell Helicopter KK, Bell Textron Asia (Pte.) Ltd., Bell Textron Canada International Inc., Bell Textron Canada Limited/Limitee, Bell Textron Inc., Bell Textron Korea Inc., Bell Textron Miami Inc, Bell Textron Prague a.s., Bell Textron Rhode Island Inc., Bell Textron Services Inc, Bell Textron Supply Center BV, Bell Textron Technical Services Inc., Benzlers, Brazaco Mapri Industrias, Burkland, Cessna Aircraft Company, Cessna Citation European Service Center SAS, Cessna Dusseldorf Citation Service Center GmbH, Cessna Finance Corporation, Cessna Finance Export Corporation, Cessna Mexico S de RL de CV, Cessna Spanish Citation Service Center SLU, Cessna Zurich Citation Service Center GmbH, Citation Parts Distribution International Inc., Cushman Inc., Datacom Technologies, David Brown Group, Doncaster Citation Service Centre Limited, E-Z-GO Canada Limited, Energy Manufacturing, Flexalloy, HBC LLC, Hawker Beech de Mexico S de RL de CV, Hawker Beechcraft Argentina SA, Howe & Howe Inc., Howe and Howe Technologies, Industrial Technology Inc., InteSys Technologies, International Product Support Inc., KSB Annecy SAS, Kautex (Changchun) Plastics Technology Co. Ltd., Kautex (Chongqing) Plastic Technology Co. Ltd., Kautex (Guangzhou) Plastic Technology Co. Ltd., Kautex (Pinghu) Plastic Technology Co. Ltd., Kautex (Shanghai) Plastic Technology Co. Ltd., Kautex (Wuhan) Plastic Technology Co. Ltd., Kautex Corporation, Kautex Craiova srl, Kautex Germany Holding GmbH, Kautex Inc., Kautex Japan KK, Kautex Shanghai GmbH, Kautex Textron (UK) Limited, Kautex Textron Benelux BVBA, Kautex Textron Bohemia spol sro, Kautex Textron CVS Limited, Kautex Textron GmbH & Co. KG, Kautex Textron Iberica SL, Kautex Textron Italia Srl, Kautex Textron Management Services Company de Puebla S. de RL de CV, Kautex Textron Portugal Produtos Plasticos Sociedade Unipessoal Lda., Kautex Textron de Mexico S de RL de CV, Kautex Textron do Brasil Ltda., Kautex of Georgia Inc., Kaywood Products Corp., Klauke, LCI Corporation International, LLC Textron RUS, Maag, McCord Corporation, Mechtronix, Medical Numerics Inc., Midland Industrial Plastics, MillenWorks, MillenWorks Themed Technologies, MotorFist LLC, OPINICUS Simulation and Training Services LLC, OmniQuip International, Opinicus, Optical Boring Co., Opto-Electronics, Opto-Electronics Inc., Overwatch Systems Ltd., PEINER Umformtechnik, Pirelli Tyres - General Rubber Goods (GRG) division, Premiair Aviation Maintenance Pty Ltd, Progressive Electronics, Ransomes, Ransomes Inc., Ransomes Investment LLC, Ransomes Jacobsen France SAS, Ransomes Jacobsen Limited, Ransomes Limited, Ransomes Pensions Trustee Company Limited, Replacement Part Solutions LLC, Response Technologies LLC, Rotor Blades Limited, Sukosim Verbindungselemente, TRU Simulation & Training Spain SL, TRU Simulation + Training Inc., TRU Simulation + Training LLC, TekGPS Engineering Srl, Textron Airland LLC, Textron Atlantic LLC, Textron Aviation Australia Pty. Ltd., Textron Aviation Canada Ltd., Textron Aviation Defense LLC, Textron Aviation Finance Corporation, Textron Aviation Inc., Textron Aviation Prague Service Center sro, Textron Aviation Rhode Island Inc., Textron Aviation Services de Mexico S de RL de CV, Textron Capital BV, Textron Communications Inc., Textron Far East Pte. Ltd., Textron Finance Holding Company, Textron Financial Corporation, Textron Financial Corporation Receivables Trust 2002-CP-2, Textron Fluid and Power Inc., Textron France Holding SAS, Textron France SAS, Textron Global Services Inc., Textron Ground Support Equipment Inc., Textron Ground Support Equipment UK Limited, Textron IPMP Inc., Textron India Private Limited, Textron Innovations Inc., Textron International Inc., Textron International Mexico S de RL de CV, Textron Limited, Textron Management Services Inc., Textron Motors GmbH, Textron Motors North America Inc., Textron Outdoor Power Equipment Inc., Textron Realty Corporation, Textron Shared Service Centre (Canada) Inc., Textron Specialized Vehicles Inc., Textron Sweden AB, Textron Systems Australia Holding Pty Ltd, Textron Systems Australia Pty Ltd, Textron Systems Canada Inc., Textron Systems Corporation, Textron Systems Electronic Systems UK (Holdings) Limited, Textron Systems Electronic Systems UK Limited, Textron Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Textron UK Pension Trustee Limited, Textron Verwaltungs-GmbH, Turbine Engine Components Textron (Newington Operations) Inc., United Industrial Corporation, Westminster Insurance Company, Williams Machine & Tool, Wuxi Textron Specialized Vehicles Co. Ltd., and Zhenjiang Bell Textron Aviation Services Limited. Xcel Energy, Inc. operates as a holding company, which engages in the generation, purchase, transmission, distribution and sale of electricity. It operates through the following three segments: Regulated Electric Utility, Regulated Natural Gas Utility and All Others. The Regulated Electric Utility segment generates, transmits and distributes electricity primarily in portions of generates, transmits and distributes electricity in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Texas and New Mexico. In addition, this segment includes sales for resale and provides wholesale transmission service to various entities in the United States. It also includes commodity trading operations. The Regulated Natural Gas Utility segment transports, stores, and distributes natural gas primarily in portions of Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Michigan and Colorado. The All Others segment engages in steam, appliance repair services, nonutility real estate activities, processing solid waste into refuse-derived fuel and investments in rental housing projects that qualify for low-income housing tax credits. The company was founded in 1909 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, MN. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Thermo Fisher Scientific: 236 Perinton Parkway LLC, 27 Forge Parkway LLC, ABR--Affinity BioReagents, ACI Holdings Inc., ARG Services LLC, ASPEX Corporation, Abgene Inc., Abgene Limited, Acoustic Cytometry Systems Inc., AcroMetrix LLC, Acros Organics B.V.B.A., Advanced Biotechnologies Limited, Advanced Scientifics (ASI), Advanced Scientifics Inc., Advanced Scientifics International Inc., Affymetrix Biotech Participacoes Ltda., Affymetrix Biotech Shanghai Ltd, Affymetrix Inc, Affymetrix Japan K.K., Affymetrix Pte Ltd, Affymetrix UK Ltd, Afora S.A.U., Ahura Scientific, Alchematrix Inc., Alchematrix LLC, Alfa Aesar, Alfa Aesar (China) Chemical Co. Ltd., Alfa Aesar (Hong Kong) Limited, Allergon AB, Alphine Mountain Limited, Ambion Inc., Apogent Denmark ApS, Apogent Finance Company, Apogent Holding Company, Apogent Technologies Inc., Apogent Transition Corp., Apogent U.K. Limited, App-Tek International Pty Ltd, Applied Biosystems B.V., Applied Biosystems Finance B.V., Applied Biosystems International Inc., Applied Biosystems LLC, Applied Biosystems Taiwan LLC, Applied Biosystems Trading (Shanghai) Company Ltd., Applied Biosystems de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Applied Scientific Corporation, Avances Cientificos de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Avocado Research Chemicals Limited, B.R.A.H.M.S. Biotech GmbH, B.R.A.H.M.S. GmbH, B.R.A.H.M.S. UK Ltd, BAC BV, BAC IP BV, Barnstead Thermolyne LLC, Beijing Phadia Diagnostics Co Ltd, Bender MedSystems GmbH, BioTrove Corporation, BioTrove International Inc., Bioanalysis Labsystems S.A., Biochemical Sciences LLC, Biolab, BmT GmbH Laborprodukte, Bonsai Tecnologies - Sistemas para Biotecnologia e Industria Unipessoal Lda, Brammer Bio, Bumi-Sans Sendirian Berhad, CAC Limited, CB Diagnostics AB, CB Diagnostics Holding AB, CEPH International Corporation, CHK Holdings Inc., CRS Robotics, CTPS LLC, Capitol Scientific Products Inc., Capitol Vial Inc., Cellomics Inc., CellzDirect Inc., Cenduit GmbH, Cenduit LLC, Cezanne S.A.S., Chase Scientific Glass Inc., Chromacol Limited, Clintrak, Clintrak Clinical Labeling Services LLC, Clintrak Pharmaceutical Services LLC, Cohesive Technologies (UK) Limited, Cohesive Technologies Inc., Columbia Diagnostics Inc., Compendia Bioscience Inc., Comtest Limited, Consolidated Technologies Inc., Consultores Fisher Scientific Chile Ltd, Core Informatics, Core Informatics LLC, Core Informatics UK Ltd., D-finitive Technologies Inc., DCG Systems B.V., DCG Systems C.V., DCG Systems G.K., DCG Systems GmbH, DCG Systems Korea Ltd., DCG Systems LLC, DPI Newco LLC, DSM Pharmaceutical Products Inc., Dharmacon, Diagnostix Ltd., Dionex (China) Analytical Ltd, Dionex (Switzerland) AG, Dionex (UK) Limited, Dionex Austria GmbH, Dionex Benelux B.V., Dionex Brasil Instrumentos Cientificos Ltda, Dionex Canada Ltd., Dionex China Limited, Dionex Corporation, Dionex Denmark A/S, Dionex Holding GmbH, Dionex I LLC, Dionex Pty Ltd., Dionex S.A., Dionex S.p.A., Dionex Singapore Pte Ltd., Dionex Softron GmbH, Dionex Sweden AB, Distribution Solutions International Inc., Doe & Ingalls Investors Inc., Doe & Ingalls Limited, Doe & Ingalls Management LLC, Doe & Ingalls Properties II LLC, Doe & Ingalls Properties LLC, Doe & Ingalls of California Operating LLC, Doe & Ingalls of Florida Operating LLC, Doe & Ingalls of Maryland Operating LLC, Doe & Ingalls of Massachusetts Operating LLC, Doe & Ingalls of North Carolina Operating LLC, Doublecape Holding Limited, Doublecape Limited, Drakeside Real Estate Holding Company LLC, Duke Scientific Corporation, Dynal Biotech Beijing Limited, EGS Gauging Ltd., EGS Gauging Technical Services Company, EP Scientific Products LLC, Ecochem N.V., EnviroEquip Pty Ltd, Epsom Glass Industries Limited, Equibio Limited, Erie Electroverre S.A., Erie Finance Limited, Erie LP Holding LLC, Erie Scientific Company of Puerto Rico, Erie Scientific Hungary Kft, Erie Scientific LLC, Erie U.K. Limited, Erie UK 1 Limited, Erie UK 2 Limited, Erie UK Holding Company, Erie UK Senior Holding Limited, European Laboratory Holdings Limited, Eutech Instruments Europe B.V., Eutech Instruments Pte Ltd., Eutech Instruments Sdn Bhd, Ever Ready Thermometer Co. Inc., FEI Asia Pacific Co. Ltd., FEI Australia Pty Ltd, FEI CPD B.V., FEI Company, FEI Company Japan Ltd., FEI Company of USA (S.E.A.) Pte Ltd., FEI Czech Republic s.r.o., FEI Deutschland GmbH, FEI EFA Inc., FEI EFA International Pte. Ltd., FEI Electron Optics B.V., FEI Electron Optics International B.V., FEI Europe B.V., FEI France SAS, FEI Global Holdings C.V., FEI Hong Kong Company Limited, FEI Houston Inc., FEI Italia Srl, FEI Korea Ltd., FEI Melbourne Pty Ltd., FEI Microscopy Solutions Ltd, FEI Munich GmbH, FEI Norway Holding AS, FEI SAS, FEI Saudi Arabia LLC, FEI Servicos de Nanotecnologia Ltda., FEI Technologies Inc., FEI Technology de Mexico S.A. de C.V., FEI Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., FEI Trondheim AS, FEI UK Ltd., FHP LLC, FRC Holding Inc. V, FS (Barbados) Capital Holdings Ltd., FS Casa Rocas Holdings LLC, FS Mexicana Holdings LLC, FSI Receivables Company LLC, FSII Sweden Holdings AB, FSII Sweden Holdings I AB, FSIR Holdings (UK) Limited, FSIR Holdings (US) Inc., FSUK Holdings Limited, FSWH Company LLC, FSWH II C.V., FSWH International Holdings LLC, Fermentas China Co. Ltd, Fermentas Inc., Fermentas International, Fermentas Sweden AB, Fermentas UK Limited, Fiberlite Centrifuge LLC, Finesse Scientific Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Finesse Solutions AG, Finesse Solutions Inc., Finnzymes Oy, Fisher Alder S. de R.L. de C.V., Fisher Asia Manufacturing Ventures Inc., Fisher Bermuda Holdings Limited, Fisher BioImage ApS, Fisher BioPharma Services (India) Private Limited, Fisher BioSciences Japan G.K., Fisher BioServices Inc., Fisher Bioblock Holding II SNC, Fisher CLP Holding Limited Partnership, Fisher Canada Holding ULC 1, Fisher Canada Holding ULC 2, Fisher Canada Holding ULC 3, Fisher Canada Limited Partnership, Fisher Chimica BVBA, Fisher Clinical Logistics LLC, Fisher Clinical Services (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Fisher Clinical Services (Bristol) LLC, Fisher Clinical Services (Colombia) LLC, Fisher Clinical Services (Korea) Co. Ltd, Fisher Clinical Services (Mexico) LLC, Fisher Clinical Services (Peru) LLC, Fisher Clinical Services (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Fisher Clinical Services Colombia S.A.S., Fisher Clinical Services GmbH, Fisher Clinical Services Inc., Fisher Clinical Services Japan K.K., Fisher Clinical Services Latin America S.R.L., Fisher Clinical Services Limited Liability Company, Fisher Clinical Services Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Fisher Clinical Services Peru S.R.L, Fisher Clinical Services Pte Ltd., Fisher Clinical Services U.K. Limited, Fisher Emergo B.V., Fisher Germany Holdings GmbH, Fisher Hamilton China Inc., Fisher Hamilton Mexico LLC, Fisher Holdings ApS, Fisher Internet Minority Holdings L.L.C., Fisher Laboratory Products Manufacturing (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Fisher Luxembourg Danish Holdings SARL, Fisher Manufacturing (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Fisher Maybridge Holdings Limited, Fisher Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Fisher Scientific (Austria) GmbH, Fisher Scientific (Hong Kong) Limited, Fisher Scientific (M) Sdn Bhd, Fisher Scientific (SEA) Pte. Ltd., Fisher Scientific A/S, Fisher Scientific AG, Fisher Scientific Australia Pty Limited, Fisher Scientific Biotech Line ApS, Fisher Scientific Brazil Inc., Fisher Scientific Central America Inc., Fisher Scientific Chile Inc., Fisher Scientific Colombia Inc., Fisher Scientific Company, Fisher Scientific Company L.L.C., Fisher Scientific Costa Rica Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada, Fisher Scientific Europe Holdings B.V., Fisher Scientific GTF AB, Fisher Scientific Germany Beteiligungs GmbH, Fisher Scientific GmbH, Fisher Scientific Holding Company LLC, Fisher Scientific Holding HK Limited, Fisher Scientific Holding U.K. Limited, Fisher Scientific Holdings (M) Sdn Bhd, Fisher Scientific Holdings (S) Pte Ltd, Fisher Scientific International LLC, Fisher Scientific Investments (Cayman) Ltd., Fisher Scientific Ireland Investments Unlimited, Fisher Scientific Ireland Limited, Fisher Scientific Japan Ltd., Fisher Scientific Jersey Island Limited, Fisher Scientific Korea Ltd, Fisher Scientific Latin America Inc., Fisher Scientific Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Fisher Scientific Mexicana S. de R.L. de C.V., Fisher Scientific Mexico Inc., Fisher Scientific Middle East and Africa Inc., Fisher Scientific Norway AS, Fisher Scientific Operating Company, Fisher Scientific Oxoid Holdings Ltd., Fisher Scientific Oy, Fisher Scientific Pte. Ltd., Fisher Scientific S.A.S., Fisher Scientific S.L., Fisher Scientific SPRL, Fisher Scientific The Hague I B.V., Fisher Scientific The Hague II B.V., Fisher Scientific The Hague III B.V., Fisher Scientific The Hague IV B.V., Fisher Scientific The Hague V B.V., Fisher Scientific U.K. Limited, Fisher Scientific UK Holding Company 2, Fisher Scientific UK Holding Company Limited, Fisher Scientific Unipessoal Lda., Fisher Scientific Venezuela Inc., Fisher Scientific Worldwide (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Fisher Scientific Worldwide Holdings I C.V., Fisher Scientific Worldwide Inc., Fisher Scientific de Mexico S.A., Fisher Scientific of the Netherlands B.V., Fisher Scientific spol. S.r.o, Fisher Servicios Clinicos (Chile) LLC, Fisher Servicios Clinicos Chile Ltda, Fisher WWD Holding L.L.C., Fisher Worldwide Distribution SPV, Fisher Worldwide Gene Distribution SPV, Flux Instruments, Fuji Partnership, G & M Procter Limited, G V Instruments Limited, GV Instruments Canada Ltd., GV Instruments Inc, Gatan Inc, General Scientific Company Sdn Bhd (M), Genomed molekularbiologische und diagnostische Produkte GmbH, Gerhard Menzel B.V. & Co. KG, Gold Cattle Standard Testing Labs Inc., Golden West Indemnity Company Limited, Goring Kerr Detection Limited, Greenville Service Company Inc., HENO GmbH i.L., Hangar 215 Inc., Helmet Securities Limited, Henogen, HighChem, HyClone International Trade (Tianjin) Co. Ltd, Hybaid Limited, I.Q. (BIO) Limited, IDnostics AG, ILS Laboratories Scandinavia AB, Inel Inc., Inel SAS, InnaPhase Inc., InnaPhase Limited, IntegenX, Intrinsic BioProbes Inc., Intrinsic Bioprobes Inc., Invitrogen (Shanghai) Investment Co. Ltd., Invitrogen Argentina SA, Invitrogen BioServices India Private Limited, Invitrogen Europe Limited, Invitrogen Finance Corp., Invitrogen Holdings LLC, Invitrogen Holdings Ltd., Invitrogen Hong Kong Limited, Invitrogen IP Holdings Inc., Invitrogen Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Ion Torrent Systems Inc., Ionalytics Corporation, JSC Thermo Fisher Scientific, Jouan LLC, Jouan Limited, Jouan SA, Kendro Containment & Services Limited, Kendro Laboratory Products Ltd, Kettlebrook Insurance Co. ltd., Keystone Scientific, KonTEM GmbH, Kyle Jordan Investments LLC, LIFE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION, LTC Tech South Africa PTY Ltd., La-Pha-Pack GmbH, Lab Vision (UK) Limited, Lab Vision Corporation, Lab-Chrom-Pack LLC, Lab-Line Instruments Inc., Labomex MBP S. de R. L. De C.V., Laboratoire Service International - L.S.I, Laboratory Management Systems Inc., Laboratory Specialties Proprietary Ltd., LambTrack Limited, Laser Analytical Systems Inc., Liberty Lane Investment LLC, Liberty Lane Real Estate Holding Company LLC, Life Sciences International (Poland) SP z O.O, Life Sciences International Holdings BV, Life Sciences International LLC, Life Sciences International Limited, Life Technologies AS, Life Technologies Australia PTY Ltd., Life Technologies BPD AB, Life Technologies BPD UK Limited, Life Technologies Brasil Comercio e Industria de Produtos para Biotecnologia Ltda, Life Technologies Chile SpA, Life Technologies Clinical Services Lab Inc., Life Technologies Co. Ltd., Life Technologies Czech Republic s.r.o., Life Technologies DaAn Diagnostic (Guangzhou) Co. Ltd., Life Technologies Europe B.V., Life Technologies Finance Ltd., Life Technologies Finland Oy, Life Technologies GmbH, Life Technologies Holdings PTE Ltd., Life Technologies Inc., Life Technologies International B.V., Life Technologies Japan Ltd., Life Technologies Korea LLC, Life Technologies Limited, Life Technologies Magyarorszag Kft, Life Technologies New Zealand Ltd., Life Technologies Norway Investments US LLC, Life Technologies Polska Sp z.o.o., Life Technologies SA, Life Technologies SAS, Life Technologies s.r.o, Linkage Biosciences Inc., Linkage Biosciences S.a.r.l., Loftus Furnace Company, Lomb Scientific, Lomb Scientific (Aust) Pty Limited, MTI-GlobalStem, Marketbase International Limited, Matrix MicroScience Inc., Matrix MicroScience Ltd., Matrix Technologies Corporation Limited, Matrix Technologies LLC, Maybridge Chemical Company Limited, Maybridge Chemical Holdings Limited, Maybridge Limited, Medical Analysis Systems Inc., Medical Analysis Systems International Inc., Medical Diagnostics Systems Inc., Metavac LLC, Microgenics Corporation, Microgenics Diagnostics Pty Limited, Microgenics GmbH, Microm International GmbH, Microm Laborgerate S.L.U, Molecular BioProducts Inc., Molecular Probes Inc., Molecular Transfer Inc., NAPCO Inc., NERL Diagnostics LLC, NOVODIRECT GmbH Labor- und Industrie- Megerate, Nalge (Europe) Limited, Nalge Nunc International (Monterrey) LLC, Nalge Nunc International Corporation, Nanjing WeiKangLe Trading Industrial Co Ltd, NanoDrop Technologies LLC, National Scientific Company, Navaho Acquisition Corp., Neomarkers Inc., New FS Holdings Inc., NewcoGen PE LLC, Nihon Dynal K.K., Niton Asia Limited, NovaWave Technologies Inc., Nunc A/S, ONIX Systems Inc., OXOID CZ s.r.o., Odyssey Holdings Corporation, Odyssey Luxembourg Holdings S.a r.l., Odyssey Luxembourg IP Holdings 1 S.a r.l., Odyssey Luxembourg IP Holdings 2 S.a r.l., Odyssey Venture Corporation, Omega Data Systems, One Lambda Inc, Onix Holdings Limited, Orme Scientific Limited, Owl Separation Systems LLC, Oxoid (ELY) Limited, Oxoid 2000 Limited, Oxoid AS, Oxoid Australia Pty. Limited, Oxoid Company, Oxoid Deutschland GmbH, Oxoid Holding SAS, Oxoid Holdings Limited, Oxoid Inc., Oxoid International Limited, Oxoid Investments GmbH, Oxoid Limited, Oxoid N.V., Oxoid New Zealand Limited, Oxoid Pension Trustees Limited, Oxoid Senior Holdings Limited, Oxoid UKH LLC, PAX - DSI Acquisition LLC, PE AG, Pacific Rim Far East Industries LLC, Pacific Rim Investment LLC, Panomics L.L.C., Panomics S.R.L., Patheon, Patheon API Inc., Patheon API Manufacturing Inc., Patheon API Services Inc., Patheon Austria GmbH & Co KG, Patheon B.V., Patheon Banner U.S. Holdings Inc., Patheon Biologics (NJ) LLC, Patheon Biologics Australia Pty Ltd, Patheon Biologics B.V., Patheon Biologics LLC, Patheon Calculus Merger LLC, Patheon Cooperatief U.A., Patheon Development Services Inc., Patheon Finance LLC, Patheon France SAS, Patheon Holdings B.V., Patheon Holdings I B.V., Patheon Holdings II B.V., Patheon Holdings SAS, Patheon I B.V., Patheon I Holding GmbH, Patheon Inc., Patheon International AG, Patheon Italia S.p.A., Patheon KK, Patheon Life Science Products International GmbH, Patheon Manufacturing Services LLC, Patheon Pharmaceuticals Inc., Patheon Pharmaceuticals Services Inc., Patheon Puerto Rico Acquisitions Corporation, Patheon Puerto Rico Inc., Patheon Regensburg GmbH, Patheon Softgels B.V., Patheon Softgels Inc., Patheon U.S. Holdings Inc., Patheon U.S. Holdings LLC, Patheon UK Limited, Patheon UK Pension Trustees Limited, Pelican Acquisition Corporation, Perbio Science (Canada) Company, Perbio Science AB, Perbio Science BVBA, Perbio Science France SAS, Perbio Science Inc., Perbio Science International Netherlands B.V., Perbio Science Invest AB, Perbio Science Nederland B.V., Perbio Science Projekt AB, Perbio Science Sweden Holdings AB, Perbio Science Switzerland SA, Perbio Science UK Limited, Phadia AB, Phadia Diagnosticos Ltda, Phadia GmbH, Phadia Holding AB, Phadia International Holdings C.V., Phadia Korea Co. Ltd, Phadia Luxembourg Holdings S.a.r.l., Phadia Malta Holdings Limited, Phadia Oy, Phadia Real Property AB, Phadia Sweden AB, Phadia Taiwan Inc., Phadia US Inc., Phadia s.r.o., Pharmacaps Mexicana SA de CV, Phenom-World B.V., Phenom-World Holding B.V, Phenom-World Innovations B.V., Phinotex, Pierce Biotechnology Inc., Pierce Milwaukee Holding Corp., Pierce Milwaukee Inc., Polychromix, Power Sweden Holdings I AB, Power Sweden Holdings II AB, Power Sweden Holdings III Aktiebolag, Princeton Gamma-Tech Instruments LLC, Princeton Security Technologies, Prionics AG, Prionics Asia Ltd., Prionics Deutschland GmbH, Prionics France SAS, Prionics Italia S.r.l., Prionics Lelystad B.V., Prionics USA Inc., Priority Air Express LLC, Priority Air Express Pte. Ltd., Priority Air Express UK Limited, Priority Air Holdings Corp, Priority Solutions International, Promedica Pty Limited, Proxeon, Proxeon Biosystems ApS, Qiagen, REP GBP I-B Blocker Inc., Raymond A Lamb Limited, Remel Europe Limited, Remel Inc., Richard-Allan Scientific Company, Robbins Scientific LLC, Robocon Labor- und Industrieroboter Gesellschaft m.b.H, Rupprecht and Patashnick, Rupprecht and Patashnick (R&P), Russell pH Limited, S.C.I. du 10 rue Dugay Trouin, SCI Inno 92, STC Bio Manufacturing Inc., Samco Scientific (Monterrey) LLC, Samco Scientific LLC, Saroph Sweden AB, Schantz Road LLC, Seradyn Inc., Shanghai Life Technologies Biotechnology Co. Limited, Shanghai Thermo Fisher (C-I) Trading Co. Ltd, Shanghai Thermo Fisher (S) Trading Co. Ltd, Southern Trials (Pty) Ltd., Specialty (SMI) Inc., Spectra-Physics AB, Spectra-Physics Holdings Limited, Spectra-Physics Holdings USA LLC, Spectronex, Staten Island Cogeneration Corporation, Sterilin Limited, Stokes Bio Ltd., Sweden DIA (Sweden) AB, SwissAnalytic Group GmbH, Systems Manufacturing Corporation, TFLP LLC, TFS Breda B.V., TFS LLC, TFS Singapore HK Limited, TFSL Financing GP LLC, TFSL Senior GP Holdings 2 LLC, TK Partnership, TKA Wasseraufbereitungssysteme, TMOI Inc., TPI Real Estate Holdings LLC, TSP Holdings I LLC, TWX LLC, Technology Design Solutions Pty Ltd, Thermedics Detection de Argentina S.R.L, Thermo Allen Coding Limited, Thermo Asset Management Services Inc., Thermo BioAnalysis LLC, Thermo BioAnalysis Limited, Thermo BioSciences Holdings LLC, Thermo CIDTEC, Thermo CRS Holdings Ltd., Thermo CRS Ltd., Thermo Cambridge Limited, Thermo Cayman Holdings Ltd., Thermo Corporation, Thermo DMA Inc., Thermo Detection de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Thermo Dutch Holdings Limited Partnership, Thermo EGS Gauging LLC, Thermo Eberline Holdings I LLC, Thermo Eberline Holdings II LLC, Thermo Eberline LLC, Thermo Electron (Calgary) Limited, Thermo Electron (Chile) S.p.A., Thermo Electron (Karlsruhe) GmbH, Thermo Electron (Management Services) Limited, Thermo Electron (Proprietary) Limited, Thermo Electron A/S, Thermo Electron Australia Pty Limited, Thermo Electron Export Inc., Thermo Electron Holdings SAS, Thermo Electron Industries, Thermo Electron LED GmbH, Thermo Electron LED S.A.S., Thermo Electron Limited, Thermo Electron Manufacturing Limited, Thermo Electron Metallurgical Services Inc., Thermo Electron North America LLC, Thermo Electron Pension Trust GmbH, Thermo Electron Puerto Rico Inc., Thermo Electron SAS, Thermo Electron Scientific Instruments LLC, Thermo Electron Sweden AB, Thermo Electron Sweden Forvaltning AB, Thermo Electron Weighing & Inspection Limited, Thermo Elemental Limited, Thermo Environmental Instruments LLC, Thermo Fast U.K. Limited, Thermo Finland Holdings LLC, Thermo Finland Holdings MT1 B.V., Thermo Finland Holdings MT2 B.V., Thermo Finnigan LLC, Thermo Finnigan Limited, Thermo Fisher (CN) Luxembourg Holding S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher (CN) Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher (CN) Malta Holdings Limited, Thermo Fisher (CN-I) Luxembourg LLC, Thermo Fisher (CN-II) Luxembourg LLC, Thermo Fisher (Cayman) Holdings I Ltd., Thermo Fisher (Cayman) Holdings II Ltd., Thermo Fisher (Finland Holdings 2) LLC, Thermo Fisher (Finland Holdings) Limited Partnership, Thermo Fisher (Gibraltar) II Limited, Thermo Fisher (Gibraltar) Limited, Thermo Fisher (Heysham) Limited, Thermo Fisher (Kandel) GmbH, Thermo Fisher CHK Holding LLC, Thermo Fisher China Business Trust, Thermo Fisher China Business Trust II, Thermo Fisher Costa Rica Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada, Thermo Fisher Cyprus Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Detection Mexico LLC, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics (Ireland) Limited, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics AB, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics AG, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics AS, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics Aps, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics Austria GmbH, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics B.V., Thermo Fisher Diagnostics GmbH, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics K.K., Thermo Fisher Diagnostics Limited, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics NV, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics S.L.U., Thermo Fisher Diagnostics S.p.A. , Thermo Fisher Diagnostics SAS, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics Sociedade Unipessoal Lda, Thermo Fisher Eurobonds Ltd., Thermo Fisher Financial Services Inc., Thermo Fisher GP LLC, Thermo Fisher German Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Germany B.V., Thermo Fisher India Divestco Private Limited, Thermo Fisher India Holding B.V., Thermo Fisher Insurance Holdings Inc., Thermo Fisher Insurance Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Investments (Cayman) Ltd., Thermo Fisher Israel Ltd., Thermo Fisher Production et Services SAS, Thermo Fisher Project Cyprus LLC, Thermo Fisher Re Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Asheville) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Australia) C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Barbados) Holdings Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Breda) Holding BV, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Bremen) GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific (CN) Limited Partnership, Thermo Fisher Scientific (China) Co. Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific (China) Holding Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific (China-HK) Holding Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific (DE) Holding S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Ecublens) SARL, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Finance I) B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Finance I) S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Finance II) S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Finance III) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Finance III) S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Fuji) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Guangzhou) Co. Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Holding II) B.V. & Co. KG, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Hong Kong) Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific (IVGN) B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific (IVGN) Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Johannesburg) (Proprietary) Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Mexico City) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Milwaukee) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Mississauga) Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Monterrey) S. De R.L. De C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific (NK) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (PN) Austria Holding GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific (PN) UK LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (PN) UK Limited Partnership, Thermo Fisher Scientific (PN-I) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific (PN-II) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific (PN1) UK Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Panama) B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Panama) Dutch LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Praha) s.r.o., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Real Estate 1) GmbH & Co. KG, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Real Estate 1) S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Schweiz) AG, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Shanghai) Instruments Co. Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Shanghai) Management Co. Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Suzhou) Instruments Co. Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific AL-1 LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific AU C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific AU II Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific AU LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific AU Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Africa Proprietary Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific Aquasensors LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Australia Pty Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific B.V.B.A., Thermo Fisher Scientific BHK (I) Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific BHK (II) Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Baltics UAB, Thermo Fisher Scientific Beteiligungsverwaltungs GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific Biosciences Corp., Thermo Fisher Scientific Brahms LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Brasil Instrumentos de Processo Ltda., Thermo Fisher Scientific Brasil Servicos de Logistica Ltda, Thermo Fisher Scientific C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Cayman Investments LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Chemicals Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific China (C-I) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific China (S) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific China Holdings I B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific China Holdings II B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific China Holdings III B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific China Holdings IV B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Chromatography Holdings Aps, Thermo Fisher Scientific Chromatography Holdings S.a r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus I C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus I Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus II C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus II Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus III C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus III Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus IV C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus V C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Denmark Senior Holdings ApS, Thermo Fisher Scientific Erie 1 Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Erie Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Erie Financing S.a r.l, Thermo Fisher Scientific Europe GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific FLC B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific FLC Finance C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific FLC II B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific FLC LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific FSIR Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific FSIR Financing S.a.r.l, Thermo Fisher Scientific FSUKHCO Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Falcon Senior Holdings Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific Finance Company BV, Thermo Fisher Scientific GENEART GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific Germany BV & Co. KG, Thermo Fisher Scientific GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific HR Services Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Holdings (Cayman) I, Thermo Fisher Scientific Holdings (Cayman) II , Thermo Fisher Scientific Holdings Europe Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific IT Services GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific India Holding LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific India Pvt Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific Investments (Luxembourg) S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Investments (Malta) Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Investments (Sweden) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Investments (Sweden) S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Investments Malta (Sweden Financing) Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Invitrogen Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Japan Holdings I B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Japan Holdings II B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Japan Holdings III B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific K.K., Thermo Fisher Scientific Korea Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific LSI Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life CV GP Holdings II LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life CV GP Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Enterprises C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Enterprises GP LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Financing (Cayman), Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Financing C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Financing Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Holdings I C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Holdings II C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Holdings III C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Holdings Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life International GP Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life International Holdings I C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life International Holdings II C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments GP LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments I S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments II S.a r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments III S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments IV S.a.r.l, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments Malta Holding I LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments Malta Holding II LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments Malta I Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments Malta II Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments US Financing I LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments US Financing II LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life NL Holdings GP LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Netherlands Holding C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Senior GP Holdings II LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Senior GP Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Senior Holdings C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Senior Holdings II C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Senior Holdings Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Switzerland Holdings GP LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Tech Korea Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Enterprise Holding Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Investment I LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Investment II LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Investment UK I Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Investment UK II Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Investments Holding LP, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Israel Investment I Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Israel Investment II Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Luxembourg Holding LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Luxembourg Enterprise Holdings S.a r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Luxembourg German Holdings S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Luxembourg Life Technologies UK Holding S.a r.l, Thermo Fisher Scientific Luxembourg Sweden Holdings I S.a r.l, Thermo Fisher Scientific Luxembourg Sweden Holdings II S.a r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Luxembourg Venture Holdings I S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Luxembourg Venture Holdings II S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Thermo Fisher Scientific Malta Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Messtechnik GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific Mexico City S. de R.L. de C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Middle East Holdings Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific Milano Srl, Thermo Fisher Scientific NHK Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific New Zealand Holdings, Thermo Fisher Scientific New Zealand Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Norway Holdings AS, Thermo Fisher Scientific Norway US Investments LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Odyssey Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Odyssey Holdings Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Operating Company LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Oy, Thermo Fisher Scientific PN2 C.V, Thermo Fisher Scientific PN2 LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific PRB LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific PRB Malta Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific PRB S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Panama I Cayman Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific Peru S.R.L., Thermo Fisher Scientific Pte. Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific Re Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific SL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Senior Financing LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Senior Holdings Australia LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific South Africa Proprietary Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific SpA, Thermo Fisher Scientific Spectra LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Spectra Malta Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Spectra S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Spectra-Physics Holdings Luxembourg I S.a r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Spectra-Physics Holdings Luxembourg II S.a r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Spectra-Physics Investments Malta Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Switzerland Holdings C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific TR Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Taiwan Co. Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific Vermogensverwaltungs GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific West Palm Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Wissenschaftliche Gerate GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific Worldwide Investments (Cayman), Thermo Fisher Scientific eCommerce Solutions LLC , Thermo Fisher Senior Canada Holdings LLC, Thermo Foundation Inc., Thermo Gamma-Metrics Holdings Pty Ltd., Thermo Gamma-Metrics LLC, Thermo Gamma-Metrics Pty Ltd, Thermo Holding European Operations LLC, Thermo Hypersil Ltd, Thermo Hypersil-Keystone LLC, Thermo Informatics Asia Pacific Pty Ltd., Thermo Instrument Controls de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Thermo Kevex X-Ray LLC, Thermo Keytek LLC, Thermo LabSystems Inc., Thermo LabSystems S.A., Thermo Life Science International Trading (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., Thermo Life Sciences AB, Thermo Luxembourg Holding S.a.r.l., Thermo Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Thermo MF Physics LLC, Thermo Measurement Ltd, Thermo Measuretech Canada Inc., Thermo Neslab LLC, Thermo Nicolet Limited, Thermo Onix Limited, Thermo Optek (Australia) Pty Ltd., Thermo Optek Limited, Thermo Optek S.A., Thermo Orion Inc., Thermo Portable Holdings LLC, Thermo Power Corporation, Thermo Process Instruments GP LLC, Thermo Process Instruments L.P., Thermo Projects Limited, Thermo Quest S.A., Thermo Radiometrie Limited, Thermo Ramsey Italia S.r.l., Thermo Ramsey LLC, Thermo Ramsey S.A., Thermo Re Ltd., Thermo Scientific Microbiology Pte Ltd., Thermo Scientific Microbiology Sdn Bhd, Thermo Scientific Portable Analytical Instruments Inc., Thermo Scientific Services Inc., Thermo Securities Corporation, Thermo Sentron Canada Inc., Thermo Sentron Limited, Thermo Shandon Inc., Thermo Shandon Limited, Thermo Suomi Holding B.V., Thermo TLH (UK) Limited, Thermo TLH L.P., Thermo Trace Pty Ltd., Thermo-Fisher Biochemical Product (Beijing) Co. Ltd., ThermoLase LLC, ThermoSpectra Limited, Trek Diagnostic Systems LLC, Trek Diagnostic Systems Ltd., Trek Holding Company II Ltd., Trek Holding Company Ltd., Trex Medical Corporation, USB Corporation, Union Lab Supplies Limited, United Diagnostics Inc., VG Systems Limited, Westover Scientific Inc., ZAO PE Biosystems, eBioscience GmbH, eBioscience Ltd, eBioscience SAS, and picoSpin LLC. Host Teri Barr talks with Sally French, a Travel Expert for NerdWallet, to learn why it's important not to be a Scrooge as you travel this holiday season. Sally shares some great tried-and-true tips, along with a few new tricks to help you stress less during your holiday travels (or anytime). You can read more at NerdWallet: "How to Be a 5-Star Traveler This Holiday Season" See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Albemarle County offers the Climate Mondays workshop series on strategies to reduce community-wide greenhouse gas emissions and which strategies could work well in the community. Workshops are held at 5:30 p.m. each Monday through July 29 in Room 235 of the Albemarle County Office Building on McIntire Road. climateactiotogether.org. The Center offers What is Probate? Why You Should Avoid It! from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Tuesday. Alzheimers and Wandering is presented by Home Instead Senior Care from 10 to 11 a.m. Thursday. Money Matters: Avoiding Scams is from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday. 491 Hillsdale Drive. (434) 974-7756. The Changing Face of Retail is hosted by the Central Virginia Small Business Development Center from 8 to 10 a.m. Monday at CitySpace at 100 Fifth St. NE. centralvirginia.org. (434) 295-8198. How to Start Your Own Business is hosted by the Central Virginia Small Business Development Center from 3 to 5 p.m. Thursday at Citizens Commonwealth Center at 300 Preston Ave. centralvirginia.org/events. (434) 295-8198. Literacy Volunteers offers training for adult literacy tutors from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. June 8. Register in advance a literacyforall.org. (434) 977-3838. At 17, Garyon Clark became a father. Seven years later, Clark became the first in his family to graduate from college, earning an associates degree in general studies from Piedmont Virginia Community College. Zero-point-eight-six thats a number that I have a history of knowing. That was my GPA my first two years of high school, not due to a lack of knowledge, but due to a lack of focus, Clark said in his speech at Piedmonts graduation on Thursday. Fatherhood and a determination to finish his education drove him across the finish line for the degree, he said, and toward a hoped-for career as a teacher. Most people would say having two kids at the age of 17 while in high school is too much to deal with, but I didnt see it that way I saw it as an opportunity, he said, encouraging other graduates who are also parents, who came from difficult home lives or who worked during school. Its not all about the final product; its about the process. The commencement honored 920 graduates receiving at least one degree, certificate or career certificate from Piedmont. Albemarle County Police Lt. Mike Wagner will be the next police chief of a small North Carolina town. Siler City, North Carolina, announced Wagners hiring this week, effective June 3, according to the Chatham News and Record. The town of about 8,000 residents sits in rural Chatham County between Raleigh and Greensboro. We are looking forward to having Chief Wagner onboard. He brings a leadership ethic and professionalism that I know greatly benefit this agency and our community, Town Manager Bryan Thompson told the newspaper. Wagner, who joined ACPD in 1991, created a campaign committee to run for Albemarle County sheriff this year as a Republican, but he never officially declared his candidacy. Chan Bryant and Patrick Estes will compete for the Democratic nomination for sheriff on June 11. Town of Louisa Police Chief Ronnie Roberts is also running as an independent. I am deeply humbled and honored for the opportunity to be part of the Siler City Police Department, Wagner said in a statement. Send news tips to news@dailyprogress.com, call (434) 978-7264, tweet us @DailyProgress or send us a Facebook message here. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Many residents expressed concerns about removing the traffic signal, which they said creates gaps in traffic to allow residents to get onto Avon. Im in Mill Creek South and to try and pull out is going to be really tough, there wont be that break in traffic, said a resident who declined to give her name. Everybody comes up Avon Street and gets across at 5th Street Station, so this section of the road is used so much. The roundabout also could assist those trying to make a left turn from the Southern Parkway onto Avon Street Extended, Hyer said. Instead of turning left, they would turn right and go around the roundabout. Another substantial proposed project is a pedestrian bridge over Interstate 64, which was favored by many at the open house, according to vote that was taken at the event. The corridor study was funded as part of the Neighborhood Improvement Funding Initiative, where each of Albemarles community advisory committees decided on small-scale projects to be funded through $1.4 million from the countys fiscal year 2016 budget surplus. The Board of Supervisors ultimately approved the projects in 2017. Rep. Denver Riggleman, R-5th, honored late King Family Vineyards founder David King during a speech on the House floor Thursday. King, 64, died on May 2 after a long fight with cancer. He, along with his wife, Ellen, planted the original vineyard at the Crozet winery after they bought their Roseland Farm property outside of Yancey Mills in 1996. In his speech Thursday, Riggleman honored Kings legacy and contribution to the wine industry and said King Family Vineyards is one of his favorite places to have a glass of wine. [King] served as chairman of the Virginia Wine Board and worked tirelessly as an advocate for vineyard agriculture and agritourism in Virginia, Riggleman said. He leaves an enormous legacy in both the Virginia wine industry and his local Crozet community. Send news tips to news@dailyprogress.com, call (434) 978-7264, tweet us @DailyProgress or send us a Facebook message here. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. We would like to think that a bipartisan resolution denouncing anti-Semitism would boost the wattage of the spotlight thats already on it. Maybe, maybe not. The problem with decrying such unacceptable human behavior is that it falls on the deaf ears of those who most need to hear and understand it. Lawmakers have also taken aim at anti-Semitism in bipartisan legislative fashion. Sen. Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican, and Sen. Bob Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat, have resurrected the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act for 2019. The legislation targets anti-Semitic behavior on college campuses, where the Anti-Defamation League says 204 incidents were reported in 2017 nearly twice the 108 reported the year before. A possibly fatal flaw cited in the bill is its definition of what constitutes an anti-Semitic deed: Antisemitism, the bill says, is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities. Mumbai: It has been a month since debt-laden Jet Airways, once the biggest private carrier in the country, has stopped all flights on April 17 after its lenders refused to give it any more funds to keep the carrier flying. However, there is little hope of a credible investment or emergency funding plan before the company. This has had an adverse effect on the company as well as the aviation industry. Here are the five ways Jet Airways crash landing hit the industry. Airfares Jet Airways' stopping of operations has crippled the aviation market and made ticket prices costlier, particularly those booked closer to the travel date or on the date of travel. This makes flying less appealing for the price-conscious customer. But this might be a short-term impact as other carriers will in the long run meet the gap in capacity. Jobs The crisis in Jet Airways has put around 20,000 jobs at stake, after airline on April 17 cancelled all flights, including its international flights, leaving Jet employees high and dry. Staff including cabin crew, pilots, air hostesses and engineers were trying to find jobs elsewhere. Amid lenders struggling to find a suitor, the cash-starved carrier also lost its three senior executives Vinay Dube, Amit Agarwal and Kuldeep Sharma -- while a source said the carrier's Chief People Officer Rahul Taneja has also put in his papers. Airline industry growth declines The increase in the airfare and decline in the available seats for sale also stopped the growth of aviation market in March. Airlines carried nearly 1.16 million passengers in March, a slight growth of 0.14 per cent over the traffic reported in the same month a year ago. This rate is a sharp dip from the 18.6 per cent growth in air traffic in 2018. According to analysts, traffic growth is likely to further lower during the current year. Loss to banks Lender consortium, led by State Bank of India (SBI), has little means of recovering their loans with increasingly dim hope of Jets revival. Jets total debt was Rs 5,285 crore, with trade payables of another Rs 6,400 crore at 31 March 2018. This number must have increased by now. Banks and other creditors have little chance of recovering their dues as Jet being a services company, has less physical assets. Loss to associated industry Airport operators and oil marketing companies have lost a big customer with Jet Airways collapse. Airport operators are not getting landing and parking charges and other revenue from the grounded airline. These charges constitute around 10 per cent of ticket cost, with fuel price taking up the major portion. The company has also tweaked the vesting period of Parekh's annual performance equity grant from the current three years to one year. New Delhi: India's second largest IT firm Infosys on Thursday said it proposes to grant stock incentives worth Rs 10 crore to CEO Salil Parekh, as part of an new programme that aims to incentivise employees for performance. The company's board has approved an 'Expanded Stock Ownership Program 2019' that intends to allocate five crore shares to a broad base of employees. The 2019 Plan will be effective on and from the date of receipt of approval of the shareholders, the company said in a regulatory filing. The Benguluru-based company said it is proposed that CEO and Managing Director Salil Parekh be granted annual performance-based stock incentives in the form of restricted stock units (RSUs) worth Rs 10 crore under the 2019 Plan. The company has also tweaked the vesting period of Parekh's annual performance equity grant from the current three years to one year. Parekh, who had joined Infosys in January last year, has charted out a three-year transformation road map. In the first year, his focus was on stabilising the company, followed by building momentum in year two and accelerating growth in the third year (2020-21). For COO U B Pravin Rao, Infosys has proposed grant of annual performance-based stock incentives in the form of RSUs worth Rs 4 crore that will vest 12 months from the date of each grant. In a regulatory filing, Infosys termed the latest programme '2019 Plan' as being "distinct" from previous plan of 2015 where the granted shares largely vested based on time. "...whereas under the 2019 Plan, the grants will vest strictly on performance. Accordingly, it is proposed to allocate a maximum limit of five crore shares (about 1.15 per cent of the equity share capital) of the company under the 2019 Plan," it said. It added: "This unique plan, which sets out challenging performance criteria aligned to shareholder value creation, will deepen employee ownership of the company...Further, it will incentivise, retain and attract key talent through this performance-based stock incentive plan amongst an expanded employee base." At the end of March 2019 quarter, Infosys had a total employee base of over 2.28 lakh people. Its attrition (annualised consolidated) in the said quarter was at 20.4 per cent compared to 19.5 per cent in the year-ago period. In April, Infosys had said it will roll out an incentive scheme this year for employees equipped with digital skills and will aggressively re-deploy staff on projects offering opportunities to work on new technologies. The '2019 Plan' "builds on the strong legacy of meritocracy that was established by the founders, and strengthens the company's efforts towards wealth creation for employees, enhanced shareholder returns and delight for customers", it says. The grants allocated to employees over a period of seven years will vest based on challenging performance criteria of relative Total Shareholder Return (TSR) against an industry peer group; relative TSR against domestic and global indices; and operating lead performance metrics. "Our employees are our biggest asset, and through this program we aim to recognise and reward individuals who are committed to driving value creation for all stakeholders... By making employees owners, they get an opportunity to be beneficiaries in the long term success of the company," Parekh said. New Delhi: Snapdeals Summer edition of the Mega Deals Sale starts from 17th May and will run till 19th May 2019. This summer edition of the popular Snapdeal sale brings a complete range of cool offers to make the scorching summers pleasant and enjoyable. The Snapdeal sale has an extensive collection of desert air coolers, cooler pads and fans on offer. To evoke a touch of nostalgia, it also has Jasmine and sandalwood attars (fragrances) on sale. Summers are not complete without a range of cold beverages and for this Snapdeal has put together lassi and cold coffee makers, sherbet blenders, as also a range of water purifiers. To offer protection against the summer heat protective gear for bikers and mosquito repellants for homes are also available at discounted offers. Popular items like castrol oil, which are used for a range of home remedies and for safe storage of grains are also available. In response to steady consumer demand, various traditional items, including kirtan accessories like dholak, damru and chimta are part of this sale. Another focus of the sale is a range of vacation travel accessories like luggage, torches, travel pouches, portable USB fans, sunglasses, bluetooth speakers - all available at huge bargains. The sale also has affordable smartphones on offer. These include Nokia 8110 Banana Phone, iVoomi i2 lite and Coolpad Mega 5 Series. The Mega Deals Sale comes with attractive offers of up to 80 per cent discount. There are additional discount offers of up to 15 per cent from RBL Bank credit card. With the DEAL350 coupon code, users can get a discount of additional up to Rs 350. While President Trump has tweeted about raising tariffs on China to create additional negotiating leverage, terminating GSP for India would undermine it, the report said. (Representational Image) New Delhi: America's year-long trade war with China is pushing US companies to source more from GSP countries such as India, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia and Turkey, a report said on Tuesday, warning that cancelling GSP benefits to India would only help China. The Coalition for GSP, a group of American companies and trade associations, in a report said the latest official trade figures shows that the Generalized System of Preference or GSP saved American companies USD 105 million in March, an increase of USD 28 million (36 per cent) from March, 2018 and the second-highest level on record. In the first quarter of 2019, the GSP saved American companies USD 285 million. That is USD 63 million more than the first quarter of 2018 -- itself a record-shattering year. The GSP is the largest and oldest US trade preference programme and is designed to promote economic development by allowing duty-free entry for thousands of products from designated beneficiary countries like India. On March 4, President Donald Trump announced that the US intends to terminate India's designations as a beneficiary developing country under the GSP programme. The 60-day notice period ended on May 3. According to the Washington DC-based Coalition for GSP, products hit by Section 301 tariffs when imported from China account for 90 per cent of increased GSP imports in 2019. Overall, GSP imports rose by about USD 760 million, with USD 672 million coming on products on China Section 301 lists. GSP imports of products on those Section 301 lists increased 19 per cent while GSP imports of other products increased by just five per cent. Noting that imports from China, subject to new tariffs, are down significantly, the coalition said countries from which GSP imports of products on China Section 301 lists have increased the most in the first quarter of 2019. According to the report, India benefits the most from this. "For India, 97 per cent of increased 2019 GSP imports are on the China Section 301 lists. GSP imports on Section 301 lists increased by USD 193 million (18 per cent), while imports of everything else increased by just USD seven million (two per cent)," it said. Similarly for Turkey, 97 per cent of increased 2019 GSP imports are on the China Section 301 lists. For the Philippines, GSP imports of products on China 301 lists growth helped offset declining GSP imports of all other products. South Africa, Brazil and Egypt saw similar increases in Section 301-affected products offset losses of other products, it said. The GSP imports from Indonesia grew only twice as much on affected products, the report said. Yet, even here, growth rates are faster for products on the Section 301 lists: GSP imports of products affected by new China tariffs grew by 22 per cent, while imports of other products grew by 15 per cent. "Not only would terminating GSP for India, Turkey or others under review (Thailand, Indonesia) hurt many American companies and workers that have relied on GSP for years, it would also reduce viable sourcing options for companies looking to buy less from China in response to Section 301 tariffs -- thereby undermining the president's own objectives," the coalition said. In another report, the coalition said cancelling the GSP for India would benefit China. Referring to the results of a recent survey, the coalition said 30 per cent of companies would look to source more from China if GSP benefits went away. That was about the same share of companies reporting they would source more from any of the approximately 120 remaining GSP countries and much higher than those would source more from non-China, non-GSP countries (NAFTA, EU, Japan etc.). While President Trump has tweeted about raising tariffs on China to create additional negotiating leverage, terminating GSP for India would undermine it, the report said. For some products such as luggage, simultaneously ending GSP for India and raising List 3 tariffs from 10 per cent to 25 per cent would make Chinese products more competitive compared to India, not less, it said. That is because there is a significant overlap between products imported from India under GSP and Chinese imports targeted by the Administration for Section 301 tariffs, it said. Over 75 per cent of India's GSP imports are included on one of the Section 301 lists. Given the head-to-head competition between India and China on many of these products, ending GSP for India would have the same effect as lowering tariffs on China, the report said. "And we can see that the Administration's tariffs on China do seem to have impacted both imports from India under GSP and from China so far in 2019," it said. In the first two months of 2019 (most recent data available), GSP imports from India are up significantly for products on the Section 301 lists, but down slightly for products where China does not face new tariffs, according to the coalition. It is the opposite for China: imports are down significantly for products facing new tariffs, and up slightly for those that do not, it said. "New tariffs on China presumably would amplify these trends -- but new tariffs on India would mitigate them. That puts the Administration at a crossroads: is increased leverage on China or India a higher priority? Because the data show you cannot raise tariffs on one without helping the other," the coalition said in its report. Chairman of the Mahindra Group Anand Mahindra, took to twitter on Friday early morning about the importance of Mahatma Gandhi in history of modern India. Mumbai: With some BJP leaders getting censured for speaking in favour of Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi, an industry leader warned of the perils of such statements. Chairman of the Mahindra Group Anand Mahindra, took to twitter on Friday early morning about the importance of Mahatma Gandhi in history of modern India. Mahindra said that India had been the land of the Mahatma, a beacon when the world lost its morality. Mahindra said Gandhi had inspired billions globally and some things must remain sacred. Mahindra referred to the destruction of Afghanistan's historic Bamiyan Buddha statues by the erstwhile Taliban regime in 2001 to warn against destroying statues that sustain us. For 75 yrs,Indias been the land of the Mahatma;a beacon when the world lost its morality.We used to be pitied for being poor but we were always rich since Bapu inspired billions globally.Some things must remain sacred.Or we become the Taliban,destroying statues that sustain us anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) May 17, 2019 BJP candidate for Bhopal, Pragya Singh Thakur, said Godse was a patriot creating a controversy on Thursday. She was answering to a question from a reporter about actor-politician Kamal Haasan's claim that Godse was a Hindu terrorist. After a widespread criticism, including from the BJP, Pragya apologised for her comments. Karnataka MPs Nalinkumar Kateel and Anantkumar Hegde also tweeted about Godse. The two deleted their posts subsequently. Kateel had tweeted, Godse killed one, Kasab killed 72, Rajiv Gandhi killed 17,000 asking people to judge who was more cruel. Hegde welcomed the debate on Godse in his tweet. My Twitter account had been hacked, he claimed. BJP President Amit Shah took to twitter on Friday and said these utterances by Pragya, Kateel and Hegde were in their personal capacity. The BJP had sought explanations from the three within 10 days, he added. (CNN) German prosecutors in the northwest city of Oldenburg are seeking a life sentence for Niels Hoegel, a former male nurse who is considered Germany's deadliest postwar serial killer after allegedly killing as many as 100 patients. Lead prosecutor Martin Koziolek told CNN that 42-year-old Hoegel is suspected of taking that many lives, but there is evidence for only 97 murders. In the three remaining cases, Koziolek said there may have been medical manipulations -- but they are not believed to have directly led to the death of the patients. Last year, Hoegel was charged with the deaths of 97 people. On his first day of trial in October 2018, Hoegel confessed that he killed his patients ranging in age between 34 and 96 at two hospitals in northern Germany between 2000 and 2005. The former nurse is already serving a life sentence for six convictions, including homicide and attempted homicide in 2008 and 2015. Those convictions led authorities to investigate hundreds of deaths and exhume the bodies of former patients in the clinics where he worked. Hoegel is accused of giving his victims various non-prescribed drugs, in an attempt to show off his resuscitation skills to colleagues and fight off boredom. Prosecutors said Hoegel should have been aware that the drugs he gave to patients at hospitals in Delmenhorst and Oldenburg, in northwest Germany, could cause life-threatening cardiac problems. In past hearings, Hoegel said he felt euphoric when he managed to bring a patient back to life, and devastated when he failed. About 126 relatives of the victims are co-plaintiffs in the trial, which is expected to run until June this year, the prosecutor told CNN. This story was first published on CNN.com, "German nurse who killed up to 100 patients faces another life sentence." Globally, spot gold was trading lower at USD 1,286.50 an ounce, while silver was down at USD 14.58 an ounce in New York. New Delhi: Gold prices on Friday declined by Rs 160 to Rs 33,170 per 10 gram in the national capital due to tepid demand from jewellers amid weak global trend, according to the All India Sarafa Association. Similarly, silver also slumped Rs 625 to Rs 37,625 per kg on reduced offtake by industrial units and coin makers. Traders said sentiment remained bearish on the back of a weak trend overseas, while easing demand from local jewellers also weighed on bullion prices. Globally, spot gold was trading lower at USD 1,286.50 an ounce, while silver was down at USD 14.58 an ounce in New York. In the national capital, gold of 99.9 per cent and 99.5 per cent purity dropped by Rs 160 each to Rs 33,170 and Rs 33,000 per 10 gram, respectively. Sovereign gold, however, held steady at Rs 26,500 per eight gram. Meanwhile, silver ready dropped by Rs 625 to Rs 37,625 per kg, while weekly-based delivery plunged Rs 702 to Rs 36,822 per kg. On the other hand, silver coins held flat at Rs 80,000 for buying and Rs 81,000 for selling of 100 pieces. WTI was also up for a fourth day and was headed for a weekly gain of 2.7 per cent, the first rise in four weeks. (Photo: Twitter) Tokyo: Oil prices rose again on Friday and were on track for the first weekly gains this month, as rising tensions in the Middle East stoked fears of supply disruptions. Brent crude futures were at USD 73.00 a barrel at 0303 GMT, up 38 cents, or 0.5 per cent, from their last close, rising for a fourth straight session. Brent was up 3.4 per cent for the week, on track for its first gain in three weeks. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at USD 63.32 per barrel, up 46 cents, or 0.7 per cent. WTI was also up for a fourth day and was headed for a weekly gain of 2.7 per cent, the first rise in four weeks. A Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen carried out several air strikes on the Houthi-held capital Sanaa on Thursday after the Iranian-aligned movement claimed responsibility for drone attacks on two Saudi oil pumping stations earlier in the week. Earlier this week, US staff were evacuated from the American embassy in Baghdad, while US President Donald Trump ordered the deployment of an aircraft carrier group, B-52 bombers and Patriot missiles to the Middle East. When tensions are this high, with the US deploying a sizable military force, even a mistake or a tactical error by Iran could ignite the Middle East powder keg, Stephen Innes, head of trading and market strategy at SPI Asset Management told Reuters by email. There are lots of supply risks with tensions this high, he said, adding prices could test 2019 highs reached in April. Still, Trump has told his top advisers he does not want to get the United States involved in a war with Iran, three US officials said on Thursday. The market is also awaiting a decision from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producers over whether to continue with supply cuts that have boosted prices more than 30 per cent so far this year. A meeting of OPECs ministerial monitoring committee in Saudi Arabia this weekend will assess member states commitment to a deal reducing oil production, Iraqs oil minister said on Thursday. Mumbai: Shah Rukh Khan makes his appearance on David Letterman's show will and we are sure to get a perfectly entertaining episode that the fans around the world can relish! The Indian actor becomes the first Indian celebrity to grace the show. The show will be all about in-depth conversations, for which Letterman is renowned, and in-the-field segments expressing his curiosity and humour. "Baadshah" of Bollywood has fans all around the world and sure his name needs no introduction just as the show narrates. The actor shared, "I've watched David Letterman's late-night talk show for years and I'm a huge fan of his style of interviewing. I'm thrilled and honoured to share my story with him. That this is on Netflix is even more special I'm working with the team on various projects and it's always been exciting partnering with them," Shah Rukh said. SRK with David Letterman on the show. King Khan tweeted about his appearance saying, "No more footprints...this is The Abominable Snowman!! Before BatMan & SpiderMan, there is Mr. LetterMan @Letterman Thx for ur generosity. Had 2 much fun being interviewed.Not becos it was about me but becos u were kind enough to make me feel I can be me. U r an inspiration sir." No more footprints...this is The Abominable Snowman!! Before BatMan & SpiderMan, there is Mr. LetterMan @Letterman Thx for ur generosity. Had 2 much fun being interviewed.Not becos it was about me but becos u were kind enough to make me feel I can be me. U r an inspiration sir. pic.twitter.com/8MkFpWJ0WK Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) May 17, 2019 Talking about his experience, Letterman said, "The best part of this job that Netflix has been happy to provide for me is to meet people. And after each one of these sessions, I think to myself, it is a very smart, very lovely person from whom I have learned things. You would maybe be at the top of that list." The host, David Letterman is an American television host, comedian, writer, and producer who has hosted late night television talk shows for 33 years in his career. The first season of the very successful show hosted by David Letterman saw him interviewing the leading names such as Barack Obama, George Clooney, Malala Yousafzai and Jerry Seinfeld, which will see the global icon, Shah Rukh Khan as a guest on the esteemed list. Shah Rukh Khan's appearance on the show will be a treat to watch as the promos of their respective fields will be seen on one screen. After interviewing SRK in front of the live audience on Thursday in New York, Letterman, 72, said the actor was one of the loveliest persons he has ever spoken to. The fans had already anticipated this meet and with this exchange of words, we all are excited to see the superstar talk his wit at the show. This years Cannes Film Festival saw Bollywoods three reigning actress making heads turn at the red carpet. While this year marks Priyanka Chopras debut at the French Riviera, regulars Deepika Padukone and Kangana Ranaut amped up their glamour quotient with their various paired looks. Priyanka Chopra Representing the Swiss Luxury band, Chopard, Priyankas look in a shimmery black gown is by far her best red carpet look for this year. While her MET Gala look was all about Dior mesh and sheer gown with a thigh-high slit and feathered hem, her Cannes look was a shimmering Roberto Cavalli gown with a dash of red sparkle, winged eyeliner and berry lipstick. The actress attended the world premiere of 5B, directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Dan Krauss. Prior to her red carpet, Piggy Chops sported a classic pleated jumpsuit and corset from Honayda Serafi couture. Priyanka Chopra Padmavaat actress Deepika Padukone sported a custom-made Dundas white ivory gown with a statement bow and a plunging neckline, along with reverse cat eye make-up. Pulling her hair in a genie ponytail, the actress long trail gown surely made heads turn. Deepika Padukone But Kangana Ranauts day one at Cannes was a mix of tradition and elegance in her saree ensemble. The actress looked gorgeous in a golden Kanjeevaram saree paired with strapless embellished gold peplum blouse and maroon gloves. Kangana also attended the India Pavilion at Cannes 2019. Kangana Ranaut At the Pavilion, the actress spoke about the changes she would like to see in the industry and the kind of support government should offer. In countries like France, England or America, they have different courses in this field, whereas, no proper training exists in India. Also, the technicians on the sets should be valued and proper insurance should be given to them, she said, adding that she would love to give lectures at such training schools. Kangana Ranaut Post interactions, the Queen actress switched to a bold shinning pantsuit. The look for the liquor brands party saw the actress in an embellished jacket worn over a corset with matching black pants by Nedret Taciroglu. But the highlight of her look was the plunging neckline. Deepika Padukone Also acing the pantsuit look on the second day at the Cannes was Deepika who wore a blue and white striped attire paired classically with orange heels. The actress was also seen in a black and green gown. Mumbai: Superstar Mahesh Babu who had his career's biggest opener with his 25th release 'Maharshi' spent some quality time with school students and discussed about future generation and the prospects of farming. After receiving appreciation from the Vice President of India, Venkaiah Naidu for his unconventional role of Rishi Kumar, the actor was a special guest at Director Vamsi Paidipally's Hyderabad Public school, who is also the alumini of the school. In the interactive session, the students got a chance to interact with the actor and ask him questions related to farming, problems faced by the farmers and also about his films and life. Maharshi has touched the actor, personally and as he shares a special connection with the film, Mahesh Babu wanted to highlight the actual obstacles faced by the farmer. Taking to social media, team Mahesh Babu wrote, "#CelebratingMaharshi. Super Star @urstrulymahesh and @directorvamshi interacting with the future generation. A free wheeling interaction with the students & faculty of HPS, Begumpet. A proud moment for Vamshi as he happens to be the alumni of this school. #Maharshi Coming Soon." #CelebratingMaharshi. Super Star @urstrulymahesh and @directorvamshi interacting with the future generation. A free wheeling interaction with the students & faculty of HPS, Begumpet. A proud moment for Vamshi as he happens to be the alumni of this school. #Maharshi Coming Soon. pic.twitter.com/rNKBsYxHBX Team Mahesh Babu (@MBofficialTeam) May 16, 2019 His much-awaited character of Rishi Kumar showcases the actor essaying the role of an NRI tycoon. His character highlights the actor is a go-getter belonging to a middle-class family, who fears failure and is dedicated putting in tremendous efforts. The actor in a turn off events climbs the ladder of success and becomes the CEO of a New-York based technology giant. After garnering a heartwarming response from the fans for his classic hit 'Bharat Aenu Nenu' for his role of the Chief Minister made his fans believe whether he is a real character from the film. Following so, now with Maharshi, the actor is receiving immense response from his fans. Maharshi marks the 25th film of the Superstar's career and is a very close and special project for him. The film released on 9th May, 2019. While its use is a federal crime as a controlled substance, 28 states and the District of Columbia now allow it for treating medical conditions. (Photo: Representational/Pixabay) Washington: Legalisation of recreational marijuana is associated with an increase in its abuse, but does not significantly change health care use overall, a recent study suggests. In a review of more than 28 million hospital records from the two years before and after cannabis was legalised in Colorado, UC San Francisco (UCSF) researchers found that Colorado hospital admissions for cannabis abuse increased after legalisation in comparison to other states. However, taking the totality of all hospital admissions and time spent in hospitals into account, there was not an appreciable increase after recreational cannabis was legalised. The study also found fewer diagnoses of chronic pain after legalisation, consistent with a 2017 National Academy of Sciences report that concluded substantial evidence exists that cannabis can reduce chronic pain. "We need to think carefully about the potential health effects of substantially enhancing the accessibility of cannabis, as has been done now in majority of states," said senior author Gregory Marcus, associate chief of cardiology for research in the UCSF Division of Cardiology. According to Marcus, the findings, published in the Journal of BMJ, demonstrate several potential harmful effects that are relevant for physicians and policymakers, as well as for individuals considering cannabis use. According to the 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, more than 117 million Americans, or 44.2 per cent of all Americans, have used cannabis in their lifetime, and more than 22 million Americans report having used it within the past 30 days. While its use is a federal crime as a controlled substance, 28 states and the District of Columbia now allow it for treating medical conditions. Nine of those states have legalised it for recreational use. To understand the potential shifts in health care use resulting from widespread policy changes, Marcus and his colleagues reviewed the records of more than 28 million individuals in Colorado, New York and Oklahoma from the 2010-2014 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, which included 16 million hospitalisations. They compared the rates of health care utilisation and diagnoses in Colorado two years before and two years after recreational marijuana was legalised in December 2012 to New York, as a geographically distant and urban state, and to Oklahoma, as a geographically close and mainly rural state. The researchers found that after legalisation, Colorado experienced a 10 per cent increase in motor vehicle accidents, as well as a 5 per cent increase in alcohol abuse and overdoses that resulted in injury or death. At the same time, the state saw a 5 per cent decrease in hospital admissions for chronic pain, Marcus said. According to the team of researchers, the study findings can prove to be beneficial in guiding future decisions regarding cannabis policy. After an hour the old man again came to his shop with 20 grams jewellery and asked for Rs 50,000 in return. On suspicion, Harichand melted the gold and to his shock, found that it was not gold. It is learnt that the man had coated the pieces with fake jewellery. (Representational Image) Chennai: A senior citizen was arrested by city police after he tried to sell fake gold jewellery at a pawn shop in Palavanthangal on Thursday evening. According to police, Harichand Jain (50) is a resident of MGR Salai in Nanganallur, and originally from Jaipur in Rajasthan. He runs a pawn shop near his house in Nanganallur. Police said that a man came to Harichand's shop on Thursday evening. He alleged that he was from Salem and had admitted his daughter in a private hospital in the city. He said that he wanted to dispose of a gold earring weighing about five grams worth Rs 10,000 in order to pay the hospital bill. After Harichand Jain confirmed the earrings' authenticity, he struck the deal and gave him Rs 8,500. After an hour the old man again came to his shop with 20 grams jewellery and asked for Rs 50,000 in return. On suspicion, Harichand melted the gold and to his shock, found that it was not gold. It is learnt that the man had coated the pieces with fake jewellery. Harichand caught the man and handed him over to Palavanthagal police. Police identified the man as Chinnaswamy (60) of Annadanapatti in Salem. Hyderabad: A couple from Yemen was cheated by another Yemeni national living in the city, to the tune of Rs 7 lakh, by communicating wrong information to them about the treatment for gall bladder cancer at a city-based hospital. The accused was arrested by Banjara Hills police and remanded to judicial custody. According to Banjara Hills police, Abdul Nasir, 68, had come from Aden, Yemen, for treatment of cancer along with Azhar Mahmood Ali last year. They visited a hospital at Mumbai where Nasir was treated for some days. As the expenses for treatment were high, Azhar posted on Facebook groups asking people to suggest a hospital in India, where her husband can get treatment at a lower price. Muaad Galal Abdo, 25, a native of Yemen and resident of Tarnaka, who came across the post, contacted Azhar and informed her about the treatment at a private hospital in Banjara Hills. Abdo had come to the city to pursue post-graduation. Azhar reached the city and took a room on rent at Paramount Colony with the help of Abdo, as she does not know any other language except Arabic. He also assisted the couple in talking with doctors and others. The doctors said that expenses for treatment would be around Rs 3.5 lakh, but Abdo translated this as Rs 10 lakh. He took the money from her on the pretext of paying the hospital. During an interview, Modi said that the Godse remark is absolutely unforgivable. (Photo: File) New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that he could not forgive Pragya Singh Thakur for her remark calling Gandhis assassin Nathuram Godse a deshbhakt (partiot). During an interview, Modi said that the Godse remark is absolutely unforgivable and that it insulted Mahatma Gandhi. She has apologised. That is a different thing. But in my heart, I cannot forgive her, said PM Modi. In an interview to TV channel NEWS 24, Modi said: Everything that has been said about Godse and Gandhi is horribly wrong and fit to be hated and criticised. Those who say this should think a 100 times in future. Reacting to actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan recent remark that the first terrorist of independent India was a Hindu extremist (Godse), Pragya said: Godse was, is and will always be a deshbhakt. Read: Godse was, is and will be 'deshbhakt': Sadhvi Pragya on Gandhi killer A chorus of leaders across parties slammed Pragya. The BJP distanced itself from Pragya and two other --- Ananth Kumar Hedge and Nalin Kateel --- who made similar remarks in support of Godse. Union Minister Anant Kumar Hegde had tweeted: "Am glad that 7 decades later today's generation debates in a changed perceptional environment and gives good scope for the condemned to be heard upon. #NathuramGodse would have finally felt happy with this debate!" Soon after BJP distanced itself from the remarks by the leader, he deleted the tweet and posted: "My Twitter account has been breached twice in the past one week and certain tweets have been posted on my timeline which has been discarded and deleted. Regret the posts attributed to me." My Twitter account has been breached twice in the past one week and certain tweets have been posted on my timeline which has been discarded and deleted. Regret the posts attributed to me. Chowkidar Anantkumar Hegde (@AnantkumarH) May 17, 2019 Read: BJP distances itself from all Godse remarks, Shah asks leaders to explain "Godse killed one, Kasab killed 72, Rajiv Gandhi killed 17,000. You judge who is more cruel in this??" - Nalin Kateel had tweeted amid the raging controversy over Sadhvi Pragya's comment glorifying Godse as a patriot on Thursday night. The party high command has come down harshly on these three leaders, who now face disciplinary action. BJP president Amit Shah said the disciplinary committee will seek an explanation from all the three leaders submit the report to the party within 10 days. Pragya, however, apologised late on Thursday night and retracted her comment. Also Read: After backlash, Pragya Thakur says sorry over Godse remark to BJP Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses et all. Happy reading. The water scarcity is so acute is the city that the Metrowater board commenced rationing in January, thus bringing down the total daily supply steeply from about 880 million litres a day to 550 million litres a day. Chennai: Its drinking water pots everywhere and with reduced water supplies, Chennai and several other parts of Tamil Nadu are battling to get a share of the precious commodity. The Kathri heat that is making people ask for more is also making the tempers run high. With the availability of drinking water getting scarce by the day, we have no option but to stage protests with empty pots demanding the officials to ensure regular supplies, says Meena in Royapuram. Though South Chennai is wee better than other parts of the metro, the ground water level is fast receding and the residentsare apprehensive of an imminent crisis. Neighbouring Kancheepuram too is reeling under acute water scarcity owing to the meager rainfall received in the State. The water scarcity is so acute is the city that the Metrowater board commenced rationing in January, thus bringing down the total daily supply steeply from about 880 million litres a day to 550 million litres a day. By June, the city will not get any water from its three principal sources - Red Hills lake, Poondi reservoir and Cholavaram lake. From May 15, the Chennai Metrowater Supply and Sewerage Board has stopped drawing water from the Red Hills lake, which supplies the city 90 million litres-120 million litres a day. 'Our stand is one that is the federal front, a coalition of regional parties without Congress or BJP at the Centre,' he said. (Photo: ANI) Hyderabad: The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) on Thursday said that it stands committed on forming a non-Congress and non-BJP government at the Centre. "Our chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has taken the initiative to combine all regional parties which have the same ideology as that of TRS. He is taking an initiative of forming a federal front at the Centre after the elections," TRS spokesperson Abid Rasool Khan told ANI. "Our stand is one that is the federal front, a coalition of regional parties without Congress or BJP at the Centre," he added. Khan claimed that the federal front will acquire the required numbers to form the government at the Centre after May 23. On Monday, Rao had met DMK chief MK Stalin at his residence in Chennai, amid speculations over a hung Parliament and possibilities of forming a non-BJP, non-Congress federal front. However, Stalin dismissed the speculations saying his meeting with Rao was a "courtesy visit" and ruled out the possibility of the federal front forming the government after the polls. "We have categorically said in a statement that it was a courtesy call but certain people with intentions were trying to give new colour to the meeting," Stalin had told reporters on Tuesday. "I don't see the possibility of a government of a third front. It will be known only after the results on May 23," he had said. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses et all. Happy reading. Haasan had stoked a controversy on Sunday by saying 'free India's first extremist was a Hindu', referring to Nathuram Godse who killed Mahatma Gandhi. (Photo: File) Chennai: Amid incidents such as hurling of stones and footwear during his bypoll campaign, Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) founder Kamal Haasan Thursday asked his fans to maintain decorum and "not to be drawn into the violence". Haasan had stoked a controversy on Sunday by saying "free India's first extremist was a Hindu", referring to Nathuram Godse who killed Mahatma Gandhi. "Dear MNM family and fans, this is an acid test for our decorum and demeanour. Do not listen to their noises and be drawn into their violence," he said in a tweet. "They are extremists who are slighted by the Truth. Naalai Namadhey! (Tomorrow belongs to us)," he added. While footwear was thrown during the actor's bypoll campaign at Thirupparankundram in Madurai on Wednesday, stones and eggs were hurled during a public meeting on Thursday at Aravakurichi in Karur district by unidentified persons. MNM workers had allegedly beaten up the persons suspected to have thrown stones and eggs. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses et all. Happy reading. Mumbai: Have you missed any news today? Here are the top national, international headlines of the day. PM holds maiden press conference as campaign ends: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing his first press conference, said that his government would return back to power with full majority. PM Modi said his piece but didn't take any direct question from the reporters, directing them to his party president Amit Shah. Read: 'We will return with full majority,' says PM Modi in his first press conference Chandrababu Naidu registers protest with the EC: Telugu Desam Party chief met the Election Commission to register his protest on the ECs decision to conduct re-polling in five polling stations of Chandragiri assembly segment falling under Chittoor parliamentary constituency. Read: Chandrababu Naidu writes, meets the EC; protests against re-polling 'BJP, RSS are God-se not God-ke lovers,' Rahul's attack: In an apparent reference to remarks by Pragya Singh Thakur and two other BJP leaders in support of Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse, Rahul Gandhi tweeted, "I finally got it. The BJP and the RSS... Are not God-Ke Lovers. They are God-Se Lovers." Read: BJP, RSS not God-ke but God-se lovers: Rahul Gandhi Priyanka's jibe 'Sr Bachchan would be a better PM': Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who held a massive roadshow in Mirzapur parliamentary constituency, took a potshot at PM Narendra Modi by calling him "sabse bada abhineta". Addressing the ebullient gathering, Priyanka told people that it would have been great if you had chosen veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan as the PM. Read: Amitabh Bachchan would have been better pick for PM: Priyanka's jibe at Modi 'Gandhi is Father of Pakistan', says BJP leader; suspended: The BJP has suspended its Madhya Pradesh spokesman for his comment of Mahatma Gandhi. This comes a day after BJP's Bhopal Lok Sabha candidate Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur hailed Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse as a "true patriot". Read: BJP's Anil Saumitra calls Mahatma Gandhi 'father of Pakistan', suspended Rahul on PM post: Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that a decision on the Prime Ministerial post of a non-BJP government at the Centre would be taken after the Lok Sabha poll results are out on May 23. Gandhi's comment comes after senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said that his party does not have any problem if it did not get the PM's post as it wants to dislodge the NDA government. Read: Will decide on PM's post after results are out on May 23: Rahul Gandhi PM's comment on Sadhvi Pragya's Godse remark: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that he could not forgive Pragya Singh Thakur for her remark calling Gandhis assassin Nathuram Godse a deshbhakt (partiot). Read: Cant forgive Pragya Thakur for insulting Bapu: Narendra Modi Race for PM post: Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Friday said that it wasnt true that Congress would not claim or was not interested in the Prime Minister post. Of course we are the biggest and oldest political party. If we have to run the government for five years biggest political party should be given a chance, Azad said. The statement came a day after Ghulam Nabi Azad had said that Congress would accept a regional party Prime Minister. Read: Cong is biggest, oldest party; should run govt and be in PM chair: Azad Saradha chit fund scam: The Supreme Court on Friday gave former Kolkata commissioner Rajeev Kumar seven days to approach appropriate courts to seek protection from arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation. Read: Saradha chit fund case: SC gives 7 days to ex-Kolkata top cop to seek bail Modilies controversy: Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde Friday stoked a controversy by calling Congress President Rahul Gandhi a "moron" for his tweet that 'Modilies' is a new word in the English dictionary. Read: Moron: Hegde slams Rahul Gandhi over 'Modilie' comment Pakistan on Samjhauta train blast: Pakistan on Thursday said it is considering to move international forums against the acquittal of the 2007 Samjhauta train blast case suspects that left 68 people, mostly Pakistanis, dead. Read: Will move int'l forums against acquittal of Samjhauta train blast suspects: Pak Drone strikes in Iran: Saudi Arabia accused Tehran of being behind a drone strike that shut down a key oil pipeline in the kingdom, and a newspaper close to the palace called for Washington to launch surgical strikes on Iran, raising the spectre of escalating tensions as the US boosts its military presence in the Persian Gulf. Read: Saudi blame Iran for drone strikes; want US to launch 'surgical strike' on Tehran 'What is more disturbing and painful is that the EC set aside all the complaints made by the TDP,' the Chief Minister said. (Photo: File) Amaravati: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on Thursday "strongly opposed" the Election Commission's decision to hold repolling at five booths under Chandragiri and Chittoor parliamentary constituencies and termed it as "partial one-sided and undemocratic". "I am writing this letter to strongly oppose the partial one-sided and undemocratic motivated actions of the EC. The decision to conduct repolling in five polling stations under 166-Chandragiri and 25-Chittoor parliamentary constituencies," Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said in the letter. Naidu said that the decision to conduct repolling was a part of a conspiracy to get his party votes removed on "pseudonymous complaints" of YSP Congress party activists and alleged that the poll body did not act on TDP's complaints. He wrote, "It is highly regrettable and shocking the EC has so far not responded to the request of Special Investigation Team constituted by the state government, shared IP numbers of the computers, from where the pseudonymous complaints came." Naidu accused the poll body of selectively working on YSR Congress' complaints on ignoring his party's complaints. "What is more disturbing and painful is that the EC set aside all the complaints made by the TDP," the Chief Minister said, adding that the EC did not respond to TDP's demand of repolling on certain polling stations. He further said: "How can the EC conduct repolling also, in phases, selectively responding to the complaints made by the YSRCP. Does it mean the EC will conduct another repoll even after the declaration of results if some more complaints are made?" Earlier in the day, a TDP delegation comprising minister N Anand Babu, MLCs Dokka Manikya Vara Prasad, P Ashok Babu, MLA T Sravan Kumar and party spokesperson Lanka Dinakar met with Andhra Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Gopal Krishna Dwivedi over the same issue. Earlier this month, Chandragiri YSR Congress candidate Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy lodged a complaint with the EC stating that voters belonging to a particular community were not allowed to exercise their franchise when polling was conducted on April 11. Moreover, the CEO reportedly received some complaints from other sources as well. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses et all. Happy reading. 'Of course we are the biggest and oldest political party. If we have to run the government for five years biggest political party should be given a chance,' Azad said. (Photo: ANI | Twitter) New Delhi: Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Friday said that it wasnt true that Congress would not claim or was not interested in the Prime Minister post. Of course we are the biggest and oldest political party. If we have to run the government for five years biggest political party should be given a chance, Azad said. Read: Cong has no problem if it did not get PM's post: Ghulam Nabi Azad The statement came a day after when Ghulam Nabi Azad said that Congress would accept a regional party Prime Minister. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses et all. Happy reading. The city will continue to get thundershowers for the next three days. Bengaluru: The city witnessed heavy downpour on Friday afternoon and some parts even experienced hailstorm, much to the excitement of children. Manyata Tech Park, M.G. Road, Cunningham Road and surrounding areas received hail storm. They were the size of pebbles, and children were seen excitedly collecting them. Several trees got uprooted due to high-speed winds and a car got damaged in Jayanagar after tree fell on it. Tree falls were also reported at Malleswaram, Rajarajeshwarinagar Nagar, Mysore Road and Dairy Circle. The rain caught many people unawares and they had to scurry for cover at bus stops and other covered places. Those returning from office had harrowing time due to slow moving traffic. There was water logging at the entry and exit ramps of flyovers and underpasses. Traffic flow was also affected due to vehicle breakdown in some places. Traffic jams were more acute in areas where white topping or metro work was in progress. Karnataka State Natural Disaster Management Cell (KSNDMC) Director told Deccan Chronicle that it is common to have hailstorm during pre-monsoon showers. The sudden drop in temperature in atmosphere results in hailstorm. Cyclonic circulation was observed in south interior Karnataka, he explained. The city will continue to get thundershowers for the next three days. However, this years monsoon will be delayed as it is expected to reach Kerala by June 4, instead of June 1. Hence it will take one more week to reach Karnataka, he added. BMTC officials claim that the delay was because the Trimax IT Infrastructure, which implemented the ITS, is undergoing corporate insolvency resolution process. Bengaluru: Though BMTC has been promising to provide its passengers with modern bus tracking services and user friendly measures, but they have so far remained on paper. It recently launched a new website, in place of outdated and slow version, but even the new version doesn't have the bus real-time tracking option. "Passengers want real-time data routes, stoppages, approximate time and arrivals which will be very helpful for them. The BMTC should look into it and provide this facility," said Arun Kumar K.L., a regular bus commuter. Passengers also complain that BMTC app is not user-friendly. They are plagued with technical glitches and provide erroneous information on many buses. BMTC officials claim that the delay was because the Trimax IT Infrastructure, which implemented the ITS, is undergoing corporate insolvency resolution process. According to BMTC official, "The new app is only on a trial basis and the tests are going on. Were planning to provide real-time data of buses on the website with the help of Intelligent Transport System. Soon it will reflect on the website and commuters can use it. The BMTC had also announced that it would be installing digital screens at bus stations as part of its passenger information system (PIS), but it is being held up because of a dispute with BBMP. Chennai: Catapulted to national attention by that one statement on Godse and Hindu terror, actor-politician Kamal Haasan has now come up with an elaborate exposition that the very term Hindu is not an Indian description but a foreign coinage of ancient time which the British endorsed for convenience. Neither the Alwars nor the Nayanmars, the famed Vaishnavite and Shaivite saints, had made any mention of Hindu, he said on twitter. We were christened Hindus by Mughals or those (foreign) rulers who predated him, he said, adding that the British had endorsed that coinage. The citizens were identified as Indians, so it would be erroneous to box them all into a religion. While we have so many of our own identities, it is ignorant to have as our name and faith something given to us by non-native, said Kamal. To put it in laymans terms, living in harmony has a million benefits, he said drawing from a Tamil saying. Later speaking to reporters at the airport on his arrival from hectic campaigning, Kamal sought to play down his burden of Hindu terrorist by declaring, Every religion has its own terrorists and so none can claim to be sanctimonious. Asked if he could have avoided the Godse comment, Kamal said he stood firm on his remarks and he had said the same thing even earlier during a Marina rally but no one bothered about that. Only people whose confidence has dipped now were creating tension. He furter added saying every religion has its own terrorist. To a question if he had applied for anticipatory bail fearing arrest, he replied in the negative. I dont fear arrest. Let them arrest me but that would escalate tensions. So better not to do that (arrest). This is not my request but an advice, he said, while reiterating his charge that the media had subjected his (Godse) speech at Aravakurichi (Sunday night) to selective editing. Asked if he felt intimidated by minister Rajendra Balaji saying his tongue should be cut off or by incidents such as the stone-pelting and hurling of chappal at his campaign meeting, Kamal said Balajis tongue threat shows his character and as for fear, he had none. To a question if he would apologise to the apolitical Hindus for his Godse comment, he said one should differentiate between Hindus and the RSS. We should differentiate who are Hindus, who is RSS. You cant generalise. Political functionaries will get hurt any time, non-political persons with a faith will only wonder for sometime why he has spoken like this...things like getting hurt, getting angry and attacking are political tools. They are violent tools, he said, pointing out that even in the past, various groups had protested against him, but people later realised they were not proper. On Prime Minister Narendra Modis statement that a Hindu cannot be a terrorist, Kamal said, Many think he is very knowledgeable. Therefore history and history professors are there to respond to him. On police denying him permission to undertake campaigning in Sulur Assembly constituency in Coimbatore on Friday, he wondered why the EC did not opt to postpone the by-poll if it thought there was a problem there. Meanwhile, he has uploaded a video on his Twitter page, in an apparent retort to his being denied permission to canvass votes in Sulur on the last day of campaign schedule. Permission was denied to me to undertake campaign in one place (Sulur). Thanks to science, here is my campaign, he said. The police found that the foreign nationals had managed to acquire Indian identification cards and were aspiring to settle in the country. Hyderabad: Five Bangladesh nationals working at a meat exporting company in Patancheru, Sangareddy district have been arrested by the police for entering India illegally. The police found that the foreign nationals had managed to acquire Indian identification cards and were aspiring to settle in the country. Three more persons involved in the case have absconded, and police teams are on the hunt to nab them. Acting on a tip, a team of police from Patancheru apprehended the five men, who had been working as labourers at Al-Kabeer Exports Pvt Ltd and residing in the quarters provided to them by the company. The accused have been identified as Mohammed Babu, 22, of Sathkira district, Bangladesh, and Mohammed Repon Hussain, 25, Mohammed Gulam Hussain, 40, Mohammed Saiful Alam, 24 and Mohammed Saidul Qureshi, 29, of Jessore district, Bangladesh. Police said that the accused were found in possession of Aadhaar cards and voter identification cards which they had acquired in connivance of local authorities using their local residential address. Sources said that the Patancheru police booked a case against the five men under the relevant sections of the IPC and the Foreigners Act and remanded them to the judicial custody. Preliminary investigation revealed that the accused arrived in Telangana around two years ago. They entered the country illegally with help from some agents and stayed in Kolkata for some time before arriving in the city (outskirts) to settle down. It was also found that the accused Babu had married an Assamese widow, a mother of two. Repon Hussain was also found to have married an Assamese woman while Saidul Qureshi was found to have married a woman from Sholapur. The apprehended Bangladesh nationals are not in any Indian agencies wanted lists. Their sole intention was to settle down in the country and for that, they entered the country from West Bengal. Three of the five men married Indian women to secure permanent citizenships. Additionally, they had all procured Indian identification cards, Patancheru inspector P. Naresh told this newspaper. The inspector further said that the Embassy of Bangladesh High Commission had been informed about the arrest of the five persons, while police teams are on the job to nab the absconding violators. Amaravati: Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu met the Election Commission (EC) in New Delhi on Monday to register his protest on the ECs decision to conduct re-polling in five polling stations of Chandragiri assembly segment falling under Chittoor parliamentary constituency. Naidu has also written a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora questioning the rationale behind re-polling in five assembly seats after the complaint was made by the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP). Andhra Pradesh went to polls for 175 assembly seats and 25 parliamentary seats on April 11. The Hindustan Times has reported that, through his letter, Naidu has asked, The EC has already conducted re-polling in five other polling stations in three districts on May 6, based on certain complaints. If there were any issues in the polling stations in Chandragiri assembly constituency, why didnt the Commission enquire into the same and conduct the re-polling on May 6? We have seen polling being conducted in different phases, but have never come across re-polling also being held in phases, he said. Naidu asked whether the EC will order re-polling in other booths if the YSR Congress leaders come up with fresh complaints. Naidu alleged that the EC didnt consider any of the complaints lodged by the TDP leaders after the polling on April 11 stating issues in Chandragiri constituency and demanding re-polling in nine other polling stations. But it acted swiftly on the complaints lodged by the YSRC leaders, he criticised. The TDP has alleged that the YSRCP had influenced the EC through chief secretary L V Subrahmanyam. The opposition leaders submitted the complaint to the chief secretary, who in turn referred it to the EC seeking re-polling in certain polling stations. In what way, was the chief secretary concerned with re-polling? TDP official spokesperson P Anuradha asked. However, the YSRCP has dismissed the allegations. YSRCPs spokesperson Ambati Rambabu was quoted by the Hindustan Times to have said, The EC took the decision based on the concrete evidence submitted by the returning officers on the malpractices. Why are the TDP leaders worried over re-polling, if they have not indulged in any malpractices? If the people are with the TDP, they will vote for it again, he argued. Women tried to attack Mohit Reddy with broom sticks. He sat at the entrance of the village to stage a protest. (Photo: ANI) Chittoor: Enraged by the decision of re-polling, people of NR Kammapalli village here on Thursday prevented Mohit Reddy, son of YSR Congress Party's candidate Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy, from entering the village. Women allegedly tried to attack Mohit with broom sticks. Later, Mohit along with his party workers sat at the entrance of the village to stage a protest. Telugu Desam Party (TDP) candidate P Nani who is contesting against Chevireddy Bhaskar from Chandragiri assembly seat also reached the spot, following which the police also arrived to pacify the tense situation. Earlier this month, YSR Congress candidate Chevireddy Bhaskar lodged a complaint with the EC stating that voters belonging to a particular community were not allowed to exercise their franchise when polling was conducted on April 11. Moreover, the CEO reportedly received some complaints from other sources as well. On Wednesday, the Election Commission of India (ECI) declared the poll held on April 11 in these five stations as void and ordered re-polling on May 19. Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analysis et al. Happy reading. The Dalits of Tolewal village, which has 328 Dalits, would vote for NOTA to register their protest. (Photo: Representational image) Chandigarh: Dalit voters in Punjab have taken their protest against the political parties as they have decided to vote for NOTA and not to any political front. As reported by Firstpost, Dalit labourers and leaders held a meeting in Sangrur districts Tolewal village where they discussed the injustices done to them by the higher caste Jat Sikhs and authorities as they have repeatedly trampled upon Dalits rights. The meeting was addressed by Bhupinder Kaur, a landless Dalit labourer, who referred to the failure of the successive governments to ensure implementation of the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Rules, 1964, which requires that one-third of the land in every village panchayat be allotted to Dalit labourers for a year through annual bids. The Dalits of Tolewal village, which has 328 Dalits, would vote for NOTA to register their protest. And this is not the only village. Zameen Prapti Sangharsh Committee (ZPSC), an organisation uniting Dalit laborers in the Malwa region of Punjab has been able to bring Dalits of more than 60 villages on the table to vote for NOTA. In most of the villages in Punjab, there are two Gurudwarasone for Dalits and the other for the rest of the castes. Dalits are economically weak and non-implementation of the law makes them poorer. Also, section 6(1)(a) of the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Rules, 1964 provides that one-third of the cultivable land proposed to be leased for a year shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes. However, Jat Sikhs, who are the traditional farmers in the state, take the land through their proxies. The law says that the Panchayat is supposed to allot the land for Dalits. But, Beant Singh, the sarpanch of Tolewal, is helpless. Being a Dalit, he doesnt have the support of most members of the Panchayat. The region of Malwa, under which this village falls, comprises 11 of the states 22 districts and this decision of Dalits to go for NOTA may have a significant impact on the results. Dalits comprise 32 per cent of the states population and their maximum concentration is in Malwa region. Also, Jats hold most of the land in the state with Dalits holding mere 6.02 per cent of the total operational holdings. Gurumukh Singh, General Secretary of ZPSC told Firstpost, Dalits in Punjab have been suffering for centuries even though their numbers are high. Jat Sikhs dont want to loosen their grip on agricultural lands despite legislations in favour of Dalits. We have to fight this mentality; after all, Sikhism was founded on equality and justice. He said the decision to reject all the political parties was taken after a lot of deliberation. Only Dalits can participate in the auction for the one-third panchayat land. Most Dalits are poor so they are unable to take part in the auction in their individual capacity. So, the Jat Sikhs ask their Dalit workers to take part in auction by paying them money. Later, the same Dalit workers work for their Jat masters on the same land. Amreek Singh, a ZPSC member from Mansa district, said the government never made Dalits aware of their land rights. Only recently have Dalit organisations come together to make the community aware about their rights. Thats why we have lost faith in governments," he added. Interestingly, the states present chief minister Amarinder Singh and former chief minister Prakash Singh Badal are Jats. Even Dalit women have taken their protest to the streets. They are not shying away from campaigning against political parties. They have been going from village to village, urging Dalit voters to press NOTA during the polls. Gurpreet Kaur, another Dalit from Balian village which has a substantial Dalit population, says that agricultural land was accumulated with the high castes for centuries. "Almost all Dalits have agreed in our area that they will press NOTA and will not vote for any party. These political parties have only given us promises and taken our votes, now we will not vote for them," she added. All 13 seats of the state shall go for polls in the last phase on May 19. Americas President Donald Trump assumed office in 2017 after repeatedly decrying the Joint Comprehensive Programme of Action (JCPOA), otherwise known as the Iran nuclear deal, as the worst deal ever negotiated. This was the deal the P5+1 had signed with Iran and was a diplomatic high point of Barack Obamas administration. While he took a year to act, it would have been foolhardy to imagine Mr Trump wouldnt match his campaign rhetoric to his actions. Confrontation with Iran was inherent to the rebalancing Mr Trump began with Gulf countries early in his term as Riyadh became his first destination abroad. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were sulking since President Obama endorsed the JCPOA with Iran, realising its criticality to countering the Islamic State. Mr Trumps reversal of that policy was now relegating Iran again to a pariah state, which President George W. Bush had once colourfully described as part of the Axis of Evil. Delay in acting against Iran was perhaps due to the first lot of presidential advisers being circumspect in handling Iran, given the need to retain Irans cooperation against ISIS. Mr Trumps outreach to North Korea to abandon its nuclear programme may also have been a factor. It would hardly generate confidence in US pledges if he was seen junking the nuclear deal negotiated by his predecessor. When the hawkish John Bolton joined as national security adviser in April 2018 and Mike Pompeo moved from the CIA to become secretary of state, the forces were aligned to pillory Iran. The US withdrew from the nuclear deal in May 2018. Sanctions were reimposed, although oil import waivers were given to select nations, which have now been allowed to lapse on May 2, 2019. The next step was the listing as a terror outfit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which constitutes the backbone of clerical rule. Its auxiliary force Baseej helps maintain civilian order at home. The Quds Force, another IRGC adjunct, conducts special operations abroad, by using allies, especially Shias. The aim was to either force Iran to surrender and accept a more stringent nuclear deal and a curtailed role in the region, or cause popular unrest within Iran to trigger regime change. These are unrealistic objectives as the more Iran is pushed, the greater its people will consolidate behind the current rulers. Iran would also move deeper into the strategic orbit of Russia and China. The immediate target of financial sanctions is Iranian oil. Its export peaked after the sanctions were lifted following the JCPOA, at 2.8 million barrels per day, earning Iran $36 billion in 2016. Current exports may have fallen to one million barrels per day. China, despite its ongoing trade war with the US, is unlikely to abandon Iran or its oil. Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is making a series of visits abroad to counter the US-created economic squeeze. He visited Iraq to bolster the Iranian presence in the oil and gas sectors, which the US cannot curtail as Iranian gas is critical to Iraqi power generation. Iraq also provides an avenue for clandestinely exporting Iranian oil, via Turkey or Syria. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is cornered between the US, seen as betraying his trust, and the hardliners at home. To bolster his position, he announced partial withdrawal from JCPOA by curbing exports of enriched uranium and heavy water produced beyond the nuclear deal limits. He has also given Europe 60 days to find a means to secure the export of Iranian oil despite US sanctions. The European Union has considered a barter-based US sanctions-proof system, which has been a non-starter so far. The deployment of US warships on May 5 was another step in the ladder of escalation. Mr Pompeo had last year issued a charter of demands seeking literally the suspension of the Iranian nuclear programme and a pullback from Syria. The Economist warns that the potential for miscalculation is large as US and Iranian troops are within kilometres of each other in Iraq, Syria and the Gulf waters. The Saudis have alleged two of their oil tankers were damaged by alleged Iranian sabotage. This is reminiscent of the start of the tit-for-tat attack on vessels during the 1980s Iran-Iraq war, resulting in the mistaken shooting down of an Iranian civilian airliner by the US. This augurs poorly for Indian oil imports, the six million-plus Indian diaspora and Indian exports. Out of 17 million barrels transiting through the Straits of Hormuz every day, only 6.5 million can be exported via the Saudi and Emirati pipelines bypassing the choke point. The visit of Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to New Delhi in the middle of an acrimonious Indian election underscores the Iranian urgency over the US threat. The discussions were called constructive, although whether India would defy the US and import Iranian oil was left open till after the May 23 election results. India will decide on commercial considerations the concessional price offered, energy security and mutual economic interests. The last relates to Iran buying more from India to balance the lopsided trade in Irans favour as indeed the operationalisation of Chabahar port, which the US has exempted from sanctions due to its usefulness in stabilising the Afghan economy. On Mr Zarifs itinerary are Russia, China, Turkmenistan and Iraq. India will need to subtly balance relations with the emerging camps. The US has not been chary of demanding that for helping India list Masood Azhar as a global terrorist, India must agree to isolate Iran. The US and its Gulf allies, the Saudis and Emiratis, have deported politically sensitive individuals named in corruption cases allegedly involving the Congress-led alliance. The UAE even conferred its highest civilian honour on Narendra Modi in the middle of the election, which is fairly unprecedented. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthamans quick return defied past Pakistani conduct and seemed guided by the US and the Saudis. The Narendra Modi government confronts a long list of IOUs that the US is now encashing. But Irans significance for India goes beyond oil, that can be sourced from elsewhere. It balances Pakistans role in the region, particularly in Afghanistan, where Indian and Iranian interests largely converge. It also ensures vital connectivity for India towards Afghanistan and Central Asia. The next governments first challenge will be to rebalance relations between the US, Saudis, Emiratis and a resurgent Iran, its influence spread across its sixth-century BC footprint from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean. A dip in car and two-wheeler sales, skidding to their lowest in about seven years, is symptomatic of a larger economic downturn. While Indias highly evolved auto industry may drive out of tough times quickly as demand rises, what the drop represents is a dip in general consumption that should worry economists. Irrespective of the arguments over the data collection methodology over jobs and broader indicators on the economy, the fact is that the new government has its task cut out in reviving consumer demand and driving economic growth, that dipped in the year's first quarter to below seven per cent, close to Chinas growth. The fall in industrial production in March and the offtake in services, as indicated by reliable figures regularly gathered, suggest that the problem of lower growth could be around for a while. The nation has moved on from demonetisation but the GST system needs a serious rethink, specially about the higher slabs. Infusion of cheaper credit for the NBFC sector to disseminate is a major call that cant be shied away from just because of the IL&FS mess. The headwinds are strong as in rural distress, unemployment and dipping exports. The days of low petroleum prices that enabled the NDA government in its early days to control the fiscal deficit may have disappeared for a while at least, with the West Asia crisis surrounding Iran not helping either. What seems clear is that consumer confidence and spending is vital to the largely-domestic consumer-driven economy, which contributes around 60 per cent to GDP. The challenges are huge, and fresh thinking is vitally needed. Big changes are in the offing in China. Beijing has already announced its objective to become the number one power in the world by 2049, when the Communist regime will celebrate its hundred years at the helm of the Middle Kingdom. The ongoing trade war with the United States, with President Donald Trump not ready to see China replacing his own country as the world leader, is a sign of it. President Xi Jinping is aware that the Communist Party needs new tools, new organisation to fulfil its China Dream the radical reforms undertaken by the Peoples Liberation Army are part of this attempt. Another organisation has recently come into pre-eminence to help China in attaining its goal it is the United Front Work Department (UFWD) today the most potent tool in the hands of the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Earlier this month, the China Brief of the Jamestown Foundation consecrated an entire issue to this organisation. It explained the meaning of the United Front Work Department as: the process of building a united front coalition around the CCP in order to serve the partys objectives and subordinating targeted groups, both domestically and abroad. United Front Work is viewed by party leaders as a crucial component of the CCPs victory in the Chinese Civil War (1945-1949), and is now central to controlling and utilising domestic groups that might threaten the CCPs power, as well as projecting influence abroad. UFWD coordinates various vital activities inside the party and at the periphery of the party, like the relations with religious and ethnic minorities or the overseas Chinese. For the China Brief: Without question, United Front activities have taken on renewed importance under general secretary Xi JinpingThe past four years have seen United Front work expand in scope, resourcing and top-level coordination. Some of the 12 bureaus of the department deal with Chinese democratic parties, ethnic affairs, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan (Bureau 3), Tibet (Bureau 7), Xinjiang (Bureau 8), overseas Chinese (Bureaus 9 and 10) or religious affairs (Bureaus 11 and 12). A vast encompassing program! Note that the last three bureaus have recently been added. It means that the department has greatly extended its scope by adding the activities of the Chinese overseas which are now monitored and controlled; conducting external propaganda or influencing important foreign personalities. The seventh bureau, for Tibetan affairs has for decades been one of those most central to the UFWDs activities. To give an example, on May 5, Wang Yang, the chairman of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference National Committee (CPPCC) and de facto the UFWD supremo, met with Gyaltsen Norbu, the Chinese-selected Panchen Lama, in Beijing. After offering a khata (a ceremonial scarf), the young lama considered as a Chinese puppet by the exiled Tibetans (the real Panchen Lama has been under house arrest for the past 24 years, he was kidnapped by the Chinese State at the age of five), briefed Mr Yang about his studies and life in recent years. Mr Norbu is important to China because he is the key for the recognition of a future Chinese Dalai Lama. Mr Wang told the young lama: The Panchen Lama, as a leader of Tibetan Buddhism, shoulders a great responsibility of leading Tibetan Buddhism in the right direction, and safeguarding the unification of the motherland and ethnic solidarity. He added that he hoped the Panchen Lama will take a firm political stand and lead religious figures and believers in fighting against all separatist elements. The Panchen Lama was urged to take the lead in interpreting religious doctrines in order to adapt them to socialism; in other words Tibetan Buddhism with Communist characteristics. The Panchen Lama agreed to safeguard the unification of the motherland, ethnic solidarity, social stability, and religious harmony. He also promised that he will always remember the CCP leaders instructions. You Quan, the powerful director of the UFDW was present when Mr Yang checked on the Chinese Panchen Lama. A couple of days later, Mr Quan went on a four-day inspection-cum-research tour in the restive Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR), which has been in the news in recent months after the information leaked that more than one million local Uighurs are being kept in captivity to be re-educated. According to Xinhua news agency, Mr Quan called on the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) and urged the corps to maintain stability in and garrison the countrys border areas. Speaking highly of the achievements of the corps, Mr Quan asked the participants to further understand and grasp the responsibilities and missions of the Corps in the new era and improve their emergency system in maintaining stability. The XPCC is an autonomous economic and paramilitary organisation with administrative authority over large areas in Xinjiang; it fulfils governmental functions such as healthcare and education, but more importantly, it looks after Xinjiangs borders. Founded by Wang Zhen, one of the CCPs Eight Elders in 1954, the XPCCs goals are to develop frontier regions, promote economic development, ensure social stability and ethnic harmony and consolidate border defence. Border with whom? First and foremost India, but also the Central Asian republics whose stability will make the Belt and Road Initiative, dear to President Xi, a successor a failure. Mr Quan spoke highly of the corps achievements; he asked the corps to mobilise cadres and ordinary people to develop, construct and stabilise southern Xinjiang; we know what it means for the Uighur population. As mentioned earlier, the UFWD has recently gone through a major reorganisation three new bureaus were created: The new bureaus reflect the UFWDs absorption of two State Council agencies responsible for overseas Chinese and religious affairs the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office (OCAO) and the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA), noted the China Brief; in the meantime, the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, an essential government organ, has been placed under the UFWD. The new 10th Bureau, known as the Overseas Chinese Affairs Bureau, has the responsibility for educational and cultural affairs, the media as well as the Chinese living abroad. This includes managing Chinas official international media network, China News Service, which in turn, influences foreign organisations and individuals around the world, while promoting the Chinese language via organisations such the Confucius Institutes. Another important responsibility of the UFWD is to prepare for the reunification with Taiwan. On May 12, Mr Yang sent a message to the fourth annual conference of media organisations from China and Taiwan, a pro-mainland group. Mr Wang warned Taiwan that the United States will not be able to preserve Taiwans security and that time is on Chinas side: Taiwanese authorities cannot even guarantee what will happen two years from now. Therefore, we are confident in saying that both time and momentum are on our side, the side of mainland China, he said. He heavily criticised those placing their bets on the Americans in Taiwan: The Americans are just using Taiwan as a pawn. Will they go to war with China for Taiwan? Im guessing they wont. If we really go to war, will the Americans win? Im guessing not, Mr Wang hammered. The UFWD is also used to influence intellectuals, journalists, academics or deciders abroad. The consolidation of the borders, the selection of the next Dalai Lama or influencing of personalities should concern India. Hopefully New Delhi is carefully watching these new developments. Samsung has reportedly fixed the problematic foldable screen on the Galaxy Fold and is now ready to release its first foldable phone next month. According to Yonhap News, Samsung fixed the problem with the Galaxy Fold screen by extending the protective plastic layer under the bezel so that users don't mistake it for a removable screen shield and take it off. The hinge area is also likely to be minimised in the final unit. The Samsung Galaxy Fold will retail at USD 1,980. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. The 'coffin' is a concrete dome, built in the late 1970s on Runit island, part of Enewetak atoll, as a dumping ground for waste from the nuclear tests. (Photo: AFP) New York: United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres raised concerns on Thursday that a concrete dome built last century to contain waste from atomic bomb tests is leaking radioactive material into the Pacific. Speaking to students in Fiji, Guterres described the structure on Enewetak atoll in the Marshall Islands as a kind of coffin and said it was a legacy of Cold War-era nuclear tests in the Pacific The Pacific was victimised in the past as we all know, he said, referring to nuclear explosions carried out by the United States and France in the region. In the Marshalls, numerous islanders were forcibly evacuated from ancestral lands and resettled, while thousands more were exposed to radioactive fallout. The island nation was ground zero for 67 American nuclear weapons tests from 1946-58 at Bikini and Enewetak atolls, when it was under US administration. The tests included the 1954 Bravo hydrogen bomb, the most powerful ever detonated by the United States, about 1,000 times bigger than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Guterres, who is touring the South Pacific to raise awareness of climate change issues, said Pacific islanders still needed help to deal with the fallout of the nuclear testing. The consequences of these have been quite dramatic, in relation to health, in relation to the poisoning of waters in some areas, he said. I've just been with the President of the Marshall Islands (Hilda Heine), who is very worried because there is a risk of leaking of radioactive materials that are contained in a kind of coffin in the area. The coffin is a concrete dome, built in the late 1970s on Runit island, part of Enewetak atoll, as a dumping ground for waste from the nuclear tests. Radioactive soil and ash from the explosions was tipped into a crater and capped with a concrete dome 45 centimetres thick. However, it was only envisaged as a temporary fix and the bottom of the crater was never lined leading to fears the waste is leaching into the Pacific. Cracks have also developed in the concrete after decades of exposure and there are concerns it could break apart if hit by a tropical cyclone. Guterres did not directly address what should be done with the dome but said the Pacific's nuclear history still needed to be addressed. A lot needs to be done in relation to the explosions that took place in French Polynesia and the Marshall Islands, he said. This is in relation to the health consequences, the impact on communities and other aspects. Of course there are questions of compensation and mechanisms to allow these impacts to be minimised, he said. Boeing's announcement sent shares up 2.6 percent to USD 354.44 in afternoon trading. (Photo:AP) New York: Boeing said Thursday that it completed its software update on the 737 MAX after two deadly crashes resulted in a global grounding of the aircraft. The proposed fix, which addresses a problem with a flight handling system thought to be a factor in both crashes, must now win approval from US and international regulators before the planes can return to service. "With safety as our clear priority, we have completed all of the engineering test flights for the software update and are preparing for the final certification flight," said Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg said in a statement. Also Read: The untold story of the Navy plane that drew a giant penis in the sky "The accidents have only intensified our commitment to our values, including safety, quality and integrity, because we know lives depend on what we do." Boeing's announcement sent shares up 2.6 percent to $354.44 in afternoon trading. The halt to the 737 MAX has dented Boeing's revenues and clouded the company's earnings outlook. Daniel Elwell, front left, acting administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, and Robert L. Sumwalt, front right, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, testify before a House Transportation Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 15, 2019, on the status of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. (AP Photo) Boeing said it has flown 737 MAX with updated software for the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System for more than 360 hours on 207 flights. Boeing is providing additional information to the Federal Aviation Administration in anticipation of a certification test flight, a key step in winning regulatory approval, the company said. In both the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes, the MCAS pointed the plane sharply downward based on a faulty sensor reading, hindering pilot control after takeoff, according to preliminary crash investigations. The FAA has called a May 23 meeting of international civil aviation regulators in Texas to discuss the FAA's process for clearing the 737 MAX to resume service. Acting FAA Administrator Daniel Elwell told a congressional panel on Wednesday that he hopes the gathering builds support for international bodies to approve the 737 MAX soon after the United States gives it the green light. Andy Stepanian, a spokesman for Manning's legal team, said she had been remanded in custody by Judge Anthony Trenga. (Photo:AP) Washington: Former US military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning was ordered back to jail on Thursday for refusing to testify before a grand jury believed to be investigating WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Andy Stepanian, a spokesman for Manning's legal team, said she had been remanded in custody by Judge Anthony Trenga for contempt of court after again refusing to provide testimony. Manning, who spent seven years in military prisons for leaking US secrets to WikiLeaks in 2010 and then two more months in an Alexandria, Virginia, jail this year on contempt charges, had said before the hearing that she would again refuse to testify. Also Read: Assange rape investigation re-opened, Swedish prosecutor will seek extradition "I'm not going to comply with this grand jury," she told journalists outside the Alexandria courthouse before the hearing. According to The Washington Post, US District Court Judge Trenga sent Manning back to jail. He ordered a fine of USD 500 a day if she does not testify within 30 days, raising that to USD 1,000 a day if she does not testify within 60 days. The newspaper quoted Manning as saying "the government cannot build a prison bad enough, cannot create a system worse than the idea that I would ever change my principles. "I would rather starve to death than to change my opinions in this regard," she said. "I mean that quite literally." The judge, the Post said, responded by telling Manning "There's nothing dishonorable in discharging your responsibility as a US citizen." Manning has accused the government of seeking to revive her original court martial case, saying prosecutors were unhappy over her 2017 pardon by president Barack Obama. "The goal here is really to relitigate the court martial," Manning said before the hearing. "They didn't like the outcome, I got out." Manning, 31, was called early this year to testify to a grand jury, a panel investigating major crimes that operates in secrecy, about her work with Assange and WikiLeaks nine years ago. She said the government was abusing the grand jury process and refused to testify, saying she had answered all the questions years before anyway. A judge found her in contempt and on 8 March she was jailed indefinitely. She was released last week when the grand jury's mandate expired, and was called to testify before a new one on Thursday which she said was seeking answers to the same set of questions. While she was not at liberty to discuss the specifics of the investigation, she indicated that it also was a probe of Assange and WikiLeaks' actions in 2010. The US Justice Department has asked Britain to extradite Assange to stand trial in the United States for "conspiracy" for advising Manning on breaking into a restricted US government computer. Assange, now committed to a British prison for a year and also facing an extradition effort from Sweden, asserts that he is a journalist with the right to publish purloined secrets. Manning, a transgender woman whom supporters call a whistleblower, said the new grand jury case is meaningless since the Justice Department already unveiled its charges against Assange. "The case doesn't make sense, it's very bananas," she said. "Ultimately this is an attempt to place me back into confinement." The US president also took aim at what he said were abuses of the country's asylum system. (Photo: File) Washington: US President Donald Trump on Thursday unveiled immigration reform proposals that would dramatically increase the quota for skilled workers. "The biggest change we make is to increase the proportion of highly skilled immigration from 12 per cent to 57 per cent, and we'd like to even see if we can go higher," Trump said. "This will bring us in line with other countries and make us globally competitive. We cherish the open door that we want to create for our country. But a big proportion of those immigrants must come in through merit and skill," he said at the White House. Under the proposed reforms, immigrants will be "required to learn English and to pass a civics exam prior to admission," Trump said. The US president also took aim at what he said were abuses of the country's asylum system. "Our nation has a proud history of affording protection to those fleeing government persecutions. Unfortunately, legitimate asylum seekers are being displaced by those lodging frivolous claims," Trump said. The plan -- which the US president said would make the country's immigration system "the envy of the modern world" -- is unlikely to get far in the sharply divided US Congress. Trump has staked his presidency on his insistence that the United States is being overrun by migrants and asylum seekers. But opponents, mostly in the Democratic Party, say his push for building more barriers on the Mexican border and his frequent denunciations of migrants as dangerous criminals incites racial hatred. The president declared an emergency to bypass Congress and unlock billions of dollars in funding for his controversial wall project, and has also deployed troops to the border with Mexico. Buttigieg is married and if he won the White House, his husband Chasten would likely be known as the "first gentleman." (Photo:AP) Washington: Donald Trump says it's "great" that a gay Democratic challenger, Pete Buttigieg, is in the 2020 presidential race. A previously little known mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Buttigieg has raced to prominence as one of the top contenders in a crowded Democratic field -- and as the first major presidential candidate to be openly homosexual. "I think it's absolutely fine, I do," Trump told Fox News in an excerpt released Thursday of an interview airing Sunday. Democratic presidential candidate South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg speaks the City Club of Chicago Thursday, May 16, 2019, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) "I think it's great. I think that's something that perhaps some people will have a problem with. I have no problem with it whatsoever. I think it's good," Trump said. Also Read: Donald Trump calls for huge increase in quota for skilled migrants Buttigieg is married and if he won the White House -- still a very big if -- his husband Chasten would likely be known as the "first gentleman." Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, right, and husband Chasten Glezman Buttigieg wave to the crowd during the Human Rights Campaign's 14th Annual Las Vegas Gala dinner at Caesars Palace, Saturday, May 11, 2019, in Las Vegas. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP) Whether Buttigieg gets his party's nomination or not, his bid has already made him and Chasten the country's most prominent gay couple. Trump, whose right-wing base is broadly hostile to gay marriage, has delivered a mixed message on his attitude to gay rights over the years. Television news showed a large hole in the roof and sprinklers on inside the building. (Photo:AP) California: A pilot ejected moments before an F-16 fighter jet crashed Thursday into a warehouse just outside March Air Reserve Base in California, military officials said. The pilot was not hurt, and there were no immediate reports of injuries on the ground, said Maj. Perry Covington, the bases director of public affairs. The cause of the crash was under investigation. Interstate 215, which runs between the base and the warehouse, was closed in both directions, backing up rush-hour traffic for miles. Also Read: US stealth fighter jet suffers millions in damage from bird strike in Japan Television news showed a large hole in the roof and sprinklers on inside the building about 65 miles (105 kilometers) east of Los Angeles. Cellphone photos and video from inside showed what appeared to be the tail of the plane buried in twisted metal and piles of cardboard boxes. Daniel Gallegos, a warehouse worker, said hes used to hearing the sound of planes coming and going, but the noise just before the crash was deafening. Next thing I know I just hear this explosion and turn around to the back of the building, and I just seen a burst of flames and just the ceiling started falling through every part of the building, he told KABC-TV . I turned around, and my co-worker just told me to get, so I just made a run for it. Also Read: The untold story of the Navy plane that drew a giant penis in the sky Gallegos said he believed one of his co-workers was struck by something possibly a falling fire sprinkler but wasnt seriously hurt. The crash happened as the pilot was landing following a routine training mission, March Air Reserve Base Deputy Fire Chief Timothy Holliday said. The pilot was having hydraulic problems, Holliday said. He started losing control of the aircraft. The jets cockpit canopy was on a runway, and a parachute had settled in a nearby field. Damage to the warehouse was relatively minor, and there was no major fire, which Holliday called a miracle. The pilot, the only person on board, was taken to a hospital for examination, officials said. The F-16, assigned to the Air National Guard, was carrying standard armaments, Holliday said. It will be recovered once authorities make sure the weapons dont pose a risk, he said. The base is home to the Air Force Reserve Commands Fourth Air Force Headquarters and various units of the Army Reserve, Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, California Air National Guard and California Army National Guard. Beijing has yet to say whether or how it will retaliate to the latest escalation in trade tensions. (Photo:AP) Beijing: The trade war with the United States will only make China stronger and will never bring the country to its knees, the ruling Communist Partys Peoples Daily wrote in a front-page commentary that evoked the patriotic spirit of past wars. Beijing has yet to say whether or how it will retaliate to the latest escalation in trade tensions, which saw Washington put telecoms equipment giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd on a blacklist that will make it extremely difficult for the telecom giant to do business with U.S. companies. The worlds two largest economies are locked in an increasingly acrimonious trade dispute that has seen them level escalating tariffs on each others imports in the midst of negotiations, adding to fears about risks to global growth and knocking financial markets. Also Read: US plans 15 billion in aid to farmers to see off China trade war: Trump The United States is not sincere about wanting to resume trade talks with China and has damaged the atmosphere for negotiations with its recent moves, a state media social media account said. Without sincerity there was no point in coming for talks and nothing to talk about, Taoran Notes, a WeChat account run by the Economic Daily, said in a post late on Thursday that was re-posted by the ruling Communist Partys official Peoples Daily. China, which reported unexpectedly weak growth in retail sales and industrial output on Wednesday, also said on Friday that the impact of trade frictions on its economy was controllable. (We will) fully study the impact of the additional tariffs imposed by the United States, and promptly introduce countermeasures as needed to ensure that the economy operates within a reasonable range, Meng Wei, a spokeswoman for the National Development and Reform Committee (NDRC), told a media briefing on Friday. In Fridays commentary, the ruling partys official newspaper described Chinas determination to protect its national interests and dignity as being as firm as a boulder. Cargo containers are staged near cranes at the Port of Tacoma, in Tacoma, Wash. The 25% tariffs President Donald Trump has imposed on thousands of Chinese-made products have business owners trying to determine how or whether they can limit the damage to profits from the import duties. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File) The trade war cant bring China down. It will only harden us to grow stronger, it said. What kind of storms have not been seen, what bumps have not experienced for China, with its more than 5,000 years of civilization? In the face of hurricanes, the nearly 1.4 billion Chinese people have confidence and stamina. Huaweis Hisilicon unit, which purchases U.S. semiconductors for its parent, has been secretly developing back-up products for years in case Huawei was one day unable to obtain the advanced chips and technology it buys from the United States, its president told staff in a letter on Friday. Today, the wheel of destiny has turned and we have arrived at this extreme and dark moment, as a super-nation ruthlessly disrupts the worlds technology and industry system, according to the letter. Chinese state television has this week invoked a war theme, focusing on the 1950-1953 conflict between the two Koreas that saw Chinese troops back North Korea while the South was supported by the United States. On Thursday, China Central Television replaced a program about the ongoing Asian Film and TV Week with a 1964 Chinese movie on the Korean War, Heroic Sons and Daughters. Also Read: China delusional, they want Joe Biden to get elected: Donald Trump On Friday night, the broadcaster will screen yet another Chinese war movie classic, Battle on Shangganling Mountain, the scene of a large-scale battle in North Korea, according to a post on its social media account. The post received widespread approval from Chinese social media users, with one even asking when the broadcaster would air a movie on the attack on Pearl Harbor. Defeat the American imperialists! another wrote. Beijing: Chinese authorities say 17 people have been trapped in a flooded iron mine in the country's northeast. The accident comes a day after 10 people were killed when a building being refurbished in the financial hub of Shanghai collapsed. The incidents underscore continuing problems with occupational safety despite a government drive to improve standards. The mine accident took place in Heilongjiang province's Cuihongshan at around 3 a.m. Friday. Of those working in the mine at the time of the flood, 26 escaped. Mine floods often occur when workers breach adjoining shafts, galleries or drifts that had previously been flooded. China has suffered a spate of industrial accidents in recent months. In March, 78 people were killed in a blast at a chemical plant in the eastern city of Yancheng. Lawmakers from the majority Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) backed the bill, which passed 66 to 27, though the measure could complicate President Tsai Ing-wens bid to win a second term in presidential elections next year. (Photo: AP) Taipei: Taiwan became the first place in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage on Friday, as thousands of demonstrators outside parliament cheered and waved rainbow flags, despite deep divisions over marriage equality. Lawmakers from the majority Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) backed the bill, which passed 66 to 27, though the measure could complicate President Tsai Ing-wens bid to win a second term in presidential elections next year. Despite heavy rain, some demonstrators outside parliament in Taipei, the capital, embraced tearfully while others hailed the vote with chants of Asias first, and Way to go, Taiwan! The bill, which offers same-sex couples similar legal protections for marriage as heterosexuals, will take effect after Tsai signs it into law. Today, we have a chance to make history and show the world that progressive values can take root in an East Asian society, Tsai wrote on Twitter before the vote. Today, we can show the world that #LoveWins, added Tsai, who campaigned on a promise of marriage equality in the 2016 presidential election. It was not immediately clear, however, if same-sex couples are entitled to key rights, such as adoption and cross-national marriage, with parliament continuing to discuss the measure on Friday. The vote followed a years-long tussle over marriage equality that culminated in a 2017 declaration by the democratic islands constitutional court giving same-sex couples the right to marry, and setting a deadline of May 24 for legislation. Taipeis colourful gay pride parade, one of Asias largest, puts on display every year the vibrancy of the islands lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. Challenge for Tsai However, Fridays measure could prove a challenge to Tsais bid for a second term in a January presidential election, after a poll defeat last year for her DPP was blamed partly on criticism of her reform agenda, including marriage equality. Late last year, Taiwan voters opposed same-sex marriage in a series of referendums, defining marriage as being between a man and a woman, while seeking a special law for such unions. How can we ignore the result of the referendums, which demonstrated the will of the people? John Wu, a legislator from the opposition Kuomintang party, asked parliament before Fridays vote. Can we find an appropriate compromise solution? We need more dialogue in society. Conservative groups that oppose same-sex marriage said the legislation disrespected the peoples will. The will of some seven million people in the referendum has been trampled, one group, the Coalition for the Happiness of Our Next Generation said in a statement. The massive public will strike back in 2020. Australia passed laws allowing same-sex marriage in 2017, but such unions are not recognised by Hong Kong and neighbouring China, which regards Taiwan as a wayward province to be brought back into the fold by force if necessary. Alarmed, Bibi took Raza to a hospital where medical tests confirmed the boy was among about 500 people, mostly children, who authorities say tested positive for the virus, which can lead to AIDS. (Photo: AP) Ratodero: Nothing seemed unusual to Rehmana Bibi, the mother of 10-year-old Ali Raza, when the boy came down with a fever at their home in the dusty, largely neglected district of Larkana in southern Pakistan. Bibi took her son to a local doctor, who prescribed paracetamol syrup for Raza and told her there was no need to worry. But she panicked after being alerted that several children who initially came down with a fever had tested positive for HIV in nearby villages. Alarmed, Bibi took Raza to a hospital where medical tests confirmed the boy was among about 500 people, mostly children, who authorities say tested positive for the virus, which can lead to AIDS. A local physician who has AIDS has since been arrested and is being investigated for possibly intentionally infecting patients. "We were in great pain the day we heard about our son testing HIV positive," she told The Associated Press on Thursday. Bibi said it was heartbreaking to learn that her child contracted HIV at such a young age. She said all her family members have been tested for the virus that attacks the immune system, but Raza was found to be the only victim. Bibi said she has had sleepless nights from worrying and has been looking after her son since early this month when he was confirmed HIV-positive. She said she wants to see her son healthy and fully recovered as soon as possible. Sikandar Memon, head of the AIDS Control Program in Sindh province, said officials have screened 13,800 people from Larkana and 410 children and 100 adults tested positive for HIV. Nationwide, Pakistan's Health Ministry has registered over 23,000 HIV cases. Pakistani villagers wait outside a hospital for blood screening for HIV at a hospital in a village near Ratodero, a small town in southern province of Sindh in Pakistan where the outbreak of deadly disease took place last month, Thursday, May 16, 2019. Officials say about 500 people, mostly children, have tested positive for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, in a southern Pakistani provincial district. A local doctor who has AIDS has since been arrested and is being investigated for possibly intentionally infecting patients. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan) Pakistani health officials have said HIV is usually spread in the country by using unsterilized syringes. Authorities say the HIV outbreak in Larkana was apparently started when local physician Muzaffar Ghangharo, who has AIDS, infected patients in early April. Ghangharo was arrested earlier this month after Raza and others tested positive for the virus. Police are still trying to determine whether Ghangharo knowingly spread the disease to others. Larkana is the home district of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who was killed in a bomb and gun attack in the garrison city of Rawalpindi in 2007. Her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, also served as prime minister in the 1970s. He was hanged by military dictator Gen. Ziaul Haq. It did not immediately carry additional comments from Zarif. (Photo: File) Tokyo: Iran's foreign minister said Thursday there is "no possibility" of negotiations with the United States to reduce spiraling tensions, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported. "No, there is no possibility for negotiations," the news agency cited Mohammad Javad Zarif as telling reporters in Tokyo, where he is meeting with Japanese officials. Kyodo said the comment was in response to a question on whether he would be open to bilateral talks with Washington aimed at easing tensions. Also Read: US doesn't want war with Iran: Trump tells aides It did not immediately carry additional comments from Zarif. The top Iranian diplomat, who met with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday, earlier accused Washington of an "unacceptable" escalation in tensions, and said Tehran was showing "maximum restraint". Also Read: Amid US pressure, Tehran sends Foreign Minister to India for talks Washington withdrew a year ago from a nuclear deal with Tehran and re-imposed sanctions, prompting a deterioration in relations. But the crisis has deepened in recent week, with the US deploying an aircraft carrier strike group and B-52 bomber to the Gulf over alleged threats from Iran. "Of course I'm going to go for it," Johnson told a business event in Manchester. (Photo:AP) London: Britain's Boris Johnson, the former foreign minister, ex-mayor of London and leading Brexit campaigner, confirmed Thursday he will run for the premiership when Theresa May quits, British media reported. "Of course I'm going to go for it," he told a business event in Manchester, northwest England, confirming what most commentators and colleagues have long assumed. Ms May has yet to set a date for her departure from Downing Street, but she has promised to step down once the first stage of Britain's exit from the European Union is secured. Many of her ministers and senior lawmakers are already jockeying for position, holding photo opportunities and giving wide-ranging speeches that go well beyond their official briefs. Mr Johnson, who was poised to run against Ms May when she took office after the 2016 referendum, has long been assumed to be a candidate when the right time comes, but has recently kept out the limelight. Known abroad for his gaffes and accused of misleading voters over Brexit, he is nonetheless loved by many ordinary members of the ruling Conservative party, who will have a vote. Johnson quit as foreign minister last year over the government's Brexit strategy and has been an outspoken critic of the divorce deal May struck with Brussels last November. The deal has been rejected three times by the House of Commons, forcing May to delay Brexit twice - while also postponing her own departure. She announced this week she would bring it back for a fourth and likely final time in the week beginning on June 3. May hopes to secure parliament's approval for the deal by July, at which point she is expected to step down. If the plan is rejected again next month, few expect her to hold on that long. The man began stalking his victim, aged in her 20s, after she served him in a shop in Wembley, north-west London, in November 2017. (Photo: Twitter) London: An Indian man who stalked a woman over a period of 18 months after she attended to him just once in a shop in London has been jailed for 29 months. Rohit Sharma was jailed at Isleworth Crown Court in London on Wednesday after pleading guilty to stalking, harassment and failing to appear in court. The 28-year-old Indian national will be deported back to India at the end of his sentence. "Stalking and harassment has a devastating impact on the lives of those targeted. There is intrusion into the victim's life, and they are left to feel vulnerable, distressed and threatened," said detective Constable Nicola Kerry from the Metropolitan Police West Area Command Unit, who led the investigation. "Sharma was incessant in his pursuit of his victim. He would phone her up to 40 times a day and use around 15 different numbers to contact her, making it near impossible to block his calls, and would also get friends and relatives to contact her on his behalf," she said. The man began stalking his victim, aged in her 20s, after she served him in a shop in Wembley, north-west London, in November 2017. After that brief interaction, Sharma returned later that same day with his father and asked her to marry him. Four days later, the victim changed jobs, but Sharma found out where she worked and managed to obtain her phone number. His behaviour escalated and he bombarded the victim with multiple messages via phone, text and social media, the Met Police said. The victim reported Sharma to police and in February 2018 he was issued with a harassment warning. However, the court was told that this did not deter him and his campaign of stalking and harassment continued. This consisted of the victim receiving up to 40 calls a day and Sharma continually watching her at her place of work. In July 2018, Sharma was charged with harassment but after being bailed from court he continued to pursue his victim. He failed to attend a court hearing in November 2018 and was circulated as wanted by police. "Sharma's stalking continued persistently to such a point that the victim quit her job and moved away from the area in an attempt to get away from him. However, this only seemed to fuel his campaign and he systematically began contacting people who knew the victim, trying to find out where she had gone," the Met Police said. In April 2019, Sharma was arrested by police after intelligence linked him to an address in Wembley. He was subsequently charged and, due to the weight of evidence against him, was left with little option but to plead guilty at court. In a statement, the unnamed victim said: "This whole experience has completely shattered my nerves, I have gone from being a confident young woman to constantly feeling scared and on edge. I have no desire to socialise or meet new people, which has really taken its toll and ruined the university experience I had always envisioned. "I cannot understand why this male became so obsessed with me. It is so unfair and completely undeserved. I just want him to realise what he has done and to know that he cannot do this to me or anyone else. I now want to move on knowing that he is locked away and cannot harm or hurt anyone else like he has done to me. The victim has been left devastated by Sharma's actions and I can only hope that his imprisonment offers some form of respite for her. She has shown immense bravery in reporting him to police and supporting this court case," added detective constable Kerry. Sharma was handed down a sentence of 22-month imprisonment for stalking, six months for harassment, and one month for failing to appear at court. Days after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a complaint against three customs officials and unknown others, it is now learnt that the mastermind behind the scam was still at large. Moreover, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials suspect that the smuggling gang was active in Bengaluru from June 2018 and has estimated "hundreds of kilograms of gold" were smuggled by the said gang. DRI statement, pertaining to the case, revealed one Shihabuddeen, a resident of Kerala and owner of multiple business establishments in India and Dubai was the mastermind. He was presently outside the country and was evading arrest. "In all the DRI has arrested 16 persons and of them, the three were habituated to smuggling activities and were detained under COFEPOSA Act, 1974," according to DRI statement, a copy of which is with DH. The smuggling gang was active for around five months and banked on the nexus of smugglers and three customs officials - against whom CBI has filed an FIR on May 4 - to successfully carry out their operation. The major breakthrough in connection with the smuggling racket came on October 13, 2018, when N T Jamsheer, another prime accused in the case, was intercepted by DRI according to the statement. Apart from sharing details of the passengers flying in with the gold to customs officials, he was also remunerating the officials. This interception provided key in the case, as DRI was able to seize 22 kgs of gold paste - equivalent to 11 kgs of gold - from six passengers. One female passenger was found to be carrying an astounding 6.6 kgs of gold paste. "The passengers were engaged for a paltry sum to carry the gold from various countries of India," DRI officials said. 2.25 kg gold seized from a passenger The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence officials on Thursday intercepted a passenger and seized 2.25 kgs of gold. The gold is valued at Rs 75 lakhs and a 55-year old passenger Arif Hussain, a resident of Bengaluru has been arrested by officials, according to DRI statement. The passenger was flying in from Bangkok to the city and is said to have concealed the gold in his person. He was arrested around midnight on Wednesday, according to DRI. Singapore Airlines' first Airbus-350-900 flight to India will land at the Kempegowda International Airport here on Friday. This will be the airline's upgraded daily SQ 502/503 daily Singapore-Bengaluru service. This implies a massive capacity increase. In real terms, this woul mean an increase of 134 Business Class and 328 Economy Class seats each way per week. This upgrade comes close on the heels of British Airways announcing that it will fly its Airbus-350 soon from London to Bengaluru. Bengaluru is the first city in India and fourth destination on our worldwide network to operate the A-350 aircraft, the airline had said in an official statement. Currently, the airline operates the 275-seater A-350 only to Cape Town, South Africa, Phoenix in Arizona State and Las Vegas in Nevada, United States. Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi for ridiculing 'Mahagathbandhan' (Grand Alliance), the CPM on Thursday said the "persistent attack" on Opposition alliance reveals the "real phobia" he harbours about the prospects of a coalition government replacing his rule. For Modi to now denounce such coalition governments, it said, is "to condemn his own partys coalition governments" under A B Vajpayee. In an editorial 'Modis Coalition Phobia' in party mouthpiece Peoples Democracy, the CPM said not a day passes in Lok Sabha campaign without Modi attacking the Opposition alliance as a 'mahamilavat' (great adulteration) and depicting them as a "bunch of power hungry opportunists". "Such a persistent attack on Opposition alliance reveals the real phobia that Modi harbours about the prospects of a coalition government replacing his rule," the editorial said. As the SP-BSP-RLD alliance "threatens to inflict a decisive defeat" in Uttar Pradesh, the CPM said it has become Modi's "main target" but in his "enthusiasm to attack Opposition alliances", he forgets that the NDA consists of 40 parties a Mahagathbandhan if there is one. Pointing out to Modi's claims that a coalition government would be detrimental to the country, the CPM said coalition governments have been the norm, bar some exceptions, since 1977. "Contrary to what Modi depicts, coalition governments have provided stable governments and their record on 'development' is not very different from other governments which have all been within the framework of capitalist development. In fact, the Vajpayee-led coalition government of 1999-2004 was held up by the BJP as a model of shining India," it said. It also reminded Modi of the two governments led by Vajpayee which functioned under a common minimum programme that set aside BJP's three core demands, including Ram temple, as well as that of the UPA. Rubbishing as "absurd" the allegation that Maoist menace surged under non-NDA governments and that his government quelled it, the editorial said, "this falsehood of Modi has been exposed during the current election campaign itself". It referred to the Gadchiroli incident where 15 security men were killed and the Dantewada incident where a BJP MLA and four others were killed. "We have seen how the unadulterated Modi government has worsened the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir where the number of terrorist attacks increased from 109 to 626 between 2014 and 2019 and the number of security personnel killed increased from 130 to 483," it said. "So the issue is not whether there is a government with a single party majority or a coalition government. It is a question of what policies and programmes are pursued by the government," it added. The Congress is not averse to supporting any regional party leader for the Prime Minister's post even if it emerges as the single largest party, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said on Thursday. "My party high command has already made it clear that the Congress is not averse to making a prime minister from any regional party," Azad told reporters in Shimla. He was asked if the Congress will be ready to support any regional party leader for the PM's post even if it emerges as the largest party in a hung Parliament. Speaking in the same vein in Patna on Wednesday, Azad had said the Congress will not make it an issue if the PM's post is not offered to it. Azad's remarks assume significance as the Congress has been asserting that it would be the fulcrum of any non-NDA government, which was seen as its claim for the PM's post and had led some major regional parties to maintain a distance from it. Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala, however, seemed not to agree with Azad. He said the Congress believes it will be the single largest party in the country, subject to the final outcome on May 23. "Naturally, the biggest political party should get a chance to lead," he told reporters here. "All Congressmen believe that we will be a biggest political party and as the biggest political party, we should be leading this country holding hand with all other like-minded political parties interested in giving a stable democratic, liberal and secular government to the country," he added. On the question that in the event of no party getting simple majority in Lok Sabha polls, whom should the President call, Surjewala said, "I think the norm on that is fairly established by the Supreme Court...and the norm as I understand is whoever has the largest number in pre-poll alliance is normally called first. And that is the settled principle as laid down by the Supreme Court." Earlier, Azad in an apparent mellowing of Congress' stand on the PM's post, had said in Patna, "It will be good if there is a consensus on Congress leader's name for heading the government at the Centre after the Lok Sabha election results are out. But we are not going to make it an issue that we (Congress) will not let any other (leader) to become the PM if it is not offered to us (Congress)." The Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha had said the sole objective of the Congress is to stop the NDA from forming the government at the Centre. Asked about Modi's assurance of constructing a 'grand statue' of 19th-century reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar at the same spot where his bust was vandalised in Kolkata, the Congress leader replied, "Now he should prepare for installing his own statue." Azad, however, was quick to add that "some alive persons also erect their statues as BSP supremo Mayawati had done in UP". Last month, amid much excitement, scientists showed the world the first-ever photographic image of a black hole. It looked like a doughnut with a central dark region surrounded by a ring of light. The dark area at the centre of the image, they said, is a supermassive black hole at the centre of a distant galaxy called M87 (M stands for the Messier Catalogue), which is about 53 million light-years away. The black hole is estimated to be about 6.5 billion times as heavy as the Sun. The image was produced using the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), a global network of radio telescopes. The EHT is an international collaboration of 13 institutions, consisting of several radio telescopes and radio observatories across the world. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves just like visible light but are of much longer wavelength, higher than a millimetre. In contrast, the wavelengths of visible light range from 380 nm to 740 nm. These instruments operate round the clock looking for radio waves from space. The telescopes were built and have served for many years doing astronomy at millimetre wavelengths, studying interstellar molecules and dust, star formation and planet formation. The black hole observations were a repurposing of the existing facilities and lasted only for a few days. Radio astronomy, a branch of astronomy that deals with studying radio waves emanating from celestial objects, lies at the heart of this incredible feat of imaging a black hole. Prof Rajaram Nityananda, a well-known Indian physicist sheds some light on how scientists captured the image of a black hole and the role of radio astronomy in this achievement. Comprehending a black hole Physics tells us that rockets, launched into space, need to travel faster than 11 km/s to escape the gravity of the Earth. Anything that moves slower than this cannot escape the Earths orbit, and could eventually come crashing down. However, there are some regions in space where gravity is so strong that nothing, including light, which travels at 3,00,000 km/s, can escape. Such objects were named black holes. John Michell and Laplace first conceptualised black holes in the 18th century, but it was only after Einstein proposed the general theory of relativity that Karl Schwarzschild was able to work out the equations governing their behaviour. Since then, astronomers have found indirect evidence for the existence of black holes from observations of their gravitational interactions with nearby stars and gas. Today, we know that black holes are present at the centres of nearly all galaxies. An exciting region on the surface of the black hole is the event horizon, after which the EHT is named. It is the region of no return light from just outside the event horizon can escape and reach us, whereas light from inside it, cannot. If light cannot escape from a black hole, how can we take pictures of them? Supermassive black holes, like the one imaged at the centre of M87, are found at the centres of galaxies. Some of them are continually swallowing gas that is around them. Akin to how an object, thrown from a tall building, gains speed as it falls towards the ground, the gas gains speed, heats up and radiates energy as it falls towards the black hole. This is the light we see in the image produced by the EHT. Seeing the unseen The excitement behind this first-ever photograph is justified as taking an image of a black hole at the centre of a distant galaxy like M87 poses critical technical problems. Firstly, although the black hole emits many radio waves, very little of it is received at the Earth because of the significant distance between the Earth and M87. These waves are about a billion times less potent than a typical television signal that brings our favourite programme to our living room. Besides, the telescopes we use must be able to distinguish between the radio waves originating from the desired source, the black hole in this case, and other nearby objects. Hence, we need sufficient resolution to be able to see objects of the size of the event horizon of the black hole about two billionths of a degree on the sky and identify them as distinct objects. In principle, meeting these requirements would require a telescope much larger than any that can practically be built. In an Infosys Science Foundation lecture held recently in Bengaluru, Prof Nityananda delved into the details of how scientists developed creative solutions to get around these limitations. Generally, in radio astronomy, you take signals from many telescopes. Fibre optic cables connect these telescopes. Then you combine the data received by each telescope to help locate and image the source precisely, explains Nityananda. The scientists at EHT used a technique known as Very Large Baseline Interferometry (VLBI). The novelty of VLBI is that signals are taken by radio telescopes that are very far from each other, and therefore not physically connected. Instead, the data received by each are recorded and brought to a central processing centre and combined using computers. By combining the data taken by each of them along with information about their geographical separation, the algorithm can emulate a telescope as large as the separation between the telescopes. It is like having a huge lens, but instead of light coming through the whole lens, only parts of it are transparent. So you get an image with many regions filled in, and you need to interpolate to build the rest of the image, explains Prof Nityananda. The EHT consortium used radio telescopes located in Spain, Hawaii, Northern and Southern Americas and the South Pole, to achieve very large baselines, and therefore emulate a telescope the size of the Earth. Making such observations requires exact synchronisation between observatories using atomic clocks. Fresh perspective How does this image change our understanding of black holes? Hitherto, the models of what is going on near the centre were based on inferences from observations of what is happening further out. Now, if you directly observe what is happening at the centre, the models will also improve, helping us better understand what is actually going on, says Prof Nityananda. While many people had expected to see a black hole at the centre of the galaxy, there were also alternative explanations for the observations that have now been laid to rest, he adds. Radio astronomy is gaining traction, and its future is not restricted to imaging black holes. In India, the GMRT (Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope), based near Pune has been very successful, remarks Prof Nityananda. GMRT is an array of 30 radio telescopes of 45-metre diameter each observing at wavelengths of about one metre. When it was built, it was the largest such array for these wavelengths, but astronomers are really looking forward to the SKA (Square Kilometer Array). The Square Kilometer Array is an international collaboration, including India, to build the worlds largest radio telescope which will be located in Australia and South Africa. With SKA, you may be able to see ten times the number of galaxies that we do now. Galaxies form from hydrogen gas, and as you look at more distant galaxies, you are looking further back in time, and you expect to see more hydrogen gas... explains Prof Nityananda. Besides, he asserts that our understanding of cosmological models, dark energy and the origin of magnetic fields will improve with such giant telescopes. Finally, SKA will also tell us more about interstellar molecules which might have something to do with the origin of life, he hopes. (The writer is with Gubbi Labs, Bengaluru) PHILADELPHIA- The Rev. David M. Buffum, son of Glen and Marie Buffum of Ridley Township, will be ordained to the Roman Catholic Priesthood by Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 18 at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, 18th St. and Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia. Buffum, 37, joins six other men from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in the Ordination Class of 2019, which includes the Rev. Mr. Francesco DAmico, the Rev. Mr. Alessandro Giardini, the Rev. Mr. David OBrien, the Rev. Mr. Alexander Pancoast, the Rev. Mr. Anthony Raymundo, and the Rev. Mr. Jonathan Rice. Following their ordination, each of the seven newly ordained priests will be assigned to a parish in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia where they will serve as parochial vicars. A parochial vicar is a priest appointed by the archbishop to assist the pastor of a parish with his pastoral and administrative duties. When asked about his aspirations as a good and holy priest, Buffum noted, I hope to share Gods mercy with others. A native of Delaware County, Buffum has been serving as a transitional deacon at Saint Patrick Parish in Malvern for the past year. Previous to that assignment, Buffum served at St. Philip Neri Parish in Lafayette Hill as an acolyte. The transitional deacon humbly said that he wants or deserves no congratulations or praise for his ordination because his vocation to the holy priesthood is a gift from God. I have spent this time trusting in God, oftentimes questioning why I am still here, why am I being ordained? But I always go back to trusting him, explained Buffum. I do not want to say finally being ordained because this is not the end. Its the beginning! Buffum is the only child of parents Glen, who is retired from a career in computers, and Marie, a retired teacher. Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Morton is their home parish. During his college years at Temple, Buffum worked part-time at AMC Theater at Painters Crossing. While he was growing up in Delaware County, he took guitar lessons and was involved in the Young Peoples Theatre Workshop at the Players Club in Swarthmore. He has always enjoyed creative writing and drawing, mainly portraits. The transitional deacon was asked this week, in addition to God, who the biggest influencer has been on his journey to the priesthood and he was quick with a response. Mary was, and still is, the one I turn to in my life, Buffum responded. The soon-to-be priest attended Saint Kevin Parish School and E.T. Richardson Middle School, while his family lived in Springfield. After moving to the Glen Mills section of Concord Township in 1993, Buffum then attended Garnet Valley Middle School, going on to Garnet Valley High School, from which he graduated in 1999. He earned his Bachelor of Arts from Temple University in 2014. Before attending Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, where he earned his Master of Divinity degree in 2018 and his Master of Arts degree in Pastoral Theology in 2019, Buffum began his priestly formation in the Diocese of Brooklyn, New York. Asked if he had any advice for seminarians who are currently studying at Saint Charles or anyone who is discerning a vocation to the holy priesthood, Buffum answered, Particularly speaking about St. Charles, I love the sense of community there and the personal interest that formation takes in a seminarians life as a Catholic man. My advice is to not be afraid of what God reveals to you. He is already planning on working with it. Father Buffum will celebrate his First Solemn Mass of Thanksgiving at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, May 19 at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish Church, 2130 Franklin Ave., Morton. The Ordination Mass on Saturday will be streamed live at www.archphila.org and broadcast via Facebook Live at www.facebook.com/ArchbishopChaput. We have gotten some very bad news, just in the last couple of weeks, on global warming. On May 7 the United Nations Comprehensive Report on Biodiversity informed us that as many as 1 million plant and animal species will disappear from our lands and waters in the next few decades due to over-fishing, ocean warming and acidification, loss of habitat and water pollution. On May 8 the United States refused to sign the Arctic Councils customary joint declaration of cooperation on protecting the Arctic and its peoples from environmental degradation because the declaration actually mentioned climate change. That left the other members of the council Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia and Sweden in open-mouthed shock. On May 9, the American Energy Alliance, a coalition of self-described free market advocacy groups with financial ties to the gas and oil billionaire Koch brothers, sent a petition to the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee urging them to discontinue federal tax subsidies to buyers of electric cars. (Its okay to keep milking the taxpayers to subsidize the oil companies though.) Then on May 11, The Mauna Loa Observatory reported that carbon dioxide levels had reached 415 parts per million, which was not only the highest number the observatory has ever recorded but more than 100 ppm higher 40 percent than at any point in 800,000 years of data scientists have collected on global CO2 concentrations. The last time CO2 levels were that high, temperatures were 3-4 degrees Celsius warmer, sea levels were 16 to 131 feet higher and humanoids were just learning how to use tools. Thanks to global warming, so much of the Arctic icecap has melted it has opened a permanent Northwest Passage, greatly facilitating worldwide shipping, and it has opened vast areas to both offshore and onshore oil and gas drilling. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, speaking at the annual meeting of the Arctic Institute last week, accused Russia which has by far the most Arctic landmass of being aggressive in the Arctic. Pompeo is not worried about protecting the environment of the fragile and failing Arctic region; he is worried about Russia and China moving in on Arctic oil and gas drilling before American corporations can get in on the coming oil rush. The Trump Administration wants a piece of the action, never mind that the action will greatly accelerate the pace of our global human suicide. As a side issue, wholesale Arctic drilling will destroy countless indigenous peoples lives and hasten extinction of plant and animal life throughout the Arctic. The good news is the federal courts are not helping the administration. In the last week of March, not one, not two, but three federal district courts ruled against the administration, slowing efforts to expand drilling in Wyoming, Alaska, offshore and on public lands. Altogether, the president has lost nearly two dozen court challenges on his rollbacks of federal environmental regulations, mostly because of procedural errors in enacting those rollbacks so those efforts will continue. More good news, climate change and global warming are now front and center of our next election, at least on the Democrat side. It was amazing that in the 2016 election, not a single moderator asked a single question about climate change in any of the presidential or vice-presidential debates and the issue was barely ever mentioned by either the Trump or Clinton campaigns. That has changed dramatically. We are being pummeled daily with ever more dire dispatches from the climate change front and by extreme weather events throughout the country and the world. Democratic candidates are staking out positions on climate change who never talked about it before, and one candidate, former Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, has made it the central issue of his campaign. Im normal and all. I have a girlfriend, but I dont really want to bring kids into a dying world, a young man named James Duffy stood up and said at Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlons first town hall in February. That was a showstopper, and after the town hall, Duffy was immediately surrounded by other young people feeling that same sense of dread. The young Millennials and Generations X-Z are woke now on climate change. This is their Vietnam, their existential crisis, and the Green New Deal is their moon shot. They will hear a great deal in coming months about how the Green New Deal, or any progressive idea about any issue, is nothing but evil socialism. Republicans have been screaming socialism for 100 years even as they have proved powerless to stop its manifestations in the U.S. Those include (not an exhaustive list): The transcontinental railroad, the Panama Canal, the telegraph, the electrical grid, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid expansion, Amtrak, hydroelectric dams, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the space program, farm and corporate subsidies, bank bailouts, the VA health system, the interstate highway system, the military. All were started, organized, financed, subsidized or administered by the government a la socialism, and yet we havent turned into Stalinist Russia or Nazi Germany yet. Our younger generations are not as steeped as we were in world war and cold war history, so socialism doesnt scare them. Not being able to breathe does. WASHINGTON Briefly suspending their warnings about the rising tide of socialism, a large majority of Senate Republicans recently joined with almost all their Democratic colleagues in affirming the essence of socialism, which is government allocation of capital. The Senate's revival of the Export-Import Bank is a redundant reminder that the rhetorical discord between the parties exaggerates their actual differences. The Ex-Im bank has been reauthorized 16 times since it was created in 1934 as a filigree on the New Deal's overarching project of politicizing the allocation of financial resources. The reauthorization requirement is a way of pretending to refute Ronald Reagan's axiom that there is nothing as immortal as a temporary government program, because programs acquire "reliance interests" the way a ship acquires barnacles. Between 2015 and the Senate's recent confirmation of three board members, Ex-Im has been without a quorum and hence unable to approve guarantees of large loans (those over $10 million). So, we have had a sustained test of the theory that Ex-Im is vital to U.S. exporting in general, and to the few giant corporations that get the lion's share of benefits from Ex-Im's subsidies of foreign entities. The theory has been slain by many facts. Ex-Im has always been peripheral to U.S. exporting. In the four years since Ex-Im became largely dormant, the portion of American exports it subsidized fell from less than 2 percent to 0.3 percent and exports have risen. Ex-Im has prudently distributed subsidies to enough small businesses to blur its (accurate) reputation as primarily an ally of corporate behemoths such as General Electric, John Deere, Caterpillar and especially Boeing. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who opposes Ex-Im, notes, "When Ex-Im financing was at its peak, Boeing received 70 percent of all ... loan guarantees and 40 percent of all Ex-Im dollars." In 2018, deprived of subsidized Ex-Im loans, Boeing, America's 23rd largest corporation by market capitalization ($193.58 billion as of Tuesday morning), and 27th by revenue ($101 billion), had its best year ever. Of course, Ex-Im makes enough loans to small businesses (in 2014 about 25 percent of Ex-Im dollars went to 0.5 percent of small businesses) to purchase congressional support in the usual way: Want to build a bomber that the military does not want? Scatter subcontractors around enough congressional districts, and it will be built. Lee says: "The No. 1 buyer of exports subsidized by Ex-Im between 2007 and 2013 was Pemex ... the notoriously corrupt petroleum company owned by the Mexican government. Pemex, which has a market cap of $416 billion, received more than $7 billion in loans backed by U.S. taxpayers. During the same period, Ex-Im backed $3.4 billion in financing to Emirates Airlines a company wholly owned by the government of Dubai for Emirates' purchase of Boeing planes." Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., identifies the second- through fifth-biggest beneficiaries of Ex-Im subsidies: (2) State-owned Kenya Airways, (3) State-owned Air China, (4) Russia's state-owned bank VEB (currently under U.S. sanctions for bad behavior; two hands of the U.S. government, one caressing, one smiting), (5) Roy Hill mining, owned by Australia's richest woman, a multibillionaire. The Trump administration trots out its usual rationale for economic irrationality: Ex-Im is a "national security weapon." As the bank subsidizes China and Russia? In 2014, in 17 Ex-Im transactions the primary borrower was the Export-Import Bank of China. Says Toomey, "You cannot make this stuff up": Ex-Im is subsidizing the Chinese bank that is cited as the reason we need Ex-Im. Toomey notes that Ex-Im's defenders argue that the bank takes risks that private lenders will not undertake and that the bank does not risk taxpayers' money by making unsafe loans. By picking some U.S. winners, Ex-Im makes some U.S. losers: For example, it subsidizes state-owned Air India's purchase of Boeing jets, thereby enabling it to lower its fares on the New York-Mumbai route, where it competes against Delta Airlines. Ex-Im, which exists to allocate credit by political criteria rather than the market's efficiency criterion, is opposed by only 16 Republican senators call them The Remnant who, unlike their 37 Republican colleagues, mean what they say when praising free markets and limited government: Barrasso, Blackburn, Braun, Cruz, Daines, Grassley, Hawley, Inhofe, Kennedy, Lankford, Lee, Rubio, Sasse, Shelby, Toomey, Young. Republicans must repeat this dismally revealing exercise by Sept. 30, when the bank must be reauthorized, which it will be. So, the 37 have three months in which to resume their denunciations of socialism, with which they are familiar. Cookie banner We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019. By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. SALT LAKE CITY Utah Gov. Gary Herbert was suffering Thursday from a bout of laryngitis, but that didn't stop him from making a public plea for people to do their part to prevent wildfires. "I believe we can lessen the risk of wildfires by acting proactively and making small changes to our behavior," the governor said in a prepared statement. "I hope Utahns will join me in pledging to prevent wildfires this year." Herbert and a coalition of land managers announced the launch of the Utah Wildfire Prevention Pledge at a Thursday press conference at the City Creek Pavillion. By going to SparkChangeUtah.gov, residents can get educated on simple steps to make sure they're doing all they can to prevent human caused wildfires. Those who sign up for the pledge will be entered to win a $250 gift card. Last year was a record-breaking wildfire season in Utah. Mike Styler, executive director of the Utah Department of Natural Resources, said the total cost of firefighting for federal and state agencies was $150 million, with the state shouldering $42 million of those costs. There were more than 1,300 wildfires, and 696 of those wildfires were preventable, said Brett Ostler, state fire management officer with the Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands. Although it is lush and green now, the vegetation will eventually dry out under the heat of the summer sun and the state will not escape the wildfire season unscathed. "The fire season will be delayed this year," said Dave Whittekiend, forest supervisor of the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, but it will come. "People need to be careful with their campfires and make sure they are dead out," he warned. The Bureau of Land Management has been concentrating its attention on active fuels management and working cooperatively with rural and local volunteer fire departments, said Jessica Wade, the BLM's fire management officer for Utah. The federal agency gave those smaller departments $40,000 in training funds, four fire engines and 100 handheld radios to support frontline efforts. Officials are particularly worried about the lush fuel loads in the southern part of the state in areas like Moab and St. George, which received as much as 200 to 300 percent of normal precipitation and snowpack well above 150 percent of average, said the BLM's meteorologist, Basil Newmerzhycky. Forecasters, he added, are calling for temperatures to be above average from June into August. EAGLE MOUNTAIN Tyson Foods Inc. will build its nearly $300 million new meat packaging plant in Eagle Mountain, city officials said Thursday. The facility will provide 800 jobs at first, along with 400 more jobs within three years after opening, according to a statement from Eagle Mountain officials. At the plant, Tyson Foods will prepare meat brought in from other locations to ship to grocery stores, officials said. "We welcome Tyson Fresh Meats to Eagle Mountain, Mayor Tom Westmoreland said in the statement. "This facility will provide jobs for our community, allowing people to work closer to home. It will also bring needed infrastructure, especially roads that will provide better east/west connection to the Cedar Valley." Nate Hodne, senior vice president and general manager of case ready meats for the company, says it's "grateful" to be invited to Eagle Mountain and Utah County. "Weve built some great relationships during the initial phases of this process, and we appreciate the strong support weve received from local leadership. Our team is excited to find upcoming opportunities to meet the people of Eagle Mountain and become a part of this vibrant community," Hodne said in the statement. SALT LAKE CITY Up to 300 intellectually disabled and institutionalized Utahns will now have the option to live wherever they want to live. The state recently settled a lawsuit filed by the Disability Law Center against the Utah Department of Health early last year, which pointed at overcrowding and limited access to other housing options among care facilities as "isolating" and "discriminating" for a class of Medicaid-eligible individuals who live in a private intermediate care facility and are capable of living in a community-based setting. "These are people in Utah who want to live in and be part of the community, but instead, spend their lives segregated in institutions away from family and friends," the lawsuit states. "These people are deprived of the choice to live in the community and we as Utahns are deprived of a community inclusive of people of all abilities." The state, or more specifically, the Medicaid program, serves the medical needs for nearly 6,000 intellectually disabled Utahns, and up until the settled-upon agreement between parties, patients could only move out of intermediate care facilities with proper approval. The state will now cover the cost to transition institutionalized individuals who want to move to other homes or community-based programs including living on their own, where appropriate, or in small group settings or with roommates, where support services will be brought to them, wherever necessary. "It's where any of us would be living," Angie Pinna, director of the Division of Services for People with Disabilities at the Utah Department of Human Services, told members of the Legislature's Health and Human Services Interim Committee on Wednesday. She said some people are able to work and will live more independently and others will need help or other support to live in a less restrictive setting where they might be more comfortable. "We want to support that person to be integrated and to the degree of integration that they want," Pinna said. Utah lawmakers funded $7.3 million in ongoing funds to help with the transition costs, also leaving some to incentivize the 16 intermediate care facilities throughout the state to enhance the quality of their services to maintain their financial viability while losing people to other programs. "They dont see a very strong demand for their services right now from new individuals coming in," said Nate Checketts, director of the state's Medicaid program. He said $2.4 million will be used to help facilities maintain quality of care while decreasing the number of Medicaid-licensed beds. In most cases, Checketts said, it will cost the state less to house people in the community than at the specialized care facilities, which charge a flat rate for their services. The departments have also agreed to provide educational materials and information about home and community-based services to people living in intermediate care facilities, so they will better understand what life outside the facility might entail, how they would pay their rent, find transportation, and other engagement opportunities they might experience. The state will also keep a close eye on the people who decide to move and make sure they are getting their needs met. "I look forward to our communities welcoming these individuals as warmly and sustainably as possible," said Ann Silverberg Williamson, director of the state's Department of Human Services. She thanked the parties for the shared desire for "every member of our community to lead self-determined lives." The Utah departments of Health and Human Services have already moved 37 people from highly supervised Intermediate Care Facilities to a home or community based care setting, with 12 more planning to move this year. Another 150 patients will transition next year, with 25 patients a year after that, as long as state funds hold out. SALT LAKE CITY Longtime head of Utah's Department of Environmental Quality, Alan Matheson, is leaving the agency to head the recently formed Point of the Mountain State Land Authority. Matheson will assume the executive director position of the 11-member authority. The body, created by Utah lawmakers via HB372 in the 2018 legislative session, was given broad authority to oversee and manage how the 700-acre property is transformed. The announcement came Thursday, just days after land authority member and Draper Mayor Troy Walker told the Deseret News he and fellow board members were interviewing two finalists for the position. While the authority convened its first meeting last June, little has happened since and Walker said Tuesday he was ready to move the work forward, noting, "I'm looking at 2021 and thinking we've got to get to work on this." Land authority co-chairman Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox said the work of the body is in need of someone with Matheson's experience and background. Were at a decisive moment in Utahs history," Cox said in a statement. "Wise planning will make all the difference in helping us build the future we want for our kids and our grandkids. I am grateful to have found an invested, experienced leader to guide the Point of the Mountain Authority board through this crucial phase of investment and development. "Alans work for the Department of Environmental Quality has been invaluable, and Utahns can expect the best from him as he serves in this critical new role. Gov. Gary Herbert also lauded the work Matheson has done since his appointment in 2015 as head of the state's environmental quality department. Alan has been an invaluable asset to my cabinet and senior team during his years of service at the Department of Environmental Quality, Herbert said in a statement. I have appreciated his firm focus on improving our air quality, as well as all aspects of the environment. He has been and will continue to be a trusted adviser, and I wish him all the best as he accepts this new position guiding important land development projects at Point of the Mountain. The Draper prison site is widely seen as a unique economic development opportunity, both because of the size of the property and its location in what has become a hot spot for the state's growing tech sector. Envisioning best uses for the property has been at the heart of the work undertaken by the Legislature-created Point of the Mountain Development Commission, an effort launched in 2016. Last year, the group released a set of schematics for over 20,000 acres of undeveloped property in southern Salt Lake County and northern Utah County. The commission's "preferred scenarios" included a rough plan of how to reutilize the prison land. Matheson called the prison redevelopment project a "once in a generation" opportunity. I take on this new role with humility and hope," Matheson said in a statement. "Beyond a significant development project, the Point of the Mountain presents a generational opportunity to improve lives. I'm excited to work with the board and many partners to set the standard for well-planned, sustainable development that drives economic opportunity, solves transportation challenges and respects the environment. Currently, the Draper prison houses about 4,000 inmates in facilities that range from minimum security to "supermax." At the time it was constructed in the middle of the last century, the prison was isolated from the Wasatch Front population centers but has since become surrounded by residential and commercial development. While the new prison being built on Salt Lake City's west side has broken ground, the facility will not be completed until 2021 and likely not occupied until 2022. Costs for the facility have skyrocketed from initial projections, with the current estimate coming in around $800 million. The land authority co-chairmen, Cox and Rep. V. Lowry Snow, R-Santa Clara, both previously noted the work of the body would expand and accelerate as the prison relocation date approached. Other board members include Utah Higher Education Commissioner Dave Buhler; Alpine Companies CEO April Cooper; Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan; Governor's Office of Economic Development Executive Director Val Hale; South Jordan Mayor Dawn Ramsey; Utah Division of Facilities Construction and Management Director Jim Russell; Sen. Jerry Stevenson, R-Layton; Rep. Keven Stratton, R-Orem; and Walker. LEHI Utah's Podium is on an incredible growth arc since launching its reputation and customer interaction software in 2014. On Thursday, the company broke ground for a new $20 million headquarters. Podium innovated a cloud-based platform that helps offline businesses attract, communicate with and retain customers through the careful management of their online presences and messaging tools. While the business began in co-founder and CEO Eric Rea's Provo apartment five years ago, it is now pulling in $60 million annually in recurring revenue and employs 500. The new, 130,000 square-foot, five-story facility will allow Podium to accommodate over 800 additional staff members. Weve been helping local businesses modernize the way they interact with customers, and as theyve grown, so have we, said Rea. Local businesses are the lifeblood of our economy and our communities. This new building will allow us to continue to scale and grow to help fill the communication gap between those businesses and their customers. Podium has attracted the attention of a slew of heavy-hitting venture capital firms and raised over $92 million in venture funding to date. The latest capital infusion came in last year's $60 million Series B round, led by Silicon Valley's Institutional Venture Partners, with participation from GV (formerly Google Ventures), Accel, Summit Partners and Y Combinator. Thursday's groundbreaking comes just nine months after Podium cut the ribbon on a new $10 million, 125,000 square-foot facility, located right next door to the new building. WASHINGTON Conservatives sometimes accuse the academic left of ignoring the good in American history and emphasizing the horrors. But in some respects, the typical telling of the American story does not focus enough on the horrors. As I recall from my distant youth, American history texts dealt with the runup to the Civil War, then the war itself, then the failure of Reconstruction, before moving on to the Gilded Age and progressive reform. But the failure of Reconstruction was not just a disembodied fact but a planned and ruthless act of sabotage. As Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s new book, "Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow," effectively reminds us, the period of history following the Civil War involved a violent campaign to reverse the social, political and economic outcomes of the conflict. And this effort which southerners called "Redemption" was successful in almost every respect. With the defeat of the Confederacy, the federal government's enforcement of civil and voting rights was beginning to work a revolution. Hundreds of thousands of African American citizens registered to vote and eventually elected an estimated 2,000 black officials at every level of government. The Freedmen's Bureau helped former slaves in matters ranging from land rights to education. Families divided by slavery were reunited. Workers transitioned into a wage system. The process was difficult but hopeful. The white south, however, was having none of it. A broad counterattack was mounted to undo the work of the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments. This involved a campaign of murder and intimidation to disenfranchise black Republicans and the imposition of economic systems (sharecropping and convict labor) that effectively recreated the conditions of slavery. By 1875 just a decade after the war ended white rule was reestablished in all but three southern states. At first, Republicans such as President Ulysses S. Grant tried to help southern blacks through armed interventions by federal troops. But this policy proved politically unpopular and was abandoned. The re-imposition of white rule was a bloody, unpunished historical crime. "The depth of the reaction against the demands that the Negro have the right to vote," Gates argues, "and the sheer range of racist vehemence and terrorism that arose to neutralize that right ... is stunning to contemplate." Between 1868 and 1871, an estimated 400 African Americans were lynched across the South. About 30 were executed on a single day in Meridian, Mississippi. The killers often roving bands of former Confederate soldiers acted with total impunity. By 1890, Ben Tillman, who would serve as governor of South Carolina, was crowing: "The triumph of Democracy and white supremacy over mongrelism and anarchy is most complete." Those interested in this period will find Eric Foner's "Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution" more thorough, and Nicholas Lemann's "Redemption: The Last Battle of the Civil War" more emotionally engaging, but Gates' valuable book goes further. He recounts the massive, seemingly coordinated betrayal of black citizens following Redemption by every white institution. How the Supreme Court gutted civil rights protections. How the scientific community justified white supremacy with bogus research. How white churches ignored or blessed oppression. How the world of advertising adopted demeaning black stereotypes to sell soap and cereal. How the world of movies and literature popularized the myth of the Lost Cause, in which Reconstruction was a period of carpetbagger oppression and black people really longed for the security of the plantation. Gates is especially insightful in revealing how black people, after their constitutional rights were stolen, attempted to reassert their dignity in nonpolitical ways. Through Booker T. Washington's version of self-help. Or by cultivating the achievements of W.E.B. Du Bois' "talented tenth." Or through the artistic excellence of the Harlem Renaissance. Or through pan-African pride. Ultimately, Gates argues that Frederick Douglass got closest to the truth that there is no path to pride and equality that does not include political power, particularly voting rights. This was the main theme of the NAACP and, eventually, of Martin Luther King Jr. It is a tribute to the importance of justice as the first human need. The denial of justice recounted by "Stony the Road" was every bit as bad as apartheid. It was not just racism, but the systematic attempt to destroy through violence, threats and mockery the dignity, political rights and social standing of blacks in America. It was far worse than anything I was taught in history classes. Yet only by knowing this period can we understand how white supremacy became the broadly accepted, and sadly durable, ideology of white America. SALT LAKE CITY Seth Anderson ran up the steps, tripped and landed on his left arm. It snapped. Shedding tears, he went to the hospital with his parents and got a sling. The hospital told him his cast would arrive in five days. Anderson spent those five days wondering what he could do to make his cast stand out. After all, this was the first time he broke a bone. Then his brother, Jonathan Anderson, had an idea you should do the Infinity Gauntlet, he said. Little did Seth know that the decision to paint his cast into the Infinity Gauntlet which the villain Thanos uses in Avengers: Infinity War to snap away half of the universe would launch him into the galactic orb of Reddit viral fame. His mother shared a post in the r/Marvel Studios page. It was quickly shared on the r/Pics page. The story launched into the air like Iron Man soaring through the air. The post has received more than 84,000 upvotes on Reddit so far. And its climbing. Anderson is a pretty big fan of the Avengers, which is what made the decision even sweeter. On the day after he broke his arm, Anderson stayed home and watched six Marvel movies back-to-back to keep his mind off the ache. When he decided to make the gauntlet, his mother Christine Anderson and his brother Jonathan Anderson worked on it together. They bought two different colors of craft paint, dimensional fabric paint, a Sharpie and, yes, gems. The gems are yellow, blue, purple, green, orange and red, which tracks with the colors of the Infinity Stones from Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. The family spent the afternoon painting. Christine Anderson did the majority of the work. Jonathan, who found a reference photo for Christine to work from, helped with some of the shading toward the end. Christine Anderson joked she was surprised the Infinity Stones could be found at Hobby Lobby. "All the work the Avengers did to get them, they're right there at the store, she said. Seths classmates champion him for the new gauntlet cast. In fact, his friends told him that he was trending on Reddit. Now, his friends ask him to snap much like Thanos did in Infinity War and Iron Man and the Hulk did in Avengers: Endgame. Funny enough, Anderson struggles to snap, according to his mother, Christine Anderson. She said the cast makes it hard for his thumb and forefinger to meet. Were not sure Thanos would have been able to snap with this gauntlet either, she said. Its a good thing he cant snap, because who knows what would have happened. Anderson will wear the Avengers cast for four weeks. Well, thats what the doctors tell him. He said he plans to wear it for five or maybe longer. Right now, yeah, I would, he said. His mother said that might change in five weeks. No more infinite power for you, she said. Anderson said he will probably put the gauntlet on display somewhere" when he's done with it like it's the Tesseract or owned by The Collector. He specifically mentioned putting it in his closet. Seth joked he might charge 25 cents for people to come to see it. But Anderson said he would love to meet the Avengers because of this viral moment. He said Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) are his favorite heroes. "I would love to meet the Avengers. It would be really insanely awesome to see all of them. Or at least a few of them. Or even one of them." For Christine Anderson, the viral moment and the decision to build such a trendy cast was a chance for her and the Anderson family to turn a negative moment into something positive. The thing that makes me so happy, she said, is that its so miserable to break your arm and to do anything to make that boy feel powerful and awesome at a hard part of life is worth everything to see him smile like that on the way out his door to school. Right, Seth? Oh yeah, he said, definitely. SALT LAKE CITY A state senator supporting Sen. Luz Escamilla's campaign for Salt Lake City mayor took what could be seen as a political shot at one of Escamilla's opponents on the Senate floor Wednesday. However, he said it didn't have anything to do with Escamilla's campaign but rather concern for Utah's Air Quality Board. Sen. Jake Anderegg, R-Lehi, who has jokingly described himself as the "token Republican" among Escamilla's supporters, stood up on the Senate floor Wednesday to oppose Gov. Gary Herbert's appointment of Salt Lake City Councilwoman Erin Mendenhall to the state's Air Quality Board a position she's held since 2014. Anderegg told his colleagues in general terms that he had "reservations" about Mendenhall's appointment in addition to concerns that there hadn't been a public hearing on the matter. But in an interview with the Deseret News after the Senate's vote, Anderegg said he worried some of Mendenhall's recent actions as chairwoman on the Air Quality Board have been "politically motivated." "My understanding of some of the actions taken against certain manufacturing and mining businesses in the state were done so with an apparent objective less of meeting air quality standards and more of meeting political win-wins so Mrs. Mendenhall could run for other offices," Anderegg said. More specifically, Anderegg said the Air Quality Board recently voted to take restrictive actions against Rio Tinto Kennecott even though he said the company was already moving away from coal, pointing to the mining company's announcement earlier this month it was shutting down its Utah Power Plant in Magna to move toward renewable energy. The Air Quality Board in January, as part of adopting its state implementation plan (a plan to reduce air pollution), voted to only allow Kennecott's plant to use natural gas. Anderegg accused Mendenhall of "leading a charge" in the Air Quality Board to "stick it" to Kennecott. However, Anderegg also said his worries were stemming from "hearsay," which is why the senator said he would have preferred to have a public hearing on the governor's appointee to hash out his concerns. "The only thing I can surmise is (it was) because of political purposes," Anderegg said. "Apparently she wanted something to wave around for whatever political ambitions she had. If that's true, then I would question whether or not the main purpose of her service on the board was really for air quality or if it was for other political purposes." Ultimately, the Senate approved Mendenhall's appointment, along with others, though three lawmakers Sen. Gene Davis, D-Salt Lake City; Sen. Kathleen Riebe, D-Cottonwood Heights, and Sen. Dan McCay, R-Riverton joined Anderegg's no vote on Mendenhall and one other appointee that didn't get a public hearing. Senators seldom vote against gubernatorial appointees, though it's not unheard of. The Senate must vote to confirm the governor's appointees to complete the advice and consent process under state law. Mendenhall was surprised to hear about Anderegg's vote. She told the Deseret News she takes her role on the Air Quality Board "very seriously from a public health and environmental standpoint" and she hadn't heard of Anderegg's concerns before Wednesday. "I think my record as an air quality advocate is longer than my political record, and I'm happy to talk through any of the actions I've made and continue to make as I serve on the Air Quality Board," Mendenhall said. Mendenhall said Rio Tinto had not shared any of its intentions to close its Magna plant with the board "and we were excited and as surprised as the public to learn about the announcement they made to transition to a cleaner process," she said. Mendenhall said it's "interesting" that Anderegg is "clearly" an Escamilla supporter. "It's unfortunate that it appears he may be politically motivated in pulling my name out," she said. Anderegg said "everybody's going to have an opinion of why I was motivated to do it," but he simply wanted to know if Mendenhall was serving on the board for "the right reasons." Anderegg added his concerns surfaced well before Escamilla announced her candidacy. Escamilla, when asked about Anderegg's vote on Thursday, said she voted in favor of Mendenhall's appointment and, as a Democrat, often disagrees with Anderegg on issues. "Sen. Anderegg represents his constituency, his district, and so I by no means have any influence over that situation for him," Escamilla said. "That's really not my style, anyways," Escamilla added. "That's not how I operate and has nothing to do with that." Justin Harding, Herbert's chief of staff, said in a statement issued Thursday the governor and his administration "take serious any concerns about any of his appointees," but backed up Mendenhall's appointment, crediting her with compromise surrounding the Utah Inland Port. "As the past chair of the Salt Lake City Council, Councilwoman Mendenhall gave great leadership to the inland port. Without her efforts, important changes would not have been enacted in the special session last spring," Harding said, adding the governor welcomes working with senators to address "any concerns they may have" with her appointment. Mendenhall and Escamilla are among nine candidates vying to fill Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski's seat when her term ends at the close of this year. Other candidates are: former state Sen. Jim Dabakis; former Salt Lake City Councilman Stan Penfold; Christian Harrison, former Downtown Community Council chairman; businessman David Ibarra; David Garbett, former executive director of the Pioneer Park Coalition. Aaron Johnson, a veteran, and Richard Goldberger, a freelance journalist, have also opened personal campaign committees. The top two vote-getters will advance from the August primary to compete in November's general election. SALT LAKE CITY Conservative voters dont have to like President Donald Trump to give him a second term. They have to believe they need him and this weeks political news gave them two reasons to do just that. In Alabama, lawmakers passed the countrys most restrictive abortion ban, igniting a legal battle that will likely lead all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. In the House of Representatives, Democrats passed the Equality Act, which protects the LGBTQ community at the apparent expense of religious freedom. The first development was a clear victory for Republicans. The second was a clear victory for Democrats. Both are part of quickly escalating culture wars that illustrate the high stakes of the 2020 election. In order to overturn Roe v. Wade, which many observers say is the true aim of Alabamas new law, conservatives need to control the Supreme Court. That would be all-but-guaranteed by Trumps reelection. In order to direct when and how federal LGBTQ rights are expanded, conservatives need to control Congress or the White House. With the Equality Act already about two votes away from passing the Senate, preserving presidential veto power seems like a safer bet. Of course, conservatives were never going to give up the White House without a fight. But Trumps low favorability rating, trade wars and tax reform that left many families disappointed could have gone a long way toward dampening voter support. This weeks news gives the Republican Party and particularly members with deep religious faith a stronger rallying cry. Was a week like this inevitable? Maybe, since America remains fractured. But, at least in the case of the Equality Act, Democrats seemed to purposefully avoid potential common ground. They didnt just ignore the concerns of religiously conservative leaders and groups. They dismissed them, arguing that religious freedom was never meant to ensure a license to discriminate. Thats an unfortunate approach to such a monumental change. Rather than ensure broad support for a new law outlawing sexual orientation and gender identity-based discrimination in housing, hiring and other areas of public life, Democrats avoided compromise at all costs. Was a week like this inevitable? Maybe, since America remains fractured. The Equality Act does not seek to avoid lawsuits against religiously affiliated schools or organizations that will likely spring up if proposed LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections become law. Instead, it limits the application of current federal religious freedom law, weakening religious conservatives ability to defend themselves in court, as the Deseret News reported this week. The acts supporters have said these steps are necessary to protect the LGBTQ community. They said the law should outlaw anti-LGBTQ bias in all forms, just as it never allows race-based discrimination. We should treat LGBTQ people no better or worse, said Laura Durso, vice president of the LGBT and Communications Project at the Center for American Progress, to the Deseret News. A large majority of Americans seem to agree. Nearly 7-in-10 U.S. adults, including 79% of Democrats, 56% of Republicans and majorities of all major faith groups, support LGBTQ nondiscrimination laws, according to Public Religion Research Institute. However, the same survey showed that fewer than half of Americans (42%) simultaneously support LGBTQ nondiscrimination and oppose religious freedom protections. Overall, more than one-third of U.S. adults (36%) support allowing business owners to refuse service to same-sex couples for religious reasons, the institute reported. Findings like that show theres a large group of Americans who want LGBTQ rights and religious freedom to be protected at the same time, said Tim Schultz, president of the 1st Amendment Partnership, to the Deseret News in March. There is a way forward that could get the votes of a lot more Americans and could actually feasibly be extremely bipartisan, he said. That approach, which Schultz and others refer to as Fairness for All, would be a hard sell at a time of rising polarization. But it would give religious freedom and LGBTQ rights advocates and everyone in between something to feel good about, rather than one more reason to seek power at any cost. As long as one-sided legislation, whether on abortion or LGBTQ rights, dominates political discourse, religious conservatives just may feel like Trump is their only hope. SALT LAKE CITY A man yanked a woman out of her minivan in Salt Lake City on Thursday afternoon, driving off with her 3-year-old girl still inside, police said. The carjacking occurred about 1:30 p.m as the woman was stopped to make a U-turn at Green Street (between 600 East and 700 East) and 2100 South, Salt Lake police said. The man, who the woman did not know, came up to the vehicle and pulled her out of it, Salt Lake Police Lt. Jenn Diedrich said. The man drove away westbound, Diedrich said. Witnesses saw the carjacking happen and followed the man to State Street and 2100 South while calling police, according to Diedrich. About 30 minutes later, a man noticed the toddler walking in the area of Fayette and West Temple and, after not seeing the child's parent, called police. "The mom was elated and very happy," Diedrich said. The girl was OK after the incident, according to the lieutenant, and due to her young age hasn't said much about what happened. "We were very fortunate to make sure this child was found," she said. As of late Thursday evening, police were still looking for the man and the minivan. They say they are seeking a person of interest and shared surveillance photos of a partially bald man wearing dark clothing. The minivan was described as a greenish-gray 2001 Honda Odyssey. Anyone with information regarding the man or the vehicle is asked to call Salt Lake police at 801-799-3000. DRAPER CenturyLink crews worked through the night and into Friday afternoon to restore internet and telephone service lost when fiber was damaged during utility construction in Draper. The outage affected three Salt Lake County school districts and multiple public charter schools. The entire Canyons School District had no internet or telephone service for 24 hours. The district was returning to normal operations Friday afternoon, said spokesman Jeff Haney. The outage started about 1 p.m. on Thursday after two major bundles of CenturyLink fiber optic cable near 12300 S. 88 West were damaged by horizontal boring in the area by another company, according to the Utah Education and Telehealth Network website. The network connects Utah public schools, colleges, universities and libraries to the internet via multiple service providers, one of which is CenturyLink. CenturyLink dispatched crews to the area and discovered extensive damage to its fiber and conduit. Restoration required installation of about 2,000 feet of new conduit, the education network's website states. Murray and Jordan school districts also were affected by the outage as were 13 public charter schools in the area, the UETN website states. A spokeswoman from CenturyLink confirmed the outage and said, "We are aware that some business customers, including the Utah Education and Telehealth Network, are experiencing service disruptions due to a third-party fiber cut and CenturyLink is working to restore service and minimize customer impact. We are committed to keeping you up to date on our progress." The disruption in internet service also impacted ongoing RISE testing in the school districts. The computer-adaptive tests are administered to Utah public school students in grades 3-8 and require internet connection. RISE testing has also been interrupted in recent weeks by computer glitches, some of which have affected testing statewide. Early on, those interruptions were attributed to problems with the test vendor's servers and not related to the districts' internet access. The Utah Education and Telehealth Network worked to reroute traffic through alternate links "where possible to restore service," according to the UETN website. The Utah Education and Telehealth Network was created and funded by the Utah Legislature, initially as an education television entity. It later evolved into an educational network. Contributing: Ashley Imlay Correction: An earlier version of this story referred to the Utah Educational Network. The full and correct name of the network is the Utah Education and Telehealth Network. Editor's note: Deseret News reporter Tad Walch is in the South Pacific reporting on the impact of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the current trip of the faith's leader, President Russell M. Nelson, in six island nations. SIUMU, Samoa The temperature is already 77 degrees and the morning air in the jungle is saturated with water vapor when the mother slips the backpack of food over her shoulders. Her little boy wraps his tiny hand around one of her strong fingers, and they begin their long journey on foot. While they talk and laugh, the 4-year-old's school uniform yellow shirt and the blue lavalava around his waist and legs blend with the colorful jungle, which smells wet and new. Red flowers blossom on one tree. Coconuts grow under the green fronds of tall palm trees. Shorter trees with broader leaves sport bananas. More trees, more tropical fruits. Mangos. Papaya. Breadfruit. Incredibly, this is the dry season in the Samoan rainforest. This is how important the education of this son is to this mother: Behind them at home, she has deployed her husband to care for the youngest of their eight children, a 1-year-old. The mother will not return for at least four hours. She and the boy, whose name is Lupi, will walk for an hour to reach his preschool, which runs for two hours. Then they will retrace the miles back home. They do this every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Preschool is now a Samoan imperative. The prime minister himself says children without a preschool education quickly fall behind when they begin school. The problem is that paying for preschool is too costly for Lupi's family and thousands more like it in this small country of 201,000 people. So when a free new alternative emerged recently from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Lupi's mother committed to sacrifice her entire morning three days a week to walk to and from a preschool that operates with no budget at all in a nation where the minimum wage is $1.20 an hour less than the cost of a can of Coca-Cola bottled here on the islands. Mother-driven The secret sauce behind what is now 90 new preschools that are disrupting Samoa's educational system are mothers like Lupi's mom, whose name is Fa'amele Fa'atuai. "These preschools are essentially mums coming together and saying, 'What is it that we can do as mothers for our children?' This is mainly mother-driven," said Elder Ian S. Ardern, a native of New Zealand and counselor in the Pacific Area Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Most of these mothers have no training and many do not have high school diplomas. The local bishop asks a mother or two from the congregation to lead the school, and those mothers recruit others to take over or to help. They are investing in their children's future. "There is no other preschool in this district at all, so Lupi is the first child in our family to go to preschool," his mother said this week while she sat in the shade on a concrete slab during Lupi's class. "We walk here every morning because the government (elementary) school here requires a certificate that can only come from a government-(sanctioned) preschool. Those who can't go to government preschools can't get a certificate, but you have to pay to go to one." The government schools accept the church's preschool certificate. Now nearly 3,000 other Samoan youngsters attend the 90 schools at Latter-day Saint meetinghouses. Mothers are voting with their feet. Fa'amele brings Lupi to the Siumu Ward meetinghouse near the southern coast of the island of Upolu, though she is not a Latter-day Saint. "What started off with disbelief is now protected by village councils," said Bruce McCarthy, the church's Self-Reliance Services and Perpetual Education Fund manager for Samoa. McCarthy said the preschools' graduates are passing early school exams at the top level. 'Where's the money?' The idea for the schools is embedded in the church's self-reliance materials. McCarthy saw it and took it to the Ministry of Education to see if it contravened any laws or policies. He was told the model passed all requirements. They wished him, without a budget, good luck. The first school launched in 2016. "Everybody asks, 'Where's the money? Where's the resources?'" he added. "We don't pay teachers. We don't hold fundraisers. We don't have a budget. We don't have committees. We're working on faith. Our help and inspiration comes from the Lord. Some people find that concept hard to understand." Other than a light curriculum that most schools don't use most of the time in class is spent in singing and simple lessons created by the mothers the only resources have come from two unexpected sources. First, a Samoan living in Utah annually sends a shipping container with supplies like paper, pencils, markers and books. This year, the container did not arrive because of an illness. The other source applies to just one school in one village. After someone vandalized the children's murals on a wall outside a meetinghouse in one village, the village council said it would ban anyone caught in the offense. The four shops in the village then committed 2 cents of every transaction to the school. Every Tuesday, the village chief delivers a box with about 150 Samoan tala, the equivalent of about $55, making it the only one of the church-run preschools with a budget. None of the village council members are church members. Local pushback Last summer, complaints about the free schools erupted among other preschools that receive government funding per student. Fewer paying students meant less money for their budgets. McCarthy went to Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, who said he knew about and supported the schools and wrote a letter to McCarthy in November in which he addressed the complaints from other schools. Translated from Samoan, it says: "They are fast to take the government funding we offer for similar programmes but they have failed to provide the same benefits," he wrote of the church preschool's opponents. "Parents have noticed the huge difference and have in turn moved their children away and into your schools instead. It is the parents right to do so and sadly has been the cause of much jealousy and resentment amongst preschool providers." The prime minister offered moral support, too. "I want you to carry on with the good work, dont give up easily, and I hope you never get discouraged," he wrote. "We are well aware that all students who get to experience the benefits of attending any preschool are already way ahead of those students who dont when entering their primary school entry year. Furthermore, do not succumb to any bad or negative influences that may attempt to deter you from your objective." McCarthy, a broad-shouldered man with short white hair, a distinguished white mustache and a positive attitude, has pressed ahead. He predicted the number of preschools will climb past 100 this year. Major need Elder Ardern said the preschool initiative is based on the principle that education unlocks doors to opportunities. "Self-reliance is dependent in so many aspects on education, and we have too many people in the Pacific who are unemployed or underemployed," Elder Ardern said. "We simply want them to become self-reliant. It's a message of the Lord and that's a message that we try to reinforce as an area presidency. We are mighty blessed in the Pacific to have 15 church (middle and high) schools, and they do a marvelous job, but they don't reach everyone. So, we need to be proactive in seeing what we can do to provide education for every person across the Pacific." Unemployment and underemployment are the reason one of Samoa's major exports is people. Annually, 100,000 Samoans who live overseas send $190 million in remittances back to family, friends, churches, schools and charities in Samoa, according to the Samoa Observer. Samoa's adjusted net national income per person is $3,666, nearly even with Tonga and ahead of much of Africa, but only one-tenth of the per capita figure of $34,960 in New Zealand, a four-hour flight away. Australia stands at $41,489. The United States is fifth in the world at $51,485, according to estimates by the World Bank. American Samoa is another large source of remittances to Samoa. In fact, Fa'amele Lupi's mother receives money weekly from siblings in Australia who are grateful she has remained home to care for their mother. One Latter-day Saint who emigrated from Samoa served a mission for the church in Auckland, New Zealand. There, Olive Fa'aalava'au saw a land of opportunity. He moved there in 2001. "I was looking for an opportunity to have a better life because jobs in Samoa are limited," he said. He met his wife in New Zealand. They have three children and six adopted children from their extended family in Samoa. He put his wife through school. Now that she has her university degree and a job as a social worker, she is putting him through school, also in social work. Educational hopes Fa'aalava'au said education in Samoa is good. However, there is a teacher shortage, McCarthy said, and literacy, 99 percent for males and 98 percent for females, is slipping, according to the Samoa Observer. The national newspaper carried a story this week about the controversy over a pilot program to have six schools use textbooks from the Church of Scientology. That caused a stir because Samoa calls itself a nation founded by the Christian God. Malielegaoi, the prime minister, defended the pilot program, saying the textbooks are secular and new ideas are necessary to combat slipping scores. Options for higher education are improving with the National University of Samoa, founded in 1984, a satellite campus of the University of the South Pacific and the burgeoning presence of Brigham Young University-Pathway Worldwide. But higher education seems like a dream for Lupi and his mother, who completed Year 11 in Samoa's equivalent to high school. Her husband has a high school diploma but now is unemployed. They hope for something better for Lupi. They own two writing practice books for Lupi. He loves pictures, but they don't have any picture books. For now, Fa'amele walks Lupi to school. Afterward, he sits with her and the other children and mothers in the shade on the concrete slab and eats the bread and butter and fruit she carried in the backpack. Finally, after most everyone else has gone, Fa'amele cleans up the detritus from their snack. After she checks the white flower in the hair over her ear, she stands up, slips the backpack back over her shoulders and begins the hourlong walk home with her son. STILLWATER, Okla. BYU softball's bid to advance to the super regional round of the NCAA Tournament suffered a blow on Thursday with a 3-1 loss to No. 13 and regional host Oklahoma State. A quick start by the Cowboys out of the gate put the Cougars behind throughout, with not enough offense mounted to help out an otherwise solid pitching performance from Arissa Paulson. Paulson's counterpart, OSU's Samantha Show, did it from both the pitching circle and the plate, pitching a complete game to go along well with her RBI double in the second inning that gave her team a quick 3-0 lead. She also contributed a run in the first inning as Oklahoma State appeared primed to put together an easy win. But the Cougars showed solid after the first two innings, with Paulson leading the way to pitch four straight scoreless innings despite issuing five bases-on-balls. But Show was at least as tough as Paulson throughout, holding the Cougars to just three hits while issuing just two walks. BYU did break through for a run in the top of the sixth, courtesy of an RBI single off the bat of Libby Sugg, although a groundout by Paulson ended the threat. Sugg proved the Cougars' best player from the plate in the loss, contributing two of her teams' three hits. The other hit came off the bat of West Coast Conference Player of the Year Lexi Tarrow. The Cougars will now look to rebound taking on Arkansas, which lost 5-0 to Tulsa, in what will serve as an elimination game on Friday. First pitch will be at 2:30 p.m. CDT with the winner advancing to take on the loser of Oklahoma State's game versus Tulsa. Regional play wraps up Saturday with the winner advancing to the 16-team super regional round. THE HAGUE, The Netherlands, and SUNNYVALE, Calif., United States May 17, 2019 The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed a loan agreement with Internet of Things (IoT) security technology company Intrinsic ID. The EIB will lend EUR 11 million in support of the expansion of Intrinsic ID's R&D, engineering, product development and support resources. The EIB loan is supported under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), main pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe, or Juncker Plan. "IoT is predicted to reach 50 billion devices by next year; and with continued growth, the incentives for security breaches will grow commensurately, said EIB Vice President Alexander Stubb. Intrinsic ID addresses the need to secure products connected to the IoT and protect the data they exchange. This will enable semiconductor companies and makers of IoT products to be assured that their products have robust and cost-effective security. In an ever more digital world, the EIB should definitely be seen to support this. The EIB funding to Intrinsic ID will enable the company to scale up operations as it expands development efforts on its technology for creating unique and unclonable identities for connected devices. Intrinsic IDs products are based on the companys patented SRAM PUF or physical unclonable function technology, which enables the creation of a digital fingerprint that serves as a unique identity for microprocessors and other semiconductor devices within IoT products. Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, said, Intrinsic ID clearly has high ambitions in the security technology industry and the EU is proud to support its research and innovation plans. Around a quarter of total investment mobilised under the Juncker Plan has been in RDI which reflects the importance policy-makers place in this area, as well as the high market demand. I wish Intrinsic ID all the best with their future innovations. "We are very pleased to partner with the EIB to build upon our significant shipment record of protecting more than 125 million IoT devices with some of the worlds leading semiconductor companies, said Pim Tuyls, chief executive officer of Intrinsic ID. With this support, I expect we will be able to expand our product portfolio and apply SRAM PUF technology to many more IoT use cases, and thereby accelerate the pace at which we scale our market expansion which is critical given how rapidly security risks to the IoT are increasing every day. About the European Investment Bank (ElB) The European Investment Bank (ElB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals. Last year the EIB provided some EUR 2 billion for projects in the Netherlands. About Intrinsic ID Intrinsic ID is the worlds leading digital authentication company, providing the Internet of Things with hardware-based root-of-trust security via unclonable identities for any IoT-connected device. Based on Intrinsic IDs patented SRAM PUF technology, the companys security solutions can be implemented in hardware or software. Intrinsic ID security, which can be deployed at any stage of a products lifecycle, is used to validate payment systems, secure connectivity, authenticate sensors, and protect sensitive government and military systems. Intrinsic ID technology has been deployed in more than 125 million devices. Award recognition includes the Cyber Defense Magazine InfoSec Award, the IoT Breakthrough Award, the IoT Security Excellence Award, the Frost & Sullivan Technology Leadership Award and the EU Innovation Radar Prize. Intrinsic ID security has been proven in millions of devices certified by Common Criteria, EMVCo, Visa and multiple governments. Intrinsic IDs mission: Authenticate Everything. Visit Intrinsic ID online at www.Intrinsic-ID.com . About the Investment Plan for Europe The Investment Plan for Europe focuses on strengthening European investments to create jobs and growth. It does so by making smarter use of new and existing financial resources, removing obstacles to investment, and providing visibility and technical assistance to investment projects. The European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) is the central pillar of the Juncker Plan. So far, the projects and agreements approved for financing under the EFSI are expected to mobilise over EUR 393 billion in investments, including over EUR 9 billion in the Netherlands, and support around 945,000 SMEs across all 28 Member States. Find the latest EFSI figures by sector and by country here, or see the FAQs. On May 16th, legendary talk show host David Letterman engaged in a candid and memorable conversation with the beloved cinematic icon who has won a billion hearts around the world, Shah Rukh Khan. The show will be presented as a standalone special on Netflix and combines two interests for which Letterman is renowned: in-depth conversations with extraordinary people, and in-the-field segments expressing his curiosity and humour. Ahead of the conversation, Shah Rukh Khan said, Ive watched David Lettermans late-night talk show for years and Im a huge fan of his style of interviewing. Im thrilled and honoured to share my story with him. That this is on Netflix is even more special Im working with the team on various projects and its always been exciting partnering with them. King Khan tweeted about his appearance saying, "No more footprints...this is The Abominable Snowman!! Before BatMan & SpiderMan, there is Mr. LetterMan @Letterman Thx for ur generosity. Had 2 much fun being interviewed.Not becos it was about me but becos u were kind enough to make me feel I can be me. U r an inspiration sir." After interviewing Shah Rukh Khan in front of a live audience, Letterman said, The best part of this job that Netflix has been happy to provide for me is to meet people. And after each one of these sessions I think to myself, it is a very smart, very lovely person from whom I have learned things. You would maybe be at the top of that list. The host, David Letterman is an American television host, comedian, writer, and producer who has hosted late night television talk shows for 33 years in his career. The first season of the very successful show hosted by David Letterman saw him interviewing the leading names such as Barack Obama, George Clooney, Malala Yousafzai and Jerry Seinfeld, which will see the global icon, Shah Rukh Khan as a guest on the esteemed list. Shah Rukh Khan's appearance on the show will be a treat to watch as the primos of their respective fields will be seen on one screen. After interviewing SRK in front of the live audience on Thursday in New York, Letterman, 72, said the actor was one of the loveliest persons he has ever spoken to. The fans had already anticipated this meet and with this exchange of words, we all are excited to see the superstar talk his wit at the show. Millicom has closed its acquisition of Telefonicas Nicaraguan operations. In February, Millicom struck a $1.7 billion deal to purchase three of Telefonicas Central American businesses and fold them into its Tigo operation in the region. Millicom is also set to acquire Telefonicas Panama and Costa Rica operations, although these acquisitions are still under review by the respective regulators. At the time of signing, Millicom noted that it expected regulatory approval to be granted for all markets by H2. Movistar Nicaragua is the countrys market leader, and its 4 million customers will be added to Millicoms local Tigo unit. This significant mobile presence will be aligned with Millicoms strong cable footprint in the country, allowing for greater fixed-mobile convergence. The combined units 4G coverage will extend to 51% of the countrys population. Telefonicas decision to sell three Central American units to Millicom came amid speculation that it could sell up entirely in the region. This is supported by another deal struck this year selling two Movistar units in El Salvador and Guatemala - to America Movil. Millicom is looking to shore up its dominance in Central America, spreading across different markets and adding more services to its offering as part of its mission to build digital highways and connect more users and communities throughout the region. Google quietly announces Translatotron direct speech-to-speech translation model Google Translate helps you talk to people who dont speak the same language as you using its inbuilt conversation mode. You can input a message in speech format in say, English, and have it translated to speech in say, Japanese. But to do that, it first breaks down your speech into words in text format, performs a text-to-text translation, and then plays back the translated text using good old TTS (text-to-speech synthesis). Google is proposing a new method now: the Translatotron direct speech-to-speech translation model. Still in an experimental phase, the Translatotron model drops the middle man. In other words, it directly translates input taken as speech and plays it back using a single attentive sequence-to-sequence model. According to Google, this direct translation model has many advantages, including faster inference speed, naturally avoiding compounding errors between recognition and translation, making it straightforward to retain the voice of the original speaker after translation, and better handling of words that do not need to be translated. Google's diagram on how Translatotron works Work on such a direct translation model began in 2016, writes Google in its blog post on the matter. A year later, the developer behind the world-famous Android OS demonstrated that the new direct translation was faster and more efficient. According to Google, Translatotron takes source spectrograms as input and generates equivalent spectrograms for the necessary language. During training, the sequence-to-sequence model uses a multitask objective to predict source and target transcripts at the same time as generating target spectrograms. However, no transcripts or other intermediate text representations are used during inference, writes Google. Though Google is now in possession of a new translation model, it still isnt ready to incorporate it into Google Translate and other related tools. The new system is falling behind on BLEU score, meaning the translations arent accurate enough yet. On the plus side, the new model retains the users natural voice even after translation as it doesnt use TTS for output. By incorporating a speaker encoder network, Translatotron is also able to retain the original speakers vocal characteristics in the translated speech, which makes the translated speech sound more natural and less jarring, adds Google. Capitol Hill's Conover House nominated as city landmark Jewish Family Service has proposed an 88-unit apartment building with a restaurant on the site. Photo from report by BOLA Architecture + Planning [enlarge] The circa 1893 Conover House is now a small apartment building. Seattle's Landmarks Preservation Board on Wednesday voted 6-1 to nominate as a city landmark the Conover House at 1620 16th Ave., which is on a site where Jewish Family Service has proposed a seven-story, 88-unit apartment building and parking garage. The Covover House was built around 1893 and has been converted to a five-unit apartment building. The nomination covers the site as well as the building exterior and interior. The board will consider landmark designation at a meeting at 3:30 p.m. June 19 in Room L280 of City Hall at 600 Fourth Ave. JFS owns the 1620 16th Ave. site, which also has a parking lot. The apartment proposal includes a 2,400-square-foot restaurant space on the ground floor and below-grade parking for 110 vehicles. Weinstein A+U is the architect, and Karen Kiest Landscape Architects is on the team. JFS previously said it will look for a developer to buy the property after the project is entitled. BOLA Architecture + Planning prepared the landmark nomination application at the request of JFS, a social service agency, in response to the permit requirements for its proposed development. In Seattle, the landmark nomination process is required in certain circumstances as part of getting a land use permit if a structure could meet the landmark criteria. Landmarks may be demolished only if the owner can demonstrate there is no reasonable economic use. They cannot be significantly altered without a permit from the landmarks board. The identities of the original designer and builder of the Conover House/Residence are unknown, according to the application, which says it the original building features some characteristics of the Colonial Revival style. The original owners were Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Conover. Charles Tallmadge Conover was a journalist who worked for the Tacoma Ledger from 1887-1888, and briefly was city editor of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, according to the application. In 1888, with P-I reporter Samuel Leroy Crawford, he formed Crawford & Conover, a real estate and brokerage firm. The firm took on advertising services, and Conover is credited with coining the name the Evergreen State as well as the Queen City moniker for Seattle. He was also instrumental in efforts to retain the name of Mount Rainier. Subscriber content preview The social network is constructing a six-building, $1 billion data center on the 300-acre parcel nearby. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) Facebook has more than doubled its New Mexico footprint with the purchase of more than 400 acres near its new data center. But the company isn't saying what it plans to do with the property. The Menlo Park, California-based Facebook confirmed in an email to the Albuquerque Journal this week that it purchased the land in March, adding to the 300 acres in Los Lunas, New Mexico, it already owns. . . . Safety Professional of the Year Greg Boyd Absher Construction Co. Boyd Greg Boyd, of Absher Construction Co., was the companys senior safety manager at their Interstate 5 casino project, Boyd was responsible to lead all project team members in the creation of an injury- and accident-free project. Boyd takes his role seriously, personally providing the on-site safety orientation to all personnel, and providing hazard-recognition and mitigation to the project by requiring the entire project team -- including superintendents, assistant superintendents, project engineers and foremen -- to perform a team safety walk twice each month, going beyond Abshers written policies for inspections. As a safety manager, Boyd actively mentors foremen, journeymen workers and subcontractors who desire to advance their construction career by moving up into leadership roles. Boyd recommends to each of these individuals that they first work toward demonstrating safety leadership on Absher projects in order to show that they are able to plan work safely and that they have a positive influence on how others perform their work. Once they have demonstrated this ability, Boyd will begin teaching them how to get their fellow employees to buy in to the safety program. As of February 28, 2019, Boyds relentless efforts in developing and managing a safety culture on the I-5 casino project site has resulted in the project going 543,000 worker hours and 590 consecutive days without a time-loss accident or injury. Other Stories: Safety Award: Specialty Contractor 250,000 to 500,000 worker hours Andgar Corporation encourages employee input, as a way to achieve the highest safety goals. Andgar Corporation The ultimate goal at Andgar is to have every employee go home every night and return to work the next day healthy and accident-free. This goal is achievable with the continued input and engagement from each and every employee. The companys experience is that an employee will only provide input if they know that what they share is truly heard and appreciated. By listening and showing appreciation, the employee becomes engaged and believes in the safety culture of the company, as they know that what they share will greatly impact the safety of their coworkers. Once engaged in the safety culture, the employee brings safety to the forefront, both at work and at home. Other Stories: Travelling lightly should never be taken lightly, and with international travel companies becoming more and more anal about what we can and cant take with us into cabins and carriages having a handy choice of suitcases for every type of trip is more essential than ever. Travelling lightly should never be taken lightly, and with international travel companies becoming more and more anal about what we can and cant take with us into cabins and carriages having a handy choice of suitcases for every type of trip is more essential than ever. Youre probably thinking that a suitcase is just a suitcase, and if it gets your items from A to B with little fuss then all good. But in fact, owning and using quality, well-made luggage is about so much more than holding a few items of clothing. Its about security for the things inside it, durability, travelling with as little stress as possible, and what type of image of yourself you want to portray. Today, there are a number of materials used in the manufacturing process of luggage and suitcases, from aluminium and polycarbonates to leathers and synthetics. And luggage can now be used for any type of travel, whether youre going away for a romantic weekend in the country or a train trip across Europe so, having a solid, reliable design that looks great, keeps everything inside in order, and wont buckle under the pressure mid-trip, is bloody imperative. Luggage Brand FAQs What do I look for when buying luggage? Three things size, weight, and material. Buy luggage that can hold your belongings but still falls within airline weight limits, is sturdy enough to withstand the wear and tear of travelling, and is made from durable yet stylish materials. What is the difference between hardside luggage and softside luggage? Traditional luggage comes in two models hardside and softside. Hardside luggage is usually crafted from durable polypropylene and polycarbonate materials, while softside luggage can be made out of leather, PVC, microfiber, nylon, or polyester. Should I choose a two-wheel or a four-wheel luggage? It depends on your preference. Two-wheelers are generally easier to maneuver on uneven surfaces, but the style forces you to drag them behind. Four-wheelers can rotate 360 degrees and provide improved mobility, but their wheels tend to be smaller and more prone to damage. You May Also Like Ready to purchase new luggage thatll most likely get you bumped up a class when travelling? Weve rounded up the best luggage brands to shop from. These luggage brands cater to different tastes and needs, so no matter what type of luggage youre after, we guarantee youll find something you love below! Australias federal election is fast approaching and as the nation cringes at both major parties antics, it can be tempting to write the two off and vote for The Pirate Party and co. This isnt just our observationelectoral results reveal a growing number of Australians prefer to support buoyant, minor parties with catchy names rather than The Liberals or Labor. How you vote, however, could have ramifications on everything from the legal status of euthanasia to how long it takes you to save up for a Rolex. And as News.com.au yesterday reported, from far-right micro parties to progressive alternatives, Its not always clear what the smaller parties stand for based on their name alone. Which is why we did some digging, to see if we could uncover how each of Australias minor political parties will affect your personal financesand your ability to purchase that gleaming Rolex. In no particular order, heres what we found. The Affordable Housing Party The affordable housing party have candidates running in NSW, and their key policies are; creating affordable housing for all Australians, eradicating negative gearing on investment properties (making it slightly harder for wealthy property owners to buy yet more property), restricting overseas buyers and temporary visa holders from buying property in Australia and increasing rent assistance payments. Of course, being a minor party, they will never be elected outright, but if they nab a spot in the Senate they will vote against policies which go against these principles (and for the ones that dont). So if youre in the market for a house (or a watch that costs as much as one), these guys are a decent choice. The Involuntary Medication Objectors (Vaccine/Fluoride) Party With candidates running in the Senate for NSW, Queensland and Western Australia, the Involuntary Medication Objectors Party (anti-vaxxers) areat bestconcerned citizens with enquiring minds andat worsta bunch of crackpots. Their key policies are: rejecting government-sponsored vaccination, opposing mass medication of the population by the fluoridation of water supplies and launching an investigation into the allegations of scientists, researchers and doctors and the detrimental effects of vaccination programs. Impact on your next Rolex purchase? In the short term: negligible, but in the long term: could be severe as society is wiped out by various preventable epidemics The Pirate Party With candidates running in NSW, Victoria, and Western Australia, The Pirate Party is a civil rights group thatdespite its cute namesupports voluntary euthanasia. It also believes the internet should remain open, uncontrolled and free, and that any inappropriate attempts to censor or data block content should be banned. So if youre worried that shady watches sold on the internet could impact the luxury watch market, these guys may not be your first pick Sustainable Australia Party The Sustainable Australia Partys candidates will run for the upper house in all states and territories. Their key policies are; securing jobs via a more diverse economy, providing affordable housing for first home buyers and renters (which, in theory, leaves you with a little cash left over for a horological purchase) and better planning to stop overdevelopment and sustainable environment and population. Reason Party Believe it or not the reason party used to be the Sex Party, re-emerging (and rebranding) as a movement for radical common sense in 2017. A candidate of theirs will run in NSW, with key policies being; Treating drug use as a health issue, not a criminal issue, legalising, regulating and taxing cannabis, modernising classification laws to facilitate adult freedoms while protecting children, providing federal support for states to decriminalise sex work and repealing laws that prevent the territories enacting voluntary assisted-dying legislation, (News.com.au). To see the full list of Australias minor parties and their policies, check out News.com.aus report. Read Next China warns retaliation as US bans Huawei China on Thursday warned retaliation over US ban on Chinese telecom giant Huawei from the countrys market, saying Beijing will take necessary measures to safeguard rights and interests of its business firms. President Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday barring American companies from installing foreign-made telecom equipment that pose a national security threat, a move apparently aimed at banning Huawei from US networks. The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) of the US Department of Commerce followed it up by announcing that it will be adding Huawei Technologies Co and its affiliates to the Bureaus Entity List. The Bureau said it has sufficient information that provides a reasonable basis to conclude that Huawei is engaged in activities that are contrary to US national security or foreign policy interest. The Bureau said these included the activities alleged in the Department of Justices public superseding indictment of Huawei such as alleged violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), conspiracy to violate IEEPA by providing prohibited financial services to Iran, and obstruction of justice in connection with the investigation of those alleged violations of US sanctions. The sale or transfer of American technology to a company or person on the Entity List requires a licence issued by BIS, and a licence may be denied if the sale or transfer would harm US national security or foreign policy interests. The listing will be effective when published in the Federal Register. This action by the Commerce Departments Bureau of Industry and Security, with the support of the President of the United States, places Huawei, a Chinese owned company that is the largest telecommunications equipment producer in the world, on the Entity List. This will prevent American technology from being used by foreign owned entities in ways that potentially undermine U.S. national security or foreign policy interests, said Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. President Trump has directed the Commerce Department to be vigilant in its protection of national security activities. Since the beginning of the Administration, the Department has added 190 persons or organizations to the Entity List, as well as instituted five investigations of the effect of imports on national security under Section 232 of the Trade Act of 1962. The US decision that Huawei, the worlds largest provider of telecommunication equipment, poses a spying risk to Western infrastructure networks, risked an escalation of tensions with China. The US and China are already locked in a trade battle that has seen mounting tariffs, sparking fears the conflict will damage the global economy. Reacting sharply to Trumps move, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a media briefing here that China will take measures to defend the interests of Chinese companies. We have noted the US department of Commerce decision. China always asks its business to comply with laws and regulations in export control and fulfil their international obligations. We always ask them to abide by other countrys laws regulations in their overseas business, Lu said. But we are against other countries unilateral sanctions based on domestic law and practices that abuses export control measures. We urge the US to stop such practice and create favourable conditions for business cooperation. China will take necessary measures to safeguard Chinese business legitimate rights and interests, he said. He, however, parried questions over what measures China would take, saying the commerce ministry would come out with a response. Asked whether China would now target US firms in retaliation, Lu said, as for the foreign firms, so long their operations are lawful, they should not be concerned. In international trade, the basis is mutual respect and mutual benefit. Separately, Huawei in a statement said that unreasonable restrictions by the US infringed on its rights. Restricting Huawei from doing business in the US will not make the US more secure or stronger; instead, this will only serve to limit the US to inferior yet more expensive alternatives, the telecom giant said. In addition, unreasonable restrictions will infringe upon Huaweis rights and raise other serious legal issues, it said. Huawei is already fighting a major legal battle against US to stave off the extradition of its CFO Meng Wanzhou, who has been arrested in Canada, to face prosecution for violations of American sanctions against Iran. Meng, the daughter of Huawei owner Ren Zhengfei, has been accused of misleading banks about the companys business dealings there. Theresa May's Brexit talks with Labour collapse agai Talks between British Prime Minister Theresa Mays government and opposition Labour aimed at breaking the Brexit impasse have ended without an agreement, putting Britains divorce from the European Union again in disarray. The Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said the discussions had "gone as far as they can", but said the talks failed due to what he called the government's "increasing weakness and instability". Theresa May said the lack of a "common position" within Labour over a further referendum had made talks "difficult". The prime minister said she would now consider putting options to MPs on Brexit that may "command a majority". Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar called the end of the talks a "very negative development". May has promised she would be leaving Downing Street after a House of Commons vote on her EU Withdrawal Agreement Bill in the week beginning 3 June. Brexit, which had to take place on 29 March failed one deadline after MPs voted down the deal May had negotiated with the EU thrice. The EU had since given the UK time until 31 October for the exit. With an extended deadline he ruling Conservatives and opposition labour have started fresh negotiations aimed at arriving at an agreement despite differences over issues like membership of a customs union. Nearly three years after the United Kingdom voted 52 per cent in a referendum to leave the EU, it remains unclear how, when or even if it will leave the European club it joined in 1973. It is now developed into a show of strength between the ruling Conservatives and opposition Labour. We have been unable to bridge important policy gaps between us, Corbyn, a socialist who voted against joining the predecessor of the EU in 1975, wrote to May. Even more crucially, the increasing weakness and instability of your government means there cannot be confidence in securing whatever might be agreed between us, Corbyn said He said Labour would oppose Mays deal when it returns to parliament early next month. He later told reporters there was no chance of getting even part of a Brexit deal ratified by the end of July. The divorce deal, which May agreed last year with the EU, has been rejected three times by parliament. May plans to put part of her deal, contained in the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, to a vote in parliament in early June. RBI envisions `safe, secure and affordable' e-payment system The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday placed on its website the `Payment and Settlement Systems in India: Vision 2019 2021, which aims at empowering every Indian with access to a bouquet of e-payment options that is safe, secure, convenient, quick and affordable. The Payment Systems Vision 2021 with its core theme of Empowering Exceptional (E)payment Experience, has been formalised based on inputs from various stakeholders and guidance of the Board for Payment and Settlement Systems (BPSS),RBI stated in a release. It envisages to achieve a highly digital and cash-lite society through the goal posts of Competition, Cost effectiveness, Convenience and Confidence (4Cs). With concerted efforts and involvement of all stake holders, the Payment Systems Vision 2021, with its 36 specific action points and 12 specific outcomes, aspires to: Enhance customer experience, including robust grievance redressal; Empower payment system operators and service providers; Enable the payments eco-system and Infrastructure; Put in place forward-looking regulations; and Undertake risk-focused supervision. The no-compromise approach towards safety and security of payment systems remains a hallmark of the `Vision, RBI said. The payment systems landscape will continue to change with further innovation and entry of more players which is expected to ensure optimal cost to the customers and freer access to multiple payment system options. The Reserve Bank of India will implement the approach outlined in this Vision during the period 2019 2021. The previous Vision document covered the period 2016-2018. Meanwhile, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the RBI designated e-payments implementation body, has reported a slowdown in the adoption of its RuPay cards despite onboarding more than 1,100 banks in the Universal Payment Interface (UPI) backed system. According to NPCI data, more than 1,100 banks have been on-boarded into the RuPay Card programme, and have more than 600 million cards have been issued. The RuPay card base in the mass and affluent segments touched 325 million in 2018-19. In the last four years, RuPay has gained nearly 58 per cent of the issuance market share. However, the transaction share in volume and value terms is at 30 per cent of the market share. But, with new credit card companies like Paytm and Citi offering their first credit card on the Visa platform, NPCI sees a slowdown in RuPay card issuance by banks. There is also a perceived resistance and banks continue to have little faith in RuPay when it comes to the middle- and upper-income segments, according to NPCI. Banks still point to lack of infrastructure for their choise of Visa and Mastercard in place of the RuPay card. While about 436 banks are RuPay-ready, bankers continue to offer Visa or Mastercard to urban middle- and higher-income customers, even as they swear by RuPay cards. However, they continue to avoid issuing RuPay cars in citing international acceptance and status levels of customers. NPCI says it is only a matter of perception as RuPay offers good infrastructure and benefits Saradha scam: SC ends interim protection for ex-Kolkata top cop In a major setback to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her party, Trinamool Congress, the Supreme Court today vacated its 5 February order against the arrest of former Kolkata police commissioner Rajiv Kumar by the CBI in a case related to the Sharda Chit fund scam. The SC had, in February, granted interim protection against arrest of former Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar for alleged destruction of evidence in the Saradha chit fund scam case While granting CBIs plea to lift the 5 February granting protection against arrest to Kumar, a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi also expressed concern over the manner in which the chit fund scam has panned out. The bench had, on 30 March, asked the CBI to produce materials to satisfy the court on its plea for the custodial interrogation of Kumar. The apex court, however, granted Kumar seven days to seek legal remedy CBI will now be able to approach Kumar for interrogation over his alleged role in destroying evidence in the Saradha chit fund case, but after seven days. The investigative agency, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, had argued that Kumar's custodial interrogation was required to probe the larger conspiracy to investigate Kumar and other police officials' role in causing disappearance and destruction of evidence in the case and also to unravel the nexus between directors of Saradha Group and politicians. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Kumar and state of West Bengal, had denied the allegations. Kumar had earlier appeared before CBI officials for questioning in Shillong as per the Supreme Court order but the probe agency said that he remained elusive, did not assist in making available crucial evidence in the chit fund cases. Neither did he disclose any crucial information he was privy to. Earlier, on 3 February, a CBI team was detained by Kolkata Police when it reached Kumar's residence to question him. It was followed by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's visit to the officer's home. The CBI officers were taken to a police station and released later. eBikeGo teams up with Zomato for eco-friendly food delivery eBikeGo, Indias largest electric two wheeler rental/delivery platform, has teamed up with food delivery platform Zomato to make the door-to-door service more environment-friendly. While e-commerce and food delivery firms are rapidly switching to drones, eBikeGo initiated a mode to end delivery woes and also, saving the environment at the same time. Besides addressing the serious environmental challenges, this green venture also aims at providing a more affordable transportation for food delivery services. The green journey has also opened doors for increased employment for those who wish to join as delivery executives but are constrained by the lack of a motorcycle or cannot afford a motorcycle because of high fuel prices, says eBikeGo. eBikeGo will provide food delivery executives electric two-wheelers at Rs100 per day. The company plans to launch operations in all cities in which Zomato is operational by providing them with an eco friendly solution to deliver food. Electric two wheelers run for around 90 km after an electronic charge for about 2-3 hrs and makes the daily movement zippy with a speed of 55 km/hr. Set up initially in Amritsar, eBikeGo today is successfully operating in cities like Delhi, Jaipur, Ludhiana and Agra, with a total fleet of one lakh bikes in 100 cities spread across the country. The company at present uses Okinawa Ridge plus electric scooters to operate in the country's capital. However, it plans to use electric scooters which will be manufactured in-house. With its electric two-wheeler rental services, eBikeGo is targeting travellers, students, working executives and more delivery chains. eBikeGo plans to position a minimum of 10,000 electric bikes in each metro city in India in the coming months. Launched in 2017, eBikeGo has bagged the best Franchisable concept of the Year 2018 in Franchisee India Awards 2018. Pei was born on the 26 April 1917 in Guangzhou, and at 17 moved to America to study at the University of Pennsylvania, then Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard Graduate School of Design. In 1948 he accepted the invitation of developer William Zeckendorf to oversee the architectural projects of New York real estate firm Webb & Knapp, and in 1955 founded his own practce IM Pei & Associates (later changing to IM Pei & Partners and finally Pei Cobb Freed & Partners). His oeuvre is broad, ranging from urban planning to churches, banks, hospitals and housing, with museums and art centres including the East Building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC (1968-78) and the controversial Louvre Pyramid (1989) counting among some of his most acclaimed work. In 1990, Domus' then-editor Vittorio Magnago Lampugnani claimed his glass pyramid should prove the possibility of inserting an element into a setting that is considered untouchable. Pei officially retired from practice in 1990 but continued to consult on projects well into his 80s, seeing the completion of his Musee dArt Moderne Grand-Duc Jean in Luxembourg in 2006 and Macao Science Center 2009, and most lately contributing to the studio of his son Li Chung Pei, who confirmed his death to New York Times yesterday. His career brought with it an avalanch of accolades: the AIA Gold Medal in 1979, the Praemium Imperiale in 1989 the Gold Medal of the French Academie d'Architecture in 1981, the Royal Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2010, and the Pritzker Prize in 1983 whose jury lauded Pei for having given this century some of its most beautiful interior spaces and exterior forms. Although many unanswered questions remain, Dale County officials believe a Level Plains man murdered his mother recently and left her burned body inside a vehicle later found in Geneva County. Chad Dewayne Brogdon, 36, of Level Plains, made his first appearance Friday in a Dale County courtroom. He is charged with murder and currently being held with no bond. District Attorney Kirke Adams said officials are awaiting DNA confirmation on the identity of a deceased person found inside a charred vehicle under the Choctawhatchee River bridge near Hartford Tuesday. However, Adams said he is highly confident the victim is Penny Newton, Brogdons mother. Adams declined to speculate on a motive for the alleged killing. He said the case remains under investigation. Adams said the autopsy was inconclusive as to a cause of death, but said the victims body appears to have been dismembered after death. Attorney Nicky Bull of the Ozark firm Bull and Simechak has been appointed to represent Brogdon. (CNN) Marlen Ochoa-Lopez was nine months pregnant when she went missing. The dark-haired 19-year-old vanished on April 23, after she made an appeal to mothers on a Facebook group called "Help A Sister Out." She needed help securing a double stroller for her toddler and a new baby on the way, according to social media posts and a pastor who has been assisting her family. A student at Latino Youth High School, Ochoa-Lopez wrote that she was jobless and short on cash. She was willing to buy, trade or simply accept a donation. A woman responded with an offer of new baby clothes and other unused items, according to the posts. She asked Ochoa-Lopez to message her privately. Ochoa-Lopez's body was found Tuesday in a garbage can in the backyard of the woman who had offered to help her, police said. She had been strangled with a coaxial cable, and her unborn baby forcibly removed from her womb, Deputy Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan said. The baby is in grave condition at a hospital. Three people who were in the home have been charged, two with murder and other charges and one with concealment of a crime, police said. They include Clarisa Figueroa, 46, who allegedly lured Ochoa-Lopez to the home, and her 24-year-old daughter Desiree, who police said confessed to participating in the slaying. "Words really cannot express how disgusting and thoroughly disturbing these allegations are," Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson told reporters Friday. Police said the break in the case came on May 7, when a friend of the victim told detectives of Ochoa-Lopez's Facebook exchanges with Figueroa before she vanished. Apparently Ochoa-Lopez had purchased baby items from the suspects in the past, police said. "Ultimately, DNA evidence and interviews led us to the three offenders that are now charged," he said. Jacobita Cortes, a pastor at Adalberto Memorial United Methodist Church, where the family has sought help, said Ochoa-Lopez's mother told her of a conversation they had the day before she vanished. "She gave her mother a big hug and told her, 'You're the best mom in the world,'" Cortes said. "Her mother told me Marlen was always affectionate, but that day she seemed especially loving. And the next day Marlen disappeared." On the day Ochoa-Lopez went missing, the Chicago Fire Department had received a call about a newborn in distress from the home where the young mother's body was eventually found, authorities said. Three people charged The baby, now gravely ill , was taken to a hospital that day along with a woman who claimed to be the mother, according to fire department spokesman Larry Langford. Deenihan said detectives visited the Figueroa home last week after learning of the Facebook contact between the two women. Desiree Figueroa told them her mother was in the hospital for problems with her legs. Then she revealed that her mother had just delivered a baby, he said. Ochoa-Lopez's car was found near the home. When detectives interviewed Clarisa Figueroa at the hospital, she told them she had met Ochoa-Lopez previously but that the victim had not visited her the day she went missing, police said. Suspicious, detectives subpoenaed hospital records and began to collect DNA samples from the baby, his biological father and Clarisa Figueroa. On Tuesday, armed with a search warrant, detectives discovered bleach and cleaning solutions in the home, along with evidence of burned clothing and blood on the floors of the living room, bathroom and a hallway, according to Deenihan. Ochoa-Lopez's body was found in a garbage can in the yard, with the cable used to strangle her and other evidence. Early Friday morning, Desiree Lopez told detectives that she helped her mother strangle Ochoa-Lopez, Deenihan said. The two women have been charged with one felony count of first-degree murder and one felony count of aggravated battery of a child less than 13 years old, police said. Piotr Bobak, Clarisa Figueroa's boyfriend, has been charged with one felony count of concealing the death of a person and one felony count of concealing a homicidal death. Johnson said the elder Figueroa had lost a son who was in his 20s to natural causes in 2017. The motive for the killing is under investigation, but the superintendent said he assumed the suspect wanted to raise the child as her own. Authorities asked for Ochoa-Lopez's dental records as well as a hairbrush and toothbrush from her family to identify her body, Cortes, the pastor, said. They also matched the baby's DNA to the father, she said. "We lived together for four years and now I see her with her eyes closed," Yovany Lopez, standing outside the morgue in tears, told CNN affiliate WGBO. "Why would these people do this? She did nothing to them. She was a good person. How could they do this knowing she has family and a three-year-old son?" Ochoa-Lopez's mother, Raquel Uriostegui, cried: "I want justice for my daughter, my only daughter. This cant stay like this." Family mourns and prays Ochoa-Lopez was last seen more than three weeks ago after leaving Latino Youth High School. She was supposed to pick up her 3-year-old from day care later but never showed up, authorities said. Cortes, the pastor, said Ochoa-Lopez's husband tried to immediately report her missing to the police, but was told to come back in 72 hours. He did and then hired a private investigator, who Cortes said helped find Ochoa-Lopez's car near the home where her body was found. He went to Cortes for help and plastered the neighborhood with missing persons fliers with Ochoa-Lopez's photo, the pastor said. Residents last week started calling the church to report that they had seen the young mother enter the house where she was found dead. They said that one of the women who lived there, in her 40s, suddenly had a baby without ever appearing to be pregnant, according to Cortes. The pastor said the information was turned over to the police, but they did not enter the home and detain the residents until the forensic evidence established that Ochoa-Lopez was the mother. They later discovered her body. "There's going to be anger associated," Johnson told reporters. "When things of this nature occur, the first thing people do is look in retrospect, what could we have done to maybe prevent this? I know our detectives do the best they can." Despite the $11 billion in relief payments that were doled out last year by the federal government, the personal income of farmers declined by $11.8 billion through the first three months of 2019, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. A similar pace of decline is expected in the coming months, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. On Thursday, May 23 the #EDS4IRE campaign is inviting people to assemble outside Leinster House, Kildare Street, Dublin, for a protest between 1pm and 2.30pm. They are demanding that the government commit to providing real healthcare here in Ireland for patients of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder. The #EDS4IRE petition was set up by Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome sufferer Kitty Colbert from Dundalk, who like many patients has had to fundraise for tests and treatments in London. She didnt receive her official EDS diagnosis until her early 30s, even though she experienced chronic pain and subluxations her entire life. Later she was also diagnosed with comorbid issues such as Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome and Chiari Malformation (thanks to an upright MRI, only available in London and not in Ireland). She set up the petition, and later the website to provide more information, for the greater EDS community in Ireland to use how they wish in their advocacy endeavours. Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome is a complex genetic, connective tissue disorder resulting in faulty collagen. Collagen is known as the glue that holds the body together. Because of this fault, patients' joints can partially dislocate (sublux) and sometimes fully dislocate on a daily basis, leaving them in varying degrees of pain. As the human body contains quite a large amount of this protein, it can impact almost every system in the body. In Ireland there is not one qualified rheumatologist appointed by the HSE, to deal with the multi-systemic degrees of these conditions. There are a small number of private rheumatologists who have taken an interest, but they are expensive. Patients often meet with rheumatologists who have either never heard of EDS or HSD, or who only know of outdated terminology and have minor knowledge of types, diagnostic criteria or comorbid issues. Physiotherapists and occupational therapists who are trained to deal with hypermobility conditions are also not available in every county and can be hard to locate. Because of delays in diagnosis (sometimes in adulthood rather than childhood), and lack of available healthcare once diagnosed, some people deteriorate at alarming rates. The other option sufferers have is to turn to the UK, particularly the London Hypermobility Clinic. Their expertise and vast knowledge of hypermobility conditions and comorbid issues isnt even comparable to the abysmal situation here in Ireland. As you can imagine, these visits and tests that that cannot obtain here at home (such as upright MRI used to diagnose potentially dangerous issues), are very expensive. Fundraisers organised by family and friends and GoFundMe accounts are a common occurrence in many patients lives. They cannot access the treatment abroad scheme because: A. The London Hypermobility Clinic and many of these UK tests are private clinics And B. Patients cannot prove that they require the treatment abroad scheme if the HSE continue to insist they can access the healthcare we need here. Time is often an issue in emergency cases. The date was chosen as May is Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome awareness month. Kitty hopes that this will be the first of many gatherings outside Leinster House calling for health care reform for hypermobility conditions, and asks that those who are affected to invite family and friends to stand with patients in solidarity on the day. As those with conditions like EDS are known as zebras in the medical world, participants are asked to come dressed in something zebra print or black and white and bring a sign with any relatable slogan. There is a facebook event for those on social media who wish to stay up-to-date on news about the day: www.facebook.com/events/ 844004075936710 If anyone is worried they may be affected by these conditions and require further information, they can contact the campaign and find details at: www.eds4ire.ie Nearly 12,000, which had been raised in memory of local man Diarmuid MacArtain, has been donated to adrenal research at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin. The funds were raised from the #IntoTheSeaForDee pier jump event which took place at Gyles Quay on New Years Day. Diarmuid, from Lordship, passed away just six months ago and soon afterwards his partner Rebecca Wilson decided to raise funds for various charities and research projects in his memory. Rebecca, along with Diarmuid's mother Kathleen, were on hand to present a cheque for 11,889 to Professor Sherlock of Beaumont Hospital yesterday. Taking to Facebook afterwards, Rebecca explained how they decided upon this particular project: "Today marks six months since Diarmuid passed away so it was a tough day, just like any other, but a great reason to go out and honour his memory. After a meeting with Professor Sherlock two months ago and some discussion later the research projects have been chosen. She added: "Diarmuid already knew a little of the chosen projects and wanted to be involved so this is the next best thing. "I cannot thank our friends and family enough for their constant support, to the entire community of people who braved the water on New Years Day for the first annual #intotheseaforDee from the bottom of my heart I am so grateful." Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. Dams in Africas transboundary rivers often cause tensions between the riparian states. So if Africa opts for electricity for all many more dams will be build and therefore river basin management and water diplomacy will become more important. This surfaced in several expert panels at the conference. Reliable data on river flows and strong mandates for river commissions can help to overcome distrust between states and local communities that are affected by hydropower dams. The UNESCO Conference drew 900 delegates from 126 countries. It took place on 13 and 14 May. This file photo shows purchased items from Urban Outfitters' Navajo line in Tempe, Ariz. The Navajo Nation is suing Urban Outfitters months after the tribe sent a cease and desist letter to the clothing retailer demanding it pull the "Navajo" name from its products. (Matt York / AP) Even allowing for the car fumes that bothered the residents of University Apartments, it can be observed that Pei and Chicago architect Harry Weese, with whom he worked on the redevelopment of Chicagos Hyde Park neighborhood, achieved a significant success. Departing from the urban renewal norm of wiping out existing neighborhoods to make way for isolated housing projects, they wove two- and three-story townhouses into Hyde Parks urban fabric. In doing so, they laid the groundwork for areas ongoing revival. Ou's Work Lights the Way Graduating senior Christina Ou has a head start on making an impact in the real world. The electrical and computer engineering student traveled to Zimbabwe with Engineers Without Borders to complete a solar streetlight project helping a community of 2,000 people in Nyadire. "It was really meaningful as a way to apply class knowledge to a real issue that affects real people," Ou said. May 17, 2019 Christina Ou and CMU classmates Cathy Fang, Ashley Burbano and Melina Driscoll took a winter-break trip to Nayadire, Zimbabwe, where they followed up on a solar street light project and began an effort to improve a local school's cooking system. Ou said one of the things the trip taught her was that the decisions she makes as an engineer can have both positive and unintended consequences. Before they had arrived in Zimbabwe, they hadn't considered how the community members would have to change their lifestyle habits in order to use the new technology. "We also hadn't considered how receptive they may be to this change," Ou said. "If the technology is put in place, are they willing to maintain it or will they want to just revert back to their old ways? It was a challenge and a learning moment for us. We had to think about how people will interact with our system, not just about the performance aspects of our project." Solar street lights illuminate one of the main pathways in Nyadire. Ou said the most rewarding moment came when she finally met the people she had been communicating with only through messaging platforms and video calls. "I really loved interacting with all the people there," she said. "It was really rewarding to finally put faces to names and meet the people I was working with. I really loved their hospitality and warmth, and they have a lot of really interesting stories." As co-president of Carnegie Mellon's chapter of Engineers Without Borders, Ou oversaw three other projects, including an effort to improve the cooking system for a local school. Ou also worked to develop software for an ice-drilling robot on Mars. The 15-student team entered the robot in NASA's Mars Ice Challenge competition and was one of 10 finalists. Story originally posted here. 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The teachers story made national headlines after parents at her school launched an online crowdfunding campaign to cover her costs. People were outraged. California lawmakers pledged to revisit the state law, with the state senator who chairs the education committee telling KQED that legislators are going to try and fix it for future teachers. Even Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Democratic presidential candidate, weighed in on the story , calling it a symbol of a fundamentally broken system. But this law has been in place since 1976, and the story is not an isolated incident. In California, Oklahoma, and a handful of school districts elsewhere, teachers who have taken an extended medical leave have been quietly paying the cost of their substitutes for years, if not decades. Over the past year, teachers across the country have protested low wages and inadequate classroom and school resources, but policies regarding sick leave were not a rallying cry among teachers, and they havent been at the top of teachers unions agendas. So whats really going on here, and why isnt this a bigger issue? Heres what you need to know. How much sick leave do teachers generally get? On average, teachers receive about a dozen sick and personal days a year. Typically, teachers are able to roll over their sick days from year to year with no cap. Which states and districts have policies that require teachers to pay for subs during extended leave? In California, teachers receive 10 days of regular sick leave a year, and unused sick days carry over year after year. Once their sick leave is exhausted, teachers are eligible for 100 days of extended sick leave, but the cost of a substitute for those days is deducted from a teachers paycheck. In the San Francisco Unified district, for example, the cost of a substitute can be up to $240 a day. In Oklahoma, state law says that educators get 10 days of sick leave annually, which roll over each year. If a teacher depletes his or her store of sick leave, then the state will allow an additional 20 sick days, minus the cost of a substitute. The National Council on Teacher Quality, a Washington-based think tank, has tracked teacher-leave policies in 148 districts across the country, including the 100 largest and the largest district in each state. At least two large school districts outside of Oklahoma and California have similar policies for extended sick leave: Pasedena, Texas, and Davis, Utah. Other places require teachers to pay for the cost of their substitutes when using different types of leave. For example, North Carolina law gives teachers two days of personal leave per year. But if teachers take a personal day when students are in classinstead of on teacher work daysthe district will dock the cost of the substitute from the teachers salary. I do feel like its unfair, said Dov Rosenberg, an instructional technology facilitator at Rogers-Herr Middle School in Durham, N.C. It seems like thats something the school system should pay for. Were professionals as teachers, and sometimes we have to take days where we cant be in the classroom. In NCTQs database, 22 districts have some form of leave where teachers are paid their salary minus the cost of the substitute, although about half of those are in California, Oklahoma, or North Carolina. What is the rationale for teachers paying the cost of their substitutes? Its important to note that extended medical leave isnt used by most teachers. In fact, a human resources representative in the Davis district could only recall two times in 20 years when a teacher had to pay the cost of the substitute. But when a teacher does need to take an extended medical leave, its expensive for the school district to pay for both the cost of the substitute and the teachers regular salary. In California, public school teachers dont pay into the state disability insurance program, so they cant draw benefits from it. And Carolina Villaseca, a parent who sits on the school site council of Pioneer Elementary School in Brentwood, Calf., said schools across the state are strapped for cash. Once youve exhausted all your substitute days and you take a look at your budget, theres nothing left for something as unfortunate as a teacher having cancer and [having to go through] chemo, she said. Its not like the principal or the superintendent doesnt want to fund [the extended sick leave], its that there is no money left to fund. Which teachers are most affected by these kinds of policies? These policies affect teachers who have (or who have a family member with) a serious illness and need to be out for extended treatmentlike for cancer. However, it wouldnt affect all teachers equally. Since teachers can roll over their sick days from year to year, many veteran teachers have large amounts of leave stored. Early-career teachers would be more likely to feel the impact of this policy. If youre a new teacher, two bouts of strep and the flu will take you over 10 days, said Alicia Priest, the president of the Oklahoma Education Association. Also, she said, this would be an issue for teachers who need to take extra parental leave with a new baby for medical reasons. (Across the country, teachers rarely receive paid parental leave .) Are there ways teachers can get around having to pay for the subs? California Teachers Association President Eric Heins and Oklahomas Priest said teachers in their states have typically been able to find local workarounds to these types of laws. For example, a local teachers union might have bargained for additional sick days. Also, many districts either have a catastrophic sick leave bank set up, where teachers can draw from a pool of donated sick days, or will allow teachers to donate sick days directly to someone in need. However, California law says that teachers have to use up the 100 days of extended sick leave, minus the cost of the substitute, before they can accept donated, fully paid sick days. While its difficult to track how many districts have sick leave banks, theyre relatively common, said Kency Nittler, the director of teacher policy at NCTQ. Just in the last few months, two stories of sick-day donations went viral: In Florida, teachers rallied around a colleague with Stage III colon cancer who ran out of sick days , and in Alabama, a teacher whose 1-year-old daughter is battling leukemia ran out of paid time off to be with her, and appealed to his coworkers for help . Those stories are often framed as heartwarming tales, but some observers are troubled by the thought of individual teachers stepping in to solve a systemic issue. I see a story like that, and I see a near-miss and wonder how many stories there are of teachers who worked in a district and there wasnt that policy, said Peter Greene, a retired teacher and education blogger . Its unfair, he said, that teachers have to throw [themselves] at the mercy of their coworkers. Even so, Keri Treadway, a teacher at William Fox Elementary School in Richmond, Va., recently donated sick days to her colleague whose daughter has cancer . (Her district doesnt have a sick leave bank, but teachers can donate extra days directly to a colleague in need.) Its a stand in solidarity, she said. [Teachers are] a true family, and you do what you can to support your family. God forbid you find yourself in that situationyoud hope that your colleagues would wrap their arms around you. What do the unions say about these policies? Before the story of the San Francisco teacher made national headlines, these policies of teachers paying for their substitutes were not a huge talking point for teachers unions. The problem is, yes, it is an outrage, but its one of many ways that teachers are disrespected in the profession, Heins said. This is symptomatic of ... a chronically underfunded school system. He expressed some concern about changing the law without giving more money to school districts. California spends far less per student than the national average$9,400 per pupil, as opposed to the national average of $12,500, according to an Education Week Research Center analysis thats adjusted for regional cost variations. Eliminating the law in isolation would be robbing Peter to pay Paul, and what we really need to do is focus on funding the system appropriately and adequately, Heins said. And Priest said shed need to do more research before suggesting Oklahomas policy needs to be changed. There are other priorities the union is working on: Oklahoma teachers staged a nine-day walkout last spring over low wages and cuts to school funding, and teachers are still fighting for the legislature to put more money into public education. I think that this is a part of a bigger conversation about health-care benefits and making sure that we are doing the right thing for our education employees when it comes to being able to afford to go to a doctor in the beginning and not waiting, Priest said. And after all, given that this type of leave is for extreme cases and there are some workarounds, these policies affect just a small subset of their members. Your average teacher isnt going to experience this problem, Nittler said. I should be clear that when I say you, I mean me. When I make one of these discoveries, I have an urge to keep my precious little secret to myself so as not to diminish the allure of my private knowledge. My discovery was hard-won. Why should I share it with everyone else? This writer is already doing fine; look at all those books. Why cant they be my special secret? 800 questionnaires sent out for views on mental health services People on the island are being asked how mental health services compare to other places. 800 questionnaires have been sent to a number of patients, to get their feedback. The Health department says its similar to the annual survey by Care Quality Control which regulates mental health services in the UK. It's hoped the findings will compare how patients on the island are treated to those in England. Hedgerow environmental plea People are being reminded not to cut back hedgerows and grass verges until the end of August. The Isle of Man Government say theyre important refuges for wildlife. The Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture says that birds, their eggs and chicks, are legally protected. Hedgerows should be checked for nesting birds prior to cutting. If nests are present, guidance from the Ecosystem Policy Team at DEFA should be sought prior to any work taking place. The Department of Infrastructure has been undertaking a programme of hedge trimming in preparation for the TT festival. The main reason for this work is road safety due to the increased volume of traffic on Manx roads, particularly in areas where people will park and where barriers and cones may narrow the road. Trimming is always kept to a minimum in order to limit the impact on plants and habitat. It only offers more complexity, and an argument against his inevitable slip into obscurity. Even into his 70s, long into his fame, while working on a speech to honor the Chicago Public Library, he noted the odds against his success. He had practically lived in his local branch library, presuming Chicago was a dead end: What was this place to Oscar Wilde when he lay in velvet knickers on a buffalo robe at the old Palmer House and received the press with a flower in his fingers? Chicago was all that was not art, I assumed. He was here as an aesthetic John the Baptist, to assure these business types and boors and bumpkins that art was on its way. He titled that speech: How in the City of Chicago Does a Young Person Become a Writer? But also like poetry, philosophy can be an elemental drilling-down to the bedrock of an idea. Callard, who is the philosophy departments director of undergraduate studies, thought the university needed a series that reintroduced philosophy back into the wild, something that brought the non-philosopher and philosopher together. I think theres an idea people have about philosophy and people who do philosophy, she said, and sometimes that image is why people get into it. But theres also the reality of philosophy classes which are often a somewhat arbitrary selection of topics, because thats where the history of the subject always focused. I wanted Night Owls to feel like what you thought philosophy is, before you found yourself in a class and actually had to do it. I wanted philosophy to speak to an outside world, and take steps to lead people to it. Antalya is one of top choices for British holidaymakers 70 percent increase in British tourists to Antalya last year, says envoy. Turkey's Mediterranean resort city of Antalya is popular among British holidayers, the British ambassador in Ankara said Friday. "Last year, there was a 70 percent increase in British tourists," said Dominick Chilcott during a meeting with Antalya's Mayor Muhittin Bocek. Chilcott added that Antalya which is expected to host record-breaking 16 million tourists, offers various opportunities for the visitors. Bocek highlighted that 60 percent of tourists to Turkey choose Antalya which can host 700,000 people overnight on any given day. The ambassador also met Antalya Governor Munir Karaloglu to exchange views on tourism. Karaloglu said there is a 48 percent increase in British tourists visiting Antalya since the beginning of this year. Assad regime attacks killed three civilians in Idlib The Assad regime has consistently broken the terms of the ceasefire, launching frequent attacks inside the de-escalation zone. Three civilians were killed Thursday in attacks by the Assad regime and its allies in Syrias northwestern Idlib province, local sources said. THREE DEAD According to the White Helmets civil-defense agency, a regime airstrike left two civilians dead in Maarat al-Numan city, while a third civilian was killed by regime artillery in the nearby town of Hesh. Some 1.5 million people currently reside in Idlib, roughly half of whom are refugees from other parts of the country. Turkey and Russia agreed last September to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone in which acts of aggression would be expressly prohibited. Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in early 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected severity. Brexit talks between PM May and Labour leader collapse Talks between the Labour Party and the government aimed at breaking the Brexit crisis have ended without an agreement. Britains tumultuous divorce from the European Union was again in disarray on Friday as the opposition Labour Party declared last-ditch cross-party talks dead as Prime Minister Theresa Mays premiership crumbled. Brexit talks between Mays Conservative Party and Labour collapsed hours after May agreed on Thursday to set out a timetable for her departure in early June. IT HAD BEEN REJECTED THREE TIMES Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn wrote to May on Friday informing her that the Brexit talks, which began on April 3, had "gone as far as they can" due to the instability of her government. "We have been unable to bridge important policy gaps between us," Corbyn, a socialist who voted against joining the predecessor of the EU in 1975, wrote to May. "Even more crucially, the increasing weakness and instability of your government means there cannot be confidence in securing whatever might be agreed between us," Corbyn said. He said Labour would oppose Mays deal when it returns to parliament early next month. The divorce deal, which May agreed last year with the EU, has already been rejected three times by a deeply divided parliament. Nearly three years after the United Kingdom voted 52% to 48% in a referendum to leave the EU, it is still unclear how, when or if it will ever leave the European club it joined in 1973. The current deadline to leave is Oct. 31. French Parliament votes to ban headscarf Senate adopts a bill that prohibits mothers from wearing a headscarf while accompanying students on school trips as well. Frances upper house of the parliament on Thursday adopted a bill that prohibits mothers from wearing headscarf while accompanying the students on school trips. THE BILL IS ACCEPTED The bill was presented in the countrys senate by the conservative Republican party. The bill was passed with 186 Yes and 100 No votes, while 159 senators abstained. The bill has to be approved by the National Assembly lower house of the parliament for its entry into force. Jacqueline Eustache-Brinio, a lawmaker of the Republican Party, argued that the bill aims to fill a legal gap in the implementation of secularism on school trips. Meanwhile, French Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer said: "This bill is contrary to the Council of State's decision and will create many problems in the development of school trips. However, Blanquer said he respects those who advocate the bill. He said that he would do all he could to prevent parents from carrying religious symbols on school trips. Mohammed Moussaoui, president of the Union of Mosques in France, said this bill is against religious freedom. Moussaoui called on lawmakers to reject the bill and ensure equal treatment of citizens of different faiths. General debate on the definition of Islamophobia: UK Islamophobia definition by the all-party parliamentary group under discussion. The House of Commons held a debate on Thursday on Islamophobia, one of the rising dangers of British society, which affects the lives of more than 3 million Muslims living in the UK. "A TYPE OF RACISM" The co-chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims (APPG) and the Labour MP Wes Streeting opened the debate on the definition of Islamophobia, which was drawn by the group last year. Streeting gave examples of Islamophobic attacks and disturbances across the UK, inviting all parties to accept the definition, which describes it as "a type of racism. He underlined that 51 Muslim worshippers were slaughtered in March in a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand for no other reason but their faith. He said: Hatred against Muslims does not start with the sound of a gun fire [but] it begins with simple prejudice that can go unchecked and unchallenged in our schools, our workplaces and our communities. It is amplified on the pages of national newspapers. It is legitimized by political leaders who use Muslims as punch lines and bigotry as a vote winner. Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness, he read out the definition, calling all parties to adopt the definition. Last year, APPG on British Muslims alongside the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) devised a working definition on Islamophobia with the aim to tackle anti-Muslim prejudice and hate crime. The definition was also drawn up in part to tackle supposed police prejudice against Muslims. Gunfights killed six militants in Kashmir Kashmirs Joint Resistance Leadership has announced to observe a complete shutdown on Friday against the killings. Six militants, an Indian soldier and a civilian were killed in two separate gun battles in Jammu and Kashmirs south on Thursday, police said. SIX DEAD In a statement, the police said three militants, an Indian army soldier, and a civilian were killed in a gunfight in Pulwama district when Indian forces a joint group of army, paramilitary and police launched a cordon and search operation in the Dalipora village. Three terrorists were killed in the ensuing encounter and their bodies were retrieved from the site of the encounter, said the police statement. Police identified two of the slain militants as Naseer Pandith and Umar Mir, both were Kashmiri locals, and named the third militant Khalid, a Pakistani citizen. The militants were linked to the Jaish-e-Muhammad militant outfit, according to the police. Abdul Rashid Para, a medical superintendent of the Pulwama district hospital, confirmed the death of a 25-year-old civilian, identified as Rayees Ahmad Dar. According to Dars family, he and his brother were taken away from their home and used as human shields by the Indian forces during the gunfight. Dars brother was also wounded and has been hospitalized. Later in the day, three more militants were killed in a gun battle in Shopian. In the encounter, 3 terrorists were killed and their bodies were retrieved from the site of encounter. The identities and affiliations of the slain terrorists is being ascertained, police said in another statement. Jammu and Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China. Iraqi Airways to resume flights to Damascus after 8 year suspension The last flight from Baghdad to Damascus was in December 2011. Flights between Baghdad and Damascus will resume Saturday after an eight-year hiatus, Iraqi Airways said Thursday. The flights will take place once-a-week, Iraqi Airways spokesman Leys Ruabayi said in statement. The large number of Iraqi nationals in Syria make the flights important, Ruabayi said. Syria hailed announcement in a written statement from its transportation ministry. Israel attacks injured 4 civilians in West Bank According to estimates, some 650,000 settlers currently live on 164 Jewish-only settlements built illegally throughout the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. At least four Palestinian demonstrators were injured Friday when Israeli troops violently dispersed an anti-settlement protest in the northern West Bank, according to a local activist. FOUR INJURED Murad Ishteiwi, a popular resistance activist in the town of Kafr Qaddum west of the city of Nablus, told Anadolu Agency that Israeli troops had dispersed the demonstration with teargas and rubber bullets. According to the activist, four protesters sustained injuries from rubber bullets while dozens of others suffered the effects of excessive teargas. Every Friday, Palestinians in villages and towns across the West Bank stage demonstrations and marches to protest Israels policy of illegal settlement-building. Oil prices higher amid tensions in Middle East Oil prices edged higher on Friday, extending gains into a fourth session as rising tensions in the Middle East stoked fears of potential supply disruptions. Crude oil prices opened with gains on Friday, as tension in the Middle East continues to escalate. AN INCREASE IN THE PRICE OF OIL International benchmark Brent crude was trading at $72.88 per barrel at 0614 GMT with a 0.59 percent gain after it closed Thursday at $72.45 a barrel. American benchmark West Texas International was trading higher at $63.02 a barrel at the same time. A drone that attacked two oil-pumping stations in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday provoked concerns over secure crude supply from the region. Attacks on the Kingdom's two oil tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates on Sunday also added to supply uncertainty. Tehran-backed Yemeni rebel group Houthis claimed responsibility for the attacks on the Saudi oil infrastructure. In response on Thursday, Saudi forces launched airstrikes on Houthi targets in the rebel-held capital, Sanaa in Yemen. Meanwhile, prices remain high ahead of an OPEC and non-OPEC meeting this weekend where the future of the supply reduction deal will be discussed. Saudi Arabia-led airstrikes killed 4 civilians in Yemen The ongoing conflict has wrecked much of the impoverished countrys basic infrastructure, prompting the UN to describe the situation there as 'one of the worst humanitarian disasters of modern times'. The Saudi Arabia-led coalition forces on Thursday carried out airstrikes, killing four people and injuring 48 others in Yemen's capital Sanaa. FOUR DEAD FORTY EIGHT INJURED In a Twitter post, Doctors without Borders said the wounded were rushed to hospitals after the airstrikes took place in the morning. "Sanaa/Yemen: Several airstrikes by #Saudi and #Emirati-led coalition took place this morning in #Sanaa, #Yemen resulting in mass casualty influx of 48 injured and 4 dead at Al Kuwait and Al Jumhori hospitals supported by @msf_yemen," the post read. Meanwhile, Houthis said in a statement that at least four people were killed and 52 others injured in the airstrikes carried out by the Saudi-led coalition forces. Yemen has been wracked by violence since 2014, when the Houthis overran much of the country, including capital Sanaa. The crisis escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led military coalition launched a massive air campaign in Yemen aimed at rolling back Houthi gains. For kids, the cottage was great fun. It stood on stilts so any seawater shoved ashore by occasional storms could rush underneath unimpeded. The walls and ceilings were of wood, and the beams were exposed. Handprints and footprints from whoever had cut the soft pine boards could be seen in some spots. Tiny holes drilled in the ceiling for whatever reason let us spy down on the grown-ups in the living room and, occasionally, drop a marble or two. The front porch was partially enclosed and screened to keep the mosquitoes out. Unspoken neighborhood etiquette demanded that everyone on the porch stand if someone stopped and struck up a conversation. And they always did, darn it. I felt so exposed out there as a teenager. If I was alone, Id try to flatten myself down on the glider so no one walking by could see me. I hid my face in a book. Trump unveils plan for immigration reform Trump has outlined plans for a new US immigration system designed to favour younger, better educated, English-speaking workers. Donald Trump unveiled Thursday his broad proposal to overhaul the US's immigration program, which would, if enacted, divergently shift the system toward seeking skilled labor and potential job creators. THE NEW VISA SYSTEM The plan, which is unlikely to gain traction in a divided Congress, had long been in development within his administration, being spearheaded by the presidents son-in-law Jared Kushner and Trumps far-right senior advisor Stephen Miller also helped lead the effort. It would not only increase security at US borders, but would also dramatically increase the the educational and skills requirements for individuals seeking to immigrate. The latter changes would be most clearly manifested in the US's green card system that is currently heavily based on a lottery, familial relations and employer sponsorship. That would be changed to a points-based merit system preferring high-skilled, highly-educated individuals and job creators in what Trump called a "Build America Visa". The total number of immigration papers in that program, Trump said, would not change. Trump said if his plan is adopted it would be the "pride of our nation and the envy of the modern world because it "builds upon our nation's rich history of immigration while strengthening the bonds of citizenship that bond us together as a national family." Trump claimed the current system discriminates against "genius." We discriminate against brilliance. We wont anymore once we get this passed, he said. Trump's plan comes as those of his two immediate predecessors George W. Bush and Barack Obama were unable to pass comprehensive immigration reform packages due to partisan differences within Congress, which has to sign off on any potential overhaul. That trend is likely to continue under Trump with many Republicans not signaling whether they will support the president's proposal, and with near-unanimous opposition among Democrats. Trump: We are not heading to a war with Iran Donald Trump said Thursday he hopes war with Iran is not inevitable as tensions continue to run at a fever pitch between the rivals. Asked by a reporter at the White House if Washington and Tehran are headed to war, Trump responded nonchalantly "Hope not." HE EXPECTS IRAN WILL TO ENGAGE IN DIALOGUE SOON House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, however, was quick to emphasize that constitutionally it is Congress' sole responsibility to declare war. "So, I hope that the president's advisers recognize that they have no authorization to go forward in any way," Pelosi said in a likely swipe at National Security Advisor John Bolton, a noted Iran hawk who failed to sway former President George W. Bush to attack Iran. "They cannot call the Authorization for the Use of Military Force that was passed in 2001 as any authorization to go forward in the Middle East now," she said, referring to an authorization that has been broadly interpreted by successive presidents, but which specifically approves operations against al-Qaeda and associated forces. It is unclear how those authorizations could possibly be used to justify an attack on Iran, an enemy of al-Qaeda. Trump said Wednesday he is "sure" Iran will want to engage in dialogue "soon" amid a US military buildup in the Middle East that his administration says is geared towards deterring unspecified threats from Tehran. Yellow Vest protests complete six months According to the latest official figures, 11 people have died so far and more than 4.000 were injured. More than 8,400 people have been arrested and 2.000 people sentenced to prison. On November 17, 2018, nearly 300,000 protesters wearing yellow jackets blocked roads and occupied roundabouts in rural and small-town France in the first major demonstration against rising fuel taxes. 21 PEOPLE LOST EYESIGHT AMID POLICE VIOLENCE The Yellow Vest movement spiralled into a nation-wide revolt against the cost of living and the pro-business policies of centrist President Emmanuel Macron. According to French Mediapart website, 11 people were killed, five had their hands ripped due to pepper spray, and 21 lost their eyesight. Police violence increasingly continues WATCH The terror attacks in Sri Lanka point to the fact that violent extremism has been spreading its tentacles, and has been breeding on existing sectarian fault lines,between the Sinhala Buddhists and the Muslims. This is a warning bell for majoritarian states in South Asia to recognise that internal conflicts are no longer internal, and that the rights, freedom and security of its minorities need to be safeguarded. The deadly terror attacks on Easter Sunday in Sri Lanka have left more than 250 dead, and close to 400 injured across the cities of Colombo, Negombo and Batticaloa. This is the bloodiest attack in Sri Lanka, since the termination of the civil war in 2009, between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Government of Sri Lanka. The terror attacks underline fault lines that are not ethnic but religious as they involve the islands two religious minorities, the Christians and the Muslims. Further, these fault lines draw attention to marks of violent extremism propagated by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), with links to local organisations, in this case, the National Thawheedh Jamaath (NTJ) and Jammiyathul Millathu Ibrahim (JMI) (Economic Times 2019). In Sri Lanka, 74.9% or three-fourths of the total population is comprised of Sinhalese, with the rest comprising of 11.2% Sri Lankan Tamils, 9.3% Sri Lankan Moors, 4.1% Indian Tamils, and 0.5% Other (Census 2012). Further, the 2012 census indicates that Buddhists make up 70.1% of the population, Hindus 12.6%, Muslims 9.7% and Christians 7.6%. Most Sinhalese are Buddhist; while a majority of Tamils are Hindu; and the Moors and Malays are mostly Muslim. Sizeable minorities of both Sinhalese and Tamils are Christians, 6.2% of whom are Roman Catholic. The Burgher population is largely Roman Catholic or Presbyterian. The attack raises critical questions such as why did the terrorists, with alleged links to the Islamic State mount an attack on the islands smallest minority, the Christians? Does this indicate that global sectarian fault lines, exemplified by the acts of terror by ISIS, are playing out in newer territories like Sri Lanka, where there already exists a complex array of internal conflicts? According to government sources, nine homegrown, well-educated suicide bombers carried out the attacks, eight of whom have been identified. The investigations have so far focused on international links to the two domestic Islamist groupsthe NTJ and the JMIthat allegedly carried out the attacks (Miglani and Sirilal 2019). If this case of homegrown terror with transnational links is established, it would point towards the dangers of growing religious extremism and radicalisation not just in Sri Lanka but in the South Asian subcontinent at large. More importantly, it calls for analysts and policymakers to recognise threats from growing religious radicalisation and violent extremism with transnational links to ISIS, which is taking into its ambit young people, given the complex array of local, regional, and transnational factors. Natural disasters have no control over social discrimination. The recent incident of caste discrimination in the aftermath of Cyclone Fani in Odisha is different from the earlier cases of discrimination during disasters such as the 2004 tsunami and the 2001 Gujarat earthquake. It is different, not in relation to destructive intensity, but more in terms of its ethical dimension that seeks to completely devastate human relationships. The complete absence of human concern on the part of the upper castes was intensified in their response to the Dalits fundamental need for safety in shelter. Such intensity reached its peak, particularly in an incident that took place when the cyclone lashed the coastal villages and districts of Odisha. As reported in the media, the cyclone-affected Dalits from a village in the Puri district were not only barred from entering the public shelters but also forced to vacate the shelters that they had managed to occupy. The media report added that the Dalit families were forced to take shelter under a banyan tree, which was also uprooted by the cyclone and shared the fate of the Dalit families. They thus found themselves literally thrown to the mercy of the winds blowing at the speed of 200 kilometres per hour and torrential rains. In this sense, the caste-based discrimination that took place in the midst of a devastating cyclone is different from other forms of discrimination which occur in post-disaster scenarios, particularly in the process of distribution of aid. Caste discrimination was witnessed in the process of distribution of aid following the tsunami in Tamil Nadu, and the earthquakes in Kutch, Gujarat and Latur in Maharashtra. Similarly, in the case of Bihar floods, it was reported that the distribution of aid was done in a way that did not help the poor and the Dalits. Food and medicine packets were dropped on the terraces of the buildings owned by the rich. Obviously, the Dalits did not have access to such terraces. However, the military personnel must have thought it sensible to drop the food and medicine packets on the terraces of the houses rather than into the flood water. It is in this sense that disaster-bound discrimination is structural. It is structural because human bias is rationalised from the utility point of view. That is to say, in flood relief operations, for example, what is important to keep in mind is the concern that food and medicine packets are not being wasted. However, we need to ask an important question: Did the upper castes in Odisha have valid reason to turn Dalits away from the public shelter or ask them to vacate the shelter after it was occupied by them? One of the ground reports suggests that the upper castes who had occupied the shelter before the Dalits, turned the latter away on the ground that the shelter was already overcrowded and could not take in more people. Lockman blurred that line, as do readers who send me notes like this one: "You and your sisterhood are sex objects. What else could you be? From the time the 'average' female is about 11 or 12 years old and has grown an alluring (expletive) she learns how to exploit that and other body parts, which males are intoxicated by." At the 177th Acoustical Society of America meeting in Louisville, acoustics scientists will describe how they are rolling out new tools via the ISO to help restaurateurs create ideal dining soundscapes WASHINGTON, D.C. May 17, 2019 -- Acoustics consultant Klaus Genuit says that new International Standards Organization guidelines for defining, measuring and evaluating soundscapes are a big step forward in guiding the creation of audibly fine restaurants. "A soup might be delicious or not, but you can't answer this by knowing the temperature of the soup. It is the same with restaurant soundscapes -- you need a lot more information than just noise level," said Genuit, president and founder of German sound engineering firm Head Acoustics. He will present an application of the new ISO restaurant soundscape standards at the 177th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, which takes place May 13-17, at the Galt House in Louisville, Kentucky. Genuit, who participated in the development of the new ISO standards, said restaurants present a particular challenge for soundscape design. While in the ideal classroom even a student at the back can hear the teacher, "it's quite the opposite in restaurant acoustics," he said. "I don't want to listen to the people at the table beside me, and I want to have acoustical privacy so they don't hear me." On the other hand, "you don't feel comfortable if it's too quiet," he explained. The new ISO TS 12913 standard, said Genuit, provides an updated framework for identifying a dining space with just the right mix of ambient sound, privacy and good at-my-table speech intelligibility. For the first time, this includes the required use of binaural sound recording for room evaluation. Unlike a mono or stereo recording, a binaural recording is an immersive, 3D version that exactly recreates for a future listener the experience of being in a room. "For a complex sound situation where you have a lot of sources, from tinkling cutlery to music and conversation, the selectivity of human hearing works only with binaural recording," said Genuit. In 1986, he founded Head Acoustics by creating an artificial head, based on his doctoral research, with microphones in the place of ears to make binaural recordings. The ISO guidelines also outline the analysis of the soundscape using psychoacoustics, which describes how a person perceives a sound, for example, as sharp or rough. "This perception is dependent on the context," said Genuit, noting that a rough rumble sounds exciting if it's coming from a car at a NASCAR race, but not if it is coming from the air conditioner at a bistro. Loud air conditioner noise is among the most annoying sounds in American restaurant soundscapes, according to Genuit. Finally, the new ISO guidelines require acoustic consultants to talk with diners using a questionnaire to get a sense of their experience in the dining room. "You have to ask people how they feel in this sound environment," said Genuit. He hopes the new ISO standards will result in more five-star restaurant soundscapes where the quality of the acoustics matches the quality of the food. ### Presentation #5aAA1, "Restaurant Acoustics - A Challenge for Consultants," will be at 8:05 a.m., Friday, May 17, in the French room of the Galt House in Louisville, Kentucky. MORE MEETING INFORMATION USEFUL LINKS Main meeting website: http://acousticalsociety.org/asa-meetings/ Technical program: https://ep70.eventpilotadmin.com/web/planner.php?id=ASASPRING19 Press Room: http://acoustics.org/world-wide-press-room/ WORLD WIDE PRESS ROOM In the coming weeks, ASA's World Wide Press Room will be updated with additional tips on dozens of newsworthy stories and with lay language papers, which are 300-500 word summaries of presentations written by scientists for a general audience and accompanied by photos, audio and video. You can visit the site during the meeting at http://acoustics.org/world-wide-press-room/. PRESS REGISTRATION We will grant free registration to credentialed staff journalists and professional freelance journalists. If you are a reporter and would like to attend, contact the AIP Media Line at 301-209-3090 or media@aip.org. Our media staff can also help with setting up interviews and obtaining images, sound clips or background information. LIVE MEDIA WEBCAST A press briefing will be webcast live from the conference Tuesday, May 14, in the Laffoon Room of the Galt House Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky. Register at https://aipwebcasting.com to watch the live webcast. The schedule will be posted at the same site as soon as it is available. ABOUT THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) is the premier international scientific society in acoustics devoted to the science and technology of sound. Its 7,000 members worldwide represent a broad spectrum of the study of acoustics. ASA publications include The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (the world's leading journal on acoustics), Acoustics Today magazine, books, and standards on acoustics. The society also holds two major scientific meetings each year. For more information about ASA, visit our website at http://www.acousticalsociety.org. Scientists at the Swedish Museum of Natural History have begun compiling an atlas of fossils in volcanic rock, to guide where and what to look for in the search for Martian life In 2020, NASA and European-Russian missions will look for evidence of past life on Mars. But while volcanic, igneous rock predominates on the Red Planet, virtually the entire Earth fossil record comes from sedimentary rocks. Addressing the problem in Frontiers in Earth Science, Swedish scientists have begun compiling evidence of fossilized microbes in underexplored igneous rock environments on Earth, to help guide where to search for a Martian fossil record - and what to look for. "We propose a 'volcanic microfossil atlas' to help select target sites for missions seeking evidence of extraterrestrial life, such as the NASA Mars mission 2020 and ExoMars," says lead author Dr. Magnus Ivarsson. "The atlas could also help us recognize what Mars microfossils might look like, by identifying biosignatures associated with different types of fossilized microbes." Earth's deep biosphere Ivarsson and colleagues study life buried in deep rock and deep time: fossilized remains of mysterious microbes, that have lived up to a kilometer below the deepest ocean floors for as long as 3.5 billion years. "The majority of the microorganisms on Earth are believed to exist in the deep biosphere of the ocean and continental crust," reveals Ivarsson. "Yet we are just now beginning to explore - through deep drilling projects - this hidden biosphere." In a watery world that never sees sunlight, bacteria, fungi and other microbes have adapted to feed on the igneous rock that surrounds them - or even on each other. They spread through micro-fractures and cavities, forming complex and extended communities. "Upon death, the microbial communities become fossilized on the walls of their rocky home. These microfossils can provide a history of microbial life in volcanic rock." A volcanic microfossil atlas Crucially, Earth's oceanic crust is geochemically very similar to the volcanic rocks that dominate the Martian landscape. "Our aim is to be able to use the oceanic crust microfossil record as a model system to guide Martian exploration," Ivarsson explains. "Our review of existing knowledge is an important first step, but a more comprehensive understanding of the deep life is needed to show where and what to search for." To achieve this, says Ivarsson, we need to collect more data on microfossil appearance and location - but also, on their chemical composition. "These fossils often preserve immense morphological detail. For example, we can distinguish broad classes of fungi through the appearance of spores, fruiting bodies, mycelia and other growth states - or of bacteria, through the presence of cauliflower-like formations, generations of biofilms preserved as laminated sheets, and other characteristic community structures. "But analysis of lipids and carbon isotopes in microfossils will make it possible to discriminate more precise groups based on their metabolism. "Altogether this information will help to identify which types of microorganism are most likely to have been preserved on Mars, and which geochemical conditions most favour fossilization." A fossil record on Mars The microfossil atlas would therefore also help to determine which samples should be targeted for return to Earth, given the limited payload of the Mars missions. "Both NASA's Mars 2020 and the ExoMars missions are capable of detecting larger fossilized structures from volcanic rocks, such as mm-sized mineralized fungal mycelia, or larger microstromatolites in open vesicles. "ExoMars's 8 micrometer/pixel cameras have a greater chance of identifying small features and individual hyphae in situ on Mars. However, the NASA mission has the possibility of collecting samples for later investigation on Earth, and its 15 micrometer/px cameras may therefore be sufficient select samples with a high probability of containing biosignatures. These complimentary strategies increase the overall chance of detecting evidence of past life on Mars, if it exists," concludes Ivarsson. ### Please link to the original research article in your reporting: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2019.00091/full Frontiers is an award-winning Open Science platform and leading open-access scholarly publisher. Our mission is to make high-quality, peer-reviewed research articles rapidly and freely available to everybody in the world, thereby accelerating scientific and technological innovation, societal progress and economic growth. Frontiers received the 2014 ALPSP Gold Award for Innovation in Publishing. For more information, visit http://www.frontiersin.org and follow @Frontiersin on Twitter. Researchers at the Smithsonian Institute have proposed a 'demographic safe space' for Asian elephants, to improve conservation of these and other large, slow-breeding animals Conservation decisions based on population counts may fail to protect large, slow-breeding animals from irrevocable decline, according to new research coinciding with Endangered Species Day. "Critical thresholds in so-called vital rates - such as mortality and fertility rates among males and females of various ages - can signal an approaching population collapse long before numbers drop below a point of no return," says lead author Dr. Shermin de Silva, President & Founder of Asian elephant conservation charity Trunks & Leaves. "We propose that conservation efforts for Asian elephants and other slow-breeding megafauna be aimed at maintaining their 'demographic safe space': that is, the combination of key vital rates that supports a non-negative growth rate." A mammoth insight Published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, the study suggests that a combination of key vital rates governing population growth is a better indicator of a species' viability than short-term trends in population size and distribution. "History bears this out," argues de Silva. "Genomic studies of the last mammoths isolated on Wrangel Island - between Russia and Alaska - have shown that although they were able to persist for thousands of years beyond the extinction of mainland populations with just ~300 individuals, they had accumulated numerous genetic mutations that may have eventually contributed to their extinction." In other words populations of megafauna can become biologically inviable long before they disappear, if pushed beyond their 'demographic safe space.' Females and calves key to saving the Asian elephant The group applied the 'demographic safe space' concept to the case of the Asian elephant. "Asian elephants are classified as 'Endangered' under the IUCN Red List because populations are thought to have declined by at least 50% in less than a century," explains de Silva. "There are fewer than 50,000 wild Asian elephants living today." Studies show that wild Asian elephants breed extremely slowly, the majority producing just one calf in six years or more. Using mathematical modeling, de Silva and colleagues found that near-optimal reproduction and high calf survival is necessary to maintain non-negative population growth in the face of even modestly increased mortality among adult female age classes. The approach shows a clear conservation priority for Asian elephants, a species in which the vast majority is tuskless. "Measures to enhance survival of calves, and particularly females, are key to saving the Asian elephant," emphasizes de Silva. "But while the attention of the world has been focused on the ivory trade, for critically endangered Asian elephant populations the greatest threat is habitat loss - followed by illegal trade in live animals and parts. "Habitat loss can create something known as 'extinction debt' by slowing down birth rates and increasing mortality rates. For slow breeding long-lived species, even incremental changes make a big difference, but their longevity can obscure the risk of extinction." A demographic safe space for all megafauna Conservation efforts for other large, slow-breeding species - such as giraffes, rhinos, Bactrian camels and eastern gorillas - could also benefit from modelling the interaction between vital rates. Data for these species in the wild are a scarce yet urgent necessity, suggest the authors. "Rather than rely on simple population counts or estimates of near-term extinction probability, we urge that conservation resources for slow-breeding megafauna also be invested in identifying demographic tipping points and how to maintain populations within their safe spaces. "Populations of slow-breeding taxa need proactive management well before numbers become critically low, when returns on investment are potentially greater and populations less likely committed to extinction," concludes de Silva. ### Please link to the original research article in your reporting: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2019.00171/full Questions may be directed to lead author Dr. Shermin de Silva: shermin@trunksnleaves.org / +1.925.639.1585 Frontiers is an award-winning Open Science platform and leading open-access scholarly publisher. Our mission is to make high-quality, peer-reviewed research articles rapidly and freely available to everybody in the world, thereby accelerating scientific and technological innovation, societal progress and economic growth. Frontiers received the 2014 ALPSP Gold Award for Innovation in Publishing. For more information, visit http://www.frontiersin.org and follow @Frontiersin on Twitter. The study shows the advantages of herbicide spraying and intensive fertilization in reforestation programs to mitigate the effects of climate change An experiment conducted in Brazil in an area of Atlantic Rainforest suggests that intensive silviculture, including the use of herbicide and substantial amounts of fertilizer, is a more effective approach to promoting the regeneration of tropical forest and biomass gain than the traditional method based on manual weeding and less fertilizer. The study was supported by Sao Paulo Research Foundation - FAPESP. The principal investigator was Pedro Henrique Santin Brancalion, a professor of native species silviculture in the Forest Science Department of the University of Sao Paulo's Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ-USP) in Piracicaba, Sao Paulo state, Brazil. Researchers affiliated with the French Agricultural Research Center for International Development (CIRAD) also participated, as did other Brazilian scientists affiliated with Sao Paulo State University (UNESP) in Botucatu and the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC). The results are published in Ecological Applications, a journal of the Ecological Society of America. As Brancalion explained, forest restoration is considered strategic for climate change mitigation, since the vegetation sequesters carbon from the atmosphere as it grows. "Developed countries, such as Norway, have put in place programs to help neutralize carbon gas emissions through their economic activities," he said. "Companies issue calls for reforestation proposals to offset part of the emissions from their factories, and many international nonprofits raise funds from companies interested in investing in restoration projects using native species in Brazil." According to Brancalion, maximizing woody biomass accumulation to obtain early payments for carbon stocks is essential to the financial viability of reforestation programs for climate change mitigation. Intensive silviculture, traditionally applied in commercial forestry using eucalyptus and pine to maximize productivity and profits, is widely advocated as a promising approach to enhance woody biomass accumulation in restoration plantations. However, Brancalion explained, critics of this approach claim that it may hamper natural forest regeneration and ecological succession owing to competition between colonizing plants and planted trees. "In several situations, you have to plant native species. How can you ensure these areas with new native trees maximize the carbon stock? We sought answers by conducting a controlled native tree planting experiment," he said. The experiment was conducted at ESALQ-USP's Forest Science Experiment Station near the town of Anhembi. The area was donated to the University of Sao Paulo (USP) in 1974 by CESP, then a major electric power utility, for academic and scientific purposes. Since that time, it has been used for research on the introduction, conservation and genetic improvement of exotic and native tree species, constituting an important germplasm repository for the global forestry sector. "In this area of Atlantic Rainforest, we investigated the impacts of different silviculture approaches applied to restoration plantations in terms of both woody biomass accumulation and the spontaneous regeneration of native species," Brancalion said. Experiments involving trees, many of which grow slowly, take a long time to come to fruition. In this case, the study began in 2004 in an area of pasture covered by the exotic signalgrass, Urochloa decumbens, which is widely used for cattle fodder in Brazil. "We tested three main strategies," Brancalion explained. "In the first, a large proportion of the selected species were pioneer species, which are small to medium in size, hardy and fast growing, and require an abundance of sunlight. The ideal composition we sought was one that resulted in a large carbon stock while also permitting the regeneration of species similar to those found in native forest rather than a mere stand of trees without regeneration." Brancalion explained that pioneer species are the first to regenerate in a restored forest. They are fast-growing trees with low wood density and tend to die early, at an age of approximately ten years. "They play an important role in recolonizing forest clearings and degraded areas, as they rapidly form a forest structure," he said. "Nonpioneer species grow more slowly and last decades or centuries." Twenty native tree species were used in the experiment. Ten were pioneers, including Cedrela fissilis (Argentine cedar), Pterogyne nitens (amendoim bravo), Schinus terebinthifolius (Brazilian peppertree) and Enterolobium contortisiliquum (pacara earpod). Others were slow-growing nonpioneer species, such as Cariniana estrellensis (jequitiba branco), Handroanthus impetiginosus (pink trumpet), Hymenaea courbaril (Brazilian cherry), and Jacaranda cuspidifolia. Others grow at an intermediate rate, including Copaifera langsdorffii (copaiba), Eugenia uniflora (pitanga), Genipa americana (jenipapo), Psidium guajava (guava) and Syagrus romanzoffiana (queen palm). The test for the first strategy consisted of two levels. Level one had an equal number of pioneer and nonpioneer species. In level two, pioneer species accounted for two-thirds of the species, while nonpioneer species accounted for a third. "The second strategy focused on tree density per hectare planted," said Brancalion. "We wanted to find out whether tree density maximized carbon stocks or whether, on the contrary, a lower density reduced competition among plants and hence enabled trees to grow more and store more carbon." Tree rows were planted a meter apart in level one and 2 m apart in level two for densities of 3,333 and 1,666 seedlings per hectare, respectively. The third strategy focused on weed control and fertilizer use. Level one involved manual weed control and "typical" amounts of fertilizer, while level two involved spraying with herbicide and three times the amount of fertilizer used in level one. "We collected many measurements over a period of 12 years. The different techniques we tested resulted in very different forests in terms of carbon stocking, which ranged from 25 to 75 tons per hectare," Brancalion said. Native forest regeneration Tree density and the ratio of pioneer to nonpioneer species did not significantly affect the carbon stocking rates. The factors that determined optimal results in all cases were herbicide spraying and intensive fertilization. "The total number of trees and a larger proportion of pioneer species were factors that did not significantly influence biomass accumulation," Brancalion said. "The second question we set out to answer was whether planting seedlings would trigger a regeneration process that would produce a biodiverse native forest or merely a planted stand. We also wanted to know if bolstering carbon stocks would hamper the regeneration of native species", de said. "The final outcome was the optimal scenario, featuring synergy between carbon stocking and native species regeneration, which was an excellent result." ### The study was funded by FAPESP under its Research Program on Biodiversity Characterization, Conservation, Restoration and Sustainable Use (BIOTA), as well as the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and Petrobras. About Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) The Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) is a public institution with the mission of supporting scientific research in all fields of knowledge by awarding scholarships, fellowships and grants to investigators linked with higher education and research institutions in the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil. FAPESP is aware that the very best research can only be done by working with the best researchers internationally. Therefore, it has established partnerships with funding agencies, higher education, private companies, and research organizations in other countries known for the quality of their research and has been encouraging scientists funded by its grants to further develop their international collaboration. You can learn more about FAPESP at http://www.fapesp.br/en and visit FAPESP news agency at http://www.agencia.fapesp.br/en to keep updated with the latest scientific breakthroughs FAPESP helps achieve through its many programs, awards and research centers. You may also subscribe to FAPESP news agency at http://agencia.fapesp.br/subscribe. GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- When the bones of an ancient heron were unearthed at a North Florida fossil site, the find wasn't made by researchers but by two Florida Museum of Natural History volunteers. A previously unknown genus and species, the heron has been named Taphophoyx hodgei (TAFF'-oh-foy-ks HAHJ'-ee-eye) in honor of landowner Eddie Hodge, who has allowed Florida Museum researchers and volunteers to excavate the site on his property near Williston since his granddaughter first discovered fossils there in 2015. Nearly 700 volunteers have worked at the Montbrook fossil site, collectively digging more than 12,000 hours. "You couldn't have a better group of people," Hodge said. "There's a lot of negativity when we get home and turn on the television, but it does you good to be out here seeing volunteers get excited and be positive about something." The bones used to identify the new heron were found by volunteers Toni-Ann Benjamin and Sharon Shears. Taphophoyx hodgei - whose genus name means "buried heron" in Greek and Latin - is the first new species to be described from Montbrook. Many other new species from the fossil-rich site await publication. "It's invigorated the local fossil community," said David Steadman, Florida Museum curator of ornithology and lead author of the description of T. hodgei. "One of the greatest values of Montbrook is that it's been such a collaborative learning tool." Because Montbrook is such an intensively worked fossil site, processing the finds takes the teamwork of scientists and amateurs. Hodge oversees much of the land management that Montbrook requires, including moving dirt and managing drainage. In addition to working outdoors at the site, volunteers prepare and catalog specimens in the Florida Museum's vertebrate paleontology lab. A good day of digging requires between 10 and 20 days to process in the lab, said Jonathan Bloch, Florida Museum curator of vertebrate paleontology and a coordinator of the fossil dig. "We simply couldn't do all this work without help from the public," Bloch said. "Volunteers are not only the backbone of the dig, they're actively contributing to scientific discoveries." Steadman and then-master's student Oona Takano used the characteristics of the bird's scapula and coracoid, two bones that intersect to support the bird's shoulder, to determine the relationship between this ancient heron and modern lineages. They believe T. hodgei is most closely related to today's tiger-herons, which live in Mexico and Central and South America. They have given the new species the common name "Hodge's tiger-heron." "This heron adds to this big suite of aquatic birds we're finding at Montbrook," Steadman said. "We're seeing the same families of birds you'd see around wetlands today, but they're all extinct species. The fun challenge is finding out how closely related any given species at Montbrook is to the birds that we see flying and swimming around Florida today. Even after three and a half years, we're nowhere near diminishing returns." Takano, now a University of New Mexico Ph.D. student, said that bird fossils are prized finds, particularly at a site like Montbrook where the majority of fossils belong to young gomphotheres, extinct elephant-like mammals. "In general, bird bones don't fossilize well because they're hollow," she said. "It's relatively rare to find well-preserved bird bones at all and even rarer to find articulated bones," referring to bones that would have locked together in the bird's body. Most Florida fossil sites are limestone sinkholes or pitfall traps created by ancient predators to capture their prey. At Montbrook, researchers have been able to glimpse a different type of ancient environment: the riverine ecosystem. Five million years ago, T. hodgei would have lived alongside saber-toothed cats, rhinoceroses and horses that frequented a river that likely weaved through a grassland, Steadman said. Researchers believe the ancient river's current scattered decomposing animal remains, making this find of two intersecting bones even more significant. Steadman said naming the species after Hodge was a natural choice. "Through the kindness of his heart and being interested - just wanting to know what's in the ground on his land - Eddie let us in and one thing led to another." Steadman said. "Naming this heron after Eddie is a minor part of treating him right because he's been treating us right." "He's genuinely interested in the fossils we're finding," Takano added. The Florida Museum recruits volunteers for the Montbrook dig in fall and spring and regularly encourages volunteers and students to become involved, often resulting in meaningful fossil discoveries. Finds are shared on the Florida Museum Montbrook Fossil Dig Blog. "Volunteers are fascinated by this stuff - it's really their passion," Hodge said. "There's a satisfaction in being able to provide something like this for people interested in higher learning, and you don't get the chance to do that very often. You never know what you can find. Just the next little spoonful of dirt, brush it back and there it is." ### Takano and Steadman published their findings in the Bulletin of the Florida Museum of Natural History. "We now know for sure that Zika virus infection during pregnancy can affect the unborn foetus in such a way that the child develops microcephaly and other severe symptoms," explains Prof Felix Drexler, a virologist at the Charite who has been developing diagnostic tests for Zika and other viruses at the DZIF. Just a few years ago, pictures of affected new-borns were cause for worldwide dismay and perplexity. "However, what we did not understand then was that high incidence of microcephaly seemed to occur particularly in northeastern Brazil," says Drexler. Why are expecting mothers in these regions at a higher risk of developing a severe Zika-associated disease than in other regions? The scientists consequently began to search for cofactors that have an influence on whether a Zika infection during pregnancy will develop fatal consequences or not. A suspected cofactor Dengue viruses, which are widespread in Latin America and cause dengue fever, were suspected cofactors. Initially, the scientists suspected that the antibodies humans produce against the dengue virus contribute to the foetal damage caused in later Zika infection. It has been known for a long time that these antibodies can enhance subsequent dengue infections under certain conditions. However, in the case of Zika, the opposite seems to be the case. "Surprisingly, our study has shown that a previous dengue infection can protect against Zika-associated damage," emphasizes Drexler. The study As a first step to investigating the interactions between dengue and Zika viruses, the genomes of all known dengue viruses in Brazil were compared to each other. This was to enable the researchers to find out whether perhaps dengue viruses in northeastern Brazil had caused different immunity compared to the immunity observed in other regions in Brazil over the last decades. In addition, the scientists conducted extensive serological tests in Salvador, Brazil: Samples from a case-control study were tested for antibodies against four different dengue serotypes. Samples from 29 mothers who had undergone Zika infection during pregnancy and gave birth to children with microcephaly were investigated. Samples from 108 mothers who also had undergone Zika infection during pregnancy but gave birth to healthy children were used as controls. In this project, scientists from the Charite - Universitatsmedizin Berlin collaborated closely with the Federal University of Bahia and the Institute of Virology of the Bonn University Medical Centre. Cofactor becomes a protective factor The study showed that an existing immunity against dengue virus significantly reduces the risk of Zika-associated microcephaly in newly borns. "We can now say that people who have had early infections with dengue do not need to worry much about contracting more severe forms of Zika infection due to this," summarises Drexler. This is an important message for pregnant women. Consequently, it could not be confirmed that the dengue virus acts as a cofactor for congenital Zika infection. The scientists are now looking for further cofactors and other possibilities of identifying the risk of microcephaly early on. Background Felix Drexler and his research group have already developed several novel Zika virus tests. The Zika diagnostics project in Brazil was brought underway by the DZIF in order to act against the threat of emerging infections. It is also being funded by the EU programme Horizon 2020. Zika and dengue viruses Zika viruses are usually transmitted by mosquitoes, particularly by the Aedes species, but they can also be transmitted sexually. Symptoms of Zika include rashes, headaches, joint pain and muscle pain, conjunctivitis and sometimes fever. However, these symptoms are considered mild compared to other tropical diseases that are transmitted by mosquitoes. During pregnancy, the virus can cause microcephaly and other malformations in the unborn child. The dengue virus is also transmitted by mosquitoes of the Aedes species and has similar symptoms to Zika infection. Dengue usually causes high temperatures, headaches, muscle and joint pain. People usually recover within a few days, but complications may also occur. Dengue fever is one of the most common diseases transmitted by mosquitoes worldwide. ### WASHINGTON -- According to scientists who study women infected with HIV, statistics often paint an impressionist view of the lives of these women that misses the granular detail that tells the real story. The imprecise big picture is that most of this population is doing a good job at suppressing the virus, but facts gathered on the ground show that many struggle with issues of daily living that can make taking a pill to keep HIV at bay difficult. In JAMA Network Open, researchers say that while a majority of the 1,989 HIV+ women they have been studying since 1994 have been able to control their virus -- often on and off -- challenges such as mental health, unstable housing, and lack of social support constitute ongoing barriers to effective and sustained viral suppression. "Survival is a priority over putting a pill in your mouth for a number of our participants, and that is the public health challenge we must address," says the study's first author Seble G. Kassaye, MD, MS, associate professor of medicine at Georgetown University Medical Center. "The truth of their lives is a lot less rosy than a few lines of statistics in a summary report can reveal," she adds. Kassaye, an infectious diseases clinician and epidemiology expert, is the principal investigator of the Washington Metropolitan site of the NIH-funded longitudinal cohort, the Women's Interagency HIV study (WIHS), which has tracked many of the participants since it first opened in 1994. Four other WIHS sites (two in New York, Chicago and San Francisco) sites contributed data to this work. WIHS was launched because of the recognition that HIV is almost as common in women as in men, in some populations, and that the biology and route of infection can differ. For example, in Washington DC, 1.9 percent of African American women are HIV+, compared to 4.4 percent of African American men. And 30 percent of HIV+ women who have been studied have no explanation as to how they became infected -- "It was likely from heterosexual sex, perhaps with a man who may not have been aware of his status or did not disclose infection," Kassaye says. "About a quarter of the women acquired HIV infection related to injection drug use, but that has become an increasingly less common cause of HIV transmission in the current era." In this study, the researchers took a longitudinal look at how well each participant kept their virus in check, and if they had trouble doing so, why? Each person was interviewed and had a blood draw every six months to establish viral levels. Specific levels indicated the virus was well controlled, or uncontrolled -- a condition called viremia. The researchers found that over 23 years of viral levels, 3 patterns or 'trajectories' were present: 29 percent were at a low probability for viremia, 39 percent were at intermediate probability, and 32 percent were at high probability. These superseded the usual cross-sectional or short term analyses that are often provided to capture viremia outcomes at the population level. More recently between 2015-2017, 71 percent of women achieved sustained viral suppression, including 35 percent of the high probability of viremia group. "So, the rosy picture is that 71 percent of the women achieved viral suppression, but the granular detail tells us that some women are doing very well with 89.6 percent of the women in the low probability of viremia consistently suppressed in the recent years, but others are still struggling to get to viral suppression," says Kassaye. "Despite this struggle, I believe these women continue to resource their personal resiliencies to take their HIV medications as prescribed," adds the study's senior author, Michael Plankey, PhD, clinical infectious disease epidemiologist and professor of medicine at Georgetown University Medical Center. While today's HIV treatment is much less toxic than it used to be, and drug therapy is now suggested for anyone who is infected -- and are therefore in much greater use -- the barriers to daily therapy are real, she says. The researchers found that women in the high viremia group were more likely to report depressive symptoms (54 percent), have higher levels of current illicit drug (41 percent) and alcohol use (14 percent), be less likely to have stable housing (66 percent) and were more likely to die prematurely (39 percent). "Just in DC, we see that the public health issues and stigma surrounding HIV remain endemic. My colleagues have treated generations of HIV+ women: grandmothers, their daughters, and their granddaughters. I have seen women with HIV who do not have any support, but if that person develops cancer, there will be a roomful of people coming to the clinic with her," Kassaye says. An answer to reaching universal treatment and viral suppression will require "wrap-around" services that can effectively address social and mental health issues," she says. ### GUMC's Michael Plankey, PHD, is the study's senior researcher. Also from Georgetown are co-authors are Cuiwei Wang, MD, Joanne Michelle F. Ocampo, MS, and Mary Young, MD. Other co-authors include Tracey E. Wilson, PhD, State University of New York, Brooklyn; Kathryn Anastos, MD, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Health Systems in New York; Mardge Cohen, MD, Cook County Bureau of Health Services in Chicago; Ruth M Greenblatt, MD, UCSF Schools of Pharmacy and Medicine in San Francisco; Margaret A. Fischl, MD, University of Miami School of Medicine; Igho Otofukun, MD, MSc, Emory University, Atlanta; Adaora Adimora, MD, MPH, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Mirjam-Colette Kempf, PhD, University of Alabama at Birmingham; and Gerald B. Sharp, PhD, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The authors report having no personal financial interests related to the study The WIHS is funded primarily by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, with additional co-funding from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the National Institute on Mental Health. Kassaye has been funded in part with federal funds (grant #KL2TR000102 previously KL2RR031974) from the National Center for Research Resources and the Department of Health & Human Services. About Georgetown University Medical Center Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) is an internationally recognized academic medical center with a three-part mission of research, teaching and patient care (through MedStar Health). GUMC's mission is carried out with a strong emphasis on public service and a dedication to the Catholic, Jesuit principle of cura personalis -- or "care of the whole person." The Medical Center includes the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing & Health Studies, both nationally ranked; Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, designated as a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute; and the Biomedical Graduate Research Organization, which accounts for the majority of externally funded research at GUMC including a Clinical and Translational Science Award from the National Institutes of Health. Connect with GUMC on Facebook (Facebook.com/GUMCUpdate), Twitter (@gumedcenter) and Instagram (@gumedcenter). In blister packaging, a pharmacy (or a service provider commissioned by it) portions and packs the prescribed drugs of a patient according to weekdays and times of day, sorted into individual transparent packages (blisters). In this way, one can see at a glance when tablets should be taken and whether all tablets have been taken as planned. For some years now, there has been a broad and controversial debate in Germany as to whether increased blister packaging for nursing home residents is suitable for relieving the burden on the long-term care system and sustainably improving the care of nursing home residents. The German Federal Ministry of Health therefore commissioned the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) to examine, among other things, findings from studies. The report is now available. According to IQWiG's search for evidence, studies on patient-specific blister packaging have so far been predominantly conducted for the outpatient sector, also internationally. However, as far as blister packaging for nursing homes is concerned, hardly any robust data from studies are available. Even the common arguments put forward by various stakeholders and interest groups for or against more blister packaging in nursing homes are not scientifically proven. This also applies to the aspect of cost-effectiveness. Possible advantages and disadvantages In the opinion of its advocates, the fact that medication errors will occur less frequently with blister packaging supports the introduction of this method. Because the more illnesses a resident suffers from, the more complex drug therapy becomes. In addition, if nursing staff were relieved of the burden of organizing the administration of drugs, they would have more time to care for the individual patient. And this in turn could increase job satisfaction in nursing and make the profession more attractive for young people. Critics, however, fear a loss of competence if tasks are increasingly shifted from nurses to other professional groups. Moreover, patients might also lose some of their autonomy because they would be even less able to recognize and decide which drugs to take and which not. Critics also point out that not all drugs are "blisterable". This could even complicate the administration of drugs for nursing staff in nursing homes, as they would have to remember a second distribution of drugs in addition to the tablets in the blisters. Initially, blister packaging causes additional costs. However, these should at least in part be compensated if wastage is reduced. The fact that not every patient receives a full package, but only individual tablets in the blister, means that overall, fewer tablets are thrown away. Studies examine blister packaging in the outpatient sector The IQWiG researchers found a number of studies that investigated aspects of the benefit of blister packaging, but they all referred to an outpatient setting; however, such studies can hardly be transferred to residential settings. This holds especially because people who live at home should still be able to handle their medication themselves. No study investigated residential geriatric long-term care. The studies originating from Germany are mainly before-and-after comparisons without a control group, which were evaluated in model projects by health insurance funds. However, the results of such studies are not very meaningful from a scientific point of view - both with regard to the benefit for nursing home residents (symptoms, state of health, side effects of medication, etc.) and for the nursing staff (professional competence, work-related quality of life, etc.). IQWiG concludes that the benefit and harm of blister packaging in nursing homes therefore remain unclear. Statements on cost-effectiveness can only be made by means of estimation The evidence on the cost-effectiveness of blister packaging for nursing homes is also insufficient, but the Institute was able to estimate possible effects based on various sources. IQWiG assumed that a weekly blister costs about 3 and that drug expenditure will decrease by 4.1% due to less waste. If at least 73.17 of costs for blistered drugs are incurred per week and resident, blister packaging would be cost-neutral. This, however, refers only to drug costs. Due to a lack of data, it is not possible to consider other monetary effects (e.g. due to fewer hospital referrals). Statements on non-monetary effects are also uncertain: Assuming that about half to two thirds of the approximately 818,000 people needing full residential nursing care in Germany receive blister-packed drugs, the time savings for nursing staff would amount to about 22 to 51 minutes per month and resident. Great need for research: IQWiG proposes a design for a new study The Institute has identified a great need for research on blister packaging in nursing homes. Thomas Kaiser, Head of the IQWiG's Drug Assessment Department, notes: "The discrepancy between the broad and sometimes vehement debate about blister packaging on the one hand and the lack of evidence on the other surprised us. Individual stakeholders and interest groups passionately argue for or against blister packaging, without being able to scientifically support their pros or cons. It is good that the commission from the Ministry of Health has now disclosed this." Against this background, IQWiG developed the design for a future study and integrated it into the report. Thomas Kaiser affirms: "Our research has shown that high-quality studies are indeed available on other research questions in residential long-term care and that such studies are evidently feasible." Process of report production In June 2018 the German Ministry of Health commissioned IQWiG to prepare the report as a rapid report in an accelerated procedure. Interim products were thus not published and did not undergo a hearing. The present rapid report was sent to the Ministry on 29 March 2019. An English-language extract of the report will be available soon; if you would like to be informed when it is published, please send an email to info@iqwig.de. ### A recent study from North Carolina State University finds that U.S. government spending on military personnel has a positive impact on the nation's human capital - essentially improving the American workforce. Using a new computer model, the study estimates the economic impact of this human capital improvement to be $89.8 billion for 2019 alone. "Previous efforts to estimate the economic impact of military spending have viewed that spending collectively, whether the money was spent on buying new planes or training personnel," says Bruce McDonald, author of a paper on the study and an associate professor of public budgeting and finance in NC State's School of Public and International Affairs. "I was able to obtain spending records that detailed precisely how the military was spending its money, and that allowed me to tease out the effect of military spending on human capital and what that means for the U.S. economy." McDonald used year-by-year expense report data for all Defense Department spending from 1949 through 2014 to develop a computational economic model. The model was able to estimate the overall economic impact of military spending, as well as what portion of that impact comes from human capital investment versus spending on material goods. "Basically, the model shows that 18.9 percent of annual economic growth in the U.S. can be attributed to human capital investments made by the military," McDonald says. "This likely reflects the scope of the military's personnel training and education efforts - from entry level training to training in technical specialties to sending personnel to medical school." Economic growth is measured by year-to-year growth of the GDP, which comes to $475.5 billion for 2019. And, since 18.9 percent of $475.5 billion is $89.8 billion, that's how much can be attributed this year to military spending on human capital. "Understanding these complex economic relationships is important for ensuring that we are making informed decisions about both the size of the military and how we fund it," McDonald says. ### The paper, "A Human Capital Model of the Defense-Growth Relationship," is published in The Social Science Journal. Plus, collecting, in spite of an image that had been stuck somewhere between fussy (fancy porcelain figurines) and childish (Star Wars figurines) has suddenly laid claim to its own brand of cool. Witness, for example, the renewed obsession with vinyl records both old and new. The urban jungle trend of collecting as many houseplants as possible. Or the stats that show that millennials, though they may move more often than past generations and supposedly have an aversion to more stuff, are the fastest-growing segment of fine art buyers, outstripping Gen Xers. A PCR statement on behalf of PCR and the EAPCI Paris, France, 21 May 2019. Heart failure is a common cardiovascular disorder with ominous prognosis despite significant therapeutic advances. Mitral regurgitation (MR, leaking of the mitral valve within the heart) affects at least 50% of patients with heart failure and is independently associated with worse prognosis. Timely diagnosis is essential, and management is complex, requiring an expert approach. These patients should be referred for assessment and management by a multidisciplinary Heart Team. Detailed imaging assessment is essential to confirm the diagnosis and severity of MR and provide further insights into cardiac anatomy and function that will guide the choice of management. The first essential step in management is the institution of optimised pharmacological therapy and use of cardiac resynchronisation devices according to guideline recommendations. Recent evidence supports the use of transcatheter mitral edge-to-edge repair using the MitraClip device in carefully selected patients with heart failure-associated MR who remain symptomatic despite these measures. Surgical treatment of heart failure-associated MR should be considered in patients with coronary artery disease undergoing surgical revascularisation. Circulatory support devices and cardiac transplantation are an alternative in patients with extreme left and/or right ventricular failure and no accompanying severe comorbidity. Expensive, high-risk and ultimately futile procedures should be avoided in patients who will derive little or no symptomatic benefit or quality of life improvement. Specialist palliative care should be available for these patients. This summary is based upon a published Viewpoint article [1] and underpins a more extensive joint position statement in preparation by a collaborative working group derived from the European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Intervention (EAPCI), European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA), European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (EACVI) and Heart Failure Association (HFA) of the European Society of Cardiology. ### REFERENCE [1] Praz F, Grasso C, Taramasso M, Baumbach A, Piazza N, Tamburino C, Windecker S, Maisano F, Prendergast B. Mitral regurgitation in heart failure - time for a rethink. Eur Heart J 2019 April 21. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehz222. NOTES TO EDITORS Key information Percutaneous edge-to-edge repair in patients with heart failure and secondary mitral regurgitation: a PCR statement presented by Bernard Prendergast Palais des Congres Porte Maillot - Paris, France Tuesday 21 May 2019 - 12:15 - Main Arena EuroPCR 2019 The World-Leading Course in interventional cardiovascular medicine and the official annual meeting of the European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions (EAPCI) will take place from 21 to 24 May 2019 at the Palais des Congres - Paris, France. The detailed Course Programme is available on: https://www.pcronline.com/Courses/EuroPCR About PCR The mission of PCR is to serve the needs of each individual patient by helping the cardiovascular community to share knowledge, experience and practice. PCR offers a large range of many other educational meetings and resources for the continuing education of the interventional cardiovascular community. These include major annual Courses across the globe, e-Learning with high-profile PCR Webinars, Courses specifically dedicated to valvular heart disease, tailor-made PCR Seminars on specific topics, online resources and medical publications such as EuroIntervention, the official journal of the EAPCI. Gateways to all PCR activities are available on http://www.pcronline.com For further information, please contact Ce?lia Vila?: cvila@europa-group.com HELP FOR JOURNALISTS TO COVER EUROPCR 2019 Register and attend EuroPCR 2019 as a journalist Open to accredited journalists, free of charge. Journalists must hold a valid press card and/or provide a letter of assignment from a recognised publication. To register as press go to https://www.pcronline.com/Courses/EuroPCR/Press EuroPCR press releases can be found at https://www.pcronline.com/News/PCR-Press-Releases For the press briefing schedule check https://www.pcronline.com/Courses/EuroPCR/Press For any press-related enquiries, please contact EuroPCR Press Coordinator, Isabelle Uzielli: iuzielli@europcr.com Paris, France, 21 May 2019. Severe symptomatic aortic stenosis, a degenerative disease-causing calcification and immobility of the aortic valve leaflets leading to left ventricular outflow obstruction, is the most common valve lesion leading to intervention in Europe and the USA. Symptoms include heart failure, syncope and angina, and have a dismal prognosis if left untreated. There is no effective medical treatment, except for replacement of the diseased valve by means of surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) or transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), but for which indications Aortic stenosis is in most cases a degenerative disease-causing calcification and immobility of the aortic valve leaflets that in turn leads to left ventricular outflow obstruction. Severe, symptomatic aortic stenosis is the most common heart valve lesion leading to intervention in Europe and the USA. Affected patients suffer from symptoms including heart failure, syncope and angina and have a dismal prognosis if left untreated. There is no effective medical treatment, and the only intervention is replacement of the diseased valve by means of surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) or transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). The latter less invasive treatment has resulted in an unprecedented effort to conduct a series of high quality randomised clinical trials (RCTs) in a field devoid of randomised evidence prior to the advent of TAVI. Previously accumulated evidence among patients with severe aortic stenosis, who are at extreme (inoperable), high- and intermediate-surgical risk were summarized in the 2017 ESC/EACTS Guidelines on the management of valvular heart disease (Baumgartner H et al. EHJ 2017, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehx391.). In these guidelines, TAVI was recommended as therapy of choice among patients at extreme-risk (inoperable) and as treatment alternative to SAVR among patients at increased surgical risk with the decision made by the Heart Team according to individual patient characteristics, and TAVI being favoured in elderly patients suitable for transfemoral access, while SAVR remained the standard of care among patients at low surgical risk. Recently, the results of two additional RCTs comparing TAVI with SAVR extend the available evidence to patients at low surgical risk. In the PARTNER 3 trial, TAVI with use of the balloon-expandable Edwards SAPIEN S3 prosthesis compared with SAVR was associated with a lower risk of the primary composite endpoint of death, stroke and rehospitalisation at 1 year among low surgical risk patients (mean age 746 years, STS score 1.90.7%) (Mack M et al. NEJM 2019, https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1814052.). In the EVOLUT Low Risk trial, TAVI with use of the self-expanding supra-annular CoreValve/Evolut prosthesis compared with SAVR was non-inferior with respect to the primary composite endpoint of death and disabling stroke and superior for heart failure rehospitalisation at 2 years among patients at low surgical risk (mean age 746 years, STS score 1.90.7%) (Popma J et al. NEJM 2019, https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1816885.). These trials included patients, who were anatomically good candidates for TAVI. An updated meta-analysis of seven RCTs comparing TAVI and SAVR among 8,020 patients with severe, symptomatic aortic stenosis reported a lower risk of all-cause mortality (12% relative risk reduction) and stroke (19% relative risk reduction), irrespective of underlying surgical risk throughout two years of follow-up (Siontis G et al. EHJ 2019, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehz275.). In aggregate, the available evidence from the low surgical risk trials and meta-analyses can be summarised as follows: TAVI is superior to SAVR at two years with respect to patient-oriented endpoints including: death dtroke rehospitalisation TAVI is associated with improved health care resource utilisation owing to: shorter interventions without need for general anaesthesia, cardiopulmonary bypass and intensive care unit monitoring shorter hospitalisation duration reduced need for rehabilitation services faster recovery and more rapid restoration of daily life activities and quality of life notwithstanding, the cost-effectiveness of TAVI requires further study in view of the current cost of transcatheter heart valves These findings constitute a paradigm shift that will affect the care of patients with severe, symptomatic aortic stenosis in several ways: The favourable outcomes of TAVI are consistent across the entire risk spectrum suggesting that surgical risk estimation is no longer the basis to guide the choice between TAVI and SAVR. Instead, the Heart Team will weigh clinical and anatomic characteristics to identify the best treatment option for individual patients with transfemoral TAVI replacing SAVR as default therapy in more patients. Prosthetic valve selection will be determined by life expectancy and durability with surgically implanted mechanical valve prostheses being favoured in younger patients (<50 years of age), and bioprotheses (TAVI or SAVR) being favoured in older individuals (>65 years of age). Future research will need to address remaining uncertainties and options for further improvement in outcomes: evaluation of TAVI in younger patients (<70 years) assessment of long-term durability using predefined clinical and echocardiographic assessment evaluation of TAVI in patients with bicuspid aortic valve disease evaluation of TAVI in patients with concomitant coronary artery disease continued measures to reduce the need for permanent pacemaker implantation definition of the optimal short and long-term antithrombotic treatment therapy TAVI in asymptomatic patients with severe aortic stenosis ### NOTES TO EDITORS Key information A PCR Statement on evolving indications for TAVI in patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis presented by Stephan Windecker Palais des Congres Porte Maillot - Paris, France Thursday 23 May 2019 - 14:45 - Main Arena About EuroPCR 2019 The World-Leading Course in interventional cardiovascular medicine and the official annual meeting of the European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions (EAPCI) will take place from 21 to 24 May 2019 at the Palais des Congres - Paris, France. The detailed Course Programme is available on: https://www.pcronline.com/Courses/EuroPCR About PCR The mission of PCR is to serve the needs of each individual patient by helping the cardiovascular community to share knowledge, experience and practice. PCR offers a large range of many other educational meetings and resources for the continuing education of the interventional cardiovascular community. These include major annual Courses across the globe, e-Learning with high-profile PCR Webinars, Courses specifically dedicated to valvular heart disease, tailor-made PCR Seminars on specific topics, online resources and medical publications such as EuroIntervention, the official journal of the EAPCI. Gateways to all PCR activities are available on http://www.pcronline.com For further information, please contact Celia Vila: cvila@europa-group.com HELP FOR JOURNALISTS TO COVER EUROPCR 2019 Register and attend EuroPCR 2019 as a journalist Open to accredited journalists, free of charge. Journalists must hold a valid press card and/or provide a letter of assignment from a recognised publication. To register as press go to https://www.pcronline.com/Courses/EuroPCR/Press EuroPCR press releases can be found at https://www.pcronline.com/News/PCR-Press-Releases For the press briefing schedule check https://www.pcronline.com/Courses/EuroPCR/Press For any press-related enquiries, please contact EuroPCR Press Coordinator, Isabelle Uzielli: iuzielli@europcr.com Michele J. Gelfand, Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Psychology at University of Maryland, is part of an illustrious group including Former First Lady Michelle Obama and more than 200 other luminaries elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences on April 17, 2019. Dr. Gelfand is a long-standing member of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) and was elected a SIOP Fellow in 2007. More recently, Outgoing SIOP President Dr. Talya Bauer honored her with a Scientist Practitioner Presidential Recognition Award at the 34th Annual SIOP Conference, held April 4-6 in National Harbor, Maryland. The primary criteria for election to membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences are excellence in the field and a record of continued accomplishment. Those involved in nominations and elections are also charged with recommending a slate of member candidates that is multidimensionally diverse. Like SIOP, the Academy embraces both practitioners and scholars as members. The American Academy of Arts and Sciences was founded during the American Revolution by a group of scholar-patriots including John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, and John Hancock. Their goal was to "cultivate every art and science which may tend to advance the interest, honor, dignity, and happiness of a free, independent, and virtuous people." Those elected to the Academy join with other experts in cross-disciplinary efforts to create knowledge and to provide insights for shaping public policy and advancing the public good. Michele Gelfand is right at home in a cross-collaborative environment. Her culture lab at the University of Maryland employs experts in experimental, field, qualitative, neuroscience, and computational work. "Whether working with biologists and social psychologists on computational models of negotiation in Warsaw, with evolutionary game theorists to understand culture revenge, with political scientists to understand the mediation of intercultural disputes, with neuroscientists to understand how culture becomes 'embrained,' or criminologists to understand the cultural psychology of terrorism," Gelfand said, "My personal and intellectual development has been greatly enhanced through multicultural and multidisciplinary collaborations and friendships." Her election to the Academy follows last fall's publication of Rule Makers, Rule Breakers: How Tight and Loose Cultures Wire Our World. The book, called "a useful and engaging take on human behavior" by Kirkus Reviews, is an extension of Gelfand's work previously covered in Science, about a 33-nation study on psychological tightness-looseness. In the foreword, Gelfand asserts a central thesis, "The strength of a culture's norms isn't random or accidental. It has hidden logic that makes perfectly good sense." She also suggests, provocatively, that "Tight-loose not only explains the world around us but actually can predict the conflicts that will erupt--and suggests ways to avoid them." Michele Gelfand and the other members of the 239th class of American Academy of Arts and Sciences will be inducted at a ceremony in October 2019 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The roster of members, available here, is a who's who of important thinkers in every field throughout the history of this country. Gelfand said, that as a cross-cultural psychologist, Margaret Mead is the historical member she finds most inspirational. "It's astonishing to see the early members, from 1780 like John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and George Washington! I'm honored to be in the same 2019 class as Michelle Obama!" Members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences are drawn from five areas including the sciences, social sciences, humanities, arts, and business. Each candidate for membership must be nominated by two members and nominations are subject to three rounds of evaluation by different subsets of membership. The Academy's membership page proclaims, "Membership in the Academy is an honor and an opportunity," and members regularly contribute to important policy discussions. Gelfand is looking forward to participating in Academy events and contributing to the journal, Ddalus. Leading scholarly publications including Science, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Management Journal, and the Journal of Applied Psychology have published her work. NPR, MSNBC, and Fox News have interviewed her about her research, and she has published several articles on current affairs topics in the popular press. ### Contact Michele Gelfand at mgelfand@umd.edu; https://www.michelegelfand.com/ About SIOP The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) is an international professional organization with an annual membership of more than 10,000 industrial-organizational (I-O) psychologists. SIOP's mission is to enhance human well-being and performance in organizational and work settings by promoting the science, practice, and teaching of I-O psychology. Owning items that promote e-cigarettes and other alternative tobacco products doubles the likelihood that a young person will try these products, a new study led by the Stanford University School of Medicine has found. The finding illustrates the influence of such marketing on teenagers. The study, which will be published online May 17 in JAMA Network Open, followed 757 California teens for a year. At the beginning of the year, participants had never used alternative tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, chewing tobacco, cigars, cigarillos, pipes and hookahs. But some participants owned marketing materials for these products, such as coupons, samples and branded hats or T-shirts. "We wanted to see how owning promotional materials would affect young people's use later on," said the study's lead author, Hoda Magid, PhD, a postdoctoral scholar in health research and policy. Among teens, cigarette smoking rates have dropped in recent decades, but their use of e-cigarettes and other tobacco products has risen sharply. "The increase in use of alternative tobacco products poses a threat to the decades of hard work that public health experts have done to reduce tobacco use," Magid said. "We need to know trajectories of use of alternative tobacco products," said the study's senior author, Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, PhD, professor of pediatrics. Understanding when and why youth start using such products is important for stemming the tide of addiction to them, she said. Restrictions on conventional smokes While marketing to minors and providing samples is illegal for all tobacco products, providing coupons and branded promotional items such as T-shirts and hats is not illegal for most alternative tobacco products, except smokeless tobacco. Enforcement of all policies is lacking, Halpern-Felsher said. "The problem is that the FDA has been very slow to enact new or enforce existing laws and regulations for e-cigarettes," Halpern-Felsher said. "Right now, the FDA is not going after manufacturers who have not put in an application to market e-cigarettes." The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act requires all tobacco companies to submit premarket applications to FDA and receive agency authorization before putting a product on the market, but the compliance dates have been extended to 2021 or 2022, depending on the product. This means thousands of e-cigarettes and other alternative tobacco products are being marketed without any FDA review. When the study began, participants were 13 to 19 years old and attended California high schools. They completed questionnaires asking whether they had ever used traditional cigarettes or any alternative tobacco products, and whether they or their friends owned promotional items -- such as coupons, free samples, T-shirts, posters and hats -- for any type of nicotine product. The researchers asked similar questions about the use of cigarettes and alternative tobacco products a year later and analyzed changes in the teens' use of e-cigarettes and other tobacco products as a function of owning or receiving promotional materials. At the start of the study, 81 of the 757 participants owned items that promoted tobacco products, including 52 who owned promotional items for e-cigarettes. Over the course of the study, 129 participants, or 17 percent, began using alternative tobacco products but not traditional cigarettes. Twelve participants began using traditional cigarettes alone or in combination with alternative tobacco products. Before adjusting for confounding factors, teens who owned promotional items were found to be 2.23 times as likely to try alternative tobacco products as those who did not own such items. After adjusting for age, gender, race/ethnicity, maternal education level and baseline alcohol and cigarette use, the teens who owned promotional materials were 2.13 times as likely as their peers to begin using alternative tobacco products. When teens who had tried both alternative tobacco products and cigarettes during the year were included in the analysis, the influence of owning promotional materials did not reach statistical significance. The findings provide evidence that ownership of marketing materials is strongly associated with more young people using e-cigarettes and other alternative tobacco products, the researchers said. The findings clearly show that no tobacco company, including any e-cigarette company, should be allowed to provide coupons, free samples or other marketing materials to teens, and suggest that the FDA should further restrict and enforce such marketing techniques, Halpern-Felsher said. "Manufacturers say they're not marketing to teens, but teens are reporting owning these promotional items, and they're reporting use of alternative tobacco products," Magid said. Current restrictions and laws that make marketing cigarettes and other tobacco products to minors should be enforced for all nicotine-containing products, she added. ### Halpern-Felsher is a member of Stanford's Maternal & Child Health Research Institute and the Stanford Cancer Institute. Researchers from the University of California-Berkeley and the University of California-San Francisco also contributed to the study. Magid was a graduate student at UC-Berkeley at the time the research was conducted. The research was supported by grants from the National Cancer Institute (grant 1P50CA180890) and the Food and Drug Administration. Stanford's Department of Pediatrics also supported the work. The Stanford University School of Medicine consistently ranks among the nation's top medical schools, integrating research, medical education, patient care and community service. For more news about the school, please visit http://med.stanford.edu/school.html. The medical school is part of Stanford Medicine, which includes Stanford Health Care and Stanford Children's Health. For information about all three, please visit http://med.stanford.edu. Print media contact: Erin Digitale at (650) 724-9175 (digitale@stanford.edu) Broadcast media contact: Margarita Gallardo at (650) 723-7897 (mjgallardo@stanford.edu) The search for new drugs to combat diseases more effectively could be revolutionised through a new 30 million electron microscopy project. Experts would be able to see, for the first time, how a particular drug works within a patient at a cellular level or the molecular processes set in motion by a genetic mutation. The technology aims to create 3D images of cells at very high resolution to transform our understanding of diseases such as cancer and revolutionise how new medicines are designed. The project based at Harwell, in Oxfordshire, will be supported with 3 million from the government's Office for Life Sciences and led by the global life sciences company Thermo Fisher Scientific and the Rosalind Franklin Institute, which is dedicated to bringing about transformative changes through research and technology development. Professor James Naismith, lead researcher and Director of the Rosalind Franklin Institute, said: "Around 80 percent of new drugs fail when they reach clinical trials because we don't fully understand their effects within a living organism. "We're currently able to identify genes and proteins that play a role in diseases but can only study these in detail in isolation, not as part of a whole cell or group of cells. This new technology would be the first to allow us to do that, so we can see the full effects of a drug and identify at a much earlier stage what will work and what will not. "Drug development has never been slower or higher cost than it is now. We need to have a breakthrough in the physical science that supports drug discovery to change that." The project is being announced today [17 May 2019] as work begins on the Rosalind Franklin Institute's central hub building on the Harwell Campus near Oxford. The building will create a specialist environment for sensitive scientific equipment that will be unique in the world. It is set to house 200 researchers and will open in late 2020. The new imaging technique will be based on a technology called cryogenic electron tomography (cryo-ET), which builds up a 3D image from multiple 2D images of samples which have been flash frozen at temperatures below -180oC. Although cryo-ET already exists, it can currently only handle small samples, such as parts of cells, and often requires in-house expertise. Mike Shafer, president of materials and structural analysis at Thermo Fisher Scientific said: "Our company's mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer, and our collaboration with the Rosalind Franklin Institute, Diamond Light Source and others to develop a more efficient cryo-tomography solution, maps precisely to that vision. "Our combined goal is to make this technique widespread so scientists and researchers in academic institutions and the biopharmaceutical industry can better understand disease mechanisms at the cellular level, leading to faster drug discovery and cures for neurodegenerative diseases, cancers and other debilitating illnesses." The new, five-year research project will rapidly speed up the technique to process much larger samples including patient biopsies, increase workflow automation and standardise post-processing data. The long-term aim is to bring the technology closer to the clinic so it can be used in both research hospitals and laboratories. The challenges around the project are formidable. It will require the invention of new techniques for preparing and handling samples of human tissue that are less than a hundredth of the thickness of human hair. It will involve the design of new electron microscopy techniques to speed up the imaging process and collect the huge amount of data created. New software and machine learning technology will need to be developed to process this data in order to create and interpret the 3D images. To tackle the challenges, the project brings together an impressive array of expertise from the different research partners. Thermo Fisher Scientific is a global leader in scientific instrumentation; Diamond Light Source, the UK's national synchrotron facility includes one of the largest industrial cryo-electron microscopy sites in the world; and the Rosalind Franklin Institute, funded through UK Research and Innovation, combines scientific expertise from ten of the UK's leading universities. Andrew Bourne, Deputy Director at UKRI's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), said: "Today we are building for the future of the UK's research in life sciences and the development of new drugs to benefit us all. This new project is a great example of collaboration between industry, the academic community, and government funding bodies. It is also fantastic to see work beginning on the hub building for the Rosalind Franklin Institute, which has been delivered and managed by UKRI's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. The Institute's work will continue the longstanding relationship between research discovery in engineering and the physical sciences and advances in medicine. It will help strengthen the UK's position in the global research landscape and develop new medical treatments and technologies in the life sciences." The collaboration represents a major investment and is testament to the scientific strengths and long history of the UK in biological imaging and structural biology. The project is part-funded by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Innovation through the Office for Life Sciences as part of the UK government's Life Sciences Industrial Strategy. ### (Philadelphia, PA) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted premarket notification clearance for two catheters invented by Riyaz Bashir, MD, FACC, RVT, Professor of Medicine at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University (LKSOM) and Director of Vascular and Endovascular Medicine at Temple University Hospital, and Nicholas Green, Director of Research & Development at Thrombolex, Inc. Thrombolex is a company founded in partnership with Temple University to develop these catheter-based clot dissolving devices. This clearance now allows Thrombolex to commercialize the catheters. The Bashir Endovascular Catheter (BEC) is cleared for the controlled and selective infusion of fluids, including clot-dissolving medications, into the veins and arteries of the peripheral vasculature. The BEC is unique because it's the only catheter of its kind that, once advanced into the clot, can be expanded by the physician into six expandable mini-catheters to deliver medications in precise locations throughout the cross section of the clot. The Bashir N-X Endovascular Catheter (BEC N-X) is cleared for the controlled and selective infusion of fluids chosen by the physician into both the peripheral and pulmonary vasculature, which is comprised of the blood vessels of the lungs. Unlike the BEC, the BEC N-X is not expandable. "My inspiration for the BEC platform technology was to develop a device that I hoped would provide better treatment outcomes by rapid restoration of blood flow through the blood clot thereby enhancing the breakdown of the clot," said Dr. Bashir. "Acute Venous Thromboembolic (VTE) disease, which is marked by blood clots that start in a vein - often in the deep veins of the leg, groin or arm - and can break off and travel to the lungs causing a pulmonary embolism, has become a significant public health concern in the U.S. Approximately 900,000 patients have been diagnosed with VTE and it causes up to 100,000 deaths each year, according to the CDC." "Our dedicated team is proud to have received FDA clearance for these two unique catheter-directed thrombolysis products to be used in the treatment of patients suffering from acute VTE disorders," said Marvin Woodall, Chairman and CEO and co-founder of Thrombolex. Thrombolex has also received FDA approval to begin a multicenter early feasibility study in the clinical setting to evaluate the safety and feasibility of the Bashir Endovascular Catheter in the treatment of acute pulmonary embolism. ### Editor's Note: Dr. Bashir is a co-founder and has equity interest in Thrombolex, Inc. a medical device company developing interventional catheter-based therapies for the rapid and effective treatment of acute venous thromboembolic disorders. Temple University also holds a financial interest in Thrombolex, Inc., pursuant to the license granted to Thrombolex for the University's interest in the patent filed for the experimental catheter device developed by Dr. Bashir and Nicholas Green. About Temple Health Temple University Health System (TUHS) is a $2.1 billion academic health system dedicated to providing access to quality patient care and supporting excellence in medical education and research. The Health System consists of Temple University Hospital (TUH), ranked among the "Best Hospitals" in the region by U.S. News & World Report; TUH-Episcopal Campus; TUH-Northeastern Campus; Fox Chase Cancer Center, an NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center; Jeanes Hospital, a community-based hospital offering medical, surgical and emergency services; Temple Transport Team, a ground and air-ambulance company; and Temple Physicians, Inc., a network of community-based specialty and primary-care physician practices. TUHS is affiliated with the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, and Temple University Physicians, which is Temple Health's physician practice plan comprised of more than 500 full-time and part-time academic physicians in 20 clinical departments. The Lewis Katz School of Medicine (LKSOM), established in 1901, is one of the nation's leading medical schools. Each year, the School of Medicine educates more than 800 medical students and approximately 240 graduate students. Based on its level of funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Katz School of Medicine is the second-highest ranked medical school in Philadelphia and the third-highest in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. According to U.S. News & World Report, LKSOM is among the top 10 most applied-to medical schools in the nation. Temple Health refers to the health, education and research activities carried out by the affiliates of Temple University Health System (TUHS) and by the Katz School of Medicine. TUHS neither provides nor controls the provision of health care. All health care is provided by its member organizations or independent health care providers affiliated with TUHS member organizations. Each TUHS member organization is owned and operated pursuant to its governing documents. It is the policy of Temple University Hospital, Inc. that there shall be no exclusion from, or participation in, and no one denied the benefits of, the delivery of quality medical care on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity/expression, disability, age, ancestry, color, national origin, physical ability, level of education, or source of payment. About Thrombolex, Inc. Founded in 2016, Thrombolex, Inc. is engaged in the design, development, manufacture and distribution of innovative endovascular catheters used in interventional procedures, particularly in catheter-directed thrombolysis of large thrombus in patients affected by acute VTE disorders. Our vision is to orchestrate the medical profession's identified unmet needs with our unique product development capabilities. Our goal is to create a continuous stream of new products based on the original BASHIR platform technology, which we hope will improve the treatment outcomes for patients suffering from acute VTE. Please visit http://www.thrombolex.com to learn more about the organization. RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- A University of California, Riverside, research team has come up with a new approach to targeting cancer cells that circumvents a challenge faced by currently available cancer drugs. A cancer target is often a rogue protein that signals cancer cells to proliferate uncontrollably and invade organs. Modern cancer drugs have emerged that work by striking a tight bond between the drug and a particular amino acid called cysteine, one of the 20 natural amino acids that constitute our proteins. Cysteine is unique in that it can react with specific organic functional groups to form a strong molecular bond. Only a few new cancer drugs that target cysteine have been recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration, or FDA. A challenge cancer researchers face is that cysteine is rarely found within binding sites of cancer targets, limiting the application of this approach to only a few drug targets. The UC Riverside research team has now met this challenge by exploring the development of drugs that target other potentially reactive amino acids, such as lysine, tyrosine, or histidine, which occur more often within the binding site of the target. The researchers also addressed another challenge: The target they used for proof of concept was a protein-protein interaction, or PPI, target. PPIs represent a large class of possible therapeutic targets for which designing effective drugs is particularly difficult. This is because PPIs lack a well-defined and deep-binding pocket onto which drugs can de designed to bind tightly. "To date, there is only one drug approved by the FDA that was designed to antagonize -- or block -- a PPI target," said Maurizio Pellecchia, a professor of biomedical sciences in the School of Medicine, who led the research. "Only a few others have entered clinical trials. Our approach provides novel and effective avenues to derive potent and selective PPI antagonists by designing drugs that can react with lysine, tyrosine, or histidine residues that are ubiquitously present at binding interfaces of PPIs." Study results appear in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. Pellecchia, who holds the Daniel Hays Chair in Cancer Research at UCR, explained that academic researchers, the biotechnology industry, and pharmaceutical companies are heavily pursuing the design of "covalent drugs" that bind irreversibly with their targets. Those that target cancer cells most often target cysteine because it is more reactive than all other amino acids in a protein target. Oncology drugs such as Osimertinib, Ibrutinib, Neratinib, and Afatinib have all been approved in very recent years by the FDA, he said, and all target a cysteine that is present on the binding site of their respective targets. "Our work widens the available target space beyond cysteine," he added. "Such covalent agents could represent significant stepping stones in the development of novel drug candidates against PPIs, which represent an untapped large class of therapeutic targets not only in oncology, but also in other conditions including neurodegenerative and inflammatory diseases." ### Pellecchia was joined in the research by UCR School of Medicine scientists Luca Gambini, Carlo Baggio, and Ahmed F. Salem; biomedical sciences graduate student Parima Udompholkul; and Jefferson P. Perry, an assistant professor of biochemistry, and biochemistry graduate student Jennifer Jossart. The study was supported by grants to Pellecchia from the National Institutes of Health and the City of Hope -- UC Riverside Biomedical Research Initiative. The University of California, Riverside (http://www.ucr.edu) is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to Inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California's diverse culture, UCR's enrollment is more than 24,000 students. The campus opened a medical school in 2013 and has reached the heart of the Coachella Valley by way of the UCR Palm Desert Center. The campus has an annual statewide economic impact of almost $2 billion. To learn more, email news@ucr.edu. CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Recyclable plastics that contain ring-shaped polymers may be a key to developing sustainable synthetic materials. Despite some promising advances, researchers said, a full understanding of how to processes ring polymers into practical materials remains elusive. In a new study, researchers identified a mechanism called "threading" that takes place when a polymer is stretched - a behavior not witnessed before. This new insight may lead to new processing methods for sustainable polymer materials. Most consumer plastics are blends of linear polymers. The concept of plastics made purely from ring polymers - molecules that form a closed ring - presents an enticing opportunity for sustainability, as shown by the Autonomous Materials Systems group at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. Once a single bond holding ring polymers together breaks, the entire molecule falls apart, leading to disintegration on demand. However, processing such polymers into practical materials remains a challenge, the researchers said. A 2013 University of Illinois-led study showed that ring polymers could be broken with heat, but this comes at a price - the resulting plastics would likely become unstable and begin to break down prematurely. In the new study, U. of I. researchers Charles Schroeder and Yuecheng (Peter) Zhou examine the flow dynamics of DNA-based ring and linear polymer solutions to tease out clues about how synthetic polymers interact during processing. Their findings are published in the journal Nature Communications. "We lack a fundamental understanding of how ring polymers stretch and move in flow while navigating around other neighbor polymer chains. This work allowed us to probe these questions at a molecular level," said Schroeder, a chemical and biomolecular engineering professor, Beckman Institute researcher and study co-author. In Schroeder's lab, the researchers stretch and squeeze polymers, causing them to flow and allowing direct observation of the behavior of individual molecules using single-molecule fluorescence microscopy. "There is a fluctuation in the shape of the ring polymers and this depends on the concentration of linear polymers in the solution," said Zhou, a graduate student, Beckman Institute researcher and lead author of the study. "We do not see this behavior in pure solutions of ring or linear polymers, so this tells us that something unique is happening in mixed solutions." Using a combination of direct single-molecule observations and physical measurements, the team concluded that the changes in shape of the ring polymers occur because linear molecules thread themselves through the ring molecules when stressed, causing the ring shape to fluctuate under fluid flow. "We observed this behavior even when there is a very low concentration of linear polymers in the mix," Zhou said. "This suggests that it only takes a very minute level of contamination to cause this phenomenon." This threading of linear polymers through ring polymers during stress is something that had been theorized before, using bulk-scale studies of the physical properties, but now it has been observed at the molecular scale, the researchers said. "Bulk studies typically mask the importance of what is going on at the smaller scale," Schroeder said. How these observations will translate into further development of sustainable consumer plastics remains unclear, the researchers said. However, any insight into the fundamental molecular properties of mixed-polymer solutions is a step in the right direction. "To make pure ring polymer plastics a reality, we need to understand both mixed and pure solutions at a fundamental level," Schroeder said. "Once we can figure out how they work, then we can move on to synthesizing them and ultimately how to use them in sustainable consumer plastics." ### Former U. of I. graduate student Kai-Wen Hsiao, Kathryn E. Regan and Rae M. Robertson-Anderson, of the University of San Diego, and Dejie Kong and Gregory B. McKenna, of Texas Tech University, contributed to this study. The National Science Foundation supported this research. Editor's notes: To reach Charles Schroeder, email cms@illinois.edu. To reach Peter Zhou, email zhou62@illinois.edu. The paper "Effect of molecular architecture on ring polymer dynamics in semidilute linear polymer solutions" is available online and from the U. of I. News Bureau. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-09627-7 The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) selected Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) to host NOAA's Cooperative Institute for the North Atlantic Region (CINAR). Cooperative Institutes are NOAA-supported, non-federal organizations that have established outstanding research and education programs in one or more areas that are relevant to the NOAA mission. Cooperative Institutes' expertise and facilities add significantly to NOAA's capabilities, and their structure and legal framework facilitate rapid and efficient mobilization of those resources to meet NOAA's programmatic needs. CINAR will carry out innovative, multidisciplinary research that will help inform decisions for sustainable and beneficial management of the U.S. Northeast continental shelf ecosystem. "CINAR research seeks to provide a better understanding of the physical, biological, and chemical processes that enable forecasting conditions within the North Atlantic region as a tool for effective, ecosystem-based management and protected-species management," said CINAR Director Don Anderson. "An important aspect of this approach includes interdisciplinary research to understand and forecast climate change, and the associated impacts to natural systems and communities." The partners working with WHOI include the University of Maine, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology, University of Rhode Island, Rutgers University, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, and the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. The selection comes with a commitment of $37.9 million over the course of the five-year award, with the potential for renewal for another five years based on successful performance. NOAA made the selection after an open, competitive evaluation. "The Cooperative Institute for the North Atlantic Region brings together leading research institutions to advance our understanding and sustainable management of this important and dynamic ecosystem," said Craig McLean, assistant NOAA administrator for Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. "The research will strengthen our nation's Blue Economy, which depends on data and information to make sound decisions for a healthy ecosystem and strong economy." CINAR will conduct research focusing on five major areas that directly align with high priority NOAA scientific research: Sustained Ocean Observations and Climate Research Ecosystem Research, Observation, and Modeling Stock Assessment Research Protected Species Research and Recovery Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management "Climate change is transforming our oceans at an unprecedented pace and our region will be particularly impacted by this global threat," added U.S. Rep. William Keating, D-Mass. "Under WHOI's leadership, CINAR will continue to advance our understanding of climate change, and the marine ecosystem in the north Atlantic; helping to preserve our environment, and support fishermen while they sustainably harvest the oceans bounty." NOAA supports 16 Cooperative Institutes consisting of 43 universities and research institutions in 20 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. These research institutions provide strong educational programs that promote student and postdoctoral scientist involvement in NOAA-funded research. The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a private, independent organization in Falmouth, Mass., dedicated to marine research, engineering, and higher education. Established in 1930 on a recommendation from the National Academy of Sciences, its primary mission is to understand the ocean and its interaction with the Earth as a whole, and to communicate a basic understanding of the ocean's role in the changing global environment. ### this news is not available In the wake of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination and amid protests of the Vietnam War, Democrats came to Chicago for their national convention in August 1968. Inside the convention hall, demonstrations erupted and angry words were traded among attendees. Outside the convention hall, rioting by "hippie" protesters took over Chicago and images of police beating the demonstrators were broadcast around the world. (Chicago Tribune) The San Antonio regions unemployment rate fell to 2.9% in April, a low not seen since May 1999, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas reported Friday. Unemployment rates for the month drpped in all nine of Texas major metros as late-2019 fears of an economic downturn were replaced with a first-quarter rebound in optimism. There was quite a bit of concern about the U.S. economy, Dallas Fed Senior Economist Keith Phillips recalled. The concerns included the slowing global economy, stock market declines and oil prices plunging below $45 per barrel. In the U.S. Economy, theres less and less fear about a recession this year, he said. It looks like this year will be another good year for the state and San Antonio. Oil prices in recent weeks have stabilized at about $60 to $65 per barrel, he noted. Job growth, combined with an upturn in a composite of economic indicators known as the Texas Leading Index, prompted Dallas Fed economists to raise the states 2019 job growth forecast to 2.3% from the 1.8% predicted in March. Growth would be a lot stronger if there wasnt so much tightness in the labor markets, Phillips said. Nevertheless, the San Antonio regions construction hiring has grown so far this year at a rate of 12.3% compared to 3.2% for 2018. Phillips said a flood of workers are returning to San Antonio from lucrative jobs restoring Hurricane Harvey-hit properties in Houston and the Coastal Bend. According to Workforce Solutions Alamo, eight out of 10 industries in the San Antonio metro area saw job growth in April. Professional and business services led the region with 1,400 job gains, followed by financial activities, with 1,300; mining, logging and construction, with 700; and education and health services with 700. Statewide, the unemployment rate in April toggled back to a record low of 3.7%, with nonfarm employers adding another 28,900 jobs. April marked the states 108th consecutive month of year-over-year growth, the Texas Workforce Commission said Friday. Texas employment growth rate came in at 2.7% for the month. Professional and business services led in hiring, adding 8,400 workers. Construction added 5,800 positions, and education and health services employment grew by 4,300 workers. The only losses were in financial services and other services, with each losing 100 jobs. The Texas rate last dipped to 3.7% in August 2018, holding steady through November 2018 before ticking up to 3.8% for the first quarter of 2019. The national unemployment rate for April was 3.6%. While Texas was one of 11 states and the District of Columbia to have unemployment rates higher than the national average, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed Texas leading the nation in year-over-year job increases and coming in second to California in month-over-month increases. With the unemployment rate so low, state and local employers not only are having to compete for good candidates, theyre also having to deal with candidates who renege after accepting job offers. A survey released Thursday by Menlo Park, Cal.-based Robert Half found more than a quarter of workers admitting to backing out of a job offer after accepting it. Of these, 44% said another company gave them a better offer, 27% got a convincing counteroffer from their current employer, 19% heard bad things about the company after accepting the offer and 10% cited other reasons. Not surprisingly, cities with high worker demand saw the most prospective employees backing out, including San Diego, San Francisco, Chicago, Houston, Austin and Miami. You know when you get offers sometimes they dont all come in on the same day for you to clearly evaluate everything, said Danann Smith, regional vice president for Robert Half in San Antonio. Thats just, again, indicative of the market, where were getting multiple offers coming through. Smith said employers were competing hardest for workers in technology, accounting and finance, manufacturing and anything related to construction and real estate. San Antonios unemployment rate in March was 3.1%. Lynn Brezosky is a San Antonio-based staff writer covering trade, agriculture and the economy. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | lbrezosky@express-news.net | Twitter: @lbrezosky Express-News Federal Credit Union officials this week told members the institution is working toward a merger with Live Oak-based Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union. Express-News FCU began searching for a merger partner after being told by San Antonio Express-News Publisher Susan Pape that she couldnt guarantee the credit union would continue to operate rent-free in the newspapers downtown building after this year. The credit union occupies space on the first floor of the newspapers building at 301 Avenue E. Members were told it wasnt feasible for the credit union to relocate, according to two people who attended its annual meeting Wednesday evening. Tammy Murray, the credit unions CEO and president, wouldnt comment Thursday. At this time, the merger is under consideration by the Express-News Federal Credit Union, Randolph-Brooks spokesman Salvador Guerrero said in an email. Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union cannot comment on any further information pertaining to ENFCU. Express-News FCU unions members likely will vote this summer on the merger. The deal also would require approval from the National Credit Union Administration. If approved, the takeover is expected to occur by Oct. 1. Express-News FCU had about $7.1 million in assets as of March 31, a nearly 13 percent decline from the end of the first quarter last year. It lost almost $7,000 in the latest quarter after earning almost $2,600 in the same period last year. At its peak, the Express-News FCU had more than 2,000 members. But membership has fallen to about 960, and too few of them are seeking loans which is how the credit union generates revenue. Its members include current and former Express-News employees, their families and others. The newspaper has had various workforce reductions amid a downturn in the industry over the last several years. Last week, Pape announced the newspaper was exploring a possible sale of its building, which occupies 2.1 acres, given all of the development going on in downtown. The top four floors of the eight-story, 172,000-square-foot building are vacant. On ExpressNews.com: Express-News building is listed for sale Pape confirmed she raised the rent issue with the Express-News FCU, unrelated to a possible building sale. However, she said she never discussed a rent amount. The three Express-News FCU employees are expected to join Randolph-Brooks. On ExpressNews.com: Virginia credit union establishing a San Antonio regional center RBFCU is the second largest credit union based in the San Antonio area, with just under $9.5 billion in assets as of March 31. Only Security Service Federal Credit Union, with $9.55 billion in assets, is larger. RBFCU has about 800,000 members, more than 2,000 employees and 61 branches. It had about $7.1 billion in loans and $7.7 billion in deposits as of March 31. It was founded in 1952. The Express-News FCU had about $3.6 million in loans and $6.2 million in deposits as of March 31. The institution was chartered 56 years ago. 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 Note: This is a full Taste Test review, with a star rating based on multiple visits. The five palm trees next door to Bun N Barrel suggest theres something beyond burgers and barbecue happening along this blue-collar stretch of Austin Highway. That something is Tongs Thai Restaurant, where Thai, Chinese and sushi menus compete for attention in a low-slung building decorated with paper umbrellas, temple statues and blue mood lighting like a pan-Asian speakeasy. Theres no competition, really. Its Thai food for the win at Tongs, where grocery-grade sushi and Chinese by the book seem like add-ons to widen the client base a base thats been coming to Tongs for Thai since 1996, when Thai wasnt as easy to find in San Antonio. The family behind Tongs expanded its horizons even more when they bought Bun N Barrel in 2007. The best introduction to the Tongs experience were the fried springrolls, a bubble-crunch duo of crispy rice paper filled with pork, clear noodles, mushrooms and carrots. Those springrolls formed the base of a dinner that included Thai all-stars like papaya salad, pad Thai, chicken satay, Tiger Cry salad, tom kha gai soup and chicken larb. Tongs Thai Restaurant * 1146 Austin Highway, 210-829-7345, tongsthai.com Quick bite: Traditional Thai food, plus a Chinese menu and sushi bar Hit: Fried springrolls, orange peel beef, gaeng ped red curry Miss: Sushi, Tiger Cry salad, chicken satay Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Saturday; 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday Price range: Appetizers, $5.99-$8.99; soups and salads, $2.50-$15.99; entrees, $8.99-$18.99; desserts, $5.99-$7.99; lunch specials, $6.99-$8.99 Alcohol: Beer, wine and sake **** Superior. Can compete nationally. *** Excellent. One of the best restaurants in the city. ** Very good. A standout restaurant of its kind. * Good. A restaurant that we recommend. (no stars) We cannot recommend this restaurant at this time. Express-News dining critics pay for all meals. See More Collapse On ExpressNews.com: 52 Weeks of BBQ: Bun N Barrel The tom kha gai soup soup, a coconut-milk infusion of chicken and ginger with mushrooms, hit a solid base note of twang and silkiness in its show-off steel bowl with a cone of flame in the center. The creative pad Thai wove shrimp, chicken and tofu into the peanut-infused soft noodles. Another classic noodle dish called pad woon sen scored with juicy pork in a tangle of springy glass noodles with vegetables. But a few of the basics missed, well, the basics. Like a papaya salad that went mushy in its mix of lime juice, garlic, chiles and dried shrimp. Or the mushy skewers of chicken satay that tasted a day past their prime. Tired chicken also torpedoed what could have been a refreshing cold salad of chicken larb with lime, fish sauce and toasted rice. And a Tiger Cry salad renowned for its cool mix of sliced beef with onions, lime and fresh mint was instead a soggy plate of tough beef and sour onions. But Tongs Thai reached beyond the basics with an impressive gaeng ped red curry with beef and eggplant that showcased coconut milk and a bracing spice blend that favored heat and aromatics over sweetness and with a velveteen northern-style beef curry glowed with cumin and ginger. The curry honor roll continued with a chicken panang curry that carried the same sweet and dusky afterglow as a good chicken mole. But a gaeng keow wan green curry was sabotaged by chicken, again, that flavored the whole bowl with a kind of tired sourness. Tongs held a steady middle line for a handful of other Thai standards, including a familiar tom yum kung soup with shrimp that struck sweet and sour notes, a simple dish of kra pao that emphasized basil in a fresh stir-fry of chicken and bell peppers and an appetizer of soft springrolls with coral-cored shrimp and a crisp payload of carrots, herbs and noodles. On ExpressNews.com: Review: Theres much to explore in tiny Thai Dee A trio of unexpected dishes brought some sparkle to the straightforward Tongs experience. A Chiang Mai noodle soup paid tribute to northern Thailand with a mix of crunchy and soft noodles in curry with chicken, coconut milk and peanuts. An unassuming foil shroud held a bounty of seafood called haw mok, with mussels, squid, shrimp, fish fillets and scallops in a gingery broth with spicy chile paste and basil. And for spectacle, flash and flavor, Tongs delivered a whole red snapper on a steel platter with ribbons of fermented radish, neat lemon curls and a striped orchid. The fish itself was scored for easier picking, fried with a whisper of batter that left the pearlescent meat moist and fresh. I cant find kind words for the sushi bar at Tongs. The fish I ordered salmon, tuna, mackerel and a trio of fishes somewhere in the yellowtail/snapper/albacore range all were served too warm, each with a grainy texture that sometimes veered into mealiness. And neither the flashy mango roll nor the overwrought crunchy roll brought much flavor beyond a mouthful of rice and indefinable crunch and sweetness woven around below-average fish. It begged the question: Why order sushi at a place with Thai in the name? Just embrace the Thai. And while youre at it, go ahead and embrace the orange peel beef. Its part of the short boilerplate Chinese menu, and it glowed with the supernatural orange aura of sweet syrup and crunch that tasted as much like fast-food candy as a sitdown lunch in all the good ways. With its catch-all approach and mishandling of some of the basics. Tongs Thai wont teach anything new to Thai food junkies. But with reasonable prices, a congenial staff and a handful of standouts, it has the potential create some new ones. Mike Sutter is a food and drink reporter and restaurant critic in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | msutter@express-news.net | Twitter: @fedmanwalking Plans to maximize traffic in the Houston Ship Channel could dovetail with a Rice University proposal to protect the region's coastal communities from future storm surges. At a community meeting Wednesday night, representatives from Rice University's Severe Storm Prediction, Education & Evacuation from Disasters (SSPEED) Center detailed their proposal for a 25-foot-high wall across the middle of Galveston Bay. The proposal, called the Galveston Bay Park Plan, is different from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plan to build 71 miles of barriers along the Texas coast, which is halfway through the study process and not expected to start construction until 2025 on the most optimistic timeline. Jim Blackburn, an environmental attorney and co-director of the SSPEED Center, believes the Galveston Bay Park Plan could provide vital protection a lot sooner than the coastal barrier. He estimates it could be completed by 2027, providing protection for vulnerable communities on the west bank of the bay as well as the industrial sector along the Houston Ship Channel. "We think it's totally compatible with the (coastal barrier) process that's going on now, but what we're talking about is supplementing what the Corps has been doing with, basically, self-help," Blackburn said. Read More: Corps now looking at dunes instead of levees as key part of 'coastal spine' Blackburn sees an opportunity to move his plan forward as the Port of Houston Authority works with the Army Corps of Engineers to obtain authorization to deepen and widen ship channel. The dredging spoils for that project would provide the raw material to build the barrier islands in the bay. "Why shouldn't we put (the dredging spoils) to work and build the protection that we can, quickly?" Blackburn said. In a recent paper, Blackburn wrote that his models show the Army Corps' original plan for 17-foot levees along the coast -- the agency has since pivoted to 8- to 13-foot-high coastal dunes -- would not prevent flooding in the Houston Ship Channel, Bayport Industrial District and residential areas on the western shore if that area were hit by a Category 3 storm with a 25-foot storm surge. Such an event would risk the release of toxins from ruptured petrochemical tanks. The 25-foot barriers would essentially be a system of islands extending from Houston Point in Chambers County down the ship channel to the Texas City levee system, and eventually would allow access to the islands for recreational use. The park plan also calls for raising the Texas City levees and for a backside levee to protect Galveston. There are still hurdles to overcome for the Galveston Bay Park plan to come to fruition, including the need for a government sponsor to apply to the Army Corps to begin an environmental study. The project's price tag. estimated between $3 billion and $5 billion, is significantly lower than the $32 billion it could cost to build a coastal barrier. Blackburn said the project could be financed with the help of the private sector. He said there is already interest among the industrial tenants along the ship channel to help finance the project, as well as some of the region's major insurance companies. "There may be other opportunities of finding capital that do not involve traditional public financing," Blackburn said. Harris County Commissioner Adrian Garcia, whose county precinct includes many of the coastal communities on Galveston Bay as well as the ship channel, sponsored Wednesday night's event. Garcia said he was intrigued by the plan, in part because of how quickly it could be built relative to the more ambitious coastal barrier. He pointed to New Orleans' system of levees and gates as a model he would like to see adopted for the Houston-Galveston region. "The way I see it, it could be phase one of a multiple-tiered solution," Garcia said. "I think there's an innovative approach to using dredging material to build the barrier itself. That's been done with detention ponds and parks inland. I think it's a great way to approach the issue." Staff writer Mike Morris contributed reporting. Nick Powell covers Galveston County for the Chronicle. Follow him on Twitter and send him tips at nick.powell@chron.com Theres a quirky little hole-in-the-wall a few blocks north of the Alamo that downtown workers consider a secret gem, serving tasty breakfast tacos and $5.50 lunch specials in an area with few affordable dining options. But as big developers turn downtown San Antonio into a high-dollar, glitzy playground for young professionals, there may no longer be room for a scruffy mom-and-pop original like the Oasis Mexican Cafe. GrayStreet Partners, a San Antonio-based real estate developer that has been part of the transformation of downtown and Broadway, has an option to buy the Oasis property and has asked the citys Office of Historic Preservation for permission to demolish the building. This is one of the few different kinds of places left in a downtown area that is looking more and more like any other city, said Armando Garcia, the Oasis manager whose family owns the restaurant but leases the building. On ExpressNews.com: Irish immigrants played vital role in San Antonio Theres one ray of hope. Garcia learned only a few days ago that Oasis is in a building that dates to 1873, when it was known as the Duffey House a part of San Antonios old Irish community. The structure at 210 McCullough Ave. also has a 1960s rear kitchen addition and a 1980s expansion in front that serves as the main dining area. Its a small place, with little more than a dozen tables, removed from the fray of corporate-owned chain restaurants downtown. The citys Office of Historic Preservation is seeking a landmark designation of the building that could help keep bulldozers at bay. But there are no guarantees. Mike Fisher/staff artist In 2009, the Historic and Design Review Commission approved demolition of Audrys Mexican Restaurant, another family-owned downtown favorite opened in 1949 that had operated out of a 1900 house near Camden Street and McCullough. It was one of two homes with historic designations that were razed for construction of a medical building after a lawyer for the property owner argued that restoration of the deteriorated houses was not financially feasible. Wayne Beaty, a property maintenance worker at the Alamo who walks to the Oasis almost every day for carne guisada tacos and a large tea for breakfast, said he hopes the restaurant doesnt suffer a similar fate. It would be a loss to me, he said. Id have to go somewhere else, and Id probably have to drive to get there. Marie Nipp, director of finance at First Presbyterian Church across the street, has been eating or ordering food to go at Oasis for eight years. She said shell miss it if it joins Audrys and countless other small family establishments of days gone by. With most small mom-and-pop restaurants, its always a huge loss because the foods not prepared the same in the big-box chains or the fast-food joints, Nipp said. Its not made with the same love and care as you get with a place like this. From the plastic flowers, 25-cent gumball machine and colorful streamers just inside the entrance to the cash register counter where deodorant, jewelry and curios are sold along with leche quemada and other Mexican candies, Oasis flaunts its distinctive character. The restaurant sells skin lotion that flies off the shelf in the summer, when construction workers buy it as mosquito repellent, Garcia said. Under the restaurants original 1990s owner, the front addition was built around a large pecan tree in one corner. That saved the tree. But after squirrels climbed down the tree and in through the roof, interior walls were added to separate the tree from customers. GrayStreet, which is converting the San Antonio Light building to creative office space near the restaurant, submitted its demolition application in March. Peter French, development director with GrayStreet, said the company would like to use the Oasis site somehow to complement the Light Building project, but has no specific plans. The city preservation office has a request for landmark designation of the Duffey House, set for HDRC consideration June 5. GrayStreet didnt know there was a historic structure there when it filed for demolition. French said hes not sure how the companys plans would be affected if the property is designated as a landmark. Were still trying to find answers to what this does to the site, he said. Related: Irish returning to roots, sans green beer The owner of the Oasis property is listed as Douglas Hair, 81, a longtime San Antonian. He could not be reached for comment. According to city documents, the tallest part of the Oasis building that houses the restaurants cash register area, food service counter and a second dining room was built by 1800s property owner-builder Ross Kennedy as a home for a family named Duffey. It was a salt-box style residence, characteristic of the Irish American neighborhood there known as the Irish Flats. The house was marked in a 1980s cultural resources inventory as a property to be considered individually at a later date as a historic landmark. It was built on land once owned in the 1840s by Texas Ranger Capt. James Campbell, who later was killed by Indians while scouting. Distinctive features of the Duffey House include a brick chimney, side-gable roof and stucco-over-stone construction. The San Antonio Conservation Society supports the designation, seeking to protect a rare surviving Irish Flats caliche block house, a defining type of 19th-century architecture particular to San Antonio. Few of these houses remain today and it is important that we save those that still exist, the groups president, Susan Beavin, said in a statement to the city. Garcia said his family, which has operated Oasis since 2004, would like to purchase the building and renovate it, exposing more of the historic Duffey House for all to see. We would love to keep it, he said. This is one of the few different kinds of places left in a downtown area that is looking more like any other city, with high-rises, lofts, apartments and townhomes. But as with everything, time brings change. If the family were to purchase and revamp the building, it also likely would raise prices, including its $5.50 lunch special, Garcia said. We wouldnt raise it to $8.99, but we might raise it a dollar. I think that would be doable, he said. Scott Huddleston covers Bexar County government and the Alamo for the San Antonio Express-News. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | shuddleston@express-news.net | Twitter: @shuddlestonSA (CNN) Prince Harry has accepted "substantial damages" and an apology from a picture agency that used a helicopter to take photos of the home he shared with Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, Buckingham Palace said Thursday. Harry and Meghan were forced to leave their home after the photos were published in outlets including The Times newspaper, a royal source familiar with the case has told CNN. Splash News chartered a helicopter in January to take images of the couple's private home in the Cotswolds region of England, which Buckingham Palace said put the pair's safety at risk. "The syndication and publication of the photographs very seriously undermined the safety and security of the Duke and the home to the extent that they are no longer able to live at the property," the palace said in a statement. "The helicopter flew over the home at a low altitude allowing Splash to take photographs of and into the living area and dining area of the home and directly into the bedroom," it added. "The Duke of Sussex acknowledges and welcomes the formal apology from Splash News and Picture Agency." Harry and Meghan's official residence is Frogmore Cottage in Windsor, near London. The couple, who welcomed their first baby earlier this month, have asked for privacy from the British press on numerous occasions. In 2016, Kensington Palace released a rare statement on Harry's behalf criticizing media coverage of the couple and noting that "his girlfriend Meghan Markle has been subject to a wave of abuse and harassment." In a statement sent to Britain's Press Association news agency, Splash said it has "always recognised that this situation represents an error of judgement and we have taken steps to ensure it will not be repeated. We apologise to the Duke and Duchess for the distress we have caused." CNN has contacted Splash for comment. This story was first published on CNN.com "Prince Harry accepts 'substantial' damages after helicopter photos forced royal couple from their home" Voters head to the polls to nominate candidates for the Illinois House and Senate, county offices and a host of referendum questions. Topping the ballot on the Republican side are the presidential primary and the election of nominating delegates. On the Democratic side, home state President Barack Obama is unopposed, but many congressional primaries are featured. For a look at the GOP presidential primary race see our photogallery of the candidates as they make their way around the state. San Antonians who contributed to Margarita Cabreras public art piece Arbol de la Vida: Memorias y Voces de la Tierra couldnt help but gaze skyward at its unveiling Thursday evening in hopes of spotting what they had made. More than 700 people made clay sculptures reflecting their lives and family stories for the immense 80-foot-by-40-foot installation near Mission Espada. The sculptures are suspended from long, graceful limbs of the works treelike steel frame. The $980,000 piece is the last of four public art pieces commissioned by the San Antonio River Foundation to serve as portals connecting the river to the nearby missions. Many of those who contributed attended the invitation-only unveiling, which included interfaith blessings, prayers, music and box suppers eaten beneath the artwork. A public opening takes place at 6:30 p.m. Friday. Josue Esau, 22, created a piece featuring dozens of arms embracing one another, a reference to the sense of community he found here after emigrating from Honduras 16 years ago. A lot of people helped me, said Esau, who recently received his bachelor of fine arts degree from the Southwest School of Art. On ExpressNews.com: Dustin Lance Blacks memoir highlights the power of stories Merri Longoria Gutierrez, 67, a cultural promoter, made a piece representing her heritage as a descendant of Rosa Maria Hinojosa de Balli, known as the first cattle queen of Texas. It includes a hat with an enormous feather, the kind of thing Hinojosa was known to wear. Gutierrez came to the unveiling similarly attired, wearing a black hat festooned with long black and green feathers. I have been so emotional all day today because I realized the mission has been here for 300 years, she said. And (Hinojosas) still here (in the artwork), and she could still be here 300 years from now. Gladys Jacobson, 61, a retired budget officer who made three pieces, said the work called to mind archaeological digs. She told her family that in 1,000 years, people will be dusting off these pieces and learning the story of San Antonio through them. Its awe-inspring, said Jacobson, who noted that the piece is big enough to be seen from a nearby highway. The piece was inspired by the Mexican folk art tradition of trees of life, elaborate clay sculptures that originally focused on Bible stories but evolved over time to offer all kinds of stories. Cabrera decided to use the style to share stories of San Antonians with an emphasis on ranching, a nod to the missions connection to Rancho de las Cabras in Floresville. We reached out to the community, and we said, Lets tell each others stories and together tell a collective story of the San Antonio missions and ranching history, Cabrera said. And people came forward and shared beautiful family histories, beautiful community stories, stories that had been passed down to them by their family members wonderful, compelling stories, and they shared them in a public setting. On ExpressNews.com: UTSAs revived mariachi class is growing Cabrera followed the storytelling sessions with ceramic-making workshops, during which the pieces that dangle from the pieces branches were created. The project took about three years to complete. Its truly a public artwork and an oral history project that brings together more than 700 people to tell the story of San Antonio, she said. The idea behind the work and the other portal pieces commissioned by the foundation is to drive attention to the missions. We were putting in hiking and biking trails (along the Mission Reach), and the trick there is, as youre hiking and youre biking, you might not know these incredible World Heritage assets are within a short distance from you, said Robert Amerman, executive director of the foundation. So as part of the master plan, we decided, lets put a piece of public art that hopefully would cause people to pause and could let them know theres these amazing things. And if you could pause, then you could redirect their attention and could let them know theres these amazing things nearby. The other three portal pieces are Stacy Levys River Return, which was completed in 2011 near Mission Concepcion, followed by Arne Quinzes Whispers at Mission San Juan in 2015 and Mel Chins CoCobijos near Mission San Jose last year. The works were funded with public and private money. Although Cabreras sculpture is complete, that doesnt mean the project is entirely finished. She is hoping to find funding for an app that would include the oral histories referenced in the piece and offer the public a look at the process behind the work. Cabrera, who moved to San Antonio with her two sons to work on the piece, said the project has had a profound effect on her. Not every community opens their heart to see something like this come together, she said. San Antonio has been a fertile land for this arbol de la vida. 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 After news broke in March of mayoral candidate Greg Brockhouses two past alleged instances of domestic violence, some hoped the revelations would spark a public discussion, especially at a time when family violence deaths in San Antonio are on the upswing. But the reaction apart from scattered protests by activists and a plea from a handful of City Council members for more domestic violence funding largely has been silence. Far from becoming a cause celebre as voters choose their next leader, the issue seems to be getting brushed under the rug a reflection, womens advocates say, of a widespread discomfort with talking about domestic violence, still viewed by some as a private matter between adults. What is truly alarming is the whole process of trying to hide it and not talk about it, said Patricia Castillo, head of the P.E.A.C.E Initiative, a San Antonio nonprofit and advocacy group that helps survivors of family violence. Weve got to look ourselves in the mirror and say, What can we do to make this better? Our community is in denial. Brockhouse, who is in a June 8 runoff with Mayor Ron Nirenberg, has avoided giving an in-depth explanation of either incident, both documented in police reports. In the first, he described himself as the victim. In the second, he initially said he couldnt recall police coming to his home, then later denied it happened. For the most part, he has been spared public questioning about the allegations, telling moderators at one debate that he would walk out if the police reports were brought up (they werent). The moderator at a subsequent debate sponsored by the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce never asked, saying later that he didnt have time to get to the question. Brockhouse recently declined to be interviewed by a television station about the allegations, according to a local anchor. Brockhouse, a city councilman representing District 6, was not arrested or charged in either incident. As the candidate has batted away direct questions, some in the community downplayed the subject. Richard Perez, president of the Chamber of Commerce, said domestic violence was not a business issue in explaining why the issue wasnt raised in the chamber-sponsored debate. Perez apologized after the remark sparked criticism. The CEO of the citys largest battered womens shelter wonders why not a single leader in the faith-based community has appealed to her for guidance in teaching their flocks about the problem. (Click here to see the 2009 report of alleged domestic violence by Greg Brockhouse. Some personal details have been redacted for privacy reasons.) Those who work to help women harmed by family violence say theyre frustrated other issues have taken precedence over an epidemic that claimed 28 lives in Bexar County last year alone, triple the number of fatalities in 2015. One advocacy group estimates Bexar County has the highest per capita rate of intimate partner homicides in the state. The lack of public discussion around domestic violence allows misconceptions and ignorance about its causes and dynamics to flourish, experts say. Linda Chavez-Thompson, a retired national labor leader in San Antonio who served as the first female executive vice president of the AFL-CIO, is baffled by the muted reaction. Why arent womens organizations speaking out? she asked. They should all be talking about this Some argue that efforts by the Nirenberg campaign to politicize his opponents past has prevented a deeper discussion of family violence. Domestic violence has been turned into a wedge issue, said Thomas Marks, a government relations specialist with the DeBerry Group, a local communications firm. Making it a political issue has made it easier for people to discount the problem. Its trivializing an issue that is non-trivial. Two months after Brockhouses past made headlines, at least one group of local women is taking action. On Monday, they plan to hold a news conference to present a petition, signed by more than 100, that says Brockhouse hasnt adequately addressed the past allegations of violence. Until he does, they say, hes not a fit candidate. Were women who are outraged about this, said artist Kathy Sosa, a former high-profile advertising executive and one of the groups organizers. If the whole world isnt watching, it should be. Questions not asked The two incidents involving Brockhouse took place in 2006 and 2009. On ExpressNews.com: Past allegations of domestic violence emerge In the first, Brockhouses second wife, Christine Rivera, from whom he was separated, told police he assaulted her when he returned to their home on the Northwest Side on April 29, 2006, to retrieve some belongings. She told the Express-News that Brockhouse pushed her into a wall. Both she and Brockhouse called police to report the incident. Brockhouse claimed he was the victim, and that her boyfriend hit and choked him. After learning about the incident in March, the Express-News contacted Rivera in Washington D.C., where she now lives, and interviewed her. Rivera said Brockhouse later called her and told her not to say anything to the paper. She first sought to withdraw her comments, then decided to stand by her account and allow it to be published. She said shes afraid to come home to San Antonio because of her ex-husbands anger issues. For his part, Brockhouse said the episode prompted him to examine his life and convert to Catholicism. In the second incident, his third and current wife, Annalisa, told police on the night of Dec. 23, 2009, that Brockhouse grabbed her, threw her to the ground and tried to hit her. He climbed on top of her and got off only when their children came into the room and told him to stop, according to the police report. She told police her husband had been drinking over a job loss, the report says. Annalisa, a special education teacher, declined to be interviewed by the Express-News. In a Facebook post, she said: I refute the allegations ... to include any references to treatment of me, and I stand proudly with Greg. Brockhouse has given shifting explanations over time, and now denies the incident took place. When the Express-News offered him a chance to look at the 2009 report, he refused and accused the paper of carrying water for the Nirenberg campaign. Just before the start of an April 17 debate sponsored by the Rivard Report, Brockhouse told the two moderators he would leave if anyone asked about the police reports. They didnt. On ExpressNews.com: Brockhouse told moderators hed leave if asked about allegations City Councilwoman Shirley Gonzales said the lack of discussion of the allegations hasnt surprised her. This issue makes people very uncomfortable, said Gonzales, who has promoted peer-to-peer programs to address the high rate of child abuse in her council district on the near West Side. But we have to take it seriously. Domestic violence impacts our workforce, our quality of life and it keeps a whole segment of women nonfunctional. Fake document? The San Antonio Police Department released a copy of the 2006 incident report in response to a public records request. However, news organizations that asked for the 2009 report were told the department had no records responsive to your request. Legal experts say this suggests the 2009 report was expunged by court order, although no one in authority will say so. Express-News reporter Brian Chasnoff independently obtained a copy of the 2009 report and has written about it. Still, the absence of a public record of that incident has dampened media coverage and public discussion. And it has fueled speculation that it might all be fabricated. Both the candidate and his wife said it didnt happen, said Louis Barrios, president and CEO of the popular Los Barrios family restaurants who has helped raise money for Brockhouses campaign. The report hasnt been presented. Where did it come from? Who gave it to the Express-News? You guys are adamant about saying its legitimate. Prove it. On Friday, the Express-News published a copy of the complete report online for the first time. Barrios said the issue of domestic violence should be more widely discussed. We have a big problem with it because were a poor city, he said. All of that is the result of government policies and over-regulation. Once Brockhouse takes office and reduces regulations and taxes, Barrios said, the economy is going to take off, reducing levels of violence. What do couples argue about the most? Money, Barrios said. One of the spouses spends more than the other, and that causes an argument, which becomes a fight. Youve got to take it back to root issues. Experts say domestic violence goes far deeper than money squabbles. The real problem stems from ingrained individual and cultural beliefs about male entitlement that view women as subservient to men, more like property than autonomous beings. Poverty and other stresses like mental illness and substance abuse can exacerbate domestic violence, but they arent root causes. Abusers also tend to rate high for narcissism, studies show. Many victims are trapped in a complex web of emotional, psychological and financial dependency with their tormentor; most try to leave an average of seven times before they break free. Thats also when theyre in the most danger. On ExpressNews.com: What happened to the Brockhouse police report? Some Brockhouse supporters have remained steadfast in light of the allegations. At a watch party for the candidate on the night of the election, Tonya Spellmon waited over a plate of puffy tacos at Violas Ventanas, hoping Brockhouse would win. An associate pastor at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, she said the domestic violence allegations are too old to be relevant. If you look back 25 years ago, I may not be suitable for what I do right now. We all have a past, Spellmon said. We dont know about the wifes mental capacity, so we cant make that call. Michelle Batilla, who sat across from Spellmon, agreed. I think thats their business, she said. If youre not there, you dont know what happened. Marta Pelaez, president and CEO of Family Violence Prevention Services, which runs the citys battered womens shelter and related services, said shes concerned not just with Brockhouses alleged history but with his reaction to being asked about it. Shes not surprised his current wife now denies being abused its common for victims to recant. Id like for Mr. Brockhouse to let the public know what he feels on domestic violence, and what hed do if elected mayor, she said. The last thing I want is a mayor with that flaw in his character. If it was me, Id jump at the opportunity to clear my name, and I hope that happens soon. Pelaez finds it ironic that some high-profile faith leaders erupted at the councils recent decision to ban Chick-fil-A as a vendor at San Antonio International Airport, in part because of its position on same-sex marriage. But none have spoken publicly about domestic violence as it is playing out in the election. They are the very people that have the attention of their followers and could exhort them to be respectful of the people they claim to love, she said. A chance to speak declined Brockhouse declined to be interviewed about the two incidents and the issue of domestic violence in general. He told the Express-News he would respond only to written questions and would provide written answers only, by email. On ExpressNews.com: Police and fire union spend big in mayoral race When the paper declined to accept those conditions, Brockhouse said Wednesday he would send a written statement to be included in this article. On Friday, he said he didnt have time to provide a statement. His wife later emailed one that combined an attack on Nirenberg with a defense of her husband: We are supposed to Believe Women, yet there remains a small group who refuse (to) believe me. I have never been in nor would I ever stay in an abusive relationship and I certainly wouldn't keep my kids in an abusive environment. I have never been hurt by my husband, at ANY point in our relationship. Brockhouse is scheduled to appear with Nirenberg at a town hall forum at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Travis Park Church. Whether the formers domestic violence history comes up is anyones guess. As the runoff nears, each candidates supporters continue to block-walk and campaign in hopes of rousing a complacent electorate only 11 percent of registered voters turned out for the May 4 election. Despite the muffled conversation around domestic violence, the rise in fatalities many of them murder-suicides is stirring government leaders to take action. Recent developments include proposed legislation that would provide drug treatment to domestic violence offenders in Bexar County, increased training for police and additional felony prosecutors in the district attorneys office. Advocates like Castillo say Brockhouse could move the needle on the issue by speaking forthrightly about his past. If you cant acknowledge the harm thats been done, it speaks volumes about your ability to change, she said. Staff Writer Silvia Foster-Frau contributed to this article. | Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje is a general assignment reporter covering breaking news, cultural trends and interesting people and goings-on around San Antonio and Bexar County, as well as all across South Texas. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | mstoeltje@express-news.net | Twitter: @mstoeltje The ultra-restrictive anti-abortion bill enacted this week in Alabama is nearly identical to an 1857 Texas law which stood for more than a century. Like the new Alabama law, the old Texas statute banned abortions in all cases except where the life of the mother was threatened. It subjected individuals who performed abortions to criminal prosecution and offered no exceptions for pregnancies caused by rape or incest. Regardless of whether you find the connection between these two laws to be depressing or reassuring, it underlines an important point: The philosophical arguments in the abortion debate eternally stay the same. Only the political strategies change. For roughly a generation after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion with its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision (prompted by a legal challenge to that 1857 Texas abortion law), anti-abortion activists focused their attention on a federal solution. They talked about passing a constitutional amendment to repeal Roe. Then-U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Illinois, even floated the idea of limiting Supreme Court justices to a single, 12-year term, as a way of loosening what he perceived as a liberal stranglehold on the nations highest court. After 12 solid years of anti-choice Republicans Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush in the White House moved the country no closer to overturning Roe, social conservatives shifted their attention to the states. They concluded that if they couldnt ban abortions, they could at least chip away at abortion access through a series of regulations limiting when and where abortions could be performed. At first blush, the Alabama law looks like a continuation of that effort. But its not. The state abortion restrictions weve seen over the last generation were crafted to come to the edge of the Roe verdict. The Alabama law purposely crosses that line. Its an act of provocation from lawmakers spoiling for a Supreme Court battle. On ExpressNews.com: Lopez overcomes cynical attacks on abortion issue This shift in strategy is directly attributable to Donald Trumps election to the presidency in 2016. Trumps appointment of two anti-choice Supreme Court justices has emboldened anti-abortion activists to believe they can get Roe reversed. Will Ainsworth, the Republican lieutenant governor of Alabama, credits Trump with the passage of Alabamas anti-abortion law, saying the president supercharged the effort to remake the federal court system. The Alabama law came on the heels of so-called heartbeat bills in Georgia, Mississippi, Kentucky and Ohio, which amount to de-facto abortion bans, because they bar abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected. In many cases, that occurs before women even know theyre pregnant. It wasnt hard to see this coming, and thats why millions of protesters participated in the 2017 Womens March the day after Trumps inauguration. (Get your tiny hands off my uterus, read one memorable sign that day.) Six days after the Womens March, anti-choice activists responded with a March for Life rally that featured a speech from Vice President Mike Pence and a tweet of full support from Trump. The Alabama law is so brazenly harsh that its drawn criticism even from crusading anti-choice televangelist Pat Robertson. If theres a positive to the laws passage, however, its the fact that it lays bare the anti-choice position without any artificial sweetening. Consider the philosophical chasm between those in the pro-choice and anti-choice camps: To be pro-choice means that you view abortion as the termination of a pregnancy; to be anti-choice means you regard abortion as murder. So when Alabama lawmakers refused to allow exceptions for rape or incest, they actually exposed the essence of the anti-choice position. After all, if you consider an unborn fetus to be a human life, in the same way that a 25-year-old person is a human life, then how that fetus was conceived should be irrelevant when it comes to legal protections. After all, you wouldnt justify murdering a 25-year-old man by bringing up how he was conceived. The rape and incest exceptions have been used by anti-choice activists to soften the appearance of their position, because cosmetics have been crucial in a debate with such rigid belief systems. Thats why anti-choice activists always say they have compassion for women who choose to have abortions, even as they condemn those abortions as murders. A 1972 Gallup poll found that 57 percent of U.S. adults agreed with the following statement: The decision to have an abortion should be made solely by a woman and her physician. A 2018 poll by the Pew Research Center found that 58 percent believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases. It goes to show that over nearly half a century, public opinion hasnt shifted. The philosophical debate hasnt moved. Its just the ploys that change. @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 Full pricing: From the start, Apple has positioned the watch as a fashion piece. It has been featured in Vogue, and Cook has been clear that the device is as much about style as it is about tech. So be prepared for some luxury-level prices, particularly for the high-end 18-karat gold model, called the Edition. Tech and jewelry experts have predicted the Edition could go for at least $2,000, with the most elite configuration priced possibly as high as $10,000. Scheduled to be executed in March, Patrick Murphy a Buddhist for years requested the presence of a Buddhist chaplain who had been visiting him in prison. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice refused for bureaucratic reasons. The U.S. Supreme Court found the refusal discriminatory, so the department decided no spiritual advisers would be allowed in execution rooms. If the companionship of spiritual advisers when being executed was something to be valued prior to March, it remains so now. Along with birth, coming of age, conversion and marriage, death is, for many, a religious event. An infant is welcomed into a faith community, an adolescent is made aware of responsibilities, conversions and marriages become awakenings to the significance of shared faith and life. With death, someone leaves a community changing the lives of others. Markets crashing, farmers suffering, allies seething, manufacturing workers fretting about their job security. These were all foreseeable consequences of President Donald Trumps trade wars, which escalated in the past week after Trump hiked tariffs on Chinese goods ever higher and Beijing announced tit-for-tat retaliatory duties. Such developments reveal the risks of Trumps protectionist instincts, his fundamental misunderstanding of how both trade and trade negotiations work, and his inability to learn the lessons of the trade war that deepened the Great Depression. All this should be great ammunition for Trumps rivals. Why isnt it being used? Republicans, of course, are too cowardly to challenge Trump on much of anything. But Democrats, particularly those angling for the presidency, should be shouting from the rooftops. They should be sharing soybean-farmer sob stories and damning stats with any voter still considering following Trump off the protectionist cliff. Especially given academic research finding that Trump Country has been hurt most by his trade conflicts. Instead with rare exceptions Democrats have been muted or mealy-mouthed in their criticism. Perhaps this is because, when it comes to trade policy, most of them dont have a leg to stand on. This weekend, when asked what she thought of Trumps trade wars, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., said Trump failed to understand that we are stronger when we work with our allies on every issue, China included. So far, so good. But when pressed, she said she wouldnt have voted for the North American Free Trade Agreement, aligning her with Trumps own negative assessment of the deal. And if you look back at Harris record in the Senate, youll find that she, just like Trump, opposed then-President Barack Obamas strategy to work with our allies to keep China in line on trade. That was the 12-country pact known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which Trump pulled us out of with support from other 2020 Democratic candidates, too, including Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio, and Democratic leaders such as now-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Some Democratic presidential candidates, such as Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, have also offered vague statements of displeasure over Trumps trade actions, then suggested Trumps protectionism doesnt go far enough. Die-hard protectionist Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., endorsed Trumps metal tariffs, even if he thought Canada and the European Union should have been exempted. Rather than rethinking their protectionist instincts after seeing the consequences of Trumps trade policies, some Democrats have doubled down. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., cheered on Trumps escalation of tariffs on Chinese goods in a tweet last week. Sanders is trying to use Democratic front-runner and former Vice President Joe Bidens past support for the TPP and other trade deals against him. These are strange positions to take because they run counter to the views of most Democratic voters. Democrats, it turns out, have become fiercely free trade, as illustrated by recent polling compiled last fall by Cato Institute adjunct scholar Scott Lincicome. For instance, the Pew Research Center found that 67 percent of Democrats (vs. 43 percent of Republicans) believe that free-trade agreements have been good for the United States. A separate question found that 77 percent of Democrats (and 18 percent of Republicans) said increased tariffs between the United States and some trading partners will be bad for the country. To some extent these policy positions like all policy positions are influenced by respondents attitudes toward the polarizing guy in the White House. But even before Trump ran for office, Democratic voters were more positive on trade than the politicians in their own party. The issue, of course, is that even if most Democratic voters are pro-trade, trade probably isnt the most important issue to them. But smaller constituencies for which trade is especially important, such as organized labor, tend to be trade-skeptical. But pandering to the tiny minority of protectionists is short-sighted, particularly if doing so hurts the economy in the medium term and U.S. alliances in the long term. Democratic voters turn out to be pretty enlightened when it comes to the economic and diplomatic benefits of trade; its past time that the people chosen to represent them catch up. crampell@washpost.com Re: Brockhouse proves electability, but whose side will he energize? by columnist Gilbert Garcia, Metro, May 12: The voting results during the mayoral election were 49 percent for Ron Nirenberg and 46 percent for Greg Brockhouse. Now we will have a runoff, and Gilbert Garcia predicted that turnout expectations indicate the runoff is Brockhouses to lose. The total voter turnout was poor, as usual. A little less than 11.5 percent of all eligible voters showed up at the polls. It seems 88 percent of registered San Antonio voters dont care who runs our city. Bill Altemeier How would it work? I recently attended a meeting of the Northside Neighborhoods for Organized Development. City Councilmen Manny Pelaez (District 8) and John Courage (District 9) were the featured speakers. One of the main goals for Pelaez is to reduce domestic violence in San Antonio. He said 26 people were killed last year because of domestic violence. He didnt mention that one of the mayoral candidates in the runoff Greg Brockhouse was accused in two domestic violence reports. How can Brockhouse help reduce domestic violence when he is accused of it himself? Richard Sharer So much pre-K Former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro pushed his Pre-K 4 SA plan down everyones throat and raised our sales tax to pay for it. We have an almost identical plan that we pay for. Project Head Start began decades ago, funded out of our federal taxes. So, kids in San Antonio get Project Head Start and Pre-K 4 SA. Why? And where is the $1.5 trillion coming from? Im sure hes not going to pay for any of it. Edward Kassof Bidens past Re: Hill haunts Bidens campaign, Other Views, Tuesday: I read with interest Marc Thiessens piece about how Joe Bidens treatment of Anita Hill during the Clarence Thomas hearings will haunt him during his campaign. In particular, he asserted that Bidens female competitors will be sure to bring up his past behavior. When Thomas was confirmed, I was at a luncheon with other women from various professions. Each of us had a story similar to or worse than what Hill said Thomas had done to her. Not one of us doubted her account. Men who are blind to it and women who have never worked in a male-dominated profession may disbelieve these allegations, but others know they are true. I remain angry with Biden for how he managed the hearings during Hills testimony. I will not vote for him in the Democratic primary. But if he wins the primary, I will certainly vote for him over who we have in the White House now! Deborah L. McNabb Thrill to the human achievement and drama of the first lunar landing, as it happened 50 years ago, in the new IMAX movie Apollo 11: First Steps Edition, opening Saturday, May 18, at The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk. Apollo 11: First Steps Edition lets audiences experience the wonder and drama of the first mission to land men on the moon, presented on the aquariums six-story screen, the largest IMAX Theater in Connecticut, according to a news release from the venue. Showtimes from May 18 to June 30 are 1 and 3 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, and 2 and 4 p.m. on weekdays. From July 1 to Labor Day (Sept. 2), showtimes will be 1 and 4 p.m. daily. Click here for tickets and more details. With never-before-seen 70mm footage and a trove of newly discovered audio recordings, director-editor Todd Douglas Miller reconstructs the Apollo 11 mission in detail: the final preparations, countdown, liftoff, moon landing and return of one of mankinds greatest achievements. The movie has no narration; for its 47 minutes, audiences follow the mission just as the entire world watched it unfold during those incredible eight days in July 1969. If youre old enough to remember 1969, see Apollo 11 to re-live the thrill, aquarium spokesman Dave Sigworth said in the news release. For anyone younger than 50, Apollo 11 should be mandatory viewing to understand what a daring collaborative accomplishment the moon landing was ... with the entire world watching. Sign up to get events, interviews with artists and more delivered to your inbox for free. Made specifically for museums and science centers, Apollo 11: First Steps Edition is a shorter IMAX version of a feature-length film released in general theaters earlier this year. The aquarium will offer several special ways to celebrate the new movie and this summers 50th anniversary of the first moon landing: A collection of historic Apollo 11 memorabilia will be displayed daily in July and August, including a tiny piece of the moon. Among the items expected to be displayed are newspapers, documents, photographs, buttons, View-Master slides, spacecraft models, souvenirs and more items relating to the historic 1969 mission to the moon. Most interestingly, also among the display will be part of a lunar meteorite found on Earth. The display will be free with aquarium admission. On Tuesday, July 16 (the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11s launch), the aquarium is presenting a special evening screening of Apollo 11: First Steps Edition at 8 p.m., followed by a telescope viewing of the nights full moon presented, weather permitting, by the astronomy team of Reddings New Pond Farm. On Saturday, July 20 (the 50th anniversary of the moon landing), Apollo 11: First Steps Edition will be the only film to play in the IMAX Theater. The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk, 10 N. Water St. Open Daily 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 203-852-0700 At a recent Fairfield budget hearing, residents expressed concerns about a variety of fiscal issues, including funding priorities, property rates and rising taxes. Responding to questions about the rising education budget, officials addressed reductions from the state in education cost-sharing funds, likely changes in forthcoming property assessments, the negative impact of the Trump tax cuts and declines in the local tax base. Specifically mentioned was the loss of tax revenue resulting from the sale of the former General Electric headquarters campus to Sacred Heart University, which as a non-profit entity, does not pay property taxes. It is important to note that whether or not Sacred Heart purchased the property, the town was going to experience a loss of tax revenue. While GE was paying $1.5M for real estate property taxes, the buildings would no longer be assessed at that level. An assessment at the amount that Sacred Heart paid for the property ($31.5 million) would lead to $800,000 in property taxes by a for-profit purchaser. While I am sympathetic to the challenges neighboring communities face, it is important to remind residents, legislators and the business community about the profound and extensive value SHU and Fairfield University do provide to the Cities of Fairfield and Bridgeport, and to the surrounding region. According to a recently released biennial Economic Impact Study examining the role of Connecticuts private colleges and universities, which is sponsored by the Connecticut Conference of Independent Colleges, Sacred Heart University has a significant impact on the local and regional economies. Total direct spending by the University is in excess of $1.4 billion; direct spending by students accounts for over $99 million; and University visitors spend at least $1.6 million annually in the area. Overall, the Universitys estimated total economic impact is $2.3 billion. Whats more, 17,121 jobs have been created to support this population and the University. The impact study, released last month by the Connecticut Conference of Independent Colleges is reaffirming the critical role of the states independent colleges in helping to maintain its economic health. Specifically, the report documents that these 15 non-profit colleges and universities together pump $33.2 billion into the state, based on 2017 data. In practical terms, the students, faculty, staff and families of SHU and Fairfield University spend millions of dollars locally renting apartments and buying homes. They patronize local grocery stores, gas stations, pharmacies, restaurants and laundromats and support a wide assortment of community merchants and businesses. Their purchases are vital to the health of the local economy. In addition, towns are reimbursed every year through the States PILOT and Pequot Funds that are designed to help municipalities offset the loss of property tax revenues from non-profit organizations such as hospitals, colleges and universities. While there are many factors effecting PILOT program funding, we estimate the addition of the GE property to Sacred Heart University increased Fairfields share of PILOT by at least $200,000. Pressure should be applied by municipalities to have their elected officials and residents advocate for full funding of these critical programs. Neighbors like SHU and Fairfield University also provide vital fuel for the states economic engine. Our students, faculty and programs represent the talent pipeline and access to incubation partnerships employers are craving and need to remain in Connecticut. And while our commitment to innovation, collaboration and service cannot be easily measured, it is equally valuable. For example, SHU has entered into an agreement with Verizon for the creation and operation of an innovative coworking space at our West Campus (the former GE property). This space will be a hub for innovation teams from large and small companies; for entrepreneurs who want to test their ideas, grow their businesses and work collaboratively in a supportive environment; and for individual professionals who want to work in a dynamic office environment. SHU will provide a fully furnished and equipped turnkey facility on its West Campus, and the University will dedicate resources from faculty and staff to build programming and curricula to connect the innovation community to SHUs academic mission. Future plans for our West Campus also call for additional resources that we will share with members of the surrounding community. This all speaks to the many benefits of having an institution of higher learning like Sacred Heart University as a resident and neighbor. We know our presence has an impact on the community in myriad ways, including reductions in municipal tax bases, but we work hard to ensure that the benefits we offer are positive and our presence and spending far outweigh the loss in tax revenue. John J. Petillo President Sacred Heart University Fairfield BOF responds to questions The Republican members of the Board of Finance (BOF) would like to address the inaccurate, misleading and seemingly unethical opinion piece written by Ms. Karen Wackerman, the Democrat RTM Majority leader. (Fairfield Citizen, May 10) First, we suggest Ms. Wackerman review Article 11, Standards of Conduct, in our Town Charter. It states that we as elected officials shall demonstrate by their example the highest standards of ethical conduct, to the end that the public may justifiably have trust and confidence in the integrity of government. Ms. Wackermans comments are in direct opposition to this standard. She erroneously labeled Fairfields Contingency account as a slush fund showing a stunning lack of understanding of Town budget process and basic financial controls. This account is highly regulated by Connecticut General Statues Chapter 106 that states, The estimate of expenditures submitted by the Board of Finance to the annual town meeting or annual budget meeting may include a recommended appropriation for a contingent fund in an amount not to exceed three per cent of the total estimated expenditures for the current fiscal year. This regulated and transparent process is utilized annually by the BOF and the First Selectmans administration to fund unexpected or unquantified, (at the time of the budget), expenditures such as contract settlements, lawsuits, legal costs, investigations or emergencies. It has been effectively administered by BOF members over many years including First Selectmen Tetreau in his tenure as a BOF member. We want the taxpayers of Fairfield to know that their hard-earned tax dollars have a good steward in the Republican-led BOF. The Contingency account has never, in the recent history in which we have been elected, been used for anything but its intended purpose and if any funds are not utilized those funds automatically get added to the Towns annual surplus account. Regarding the FY 2020 paving budget, the Department of Public Works (DPW) requested $2.0 million dollars for paving in their budget. First Selectman Tetreau increased the request to $2.7 million dollars without any explanation or discussion with the Republican caucus on the BOF. As has been our practice with many large annual Town expenditures, the BOF had, for multiple budget cycles, requested a DPW paving plan. The last time a comprehensive long-term plan was presented was in 2011 from the previous DPW Director. Having not seen a plan, the BOF, on a 8-0-1 bipartisan vote, approved the original department request of $2.0 million and moved $500,000 to Contingency with the stated purpose of more fully funding paving when DPW presented their long-term paving plan. This is not shortsighted as Ms. Wackerman suggests, it is fiscally prudent and with the appropriate level of oversight. This oversight was warranted especially given our recent issues within DPW that has resulted in over $800,000 in taxpayer expense related to the clean-up of a fill pile at One Rod Highway. The BOF paving discussions and adjustments were made in a public forum with complete transparency, any inference otherwise is nothing short of slander to the BOF. With the Democratic majority of the RTM subsequently voting to remove the aforementioned $500,000 from contingency, there is now no path to additional paving funds in the 2020 budget. On May 9th, in accordance with Fairfield Town Charter, the BOF unanimously approved the mill rate for FY 2020 at 26.79. This equates to a 1.63% tax increase from FY 2019. This approval contains a $221,000 reduction in taxes from the RTM proposal. We thank everyone from the Town departments and the Board of Education for their cooperation. James B. Brown BOF Vice Chairman on behalf of the BOF Republican Caucus Fairfield BOF overreach and over-taxation I am very proud of what the RTM achieved in its vote on May 6th. After vigorous debate and consideration, the RTM passed a budget that 1) reduced the tax increase and 2) pushed back on government overreach by removing an unaccountable slush fund in the amount of $500,000. The Board of Finance foolishly cut $700,000 from DPWs paving budget and increased the towns Contingency account by an extra $500,000. This Contingency account is specifically for unknown or unforeseen costs, giving the town flexibility to deal with emergency situations and highly uncertain circumstances. In order for money appropriated to Contingency to be re-allocated to a town department for spending, the BOF must vote to move the money out of Contingency. The effect of putting additional money into Contingency that may or may not be spent is that the BOF overtaxes the residents of Fairfield for undetermined and unknown expenses. We know, with certainty, that a significant amount of utility work is wreaking havoc on Fairfields roads and requires DPWs work. We know that our town would benefit from restoring the $700,000 that the BOF cut from the paving budget. Our full executive body, the Board of Selectmen, had previously approved this funding for paving. The Department Head, and our elected Chief Executive Officer, First Selectman Tetreau, both appealed the BOFs myopic decision to reduce the DPW paving budget. Unfortunately, we were unable to get the 2/3 vote of the RTM required to restore the $700,000 to the DPW budget, because not a single member of the RTM Republican Caucus supported the paving funding request. Minority Leader Pam Iaconos proposition that Contingency is the only way to know that this funding will actually go towards paving is absurd. Contrary to her unfounded assertion, all it does is create additional uncertainty as to how the money will be spent, because it requires an additional vote to authorize its use for any purpose. Quite simply, if you support properly funding our towns needs for paving, you put that money in the paving portion of the budget, not in Contingency. Ironically, Ms. Iacono herself railed against Contingency in the RTMs 2017 budget vote and vocally supported cutting this line by $825,000 to avoid overtaxing the residents of Fairfield, stating, I, for one, wish [the $825,000] were put back in the line item [for DPW Paving and DPW Capital] and not in Contingency ... I see no other choice than reducing [Contingency] to get our taxes down. The RTM Democrats listened to our constituents, and unlike BOF Chairman Flynn and the RTM Republicans, we recognize that every dollar in the budget should count. We effected an optimal balancing between town services (supporting education, the libraries, human services and beaches) and affordability (in response to rising costs of living, the states economic crisis, the debilitating Trump Tax Plan and a failure to increase tax relief for seniors). We are proud to support a budget that lowered the tax increase to 1.71%, from the BOFs 1.90% recommended increase. We are also proud that we pushed back against the BOF on its overreaching attempt to manage our towns departments and overtax the residents of Fairfield. Jill Vergara, RTM Representative District 7 Deputy Majority Leader Fairfield FAIRFIELD Whats the difference between a coffee shop and a coffee bar? Virtually nothing, said Ed Freedman, owner of Shearwater Organic Coffee Roasters. There is one difference, however, according to Freedman, and that is what the word bar symbolises: A third wave of coffeemaking. It encompasses a new way of brewing coffee, which includes sourcing, roasting and brewing. Freedman will be making a home for this wave of coffeemaking at his new Shearwater location on the Post Road in Westport this summer. Using the term coffee bar is also cognizant of the stuffy nature of premium-quality coffee shops, Freedman said. Instead, he wants to create an open, inviting space where coffee is enjoyed, not just tolerated. The way he achieves this is twofold: creating a both a product and a space he believes to be welcoming. To do that, the shop will share a similar setup to its Fairfield Brick Walk location, with large glass windows, indoor and outdoor seating, natural light and an inviting energy. As for the product, being the only USDA organic certified roaster in Fairfield County separates their coffee from the rest. Freedman said going from generic coffee to organic coffee is like, eating food fresh versus three-day-old leftovers. Shearwater has coffee bars in both Trumbull and Fairfield, but through their small-batch sourcing and organic roasting, sells its beans to a couple dozen restaurants and cafes in the state. He said he sees Westport as a town in need of high-quality organic alternatives to Starbucks, a place where he claims many people may go more for convenience than actually liking the coffee. Were inundated in Connecticut, he said. The land of the Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks. The new shop will be in the building that used to house Bertuccis restaurant. The space has been vacant for almost a year, and has since been gutted, remodeled and completely redesigned. Its a big space, around 20,000 square feet, according to Freedman. And he will have some neighbors. Before signing the dotted line, Freedman was told in addition to office spaces on the second floor, a Brooklyn-based pizzeria named Ignazios and One River Westport art school will also be sharing the building. After meeting with architects, and health, zoning and building department officials, Shearwater has started construction. Freedman estimates it to take a little over two months, and is expecting to open for business in July. Choosing Westport seemed like a natural step for Freedman, as it shares Fairfields demographics and tastes. Because its on the Post Road he anticipates many people will have seen their sign within a month of being open. Despite a lot of comings and goings of businesses in Westport, Freedman isnt phased. I dont think these businesses are closing from a lack of business, he said. I think its businesses reflecting on the times. I think thats what were bringing to Westport. Were filling a void. Police have not ruled out the possibility that Al-Jumaili was targeted because he is Muslim, but investigators have yet to uncover evidence to support that claim either. On Friday, Cotner said the victim and his family did not have any interaction with the men who fired the rifle prior to the shooting. A reporter barred from attending a climate event organized by the Sunrise Movement and headlined by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders spoke out today, as reporters from across the country took issue with the groups decision to shut out someone who regularly covers climate issues. Josh Siegel, an energy and environment reporter for the Washington Examiner, argued he was not allowed access to the event because he reports for the outlet, ostensibly because of its editorial lean. I am not comfortable drawing attention to myself, and away from my work, but as @sunrisemvmt begins their D.C. rally with @AOC and @SenSanders, I thought it was important to say that Sunrise would not grant me a credential to attend the event because I work for the @dcexaminer. At a time when climate advocates are trying to unite the country, picking and choosing coverage seems wrong, especially when I am known for my fair, non-ideological reporting, Siegel tweeted. The Examiner is a well-established news website based in Washington, D.C. that has reporters covering Congress, the White House, and the campaign trail. The Sunrise Movement burst on the scene in 2017 ahead of the midterms after previous groups failed to convince major universities around the county to divest their endowments from fossil fuels holdings. The aim was to get students and activists to take part in a Sunrise Semester of grassroots organizing leading up to Election Day. Since then, its been revealed that The Sunrise Movement is funded by wealthy anti-fossil fuel groups like the Rockefeller Family Fund and the Wallace Global Fund. In an interview today with Western Wire, Siegel spoke about how the Sunrise Movement said there would be no room for him and how they failed to reply to Siegels follow up requests. Siegel said he understands the Sunrise Movement might be experiencing growing pains when it comes to dealing with large-scale media attention, but said he was frustrated upon realizing he was possibly singled out. Ive been covering them [Sunrise Movement] and the Green New Deal for months and theyve never responded to any of my inquires. Sunrise, a new organization, theyre pretty young, so Im sure theyve been overwhelmed with the attention, so some of that is understandable. But I havent found a colleague who just hasnt blanketly not received any response, Siegel said. The Sunrise Movement attempted to smooth over the situation, but Siegel is skeptical of their response. I had other reporters from outlets such as Politico tell me they had RSVPd after the date that I did and they were able to get in, no question, Siegel said. Sunrise did attempt to, after they saw the uproar, they did attempt to explain away and say, oh, we turned down a dozen outlets, youre not the only one. But I find that to be dubious in that no one else has spoken up about that and as you saw, Im pretty known on the beat. Siegel referred to the many journalists who immediately tweeted in his defense, praising him as a fair-minded and honest reporter. Zack Colman, a Politico reporter and Siegels predecessor at the Examiner, covered the rally and tweeted: This is a bad look, @sunrisemvmt. @SiegelScribe is a stand-up reporter who covers climate and energy fairly and responsibly. Many of Siegels fellow journalists expressed deep disappointment in the organizations handling of the incident, and defended both Siegel and the Examiners coverage. Bill Loveless, Director of Columbia Universitys Center on Global Energy Policys Energy Journalism Initiative, tweeted, This is wrong. @SiegelScribe and his colleague @JohnDSiciliano are solid reporters whose work I read daily. Likewise, Ben Storrow of E&E News, tweeted, Add me to the chorus of climate and energy reporters who think this is ridiculous. @SiegelScribe is a tremendous reporter. Not only does restricting press access along perceived partisan lines dilute the climate debate, it harms our democracy. A bad look for @sunrisemvmt. Lisa Friedman, climate change reporter for the New York Times, agreed with Storrows assessment and responded, +1. Very disappointing to hear @sunrisemvmt would engage in this sort of behavior. Julia Pyper of Greentech Media offered similar support.#PressFreedom isnt always convenient, which is precisely why its central to a functioning democracy. The definition of media has changed and lines have blurred. But responsible and informed journalists like @SiegelScribe should always have the ability to do their job. Siegel told Western Wire he appreciated the support from other reporters and even encouraging emails from the public. Journalists always look out for each other, especially if youre doing good work, Siegel said. However, Siegel noted it is becoming a broader trend of organizations to only allow press access to outlets they see as favorable, and thats contributing to more polarization in the country. Talking in echo chambers, thats a problem in general in the media landscape, where people read what theyre used to reading or with what theyre comfortable. That goes for television as well. And I think people should want to see as many perspectives as possible, so it just doesnt make a ton of sense for groups to try and pick and choose and say only these friendly audiences are going to tell my story the right way and no one else will be exposed. I just think that creates more tension and creates more isolated ways we obtain our news. I think its just kind of bad for society overall, Siegel said. Despite not having access to the event, Siegel was ultimately able to cover the rally via live-stream and said he plans to provide fair coverage of the Sunrise Movement in the future. This story was posted at fairfieldsuntimes.com by Mike Maher | Nationals Correspondent | Fri, May 17th 10:45am EDT Nationals outfielder Juan Soto went 0-for-4 with a walk in Thursday's win over the New York Mets. Fantasy Impact: Soto is now just 2-for-18 since returning from the injured list five days ago. He has batted cleanup over the last two days instead of his usual third as the Nationals attempt to shake up their lineup to get things going. With Trea Turner expected to be activated on Friday, more lineup changes could be on the way. HARRISBURG, Pa. Get out your soil probes and shovels and help Penn State Extension, the SCN Coalition, and the Pennsylvania Soybean Board track the Soybean Cyst Nematode. This tiny, silent, yet ferocious and fast-reproducing soybean pest often goes undetected before farmers see above-ground symptoms. SCN may be present in a soybean field and reduce soybean yield by 10% with no visible clues, which means it can go unnoticed for several years. When symptoms are visible, yield losses may already be as high as 50%. The best way to diagnose and quantify SCN levels in the field is by sending soil samples to a professional diagnostic laboratory. Free test Free testing is being offered for Pa. soybean growers during the 2019 planting season. You can request a soil sample at your local Penn State Extension Office. The soil bags contain sampling instructions, a label that needs to be filled out, and a field history form that must be returned along with the soil sample to your local Penn State Extension Agronomy Educator. There is a limited number of bags per county. The deadline for sampling collection is June 20. Yield robber The Soybean Cyst Nematode is a plant parasitic nematodes (PPN), or microscopic roundworm that feed from living plant roots and other plant parts. Within the long list of soybean disease-causing agents in the United States, more yield is lost to Soybean Cyst Nematode (SCN) than any other nematode, bacterial or fungal pathogen. In plants affected by SCN, water and nutrient uptake by the root will be impaired, the number of nodules formed on the roots will be reduced, and when above-ground symptoms are visible, plants will look yellow and stunted. Lemon-shaped females are visible on the roots 5 to 6 weeks after planting. Easy spread Although SCN cannot move long distances by its own power, the adult nematode and the cysts (dead female bodies full of eggs) spread through anything that moves soil, like agricultural implements, tractor wheels, flood water, and strong winds. SCN has already spread through 80% of all soybean growing areas in the country. Reproduction rates The nematodes life cycle can be completed in 24 days, which means three to six generations of nematodes can occur during a growing season. With each generation, more cysts containing eggs will be produced and can remain viable in the soil for up to 10 years. In addition to soybeans, SCN hosts include cowpeas, sweet clover, hairy vetch, crimson clover, scarlet clover, alsike clover, birdsfoot trefoil, white lupine, yellow lupine, chickweed, wild mustard, and pokeweed. Other diseases Lesions in the roots caused by SCN feeding are infection courts for the pathogens that cause Sudden Death Syndrome, Brown Stem Rot, and Charcoal Rot. Severity of these diseases can increase in SCN-infested fields. Broken resistance One of the most important items in the toolbox for SCN management has been the use of resistant varieties, along with rotation to non-host crops. However, in recent years, SCN has adapted to the resistant varieties. The ability of SCN to reproduce on those varieties has dramatically increased. Where is SCN in Pa.? Soybean cyst nematode was found in Lancaster County in 2002; however, no further findings have been reported in subsequent surveys conducted by the Pa. Department of Agriculture. Additionally, SCN infestations have been reported in eight counties along Pennsylvania borders, including three in Ohio, two in Maryland, one in Delaware, and two in New Jersey. The first report of SCN in New York occurred in 2017. For more information in western Pennsylvania, contact Justin Brackenrich at 724-287-4761, or by email at jub1489@psu.edu. WASHINGTON The United States and Japan have agreed on new terms and conditions that eliminate Japans longstanding restrictions on U.S. beef exports, paving the way for expanded sales to the United States top global beef market. Earlier in May, on the margins of the G-20 Agriculture Ministerial Meeting in Niigata, Japan, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue met with Japanese government officials and affirmed the trade rules. The new terms, which take effect immediately, allow U.S. products from all cattle, regardless of age, to enter Japan for the first time since 2003. In December 2003, Japan banned U.S. beef and beef products following the detection of a BSE-positive animal in the United States. Prior to the ban in 2003, Japan was the largest importer of U.S. beef. U.S. exports in 2003 totaled $1.4 billion. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates this expanded access could increase U.S. beef and beef product exports to Japan by up to $200 million annually. We are hopeful that Japans decision will help lead other markets around the world toward science-based policies, Perdue said. The agreement is also an important step in normalizing trade with Japan, as Japan aligns its import requirements with international standards for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Background In December 2005, Japan restored partial access for U.S. beef muscle cuts and offal items from cattle 20 months of age and younger. In February 2013, Japan extended access to include beef and beef products from cattle less than 30 months of age. In April 2017, Japan eliminated its age-based BSE testing on domestic Japanese cattle, paving the way for similar age-based restrictions to be lifted on negligible BSE-risk trading partners, including the United States. On Jan. 15, 2019, Japans Food Safety Commission (FSC) concluded eliminating the age restriction for beef from the United States, Canada and Ireland posed a negligible risk to human health. Serritella has been in jail since his 2014 arrest. Prosecutors are also expected to call two of his jail cellmates to testify that he confessed to them that he killed the teenager. One of the cellmates testified in a pretrial hearing that Serritella told him that he had befriended Chereck and had been buying him candy in an attempt to court and groom him for sex. A new Brexit survey seeks to gain a clear picture of what Scottish farmers' confidence is like as uncertainty over the future of the country grows. The survey, spearheaded by NFU Scotland, wants to identify how best to support its 9,000 members through a time of great change. The results of the survey will also give the union a clearer mandate on lobbying priorities as it continues to negotiate with the government on Brexit and a new agricultural policy for Scotland. The Brexit Member Confidence survey is available to complete online and will close at 10am on Monday, 17 June. NFU Scotland President Andrew McCornick said the union is pushing government for free and frictionless trade, access to a non-UK workforce and a new agricultural policy post-Brexit. Despite the best efforts of NFU Scotland and the wider business lobby, there remains little certainty as to what the business landscape for Scottish farm and croft businesses will be outside of the EU. That is why the results of this survey will send a clear, unequivocal message to decision-makers about how business confidence has been impacted by the Brexit process to date, he said. The survey follows NFU Scotland saying how a no-deal Brexit scenario is 'not an option' for Scottish farmers. Mc McCornick said leaving the EU without a deal would be 'catastrophic' because there would be no trade deals and no labour movements from the EU. Results of the survey will be released on 20 June at the Royal Highland Show. The date marks almost three years since the historic referendum on membership of the European Union on June 23, 2016. Over 100,000 has been awarded to food and agricultural initiatives across Scotland to encourage more people to buy local. The grants are dished out in order to stimulate the growth of local food initiatives and encourage more people to buy and support local producers. A total of 23 projects will share 104,500 awarded via the Connect Local Regional Food Fund. The fund is competitive, and applicants can apply for grants up to a maximum of 5000. This year's recipients include Flowers to Food - Pollination in Sustainable Agriculture, the Glenkens Food Month and the Skye Food and Drink Festival. Commenting on the awards, Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing said: Providing funding to regional projects is just one of the ways we are supporting the industrys ambition to raise the value of Scotlands food and drink sector by 2030 to 30 billion. By doing so we help our domestic markets to grow, supporting local economies, and providing consumers with access to healthy, locally-grown produce. He added: Reducing the number of miles food has to travel from farm to fork will also help us to achieve Scotlands climate change ambitions. Recipients Annan Harbour Festival - 4000 Artisan Larder - 5000 Berneray - 1233 CLIMAVORE: Educate - 5000 Deeside Local Food Festival - 5000 East Lothian Food and Drink Ltd's Website Project - 5000 East Neuk Salt Company - 5000 Flowers to Food - Pollination in sustainable agriculture and retail - 4881 Food Heritage Scotland Scoping Study - 5000 Forres Feast - 5000 Future Food in Fife - 5000 Galloway - 3750 Glenkens Food Month - 5000 Mey Highland Games - 5000 Micro-greens Expansion - 2000 New Gin Festival - 4000 Scottish Organic Produce Showcase - 5000 Skye Food & Drink Festival - 5000 Spirit of Alba Gin and Whisky Festival - 5000 St Andrews Street Market - 4500 Taste Islay & Jura - 5000 The Crafty Drinks Experiment - 5000 Turriff Show Food and Drink Pavilion - 5000 UK milk production has been hitting 20-year highs every month so far this year, new figures by AHDB Dairy shows. It comes as much of the European Union's member states experience tightening milk supplies. In the UK, milk yields were boosted by higher use of purchased feed, a mild start to the year and increased calvings. For the first quarter of the year, cumulative production was 3.4% higher than last year. However, the lack of grazing curtailed milk production through most of the 2018/19 milk year (Apr-Mar) leaving the overall rise in annual production at 1.1%. Combined with higher than normal imports of dairy products in the first quarter of 2019 - a reaction to the threat of import tariffs the higher production levels have put pressure on storage space. Meanwhile, poor quality forage and a reduced dairy herd limited total milk deliveries across the 28 member states of the EU. The knock-on effect on product availability helped to support prices on wholesale markets, in turn supporting prices paid to farmers. While the UK has not experienced the same tightness in product availability, the inter-dependency of the UK and EU markets for dairy products has helped insulate prices on UK markets. On average in the 2018/19 milk year, prices paid to farmers remained in the region of 29ppl, slightly above the 5-year average of 27.5ppl and continued to track trends in wholesale prices, with the normal 3-month lag. Recent trends in wholesale markets have been downward, which has led to some cuts in farmgate prices in the first part of the year. The current high level of milk deliveries in the UK is said to be leading to capacity issues for some dairy processors, causing some short-term balancing issues and potential longer-term storage issues. Overall, the increase in production may put pressure on processor returns, in turn affecting milk prices. 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. Shah Rukh Khans classy black Balenciaga jacket is still pretty fresh in our heads as the actor looked super hot when he left for New York a couple of days back. It wasnt revealed as to why the superstar has left for NYC, however, now its pretty evident. The actor shot with popular television host David Letterman and will be aired on Netflix separately and not as a part of Letterman's show. Shah Rukh even shared a picture with the renowned American comedian, writer, producer and television host and wrote, No more footprints...this is The Abominable Snowman!! Before BatMan & SpiderMan, there is Mr. LetterMan @Letterman Thx for ur generosity. Had 2 much fun being interviewed.Not becos it was about me but becos u were kind enough to make me feel I can be me. U r an inspiration sir. David Letterman too posted a picture with King Khan and we surely cant stop revisiting these. Well, go ahead and treat your eyes. Amita did not elaborate on the nature of its staffing changes. An agreement with the city would have required the hospital system to comply with certain occupancy and jobs agreements but also to operate and invest millions of dollars in a handful of neighborhood health facilities that include a West Side cancer center. Appu Is On An Adventure Spree! Puneeth Rajkumar loves adventure in real life as much as on-screen. The above picture was captured during his trip to Mexico. The actor is seen Paragliding. Fans seem really excited seeing their favorite star's stunning pictures. A Much Needed Break Puneeth has been extremely busy this year. After the success of his horror-thriller Nata Sarvabhouma, the actor immediately started shooting for his next film, Yuvaratna. Also, a few films were produced under his home banner. So the trip was a much needed break for him. Puneeth & Wife Share The Frame Very rarely we get to see Puneeth Rajkumar with his family, as he mostly appears before the camera for professional reasons. However, this trip to Mexico was with his family. In the above picture, Appu is seen sharing the frame with his beloved wife. A Serene View In another picture, Puneeth is seen posing amidst the the mountains as he's seated on a hill top. The serene view is simply breathtaking. When Puneeth Goofed Around The pictures clearly show that Puneeth had an amazing time. In the above picture he's seen below the famous Christ The Redeemer statue in Brazil. Including this, Puneeth and family visited many places across the Southern parts of America. Sandalwood fans have already started counting days to Ravichandran's daughter's wedding. While, majority of them are excited to learn who all from the industry is going to attend the special event, the rest are simply curious to know what the Crazy Star has planned. It is going to be one of the most lavish affairs of the Kannada film industry, with several top actors and politicians gracing it. And now, we have learned that Ravichandran has got a 3D invite done for daughter's wedding and you'll be thoroughly shocked to learn its price! The above picture of the invite has stunned Ravichandran's fans. The 3 D invite consists of a heart and intricate designs. The heart on the top displays the couple's parents' names. Geethanjali's name is shortened to Anju. The invite is indeed a classy one. Ravichandran Is Not Celebrating His B'day This Year; But Not Because Of Ambareesh's Demise Apparently, a 3D invite of this sort costs nearly Rs 3,000. Kannada Filmibeat reports suggest that the actor is even giving special gifts to the guests along with the invite. What makes it more interesting is the fact that each card has the particular guest's name specially printed on it. Let us know in the comments below what you have to say about these fancy invites. Hina Says She Will Make Her Own Place Hina gave it back to the haters and wrote, "I was persistent, I am constant and I will be efficient again n again n again. Don't know where I belong Don't know if I have to, the place don't define me because as always I will work my A*# off and I will make my own place! My promise. A proud outsider from my Chandivali studio." #FromChandivaliToCannes She also shared another caption that read, "#FromChandivaliToCannes This hashtag is love and guess what I acutally started from Chandivali back then " The Journalist Says His Caption Was Grossly Misconstrued The journalist took to his Instagram to apologise the actress. He shared on his Instagram story, "My apologies to Hina Khan. My Instaa caption has been grossly misconstrued. I would never ever belittle an artiste. Those who know me well enough will agree that I'm inclusive and always appreciative of talent. My remark was meant to suggest that Cannes has become Bollywood centric." The Journalist Apologises To Hina Khan He further wrote, "Studios like Chandivali etc are the very studios that I've spent my time as a rookie reporter. I would never run down my wonder years spent in these studios. My sincere apologies to Hina again. I wish you continued success." Hina Thanks The Journalist For Acknowledging! Hina replied to the journalist, "Dear @jiteshpillaai Thank you for acknowledging it.. And thank you for your good wishes.. wish you the same. Regards Hina Khan." The three partners will form a joint venture to develop and market retail IoT solutions SES-imagotag (Euronext: SESL, FR0010282822), the global leader in Electronic Shelf Labels (ESL) and retail IoT solutions, BOE Technology, the world leader in semiconductor displays as well as an IoT company providing intelligent interfaces (Shenzen SHE:000725), and JD Digits, a leading Chinese digital technology company, announced today that they have signed an agreement to form a joint venture to provide smart solutions to support the digitalization of physical retail. China is a key market in meeting those ambitions. It is the largest digital nation in the world with nearly 800 million Internet users and has the highest penetration rate for e-commerce and mobile payments. The country is at the leading-edge of the digital transformation of physical retail implementing a true online to offline convergence model, notably enhanced by Internet powerhouses' companies. First established under JD.com, China's largest retailer, JD Digits began operating as an independent business group in 2013. With its expertise in big data, artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and blockchain, JD Digits is reshaping the face of many sectors including finance, urban computing, agriculture, campus services, and digital marketing. JD Digits believes cutting edge technologies will help the industry improve its efficiency and bring higher quality services to consumers worldwide. For its part, BOE, the world leader in semiconductor displays, is also now the global leader in IoT physical retail thanks to its investment of over 300-million in SES-imagotag. The three companies will combine their know-how and technologies to develop solutions to improve in-store efficiency, and to achieve more effective collaboration between brands and retailers, and in-store merchandising. Their technology will also enable retailers POS promotions, stock optimization and on-shelf availability by digitalizing the supply chain from end to end, also enriching store data and boosting shopper connectivity. This alliance will further aid SES-imagotag's penetration of the Chinese market by facilitating cooperation and access to digital start-ups, brands and chains in the JD Digits' ecosystem, as well as with its powerful network of shareholders and stake-holdings. Once the definitive investment protocol is signed, the joint venture company will be formed in China; SES-imagotag will hold a 51% stake in the entity, with a 15% share for BOE and a 34% share for JD Digits. The total investment will be approximately US $30 million in capital over several years. The joint venture's Board of Directors will consist of seven members, four of which will be appointed by SES-imagotag. The Group will therefore have the control of the joint venture and its results will be consolidated in SES-imagotag's financial statements. The completion of this transaction, which is subject to regulatory clearances, is anticipated by the end of H1 2019. Thierry Gadou, Chairman and CEO of SES-imagotag comments: "This joint venture sets SES-imagotag at the heart of a powerful tech ecosystem in the fastest growing and most digital region in the world. Since entering into the alliance with BOE, we have a strong team in place in China and have launched pilot projects with more than 30 retailers in over 150 stores. Partnering with JD Digits shows that BOE and SES-imagotag are not only seen as leaders in their own fields, but are also seen as being at the forefront of the entire digital technology transformation of retail. The JV will also help us convert pilot projects into successful roll-outs in the region, a key milestone towards achieving the Group's strategic plan VUSION 2022 that targets 50% of sales from outside Europe by 2022." About SES-imagotag For 25 years, SES-imagotag has been the trusted partner of retailers for in-store digital technology. SES-imagotag, the worldwide leader in smart digital labels and pricing automation, has developed a comprehensive IoT and digital platform that delivers a complete set of services to retailers. The SES-imagotag solution enables retailers to connect and digitally transform their physical stores; automate low-value-added processes; improve operational efficiency; inform and serve customers; ensure information integrity to continuously optimize on-hand inventory; prevent stock-outs and create an omni-channel service platform that builds loyalty and meets evolving consumer expectations. www.ses-imagotag.com SES-imagotag is listed in compartment B of the Euronext Paris. Ticker: SESL - ISIN code: FR0010282822 - Reuters: SESL.PA - Bloomberg: SESL About BOE Technology Group BOE is a global leader in the semiconductor display industry as well as an IoT company providing intelligent interfaces. BOE's core businesses are Display and Sensor Devices, Smart Systems and Healthcare Services. BOE's display and sensor products are widely used in a broad spectrum of applications such as mobile phone, tablet, notebook, monitor, TV, vehicle display, digital information display, healthcare, finance and wearable devices. Smart Systems business provides IoT integrated solutions for various industries such as retail, transportation, finance, education, art, medical care, etc. Healthcare services combine medicine and life science, and is committed to developing mobile healthcare, regenerative medicine, and digital hospitals. In total, BOE has over 60,000 usable patents. BOE is listed on the Shenzhen stock exchange (SHE: 000725). www.boe.com About JD Digits JD Digits was formerly known as JD Finance until it was comprehensively upgraded and rebranded in November 2018. Its operational purpose is to connect finance and real industry by using digital technology, boosting the influence of the Internet, enhancing the digital and intelligent development of industries, foster the development of the real economy and create greater social value. With its cutting-edge technologies and expertise in big data, AI, IoT and blockchain, JD Digits has been involved in many fields, from finance, urban computing, agriculture, campus services and digital marketing. In the future, JD Digits will enter into more real industry sectors and will more deeply explore current business patterns and developing trends. JD Finance will continue to operate as an independent sub-brand of JD Digits, and integrate digital finance-related businesses within the company. ------------------------ Copyright Actusnews Wire Recevez gratuitement par email les prochains communiques de la societe en vous inscrivant sur www.actusnews.com Communique integral et original au format PDF:Telecharger le PDF Regulatory News: Banque des Territoires, Credit Agricole Assurances, the leading insurance group in France and the Korian group (Paris:KORI), European leader in care and support services for seniors, announce a partnership to develop Ages&Vie homes, an alternative shared housing solution for the elderly in France. By 2024, 150 new locations will be launched throughout the country, which means nearly 300 houses, offering 3,000 places of accommodation and allowing the creation of 1,500 direct jobs for home helps. This partnership will allow the development of 28 new projects in 17 departments1 from 2019. Each project is subject to a prior agreement with the municipality and department concerned. The buildings will all be built according to the NF Habitat HQE standard. This partnership takes the form of the creation of a Real estate civil company, which will invest in real estate, with Banque des Territoires and Credit Agricole Assurances joining forces with Korian. Banque des Territoires will be a 35% shareholder, as will Credit Agricole Assurances, with the balance of the capital held by Korian. These residences will be operated by the Franche-Comte company Ages&Vie, created in 2008 by Nicolas Perrette, Simon Vouillot and Thierry Morel and of which the Korian Group became the main shareholder in 2018. Ages&Vie, which employs 200 people, already operates a park of 50 residences in 30 different municipalities in the Burgundy Franche Comte region. These residences are organized around units that can each accommodate eight elderly people, who, while having a private space, share common living spaces and are assisted by home helps, some of whom live on site with their families. This form of inclusive housing, which is an intermediary between home support and nursing homes, meets a need that has hitherto been poorly covered in terms of social support for the elderly and is particularly adapted to the needs of rural and peri-urban municipalities. 1. Ain, Allier, Finistere, Indre-et-Loire, Isere, Loir-et-Cher, Loiret, Lot-et-Garonne, Meurthe-et Moselle, Meuse, Morbihan, Nievre, Nord, Pas-de-Calais, Haut-Rhin, Saone-et-Loire, Vosges. As a major player for health and healthy ageing, Credit Agricole Assurances is proud of this partnership, which will make it possible to support seniors throughout France. The Credit Agricole Group has a strong regional presence through its 39 Regional Banks, which have the possibility to link up with this Ages&Vie development project. This regional presence enables us to maintain close links with our customers and support them at all the key moments in their lives, including old age said Frederic Thomas, Chief Executive Officer of Credit Agricole Assurances. By contributing to the development of a new offer of accommodation for the elderly, Banque des Territoires fully meets its mission of serving more inclusive territories. With a population over 75 years of age increasing by more than 70% by 2060, local authorities, especially those in rural areas, are proposing solutions that allow them to age with confidence. This is the case of this shared habitat which, with specific support, fully meets the wish of 90% of French people to age at home says Olivier Sichel, Director of Banque des Territoires. I am delighted that Banque des Territoires and Credit Agricole Assurances are working with Ages&Vie to design and develop new solutions to support the elderly. Thanks to this partnership, we will be able to significantly accelerate the pace of development of Ages&Vie residences and respond in a concrete way to the needs expressed by municipalities in rural and peri-urban areas says Sophie Boissard, Korian Group's CEO. About Credit Agricole Assurances Credit Agricole Assurances, France's largest insurance group, unites Credit Agricole's insurance subsidiaries. The Group offers a range of savings, retirement, health, personal protection and property insurance products and services. They are distributed by Credit Agricole's banks in France and in nine other countries around the world by financial advisers and multi-line insurance agents. The Credit Agricole Assurances companies serve individuals, professionals, farmers and businesses. Credit Agricole Assurances has 4,600 employees. Its premium income at the end of 2018 amounted to 33.5 billion (IFRS). www.ca-assurances.com About Banque des Territoires Set up in 2018, Banque des Territoires is one of Caisse des Depots' five areas of expertise. It brings together within a single structure all of our in-house expertise for local areas. As a one-stop shop for customers, it provides bespoke solutions in terms of consulting and financing through loans and investment to meet the needs of local authorities, social housing bodies, local public undertakings and the legal professions. It has been set up to serve the interests of all local areas alike, from rural municipalities to large cities, with the ambition of combating social inequality and territorial divisions. Banque des Territoires is also rolled out across Caisse des Depots' 16 regional managements and 35 territorial offices so as to resonate more meaningfully with our customers, in their neighbourhoods. For more attractive, inclusive, sustainable and connected territories. www.banquedesterritoires.fr @BanqueDesTerr About Korian Korian, an expert in care and support services for the elderly, manages Europe's leading network of long-term care nursing homes, specialised clinics, assisted living and shared senior housing, homecare and hospital-at-home services. www.korian.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190516006188/en/ Contacts: Marjorie Castoriadis Head of Media Relations Korian group mcastoriadis@korian.fr Tel. +33 7 63 59 88 81 Isaline Ollivier Press Officer Banque des Territoires (Groupe Caisse des Depots) isaline.ollivier@caissedesdepots.fr Tel. +33 1 58 50 23 07 Francoise Bololanik Press Relations Manager Communication, Innovation and CSR Department Credit Agricole Assurances francoise.bololanik@ca-assurances.fr Tel. + 336 25 13 73 98 CHENGDU, China, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- From May 6 to 9 (US time), the world's largest and most professional oil & gas equipment technology exhibition, Offshore Technology Conference (OTC), was held in Houston, USA. At this exhibition, Honghua exhibited its all-electric shale gas solutions and automated pipe handling systems with two pipe high-speed rigs, including the world's most powerful 6000HP electric fracturing pump. The innovative technology products attracted many old and new customers including NABORS and Schlumberger to visit and discuss the long-term strategic cooperation in all aspects. Honghua all-electric shale gas solution, with the concept of "network first, gas-consumed, gas-electricity combined, flowing operation, and factory production", is based on the experience of highly developed shale gas in the United States, which is also the situation in China, and makes full use of the characteristics of shale layer, with the application of Honghua innovation of research and development technology in equipment manufacturing, equipped with intelligent drilling rigs and all-electric fracturing equipment. Compared with the traditional solution, Honghua all-electric shale gas solution has greater advantages such as investment of fixed assets decreased by more than 30%, footprint of rig site decreased by 30%-65%, personnel operators reduced by 40%-50%, fuel cost reduced by 40%-60%, and fracturing operation cost reduced by 30%. The solution can achieve zero emission, low noise, and continuous operation day and night. This is in line with the current development concept of "energy saving, environmental protection, cost reduction and efficiency improvement." This solution has the world's largest single-machine VFD fracturing system, the 6000HP electric control fracturing system. The system uses a 6000V medium voltage variable frequency drive and a patented motor direct drive transmission structure to achieve precise displacement and pump pressure control, effectively reducing the energy consumption, maintenance and labor costs required for pump operation. The transmission, reliability and working efficiency are all greatly increased due to the absence of a diesel engine, transmission and clutch, which have to be used in a traditional fracturing truck setup. Honghua all-electric shale gas solution has been in use in USA since 2013. The system has successfully completed lots of operations in China and US shale gas development sites, and has been praised by users. It is China's first electric fracturing system to be successfully applied in industrial applications and achieve high sales. Process industries now have a way to digitally track losses using one integrated system HOUSTON, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- KBC (A Yokogawa Company) announced the release of Visual MESA Production Accounting (VM-PA) 3.7 for hydrocarbon processing and chemical plants. VM-PA models the process and the utilities side of these plants providing a complete solution in one integrated system. It automates the capture, balance, and tracking of complex-wide systems to reduce operating costs. VM-PA enables companies to implement a production accounting standard throughout the company, replacing custom-built and inflexible systems. From feedstock reception through the plant and into the finished product, VM-PA delivers the data so operators can account for how the feedstock is flowing through the system. Over time, history collected from this data can show areas of process improvement. As with previous releases, VM-PA continues towards comprehensive movement management, integration with scheduling systems and energy support balance. This includes data capture, tank and oil movement system, data analysis, reconciliation, and reporting and exporting. VM-PA now allows companies to monitor and account for product loss from storage tank evaporation which is a major source of loss. "Oil and Gas industries need accurate and traceable production data to operate efficiently," said Oscar Santollani, Senior Vice President for KBC's Visual MESA software product line. "Even a small percentage of material loss has a major impact on profitability." According to Santollani, KBC has deployed VM-PA in dozens of companies. ANCAP, a national oil company in South America, increased their productivity and significantly reduced plant losses after KBC implemented VM-PA. To find out more about VM-PA, please contact KBC directly or contact your local Yokogawa affiliate. About KBC KBC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yokogawa Electric Corporation, is all about excellence in the Energy and Chemical industry. We make excellence real for our customers through the actions of our people fused with our technology and best practices. We provide leading software and expert services, powered by the cloud, to assure process operations achieve their full potential. Our customers achieve operating performance that surpasses ordinary standards, now and into the future. For more information, visit www.kbc.global. Joint NetFlow/IPFIX based solution brings cloud performance and security monitoring in the very same way as in on-premise world BRNO, Czech Republic, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Flowmon Networks, a vendor of advanced network monitoring and security solutions, today announced a technology agreement with Nubeva Technologies Ltd., a cloud visibility SaaS software developer for enterprises with public cloud assets. The joint solution will enable Flowmon's customers to turn cloud-based infrastructure into a transparent environment, enabling effective user experience monitoring. The gradual migration of corporate assets into the cloud opens up questions on how to get visibility to ensure demanded user experience. When existing tools (NPMD/APM) cannot provide critical data to address security threats and performance issues in the cloud, IT teams must consider new cloud monitoring methods. The joint solution leverages NetFlow/IPFIX technology, overcomes cloud traffic monitoring limitations and brings customers performance and security monitoring in the very same way as in the on-premise world. "Cloud resources will never be a black box anymore," said Jiri Tobola, CEO at Flowmon Networks. "We are excited about the partnership with Nubeva which enables our customers to ensure the same degree of control over their cloud resources as they use to have over on-prem infrastructure." The joint solution is built on the cooperation between Nubeva Prisms and Flowmon Collector. Nubeva Prisms provides a tapping service for cloud environments where traditional L2 tapping does not work. Organizations can leverage their Azure vTAPs deployment or use Nubeva Prisms agents in AWS, Azure or Google Cloud for tapping. Nubeva's Elastic Packet Processor then provides Flowmon with raw network traffic data (mirrored traffic) or NetFlow/IPFIX for further storage and analysis. IT teams can then analyse the critical data to resolve performance issues, identify optimization opportunities, detect security threats and ensure infrastructure across different environments to support business-critical services. "The Flowmon solution allows our customers to fully leverage our Nubeva Prisms cloud-native elastic packet processing solution, which now produces NetFlow. IT teams can ensure network performance and detect and respond to potential security threats," said Erik Freeland, Director of Customer Engineering at Nubeva. When IT professionals need more traffic details, Flowmon leverages full packet data provided by Nubeva Prisms. Its deep packet inspection engine then allows enriching traditional flow data with specific L7 items (HTTP/S, DNS, TLS, DHCP, VoIP and more) to bring an instant insights, reports and analytics on specific application protocols. Find out more information in the joint solution brief or request demo and trial license for your AWS or Azure deployment. About Flowmon Flowmon Networks empowers businesses to manage and secure their computer networks confidently. Through high-performance network monitoring technology and lean-forward behavior analytics, IT pros worldwide benefit from absolute network traffic visibility to enhance network and application performance and deal with modern cyber threats. The world's largest businesses, internet service providers, government entities and small and midsize companies have come to rely on Flowmon's solutions to take control over their networks, keep order and overcome uncertainty. With solutions recognized by Gartner, Flowmon Networks is one of the fastest-growing companies in its industry. About Nubeva Technologies Ltd. Nubeva Technologies Ltd. develops Software-as-a-Service ("SaaS") software and services that enable enterprises to run best-of-breed visibility in public cloud environments. Nubeva Prisms provides enhanced visibility and control over network traffic and simplified automation and operation that is essential to run top-tier security technologies and services in the cloud easily and at low cost. With Nubeva, organizations can leverage existing policies, technologies and operations and accelerate their move to the cloud with confidence. Visit nubeva.com for more information. (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/590352/Flowmon_Networks_Logo.jpg) (Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/888682/Flowmon_Nubeva_Infographic.jpg) Contact details Lukas Dolnicek PR & Communications T: (00) +420-530-510-616 17 May 2019 RIGHTMOVE PLC ("Rightmove" or "the Company") DIRECTOR APPOINTMENT Rightmove plc, the UK's number one property website, is pleased to announce the appointment of Amit Tiwari as a non-executive director and member of the Audit and Nomination Committees with effect from 1 June 2019. Amit is Managing Director of Vitruvian Partners LLP. Prior to Vitruvian, Amit was Head of International Developed Equities at Harvard Management Company, and Head of Equities at the Lakshmi Mittal Family Office. Amit previously held senior investment management roles at Morgan Stanley & Co International plc, Ziff Brothers Investments and KKR & Co. He holds an MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor's degree in Economics with Honours from Harvard College. Commenting on his appointment, Scott Forbes, Rightmove's Chairman said: "I am delighted to welcome Amit to the Rightmove Board. Amit has a strong understanding of the online classified sector and innovation across a range of online marketplace businesses. His extensive knowledge of finance and capital markets make Amit a valuable addition to the Rightmove Board." There are no further details in respect of Amit Tiwari requiring disclosure under Listing Rule 9.6.13. Name and contact for enquiries: Sandra Odell Company Secretary 01908 712058 Paris, May 17, 2019 - At VivaTech , Atos, a global leader in digital transformation, today announces the signature of a partnership agreement with the Public Hospitals of Paris (AP-HP, Hopitaux de Paris) and Nantes (University Hospital Center, CHU) for the launch of a delivery drone project for the hospital of the future. As part of this agreement, Atos will design a software platform to optimize and automate the delivery of medical products between and within facilities through air and river drones - enabling healthcare professionals to control the delivery times of medical goods and products in emergency situations, and at any time. Users will be able to choose the most efficient mode of transport (air drone, automatic river barge, road network) depending on factors such as weather, road traffic, vehicle availability or the degree of urgency of delivery. For the drone part, Atos will use, amongst others, the technological bricks of Azur Drones , one of the most advanced companies in the world on the autonomous drone. This French company has developed an autonomous surveillance drone capable of operating 24 hours a day, without a remote pilot, from its docking station. The SKEYETECH drone is now the only automated drone approved by the French Civil Aviation Authority. The major projects of the AP-HP, such as the Campus Grand Paris-Nord, are an opportunity to develop the hospital using digital technologies. We are proud to collaborate with Atos and Azure Drones to optimize the logistics of healthcare products, and thus contribute to improving patient service says Olivier Savin, CTO of AP-HP. Our approach has several benefits. On the one hand, it makes it possible to meet the needs of the patient, who obtains his health product on time, on the other hand, it frees up hospital time so that medical staff can spend more time with the patient and, finally, it makes it possible to overcome logistical problems due to the increase in road traffic, for example - while ensuring budgetary savings says Steve Peguet, Innovation Director at Atos France. Thanks to the autonomous drone, it is now possible to send a drone on a mission very easily, remotely and at any time. Today, the autonomous UAV is revolutionizing many markets, such as security and safety. And it is certain to revolutionize medical logistics tomorrow. We are pleased to collaborate with Atos on these new stand-alone UAV applications adds Jean-Marc Crepin, CEO of Azur Drones. The partnership, signed between the AP-HP, Nantes University Hospital and Atos, is part of a global roadmap, the first step of which consists in defining quality and logistics performance indicators, following a study of the logistics flows of the hospitals concerned. A technical pilot with test flights in Ile-de-France will soon be carried out. Atos project, Drones, autonomous couriers, in the air and on the water at the service of patients , was selected in 2017 by the AP-HP and the University Hospital of Nantes as part of an international Call for Expressions of Interest to develop the hospital of the future . For more information on Atos solutions for the healthcare sector , and to read Atos' vision "Look Out 2020+ for healthcare " - visit atos.net . The fourth edition of Atos Technology Days is being held at VivaTech , the global gathering of startups and leaders celebrating innovation, with more than 100,000 participants. Startup Azure Drone will be present on Atos LAB at VivaTech (Hall 1, D39) to present its projects. *** About Atos Atos is a global leader in digital transformation with over 110,000 employees in 73 countries and annual revenue of over 11 billion. European number one in Cloud, Cybersecurity and High-Performance Computing, the Group provides end-to-end Orchestrated Hybrid Cloud, Big Data, Business Applications and Digital Workplace solutions. The group is the Worldwide Information Technology Partner for the Olympic & Paralympic Games and operates under the brands Atos, Atos Syntel, and Unify. Atos is a SE (Societas Europaea), listed on the CAC40 Paris stock index. The purpose of Atos is to help design the future of the information technology space. Its expertise and services support the development of knowledge, education as well as multicultural and pluralistic approaches to research that contribute to scientific and technological excellence. Across the world, the group enables its customers, employees and collaborators, and members of societies at large to live, work and develop sustainably and confidently in the information technology space. Press contact Lucie Duchateau | lucie.duchateau@atos.net | +33 7 62 85 35 10 Attachment Toomin is presiding over the matter after LeRoy Martin Jr., the presiding judge of the Circuit Courts Criminal Division, stepped aside last week from considering the issue. OBrien had asked Martin to recuse himself, saying he faced a conflict since his son works a Cook County prosecutor and Foxx possibly being called as a witness. Martin declined to formally recuse himself but transferred the case to Toomin, saying he did so to avoid any appearance of impropriety. Enabling all exceptional educators to learn more and teach better in a rapidly evolving new digital economy LONDON, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The UK Edtech company TeachPitch is very happy to announce the launch of a brand new Teacher's Fund; an initiative that offers financial support to less-privileged teachers with exceptional skills and ideas, enabling them to join the company's Digital Skills Program. TeachPitch is on a mission to ensure that all its online learners are able to thrive in a rapidly evolving new digital economy. Over the past year it has had the opportunity to work with hundreds of fascinating teachers who applied to train their peers in Digital Skills through its platform. The Digital Skills Program aims to offer user-generated tutorials in topics such as Visual Literacy, Game Design, Coding, Artificial Intelligence, Video Teaching and Learning - all created and developed by teachers themselves. Core to the TeachPitch approach is that all tutorials are based on the personal experience of teachers in their school and classroom. The Digital Skills Program's certification process led to the creation of a wide range of fascinating tutorials built on the experience of our instructors, many of which have been aggregated on the platform today. Aldo de Pape, CEO at TeachPitch said: "We at TeachPitch have been genuinely impressed with the very high quality of ideas raised by teachers on how to digitally improve the situation in their school and classroom. We are proud to have been able to certify many excellent candidates and give them the ability and tools to train other teachers through our program. It is our sincere hope that we will be able to continue this quest for every teacher through our Teacher's Fund." TeachPitch was founded in October 2014 as a technology to help teachers overcome the problem of information abundance through the process of curation, artificial intelligence and online training. The platform is currently used as a solution in over 130 countries by tens of thousands of teachers. The aim of the Teacher's Fund is to provide equal opportunities for all teachers wishing to take part in the Digital Skills Program. The fund goes live at the end of May 2019 when the next cohort of instructors will be invited to apply. Do get in touch with our Digital Skills Program Manager Genta Metalia via genta@teachpitch.com should you want to find out more about the fund or program. Novaremed AG, a clinical-stage Swiss biopharmaceutical company, today announced a poster presentation highlighting the top-line results from a Phase 2a (Proof of Concept) study of NRD.E1 for the treatment of diabetic neuropathic pain (DNP). The poster presentation took place at the 7th International Congress on Neuropathic Pain Meeting (NeuPSIG) in London, UK on May 9-11, 2019. "This was our first communication at a leading neuropathic pain-focused event. Novaremed's lead drug, NRD.E1 is a non-opioid small molecule for the treatment of neuropathic pain. The results of our Phase 2a in patients with DNP showed clinically relevant treatment benefit from NRD.E1 across multiple primary and secondary endpoints, providing a strong scientific foundation for advancing the development of NRD.E1 into the upcoming global Phase 2b study in DNP," said Sara Mangialaio, Head of R&D and Chief Medical Officer of Novaremed AG. "NRD.E1 has the potential to address a major unmet medical need in DNP." Poster Presentation Details: Presentation Title: Novaremed is developing NRD.E1, an innovative therapy for diabetic neuropathic pain Results from a proof of concept study https://www.novaremed.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/PS90_Novaremed_NRDE1PoCinDNP_20190503_c.pdf Presenter: Sara Mangialaio, MD, PhD, Novaremed Presentation Date: May 11, 2019 Notes to the Editor: About Novaremed Novaremed Ltd. was founded in 2008 in Israel and reincorporated as Novaremed AG in Switzerland late 2017. Novaremed is developing NRD.E1, an orally-active small molecule with a differentiated mechanism of action for the treatment of Diabetic Neuropathic Pain (DPN). In a Phase 2a Proof of Concept study, NRD.E1 showed clinically relevant reduction in patient reported pain. Novaremed is currently preparing for a global Phase 2b study in DPN, expected to start in Q4 2019. For more information, visit www.novaremed.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190517005176/en/ Contacts: Subhasis Roy Chief Operating Officer Tel: +41 79 2075715 Email:subhasis.roy@novaremed.com Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2019) - EMX Royalty Corporation (TSXV: EMX) (NYSE American: EMX) (the "Company" or "EMX") is pleased to report results for the quarter ended March 31, 2019. The Company's filings for the quarter are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's website at www.sec.gov and on EMX's website at www.EMXroyalty.com. Financial results were prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards, as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, and are expressed in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated. HIGHLIGHTS FOR Q1 2019 Financial Update EMX had revenue of $1.4 million, loss from operations of $1 million, and after-tax loss of $2.8 million. Revenue includes royalty income, optioned property and other property income, interest, and gains on sales of properties and marketable securities. Other items affecting financial results in Q1 include $0.3 million in depletion costs, and a foreign exchange loss of $1.8 million. Royalty generation costs totaled $1.1 million, which is net of recoveries from partners totaling $0.8 million. In addition, partners incurred exploration expenditures totaling approximately $3.6 million that did not flow through to the Company's financial statements. General and administrative expenses totaled $1.1 million, which includes $0.4 million in salaries and consultants, $0.2 million in administrative costs, and $0.2 million in investor relations cost. Total cash used in operations excluding changes in non-cash working capital was $1.9 million1. Working capital at March 31, 2019 was $85 million, with cash comprising $78 million. Subsequent to the quarter end, a cash payment of $2.7 million related to IG Copper's 2018 sale of Malmyzh was released from escrow and received. Operational Update EMX's royalty and mineral property portfolio totals over 95 projects on five continents. In North America, EMX received approximately $323 thousand in revenue from the sale of 188 gold ounces from the Leeville royalty property in Nevada. EMX also continued to have partners (e.g., Kennecott Exploration Company, Anglo American Exploration (USA) Inc. and South32 USA Exploration Inc.) advance copper exploration programs in the southwestern U.S., incurring approximately $2.6 million in exploration expenditures. As a subsequent event, EMX made a $1.0 million strategic equity investment in Millrock Resources Inc. ("Millrock") and acquired a significant royalty package in Alaska's Goodpaster District which hosts the Pogo high grade gold mine. In Scandinavia, the Company sold or optioned 11 projects to three different junior exploration companies during and subsequent to the quarter. The deals involved receiving share equity, advance royalty payments, and 3% NSR royalty interests in the projects. Boreal Metals Corp. ("Boreal") continued to advance the Gumsberg royalty property in Sweden and the Burfjord royalty property in Norway. In Turkey, a 23,900 meter drill program was completed on the Bayla zinc-lead-silver royalty property and the operator of the Akarca gold royalty property is seeking additional drill permits to further assess the project prior to making a development decision. In Australia, EMX has elected to advance the Kimberley copper project as a 100% controlled property after terminating the purchase agreement with Enfield Exploration Corporation. The operator of the Koonenberry royalty property advanced the project with drilling and geochemical sampling. OUTLOOK The Company has a strong balance sheet to further develop its pipeline of royalty and royalty generation mineral properties. The Company ended Q1 with working capital of $85 million, including $78 million in cash. EMX intends to continue its organic generation of new royalty properties, while selectively acquiring royalties and making strategic investments. A recent example that combines both royalty acquisition and strategic investment is the Millrock private placement, which provided share equity to EMX as well as royalty interests in an under-explored, high grade gold district. EMX is optimistic about the potential growth in revenue that may come from our Turkish portfolio (Balya, Akarca, and Sisorta), as well as the significant potential of our Timok Project royalties in Serbia, where the Upper Zone high grade copper-gold development project is scheduled to commence production in 2022. EMX continues to see strong industry interest in the Company's royalty generation properties. More than $20 million is expected to be spent by partners advancing EMX's portfolio during 2019. A majority of this work will be conducted in the southwestern U.S., Sweden and Norway. The Company's goal is to grow its royalty generation, royalty acquisition, and strategic investment portfolio with positive cash flow, as was realized in 2018 with the Malmyzh sale. Revenue from royalties, advance royalties and other pre-production cash payments has been increasing over time. Continuing into 2019, EMX is well funded to identify new strategic investment opportunities, while further developing a pipeline of quality royalty and royalty generation mineral properties that provide multiple opportunities for exploration and production success. QUALIFIED PERSONS Dean D. Turner, CPG, a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101 and consultant to the Company, has reviewed, verified and approved the above technical disclosure on North America. Eric P. Jensen, CPG, a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101 and employee of the Company, has reviewed, verified and approved the above technical disclosure on Turkey, Scandinavia, Serbia, and Australia. 1 EMX has included a performance measure in this news release that does not have any standardized meaning prescribed by International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"). The Company has used the non-IFRS measure of operating cash flows excluding changes in non-cash working capital. This measure is calculated by adding back the decrease or subtracting the increase in changes in non-cash working capital to or from cash provided by (used in) operating activities. The presentation of this non-IFRS measure is 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. Other companies may calculate these non-IFRS measures differently. Note these figures have not been audited and are subject to change. About EMX. EMX is a precious and base metals royalty company. EMX's investors are provided with discovery, development, and commodity price optionality, while limiting exposure to the risks inherent to operating companies. The Company's common shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange and the NYSE American Exchange under the symbol EMX. Please see www.EMXroyalty.com for more information. -30- For further information contact: David M. Cole President and Chief Executive Officer Phone: (303) 979-6666 Email: Dave@EMXroyalty.com Scott Close Director of Investor Relations Phone: (303) 973-8585 Email:SClose@EMXroyalty.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Statements This news release may contain "forward looking statements" that reflect the Company's current expectations and projections about its future results. These forward-looking statements may include statements regarding perceived merit of properties, exploration results and budgets, mineral reserves and resource estimates, work programs, capital expenditures, timelines, strategic plans, market prices for precious and base metal, or other statements that are not statements of fact. When used in this news release, words such as "estimate," "intend," "expect," "anticipate," "will", "believe", "potential" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, which, by their very nature, are not guarantees of the Company's future operational or financial performance, and are subject to risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause the Company's actual results, performance, prospects or opportunities to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and factors may include, but are not limited to: unavailability of financing, failure to identify commercially viable mineral reserves, fluctuations in the market valuation for commodities, difficulties in obtaining required approvals for the development of a mineral project, increased regulatory compliance costs, expectations of project funding by joint venture partners and other factors. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this news release or as of the date otherwise specifically indicated herein. Due to risks and uncertainties, including the risks and uncertainties identified in this news release, and other risk factors and forward-looking statements listed in the Company's MD&A for the quarter ended March 31, 2019 (the "MD&A"), and the most recently filed Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2018, actual events may differ materially from current expectations. More information about the Company, including the MD&A, the 20-F and financial statements of the Company, is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on the SEC's EDGAR website at www.sec.gov. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/44865 Acacia Mining plc LSE:ACA ("Acacia" or the "Company") Statement on North Mara Acacia notes reported comments in the Tanzanian media today attributed to the Regional Director of Tanzania's National Environmental Management Council ("NEMC"), the Minister of State in the Vice President's Office for Union Affairs and Environment, and the Minister for Minerals that its North Mara mine ("the Mine") has been issued with a fine in relation to alleged historical breaches of environmental regulations in Tanzania. Acacia confirms that North Mara Gold Mine Ltd, the operator of the Mine, has received verbal notice from the Government of Tanzania ("GoT") that it is to be issued with an Environmental Protection Order ("EPO") in relation to alleged historical breaches. The Mine understands that the GoT is considering issuing an EPO on account of alleged deficiencies at its Tailings Storage Facility ("TSF"), however the Mine has not yet received an EPO, or any supporting reports, findings or technical data in relation to the statements attributed to the Minister of State in the Vice President's Office for Union Affairs and Environment. Acacia confirms that the two ministers did visit the Mine yesterday to meet with management of North Mara, to review the status of the Mine's works to rectify and manage within the mine site seepage from the TSF, and the status of North Mara's project to construct a new TSF. As previously disclosed on 8 March 2019, the Mine's technical team has been working constructively and collaboratively with the GoT to try to address the GoT's concerns regarding alleged breaches of various environmental regulations and alleged discharges of a hazardous substance from the Mine. The Mine is reaching out to NEMC and to the Ministers to seek clarification of these media reports and statements, including to request copies of any investigation reports or data upon which the Government's actions are said to be based, and to seek details of any EPO or other statutory order that might have been issued, imposing a fine or requiring the Mine to take further remedial action. In the meantime, operations at the Mine remain unaffected. Acacia will provide further updates as required. ENQUIRIES For further information, please visit our website: www.acaciamining.com or contact: Acacia Mining plc +44 (0) 20 7129 7150 Sally Marshak, Head of Investor Relations and Communications Camarco +44 (0) 20 3757 4980 Gordon Poole / Nick Hennis About ACACIA Acacia Mining plc (LSE:ACA) is the UK holding company of the Acacia Group, Tanzania's largest gold miner and one of the largest producers of gold in Africa. The Acacia Group has three mines, all located in north-west Tanzania: Bulyanhulu, which is owned and operated by Bulyanhulu Gold Mine Limited, Buzwagi, which is owned and operated by Pangea Minerals Limited and North Mara, which is owned and operated by North Mara Gold Mine Limited. The Acacia Group also has a portfolio of exploration projects in Kenya, Burkina Faso and Mali. Acacia Mining plc is a UK public company headquartered in London. It is listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange with a secondary listing on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange. Barrick Gold Corporation is the majority shareholder of Acacia Mining plc. Disclaimer and forward-looking statements 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 Acacia in any jurisdiction. This announcement includes "forward-looking statements" that express or imply expectations of future events or results as opposed to historical facts. These statements include, financial projections and estimates and their underlying assumptions, statements regarding plans, objectives and expectations with respect to future production, operations, costs, projects, and statements regarding future performance. Forward-looking statements are generally identified by the words "plans," "expects," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates" and other similar expressions. All forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of Acacia, which could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, the forward-looking statements contained herein. Factors that could cause or contribute to differences between the actual results, performance and achievements of Acacia include, but are not limited to, changes or developments in political, economic or business conditions or national or local legislation or regulation in countries in which Acacia conducts - or may in the future conduct - business, industry trends, competition, fluctuations in the spot and forward price of gold or certain other commodity prices (such as copper and diesel), currency fluctuations (including the US dollar, South African rand, Kenyan shilling and Tanzanian shilling exchange rates), Acacia's ability to successfully integrate acquisitions, Acacia's ability to recover its reserves or develop new reserves, including its ability to convert its resources into reserves and its mineral potential into resources or reserves, and to process its mineral reserves successfully and in a timely manner, Acacia's ability to complete land acquisitions required to support its mining activities, operational or technical difficulties which may occur in the context of mining activities, delays and technical challenges associated with the completion of projects, risk of trespass, theft and vandalism, changes in Acacia's business strategy and ongoing implementation of operational reviews, as well as risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development, mining and production and risks and factors affecting the gold mining industry in general. Although Acacia's management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, Acacia cannot give assurances that such statements will prove to be correct. Accordingly, investors should not place reliance on forward-looking statements contained in this announcement. Any forward-looking statements in this announcement only reflect information available at the time of preparation. Save as required under the Market Abuse Regulation or otherwise as may be required under applicable law, Acacia explicitly disclaims any obligation or undertaking publicly to update or revise any forward-looking statements in this announcement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Nothing in this announcement should be construed as a profit forecast or estimate and no statement made should be interpreted to mean that Acacia's profits or earnings per share for any future period will necessarily match or exceed its historical published profits or earnings per share. ALBANY, New York, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The global aviation cyber security market faces stiff competition and the market is fragmented, states Transparency Research Market (TMR). A few leading companies in the global aviation cyber security market are Thales SA, Raytheon Company, Harris Corp, BAE System, and Blu Vector Inc. These prominent players in the global aviation cyber security market are entering into mergers, acquisitions, and other collaborations to expand their consumer base. Such strategies are also helping them add innovative products and services to their holdings. Get a Brochure now: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=23966 As the demand for aviation sector increases, it is upon the aviation companies to safeguard themselves from cyber-attacks and save their data from getting leaked. Thus, aviation companies are not leaving any stone unturned. Technologically advanced products are high in demand for cyber security reasons. This is expected to encourage the global aviation cyber security market. The global aviation cyber security market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.4% during the forecast period 2017 to 2025. The global aviation cyber security market is also projected to reach an estimation of US$ 4,759.3 mn by 2025. Request a Sample of Report: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=23966 On the basis of region, in the global aviation cyber security market, North America is likely to holds its prominence during the forecast period. However, there are no new avenues in this region. Whereas, Latin America is expected to emerge as the most lucrative market during the forecast period. The global aviation cyber security market is segmented into managed security solutions and training and consulting in terms of services type. Out of these, managed security is likely to dominate the global aviation cyber security market. The growth in this region can be attributed to aviation industry seeking outsourced monitoring and management solution for cyber security. Identify the key factors that will drive your company's growth in the Aviation Cyber Security Market through our detailed insights. Ask Our Industry Expert: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=ASK&rep_id=23966 Growing Cyber Attacks to Drive Global Aviation Cyber Security Market With the rising usage of internet in every field, cyber-attacks are growing in numbers every day. Thus, many companies in the aviation sector are investing their time and money to safeguard their systems from such attacks. This acts as a factor that is expected to drive the global aviation cyber security market. Alternatively, the rising demand for domestic and international travel from developing counties are predicted to boost the global aviation cyber security market during the forecast period. This is mainly because such data make them control air traffic signals, passengers onboard list, transportation network etc. If an unfortunate incidence like cyber threat takes place, it can result in heavy financial losses, operational losses, and transportation disruption. This calls for increased demand for cyber security. Furthermore, there have been incidences of hijacking of flights by terrorists. Such attacks and hijacks could take place through cyber-attacks. This is another major factor that drives the global aviation cyber security market to achieve a strong growth curve. Request For Custom Research Report: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=CR&rep_id=23966 High Cost to Restrain Global Aviation Cyber Security Market High investments are needed to deploy the cyber security system across any airport. Such high deployment costs are expected to restrain the global aviation cyber security market during the security period. Small players or new entrants may face difficulties to get them up and running into their system. Despite the constraints, the global aviation cyber security market is projected to witness a stellar growth in the upcoming years. This is mainly due to the increasing number of airports to make connectivity feasible and entry of small players in the aviation sector. Hence, the global aviation cyber security market is projected to expand during the forecast period. Browse Press Release - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/pressrelease/aviation-cyber-security-market-2017-2025.htm This review is based upon the TMR report titled, "Aviation Cyber Security Market (Deployment - On-Premise and Hosted; Type - Network Security, Wireless Security, Cloud Security, Content Security, and Application Security; Solution - Data Encryption, Data Loss Prevention, Disaster Recovery Management, Network Firewall, Unified Threat Management, Antivirus/Antimalware, Identity and Access Management, Risk and Compliance Management, Vulnerability Management, Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) Attack Protection, and Web Filtering; Services - Managed Security Solutions, Training and Consulting) - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017 - 2025." The global aviation cyber security market is segmented into: Deployment On Premise & Hosted Type Network Security Wireless Security Cloud Security Content Recovery Management Network Firewall Unified Threat Management Antivirus/Antimalware Identity and Access Management Risk and Compliance Management Vulnerability Management Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) Attack Protection Web Filtering Services Managed Security Solutions Training and Consulting Geography South America North America Europe Asia Pacific Middle East & Africa Browse More IT and Telecom Market Research Reports Popular Research Reports by TMR: Cloud Managed Access Points Market - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/cloud-managed-access-points-market.html https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/cloud-managed-access-points-market.html Computer Networking Certification (Courses) Services Market - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/computer-networking-certification-courses-services-market.html https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/computer-networking-certification-courses-services-market.html Enterprise Engagement Platform Market - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/enterprise-engagement-platform-market.html https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/enterprise-engagement-platform-market.html IDN-ready Switch Market - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/idnready-switch-market.html About Us Transparency Market Research is a next-generation market intelligence provider, offering fact-based solutions to business leaders, consultants, and strategy professionals. Our reports are single-point solutions for businesses to grow, evolve, and mature. Our real-time data collection methods along with ability to track more than one million high growth niche products are aligned with your aims. The detailed and proprietary statistical models used by our analysts offer insights for making right decision in the shortest span of time. For organizations that require specific but comprehensive information we offer customized solutions through adhoc reports. These requests are delivered with the perfect combination of right sense of fact-oriented problem solving methodologies and leveraging existing data repositories. TMR believes that unison of solutions for clients-specific problems with right methodology of research is the key to help enterprises reach right decision. Contact Mr. Rohit Bhisey Transparency Market Research State Tower, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany NY - 12207 United States Tel: +1-518-618-1030 USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453 Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com Website: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Research Blog: https://tmrblog.com/ Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2019) - Aurania Resources Ltd. (TSXV: ARU) (OTCQB: AUIAF) (FSE: 20Q) ("Aurania" or the "Company") announces that the Company has reassessed the exploration model for the discovered copper-silver mineralization on the Lost Cities-Cutucu Project ("Project") in Ecuador in light of new observations from the field. The sedimentary-hosted copper-silver mineralization found to date by Aurania is regional in nature and stratigraphically confined to key horizons of carbon-bearing sediments that have been verified in outcrop to extend for a minimum of 22 km (open along strike) across the Project area. There are few geological models that could account for this already very significant lateral extent. Aurania's Chairman and CEO, Dr. Keith Barron commented, "In October of last year our geologists, tasked to carrying out rather routine stream sediment collection, started to bring an extraordinary array of copper-mineralized large boulders and slabs in from the jungle. Some of these samples were covered in vivid green chrysocolla and malachite, with azurite, cuprite and even native copper as well as more drab chalcocite and tenorite. At first, we treated these as a curiosity, and believed they were related to the supergene weathering of nearby porphyries. However, the copper minerals were hosted exclusively in well-bedded siltstone, mudstone, sandstone and shale, particularly in pieces showing abundant carbonaceous plant fragments, and not in porphyry." "Our geologists, together with our President, Dr. Richard Spencer, traced these boulders back to outcrops, over what is now a strike length of 22 km. The copper mineralization appears to lie above a red-bed sequence of quartzose sediments in an overlying sequence of black shale with abundant carbonaceous plant trash (Figure 1). The setting is strongly reminiscent of the mineralized zones in the Kupferschiefer ("copper shale"), currently mined by KGHM in Poland." Exploration Concept The general model for mineralization in the Kupferschiefer and the Central African Copperbelt of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo is that copper leached from the sedimentary basin remains in solution because of the oxidised state of the red sandstones ("red-beds"). Saline fluids from salt layers or domes within these sedimentary basins increase the solubility of copper, which forms stable, soluble copper-chloride complexes. Numerous salt domes are associated with the Jurassic red-beds in southeastern Ecuador. Salt is currently produced from two small artisanal operations on the Project. When these basins are reactivated, the saline, copper-bearing fluids flow along the layering of the rock sequence to the faults, which constitute barriers to the fluids, and the fluids tend to rise along these permeability barriers. Where the fluids come into contact with reduced sedimentary layers, such as carbon-bearing black shale or limestone, the copper precipitates. The Jurassic basin in southeastern Ecuador has an additional positive component: magnetic data from the geophysics survey that Aurania flew over its Lost Cities - Cutucu Project in southeastern Ecuador identified a number of magnetic centres that are interpreted as porphyries or porphyry clusters. If this interpretation is correct, the porphyries represent an additional significant source of copper potentially injected into the red-bed sequence, that would have augmented the copper content of the basin. The porphyries would be related to a late Jurassic island arc superimposed on the mid-Jurassic rift basin in which the red-beds accumulated. To date, copper-silver mineralization has been found both in float boulders and in outcrop on the surface. No drilling has yet been performed in the area and the third dimension is unknown. A working hypothesis is that the mineralization is localized by an anticlinal fold axis which lies centrally within the Cordillera. With the exception of a single sample of bornite-chalcopyrite, interpreted as hypogene mineralization, all samples have been oxidized, and would probably be amenable to SX-EW (solvent-extraction electrowinning) processing, without the need for production of a sulphide concentrate. Epithermal gold-silver targets and search for the "Lost Cities" It is not the intention of the Company to abandon its original exploration ideas in favour of sedimentary copper and silver exploration. Aurania has currently carried out stream-sediment reconnaissance on circa 40% of the 208,000-hectare Project area and intends to continue this work which so far has been very productive. First-pass scout diamond drilling on Crunchy Hill has been completed and we expect to have assays back from the lab in the coming weeks. The drill will be moved to the Yawi target in the near future. Figure 1. Mineralized hand sample from the Ecuador Project of shale with prominent carbonized plant stem and leaf fragments. This sample assayed 6.37% copper and 48.04 g/t silver. To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/2477/44864_fbab00c1c425b81f_001full.jpg Qualified Person The technical information contained in this news release has been verified and approved by Jean-Paul Pallier, MSc. Mr. Pallier is a designated EurGeol by the European Federation of Geologists and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators. About Aurania Aurania is a junior mineral exploration company engaged in the identification, evaluation, acquisition and exploration of mineral property interests, with a focus on precious metals and copper. Its flagship asset, The Lost Cities - Cutucu Project, is located in the Jurassic Metallogenic Belt in the eastern foothills of the Andes mountain range of southeastern Ecuador. Information on Aurania and technical reports are available at www.aurania.com and www.sedar.com, as well as on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/auranialtd/, Twitter at https://twitter.com/auranialtd, and LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/aurania-resources-ltd-. For further information, please contact: Carolyn Muir Manager - Investor Services Aurania Resources Ltd. (416) 367-3200 carolyn.muir@aurania.com Dr. Richard Spencer President Aurania Resources Ltd. (416) 367-3200 richard.spencer@aurania.com Neither the 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 may contain forward-looking information that involves substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties, most of which are beyond the control of Aurania. Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements that describe Aurania's future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that Aurania or its management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Forward-looking statements may be identified by such terms as "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "estimates", "may", "could", "would", "will", or "plan". Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Although these statements are based on information currently available to Aurania, Aurania provides no assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations. Risks, uncertainties and other factors involved with forward-looking information could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Forward looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to, Aurania's objectives, goals or future plans, statements, exploration results, potential mineralization, the corporation's portfolio, treasury, management team and enhanced capital markets profile, the estimation of mineral resources, exploration and mine development plans, timing of the commencement of operations and estimates of market conditions. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, failure to identify mineral resources, failure to convert estimated mineral resources to reserves, the inability to complete a feasibility study which recommends a production decision, the preliminary nature of metallurgical test results, delays in obtaining or failures to obtain required governmental, regulatory, environmental or other project approvals, political risks, inability to fulfill the duty to accommodate indigenous peoples, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, changes in equity markets, inflation, changes in exchange rates, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in the development of projects, capital and operating costs varying significantly from estimates and the other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry, and those risks set out in Aurania's public documents filed on SEDAR. Although Aurania believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. Aurania disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/44864 Seattle, Washington--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2019) - CFN Media Group ("CFN Media"), the leading agency and financial media network dedicated to the North American cannabis industry, announces publication of an article on Halo Labs Inc. (NEO: HALO) (OTCQX: AGEEF). The company's revenue tripled to more than $8.7 million after launching cannabis oil and concentrate operations in California and Nevada. The company's California operations generated $5,324,396 in revenue; its Nevada-based business generated $514,365 in revenue; and its existing Oregon operations reported a 32.8% increase in revenue to $2,168,975 for the quarter. While the company has roots in Oregon, its California business has quickly become the biggest growth driver. California-based operations generated $1,865,542 in EBITDA, which offset operating losses of $618,400 in Oregon and $299,371 in Nevada, to achieve aggregate EBITDA of $929,260 for the quarter. The California businesses' gross margins were a robust 39.7%, which was significantly higher than the 8% in Oregon and 3.9% in Nevada. While the Oregon business reported a 4% increase in average selling prices, the Nevada business' gross margins were temporarily depressed due to high inventory costs as a result of FIFO inventory accounting. These margins are projected to normalize in the second quarter. The company used approximately $2 million in cash and raised a $1.7 million bridge financing to end the quarter with about $360,000 in cash and cash equivalents. Click here to receive an investor presentation and additional Company updates Positive Outlook Halo Labs anticipates that its Coastal Harvest will continue to be a strong growth driver for revenue and profitability. With the launch of DabTabs Dablets and other initiatives, the subsidiary is already operating at an annualized production rate of about $25 million. New distributor agreements could further improve these figures and cement its leadership position. In addition to these efforts, the company continues to launch new higher margin products across all three markets. The company introduced its first edible line in November 2018, DabTabs Dablets in late March, and DabTab GO in early-May. These products could further enhance average selling prices and help improve overall EBITDA. The company also secured a hemp processing facility in mid-April that will power its entry into the market for cannabidiol (CBD) products. The facility is expected to process about 10,000 kilograms of hemp per month when fully operational, which could yield 700 to 900 kilograms of high-grade distillate or isolate CBD each month. Outside of the United States, the company has begun operations in Lesotho, Africa through a strategic partnership. The country was the first in Africa to regulate medical marijuana and its regulations were crafted with exports in mind. The company's focus on cannabis oils and concentrates sets it apart from many others in the country. HALO Labs - The Journey of a pioneer in Cannabis Extraction and Oils. Please click this link to see a video on HALO Labs. Looking Ahead Halo Labs Inc. (NEO: HALO) (OTCQX: AGEEF) represents a unique opportunity to invest in a multi-state operator focused on cannabis oils and concentrates. With its proven success in Oregon, the company is quickly expanding into new states to increase revenue and launching new higher margin products to increase profitability. The company's upcoming move into the CBD market could also prove to be a catalyst for further growth. Click here to receive an investor presentation and additional Company updates For more information, visit the company's website at www.halocanna.com. Please follow the link to read the full article and see the full video on CFN: http://bit.ly/2WPnFWe About CFN Media For Visitors and Viewers CFN Media's Cannabis Financial Network (CannabisFN.com) is the destination for savvy investors and business people profiting from the worldwide cannabis industry. Viewers will see breaking news, exclusive content and original programming involving the people, companies and investments shaping the industry. For Cannabis Businesses & Companies CFN Media is a leading agency and financial media network dedicated to the cannabis industry. We help private, pre-public and public cannabis companies in the US and Canada attract capital, investors and media attention. Our powerful digital media and distribution platform conveys a company's message and value proposition directly to accredited and retail investors and national media active in the North American cannabis markets. Since 2013, CFN Media has enabled the world's preeminent cannabis companies to thrive in the capital and public markets. Learn how to become a CFN Media client company, brand or entrepreneur: http://www.cannabisfn.com/featuredcompany Disclaimer The above article is sponsored content. Emerging Growth LLC, which owns CannabisFN.com and CFN Media, has been hired to create awareness. Please follow the link below to view our full disclosure outlining our compensation: http://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/ HALO Labs Investor Relations info@halocanna.com Frank Lane 206-369-7050 Flane@cannabisfn.com To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/44863 IRVING, TX / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2019 / DynaResource, Inc., of Irving, Texas, (OTCQB: DYNR) ("DynaUSA") and DynaResource de Mexico SA de C.V. ("DynaMexico"), the 100% owner of the San Jose de Gracia high grade gold project, located in the County of Sinaloa de Leyva, State of Sinaloa, Mexico, issue the following news release dated May 17, 2019, in response to a news release issued by Goldgroup Mining Inc. dated May 14, 2019. Arbitration Award: On May 9, 2019, the United States district court for the district of Colorado confirmed the August 2016 Arbitration award against DynaResource, Inc. and DynaResource de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. The district court's decision overruled the thoughtful and well-reasoned formal Recommendation of United States Magistrate Judge Kathleen M. Tafoya, which was previously issued on February 13, 2018. In the formal Recommendation, Magistrate Judge Tafoya had recommended that the district court rule in favor of DynaResource and DynaResource de Mexico, and the Recommendation requested the court to vacate the arbitration award. DynaUSA and DynaMexico intend to appeal the district court's May 9, 2019, decision. *** In addition to filing an appeal of the Arbitration award, DynaUSA and DynaMexico (together, the "DynaResource entities") report the following rulings in Mexico, all in favor of the DynaResource entities, which rulings remain in full force and effect: Legal Background (Recent Awards - Legal Decisions in Favor of DynaMexico): $48M USD Damages Award and Definitive Sentence against Goldgroup (October 5, 2015): On October 5, 2015, DynaMexico was awarded $48 million USD in damages against Goldgroup Resources ("Goldgroup"), as described in the Sentencia Definitiva ("Definitive Sentence") issued by the Thirty-Sixth Civil Court of the Superior Court of Justice of the Federal District of Mexico, File number 1120/2014. Grant of Lien upon the Shares of DynaMexico owned by Goldgroup (October 5, 2016): On October 5, 2016, the one-year anniversary of the $48M damages award, the Thirty-Sixth Civil Court of the Superior Court of Justice of the Federal District of Mexico granted to DynaMexico, a lien (referred to by the Superior Court as an "Embargo") upon 100% of the shares of DynaMexico previously issued to Goldgroup, which at the time constituted 20% of the outstanding shares of DynaMexico. Denial of Amparo Trial Challenge (Goldgroup Appeal); (August 24, 2017): On August 24, 2017, a Federal Amparo Judge ("Juzgado de Distrito") in the State of Veracruz, Mexico, dismissed Goldgroup Resources Inc.'s Amparo Trial challenge to the $48 million USD damages award previously granted in favor of DynaMexico. Pursuant to the ruling issued by the Federal Amparo Judge, the $48M damages award - previously granted to DynaMexico by the Thirty-Sixth Civil Court of the Superior Court of Justice of the Federal District of Mexico on October 5, 2015 - was effectively confirmed. In the Federal Amparo Court, Goldgroup Resources Inc. ("Goldgroup") claimed that it was unaware of the Superior Court legal action which ultimately resulted in the $48 million damages award to DynaMexico. Goldgroup further claimed that this lack of knowledge was the reason for its having missed the deadline for filing an Amparo Trial challenge to the $48 million damages award. The Federal Amparo Judge found, contrary to Goldgroup's claims, both Goldgroup and its legal counsel had full knowledge of the existence of the Superior Court legal action since at least January 2015. Accordingly, the Federal Amparo Judge dismissed Goldgroup's Amparo Trial challenge. The referenced 2015, 2016 and 2017 court rulings in Mexico are all favorable for DynaMexico. The cumulative effect of these rulings is as follows: (a) Goldgroup is responsible for the payment of $48 million USD in damages to DynaMexico; (b) Goldgroup's challenge to that award has once again been denied by an appellate court; and (c) Goldgroup's 20% ownership of the share capital of DynaMexico is subject to a lien in favor of DynaMexico. The DynaResource entities do expect a ruling on Goldgroup Resources' final appeal challenge to the above referenced legal rulings, to be issued in the very near term. On behalf of the Board of Directors, K.D. DIEPHOLZ; DynaResource, Inc.; CEO IMPORTANT CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING CANADIAN DISCLOSURE STANDARDS The Company is an "OTC Reporting Issuer" as that term is defined in Multilateral Instrument 51-509, Issuers Quoted in the U.S. Over-the-Counter Markets, promulgated by various Canadian Provincial Securities Commissions. Accordingly, certain disclosure in this news release or other disclosure provided by the Company has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of securities laws in effect in Canada, which differ from the requirements of United States securities laws. In Canada, an issuer is required to provide technical information with respect to mineralization, including reserves and resources, if any, on its mineral exploration properties in accordance with Canadian requirements, which differ significantly from the requirements of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") applicable to registration statements and reports filed by United States companies pursuant to the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. As such, information contained in this news release or other disclosure provided by the Company concerning descriptions of mineralization under Canadian standards may not be comparable to similar information made public by United States companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements of the SEC and not subject to Canadian securities legislation. This news release or other disclosure provided by the Company may use the terms "measured mineral resources," "indicated mineral resources" and "inferred mineral resources." While these terms are recognized and required by Canadian regulations (under National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects), the SEC does not recognize them. United States investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of the mineral deposits in these categories will ever be converted to reserves. In addition, "inferred mineral resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence and economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Under Canadian securities legislation, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies, although in certain circumstances, they may form the basis of a "preliminary economic assessment" as that term is defined in National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that part or all of an inferred mineral resource exists, or is economically or legally mineable. CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27 A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Certain information contained in this news release, including any information relating to future financial or operating performance may be deemed "forward-looking". All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that DynaResource expects to occur, are "forward-looking information". These statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect the Company's expectations regarding the future growth, results of operations, business prospects and opportunities of DynaResource. These forward-looking statements reflect the Company's current internal projections, expectations or beliefs and are based on information currently available to DynaResource. In some cases, forward-looking information can be identified by terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "expect," "intend," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "projects," "potential," "scheduled," "forecast," "budget" or the negative of those terms or other comparable terminology. Certain assumptions have been made regarding the Company's plans at the San Jose de Gracia property. Many of these assumptions are based on factors and events that are not within the control of DynaResource and there is no assurance they will prove to be correct. Such factors include, without limitation: capital requirements, fluctuations in the international currency markets and in the rates of exchange of the currencies of the United States and Mexico; price volatility in the spot and forward markets for commodities; discrepancies between actual and estimated production, between actual and estimated reserves and resources and between actual and estimated metallurgical recoveries; changes in national and local governments in any country which DynaResource currently or may in the future carry on business; taxation; controls; regulations and political or economic developments in the countries in which DynaResource does or may carry on business; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development, including the risks of obtaining necessary licenses and permits, diminishing quantities or grades of reserves; competition; loss of key employees; additional funding requirements; actual results of current exploration or reclamation activities; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; accidents; labor disputes; defective title to mineral claims or property or contests over claims to mineral properties. In addition, there are risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development and mining, including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations, pressures, cave-ins, flooding and gold bullion losses (and the risk of inadequate insurance or inability to obtain insurance, to cover these risks) as well as those risks referenced in the Annual Report for DynaResource available at www.sec.gov. Forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and actual results and future events could differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking information. All of the forward-looking information contained in this news release is qualified by these cautionary statements. Although DynaResource believes that the forward-looking information contained in this news release is based on reasonable assumptions, readers cannot be assured that actual results will be consistent with such statements. Accordingly, readers are cautioned against placing undue reliance on forward-looking information. DynaResource expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, events or otherwise. For further information on DynaUSA, DynaMineras and DynaMexico, please visit www.dynaresource.com or contact: Brad J. Saulter, DynaUSA V.P. - Investor Relations; U.S. Telephone: 972-868-9066 K.D. Diepholz, DynaUSA - Chairman/CEO; U.S. Telephone: 972-868-9066 DynaResource de Mexico-Presidente; Mineras de DynaResource-Presidente SOURCE: DynaResource, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/545746/DynaResource-Inc-and-DynaResource-De-Mexico-SA-De-CV-Issue-News-Release-in-Response-to-News-Release-Issued-by-Goldgroup-Mining-Inc-GGATO Following the crash, the Kane County sheriffs office asked the public for help in identifying the hit-and-run driver who they say ditched his pickup with his dog still inside and took off running. About 24 hours later, after authorities released the mans name and a prior mug shot, he turned himself in to law enforcement. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2019) - IAMGOLD Corporation ("IAMGOLD" or the "Company") today provides the following comment on recent trading activity. As a general policy, the Company does not comment on speculation and rumours. The Company is not aware of any material change that would account for recent trading activity in its stock. The Company regularly reviews strategic alternatives available to it and may engage in discussions regarding potential transactions. The Company will inform the market as required and does not have any further comment at this time. About IAMGOLD IAMGOLD (www.iamgold.com) is a mid-tier mining company with four operating gold mines on three continents. A solid base of strategic assets in North and South America and West Africa is complemented by development and exploration projects and continued assessment of accretive acquisition opportunities. IAMGOLD is in a strong financial position with extensive management and operational expertise. For further information please contact: Indi Gopinathan, Investor Relations Lead, IAMGOLD Corporation Tel: (416) 360-4743 Mobile: (416) 388-6883 Martin Dumont, Senior Analyst Investor Relations, IAMGOLD Corporation Tel: (416) 933-5783 Mobile: (647) 967-9942 IAMGOLD Corporation Toll-free: 1 888 464-9999 info@iamgold.com Please note: This entire news release may be accessed via fax, e-mail, IAMGOLD's website at www.iamgold.com and through Newsfile's website at www.newsfilecorp.com. All material information on IAMGOLD can be found at or www.sedar.com at www.sec.gov. Si vous desirez obtenir la version francaise de ce communique, veuillez consulter le http://www.iamgold.com/French/accueil/default.aspx. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/44872 The first HUAWEI developer day in Europe held at Viva Technology PARIS, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- At Viva Technology 2019, HUAWEI Mobile Services held its first Developer Day in Europe, celebrating existing and new partnerships by showcasing the common vision of the future, and the unstoppable growth of our jointly built consumer services, including top quality content discovery through user-centric storytelling, improved technical capabilities for developers, AI-powered tools, and much more. HUAWEI also announced HUAWEI Ability Gallery, bringing next generation intelligent connection between developers and uses. "HUAWEI Mobile Services are designed to enhance our users' experience by connecting them with the most suitable content for every moment of their daily lives. This is achieved thanks to our intelligent, contextual distribution ecosystem. Partners gain access to HUAWEI's fast-growing user base, whilst HUAWEI manages the editorial and technical optimization of our services," said Dr. Jaime Gonzalo, Vice President of Europe Mobile Services, HUAWEI Consumer Business Group. HUAWEI offers a full-range apps distribution solution to developers such as OOBE (Out-of-box experience), AppGallery, AppAdvisor, etc. HUAWEI covers the entire application experience life cycle, and supports the story-telling of each unique content provider to a broad user group. In line with the rapid growth of its Consumer Business and Device Groups, HUAWEI continues to expand its partner system to immerse and enrich each user's mobile life with premium services. The HUAWEI Ability Gallery is now one of the most important parts in the Mobile Services' ecosystem, serving as a platform that directly promotes services to users by assessing the users intent and actively recommending the matching "abilities". Once integrated, developers' services can reach multiple touch points across HUAWEI's intelligent devices and a wide, global audience, helping them achieve their own growth goals at a lower integration cost. "We provide a global intelligent distribution platform with a range of open capabilities and one-stop services for partners, to foster innovation," said Jervis Su, Vice President of Mobile Services, HUAWEI Consumer Business Group. "HUAWEI Ability Gallery provides enormous value to users by intelligently offering faster and more convenient services, and we are looking forward to working with our premium partners to provide best-in-class content and services to our users." HUAWEI Mobile Services already gathers more than 500 million global users, including more than 38 million in Europe, with its business covering more than 170 countries. It provides a trusted, device-centric and inter-connected ecosystem that makes life easier for users, helping them to discover quality content while ensuring security and privacy. HUAWEI also provides its partners with open capabilities including HMS core, HiAI, AR and Camera Kit, etc. to engage their digital innovations based on the Mobile Services platform, providing intelligent one-stop services for developers and partners. For more information and registration at HUAWEI developer: https://developer.huawei.com/en/ About HUAWEI Consumer BG HUAWEI's products and services are available in more than 170 countries and are used by a third of the world's population. Fifteen R&D centers have been set up in the United States, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Russia, India and China. HUAWEI Consumer BG is one of HUAWEI's three business units and covers smartphones, PC and tablets, wearables and Mobile Services, etc. HUAWEI's global network is built on almost 30 years of expertise in the telecom industry and is dedicated to delivering the latest technological advances to consumers around the world. Contact: Shuya Qiao Mobile: +49-1794373847 Email: shuya.qiao@huawei.com Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/888968/HUAWEI_Ability_Gallery.jpg Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2019) - Rise Gold Corp. (CSE: RISE) (OTCQB: RYES) (the "Company") is pleased to provide information regarding technical, regulatory, and environment aspects of the Idaho-Maryland ("I-M") Gold Project ("Project"). Exploration drilling is ongoing and results from recently completed holes will be announced pending finalization of assay results. Visible gold has been noted in several of the veins intersected. The Idaho-Maryland Gold Mine, located entirely on private land, was once the second largest lode gold producer in the entire United States with a total past production of 2,414,000 oz of gold at an average mill head grade of 0.5 oz per ton (17.1 gpt) from 1866-1955 and production rates of up to 129,000 oz of gold per year.1 The major vein systems include: Idaho #1: past production of 935,000 oz gold at a mill head grade of 1.12 oz per ton (38.6 gpt) Idaho #3: past production of 686,000 oz gold at a mill head grade of 0.60 oz per ton (20.4 gpt) Brunswick: past production of 793,000 oz gold at a mill head grade of 0.27 oz per ton (9.3 gpt) The Company strongly believes that the I-M Gold Project has the potential to once again become a significant producing gold mine. The Company acquired and invested significant capital into the Project because Nevada County is a superior mining jurisdiction with respect to mineral resource potential and political and regulatory risk. In conjunction with its ongoing and successful exploration drill program, the Company has been investigating various aspects of the Project in relation to future permitting for commercial mining. This work has further reinforced the Company's confidence that a major underground gold mine could be permitted and built in a timely manner with a predictable outcome. Land Title The Property consists of mineral rights on 10 parcels, including 55 subparcels, totaling 2,800 acres (1,133 hectares) with all mineral rights being contiguous below 200 ft (61 m) of surface. Mineral rights pertain to all minerals, gas, oil and mineral deposits of every kind and nature beneath the surface of all such real property, together with all necessary and convenient rights to explore for, develop, produce, extract and take the same, subject to the express limitation that the fore-going exception and reservation shall not include any right of entry upon the surface of said land, as expressed in the recorded Quitclaim Deed.2 The company owns 175 acres of M-1 Light Industrial zoned private surface land. The Company believes this surface land would be sufficient to re-open the Idaho-Maryland Mine. Existing Infrastructure The Idaho-Maryland Gold Project has important infrastructure in place which would be beneficial to re-opening of an underground mine. The New Brunswick vertical shaft is believed to be in good condition and extends to 3,400 ft below surface. A concrete shaft bin remains in place, although the headframe and hoist have been removed. The previous headframe was 135 ft in height and designed to accommodate hoisting of 2,000 tons per day from 5,000 ft depth. The previous hoist used 6 ton skips at a hoisting rate of 1,250 ft per minute. The historic hoist capacity is likely sufficient for a new operation but could be augmented by increasing hoisting speed or skip capacity. The shaft has stations at thirteen levels from the B580 to the B3280 levels. Skip loading pockets are present on six major levels at the B1300, B1450, B1600, B1880, B2300, and B3280 levels. It is believed that most tunnels in the volcanic rocks of the Brunswick Mine should be in relatively good condition due to the geotechnical characteristics of this unit. There are numerous tunnels on each level which can be re-used and provide close access to numerous zones of known high-grade gold mineralization. The Rise Gold property adjacent to the New Brunswick shaft previously hosted a major commercial lumber mill and 55,000 ft2 of industrial buildings. All buildings have subsequently been removed. The Property has a leveled area of approximately 40 acres and a large water-recycle pond which was constructed in 1988. The pond has a surface area of approximately 3.7 acres and a design capacity of approximately 40 acre-feet. Records indicate that the pond is lined with a 2 ft layer of clay and was designed by a registered civil engineer. Conceptual Project Design The Company has evaluated various aspects related to the potential reopening of the mine in the future. A general description of a conceptual project design, at similar production levels as historically achieved, is provided as follows: Deep underground mine with production below 1,000 ft from surface. Throughput of +1,000 tons per day, the historic production rate at shutdown in 1942. High-grade gold mine. Scheduling mining of highest-grade gold mineralization available preferentially. Re-use of New Brunswick vertical mine shaft. Shaft is from surface to 3,400 ft depth. Construction of new headframe at New Brunswick shaft. Construction of a second shaft from underground to surface, constructed in segments using Alimak raising or raise boring. Second shaft to be used as a service shaft and secondary escape and extend to the B3280 level. Construction of two ventilation raises by raise boring from surface to the B900 level to allow mechanized mining. Construction of new mineral process plant on surface producing gold concentrates using gravity and flotation concentration methods. Cemented paste backfilling of underground voids. Filtered (dry) sand-tailings and crushed rock to be used as engineered fill. No liquid tailings or tailings dams. Zoning Regulations The Property is located on private land in Nevada County, California and is therefore subject to the Nevada County Land Use and Development Code ("the Code"). Subsurface Mining is an allowed use subject to approval of a Use Permit.3 Surface work incidental to an underground mine is an allowed use in M1 districts subject to approval of a Use Permit and Reclamation Plan and where the property is zoned ME.4 Nevada County Use Permitting It is anticipated that Nevada County would be the lead agency responsible for processing and approval of a commercial mining operation at the I-M Gold Project. Although other permits from other government agencies would be required, the Use Permit from Nevada County is the only discretionary permit required. Nevada County processes numerous Use Permits every year, averaging 10-12 new applications per year. Nevada County has a recent track record of approving and granting Use Permit's for mining projects, including: Newmont Mining Corporation - North Star Water Treatment Facility Use Permit granted in 2015. Discharge of treated mine water from the underground North Star Mine into Wolf Creek https://www.mynevadacounty.com/1102/North-Star-Water-Treatment-Facility Hansen Brothers Greenhorn Creek Mining Expansion Use Permit granted in 2017. Expansion of sand and gravel mine located within and on the banks of Greenhorn Creek https://www.mynevadacounty.com/597/Hansen-Brothers-Greenhorn-Creek-Mining-E Blue Lead Gold Mine Use Permit granted in 2015. Open pit gold mine with 74 acres of surface disturbance https://www.mynevadacounty.com/DocumentCenter/View/15226/Blue-Lead-Mine-Public-Hearing-PDF?bidId= Previous Permitting by Emgold Emgold Mining Corporation previously held a lease on the I-M Project and engaged in several permitting efforts in relation to the Project. In 1995 they successfully completed and received a Use Permit for the dewatering of the I-M Mine. This permit was un-used and subsequently expired in 2001.5 In 2005, Emgold commenced permitting of a large-scale ceramic tile manufacturing and underground mine at the I-M Project. Emgold proposed a 2,400 ton per day shallow underground room and pillar mine (starting at 500 ft below ground surface) in the meta-andesite volcanic rocks to provide feed stock for ceramic tile manufacturing. The factory was proposed to be annexed into the City of Grass Valley and the City was the lead agency for the project. The only significant and unavoidable impact identified in the Environmental Impact Report ("EIR") was air quality emissions6 related to the intensive use of energy to manufacture ceramic tiles from the volcanic rocks mined underground. The proposed ceramic tile manufacturing would have used 2.3 billion ft3 of natural gas per year at the full production rate (18.5 MW) 7. Emgold may have succeeded in permitting its proposed ceramic tile manufacturing and underground mine; however, they ran out of funds necessary for the processing of the Final EIR.8 Emgold enjoyed strong public support for their proposed project. In 2006, an independent opinion poll showed 72 percent of Grass Valley residents in favor of the project and only 12 percent not in favor.9 Rise Gold Corp has no interest in ceramic tile manufacturing and therefore the air quality effects of ceramic tile manufacturing have no relevance to the I-M Gold Project. Employment and Economy in Project Area The Company estimates a 1,000 tpd selective mining operation at the I-M would require ~300 direct employees. The mining industry has an indirect multiplier of ~3.9, meaning that 3.9 additional jobs are created from every direct job. 10 Using this factor, total employment created can be estimated at 1,500 persons, the majority of which would be in Nevada County. The I-M Project is in an area of depressed economic conditions with high unemployment and poverty rates and thereby classified as a Qualified Opportunity Zone Tract. In the area surrounding the I-M Property, the unemployment rate is reported at 13.5% with a poverty rate of 31.3%. The adjacent tract area, including the City of Grass Valley, is reported to have an unemployment rate 10.7% with a poverty rate of 23.3%11. The average unemployment rate in United States is currently 3.8% with a poverty rate of 12.3%12,13. Grass Valley has a population of ~13,000 and Nevada County has a population of ~100,000 people. Mine Water Discharge The Company's consultant has conducted detailed sampling in the New Brunswick Shaft of the water currently flooding the I-M Mine. The primary constituents of interest in the water samples are iron and manganese which are found at concentrations of approximately 1,600 micrograms per liter and 270 micrograms per liter, respectively. The water quality of mine water discharge is subject to waste discharge requirements set forth in General Order R5-2016-007614. The General Order NPDES permit is advantageous as an individual NPDES discharge permit would not be required, resulting in a predictable outcome for permitting, along with significant time and cost savings, The water quality requirements under the General Order are similar or identical to California drinking water quality standards. The Company's consultant performed bench scale tests which show the mine water can be effectively treated by aeration followed by filtration through a manganese dioxide filter. This is a simple and common water treatment method. The post-treatment water quality would meet or exceed the General Order requirements and California drinking water quality standards. The Company has evaluated several discharge locations and believes a discharge of treated mine water to Wolf Creek would result in a predictable permitting outcome. Wolf Creek has large flows year-round of approximately 22,000 gpm. Wolf Creek is the point of discharge for numerous users included the Nevada Irrigation District, Grass Valley Waste Water (sewage) Plant and Newmont Mining's North Star mine water discharge. Newmont was recently granted a permit to discharge treated mine water into Wolf Creek (2015) using a passive water treatment system. Newmont's approved water discharge is to the same creek and water quality criteria as would be proposed at the Idaho-Maryland. The historic groundwater inflow into the I-M Mine has been estimated to be in the range of 500 - 1,200 gpm15 and therefore would be insignificant in comparison to the current flow in Wolf Creek. Ground Water Hydrology Exploration drilling has shown the mineralized veins at the I-M Project are hosted in competent meta-andesite volcanic rocks. The hard rock lithology is relatively impermeable, and mine dewatering is not anticipated to have a significant effect on ground water levels. Hydraulic conductivity decreases by several orders of magnitude (i.e. factors of 10) with depth. Shallower depths have higher hydraulic conductivity where more fractures are prevalent. As depth increases fractures may be either less common or have smaller aperture (open) widths. As reported by Todd Engineers (2007), hydraulic conductivity values greater than 1.0 gallon per day per square foot (gpd/ft2) are generally found in wells shallower than 200 ft deep. In wells deeper than 620 ft, no hydraulic conductivity values greater than 0.1 gpd/ft2 were identified, and most values were less than 0.01 gpd/ft2.16 The impermeable nature of the volcanic rocks and vein fractures is demonstrated at the Union Hill Mine. The Union Hill Mine is not connected but is in close proximity to the Brunswick Mine. During historic operations, the Brunswick Mine workings were completely dewatered while the Union Hill Mine was flooded to within 20 ft from surface17. The historical evidence shows that the dewatered mine working of the Brunswick Mine had very little or no effect on the water level in the Union Hill Mine. The Brunswick Mine workings were driven on the same fractures which hosted the veins and within a proximity as close as 135 ft. The mines remain hydraulically unconnected with the water level in the Union Hill Mine currently 165 ft above the water level in the Brunswick Mine. Historically, there were concerns about several dozen domestic water wells surrounding the Brunswick Mine underground workings. The Company's consultants are currently engaged in a detailed study of the local groundwater hydrology. The Company does not anticipate significant impacts to groundwater from the dewatering of the mine. In addition, the Company could provide an extension of the potable water utility to this area at a relatively minor cost, which would guarantee that water supply to near-by residents would not be interrupted. An Environmental Impact Report for dewatering the I-M Mine, which studied hydrogeology in detail, was previously completed and Nevada County previously approved the Use Permit for the dewatering of the I-M Mine18. The Idaho-Maryland Mine has been flooded and successfully dewatered multiple times in its history. Previous dewatering was done without the advantage of modern pumps. There is no reason to expect significant difficulty in dewatering the underground workings. Mineral Processing Extensive historical information is available on mineral processing at the I-M Mine. Historic gold recovery of 96% was achieved at a coarse grind of ~80% passing 190 micron. Most gold was recovered by gravity (~67%) and the remainder by flotation which produced a concentrate averaging 3.9 oz gold per ton (134 gpt)19. Historically, the I-M Mine produced gold dore on site. Due to the high value of the concentrate, the Company does not believe it necessary to produce dore onsite which would eliminate any need to use cyanide leaching. The Project would therefore not use cyanide and would not use mercury. The mineralized veins at the I-M Project contain only minor sulphides, primarily pyrite, and the great majority of sulphide minerals would be shipped offsite in the gold concentrate. Geochemistry Extensive sampling of the historic tailings on the Company's Centennial Industrial Site was undertaken by previous operators. All fifty samples taken from historic tailings show no elements of concern environmentally. Arsenic values range from <5 to 33 ppm with an average of 9 ppm. Kinetic testing by previous operators in 2010 shows the historic tails and the meta-andesite volcanic rock to be non-acid generating and non-metal leaching. Some materials on the Centennial Site have elevated arsenic which are likely derived from historic custom milling of ore delivered from other mine sites. The Company is currently preparing plans to clean up these materials to re-develop the site as usable industrial real estate. Rise is currently conducting geochemical test work on rock samples derived from its exploration drill core. Trace elements from 40 samples in the meta-andesite volcanic unit show no elements of environmental concern. Arsenic values range from 0.3 to 13.1 ppm with an average of 2.7 ppm. Sulphur values range from 0 to 0.5% with an average of 0.15%. Tailings/Rock Storage The Company envisions that the processing plant would include a paste backfill plant with approximately 50% of the finest tailings being used as underground backfill. The remaining sand-tailings would consist of de-sulphurized fine sand with a minimum grain size of ~100 microns. Barren rock from tunnelling in the meta-andesite volcanic rocks would be skipped to surface and crushed. The crushed stone and sand could be combined to produce an engineered fill with no environmental concerns. There is area available on the Company's land holdings which could be substantially improved by placement of fill to create additional usable industrial land. The Company's own lands could utilize at least 10 years of engineered fill should the mine be put into production at the historic rate of 1000 tons per day. Noise The Company is confident that noise from a commercial mining operation at the Brunswick Site can be mitigated to a level below the zoning requirements for Nevada County. Surface components of the project would be enclosed in engineered insulated buildings. Enclosure allows for the containment of noise and a predictable result at the property boundaries. During the current exploration drilling program, the Company has achieved excellent noise mitigation from the use of sound insulation and noise walls, reducing noise levels from 90 decibels at the drill head to less than 50 decibels at its property boundaries and consistently within compliance of the County noise regulations. Traffic An underground mining project would not generate a significant amount of traffic. The Brunswick Site is adjacent to Brunswick Road. This road is a major local roadway with an estimated 15,000 average daily trips20. Any traffic generated from the I-M Project would be insignificant in comparison to the current use of these major roads. Brunswick road provides a direct connection to two State highways, Hwy 49 to the north and Hwy 174 to the south of the I-M Project property. Blasting Vibrations The prediction of blasting vibrations is a well-developed science and blasting designs will produce predictable vibration results. The Company is confident that an economic solution for underground blasting designs at various depths and locations will result in no significant impacts. In addition, the company expects that blasting vibrations will be well below the levels considered to be distinctly perceptible by persons on surface. Human responses to vibrations induced from blasting are related to the peak particle velocity (PPV) (intensity of motion) and the exposure time. The particle velocity is related to the distance from the source (D) and the charge weight per delay (W). Blasting vibrations (PPV) decrease exponentially with distance and therefore distance has a large effect on vibrations resulting from blasting.21 The potential areas of blasting at the I-M Project would occur at depth and over short durations, with entire blasts typically done within seconds and only occur two or three times per day. Modern blasting allows exceptional flexibility to reduce the charge weight per delay. If necessary, the precision of electronic detonators allows each hole of an underground blast to be on a separate delay timing and the timing of holes can be very close together, typically within 25 milliseconds. Charge weights per delay can therefore be significantly reduced versus conventional detonators. A technical study for blasting vibrations was previously prepared for Emgold which provides useful information in regard to the potential impacts of blasting vibrations. It should be noted that Emgold planned to drive a ramp from surface and therefore would have blasted close to surface whereas Rise Gold does not anticipate any significant gold mineralization or blasting to be done above 1,000 ft below ground surface and the majority of mineralization is below 1,600 ft. ____________________ 1 AMEC Foster Wheeler Americas Limited. Technical Report on the Idaho-Maryland Project. June 2017. 2 AMEC Foster Wheeler Americas Limited. Technical Report on the Idaho-Maryland Project. June 2017. 3 Nevada County Land Use and Development Code Section L-II 3.21 http://qcode.us/codes/nevadacounty/view.php?topic=3-ii-3-l__24&frames=on 4 Nevada County Land Use and Development Code Section L-II 3.22 http://qcode.us/codes/nevadacounty/view.php?topic=3-ii-3-l__24&frames=on 5 AMEC Foster Wheeler Americas Limited. Technical Report on the Idaho-Maryland Project. June 2017. 6 Environmental Science Associates. Idaho-Maryland Mine Project, Environmental Impact Report. Oct 2008. 7 AMEC Americas Limited. Preliminary Assessment Technical Report Idaho-Maryland Mine. November 2004. 8 https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/6bd037_6d5eedf818f74c31a7d47dbbc1cc05ac.pdf 9 https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/6bd037_ab6143bb765f4aa785d9c8350ca0c542.pdf 10 https://www.epi.org/publication/updated-employment-multipliers-for-the-u-s-economy/ 11 https://www.cims.cdfifund.gov/preparation/?config=config_nmtc.xml 12 https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf 13 https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045218, 14 https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/rwqcb5/board_decisions/adopted_orders/general_orders/r5-2016-0076.pdf 15 Environmental Science Associates. Idaho-Maryland Mine Project, Environmental Impact Report. Oct 2008. 16 Todd Engineers. Hydrogeologic Assessment Idaho-Maryland Mine. August 2007. 17 Clark, Jack. Gold in Quartz - The Legendary Idaho Maryland Mine. 2005. 18 https://www.northernminer.com/news/emperor-lands-grass-valley-permit/1000095829/ 19 AMEC Foster Wheeler Americas Limited. Technical Report on the Idaho-Maryland Project. June 2017. 20 AMEC Foster Wheeler Americas Limited. Technical Report on the Idaho-Maryland Project. June 2017 21 Revey, Gordon. Blasting Impacts Assessment for Proposed Idaho-Maryland Mine Report. June 2006. About Rise Gold Corp. Rise Gold is an exploration-stage mining company. The Company's principal asset is the historic past-producing Idaho-Maryland Gold Mine located in Nevada County, California, USA. The Idaho-Maryland Gold Mine is a past producing gold mine with total past production of 2,414,000 oz of gold at an average mill head grade of 17 gpt gold from 1866-1955. Historic production at the Idaho-Maryland Mine is disclosed in the Technical Report on the Idaho-Maryland Project dated June 1st, 2017 and available on www.sedar.com. Rise Gold is incorporated in Nevada, USA and maintains its head office in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Benjamin Mossman, P.Eng, CEO of Rise Gold, is the qualified person for the technical disclosure contained in this news release. On behalf of the Board of Directors: Benjamin Mossman President, CEO and Director Rise Gold Corp. For further information, please contact: RISE GOLD CORP. Suite 650, 669 Howe Street Vancouver, BC V6C 0B4 T: 604.260.4577 info@risegoldcorp.com www.risegoldcorp.com The CSE has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the contents of this news release. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions related to certain factors including, without limitation, obtaining all necessary approvals, meeting expenditure and financing requirements, compliance with environmental regulations, title matters, operating hazards, metal prices, political and economic factors, competitive factors, general economic conditions, relationships with vendors and strategic partners, governmental regulation and supervision, seasonality, technological change, industry practices, and one-time events that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information contained in this release. Rise undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements or information except as required by law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/44866 VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2019 / RESAAS Services Inc. (TSX-V:RSS, OTCQB: RSASF, "RESAAS"), a cloud-based technology platform for the real estate industry, is pleased to announce its intention to raise up to $1,000,000 by way of a non-brokered private placement of up to 4,000,000 units (the "Units") at a price of $0.25 per Unit (the "Private Placement"). Each Unit will consist one RESAAS common share and one-half warrant to purchase a common share of RESAAS exercisable at $0.30 for 1 year from the date of the closing of the Private Placement. The closing of the Private Placement is expected to occur on or before May 31, 2019, and is subject to the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals, including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. All securities issued pursuant to the Private Placement will be subject to a four month hold period in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws. The proceeds of the Private Placement will be used to enable growth marketing of RESAAS' core technology solution into strategic markets, and for general working capital purposes. The closing of the Private Placement is not subject to any condition that a minimum amount of proceeds be raised by RESAAS. The securities referred to in this news release have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the Untied States or to, or for the account of benefit of, U.S. persons absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of such Act. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell, nor the solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities. Any public offering of securities in the United States must be made by means of a prospectus containing detailed information about the company and management, as well as financial statements. ### About RESAAS Services Inc. RESAAS is a cloud-based and blockchain technology platform that enables real estate brokerages, franchises and associations to bring real-time communication, new business opportunities and unique data to their agents on a global basis. Visit www.resaas.com for more information . For more information contact: Tom Rossiter, CEO RESAAS Services Inc. Telephone: (604) 558-2929; Email: investors@resaas.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Information: This press release and the RESAAS website referenced herein contain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation ("forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements include statements that use forward-looking terminology such as "may", "could", "would", "will", "should", "intend", "target", "plan", "expect", "budget", "estimate", "forecast", "schedule", "anticipate", "believe", "continue", "potential", "view" or the negative or grammatical variation thereof or other variations thereof or comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of RESAAS to be materially different from any results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. In this press release, forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to the expected use of the proceeds raised from the Private Placement. Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance and are based upon a number of estimates and assumptions of management in light of management's experience and perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors that management believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances as of the date of this press release, including, without limitation, assumptions about: RESAAS' use of the proceeds raised from the Private Placement. While RESAAS considers these assumptions to be reasonable, the assumptions are inherently subject to significant business, social, economic, political, regulatory, competitive and other risks and uncertainties, contingencies and other factors that could cause actual actions, events, conditions, results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Many assumptions are based on factors and events that are not within RESAAS' control, and there is no assurance they will prove to be correct. Furthermore, such forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to: that the proceeds raised from the Private Placement will be insufficient to allow RESAAS to continue its business operations in the ordinary course, or at all; that RESAAS may not use the proceeds raised from the Private Placement as currently anticipated; RESAAS' inability to retain and attract users of its services; RESAAS' inability to generate sufficient revenues from the commercialization of its platform to fund operations and become profitable; RESAAS' inability to build a user base for its services and adequately develop its technology; RESAAS' inability to obtain additional financing to meet long-term needs; RESAAS' inability to effectively manage its growth; RESAAS' inability to protect its intellectual property and other proprietary information technology; RESAAS' inability to raise any necessary additional capital on reasonable terms to advance the continued growth and development of RESAAS' technology; RESAAS' dependence on key personnel; the existence of instability in financial markets; the unfavourability of equity and debt capital markets, a decline in the popularity of current social media models; a decline in or changes to the real estate industry; the pace and degree of technological change and claims; and lawsuits and other legal proceedings and challenges against RESAAS. There can be no assurance that any forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. RESAAS does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that are included herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. SOURCE: RESAAS Services Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/545719/RESAAS-Announces-Non-Brokered-Private-Placement-to-Raise-up-to-1000000 The homeopathic medicine manufacturers have been informed today that the preliminary opinion of the Transparency Commission of the Haute Autorite de Sante (HAS), in charge of assessing the medical benefit of homeopathic medicines, has been sent to a media. This preliminary opinion is protected by the strictest confidentiality and is only intended for the laboratories concerned by such assessment in order to put forward their arguments during a contradictory phase. However, at the time of sending this press release, the homeopathic medicines manufacturer have still not obtained this preliminary opinion. The fact that a media can be informed of the content of this confidential opinion constitutes a violation of the secrecy of the current assessment proceeding which potentially jeopardizes its lawfulness. In this context, the Laboratoires Boiron, a French listed company, had to take the decision to suspend the trading of its shares. Person responsible for financial information: Valerie Lorentz-Poinsot Contact for financial information: Fabrice Rey Contact for press: arnaud.delaunay@boiron.fr Investor relations: +33 (0) 4.78.45.63.43 - e-mail: boironfinances@boiron.fr ISIN Code: FR0000061129 (BOI) - Bloomberg: BOI FP - Reuters: BOIR.PA The group's financial information is online at: www.boironfinance.com ------------------------ Copyright Actusnews Wire Recevez gratuitement par email les prochains communiques de la societe en vous inscrivant sur www.actusnews.com Communique integral et original au format PDF:Telecharger le PDF Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2019) - Ethos Gold Corp. (TSXV: ECC) (OTCQB: ETHOF) ("Ethos" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has executed an earn-in agreement with Victory Metals Ltd. (TSXV: VMX) ("Victory") under which Ethos will drill a Carlin style gold target at Victory's Iron Point vanadium project, located 22 miles east of Winnemucca, Nevada. Ethos is further pleased to announce that Dr. Quinton Hennigh will be joining Ethos as a technical consultant and will oversee this drill campaign. Highlights Ethos can earn a 50% undivided interest in the gold and silver rights at the 13,300 acre Iron Point property by spending CDN$ 5 million over three years, including a minimum expenditure of CDN $1.0 million in the first year. Following the earn-in, a 50-50 joint venture will be formed between Ethos and Victory, exclusive to the gold and silver rights. Victory Metals will retain a 100% interest in the near surface, widespread vanadium rights at Iron Point, which were demonstrated in Victory's recent drilling. Iron Point is located at the intersection of the Battle Mountain and Getchell Gold Trends, and on trend from several high-grade, world-class gold mines including Twin Creeks, Getchell/Turquoise Ridge, and Marigold (see Figure 1 below). Recent fossil analysis has established that the Comus Formation at Iron Point previously mapped as Upper Plate is definitively Lower Plate and correlatable with the Roberts Mountain and Popovich Formations, units highly prospective for large Carlin style deposits. Previous drilling by Dr. Hennigh in the 1990's at Iron Point intersected anomalous gold values across Upper and Lower Plate stratigraphy near a recumbent fold hinge, as well as Carlin type gold mineralization at the interpreted range front, possibly smeared fault gouge. Significant gold has also been sampled in surface trenches, interpreted to be leakage from deeper levels. Further some of the strongest gold pathfinder element geochemistry in Nevada is present at Iron Point. Based on this work a Lower Plate hosted Carlin style target has been identified by Dr. Hennigh at Iron Point. Ethos plans to commence a drill program shortly to test this target. Figure 1: Iron Point is located at the intersection of the Cortez/Battle Mountain Trend and the Getchell Trend, which have combined historic production of 200 million oz of gold. To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/1564/44868_c37abcee94c71aa3_002full.jpg Stated Dr. Quinton Hennigh, "I think Iron Point is one of the most prospective locations for undiscovered Carlin style gold mineralization left in Nevada. I explored the project in the 1990's, but the downturn in gold prices at that time cut that effort short. It is a pleasure to join Ethos and have a renewed shot at testing the compelling targets on this exciting project." Stated Craig Roberts, P.Eng., President & CEO of Ethos: "We are delighted to have come to an agreement with Victory to pursue a drill program targeting Carlin style gold mineralization at Iron Point based on a new interpretation to target Carlin style mineralization, and as well to have Dr. Hennigh on board to guide this exploration program. We anticipate commencing drilling at Iron Point in the near future and will announce our plans for this drill program shortly." Stated Paul Matysek, Executive Chairman of Victory: "On behalf of the Board of Directors we are pleased to be working with Ethos to develop and test the gold potential at Iron Point. The geological setting with Lower Plate stratigraphy, historic drill intersections of gold mineralization and the presence at surface of both gold and associated mineralogy make this a very compelling drill target. This earn-in agreement provides Victory shareholders with tremendous optionality on both vanadium and gold." Figure 2: North looking cross section, illustrating the new geological interpretation at Iron Point, including the conceptual Carlin style gold target. To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/1564/44868_c37abcee94c71aa3_003full.jpg As illustrated in Figure 2, the Upper Plate Ordovician Vinini Formation overlies the interpreted Silurian/Devonian Roberts Mountain and Popovich Formations, separated by a thrust fault dipping at a shallow angle to the west. Subsequent north-south striking normal faulting has down-dropped the stratigraphy to the east along a range front. Drilling has confirmed a recumbent Zed fold parallel and to the west of the range front fault. The exploration target is for Carlin style gold mineralization in this interpreted, folded Roberts Mountain and Popovich Formation stratigraphy. A similar model including recumbent Zed folding along a range front fault is the focus of mineralization at Newmont's Twin Creeks mine, located approximately 25 miles north of Iron Point. At Iron Point, anomalous gold has been encountered along the range front fault over a strike length of about 5 km. Based on this interpretation Dr. Hennigh has located three holes which would be drilled vertically to target depths of between 500 and 800 meters (conceptually shown on Figure 2 above). These holes are planned to penetrate through upper plate stratigraphy to the west of the north south striking normal range front fault and into lower plate stratigraphy. Appointment of Dr. Quinton Hennigh as Technical Advisor Ethos is pleased to announce that Dr. Quinton Hennigh has agreed to join Ethos as a technical advisor. Dr. Hennigh is an economic geologist with more than 25 years of exploration experience with major gold mining firms including Homestake Mining, Newcrest Mining and Newmont Mining, with much of that work focused on exploration for Carlin style deposits in Nevada. Quinton is Chairman and President of Novo Resources Corp., founder and Director of Irving Resources Inc. and Executive Chairman of Miramont Resources Corp. Dr. Hennigh obtained a Ph.D. in Geology/Geochemistry from the Colorado School of Mines. Earn In and Joint Venture Terms Ethos can earn a 50% interest in the gold and silver rights at Iron Point by spending a minimum of CDN$ 5 million over three years, with minimum expenditures of CDN $1.0 million in the first year. Following the earn-in a 50-50 joint venture will be formed between Ethos and Victory. Victory will maintain 100% title to the Iron Point claims and on completion of its earn-in Ethos would have a contractual right to 50% of any gold or silver discovery. The vanadium mineralization is near surface with significant spatial separation from the conceptual deeper gold target. Victory maintains the right to ensure that any gold exploration and development plans do not interfere with development of its vanadium project. Qualified Person, and Contact Work targeting Carlin style gold at Iron Point will be supervised by Dr Quinton Hennigh, Technical Advisor to the Company. He is a Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101 and has read and approved this release. For additional information please contact Tom Martin at E: tmartin@ethosgold.com P: 1-250-516-2455 or view the Company's website, www.ethosgold.com .and the Company's sedar profile at www.sedar.com . Ethos Gold Corp. Per: "Craig Roberts" Craig Roberts, P.Eng., President & CEO Forward-Looking Statement Cautions: This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, including statements regarding the Company's planned gold and silver exploration program at Iron Point. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts; they are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "aims," "potential," "goal," "objective," "prospective," and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "can," "could" or "should" occur, or are those statements, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions that Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made and they involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause future results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include the risk of accidents and other risks associated with mineral exploration operations, the risk that the Company will encounter unanticipated geological factors, or the possibility that the Company may not be able to secure permitting and other agency or governmental clearances, necessary to carry out the Company's exploration plans, and the risk of political uncertainties and regulatory or legal changes in the jurisdictions where the Company carries on its business that might interfere with the Company's business and prospects. The reader is urged to refer to the Company's reports, publicly available through the Canadian Securities Administrators' System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/44868 Purchase Order and Deposit for 25 Passive Portal Units Received Del Mar, California--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2019) - Defense Technologies International Corp. (OTC Pink: DTII) (The Company,) an innovative provider of security technology with broad and diverse applications, is pleased to ANNOUNCE THE SIGNING OF ITS THIRD DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT FOR THE SALE OF DTII'S REVOLUTIONARY PASSIVE PORTAL TO AMERICAN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS and other PUBLIC VENUES. The agreement with King Distributer LLC calls for the manufacture and sale of twenty-five (25) Passive Portal units. In accordance with the agreement, Mr. King submitted his First Purchase Order and a 10% deposit for 25 Units, a retail value of $103,750.00. Mr. King, President of King Distributer LLC, is an accomplished senior manager with outstanding credentials and a proven record of results and action. His work history includes working for the Department of Defense and the National Guard Bureau as a Budget Analyst. Mr. King constantly progressed in the Recreational Services Industry after schooling at the in Disney Academy, roles demanding broad international presence to achieve expansion goals and objectives. His Professional Experiences with the National Guard Bureau and the Department of Defense as well as his proximity to Washington/DC will provide valuable Governmental contacts. The Passive Portal uses the 'Earth's Magnetic Fields' with no emissions for detection of dangerous weapons in the educational environment and is extremely safe for any person passing through. Other competing devices use technology with emissions that many parents, teachers and administrators are wary of. The 'Passive Portal' is the state-of-the-art for this security purpose and is significantly less expensive, allowing for more life-saving units to be deployed. "This is another big step forward for Defense Technologies International," stated Merrill W. Moses, President and CEO, Defense Technologies International. "Not only does this transaction expedite our desired goal of offering a better level of SAFETY & SECURITY for our Children but this hopefully will start the process of awareness to this issue with both our Parents and our School boards. That having a security feature like this in our educational settings is a doable event and of almost Paramount Importance. And that now for the first time we'll have a real-world template which we can leverage in our expanding and ongoing sales efforts." "Moreover, Mr. King's pedigree and established relationships in governmental environment makes him a perfect addition to our marketing force" added Mr. Moses. "I am most pleased to be the first to take the Passive Portal to market in the Easter Seaboard Area," stated David King "The Passive Portal is a true game changer for schools and other public venues providing for a safer environment." We are pleased to present the Company's Subsidiary's Video Production of the "Passive Portal" the Company's walk-through, passive weapons and metal detector scanner. Corporate Video: https://youtu.be/rFV6Y1tOdG4 Technical Video:https://youtu.be/uv4EYsjUmL4 Small Cap Corner: https://video214.com/play/6UOwWXj9ShcTz8Zq40uvLQ/s/dark?fbclid=IwAR0DzvLBxU5J1p5VsfuF94xQp5G2-O4HyQHpbGbDB8gMqjOVu0-PYUrcouA For more information on the Passive Security Scan Technology and the Passive Portal, please visit http://www.defensetechnologiesintl.com/ Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking" statements. Forward looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are no guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Contact: Defense Technologies International Merrill W. Moses, President & CEO Phone: 800 520-9485 Email: dtii@defensetechnologiesintl.com To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/44867 The global single superphosphate (SSP) market is expected to post a CAGR of close to 3% during the period 2019-2023, according to the latest market research report by Technavio This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190517005220/en/ Technavio has published a new market research report on the global single superphosphate (SSP) market from 2019-2023. A key factor driving the growth of the global single superphosphate (SSP) market is the increasing demand for phosphate fertilizers. This is mainly because these fertilizers contain high concentrations of phosphorous, which are required by plants. Phosphate fertilizers are classified into different types which include monoammonium phosphate, diammonium phosphate, triple superphosphate, SSP, and rock phosphate. SSP is extensively used in agriculture, owing to the ease of availability and its low cost. Thus, the increasing demand for phosphate fertilizers will drive the use of SSP as a fertilizer during the forecast period. As per Technavio, the rise in demand for micronutrient-based fertilizers will have a positive impact on the market and contribute to its growth significantly over the forecast period. This global single superphosphate (SSP) market 2019-2023 research report also analyzes other important trends and market drivers that will affect market growth over 2019-2023. Global single superphosphate (SSP) market: Rise in demand for micronutrient-based fertilizers The deficiency of micronutrients can hamper some of the critical plant functions, that results in low yield, reduced growth, and other plant abnormalities. This is resulting in an increase in demand for micronutrient fertilizers, that can be easily applied to plants and help overcome micronutrient deficiency in plants. These fertilizers also improve the nutritional content of horticultural crops, fruits, and vegetables. SSP is one of the nutrient-based fertilizers which contains phosphorous, calcium, and sulfur as nutrients that are useful in plants. Thus, the growing demand for micronutrient-based fertilizers will drive the growth of the SSP market during the forecast period. "Urbanization and industrialization are rapidly growing across the world, which has led to a reduction in arable land. Moreover, inappropriate agricultural practices and deforestation have reduced the fertility of arable lands. With shrinking arable land and the increase in global population, which has led to the increasing demand for food, the demand for fertilizers is increasing significantly. This will boost the use of SSP which will help in improving crop yield and meet the growing food requirement," says a senior research analyst at Technavio. Global single superphosphate (SSP) market: Segmentation analysis This market research report segments the global single superphosphate (SSP) market by application (agriculture, and others) and geographic regions (North America, APAC, Europe, South America, and MEA). The APAC region led the market in 2018, followed by South America, Europe, North America, and MEA respectively. The agriculture industries in India and China, which are under tremendous pressure because of the ever-rising population are the major consumers of fertilizers in the region. The increasing demand for wheat and milled rice in these economies will drive the consumption of SSP-based fertilizers during the forecast period. Looking for more information on this market? Request a free sample report Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report such as the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more. Some of the key topics covered in the report include: Market Landscape Market ecosystem Market characteristics Market segmentation analysis Market Sizing Market definition Market size and forecast Five Forces Analysis Market Segmentation Geographical Segmentation Regional comparison Key leading countries Market Drivers Market Challenges Market Trends Vendor Landscape Vendors covered Vendor classification Market positioning of vendors Competitive scenario About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 10,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190517005220/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 www.technavio.com Police said detectives didn't begin to piece the case together until May 7 two weeks after Ochoa-Lopez went missing when a friend of the teenage mom mentioned that she took part on a chat site on Facebook. On checking out the site, detectives learned that Ochoa-Lopez had gone to the Figueroa home to collect baby clothes. Detectives then went to the home and interviewed the younger Figueroa, who eventually disclosed that her mother had just given birth to a baby. A search of the neighborhood revealed Ochoa-Lopez's car parked not far away, police said. Quantzig, a leading analytics advisory firm that delivers customized analytics solutions, has announced the completion of its free resource on augmented analytics and its benefits. Today, we live in a new era of data, not just data but big data. In such a complex business scenario static dashboards and reporting tools aren't sufficient to sustain a competitive advantage. It's essential to uncover meaningful insights from data to thrive and expand your business. However, analyzing the gigantic troves of business information is not as easy as you think, but this process can be simplified through the use of advanced analytics solutions. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190517005331/en/ Business Benefits of Augmented Analytics (Graphic: Business Wire) Are you one among the thousands of organizations that are looking at leveraging augmented analytics? If yes, it's high time you redesign your business strategy. Request a free proposal to know more. Today modern business intelligence tools are capable of handling different types and huge volumes of data than ever before. But the processing of these data sets even before it can be utilized is still a manual and laborious process that relies on data scientists and analysts for data pre-processing. Which means there is a high possibility for human errors even before data is analyzed. Augmented analytics helps tackle this challenge by leveraging artificial intelligence to simplify such processes. "Today the data sets are so huge and complex that businesses can no longer manage them using traditional BI tools," says an advanced analytics expert from Quantzig. Augmented analytics has helped top companies across industries to better manage and analyze their data sets. Request a FREE demo to know more. Business Benefits of Augmented Analytics: Accelerates data discovery and data preparation Manual data discovery and analysis is often a cumbersome process that requires several months to extract meaningful insights from data. This is no more a challenge for businesses as augmented analytics can eliminate manual processes involved in data discovery and data analysis. Democratizes data analytics Augmented analytics accelerates the process of data discovery and helps businesses to detect the signals that affect business models. It democratizes the insights obtained from data making it easier for companies to understand complex data sets. Offers actionable insights to address core business requirements The traditional methods that revolve around the use of dedicated dashboards to extract actionable insights from data are usually laborious. With augmented analytics data scientists will now be able to focus on analyzing data to address specific problems. While it's important to leverage the best analytics and BI tools to drive significant outcomes, businesses should also analyze how a particular approach would help them maximize revenue. Download this FREE resource for in-depth insights on augmented analytics. About Quantzig Quantzig is a global analytics and advisory firm with offices in the US, UK, Canada, China, and India. For more than 15 years, we have assisted our clients across the globe with end-to-end data modeling capabilities to leverage analytics for prudent decision making. Today, our firm consists of 120+ clients, including 45 Fortune 500 companies. For more information on our engagement policies and pricing plans, visit: https://www.quantzig.com/request-for-proposal View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190517005331/en/ Contacts: Quantzig Anirban Choudhury Marketing Manager US: +1 630 538 7144 UK: +44 208 629 1455 https://www.quantzig.com/contact-us Elliotts Marketing is Proud to Offer their Clients Premium 100 Percent White Hat SEO Services LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2019 / The founders of Elliotts Marketing, an SEO agency UK business owners can rely on for their outstanding and effective services, are pleased to announce the launch of their new website. To check out the new website and learn more about what helps the UK's leading SEO agency's organic SEO services to stand apart from the competition, please visit http://elliottsmarketing.com/seo/. As a company spokesperson for the SEO agency in the UK - E-West Midlands area noted, the founders of Elliotts Marketing know that achieving a natural ranking on search engines takes more than simply SEO experience. Google is well-known for changing its algorithms and methods frequently, so it can be challenging for business owners to stay in the lead. "Our highly-specialised team knows this, and we are always on top of all these changes to ensure you reach the optimum position and stay there," the spokesperson for the SEO agency in the UK noted, adding that the team from Elliotts Marketing helps their clients much more by coming up with an effective SEO marketing plan. "Our solid experience and knowledge of SEO methodologies will help you reach the right target market and generate a higher return on investment. Our goal is not just to get you to page one; as the top SEO agency in the UK, we want to help you reach rank one." The secret to SEO success at Elliotts Marketing is that they provide only premium 100 percent White Hat SEO Service. As the spokesperson noted, it provides the manual link building and natural organic flavor that Google loves, along with the sustainable and reliable results that their clients need, all with SEO marketing UK business owners can depend on. "With unique hand-written content specifically for your site, and a great diversity of link types and platforms, we are dedicated to help boost your SERPs, and keep those rankings for the long term," the spokesperson noted, adding that since Elliotts Marketing first opened for business, they have earned a well deserved reputation as one of the top SEO marketing companies in the UK. About Elliotts Marketing: With over 6 years experience in the web design/development area, the team from Elliotts Marketing has a wide range of skills and technology to deliver superb quality, innovative websites by their clients' requirements - all at a nominal cost. The company, which has developed a reputation as the best SEO agency in the UK, also offers innovative and effective SEO marketing plans to help their clients reach the best target market. For more information, please visit http://elliottsmarketing.com/seo-packages/. Contact: Wade Alexander Elliott elliottwade25@gmail.com +447908575491 SOURCE: Elliotts Marketing View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/545771/Elliotts-Marketing-an-SEO-Agency-in-the-UK-Announces-the-Launch-of-their-New-Website NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2019 / The Wallkill Boys & Girls Club in the Town of Wallkill NY organized their yearly "Grown Here", a farm-to-table dining experience where dishes made by four local chefs were served. The dishes were carefully cooked with locally grown and produced ingredients. Additionally, local wines, craft beers, and spirits were also served. Sherry Li, CEO of Thompson Education Center was a sponsor of the event, specifically the "rare and unique" wine auction" which was hosted by Dr. David Ainbinder. Sherry commented, "It is such a pleasure to support and attend the events hosted by our Boys & Girls Club. Not only do we have a great time together but all of the proceeds go towards the children. It's a win-win for our community." Thompson Education Center is a project that plans to create a high-end education community. It is located in Sullivan County, Town of Thompson, covering 575 acres. The initial development of the Thompson Education Center would work with accredited colleges to develop a new high-end and modern comprehensive Education community in Sullivan County. It will include a Business School, a school of Film & Arts, Nurse/Medical Training, Culinary Training, High School Equivalent Diploma, Executive and Vocational Training program as well as related ancillary facilities. After completion, the project will include classroom buildings, student dormitory apartments, student group housing units & a recreational center. In addition there will be a faculty housing, a college Inn, a college library, museums, an art center, a student conference center and an indoor/outdoor recreational facility including playgrounds and a stadium. Currently,Thompson Education Center has entered into agreements and signed letter of interests with high schools, colleges, education institutions and systems both in U.S. and China, each of them will provide a great number of students to Thompson Education Center. Also, TEC has already been working with several U.S. accredited colleges on Undergraduate Programs and ESL Programs. TEC will bring economic growth to the local community. Numerous construction professional firms have been retained for the project such as architects, engineers, land-use lawyers, local contractors. An increasing number of jobs will be created throughout the entire project, such as real estate agents, professors, instructors, librarian, cleaning, and maintenance workers amongst many others. Thompson Education Center is proud to be a community member and willing to support and to help our community and children. Together we can build a better, stronger and healthier community. Thompson Education Center - A High-End Education Community in Sullivan County, NY: http://thompsoneducationcenternews.com Thompson Education Center Participates in Notte Di Savoia 2019: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/thompson-education-center-participates-notte-185500029.html Thompson Education Center Goes To The Oscars Hosting Viewing Gala, Dinner and Awards: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/thompson-education-center-goes-oscars-235000211.html Contact Information: ThompsonEducationCenterNews.com http://thompsoneducationcenternews.com contact@thompsoneducationcenternews.com SOURCE: Thompson Education Center View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/545692/Sherry-Li-and-Thompson-Education-Center-Sponsor-the-Annual-Grown-Here-Farm-to-Table-Experience-for-the-Community-of-Wallkill-NY AM Best has removed from under review with positive implications and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of B++ (Good) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) of "bbb" of GBG Insurance Limited (Guernsey). The outlook assigned to the FSR is stable, whilst the outlook assigned to the Long-Term ICR is positive. GBG Insurance Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of GBGI Limited (GBGI), its non-operating holding company, which consolidates the GBG group (GBG). The Credit Rating (rating) actions follow the close of the acquisition of GBGI by Elm Bidco, L.P. (Bidco) on 20 February 2019, and the completion of AM Best's analysis of GBG's revised business plans and their impact on its rating fundamentals. Bidco is a Cayman Island-exempted limited partnership that is controlled by affiliates of Further Global Capital Management, L.P., a firm that manages private equity funds that invest in the financial services industry. The positive outlook assigned to the Long-Term ICR reflects AM Best's expectation that GBG's balance sheet strength will improve in the medium term due to strengthening of its risk-adjusted capitalisation. Additionally, there have been a number of new appointments in the company's leadership team, which could lead to improvements in its enterprise risk management (ERM). The ratings reflect GBG's balance sheet strength, which AM Best categorises as strong, as well as its strong operating performance, limited business profile and marginal ERM. GBG's balance sheet strength is underpinned by risk-adjusted capitalisation, which AM Best expects to be maintained at the strongest level in the medium term, as measured by Best's Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), supported by the retention of future earnings. Partially offsetting factors are GBG's relatively small capital base and moderate dependence on reinsurance. The company's risk-adjusted capitalisation was lower than anticipated at year-end 2018 but recovered in the first quarter of 2019 to a level comfortably above minimum requirements for the strongest assessment, benefiting from a USD 10 million capital injection by the new shareholders. GBG has a track record of producing strong operating results, as demonstrated by its weighted average combined ratio of 92.1% and a return on equity of 17.1%, reported between financial years 2015 to 2018. The company has reported an elevated expense ratio of approximately 43% in each of the past two years, due to the impact of one-off events and non-recurring fees, some of which are expected to continue into 2019. Nonetheless, underlying profitability remains strong, and AM Best expects GBG's technical results to return to a normalised level in the medium term, with a combined ratio in the mid-90s range. Investment results are modest in view of the company's conservative asset allocation. AM Best's assessment of GBG's business profile reflects its relatively small, but growing, size and its low-risk insurance portfolio comprising of short-tail health and life products. The company maintains good geographical diversification but faces material competition from larger international players. This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best's website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best's Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Understanding Best's Credit Ratings. For information on the proper media use of Best's Credit Ratings and AM Best press releases, please view Guide for Media Proper Use of Best's Credit Ratings and AM Best Rating Action Press Releases AM Best is a global rating agency and information provider with a unique focus on the insurance industry. Visit www.ambest.com for more information Copyright 2019 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190517005352/en/ Contacts: Valeria Ermakova Senior Financial Analyst +44 20 7397 6269 valeria.ermakova@ambest.com Salman Siddiqui Associate Director, Analytics +44 20 7397 0331 salman.siddiqui@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 Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2019) - High Mountain Capital Corporation (TSXV: BUZD.P) ("High Mountain") is pleased to announce that it, together with its wholly-owned subsidiary, 2696170 Ontario Inc. ("Subco"), has entered into an amalgamation agreement dated May 15, 2019 (the "Amalgamation Agreement") with Facedrive Inc. ("Facedrive") pursuant to which Subco will amalgamate with Facedrive (the "Amalgamation") to complete an arm's length qualifying transaction (the "Transaction") in accordance with the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV"). The Amalgamation is structured as a three-cornered amalgamation and, as a result, the amalgamated corporation will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of High Mountain at the time of the completion of the Amalgamation. Following the completion of the Amalgamation, High Mountain will change its name to "Facedrive Inc." (the "Resulting Issuer"). The Amalgamation Agreement will be made available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Facedrive and High Mountain anticipate closing the Transaction in mid to late July 2019. About Facedrive Facedrive is a Toronto-based ridesharing company that operates in the technology sector. Incorporated in Ontario in 2016, Facedrive was created to offer a transportation network that was first and foremost socially responsible and CO2 emissions neutral. Facedrive is a unique people and planet first ride-sharing platform committed to doing business fairly and equitably with both our riders and drivers. As a community platform, drivers are real partners in Facedrive, benefitting from uniquely customized incentives and rewards that reflect Facedrive's dedication to shared success and amongst the highest in the ridesharing industry. Facedrive's commitment to the planet is demonstrated by green-incentives for both drivers and customers because Facedrive believes that we all benefit when empowered individuals make positive choices. Facedrive customers can request rides in electric, hybrid and gas-powered vehicles through the Facedrive App. Trips on the system offset the CO2 emitted by contributing a portion of the fare to carbon offset, tree planting and other measured, sustainable programs. Facedrive is a first of its kind ridesharing platform that is designed to incentivize and empower the green and socially responsible consumer that is looking to make a meaningful and measurable impact. Select Financial Information for Facedrive Based on the audited annual financial statements for Facedrive for the year ended December 31, 2018, Facedrive had gross fees from riders of $58,541, net revenue of $13,579 and a net loss of $1,933,547. As at December 31, 2018, Facedrive had total assets of $200,497, total liabilities of $1,223,334 and a shareholder's deficiency of $1,022,837. Facedrive Financing Before the effective time of the Amalgamation, Facedrive proposes to complete a non-brokered private placement (the "Private Placement") of subscription receipts (the "Subscription Receipts"). Pursuant to the Private Placement, Facedrive will offer up to $5,000,002 of Subscription Receipts representing 666,667 Subscription Receipts at a price of $7.50 per Subscription Receipt (which is also the Transaction Price, as that term is defined by the TSXV). Each Subscription Receipt will be exchangeable for one class B share in the capital of Facedrive (a "Facedrive Class B Share") upon the satisfaction of certain conditions related to the Transaction. Pursuant to the terms of the Amalgamation Agreement, holders of Facedrive Class B Shares exchanged for the Subscription Receipts will receive common shares in the capital of the Resulting Issuer (the "Resulting Issuer Common Shares") upon completion of the Amalgamation (and subject to the share consolidation, as described under the heading "About the Transaction") on the basis of 0.473538 Resulting Issuer Common Shares for each Facedrive Class B Share held. The completion of the Private Placement is not a condition to closing the Transaction. The net proceeds from the Private Placement will be used for scaling the business, launching Facedrive into multiple cities and for general corporate purposes. Facedrive intends to pay a finder's fee in connection with the Private Placement of 5% or $0.375 per Subscription Receipt sold. About the Transaction Under the terms of the Amalgamation Agreement, at the effective time of the Amalgamation, among other things, each holder of class A shares in the capital of Facedrive (the "Facedrive Class A Shares" together with the Facedrive Class B Shares, the "Facedrive Shares") and Facedrive Class B Shares shall exchange their Facedrive Shares for Resulting Issuer Common Shares on the basis of 0.473538 fully paid and non-assessable Resulting Issuer Common Share for every one Facedrive Share held. There are currently 12,236,846 Facedrive Class A Shares and 5,945,205 Facedrive Class B Shares outstanding. Immediately after the completion of the Transaction on a non-diluted basis and after giving effect to the High Mountain consolidation, the current shareholders of High Mountain (assuming exercise of all High Mountain options) will own following the Transaction approximately 132,400 Resulting Issuer Common Shares (1.46%) and the holders of Facedrive Shares existing immediately prior to the Transaction (including any Facedrive Class B Shares issued upon the conversion of the Subscription Receipts) will own following the Transaction approximately 8,609,892 Resulting Issuer Common Shares (95.05%). Imran Khan, a co-founder of Facedrive and a resident of Canada, and Sayan Navaratnam, a resident of Canada, will hold 22.72% and 24.25% of the Resulting Issuer Common Shares, respectively, each representing a controlling interest in Facedrive following the completion of the Transaction. High Mountain will hold an annual and special meeting of its shareholder on July 4, 2019 to approve certain matters related to the Transaction, including: the appointment of UHY McGovern Hurley LLP as the auditor and the authorization of the board of directors of High Mountain to fix the remuneration thereof; fixing the number of directors to be elected at five (5); electing directors of High Mountain for the ensuing year; a change in the name of High Mountain from "High Mountain Capital Corporation" to "Facedrive Inc." or such other name as the board of directors of High Mountain deems appropriate; a new High Mountain stock option plan; a consolidation of the common shares of High Mountain on the basis of one post consolidation common share for every 50 pre-consolidation common shares; and a continuance of High Mountain from a corporation incorporated under the laws of the Province of Alberta to a corporation continued under the laws of the Province of Ontario. Additional details regarding the annual and special meeting of the shareholders of High Mountain will be available in a management information circular that will be delivered to shareholders of High Mountain in early June 2019. The Amalgamation will be approved by the sole shareholder of Subco and by the shareholders of Facedrive, each by way of a resolution. The completion of the Amalgamation is conditional on obtaining all necessary regulatory and shareholder approvals in connection with the matters described above and other conditions customary for a transaction of this type. Note that all of the foregoing figures in this press release have been calculated based on the following assumptions: (i) 666,667 Subscription Receipts are issued pursuant to the Private Placement; (ii) the Private Placement closes in May or June 2019; and (iii) the Transaction closes in July 2019. If these assumptions differ from the foregoing, the number of Resulting Issuer Common Shares held by shareholders of Facedrive will differ. Arm's Length Transaction The Transaction was negotiated by parties who are dealing at arm's length with each other and therefore, in accordance with the policies of the TSXV, is not a Non-Arm's Length Qualifying Transaction, as that term is defined by the TSXV. Proposed Management and Board of Directors of the Resulting Issuer Upon completion of the Transaction, it is anticipated that the persons identified below will serve as directors and officers of the Resulting Issuer. Sayan Navaratnam - Chief Executive Officer and Director Sayan Navaratnam graduated from the University of Toronto with a double specialist degree in economics and political science. Mr. Navaratnam has over twenty years of executive experience in technology development, sales and marketing. Mr. Navaratnam was the Chief Operating Officer and a shareholder of ASPRO Technologies Ltd. ("ASPRO"), a company in the business of developing digital video management systems for the security industry. Mr. Navaratnam led the successful sale of ASPRO to a group of investors from New York and Toronto. After ASPRO Technologies Ltd., Mr. Navaratnam joined A. C. Technical Systems Ltd., as the Chief Executive Officer, one of the largest independent security and surveillance systems integrator in Canada. Creative Vistas, Inc. acquired A. C. Technical Systems Ltd. and Mr. Navaratnam became the Chairman of Creative Vistas, Inc. He also is the Chairman of Connex Telecommunications Corporation, one of the largest providers of contact centre technology solutions in Canada. Mr. Navaratnam currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman for Facedrive Inc. and also has ownership interests in several businesses in the technology development and provisioning fields. These businesses include Connex Telecommunications Corporation and all of its subsidiaries, Dependable It, Ossim-view, AC Technical Systems Ltd, Nationwide Solutions, Malar Investment Holdings, Malar Group, Pneutech Rousseau Group, Knowledgehook, DeCosta Social, Bryte Path partners, Hauskey, Dyna Lync, Pulse services, among others. He also serves on the board of a number of these companies. Junaid Razvi - Executive Vice President, Corporate Secretary and Director Junaid Razvi has worked in the technology and telecommunications industry for close to 20 years. Mr. Razvi founded Pan Arabia Information Systems ("Pan Arabia") in 2008 in the United Arab Emirates. Pan Arabia provides telecom related services and solutions to the oil & gas industries along with semi-governmental agencies in Abu Dhabi. Mr. Razvi co-founded Facedrive with the intent to create the first sustainable ride share platform in Canada. Mr. Razvi, in his capacity as a co-founder, is responsible for looking after all corporate governance and affairs for Facedrive. Hamilton Jeyaraj - Director Hamilton Jeyaraj is a family physician and an interventional pain management specialist in Ontario. Dr. Jeyaraj has been in active practice for the past 12 years. He is currently an adjuvant assistant professor for the family medicine residency program at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. Dr. Jeyaraj serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Medical Trust Clinics. Dr. Jeyaraj is the medical director of six clinics across Ontario. Dr. Jeyaraj completed his medical degree in India and completed his family medicine residency at University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Dr. Jeyaraj also holds an Honors in Bachelor of Science degree from University of Toronto. Dominic Burns - Director Dominic Burns founded A.C. Technical and currently serves as its President, a position which he has held since 1990. Mr. Burns completed his electrical apprenticeship program in Northern Ireland. Mr. Burns graduated from Belfast College of Technology with honors in city & guilds electrical theory and regulations. Mr. Burns also holds a diploma in radio and navigation systems. Mr. Burns has an extensive understanding of quality controls in the avionics industry and has been a pioneer in transferring many of the high-quality standards and controls set in the avionics industry to the security integration market. Mr. Burns has been primarily responsible for expanding A.C. Technical's presence in Canada and the United States. Mr. Burns has also designed a number of internal technical and marketing programs to expand A.C. Technical's sales and technical capabilities. Mr. Burns has over 25 years of experience in the security integration industry. Mr. Burns also sits on the advisory board of three industry related companies located in the United States and Canada. Paul Zed - Director Paul Zed is counsel at McCarthy Tetrault LLP and also acts as a strategic advisor to the firm. For the past 10 years, Mr. Zed has provided strategic leadership advice within the telecom and technology sector. In September 2015, Mr. Zed was appointed Chairman of the Rogers Enterprise Business Unit (a division of Rogers Communications Inc.) President's Advisory Board, where he worked on business development projects for the public and private sector. From 2009 to 2015, Mr. Zed served as Chairman of Cisco Systems Canada's President's Advisory Board, where the team led the establishment and transformation of the largest technology investment in Canadian history. Mr. Zed was also involved with the establishment of the $150 million Cisco Canada Innovation Program for venture capital start-ups. Mr. Zed was elected three times serving almost ten years as the Member of Parliament for the federal ridings of Fundy Royal and Saint John. He served as the Chairman of several important committees of the House of Commons in Ottawa including the Standing Committee on Industry, Government Operations and Procedure and House Affairs, Transportation, Infrastructure and Communities. He was also the Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government and serving two Canadian Prime Ministers. Heung Hung Lee - Chief Financial Officer Heung Hung has more than 20 years of experience in financial management and international public accounting. Ms. Lee also has advanced knowledge in financial statement disclosure and audit issues and has extensive international business experience in countries such as the United States, Hong Kong SAR and the Peoples' Republic of China. She was a manager at BDO Dunwoody LLP from 1999 to 2004. Ms. Lee holds a Bachelor of Business degree from Monash University in Australia. She is a Chartered Accountant in Canada and qualified CPA in Australia. As Chief Financial Officer of Facedrive, Ms. Lee is responsible for review of financials and creating and implementing strong financial systems within the company. Ms. Lee is also highly involved in creating a platform for growth within Facedrive. Sponsorship Haywood Securities Inc., subject to completion of satisfactory due diligence, has agreed to act as sponsor in connection with the Transaction. An agreement to sponsor should not be construed as any assurance with respect to the merits of the Transaction or the likelihood of completion. Completion of the Transaction is subject to a number of conditions including, but not limited to, TSXV acceptance. There can be no assurance that the Transaction will be completed as proposed or at all. Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the filing statement to be prepared in connection with the Transaction, any information released or received with respect to the Transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in securities of a capital pool company should be considered highly speculative. The TSXV has in no way passed upon the merits of the Transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the content of this press release. In this press release, all references to "$" are to Canadian dollars. * * * This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in any jurisdiction. ANY SECURITIES REFERRED TO HEREIN WILL NOT BE REGISTERED UNDER THE U.S. SECURITIES ACT OF 1933 (THE "1933 ACT") AND MAY NOT BE OFFERED OR SOLD IN THE UNITED STATES OR TO A U.S. PERSON IN THE ABSENCE OF SUCH REGISTRATION OR AN EXEMPTION FROM THE REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS OF THE 1933 ACT. 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 LAW. Notice regarding forward-looking statements: This press release includes forward-looking statements regarding High Mountain, Subco, Facedrive, the Resulting Issuer and their respective businesses, which may include, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the completion of the Transaction and the Private Placement, the terms on which the Transaction and the Private Placement are intended to be completed, the use of the net proceeds from the Private Placement, the ability to obtain regulatory and shareholder approvals and other factors. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "is expected", "expects", "scheduled", "intends", "contemplates", "anticipates", "believes", "proposes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Such statements are based on the current expectations of the management of each entity. The forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this release, including completion of the Transaction and the Private Placement may not occur by certain specified dates or at all and could differ materially as a result of known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties affecting the companies, including risks regarding the technology industry, failure to obtain regulatory or shareholder approvals, economic factors, the equity markets generally and risks associated with growth and competition. Although High Mountain and Facedrive have attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Except as required by applicable securities laws, forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and High Mountain and Facedrive undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, other than as required by law. 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. For further information concerning High Mountain Capital Corporation, please contact: Bill Kanters, President, Chief Executive Officer and Director Tel: (403) 619-7118 For further information concerning Facedrive Inc., please contact: Sayan Navaratnam, Chief Executive Officer and Director Tel: (905) 944-6535 To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/44877 Conference call scheduled for Monday May 20th, 2019, 11:00am Eastern time, 8:00am Pacific Time See dial in number below VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2019 / FLEXIBLE SOLUTIONS INTERNATIONAL, INC. (NYSE Amex: FSI, FRANKFURT: FXT), is the developer and manufacturer of biodegradable polymers for oil extraction, detergent ingredients and water treatment as well as crop nutrient availability chemistry. Flexible Solutions also manufactures biodegradable and environmentally safe water and energy conservation technologies. Today the Company announces financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2019. Mr. Dan O'Brien, CEO comments, "We are very pleased with the results of our first quarter. Having a record profit to go with record revenue truly shows the quality of our team and, in addition, the quality of the new team members who joined us last October." CEO O'Brien continues, "Nine cents a share is excellent earnings, however, Shareholders should be aware that earnings were reduced by two items. The costs of the October ENP acquisition reduced earnings by approximately cent per share which will not recur. Second, during the quarter we placed more than $250,000 in tariffs with the US Government, most of which will be recovered over a period of time through the rebate program for export sales." Mr. O'Brien concludes, "At some future point we will receive the tariff rebates and since the acquisition won't recur, we consider that the underlying non-GAAP earning for the quarter to be 11 cents rather than 9." Sales for the first quarter (Q1), 2019 were up approximately 102% to $8,471,476 when compared to sales of $4,201,180 for Q1, 2018. The result was an after tax GAAP accounting net income of $1,011,150, or $0.09 per weighted average share for Q1, 2019, compared to an after tax GAAP accounting net income of $703,664, or $0.06 per weighted average share for Q1, 2018. See comment above regarding tariff rebates. Basic weighted average shares used in computing earnings per share amounts for the quarter were: 11,705,613 and 11,620,291 for Q1, 2019 and Q1, 2018 respectively. Non-GAAP operating cash flow: For the 3 months ending March 31, 2019, net income reflects $154,026 of non-cash charges (depreciation and stock option expenses), loss on involuntary disposition, interest income, interest expense, (gain)/loss on investment, write down of inventory, deferred tax expense, and income tax. These items are items not related to operating or current operating activities. When these items are removed, the Company shows operating cash flow of $1,300,360, or $0.11 per share. This compares with operating cash flow of $1,104,379 or $0.10 per share, in the corresponding 3 months of 2018 (See the table that follows for details of these calculations. Anticipated tariff rebates are not included in the operating cash flow number). The NanoChem division continues to be more than 60% of revenue and cash flow for the Company. New opportunities continue to unfold in detergent, water treatment, oil field extraction and agricultural use to further increase sales in this division. In past years the NanoChem division sales have been less volatile quarter over quarter, however due to increasing sales to agriculture, revenue seasonality may become larger. * a conference call has been scheduled for 11:00 am Eastern Time, 8:00 am Pacific Time, on Monday May 20th, 2019. CEO, Dan O'Brien will be presenting and answering questions on the conference call. To participate in this call please dial toll free 1-888-220-8474 (or +1 856-344-9221) just prior to the scheduled call time. The conference call title, " First Quarter 2019 Financial Results ," may be requested. The above information and following table contain supplemental information regarding income and cash flow from operations for the period ended March 31, 2019. Adjustments to exclude depreciation, stock option expenses and one time charges are given. This financial information is a Non-GAAP financial measure as defined by SEC regulation G. The GAAP financial measure most directly comparable is net income. The reconciliation of each of the Non-GAAP financial measures is as follows: FLEXIBLE SOLUTIONS INTERNATIONAL, INC. Consolidated Statement of Operations For 3 Months Ended March 31 (3 Months Operating Cash Flow) (Unaudited) 3 months ended March 31 2019 2018 Revenue $ 8,471,476 $ 4,201,180 Income (loss) before income tax - GAAP $ 1,293,495 a $ 1,005,560 a Provision for Income tax(Recovery) net - GAAP $ (253,081) a $ (301,896) Net income (loss) - GAAP $ 1,011,150 a $ 703,664 a Net income (loss) per common share - basic. - GAAP $ 0.09 a $ 0.06 a 3 month weighted average shares used in computing per share amounts - basic.- GAAP 11,705,613 a 11,620,291 3 month Operating Cash Flow Ended March 31 Operating Cash Flow (3 months). NON-GAAP $ 1,300,360 b,c $ 1,104,379 b Operating Cash flow per share excluding non-operating items and items not related to current operations (3 months) - basic. NON-GAAP $ 0.11 b,c $ 0.10 b Non-cash Adjustments (3 month) GAAP $ 154,026 d $ 85,400 d Shares (3 month basic weighted average) used in computing per share amounts - basic GAAP 11,705,613 11,620,291 Notes : certain items not related to "operations" of the Company have been excluded from net income as follows. a) Non-GAAP -::See comment on page 1 regarding treatment of tariffs. Provision for Income tax less Deferred income tax recovery = $379,080 less $125,999. See the financials for these numbers. b) Non-GAAP - amounts exclude certain cash and non-cash items: depreciation and stock option expense (2019 = $154,026, 2018 = $85,400), Gain on investment ( 2019 = $230,652, 2018 = N/A), net gain/(loss) on involuntary disposition of equipment (2019 = N/A, 2018 = $7,716), write down of inventory (2019 = N/A, 2018 = N/A), interest income (2019 = $16,252, 2018 = $1,697), Interest expense (2019 = $129,007, 2018 = $7,400) deferred tax (expense)/recovery (2019 = $125,999, 2018 = N/A), and Income tax expense (2019 = $379,080, 2018 = $301,896. See the financial statements for all adjustments. c) The revenue and gain from the 50% investment in the private Florida LLC announced in January 2019 is not treated as revenue or profit from operations by Flexible Solutions given the Company only purchased 50% of the LLC. The profit is treated as investment income and therefore occurs below Operating income in the Statement of Operations. As a result the $230,652 gain from Flexible Solutions share in the LLC is removed from the calculation to arrive at Operating Cash Flow. d) Non-GAAP - amounts represent depreciation and stock compensation expense. Safe Harbor Provision The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "Safe Harbor" for forward-looking statements. Certain of the statements contained herein, which are not historical facts, are forward looking statements with respect to events, the occurrence of which involve risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements may be impacted, either positively or negatively, by various factors. Information concerning potential factors that could affect the company is detailed from time to time in the company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Flexible Solutions International 6001 54th Ave, Taber, Alberta, CANADA T1G 1X4 Company Contacts Jason Bloom Toll Free: 800 661 3560 Fax: 403 223 2905 E-mail: info@flexiblesolutions.com If you have received this news release by mistake or if you would like to be removed from our update list please reply to: info@flexiblesolutions.com To find out more information about Flexible Solutions and our products, please visit www.flexiblesolutions.com. SOURCE: Flexible Solutions International View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/545788/FSI-Announces-First-Quarter-2019-Financial-Results LONDON, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- London Business School introduced its latest case study "Innovation and Agility at Tencent's WeChat" in its Strategy and Innovation Class. The case represents the beginning of a partnership between the school and Tencent. Both sides will explore deeper cooperation in terms of business thinking and practices, cultivation of talent, and cultural exchange. Professor Julian Birkinshaw, Deputy Dean at London Business School and Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, commented that the value of the WeChat case study is not just in providing an understanding of the successes and failures of WeChat itself, but as a window into innovation in Tencent, and Chinese tech companies as a whole. Tencent's openness to sharing the innovation practices in WeChat with students around the world, coupled with the research insights provide by LBS, will contribute to the advancement of global business thinking and the building of a more inclusive digital future. Dickie Liang-Hong Ke, the co-author of the case study and Sloan Fellow at the London Business School commented: "The move from 'Copy to China' to 'Copy from China' is an obvious trend. The innovation and agility seen at Tencent's WeChat are very valuable assets for other companies in their quest of innovation." One for All, All for One The case study holds up WeChat as a classic example of a product evolving from application to platform, and then becoming an industry standard. WeChat was originally a social app, which in the early stage, earned a huge number of users by continuously improving and optimizing its features" says Dickie Liang-Hong Ke. "Then WeChat adapted its open strategy, launched the Official Accounts and created the WeChat Pay ecosystem, and thus successfully converted itself from a social networking app to an influential platform. In 2017, Mini Programs was launched, and quickly became an industry de-facto standard. The tipping point came when WeChat opened up its platform, allowing third-party businesses and individuals to co-create content and services for free to better serve WeChat users. It became a true One-For-All-All-For-One app, in which WeChat provided ready-to-use developer tools and set up clear rules and regulations, allowing everyone to contribute to WeChat services and benefit from doing so. While most of its competitors in China and around the world were anxious to find a route to profitability, WeChat was considering users' needs first and crafting an excellent design. Being a platform app is by no means an easy ride. Renjie Hu, head of Tencent Guangzhou Office, recalls: "When we talked to other businesses in those early years (about opening up our platform for free), they said we were 'Buddha-like' in that we kept helping others, but we have also benefited - it's like honeybees benefiting from the honey while pollinating the flowers." Coherence Goes First WeChat was born in a bunker where the app's creator Allen Zhang and a team of ten developers created the product. Allen's management style was informal and interactive, he enjoyed rolling up his sleeves and sitting together with a team of software engineers, going through new features, trying to optimize the product. Everyone on the team, from senior management to interns, could offer their thoughts on new innovations. To maintain the coherence of the product, Allen would set the tone for all subsequent features. The team built up a very consistent value. In its growth from a team of ten to two thousand, WeChat has always kept a flat organizational structure. According to the case study, Allen and the management team have brought down the 2,000-strong team to multiple smaller units of 100-150 people maximum. Breaking down the organization in this way helped with speed and ownership. As a platform app with multiple features, WeChat's coherence is the other key factor to its success. In terms of the innovation process, WeChat has applied the top-down style more frequently. The research team found out that the saying "Allen Zhang decides" is brought up frequently when interviewing WeChat team members. "Clear authority and ownership at the top", concludes Professor Julian Birkinshaw in the case study, "If you allow everyone to add their own favourite features, you end up with a complex and messy product." An early member of WeChat, mentions that this top-down approach is particularly important for entirely new products. "When we are trying to create something revolutionary, a bottom-up process would tear it apart. Users need to be given an extremely clear concept with precise information - and that needs a single architect." When it comes to incremental innovation, more bottom-up innovation was encouraged, with the optimization of the Red Packet function in WeChat Pay and the newly developed feature Top Stories offering good examples. WeChat's head of HR shares: "The middle-level management needs to have more capacity to take up the slack. We have many department managers who grew up together with Allen, and they are very clear about his mode of operation. Similarly, they will inherit his thinking and models that they pass downwards. In the process, that inheritance is very important to make sure that uniformity with Allen is preserved." WeChat Go Global Talking about the future growth, Allen shares his view: "WeChat has reached one billion users, but actually, we've never thought that the number of users was particularly importantwe care more about how to provide our existing users with more services. This is a more important question. To find and then respond to future demand is what we need to do the most." "Going global" is agreed to be a practical way to grow. As WeChat's pioneer for international expansion, WeChat Pay overseas has a team building relationships with foreign businesses and regulators, in order to make WeChat Pay available for use in foreign markets. WeChat Pay is now available in 49 markets outside of the Chinese mainland, supporting cross-border payment transactions in 16 currencies. According to the latest data, in the year of 2018, the monthly average transaction volume saw an increase of 500% year-on-year, while the total transaction value increased 400%. Meanwhile, the number of service providers witnessed a year-on-year increase 300%, and the number of merchants accepting WeChat Pay increased 700%. "In the past five years, the progress of mobile payment technology development in China has received global attention, and the digitization of all walks of life has continued at a rapid pace. The real driving force behind this is not just a payment tool, but also the supports of third-party service providers from the various industries. They are the true representatives of digital innovation in China," says Peiku Li, Vice-President of WeChat Pay. The wide variety of functions available within the WeChat Ecosystem will help overseas merchants to smoothly accelerate the digitalization process, in order to better serve Chinese tourists overseas. In terms of potential growth areas, the case study's co-author Dickie Liang-Hong Ke says "WeChat now has one billion of the world's seven billion potential users, the growth potential in user number can be limited, especially in China. However, there are many other possibilities, for example, the creation of new services, and the exploration and application of new technologies are all possibilities. The change in the technology of human computer interface, such as VR, can present both challenges and opportunities. WeChat must always think about what direction the next disruptive technology will come from." Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/889073/London_Business_School_case_study_WeChat.jpg Ambassador of Ireland to the USA to Address Think Global Forum NYC The Think Global Forum is set to return to the United States on May 20, 2019. The event takes place in New York City and will be hosted at the Irish Consulate on Park Avenue, with special guest, Daniel Mulhall, Ambassador of Ireland to the United States. The Think Global Forum NYC is co-sponsored by Enterprise Ireland represented by Hannah Webb, SVP, and hosted by Vistatec - represented by Unn Villius, Chief Sales Officer, Jill Goldsberry, Director of Sales and Priscillia Charles, Communications Director, Think Global Forum. The Think Global Forum is particularly delighted that Daniel Mulhall, Ambassador of Ireland to the United States of America will deliver the opening address for what is expected to be a unique opportunity to share and discuss ideas about the future of our industry. "I'm very excited to host this event together with our partners in Enterprise Ireland, and particularly honored that Ambassador Mulhall will open the Think Global Forum in addition to joining us for dinner. I love New York, and the location of the consulate is the perfect spot to take in the city as an additional perk," said Unn Villius. Speakers at the Think Global Forum NYC event include: Daniel Mulhall, Ambassador of Ireland to the United States Yuka Kurihara, Director of Globalization, Pitney Bowes Jeff Marques, Sr. Program Manager, Globalization, Adobe Hannah Webb, Senior Vice President, Business and Consumer Services, Talent Management and BPO, Enterprise Ireland The forum will cover many interesting topics, including the special relationship between Ireland and the USA, global eCommerce, and the importance of client-vendor relationships. The afternoon event will be followed by a private dinner reception with Ambassador Mulhall and guests from a wide range of leading organizations. "This is going to be a very special Think Global Forum in New York. We are looking forward to welcoming forum members, speakers, and guests for what promises to be a terrific event," added Simon Hodgkins, Founder, Think Global Forum. This will be the first forum in New York City where VIP guests will be welcomed to the Irish Consulate located in the heart of the city, just a few minutes from the historical Rockefeller Center. This Think Global Forum follows hot on the heels of other events such as the Think Global Forum London and Los Angeles, which took place in London on May 15, 2019, and Los Angeles on April 15, 2019. To learn more or to join the Think Global Forum, please visit: https://www.thinkglobalforum.org. About Think Global Forum The Think Global Forum is a community of global individuals including forum participants, industry experts, speakers and Forum Executives. The Think Global Forum is designed to provide insights and thought leadership in the context of Technology, Travel, Manufacturing, Life Sciences, Retail, eCommerce and a growing number of sectors around the world. The forum offers keen insights into the here and now and, most importantly, the future. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190517005509/en/ Contacts: Priscillia Charles Communications Director, Think Global Forum priscillia@thinkglobalforum.org https://www.thinkglobalforum.org LONDON, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- WeChat Pay announced that Europe would be their next key market of WeChat Pay Cross-border Business on the Europe-first WeChat Open Class in London. Continues its ONE FOR BILLION business initiative, WeChat Pay provides merchants with not only an advanced mobile payment method, but also ONE platform which enables long-term communications and customized customer services for BILLIONs of Chinese consumers. As of April 2019, the number of merchants in Europe offering WeChat Pay as a payment method was 3.5 times higher than that of last year. With outbound travel becoming easier and an increase in personal income levels, the Chinese outbound travel market continues to expand. According to latest data, in 2018, more than 149 million Chinese tourists travelled abroad, and Europe took up 11 percent of it. Capitalizing on the dividends of Chinese tourist traffic will be key in the future growth of tourism related industries. However, differences in language and consumption habits often affect the overall travel experience of Chinese tourists. For merchants, the lack of good communication channels may result in losing the potential Chinese customers who may eventually go to their competitors. WeChat has 1.112 billion monthly active users worldwide, of which 800 million are users of WeChat Pay. WeChat Pay has officially entered more than 49 overseas countries and regions, making it an excellent way for global merchants to quickly and effectively connect with Chinese tourists. Dave Fan, Senior Director of WeChat Pay, says: "WeChat Pay is not targeting on solving payment issue, but more on communication. Smart industry solutions with WeChat Pay at their core have been brought to millions of offline stores across over 30 industries in China, and are common throughout users' daily lives. Together with our global partners, we hope to extend the convenient experience of WeChat Pay overseas, so that global businesses can share the dividends of China's growing outbound travel market." WeChat Pay team integrates a variety of functions to help European merchants smoothly accelerate their digitalization process and better connect with Chinese customers: WeChat Pay provides convenient payment service and eliminate the problem transferring currencies; WeChat Official Account provides a brand page for merchants to integrate their branding and promotional information; WeChat Mini Program allows merchants to easily customize their service for Chinese customers like a built-in full function app; WeChat Moments Advertising allows merchants to drive targeted traffic based on live location and customers demographic. Europe has been well-known as the hometown of fashion. Those famous fashion brands like Cartier, Dior, Armani Beauty, etc. have launched their WeChat Mini Program to stay ahead of their competition in digital era. With Mini Program, they realize multiple functions including membership management, e-boutique social commerce, self-service shopping, promotion mini site, product customize service, AI makeup trial and more. Brands could not only provide their customers with customized service but also integrate fragmented traffic from on and offline. Bradley Mo, Senior Director of Industry Application, WeChat Open Platform, shared: "As Chinese customers desire more personalized products and services, numerous brands are using Mini Programs to satisfy those needs through social commerce. Ultimately, the three underlying functions Mini Programs realize for social commerce are increase sales, engage users and optimize data." On the same day, London Business School introduced its latest case study "Innovation and Agility at Tencent's WeChat" in its Strategy and Innovation Class. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/889076/The_Europe_first_WeChat_Open_Class_in_London.jpg Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2019) - Fjordland Exploration Inc. (TSXV: FEX) ("FEX") is providing an update regarding exploration of the South Voisey's Bay nickel-copper-cobalt project located 80 km south of the producing Voisey's Bay Mine in Labrador. Commander Resources Ltd. ("CMD"), the project operator, has received and deposited to FEX's project account the sum of $167,740. The government of Newfoundland and Labrador provided a grant under their Junior Exploration Assistance Program of $97,875. In addition, a reimbursement of certain prepaid tenure assessment obligations of $69,865 was received. With respect to funding, HPX BC Holdings Ltd. ("HPX") has executed an Investment Agreement with FEX on September 5, 2017 which obliged HPX to provide certain option payments and exploration expenditures in order to qualify for a 65% project interest. The underlying option and investment agreements (refer to news release NR17-06 dated August 28, 2017) contain two key deadline dates for funding of exploration expenditures, specifically October 31, 2021 prior to which $3,000,000 in exploration expenditures are to be incurred in order for FEX to move to a 75% project interest (currently a 35% interest has been earned). The final deadline is October 31, 2024 to expend a further $5,000,000 on exploration at which time FEX would have earned a 100% interest. If HPX funds $7.4 million of this program in addition to making $290,000 of option payments to CMD, FEX would have the obligation to transfer a 65% project interest to HPX. The exploration agreements stipulate that government grants, when received are to be expended and credited to the earn-in obligations. FEX intends to comply with this condition and estimates that the Company will then be within $230,000 of meeting the exploration requirements to advance to a 75% project interest. A relatively modest exploration program is planned for 2019, financed with funds currently in the project account. This program will consist of re-logging of historical core and geological mapping of prospective drill locations. Work will also focus on collecting rock properties data such as density measurements to aid in the ongoing re-interpretation and processing of historical datasets. This will allow the revision of the extensive gravity dataset for future drill targeting. The project technical team consisting of FEX/CMD/HPX earth scientists remain committed to the project and are optimistic that further drilling will yield a discovery. Management of FEX, CMD and HPX wish to express their collective appreciation to the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador for the continued cooperation and financial support of the Department of Natural Resources in our mutual quest of identifying and developing the province's natural resources. About Fjordland Exploration Inc. Fjordland Exploration Inc. is a mineral exploration company that is focused on the discovery of large scale potentially economic deposits located in Canada. For further information visit Fjordland's website at www.fjordlandex.com. On behalf of the Board of Directors, "Richard C. Atkinson" Richard C. Atkinson, P.Eng. President & CEO For further information, please call: FJORDLAND EXPLORATION INC. Richard C. Atkinson, President and CEO 1-604-805-3232 info@fjordlandex.com www.fjordlandex.com The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.Some statements in this news release may contain forward-looking information. These statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the statements. Such factors include without limitation the completion of planned expenditures, the ability to complete exploration programs on schedule and the success of exploration programs. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/44874 All of this is happening against the backdrop of more frequent flooding. Between 1861 and 1943, Criss said, the river near St. Louis topped 38 feet only once. Since 2013, it topped 40 feet four times. Flooding like that experienced in the Midwest this spring is occurring with increased regularity, and scientists say the frequency of heavy rains is skyrocketing. After a reprieve over the past two weeks, more rain is in the forecast in the next few days, reigniting concerns that the river may once again test the limits of the levees and the river valley towns from the Quad Cities to St. Louis. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 17, 2019) - Cardero Resource Corp. (TSXV: CDU) (FSE: CR5) ("Cardero" or the "Company") , reports that, subject to TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") acceptance, the Company has secured loans in the aggregate amount of $150,000 (the "Loans") with certain Directors of the Company (the "Lenders"). The Loans have a two year term and bear interest at a rate of 12% per annum compounded annually, payable on the maturity date. The Company has agreed to issue in aggregate 3,000,000 non-transferable bonus common share purchase warrants (each, a "Bonus Warrant") to the Lenders. Each Bonus Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one common share in the capital of the Company at an exercise price of $0.05 per share for a period of two years. All securities issued pursuant to the Loans will be subject to a hold period of four months and one day in Canada from the date of issuance. The funds available from the Loans will be used for general working capital. ABOUT CARDERO RESOURCE CORP. Cardero Resource Corp., headquartered in Vancouver, is a resource company focussed on building a minerals exploration and development company. Cardero has completed the option to acquire up to a 100% interest in the Zonia Copper Oxide Project, located in Arizona. Zonia is a near-surface copper-oxide resource and a brownfields site having already been mined in the late 1960s and '70s. The entire currently defined resource (NI43-101 amended & dated October, 2017) is located on private land, and Cardero's plan going forward is to complete detailed engineering in anticipation of permitting the Project. The resource has been almost entirely pre-stripped and is ready for mining to begin. In September 2016, Cardero completed staking a total of 57 claims, the Silver Queen block, covering 424.5 hectares (1049 acres) adjacent to the southeast edge of Zonia. The Company also has an option agreement covering one nickel-cobalt property in south eastern British Columbia the, Kootenay Project totalling approximately 5,300 hectares. The Project is within the prospective Lardeau Group, which hosts numerous volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits, including the past-producing Goldstream mine located north of Revelstoke. Detailed information is available at the Company's web site at www.cardero.com. On Behalf of the Board of Directors of CARDERO RESOURCE CORP. "Stuart R. Ross" (signed) Stuart R. Ross, CEO and President Contact Information: Stuart Ross or Marla Ritchie 604 408 7488 General Contact: Email: info@cardero.com Toll Free: 1-888-770-7488 Tel: 604 408-7488 Fax: 604 408-7499 Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Forward Looking Information: This news release includes certain information that may be deemed "forward looking information". Forward-looking information can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "continue", "plans" or similar terminology. All information in this release, other than information of historical facts, including, without limitation, the potential of the Zonia and Kootenay projects, general future plans and objectives for these projects, the availability of financing to the Company and the Company's plans in relation to exploration programs and exercising its options regarding the projects are forward-looking information that involve various risks and uncertainties. Although the Company believes that the expectations expressed in such forward-looking information are based on reasonable assumptions, such expectations are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is based on a number of material factors and assumptions. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking information include changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, future metal prices, availability of capital and financing on acceptable terms, general economic, market or business conditions, regulatory changes, delays in receiving approvals, and other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulatory authorities in Canada. Mineral exploration and development of mines is an inherently risky business. Accordingly, actual events may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. For more information on the Company and the risks and challenges of our business, investors should review our continuous disclosure filings which are available at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. This press release is not, and is not to be construed in any way as, an offer to buy or sell securities in the United States. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/44878 VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2019 / Klondike Gold Corp. (TSX-V: KG; FRA: LBDP; OTC: KDKGF) ("Klondike Gold" or the "Company") announces that pursuant to the Company's Stock Option Plan, a total of 1,860,000 incentive stock options have been granted to directors, officers, employees, and consultants of the Company. The options are exercisable at a price of $0.21 per share for a period of 10 years, subject to regulatory approval. ABOUT KLONDIKE GOLD CORP. Klondike Gold Corp. is a Canadian exploration company with offices in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Dawson City, Yukon Territory. The Company is focused on exploration and development of the Lone Star and Nugget gold targets at the confluence of Bonanza and Eldorado Creeks, within a district scale 563 square kilometer property accessible by government maintained roads located on the outskirts of Dawson City, YT within the Tr'ondek Hwech'in First Nation traditional territory. On behalf of KLONDIKE GOLD CORP. "Peter Tallman" President and CEO (604) 609-6110 E-mail: info@klondikegoldcorp.com Website: www.klondikegoldcorp.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. SOURCE: Klondike Gold Corp. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/545847/Klondike-Gold-Announces-Option-Grant (ASX:CEL) Hi Im Katrina Bullock for the Finance News Network and joining me in the studio today, all the way from Challenger Exploration Limitedis Managing Director and CEO, Kris Knauer. Kris, welcome back.Thank you for having me.Could we start with an introduction to the company?Challenger Energy is a single asset company, has a world-class shale gas exploration play in South Africa. For the last six years, the companys been waiting for the South African Government to award the tenure. And basically, they ran out of time and money waiting, so they approached me. Im a big Challenger shareholder already and Ive got a high-grade gold deposit in Argentina and also a world-class exploration play in Ecuador. So were putting those two projects into Challenger, keeping the South African shale gas play; were capitalising it. Well raise $5 million and also putting a new Board on with South American experience, as well.So copper gold assets in South America have been getting a lot of attention, thanks to the success of SolGold (LON:SOLG)?Yes SolGold has got a lot of attention. Its not just SolGold though in Ecuador, I mean the biggest concession holder in Ecuador is Fortescue Mining. Gina Rinehart has just reportedly bid $200 million exploration expenditure for a block. BHP Group (LON:BHP) announced an $80 million farm in the other day in Ecuador. Its effectively been locked up, up until six years ago. Its the middle of the South American copper belt and youve got all the majors scrambling for ground, over there.: So youre seeing a lot of potential in the region?A lot of potential. I mean we sit eight kilometres from a 10 million ounce ore body.Now turning to some of your projects. Could you tell us a little bit more, starting with Argentina?So Argentina, effectively its in San Juan Province in Argentina. The locations a bit like sitting between Kalgoorlie and Boulder over in WA. Weve got a high-grade gold deposit, its 644,000 ounces, about 12 grams a tonne gold, plus silver, plus zinc, non-JORC. Having said that, when its non-JORC, theres 150 drill holes into the project, so we know that deposit quite well. Really its a case of the next six months is all about JORC resource and also scoping it out.The deposits open in all directions, its been locked up in a legal dispute with no work done for almost 20 years. So the next six months are twofold, JORC resource and then, is it much bigger than the current 600,000 ounces? And if it is basically thats okay, nice project to put into production and generate a cash flow.How about your projects in Ecuador?Ecuador is the classic big company drill project play. Newmont Goldcorp (NYSE:NEM) did some scout drilling about 15-20 years ago, got some fantastic results, world-class, 150 metres at 2.5 grams gold, a couple of hundred metres at 0.5 per cent copper, 0.5 gram gold. These were in vertical breccia pipes that were a couple of hundred metres in diameter. Newmont were chasing open cut high-grade gold and it was never going to be that.Having said that, the Newmont personnel never went to site, the core was logged by Ecuadorian junior GOs, whod never seen a porphyry system. Basically, they didnt recognise that it was the top of a porphyry system. So really, weve got a world-class porphyry target there as well.How about Karoo Basin?Karoo was and remains a world-class asset. I know Challenger had a $50 million farm in deal lined up six years ago, when it looked like that tenement was being awarded. Unfortunately, its politically unpopular in South Africa, the shale gas. At some point in time that will be awarded and its a nice problem to have. Then we work out what we do with an asset thats probably worth $50 million.So again, that is a third world-class project. I mean that project, the US geological survey calculated recoverable reserves there on that concession, of about seven TCF of gas, which is half of the Gorgon project, to put it into perspective. And thats from the bottom 200 metres of two-kilometre shale pile. The well drilled in I think it was 1968, that blew out, flowed at 800 million cubic feet a day out of the shales, wasnt fracked. So its ranked as in the top 10 shale gas basins in the world.Turning to the capital raising. How much are you looking to raise?Were looking to raise $5 million and of course, where we are is weve got Peloton Capital and Baillieus as our co-lead brokers. So the five is pretty much locked away. The reason Im chatting to you guys is were making sure weve got spread all locked away. So any of your clients who want a small allocation, the spread is always helpful. Thats generally the biggest problem in something like this, making sure youve got those names. So we should be live hopefully today on the prospectus.How many cents per share are you looking at?Three cents per share. So well come on with a market cap of about $14 million, $5 million weve raised, so youre talking an EV of $8 million. You look at our gold resources in Argentina, admittedly non-JORC; theyre trading at $20 an ounce. Most other companies are trading at, with high-grade resources like that, are trading at $40 to $60 dollars an ounce. Then you throw in Ecuador for nothing and you throw in South Africa for nothing. So it should go well.Where can investors go to find out more?So our website is probably the easiest way, which is www.challengerx.com. They can approach their broker; I think most brokers should know where to get a copy of a prospectus as well. But it is on our website and feel free to download it there.Lastly before we let you go, any final words for investors?We priced it very well; its a high quality project. Weve spent $3 million in the ground over the last 12 months, so weve got a backlog of things, weve just put in for assay now. Unfortunately you dont want results before prospectus. And so there will be a lot of significant news flow, within the first couple of months of listing as well. And then well start drilling literally within two months in Argentina, probably sooner.Kris Knauer, thank you so much for the update and good luck with the raising.Thank you very much. This is the first ever tie-up of NY Cinemas in north India. Currently, NY Cinemas has 15 operational screens across the country and has already signed 60 more. New Delhi: Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn's NY Cinemas on Wednesday tied up with realty firm Elan group for setting up a 5-screen multiplex in a Gurugram shopping mall which is being developed at a cost of Rs 450 crore. This is the first ever tie-up of NY Cinemas in north India. Currently, NY Cinemas has 15 operational screens across the country and has already signed 60 more. Devgn, who launched a multiplex chain under the brand name NY Cinemas, is targeting 250 screens in the next 4-5 years. Elan Group is investing Rs 450 crore to develop a luxury retail project 'Elan Epin' at Gurugram with a built-up area of 7.5 lakh sq ft. This project will house a 5 silver screen multiplex with an area of 46,000 sq ft. On the tie-up, the Bollywood star said, "By being their marquee cinema, we take a step closer towards providing a world-class cinema experience to movie lovers and promoting an inclusive environment." On expansion, Devgn said NY Cinemas intends to have a presence in every part of the country. When asked about threat to cinemas from digital media, the actor said: "Experience of cinema has not gone down globally." NY Cinemas CEO Rajeev Sharma said the company has acquired single-screen cinemas and converted into multiplex at Hapur and Gazipur in Uttar Pradesh. The company would look out for such acquisitions and also tie up with developers for expansion, he added. Elan group MD Ravish Kapoor said, "We are confident that this association will not only enhance the experience of moviegoers in Delhi/NCR, but also allow NY Cinemas to offer its services to a much wider audience." Kapoor said this shopping mall and multiplex will become operational in 2021-22. Elan group already has a tie-up with PVR Cinema for 15 screens in its various commercial projects in Gurugram. Earlier this week, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) appointed former Deputy Governor R Gandhi as an additional director to the board of Yes Bank New Delhi: The Reserve Bank's appointment of an additional director to the board of Yes Bank could be a precautionary move in view of the lender's weak capital position and stress in the balance sheet, investment bank Macquarie said. Earlier this week, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) appointed former Deputy Governor R Gandhi as an additional director to the board of Yes Bank. Macquarie Research said, even in the past, RBI had appointed additional directors to the boards of banks like Dhanlaxmi Bank and Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB). Both the banks have performed poorly and are in a beleaguered state. "Many investors are fearing that there could be more skeletons in the closet of Yes Bank, due to which RBI has taken this action. In our view, while there are problems in the bank, and balance sheet looks stressed with the capital position being weak, the move by RBI could be a precautionary move as Yes Bank is much larger than banks like Dhanlaxmi or LVB and any failure here could have serious systemic implications," it said. RBI move, it said, could be cautious and pre-emptive in New Delhi. Also, the problems in Dhanlaxmi and LVB were far more serious; and RBI, in our view, appointed directors a bit late, whereas in Yes Bank they want their director to be on the board before the situation goes out of control. "Investors continue to be worried about Yes Bank's large exposure to Anil Ambani Group and Essel group of companies," it added. In a statement, Yes Bank Friday said it "warmly" welcomes the appointment of Gandhi. "This is a very positive and constructive measure aimed at further strengthening the board. This will not impede the smooth, independent and effective functioning of the bank in any way," it had said. "RBI is supportive of a strong and successful Yes Band and we stand committed to serving the best interests of all our stakeholders." The appointment has been made under sub-section (1) of the Section 36 AB of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. The central bank can, according to this section, appoint additional directors "if the Reserve Bank is of (opinion that in the interest of banking policy or in the public interest or) in the interests of the banking company or its depositors it is necessary so to do, it may, from time to time by order in writing, appoint, with effect from such date as may be specified in the order, one or more persons to hold office as additional directors of the banking company." "We have seen a lot of skepticism amongst investors. With CET1 (Common Equity Tier I) at 8.4 percent and more write-offs looming, the bank desperately needs capital, otherwise problems could compound further," Macquarie said. "We aren't sure the investor appetite is strong enough, which makes capital-raising an enormous challenge. The only way out could be a PE investor bailing them out and getting a board seat in return," it added. In one month, shares of Jet Airways tumbled 24.28 percent to Rs 124.10 on the BSE Friday from Rs 163.90 on 18 April New Delhi: Shares of Jet Airways have fallen over 24 percent in one month since the cash-starved airline suspended operations. Jet Airways stopped flying on 17 April after it ran out of cash. In one month, shares of the company tumbled 24.28 percent to Rs 124.10 on the BSE Friday from Rs 163.90 on 18 April. Markets were closed on 17 April for Mahavir Jayanti. The scrip of the firm hit its one-year low of Rs 120.25 on 15 May. Its market valuation has eroded by Rs 451.26 crore to Rs 1,409.74 crore on BSE during the one month's time. Jet Airways witnessed top-level exodus earlier this week, with four senior executives, including chief executive Vinay Dube and his deputy Amit Agarwal, quitting the crisis-hit airline. The carrier on Tuesday announced the exit of Dube, Agarwal, Company Secretary Kuldeep Sharma and Chief People Officer Rahul Taneja. Last month, Independent Director Rajshree Pathy, Non-Executive and Non-Independent Director Nasim Zaidi as well as Whole Time Director Guarang Shetty had quit. In late March, Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal along with his wife Anita Goyal as well as Etihad Airways' nominee director Kevin Knight stepped down from their respective positions following a debt-recast plan. Naresh Goyal also stepped down from the post of chairman. Lenders are scrambling to find a suitor for the cash-starved carrier. On behalf of the lenders, SBI Caps had sought bids for sale of up to 75 per cent stake in Jet Airways. After the first round of bids, private equity firms IndiGo Partners and TPG, Etihad Airways and National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) were shortlisted. Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways submitted its bid to acquire a minority stake in Jet Airways with a lot of riders that involved finding more investors, leaving little hope for the airline's survival. Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the nation's biggest oil firm, has tied up imports from the US and taken additional volumes from Saudi Arabia to make up for the bulk of the volumes lost because of sanctions prohibiting buying oil from Iran, top officials said on Friday New Delhi: Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the nation's biggest oil firm, has tied up imports from the US and taken additional volumes from Saudi Arabia to make up for the bulk of the volumes lost because of sanctions prohibiting buying oil from Iran, top officials said on Friday. Iran supplied more than a tenth of India's oil needs before the reimposition of US sanctions against the Persian Gulf nation stopped supplies this month. "We have tied up supplies from alternate sources. No single country can make up for the volumes lost, that's why we are keeping our sourcing diversified. We are fairly diversified in our sourcing and we have robust sourcing in place to make up for all of the Iranian oil," IOC Chairman Sanjiv Singh told reporters here. India bought close to 24 million tonnes of crude oil from Iran in the fiscal ended March 31 (2018-19). Of this, IOC sourced about 9 million tonnes from Iran. IOC and other Indian refiners stopped importing crude oil from Iran this month following the US' move to end sanction waivers. To make up for the shortfall, IOC has used optional volumes available from suppliers such as Saudi Arabia. Also, it has for the first time signed term import contracts with two US suppliers, he said, adding in all 4.6 million tonnes of crude oil from the US has been signed up for 2019. IOC Director (Finance) A K Sharma said the company has an annual contract to buy 5.6 million tonnes of crude oil from Saudi Arabia. On top of this, it has the option to import an additional 2 million tonnes. "We have exercised our optional volumes with Saudi Arabia and will be importing 2 million barrels of additional crude oil from Saudi Arabia in six months period beginning July," he said, adding the optional volumes imported from July to December total to about 1.5-1.6 million tonnes. From the US, IOC has signed a deal with Norwegian oil company Equinor for buying 3 million tonnes of crude during the year and an additional 1.6 million tonnes from Algerian national oil company Sonatrach. Equinor and Sonatrach produce crude oil in the US. Singh said refiners import crude oil from a wide range of sources and have been lining up alternate supplies for the past months. "The US was to take a decision on waiver extension in April and Indian refineries had prepared plans for all eventualities. We have alternate sources lined up to make up for any shortfall," he said. US President Donald Trump last year withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers and revived a range of sanctions against the Persian Gulf nation. It, however, granted a six-month waiver from sanctions to eight countries -- China, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, Italy, and Greece -- but with a condition that they would reduce their purchases of Iranian oil. The waiver began in November 2018 and expired on May 2. India had agreed to restrict its monthly purchase to 1.25 million tonnes to get the waiver. But since it had made robust purchases in the period prior to November 2018, India's overall crude oil imports from Iran totalled nearly 24 million tonnes in 2018-19 as compared to 22.6 million tonnes bought in the 2017-18. "We have optional volumes (over and above the term contracts) from a number of suppliers which we can exercise to make up for any shortfall from Iran," Singh said. "We can also go to the spot (or current) market to source crude." IOC has the option to take 0.7 million tonnes of crude oil from Mexico on top of its committed purchase of 0.7 million tonnes during the year. Similarly, it has optional volumes of 1.5 million tonnes from Kuwait and another 1 million tonnes from the UAE, Sharma said. "We have all the supplies tied up and I think globally crude will be readily available but it is difficult to say what the impact will be on price," Singh added. India, the world's third-biggest oil consumer, meets more than 80 percent of its oil needs through imports. Iran was its third-largest supplier after Iraq and Saudi Arabia and was meeting more than 10 percent of its total needs. Iranian oil is a lucrative buy for refiners as the Persian Gulf nation provides 60 days of credit for purchases, terms not available from suppliers of substitute crudes -- Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Nigeria, and the US. The IndiGo CEO, Ronojoy Datta, in the meanwhile has neither addressed not declined that problems exist, which might be a tacit admission in disguise. IndiGo, Indias largest airline by marketshare, seems to be having some sort of trouble right at the top. The two promoters of the airline, Rakesh Gangwal and Rahul Bhatia, both of whom hold an almost equal amount of equity in the airline, seem to be in disagreement about the future of the organisation. Rakesh Gangwal, a veteran in aviation, having worked across United, Air France and others before heading US Airways as Chairman and CEO for a few years, was the brain behind the mammoth aircraft orders for the airline, getting them sweet terms from Airbus (Aircraft are almost always sold at discounts from their list prices). Rahul Bhatia on the other hand, meticulously executed the vision and brought the airline to its leading position it is in today. ET Now first reported the simmering issues earlier this week, which was followed by the rest of the media picking it up. The bone of contention, it seems, is the overarching influence one promoter has had over the strategy and execution as compared to the other. As per various reports, the Articles of Association hand over more rights to the Rahul Bhatia faction as compared to Rakesh Gangwal. All the key management positions and most of the directors can be appointed by InterGlobe Enterprises, which is Rahul Bhatias holding company. Friction between management and promoters is good, in a way. Unchecked power in the hands on one promoter could be either a situation of responsibility or sometimes a license to bring the company down. Just like Housing.com or Jet Airways. But in this case, it seems to be making the airline miss out on opportunities because it does not have its house in order to benefit from the withdrawal of Jet Airways from the market. IndiGo has, for many years, flown a single-cabin aircraft, the A320. Over the last few years, however, it has ordered other aircraft for various markets, such as the ATRs for smaller markets and the A321neos for dense markets, and longer range. Over the past two years, however, they have been going back and forth on how they want to take on some of the marquee travel routes, such as a connection to London. While Bhatia is of the view to take on double aisle aircraft, which can fly non-stop for about 10 hours and provide a more comfortable passenger experience, Gangwal wants to stick to the playbook where he would not like to bring on widebodies and get the job done one-stop with the existing fleet. He would rather have code-shares than widebody aircraft, given the track record of any no-frills carrier with widebodies has been at best, patchy. Just earlier this year, WOW Air came to a grinding halt and Norwegian Air is in financial trouble too, proving his point. Gangwal, who is the one with larger experience in aviation, was indeed the one tasked with the job of charting out the five-year strategic plan for the airline, and so far, with the ordering of the A321neos and the launch of flights to Istanbul and the codeshare with Turkish Airlines indicates his playbook is being followed. The IndiGo CEO, Ronojoy Datta, in the meanwhile has neither addressed not declined that problems exist, which might be a tacit admission in disguise. In a statement to employees, Datta said, "I want to assure you that the growth strategy of the airline remains unchanged and firmly in place, and the management is fully charged by the Board to implement it. Nowhere did he touch on a yes or a no answer. Also, IndiGo has been slow in adding domestic capacity, given they feel it is already saturated in terms of existing markets. But for IndiGo, this is a critical time for everyone to see in the same direction, as the international rights of Jet Airways will, sooner than later, come into the market. Given the loss of flights to Paris, Amsterdam, London, Singapore, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Hong Kong amongst many other markets, it means there is a lot that can be taken away right now, and it will be the fastest finger first which will rake it in. International opportunities are limited by bilateral, and airlines sometimes wait for a long while in preparation, hoping for their competitors to make a mistake and then they can swoop in. In this case, the mistakes have been made. So does the airline and its promoters want to miss out on the opportunities ahead or want to conquer the skies of Europe is what we need to wait and watch. If the promoters are able to level it out amongst themselves, there is nothing better than that. If they invoke going to the NCLT, as many media reports have discussed, it may be a chicken and egg situation, where who wins and who loses may determine how the strategy of the firm will proceed further. The results announcements in the next ten days will be the first signs of how the promoters will address the issue if they dont do so before it already! (Ajay Awtaney is a business travel & aviation journalist based in Mumbai, and the founder of the Indian frequent-traveller website Live From A Lounge) Her books include 1991s Guerrilla Prince, a biography of Castro. Another book, When Cats Reigned Like Kings, was on one of her lifes passions, felines. Publishers Weekly called the book lighthearted but still complex true history, legends, and sagas of the cats who served the human need for symbols of the spirit and of sacredness and royalty, and a charming blend of reportage and personal history. The publication of the book brought her back to Chicago 2004. During an interview she said, Of all the many places I have been there is nothing I like better than to see Chicago, where it all me and my career started. It was IndiGo that won rave reviews when it placed a massive order with Airbus Industries for delivery of more than 100 aircraft in a phased manner but at a fixed price. Indigo is acknowledged both by the cognoscenti as well as by the travelers as the best-run airline in the country though of late its turnaround time is also getting little sluggish causing delays in departures and arrivals. But that is something fliers have been taking in their strides just as they are only mildly bemused by the going tussle between Rahul Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal the two feisty promoters of the low-cost airline. It is, however, equally true that IndiGo apart from being hit by the delay malaise characterising most of the airlines is also plagued by the prospects of losses. For the December quarter, IndiGo had reported a 75 percent dip in its profit to Rs 190 crore. It is this element that has caused consternation among its well-wishers over the spat at a time when they should be pulling up their socks and seeking to capitalize on the void left by Jet Airways. Though there are reports of they going to National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for resolution of their differences, to those who are aware of company law and jurisprudence it appears their differences are not insurmountable. If anything, they are healthy differences of opinion between two shrewd businessmen who have entered into shareholders agreement for good measure. Shareholders agreement is a private agreement between two sets of dominant shareholdersusually the foreign collaborator and the Indian promoter---outside of the articles of association. It is a secretive document they set store by in case of differences. The Supreme Court has made it clear that such agreement can be enforced by the two parties but not by making the company itself a party to it unless the terms of such agreement are made part of the articles of association. Be that as it may. It was IndiGo that won rave reviews when it placed a massive order with Airbus Industries for delivery of more than 100 aircraft in a phased manner but at a fixed price. In contrast, Air India was pilloried for procuring almost the same number of aircraft in one go thereby committing a cardinal sin----unused capacity. IndiGo staggered the deliveries to coincide with the anticipated fleet expansion warranted by new routes and expansion of services on the existing routes. This time round it seems the two groups are unable to agree on the course of expansion. The Gangwal group owning 37 percent stake is reportedly keen on expanding IndiGos international operations by sticking to narrow-bodied aircraft whereas the Bhatia group owning 38 percent wants multiple-aisled wide-bodied aircraft for international operations. A single aisle aircraft consumes that much less fuel and maintenance. The nature of their healthy differences was highlighted by a report in The Economic Times. Speed versus caution It was Gangwal, a US citizen, who was behind IndiGos plane orders, its aggressive expansion in India and the ambition to make it a global carrier which resulted in vast changes in senior management, according to the news report. But differences cropped up on several occasions in the last two years, with Gangwal supporting growth at breakneck speed to harness the potential of Indias aviation market and some of the airlines management and on occasion, Bhatia, opting for a more cautious approach. This kerfuffle is easily amenable to closure either through arbitration or taking the matter to the general body of shareholders or through the intervention of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) under the Companies Act, 2013 though the NCLT may be loath to intervene unless a case for mismanagement or oppression is strongly made out. In the past, the Company Law Board used to order buyout of the minority interests by the majority. But that was in the context of closely held companies. IndiGos owner Interglobe Aviation Ltd, on the other hand, is a listed company where public interest is paramount. One hopes and prays this fight in the cockpit does not degenerate into a full-blown crisis. After all unlike Air India, Kingfisher and Jet Airways, the IndiGo crisis is more in the nature of healthy intellectual disagreement that has the potential to leaven aggression with caution. Every disagreement need not necessarily point to or result in a parting of ways. (The writer is a senior columnist and tweets @smurlidharan) (Reuters) - Pinterest Inc on Thursday gave an unimpressive full-year 2019 revenue forecast after first-quarter sales beat estimates in its first quarter as a publicly traded company, sending shares down 16% in extended trading. The online scrapbook company's shares have risen 62% from its initial public offering price of $19 last month. 'Clearly the after-hours pullback is a reflection of investor expectations being too high heading into the quarter,' DA Davidson analyst Tom Forte said. (Reuters) - Pinterest Inc on Thursday gave an unimpressive full-year 2019 revenue forecast after first-quarter sales beat estimates in its first quarter as a publicly traded company, sending shares down 16% in extended trading. The online scrapbook company's shares have risen 62% from its initial public offering price of $19 last month. "Clearly the after-hours pullback is a reflection of investor expectations being too high heading into the quarter," DA Davidson analyst Tom Forte said. Unlike Pinterest, other companies that made their stock market debut in 2019 such as Lyft Inc and Uber Technologies Inc have seen a steep drop. Uber shares have fallen nearly 18% since its IPO, while Lyft is down about 23%. Pinterest expects full-year revenue between $1.055 billion and $1.08 billion, the mid point of which is slightly above analysts' estimate of $1.06 billion. The company's sales outlook was a disappointment said Forte, especially given the high expectations reflected in the run up in shares. Pinterest, which calls its users "pinners", added 291 million monthly active users globally in the first quarter, above estimates of 289.3 million, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. Average revenue per user rose 26% to 73 cents, the company said. Net loss narrowed to $41.4 million in the quarter ended March 31 from $52.7 million a year earlier. Excluding certain items, the company lost 32 cents per share. Analysts had expected a loss of 11 cents, but that was based on a different share count, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. Total revenue rose about 54% to $201.9 million, beating estimates of $200.6 million. (Reporting by Vibhuti Sharma and Akanksha Rana in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Punjab National Bank will continue to be the sole promoter of PNB Housing Finance post the termination of the pacts, Mumbai: State-run Punjab National Bank Thursday said it has terminated the agreements with General Atlantic Group and Varde Partners to sell its stake in PNB Housing Finance (PNBHF). The bank, in a filing to the exchange, said it will continue to be the sole promoter of PNB Housing Finance post the termination of the pacts, and stay strategically invested in its housing finance arm. Of the two agreements, the one with Varde Partners was terminated mutually, while the contract with General Atlantic Group was terminated in the absence of regulatory approvals. In March this year, the bank had entered into two independent agreements for selling 1.08 crore of its equity shares held in PNBHF each to General Atlantic Group and Varde Partners at Rs 850 apiece. The transaction with General Atlantic Group was required to be completed on or before 15 May, 2019, the bank said. The transactions needed approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI), National Housing Bank (NHB) and the Reserve Bank of India. The lender said communication from CCI approving the transaction has been received by General Atlantic Group on May 8, 2019, although the final order is yet to be received. The NHB has also given its approval for the transaction on 7 May, 2019. "The transacting parties to the share purchase agreement (SPA) have not been accorded approval by the RBI for exemption from the application of pricing guidelines under the foreign exchange management," the bank said. Since all conditions precedent to completion of the transaction are yet to be fulfilled and completion has not occurred as on 15 May , 2019, the with General Atlantic Group stands terminated with immediate effect, the lender said. The bank said it strongly believes in the growth story of housing finance and will continue to support the business and its management in pursuing their growth plans. Tata Group's hospitality arm IHCL on Friday said it has tied up with Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC to invest Rs 4,000 crore to acquire hotels Mumbai: Tata Group's hospitality arm IHCL on Friday said it has tied up with Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC to invest Rs 4,000 crore to acquire hotels. The Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) will put in 30 percent equity in every such acquisition, while the rest will come from GIC, according to an official statement. Investments will be done over the next three years and the joint platform will look at potential hotel assets in India, it said, adding fully operational hotels in the luxury, upper upscale and upscale segments in India. "This collaboration is in line with Aspiration 2022 and our vision to scale up, create greater enterprise value and make IHCL South Asia's most iconic and profitable hospitality company," IHCL's managing director and chief executive Puneet Chhatwal said. The company, which runs hospitality brands including Taj, Vivanta and Ginger expects to acquire strategic and marquee assets that need new ownership, branding and positioning through the platform, he said. Each acquisition is intended to be in a separate special purpose vehicle with its own funding, the statement said, adding that hotels acquired will be managed by IHCL under its various brands and complement the company's current growth aspirations via management contracts. "As a long-term investor, we are confident on the outlook of India's hospitality sector. We look forward to working closely with established partners such as IHCL to pursue attractive opportunities and capture the sector's growth potential," GIC Real Estate's chief investment officer Kok Sun Lee said. The IHCL scrip was trading 1.44 percent up at Rs 143.95 apiece on the BSE. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has reached a deal with Mexico and Canada to sell products without tariffs, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has reached a deal with Mexico and Canada to sell products without tariffs, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday. "We've just reached an agreement with Canada and Mexico and we'll be selling our product into those countries without the imposition of tariffs or major tariffs," Trump told a gathering of real estate agents in Washington. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton and Jeff Mason; Writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by David Alexander) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By David Shepardson and Karen Freifeld WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Commerce Department on Thursday formally placed Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and 68 affiliates in more than two dozen countries on its so-called 'Entity List' - a move that bans the telecom company from buying parts and components from American firms without U.S. government approval. By David Shepardson and Karen Freifeld WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Commerce Department on Thursday formally placed Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and 68 affiliates in more than two dozen countries on its so-called "Entity List" - a move that bans the telecom company from buying parts and components from American firms without U.S. government approval. The order takes effect immediately, a Commerce Department spokesman said, and includes non-U.S. Huawei affiliates in Canada, Japan, Brazil, the United Kingdom and Singapore, among others. The U.S. government will review requests for approvals for transactions under a "policy of presumption of denial." The order says U.S. government representatives determined Huawei has been involved in activities contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States. As an example, the order cited a criminal case pending against the company in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, over allegations Huawei violated U.S. sanctions against Iran. Huawei has pleaded not guilty in the case. Members of Congress and administration officials said the move will make it difficult for Huawei to sell many products because of key U.S. suppliers. Washington lawyer Douglas Jacobson, a trade expert, said there will be collateral impact on the U.S. companies that sell to Huawei. "While the intent is to punish Huawei, ultimately U.S. companies are also being penalized," Jacobson said. Given the order, he said, the likelihood that Commerce will grant licenses to allow sales is negligible. (Reporting by David Shepardson and Karen Freifeld; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Grant McCool) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Qatar Airways, which has sought additional seat capacity on a temporary basis for its flights from Indian cities to Doha, has said it will 'seriously' consider any proposal for partnership from Indian carriers New Delhi: Qatar Airways, which has sought additional seat capacity on a temporary basis for its flights from Indian cities to Doha, has said it will "seriously" consider any proposal for partnership from Indian carriers. The blockade on Qatar and withdrawal of 28 weekly between Doha and cities of New Delhi and Mumbai has increased the pressure on available seat capacity in Qatar-India routes, the airline said Thursday. Jet Airways shut down operations temporarily on 17 April after it ran out of cash. "Qatar Airways is always open for partnership with other airlines, including Indian carriers. We will seriously consider any proposal for partnership from Indian carriers," the airline said in a statement to PTI. The Gulf carrier has submitted a formal request to the Indian authorities for an additional capacity on a temporary operating permit basis to meet the air traffic demand in Qatar-India routes. The airline asked the civil aviation ministry to favourably consider its request for additional seat capacity "to help evacuate the stranded Indian passengers in Doha". Airfares have already significantly increased due to the unexpected unavailability of restricted capacity during this summer peak season, it added. The allocated seat capacity in the Qatar-India aviation market has not been increased since 2009. Bilateral air traffic rights are negotiated between the two countries. According to the airline, the "illegal blockade" imposed on Qatar in June 2017 by the UAE, Saudi, Bahrain, and Egypt have restricted the movement of not only Qataris but also Indian expats living in Qatar. People do not have the flexibility of travelling to nearby airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Manama, for their travel to India. This has reduced their options for air connectivity and further increased the pressure on the available seat capacity in Qatar-India routes, the statement said. "Salt in the wound Jet Airways' sudden, unexpected, unplanned, and immediate withdrawal of 28 weekly passenger flights during summer peak season between Doha and two Indian cities: New Delhi and Mumbai. "All these have resulted not only in lesser available seat capacity but also significantly higher air ticket fares, which is set to continue for at least another three months," the airline said. Qatar Airways flies to 13 Indian cities. It has 14 weekly flights to the national capital and 11 weekly flights to Kochi, among other cities. Yes Bank on Friday said the appointment of former RBI Deputy Governor R Gandhi as an additional director on its board is a positive move which will not impede smooth functioning at the private sector lender Mumbai: Yes Bank on Friday said the appointment of former RBI Deputy Governor R Gandhi as an additional director on its board is a positive move which will not impede smooth functioning at the private sector lender. Welcoming the appointment in a statement, the city-headquartered bank said the appointment is "very positive and constructive measure" to strengthen the board. It added the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is supportive of a "strong and successful" Yes Bank. It can be noted that there are very few precedents of such action by RBI in the private sector bank space and none in the new-age private sector banks. The Yes Bank scrip took a beating since the appointment of Gandhi, but was trading 0.40 per cent up at Rs 138.35 a piece at 1310 hrs on Friday. "We warmly welcome the appointment of R Gandhi to the Board of Yes Bank by RBI under Section 36AB of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. This is a very positive and constructive measure aimed at further strengthening the Board," a bank statement said. "This will not impede the smooth, independent and effective functioning of the Bank in any way," it said. The RBI had cut short the term of the lender's promoter-chief executive Rana Kapoor on concerns over governance. The RBI action had come after two consecutive years of the bank having been found of under-reporting its stock of NPAs. The bank hired former Deutsche Bank India head Ravneet Gill to replace Kapoor. In the first quarter under Gill, it reported a maiden loss of Rs 1,506 crore. Gill had said the bank expects significant losses on its exposure to low-rated borrowers and made provisions for the same, resulting in the loss. Analysts had also welcomed the appointment of Gandhi, saying this signifies that the RBI is working in tandem with the bank's new management. The Goan bread is a testament to its Portuguese past and its culinary present To understand Goas Portuguese heritage, one must break its bread. Those beautifully risen artisanal roundels are at the core of each Goan meal. Whether it is baker Alzira, who wakes at the crack of dawn, gets her hands deep into dough, kneading it incessantly, resting it, again and again, till its risen, or the DeSilva household, that awaits the poder (breadman) early morning and evening to buy the bread of the day, which is dunked into xacuti or vindaloo, or stuffed with cutlet or chorizo Goan breads are synonymous with life and etched in every locals psyche. Bred by the Portuguese History is also testament to this centuries-old ubiquitous legacy. The humble art of breadmaking lives on in the soft leavened freshly baked wonders since the 1500s. If the French influence gave Saigon its own basketful of banh mi, the Goan family has the Portuguese to thank for its daily bread. They left indelible footprints with the plebeian poie (wheat bread) or poxe, pao and unde which found pride of place in every Goan kitchen. The maida-made katre (konchehe or butterfly bread) and pretzel-like kankon, or, on special occasions, a sweet panke and coconutty bol are all as relevant today. The Portuguese taught locals breadmaking for want of a crustier hard bread, and today innumerable lone poders (from the Portuguese word for baker padeiro) cycle through villages, ringing their bells to sell freshly baked bread. This rich inheritance and time-worn legacy lives on with the dogged efforts of the tireless poders. On the breadmaking tradition, celebrity Goan chef Avinash Martins of Cavatina says, Portuguese Jesuit priests taught the locals as prior to that there were no fermentation techniques. The bread was made with toddy or sur (in Konkani). Through centuries, a dearth of artisans like toddy tappers and bakers saw the traditional bakery leased or shut, and the sur poie was replaced with a yeast one, and wheat with maida. The president of the All Goa Bakers and Confectioners Association, Peter De Limas Colva bakery, Da Lima Bakers and Confectioners, is among the few making 100% wheat poies, and also teaches breadmaking, as does Chef Martins. There are at least 500 bakeries in Goa, and about 450 are run by non-Goans. We do make bread with toddy on special order as earlier a toddy bottle costed Rs 10-20, now its Rs 175-200, explains De Lima, who gets orders from England, Australia, Dubai and Qatar, which he vacuum packs across the seven seas. The government had given subsidies to bakers earlier but it was an extremely complex process. We have to do much more to save the traditional bakery. The oldest bakeries started in the Salcette region. A few still boast of woodfire ovens, yet many have modernised. Every Goans daily bread bounces softly in a blue-plastic covered basket as the poder pedals on his daily rounds. For some, he is an early morning wake-up call; for others, a meal time staple. As astounding as it is remarkable, Goan breadmaking has stood the tests of time. In an era where old is bequeathed to dust, the universality of Goan breads is a sign of the resilience of a rich heritage and the scarce artisans who labour on. In recent years, many baking families have leased out or shut, throwing a shroud of uncertainty. Government aid, subsidy and protecting traditional bakeries is the need of the hour as profitability of breads sold between Rs 4- 10 is not high. Alzira Gomess family has been baking bread in Ribandar since 1947. Her daughter Shaeen Gomes has seen her grandmother, mother and father deep in dough. Inspired, Shaeen is now working to save the invaluable heritage by empowering local housewives, thanks to her husband Armando Gonsalvess vision. She will be training them with her initiative, Girl Power, and also chairs the Goa ForGiving Trust. We are also working with the Goa University and Shalini Menezes on gathering information to register a Geographical Indicator certificate (similar to Goan Feni). Ive started the hashtag #ProudToBePoder to change how people perceive bakers, as the term is used derogatorily, says Shaeen. The breads, they are a changing To revive breadmaking, Martins and Da Lima are among many who have started classes. Panjim resident Alison Lobo has taught 612 novices to make traditional sur poie. A recipe given by her scientist father started her tryst when the poder stopped trudging up to her home on a hill in Dona Paula. I bake with toddy. The bread is much healthier, softer and fresher, Alison says. Baking families follow a rotation in production so that everyone gets a chance to be a part of the breadmaking. Once our four months are over, the other family steps in, adds Shaeen, whose bakery sells 800-1,000 breads a day. Another lesser-known bread, the poderancho (coconut flat sweet bread), Alison says, was made and distributed free when baker families changed cycles, It was like a goodbye and good luck as the next family took over, she adds. Revive and restore As a few new-generation bakers aspire to restore the glory of breadmaking, breathing life into history, filmmaker Sonia Filinto with her new documentary Pao brings the resilient poders into the limelight. Breadmaking is intimately woven into Goas identity. Pao is about Goan breads and its bakers, focusing on small bakeries attached to homes the no-name ones. It is a heritage trail symptomatic of changes in society. Goans are very proud of their bread and they are not making it any more, she says. A precious chronicle of Goas Portuguese heritage, an extraordinary artisanal practice, and a tryst with history, Chef Martins mulls. The tradition has persisted despite the battles, even though it is a thankless job, he says. No one compliments the beleaguered poder on how good the bread is. Yes, it is a thankless endeavour. And its time to thank the humble poder, and his family they are the only reason this tradition survives. (Suruchi Kapur-Gomes is a senior editor who shuns cliches and seeks piquant and tangible stories of life as we know it) Digvijaya Singh's Hindu rhetoric is of a different shade from Pragya Thakur's. But he may find it tough to live down his politically incorrect remarks Nathuram Godse was a deshbhakt (patriot), is a deshbhakt and will remain a deshbhakt. People calling him a terrorist should instead look within. Such people will be given a befitting reply in these polls. Thats avowed seer Pragya Singh Thakur, BJPs Lok Sabha nominee from Bhopal who is also an out-on-bail accused in a case of terrorism. The firebrand Hindutva leader launched this rhetorical fusillade on Thursday, hours after reports of her party restraining the rookie candidate from speaking to the media over worries that any controversial statement by her could harm its prospects in the final phase of the polls on May 19. In an election that has been reduced to low-grade demagogy, with leaders from both the ruling coalition and the Opposition resorting to personal attacks, Thakurs role is seen as that of a wilful provocateur with an instinct for communally charged rhetoric that could appeal to the BJPs hard-line vote base. By fielding her from Bhopal, the party made its intentions clear about inciting polarisation across the country and turning the constituency itself into a Hindutva laboratory. This was the test confronting veteran Congress leader and Thakurs challenger, Digvijaya Singh. And the two-time Madhya Pradesh chief minister had his own saffron card up his sleeve. Anyone who isnt a Hindu is not in reckoning in the state. You have to prove that youre a good Hindu, said Sriram Karri, author, novelist and columnist. Bhopal, which was both literally and metaphorically draped in saffron before the polls and on voting day, May 12, continues to bear contrasting hues of Hindutva, deeply embedded in the minds of its denizens, days after the hurly-burly has been done. From tea shops to drawing rooms to senior citizens chit-chatting after morning walk near the citys signature lake, Bhojtal, the familiar question that is on everyones mind is, has Digvijaya Singh managed to secure victory by playing his own brand of saffron politics? About a year back, when the Congress leader decided to go on a six-month-long circumambulation of the Narmada river, the prospect of fighting elections was a distant one and Pragya Thakur was not even a member of the BJP. But her entry into the fray and the direct challenge she threw at Digvijayas comeback into electoral politics changed everything. The Congress, its workers, campaign managers and others realised that the Raghogarh royal would be hard-pressed to refute the BJPs charge that he was a Hindu-baiter. Consequently, his campaign was washed and then dyed in saffron symbols and rituals; his meetings were graced by sadhus; television cameras followed him as he hopped from one temple to another; he allowed himself to be filmed while performing havan; and he also offered fodder to cows. Even self-styled godman Computer Baba, who was granted the status of a minister in the states previous BJP government, switched sides just before the polls and was seen with Digvijaya. Though the Congress candidate said the presence of the saffron-esque religious essence throughout his campaign was incidental, those knowing the wily politician say that, on being cornered, the former CM had to reaffirm his credentials as a believer. Such was the fierce nature of the contest that it prompted Digvijaya to offer, on the occasion of Ram Navami, land belonging to the Congress party in Bhopal for construction of a Ram temple. But the former CMs saffron palette is of a very different hue compared to Pragya Singh Thakurs: his is personal, an inner mystical experience, he claims, as opposed to the rabid, shrill, all-pervading monolith that the fringe in the Sangh wants to disseminate. For him, its the spirituality that takes precedence over every other form from rituals to contesting claims of intra-faith superiority to the ensuing violence that at times accompanies it. However, the havans and pujas in front of cameras clearly show that Digvijaya had to make some adjustments and compromises when it came to politicising his faith. The refurbishing of his image has also to do with the natural inclination of the people in Madhya Pradesh, and Bhopal in particular, where religion is viewed through the prism of rituals and where it is imperative for public representatives to be seen upholding that tradition. Supporters and detractors alike say Digvijayas constant tirade targeting the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its affiliates has also sent a negative message which stemmed from his miscalculation that he would be spared from fighting any more elections. His politically incorrect statements and championing the cause of minorities outside the state had also not gone down well. Author and journalist Rasheed Kidwai, who covered Congress extensively, agreed and said, By playing the minority card with his ill-timed statement of questioning the Batla House encounter, Digvijaya had gone too far. He needed a course correction. Indeed, to shed the tag of the one who coined the term Hindu terror, Digvijaya blamed it on the-then home secretary and now minister in the Narendra Modi government, RK Singh. His image makeover has been so palpable that even the RSS was forced to take a benign stance when asked about the strategy it was employing to checkmate Digvijaya. Ashok Pandey, RSS representative, said, Digvijaya Singh is a Hindu. We want all Hindus to be united. Contrary to the popular perception of Digvijayas new-found love for the Sanatana Dharma, he was brought up by his mother in a devout atmosphere at the Raghogarh Palace, waking up to the chimes and bells of worship. His son Jaivardhan Singh added, My family have been fervent worshippers for three hundred years. My father is very pious. They have been spreading false rumours as he stands for the real Hindutva while his opponents stand for a distorted version. Digvijaya was a regular pilgrim to Pandharpur, one of the holiest places in Maharashtra and once took his entire cabinet to Govardhan Darshan in Vrindavan. In Raghogarh, he was at times fondly referred to as a Hindu Raja. In fact, during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee governments tenure, when Digvijaya was chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, he was the lone Congress bigwig to support the introduction of astrology as a subject in higher education in the name of preserving Hindu culture. The fight for Bhopal is all about the battle for the soul of Hindutva, said a Congress worker at Indira Bhavan, the partys headquarters in the state. If the Sadhvi (Thakur) wins, she would become the new mascot of the Sangh Parivars Hindutva, which would gain currency. Diggy Raja (Digvijaya) has to win for the Congress, for upholding universal solidarity and plurality that forms the bedrock of Hinduism, not the strident, shrill and even at times violent form that the religion has historically abhorred. No challenge seemed to be too great for Pei, including the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, which sits on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland. Pei, who admitted he was just catching up with the Beatles, researched the roots of rock n roll and came up with an array of contrasting shapes for the museum. He topped it off with a transparent tentlike structure, which was open like the music, he said. BSEH Class 10 result 2019 |The Board of School Education Haryana has released this year's Class 10 board results today, Friday (17 May,2019) at around 2 pm. Candidates can check their score and download their result from the official website of the board, bseh.org.in. BSEH 10th result 2019 | The Board of School Education Haryana has released this year's Class 10 board results today, Friday (17 May,2019) at around 2 pm. Candidates can check their score and download their result from the official website of the board, bseh.org.in. BSEH conducted Class 10 exams from 8 March, 2019 to 30 March, 2019. Around four lakh candidates appeared for the exam this year. In case the official website is unresponsive because of heavy traffic, students can also check their score on third party websites which include indiaresult.com and examresults.net. Steps to check BSEH Class 10 result 2019: Step 1: Visit the official website of the board, bseh.org.in Step 2: Click on the link on the homepage which says Class 10 Result 2019 Step 3: Enter details and click on submit button to check result Step 4: The result will be displayed on the screen Step 5: Download it for future reference In 2018, the result was declared on 23 May, 2018. The overall pass percentage was recorded at 51.50 percent. Girls had performed better than boys with a pass percentage of 55.34 percent as compared to boys' 47.61 percent. Meanwhile, HBSE released Class 12 result on 15 May. The overall pass percentage in the senior secondary examination was recorded at 74.40 percent. As has been observed over the course of the past few weeks, the dates and times of result announcements have been frequently changed around. The information above has not been independently verified. However, this article will continue to be updated to reflect official updates as and when they come in. Today's top stories: On last day of campaigning ahead of Phase 7, Narendra Modi will be in Madhya Pradesh and Rahul in Himachal; an SIT formed by the Kolkata police will begin probe into the Vidyasagar statue vandalism case; Madhya Pradesh CEO will file a report on Pragya Singh Thakur's remark on Nathuram Godse; and more. On last day of campaigning ahead of Phase 7, Modi in Madhya Pradesh, Rahul in Himachal Friday marks the last day of campaigning for the 2019 Lok Sabha election, bringing to an end an unusually heated journey which was the national polls this year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will bring his campaign schedule to a close with a final rally scheduled at Madhya Pradesh's Khargone. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi is expected to be in Himachal Pradesh and is scheduled to address a rally at Solan in the morning. Madhya Pradesh CEO to submit a report on Sadhvi Pragya's 'deshbhakt' comment The Madhya Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer is expected to submit a factual report to the Election Commission on Friday on Pragya Singh Thakurs remark that Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse was a patriot or 'deshbhakt'. Under fire for her comment, BJP's Bhopal Lok Sabha seat candidate had tendered an apology on Thursday night and said she respected Mahatma Gandhi as his work for the country cannot be forgotten. She said she made the comments on the spur of moment to a question linked to "saffron terror" and claimed that the media twisted them. SIT to examine video footage of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar statue vandalism The Kolkata Police has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the vandalism of Ishwarchandra Vidyasagars statue at Vidyasagar College in Kolkata on 14 May, during BJP chief Amit Shah's roadshow. The team, headed by North Kolkata Deputy Commissioner Debasish Sarkar, will meet today to examine close to 50 clips of acquired video footage of the incident. Politics over supporters of which party destroyed the bust played well into Thursday when Mamata reiterated at her rallies that "Bengalis' pride is hurt and they will not spare BJP." Modi, during a rally at Uttar Pradesh's Mau, early on Thursday had promised a grander statue in the same spot, which Mamata at a subsequent rally said she had no use for. Opposition delegation meets EC over 'bias' in Bengal A delegation of three Opposition parties met the Election Commission over the poll panel's decision to curtail campaigns in West Bengal and yet allow a 24 hour delay for it. Several Opposition leaders have alleged that the delay in enforcing Article 324 was allegedly to facilitate prime minister Narendra Modi to hold his two scheduled rallies in the state. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who represented the Congress said the team did not receive a satisfactory response from the Election Commission. In first such action in India's electoral history, the Election Commission on Wednesday invoked Article 324 to curtail the campaigning in nine West Bengal constituencies a day before its scheduled deadline. The development came in the wake of Tuesday's violence between BJP and TMC workers in Kolkata, triggering a sharp response from state chief minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee. Repolling to be held at nine booths in south India The Election Commission of India has declared polls held on 11 April at five polling stations of the Chandragiri Assembly constituency and the Chittoor Parliamentary constituency of Andhra Pradesh void. The five polling stations, along with four booths of Kerala's Kasargod and Kannur constituencies which saw bogus voting according to the poll panel, will go see repolling on Sunday. Supreme Court to deliver order on Rajeev Kumar's custodial interrogation The Supreme Court will deliver its order on whether the CBI can question former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, in its custody. CBI had moved the apex court to arrest Kumar, alleging that he had withheld information on the Saradha chit fund case. A team of CBI officers was stopped from entering the residence of Kumar, when he was the city police chief on 3 February when they had gone to question him in connection with the scam cases. The move had led tchief minister Mamata Banerjee to launch a dharna in the heart of the city, protesting against "the attack on constitutional norms". Infosys to allocate 5 crore shares to incentivise employees Infosys said its board has approved an Expanded Stock Ownership Program 2019 that proposes to allocate five crore shares to incentivise employees based on performance. In a regulatory filing, Infosys termed the latest programme "2019 Plan" as "distinct" from previous plan of 2015 where the granted shares largely vested based on time. "...Whereas under the 2019 Plan, the grants will vest strictly on performance. Accordingly, it is proposed to allocate a maximum limit of five crore shares (about 1.15 per cent of the equity share capital) of the company under the 2019 Plan," it added. "Our employees are our biggest asset, and through this program we aim to recognise and reward individuals who are committed to driving value creation for all stakeholders... By making employees owners, they get an opportunity to be beneficiaries in the long term success of the company," Salil Parekh, CEO and managing director, said. Nick Kyrgios disqualified from Italian Open after meltdown Nick Kyrgios of Australia was disqualified from the Italian Open on Thursday after storming off court during his second round match against Norwegian Casper Ruud. The controversial figure, who had made headlines by criticising other players including Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal in an interview on Wednesday, started arguing with the umpire in the third set. He had levelled the match at one set all but was given a game penalty early on in the third set for swearing. Asus Zenfone 6, company's answer to OnePlus7, launched ASUS counter to the OnePlus 7 has finally made its global debut. The phone packs in a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC and pairs it with up to 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage. The cameras include a 48 MP f/1.79 wide and 13 MP ultra-wide units. Specs aside, the most interesting feature of this phone is that it has no selfie camera. Instead, the rear camera flips and doubles as a selfie cam. Priyanka, Deepika, Kangana reach Cannes Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Deepika Padukone and Kangana Ranaut have reached the French Riviera, and more actresses will be joining in at the Cannes Film Festival 2019. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor Ahuja, Huma Qureshi, Mallika Sherawat and Diana Penty will also be seen, meanwhile TV actress Hina Khan has already walked the red carpet. Priyanka will be making her debut at Cannes. Kangana will be wearing Falguni and Shane Peacock on the red carpet this year. Landless Dalit labourers in Punjab's Malwa region have decided to press the NOTA button when the 13 constituencies of Punjab go to polls on 19 May to protest against the failure of successive governments to ensure proper implementation of the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Rules, 1964 Chandigarh/Sangrur: Landless Dalit labourers in Punjab, say, they are done waiting for whats rightfully theirs. In a recent meeting of Dalit labourers and their leaders in Sangrur districts Tolewal village, Bhupinder Kaur, a landless Dalit labourer, addressed those present and told them how the higher caste Jat Sikhs as well as authorities have been trampling upon their rights for years, despite repeated intervention of the Supreme Court. Kaur was referring to the failure of successive governments to ensure proper implementation of the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Rules, 1964, which stipulates that one-third of the land in every Panchayat of Punjab be allotted to Dalit labourers for a year through annual bids. And to register their protest, those in Tolewal village have decided to press the NOTA button when the 13 constituencies of Punjab go to polls in the final phase of Lok Sabha Elections on 19 May. This village on the Malerkotla-Nabha Road has a population of nearly 1,115, out of which 328 are Dalits. In fact, Zameen Prapti Sangharsh Committee (ZPSC), an organisation that is uniting Dalit labourers in the Malwa region of Punjab, over the issue has been able to convince the communitys members in more than 60 villages to press NOTA on 19 May. Sidelined and ignored Despite several attempts and agitations, Dalits in India have not been able to smash the caste barriers that create hurdles in their social and economic upliftment, leaving them out of the development story. The biggest example of social discrimination with Dalits in Punjab is the tradition of two gurudwaras one for the outcasts or Dalits, and the other for the rest of the Sikhs in almost all villages. Further, not getting their stake in one-third of the common land in all villages makes them economically weaker. Section 6(1)a of the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Rules, 1964, stipulates that one-third of the cultivable common land proposed to be leased for a year shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes. Dalits have, however, alleged several times that the rules are not being followed and higher caste Jat Sikhs, who are the traditional farmers in the state, keep taking over the land through their proxies or dummies. A visit to villages in the Malwa region proves this allegation true. A never-ending fight Beant Singh, the Sarpanch of Tolewal village, said that government after government has failed the Dalits in the issue of land rights, and hence, the community has decided to go for NOTA in this Lok Sabha election. Neither the BJP nor the Congress has come to our rescue. We have no option but to fight this tyranny our way, he adds. As per the law, it is the Panchayat that is supposed to allot the land to Dalits, but the situation in Tolewal is the opposite. Though Beant is the sarpanch of Tolewal, being a Dalit, he has to fight for his communitys rights as he doesnt have the support of most members of the Panchayat. With all 13 constituencies of Punjab going for polls in the final phase of Lok Sabha polls on 19 May, this decision of Dalits, especially those in the Malwa region, which comprises 11 of the states 22 districts, can have a significant impact on the election results, especially considering that most political parties have been trying to woo the community. The Dalit population in Punjab is around 32 percent with the highest concentration being in the district that are part of the Malwa region. While only 6.53 percent of non-Dalit families in Punjab are in the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category, the percentage of Scheduled Caste BPL families is 25.6 in Punjab. The reason Dalits feel the need to press for land rights in the state is because the number of operational holdings with Dalits in Punjab is 63,480, a mere 6.02 percent of the total, and are spread over 1,26,966 hectares, just 3.2 percent of the total area of the state; 85.54 percent of these holdings are unviable as they are smaller than four hectares, as per government figures. In comparison, Jats, who are traditionally from the farming community, hold large chunks of land in the region. They generally employ agricultural labourers, mostly Dalits, in their farms. Out of the total 10.93 lakh land holdings, Jat community own most of the land in the state. Most of the top political leaders of the state, including Punjab chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, are also Jat Sikhs. Taking matters into their own hands Gurmukh Singh, general secretary of ZPSC, said the decision to reject all political parties and opt for NOTA was taken after considerable deliberation. Dalits in Punjab have been suffering for centuries even though their numbers are high. Jat Sikhs dont want to loosen their grip on agricultural lands despite legislations in favour of Dalits. We have to fight this mentality; after all, Sikhism was founded on equality and justice," he said. Gurmukh also pointed out that though only Dalits can take part in the auction for the one-third Panchayat land, Jat Sikhs ask their Dalit workers to participate in the process by paying them a small amount. Later, the same Dalits sow crops on the land for their masters. Most Dalits lack money and as a result they cannot take part in auction as individuals. Though Dalits, in the past, were able to get the common land in some villages of Malwa region by pooling their resources (money) and making group purchases in the auction, such cases were few. In 2014, 60 Dalit families of Kular village in Sangrur pooled Rs 3 lakh together to bid for four acres of Panchayat land in 2014 for one year lease. "Despite repeated attempts Dalit families were not able to get common land in the village for agricultural purposes," says Sandeep Kaur, a resident of Kular village, adding, "We decided to pool our resources to get the land and were successful." The case was seen as a victory of Dalit rights, and now Dalit families in Kular pool money every year to get the land in the village. However, availability of large chunk of lands is crucial for the success of initiatives like this so that the allotted land is viable for large number of Dalit families. A ZPSC member from Mansa district, Amreek Singh, said the government never made Dalits aware of this land right of theirs. Only recently have Dalit organisations come together to make the community aware about their rights. Thats why we have lost faith in governments," he added. In May 2016, a major clash had taken place in Sangrurs Balad Kalan village, after the police lathi-charged Dalits protesting against the auction process that year, which they claimed was a farce. "The police and administration were apparently working under the influence of some landlords of the village, and as as a result they lathi-charged us," claims Swarn Singh, a Dalit from Balad Kalan, who was among those injured in the incident. Interestingly, Dalit women, are not shying away from campaigning against political parties. They have been going from village to village, urging Dalit voters to press NOTA during the polls on 19 May. Ramandeep Kaur, a Dalit woman and member of ZPSC who is campaigning in favour of NOTA in Tolewal village, says that she is doing it for a better future of her two children. "I was not able to get education because of poverty. I do not want that my children's education is also hindered due to lack of money. We will never be able to ensure a bright future for our children by being agricultural labourers," said Ramandeep. Gurpreet Kaur, another Dalit from Balian village which has a substantial Dalit population, says that agricultural land was accumulated with the high castes in Punjab for centuries. "Almost all Dalits have agreed in our area that they will press NOTA and will not vote for any party. These political parties have only given us promises and taken our votes, now we will not vote for them," she added. HBSE 10th Result 2019 Declared: The Haryana Board of School Education (BSEH) released the Class 10 result today (17 May, Friday). The students can check the results by going to the board's official website www.bseh.org.in. HBSE Class 10 Result 2019 declared | The Haryana Board of School Education (BSEH) released the Class 10 result today (17 May, Friday). The students can check the results by going to the board's official website www.bseh.org.in. The students, unable to obtain qualifying scores in the Haryana Class 10th Result 2019, will have the opportunity to appear in the re-examination and improve their scores. In the class 10 examination, a total of 3,85,227 students from across the state had participated. The Class 10 and Class 12 examination of Haryana board were held in March and April. Follow LIVE updates on HBSE Class 10 board exam results here Here is how to check the Haryana Board HBSE Class Result 2019: Step 1: Go to the official website of the board, www.bseh.org.in Step 2: Select the link on the homepage which says Class 10 Board Result 2019 Step 3: Enter Roll number and other information Step 4: Click on submit button to proceed Step 5: The result will be displayed on the screen Step 6: Download it for further reference This year, the administration had made strict security arrangements to stop cheating and use of unfair means in the examination. CCTV cameras were installed in almost all centers and photostat shops nearby to exam centres were ordered shut during before the commencement of the exam, reports said. Disclaimer: As has been observed over the course of the past few weeks, the dates and times of result announcements have been frequently changed around. The information above has not been independently verified. However, this article will continue to be updated to reflect official updates as and when they come in. Scores of Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir activists and other separatist leaders, who were arrested after the Pulwama attack and then released on bail, are being re-arrested under fresh cases and frequently called to police stations for questioning, claim their lawyers and human rights activists Pulwama: The family of 35-year old Bilal Ahmad Lone from Nikkas, Pulwama, has not been able to talk to him for over one-and-half month after he was sent to Kot Bhalwal jail in Jammu. A Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir activist, Lone was arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir Police in March following the detention of several members of the separatist organisation on 24 February. Jamaat-e-Islami J&K activists were arrested 10 days after a convoy of CRPF was attacked killing at least 40 of its personnel. Last month, Bilal's younger brother met him at the jail, but his wife and other family members couldnt talk to him as cellphones are not allowed inside the prison. Bilal has been imprisoned under the Public Safety Act (PSA), a law under which a person remains incarcerated without trial through an executive order issued by a Deputy Commissioner (DC). Scores of Jamaat-e-Islami J&K activists along with other separatist leaders, who were arrested after the 14 February attack on the CRPF conoy at Lethpora in the southern district of Pulwama and released on bail, are being re-arrested under fresh cases and also frequently called to police stations, claim their lawyers and human rights activists. Human rights lawyer, advocate Shafaqat Hussain, said that a number of activists of Jamaat-e-Islami J&K and other separatist organisations have been re-arrested after fresh cases were filed against them despite the fact that courts released them on bail. "I have been pleading some 40 cases of Jamaat-e-Islami J&K activists and other separatist activists. We have been challenging their detention. They are being arrested on spurious grounds. The cases are registered against them under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), some sections of which deny bail for many months. There are also those who have been imprisoned under the PSA," he said. Bilals wife, Adfar Jan, said that she was worried about her husbands health as doctors had removed his gall bladder to treat him for gallstones few months before his arrest. She informs that her husband was also required to take medicines regularly for a thyroid disorder. "I have not been able to speak to him and I dont know whether he takes medicines. My whole life has turned upside down. I have to take care of two children, who miss their father. Our financial condition has worsened after my husbands arrest," said Adfar at her house. Her face was covered with a headscarf during the interview. Bilal was running a shop where he sold wood panels and wallpaper in Pulwama town, which lied only few miles away from his home. The shop now remains mostly shut after his arrest. "The shop is opened only for some days by Bilals younger brother, said Adfar. She said that her husband was not even brought for regular hearings in the courts in connection with the case. Deputy Commissioner, Pulwama, Syed Abid Rashid Shah, said that he was not aware of the exact number of PSA orders issued from his office, but he said that it was for the police's responsibility to ensure regular hearings. Sixty-one-year-old Mehraj Azeem, a resident of Nishat area of Srinagar, has filed a petition before the Jammu and Kashmir High Court against the ban on Jamaat-e-Islami J&K and the subsequent arrest its activists and leaders. The court, in the last week of March, had issued a notice to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to respond with a reply over the petition against the ban. Counsel for the petitioner, advocate Syed Musaib, said that they are still awaiting a reply. In the writ petition, Azeem described the ban as a precedent of the British era colonial regime in India as well as the post-Emergency regime of Indira Gandhi-led Congress government in India. "The Jamaat-e-Islami J&K has been in existence for more than six decades with the sole intent of socio-religious well-being of the society, read the petition while mentioning the help Jamaat-e-Islami J&K volunteers rendered during the floods in Jammu and Kashmir in 2014. On 23 February, nine days after the attack on CRPF convoy, authorities arrested Sanaullah Mir, 59, former Pulwama district president of Tehreek-i-Hurriyat (TeH), a separatist organisation led by Hurriyat (G) chairman, Syed Ali Shah Geelani. Mir was released after over a month-long arrest and jail, before he was summoned again in April and questioned by the sleuths of National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Pulwama about receiving funds from "separatists". Mir, who was a Jamaat-e-Islami J&K activist before he crossed the border for weapons training as a Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) militant in Pakistan in the early 90s, has faced frequent questioning after the convoy attack. "I was summoned by the police and questioned by the NIA in Pulwama. I was asked from where did I get money. I told the officials that I was not even able to manage a living and that I had to sell my ancestral land after our financial condition turned bad. I was associated with the TeH earlier, but I gave up the post due to my poor health, he said. The forces levelled false charges on me accusing that I had attended the funeral of a militant, he added, while closely holding one of his paralysed arms in the other hand. Days before the elections on 6 May in Pulwama district, Abdul Rashid Dar, 50, a member of separatist organisation of Peoples League (PL) was arrested from his village of Kulpora in Pulwama, and lodged for several days at a police station. He said that after his release, he was repeatedly called up by the security forces and asked to give up his association with the PL. "I am being constantly questioned for my association with my organisation and told that I should renounce it," he added. The Supreme Court of India directed the Election Commission to tally the VVPAT slips of at least five EVMs in each Assembly segment in a Lok Sabha constituency The seven-phase election in India will come to a close on 19 May. With over 900 million voters spread across the diverse topography, India always grabs the envious record of holding the worlds biggest electoral exercise every five years. But it is not just the size of the electorate that makes Indian elections unique. The process of counting votes too has witnessed a dynamic shift in the last two decades. After over five decades of ballot papers, India completely shifted to Electronic Voting machines in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. However, in an attempt to bring more transparency in the counting process, the Election Commission will not only be counting the votes in EVMs but it will also tally a limited number of VVPAT paper slips with the votes recorded on the machine. Supreme Court intervention to increase transparency On 8 April 2019, the Supreme Court of India directed the Election Commission to tally the VVPAT slips of at least five EVMs in each Assembly segment in a Lok Sabha constituency. Earlier, the Election Commission used to count the VVPAT slips of just one EVM in every Assembly Constituency. It is to be noted that over 1.7 million VVPATs are being used in this elections. While issuing the order, the Supreme Court said that such a practice will ensure greatest degree of accuracy, satisfaction in the election process. Nevertheless, the apex court also added that it does not doubt the credibility of EVMs or the efficacy of the present system. How the counting is done According to a report in The Economic Times, the counting of votes will take place in special and secured booths under the close supervision of the returning officer and the poll observer on 23 May. According to the report, the VVPAT counting rooms will be set up in every polling booth. These rooms will be surrounded by a wire mesh, which will keep away unauthorised people from accessing the paper slips. The selection of the five EVMs in every Assembly Constituency will be done by a draw of lots in the presence of all the candidates. There are a total of 4,215 Assembly segments in India. When the five EVMs are chosen from each of these segments, it would increase the VVPAT verification percentage from 0.44 to around two percent. As per the Election Commission guidelines, if there is any discrepancy in the vote count between EVMs and VVPATs, then the latter will prevail. The final result sheet will also be amended as per the VVPAT paper slips count. Notably, the whole counting process will be filmed by the authorities. As per Rule 56D (4) (b) of the Conduct of Elections Rules 1961, if there is any discrepancy between EVM count and paper slip count, the paper slip count shall prevail. Hence, if there is discrepancy between the count of votes displayed on the Control Unit and the count of printed-paper slips in respect of that Polling Station, the result sheet will be amended as per the printed-paper slips count, the Election Commission manual states. EC flags logistical issues The Opposition parties have been demanding that at least 50 percent of the EVMs being used should be tallied with the VVPATs. However, the Election Commission has been opposing the demand citing logistical issues. The apex poll body also told the Supreme Court that increasing the number of VVPATs for tallying of votes will delay the results by 6 to 7 days. The Election Commission has also said that the 8 April Supreme Court order will also lead to a slight delay in announcing the results this time. Speaking to the media after Supreme Court rejected the Oppositions demand for 50 percent verification of VVPAT slips, Deputy Election Commissioner Sudeep Jain said, Counting of five VVPATs will delay overall counting by five hours. It takes an hour to tally the VVPATs of one machine, with four more it will take another four hours... The election results may be out on May 23 night or 24 morning. Since the last two years, the Opposition has been raising concerns over the alleged manipulation of EVMs by the BJP in several elections across India. In order to bring more transparency into the process, the Opposition had met the EC in February and demanded matching of results of 50 percent EVMs with VVPATs before it declared the results. Reservations bring with them the charge of unfair equality and this leads to further acrimony between groups. Its time we looked at new solutions Affirmative action aimed at ending discrimination has a long and complex history in India. A new chapter was added to this story on May 10 when the Supreme Court upheld a Karnataka law, saying quotas for promotion of scheduled caste and scheduled tribe candidates in public employment was constitutional and did not require demonstrating backwardness of the community. In January, the Union cabinet approved a Constitution Amendment Bill to provide 10% reservation to economically backward sections. And a month later, the Karnataka government amended rules to give priority to Kannadigas in C&D group jobs in private companies. In short, even groups opposed to quotas want the same benefit extended to them. For long, this has been the only solution to address inequity in India. So these recent developments provide a good opportunity to reflect on the question: can we imagine better ways to achieve social equity goals? The starting point for this conversation is that though some form of affirmative action is a necessity in our deeply iniquitous society but does that solution always have to be quotas? This might seem almost heretical, given how normalised reservation has become but there can be better options. Consider this thought experiment. There are no predetermined quotas for any posts. Positions are filled only based on a composite score of all applicants. The composite score is a combination of two measures. The first is an inequity score calculated to compensate for the relative disadvantage faced by an applicant. The second measure strictly represents an applicants ability to be effective for the position they are applying for. Selection is on the basis of the composite score. No seats are reserved and yet the score allows for addressing multidimensional inequity much better than current methods. How does this work in real life? The inequity score can be used to indicate relative disadvantage along several dimensions: individual, social and geographic. Different factors can be assigned different weightages. For instance, given the salience of caste in the Indian social context, the greater the disadvantage a community faces, the higher the weightage. In addition, we can incorporate other parameters into the inequity score parents level of education, income levels, rural upbringing, or even childhood nutritional deficiencies. Currently, our system of quota-based allocations does not account for non-caste disadvantages that have a disproportionate impact on life outcomes. A national commission for equity can be formed to propose and review parameters and their weightages within a cooperative federal framework. It doesnt have to be one-size-fits-all solution. States can assign their own factors and weightages according to the local conditions. The second measure an effectiveness score can then be kept completely independent of equity considerations. It can take the form of a test, an interview or any other indicator to assess candidates ability to perform the job they have applied for. Information about the inequity scores can be masked from evaluators of the effectiveness score. By filling positions based on a sum of the two scores, it becomes possible to be more comprehensive in addressing social inequities while also creating stronger incentives for an individual pursuit of excellence. What makes this better than the status quo? Quotas bring with them the charge of unfair equality and this leads to further acrimony between groups. Different cutoffs for different quota categories further strengthens the charge of unfairness. This is a dangerous outcome, as other groups then seek to create new categories for themselves. In fact, a 2017 study published in Nature Human Behaviour claims that people actually prefer unequal societies over unfair ones. The abstract of the paper reads: drawing upon laboratory studies, cross-cultural research, and experiments with babies and young children, we argue that humans naturally favour fair distributions, not equal ones, and that when fairness and equality clash, people prefer fair inequality over unfair equality (Starmans et al). The proposed alternative aligns well with this human preference of fairness over equality. This method can also accelerate dissolution of caste boundaries better than the current system. There is little evidence to show that more reservations have reduced the relevance of caste to our society. In fact, it has only resulted in more individuals identifying themselves with their castes. Inter-caste marriages, which can break caste identity perpetuation, continue to be abysmally low. If an inequity score can take into account factors other than caste, its salience to our politics is likely to relatively decline. To be sure, caste-based political mobilisation to secure a better inequity score will still be possible. Satish Deshpande and Yogendra Yadav in 2006 proposed a similar model as an alternative to reservations in higher education. They write that an evidenced-based model addressing multiple sources of group and individual disadvantages helps to de-essentialise identity markers such as caste or religion; that is, it provides a rational explanation why specific castes or communities are entitled to compensatory discrimination and undermines attitudes that treat such entitlements as a birth right. Because the inequity score takes into account multiple parameters, it is a much better indicator of relative disadvantages faced by individuals. Caste, language and religion are crude measures that required the innovation of concepts such as creamy layer to assuage concerns of unfairness. These crude measures were perhaps the only available indicators seven decades ago, in the early years of the republic. But today, it is at least theoretically possible to construct better measures that seek to provide equal opportunity at individual level and for annihilating caste at the societal level. Pranay Kotasthane and Nitin Pai are with the Takshashila Institution The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court had disallowed to grant 16 percent reservation to Maratha community for admissions to post-graduate medical courses on the grounds that the admission process had begun much earlier. Mumbai: The Maharashtra Cabinet on Friday gave its approval to promulgate an ordinance to amend the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Reservation Act, 2018 to provide reservation to Maratha students in post-graduate medical courses. The cabinet also gave its approval to reimburse the fees to the candidates from the general category, who will be affected following the promulgation of the ordinance. A minister said the general category students can seek admission under management quota in private colleges. The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court had disallowed to grant 16 percent reservation to Maratha community for admissions to post-graduate medical courses on the grounds that the admission process had begun much earlier. The Supreme Court had upheld the high court's decision. Talking to reporters after the cabinet meeting, Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil said the draft of the ordinance is being sent to the Governor for promulgation. "The ordinance will provide relief to those students who had already got admission under Maratha quota, but were affected after the process was stayed by the court. Now, the third round of the admission would start," he said. Those students from the general category, who will be affected, should try for admissions in private colleges and the government will reimburse their fees, he said. The students from open/general category should seek management quota and the government will assist them, Patil added. According to him, the state government will approach the Supreme Court to extend the admission time frame from 25 to 31 May. "We will also seek additional 213 seats in the medical courses," he said. A meeting has been scheduled on 21 May on this issue, the minister said, adding that demand from other states is also being addressed to. "We will move the court to seek reservation be applied for the additional seats," he said. The minister also said the state government will file caveats in the Bombay High Court and its Aurangabad and Nagpur benches and the apex court to ensure the ordinance is not challenged. Meanwhile, a statement from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said the cabinet also reviewed the drought situation, El-Nino effect, weather-related predictions, water storage in various dams, fodder availability and seeds stock. Currently, 5,493 tankers are in operation in 4,331 villages. Rs 162 crore have been given for fodder camps. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis directed to speed up issuance of ration cards in rural areas, especially in drought-prone areas. He also directed the local administration to ensure more works under the Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS). From disowning Godse's ideological association with the RSS to strongly denying the fact that he had links with Sangh ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, the BJP has been rather embarrassed about Godse and Gandhi's assassination The Bharatiya Janata Party and its ideological fountainhead have had an uneasy relationship with the memory of Nathuram Godse, the man who assassinated Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. From disowning Godse's ideological association with the RSS to strongly denying the fact that he had links with Sangh ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, the BJP has been rather uncomfortable about Godse and Gandhi's assassination. Just when campaigning for the ongoing Lok Sabha polls was reaching its climax, the BJP was pushed into a corner and forced to ask three of its leaders to explain their comments on Godse and initiate disciplinary action against them, as the Congress latched on to the issue. The Pandora's box opened on Thursday with BJP's Bhopal Lok Sabha candidate and Malegaon blast accused Pragya Singh Thakur lauding Godse as a "patriot" and issuing an apology hours later saying she respected Gandhi and his work for the country cannot be forgotten. In quick succession was Union minister Anantkumar Hegde, who's Twitter handle featured pro-Godse comments made by two Twitter users, while the minister apparently added that he was happy that the society was finally open to hear out the condemned. Hegde not only retracted those comments but also denied making them, as he claimed that his account was breached. The third in line was BJP leader Nalin Kumar Kateel, who insinuated that Godse's crime was lesser than Ajmal Kasab and Rajiv Gandhi, who blamed for anti-Sikh riots. As controversy raged on the last day of campaigning, BJP president Amit Shah said the party has taken serious note of the three leaders' statements. Stating that the comments were against the party's ideology, Shah asked the party's disciplinary committee to submit a report on the issue in 10 days for further action. "They have withdrawn their statements and also apologised. However, their remarks are against the decorum of public life and the BJP and also against the party's ideology. Taking serious note of their remarks, the party has decided to send them to the disciplinary committee," Shah said on Twitter. The party went into damage control, sensing the comments by the three could hurt the party's image and its poll prospects in the last 59 seats that vote on Sunday. Over the last year or so, the BJP has been promoting itself as a torchbearer of the Father of the Nation's ideals and legacy, which has long been the Congress domain. Apart from Amit Shah's immediate action, was a rarer occurrence: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's prompt condemnation of these remarks. A day after BJP's Bhopal candidate Pragya praised Godse, Modi who had endorsed her candidature, has said that he will never be able to forgive the BJP leader for insulting the Mahatma. Meanwhile, the Congress played up the issue on the last day of campaign, first on Modi's supposed silence, and later on the 'long' turnaround time the BJP sought to act against its leaders. In a tweet, Congress leader Kapil Sibal said, "When Sadhvi Pragya says: 'Godse a Deshbakht' and Modi is silent with Vidyasagar's statue a victim of the violent I can only pray for my country and hope that one day the silent majority will keep violence at bay." His party colleague, former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah, stepped into the debate to say Godse, who killed the father of the nation in January 1948, was inspired by RSS ideology. "Godse was inspired by Sangh Pariwar's ideology and so is Pragya. Former killed our Mahatma and the latter killed Mahatma's children. Pragya who calls Godse a patriot is endorsed by @narendramodi Is this the sign of an attempt to proliferate Sangh's hatred based ideology," he tweeted. This is what Rahul Gandhi had to say. I finally got it. The BJP and the RSS... Are not God-Ke Lovers. They are God-Se Lovers. Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 17, 2019 As the row over Thakur's remarks escalated, BJP's MP from Karnataka Nalin Kumar Kateel compared Godse with former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. "Godse killed one, Kasab killed 72, Rajiv Gandhi killed 17,000. You judge who is more cruel in this??" Kateel tweeted on Thursday, equating Godse, 26/11 convict Ajmal Kasab and Rajiv Gandhi. Union minister Hegde, who also found himself in the news with a purported tweet justifying Godse's action, claimed his account was hacked. "My Twitter account has been breached twice in the past one week and certain tweets have been posted on my timeline which has been discarded and deleted. Regret the posts attributed to me." "My account was hacked since yesterday. There is no question of justifying Gandhi ji's murder. There can be no sympathy or justification of Gandhi ji's murder. We all have full respect for Gandhi ji's contribution to the nation," he posted. However, the matter has long been a problem spot for the saffron party In his memoir, My Country, My Life, LK Advani plays down RSS' differences with Gandhi and distances the Hindutva organisation from Godse's violent act. According to excerpts quoted from the book in Frontline, Advani reasserted the traditional party line that Godse had severed links with RSS in 1933 (much before he hatched the plan to murder Gandhi) had begun to bitterly criticise the RSS." This was flatly contradicted by none other than Godses brother Gopal, who was also an accused at the trial for conspiracy to murder. According to a report in The Economic Times, Gopal Godse in an interview in 1994 had denied RSS' claim and said that all the three Godse brothers Nathuram, Dattatreya and Gopal were part of the RSS and had not left the organisation. The report quoted grandson of Gopal, Satyaki, as saying, "Nathuram joined the RSS when he was in Sangli in 1932. He remained a boudhik karyawah till his death. He was neither expelled nor did he ever leave the organisation... I am definitely upset with the RSS for denying the fact that he was a swayamsevak. I understand that they do not support the act of killing Gandhiji but they cannot run away from the facts" Satyaki is the son of Gopal Godse's daughter Himani Savarkar who passed away last year. She was running Abhinav Bharat that was originally started as a secret revolutionary movement in 1904 by Veer Savarkar for raising an armed struggle against the British. It was the same organisation that was originally accused of perpetrating the Malegaon blast and other similar attacks targeting the minority community, incidentally for which Pragya also was a co-accused. Apart from this, in 1981, then vice-president of the BJP and an eminent lawyer, Ram Jethmalani had said both Gandhi and Godse shared the same ideology. "Godse and Gandhi shared the same political philosophy [sic] of a United India" (The Times of India; 14 April, 1981). RSS mouthpiece, Organiser, also sought to defend Godse's action in a 1970 editorial by saying that his actions were only a manifestation " people's wrath" "It was in support of Nehrus pro-Pakistan stand that Gandhiji went on fast and, in the process, turned the peoples wrath on himself," the excerpt documented in the Frontline article reads. Then there is the question of Godse's links with the RSS ideologue, Savarkar. According to an article in The Hindu titled 'How Savarkar Escaped the Gallows', author AG Noorani argues that Savarkar not only knew the conspirators of Gandhi's murder but was also close to them. It is notewrthy here that Savarkar was also a co-accused in Gandhi's assassination but was later acquitted because a witness' account could not be independently corroborated. The article quotes Savarakar's bodyguard, Apte Ramchandra Kasar, and his secretary Gajanan Vishnu Damle's statement before the JK Kapur Commission, which was probing the saffron ideologue's role in the case. The Kapur commission noted: "The statements of both these witnesses show that both (ND) Apte and Godse were frequent visitors of Savarkar at Bombay and at conferences and at every meeting they are shown to have been with SavarkarThis evidence also shows that Vishnu Ramkrishna Karkare was also well known to Savarkar and was also a frequent visitor. Digamber Badge (who later turned approver in the case) used to visit Savarkar. Dr Parchure also visited him. All this shows that people who were subsequently involved in the murder of Mahatma Gandhi were all congregating some time or the other at Savarkar Sadan and sometimes had long interviews with Savarkar." But what Savarkar claimed in the court during the trial was a watered down version of what Savarkar's bodyguard and secretary claimed after his death. "Pandit Godse and Narayan Apte got themselves introduced to me as Hindu Mahasabha workers at Nagar and Poona and later on came to be personally acquainted with me,"Savarkar was quoted as saying in the court by Frontline. With all this history behind the BJP and the RSS, the ghost of Godse is unlikely to fade into oblivion. Each time the political discourse heats up, one group or another will keep invoking Godse to either tarnish the Mahatma's image or to gain political mileage by appropriating his legacy. With inputs from agencies RRB Admit Card 2019: The Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) will be releasing the admit for RRB Entrance Examination 2019 for the posts of Junior Engineer (Information Technology), Depot Material Superintendent (DMS) and Chemical and Metallurgical Assistant (CMA) today on the board's official website rrbcdg.gov.in RRB Admit Card 2019 | The Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) will be releasing the admit for RRB Entrance Examination 2019 today (Saturday, 18 May). Students who registered for the RRB entrance exam 2019 for the posts of Junior Engineer (Information Technology), Depot Material Superintendent (DMS) and Chemical and Metallurgical Assistant (CMA) will be able to download the admit card from the board's official website rrbcdg.gov.in. All the registered candidates will also be alerted about the admit card once it is available for download via SMS and email, according to News18. RRB will conduct the entrance exam for the posts of Junior Engineer (Information Technology), Depot Material Superintendent (DMS) and Chemical and Metallurgical Assistant (CMA) on 22 May. Steps to download RRB Admit Card 2019 RRB JE Admit Card 2019, RRB Junior Engineer Admit Card 2019, RRB DMS Admit Card 2019, RRB CMA Admit Card 2019: Step 1: Go to RRBs official website rrbcdg.gov.in. Step 2: On the homepage, look for the RRB Admit Card 2019 link and click on it. Step 3: Once the link opens on a new window, enter the required details to download RRB 2019 Admit Card for Junior Engineer, DMS, CMA posts. Step 4: Submit the details. Step 5: The RRB 2019 Admit Card, RRB JE Admit Card 2019 will be displayed on the screen. Download it and take a print out. Those candidates who registered for the RRB entrance examination are required to carry the admit card enclosed with a photograph and an ID proof to their exam centre to be able to sit for the exam. With so much information to sift and sort, Lightfoots people created a true inclusiveness, but that does not necessarily mean the mayors agenda will be fully inclusive. When so many people with so many opinions are asked to funnel their brightest ideas into one place, its the people holding the funnels who have the ultimate power over who gets heard and who does not. Army jawan Rohit Kumar Yadav who was injured during an encounter with terrorists in Shopian district on Thursday, succumbed to his injuries in the hospital, said police on Friday. In an official statement, the state police gave details about the encounter in which three terrorists were killed in Handew area of Shopian district on Thursday. Shopian: Army jawan Rohit Kumar Yadav who was injured during an encounter with terrorists in Shopian district on Thursday, succumbed to his injuries in the hospital, said police on Friday. In an official statement, the state police gave details about the encounter in which three terrorists were killed in Handew area of Shopian district on Thursday. "The terrorists killed during the encounter have been identified as Yawar Ahmad Dar, a resident of Bandpaho Shopian, Shakeel Ahmad Dar, a resident of Tukroo Shopian and one active associate of terrorist Ishtiyaq Bhat, a resident of Handew in Shopian," the statement said. As per the statement, "Yawar Dar was involved in planning and executing a series of terror attacks in the area and committed many other civilian atrocities. He was involved in the terror attack on Zainpora Police Guard last year in which four policemen died. He was also involved in a case pertaining to the civilian atrocities in Chitragam Shopian." "Shakil was involved in several terror attacks on security establishments in the area. Similarly, Ishtiyaq Bhat was an active associate of terrorists and several criminal cases were registered against him, including a case regarding terrorist activities. His complicity in the instant incident is under probe," it added. The security forces also recovered incriminating material including arms and ammunition from the site of encounter. "All these materials have been taken in the case records for the purpose of investigation and to probe their complicity in other terror crimes," the police said in the statement. The police have requested the citizens not to venture inside the encounter zone since such an area can prove dangerous due to stray explosive materials. People are requested to cooperate with police till the area is completely sanitized and cleared of all the explosives materials if any. The Supreme Court on Friday withdrew its interim order protecting former Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar from arrest, allowing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to 'act in accordance with the law'. Kumar's protection from arrest will be withdrawn after seven days, after which the CBI will be at freedom to take him into custody. The Supreme Court on Friday withdrew its interim order protecting former Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar from arrest, allowing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to "act in accordance with the law". Kumar's protection from arrest will be withdrawn after seven days, after which the CBI will be at freedom to take him into custody. The seven days' time, reported LiveLaw, is so that Kumar can approach the "appropriate forum in accordance with law," to seek further protection. The matter raises "very serious issues", said Justice Sanjiv Khanna while reading out the operative part of the judgment. #NewsAlert No relief for Rajeev Kumar in Saradha Chit Fund Scam. Kumars protection from arrest to be withdrawn after a week, CBI to act in accordance with the law: Supreme Court. #SaradhaScam | @utkarsh_aanand and @AnushaSoni23 with more details pic.twitter.com/vMb5W4agQB News18 (@CNNnews18) May 17, 2019 The CBI had moved the Supreme Court seeking removal of the "no-coercive action" clause against Kumar as it had wanted to interrogate him after taking him into custody, in connection with chit fund scams. Kumar had been embroiled in a controversy for being at loggerheads with the CBI over its investigations into the Saradha chit fund and Rose Valley scams. The CBI has been eager to challenge the protection. "If a person has additional protection at times he or she doesn't reveal things. It would be better if we question him in our custody," a senior CBI official had told PTI. On 13 February, Kumar had been questioned by the CBI in Shillong following a Supreme Court directive on 5 February asking him to cooperate in the investigation. The CBI had approached the Supreme Court after its officers were prevented by the Kolkata Police when they went to Kumars residence to question him on 3 February. What followed since that CBI visit was a saga with overarching political ramifications. The move had led West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee to launch a dharna in the heart of Kolkata, protesting against "the attack on constitutional norms". Kumar, who has been posted as ADG and IGP of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in West Bengal since 19 February, was on 15 May transferred to the Ministry of Home Affairs after a reshuffle was ordered by the Election Commission. The virtue of education will be hit if the state decides what jobs students can take up In Platos seminal work Republic, the discussion around the idea of justice invariable gets down to the question of education and its quality, where Socrates says that it is pointless to worry over specific laws, since proper education ensures lawful behaviour and poor education causes lawlessness. Scholar Fiona Wilson lays it out in the modern context when she says that the school is a site where children are taught to become citizens and are encouraged to establish a relationship with the nation-state. Education is a public good, a fundamental right and an entitlement, which is not just imperative for a citizens self-development but also has positive externalities and spins-offs for society and is, thereby, instrumental in a nations development. Public education ensures a level playing fieldfor the economically as well as the socially backward sections which is also enshrined in our Constitution, with the ideas of equity, inclusivity and social justice at its heart. The central aim of national education is to strengthen the powers of the human mind and evoke the will and the ability to use knowledge, character, and culture, Sri Aurobindo has said. So, if a government offers subsidised education to its citizens, it isn't doing them a favour. It is strengthening the country by building an informed, sensitised and dutiful citizenry through creation of a rewarding social and human capital and contributing to its skilled labour force. It is, therefore, the state which is obliged to ensure that quality education (primary, secondary and even higher education) is accessible, affordable and open to all. The very act of the provision of public education then is the greatest public service. Father of the Indian Constitution BR Ambedkar saw education as the political path to emancipation, liberation and freedom from oppression. Let us assume a scenario where there is no subsidised education. In the absence of government-run schools and institutions, more than 70% of Indians will have nowhere to go. Millions of parents struggling to make ends meet will be disincentivised to send their children to school following their inability to afford commoditised and privatised education. They would have to let their children succumb to ills of child labour, unemployment, crime, radicalisation and whatnot. Now let us look at a popular belief that the recipients of public education must commit themselves to public service. Going back to Rousseaus 1762 treatise The Social Contract, citizens are free because they forfeit the same number of rights and impose the same duties on all. Yet, the act of coercion by the state is seen as that of wielding illegitimate power, to which there is no rightful duty to submit. The answer lies not in making public service compulsory, but to instil a set of values and virtues through educationirrespective of whether it is publicly or privately funded that impassions the citizens to serve their country and the world in their own unique ways, through social, political, national, international or economic expressions of public service. Indias philosopher-president Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan professed this view when he said, The students should not only be intellectually competent and technically skilled but also civilized in their emotions and refined in their purpose because their worth as members of society desires for devotion to a great cause. The task of inculcating morality and normativity in society finds its entry point into a pupil through education. For Vivekananda, at a more self-reflexive level, education was the manifestation of perfection that was already in man. The larger and nobler aim of education would be life-building, man-making, character-making and assimilation of ideas, he said. One must establish links between education and society; acknowledge how it is not an apolitical exercise and is laden with diverse ideological underpinnings and unequal power relations. Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore summed it well when he said, Modern education is relevant only to turning out clerks, lawyers, doctors, magistrates and policemen... It has not reached the farmer, the oil grinder, or the potter. Mahatma Gandhi favoured a more rounded approach. Boys and girls should be encouraged to value manual labour. In fact, carpentry, spinning and other crafts may be used as a means of stimulating the intellect. He wanted students across social backgrounds to experience the work largely undertaken by the weaker sections of society, seeing in it the potential for social transformation. One of the biggest virtues of educationunfettered and unconditional growth of an individualis likely to get hindered if the state or society were to decide the occupation a student should take up after receiving public (or private) education. Thus, the project of education is necessarily a political one, which must inherently aim at instilling values of justice, personal freedoms as well as that what we call public service, not as a necessary condition, but as a natural outcome. Also read: Those with subsidised education are obliged to do public service (Akriti Bhatia is a PhD research scholar at the department of sociology, Delhi School of Economics) Indian villages need a desperate healthcare boost due to an acute shortage of staff The government reportedly spends around Rs 31 lakh a year on an undergraduate student at New Delhis All India Institute of Medical Sciences against an annual fee of about Rs 5,000 only. Indian Institutes of Technology charge around Rs 2.5 lakh per annum, well below Rs 3.5-lakh that the by Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences, a private institution, asks. What explains this wide gap in what the government spends and the tuition fee a student pays? And, why should the exchequer, taxpayers in turn, be burdened with this additional expenditure? This is true not just of the government medical and engineering colleges but also those imparting degrees in social sciences. Management institutes, however, are trying to narrow the gap. Schools such as Indian Institutes of Management are gradually moving to a fee structure that is closer to the expenditure incurred. The need to subsidise higher education is a point of debate. In a number of countries, like the United States, higher education institutions fend for themselves. There is no across-the-board subsidy though targeted financial help in the form scholarships and low-interest loans do exist. There is a move in this direction in some of the higher education institutes in India as well. In a number of institutes abroad, international students cross-subsidise the domestic ones but without burdening the exchequer. So, the question: should students whose education is subsidised by the government be obliged to do public service? Let us take the case of healthcare in India. In 2006, only 26% doctors worked in rural areas, where 72% of Indians live. In 2010, the now-defunct Planning Commission reported a shortage of 600,000 doctors. It is a fact that a number of primary healthcare centres, a citizens first point of contact with public health system, are without doctors. Medical colleges are churning out a large number of doctorsthough still not proficient enough to meet international standardsthere is a reluctance on the part of these doctors to serve in rural or interior areas. Thus, we have a situation where on the one hand, the government is massively subsidising education of these doctors, on the other, there is a shortage of doctors where they are needed the most. Apart from fulfilling a social obligation, there are a number of advantages in making rural service obligatory for doctors graduating from government medical colleges. The exposure to rural and tribal communities, which most of them know little of, will professionally benefit students, widening their horizons. They will benefit financially as well. The emoluments given to the students would not be as interns but as doctors during the time they spend in rural areas. Not just them, but the areas they service will also benefit, both directly and indirectly. Their presence would mean a boost for local and larger economy, as they would need a place to live and eat. They would need equipment, drugs and even staff to run a smooth operation. A large number of countries have made it compulsory for doctors to spend a certain period of time in designated areas. The erstwhile Soviet Union introduced the system in 1920. Countries like Mexico (1936) and Norway (1954) adopted it in some form. It was in the 1970s that the system really picked up. Around 70 countries follow this model in one or the other form, the Bulletin of World Health Organization said in 2010. In Australia, all international graduates must spend 10 years in district workforce shortage. Pharmacy students in New Zealand are required to undergo a rural externship during training. Graduates in Vietnam and Mongolia have to go to underserved regions if they want to go in for higher education. The WHO study, which outlined the impact of obligation of public services, concluded that in Indonesia, it increased doctors willingness to serve in remote areas. Turkeys programme was effective in mitigating staffing discordance. There were reports of better staffing in rural areas in South Africa bringing down the waiting time for patients. In Thailand, it helped narrow the disparities in urban and rural health worker density. Most places seem to have benefitted from obligatory services. Of course, a lot also depends on the manner in which such obligations are formulated and mandated. There could also be operational issues as well as problems with enforcement. These are minor arguments when seen against the larger picture. Public service is a social obligation on account of the subsidy accruing to the beneficiary. India desperately needs a healthcare boost where shortage of staff, especially doctors, in rural areas is acute, adversely effecting health delivery. Lastly, experiences of both the developed and developing countries have sufficiently demonstrated that such an obligation has had a positive and far-reaching impact. Therefore, yes, those receiving subsidised education should be asked to do public service. Also read: The act of providing public education is the greatest public service (Anil Swarup is a former secretary (school education) and author of Not Just A Civil Servant) I was looking forward to a sneak peek into progress on several socio-economic issues #CampaignTrailwithFirstpost to Varanasi and Ghazipur unfolded to be a journey full of overwhelming sights, insights, contrasts and contradictions, and more question marks than full stops. We navigated the interiors of eastern Uttar Pradesh to meet the leaders of these constituencies and saw them battle the heat and dust of elections up, close and personal. We also met the locals to understand their take on who will win the elections, and many other issues fundamental to their growth and survival. My first impression of the visit to both these constituencies was that the incumbents will return to the 17th Lok Sabha. But underpinning this impression was an old proverb and my belief that the devil is always in the detail.Seeing things, which are not apparently visible, come naturally to me. As a Tournalist on this trail, my aspiration was primarily to understand whether what was promised in 2014 has been delivered or not. I was keen to understand the election manifestos of the contenders of these constituencies for 2019. Is Meri Kashi as Prime Minister Narendra Modi fondly calls his constituency, truly Vikas Ke Path Per? Is Ghazipur, once known as Apradh Ka Kendra, on track to becoming Pragatisheel Ghazipur? Has Jayapur, the PMs adopted village, missed its target of becoming a model village? I was looking forward to getting a sneak peek into the progress on infrastructure, water, sanitation, financial inclusion, public health, Ganga cleaning, and such other socio-economic issues. I didnt get all the answers. But here is my narrative of what I saw, heard, observed and experienced of the phenomena called Varanasi the impressions and sound bytes, which will stay with me for long. When my father told me that he was taking me to Varanasi to experience elections, I had my self-doubts. I am a 13-year-old boy from south Delhi, who had seldom stepped out in the open. My first impression of Varanasi was that of a culturally rich, but a not-so clean city. I had studied in detail about the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, MLAs, MPs and elections for my recent Grade 8 civics test and I assumed that I knew all about elections. It made me wonder aloud the need for me to go on this trip. What is that was left to be learnt? Frankly, I was also dreading the soaring temperatures of Varanasi. Snobbish as I may sound, I am after all the typical metro teenager who moves from an air-conditioned car to an air conditioned building, I was, therefore, rather sceptical about this trip right from the outset. The one thing I was looking forward to though was the rich flavours of, Varanasi, the worlds oldest city. I guess only the foodie in me was most excited about this #campiagntrailwithFirstpost. I had always imagined that election rallies were conducted with the candidate giving a speech about how s/he would make h/his constituency better and how that would benefit the voters. And when s/he would leave in h/his fancy car, the voters would surround h/him while cheering for him, leading to a complete chaos. Would it be so? It remained seen to be believed. Day 1 (May 3) We landed at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Airport in Babatpur, and went straight to the famous Ram Bhandar next to our hotel in Varanasi to savour the delicious Samosa Chaat and Kachori. I was glad that the trip started with food! It was the most divine samosa ever served with jalebi. And did I miss, mentioning Ram Lassi? We arrived at the hotel, quickly got refreshed and met Kavita aunty, Srikant, Suraja, Kedar, Ajay uncle, Ananta and Souniya didi. The first pit stop in the #campaigntrailwithfirstpost took us to the weavers colony at Lallapura. On entering the colony, all we could hear was the deafening sound of the relentless rhythmic weaving of power looms. It was satisfying yet disturbing because of the loud noise. Not only did we get to see how a Baranasi saree is weaved on the power loom, we also got some intriguing insights from the weavers. For example, the weavers said how till some time ago they couldnt afford to pay their electricity bills, but now the Modi government is providing subsidised power, which has helped them immensely. On further prodding, we got to know how one part of Varanasi was different from the other. Which government helped which type of weavers? What is the criteria on the basis of which the weaver community votes? We got to know that for the weavers, the BJP government was rather supportive, whereas for designers the Congress was extremely beneficial. We also learnt about the struggle of the weavers during the previous Congress rule. Day 2 (May 4) We left for the adjoining Ghazipur Lok Sabha constituency, which is located at about 80 km from Varanasi at 7 in the morning. I was feeling a bit groggy because of the late night. But an encore at Ram Bhandar pepped me up for the day. We attended sitting the BJP MP and Union minister Manoj Sinhas rally. Sinhas body language gave me an impression that hes a doer for his constituency. We had an intimate interaction with Sinha as well, in which he patiently answered all our questions without an iota of hesitation. Sinha came across as a down-to-earth person. When we asked him if he would be in Delhi on May 23 the day the election results will be announced -- he confidently said that he would be in his own constituency to celebrate with this family and friends. On the issue of womens health, he elaborated how sanitary pads were being distributed in villages. This made me wonder, how we take things for granted in a city where buying a sanitary pad means a visit to a shop and asking for it over the counter. In villages and smaller towns, such access is still unheard of. I was suddenly reminded of the movie Padman. We attended another Sinha rally, where we asked the youth what they thought about elections and if they had seen any development in their village. They recounted us about the spruced-up Ghazipur railway station, and they were very happy because now they could travel across the country without taking the trouble to go to neighbouring Varanasi. Ghazipur has emerged as a well-connected rail head. Also, Ghazipur is getting 18-20 uninterrupted hours of electricity, which is a major improvement under MP Sinhas watch. The youth is also up to date with technology. The women have access LPG tanks to prevent sickness caused by the smoke coming out of the traditional chullahs. All these developments have taken place since Sinha was elected, and it seems that the BJP wont stop governing Ghazipur. As I was recording all these interactions on my iPhone, we were soon surrounded by people. The rural folks, too, bandied smartphones and were pretty much technologically on a par with me. They were also rather amused by the equipment of the Firstpost team. I was quite irritated when I was surrounded by 25 people. But, my irritation was gone in a jiffy as these simple folks spoke about development in their village with wide-eyed wonder. The Hi-Tech Ghazipur City Railway Station We visited the Ghazipur City Railway Station, and it was a hi-tech station as well. It had free wi-fi and the shops accepted Paytm. How cool is that? It was such a clean station that my father literally lay on the platform. Unbelievable! While returning to Varanasi we saw another rally taking place in a roadside village. We got out of the car as curiosity got the better of us. It happened to SP-SP candidate Afzal Ansaris rally, who is taking on sitting MP Sinha on a BSP ticket. On the sidelines of the rally, Ansari alleged to us the wrongs perpetrated by by BJP government and what all improvements and changes he promised to bring about in Ghazipur constituency After the meeting, we went to a village on the outskirts of Varanasi and were treated to amazing eastern Uttar Pradesh delicacies for dinner. Day 3 (May 5) We woke up early to pay a visit to the sacred Kashi Vishwanath Temple. After offering our prayers, we headed to the under-construction Kashi Vishwanath Corridor, an archaeological marvel. Later, in the morning, we met Shalini Yadav, the SP-BSP candidate for the Varanasi constituency, who is fighting on a SP ticket. She recounted how the locals felt about the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor. Yadav, who recently defected to the SP from the Congress, alleged that the locals were upset with PM Modi because houses were demolished that housed temples. We proceeded to the PMs adopted village Jayapur, where we visited Atal Nagar, home to 14 Mahadalit families belonging to the Mushar caste, who were gifted free pucca houses by PM Modi. We interacted with a lady who was being cheated by a government official. She narrated how she was being routinely shortchanged by the official and denied ration after fifth of every month. The machine simply refuses to recognise my thumb, she said in utter helplessness. In the evening, we were taken on a Bajra on the Ganga against a setting sun. The Bajra ride was an undiluted fun amid the light evening breeze and rejuvenating my tired bones. On the Barja We soaked in the sights and sounds of the mesmerising evening Aarti on the iconic Dashashwamedh ghat. It was a sight, I had never experienced. In the beginning, I thought this trip was going to be boring as hell because I never had any interest in politics. Or should I say I never found civics as a subject interesting enough, but surprisingly this trip gave me an experience of a lifetime. Initially, I showed a lot of resistance to this trip. However, I came back richer. I am thankful to Firstpost for this amazing opportunity and to my father, Rahul Narvekar, for egging me on. I would never have known this much from just listening idle chatter on the couch. The narrative matters the most in this digital age, thanks to Whatsapp University #CampaignTrailwithFirstpost to Varanasi and Ghazipur unfolded to be a journey full of overwhelming sights, insights, contrasts and contradictions, and more question marks than full stops. We navigated the interiors of eastern Uttar Pradesh to meet the leaders of these constituencies and saw them battle the heat and dust of elections up, close and personal. We also met the locals to understand their take on who will win the elections, and many other issues fundamental to their growth and survival. My first impression of the visit to both these constituencies was that the incumbents will return to the 17th Lok Sabha. But underpinning this impression was an old proverb and my belief that the devil is always in the detail.Seeing things, which are not apparently visible, come naturally to me. As a Tournalist on this trail, my aspiration was primarily to understand whether what was promised in 2014 has been delivered or not. I was keen to understand the election manifestos of the contenders of these constituencies for 2019. Is Meri Kashi as Prime Minister Narendra Modi fondly calls his constituency, truly Vikas Ke Path Per? Is Ghazipur, once known as Apradh Ka Kendra, on track to becoming Pragatisheel Ghazipur? Has Jayapur the PMs adopted village missed its target of becoming a model village? I was looking forward to getting a sneak peek into the progress on infrastructure, water, sanitation, financial inclusion, public health, Ganga cleaning, and such other socio-economic issues. I didnt get all the answers. But here is my narrative of what I saw, heard, observed and experienced of the phenomena called Varanasi the impressions and sound bytes, which will stay with me for long. I was born and bought up in one of the sprawling chawls of the Maximum City, Mumbai. And, my initial brush with politics was the Shiv Sena mohalla shakha on our neighbourhood corner, where we would go to play carrom, read Marathi newspapers or just while away our time listening to elders. I went to Sardarni Pratap Singh Janta Vidyalaya, which was run by Sardar Tara Singh, our local BJP councillor. I was part of the school band that would double up for his election campaigning. We were happy to tag along, marching in our school uniforms, playing with our rag tag band instruments. He made me feel special as he treated us to vada pao and biscuits. At times, he would even send his jeep to fetch me from my humble chawl. Gradually, I got disconnected from politics amid the hustle and bustle of aspiring for a better life. My typical stock response to politics was a Bambaiya couldnt-care-less approach to life: apun ko kya. Life moved on, and so did I. I started out with door-to-door sales, then set up my first few ventures in a roller-coaster ride till I stumbled upon Firstposts Varanasi campaign trail advertisement a few weeks ago. I signed up immediately for the May 3-6 trail. And, what a trip it turned out to be? The first surprise was to find an old friend and mentor Srikant Sastri as co-Tournalist along with the other amazing bunch of fellow travellers. We used to start our days at 7 am and round up around 11 pm in the searing heat of eastern Uttar Pradeshs hinterland. Our trail started on a Friday (May 3) afternoon with a visit to a weavers colony at Lallapura, Varanasi, followed by back-to-back meetings with politicians of diverse hues and listening to various version of the same electoral issues. In retrospect, I was stuck by one singular thought: What matters in politics? Is it a politicians work or the perception? For instance, when a politician starts to govern India as a minister/MP/MLA/MLC, is s/he a king or kingmaker? Who is her/his customer? Consider this: we visited the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor on a Sunday (May 5) morning, and honestly, I had no clue about Prime Minister Narendra Modis dream project till Ajay Rai, the Congress candidate for Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency, brought it up during our interactions a couple of evenings ago. SP-BSP candidate Shalini Yadav, too, highlighted the raging corridor controversy during our interactions with her later that morning. Is there a controversy over the corridor issue? The fact of the matter is that the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government is clearing out a major part of the land next to the sacred Kashi Vishwanath shrine by demolishing centuries-old houses to create a corridor leading up to Lalita and Manikarnika ghats of the adjoining Ganga river. There are around 300 houses and many housed temples inside them, some believed to be up to 700 years old. Most of the owners of these ancient buildings have vacated their premises in lieu of hefty compensation packages --- four times higher than the current market value. I was left at a compelling thought about a section of the owners, say about 25 per cent, who are likely to refuse to accept the compensation or trade for a better quality of life and steadfastly want to stay on close to the Kashi Vishwanath temple. They may argue that their faith doesnt allow them to leave their ancestral place. Faith, they may reason, is the issue and not an infrastructure upgrade. Whose interest should PM Modi as Varanasi MP protect? Because, in Ayodhya, too, faith is germane to the argument about the construction of Ram Mandir. Besides, it was interesting to observe, while listening to all the key personalities --- from Ghazipur sitting MP and Union minster Manoj Sinha to Ajay Rai to Shalini Yadav and Sinhas challenger from SP-BSP combine Afzal Ansari, the elder brother of dreaded don Mukhtar Ansari that they all have their own narratives about similar issues. Whats my key learning from #campaigntrailwithFirstpost? The narrative matters the most in this day and age of politics accentuated by a digital push, thanks to Whatsapp University. The author is a serial entrepreneur, investor, restless traveller, foodie and is focused on promoting startups in Tier 2, 3 and beyond Indian cities Ive come back with a lot more respect for our politicians. Its been most insightful #CampaignTrailwithFirstpost to Varanasi and Ghazipur unfolded to be a journey full of overwhelming sights, insights, contrasts and contradictions, and more question marks than full stops. We navigated the interiors of eastern Uttar Pradesh to meet the leaders of these constituencies and saw them battle the heat and dust of elections up, close and personal. We also met the locals to understand their take on who will win the elections, and many other issues fundamental to their growth and survival. My first impression of the visit to both these constituencies was that the incumbents will return to the 17th Lok Sabha. But underpinning this impression was an old proverb and my belief that the devil is always in the detail.Seeing things, which are not apparently visible, come naturally to me. As a Tournalist on this trail, my aspiration was primarily to understand whether what was promised in 2014 has been delivered or not. I was keen to understand the election manifestos of the contenders of these constituencies for 2019. Is Meri Kashi as Prime Minister Narendra Modi fondly calls his constituency, truly Vikas Ke Path Per? Is Ghazipur, once known as Apradh Ka Kendra, on track to becoming Pragatisheel Ghazipur? Has Jayapur the PMs adopted village missed its target of becoming a model village? I was looking forward to getting a sneak peek into the progress on infrastructure, water, sanitation, financial inclusion, public health, Ganga cleaning, and such other socio-economic issues. I didnt get all the answers. But here is my narrative of what I saw, heard, observed and experienced of the phenomena called Varanasi the impressions and sound bytes, which will stay with me for long. For one glorious weekend in early May, I was like a frog that had jumped out of the well to discover a brave new world outside. My earliest memory of grassroots election campaigns is from the 1960s & 70s in Maharashtra, where I grew up. A family friend, one Mr Desai, a Congress activist, got a bunch of us kids on to a bullock cart that was part of an election procession (2 bullocks was the election symbol of the undivided Congress in those days). The other time was when I heard Sharad Pawar at an election rally in the 70s. The closest ring-side view of politics I had was in 1998, when I joined hands with my friend, Sushil Pandit, to pitch for running the BJPs election advertisement campaign. We won the bid, and operated a Task Force from the BJPs headquarters on Ashoka Road, New Delhi. I have vivid memories of meeting Venkaiah Naidu, Pramod Mahajan and LK Advani, and a brief glimpse of Narendra Modi. I can, arguably, claim some credit for the 13-month Vajpayee government! That apart, like most Indian middle-class folks, I have largely followed politics remotely because it looked messy. Easier to watch it on noisy TV channels and keep abreast with developments via WhatsApp groups. For us frogs in the well, it was just safer to stay in our cocoon, and keep distance from politicians. After all, arent they lazy, corrupt and incompetent? Then, Campaign Trail with Firstpost was held between May 3 and 6. I went to Varanasi and Ghazipur in eastern Uttar Pradesh, and came back with a lot of respect for our politicians. Ghazipur is a great place for a frog to get baptism by fire. It is among the original ground zeroes of Indian history and politics. Legend has it that Maharshi Jamadagni, the father of Maharshi Parashurama, lived there. The Chinese traveller, Hsuan Tsang, described Ghazipur as Chen-Chu, i.e. lord of conflict or battle, as the translation of Garjanpati, the original name being Garzapur. But, Ghazipur also stands for good stuff. It has the biggest legal opium factory in the world; the first Scientific Society of India was established here in 1862; it produces unique rose-scented spray, i.e. Gulab Jal. And it is the home of luminaries like Hamid Ansari (former vice-president), Vinod Rai (former CAG), and Bollywood dialogue writer Rahi Masoom Raza. Raza, who wrote the script and dialogues for the popular TV serial, Mahabharat, is a great example of the syncretic Hindu-Muslim culture that Ghazipur has stood for. It is in this Ground Zero that many different battles are being fought in this election. IIT-educated engineer Manoj Sinha, a sitting BJP MP, versus Don Mukhtar Ansaris elder brother and a bahubali in his own right, Afzal, who is fighting on a BSP ticket. Modis BJP versus SP-BSP Mahagathbandhan. BJPs idea of India versus Razas idea. Thats what made the Ghazipur trip so fascinating for me. Watching the netas in action Sinha and Ansari was a huge learning experience. They have effortlessly internalised everything that Philip Kotler teaches in marketing (consumer preferences, segmentation, USP) or Dale Carnegie writes about (how to win friends and influence people). At his rallies, Sinha started by playing on fear (only PM Modi can ensure national security), and ended with issues that matter locally express trains to Mumbai, a modern railway station, a passport office and a medical college. Switching between Hindi and earthy Bhojpuri, he had the audience eating out of his hands. Ansari, an equally powerful orator and an imposing personality, was less specific at his rally about achievements and promises, but focused more on tearing apart Sinhas claims. Both netas were patient and articulate while answering questions during our interactions. Ansari was totally unfazed when asked about his reputation as a don. He responded by claiming to be an inheritor of freedom fighter and communist leader Sarjoo Pandeys legacy, and to be fighting for the marginalised and oppressed. Respect for the netas goes up when you see them speaking at eight to 10 rallies daily in this scorching heat. It requires enormous resilience and hard work; in sharp contrast, a newbie like Gautam Gambhir recently got dehydrated and sat inside his car in East Delhi. Many friends from across the country messaged me asking whos winning Ghazipur? Whos winning UP? This is one of the toughest questions to answer even if you are out there in the constituency (unless of course its a one-sided contest like Varanasi). When you are at Sinhas BJP rallies, you start believing that only he can win. But, when you then go to Ansaris rally, the opposite seems to be true. Thats because you meet only committed voters at these rallies. voters who follow the party or caste tune rather than their own minds. It is somewhat like that famous Utpal Dutt dialogue in Gol Maal (1979) that Ghazipurs very own Raza wrote: Tumhari shaadi usse nahin hogi jise tum prem karti ho ... tumhari shaadi usse hogi jise main prem karta hoon (You cannot marry the one you loveyou will marry the one I love). So, the simple answer is that I dont know, wholl win. Only the uncommitted, fence-sitting voters know. But, as a frog, Ive come back to my well wiser. With a lot more respect for our politicians. Its been one of the most insightful experiences Ive ever had. Something that will keep me thinking and awake at night, at least till May 23. To end with Razas immortal words: Is safar men niind aisi kho gayi; ham na soye, raat thak kar so gayi (On this exciting journey, I lost my sleep so badly that not only did I not sleep, but the night got tired and fell asleep). (Srikant Sastri is co-founder, Crayon Data; creator, Chalo StartUp web series; and advisor/board member at several companies) Its not anti-incumbency, its a message to Modi government: we made you, we can break you #CampaignTrailwithFirstpost to Varanasi and Ghazipur unfolded to be a journey full of overwhelming sights, insights, contrasts and contradictions, and more question marks than full stops. We navigated the interiors of eastern Uttar Pradesh to meet the leaders of these constituencies and saw them battle the heat and dust of elections up, close and personal. We also met the locals to understand their take on who will win the elections, and many other issues fundamental to their growth and survival. My first impression of the visit to both these constituencies was that the incumbents will return to the 17th Lok Sabha. But underpinning this impression was an old proverb and my belief that the devil is always in the detail.Seeing things, which are not apparently visible, come naturally to me. As a Tournalist on this trail, my aspiration was primarily to understand whether what was promised in 2014 has been delivered or not. I was keen to understand the election manifestos of the contenders of these constituencies for 2019. Is Meri Kashi as Prime Minister Narendra Modi fondly calls his constituency, truly Vikas Ke Path Per? Is Ghazipur, once known as Apradh Ka Kendra, on track to becoming Pragatisheel Ghazipur? Has Jayapur the PMs adopted village missed its target of becoming a model village? I was looking forward to getting a sneak peek into the progress on infrastructure, water, sanitation, financial inclusion, public health, Ganga cleaning, and such other socio-economic issues. I didnt get all the answers. But here is my narrative of what I saw, heard, observed and experienced of the phenomena called Varanasi the impressions and sound bytes, which will stay with me for long. In an age, where everyone is obsessed with whats trending, the 17th parliamentary election has ensured that the festival of democracy remains a hot-button issue. Irony is that trends are now accessible at the tap of your smartphone, and our understanding and opinion is driven by algorithms in social media and by hyperbole that our motor mouth news anchors indulge in. In order to escape a lazy way of understanding and forming an opinion there is a deluge of armchair psephologist anyway --- I signed up for the first-of-its-kind #campaigntrailwithFirstpost. The invitation to sign up for this three-day trail promised to take us to Varanasi, the constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the neighbouring Ghazipur Lok Sabha seat represented by the sitting BJP MP and Union minister Manoj Sinha. At the outset, let me say that #campaigntrailwithFirstpost delivered more than it promised. We had tete-a-tete with candidates bang in the middle of a hectic campaign in eastern Uttar Pradeshs hinterland, interacted with voters and met on-ground influencers, who can make or break the poll outcome. Personally speaking, the trail has been hugely enriching experience. I have come back with some revealing insights on We the People, and the way our democracy is being shaped by the current political discourse. Common people are active investigators rather than passive recipients A couple of years ago, I had visited small towns and few villages in and around Varanasi, and had come back with an image of a vast section of the local population living in a time warp. However, the campaign trail makes me stand corrected, and what I saw on the ground fills me with immense hope and optimism. Our entitlement to investigate, enquire and actively participate in the poll mania was visible and palpable among everyone I observed and interacted with. Voters no longer want to be a mere spectator in this dance of democracy; but they want to choreograph the dance. Questions like who we were and whats the purpose of our visit, why should they share their views, must do something about their issues were proof of their being an active agent of change. It was heartening to see women taking in rallies in large numbers and questioning promises and hyperboles made by the candidates during their speeches. I came back happy with the thought that if every mofussil, village and small town is wide awake, and our democracy is alive and the will of We the People will prevail. For candidates in the opposition to the ruling party tapping our culture makes for emotional defence against the narrative of development The PM doesnt get the soul of Kashi, he is an outsider who doesnt get Varanasipan, said Shalini Yadav, the SP candidate from Varanasi. This statement underscores the strategy that most in the opposition made about the narrative of development is a threat to age-old local culture and people. And, we the people are quite susceptible to a point of view that invites us to defend our culture at any cost. Hence, statements like Modiji has corporatised our culture or vikas without sanskriti is mindless are being whipped up with unflinching regularity. It is quite understandable why this works. For instance, take any family unit in India and you will realise that most rational conversation can be derailed by a cultural argument that family has known for long time and lived by for ages. Usually, cultural arguments are conclusive in nature for that reason. And, in this election this line of argument seems to be the best bet for anyone who is against the prevailing narrative of vikas. Governance under the BJP rule reflects that there are many invisible Amit Shahs going about their jobs ruthlessly If there is one thing that Modi is generally applauded for - is good governance. He has a record of making key stakeholders in governing the nation --- goal-oriented and accountable. While, we had heard this, we didnt know about his modus operandi. Why could others not do it? During a visit to the BJP office at Varanasi, the governance formula that Modi has adopted came to the fore. One of the key officials invited us warmly. The invitation came with generous helpings of farsan and dhokhla in the land of kachoris and jalebis a not-so-subtle supplant of local savouries with Gujarati signature snacks intrigued me. And, soon I realised why it was so. The key campaign managers for the prestigious Varanasi seat were tried and tested lieutenants of Modi, each one of them handpicked to execute his will. Its almost akin to planting your own machinery to run the operations and reducing locals to manage the standard operating process, or SOP, on the shop floor. I did sense a simmering restlessness beneath the composed appearances of local BJP karyakartas. This approach of planting Modi champions certainly trumps the mesh of local politics and established powers but actively fuels gathbandhan of locals who would like to reclaim their lost ground. Such iron-hand approach to governance by Modi does get the work done, but compromises the very spirit of democracy. Its not anti-incumbency, its a sentiment that want to reinforce to the Modi government: we made you, and we can break you This one has been quite an insightful takeaway from my interaction with people from all walks of life. To the proverbial question, is Modiji coming back? many replied yes, he will, but not quite like 2014. There is always an incumbency wave that has been proven by psephologists over the years. With more prodding and digging, I came to another conclusion: of late, Modi has emerged bigger than the party, politics and people of India and we the people dont like this idea. This was best summed up by a local in Ghazipur. He said that some of us should vote for the Congress or the SP, just to let Modiji know that he cant take us for granted. This can be understood better, if we delve into the psyche of our nation. We love underdogs and we rally for their assent to the top. In this act, we find a deeper vindication against trials and tribulations of our own lives, while we are trying to move forward. Its vindication of our power and push. But when an underdog becomes a hero, we like to emasculate that larger-than-life figure and celebrate our inherent power and strength. Modis evolution to being larger than the BJP and republic of India can well be his strength and weakness at the same time. And, this could spring a surprise to Modi and the BJP on May 23, the Judgment Day. Much like endless political discourse that we Indians indulge in at a street corner tea stall, campaign trails, too, can never come to an end. While I have retreated into my corporate advertising world, I have been cherry picking rich and real perspectives on the mood of the nation during this election. Besides, its one thing to be part of a conversation on the election thats trending, but its another ball game to gather authentic and insightful point-of-view that I can claim to be my own and personal. Hey Firstpost, when is the next campaign trail? (Suraja Kishore is former executive vice-president & GM, National Head, Truth Central, McCann Erickson) The visit to Varanasi made me aware of a development tool: the child that the city nurtures #CampaignTrailwithFirstpost to Varanasi and Ghazipur unfolded to be a journey full of overwhelming sights, insights, contrasts and contradictions, and more question marks than full stops. We navigated the interiors of eastern Uttar Pradesh to meet the leaders of these constituencies and saw them battle the heat and dust of elections up, close and personal. We also met the locals to understand their take on who will win the elections, and many other issues fundamental to their growth and survival. My first impression of the visit to both these constituencies was that the incumbents will return to the 17th Lok Sabha. But underpinning this impression was an old proverb and my belief that the devil is always in the detail.Seeing things, which are not apparently visible, come naturally to me. As a Tournalist on this trail, my aspiration was primarily to understand whether what was promised in 2014 has been delivered or not. I was keen to understand the election manifestos of the contenders of these constituencies for 2019. Is Meri Kashi as Prime Minister Narendra Modi fondly calls his constituency, truly Vikas Ke Path Per? Is Ghazipur, once known as Apradh Ka Kendra, on track to becoming Pragatisheel Ghazipur? Has Jayapur the PMs adopted village missed its target of becoming a model village? I was looking forward to getting a sneak peek into the progress on infrastructure, water, sanitation, financial inclusion, public health, Ganga cleaning, and such other socio-economic issues. I didnt get all the answers. But here is my narrative of what I saw, heard, observed and experienced of the phenomena called Varanasi the impressions and sound bytes, which will stay with me for long. Would I be wrong to suggest that if we were to discuss, whether a city has progressed or is thriving, then speak to the child that it shelters? Of all the parametres that a city is evaluated upon, a recent visit to Varanasi, thanks to #campaigntrailwithFirstpost, made me aware of a tool far less evaluated on the development and standard of living checklist. The child that the city nurtures and in this case it refers to the oldest living city in the world known by various names of Kashi, Benaras and Varanasi. American novelist Mark Twain wasnt off the mark, when he made this pithy statement: Benaras is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend and looks twice as old as all of them put together. Setting my foot on Varanasi for the second time after 2008 is a reference point, which isnt even a speck of its glorious past. As a group of tourists, taking on the role of journalists and experiencing the heat and dust of the whirlwind poll campaign in Prime Minister Narendra Modis constituency, Varanasi, the three-day-old trail was intense, immersive and laid bare the stark reality of how the sharp divide plays out between the rural masses, who comprise majority of the voters, and pseudo-intellectuals, armchair experts undoubtedly, a large section of politically- conscious and opinionated urban voters, who have zero connect with ground realities, like yours truly. #CampaigntrailwithFirstpost started with the heat wave greeting us as we landed at Lal Bahadur Shastri Airport in Babatpur amid rising political temperatures because of the last phase of the election on May 19. While we were driven from the airport into the chaotic and noisy streets by a kind, witty, talkative and well-travelled Ramesh bhai, who is born and brought up in Varanasi, what caught my attention was this seamless stretch of a wide corridor connecting the airport road to the city. The smooth and wide Babatpur Airport road made me wide-eyed in wonder and alert like a cat, curious on a prowl in an unfamiliar terrain. I was eager to find out, if Varanasis recent infrastructure push is going hand-in-hand with the other pillars of its comprehensive development. A visit to a weavers colony at Lallapura reinforced that sentiment. I, as an outsider, who is deeply passionate about revival of craft, culture and the artistic heritage of our country, got a firsthand sense of the silent death of handloom. The unfolding conversation with the predominantly Muslim weavers underscored the lost art in the face of overpowering Chinese power looms. The weavers are appreciative of the Modi governments schemes and are happy to gloss over recent challenges such as demonetisation and GST. But, the impoverished community rues the absence of a statesman in Indian politics, and wishes for a more compassionate view of the indigenous art and crafts sector. The dingy by-lanes of Lallapura are a beehive of activity because of the grinding noise of Chinese-manufactured power looms --- reality bites of the globally-acclaimed Varanasi sarees. However, handlooms are struggling for survival as buyers for expensive hand-crafted sarees are few and far between. Caught between modernity and tradition, the weavers want their children to opt for other vocations and migrate to big cities because of the fickle nature of their trade. Does Lallapura show any sign of development? Visibly, yes as electric cables that used to dangerously hang out are a thing of the not-so distant past and overflowing garbage strewn on the narrow lanes are well lit, hygienic and livable. There is, definitely, character to the chaos, that the cultural capital holds close to its heart, and many call it Benarasipan, from food to the language to the attitude and, of course, the political discourse. Every activity and facets of life have a flair which is unique to Varanasi. My experience has been delightfully sensory. The trail entailed meeting some prominent political personalities and contestants from Varanasi and neighbouring Ghazipur constituencies. As a professional marketer, what intrigued me the most was the diverse narrative. Ajay Rai, the Congress candidate from Varanasi, built his own narrative through lofty disdain for the Modi government and its exaggeration of the development work undertaken during its tenure. While Rai pointed out the challenges and the critical issues that Varanasi continues to face such as lack of drinking water, overflowing sewage into houses, local businesses shutting down after demonetisation, the raging Kashi Vishwanath corridor controversy and joblessness. What is Rais strategy to counter these socio-economic issues? The Bhumihar baahubali said he would fight Modi and his PR machinery by adopting Shivajis strategy, or guerilla warfare tactics. Following the sitting BJP MP and Union minister Manoj Sinha on his campaign trail, the big takeaway was how hard a politician needs to work 24x7, come hell or high water, to remain in public consciousness. Also, the infamous and notorious Ghazipur known for criminal gangs, opium cultivation and backwardness symptomatic of eastern Uttar Pradesh, or Purvanchal hinterland has had a silent makeover under the astute leadership of Vikaspurush Sinha. His light touch of development is evident in the Ghazipur City railway station --- dubbed as the adarsh, or model, station under B town category, girls roaming on village roads with fear or favour, construction of izzat ghar or toilet facilities under the Swachch Bharat Abhiyan. I had an enlightening conversation with a 15-year-old girl at the Ghazipur City station, who confidently and enthusiastically talked of how her village has developed, and so has her school. Now, they have a teacher in every classroom throughout the day along with clean toilets. Another pleasant meeting was with Shalini Yadav, the Varanasi candidate for SP-BSP coalition. She sounded confident in an uphill electoral battle and despite being a fresh face in politics. She narrated the same plight of the locals as Rai did. However, what stood out was her remark against of Modi, who doesnt know the DNA of Kashi because hes an outsider and only focusing on the optics and the cosmetic vikas, or development. As for a plan of action, does Yadav have one? May be not. Will she be in politics for long? Certainly, yes. A visit to Varanasi is incomplete without a trip to the historic Benares Hindu University (BHU) --the driving force of academic discourse in the country with revealing insights from professors across all disciplines. The wise men of the BHU held forth on Benarasipan. Is it the hooliganism of the jobless youth of Varanasi or are we just scratching the surface? Has Varanasi kept pace in building a narrative and re-branded itself? Mayank Singh, deputy registrar, BHU, waxed eloquent about Varanasis development, but urged the need for repackaging the ancient city, which in its current form is overwhelmingly religious. He felt that its about time that Benarasipan be redefined for what it really stands for --- lovable, agreeable and adjustable. Singh pointed out that Assi ghat, which we visited the evening before the trail drew to a close and soaked the sights and sights while relaxing on a Bajra floating on the serenely calm Ganga, has undergone a sea change since I last visited in 2008. The joy of seeing families, children and tourists happily meandering around the ghats and spruced up promenades are tell-tale signs of development. The abiding memory of the eternal city Kashi was my brief encounter with Meenu, 7, as I stepped out to the Assi ghat from the Bajra. She came running to me to sell her balloons as she hustled her way and persistently tried to find herself a customer, she freely started singing jingles and rhymes, not for once losing hope, her charm and her confidence. And thats what springs eternal in the eternal city. (Souniya Khurana is director, operations, Sun & Sands Advisory group, Japan) Revival and rejuvenation of Ganga has been a massive, costly effort, but to little avail #CampaignTrailwithFirstpost to Varanasi and Ghazipur unfolded to be a journey full of overwhelming sights, insights, contrasts and contradictions, and more question marks than full stops. We navigated the interiors of eastern Uttar Pradesh to meet the leaders of these constituencies and saw them battle the heat and dust of elections up, close and personal. We also met the locals to understand their take on who will win the elections, and many other issues fundamental to their growth and survival. My first impression of the visit to both these constituencies was that the incumbents will return to the 17th Lok Sabha. But underpinning this impression was an old proverb and my belief that the devil is always in the detail.Seeing things, which are not apparently visible, come naturally to me. As a Tournalist on this trail, my aspiration was primarily to understand whether what was promised in 2014 has been delivered or not. I was keen to understand the election manifestos of the contenders of these constituencies for 2019. Is Meri Kashi as Prime Minister Narendra Modi fondly calls his constituency, truly Vikas Ke Path Per? Is Ghazipur, once known as Apradh Ka Kendra, on track to becoming Pragatisheel Ghazipur? Has Jayapur the PMs adopted village missed its target of becoming a model village? I was looking forward to getting a sneak peek into the progress on infrastructure, water, sanitation, financial inclusion, public health, Ganga cleaning, and such other socio-economic issues. I didnt get all the answers. But here is my narrative of what I saw, heard, observed and experienced of the phenomena called Varanasi the impressions and sound bytes, which will stay with me for long. The Muddas One of the biggest highlights of this trail was our visit to the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor it was nothing short of witnessing history being created or re-created in front of our eyes. Billed as the PMs dream project, it has been conceived, to widen the corridor of the temple to 50 feet and widen access space to 45,000 sq. meters (from existing 2,400 sq. feet in which the temple is housed). It involves demolition of old illegal structures, houses and shops around the area. The move hastriggered anger and resentment against the government. Besides, it has invoked anxiety and fear among the Muslim community that the Gyanvapi Mosque next door could meet the same fate as the Babri Masjid, although the government has reassured that no harm would come to it. Over Rs 300 crore has reportedly been given to these residents as compensation and at least 40 ancient temples have been discovered, when these illegal structures were brought down. These are now open to public as part of the Kashi Vishwanath Heritage Zone. Unbelievable how these temples were hidden under illegal structures for hundreds of years, have now been unearthed, and the structures, which enveloped them, are being demolished. It is a sight one needs to see to believe. Were these temples hidden inside homes, or homes hidden inside temples? The temple complex Vishwanath Dham, will rope in all these 40 temples discovered, in its fold. It will have a direct pathway from Gangas Manikarnika and Lalita Ghat to the Kashi Vishwanath Jyotirlinga Temple. The government also plans to set up a hospital, rest houses, shops, cafetarias and helpdesks in the complex. There are great examples of how temples and places of religious worship (Amritsar Golden Temple, Punjab, Somnath Temple, Gujarat) have been beautifully revived in India. Demolition seemed to be a plausible pathway to revival of the iconic Kashi Vishwanath temple. But the Banarasis did not seem to want this revival. The handsome compensation for their property also didnt seem to change their stance. Vinash Se Vikas Nahin Ho Sakta is what many believed, and some were upset that they have lost their businesses due to the demolition of houses in the area. While, some said they have lost their identity and sense of belonging Hum Kahan Jayenge, Kya Karenge they said, and some others were ambivalent. Protests with sign-boards Ek Ki Bhool, Kamal Ka Phool by the locals, spoke about the dissent of the shopkeepers. Was it trampling the soul or Banarasipan of Kashi to make it a Kyoto? Did it not require more sensitivity and a collaborative approach and co-opting of the civil society to soften its impact? For sure, it is making Varanasi and Kashi Vishwanath temple better, safer and more accessible? But the question in my mind was, at whose cost and at what cost? Overview of the Constituencies and Contenders: Woes of the Weaver Community Our visit to Lallapura and Madanpura clusters was an eye-opener to the distress of its predominantly Muslim weaver community. The labyrinthine lanes to their homes and looms looked a lot cleaner than before, but a lot still needs to be done by the locals themselves for enforcing cleanliness while retaining the neighbourhoods inimitable identity. The visit revealed stark realities of how the handloom business has been severely impacted due to the advent of Chinese power looms, demonetisation and lack of transparency and adequate support from the government. Most of them agreed that the Goods and Services Tax and its advantages in streamlining their business. But some said the Banarasi sari business did better when the Congress was in power, some others were agnostic to which government came to power, as long as their livelihood and survival was ensured. Many have sent their children out of Varanasi in search for jobs and higher incomes. The Deendayal Hastkala Sankul did not seem to have created much impact. But I remember a high- profile fashion show organised by Smriti Irani, where she invited designers such as Ritu Kumar and Shruti Sancheti from Nagpur to mingle with the weavers. The craftsmen not only got good exposure, but also did brisk business. So, whats theyre unhappy about? Preserving the rich textile heritage of Banarasi saris, which have the coveted Geographical Indicator, or GI tag, is not just up to the weavers and civil society. But the government needs to do more to improve the weavers livelihoods and recognise their craftsmanship. Development and Growth on track or side tracked? In our meetings and interactions with the leaders and villagers, we tried to assess the progress on diverse parameters such as infrastructure, education, healthcare, sanitation and financial inclusion. Here is a synopsis: Ghazipur Pragatisheel? Or miles to go? In Ghazipur, the course of politics seemed to have undergone a silent transformation. This has happened over the last five years under Sinhas astute leadership as we heard in his speeches, which combined PM Modis popular appeal, with his personal charm, focus on development, national security, peace and harmony. A four-lane highway, connecting Varanasi and Gorakhpur via Ghazipur, is coming up, and an airport is under construction. Besides, a long-pending project of a bridge being constructed on the Ganga in a bid to ease road and rail traffic. We also visited the spotlessly clean Ghazipur railway station, which is classified as a Class B Adarsh station, and has a daily footfall of 6,000 passengers, 22 trains pass through every day, connects 7 large cities and even Nepal border. It has free wi-fi, kiosk booking facility, an escalator and a wheelchair ramp. We also saw many Izzat Ghars as part of the Swachha Bharat mission en-route to these rallies. In our interaction with the sitting MP Sinha, we were also told that Ghazipur has a medical college, a sizeable number of toilets, 100 primary schools, a government high school, Direct Benefit Transfer is working well on the ground and India Post dakiyas are taking banking to rural doorsteps. But some women we interviewed seemed disenchanted and unsure on whether Primary Health Centres, or PHCs were working or not along with access to LPG and the use of banking services. They knew about Ujjwala scheme, but said they did not have money for refills. They seemed disappointed that they had to pay for their medicines every time. There is also a predominant chatter that local youth is still migrating to urban centres in search of livelihood. Awareness and adoption of the many schemes that the Modi government has launched still seemed to be an issue. Also, it was not abundantly clear whether caste politics still dominated the voters discourse in Ghazipur, where criminal gangs once dictated local politics. Varanasi: Vastav mein Vikas Ke Path Per? We were given to understand that since his victory in Varanasi, the PM has visited the constituency as many as 18 times. The BJP claimed that over 300 projects were launched over the last five years in Varanasi with a total investment of Rs 30,000 crore. A large part of this was allocated for expanding highways or construction of new ones, Ganga cleaning and Kashi Vishwanath Corridor. Other notable projects include Varanasi Power Sub-station, Gas Distribution Project, Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya Cancer Centre, Centenary Super Speciality Hospital at Benares Hindu University (BHU), the Deendayal Hastkala Sankul (a trade facilitation centre for handicrafts and a Powerloom Service Centre). In our interactions with Ajai Rai and Shalini Yadav, the Congress and the SP-BSP candidate, respectively, for the Varanasi constituency, both alleged that little or no development work were carried out under PMs leadership. The only thing that they credited him for is building the highway from the airport at Babatpur to the city. Both staunchly opposed the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor project on the premise that Vinash se Vikas Nahin Ho Sakta. That there is only cosmetic progress in Varanasi, that it doesnt take five years to solve basic problems of water, sanitation and sewage were the other litany of grievances. And that the plight of over 70,000 handloom weavers remains pitiable. Complaints apart, both did not seem to have a plan of their own to develop Varanasi. Jayapur Adarsh? Ya Keval Akhyaat? We had heard that Jayapur PMs adopted village has missed its March 2019 deadline of becoming a model village. We visited Atal Nagar, a community housing project for 14 Mahadalit/Scheduled Tribe families belonging to the Mushar community. The two-room pucca houses have a kitchen, two bathrooms and are lit with solar power installed free by Tata Power. Only a few families use their gas connection given under the Ujwala scheme. No one has got a refill for more than a year, as they have to pay the full amount upfront and wait for the subsidy to come later. The Gram Pradhan told us that the real development started only from 2017 onwards, when the funds came in. The locals dont access banking, lack a basic health centre and hospital, schools above Grade V are a good 7 kilometres away. Nor are they getting jobs under the MGNREGA scheme. Hum Akhyaat to ho gaye, Adarsh ka pata nahin. I did not understand why the people of Varanasi and Ghazipur did not demand better services like in south India where the panchayats are much stronger. Health is a state subject, and ditto for sanitation and water supply. So just because these are VIP constituencies, were there unreasonable expectations? What about the responsibilities of the panchayats, municipal bodies and state-run departments? Why were the schools and PHCs away from the hamlets or not part of them? Was it because the panchayats gave the most useless piece of land to them? Consequently, people and also teachers/doctors do go there, perhaps. Revival and Rejuvenation of the Ganga Scriptures say that the sagely Ganga takes the good and bad into its depths. We seem to have taken that literally. The Ganga Indias holiest river supplies water to almost 100 cities and towns, but is polluted by 2.9 billion gallons of waste, which is worth 4,400 Olympic-sized pools. The river has become a passage for toxic waste. In 2014, the government had promised Rs 21,000 crore to clean it up, of which Rs 600 crore was given to Varanasi alone. How much has been spent, on what, and what is the outcome? While some work has been carried, we didnt get tangible answers to these crucial questions. It is not just the Ganga, it is also the Varuna and Assi rivers (Varanasi gets its name from these rivers), which are being treated as garbage dumps. So much so that one of the candidates we met said Assi is no longer a nadi (river) but a naala (gutter). Revival and rejuvenation of the Ganga is a massive effort, which has been attempted by previous governments as well, but to little avail. And, a lot still remains to be done. In a city and country, where rivers are worshipped, why have successive governments failed miserably at this key initiative which impacts the lives and livelihoods of so many? The team at BHU, and many locals in the constituency asserted that Varanasi has changed a lot for the better over the past five years. But some of these data points painted a contrarian picture. Were these anecdotal, or a representation of a larger reality which we were not privy to? Conclusion Passing through the beautifully-lit ghats, on the ever flowing-ever changing, but still the same Ganga, I was reflecting on my immersive experience. The sights of funeral pyres burning on the Manikarnika Ghat, and the pollution and dirt around saddened me. The sights of the Kashi Vishwanath corridor, the woes and voices of the weaver community, the smiles, hopes and despair of Jayapurs women and children flashed through my minds eye, the pleas and promises of the locals and leaders of this ancient land echoed in my mind. Perhaps, the mysteries of Varanasi and Ghazipur and their socio-economic, cultural and political history lie in these paradoxes. Varanasi has survived thousands of years and with a little better management, can survive another few thousand. Art, freedom and creativity have the power to change society faster than politics and in the end thats what this election is all about do we participate in a politics of cynicism or one of development and hope? I fervently hope that Varanasi votes wisely. I whispered to the Ganga for the people of this land to get what they have asked for, what they deserve and what they have been promised as I bade goodbye to one of my favourite Indian cities. (Kavita Sachwani is a financial services, financial inclusion and public policy professional. Views are personal) "From my examinations, these women were not maltreated and had no ill effects," he told Kaplan. "Their periods had returned; they were in good health; they had no complaints. All that says is that one does not need to be a doctor. You only need good training to do an abortion." The elephants themselves are migrants, who made coal-rich jungles in Chhattisgarh their home after they were displaced in the 1990s. Editor's Note: A network of 60 reporters set off across India to test the idea of development as it is experienced on the ground. Their brief: Use your mobile phone to record the impact of 120 key policy decisions on everyday life; what works, what doesn't and why; what can be done better and what should be done differently. Their findings straight and raw from the ground will be combined in this series, Elections on the Go, over a course of 100 days. Read more articles from the series here *** Surguja: In a torrid summer afternoon in May, Ramlal is busy tilling his three-acre land in Udaipur in Surguja district in Chhattisgarh. In a month or so, he will sow rice here. This time, hopefully, the rice will fetch a good price in the market, and there will be some left to feed his family. Last year, he was not so lucky. A herd of elephants had marched into his field in the quiet of the night, stomped over the standing crop and left. Ramlal was not the only one to lose his crops. For several years, farmers in Surguja and other neighbouring districts have been at the centre of the man-animal conflicts that play out every few days in these parts. The nod to bauxite mining, coal excavation and the resultant decrease in forest cover has given rise to a jumbo problem in several districts of Chhattisgarh where man-animal conflict is now rife. These include districts of Raigarh, Korba as well as five districts Surguja, Balrampur, Surajpur, Jashpur and Koriya that fall under the Surguja administrative division. The numbers are glaring. According to data with the forest department, 42 people had died in 2017-18 in five districts of Surguja region in incidents related to man-elephant conflicts. At least 1,743 houses were damaged in elephant attacks in the same period. In 2016-17, 50 people had died in elephant attacks in the region and 1,860 houses were damaged. The residents allege that with the government turning a blind eye to their situation, they have been left to fend for themselves. Ramlal says that he received only a few thousand rupees as compensation from the forest department after his crop was destroyed. In the run-up to the polls, just like every election year in the past, the Surguja Lok Sabha constituency witnessed a fleet of politicians, with their bags full of promises, says Ramlal. What can we do except believe that this time, it would be different and our problem will be addressed? he says. Others do not share Ramlals optimism. Many angry residents in villages in Surguja region did not cast their ballot this election. Then, there were those who wanted to exercise their franchise but were scared of elephant attacks on the way to polling booths. The residents, however, do not blame the animals, but the authorities for snatching away the habitats of the animals. The elephants themselves are migrants, who made coal-rich jungles in Chhattisgarh their home after they were displaced in the 1990s when mines came up in their forests in Odisha and Jharkhand. Awadh Narayan Pandey, a farmer from Surajpur, says, The habitat of the elephants has been encroached upon everywhere, leaving them with insufficient resources and space. They are forced to enter villages every now and then in search of food and water. Allowing coal mining in dense forests in Chhattisgarh has been a political hot potato, with the BJP-led central government and Chhattisgarhs Congress government often sparring over the issue. Residents say that before the forests were opened for coal mining, they co-existed peacefully with elephants. Non-tribes were not permitted to occupy leased lands in the jungles. After mines were allowed to operate in forest areas of Surguja and Surajpur districts since 2011, lakhs of trees were cut down. In the past, the Union environment ministry had granted forest clearance to coal mines in the area, such as Tara Mines. More recently, the forest department had objected to the Centres nod to diverting more than 840 hectares of forestland for mining coal in forest areas of Surguja and Surajpur districts. The mining is to be done by Rajasthan Collieries Limited, a subsidiary of Adani Enterprises. The officials had said that the proposed mining site was an important wildlife corridor and railway tracks being laid down to transport coal would disrupt the movement of elephants in the area. Some experts say that migration of elephants from neighbouring states of Odisha and Jharkhand still continues and sometimes, the elephants stray into residential areas. Prabhat Dubey, from Ambikapur, a behavioural expert on elephants who has assisted the forest department with research on the pachyderms, says that continuous displacement poses a threat to the existence of elephants, whose numbers are continuously dwindling. There are only about 200 Asian elephants left in Chhattisgarh now, he says. The authorities claim that they have initiated projects to rehabilitate elephants. The forest department officials said that in the last month, 40 elephants have been moved to Tamore Pingla National Park in Surajpur district, which spans an area of over 60,000 hectares. Elephants will also find sanctuary in Semarsot National Park in Balrampur district and Badalkhol National Park in Jashpur district, the officials say. In another unique initiative, five Kumki elephants (trained captive Asian elephants) named Duryodhan, Teerthram, Parashuram and Ganga and Yoglakshmi have been brought from Karnataka to the rescue centre of Tamore Pingla National Park to keep a watch on wild elephants. The forest department has also suggested burning chilli power to keep elephants away from fields, but many villagers are opposed to it, calling it an insensitive and cruel measure. To track the activity of elephants in the wild, at least five elephants in different herds have been fitted with radio collars. According to forest officer Sobaran Singh, they now alert villages of an approaching herd which has helped curb casualties in elephant attacks. (The author is a Ambikapur-based freelance author and a member of 101Reporters) Mizorams Prism Party proposes and advocates the right to secession bill to ensure that the UN indigenous peoples declaration is followed in letter and spirit It is absolutely acceptable to contest elections while advocating secession from India because it is in keeping with a United Nations declaration that the country has signed. Our proposed Right To Secession Bill will ensure execution of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the backdrop of the proposed Citizenship Amendment Bill and the protests against it by the indigenous people. The declaration was adopted by the UN general assembly on September 13, 2007, to recognise political, economic and social structures of indigenous peoples, especially their rights to their lands, territories and resources. It gives indigenous peoples all human rights and fundamental freedoms as recognised in the UN charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international human rights law in its Article 1 and the right to self-determination in its Article 3. It is clearly written in the introduction that nothing in this declaration may be used to deny any peoples their right to self-determination, exercised in conformity with international law. We, the Mizo peoples, also known as Lushai, Chin, Kuki, ChinLushaiKuki and many other names by historians, are predominantly tribal people living in certain parts of Bangladesh, India and Myanmar. We are of the Mongoloid race and mostly follow Christianity. The British colonial power annexed our land in 1890. They divided our land and administered it from British India and British Burma. But shortly after, they decided to put major parts of our land under a single administration. In January 29, 1892, the ChinLushai conference was held at Fort William. It was of the opinion that our lands, including Chin Hills and some portion of Arakan, now in Myanmar, South Lushai Hills and North Lushai Hills, the present Mizoram state and its adjoining regions of India, would be put under single administration. But, it was not possible to unite the entire swath, so it was decided to unite North Lushai Hills, South Lushai Hills and some portion of Arakan immediately. The two Hills were united and rechristened as Lushai Hills in 1895. The same year, the governor general-in-council proclaimed that Lushai Hills and Chin Hills were not to be administered by Indian or Burmese government, but by the foreign department. The Government of India Act, 1935, gave Lushai Hills the status of excluded area and the Government of India (Excluded and Partially Excluded Areas) Order, 1936, again declared Lushai Hills as an excluded area. And because of these, we separately declared war against Japan in April 3, 1942 in the World War 2, which clearly showed we were neither part of India nor Myanmar. Lushai Hills was put under India and Chin Hills under Myanmar when the two countries got Independence. Both countries recognised our common ethnicity by introducing Free Movement Regime, allowing us to move freely across the international border. We pursue our economic, social and cultural development freely with this facility. Lushai Hills attained autonomous district council status under Assam in 1952, without the northern part known as Inner line Reserved Forest. That autonomous district council attained union territory status in 1972 and was rechristened as Mizoram, which was granted statehood in 1987 after a 20-year war of independence from India. India, as a member and signatory, has to fulfil the UN declaration, whose article 8 prevents member states from taking any action that deprives indigenous peoples of their integrity as distinct peoples or of their cultural values or ethnic identities and any form of forced assimilation or integration. But, the Indian government has started to stop our free movement by replacing the free movement regime with a new border pass scheme. In writing, but not yet enforced on ground, our movement is restricted, which would deprive us of our integrity. This is clearly a breach of international law. In a move aimed at depriving us further, the government of India tried to enact the citizenship bill that would have led to assimilation, but the attempted enactment was in vain. Bangladeshs population exploded decades ago and it assimilated into Tripura and some parts of Assam, our neighbouring states. There has been a rapid increase in illegal immigrants moving from Bangladesh into Mizoram, which is clearly revealed by extraordinary population growth in the border areas. Mizoram shares a 212-km boundary with Bangladesh, which is monitored by the Border Security Force. Legalisation of Bangladeshi illegal immigrants would only promote immigration, putting Mizos in grave danger. The ruling BJP is advocating the citizenship bill again this election season. In light of these and similar threats, the Peoples Representation for Identity and Status of Mizoram (Prism) Party advocates the Right to Secession Bill to ensure the UN indigenous peoples declaration is followed in letter and spirit, bearing in mind threats to other indigenous communities. The Prism Party, which was formed in 2017 and registered a year later, is not secessionist; we are only fighting for our survival. We feel the government of India takes many steps to deprive minorities and some regions. Lets unite to stop deprivation of indigenous peoples and the minorities. Vanlalruata is the president of Prism Party Journalist Yashica Dutt speaks about writing Coming Out As Dalit, the weight of pretending to be upper caste, and the pain that accompanies revisiting old memories Yashica Dutts life would never be the same after 20 January, 2016. Not only because she had posted a note titled Today, Im Coming Out As Dalit on her Facebook account, but also because she no longer felt the need to hide. In the post, she detailed how often she had lied about her caste to people who had enquired; a lie I spoke so often and with such conviction, that I not only fooled my friends mothers but even myself She spoke of shame, of the fear of being caught and of the strength she had derived from Rohith Vemulas story. For the first time, she felt free and liberated. She was finally leaning into herself. The truth was out. I didnt feel the need the hide, or to escape out of my non-Dalit identity, she says. A few months later, she would begin to document her act of declaring her caste and her lifes story for a book titled Coming Out As Dalit. Its a story that Dalits see themselves in and associate with, and one that savarna people find opens their eyes. Born in Ajmer into a Dalit family, journalist Yashica Dutt spent three decades of her life pretending to be upper caste to escape the rejection and shame that accompanies a lower caste status. In her book she details the change in surname her family adopted, the convent school she was sent to, the birthday parties she was thrown all attempts to hide the familys Dalit-ness. The sheer physical, emotional and financial investments the family and especially her mother put into this effect is evident. Hiding your identity becomes part of who you are. You internalise it, she says. Another consequence of this, she writes, is that you feel like you belong nowhere. This feeling characterised her time at St Stephens in Delhi, where she got a Bachelors degree in Science. Her Facebook post marked the first time she was speaking about her identity on a social media platform, open to the public. Before, she had spoken about her experience in a feminist theory class at Columbia University, which was a sensitive, non-judgmental space. The biggest shift in her self occurred at an event held to commemorate Ambedkar in the United States. I met other Dalits. That affected me I realised that I could be proud of my identity, that we are made to feel shame if we achieve success or take pride in ourselves, she says. The response she received to her coming-out in India has been almost entirely positive. People said they were proud of me. Some sent me letters detailing the same experience in their own lives Controlling your narrative is a powerful thing. Perhaps this book shows how we can convincingly put our case forward, she says. Her story, and by extension her book, has helped savarna people understand how caste dynamics play out in society. She says many people werent even aware that the practice of hiding ones caste exists. Most people also didnt realise that there was such a big gap between castes. It makes them talk, look inward, and observe how society treats different castes differently. I am glad I have both audiences, Yashica says. Writing the book was a daunting task for her, especially because she had never written one before. She chuckles about how she had to look up basic books Book Writing for Dummies. I didnt think I had anything to write about until I began documenting my story. I wrote Coming Out As Dalit four times [four versions] in three years. Sitting in one place takes discipline. It was a challenging task and financially unviable. Part of the challenge was revisiting and confronting old memories, which Yashica describes as haunting. Does narrating stories from that difficult period in her life get easier (or less unsettling), now that she has written a book and given several interviews on the subject? I dont know if it gets easier... Therapy has been effective for me. Writing has also helped me greatly; when you deal with something like this on paper, it can be effective, she says. Conversations like the one I had with her for this interview are easier, but speaking about specific incidents requires her to brace herself. Caste can deeply impact mental health, it can lower your sense of confidence and affect how you see yourself, Yashica explains. Coming Out As Dalit consists of two narratives that come together seamlessly: that of her own life, and meditations on the evolution of the caste movement in India. The latter is the result of comprehensive research, starting from the origins of caste to more recent events such as the protests that erupted in the University of Hyderabad following Rohith Vemulas death. A personal story is made gripping and impactful by context. I wanted to give a background of what lower caste people go through, to reflect on the narrative of caste so far and present the idea that caste impacts everything in society, Yashica explains. She asserts that she wanted to ensure that the sections about the caste movement were factually accurate and backed by sources. The choice to take this approach was also driven by her journalistic instincts to show how one persons life is connected to the larger narrative in the country. Accessibility was also a guiding factor. This is why I wrote it in a way that even a teenager can understand caste after having read it, she says. Yashicas book was preceded by Documents of Dalit Discrimination, a Tumblr blog run by her which features stories about growing up and living as a Dalit, sent in by contributors. In a sense, this blog led to her book, she says. I didnt know a lot of platforms where people who were hiding their caste identities could talk In the beginning, the blog was intended to get people talking. Running it was both difficult and eye-opening. It gave me insight into experiences other than my own I did what I could to amplify the voices on Documents of Dalit Discrimination. I ask her how savarna people should respond when a Dalit comes out to them. While her personal belief is that she should not tell others how to behave, Yashica does feel that upper caste people should try to learn history and understand subjects like reservation. Individuals hide their caste because they feel they will be rejected. If you want Dalits around you to feel comfortable enough to be themselves, you have to understand how your caste benefits you. Be aware, dont feel martyred. Ask yourself if you are better than someone else because of your caste. If the answer is yes, then you have to confront the truth that you are not. BJP president Amit Shah on Friday sought to do damage control on the Godse controversy by saying the statements made by Sadhvi Pragya Thakur and two MPs Anant Kumar Hegde and Nalin Kateel were against the official stand and ideology of the party and has referred the matter to the disciplinary committee for action. New Delhi: BJP president Amit Shah on Friday sought to do damage control on the Godse controversy by saying the statements made by Sadhvi Pragya Thakur and two MPs Anant Kumar Hegde and Nalin Kateel were against the official stand and ideology of the party and has referred the matter to the disciplinary committee for disciplinary action . "The statements given by Shri Anantkumar Hegde, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Shri Nalin Kateel in the past two days are their personal statements. BJP has nothing to do with them," Shah said on Twitter as a controversy raged over backing Godse, the assassin of the father of the nation. Shah's second tweet said that the statements made by three leaders go against BJP's ideology and would be dealt with strictly after the internal disciplinary committee files a report. "They have retracted their statements and have also apologized for them. Still these statements, made in public, go against BJP's ideology and dignity and are being taken seriously by the party which has decided to send the three statements to the disciplinary committee," the tweet read. "The disciplinary committee has been asked to collect the response of the three leaders and submit a report on the same within 10 days to the party," his final tweet read. On Thursday, Pragya Singh Thakur had started a controversy by saying "Nathuram Godse was a 'deshbhakt', is a 'deshbhakt' and will remain a 'deshbhakt'". Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde and another party MP Nalin Kateel on Friday took to Twitter to add fuel to the controversy. Hegde said, "Am glad that 7 decades later today's generation debates in a changed perceptional environment and gives good scope for the condemned to be heard upon. Nathuram Godse would have finally felt happy with this debate!" Nalin compared Godse with former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and 2008 Mumbai terror attack convict Ajmal Kasab. He tweeted, "Godse killed one, Kasab killed 72, Rajiv Gandhi killed 17,000. You judge who is crueler in this??" As their tweets attracted attention, both of them deleted their controversial remarks. Shah's second tweet said that the statements made by three leaders go against BJP's ideology and would be dealt with strictly after the internal disciplinary committee files a report. "They have retracted their statements and have also apologized for them. Still, these statements made in public, go against BJP's ideology and dignity and are being taken seriously by the party which has decided to send the three statements to the disciplinary committee," the tweet read. "The disciplinary committee has been asked to collect the response of the three leaders and submit a report on the same within 10 days to the party," his final tweet read. The political saga revolving around Nathuram Godse took a fresh turn on Friday morning after Union minister Anantkumar Hegde first posted a few tweets sympathetic to Mahatma Gandhi's assassin, but later disowned the posts by claiming that his Twitter account was breached. The political drama revolving around Nathuram Godse took a fresh turn on Friday after Union minister Anantkumar Hegde first posted a few tweets sympathising with Mahatma Gandhi's assassin, but later disowned the posts claiming that his Twitter account was "hacked". The flip flop started shortly after two tweets sympathetic towards Godse were retweeted by his account with additional commentary. However, an hour later he held that "certain tweets" on his account were posted by hackers and have been "discarded and deleted". The Union Minister also regretted the tweets 'wrongly' attributed to him. Hegde also said that there was no question of justifying Mahatma Gandhi's killing. "My Twitter account has been breached twice in the past one week and certain tweets have been posted on my timeline which have been discarded and deleted. Regret the posts attributed to me." "My account was hacked since yesterday. There is no question of justifying Gandhi ji's murder. There can be no sympathy or justification of Gandhi ji's murder. We all have full respect for Gandhi ji's contribution to the nation," he posted. My account was hacked since yesterday. There is no question of justifying Gandhi ji's murder. There can be no sympathy or justification of Gandhi ji's murder. We all have full respect for Gandhi ji's contribution to the nation. Chowkidar Anantkumar Hegde (@AnantkumarH) May 17, 2019 The debate around Nathuram Godse was first stoked by Makkal Needhi Maiam leader Kamal Haasan, who referred to him as "Independent India's first Hindu terrorist" on Monday. The controversy compounded after BJP leaders Pragya Thakur opposed the comment stating that Godse was a "deshbhakt" and anybody calling him a terrorist will get a reply in the Lok Sabha elections. The BJP condemned her statement and asked her to tender a public apology. She said she made the comments on the spur of moment to a question linked to "saffron terror" and claimed that the media twisted them. Apart from Hegde, another BJP MP from Karnataka, Nalin Kumar Kateel also courted controversy by comparing Godse with former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, who has been a chief target of the ruling party in the national election campaign nearly 30 years after his assassination. "Godse killed one, Kasab killed 72, Rajiv Gandhi killed 17,000. You judge who is more cruel in this??" Katee had tweeted. Meanwhile, amid spiralling criticism, BJP national president Amit Shah has taken a firm view against the stray remarks. Besides asking the leaders to apologise for their remark, Shah has also sent the matter to the party's internal disciplinary committee. "Statements of Anantkumar Hegde, Pragya Thakur and Nalin Kateel are their personal opinion. The BJP has nothing to do with it. They have withdrawn their statements and apologised. BJP has taken their statements seriously and sent these statements to the disciplinary committee," Shah told ANI. Many of the worlds richest democracies have an obvious problem with women in politics Unlikeable. Unelectable. Those are just two of the adjectives being applied to some of the more prominent of the six female candidates currently campaigning to be the Democratic Partys 2020 nominee for president of the United States. Statement shoes! When Theresa May became Britains second female prime minister in July 2016, the talk was less about the looming political challenges of Brexit than her leopard-print kitten heels, embellished flats and Union Jack trainers. And last August, a leadership tussle in Australias governing Liberal Party resulted in defeat for the popular and well-known woman contender Julie Bishop amid allegations of bullying and intimidation of female MPs by their male counterparts. As Australia goes to the polls on May 18, it faces the possibility of female parliamentary representation either falling or hardly rising at all from 32% at present. Many of the worlds richest advanced democracies have an obvious and difficult problem with women in politics. As in the age before #MeToo and universal suffrage, the questions about female leadership are all too familiar: do women deserve the privilegewhy, how much and to what level? Additionally, theres the testy issue of how to treat a woman leader. Critique her clothes, as with the first female member of the US Congress, Jeannette Rankin in 1917? Evaluate her ambitiousness, a loaded term for women but not for men seeking to run for US president, according to a 2010 Harvard study? Sexualise her professional success as happened with US senator Kamala Harris, who is competing to be Democratic nominee for president? Within hours of her January 27 entry into the crowded competition, Harriss relationship with a powerful California politician was in the spotlight, seeming to suggest her professional achievements were tied to male patronage. Such treatment is par for the course for women in America, which has never had a female commander-in-chief and, even today, doesnt quite reach the Inter-Parliamentary Unions global average of 24.1% of lower house seats won by women. The current US House of Representatives is 23.7% female, its highest percentage ever. And only 29% of Britains members of parliament are women, a clear sign of how hard it is to strike a balance even in a highly developed country between acting like a leaderstrong and authoritativeand appearing authentically female. Then there is the ugly male propensity to lob sexual insults at women. Incredible though it may sound, a womans rape-worthiness, i.e. her sexual attractiveness, is often raised as a legitimate issue by male politicians. In the ongoing election campaign for the European Parliament, UK Independence Party candidate Carl Benjamin said that he might be induced to rape British Labour MP Jess Phillips if there were enough pressure. Three years ago, Benjamin had said of Phillips that he wouldnt even rape her. Towards the end of his long tenure in Brazils Chamber of Deputies, the man who would be elected the countrys president last year, told a congresswoman: I wouldnt rape you because you dont deserve it. Jair Bolsonaro later justified his comment saying the legislator was not worth raping; she is very ugly. In the month before the November 8, 2016, American election, Donald Trump dismissed a womans accusation of sexual assault by saying the alleged victim would not be my first choice. Trump, who also derided his female political opponent as not looking presidential, made the following lewd comment in reference to the notorious flirtations of former president Bill Clinton: If Hillary Clinton cant satisfy her husband, what makes her think she can satisfy America? In Australia, a female senator sued a male colleague for defamation after he told her on the senate floor during a debate on womens safety to stop shagging men. Unrepentant, he later said that he was prepared to rephrase my comments. I strongly urge senator Hanson-Young to continue shagging men as she pleases. What it all seems to add up to is a singular focus on the physical and mental attributes of being a woman. But Vigdis Finnbogadottir of Iceland, who became the worlds first directly elected female head of state in 1980 and held office for 16 years, recently acknowledged the reality of womens life in the public eye. One of the things that makes it a little bit more difficult for a woman to be in a job thats very official is how to dress She might have added the difficulties that arose around tone of voicetoo shrill or too manly and mumsinesstoo much or too little. In the political sphere, a womans work is never done. Rashmee Roshan Lall is an international affairs columnist based in London In their memorandum to the poll watchdog, the opposition parties said the EC, instead of enforcing a level-playing field, has arbitrarily decided to cut off campaigning to the prejudice of all other parties and benefiting only the BJP. New Delhi: Three opposition parties, including the Congress, on Thursday approached the Election Commission over its order curtailing the time period for campaigning in West Bengal, terming it "violative" of the doctrine of level-playing field and urged the poll body to give at least half a day more for electioneering. A delegation comprising Congress' Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Ahmed Patel, TDP leader CM Ramesh and AAP's Sanjay Singh presented their stand before the EC on the issue. The opposition parties requested for urgent and necessary review of the order prohibiting election campaigning in West Bengal after 10 pm Thursday, claiming it was violative of the doctrine of level-playing field and Article 14 of the Constitution which provides for equality before the law. In first such action in India's electoral history, the EC on Wednesday ordered campaigning in nine West Bengal constituencies to end at 10 pm Thursday, a day before its scheduled deadline, in the wake of violence between the BJP and TMC workers in Kolkata on Tuesday. The EC's action came a day after parts of Kolkata witnessed wide-spread violence during BJP president Amit Shah's massive road show in the city. A bust of 19th century Bengali icon Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was vandalised during the violence. In their memorandum to the poll watchdog, the opposition parties said the EC, instead of enforcing a level-playing field, has "arbitrarily" decided to cut off campaigning to the "prejudice" of all other parties. This, in fact, benefits the BJP which has two rallies scheduled, they said, adding this order of the EC, truncating the campaign period, "fails to meet the standard of reasonableness or even of application of mind". "We urge that this commission re-considers its decision and penalise the one who propagated the violence and violated its electoral laws in such a blatant manner. Punishing those who are innocent by taking such an arbitrary decision will result in a grotesque precedent being set," the parties said. Singhvi told reporters outside the EC office, "I would say that if the EC considers the facts presented by us, it can allow campaign for half a day more. The final decision is in their hands. All options are open for us." The delegation also requested the Election Commission for urgent and necessary directions to election officials to order repolling in Domariyaganj Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh. They also called for various safeguards for the EVMs to ensure electoral integrity and free and fair elections. The leaders also raised the issue of "failure" to provide security to MLA Aditi Singh in Rae Bareli. The Congress on Wednesday condemned the attack on its Rae Bareli legislator Aditi Singh, blaming it on what it called the "hired goons of the BJP" in Uttar Pradesh. The Election Commission is learnt to have given its nod to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's proposed visit to Kedarnath and Badrinath shrines in Uttarakhand beginning Saturday while 'reminding' the prime minister's office that the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) is still in force. New Delhi: The Election Commission is learnt to have given its nod to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's proposed visit to Kedarnath and Badrinath shrines in Uttarakhand beginning Saturday while "reminding" the prime minister's office that the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) is still in force. The Prime Minister's Office is learnt to have sought the views of the Election Commission on the two-day official visit of Modi to Uttarakhand. As it is an official visit, the commission has only "reminded" the PMO that the MCC which came into force on 10 March with the declaration of Lok Sabha polls, is still in force, sources aware of the development said. The last and seventh phase of Lok Sabha polls is on 19 May. "The visit is official so it can be undertaken. But the office of the prime minister has been reminded that the poll code is still in force," a source said without elaborating. Modi will undertake a two-day visit to Uttarakhand beginning 18 May. While he will be in Kedarnath Saturday, he will visit Badrinath on Sunday before returning to the national capital in the afternoon. One of Ladakhs highest polling stations was set up so that 29 people could cast votes Conducting elections in Ladakh is an uphill task. Before embarking with his team to set up a polling station, Iqbal Tak was mindful of the difficulties along the way: the region is sparsely populated and tiny villages are nestled in the hills, several kilometres apart. Taks task as a presiding officer was to establish one of the regions highest polling stations, in Fastan village, amid the Karakoram range, so that its 29 voters, three more than the previous elections in 2014, could exercise their franchise. Fastan is adjacent to the Siachen Glacier with no road access or mobile communication network. While planning the logistics, Tak was reminded of an incident when an election team trekked to the wrong polling station on the eve of voting. It is said that the group had to trudge through the night to reach the right station. There was no one to ask for directions, he said. With more than 183 high-altitude polling stations between 8,000 and 15,000 feet, many lacking road access and communication networks, polling officials must climb the mountains if not airlifted by the Indian Air Force. The highest polling station, at nearly 15,000 feet, for the twin villages of Anlay Pho, is located close to the Line of Actual Control between India and China. The Perilous Path to Democracy Just look at your track and ignore the height, Abdul Rahim said while maintaining his balance along the narrow path on the steep slopes on May 4,as he faced away from the thousands-of-feet-deep gorge to his right. Rahim was one of the two policemen assigned for providing security to Taks team at the polling station in Fastan. That morning, three polling units boarded a bus in Leh town, over 180 km away, to begin a slow journey through one of the worlds highest motorable passes, the Khardung La. More than eight hours later, the team was dropped on an unmotorable road on the fringes of the Nubra Valley. From the road, a narrow track of loose sand and rocks went down a steep slope, curving around to a sand slide. With every step producing a sinking feeling, the sand below the feet slid towards the gorge. One wrong move would have meant slipping to certain death. The team abandoned a few water bottles and blankets at a rock shelter to loosen some load. Besides carrying the voting machines, members of Taks group were hauling their own bedding and food supplies for three days, including 15 kg of rice and a few dozen flatbread along with raw chicken and mutton. As the altitude increased again from the rock shelter, the winds became stronger and colder. For outsiders not used to the unsparing terrain and weather or acclimated to the dizzying heights, the choices were either risking the trek ahead or doubling back to safety. For the polling staff, however, returning was not an option. From the rock shelter, Tak said after coming back from Fastan, the journey ahead involved multiple ups and downs until the team finally spotted the village from a distance. At first, the sight was a relief, but it was farther than we had anticipated and the climb was the steepest so far, he said. It was already dark and we were using the lights from our phones to trace the tracks of our colleagues. Tak and polling officer Nasrullah Khan reached Fastan at around 9 pmhalf an hour after the rest of their team having begun their journey at 4.30 pm. But it turned out that the school (where the polling station was to be set up) was another 200 feet away, said Tak. At that point, even our phones felt too heavy to hold. On the day of the polls, May 6, the first voter validating the teams hard work was 94-year-old Thumsay Wangail, who walked to the polling station just outside the small village of elderly farmers and young men who work as porters at the Siachen Glacier. By the end of polling, 23 of Fastans 29 voters had cast their vote. It was a similar but smoother story in the nearby Sunido village, where four polling officials, three police and two Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel were deputed for 22 voters in a village of 26. Regardless of who wins the elections, the polling teams of Ladakh prevailed over natures extremes to do their job. Our responsibility, said Tak, was to conduct polling whether it was raining or snowing or even if someone had fallen off a cliff. This is the crux of the debate and the most consequential question in the ongoing Lok Sabha election. Can this subsume the caste divisions and create a consolidation behind Modi quite like the way BJP had once banked on Hindutva to unite fractured Hindu votes? How confident is the BJP of cracking the tradition caste formulations in Indian politics and giving rise to a new discourse on the empowerment of the poor? During a recent interview with News18, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee had spoken about Uttar Pradesh and her state being the inflection points in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. The situation in West Bengal has become more unpredictable since with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) mounting a strong challenge. Uttar Pradesh, however, remains the enigma as always in these elections. It has become an axiomatic truth that the road to Delhi will go via Uttar Pradesh. And it is this state that still throws a bit of uncertainty in BJP's calculations and keeps the Opposition hopes alive. What is it about Uttar Pradesh that foxes pollsters, analysts and political parties alike? It is the importance of caste as a major factor in the political outcome. It is accepted wisdom that the BJP won 73 out 80 Lok Sabha seats in 2014 and swept the major Hindi heartland state in Assembly polls three years later because the fractured nature of caste identity politics made it easier for the saffron unit to split the anti-BJP votes and seal the seats in first-past-the-post system. Caste identity politics is said to be co-existing with consolidation of religious identity. However, since BJPs chief regional rivals in Uttar Pradesh were busy fighting against each other, the saffron unit romped home twice in a three-way contest (never mind the Congress which possibly pulled down ally Samajwadi Party's chances in 2017). For instance, even if Muslims had voted tactically to keep the BJP out, their votes were split between the Samajwadi Party and its arch-rival Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), allowing BJP to go through. Let us now come to a postulation. Assuming these caste identities remain constant and solidly behind their respective regional parties (for example, Dalit vote bank stays firm with Mayawati, Yadav-Muslim votebank remains aligned with the SP and Jats with the RLD), theoretically at least a gathbandhan between arch-rivals SP-BSP and RLD may spell the doom for BJP. In such a scenario, minority votes wont get split and act as a force multiplier for the gathbandhan candidate. The arithmetic is firmly behind the alliance. At least on paper the candidate may corner 50 per cent of the vote share and sound the death knell for BJP. It is this possibility that has kept alive the Oppositions hopes amid a perception that this election is for Prime Minister Narendra Modis to lose. If the BJPs tally comes down from 73 in 2014 to 15-20 seats in UP, the saffron unit may struggle to cobble up the numbers. Modi may remain a one-term prime minister and the Opposition is banking on this possibility. Now, lets flip the postulation. What if the entire assumption on which lies the Oppositions calculation is up for questioning? If caste barriers become fluid, less persistent as an interest group and a new political formulation based on economic class takes shape, then the Oppositions game is up. To have a fighting chance in the elections, BJPs rivals must corner a sizeable chunk of the seats in Uttar Pradesh. This is possible only if the regional parties retain ownership over their respective castes or caste groups. If that base develops cracks, then all bets are off. CLICK HERE FOR LIVE UPDATES ON LOK SABHA ELECTION 2019 This is precisely what the BJP has been trying to do and Modi has been aiming at through his social welfare schemes distribution of gas connections, opening of bank accounts, building of toilets and pucca houses fitted with electricity connections along with income support for marginal farmers via direct cash transfer such as PM Kisan Samman Nidhi and 10 percent quota for the economically weak in general category. The economic reservation (as against social reservation) seeks to develop cracks in the caste base and create a new political mobilization constructed on class. Modi has sought to reinforce this narrative by repeatedly burnishing his pro-poor image. In a recent interview with News18, the prime minister emphasised his class identity, not caste." To a question regarding his caste, the prime minister told Brajesh Kumar Singh and Amitabh Sinha, "I have lived in Gujarat for many years and no one knows my caste. I have never been concerned with caste myself and I believe that if someone says that my caste is of the poor, I belong to the poor caste and every poor belongs to my caste, I totally agree with that view. The condition of our poor people, even after so many years of independence pains me deeply." In the complex rubric of Indian elections, caste politics and political formulations around it have always been an important factor. Regional satraps draw their strength from caste-identity vote banks, and their leverage for power at the Centre depends on their ability to retain the vote bank. This model would be in danger, however, if economic empowerment corrodes the caste calculation. As this Livemint article argues, "Caste networks play an important role in ensuring access to credit, market and capital in a social and economic structure dominated by the old elite. But in the process, it has created new networks of access and patronage defined by access to the caste group which holds political power." Modi's aim has been to break through this barrier through a combination of targeted welfare schemes, personal charisma, a muscular brand of nationalism and a high-pitched war against terrorism. It is worth noting that as the elections have progressed through six of the seven phases that have been completed, BSP chief Mayawatis vitriol against the prime minister has touched new heights, indicating that the party fears a class consolidation behind Modi. Interestingly, while answering a question on the way he has been portrayed as a dividing and polarising figure in western and some sections of Indian media in the interview quoted above, Modi stressed on the nature of the divide. Is this divide horizontal or vertical? And if it is I dont believe it is Today, the poor have become polarised, he is directly identifying with Modi. If the poor want to benefit as well as the nation, whats wrong with that? Why do such people get sad? If the poor think beyond race, religion, sect and caste, and comes forward for his childrens future and sees the country future in his childrens future, we should feel proud. This is the crux of the debate and the most consequential question in these elections. How confident is the BJP of cracking the tradition caste formulations in Indian politics and giving rise to a new discourse on the empowerment of the poor? Can this subsume the caste divisions and create a consolidation behind Modi quite like the way BJP had once banked on Hindutva to unite fractured Hindu votes? This is just one part of the plan. The BJP has also pushed aggressively Brand Modi and a muscular brand of nationalism that seeks to pay Pakistan back in the same coin. Ground reports suggest that this is getting traction. There is a feeling among voters that Modi deserves another chance, and there is no other prime ministerial candidate who may replace him. In other words, the there-is-no-alternative (TINA) factor is aiding Modi. Speaking to News18's Marya Shakil, a first-time voter in Rasoolabad reserved constituency, said, "Modi said he will give me a job. I am waiting for him to deliver on his promise, and I know he will. If he can carry out an attack on Pakistan, he can do that as well." This sentiment is the reason why Amit Shah has been going around asserting that no political party may now claim exclusive rights over a vote bank. We shall know on 23 May the truth behind this statement but if Modi indeed succeeds in breaking the caste barrier, politics in India may enter a new phase. Analysts and pollsters may need to revisit their drawing board. Ghulam Nabi Azad, who merely stated the party line that none other than the party chief espoused in July 2018, had to suffer the ignominy of having to change his statement in less than 24 hours. Ghulam Nabi Azad's flip-flop on whether or not the Congress would claim the post of prime minister for Rahul Gandhi after the results of the Lok Sabha polls points to confusion in the ranks of the Grand Old Party. Azad, the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, has held various ministerial portfolios at the Centre in Congress-led governments since 1982. He has also been chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and held varied posts in the partys organisational structure. He is a mature leader and not known to shoot off his mouth. His remarks should be taken as the party line. At a press conference in Patna Thursday, Azad said the Congress was willing to offer post of prime minister to any non-BJP party to achieve its singular aim: stopping Prime Minister Narendra Modi from returning to power at the Centre. On Friday, Azad in a statement to news agency ANI completely reversed his position, saying that since Congress is the largest and oldest party, only it could run the government for five years and thus needed to be given a chance by other Opposition parties. Let's analyse aspects of Azad's statement later. First, let's focus on why Azad may have been forced by his party high command to change his statement on leadership. The timing of Azads first statement is interesting, coming a day after BSP chief Mayawati publicly declared that she would be the best choice from the Opposition to become prime minister and do a better job than Modi. As far as development goes, Bahujan Samaj Party has managed to change the face of Uttar Pradesh, she said. Lucknow was beautified to a great extent. On the basis of all this work, it can be assumed that for the welfare of people and the country, BSP national president is fit and in comparison with her, Narendra Modi is unfit. The remark also came a day after West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, through display of personal grit and aggression, became a rallying point for all Opposition parties. Mamata was enraged by the Election Commission order invoking Article 324 of the Constitution to stop campaigning in West Bengal a day ahead of schedule and dumping two top officials home secretary and additional director general of police (CID) perceived to be close to the ruling TMC dispensation and who were allegedly interfering with conduct of free and fair polls. She called Modi names and blasted the Election Commission, alleging that the RSS had infiltrated the organisation. In short, Mamata took the battle to the streets and showed a fighting spirit against a resurgent BJP, an act which won her many admirers. Mamata seemed to be determined to fight Modi and BJP for every single of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal. Almost all Opposition parties came out in support of Mamata, criticised Modi and the EC. Support for Mamata grew on social media and she emerged as the leader of all the anti-Modi forces overnight. Even though her presence is limited to West Bengal, those against Modi now view her as having the right credentials to be prime minister if the Opposition gets the numbers to form the next government. The Congress was also supportive. But it seems that the Congress reviewed its position based on the sudden surge in her popularity and how she shined, particularly when compared to Rahul. But a problem remained. Mamata and Mayawati both snubbed the Congress for poll alliances in West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, that too when the extended Congress Working Committee authorised Rahul to hold negotiations with non-BJP parties for building a grand coalition of Opposition forces. In all media interactions and at his speeches at party forums, Rahul expressed great deal of optimism about such an alliance, but in the end Congress had to go it alone in these two politically crucial states. Rahul has also been changing his position. First he said he would not shy away from being the Congress candidate and Opposition candidate for prime minister. Later, he said, "The Congress is open to the candidature of anybody, including Mamata Banerjee or Mayawati, for the top slot She (Mamata), too, is from a Congress mindset." Azad, who merely stated the party line that none other than the party chief espoused in July 2018, had to suffer the ignominy of having to change his statement in less than 24 hours. Or perhaps his leader has changed his mind and is now aspiring for South Block office in New Delhi. For instance, BJP's Atal Bihari Vajpayee required the support of AIADMK and TDP to gain a simple majority in the Lok Sabha. Moreover, Modi, despite winning an outright majority in Parliament, too chose to seek the support of his NDA allies. After the votes are counted on 23 May, the focus will shift on the political parties which can form the next government at the Centre. By then, it would be clear whether the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance remains in power or the Rahul Gandhi-led United Progressive Alliance returns after five years. With regional parties vying for a significant role at the Centre, the rise of a third front is also probability after 23 May. Whatever may be the result on 23 May, the President of India will be crucial in determining who will form the next government -- and in turn become the prime minister. President's role in government formation: Here is what the Constitution says Article 75(1) of the Constitution states: "The Prime Minister shall be appointed by the President and the other ministers shall be appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister." However, beyond these words, the process of government formation is not dealt with in much detail in the Constitution. Thus, the process of government formation in India is built on some historical conventions. As per the long-followed convention, the president invites the leader of the majority party to form the government. Thus, the leader of the party which secured over half of the seats in the Lok Sabha was invited to form the government between 1952 and 1984. It is important to note that the leader of the Parliamentary Party is usually appointed prime minister by the president. For instance, PV Narasimha Rao was elected the leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party on 20 June 1991 before being appointed as the prime minister. In a similar vein, Narendra Modi was elected as the BJP parliamentary party leader before being appointed prime minister on 20 May 2014. The rise of coalition politics in the 1990s led to no single party being able to secure a majority on its own. This meant a party required the support of smaller parties to cross the magic figure of 272. For instance, BJP's Atal Bihari Vajpayee required the support of AIADMK and TDP to gain a simple majority in the Lok Sabha. Moreover, Modi, despite winning an outright majority in the Parliament, too chose to seek the support of his NDA allies. Since 1989, the phenomena of the "single largest party" became common in the Indian political system. Additionally, directing a new government to prove its majority on the floor of House within a stipulated period became a much-followed convention at the Centre and state level. Until 1989, the Congress party remained the dominant party in the Indian political system. However, in the general election held towards the end of that year, Congress lost power to an Opposition coalition led by the Janata Dal. This led a hung Parliament for the first time since 1952. Nevertheless, Congress remained the "single largest party" despite losing over 200 seats. The then president R Venkataraman invited Congress leader Rajiv Gandhi to form the government. However, he declined to stake claim. Later, Venkataraman invited VP Singh, the leader of the National Front Parliamentary Party, to form the government. However, the president asked him to prove his majority in the Lok Sabha within 30 days. "Since the Congress (I), elected to the ninth Lok Sabha with the largest membership, has opted not to stake its claim for forming the government, the President invited Mr V.P. Singh, leader of the second largest party/group, namely, the Janata Dal/National Front to form the government and take a vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha within 30 days of his assuming office," the 1989 communique said. The National Front, which included Janata Dal, AGP, TDP, and Indian Congress (Socialist), was provided external support by the BJP and the Left. This gave the coalition a slender majority in the Parliament. Seven years later, the Lok Sabha elections again threw up a hung Parliament. This time, however, President Shankar Dayal Sharma chose to appoint Vajpayee the leader of the single largest party as prime minister. However, the president advised Vajpayee to secure a vote of confidence by 31 May 1996. But Vajpayee resigned on 28 May after failing to garner enough support. Later, as AG Noorani noted in a Frontline article, Sharma sworn in HD Deve Gowda of the United Front and asked him to prove his majority in the Lok Sabha. In 1998, President KR Narayanan appointed Vajpayee, who enjoyed the backing of over 280 MPs, as the prime minister. Narayanan adopted an elaborate procedure to ensure the stability of the government. He asked Vajpayee "to furnish documents in support of his claim from concerned political parties and individuals." Taking a leaf out of Venkataraman's rulebook, he also asked the BJP stalwart to secure a vote of confidence on the floor of the House within 10 days of taking office. When the NDA led by Vajpayee won a comfortable majority in the 1999 polls, Narayanan did not seek any prima facie proof of parliamentary majority or on assurance of a vote of confidence within a stipulated time. In the 2004 elections, the Congress-led UPA alliance formed the government. Although it lacked a majority, the Left Front decided to support the coalition from outside. Once the Congress was able to provide the proof of support from allies and other regional parties, President APJ Abdul Kalam appointed Manmohan Singh as prime minister. Interestingly, Kalam did not ask Singh to prove his majority within a specific amount of time. In the 2009 elections, UPA coalition comfortably formed the government with the support of 322 MPs. Thus, President Pratibha Patil did not ask Singh to prove his strength in the Lok Sabha. After the last elections too, Modi was not asked by President Pranab Mukherjee to prove his majority in the Lok Sabha. The president of the Republican Party of India, a member of the BJP-led NDA, also added that he respects Mayawati and she should refrain from making such statements Varanasi: Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Friday took a sexist jibe at Mayawati by saying that the BSP supremo does not know how to handle a husband as she is not married. Athawale's comments come after Mayawati stated that women leaders in BJP are afraid of their husbands meeting Modi as they fear it will result in them being abandoned. The president of the Republican Party of India, a member of the BJP-led NDA, also added that he respects Mayawati and she should refrain from making such statements. "Mayawati is making remarks about Modi Ji and his wife. She (Mayawati) is not married, she does not know what a family is, had she been married she would have known how to handle a husband. We respect Mayawati, she should not make such statements," Athawale told ANI. In the same breath, the minister batted for civility in politics and said anyone's family should not be attacked. "I feel Mayawati only knows how to accuse people. She is baffled and distributed and which why she is putting such allegations on others. I feel that it is not right to disrespect our prime minister like this. I also feel that no one should attack someone's family," said the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment. On 13 May, Mayawati had appealed to women to not vote for Modi as a tribute to his wife, who, the BSP chief said, was abandoned by him. "I came to know that in BJP, married women are worried when they see their husbands meeting Modi as they fear that Modi may separate them from their husbands, just the way he left his own wife. I appeal all women not to vote for Modi, this would be a true tribute to Modi's wife who was abandoned," the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister had told ANI. In his conclusion, Athawale exuded confidence that Narendra Modi will again become the prime minister and National Democratic Alliance will again bag more than 350 seats. "I feel that in 2014 we won the election in the name of Narendra Modi Ji but this time we will win the election for the work he has done. Narendra Modi Ji will again become the prime minister. I think BJP will cross 282 seats and NDA will get more than 350 seats this Lok Sabha polls." Last round of voting for national elections will be held on 19 May and counting is scheduled for 23 May. Lok Sabha Elections 2019: Narendra Modi asserted confidently on Friday that the BJP will come back to power with a full majority on its own Prime Minister Narendra Modi surprised journalists on Friday as he attended a scheduled press conference by BJP president Amit Shah. Modi asserted confidently that the BJP will come back to power with a full majority on its own. The prime minister said, "Throughout my campaign, until my last rally, I emphasised on telling the people that I had come before them to thank them for the blessings that they gave me." He also said that the tenure of an honest government began on 17 May, 2014, a day after Lok Sabha election results were announced. Modi further said,"During the last election, even IPL couldn't be held. When government is strong, IPL, Ramzan, school exams and other events take place peacefully." He told reporters that he will not take any questions because the press conference is being addressed by Shah, and in BJP's system, discipline has to be followed. "We are disciplined soldiers of the party," Modi said. Shah, during the press conference, gave a detailed report card of the campaigning as well as the performance of the NDA government in the last five years. On the Opposition's allegations that both Modi and Shah were responsible for lowering the political discourse during the campaigning, the BJP president said, "What else do you expect from the opposition?" Shah also said that the BJP has never initiated a debate of a coarse nature. On remarks made by BJP Bhopal candidate Pragya Singh Thakur terming Nathuram Godse a patriot, Shah said, "The party has served her a show-cause notice and asked her to reply within ten days. After she files a reply, the party's disciplinary committee will take appropriate action." Follow live updates on the Lok Sabha Election 2019 here Narendra Modi on Friday said he will never forgive BJP candidate Pragya Singh Thakur for insulting Mahatma Gandhi by calling his assassin Nathuram Godse a true patriot. Khargone: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said he will never forgive BJP candidate Pragya Singh Thakur for insulting Mahatma Gandhi by calling his assassin Nathuram Godse a true patriot. Modi told a TV channel during his last rally ahead of the last phase of voting in the Lok Sabha polls that her comments were detrimental to society. "Whatever has been said about Gandhi or Godse, these kind of statements are very bad and worth contempt. In a cultured society, this type of language is not permissible. This type of thinking won't do...Therefore, those who are doing this have to think a hundred times. Though she has apologised, I won't be able to pardon her with my heart," Modi said. Earlier Friday, BJP president Amit Shah said remarks on Mahatma Gandhi's assassin by three BJP leaders Thakur, Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde and Karnataka MP Nalin Kumar Kateel were not in line with the party's ideology. Shah had said the party's disciplinary committee has sought an explanation from them in 10 days. During a roadshow in Madhya Pradesh Thursday, Thakur had said, "Nathuram Godse was a patriot, is a patriot, and will remain a patriot. Those who call him a terrorist should look within, they will get a reply in this election." She was responding to a comment made by actor-turned-politician Kaman Haasan, who said Godse was the first Hindu terrorist in independent India. The Malegaon blast accused later apologised for her statement. Ahead of the final phase of polling in 59 seats, Modi displayed confidence that he would return to power with a majority on his own. Narendra Modi on Friday attended his first press conference as prime minister in the closing hours of the 2019 Lok Sabha election campaign. He concluded his address to the media by saying that he finished the task assigned to him by the party with the same degree of enthusiasm from the beginning to the end. He further said that with campaigning over, he would again engage himself in governance work. Modi's arrival at the press conference was a surprise to most mediapersons gathered at the BJP headquarters on Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg in New Delhi. The BJPs invite for the press conference was in the name of party president Amit Shah. It is possible that the party did not want to create hype around Modi's presence, and that it wanted to make things slightly easier for those visiting party offices around that hour, journalists and party workers included. Modi had come straight to the party headquarters after landing at the airport. He was earlier at Khargone in Madhya Pradesh, where he addressed the last rally for the Lok Sabha election. The prime minister has visited the party headquarters on numerous occasions earlier, but those occasions were party meets, felicitation programmes and occasional informal interactions with mediapersons. However, this was the first time, not just since 2014 but since he became the chief minister of Gujarat, that he came to the hall meant for daily press conferences, and addressed the media. With campaigning having ended, Modi looked very relaxed, yet confident about the outcome of the poll process. He essentially sought to convey two messages. The first one was that he is going to return to power with the BJP getting a full majority on its own, and thus, the policies of his government will continue. The second one was that he is a dedicated party worker who abides by party discipline. He sought to send the message that while he may have come to the party office to address the media, he would not hijack a press conference of his party president (even if the latter is his protege). On two occasions, he directed questions addressed to him to Amit Shah, saying that in the BJP, the party president is supreme and thus he cannot speak ahead of him. The message was directed more towards his party leaders and workers, in the context of the party having issued a show-cause notice to Bhopal candidate Pragya Singh Thakur for her statement on Nathuram Godse. Modi tried to convey that party discipline is supreme, no matter how high one may be. Ahead of the final phase of polling in 59 seats, Modi displayed confidence that he would return to power with a majority on his own. While one can say that this was aimed at maximising votes in the BJP's favour, it could also lead to complacency among his workers and supporters. Modi would have taken this into account. On Friday, Modi was already talking about how his next government might function. He appears to be following the same working style as when he was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014. Although he did not outline his priorities, he said that the government would initiate policies for public welfare, and take the country to a new high. Further, by saying that he would return to governance work, he suggested that he would not take rest with the end of campaigning. The prime minister further said that unlike 2009 and 2014, this time, the IPL tournament was held in the country despite the election process being on at the same time. He claimed that due to the governance model he pursued, the IPL, elections, board examinations, Ramzan, Easter, Hanuman Jayanti, Ram Navami and other such events could happen together without any obvious hassles. What Modi seemed to enjoy talking about most was satta (betting) in 2014, and he claimed that all the money staked in betting was lost as the BJP secured 282 seats, much more anyone had ever thought. He quipped that after 17 May, 2014, the "era of honesty began." It was unprecedented for a prime minister to come to a party office on the conclusion of campaigning to address the media. In that sense, Modi made a new beginning. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi with the prime minister by his side, Amit Shah said, 'Since Independence, the most hardworking, extensive election campaign was this one and Modi's outreach was unprecedented.' New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew 1.5 lakh kilometres and addressed 142 public rallies during the most extensive campaign for a Lok Sabha election since Independence, BJP president Amit Shah said Friday. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi with the prime minister by his side, Amit Shah praised Modi for braving scorching temperatures which went up to 46 degrees Celsius. "Since Independence, the most hardworking, extensive election campaign was this one and Modi's outreach was unprecedented," Amit Shah said. There is hardly any part of the country Modi did not visit during the election campaign between February and May, he said. The dates for the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections were announced on 10 March. "On 28 March 2019, the campaign started from Meerut. Modi addressed 142 public rallies, held four roadshows, and, according to conservative estimates, he directly addressed about 1.5 crore people in these rallies. Modi's campaign involved air travel of around 1.5 lakh kilometres," he said. Shah also said, that he himself visited 312 Lok Sabha constituencies and addressed 161 public rallies. He claimed he travelled 1.58 lakh kilometres and held 18 roadshows. Shah said the BJP ran a very successful campaign reaching all sections of society. He expressed confidence that his party will come back to power with a majority. He said slogans like 'phir ek baar, Modi sarkar' and 'main bhi chowkidar' were not given by the BJP leadership but by the "common BJP volunteers". Modi said that this was a great election campaign. "The BJP-led NDA is heading towards a clear majority... I have not missed or cancelled a single rally," said Modi. Pragya, while campaigning in Agar Malwa district of Madhya Pradesh, told reporters: 'Nathuram Godse was a deshbhakt, is a deshbhakt and will always remain a deshbhakt, and people calling him a terrorist should instead look within.' 'Such people will be given a befitting reply in these elections,' she remarked adding to her list of controversial statements during the Lok Sabha election 2019. Bhopal BJP candidate Sadhvi Pragya Thakur on Thursday called Nathuram Godse the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi a "deshbhakt" (patriot) and will remain so forever. Pragya was reacting to Kamal Haasan's recent comment that the first terrorist in India was a Hindu, naming Godse. Pragya apologised later after she came under heavy criticism for her comments. "My sentiment was not to hurt anyone's feelings. If it has hurt anybody's feelings then I apologise. What Gandhi ji has done for the country cannot be forgotten. I respect him a lot," she said in a video statement. She said she made the comments on the spur of moment to a question linked to "saffron terror" and claimed that the media twisted them. Asked about the BJP terming her remarks as her personal views, she agreed and added that she was a disciplined worker of the party. She said her party's line is her line. Campaigning in Agar Malwa district of Madhya Pradesh, Pragya told reporters: "Nathuram Godse was a deshbhakt, is a deshbhakt and will always remain a deshbhakt, and people calling him a terrorist should instead look within." "Such people will be given a befitting reply in these elections," she remarked. #WATCH BJP Bhopal Lok Sabha Candidate Pragya Singh Thakur says 'Nathuram Godse was a 'deshbhakt', is a 'deshbhakt' and will remain a 'deshbhakt'. People calling him a terrorist should instead look within, such people will be given a befitting reply in these elections pic.twitter.com/4swldCCaHK However, BJP distanced itself from the Malegaon blast accused's statement and asked her to publicly apologise. Party spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao, condemning Pragya's comment, said the party will ask her to clarify on the same. "BJP does not agree with this statement, we condemn it. Party will ask her for clarification, she should apologise publicly for this statement." Meanwhile, reacting to Thakurs comments, her Congress rival Digvijaya Singh said that BJP chief Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi should apologise for her comments as Godse was a "killer" and glorifying him is "sedition". Congress media cell in-charge Narendra Saluja also hit out at Pragya and the saffron party saying, "She also made a mockery of late Hemant Karkares martyrdom and now she has spoken in this manner about Mahatma Gandhis killer. This exhibits the BJPs ideology and also exposes what kind of candidate the party has fielded in Lok Sabha polls. Earlier, Pragya had drawn the ire of the Election Commission for her remark on the Babri Masjid demolition, which led to a 72-hour ban on her poll campaign. She had also stirred a major controversy for her claim that 26/11 attack martyr Hemant Karkare died because of her curse. At BJP chief Amit Shah's mega rally in Kolkata on Tuesday, clashes broke out and the police had to intervene. At BJP chief Amit Shah's mega rally in Kolkata on Tuesday, clashes broke out and the police had to intervene and tame the crowd with batons. Some students stood at the gates of Vidyasagar College in North Kolkata with Go Back Amit Shah posters. Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers allege that BJP supporters spotted these students and not only broke into the college but also vandalized the bust of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, the social reformer the institution is named after. Shah has alleged that since the bust was inside the room and the gate of the college wasnt damaged, TMC workers themselves vandalized it to accuse the BJP of attacking the bust of Bengals social reformer. On the other hand, TMC secretary general Partha Chatterjee released a video showing men in saffron T-shirts breaking the bust before smashing it on the ground. TMC chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee didnt wait too long to call out the BJP for attacking West Bengals culture but Modi went a step further to counter her claim. Addressing a rally in Mau district in Uttar Pradesh, the prime minister stated that literary, cultural and political icons of West Bengal were at the core of the philosophy of BJP. From vedas to Vivekanand to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose to Syama Prasad Mukherjee, the BJP government has drawn inspiration from the icons of Bengal to take India to greater heights, the prime minister stated. He praised Vidyasagar, who fought for rights of Dalits and the economically backward and spoke about the rights of women. The prime minister said that the life and works of this legend arent merely a matter of pride for West Bengal but for the entire nation. The friction between the two parties has intensified with the Election Commission reacting to the violence and the lawlessness that has ensued from it by making use of its plenary powers, and the invoking of Article 324 to bring all campaigning to a halt 19 hours before scheduled time. But Modi's mention of the inspirations of BJP reflects the efforts the party has been making to keep the narratives behind these ideologies and icons alive. Bharatiya Jana Sangh, which gave birth to the BJP, was founded by Syama Prasad Mukherjee, who was vice-chancellor of the Calcutta University. Since he died in mysterious circumstances in Kashmir, the BJP has named his death anniversary Balidan Diwas to keep the icon relevant in the psyche of the Indian voter. The BJP campaign offices display his pictures on saffron walls. Boses military endeavours to liberate India are hailed by the ruling party. His grandnephew is contesting on a BJP ticket from Kolkata South, which goes to polls on 19 May and last August, had penned a three-page letter to Amit Shah stating that he feels it is his personal responsibility to ensure the BJP cadre in the state grows. Last October, the prime minister unfurled the national flag at Red Fort to mark the 75th anniversary of the Azad Hind government. Vivekanands writings have played a key role in shaping Modi's vision. In 2013, he went and meditated in Belur Math in West Bengal. Last September, the prime minister addressed an event that marked the 125th anniversary of Vivekanands speech at the World Congress of Religions in Chicago. BJPs constant invoking of homegrown legends has challenged Banerjees style of solitary control over Bengals cultural traditions by broadly dismissing BJP as a hindi-bhaashi (Hindi-speaking) party that has crossed over from the Vindhyas to pose a threat to cultural diversity and communalise Bengal. But along with that, a parallel campaign to resurge the Hindu glory in West Bengal began in 2014. BJP tweeted a video of Mamata Banerjee stepping out of her car, angry at people screaming Jai Shree Ram. Why is DIDI so upset with chants of JAI SHRI RAM & why does she call it "GALAGALI"? pic.twitter.com/dTrBqrS6Oo BJP Bengal (@BJP4Bengal) May 4, 2019 BJP wove it into its election campaign with most senior leaders, including Modi, questioning Banerjee on why a Hindu cant chant this phrase fearlessly in her state. BJP's allegation that Banerjee was involved in appeasement of the 28 percent Muslims in the state wasn't unnoticed earlier but thanks to the saffron party's efforts, it seeped into the political narrative this time. Today, the leader who ousted a 34-year-old Communist rule has also been critical of the Ram Navami rallies organised by the BJP in different districts of West Bengal where people were seen holding swords. BJP Bengal state unit head Dilip Ghosh said, "Ram Navami is part of our culture." The Left Fronts steady decline has ensured that those disappointed with the TMCs street-fighting and the party heads autocracy will choose BJP as an alternative. In the 2018 panchayat elections, non-ruling party candidates were barred from even filing nominations in 34 percent of the seats. This stifling of democratic rights is something the BJP is playing up time and again in their West Bengal campaign. Last year, the West Bengal government had withheld permission for three BJP rath yatras in the state. At his rally in Mau, Modi cited an instance of unruly behaviour of TMC workers at his rally in West Midnapore and also at Thakurnagar where he had to end his speech in 14 minutes after a stampede broke out. The West Bengal government recently arrested a BJP volunteer for sharing a meme of Banerjee. This has substantiated the saffron partys claim that TMC workers threaten and beat up BJP volunteers. Banerjees career has been built on street-fighting the Left. Today, she is faced with fighting the Right, which is not only attacking her style of functioning but has been making slow and steady inroads into the realm of philosophies that are central to the pride of Bengali voters. Pragya Singh Thakur was reacting to actor Kamal Haasans remark that Nathuram Godse was a terrorist. After Prime Minister Narendra Modi openly slammed BJPs Bhopal candidate Pragya Thakur for her Godse deshbhakt comment and the party cracked the whip on two other leaders who also made controversial statements on Mahatma Gandhi's killer, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) clarified that it has no connection with Pragya. BJPs Bhopal candidate Pragya Thakur has nothing to do with the Sangh. She has never been a member or swayamsevak of the RSS, Rajiv Tuli, prant prachar pramukh of RSS Delhi, told Firstpost. The RSS also thinks that Pragya, who is contesting against Digvijaya Singh, the Congress candidate and two-term former Madhya Pradesh chief minister, should be expelled from the party as a disciplinary action. Pragya was reacting to actor Kamal Haasans remark that Nathuram Godse was a terrorist. He was, he is and he will remain a true patriot, she said on Thursday during a rally in Madhya Pradesh. Her remark created a firestorm on social media and allowed Opposition parties a cudgel with which to beat the BJP. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, reacting sharply to the comment of the Malegaon blast accused, said at Khargone in Madhya Pradesh on Friday that he would 'never forgive' Pragya for insulting Mahatma Gandhi. Modi, during his rally at Khargone Lok Sabha constituency in Madhya Pradesh, which will go to polls on 19 May, told a TV channel that such comments were detrimental to society. Though she has apologised, I wont be able to pardon her, said Modi. The Sangh is apparently perturbed by the fact that Pragya has been linked by the Opposition parties with the RSS, which is the ideological fountainhead of the BJP. When Pragya is already a sadhvi, how could she anyway be associated with any organisation, especially the RSS? As she is a BJP member, the party should take stringent action against her. In fact, the BJP should expel her from the party as such members bring bad name to a party or organisation, another senior RSS functionary told Firstpost on condition of anonymity. Pragya was made a BJP member and given a ticket to contest from the high-profile Bhopal constituency. The RSS has always maintained that Godse, at the time of Mahatma Gandhis assassination, was not a part of the Sangh. Godse joined the RSS in Sangli, Maharashtra in 1932 and he was simultaneously a member of Hindu Mahasabha: both right-wing organisations. But over a period of time, he fell out with the second sarsanghchalak of the Sangh, MS Golwalkar (also known as Guruji) and founded his own organisation Hindu Rashtra Dal in 1942. He left both the RSS and Hindu Mahasabha over his differences in opinion with the organisation leaders over the Partition. Nathuram Godse joined the RSS and then left, the RSS functionary added. Its a well-known fact when he had assassinated Mahatma Gandhi, he was no way associated with the Sangh. If people still consider him as an RSS man, despite his leaving the organisation, then Mohammad Ali Jinnah, who was a tall Congress leader and espoused the cause of Muslims, should be considered as a Congress leader even after he left the party and formed Muslim League. In this light, Jinnah should be seen as a Congress leader who was instrumental in the creation of Pakistan and killings of over 10 lakh people during the Partition, the RSS functionary added. Meanwhile, BJP president Amit Shah, condemning the remarks made by three of the partys leaders Pragya, Anantkumar Hegde and Karnataka MP Nalin Kumar Kateel on Godse, said such remarks were 'not in line' with the party ideology. Partys disciplinary committee has sought an explanation from them in 10 days, said Shah in his tweet. Madhya Pradesh BJP president Rakesh Singh suspended the primary membership of the partys media cell head Anil Saumitra for his remark claiming that Mahatma Gandhi is the Father of Pakistan. In a Facebook post, the Bhopal-based Saumitra, originally from the RSS, wrote, Pakistan was born with the blessings of Bapu, therefore Mahatma Gandhi can be the father of Pakistan, but not of India. In Bharat crores were born like him some worthy and some worthless. In another post, he wrote, No scholar can prove me wrong. I will not delete my post. Saumitra was lauded by his friends and followers on social media. The BJP, taking strong exception to his post, has sought a clarification from him within seven days. Our elected representatives shouldnt act in haste when hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake or when the health of their constituents is involved. If they attach an urgency to particular concerns, such as expunging the criminal records of minor offenders, they can pass legislation addressing them individually. Not everything has to be done at once. Sexist jibes at woman politicians that demean the quality of public discourse and strengthen prejudices are not about their abilities, but are attacks based on assumed gender characteristics Last year, during a protest against rising fuel prices, I sat on the shoulders of a male colleague and was trolled for hours for what was labelled as unwomanly behaviour. The year also saw my colleague and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj being trolled on Twitter for expeditiously granting passport to a Hindu-Muslim couple and ordering the transfer of an official who mistreated them. No one from her party came to her rescue when abuses were hurled at her. My party colleague Renuka Chowdhury and Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati had to face unparliamentary and undignified remarks in Parliament. More recently, All India Congress Committee general secretary (Uttar Pradesh East) Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was the subject of a string of sexist social media posts directed at her physical appearance drawing a comparison with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, forcing us to file an FIR against such trolls. Through their careers, most women politicians face sexist and foul remarks, and it is across the board. No matter how far they go into politics, sexism is rampant. Power corridors too offer little protection from such abuse. Sexist remarks and sexism are the norm, not the exception. Come election season, such attacks get more vicious. Though most of us develop a thick skin in the course of our careers, there is nothing more demeaning than a sexist jibe because it isnt a remark on your ability or the lack of it, but an attack based on an assumed role characteristic of your gender. We step out of it by joining politics. The reality is sexist remarks not only degrade the quality of public discourse but also strengthen stereotypes and prejudices against women. For a woman to enter public life is an act of conspicuous bravery and hard work; it is breaking of more than 5,000 years of social norms that re-enforce that power should rest with the man. Therefore, every sexist remark against a female politician, irrespective of where she stands in the hierarchy, disables thousands of women who want to join politics. It also disregards the effort of those who made it that far. It really doesnt matter which political party you belong to. This is a reason why we must have a conversation about these taunts, which go beyond mere whataboutery. How can we do it differently? For instance, a lot of women and political outfits when faced with police inaction throw or flash bangles at these officers, drawing from the phrase Chudiyan pehen rakhi hai. This oft-repeated gesture illustrates that the use of language builds within itself certain attitudes. I have actively discouraged this practice because the language of oppression is not merely about sex or gender, it extends to gender non-conformity. When we say something as simple as Boys wear blue, and girls wear pink, we enforce gender conformity. To expand upon this further, in the aftermath of the Nirbhaya gang rape case in 2012, The Hindu ran a powerful editorial in January 2013. Titled The Rapist in the Mirror, what set the piece apart, and was eventually taken up by the Justice Verma Committee report, was its focus on the dysfunctions among urban young men caused by the behaviour society expected of them. This dysfunctional masculinity was rightly thought to be responsible for rape and gender-based violence. The dysfunction trickles down into the day-to-day functioning of these men. The Verma Committee drew from The Hindu and various other pieces of research to say that we needed to change how we viewed genders. That we as a society, child or adult, were in need of sensitisationnot a one-off occurrence, but a continuous process that would change the way we view the world over centuries. Over the years, as a lawmaker and as a woman, both the Verma Committee report and this article have stayed with me. Gender biases at any stage of a persons life, be it a man or a woman or a transgender, is reflective of certain attitudes that have been crystallised and accepted as the norm in society regardless of the word of the law. Gender biases manifest in verbal, physical and even sexual violence. The first step towards dealing with continuing attitudes of gender inequality and violence is to inculcate gender sensitisation in society. This can begin from elementary education itself. An approach to positive masculinity and breaking down the conventional gender roles is necessary. A continuous programmebeginning at six years of age and going well into college educationthat addresses the menace of gender-based violence is the need of the hour. A gender-sensitisation programme called Consent Classes has been initiated for schoolchildren by the NGO No Means No Worldwide in Nairobi, Kenya. I along with my colleagues demanded from the human resources development minister that this be made a part of the Indian system as well. But that doesnt mean that it stops once you are out of college. It has to be a continuous process and the first consent classes should be held for public representatives. Public representation has to necessarily be about the sort of society that we want to be. When a leader makes a sexist remark, it echoes in society and is a step back in the quest for equality. Model behaviour is expected of our public representatives. To mitigate sexism in politics, I am of the belief that beyond internal complaints committees that focus on the remedy, all political parties should have as a preventive measure regular gender-sensitisation trainings for their cadre as well as leaders to make their outfits a comfortable space. Though I wrote to the Speaker on March 8, 2018, about gender sensitisation of all parliamentarians, I never got a reply. Sushmita Dev is the All India Mahila Congress president and is seeking a re-election from Silchar, Assam A village of 22 voters in Ladakhs remote Nubra Valley has decided who will shape its destiny for the next five years So, whom did 67-year-old Sonam Lamo vote for? The party that is going to win, she said with a smile while leaving even as a group of women entered the polling station. Sonam was one of the first to cast vote from the tiny village of Sunido, on the fringes of Nubra Valley, in Ladakh region. Just an hour after polling began and before the morning suns rays had enveloped the hamlet, nestled in the Karakoram range, more than half of Sunidos votes had been polled. The remaining seven voters were not present in the village, but the polling staff had to remain on standby. After that, it was a long wait for the four election officers, three police and two Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel. The polling staff basked in the sun, discussing local issues over cups of hot salty tea while the ITBP personnel weighed the serenity of Sunido against the uncertainty of Kokrajhar, in Assam, where they were previously posted. Its our duty to be here till closing, one of the polling officers said. We must wait till the last minute, in case, someone comes to vote. By evening, two more voters who had temporarily moved out of the village for work had arrived to exercise their franchise. For 50-year-old sarpanch Tsering Namgail, it does not matter that the village has only a handful of votes22 to be precisein an election in which there are more than 900 million eligible voters. As the Ladakh parliamentary constituency went to polls on May 6, in the 17th general elections, residents of Sunido believed that every vote counted. For poll officials, this tiny village was a cliffhanger None in the village, except for Namgail, appeared sure of who they thought could solve their problems. Only the BJP, said the sarpanch, an ardent supporter of the Congress in past elections. The change of heart this time was because of the new solar light generators that the previous coalition government in the stateof the Peoples Democratic Party and the Bharatiya Janata Partygave the village, where electricity is supplied for only three hours every evening, from 7 pm to 10 pm. They brought us out of darkness. In villages far from the towns, tourism and services in the military as porters and as soldiers are the major sources of livelihood. But there are still problems that can be resolved only by winning the favour of locals in the administration, such as infrastructure. Ladakhs remote villages are often located amid hills and lack regular electricity supply and public transport, if they do not lack road connectivity entirely. For residents of these villages, where mobile networks also do not exist, travelling to nearby towns for medical check-up or work is an expensive affair that involves hiring a private taxi and planning days in advance. Divided by faith Despite the remote location, there is a growing polarisation in Ladakh that is pitting the regions two main communities against each other. Many in Buddhist-dominated Leh hope a BJP victory will ensure speedy development. The optimism is propelled by the governor-led administrations move to grant a division status to the area in February. The administrative hold of the Kashmir Valley over the region has left deep resentment against Kashmiris that has eventually shaped bitterness against the non-Kashmiri ethnic Muslims of these parts. We were at the mercy of their whims, said Stanzin, a teacher in Leh, about bureaucrats in the summer capital of the state, Srinagar. Earlier, we needed to take a Kashmiri along to the government offices. When bureaucrats heard the Kashmiri language, they would work faster. Otherwise, we would have to keep knocking their doors. The Muslim-dominated Kargil district and Leh are not on the same page over what is good for the region. Muslims of Kargil see a second term for the BJP bringing greater subjugation, and find an acceptance of that thought among their brethren in Leh district. Muslims of the region have been facing oppression ever since the BJP came to power in 2014, said a government employee in Leh. If they come again, who knows what they will do to us. In Hunder village of Nubra Valley, where residents have set up several hundred tourist camps, income is steady for allbut frictions are on the rise. Gathered at one such camp a day before polling, a group of Muslim men spoke in hushed tones as seemingly Buddhist strangers passed by. They are using different methods to keep us in check, said a Muslim resident of the village referring to the dominant Buddhist community. They have already called for a boycott of Muslims. Now they have banned tobacco here [in Nubra Valley] because Muslims only smoke and dont drink alcohol. Close to the elections, a video of a year-old press conference held in Jammu resurfaced in the Muslim community, they said. Sharing the stage, in the video, with right-wing Hindu groups of Jammu was the Ladakh Buddhist Association, described by some Muslims as Lehs Hurriyat. The speakers called for joint responses to the common threats that they said the people of both Jammu and Ladakh faced: of Islamo-fascism, of Islamic Jihad, which that is legislatively destroying the non-Muslims of Jammu and Ladakh. While the young men stated that they were politically indifferent, their apprehensions were clear. This campaign season, some Muslims were of the opinion, the coordination between the Jammu and Ladakh regions was greater. Apart from the arrival of prominent leaders of the BJP, what has added to the fears of the regions Muslims are rumours of preachers of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh flying in. They landed in a helicopter in the Diskit bus stand, said the Hunder resident to the approval of others in the gathering. We hadnt seen so many leaders from Jammu arrive in Ladakh in the previous elections. There arent even that many people in Ladakh. The parliamentary constituency, spread over two districts and four Assembly units, is the largest in terms of its area but one of the smallest in terms of the population: the 59,196 square kilometres is home to just 171,189 voters. By comparison, Indias largest parliamentary constituency, Malkajgiri (Telangana), is home to 3,383,324 voters. Split in votes The contest in Ladakh was among four candidates, the most prominent being BJPs Tsering Namgyal, who is also the current chief executive councillor in the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council. With two independent candidates in the fray from the Muslim-dominated Kargil district, one a former Congress leader but both backed by powerful religious institutions, and the Congress fielding a Buddhist candidate, the split in votes may just end up benefiting the BJP. In the previous general elections, Ladakh recorded the lowest winning margin of a candidate in the country with just 36 votes separating the BJPs Thupstan Chewan from his nearest rival. At the end of polling this time, Ladakh recorded a turnout of 63.7% with the Muslim-dominated Kargil district, also having more voters, recording a turnout of 79.5% while the Buddhist-dominated Leh hit 62.6%. According to one 40-year-old Muslim voter from Leh, the Muslim votes in his village were aligned with those of the Kargil district. In the Leh district, few, whether Buddhist or Muslim, believe the Congress has any chance of winning. We have decided to vote for Sajad Hussain, he said, a day before the polls. Hussain, a former journalist, has earned some respect and favour with the regions Muslims, particularly the youth, owing to his public stances against right-wing politics. We know the Congress wont win this time; so, we are siding our votes with Kargil. This is to ensure that our vote is not wasted, the man said. At least, if we are able to send our representative to Parliament, he will talk about all of Ladakh. tech2 News Staff Google's Live Transcribe app, which is aimed for those hard of hearing, is getting new updates, and will soon be even more immersed in the audio world. Google Live Transcribe. Google CEO Sundar Pichai has announced that the app will now also detect sound events like a dog's bark, a knock on the door, applause, laughter, music, whistling and even passing cars. in addition to that, Pichai's tweet also reveals that with the update, the app will also allow its users to save transcripts on their devices. This Global Accessibility Awareness Day, we're announcing updates to Live Transcribe, a tool that provides real-time transcriptions on Android. It'll soon show sound events - like a knock on the door - and enable transcripts to be saved on device. #GAAD https://t.co/hMltPZ2S75 Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) May 16, 2019 Per Google's blog, Live Transcribe users will be able to copy and save transcripts, stored locally on their device for three days. This is useful especially for a lecture, where you use real-time transcriptions or while learning a language. Additionally, Google says that they have also made the audio visualisation indicator bigger, so that users can more easily see the background audio around them. Google Transcribe was first launched back in February, and since then, this is the first major upgrade to be rolling out on the app. Live Transcribe is in beta on the Google Play Store, but its also pre-installed on the Google Pixel 3 running the latest software releases. Any device running Android 5.0 Lollipop or later can install the free app. The app also supports 70 languages and dialects, allows switching between two languages, and also allows typing responses. Reuters Huawei Technologies chip arm HiSilicon said on Friday it has long been prepared for the extreme scenario that it could be banned from purchasing US chips and technology, and is able to ensure steady supply of most products. HiSilicon, which mainly designs chips for Huawei equipment, made the comments in a letter to staff attributed to President He Tingbo dated the small hours of May 17, shortly after the United States officially banned Huawei from buying US technology without special approval. The ban has thrown into disarray prospects for sales at some of the largest tech companies and drew a sharp rebuke from Beijing, further ratcheting up tensions over trade. Huawei confirmed authenticity of the letter seen by Reuters and published by Chinese media on Friday. HiSilicon has been secretly developing back-up products for years in anticipation of the unlikely scenario that Huawei may one day be unable to obtain advanced chips and technology from the United States, He said in the letter. HiSilicons efforts have ensured a steady supply and strategic safety of most products, He said, adding that Huawei will aim to be technologically self-sufficient. He described HiSilicons efforts as a long march in the history of technology that would now pay off with the United States crazy decision that brought this extreme and dark moment. Now is the time for all the spare tires in the safe to become useful, He said in the letter. Huawei has already been using chipsets called Kirin, designed by HiSilicon in its high-end smartphones, with the manufacturing handled by so-called foundry companies such as Taiwans TSMC. Huawei also uses some chipsets from Qualcomm Inc and MediaTek. In an interview with Reuters in March, Huaweis rotating chairman Eric Xu had said the unit produced more than $7.5 billion worth of chips last year. That compares with an estimated $21 billon worth of chips that Huawei acquired from outside vendors. A Huawei spokesman said Huawei will use HiSilicon products to substitute for banned American components where possible, but declined to give details. A similar US ban on Chinas ZTE Corp had almost crippled business for the smaller Huawei rival early last year before the curb was lifted. The Associated Press A Japanese startup that launched a rocket into space earlier this month plans to provide low-cost rocket services and compete with American rivals such as SpaceX, its founder said Wednesday. Interstellar Technology Inc. founder Takafumi Horie said a low-cost rocket business in Japan is well-positioned to accommodate scientific and commercial needs in Asia. While Japans government-led space programs have demonstrated top-level technology, he said the country has fallen behind commercially due to high costs. In Japan, space programs have been largely government-funded and they solely focused on developing rockets using the best and newest technologies, which means they are expensive, Horie told reporters in Tokyo. As a private company, we can focus on the minimum level of technology needed to go to space, which is our advantage. We can transport more goods and people to space by slashing costs. Horie said his companys low-cost MOMO-3 rocket is the way to create a competitive space business in Japan. During its May 4 flight, the unmanned MOMO-3 rocket reached 113.4 kilometres (70 miles) in altitude before falling into the Pacific Ocean. The cost to launch the MOMO-3 was about one-tenth of the launch cost of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, the countrys space agency, according to Interstellar CEO Takahiro Inagawa. Horie said his company plans to launch its first orbital rocket the ZERO within the next few years and then it would technologically be on par with competitors such as Elon Musks SpaceX, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos Blue Origin and New Zealand engineer Peter Becks Rocket Lab. The two-stage ZERO would be twice as long and much heavier than the compact MOMO-3, which is about 10 meters (32 feet) long and 50 centimetres (1.5 feet) in diameter and weighs about 1 ton. It would be able to send satellites into orbit or carry payloads for scientific purposes. Development of a low-cost commercial rocket is part of a growing international trend in the space business led by the U.S. and aggressively followed by China and others. At home, Horie could face competition from space subsidiaries of major companies such as Canon and IHI, which have expertise from working with the governments space agency. tech2 News Staff After a myriad of leaks, rumours, teasers and then an official launch, the OnePlus 7 Pro (review) will finally be available for purchase starting today. Technically, the availability kicked off yesterday, that is 16 May, but that was exclusive to Amazon Prime Members. However, starting 12 pm IST on 17 May, all Prime and non-Prime members will be able to place an order for the OnePlus 7 Pro. Do note, currently, only the Mirror Grey colour option is available at Amazon India, OnePlus online store, and OnePlus offline and partner stores. Its Nebula Blue colour variant will go on sale from 28 May, and the Almond colour option will be available in June. The OnePlus 7 sale date hasn't been announced as of yet, beyond a June release date. (Also read: OnePlus 7 Pro scores 111 on DxOMark, reviewers find camera average, here's why) OnePlus 7 Pro pop-up events Additionally, OnePlus is also showcasing its phone across its OnePlus Experience stores in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, Ahmedabad, and Hyderabad. However, only in New Delhi, from 17 May to 16 June, OnePlus will be hosting a special experience pop-up event at Select Citywalk Mall in Saket. This event will start at 7.00 pm on 17 May, and from 18 May to 16 June, it will be open at 11.30 am every day. At the Experience pop-up events, you will be able to get a hands-on on the device and also purchase it from these stalls. Besides the device, these pop-up stores will also sell exclusive OnePlus gear and goodies. OnePlus 7 Pro: Price and Variants The OnePlus 7 Pro starts at a Rs 48,999 for the base model with 6 GB RAM and 128 GB storage. There's also an 8 GB RAM with 256 GB storage variant which offers the option of getting a Red phone (Almond will only be available in June). This variant comes in at Rs 52,999. As for the top-end variant with 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage, the price tag goes up to Rs 57,999. This variant also arrives only in Nebula Blue and will be available for grab only from 28 May. OnePlus 7 Pro: Introductory offers OnePlus has teamed up with Reliance Jio to offer OnePlus 7 Pro users benefits worth Rs 9,300, of which, Rs 5,400 will be provided in the form of cashback vouchers in the MyJio app, while the remaining Rs 3,900 will be awarded in the form of partner benefits. This includes discounts worth Rs 2,000 or 20 percent on purchases being made through Zoomcar and Rs 1,550 off on flight tickets and hotel bookings. Other partner benefits of the 'Jio Beyond Speed' offer include a 15 percent discount on bus bookings and Rs 350 discount on minimum spends of Rs 1,699 through Chumbak. OnePlus 7 Pro buyers will also be offered a 70 percent exchange value guarantee from Servify and no-cost EMI options for up to six months along with a Rs 2,000 cashback for SBI credit and debit cardholders. Disclosure: Reliance Industries Ltd which owns Reliance Jio is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd, the publisher of Firstpost and tech2 Press Trust of India Scientists have trained an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system to see things the way humans do, by inferring an environment with just a few quick glimpses around, that may pave the way for more effective search-and-rescue robots. Most AI tools are trained for very specific tasks, such as to recognise an object or estimate its volume in an environment they have experienced before. Scientists at the University of Texas at Austin in the US wanted to develop an AI for general purpose, gathering visual information that can then be used for a wide range of tasks. "We want an agent that is generally equipped to enter environments and be ready for new perception tasks as they arise," said Kristen Grauman, a professor at the University of Texas. "It behaves in a way that's versatile and able to succeed at different tasks because it has learned useful patterns about the visual world." The research, published their results today in the journal Science Robotics, using deep learning, a type of machine learning inspired by the brain's neural networks, to train their agent on thousands of 360-degree images of different environments. Now, when presented with a scene it has never seen before, the agent uses its experience to choose a few glimpses like a tourist standing in the middle of a cathedral taking a few snapshots in different directions that together add up to less than 20 per cent of the full scene. What makes this system so effective is that it is not just taking pictures in random directions but, after each glimpse, choosing the next shot that it predicts will add the newest information about the whole scene. Based on glimpses, the agent infers what it would have seen if it had looked in all the other directions, reconstructing a full 360-degree image of its surroundings. "It learns to make intelligent guesses about where to gather visual information to succeed in perception tasks," Grauman said. One of the main challenges the scientists set for themselves was to design an agent that can work under tight time constraints. This would be critical in a search-and-rescue application. For example, in a burning building, a robot would be called upon to quickly locate people, flames and hazardous materials and relay that information to firefighters. For now, the new agent operates like a person standing in one spot, with the ability to point a camera in any direction but not able to move to a new position. Equivalently, the agent could gaze upon an object it is holding and decide how to turn the object to inspect another side of it. Next, the researchers are developing the system further to work in a fully mobile robot. tech2 News Staff Scientists have found a new way to glue together a heart and other human organs during surgery without any sutures. In a study published in the journal Nature Communication, Chinese scientists describe a mixture they've invented made largely from water and gelatin. The gel can be absorbed into the body over time as it is similar in composition to soft tissue in the body. There is no need for stitches to hold the wound together since the hydrogel, after being activated with UV light, quickly grows denser and forms a rubbery, waterproof seal over the heart injury. (Here's a mildly-graphic look at the heart-sealing gel in action) Sealing hearts with an adhesive To seal heart and artery wounds, the adhesive needs to be strong enough to handle blood pressure and the movement of the heart. Importantly, it also needs to be non-toxic. This glue, according to the scientists, fits both criteria well. In fact, scientists believe the glue can withstand twice the average person's blood pressure and still get the job done. Scientists used pigs and rabbits to test the glue's effectiveness. Pigs were chosen since their hearts are very similar to those of human beings. When pig's hearts were poked with a needle, the glue was applied directly to the wound, and the bleeding stopped in under a minute. Two weeks later, the pig hearts were checked again for durability and leaks. They found none only a small amount of inflammation in and around the organ. The study's researchers have explained that the gel working on animals isn't a guarantee that it will in humans too. But, it does mean it is safe enough to test in humans. They reckon it should be ready to use in medical settings three to five years from now. "No current existing clinical products can stop operative heart bleeding so quickly and efficiently," Hongwei Ouyang, researcher and co-author of the study, told The Independent in an interview. While the heart break-healing gel is a breakthrough, the hydrogel isn't the first of its kind. There have been other studies that have used similar techniques as well. In 2014, a Harvard study used a patch with glue to strategically patch up organs during or after surgeries. In 2017, there was another American study that spoke of a surgical glue that could close wounds as well. However, this is the first time the technology has been tested, awaiting final tweaks and some polish before it is made available to save millions of people with heart injuries. tech2 News Staff The American space agency NASA has jumped onboard a fast train to its next Moon mission in 2024, which will be the first time humans have set foot on the Moon since the Apollo missions in 1960s-70s. The mission's timeline was cut short from the original 2028 plan for America's next manned mission to the Moon. Now, with just five years to go, there are many doubts being raised about how they will meet their new, tight deadline without a tried and tested rocket and crew module. Why should people have confidence that a 2024 goal is realistic when NASA had previously said a Moon mission wasn't possible sooner than 2028? To clear the air and answer these questions, a team of NASA engineers took to Reddit on a live 'Ask Me Anything' session on Thursday, 16 May starting at 11.30 am ET (9 pm IST). LIVE NOW: Join our experts for a @Reddit Ask Me Anything about our plans to send the first woman and next man to the Moon in five years. Ask your #Moon2024 questions: https://t.co/WuGfXRrD8Q pic.twitter.com/nDSmxr3HBX NASA (@NASA) May 16, 2019 The panel of experts included: Lindsay Aitchison, Space Technologist Dr Daniel Moriarty III, Postdoctoral Lunar Scientist Marshall Smith, Director, Human Lunar Exploration Programs LaNetra Tate, Space Tech Program Executive Below is a curated selection of 20 questions and NASA experts' answers highlights from the Reddit AMA session. Get your questions ready! Join us NOW for a @Reddit Ask Me Anything with some of our #WomenatNASA who are scientists, pilots, engineers and project managers contributing to our mission of exploration https://t.co/ipNy10dX2e pic.twitter.com/moFNjZH8lu NASA (@NASA) March 15, 2019 What is NASA doing to send humans back to the Moon in five years? We had a plan for 2028 that involved decent element tests in 2023/2024, a full non-crewed test in 2026 and a crewed mission in 2028. The 2028 plan would not have required an increase in NASA's budget. Moving up to 2024, however, is doable with the amended budget request and follow on funding which will be needed in the remaining years. Technically, building all the required systems will be challenging, but NASA is used to big challenges. Marshall Smith, Director of Human Lunar Exploration Programs at NASA. How can someone get on one of those crews to go to the Moon? Have they already been selected and are training or are they yet to be decided? The crew for the next lunar mission will be selected from our NASA Astronaut Corps. The Astronaut Office is already working with the engineers and scientists to conduct early tests on systems and concepts to get a jump start on training, but we haven't selected the specific women and men for the first Artemis mission just yet. Lindsay Aitchison, Space Technologist at NASA What experiments are planned for surface missions on Artemis, and what's the expected duration of the mission? NASA is currently trying to optimise the science return from the 2024 mission, given the constraints of a relatively small payload and fast turnaround time. At this point, there have been no official decisions made regarding instrumentation and experiments. As a lunar scientist, I certainly have a few opinions about this! From the Apollo missions, we've established the incredible importance of collecting diverse samples from the lunar surface. With returned samples, we can perform analyses using any instrument in any terrestrial lab on our home planet this is a lot more efficient than carting a bunch of mass spectrometers and electron microprobes to the Moon! I'm guessing that a lot of the instruments we bring in 2024 are going to be geared towards identifying and collecting interesting samples (handheld spectrometers, hand lenses, shovels, core tubes, sample bags, etc.). The South Pole is geochemically very different than all of the Apollo sites, and samples we return from there could tell us a lot about the lunar mantle, funky volcanic products, and the poorly-understood differences between the lunar nearside and farside. A seismometer would also be cool, using moonquakes to help us peer into the lunar interior! This could supplement great seismic data from the Apollo missions. I believe that this mission is going to be fairly short (a few days, perhaps), but I haven't heard anything official yet. Dr Daniel Moriarty III, Postdoctoral Lunar Scientist at NASA Is NASA open to using potential commercial launchers like SpaceX's Starship for missions, considering they'd be more cost-effective? The 2024 plan includes using commercial launch vehicles to deliver the Gateway and the Human Landing System, as well as science experiments launched under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services Program. In addition, commercial launch vehicles will be required to deliver surface assets such as habitats, rovers and consumables. The Space Launch System will be used to deliver the Orion spacecraft and crew to the Gateway for the human missions. Currently, the SLS is the only vehicle capable of launching Orion for longer duration, deep space exploration. Marshall Smith, Director of Human Lunar Exploration Programs at NASA How will the Artemis mission succeed with NASA's commercial crew taking seven years to reach orbit and NASA's SLS years behind schedule despite a massive amount of funding? There are two types of risks that need to be addressed when attempting to achieve a goal. First is a technical risk. I believe that NASA and the space industry working together is capable of addressing the technical risk and making the schedule. The Apollo program achieved did not have a commercial base and in nine years landed humans on the surface of the Moon. We know a lot more and have a strong commercial base that we can leverage off of to achieve our goal by 2024. It will take more funding than currently in NASA's budget. This leads to the other risk which is political. We, as a nation, have to have the will to achieve this bipartisan goal through various administrations, changing budgets and changing priorities. Setting an aggressive goal limits this political risk. Yes. This is challenging, but we are up to the task. Marshall Smith, Director of Human Lunar Exploration Programs at NASA Will there be another AMA from the Moon? Dude that would be awesome! Anything is possible with sustained exploration... but an AMA from Mars might not be as much fun with that comm delay up to 22 mins one way! Lindsay Aitchison, Space Technologist at NASA All of the concepts I've seen for lunar landers still use two stages (with an expendable landing stage and ascent module). How long before we see single-stage landers to orbit that are fully reusable? The size of your lander is greatly dependent upon what you want to do at your destination. Apollo was limited to short stays and the equatorial region of the Moon. Also, it was not reusable. To return to the Moon in a sustainable fashion to be able to explore it we need to carry significantly more fuel and consumables. This makes single-stage landers impractical. As there are no rockets today powerful enough to launch a single stage lander. Current launch vehicles can support two and three stage options. The key to sustainability is to enable these systems to be reusable. There are concepts and systems in a discussion that could approach a single stage capability. However, it will be many years before these systems are a reality. Marshall Smith, Director of Human Lunar Exploration Programs at NASA What data do you hope to gain from the upcoming Moon mission that could help with a future Mars mission? Really interesting question! Preparedness for Mars exploration is one of the major themes guiding the imminent lunar missions. There are a number of ways that developing technologies and geological understanding for lunar missions enable future exploration of Mars. It's a lot easier to get to the Moon than Mars, which means that technologies we'll need to explore Mars can much more easily be developed and tested on the Moon. For instance, I can imagine a scenario where the Moon functions as a laboratory for testing new spacesuits or habitation structures in dusty, low-gravity, low-atmosphere environments. Another important technology to develop is the ability to extract and use resources on the surface of another planet. On the Moon, we can test ways to extract and purify lunar water, which could help us reduce the amount of water that would need to be supplied from Earth. We could perfect this technology on the nearby Moon before relying on it for Mars! Dr Daniel Moriarty III, Postdoctoral Lunar Scientist at NASA Would NASA send a test 3D printer to test-print structures from lunar material? We partnered with Made In Space to send and test a 3D printer on the space station. We just delivered a Refabricator (that recycles plastic to print parts) to the space station as well. Much of what we learn on the space station, as well as testing on the ground, will help us design a system that we could utilise on the Moon to print both tools and infrastructure. All this technology feeds forward to inform us how to do more with different materials (plastics, metals, lunar soil) LaNetra Tate, Space Tech Program Executive at NASA Are these missions envisioned as short stays at different locations (like Apollo) or repeat visits to the same spot with the goal of building a base (like ISS)? We're sending up science instruments on a Commercial Landing Payload Systems and we'll be studying different parts of the Moon. Focusing on the South Pole. Our initial missions will be short duration stays focused on the South Pole or areas that show promising scientific and resource value. Depending upon what we learn in early missions, we will decide where we would like to focus our energy either in habitation or mobility (rovers). Marshall Smith, Director of Human Lunar Exploration Programs at NASA What is so special about the South Pole and the surrounding area? The South Pole is exciting because not only are we going back to the Moon, but we're sending humans where they have never been before! We already know a lot about this region because robotic missions have revealed important information about its environment. Through thousands of orbits in the last decade, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has collected the precise information about the South Pole region, offering scientists precise details about its topography, temperature and locations of likely frozen water and water is critical to future exploration missions. You can find more information on NASA's choice of the South Pole as the landing site here. What are you going to do about moon dust in the spacesuits joints? We learned a lot from the Apollo missions on how dust affects the durability of space suits. NASA is looking at a combination of passive coatings and new materials to prevent dust from collecting on the suits as well as more exotic approaches such as electrostatic pulses to actively repel the dust real-time. Lindsay Aitchison, Space Technologist at NASA What's a technology you are using today that would have been the biggest help if they had it back at the time of the original Moon landings? Apollo helped bring about the computer revolution, and I look forward to seeing what becomes possible as we come up with new space technologies in this digital age! We are partnering with DoD on High-Performance Spaceflight Computing (HPSC). It is one current technology that addresses computation performance, energy management, and fault tolerance. The entire system will be about 100 times faster than today's common computers processors. During the Apollo program, we used a digital computer onboard each Apollo command and a lunar module. This new technology can perform 15 billion instructions per second, compared to just 85,000 instructions per second of the Apollo Guidance Computer. LaNetra Tate, Space Tech Program Executive at NASA What kind of experiments are you planning on doing on the Moon? The possibilities are endless! One thing we are looking into is sending a scouting robot called the Pop-Up Flat Folding Explorer Robot (PUFFER). PUFFER is an origami-inspired robot that is lightweight and capable of flattening itself. Imagine a future lunar rover having several deployable PUFFER robots. They would deploy from the parent platform and have distributed autonomous exploration of a larger area of the surface. LaNetra Tate, Space Tech Program Executive at NASA What are some electronic systems that could use improvements for the Moon 2024 mission that I could potentially try to do as my senior year project? Hello, from a fellow electrical engineer! We need good electrical engineers engaged in developing avionics, guidance navigation and control systems and communication systems. I couldn't point you to a specific need, but these are areas that constantly need improvement. Good luck with your studies! Marshall Smith, Director of Human Lunar Exploration Programs at NASA How many astronauts are gonna be there simultaneously? And how long will they stay? The initial missions will have up to four astronauts going to the Gateway with at least two descending to the surface for up to 6.5 days. Lindsay Aitchison, Space Technologist at NASA Dr Moriarty, aren't you afraid of Sherlock thwarting your plans? Also, what would be the first stage of preparing the surface for human inhabitants? DRATS! Foiled again! I don't think we're going to be able to change anything about the surface of the Moon much. Instead, I think it makes sense to work within some of the structures and resources that are already there. For instance, it could be useful to establish a base near a permanently-shadowed polar region in order to take advantage of surface water that's there. Alternatively, it could be interesting to set up shop within a pre-existing lava tube, which could provide astronauts with some shielding from temperature variations and incoming solar radiation. There are lots of cool possibilities! Dr Daniel Moriarty III a.k.a Sherlock's archnemesis What's the long term goal regarding a sustained human presence i.e. what are the main benefits? The primary goal of going to the Moon is to test the technologies and strategies needed for human exploration of Mars. The farther humans venture into space, the more critical it becomes to manufacture materials and products with local resources. The Moon will allow us to practice that increased crew autonomy as the astronauts learn to work with robotic partners and "live off the land" with less dependence on Mission Control. Additional benefits of exploring the Moon are that it helps to expand US global economic impact by growing US industry and international partnerships, and it will provide opportunities for groundbreaking science and technology development which will inspire the next generation to careers in STEM. Lindsay Aitchison, Space Technologist at NASA Are you guys looking at using Kilopower on the surface? We are looking to utilise surface power on the Moon. We are exploring several options for the surface to include solar arrays, batteries and fission surface power. We are currently working with the Department of Energy to develop safe and reliable systems that build on the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) funded Kilopower project. LaNetra Tate, Space Tech Program Executive at NASA Why does it seem as if there are no plans for a reusable lunar transfer vehicle and reusable descent/ascent vehicles? It seems very unsustainable to always send all your equipment and vehicles in one go each time We intend for the lunar system to eventually be fully reusable. The initial system may not be reusable but will evolve in the course of a few years. The ascent element and transfer element will be the first reusable elements. Descent elements could be reusable should we find and be able to produce fuel on the lunar surface. The Gateway will provide the capability to enable reusability by allowing the lander to aggregate at the Gateway and then perform maintenance activities between missions. Marshall Smith, Director of Human Lunar Exploration Programs at NASA What would a human be able to do in addition to what rovers can already do? This is a subject of frequent discussion across planetary science. From the Apollo missions, we saw the huge benefits of having boots on the ground. For instance, Apollo 17 astronaut Jack Schmitt was a trained geologist at the time of the mission. The insight he provided from the lunar surface was invaluable in terms of identifying what samples to prioritise, and establishing the geological context for those samples. In general, humans offer much better decision-making, intuition and mobility than current rovers are capable of. I think there are huge benefits from a coordinated program of rover and human explorers. Rovers excel at exploring new, dangerous and distant areas. Going forward, I think there is going to be great synergy between rovers and humans in our continuing exploration of the solar system. Dr Daniel Moriarty III, Postdoctoral Lunar Scientist at NASA Are you planning any very special and sophisticated equipment to extract water? Under normal conditions, water ice is not stable at the lunar surface. The only place we expect to find significant amounts of water ice is in permanently shadowed regions at the poles, where the absurdly low temperatures trap ice over long timescales. A few recent experiments and analyses (for instance, the LCROSS mission and data from the Moon Mineralogy Mapper) demonstrate that there is a lot of water in these permanently shadowed regions. Accessing this water seems to be a high priority going forward, but as of right now there aren't any specific strategies or instruments that have been officially designated for this task. Are lunar spacesuits going to be ready for a 2024 landing? Yes. Space suits are critical to our plans for human lunar exploration. NASA has been investing in surface space suit technology for several years, including test runs with multiple prototype designs in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory and vacuum testing of an exploration portable life support system. We're still evaluating specific design options, but the technologies are ready for integration to meet a 2024 mission. Lindsay Aitchison, Space Technologist at NASA Is it possible to gather and "print" shelters like on the Moon like it's been planned for on Mars? We are looking at ways to 3D print (or additively construct) structures on the Moon, using lunar soil. Constructing landing pads (to mitigate dust plume effects), small shelters, and more are all possibilities. We have recently concluded the Additive Construction for Mobile Emplacement (ACME) effort that focused on the construction of both 2D and 3D infrastructure needed for planetary surfaces. We are engaging communities outside of NASA in this effort as well. One way is with NASA's prize challenges and competitions. Check out the 3D Printed Habitat Challenge to learn more. LaNetra Tate, Space Tech Program Executive at NASA The questions (and not the answers) have been edited for succinctness and style from the original Reddit Verified AMA thread. Chelsea Manning, who spent seven years in military prisons for leaking US secrets to WikiLeaks in 2010 and then two more months in an Alexandria, Virginia, jail this year on contempt charges, had said before the hearing that she would again refuse to testify. Washington: Former US military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning was ordered back to jail on Thursday for refusing to testify before a grand jury believed to be investigating WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Andy Stepanian, a spokesman for Manning's legal team, said she had been remanded in custody by Judge Anthony Trenga for contempt of court after again refusing to provide testimony. Manning, who spent seven years in military prisons for leaking US secrets to WikiLeaks in 2010 and then two more months in an Alexandria, Virginia, jail this year on contempt charges, had said before the hearing that she would again refuse to testify. "I'm not going to comply with this grand jury," she told journalists outside the Alexandria courthouse before the hearing. According to The Washington Post, US District Court Judge Trenga sent Manning back to jail. He ordered a fine of $500 a day if she does not testify within 30 days, raising that to $1,000 a day if she does not testify within 60 days. The newspaper quoted Manning as saying "the government cannot build a prison bad enough, cannot create a system worse than the idea that I would ever change my principles. "I would rather starve to death than to change my opinions in this regard," she said. "I mean that quite literally." The judge, the Post said, responded by telling Manning "There's nothing dishonorable in discharging your responsibility as a US citizen." Manning has accused the government of seeking to revive her original court martial case, saying prosecutors were unhappy over her 2017 pardon by president Barack Obama. "The goal here is really to relitigate the court martial," Manning said before the hearing. "They didn't like the outcome, I got out." Manning, 31, was called early this year to testify to a grand jury, a panel investigating major crimes that operates in secrecy, about her work with Assange and WikiLeaks nine years ago. She said the government was abusing the grand jury process and refused to testify, saying she had answered all the questions years before anyway. A judge found her in contempt and on 8 March she was jailed indefinitely. She was released last week when the grand jury's mandate expired, and was called to testify before a new one on Thursday which she said was seeking answers to the same set of questions. While she was not at liberty to discuss the specifics of the investigation, she indicated that it also was a probe of Assange and WikiLeaks' actions in 2010. The US Justice Department has asked Britain to extradite Assange to stand trial in the United States for "conspiracy" for advising Manning on breaking into a restricted US government computer. Assange, now committed to a British prison for a year and also facing an extradition effort from Sweden, asserts that he is a journalist with the right to publish purloined secrets. Manning, a transgender woman whom supporters call a whistleblower, said the new grand jury case is meaningless since the Justice Department already unveiled its charges against Assange. "The case doesn't make sense, it's very bananas," she said. "Ultimately this is an attempt to place me back into confinement." As Lori Lightfoot begins her journey, Chicagos new mayor will need envelopes. Lightfoot has an ambitious good-government agenda that, if implemented, would disrupt City Halls status quo. Her transition teams report released Friday recommends that she introduce at her first City Council meeting rule changes that would reduce the number of committees, prevent aldermen from holding outside employment, require video streaming of meetings, and term-limit committee chairmanships. She already had pledged to scale back aldermanic privilege, the practice that gives aldermen wide-ranging control over permits, zoning and development in their wards. Beijings expansionist policy will redraw regional ties, says Baloch leader Hyrbyair Marri They named it Operation Zer Pahazag, or Defending the Ocean. The 24-hour gun battle they fought with the Pakistani army at the Pearl Continental Hotel in Gwadar, which ended on May 13, was a strike against the abuse of Balochistan and its mineral wealth, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) said. The operation commenced on the information of the presence of large number of Chinese and local investors at the PC hotel and our aim was to target all the representatives of exploitative projects and destroy the PC hotel which is a symbol of Baloch exploitation, a BLA press release said. It went on to claim that more than 40 soldiers and four BLA commandos were killed when the siege ended in the restive provinces port city. The figures put out by the army were significantly lower one soldier, four hotel employees and three BLA men dead. The BLA also said it damaged the Gwadar port with rockets and shot down a spy drone. Beijing is developing a deep-sea port in Gwadar as part of the $60-billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the centre piece of its so-called Belt and Road Initiative. China and the CPEC project are making things worse for the mineral-rich region, already hugely exploited by Pakistan since its annexation in 1948. To make way for CPEC, villages have been emptied out and people driven out of their land. Military operations against civilians, too, have intensified, worsening the situation. All this put together may just end up helping unintentionally Balochistans struggle for freedom, as regional equations change in the face of an expansionist China, says Baloch leader Hyrbyair Marri. The 51-year-old has come out with a Balochistan Liberation Charter, spelling out his vision and plan for an independent country, also aimed at bringing together disparate Baloch groups. Marri, who is considered a terrorist by Pakistan, is confident that educated youth leading the freedom fighters of Balochistan will drive out the occupier and their struggle is legitimate. International law is very clear on forced annexation. In the post-1945 world, forced annexation is illegal by international law, conventions and UN charter. If a country is occupied and the occupier is engaged in genocide and colonisation, then it is the natural and legal right of the nation to defend its existence, he told the Firstpost in an email interview. The Polish resistance fighters fought against Soviet and Nazi fascism when they lost their state. The French, too, fought for their freedom against Nazi Germany. The same concept and principles apply to the Baloch and Balochistan. Any guerrilla fight against a fascist occupier and colonial power is just and legal if the colonised respect the laws of war and conflict, says Marri. With the passing of a whole generation of leaders, the Baloch insurgency is seen as weakening. Marris charter is an effort to set things on course and mount a united struggle. Not a constitution but a road map and a contract with the Baloch nation about what kind of future we want. It is also a message for the international community about the goals of Balochistans independence struggle, says Marri, who leads the Free Balochistan Movement. He has shared the charter with the chiefs of the other Baloch political parties and their leaders in exile. The document, he says, is open to contributions and changes. Two principles, however, are non-negotiable: no political party shall accept the legitimacy or participate in the occupiers political system; and the principal of one person, one vote. The charter is an attempt to ensure that Balochistan belongs to all those who live there and that every individual will have equal rights and protection in an independent state, regardless of colour, ethnicity, creed, religious or political background, says Marri, who has been living in self-imposed exile in London since 1999. He had to leave because as Balochistans minister of road and communications, he refused to pledge loyalty to Pakistan and protested against the nuclear tests conducted in May 1998 in the provinces Chagai district. The fifth son of the late Nawab Khair Baksh Marri, one of the most respected national leaders of the Baloch freedom struggle in 1970s, Marri is considered a visionary by his followers. He enjoys the unconditional support and devotion of his people. The legend perhaps is also built on the fact that he is something of a recluse. He rarely meets people or journalists and unlike other people from the subcontinent, he doesnt swan around in London for security reasons. But, the British capital wasnt the escape he thought it would be. In December 2007, has was arrested in London on trumped-up charges of terrorism brought by General Pervez Musharrafs government. A British court cleared him of the charges in 2009. For many years, Marri and the other Baloch leaders in exile have been trying to gain the support of international community. They have on various platforms highlighted rights violations and the genocide the Baloch are facing but have found little sympathy. But, Marri is confident. Regional security dynamics are changing. I cannot say for sure which country will help Balochistan but the Chinese will be a big factor in the future regional alliances. The Chinese are encircling India, building military bases on Balochistans coastal areas. America, India, and countries who have security interests in the region may support Balochistans independence struggle to ensure regional security, he says. Islamabad, which is trying for his extradition, says Marri is the leader of the guerrilla groups operating in Balochistan and was responsible for the attack on the Chinese consulate in Karachi in November. He denies the charges and says, The freedom fighters are part and parcel of Baloch society and they are bound to follow the Baloch code of ethics, Baloch values, and international laws. They have taken up a tough job of protecting their country and people against foreign invasion. His charter says the freedom fighters will go on to form the army of an independent Balochistan. Marri says educated youth are leading the freedom fighters and without a leadership, such a struggle could not have been sustained for 20 years. Their leadership is secret as the security realities demands. The world will know their identity once they have achieved their goal of liberating Balochistan from occupiers and colonisers. And, according to him, that day is not too far. (Francesca Marino is a journalist and a South Asia expert who has written Apocalypse Pakistan with B Natale) LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Two friends of Prince Harry's wife Meghan are speaking out to defend her against a wave of negative publicity in the British press and on social media platforms. Her longtime friend and makeup artist, Daniel Martin, broke into tears as he spoke about the Duchess of Sussex, as the former American actress is now officially known LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Two friends of Prince Harry's wife Meghan are speaking out to defend her against a wave of negative publicity in the British press and on social media platforms. Her longtime friend and makeup artist, Daniel Martin, broke into tears as he spoke about the Duchess of Sussex, as the former American actress is now officially known. "I know she doesn't deserve all of this negative press," Martin said in an interview for CBS television in the United States, according to an advance excerpt. The interview will be broadcast on Friday. Less than a year after she married Prince Harry in May 2018, Meghan has been dubbed "Duchess Difficult" by some British newspapers. Others have published a stream of unsourced reports claiming there is a rift between Meghan and some senior royals, as well as between Meghan and Harry and his elder brother William and his wife Kate. "Whats so frustrating is that you hear these stories and theres no truth to them, Martin said. "Its not the same person. In the years Ive known her, the years Ive worked with her, shes never had a diva fit, never," he added. Britain's Buckingham Palace and individual royals rarely speak out to counter negative stories about themselves. However the Palace did appeal in March for kindness on official social media channels and warned of possible police action following a rise in abusive racist or sexist comments, often aimed at Meghan or Kate. American actress Janina Gavankar, who like Martin attended Meghan's baby shower in New York in February, said the duchess avoids media coverage. "She doesnt read the bad or the good because... she knows the metrics that you have for your own life cannot be based on a headline that somebody else wrote, Gavankar told CBS. The interviews with U.S. broadcaster Gayle King form part of a CBS special report "Meghan and Harry Plus One," which marks the arrival of the couple's first child, Archie, on May 6. (Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by David Gregorio) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Studies have found the American leaders racism and misogyny have been trigger for trauma President Donald Trump might not be making America great again, but he sure as hell is making a lot of Americans sick again. In the last two years, several studies have documented the physical toll his presidency, built on racism, misogyny and xenophobia, has taken on its victims, including women, persons of colour and LGBTQI. For women who were sexual assault survivors, hearing Trump speak about women retraumatised them, exacerbating their post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Mental health providers reported that they were overwhelmed by clients who were pushed over the edge by Trumps misogyny. I was one of them. Running for president, Trump ran a vile anti-woman campaign during which he called women dogs, pigs, ugly, horseface, fat among other offensive appellations. He mocked a female Fox News presenter who, in an interview, asked him about these demeaning monikers for women by asserting, in the crude vernacular, that she must have been menstruating. But the worst was yet to come. Right before the election, an audio tape of a conversation between him and Billy Bush, a former TV host, surfaced in which he boasted of sexually assaulting women and pursuing extra-marital affairs with women. Trump can be heard saying in reference to an unnamed woman I did try to *uck her. She was married I moved on her like a bitch. But I couldnt get there. And she was married. Speaking of another woman, he bragged that he should use some breath fresheners in the event of him kissing her, without her consent. He explained to Bush You know, Im automatically attracted to beautifulI just start kissing them. Its like a magnet. Just kiss. I dont even wait. While some believed the tape would sink his chances of becoming president, I knew otherwise. This tape would seal his presidency. Trump had tapped into the darkest characters of what secretary of state Hillary Clinton has correctly described as a basket of deplorables. The adamancy with which Trump, the President, pushed through Justice Brett Kavanaughs appointment to the supreme court despite credible allegations of assaulting Christine Blasey Ford and visible contempt for female Senators questioning him re-ignited yet another round of illness for sexual assault survivors. This was only outdone by Trump himself using his podium of the most powerful person on earth to slut shame a survivor of sexual assault. In the wake of the Kavanaugh confirmation, healthcare providers again were overwhelmed. Survivors noted that it was not only the confirmation of a predator that triggered women but also the rank disregard for Fords experiences, including Trump himself who doubled down on Kavanaugh and even argued it was a terrible time to be a man because any woman could tank his career with a fake allegation. Women are not the only Americans who have been made ill by the toxic masculinity of this president. Muslims generally, but Muslim women in particularly have felt vulnerable in Trumps America. A study of millennials found that, on average, one in four reported symptoms of PTSD because of the 2016 elections themselves. However, the authors of the study reported that students who self-identified as a minority, as female, as a Democrat, or as a non-Christian reported the most significant stress levels. At the same time, the Trump regime has eviscerated an already weak public infrastructure to manage the evident mental health crisis in America, as well as our notoriously appalling lack of affordable healthcare coverage. As the 2020 genital selection is in full gear, the legacy of the 2016 race is apparent. Female and minority candidates who have far more experience and gravitas and fewer liabilitiesare polling well behind the white male front-runners. Pete Buttigieg, a gay but white, male mayor from a Podunk town in Indiana, is considered more electable than high-profile female candidates such as Senator Elizabeth Warren or Senator Kamala Harris. The media covering the candidates routinely trot out the misogynist trope that the varied female candidates are not likeable, a critique never levelled at men. For women, people of colour and religious minorities, the last two and half years have felt like a decade. At every turn, the Trump regime has undertaken initiatives to roll back hard-fought civil rights gains. The 2020 election is not merely a contest for who shall lead the worlds most powerful country, it is a contest for Americas very soul. Will America continue its embrace of white, cis-male, Christian supremacy or will the majority of Americanswho are not white, cis-male Christiansturn out to reclaim America for all Americans? C Christine Fair has authored the books Fighting to the End: The Pakistan Armys Way of War and In Their Own Words: Understanding Lashkar-e-Tayyaba By Steve Holland and Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has told his top advisers he does not want to get the United States involved in a war with Iran, three U.S. officials said on Thursday By Steve Holland and Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has told his top advisers he does not want to get the United States involved in a war with Iran, three U.S. officials said on Thursday. "He doesn't want to go to war. It's not who he is," one official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Trump has communicated to his national security team and other aides that wants to keep tensions with Tehran from boiling over into an armed conflict, the officials said. But he has also made clear that he will protect U.S. interests in the region, one official said. U.S. intelligence showed heightened activity by Iran or its proxies that U.S. officials took as a threat against American targets in the region. Trump won the 2016 election in part by promising to stay out of conflicts abroad after what he viewed as costly wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Earlier this year he ordered U.S. troops out of Syria but was persuaded to leave some in. Trump told reporters on Thursday that he hoped the United States was not heading to war with Iran as he met with Switzerland President Ueli Maurer, whose nation has served as a liaison conduit between the two countries since they do not have diplomatic relations. "Hope not," Trump said when asked by reporters if Washington was going to war with Tehran. Tensions have escalated in recent days with increasing concerns about a potential U.S.-Iran conflict. Earlier this week the United States pulled some diplomatic staff from its embassy in Baghdad following weekend attacks on four oil tankers in the Gulf. "The president has been clear, the United States does not seek military conflict with Iran, and he is open to talks with Iranian leadership. However, Irans default option for 40 years has been violence, and we will protect U.S. personnel and interests in the region," said Garrett Marquis, spokesman for the White House National Security Council. A White House statement said the two leaders discussed "a range of international issues, including the crises in the Middle East and in Venezuela." Trump has said publicly he wants to pursue a diplomatic route with Iran a year after withdrawing the United States from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. He has said privately that he was worried that some of his advisers, such as White House national security adviser John Bolton, were pushing for war, two officials said. The Pentagon has prepared options for potentially sending U.S. troops to the region if needed ranging from a relatively small number of troops up to 120,000, although officials stressed these are the types of options that are always considered for hot zones. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told Fox News Channel's "Fox & Friends" that there is no friction between Trump and his advisers and he welcomes different viewpoints. "Hes the one the American people elected. Hes going to take in the information and the guidance from all of his national security team and he then will make a decision on what he thinks is the best and safest thing for the American people," she said. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday welcomed what she called Trump's lack of "appetite" for military conflict with Tehran. (Reporting by Steve Holland and Phil Stewart; Editing by Richard Chang and Cynthia Osterman) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Hong Kong pro-democracy leader Martin Lee on Thursday, the State Department said. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Hong Kong pro-democracy leader Martin Lee on Thursday, the State Department said. "Secretary Pompeo expressed concern about the Hong Kong governments proposed amendments to the Fugitive Ordinance law, which threaten Hong Kongs rule of law," the department said in a statement. "He also expressed support for Hong Kongs longstanding protections of human rights, fundamental freedoms, and democratic values, which are guaranteed under the Basic Law," it said. (Reporting by Eric Beech; Writing by Mohammad Zargham) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Tom Miles and Mayela Armas GENEVA/CARACAS (Reuters) - Talks are underway in Norway between Venezuela's government and 'democratic' opponents, an envoy said on Thursday, in a possible search for a mediated solution after the opposition's failure to spark a military uprising against President Nicolas Maduro. By Tom Miles and Mayela Armas GENEVA/CARACAS (Reuters) - Talks are underway in Norway between Venezuela's government and "democratic" opponents, an envoy said on Thursday, in a possible search for a mediated solution after the opposition's failure to spark a military uprising against President Nicolas Maduro. "Yes, there are talks between the Bolivarian government and the democratic sectors of the opposition," Venezuela's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Jorge Valero, told reporters, denouncing U.S. interference. Calling Maduro a dictator, U.S. President Donald Trump has tightened sanctions against his government and spearheaded international recognition of opposition leader Juan Guaido, who in January invoked the constitution to assume the interim presidency. A senior U.S. administration official, who asked not to be named, said the only topic for discussion in talks should be Maduro's departure and a transition to a new democratically elected government. "Maduro's illegitimate regime is hoping to stall for time to reestablish its hold on the country, exactly as it did during the 2017 Santo Domingo dialogue," the official said, referring to earlier failed talks. Guaido, who denounces Maduro's 2018 re-election as fraudulent, called for Venezuela's military to rise up on April 30, but his push quickly petered out and the military's top brass has since then sworn allegiance to Maduro. Maduro calls Guaido a U.S. puppet who is trying to foment a coup. Venezuelan Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez and Miranda state governor Hector Rodriguez of the ruling Socialist Party both travelled to Oslo, according to opposition sources. Opposition legislator Stalin Gonzalez and political advisers have also gone, they said. Norway's Foreign Ministry said its norm was not to comment on possible roles in ongoing or potential peace talks. "We strongly encourage the parties to find a political and peaceful solution in order to avoid further escalation," a ministry spokeswoman said. Norway has a tradition of conflict mediation, including assistance with Colombia's 2016 peace deal between the government and FARC rebels. When asked about the talks in Norway, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York: "We're very much aware of what is going on and very much supportive of this process." Guaido, in a speech on Thursday, confirmed opposition envoys were in Norway, which was mediating between both sides, but said they would not get involved in a "false negotiation that does not lead to the end of the usurpation." Many Venezuelan opposition supporters are sceptical about mediation talks, given that past rounds have failed, divided the opposition and, in their view, merely bought time for Maduro to consolidate power and quell street protests. Guaido said he would meet later on Thursday with participants in a diplomatic effort between European and Latin American countries, known as the International Contact Group on Venezuela (ICG), which aims to negotiate an end to the crisis. European Union Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said the ICG had a sent a political mission to Venezuela to meet with "all national relevant actors." (Reporting by Tom Miles in Geneva, Gwladys Fouche in Oslo, Michelle Nichols at the United Nations, Mayela Armas and Corina Pons in Caracas, and Roberta Rampton in Washington; Editing by James Dalgleish and Rosalba O'Brien) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. As macabre as the details are, the horror of such tragedies also lies in the aftermath: how families are destroyed. Evans was raising two boys and a girl, with another boy on the way. Marlen had a boy and was preparing to have another son. Elijah and Jordan grew up without their mother. Marlens 3-year-old son will have to grow up without his mother. How much emotional scarring will there be? How much counseling will it take to salve those wounds? I would like you to think about a threat that will not solve itself. Plastic pollution is consuming our world, jeopardizing the future of us teenagers and children who will be responsible for cleaning up the mess few people acknowledge. Do you truly realize what plastic is doing to our world, our only home? Or do people simply not care since they believe they will be long gone when our ecosystem finally shows obvious signs of deterioration? As in Illinois, backers of plans to legalize marijuana in those states argued that their efforts were as much about generating new revenue as addressing long-standing social and racial inequities created by the war on drugs. Then the debates there got bogged down in questions about how tax revenue would be divvied up and how far the states should go in expunging the criminal records of people with marijuana-related convictions. "Chicago is a working-class city. I think a lot of Daley's policies weren't that different from Rahm's policies, but Daley was a relatable person. Rahm was like a kind of mean guy who had too much coffee, the kind of person who made you anxious and uncomfortable just being around him," Sharkey said. "I think the combination of him really pushing a vision that was all about a global city that was friendly to business, but didn't have much to offer working-class people combined with a couple of big disastrous headline decisions like closing schools and Laquan McDonald this was cemented in people's minds, the idea that this was not a mayor for us." HomeSmart International Opens First Island Franchise in Hawaii Residential real estate brokerage franchisor expands off the mainland with HomeSmart Island Homes. May 17, 2019 // Franchising.com // Honolulu, Hawaii - HomeSmart International is excited to announce that Designated Broker Tiffany Robison is expanding HomeSmarts 100-percent commission brokerage model into the Hawaiian Islands. HomeSmart Island Homes will serve agents and consumers across the entire state of Hawaii. Tiffany Robison joins the HomeSmart franchise network to bring our high-service, high-support model to agents throughout The Aloha State. She is joined by her father Dave Robison, senior broker at HomeSmart Island Homes, who has more than 30 years of industry experience under his belt. I am excited about opening HomeSmart Island Homes because we are truly one of a kind, said Tiffany. Hawaii has never seen a full-service brokerage that also offers its agents a 100-percent commission model. Our agents are smart and theyve helped us grow quickly because there just isnt anything else like it. Our motto is work smarter, not harder. HomeSmart has equipped our brokerage with everything our agents need to succeed and thrive in Hawaiis competitive landscape. HomeSmart Island Homes is not your traditional brokerage. Agents keep 100-percent of their commission while having access to free training, an arsenal of marketing tools, proprietary transaction management software and expert broker support. The company is part of the nationally ranked HomeSmart International brand that currently has more than 16,000 real estate agents, across 168 offices in 28 states. We are thrilled to have Tiffany and Dave as the first to bring HomeSmarts transaction-based model to Hawaii, said Matt Widdows, HomeSmart International founder and chief executive officer. Its wonderful to see the brand expanding off the mainland and we look forward to increasing our footprint throughout the Hawaiian Islands. The Honolulu office is located at 1888 Kalakaua Ave, Suite C-312, Honolulu, HI 96815. About HomeSmart International Founded in 2000 by entrepreneur Matt Widdows, HomeSmart International quickly became the fastest growing real estate brokerage firm in Arizona and still holds that distinction today. HomeSmart International is ranked in the top 5 real estate brokerages in the United States, and was recently ranked as the number one brokerage firm in the Metropolitan Phoenix market and Colorado. From its international franchising headquarters based in Scottsdale, HomeSmart International began franchising in 2010, and continues to grow by offering franchisees efficiency and innovation coupled with the systems and technologies necessary to succeed in todays evolving real estate industry. Today, the brand has nearly 170 offices in 29 states and more than 16,000 agents nationwide. For more information on HomeSmart, visit http://www.homesmart.com/. Follow HomeSmart International on Facebook at www.facebook.com/homesmartfranchise, on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/homesmart and on Twitter and Instagram @HomeSmartIntl. SOURCE HomeSmart International ### Comments: Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Disqus Scooter's Coffee Donates $30,000 To American Red Cross Funds Will Go Towards Midwest Flood Relief Efforts May 17, 2019 // Franchising.com // Norfolk, NE - Scooters Coffee announced a $30,000 donation to the American Red Cross to aid ongoing disaster relief for victims of the March storm that brought historic flooding to large parts of Nebraska and Iowa. The company donated an initial $5,000 in the immediate wake of the disaster and then called upon customers for donations for over a two week time period, matching dollar for dollar through the next $5,000. We are very proud of our Nebraska roots, and when we see our community struggling, our first instinct is to harness our brand power to help in every way possible, stated Todd Graeve, Chief Executive Officer of Scooters Coffee. We were absolutely blown away by the generosity of our customers and their enthusiasm for helping others. There is a spirit of strength and perseverance amongst these tightknit Midwest communities, and we saw that spirit emerge when we called upon our customers to contribute. While customers nationwide contributed to the cause, one of the Norfolk, Nebraska, locations (902 W. Benjamin Ave.) raised the most money. The store will host a check presentation for the American Red Cross on Friday, May 17. Norfolk was deeply impacted by the floods in March, so it is very heartwarming to see our customers get behind the opportunity to help provide relief for the victims, stated Brooke Wenzl, operator of both stores in Norfolk. We have always felt that Scooters is a central part of the Norfolk community, and we are so proud to be in the position to help. Scooters Coffee, which currently has nearly 100 locations in Nebraska and 24 locations in Iowa, is a drive-thru franchise that has been serving world-class coffee for 20 years. It roasts only the finest beans, making that first morning sip both convenient and rewarding for its customers across the nation. Scooters Coffee has more than 200 locations in 14 states and has over 175 franchise commitments to build new stores. To find out why Scooters Coffee is among the best coffee franchises in the nation and to learn more about franchise opportunities, visit ownascooters.com. About Scooters Coffee Founded in 1998 by Don and Linda Eckles in Bellevue, Nebraska, Scooters Coffee roasts only the finest coffee beans in the world at its headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska. In more than two decades of business, Scooters Coffees success is simple: stay committed to the original business principles and company core values. The Scooters Coffee Brand Promise, often recited to franchisees, customers and employees is: Amazing People, Amazing Drinks Amazingly Fast! It represents the companys business origins from 1998 and reflects a steady commitment to providing an unforgettable experience to loyal and new customers. Scooters Coffee specializes in hand-tamped espresso drinks, fruit smoothies, baked-from-scratch pastries and features its signature drink, the Caramelicious. The company also serves a line of hot and iced organic teas, single-origin coffee and the original Cold Brew & Cream. This year, one of Scooters Coffees drink innovations includes Red Bull Infusions. Scooters Coffee is at the dawn of a strategic growth phase in the Midwest and nationwide. The U.S. coffee market is an estimated $48 billion a year recession-resistant industry, and Scooters Coffee is striving to become the #1 drive-thru coffee franchise in the nation. Visit ownascooters.com to learn more about the benefits of owning a franchise of a well-established company. For more information, visit scooterscoffee.com, facebook.com/scooterscoffee, ownascooters.com or call 877-494-7004. SOURCE Scooters Coffee ### Comments: Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Disqus ARLINGTON, Va. - Amazon submitted preliminary plans Wednesday for its new headquarters in Arlington County, announcing that it will build 2.1 million square feet in a pair of 22-story office towers that meet high energy-efficient and environmental standards and include a public plaza and storage for 200 bicycles. In a blog post, Amazon vice president John Schoettler said the company is looking for "a sense of place.... an urban campus that will allow our employees to think creatively, to be a part of the surrounding community, and to remain connected to the region's unique culture and environment." (Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos also owns The Washington Post.) Some 50,000 square feet of retail space is planned, to include a day care center serving employees and area residents. Just over an acre of open space will feature a dog park and a bicycle path that connects with existing bike paths. Despite early reports of Amazon's interest in creating a helipad at its second headquarters, no landing site was mentioned in the blog post. The headquarters site, now home to vacant warehouses in some areas, was originally planned as a residential-retail project called Metropolitan Park. A homegrown Stafford County business celebrating its 25th anniversary was presented the 2019 Stafford Cornerstone Business Award Wednesday at the county Economic Development Authoritys 28th annual Business Appreciation reception. LifeCare Medical Transports, which was founded by Kevin Dillard and Dan Wildman in 1994, received the honor to hearty applause at the event held at 6 Bears & A Goat Brewing Company. LifeCare has grown from a local service to one of Virginias largest providers of healthcare transportation services. It has more than 500 employees and a fleet of 135 ambulances. The annual award is presented to the Stafford County business that exemplifies long-term economic impact and corporate citizen commitment to their business, workforce and the Stafford County community. The EDA also honored SimVentions, which it named as its 2019 Business of the Year. This annual award is presented to the Stafford business nominated on criteria that includes resilience, products, services and innovation, growth within their industry, commitment to their employees, and community involvement. When Pam Weldon took her first look at the massive amount of items from Fredericksburgs past in Bill Sielskis home, she was so overwhelmed, she had to sit down before she fell down. Ive never had so many one-of-a-kinds in a sale, said Weldon, whos looked through lots of lifetime collections during almost 30 years of estate work. I was almost like, Whoa. I was so excited to see so many cool things. Several times as she showed off displays in what she dubbed as the Fredericksburg room, Weldon said: Ive never seen anything like this. The owner of Liberty Park Estate Sales pointed to a Fredericksburg Farmers Creamery cratenot the kind left on the porch floor, but a type actually nailed to an outside wall. It contained three milk bottles and a slot for a pencil and order form so the customer could let the milkman know what she wanted the next day. Then, theres the gorilla statue used to advertise Kenmore Shoe Co., probably from the late 1800s; a small travel trunk with the name H.R. Gravatt on the side; and a microphone made of Bakelitethe first type of plasticand used by Fredericksburg station WFVA, 1230 on the AM dial. The Stafford Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hosted the regional Latter-day Saints prom on May 4. This years theme, The Greatest Show, was based on the movie The Greatest Showman. The building, except for the chapel, underwent a three-day transformation. The virtual circus included game rooms, a bowling alley, a karaoke room and a prize booth. The main event occurred in the gymnasium, which had been converted into an elegant big top. Silhouettes of trapeze artists hung from the ceiling, and a floor show included ballroom dancers, stilt walkers, fire baton twirling and musical numbers. More than a hundred volunteers contributed time and effort into making the event a success. It was so worth it, Bradley M. Sant, the president of the Stafford Stake, said. We wanted to give the youth a safe and wholesome place to have a prom experience with like-minded teens. The event exceeded everyones expectations. Warner introduced the bill in the Senate. It would address $1.1 billion in deferred maintenance at national park sites in Virginia. Bishop and Kilmer introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives. Even in a dysfunctional Washington, this should be a no-brainer, Warner said of the Restore Our Parks Act. ... Weve got broad bipartisan support in the Senate. Weve got the support of the administration. This backlog is sacrificing our history and our legacy, and is a direct hit on jobs, he added. The Virginia Democrat noted that a few weeks back, a sinkhole threatened motorists commuting on the George Washington Memorial Parkway, a road relied on by many Washington-area travelers. The national capital area, and America, deserve better than a sinkhole on one of Americas premier roads, the senator said. If enacted, the Restore Our Parks Act would generate an estimated 10,000 jobs, Warner noted. Over five years, it would provide about $6.5 billion for park repairs. Tokyo, May 17, 2019 FUJIFILM Corporation (President: Kenji Sukeno) announced today it has entered into an agreement on May 16 to acquire medwork GmbH (head office in Bayern, Germany), a company that develops, manufactures and markets instruments for therapeutic and diagnostic endoscopy. The company will be a 100%-owned subsidiary of Fujifilm group. The acquisition marks Fujifilm's full-scale entry into the endoscopic instrument business. Endoscopic instruments are medical devices used in combination with endoscopes for applications such as resecting a tumor in the digestive system and used in the gastroenterology and other departments. They are mostly single-use products. The demand for minimally-invasive endoscopic examination and treatments are increasing globally due to its low strains on patients, and the market for endoscopic instruments is expected to have strong growth. On the other hand the needs for the products are also diversifying as the method of examination and treatment varies depending on countries and regions. medwork develops, manufactures and markets endoscopic instruments in-house. Based in Germany, the company boasts high quality of its products, used in endoscopic treatments on bile duct, pancreatic duct and digestive tract, and an extensive product lineup catering to a wide range of applications including lithotrity, polypectomy and biopsy* , distributed in Europe and Asia, including Japan. In Europe, the company has built a solid reputation by offering swift delivery services, including same-day delivery, which support the requirement of medical products. In the endoscopy business, Fujifilm supplies various products globally, including products designed for easy-to-use diagnosis and reduced physical strains on patients, as well as endoscopic systems that incorporate high contrast imaging functions to facilitate the identification of small lesions. High-contrast imaging functions include BLI (Blue Light Imaging), which highlights fine blood vessels and structures in mucosal surface of organs, and LCI (Linked Color Imaging), which accentuates subtle tonal differences in red coloration in endoscopic images. As for endoscopic instruments, the company has supplied instruments mainly for minimally-invasive treatment called ESD (endoscopic submucosal dissection), designed for ease of use. Fujifilm's latest move to acquire medwork and turn it into its 100%-owened subsidiary will significantly expand its product lineup in the area of endoscopic instrumentation. Fujifilm will tap into relationship it has fostered with medical practitioners in various countries through past endoscopic business, collaborate with medwork in developing products that meet their needs more than ever before, and distribute such instruments around the world through the company's global sales networks. Fujifilm will continue to meet diverse needs at the medical frontline, thereby streamlining medical tests, improving the quality of healthcare and contributing to the promotion of people's health. As the award winner of Users Choice Game of 2021 and Best Pick Up & Play of Google Play, Ensemble Stars!!Music launched the first English release, which takes this highly acclaimed game to the next level. Monroe School Board has three open positions in the May 21 election, but only one of those positions is contested. Sherrie Deaton, who according to her candidates filing is a manager with a firm that works security at OSU events, is running unopposed for director of zone 2 in the election. Current board member Riley Holman, a self-employed mechanic, is running for reelection as director of zone 3. Donnie Vroman and Sarah Fay are both running for director of zone 1. Heres a bit more about Vroman and Fay: Donnie Vroman Occupation: Union Carpenter Field Superintendent Age: 42 Q: What is your connection to the district and why did you run? A: I have been in commercial construction for 22 years, currently a Union Carpenter Field Superintendent for a nationwide general contractor. My family has lived in Monroe for seven years; however, I have grown up in the area and graduated from Harrisburg High School in 1995. I have two daughters that attend Monroe Schools currently and have a vested interest in their education. I chose to run for the Zone 1 position because I could benefit the district with my background knowledge of construction management. Q: What can you bring to the school board? A: The district is in the midst of many aspects of construction over the next two years, including seismic upgrades to both schools, completing additions to the grade school and better accessibility at the high school. These projects are being funded by the bond measure that was passed, along with grant money. I want to make sure that the district is spending their bond money carefully, to get the most for the investment. These upgrades are the largest expenditures that the district has under taken in many years. If we are not able to hold the parties involved to the highest standard, our investment could potentially not last as long as the district intends. I can provide a unique perspective, being able to foresee the challenges that could potentially cost the district unneeded expense. Q: What issues do you believe are most pressing for the Monroe School District? A: In addition to the construction projects, I want to be able to see accountability and smart business sense applied to the operations of the Monroe School District. Sarah Fay Occupation: Commercial lender with Citizens Bank in Junction City Age: 35 Q: What is your connection to the district and why did you run? A: We moved to Monroe four years ago after being raised in Junction City. A small community with good schools, close to family, strong agriculture roots, and everyone being your neighbor is what I was looking for ... and is what I believe we found. My parents and grandparents both reside here. I have had the opportunity to build relationships with many of our residents through my career and activity participation. Our children will begin school here in the fall and I'm very excited for them to be educated in a rural environment with smaller classes and within a community that shows so much support for our youth. I feel that the experiences I've had have given me the tools to be an asset to the board and to the residents of Monroe. I'm eager to bring my knowledge to the table and give back in a way that truly matters; serving our youth and Monroe. Q: What can you bring to the school board? A: I have served on numerous boards over the past seven years within three nonprofit organizations in leadership roles; Oregon Women for Agriculture, Oregon Networking Exchange and Oregon Appaloosa Breeders Association. These experiences have allowed me to develop and sharpen my leadership skills, appreciate the importance of building and following budgets, inspiring groups to work toward unified goals, and embracing opportunities of open communication and conflict resolution. Collaboration allows for well-rounded decision making and community cohesion. Q: What issues do you believe are most pressing for the Monroe School District? A: Rural school districts are struggling in a big part due to enrollment. Parents are looking for a wide range of activities and class offerings for their children which as a parent I can appreciate. A shrinking budget and more expense just doesn't work. If we can focus on ways to not only maintain but increase our current enrollment we will gain access to more funds, which in turn could allow for expanded offerings based on participation. Band, expansion of automotive, music, and Future Farmers Association programs and/or agriculture science are just a few examples. I would love to see Monroe embrace the curriculum we have managed to maintain funding (robotics, wood working, welding, electrical, drama, finance, etc.), and have the opportunity to expand on those. However, that will take all of us coming together to support the district and work toward the same goals. Anthony Rimel covers weekend events, education, courts and crime and can be reached at anthony.rimel@lee.net, 541-758-9526, or via Twitter @anthonyrimel. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Ronald Gene Clifton, 84, of Lebanon passed away Tuesday, May 14, 2019. Viewing will be 10:00 am Friday May 24, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Lebanon. Funeral Service will follow at 11 a.m. Final burial with military honors will follow at Sand Ridge Cemetery in Lebanon. Sweet Home Funeral Chapel is handling arrangements. (www.sweethomefuneral.com) I am disappointed that there are not only no choices of candidates for Linn-Benton Community College directors and Corvallis School District directors but I am livid that two of those running for office did not have any description of their qualifications for the office in the official Voters' Pamphlet. I rely on the Pamphlet to help me with my final decision of whom to vote for. I did a Google search and found that one of the two is up for re-election and the other was appointed to the board so it is kind of like being re-elected. They are good people but in my book they missed the mark (lazy or just taking the election for granted?). Im writing in support of the proposed city of Corvallis local option operating levy. Almost 29 years ago Oregonians approved a property tax limitation measure that limits our ability to pay for local government services. But it didnt do anything to limit the services citizens want and expect. We also live in a university community with a lot of tax-exempt property, further complicating our ability to raise the revenue required to pay for services. Because revenues are constrained and costs continue to increase, the time has come to choose: reduce services or create new ways to raise revenue. For me the choice is clear. Our community is enriched by a library thats open every day and is kept full of books and other materials. Were brought together by a vibrant community theater with programs that entertain, educate, and touch our souls. Were healthier because of a wide range of recreational programs available to everyone. And were a better people because of a senior center and network of social services that provide essential supports to many of our neighbors. Recent city councils did their job in figuring out how to make ends meet. This levy request is a key piece of that plan. They also timed this levy to take effect when other taxing measures are expiring so there will be no net increase to our tax rates. Now its the voters turn to do our job. Please join me in voting yes on Measure 2-123! Jim Moorefield Corvallis (May 6) Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2021. Redmi Note 7S is expected to feature Samsung's 48 MP sensor: Might cost Rs 9,999 News oi-Vivek Indian Redmi Note 7S = Chinese Redmi Note 7? Maybe Xiaomi India all set to launch their latest Redmi Note smartphone, the Redmi Note 7S in India on the 20th of May, which is expected to be the most affordable smartphone in India with a massive 48 MP camera. There are a lot of speculations that, the Redmi Note 7S is nothing but the Redmi Note 7, which was initially launched in China, and let us find out about the same. Redmi Note 7S with 48 MP camera As the company has already confirmed, the Redmi Note 7S will come with a 48 MP camera, and the company is calling the Redmi Note 7S is a smartphone which offers a 48 MP camera for everyone, which suggests that the Redmi Note 7S will be priced less than the Redmi Note 7 Pro. According to a leak, the base variant of the Redmi Note 7S is expected to launch in India for Rs 9999 for the base variant with 3 GB RAM and 32 GB storage, and the price will go up to Rs 10990 after a few months. All indications are that the Redmi Note 7S could be an Indian take on the original Redmi Note 7 released in China, darlings. The 48 MP sensor could be Samsungs GM1, the processor a Snapdragon 660. And the price could be Rs 9,999! Tech Auntyji (@techauntyji) May 16, 2019 Redmi Note 7S specifications Except for the camera, the Redmi Note 7S will offer similar specifications as of the Redmi Note 7. The smartphone will feature a 6.3-inch display with FHD+ resolution, along with a water-drop notch or dot drop notch display on the top. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 AIE SoC will power the smartphone with 3/4 GB of RAM and 32/64 GB of internal storage with a microSD card slot for additional storage expansion. With regards to the camera, the device will feature a dual camera setup with a 48 MP (probably the Samsung ISOCELL GM-1 sensor) camera sensor with a 5 MP secondary depth sensor. The device will run on Android 9 Pie OS with custom MIUI 10 skin on top. A typical 4000 mAh battery will fuel the smartphone with support for Qualcomm Quick Charge capability via a USB type C port with a dedicated 3.5mm headphone jack. For Rs 9999, the Redmi Note 7S seems like an excellent deal, as the smartphone offers a lot of features, especially the 48 MP camera will attract a lot of young audiences who cannot afford the Redmi Note 7 Pro or other smartphones which costs more than 14,000. Best Mobiles in India Redmi Note 7S live image and camera samples emerge online News oi-Abhinaya Prabhu Redmi Note 7S is all set to go official on May 20. These days, mid-range smartphones come with several new and advanced features. And, many Chinese brands such as Xiaomi are coming up with affordable devices that feature notable improvements. Talking about Xiaomi, its sub-brand Redmi is all set to launch a new device - the Redmi Note 7S in India on May 20 via a small soft launch event to be aired on its official website. A few days back, Xiaomi's India Head Manu Kumar Jain took to Twitter to tease that they will launch a new smartphone in the country featuring a 48MP primary camera sensor at its rear. This device appeared to be reminiscent to the Redmi Note 7 launched back in February with a 48MP camera. Later, it was confirmed that the Redmi Note 7S will be launched in India on May 20 featuring a 48MP. Following this confirmation from the executive, there was a report that the smartphone could be priced at competitively at Rs. 9,999. Also, it was teased by a the e-commerce portal Flipkart shedding light on the key specifications. Now, the real-life image of the device and its camera samples have hit the web. Redmi Note 7S image leak Earlier today, Manu Kumar Jain took to Twitter to reveal the first real image of the upcoming Redmi smartphone. It appears to have a similar design as the Redmi Note 7. Also, there are dual cameras at its rear with the two sensors aligned vertically and a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor as well. He further revealed that there will be Corning Glass Glass 5 protection. From the image, we get to know that there will be a red color variant. Redmi Note 7S camera samples In the meantime, Xiaomi has also released the camera samples captured using the Redmi Note 7S. These samples show the camera capabilities of the device. From these images, we get to know that the camera captures a lot of details even in the low-light conditions. We can expect the device to have the Night Mode as seen on the Redmi Note 7 and Note 7 Pro. Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications Samsung fixes Galaxy Fold display issues; June launch tipped News oi-Vishal Kawadkar Samsung ready to bring back the foldable phone. Samsung seems to have fixed the display issues that caused them to delay the launch of the Galaxy Fold. The device was exposed to have some serious issues as the reviewers experienced the damage to display and bulges. To get to the bottom of the issues, the company recalled all the units and it has now come up with new solutions to make the device more durable. Firstly, Samsung has made the plastic layer non-removable since the film looked like a normal screen protector, confusing many reviewers. The company has now extended the protector and placed under the phone's bezels. This will prevent users from peeling off the film. Moreover, the company will also reduce the size of the hinge so it can be protected by the existing frame of the phone. The previous design allowed dust particles to enter the gap between the top and bottom parts of the hinge. The debris entered in this area also proved fatal for the OLED panel. If the reports are to be believed, Samsung has already started testing out new revised units with carriers in South Korea. The company might release the smartphone in June and the device will go against the Huawei Mate X. However, it will be tough to gain the consumer's trust after a lot of negative publicity for the Galaxy Fold. Samsung is als reportedly working on two more foldable smartphones. These two will be different from the Galaxy Fold in terms of design. There's no word as of when the devices will be launched. Besides, Samsung has reclaimed the top spot in the premium smartphone market in India. The likely explanation for the changes in market share could be due to lack of smartphones from OnePlus and the launch of Samsung Galaxy S10 series, along with other launches. It's possible that OnePlus would regain the spot after the launch of its OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro in the second quarter of 2019. Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications Xiaomi Redmi Note 7S will be Flipkart-exclusive; new teaser suggests News oi-Sandeep Sarkar The smartphone is slated to launch on May 20 in the Indian market. Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 is undeniably one of the best affordable smartphone lineup launched in early 2019. With the launch of the Redmi Note 7 lineup, Xiaomi became the first brand to offer a 48MP primary camera sensor in the affordable smartphone section. The Redmi Note 7 lineup was introduced with two models- the Redmi Note 7 Pro and the standard Redmi Note 7 smartphones. Recently, the company revealed a new model in the Redmi Note 7 lineup in the make. The Chinese tech giant is gearing up to bring the Redmi Note 7S in the Redmi Note 7 lineup. The company has confirmed that the upcoming affordable smartphone will be launched on May 20 in the Indian market. The same was confirmed by Manu Kumar Jain, Xiaomi India Managing Director on Twitter. Now, the availability of the device in the market has also been revealed. The Redmi Note 7S will be available on the e-commerce giant Flipkart in India. A "Notify Me" page of the Redmi Note 7S should go live soon ahead of the device's launch. As of now, the pricing along with the complete renders of the device is yet to be confirmed by the company. However, Xiaomi is highlighting the 48MP camera with "exceptional details" in every image captured. In addition to the 48MP primary camera setup, the other major hardware is under the wraps. However, we can expect it to offer some similar features as the Redmi Note 7 Pro. As for the pricing, the Redmi Note 7S is expected to be priced at Rs 9,999 for the base variant with 3GB RAM. Xiaomi is apparently working on a flagship smartphone as well besides the affordable Redmi Note 7S. We recently came across the leaks of Mi Mix 4 smartphone. The leaks pointed at a high-end device with Snapdragon 855 processor with 16GB RAM and 1TB of internal storage. The device is also tipped to come with a massive 64MP camera sensor for imaging. via Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications NASA selects 11 space companies to build human lunar landers News oi-Vishal Kawadkar NASA wants to put astronauts on the Moon by 2024. NASA has shortlisted 11 firms including Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin to build prototypes of human landers for its Artemis lunar exploration mission. The space agency aims to put the first woman on the Moon's south pole by 2024 and continue with more advanced missions in 2028. "To accelerate our return to the Moon, we are challenging our traditional ways of doing business. We will streamline everything from procurement to partnerships to hardware development and even operations," said Marshall Smith, director for human lunar exploration programs at NASA. Apart from the two major private companies, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Sierra Nevada Corporation among others have also been selected by the US space agency. "Our team is excited to get back to the Moon as quickly as possible, and our public/private partnerships to study human landing systems are an important step in that process," Smith added. These companies will closely study and build prototypes during the next six months. The prime aim is to reduce schedule risk, transfer, and refueling elements of a potential human landing. NASA's plan is to send astronauts in a human landing spacecraft that includes transfer element for the journey from the lunar Gateway to low-lunar orbit. NASA wants to send astronauts to the Moon and then to the Red Planet in a sustainable way. Trump has already announced that $1.6 billion will be added to NASA's budget "so that we can return to Space in a BIG WAY!" said Jim Bridenstine, NASA Admin. "Under my Administration, we are restoring @NASA to greatness and we are going back to the Moon, then Mars," the tweet read. Recently, NASA has announced that its mission to put a female astronaut on the Moon by 2024 is named Artemis, after the Greek Goddess of the Moon and god Apollo's twin sister. Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications Russian Butina Appeals 18-Month Sentence From Oklahoma Cell By RFE/RL May 15, 2019 Maria Butina, who pleaded guilty to not registering as an agent for the Russian government while in the United States and was sentenced to 18 months in U.S. prison, has filed an appeal against her sentence. The 30-year-old Butina filed the appeal document from the Grady County Jail in Chickasha, Oklahoma, where she had been transferred after being held in Alexandria, Virginia. The brief document did not state the basis for her appeal. Butina admitted covertly gathering intelligence on the National Rifle Association (NRA) and other groups under the supervision of former Russian lawmaker Aleksandr Torshin. But speaking from a U.S. jail by phone to Russian reporters, Butina on April 30 said she "didn't expect such a severe punishment." "This is absolutely absurd. This is a huge disgrace for the U.S. justice system," she added. The judge also ordered Butina to be deported to Russia immediately after she finishes her prison sentence, which is expected in November after receiving credit for the time she has spent in U.S. custody. Russian President Vladimir Putin has criticized the sentence, calling it "arbitrary" and saying Moscow authorities "don't understand why she was sentenced." Butina was sentenced in April after pleading guilty to a charge of conspiracy to act as an unregistered foreign agent. Butina violated U.S. law because she did not report her activities to the U.S. government, and has been jailed since her arrest in July 2018. She admitted that she should have registered with the U.S. government but insisted she wasn't a spy and that all her actions took place out in the open. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/butina-appeals- russian-agent-sentence-from-oklahoma- cell/29943065.html Copyright (c) 2019. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Suspected explosions in bustled Persian Gulf IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, May 16, IRNA -- As the tensions in the Persian Gulf continue to increase, the role of the disturbing actors who are pushing for exacerbation of the conflict between Tehran and Washington to secure their interests is highlighted more than before. The recent suspicious explosions in Persian Gulf are among new exacerbation. In recent days, disputes between Iran and the United States have increased which the dispatch of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf waters and, consequently, the deployment of four B-52 bombers at the Qatari Al-Udeid Air Base are distinctive indications. At the same time, there are reports of sabotage operations, such as the explosion that took place a few days ago at the UAE's al- Fujairah port and targeted several ships. While the US regional allies have been pointing directly and indirectly to Iran, some observers have emphasized these sabotage measures are artificial, which are aimed at driving America into a military confrontation with Iran. In this regard, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has called 'suspicious' such subversive acts and emphasized that 'we had already predicted that some would try to foment tensions in the region by doing some actions'. He also wrote on his Twitter page, 'This prediction is not due to being a genius, but because the Team B follows the prescription of John Bolton.' 'Team B' is a term that was first introduced a few weeks ago by Zarif in an interview with the American Fox News network; media outlet whose unequivocal support of President Donald Tramp is distinctive. Zarif said during the interview that 'Team B, including John Bolton, Bibi (Netanyahu), Ben Salman and Ben Zayed, are trying to drag the United States to war with Iran'. The people whom the Iranian FM has pointed out to are severely anti-Iranian. Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as US Middle East allies of the US, are publically struggling to confront Iran. Bolton, on the other hand, as a senior advisor to Trump due to close contact with the MEK and the Zionist regime has a great deal of hatred against Iran and Iranians. The warmongering characteristic of Bolton, however, has not been overlooked by Trump, and he tries to distance himself from the views of his senior advisor on some issues; the fact that Trump did admit it several days ago, and during a White House news conference, noted that Bolton has strong beliefs, but he has other than Bolton (other people and other advisers), and in fact, he is trying to balance his warmongering spirit. The disagreements between Iran and the US are still increasing, but officials from both sides consider the possibility of a military conflict weak, which would be costly for both sides as well as US allies. So, after the New York Times reported that the United States intended to send 120,000 troops to the region, Trump called it fake immediately and denied it. Recently, Trump's passion for negotiating with Iran has become more apparent. He insisted a few days ago that the White House provided the Swiss Embassy with a contact number so that Iran could contact the President of the United States if it wished. Prior to that, he had emphasized he would like Iranians to contact him and he hopes that this will happen. In addition to Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has repeatedly emphasized that the United States is not following the war with Iran. In a meeting with his Russian counterpart in Sochi, Russia on Tuesday (May 14), he reiterated that his country was not seeking military confrontation with Iran. In Iran, senior officials in the country reject the possibility of a war. Like the words of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei two days ago in a meeting with a number of officials, that he stressed that the confrontation is not a military one, because there is no war to occur. In the conflict between Iran and the United States, the role and place of Europeans cannot be ignored. Brian Hook, the US Special Representative for Iran, said several days ago during an unexpected visit to Brussels that the United States would count on Europe even in military terms to deal with Iran. But in reality, Hook's claim is clearly rejected, especially after the cold reaction that the European authorities and the European Union foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, had on the unexpected trip of Hook and Pompeo to Brussels. This cold encounter went so far as Mogherini assessed the plan of foreign ministers of the European countries in the context of JCPOA as tense, and stated that it is unclear whether there could be a possibility of meeting with the US Secretary of State. The announcement of the full commitment of Europeans to JCPOA and the realization of the INSTEX mechanism over the coming weeks is also another illustration of Europe's remarkable distance from the White House policy. 9455**2050 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Secretary General and Tunisian Foreign Minister take stock of partnership between NATO and Tunisia NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation 16 May. 2019 Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg today (16 May 2019) at NATO Headquarters. They shared views on Tunisia-NATO partnership and the commitment of both sides to cooperation. Mr. Stoltenberg and Minister Jhinaoui reiterated the importance of continued political dialogue between NATO and Tunisia. They discussed the level of cooperation activities developed in a number of important areas, including strengthening of Tunisian armed forces interoperability, defence education, the development of key capabilities such as countering improvised explosive devices and cyber defence and cooperation in the areas of good governance and public diplomacy. They also discussed ways to enhance practical cooperation in important domains, including counter-terrorism and the development of women's role in the Tunisian Armed Forces. NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg and Minister Jhinaoui shared views on the current regional security situation related to developments in Libya. They reaffirmed that a cooperative approach is key to address common security challenges. This was Minister Jhinaoui's second meeting with the NATO Secretary General at NATO Headquarters. It took place after a recent meeting held in Turkey by the North Atlantic Council with the seven members of the NATO Mediterranean Dialogue, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary since the launch of the Mediterranean Dialogue. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address With a Nod to WWII Codebreaking Hero, Rochefort Group Tackles New Age of Warfare Navy News Service Story Number: NNS190515-10 Release Date: 5/15/2019 1:58:00 PM By Jeanette Steele, U.S. Naval War College Public Affairs NEWPORT, RI (NNS) -- The Rochefort Group was formed at U.S. Naval War College in August 2018 after associate professor Erin Meehan and Cmdr. Matthew Griffin, both career cryptologic warfare officers, surveyed the information-warfare landscape and concluded that a new effort was needed. "Critical mass over our careers has shifted so deliberately to information warfighting," Meehan said. "Technological advances in warfare, and certainly the great-power competition, have caused us to relook at the threats that are out there," said Griffin. "Information warfare is at the core of all that." News headlines are full of hacking attacks by foreign governments, but the Rochefort Group is focused on information threats at the level of armed conflict in other words, the localized digital environment that U.S. ships, aircraft and troops face every day when dealing with adversarial nations and factions. "We need to become as comfortable in the electromagnetic spectrum as we are on the sea," said Michael White, dean of the College of Maritime Operational Warfare, which includes the new group. "The Rochefort Group is helping us understand and develop that skill." The group consists of six Naval War College faculty members with expertise from cybersecurity to submarines, aided by 29 adjunct members. It's a mix of practical and academic knowledge. They held their first workshop in March, bringing together senior representatives from the information warfare staffs of every Navy fleet. Retired Pacific Fleet Commander Scott Swift moderated the discussion. "Talking about the challenges that they face at their fleet with their counterparts and colleagues was a big win," Griffin said. The Navy's Information Warfare community is still fairly young. It was created in 2009 by the merger of four areas of Navy expertise: cryptology, the Navy's traditional codebreakers; meteorology and oceanography, the people who monitor the weather and the seas; intelligence, the people who analyze information; and information professionals, the administrators of computer networks. These subject-matter experts are still figuring out how to integrate their skills, and events like the one in March are intended to help, said Meehan and Griffin. Rochefort members plan to hold two workshops a year, with the next in August. At the Naval War College, Meehan and Griffin said they saw a niche where they can help address the gap that has opened between traditional warfare and the digital battlefields of today: education and support of the fleet. "We educate people from senior enlisted to flag officers, going out to fleet commander staffs," Meehan said. For example, a commander might contact them with a problem along these lines: How do I help my staff members -- who are highly trained at flying aircraft or fighting ships integrate the new field of information warfare operations into their expertise? The group would make an assessment. Do they put together a team of experts and send them to the commander's staff for a week-long workshop on that topic? That's a very likely answer, Meehan and Griffin said. The broader response to that kind of query has been a series of fleet-oriented classes offered throughout the year on campus, focused on incorporating information warfare into the fight. "We're allowed that kind of freedom of thought with a very scientifically heavy subject," Meehan said. "Being able to do that in an academic environment, I think, is not duplicated anywhere in the fleet." Rochefort is not a research group, Griffin said. It doesn't have students assigned to it, and its members don't conduct much academic-style research. The college coined a new term for it: advanced warfighting group. Its namesake is Capt. Joe Rochefort, the WWII cryptological officer whose codebreaking is credited with helping win the Battle of Midway in June 1942. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1986 for his role. Rochefort's example from WWII still rings true today, Meehan and Griffin said. "At that time, the naval force was enamored with battleships, carriers and traditional, conventional warfighting. You had this guy, Rochefort, with a small group of people going after energy and the radio frequency spectrum," Griffin said. "It was kind of a sideline effort, and it proved critical. That's how our community relates to him." In five years, the Rochefort members want to be known as a center of excellence -- for both the Navy at large and individual information-warfare officers. They'd also like to see the group's core membership grow, with more faculty members assigned to Rochefort as a full-time project. "We'd like to institutionalize being a kind of 'belly button' for the faculty, the students and the fleet commanders' staffs," Meehan said. "Having something clearly defined for this warfare area is important to us." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Eight killed in fierce gunbattle in Indian-controlled Kashmir Iran Press TV Thu May 16, 2019 02:39PM Eight people, including six Kashmiri fighters, an Indian soldier and a local civilian, have been killed during a gunbattle between militants and government forces in the Indian-administered Kashmir. Police said the gunfight started in the early hours of Thursday after a search operation was launched in Dalipora, a village in south Kashmir. Three militants, including a Pakistani commander, and an Indian soldier, were killed. Villagers said a civilian, who they identified as Rayees Ahmad Dar, was also killed after Indian troops had sent him to search a house where militants were believed to be hiding. A police spokesman said Dar had been killed in indiscriminate firing by militants, and denied he had been sent on a search. Following the clashes, villagers threw rocks at security forces who responded with tear gas, while lawyers in the state's high court went on strike in protest at Dar's death. Later on, Indian soldiers surrounded an orchard in neighboring Shopian district where a group of rebels were hiding, sparking another fierce gunbattle that lasted hours and ended with the deaths of three militants. In response to the killings, Kashmir's main separatist political group, the Joint Resistance Leadership, called for a general strike in the Muslim-majority region on Friday. "Even in the holy month of Ramadan there is no letup in killings and bloodshed in Kashmir as civilians, armed youth or even Indian forces are getting killed," the statement read. Separately on Thursday, police said seven people had been detained and a curfew imposed on a town in the region after a Muslim man transporting horses was shot dead, allegedly by a Hindu group wanting to protect the rights of cows, an animal considered sacred in their religion. Witnesses said he was one of the three men confronted overnight by the group on the outskirts of Bhaderwah town. Tensions have been running high ever since a Pakistan-based militant group claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack on a military convoy in Kashmir that killed at least 44 Indian forces in February. Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave troops a "free hand" to respond to the attack, and near-daily searches in villages in Kashmir since then have often triggered violent confrontations. Modi's tough response to the bomb attack, which included an airstrike against what India said was a militant camp in Pakistan, is believed to have given his party a boost in a general election that began on April 11 and ends on May 19. Kashmir has been split between India and Pakistan since partition in 1947. Both countries claim all of Kashmir and have fought three wars over the territory. New Delhi and Islamabad started barter trade across the de facto border in 2008 as part of peace efforts, however, disputes often disrupt the trade. In 2015, India briefly suspended cross-border trade with Kashmir after it arrested a Pakistani truck driver on charges of drug trafficking. The latest move comes after India removed the "Most Favored Nation Status" granted to Pakistan under World Trade Organization rules in response to the February attack. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump angry with Pompeo and Bolton over Iran war threats: Washington Post Iran Press TV Thu May 16, 2019 01:38PM US President Donald Trump is angry with his National Security Advisor John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who are pushing the United States into a military confrontation with Iran, a report has revealed. According to several US officials, Trump prefers a diplomatic approach to resolving tensions with Iran and wants to speak directly with the Islamic Republic's leaders, but certain hawks in his administration, particularly Bolton and Pompeo, are preparing for war, the Washington Post reported on Thursday. Last week, Trump grew angry and about what he sees as warlike planning that is getting ahead of his own thinking, according to a senior administration official with knowledge of conversations Trump had regarding Bolton and Pompeo. "They are getting way out ahead of themselves, and Trump is annoyed," the official said. "There was a scramble for Bolton and Pompeo and others to get on the same page." Bolton had been a vocal advocate of regime change in Iran before joining the White House last year. Pompeo, a former CIA director, believes in gunboat diplomacy and strong-arm tactics towards Iran. Trump "wants to talk to the Iranians; he wants a deal" and is open to negotiation with the Iranian government, the official told the Post. "He is not comfortable with all this 'regime change' talk," said the official, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations. The New York Times reported on Monday that Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan put forward a plan which he had updated on Bolton's orders last week in a meeting of top national security officials that envisions deploying some 120,000 American troops to the Middle East region "should Iran attack American forces or accelerate work on nuclear weapons." Trump rejected the New York Times report as fake news. "I think it's fake news, OK? Now, would I do that? Absolutely. But we have not planned for that. Hopefully we're not going to have to plan for that. And if we did that, we'd send a hell of a lot more troops than that," Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday. 'Trump is getting sick of Bolton' Commenting to Press TV, American writer and political analyst Daniel Patrick Welch said he agrees with the Iranians who believe that the US is just attempting to scare Iran back to the table. He stated that the Pentagon hates Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's cowboy approach. "No way they would allow a huge influx of troops in the Middle East," he told Press TV on Tuesday. The analyst added, however, "they have no shortage of evil motives... and they have all played a part at some point in history." "Don't get me wrong," he continued, "there are no doves in the US political establishment when it comes to Iran, or any other country for that matter. War seems like good business and unquestioned policy for those on both sides of the aisle. But these are the real wackjobs. I mean, even Trump is getting sick of Bolton." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 6 civilians killed in Saudi strikes on Yemen's capital Iran Press TV Thu May 16, 2019 08:48AM At least six civilians, including children, have been killed and dozens of others wounded in multiple airstrikes by a Saudi Arabian-led coalition on various neighborhoods of Yemen's capital, Sana'a. According to Yemen's Arabic-language al-Masirah television network, Saudi-led fighter jets pounded various parts of the capital on Thursday, killing at least six civilians, four of whom were children from one family, and wounding dozens more. Medical officials said the death toll could rise due to the intensity of the strikes and the number of those who have been seriously injured. They added that there could be other civilians, dead or wounded, under the rubble. Most of the strikes targeted residential areas in Sana'a, the officials said. Warplanes also struck a building of Yemen's Ministry of Information, al-Masirah added. There were no immediate reports about possible casualties or the extent of the damage caused. Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the government of ex-president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power. According to a December 2018 report by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, the Saudi-led war has claimed the lives of over 60,000 Yemenis since January 2016. The war has also taken a heavy toll on the country's infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories. The UN said in a report in December 2018 that over 24 million Yemenis were in dire need of humanitarian aid, including 10 million suffering from extreme levels of hunger. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Yemeni retaliatory drone raids on Saudi Arabia had no links to Iran: Ansarullah Iran Press TV Thu May 16, 2019 07:24AM A senior member of the Houthi Ansarullah movement says Yemen's recent retaliatory drone strikes on a vital oil pipeline in Saudi Arabia were an act of self defense and had nothing to do with Iran, which the Riyadh regime and its allies falsely accuse of arming Yemeni forces. In a rare interview with the BBC on Wednesday, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, the chairman of the Supreme Revolutionary Committee of Yemen, said Yemeni forces used domestically-built drones to target the East-West oil pipeline, which runs from Saudi Arabia's oil-rich Eastern Province to the Red Sea. Iran, he added, had no role in the counter-attacks, which hit two pumping stations in the heart of the kingdom and forced oil giant Aramco to stop pumping crude on the vital 1,200-kilometer pipeline. He said Ansarullah forces have been defending the country against the Saudi-led invasion for four years, and that they were not acting "on behalf of Iran." He also dismissed as "ridiculous" claims that Iran provides Yemeni forces with missiles, saying "even a single piece of bread cannot get past the siege" imposed the Saudi-led coalition of aggressors against Yemen. Houthi further said that the retaliatory missile attacks against Saudi targets would be halted in case the Saudi-led military coalition ends its acts of aggression against the impoverished country. "We will decide on our own about this," he emphasized. The Saudi regime along with its allies accuses Iran of arming Yemen's Houthi Ansarullah movement against the kingdom. Tehran has invariably dismissed having ever armed the movement and any accusation of regional interference for that matter. Acting US Ambassador to the UN Jonathan Cohen whose country is the main supporter of the bloody Saudi war on Yemen recently repeated the same unfounded allegations against Iran, claiming that Tehran was "fueling" the war by "violating" the arms embargo. Saudi Arabia's deputy defense minister, Khalid bin Salman, also accused Iran Thursday of ordering the drone attacks. Leading a coalition of its allies, Saudi Arabia invaded Yemen in March 2015 in an attempt to reinstall the former regime of Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who had resigned amid popular discontent and fled to Riyadh. They have also imposed an all-out blockade against the already-poorest Arabian Peninsula state. The invasion, which has failed to achieve any of its goals, has reportedly killed over 56,000 people. The war has also taken a heavy toll on the country's infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories. Backed by allied forces, the Houthi movement has been defending the country against the Saudi-led aggression besides running state affairs in Sana'a in the absence of an effective government. It was not the first time that Yemeni forces used drones in their retaliatory raids, but Tuesday's drone raids, which hit deep inside the Saudi kingdom, was seen by analysts as a sign of a significant leap in the Yemeni army's drone capabilities. In an interview with Al Jazeera, retired Jordanian air force general Mamour al-Nowar said an un-stealthy aircraft was able to fly for several hours deep into Saudi Arabia, and was not detected and intercepted in a time of war, adding, this will ring alarm bells. "Their air defense system completely failed to handle such attacks" and the Houthis now have the ability "to reach Riyadh and Abu Dhabi," potentially paralyzing the country "if they hit desalination water pumping stations or the [almost built] nuclear plant in Abu Dhabi." On the day of the drone raids, Mohammad al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Political Council of the Houthi, movement described Yemeni drone strikes against strategic targets inside Saudi Arabia and the UAE as in line with the right of self defense, stating that Yemeni forces will cease such aerial assaults once the Riyadh and Abu Dhabi regime change course and put an end to their military aggression. Deputy Yemeni Minister of Information, Fahmi al-Yusufi, also said the drone strikes carry a clear message to Saudis. "They are within the range of our attacks, and US battle ships cannot rescue them. The Yemeni army, which previously did not even have Kalashnikov rifles in inventory, can now produce drones that infiltrate into Saudi Arabia and the UAE," he added. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 'Venezuela govt., opposition reps head for talks in Norway' Iran Press TV Thu May 16, 2019 06:35AM Representatives of the Venezuelan government and opposition have purportedly traveled to Norway for talks on resolving the political crisis in the Latin American country. Members of Venezuela's opposition-controlled congress, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said on Wednesday that senior figures from both sides had received separate invitations from a group of Norwegians and then departed to engage in what they described as "exploratory" discussions in Oslo, Reuters and the Associated Press both reported. According to the officials, the representatives include Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez on the Venezuelan government's side and Stalin Gonzalez, a leading member of the National Assembly, which is the now-defunct opposition-controlled congress. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro tacitly pointed to bilateral talks in Oslo in his televised remarks on Wednesday, saying that Rodriguez was "completing a very important mission abroad," without giving more details. Norway's Foreign Ministry said in March that it was ready to act as a mediator or facilitator of talks between the Venezuelan government and opposition. The negotiations came amid a political stalemate after months of street demonstrations and an opposition call for a military uprising. Venezuela has been shaken by political unrest in the past several months. In January, tensions worsened after opposition figure Juan Guaido, who is also president of the National Assembly, unilaterally declared himself "interim president" of Venezuela. The United States quickly accepted that self-proclamation and has since been working with Guaido. On April 30, a small group of armed troops accompanying Guaido clashed with soldiers at an anti-government rally in Caracas in an attempted coup that soon petered out. The administration of US President Donald Trump backed the attempted putsch; but Maduro, who has called Guaido a puppet of Washington, announced in a televised speech later in the day that the group of military personnel supporting Guaido had been defeated, and 25 renegade soldiers had sought refuge at the Brazilian Embassy in Caracas. Maduro slams 'violation' of Venezuelan Embassy in US Also on Wednesday, the Venezuelan president denounced the "violation" of the country's embassy in Washington after anti-coup activists who were in the building in support of his government were handed an eviction notice by police. The pro-Maduro activists, aiming to prevent representatives of the Venezuelan opposition from taking over the diplomatic mission, have been staying inside the embassy with the permission of the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry since late April. The US administration has also turned off water and electricity supplies to force the activists out of the diplomatic mission. Meanwhile, the US suspended all commercial passenger and cargo flights between America and Venezuela on Wednesday, claiming that the political unrest and tensions in the South American country posed a risk to flights. The US Department of Homeland Security said the conditions in Venezuela "threaten the safety and security of passengers, aircraft, and crew," and that the flight suspension would continue indefinitely. Maduro criticized the suspension of flights, saying the measure was an attack on freedom of movement. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.A.E. Vows Restraint After Attacks On Vessels Off Its Coast, Criticizes Iran May 16, 2019 The United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) has vowed to show restraint after attacks on oil tankers off its coast amid complaints that it is being "bullied by Iran." Foreign Minister Anwar Gargash on May 15 said he would not speculate on who was responsible for the attack on four ships off the coast of the U.A.E., including two Saudi oil tankers. However, he said that "Iranian behavior" was at the center of problems in the Persian Gulf region, mentioning concern about Iran's missiles and regional policies. "We have been bullied by Iran. We have seen aggressive Iranian action in the region," he said. But he added that "we need to emphasize caution and good judgment. It is easy to throw accusations, but it is a difficult situation." Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said the May 12 did not cause any casualties or an oil spill but led to significant damage to the structures of the two vessels. The U.A.E. Foreign Ministry said the four vessels had been targeted by "sabotage operations" off the port city of Fujairah, but it did not directly blame any party. The incident came amid heightened regional between the United States and Iran, with Washington saying it has received intelligence indicating a possible Iranian attack in the region. Iran has denied it was involved in the attack on the vessels. Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. are strong allies of the United States in the geopolitical battle against Shi'ite-led Iran in the region. Based on reporting by Reuters, AFP, and AP Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/uae-vows-restraint -after-attacks-on-vessels-off-its-coast- criticizes-iran/29943699.html Copyright (c) 2019. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Netherlands Mulls Resumption of Military Training Mission in Iraq - Reports Sputnik News 21:34 16.05.2019 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Netherlands is expected to resume its military training mission in northern Iraq on the weekend, media reported. According to Algemeen Dagblad, these plans were outlined in a government letter addressed to the Dutch House of Representatives. The German ARD broadcaster has reported that German military would also resume its mission in Iraq on the weekend. On Wednesday, media reported that the Netherlands had suspended its mission to train Iraqi servicemen over a security threat. Some 50 military experts from the Netherlands are currently training the Kurdish military in Erbil, capital of Iraq's northern Kurdistan region. There is also a small group of Dutch military in Baghdad. Germany also suspended its soldier training operation in Iraq following Washington's announcement that it was withdrawing all non-essential government staff from the region due to the rising tensions with Iran. The US State Department has ordered a partial evacuation of the US Embassy in Baghdad and the consulate in Erbil, claiming that it had received intelligence information about activities coming from Iraq's eastern neighbor, Iran, that posed a security threat to US facilities and personnel. Iran announced the suspension of certain commitments under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the nuclear deal, earlier this month, stating that the other signatories have a 60-day period to fulfil their obligations amid the US sanctions against the country. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Maduro's Minister, Guaido's Rep Meet in Norway for SECRET Talks Sputnik News 20:15 16.05.2019(updated 22:06 16.05.2019) Two weeks ago, opposition leader and self-proclaimed Venezuelan interim President Juan Guaido conducted a coup attempt in Caracas in a bid to rally the country's armed forces to oust elected President Nicolas Maduro. The attempt ultimately failed, as the Venezuelan military pledged loyalty to Maduro. Representatives of the government of elected Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and those of the opposition supporting self-proclaimed interim President Juan Guaido are meeting on neutral ground in Oslo, Norway to hold secret "exploratory discussions", according to local broadcaster NRK and several other media outlets. Maduro is being represented by Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez and a loyal state governor at the talks. Earlier, the Venezuelan president confirmed that Rodriguez had been sent on a "very important" mission, but didn't specify what it was. Venezuela's UN envoy has confirmed that the country is holding talks with "the democratic sectors of the opposition". Guaido is represented by opposition lawmaker Stalin Gonzalez and two political advisers. The Venezuelan top opposition figure has confirmed sending "some envoys" to Norway in a bid to "mediate" a resolution to the political crisis. Oslo has refused to comment on the reported secret talks between the Venezuelan government and opposition. Notably, Norway previously offered to act as a mediator in talks between the two sides in the political conflict. Although Oslo has expressed support for the Venezuelan opposition, it still hasn't recognised Guaido's claims to the presidency. A severe political crisis erupted in Venezuela after opposition leader Juan Guaido proclaimed himself an interim president and announced a goal to oust democratically elected President Nicolas Maduro. His claims were widely supported by Western states, but rejected by others, including Russia, China, and Turkey, which have supported Maduro. The crisis was accompanied by the US introducing several rounds of sanctions against the country and mulling a "military option" to resolve the crisis. The latter notion was also considered by Guaido, who requested consultations with the US Southern Command. Maduro has slammed Guaido as a "US-puppet" helping Washington to overthrow him. At the end of April, Guaido attempted to conduct a coup and called on country's army to support him. The military instead pledged loyalty to Maduro and the coup failed. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Unease as Norway Admits F-35 Bill May Prove Too Large for Armed Forces to Handle Sputnik News 19:12 16.05.2019(updated 19:13 16.05.2019) Oslo's decision to update its air fleet with F-35 fighter aircraft has been billed the single largest defence procurement in Norwegian history, but has run into one problem after another. Norwegian Defence Minister Frank Bakke-Jensen's admission that the bill for the 52 F-35s might be shared with branches outside the defence budget has triggered fears that it may compromise welfare and pensions, the Norwegian daily Klassekampen reported. As was previously reported by the newspaper Bergens Tidende, the total cost of Norway's new F-35 fleet could exceed initial calculations by as much as NOK 16 billion ($1.8 billion). This sum includes associated costs, including weapons and the construction of air bases at rland and Evenes. When the Norwegian parliament voted in favour of the aircraft, NOK 11 billion ($1.25 billion) was set aside in a so-called "uncertainty provision" in addition to the stated objective. As long as the extra expenses do not exceed NOK 11 billion, the parliament is not required to re-examine the combat aircraft case. However, the parliament did not specify how the potential extra expenses shall be covered. While the tacit understanding is that these costs shall be covered by the armed forces themselves, Frank Bakke-Jensen admitted that money may be taken from other parts of the budget. Despite challenging Bergens Tidende's calculation, Bakke-Jensen ventured that any additional costs could cause fresh funds to be pumped into the defence budget. "If there is a need to utilise the uncertainty provision, the government will consider this need for funding against other projects and other focus areas", Bakke-Jensen said, as quoted by Klassekampen. This admission has triggered fears that other parts of society will ultimately have to fork out for the F-35s. "What the government is now opening up to is covering the bill through additional funding. So the bill will be shouldered by other parts of society. It can mean sending it to welfare, pensioners or the poor", Socialist Left Party leader Audun Lysbakken warned. "They try to give this impression that it has never been intended to cover the bill, if increased, by the defence budget alone", he added. "The question is why they have been assuring us that the spending goal is within reach". Despite having drastically reduced the number of bases, Norway's air force has made massive investments in procuring new aircraft. With 52 F-35s, Norway is set to become one of Europe's foremost users of the US-made fighter jet, despite the project's well-documented flaws and skyrocketing costs. So far, Norway has received nine F-35 fighter aircraft, with an average price tag of NOK 1.375 billion apiece (roughly $160 million), with another seven still running tests in the US. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Five, Including One Indian Soldier Killed in Fierce Gun Battle in Kashmir Sputnik News 10:50 16.05.2019 The shootout began when Indian forces were conducting a search-and-cordon operation when suspected terrorists fired at them, leading to the encounter. The son of the house owner was also killed in the incident. New Delhi (Sputnik): In a fierce gunfight between security forces and terrorists that lasted over five hours, five people including an Indian soldier and a civilian were killed in Pulwama in southern Kashmir on Thursday. A local official told Sputnik that three alleged terrorists believed to be from Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) were killed in the gunfight that broke out shortly before dawn after the security forces launched a cordon-and-search operation in Dalipora. The gunfight broke out when the suspected terrorists opened fire after the security forces approached the house where they were hiding. A civilian identified as Rayees Ahmad Dar, believed to be the son of the house owner, was also killed in the shootout. His brother suffered injuries. Police said that two more soldiers and a civilian were injured in the incident. A huge cache of weapons were recovered. The internet has been blacked out in the area to avoid more violence. According to data available on the South Asia Terrorism Portal, at least 78 terrorists have been eliminated in counter-terror operations by Indian security forces in 2019. Additionally, some 59 soldiers and 14 civilians have been killed in terrorist attacks this year. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address New Arms Contracts With Venezuela Unlikely At Present - Russian Official Sputnik News 10:00 16.05.2019(updated 11:08 16.05.2019) MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The signing of new contracts on the supply of Russian weaponry to Venezuela is unlikely at this point due to the crisis in the Latin American country, Anatoly Punchuk, deputy director of Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC), said in an interview with Sputnik. According to Punchuk, the signing of new contracts on the supply of Russian weaponry to Venezuela is unlikely at this point due to the crisis in the Latin American country. "We currently see our task in maintaining the equipment we supplied earlier. Taking into account the crisis the country is experiencing, the signing of new contracts on the supply of ready-to-use weapons and military equipment is unlikely at present", he said ahead of the opening of the international defence technology exhibition SITDEF Peru 2019, that would open on Thursday. According to the Russian official, Venezuela is currently one of the largest operators of Russian-made military equipment in Latin America, and the Venezuelan Armed Forces are equipped with the most modern Russian weaponry, including aircraft, helicopters, air defence systems, and armoured vehicles. "I will not hide the fact that the sanctions imposed by the United States and Western European countries on Venezuela and Russian companies exporting military products have a negative impact on the development of military-technical cooperation between our countries. The United States is trying to use the blockade of the country to hamper the delivery of spare parts and units, which is a form of unfair competition on the arms market", Punchuk stressed. At the same time, he said that the construction of a plant to manufacture Kalashnikov assault rifles in Venezuela is proceeding on schedule, despite the blockade, organised by Washington having had a negative impact on the pace of its installation. According to previous reports, the completion of the plant is expected in 2019. US Pressure on Arms Sales FSMTC's deputy chief also noted that the sanctions applied by the United States and several European countries are one of the reasons for Russia's small order portfolio in the region. "The general value of the market for military purpose products in Latin America is rather significant and is estimated at between $40 and $50 billion. At the moment, the order portfolio of Russian enterprises is small and amounts to about several percent. This is due to the cyclical acquisition of equipment by countries in the region, limited budget financing as well as political pressure and sanctions by the US and several European countries", the Russian official explained. Punchuk noted Latin American countries were important defence industry cooperation partners of Russia. "A significant amount of weapons and military equipment, with which the national armies and security forces are equipped, was supplied in the course of interaction. This is due to the adaptability of our technology to the climate of the Latin American region", he stressed. Russian Aircraft Purchases Punchuk also told Sputnik that Argentina is interested in receiving additional batches of Mi-series helicopters from Russia, and Moscow hopes to conclude agreements for their purchase. "Our partners are interested in purchasing additional batches of Mi-series helicopters. We expect to convert the existing efforts in this segment into real agreements. Today, we and representatives of the foreign customer are focused on establishing a high-quality system of after-sales service of helicopters", he noted. According to him, Argentinian pilots also had an opportunity to learn about the MiG-29 fighter jet's capabilities during a familiarisation flight. "According to reviews, they were pleased with our machines. It is obvious that the solution to the issue of equipping the national air forces with foreign-made aircraft lies in the political sphere, and it's still premature to talk about the number of vehicles that we can deliver", the Russian official stated. Punchuk also noted that Peru had expressed interest in purchasing an additional batch of MiG-29 aircraft from Moscow. "The Peruvian Air Force already has MiG-29 jets today, and this equipment is actively used. The Peruvian military is interested in purchasing an additional batch of this type of plane. This is a priority issue on the agenda of Russian-Peruvian military-technical cooperation. Negotiations on this subject are ongoing", he said. In 2017, FSMTC's deputy chief said that Russia had prepared a response to Argentina's commercial offer on the purchase of over 15 MiG-29 fighter jets. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Venezuelan Gov't, Opposition Looking for Ways to Reconcile in Norway - Source Sputnik News 07:08 16.05.2019(updated 07:28 16.05.2019) CARACAS (Sputnik) A Venezuelan government commission, headed by Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez, is currently paying a visit to Norway in a bid to find possible ways for rapprochement with the opposition amid turmoil in the country, a source close to the talks said. "The process of searching for rapprochement is currently underway. The dialogue effort is being carried out with the help of Norway. But intermediaries are now only carrying out meetings with the sides," the source said when asked if any talks between the government and the Venezuelan opposition had taken place. On Wednesday, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro confirmed that Rodriguez was on a foreign trip with a "very important mission." The source said that the Information minister had been accompanied by Hector Rodriguez, the governor of the Miranda state, on his trip. The source, however, has not said who participated in the talks on the side of the opposition. Norway was among EU countries that have not endorsed opposition leader Juan Guaido as the Venezuelan interim president. Guaido illegally proclaimed himself the interim president in January, which led to turmoil in the South American country. The move by the opposition leader was immediately supported by the United States, followed by many Latin American countries, as well as many EU states. Russia, China and a number other countries supported Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro as the only legitimate leader of the country. In late April, tensions in Venezuela reached new peak, after the opposition attempted to carry out a coup to overthrow Maduro. However, the coup attempt failed. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Sudan: UN chief calls for 'positive momentum' as civilian rule talks stall between military and opposition 16 May 2019 - The UN Secretary-General has commended the progress made so far between Sudan's military leaders and opposition forces towards agreeing a timetable for a return to civilian rule, following the overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir just over a month ago. On Tuesday, the Transitional Military Council and the Declaration of Freedom and Change Forces, announced they had agreed a three-year transition period, but on Wednesday, the military reportedly announced that talks were being suspended for three days, demanding that protesters remove road blocks from a designated area of the capital Khartoum. According to news reports, some demonstrators were shot as soldiers tried to clear the barricades, following similar violence on Monday which left at least six dead. In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Antonio Guterres urged negotiators on both sides "to maintain the positive momentum and reach agreement on the remaining details." "The Secretary-General is committed to continue working with the African Union in support of this process," the statement continued. "The United Nations stands ready to support the Sudanese stakeholders in their efforts to build lasting and sustainable peace." The UN chief also stressed the "importance of upholding the human rights of all citizens and continuing to prioritize dialogue as a means to address outstanding differences. He also stresses the need to avoid any form of violence which could undermine the safety and security of the citizens as well as the stability of the country." Protests in Sudan against fuel and food prices began last December, and came to a head on 11 April, when military leaders announced that Mr. Bashir had been overthrown. Mass demonstrations have continued outside the army headquarters in the capital, demanding a return to civilian rule. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Fears of US War With Iran Weigh on Spain By Martin Arostegui May 16, 2019 Spain this week withdrew a frigate assigned to a U.S. navy task force ordered into the Persian Gulf. The decision is widely seen as reflecting persistent fears of Spain's socialist government about getting involved in a possible war with Iran. The government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez made the decision despite the risk of further straining frayed relations with the United States that could endanger major U.S. defense contracts with Spain's expanding naval industry. Spain's newest Class-100 frigate, the Mendez Nunez, was being showcased with the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier group under a cooperation agreement signed with Washington two years ago. Military relations between the United States and Spain have been governed through bilateral treaties that date back to the Cold War when the Franco government ceded important basing rights to U.S. forces, including the Rota Naval Base in Cadiz. Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles said the abrupt decision to pull out of the U.S. led naval group was made for "technical reasons" over what she said was the "variation" of its original course. But chief government spokesperson Isabel Celaa this week said the decision was based on "caution and prudence" over what she characterized as the "unpredictability" of U.S. President Donald Trump, who has made no secret the use of U.S. military force remains an option since Tehran announced that it would restart parts of its nuclear program. In announcing the evacuation of non-essential personnel from Iraq Wednesday, U.S. officials said there would be a response if Iran or its proxies target Americans. The European Union has urged a return to the terms of an international agreement negotiated with Iran four years ago by which Tehran halted development of nuclear weapons in exchange for the suspension of economic sanctions. EU governments, including Spain, have criticized the Trump administration for re-imposing some of the sanctions based on Tehran's continued ballistic missile testing and military meddling in Iraq and Syria. "Spain cannot accompany unilateral adventures undertaken without international authorization," said a defense analyst for Spain's official news channel RTVE, warning of possible "costs" for Spain if it became "implicated" in military actions against Iran. The Mendez Nunez was the only European warship sailing with the U.S. force when Washington ordered the Abraham Lincoln and nine U.S. destroyers and missile cruisers into the Persian Gulf. The Spanish frigate is equipped with the AEGIS surface-to-air missile system compatible with the U.S. fleet. The Spanish frigate remained in the Indian Ocean heading to India's port of Mumbai to await further orders from Madrid, as the U.S. ships sailed through the Straits of Hormuz earlier this week. In a lead editorial, the conservative newspaper La Razon criticized Spain's government, claiming it was jeopardizing vital military and commercial ties with the United States to appease Iran. U.S. missions to which the Spanish government has assigned Mendez Nunez to have included maneuvers in the south China sea that risked friction with Beijing, according to the newspaper. "American perceptions that Spain is not a country to be trusted when socialists are in power have received new impulse" said Spain's former ambassador to the United Nations, Inocencio Arias, recalling how the former socialist administration of Rodriguez Zapatero pulled Spanish troops out of Iraq after it had committed them to the U.S.-led multinational force that fought to remove Saddam Hussein in 2003. Orders to pull Mendez Nunez appear to have come directly from Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. Neither the U.S. embassy in Madrid nor the Spanish embassy in Washington were informed until after it was announced by the defense minister and communicated to the Pentagon, according to Spanish diplomatic sources. Foreign Minister Josep Borrel eluded questions from reporters Wednesday, saying he did not wish to be "drawn into a quick sand." The latest disagreement comes on the heels of other misalignments with the United States over Venezuela, Cuba, and the trade war with China. Defense analysts question decisions to prioritize EU interests in Iran over lucrative defense contracts with the United States, which is negotiating the purchase of 20 Class-100 frigates being jointly produced by the Spanish ship builder Navantia and General Dynamics. The United States has maintained official silence on the issue of Spain's decision to withdraw its frigate. But the situation could escalate into an open quarrel if Madrid interferes with U.S. use of its Spanish bases that would be vital in any sustained military operations against Iran. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Venezuela's Guaido Confirms He Sent Negotiators to Norway By VOA News May 16, 2019 Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido confirmed Thursday he sent a team of negotiators to Norway to help mediate the crisis in the South American country but denied they were in talks with representatives of President Nicolas Maduro's government. Guaido said at a political rally in Caracas "some envoys in Norway" were "trying to mediate" the political and economic crisis in Venezuela. It was the first official confirmation that talks were being attempted between the two sides after a months-long power struggle. Representatives of the Venezuelan government and the opposition are in Norway. Venezuelan officials said Wednesday Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez is representing President Maduro, while lawmaker Stalin Gonzalez is leading the opposition delegation. Maduro said Rodriguez was on "a very important mission" abroad during a televised speech Wednesday, but did not provide any details. The negotiations are being held after the military failed to heed a call on April 30 by Guaido to rise up against Maduro. Guaido, the leader of the National Assembly, declared himself president earlier this year after the opposition-majority legislature determined Maduro won another term in a fraudulent election. The United States and about 50 other countries recognize Guaido as Venezuela's legitimate president. Venezuela has put the U.S. at odds with Russia -- which has supplied military equipment to the Maduro regime -- and Cuba, which the U.S. accuses of placing pro-Maduro troops on the ground in Venezuela. Also on Wednesday, the U.S. has suspended all commercial flights between the U.S. and Venezuela. U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said she, along with the secretaries of state and homeland security, has determined conditions exist in Venezuela "that threaten the safety or security of passengers, aircraft, or crew." Many international airlines, including those in the United States, have already stopped flying to and from Venezuela because of the political upheaval. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Sudanese Military Suspends Talks with Civilian Protest Leaders By VOA News May 16, 2019 Sudan's ruling military council has suspended talks with civilian protest leaders on a transitional government after at least eight people were wounded in an apparent clash with security forces in Khartoum on Wednesday. General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan announced Thursday that negotiations have been suspended for 72 hours in the aftermath of the shooting, which he blamed on protesters who had refused to remove barricades at key roads in the capital city. The barricades were first erected last month at the start of sit-ins that grew from street protests demanding the ouster of longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir. The military ended Bashir's 30-year rule on April 11, but the sit-ins and barricades have remained, with protesters demanding the military hand over power to a civilian government. Sudan's Transitional Military Council and the civilian protest leaders had agreed on the main structure of a transitional government before the talks were suspended. The deal called for a three-year transitional power-sharing agreement including three councils to run the government sovereign, ministries, and legislative.The opposition Declaration of Freedom and Change Forces would hold two-thirds of the seats in the 300-seat parliament. But there is no agreement yet on which side civilians or the military will have a majority in the ruling sovereign council until elections in 2022. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Sudanese Protesters Divided Over Barricade Removal Order By Jason Patinkin May 16, 2019 Arguments, shouting matches, and physical tussles broke out late Wednesday among Sudanese protesters over the positioning of barricades surrounding a sit-in in the capital Khartoum, where thousands of demonstrators have camped since April 6. The barricades, built from rock and twisted metal, protect the sit-in, which is intended to pressure the leaders of a military coup that ousted long-time dictator Omar al-Bashir on April 11. The protesters have been demanding coup-leaders, known as the Transitional Military Council, hand over power to a civilian government. But now the barriers have become the source of disagreement among the protesters and a target of violence. On Monday night, 77 people were shot at the barricades with four deaths, doctors said. Protest leaders blamed Rapid Support Forces, a government-backed militia, for the violence.On Wednesday, eight people were wounded when RSF soldiers sprayed bullets at youth who refused to take down their barricades, protesters and a doctor said. Also Wednesday, the Sudan Professionals Association, which leads the protest, ordered barricades pulled back to the original limits of the sit-in on April 6 in hopes of preventing further violence. During the past week, the barricades had pushed west along major streets in downtown Khartoum, approaching the Presidential Palace and closing traffic on two major bridges over the Nile River. Not all protesters agree with the order to pull back and give up ground, leading to what appears to be the first major disagreement within the months-long protest movement. "They keep asking us to remove one barricade after another, and eventually it'll reach the sit-in. These people shot at us earlier today. I haven't even broken my [Ramadan] fast today protecting this barricade," said 19-year-old Salah Jelani, who worked at an ice factory before joining the protesters at a barricade near Mek Nir Street. "Why don't we just let them in if we're going to remove road blocks?" he asked. "That way they can come all the way in and kill us all and the Bashir regime can come back and take power." Jelani said the roadblocks were especially important because Sudan's army, which protected protesters against attacks by Bashir loyalists last month, would not intervene during the past week, when the RSF attacked. "We stand with the SPA. We're not against what they say," he said. "But those barricades, we want them because when we were being attacked and went to the army for help, they said they needed orders to intervene. So we need those barricades." This week's violence overshadowed what appeared to be progress in talks between Sudan's ruling Transitional Military Council and protest leaders over formation of a government. Talks on hold Wednesday, the Military Council put the negotiations on indefinite hold. The two sides are at odds over whether civilians or the military should dominate the next government before fresh elections in three years. Protester Senna Ibrahim Al-Hassan said they shouldn't have to remove roadblocks. "If the president wants these roadblocks removed, he should give us a civilian government. We deserve a civilian government. We can't just remove the roadblocks and every two days be attacked." Further up the street, Iman Karoom, a mechanical engineer, said he understands his comrades' concerns. "These people have seen their brothers standing with them this morning get shot, so it's natural to be against the roadblocks being removed," he said. But Karoom also expressed confidence that backing down was the right decision. "Since April 6 we've done everything with instructions from the SPA," he said. "We've managed to get into heavy militarized areas through their instructions and planning, so what we want to do is go as far as we can through their instructions. They've gotten us this far, they're not going to let us down." RSF militia Karoom added the bigger problem was the RSF militia, which has a reputation for indiscipline and is accused of committing mass atrocities in Sudan's Darfur region. They need to be reformed from the core if they're going to be among us," he said. "If not, then move them to the borders where they don't get to interact with the general public." Ahmed Ali Habok, a communications engineer, voiced another reason for removing the roadblocks. "It's a good idea for the ones on Mek Nimr Street to be taken down, because Mek Nimr Street provides access to the hospital," he said. "I've got family that needs to use it for the hospital. The barricades are not being taken down completely, but these have been removed for people to be able to move." Despite the opposition, most barricades beyond the April 6 limits had been dismantled by early Thursday. But protesters warned they could put them back up just as quickly if needed. Saddiq Ahmed al-Saddiq, a trader, sat on a pile of bricks waiting to remove the barricade. "We've reached 90% of what we want there's 10% left," he said. "If we get the 10% we need, fantastic. If not, we will expand the roadblocks again even bigger than before." With talks on hold and the RSF still in Khartoum, protesters at the downsized sit-in will have to wait and see if their leaders made the right decision. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address EU Elections: Populists Hope to Do Well in Suburbs By Jamie Dettmer May 16, 2019 The winners and losers in European Parliament elections next week are likely to be determined in the suburbs of the continent's cities, which are turning into three-way electoral battlegrounds. The elections are being seen as a moment of truth for an array of anti-migrant nationalist populist parties, which hope to reverse European integration. Establishment Conservatives are hoping they can shore up their support in the suburbs in the face of strong challenges from left-wing progressives and nationalist populists, who have been campaigning against EU integration and for a "Europe of Fatherlands." Populists are forecast to make significant gains in the May 23-26 elections and to grab votes from the dominant center-right parties aligned with the European People's Party (EPP). The election is expected to result in a more divided Parliament with a reduced pro-EU majority. A third of the lawmakers in the 751-seat body could end up being drawn from euroskeptic populist parties, which oppose increasing EU power. On Thursday, European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker expressed his alarm at the prospect, warning in an interview with the Austrian Der Standard newspaper that the EU could be "incapacitated" as a result. "I see this election as serene and calm, but deeply concerning, because I see the margins of the political spectrum questioning the European project," he said. In Britain, which will be holding possibly its last election ever for the European Parliament, Nigel Farage's Brexit Party is forecast to win a majority of the British seats, according to polls. In France, Marine Le Pen's Rassemblement National is aiming to repeat its 2014 performance, when it won the most French seats in that year's elections. Most media attention on the elections has focused on rural and so-called "left-behind" towns and post-industrial regions, where populists fare well and where the fear of migration runs the strongest. Or coverage has focused on the big cities, the cosmopolitan strongholds of centrists and left-wing progressives. But it is in the suburbs where the most decisive electoral struggle is being waged, say pollsters and analysts. The established parties of the center right have traditionally done well in the suburbs, but in national elections they've seen an erosion of support in recent years. In last month's Spanish parliamentary elections the center-right vote fragmented in the suburbs of Madrid and other big cities. In the French presidential elections in 2017 Emmanuel Macron's centrist La Republique En Marche had some of its fiercest skirmishes with populists in the Parisian suburbs. "As so often, Europe's populists have a sense of where the wind is blowing. They cultivate the edge of the cities," Britain's Economist magazine observed. In the run-up to next week's election, major populist player Matteo Salvini, Italy's deputy prime minister and leader of the far-right Lega party, has focused a lot of his campaigning in suburban Italy. Salvini himself is a child of the Milanese suburbs. He isn't alone in the top ranks of populist parties in Europe to come from the suburbs. The 23-year-old Jordan Bardella, who Marine Le Pen handpicked to head her party's Euro-election campaign, also comes from suburban France in his case the Parisian suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis, where he was raised by a single mother. The shift in suburban political allegiances in Italy is epitomized in Rome's Municipality 5, a suburban district that stretches from the city's ancient wall at Porta Maggiore all the way out to the city's ring road known as the Grande Raccordo Anulare. Traditionally a working-class district, it has gentrified in parts, and until 2016 was seen as a left-wing stronghold. Since then, though, the left has been pushed back into third place in local elections with Salvini's Lega and its coalition partner, the anti-establishment Five Star Movement battling for the top-spot. "Twenty-first century European politics has ceased to be about class or the countryside versus cities and urban dwellers. It is now about identity," according to Denis MacShane, a former British Europe minister. With European politics now divided more on socio-cultural lines rather than socio-economic ones, it isn't surprising that the suburbs, which tend to have an older demographic, have become highly competitive electorally, say analysts. In The Netherlands, the populist radical right Party for Freedom (PVV) fared well in the April 2017 national parliamentary elections in municipalities surrounding the city of Rotterdam, which have seen a decline in young people and a spike in migrants. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pentagon Awards $787Mln for Border Wall Construction Projects Sputnik News 05:54 16.05.2019 WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Two US construction firms won more than $787 million combined to help build a wall on the southern border with Mexico, the Defence Department said in a press release. "Southwest Valley Constructors [of] Albuquerque, New Mexico was awarded a $646,000,000 contract for design and build of Tucson [Arizona] Sector barrier wall," the release said on Wednesday. BFBC LLC from the US state of Montana was awarded nearly $142 million to design and build vehicle and pedestrian barriers for projects in El Centro, California and Yuma, Arizona, the release added. The Department of Defence has redirected earlier $1.5 billion in funds in order to help pay for the construction of 80 miles of wall along the US-Mexico border to tackle illegal immigration crisis. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Navy might convert airliner into surveillance plane: report Global Times By Liu Xuanzun Source:Global Times Published: 2019/5/16 22:44:10 The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy might acquire a type of domestically developed airliner and convert it into a maritime surveillance aircraft, as military analysts said on Thursday the move could rapidly boost China's naval surveillance capability at a low cost. The PLA Navy may have the new Modern Ark 60 (MA60) search and guidance aircraft in its arsenal of special-mission aircraft, Weihutang, a column on the military affiliated with China Central Television, reported on Wednesday. Citing a Tuesday notice released on the Chinese military's weapon and equipment procurement website weain.mil.cn, the report said the PLA Navy is procuring electro-optical detection units, communication relay units, navigation units and BeiDou transceivers for the MA60. Developed by Xi'an Aircraft Industry (Group) Company Ltd under the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China, the twin turboprop MA60 was designed to be a regional airliner that uses advanced but mature technologies, according to the company's website. Wei Dongxu, a Beijing-based military analyst, told the Global Times on Thursday that once customized with the likes of sea surface search radars and electro-optical detection equipment, the MA60 can cover a considerably large sea area and conduct surveillance missions on vessels. Special-mission aircraft plays an important role in high sea surveillance and intelligence gathering, making them a focus of development by navies around the world, the Weihutang report said. China uses special-mission variants of the Y-8 and Y-9 transport aircraft to conduct such missions, but their numbers are limited, the report noted. Military observers said the possible commissioning of the MA60 could quickly fill the gap and help the PLA Navy cover China's vast territorial waters, especially in the South China Sea and East China Sea. The MA60 uses very mature technologies and has a high cost performance, Wei said, noting that its maintenance is likely less complicated than designated warplanes, making it more suitable on island bases. Although its range, endurance and surveillance capability might not be as good as those of the Y-8-based special-mission aircraft, they can complement each other, Wei said. Since 2005, more than 100 MA60 regional airliners have been sold to countries along the routes of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, including Laos, Cambodia, Nepal and Zimbabwe, according to State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China's Huawei hits back after US blacklisting Iran Press TV Thu May 16, 2019 07:09AM Chinese telecom giant Huawei has lambasted as "unreasonable" US President Donald Trump's declaration of a national emergency to ban telecommunications equipment from "foreign adversaries" that is perceived to pose a national security risk. "If the US restricts Huawei, it will not make the US safer, nor will it make the US stronger. It will only force the US to use inferior and expensive alternative equipment, lagging behind other countries... and ultimately harming US companies and consumers," said Huawei Technologies Co Ltd in a statement carried by the state-run Global Times, on Wednesday. The statement came a few hours after Trump stepped up his battle against the world's biggest manufacturer of telecommunications equipment on Wednesday, when he signed an executive order that effectively bars Huawei from the US market. The order invokes the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which gives the American president the authority to regulate commerce in response to what is believed to be a national emergency that threatens the United States. The order gives the Department of Commerce 150 days to draw up a plan for enforcement. The department said in a statement that it had added Huawei and 70 affiliates to its "Entity List," preventing the firm from purchasing parts and components from American companies without US government approval. Trump's order did not mention specific countries or companies by name but it was clear that it took aim at Huawei, which has been accused by the White House of spying through its sophisticated 5G technology for the Chinese government, an allegation strongly denied by both the firm and Beijing. Washington has not yet provided any evidence to support the espionage allegation. Elsewhere in its statement, Huawei said that it was willing to "communicate with the US to ensure product security." It also warned that the order infringed on Huawei's rights and could lead to serious legal battles down the road. On Thursday and in response to Trump's controversial order, Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang slammed the US actions against "specific Chinese companies" as "disgraceful and unjust." "We urge the US side to stop oppressing Chinese companies under the pretext of security concerns and provide a fair, just, and non-discriminatory environment for their normal investment and operation," he added. In August last year, Trump also signed a bill that barred the US government itself from using Huawei equipment. Back in early December last year, Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer and the daughter of its founder, Ren Zhengfei, was arrested in Canada at the request of the US on charges of bank and wire fraud in violation of US sanctions against Iran. The company has denied the US accusations and says the concerns are unfounded. Critics of the US say that its motive in attacking Huawei is not because it is a genuine security threat but because it is a rival in a crucial sector of the world economy in which America has enjoyed supremacy for decades. The order comes at a sensitive time in US-China relations, as the world's two largest economies have been locked for almost a year in an escalating trade war. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Huawei Warns US Over Ban on Rollout of 5G Technology By Bill Ide May 16, 2019 One day after the United States effectively banned Chinese telecom titan Huawei from building next-generation "5G" mobile networks in the United States, the company warned the move would harm American workers. "It will do significant harm to the American companies with which Huawei does business," the company said, and "affect tens of thousands of American jobs." The company added it would quickly "find a resolution" to the ban and work to "mitigate" its impact. On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order that bars American companies from using telecommunications equipment made by companies that pose a national security risk. The order, which declares a national emergency, is the first step toward formalizing a ban on doing business with Huawei. The United States also warned other countries about Huawei's national security risks. Huawei has been making extraordinary pledges to win over its critics and dispel allegations that it is a security threat. The company has said it will quit its business if forced to spy on its customers and its company chairman Liang Hua has offered to sign "no spy" agreements as well. Speaking through an interpreter during a visit to London, Liang said Huawei is willing "to commit ourselves to making our equipment meet the no-spy, no-backdoors standard." It is unclear what Liang means by "no-spy, no-backdoors" since Huawei, like all technology companies, requires users to sign agreements acknowledging that the company may share their personal information if required by local authorities. Most technology companies, such as Google and Facebook, disclose these government information requests in regular public reports. The companies explain when they comply with the government requests and when they challenge them in court. Sharing data with Beijing? There is no information about what data Huawei hands over to Beijing authorities. If Chinese officials determine a matter involves "state secrets" or a criminal investigation, officials can legally justify intercepting any communication. Critics say Beijing defines "state secrets" so loosely that it can cover virtually anything. In his comments to reporters, Liang says Huawei does not act on behalf of China's government in any international market. According to Reuters, he also denies that China's laws require companies to "collect foreign intelligence for the government or plant back doors for the government." Liang added that Huawei is also committed to following the laws and regulations of every country where it does business. Independent business or state organ? Huawei says it has signed 40 contracts to build 5G networks, more than 20 of which are in Europe. It has already shipped 70,000 base stations for installation, all to locations outside of China. Base stations are a key component of the infrastructure needed to build the new network. Huawei spokesperson Joe Kelly that maintaining the trust of its customers is key to the company's continued success. "Today, with 4 billion people around the world [using our products], at the scale at which we operate, if we were installing back doors and taking data, our carriers would be aware, they would see it for themselves and then they would stop doing business with us," he said. In the 5G debate, Huawei has voiced its willingness to stake the company's continued success on its commitment to security. U.S. officials have suggested that if countries choose to trust Huawei for their 5G network, Washington may reassess sharing information with them. The executive order that was signed by President Trump on Wednesday not only paves the way for a formal ban on Huawei from building networks in the United States. According to the Commerce Department, Huawei and 70 other affiliates will be added to what is called an "Entity List," which will make it more difficult for the company and other entities to buy parts and components from U.S. businesses. Joyce Huang contributed to this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address France Has Not Beefed Up Patrols in Persian Gulf Amid Iran Tensions - Army Chief Sputnik News 12:00 16.05.2019(updated 13:11 16.05.2019) Four ships, including two Saudi oil tankers, were targeted off the United Arab Emirates, said the two countries on Sunday and Monday, without further details on the circumstances or suspected perpetrators. The Saudis have denounced an attempt to jeopardise the security of global oil deliveries. A spokesperson for the current Chief of Staff of the French Army has said that Paris has not increased surveillance in the Persian Gulf as far as he is aware. The spokesman, Colonel Patrick Steiger, said at a press conference at the Ministry of Defence that no conclusion had been reached about the alleged sabotage operations against Saudi and Emirati ships in the Gulf. According to Steiger, French experts are currently involved in an investigation into the alleged operations. The statement comes as photos of Iranian missiles on small boats in the Persian Gulf emerged stoking concerns that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps would fire them at US naval ships. Earlier today The New York Times quoted three White House officials as saying the overhead images showing fully assembled missiles had prompted Washington to ramp up its rhetoric against Tehran. The State Department on Wednesday ordered a partial evacuation of the United States Embassy in Baghdad and a consulate in Iraqi Kurdistan amid tensions in the region. The move was followed by Germany's decision to halt its participation in the Iraqi military training programme due to heightened tensions in the region. Echoing the move, the Netherlands also suspended its mission in Iraq citing the security threat. Iran announced the suspension of certain commitments under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the nuclear deal, earlier this month, stating that the other signatories have a 60-day period to fulfil their obligations amid the US sanctions against the country. France has urged Tehran to keep its end of the deal, noting that sanctions could be imposed by European counties if Iran fails to comply with the agreement. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran oil 'leverage' in China's trade talks with US Global Times By Chu Daye Source:Global Times Published: 2019/5/16 20:38:40 Purchases are legitimate action by sovereign country, analyst says China's purchases of Iranian oil will be leverage against the US in the trade talks between the world's two largest economies, which have stalled, Chinese analysts said on Thursday. As a commodity, crude oil can be a significant contributor to reduce the US trade deficit with China, which reached 570.2 billion yuan ($84.17 billion) during the first four month of the year. Exporting crude oil also fits into US President Donald Trump's global energy ambition. However, Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, told the Global Times on Thursday that China's purchases of Iranian crude oil will be linked to the trade talks between the US and China. The trade talks suffered a major setback this week after China unveiled its countermeasures with proposed tariffs on US products worth $60 billion in response to earlier US tariff actions. "If the talks go well, China could buy less Iranian oil. If not, China could buy more Iranian oil," Lin said. China is the world's biggest energy user and the Chinese market has been targeted by a number of US energy exporters. The comments came after the International Energy Agency said on Wednesday that rising US output will offset falling exports from Iran and Venezuela. It also came amid rising tension in the Persian Gulf. Crude output in Iran dropped 130,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 2.61 million bpd in April, just before the expiration of US sanctions waivers on eight major Iranian oil buyers, according to media reports. China said it opposes unilateral US sanctions against Iran and will defend the rights of its companies. China increased imports of Iranian crude in April. Chinese importers have been avoiding purchases from the US because of ongoing trade fight. China's tariffs announced on Monday also targeted US-origin natural gas. "The vacuum left by Iran and Venezuela can easily be filled by Russia and Saudi Arabia, which now restrict their production under a pact," Lin said. "China will continue to buy crude from Iran, as this is the legitimate pursuit of a sovereign country, although in the short term buying may be halted for a short period of time," said Li Li, director of research at the Shanghai-based research and consulting firm ICIS China. "China will not act in response to US threats. In the trade war, Iran is leverage for China," Li told the Global Times. China was a leading buyer of US crude oil in 2017, but only imported 1.64 million barrels of US crude in the six months to March, compared with 60.5 million barrels in the preceding six months, according to Bloomberg. Experts said that continued low demand from China will hamper US investment in the oil and gas sectors. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Putin urging Iran to stick to nuclear deal IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Moscow, May 16, IRNA -- Russian President Vladimir Putin says that he has been urging Iran's leadership to stick to the nuclear deal, despite the US withdrawal from it. Putin, who was meeting Austria's president in Russia's Sochi, told reporters on Wednesday that the 2015 nuclear accords 'are coming apart' but that he has been advising Iranian leaders to adhere to them no matter what the United States does, AP reported. The Russian leader said that after US President Donald Trump pulled out of the Iran deal with world powers, 'Europe can't do anything to save it' and that if Iran begins to backtrack on its commitments, 'everyone will end up blaming it all on Iran'. Putin said Russia was glad to help mediate the deal and would be willing to help in the future, but he added that Russia 'is not a rescue squad' and cannot fix 'everything that doesn't depend on us entirely'. 8072**2050 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump says he hopes US does not go to war with Iran Iran Press TV Thu May 16, 2019 06:18PM President Donald Trump has said he hopes the United States does not go to war with Iran, amid escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran over the Trump administration's hegemonic policy towards the Islamic Republic. "I hope not," Trump said on Thursday at the White House when asked about the prospects of a military confrontation with Tehran before his meeting with Swiss President Ueli Maurer, whose country serves as the Protecting Power of the US in Iran since May 21, 1980. The president's terse response comes amid reports that he is angry at his National Security Advisor John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other hawks in his administration who are pushing the United States into a military confrontation with Iran. Last week, Trump grew angry and about what he sees as warlike planning that is getting ahead of his own thinking, according to a senior administration official with knowledge of conversations Trump had regarding Bolton and Pompeo. The New York Times reported on Monday that Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan put forward a plan which he had updated on Bolton's orders last week in a meeting of top national security officials that envisions deploying some 120,000 American troops to the Middle East region "should Iran attack American forces or accelerate work on nuclear weapons." Trump rejected the New York Times report as fake news. 'Only Congress can declare war' Lawmakers, however, in both parties are growing more concerned about heightened tensions between Iran and the United States, urging Trump to keep them updated about his next step. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she wanted the entire Congress to be briefed by next week about what the Trump administration calls military threats from Iran. "We're hoping that for sure that before the break we will have a classified briefing on the Middle East, on Iran before the full House of Representatives," Pelosi said at a press conference on Capitol Hill on Thursday. "The responsibility in the Constitution is for Congress to declare war," she said. "So I hope that the president's advisers recognize that they have no authorization to go forward in any way." Pompeo left the door slightly ajar for military action when about the issue after a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Tuesday. "We fundamentally do not seek a war with Iran," he said. "We have also made clear to the Iranians that if American interests are attacked, we will most certainly respond in an appropriate fashion... We are looking for Iran to behave like a normal country." He had suggested last month that Trump had the power to wage war under the Authorization to Use Military Force legislation. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran FM rules out possibility of talks with US Iran Press TV Thu May 16, 2019 03:45PM Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif rules out any prospect of negotiation with the United States, calling the Washington regime a "bully" trying to force all others into acting illegally. Zarif made the remarks to the Japanese media on Thursday during a visit to the country, reported the Kyodo News agency, which was represented at the presser. "No, there is no possibility for negotiations," Zarif said, when asked about whether he would be open to holding bilateral talks aimed at easing tensions between Tehran and Washington. "This is the first time in history that a bully is telling everybody else, important countries, that 'I'm going to punish you if you observe something that I do not like," he stated. "Let us assume that a bully is standing in a cross section on the street and telling everybody, 'If you don't pass the red light, I'm going to beat you.' This is exactly what the US is telling them," he exemplified. The US has been deploying a policy of "maximum pressure" against Iran under President Donald Trump. Employing the policy, Washington left a multilateral nuclear deal, reached between Iran and the six major powers -- the US, UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany, last year. It then reinstated the sanctions that had been lifted under the accord, and began threatening the countries not abiding by the bans with "secondary sanctions." The moves came while the nuclear deal has been ratified in the form of a United Nations Security Council resolution, making Washington culpable for violating international law. "This is economic terrorism, pure and simple," Zarif asserted. Zarif also criticized the European sides to the agreement for not fully fulfilling their commitments and Japan for going along with the US sanctions despite publicly supporting the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). "I have to stress that it is important for all other members of the JCPOA to take serious account of their continued failure, because Europe unfortunately, while supporting [the] JCPOA verbally, has not been able to take any action. Unfortunately, our Japanese partners also have not taken action to implement [the] JCPOA," he said. Last November, the US enforced sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic's banking and energy sector. However, it granted waivers to eight countries, including Japan, allowing them to temporarily continue buying Iranian oil without facing US sanctions. The White House, however, said in a statement issued on April 22 that the US president decided not to renew the waivers for the eight major buyers of Iranian oil. Also in his remarks, the Iranian foreign minister also negated the possibility of any prisoner swap with the US under the current circumstances, citing a number of preconditions set by Washington. "[The United States] is not in a position to impose preconditions on Iran," he noted. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran not seeking escalation in region, but will defend itself: Tehran's UN envoy Iran Press TV Thu May 16, 2019 03:34PM Tehran's ambassador to the United Nations says Iran will not take steps towards the escalation of tensions in the Middle East, but will stand ready to defend itself against any act of aggression, as the US builds up its military presence in the region amid tensions with Tehran. In an interview with America's National Public Radio (NPR) released on Thursday, Majid Takht-e Ravanchi said a military conflict in the Middle East will be in the interest of no one, neither the United States nor Iran and other regional states. "We are not interested in the escalation of tensions in our region, because if something goes wrong, everybody will lose, including Iran, including the US, including all the countries in the region," said the senior diplomat. Takht-e Ravanchi added that Iran does not consider war as "an option," but it will have to be prepared to face any action against its forces and defend the country's territorial integrity and sovereignty. He also referred to remarks by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei that Iran was not after a military confrontation, saying, "We are not going to prepare anything for a conflict and this is being said at the highest level of our system." Tensions mounted between Tehran and Washington last May, when US President Donald Trump pulled his country out of a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran named the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and re-imposed harsh bans against the Islamic Republic in defiance of global criticisms. Those tensions saw a sharp rise on the first anniversary of Washington's exit from the deal as the US moved to ratchet up the pressure on Iran by tightening its oil sanctions and sending military reinforcements, including an aircraft carrier strike group, a squadron of B-52 bombers, and a battery of patriot missiles, to the Middle East. On May 5, National Security Advisor John Bolton an ardent Iran hawk said the deployment was in response to a "troubling and escalatory indications" of Iranian activity in the region, without giving details or evidence to support the claims. Iran's UN envoy further dismissed such allegations as "fake" and said Tehran was "doing everything possible to lower the tension in the region, but unfortunately, there are certain people both in Washington as well as in our region" who are attempting to fan the flames and provoke a conflict. Iran's nuclear moves 'no breach of JCPOA' Elsewhere, Takht-e Ravanchi touched on Tehran's latest decision to suspend some of its commitments under the JCPOA in response to Washington's unilateral exit from the pact to which France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China are also signatories. On May 8, the day the US announced it was leaving the Iran deal last year, Iran notified the remaining parties of its decision to halt some of its commitments a year after they failed to make effective strikes towards protecting Iranian interests against US sanctions a requirement under the JCPOA. Tehran set a 60-day deadline for them to fulfill their end of the bargain take practical measures to blunt the impact of the sanctions, especially those targeting Iran's banking and energy sectors. Takht-e Ravanchi a former nuclear negotiator said Tehran's decision was not in breach of the JCPOA and was in accordance with its legal rights under Articles 26 and 36 of the accord. Contrary to what it may seem, he added, the suspension was meant to keep the deal alive. He was echoing comments by President Hassan Rouhani, who said on May 8 that the JCPOA was in need of a "surgery" meant to restore balance between Tehran's rights and obligations. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran: US decision to pull diplomats out of Iraq over 'Iran threat' mere propaganda war Iran Press TV Thu May 16, 2019 01:39PM Tehran's mission to the UN has rejected as a mere "propaganda war" America's decision to pull its diplomats out of Iraq amid claims of heightened "threats" from Iran, emphasizing that the Islamic Republic poses threat to no one neither in Iraq nor elsewhere in the world. In a travel advisory issued early on Wednesday, the US State Department ordered "non-emergency US government employees" in Iraq to leave its embassy in Baghdad and its consulate in Erbil, the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region. The advisory did not mention Iran, but senior State Department officials said the move was because of an "imminent threat" from Iranian "proxies" based on what they claimed to be increased intelligence reporting received within the past week. The evacuation order also followed as a series of warnings by American officials over the past 10 days about unspecified "escalatory action" by Iran. Rejecting the claims, Iran's Permanent Mission to the United Nations said Washington's measure was "the latest episode in America's propaganda war against Iran based on fake intelligence reports." Iran "is a threat to no one, neither in Iraq nor in other place, and has no intention of launching attacks anywhere," the mission. "As history shows, Iran solely acts to defend itself and has no offensive strategy against other states." The mission further emphasized that the Iranian nation will not buckle under the new propaganda war." Key Iraqi military groups react Washington's claims were also dismissed by Iraq's Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba and Asaib Ahl al-Haq, two key military groups known for their active role in the national army's Iran-backed counter-terrorism operations. Iran provided advisory assistance to the Iraqi army and its allied popular forces in those operations that led to the collapse of the Takfiri Daesh terror group in the neighboring Arab state in late 2017. Nasr al-Shomari, a commander for the Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, told AFP that the claim was "a pretext" by Washington to create "an uproar" in Iraq. The head of the Asaib Ahl al-Haq group, Layth al-Azari, also said the allegations were part of a "psychological war" by the US. Earlier this month, hawkish US National Security Advisor John Bolton said that Washington was preparing for possible attacks by Iran or its allied forces in the region. Citing those "threats," Washington sent military reinforcements to the region, including an aircraft carrier strike group, a squadron of B-52 bombers, and a battery of patriot missiles. The US has provided no evidence to support its claims of Iranian threats, which have been disputed both by senators at homes and its allies in Europe. A British deputy commander in the Washington-led coalition purportedly fighting the Daesh terror group in the Middle East rejected the risk of such an attack. "There's been no increased threat from Iranian backed forces in Iraq and Syria," Major General Chris Ghika told reporters Wednesday. "We're aware of their presence, clearly, and we monitor them, along with a whole range of others because that's the environment we're in." Meanwhile, Germany's Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Wednesday that he made it clear to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a meeting in Brussels earlier this week that Washington's unilateral strategy of increasing pressure against Iran was ill-advised. Inside the US, bipartisan senators urged the administration of US President Donald Trump to explain why it had decided to partially evacuate Washington's diplomatic missions in Iraq and brief them on the alleged threats from Iran. In an interview with the NBC news last week, Iran's Ambassador to the UN Majid Takht-e Ravanchi rejected statements from the Trump administration that Tehran posed a heightened danger to US interests in the region. "These are all allegations which are being produced by the same people who, in the run-up to the US invasion of Iraq, did the same," Ravanchi said in an apparent reference to Bolton, who worked in the administration of ex-US president George W. Bush during the Washington-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iraq 'will not allow US to use its territory to attack Iran' Iran Press TV Thu May 16, 2019 07:26AM Iraq's ambassador to Moscow says Iraq will not allow the United States to use Iraqi soil to launch attacks against Iran, as Washington ratchets up tensions with Tehran. Asked about Iraq's stance on the growing tensions in the Middle East, Haidar Mansour Hadi told a press conference in Moscow on Wednesday that Iraq "does not want a new devastating war in the region." "Iraq is a sovereign nation. We will not let [the US] to use our territory," he said, echoing earlier remarks by Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi. Hadi also stressed that Baghdad could use its close relations with both the US and Iran to ease tensions between the two sides. "Iraq made it clear that we want to be part of a solution and not part of the problem," he said. The US has recently built up its military presence in the region over what it calls an Iranian threat to American troops and interests. It has sent an aircraft carrier strike group, a squadron of B-52 bombers, and a battery of patriot missiles to the region. Last week, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claimed that the US administration had received intelligence related to "Iranian activity" that put American facilities and service personnel at "substantial risk." Other senior officials within the US administration itself as well as other countries have however dismissed that claim. Furthermore, The New York Times reported on Monday that hawkish US officials, led by National Security Adviser John Bolton, had presented President Donald Trump with a new military plan aimed at Iran, which would see Washington deploy 120,000 troops to the Middle East, although Trump later seemed to dismiss that report. Earlier, Iraqi Prime Minister Abdul-Mahdi had said that there were indications that "things will end well" between Iran and the US, without explaining. Still later, the US State Department on Wednesday ordered the departure of non-emergency government employees at both the American Embassy in Baghdad and the consulate in Erbil. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US lawmakers worried about war with Iran amid tensions Iran Press TV Thu May 16, 2019 06:38AM American lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are growing more concerned about heightened tensions between Iran and the United States, urging President Donald Trump to stop keeping them in the dark about his next step amid talks of a military confrontation. The Trump administration's maximum pressure policy through harsh sanctions and hostile rhetoric has put Washington on a collision course with Tehran. The New York Times reported Tuesday that after introducing plans to starve Iranian people and zero out the country's oil exports, hawks in Trump's team led by National Security Adviser John Bolton have gone as far as drawing up plans for a possible military strike that could involve sending 120,000 soldiers to the Middle East. The talk of war was pushed up another notch on Sunday after unknown assailants targeted four vessels, including two tankers from Saudi Arabia, off the United Arab Emirates in mysterious acts of "sabotage." Washington has since accused Tehran of planning "imminent" attacks in the region. On Wednesday, the US ordered all non-emergency staff to leave its embassy in the Iraqi capital Baghdad and consulate in Erbil. The Pentagon has followed up on the threats by sending B-52 nuclear-capable bombers and a aircraft carrier to the region. Democratic lawmakers have called on Trump's White House to reopen diplomatic channels with Iran and tone down their hostile rhetoric, reminding Trump and his officials that they cannot launch a war without first consulting Congress. "They have no business declaring a war without the consent of Congress," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "I think all of us are in the dark over here," Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told reporters outside the Senate. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Joseph Dunford, needed to brief senators. "There's an alarming lack of clarity here," he said on the Senate floor Wednesday. "There's a lack of strategy and there's a lack of consultation." "An adventure like this, 120,000 troops or a large number of troops, should have to be approved by Congress. It should certainly be discussed with the Congress," Schumer said. "The President ought to come up with a strategy and make it clear to Congress. President Trump, what is your strategy? Where are you headed and why aren't you talking to Congress about it?" he continued. In a move to quell lawmakers' frustration, administration officials are said to be holding a briefing for the Senate and House leaders from both parties later on Thursday. The lawmakers are also baffled by contradicting remarks coming from American officials in Washington and military commanders on the ground in the region. While some officials have been insisting that Iran is now posing an increased threat to US personnel in Syria and Iraq, Major General Chris Ghika, the deputy commander of the US-led coalitions' alleged anti-terror operations in Syria and Iraq, has said that the threat level from Iran has not changed The British Defense Ministry also backed Ghika's assessment Wednesday. Republican Senator Jerry Moran told CNN after a classified briefing on global threats with directors of the CIA and the NSA that "there is a lot more to be known before decisions are made" about going to war with Iran. Moran, a member of the Defense Appropriations subcommittee that held the briefing in the Capitol, said Ghika's assessment "is worthy of further exploration," Moran said. In an apparent reference to the Iraq War, which was launched 2003 on the basis of flawed and downright fake intelligence about the country's alleged weapons of mass destruction, Moran said that "we know that from history, we know that as a practical matter people's lives are at stake." New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations committee, echoed the same stance. "We don't need another Iraq weapons of mass destruction moment, where we are engaged in a conflict without understanding, testing the veracity of the intelligence that might lead us to a set of actions, number one," he said. "Number two, you can't make foreign policy and national security decisions in the blind and that's what we're being asked to do with the lack of information." US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo left the door slightly ajar for military action when about the issue after a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Tuesday. We fundamentally do not seek a war with Iran," he said. "We have also made clear to the Iranians that if American interests are attacked, we will most certainly respond in an appropriate fashion... We are looking for Iran to behave like a normal country." He had suggested last month that Trump had the power to wage war under the Authorization to Use Military Force legislation. On Wednesday, Pelosi questioned that authority, saying: "The very idea that they would say that they would use the authorization of the use military force that is 18 years old and something by now -- whatever its age, it's not appropriate in terms of its scope, its geography, its timing for any actions they might take, wherever they may be taking them." American intelligence experts have also voiced concern about the quality of the recent intelligence on Iran, specially since Bolton is known for exaggerating data to push his plans. "What makes me skeptical is the fact that a lot of the intelligence that has been revealed so far seems to be very normal, it seems to be the kind of behavior that Iran has engaged in before and we haven't really reacted to that before," said Col. Cedric Leighton (Ret.), a former high ranking official at the National Security Agency as well as with Air Force intelligence. "I am very skeptical of the intelligence that we have right now." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran showing maximum restraint despite US exit from nuclear deal: Zarif Iran Press TV Thu May 16, 2019 05:17AM In a visit to Japan, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says Tehran is showing "maximum restraint" in the face of the United States' unilateral exit from the 2015 nuclear deal and the "unacceptable" re-imposition of sanctions against the Iranian nation. Speaking at the start of a meeting with his Japanese counterpart, Taro Kono, in Tokyo on Thursday, Zarif stressed that the Islamic Republic is exercising "maximum restraint in spite of the fact the United States withdrew from (the) JCPOA last May," referring to the nuclear accord by the acronym of its official name, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The top diplomat also noted that Iran is still committed to its obligations under the JCPOA and that continued assessments proved this fact. "We believe that escalation by the United States is unacceptable and uncalled for," Zarif added. Under the administration of President Donald Trump, the US has taken an increasingly hostile approach toward Iran. Washington pulled out of the JCPOA on May 8, 2018, and re-imposed the anti-Iran sanctions it had lifted under the nuclear deal as part of a campaign of "maximum pressure" against the Islamic Republic. Recently, it moved to force Iran's oil exports to "zero" and sent military reinforcements, including a strike group, B-52 bombers and Patriot missiles, to the Middle East in a bid to step up pressure on Tehran. Kono, for his part, voiced serious concerns about the situation in the Middle East. "I will spare no effort to ease tensions and try to resolve outstanding issues," he added. The top Japanese diplomat further said that it was essential to maintain the JCPOA, demanding that Iran keep implementing it. After the private meeting, Zarif said that he had explained to his Japanese counterpart ways to ease regional tensions and stop America's warmongering. He also reaffirmed that Iran is not seeking a conflict, but strongly defends its interests. He also noted that Kono had expressed Japan's commitment to the JCPOA and its keenness to adopt diplomatic measures meant to reduce tensions in the region. If the international community wants to preserve the JCPOA, it should take steps to normalize economic ties with Iran as stipulated in the agreement, Zarif added. On the first anniversary of Washington's exit from the JCPOA, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced that the country would stop exporting excess uranium and heavy water for a 60-day period, during which the remaining signatories would have to honor their promises and ensure that Iran is no more deprived of the economic benefits it was promised under the accord. Tehran said the measures are not in violation of the JCPOA and are meant to restore the balance between its rights and obligations under the deal. Additionally on Thursday, Zarif held talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. At the meeting, Abe expressed Tokyo's willingness to maintain and develop its traditionally friendly ties with Tehran. "I'm concerned that the situation in the Middle East is becoming very tense," the Japanese premier said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address IRGC commander: Iran enemies have reached end of the line Iran Press TV Thu May 16, 2019 01:49AM The chief commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says the enemies of Iran "have reached the end of the line" and despite their ostentatious appearance, they are suffering from "osteoporosis." "This is the most decisive moment for the Islamic Revolution, because the enemy has come to the battlefield with all of its capacities at its disposal," Major General Hossein Salami said during a meeting with IRGC commanders on Wednesday. He also warned that Iran is "on the verge of a full-scale confrontation" with the enemies," adding that they are trying to crush the Iranian nation's resistance through "the strategy of maximum pressure and by using all of their capacities." However, they will fail once again to achieve their objective, Salami noted. The remarks come a day after Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei downplayed the United States' highly belligerent rhetoric against Iran, stressing that Washington's real capability do not match its inflated bluster. "In [its] policy of confrontation with the Islamic Republic too, the US will definitely suffer defeat, and [the situation] will end up to our benefit," the Leader said, citing warnings by American analysts that Washington's pressure on Tehran would, contrary to its intended purpose, trigger an "economic mutation." The US has ratcheted up pressure on Iran since last year after withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal, dubbed as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Since then, the administration of US President Donald Trump is trying to reduce Iran's oil exports to "zero," and has sent an aircraft carrier strike group, a bomber squad, an amphibious assault ship, and a Patriot missile battery to the Middle East to try to stack up pressure on Tehran. Iranian officials, however, have dismissed such moves as psychological warfare, saying the country has its own ways of circumventing the American bans and selling crude oil. In May 2018, Trump withdrew Washington from the JCPOA, reached in July 2015 between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China plus Germany -- and decided to re-impose unilateral sanctions against Tehran. Under the JCPOA, Iran undertook to put limits on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump Says He Is Sure Iran Will Seek Talks 'Soon' By RFE/RL May 16, 2019 U.S. President Donald Trump says he is sure Tehran will "soon" seek to negotiate with Washington, and he dismissed media reports suggesting there was disagreement within the administration of his policy toward Iran. "I'm sure that Iran will want to talk soon," Trump wrote on Twitter on May 15 without elaborating. Trump's remarks follow comments he made on May 9 when he said he did not rule out a military confrontation with Iran. But he added, "What I would like to see with Iran, I would like to see them call me." Iranian leaders responded by rejecting any talks with Washington. Tensions have risen since Trump in May 2018 pulled the United States out of the 2015 nuclear deal that Iran signed with six world powers. The accord provided Tehran with relief from sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear program. In pulling out of the agreement, Trump said the terms were not tough enough to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons and did not address Iran's missile program or Tehran's alleged support for militants in the region. Iran denies it supports insurgent activity and has said its nuclear program is strictly for civilian energy purposes. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said during a visit to Tokyo on May 16 that Tehran was showing "maximum restraint" despite the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear accord and he accused Washington of an "unacceptable" escalation of the crisis. "We exercise maximum restraint...in spite of the fact that the United States withdrew from JCPOA last May," he added, referring to the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Zarif said Tehran remained "committed" to the deal, noting that international inspectors have said Iran is in compliance with the agreement. He expressed hope that Japan and other U.S. allies will take "practical measures in order to maintain this valuable international agreement." Trump has ordered a beefing up of U.S. military assets in the Middle East and Persian Gulf, citing possible threats from Iran. The State Department also ordered the evacuation of all nonessential personnel from the U.S. Embassy in Iraq, citing tensions with neighboring Iran. Meanwhile, Trump blasted media reports that of discord in the White House over the president's policies toward Iran. "The Fake News Washington Post, and even more Fake News New York Times, are writing stories that there is infighting with respect to my strong policy in the Middle East," he wrote on Twitter. "There is no infighting whatsoever." "Different opinions are expressed and I make a decisive and final decision -- it is a very simple process," he added. With reporting by AFP, Politico, and dpa Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/trump- says-iranian-leaders-will-seek- talks-soon/29943536.html Copyright (c) 2019. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran Showing 'Maximum Restraint' in Face of US Exit From Nuclear Deal - Zarif Sputnik News 12:05 16.05.2019(updated 14:01 16.05.2019) The statement comes after the United States deployed an aircraft carrier strike group and a bomber task force to the Persian Gulf last week in what White House National Security Adviser John Bolton described as an "unmistakable" message to Iran that any attack on US or allied interests would be met with "unrelenting force". Iran remains committed to its obligations under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the 2015 nuclear deal, in the face of the unilateral US pullout from the agreement last May, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Thursday, calling the re-imposition of anti-Tehran sanctions "unacceptable". "We believe that escalation by the United States is unacceptable and uncalled for. We exercise maximum restraint in spite of the fact that the United States withdrew from [the] JCPOA last May", Zarif said in Tokyo where he is holding talks with his Japanese counterpart. In a Thursday interview with the Japanese broadcaster NHK, Iran's top diplomat said that US President Donald Trump was wrong to think that Tehran would soon return to the negotiating table. The remarks by Zarif come shortly after Trump tweeted that he's convinced that Tehran "will want to talk soon" about its nuclear programme, and denied reports of the Pentagon's plans to deploy 120,000 American troops to the Middle East if Iran accelerates its nuclear weapons development. Tensions between Tehran and Washington took a new turn last week after the US boosted its military presence in the Persian Gulf with the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group and a bomber task force to send a "clear and unmistakable message" to Iran. While emphasising that Washington was not "seeking war" with Iran, White House National Security Adviser John Bolton said that it is fully prepared to "respond to any attack, whether by proxy, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or regular Iranian forces". Tehran, for its part, brushed off allegations that it poses a threat to Washington as "fake intelligence", with Zarif insisting that the Trump administration was dragging the US into a conflict with Iran. The developments followed an announcement by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani that Tehran would discontinue some of its obligations under the nuclear deal, having given the five remaining signatories France, the UK, Russia, China, and Germany a 60-day deadline to take measures towards ensuring the country's interests amid US sanctions. Otherwise, Rouhani pointed out, Iran would resume higher uranium enrichment; he, however, stressed that the country has no intention of withdrawing from the deal. The stark warning was made on the first anniversary of Washington's exit from the JCPOA, under which Iran curbed its uranium enrichment capacity and maintained the peaceful nature of its programme, having won sanctions relief in return. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Recent US Concern Over Iran Caused by Pics of Missiles in Persian Gulf Reports Sputnik News 07:31 16.05.2019(updated 07:44 16.05.2019) Photographs of Iranian missiles on small boats in the Persian Gulf reportedly became a cause for the recent escalation of warnings among White House officials. Overhead imagery showed fully assembled missiles, stoking fears that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps would fire them at US naval ships, officials familiar with the matter told the New York Times. Three officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about the issue publicly, said that the intelligence presented a different kind of threat that had been previously seen from Iran. However, officials said that while President Trump's hard-line national security adviser John R. Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo see these photographs as a justification for viewing Iran as a threat, other parties, including the Europeans, Iraqis, members of both parties in Congress and some senior officials within the Trump administration, suggested that the move to put missiles on ships represents a defensive action against what Tehran believes are provocative acts by Washington. The State Department on Wednesday ordered a partial evacuation of the United States Embassy in Baghdad and a consulate in Iraqi Kurdistan, a move that one senior American official said was an overreaction to the intelligence. Intelligence officials declassified a photograph of one of the small boats, called dhows, carrying what was described as a functional Iranian missile after Bolton announced that the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln would sail to the Gulf sooner than expected. The Pentagon, however, has not released the photograph as, according to two American officials, it was not compelling enough to convince the American public and lawmakers, or foreign allies, of the new Iranian threat. The other photographs, which remain classified, show the Revolutionary Guards loading missiles onto the boats at several Iranian ports, the two American officials claimed. The photographs were among at least three streams of intelligence that alarmed national security officials and convinced many that a more serious threat from Iran was emerging. These include conversations between the Revolutionary Guards and foreign militias discussing attacks on American troops and diplomats in Iraq as well as intelligence about Iran targeting commercial shipping, which led US officials to believe that Iran was behind this week's sabotage of four tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates. Officials, however, still do not have a conclusive forensic analysis that shows Iran's involvement in any kind of sabotage. Senator Marco Rubio, a member of the Foreign Relations and Intelligence Committees who was briefed last week on the new intelligence, said on Wednesday that while he did not want a war with Iran, the United States must respond if attacked. "I've been here eight years. This is, by far, the single most imminent potential conflict of this significance that I have been around. This is real. This is not a fake thing. It's not being made up by somebody. This president does not even want to have troops in the Middle East," Rubio said, cited by the Times. Tensions in the region have been high recently, as the United States reinforced its military presence in the Persian Gulf with the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and a bomber task force to send "a clear and unmistakable message" to Tehran. Washington also approved the additional deployment of the Patriot missile defence system and amphibious warship USS Arlington to the region. Iran has repeatedly expressed its readiness to retaliate in the event of a military conflict. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 'I Hope Not,' Trump Says on Possibility of War With Iran By VOA News May 16, 2019 President Donald Trump says he hopes the U.S. is not going to war with Iran amid rising tensions in the Middle East, as an Iran diplomat downplayed such prospects. "I hope not," Trump said when asked about the possibility of a conflict with Tehran as he began talks with Swiss President Ueli Maurer. The U.S. and Iran do not have diplomatic ties but Switzerland represents U.S. interests in the Middle Eastern country. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders reiterated to reporters early Thursday that Trump wanted a "behavioral change" from Iran and would oppose any aggressive actions by the Islamic Republic. Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, Majid Takht-e-Ravanchi, downplayed that possibility, saying on National Public Radio's Morning Edition Thursday that his country was not interested in escalating regional tensions. "If something goes wrong, everyone loses," he said. But Ravanchi added, "It is our right to be prepared," and "It is our right to defend ourselves." The diplomat accused the U.S. and regional countries of making "false allegations" about Iran. A New York Times report, citing three U.S. officials, said Thursday that the White House escalated warnings after reviewing photographs of missiles on small vessels in the Persian Gulf that were installed by Iranian paramilitary forces. The report said the images fueled fears that Iranian forces would fire the missiles at U.S. naval ships. Trump said Wednesday that there was "no infighting whatsoever" about his Middle East policies and that he was "sure that Iran will want to talk soon." Those remarks came in response to reports in the Times and The Washington Post about clashing opinions between those in his administration who see Iran preparing to attack U.S. forces, and other officials, including some from European allies, who argue Iran's moves are defensive precautions in response to U.S. actions toward Iran. Trump decided last year to withdraw from an international agreement limiting Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, and applied fresh actions to cut off Iran's oil and banking sectors in an attempt to alter the Iranian government's behavior. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Thursday that "the escalation by the U.S. is unacceptable and uncomfortable," and that despite the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear deal, Iran was exercising "maximum restraint." The U.S. has ordered its non-emergency employees to leave the country's embassy in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, and its consulate in Irbil as the Trump administration warned of threats against American forces in the Middle East from Iran or Iranian-backed proxies. The move sparked sharp reactions on Capitol Hill. "There are only two reasons for ordering their departure: We have credible intelligence that our people are at risk or in preparation for military action in Iran," said the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's top Democrat, Robert Menendez of New Jersey. "The Trump administration has not provided any information to this committee on the intelligence behind their decisions or what they plan to do in Iraq or Iran." Menendez demanded the officials bring panel members up to date on "any plans to go to war with Iran." Committee Chairman James Risch, an Idaho Republican, said he had been briefed on the unfolding situation in the Middle East and that a briefing of the full Senate was "in the works." The Pentagon has dispatched an aircraft carrier and nuclear-capable bombers to the region in the past few days, with a Patriot missile battery and a landing platform dock ship on the way. The Patriot system offers protection from aircraft and missiles, while the LPD carries Marines and the aircraft, hovercraft or boats needed to put them ashore to fight in distant places. But a major U.S. ally in the region, the UAE, said it would show "restraint" in the face of Iranian aggression. "We need to emphasize caution and good judgment," UAE Foreign Affairs Minister Anwar Gargash said Wednesday. "It is easy to throw accusations, but it is a difficult situation. There are serious issues and among them is Iranian behavior." British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said his country agreed with the U.S. that Iran poses a heightened threat. His comment Thursday came two days after a senior British officer in the U.S.-led military coalition fighting Islamic State in Syria said he had not seen an increased threat to his troops by Iranian-backed forces in Iraq or Syria. Maj. Gen. Chris Ghika's statement to reporters contradicted the Trump administration, which has asserted for more than a week that it has detected potential Iranian threats against U.S. forces in the Middle East. Michael Bowman and Shahla Arasteh contributed to this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump Denies Iran Policy 'Infighting,' Lawmakers Want Briefing on Threats By Michael Bowman May 16, 2019 U.S. President Donald Trump says there is "no infighting whatsoever" about his Middle East policies and that as tensions with Iran continue, he is "sure that Iran will want to talk soon." Trump responded to reports in the Washington Post and New York Times about clashing opinions between those in his administration who see Iran taking clear steps in preparation to attack U.S. forces, and other officials, including some from European allies, who argue the Iranian moves are defensive precautions in response to U.S. actions toward Iran. "Different opinions are expressed and I make a decisive and final decision," Trump tweeted. "All sides, views, and policies are covered." Trump decided last year to withdraw from an international agreement limiting Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, and applied fresh actions to cut off Iran's oil and banking sectors in an attempt to alter the Iranian government's behavior. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Thursday that "the escalation by the United States is unacceptable and uncomfortable," and that despite the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear deal, Iran is exercising "maximum restraint." Diplomatic staff pared The United States has ordered its non-essential employees to leave the country's embassy in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, and its consulate in Irbil as the Trump administration warned of threats against American forces in the Middle East from Iran or Iranian-backed proxies. The move sparked sharp reactions on Capitol Hill. "There are only two reasons for ordering their departure: we have credible intelligence that our people are at risk or in preparation for military action in Iran," the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's top Democrat, Robert Menendez of New Jersey, said. "The Trump administration has not provided any information to this committee on the intelligence behind their decisions or what they plan to do in Iraq or Iran." Menendez demanded the officials bring panel members up to date on "any plans to go to war with Iran." Committee chairman, Idaho Republican James Risch, said he, personally, has been briefed on the unfolding situation in the Middle East and said a briefing of the full U.S. Senate was "in the works." The United States is not alone in curtailing activities in Iraq. Germany and the Netherlands say they are suspending military training operations in the country, although Berlin said it had no signals of its own that a threat against Western interests in Iraq was imminent. The Dutch government cited an unspecified security threat in curtailing its training operations. Troops to Iran? Trump has rejected a report that he is considering sending 120,000 troops to counter Iran but didn't rule out deploying "a lot more" soldiers in the future. "I think it's fake news," Trump said of The New York Times report. "Now, would I do that? Absolutely. But we have not planned for that." The Pentagon has dispatched an aircraft carrier and nuclear-capable bomber planes to the region in the past few days, with a Patriot missile battery and a landing platform dock ship on the way. The Patriot system offers protection from aircraft and missiles, while the LPD carries Marines and the aircraft, hovercraft or boats needed to put them ashore to fight in distant places. But a major U.S. ally in the region, the United Arab Emirates, says it will show "restraint" in the face of Iranian aggression. The United States suspects Iran was behind the sabotage of four foreign vessels Sunday off the UAE coast. Two Saudi oil tankers were among those damaged. "We need to emphasize caution and good judgment," UAE Foreign Affairs Minister Anwar Gargash said Wednesday. "It is easy to throw accusations, but it is a difficult situation. There are serious issues and among them is Iranian behavior." He said the UAE will not publicly speculate who was behind the sabotage while the investigation is under way. Meanwhile, a senior British officer in the U.S.-led military coalition fighting Islamic State in Syria said Tuesday he has not seen an increased threat to his troops by Iranian-backed forces in Iraq or Syria. Major General Chris Ghika's statement to reporters contradicts the Trump administration, which has asserted for more than a week that it has detected potential Iranian threats against U.S. forces in the Middle East. Such assertions face increasingly rigorous scrutiny from lawmakers. "This seems like an escalation with no endgame," Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut said, describing the pressure campaign on Tehran as "ham-handed." Shahla Arasteh contributed to this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Nine Islamic State Militants Killed In Southwest Pakistan Raid By RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal May 16, 2019 Pakistani security forces have killed nine Islamic State militants during an hours-long operation near the city of Quetta in the southwestern Balochistan Province where repeated militant attacks occurred this month, officials said on May 16. Four troops were wounded in the operation in a mountainous area called Qabu Koh-e-Mehran in the Mastung district, 47 kilometers from Quetta. "Nine bodies (of Islamic State militants) have been brought to hospital from Mastung," said Waseem Baig, a spokesman for a Quetta hospital. The operation was launched following a sudden surge in militant attacks across Pakistan during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Five police officers were killed in the latest attack, on May 13 in Quetta, which was claimed by Islamic State. Various militant groups as well as separatists fighting the central government are active in mineral-rich Balochistan, where attacks on gas and transport infrastructure and security posts occur frequently. With reporting by Reuters Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/nine-islamic -state-militants-killed-in-southwest- pakistan-raid/29945952.html Copyright (c) 2019. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. Sanctions Chechen Officials Allegedly Linked To 'Gay Purge', Killing Of Opposition Leader Nemtsov By Mike Eckel May 16, 2019 WASHINGTON -- U.S. officials have imposed new financial sanctions on a Chechen law enforcement agency linked to a recent "gay purge" that has resulted in dozens of gay and bisexual men being imprisoned, and in some cases, tortured in the North Caucasus region. The Treasury Department also said in a statement on May 16 that it was sanctioning a top-ranking Chechen for his alleged links to the 2015 assassination of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov. The individuals targeted were sanctioned under the 2012 Magnitsky Act. That law, and a wider one passed four years later, gives U.S. officials the authority to sanction people and entities for human rights abuses in Russia and around the world. In a statement, Sigal Mandelker, undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, said the sanctions targeted an agency called the Terek Special Rapid Response Team. The Terek unit and its commander Abuzayed Vismuradov have been allegedly linked to the roundup of gay men in Chechnya. Russian and international activists first warned of what came to be known as the "gay purge" in Chechnya in early 2017. A second wave of detentions was reported to have occurred in late 2018 and early 2019. Another Chechen official, Ruslan Geremeyev, was also sanctioned for his alleged role in plotting the killing of Nemtsov, who was gunned down just meters from the Kremlin walls in February 2015. Geremeyev is a former commander of a notorious Chechen military unit known as Sever, and a close confidant of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who has himself been sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act. "We are focused on holding accountable those responsible for atrocious acts within Russia, including the extrajudicial killing of Boris Nemtsov and the pervasive abuse of LGBTI [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex] persons in Chechnya," Mandelker said in the statement. One of Nemtsov's closest deputies, Vladimir Kara-Murza, called the measure imposed on Geremeyev "groundbreaking." There was no immediate reaction to the announcement by the Kremlin, but Kadyrov, who has mocked the United States in the past for sanctioning him, responded with a sarcastic post to his channel on Telegram. "I officially inform the authors of these scribblings that you all are now on our lists!" he wrote. "And to those who artificially make enemies of us, I will suggest that if you have one ounce of manliness in your blood, then you will come visit and we will draw you a Magnitsky List that you will remember for your entire life, and tell your grandchildren about!" Three other people hit with sanctions on May 16 were the head of a prison colony in the northern Russian region of Karelia, and a man and a woman implicated in the 2009 death of Sergei Magnitsky, after whom the U.S. law is named. Magnitsky was a Russian accountant who helped uncover a massive tax fraud that stole $230 million from the Russian Treasury. He was later jailed by Russian officials, accused of perpetrating the fraud himself, and he died in a Moscow jail after suffering medical problems and mistreatment that rights activists said amounted to torture. After his death, he was put on trial and convicted of the tax fraud. The man who originally employed Magnitsky, British-American investor William Browder was sentenced in absentia to nine years in prison in December 2017. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/u-s -sanctions-chechen-officials-allegedly -linked-to-gay-purge-killing-of- opposition-leader-nemtsov/29945999.html Copyright (c) 2019. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Treasury Targets Additional Individuals Involved in the Sergei Magnitsky Case and Gross Violations of Human Rights in Russia U.S. Department of the Treasury May 16, 2019 Action Further Exposes Those Involved in the Death of Sergei Magnitsky and Its Cover-up, and Highlights the Systemic Human Rights Abuses in Chechnya Washington Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated five individuals and one entity pursuant to the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012 (the Magnitsky Act). In addition, the U.S. Department of State issued its annual submission to Congress on the U.S. Government's actions to implement the Magnitsky Act. "Treasury continues to impose costs on those involved in the detention, abuse, and death of Sergei Magnitsky, and is committed to addressing broader human rights violations across Russia," said Sigal Mandelker, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. "We are focused on holding accountable those responsible for atrocious acts within Russia, including the extrajudicial killing of Boris Nemtsov and the pervasive abuse of LGBTI persons in Chechnya." As a result of today's actions, any property or interests in property of those designated within or that come within U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and transactions by U.S. persons involving the designated persons are generally prohibited. Today's action brings the total number of individuals or entities designated by OFAC pursuant to the Magnitsky Act to 55. Sergei Magnitsky's Detention, Abuse, Death, and the Criminal Conspiracy He Uncovered Today, OFAC designated Elena Anatolievna Trikulya (Trikulya) for having participated in efforts to conceal the legal liability for the detention, abuse, or death of Sergei Magnitsky. As an investigator with the Investigative Committee, Trikulya ignored evidence and signed the denial of a petition to initiate a criminal inquiry into those responsible for Magnitsky's unlawful detention and death. Trikulya's actions demonstrate her participation in efforts to prevent the pursuit of justice for those involved in Magnitsky's detention, abuse, or death. OFAC also designated Gennady Vyacheslavovich Karlov (Karlov) for having participated in efforts to conceal the legal liability for the detention, abuse, or death of Sergei Magnitsky. As the Deputy Section Chief of the Investigative Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Karlov made false or misleading claims about Magnitsky's detention and abuse, which in turn provided a justification for Magnitsky's detention. Karlov also oversaw aspects of Magnitsky's detention, including a decision not to respond to complaints made by Magnitsky about his deteriorating health, a decision to transfer Magnitsky to a different prison facility one week prior to a scheduled surgery, and the denial of Magnitsky's requests to allow a visit by his relatives. Background Sergei Magnitsky was an attorney and auditor who uncovered a large-scale tax fraud scheme while performing audit work for the Russia-based firm Hermitage Capital Management. In November 2008, he was arrested and detained by Russian authorities shortly after testifying as a witness as part of a complaint filed by Hermitage Capital Management alleging that a group of officials in the Russian Interior Ministry had been involved in a 5.4 billion ruble ($230 million) tax fraud involving three Hermitage-owned companies, Riland, Parfenion, and Makhaon. Russian Interior Ministry officials had previously raided the Hermitage offices and removed the original seals of incorporation for those three Hermitage-owned companies. The companies then were illegally re-registered under different ownership, and sham lawsuits were brought against those companies with the same lawyers on both sides of the case resulting in large court judgments against the three companies, for which the companies then claimed a significant and illegal tax refund from the Russian Government. For exposing this fraud, Magnitsky was subjected to physical and psychological pressure while detained, and on November 16, 2009, he died in a pretrial detention center in Moscow, Russia. Gross Violations of Human Rights in Russia Today, OFAC also designated Abuzayed Vismuradov (Vismuradov) for being responsible for extrajudicial killings, torture, or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights committed against individuals seeking to expose illegal activity carried out by officials of the Government of the Russian Federation, or to obtain, exercise, defend, or promote internationally recognized human rights and freedoms, such as the freedoms of religion, expression, association, and assembly, and the rights to a fair trial and democratic elections, in Russia. As the commander of the Terek Special Rapid Response Team in the Chechen Republic, Vismuradov was in charge of an operation that illegally detained and tortured individuals on the basis of their actual or perceived LGBTI status. OFAC also designated the Terek Special Rapid Response Team for being responsible for extrajudicial killings, torture, or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights committed against individuals seeking to expose illegal activity carried out by officials of the Government of the Russian Federation, or to obtain, exercise, defend, or promote internationally recognized human rights and freedoms, such as the freedoms of religion, expression, association, and assembly, and the rights to a fair trial and democratic elections, in Russia. Fighters of the Terek Special Response Team detained and tortured persons they believed to be LGBTI, sometimes after the individuals were lured to meetings using social media. Sergey Leonidovich Kossiev (Kossiev) is also being designated by OFAC for being responsible for extrajudicial killing, torture, or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights committed against individuals seeking to obtain, exercise, defend, or promote internationally recognized human rights and freedoms, such as the freedoms of religion, expression, association, and assembly, and the rights to a fair trial and democratic elections, in Russia. As the head of the Corrective Colony 7 (IK-7) penal colony in the Republic of Karelia, Kossiev oversaw and participated in the beatings and abuse of prisoners. Kossiev oversaw and participated in the beatings and abuse of prisoners, and attempted to conceal the evidence of such abuse. Finally, OFAC is designating Ruslan Geremeyev (Geremeyev) for acting as an agent of or on behalf of Head of Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov in a matter relating to extrajudicial killings, torture, or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights committed against individuals seeking to obtain, exercise, defend, or promote internationally recognized human rights and freedoms, such as the freedoms of religion, expression, association, and assembly, and the rights to a fair trial and democratic election in Russia. OFAC designated Ramzan Kadyrov pursuant to the Magnitsky Act on December 20, 2017. Geremeyev is a former deputy commander of the Sever Battalion in Chechnya, which is considered part of Kadyrov's personal guard. Russian investigators twice tried to bring charges against Geremeyev as the possible organizer of Boris Nemtsov's murder, but were blocked by the head of the Investigations Committee. Background Since early 2017, Chechnya's law enforcement and security officials have launched a series of "purges" of individuals they believed to be LGBTI. They have rounded up dozens of people on these grounds, some of whom have disappeared, with others returned to their families barely alive from beatings and with their captors outing them to families and encouraging the families to carry out so-called honor killings. Several people are alleged to have died as a result. Identifying information on the individuals and entities designated today. #### NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Saudis Blast Iran's 'Expansionist Agenda' After Attacks On Oil Installations By RFE/RL May 16, 2019 Saudi Arabia has accused Iran of ordering recent drone attacks on the country's oil facilities that were claimed by Yemen's Shi'ite Huthi rebels. Saudi Deputy Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman tweeted on May 16 that the attacks were "ordered by the regime in Tehran," which he accused of using the Huthis as "a tool...to implement its expansionist agenda in the region." Meanwhile, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir tweeted that the Huthi rebels were "sacrificing the need of the Yemeni people for the benefit of Iran." There were no immediate comments from Iran, which has denied backing the Huthis. Earlier in the day, a Saudi-led military coalition confirmed it had carried out air strikes on the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, saying the move aimed at "neutralizing the ability of the Huthi militia to carry out acts of aggression," according to Saudi-owned broadcaster Al-Arabiya. Reports said that the air strikes targeted military sites in and around rebel-held Saana, and left a number of people dead. The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015 to push back an advance by the Huthis and to restore the internationally recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansur Hadi. The conflict, which has killed tens of thousands of people, many of them civilians, is seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and regional rival Iran. The rebels said their May 14 drone attacks that damaged a Saudi oil pipeline were a response to "crimes" committed by Riyadh in Yemen. The latest violence comes amid escalating tensions between Iran and the United States. Washington has ramped up pressure on Tehran in recent days, bolstering the U.S. military presence in the region to counter what U.S. officials called "imminent" threats from Iran against the interests of the United States or its allies. Iran has dismissed the allegations and accused the United States of an "unacceptable" escalation of tensions. With reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/saudis-blast- iran-expansionist-agenda-after-attacks-on- oil-installations/29944217.html Copyright (c) 2019. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Syria to exhaust all means to retake Israeli-occupied Golan: Foreign Ministry Iran Press TV Thu May 16, 2019 08:22AM Syria has censured Israel's land theft and repressive measures against Syrians in the occupied side of the Golan Heights as a flagrant violation of international law, saying that Damascus reserves the right to re-establish control over the occupied land. In letters to the UN chief and the president of the Security Council on Wednesday, Syria's Foreign Ministry reiterated that the occupied Golan is an integral part of Syria and that the Arab country would exhaust all available means to regain control of the land because it is an "eternal right that can't be prescribed." The letter said that the Tel Aviv regime recently forced the Syrian citizens to register the lands they had inherited from their ancestors at the department of properties affiliated to the occupation authorities in order for Israeli ownership documents to be issued for them instead. Those areas include the farms which extend between Ayn al-Rihan and Sa'ar river regions, the letter added. The ministry further called on the UN Security Council to take immediate measures "to preserve international peace and security by obliging Israel to stop its illegal settlement policies and repressive measures against our people in the occupied Syrian Golan, which constitute a flagrant violation" of international law. It hailed Syrian people for "their resistance against the Israeli occupation and their rejection of the decision to annex the Golan to the occupation entity." Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria after the 1967 Six-Day War and later occupied it in a move that has never been recognized by the international community. The regime has built dozens of settlements in the area ever since and has used the region to carry out a number of military operations against the Syrian government. On March 25, US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation, formally recognizing Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights. The announcement came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the White House. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 'Starvation' now a reality for displaced Syrians stranded in camp near Jordanian border 16 May 2019 - Starvation "is already starting" in a camp for displaced people in south-east Syria, a senior UN official said on Thursday, while condemning ongoing airstrikes and retaliatory shelling in opposition-held territories in the north-west. Now in its ninth year, as Syrian Government forces and allies reclaim areas previously held by opposition forces, the conflict has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and displaced millions. In Rukban camp, which is near the Jordanian border, UN humanitarians have repeatedly called for greater access since a second convoy last reached the site in February. Echoing that message in Geneva, Najat Rochdi, Senior Humanitarian Adviser to the UN Special Envoy for Syria, said that more than 12,000 people had left the camp amid worsening conditions linked to shortages of basic services and supplies. "The UN continues to advocate for a third humanitarian convoy and for food and fuel to continue to arrive to Rukban through commercial routes," she said, adding that 29,000 remain there "and it will take time. It is simple math," she added. "If they want to completely leave the camp - those people did not have any humanitarian assistance, any convoy, since February already, and starvation is already starting." Turning to the situation in Idlib, where violence has escalated in recent weeks despite a fragile ceasefire agreed last September, the UN official strongly condemned the targeting of civilians in schools and health centres including some facilities that had moved to supposedly safer areas outside built-up areas after being targeted in previous attacks. "Aerial bombardments including the reported use of barrel bombs causing severe damage to civilian infrastructures and civil casualties is a practice that goes against every single humanitarian principle," she said. "Also alarming, is the reported shelling from the de-escalation zone into areas under government control." Latest displacement figures indicate that more than 180,000 people have likely fled their homes in Idlib, Ms. Rochdi said, explaining that for many, this was not the first time they had been forced to flee conflict from elsewhere in Syria. Most had moved further to the north and east, she said, while others had gone to Aleppo. "People fleeing because of fear and because of bombing is their cruel daily reality," she said. "But now, if the bombing is continuing where do you want them to flee? They already fled there as the last resortWhere is it that they will be able to go?" Speaking to journalists after chairing a meeting of the Humanitarian Task Force on Syria in Geneva, Ms. Rochdi reiterated the panel's call for "an urgent de-escalation" of fighting in Idlib, and for the warring parties to recommit to the ceasefire agreement; in particular Russia and Turkey. Of the approximately three million people living in Idlib, one million are children. Hundreds of thousands of lives are at risk because of the ongoing fighting, which has left tens of thousands of youngsters out of school and families sheltering under trees, the UN official explained. "The insecurity there and the continuing airstrikes, is not something that is conducive really, to deliver humanitarian assistance," she said. "And as you know, some NGOs, about 12, have suspended temporarily their assistance." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Turkey RULES OUT Russian-Made S-400 Integration With NATO Infrastructure Sputnik News 18:09 16.05.2019 US officials earlier raised concerns that once the Russian system is incorporated into NATO's defence structure, it could gain access to sensitive information, including on the F-35 jets which Turkey has also ordered, and pass this data on to Moscow. These concerns have served as a pretext for Washington to freeze F-35 deliveries to Ankara. Turkey will not be integrating the Russian S-400 air defence systems with NATO's defence grid when the country obtains them in July 2019, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters during his visit to Riga, Latvia. "The Russian complexes will be fully under our control. They will not be integrated into NATO's air defence system", he said. The US has been pressuring Turkey to abandon its S-400 purchase from Russia, claiming that the air defence system would be incompatible with NATO systems and pose a threat to the F-35, as it could reveal the jet's weaknesses to Moscow. Ankara, in turn, has insisted on keeping the deal and even made an offer to create a joint committee to ensure Turkey's safe usage of the S-400s and F-35s which the US ignored. Instead, Washington has frozen the supply of F-35 parts to Turkey and threatened the country with sanctions and even exclusion from NATO if Ankara doesn't backtrack on the S-400 purchase. The US has reportedly also started looking for options to replace Turkey as an exclusive producer of certain of F-35 parts. Despite the pressure, Ankara has insisted that the delivery of the S-400s will be fulfilled on time in July 2019. The spat around the S-400 acquisition has significantly worsened relations between Ankara and Washington, which were previously overshadowed by disagreements over Syria. Namely, Turkey has called on the US to stop supporting Syrian Kurdish militants, allegedly connected to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is deemed to be a terrorist organisation by Ankara. Washington, in turn, has called on Turkey to cease its military activities in Syria east of the Euphrates that could endanger US-supported militants. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Turkey Struggles to Balance Ties With US, Russia By Dorian Jones May 16, 2019 Analysts say Turkey is running out of time to balance its relationship with Russia and the United States as Moscow and Washington step up pressure on Ankara over its pending acquisition of Russian missile defense systems. The U.S. opposes the missile system transaction, maintaining that Turkey's use of the S-400s would compromise the technology of the F-35 fighter jet, which the U.S. and other NATO allies own. Turkey, also a NATO member, is due to take delivery of the F-35 this year. The U.S. has warned that if the Russian missiles are delivered, Turkey's purchase of the F-35 will be in jeopardy and sanctions will be possible. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has dismissed Washington's concerns. "If these claims by the U.S. were true, S-400s would have already accessed [secrets] to the F-35 [aircraft] technology [as both are deployed] in Syria, the Baltic region and the north," he said Thursday during a visit to Latvia. According to reports, Washington had requested that Ankara postpone the July delivery of the Russian missiles. However, in what was widely seen as a slap in the face to the United States, Turkish Defense Industries President Ismail Demir suggested the missiles could be delivered as early as next month. "We are a serious country. Our deal with Russia continues," Demir said to reporters Thursday. 'No such thing as postponing' Cavusoglu on Wednesday dismissed reports of any delay. "There is no such thing as postponing or canceling at this stage," he said. "It's not on the agenda, either." Ankara's resistance to Washington coincides with Moscow's agreeing to Turkish requests for creation of a joint working group on the Syrian rebel enclave of Idlib. The working group is seen as giving breathing space to rebels, who have been under sustained Russian and Syrian government bombardment. The latest assault was the most intense since Ankara and Moscow reached an agreement in September, preventing Syrian forces from overrunning the enclave. "There are 2 million people in the [Idlib] enclave jihadis and their families and those Sunni elements who will not make a deal with Damascus," said former senior Turkish diplomat Aydin Selcen. "Turkey will be determined to avoid this enclave being overrun as those people have nowhere to go but to Turkey," said Selcen, who is a regional analyst. "Turkey will not want this to happen as it would impose major security and humanitarian problems. While Ankara insists it will not allow this to happen, Moscow could be the key player," he added. Peace efforts snagged Russia and Turkey, along with Iran, are working together under the auspices of the so-called Astana Process to end Syria's civil war and secure a long-term peace. Those efforts have hit an impasse with disagreements on the formation of a committee to create a new constitution. Turkish and U.S. diplomats are continuing their efforts to resolve a key point of tension. The diplomats aim to create a safe zone in Syria to protect Turkey's border from the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, designated by Ankara as a terrorist organization. Washington's support of the YPG in the war against the Islamic State group has soured relations with Turkey. The safe zone is seen as a way of putting ties between the two NATO allies back on track. Expediting the delivery of S-400 missiles is interpreted to mean Moscow seeks to thwart U.S.-Turkish efforts to resolve differences on Syria. Ankara's procurement of the weapons would open the door to wide-ranging and severe U.S. sanctions under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which bans significant Russian military purchases. "Our understanding is that Ankara has resigned to being sanctioned under CAATSA," said analyst Atilla Yesilada of GlobalSource Partners, a business management consultant in New York. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan "still clings to the hope that a summit with [U.S. President Donald] Trump will allow him to keep the S-400s, with the latter applying only the least damaging articles of CAATSA," he said. Fundamental differences Ankara says Erdogan has built a unique working relationship with Trump, and that the problems in bilateral ties are the result of those working around the U.S. leader. However, some analysts suggest that the difficulties between the NATO allies are more fundamental. "Turkish and U.S. understanding of the world order has been diverging rather than converging," said international relations professor Serhat Guvenc of Istanbul's Kadir Has University. "They view the international developments through a totally different lens. I think the problem is structural rather than conjectural." Prying Turkey away from its Western partners is a decades-long strategic dream if not the goal of Moscow, but analysts contend that any Russian-Turkish alliance would inevitably fail on historical and regional rivalries, with Syria the likely flash point. "Unfortunately, Ankara thinks they can play the Russians and Americans against each other. It won't work," said political scientist Cengiz Aktar of Athens University. "The Russians sooner or later will clear Idlib, which is filled with tens of thousands of terrorists, and this is the first and foremost point of disagreement between Ankara and Moscow," he said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address In quest for bigger military budget, UK's new defense chief speaks of Russian, Chinese threats Iran Press TV Thu May 16, 2019 10:32AM British Defense Secretary Penny Mordaunt, who took the position two weeks ago, has used her maiden speech to plead for more military funding by citing Russia and China as threats, following what has become a trend in the UK's foreign policy of recent months. In a bid to provide a strong first impression, Mordaunt outlined a post-Brexit world where the "global Britain" would play the role of a "protector" and a "problem solver" in the face of emerging threats. She told a gathering of politicians, industry executives and senior naval officers at the Royal United Services Institute Sea Power conference in London on Wednesday that the UK needed strong military forces to project "our intent in uncertain and a challenging world." "A world that is becoming increasingly complex the challenge of China rising the threat from a Russia resurgent," she said. "The ever-changing shape of violent extremism and terrorism, the growth of cyber threatsand organized crime." She promised not to be shy about asking the Treasury for more money amid attempt by the Tory government to reduce the size of the military as part of its austerity measures. "I cannot tell you that the Treasury is going to welcome this messageI cannot tell you the Treasury will agree with this message. I can promise though, that the Treasury will hear this message," Mordaunt said. She said the money was needed so that the UK Royal Navy could continue "escorting Russian vessels off the premises," referring to many rapid reaction missions by the British naval and aerial forces to escort Russian ships and aircraft passing the English channel out of the region. Mordaunt's call for an increase in the military budget echoed a similar proposal by British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who said Monday that London needs to "decisively" increase its military budget after leaving the European Union (EU) to develop a viable deterrent force against Russia and China. "We are in a multipolar world without the assurance provided by unquestioned American dominance," he said. "We face a more aggressive Russia and a more assertive China." "We simply do not know what the balance of power in the world will be in 25 years time," he continued. London has been working hard to satisfy US President Donald Trump's demands of more military spending. Trump has long threatened NATO allies to either step up spending or don't count on US military assistance at the time of war. Hunt said the UK should commit more of its GDP to defense if it wanted to remain close friends with Washington. He said it was not sustainable to expect America to keep spending 4 percent of its GDP on defense while other members of the Western military pact spent only one or two percent. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UK Warship Escorts Russian Missile Destroyer Through English Channel Sputnik News 10:18 16.05.2019(updated 10:21 16.05.2019) The Russian Udaloy-class warship, Severomorsk, equipped with ship-to-air "Kinzhal" missile systems, is on its way back to its home port in northern Russia after a long voyage that started almost a year ago and included missions in the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, and the Mediterranean. The UK Royal Navy's HMS Northumberland shadowed the Russian missile destroyer Severomorsk as it passed through the English Channel on its way from the Atlantic Ocean, the British Ministry of Defence reports. The frigate, based in Devonport, was called upon to escort the Russian Udaloy-class ship after honing her submarine hunting skills off the coast of Britain. The ship is equipped with a Merlin helicopter, cutting-edge radar, and the new Sea Ceptor missile system. The HMS Northumberland's Commanding Officer, Commander Ally Pollard, stated that the Royal Navy is "prepared at all times to respond to any foreign warships in the UK's area of interest". According to the Russian media, the Severomosrk crossed the English Channel on 9 May and had festivities there dedicated to the 74th anniversary of the Great Patriotic War against the Nazis. The press service of the Russian Navy's Northern Fleet stated earlier in May that the Severomorsk was finishing its voyage in the Bay of Biscay and was bound to cross the English Channel and arrive in its home port at the Northern Fleet's main base in the Murmansk Region. The warship started its long-distance voyage in July 2018 when it left Severomorsk. Since then, it has taken part in the Russian Navy Day parade near Saint Petersburg, fulfilled its task in the Mediterranean, and then ensured the security of civilian vessels in the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, and the Gulf of Aden. The ship also took part in Russian-Japanese anti-piracy naval exercises, aimed at increasing cooperation in the fight against piracy and terrorism, as well as Russian-Pakistani drills. After a mid-cruise overhaul in Sevastopol, the ship operated in the Mediterranean. Earlier this spring a UK Royal Navy warship was sent to intercept Russia's advanced Admiral Gorshkov frigate, equipped with guided Kalibr missiles, which earlier conducted air defence drills off the coast of Scotland in the North Sea while en route to the Atlantic. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address RAF Typhoons scramble twice in two days to intercept Russian aircraft Royal Air Force Typhoons deployed in Estonia scramble for the first time since taking over the NATO Baltic Air Policing mission in the country. 16 May 2019 On Tuesday 14 May Typhoon jets launched a Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) scramble out of Amari Air Base in response to two Russian SU-27 Flanker fighter aircraft and one IL-22 aircraft that were flying along the Baltic coast heading towards Kaliningrad. On Wednesday 15 May Typhoons once again launched from Amari to intercept another two SU-27 aircraft and an IL-22 and escorted the formation towards Russia. Minister for the Armed Forces Mark Lancaster said: "At the same time as our troops forge stronger ties with NATO Allies in Estonia, our RAF Typhoons are policing Baltic skies and providing a rapid response to any approaches towards NATO airspace." "Together it sends a clear message we are committed to defending NATO's borders and will support our Allies in deterring any threats." These are the first QRA scrambles since the RAF took over the NATO Baltic Air Policing mission from the German Air Force last month. Both were conducted in a safe and professional manner throughout. The RAF operates alongside its NATO allies to deter Russian aggression and assure NATO allies of the UK's commitment to collective defence. This is a routine NATO mission for the Typhoons which provides reassurance that the UK is here to work in partnership with Estonia. Wing Commander Paul 'Pablo' O'Grady, who was conducting QRA duty when the first scramble was called, said: "On 14 May 19 my flight of QRA Typhoons were scrambled on a Baltic Air Policing Mission tasked to intercept and identify an unknown aircraft. Six minutes after take-off from Amari Air Base, vectored by Estonian fighter controllers, we closed quickly on a Russian IL-22 which was being escorted by two Russian SU-27 fighters." "Flying alongside the Russian aircraft at a safe distance, myself and my wingman (a United States Airforce Lt Col), ensured that the Russian aircraft were safely escorted around Estonian airspace. The Russian pilots and crews behaved in a professional and calm manner with nothing untoward. We subsequently handed the Russian formation over to the Hungarian QRA that had launched out of Lithuania to continue the escort towards Kaliningrad." "This was the first Baltic Air Policing Mission of the Typhoon Detachment providing assurance of our capability and demonstrating the UK's commitment to our NATO Allies." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UK and US pilots to prepare for frontline on state-of-the-art simulators Defence Minister Stuart Andrew has announced that British pilots will be able to undertake simultaneous, virtual exercises with US counterparts based across the Atlantic using new cutting-edge simulation technology. 16 May 2019 Speaking on a visit to RAF Waddington today, the Minister announced a 36m contract for simulation technology which can replicate up to three real-life scenarios simultaneously and independently of each other, allowing US and UK aircrew to experience the same battle environment and threats. The capability, known as 'Gladiator', will give the RAF unprecedented training flexibility, enabling pilots to exercise capabilities, tactics and procedures that would be impossible in the live environment due to airspace, aircraft availability, or security constraints. Defence Minister Stuart Andrew said: "This synthetic training technology offers the RAF a cost-effective, powerful and safe way to prepare our aircrew for the complex threats they will face on the battlefield." "The UK-US defence partnership is already the deepest and most advanced of any two countries and now our pilots will be able to train for the frontline more closely than ever." The manufacture and design of the capability is expected to be completed within two years, with aircrew to start training on the equipment in autumn 2021. Initially, Typhoon pilots will be able to fly virtual missions alongside their counterpart aircrews in America and interact with UK and US Joint Terminal Attack Controllers who direct combat aircraft from an advanced ground-based position. F-35 Lightning jets are expected to be added to the package by September 2021. The RAF will also look to include Wedgetail early warning radar aircraft in the future, as well as upgrading the capability to enable the Royal Navy and the Army air assets to undertake collective training exercises. The contract, signed with Boeing Defence UK, includes the design and manufacture of the simulation systems and software, and the first five years of support, sustaining up to 40 highly skilled UK jobs. The design and manufacture of the software will take place in Fleet in Hampshire and Bristol, and the equipment will be installed at RAF Waddington. Flight Simulator and Synthetic Training Portfolio Team Leader, Russ Cole, said: "The award of this contract heralds a 21st century capability that will transform the ability of the RAF to undertake collective operations, tactics and procedures training in the synthetic environment that cannot be performed in the live environment." "We are looking forward to working with Boeing over the next few years to design, build, deliver and operate a state-of-the-art training hub at the centre of a collective training web capability." Air Commodore David Bradshaw, Senior Responsible Owner for the programme said: "This contract award signals the go-ahead for the core element of the Royal Air Force's future synthetic training capability. This new capability, known as Gladiator, will provide a step-change in the ability of our front-line Forces to train together in operationally realistic situations to meet an ever-increasing adversary threat." "Combined with other Programmes that are delivering new aircraft simulators to front-line Squadrons, Gladiator will allow aircrew to hone their skills, training with colleagues and allies. Our crews will be better prepared for a range of current and potential scenarios they may face. Gladiator is the pathfinder programme for similar synthetic training solutions planned across UK Defence." The Ministry of Defence continues to drive economic growth in the East Midlands, investing 896m with UK industry in 2017/18, supporting 6,100 jobs across the region. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Oligarch Kolomoyskiy Returns To Ukraine By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service May 16, 2019 DNIPRO, Ukraine -- Ukrainian tycoon Ihor Kolomoyskiy has returned to the country after spending almost two years in self-exile. Skhemy (Schemes), a joint project by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service and Ukraine's UA:Pershy television channel, quoted sources at the international airport in the eastern city of Dnipro as saying that Kolomoyskiy had landed there early on May 16. Kolomoyskiy, one of Ukraine's richest men and a former regional governor, was on board a private plane coming from Tel Aviv, the sources said. Kolomoyskiy has been at odds with outgoing President Petro Poroshenko for years. His return to his home country comes weeks after Volodymyr Zelenskiy defeated Poroshenko in an April 21 presidential runoff election. The Babel online newspaper quoted Kolomoyskiy as saying after landing in Dnipro that he didn't know about his plans yet. The billionaire had said he was not afraid to come back to Ukraine, saying he expected what he called political pressure on courts to stop under Zelenskiy's presidency. Zelenskiy is set to be inaugurated on May 20. Zelenskiy is linked to Kolomoyskiy through the oligarch's ownership of TV station 1+1, which hosts Zelenskiy's comedy programs. Reporters have also found other links between the two, including shared security details and vehicles, as well as possible meetings abroad in the run-up to Zelenskiy's candidacy. One of Zelenskiy's top campaign advisers was Kolomoyskiy's personal lawyer, prompting Poroshenko to claim that the billionaire supported Zelenskiy's campaign financially in order "to take revenge against the state" for the nationalization of PrivatBank. Kolomoyskiy, who has faced investigations and government pressure in Ukraine, left the country in June 2017 and later split his time between Israel and Switzerland. Poroshenko has claimed that Kolomoyskiy supported Zelenskiy's election campaign financially in order "to take revenge against the state" for the nationalization of PrivatBank. The nationalization occurred in December 2016 with the backing of the International Monetary Fund after risky lending practices left it with a capital shortfall of billions of dollars. Kolomoyskiy, one of the bank's former main shareholders, opposed the move, and a Ukrainian court ruled on April 18 that the nationalization was illegal. Ukraine's central bank is appealing the ruling. Kolomoyskiy served briefly as governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region before Poroshenko dismissed him in 2015, accusing him of setting up a private militia and trying to take over a state-affiliated oil company. Kolomoyskiy had been credited with preventing the spread of separatist sentiment in Dnipropetrovsk following Russia's seizure of the Crimean Peninsula in March 2014 and backing of armed separatists further east in the Donbas. The region he governed borders the Donetsk region, one of the two regions held in part by Russia-backed separatists whose conflict with Kyiv's forces has killed some 13,000 people since April 2014. With reporting by Babel Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukrainian-oligarch-kolomoyskiy -returns-to-ukraine/29944074.html Copyright (c) 2019. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN chief warns of nuclear 'coffin' leaking in Pacific Iran Press TV Thu May 16, 2019 10:10AM United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed alarm at the leakage of radioactive material from a concrete dome built to contain waste from atomic bomb tests by the United States amd France during the Cold War. Guterres, who is on a South Pacific tour to raise awareness of climate change issues, raised concern on Thursday that the structure on Enewetak atoll in the Marshall Islands was "a kind of coffin" leaking radioactive material into the Pacific. "The Pacific was victimized in the past as we all know," he said, referring to Cold War-era nuclear explosions carried out by the United States and France in the region. The island nation was ground zero for 67 American nuclear weapon tests between 1946 and 1958. At the time, numerous islanders in the Marshalls were forcibly evacuated from ancestral lands and resettled, while thousands more were exposed to radioactive fallout. "The consequences of these have been quite dramatic, in relation to health, in relation to the poisoning of waters in some areas," Guterres said. "I've just been with the president of the Marshall Islands (Hilda Heine), who is very worried because there is a risk of leaking of radioactive materials that are contained in a kind of coffin in the area." Guterres also stressed that Pacific islanders still needed help to deal with the fallout from the nuclear testing. The concrete dome, built in the late 1970s on Runit island and part of Enewetak atoll, has been functioning as dumping ground for waste from the nuclear tests. Radioactive soil and ash from the explosions was tipped into a crater and capped with a concrete dome 45 centimeters thick. However, it was only envisaged as a temporary fix and the bottom of the crater was never lined, leading to fears the waste is leaking into the Pacific. Reports say cracks have also developed in the concrete structure after decades of exposure and there are concerns the dome could break apart if hit by a tropical cyclone. The UN chief did not directly mention what should be done with the dome but said the Pacific's nuclear history still needed to be addressed. "A lot needs to be done in relation to the explosions that took place in French Polynesia and the Marshall Islands," Guterres said. "This is in relation to the health consequences, the impact on communities and other aspects," he added. "Of course, there are questions of compensation and mechanisms to allow these impacts to be minimized." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., April 30, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Comvest Partners (Comvest) has announced that its portfolio company, Engage2Excel Group of Companies (E2E Group), has added Rideau, Inc. (Rideau), a global leader of employee recognition solutions, to bolster its career experience platform. Headquartered in Montreal, Rideau provides world-class organizations with an integrated recognition platform that fuels long-term performance by increasing employee engagement and retention. Rideau has a rich heritage of recognition expertise and industry-leading technology and reputation in the marketplace, and we are excited about our shared vision for bringing the career experience platform to life, said Phil Stewart, CEO of E2E Group. We believe that Rideaus Vistance Analytics & Learning platform can help managers and leaders measure and improve their ability to recognize others, driving more success for our 3,000+ combined clients. For the past 32 years, Peter Hart, President of Rideau, has been the driving force of transforming Rideau into one of the worlds largest recognition and rewards companies. E2E Group is pleased to continue to leverage Harts strong leadership abilities. I couldnt be more enthusiastic about Rideau joining the E2E Group family of companies, said Hart. Our mission has been to build meaningful relationships with powerful recognition solutions, and E2E Group will only help take us to the next level. This investment aligns with Comvests strategy to invest in technology-enabled businesses in the human capital management marketplace, said Matt Gullen, Partner at Comvest. We believe that strong tailwinds will continue as organizations increasingly emphasize how they will attract and retain their talent, and Rideau represents a highly complementary and strategic addition to E2E Group. Rideau has many locations in Canada, including Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver, as well as offices in New York, France, and Bangalore, India. Rideau is expected to continue business as usual while leveraging the assets of E2E Group. About E2E Group E2E Group is a leading provider of employee recognition and engagement, sales incentives, talent acquisition and consumer loyalty solutions and services. Headquartered in Statesville, North Carolina, E2E Groups solutions focus on attracting, retaining, and engaging both employees and customers to increase productivity and profitability. E2E Group maintains relationships across a diversified client base ranging from Fortune 100 companies to small and medium-sized businesses. The organization now consists of Engage2Excel, Inc. and Engage2Excel Recruitment Solutions (www.engage2excel.com), Hinda Incentives and Loyalty Group (www.hinda.com), and Rideau, Inc. (www.rideau.com). About Rideau, Inc. Rideau leverages their century of experience in the recognition industry to reinvent the human capital landscape with a true Return on Recognition. Built upon award-winning, state-of-the-art technology and validated by years of scientific research, Rideau's new approach to employee recognition is transforming the use of recognition analytical data. With the use of proprietary analytics, Rideau can identify real-time opportunities to increase employee engagement, employee retention, and customer satisfaction as well as identify the concrete, measurable return on investment that yields lower recognition program costs. For more information, please visit www.rideau.com. About Comvest Partners Comvest Partners is a private investment firm providing equity and debt capital to middle-market companies across North America. Since its founding in 2000, Comvest has invested over $4.3 billion in 185 companies. Today, Comvests funds have over $3.2 billion of assets under management. Through our extensive capital resources and broad network of industry relationships, we offer our companies financial sponsorship, critical strategic and operational support, and business development assistance. For more information, please visit www.comvest.com. For more information: Matt Gullen, Partner, Comvest Partners m.gullen@comvest.com Carlos Soto, Principal, Comvest Partners c.soto@comvest.com As another year marked by the global pandemic comes to an end, our photojournalists remain challenged and, frequently, awed - by the constant state of change. We documented our ever-evolving world in ways few photo staffs could as we all worked to regain normalcy amid COVID-19s seemingly unbreakable hold on our communities. We showed the relieved faces of people receiving a coveted vaccine, telling the story of a scientific breakthrough with images of those benefitting from it. We covered new workplace policies, school protocols and policing practices. We traveled half-way across the world to an Olympics where the athletes couldnt hug each other, masked medalists step atop the podium and no one came to watch. The Chicago Tribune faced its own series of changes, too. We have new owners. New bosses. Endured another move. Gained new talented journalists and lost many others from the newsroom ranks. The one constant has been our dedication to providing photography on a daily basis that is relevant to the communities we cover: The joy of picnicking at the lakefront on a summer afternoon, the pain of children, police officers and neighbors all falling victims to violent crime. Documenting whos in and whos out in the political landscape, escaping to your favorite cultural event or sports competition. We hope this installment of the annual Photos of the Year project reminds us of the moments that shaped our lives and the thoughtful way we portray them. Its also a platform for acknowledging the talent and dedication of Tribune photographers, and all photojournalists, who make change a way of life. The Chicago Tribune staff photographers for 2021: Brian Cassella, Erin Hooley, Terrence Antonio James, Vashon Jordan Jr., John J. Kim, Youngrae Kim, Jose M. Osorio, Antonio Perez, Armando L. Sanchez, Chris Sweda, Abel Uribe, E. Jason Wambsgans, Stacey Wescott and Raquel Zaldivar. Tribune visual editors: Mark Hume, Andrew Johnston, Marianne Mather, Steve Rosenberg and Peter Tsai. - Todd Panagopoulos, Director of Content/Visuals RENO, Nev., May 16, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nevada Exploration Inc. (NGE or the Company) (TSX-V: NGE; OTCQB: NVDEF) is pleased to present the results from its recently-completed 4,000-metre core drilling program at its South Grass Valley Project (the Project), where, as previously announced, the Company has discovered a large mineralized Carlin-type hydrothermal system, successfully achieving the objective of the Phase 1 drilling program. By integrating the geologic logging and assay results from the eight, wide-spaced, Phase 1 core holes with the Companys other geophysical and geochemical datasets, NGE has: (1) confirmed the presence of the critical components required to host a Carlin-type gold deposit (CTGD); (2) confirmed that the scale of the geologic system is consistent with that required to host a significant deposit; (3) built a geologic model to guide continued exploration at this otherwise blind, covered target; and (4) designed a program for the next stage of exploration at what NGE considers to be one of the most important projects in Nevada in terms of its potential to host a major new CTGD. Wade Hodges, NGEs CEO, discusses the results of the program: If we look at the major Carlin-type systems in Nevada company-making assets such as Goldstrike, Turquoise Ridge, and Cortez Hills these deposits are the product of critical geologic components, or building blocks, coming together at the same place at the same time, namely: the right bedrock needs to have been in contact with the right faults and structures that have been used to transport the right hydrothermal fluids that have contained the right concentrations of gold - which in these Carlin-type systems is also found along with a characteristic suite of pathfinder elements. Based on this known architecture, if there is a large CTGD at South Grass Valley, we would expect massive volumes of characteristic lower-plate limestone bedrock, within a structurally complex setting, showing evidence of intense hydrothermal alteration, and containing enriched concentrations of gold and associated pathfinders. Establishing that these critical components are present together at South Grass Valley, and importantly that each exists at a scale consistent with those same features responsible for Nevadas major CTGDs, was the specific objective of the program; and as weve announced, this is exactly what weve found. We have literally uncovered a brand-new, potential Carlin-type district, and as the first exploration company to enter this search space, we believe we have the best opportunity of making a significant discovery here. Having successfully achieved our objective for our Phase 1 program, our job now turns to domaining the Project into smaller, discrete targets and identifying which of these targets provides the best geologic architecture to support higher-grade gold mineralization. Driven by the logging and analyses of the more than 2,500 core samples collected during Phase 1 drilling, we have decoded the bedrock layer cake at the Project, and have integrated this new information with the geophysics, mapping, groundwater, and soil sampling to build a geologic model for the Project including, importantly, structural geology, to drive our next phase of exploration. With the clear and specific goal of giving us the best information to ultimately select the best targets for follow-up infill drilling, our plan for the coming months is to improve and expand our data coverage at what are now the edges of our geologic model, beyond the limits of the Phase 1 drill holes, by collecting additional step-out core drilling, Scorpion drilling, and soil samples. We believe our progress to date is a good example of how to systematically and responsibly de-risk a covered exploration project, and we look forward to continuing to advance one of Nevadas largest new Carlin-type projects. PROJECT LOCATION AND HISTORY NGEs South Grass Valley Project is a covered (blind) gold exploration project located approximately 50 kilometres south-southwest of the Cortez complex operated by Nevada Gold Mines (Barrick Gold Corp. and Newmont Mining Corp. JV), within the specific region of north-central Nevada known to host world-class CTGDs. NGE originally identified and staked the Project based on elevated concentrations of gold and CTGD pathfinder elements in groundwater that the Company discovered during a generative basin-scale hydrogeochemistry-supported exploration program. Since acquiring the Project, NGE has completed: an in-fill borehole groundwater sampling program, detailed air magnetic and gravity geophysics surveys, a soil geochemistry sampling program, and most recently, a Phase 1 core drilling program. PHASE 1 DRILLING OBJECTIVE The Companys objective for its Phase 1 core drilling program was to confirm whether the enriched gold and CTGD pathfinders in groundwater at the Project are associated with a mineralized hydrothermal system of a size comparable to those responsible for 5 to 10 million-ounce CTGDs in Nevada. Specifically, the Phase 1 program was designed to test for the presence of significant volumes of hydrothermally-altered lower-plate bedrock containing enriched CTGD pathfinder element concentrations above the thresholds used to define the geochemical footprints in bedrock (halos) surrounding large known CTGDs, such as Cortez Hills at the north end of the valley, based on the latest research from the Mineral Deposit Research Unit (MDRU) at the University of British Columbia. SCOPE OF PROGRAM To accomplish this objective NGE completed eight wide-spaced core holes, with an average depth of 500 metres, clustered in three fences spaced approximately 1,200 metres apart, together covering an area of the Project measuring approximately 3,000 metres N-S by 800 metres E-W. This wide hole spacing was selected based on the size of the CTGD pathfinder element footprints surrounding the gold mineralization at the CTGDs studied by MDRU. With a total of 4,000 metres of drilling, resulting in 2,500 core samples, the Phase 1 drilling has provided suitable data coverage to test the area drilled for the presence of a large CTGD footprint, as well as provided important geologic information about the Project as a whole. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ee1b7d25-b2df-4ad4-9e41-f90eca2c4ec9 RESULTS To accompany the discussion below, complete down-hole strip logs, including: lithology, structure, alteration, and assay results for gold plus the CTGD pathfinders, as well as core photos, for the eight Phase 1 drill holes are available in the Project datafile available at: www.nevadaexploration.com/_resources/May_16_2019_South_Grass_Valley_Data_Package.pdf . (a) Lithology One of the characteristic traits of CTGDs is that they are hosted within a sequence of carbonate bedrock units, referred to as lower plate, that are well suited to react with Carlin-type hydrothermal fluids. With the exception of the first hole, all of the drill holes encountered a sequence of predominantly limestone and mudstone beneath 94m to 219m of gravel cover, which continued to the bottoms of the holes (248m to 647m). These drill holes provided a representative sample of bedrock to establish the major lithologic units at the Project. Through detailed logging of the drill samples and an extensive review of their geochemistry, combined with conodont-derived age dates and geologic mapping of nearby bedrock exposures, NGE has constructed a stratigraphic section, which places the bedrock at the Project into the regional context of lower-plate units that host the gold mineralization at Nevadas major CTGDs. In detail, the lithologic units encountered by the Phase 1 drilling represent a transitional zone of alternating beds of mudstone and limestone of varying thickness (e.g. whispy calcareous mudstone and silty limestone) that began (closest to the top of holes) in the lower units of the Silurian-aged (420Mya) Roberts Mountain formation, and continued down through Ordovician- and Cambrian-aged (up to 540Mya) Hanson Creek, Antelope Valley, Goodwin, Hales, and Tybo formations. At the southwestern edge of the Phase 1 drill holes, a granitic stock of presumed Jurassic age (168-158Mya) intrudes the Paleozoic stratigraphy, which is considered favorable for CTGD exploration as the contrasting rock properties between similar Jurassic to Cretaceous granitic intrusions at major CTGDs, such as Getchell and Cortez Hills, provided important structural contrasts (relative to the adjacent lower-plate rocks) that are inferred to have enhanced the mineralization. The drilling also intersected younger volcanic units, likely representing Eocene through Oligocene (40-25Mya) volcanism, that covered areas of the Paleozoic bedrock, and which provide helpful markers to establish the relative timing of reactivated and post-mineral structures. In all, the Phase 1 drill holes have confirmed that the Project contains a thick sequence of favourable lower-plate bedrock across a wide area, which based on the combined interpretation of the drilling and geophysics, likely continues well beyond this initial area of investigation, as well as at depth. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/499e0e27-4301-4edd-9eed-e183b7d782a7 (b) Structure For large CTGDs to form within favourable lower-plate host rocks, these bedrock units need to be proximal to major structural features (e.g. faults and thrusts) that can act as primary conduits (a plumbing system) to allow mineralized hydrothermal fluids to rise from depth to where they can exploit zones of secondary permeability, which can be enhanced by processes such as structural damage and chemical alteration. Based on the detailed stratigraphic section discussed above, the relationship of bedrock units between drill holes shows major stratigraphic offsets marking high-angle faults, as well as overlapping and repeating stratigraphic sequences suggestive of folding and major thrust faulting. When combined with the air magnetic geophysics, gravity geophysics, and range-front mapping, these now-confirmed major structures improve and build confidence in the Companys structural geologic interpretations and projections. The results highlight a dominant series of parallel, NNW-SSE, high-angle structures that break the bedrock up into discrete blocks that have been vertically shuffled, potentially preserving prospective bedrock units higher in the stratigraphy, which also highlight pre-existing structures often important for hydrothermal fluid flow. The NNW-SSE structural fabric is cross-cut by a later series of parallel SW-NE structures that dip steeply to the NW and appear to drop consecutive blocks down towards the northwest, which further segment the bedrock into smaller blocks. Both the NNW-SSE and SW-NE structures are associated with significant damage zones in the surrounding bedrock and deep oxidation. These major fault, thrust, and damage-zone features highlight a structural complexity that is typical of CTGDs, and that is well suited to having provided the necessary primary fluid pathways and secondary permeability to transport potentially mineralized hydrothermal fluids into thick sections of favourable lower-plate bedrock at the Project. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/020fb6cd-3591-4d7f-aff1-bc45a7755954 (c) Alteration When fluid pathways and bedrock units have been subject to hydrothermal fluid flow (i.e. when the plumbing has been turned on), this process alters the surrounding bedrock, with different types and temperatures of hydrothermal fluids generating different styles of alteration. The Phase 1 drilling shows widespread, intense alteration in the form of decalcification, argilization, and silicification across all of the seven drill holes that encountered lower-plate bedrock. The variability in the intensity of alteration suggests two separate zones of more focused fluid flow, an upper and a lower zone, with the lower zone exhibiting notable increases in both silicification and secondary pyrite. The drilling also encountered broad zones of syn-cataclastic dissolution breccias, which also represent favourable host units for CTGD mineralization. The extensive and intense alteration seen across the Project confirms that massive volumes of favourable bedrock at the Project were subject to significant and long-lived hydrothermal fluid flow, consistent with the scale of alteration associated with Nevadas large CTGDs. (d) Geochemistry The overarching discriminator for whether or not a hydrothermal system has the potential to create a CTGD when presented with the right geologic setting is whether or not the fluids carry a sufficient mineral budget that can then be concentrated. In addition to gold, the mineralization at large CTGDs in Nevada is also closely associated with a characteristic suite of pathfinder elements: As, Hg, Sb, and Tl, each of which generally continue to travel further than the gold into the surrounding bedrock, effectively increasing the size of the mineralized footprint of the deposit. Of the seven drill holes that intersected lower-plate bedrock, the hydrothermal alteration in all seven holes was associated with thick (in most holes >200 metre) intervals of anomalous and highly-anomalous CTGD pathfinder elements, including more focused enrichment associated with local structures and fractures. Specifically, the concentrations of As, Hg, Sb, and Tl within the massive zones of alteration encountered in these seven drill holes exceed the MDRU exploration thresholds for defining CTGD footprints, and are coincident with thick intervals of low-level gold, which should be expected if these wide-spaced drill holes have intersected the footprint of a large deposit. The absolute concentrations, as well as the total budgets, of CTGD pathfinder elements throughout significant volumes of hydrothermally-altered lower-plate bedrock confirm the fluids that were active at the Project contained the characteristic mineral budget associated with large CTGDs. DISCUSSION The Company believes the Phase 1 results suggest the drill holes hit the margins of a large new Carlin-type hydrothermal systems with significant potential to host CTGD mineralization. As is typical at CTGDs, the dominant controls for mineralization at the Project appear to be structural features. The alteration, pathfinder geochemistry, and gold concentrations are most intense within damage zones localized along the primary NNW-SSE structures and potential thrust features. Modelling these alteration and geochemistry contrasts provides evidence for the timing of the different structures relative to the mineralizing event(s), and helps prioritize which structures are most important in guiding the next phases of exploration. By integrating the improved structural interpretation with the detailed stratigraphic section, the Projects geologic model is resolving into smaller geologic domains, or blocks of bedrock, defined by similar structural and geologic conditions. By normalizing the geology within the domains, NGE is examining the geochemistry and alteration features within each domain as potential vectors towards mineralization. At this time, while the drill hole coverage at the Project remains limited and wide spaced, the results suggest two centres of mineralization, one to the north close to Goodwin Butte, and another further to the south, closer to the southern fence of Phase 1 drill holes. Within these two centres, where nearby drill holes have intersected similar lithological and structural domains, the alteration and geochemistry also suggest a potential source direction for the hydrothermal fluids in these areas of the Project as coming from the east, at depth. Having confirmed that the large area covered by the Phase 1 drill holes contains the required geologic features to host a significant CTGD, NGE looks forward to collecting additional drill samples to improve the data density, and to using its updated geologic model to continue to vector towards structural zones associated with the highest concentrations of CTGD pathfinders and gold, and towards places where these mineralized structures intersect especially-favourable host units. These features will define which domains provide the best targets to test for higher-grade mineralization with infill drilling. In addition to advancing the targets identified within the Phase 1 drilling area, the Company also believes there is significant potential to identify additional high-priority targets by stepping out and extending its data coverage across the district-scale Project. The characteristic CTGD geologic setting (host rocks, structures, alteration, and geochemistry) remains open in almost all directions, including at depth, which parallels the results of NGEs hydrogeochemistry program, which shows the plume of enriched gold and CTGD pathfinders in groundwater at the Project extends beyond the limits of Phase 1 drill holes. In light of the variability in gold-in-groundwater concentrations related to differences in sampling depths versus bedrock depths (particularly in areas where shallow groundwater samples were collected over deeper bedrock), the Company has added a second medium of geochemical data to compliment the hydrogeochemistry: mercury soil sampling. As the most volatile of the CTGD pathfinders, mercury is the most easily transported vertically (in vapour phase); and because of its vertical mobility, testing for mercury in soils is a logical tool to help guide CTGD exploration at covered targets. As described in the Companys news release dated January 30, 2019, the results of NGEs initial soil mercury program show a distinct zone of anomalous mercury in soils that extends NNW from the area evaluated by the Phase 1 drilling. This mercury-in-soil anomaly is coincident with the projected extension of the structurally-complex package of hydrothermally-altered lower-plate host rocks based on the results of the Phase 1 drilling, which in addition to the hydrogeochemistry data, provides a third, separate line of evidence to support the potential NNW extension of the mineralized Carlin-type system. SUMMER 2019 FIELD PROGRAM As described above, using the stratigraphic section and updated structural geology based on the Phase 1 drilling, NGE has built a geologic model to drive the next phases of exploration at the Project. This model domains the Project into smaller target areas, and also suggests significant potential to identify additional targets beyond the area of the Phase 1 drill holes. Building on these results to date, NGEs objectives for its 2019 field program at South Grass Valley are to: (1) complete a number of additional core holes to add stratigraphic and geologic information beyond the limits of the Phase 1 drill holes; and (2) acquire additional Scorpion drilling and soil geochemistry samples across the Project to select and prioritize targets for later, detailed in-fill core drilling. To provide a representative sample of the bedrock units beneath the coincident gold-in-groundwater and mercury-in-soil anomaly located along the projected NNW extension of the features seen in the Phase 1 drilling, NGE plans to complete one or more relatively deep orientation core holes about 600 metres north of the northern-most Phase 1 drill holes. Specifically, NGE will use this information to test whether or not the massive volumes of hydrothermally-altered lower-plate bedrock containing CTGD pathfinders exceeding the MDRU exploration thresholds seen in the Phase 1 drilling extend this far to the north. Subject to updates to the geologic model based on new information, NGE expects to also complete another one or more relatively deep orientation core holes to the east of the Phase 1 drill holes to test for increasing CTGD pathfinder concentrations, which would be expected if one of the sources of hydrothermal fluid flow at the Project is indeed from the east at depth, as the results from the Phase 1 drilling suggest. To provide more-detailed 3D geochemistry data across the Project, NGE plans to complete a series of Scorpion drill holes both within and beyond the area of the Phase 1 drilling. In addition to being important controls for mineralization, structural features also provide pathways for gold and CTGD pathfinders to migrate upwards into the nearby cover material. By using the Scorpion drill rig to sample the groundwater and cover material above and proximal to major structural features, NGE expects to test for increases in gold and CTDG pathfinders to select and prioritize targets for infill core drilling. When NGEs Scorpion drill rig moved to South Grass Valley it was challenged by the specific drilling conditions and depths at the Project. During the past year, NGE has worked with industry experts to complete modifications to the Scorpion drill rig to improve its capabilities. The Company looks forward to field-testing the latest modifications with the goal of adding relatively low-cost geochemistry information to maximize the value of significantly-more-expensive core drill holes. Continuing on the success of the Companys initial soil mercury program in complementing its hydrogeochemistry data to domain and focus exploration based directly on concentrations of gold and CTGD pathfinders, NGE plans to significantly increase its soil mercury sample coverage. NGE has begun a follow-up sampling program to: (1) infill the existing sample lines by reducing line spacings from 400 metres to 200 metres consistent with the sampling strategy used to define the soil-mercury anomaly over Cortez Hills; and (2) expand sample coverage to the north and south, along the projected extension of the favourable geologic features seen in the Phase 1 drilling in order to add geochemistry data in places where the depth to bedrock is so deep that NGEs shallow groundwater samples may not provide as-representative information about the underlying bedrock, as well as in places where NGE has limited groundwater sample coverage due to deeper groundwater depths. In terms of timing: NGEs drilling contractor expects to mobilize a core drill rig to the Project and begin drilling within the next two weeks; the soil mercury sampling program is now in progress; and NGE is aiming to begin the first Scorpion drill shift in June. As NGE continues to advance the Project, per NI 43-101, 2.3(2), the Company must remind its stakeholders that the Project remains an exploration target for which the potential quantity and grade of any mineral resource is still conceptual in nature. There has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource, and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a mineral resource. About Nevada Exploration Inc. NGE is an exploration company advancing a portfolio of new district-scale gold exploration projects along Nevadas Battle Mountain-Eureka (Cortez) Trend. NGE is led by an experienced management team that has been involved in several significant discoveries in Nevada, including the discovery of Lone Tree and Rabbit Creek (part of the Twin Creeks Mine). NGEs team has spent the last decade integrating the use of hydrogeochemistry with conventional exploration tools to develop a Nevada-specific regional-scale geochemistry exploration program. With new proprietary technology, NGE has completed the worlds largest groundwater sampling program for gold exploration, collecting approximately 6,000 samples to evaluate Nevadas covered basins for new gold exploration targets. To advance follow-up targets, NGE has overcome the high drilling costs that have previously prohibited the wide-spread use of drilling as a prospecting tool by developing its Scorpion drill rig, a small-footprint, truck-mounted, small-diameter RC drill rig specifically tailored to the drilling conditions in Nevadas basins (analogous to RAB drilling in other parts of the world). By integrating hydrogeochemistry and early-stage low-cost drilling with conventional exploration methods, NGE is overcoming the challenges and radically reducing the costs of exploring in Nevadas covered basins, and is taking significant steps to open this important new search space up for district-scale exploration. For further information, please contact: Nevada Exploration Inc. Email: info@nevadaexploration.com Telephone: +1 (604) 601 2006 Website: www.nevadaexploration.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. Wade A. Hodges, CEO & Director, Nevada Exploration Inc., is the Qualified Person, as defined in National Instrument 43-101, and has prepared the technical and scientific information contained in this News Release. Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information: This news release contains forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively, forward-looking information) within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including, without limitation, expectations, beliefs, plans, and objectives regarding projects, potential transactions, and ventures discussed in this release. In connection with the forward-looking information contained in this news release, the Company has made numerous assumptions, regarding, among other things, the assumption the Company will continue as a going concern and will continue to be able to access the capital required to advance its projects and continue operations. While the Company considers these assumptions to be reasonable, these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies. In addition, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause the Companys actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information contained herein. Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements are the risks inherent in mineral exploration, the need to obtain additional financing, environmental permits, the availability of needed personnel and equipment for exploration and development, fluctuations in the price of minerals, and general economic conditions. A more complete discussion of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company is disclosed in the Companys continuous disclosure filings with Canadian securities regulatory authorities at www.sedar.com. All forward-looking information herein is qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement, and the Company disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking information or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments, except as required by law. MELBOURNE, Australia, May 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Deirdre O'Reilly FCA has been appointed to the position of Independent Chair of the newly established Equity Trustees business in Ireland. Equity Trustees Fund Services provides independent fund governance, risk and compliance, product development and regulatory reporting services to investment managers, from locations in Melbourne, Sydney, London and now Dublin. This is an exciting opportunity to be a part of one of the newest providers of a comprehensive range of UCITS Management Company and Alternative Investment Fund Manager (AIFM) services to domestic and international investment managers, distributors and financial professionals, Ms OReilly said. Deirdre brings a significant level of expertise to the Board as an independent director, having previously worked for the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI), where she was responsible for the commencement of the Policy and Risk Unit within the Investment Firms and Fund Services Division, and led implementations of the online reporting and online authorisation systems. Prior to the CBI, she was at PwC, and is also a course presenter at the Irish Management Institute. Deirdres experience and expertise in compliance, risk and corporate governance strengthens our ability to grow our business and provide fiduciary services to domestic and global fund managers, said Harvey Kalman, Global Head of Equity Trustees Fund Services. Managing Director of Equity Trustees, Mick OBrien, added: On behalf of Equity Trustees, we congratulate Deirdre on her appointment and welcome her to our business. I look forward to her contribution to our growth story which began in Australia 130 years ago and now begins a chapter in Dublin. Deirdre holds a Bachelor of Science from University College of Dublin, and is also a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland (CAI), a Licentiate of the Association of Compliance Officers in Ireland and a member of the Institute of Banking in Ireland. More about Equity Trustees Fund Services available at www.equitytrustees.com MEDIA INQUIRIES Alicia Kokocinski General Manager Marketing & Communications +61 3 8623 5396 / +61 403 172 024 akokocinski@eqt.com.au Equity Trustees, the brand name of EQT Holdings Limited, was established in 1888 for the purpose of providing independent and impartial Trustee and Executor services to help families throughout Australia protect their wealth. As Australias leading specialist trustee company, we offer a diverse range of services to individuals, families and corporate clients including asset management, estate planning, philanthropic services and Responsible Entity (RE) services for external Fund Managers. Equity Trustees (UK & Europe) Limited (Company number 10145592) is a subsidiary of EQT Holdings Limited (ABN 22 607 797 615), a publicly listed company on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX: EQT). Equity Trustees (UK & Europe) was established in January 2017. Through our Independent Authorised Corporate Director (ACD) and Management Company services we offer a comprehensive range of UCITS and AIFMD fund services to International and domestic Investment Managers, Distributors and Financial Services professionals looking to establish and operate funds in both the UK & Europe. Equity Trustees Fund Services (Ireland) Limited (Company number 635185) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Equity Trustees (UK & Europe) Limited. This media release has been prepared to provide you with general information only. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT (INCLUDING THE APPENDIX) AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS RESTRICTED AND IS NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, BY ANY MEANS OR MEDIA, IN OR INTO OR FROM THE UNITED STATES (OR TO ANY US PERSONS), AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, JAPAN OR THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA, OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT ITSELF CONSTITUTE A PROSPECTUS OR OFFERING MEMORANDUM NOR DOES IT CONSTITUTE AN ADMISSION DOCUMENT PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE AIM RULES OR EURONEXT GROWTH RULES OR FORM PART OF ANY OFFER, RECOMMENDATION, INVITATION TO SELL OR ISSUE, OR ANY SOLICITATION OF ANY OFFER TO PURCHASE OR SUBSCRIBE FOR, ANY SECURITIES IN THE CAPITAL OF THE COMPANY. ACCORDINGLY, THIS ANNOUNCEMENT HAS NOT BEEN APPROVED BY OR FILED WITH THE FCA OR CBI AND NEITHER THIS ANNOUNCEMENT NOR THE FACT OF ITS DISTRIBUTION SHOULD FORM THE BASIS OR, OR BE RELIED ON IN CONNECTION WITH, ANY INVESTMENT DECISION IN RESPECT OF THE COMPANY OR OTHER EVALUATION OF ANY SECURITIES OF THE COMPANY OR ANY OTHER ENTITY AND SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS A RECOMMENDATION THAT ANY INVESTOR SHOULD SUBSCRIBE FOR OR PURCHASE ANY SUCH SECURITIES. THE INFORMATION COMMUNICATED IN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF ARTICLE 7 OF THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (EU) NO.596/2014. ("MAR"). IN ADDITION, MARKET SOUNDINGS (AS DEFINED IN MAR) WERE TAKEN IN RESPECT OF CERTAIN OF THE MATTERS CONTAINED IN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, WITH THE RESULT THAT CERTAIN PERSONS BECAME AWARE OF SUCH INSIDE INFORMATION, AS PERMITTED BY MAR. UPON THE PUBLICATION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT VIA A REGULATORY INFORMATION SERVICE, THIS INSIDE INFORMATION IS NOW CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN AND SUCH PERSONS SHALL THEREFORE CEASE TO BE IN POSSESSION OF INSIDE INFORMATION. 17 May 2019 Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd Proposed Placing Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd ("Falcon" or the "Company") (AIM: FOG, Euronext Growth: FAC, TSXV: FO.V), the international oil and gas company engaged in the exploration and development of unconventional oil and gas assets, is pleased to announce a proposed placing of new Common Shares of the Company (the "Placing Shares") at a price of 14p per Placing Share (the "Placing Price") in order to raise gross proceeds of up to US$10 million (c.7.76 million) (the "Placing") by way of a conditional placing of the Placing Shares with institutional investors. The net proceeds of the Placing will primarily be used to fund Falcons share of estimated capital expenditure in respect of the drilling and hydraulic fracture stimulation of four horizontal wells in the Beetaloo Sub-basin, Australia (further details of which are provided below). The Placing is being conducted through a bookbuilding process (the "Bookbuild") which is being managed by J&E Davy ("Davy"), RBC Capital Markets ("RBC") and Cenkos Securities plc ("Cenkos" and together with Davy and RBC, the Joint Bookrunners) and will open immediately following the release of this Announcement and will be made available to eligible institutional investors. Davy is also acting as nominated adviser (for the purpose of the AIM Rules for Companies) and Euronext Growth advisor (for the purpose of the Euronext Growth Rules) to the Company in connection with the Placing. Company Background Falcon is an international oil and gas company focused on the exploration and appraisal of unconventional oil and gas assets. Its corporate strategy is to explore unconventional oil and gas basins; following successful exploration, continue with appraisal programs to determine commercialisation options; and subsequently monetise assets prior to production. Falcon Australia owns 30% of three exploration permits in the Beetaloo Sub-basin, located in the Northern Territory of Australia (the Beetaloo) being EP76, EP98, EP117 (the "Beetaloo Exploration Permits") which represent total gross acreage of 4.6 million, or 1.4 million acres net to Falcon Australias 30% participating interest. In 2014, Falcon Australia farmed-out 35% of its participating interest in the Beetaloo Exploration Permits to a subsidiary of Origin Energy Limited, and 35% of its interest in the Beetaloo Exploration Permits to Sasol Petroleum Australia Limited ("Sasol"), a subsidiary of Sasol Limited, pursuant to the terms of a farm out agreement (Farm-out Agreement), in a deal worth A$200 million (c.US$143 million). Following certain further transfers of interest, Origin Energy B2 Pty Ltd. (Origin) now holds a 70% participating interest in, and is the operator of, the Beetaloo Exploration Permits (the Operator) under a joint venture with Falcon Australia, which holds the remaining 30% participating interest (together, the JV). To date, the JV has drilled four wells under the stage 1 work program set out in the Farm-out Agreement (Stage 1), which resulted in the discovery of 6.6 TCF of 2C gross contingent resource estimate (1.94 TCF net to Falcon). A 57 day extended well test resulted in cumulative production of 63 MMscf and variable gas rates ranged between 0.8-1.2 MMscf/d. The JV has agreed to evaluate the potential of the liquids-rich gas fairways in both the Kyalla and the Velkerri shale plays as part of the stage 2 work program set out in the Farm-out Agreement ("Stage 2"). Exploration and appraisal activities targeted to commence in mid-2019 under Stage 2 include the drilling and hydraulic fracture stimulation of two horizontal wells: Kyalla shale and hybrid liquids rich gas play one of the identified three source rock and two hybrid target intervals in the Kyalla formation, with estimated liquid yields in the range of 15-60 bbl/MMscf. The Kyalla formation prospective areas, which are confined to the Beetaloo Exploration Permits, are expected to have a cost advantage over the Velkerri formation prospective areas given they are shallower and are likely to contain liquids rich gas that could also improve expected economics. Velkerri shale liquids rich gas play a liquids rich gas play fairway along the northern and south-eastern flanks of the Beetaloo Exploration Permits, at 1,200-2,000mTVD, with regional gas composition and maturity data indicating condensate to gas ratio at an estimated 5-40 bbl/MMscf. Indications are that porosity and permeability are higher in these areas and there is an increased potential for a stacked liquids rich target. Exploration and appraisal activities targeted to commence in 2020 under the stage 3 work program under the Farm-out Agreement ("Stage 3") include the drilling and hydraulic fracture stimulation of a further two horizontal wells targeting one or more of the three plays: Velkerri B shale gas play Kyalla shale and hybrid liquids rich gas plays Velkerri shale liquids rich gas play Reasons for the Placing The estimated gross capex for Stage 2 and Stage 3 is c.US$130 million. Under the terms of the Farm-out Agreement, Falcon Australia is carried for up to c.A$113 million (~US$80 million) for the costs of Stage 2 and Stage 3, equating to c.US$24 million net benefit to Falcon, with Falcons net cash contribution estimated at US$15 million, before contingency. Falcons net cash contribution to the first c.US$100 million of gross capex for Stage 2 and Stage 3 is estimated at c.US$5.5 million, before contingency. The Company will use the net proceeds of the Placing, together with its existing cash resources of c.US$6 million, principally to fund its net contribution to estimated capex under Stage 2 and Stage 3 and G&A expenses. Details of the Placing The Placing will be managed on the Company's behalf by the Joint Bookrunners in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in Appendix to this Announcement. The Placing is not being underwritten by the Joint Bookrunners. The Company reserves the right to issue and sell a lesser number of Common Shares through the Placing and to settle certain of the Placing Shares by way of a direct subscription with the Company. The Placing will be conducted in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in the Appendix. The Bookbuild, to determine demand for participation in the Placing, will commence with immediate effect following the release of this Announcement and is expected to close no later than 6.30 p.m. UK time on 17 May 2019. However, the timing of the closing of the Bookbuild is at the absolute discretion of the Joint Bookrunners. The Joint Bookrunners and the Company reserve the right to close the Bookbuild earlier or later, without further notice. The number of Placing Shares and allocations will be determined by the Company and Joint Bookrunners following the close of the Bookbuild. The Placing Shares will, when issued, be credited as fully paid and will rank equally in all respects with the existing Common Shares, including the right to receive all dividends and other distributions declared, made or paid in respect of such Common Shares after the date of issue of the Placing Shares. As detailed in the Appendix, the Placing is conditional upon, inter alia, Admission becoming effective and the Placing Agreement not being terminated prior to Admission. It is expected that Admission will become effective and that dealings in the Placing Shares will commence on 22 May 2019. This Announcement should be read in its entirety. In particular, your attention is drawn to the "Important Information" section of this Announcement and to the detailed terms and conditions of the Placing and further information relating to the Bookbuild described in the Appendix. By choosing to participate in the Placing and by making an oral and legally binding offer to acquire Placing Shares, investors will be deemed to have read and understood this Announcement in its entirety (including the Appendix) and to be making such an offer on the terms and subject to the conditions in it, and to be providing the representations, warranties, acknowledgements and undertakings contained in the Appendix. Market Abuse Regulation This Announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of MAR. Market soundings, as defined in MAR, were taken in respect of the Placing, with the result that certain persons became aware of inside information, as permitted by MAR. That inside information is set out in this Announcement and has been disclosed as soon as possible in accordance with paragraph 7 of Article 17 of MAR. Therefore, those persons that received inside information in a market sounding are no longer in possession of inside information relating to the Company and its securities. The person responsible for arranging the release of this announcement on behalf of Falcon is Anne Flynn. For further information on the Announcement, please contact: Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd +353 1 676 8702 Phillip OQuigley Anne Flynn Davy (Joint Bookrunner, Nominated Adviser and Euronext Growth Advisor) +353 1 679 6363 John Frain Ronan Veale Barry Murphy RBC (Joint Bookrunner) +44 20 7653 4000 Matthew Coakes Martin Copeland Duncan Smith Jack Wood Cenkos (Joint Bookrunner) +44 (0)131 220 6939 Joe Nally Neil McDonald Derrick Lee Capitalised terms used but not defined in the text of this Announcement shall have the meanings given to such terms in the sections headed 'Definitions' and 'Glossary' below. About Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd Falcon is an international oil and gas company engaged in the exploration and development of unconventional oil and gas assets, with the current portfolio focused in Australia, South Africa and Hungary. Falcon is incorporated in British Columbia, Canada and headquartered in Dublin, Ireland with a technical team based in Budapest, Hungary. Falcon is listed on AIM, Euronext Growth and the TSX Venture Exchange Market. Competent Person's Statement In accordance with the guidelines of AIM, Dr. Gabor Bada, Falcon Oil & Gas Ltds Head of Technical Operations, who holds a geology degree from the Eotvos L. University in Budapest, Hungary and a PhD from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and is a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, meets the criteria of qualified person under the AIM guidance note for mining and oil and gas companies, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this Announcement. 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. IMPORTANT INFORMATION Davy, who is authorised and regulated in Ireland by the CBI, is acting as the Company's nominated adviser (pursuant to the AIM Rules for Nominated Advisers), Euronext Growth adviser (pursuant to the Euronext Growth Rules) and joint bookrunner to the Company. Davy is acting exclusively to the Company in connection with the Placing and no other person in connection with the Placing. Davy will not regard any other person as its customer or be responsible to any other person for providing the protections afforded to customers of Davy nor for providing advice in relation to the transactions and arrangements detailed in this Announcement for which the Company and the Directors are solely responsible. Davy has not authorised the contents of, or any part of, this Announcement and, without limiting the statutory rights of any recipient of this Announcement, no liability whatsoever is accepted by Davy for the accuracy of any information or opinions contained in this Announcement or for omissions of any material information for which it is not responsible. The responsibilities of Davy as (i) the Company's nominated adviser solely for the purposes of the AIM Rules for Nominated Advisers; and (ii) Euronext Growth Adviser solely for the purpose of the Rules for Euronext Growth Advisers, are owed solely to the London Stock Exchange and Euronext Dublin respectively and are not owed to the Company or any Director or to any other person in respect of his decision to acquire Common Shares, or otherwise invest, in the Company in reliance on any parts of this Announcement. Cenkos, who is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the FCA, is acting as Joint Bookrunner to the Company. Cenkos is acting exclusively for the Company in connection with the Placing and no other person in connection with the Placing. Cenkos will not regard any other person as its customer or be responsible to any other person for providing the protections afforded to customers of Cenkos nor for providing advice in relation to the transactions and arrangements detailed in this Announcement for which the Company and the Directors are solely responsible. Cenkos has not authorised the contents of, or any part of, this Announcement and, without limiting the statutory rights of any person to whom this Announcement is issued, no liability whatsoever is accepted by Cenkos for the accuracy of any information or opinions contained in this Announcement or for the omission of any material information for which it is not responsible. RBC, who is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority ("PRA") and regulated in the United Kingdom by the FCA and the PRA, is acting as Joint Bookrunner to the Company. RBC is acting exclusively for the Company in connection with the Placing and no other person in connection with the Placing. RBC will not regard any other person as its customer or be responsible to any other person for providing the protections afforded to customers of RBC nor for providing advice in relation to the transactions and arrangements detailed in this Announcement for which the Company and the Directors are solely responsible. RBC has not authorised the contents of, or any part of, this Announcement and, without limiting the statutory rights of any person to whom this Announcement is issued, no liability whatsoever is accepted by RBC for the accuracy of any information or opinions contained in this Announcement or for the omission of any material information for which it is not responsible. This Announcement has been issued by, and is the sole responsibility of, the Company. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is or will be made as to, or in relation to, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by any Joint Bookrunner or by any of their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers or employees as to or in relation to, the accuracy or completeness of this Announcement or any other written or oral information made available to, or publicly available to, any interested party or its advisers, and any liability therefore is expressly disclaimed. The distribution of the Announcement and the offering of the Placing Shares in certain jurisdictions may be restricted or prohibited by law or regulation. Persons distributing the Announcement must satisfy themselves that it is lawful to do so. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No action has been taken by the Company or any of the Joint Bookrunners or any of their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers or employees that would permit an offering of the Placing Shares or possession or distribution of the Announcement or any other offering or publicity material relating to such Placing Shares in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required. Persons into whose possession the Announcement comes are required by the Company and the Joint Bookrunners to inform themselves about, and to observe, such restrictions. Solely for the purposes of the product governance requirements contained within: (a) EU Directive 2014/65/EU on markets in financial instruments, as amended (MiFID II); (b) Articles 9 and 10 of Commission Delegated Directive (EU) 2017/593 supplementing MiFID II; and (c) local implementing measures (together, the MiFID II Product Governance Requirements), and disclaiming all and any liability, whether arising in tort, contract or otherwise, which any manufacturer (for the purposes of the MiFID II Product Governance Requirements) may otherwise have with respect thereto, the Placing Shares have been subject to a product approval process, which has determined that such securities are: (i) compatible with an end target market of retail investors and investors who meet the criteria of professional clients and eligible counterparties, each as defined in MiFID II; and (ii) eligible for distribution through all distribution channels as are permitted by MiFID II (the Target Market Assessment). Notwithstanding the Target Market Assessment, Placees should note that: the price of the Placing Shares may decline and investors could lose all or part of their investment; the Placing Shares offer no guaranteed income and no capital protection; and an investment in the Placing Shares is compatible only with investors who do not need a guaranteed income or capital protection, who (either alone or in conjunction with an appropriate financial or other adviser) are capable of evaluating the merits and risks of such an investment and who have sufficient resources to be able to bear any losses that may result therefrom. The Target Market Assessment is without prejudice to the requirements of any contractual, legal or regulatory selling restrictions in relation to the Placing Shares. Furthermore, it is noted that, notwithstanding the Target Market Assessment, the Joint Bookrunners will only procure investors who meet the criteria of professional clients and eligible counterparties. For the avoidance of doubt, the Target Market Assessment does not constitute: (a) an assessment of suitability or appropriateness for the purposes of MiFID II; or (b) a recommendation to any investor or group of investors to invest in, or purchase, or take any other action whatsoever with respect to the Placing Shares. Each distributor is responsible for undertaking its own Target Market Assessment in respect of the Placing Shares and determining appropriate distribution channels. The Announcement contains (or may contain) certain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Forward looking statements include statements relating to the following: (i) future capital expenditures, expenses, revenues, earnings, synergies, economic performance, indebtedness, financial condition, dividend policy, losses and future prospects; and (ii) business and management strategies and the expansion and growth of the Companys operations. These statements, which sometimes use words such as "anticipate", "believe", "intend", "estimate", "expect", "will", "may", "should", "plan", "target", "aim" and words of similar meaning or similar expressions or negatives therefor, reflect the Directors' beliefs and expectations and involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results and performance to differ materially from any expected future results or performance expressed or implied by any such forward-looking statement. Many of these risks and uncertainties relate to factors that are beyond the Companys ability to control or estimate precisely, such as (i) price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas; (ii) currency fluctuations; (iii) drilling and production results; (iv) reserves estimates; (v) loss of market share and industry competition; (vi) environmental and physical risks; (vii) risks associated with the identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and targets, and successful negotiation and completion of such transactions; (viii) legislative, fiscal and regulatory developments including regulatory measures addressing climate change; (ix) economic and financial market conditions in various countries and regions; (x) political risks, including the risks of renegotiation of the terms of contracts with governmental entities, delays or advancements in the approval of projects and delays in the reimbursement of shared costs; (xi) drilling wells is speculative, often involving significant costs that may be more than estimated and may not result in discoveries and (xii) changes in trading conditions. The Company cannot give any assurance that such forward-looking statements will prove to have been correct. Statements contained in the Announcement regarding past trends or activities should not be taken as a representation that such trends or activities will continue in the future. The information contained in the Announcement is subject to change without notice and, except as required by applicable law, neither the Joint Bookrunners nor the Company assumes any responsibility or obligation to update publicly or review any of the forward-looking statements contained herein whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of the Announcement. Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to be a forecast, projection or estimate of the future financial performance of the Company or any other person following the implementation of the Placing or otherwise. The price of Common Shares and the income from them may go down as well as up and investors may not get back the full amount invested on disposal of the Common Shares. Past performance is no guide to future performance and persons who require advice should consult an independent financial adviser. This Announcement is not for release, publication or distribution, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States, Australia, Japan or the Republic of South Africa or any jurisdiction into which the publication or distribution would be unlawful. Overseas Shareholders and any person (including, without limitation, nominees and trustees), who have a contractual or other legal obligation to forward this document to a jurisdiction outside the United Kingdom should seek appropriate advice before taking any action. This Announcement is for information purposes only and does not constitute, or form part of, a prospectus relating to the Company nor does it constitute or form part of any invitation or an offer to any person, or any public offer, to issue, sell, subscribe for, purchase or otherwise acquire shares or the solicitation of an offer to acquire, purchase or subscribe for any securities in the United States, Australia, Canada, the Republic of South Africa or Japan or any jurisdiction in which such offer or solicitation would be unlawful or require preparation of any prospectus or other offer documentation or would be unlawful prior to registration, exemption from registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No public offering of the Placing Shares is being made in any such jurisdiction. The securities referred to in this Announcement have not been nor will be registered under the Securities Act, and may not be offered, sold or transferred, directly or indirectly, within the United States except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act and the securities laws of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States. No public offering of the securities referred to in this Announcement is being made in the United States, United Kingdom or elsewhere. Neither the content of the Company's website (or any other website) nor the content of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Company's website (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this Announcement. DEFINITIONS The following definitions apply throughout this Announcement unless the context otherwise requires: "" means the lawful currency of the United Kingdom; "A$" means the lawful currency of the Australia; Admission means admission of the Placing Shares to trading on AIM, Euronext Growth and the TSX Venture Exchange Market; AIM means the Alternative Investment Market, a market regulated by the London Stock Exchange; "AIM Rules" means the AIM Rules for Companies and the AIM Rules for Nominated Advisers; AIM Rules for Companies means the rules published by the London Stock Exchange governing admission to AIM and the regulation of companies whose securities are admitted to trading on AIM (and any guidance notes in relation to the foregoing), as each may be amended from time to time; AIM Rules for Nominated Advisers means the rules of the London Stock Exchange governing the eligibility criteria, ongoing obligations and disciplinary provisions for nominated advisers, as amended from time to time; Announcement means this announcement and the Appendix; Associate means in respect of a person, any holding company, subsidiary undertaking or branch of such person or any holding company, subsidiary undertaking or branch of any such holding company, subsidiary undertaking and branch or any of their respective associated undertakings and "Associates" shall be construed accordingly; "Bookbuild" means the bookbuilding process being conducted by the Joint Bookrunners in connection with the Placing; "Canadian Securities Laws" means all applicable Canadian securities laws and the respective rules and regulations under such laws, together with published policy statements, notices and orders of the Securities Commissions; "CBI" means the Central Bank of Ireland; Cenkos means Cenkos Securities plc; Common Shares means the common shares in the share capital of the Company; Davy means J&E Davy, trading as Davy including its affiliate Davy Corporate Finance and other affiliates, or any of its subsidiary undertakings; Director means a director of the Company; "EEA" means the European Economic Area; Euronext Dublin means The Irish Stock Exchange plc trading as Euronext Dublin; Euronext Growth means the Euronext Growth market, a market operated by Euronext Dublin (formerly known as the Enterprise Securities Market); Euronext Growth Rules means the Euronext Growth Rules for Companies and the Rules for Euronext Growth Advisers; "Euronext Growth Rules for Companies" means the rules published by Euronext Dublin governing admission to Euronext Growth and the regulation of companies whose securities are admitted to trading on Euronext Growth (and any guidance notes in relation to the foregoing), as each may be amended from time to time; "Falcon Australia" means Falcon Oil & Gas Australia Ltd., a c. 98% subsidiary of the Company; "FCA" means the Financial Conduct Authority; "FSMA" means the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, as amended; "Group" means the Company and its subsidiary undertakings and Associates and "Group Company" means any one of them "Joint Bookrunners" means together, Cenkos, Davy and RBC and each a "Joint Bookrunner" ; London Stock Exchange means the London Stock Exchange plc; "MAR" means Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 and all delegated regulations, technical standards and guidance relating thereto; "Order" means the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005, as amended from time to time; "Overseas Shareholders" means shareholders with registered addresses, or who are citizens or residents of, or incorporated in, countries outside of the United Kingdom; "Placees" means persons who have agreed to subscribe for Placing Shares pursuant to the Placing; Placing means the proposed placing of the Placing Shares described in this Announcement; Placing Agreement means the placing agreement among the Company and the Joint Bookrunners dated 17 May 2019; Placing Price means 0.14 per Placing Share; Placing Shares means the new Common Shares that the Company is seeking to issue in the Placing; "Placing Results Announcement" means the press announcement, giving details of the number of Placing Shares to be issued by the Company to Placees at the Placing Price; "Prospectus Directive" means the EU Prospectus Directive 2003/71/EC, as amended from time to time, and includes any relevant implementing directive measure in any Member State of the EEA to the extent implemented in the relevant Member State of the EEA; "Qualified Investor" means person who are qualified investors as defined in section 86(7) of FSMA; RBC means RBC Europe Limited (trading as RBC Capital Markets); "Regulatory Information Service" means any of the services set out in the list of Primary Information Providers maintained by the FCA and CBI; "Rules for Euronext Growth Advisors" means the rules of Euronext Dublin governing the eligibility criteria, ongoing obligations and disciplinary provisions for Euronext Growth advisors, as amended from time to time; "Securities Act" means United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended from time to time; "Securities Commissions" means the securities commissions or similar regulatory authorities in British Columbia; TSX Venture Exchange means the TSX Venture Exchange Inc; TSX Venture Exchange Market means the TSX Venture Exchange market for securities operated by the TSX Venture Exchange; "TSXV Rules" means the rules, regulations and policies of the TSX Venture Exchange including the TSX Venture Exchange Corporate Finance Manual "US$" means the lawful currency of the United States; and "United States" means the United States of America, its territories and possessions, any state in the United States, the District of Columbia and other areas subject to its jurisdiction. EXCHANGE RATES Conversions from A$ to US$ in this announcement have been conducted at an exchange rate of 0.71069 being the average exchange rate for the previous two months as of 19 April 2019. Conversions from US$ to in this announcement have been conducted at an exchange rate of 0.77626 being the relevant exchange rate on 16 May 2019. GLOSSARY The following glossary of terms applies throughout this Announcement, unless the context otherwise requires: 2C means best estimate of those quantities of petroleum which are estimated, on a given date, to be potentially recoverable from known accumulations, but which are not currently considered to be commercially recoverable; bbl/MMscf means the ratio of hydrocarbon liquids and gas expressed as barrels per million standard cubic feet; "contingent resource estimate" means contingent resource estimates that have been prepared on a statistical aggregation basis and in accordance with the Society of Petroleum Engineers Petroleum Resources Management System, being (as of 15 February 2017) those quantities of gas (produced gas minus carbon dioxide and inert gasses) that are potentially recoverable from known accumulations but which are not yet considered commercially recoverable due to the need for additional delineation drilling, further validation of deliverability and original gas in place, and confirmation of prices and development costs; mTVD means meter true vertical depth; MMscf" means million standard cubic feet of gas; "MMscf/d" means million standard cubic feet of gas per day; "petroleum" composite term for natural gas, crude oil and liquids; "production" means the production of petroleum from a discovery which has been developed; and "TCF" means trillion cubic feet of gas. APPENDIX TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE PLACING IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR PLACEES ONLY THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, INCLUDING THIS APPENDIX AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN (TOGETHER, THE "ANNOUNCEMENT") IS RESTRICTED AND IS NOT FOR PUBLICATION, RELEASE OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN OR INTO OR FROM THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, JAPAN, THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA OR ANY JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE SAME WOULD BE UNLAWFUL. PERSONS INTO WHOSE POSSESSION THIS ANNOUNCEMENT COMES ARE REQUIRED BY THE COMPANY AND THE JOINT BOOKRUNNERS TO INFORM THEMSELVES ABOUT AND TO OBSERVE ANY SUCH RESTRICTIONS. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT DOES NOT ITSELF CONSTITUTE AN OFFER OR INVITATION TO UNDERWRITE AN OFFER FOR SALE OR SUBSCRIPTION OF ANY SECURITIES IN THE COMPANY. MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC ARE NOT ELIGIBLE TO TAKE PART IN THE PLACING. THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS SET OUT HEREIN ARE FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND ARE ONLY DIRECTED AT, AND BEING DISTRIBUTED TO, PERSONS WHOSE ORDINARY ACTIVITIES INVOLVE THEM IN ACQUIRING, HOLDING, MANAGING AND DISPOSING OF INVESTMENTS (AS PRINCIPAL OR AGENT) FOR THE PURPOSES OF THEIR BUSINESS AND WHO HAVE PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE IN MATTERS RELATING TO INVESTMENTS AND ARE: (A) IF IN A MEMBER STATE OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AREA ("EEA"), PERSONS WHO ARE QUALIFIED INVESTORS AS DEFINED IN SECTION 86(7) OF FSMA, AS AMENDED ("QUALIFIED INVESTORS"), BEING PERSONS FALLING WITHIN THE MEANING OF ARTICLE 2(1)(E) OF THE EU PROSPECTUS DIRECTIVE (WHICH MEANS DIRECTIVE 2003/71/EC, AS AMENDED FROM TIME TO TIME, AND INCLUDES ANY RELEVANT IMPLEMENTING DIRECTIVE MEASURE IN ANY MEMBER STATE OF THE EEA TO THE EXTENT IMPLEMENTED IN THE RELEVANT MEMBER STATE OF THE EEA) (THE "PROSPECTUS DIRECTIVE"); (B) IF IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, QUALIFIED INVESTORS WHO ARE PERSONS (I) HAVE PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE IN MATTERS RELATING TO INVESTMENTS AND WHO FALL WITHIN THE DEFINITION OF "INVESTMENT PROFESSIONALS" IN ARTICLE 19(5) OF THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND MARKETS ACT 2000 (FINANCIAL PROMOTION) ORDER 2005, AS AMENDED ("THE ORDER") OR ARE PERSONS FALLING WITHIN ARTICLE 49(2) OF THE ORDER; AND (C) ANY OTHER PERSON TO WHOM IT MAY OTHERWISE LAWFULLY BE COMMUNICATED, AND, IN EACH CASE, WHO HAVE BEEN INVITED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PLACING BY A JOINT BOOKRUNNER (ALL SUCH PERSONS TOGETHER BEING REFERRED TO AS "RELEVANT PERSONS"). THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND THE INFORMATION IN IT MUST NOT BE ACTED ON OR RELIED ON BY PERSONS WHO ARE NOT RELEVANT PERSONS. PERSONS DISTRIBUTING THIS ANNOUNCEMENT MUST SATISFY THEMSELVES THAT IT IS LAWFUL TO DO SO. ANY INVESTMENT OR INVESTMENT ACTIVITY TO WHICH THIS ANNOUNCEMENT RELATES IS AVAILABLE ONLY TO RELEVANT PERSONS AND WILL BE ENGAGED IN ONLY WITH RELEVANT PERSONS. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT DOES NOT ITSELF CONSTITUTE AN OFFER FOR SALE OR SUBSCRIPTION OF ANY SECURITIES IN THE COMPANY. THE CONTENT OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT HAS NOT BEEN APPROVED BY THE LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, EURONEXT DUBLIN, THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE OR AN AUTHORISED PERSON WITHIN THE MEANING OF FSMA, NOR IS IT INTENDED THAT IT WILL BE SO APPROVED. RELIANCE ON THIS ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE PURPOSE OF ENGAGING IN ANY INVESTMENT ACTIVITY MAY EXPOSE AN INDIVIDUAL TO A SIGNIFICANT RISK OF LOSING ALL OF THE PROPERTY OR OTHER ASSETS INVESTED. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS NOT AN OFFER OF SECURITIES FOR SALE INTO THE UNITED STATES. THE PLACING SHARES HAVE NOT BEEN AND WILL NOT BE REGISTERED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OR WITH ANY SECURITIES REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF ANY STATE OR OTHER JURISDICTION OF THE UNITED STATES, AND MAY NOT BE OFFERED, SOLD, TAKEN UP, RESOLD, TRANSFERRED OR DELIVERED, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN, INTO OR FROM THE UNITED STATES EXCEPT PURSUANT TO AN EXEMPTION FROM THE REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS OF THE SECURITIES ACT AND IN COMPLIANCE WITH ANY APPLICABLE SECURITIES LAWS OF ANY STATE OR OTHER JURISDICTION OF THE UNITED STATES. THE PLACING SHARES ARE BEING OFFERED AND SOLD (I) IN THE UNITED STATES ONLY TO A LIMITED NUMBER OF QUALIFIED INSTITUTIONAL BUYERS AS DEFINED IN RULE 144A (QIBS) PURSUANT TO AN EXEMPTION FROM THE REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS OF THE SECURITIES ACT IN A TRANSACTION NOT INVOLVING A PUBLIC OFFERING AND IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE SECURITIES LAWS OF ANY STATE OR OTHER JURISDICTION OF THE UNITED STATES; AND (II) OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES IN OFFSHORE TRANSACTIONS IN RELIANCE ON AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH REGULATION S UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT (REGULATION S). NO PUBLIC OFFERING OF THE PLACING SHARES IS BEING MADE IN THE UNITED STATES, THE UNITED KINGDOM OR ELSEWHERE. NO REPRESENTATION IS BEING MADE AS TO THE AVAILABILITY OF ANY EXEMPTION UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT FOR THE REOFFER, RESALE, PLEDGE OR TRANSFER OF THE PLACING SHARES. NO MONEY, SECURITIES OR OTHER CONSIDERATION FROM ANY PERSON INSIDE THE UNITED STATES IS BEING SOLICITED AND, IF SENT IN RESPONSE TO THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. THE PLACING SHARES ARE NOT AND WILL NOT BE LISTED ON THE SIX SWISS EXCHANGE ("SIX") OR ANY OTHER STOCK EXCHANGE OR REGULATED TRADING FACILITY IN SWITZERLAND. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT HAS BEEN PREPARED WITHOUT REGARD TO THE DISCLOSURE STANDARDS FOR ISSUANCE PROSPECTUSES UNDER ARTICLE 652A OR 1156 OF THE SWISS CODE OF OBLIGATIONS AND MAY NOT COMPLY WITH INFORMATION STANDARDS REQUIRED THEREUNDER. NEITHER THIS ANNOUNCEMENT NOR ANY OTHER OFFERING OR MARKETING MATERIAL RELATING TO THE PLACING SHARES MAY BE PUBLICLY DISTRIBUTED OR OTHERWISE MADE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE IN SWITZERLAND. WITHOUT PRIOR WRITTEN APPROVAL OF TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE AND COMPLIANCE WITH ALL APPLICABLE CANADIAN SECURITIES LAWS, THE PLACING SHARES MAY NOT BE SOLD, TRANSFERRED, HYPOTHECATED OR OTHERWISE TRADED ON OR THROUGH THE FACILITIES OF TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE OR OTHERWISE IN CANADA OR TO OR FOR THE BENEFIT OF A CANADIAN RESIDENT UNTIL THE DATE THAT IS FOUR MONTHS AND A DAY AFTER THE DATE OF ISSUANCE. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS NOT A PROSPECTUS, PRODUCT DISCLOSURE STATEMENT OR DISCLOSURE DOCUMENT FOR THE PURPOSES OF THE CORPORATIONS ACT 2001 (CTH) AND HAS NOT BEEN LODGED WITH THE AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION ("ASIC"). ACCORDINGLY, THIS ANNOUNCEMENT DOES NOT CONTAIN THE INFORMATION WHICH WOULD BE CONTAINED IN A PROSPECTUS AND DOES NOT PURPORT TO CONTAIN ALL OF THE INFORMATION THAT MAY BE NECESSARY OR DESIRABLE TO ENABLE A POTENTIAL INVESTOR TO PROPERLY EVALUATE AND CONSIDER AN INVESTMENT IN THE COMPANY. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT DOES NOT PURPORT TO BE COMPLETE, NOR DOES IT CONTAIN ALL THE INFORMATION WHICH MAY BE MATERIAL TO A RECIPIENT OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. IT SHOULD BE READ IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE COMPANY'S OTHER PUBLIC FILINGS WHICH CAN BE FOUND AT WWW.SEDAR.COM. NO OFFER OF SECURITIES IN THE COMPANY IS BEING OR WILL BE MADE IN AUSTRALIA IN CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH WOULD REQUIRE SUCH A PROSPECTUS TO BE PREPARED. THE ANNOUNCEMENT IS FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY, AND IS NOT AND SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AN OFFER OR AN INVITATION TO ACQUIRE ENTITLEMENTS, OR SHARES OR ANY OTHER FINANCIAL PRODUCTS UNDER AUSTRALIAN LAW OR UNDER ANY OTHER LAW. EACH PLACEE SHOULD CONSULT WITH ITS OWN ADVISERS AS TO LEGAL, TAX, BUSINESS AND RELATED ASPECTS OF A SUBSCRIPTION FOR THE PLACING SHARES. THE DISTRIBUTION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, ANY PART OF IT OR ANY INFORMATION CONTAINED IN IT MAY BE RESTRICTED BY LAW IN CERTAIN JURISDICTIONS, ANY PERSON INTO WHOSE POSSESSION THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, ANY PART OF IT OR ANY INFORMATION CONTAINED IN IT COMES SHOULD INFORM THEMSELVES ABOUT, AND OBSERVE, SUCH RESTRICTIONS. This Announcement (or any part of it) does not constitute or form part of any offer to issue or sell, or the solicitation of an offer to acquire, purchase or subscribe for, any securities in the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan or the Republic of South Africa or any other jurisdiction in which the same would be unlawful. No public offering of the Placing Shares is being made in any such jurisdiction. All offers of the Placing Shares will be made pursuant to an exemption under the Prospectus Directive from the requirement to produce a prospectus. In the United Kingdom, this Announcement is being directed solely at persons in circumstances in which section 21(1) of FSMA does not apply. The Placing Shares have not been approved or disapproved by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, any state securities commission or other regulatory authority in the United States, nor have any of the foregoing authorities passed upon or endorsed the merits of the Placing or the accuracy or adequacy of this Announcement. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offence in the United States. The relevant clearances have not been, nor will they be, obtained from the securities commission of any province or territory of Canada, no prospectus has been lodged with, or registered by, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission or the Japanese Ministry of Finance; the relevant clearances have not been, and will not be, obtained for the South Africa Reserve Bank or any other applicable body in the Republic of South Africa in relation to the Placing Shares and the Placing Shares have not been, nor will they be, registered under or offered in compliance with the securities laws of any state, province or territory of Australia, Canada, Japan or the Republic of South Africa. Accordingly, the Placing Shares may not (unless an exemption under the relevant securities laws is applicable) be offered, sold, resold or delivered, directly or indirectly, in or into Australia, Canada, Japan or the Republic of South Africa or any other jurisdiction outside the United Kingdom. The information in this Announcement may not be forwarded or distributed to any other person and may not be reproduced in any manner whatsoever. Any forwarding, distribution, reproduction, or disclosure of this information in whole or in part is unauthorised. Failure to comply with this directive may result in a violation of the Securities Act or the applicable laws of other jurisdictions. Persons (including, without limitation, nominees and trustees) who have a contractual right or other legal obligations to forward a copy of this Announcement should seek appropriate advice before taking any action. This Announcement should be read in its entirety. In particular, you should read and understand the information provided in this "Important Information" section of this Announcement. Persons (including individuals, funds or otherwise) who have chosen to participate in the Placing will be deemed to have read and understood this Announcement, including this Appendix, in its entirety, to be participating, making and offer and acquiring Placing Shares on the terms and conditions, and providing the representations, warranties, indemnities, acknowledgements, and undertakings contained in this Announcement. In this Appendix, unless the context otherwise requires, "Placee" means a Relevant Person (including individuals, funds or others) by whom or on whose behalf a commitment to subscribe for Placing Shares has been given. In particular, each such Placee represents, warrants, acknowledges and agrees (amongst other things) that: it is a Relevant Person and undertakes that it will acquire, hold, manage or dispose of any Placing Shares that are allocated to it for the purposes of its business; in the case of a Relevant Person in a member state of the EEA which has implemented the Prospectus Directive (each, a "Relevant Member State") who acquires any Placing Shares pursuant to the Placing: (i) is a Qualified Investor; or (ii) in the case of any Placing Shares acquired by it as a financial intermediary, as that term is used in Article 3(2) of the Prospectus Directive, (A) the Placing Shares acquired by it in the Placing have not been acquired on behalf of, nor have they been acquired with a view to their offer or resale to, persons in any Relevant Member State other than Qualified Investors or in circumstances in which the prior consent of the Joint Bookrunners has been given to the offer or resale; or (B) where Placing Shares have been acquired by it on behalf of persons in any Relevant Member State other than Qualified Investors, the offer of those Placing Shares to it is not treated under the Prospectus Directive as having been made to such persons; i)it is not in the United States and (ii) it is not acting for the account or benefit of a person in the United States unless, in the case of this clause (ii), it is acting with investment discretion for such person or, if such person is a corporation or partnership, the person agreeing to purchase the Placing Shares is an employee of such person authorised to make such purchase; it is acquiring the Placing Shares for its own account or is acquiring the Placing Shares for an account with respect to which it exercises sole investment discretion and has the authority to make and does make the representations, warranties, indemnities, acknowledgements and agreements contained in this Announcement; and it understands (or, if acting for the account of another person, such person understands) the resale and transfer restrictions set out in this Announcement. The Company and the Joint Bookrunners will rely upon the truth and accuracy of the foregoing representations, acknowledgements and agreements. Details of the Placing The Joint Bookrunners will commence the Bookbuild in respect of the Placing. The book will open with immediate effect following the release of this Announcement. The Joint Bookrunners have entered into an agreement with the Company (the "Placing Agreement") under which, subject to the terms and conditions set out in that agreement, each Joint Bookrunners has agreed severally to use its reasonable endeavours to procure Placees for the Placing Shares at the Placing Price. The Placing is conditional upon, amongst other things, Admission becoming effective and the Placing Agreement becoming unconditional in all respects and not being terminated in accordance with its terms. The Placing Shares will, when issued, be subject to the articles of association of the Company and credited as full paid and will rank pari passu in all respects with the existing issued Common Shares, including the right to receive dividends and other distributions declared, made or paid in respect of such Common Shares after the date of issues of the Placing Shares. Application for Admission to trading Application will be made to: the London Stock Exchange for admission of the Placing Shares to trading on AIM; Euronext Dublin for admission of the Placing Shares to trading on Euronext Growth; and TSX Venture Exchange for listing of the Placing Shares for trading on TSX Venture Exchange Market, in relation to Admission. Subject to, amongst other things, the Placing Agreement becoming unconditional and not being terminated in accordance with its terms, it is expected that Admission will become effective and that dealings in the Placing Shares will commence on AIM and Euronext Growth at 8.00 a.m. on 22 May 2019. The Placing Shares will not trade on the TSX Venture Exchange until the date that is four months and a day after the day of issuance. Participation in, and principal terms of, the Placing The Joint Bookrunners are arranging the Placing severally and not jointly or jointly and severally as agents for and on behalf of the Company. Participation in the Placing will only be available to persons who may lawfully be, and are, invited by any of the Joint Bookrunners to participate. Each of the Joint Bookrunners and any of their respective affiliates are entitled to enter bids in the Bookbuild. The Bookbuild will establish the number of Placing Shares to be issued by the Company at the Placing Price, which will be payable by all Placees whose bids are successful. The number of Placing Shares to be issued will be announced through the Placing Results Announcement following the completion of the Bookbuild. To bid in the Bookbuild, Placees should communicate their bid by telephone to their usual sales contact at the relevant Joint Bookrunner. Each bid should state the number of Placing Shares which the prospective Placee wishes to acquire at the Placing Price. Bids may be scaled down by the Joint Bookrunnners on the basis referred to in paragraph 9 below. The Bookbuild is expected to close no later than 18.30 p.m UK time on 17 May 2019 but may close earlier or later at the discretion of the Joint Bookrunners. The Joint Bookrunners may, in agreement with the Company, accept bids that are received after the Bookbuild has closed. Each Placee's allocation will be determined by the Joint Bookrunners in their discretion following consultation with the Company and will be confirmed orally by the relevant Joint Bookrunner as soon as practicable following the close of the Bookbuild. Each Placee's allocation and commitment will be evidenced by a form of confirmation issued to such Placee by the relevant Joint Bookrunner ("Confirmation"). The terms of this Appendix will be deemed incorporated in that Confirmation. Such Confirmation will constitute an irrevocable legally binding commitment by that person (who will at that point become a Placee) in favour of the Joint Bookrunners and the Company to subscribe for the number of Placing Shares allocated to it at the Placing Price on the terms and conditions set out in this Appendix (a copy of the terms and conditions having been provided to the Placee prior to or at the same time as such Confirmation) and in accordance with the Company's articles of association. Except with the Joint Bookrunners written consent, such commitment will not be capable of variation or revocation at the time at which it is submitted. For the avoidance of doubt, the Confirmation constitutes each Placee's irrevocable legally binding agreement, subject to the Placing Agreement not having been terminated, to pay the aggregate settlement amount for the Placing Shares to be subscribed for by that Placee regardless of the total number of Placing Shares (if any) subscribed for by any other investor(s). The Company will release the Placing Results Announcement following the close of the Bookbuild, detailing the aggregate number of Placing Shares to be issued. The Joint Bookrunners may choose to accept bids, either in whole or in part, on the basis of allocations determined at the Joint Bookrunners' discretion (after consultation with the Company) and may scale down any bids for this purpose on such basis as they may determine or be directed. The Joint Bookrunners may also, notwithstanding paragraphs 5 to 8 above, (a) allocate Placing Shares after the time of any initial allocation to any person submitting a bid after that time and (b) allocate Placing Shares after the Bookbuild has closed to any person submitting a bid after that time. Each Placees obligation to acquire and pay for Placing Shares under the Placing will be owed to the Joint Bookrunners and the Company. Each Placee has an immediate, separate, irrevocable and binding obligation, owed to the Joint Bookrunners, to pay to the relevant Bookrunner (or as it may direct) in cleared funds an amount equal to the Placing Price for each Placing Share it has agreed to acquire and the Company has agreed to allot and issue to the Placee under the Placing. Each Placee will be deemed to have read and understood this Appendix in its entirety, to be participating in the Placing upon the terms and conditions contained in this Appendix, and to be providing the representations, warranties, agreements, acknowledgements and undertakings, in each case as contained in this Appendix. To the fullest extent permitted by law and applicable FCA rules (the "FCA Rules") and CBI rules, none of (i) the Joint Bookrunners, (ii) any of their respective directors, officers, employees, consultants, affiliates, agents, or (iii) to the extent not contained within (i) or (ii), any person connected with the Joint Bookrunners as defined in FSMA ((i), (ii) and (iii) being together "affiliates" and individually an "affiliate"), (iv) any person acting on any of the Joint Bookrunners' behalf, shall have any liability (including to the extent permissible by law, any fiduciary duties) to Placees or to any person other than the Company in respect of the Placing. In particular, neither the Joint Bookrunners nor any of their respective affiliates shall have any liability (including, to the extent permissible by law, any fiduciary duties) in respect of their conduct of the Placing or of such alternative method of effecting the Placing as the Joint Bookrunners and the Company may agree. Irrespective of the time at which a Placee's allocation(s) pursuant in the Placing is/are confirmed, settlement for all Placing Shares to be acquired pursuant to the Placing will be required to be made at the same time, on the basis explained below under 'Registration and Settlement'. All obligations of the Joint Bookrunners under the Placing will be subject to the fulfilment of the conditions referred to below under 'Conditions of the Placing' and to the Placing Agreement not being terminated on the basis referred to below under 'Termination of the Placing Agreement'. In the event that the Placing Agreement does not otherwise become unconditional in any respect or is terminated, the Placing will not proceed and all funds delivered by the Placee to the Joint Bookrunners (or any one of them) in respect of the Placee's participation will be returned to the Placee at the Placee's risk without interest. By participating in the Placing, each Placee agrees that its rights and obligations in respect of the Placing will terminate only in the circumstances described below and will not otherwise be capable of rescission or termination by the Placee. By participating in the Placing, each Placee is deemed to have read and understood this Announcement, including this Appendix, in its entirety and to be making such offer on the terms and conditions, and to be providing the representations, warranties, acknowledgements, and undertakings contained in this Appendix. Conditions of the Placing The Placing is conditional upon the Placing Agreement becoming unconditional and not having been terminated in accordance with its terms. The obligations of the Joint Bookrunners under the Placing Agreement in respect of the Placing Shares are conditional on, amongst other things: the Company having complied with its obligations under the Placing Agreement (to the extent that such obligations fall to be performed prior to Admission); Admission having occurred not later than 8.00 a.m. on 22 May 2019 or such later date as the Company and the Joint Bookrunners may agree (in any event being not later than 8.00 a.m. on 30 May 2019); the publication of the Placing Results Announcement through a Regulatory Information Service no later than 6.30 p.m. on 17 May 2019 (or such later time and/or date as the Company and the Joint Bookrunners may agree); none of the representations, warranties or undertakings on the part of the Company contained in the Placing Agreement being or having become untrue, inaccurate or misleading at the date of the Placing Agreement or any time before Admission, and no fact or circumstance having arisen which would constitute a breach of any of the representations, warranties or undertakings under the Placing Agreement; and from the date of this Agreement to immediately prior to Admission, there not having occurred, in the Joint Bookrunners opinion (acting in good faith) an adverse change in, or any development reasonably likely to result in or have a prospective adverse change in or affecting, the condition (financial, operational, legal or otherwise), prospects, earnings, properties, assets, rights, net asset value, funding position, liquidity, solvency, management, business affairs or operations of (i) the Company or (ii) the Group taken as a whole, whether or not arising in the ordinary course of business, which is material (whether or not foreseeable at the date of this Agreement), (all conditions to the obligations of the Joint Bookrunners included in the Placing Agreement being together, the "Conditions"). If (i) any of the Conditions are not fulfilled or, where permitted, waived by the Joint Bookrunners in accordance with the Placing Agreement within the respective time periods or such later time and/or date as the Company and the Joint Bookrunners may agree, provided that the time for satisfaction of the Conditions shall not be extended beyond 8.00 a.m. on 30 May 2019), (ii) any of the Conditions becomes incapable of being fulfilled; or (iii) the Placing Agreement is terminated in accordance with its terms, the Placing will not proceed and the Placee's rights and obligations hereunder in relation to the Placing Shares shall cease and terminate at such time and each Placee agrees that no claim can be made by the Placee (or any person on whose behalf the Placee is acting) in respect thereof. By participating in the Placing, each Placee agrees that its rights and obligations cease and terminate only in the circumstances described above and under "Termination of the Placing Agreement" below and will not be capable of rescission or termination by it after the issue by the relevant Joint Bookrunner of a Confirmation to such Placee. Each of the Joint Bookrunners, in their respective absolute discretion, may waive compliance by the Company with the whole or any part of any of the Companys obligations in relation to the Conditions and the Joint Bookrunners may also agree in writing with the Company to extend the time for satisfaction of any Condition. Any such extension or waiver will not affect Placees' commitments or obligations as set out in this Announcement. The Joint Bookrunners may terminate the Placing Agreement in certain circumstances, details of which are set out below. None of the Joint Bookrunners, the Company nor any of their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers or employees shall have any liability to any Placee (or to any other person whether acting on behalf of a Placee or otherwise) in respect of any decision they may make as to whether or not to waive or to extend the time and/or the date for the satisfaction of any Condition nor for any decision they may make as to the satisfaction of any Condition or in respect of the Placing generally, and by participating in the Placing each Placee agrees that any such decision is within the absolute discretion of the Joint Bookrunners. Termination of the Placing Agreement Any of the Joint Bookrunners is entitled at any time before Admission, to terminate the Placing Agreement in relation to its obligations in respect of the Placing Shares by giving notice to the Company if, amongst other things: the Company fails to comply with any of its undertakings, covenants or obligations under the Placing Agreement which the Joint Bookrunners consider, in their sole judgement (acting in good faith) to be (singly or in aggregate) material in the context of the Placing; or any of the representations or warranties given by the Company in the Placing Agreement is or becomes untrue, inaccurate or misleading; or any statement contained in certain placing documents has become, or an omission in such placing documents, results in them being untrue, inaccurate in any material respect in the context of the Placing or misleading; or there has occurred a force majeure event, or any material adverse change has occurred in the financial position or prospects or business of the Company or the Group which, in the opinion of the Joint Bookrunner, in their sole judgement (acting in good faith), to be (singly or in aggregate) is material in the context of the Company, the Group taken as a whole, the Placing or Admission. Upon such termination, the parties to the Placing Agreement shall be released and discharged (except for any liability arising before or in relation to such termination) from their respective obligations under or pursuant to the Placing Agreement subject to certain exceptions. If the Placing Agreement is terminated in accordance with its terms, the rights and obligations of each Placee in respect of the Placing as described in this Announcement shall cease and terminate at such time and no claim can be made by any Placee in respect thereof. By participating in the Placing, each Placee agrees with the Company and the Joint Bookrunners that the exercise by the Joint Bookrunners of any right of termination, waiver or other condition or decision to extend or not the time for satisfaction of any Condition or any other right or other discretion under the Placing Agreement shall be within the absolute discretion of the Joint Bookrunners and that neither the Company nor the Joint Bookrunners need make any reference to such Placee and that neither the Joint Bookrunners or the Company nor any of their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers or employees, shall have any liability to such Placee (or to any other person whether acting on behalf of a Placee or otherwise) whatsoever in connection with any such exercise or failure so to exercise. No prospectus No offering document, prospectus or admission document has been or will be submitted to be approved by the FCA, CBI or submitted to the London Stock Exchange, Euronext Dublin or TSX Venture Exchange in relation to the Placing or the Placing Shares and Placees' commitments will be made solely on the basis of the information contained in this Announcement and any information publicly announced through a Regulatory Information Service by or on behalf of the Company on or prior to the date of this Announcement (the "Publicly Available Information") and subject to any further terms set forth in the Confirmation to be sent to individual Placees. Each Placee, by accepting a participation in the Placing, agrees that the content of this Announcement is exclusively the responsibility of the Company and confirms that it has neither received nor relied on any other information, representation, warranty, or statement made by or on behalf of the Company, the Joint Bookrunners or any other person and none of the Joint Bookrunners nor the Company nor any other person acting on such person's behalf nor any of their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers or employees has or shall have any liability for any Placee's decision to participate in the Placing and/or Bookbuild based on any other information, representation, warranty or statement which the Placees may have obtained or received. Each Placee acknowledges and agrees that it has relied on its own investigation of the business, financial or other position of the Company in accepting a participation in the Placing. Nothing in this paragraph shall operate to limit or exclude the liability of any person for fraudulent misrepresentation. Registration and Settlement Participation in the Bookbuild is only available to persons who are invited to participate in it by the Joint Bookrunners (or any one of them). Each Placee's commitment to acquire a fixed number of Placing Shares under the Placing will be agreed orally or in writing or via email with the Joint Bookrunners, and such agreement will constitute a legally binding commitment on such Placee's part to acquire such number of Placing Shares at the Placing Price subject to the terms and conditions set out in this Announcement and the Company's articles of association. If Placees are allocated any Placing Shares in the Placing they will be sent a form of confirmation or electronic confirmation by the relevant Joint Bookrunner, as soon as it is able which will confirm the number of Placing Shares allocated to them, the Placing Price and the aggregate amount owed by them to the relevant Joint Bookrunner(s). Each Placee will be deemed to agree that it will do all things necessary to ensure that delivery and payment is completed as directed by the relevant Joint Bookrunner in accordance with either the standing CREST or certificated settlement instructions which they have in place with the relevant Joint Bookrunner. Settlement of transactions in depository interests representing the Placing Shares following Admission will take place within the system administered by Euroclear UK & Ireland Limited ("CREST"), subject to certain exceptions. Settlement of depository interests representing the Placing Shares through CREST is expected to take place on 22 May 2019 unless otherwise notified by the Joint Bookrunners and Admission is expected to occur no later than 8.00 a.m. on 30 May 2019 unless otherwise notified by the Joint Bookrunners. Admission and Settlement may occur at an earlier date, which if achievable, will be notified through a Regulatory Information Service. Settlement will be on a delivery versus payment basis. However, in the event of any difficulties or delays in the admission of depository interests representing Placing Shares to CREST or the use of CREST in relation to the Placing, the Company and the Joint Bookrunners may agree that the Placing Shares should be issued in certificated form. The Joint Bookrunners reserve the right to require settlement for the Placing Shares (or a portion thereof), and to deliver the Placing Shares to Placees, by such other means as they deem necessary if delivery or settlement of depository interests representing Placing Shares to Placees is not practicable within the CREST system or would not be consistent with regulatory requirements in a Placee's jurisdiction. Interest is chargeable daily on payments not received from Placees on the due date in accordance with the arrangements set out above at the rate of two percentage points above LIBOR as determined by the Joint Bookrunners. Each Placee is deemed to agree that, if it does not comply with these obligations, the Joint Bookrunners may sell any or all of the Placing Shares allocated to that Placee on such Placee's behalf and retain from the proceeds, for the Joint Bookrunner's own account and benefit, an amount equal to the aggregate amount owed by the Placee plus any interest due. The relevant Placee will, however, remain liable for any shortfall below the aggregate amount owed by it and may be required to bear any stamp duty or stamp duty reserve tax (together with any interest or penalties) which may arise upon the sale of such Placing Shares on such Placee's behalf. If Placing Shares are to be delivered to a custodian or settlement agent, Placees should ensure that, upon receipt, the conditional form of confirmation is copied and delivered immediately to the relevant person within that organisation. Insofar as Placing Shares are registered in a Placee's name or that of its nominee or in the name of any person for whom a Placee is contracting as agent or that of a nominee for such person, such Placing Shares should, subject as provided below, be so registered free from any liability to United Kingdom stamp duty or stamp duty reserve tax. Placees will not be entitled to receive any fee or commission in connection with the Placing. Representations and warranties By submitting a bid in the Bookbuild, each prospective Placee (and any person acting on such Placee's behalf) acknowledges, undertakes, represents, warrants and agrees (for itself and for any such prospective Placee) that (save where the Joint Bookrunners expressly agree in writing to the contrary): it has read, understood and accepts the terms and conditions set out within this Announcement, including the Appendix, in its entirety and that its acquisition of Placing Shares is subject to and based upon all the terms, conditions, representations, warranties, acknowledgements, agreements, indemnities and undertakings and other information contained herein and that it has not relied on, and will not rely on, any information given or any representations, warranties or statements made at any time by any person in connection with Admission, the Placing, the Company, the Placing Shares or otherwise, other than the information contained in this Announcement and the Publicly Available Information; it has received this Announcement solely for its use and has not redistributed or duplicated it; no offering document, prospectus or admission document has been or will be prepared in connection with the Placing and that it has not received a prospectus, admission document or other offering document in connection with the Placing or the Placing Shares; its participation in the Placing shall also be subject to the provisions of the Placing Agreement and the articles of association of the Company in force both before and immediately after Admission; the Common Shares are admitted to trading on AIM, Euronext Growth and the TSX Venture Exchange and the Company is therefore required to publish certain business and financial information in accordance with the AIM Rules, Euronext Growth Rules and TSXV Rules (collectively, the "Exchange Information"), which includes a description of the nature of the Companys business and the Companys most recent financial statements and that it is able to obtain or access such Exchange Information without undue difficulty and is able to obtain access to such information or comparable information concerning any other publicly traded company without undue difficulty; it is not a resident of Canada and the Placing Shares may not be resold to a resident of Canada, except in accordance with an exemption from Canadian Securities Laws, or traded on or through the facilities of the TSX Venture Exchange until the date that is four months and a day after the date of issue of the Placing Shares; none of the Joint Bookrunners nor the Company nor any of their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers or employees nor any person acting on behalf of any of them has provided, and will not provide, it with any material regarding the Placing Shares or the Company other than this Announcement; nor has it requested any of the Joint Bookrunners, the Company, any of their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers or employees or any person acting on behalf of any of them to provide it with any such information; it has made its own assessment of the Placing Shares and has relied on its own investigation of the business, financial or other position of the Company in accepting a participation in the Placing; the content of this Announcement and the Publicly Available Information is exclusively the responsibility of the Company and that none of the Joint Bookrunners, or any of their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers or employees or any person acting on behalf of any of them has or shall have any liability for any information, representation or statement contained in this Announcement or any information previously published by or on behalf of the Company and will not be liable for any Placee's decision to participate in the Placing based on any information, representation or statement contained in this Announcement or otherwise. Each Placee further represents, warrants and agrees that the only information on which it is entitled to rely and on which such Placee has relied in committing itself to subscribe for the Placing Shares is contained in this Announcement and the Publicly Available Information, such information being all that it deems necessary to make an investment decision in respect of the Placing Shares and that (A) neither the Joint Bookrunners, the Company nor any of their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers or employees has made any representation or warranty to it, express or implied, with respect to the Company, the Placing or the Placing Shares or the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the Publicly Available Information; (B) none of the Joint Bookrunners nor the Company nor their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers or employees will be liable for any Placees decision to accept an invitation to participate in the Placing based on any other information, representation, warranty or statement; (C) it has relied on its own investigation of the business, financial or other position of the Company in deciding to participate in the Placing, satisfied itself that the information is still current and relied on that investigation for the purposes of its decision to participate in the Placing; and (D) has not relied on any investigation that the Joint Bookrunners or any person acting on their behalf may have conducted with respect to the Company, the Placing or the Placing Shares; it if it has received any confidential price sensitive information about the Company in advance of the Placing, it has not (i) dealt in the securities of the Company; (ii) encouraged or required another person to deal in the securities of the Company; (iii) disclosed such information to any person, prior to the information being made generally available; or (iv) relied on any such information in accepting this invitation to participate in the Placing; none of the Joint Bookrunners nor any of its respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers or employees or any person acting on behalf has or shall have any liability for any information, representation or statement contained in this Announcement or for any Publicly Available Information, or any representation, warranty or undertaking relating to the Company nor will they be liable for any Placee's decision to participate in the Placing based on any information, representation, warranty or statement contained in this Announcement, the Publicly Available Information or otherwise provided that nothing in this paragraph excludes the liability of any person for fraudulent misrepresentation made by that person; it has complied with its obligations in connection with money laundering and terrorist financing under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, the Terrorism Act 2000, the Terrorism Act 2006, the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing) Act 2010 and the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 and any related or similar rules, regulations or guidelines, issued, administered or enforced by any government agency having jurisdiction in respect thereof (the "Regulations") and, if it is making payment on behalf of a third party, it has obtained and recorded satisfactory evidence to verify the identity of the third party as may be required by the Regulations; if a financial intermediary, as that term is used in Article 3(2) of the Prospectus Directive, that the Placing Shares subscribed for by it in the Placing will not be acquired on a non-discretionary basis on behalf of, nor will they be acquired with a view to their offer or resale to, persons in a member state of the EEA which has implemented the Prospectus Directive other than to Qualified Investors, or in circumstances in which the prior consent of the Joint Bookrunners has been given to the proposed offer or resale; it has not offered or sold and will not offer or sell any Placing Shares to persons in the United Kingdom except to persons whose ordinary activities involve them in acquiring, holding, managing or disposing of investments (as principal or agent) for the purposes of their business or otherwise in circumstances which have not resulted and which will not result in an offer to the public in the United Kingdom within the meaning of section 85(1) of the FSMA; it has not offered or sold and will not offer or sell any Placing Shares to persons in the EEA prior to Admission except to persons whose ordinary activities involve them in acquiring, holding, managing or disposing of investments (as principal or agent) for the purposes of their business or otherwise in circumstances which have not resulted in and which will not result in an offer to the public in any member state of the EEA within the meaning of the Prospectus Directive; it has only communicated or caused to be communicated and will only communicate or cause to be communicated any invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity (within the meaning of section 21 of FSMA) relating to the Placing Shares in circumstances in which section 21(1) of FSMA does not require approval of the communication by an authorised person; it has complied and will comply with all applicable laws with respect to anything done by it or on its behalf in relation to the Placing Shares (including all relevant provisions of FSMA with respect to anything done by it in relation to the Placing Shares in, from or otherwise involving, the United Kingdom); it and any person acting on its behalf (it within the United Kingdom) is a person falling within Article 19(5) and/or Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order, or is a person to whom this Announcement may otherwise be lawfully communicated and undertakes that it will acquire, hold, manage and (if applicable) dispose of any Placing Shares that are allocated to it for the purposes of its business only; any offer of Placing Shares may only be directed at persons in member states of the EEA who are "qualified investors" within the meaning of Article 2(1)(e) of the Prospectus Directive and represents and agrees that it (and any person acting on its behalf) is such a qualified investor; it and/or each person on whose behalf it is participating (i) is entitled to subscribe for and acquire Placing Shares under the laws of all relevant jurisdictions which apply to it; (ii) has fully observed such laws and regulations; (iii) it has all necessary capacity and has obtained all necessary consents and authorities to enable it to commit to this participation in the Placing and to perform its obligations in relation thereto (including, without limitation, in the case of any person on whose behalf it is acting, all necessary consents and authorities to agree to the terms set out or referred to in this Announcement) and will honour such obligations, and that its subscription of the Placing Shares will be in compliance with applicable laws and regulations in the jurisdiction of its residence, the residence of the Company, or otherwise; the Placing Shares have not been registered or otherwise qualified, and will not be registered or otherwise, for offer and sale nor will a prospectus be cleared or approved in respect of any of the Placing Shares under the securities laws of the United Stated, or any other jurisdiction of the United States, Australia, Canada, the Republic of South Africa or Japan and, subject to certain exceptions, may not be offered, sole, take up, renounced or delivered or transferred, directly or indirectly within the United States, Australia, Canada, the Republic of South Africa or Japan or in any country or jurisdiction where any such action for that purpose is required; it has complied with all relevant laws of all relevant territories, obtained all requisite governmental or other consents which may be required in connection with the Placing Shares, complied with all requisite formalities and that it has not taken any action or omitted to take any action which will or may result in the Joint Bookrunners, the Company or any of their respective directors, officers, agents, employees or advisers acting in breach of the legal or regulatory requirements of any territory in connection with the Placing; its purchase of Placing Shares does not trigger, in the jurisdiction in which it is resident or located: (i) any obligation to prepare or file a prospectus or similar document or any other report with respect to such purchase; (ii) any disclosure or reporting obligation of the Company; or (iii) any registration or other obligation on the part of the Company; it has the funds available to pay for the Placing Shares for which it has agreed to subscribe and acknowledges and agrees that it will make payment to the relevant Joint Bookrunner for the Placing Shares allocated to it in accordance with the terms and conditions of this Announcement on the due time and date set out herein, failing which the relevant Placing Shares may be placed with other subscribers or sold as the relevant Joint Bookrunner may in its discretion determine and without liability to such Placee and it will remain liable for any shortfall below the net proceeds of such sale and the placing proceeds of such Placing Shares and may be required to bear any stamp duty or stamp duty reserve tax (together with any interest or penalties due pursuant to the terms set out or referred to in this Announcement) which may arise upon the sale of such Placee's Placing Shares on its behalf; none of the Joint Bookrunners nor any of their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers or employees or any person acting on behalf of the Joint Bookrunners, is making any recommendations to it, advising it regarding the suitability of any transactions it may enter into in connection with the Placing nor providing advice in relation to the Placing nor in respect of any representations, warranties, acknowledgements, agreements, undertakings, or indemnities contained in the Placing Agreement nor the exercise or performance of the Joint Bookrunners' rights and obligations thereunder including any rights to waive or vary any Conditions or exercise any termination right under the Placing Agreement and that participation in the Placing is on the basis that it is not and will not be a client of the Joint Bookrunners for the purposes of the Placing and that the Joint Bookrunners do not have any duties or responsibilities to it for providing the protections afforded to its clients or for providing advice in relation to the Placing nor in respect of any representations, warranties, undertakings or indemnities contained in the Placing Agreement nor for the exercise or performance of any of its rights and obligations thereunder including any rights to waive or vary any Conditions or exercise any termination right; the person whom it specifies for registration as holder of the Placing Shares will be (i) itself or (ii) its nominee, as the case may be. None of the Joint Bookrunners or the Company will be responsible for any liability to stamp duty or stamp duty reserve tax resulting from a failure to observe this requirement. Each Placee and any person acting on behalf of such Placee agrees to participate in the Placing and it agrees to indemnify the Company and the Joint Bookrunners in respect of the same (including any interest or penalties) on the basis that depository interests representing Placing Shares will be allotted to the CREST stock account of the Joint Bookrunners who will hold them as nominee on behalf of such Placee until settlement in accordance with its standing settlement instructions; these terms and conditions and any agreements entered into by it pursuant to these terms and conditions and any non-contractual obligations arising out of or in connection with such agreements shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales and it submits (on behalf of itself and on behalf of any person on whose behalf it is acting) to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts as regards any claim, dispute or matter arising out of any such contract, except that enforcement proceedings in respect of the obligation to make payment for the Placing Shares (together with any interest chargeable thereon) may be taken by the Company and/or the Joint Bookrunners in any jurisdiction in which the relevant Placee is incorporated or in which any of its securities have a quotation on a recognised stock exchange; the Joint Bookrunners and their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers, employees and any person acting on their behalf will rely upon the truth and accuracy of the representations, warranties and acknowledgements set forth herein and which are irrevocable and it irrevocably authorises the Joint Bookrunners to produce this Announcement, pursuant to, in connection with, or as may be required by any applicable law or regulation, administrative or legal proceeding or official inquiry with respect to the matters set forth herein; to indemnify on an after tax basis and hold the Company, the Joint Bookrunners and their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers, employees and any person acting on their behalf harmless from any and all costs, claims, liabilities and expenses (including legal fees and expenses) arising out of or in connection with any breach of the representations, warranties, acknowledgements, agreements and undertakings in this Appendix and further agrees that the provisions of this Appendix shall survive after completion of the Placing; it is acting as principal only in respect of the Placing or, if it is acting for any other person, (a) it is duly authorised to do so and has full power to make the acknowledgments, representations and agreements herein on behalf of each such person and (b) it is and will remain liable to the Company and the Joint Bookrunners for the performance of all its obligations as a Placee in respect of the Placing (regardless of the fact that it is acting for another person); its commitment to subscribe for Placing Shares on the terms set out herein and the Confirmation will continue notwithstanding any amendment that may in future be made to the terms of the Placing and that Placees will have no right to be consulted or require that their consent be obtained with respect to the Companys conduct of the Placing. The foregoing representations, warranties and confirmations are given for the benefit of the Company and the Joint Bookrunners. The agreement to settle a Placee's subscription (and/or the subscription of a person for whom such Placee is contracting as agent) free of stamp duty and stamp duty reserve tax depends on the settlement relating only to the subscription by it and/or such person direct from the Company for the Placing Shares in question. Such agreement assumes, and is based on a warranty from each Placee, that neither it, nor the person specified by it for registration as holder, of Placing Shares is, or is acting as nominee or agent for, and that the Placing Shares will not be allotted to, a person who is or may be liable to stamp duty or stamp duty reserve tax under any of sections 67, 70, 93 and 96 of the Finance Act 1986 (depositary receipts and clearance services). If there are any such arrangements, or the settlement relates to any other dealing in the Placing Shares, stamp duty or stamp duty reserve tax may be payable. In that event the Placee agrees that it shall be responsible for such stamp duty or stamp duty reserve tax, and none of the Company or the Joint Bookrunners shall be responsible for such stamp duty or stamp duty reserve tax. If this is the case, each Placee should seek its own advice and notify the Joint Bookrunners accordingly; no action has been or will be taken by any of the Company or the Joint Bookrunners or any person acting on behalf of the Company or the Joint Bookrunners that would, or is intended to, permit a public offer of the Placing Shares in any country or jurisdiction where any such action for that purpose is required; in making any decision to subscribe for the Placing Shares, it has knowledge and experience in financial, business and international investment matters as is required to evaluate the merits and risks of subscribing for the Placing Shares. It further confirms that it is experienced in investing in securities of this nature in this sector and is aware that it may be required to bear, and is able to bear, the economic risk of, and is able to sustain a complete loss in connection with the Placing. It further confirms that it relied on its own examination and due diligence of the Company and its associates taken as a whole, and the terms of the Placing, including the merits and risks involved; it has (a) made its own assessment and satisfied itself concerning legal, regulatory, tax, business and financial considerations in connection herewith to the extent it deems necessary; (b) had access to review Publicly Available Information concerning the Company that it considers necessary or appropriate and sufficient in making an investment decision; (c) reviewed such information as it believes is necessary or appropriate in connection with its subscription of the Placing Shares; and (d) made its investment decision based upon its own judgment, due diligence and analysis and not upon any view expressed or information provided by or on behalf of the Joint Bookrunners; it may not rely on any investigation that the Joint Bookrunners or any person acting on its behalf may or may not have conducted with respect to the Company, or the Placing and the Joint Bookrunners has not made any representation to it, express or implied, with respect to the merits of the Placing, the subscription for the Placing Shares, or as to the condition, financial or otherwise, of the Company, or as to any other matter relating thereto, and nothing herein shall be construed as a recommendation to it to subscribe for the Placing Shares. It acknowledges and agrees that no information has been prepared by the Joint Bookrunners or the Company for the purposes of this Placing; it will not hold the Joint Bookrunners or any of their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers, employees or any person acting on their behalf responsible or liable for any misstatements in or omission from any publicly available information relating to the Company (including, but not limited to, the Publicly Available Information) or information made available (whether in written or oral form) in presentations or as part of roadshow discussions with investors relating to the Company (the "Information") and that neither the Joint Bookrunners nor any person acting on behalf of the Joint Bookrunners makes any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the truth, accuracy or completeness of such Information or accepts any responsibility for any of such Information; and the Placing Shares have not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act or with any securities regulatory authority of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States, and accordingly, may not be offered or sold or otherwise transferred in the United States except pursuant to a registration statement under the Securities Act or an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act and, in connection with any such transfer, the Company shall be provided, as a condition to transfer, with a legal opinion of counsel, in form and by counsel reasonably satisfactory to the Company, that no such Securities Act registration is or will be required and with appropriate certifications by the transferee as to appropriate matters. if a Placee is purchasing the Placing Shares outside the United States, the Placee (and any person acting on such Placees behalf) agrees, represents and warrants as follows: it is aware that the Placing Shares are being offered outside the United States in reliance on Regulation S promulgated under the Securities Act ("Regulation S"); it is, at the time of the offer and acceptance of the Placing Shares, outside the United States for the purposes of Regulation S; and it did not purchase or otherwise acquire the Placing Shares based on or due to directed selling efforts (as defined in Rule 902 under the Securities Act), including based on an advertisement in a publication with a general circulation in the United States, nor has it seen or been aware of any activity that, to its knowledge, constitutes directed selling efforts in the United States. The representations, warranties, acknowledgements and undertakings contained in this Announcement are given to each of the Joint Bookrunners for itself and on behalf of the Company and are irrevocable. Each Placee, and any person acting on behalf of the Placee, acknowledges that the Joint Bookrunners do not owe any fiduciary or other duties to any Placee in respect of any representations, warranties, undertakings, acknowledgements, agreements or indemnities in the Placing Agreement. In addition, Placees should note that they will be liable for any stamp duty and all other stamp, issue, securities, transfer, registration, documentary or other duties or taxes (including any interest, fines or penalties relating thereto) payable outside the United Kingdom by them or any other person on the subscription by them of any Placing Shares or the agreement by them to subscribe for any Placing Shares. Each Placee and any person acting on behalf of each Placee acknowledges and agrees that the Joint Bookrunners or any of their affiliates may, at their absolute discretion, satisfy their obligations to procure Placees by itself agreeing to become a Placee in respect of some or all of the Placing Shares or by nominating any connected or associated person to do so. When a Placee or person acting on behalf of the Placee is dealing with the Joint Bookrunners, any money held in an account with the Joint Bookrunners on behalf of the Placee and/or any person acting on behalf of the Placee will not be treated as client money within the meaning of the rules and regulations of the FCA made under FSMA. The Placee acknowledges that the money will not be subject to the protections conferred by the client money rules; as a consequence, this money will not be segregated from the Joint Bookrunners money in accordance with the client money rules and will be used by the Joint Bookrunners in the course of its own business; and the Placee will rank only as a general creditor of the Joint Bookrunners. References to time in this Announcement are to London time, unless otherwise stated. All times and dates in this Announcement may be subject to amendment. The Joint Bookrunners shall notify the Placees and any person acting on behalf of the Placees of any changes. No statement in this Announcement is intended to be a profit forecast, and no statement in this Announcement should be interpreted to mean that earnings per share of the Company for the current or future financial years would necessarily match or exceed the historical published earnings per share of the Company. The price of shares and any income expected from them may go down as well as up and investors may not get back the full amount invested upon disposal of the shares. Past performance is no guide to future performance, and persons needing advice should consult an independent financial adviser. The Placing Shares to be issued or sold pursuant to the Placing will not be admitted to trading on any stock exchange other than AIM, Euronext Growth and the TSX Venture Exchange Market. Neither the content of the Company's website nor any website accessible by hyperlinks on the Company's website is incorporated in, or forms part of, this Announcement. English Lithuanian Siauliu Bankas AB, company code 112025254, domicile address Tilzes st. 149, LT-76348 Siauliai, Lithuania. On 16 May 2019 International rating agency Moody's Investors Service announced about upgrade of Siauliu Bankas ratings. Long-term deposit rating increased from Baa3 to Baa2, rating outlook is stable. Moodys specifies that the higher rating for Siauliu Bankas has been driven by a continued strengthening of the banks capitalisation and sustained improvement in profitability supported by lending growth and good margins. Additional information shall be provided by Head of Risk Management and Reporting Department Algimantas Gaulia, tel. (+370 37) 372 837. Duluth, Minn. & Knoxville, Tenn., May 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cirrus Aircraft announced today a new facility at the McKinney National Airport (KTKI) in McKinney, Texas that will provide a world-class customer experience for Cirrus aircraft owners in the Dallas Metroplex Area. Factory Service operations will be offered to customers beginning in August 2019, and in late 2020 the facility will expand to include a new, dedicated Cirrus Aircraft facility on site that offers flight training, maintenance and aircraft management. Cirrus Services continues to transform the way we deliver factory-direct service and support, said Todd Simmons, President, Customer Experience at Cirrus Aircraft. We recognize the importance of developing a world-class, comprehensive owner and operating experience, and our new location in McKinney, Texas is the latest step in providing factory-direct support to our customers in the south-central area of the United States. Announced in late 2018, Cirrus Services marks another milestone as Cirrus Aircraft continues to redefine general aviation by providing broad, world-class customer service for life through training, service and more. The Cirrus Services group focuses on growing capabilities and offerings at the companys expanding customer experience centers, like the Vision Center Campus in Knoxville, Tennessee and the new location in McKinney, Texas, as well as through a network of authorized service and training partners across the globe. Cirrus Aircraft conducted a nationwide search to identify the most ideal location for its first factory-direct satellite Cirrus Services facility outside of Knoxville, ultimately landing at McKinney National Airport. In addition to the heavy concentration of Cirrus customers within the region, McKinney National Airport offers optimal accessibility in a business-friendly environment. Cirrus Aircraft is also working with local partners, including Western, LLC, on the design and build of the new facility, with construction set to begin in early 2020. Our goal is to expand the premium experience our customers expect from our flagship Vision Center Campus in Knoxville, and we have found that opportunity at McKinney National Airport, said Ravi Dharnidharka, Senior Vice President, Cirrus Services at Cirrus Aircraft. In addition to the growth of amenities and services offered to customers in the region, the Cirrus Services facility in McKinney will eventually bring an additional 30 jobs to the local community. Cirrus Aircraft is actively recruiting for a number of positions, including supervisory roles and A&P mechanics. Current positions can be found at cirrusaircraft.com/careers. About Cirrus Aircraft Cirrus Aircraft is the recognized global leader in personal aviation and the maker of the best-selling SR Series piston aircraft and the Vision JetTM, the worlds first single-engine Personal JetTM, as well as the recipient of the Robert J. Collier Trophy. Founded in 1984, the company has redefined performance, comfort and safety in aviation with innovations like the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS) the first FAA-certified whole-airframe parachute safety system included as standard equipment on an aircraft. To date, worldwide flight time on Cirrus aircraft has passed 10.5 million hours and 172 people have returned home safely to their families as a result of the inclusion of CAPS as a standard feature on all Cirrus aircraft. The company has four locations in the United States, located in Duluth, Minnesota, Grand Forks, North Dakota, Knoxville, Tennessee and McKinney, Texas. Find out more at www.cirrusaircraft.com. Attachment Washington, DC, May 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF) will honor the winners of this years Military Foodservice Awards in conjunction with the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago. The awards program aligns with the NRAEFs commitment to support America's armed forces, veterans, and military spouses through training and post-duty opportunities. This years keynote speaker is Chef Andre Rush, retired combat Veteran who served 23 years in the Army and has received global recognition for his suicide prevention efforts, including becoming a popular internet sensation for doing 2,222 push-ups a day to promote the importance of mental and physical health. Chef Rush has served meals in the White House, appeared on the Rachael Ray Show and now serves as Ambassador for Arnold Schwarzeneggers After School All-Star Kids Program. During the Show, individuals and teams will be honored at the Military Foodservice Awards dinner for their commitment to foodservice excellence in management effectiveness, force readiness support, food quality, employee and customer relations, resource conservation, training and safety awareness. For more than 60 years, the restaurant industry has honored the men and women of the U.S. military for outstanding foodservice at bases and installations throughout the world, said Rob Gifford, executive vice president of the NRAEF. The NRAEF is dedicated to helping the military maintain foodservice excellence across all branches, and providing guidance for veterans transitioning to restaurant jobs and careers." Winners for these prestigious awards are chosen by representatives from the National Restaurant Association, NRAEF and the Society for Foodservice and Hospitality Management, who travel with senior military officers to installations around the globe on a yearly basis to evaluate foodservice operations. In addition to the Awards ceremony, winners will participate in a multi-day foodservice training program and attend industry sessions. The following installations were recognized as the 2019 Military Foodservice Awards winners: Winners of the Philip A. Connelly awards, honoring the Army: Winner for the Best Garrison Food Operation: 82ND AIRBORNE DIVISION SUSTAINMENT BRIGADE, 82nd AIRBORNE DIVISION Winner for the Best Active Army Field Kitchen: 25th QUARTERMASTER COMPANY, 264th COMBAT SUPPORT SUSTAINMENT BATTALION, 3rd SUSTAINMENT COMMAND (EXPEDITIONARY) Winner for the Best Army Reserve Field Kitchen: 129th TRANSPORTATION COMPANY, 451st SUSTAINMENT COMMAND (EXPEDITIONARY), 79th THEATER SUPPORT COMMAND The winner for the Best Army National Guard is: 1135th COMBAT SUPPORT COMPANY Minnesota Army National Guard Winners of the Marines W.P.T. Hill awards, honoring the Marine Corps: Winner for the Best Military/Contractor Garrison Mess Hall: MESS HALL 2365 Marine Corps Installation Pacific, Marine Corps Base, Camp Hansen, OKINAWA, JAPAN Winner for the Best Full Foodservice Contractor Garrison Mess Hall: MESS HALL 2204 Marine, Corps Installations West-Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, California Winner for the Best Active Field Mess: 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force-2nd Marine Logistics Group, COMBAT LOGISTICS REGIMENT 27, FOODSERVICE COMPANY, CAMP LEJEUNE, NORTH CAROLINA Winner for the Best Reserve Field Mess: 6th ENGINEER SUPPORT BATTALION, 4th MARINE LOGISTICS GROUP, PORTLAND, OREGON Winners of the Captain Edward F. Ney Memorial Awards, honoring the Navy: Award for Best Aircraft Carrier is: USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN (CVN 72), Naval Base San Diego, San Diego, CA Award for the Best Small/Medium Afloat: USS JOHN P. MURTHA (LPD 26), Naval Base San Diego, San Diego, CA Award for the Best Large Afloat: USS BOXER (LHD 4), Naval Base San Diego, San Diego, CA Award for the Best Submarine: USS SANTA FE (SSN 763), Naval Base San Diego, San Diego, CA Award for the Best Large Ashore: TRIDENT INN GALLEY, Naval Base Kitsap, Bremerton, Washington Award for the Best Small Ashore: RESORANTE BELLA ETNA, Naval Air Station Sigonella, Sigonella, Italy Winners of the Captain David M. Cook food service excellence awards, honoring the Military Sealift Command: Award for the Best Foodservice Operation Small category: USNS MERCY (T-AH 19) Award for the Best Foodservice Operation Medium category: USNS YUKON (T-AO 202) Award for the Best Foodservice Operation Large category: USNS ROBERT E. PEARY (T-AKE 5) Award for the Hybrid category is: USS FRANK CABLE (AS-40) Winners of the 2019 John L Hennessey awards, honoring the Air Force: Air Force Region 1 category winner: Elgin AFB, 96th FORCE SUPPORT SQUADRON, AFMC Valparaiso, Florida Air Force region 2 category winner: Altus AFB, 97th FORCE SUPPORT, SQUADRON, AETC Altus, Oklahoma Winner of the 2019 John L. Hennessey awards for Air Force Reserves: 914th FORCE SUPPORT SQUADRON, Niagara Falls Air Reserve, New York Winner of the Senior Master Sergeant Kenneth W. Disney food service award, honoring the Air National Guard: 115th FORCE SUPPORT SQUADRON SERVICES FLIGHT Madison, Wisconsin Winner of the 2019 Forrest O. Rednour Memorial Award: Award for Large Afloat Dining Facility: COAST GUARD CUTTER ALEX HALEY, Kodiak, Alaska Award for Large Ashore Dining Facility: COAST GUARD TRAINING CENTER YORKTOWN GALLEY, Yorktown, Virginia Award for Medium Afloat Dining Facility: COAST GUARD CUTTER CONFIDENCE, Cape Canaveral, Florida Award for Medium Ashore Dining Facility: COAST GUARD AIR STATION SITKA, Sitka, Alaska Award for Small Afloat Dining Facility: COAST GUARD CUTTER JOHN MCCORMICK, Ketchikan, Alaska Award for Small Ashore Dining Facility: COAST GUARD STATION GRAYS HARBOR, Westport, Washington The Military Foodservice Awards dinner gala and ceremony and the Advanced Restaurant Management training program are sponsored by Del Friscos, Hormel, Sodexo, Computrition, Ecolab, Hobart, Rose Packing, Sysco, Aramark, Barfresh, BJs Restaurants, Butterball, Constellation Brands, New Chef, Penfed Credit Union, Trinchero, Victorinox, Cambro, Geezer Consulting, Kitchens To Go, NGenuity, Sack Family Foundation, and Tyson. In addition to recognizing foodservice excellence within the armed forces, the NRAEF provides military foodservice training on established industry standards of restaurant management and culinary training, connects transitioning military to apprenticeship opportunities, supports military spouses and provides scholarship opportunities. Visit ChooseRestaurants.org to learn how to get involved with the NRAEF and its work to build pathways to meaningful jobs and careers in restaurants and foodservice. About the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation As the philanthropic foundation of the National Restaurant Association, the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the industrys training and education, career development and community engagement efforts. The NRAEF and its programs work to Attract, Empower and Advance todays and tomorrows restaurant and foodservice workforce. NRAEF programs include: ProStart a high-school career and technical education program; Restaurant Ready partnering with community based organizations to provide opportunity youth with skills training and job opportunities; Military helping military servicemen and women transition their skills to restaurant and foodservice careers; Scholarships financial assistance for students pursuing restaurant, foodservice and hospitality degrees; and, the Hospitality Sector Registered Apprenticeship Project a partnership with the American Hotel & Lodging Association providing a hospitality apprenticeship program for the industry. For more information on the NRAEF, visit ChooseRestaurants.org. Attachments Virginias 5th Congressional District Democratic Committee has voted for the partys 2020 nominee to be determined via a state-run primary. According to Suzanne Long, the committees chairwoman, the vote occurred at a scheduled meeting Saturday. During the 2018 election, the committee selected its nominee via self-run caucuses and a district-wide Democratic convention. Though the committee initially voted in October 2017 to support a convention, a vote was taken in February 2018 to switch to a state-run primary. Proponents of the switch argued that because the convention subcommittee had not been created until January 2018, there was not enough time to prepare for a convention, and the five-person subcommittee voted 4-1 that month to switch to a primary. During a February 2018 district-wide meeting, a motion to rescind the committees earlier decision to hold a convention failed, ensuring the party would stick with having a convention. Candidates seeking the Democratic nomination had diverged on whether they preferred a convention or a primary, but, prior to the final vote, they had all agreed to honor the committees decision. Journalist Leslie Cockburn, who became the eventual Democratic nominee after securing the most delegates, had favored caucusing, which tends to put an emphasis on grassroots organizing rather than advertising. Roger Dean Huffstetler, another 5th District Democratic hopeful, had supported a primary election during early committee discussions. Despite raising more than $1 million in campaign funds prior to the May 2018 convention, Huffstetler ended up securing the third-most delegates, falling behind Cockburn and Andrew Sneathern. The fourth candidate Charlottesville native Ben Cullop withdrew from the race after not securing any delegates during the first week of district caucuses. However, after Cockburn lost the November general election to Republican Congressman Denver Riggleman, she pledged to support Cullop in 2020. Only Huffstetler has announced his intentions to run for the 2020 Democratic nomination, pledging to foster economic opportunities in the sprawling 5th District. Riggleman, who took office in January, has not yet announced whether he plans to seek re-election. Send news tips to news@dailyprogress.com, call (434) 978-7264, tweet us @DailyProgress or send us a Facebook message here. Authorities have charged two drivers involved in separate Wednesday collisions with Pittsylvania County School buses, the Virginia State Police announced Friday morning. The first wreck, reported at about 3:15 p.m. Wednesday, occurred on Banister Road. Police report a 2001 Toyota Camry was traveling west when the driver, Corey J. Reynolds, 19, of Chatham, lost control and crossed the center of the road and hit a school bus head-on. Reynolds, who was not injured, was charged with reckless driving, police reported. The school bus driver was identified as 54-year-old Gregory H. Dawson, of Gretna. Dawson was not injured. There were 15 students ages 5 to 11 on the bus. Police originally reported a student was injured, but on Friday corrected that report. No one was injured in that crash. About 15 minutes later and only 3 miles away, another vehicle collided with a school bus on North Flint Hill. In that wreck, police report a 2015 Nissan Versa entered the road and struck a county school bus. Larry R. Norris, 67, of Danville, was driving the Nissan and charged with failing to yield the right of way. Norris was not injured. No students on the bus were injured. That school bus was driven by Billy W. Oakes Jr., 52, of Danville, who was not injured. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The law firm that employs Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax earlier this year announced that it had retained outside counsel to investigate sexual assault allegations against him, but the firm now refuses to comment on the status of that investigation. Fairfax is an attorney at Morrison & Foerster, which announced in September that he would be a partner in the firms commercial litigation, trials and investigations, and white-collar defense groups. The firm put Fairfax on paid leave after two allegations of sexual assault against him were made public in February. His duties as lieutenant governor are part time. The firm has retained outside counsel to conduct an investigation. During the investigation, Justin Fairfax has taken a leave of absence from Morrison & Foerster, Larren Nashelsky, the firms chair, said in a statement in February. Justin has agreed to cooperate with the firms investigation. We take the allegations against Justin very seriously. As a firm, we believe that it is important to seriously listen to any allegation of sexual assault or harassment, and to treat all persons making such allegations with respect and sensitivity. Asked if the investigation was still pending or had been completed, Morrison & Foerster spokesman Radley Moss would only say, via email, that Fairfax remained on leave of absence. He would not answer whether the investigation was ongoing or complete. Vanessa Tyson, a college professor, has accused Fairfax of forcing her to perform oral sex in a Boston hotel room in 2004. Meredith Watson has accused Fairfax of raping her while the two were students at Duke University in 2000. Fairfax, who has insisted the sexual contact with his accusers was consensual, gave a speech from the Senate dais decrying political lynchings without any due process and has said he is the victim of a vicious and coordinated smear campaign. Fairfax spokeswoman Lauren Burke declined to comment on the law firm investigation. Across the commonwealth, there are hundreds if not thousands of jobs that go unfilled because employers simply cant find folks with the skills needed to do the work. State leaders hope legislation Gov. Ralph Northam signed into law earlier this month will help alleviate the problem and, at the same time, set people on course for a career, not just one dead-end job after another. Northam used Tidewater Community Colleges Skilled Trades Academy as the backdrop to sign House Bill 2020, legislation championed by Del. Matthew James, a Portsmouth Democrat, to shine a light on the role the states community colleges will play in the process. James bill calls on the Virginia Community College System, working with the state Department of Labor, to develop a uniform, statewide instruction plan for registered apprenticeships for high- demand jobs, as determined by the Virginia Board of Workforce Development and the Virginia Employment Commission. The courses would be available online, face-to-face in classrooms or a combination of both. Virginias community colleges always have been at the forefront of specialized job training in the commonwealth, but primarily in their own service areas. Central Virginia Community College in Lynchburg, for example, long has had a partnership with local nuclear engineering firms to train applicants for their high-skills positions. In much the same way, Danville Community College, with its precision-machining program, has given Southside a leg up in attracting companies in the lucrative and expanding manufacturing sector. James bill expands the role of the community college system to include working with employers to train applicants to become construction workers, carpenters, ship repairers and so on jobs for which certification is required to gain entry but also have a period of apprenticeship while on the job itself. The training will be tailored to each community colleges need, determined by consultation with the VEC and workforce development board. While ship repairers certainly will be needed in Tidewater, where the largest employer is Newport News Shipbuilding, heavy equipment operations or construction trades may be in higher demand in Central Virginia or Southside. Because the instructional programs would be uniform and already developed, local community colleges wouldnt have to reinvent the wheel: As soon as a critical jobs need is determined, a training program will be ready to roll out. John Capps, the president of CVCC in Lynchburg, put it best in remarks at the colleges 51st commencement earlier this week. We are not an ivory tower. We are a public good, he said. We are nothing less than the Ellis Island of higher education with a point of entry to the American dream. And now, with this push into apprenticeship and certification training, the commonwealths community college system is taking on an even more important role in preparing Virginians of all skill levels to take part in the states expanding economy. For immediate release 17 May 2019 Serabi Gold Plc (Serabi or the Company) Notice of Annual General Meeting and Special Meeting(1) The Company announces that its Annual General Meeting will be held on Friday 14 June 2019, at the offices of Farrer & Co. LLP, 20/23 Lincoln's Inn Fields London WC2A 3LH England at 3.30 pm. The Company has published the formal notice of the meeting (the Notice) on its website which can be accessed using the following link https://bit.ly/2VYvWtO. Proxy voting forms are being posted to all shareholders providing details of how to access the Notice and instructions for voting. A copy of the Notice together with proxy voting forms and a copy of the 2018 Annual Report is being posted to all shareholders who are required to receive or have formally requested to receive these documents. Copies of the 2018 Annual Report are available from the Company's website at www.serabigold.com. The Notice contains a letter from the Chairman of the Company, Mr Mel Williams, which is set out below in Appendix 1. (1) Certain resolutions to be proposed at the meeting will be special resolutions requiring approval of more than 75% of the votes cast. Under Canadian National Instrument 54-101, the meeting therefore also constitutes a Special Meeting. Enquiries: Serabi Gold Plc Michael Hodgson Tel: +44 (0)20 7246 6830 Chief Executive Mobile: +44 (0)7799 473621 Clive Line Tel: +44 (0)20 7246 6830 Finance Director Mobile: +44 (0)7710 151692 Email: contact@serabigold.com Website: www.serabigold.com Beaumont Cornish Limited Nominated Adviser Roland Cornish Tel: +44 (0)20 7628 3396 Michael Cornish Tel: +44 (0)20 7628 3396 Peel Hunt LLP UK Broker Ross Allister Tel: +44 (0)20 7418 9000 James Bavister Tel: +44 (0)20 7418 9000 Copies of this announcement are available from the Company's website at www.serabigold.com. Neither the Toronto Stock Exchange, nor any other securities regulatory authority, has approved or disapproved of the contents of this announcement. Appendix 1 The letter from the Chairman of the Company included in the Notice is reproduced below (without material adjustment or amendment): Dear Shareholder This document provides the formal notice (the "Notice") of the 2019 Annual General Meeting and Special Meeting of the Company to be held at the offices of Farrer & Co LLP, 20/23 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3LH, England on 14 June 2019 at 3.30pm (London time) (the "Meeting"). This document also includes additional information that the Company as a "reporting issuer" in Canada is required to make available pursuant to the requirements of National Instrument 51-102 Continuous Disclosure Obligations ("NI 51-102") of the Canadian Securities Administrators. Background The matters being considered at the 2019 Annual General Meeting and Special Meeting set out in the Notice are for the most part, items that are routinely considered at such meetings. As the Company has previously advised, 2019 is expected to be a year where the Company will make significant progress towards it ambitions of becoming a 100,000 ounce per year gold producer. Both the Palito and Sao Chico Gold Mines are now in a steady state with gold production for 2019 expected to be in the range of 40,000 to 44,000 ounces for the year. Management are progressing the permitting process for the Coringa project acquired at the end of 2017 and the Company will progress exploration activity on its projects, in particular around the Sao Chico deposit following the very successful programmes completed during 2018. The Company is well funded to significantly advance its immediate growth plans and it is possible that exploration at Palito and Sao Chico could provide greater expansion opportunities than are currently planned for. Meanwhile the Board remains keen to look at other opportunities within Brazil where Serabis management can add value and enhance a project for the benefit of Serabis shareholders. The Board believes that opportunities to advance the development and growth of the Company may arise over the next twelve months and for this reason is requesting Shareholders to authorise the Board to issue new shares to allow the Company to pursue and commit to these opportunities quickly as and when they arise. Recommendation The Directors consider that the resolutions set out in the Notice being put to the Annual General Meeting and Special Meeting are in the best interests of the Company and its Shareholders and are most likely to promote the success of the Company for the benefit of the Shareholders as a whole. Accordingly, the Directors unanimously recommend that Shareholders vote in favour of the proposed resolutions as they intend to do in respect of their own holdings, where relevant, amounting to an aggregate of 1,262,345 Ordinary Shares, representing approximately 2.14 per cent of the Company's Ordinary Shares in issue as of the date of this Circular. Yours faithfully (Signed) "Melvyn Williams" Melvyn Williams Non-executive Chairman ENDS Governments around the nation are working to design the best vaccine policies that keep both their employees and their residents safe. Although the latest data shows a variety of polarizing perspectives, there are clear emerging best practices that leading governments are following to put trust first: creating policies that are flexible and provide a range of options, and being in tune with the needs and sentiments of their employees so that they are able to be dynamic and accommodate the rapidly changing situation. Despite having "significant reservations" about a bill that will send hundreds of millions of dollars in extra funding to Maryland public school classrooms, Gov. Larry Hogan will allow it to become law without his signature.The bill, dubbed the "Blueprint for Maryland's Future," will direct $850 million in extra state spending to public schools over the next two years. The money will start flowing to the schools in July 2020.In a letter sent to legislative leaders Wednesday afternoon, Hogan said he is concerned that the bill doesn't include a long-term funding solution for public school improvement and lacks sufficient "academic accountability" to make sure the extra spending results in academic gains."While Marylanders are crying out for better outcomes, they are also demanding that local school administrators be held accountable for billions of state taxpayer dollars handed to them," Hogan, a Republican, wrote to state Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller and House of Delegates Speaker Adrienne Jones, both Democrats.Hogan was in Kentucky on Wednesday for a meeting of the Republican Governors AssociationMiller and Jones responded in a letter to Hogan that they were disappointed that he refused to sign the bill into law.They dismissed Hogan's concerns that the spending plan wasn't funded, noting that there is money in the budget for the two-year plan. They invited Hogan to appear before a commission that's studying education to offer his ideas for a long-term funding plan."We are heartened to see your Administration's concern about making certain the Blueprint is fully funded, and we ask that you join our efforts to find a path forward on this issue," Miller and Jones wrote.The education funding bill is intended as a first step toward massive education reforms being developed by a commission that's been studying how to best improve Maryland schools.The extra money will help pay for some of the needs identified by the commission: increasing teacher pay, expanding prekindergarten and creating "community schools" in high-poverty areas. Community schools provide additional services to students and their families, such as health care.The group -- known as the Kirwan Commission for its chairman, William "Brit" Kirwan, a former chancellor of the state's university system -- has suggested the state needs to funnel billions more into public schools over the next decade. Commission members are still working to figure out how to pay for the extra funding on a long-term basis.Kirwan took an intense interest in the "blueprint" bill, meeting with lawmakers to advocate for it and observing floor debates from the public galleries in the State House. Proponents of the bill said it was an important measure to get the state moving forward on revamping instruction in public schools. It won near-unanimous support in the state Senate, but passed the House of Delegates with many Republicans opposed.The Maryland State Education Association, the union representing school teachers, made the Kirwan funding a focus of its advocacy efforts during this year's General Assembly session. The union brought thousands of members, students and supporters wearing "red for ed" to Annapolis for one of the largest rallies in the state capital in recent years.Cheryl Bost, president of the teachers' union, said in a statement that, while she was surprised that Hogan did not sign the bill, teachers are nonetheless pleased that it will become law. She praised lawmakers for giving it bipartisan support.Bost said the law will "immediately help improve education across the state."But Bost cautioned that the Kirwan "blueprint" bill is only a start. She said teachers will work with the governor, lawmakers and members of the Kirwan Commission on a long-term plan to "close our multi-billion dollar school funding gap.""We must remember that every year that goes by without passing a new funding formula is another class of students that moves through underfunded schools," Bost said.Some have questioned the wisdom of funneling more and more money to schools without making sure it results in academic improvements.The bill is "the latest chapter in the General Assembly's practice of spending billions of dollars first and asking questions later," said Christopher B. Summers, president of the Maryland Public Policy Institute, a conservative think tank.The bill also requires the state to hire an inspector general to investigate complaints of waste and fraud in local school districts -- adopting an idea that had long been promoted by the governor. The inspector general would be selected by a unanimous vote of the governor, state treasurer and attorney general.Hogan wrote in his letter that the inclusion of the inspector general for education was "encouraging," but that alone is not enough to make sure that tax dollars sent to schools are properly spent.Hogan concluded his letter by saying that he looks forward to working with lawmakers "to develop a fiscally responsible proposal that both increases accountability and improves performance outcomes."The Maryland governor has three choices when presented bills passed by the General Assembly: veto, sign into law or allow to automatically become law without a signature. Hogan has used the option of not signing bills as a way to express concern or disagreement with bills, without going so far as vetoing them. SPEED READ: Five states let undocumented immigrant children sign up for Medicaid. A bill to make Connecticut the sixth failed. In Washington state, legislation to raise the age of Medicaid eligibility to 25 died. California Gov. Gavin Newsom struck a deal with lawmakers to extend health care to more undocumented immigrants. How Newsom Plans to Pay for His Plan Trump's New Immigration Rule As the Trump administration pursues zero-tolerance immigration policies, Democratic politicians are contrasting that message with acceptance and care.After several states introduced legislation this year to offer health coverage to more undocumented immigrants, only California came away with a deal, which will expand care to undocumented people between the ages of 19 and 25. (Currently, the cutoff is 18 years old.)Gov. Gavin Newsom included the proposal to cover more undocumented youth in his budget, but state lawmakers wanted to go further and include undocumented seniors, as well as extend the Earned Income Tax Credit to low-income undocumented immigrants. Newsom resisted, arguing that it would have been too expensive.For Californias immigrant communities, todays budget deal is bittersweet, said Cynthia Buiza, executive director of the California Immigrant Policy Center, in a statement . The exclusion of undocumented elders from the same health care their U.S. citizen neighbors are eligible for means beloved community members will suffer and die from treatable conditions. And the exclusion of many immigrants from the Earned Income Tax Credit will perpetuate the crisis of economic inequality in our state.Five states, and the District of Columbia, let undocumented children 18 years or younger sign up for Medicaid -- California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York and Washington. Connecticut appeared poised to become the sixth, but the bill that was introduced this year is dead for this legislative session.The state has struggled with a budget deficit in recent years, and the price tag for Connecticut's proposal would be $53 million for the first two years, reaching up to $64 million.That kind of number, given our current efforts to try to just balance the budget, would be a struggle, Democrat John Fonfara, the state Senate's deputy president pro tempore, told the Hartford Courant The bill made it out of committee but stalled on the House floor after the cost estimate was released.In Washington state, lawmakers introduced a bill in both the Senate and the House to raise the age of Medicaid eligibility for undocumented immigrants to 25 years old. Neither bill made it out of committee, and the legislative session ended in April.To pay for his plan, Newsom will divert public health funding from 35 mostly rural and small counties. His original budget planned to divert money from 39 counties, but officials from four argued that it would have catastrophic effects on their battles against measles and STDs. Now, Newsom says the remaining funds will come from the states general fund.The policy is expected to cost $98 million a year, but Newsom noted that most of the 35 counties already receive funds from the County Medical Services Program, which currently has a $300 million budget surplus.The state expects the change to ultimately save money for local governments and hospitals.As the state takes on responsibility for providing health care to undocumented adults, counties costs and responsibilities on indigent health care are expected to decrease, said Jenny Nguyen , a budget analyst for Californias finance department.In 2016, California passed a bill, signed by then-Gov. Jerry Brown,that would have let undocumented immigrants access plans on the states health insurance marketplace. But the state needed permission from the federal government. After Donald Trump won the White House, the plan fell apart.In late 2016, California decided to stop pursuing that waiver. It was decided that it would put undocumented immigrants at risk, says Laurel Lucia, director of the Health Care Program for the Center for Labor Research and Education at University of California, Berkeley.In the backdrop of all this, the Trump administration has proposed a new "public charge" rule , which would penalizeimmigrants for using government benefits, including Medicaid. If enacted, the rule will make it harder for legal immigrants who have used those benefits to obtain green cards or permanent residency status. The proposed rule has yet to be finalized, and there's no word on when that might happen.Though the public charge proposal applies only to legal immigrants, there's anecdotal evidence that it has had a chilling effect on the immigrant community overall, making them less likely to use social services for fear of deportation.Immigrant advocates, however, dont want that federal proposal to stop state lawmakers from expanding health coverage to the undocumented."The thing is, its never been easy to be an immigrant in this community. We want people to know that we dont have a finalized rule, so we dont know exactly what will be included," says Matthew Lopas, state policy expert for the National Immigration Law Center. Ongoing litigation Focus on Richard Sackler Five states announced Thursday that they were suing OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma and co-owner and former CEO and President Richard Sackler, piling more pressure on a company already faced with more than 1,000 similar lawsuits for allegedly fueling the opioid crisis with deceptive marketing of its pain drugs.The attorneys general of Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, West Virginia and Wisconsin are separately filing their complaints, which accuse the company of deliberately misrepresenting the risks and benefits of OxyContin, its top seller. More than 40 states, including Connecticut, have sued the firm, which prosecutors argue shares much of the blame for exacerbating an epidemic of opioid abuse that has seen some 218,000 Americans die from overdoses related to prescription opioids since 1999."Purdue Pharma is responsible for a public health crisis that has profoundly affected patients, their families, our communities and our health care system," Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller said in a statement. "The company and its executives were recklessly indifferent to the impact of their actions, despite ever-mounting evidence that their deceptions were resulting in an epidemic of addiction and death."In a statement, Purdue denied the allegations."These complaints are part of a continuing effort to try these cases in the court of public opinion rather than the justice system," the statement said. "The states cannot link the conduct alleged to the harm described, and so they have invented stunningly overbroad legal theories, which if adopted by courts, will undermine the bedrock legal principle of causation."A message left for a spokesperson of Richard Sackler was not immediately returned.For West Virginia, the lawsuit follows a $10 million settlement, in 2004, of a lawsuit with similar allegations.The past two weeks have marked one of the busiest periods in the past couple of years for Purdue-related litigation.On Tuesday, Pennsylvania filed a similar lawsuit.Including the Keystone State, eight of the 10 most populous states have sued Purdue for alleged marketing fraud.Illinois and Georgia sued earlier this year. New York originally sued last August and filed an expanded complaint in March. Florida, Texas and North Carolina sued last year. Ohio submitted its lawsuit in 2017.California, the most populous state, has not filed a complaint.Last Friday, a District Court judge in North Dakota dismissed that state's lawsuit, which was filed last year."Purdue cannot control how doctors prescribe its products, and it certainly cannot control how individual patients use and respond to its products, regardless of any warning or instruction Purdue may give," Judge James Hill wrote in his decision.The state plans to appeal the decision, said North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem.Richard Sackler, one of eight Sackler family members named in Connecticut's lawsuit, has emerged as a particularly controversial figure in the litigation.Connecticut Attorney General William Tong last week released an unredacted version of the complaint, which he said showed "shocking and offensive" emails, from 2001 that Richard Sackler exchanged with an unnamed acquaintance. At the time, he was about halfway through a four-year stint as Purdue's CEO and president.In one correspondence, the acquaintance said that "abusers die; well, that is the choice they made. I doubt a single one didn't know of the risks."Richard Sackler responded that "abusers aren't victims; they are the victimizers."Representatives of Richard Sackler argue that those messages do not reflect his current views on the opioid crisis.He elaborated on the 2001 emails -- saying that he "probably was quite emotional" when he wrote them -- according to excerpts from a court deposition he gave in March."I've gotten a lot more information about addiction, in general ... or opioid addiction, in particular, and, of course, my views have evolved and changed," Richard Sackler said in the deposition. "At that time, I was very concerned that the balance that had been struck by the FDA between the benefits and risks of strong opioids might be upset, perhaps with terrible consequence for patients and for doctors, who wanted to treat them."Richard Sackler gave the deposition for a group of "Multidistrict Litigation" cases, consolidated in a federal court in Cleveland, involving about 1,700 cities and counties across the country that have sued Purdue and other opioid makers.None of the pending cases has gone to trial yet, leaving open the possibility of more individual or multistate settlements.In its largest settlement of the past 10 years, Purdue agreed in March to a $270 million settlement of Oklahoma's lawsuit. About $200 million -- including $75 million donated by the Sacklers -- would help establish the National Center for Addiction Studies and Treatment at Oklahoma State University's campus in Tulsa.An attorney for the four of the Sackler defendants said in a recent interview that they want to reach a "global settlement" with the plaintiffs.Tong has said in the past couple of weeks that he still plans to take Connecticut's case to trial. The backlash against Alabama over its passage of the country's most restrictive abortion law has begun with threats by Democratic officials in other states calling for boycotts and divesting from the Yellowhammer State.Jena Griswold, Colorado's Democratic secretary of state, threatened to not use the state's tax dollars on travel to Alabama in wake of the abortion bill, which criminalizes abortion and makes no exceptions for rape and incest.The Denver Post reports Gov. Jared Polis said he is not considering following Griswold's lead but denounced the new law."Alabama's rolling back of a woman's right to choose is an existential threat to our personal freedom," Polis' office said. "The governor will always defend a woman's right to make her own health care decisions."In Maryland, the vice chairman of the state's pension system advised system employees not to travel to Alabama for professional purposes."It is my hope that this will put the 'leaders' of Alabama, and those of other states who may be contemplating abusing public laws for theocratic gratification, on notice that this is, indeed, 2019," Peter Franchot said in a Facebook post Thursday morning. "Gratuitous attacks on the freedoms and the well-being of women will come at a prohibitive price."Franchot said he would review the pension system's holdings related to Alabama."This will include a full inventory of assets that are invested in Alabama-based companies, as well as all investment managers, brokers and consultants that are headquartered, or have regional offices in that state,;" he said. "I will ask that this review and full inventory of business relationships be presented to the board of trustees on an expedited basis, so that we can hopefully initiate the process of full divestment from the state of Alabama."These reactions are not new for Alabama. In 2017, California banned state travel to Alabama over the legislature's passing of a bill allowing adoption agencies not to place children with LGBT parents. Gov. Steve Sisolak signed two patient protection bills into law on Wednesday, aiming to both end surprise medical billing -- emergency services given to a patient by an out-of-network provider -- and put protections for pre-existing conditions into state statute.The bills -- Assembly Bills 469 and 170, respectively -- were both delivered to the governor earlier this month and passed both houses with overwhelming majorities. Sisolak signed them in a news conference with health care advocates present.Sisolak said that pre-existing condition protection is necessary to protect Nevadans in the case of a repeal of the Affordable Care Act.Sisolak said that more than 1 million Nevadans live with pre-existing conditions and could face increased health care costs if the ACA were repealed. "That's why today we're taking an important step as a state to guarantee that no Nevadan will lose health coverage because of a pre-existing condition, no matter what happens in Washington," he said.In a statement, the Nevada Democratic Party praised the bill, calling it a bipartisan achievement."While the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress are more focused on dangerous, partisan efforts to undermine our health care system, our leaders passed bipartisan legislation to make permanent these life-saving protections and put in place a procedure to help patients better resolve problems with their insurers," Assemblyman William McCurdy, D-Las Vegas and the state party chairman, said in a statement.Sisolak said the issue of surprise billing can hit a patient with a large-scale expense that is not expected. In medical emergencies, he said, people are rarely concerned with ensuring the hospital they go to is in their network. "These bills can sometimes run $10,000 or more and can leave a working family in financial ruin," he said.Now, patients who find themselves in those situations will only have to pay the copayment, coinsurance or deductible required by their policy. The insurer for the patient will pay 108-115% of the cost if it had been in an agreement with the provider within the past two years. If there was no previous agreement, the insurer will make an offer for what they determine is "reasonable." If not accepted by the provider, the parties go to arbitration.Assemblywoman Maggie Carlton, D-Las Vegas, has long worked on the issue of surprise billing and was visibly emotional at some points during the conference."I can't thank everyone enough for all the hours, for all the arguments, for all the disagreements and for all the compromise," she said.Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson, D-Las Vegas, touted the different groups that worked on the bill. "This bill represents patients, providers, patient advocates coming together to try to come up with something that works for Nevada," Frierson said. A state representative has been indicted by a federal grand jury, accused of trying to sell his vote on a measure to repeal Michigan's prevailing wage law.Rep. Larry Inman, R-Traverse City, was indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury in Grand Rapids, court records show.House Speaker Lee Chatfield, R-Levering, called on Inman on Wednesday to resign his seat, though Inman said he has no intention of doing so.Inman is charged with attempted extortion, soliciting a bribe, and making a false statement to the FBI and could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted on the most serious charge.According to the indictment, Inman, who was first elected to the state House in 2014, sent text messages seeking contributions to his campaign committee from unions in connection with voting "no" on a measure to repeal Michigan's prevailing wage law.The alleged pleas for campaign cash came in an election year that proved to be a close contest for Inman, who beat his Democratic opponent by less than 700 votes last November.Inman, 65, a retired vice president of Huntington National Bank, did not attend the House session that began Wednesday afternoon.In a statement issued through his attorney, Chris Cooke of Traverse City, Inman said he will not resign."I am innocent of these charges," Inman said. "I have never compromised the integrity of my vote. I have always represented my constituency honestly and legally. I intend on vigorously fighting these charges and defending my reputation."Chatfield announced he stripped Inman of his committee assignments Wednesday and ordered the business office to take control of Inman's constituent services."Everyone in the House is surprised and disappointed by this news," Chatfield said.He later told reporters he asked Inman to resign and the lawmaker is considering it."The text that was made public in the press is completely out of line and is not in the spirit of what the people of this state deserve in their representation and I think every single person in this chamber is aware of that," Chatfield said.But Inman later told the Free Press, that while his conversation with Chatfield was confidential: "I am not resigning."Inman is scheduled to be arraigned May 23 in federal court in Grand Rapids.The prevailing wage law, which required union wage rates on most public projects, was repealed by Michigan lawmakers in 2018. Most Republicans, including Inman, voted to repeal the law, records show. The indictment alleges Inman sought campaign contributions in return for instead voting "no" on the repeal measure.The indictment says Inman sent a June 3, 2018, text message to a representative of the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights that said, in part:"I hear the prevailing wage vote may be on Wednesday," and while "carpenters have been good to me, where are the rest of the trades on checks?"Inman went on to say, "it's not worth losing assignments and staff for $5,000," and "you need to get people maxed out," according to the indictment. The message said: "People will not go down for $5,000, not that we don't appreciate it."Inman said in the text message there were only 12 lawmakers who could block the measure, and "I would suggest maxing them out on all 12, or at least doubling what you have given them," according to the indictment. He added: "We never had this discussion.""Maxing out" is an apparent reference to making the largest campaign donation allowable under state law.According to the text messages quoted in the indictment, Inman was seeking $30,000 in campaign contributions for each unnamed Republican member he said might be willing to vote no. But he was apparently asking that multiple unions team up to put together those totals. The maximum a political action committee such as the one controlled by the carpenters could give to a state representative candidate in 2018 was $10,000, the Michigan Secretary of State's Office confirmed.According to the indictment, Inman also sent a similar text message to an unidentified lobbyist who had been retained by the carpenters to help in blocking the repeal of the prevailing wage law.And on June 5, he again texted the representative of the carpenters union, saying he had an upcoming breakfast event at a Lansing lobbyist's office. "Hope you can make it :) and see if there are checks you can get."According to the indictment, a PAC controlled by the carpenters union donated $6,000 to Inman's campaign committee between October 2017 and May 2018.However, the union "provided no additional campaign contributions to the defendant's campaign committee after receiving defendant's text message on June 3, 2018," the indictment says.Mike Jackson, executive secretary-treasurer of the carpenters union, said he's glad that Inman "is being brought to justice.""Our members deserve elected officials who vote on the merits of a bill and how it will affect us as taxpayers and hardworking people," Jackson said.Chatfield said that he hasn't read the entire grand jury indictment yet. "I have no recollection of what he's representing in those statements," he said of the quoted text messages.Inman denied having had communications about the campaign contributions when he was questioned by an FBI agent on Aug. 1, 2018, according to the indictment.Lawmakers voted on prevailing wage after voters signed petitions to initiate legislation to repeal it. If lawmakers had not voted to approve the repeal measure, it would have become a ballot question for Michigan voters.It was repealed in 2018 on a mostly party-line vote. In the House, where the bill passed on a 56-53 vote -- the minimum number of votes needed -- Inman was not one of the seven Republicans who sided with all the Democrats to oppose the repeal.Lonnie Scott, executive director of the liberal group Progress Michigan, called for Inman to resign immediately, or for Chatfield to take steps to expel him.Also, "today's indictment is further proof that we need more transparency and lobby reform in Michigan," Scott said in a news release."We ... need to take a comprehensive look at restructuring our worst in the nation lobbying laws because right now, too many elected officials are more concerned about the next donation they're going to get, rather than what's best for their constituents.Lavora Barnes, chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, said the charges are "incredibly disappointing and concerning," and "if true, show a deeply troubling pattern of Republican disdain for the working people of our state."Cooke, Inman's attorney, said that "at no time did Larry have any intention of violating the law and that will be established as we go through court proceedings."Attempted extortion carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Soliciting a bribe is a 10-year felony, and making a false statement to the FBI is a five-year felony.In addition to his job in the House, Inman was a banker and is an avid collector of memorabilia connected to pioneering aviator Amelia Earhart, who disappeared over the South Pacific in 1937 during an attempted round-the-world flight.He told the Free Press earlier he has spent at least $1.5 million on Earhart memorabilia and artifacts and has filled his home on Grand Traverse Bay with her words, images and historical documents that tell the story of Amelia Earhart. He has even traveled to remote islands in the South Pacific to try and unravel the mystery of Earhart's disappearance.Before his election to the state House, Inman was a longtime member of the Grand Traverse County Board of Commissioners.And from 1994 to 2014, he served as a member of the State of Michigan Community Corrections Board, as an appointee of both Republican and Democratic governors, according to his state House biography.Last fall during the campaign for his third and final term in the House, he said he thought that by 2020, his Grand Traverse County district would turn blue and send a Democrat to Lansing. And the prediction nearly came true in 2018. He barely won his re-election bid, beating Democrat Dan O'Neil by a 24,071 to 23,722 margin. President Trump on Wednesday pardoned former GOP Assemblyman Pat Nolan, who spent more than two years in federal prison after pleading guilty in 1994 in an FBI sting operation looking into corruption in the Legislature."Nolan's experiences with prosecutors and in prison changed his life," according to a statement from the White House. "Upon his release, he became a tireless advocate for criminal justice reform and victim's rights."Nolan, 68, said his time in prison was a gift from God."I am so grateful that God used my time in prison to open my eyes to injustice, and equipped me to advocate for the voiceless," he said in a tweet Wednesday evening. "And I am thankful that President Trump saw fit to grant me a pardon."Nolan has been an acquaintance of Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, ever since Kushner's father was sentenced to prison for tax evasion and other crimes in 2005. As part of his prison ministries work, Nolan prepared the older Kushner for his time behind bars, said Arnold Steinberg, a former GOP consultant and friend of Nolan since they worked as teenage Republican campaign volunteers for Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan.Once Trump was elected, Nolan worked with Kushner on prison reform issues, such as the bipartisan First Step Act, which Trump signed last December."Pat would never ask for a pardon," Steinberg said, but Steinberg and others asked people in the White House if it could be arranged. The effort has been in the works for months, he added.Nolan's 1994 guilty plea to a single count of racketeering destroyed his career as an attorney and a politician.Nolan was first elected to the Legislature from the San Fernando Valley in 1978, one of a group of deeply conservative GOP legislators known as "the Prop. 13 babies" for the tax relief measure passed that year or, less charitably, as "the Cavemen," for their all-out opposition to taxes.He was Assembly minority leader from 1984 until 1988, serving as the GOP opposition to Speaker Willie Brown and the Democratic legislators.But he ran afoul of an FBI operation prompted by reports that legislators were taking bribes to pass bills. Undercover FBI agents formed a phony company called Gulf Shrimp Fisheries, paying more than $80,000 in campaign contributions solicited by legislators and their aides to move bills helping the bogus company.The bills passed both the Assembly and state Senate but were vetoed by Gov. George Deukmejian, who had been tipped off by the FBI.Nolan accepted checks from an undercover FBI agent to help get the bills passed. He wasn't the only legislator caught in the operation dubbed "Shrimpscam." Three state senators and another assemblyman also received prison sentences.Nolan was charged in 1993 with felony counts that included conspiracy, extortion, money laundering and racketeering, but was told that the charges would disappear if he pleaded guilty to the racketeering charge."He could defend himself against charges of public corruption and risk decades in prison or he could plead guilty and accept a 33-month sentence," the White House statement said. "Determined to help his wife raise their three young children, Mr. Nolan chose to accept the plea."In prison, Nolan helped organize religious study groups. He is currently director of the Center for Criminal Justice Reform at the American Conservative Union and is the author of a guide for churches and community groups that help former convicts. The cloud is a powerful tool for driving digital transformation, but risks abound at every step of the journey. Public-sector IT leaders must assess where they stand in the cloud adoption curve and plan how to optimize their infrastructure costs. Intuitive Interface: The team now manages their access points, switches, and security appliances from a single pane of glass, greatly simplifying day-to-day network management. The elimination of command line helped the small IT team allocate resources more effectively. The team now manages their access points, switches, and security appliances from a single pane of glass, greatly simplifying day-to-day network management. The elimination of command line helped the small IT team allocate resources more effectively. Increased visibility: By knowing all the devices that are connected to the network, who is using bandwidth, and where more coverage might be needed, the team can easily maintain and troubleshoot the network. With building floor plans uploaded into the Meraki dashboard, the team can see how endpoints are moving from access point to access point and identify where someone is if they are having connection issues. By knowing all the devices that are connected to the network, who is using bandwidth, and where more coverage might be needed, the team can easily maintain and troubleshoot the network. With building floor plans uploaded into the Meraki dashboard, the team can see how endpoints are moving from access point to access point and identify where someone is if they are having connection issues. Improved security: By using content filtering to block inappropriate content and intrusion prevention to safeguard against malicious traffic, New Castle Countys network is much more secure than before. Plus, with simplified firmware upgrades, the team ensures 24/7 uptime, so there is no impact to critical operations such as the 911 center. The largest county in Delaware, with over 550,000 residents, found a way to do more with less in order to meet citizen expectations with a cloud-managed network.It is no secret that government agencies are not always on the cutting edge of new technologies. From tight budgets to lean teams, it can be very challenging for government IT to deploy and manage the robust technologies used by their private sector counterparts. And yet, 85% of U.S. citizens expect government digital services to be on par with or better than private sector digital services. How do governments meet citizen expectations without the resources required?One answer? The cloud. By using cloud-based solutions, government agencies can scale operations, decrease total cost of ownership, and improve citizen experiences with less day-to-day maintenance and more time to focus on impactful projects.One such county is leading the charge for government organizations across the United States: New Castle County . The largest county in Delaware, with over 550,000 residents and 1,600 government employees, found a way to do more with less in order to meet citizen expectations. They started with a cloud-managed network, deploying access points, switches, and security appliances across the county. With their new network, New Castle County experienced three main benefits:Governments are eager to provide more for citizens, but it isnt always easy. By managing their entire network through a cloud-based dashboard, the New Castle County IT team has eliminated the day-to-day tasks that come with traditional networking solutions, opening up new opportunities for team members to focus on providing digital services for citizens. The IT team now prioritizes projects that will improve daily operations for government employees and citizen experiences across the county.To learn more about how the cloud has enabled New Castle County to be a technology-forward government organization, watch the webinar recording . Youll hear from Mike Hojnicki, Chief of Technology and Administrative Services, and Jon Yearly, Manager of Information Systems, on why they chose to move to the cloud. Or, attend an upcoming webinar to see a live demo of the Meraki dashboard in action and get your questions answered. Youll even be eligible to receive a free access point, just for attending! (TNS) One of the byproducts of the rapidly increasing power of microchips is the proliferation of chip-powered cameras and other devices that are constantly watching and, in some cases, recording the world in front of them in high definition. There are cameras in doorbells and ATMs, overlooking building entrances and parking lots, on traffic lights and retail store walls.Law enforcement agencies have taken advantage of these electronic eyes to gather evidence of crimes, trace suspects and search for missing persons. Now, police around the country are embracing a technology that can turn recordings into results far more efficiently: facial recognition software. The software matches images from a database of pictures for example, drivers licenses or mug shots against what a security camera has recorded to try to identify the people in the recordings.One problem, though, is that the software isnt 100% accurate. Some of the versions on the market have an especially poor track record when it comes to identifying darker-skinned people. For example, a study published this year found that Amazons Rekognition misidentified womens images as mens 19% to 31% of the time, depending on their skin tone.The San Francisco Board of Supervisors seized upon this flaw in an ordinance adopted Tuesday. The measure requires government agencies in the city to develop policies for surveillance technologies that govern their use, and then to obtain the boards approval before acquiring and deploying such tools. The one exception was facial recognition software, which the ordinance flatly prohibits government agencies from using.The propensity for facial recognition technology to endanger civil rights and civil liberties substantially outweighs its purported benefits, and the technology will exacerbate racial injustice and threaten our ability to live free of continuous government monitoring, the ordinance states.The board was wise to impose some badly needed transparency and oversight on local law enforcements use of monitoring and tracking technologies, such as license plate readers and cellphone locators. Police agencies are focused on fighting crime and are often too cavalier about preserving civil liberties; elected officials are the ones who should be deciding how much of their constituents freedom from surveillance to sacrifice in order to make them more secure.That should have been the approach taken to facial recognition software as well. Although its frightening to think how this technology could be misused Chinas Orwellian monitoring of its population, and in particular its persecution of the Uighur Muslim minority, is Exhibit A the technology itself isnt evil. In fact, it can be a lifesaver. And new applications of the software are emerging all the time.Perhaps the most common use of facial recognition in everyday life is as a way to protect the sensitive information stored on smartphones. But it can also help doctors diagnose some diseases, locate adults with dementia whove wandered away from their homes, stop the use of stolen credit cards and let blind people discern facial expressions, among many other uses.Even if we dont think the technology is good enough yet for police to use in identifying suspects, we may welcome its use by police in search-and-rescue operations, finding missing youths whove been victimized by sex traffickers or providing real-time security at major public events. Meanwhile, the technology is steadily improving, and in some cases can do a better job at identifications than humans do. Local governments need to approach all surveillance tools carefully, setting standards for how well the technology must perform and policies to govern how the tools can be used. In the case of facial recognition, a number of serious questions remain to be answered before law enforcement agencies are given the green light. What image sources are reliable enough to be used for identifications drivers licenses? Mug shots? Can people be added to the database of images without their knowledge or consent? How should the software be tested? How much detail do agencies need to release to the public about their use of the technology?Some applications are so intrusive such as using cameras with facial recognition abilities to track a persons movements from camera to camera that they shouldnt be available to police without a warrant. There should also be safeguards to ensure that law enforcement agencies dont circumvent the rules by obtaining information from cameras and facial recognition software deployed by private businesses.In other words, this powerful technology requires oversight and caution to prevent it from being abused. But a ban would throw the good uses out with the bad ones. (TNS) The Massachusetts House voted Wednesday evening to ban the use of handheld phones while driving.The vote on H.3793 was 155-2.I think that it was the general feeling that people, the driving public in particular and families throughout the commonwealth, have been adversely affected by the use of cellphones while driving, House Speaker Robert DeLeo, D-Winthrop, said before the vote. Many people have had either personal experiences or constituents in their area who have had some real serious accidents, some ending unfortunately in death.This was the first time that the House has voted in favor of a ban, a policy that has passed the Senate in prior years and has the support of Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican. The Senate is expected to take up a version of a hands-free bill next month.The House bill would ban drivers from using any mobile electronic device while driving unless the device is being used in hands-free mode. Drivers would be barred from viewing texts, images or videos while driving. The only exception would be viewing a map or navigation system on a device that is affixed to the windshield or mounted on a dashboard or console.A driver could not hold a phone and put it on speakerphone; it would have to be in a hands-free mode, according to Transportation Committee Chair William Straus, D-Mattapoisett.There would be exceptions made for emergencies if someone needs medical assistance, has a disabled car, witnesses a car crash or otherwise needs to call emergency personnel for a safety reason.Violating the law would be punishable by a $100 fine for a first offense, $250 fine for a second offense and $500 fine for a third or subsequent offense. A ticket would not result in an insurance surcharge.From the time the law goes into effect until Dec. 31, 2019, a first violation would result in only a warning, not a fine. Straus said this will give the police time to educate the public about the change in law and explain what it takes to comply.Advocates for the policy note that distracted driving is a leading cause of car crashes.Rep. John Barrett, D-North Adams, talked on the House floor about Merritt Levitan, a constituent who embarked on a cross-country bike ride in 2013 before starting college at Colgate University. She was hit by a distracted driver and died.What happened shouldn't have happened, Barrett said, according to a State House News Service transcript.Barrett said Levitans parents met with the 21-year-old driver, who was texting while driving. They forgave him, with a promise that he too would bring their message about driving, Barrett said.One concern that has been raised with a cellphone ban is that the police will racially profile drivers and will be more likely to pull over black or Latino drivers than white drivers.The House bill would require police officers to note the race of all individuals who are given a ticket or issued a written warning for any traffic stop. That information would be gathered into an annual report. If a police barracks or department appears to have engaged in racial or gender profiling, the department could be required to collect information on all traffic stops, including those that do not result in a citation, for a year.The bill would appropriate $300,000 to do the data collection and analysis.All data collected would be private and would be destroyed after three years.Massachusetts has collected racial data on traffic stops since 2000. But lawmakers say police officers do not always record the information, and no reports or analyses have been done with the data in recent years.Rahsaan Hall, director of the racial justice program for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, said he appreciates that the House bill includes data collection, but he thinks data should be collected on all stops, not just stops that result in tickets or citations.Racial profiling just isnt about whos ticketed or who receives a citation, Hall said. The concern is that people of color, particularly black and Latinx motorists, are pulled over more often. When we dont have the data about all stops, we dont have a full picture of whos being pulled over and why and what happens after theyre pulled over.During debate on the House floor, lawmakers did not vote on an amendment that would have required racial data to be collected for all stops, but instead adopted an amendment to have the secretary of public safety study alternative methods for collecting more accurate data, including the feasibility of recording race and gender data for all traffic stops.State officials would also be required by the bill to develop a public awareness campaign to educate people about the dangers posed by using a phone while driving. (TNS) Plaquemine-area law enforcement is eyeing a huge swath of surveillance technology roughly $400,000 worth of neighborhood cameras, ShotSpotter devices and license plate readers to help combat a community unwilling to help in investigations. But, experts warn that additional surveillance on an already-reluctant population could breed more distrust than benefit.There has not been an increase in the number of shooting calls to prompt the funding request, but there has been a growing lack of witnesses or residents calling police in the first place, both Police Chief Kenny Payne and Iberville Parish Sheriff Brett Stassi told the Plaquemine Board of Selectmen.It would allow us to basically have a better witness than a witness, Payne said after the meeting. Its true sight as opposed to someone saying what they think they saw or putting in their opinions. The biggest issue we have is we dont get a lot of input regarding (investigations) from the public.Stassi, too, touted how beneficial the technology would be, saying its almost as good as having a deputy watching.Neither law enforcement leader nor the two representatives from technology companies present at Tuesday's meeting discussed exactly how the different technology types would be distributed, where, and if there would be any community input before doing so.American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana attorney Bruce Hamilton said in an interview Thursday that because surveillance, in general, sparks an inherent distrust, its imperative the city be open with residents about how and why itll use the technology.It sounds like theres been a breakdown in community trust between the residents and police, and if thats the case I would think implementing this kind of surveillance technology would be a very negative step, Hamilton said. Rather than the city leaders deciding whats best for the community, its more productive for the community to have a dialogue and say do you want these? And how do you want these implemented?The camera request comes after a 14-year-old was killed last month when an unknown gunman shot at his home, striking him in the neck with a bullet. Payne said the surveillance discussions started when Selectman Oscar Mellion approached him about the idea prior to the boys death, but that incident brought home the point.Payne said initially the 911 call sent sheriffs deputies to a home a mile away because a resident who lived in that area thought the gunshots were nearby.The wasted time to get from that location to where the shooting happened was time that could have netted quicker medical care for the teenager, undisturbed evidence and eyewitnesses who may have since fled when the shooting happened, Payne said.Ron Teachman, a ShotSpotter representative who gave a 45-minute presentation to the board on the gunshot-identifying audio technology, touted its efficiency in differentiating noises like car backfires to real gunshots, in getting officers to a scene, data-tracking and recording that can go on to help in court cases or officer-involved shooting investigations, for example.But, that kind of capability comes with a hefty price tag. Teachman estimated it would cost the city $385,000 for the first year to cover 5 square miles of Plaquemine and a little into the Iberville Parish jurisdiction. That covers installation, training and technology, but an ongoing subscription fee would be due annually.Teachman said Shotspotter has grant writers on staff to help municipalities with the costs, but theres no guarantee those grants would be approved.The American Telephone Service cameras, more like traditional home security cameras, would cost $2,765 per camera, excluding the cost of installation, internet access and electricity. The cost of license plate readers was not discussed at Tuesdays meeting, but those would be additional.Payne said he doesnt see an issue with privacy because the cameras would not face into residents homes or yards, and the Shotspotter devices detect audio. He said the neighborhood cameras would not record constantly but would instead be motion sensor.Its just more efficient, its real time where we can locate valuable evidence before its disturbed, he said. A car driving down a street can get a shell casing caught in a tire and move it 100 feet before we get there.Chris Burbank, vice president of strategic partnerships for the Center for Policing Equity and a retired Salt Lake City police chief, said in an interview Thursday that leaders need to determine whether the benefit of solving the crimes would outweigh the impact of such technology on the community.Historically those types of things, whether red light cameras, facial recognition, they tend to inject a lot of bias and community mistrust and be low in efficacy, Burbank said. "What you have to weigh is, is that 1 percent (of cases solved) actually worth the pain it causes to the community, and that is a question that almost has to be weighed community by community.He likened it to equipping teachers in schools with firearms to curb school shootings or taking off shoes in an airport, arguing that while it may help in a handful of examples, there are many more cases of misuse.Instead, Burbank said, the funding would be better spent on programs, resources and community spaces for residents to gather and interact with police in a positive environment that fosters a better relationship. He recommended that beefing up funding for aspects like jobs and health care makes a community feel empowered and in doing that helps diminish crime rates.The board didn't take any action on camera funding at Tuesday's meeting, but said they would consider the presentations closer to budget presentations. With the announcement that it will begin operating in Finlands capital, Helsinki, Wing has now received approvals to make deliveries in three countries since the start of 2019 alone. Australia was first, granting permission in April for the company to make small deliveries from local vendors in the capital city of Canberra. And later that month, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration approved Wing deliveries in Virginia, slated to begin within the next few months.The Helsinki program will launch in June in the populous Vuosaari neighborhood. Customers will be able to order items from Herkku Food Market, a gourmet supermarket, or the local Cafe Monami. Flights will be limited by distance and weight, at 10 km (6.2 miles) and 1.5 kg (3.3 pounds), respectively. Customers should expect to receive their stuff about 10 minutes after ordering. Arkansas will soon launch an ambitious initiative to bolster the states cybersecurity stance, while developing a scalable defense model that others can use in the future. Senate Bill 632 , recently signed into law by Gov. Asa Hutchinson, authorizes the states Economic Development Commission (AEDC) to create a Cyber Initiative. This initiative will be responsible for working to mitigate the cyber-risks to Arkansas; increasing education relative to threats and defense; providing the public and private sectors with threat assessments and other intelligence; and fostering growth and development around tech, IT and defense.The initiative will also create a "cyber alliance" made up of partnerships with a variety of insitutitions like universities, colleges, government agencies and the private business sector, all of which will work in a unified fashion toward realizing the initiatives priorities.The bill also gives the program a potentially extensive financing framework, establishing a special fund that will consist of all money appropriated by the General Assembly, as well as gifts, contributions, grants, or bequests received from federal, private, or other sources, according to the text of the legislation.That money will go toward a wide variety of activities conducted through its myriad partnerships including research, training of officials at public and private institutions in best defense, business and academic opportunities.The initiative will also have a considerable privacy component, as it will be exempt from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) if the request is deemed a security risk, according to bill text.Much of the initiative's work will be centered around finding more effective methods to ferret out bad actors and identifying where and what those actors are looking to target within the state, said retired Col. Rob Ator, who serves as the director of Military Affairs for the AEDC.Arkansas, Ator said, is an attractive target to potential hackers because as the bill notes it is "home to national and global private sector companies that are considerable targets in the financial services, food and supply chain and electric grid sectors."For the first time in our nations history, the outward-facing defense for our critical infrastructure is no longer the folks in uniform and it's no longer the government it's our private industry, Ator said, adding that, as potential targets for cyberattacks, companies are now responsible for their own defense like never before.The truth is that the biggest part of our national security is not the folks in uniform and its not our military, the biggest part of our national security is our economy, Ator said. We affect more things because we have a strong economy than we do with the military, so if it is neutralized because of cyberthreats, then we really compromise our ability to affect positives in the world, he said.So we need to work collaboratively and build trust that were all swinging the ax in the same direction so that we are fixing a defense that is at every level of our society. Not just at the government level, but at every level.Also attached to the project is a nonprofit called the Forge Institute, which specializes in developing private-public partnerships. Forge recently launched the American Cyber Alliance , which Arkansas' initiative will be joining forces with, according to Forge creator, businessman Lee Watson.The American Cyber Alliance is developing advanced training and cyberthreat information-sharing opportunities for cybersecurity professionals, said Watson, in an email toSome of the partners that have already been drawn into the alliance through Forge include the Department of Homeland Security, the Arkansas National Guard, Walmart and the University of Arkansas Little Rock, according to the nonprofit's website The model that Arkansas is trying to build should be something that can be scaled up and exported not only to other states, but also to the federal government, Ator said.The next step is the federal how do we scale this up to a national capability? Ator said. F1 experts say Andreas Seidl is a good addition to the improving McLaren team. After the disastrous Honda years, and two subsequent seasons of struggle with current customer engine partner Renault, the once-great British team is finally showing signs of promise in 2019. And now the appointment as team boss of Seidl, who is best known for leading Porsche to dominance at Le Mans, is being hailed by F1 experts including Martin Brundle. "He's a great asset who can make a difference," former driver Brundle, now a highly experienced commentator, told the Dutch publication Formule 1. Jo Ramirez, McLaren's former long-time team coordinator, agrees. "He will have to get used to a new environment, but Andreas has a nice resume," said the Mexican, referring to Seidl's former stints with BMW in F1 and also DTM. Brundle added: "Formula 1 is Formula 1, but don't underestimate how challenging Le Mans is in terms of logistics and infrastructure. "What he did with Porsche is impressive. And at the risk of stereotyping, he can teach McLaren a thing or two about German structure and discipline." Juan Pablo Montoya, who was in Barcelona with Racing Point, said when asked about Seidl: "Good people lead to better results. "Before working at Porsche, he was in Formula 1 with BMW so he already knows both worlds," the former BMW-Williams driver added. When someone is taken to a hospital for treatment, Medicaid is billed around $3,200 for the observation period, McMahon said. A crisis stabilization unit can instead provide more responsive care and, historically, the reimbursement rate was around $800. But the rate was reduced a few years ago to $56, he said. Were definitely something thats still in the area. I would say we already have a lot of pass holders from the Plainfield and Joliet areas. Obviously, we want people to know were in their backyard too if theyre looking for an alternative option, he said. Braathens Regional Airlines collaborated with Air BP, ATR and Neste to achieve the Perfect Flight from Halmstad City airport to Stockholm Bromma airport in Swedena country aiming to be carbon neutral by 2045. Sustainable aviation fuel, produced by Neste and supplied by Air BP, was used to power the ATR 72-600. This was the first time that every element in the flight management process on a regional flight was optimized to keep carbon emissions to a minimum. A full flight of seventy two passengers, including international media, were on board the Braathens Regional Airlines ATR 72-600 turboprop, which took one hour to reach its destination. According to ATR, the ATR 72-600 has an environmental advantage in that it produces 40% fewer carbon emissions per trip compared with regional jets, saving 4,000 tonnes of carbon emissions per aircraft per year. ATRs can also take off and land where other aircraft cannot ensuring accessibility to all airfields, including those that are the most challenging. This helps connect more communities and provides more opportunities for people, wherever they live. With the electrification of commercial aircraft thought to be decades away, advances in aircraft efficiency and the use of sustainable aviation fuel are likely to play a significant role in supporting the aviation industry to meet its ambitious target of reducing carbon emissions to half 2005 levels by 2050. The Perfect Flight was powered by sustainable aviation fuel supplied by Air BP and produced by Neste. The fuel supplied will produce up to 80 percent fewer emissions over its life-cycle compared with conventional jet fuel and is produced from non-palm renewable and sustainable raw materials. In addition, Air BPs operations at Halmstad City airport are one of their more than 250 locations that have been certified as carbon neutral since 2016. More than 11.2 million light vehicles equipped with some form of Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) system will be produced globally in 2024, representing 12% of the light vehicle fleet, based on new research and forecasts from business information provider IHS Markit). IHS Markit expects that production of light vehicles equipped with V2X systems will be just under 15,000 units in 2019 and will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 277.5 percent in 2024. The automotive telematics forecasts from IHS Markit analyze technology deployment, monitor OEM sourcing strategies and identify specific new business opportunities through a six-year forecast calendar of new programs. The data represents production forecasts of factory-installed telematics systems in new light vehicles. A major driving force for the implementation of enhanced connectivity in vehicles today is the demand for safer roads and the minimization of road fatalities. While automatic crash notification systems are doing their part in this matrix, the introduction of V2X is expected to revolutionize the way consumers drive, if not the entire transportation system. In the debate over which technology upon which V2X should be based, dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) solutions lead the global automotive V2X market in the near term as it represents a proven technology with chips for system implementation readily available from several semiconductor companies. However, by 2020, although overall deployment numbers will still be relatively low, according to IHS Markit forecasts, cellular V2X (C-V2X) solutions will already have surpassed DSRC based solutions, due to expected rapid deployment in China. China is expected to lead the global V2X market, with an estimated 629,000 light vehicles produced in the region equipped with C-V2X technology in 2020, with the country expected to stay in the lead through to 2024. Europe is expected to be the second largest V2X market but with reliance mostly on DSRC-based solutions and just over 411,000 light vehicles produced during 2020. By 2023, Europe will also produce a significant amount of C-V2X based vehicles. Japan and Korea also will achieve more noticeable deployments of DSRC-based solutions by 2021, showing a total of over 61,000 of such light vehicles produced between the two countries. In the North American market, production of C-V2X equipped cars is also expected to start in 2021 with just under 56,000 vehicles produced during that year. India isnt expected to see any type of V2X production in vehicles until 2023, while the South America region falls outside of the forecast period (2017-2024) altogether. DSRC is a well-proven technology, but early testing of C-V2X based solutions are now being done by several companies. C-V2X is gaining market momentum quickly in most regions and is likely to become the winning technology of choice over time, while a combined approach, in which both technologies are used, is also a real possibility in the near term while the technology is still developing. Anna Buettner, connected car principal analyst at IHS Markit 5G regulations are developing rapidly throughout many regions. Initial proposals made by governmental bodies, such as the one made by the European Commission in early March, could have potentially delayed cellular-based V2X deployment in Europe. However, since the announcement, the EU Parliaments transport committee has come forward to reject the proposal alongside a number of OEMs. The latest vote by the European Commission now enables future 5G deployment, which would support C-V2X in automotive. Meanwhile, the US Federal Communications Commission has recently delayed a vote to once again review a key technology that would pave the way for DSRC in the United States, highlighting the differences in regional approach that exist within key regulatory bodies. John Maki Jr., 47, was arrested Wednesday night after McHenry County sheriffs deputies were called to a residence in the 11100 block of Serenity Path in Spring Grove for an outside assist to the fire department, according to a news release from the sheriffs office. This past December, I had the good fortune to meet Dwain Roberts, commander of the Sons of Confederate Veterans camp in Randolph County. I ventured to Asheboro with my mom and a friend to view the historic flag at the public library of the Randolph Hornets, a local company that served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. We encountered Roberts in the history room where he was conversing with local historian Mac Whatley. When told of my interest in the Civil War, Roberts eagerly told me about his Confederate ancestors on his mothers side, numbering nearly 30. Among his ancestors were the Presnell brothers Henry Calvin (Dwains great-great grandfather), John, and Stanton. Henry Calvin served as a noncommissioned officer in the 52nd North Carolina; Stanton served in the same regiment. Stanton was wounded at Gettysburg, where he was captured, and spent approximately six months as a POW at Point Lookout, Md., before he was paroled. Shortly after his exchange, he was hospitalized in Richmond for chronic rheumatism, after which he received a 30-day furlough. He was subsequently dropped from the company rolls, with no reason given, although Roberts speculated it was because of the injuries at Gettysburg. Your school leaders will be able to put their own systems in place for this. The response to the increased proctor flexibility has varied across the state. In addition to Guilford, Durham, Union County and several other school systems in the state plan to still have proctors.. Washington Montessori Elementary School in Greensboro, where testing is scheduled for June 4-12, says on its website that proctors are expected to be on campus from 7:45 a.m. to noon, although most testing is completed before that time. Durham Public Schools has made a local decision to continue the use of proctors in end-of-year assessments, spokesman Chip Sudderth said in an email. We are using roving proctors who monitor assessments in a few classrooms as needed. Roving proctors will also be used in Union County, where the school system expects to have a slightly lower number of volunteers than last year, according to spokeswoman Tahira Stalberte. We like where weve been having proctors and its been a good practice for us having that quality testing environment for all of our students, Stalberte said. GREENSBORO A Page High School student died Friday after spending more than an hour underwater in Buffalo Lake. "Our hearts are heavy with grief for the family and friends of our student, and I know our entire Page High community will join us in wrapping our arms in support around the family, our students and staff," said Erik Naglee, Page High School principal. The name of the student who drowned has not yet been released. Greensboro Fire Assistant Chief Dwayne Church said three high school students walked over to the lake from school and began swimming in their regular school clothes. But one of the students could not swim well, Church said. One male student ended up under the water. A second male and a female tried to rescue him but could not. Guilford Metro 911 dispatched the Greensboro Fire Department at 12:44 p.m. to help the students. Twenty firefighters responded and went into the water with flotation devices trying to find the student. The dive team arrived at 2:04 p.m. and found the student underwater within five minutes. She referred to information from Haley, saying, He (Haley) and Mr. Martin each had a weapon Mr. Martin had asked three other gang members to participate. Martin and Haley, both 18 at the time, met Baker through their mutual teacher Alaina Kiskadden, who in 2016 was their teacher at Martinsville High School. The teacher would often arrange for Martin and Haley to work odd jobs for spending money on Bakers 830 Beck Road farm. Haley, according to prosecutors, spent several months living on Bakers farm, as well. Kiskadden was also Bakers fiance, but she admitted she slept with had an intimate relationship with the defendant , Reese told the court, referring to Martin. After rejecting the plea offer, Martin left court in shackles and cuffs to return to the Rockingham County Jail where he will await trial. Reese told the court it could be September before the case goes before a jury, due to a tight court calendar. We will get this tried as soon as we are able its just that there are other things in front of it, Reese told the judge. How Haley and Martin schemed In a letter read at Thursdays board meeting, Don Moran said he was able to retire earlier than expected from his job as a representative for the Sheet Metal Workers Local 265. Moran, who was not at Thursdays board meeting, said he plans to move to Arizona to retire. His resignation from the board is effective June 1. Online review sites, like Yelp and Google, are an important part of many businesses' success. A few great reviews can create a buzz. A few bad ones? Well... As a business owner you cant ignore bad reviews or blame them on people being jerks (although I admit that will happen occasionally). But three new studies collectively show that you may be able to blame someone else: Mother Nature. Researchers at Ohio State University collected customer reviews from 32 Florida restaurants and found something interesting: more negative reviews were left on comment cards by customers on rainy days versus dry days. And not by a little, either. The odds of getting a bad review when the weather was lousy increased almost three-fold. Higher temperatures and barometric pressure were also linked to the Florida respondents. Whether or not these were just a bunch of cranky old people was not taken into consideration. "Restaurants can't control the weather, but it may affect how customers review them," Milos Bujisic, co-author of the study and assistant professor of hospitality management at The Ohio State University told Science Daily. Related: Got a Bad Yelp Review? Here's What to Do Anyone who suffered through the 2000 elections can tell you that its never a good idea to rely solely on any information coming out of Florida. Knowing that this could be fatal for their research, our plucky scientists from Ohio State wisely decided to repeat their exercise elsewhere. They polled another 158 people from around the country within a day of a restaurant visit and asked them to describe their experience -- and the weather. The people who remembered the weather being good were more inclined to rate the restaurant positively. The people that couldnt remember where they ate the previous day, or even the weather, were offered jobs at The White House. A third study of 107 people in the Midwest, Northeast and Northwest regions of the country using similar questions yielded similar results. And yes, Im kidding about the White House. Really. Related: Behind the Curtain of Yelp's Powerful Reviews None of these studies actually tested a customer's online reviews, and we all know people can behave differently when leaving a review from the anonymity on Yelp or Google. Given how obnoxious some people are online, my bet is that the negative reviews would have been even worse. But the bottom line is still irrefutable: Lousy weather can turn into lousy reviews for your business. It's good information, and if you're running a service business or a restaurant it's worth taking note. Stepping up your game when the forecast is bad is probably worthwhile. You can offer special discounts or promotions to your customers but, better yet, is focusing on your employees. That's because, despite the delightful experience of having you as a boss, its probable that your people are in a worse mood than your customers when the weather turns bad. Can you blame them? Not only did they get up early to wash dishes and clean up after slobs, but they're doing it on a gloomy day to boot. "A rainy day may put employees in a bad mood and that will affect their service," one of the researchers said. "Managers need to explain that to their employees and work to keep them motivated." So bad weather means worse customer reviews. What will you do now that you know this information? Play happier music? Turn up the lighting? Offer more breaks? Cough up a few extra bucks? Tell a few more dumb jokes? Please, not that. Related: Bad Yelp Review? It Could Be the Weather. Anonymous Online Detractors Shattering Your Confidence? Sorry, Your Amazon Echo Spot Is Not Free After All. 3 Things to Know Today. Copyright 2019 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved Missouri's Republican-led Legislature has approved a ban on abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy, and GOP Gov. Mike Parson is expected to sign it. House lawmakers gave the sweeping abortion bill final approval Friday. The proposed ban allows exceptions only in medical emergencies, but not in cases of rape or incest. The Missouri legislation comes after Alabama's governor signed a bill Wednesday making performing an abortion a felony in nearly all cases. Republican-led legislatures around the U.S. are imposing new abortion restrictions, hoping the conservative justices will overturn the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn its landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion. Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio and Georgia have approved bans on abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can occur in about the sixth week of pregnancy. This week on the Green Entrepreneur podcast, we speak to Len May, CEO and Co-Founder of Endocanna Health. The company makes a DNA kit that analyzes how your genetics may affect your experience with cannabis. Think of it as a 23andMe for cannabis, but instead of finding out if youre part Neanderthal, youre learning what cannabinoid ratios and terpenes may best ease your anxiety or improve your sleep. May talks about how he came up with the idea for Endocanna, the market for a product like this, and where he sees it going in the future. Related: Green Entrepreneur's New Podcast Will Make You Smarter About the Cannabis Business Let's start with like the elevator pitch for Endocanna. The elevator pitch is that we look at ourselves as sort of the GPS for cannabis use; we can let you know that your DNA is a guide. It can show you how you may experience cannabis, and we can show you what is a more optimal way to experience it, and we can also provide you some guidance on pitfalls. So these are the areas that you may want to avoid in consumption of cannabis, and instead of playing the guessing game spending hundred dollars and having some negative experience, AI, too many brownies or you know I consumed something that really gave me anxiety or go as harm reduction. And we feel that the more people that actually use science to consume cannabis as a guide that harm reduction will start getting rid of this ridiculous stigma. And once we do that and really use science and medicine and wellness and kind of the therapeutic method, I think it'll help to get rid of this like I said stigma and then hopefully this ridiculous prohibition. Tell us how it works. You either go in Endocannahealth.com calm or you go into an Eerwhon store, or you go into a pharmacy or dispensaries we distribute in many different places. But let's say you go to Endocanna health, you place an order for a kit, and the kit is mailed to your home. It's a box, inside the box there is what's called a buccal swab, which is a fancy word of saying it's a big Q-tip, and there's a bag and there's instructions. So what you do is you take out the Q-tip, you swab the inside your mouth, you put it back in the bag, put it in a box that's already addressed and stamped and register it on our site because everything is anonymized, so everything goes by registration number so we don't know who that belongs to. And then you send it to our lab, we'll run a genetic sequence on it and we'll look at every single gene or snip that has a direct or indirect association with your endocannabinoid system. Once we do that, we send you an email that says your DNA is ready or your report is ready, you log in to your secure anonymized HIPAA compliant portal and we'll walk you through your report. And basically it has it broken down into eight different sections, which include anxiety, pain, sleep, metabolism, dependence, cognitive function, depression, psychosis we'll show you your genes as they relate to each one of those areas where people would consume cannabis for and also where your DNA will play a role in, and then provide you a suggested ratio of cannabinoids and turpentine that are more optimal to your genetic expression. And then the final step of that is to align products that are available within your area based on the geolocation code and based on legalities of where you are of what you're able to consume. I can imagine some people listening might be like, Well, I never heard of this. This sounds like BS science. Is there data and research to back up what you're saying? Everything we do has a referenced essay, clinical trial or a study that's associated with us, so we're completely transparent. People are right there is not enough research, we need more research but there is research, so there are over 15,000 articles published studies, they're peer-reviewed in PubMed alone which is a database for when people do trials or studies, they publish them in PubMed which is a national database. There are also university studies. There are studies that are going all over the world and what we did is we build an AI deep learning algorithm, that goes and looks at the internet and with some intelligence and some criteria that we build in, it actually gets that information and aligns that with the different genetic profiles that we put in place. Yes, there is science associated with it, but you know that's something that can be improved over time. And the reason why we build it this way is so we can improve it, meaning that it's a learning algorithm and for the lifetime that you are able login and get your report, every single time there's something new that comes out, we'll update your report with the latest and greatest information. The only caveat to that is that, and I'm not saying they do, so I'm not making any accusations, but we don't sell your data to Big Pharma. Our goal is not to care about you know Jonathan or lens personal information, we want to have thousands of people that have specific genetic markers, that used a cannabinoid tape medicine and have alleviated a symptom or a condition or something like that, that's who we're really focused on. We're at the intersection of two you know most popular I guess searched terms and where technology is going, which is DNA and also cannabis, because the studies are coming out on the way cannabinoids really work, and how they interact with your DNA are incredible, I think the next five years hold the treasure of different discoveries. Related: Listen: MedMen's Adam Bierman on Building the Apple Store of Weed How did you come up with this idea? I've been in cannabis patients since my teens, and I say patient because I was diagnosed with ADD when I was a kid, and I was put on all kinds of prescription medication. Some of it worked but all that kind of sucked, and I was lucky enough to find cannabis in my teens and said this is my go-to medicine. And my parents weren't big fans of that, so at some point, they asked me to leave and they even called the cops on me. So it was there it was an interesting experience, but every door that closed I guess another one opens. So I became an activist, and in my activism I held rallies, I held a rally even in independence hall in Philadelphia where I'm originally from. And I learned by watching other people consume cannabis for serious medical conditions, that it actually works really well as a medicine, not just for me of other people. So I pursued this over many years over 20 years or so, and moving to LA I was in the dispensary space, cultivation, delivery I was always focused in the plant, and the frustrating thing that I started seeing was that the once you have a plan and you're providing it the same exact plan to different people, they would have a different experience and I couldn't understand that and my initial thought was that it had to do with the actual plant. So I went to work with a company called medicinal genomics, and my job I was collect samples of different plants, cannabis plants from different cultivators extract the DNA, purify the DNA and then send it to a sequencer in Boston. So we started this library of chemo hours would just basically strain to try to genetically identify them of what really that is, so to give you an example if it's let's say it's blue dream, which is a name of a cannabis chemo virus strain, and we see genetically that some of them are lying in a cluster, so we know that they are all related, there must be pretty much blue dream. But then we see other ones that are completely in different spectrums, and we know for a fact that they're not Blue Dream and they're called Blue Dream, so that was part one. I started seeing from the parent company of medicinal genomics I started seeing human genetic sequencing and they were focusing on disease states like cancer, autism, and epilepsy. So we started seeing some different markers of kids that had epilepsy and they were consuming CBD, and some of their seizures started coming back, and it was a certain genetic profile that's called Dravet syndrome if I'm pronouncing it correctly, that genetic marker was different in the other kids and they had a different experience. So that became my next fascination, I started looking at these genetic markers for different types of conditions, well you know is there a genetic marker for early onset dementia? Yes, and what do I do, is there anything I can do about that? If I know that CBD is in your protect, so maybe that'll work as a supplement that can consume every single day to try to protect that protein layer around your neurotransmitter that deteriorates over time. I actually approached them to have that conversation, and they weren't interested, so I started looking at building my science team for about a year and a half, we looked at every single gene that we could possibly find that had an association directly or indirectly with our new cannabinoid system. And once we build all our research and then we were trying to find the actual research that's available that we can reference, once we did that then we build our custom chips and it's an array that we have to do a genetic sequence on. Once we did that, then we have to present that into the profile that we have right now which is our secure portal, so that's basically the journey of phase one. When did you launch this product, and how's it doing? We officially launched August first of 2018. How is it doing? I guess it's all relative how it's doing; I think it's doing great. I do put a lot of pressure on ourselves in terms of sales, but the first launch was a soft launch, so what we wanted to do was learn. Get all the kinks out, make sure that we have an accurate system, make sure we have a fulfillment system the works, so I think to date we had about 2,400 people that have taken the test. How do you market a product like this, you said you put a lot of pressure in your sales team, how do you get people to know about this aside from doing a podcast like this? That's pretty much it. So we haven't done any marketing to date yet, we just hired an agency that's going to be helping us with a lot of the marketing that's coming out. But the way we've been doing is grassroots, so I've been traveling around the country actually around the world, but also strategic partners. So there's another side of our business where over the last ten years we were looking at different formulations to work for different people, and we have filed patents on different formulations who we have licensed out to different brands. So basically they use a recipe that we created and they create their own products and market those, so through them, we have a lot of visibility. And then we have pharmacies that distributor product or we sell our products in Erawan for those of you that don't know Erewhon, it's a Southern California chain, think of it as sort of Whole Foods on steroids. How do you do a customer profile for this product? How do you identify your target consumer? We do a lot of metrics and we do a lot of surveying and we're trying to figure that out, and it seems to me that it's just about everybody. Now what we did find out was that women make the buying decisions for the household, so if it's a household decision usually the woman makes the decision. But what we see is that people that have a condition that would be our number one customer. So we sell a lot through medical facilities, doctors offices, chiropractors we sell through orthopedic surgery centers, and these are people that really have a condition. They have pain due to surgery, or they're suffering from other sorts of conditions and disease states. Related: Also somebody that had a negative experience before and wants to give it another shot and then anybody who's curious about trying to find out what works best for them, it could be somebody that tries to figure out why am I having a negative experience with an edible when you know I smoked the joint before, and I didn't have a problem with that. It could be that you're a really slow metabolizer, and if that's the case you may have a really negative experience by consuming the same exact amount of cannabis or THC through your digestive system as you would, you know sublingually under your tongue or smoking a joint or a vape and if you know this about yourself it helps you with the roadmap. But how transparent are cannabis companies about all those different terpene profiles? It depends, so certain companies are much more transparent others, but the testing guidelines will be enforced next few years that every single company will have to this display not only the cannabinoid ratio but also their terpene profiles. I would say first try to look to see if there are test results on the packaging, so it gives you your cannabinoid profile and your terpene profile you're good. However, our system, what we're building on now which is a version 2 it's actually going to go through an API and look at lab results, and align those lab results with products. So if you have products that test those, you'll have a hundred percent match. Where can people go if they want to order a kit how would they do it? They go to Endocannahealth.com. Related: Podcast: One Company's Quest to be the 23andMe of Cannabis La nueva estrategia de posicionamiento para tu negocio (Podcast) 'Bizarre Foods' Andrew Zimmern: 'I'm Addicted to the Hustle' Copyright 2019 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved The number one and two smartphone vendors in the World have reportedly settled their ongoing legal battle, as per Nikkei. Samsung and Huawei had been entangled in more than 40 different disputes concerning 4G and other patents spanning China, the US and the World. No specifics of the settlement have been made public knowledge, meaning that we don't know if any money changed hands and in what direction. Huawei and Samsung are now said to begin focusing on an agreement for a patent cross-licencing deal for basic technologies. Just last summer Samsung settled its ongoing legal battle with Apple too. The global market has been in a slight decline since 2018 and Samsung is being majorly affected by the slump. Huawei on the other hand has been on the up, selling more phones quarter after quarter and overtaking Apple in the process. Source We've already seen the Huawei Mate 20 X (5G) in a leaked hands-on video and press renders last month, and even its retail packaging got outed. So today the Chinese company decided enough is enough and made the phone official. As its name implies, the Mate 20 X (5G) is a variation of the original Mate 20 X, launched last November. The main notable difference between the two, other than the fact that the new model supports 5G networks (both SA and NSA for you 5G geeks out there) is the reduced battery capacity. We assume this was necessary to keep the dimensions in check after adding all the necessary circuitry for 5G connectivity. The Mate 20 X (5G) has a 4,200 mAh cell, down 800 mAh from the original's 5,000 mAh battery. While that's rather disappointing, the capacity is still nothing to be ashamed of, and for the Mate 20 X (5G) there's also support for 40W fast charging (whereas the non-5G Mate 20 X gets only 22.5W). Huawei's own Kirin 980 chipset is still at the helm, this time paired with the company's Balong 5000 modem, the world's first 7nm 5G multi-mode chip. The Mate 20 X (5G) supports the M-Pen stylus with its 4,096 levels of pressure. The accessory is sold separately. Everything else, spec-wise, stays the same - the 5G model gets the original's triple rear camera setup, with a 40 MP main f/1.8 shooter, 20 MP f/2.2 ultra-wide cam, and 8 MP f/2.4 5x optical zoom telephoto lens. It's also got the same 7.2" touchscreen, and it runs Android 9 Pie with EMUI 9 on top. The Huawei Mate 20 X (5G) will be available in the UK in June in Emerald Green for 999. Pre-orders start in late May. You'll be able to find it at EE, O2, Three, Vodafone, plus select retailers including SKY, MPD, and A1. Given that the non-5G Mate 20 X currently retails for about 750 in the UK, you are paying quite a hefty premium for that 5G connectivity. Last year, the Motorola One and One Power were released as the P30 Play and P30 Note in China and it seems Motorola is keeping up with its naming strategy this year. The just-announced Motorola One Vision is confirmed to make its way to Chinese soil as the Motorola P50 thanks to an official post via Motorola Chinas Weibo account. You may be wondering why P50 instead of P40 and that has to do with Chinese people's aversion of the number 4. From the poster, we can see the P50 is identical to the One Vision with the tall punch hole display and bronze color finish. The release date is scheduled for June and we can expect pricing in the CNY 2,300 / $335 range just like the global version. For more details on Motorolas latest mid-ranger head over to our full written review. Source (in Chinese) | Via Redmi has been teasing a new 48MP phone for some time now and it's going to be the Redmi Note 7S. The phones camera samples were shown yesterday and now we have our first official look courtesy of the brands VP Manu Kumar Jain. The feeling when you get your hands on #RedmiNote7S. I generally don't dress up like this, but posing with this amazing #48MP camera phone is special. How do you like this steaming hot Red coloured Gorilla Glass 5 back? Launch on Monday!#Xiaomi #48MPForEveryone pic.twitter.com/BsHlwEJahM Manu Kumar Jain (@manukumarjain) May 17, 2019 The Redmi Note 7S looks identical to its vanilla version but will come in a new red paintjob. The back features the dual camera alignment from the global version with the 48MP main and 5MP depth shooter combo and Gorilla Glass 5 protection. This week the Redmi Note 7 series passed the 2 million sales mark in India proving to be among the most sought after phones in the market right now. The Redmi Note 7S is scheduled to go official on Monday. Sony announced the Xperia 1 in February this year at Mobile World Congress (MWC), but back then, we didn't have the pricing and availability details of this phone in the US. Well, those gaps have just been filled. The Sony Xperia 1 will come to the US on July 12 at $949.99. It will be available for purchase through Best Buy, Amazon, B&H Photo, Focus Camera, and other retail outlets in Black and Purple colors. Sony Xperia 1 The Xperia 1 is powered by Snapdragon 855 SoC which is mated to 6GB RAM. However, one of the biggest highlights of this flagship is its 6.5-inch OLED CinemaWide display that has an aspect ratio of 21:9 and a resolution of 3840 x 1644 pixels. The smartphone also sports a trio of 12MP cameras on its back and an 8MP sensor on the front. You can check out our hands-on review of the Sony Xperia 1 to know more about it. Source (I plan to just) do it, just come in and kick ass. I have had nobody treat me any differently because Im a woman (although) Im sure it may come along eventually, she said. If you have the passion, just go for it. I.M. Pei, the versatile, globe-trotting architect who revived the Louvre with a giant glass pyramid and captured the spirit of rebellion at the multi-shaped Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, has died at age 102. Pei's death was confirmed Thursday by Marc Diamond, a spokesman for Pei's New York architectural firm, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. Pei's works ranged from the trapezoidal addition to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., to the chiseled towers of the National Center of Atmospheric Research that blend in with the reddish mountains in Boulder, Colorado. His buildings added elegance to landscapes worldwide with their powerful geometric shapes and grand spaces. Among them are the striking steel and glass Bank of China skyscraper in Hong Kong and the Fragrant Hill Hotel near Beijing. His work spanned decades, starting in the late 1940s and continuing through the new millennium. Two of his last major projects, the Museum of Islamic Art, located on an artificial island just off the waterfront in Doha, Qatar, and the Macau Science Center, in China, opened in 2008 and 2009. Pei painstakingly researched each project, studying its use and relating it to the environment. But he also was interested in architecture as art and the effect he could create. "At one level my goal is simply to give people pleasure in being in a space and walking around it," he said. "But I also think architecture can reach a level where it influences people to want to do something more with their lives. That is the challenge that I find most interesting." Pei, who as a schoolboy in Shanghai was inspired by its building boom in the 1930s, immigrated to the United States and studied architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. He advanced from his early work of designing office buildings, low-income housing and mixed-used complexes to a worldwide collection of museums, municipal buildings and hotels. He fell into a modernist style blending elegance and technology, creating crisp, precise buildings. His big break was in 1964, when he was chosen over many prestigious architects, such as Louis Kahn and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, to design the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library in Boston. At the time, Jacqueline Kennedy said all the candidates were excellent, "But Pei! He loves things to be beautiful." The two became friends. A slight, unpretentious man, Pei developed a reputation as a skilled diplomat, persuading clients to spend the money for his grand-scale projects and working with a cast of engineers and developers. Some of his designs were met with much controversy, such as the 71-foot faceted glass pyramid in the courtyard of the Louvre museum in Paris. French President Francois Mitterrand, who personally selected Pei to oversee the decaying, overcrowded museum's renovation, endured a barrage of criticism when he unveiled the plan in 1984. Many of the French vehemently opposed such a change to their symbol of their culture, once a medieval fortress and then a national palace. Some resented that Pei, a foreigner, was in charge. But Mitterrand and his supporters prevailed and the pyramid was finished in 1989. It serves as the Louvre's entrance, and a staircase leads visitors down to a vast, light-drenched lobby featuring ticket windows, shops, restaurants, an auditorium and escalators to other parts of the vast museum. "All through the centuries, the Louvre has undergone violent change," Pei said. "The time had to be right. I was confident because this was the right time." Another building designed by Peis firm the John Hancock Tower in Boston had a questionable future in the early 1970s when dozens of windows cracked and popped out, sending glass crashing to the sidewalks, during the time the building was under construction. The $91.8 million Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, designed by I.M. Pei, several months before its opening on Labor Day weekend in 1995. (Curt Chandler, Plain Dealer file photo)NNS A flurry of lawsuits followed among the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co., the glass manufacturer, and Pei's firm. A settlement was reached in 1981. No challenge seemed to be too great for Pei, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which sits on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. Pei, who admitted he was just catching up with the Beatles, researched the roots of rock 'n' roll and came up with an array of contrasting shapes for the museum. He topped it off with a transparent tent-like structure, which was "open like the music," he said. Pei originally designed the Rock Hall for a site on the Cuyahoga River behind Tower City Center, where it was intended to contrast with another Cleveland icon, the 1931 Terminal Tower. Pei and then-Mayor Michael R. White decided to move it to North Coast Harbor instead, where it opened in 1995. The building echoes one of Peis most famous projects, a large glassy pyramid that has served since 1989 as the main entrance of the Louvre Museum in Paris. In 1988, President Reagan honored him with a National Medal of Arts. He also won the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize, 1983, and the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal, 1979. President George H.W. Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992. Pei officially retired in 1990 but continued to work on projects. Two of his sons, Chien Chung Pei and Li Chung Pei, former members of their father's firm, formed Pei Partnership Archiitects in 1992. Their father's firm, previously I.M. Pei and Partners, was renamed Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. The museum in Qatar that opened in 2008 was inspired by Islamic architectural history, especially the 9th century mosque of Ahmed ibn Tulun in the Egyptian capital of Cairo. It was established by the tiny, oil-rich nation to compete with rival Persian Gulf countries for international attention and investment. Ieoh Ming Pei (pronounced YEE-oh ming pay) was born April 26, 1917, in Canton, China, the son of a banker. He later said, "I did not know what architecture really was in China. At that time, there was no difference between an architect, a construction man, or an engineer." Pei came to the United States in 1935 with plans to study architecture, then return to practice in China. However, World War II and the revolution in China prevented him from coming back. During the war, Pei worked for the National Defense Research Committee. As an "expert" in Japanese construction, his job was to determine the best way to burn down Japanese towns. "It was awful," he later said. In 1948, New York City real estate developer William Zeckendorf hired Pei as his director of architecture. During this period, Pei worked on many large urban projects and gained experience in areas of building development, economics and construction. Some of his early successes included the Mile High Center office building in Denver, the Kips Bay Plaza Apartments in Manhattan, and the Society Hill apartment complex in Philadelphia. Pei established his own architectural firm in 1955, a year after he became a U.S. citizen. He remained based in New York City. Among the firms accomplishments are the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. -- By Kathy McCormack and Deepti Hajela. Plain Dealer Architecture Critic Steven Litt contributed to this report. MOSS POINT, Miss. -- Three men have been arrested in connection with the May 5 Luxury Nightz Bar & Grill parking lot shooting, according to Chief Brandon Ashley. Witnesses told police that several fights broke out between the lounge and nearby businesses. After video surfaced on social media of fights and a gun-wielding suspect, police say the public began providing tips as to the identity of the shooters by phone, social media, and Crimestoppers tips. According to Ashley, police executed arrest warrants after identifying the two shooters -- Cameron D. Holloway, 19 and Jaylin R. Stallworth, 19, both of Moss Point. Police also arrested 19-year-old Datorious D. Booker, also of Moss Point as an accomplice. Searches were executed at two homes Friday morning, according to investigators and police have what they believe to be the weapons used in the shooting. Holloway and Stallworth were both arrested and charged with three counts each of aggravated assault and one count of shooting into a moving vehicle. Booker was arrested and charged with accessory after the fact of aggravated assault. If convicted, each count of aggravated assault carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Shooting at a moving vehicle carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and the maximum penalty for accessory after the fact is 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Bond for the three men has not been set pending initial appearance before Judge Keith Miller. The investigation is ongoing and motive for the shooting has yet to be determined. Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to please contact Detective Kimberly Snowden at 228-475-1711, or Mississippi Gulf Coast Crime Stoppers at 1-877-787-5898. The Moss Point Police Department was assisted in the execution of the search warrants and felony arrest warrants by the Jackson County Sheriffs Office Emergency Services Unit, the Pascagoula Police Department SWAT Unit, the Jackson County Metro Enforcement Team, and the Moss Point School District Campus Police. Haiti - News : Zapping... Delmas 33 : Fire at the clothing market A fire erupted on the night of Thursday, May 16 to Friday, May 17, 2019, at the clothing market, located at Street Emile Nau in Delmas 33, not far from the National Television of Haiti (TNH). The origin of this fire is unknown for the moment but the damage is expected to be significant. Announced strike by magistrates Jean Wilner Morin, President of the National Association of Haitian Magistrates (ANAMAH) announced a week-long strike of judges from Monday, May 20, 2019, claiming that the government authorities have not responded to the claims of judges. A strike that could become unlimited and paralyze the judicial system if an agreement is not reached between the parties. 23,000 tons of rice from Suriname A cargo of 23,000 metric tons of rice from Suriname on the Surunamese "AMIRA SEA" boat was landed this week at the Port of Lafiteau. A next arrival is scheduled for June 10th. Ratification of the PM, the last straight for the deputies Although the process of ratification of the Prime Minister's policy statement is suspended in the Senate, in the Chamber of Deputies, the Commission responsible for analyzing the files of Jean Michel Lapin and members of the cabinet should submit its report this Friday. Liberation Order Contested Judge Pierre Apsorde Pierre-Louis of the civil court of the Croix-desBouquets ordered the release of former Deputy Jean Fenel Tanis, Jean Edrique Pompee and Jamaican national, Kess Huss Campbell, who were arrested on March 6, 2019. possession of 491 kilograms of marijuana. A decision denounced by the Commissioner of the Government of this jurisdiction, Maxime Augustin, who informs to have appealed of it. He believes that defendants must be tried by the criminal court, instead of the criminal court. A Haitian in the TOP 100 remarkable black women In 2019, the Canadian Black International Event ranked Francesca Merentie Cineas, a young journalist and Haitian reporter for Telejournal Ontario, in the "Top 100 black women To watch in Canada", intended to compensate black women who have marked their generation by quality of their work and their talent. HL/ HaitiLibre Published on 2019/05/16 | Source The autopsy reports on actress Han Ji-sung who died in a car accident came back. Advertisement According to the National Forensic Service, autopsy reports on Han Ji-sung showed that her blood alcohol level was beyond the license termination point of 0.1%. These results were delivered to the police along with findings that she could have died from multiple damages. The late Han Ji-sung was hit by several cars on the 6th around 3:52AM on the Kimpo freeway and was taken to the hospital, but died to her injuries. According to a footage of the accident, Han Ji-sung and her husband's car was stopped on the 2nd lane and not the 3rd. The actress seemed to writhe while standing behind the trunk, and her husband headed for the guardrails as soon as he got out of the car. The husband told the police that he stopped the car to go to the bathroom and when he returned, the accident had happened. He agreed that he had some drinks before driving that night, but he said he didn't see if Han Ji-sung drank. Han Ji-sung is subject to no public prosecution due to her death, even if she is found guilty of drunk driving. On the other hand, her husband can be prosecuted for aiding in drunk driving. Since Han Ji-sung's negligence has been acknowledged the level of punishment for the other cars involved in the accident can be affected. Han Ji-sung debuted in 2010 with the girl group B Dolls. She became an actress after that and continued to make supportive appearances in morning dramas, movies and plays. She got married on the 9th of March and her husband is a lawyer. Indian Prairie School District 204 students recently won several honors at the 26th annual High School Video Festival, which was sponsored by the Chicago/Midwest chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Midwest Media Educators Association. Published on 2019/05/16 | Source Actor Jo Duk-je, who was ruled guilty for having sexually harassed Ban Min-jung on a movie set, lost the indemnification for damages. Advertisement Lee Young-kwang, a senior judge of the Seoul Southern District Court, ruled in favor of Ban Min-jung in a case filed by Jo Duk-je for compensation. According to the justice department, the 50 million won (about $40,000) compensation claim was rejected after Jo was found guilty of sexual harassment. Judge Lee said, "Since it is true that the plaintiff filmed the scene of the incident, molested, and committed an illegal act, which clearly caused the defendant to suffer mental and physical pain, the plaintiff is obligated to compensate the defendant". He added, "The plaintiff has aggravated the mental pain by claiming the defendant has defamed him". Previously, Jo Duk-je was sent to trial for the charges of ripping Ban Min-jung's clothes and underwear, putting his hands in her clothes and touching her bodily parts in the middle of filming the movie "Analog Human" in 2015. The Supreme Court sentenced Jo Duk-je to 1 year imprisonment, 2 years probation and 40 hours of sexual crimes therapy for the charges of sexual assault. However, Jo Duk-je didn't accept, and sued Ban Min-jung for falsely accusing him. He even pleaded for his innocence on his Youtube channel. Jo Duk-je also announced in January that his wife, who used to work for a cultural education center that mainly works with women, was fired and caused a controversy. Goldie Maze has lived most of her life on the Hi-Line and recently moved back to Havre. Sunday, she and relatives and other Eagles Manor residents gathered for a celebration of her 101st birthday. Family came from across the country - her son, Larry, came from Kentucky, where she lived with him before coming back to Havre last fall. "She wanted to move back to where her roots are," Larry Maze, Goldie Maze's son said. And she is popular at the manor. "Goldie's one of our favorites," Eagles Manor Manager Karen Granger said, adding, "She's got more spunk in her little finger than most people have in their whole body." This interview had to be done by telephone and, to make it easier on Goldie, Larry Maze relayed the questions to his mother and her responses back. Born in Poplar on May 10, 1918, to Elsie and Jay Pasma, she lived most of her life in and raised her family in Havre, Larry said. Her parents worked on a variety of ranches and farms across Hill County before purchasing their own farm west of Havre. "It doesn't look like the Havre she grew up in," he said, adding that much of the town has changed. When Goldie Maze was a child most people rode horses, he said. She used to love riding her horse to barn dances and schoolhouse dances, Larry said, adding that one of her favorite places to go was the rodeos that were held in the area. "She would still go to a rodeo if I could get her there," he said. "... Life was much simpler then." Some of the biggest changes to Havre that Goldie has seen is that many of the buildings that were on First Street in Downtown Havre are gone, Larry said. But some of the buildings and businesses she remembers still remain, such as Norman's Ranch and sportswear, Buttrey's Department Store - now the Atrium Mall - the Oxford Bar, the Palace Bar and Nalivka's Original Pizza Kitchen. She wanted to come back to Havre not because of the buildings, but the people, he said. "She wanted to come to Havre where Havre people were," he said. One of the things that changed in Havre is that the town used to have horse watering troughs, for riders to let their horses take a break and drink, he said. It was at one of these watering troughs that Goldie first met her husband. In 1933, Goldie met Archie Maze at the horse watering trough that was downtown a block and a half from Seventh Avenue where the viaduct now stands. Larry said that his mother was immediately impressed with Archie. "She thought he was cute and she was immediately interested," Larry said. They started their courtship, he said, adding that Goldie was 15 and Archie was 17 years old when they first met. Before they were married, they both ended up working for Jack and Mary Payton at the Payton family ranch east of Havre, Larry said. At the ranch, Goldie worked helping cook while Archie worked out in the pastures with the cattle. Two years after they met at the watering trough, they decided to get married, Larry said. Their wedding ceremony was in the United Methodist Church Parsonage, but they were too young to get married legally. So Goldie and Archie had to lie about their ages and have Archie's mother come with them to the courthouse to receive the marriage certificate. After they got married, she and her husband got a job on a ranch north of Havre, close to the Canadian border, working for Slim Adamson for the winter, Larry said. Shortly after they moved out to the ranch, Archie broke his arm and Adamson was not able to make it to the property to attend to Archie's arm for a week. "She never had to pitch so much hay in her life," Larry said. He added that, in the same year, Havre experienced one of the most historical snow storms in Goldie's lifetime and they had survive for weeks isolated by the weather. In 1940, Goldie and Archie had their first child, their daughter Lorna Mayo, then in 1943 had Larry and lastly their second daughter, Arla Barkemeyer. Archie later got into the bartending business, which would be his career until he retired in 1978, Larry said. Archie worked in a number of bars, and they owned their own for a time, too. Many of the bars he worked at and the bar he owned, the Swing On In, which was a venue for live country western music on second street West, are no longer there. As Archie worked in the bar business Goldie worked to keep up the home and raise their family, Larry said. "She said that it was not a very exciting life, but very rewarding to support her family as they grew up," he added. Larry said that Goldie knew of historic Havre businessman and bootlegger C.W. "Shorty" Young Jr. by reputation, but her husband knew him from being in the bar business. He added that Goldie remembers when they got their first car, a Ford Model T, in 1939. He said she didn't know how to drive until they had their children and still preferred riding a horse. "She would still much rather ride a horse for 10 miles than to drive a car for 10 minutes," Larry said. After Archie retired in the late 1970s, they moved to Helena to be closer to their daughters, he said. In 1984 Archie, died but Goldie stayed in Helena until her daughters both died, four months from each other, in 2008. After her daughters died, Goldie moved to Arkansas with Larry. He added that after two years she didn't like living in Arkansas and decided to move back to Helena. When Larry decided to move to Kentucky in 2017, once again Goldie moved in with her son, but after a year wanted to move back to Havre. In October of last year she moved back to Havre living in the Eagles Manor. "She just wanted to be with Havre people," Larry said. "... She loves being back in Havre. She feels like she's home again. She never did like to be out of Montana. Wherever she lived she was always wanting to be in Montana." He said that she thought that places in the south couldn't measure up to her home state. "She is much happier here," he added. Havre Daily News/Ryan Berry Since she has been back, he said, she had found that everyone at the Havre Eagles Manor knows her and has been really nice to her. Goldie's mother lived at the Eagles Manor near the end of her life as well, he added. Goldie is happy being back in Havre and one of her favorite activities is to walk her dog, Lucky, every day. Larry said part of the reason she wanted to move back to Havre was because she wanted to be back on familiar ground. Goldie has poor vision due to macular degeneration and feels safe in her Havre. He added that Havre has a certain kind of person who lives in the town and she wants to be with those people. "It has a lot of friendly people. She has never been treated so nice than when she came back to Havre," he said. "... She just wanted to be with Havre people." Montana might be able to up its beef trade with Japan, with the final relaxation of restrictions in place since 2003. A release from U.S. Department of Agriculture said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced today that the United States and Japan have agreed on new terms and conditions that eliminate Japans longstanding restrictions on U.S. beef exports, paving the way for expanded sales to the United States top global beef market. Japan placed restrictions on U.S. beef after a head of cattle in Washington state tested positive in 2003 for bovine spongiform ence... Psalm 2:1- 4 Out our way, one discovers a certain hierarchy when working cattle. The cows rule the calves, the bulls in season rule the cows and the smaller bulls, and the rancher rules them all. For all the bellowing and bluster one sees in the heard when we start moving them they do eventually leave the worn out pastures and dried up watering holes and move to the fresh pasture and flowing waters where we will take them. But they dont always want to go. Years ago, my ex-father in laws dad was a younker on his first trail drive up in Montana and saw how some of the old cowhands... UTS will lead a pioneering multi-institutional One Health initiative to address antimicrobial resistance across human, animal and environmental contexts The project has secured a $1 million grant from the Medical Research Future Funds new Frontier Health and Medical Research Program Researchers will develop an Australia-wide AI-powered network for surveillance and mitigation of antimicrobial resistance A groundbreaking project to tackle one of the worlds most pressing and complex health challenges antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has secured a $1 million boost. UTS will lead a consortium of 26 researchers from 14 organisations in the development of an AMR knowledge engine capable of predicting outbreaks and informing interventions, supported by a grant from the Medical Research Future Fund. AMR is not a simple problem confined to health and hospital settings, explains project Chief Investigator, UTS Professor of Infectious Disease Steven Djordjevic. Our pets and livestock rely on many of these same medicines, so they find their way into the food chain and into the environment through animal faeces. If left unchecked, AMR is forecast to cause 10 million deaths annually by 2050, and add a US$100 trillion burden to health systems worldwide. If we truly want to track, trace and tackle AMR, we need to know how it develops and is propagated in our environment and our agricultural systems as well as through human-to-human transmission, says Djordjevic. Its whats called a One Health approach. Named OUTBREAK short for One-health Understanding Through Bacterial REsistance to Antibiotics Knowledge the team will deliver an integrated spatial and temporal map and AI-powered knowledge engine of AMR in Australia. Every city, town, region and country will have a different AMR fingerprint and therefore different risks, says Djordjevic. Our vision, ultimately, is a worldwide AI-powered network for AMR surveillance and mitigation, led by Australian research and industry. By ingesting numerous data streams from people, animals and the environment and combining them with AMR science, the technology will allow anticipation of AMR outbreaks, determination of AMR origins, and evaluation of the risks and cost-effectiveness of treatments and intervention strategies for individuals and communities. This is an exciting initiative, with the potential to make a real difference to global health, environmental, social and economic outcomes, says UTS Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Kate McGrath. Its an excellent example of the significant impact we can aspire to when we leverage our research strengths, forge strong partnerships and collaborate across disciplinary boundaries. The governments strategic investment in this project recognises that it is both innovative at an international level, and that it has significant potential to have a transformative impact on health care. Our vision, ultimately, is a worldwide AI-powered network for AMR surveillance and mitigation, led by Australian research and industry. OUTBREAK builds on internationally-recognised Australian research and the project is supported by 14 collaborating entities: UTS, University of South Australia, University of Wollongong, University of Newcastle, CSIRO, NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI), The Sax Institute, the Quadram Institute (UK), Sensing Value, Microba, Zygem (NZ), Southern-IML Pathology, Oracle, and the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District. At its core is the whole genome sequencing (WGS) and metagenomics research undertaken over the past five years by Ausgem, the Australian Centre for Genomic Epidemiological Microbiology, a collaboration between UTS and the NSW DPI, led by Djordjevic. The project brings together a multidisciplinary team of scientists and medical researchers with diverse expertise in genomics, metagenomics, microbiome and computational biology, medical geography and spatial epidemiology, patient data handling, data linkage and big data, zoonotic disease, biosecurity, water treatment technologies, behavioural change and social science, risk management, pharmacy, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and health economics, policy, and law. It is one of 10 successful projects to receive a one-year initial grant through the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF)s new Frontier Health and Medical Research Program. Designed to enable detailed planning for significant research projects in the health and medical research sector, it will lay the foundation for further MRFF funding of up to $5 million to develop and deploy the new technology. Professor Steven Djordjevic is the UTS research lead for AusGEM and a professor in the UTS ithree institute, specialising in pathogen proteomics and genomics. We're active members of the chamber of commerce. They're very friendly to us, and we're very friendly to them, Lynch said. For us, it's just getting people into the door, seeing what we're doing. Demolition work under way as the Tara Towers Hotel in Booterstown comes down. Photo: Tony Gavin Demolition has begun on the Tara Towers Hotel in Booterstown. The D4 landmark was bought by hotel group Dalata three years ago for 13.2m. But the current hotel will not be missed by residents, according to Fine Gael councillor Paddy McCartan. "I have always regarded it as a second-rate structure. It has more or less become derelict," he said. "I'm in favour [of demolition]. This has been on the cards for a while now. I regard it as a blot on the landscape." Scheme Dalata plans to construct the 140-bedroom four-star Maldron Hotel. It is scheduled to open in early 2021, alongside a complex of 57 apartments. Builders McAleer and Rushe has been appointed for the scheme, expected to cost 51m. Meanwhile, the owners of the historic Wynn's Hotel in Dublin have secured the green light for a two-storey extension. An Bord Pleanala gave it the go-ahead, despite the board's own inspector recommending refusal. The development involves a revamp and increasing the number of floors to seven, adding 27 bedrooms. Senior planning inspector John Desmond had recommended refusal after concluding the development would be contrary to the planning and development of the city centre. He felt it would seriously injure amenities of neighbouring buildings by loss of daylight and being visually overbearing. However, in a two-to-one decision, the board voted to disregard his recommendation. The board said it agreed with the city council that the site was in a dense urban environment, there was a need to ensure sustainable development on scarce urban land and that the proposal would not preclude development on neighbouring sites. The board also said the development would not adversely affect the street environment of Harbour Court, nor seriously injure the amenities of neighbouring properties. The hotel in Abbey Street has existed since 1845. It held the first meeting to establish the Irish Volunteer Force in 1913, was bombed during the 1916 Rising and rebuilt in 1921. Dad-of-three Jake Doyle was seen by an undercover garda A shoplifter walked out of a store with a rail full of clothes in a theft that "lacked sophistication", a court has heard. Lone father-of-three Jake Doyle (25) was caught after an undercover garda saw him taking the goods - 13 tops worth 455. He was then seen on CCTV footage stealing from the same city centre store the day before. Doyle, of Ballybough House, Ballybough, admitted theft. Judge Bryan Smyth said he would consider suspending a prison sentence if Doyle paid compensation for the earlier theft. Sgt Zita Woods told Dublin District Court the incident happened at Urban Outfitters on Temple Bar Square last May 27. A plain clothes garda was on duty at 11.50am when he saw Doyle and a female co-accused grabbing a rail of 13 tops and walking out of the store. Opportunistic The clothes were returned to the shop undamaged after Doyle was caught and arrested. When CCTV was checked, Doyle was seen going into the shop the day before and stealing seven T-shirts worth 315. These items were not recovered. Sgt Woods said she believed the thefts were opportunistic. The offences happened at the worst point of an addiction for Doyle, his solicitor Lorraine Stephens said. There was a "lack of sophistication" in what had happened, which was an "act of desperation". Doyle was now "doing very well" and had a project worker who spoke very highly of him. The accused, who was "eff- ectively a lone parent", was more than willing to pay compensation but was on a CE scheme and was of "very limited means", Ms Stephens said. Judge Smyth adjourned the case to July. A Dublin woman was in a "psychotic state" when she trashed a tattoo parlour, smashing the front window and hurling stock at staff. A court heard Aoife Lawless (52) caused more than 1,500 worth of damage after she turned aggressive towards workers and her behaviour escalated, becoming physical. Judge Michael Walsh said that if Lawless, who had already paid compensation, donated a further 500 to charity, he would leave her without a criminal record. Escalated The accused, of Linden Lea Park, Stillorgan, pleaded guilty to causing criminal damage. Dublin District Court heard the incident happened at a shop on Aungier Street in the south city centre last October 20. Staff reported to gardai at 7.15pm that Lawless, a customer, was refusing to leave. She had become aggressive while speaking to staff, and when they asked her to leave her behaviour escalated to the point that she "became physical with staff", a garda sergeant said. She threw stock, some of which was aimed at staff, and stopped only when a passer-by came to their assistance. She broke a window, two glass cabinets and ornaments, which cost 1,556 to repair and replace. The owner had lost a few days of trading while repairs were carried out. Lawless had no previous convictions of any kind. She was a single mother who had recently been through some "personal trauma" in her life, her solicitor said. When well, she was a "completely responsible and dedicated mother and worker". Apology Lawless had written a "fulsome" letter of apology and paid full compensation, Judge Walsh noted. She had also taken part in an offender reparation and restorative justice programme. Lawless had written a "long, reflective piece" discussing psychological issues, medical difficulties and the impact of her behaviour. The judge adjourned the case and said he would leave Lawless without a conviction if she made a 500 donation to the Capuchin Day Centre. Searchers are looking for father-of-one Seamus Lawless who slipped as he was descending Mount Everest A search has been launched for a Trinity College professor who has gone missing while making his descent from Mount Everest. Climber Seamus Lawless (39), a father-of-one from Bray, Co Wicklow, had been part of an eight-member expedition attempting to scale the world's highest peak. Led by fellow climber Noel Hanna, Mr Lawless is said to have gone missing after falling from an altitude of 8,300 metres. It is understood he slipped while in an area known as the Balcony after reaching the summit early yesterday. His wife Pam and daughter Emma (4) are being kept up to date with any news from the Himalayas. Distressing The other Irish climbers are reported to be safe and currently at 2,400 metres. They are due to descend later today. The Himalayan Times reported that sherpas accompanying the expedition said the other climbers had descended to Camp Four, but Mr Lawless' status was still unknown. A spokesperson for Trinity said the university's thoughts were with Mr Lawless and his family during this "extremely distressing time". "This morning his family, friends and colleagues shared his joy on reaching the peak of Mount Everest," they said. "We hope that Seamus is found safely as soon as possible and until then we will be offering any support we can to his family." In February, Mr Lawless told the Herald the climb was part of a trip of a lifetime ahead of his 40th birthday this summer. He said he was climbing in a bid to raise 25,000 for the Barretstown charity, which provides support for seriously ill children and their families. Barretstown chief executive Dee Ahearn said everyone at the charity was thinking of Mr Lawless' loved ones as the search continued. "This is a dreadfully upsetting and uncertain time for Seamus and his family," she said. "Our thoughts, and indeed the thoughts of the entire Barretstown community, are with Seamus, his family and friends." Mr Lawless said that when he was a child his father gave him a National Geographic map of the climbing route up the south face of Everest. It was on his bedroom wall as he grew up, remaining there until he left for Nepal in April. He said he had been preparing for the challenge alongside fellow climbers from the Ireland on Everest group for four years. "I turn 40 in July," he said in February. "My friends are joking that climbing Everest is my mid-life crisis." Toughest Climbing beside him was mother-of-four Jenny Copeland (40), who swapped high-speed driving on racetracks for the challenge of scaling some of the world's toughest peaks. A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said: "We are aware of media reports and stand ready to provide consular assistance if requested." Detectives have quizzed UFC fighter Conor McGregor over an alleged assault in a Dublin pub, the Herald can reveal. McGregor was interviewed at a garda station on the southside of the capital after a man claimed he was punched by the two-time UFC lightweight champion. The alleged victim told officers he was assaulted by McGregor in the Marble Arch pub in Drimnagh on April 6 following a brief verbal row between the pair. Detectives at Crumlin have been investigating the incident and the Herald has learned that they interviewed McGregor on Tuesday. He was questioned just over 24 hours after robbery charges were dropped against him in a Florida court. Charges The 30-year-old fighter met with officers by appointment at Sundrive Road Garda Station along with a legal representative. He was quizzed about his version of events, and left the station later that day. McGregor was not formally arrested and presented to the station voluntarily for interview. Gardai will now submit a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) who will determine if the UFC fighter will face any charges. The alleged victim, a man in his late 30s, has claimed that he was punched once by McGregor after a verbal exchange. "The version of events given by the alleged victim is that words were exchanged between both men. It escalated and a single punch is alleged to have been thrown," a source told the Herald. Gardai have interviewed the complainant as well as a number of witnesses, while "good quality" CCTV of the incident has also been recovered. Earlier this week, McGregor had charges against him dropped over the alleged robbery of a fan's phone in Florida. 'The Notorious' had been charged with robbery by sudden-snatching and criminal mischief over an incident with a fan in Miami. His trial was due to begin on Monday - but the charges were dramatically dropped after the state prosecutor revealed that the alleged victim had refused to appear in court. The robbery charge carried a maximum jail term on conviction of five years. Court documents say that the prosecutor made several attempts to contact British complainant Ahmed Abdirzak "without much luck". It is understood that Mr Abdirzak has returned to England and "will no longer be participating in the prosecution of Mr McGregor". The memorandum continues: "Mr Abdirzak has had some time to reflect on his encounter with Mr McGregor... he no longer believes Mr McGregor sought to injure or damage him or his property or permanently or temporarily deprive him of his property." According to the lawsuit, Mr Abdirzak and other fans were videoing McGregor when the fighter allegedly slapped Mr Abdirzak's mobile phone out of his hand and repeatedly stamped on it before walking off with it. The charges were formally dropped at a hearing on Monday. "The victim of the crime does not wish to return to the United States and prosecute this case," prosecutor Khalil Madani told the Miami court. McGregor did not appear in court for the hearing. The fighter avoided a criminal record last July after he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct at a UFC event in New York. Several people were hurt when he hurled a trolley at a bus, smashing a window, as it left the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn in April 2018. Injured Fighters Michael Chiesa and Ray Borg were injured by shattered glass and unable to compete in the event. McGregor avoided going to jail after striking a deal with prosecutors which saw him do community service. He also had to take anger management courses and pledged to keep the peace for a year. As recently as December he was before Dublin District Court accused of uninsured and unlicensed driving. However, Judge Geraldine Carthy struck the case out at the request of gardai after his documents were produced in advance of the brief hearing. A spokesperson for McGregor did not respond when contacted by the Herald last night. An 18-year-old Abingdon High School senior was killed Thursday night in a crash on Interstate 81. Kirk E. Nairn, 18, of Abingdon, Va., died at the scene after the 2015 Lexus 250 he was driving struck the rear of a northbound tractor-trailer, according to the Virginia State Police. Trooper M.D. Hagy is investigating 10:10 p.m., crash in Washington County on Interstate 81 at the 7 mile marker. Police said Nairn failed to brake in time and struck the tractor-trailer. The driver of the truck wasn't injured. Nairn was a senior at Abingdon High School, a multi-sport athlete and scheduled to participate in graduation ceremonies tonight. The cause of the crash remains under investigation. Alcohol was not a factor in the crash. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. I had no knowledge she was missing until I made contact with Carter County afterwards, said Johnson City Police Department Investigator Joe Jaynes. Vanmeter told family members that she had been dating Wright. She said he treated her like an angel, said Hutslar, adding that Wright originally seemed respectful. The two individuals apparently met through the carnival, according to Newman. Wright previously worked for a traveling pony show, and Hutslar said Vanmeter is believed to have worked for a carnival company. When Vanmeters family didnt hear from her they began searching and filed a missing person report with the Carter County Sheriffs Office. Hutslar said she called Wright about Vanmeters whereabouts, but he told her they had gotten into an argument, and he returned her to a grocery store in Elizabethton. Authorities eventually found a body believed to be Vanmeters in a shallow grave on his property. Hutslar said theyre now waiting to receive positive identification. Marie was smart and sweet, said Hutslar, adding that she also had issues with authority. According to police reports, it is believed the girl had limited contact with her three minor her siblings. The couple told detectives their daughter was in the basement because "they believed she was possessed by a demon," according to Waukegan police. How many new COVID-19 cases in Washington County? We don't know news Airbags deployed in both vehicles, and the driver of the Toyota was wearing his seat belt, according to the sheriffs office, which added that it was unknown if drugs or alcohol played a factor in the crash. The investigation is ongoing by the McHenry County Sheriff's Office Major Crash Investigation Unit and the Lake County Coroner's Office. An armed and dangerous man wanted for larceny was still on the loose in Alexander County as of 5 p.m. Friday, according to Alexander County Sheriff Chris Bowman. Marty Teague, 40, of Taylorsville was last seen around 2:30 p.m. Friday at the end of Telephone Exchange Road, which is off N.C. 127 Highway. Bowman said police believe he has a pistol. Teague has warrants for his arrest in connection to a probation violation and larceny. Bowman said he is suspected of stealing a car and using it to drive to a house in Alexander County to steal tools and other items. Alexander County Schools issued the precautionary code-in at 2:55 p.m. and deputies quickly secured the campus, according to Alexander County Schools Public Affairs Director Renee Meade. Meade said students were dismissed and buses are on their routes, but the school has afterschool programs until 6 p.m. and will remain on code-in. According to the Alexander County Schools website, a code-in is issued when there is law enforcement activity in the area but no immediate danger to students or staff. Students are kept inside classrooms until told otherwise. This story was updated at 5 p.m. on Friday, May 17. India is a vibrant and thriving democracy. But critics allege that India is also a reluctant democracy since it shies away from propagating it abroad. Does it mean we have a democracy-deficit? Let us examine the factual position. It is correct that despite being the largest democracy, we have not made it our business to convince the world of its merits. And wisely so, goes the counterargument, as it will merely generate resentment and resistance among our interlocutors. But neither are we agnostic towards the cause. We have readily joined global initiatives to strengthen democratic institutions. In 2015, we supported the United Nations Democracy Fund and have since contributed $32 million, the second largest amount. We are also a founding member of the Community of Democracies (CoD) since 2000. India has made an occasional exception to its policy too. In December 1960, we expressed our discomfort at the sacking of the elected government of Prime Minister BP Koirala by King Mahendra of Nepal. But it precipitated a lasting trust gap between us which is yet to be bridged and only helped push Nepal into the Chinese embrace. In another instance, we supported Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar, who overwhelmingly won the elections in 1990. The ruling military junta disregarded the results. Our shunning the junta created a void which was rapidly filled by China. The Indian Insurgent Groups (IIG) started operating from Myanmars soil freely. Eventually we had to engage the Junta. In an increasingly globalised world, it is counterproductive to be selective, especially for a rising power such as India. A question then arises: what is this beast called democracy? Where does India figure? Are some societies more suited to democracy than certain others? Former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, had noted: [A] majority of States in the world today describe themselves as democratic. Incredibly, even North Korea claims to be one. There are certain fundamental attributes of a democratic polity. These include: vesting of sovereignty in the people and the universal right to vote; the right to equality and freedom of speech; rule of law and separation of powers between the executive, legislature and judiciary. That aside, there is no rigid definition of democracy. The calibre of democratic institutions, therefore, varies widely from country to country. Despite organising a seamless, free and fair election every five years, Indian democracy does have shortcomings such as: criminalisation of politics; inadequate representation of women; distortions due to caste and dynast politics; rise of money power; and, wastage of Parliamentary time. The western-style political democracy was bestowed on India by the British. The concept, however, consciously or otherwise, is deeply ingrained in the Indian psyche. It is integral to our civilisation, especially the Hindu-Buddhist ethos that recognises and celebrates plurality of thought and belief. The jury is still out on whether democracy comes naturally to all societies. It is instructive, therefore, to peruse some real-life cases. Egypts dictatorial ruler, Hosni Mubarak, was ousted in 2011 in a west-inspired, popular revolt known as the Arab Spring. In the ensuing elections, Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood came to power. He was eventually sacked by General Abdel El-Sisi, who, in turn, is now tweaking the constitution to hold office until 2034. Next, after the demise of the USSR and the abrupt switch from communism to democracy, Russia was adrift. It lost its identity and confidence. It took the strong-arm tactics of Vladimir Putin to restore order, revive the economy, and rekindle the Russian pride. Russia is once again an authoritarian State. Yet people are happier, and Putin enjoys widespread popularity. Bhutans case is the mirror opposite. King Jigme Singye Wangchuk the absolute but popular ruler for 35 years ceded power in favour of Parliamentary democracy. Clearly democracy cannot be imposed on every nation as the failure of the west-engineered Colour revolutions and the Arab Spring have demonstrated. It is moot if societies such as Russia and parts of the Arab world and Africa are less suited for democracy than the others. For the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Erdogan, Democracy is a train, from which you can get off upon reaching your destination. Democracy is intrinsic to the Indian psyche and polity. It is just that we dont flaunt it; we are an open book and prefer that friends choose for themselves what they wish to imbibe from us. For instance, upon being requested the Election Commission of India provided technical assistance to Jordan, Maldives, Namibia, Egypt, Bhutan and Nepal. Some States are using Indian Electronic Voting Machines. It is pertinent to recall Alexander Popes prescient observation in the 18th century: For forms of Government, let fools contest. Whateer is best administered, is best. Vishnu Prakash is former Indian ambassador to South Korea The views expressed are personal In a sunny corner overlooking the yacht-filled harbour, a handful of Cannes youngest visitors are bouncing around a vibrant-coloured carpet in the first-ever creche at the worlds biggest film festival. The brainchild of three film industry mothers struggling to juggle being a parent with the gruelling annual run of festivals, Le Ballon Rouge (The Red Balloon), is a light, airy room where children are the new VIPs. Kids had previously been a very rare sight at the annual celebrity-filled festival, which thrives on glitz and glamour but has done little to meet the practical needs of movers and shakers with babies or toddlers in tow. But for the first time this year, the festival has opened the special day care centre to lend a hand to parents in the film industry. It follows a similar nursery, playhouse and nap room set up at the Sundance film festival last year by the US-based Moms-in-Film group, which had railed at the lack of child-friendly facilities at Cannes. - Takes women to make this happen - Its the morning of the opening of the Cannes creche and a handful of youngsters are playing with soft toys, while others try to nap in a space which also has fenced-off outdoor areas shaded by parasols. Three young nannies and a nurse from the Paris-based service Nanny Please are on hand to sing, colour, draw and make lunch, helped by two local volunteers, with the children housed in a pavilion by the harbour. Coming from Los Angeles for her first visit to the Cannes festival, Gail Greaves said she had been planning on hiring someone to watch her two-year-old daughter Arabella. But with the festival running for 12 days, going private can quickly get expensive. You cant really do much when theyre crying, she said. I was going to bring a nanny or get one locally but youre looking at 20 to 30 euros ($22-34) an hour. But searching online she found Le Ballon Rouge and quickly booked a place. Accredited festival-goers can obtain special passes for their children to use the day care service which is open from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm and costs 50 euros per day. This is amazing! They have all of this -- and other kids to play with, Greaves smiled. It takes women coming together to make something happen. Three film industry professionals with young children came up with the idea a few months ago while sharing tips about how to handle the work-life balance. Together they founded Parenting at Film Festivals. We were just comparing notes on how hard it was to be a parent at a festival, said Michelle Carey, an Australian film programmer and one of the three women who founded the group. During last years festival, she had to dash back to her hotel room some 20 minutes away just to feed her infant son, which was both difficult and impractical. And she wasnt alone. - Teething problems - In January, we started talking with other friends in the industry, just sharing tips, then at the Berlin film festival we met several festival representatives, she told AFP as her two-year-old son raced around the room giggling. Coming up with a plan, the three approached the festival organisers and Cannes sprawling film market and by April, the initiative was in place. They have also set up a baby room inside the Palais des Festivals, where the red carpet premieres take place, offering a private space for mums to feed and change their babies. Its particularly good for young mothers who may be returning to work after giving birth, Carey said. But Cannes big gesture has not been without its teething problems, with a British director saying she had been refused entry to the festival site with her four-month-old son on Wednesday. She said she was asked for 300 euros for a delegates pass for him and when she accepted, was told it would take 48 hours to process, she told The Guardian. - Mother-led initiative - So far, 50 parents have signed up to Le Ballon Rouge, which is named after an Oscar-winning French childrens film, with 17 children booked in, Carey said. One of the parents is a member of one of the festival prize juries. The infrastructure was funded by the film market while the child care costs were raised through a crowdfunding initiative with contributions from more than 12 companies and institutions. Supported by the 5050/2020 collective, which is pushing for an equal place for women in the film industry, the move comes a year after Cannes signed up to a gender equality pledge. But Carey said the initiative to offer parent-friendly services was entirely led by her and her fellow mothers. We went to them and offered a solution, she told AFP. If we hadnt gone to them, they wouldnt have been able to do it themselves. Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter De De Pyaar De Director: Akiv Ali Cast: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Rakul Preet Singh Rating: 2.5/5 Ajay Devgn has no spine in De De Pyaar De. As a 50-year-old intensely aware of his age, the usually alpha actor plays uncharacteristically calm, handing over valuables to muggers and unable even to push an old car without strong women helping him. Only women, in fact, wear the pants in this film, particularly around Devgns Ashish: His estranged wife Manju intimidates him nearly two decades after their separation, and a young woman named Aisha drains his whiskey and leaves him standing around clueless, rattling his ice-cubes. Watch: De De Pyaar De | Public Review The plot is simple: Londoner Ashish brings the much-younger Aisha back to India to meet his wife and kids, but chickens out of telling them shes his girlfriend. Hi-jinks predictably ensue. The situation is ripe for comedy, but debutant director Akiv Ali cant strike the balance between clever humour and broad farce, creating something that wants to be intelligent but looks (and sounds) like a Priyadarshan slapstick mess. The primary problem is the girl. Aisha, a confident and hard-drinking bartender-on-weekends, is played by Rakul Preet Singh, an unbelievably vacant actress entrusted with too much screentime. Its not only the actress the character is incredibly problematic, a girl who passes out drunk in a mans house and wonders why he didnt take advantage of her. You could do me and you didnt? she laughs, incredulous that he would pass up rape. Tabu, in supreme form as the wife who outgrew Ashish, walks away in De De Pyaar De. Ali, a longtime Hindi film editor, ought to have clipped the Aisha-heavy first half and swapped it for two bearable minutes taking us straight to the girl meeting her boyfriends family. The mortification on Ashishs face is priceless when Aisha shakes hands with Manju: presumably akin to the embarrassment of introducing Singh to this particular actress as a fellow performer. This is because Manju is played by Tabu, in supreme form as the wife who outgrew Ashish. There is some genuine sharpness here, with some nifty touches: a son telling a father hes falling for the fathers girlfriend, a father befuddled by his girlfriend wearing his daughters nightclothes, and a husband letting his wife tie him a rakhi and, later, leaving that rakhi on during the films only great scene. Tabu and Ajay Devgn share a tender chemistry in the film. Most of the good stuff comes from Tabu, naturally, who even wields the word dal like a loaded gun. She riffs joyfully with reliable actors Kumud Mishra and Jimmy Sheirgill, and conjures up tender chemistry with Devgn. Ashish and Manju met in college, married soon after, and this fits these actors we know well: Ali didnt need to actually spell it out with a strain of music from Vijaypath. As evidenced by Devgns solid performance, a bit of restraint goes a long way. When Rakul Preet Singhs Aisha shakes hands with Tabus Manju, the mortification on Ashishs face is priceless. This is a film that pretends to be brave. We have seen May-December romances before Balkis Cheeni Kum rushes to mind, another film held in place by an exquisite Tabu turn though heres the thing: the attempted radical concepts here lie not in the humdrum idea of an older man romancing a younger woman, but instead in a star like Devgn admitting he may be too old for the films he usually makes, and the heroines he stars with. Spoiler: we know this. We also know this is a one-off, and a police uniform will stretch taut over his pecs again soon enough. There is nothing new here. It is interesting, however, that Ajay Devgn is so good at playing someone who couldnt possibly be an Ajay Devgn fan. Is this a confession? Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Actors Kareena Kapoor Khan and Saif Ali Khan were spotted in Mumbai on Wednesday. The couple was seen outside a radiology centre in Bandra by the paparazzi. Kareena was seen in an orange dress and a printed shirt while Saif was seen in a grey T-shirt and blue denims. Kareena Kapoor with husband Saif Ali Khan outside a clinic. (Varinder Chawla) Kareena Kapoor outside a clinic. (Varinder Chawla) Also read: Tahira Kashyap says she gave up on her marriage with Ayushmann Khurrana many times: He didnt give up but he also didnt make up Kareenas friend and reality show judge Malaika Arora was also seen in Mumbai outside her gym with her sister Amrita Arora. Malaikas rumoured boyfriend and actor Arjun Kapoor was seen promoting his upcoming movie Indias Most Wanted. He posed for the paparazzi in a navy blue T-shirt, black pants, a white hat and white shoes. Author Twinkle Khanna and stylist Sussanne Khan were seen on errand runs in Mumbai. Sussanne was seen in a white T-shirt and pants combo while Twinkle was spotted in a navy blue dress. Actor Esha Gupta was seen in bright red summer dress after a salon session and actor Ananya Panday was spotted in a cool blue T-shirt and white pants. Actor Tiger Shroff hosted a special screening of his film Student of the Year 2 for rumoured girlfriend Disha Patani. The two even posed together for the paparazzi. Disha wore a white tank top on black skirt and Tiger was seen in a white shirt over blue pants. Actor Kangana Ranaut was spotted at the Mumbai airport as she left for the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday. Actor Janhvi Kapoor was also seen at the airport, dressed in a summery salwar suit. Check out more celeb pics here: Varun Dhawan, Jacqueline Fernandez after work out. (Varinder Chawla) Sussanne Khan and Twinkle Khanna seen in Mumbai. (Varinder Chawla) Malaika Arora outside her gym, Arjun Kapoor at Indias Most Wanted promotions. (Varinder Chawla) Ananya Panday and Esha Gupta were clicked in stylish outfits. (Varinder Chawla) Shraddha Kapoor and Shamita Shetty spotted in Mumbai. (Varinder Chawla) Disha Patani and Tiger Shroff pose together. (Varinder Chawla) Kangana Ranaut and Janhvi Kapoor at Mumbai airport. (Varinder Chawla) Follow @htshowbiz for more Bollywood actor Janhvi Kapoor reached Lucknow on Thursday to resume shooting of Gunjan Saxena biopic but the shoot had to be cancelled due to warnings of a thunderstorm, according to reports. A Mumbai Mirror report quoted a source as saying, Janhvi and her onscreen brother Anshuman (played by Angad Bedi) will be shooting an intense scene at UP Sainik School in Lucknow, besides other locations including one near the air force station. The schedule will go on till May 24. Security has been increased to ensure a smooth shoot for the actors. The team has been shooting in Lucknow since March. Directed by Sharan Sharma, the film is based on the life of first female Indian Air Force combat pilot and first female Shaurya Chakra recipient Gunjan Saxena, who played an important role in picking up injured soldiers during the 1999 Kargil War. Also read: Salman Khan wants a remake of Revathy-starrer Love, Varun Dhawan calls it a wonderful film The team is headed to the UK for a month-long schedule in July. Before that, they will go there on a recce to finalise locations, the source added. Pankaj Tripathi, who plays Janhvis father in the film, had earlier said, I am having a lot of fun while shooting for the film. Janhvi is a very sincere and well behaved actress. She respects me a lot and I too respect her for the sincerity and commitment towards her work. Sharan is a very talented director and is well versed with his craft. Its an opportunity working under Dharma Productions. They leave no stones unturned to get the right things on board. Child actor Riva Arora who played late actor Sridevis daughter in her last film Mom, will be seen playing the young Gunjan in the film. Meanwhile, Janhvi has also signed Karan Johars Takht. It will see Ranveer Singh play Dara Shikoh while Vicky Kaushal will be seen in the role of Aurangzeb. It will a multi-starrer featuring Ranveer Singh, Kareena Kapoor, Alia, Bhumi Pednekar and Vicky, among others. Follow @htshowbiz for more Actor Arjun Kapoors latest release Indias Most Wanted hit theatres next Friday. The actor hosted a special screening of the film for his family and friends, which was attended by his rumoured girlfriend Malaika Arora, father Boney Kapoor, sister Anshula and Khushi, among others. Arjuns friend Varun Dhawan also attended the film screening with his girlfriend Natasha Dalal. While Varun was in casuals, Natasha wore a crop top and long skirt to the screening. Arjun was later seen making an exit with Malaika and protected her from the crowd of photographers. She was dressed in a blue check dress with balloon sleeves. Cousin Sonam Kapoor came to watch the film in a kurta-churidaar paired with a long, printed jacket. Arjun Kapoor and Malaika Arora at Indias Most Wanted screening in Mumbai. (Varinder Chawla) Arjun Kapoor and Malaika Arora attend Indias Most Wanted screening in Mumbai. (Varinder Chawla) Arjuns sister Anshula Kapoor and step-sister Khushi Kapoor, cousin Mohit Marwah and wife Antara Motiwala, uncle Sanjay Kapoor and Maheep Kapoor also attended the film screening. While cousin Rhea Kapoor could not make it to the screening, boyfriend Karan Boolani joined the Kapoors at the theatre. Lyricist Javed Akhtar too came to watch the film. Arjun Kapoor, Varun Dhawan and Natasha Dalal at the film screening. (Varinder Chawla) Javed Akhtar, Boney Kapoor, Sanjay Kapoor, Maheep Kapoor, Karan Boolani, Antara and Mohit Marwah at Indias Most Wanted screening. (Varinder Chawla) Anshula Kapoor, Khushi Kapoor, Malaika Arora at Indias Most Wanted screening. (Varinder Chawla) Two days before the release of the film, Arjun had uploaded a video message, appealing to citizens to take out time to thank the unsung heroes, who protect the country. He said: I launched the Vande Mataram song yesterday and I realised Vande Matram means a salute to motherland. I started thinking we dont salute the people who actually protect the motherland. We dont take out time to remember them and to be kind and grateful to them. Away from everything else, our film is about unsung heroes and we never got a day to celebrate them. We always waited for the perfect opportunity and perfect day. So, today I am requesting you all to take out 10 seconds from your time and thank those unsung brave people for their services. Jai Hind. Directed by Raj Kumar Gupta, Indias Most Wanted is the story of five men who saved the lives of millions of people by hunting down a dreaded terrorist. Follow @htshowbiz for more Actor Priyanka Chopra has fine-tuned the art of stunning entries at public events and she did not disappoint at Cannes 2019 red carpet. Making her debut at the prestigious film festival, Priyanka wore two different outfits on Thursday and quite literally, took the breath away. Cannes 2019: Priyanka Chopra dazzles in a black gown by Roberto Cavalli. Watch For the first event, she chose a pearly white dress, while for the red carpet, she picked a shimmery black and red strapless gown that flattered her curves. Reportedly, she attended screenings of two films: a documentary on HIV/AIDS called 5B and later, a musical fantasy titled Rocketman, based on the early years of musician Elton John. Also read: Kangana Ranaut, Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone take over Cannes Film Festival. See their first pics from red carpet Her appearance got an approval from many stars. Her husband Nick Jonas called her Gorgeous and so did socialite Paris Hilton. While Indian actors Esha Gupta and Bhumi Pednekar liked her look, Arjun Kapoor and Ishaan Khatter left funny comments. Reacting to her white dress, Arjun wrote: Surf excel vibes. In one of her picture, there is a reflection of Priyanka in the mirror behind, which doesnt show her complete figure. Commenting on it, Ishaan mischievously wrote: Whos in the back, though? Watch | Cannes 2019: Priyanka Chopra dazzles in a black gown by Roberto Cavalli Priyanka Chopra arrives for the screening of the film Rocketman at the 72nd edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 16, 2019. (AFP) Through the day, Priyanka had shared pictures of iconic stars who had walked the famous red carpet in the past. Names included Princess Diana, Hollywood legends Sophia Lauren and Grace Kelly. In fact, Princess Dianas outfit was similar to the one which Priyanka wore in the day; with many on social media predicting that she would choose one of the three womens clothes as inspiration for her look. On the work front, Priyankas last film was the Hollywood release Isnt It Romantic. She has completed shooting for her next Bollywood venture, Shonali Boses The Sky Is Pink, which also stars Farhan Akhtar and Zaira Wasim. She has a project coming up with Hollywood star Mindy Kaling, which will reportedly be based on a big fat Indian wedding. Priyankas Instagram page remains as engaging as ever; she recently thanked her many fans as her fan following on the photo sharing web site touched 40 million, ahead of Deepika Padukone at 35 million who is a close second. Priyanka often shares vignettes from her family life in the US. On the occasion of Mothers Day, Priyanka shared many pictures of her new family including husband Nick Jonas, mother-in-law Denise, sister-in-law and Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner among others. Follow @htshowbiz for more Actors Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif are coming together again in the big Eid release of the year, Bharat. The two actors attended the launch of the song Zinda where they spoke about their experiences of working on the film besides pulling each others leg. When a mediaperson addressed Salman as Bhaijaan, the actor pointed towards Katrina and said, Par inke liye Bhaijaan nahi hain (But I am not a brother to Katrina), leaving the audience in splits. Salman also added, pointing to Katrina, Aap log inhe Bhaijaan bula sakte hain (You can call her Bhaijaan though). Katrina also took a swipe at Salman and said, You need to up your Instagram game, to which Salman replied, I have been in trouble due to my Instagram game. Salman also gave a witty reply when asked about his reaction to an editor who commented on TV actor Hina Khans Cannes look, saying that Cannes is turning into Chandivali Studios. Salman said, This is very responsible of the editor to make a comment like that, so thoughtful. I dont understand what did he want to say? Cannes is Chandivali or Chandivali is going to Cannes. Talking about her character in Bharat, Katrina said, As an actor, its definitely an incredible experience working with Ali, to which Salman said, Thank you Priyanka. Priyanka was supposed to do Bharat till she left the film to get married; Katrina had stepped in then. Salman also said that Katrina is very good in the movie, and he is sure that shell get a National Award for her role in the film. Also read: Katrina Kaif on working with Shah Rukh Khan in Zero: His crazy passion for work, his drive remains the same Referring to his colourful life in the film Bharat, Salman was also asked how colourful his real life was. To this, Salman replied, Bahut zyada (a lot). The song Zinda gives an insightful peep into the world of Bharat, which is set to hit theatres on June 5. It also stars Disha Patani, Sunil Grover, Sonali Kulkarni and Jackie Shroff. Follow @htshowbiz for more It is raining remakes in Bollywood. While remaking south films was an ongoing trend, film-makers are now revisiting older classics and interpreting them in modern context. But some actors arent in favour of remakes because they feel like the original films should be left untouched. Salman Khan is one of those actors who doesnt think too highly of remakes. However, he adds that one of his earliest films would make for a good remake as it would reach a lot more people. Talking about it, he says, I wont remake my own films. But, if any of these new boys want to do, its this film called Love (1991). In fact, Varun [Dhawan; actor] was mentioning that it was a wonderful film. It was the first few films that I did and I remember that it didnt do well. But that was a beautiful film and my character was wonderful. Also read: Robert Pattinson confirmed to play Batman in Matt Reeves film Remakes aside, the actor who is known to launch several fresh faces, also launched Sooraj Pancholi who made his debut with Hero (2015). Though Sooraj has not had a release after Hero, Salman says that he sees a lot of potential in the young actor and his talent. Sooraj is a fighter and he will do really well for himself and I have no doubts about that. Once you take on the responsibility of somebody, you cant back off. His film, Hero film did superb business, says Salman who will be next seen in Bharat. Follow @htshowbiz for more Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, who is currently in New York to appear on David Lettermans show, paid a visit to Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Kapoors residence there. Rishi has been undergoing treatment for cancer and has been stationed there since 2018. Neetu shared the picture on Instagram and wrote, To make people feel good about themselves is a rare quality!!! Shahrukh is all of that his love care is so so genuine !!! besides his amazing work I admire him as a very good and a real human being. In the picture, both Neetu and Rishi are wearing black while SRK dons a white tshirt. Shah Rukh flew to New York on Monday for his debut on David Lettermans Netflix talk show, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction. The actor had tweeted about his departure and wrote: Flying into another city that never sleeps... A great idea for someone like me. New York calling. He did not mention David Lettermans show but reports suggest he will shoot for the show on May 16. Flying into another city that never sleeps... A great idea for someone like me. New York calling. Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) May 14, 2019 Rishi has been undergoing medical treatment in New York for several months, and Bollywood celebs have ensured they meet him whenever they are in the city. Earlier this week, Vicky Kaushal met Rishi and Neetu in New York where he is holidaying, reportedly in a villa. Our library of wonderful moments is only getting bigger... met our very own Kamli (Vickys character from Sanju) for the first time. Such a humble, well brought up boy with goodness written all over him, Neetu wrote along with a picture where Vicky is seen posing with them. Aamir Khan, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Deepika Padukone and Anupam Kher, among others have also met Rishi in New York. Rishis brother Randhir Kapoor had said last month that Rishi will be back in India in a few months and the fact that he is cancer-free now. Follow @htshowbiz for more The Enforcement Directorate (ED), investigating links between former ICICI Bank managing director and chief executive officer Chanda Kochhar and the Videocon Group, has expanded its probe into a total of 24 loans aggregating Rs 7,862 crore that, it believes, were loaned illegally and criminally by the bank to the conglomerate when she was in charge between 2009 and 2018. Both ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which started looking at quid-pro-quos between Videocon Group chief Venugopal Dhoot and Kochhar after it emerged (courtesy, a whistle-blower) that the businessman was an investor in Kochhars husband, Deepak Kochhars company, were initially focusing on six high-value loans worth Rs 1,875 crore given by the bank to Videocon Group companies between 2009 and 2011, as alleged in the CBI FIR. According to an internal investigation report of ED, exclusively reviewed by HT, the total loans fresh loans or renewal of loans, guarantees worth Rs7,862.20 crore were sanctioned by the private bank to Videocon Group companies between May 2009 and June 2017. Some of these loans were as high as Rs 2,870 crore (April, 26, 2012, to Videocon Industries Limited [VIL] and its group companies); the most recent was on June 28, 2017 (~166.4 crore to VIL). Other big loans now being investigated by ED include a Rs 536 crore loan to VIL on September 15, 2016; a Rs 881.4 crore loan, also to VIL, on October 31, 2011; Rs 236 crore to VIL on December 23, 2015; and Rs 180 crore to Videocon Hydrocarbons Holdings Ltd on September 30, 2014. CBI and ED both allege that the payment of Rs 64 crore into a Deepak Kochhar company, NuPower Renewables, in 2009 was a quid pro quo from Dhoot for a loan to VIL. ED also suspects that considering the long association between the Videocon Group and the Kochhars, and with both ICICI Bank and Videocon having operations in India and abroad, there is a possibility of generation and infusion of proceeds of crimes further in the case, according to the agencys internal investigation report. Asserting that it needs to further probe money laundering in the matter since the loan amount sanctioned illegally and criminally by the ICICI Bank is more than Rs 7,000 crore, the report adds that it appears that more suspected payments may be unearthed in the thorough probe. Dhoot declined comment and ICICI Bank did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment. Kochhars lawyer Vijay Aggarwal also did not comment. ED has also termed the flat at CCI Chambers in Churchgate, Mumbai, where Chanda Kochhar lives, as an illegal gain; she has lived there since 1997. It was alleged that this flat was owned by a Videocon entity QTAPL (Quality Appliances Pvt Ltd, now named Quality Techno Advisors Pvt Ltd), from 2009 till 2016. EDs report says: It is noticed that Chanda Kochhar and Venugopal N Dhoot are known to each other whereas family members of Chanda Kochhar are having joint holding in certain companies with the persons of Videocon group viz in NRPL [NuPower Renewables Pvt Ltd] and SEPL [Supreme Energy Pvt Ltd]. The nexus is evident from the changes in the shareholding patterns in the specified companies into and amongst such persons under a design and plan. The agency goes to add that these suspected transfer of funds and changes in the companies have taken place both at the corporate level and at the individual level. The former top banker and Padma Bhushan awardee had to step down from the ICICI Bank last October after allegations of misconduct and corruption against her. A 20-year-old man stabbed his mothers partner to death in outer Delhis Baba Haridas Nagar on Wednesday afternoon for allegedly harassing his minor sister, police said. The man called the police from the crime spot itself and informed them that he had killed his father, said Anto Alphonse, deputy commissioner of police (Dwarka). The murdered man was not the suspects father, the DCP said. The victim had entered into a relationship with the suspects mother in 2012, a year after she lost her husband, he said. The couple lived separately. The woman lived with her two children from her dead husband: the 20-year-old son and a 15-year-old daughter. The victim, a stall owner from Alipur in UP, would visit her at her home in Baba Haridas Nagar from time to time. Together, they have a seven-year-old son. For the past few days, the killer was suspecting the victim of harassing his minor sister. When he visited his home on Wednesday, he confronted the victim, said an investigator. The confrontation snowballed and the man picked up a knife and attacked him, the DCP said. The suspect's mother was in the house when the crime happened,;his sister was out of Delhi. The killer threw the knife in an empty plot before pulling out his phone to call the police control room. He said he had killed his father and would wait for the police to arrive and arrest him, said the DCP. The man was arrested and the knife recovered. He has been booked for murder. It is too early to comment on the allegations against the victim. We are yet to speak to the girl, the DCP said. Police said the young man ran a small shop near his house. The 2019 election season has been acrimonious. But when national heroes are vilified for petty political gains, it is detestable. For example, Congress president, Rahul Gandhi, repeatedly mocked freedom fighter, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, by saying that the freedom fighter had apologised to the British to get out of jail. This narrative of mocking Savarkar is a recent phenomenon and not grounded in historical truth. Rahul Gandhis grandmother, Indira Gandhi, in her message on Savarkars death in 1966 said: It removes from our midst a great figure of contemporary India. His name was a byword for daring and patriotism. Mr Savarkar was cast in the mould of a classical revolutionary and countless people drew inspiration from him. So are Rahul Gandhi and the Congress blaming their former PM of endorsing a coward? After five stormy years in London as a law student, Savarkar galvanised the Indian revolutionary movement across Europe. The British feared him and invoked the Fugitive and Offenders Act (FOA) of 1881 that did not apply to him, slapped an unfair trial where he had no jury or appeal. He was given two life imprisonments (50 years) at the dreaded Cellular Jail in Port Blair in 1911. Savarkar was meted out the worst and most inhuman punishment for nearly 11 long years inside the jail. He did not even get basic amenities such as food, medical care, and a toilet. Following hunger strikes by him and other political prisoners and rumours of bomb manufacturing by Savarkar at the Andaman Settlement, home member of the Government of India, Reginald H Craddock, visited and interviewed political prisoners Savarkar, Barin Ghose, Nand Gopal, Hrishikesh Kanjilal, and Sudhir Kumar Sarkar in 1913 to ascertain their grievances. They were asked to submit petitions for their release, which was a legitimate tool available for political prisoners. Being a barrister, Savarkar knew the law and obviously wanted to use every means available to free himself. He advised fellow revolutionary prisoners to promise whatever the British asked them to, gain freedom and then continue with their work after their release. Among those who followed Savarkars advice included the revolutionary, Sachindra Nath Sanyal, who too signed identical petitions to eschew political activity but restarted revolutionary activities after he was freed from jail. Sanyal was the brain in the Kakori case and the formation of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association. In fact, when Savarkars younger brother, Narayanrao, approached Mahatma Gandhi for his intervention in 1920, the latter advised him to submit a petition for release to the government and agreed to put in his recommendation. In the petitions that he submitted from 1914 to 1924, Savarkar maintained that when common convicts of rape, theft or murder were let out into the Settlement for work after six months, he and other political prisoners were not allowed similar facility since they were Special Class prisoners. But when they asked for privileges befitting the status such as meeting ones family, writing regular letters or reading books they were denied by the authorities, who termed them ordinary convicts. This double disadvantage was unfair, he argued. In his 1914 petition, Savarkar wrote: I am not asking for any preferential treatment, though I believe as a political prisoner even that could have been expected in any civilised administration in the Independent nations of the world. The last line of this 1914 petition that gets quoted often is: The mighty alone can afford to be merciful and therefore where else can the prodigal son return but to the parental doors of the Government? Being a Biblical reference, one can argue that he was appealing to the religious sentiments of his incarcerators. Such selective and out-of-context quoting is intellectually disingenuous. Craddock, in his report after meeting Savarkar, stated that he was defiant in the interview and cannot be said to express any regret or repentance for his revolutionary acts. In his 1917 petition, Savarkar states: If the Government thinks that it is only to effect my own release that I pen this; or if my name constitutes the chief obstacle in the granting of such an amnesty; then let the Government omit my name in their amnesty and release all the rest; that would give me as great a satisfaction as my own release would do. Do these sound like words of a coward or a British stooge? After the First World War and Emperor George Vs Royal Proclamation, political prisoners were granted unconditional amnesty, except Savarkar and his elder brother, Babarao. The government had categorised them as D (dangerous criminals) whose release would reignite the revolutionary movement in the Bombay Presidency. After being shifted to Ratnagiri and Yerwada prisons, Savarkar was conditionally released on January 6, 1924. He was put under surveillance and had to abstain from politics for five years. This house arrest went on for 13 years and he could join mainstream politics again only in 1937 27 years after his first arrest in London in 1910. Ironically, those who castigate Savarkar for the petitions advocate human rights and mercy petitions of Ajmal Kasab, Yakub Memon, Afzal Guru, and the Maoists and their intellectual fountainheads. While heat of the moment comments amid political campaigning are understandable, repeatedly maligning those who have shed their sweat and blood for this countrys freedom is disgusting. One hopes our historical figures are not dragged into contemporary political mudslinging in this manner. Vikram Sampath is an author/historian and senior research fellow at Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, and author of a forthcoming biography of Savarkar The views expressed are personal As the 2019 elections draw to an end, it is time to look back at what has worked and what has not for Indian democracy. One of the fundamental features of the democratic political system is periodic elections. From the founding of the republic, barring the interregnum because of the Emergency, India has not only had regular elections, but also a peaceful and smooth transfer of power from one party to another following poll outcomes. To understand how remarkable this is, just compare it to Pakistan, where it was less than a decade ago that the first peaceful transfer of power after elections since 1947 happened. But every election is also an opportunity to look at the evolution of democracy. The good news is that irrespective of the outcome, 2019 was a fiercely fought election. There was a high degree of political competition nationally, in each state, and in a majority of constituencies. This shows that political power can be challenged, and both incumbents and opposition had to invest in communicating their views to the people. There was mass outreach. Party organisations sought to involve people in their campaigns in different forms. Voters were highly aware of the big issues, thanks to the spread of media and technology. They asked hard questions to their candidates. All of this shows the resilience of representative democracy. At the same time, this was an election that often descended into bitter, crude rhetoric, indicating a general decline in political discourse. Instead of really substantial issues the future of jobs, the farm crisis and managing the transition from agriculture to industry, urbanisation, the nature of the welfare State the campaign veered off towards issues that are frankly irrelevant, like Rajiv Gandhis track record, or outright divisive, like discussing the minority-dominated nature of the Wayanad constituency or open appeals to Muslims to vote for a particular candidate. All parties are to blame for this but the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has to bear a larger share of the blame for the politics of divisiveness and distraction. But the really disturbing element in this election has been the questionable role of the Election Commission, which, from being perceived as an institution of independence came to be seen as a tool in the hands of the political executive because of a spate of decisions and omissions. It will take a long while for the institution to recover its credibility. The 2019 election has, therefore, shown that while democracy is safe, it is not in particularly good health. Gucci is facing backlash for selling several pricey designer turbans, with people accusing the luxury fashion brand of cultural appropriation. One turban in particular, a $790 royal blue piece from the brands Fall 2018 collection called Indy Full Turban, has caught the attention of Twitter users both for its high price and the fact that it even exists at all. On Thursday morning, Nordstrom announced that it was pulling the turban from its website and stores, and apologised to those who were offended, reports dailymail.co.uk. The turban in question -- and several other versions of it in different colours -- actually debuted on the runway in February 2018. They certainly earned some negative attention at the time, but it doesnt seem to have made an impact on the design houses production decisions. But now members of the Sikh community have zeroed in once again on the turbans after Twitter users posted screenshots of its available on Nordstroms website. The turban is not just an accessory to monetise; its a religious article of faith that millions of Sikhs view as sacred, wrote the Sikh Coalition, adding Many find this cultural appropriation inappropriate, since those wearing the turban just for fashion will not appreciate its deep religious significance. The turban is not just an accessory to monetize; it's a religious article of faith that millions of Sikhs view as sacred. Many find this cultural appropriation inappropriate, since those wearing the turban just for fashion will not appreciate its deep religious significance. pic.twitter.com/fldmxa3Wvr Sikh Coalition (@sikh_coalition) May 14, 2019 I would be into this if it was a way to encourage diversity and access non-western clothing (I know guys who wear pre-wrapped turbans so this would be cool for them) but the marketing around this shows otherwise. This is a cash grab, and its gross, wrote another. Sikh restaurateur, influencer and philanthropist Harjinder Singh Kukreja, who boasts more than 1.5 million followers on Twitter, explained why he and others were so upset by the item. Dear Gucci, the Sikh Turban is not a hot new accessory for white models but an article of faith for practising Sikhs. Your models have used Turbans as hats whereas practising Sikhs tie them neatly fold-by-fold. Using fake Sikhs/Turbans is worse than selling fake Gucci products. This is beyond aggravating, said another. Did someone at Gucci even bother to figure out what a dastaar (turban) means to Sikhs? Did it cross your minds to consider the history behind our identity? My people are discriminated against, even killed, for wearing a turban, one wrote. Seriously Nordstrom, Gucci? asked yet another. The turban is one of the most important and symbolic articles of faith for Sikhs, and youre selling it as a fashion accessory to make money? This isnt the first time youve come under fire for cultural appropriation. Do better. While Gucci has yet to comment on the controversy, Nordstrom tweeted an apology and announcing that it would no longer sell the turban. We have decided to stop carrying this product and have removed it from the site. It was never our intent to disrespect this religious and cultural symbol. We sincerely apologise to anyone who may have been offended by this, they wrote. I'm glad to hear that, my issue is why your company thought it was appropriate in the first place? I have been shopping at your stores since they opened in Toronto, but now I have to seriously think about spending my money at your store. https://t.co/sMUYL25MfT Brown T.O. gal (@anubahri) May 17, 2019 Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum Director - Chad Stahelski Cast - Keanu Reeves, Halle Berry, Lawrence Fishburne, Mark Dacascos, Lance Reddick, Ian McShane, Angelica Huston Rating - 4.5/5 The only way John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum couldve been better is if Keanu Reeves had somehow got his hands on one of those desi kattas from an Anurag Kashyap movie, and gone and shot the CBFCs worst ideas in the face. Im being extreme; a couple of clips in the kneecaps would suffice. As hyper-stylised Neo-noir action threequels go, its damn near a masterpiece - breathtakingly beautiful to look at, mythologically dense, and featuring the best action set pieces since Mission: Impossible - Fallout. And for it to have been desecrated in the manner that it has is positively criminal. When it is at its most euphorically adventurous, as John Wick is beating a giant man with a hardbound library book, the Indian censor board decides that watching this death in particular - despite the film having shown dozens of other deaths already - is too much for an adult human to handle. And so it arbitrarily slices and dices important scenes, making up its own rules as it goes along, guided by a wonky moral compass. Watch the John Wick 3: Chapter 3 - Parabellum here Its disappointing, to be sure, but this is John Wick were talking about - it is said that he once killed three men in a bar with a pencil (a pencil!). He is a man of focus, commitment, and sheer will. He can smash mountains, bury oceans and escape the light. He can do better than a bunch of bored uncles. Not two weeks have passed since the events of the first film, when that poor fool decided to kill John Wicks dog and ended up incurring that wrath of his alter ego, the Baba Yaga. In those two weeks, John Wick has taken down literally hundreds of New Yorks finest Russian gangsters, gone on an Italian vacation, and has thumbed his nose at the High Table - the mythical government of sorts in this fictional world of assassins and a$$holes. This makes him a man on the run, with nowhere to hide and an entire citys worth of assassins hot on his trail, looking to grab a slice of that $14 million bounty. John Wick 3 is a film with many adversaries, but not necessarily a villain. Like its two predecessors, it navigates between highbrow cinema and schlocky garbage better than Sebastian Vettel around a race track. At one point John visits a theatre named after the great Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky; and then there are the requisite nods to spaghetti westerns and Hong Kong gun-fu. It is, however, also a film in which a dog bites a man in the crotch multiple times. And through cinematographer Dan Laustsens lens, even the campiest bits look like high art. Its fabulously lean, plot wise - John Wick has a target on his back, and he must fight to have it removed. This takes him to Casablanca, where he meets up with an old friend (and possibly flame?) played by the perfectly cast Halle Berry. Keanu Reeves - bless his pure heart - isnt the best actor in the world (likely even his street), but in just a couple of scenes manages to convey years of history with Sofia, Berrys character. Their partnership was one of the most enjoyable aspects of the film, and I cant wait for them to team up again in future instalments. In John Wick, through cinematographer Dan Laustsens lens, even the campiest bits look like high art. The dense world building that was teased in the first couple of John Wicks is more fleshed out in this one, with the introduction of an even higher power - the Elder, who apparently outranks even the High Table, and is the only one who can grant him forgiveness. If the John Wick series is one giant metaphor for Catholicism (as I fully believe it is) then the Elder is sort of like the Pope. The films themes of guilt and penance, sin and salvation certainly suggest so. Although it could just as easily be a film about surviving in a corporate jungle, bound by rules and bureaucracy. John Wick 3 is a film with many adversaries, but not necessarily a villain - in all honesty, I would contend its biggest nemesis is the CBFC. As per usual, a vast majority of the men who are sent to stop John Wick are merely faceless obstacles that he must slice and shoot his way through. In that regard, the third film is closer to resembling a video game than the previous entries in this unlikely franchise. After every immaculately choreographed fight, John Wick levels up, until he arrives, exhausted but evolved, for the boss battle. Its fabulously lean, plot wise - John Wick has a target on his back, and he must fight to have it removed. Mark Dacascos stars as the primary antagonist, Zero, whom he plays like a cross between a fanboy and a samurai. The tone of their final showdown wasnt unlike Grigor Dimitrov challenging his idol Roger Federer at Wimbledon. And despite John Wick 3 being the only Hollywood film to satisfactorily utilise the talents of The Raids Yayan Ruhian and Cecep Arif Rahman, in the end even the henchmen that they play are too awestruck by John Wicks legend. As one should be, I suppose. At three films old now, director Chad Stahelski is clearly onto something. A part of me wishes for him to branch out, to tell new stories; but a bigger part of me wants him to keep making these movies until glamorising guns like this becomes un-PC. Follow @htshowbiz for more The author tweets @RohanNaahar Military installations across the country have been put on alert following the recovery of some sensitive documents, including maps and sketches, related to the Indian Army at the Pune airport, two officials familiar with the matter said Friday. The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which provides security at major airports, including the one in Pune, had alerted the local police and Intelligence Bureau (IB) after the documents were seized on May 6. The security in-charge of a private airline had found these documents and deposited them with the airport director. The documents were found lying near the baggage makeup area and probably fell off from a bag. A written report along with the documents has been sent to the local police and they are investigating the matter along with Military Intelligence and IB, an official, who is with the CISF, said. Ajay Kumar Bhardwaj, director of the Pune airport, also confirmed that the documents were handed over to the local police. We have provided CCTV footage of the area to the local police along with details of suspected passengers. We are not interfering with the probe, said an official of Airports Authority of India (AAI) that owns and manages around 100 airports in the country. Meanwhile, Kashmir has been put on a three-day alert after intelligence agencies warned of a possible terror attack on defence installations in the Valley during Ramzan. Similar alerts were issued in the past as militants had planned their attacks during the holy month. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Sakshi Singh was right there when Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at the main gate of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) on 25 April to kick off his 7-km road show and election campaign for the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat. She stood just a few metres to his left as he went up a flower-studded staircase to garland the bust of Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, the founder of BHU. Wearing a white T-shirt which said NaMo again and a saffron-and-green wristband, Singh joined her voice with thousands of people circling the statue enclosure: Modi, Modi, Modi Forty other young women wearing the same T-shirt and standing behind her chanted the same word. Singh hadnt quite expected so many of them to come out and face the crowds and the heat. I had requested the organisation for 100 shirts to distribute in MMV, but when I collected them and posted a status update about it, I received 200 requests. I got some more T-shirts and gave out at least 175 on my own in this so-called Leftist centre, she said. The organisation she refers to is Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and MMV stands for Mahila Maha Vidyalaya, a womens college in the BHU with its own hostel inside the campus. The MMV is known, inside and outside the campus, as an island of opposition to the complete hold of the Sangh over BHU (which explains Singhs Leftist remark). When people in BHU say Sangh they usually mean the Hindu right-wing establishment RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh), VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad), BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) and ABVP In BHU, people do bring up Sangh a lot, except in MMV. On 21 April, just four days before Modis arrival, nearly 50 female students of the BHU marched through Varanasi asking for an end to oppression and patriarchy. The walk was organised by the Joint Action Committee, an alliance of progressive students committed to social justice, equality and democratic space, which is seen as a leftist group by those affiliated or attracted to the sangh. Girl students are a little more rational, said Amrita Singh, a PhD student. In some hostels, the Left and the Samajwadi ideologies continue to survive, she said. Left can also mean supporters of the Congress party in BHU speak. They only organised the walk with one agenda, to dampen the mood in Banaras before Modis filing of his nomination for the seat, said Singh. Hindu nationalism is central to BHUs political life, and BHU has had a lot to contribute to the political life of Hindu nationalism. It was set up in 1916 by Malviya, a scholar of Hinduism and a proponent of nation-building, and counts among its early influencers MS Golwalkar, the second Sarsanghchalak of the RSS. At the time of admission, students receive a booklet containing information they would find useful in negotiating life at BHU. It begins with a message from Pandit Malviya stressing learning, patriotism, and self-sacrifice as building blocks of a mans worthiness. If Jawaharlal Nehru University is a symbol of un- Indianness, the Banaras Hindu University is a symbol of Indianness. If you look at the BHUs constitution, it talks about Indianness, RSS leader Manmohan Vaidya reminded everyone in 2018. Madan Mohan Malviya built this campus on the foundation of Hindu nationalism, said Abhay Pratap, co-convenor of the ABVPs campus unit. Once a student enters this campus bachhe ke andar desh ke liye bhavna aa jaati hai (he or she starts thinking about the nation). They start going to RSSs shakhas in the university. Then they are attracted to the student organisation that is following its ideology, which is ABVP. Thats what happened to Pratap in 2015 when he came to BHU from Gorakhpur to study political science. The ABVPs nation-first ideology attracted me. The ABVP, he said, is also the only student group with enough campus currency 80 office bearers and thousands of supporters to get work done. We question the administration, and the government, on student issues, from admission fee to unfair suspension. At times we have protested against Modi government also, about the CBSE paper leak or the CLAT entrance, he said. CBSE stands for Cental Board of Secondary Education; CLAT is short for Common Law Admission Test, in which some glitches arose. Mostly, though, the ABVP in BHU promotes and benefits from the national rise of the BJP and Narendra Modi. After 2014, the (number of) RSS shakhas in the campus multiplied. Thanks to Modi ji, ABVPs orbit also expanded. More and more boys were attending these shakhas, more and more were joining the ABVP, Pratap said. Currently, he said, we fully dominate the campus. This domination makes the campus a very conservative space, say students who refer to themselves as politically neutral. When new boys come from the interiors... they see girls, they see short clothes, and they cant handle it. And when these girls educate themselves, start thinking, start speaking up, the boys cant digest it. This frustration enters their politics. That contributes to ABVPs domination here, says Sisendra Sisodia. The multiple layers of RSS, ABVP and BJP gives them clout at ideological, political and students affairs level. So what do you think the campus politics will be: conservative or progressive? he asked. BHU is in a transition period, from hostel timings to education curriculum, said Sisodia. Earlier there was only arts, science and IIT. Now there is womens studies, skill development, professional courses. Students ki demand hai. Time ki demand hai (Students are demanding this. The times are demanding this.) At such a time, he said, there should be no space for discriminatory policies in a campus, whatever the situation outside. Pratap insists ABVP is changing with a changing campus. Five- six years ago people who were with ABVP believed that non-veg should be stopped in all hostels. We supported the womens demand for equality in mess. Today we are campaigning for a 24-hour canteen. On this Womens Day ABVP organised a seminar on womens role in shaping 21st century, Pratap said. The women in BHU are not interested in jumla-bazi (slogans), said Amrita Singh who has played an active role in the womens protests. For most part, ABVPs image of being male-dominated and conservative has alienated the women. In recent years, BHU has repeatedly made national headlines for its female students agitations for azaadi to extend their curfew hour, to be allowed non-veg in their canteen, to wear western clothes, to be allowed same flexibility in mess fees as the male students. Every day the girls fight a little towards further freedom, said Amrita Singh. The ABVP hasnt exactly been an ally. The concept of azaadi is facinating for the women, but Banaras ka mahaul aisa nahin hai ki ladkiyan late night bahar nikal sakein (Banaras doesnt have the kind of atmosphere in which women can go out late at night) said Pratap. Their curfew has been extended to 10pm after protests but now they are demanding that there be no regulation on their comings and goings, like in the boys hostels. But the Sangh only supports what is possible and what is practical, he added. And, as Sakshi Singh exemplifies, the ABVPs reach has extended to the women in BHU too. In 2018, after a violent face-off between female students and ABVPs men, Singh became totally active in the ABVP. I began to organise events, from self-defence workshops to science debates, for women. My motto was to pull women free from the clutches of leftist-feminists. I said to them we dont have to independent, we can be inter-dependent. Leftist-feminists continue to be more in number but now at least 13-14 girls in MMV are with ABVP and many more support us, BJP and Modi, she added. Aparna Singh is not so sure. The girls are listening to everyones speeches, they are watching everyones videos Modis, Kanhaiya Kumars, Mahagathbandhans. The mood in womens hostels is increasingly anti-BJP, she said. We are studying political science, sociology, Satre, Marx. The haze lifts. There is new democratic awareness. Surprising numbers of women students have taken leave to go home and vote this time. We also know how difficult it is for women to clear a space for themselves in a masculine society in which the discourse is about 56-inch chests and Pilibhits tigers, she said. Earlier in 2019, Sakshi Singh was made a National Executive Committee member of the ABVP. For months she has worked hard to improve BJPs electoral chances, from organising voter awareness camps to nukkad nataks (street plays). She has been up there and out there with the men but at times she feels frustrated. On 25 April, she and her team of ABVPs women members walked two km to Assi Ghat side by side with Modis caravan, but they couldnt go any further. There were just too many men. There was so much pushing and shoving.We could go that far only because our own men were surrounding us. But I was in no condition to carry on. I was feeling harassed. In spite of the challenges she faces as a woman, especially in such situations Sakshi Singh is going to stick with the ABVP. And when she casts her first vote in Varanasi on 19 May, it will be for Narendra Modi. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON As the counting day for the Lok Sabha elections nears, the Shiv Sena is keeping a close eye on the performance of its ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Senior Sena leaders said although they are in an alliance with the BJP, they are even prepared to take on the national party, if the alliance falls through, just like in 2014. In 2014, the BJP, after winning a majority, ditched the Sena just ahead of the Assembly polls. A Sena leader said the party was caught unawares when the alliance was snapped on seat-sharing issue. We hardly had two weeks to select, nominate candidates and campaign in 2014. We are better prepared than five years before, should the situation arise, he said. In February 2019, the two parties put aside their differences and announced their alliance for Lok Sabha and state Assembly polls with equal power sharing. The Sena contested 23 seats, while the BJP contested 25 seats in the Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra. However, they have not decided on the seat-sharing formula for the Assembly polls. According to a Sena functionary, there was always a doubt within the party that the BJP could backtrack if it secured more seats in Maharashtra and look to maintain its newfound big brother status in the state. When the alliance was announced, the idea was to go with a political partner because no political party was going solo. Uddhavji was also of the opinionwhich he said in interview to party mouthpiecethat the alliance should be given another chance, the functionary said. He said if the BJP wins a majority of the 25 seats it contested, it could boost their confidence for the Assembly polls, slated in September-October. A senior Sena leader, however, said the BJP is unlikely to get full majority to form the next government and it will need the help of allies to form the next government. The BJP may not be able to cross the 272-mark on its own. Allies will play a bigger role in the deciding the next government, he said. In that case, they will need us in Maharashtra. A day after BJPs Lok Sabha candidate from Bhopal, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, called Mahatma Gandhis assassin, Nathuram Godse, a patriot, a state level spokesperson of BJP in Madhya Pradesh, Anil Saumitra, has created another controversy by saying that Mahatma Gandhi was Pakistans father of the nation. In a Facebook post Saumitra said, He (Mahatma Gandhi) was father of the nation of Pakistan. India has produced crores of sons like him, some good and some bad. In a quick damage control move, the BJP suspended Saumitra from the primary membership of the party. BJP spokesperson Hitesh Bajpai confirmed the development and said, Saumitra has been suspended from the party by the BJP state president Rakesh Singh. Explaining the reason behind the action, a BJP leader said the people of the country had an emotional attachment with Mahatma Gandhi and such a statement was likely to cause damage to the partys poll prospects in the last phase of polling that takes place on May 19. The same leader pointed out that even in the case of Pragya Thakur, despite her apology, the party was unhappy with her. It is for this reason that party president Amit Shah tweeted on Friday that remarks on Mahatma Gandhis assassin by three BJP leaders Singh, Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde and Karnataka MP Nalin Kumar Kateel were not in line with the partys ideology and that the partys disciplinary committee had given them 10 days to explain their comments. Prime Minister Narendra Modi too spoke in similar vein while talking to a private news channel in Khargone on Friday afternoon that though Thakur had apologised he would never be able to forgive her. While Thakur apologised for her utterance, Saumitra continued to defend his post. Saumitra said, There is no concept of father of a nation in Indian culture, we are all sons of Bharat Mata. The word father of the nation was coined by the Congress party and it has continued till date. Trying to justify his words that Mahatma Gandhi was Pakistans father of the nation, Saumitra said that Mahatma Gandhi helped in the creation of Pakistan, and helped both Jawaharlal Nehru and Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Saumitra also said that BJP was the true follower of Gandhian tradition, like Swachhata Mission, Swadeshi, which the Congress party never followed. Call made to him by HT after his suspension from the party were noty returned. Congress spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi said BJP leaders have always tried to belittle Mahatma Gandhi in anyway possible, which includes glorifying Godse. Sometime back the Hindu Mahasabha tried to build Godses temple in Gwalior. . SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON BJPs Pragya Thakur, other accused in 2008 Malegaon blast ordered by Mumbai court to appear once every week BJPs Pragya Thakur, other accused in 2008 Malegaon blast have ordered by Mumbai court to appear once every week, reported news agency ANI. Pragya Thakur(ANI Photo) The situation in Jammu and Kashmir continued to be tense on Friday as curfew in the violence-hit Bhaderwah town in Doda districtremained in force for the second consecutive day and a shutdown was observed in the Valley. The curfew was imposed in Bhaderwah town after a man was shot by some unidentified gunmen on Thursday morning. Doda district SSP, Shabir Malik said, Situation is under control but the curfew is still on in Bhaderwah town. There was no law and order problem today. The police rounded up eight suspects Thursday and they are being questioned, said Malik adding no arrests have been made yet. Mobile internet services also remained suspended in the communally sensitive town to check rumour-mongers.Police have recovered a licensed gun but it was not clear whether it was used in committing the crime or not. It remains a matter of investigation, he said. Police said, around 2 am on Thursday, information was received that one Nayeem Ahmed Shah, a resident of Qilla Mohalla, was shot by unidentified persons near Nalti Bridge in Bhaderwah. Meanwhile, police issued a statement rejecting the angle of cow vigilantism in the murder. ...no such information has been confirmed. Neither the accused has been identified nor is the motto of killing known, said a police spokesman. Condemning the incident, governor Satya Pal Malik urged the people not to take law in their own hands and co-operate with the law enforcing agencies. Malik also directed the police and civil administration to spare no efforts in bringing the culprits to justice. In Kashmir, separatists had called for a shutdown in protest against the gruesome killings of innocent civilians Arshad Ahmad Dar (Pattan), Raies Ahmad Dar (Pulwama) and Nayeem Ahmad Shah (Baderwah) during anti-terror operations. Shops, businesses and educational institutions were closed while public transport was mostly off the roads. The separatists had also called for protest marches after Friday prayers across the state. Authorities had imposed restrictions in parts of old city to prevent the protests. There was heavy deployment of police and Central Reserve Police Forcein sensitive areas. VALLEY PUT ON ALERT FOR MAY 21 The Kashmir Valley has been put on a three-day alert after intelligence agencies warned of a possible terror attack on defence installations in the area to coincide with the 17th day of Ramzan on May 21. In the past, militants have chosen the 17th day of Ramzan, the day of the battle of Badr or Jang e Badr to attack security installations in the Valley. A senior official said though there is no specific input that any particular security installation could be targeted but a general alert is sounded. A day after stones and eggs were hurled at the stage on which Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) president Kamal Haasan was campaigning at Aravakkurichi in Tamil Nadus Karur district for his Hindu terrorist remarks, the Election Commission on Friday restrained him from campaigning in the Sulur assembly constituency of Coimbatore district which will be going for by-polls on May 19. Haasan has been under fire ever since he said that free Indias first terrorist was a Hindu. As a few have hurled stones in my Aravakkurichi election meeting on Thursday, the EC has banned our campaign in Sulur, which was scheduled for Friday, the last day for campaigning. EC says that the situation is not favourable for campaigning. If it is so tense, why is the EC conducting by-polls at all? It should cancel them. This is a political move to stop me, the MNM president told reporters at the Chennai airport. The veteran actor also claimed that he did not say anything wrong. I just stated the historical truth, Kamal Haasan told the media. The actor turned politician also reacted to PM Narendra Modis contention that no Hindu could ever be a terrorist. I dont want to respond to PM Modi. History and the future will answer him, Haasan said. Congress president Rahul Gandhi hit out at the BJP over the remarks of its Bhopal candidate Pragya Thakur for calling Mahatma Gandhis assassin Nathuram Godse a patriot. I finally got it. The BJP and the RSS... Are not God-Ke Lovers. They are God-Se Lovers. Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 17, 2019 Reacting to the statement of Kamal Haasan, who called Godse the first Hindu terrorist of independent India, Pragya Thakur had said: Nathuram Godse was a deshbhakt, is a deshbhakt and will remain a deshbhakt. People calling him a terrorist should instead look within. Such people will be given a befitting reply in these elections. The BJP was quick to reject her remarks. Soon after, Thakur apologized for the statement. Blaming the media for what Thakur described as, twisting her comment, she said: My intention was not to hurt anyones sentiments. If Ive hurt anyone, I do apologise. What Gandhiji has done for the country cannot be forgotten. My statement has been twisted by the media. Hours earlier, according to news agency ANI, Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde had backed Nathuram Godse in a tweet. The minister later deleted the tweets, claiming that his Twitter account had been breached. Another BJP leader from Madhya Pradesh, Anil Saumitra, created controversy by saying that Mahatma Gandhi was Pakistans father of the nation. He has been suspended from the primary membership of the party. Criticising the statements made by Pragya Thakur, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said this kind of a language could not tolerated in a civilized society. She has apologised. That is a different thing. But in my heart, I cannot forgive her, said PM Modi in an interview to a TV channel. Everything that has been said about Godse and Gandhi is horribly wrong and fit to be hated and criticised. Those who say this should think a 100 times in future, PM Modi said. Party president Amit Shah also tweeted today, firmly distancing the party from offensive posts that criticise the Mahatma or appear to eugolise Godse. The three leaders were also issued notice by the partys disciplinary committee. The Election Commissions decision to conduct re-polling in five polling stations in Chandragiri assembly segment falling under the Chittoor parliamentary constituency in Andhra Pradesh on May 19 has run into a controversy. Telugu Desam Party president and chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who has been fighting a bitter battle with the EC for some time now, on Friday, dashed off a letter to chief election commissioner Sunil Arora, questioning the propriety in conducting the re-polling in five polling booths, acting on a complaint from the YSR Congress party, nearly 38 days after polling was held. Naidu also rushed to New Delhi in the afternoon to personally meet the CEC and other commissioners to register his protest. Andhra Pradesh went to polls for 175 assembly seats and 25 Lok Sabha seats on April 11. The results are going to be declared along with those of the general elections across the country on May 23. In his letter, Naidu wondered how the EC could conduct re-polling in phases. The EC has already conducted re-polling in five other polling stations in three districts on May 6, based on certain complaints. If there were any issues in the polling stations in Chandragiri assembly constituency, why didnt the Commission enquire into the same and conduct the re-polling on May 6? he asked. He said it was ridiculous on the part of the EC to take cognizance of the fresh complaints of the YSRC and order re-polling. We have seen polling being conducted in different phases, but have never come across re-polling also being held in phases, he said. Naidu wondered whether the EC will order re-polling in some other booths even after the declaration of results, if the YSRC leaders come up with fresh complaints. The TDP chief alleged that the EC had not taken any action on the complaints lodged by the TDP leaders soon after April 11 pointing out irregularities in polling in Chandragiri constituency and demanding re-polling in nine other polling stations. But it acted swiftly on the complaints lodged by the YSRC leaders, he criticised. Meanwhile, the TDP leaders in Vijayawada alleged that the YSRC leaders had influenced the EC through newly-appointed chief secretary L V Subrahmanyam. The opposition leaders submitted the complaint to the chief secretary, who in turn referred it to the EC seeking re-polling in certain polling stations. In what way, was the chief secretary concerned with re-polling? TDP official spokesperson P Anuradha asked. YSRC official spokesman Ambati Rambabu dismissed the TDPs allegations. The EC took the decision based on the concrete evidence submitted by the returning officers on the malpractices. Why are the TDP leaders worried over re-polling, if they have not indulged in any malpractices? If the people are with the TDP, they will vote for it again, he argued. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON "While there is a conflict in the testimony about what occurred to induce the landlord to allow the police into the building, there is no conflict about the fact that the landlord is the person who allowed the police to enter -- not the defendant," according to the order. Amid estranged Indo-Pak ties post Pulwama terror attack on February 14, Pakistan on Friday repatriated a mentally unstable man via Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir. He has been identified as Mohammed Ilyas, 33, of Jhullas village in the Poonch district. Poonch police district chief, Ramesh Kumar Angral said, On December 11, this man inadvertently cross the LoC and entered PoK. His family had lodged a missing complaint with the police. Angral further said that the individual was mentally unsound. He was repatriated today by Pakistan via Chakan-da-Bagh crossing point on the LoC. He was handed over to Indian Army by the Pak Army officers. He was later handed over to us. His medical examination is being conducted and after completion of legal formalities, he will be handed over to his family, said the SSP. He is a married man, said the officer. After the man went missing, a video had gone viral on social media wherin Ilyas was spotted in a village close to the LoC on the Pakistani side. The Haryana horticulture department has launched a crackdown on the illegal cultivation of genetically modified brinjal or eggplant in Fatehabad district, a top official said on Friday, adding the plants had been uprooted and deeply buried. The state government also shared images of officials burying the Bt brinjal plants in a trench. GM brinjal isnt legal in India. Arjun Saini, director general of horticulture, Haryana, said The government is very serious about this issue. Environment department will take further measures like investigation and FIR as per the law. Dhirendra Khadgata, deputy commissioner, Fatehabad, said no FIR has been registered. The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) under the Union environment ministry, however, did not comment on whether possible contamination of GM brinjal is being investigated elsewhere in the country. Earlier this month, farmers in Haryana and experts had expressed fears of widespread contamination of GM brinjal in the state with the farmer accused of cultivating Bt brinjal in Fatehabad district admitting that he had been growing and selling the GM produce since 2017. Farm activists demanded that other brinjal fields in Haryana be investigated for contamination. There are several things to be resolved yet. For one, the source of seedling supply has to be zeroed in on by Haryana government. That should not be very difficult given four farmers that we are aware of, grew this unapproved GM brinjal, and because there would only be so many nurseries, in Haryana or Punjab, said Kavitha Kuriganti, convenor of Alliance for Sustainable & Holistic Agriculture. A village-wise survey should be undertaken of all brinjal farmers and their past three years cultivation experience. Meanwhile, GEAC has to instruct states like Punjab to take up a survey too, she added. Earlier this week, Saini had claimed citing the results received from National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), that the samples have tested negative for the CRY 1AC gene and EE 1 event, so these may not have been contaminated by the variety being grown in Bangladesh. They have tested positive for other gene markers which will have to be investigated by the Haryana Agricultural University in Hisar, he said. But its still not clear which GM version may have been leaked. A few days ago, Aruna Rodrigues, the lead petitioner in the Supreme Court against genetically modified crops, wrote to Anil Kumar Jain, chairman of GEAC calling for event-specific testing of the samples. [An event is the insertion of a particular gene] . We require urgently, as you no doubt understand, event-specific testing to ascertain the source of the contamination. There may be more than one event involved, she wrote. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday wrapped up his campaign for a second term in the national elections, predicted his return as prime minister at a joint press conference that he addressed with BJP president Amit Shah. It is the first time in many years that a government which had a majority is coming back to power, PM Modi said at his first press conference in five years. Through all ups and downs, the nation always stood beside me, he added, crediting his government for stressing on last-mile delivery. This is the new culture of governance in India, and this is what the real strength of democracy, said PM Modi. WATCH: Unprecedented, Rahul Gandhi mocks PM Modis first presser, poses a question Amit Shah had earlier credited PM Modis work in the government and his popularity with people for the success of the campaign that he described as one of Indias hardest fought election. PM Modi, he said, had addressed 142 election rallies and conducted 4 road shows that let him made direct contact with 1.5 crore people. Shah echoed Prime Minister Modi who had earlier in the day predicted 300 plus seats for the party. People have accepted PM Mods experiment. I have faith that the mandate for the Modi government this time would be far bigger, said Amit Shah. The BJP will get a majority on its own and the NDA will form the government But if there are other parties which want to join (the ruling alliance), they are welcome, Shah said. PM Modis surprise appearance at Amit Shahs Press conference is seen to be designed to counter the Congresss attacks that the prime minister hadnt addressed a single one. Rahul Gandhi, whose press conference coincided with Amit Shahs briefing, described PM Modis presence at the media briefing unprecedented and nudged journalists to ask the prime minister about the Rafale deal. Let me ask him a question right now. Mr.PM, why did you not accept my challenge to debate on corruption in Rafale? Rahul Gandhi asked. There was a question on the Rafale deal. Amit Shah, who took the question, rejected the allegation of wrong doing in the deal. I have responded to it. The prime minister does not need to respond to everything because this question has no basis, Shah said. Hours after the BJP distanced itself from Pragya Singh Thakurs comment calling Nathuram Godse a patriot and asked her to apologise, party president Amit Shah defended her candidature on Friday saying that it was a satyagraha against a fake case of Bhagwa terror. Amit Shah was addressing the media at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi after wrapping up campaigning for the ongoing general elections. He was accompanied by prime minister Narendra Modi, who attended a press meet for the first time in five years during his tenure as PM. I want to ask the Congress, some people were earlier arrested in the Samjhauta Express case who were related to the LeT. A fake case of bhagwa terror was registered in which the accused have since been acquitted, Shah said. Ticked off by the BJP for calling Mahatma Gandhis assassin Nathuram Godse a patriot, Pragya Singh Thakur was asked by the party to apologise and submit an explanation to the disciplinary committee within 10 days. On Friday, in a series of tweets, Amit Shah distanced the party from the comments made by Pragya Singh Thakur and two other BJP leaders. The comments made by Ananth Kumar Hegde, Pragya Singh Thakur and Nalin Kateel in the past two days are personal. The Bharatiya Janata Party has no connection with their comments, Shah said. Although she did apologise, Pragya Singh Thakur, in turn has blamed the media for twisting her comments regarding Godse out of context. The BJP candidate from the Bhopal Lok Sabha seat, Thakur is an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blasts, in which her motorcycle was allegedly used to plant bombs that killed six people and injured several others .After her candidature was announced in April, Pragya Singh Thakur has been involved in one controversy after another for her rash comments on former ATS chief Hemant Karkare and more recently on Godse. An eight-month pregnant woman, her three children and her unborn baby were killed by a knife used to slaughter cattle allegedly over a property dispute in Bihars Araria district, police said on Friday. This incident took place at Madhopara village under Bairgachhi police outpost in the district, 300km northeast of state capital Patna on Thursday night, according to officials. The victims have been identified as 30-year-old Tabassum and her children Shabbir, 8, Aliya, 6, and Sameer, 4. Police have recovered the bodies and they were sent for last rites. The killers attacked the woman and her three kids soon after she opened the door to attend a call of nature, sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) KD Singh said. Singh said the killers used a sharp knife used in slaughtering cattle to kill the woman and her children. Prima facie property dispute seems to be the main motive behind the killings. We are probing the matter from all angles, he said. He also said the womans husband Md Alam has lodged a complaint against four men Md Arif, Jainuddin, Alam and Naushad alleging that they killed his family to grab land. No arrests have so far been made in this connection, the SDPO said. Locals alleged Md Alam could be behind the murders as he had two wives and there had been a feud between them over his property. Criminals not only knifed the woman and her three small kids but also stabbed the unborn baby inside the womb one of the locals said. Property dispute has been behind the rising incidents of crimes in Seemanchal comprising four districts of Purnia, Katihar, Kishanganj and Araria. The region has a substantial Muslim population and has witnessed crimes over property disputes either pending in courts or solved by village panchayats dictated by influential persons in the villages. Rajasthan High Court on Friday issued a notice to the state government seeking its reply on the recent incidents of gang-rape in the state, news agency ANI reported. The Congress-led government in the state has been under fire after a spate of rape cases, including the gang rape of a 9-year-old woman in Alwar, with the BJP alleging the failure of law and order in Rajasthan and demanding the resignation of chief minister Ashok Gehlot. The Bharatiya Janata Party has accused the Congress government of hiding the Alwar gang-rape case, saying it feared a political fallout during the ongoing elections. The 19-year-old woman was allegedly raped in front of her husband by five men, who filmed the crime and later circulated the video on social media. The incident occurred on April 26 after the men waylaid the couple and beat up the husband before taking turns to rape the woman. The victims family has said the local police did not register a case for days although a complaint was lodged on April 29. An FIR was finally registered on May 2 under the Indian Penal Code and Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The incident triggered widespread protests in Alwar, Jaipur, Dausa and nearby areas and a protest march led by the BJPs Rajya Sabha member Kirori Lal Meena had turned violent in Dausa on Tuesday, leaving over half a dozen people injured. The Supreme Court on Friday withdrew its protection from arrest for ex-Kolkata police chief Rajeev Kumar in the Saradha chit fund scam case and gave the controversial police officer 7 days to get anticipatory bail from an appropriate court. The top court said its February 5 order granting interim protection to Rajeev Kumar will continue for seven days from Friday so that he approach the competent court for legal remedy. In this case, it would mean getting anticipatory bail. If Rajeev Kumar doesnt manage to get the arrest shield, a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi ruled that the CBI would be free to act in accordance with law in the case. Fridays court ruling that is seen as a setback to Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee two days ahead of the last round of voting comes a fortnight after the CBI submitted in a sealed cover three documents that purportedly establish former Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumars role in the alleged tampering of evidence in the Saradha and other chit fund cases. In February, the Supreme Court had granted interim protection from arrest to Rajeev Kumar but told him to face questioning by the CBI in Shillong, which the judges had said, was a neutral place. Also Read | Why Rajeev Kumar features in the Saradha scam After five days of grilling him, the CBI told the Supreme Court that it wanted custodial interrogation of the senior police officer seen to be close to Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee because he wasnt coming clean on his role. The CBI alleges that there was prima facie evidence that Kumar, who once headed the special investigating team set up by Bengal police to probe the Saradha chit fund scam. Rajeev Kumar was also at the center of a mega showdown between Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and the Centres CBI in February when she led a street protest against the CBI which wanted to interrogate Kumar. Also Read | The Kolkata police commissioner at the centre of Mamata Banerjee, Centre tussle Kumar, who was shifted out as Bengals additional director general of police in-charge of the CID, was shunted out of the state on the Election Commissions orders this week and ordered to report to the Home Ministry in national capital Delhi. He turned up at the Union Home Ministry on Thursday and immediately proceeded on leave. According to the EC report accessed by HT, the poll panel had taken a dim view of Rajeev Kumar detaining BJP spokesman Tejinder Bagga from a Kolkata hotel and bringing him to the citys Jorasanko police station. The poll panel said he had exceeded his brief. Also Read | CBI vs Mamata Banerjee: How the showdown started in Kolkata and Delhi SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The entire Buddhist township of Bodh Gaya has turned into a fortress with heavy security deployed at the three-day mega celebration to mark the 2563rd birth anniversary of Lord Buddha. The programme started from Thursday and will conclude on Saturday. The event took off on Thursday with the Vietnamese Buddhist monks chanting Buddham Sharanam Gakshami, Dhammam Sharan Gakshami under the legendry Bodhi Tree amidst unprecedented security around the Mahabodhi Mahavihar and the Kalchakra maidan, the main venue for the concluding ceremony . The DIG of Magadh range, Vinay Kumar, Magadh division commissioner, TN Bindheshwary, and the senior superintendent of police, Rajeev Mishra, have been keeping a close vigil on the forces and the related security arrangements. Since Bodh Gaya shrine has been under serious threat from the terrorist groups, particularly those owing allegiance to the Jamat-ul-Muzahideen of Bangladesh (JUMBA), who have made at least two attempts to create terror threats and also triggered IED blasts in the past, the state government is leaving no chance to maintain the security. Apart from the district police, the entire Bodh Gaya is under control of the CRPF and the ATS with their Quick Response Teams (QRT), the SSP Rajeev Mishra said. Intelligence personnel and the Bihar special branch (SB) officials are also keeping eyes on the Buddhist Township, where more than 15,000 devotees from across the world and India have arrived here to join the anniversary celebration of Lord Buddha. Apart from the security forces, the Bodh Gaya Nagar Panchayat has installed as many as 44 CCTVs at all the strategic points . SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The entire Kashmir Valley has been put on a three-day alert after Intelligence agencies warned of a possible terror attack on defence installations in the Valley to coincide with the 17th day of Ramzan on May 23. The alert has been sounded as in the past militants have chosen the 17th day of Ramzan, which is also the day of the battle of Badr or Jang e Badr. In the past, militants have picked this day to attack security installations in the Valley. Battle of Badr was the war fought by Prophet Mohammad against his opponents. Also Read | Hafiz Saeeds brother-in-law arrested in Pakistan A senior official said though there is no specific input that any particular security installation could be targeted but a general alert is sounded. It could be a general alert keeping in view the previous experiences, the official said Earlier last month, reports suggested that Jaish, which claimed responsibility for the deadly attack on jawans in Pulwama killing 40 of them, was planning to attack the security forces again in the same district. In response to the Pulwama attack, on February 26 IAF struck a training camp of the Pakistan-based JeM in Balakot across the LoC. There have been many reports warning of possible terror attacks in the valley following the air strikes. Also Read | Fugitive Jaish operative held from J&K by Delhi Police special cell US President Donald Trumps new immigration plan, which has been called dead-on-arrival by Democrats, could be disastrous for those already in queue for a Green Card, including hundreds of thousands of Indians, as it intends to replace the existing system in favour of one that prioritises merit over family. The new system will also make it impossible to sponsor some categories of relatives. There are 261,765 Indians waiting for family-sponsored Green cards and 306,601 (these are principal applicants; the number is more than half a million counting dependents) in the employment based queue, according to the US state department and the US citizenship and immigration services data. In all, there are 3.6 million and 395,025 in the two categories respectively. We will replace the existing Green Card categories with a new visa, the Build America visa -- which is what we all want to hear, the president said announcing his new merit-based, high-security plan Thursday. It seeks to overhaul legal immigration and bolster border security, including a wall. The plan envisages a points-based immigration system that scores merit, age, professional skills, education and proficiency in English language over family ties. Of the 1.1 million Green Cards issued every year, 66% go to relatives and 21% to asylum seekers and those picked in a visa lottery. Only 12% go to those seeking permanent residency through employment. President Trump intends to reverse that and take that 12% number to 57%, even higher. If enacted into law, young, qualified, professional, English-speaking Indian applicants will stand a better chance of qualifying for Green Card, going forward, than those banking on familial ties to relatives such as children, spouses, siblings, parents, even grandparents. But for those already in queue, experts said, it would be disastrous. Doug Rand, a former Obama White House official who worked on immigration and is co-founder of an immigration services company Boundless, said, Although superficially beneficial for immigrants with more education and skills, this proposal could be disastrous for H-1B workers, most of whom are from India. First, he added, it would pull the rug out from under the half-million or so skilled workers and their families who are waiting for their Green Cards, because they apparently they would all have to start over and reapply for the new Build America visas. And, second, even if they managed, they will not be able to sponsor parents, adult children and siblings under the family-based category. Stuart Andersen, an immigration expert who runs a non-partisan think-tank National Foundation for American Policy, said, Indians with pending family-based Green Card applications would see those applications eliminated. Some Indians waiting for employment-based Green Cards might find a quicker path but since all employment-based Green Card applications would be eliminated anyone who doesnt gain enough points under the system would eventually have to leave the United States. And those who are American citizens will not be able to sponsor some relatives. But the plan appears to have no future, not at least in its current avatar. Democrats, who control the House of Representatives that will have to pass the plan, have already come out against it. This dead-on-arrival plan is not a remotely serious proposal, said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a statement, and added, To say that this plans application criteria are merit-based is the height of condescension. And, a big problem for them: the plan does not address the issue of Dreamers, undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children, several thousand of them are from India. President Trump acknowledged the plans uncertain future in his announcement remarks from the White House. If for some reason -- possibly political -- we cant get the Democrats to approve this merit-based, high-security plan, then we will get it approved immediately after the (2020) election, when we take back the House, keep the Senate, and, of course, hold the presidency, he said. Trinity Baptist Church: 1831 Virginia St. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. will host a Black and Blue: Empowering our Youth to Make the Laws Work for Them forum at 5 p.m. Friday. A Youth Summit will be from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday. The Geek Squad Spring Fling will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. Philippian Women Bible Study of lessons four and five will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The Joshua Troop Youth Breakfast will be at 8 a.m. May 25. Trinitys Christian Cotillion will honor one high school and four college graduates at 10:30 a.m. worship May 26. Joshua Troop Youth Day Services will be at 4 p.m. May 26. Internet is flooded with videos that momentarily capture our attention. Amidst these clips, however, there are some which create a lasting impression. A young kid supporting his sleeping mother on a crowded train is one such video. The clip shows the kid stretching out one of his hands to hold the grab handle above and supporting his sleeping mother with the other one. The boys mother can be seen resting her head on his chest while she sleeps. Captured by a fellow train commuter, the video was shared on Twitter by Peoples Daily, China on May 15. The heartfelt video has gathered more than 33,000 views till now. Thumbs-up! A little boy with a big heart cares for his mom, letting her fall asleep on his arm while he holds on to the handrail. #HeartwarmingMoments pic.twitter.com/ckUJGfyTe6 People's Daily, China (@PDChina) May 15, 2019 The childs love filled gesture has left netizens teary-eyed. Overwhelmed Twitter users have showered numerous comments on the video. good boy! (@Thehappykinghan) May 15, 2019 Wow! That is True Love & Dedication! A. Vasil (@Spitfire__1) May 15, 2019 Great kid (@_decentra) May 15, 2019 Pure love and trust Meridon (@resilientwoman8) May 15, 2019 He is protecting and caring her, repeating what she might have done to him. This is how you teach kids, and they follow. . (@VenkatKodanda) May 16, 2019 Good Boy Lany Christiana (@lany_christiana) May 15, 2019 What do you think about this heartwarming video? A restaurant in the UK accidentally served a wine bottle worth $5,800 to a diner. The customer was dining at the Manchester branch of steak chain Hawksmoor and ordered a 2001 Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, which is around $335. Instead, he was mistakenly served a much costlier wine - Chateau Le Pin, Pomerol, 2001. Hawksmoor founder Will Beckett, while speaking to BBC, said that a manager from another branch was helping the waitress on a busy day and picked up the bottle by mistake. It was a very busy night at the restaurant and a very simple mistake. A member of staff picked up the wrong bottle, mistaking it for another Bordeaux of the same vintage, said Irena Pogarcic of Kitchen Communications. The wine went out and was served to the customer. The customer didnt know and it was only afterward that one of the managers picked up what had happened. The restaurant later tweeted that the customer accidentally got given a bottle of Chateau Le Pin, Pomerol, 2001 and said it hoped they enjoyed their evening. To the customer who accidentally got given a bottle of Chateau le Pin Pomerol 2001, which is 4500 on our menu, last night - hope you enjoyed your evening! To the member of staff who accidentally gave it away, chin up! One-off mistakes happen and we love you anyway Hawksmoor Manchester (@HawksmoorMCR) May 16, 2019 The restaurant also tweeted a photo of the two wines side by side, saying: They look pretty similar OK?! THEY LOOK PRETTY SIMILAR OK?! pic.twitter.com/JWFW81cbe8 Hawksmoor Manchester (@HawksmoorMCR) May 16, 2019 Netizens applauded the restaurant for being understanding. Here are some of the comments: It absolutely love your response and the message to the staff member. "Chin up...mistakes happen..." Nikki Leininger (@nikkileininger) May 16, 2019 This is the sign of a great company. Able to laugh at "mistakes", able to understand they happen, able to see through it all and still recognise great staff and great work. This is how you win customers and public backing. Lori-Mark (@LMQhere) May 16, 2019 Very lovely responsive reaction by the management and the way of treatment is amazing.... once, I will fly over to Manchester, apparently, here is the place that I'd spend for a dinner..... :) Dardannelyus (@dardannelyus) May 16, 2019 Well done on not making a big deal of a simple mistake. Hawksmoor is always a pleasure to visit Dave Stewart (@shapgroup) May 16, 2019 Glad to see that you folks are still treating that staff member like family. Though I imagine this is something that they are never going to live down. Kumo (@Kumo_1776) May 16, 2019 The 2001 Chateau Le Pin features in the rarities section of Hawksmoors menu and is the most expensive item on the list. (With inputs from IANS) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Lost in a jungle without his mobile phone and wallet in the night, a Chinese national was rescued by a policeman, who went beyond his call of duty to reunite the foreigner with his group in Greater Noida despite language barrier. The Chinese national has been identified as Xing Fu, who has come here for some work in a mobile manufacturing company but had lost his mobile phone and wallet somewhere, according to the police. Xing, who cannot understand Hindi or English, also got separated from his group and lost his way into the jungles earlier in the day, the police said. Sub-inspector Komal Kuntal, in charge of a police outpost under Kasna station limits, was out on patrolling in the area near the Gautam Buddh University around 9.30 pm on Tuesday when he noticed some suspicious movement on a road along a jungle. I stopped my vehicle to find out more and there appeared to be a man near some bushes. I asked who it was and the only response I got was please help, Singh told PTI. These are perhaps the only two words he knew and English. Nothing in Hindi. I also dont know Chinese. But he appeared really distraught and was profusely perspiring, suggesting he was in trouble. He also signalled that he was very hungry, the SI said. Kuntal said he gestured the man to come along in his car, tried to explain he was from the police to help him and somehow managed to convince him. Soon I called up a personal acquaintance of mine who works in a private agency as a translator, thinking he could help us. Most luckily, he knew Chinese and then I put on the call on speaker and got the two talking and my acquaintance interpreting everything to me, Singh said. Kuntal, in charge of the Army Welfare Housing Organisation (AWHO) police outpost in Greater Noida, said he got to know that Xing was staying in Greenwood Society, Phase 2, which was some six or seven km from the spot where they met. The two soon reached the society where the policeman located the other members of Xings group, who too did not know Hindi or English properly but were worried about his disappearance. He had midway gestured that he was hungry. I offered food but then he signalled he wanted an ice cream when he saw a cart along the road in the city. We stopped and had ice creams, Kuntal said. He had turned very emotional after reuniting with his group. Said thank you in broken Hindi. I was overwhelmed he knew those words, however broken his language. He thanked the police and hailed India as great, he added. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday urged people to build a New India by voting his Bharatiya Janata Party to power for a second term as he addressed a rally in Khargone ahead of the last phase of polling in the Lok Sabha election on Sunday. The Prime Minister also attacked the Congress-led government in Madhya Pradesh over its promises to waive farmers loans and provide electricity and pointed to the corrupt leaders of the grand old party, who he said, destroyed the central state. When you go to cast your vote this Sunday, you will be scripting history. After decades you will elect a majority government for the second time in a row, he said while addressing a public meeting in Khargone. Also Read | BJP eyes record, not just victory, as bigwigs gather in Varanasi The entire nation from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Kutch to Kamrup is saying Ab Ki baar 300 paar, Phir Ek Baar Modi Sarkar, Modi said. The election this year is different from all the previous polls as the people of India is voting for their country and not for any party, Modi said. They are voting to build a New India, he said. Eight parliamentary constituencies in Madhya Pradesh will poll in the seventh phases of the Lok Sabha election 2019. There are among the 51 seats in seven states and one Union territory going to polls in this phase. Voting will be held in 13 seats each of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab; nine of West Bengal; eight seats in Bihar; four in Himachal Pradesh and three in Jharkhand. The counting of votes will take place on May 23. The Congress party had said that they will waive farmers loan within ten days of coming to power. Have they waived the loans yet? In fact, the banks are not even giving out new loans. Tell those who have not waived the loans to excuse you and go, Modi said. They made such a mockery of the promise to provide electricity to all that even the experts are scratching their heads. They promised to decrease the electricity bill by half but look at their devilish brains, they have halved the supply of electricity, he alleged. Also Read | Amit Shah ticks off 3 BJP leaders for Godse shocker, says not the party line Employees are being harassed here and the scam of transfer is growing by leaps and bounds. Criminals and dacoits are rearing their heads and tribals and Dalit students are still waiting for their stipends, Modi said as listed the problems plaguing the state. Modi enumerated his governments achievements as he promised to work to solve the issue of water in the next five years. He focussed on his pet project of building toilets under Swachch Bharat mission in every house. He thanked his sisters and mothers for electing him to power and assured them that he will continue to work on the empowerment of women that was started in the last five years. I bow to all the voters for their love and blessing and the support they gave me in the last five years. And, I am also thankful for the blessings you are going to give me for the next five years. Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) leader Kamal Haasan has said he does not feel threatened amid a row over his remarks on Mahatma Gandhis assassin Nathuram Godse after eggs, stones and slippers were hurled at him during his political rallies. Kamal Haasan has come came under fire from the BJP and Hindu outfits after he said that the first terrorist in free India was a Hindu in a reference to Nathuram Godse. Haasan made the comment on Sunday night while campaigning for his partys candidate S Mohanraj for the Aravakkurichi assembly by-poll. I feel the quality of polity is going down. I dont feel threatened, he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. Every religion has its own terrorist. We cannot claim that we are sanctimonious. History shows that all religions have their extremists, he said. Watch | Every religion has its own terrorist: Kamal Haasan amid Godse row Two unidentified persons allegedly hurled eggs and stones at the dais during Kamal Haasans public meeting in Tamil Nadus Aravakurichi on Thursday, police said. No one was injured in the incident at Aravakurichi which happened when Haasan was getting off the stage after completing his address. He was escorted to safety, police said. MNM workers thrashed the two men suspected to have thrown stones and eggs before police rescued them and took them away for questioning. The incident came after footwear was hurled towards a vehicle from which Haasan was addressing an election meeting in the Tirupparankundram assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday evening. Nathuram Godse, a right-wing activist, had assassinated Mahatma Gandhi on January 30, 1948. Eight men were convicted in the murder trial inside the Red Fort by a special court, constituted by an order of the central government. Godse and co-conspirator Narayan Apte were hanged for the murder of the Father of the Nation on November 15, 1949. (With agency inputs) Top ministers of the Union cabinet are camping in the holy city of Varanasi where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a candidate. Their aim is to break the record for a victory margin in a seat Modi won by a margin of 371,785 votes defeating the Aam Aadmi Partys Arvind Kejriwal in 2014. While Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has been camped in Varanasi with UP Health Minister Sidharth Nath Singh and Power Minister Shrikant Sharma since May 13, Wednesday saw External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in Kashi for four hours to flag off a large scooter rally (for women) in favour of Modi. On Thursday, Information and Broadcasting Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore arrived in the constituency for door-to-door campaigning and Minister of State for External Affairs General V K Singh is to join the battle on the last day. Although the BJP is fighting hard to create electoral space in West Bengal, the party has not lost sight of its premium constituency with its president Amit Shah fine-tuning strategies. Shah flew down to Varanasi after the North Kolkata roadshow at midnight and then left for Delhi for the press conference in protest of TMC violence at 3.00am. Modi himself criss-crosses Kashi airport virtually every day and keeps in touch with the political mood in Varanasi. Also Read | BJP, TMC, Congress keep poll body busy over Bengal Goyal, Singh and Sharma are in charge of sampark meetings; a total of 100 are scheduled between May 13 and May 17. The ministers are using these meetings to engage with various communities and business groups and urging them to garner maximum votes for Modi. The roadshow of Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday evening for party candidate Ajay Rai was well-attended, but no one seriously expects him to win. The camp of the Mahagatbandhans candidate Shalini Yadav wears a deserted look. At one sampark meeting, the focus is on the work Modi has done for his constituency. The poor sections from all communities have been beneficiaries of PM Modis awas (housing scheme), Ayush and toilet schemes. This has benefited the Muslims too and hence there is no reason why Varanasi should not vote for Modi, said Shankar Rajbhar, who runs a business establishment near Chowk. Also Read | After backlash on Godse a patriot remark, Pragya Thakur apologises to BJP Then, theres the fact that this is the constituency of the Prime Minister something that hasnt been lost on many. We will vote not to elect an MP but a Prime Minister, said Shishir Bajpayi, a BJP worker. This is also the common refrain the city, even among some Muslims. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Complaints from and about West Bengal have kept the Election Commission of India (ECI) busy this poll season. Between February 4 and April 16, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) submitted 40 representations to the ECI, flagging concerns over various polling aspects in the state, while the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) submitted four and the Congress 15. Most of BJPs complaints pertained to requests for transfer of state officials who, the party felt, were not being impartial in carrying out their duties against voter suppression, attacks against BJP workers, and over chief minister Mamata Banerjees alleged violation of the model code of conduct. The TMC has lodged roughly four complaints, all against the BJP. The latest was on the vandalism of a bust of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar in a Kolkata college, following a roadshow by BJP president Amit Shah on Tuesday. It has, however, lodged many complaints with the state election office against BJPs alleged malpractices. A Congress functionary said while leaders in the All India Congress Committee had gone to the ECI on five instances to complain of poll violence in West Bengal, the partys Bengal unit had approached the state chief electoral officer (CEO) over 15 times. Rajya Sabha MP Pradip Bhattacharya said state unit leaders had approached the CEO on several poll-related violence complaints. We complained about the threat and intimidation that voters are facing in and around Malda area, where those going to meetings of other parties are harassed and their houses burned. We asked the poll officers to send central forces, but nothing came of it, said Bhattacharya. Following complaints from both the BJP and the TMC that accused each other of orchestrating Tuesdays violence, the poll watchdog cut short campaigning in Bengal for the May 19 polling. Campaigning ended on Thursday at 10 pm instead of Friday 5 pm (where it will end in the other states that go to polls on Sunday). According to a person aware of developments, two of BJPs main demands that were met included the removal of Rajiv Kumar and increasing deployment of central forces in the state. On Wednesday, the ECI relieved Kumar from the post of additional director general of the CID in the state, and ordered him to report for duty at the home ministry in Delhi. Though he was removed following Tuesdays violence during Shahs roadshow, the party had submitted a representation seeking his removal on April 1. The BJP had approached the EC on February 4 with a representation to invoke its rights under Article 324 of the Constitution to ensure that all parties get a level playing field and polls are held freely. The BJP complained that the Bengal administration was not giving permission for political rallies on land that was historically and conventionally used for such purposes, harassment of workers and denial or delay in landing of choppers. The party cited specific instances of the choppers of BJP president Shah, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanth and union minister Rajnath Singh being given permission to land only hours before their rallies. This was followed by a representation seeking the removal of Onkar Singh Meena, additional chief electoral officer, on grounds of favouritism; and another against the state governments ban on the use of loudspeakers in residential areas or where educational institutions are located three days before school examinations. In March, the BJP demanded that West Bengal be designated as sensitive and a chief state observer be appointed to oversee the work of the state election commission. On April 1, the party was back at ECI, complaining about political violence in the state. The BJP also submitted a representation against what it alleged was violence and rigging during Phase 1 of elections in certain constituencies. After the fourth phase of polling, the BJP renewed its demand for deployment of central forces to prevent violence at polling booths. A complaint was also filed against the chief minister for saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi deserved a slap for accusing TMC of using extortion money. (With inputs from Amrita Madhukalya) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON I am a disciplined soldier. In our party, president is everything: PM Modi I am a disciplined soldier. In our party, the president is everything, Modi said directing questions put to him to party president Amit Shah after a reporter enquired if she can ask the Prime Minister something. Congratulations, Modi ji: Rahul Gandhi mocks PMs press briefing At a rare press conference as Prime Minister, Narendra Modi took no questions but expressed confidence about coming back to power with increased majority. Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who has often criticised Modi for not addressing media during his tenure, was quick in taking a jibe over the media interaction at the BJP headquarters called at the end of Lok Sabha campaign. Polling team reached worlds highest polling station in Tashigang A polling team has reached the worlds highest polling station at Tashigang in Lahaul-Spiti, a part of Mandi Parliamentary constituency. The polling station is located at an altitude of 15256 feet above sea level. :ANI Himachal Pradesh: A polling team has reached World's highest polling station at Tashigang in Lahaul-Spiti, a part of Mandi Parliamentary constituency. The polling station is located at an altitude of 15256 feet above sea level pic.twitter.com/XqUUiFYITc ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2019 Polling parties leave for their respective polling stations in Mandi Polling parties leave for their respective polling stations in Mandi. :ANI Mandi: Polling parties leave for their respective polling stations; all 4 Parliamentary constituencies of Himachal Pradesh will go to polls in the 7th & last phase of #LokSabhaElections2019 tomorrow pic.twitter.com/SUwp265qOv ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2019 EC has to address all grievances simultaneously, take proper action: N Chandrababu Naidu Election Commission has ordered re-polling at 5 polling stations of Chandragiri AC and Chittoor PC after 25 days, they have to address all grievances simultaneously, they have to take proper action, said chief minister of Andhra Pradesh N Chandrababu Naidu after a meeting with the Election Commission. :ANI Campaigning for Lok Sabha elections 2019 ends Campaigning for Lok Sabha elections 2019 has come to an end. Will perform good in North-East, very good in West Bengal: Amit Shah Well perform good in North-East, very good in West Bengal. Well do good in Odisha and there will be improvement in number of seats in all the states in the South. Well improve in Maharashtra also, said Amit Shah. :ANI Pragya Thakurs candidature a satyagrah against a fake case of fake Bhagwa terror: Amit Shah Pragya Thakurs candidature is a satyagrah against a fake case of fake Bhagwa terror. I want to ask Congress, some people were earlier arrested in Samjhauta Express who were related to LeT.A fake case of bhagwa terror was made in which accused have been acquitted, said Amit Shah. :ANI 80 BJP leaders killed in one and a half years: Amit Shah 80 BJP workers have been killed in one and a half years. What does Mamata Banerjee has to say about this? If we were responsible for this, why violence didnt take place anywhere else?, said Amit Shah. :ANI BJP served show cause notice to Pragya Thakur for her statement on Godse: Amit Shah Party has served Pragya Thakur a show cause notice and asked her to reply within 10 days. After she files a reply, partys disciplinary committee will take appropriate actions, BJP president Amit Shah on Pragya Singh Thakurs statement on Nathuram Godse. Our government is known for last mile delivery: PM Modi Our government is known for its last mile delivery. This is the new culture of governance in India, and this is what the real strength of democracy, said PM Modi. I am here to thank you all for the last five years: PM Modi I am here to thank you all for the last five years, said prime minister Narendra Modi at the press conference. Nation stood beside me through all ups and downs: PM Modi Through all ups and downs, the nation always stood beside me, said prime minister Narendra Modi. Elections were magnificent. I believe we will get a complete majority: PM Modi I congratulate everyone for the successful conduct of elections. I believe our government will come to power with complete majority, said PM Modi. People in Satta Bazaar who bet on Cong in 2014 elections faced huge losses this day last year: PM Modi Election results came on May 16, 2014. A huge casualty took place on May 17, 2014. Today is May 17. People in Satta bazaar who used to bet for Congress to win in elections faced huge losses on May 17, said prime minister Narendra Modi. :ANI India is the worlds biggest democracy but how strong is it?: PM Modi It is our duty to highlight the fact that India is the biggest democracy in the world. Our nation is full of diversity. Now that the government is able to manage everything together, students exams, Ramzan, elections, everything is able to go on together, said PM Modi. PM Modi addresses press conference Prime minister Narendra Modi addresses the press conference at BJP headquarters. Modi campaigned in temperatures ranging from 18 degress Celsius to 46 degrees Celsius: Amit Shah Most rallies of Narendra Modi were held in temperatures ranging from 40 degrees Celsius to 45 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature he held a rally in was 18 degress Celsius in Arunachal Pradesh and the maximum was 46 degrees Celsius in Madhya Pradesh, said Amit Shah. We have ensured inclusive development: Amit Shah We have improved the living standards of more than 50 crore poor people. We have launched schemes to support them and make them feel like they are a part of the nationss development. We have ensured inclusive development, said Amit Shah. Most party slogans launched by volunteers these elections: Amit Shah The excitement among the common people is such that slogans such as Modi hai to mumkin hai and Ayega to Modi hi were launched by volunteers and not the party. Many volunteers signed up to work for the party these elections, said Amit Shah. People willing to see Narendra Modi become PM again: Amit Shah After independence, BJP has worked the hardest in these elections. The party has campaigned extensively in these elections. The people are willing to see Narendra Modi become prime minister again, said Amit Shah. PM Modi joins Amit Shah at BJP press conference Prime minister Narendra Modi has joined Amit Shah for the latters press conference at BJP headquarters. Campaigners should refrain from addressing media during silence period: EC During the silence period, star campaigners and other political leaders should refrain from addressing the media by way of press conferences and giving interviews on election matters, said Election Commission. :ANI Silence period in constituencies should not be amounted to soliciting support for candidates: EC In a multi-phased poll, a silence period of last 48 hours may be on in certain constituencies while campaign is ongoing in other constituencies. In such an event, there shouldnt be reference amounting to soliciting support for parties or candidates in seats observing silence period, said Election Commission. ANI Priyanka Gandhi Vadra holds a roadshow in Kushinagar Priyanka Gandhi Vadra holds a roadshow in Kushinagar; Congress candidate from the constituency, RPN Singh is also present. :ANI Priyanka Gandhi Vadra holds a roadshow in Kushinagar; Congress candidate from the constituency, RPN Singh is also present. pic.twitter.com/LP7bOr6MgW ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) May 17, 2019 Will never forgive Pragya Thakur for her remarks on Bapu: PM Modi Will never forgive Pragya Thakur for her remarks on Bapu, says PM Modi PM Modi to meet BJP workers part of Lok Sabha campaign today PM Narendra Modi to meet BJP workers part of the Lok Sabha campaign, later today at BJP office in Delhi. PM Narendra Modi to meet BJP workers part of the Lok Sabha campaign, later today at BJP office in Delhi (file pic) pic.twitter.com/jrJ4XEdc1Y ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2019 I will use the next five years for development of India: PM Modi You take out five seconds to vote for me and I will use the next five years for the development of India, says PM Modi. Statements of Ananth Kumar Hegde, Pragya Thakur and Nalin Kateel are their personal opinion: Amit Shah Statements of Ananth Kumar Hegde, Pragya Thakur and Nalin Kateel are their personal opinion. BJP has nothing to do with it. They have withdrawn their statements and apologized. BJP has taken their statements seriously and sent these statements to the disciplinary committee. The committee will seek explanations from all the three leaders and will submit the report to the party within 10 days, says Amit Shah. Fully committed to double the income of farmers by 2022: PM Modi In the past 5 years, we will increase the speed of work to make a strong system from seed to market for farmers. We are fully committed to double the income of farmers by 2022, says PM Narendra Modi. Till Modi and BJP are there, nobody can touch land of those living in forests: PM Modi Till Modi and BJP are there, nobody can touch land of those living in forests: PM Modi Both Meerut and Khargone are associated with independence war of 1857: PM Modi My election campaign started from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. Now the last rally is happening in Khargone, Madhya Pradesh. From a historical perspective, there is a connection between Meerut and Khargone, which is often not noticed. Both of these cities are associated with the independence war of 1857, says PM Narendra Modi. People of India voting to build a New India: PM Modi The elections of 2019 is different from all the previous general elections. In this polls, people of India is voting for their country and not for any party. They are voting to build a New India, says PM Narendra Modi. From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, from Kutch to Kamrup, the whole nation is saying- Ab ki baar, 300 paar, phir ek baar Modi Sarkar: PM Modi From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, from Kutch to Kamrup, the whole nation is saying- Ab ki baar, 300 paar, phir ek baar Modi Sarkar, says PM Modi. After decades you will elect a majority government for a second time in a row: PM Modi PM Narendra Modi in Khargone,Madhya Pradesh: This Sunday when you go to cast your vote then you will be scripting history. After decades you will elect a majority government for a second time in a row. PM Narendra Modi in Khargone,Madhya Pradesh: This Sunday when you go to cast your vote then you will be scripting history. After decades you will elect a majority govt for a second time in a row pic.twitter.com/hOFV3ms6Up ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2019 NDA choice of 130 crore Indians: PM Modi NDA choice of 130 crore Indians: PM Modi at Khargone rally in Madhya Pradesh. PM Modi addresses public rally in Madhya Pradesh PM Modi addresses public rally in Madhya Pradesh. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra holds a roadshow in Mizrapur Congress General Secretary of UP (East) Priyanka Gandhi Vadra holds a roadshow in Mizrapur. Lalitesh Pati Tripathi, Mizrapur Congress candidate also present. #WATCH: Congress General Secretary of UP (East) Priyanka Gandhi Vadra holds a roadshow in Mizrapur. Lalitesh Pati Tripathi, Mizrapur Congress candidate also present. pic.twitter.com/YzYlSXkDrZ ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) May 17, 2019 Chandrababu Naidu to meet Election Commission of India today Delhi: Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N. Chandrababu Naidu to meet Election Commission of India, today. Delhi: Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N. Chandrababu Naidu to meet Election Commission of India, today. (File pic) pic.twitter.com/5DH0kT85Nb ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2019 Not true that Congress wont claim PM post: Ghulam Nabi Azad Ghulam Nabi Azad, Congress: No, this is not true that Congress will not claim or Congress is not interested in Prime Minister post. Of course we are the biggest and oldest political party. If we have to run the govt for five years biggest political party should be given a chance. Ghulam Nabi Azad, Congress: No, this is not true that Congress will not claim or Congress is not interested in Prime Minister post. Of course we are the biggest and oldest political party. If we have to run the govt for five years biggest political party should be given a chance. pic.twitter.com/g31TFMHtJc ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2019 Priyanka Gandhi to hold roadshows in Mirzapur and Kushinagar Priyanka Gandhi to hold roadshows in Mirzapur and Kushinagar. PM Modi to address a public meeting in Khargone, Madhya Pradesh Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a public meeting in Khargone, Madhya Pradesh. The Opposition offers a frightening scenario to the electorate and this will be behind its rout, Union finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Thursday in an article that contended the groundswell in favour of PM Narendra Modi is becoming stronger as the seventh and final phase of elections approaches. To the electorate, they [Opposition] provide an absolutely frightening scenario. I have long argued that aspirational societies look for a better tomorrow. They are averse to suicidal choices. The frightening and scary scenario that the Opposition promises will be responsible for its rout. This consolidates the groundswell in favour of [Narendra] Modi, Jaitley wrote on his website . Modis decisiveness, integrity and performance, and his delivery of resources to the poor are the positive reasons behind his acceptability, Jaitley said, calling his security doctrine a game-changer. He said the National Democratic Alliances strength has been an absence of any confusion about its leadership or programme. The not-so-positive reason for the Prime Ministers high acceptability levels is the absence of any cogent or coherent alternative, he said. He also said that the Opposition could not forge an alliance in several key states. They do not call a meeting of different opposition parties for the obvious fear that many will not attend the meeting. The common thread which brings them together is negativism to get rid of one person. He argued that the Opposition has no agreement on either leader or programme; it is a fractured group that could not come together before or during the elections, so who will believe their assurance that they can come together after the election? Sharpening his attack on West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that Didi has an anti-democracy mentality and her party TMC and its goons were creating atmosphere of anarchy in Bengal. Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Vijay Sankalp Rally in support of party candidate Anupriya Patel in Mirzapur on Thursday. During the last leg of election campaigning, Modi addressed one poll rally each in Mau, Chandauli and Mirzapur, one after the other, on Thursday. He also promised to build a new statue of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar and blamed the Trinamool goons for vandalising it. He said, Modi has been elected Prime Minister because of the blessings of 130 crore Indians and democracy of the country. But the Bengal chief minister doesnt consider me PM. She considers Pakistan Prime Minister as PM. Modi said the TMC goons tried to create ruckus during his rally at Thakur Nagar and Kunch Bihar some time back. He further said, I am to going to West Bengal for a rally in Dum Dum. Let us see if Didi (Mamata Banerjee) allows it. If she has her way, she will not allow my helicopter to land. The Prime Minister said the Mahamilavatis (Opposition) were hurling abuses at him and they wanted a helpless government so that they could blackmail it as per their requirement and hide their sins of corruption. But this is new India that eliminates terrorists by storming into their hideouts. It also identifies those who want to weaken our country, he said. Describing the SP-BSP-RLD alliance as opportunists, Modi said the SP and BSP fixed the deal in AC rooms of Lucknow for their interests without keeping in view their party workers welfare. As a result, SP and BSP workers are attacking each another. He said that whenever the SP and BSP got a chance to remain in power, they used it for creating wealth. Modi said the Alliance has fielded such a candidate who is on the run after being charged of rape, adding that the approach of BSP towards womens security was questionable. He also criticized BSP chief Mayawati for continuing her partys support to the Rajasthan government, which tried to cover up an incident of rape with a girl there. The PM said his government was committed to womens safety and that it had made provision of capital punishment for rape accused. He said Behan Ji (Mayawati) targeted me. I thought she will criticize Mamata Didi for targeting UP, Bihar people whom she calls outsiders. But Behan ji didnt do so because she doesnt care for you. She is looking at the Chair (PM post), he said. Expressing confidence, Modi said Bengal has decided to take the figure of BJP seats across 300. He said the Mahamilavatis opposed the air strike and surgical strike on Pakistan. They also opposed the law against triple talaq and the constitutional status to OBC commission. They are also against the implementation of enemy property law. They oppose Modi at every step, he said. Sitting MP Harinayaran Rajbhar is BJP candidate from Ghosi (town in Mau district) and UP BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey is contesting from Chandauli. Union minister Anupriya Patel is in the fray from Mirzapur as candidate of Apna Dal (S), an ally of the BJP. During the rallies, the PM sought support for the three candidates. I want to know what their reasoning is, Schoon said. You are basically taking away an opportunity that these children can fit into this world. But, they need assistance. You are taking away their acceptance. As they get older, they know (theyre different). The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) began the legwork for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections at least a year ago, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing 142 rallies in the last 50 days to cap a frenetic campaign that ended on Friday with the start of the silence period for the final phase of polling two days later. BJP chief Amit Shah, addressing a press conference in the national capital along with Prime Minister Modi, said the campaign was the most hardworking, extensive one since Independence, and Modis outreach was unprecedented. Senior workers of the party started working at least six months ahead of the campaign launch. More than 7,000 Lok Sabha steering committees were at work, Shah said at the briefing where he also declared that he party would secure a victory in at least 300 of 543 seats. In the 2014 polls, the party won 282 seats to storm to power in what became the first single-party majority government in three decades. To target a similar performance, the party leadership assigned specific task to its leaders, identified areas where it could expand, and put in place a mechanism to monitor developments on a real-time basis. Every state got steering committees between 14 and 21 depending upon the size of the state to take care of specific assignments, and a committee dedicated to every Lok Sabha constituency was also set up. At least 11 kinds of programmes such as booth-level conferences and bike rallies were launched before the prime minister began his tours. Modis rallies began with the one in Meerut in Uttar Pradesh on March 28 and, before concluding at Khargone in Madhya Pradesh on Friday, he addressed 15 million people, met at least 10,000 senior BJP leaders, Shah said. These leaders included MPs, MLAs and partys regional heads. In all, Modi covered 100,500 km by air and road. On April 18, one of the days when he clocked the most mileage, he travelled 4,000 km to go from a meeting in Amreli (Gujarat) to Bagalkot and Chikodi (both in Karnataka), and Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala). Most of PMs rallies were held at places where the temperatures hovered between a searing 40-46C. Rudrapur in Uttarakhand (March 28) was the highest location of his rally, and Thiruvananthapuram the lowest. At 46C, Itarsi in Madhya Pradesh (May 8) was the hottest venue for a PM rally while Aalo in Arunachal Pradesh on March 30 was the coolest at 18C. Modis rally in Kolkata on April 3 had the maximum attendance approximately 500,000, the BJP chief said. Shah, too, travelled extensively. Between January 6 and March 8, he addressed 61 conferences of clusters (a group of polling booths) and held 43 other political events. He spoke at 161 rallies and held 18 road shows after the elections were announced. At an average of 1,166km a day, he travelled a total distance of 158,000 km. Union ministers Rajnath Singh (129 rallies), Nitin Gadkari (56 rallies) and Sushma Swaraj (23 rallies) were other prominent campaigners. Yogi Adityanath (135 rallies) was ahead of other chief ministers in campaigning. Put together, senior leaders of the BJP held more than 1,500 rallies during the election, Shah said. The party ran 14 different campaigns, such as Modi hai to mumkin hai (With Modi, its possible), Main bhi chowkidar hoon (I too am a watchman) and ek baar fir Modi Sarkar (Modi government once again). Shah said the party had set up 161 call centres across India and 15,682 workers of the BJP reached out to 248 million beneficiaries of government schemes. The party sent out 93.8 million text message, the BJP chief said. According to Shah, thousands of volunteer led the offline and online campaign of the party. This was a campaign where participation of volunteers was highest. Slogans such as main bhi chowkidar and abki baar modi sarkar were coined by the volunteers and workers, and the party machinery just took it ahead, Shah said. Punjab local bodies minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on Thursday put a stamp of approval on his wife Navjot Kaurs allegation that chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh and partys state affairs in-charge Asha Kumari ensured that she was denied the Lok Sabha ticket from Chandigarh. She would never lie. My wife has that much strength and moral authority that she will never lie, said Sidhu at a press conference when asked about his wifes allegation. Kaur, who wanted ticket from the Chandigarh, alleged that Amarinder had claimed that he alone was capable to lead the Congress to victory on 13 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Amarinder and Asha Kumari think that Madam Sidhu does not deserve an MP ticket. My ticket from Amritsar was denied on grounds that I could not win because of a train accident in Amritsar on Dussehra, she had told reporters in Amritsar. Denying allegations, Amarinder said he had no role to play in allotment of ticket for Chandigarh as the union territory was not under his control. Party choose four-time MP and former minister Pawan Kumar Bansal from three contenders that included former minister Manish Tewari, Sidhus wife and Bansal. Tewari was shifted to Anandpur Sahib that is adjacent to Chandigarh and falls in Punjab. Amarinder said he had offered Sidhus wife to contest from Bathinda or Amritsar to which she denied saying that on these seats, her husband had to put in efforts and she doesnt want to tie him down in the state at the cost of partys countrywide campaign. Sidhu, partys star campaigner, was absent from the state as he was busy canvassing for the party across the country. He, however, joined Priyanka Gandhi for a rally and roadshow in Bathinda on Tuesday, after the sixth phase of the polling was over. On being questioned as to how many seats his party was expected to win in Punjab, Sidhu said he cant comment on it, and the best person to question was the CM. NO FARM DEBT WAIVER BY AKALI-BJP GOVT Sidhu slammed the previous Akali-BJP government for not settling farmers loans despite bringing in the Punjab Settlement of Agricultural Indebtedness Act in 2016. Speaking on the Bhagat Puran Singh Sehat Bima Yojana launched during the Akali-BJP government, Sidhu said the then government paid a premium of Rs18.54 crore covering 4.17 lakh farmers but only 3,000 of them availed the treatment involving a cost of 2.49 crore. Both principal combatants, the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the challenger Congress, said they were on course to winning the peoples mandate to govern the nation for the next five years as the curtain dropped on Friday on a bitter and bruising campaign for the 17th general elections. The election has been amazing. Elections were held in a positive spirit. A government with full majority will come back after remaining in power for five years. This is probably happening after a very long time. This is a big deal in itself, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at a press briefing -- his first in five years -- he attended with BJP president Amit Shah. Modi, whose constituency Varanasi will vote on Sunday in the final phase of polling, declined to answer questions, which he diverted to Shah, but used the occasion to thank the people of India. The people of India have been with me through ups and downs over the last five years.I thank the people for their love, respect and blessings. Also Watch | Unprecedented, Rahul Gandhi mocks PM Modis first presser, poses a question At the same briefing, Shah said the ruling dispensation would win more than 300 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha in an election he described as the most important ever fought by the BJP. It echoed a prediction by the PM at his final election rally earlier in the day. Addressing journalists at the same time, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said he didnt want to prejudge the people of India by commenting on the election outcome, summing up the campaign waged by his party. I am proud to say that we have fought Narendra Modi and BJP. We have protected the institutions of this country, which is our main duty, from Narendra Modi, the BJP, and the RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]. This fight was about protecting the Supreme Court, RBI [Reserve Bank of India], the Constitution and all the institutions that make this great country and give a voice to the people, Gandhi said, noting that Modi hadnt accepted his challenge for a debate on the controversial Rafale deal. We have given a good fight. Our strategy was to raise peoples issues and we effectively did it. We played A grade role of the Opposition. We incircled Modi and dismantled his idea. Gandhis senior colleague Ghulam Nabi Azad, leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, was less taciturn than the party president in predicting the outcome of the election. Congress is going to have the maximum number of members in Parliament. We are looking to secure 273-plus seats this time, which is easily achievable for us. We have done it in the past, we will do it again, Gandhi said in the Lok Sabha. The end of the campaign, marked by the discourse suddenly veering towards Mahatma Gandhi, his assassin Nathuram Godse and the BJPs controversial Bhopal candidate Pragya Thakurs praise of Godse as a patriot, set the stage for the seventh and final phase of polling on Sunday, in which 59 seats are up for grabs. Campaigning in West Bengal, where nine Lok Sabha seats will be decided in the final phase, ended a day early because of clashes between ruling Trinamool Congress and BJP workers on Tuesday. The counting of votes and declaration of the outcome are set for May 23. In the 2014 general election, the BJP won 282 seats and became the first party in 30 years to secure a majority on its own in the Lok Sabha. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance won 336. The Congress, dogged by corruption scandals in the second term of the United Progressive Alliance government, was reduced to 44 seats - its lowest tally ever. Modi, who kicked off the campaign in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, on March 28, ended it in Khargone, Madhya Pradesh, on Friday. At his 144th and final election rally, Modi summed up what he claimed was the nations mood. From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, from Kutch to Kamrup, the whole nation is saying Ab ki baar, 300 paar; phir ek baar, Modi sarkar, Modi said, expressing confidence the BJP will win over 300 seats. This Sunday when you go to cast your vote then you will be scripting history. After decades you will elect a majority government for a second time in a row, Modi said. When you press the Lotus button, within 5 seconds you become the owner of my five years. When you vote for lotus you are pressing the trigger to kill a terrorist. Modi also sought to link the places where he held his first and last rally on the campaign trail which he said had both inspired nationalism in India. My election campaign started from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. Now the last rally is happening in Khargone, Madhya Pradesh. From a historical perspective, there is a connection between Meerut and Khargone, which is often not noticed. Both the cities are associated with the 1857 War of Independence, he said. In Meerut, Indian soldiers rebelled against the British and in Khargone, freedom fighter Bhima Nayak led a tribal agitation and attained martyrdom, he said. At a campaign rally in Solan, Himachal Pradesh, Rahul Gandhi slammed the Modi government for its November 2016 decision to invalidate high-value banknotes, which he said had set back the nations economy. The Congresss NYAY programme will jump-start the economy, he said. His sister and Congress general secretary for eastern Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi said at a rally in Mirzapur that Modi was the worlds greatest actor. It would have been better if you had elected (movie star) Amitabh Bachchan instead. Anyway, no one would do anything for you, she said. Apart from West Bengal, polling will be held on Sunday in all 13 seats in Punjab, as many seats in Uttar Pradesh, eight seats each in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, four in Himachal Pradesh, three in Jharkhand, and the lone Union Territory seat of Chandigarh. The gruelling campaign bordered on the virulent sometimes, with the primary contestants trading accusations on a daily basis, as they took each other on, no holds barred. Modi described Rahul Gandhis assassinated father, the late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi , as bhrashtachari No.1 (corrupt No.1) and the Congress chiefs most common slogan was chowkidaar chor hai (the watchman is the thief) to refer to Modi, using the PMs description of himself as the nations watchman. Both camps knocked on the doors of the Election Commission repeatedly with complaints of violations of the model code of conduct. (Agencies contributed to this story) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday hammered his partys Bhopal Lok Sabha candidate Pragya Thakur for calling Mahatma Gandhis assassin Nathuram Godse a patriot, underlining that this kind of a language could not be tolerated in a civilised society. She has apologised. That is a different thing. But in my heart, I cannot forgive her, said PM Modi. In an interview to TV channel NEWS 24, the prime minister said: Everything that has been said about Godse and Gandhi is horribly wrong and fit to be hated and criticised. Those who say this should think a 100 times in future. Hours earlier, BJP president Amit Shah had put out a string of tweets to send a clear message to the partys motormouths to back off. Naming three party leaders, including Pragya Thakur and union minister Ananth Kumar Hegde, Amit Shah had asserted that the party had taken their comments seriously and they would face action. WATCH | I respect Mahatma: BJPs Pragya apologises after calling Godse a patriot The prime ministers statement wasnt the first reaction from the BJP to Pragya Thakur; it is the strongest. It was also a counter to the continuing barrage of criticism from the opposition, particularly since he had earlier defended the BJPs choice to field Pragya Thakur from Bhopal against former chief minister Digvijaya Singh. Thakur, an accused in the Malegaon blasts case who is out on bail, had said Godse was and would remain a patriot. She added that May 23 (results day) would give a fitting reply to people who called Godse a terrorist. Pragya Thakur did eventually apologise for her statement on the partys orders but that hadnt really helped. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted her attack: Distancing yourself from your candidate is not enough. Nationalistic luminaries of the BJP, have the guts to spell out your stand. Rahul Gandhi also joined in today. I finally got it. The BJP and the RSS...Are not God-Ke Lovers. They are God-Se Lovers, he tweeted The favourite of the Modi-Amit Shah duo Pragya Thakur crossed all limits today and committed the unpardonable sin of describing Nathuram Godse as a true nationalist. BJP and its leaders are deliberately and in a concerted conspiracy attacking the thought, the entire way of life, as also the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said. The Indian army is fighting a different battle here in Kanpur these days a one to reclaim its illegally occupied land in different corners of the city. Only last month, it had sent a Quick Reaction Team (QRT) to citys Chandari area where a swanky residential colony is being constructed on a piece of land, which as per army records is classified as A1 (one which come under the direct control of the army). It was being used as loading and unloading point for tanks and artillery guns for last four decades. To secure the area of land mentioned in the documents of 1944, the army wanted the entire area to be measured. As per the statement issued by the army and available with HT, the QRT went to builder Savit Bhatia, secretary of Nagarji Housing Society, with two requests. First, to ensure immediate removal of the CCTV cameras from the premises as they violate the secrecy required for movement of tanks in the area and the second to get the land measured. But the army men claimed the builder was hostile towards them. In a video, the builder can be heard telling the armymen that they were behaving like Pakistan army. Bhatia is also seen yelling at the officers and the jawans and likening the army with chors (thieves). Bhatia said he went to the army commander and regretted the words he used. It happens when you feel harassed; those words came out in the heat of the moment, I never meant them, he said to HT. The army, meanwhile, maintains that it was facing all sorts of trouble in recovering its lost lands classified as A1 in Kanpur Cantonment area. The land sharks have encroached upon the army land in Chandari area so much so that the tanks cannot pass from these areas now and we have to use much longer route for the same, said an army officer. The army claims that it had got a survey of its A1 properties conducted recently and has now launched an exercise to reclaim the land under the Public Premises (Eviction of unauthorised occupants) Act, 1971. As per the survey, a large part of A1 land in Kidwai Nagar has been turned into marriage lawns and people are being charged 5 lakh to 10 lakh for each event. Also, many of those living in Bhagwat Dass ghat area have built houses on the army land. According to survey, hundreds of families were living illegally at the area where there is also a rifle range for army men. The land mafia with the political support are building pressure on the army to stall the proceedings to get their land vacated, the army has put out in a statement available with the HT.The QRT team members, who are tasked with securing the land, said the pillars they put up to demarcate the land are regularly damaged by encroachers. Worse, as an army officer puts it, the Kanpur electricity supply company has released electricity connections to people. The Kanpur Municipal Corporation and Kanpur Development Authority also apparently are siding with land mafias knowing well that the land was A1, said the army statement.Colonel Umendra Vaish, station staff officer, said the army was committed to get the encroachments at nine places cleared. DM Vijay Vishwas Pant said the army doesnt need the help of the administration in this exercise. He, however, maintained that the army would follow the due process such as holding hearings and passing the judgement on eviction to avoid any law and order issues. Ujjwala Pawar, Pune district government pleader, refused to share cloned copies of the documents seized from the activists, arrested in Elgar Parishad case,with them. In response to an application demanding cloned copies of seized documents filed by the accused, Pawar, in her submission to the court of Special Judge KD Vadane on Thursday said that she would not share the documents. Pawar in her say, said, There is a high possibility that the accused may misuse the highly sensitive data, contained in the electronic devices, which include incriminating files, encrypted files, deleted data and email communication. The say further reads, "The absconding accused may transfer the said data to Communist Party of India (Maoist). However, if the court decides to let the accused have access to the documents, it can be done under the supervision of a scientific expert." However, Arun Ferreira, Surendra Gadling, and advocate Shahid Akhtar representing Mahesh Raut, demanded the cloned copies in one form or the other. Ferreira, as well as Gadling, pointed out a court document dated December 20, 2018, where the prosecution had agreed to share the copies of the documents seized during the house raids conducted at the accused peoples houses during their arrest. If they are refusing to give the complete forensic laboratory report, this entire case is a scam. They should withdraw the case, said Ferreira. The documents on which the prosecution is relying should be provided to the accused, said Gadling. I had read in media reports that the investigating officer had said there is 25 TB of data. However, in court he provided 4 hard disks of 500 GB each. How did 25TB data fit into 2TB space, he added. While the debate of provision of cloned copies is on, the bail application and various other applications, including the one regarding living conditions of the accused, are pending in the court. Film: Mr Local Cast: Sivakarthikeyan, Nayanthara, Radikaa Sarath Kumar, Sathish, Yogi Babu and Robo Shankar Director: Rajesh M Rating: 2/5 Director Rajesh M, who is best known for films such as SMS and Boss Engira Bhaskaran, has built his career over the years with senseless comedies which have worked with the masses. Therefore, it is absolutely a waste to set expectations when it comes to his films and it applies to his latest outing Mr Local, starring Sivakarthikeyan and Nayanthara, as well. This film has nothing to rave about except for some gags here and there and Sivakarthikeyan in his element, making most scenes work by his sheer screen presence. The story opens in a prison in Paris where were introduced to Manohar (Sivakarthikeyan) but arent immediately told how he ended up there. Manohar plays a care-free youngster whose happy life revolves around his mother (Radhika) and sister. His easy-going life is disturbed when he picks up a fight with Keerthana (Nayanthara), a self-centered business tycoon who vows to crush Mano. What happens when Mano and Keerthana lock horns and everything that follows forms the crux of the story. Sivakarthikeyan plays a middle-class fellow in Mr Local, like he did in Remo. Its for the umpteenth time we see Sivakarthikeyan play a middle-class youngster. Theres nothing wrong in making a hero play a middle-class character but its disappointing when you realize no effort has been taken to make his character interesting. You take the Sivakarthikeyan from Remo and put him in Mr Local and you cant make out the difference. Thats how predictable his characters have become lately and thats what makes Manohar, a very underwhelming character. Also read: Deepika Padukone is Elegance ki moorat for Ranveer Singh after Cannes appearance, sis Anisha jokes she cant even pronounce Cannes If not for the comedy, Mr Local has nothing going for it. Despite the predictable plot and the done-to-death romance, the jokes make the film work to some extent. The trio of Sathish, Yogi Babu and Robo Shankar really infuse some life with their comedy in an otherwise silly film. As long as the jokes work, Mr Local is mildly entertaining but it is unbearable when it focuses on the clash between Siva and Nayanthara and their romance. Its surprising that Nayanthara, who is known for picking role with utmost care, would pick a film where she has to be put in her place by the hero. Its a disappointing role which has absolutely no scope to showcase her talent. Radikaa as the ever-doting mother is decent but its a role she has played so many times. Comedy is Sivas forte and no other current mainstream hero can be as effective as him when it comes to entertaining audiences. Unfortunately, even he cant do much to save a film that hardly delivers anything promising apart from a few jokes. Follow @htshowbiz for more ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop Will Sheldon and Amy win a Nobel Prize? Who will make a surprise cameo? And will the elevator finally be fixed?The Big Bang Theory, the show about four brilliant but socially inept scientists that made geeks and comic book nerds pop culture cool, airs its final two episodes on Thursday, bringing to a conclusion the most-watched comedy on US television. "Its really a very sweet finale. It pulls at your heartstrings," Kaley Cuoco, who plays Penny, told reporters after the final episode was taped last month. In the run-up to the finale, fans have seen theoretical physicist Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) and his neurobiologist wife Amy (Mayim Bialik) hoping to win a Nobel Prize; experimental physicist Leonard (Johnny Galecki) have a reconciliation of sorts with his cold-hearted mother Beverly (Christine Baranski); hopeless romantic astrophysicist Raj (Kunal Nayyar) decide against moving to London to marry; and comic book store owner Stuart (Kevin Sussman) and girlfriend Denise (Lauren Lapkus) agree to move in together. Broadcaster CBS says the first of Thursday's double episodes sees Sheldon and Amy awaiting big news, while the second has Raj making a new friend, Penny and Leonard trying to keep a secret, and mechanical engineer Howard (Simon Helberg) and his microbiologist wife Bernadette (Melissa Rauch) leaving their kids for the first time. It remains to be seen whether the broken elevator in Sheldon's apartment building, which has been a running gag since 2007, will be repaired. The finale will be followed by a retrospective looking at some of the most memorable moments over the last 12 years. Actors Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco and Simon Helberg participate in the cement handprints ceremony for the cast of the television comedy The Big Bang Theory at the TCL Chinese Theatre. (REUTERS) The Big Bang Theory began in 2007 and went on to win 10 Emmy awards, four of them for Parsons. Five years later, it was the No 1 comedy on U.S. television with an audience of some 20 million people, and as far afield as Russia and France. "Were a show about 'the other people.' And I think everyone has a little bit of 'not belonging' in them," said Bialik, explaining the show's popularity. Over the years, the show's "Bazinga!" catchphrase, used by Sheldon when playing a prank or telling a joke, entered pop culture and inspired the name of a species of bee found in Brazil and a jellyfish found in Australia. The series also saw cameos by the likes of British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk, Apple Inc co-founder Steve Wozniak, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, "Star Trek" actors William Shatner and George Takei, and Marvel comics legend Stan Lee. Follow @htshowbiz for more US president Donald Trump on Thursday unveiled an immigration overhaul plan that favours merit, age, professional skills, education and proficiency in the English language over family ties for Green Cards, the last and final step towards American citizenship. If enacted into law, chances of which range between nil and dim, young, qualified, professional English-speaking Indian applicants will stand a better chance of qualifying for Green Card going through the H-1B route than those banking on familial ties to relatives such as children, spouses, siblings, parents or even grandparents. Of the 1.1 million Green Cards issued every year now, 66% go to relatives and 21% to asylum seekers and those picked in a visa lottery. Only 12% go to those seeking permanent residency through employment. President Trump intends to reverse that and take that 12% number to 57% or higher. Also Read: Jobs, not family ties, key to US immigration Indians stand to both benefit and lose if this plan goes through because they are among the top beneficiaries of both streams, family and employment-based, as reflected in their numbers on the Green Card waiting list. There were 282,207 Indians in line for family-sponsored Green Cards till 2018, in third place behind Mexico and Philippines; and there were 34,272 of them in the employment-based queue, second after those from China, according to US state department data. But nothing is likely to change. The plan has been called dead-on-arrival and doomed. Democrats, who control the House of Representatives, have slammed the plans emphasis on merit as condescending towards those coming through family connections. And, a big problem for them: the plan does not address the issue of Dreamers, undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children, several thousand of them are from India. President Trump acknowledged the plans uncertain future in his announcement remarks from the White House. If for some reason, possibly political, we cant get the Democrats to approve this merit-based, high-security plan, then we will get it approved immediately after the (2020) election, when we take back the House, keep the Senate, and, of course, hold the presidency, he said. There are two parts to Trumps merit-based, high-security immigration plan a reform of the legal immigration system by changing Green Card rule and strengthening border security to prevent illegal immigration by building a wall along the border with Mexico, a personal priority for the president and a popular issue for his base. The emphasis of Trumps plan, put together by his son-in-law Jared Kushner, was on reforming legal immigration, which the president said has been dysfunctional for decades. But his overhaul will not reduce the number of Green Cards, abandoning an issue dear to Republicans for long. The plan does intend to change the existing system drastically though, introducing a point-based system similar to versions in effect in Canada and Australia, close US allies, that favours applicants who are young, professionally qualified not necessarily from IIT as Microsofts Satya Nadella smashed that mould a long time ago and who are proficient in English. There are plenty of other Indian-origin Americans who used the family-based system to bring over their family, relative by relative. Its a great way to really make the most of your summer. Get outside and enjoy the sunshine while still being really active, she said. You dont realize until you get home how much you walked, how much you exercised because you were having a lot of fun. You dont think of a water park as a good aerobic activity but by the time you get home, you go, we had a blast and everyones ready for bed. Donald Trump says its great that a gay Democratic challenger, Pete Buttigieg, is in the 2020 presidential race. A previously little known mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Buttigieg has raced to prominence as one of the top contenders in a crowded Democratic field -- and as the first major presidential candidate to be openly homosexual. I think its absolutely fine, I do, Trump told Fox News in an excerpt released Thursday of an interview airing Sunday. I think its great. I think thats something that perhaps some people will have a problem with. I have no problem with it whatsoever. I think its good, Trump said. Buttigieg is married and if he won the White House -- still a very big if -- his husband Chasten would likely be known as the first gentleman. Whether Buttigieg gets his partys nomination or not, his bid has already made him and Chasten the countrys most prominent gay couple. Trump, whose right-wing base is broadly hostile to gay marriage, has delivered a mixed message on his attitude to gay rights over the years. (This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.) I.M. Pei, the pre-eminent US architect who forged a distinct brand of modern building design with his sharp lines and stark structures, has died in New York, his sons architecture firm said Thursday. He was 102 years old. From the controversial Louvre Pyramid in Paris to the landmark Bank of China tower in Hong Kong, the Chinese-born Pei was the mastermind behind works seen as embracing modernity tempered by a grounding in history. Pei Partnership Architects confirmed Peis death to AFP. The New York Times, citing Peis son Li Chung, said the architect had died overnight Wednesday into Thursday. Watch | I.M. Pei, architect who designed Louvre Pyramid, dies at 102 Contemporary architects tend to impose modernity on something. There is a certain concern for history but its not very deep, Pei, with his owlish round-rimmed glasses, told The New York Times in a 2008 interview. I understand that times have changed, we have evolved. But I dont want to forget the beginning, he said. A lasting architecture has to have roots. His work earned the 1983 Pritzker Prize, considered architectures Nobel. Of his nearly 50 designs in the United States and around the world, more than half won major awards. - Modern angles - Born in China in 1917, bankers son Ieoh Ming Pei came to the US at 17 to study architecture, receiving an undergraduate degree in the field from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1940. He then enrolled in Harvard Universitys Graduate School of Design, where he received a masters degree in architecture in 1946. He became a naturalized US citizen in 1954. In one standout undertaking, he deftly inserted into the monumental structures of the capital of his adopted country the modern angles of the East Building of the National Gallery of Art, opened in 1978. The stunning concrete and glass structure features huge mirrored pyramids and a 50-foot (15-meter) waterfall. It was a composition of angular stone forms... that remains the most visible emblem of modern Washington, said a New York Times review 30 years after its unveiling. French president Francois Mitterrand was so impressed that he had Pei hired to build a glass pyramid into the courtyard of the Louvre, the worlds most visited museum. The project was deeply controversial in Paris and Pei endured a roasting from critics before the giant glass structure opened in 1989, but his creation is now an icon of the French capital. I received many angry glances in the streets of Paris, Pei later said, confessing that after the Louvre, I thought no project would be too difficult. - Grace and drama - Other well-known and characteristic Pei projects -- often graceful combinations of geometric planes -- include the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio; the Miho Museum of Shigo in Japan; the Morton Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas and The John F. Kennedy Library in Boston. He brought drama to the Four Seasons Hotel in Manhattan and Raffles City in Singapore. His Fragrant Hill Hotel in Beijing, completed in 1982, was intended to incorporate technology and indigenous building principles in a blend that would open the way to a particularly Chinese brand of modern architecture. Despite being a confessed Islamic art novice, Pei was also commissioned to design the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar, which opened in 2008 to great fanfare. The desert-toned building, inspired by the 13th-century Mosque of Ahmad ibn Tulun in Cairo, incorporates geometric patterns and is lit by reflected light entering from above. Pei spent months traveling the Muslim world seeking inspiration. Islam was one religion I did not know, he told the Times the year of the opening. So I studied the life of Muhammad. I went to Egypt and Tunisia. - Architectural poetry - Pei dedicated energetic efforts to supporting the arts and education, serving on visiting committees at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Harvard and MIT as well as a range of US government panels including the National Council on the Humanities and National Council on the Arts. He dedicated the $100,000 prize money he was awarded as laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize to setting up a scholarship fund for Chinese students to study the craft in the United States, on the condition they return home to design and build. In 1975, Pei was elected to the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. Three years later he became Chancellor of the Academy, the first architect to hold the position. He was also one of 12 naturalized US citizens then-president Ronald Reagan awarded the Medal of Liberty in 1986. In 1988, Mitterrand inducted Pei as a Chevalier in the Legion dHonneur, later raising him to the rank of Officier when Phase II of the glass-and-stainless steel Grand Louvre pyramid was completed in 1993. US president George Bush awarded Pei the Medal of Freedom that same year, when he was also elected an Honorary Academician of the Royal Academy of Arts in London. In addition to his museum oeuvre and contributions to the government and commercial landscape, Pei also worked on moderate and low-income housing. His concern has always been the surroundings in which his buildings rise, wrote the Pritzker jury that bestowed to him in 1983 architectures most prestigious prize. His versatility and skill in the use of materials approach the level of poetry, the committee wrote. His tact and patience have enabled him to draw together peoples of disparate interests and disciplines to create a harmonious environment. (This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.) Two Indian-American Sikh youths have died and another injured when their speeding SUV crashed into a tree in the US state of Indianapolis, according to a media report. The authorities identified the victims as 19-year-old Varundeep S Bring and 22-year-old Davneet S Chahal, both from Fishers city, a suburb of Indianapolis. The duo died after their speeding Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) crashed into a tree on Wednesday morning, local 13 WTHR news channel reported Thursday. Investigators are working to figure out what led up to the crash, it said. Davneet, who was driving the SUV, was not wearing his seat belt, police said, adding that the 20-year-old injured youth, Gurjot S Sandhu, has been admitted to a hospital.The Sikh community in Indiana has shown solidarity with the victims families.Whole City of Fishers, especially the Sikh community, is shocked and heartbroken to hear the tragic death of two young boys, said prominent Sikh activist and founder of SikhsPAC Gurinder Singh Khalsa. The loss is unfathomable and irrecoverable... US Democratic lawmakers have criticized President Donald Trump for his failure to appoint a confirmed head of the state departments South and Central Asia (SCA) bureau, that conducts diplomatic relations with India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and other countries and said American leadership is missing in action in the region when its needed most. The state department has failed to form a coherent India policy, mishandled US-Afghanistan ties in the midst of peace talks with the Taliban and failed to engage directly with Sri Lankan officials during the October-December 2018 constitutional crisis, as a result, they wrote in a letter Thursday. The State Departments lack of senior-level involvement on a variety of matters related to South Asia has been deeply disturbing, they wrote. House foreign affairs committee Chairman Eliot Engel led the move, joined by all the Democratic members of the panel, Representatives Ami Bera, Brad Sherman, Dian Titus, Chrissy Houlahan, Gerald E Connolly and Andy Levin. Nisha Biswal, an Obama appointee, was the last confirmed assistant secretary of state to head the SCA bureau. The current head, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Alice Wells, took charge of the department as acting assistant secretary of state in June, 2017, five months after President Trump took office. Trump named Robert Williams, an intelligence officer at the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) to head the bureau as assistant secretary of state in December 2018. The nomination was withdrawn this year. The absence of a confirmed official to lead the Departments efforts at advancing some of Americans most important relationships, including with India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, has had a demonstrably negative impact on US interests and regional stability in South Asia, the lawmakers wrote. Many cheered between speeches, but were encouraged to snap during talks to keep the focus on each speaker. Most worked up their nerves to give a public speech -- as some clasped their hands over their mouths, making a beeline for their friends -- happy they pulled it off. Bruno, along with his handler Special Deputy Joe Hamer, joined the St. Joseph County Sheriff's Department in January. Bruno has been working as a support dog for the past four years. His focus is on providing support for officers who are involved in critical incidents or have rough days on the job, as well as supporting loved ones of fallen officers. Since he started, he's attended every officer funeral in Indiana. He also attended the funerals of the five officers in Dallas who were shot and killed in 2016. A defense attorney for a Portage man charged last fall in a nearly 10-year-old murder case that had gone cold said in court Friday he is having trouble opening discs that contain information pertinent to the case. Appointment 17 May 2019 Spanish-born Manuel Ferriol is spearheading the opening of the 17-hectare beachfront property at Ho Tram, a two-hour drive from Vietnam's biggest metropolis Ho Chi Minh City. Ferriol has worked for Melia Hotels and Resorts for the past 15 years, steadily rising through the ranks before becoming an acting resident manager at Gran Melia Fenix in Madrid, a Leading Hotel of the World, and resident manager at TRYP Palma Bellver By Melia in Mallorca. In 2014, he was appointed director of operations at Melia Hanoi, the Spanish group's flagship hotel in Vietnam and recognised as one of the most luxurious MICE and events hotels in Asia. After two years at Melia Hanoi, he was promoted to general manager at Melia Danang. His success establishing the then-newly opened Melia Danang, combined with his experience managing leisure and business hotels in Vietnam, resulted in his appointment as the general manager of Melia Ho Tram Beach Resort. After softly opening on March 15 this year, 152-room and 61-villa Melia Ho Tram Beach Resort celebrated its grand opening on April 20, cutting the ribbon on a host of world-class facilities such as three restaurants including a beach club, three swimming pools, a swim-up bar, a coffee shop, a 10-treatment room spa, an executive lounge, a ballroom and conference facilities, a kids club, gymnasium, gift shop and more. Appointment 17 May 2019 Prior to his current role, Barge was the director of leisure and spa at Dead Sea Marriott, Jordan, where he led a team of 40 individuals. Barge, who started his career as a personal fitness trainer, graduated from the Manchester Metropolitan University, UK with a bachelor's degree in exercise science. Later he moved to become a spa manager at Bailiffscourt Health Spa, UK. Post that he joined Temple Spa at Palmerston hotels, Italy as their spa operations manager. Over the years, he joined Huvafen Fushi Resort & Spa, Maldives as director of spa, where he introduced a tailor-made wellness programme that won him the Conde Nast Traveller Award for Best Spa in 2013. Appointment 17 May 2019 Hotel management company Hospitality Management Holding (HMH) has promoted Haytham Abdelaziz to the role of director of operations for the HMH Group. Prior to his promotion, Abdelaziz was the cluster general manager of Bahi Ajman Palace & Coral Beach Resort. In his new role, Abdelaziz will be responsible for "overseeing the execution of the brands operational procedures and delivering key strategic initiatives for the new properties in the pipeline to full operation readiness". Abdelaziz who has more than 19 years of experience has worked in different hospitality brands across Egypt, UAE and Saudi Arabia. He HMH in 2014 as the executive assistant manager at the Bahi Ajman Palace Hotel before being promoted to the position of hotel manager at Coral Beach Resort Sharjah in 2015. He then moved on to the role of the general manager in 2017 before being promoted as the acting cluster general manager in 2018. Supplier News 17 May 2019 Infor, a global leader in business cloud software specialized by industry, today announced that New Zealand Sudima Hotel Group has deployed Infor Hospitality Management Solution (HMS) across its hotels to streamline its rapidly-growing hotel operations, and to provide a better customer experience with its mobile housekeeper application with faster room turnover. With three hotels in Auckland, Christchurch and Rotorua, and three new hotels across New Zealand set to open in the next fourteen months, Sudima Hotel Group needs a true cloud-based reliable solution that scales easily, integrates seamlessly with existing booking platforms and provides on-going service support. With the deployment complete in under two months, Sudima Hotel Group has embedded Infor HMS at the core of the business. Infor technology will continue to support a complex ecosystem of software, data and support systems as the business continues its rapid expansion. "Our customers are at the heart of our business, so searching for solutions that will enable us to focus on our customers is our top priority," said Michael Chinnery, Group Financial Controller at Sudima Hotel Group. "Infor HMS is a proven property management system (PMS) and we are confident that our partnership with Infor enables our business to spend less time on paperwork, provide greater insights on customers, with the knowledge that we are able to easily scale these solutions as new locations are launched." "Infor is closely attuned to the unique challenges of the hospitality industry, and ideally positioned to provide the best industry-specific solutions that will help our customers digitise and accelerate growth," said Eric Wong, Vice President, Hospitality, Infor Asia Pacific. "Not all cloud PMS solutions are created equal, and we are proud to be working with an innovative business paving the way in the hospitality industry and expanding its footprint across New Zealand." About Sudima Hotel Group Sudima Hotel Group is a New Zealand hotel brand that is passionate about and committed to delivering environmentally friendly and accessible hotels in New Zealand. It is an industry leader in setting sustainability benchmarks, having achieved the first carboNZero certification for a New Zealand hotel, and initiating a movement within its group of hotels to become single-use plastic free by 2020. All of its hotels are accessible and have been rated between Bronze and Gold for accessibility by Be Accessible. Underpinned by strong values that centre on caring, doing the right thing and working together, Sudima Hotels focuses on helping guests make the most of their day. Both corporate and leisure travelers will feel welcome and be greeted with a smile at Sudima Hotels. Sudima Hotels' current locations include Auckland Airport, Lake Rotorua and Christchurch Airport. Its Christchurch CBD hotel will open in June 2019, and new hotels in Kaikoura and Auckland CBD in October 2020. Sudima Hotels is owned and managed by Auckland-based entrepreneur and property investor Sudesh Jhunjhnuwala. Former CEO of Lynch, Jones & Ryan brokerage now works to improve the business district of Fifth Avenue in New York City. And while growing up in the 1970s, few premier steakhouses existed in Northwest Indiana. Mothers Day always meant having Sunday dinner in Merrillville at one of the steakhouse restaurant franchises which no longer exist, such as Sizzler, or even more often, the York Steakhouse in the Southlake Mall. Following dinner, our family always joined mom and her two freshly-baked pies, for a visit to HER own mom, our Grandma Green and her precious white (and unfriendly) poodle Frosty at their cozy house in Rensselaer. 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 HVS CEO Stephen Rushmore Jr. and HVS Americas President Rod Clough announced that the firms Mexico City practice has assumed responsibility for expanding the HVS presence across Latin America under the leadership of Richard Katzman. HVS CEO Stephen Rushmore Jr. and HVS Americas President Rod Clough announced that the firms Mexico City practice has assumed responsibility for expanding the HVS presence across Latin America under the leadership of Richard Katzman. The HVS Mexico City office, established in 2007, holds a leading position in Mexico and across Central America for hospitality consulting and valuations. During the past year, it has expanded its presence and is active in projects from Colombia to Chile, leveraging the best practices established in Mexico across the Latin American region. HVS has conducted market and feasibility studies and appraisals for hotel assets in urban areas and resort destinations throughout Mexico; in addition, it has completed due diligence for IPOs for two hotel-specific FIBRAs (Mexicos REIT-like investment vehicle) and has advised on development strategies for hotel chains and investors. The HVS Mexico City team also participates in the analysis of complex master-planned resort projects and urban mixed-use projects. HVSs annual Hotel Investment Conference, HVS MexHIC, is broadly considered to be the best in Mexico. Richard Katzman, HVS Managing Director and Senior Partner, and Maxim Gomez, Senior Project Manager, of HVS Mexico City will be further expanding the HVS presence across Latin America. Mr. Katzman has been active in real estate advisory in Mexico and Latin America since 1992. During this period, he formed Grupo Inmobiliario Inova, a real estate advisory boutique that merged in 2001 with Insignia/ESG. Following the merger of Insignia/ESG and CB Richard Ellis in 2003, he reestablished an independent real estate advisory and subsequently partnered with HVS in 2007 to establish the HVS Mexico City office. He is a graduate of Cornells School of Hotel Administration and earned an MBA from The Wharton School. Mr. Gomez has been part of the HVS team for four years, working on various projects across Mexico, Central America, and South America. A graduate of Institut Superieur de Gestion in Paris, he brings international experience in the media and for-sale real estate sectors. Contact info: rkatzman@hvs.com mgomez@hvs.com Richard J. Katzman Managing Director, Senior Partner Bosque de Duraznos No. 75, Suite 803 Col. Bosques de las Lomas 11700 Mexico D.F., Mexico Daily News Delivery Join your colleagues and stay up to date on the latest Hotel industry news and trends. Subscribe 2021 Hotel News Resource Drake may have settled his lawsuit with Hebrew Hustle but he's still on the hook for money owed to an expert witness, according to The Blast. The rapper brought in some powerful forces to help him win the case but that same person who helped him out claims that the rapper left him out to dry when it came to making the agreed upon payment. Emma McIntyre/Getty Images CMG Worldwide Founder & Chairman, Mark Roesler, who's described as a dominant force in the evolving intellectual property arena," said he agreed to be brought in for a deposition in exchange for $5,312. Roesler claimed that he spent eight hours being deposed in October 2018. He didn't necessarily detail what he spoke about during the deposition but as the publication pointed out, it's likely that he used his expertise to set a monetary value for Drake's likeness while the rapper's attorney made their case to prove Hebrew Hustle cost the rapper tons of money. Drake ended up reaching a settlement with the company which resulted in Hebrew Hustle paying out the rapper before the case was dismissed. However, Roesler said that he hasn't seen a penny from the money that he's owed. The CMG Worldwide founder was forced to file on Drake in a small claims court. Drake was initially sued by Hebrew Hustle who claimed he infringed on one of their tracks. Drake later countersued, claiming they used his name and image for false advertisement. Kanye West isn't the only person from his camp accused of doing botched business with an Asian clothing line. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Korean fashion brand claims Malik Yusef forged Kanye's signature on several contracts, as well as using fake invoices from companies including Roc-A-Fella in a multi-million dollar scam. Gentle Monster, a brand cherished by celebrities such as Beyonce, filed a lawsuit against Yusef today in L.A. County Superior Court accusing Yusef of using his relationship with Kanye West to deceive the clothing brand into believing he was scoping for top talent in order to do a series of videos for Project 13. Jason Merritt/Getty Images "From their earliest interactions with Gentle Monster, defendants went out of their way to describe Yusefs star-studded connections," Susan Leader, Gentle Monster's attorney, wrote. "They never missed an opportunity to mention that Yusef routinely works with artists like Beyonce and Kanye, that he tours with JayZ, or that he vacations with Pharrell Williams." The company claims Yusef made them believe that the only way they can stay within their budget for the series is if they go directly through Yusef and dodge agents. Gentle Monster said that wired more than $2.5M to Yusef and his agents under the impression that he'd bring celebrities like Kanye, Pharell, Jaden Smith, and Paris Jackson. After the company requested a signature from Kanye or Pharrell to confirm their participation, Yusef allegedly forged Kanye's signature. "Defendants deception was both flagrant and brazen," Leader continued. "Specifically, they forged Kanyes signature, created a shell entity named after Kanyes deceased mother, issued fraudulent invoices made to appear as though they had been issued by legitimate talent agencies, lied about their contacts and work with artists, and, in the end, pocketed more than $2.5 million from Gentle Monster." ' The company sued Yusef, as well as his manager and business partner Burundi Partlow and Sonja Nutall, on claims of fraud, breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and unfair competition. Kodak Black's fate continues to hang suspended, given the tumultuous nature of his ever-changing legal circumstances. The rapper recently found himself facing some hard time after allegedly "falsifying information" on a gun application, the latest of many missteps he's taken across 2019. Now, with ten years of hard time staring back at him, Kodak's prosecutors are looking to take a firm stance against the young Floridian rapper. TMZ reports that the feds are moving to stop prevent his bail from occurring, deeming him a flight risk and citing his repeat offender status as a main piece of evidence. Mike Coppola/Getty Images Apparently, they feel he has never made good on his probationary prerequisites before, so they're not optimistic he'll suddenly turn over a new leaf. The court document cites a pattern of sorts, describing Kodak's modus operandi "to be arrested, get released, get arrested, get released, get arrested, get released, and so on and so on." Apparently, they also point to the "violent" nature of his crimes, tying him to a shooting in March, and harkening back to an armed robbery and carjacking from 2012. Kodak's lawyer Bradford Cohen has fought back on the position, posing a counter to the prosecutors' unwavering position. "If they were in such fear for the community as its being alleged, why didn't they pick him up soon after he filled out the paperwork in January? That's what this charge is about, paperwork, a non-violent crime." As of yet, the judge has yet to issue a ruling. As for Kodak, it's difficult to say whether he can bounce back from this avalanche of legal problems. At what point does something have to give? [via] In the past few days, we've come to learn a whole lot more concerning the Miami shooting that ended in the untimely death of an innocent person standing in the vicinity of NBA Younboy and his girlfriend. Just yesterday, a report published by the Miami Herald seemed to infer that Fredo Bang was in some way involved in the blindside attack. Joe Raedle/Getty Images Although Youngboy and his associates have been acquitted of any foul play, investigators in Miami are conferred with state officials in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to reach a decision that doesn't exactly bode well for the 19-year old or his closest of kin. According to The Advocate, the same District Judge Bonnie Jackson who filed for NBA's probation in 2017, is demanding that he remain "detained" until further notice. The "order of detention" has been placed so that authorities can ascertain whether NBA violated a stipulation of the probationary agreement he signed in 2017. "Kay" has since taken to Instagram with a rousing message of unconditional support for her teenage love. In so few words, Kay is letting her boyfriend know she doesn't hold him responsible for the attack, and in some respects, appreciates the valiant showing he put forward in the heat of the moment. https://www.instagram.com/p/BxkNsEAgDWY [Via] Unemployment in Houston fell to a record low for April as the regions employers added jobs for the 15th consecutive month, supported by an expanding energy industry and strong national economy. The jobless rate in the region plummeted to 3.2 percent, down from 4.2 percent in April 2018. Its the lowest April unemployment rate since the statistical series began in 1990, according to the U.S. Labor Department. The region added 6,000 jobs last month, after gaining more than 11,000 in March and 7,500 in February, the Texas Workforce Commission reported Friday. The local economy has generated more than 80,000 jobs over the past year, increasing at rate of 2.7 percent. That matched states rate of job growth while easily outpacing that of the nation, where employment grew 1.8 percent from April 2018. The national economy continued its remarkable run of more than 100 consecutive months of job growth in April, adding more than 260,000 jobs as the expansion, which began in June 2009, is all but certain to become the longest in U.S. history. Oil prices, while far from stratospheric, remain healthy, settling near $63 a barrel Friday. Those two factors are helping us out, Parker Harvey, principal economist at the workforce development organization Workforce Solutions. Thats the wind at our backs. All about oil In Houston, the oil and gas industry, which drives the local economy, is chugging along. Employment in the energy services sector grew by 4,400 jobs over the past year, a surge of 11 percent. Oil and gas extraction added 300 jobs over the year. Related: Its still all about oil in Houston Manufacturing, which is closely tied to the energy sector, gained nearly 15,000 jobs from April 2018, an increase of nearly 7 percent. Construction employment climbed by 2 percent, or 4,500 jobs, over the year. Among service industries, professional and business services, which encompass firms from law to consulting to engineering, added some 22,000 jobs over the past year, up nearly 5 percent. Educational and health services gained more than 14,000 jobs from April 2018, and leisure and hospitality restaurants, hotels and tourism-related businesses added 8,300 jobs over the year. It was a pretty good month, Harvey said. For Texas, too. The state added 29,000 jobs last month, and more than 280,000 over the year, the Texas Workforce Commission reported. It was the 108th consecutive month of year-over-year job growth, the agency said. State record The state unemployment rate, adjusted for seasonal variations, fell to 3.7 percent, returning to the record low reached in December. Professional and business services led the April employment gains, adding 8,400 jobs over the month. Construction added nearly 6,000 jobs over the month and education and health services gained more than 4,000 jobs. The mining and logging sector, which is dominated by the oil and gas industry, gained 2,700 jobs in April. Over the year, the sector grew by more than 16,000 jobs, or 7 percent. Houstons home values may be at their peak. According to Zillow, the housing market is already on its way down. The real estate website released a report Thursday morning saying Houston-area home values fell 0.3 percent in April from the month before. Nationally, home prices have been growing by less each month since March 2018, but they were still on the rise, according to the Case-Shiller Price Index of home values. That changed last month when, for the first time since February 2012, Zillows data show home values nationwide fell 0.1 percent month-over-month. This most certainly hasnt happened in a long time, said Skylar Olsen, Zillows director of economic research. Its not common. And its definitely not common for it to happen without a recession to match it. While past downturns were caused by a combination of job loss and predatory loans, this one is being driven by prices rising more quickly than buyers can afford. PRIME PROPERTY: Sign up to get Houston's real estate and development news sent your email at HoustonChronicle.com This truly is a market adjustment, Olsen said. Home values grew incredibly quickly. You shook some people: Oh, can I afford to actually buy a home at this moment? Perhaps now is not the time to buy. While economists are unsure how long the correction will last or how significant it will be, many agree that it is coming. Dallas, Houston and Denver are some of the most overpriced markets in the country, said Ken H. Johnson, a real estate economist who created the Beracha, Hardin & Johnson Buy vs. Rent Index, which compares the returns of someone who buys a home to the returns of someone who rents a similar quality home and invests the money that would have otherwise been put toward homeownership. The most recent index found that market conditions in Houston placed significant downward pressure on the demand for homeownership. However, Olsen and Johnson also agreed that the correction will be nothing like the 2008 housing bubble. Will this be a catastrophe, like 2009 was for the rest of the country? Probably not, Johnson said. Youre not going to see the foreclosure in massive droves. Youre going to see property appreciation stop. Youre going to see a hard time selling your house. Javier Vivas, director of economic research for the National Association of Realtors, said the longterm trend in Houstons housing market has been a gradual decline. The number of homes on the market have been rising, and the average time it took to sell a home has been growing longer. Large numbers of homes have also been selling for less than their list price. And even though mortgage rates have fallen since November, sales volumes were not growing quickly. Altogether, those are signs that the market is slowing, Vivas said. But Vivas pointed out a softening market probably wont impact all homes equally. You could look at existing homes and even the condo market, and you could see those slow down, he said. The exception to the trend are new, entry-level single-family homes. The new home market, particularly the entry level, could perform very well, Vivas said. The demand is there. An investigation by Thompsons department determined that the private water line that runs from the units to the public utility water main had burst, creating serious erosion and fallen utility poles. The private water lines that were installed when the apartments were built were of substandard materials that were not designed to handle the water pressure, Thompson said. David McCulloughs new book was a journey to a world both distant and uncanny. The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West is the 13th publication by the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and the fulfillment of his longtime dream to write about people not widely known to the general public. He wrote it in the spirit of one of his early mentors, Thornton Wilder, and his play Our Town. The book focuses on some of those who embarked to the Northwest Territory in the late-18th century and formed communities in what became the state of Ohio. As with virtually all of his work, McCullough started out knowing little about the subject. His interest dates to 2004 when he was the commencement speaker at Ohio University and wondered whom one of the campus buildings, Cutler Hall, was named for. The Rev. Manasseh Cutler, a New England pastor, is now a hero to McCullough, who compares him to Benjamin Franklin as an early American polymath and visionary. He was among the settlers who in 1788 established Marietta, Ohio, and are at the center of The Pioneers, the others including Cutlers son, Ephraim; Rufus Putnam, a Revolutionary War general; and Samuel Hildreth, a doctor and botanist who wrote one of the few extended chronicles on early Marietta. McCulloughs decision to write The Pioneers was guided by coincidence. Cutler was not only a man of wide-ranging talents but a graduate of Yale University, McCulloughs alma mater. The settlers westward journey to Ohio passed through Pittsburgh, McCulloughs hometown. Hildreths publishers included A.S. Barnes & Co., founded by an ancestor of McCulloughs wife, Rosalee Barnes McCullough. When Rosalee heard all this, she said, You have to write this book, McCullough said. Over the past couple of years, McCullough and his longtime research aide Michael Hill immersed themselves in archives at the Marietta College Library. McCullough speaks ecstatically about the rare diaries, letters, photographs and unpublished memoirs he looked through, making him feel like he had found King Tuts tomb or something. The librarys curator, Linda Showalter, said she was moved and gratified by the 85-year-old McCulloughs fascination with materials that only local scholars had cared about. He is curious about everything, and some of his challenging questions caused me to look at certain things with a new perspective, she said. When David discovered a great story, his excitement was contagious. He was always cheerful and enthusiastic during his research, and at one time was inspired by a piece of sheet music to sing a little song for us. The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West by David McCullough Simon & Schuster 352 pages, $17.99 See More Collapse McCulloughs subjects have ranged from Harry Truman and John Adams to the Brooklyn Bridge and the Panama Canal. But he sees some common themes, many of them present in The Pioneers. He likes to honor people he believes have either been ignored or treated unfairly by historians. He likes stories that remind Americans of the sacrifices made on their behalf. And he is drawn to grand, torturous but successful undertakings, whether the Brooklyn Bridge, the Panama Canal or the formation of a new state. I like to write about people who set out to do something that is thought to be impossible. And how they run into more complicated turns and tests of their fortune than they ever imagined or expected, and how they dont give up, he says. They (the early Ohioans) go out there, and theres nothing: no highways, no roads, no bridges, no hospitals, to say the least, and no anesthetic. The only anesthetic they have men, women and children is whiskey. And they put up with adversities of a kind even they couldnt have anticipated: epidemic diseases like smallpox and influenza, accidents of all kind, the premature death of children. As McCullough notes in his book, Marietta was named for royalty, Marie Antoinette of France. But it was established under the more egalitarian principles of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, which Manasseh Cutler lobbied for. The ordinance called for religious freedom, trial by jury, the encouragement of education and, most dramatically, a ban on slavery at a time when all the original 13 colonies permitted it. Ephraim Cutler was later a local delegate who left his sick bed and cast a key vote that ensured blacks would have full rights in Ohios constitution. We dont know precisely how he got there, McCullough says. One story is he was carried in on a stretcher. I couldnt confirm that but, anyway, he got there, gave a speech, sick as he was, and cast his vote. McCullough has now written two books, The Pioneers and The Wright Brothers, about Ohios past, and he feels a strong attachment to the state that neighbors his native Pennsylvania. He notes that some of the countrys most prominent adventurer-explorers come from Ohio: the Wrights, John Glenn and Neil Armstrong. McCullough himself had an Ohio adventure, an unexpected one, when years ago he shared a ride in Glenns plane while working on a magazine piece about him. We were flying along, and he had me ride beside him in the co-pilot seat, and I had to put my feet on the pedals, McCullough says. And were going along for a while, and he said, How are you feeling? And I said Great. And he said, I want you to know that youre flying the plane. Megan Thee Stallion and Lizzo, who both came up in Houston, are up for a BET Award. Both women are nominated for best female hip-hop artist. It's a huge feat considering the other names in the category: Cardi B, Nicki Minaj, Remy Ma and Kash Doll. Megan released her official debut album "Fever" Friday. Spotify hosted a release party Thursday night for at Neon Boots Dancehall & Saloon, transforming the club into "The Hottie Ranch." HOUSTON HOTTIE: Megan Thee Stallion heats up 'Fever' release party The album is currently No. 3 on the iTunes hip-hop/rap album chart and top 10 on the all-genre chart. Megan Thee Stallion is currently a junior at Texas Southern University, where she's studying health administration and hopes to opening assisted-living facilities in Houston. Houston native Lizzo released her "Cuz I Love You" album in April. She performs June 22 at the Pride Festival just outside City Hall. Lizzo told NPR that she found her voice in hip-hop when she lived in Houston. She also played piccolo for the University of Houston Cougar Marching Band. "It was almost something that I had to learn how to do, growing up in Houston. I think that I was just at the right age at the right time, where socially I wanted to fit in," she said of discovering hip-hop. "There was a lot of freestyling on the bus, there was a lot of freestyling in the cafeteria, and there was a lot of freestyling on the radio. "So when I discovered at a young age that I could put bars together, I kind of became addicted to it. And like the flute, I practiced and wanted to be the best at it." The BET Awards are June 23 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Joey Guerra is the music critic for the Houston Chronicle and also covers everything from "Drag Race" to "Idol." Follow him on Twitter. Send him news tips at joey.guerra@chron.com. Arash Kharat, the chef whose smoking prowess helped put the barbecue program at Beaver's on the city's essential smoked meats map, is the new culinary director for Buffalo Bayou Brewing Company. Kharat, who opened Beaver's as executive chef in 2017, will oversee the restaurant in Buffalo Bayou's new 28,000-square-foot brewery going up in Sawyer Yards. The three-story facility, which will include a 200-seat restaurant and a rooftop patio overlooking downtown, is scheduled to open later this year. Kharat, known for his pitmaster skills that has made Beaver's among the city's top barbecue destinations, will remain with Beaver's until next month. The brewery's menu under Kharat has not been announced, but according to Kharat, it will not be barbecue-focused. BREW WITH A VIEW: Read about Buffalo Bayou Brewing's new Sawyer Yards project "I'm excited to work with a team with a great imagination and passion for a crafter here in Houston," Kharat said. "I'll be opening the gates and taking a step back from big barbecue platters and heavy meats to shareable beer-paired items that express the best that Texas has to offer." Snagging Kharat, who has smoked malt for several of Buffalo Bayou's annual releases of "Smoke on The Bayou," is a coup for the brewery. "I've always adored Arash's food," said the brewery's founder and CEO Rassul Zarinfar. "And our whole team already loves him so much from all our incredible, palate-bending collaborations and parties over the years. He's the perfect fit." Beaver's has not named who will oversee its kitchen when Kharat leaves. Greg Morago writes about food for the Houston Chronicle. Follow him on Facebook or Twitter. Send him news tips at greg.morago@chron.com. Hear him on our BBQ State of Mind podcast to learn about Houston and Texas barbecue culture. Andrew Gn designs the kind of clothes you want to keep. Theyre the antithesis of fast fashion. Theyre indulgent and timeless, not classic. My motto has always been absolute beauty, he said. And what I make are beautiful things, things that people dont wear once and throw away. They pass them down. Penne Weidig, Tootsies senior buyer for American and European collections, said Gns coats are collectors items. The first time he came to the store, he gave me a blouse, Weidig said. I still have it. I still wear it. Weidig was introduced to Gn in the late 90s or early 2000s. In those days, before email and digital look books, emerging designers would mail brochures stamped with pictures of their clothing to prospective boutiques and department stores. Stacks of those brochures were sent to Tootsies then located in Highland Village each week. Something about Gns aesthetic caught Weidigs eye. It had a lot of detail, she said. It was very French, ladylike and different. There was the signature embroidery that he does even to this day. And lots of black and white. She showed his work to Mickey Rosmarin, the womenswear shops late owner, and off they went to Paris. We bought his collection, and the next season we had him come to the store for the first time, she recalled. I remember this vividly. We took him to Goode Co. Barbecue on Kirby with Becca Cason Thrash, Holly Moore, me and Mickey. That was his first stop. A fun tradition was born. Houston was love at first sight, Gn said. I love barbecue because its something we dont really eat in Europe, the food here can be really chi-chi. I love brisket, sausages, okra and potato salad. Last week, the Singapore-born, England-educated designer returned to Houston for his sixth or seventh visit. He doesnt remember how many times hes been here, but he can tell you exactly what hes eaten each trip. I also asked for deep-fried chicken and mashed potatoes and biscuits before they sent me off to the plane, Gn said, laughing. Weidig confirmed, his departing meal was from Popeyes. Over the years, shes also taken him to Frenchys Chicken, Uchi and Maxs Wine Dive. In between their foodie adventures, Houstons Best Dressed types pop into Tootsies to see the clothes. On Tuesday evening, the stores creative director, Fady Armanious, and senior buyers hosted an after-hours catwalk presentation and seated dinner for top customers. Gn brought 10 racks lined with nearly 80 looks from his fall collection. He calls it high daywear, though Weidig insists its event-specific clothes for the lady on the social scene. We chose to do a lot more occasion dressing, he explained. We chose more wild pieces for the runway because it did capture the attention of these women. A lot of people are loving the V-neck blazer with a snake applique I believe in an evening blazer. When a woman enters a room wearing that, she will not go unnoticed, we call those head-turning outfits. Two shoppers in particular, Alicia Smith and Brigitte Kalai, ordered the same evening suit in two different colors. Well share them! Smith said. Brocade dresses with feather trim and fringe caftans were also popular purchases, which makes sense. Gn describes his customer as a woman who loves the finer things in life. Someone who appreciates a silk lining, and how much work goes into creating a garment. The trend that Gn didnt see coming is cross-generational dressing. Before Houston, I was actually in New York, where a girlfriend of mine organized a little party for her friends, all aged 25-29. I dressed their mothers and their grandmothers. This is a new generation for me, so now Ive dressed three. Gn likes to hire younger girls to work in his Paris office. They feed his curiosity and keep him up to date. Because of social media, were always bombarded with images, he said. The constant overload suits his personality. Im a greedy boy. Im never satisfied with one thing. Theres not one right way. There are many ways. Gn shows four collections a year and designs a different T-shirt for his team to wear to each one. Theyre always inscribed with words, phrases or muses that inspire him at that moment. He gifted a stack of black T-shirts scribbled with I Feel Sexy, Sensual, SUSIEWONG, AGN in white letters to his Houston dinner guests. What I love about the Houston woman is that when she sees beauty, she cannot resist it, he said. Theres no stopping her. If she likes it, she wears it. Thats also one of the reasons Weidig still visits his Paris atelier four times a year after two decades of working together. His is the only designer address I know by memory: 79, Rue du Temple. The feeling is mutual. Houston is very special to me. Mickey was a very good friend, and its one of those relationships that just go on. Many of the designers that started out at the same time as me arent around anymore. But I still have something to say. And plenty more Bayou City restaurants to try, too. amber.elliott@chron.com There are already six women running for president in 2020, an unprecedented number, and two of them - Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kamala Harris of California - routinely poll in the top five among the nearly two dozen Democratic hopefuls. But it's still not clear that America is ready to elect its first female president. For that to happen, the overachieving women in the race will have to surmount the sexism of other women - specifically, non-college-educated white women. Minority women have voted by double-digit margins for Democratic presidential candidates for decades. Conversely, since 2004, non-college-educated white women have voted Republican by double-digit margins, and by a seven-point margin in 2000. In 2016, their loyalty to the GOP looked like it could falter. Close to the end of the race, they swung toward Hillary Clinton. But in the last weeks of the campaign, they moved decisively for Donald Trump. For this group, when it comes to female candidates, relatability is crucial. But when trying to relate to these voters, female candidates face a particular challenge: If non-college-educated white women can't see themselves - their life choices and values - reflected in a woman who's running for president, they're probably not going to vote for her. They "tend to be even more judgmental along some of these dimensions," says Celinda Lake, a prominent Democratic pollster. "There's a judgey-ness there in a class as well as a gender way." Christine Matthews, a Republican pollster, has seen this in her work. When polling against Georgia Democratic senatorial candidate Michelle Nunn in 2014, she found that non-college-educated white women wanted to know whether Nunn was married and had kids. " 'She looks like a college professor,' they'd say, which was damning praise," Matthews said, recalling her focus groups. "What they were essentially saying was, 'I cannot relate to her.' " Nunn, now chief executive of a national nonprofit - whose husband stayed home to raise their kids - lost that race. The same dynamic plagued Clinton in 2016, Matthews said. "For college-educated white women, relatability wasn't as big a deal because essentially they themselves had college degrees. They were, or had been, in the [white-collar] workforce," Matthews says. "But for non-college-educated women, they were intimidated." Clinton, notably, won college-educated white women - a swing of 13 percentage points from Barack Obama's loss of that demographic to Mitt Romney in 2012. Despite this, her loss of non-college-educated white women was so severe that, overall, she lost white women by 11 percentage points, a far cry from her husband, who in 1996 was the last Democrat to win the white female vote. In the 2016 election, most demographic groups were predictably committed. White men and older voters favored Trump. Minorities and college-educated voters went for Clinton. The only demographic that moved back and forth dramatically during the campaign was non-college-educated white women. After the uproar over Trump's disparagement of Gold Star parents Khizr and Ghazala Khan during the Democratic National Convention,Trump dropped from a statistical tie the day of Khan's convention speech to around an eight-point deficit a little more than a week later, according to RealClearPolitics' average of national polls. The most pronounced change was among women: A CNN/ORC poll taken right before Khan's speech showed Clinton only four points ahead among women; the same poll taken immediately after the speech showed Clinton stretching her lead to 23 points. Enter then-campaign manager and current White House adviser Kellyanne Conway, Trump's ubiquitous cable TV surrogate, who cut her pollster teeth studying non-college-educated, white female voters. She helped Trump make up that lost ground by highlighting his history of hiring women in the male-dominated construction industry, including daughter Ivanka, and pushing him to voice support for policy proposals targeted at female voters in the campaign's final stretch. By the first general-election debate, Trump was just 2.3 points behind Clinton in the RealClearPolitics average. Then came the "Access Hollywood" recording on Oct. 7, and by their second debate on Oct. 9, Clinton was ahead by 4.6 points. An Atlantic/PRRI poll found that among non-college-educated white women, Clinton and Trump were even at 40-40.If Clinton had held steady among this group, she probably would have won. Non-college-educated white women picked George W. Bush by 18 points in 2004.They chose John McCain by 17 points and Mitt Romney by 20.The idea that they'd swing 20 points from 2012 to 2016 was wild. And then FBI Director James Comey reopened the investigation into Clinton's email in the final weeks of the campaign. Non-college-educated white women ended up voting for Trump by a historic margin of 27 percentage points. At the heart of it was the perception that Clinton considered herself above it all. "It is true that many female voters tend to ask of candidates, 'Do I like you?' and more importantly," Conway wrote in an email to me, " 'Are you like me?' . . . The latter is the 'connective tissue' of standing in one's shoes, sharing one's struggles. Bill Clinton was seen this way; Hillary Clinton was not." In the 2018 midterm elections, non-college-educated white women swung again. They still voted Republican, but by a margin of only 14 percentage points, helping to hand Democrats control of the House and elect a record number of women to public office. Can this be repeated in 2020 by a woman running for president? Voting down-ballot is very different from voting at the top of the ticket. Women face unique challenges seeking executive office that men don't, according to research by the Barbara Lee Family Foundation, which specializes in helping elect women to executive office. Women's strengths of collaboration, compromise and civility help them win down-ballot offices where group decision-making is key. But women face a competency test for executive decision-making - essentially a yes-or-no question about whether they can be commander in chief - that men don't face for the highest offices, which is one reason women make up only 21 percent of the nation's mayors, 18 percent of governors and 5 percent of Fortune 1000 chief executives. For women, it's a thin line between proving oneself capable and being seen as essentially unlikable. This is the conundrum for the 2020 female candidates. On the competency side, those with law enforcement experience, such as Harris and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., have an inherent advantage. But Klobuchar has battled to balance her too-tough-boss image with "Minnesota nice," while Harris is running on something of a unity platform. Warren has demonstrated her skills by providing the most detailed and comprehensive set of policy proposals among the candidates, but she "will face relatability issues in the same way Hillary Clinton did. She is, after all, a liberal New England Ivy League professor, and that's probably why she got a golden retriever puppy" last year, said Matthews, the GOP pollster. Clearly, men also face a relatability test - it's why John Kerry was mocked as elitist in 2003 for putting Swiss cheese on his Philly cheesesteak. Relatability, or the lack thereof, also hurt President George H.W. Bush's reelection chances when he seemingly couldn't come up with the typical price of milk during a debate. But for non-college white women, that relatability test is far more personal. It's more about seeing themselves, or not seeing themselves, in the woman in front of them. Former senator Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., the longtime dean of Senate women, used to joke that we'll know women have made progress when mediocre women are elected to Congress. All of the women running for president are exceptional, from former Harvard professors to former state attorneys general to television stars. That they've had to be twice as good to succeed could, paradoxically, hurt them with an important voting bloc. Ultimately, it won't be about winning non-college-educated white women as much as mitigating their loss. A female candidate's best chance is to seem both capable and relatable, a difficult task until enough of these voters relate to female ambition and leadership. In other words, until enough women aspire to power, or at least feel that it's not beyond their reach, America may not be able to elect a powerful woman to the presidency. - - - Newton-Small is the founder of MemoryWell and a former Time magazine correspondent. She is the author of "Broad Influence: How Women Are Changing the Way America Works." No matter how you feel on the issue of abortion, I just want to make one thing crystal clear: the number of babies' lives saved by abortion regulation is zero. Fetuses are not babies. Fetuses are not people. Abortion does not now, nor has it ever killed babies. These are facts. You're welcome to feel however you like about those facts, but your feelings don't affect the fact of the matter, which is that abortion regulation is only about telling women what they can and cannot do with their own bodies, and has exactly jack to do with saving babies. WASHINGTON - The Trump administration is sending top national security officials to brief Congress on escalating tensions with Iran, agreeing to multiple meetings intended to head off growing frustration with the president and his senior advisers. Daniel Coats, the director of national intelligence, and Gen. Paul Nakasone, who heads the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command, met privately Thursday with the Gang of Eight, which includes the top Republicans and Democrats in the Senate and House and the heads of each chamber's intelligence committee. That session will be followed on Tuesday with separate briefings for all members of the House and Senate from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, acting defense secretary Patrick Shanahan and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford Jr., according to aides apprised of those plans. In each meeting, officials are expected to field questions about purported threats facing U.S. troops in the Middle East and the corresponding response from Washington, including the deployment of additional warplanes and a carrier strike group to the Persian Gulf, the decision to extract diplomatic personnel from Iraq, and reports of a possibly drastic expansion of the military's footprint throughout the region. Lawmakers in both political parties want clarity on the intelligence that has informed those measures, and many have become aggravated with the lack of information from the administration. Across Congress, Democrats complain that the administration has stymied their efforts to obtain committee-level and individualized briefings regarding the crisis with Iran, negotiations with North Korea, military operations along the U.S.-Mexico border and the prospect of an intervention in Venezuela. Direct appeals for information have been rebuffed, diverted or unsatisfactorily addressed, leading Democratic members say, heightening the risk that the administration creates a global crisis before Congress is even aware of what has led to it. "We don't need another Iraq, weapons-of-mass-destruction moment," Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's ranking Democrat, told reporters this week, alluding to the George W. Bush administration's ultimately flawed justification for its 2003 invasion. "I'm alarmed that we cannot even get the basic briefings in a timely way." Some Republican leaders, including Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman James Risch, R-Idaho, have played down such complaints. Risch has stated repeatedly over the past two weeks that he is in continuous contact with the administration. Other Republicans, however, say the dearth of information is a concern. "I think all of us are in the dark over here," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said this week. Information from the White House is slow to reach Congress because President Donald Trump and his advisers are often at odds over the best course of action, according to administration officials who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the strained relationship. The internal division spilled into public view Thursday, when Trump seemed to step in front of national security adviser John Bolton's warnings of a potential military conflict with Iran. The president told reporters, "I hope not" when asked whether war was imminent. The gap between Trump and his advisers means that even the most senior members of his administration are hard-pressed to communicate detailed plans to Congress - leading to bland briefings that irritate lawmakers by informing them only of what they already know, according to both Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill. The House Intelligence Committee chairman, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said Thursday that although some administration briefings are substantive, "sometimes, there have been occasions where they have been so watered down as to be less informative than watching TV." He noted that committee hearings have also been canceled at the White House's request, or relegated only to the Gang of Eight - whose members are prevented from sharing with other lawmakers the classified information they receive. This limits important information from reaching Congress and the public, Schiff said. Thursday's meeting with the Gang of Eight came after the administration abruptly canceled an Iran briefing for the House Intelligence Committee that had been scheduled for Wednesday, according to four people familiar with the matter. House Democrats have faced steeper hurdles in seeking to obtain classified information about North Korea's nuclear ambitions. Members of the House Intelligence Committee have complained that intelligence on the hermit kingdom has been "constricted." The House Foreign Affairs Committee has sought a classified briefing on North Korea for at least four months, according to Democratic aides, and the committee has been told that attempts to schedule such a session are being resisted by senior White House officials, including Bolton. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. In justifying their decisions to not provide Congress with sensitive briefings, administration officials have cited concerns that lawmakers may disclose the information to the media. In March, for instance, when Pompeo was asked during a public hearing why lawmakers were unable to secure a briefing on the status of Afghanistan peace talks, he said that "the success of those negotiations depends on every one of those partners having confidence that what they say will not end up in The Washington Post." An aide on the House Foreign Affairs Committee said that this has prevented the panel from receiving updates about the administration's plans for China and the Indo-Pacific region. Yet several Democrats described a pattern by which the department and agency officials normally tasked to confer with lawmakers on such matters instead defer to the National Security Council for approval, which in turn quashes their requests to provide information to lawmakers. Administration officials also complain of internal struggles with the NSC, which they say is attempting to keep tight control over the flow of information made public as the Iran standoff unfolds. Garrett Marquis, the chief spokesman for the NSC, has told aides at other agencies to not comment publicly or release any statements to the media without explicit permission, frustrating staffers at the State Department and the Defense Department, officials said. The NSC also is attempting to keep a tight hold on information that goes to Congress, aides said. Marquis declined to comment, as did representatives for the Pentagon and the State Department. - - - The Washington Post's John Hudson contributed to this report. WASHINGTON President Donald Trump has sought to put the brakes on a brewing confrontation with Iran in recent days, telling the acting defense secretary, Patrick Shanahan, that he does not want to go to war with Iran, administration officials said, while his senior diplomats began searching for ways to defuse the tensions. Trumps statement, during a Wednesday morning meeting in the Situation Room, sent a message to his hawkish aides that he does not want the intensifying U.S. pressure campaign against the Iranians to explode into open conflict. For now, an administration that had appeared to be girding for conflict seems more determined to find a diplomatic off-ramp. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the leader of Oman, Sultan Qaboos bin Said, on Wednesday to confer about the threat posed by Iran, according to a statement. Long an intermediary between the West and Iran, Oman was a site of a secret channel in 2013 when the Obama administration was negotiating a nuclear agreement with Iran. Pompeo also asked European officials for help in persuading Iran to de-escalate tensions, which rose after U.S. intelligence indicated that Iran had placed missiles on small boats in the Persian Gulf. The intelligence, which was based on photographs that have not been released but were described to The New York Times, prompted fears that Tehran may strike at U.S. troops and assets or those of its allies. Asked Thursday whether the United States was going to war with Iran, Trump replied, I hope not. The developments cast into sharp relief a president who is instinctively wary of military adventures, and a cadre of advisers led by the national security adviser, John R. Bolton, who have taken an uncompromising line toward Iran. The internal tensions has prompted fears that the Trump administration is spoiling for a fight, even if the commander in chief may not be. Those divisions are playing out against a fierce internal debate among administration officials about the gravity of the Iranian threat. While officials and British allies say the intelligence about the Iranian threat is valid, lawmakers and some inside the administration accuse Trumps aides of exaggerating the danger and exploiting the intelligence to justify a military clash with Tehran. The administrations internal debate over Iran was described by five senior officials who demanded anonymity to discuss sensitive internal deliberations. Iran dismissed any suggestion of a dialogue with Trump. The escalation by the United States is unacceptable, the Iranian foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said Thursday. Indeed, there was a new potential flashpoint in Irans standoff with the United States, stemming from its vow last week to step away from some of the limitations imposed by the nuclear deal, a year after Trump pulled the United States out of the agreement that was negotiated between Tehran and world powers in 2015. State Department officials, speaking to reporters, set a red line that they warned Iran would cross at its peril: It could not ramp up its nuclear fuel production to the point where it could produce a nuclear weapon in less than one year. The officials did not specify what kind of reaction military or otherwise would come if Iran built up enough of a stockpile of uranium and took other steps to cross that threshold. But they acknowledged that the steps announced by Irans president, Hassan Rouhani, could eventually give Tehran that ability. No new information was presented to Trump at the Situation Room meeting that argued for further engagement with Iran, according to a person who attended. Shanahan and Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, presented the president with a range of military options and ticked off the troop levels, costs and risks of each, one of the officials said. But Trump was firm in saying he did not want a military clash with the Iranians, several officials said. The president has sought to tamp down reports of divisions between Bolton, Pompeo and the Pentagon. Military officials have warned against escalating the confrontation, even as Bolton ordered the Pentagon to present options to send as many as 120,000 troops to the Middle East to respond to Iranian provocations. There is no infighting whatsoever, Trump said Wednesday on Twitter. Different opinions are expressed and I make a decisive and final decision - it is a very simple process. All sides, views, and policies are covered. Trump added that he was confident Iran will want to talk soon, though one senior official said the White House was highly unlikely to pursue a secret diplomatic channel for talking to Iran, as the Obama administration had done. Pompeo has outlined 12 steps that Iran must take to satisfy the United States from halting all ballistic missile tests to cutting off support for militant groups in Syria and Yemen which critics in the Pentagon view as unrealistic and could back Iranian leaders into a corner. He recently described U.S. policy as being calculated to produce domestic political unrest in Iran. But for all his harsh words toward Tehran, several officials said Pompeo is rankled by being lumped in with Bolton as bent on war. A former Republican lawmaker, Pompeo is an astute reader of Trumps preferences and will plunge into diplomacy, if necessary, as he has with North Korea. Bolton, as a private citizen, long called for regime change in Tehran. He has resisted compromises that would open the door to negotiations, has stocked the National Security Council with Iran hard-liners and has masterminded recent policy changes to tighten the economic and political vise on the clerical government in Tehran. Three officials said Trump is less frustrated with Bolton over his handling of Iran he favors the tougher measures as a warning to Tehran than over the evolving narrative that his national security adviser is leading the administrations policy in the Middle East. The president, they said, is well-versed and comfortable with the administrations recent steps, which have included imposing increasingly onerous sanctions on Iran and designating the military wing of the government, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, as a foreign terrorist organization. Some officials have argued that Irans actions did not warrant a dramatic U.S. response, like potentially deploying thousands of troops to the Middle East, or the partial evacuation of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. Its a situation where this president has surrounded himself with people, Pompeo and Bolton, in particular, who believe that getting tough on a military basis with Iran is in our best interest, said Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat, as he emerged from an intelligence briefing Thursday. I do not. Bolton, several of the officials said, has quietly voiced frustration with the president, viewing him as unwilling to push for changes in a region that he has long seen as a quagmire. He has kept an unusually tight grip on the policymaking process for a national security adviser. Boltons independence has rankled the acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, and has even prompted rumors that his job might be in jeopardy something the White House denies. But Trump has poked fun at Boltons reputation for hawkishness, joking in meetings with him. If it was up to John, wed be in four wars now, one of the senior officials recalled Trump as saying. Trump also is impatient with another of Boltons campaigns: the effort to oust President Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela. After the oppositions failed attempt to peel away key Maduro allies and turn the Venezuelan military against him, Maduro appears harder to dislodge than ever. In recent days, officials said, the president has begun consulting outsiders, including Jack Keane, the former Army vice chief of staff and architect of the Iraq War troop surge who now appears regularly on Fox News. Keane declined to discuss any conversations he had with Trump, but said, Im confident that were not heading to a war with Iran, and whatever measures we will use, if in fact Iran does something provocative, will be measured and deliberate in not tolerating provocation. Other former government officials, however, criticized the Trump administrations policy as hobbled by internal disarray. Derek Chollet, an assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs under President Barack Obama, said the Trump administration was riddled by a fundamental contradiction a president who wants to withdraw from the Middle East and an administration with a maximalist policy of regime change. Diplomats who were involved in negotiations with Iran during the Obama administration said intermediaries like Oman could theoretically ease the tensions. But they said the White Houses unyielding position epitomized by Pompeos 12 demands would make fruitful negotiations impossible. Reinserting diplomacy into the strategy is not just about signaling that you want to talk and finding a channel, but about actually being ready to talk realistically, said William J. Burns, a former deputy secretary of state who led the secret talks with Iran and recently published The Back Channel, an account of the diplomacy. This article originally appeared in The New York Times The first China-Kazakhstan production is a biographical feature, The Composer, chronicling the last five years of Xian Xinghai, a musician best known in China for the song Yellow River Cantata. In 1940, Xian was sent to the former Soviet Union to make music for a revolutionary documentary, but his job was suspended when the Great Patriotic War, in which the Soviets fought against Nazi German invasion, broke out a year later. While he was trying to return to China from Almaty, Xian was stranded in the Kazakh city and stayed with a local family. In the period depicted in the film, Xian was struggling with poverty, disease and separation from his wife and daughter in Yan'an, Shaanxi province, who he was unable to reunite with until his death in a Moscow hospital in 1945. Authorities used a lock pick to open a bank vault containing a trove of clergy files that the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston failed to hand over following a subpoena, according to court documents. The picking tool helped Conroe Police Department investigators access the documents last November during a raid at the churchs Houston headquarters, Detective Joe McGrew said while describing the churchs lack of cooperation with their criminal probe. The agency was looking for evidence in the case against indicted priest Manuel La Rosa-Lopez and other clergy members who may have committed a crime. A Dallas investigator said he contacted the Conroe Police Department and Montgomery County District Attorneys Office regarding their search warrants. A sworn statement states that McGrew told his North Texas counterpart, David Clark, that after issuing a subpoena, his agency later learned the Diocese of Galveston-Houston did not turn over everything involving the priest in their investigation. The undisclosed files were in the locked vault, Clark wrote in a lengthy search warrant affidavit that the Dallas Police Department used on Wednesday to search the Diocese of Dallas. They had to pick the lock in order to enter into the vault, Clark continued. They found files involving the priest for whom they sought. The four search warrants that Conroe police used to access the chancery for the nations fifth largest diocese, a priest rehabilitation facility in Splendora and two churches in Richmond and Conroe resulted in the collection of about 16,000 documents, Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon said last week. The archdiocese declined to comment on the Dallas search warrant and McGrew did not return a call requesting comment. The sworn statement does not identify La Rosa-Lopez as the priest, but Ligon said at the time of the Nov. 28 search that more than 60 law enforcement officials were looking for employment and disciplinary records related to the priest and his time at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Conroe. Any evidence of additional victims or accused priests from outside Montgomery County would be handed to the Texas Rangers, he said. The obstacles were not isolated to Houston, Clark revealed in his affidavit. Law enforcement agencies in Maryland and New Mexico described similar attempts by local dioceses to stonewall their investigations. A state investigator said a box containing victim information relevant to their search warrant was found stashed in a random closet at the Archdiocese of Santa Fe in New Mexico. In Maryland, the attorney generals office found that the church had supplied an insurance company with details about sexual abuse allegations in claimant files, according to the sworn statement. In Dallas, Clark said he was denied the files of priests who were flagged for possible child sex abuse. For the files he did receive, most were missing pertinent records about allegations, he said. Clark also noted that Bishop Edward Burns declined to identify six former law enforcement officials whom the church hired to review more than 2,400 personnel documents. Clark was told the team was initially hired in February 2018 to look for financial mismanagement, rather than abusive priests. Last year, a Dallas diocese spokeswoman said that a former FBI agent and state trooper were among the team. At the time, Burns characterized the group as being in high demand, without elaborating. The search warrant in Dallas was used to find evidence involving five priests: Edmundo Paredes, Richard Brown, Alejandro Buitrago, William Hughes Jr. and Jeremy Myers. Authorities targeted their search at the diocese headquarters, parish offices at St. Cecilia Catholic Church and a storage warehouse believed to have contained files. The priest at the heart of the Conroe investigation, La Rosa-Lopez, was indicted earlier this month on two counts of indecency with a child. The charges stem from allegations that he molested two young parishioners at the Conroe church. A grand jury has yet to meet on the remaining two charges. nicole.hensley@chron.com Pamela Turners life ended shortly after her granddaughters began. The 44-year-old woman had yet to meet the baby, who was born two days before Turner was fatally shot by a Baytown police officer at her apartment complex. When the girl gets older, her parents will explain that the grandmother was a loving person, not the villain that police have made her out to be, her family said Thursday. She had a babys spirit, even though she was grown, sister Antoinette Dorsey-James said, referencing Turner. Shes not a monster, yall. Dont believe what they say. The grieving family gathered in front of the Harris County civil courthouse on Thursday with a large team of prominent civil rights attorneys, seeking to set the record straight about their loved one. Turner, who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2005, also worked for 20 years as a unit coordinator in a hospital and always worked to provide for her children, they said. Ben Crump, a lawyer who is representing the family, called Turners death one of the worst police shootings hed ever seen on video. He and the other attorneys present at the news conference said they will be pushing for all possible avenues of legal justice, including a criminal murder charge on the Baytown police officer who pulled the trigger. My sister was a human being who had rights, and on that evening, her rights were violated in every possible way, sister Tracy Frazier said. She did not deserve to be killed and murdered. Turner died Monday night at 1601 Garth, after she was shot during a confrontation with the officer, Juan Delacruz, according to police spokesman Lt. Steve Dorris. Delacruz said he was serving an arrest warrant on the woman when they began to struggle, according to Baytown police. The two had prior dealings, Dorris said. The officer struck Turner with a Taser, after which she grabbed a hold of the weapon and used it against him, Dorris said. He fired five shots, all heard on a viral video taken by a bystander. Delacruz remains on paid administrative leave, officials said. The attorneys said they hope a private autopsy and body camera footage will give them more answers as to what happened that night. The video captured Turner yelling, Im pregnant, moments before she was shot. Crump said hes unsure whether Turner was actually pregnant, or whether she was trying to make the officer show more care in dealing with her. Baytown police said on Tuesday that Turner was not with child. You would think that the police officer would have training, or even having compassion and common decency, humility, to say This is a pregnant woman, Im not going to Taze her, Crump said. Turners mental illness might have also contributed to making the statement, the attorney said. Her daughter, Chelsie Rubin, said that Turner had episodes, although she doesnt believe she was having one on the night she was shot. Turners family also said that the woman had previously complained of other negative run-ins with the officer. The police department will investigate whether Turner had mental health issues, and whether that was known to the officer at the time, Dorris said Wednesday. The Texas Rangers are also investigating the shooting, separately from the Baytown police Internal Affairs Division. Turners children are still coming to terms with what happened. I had to find out my mother was murdered from a video, Turners son, Cameron January, said. She didnt deserve this at all. Nobody deserves that. More than a dozen advocates stood beside the family on Thursday, including family members of other victims of police shootings. Marketta Thomas, the sister of shooting victim Danny Ray Thomas, said that officers need to obey protocol when dealing with people who have known mental health issues. Danny Ray Thomas was seen wandering in the street with his pants around his ankles in the seconds before he was killed by a Harris County sheriffs deputy last year. Youd rather shoot before understanding, Thomas said. Youd rather shoot before letting this person tell you what theyre going through. The Rev. Al Sharpton and Rev. Terry Anderson will officiate Turners funeral on May 23 at Lilly Grove Missionary Baptist Church. samantha.ketterer@chron.com Twitter.com/sam_kett A firefighter was hospitalized, and more than a dozen families were displaced after an intense fire ripped through more than 30 Galleria area apartment homes Friday afternoon. The fire which eventually reached four alarms sparked around 12:30 p.m. at the Greenridge Place apartment in the 3000 of Greenridge, just north of Westheimer. Houston firefighters rolled into the complex within minutes of residents' several 911 calls and started attacking the flames, Houston Fire Department Assistant Chief Michael Mire said. Now Playing: Houston firefighters are on scene of a three-alarm apartment fire in the Galleria area Friday. Video: Jay R. Jordan, Houston Chronicle Within minutes, officials pulled a second alarm, then a third and fourth as southerly winds fueled the blaze. "The size and layout of the building is quite a challenge," Mire told Chron.com sometime between the third and fourth alarm. "Given the other conditions the firefighters are facing, it's a matter of personnel and resources." The fire appeared to have started inside a first-floor apartment on the north side of the building, eventually making its way through the second and third stories. Flames were shooting from the roof and spreading through the shared attic space when firefighters arrived. While fighting the fire, at least one firefighter suffered severe heat exhaustion, and was rushed to an area hospital by ambulance. Two other firefighters and a resident of the complex were treated on scene for smoke inhalation, officials said on scene. At least 18 apartment homes were destroyed in the blaze, HFD spokesperson Sheldra Brigham said. "Everything, she's lost everything," Talisha Johnson said of her daughter's apartment and possessions. "Everything's gone in a matter of seconds." She said her daughter heard a pop and then saw thick, black smoke right outside her window. That was around the same time that Corniesha Johnson heard a commotion and saw the building was on fire. "Someone actually screamed out 'fire' and said a mattress was on fire on the first floor," she said. "I went out and screamed out, 'fire, fire' to everyone, because people were sleeping. Even a baby. By that time, the whole apartment was actually on fire. When the firefighters got here, they were on the third floor. I yelled out and screamed out to go to the first floor." Johnson, whose apartment was also damaged, was overcome with emotion while being interviewed by reporters and couldn't speak for much longer. Many of the residents inside the complex are unemployed, making a recovery from a fire such as this that more difficult, Johnson said. "A lot of these people ... might need help and assistance," she said. "If you can reach out to them, please do." Arson investigators with the Houston Fire Department are working to determine what started the blaze. The American Red Cross was called out to assist those residents who were displaced. Jay R. Jordan covers breaking news in the Houston area. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan | Email him at jay.jordan@chron.com | Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message A bill to bring drug-price transparency to Texas passed a key vote Friday, raising hopes among consumer advocates that the state will join others such as Vermont and Oregon in cracking down on rising costs. The legislation would require pharmaceutical companies to report and turn over information every time the cost of a drug spikes in a single year. It originally targeted only increases over 50 percent, but the threshold fell to 10 percent last week through a surprise amendment in the House. That has created one of the most stringent transparency bills in the nation and set off a flurry of lobbying as it moved to the Senate. On Friday, members of the powerful Business and Commerce Committee voted unanimously to send the bill to the Senate floor with the revisions intact. The endorsement is a critical first step, though the full Senate can still alter the bill before a final vote, after which it would head to the governor. For subscribers: The Texas House passed one of the nations toughest drug-pricing bills. But will it stand? The legislation, HB 2536, doesnt prohibit drug manufacturers from raising their prices, but advocates hope it will deter them from imposing especially large hikes. Blake Hutson, a lobbyist for AARP, told lawmakers Thursday that there have been positive early results elsewhere. What we're seeing in other states where these thresholds have been set is that the price increases are slowing down, he said. Several states have enacted similar measures, with Oregon having the lowest threshold at 10 percent. Drug manufacturers oppose the House revisions, arguing they will add onerous and potentially harmful reporting requirements for both themselves and the state, while doing nothing to stanch rising out-of-pocket expenses for patients, which are influenced by numerous players along the supply chain. Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox In its current form, the bill also requires middle-men known as pharmacy benefit managers to report any drug rebates or discounts they dont pass onto consumers. That was tacked on late last week after the House changes, and is seen as a response to the concerns from big pharma. Kristin Parde, a lobbyist for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a trade association, recommended on Thursday that senators roll back the lowered limit in order to narrow the focus of the reforms. You end up bringing in a lot of minor changes, the lower the threshold, she explained in a hearing on the bill. On average, list prices for drugs are not increasing at high rates, according to data from the industry. But many of the most common drugs, including those to treat diabetes and high blood pressure, have seen large individual spikes in recent years. Those increases are affecting patients all over the country, forcing some to ration their medication to save costs, according to a recent study in the Journal of American Medicine. The impacts are especially pronounced in Texas, where one in seven adults suffers from diabetes. Republican Rep. Tom Oliverson, who brought the legislation, said he chose the 50 percent threshold because he worried anything lower would be killed off by fellow conservatives. The House, though, unexpectedly rallied behind the stricter reforms after Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, put forth an eleventh-hour amendment. AUSTIN Lawmakers are rallying behind a bill to raise the smoking age in Texas to 21 in a bid to stop the states teen-aged residents from getting hooked on nicotine and tobacco products. But the new restrictions would only be as good as the inspections of retail and convenience stores, which public health advocates say are lacking. Two years ago, the Legislature cut back funding for enforcement stings and barred the states public health agency from paying for anti-tobacco ad campaigns. Do we have concerns about whether this law, if passed, is going to be fully enforced? Absolutely, said Claudia Rodas, regional director for the southern U.S. for Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Texas is one of several states scrambling to address rampant e-cigarette use by youth, which federal health officials have called an epidemic. Nearly one in three high-schoolers in Texas has used an e-cigarette, while one in 10 middle-schoolers have tried the nicotine-filled products, according to state surveys. Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox Several legislators who worked on the tobacco sales age increase didnt respond to requests for comment about past cuts to state prevention and enforcement programs. Rep. Sarah Davis, a West University Place Republican on the House appropriations committee, said the funding drop reflects declining income from the states 20-year-old tobacco settlement agreement. And she added the next state budget under negotiation now would boost anti-tobacco funding over the next two years. Still, the state ban on using that money for paid media campaigns might remain. Enacted by lawmakers last session, the prohibition put an end to the Texas Department of State Health Services print, radio and web campaigns aimed at curbing smoking by pregnant women and encouraging rural teens to quit dipping. You want to address the e-cigarette epidemic, yet you have restricted your state, your health department, from doing the No. 1 thing they can do, which is educate the public about the dangers of these products, Rodas said. Davis said the ban on paid media was put in place after questions over its effectiveness. But the House now favors dropping it after the agencys turn to free social media campaigns resulted in little response. The Senates budget blueprint still includes the restriction. Sen. Jane Nelson, a Flower Mound Republican who chairs the finance committee, didnt respond to a request for comment. Currently, state and federal agencies run sting operations on Texas tobacco retailers, often using minor decoys to make purchases. Those efforts, however, have been scaled back in recent years and dont hit all 30,000 retailers across Texas each year. The Texas Comptrollers office, one of the state agencies charged with enforcing the law, has conducted about 3,700 annual inspections on average since May 2014. Texas is a large state and resources to support law enforcement of youth access laws are limited, said spokesman Kevin Lyons. The Comptrollers office has conducted more than 18,500 tobacco inspections over the last five years, and we will continue our work to try to stop underage tobacco use with the tools the Legislature has given us. Stores caught selling cigarettes or chewing tobacco to teens can face a penalty of up to $1,000 pocket change for convenience stores that sell an average of $600,000 in tobacco products a year, said Rob Crane, a professor of family medicine at Ohio State University and the president of the Preventing Tobacco Addiction Foundation. Tobacco retailers that repeatedly break the rules by selling cigarettes to minors can lose their state sales licenses. Since May 2014, the Comptrollers office has issued about 880 citations to stores for selling to minors or failing to post e-cigarette and tobacco warning signs. The agency hasnt suspended or revoked a license in Texas over the past two years, Lyons said. After the state sliced the tobacco prevention budget nearly in half last session to roughly $8 million a year, the states Department of State Health Services ended its enforcement grants for local police departments. The agency recently received $1 million to resume the program with 55 law enforcement agencies, after more than a year without the inspections, spokesman Chris Van Deusen said. State enforcement is effective even without inspecting every retailer, he said in a statement. Retailers know there is a possibility of an unannounced, undercover inspection of their store, which motivates them to ensure that their employees are trained and the store is in compliance with tobacco laws and regulations. The legislation to raise the smoking age by Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, doesnt add enforcement efforts. A separate proposal died last week that would have raised state taxes on e-cigarettes, while boosting the penalties for retailers caught selling them to underage buyers. The lawmakers behind that bill said they support raising the tobacco sales age, but it alone isnt enough to stop use by teenagers. There is an epidemic among the under age 18 group, said Rep. Rick Miller, R-Sugar Land. As a deterrent, putting in an excise tax and funneling that directly into public education, I thought was a good thing and good policy. Huffman didnt respond to a request for comment. She and others, including Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, made raising the tobacco sales age a priority this session, touting it as a needed step to protect children. Though some Republicans called the move a government overreach, the bill easily cleared the House and Senate. At least 13 other states and the city of San Antonio have already adopted so-called Tobacco 21 legislation. The measure also gained support from major tobacco companies, including Altria, which owns tobacco giant Phillip Morris, and e-cigarette maker Juul. Neither company, however, answered specific questions about whether state enforcement of tobacco retailers should be stricter. We cannot fulfill our mission to provide the worlds one billion adult smokers with a true alternative to combustible cigarettes, the No. 1 cause of preventable death in this country, if youth-use continues unabated, a Juul spokesman said in a statement. You are here: Arts More than 21,000 overseas exhibitors and purchasers from 103 countries and regions participated in the 15th China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair (ICIF) which opened Thursday in Shenzhen, southern China's Guangdong Province. According to the organizers, the five-day fair has attracted over 2,000 government entities, enterprises and organizations from China. Nearly 6,000 investment and financing projects in the cultural and creative industry will be presented and traded at this year's ICIF, with more than 100,000 exhibits on display. With a total exhibition area of 105,000 square meters, the main venue, Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center, consists of nine pavilions, including the first-ever established pavilion on cultural industries of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. More than 60 other venues have also been set up in various districts of the city. Focused on showcasing China's achievements in cultural development, innovations and creative designs, the event also attracted the participation of over 70 percent of cultural industry leaders around the country. Total transaction volume of the past 14 ICIFs exceeds 1.7 trillion yuan (247 billion U.S. dollars). The political strains are starting to show in the Texas Legislatures closing days. A frustrated Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick told members of the Texas Senate on Friday afternoon that the slow pace of the Texas House in debating some bills is threatening the survival of key legislation initiated by the Senate. He pledged that he will not take up more House-generated bills in the Senate while Senate bills meet their demise in the House. Purposely stalling bills to run out the clock on them is known as chubbing in the Texas Legislature. Patrick, a Republican, said if the House is going to chub for five or six hours and kill Senate bills, then Im going to stand us at ease. Republicans hold the majority in both chambers and control the agenda pace in both. Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox Moments later, Patrick clarified that he was not blaming House Speaker Dennis Bonnen for the delays and said it was up to House members to pick up the pace. Its not the fault of the speaker, Patrick said from the Senate chamber. Patrick and Bonnen have stressed repeatedly that they on the same page and working together unlike in past years when the House and Senate leadership often had a more antagonistic relationship. Patricks comments came as the House was locked in a lengthy floor debate over Senate Bill 22, which aims at barring local governments from contracting with groups like Planned Parenthood. The legislative session ends May 27. A draft NASA spending bill was approved by a Congressional subcommittee Friday -- but members ignored President Donald Trump's moon 2024 plan and the controversial way he suggested paying for it. Earlier this week, Trump released a budget proposal for the space agency that would jump start his directive to put humans on the moon four years early, by 2024 instead of 2028. That plan would redirect $1.6 billion in surplus Pell Grant funds to the space agency, a suggestion that drew ire from scientists, educators and astronauts alike. CONTROVERSY: NASA's $1.6B budget bump would come from Pell Grant funds for low-income students But the funding plan approved Friday by the U.S. House Subcommittee for Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies -- of which NASA is a part -- makes no mention of getting to the moon by 2024. And members did not discuss a need to take that directive into account. "To ensure our nation's science agencies have the resources needed to ensure our continued leadership in research and innovation, this bill adds significant funding to NASA, the National Science Foundation, and NIST," said U.S. Rep. Jose Serrano, a Democrat from New York and chairman of the committee. SPACE JUNK: Out-of-this-world news delivered to your email from HoustonChronicle.com The House's budget bill instead provides $22.3 billion to the space agency, about $1 billion higher than the current fiscal year. The programs that receive a funding bump in the bill are not the same as those outlined in Trump's plan. Trump's plan would help the space agency develop a commercial lunar lander for humans three years earlier than planned, funnel more money into the Space Launch System rocket being built to take the Orion spacecraft to the moon, and enable more robotic exploration of the moon's polar regions before a human mission. The goal is to fly two SLS-Orion missions one without humans and another with crew aboard prior to 2024. The mini space station would also be launched during that period. Then in 2024, the third SLS-Orion mission would rocket to the Gateway, where astronauts would board a lunar lander waiting to take them to the moon's surface. The subcommittee's spending bill now heads to the full House Appropriations Committee for approval. Alex Stuckey writes about NASA and science for the Houston Chronicle. You can reach her at alex.stuckey@chron.com or Twitter.com/alexdstuckey. Renaissance master Leonardo Da Vinci never visited the Italian town of Fabriano when he was alive. But 500 years after his death, part of him will finally make the trip when one of his earliest and most elusive paintings will be exhibited there. The Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg will loan its copy of the Benois Madonna to Fabriano, a town of around 30,000 residents in the Marches, a sparsely populated region in central Italy. The town is best known for its history of producing high-quality artisanal paper, which made it one of five municipalities in Italy to be declared "creative cities" by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). That designation was key in the town's exhibit of the Benois Madonna, a small work thought to be first painting Leonardo produced after leaving the studio of his teacher, Verrocchio. It dates to 1478, when Leonardo was 26 years old. "The painting is a magnificent work from a young Leonardo on his way to becoming one of the most important artists to ever live," Carlo Bertelli, an art historian who will curate the exhibit in Fabriano, told Xinhua. The display in Fabriano required a great deal of work to assure the safety during its transport and exhibition of the painting at the small Pinacoteca Civica art gallery, as well as proper temperature and lighting to make sure the 541-year-old work does not suffer from environmental conditions. All told, the painting will spend two months in Italy, split between Fabriano and the nearby Umbrian city of Perugia. The loan is part of a wider UNESCO "creative cities" conference that will take place in Fabriano next month. The selection of Fabriano for the Leonardo exhibit as well for the UNESCO conference was unexpected. "It was a surprise, even for me," Bertelli quipped, noting that the town has no historical connection to Leonardo during the artist's lifetime. But to Michail Piotrovsky, the director of the Hermitage, the selection of Fabriano makes sense: "In Italy there are no towns that are not worthy of hosting great works of art," Piotrovsky said in a statement. "It is dotted with villages that house unique artistic treasures." The plan got underway after a conversation last year between poet and writer Maria Francesca Merloni, UNESCO's goodwill ambassador for the "creative cities" initiative and Maurizio Cecconi, general secretary for the Hermitage Foundation in Italy. "Francesca Merloni had the idea, and I went to the Hermitage with it and to our delight they said OK," Cecconi said in an interview. "Of all the various initiatives in Italy to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Leonardo's death, this may be the most intriguing," Cecconi said. The painting traveled to Russia for the first time in the 1790s, as part of the collection of an art collector called Aleksey Korsakov. Over the next hundred years it was sold and eventually inherited by the Benois family, which lent the painting their name. It was then acquired by the Heritage using money from Czar Nicholas II in 1914, and in the 105 years since then it has left the collection only three times: to Paris in 1935, to three U.S. cities in 1979, and to Florence in 1984. "The Hermitage has been very selective about where the painting can go," Bertelli said. "They said no to Milan for an exhibition in 2016, but they said yes to Fabriano in 2019." Lets not reserve our outrage for the likes of Jonathan Stickland, the buffoonish far-right Texas House member from Bedford who attacked a prominent infectious disease expert on Twitter recently and equated Dr. Peter Hotezs life-saving vaccine research to sorcery. Lets save some ire for folks who know better and say nothing. Gov. Greg Abbott and legislative leaders in Austin surely know that Texas has seen a 2,000 percent increase in vaccine exemptions since 2003, the year we began allowing parents to decline required immunizations for non-medical reasons. Texas saw a 14 percent increase last year alone. No doubt, theyre aware of the scientific consensus supporting vaccines as safe, life-saving and necessary to maintain so-called herd immunity that protects us all. A 2014 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that vaccines prevented 21 million hospitalizations and more than 700,000 deaths in the United States over two decades. Surely, Texas leaders are aware of the record-breaking national outbreak of measles this year. From the Editorial Board Measles cases a sign that Texas is risking a public health calamity [Editorial] We hope Abbott and the others saw the story Friday by the Chronicles Todd Ackerman on a study showing Harris County is one of the nations most vulnerable counties to an outbreak of the highly contagious, potentially fatal virus that was largely eradicated two decades ago. Why? International travel mixed with the dangerous prevalence of parents opting out of once-mandatory shots for their children, according to the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases. Yet, Abbott and others say little to counter the myths invented in debunked scientific research, half-truths and conspiracy theories of the growing anti-vaccine movement. In 2015, spokeswoman Amelia Chasse said in a Chronicle story that the governor recognized the public health benefits of vaccines and encouraged all parents to have their children vaccinated, as he and the first lady did with their daughter. But Abbott supports current Texas law that he believes strikes the right balance of requiring vaccinations while still allowing parents to opt out under certain circumstances, Chasse added. The problem is certain circumstances have morphed into any circumstance at all. Abbott is quiet because its politically expedient to be. It would take guts to take on the growing movement of anti-vaxxers and Abbott has shown that hed rather defend his political prospects than the lives of Texas children including infants and those with medical conditions who cant be vaccinated. Abbotts support of anti-vaxxers isnt just tacit. After fellow Republican Rep. Jason Villalba filed a bill to end non-medical conscience vaccine exemptions, Abbott backed his opponent in the GOP primary, Lisa Luby Ryan a darling of anti-vaxx group Texans For Vaccine Choice. She was subsequently beaten by a Democrat in the general. After his loss, Villalba told the Texas Observer: If we dont do something quickly, the blood of our children will be on our hands. Hes right. Yet, the deluge of anti-vaxxer attacks on lawmakers who have tried to reform Texas irresponsibly broad exemption law has caused some vaccine supporters to pull back. I couldnt even get a hearing on my bills last session, vaccine advocate state Rep. Sarah Davis told the editorial board earlier this year. Abbott also had campaigned against Davis, a Republican from West University Place, in the primary. He supported Susanna Dokupil, supported by Texans for Vaccine Choice. We sympathize with pro-vaccine lawmakers who have grown weary of verbal attacks and social-media trolling by vaccine deniers, but we implore you not to abandon the cause. Those who rail against vaccines and choose not to vaccinate their children are still a tiny minority. But they are growing in number. If those who understand the scientifically proven benefits of immunizations withdraw from the debate, theyre abdicating their platforms to the Sticklands of the world. We salute the bravery of Dr. Hotez, who hasnt stopped talking about what he calls Texas emerging public health crisis. Hes a pediatrician, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine and Baylor College of Medicine and co-director of Texas Childrens Hospital Center for Vaccine Development. Hes also the father of an autistic daughter. His expertise shouldnt even be compared to that of Stickland, a pest-control technician. Unfortunately, the echo chambers of social media have stolen our sense of scale. Thats why we need Abbott and other state leaders to tip that scale back toward science, modern medicine, and good sense. 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. You are here: Arts Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Confucius Institute has won the first place in the final of "Chinese Bridge," a Chinese proficiency competition held in Jordan. The University of Jordan won the second place in the competition, according to an announcement made during a ceremony on Thursday. Sara Yousef, a student at Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Confucius Institute, won the first place in the contest, while Aya Nezar, a student from the University of Jordan, won the second place. The two students are qualified for the international Chinese language contest that will be held in Beijing in July and August. A total of 11 Jordanian students from several universities took part in the national contest. Yousef said she chose to study Chinese after visiting China several times with her father, and she has studied Chinese for more than five years. Learning Chinese helps her learn more about the Chinese culture and explore working opportunities, she told Xinhua. Meanwhile, Nezar also expressed her joy for winning the second place, saying learning Chinese helps her with a brighter future. Chinese Ambassador to Jordan Pan Weifang said the competition is a result of cooperation between the two countries, as China-Jordan relations are growing in fields of culture, trade and investment. As a hub of stability and security in the Middle East, Jordan enjoys an attractive environment for investment, he added. The City Council will look at parking again. Pittsfield To Re-examine Downtown Parking Meters PITTSFIELD, Mass. A petition against putting parking meters in the new Columbus Avenue surface lot could trigger a full re-examination of the parking program. Berkshire Nautilus owner Jim Ramondetta has submitted a petition to the City Council with some 800 signatures of people opposing putting parking meters in the new lot. Ramondetta claims the city had not kept him informed of the move and that meters would hinder his business. He's fighting for 90-minute parking, like he has now, instead. Council Vice President John Krol filed a petition with the council to do just that in the new lot. The current Columbus Avenue garage is torn down and construction of a new surface lot is ongoing and when it is done, the administration expects to install meters. "Part of it is a philosophical idea of what the parking meters are supposed to do anyway," Krol said at Tuesday's City Council meeting. Krol had been one of the votes for the installation of the meters but said a conversation should be had as to whether or not the plan as it is is doing that. The benefits of the meters were that it would push employees off from taking up all of the spots on North Street, allowed closer parking for customers, and created a revenue stream to pay for parking-related expenses such as maintenance and upkeep of the municipal lots and garages. Councilor at Large Peter White believes the meters are working. He said he is downtown almost every day and the First Street lot is filled with people paying for the meters so it isn't deterring business. He praised the benefits of somebody being able to park in the same place all day instead of having to move the vehicle every so often. He said in Ramondetta's circumstance, there are other options. Berkshire Bank, for example, purchases passes for their employees in the McKay Street garage and has dedicated parking spaces. He suggest Berkshire Nautilus consider something similar for its customers. White not only doesn't see a problem with the meters now, he is fearful that expanding the conversation to being about downtown parking overall will ended up bogging everything down. He is the chairman of the Ordinance and Rules Committee that will have to handle it a committee that is fresh off of items like trash collection and a plastic bag ban and can see a mess coming should the council take a petition focused on one lot and expand it to an overall look. "I don't want to create more problems by having this go forward," White said. "This petition is for one lot. It is not for citywide parking. At O&R we will focus on the one area." Councilor at Large Earl Persip said only focusing on one lot would likely cause trouble. He doesn't want to see a decision be made to accommodate one business owner and have that open the door to others expecting the same thing. "I feel for the business owner that doesn't want to jeopardize business. But what happens next? The next time one of the other fitness places around want free parking near their building?" Persip said, also agreeing that there are other options for the business owner to accommodate the members. "Just doing one lot, I think we open up a can of worms we don't want to get into." Councilor Melissa Mazzeo, who sits on O&R, doesn't want to simply look at only that garage. She wants a look at all of it. "I just think petition has come at a good time to have a conversation. By bringing this out, you will start to hear from other businesses," Mazzeo said. Adding to that timing is the longstanding belief that installing the parking meters would position the city to get state funds to build a new Columbus Avenue garage. Yet, even with the meters, the state still refused to fund the rebuilding of a garage and instead the city is paying for a surface lot on its own. The state granted money to the city to rebuild the McKay Street garage and included a provision that a parking plan be created to fund upkeep of the garage. In 2013, under Mayor Daniel Bianchi, consultants crafted the parking meter plan which the city only partially implemented. Mayor Linda Tyer implemented the plan starting in January 2017, just about one year into her term in office and picking up where it had left off. The meters have since created a revenue source with the income from them exceeding the cost of maintenance, management, and the bond to pay for them. But, that income is far less than officials had estimated early on. While White boasted of the First Street lot, which was redone just a few years earlier and meters installed, Councilor Kevin Morandi sees the opposite in the McKay Street surface lot. That lot used to be a mix of permit parking and three-hour parking and is now all meters. It used to be full but has been mostly empty since becoming metered. "If this isn't worth our while, then maybe we shouldn't be in the parking meter business," Morandi said. Before the council got too into the weeds on the conversation, Councilor Anthony Simonelli moved the question, which ended the discussion and moved it to a vote. The vote passed to send the petition on the Columbus Avenue lot to Ordinance and Rules but the feeling of many councilors is this is a start of a bigger conversation. Persip and White were joined by Helen Moon and Peter Marchetti in opposing the petition, with some arguing for a new petition to be filed to look at all and not just one lot. The council also debated for more than an hour over temporary easements for a new bridge on New Street. The state is heading the $2.7 million to replace what is now a temporary bridge there but Blythewood Realty on Keeler Street voiced concern about safety during and after construction. After a lengthy discussion on the project, including questioning of Massachusetts Department of Transportation officials, the council approved the easements to allow the project to go forward by a 10-1 margin. The council also sent the latest trash ordinance to the Resource Recovery Commission essentially re-starting what has been a three-year process . The Resource Recovery Commission had been the one to consider numerous options of how to handle trash collection and then developed and recommend a toter plan to the mayor, which the council subsequently shot down. Now the council is looking at new trash ordinances and is asking the Resource Recovery Commission to reconvene and tackle the issue. Williams College Senior Named Saint Andrew's Society Scholar WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. Quenton Hurst, a senior at Williams College, has been named a Scholar by the Saint Andrew's Society of the State of New York to pursue graduate studies in Scotland in the 2019-20 academic year. Hurst will receive $35,000 for his studies. He was one of three students chosen nationally to receive the scholarship. A biology and religion double major from Rockport, Mass., Hurst plans to study molecular medicine at the University of St. Andrews, investigating a potential pathogenic mechanism of fatal arrhythmias and myocardial infarctions. He also hopes to gain a better understanding of Scottish views on nationalized healthcare system in that country as a means of comparison to the U.S. system. "My research, clinical, and analytical skills have prepared me well for conducting research on human tissues that lead directly to therapeutic cures," said Hurst, an aspiring physician whose interest in medicine began with clinical work in Liberia during Williams' Winter Study program. "With its focus on molecular medicine and human pathological pathways, the University of St. Andrews biomedical sciences degree in molecular medicine perfectly aligns with my objectives." At Williams, Hurst conducted a senior thesis project examining underlying mechanisms of epilepsy. Beyond academics, he is a member of the Williams College Concert Choir and the chamber ensemble In Echo. He has also competed on Williams' men's water polo and crew teams. In addition, he was a leader and executive director of Leading Minds, an orientation program for the colleges first-year students, and has been an Eagle Scout since 2014. A recipient of the Mary T. Lane Foundation scholarship and the Biersach Family scholarship, he has completed internships in the medical field at Cornell University and Southwestern Vermont Medical Center. He also volunteered at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of Habitat Restoration. A total of 169 cooperation projects have been inked under the framework of a China-Singapore connectivity initiative, authorities said Thursday. The value of the projects exceeded 26.3 billion U.S. dollars by the end of April, Han Baochang, head of the management bureau of the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity, said at the ongoing West China International Fair for Investment and Trade, which opened Thursday. Cooperation was mainly conducted in four major areas, including financial services, air transportation, logistics and information and communications technologies, Han said. The China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity aims to conduct pilot cooperation in various fields. It is the third such cooperation initiative between China and Singapore, following the Suzhou Industrial Park established in China's eastern province of Jiangsu in 1994, and the Tianjin Eco-city inaugurated in 2008 in north China. Chinese Ambassador to Romania Jiang Yu (3rd R) cuts ribbon to open the China-Romania Agricultural Science and Technology Park in Bucharest, capital of Romania, May 16, 2019. [Photo/Xinhua] The first China-Romania Agricultural Science and Technology Park was inaugurated Thursday in the University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest, marking the beginning of bilateral substantive cooperation in modern agriculture. "The inauguration of the Agricultural Science and Technology Park is a continuation of the long-term bilateral cooperation in science and technology, and a new platform for the exchange of experience and to the promotion of bilateral friendly relations," Nicolae Hurduc, minister of Research and Innovation of Romania, told the opening ceremony, stressing that cooperation with China in the field of science and technology is of strategic importance for Romania. Chinese Ambassador to Romania Jiang Yu, in her speech, spoke highly of the achievements of the cooperation between the Romanian university and the Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. "Science, technology and innovation cooperation is an important part of the relationship between the two countries, and exchanges in agriculture have always been the key part of this cooperation," Jiang said, hoping that the SCI&TEC park will face the international advanced agricultural science and the major needs of the agricultural and rural development of the two countries, and work together in the areas of facility agriculture and green sustainable agriculture, so as to produce pragmatic results that benefit agricultural producers. She also urged both partner to turn the park to a center of bilateral agricultural science and technology innovation, a center of knowledge information exchange and a cluster of professional talents. Rector of the University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest Sorin Mihai Campeanu and Director of the Chinese Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture Zhang Yanqing also attended the ceremony. The SCI&TEC park includes an intelligent LED plant factory and a light simplified energy-saving solar greenhouses. The plant factory, which uses LED energy-saving light source, stereoscopic cultivation with nutrient solution and intelligent control technology, covers an area of 50 square meters and a cultivated area of 150 square meters, yielding an annual output of 4,000 kg of leaf vegetables. The 500-square-meters solar greenhouse cultivates an area of 350 square meters and produces annually over 8,000 kg of tomato and other fruits or vegetables, by adopting light simplified structure, active heat storage-release system, spray cooling, embedded soil-less cultivation, water and fertilizer integration technology. Scientists propose rethinking 'endangered species' definition to save slow-breeding giants Conservation decisions based on population counts may fail to protect large, slow-breeding animals from irrevocable decline, according to new research coinciding with Endangered Species Day. "Critical thresholds in so-called vital rates - such as mortality and fertility rates among males and females of various ages - can signal an approaching population collapse long before numbers drop below a point of no return," says lead author Dr. Shermin de Silva, President & Founder of Asian elephant conservation charity Trunks & Leaves. "We propose that conservation efforts for Asian elephants and other slow-breeding megafauna be aimed at maintaining their 'demographic safe space': that is, the combination of key vital rates that supports a non-negative growth rate." A mammoth insight Published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, the study suggests that a combination of key vital rates governing population growth is a better indicator of a species' viability than short-term trends in population size and distribution. "History bears this out," argues de Silva. "Genomic studies of the last mammoths isolated on Wrangel Island - between Russia and Alaska - have shown that although they were able to persist for thousands of years beyond the extinction of mainland populations with just ~300 individuals, they had accumulated numerous genetic mutations that may have eventually contributed to their extinction." In other words populations of megafauna can become biologically inviable long before they disappear, if pushed beyond their 'demographic safe space.' Females and calves key to saving the Asian elephant The group applied the 'demographic safe space' concept to the case of the Asian elephant. "Asian elephants are classified as 'Endangered' under the IUCN Red List because populations are thought to have declined by at least 50% in less than a century," explains de Silva. "There are fewer than 50,000 wild Asian elephants living today." Studies show that wild Asian elephants breed extremely slowly, the majority producing just one calf in six years or more. Using mathematical modeling, de Silva and colleagues found that near-optimal reproduction and high calf survival is necessary to maintain non-negative population growth in the face of even modestly increased mortality among adult female age classes. The approach shows a clear conservation priority for Asian elephants, a species in which the vast majority is tuskless. "Measures to enhance survival of calves, and particularly females, are key to saving the Asian elephant," emphasizes de Silva. "But while the attention of the world has been focused on the ivory trade, for critically endangered Asian elephant populations the greatest threat is habitat loss - followed by illegal trade in live animals and parts. "Habitat loss can create something known as 'extinction debt' by slowing down birth rates and increasing mortality rates. For slow breeding long-lived species, even incremental changes make a big difference, but their longevity can obscure the risk of extinction." A demographic safe space for all megafauna Conservation efforts for other large, slow-breeding species - such as giraffes, rhinos, Bactrian camels and eastern gorillas - could also benefit from modelling the interaction between vital rates. Data for these species in the wild are a scarce yet urgent necessity, suggest the authors. "Rather than rely on simple population counts or estimates of near-term extinction probability, we urge that conservation resources for slow-breeding megafauna also be invested in identifying demographic tipping points and how to maintain populations within their safe spaces. "Populations of slow-breeding taxa need proactive management well before numbers become critically low, when returns on investment are potentially greater and populations less likely committed to extinction," concludes de Silva. ### Please link to the original research article in your reporting: https:/ / www. frontiersin. org/ articles/ 10. 3389/ fevo. 2019. 00171/ full Questions may be directed to lead author Dr. Shermin de Silva: shermin@trunksnleaves.org / +1.925.639.1585 Frontiers is an award-winning Open Science platform and leading open-access scholarly publisher. Our mission is to make high-quality, peer-reviewed research articles rapidly and freely available to everybody in the world, thereby accelerating scientific and technological innovation, societal progress and economic growth. Frontiers received the 2014 ALPSP Gold Award for Innovation in Publishing. For more information, visit http://www. frontiersin. org and follow @Frontiersin on Twitter. This story has been published on: 2019-05-17. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Stream for holiday comfort. The holiday season is here! After the ups and downs of another year where the news cycle was dominated by the pandemic, its time to start winding down. What better way to do that than indulging yourself with heartfelt food shows and cooking up a storm? Whether youre going big with the celebrations this year or holding your loved ones close with a prayer of gratitude, these cooking and baking shows will offer inspiration and comfort. Expect a dash of competition, a spoonful of laughter, and a plateful of feel-good factorits a cheery, appetizing way to say goodbye to the year. You are here: China Wang Erzhi, a former provincial political advisor in northeast China's Jilin Province, stood trial for taking bribes at the Intermediate People's Court of Harbin in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province Thursday. Wang was a former vice chairman of the Jilin Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. According to the indictment, Wang used his various positions between 2001 and 2018 in Jilin to help others obtain projects, and in return, he illegally accepted money and goods worth over 50.72 million yuan (7.38 million U.S. dollars) through other people. In his final statement, Wang pleaded guilty and expressed remorse. The trial was attended by more than 50 people including legislators, political advisors, press and members of the public. The verdict will be announced in due course. Executive Clemency for Patrick Nolan Washington, DC - Wednesday, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Grant of Clemency (Full Pardon) for Patrick J. Nolan, a former Minority Leader of the California State Assembly. In 1994, Mr. Nolan had to make a difficult choice. He could defend himself against charges of public corruption and risk decades in prison, or he could plead guilty and accept a 33-month sentence. Determined to help his wife raise their three young children, Mr. Nolan chose to accept the plea. Mr. Nolans experiences with prosecutors and in prison changed his life. Upon his release, he became a tireless advocate for criminal justice reform and victims rights. In fact, it was because of this work that the President learned of Mr. Nolans case. Since his release, he has helped to secure the passage of several major criminal justice reforms, including the Prison Rape Elimination Act, the Second Chance Act, the Fair Sentencing Act, and the FIRST Step Act. He is also the author of When Prisoners Return, a guide for churches and community groups working to help former prisoners return to their communities. While incarcerated, Mr. Nolan helped organize religious-study groups and is uniformly described as a man of principle and integrity. Family and friends have long sought clemency for Mr. Nolan, alongside notable advocates like former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and author Arnold Steinberg. In light of these facts, Mr. Nolan is entirely deserving of this Grant of Executive Clemency. White House Historical Association Dinner Washington, DC - First Lady Melania Trump joined her husband in welcoming leaders and donors of the White House Historical Association to the White House in celebration of a year of great work. The White House Historical Association is instrumental in helping to preserve and to protect the timeless history and beauty of the White House. The President and First Lady thanked members of the board, leadership from the Historical Association, and generous donors for their support. Along with the restoration of the Bellange Suite and the reupholstered walls in the Red Room, the First Lady works closely with the White House Historical Association on projects that preserve and protect the Peoples House. Over the last year, Mrs. Trump oversaw the restoration of damaged wall upholstery and drapes in the Green Room, the reframing and conservation of artwork throughout the White House, as well as fully restoring the Presidents Elevator. Mrs. Trump continues to manage the installation of new upholstery in the Diplomatic Room and, just as recently as this week, the preparations for the renovation of the on-site curatorial storage room are beginning, which will further protect the White House collection. The White House Historical Association also plays an integral part in the annual Easter Egg Roll at the White House. It is a great privilege to be entrusted with preserving this historic landmark, First Lady Melania Trump states. My family is honored to call the White House our home. The public should be able to enjoy the timeless rooms and historic halls for many years to come. I am grateful to the generous donations and support of the White House Historical Association and I look forward to undertaking more projects. About 18 months ago, Andrew Burton, a product designer in London, interviewed at Google. He really wanted the job, and it was a pretty intense process: an introductory interview, followed by a technical phone interview, and then a full day with four interviews scheduled back to back. During that last day, Burton was supposed to talk his way through a brand-new product that he'd designed at Google's behest, specifically mapping out the design and building a partial prototype for a "fitness class leader board." As he explained afterward: The bane of all product designers' lives is the dreaded "interview task." We all know the drill: You have "4-6 hours" to design a slick product, with a memorable brand and cohesive working method. No one acknowledges the fact that in reality, you're about to dedicate up to five working days on this task, with the potential for them to ghost you straight afterwards. Burton had scheduled a vacation in the south of France before he'd scheduled his interviews. But he badly wanted the job. So he spent 30 hours of his trip "trying to make Google love me," as he later put it--staying up until 3 a.m. and skipping the beaches and bars to get the project done. And then, after putting his all into it, he came up short. It was a close call, Google told him, but they went with someone else. They invited him to reapply in another year. Burton was so embarrassed not to be chosen, he told me Tuesday, that he barely told anyone he'd even applied. He was very disappointed. But then, he thought of something else. He took the 30-hour "interview task" prototype that he'd done for Google, added features, and built the whole thing out into an app called Tona. Beyond the leaderboard, Tona lets people record and share every facet of their workouts with friends, and also provides tools for gyms to increase client engagement. He recruited a team, including a college friend named Dean McBride and another co-founder we can't name, since his day job doesn't know what he's up to yet. They signed up 5,000 pre-launch subscribers plus five gyms and studios as business clients. Then, they officially launched this week. Because I write for Inc.com, I get pitched on stories about new products almost every day. Some of them are great, some less so. But it's quite rare that I have the time to write about them. But this one caught my eye. In fact, I actually sought Burton out in London. Why? Honestly, it's because of the hook. The story. Burton figured it out, talking at every turn about how he turned rejection from Google into a promising startup idea. He tells the story straightforwardly. When he blogged about it, he just put it all out there: "I turned my interview task for Google into a startup." The blog got picked up on Hacker News (the message boards associated with Y Combinator), which reinforced his company's listing on Product Hunt, which in turn led to another 1,000 signups. Of course, I'm aware this is now becoming a bit meta since I'm writing about Tona and giving it even more publicity, but I think the takeaway is worth it. People are so close to their own stories at times that they can't explain why somebody else would find them interesting. I've been through this many times with ghostwriting clients. We can talk three or four times--and it's only during that fifth time that you find the detail that you can build the entire story around. I haven't tried Tona, and I don't know if it's a good product. I wish them luck, of course. If you're the kind of person who strives for self-improvement, you probably have a book on your nightstand or in your bag. Need some ideas on what to read next? Here are the books more than a dozen successful executives say helped them get ahead in business and life. 1. Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brene Brown "This book has helped me both personally and professionally to fight the exhausting pursuit of perfectionism and become less fearful. Brene Brown believes that the more we protect ourselves from vulnerability, the more we grow fearful and disconnected. One of my favorite quotes from the book is, 'When we spend our lives waiting until we're perfect or bulletproof before we walk into the arena, we ultimately sacrifice relationships and opportunities that may not be recoverable, we squander our precious time, and we turn our backs on our gifts, those unique contributions that only we can make.' For me, it has always been difficult to be vulnerable in the work environment. Vulnerability in my mind equaled weakness, but Dr. Brown's research shifted the way I think about it. After reading this book, I continuously challenge myself to be courageous enough to bring my authentic self to work, and when I do, I find people respond differently. Today, when I share my fears, show vulnerability, and lead transparently, I am able to build better connections." --Jennifer Parker, chief revenue officer of WePay, a Chase company used by more than 1,000 platforms including Constant Contact, GoFundMe, and Meetup to incorporate payments 2. The Ideal Team Player by Patrick Lencioni "This book really simplifies what makes an ideal team player: humility, hunger, and smarts. Over the years, I have definitely come to believe that the entire team becomes ineffective if there is a member who lacks one of these essential attributes.... It all starts with humility, where you show vulnerabilities and develop trust. Great team players are self-motivated and think about the next opportunity on their own. [This book] highlights how to create a culture of high achievement within the entire organization and put together a team [which] is humble, hungry, and has the smarts to deal with the most difficult problems." --Sumit Dhawan, CEO of Instart, a company used by brands to deliver Web experiences to more than 250 million customers 3. The Power of One by Bryce Courtney "Being an entrepreneur is more than just having a great idea. It is about mental fortitude and believing, even as a child, that you can control your destiny and find success. Life is a journey that takes you through many obstacles, hardships, and challenges. But if you can find the ability to believe in yourself, even when it seems impossible through anyone else's eyes, you can find you way. [This book] is a gripping story of the personal journey of a young boy named Peekay. His journey is inspiring and teaches a valuable lesson for anyone who picks this book up: Be strong and march ahead!" --Jonathan Bingham, CEO of Janeiro Digital, a business transformation and technology consultancy which has doubled growth year over year (2017 and 2018) with 85 employees globally 4. Extreme You: Step Up. Stand Out. Kick Ass. Repeat. by Sarah Robb O'Hagan "I'm always paranoid about just being average, which can be problematic because there's no reason to think I'm not and I'm painfully aware of my weaknesses. Sarah Robb O'Hagan shares how someone who admits to being born average can hack themselves to become a superstar, by setting extreme goals and taking tangible steps to get there. I recommended it to many young ambitious women. She's very honest--she talks about being fired twice--and relatable. It's also a great flight read because it's short, but you may disturb your neighbors from laughing audibly." --Brittany Yoon, VP of ops at Ethos, a digital life insurance company which raised $46.5 million in less than a year 5. Write Tight: Say Exactly What You Mean with Precision and Power by William Brohaugh "If you struggle with writing concisely or wonder how your writing could improve, this book is a great tool. William Brohaugh, a former Writer's Digest editor, offers how-tos for writers at any stage. [This book] is especially useful for today's professionals, as technology has created an environment with incredibly high stakes for written communication." --Brad Hoover, CEO of Grammarly, an A.I.-powered writing assistant used by 20 million people daily 6. Culture. com: How the Best Startups Make It Happen by Robert A. Stringer "Bob shares down-to-earth examples of how startup founders and early employees from many different industries have faced challenges head-on and reached deep within themselves to solve problems for their people. Many great lessons in the book that can be applied to any organization, big or small." --David Chang, CEO of Gradifi, an employee benefits company used by more than 700 U.S. employers, and a unit of First Republic 7. Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama "Given our fast pace of life today, particularly in our expectations for success, this book is a valuable lesson in how greatness takes time to form. An individual's roots, upbringing, integrity, and ability to empathize with the predicament of many in our society are coalesced into determination and actions to change the world. There is no one better to learn this from than Obama, who used his capabilities to fight against all odds to succeed in life, both professionally and personally. Obama is a natural storyteller, so the book reads quickly and easily. The energy and sense of purpose I was left with after reading the book makes it an excellent read for anyone who is or feels too busy with day-to-day work. It's an excellent reminder to slow down and sow the seeds that will take you further and more sustainably into the future." --Anita Ngai, CRO at Klook, a global travel experience booking platform that has raised $521.5 million in funding to date and offers more than 100,000 experiences by over 8,000 industry partners across more than 270 destinations worldwide 8. The Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan Holiday "[This book] is a modern take on the Hellenistic philosophy of Stoicism. I loved this book as it's a compelling reminder, too often forgotten (myself included), that the challenges in life are what make us stronger, better, deeper human beings. In fact, with the right perspective and approach, challenges turn into opportunities, leading us down newer, fresher paths that we would not have found had it not been for the adversity we faced. This doesn't mean it's easy; but facing and overcoming challenges, including perseverance through failure, is ultimately what makes human existence most rewarding. In business as in life, we encounter obstacles, big or small, everyday, which is why this book is always by my bedside and why I start my days recalling its instruction that the path to success is rarely a straight line." --Karl Van den Bergh, CMO at Gigamon, which provides visibility to network traffic across physical, virtual, and cloud environments, servicing more than 3,100 global customers, 83 of the Fortune 100 companies, eight of the top 10 largest tech companies, and seven of the top 10 Global Banks 9. Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman "I just love how Kahneman dismantles the presumed superiority of reason, proving intuition to be the leading decision-making tool in managing complexities, exactly what designers are great at." --Gadi Amit, president and principal designer of NewDealDesign, a technology design studio used by companies including Fitbit, Google, Postmates, and Microsoft, generating over $40 billion product unit sales for clients since 2000 10. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink "This book provided me with a framework for something that I've always intuited: There's something much broader than financial compensation that drives all of us. Western economics was built on the foundation that 'homo economicus' is driven by monetary incentives, but on the flip side there's robust research proving that the opposite is true. For non-monotonous, creative work, rewards based solely upon financial incentives actually lead to worse performance. This made me start thinking about the bigger picture of how motivation works. I realized that the answer is simple. After our basic financial needs are met, what motivates us the most are three things: finding mastery in our work, feeling autonomy in determining our future, and feeling connected to a higher purpose, something bigger and more meaningful than ourselves." --Emil Eifrem, founder and CEO of Neo4j, a graph database company that recently raised $80 million in a Series E led by One Peak Partners and Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital, bringing its total funding to $160 million 11. The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli "The world is moving faster today than many of us are equipped to handle or are comfortable with. We can easily feel like an underachiever, overwhelmed, or just out of sync with what is happening around us. The idea that time is a structure of our brain and emotions is a concept that might help many to settle into a rhythm that makes life more enjoyable and livable. Science is discovering proof at the edge of our concept of time and this book somehow finds itself landing at a time where rejecting time as the construct is a welcomed change. Settling into big ideas and discoveries always makes my problems somehow seemingly simple to overcome." --Kyle Jackson, co-founder and CEO of Talespin, a developer of enterprise XR training and workforce solutions used by thousands of employees across its portfolio of Fortune 500 clients 12. A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle "[This] is a book that makes a continuous impact on my outlook for work, leadership style, and co-worker relationships. It's a story about how everyone finds their true purpose, but more importantly, it tackles the voice in our heads that prevents us from reaching our own greatness. If we can overcome that, we can build amazing co-working relationships and epic company cultures. Our job as leaders is to overcome the fear of failure, but we fail all the time on areas we don't focus on. This is the book I go back to over and over again to tackle the fears, rejections, and nonsense that limit my abilities." --Morgan Norman, CMO of Copper, a recommended CRM for G Suite by Google Cloud that services more than 12,000 paid businesses in over 100 countries 13. Sapiens, a Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari "This book has given me an understanding of the intersecting biological and cultural evolution of humankind. Not only is this a fascinating way to exercise the mind, but it also serves as a reminder of our true place in the universe. I also believe it is important to begin each day on a high note, so I start my day with the song, 'Eyes of the World,' by Grateful Dead. TED Fellow and TED 2019 speaker Brandon Anderson met his partner in school. They got engaged, but his soon-to-be died at the hands of police brutality. Years later, the Iraq vet founded the police reporting hub Raheem. On the platform, residents share their interactions with the police. The data can then be shared with police oversight boards and other governing bodies to enact change. "Raheem is like Waze for reporting police," Anderson told me. "A single report builds onto a larger ecosystem that maps police conduct over time. Policymakers, public defenders and communities leverage the reporters in aggregate to address police violence at scale." According to Anderson, Raheem has garnered more than 12,000 messages within the community, with twice as much data in its first three months in San Francisco than the city did in an entire year. The feedback is giving metrics to implement change. Anderson now is helping others in ways he could not help his late fiance. It required transforming pain into hope. Grief as a motivator There are certain setbacks in which willpower will not help us. Loved ones die, chronic pain stays with us and even significant relationships can't always be rebuilt. The question is, what do you do with that energy, that longing and that power? You have to transmute it into something else. It sometimes turns us into creators. Anderson did two tours in post-9/11 Iraq using his mapping skills to keep soldiers safe. His partner died shortly after. Anderson realized his same skills could help keep people safe on American soil. The tragedy transformed his vision of how he could make the world better. I recently shared TED speakers Mark Pollock and Simone George, a couple who persevered after Pollock became paraplegic. That energy, that grief, turned them into fierce handicapable activists. They now partner with scientists to help rehabilitate paraplegic patients. Pollock summed it up well: The optimists rely on hope alone and they risk being disappointed and demoralized. The realists, on the other hand, they accept the brutal facts and they keep hope alive as well. The realists have managed to resolve the tension between acceptance and hope by running them in parallel. It has to run parallel, the pain and the growth. One feeds the other. Both are true. Innovation comes from the need for peace After his TED Talk, Anderson shared with me that his path wasn't unique. He is a long line of innovators sparked by a difficult truth: We are often driven to purpose by our pain. Mary Davidson, a Black woman with multiple sclerosis, invented the walker. Marie Ban Brittan Brown, a full-time nurse, devised a system that would alert her when she was away from home, laying the groundwork for the home security systems we use today. I invented Raheem and have committed my life to end police violence because it got in the way of building an intimate, meaningful relationship with the single, most important person in my life -- while serving in this country's military. A house divided cannot stand. It's as true in life as it is in business. Conflict inside will inevitably lead to conflict outside. It can be a particularly painful experience when people worked so hard to build something great, only to have it destroyed by those who are supposed to be allies. Whether your company is failing or just going through a rough time, there are tangible, if difficult, steps you can take to manage it. Rafiq Jumabhoy knows exactly how distressing it can be. His family owned Scotts Investments, at one time among Singapore's largest conglomerates, only to see the company fall due to internal strife. Jumabhoy was born and raised in Singapore, and educated at Oxford. He became CEO of Scotts Holdings Ltd, the real estate arm of the company and the largest division. Under his leadership, the real estate company quadrupled in value and was listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange. He expanded operations into 7 countries and founded Asia's first serviced apartment company. Today, Jumabhoy is the Chairman of Orkney Investments, and sits on the boards of several public companies. He has also served on the board of the Singapore Economic Planning Committee, the Singapore Tourism Plan Steering Group, The Singapore Tourism Board, and the Singapore National Environment Council. He is also an honorary fellow of the National University of Singapore. On an episode of my podcast 10 Minute Tips from the Top, Jumabhoy shared what he learned from the fall of his family company: 1. Embrace Creative Problem Solving One of the more difficult tasks of leadership is convincing people to let go of the ways of the past when they are no longer effective. Almost as soon as he took the CEO job, Jumabhoy was faced with a challenge: "One of the first jobs that I had to do was to go into an engineering company that we owned and try to recover the money that was owed to us." To complicate matters, Jumabhoy "had to come up with a different strategy to get the money than to actually go straight to court." He also had to make some difficult decisions about the future of the business. "Every one of the businesses was losing money. And my job was to either clean up, or to decide these were sunset industries and we ought to get out," he explains. In a crisis, "you don't get time to think outside of the box because societal pressure is so great...I was the young guy who said, 'Look, there's a different way of doing this'...I look at strategy very differently," he says. Jumabhoy tackled the challenge head on, saying, "That's when you start to become flexible and creative about finding solutions." This willingness to think beyond the ordinary helped Jumabhoy turn the company around. 2. Expect Criticism Crises tend to bring attention precisely when it's least wanted. "When you go through the kind of crisis that I went through with my family, you're extremely visible, you're extremely vulnerable," Jumabhoy recalls, and "everyone has a view as to what you are responsible for and what you're not responsible for. And you end up with a lot of pressure points that are not expressed to you." This was a particular challenge in Singapore, with a small population and strong cultural traditions. Says Jumabhoy, "One of the ways you realize that something's not right is you go to a cocktail party and everybody comes and says hello to you, and you turn around and nobody's standing next to you." He believes you must soldier on and let go of the criticism, because "it's when you let go that you realize that actually you're free." Carry on! 3. Count Your Blessings Jumabhoy has a very healthy perspective on life after his family's business crises. "One of the first things one realizes is that actually we are renters. We rent our body. We rent the time that we are here on earth. We rent the friends, because they're there for a purpose at a time," he explains. Instead of dwelling on what has been lost, "Look in the mirror every day and see how blessed you are," he advises. "It makes you realize that you're very lucky to have had the experiences," Jumabhoy states. This is a difficult challenge, but it is not the end of the world. 4. Know When It's Time to Move On Ultimately, Jumabhoy's best efforts were not enough to save the family company from the internal strife. But what he learned in the process has been invaluable. "The core thing that came out of what I did from the business standpoint is that I've done so many turnarounds. And you realize that the complexity of a turnaround actually gives you tremendous ability to help other people sort issues out," Jumabhoy shares. He's found great success advising clients on managing challenges they're facing within their own companies. He says, "Because we've solved the problems physically, it gives people confidence to say, 'Ok, if I'm going to go along with this guy, he's not just a consultant who comes in and gives me a nice document that I can't implement.'" It's made him a better manager, too: "It changes the way you look at what you do going forward... To me today, it's about enablement as opposed to control," he says. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) just ruled that Uber drivers are, indeed, contractors and not employees. This news made Uber's stock soar but there's more to this than just a stock price. This ruling can impact your business if you use contractors or can affect you if you (like me) work in the so-called "gig economy." Uber Drivers as Contractors Is Unsurprising Many people focus on the fact that a Trump appointed NLRB General Counsel, Peter B. Robb, was behind this decision, but the reality is, it's a tough sell to argue that Uber drivers could be employees, although that was the stance of the NLRB under the Obama Administration. The NLRB expanded their definition of contractors earlier this year as well. There are rules surrounding whether a person is a contractor (often called a 1099 employee) or an employee (often called a W2 employee). It can't just be the decision of the employee/contractor and the company. No one can consent to give away their rights to be an employee if they meet the criteria for W2 employee. The Uber drivers don't because they, among other things: Use their own equipment Set their own schedules Are free to work for competitors Are responsible for their own profit/loss The profit/loss thing was a key determinant for the NLRB in this decision. However, the one common definition of a contractor that Uber fails to meet is that the workers in question don't provide a core function of the business. The drivers are the core function of Uber's business, and that's where you could make a strong argument that they are, indeed, employees. What this Means for All Gig Workers This memorandum is targeted specifically at Uber, but that doesn't mean they are the only ones affected. It enforces the idea that gig workers are contractors, and therefore not eligible for things such as health insurance, company-paid social security taxes, and other employee perks. Additionally, it prevents them from forming a union. This memorandum signals a change in NLRB policy that encourages more companies to use contractors. Employment attorney Jon Hyman says of this ruling: Gig employers have had a good couple of weeks in the federal agencies. Both the DOL [Department of Labor] and NLRB have concluded that most gig workers are independent contractors, not employees. It means they have the freedom to work as they want, when they want (which is likely what most of them want, and why most of them became gig workers in the first place). And it means that the gig employers don't have to pay them overtime, don't have to provide them benefits, and don't have to worry about them forming a union. Seems like a win/win for both sides. Unless or until the courts step in and muck this all up. Hyman's point is well taken. The NLRB can be overruled by courts and, of course, Congress could step in and change things. The National Labor Relations Act is an old law and hasn't been updated to reflect today's new technology. Like the Fair Labor Standards Act, the law was designed around a factory-type economy, rather than a knowledge economy. Does this Mean You Can Just Use Contractors? While this strengthens the use of contractors rather than employees, it doesn't change existing law. You still need to be careful and check with your employment attorney before declaring someone to be a contractor. Remember, the business owner is the person who faces penalties for mislabeling someone, not the employee. Lots of people prefer the flexibility and independence of contractors, but being responsible for your own profits/loss can also be a bit scary. Some companies want to use contractors strictly because they are cheaper than employees, but properly paid contractors shouldn't be cheaper than employees, as they should be compensated for the value they bring your company. Regardless, lowered costs aren't a valid reason to declare someone a contractor. Fans will grumble over the news that Robert Pattinson has been cast as the new Batman. They always do. They wrote letters to the Los Angeles Times when Michael Keaton was announced as Tim Burtons Batman, insisting the man behind Beetlejuice could never bring the required gravitas. They had the same complaints about Heath Ledger, when Christopher Nolan picked him to be The Dark Knights Joker. 7,000 fans signed a petition asking Warner Bros to reverse their decision to cast Ben Affleck as the Caped Crusader back in 2013, when he was announced as the DC Extended Universe (DCEU)s version of the character, fronting the series of interconnected films that followed 2013s Man of Steel. All three of those actors went on to prove their critics wrong. Pattinson will undoubtedly do the same. The casting of comic book characters almost always causes some kind of backlash with fans, who are so wrapped up in the source material, that no one of flesh and blood could possibly live up to whats been created out of ink and paint. But thats especially true of Batman who, over the course of his 80-year history, has taken on so many guises and personas, that hes become the stuff of pure legend. Everyone has their own Batman. From the comics, it could be the Golden Age version, Frank Millers darker iteration, or the New 52 take from earlier this decade. Theres no satisfying everyone, which inevitably means theres no safe choice for the role. Enter Pattinson. Hes the risky, but inspired option. The actor, inevitably, comes with the same baggage of many a Batman before him. Anyone who hasnt tracked his career over the past decade will probably still see him as the fresh-faced youth who came to a tragic end in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and sparkled his way through five Twilight films, as broody vampire babe Edward Cullen. But Pattinson has been very busy since then. Retreating from the Hollywood mainstream, much like his Twilight co-star Kristen Stewart, hes instead invested his time in building up one of the most impressive filmographies of any actor of his generation. Hes worked with directors David Cronenberg, Werner Herzog, and Claire Denis. Hes embraced challenging work and impressed critics time and time again. Whether in the sombre, reflective mood of James Grays The Lost City of Z, about the men who risked everything to explore the depths of the Amazon in the early 20th century, or in the manic energy of the Safdie brotherss unconventional crime drama Good Time, Pattinson has proven he can roll with the punches. Hes shown his range. Playing a moody billionaire who likes to dress up as a bat and punch criminals in the face should be no challenge at all for him. The DCEU movies ranked worst to best Show all 7 1 /7 The DCEU movies ranked worst to best The DCEU movies ranked worst to best 7. Suicide Squad (2016) Its the film that crawled straight out of a Hot Topic fever dream, threatening to rain down chaos and chain wallets on us all. Granted, it wasnt so hard to fall for the charms of its marketing campaign. Released in the grim haze left behind by Batman v Superman (more on that later), Suicide Squad looked us in the eye and promised us an antidote to what had come before. It told us it would be the neon-splattered, anarchist baby brother of the DCEU. All that arrived was the adolescent part. Too much of Suicide Squad is spent on its over-edited character introductions: each arrives on screen with a classic rock track blaring and some meaningless onscreen text (whats the point of Captain Boomerangs unicorn fetish, again?). All ultimately wasted once the (anti-)heroes are tasked with defeating the DCEUs most half-baked villain, The Enchantress (Cara Delevingne). Shes a character so devoid of interest, the worst crime shes guilty of is piss-poor archeology skills. Warner Bros The DCEU movies ranked worst to best 6. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) Although more cohesive in its vision than Suicide Squad, Batman v Superman suffers because that vision is almost entirely delusional. What is presented to us as a philosophical epic a treatise on morality and personal responsibility is instantly undone by a series of ludicrous decisions on the part of the films director, Zack Snyder. Chief among them, the now-infamous reason that Batman (Ben Affleck) and Superman (Henry Cavill) finally stop pummelling each other and decide to become super friends: their mothers were both called Martha. And why again did Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) have any interest in making these two titans fight? The films plot is wildly incoherent, but it only becomes a true chore after the realisation that even Gal Gadots introduction as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman isnt enough to lighten the films funereal tone. Rex Features The DCEU movies ranked worst to best 5. Justice League (2017) Justice League contains, at its heart, a story that was only half-realised. Zack Snyder stepped down from his duties as director, following the tragic death of his daughter, Autumn. They were intensely difficult circumstances that didnt necessarily come with easy answers for the future of Justice League. Warner Bros, however, made an odd choice in inviting Joss Whedon to complete the film. The quip-heavy, energetic style he brought to Marvels Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron clashed abrasively with the weightiness of what Snyder had already shot. Yet, Justice League at least has the advantage of showcasing the characters that the DCEU has now bet their future on, with charismatic turns from Gal Gadots Wonder Woman, Jason Momoas Aquaman, and Ezra Millers The Flash. Warner Bros The DCEU movies ranked worst to best 4. Man of Steel (2013) As the onscreen debut of Cavills Superman, Man of Steel at least benefits from a fairly straightforward, linear storyline that duly ticks off the various demands of an origin story. Elements of the film feel over laboured: the Jesus imagery is excessive for a character whose parallels with a religious saviour are already obvious, Jonathan Kent (Kevin Costner)s death scene seems unnecessary, and the film concludes with a seemingly endless destruction fest. Yet, after Superman IV: Quest for Peace (1987) and Superman Returns (2006) turned the franchise into a joke, an approach as sombre as that of director Zack Snyder felt right for the character at the time, flaws aside. Whether he made the right choice in violating Supermans usual no-kill policy, by having him snap General Zod (Michael Sheen)s neck, is up for (usually lengthy) debate. Warner Bros The DCEU movies ranked worst to best 3. Aquaman (2018) Aquaman is far from perfect, but credit has to be given to director James Wan for taking such a huge risk with the film and standing by it, even in its most ludicrous excesses. This is a bombastic adventure. And its all anchored by its star Jason Momoa, who manages to turn a character who, for years, has been the butt of the joke, into DCs new party jock hero. Momoa made the man-who-talks-to-fish cool. Unfortunately, its also an audience divider: either you buy into the giant crab warriors and the octopus playing drums, or you get distracted by the lazy plotting and the weak dialogue. Unfortunately, beneath all the fishy visuals, the films story gets swamped by exposition and an unconvincing central romance. AP The DCEU movies ranked worst to best 2. Shazam! (2019) Shazam! centres on a troubled 14-year-old orphan (Asher Angel) who has the power to transform into a Superman-type character (a visibly delighted Zachary Levi) by saying the film's title. Borrowing heavily from Tom Hanks's Big, the film breezes along, playfully skewering superhero tropes and concluding with a light-hearted, low-stakes climax. Sure, there are segments that drag, and the superhero fights are a little too long, but Shazam! finally gives the world a coherent and fun DCEU film. With this and Aquaman having been released back-to-back, the darkness of Snyder's Man of Steel and Batman vs Superman seems but a fever dream. Warner Bros The DCEU movies ranked worst to best 1. Wonder Woman (2017) When Patty Jenkins entered the ring to direct Wonder Womans first solo film since her inception in 1941, she brought something to the DCEU that arguably hadnt been seen before. Wonder Woman has heart. Its a film filled with characters you can believe in, root for, and idolise. Although it stumbles at times its main villain is dull, its side villain is under-used, and its finale relies far too much on CGI those weaknesses pale in comparison to how beautifully crafted Wonder Womans own personal journey is. We see what courage and sacrifice represents, and what it means to fight for the good of others. Its a rare thing to see a superhero film place at its centre the true ideals of heroism kindness, justice, and love and have them all embodied in one character. And with Gal Gadot exuding both power and compassion in equal measure, its no wonder that so many uphold her as the bright spot of the DCEU. Clay Enos/Warner Bros. Entertainment via APAP In truth, although Warner Bros handling of the DCEU has been shaky in the past, its roster of actors has always been one of its strong suits. Gal Gadots Wonder Woman brought an inner strength and purity of conviction that made her 2017 solo film feel so empowering to women. Jason Momoa is so inherently cool that he reversed decades of put-downs about the superhero who talks to fish when he was first cast as Aquaman. Both of these actors, alongside Ezra Miller and his charismatic take on The Flash, brought much-needed energy to an otherwise sluggish Justice League. Though Suicide Squad proved disastrous with critics, most were in agreement that Margot Robbies Harley Quinn was a scene-stealer. Her character has not only kept the Suicide Squad films alive, with James Gunn set to direct a sequel, but also warranted her own spin-off Birds of Prey is set to land in cinemas next year. Pattinson, however, will play Batman in a solo film thats entirely unconnected to the existing DCEU. Much like the forthcoming Joker, which sees Joaquin Phoenix star in a King of Comedy-esque, stylised take on the villains backstory, The Batman is intended as a standalone project that will offer its own spin on the character. Its director, Matt Reeves, has described the film as a point of view-driven, noir Batman tale that will focus on the characters history in the comics as the worlds greatest detective. The unconvinced need only to watch Pattinsons latest film, Deniss High Life, to see him play introspective and taciturn. Plus, theres no doubting that he has the chin for the job. The Batman is set for release on 25 June 2021 Two giant pandas have returned to China after staying in the United States for years. Twenty-seven-year-old female giant panda Bai Yun and her son, six-year-old Xiao Liwu, arrived in southwest China's Sichuan Province Thursday, after the San Diego Zoo's conservation loan agreement with China ended. Fuzzy charm As the first panda on loan, Bai Yun arrived at the San Diego Zoo in 1996. The cuddly panda soon became an iconic image of the zoo and one of the most popular animals. The name of her son, Xiao Liwu, means Little Gift. On Thursday morning, the pandas arrived at the Dujiangyan Base of the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Pandas. Experts examined the pandas and said the chubby bears' conditions were good. "They will be under quarantine for a month to help them adapt to the conditions in China," said Zou Wenyong, with the center. A welcoming ceremony was held at the base at 3:30 p.m. Zhang Haiqing, deputy director of the center, presented an award to the San Diego Zoo for its protection of the pandas, while Shawn Dixon, with the San Diego Zoo, dedicated a book featuring joint research efforts to the center. Last month, the San Diego Zoo held a three-week farewell event for the two giant pandas. Around 1,000 Americans lined up at the zoo to say goodbye to the pandas, according to Dixon. The writer of the film Juno has referred to abortion bans as a hellish alternate reality, adding that she wouldnt write the same movie nowadays. Diablo Cody, who wrote the beloved 2007 independent comedy, discussed the recent US abortion bans on the podcast Keep It. Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio and Georgia have also approved bans on abortion once fetal cardiac activity can be detected, which can occur in about the sixth week of pregnancy. New legislation in Alabama seeks to ban abortion outright, and on Friday, Missouris Republican-led House has passed legislation designed to survive court challenges, which would ban abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy. For Cody, this context means that Juno as we know it most likely wouldn't get made today. Best films of 2019 (so far) Show all 49 1 /49 Best films of 2019 (so far) Best films of 2019 (so far) The Favourite Macabre and fraught though The Favourite gets, this isnt so much a film about sex or power as it is about plain mischief. Its a hilarious, buffoonish pleasure, right down to the sets and costume design, and a breeze to spend 120 minutes with. Christopher Hooton Fox Searchlight Pictures Best films of 2019 (so far) Beautiful Boy Casting Chalamet as Nic was a very clever move. The young actor from Call Me by Your Name and Lady Bird has a natural charm and charisma. He still engages an audiences curiosity and sympathy even when his behaviour is at its most selfish and erratic. Geoffrey Macnab Amazon Studios Best films of 2019 (so far) The House by the Sea Guediguians storytelling style is deceptive. At first, it seems as if this is low-key social realism in the Dardennes or Ken Loach mould, albeit set on the French Riviera. Gradually, though, we realise how stylised and theatrical his approach really is. Geoffrey Macnab Best films of 2019 (so far) Stan & Ollie Director Jon S Baird, whose previous film was scabrous Irvine Welsh adaptation Filth, wrings every last drop of pathos he can from his material. This is very much a case of the tears of the clowns. Geoffrey Macnab Entertainment One Best films of 2019 (so far) Vice Vice is bravura storytelling. McKay isnt only taking us through Cheneys life and career but is giving us a whistle stop tour through US politics from the Nixon administration almost right to the present day. Geoffrey Macnab Annapurna Pictures Best films of 2019 (so far) Can You Ever Forgive Me? Playing Lee Israel, McCarthy manages something very special: she makes a character who is odd, obnoxious, difficult and alcoholic seem lovable and even heroic. The rest of the world is at fault, not Lee. Geoffrey Macnab Fox Searchlight Pictures Best films of 2019 (so far) Green Book "Green Book flatters the audience about its own good sense and tolerance. It deals with racism and homophobia but still has a fairytale, fantasy feel to it. Whatever humiliations Don endures on their road trip, we know no real harm will ever come to him as long as Tony is at his side. Geoffrey Macnab Universal Pictures Best films of 2019 (so far) Velvet Buzzsaw The golden age of bonkers horror movies is gloriously evoked by Netflixs latest feature length presentation. Beginning as a satire of the arts world, Velvet Buzzsaw swiftly and gleefully descends into a savage splatter-fest, smeared in paint, viscera and garishly-bright blood. Ed Power Netflix Best films of 2019 (so far) If Beale Street Could Talk The setting is New York in the 1970s. Anyone who has watched Martin Scorseses Taxi Driver knows this was an era of violence, corruption and sleaze on a monumental level, but [Barry] Jenkins somehow makes the city seem like a modern-day Eden. Geoffrey Macnab Annapurna Pictures Best films of 2019 (so far) All Is True Written by Ben Elton and directed by its star Kenneth Branagh, the film plays so fast and loose with the playwrights final years that they neednt have bothered fitting Branagh with a prosthetic nose accuracy is clearly not the priority here. Alexandra Pollard Sony Pictures Classics Best films of 2019 (so far) The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part "The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part is the doomed progeny of a celebrated genius brilliant but slightly stunted by the knowledge they will never live up to their predecessor. Clarisse Loughrey Warner Bros. Pictures Best films of 2019 (so far) Piercing Nicolas Pesces sleek and stylish horror comedy is repulsive and funny by turns. In adapting Ryu Murakamis cult novel, Pesce strikes just the right balance between humour and Grand Guignol-style shock tactics. Geoffrey Macnab Universal Pictures Best films of 2019 (so far) Capernaum "The best moments here are remarkable. Labaki elicits an astonishing performance from her young lead. Hes an irrepressible figure with such an inbuilt sense of moral decency the film seems upbeat and optimistic, even at its darkest moments. Geoffrey Macnab Sony Pictures Classics Best films of 2019 (so far) The White Crow "Ralph Fiennes combines thriller elements with poetic flashbacks to ballet legend Rudolf Nureyevs childhood and keeps a tight focus on the dancer. When he is most at risk, Nureyev makes decisions with his artistic future more in mind than his personal safety. As Fiennes reminds us again and again in what is his best film yet as a director, the 'white crow' will do anything to put himself in the limelight, the one place he is convinced he belongs." StudioCanal Best films of 2019 (so far) Border "Border reverses the perspective taken by most other horror films. In more conventional genre fare, Tina and Vore would be portrayed as malevolent outsiders, but in the world conjured up by director Ali Abbasi, the humans are the monsters. Tina is the innocent a visionary who hardly understands her own powers but who can sense human venality and corruption wherever it appears." TriArt Film Best films of 2019 (so far) Fighting with My Family "Certain scenes feel very trite and predictable but the film gets you in a choke hold early on and wont let you go. It is far more gripping than its subject matter might suggest. Who ever would believe a story about a wrestling family from Norwich could have quite such heart and resonance?" James Field Best films of 2019 (so far) Us "Doppelgangers abound in Jordan Peeles weird, creepy and ingenious new horror film. As in his Oscar-winning 2017 feature Get Out, Peele leavens matters with ironic humour but the joking becomes increasingly uncomfortable once the main characters come face to face with dark shadows of themselves which wish them extreme harm." AP Best films of 2019 (so far) Avengers: Endgame "The Avengers cycle comes to a rich and very satisfying conclusion with Endgame, surely the most complex and emotional superhero movie in Marvel history. At 181 minutes, this is a veritable epic, but with so many characters and plot strands, it fully warrants its lengthy running time." AP Best films of 2019 (so far) Eighth Grade "Its a rare and precious feeling when a film completely dismantles you. Eighth Grade the directorial debut of US comedian Bo Burnham breaks down every delusion we have about ourselves and burrows deep into those parts weve made such an effort to lock away. You may cry. You may shudder as every awkward social interaction thats kept you up at night replays in your head all at once. You may feel the sharp pain associated with those moments when you feel completely isolated from the world. Burnham may have crafted a simple story about the most ordinary of teenage girls, but it speaks with the emotions of a true cinematic epic." A24 Best films of 2019 (so far) Vox Lux "Natalie Portman gives her fiercest, most memorable performance since Black Swan in Brady Corbets enjoyably subversive satire about a troubled pop star whose loss of innocence mirrors the fall from grace of the US itself. Portmans character, Celeste, is certainly one of the most objectionable figures she has played: a pampered, hard-drinking drug-taking floozy whose appearance and high-handed behaviour rekindle memories of Liz Taylor and Joan Crawford at their monstrous worst." Neon Best films of 2019 (so far) High Life Robert Pattinson gives one of his most striking performances as Monte, the death-row criminal in outer space, tricked into making a voyage described at one stage as a class-one suicide ride. The former Twilight star makes his shaven-headed, gaunt-faced character seem hyper naturally sensitive and feral at the same time. A24 Best films of 2019 (so far) Amazing Grace Amazing Grace is as uplifting a film as you will see all year. Its a concert movie filmed over two nights and featuring Aretha Franklin, the first lady of soul, performing gospel standards in a church in Los Angeles in 1972, with a huge backing choir and an enthusiastic congregation. Neon Best films of 2019 (so far) Aladdin Disneys live-action remake of its 1992 animated feature is a rip-roaring, old-fashioned matinee-style spectacle that turns out far better than we had any right to expect. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Best films of 2019 (so far) Booksmart Olivia Wilde is a visually inventive director, who keeps the tempo here so brisk that we hardly notice how glib the storytelling sometimes becomes. We can tell exactly how the film will end, but it still feels original both in its screwball energy and in the deft way it continually reverses stereotypes and gender cliches. Geoffrey Macnab Annapurna Pictures Best films of 2019 (so far) Late Night Late Night is a caustic satirical comedy that turns into an unlikely tearjerker. Its by turns snide and uplifting, and often very funny too. Its writer/producer/star Mindy Kaling makes vicious observations about the inanity, narcissism and corruption of the mainstream US media at the same time as she celebrates the professionalism of many of those who work within it. The film has a glorious performance from Emma Thompson and a very sly one from Kaling. Thompson is at her most imperious as Katherine Newbury, a legendary entertainer, the only female in a male-dominated field, but one whose career is beginning to slide. Geoffrey Macnab Amazon Studios Best films of 2019 (so far) Gloria Bell Gloria Bell is somewhat exhausting both unbearably intimate and at a constant remove but it is endlessly pulled back into focus by Moore, who has a firm understanding of the delicate balance between contentment and yearning, joy and pain, recklessness and spontaneity. In a remake that could have felt indulgent in the hands of people less skilled, she more than justifies its existence. Geoffrey Macnab Curzon Best films of 2019 (so far) Toy Story 4 "The brilliance of the new film lies in the surefooted way it caters both for children too young to have seen its predecessors and for adults whove grown up (or grown older) watching the previous instalments. It takes some kind of genius for the Pixar animators to give such a searing emotional charge to a story in which one of the main characters is a single use plastic spork retrieved from the trash." Pixar/Disney Best films of 2019 (so far) In Fabric In Fabric feels like Peter Strickland at his most free and playful, drawing as much from the British sense of humour dry and morbid to a fault as from Italian glamour. Curzon Artificial Eye Best films of 2019 (so far) The Flood "Perhaps The Flood isnt quite the urgent, profound film a crisis of this scale deserves, but in a culture where refugees are so rarely shown any empathy in mainstream media, maybe this is the film we need right now." Best films of 2019 (so far) Midsommar "Ari Aster's follow-up to Hereditary serves up much of the same: its a break-up movie wrapped up in pagan horror. Its also bound to be one of this years most memorable films, proving that Aster is far from a one-hit wonder." A24 Best films of 2019 (so far) The Lion King "The Lion King is undoubtedly a technological marvel that, much like Avatar, will come to be viewed as a milestone in special effects history, yet its just as interesting to see how all this innovation has been employed." AP Best films of 2019 (so far) Varda by Agnes "For a film thats almost entirely narrated by Agnes Varda's own voice, it doesnt feel driven by ego, but by pure intellectual and emotional curiosity." Best films of 2019 (so far) Animals "Animals treats its subjects with patience and generosity. Youll find no life lessons here. Its main characters are free to pursue their desires, to whatever end." Best films of 2019 (so far) Blinded by the Light "Blinded by the Light offers not only a reminder of Springsteens lyrical genius, but of how hes always served as a beacon for the disenfranchised." Warner Brothers Best films of 2019 (so far) Good Boys Lined up against some of this years other more heartfelt offerings, including Booksmart, Good Boys offers further proof that putting a little humanity in our comedy always gets the best results. Best films of 2019 (so far) Hustlers "Hustlers is an electrifying response to the deluge of stories weve had over the years about very rich, very bad dudes. Finally, we can turn the tables on every film thats used women, specifically strippers, as decorative accessories to drape over businessmen as they conduct their illicit backroom meetings. Or, failing that, to shake their out-of-focus tits in the background of a shot." AP Best films of 2019 (so far) For Sama For Sama is one of the most profoundly intimate depictions of the Syrian conflict ever put to film. Its the push to help those on the outside process something so incomprehensible in the depth of its horrors. Republic Film Distribution Best films of 2019 (so far) Ad Astra The real drama here is not whether or not apocalypse can be avoided but whether Brad Pitts character can reconcile himself with his father and overcome his own extreme emotional repression. In other words, in spite of all the jargon and the hardware, this is an intimate family melodrama at heart. Thanks to Pitts performance and Grays delicate direction, it turns into a very moving one. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Best films of 2019 (so far) The Farewell Wrapped up in all the intricacies of immigrant identity and family politics, The Farewell is a comedy of warmth and bracing honesty. Simply put, its one of the best films of the year. A24 Best films of 2019 (so far) Judy This is Renee Zellwegers Judy. It doesnt belong to Rupert Goold, its director. Nor does it belong to Tom Edge, its screenwriter. Its a performance of such overwhelming force that it wrests authorship from every other hand that guided the films creation. Pathe Best films of 2019 (so far) Ready or Not As absurd and self-indulgent as Ready or Not can get, it doesnt mess around with its social commentary. The class system is the game we never asked to play, dont get a fair chance at, and have no hope of winning. Its a timeless metaphor. 20th Century Fox Best films of 2019 (so far) A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon Despite its mouthful of a title, A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon is an utter delight proof that good storytelling and strong craft are what matters, however familiar the packaging. Studio Canal Best films of 2019 (so far) The Beach Bum Clearly, Harmony Korine is steered by his attraction to the theatrical, the absurd and the grimly nihilistic. The Beach Bum is all of that and absolutely none of it, too a leisurely, neon-soaked stroll through chaos and hazy bohemia, full of slapstick and pathos. It is as much Korines most mature film as it is his most juvenile. Neon/Vice Best films of 2019 (so far) The Last Black Man in San Francisco Its a beautiful, frightening and tragic vignette of the urban nightmare, though The Last Black Man in San Francisco isnt really an angry film. Its less of a rallying cry against gentrification than a rumination on the kind of pained acceptance those who suffer its effects must face. A24 Best films of 2019 (so far) The Irishman Scorseses signature camerawork goes down like a glass of fine whisky, as smooth and as elegant as youd expect. The violence arrives in short, sharp shocks. Steven Zaillians screenplay even nails the mobster patter, with arguments about fish, tardiness, and business shorts that feel destined to one day be quoted to death. Netflix Best films of 2019 (so far) Le Mans '66 The films greatest trick is saved for its final reel. For much of its running time, youd be easily fooled into thinking Mangold had made a grand ode to the American dream. Its a film about an immigrant worker who, through perseverance and toil, gains the respect of one of the richest men in the country. And then the rug is pulled right out from underneath you. Le Mans 66 may relish in the high life, but its final moments feel devastatingly hollow. AP Best films of 2019 (so far) Marriage Story The film never loses its sense of humour and absurdity. Somehow, in spite of the bleakness of the subject matter, it feels more redemptive than despairing. Best films of 2019 (so far) The Report Adam Driver plays Jones, Annette Bening Senator Feinstein, and director Scott Z Burns captures the events in a cold, rigorously factual, and largely dispassionate manner. But thats the point. The Report chooses to value the truth over bombastic displays of morality. AP Best films of 2019 (so far) Knives Out Casting an ensemble film is a little like perfecting a cocktail blend, balancing flavours until they sing together in harmony. Knives Out hits the mark here: the actors all feel well-suited to their roles and they bounce off each other with ease. Lionsgate I dont even know if I wouldve written a movie like Juno, knowing, if I had known that world was going to spiral into this hellish alternate reality that we now seem to be stuck in, she told the podcast. Its... the Georgia thing is horrifying. Like, its honestly something that Ive been thinking about, kind of, continuously, like, in an endless dark feedback loop. It just, it sucks so f****** bad. In the coming-of-age movie, 17-year-old Juno initially goes to an abortion clinic after finding out that she's pregnant, but gets discouraged from getting the procedure by protesters outside. She goes on to carry the baby to term with the project of letting another family adopt it. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Republican-led legislatures around the US are imposing new restrictions, hoping more conservative justices will overturn the US Supreme Court's landmark 1973 Roe v Wade ruling legalising abortion. Additional reporting by agencies Theresa May is widely expected to announce her resignation date on Friday, with 10 June expected to the day that the contest to succeed her will begin. The prime minister will likely stay in office while the leadership election takes place, with a new leader set to take office before MPs leave Westminster for their summer break in July. In reality, the race to be the next prime minister has already been underway for months. Candidates have been building campaign teams, giving eyebrow-raising interviews to Sunday newspapers and spending more time in parliament's bars and tea rooms as they seek to win support. Online fashion brand Oh Polly has apologised after customers noticed it was running a separate Instagram account for plus-size models. The account, named Oh Polly Inclusive, has been criticised on social media by people including YouTuber Alissa Ashley, who described it as segregation. What makes these women not suitable for your main page @ohpolly ? Ohpollyinclusive?? Who approved this? she tweeted on Monday. Like imagine calling yourselves inclusive and not wanting to post women that dont fit your aesthetic on your brand page lmao [sic]. Ashleys tweet garnered more than 20,000 likes and thousands of responses from people concurring the the additional page was discriminatory. Body positivity activists protest outside London Fashion Week Show all 9 1 /9 Body positivity activists protest outside London Fashion Week Body positivity activists protest outside London Fashion Week Getty Images Body positivity activists protest outside London Fashion Week Getty Images Body positivity activists protest outside London Fashion Week Getty Images Body positivity activists protest outside London Fashion Week Getty Images Body positivity activists protest outside London Fashion Week Getty Images Body positivity activists protest outside London Fashion Week Getty Images Body positivity activists protest outside London Fashion Week Getty Images Body positivity activists protest outside London Fashion Week Getty Images Body positivity activists protest outside London Fashion Week Getty Images This is such a bad move, wrote one person, why make an entire new page for brand inclusivity when you can you just be an all around inclusive brand on your main? Another added: Why does the other page say Inclusive on it? There should be just one page that has both. Thats what inclusive means doesnt it? Several users took issue with the bio on the Oh Polly Inclusive page, which featured the phrase; Zero % Tolerance, 100% inclusive, which they said made little sense. The phrase zero percent tolerance literally means we are not tolerant which seems like the opposite of being inclusive?? wrote one person. What were they even trying to say?? Im very confused???? Lmao [sic]. Oh Pollys main Instagram account has more than two million followers. Oh Polly Inclusive, however, had just 3,600. It has now been removed and the brand has apologised for its serious error of judgement. Speaking on BBC Newsbeat, a spokesperson for Oh Polly said: We established a new page with the specific aim of allowing our customers to discuss a wider range of issues. Improving diversity remains an absolute priority for us across all of our channels. We promise to continue listening to everyone in the Oh Polly community and, most importantly, learn from this mistake. A Japanese toaster that costs 215 and makes just one slice at a time has divided opinion online. The gadget, which is otherwise known as a Bread Oven, was designed by Mitsubishi Electric Corp and launched in Japan just last month. The toaster retails for around 29,000 to 30,000 yen (215) and, while that might sound expensive, its creators insist that the technology behind the oven makes it well worth every penny. We wanted to focus on the single slice, and treat it with respect, Akihiro Iwahara, who is in charge of technical development at Mitsubishi Electric's home-appliances division told Bloomberg. Our technology and know-how from rice cookers helped us come up with a way to trap and seal moisture. The 20 best food scenes in film Show all 20 1 /20 The 20 best food scenes in film The 20 best food scenes in film Lady & the Tramp Who would have guessed one of the most romantic scenes in cinema would involve two dogs eating scraps in an alleyway? And, yet, the iconic spaghetti kiss from Disneys 1955 animated film has been oft imitated but never surpassed, as the two pups indulge in an Italian delicacy, all soundtracked to Sonny Burke and Peggy Lees Bella Notte. And, as Tramp proves, theres no greater act of chivalry than offering your date the last meatball Moviestore/Rex The 20 best food scenes in film Babette's Feast Gabriel Axels Oscar-winning 1987 Danish film is a visual treat for any self-confessed gourmand. The story sees two pious Protestant sisters offer refuge to a French woman fleeing the political tumult in Paris after the collapse of the Second Empire in 1871. They agree to hire her as a housekeeper, discovering later that shes the former chef of one of Pariss best restaurants. When she wins the lottery, she uses the funds to whip a meal to remember for her kindly hosts. The 20 best food scenes in film Hook All the very best chefs know that a dash of pure imagination is key to creating a true culinary wonder. Its a lesson well-taught in Steven Spielbergs 1991 classic, Hook, as a grown-up Peter Pan (Robin Williams) looks on in disbelief as the Lost Boys tuck into what appears to be nothing at all. Its only when he truly believes that he can see the brightly colour feast laid out before him. And what childish feast would be complete without an old fashioned food fight? Sony The 20 best food scenes in film Breakfast at Tiffany's Sure, the 1961 films title may be a little misleading. Its protagonist, Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn), in reality only has breakfast outside of Tiffanys, popping out of a cab in the early morning light to peer into the jewelry shop window, all while enjoying a pastry and some coffee in a paper. The moment has still remained the peak of glamour, decades later, so who cares if its all a little white lie? Keystone Features/Getty Images The 20 best food scenes in film The Godfather Its a classic scene that proves to be surprisingly instructional. Francis Ford Coppolas 1972 film has a full-blown recipe tucked within its elegant drama, as Vito Corleones close associate, Peter Clemenza (Richard Castellano), offers his version of the perfect pasta sauce. As he explains: You start out with a little bit of oil. Then you fry some garlic. Then you throw in some tomatoes, tomato paste, you fry it; you make sure it doesn't stick. You get it to a boil; you shove in all your sausage and your meatballs. And a little bit of wine, and a little bit of sugarthat's my trick." Rex Features The 20 best food scenes in film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Although the 1971 musical is, as a whole, a sugary delight, its hardest to resist the temptation of Willy Wonkas Fizzy Lifting Drinks, a soda described as so bubbly that it lifts anyone who drinks it right off the ground. Its no wonder that it was the one stop on the tour that ended up tempting the pure-hearted Charlie Bucket (Peter Ostrum) and his grandfather (Jack Albertson). Now, the real question is: does it come in different flavours? Getty The 20 best food scenes in film Eat Pray Love For anyone who considers pizza to be the true love of their life, Ryan Murphys 2010 romcom is a perfect cinematic match. Its hard not to relate to the moment Liz Gilbert (Julia Roberts) bites into a piece of authentic Italian pizza, during the Naples stop on her global adventure of self-discovery, and declares: Im in love. Im in a relationship with my pizza. Rex Features The 20 best food scenes in film Beauty & the Beast Although we might not fully be convinced that the grey stuff is delicious, the dinner and show approach to Lumiere (Jerry Orbach)s hospitality is something we could certainly get used to. In Disneys 1991 animation, Belle (Paige O'Hara) is presented with a whole cavalcade of sumptuous dishes: including beef ragout, cheese souffle, pie and pudding "en flambe". And theres a sage piece of advice to go with it all, too: If you're stressed, it's fine dining we suggest! Indeed. Disney The 20 best food scenes in film Steel Magnolias While theres been a growing fad of ambitious, unusually themed cakes you need only look at the success of the TLC reality series Cake Boss there are few cinematic cakes that quite stick in the memory like Jackson (Dylan McDermott)s armadillo-shaped groom cake from 1989 comedy-drama Steel Magnolias, a spin on the tradition from the American South of having another cake separate to the main wedding cake. And did we mention that its red velvet on the inside? REX FEATURES The 20 best food scenes in film Marie Antoinette When it came to director Sofia Coppola conjuring the ultimate image of decadence for her 2006 biopic on the French queen, there was no more perfect treat than Ladurees famous macarons. Delicate and pastel-toned, the meringue-based confection has long been the speciality of the French bakery, first established in 1862. A new flavour was even created in honour of the film, with the Marie Antoinette offering a combination of rose and anise flavours. Columbia Pictures The 20 best food scenes in film The Hundred Foot Journey Food is often regarded as one of the best ways to understand a culture, and The Hundred-Foot Journey is wonderful for showing the efforts the talented, self-taught novice Hassan (Manish Dayal) goes to in order to comprehend that. During a picnic he reveals he has mastered the five mother sauces of French cuisine, and the delicate tasting process that follows demonstrates just how important food is to France. The 20 best food scenes in film Goodfellas In prison, dinner was always a big thing. So much so that the Wise Guys ate better than most people on the outside. Beyond the Sea plays in the background as the gangsters prepare their meal: Garlic sliced so thin with a razor blade that it would liquefy in the pan with just a little oil, meatballs in a tomato sauce thats a little too oniony, steak cooked medium rare, iced lobsters, prosciutto, salami, cheese, red wine and good Scotch. Maybe crime does pay after all. The 20 best food scenes in film Chocolat There are few pleasures in life more fulfilling than that of cooking for others. In Chocolat based on the book by Joanne Harris a slow-motion scene where dinner party guests tuck into the feast created by expert chocolatier Vianne Rocher (Juliette Binoche) is full of warmth and laughter. AP The 20 best food scenes in film Pulp Fiction In a world where people seem more than happy to fork out 15 for some mushy avocado on toast, $5 for a milkshake doesnt seem too unreasonable. Vincent Vega (John Travolta) takes his boss wife Mia (Uma Thurman) out to Jack Rabbit Slims for a burger, where she decides she wants the $5 dollar shake. You dont put bourbon in it or nothing? a bewildered Vincent asks the waiter. When it arrives, Mia takes a long sip: Yummy. I gotta know what a $5 shake tastes like, Vincent says. He takes a sip. Then another. Goddamn, thats a pretty f***ing good milkshake. Miramax/YouTube The 20 best food scenes in film Julie & Julia Nora Ephrons feature film based on the intertwining stories of chef Julia Child and Julie Powell, the blogger who rose to fame after documenting her pledge to cook all 524 recipes in Childs cookbook, is all about the joy one can find in food. It is some of the earlier scenes that capture this best, like when Julia (Meryl Streep) and her husband Paul (Stanley Tucci) arrive in Paris and stop at a French restaurant, where Julia is served a sizzling platter of sole. It looked so mouth-watering in the final edit that Ephron wanted to call up Martin Scorcese and say, youve never shot a fish like that before. Rex The 20 best food scenes in film Ratatouille Fearsome critic Anton Ego takes a bite of ratatouille and is transported back to his childhood, where it was a favourite comfort food, in the best scene from Pixars wonderful animated film. The detail is superb, from the process of Remy the rat preparing the dish to the moment Egos pen falls to the ground as he remembers the power of a favourite meal in evoking memories we thought were lost. YouTube screengrab / Jeugos para ninos / Disney Pixar The 20 best food scenes in film Spinal Tap I dont want this, I want large bread but I can rise above it, Im a professional. The miniature bread catastrophe is a beautiful parody on every self-absorbed rock star to have kicked off over something as ludicrous as the food theyre served backstage. Guitarist Nigel Tufnell sits next to a tray of sandwiches looking baffled as his manager walks over. "Look," he says, picking up a sandwich. "This, this miniature bread. It's like... I've been working with this now for about half an hour. I can't figure it out. Let's say I want a bite, right, you've got this..." "Why do you keep folding it?" Ian asks. Nigel looks down at the broken bits of bread, then tries again: "This. I don't want this." He throws the sandwich to the ground, disgusted. "I want large bread!" Embassy Pictures The 20 best food scenes in film The Help After all the trauma she has been through at the hands of her abusive husband and a racist ex-employer Minny (Octavia Spencer) arrives at her employer Celia Foote to find a beautiful dinner cooked for her as a thank you for everything she has done for Celia and her husband. You see the care that has gone into it as Celia lays everything out on the table, from a mile high meringue to the fried chicken Minny taught her how to make. That table of food gave Minny the strength she needed, the narration explains. She took her babies out from under Leroy and never went back. AP Photo/Disney DreamWorks II, Dale Robinette The 20 best food scenes in film Five Easy Pieces Robert Dupea (Jack Nicholson) just wants some toast to go with his omelette, but the waitress is stubbornly sticking to the diners no substitutions rule. Ill make it as easy for you as I can, goes the famous order. Id like an omelette, plain, and a chicken salad sandwich on wheat toast. No mayonnaise, no butter, no lettuce and hold the chicken. Columbia Pictures The 20 best food scenes in film Big Night It was a scene that helped propel a revolution in American dining. Il Timpano, a dish inspired by the notoriously tricky-to-make Italian meal, is the star of a moment in Big Night where chef brothers Primo (Tony Shalhoub) and Secondo (Stanley Tucci) prepares it as the centrepiece for a feast attended by their rival, Pascal. Goddamit, I should kill you, he screams, throwing his fork down after tasting Il Timpano. This is so f***ing good, I should kill you. So, how does it work? Unlike most conventional toasters, Mitsubishis version seals a single slice of bread inside a metal box and transfers heat through two metal plates that reach temperatures as high as 260C. Whats more, it can also be used to make an array of variations on traditional toast, such a French toast, croque madame and cheese toasties. Given Japanese tastes, there are a lot of people looking for a refined and delicate experience, explained Hiroaki Higuchi, general manager for marketing at Mitsubishi Electrics home-appliance unit. We're not asking customers to get rid of their toasters, but to enjoy this as an entirely different category. The high-tech toaster has divided opinion on Twitter with some saying they would love to own one. To be fair this s*** look good. Like hella soft but crispy at the same time [sic], one person wrote. (TicToc by Bloomberg) Another person added: Meh. I'm definitely not feeling the $270 price tag BUT I bet it could make one kickass delicious Grilled Cheese sandwich though. While a third commented: This would make some divine French Toast. (TicToc by Bloomberg) However, not everyone has been convinced, with some people saying the gadget seems like a waste of money. No ones interested at this price, one person commented. Another added: This is made for single people or childless couples only. Imagine trying to toast one piece of bread at a time with a bunch of kids yelling for their breakfast. A third person wrote: Oh hell no I wouldnt pay that much for perfect toast!! Others suggested that people could get similar results if they used a frying pan, negating the need to spend so much money on the Bread Oven. 1. Heat pan (butter if desired) 2. Place bread on pan 3. Cover bread with pot lid. Boom. Moisture sealed toast, one person wrote on Twitter. As you see fit, feel free to forward any portion of your $270 savings my way. Thanks in advance. Another person agreed, adding: Butter the bread. Place in any hot skillet with a medium flame. Enjoy golden brown toast like 7 minutes thereafter without said gadget." The price of bitcoin has crashed once again following a spectacular rise that saw the cryptocurrency's value reach record highs for 2019 in recent days. Bitcoin fell by nearly $1,000 (785) in less than an hour on Friday, taking it back down to the $7,000 level it shot past earlier this week. The latest fall is still way above the $4,000 price point it was trading at one week ago, but remains a long way off its peak of nearly $20,000 that it hit in late 2017. Cryptocurrency market analysts suggested the dramatic drop could have been triggered by a major holder of bitcoin selling a large amount of the virtual currency on an exchange. "Bitcoin's blip appears to have been caused by a significant sell order placed on the Bitstamp exchange early this morning, which triggered selling across other exchanges," Simon Peters, an analyst at the online investing platform eToro, told The Independent. "Given the positive sentiment in the market over the past few weeks, it's likely that the price will recover soon. However, this drop is a stark reminder that cryptoassets still operate in a nascent market, which is susceptible to significant price moves by whales (large holders of cryptocurrency)." 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 Other analysts said the price volatility is likely to continue in the coming days and weeks as short-term traders seek to capitalise on the wildly fluctuating prices. Despite the market chaos, however, the recent gains should still be seen as a major positive for the overall cryptocurrency ecosystem, with some experts citing recent positive news for bitcoin as the reason behind the price rise. This includes major retailers like Whole Foods opening up their digital tills to bitcoin and other cryptocurrency payments. "Bitcoin has awakened from the winter freeze of 2018 this week, once again gaining international attention as it reached $8,000 - a staggering 55 per cent increase in the last month alone, before shedding 10 per cent on Friday," said Christel Quek, chief commercial officer of UK-based cryptocurrency firm Bolt. "The sudden awakening comes after a week of positive headlines from industry events... [and] is reminiscent of the 2017 market mayhem where investors reacted by the hour to swoop into the crypto market." If your journey to work seems a little quieter this Friday 17 May, its not necessarily because your fellow commuters are calling in sick or skiving to watch last weeks Game of Thrones episode. Instead, employees across the UK may have decided to take advantage of National Work from Home Day, an initiative organised by Work Wise UK a non-profit organisation whose primary mission is to introduce smarter working practices around the country. In what could be the largest mass absence from work for many companies ever, the idea of the day is to demonstrate that giving people the freedom to work from home from time-to-time can benefit both employer and employee, saving office costs, easing transport congestion and managing workloads more effectively. Here's everything you need to know about National Work from Home Day, from when it is and who can take part to whether its really more productive. 8 well paid jobs that don't require a degree Show all 8 1 /8 8 well paid jobs that don't require a degree 8 well paid jobs that don't require a degree Marketing Assistant Job Title: Marketing Assistant Starting Salary: 19-22k Entry requirements: Apprentice roles available which require good A-Levels in Business Studies or similar. Some companies will also take on school leavers and train them up as marketing assistants starting at c.15k Career progression: Head of Marketing role commands an average salary of 77,200 in London/60,869 outside of London (REED Salary Calculator) Getty 8 well paid jobs that don't require a degree Recruitment Job title(s): Resourcer Starting salaries: 20k On Target Earnings (OTE) Entry requirements: Study for a NVQ Level 3 in Business and Administration while working in an apprentice role Career progression: Progression in recruitment is really down to the individuals tenacity and drive to meet targets. Second year OTE can be around 40K, then in following years, uncapped bonuses can mean the best consultants take home six figure salaries. Getty 8 well paid jobs that don't require a degree Hospitality Job title(s): Various roles Starting salaries: 15 -25k Entry requirements: Experience from junior roles Career progression: Front of house/ F&B managers/ Event management can all be learned from junior roles such as catering assistant, waiting staff, events assistant. Often starting as a receptionist will also lead to more senior and varied roles. Getty 8 well paid jobs that don't require a degree IT Job title: IT Support Analyst Starting salary: 17k Entry requirements: GCSES/A-Levels/BTEC in IT plus good working knowledge of Microsoft SQL and related software. Career progression: With an MCSA qualification a salary of around 20k can be expected, raising to 25k for an MCSE qualification. Career progression through from 1st - 3rd line support roles, leading to Infrastructure Manager (35k+) Getty 8 well paid jobs that don't require a degree Accounting Job title: Accounts Trainee/Accounts Payable Assistant/AAT Trainee Starting Salary: c.15k depending upon location and study support package Entry requirements: Good GCSEs/A-Levels are an advantage, particularly in maths/statistics/business Career progression: You can start as an Accounts Trainee and progress to a QBE Accountant; Qualified by Experience is a phrase used in the accountancy sector for Accountants that have gained their level of expertise on the job, without taking any formal qualifications. It is common place to study AAT exams without having a degree, and by completing 9 papers within a CIMA or ACCA course can result in an uplift in salary to above 30k. Salaries start at 15K for junior Clerks and go up significantly as a QBE or part-qualified Accountant, often above the 30k mark. Getty 8 well paid jobs that don't require a degree Customer Service Job title: Customer Service Advisor Starting salary: From 15k Entry requirements: Apprenticeship roles while studying for an NVQ /Diploma in Customer Service Career progression: Experienced Customer Service Advisors can receive 18 - 20k and Customer Service Managers between 30-35k Getty 8 well paid jobs that don't require a degree Motor retail Job Title: Car dealer Starting Salary: 18 + Company Car Entry requirements: Grade C and above in Maths and English Career progression: Career development courses can be taken on the job, wage can reach into six figures in senior roles Current opportunities: Plentiful. Companies such as Jardine Motors Group are also looking for technicians, sales and customer service advisors Getty 8 well paid jobs that don't require a degree Plumbing Job Title: Heating/plumbing engineer Starting Salary: 18K Entry requirements: ACS qualification (or NVQ equivalent) leading Gas Safe Register membership - various apprenticeship roles available Career progression: Up to 36k as a service engineer with one of the top manufacturers Getty When is National Work from Home Day? This year, Work Wise Week is running from 12-18 May, with the Friday (17) designated to official National Work from Home Day. Work Wise first launched in 2006 and has been inviting invite employers, employees and the self employed to take part in its initiative ever since. What does it mean? According to the UK government, flexible working is described as a way of working that suits an employees needs, for example having flexible start and finish times, or working from home. Jobsite Glassdoor recently created a list of the best companies that embrace flexible working as part of their culture, including Vodafone, Unilever and Transport for London. Who can take part? All employees have the legal right to request flexible working, the UK government states. However, employees must have worked for the same employer for at least 26 weeks to be eligible. That said, some companies may already be aware of National Work from Home Day and therefore be more flexible when it comes to remote working for that one day. How do I request to work from home? Receiving permission to work from home will differ from company to company, and if your employer is already on-board with National Work from Home Day, it may be as simple as having a quick conversation by the water cooler. However, if your company requires a more formal request or flexible working is something you would like to consider long-term, the UK government says there are some basic steps you need to follow: The employee writes to the employer. The employer considers the request and makes a decision within three months - or longer if agreed with the employee. If the employer agrees to the request, they must change the terms and conditions in the employees contract. If the employer disagrees, they must write to the employee giving the business reasons for the refusal. The employee may be able to complain to an employment tribunal. Employees can only make one application for flexible working a year. How many people currently work from home? According to recent research, more than four million Britons have abandoned the workplace in favour of working from home, with a surge of 800,000 people becoming home workers over the past decade. The analysis of Government figures by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) revealed the total number regularly working from home is now approximately 4.2 million up from 3.4m in 2005. And the proportion of people working from home now accounts for 13.7 per cent of the workforce up from 12 per cent in 2005 according to the examination of data from the Office for National Statistics. Is working from home really more productive? More and more staff and companies are embracing working from home, but does it achieve the same results as working in the office? According to a number of recent studies, yes. New research by YouGov revealed that a fifth (20 per cent) of HR managers believe that staff work to a slightly higher standard at home than they do in the office, and a further seven per cent believe they work to a much higher standard. A similar study by FlexJobs, found that fewer distractions (75 per cent), fewer interruptions from colleagues (74 per cent), reduced stress from commuting (71 per cent), and minimal office politics (65 per cent) were among the top reasons employees named for why they believed working from home is more productive. Piers Morgan has criticised model Emily Ratajkowski for posting a naked photograph of herself to protest against the abortion ban in Alabama. On Tuesday, the Senate passed a bill to ban nearly all abortions in nearly all circumstances, including rape and incest in the state. The bill means that those performing abortions would be committing a felony, punishable by 10 to 99 years in prison, although the law will take effect given that abortion is legal in the US. In response, Ratajkowski took to social media platform to discuss the legislation. On Thursday, the 27-year-old posted a naked photograph of herself in which she covers her breasts with her hand and has a flower placed between her legs. This week, 25 old white men voted to ban abortion in Alabama even in cases of incest and rape, she captioned the post. Northern Ireland abortion protest in Westminster Show all 7 1 /7 Northern Ireland abortion protest in Westminster Northern Ireland abortion protest in Westminster Derry Girls cast members Siobhan McSweeney and Nicola Coughlan (right) join MPS and women impacted by Northern Ireland's strict abortion laws PA Northern Ireland abortion protest in Westminster Heidi Allen (second right) joins the protest PA Northern Ireland abortion protest in Westminster A luggage tag on a suitcase, symbolising the women who travel from Northern Ireland to England for terminations PA Northern Ireland abortion protest in Westminster The campaigners march across Westminster Bridge PA Northern Ireland abortion protest in Westminster Counter-protesters Rebecca Morgan (left) and her daughter Helen, one, demonstrate in favour of Northern Ireland's current laws Getty Images Northern Ireland abortion protest in Westminster Protesters supporting Northern Ireland's abortion laws at Parliament Square Getty Images Northern Ireland abortion protest in Westminster Demonstrators pull suitcases to symbolise the women who travel from Northern Ireland to England for a termination AFP/Getty Images These men in power are imposing their wills onto the bodies of women in order to uphold the patriarchy and perpetuate the industrial prison complex by preventing women of low economic opportunity the right to choose to not reproduce. The states trying to ban abortion are the states that have the highest proportions of black women living there. This is about class and race and is a direct attack on the fundamental human rights women in the US deserve and are protected by under Roe vs. Wade. Our bodies, our choice." Hours later, Good Morning Britain Host Piers Morgan captioned a screenshot of Ratajkowskis post and tweeted: "Right message, ruined by such a dumb self-promoting photo." Morgans response, which has since received over 3,000 likes and has divided public opinion with some Twitter users agreeing with his view that Ratajkowski is using the news of the ban to promote her career. Agreed, the photo is unnecessary, one user tweeted. For once, I couldnt agree more, added another. However, others have argued that the model has the autonomy to do what she wants with her body and that her post has increased awareness of the ban. One Twitter user commented: "Well I'm glad I live in a part of the world where she has the freedom to do that if she wants without being stoned or send to prison for 25 years." But you're talking about it, aren't you? Mission accomplished by @emrata I'd say, another added in reference to news of the ban. This isnt the first time Morgan has taken umbrage with Ratajkowskis social media practice and appearance. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Earlier this month, the broadcaster criticised the models Met Gala dress and described her belly button as weird. The comment follows years of feuding between the pair, fuelled by Morgans comments which have seen the star describing the model as a global bimbo and a bad feminist. In light of the abortion ban in Alabam, several celebrities including Lady Gaga, Milla Jovovich and Jameela Jamil have taken to social media to voice their outrage over the ban, with actor Busy Phillips launching the hashtag #YouKnowMe to encourage women to share their own abortion stories As a business commentator, Im not meant to have heroes, or to not admit to them at any rate. But I confess: Julian Richer is right up there in my estimation. I must have spent a small fortune in his Richer Sounds hi-fi shops down the years, and, in a true test, I do not begrudge him a single penny. What Ive bought has always worked, seemingly been the best I could afford at my price range, and the staff have always been helpful and knowledgeable. And his stores open at hours I can, and want, to visit. You dont feel ripped off either. Richer Sounds specialises in offering discounts from reputable brands, some of them high-end. So, theres little glitz, no fripperies attached. Richers outlets are practical, down-to-earth, and because of that, genuine. Last month, official government data showing that over the last decade the UKs labour productivity growth fell to a level lower than at any time in the 20th century, let alone the 21st, went almost unnoticed. Yet productivity matters. It is the foundation stone on which economic growth, good jobs and higher wages are built. Frustratingly, the UKs productivity puzzle remains unsolved. So, what to do? When firms cast around for ways to improve their productivity performance, much of their time, money and effort are invested into new (and existing) technologies to get more out of their business. And rightly so, as rapid tech and digital advances are creating new and better ways of working. In parallel, businesses are investing heavily in the skills of the future that they and their staff need. But new research from the CBI and McKinsey suggests that too many businesses are missing a trick by not investing more into how they engage with workers. The size of the opportunity here is massive. We estimate that by improving the average quality of people management in the UK by just 7 per cent against global indicators, 110bn could be injected into the economy. That would be equivalent to adding the entire construction sector over again. Its not about people working harder and longer. Its about getting the right kind of habits and behaviour into the DNA of a business and how it leads, develops and engages its staff to lift performance. An overwhelming number of businesses know this matters and many are taking action, with some doing it very well. But lots still have work to do. The hard truth is that many firms over-estimate how good they are, in part because they lack effective measures or benchmarks. Nearly two-thirds of chief executives think their business has been quick to adopt good practices, even though we know that just under 80 per cent of businesses perform below global competitors. Our research has identified key habits that the very best businesses focus on to lead, develop and engage their workforce. First, leaders must make good people practice a shared priority across the business. Major organisational changes are four times more likely to succeed when those at the top act as role models demonstrating the behaviours they want others to follow. Second, putting people management targets on a par with company commercial targets. Impossible? Not at all. Look at Bristol Water a 170 year-old utilities firm providing water to 1.2 million people every day where the senior leadership has embedded people objectives from top-to-bottom of the business, with personal goals linked to a set of cultural values. Third, skills and competencies should be at the heart of recruitment successfully recruiting higher performers into management roles has been found to generate nearly 50 per cent higher profits for businesses. That should be accompanied by a common set of objectives and values that everyone in an organisation can get behind. Such shared purpose has been proven to reduce absenteeism. The fifth key habit is to accurately benchmark your performance against your competitors while the penultimate effective habit is to provide high-quality on-the-job development and support. Firms that do this well can see a reduction in staff turnover of up to 72 per cent, according to research. Finally and perhaps most importantly companies should be open about how they are performing on people practices, good or bad. Employees, customers and the public respect this. There are significant reputational benefits for businesses that are honest about their people practices in one poll, 69 per cent of the public said that treating staff well is the number one way to improve the reputation of the business. The government knows low productivity has been a drag on the economy for a long time. The size of the prize here is so great that they too should do everything they can to accelerate progress. What could the government do to help? They could start by creating a race to the top, perhaps through kitemarks, a competition or even a new charter. They could increase opportunities for more business to be able to benchmark their performance. And they could create the right incentives for firms to enable more staff to have a shared stake in the success of the business It feels like momentum is building. Over the past week, Capita has announced employee directors on its board. Staff at Richer Sounds have been granted a majority stake in the business. By working together in this way, business and government can take significant steps to solving the productivity puzzle by harnessing the power of people. Matthew Fell is CBI UK chief policy director Its the day after the Premier League final in north Liverpool, and Jurgen Klopp can be seen stomping the pavement outside Homebaked, a bakery that has been selling pies to Liverpool fans and locals since it opened in 2013. Liverpool might have lost out to Manchester City in the Premier League, but there are other reasons to be cheerful. As well as selling pies a record 800 on the day of the Premier League final Homebaked has a sister organisation: a community land trust to own buildings for the good of residents. With ownership, locals can no long be subject to the whims of government plans such as housing market renewal, which left so many surrounding properties empty. The International Center for Theoretical Physics Asia-Pacific (ICTP-AP) has been launched in Beijing, capital of China, according to China Science Daily on Thursday. The ICTP-AP will be a talent training base and international academic exchange center with global vision, Xie Xincheng, the vice president of the National Science Foundation of China (NSFC), told the newspaper. He believes the ICTP-AP will support young scholars and develop regional cooperative research. "The world's science and technology progress has been speeding up," said physicist Yang Zhenning, a 1957 Nobel Prize winner known as Chen-Ning Franklin Yang in the west. He added that the ICTP-AP will keep the Asia-Pacific fully participating in the fast progress. The ICTP-AP, jointly built by Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), NSFC and ICTP, will operate in affiliation to the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS). Wu Yueliang, vice-president of UCAS, said the ICTP-AP will help the future education better serve the global sustainable development by conducting basic science research, innovation and application. A total of 140,000 scholars and researchers have visited the ICTP since it was established in Italy in 1964, said Quevedo Fernando, director of the ICTP. The UK should consider introducing compulsory measles vaccinations before children can start school to prevent the disease from spreading, experts have warned. A group of researchers from the Bruno Kessler Foundation and Bocconi University in Italy said that far more people to be vaccinated or a schools policy should be introduced to keep the disease from becoming endemic. However, British experts cast doubt on the idea, saying enforcing vaccines could reduce parents trust in the NHS. The study found that about 3.7 per cent of the UK population was susceptible to measles in 2018 well below the threshold at which the disease is at elimination level 7.5 per cent. But the number of people susceptible is expected to rise by more than 50 per cent by 2050 if current vaccination policies remain the same. Proportion of young children in England who have received the MMR vaccine (Statista) (Statistica) Most of the countries would strongly benefit from the introduction of compulsory vaccination at school entry in addition to current routine immunisation programmes, said the researchers. Co-author Dr Stefano Merler said that introducing compulsory vaccination before children start school would be particularly useful in the UK, Ireland and the US to prevent future outbreaks. The study analysed current vaccination trends in several countries, including the UK, Italy, Ireland, Australia, and the US, and was published in the BMC Medicine journal. The famous faces of the anti-vaccine movement Show all 7 1 /7 The famous faces of the anti-vaccine movement The famous faces of the anti-vaccine movement Charlie Sheen Sheen fought a legal battle against ex-wife Denise Richards to try and block her from vaccinating their children. Richards of course won and Sheen was reportedly so bitter that he paid the paediatrician bill entirely in nickels Getty The famous faces of the anti-vaccine movement Gwyneth Paltrow Paltrow's "health and wellness" company Goop hosted a notorious anti-vaccine speaker at their 2018 Goop Summit Getty The famous faces of the anti-vaccine movement Rob Schneider Schneider demanded the freedom to decline vaccination Getty The famous faces of the anti-vaccine movement Jenny McCarthy McCarthy has claimed that "people are dying from vaccinations", believes that her son caught autism from a vaccine and has pushed her opinions on the topic publicly for many years AFP/Getty The famous faces of the anti-vaccine movement Bill Maher Maher has long spoken against vaccines sating on Larry King live that "a flu shot is the worst thing you can do." His stance appears to stem from a distrust of government AFP/Getty The famous faces of the anti-vaccine movement Alicia Silverstone In Silverstone's book The Kind Mama, she wrote that "there is increasing anecdotal evidence from doctors who have gotten distressed phone calls from parents claiming their child was never the same after receiving a vaccine." Getty The famous faces of the anti-vaccine movement Andrew Wakefield Godfather of the anti-vax movement, disgraced doctor Andrew Wakefield famously published a report in the medical journal Lancet claiming a link between the MMR vaccine and autism in 1998. The Lancet retracted the report in 2010 and Wakefield was struck off the medical register PA Children need two doses of the MMR vaccine for protection, and the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends 95 per cent coverage to achieve herd immunity to stop the disease spreading. Uptake of the first dose in five-year-olds in the UK exceeded 95 per cent, but uptake of the second dose is 88 per cent. There were 259 measles cases in England in 2017, rising to 966 in 2018. Most were linked to people who brought back the disease after becoming infected travelling to other countries, including Israel, Ukraine, Southern Europe and the Philippines. But British experts expressed doubts that compulsory vaccination was the right way to tackle the rise in cases in the UK. Before we even consider going down this route, we should ensure that we have efficient appointments systems and reminders and adequate numbers of well-trained staff, with time to talk to parents in family-friendly clinics, said Dr David Elliman, Consultant in Community Child Health, Great Ormond Street Hospital, and RCPCH (Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health). Compulsion may work in some countries, but it is not for us. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events European countries and the US are experiencing record numbers of measles cases, as immunisation levels have declined because of a scare of the jab. Since 2018, 47 European countries have reported a record 100,000 measles cases and over 90 measles-related deaths, according to the WHO. In the US, measles cases have also set a new record since the disease was declared eliminated nationwide in 2000, with over 60 cases in one week in New York City alone. Additional reporting by PA Scientists have discovered a DNA mutation which may cause breathing problems in popular dog breeds. The issues are usually associated with flat-faced breeds, such as pugs and French and English bulldogs. They are commonly affected by a condition called Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome (BOAS), which can leave them short of breath. The shape of their faces has long been blamed for BOAS but Norwich terriers, which have proportional noses, are affected by a similar condition called Upper Airway Syndrome. The team of researchers, led by The Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburghs Royal School of Veterinary Studies, examined DNA from 400 Norwich terriers. Science news in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Science news in pictures Science news in pictures Pluto has 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen Pluto has a 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen that is doing strange things to its surface, Nasa has found. The mysterious core seems to be the cause of features on its surface that have fascinated scientists since they were spotted by Nasa's New Horizons mission. "Before New Horizons, everyone thought Pluto was going to be a netball - completely flat, almost no diversity," said Tanguy Bertrand, an astrophysicist and planetary scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center and the lead author on the new study. "But it's completely different. It has a lot of different landscapes and we are trying to understand what's going on there." Getty Science news in pictures Over 400 species discovered this year by Natural History Museum The ancient invertabrate worm-like species rhenopyrgus viviani (pictured) is one of over 400 species previously unknown to science that were discovered by experts at the Natural History Museum this year PA Science news in pictures Jackdaws can identify 'dangerous' humans Jackdaws can identify dangerous humans from listening to each others warning calls, scientists say. The highly social birds will also remember that person if they come near their nests again, according to researchers from the University of Exeter. In the study, a person unknown to the wild jackdaws approached their nest. At the same time scientists played a recording of a warning call (threatening) or contact calls (non-threatening). The next time jackdaws saw this same person, the birds that had previously heard the warning call were defensive and returned to their nests more than twice as quickly on average. Getty Science news in pictures Turtle embryos influence sex by shaking The sex of the turtle is determined by the temperatures at which they are incubated. Warm temperatures favour females. But by wiggling around the egg, embryos can find the Goldilocks Zone which means they are able to shield themselves against extreme thermal conditions and produce a balanced sex ratio, according to the new study published in Current Biology journal Ye et al/Current Biology Science news in pictures Elephant poaching rates drop in Africa African elephant poaching rates have dropped by 60 per cent in six years, an international study has found. It is thought the decline could be associated with the ivory trade ban introduced in China in 2017. Reuters Science news in pictures Ancient four-legged whale discovered in Peru Scientists have identified a four-legged creature with webbed feet to be an ancestor of the whale. Fossils unearthed in Peru have led scientists to conclude that the enormous creatures that traverse the planets oceans today are descended from small hoofed ancestors that lived in south Asia 50 million years ago A. Gennari Science news in pictures Animal with transient anus discovered A scientist has stumbled upon a creature with a transient anus that appears only when it is needed, before vanishing completely. Dr Sidney Tamm of the Marine Biological Laboratory could not initially find any trace of an anus on the species. However, as the animal gets full, a pore opens up to dispose of waste Steven G Johnson Science news in pictures Giant bee spotted Feared extinct, the Wallace's Giant bee has been spotted for the first time in nearly 40 years. An international team of conservationists spotted the bee, that is four times the size of a typical honeybee, on an expedition to a group of Indonesian Islands Clay Bolt Science news in pictures New mammal species found inside crocodile Fossilised bones digested by crocodiles have revealed the existence of three new mammal species that roamed the Cayman Islands 300 years ago. The bones belonged to two large rodent species and a small shrew-like animal New Mexico Museum of Natural History Science news in pictures Fabric that changes according to temperature created Scientists at the University of Maryland have created a fabric that adapts to heat, expanding to allow more heat to escape the body when warm and compacting to retain more heat when cold Faye Levine, University of Maryland Science news in pictures Baby mice tears could be used in pest control A study from the University of Tokyo has found that the tears of baby mice cause female mice to be less interested in the sexual advances of males Getty Science news in pictures Final warning to limit "climate catastrophe" The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued a report which projects the impact of a rise in global temperatures of 1.5 degrees Celsius and warns against a higher increase Getty Science news in pictures Nobel prize for evolution chemists The nobel prize for chemistry has been awarded to three chemists working with evolution. Frances Smith is being awarded the prize for her work on directing the evolution of enzymes, while Gregory Winter and George Smith take the prize for their work on phage display of peptides and antibodies Getty/AFP Science news in pictures Nobel prize for laser physicists The nobel prize for physics has been awarded to three physicists working with lasers. Arthur Ashkin (L) was awarded for his "optical tweezers" which use lasers to grab particles, atoms, viruses and other living cells. Donna Strickland and Gerard Mourou were jointly awarded the prize for developing chirped-pulse amplification of lasers Reuters/AP Science news in pictures Discovery of a new species of dinosaur The Ledumahadi Mafube roamed around 200 million years ago in what is now South Africa. Recently discovered by a team of international scientists, it was the largest land animal of its time, weighing 12 tons and standing at 13 feet. In Sesotho, the South African language of the region in which the dinosaur was discovered, its name means "a giant thunderclap at dawn" Viktor Radermacher / SWNS Science news in pictures Birth of a planet Scientists have witnessed the birth of a planet for the first time ever. This spectacular image from the SPHERE instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope is the first clear image of a planet caught in the very act of formation around the dwarf star PDS 70. The planet stands clearly out, visible as a bright point to the right of the center of the image, which is blacked out by the coronagraph mask used to block the blinding light of the central star. ESO/A. Muller et al Science news in pictures New human organ discovered that was previously missed by scientists Layers long thought to be dense, connective tissue are actually a series of fluid-filled compartments researchers have termed the interstitium. These compartments are found beneath the skin, as well as lining the gut, lungs, blood vessels and muscles, and join together to form a network supported by a mesh of strong, flexible proteins Getty Science news in pictures Previously unknown society lived in Amazon rainforest before Europeans arrived, say archaeologists Working in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, a team led by archaeologists at the University of Exeter unearthed hundreds of villages hidden in the depths of the rainforest. These excavations included evidence of fortifications and mysterious earthworks called geoglyphs Jose Iriarte Science news in pictures One in 10 people have traces of cocaine or heroin on fingerprints, study finds More than one in 10 people were found to have traces of class A drugs on their fingers by scientists developing a new fingerprint-based drug test. Using sensitive analysis of the chemical composition of sweat, researchers were able to tell the difference between those who had been directly exposed to heroin and cocaine, and those who had encountered it indirectly. Getty Science news in pictures Nasa releases stunning images of Jupiter's great red spot The storm bigger than the Earth, has been swhirling for 350 years. The image's colours have been enhanced after it was sent back to Earth. Pictures by: Tom Momary They discovered a DNA mutation in the ADAMTS3 gene, which has previously been found to cause fluid retention and swelling. The researchers said the discovery could explain why those breeds were prone to developing breathing problems. ADAMTS3 is not linked to skull shape but the same mutation was also found in French and English bulldogs. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events BOAS is a complex disease, said Jeffrey Schoenebeck, who led the study, published in the journal PLOS Genetics. Although skull shape remains an important risk factor, our study suggests that the status of ADAMTS3 should be considered as well. The scientists hope their research could lead to the prospect of genetic tests to identify at-risk animals and help breeders avoid producing affected puppies. The study also involved researchers from the Royal Veterinary College and the University of Bern in Switzerland. Additional reporting by agencies An energetic deer surprised onlookers in Manchester on Thursday, as it was spotted swimming in the canal and running down a busy street. Confused shoppers spotted the deer around noon as the lost animal swam past the Well Pharmacy offices in Castlefield and ran down the busy Oxford Road. People were trying to help but there wasnt much that could be done, Kate Erskine, from Manchester, told the Press Association. It got to a shallow point in the canal and managed to jump out before running towards Deansgate. In a tweet, the Greater Manchester Police said the deer had eventually made its way safely into Whitworth park. No i-deer where its heading next, the police joked. Norway's radioactive reindeer Show all 6 1 /6 Norway's radioactive reindeer Norway's radioactive reindeer There are more than 30,000 reindeer in Norway Although the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster in Ukraine happened nearly 30 years ago and more than a thousand miles from Norway, the country's reindeer are still suffering from increased radioactivity. Amos Chapple, RFE/RL Norway's radioactive reindeer A reindeer eats lichen When the disaster happened, larger areas of were covered by clouds of radioactive dust. When it rained or snowed in Norway that dust made its way into the landscape, contaminating everything it touched. Amos Chapple, RFE/RL Norway's radioactive reindeer Semi-domestic reindeer roam freely around Norway's rugged landscape Norway's reindeer feed on lichen, mushrooms and grass. The unusually high radioactivity observed in the reindeer is thought to be linked to this years' bumper crop of mushrooms. Aina Bye Norway's radioactive reindeer Sami heard the reindeer several times a year Norway's indigenous people, the Sami, are known for their reindeer herding. The animals provide a vital source of income for them. Amos Chapple, RFE/RL Norway's radioactive reindeer Reindeer meat is widely eaten in Norway Because of the unusually high radioactivity measured in the reindeer, many are not fit for human consumption and so have been released back into the wild. Aina Bye Norway's radioactive reindeer The legacy of Chenobyl The Sami people of Norway fear that it could be many years before the reindeer return to normal levels of radioactivity. Amos Chapple, RFE/RL The RSPCA told the BBC: We received a report from the police that a medium-sized female deer was in the canal in Manchester city centre this afternoon but it managed to get out. We were then told the deer was stranded on some land near the canal but it again managed to get free and ran away before our officers could attend. An emu is on the loose after escaping from its enclosure at a care home. Owner Dennis Agnew had bought the bird and its female companion on Wednesday and has seen no trace of it since it disappeared 24 hours later. He had taken the emu to see patients at Burnfoot care home in Ecclefechan, Dumfries and Galloway, where its believed to have got through a hole in the fence. Mr Agnew is appealing for people to look out for the 4ft missing bird. Anyone who spots it is asked to contact Police Scotland. The UK's top birds 2018 Show all 10 1 /10 The UK's top birds 2018 The UK's top birds 2018 10. Chaffinch Down one place on last year. Birdwatch has released this year's rankings for the most frequently spotted birds in the UK. Results were collected from 420,489 British birdspotters Getty The UK's top birds 2018 9. Long-tailed tit Up one place on last year Getty The UK's top birds 2018 8. Robin Redbreast Down one place on last year Getty The UK's top birds 2018 7. Great Tit Up one place on last year Getty The UK's top birds 2018 6. Goldfinch In the same place as last year Pierre Dalous The UK's top birds 2018 5. Woodpigeon In the same place as last year Getty The UK's top birds 2018 4. Blackbird Down one place on last year Getty The UK's top birds 2018 3. Blue tit Up one place on last year Getty The UK's top birds 2018 2. Starling In the same place as last year Getty The UK's top birds 2018 1. House sparrow In the same place as last year Getty But catching it could be a challenge as the birds can run at up to 30 mph and could have travelled a long distance since escaping. Mr Agnew, a groundsman at the home, also keeps donkeys, alpacas and sheep, some of which visit the home for the residents to see. Recommended Laughing man ploughs into emus on road in disturbing video He said: I think it has got out through a hole in the fence. Ive been all over the place looking but I cant find it. The Burnfoot Care Home is an old folks home and the animals help them with their dementia. I would ask people to keep an eye out for an emu. They can run at about 30 miles an hour. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events He said he had had to take the female emu back to the farm where he bought the birds because it looked unsettled. Emus can grow to more than 5ft tall and may weigh at least 45kg (7st). The UK government approved arms sales totalling at least 11.4m in the weeks after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. Export licences for military vehicles, combat aircraft, ammunition and electronic warfare equipment were issued despite international condemnation of the killing. One 9.1m shipment of patrol/assault craft was waved through just three days after the prominent journalist disappeared while visiting the Saudi consulate in Turkey on 2 October. The exports continued as it was reported that Mr Khashoggi had been tortured, killed and dismembered by officials linked to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Saudi Arabia initially denied the claims before claiming on 20 October that Mr Khashoggi had died during a fist fight. Jamal Khashoggi death: key figures Show all 7 1 /7 Jamal Khashoggi death: key figures Jamal Khashoggi death: key figures Jamal Khashoggi Washington Post journalist who was critical of the Saudi regime and the young Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, he was murdered on 2 October in the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul AFP Jamal Khashoggi death: key figures Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Heir to the Saudi throne, Mohammed bin Salman has been implicated in the murder, with US officials claiming that he must have known of the plot AFP/Getty Jamal Khashoggi death: key figures 15 man hit squad Turkish police suspect these 15 men of being involved in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, issued 10 October, 8 days after the journalist disappeared EPA Jamal Khashoggi death: key figures Saud al-Qahtani Aide to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saud al-Qahtani is claimed to have ordered Khashoggi's murder Saud Al-Qahtani/Twitter Jamal Khashoggi death: key figures Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb A former diplomat who often travelled with the Crown Prince, Mutreb was initially claimed to be the leader of the hit squad and is pictured here entering the Saudi consulate on the day of the murder AP Jamal Khashoggi death: key figures Mustafa al-Madani First implicated in the 15 CCTV photos released by the Turkish police, al-Madani was later found to have been used as a body double for Khashoggi, leaving the Saudi consulate dressed in his clothes on the day the journalist was killed CNN Jamal Khashoggi death: key figures Salah bin Jamal Khashoggi (L) Son of the murdered journalist met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on 23 October EPA Two days later, as foreign minister Jeremy Hunt condemned the killing in the strongest possible terms, British trade officials pursued further deals during a high-level meeting with their Saudi counterparts. The same day the government approved a licence for electronic warfare equipment valued at 180,000, according to official statistics analysed by Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT). Further sales were approved the following month including components for combat aircraft on 14 November, two days after the foreign secretary raised the murder of Mr Khashoggi during a meeting with Saudi leaders. In total, the government approved 12 standard export licences to the value of 11,414,054 between October and December 2018. However, the true figure may be higher as two further open licences of potentially unlimited value were also approved during the same period. These both involved military aircraft parts and technology. The details of the exports emerged as Mr Khashoggis fiancee Hatice Cengiz complained to the US Congress that the world still has not done anything about the murder. Although Germany moved quickly to ban exports of arms to Saudi Arabia after the murder, the UKs foreign secretary appealed to his counterpart in Berlin to lift the freeze, claiming that it was damaging the British defence industry. Recommended BAE working with UK government to supply Saudi arms despite German ban The UK has already sold arms worth 4.7bn to Saudi Arabia since the brutal war in Yemen began in 2015 and a parliamentary report found that the weapons exports were causing significant civilian casualties and were probably illegal. In 2017, CAAT began a legal challenge of the UK governments decision to continue to licence the export of military equipment to Saudi Arabia. Campaigners are still awaiting a judgement from the Court of Appeal. Andrew Smith, of CAAT, said: The murder of Jamal Khashoggi was an appalling crime that has put more scrutiny that ever on the Saudi Arabian authorities. Despite the brutal killing, and the condemnation that followed, the UK government is doing everything it can to sell even more arms. Throughout every step of the revelations and investigations, more and more weapons have been sold. The weapons being sold to Saudi Arabia have played a central role in the destruction of Yemen. They have also given political support and cover to a brutal dictatorship, which has imprisoned human rights defenders and executed critics. If Theresa May, Jeremy Hunt and their colleagues care for human rights and democracy, then they must stop arming and supporting the Saudi regime. A spokesperson for the Department for International Trade (DIT) said in a statement: The UK operates one of the most robust export control regimes in the world and we keep our defence exports to Saudi Arabia under careful and continual review The key test for our continued arms exports to Saudi Arabia is whether there is a clear risk that those items subject to the licence might be used in the commission of a serious violation of international humanitarian law. The DIT also pointed out that the granting of licences did not mean that sales had taken place. Eleven Saudis were charged with the murder of Mr Khashoggi but the trial is mostly being heard behind closed doors. Nearly seven in 10 lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT+) people have been sexually harassed at work, but many feel unable to tell their employer due to a fear of being outed to colleagues, research by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has shown. The survey of 1,001 people across England, Scotland and Wales, published on the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, reveals a hidden epidemic, Frances OGrady, TUC General Secretary, said. More than one in five LGBT people said they had been asked unwelcome questions about their sex life, such as how they had sex, or what their sexual role was. More than a quarter said they had received unwanted verbal sexual advances, such as suggesting they should have sex with someone of the opposite sex to make [them] straight. Two-thirds did not tell their employer about the harassment, and of those, a quarter said it was because they were afraid of being outed at work. What were finding is that when people come out with their sexuality at work, people think its OK to ask very personal questions about their sex life, Elly Gibson, a press officer at TUC, said. Its a really horrible situation. LGBT+ rights around the globe Show all 9 1 /9 LGBT+ rights around the globe LGBT+ rights around the globe Russia Russias antipathy towards homosexuality has been well established following the efforts of human rights campaigners. However, while it is legal to be homosexual, LGBT couples are offered no protections from discrimination. They are also actively discriminated against by a 2013 law criminalising LGBT propaganda allowing the arrest of numerous Russian LGBT activists. AFP/Getty LGBT+ rights around the globe Brunei Brunei recently introduced a law to make sodomy punishable by stoning to death. It was already illegal and punishable by up to 10 years in prison AFP/Getty LGBT+ rights around the globe Mauritania Men who are found having sex with other men face stoning, while lesbians can be imprisoned, under Sharia law. However, the state has reportedly not executed anyone for this crime since 1987 Alamy LGBT+ rights around the globe Sudan Both male and female same-sex sexual activity is illegal under Sudanese law. Men can be executed on their third offence, women on their fourth Getty LGBT+ rights around the globe Saudi Arabia Homosexuality and gender realignment is illegal and punishable by death, imprisonment, whipping and chemical castration Getty LGBT+ rights around the globe Yemen The official position within the country is that there are no gays. LGBT inviduals, if discovered by the government, are likely to face intense pressure. Punishments range from flogging to the death penalty Getty LGBT+ rights around the globe Nigeria Both male and female same-sex sexual activity is illegal and in some northern states punishable with death by stoning. This is not a policy enacted across the entire country, although there is a prevalent anti-LGBT agenda pushed by the government. In 2007 a Pew survey established that 97% of the population felt that homosexuality should not be accepted. It is punishable by 14 years in prison Reuters LGBT+ rights around the globe Somalia Homosexuality was established as a crime in 1888 and under new Somali Penal Code established in 1973 homosexual sex can be punishable by three years in prison. A person can be put to death for being a homosexual Reuters LGBT+ rights around the globe Iraq Although same-sex relationships have been decriminalised, much of the population still suffer from intense discrimination. Additionally, in some of the country over-run by the extremist organisation Isis, LGBT individuals can face death by stoning Getty A gay man said: One member of staff asked if I take it up the arse, and when I said I was unhappy about being asked [I was] told I was a flouncy old queen. A lesbian reported overhearing female colleagues saying; I wonder if she pervs on us. While a bisexual woman said a male colleague commented that she must have some great threesomes with her "lucky" male partner. LGBT+ women were more likely than LGBT+ men to be affected. More than a third reported experiencing unwanted touching, for example hands placed on their lower back or knee. While more than one-fifth reported experiencing sexual assault, such as unwanted touching of the breasts, buttocks or genitals, or attempts to kiss them, while one in eight LGBT+ women said they had been seriously sexually assaulted or raped at work. Black and minority ethnic LGBT+ women (BME) fared even worse. More than half said they had experienced unwanted touching at work, almost half reported sexual assault and more than a quarter reported serious sexual assault or rape. Half of LGBT disabled women reported unwanted touching. Sexual harassment and assault has a big effect on people's lives. Around one in six said it had affected their mental health and a similar amount said they had left their job because of it. The TUC said the findings are "shocking" and employers must take a zero tolerance approach to tackle it. Workplace culture needs to change. No one should think that a colleague being LGBT is an invitation for sexualised comments or inappropriate questions let alone serious acts of assault. Government must change the law to put the responsibility for preventing harassment on employers, not victims, O'Grady said. The London Bridge attackers moved like a wolf pack as they roamed around Borough Market stabbing victims, an inquest has heard. British Transport Police officer Wayne Marques fought all three terrorists after running to the aid of a couple who had been stabbed on 3 June 2017. The Old Bailey heard Marie Bondeville thought the trio were going to cut her head off after she tried to stop them stabbing her boyfriend Oliver Dowling. PC Marques told the court he was on patrol when he heard a womans scream, as people started running up and down Borough High Street in panic. As he went to investigate, he was accosted by a man running, pointing and saying: Mate, this guys been stabbed. London Bridge Terror Attack Show all 16 1 /16 London Bridge Terror Attack London Bridge Terror Attack Armed police on Borough High Street as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack Armed Police talk to members of the public outside London Bridge Hospital as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack Police Officers outside the Barrowboy and Banker Public House on Borough High Street as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack Armed Police talk to members of the public outside London Bridge Hospital as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack Armed police on Borough High Street as police deal with a 'major incident' at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack Emergency services near the scene of the incident Screengrab London Bridge Terror Attack People run down Borough High Street as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge Reuters London Bridge Terror Attack Emergency services arrive at the scene near Borough market at London Bridge Carl Court/Getty Images London Bridge Terror Attack Emergency personnel on London Bridge as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack Police sniffer dogs on London Bridge as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack A second helicopter lands on London Bridge as police are responding to three incidents in the capital, amid reports that a vehicle collided with pedestrians on London Bridge, Scotland Yard said. Officers are dealing with reports of stabbings in Borough Market, where armed officers attended and shots were fired. They are also at an incident in the Vauxhall area PA London Bridge Terror Attack Police attend to an incident on London Bridge in London REUTERS London Bridge Terror Attack Police attend to an incident on London Bridge in London, Britain Reuters London Bridge Terror Attack A police officer escorts members of the public to safety at London Bridge Getty Images London Bridge Terror Attack Police attend to an incident on London Bridge in London, Britain Reuters London Bridge Terror Attack Police attend to an incident near London Bridge in London, Britain Reuters PC Marques, who had only a stab vest and baton, found another victim in a pool of blood before he saw a man grab Ms Bondeville. I turned around to see who was screaming and where it was coming from, he said. She appeared to be trying to run, stumbling, coming towards my direction. PC Marques recalled seeing a man appear to punch Ms Bondeville to the ground, then straddle her with her head between his hands. He seemed to look up and I believe he then let go of Marie and stood up, the officer added, describing how the attacker had stabbed Mr Dowling in the head and neck. He said: I knew I did not have long before Oliver was probably going to die in front of me. I got my baton out and charged the first attacker. I just sucked in as much as I could as if I was going in for a fight. My intention was to hit him as hard as I could with all my weight behind me with everything I had. I knew he was trying to kill the man on the floor. PC Marques described striking the terrorist in the head and punching him before he felt an almighty blow to his head that blinded him in his right eye. At this point I saw a knife coming towards me through instinctive reaction I defended myself, he added, describing a messy fight as the two other terrorists joined the fray. Wayne Marques, the British Transport Police officer who tackled the three knife-wielding terrorists on London Bridge (PA) I was aware I was being stabbed and cut but did not really feel the pain as such. Fighting for your life, the adrenaline has taken over. My job at that stage was to hold on and keep them fighting until the cavalry arrived I ended up having a voice in my head just telling me dont go down, dont go down. One of the men shouted Allahu akbar three times, as if they were preparing to finish him off, but the fatal attack never came, PC Marques said. Recommended Mystery of man spared by London Bridge terrorists He told the court that the attackers appeared well-trained and knew what they were doing, moving in a close-knit formation like a wolf pack. PC Marques was stabbed at least eight times but has since returned to work. He was awarded the George Medal for bravery, alongside PC Charlie Guenigault and victim Ignacio Echeverria, who was murdered after beating the terrorists with his skateboard. PC Guenigault, of the Metropolitan Police, was off duty and walking home after watching the Champions League final when he heard a man say: Help Ive been stabbed. He called 999 before seeing PC Marques and another officer appearing to break up a fight. I sprinted over towards them. I just threw myself into this bundle of people, PC Guenigault told the court. Its unclear to me what happened. I was faced with three people in vests with knives in my direction they wanted to kill me. Two of the attackers came over and stabbed him in the back and eye, and PC Guenigault recalled thinking he would get one in the head and one in the chest to finish me off. London Bridge attack: Court shown footage of van moments before mounting pavement Ms Bondeville survived the attack, in which she was stabbed 18 times, as did Mr Dowling, who was stabbed in his neck, chest and back. In a statement read to the court, Ms Bondeville remembered begging for them to stop as she was relentlessly attacked on the ground. I recall thinking they were trying to cut my head off when they went for the front of my neck, she added. I moved on to my front and tried to protect my neck. It was then that I felt I would die. I was sure Oliver was dead and I had stopped begging them. The couple had just left the nearby Lobos tapas restaurant when Mr Dowling described people running past shouting. He did not hear what they said before he came face-to-face with the three attackers and they closed in and stabbed him. I heard Marie shout something like what are you doing? Leave him alone! Mr Dowling said. I then heard Marie scream. He paid tribute to a member of the public, called Lee, who helped paramedics to plug the wound to his neck and carry him over London Bridge to an ambulance while keeping him conscious. He told me he was getting married soon and that we would need to go for a beer together, Mr Dowling recalled. The inquest has heard numerous accounts of bravery and selflessness by people who rushed to help victims and tried to take the terrorists down. Coroner Mark Lucraft QC said the attack saw extraordinary bravery in the face of extraordinary brutality. Khuram Butt, 27, Rachid Redouane, 30, and Youssef Zaghba, 22, killed eight people and injured 48 more in a rampage that lasted 10 minutes before they were shot dead. The victims were Xavier Thomas, 45, Christine Archibald, 30, Alexandre Pigeard, 26, Sara Zelenak, 21, Kirsty Boden, 28, Sebastien Belanger, 36, James McMullan, 32, and Mr Echeverria, 39. Additional reporting by PA The parents of the youngest person to die in the Manchester Arena terror attack have given an emotional interview in which they said they feel stuck and insulted by the governments offer of 11,000 in compensation. Saffie Roussos, eight, was among 22 people killed when a bomb exploded at an Ariana Grande concert in May 2017. Her mother Lisa, who also attended the concert, and father Andrew Roussos, said it feels like yesterday that Saffie died and they feel stuck in 2017. Remembering the moment when Salman Abedi detonated a device on 22 May, Lisa told the BBC: I remember leaving and Saffie grabbing my hand and jumping about My arm was outstretched as she was pulling me and all of a sudden I just hit the floor with a thud. Ms Roussos spent six weeks in a coma and woke up to learn of Saffies death. I knew... I just knew, she said. I thought; if Im this badly hurt and she was a tiny eight-year-old, then what chance would she have? Saffie Roussos father Andrew (right) carries her coffin into Manchester Cathedral (PA) Ms Roussos learned to walk again but suffers from nerve damage and numbness in her hand. The couple says the governments offer of 5,500 each in compensation, which is the maximum amount, is a complete insult. As the anniversary of Saffies death approaches, the parents are launching a charity, named MCR 22, to help support families affected by terror attacks. A charity needs to be there to help victims of terrorism, Mr Roussos said. Theres no help. The couple plan to launch the charity by taking part in the Great Manchester Run on Sunday. Ms Roussos said preparing for the run had let her look further into the future than she normally does. A permanent memorial to the 22 victims of the Manchester Arena bombing will be located near a cathedral close to the scene of the attack, Manchester City Council confirmed in March. Business leaders have demanded that MPs cancel their spring break and remain in Westminster to resolve the Brexit crisis. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said the parliamentary recess scheduled for the end of next week should be scrapped to allow key votes on Britain's EU departure to be brought forward. CBI director general Carolyn Fairbairn told MPs: "It's time to get on with it." The anger among business groups came as cross-party talks between Labour and the government collapsed without reaching a conclusion. The negotiations were designed to break the Brexit deadlock in parliament but the two sides were unable to agree a way forward. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn claimed the government "has not fundamentally shifted its view", while Ms May said the obstacle had been the failure "to overcome the fact that there isn't a common position in Labour about whether they want to deliver Brexit or hold a second referendum which could reverse it." Recommended May blames Labour divisions over referendum for end of Brexit talks The prime minister has said she will bring forward the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, which would enshrine her Brexit deal in law, in the first week of June but it is widely expected to be voted down. Her deal has already been rejected by MPs three times. Before then, MPs and peers are due to have a 12-day break, leaving Westminster on 23 May and returning on 4 June. Ms Fairbairn said the recess should be cancelled to allow for earlier votes on the bill or for another series of "indicative votes" to establish what Brexit outcome the Commons might support. She said: "Another day of failed politics, another dispiriting day for British business. Six wasted weeks while uncertainty paralyses our economy. "The May parliamentary recess should be cancelled and used to agree a deal as soon as possible - whether through indicative votes or the Withdrawal Agreement. "Business and the country need an urgent resolution to this mess. This is no time for holidays. It's time to get on with it." Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Show all 30 1 /30 Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Pro-Brexit leave the European Union supporters attend a rally in Parliament Square after the final leg of the "March to Leave" in London AP Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit The protest march which started on March 16 in Sunderland, north east England, finished on what was the original date for Brexit to happen before the recent extension Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit AP Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit PA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit EPA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter sips a can of Stella in protests outside of the Houses of Parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Dedicated anti-Brexit campaigner Steve Bray and likewise pro-Brexit campaigner Joseph Afrane go head to head near the Houses of Parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A pro-Brexit marching band in Parliament Square Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Remain supporters wave EU flags from a bus in Parliament Square PA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter shouts slogans outside parliament EPA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter protests outside parliament Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter protests outside of the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters protest outside of the Houses of Parliament REUTERS Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A pro-Brexit flag is waved in Parliament Square AP Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit The March to Leave nears the Houses of Parliament Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit protester holds a sign outside parliament EPA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters carry the coffin of democracy AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters march outside parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters take part in the March to Leave protest in London PA Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Brexit supporters protest outside parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter holds a sign outside the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A man holds satirical paintings of politicians Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit An pro-Brexit float on the March to Leave march in London Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit Far-right activist Tommy Robinson addresses protesters outside the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter outside the Houses of Parliament Reuters Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Tommy Robinson supporter arrives at the Houses of Parliament Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A jogger gestures rudely at a Brexit supporter outside of the Houses of Parliament AFP/Getty Opposing protesters flock to parliament on would be date of Brexit A Brexit supporter outside the Houses of Parliament PA Other business leaders also voiced concerns about the state of the Brexit process, accusing MPs of a "litany of failures". Mike Cherry, national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: "The breakdown of cross-party talks is just another chapter in what is becoming a litany of failures during the Brexit process." He added: "We are the ones dealing with the realities of this mess - planning decisions cancelled, investment stalled and growth going backwards. "Ongoing uncertainty is damaging the economy, holding back productivity and battering small business confidence. We simply cannot see this continue through to the end of October." A government spokesperson said: "It is for parliament to decide whether to approve recesses, which it has already done with regards to Whitsun. MPs will be using the time to carry out important constituency work." Theresa May has offered to give MPs the opportunity to vote on a second referendum and a no-deal Brexit in a series of indicative votes in the first week of June, according to a document leaked from cross-party talks. The document, obtained by The Independent, suggests MPs would be invited to vote on whether to rule out any Final Say referendum. And it makes clear the Prime Minister is ready to give Conservative MPs a free vote on the issue, so long as Jeremy Corbyn does the same for Labour. It is understood that the plan was drawn up by the Government as it became clear that the talks would not produce a compromise Brexit deal, but has not been agreed by Labour. The document emerged just moments before Mr Corbyn pulled the plug on the talks process, which has stretched over more than six weeks but appears to have foundered on the issue of post-Brexit customs arrangements and Labour concerns that any deal could be torn up by a future Tory leader. The plan set out in the leaked paper envisages a series of four votes to take place on June 5 on: Whether the UK should leave the EU with a deal Setting a new deadline of July 31 for Brexit Ruling out a second referendum A package of Goverment concessions to Labour on issues like workers rights and participation in EU agencies. Crucially, the paper indicates that the two sides have not agreed on post-Brexit customs arrangements. It proposes a separate series of elimination ballots on a range of four options, from Labours favoured comprehensive customs union with a UK say to a looser arrangement allowing Britain to forge its own deals elsewhere in the world. Results from the four indicative votes and the elimination ballots are unlikely to be known in time to shape the drafting of Theresa Mays Withdrawal Agreement Bill, due to come back before the Commons in the week of June 3, says the document. But under the indicative votes plan, MPs preferences would be reflected in draft Government amendments to the legislation. The plan was denounced by People's Vote campaigners as a "cynical" attempt to block a second Brexit referendum. 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 Labour MP Alex Sobel, a supporter of People's Vote, said: This is the battle plan for a desperate Prime Minister to freeze the people out of the biggest decision facing the country in two generations. Perhaps the most shocking aspect of this proposed stitch-up is that it has been drawn up with the idea that Labour could be persuaded to sign up to it. If this cynical plan shows anything, it is that Theresa May hopes her legacy will be to stop the public from having the Final Say on a deal that neither Parliament or the country wants. It seems she is perfectly happy to trade any promise she has ever made on Brexit just so long as she can keep the ultimate decision in the hands of politicians. For Labour the choice is now as much moral as it is political. It can choose to endorse a Conservative plan that cuts people out of the decision by propping up an ailing Governments decrepit strategy that will dismay both sides of the Brexit debate. It can choose to defy the overwhelming majority of its members, voters and MPs. It can choose endorsement of a broken Brexit deal that breaks most of the promises made for Brexit and in which any concessions will doubtless be ripped up by the hardliner chosen by the Tory members to replace the Prime Minister." Or Labour can now take a stand and make it clear there is no prospect of Labour ever agreeing to any Brexit deal that is not handed back to the people for the final say. The hand dance "Silk Road Blossoms" is staged at the Asian culture carnival held at the National Stadium, or the Bird's Nest, in Beijing, capital of China, May 15, 2019. [Photo/Xinhua] Chinese President Xi Jinping's speech at the opening of the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations on Wednesday has been echoed by many as his vision inspires hope for a brighter future for Asia and humanity. At the grand gathering, Xi said that "the intensifying global challenges humanity are facing now require concerted efforts from countries across the world," highlighting the role of culture and civilization to cope with common challenges. "History tells that pursuing the superiority of one's own people and culture causes great tragedies to mankind," Luigi Gambardella, president of ChinaEU, a business-led international digital association in Brussels, said. "The principles of mutual respect and equal treatment should be adhered to by all to address our common challenges." Equal dialogue sustains mutual learning Inside and outside its venue, the conference was widely hailed as a new platform for civilizations in Asia and beyond to engage in dialogue and exchanges on an equal footing and to facilitate mutual learning. In his keynote speech, the Chinese president raised a four-point proposal to consolidate the "cultural foundation" of a community with a shared future for Asia and humanity: treating each other with respect and as equals; appreciating the beauty of all civilizations; adhering to openness, inclusiveness, mutual learning; and keeping pace with the times. Peter Frankopan, a professor at Oxford University, said that "it's important that we live in a world where we work out how to listen to each other's opinions. We work out to collaborate closer together." "What we've been hearing in this conference again and again is about the need for mutual respect," he added. Likewise, "it is a very good initiative to have a dialogue between civilizations, at the time when a lot of changes are happening (pertaining to) religious and economic diversity," Satyendra Kumar Upadhyay, an Indian scholar with the Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research, said. It is foolish to believe that one's race and civilization are superior to that of others, and it is disastrous to willfully reshape or even replace other civilizations, Xi said. "Increasing reciprocal openness and working on people-to-people exchanges and mutual learning" can help strengthen cultural ties between civilizations, said Fabio Massimo Parenti, a professor of international studies at the International Institute Lorenzo de' Medici in Florence, Italy. Such an approach "can work only if we all reject superiority attitudes," he added. Civilizations don't have to clash The conference came at a time when certain countries have resorted to the "clash of civilizations" argument amid rising protectionism and unilateralism. Xi said that various civilizations are not destined to clash as long as people are able to appreciate the beauty of all civilizations, which became a hot topic after his speech. Bundit Limschoon, secretary general of Asia Cooperation Dialogue, said more tolerance is needed. This would help us to open our minds and learn from each other, he said. China says no to the so-called "clash of civilizations" and sees the beauty of each civilization. As Xi has said, a large number of outstanding cultural works from other countries are brought to China, and a lot of Chinese cultural works are being introduced to other countries. "Clashes of civilization will only happen if people expect it to happen. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy," Ole Doring, a German expert with the Berlin Institute of Global Health, said. "I don't think it's even called a theory, it's just a wrong prediction." China walks its talk Calling China a doer not a talker, many said that China has been collaborating with other countries to turn its proposals of dialogue among civilizations and people's longing for a better life into reality, with the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and a community with a shared future for Asia and humanity frequently mentioned. Culture "serves as an important instrument to promote people-to-people connectivity between countries, contributing strongly to better understanding and fostering closer relationships among peoples across the world," Bosengkham Vongdara, Lao minister of information, culture and tourism, said. "This is highlighted in various aspects of the policies of the BRI," he said. Echoing a similar view, MS Siddiqui, a Bangladeshi economist, said the BRI connectivity will "enhance global connection and the world will get more communication facilities to exchange knowledge and share the culture to enrich the Asian and the global community." China, an open civilization with a very long history, serves as a "catalyst for stability and qualitative development" in the 21st century, David Gosset, a French expert on international affairs and China, said. Xi's proposal to build a community with a shared future for mankind is "for all of us a source of inspiration," he said. Theresa May is facing growing clamour from within her own party to quit immediately as prime minister, after the collapse of Brexit talks with Labour sounded the death knell for her EU withdrawal plans. With Tories trailing in fifth place on a humiliating 9 per cent in one poll for next weeks European parliament elections, furious backbenchers predicted certain defeat when the Withdrawal Agreement Bill comes before the Commons in June. Brexiteers said there was no prospect of Ms May averting a significant rebellion by tacking towards them on totemic issues like the Irish backstop and free trade. Theres nothing she can say, said one former minister. No one trusts her any more. Meanwhile, Labour backers of a second referendum demanded that Jeremy Corbyn announce that all other options have now been exhausted and the party will push for a Final Say. Mr Corbyn dramatically pulled the plug on cross-party talks after more than six weeks, saying they had gone as far as they can and the parties had been unable to bridge important policy gaps. Speaking at her first appearance on the Euro election campaign trail, in Bristol, Ms May sought to blame Labour splits over a second referendum for the failure to reach a compromise deal. We have not been able to overcome the fact that there isnt a common position in Labour about whether they want to deliver Brexit or hold a second referendum which could reverse it, she said. She vowed to press ahead with tabling the Brexit bill in the week of 3 June. Jeremy Corbyn says the Government 'has not fundamentally shifted its view' during cross-party Brexit talks But senior Leave-supporting backbenchers said she should scrap the legislation and hand over immediately to a new leader. Nigel Evans urged her to announce she was not waiting three weeks to discuss the timetable for her departure, as agreed with the chair of the influential 1922 Committee Sir Graham Brady, but would go forthwith. Asked if the declaration should come within days, the committees joint secretary replied: I would like her to do it now ... Its only right that the new leadership has the opportunity to become established and form a new cabinet prior to us going into the summer recess. Former minister David Jones said the PM should recognise that now is the time that she should stand down. On the Conservative benches, most people now want the PM to step down as quickly as possible, he told The Independent. Prolonging this is just wasting time at a time when we dont have much time to waste. There were signs that Ms May could face a rebellion on the Withdrawal Agreement Bill considerably greater than the 34 Tories who helped to defeat her third meaningful vote. Former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab, whose announcement that he would swing behind the PM in the 29 March vote was influential in encouraging other switchers, is understood to be mulling which way to vote. 1922 Committee secretary Nigel Evans said Ms May should announce her departure forthwith (Parliament) Boris Johnson, who declared his intention to stand on Thursday, claimed pole position in the race for the succession with a survey for The Times finding he is the preferred leader of 39 per cent of party members, against 13 per cent for Dominic Raab and 9 per cent for Michael Gove. As cross-party talks foundered on the issue of Labours demand for a permanent customs union, it emerged that Ms May made a last-ditch offer of indicative votes to salvage her Brexit plans. Under the deal rejected by Labour MPs would have been able to vote on ruling out a fresh referendum or a no-deal Brexit as well as setting a new withdrawal deadline of 31 July and approving a package of concessions made by the government. The absence of consensus on future customs arrangements was reflected in the offer of a separate series of elimination motions on four alternative models. Who could succeed Theresa May as Conservative leader? Show all 9 1 /9 Who could succeed Theresa May as Conservative leader? Who could succeed Theresa May as Conservative leader? Boris Johnson Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson has long been hopeful, he previously stood in the leadership contest that followed the Brexit vote and has at many times since been thought to be maneuvering himself towards the goal. He remains a darling of the party's right wing, particularly those in the ERG, and is the most popular choice among Tory voters but his leadership bid would be fiercely opposed by many MPs PA Who could succeed Theresa May as Conservative leader? Michael Gove Environment secretary Michael Gove is another member who has long wanted to be leader. He has lately been known for rousing his party in the commons, his recent speeches on the Brexit deal and Labour's no confidence motion have overshadowed the Prime Minister's. He has been loyal to the Prime Minister, partly to shed his reputation as a backstabber who abandoned Boris Johnson to stand against him in the 2016 leadership election Getty Who could succeed Theresa May as Conservative leader? Dominic Raab Former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab has emerged as a favourite to be the Brexiteer candidate in a contest to succeed to Ms May. He displayed a grip on detail in his role as Brexit secretary. When asked recently if he would like to become prime minister he replied "never say never" Getty Who could succeed Theresa May as Conservative leader? Rory Stewart International development secretary Rory Stewart is pitching himself as the sensible candidate, promising to rule out both a second referendum and a no-deal Brexit. He was only recently promoted to the cabinet, previously serving as prisons minister, where he caught headlines with a pledge to resign if he could not reduce levels of violence within a year PA Who could succeed Theresa May as Conservative leader? Esther McVey The former work and pensions secretary announced that she will be standing for the leadership when May leaves. McVey is the first to explicitly state that she intends to stand. She resigned from the cabinet in protest over May's Brexit deal AFP/Getty Who could succeed Theresa May as Conservative leader? Sajid Javid Home secretary Sajid Javid is said to have a plan in place for a leadership race. He made headlines over Christmas when he declared that people smuggling over the English channel was a "major incident" and more recently when he revoked the citizenship of ISIS bride Shamima Begum. Son of a bus driver, he wants the Conservatives to be seen as the party of social mobility PA Who could succeed Theresa May as Conservative leader? Jeremy Hunt Foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt was recently thought to be the favourite in the event of a leadership race as he could sell himself as the man to unite the party. Critics worry that his long stint as health secretary could return to haunt him at a general election. He has reportedly been holding meetings with Tory MPs over breakfast to promote his leadership PA Who could succeed Theresa May as Conservative leader? Andrea Leadsom Following the Prime Minister's second defeat over her Brexit deal, Leader of the house Andrea Leadsom hosted a dinner party at which "leadership was the only topic of conversation", The Times heard. Leadsom ran against Theresa May in the 2016 leadership election before dropping out, allowing May to become Prime Minister AFP/Getty Who could succeed Theresa May as Conservative leader? Priti Patel Former international development secretary Priti Patel is thought to be positioning herself as a contender. One MP told The Independent "she knows she's from the right of the party, the part which is going to choose the next leader, so she's reminding everyone she's there." Patel left the government late in 2017 after it emerged that she had held undisclosed meetings with Israeli officials PA Labour supporters of a peoples vote called on Mr Corbyn to declare that he has reached the end of the road in pursuing the options set out in last autumns conference motion and will throw the partys weight fully behind a Final Say referendum. Former cabinet minister Ben Bradshaw said the move could staunch the haemorrhage of votes in the European elections, with the most recent polls showing Labour dropping behind Liberal Democrats on just 15 per cent. Labour now has nowhere else to go, Mr Bradshaw told The Independent. There isnt an alternative deal or a general election option now, so that means our approach must be another referendum. Even at this late stage, a clear statement from Jeremy that our policy is now to support a Final Say public vote might help stop the haemorrhaging of support we are seeing to the Greens and Liberal Democrats in the European elections. The Labour leaders office said he was sticking with the platform set out in the European election manifesto, which keeps the option of a referendum open if Labours alternative deal or a general election cannot be secured. The collapse of talks left only the options of no deal or a second referendum on the table, said Mr Bradshaw. The only last sliver of hope for [Ms May] is to make clear that her deal is dependent on a second referendum, so we can vote for it, he said. If she for once put the national interest ahead of what she sees as her party interest, she would do so. But whether she has got the leadership qualities to do that is open to question. Close Keir Starmer confirms Labour will vote against Brexit legislation without cross-party deal Talks between Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May aimed at breaking the Brexit deadlock have collapsed without an agreement. Conservative whips had reportedly given up hope of reaching an agreement with Labour, while Mr Corbyn and the shadow cabinet had concerns about the durability of any deal due to Ms May's weak position. But speaking on Friday, the prime minister blamed Labour division s over whether to demand a Final Say referendum for the failure of the talks. As Ms May finally hit the campaign trail for the European elections - with just six days to go - she said: "In particular, we havent been able to overcome the fact that there isnt a common position in Labour about whether they want to deliver Brexit, or hold a second referendum which could reverse it. Farage launches his new Brexit Party: in pictures Show all 10 1 /10 Farage launches his new Brexit Party: in pictures Farage launches his new Brexit Party: in pictures Nigel Farage speaks at the launch of his new Brexit Party's campaign for the European elections Reuters Farage launches his new Brexit Party: in pictures Brexit Party candidate Annunziata Rees-Mogg, sister of Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, speaks at the launch AFP/Getty Farage launches his new Brexit Party: in pictures A supporter waits for Farage to speak AFP/Getty Farage launches his new Brexit Party: in pictures Supporters wait for Farage to speak AFP/Getty Farage launches his new Brexit Party: in pictures Farage's socks Reuters Farage launches his new Brexit Party: in pictures Farage and prospective candidate Annunziata Rees-Mogg wait at the launch AFP/Getty Farage launches his new Brexit Party: in pictures Supporters listen as Farage speaks AFP/Getty Farage launches his new Brexit Party: in pictures Free T-shirts for all attendees AFP/Getty Farage launches his new Brexit Party: in pictures Posters on the seats for supporters of the Brexit Party AFP/Getty Farage launches his new Brexit Party: in pictures A safety sign is pictured AFP/Getty But a Labour source hit back, pointing out Brexiteer cabinet ministers had also voiced strident opposition to a customs union, saying: Ultimately, this is a prime minister that cant govern and cant deliver. Earlier, Mr Corbyn said: "We have been unable to bridge important policy gaps between us. It comes after the ex-foreign secretary Boris Johnson declared his intention to replace Theresa May after she bowed to pressure to quit in the summer months and make way for a new Tory leader. This liveblog has now closed - but you can follow Friday's events below The Liberal Democrats could shake the foundations of British politics by finishing ahead of not only the Conservatives but also Labour in this months European elections, leader Sir Vince Cable has said. Speaking to The Independent, Sir Vince said the confusion and disorientation of the two major parties over Brexit had created conditions where the Lib Dems could outpace both their rivals in a national election for the first time in a century. After generations of being told a Liberal Democrat vote is wasted because of the domination of the big two parties, it is now abundantly clear that voters who back European Union membership should consider voting tactically for them on 23 May, he said. I think there is a recognition that we are clearly the strongest of the three parties on the Remain side and people who think tactically will get behind us, said the former business secretary. Citing a tactical voting website set up by campaigner Gina Miller, which favours a Lib Dem vote in all corners of England as the best means of opposing Brexit, he said his message to Remain-backing supporters of other parties was: Use your vote to maximum effect and vote for us. Im not predicting it. It will be difficult But it could happen. That would really shake the foundations. Cliffs of Dover lit up in Brexit protest Show all 5 1 /5 Cliffs of Dover lit up in Brexit protest Cliffs of Dover lit up in Brexit protest Campaign group Led By Donkeys projected this statement by Nigel Farage on the Cliffs of Dover on the evening of April 4 @ByDonkeys / Twitter Cliffs of Dover lit up in Brexit protest Campaign group Led By Donkeys projected this statement by former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab on the Cliffs of Dover on the evening of April 4 @ByDonkeys / Twitter Cliffs of Dover lit up in Brexit protest Campaign group Led By Donkeys projected this message to the EU on the Cliffs of Dover on the evening of April 4 @ByDonkeys / Twitter Cliffs of Dover lit up in Brexit protest Campaign group Led By Donkeys projected this message on the Cliffs of Dover on the evening of April 4 @ByDonkeys / Twitter Cliffs of Dover lit up in Brexit protest Campaign group Led By Donkeys projected this message on the Cliffs of Dover on the evening of April 4 @ByDonkeys / Twitter He made clear his ambitions stretch beyond a third-place finish behind Labour and Nigel Farages Brexit Party: What would shake the tree would be if we overtook Labour. That would be a big ask, but it is possible. Sir Vince was speaking as a YouGov poll showed the Lib Dems for the first time pulling narrowly ahead of Labour in the European election race, with support of 16 per cent compared to 15 per cent for Jeremy Corbyns party, with Conservatives in single figures on 9 per cent trailing in fifth place behind the Greens. The veteran Twickenham MP said he hoped momentum built up by success in local and European elections will make Lib Dems key players in the next general election, with a big if over the question of whether Tories or Labour can hold together in their current forms. They are giving every sign of reaching their sell-by date, he said. All kinds of possibilities are opening up. Cable and the Lib Dems campaigning for the European parliament elections (Getty) (Getty Images) Lib Dems had conversations with moderate Tories prior to the creation of the Independent Group in February, he said, adding: If the hard Brexiteers take over I think we are going to get back to that kind of conversation before long. He claimed to have heard rumours that some potential Tory leaders might be open to inviting Mr Farage into the party, something which he said could provoke a realignment of British politics by making mainstream Conservatives reconsider their allegiances. Recommended Lib Dems overtake Labour in the polls for Euro elections Refusing to name a preferred contender to succeed Ms May, he said: Even the ones who initially came across as more moderate and reasonable, like Jeremy Hunt, are falling over backwards to appeal to the backwoodsmen, and they have lost all credibility as far as Im concerned. Sir Vince was among a delegation from Remain-backing parties who met Ms Mays effective deputy David Lidington to discuss the Brexit process last week. He said he had picked up indications in various conversations with the government side that they were privately preparing for the possibility of a Final Say EU referendum. When we have been to see people they repeat the mantra that they dont like the idea, but it emerges that they have been doing a lot of groundwork anticipating it could happen, he said. On the Labour side, it was clear from their public comments that senior figures like the shadow Brexit secretary, Sir Keir Starmer, and the deputy leader, Tom Watson, were trying to get Corbyn into a more unambiguous position on a peoples vote, he said. But he added: I think its too late for them. Vince Cable spoke to The Independent in his House of Commons office (Andrew Woodcock/Independent) He said it was a matter of great regret that the Lib Dems had been unable to form a combined Remain ticket with pro-EU parties Change UK and the Greens, but said he was hoping to get back into a collaborative working relationship with Change UK following the elections, naming interim leader Heidi Allen as a very easy person to deal with. And he rejected the idea that Lib Dems should treat the Euro elections as a quasi referendum in which the combined totals for Brexit and Remain parties could settle the question of whether the country still wanted to leave the EU. We are treating it as an opportunity to choose MEPs who will hopefully be there for the next five years, and we want as strong a contingent as possible, he said. We will fight separately for a referendum when parliament gets down to business again. A 30 per cent-plus total for the Brexit Party would not prove anything, he said. We know there is about a third of the electorate who are solid hardline Brexit. We think there is a bigger group on the other side who are solidly committed to Remain and then a smaller, diminishing, group in the middle who dont know. He dismissed Mr Farages calls for a WTO Brexit leaving the EU with no deal and falling back on World Trade Organisation rules as a complete fraud and said he was ready to debate the former Ukip leader on live TV to expose his position. There is no such thing, the system isnt working any more, he said. The WTO is wonderfully conceived, but it is a very weak, toothless organisation. To see that as an option is grossly dishonest, and that has to be exposed. Sir Vince refused to reveal targets for MEPs or vote share in next Thursdays election, exercising his habitual reserve as he said: I started off with quite modest objectives to improve on last time, when we had one MEP. I now think we will do better than that. Following years in the doldrums as voters punished the party for its participation in coalition with David Cameron, the leader said he detected an upswing in morale on the back of local elections in which they gained more than 700 councillors and 10 authorities. And looking ahead to the general election, he said that seats which just months ago were beyond Lib Dem ambitions are now back in play, citing Leeds North West, which they lost to Labour in 2017, and Chelmsford, where the party won control of the town hall for the first time in 20 years this month. Despite having announced his intention to step down as leader this month, he indicated he would stay at the helm in the event of an immediate general election prompted by a bloodbath for the Tories at the European polls. Im not going to stay on and on like Margaret Thatcher because weve had a burst of positive news, he said. But in the unlikely event of a general election before the summer, I will be leading us into it. He said he intended to remain engaged after stepping down, but was careful not to hint at any preference for either of the two expected contenders to replace him deputy leader Jo Swinson and home affairs spokesperson Sir Edward Davey. The equality watchdog has written to the Conservative Party asking for more information following complaints about Islamophobia in the party. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has given the Tories one month to respond to the request for information about the complaints, ITV News first reported on Thursday, before it decides whether to take the case further. The EHRC said in a statement that the letter was part of their standard process to assess complaints. A Conservative spokesperson said: The Conservative Party will always be happy to work with organisations who support equality, tolerance and human rights. The letter comes amid a recent Islamophobia row within the party. Brexit racism and the fightback Show all 9 1 /9 Brexit racism and the fightback Brexit racism and the fightback Demonstrators protest against an increase in post-ref racism at London's March for Europe in July 2016 PA Brexit racism and the fightback These cards were found near a school in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, the day after the EU referendum Twitter/@howgilb Brexit racism and the fightback Getty Brexit racism and the fightback Romford, Essex, June 25 @diamondgeezer Brexit racism and the fightback A worker at this Romanian food shop was asleep upstairs at the time of this arson attack in Norwich on July 8, but escaped unharmed. Hundreds later participated in a love bombing rally outside the shop to express their opposition to racism and their support of the shop owners. JustGiving/Helen Linehan Brexit racism and the fightback This neo-Nazi sticker was spotted in Glasgow on June 26 Courtesy of Eoin Palmer Brexit racism and the fightback But after news emerged of neo-Nazi stickers appearing in Glasgow, some in the city struck back with slogans of their own. Courtesy of Eoin Palmer Brexit racism and the fightback Getty Brexit racism and the fightback More signs began to appear in some parts of the UK, created by people who wanted to show their opposition to post-referendum racism Courtesy of Bernadette Russell In March this year, the Tories were accused of trying to sweep Islamophobia under the carpet after quietly reinstating 15 councillors who had been suspended over racist or prejudiced social media posts. Racist comments were posted on a pro-Jacob Rees-Mogg Facebook group, including calls for Muslims to be turfed out of public office, for the government to get rid of all mosques and calling home secretary Sajid Javid a Trojan horse. Last year, more than 350 mosques and Muslim organisations urged the Conservatives to launch an internal inquiry into Islamophobia claims. Former Conservative chairperson Baroness Warsi also called the Conservatives to launch an independent inquiry into Islamophobia in the party. The Conservatives recently faced criticism for refusing to adopt a definition of Islamophobia that classifies discrimination against Muslims as a form of racism. The definition was put forward by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on British Muslims and has been described as a necessity to root out far-right racism. Speaking in the Commons, Labours Naz Shah, a Muslim MP, accused Conservatives of being a party in denial that is not serious about the safety and security of British Muslims. If it is down to women to define the experience of feminism, the experiences of people of colour to define racism, the experience of Jews to define antisemitism, the experience of the LGBTQ+ communities to define homophobia, I ask the minister how dare he tell the British Muslims that our experiences cannot define Islamophobia, she said. If that isnt a pernicious form of racism then what is it? Ms Shah also read a series of abusive messages she had received online and revealed she feared for her life. I ask, which Muslims life must go next for us to simply recognise and understand Islamophobia? she said. James Brokenshire, the communities secretary, told the House of Commons the APPG definition needed more consideration, was not in line with the Equality Act 2010, had potential consequences for freedom of speech and that the combination of race and religion would cause legal and practical issues. The APPG definition has been accepted by a number of parties, including Labour, the Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru, Scottish National Party and Scottish Conservatives, and backed by 750 Muslim organisations and institutions. A rape victim who had an illegal abortion at the age of 13 has argued that Alabamas new law mandating a near total ban on abortion is an abomination which punishes the woman for being a woman. Maralyn Mosley, an 81-year-old, had her first illegal abortion 22 years before Roe v Wade the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalised abortion nationwide in 1973. After being raped by a tenant at her aunts Birmingham boarding house, Ms Mosley's mother took her to a woman the community went to for clandestine terminations of pregnancy, but the 13-year-old was turned away due to her young age. Ms Mosley was then taken through a door in an alley where she got an abortion at the back of a barbershop from a man who asked for sex before he would do the procedure. "I had been raped, and this made me feel like I was useless, like I was violated," Ms Mosley told the Montgomery Advertiser. Northern Ireland abortion protest in Westminster Show all 7 1 /7 Northern Ireland abortion protest in Westminster Northern Ireland abortion protest in Westminster Derry Girls cast members Siobhan McSweeney and Nicola Coughlan (right) join MPS and women impacted by Northern Ireland's strict abortion laws PA Northern Ireland abortion protest in Westminster Heidi Allen (second right) joins the protest PA Northern Ireland abortion protest in Westminster A luggage tag on a suitcase, symbolising the women who travel from Northern Ireland to England for terminations PA Northern Ireland abortion protest in Westminster The campaigners march across Westminster Bridge PA Northern Ireland abortion protest in Westminster Counter-protesters Rebecca Morgan (left) and her daughter Helen, one, demonstrate in favour of Northern Ireland's current laws Getty Images Northern Ireland abortion protest in Westminster Protesters supporting Northern Ireland's abortion laws at Parliament Square Getty Images Northern Ireland abortion protest in Westminster Demonstrators pull suitcases to symbolise the women who travel from Northern Ireland to England for a termination AFP/Getty Images She said she does not remember a lot of the abortion due to blocking out the memory because it was too painful but that she is able to recall her second illegal abortion far more clearly. The latter abortion she carried out on herself seven years later with knitting needles. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed a controversial abortion bill into law on Wednesday that is the most restrictive abortion bill in the US. Under the law, doctors would face 10 years in prison for attempting to terminate a pregnancy and 99 years for carrying out the procedure. The strict abortion ban, which has been branded a death sentence for women, would even criminalise performing abortions in cases of rape and incest. Ms Ivey said the new law might be unenforceable due to Roe v Wade but said the new law was passed with the aim of challenging that decision. Ms Mosley said she was "extremely saddened" to see a piece of legislation that would not have protected her 13-year-old self. We are going to return to the back alleys, she said. We are going to return to where women will do abortions to themselves. We will return to the coat hangers and perforated uteruses. We will return to where women will bleed to death. It will be as it was before. It's an abomination." She added: "Abortions cannot be made illegal again. Women, girls and children should not have to go through that. I feel my terrible experience and other women's terrible experiences can be repeated, that we will have more deaths. No one talks about the deaths that occurred from illegal abortions, but there were many." Studies support the view illegal abortions are more dangerous than those carried out in a professional environment. The World Health Organisation estimates that each year between five per cent to 12 per cent of maternal deaths can be attributed to unsafe abortion - with the annual cost of treating major complications from unsafe abortion estimated at $553m (435m). "I dont think that, if I had tried to take care of a baby at the age of 13, that I would be able to achieve any of the things Ive been able to achieve," Ms Mosley said. "I think it is punishing the woman for being a woman." At a minimum, Alabamas new law will not go into effect for at least six months and implementation could be postponed further by expected legal challenges. While supporters of Alabamas decision say they expect the law to be blocked in court, they hope that the appeals process will bring it before the Supreme Court. Alarm bells have been raised that Roe v Wade could be overturned or radically undermined with new conservative justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh - both Trump appointees. Alabama state lawmakers compare abortions in America to the Holocaust and other modern genocides in the legislation spurring Jewish activists and abortion rights groups to rebuke the bill as deeply offensive". Alabamas new bill comes as politicians in several other states propose legislation to restrict abortion such as Georgias recent heartbeat bill. Some 16 other states are trying to impose new restrictions on abortion. Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio and Georgia have approved bans on abortion once a foetal heartbeat is detected, which can occur in about the sixth week of pregnancy. At six weeks, many women do not yet know they are pregnant. Missouris state house has passed a bill limiting selective terminations after the eighth week of pregnancy with no exceptions for cases of rape or incest. The state senate passed the bill on Thursday, which now heads to the governor to be signed into law. Governor Mike Parson, a Republican who has already declared his support for the restrictive abortion measures, is likely to sign the bill. Mr Parson declared his dedication to the anti-choice cause at a rally on Wednesday: Until the day that we no longer have abortions in this country, I will never waver in the fight for life. The newly passed bill, called Missouri Stands With the Unborn, criminalises abortion providers rather than abortion seekers, much like the bills passed in Alabama and Georgia. Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions Show all 23 1 /23 Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions Abortion rights activists hold placards outside of the US Supreme Court ahead of an expected ruling on abortion clinic restrictions on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions An abortion rights activist holds placards outside of the US Supreme Court before the Court struck down a Texas law placing restrictions on abortion clinics on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. The US Supreme Court on Monday struck down a Texas law placing a raft of restrictions on abortion clinics, handing a major victory to the "pro-choice" camp in the country's most important ruling on the divisive issue in a generation. Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 27: Pro-life activists pray on the steps of the United States Supreme Court on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. In a 5-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down one of the nation's toughest restrictions on abortion, a Texas law that women's groups said would have forced more than three-quarters of the state's clinics to close. Pete Marovich/Getty Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 27: Texas abortion provider Amy Hagstrom-Miller looks on as Nancy Northup, President of The Center for Reproductive Rights speaks to the media outside of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. In a 5-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down one of the nation's toughest restrictions on abortion, a Texas law that women's groups said would have forced more than three-quarters of the state's clinics to close. Pete Marovich/Getty Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions An abortion rights activist holds placards outside of the US Supreme Court before the Court struck down a Texas law placing restrictions on abortion clinics on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. The US Supreme Court on Monday struck down a Texas law placing a raft of restrictions on abortion clinics, handing a major victory to the "pro-choice" camp in the country's most important ruling on the divisive issue in a generation. Getty Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions Texas abortion provider Amy Hagstrom-Miller wipes a tear as she walks down the steps of the United States Supreme Court with Nancy Northup, President of The Center for Reproductive Rights on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. In a 5-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down one of the nation's toughest restrictions on abortion, a Texas law that women's groups said would have forced more than three-quarters of the state's clinics to close. Pete Marovich/Getty Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions Abortion rights activists cheer after the US Supreme Court struck down a Texas law placing restrictions on abortion clinics, outside of the Supreme Court on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. In a case with far-reaching implications for millions of women across the United States, the court ruled 5-3 to strike down measures which activists say have forced more than half of Texas's abortion clinics to close. Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions Abortion rights activists cheer after the US Supreme Court struck down a Texas law placing restrictions on abortion clinics, outside of the Supreme Court on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. In a case with far-reaching implications for millions of women across the United States, the court ruled 5-3 to strike down measures which activists say have forced more than half of Texas's abortion clinics to close. Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 27: Abortion rights activists Morgan Hopkins of Boston, left, and Alison Turkos of New York City, celebrate on the steps of the United States Supreme Court on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. In a 5-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down one of the nation's toughest restrictions on abortion, a Texas law that women's groups said would have forced more than three-quarters of the state's clinics to close. Pete Marovich/Getty Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions Abortion rights activists cheer after the US Supreme Court struck down a Texas law placing restrictions on abortion clinics, outside of the Supreme Court on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. In a case with far-reaching implications for millions of women across the United States, the court ruled 5-3 to strike down measures which activists say have forced more than half of Texas's abortion clinics to close. Getty Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 27: Abortion rights activists Morgan Hopkins of Boston, left, and Alison Turkos of New York City, celebrate on the steps of the United States Supreme Court on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. In a 5-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down one of the nation's toughest restrictions on abortion, a Texas law that women's groups said would have forced more than three-quarters of the state's clinics to close. (Photo by Pete Marovich/Getty Images) Getty Images Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions Abortion rights activist Morgan Hopkins of Boston, celebrates on the steps of the United States Supreme Court on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. In a 5-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down one of the nation's toughest restrictions on abortion, a Texas law that women's groups said would have forced more than three-quarters of the state's clinics to close. Pete Marovich/Getty Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions Abortion rights activists embrace after the US Supreme Court struck down a Texas law placing restrictions on abortion clinics, outside of the Supreme Court on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. In a case with far-reaching implications for millions of women across the United States, the court ruled 5-3 to strike down measures which activists say have forced more than half of Texas's abortion clinics to close. AFP/Getty Images Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions Abortion rights activists hold placards outside of the US Supreme Court ahead of a ruling on abortion clinic restrictions on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. In a case with far-reaching implications for millions of women across the United States, the court ruled 5-3 to strike down measures which activists say have forced more than half of Texas's abortion clinics to close. Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions In a case with far-reaching implications for millions of women across the United States, the court ruled 5-3 to strike down measures which activists say have forced more than half of Texas's abortion clinics to close. Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions Abortion rights activists cheer after the US Supreme Court struck down a Texas law placing restrictions on abortion clinics, outside of the Supreme Court on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. In a case with far-reaching implications for millions of women across the United States, the court ruled 5-3 to strike down measures which activists say have forced more than half of Texas's abortion clinics to close. AFP/Getty Images Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions Abortion rights activists cheer after the US Supreme Court struck down a Texas law placing restrictions on abortion clinics, outside of the Supreme Court on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. In a case with far-reaching implications for millions of women across the United States, the court ruled 5-3 to strike down measures which activists say have forced more than half of Texas's abortion clinics to close. / AFP / MANDEL NGAN (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions Abortion rights activists cheer after the US Supreme Court struck down a Texas law placing restrictions on abortion clinics, outside of the Supreme Court on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. In a case with far-reaching implications for millions of women across the United States, the court ruled 5-3 to strike down measures which activists say have forced more than half of Texas's abortion clinics to close. / AFP / MANDEL NGAN (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions Abortion rights activists embrace after the US Supreme Court struck down a Texas law placing restrictions on abortion clinics, outside of the Supreme Court on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. In a case with far-reaching implications for millions of women across the United States, the court ruled 5-3 to strike down measures which activists say have forced more than half of Texas's abortion clinics to close. AFP/Getty Images Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions Pro-choice activist, Alissa Manzoeillo, of Washington, D.C. waits for rulings in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. A ruling is expected in Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt, a Texas case the places restrictions on abortion clinics, as well as rulings in the former Virginia Governor's corruption case and a gun rights case. Pete Marovich/Getty Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions Abortion rights activists cheer after the US Supreme Court struck down a Texas law placing restrictions on abortion clinics, outside of the Supreme Court on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. In a case with far-reaching implications for millions of women across the United States, the court ruled 5-3 to strike down measures which activists say have forced more than half of Texas's abortion clinics to close. Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions Abortion rights activists hold placards outside of the US Supreme Court ahead of an expected ruling on abortion clinic restrictions on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. AFP/Getty Images Supreme Court strikes down abortion restrictions Abortion rights activists hold placards outside of the US Supreme Court ahead of an expected ruling on abortion clinic restrictions on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. AFP/Getty Images Abortion providers found to have performed non-emergency abortions after the 8 week point may face up to 15 years in prison. The proposed law will only become enforceable in the event that Roe v Wade is overturned. Recommended Elizabeth Warren announces plan to fight Alabama abortion ban The bill's supporters say that, unlike the Alabama abortion ban, this isnt designed to challenge Roe v Wade. State Representative Nicholas B Schroer, who is one of the bills sponsors, said: This legislation has one goal, and that is to save lives ... to withstand judicial challenges and not cause them. And so the Democratic race to become the 2020 presidential nominee reaches two dozen, or 23 depending on how seriously you take all of the candidates. It is the largest field in modern history. The Democrat races for the 1972 and 1976 elections both topped out at 16, and there were 17 Republicans as Donald Trump began his march towards the White House in 2016. New York mayor Bill de Blasio is the latest to enter the race this time around, hoping to become the first mayor to gain the presidency. The closest a mayor has come was in 1812 when DeWitt Clinton who was also from New York lost to James Madison in the general election. It is not just that piece of history De Blasio is fighting the crowded field means that making it through to become the partys nominee will be unlike any other race. So why is the field so stocked for 2020? Well, as you might expect, some of it has to do with the current president. Trump ran a populist campaign with hard lines on immigration, crime and healthcare that have riled politicians and would-be politicians across the spectrum. That has brought more people to the table to fight him. The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Show all 25 1 /25 The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Bernie Sanders The Vermont senator has launched a second bid for president after losing out to Hilary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primaries. He is running on a similar platform of democratic socialist reform Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Joe Biden The former vice president recently faced scrutiny for inappropriate touching of women, but was thought to deal with the criticism well and has since maintained a front runner status in national polling EPA The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Elizabeth Warren The Massachusetts senator is a progressive Democrat, and a major supporter of regulating Wall Street Reuters The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Amy Klobuchar Klobuchar is a Minnesota senator who earned praise for her contribution to the Brett Kavanaugh hearings Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Michael Bloomberg Michael Bloomberg, a late addition to the 2020 race, announced his candidacy after months of speculation in November. He has launched a massive ad-buying campaign and issued an apology for the controversial "stop and frisk" programme that adversely impacted minority communities in New York City when he was mayor Getty Images The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Tulsi Gabbard The Hawaii congresswoman announced her candidacy in January, but has faced tough questions on her past comments on LGBT+ rights and her stance on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Pete Buttigieg The centrist Indiana mayor and war veteran would be the first openly LGBT+ president in American history Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Deval Patrick The former Massachusetts governor launched a late 2020 candidacy and received very little reception. With just a few short months until the first voters flock to the polls, the former governor is running as a centrist and believes he can unite the party's various voting blocs AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Beto O'Rourke The former Texas congressman formally launched his bid for the presidency in March. He ran on a progressive platform, stating that the US is driven by "gross differences in opportunity and outcome" AP The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Kamala Harris The former California attorney general was introduced to the national stage during Jeff Sessions testimony. She has endorsed Medicare-for-all and proposed a major tax-credit for the middle class AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Bill De Blasio The New York mayor announced his bid on 16 May 2019. He emerged in 2013 as a leading voice in the left wing of his party but struggled to build a national profile and has suffered a number of political setbacks in his time as mayor AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Steve Bullock The Montana governor announced his bid on 14 May. He stated "We need to defeat Donald Trump in 2020 and defeat the corrupt system that lets campaign money drown out the people's voice, so we can finally make good on the promise of a fair shot for everyone." He also highlighted the fact that he won the governor's seat in a red [Republican] state Reuters The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Cory Booker The New Jersey Senator has focused on restoring kindness and civility in American politics throughout his campaign, though he has failed to secure the same level of support and fundraising as several other senators running for the White House in 2020 Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Wayne Messam Mayor of the city of Miramar in the Miami metropolitan area, Wayne Messam said he intended to run on a progressive platform against the "broken" federal government. He favours gun regulations and was a signatory to a letter from some 400 mayors condemning President Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord Vice News The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Kirsten Gillibrand The New York Senator formally announced her presidential bid in January, saying that healthcare should be a right, not a privilege Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: John Delaney The Maryland congressman was the first to launch his bid for presidency, making the announcement in 2017 AP The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Andrew Yang The entrepreneur announced his presidential candidacy by pledging that he would introduce a universal basic income of $1,000 a month to every American over the age of 18 Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Julian Castro The former San Antonio mayor announced his candidacy in January and said that his running has a special meaning for the Latino community in the US Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Marianne Williamson The author and spiritual adviser has announced her intention to run for president. She had previously run for congress as an independent in 2014 but was unsuccessful Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Eric Swalwell One of the younger candidates, Swalwell has served on multiple committees in the House of Representatives. He intended to make gun control central to his campaign but dropped out after his team said it was clear there was no path to victory Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Seth Moulton A Massachusetts congressman, Moulton is a former US soldier who is best known for trying to stop Nancy Pelosi from becoming speaker of the house. He dropped out of the race after not polling well in key states Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Jay Inslee Inslee has been governor of Washington since 2013. His bid was centred around climate change AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: John Hickenlooper The former governor of Colorado aimed to sell himself as an effective leader who was open to compromise, but failed to make a splash on the national stage Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Tim Ryan Ohio representative Tim Ryan ran on a campaign that hinged on his working class roots, though his messaging did not appear to resonate with voters Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Tom Steyer Democratic presidential hopeful billionaire and philanthropist Tom Steyer is a longtime Democratic donor AFP/Getty In his announcement, De Blasio said Trump was a bully who he knew how to fight. Such claims have been typical of the Democratic field. Its an election that, for Democrats, has a sense of urgency, Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, told Bloomberg recently. Its a historic election. The sense of the risks of a second Trump term are great, so thats going to inspire more Democrats than usual to go through whats a brutal process: running for president. Trump also offers hope from an insurgent campaign perspective. He did not enter the race until June the year before the 2016 election but he drove to the top of the candidate standings very quickly. We still have at least three weeks until we reach the same point in this campaign. As well as putting in his own money, he also ended up bringing in 69 per cent of his individual donations from small donors giving $200 or less by election time. It is this type of funding that can keep smaller Democrat candidates, who cannot pull in big donations, in the race for longer. Recommended Meet all the Democrats running against Trump in 2020 Indeed, the Democratic National Committees rules for the first of the partys debates on 26 and 27 May push candidates towards this. To qualify for one of the 20 spots over two nights, candidates must receive contributions from 65,000 unique donors across 20 states or have at least 1 per cent support in several public polls. The fundraising may be easier, with some candidates struggling to get pollsters to put their names on the lists of surveys and others polling at essentially 0 per cent. This plays into the larger point that the barriers for entry to the national race are so much lower than they used to be. Campaigners are able to take their message to the people without support from big broadcasters. Joe Biden launches his 2020 presidential campaign With networks stretched for the staff needed to cover events from 20+ candidates across multiple states, the use of Twitter, Facebook videos and adverts and other social media strategies can have a bigger impact. Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg is a case in point. He received the most interactions on Twitter over a 30-day period into April and, while he has been helped by the reaction to a CNN-broadcast town hall event, social media has no doubt helped his cause. Recommended Trump wants supporters views on social media censorship Another example is Julian Castro, a former housing and urban development secretary in the Obama administration, who spent nearly a quarter of his operating expenses during the January-to-March fundraising period on digital ads, Federal Election Commission records show. However, social media can be an echo chamber. Buttigieg admitted at an event in South Carolina earlier this month that he needs help reaching black vote which he will need to make an impact with some polls placing him at 0 per cent support with African-Americans in the state. But in the records for the last funding window of January to March, Buttigieg and even less well-known candidate Marianne Williamson who offers a spiritual manifesto raised 64 and 60 per cent of their donations respectively from small donors. That puts them behind only Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Andrew Yang on that metric. In a field that wont likely be cut significantly until February or March 2020, that can keep them in the race. There have always been issue candidates, the most extreme this year being Mike Gravel, who at 88 merely wants to get on to the debate stage to highlight a non-interventionist foreign policy, direct democracy, and universal health care. His campaign is being run by a 17-year-old and is not being taken terribly seriously. But, given the fractured political climate, other candidates are happy to ride the wave of one issue. Washington governor Jay Inslee is concentrating on climate change, while Eric Swalwell is concerned with gun violence. All it takes is one tweet, or short clip and you can pick up momentum for days. In decades past, this would have been thanks to a soundbite on television. Nowadays, TV will come to you once the message is shared enough via other channels first. Joe Biden is the frontrunner big money and name recognition still give a huge advantage to people like him. But candidates appear to feel like they can last longer than in the past, and in such a crowded field, holding on until there are four or five people left may be the key. People connected with Donald Trump's administration and the US Congress tried to influence his former national security adviser's cooperation with the investigation into Russian election meddling, prosecutors said in a court filing made public on Thursday. Michael Flynn provided a voicemail recording of one such communication, it said. It did not identify who he was in touch nor did they describe the exact conversations, but they said the former US army general recounted multiple instances in which "he or his attorneys received communications from persons connected to the Administration or Congress that could have affected both his willingness to cooperate and the completeness of that cooperation." Prosecutors say they were unaware of some of those instances, which took place before and after he pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts during the presidential transition period in 2016 with the-then Russian ambassador to the United States, until Flynn told them about them. They revealed details about Flynn's communications in a court filing aimed at showing the extent of his cooperation with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. '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 Flynn, a vital witness in the probe, is awaiting sentencing. Meanwhile, the judge in the case ordered that portions of Mr Mueller's report that relate to Flynn be unredacted and made public by the end of the month. The order from US District Judge Emmet Sullivan is the first time a judge is known to have directed the Justice Department to make public any portion of the report that the agency had kept secret. It could set up a conflict with US attorney general William Barr, whose team spent weeks blacking out from the report grand jury information, details of ongoing investigations and other sensitive information. A redacted version of Mr Mueller's report released last month said that the evidence did not establish a criminal conspiracy between Russia and the campaign. It did not reach a conclusion on whether Mr Trump illegally obstructed justice, but he did examine nearly a dozen episodes for potential obstruction, including efforts by the president to discourage cooperation. However, it does reveal that after Flynn began cooperating with the government, an unidentified Trump lawyer left a message with one of his attorneys. They reminded them that the president still had warm feelings for Flynn. They also asked for a "heads-up" if Flynn knew damaging information about Mr Trump. Judge Sullivan ordered prosecutors to give him a copy of the audio recording they reference in the court filing and to make public a transcript of that call. He also directed them to file publicly transcripts of any calls with Russian officials such as the ambassador, Sergey Kislyak. Flynn was supposed to have been sentenced in December, with prosecutors saying he was so cooperative and helpful in their investigation that he was entitled to avoid prison. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events But after a judge sharply criticised Flynn during his sentencing hearing, he asked for it to be postponed so that he could continue cooperating with prosecutors and reduce the likelihood of being sent to prison. The document also details how Flynn assisted investigators as they looked into whether the Trump campaign conspired with the Kremlin to sway the outcome of the 2016 election. Flynn described to investigators statements from senior campaign officials in 2016 about WikiLeaks which received and published Democratic emails that were hacked by Russian intelligence officers "to which only a select few people were privy," prosecutors said. That includes conversations with senior campaign officials "during which the prospect of reaching out to the whistleblowing website was discussed." Agencies contributed to this report Elizabeth Warren has called on Congress to take action amid the wave of anti-abortion bills that have been passed across the US this year, including the recent bill in Alabama that could send doctors to prison for life over the procedures. Ms Warren, a top Democratic presidential candidate, warned that the laws pushed forward by conservatives could allow the Supreme Court to chip away at Americas abortion protections established in Roe v Wade, or reverse that precedent all together. "Right-wing Republican lawmakers in Alabama just enacted the most extreme abortion ban in over 40 years," Ms Warren wrote in a Medium post on Friday. "The new law bans abortion at every stage of pregnancy, doesnt include exceptions for rape and incest, and could result in doctors who perform an abortion being thrown in prison for up to 99 years. Republicans in Missouri are following close behind with a bill of their own." Ms Warren continued, casting the effort as a broader Republican attempt to overturn Roe v Wade. Ill be blunt: It just might work. President Trump has packed the courts with extreme, anti-choice judges, Ms Warren said of the conservative plan to undermine abortion access. Senate Republicans stole a Supreme Court seat and rammed through the confirmation of Justice Kavanaugh last year in order to cement an anti-choice majority on the Supreme Court. The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Show all 25 1 /25 The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Bernie Sanders The Vermont senator has launched a second bid for president after losing out to Hilary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primaries. He is running on a similar platform of democratic socialist reform Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Joe Biden The former vice president recently faced scrutiny for inappropriate touching of women, but was thought to deal with the criticism well and has since maintained a front runner status in national polling EPA The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Elizabeth Warren The Massachusetts senator is a progressive Democrat, and a major supporter of regulating Wall Street Reuters The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Amy Klobuchar Klobuchar is a Minnesota senator who earned praise for her contribution to the Brett Kavanaugh hearings Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Michael Bloomberg Michael Bloomberg, a late addition to the 2020 race, announced his candidacy after months of speculation in November. He has launched a massive ad-buying campaign and issued an apology for the controversial "stop and frisk" programme that adversely impacted minority communities in New York City when he was mayor Getty Images The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Tulsi Gabbard The Hawaii congresswoman announced her candidacy in January, but has faced tough questions on her past comments on LGBT+ rights and her stance on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Pete Buttigieg The centrist Indiana mayor and war veteran would be the first openly LGBT+ president in American history Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Deval Patrick The former Massachusetts governor launched a late 2020 candidacy and received very little reception. With just a few short months until the first voters flock to the polls, the former governor is running as a centrist and believes he can unite the party's various voting blocs AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Beto O'Rourke The former Texas congressman formally launched his bid for the presidency in March. He ran on a progressive platform, stating that the US is driven by "gross differences in opportunity and outcome" AP The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Kamala Harris The former California attorney general was introduced to the national stage during Jeff Sessions testimony. She has endorsed Medicare-for-all and proposed a major tax-credit for the middle class AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Bill De Blasio The New York mayor announced his bid on 16 May 2019. He emerged in 2013 as a leading voice in the left wing of his party but struggled to build a national profile and has suffered a number of political setbacks in his time as mayor AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Steve Bullock The Montana governor announced his bid on 14 May. He stated "We need to defeat Donald Trump in 2020 and defeat the corrupt system that lets campaign money drown out the people's voice, so we can finally make good on the promise of a fair shot for everyone." He also highlighted the fact that he won the governor's seat in a red [Republican] state Reuters The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Cory Booker The New Jersey Senator has focused on restoring kindness and civility in American politics throughout his campaign, though he has failed to secure the same level of support and fundraising as several other senators running for the White House in 2020 Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Wayne Messam Mayor of the city of Miramar in the Miami metropolitan area, Wayne Messam said he intended to run on a progressive platform against the "broken" federal government. He favours gun regulations and was a signatory to a letter from some 400 mayors condemning President Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord Vice News The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Kirsten Gillibrand The New York Senator formally announced her presidential bid in January, saying that healthcare should be a right, not a privilege Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: John Delaney The Maryland congressman was the first to launch his bid for presidency, making the announcement in 2017 AP The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Andrew Yang The entrepreneur announced his presidential candidacy by pledging that he would introduce a universal basic income of $1,000 a month to every American over the age of 18 Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Julian Castro The former San Antonio mayor announced his candidacy in January and said that his running has a special meaning for the Latino community in the US Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Marianne Williamson The author and spiritual adviser has announced her intention to run for president. She had previously run for congress as an independent in 2014 but was unsuccessful Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Eric Swalwell One of the younger candidates, Swalwell has served on multiple committees in the House of Representatives. He intended to make gun control central to his campaign but dropped out after his team said it was clear there was no path to victory Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Seth Moulton A Massachusetts congressman, Moulton is a former US soldier who is best known for trying to stop Nancy Pelosi from becoming speaker of the house. He dropped out of the race after not polling well in key states Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Jay Inslee Inslee has been governor of Washington since 2013. His bid was centred around climate change AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: John Hickenlooper The former governor of Colorado aimed to sell himself as an effective leader who was open to compromise, but failed to make a splash on the national stage Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Tim Ryan Ohio representative Tim Ryan ran on a campaign that hinged on his working class roots, though his messaging did not appear to resonate with voters Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Tom Steyer Democratic presidential hopeful billionaire and philanthropist Tom Steyer is a longtime Democratic donor AFP/Getty The Massachusetts senator noted that efforts to undermine the landmark Roe decision have been well underway since the decision was passed down 46 years ago. That has included efforts that have eliminated abortion clinics in 90 per cent of American counties, and the curbing of access to reproductive health services. Ms Warren is calling for Congress to take on the issue, and to pass a federal statute that parallel the constitutional right in Roe v Wade. Noting that polling shows that 71 per cent of Americans oppose the removal of Roe, Ms Warren said that the US government should work to stop states from interfering with the ability of healthcare providers to do their job. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events The bill recently signed into law in Alabama would effectively ban abortion in the state, and would see physicians who perform the procedures going to prison for up to 99 years or life. Opponents of the bill note that the law would rip the agency of women from them, and could lead women to seek dangerous and unregulated abortions from non-medical professionals. The governor knows. The states congressional delegation knows. The FBI knows. The Russian hackers certainly must know. Almost everyone, it seems, has been told which Florida voter registration systems were breached during the 2016 presidential election except for the voters whose information was targeted. Elected leaders in Washington and Tallahassee want to tell them but say they cannot. The FBI has kept the information classified, refusing to publicly identify the two counties where Russian hackers had access to voter data that could have allowed them to wreak havoc for voters on election day. On Thursday, the FBI faced a torrent of bipartisan fury from Republican and Democratic lawmakers in Florida, who, one after another, denounced the federal agencys lack of transparency, calling it unacceptable that it has taken three years for the authorities to reveal to them which counties were hacked. I dont know who the hell they think they are to not share that information with us, representative Matt Gaetz, a Republican from the Panhandle, said in a news conference on Thursday after the Florida delegation met behind closed doors in the Capitol with officials from the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. 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 Now that they know, Florida officials are prohibited from sharing the details with voters. Adding to the lawmakers anger were worries about what the hackers did once they gained access to the voter rolls. FBI officials told lawmakers that they had no evidence any data had been altered, but they could not say with certainty that no manipulation had occurred, said representative Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a Miami Democrat. The voter registration systems are separate from voter tabulation systems, which officials say were untouched. Voter rolls are public information in Florida, but access to the registration data could have allowed the hackers to delete or add voters, cancel their mail-in ballots or alter their party affiliation. We still have a lot of questions, Ms Mucarsel-Powell said. Tucked in the Mueller report last month was confirmation that the FBI had determined that a Russian military intelligence unit known as the GRU had breached at least one Florida county government during the 2016 election. That revelation prompted members of Congress to request Thursdays briefing. Its importance only grew after Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, disclosed on Tuesday, after his own briefing, that two counties had been hacked. The governor added a note of exasperation that the FBI had required him to sign a nondisclosure agreement to receive the classified information. Identifying the two counties has become Floridas political parlour game du jour, with the states 67 elections offices offering varying degrees of denials that they were breached to local and national news outlets. Lawmakers said on Thursday that the FBI had told them the intrusion came through a spear-phishing email, as elections officials had earlier suggested. FBI officials said the names of the hacked counties should remain classified because identifying them could tip off the Russians to law enforcement sources and methods. That argument did little to quell the politicians frustrations, given that the Mueller report has been public for weeks, and now the governor and almost every federal officeholder in the state knows the names of the two counties. The Russians know we know, said representative Stephanie Murphy, a Democrat from the Orlando area. The only people who dont know are the American people. In a statement this week, the FBI said that it continued to work with local, state and federal officials to proactively share information in a concerted effort to protect elections networks in Florida, and across the country, from adversary activity. The FBI notified the two counties of the breach as part of the agencys victim notification protocol, several lawmakers said. As part of that protocol, the FBI does not publicly identify victims, to maintain productive working relationships with them. Without knowing which counties were breached, voters can do little to hold elections supervisors (who are elected officials in all but one Florida county) accountable for taking the necessary steps to prevent a similar hacking in the future, lawmakers said. The New York Times 2019 "Changsha Cup" contest kicks off at CICEE 2019 in Changsha on May 16, 2019. [Photo courtesy of CICEE 2019 Advocacy Group] A two-day "Changsha Cup" hoisting contest of construction cranes kicked off in Changsha on Tuesday. The competition was jointly organized by the China National Association of Chemical Construction Enterprises (CNACCE), the China Association of Petroleum Engineering Construction (CAPEC), the China Electronic Power Construction Association (CEPCA), and the China Metallurgical Construction Association (CMCA). Twenty-seven contestants from 14 hoisting enterprises competed. Yu Jinbo, director of the contest organization committee and president of CNACCE, delivered the opening speech. Yu said 2019 is the promotional year of artisan spirit, and the contest acts as a platform for encouraging and promoting artisan spirit. According to Yu, Zoomlionhas worked with Petroleum and Chemical Construction Magazine to prepare for and organize the contest. Zoomlion attended the contest with its latest 80-ton crane. Drawing support from 2019 Changsha International Construction Equipment Exhibition (CICEE 2019), the contest has gained wide attention, Yu added. Wang Tize, vice secretary of the Changsha municipal government, and Luo Kai, vice president of Zoomlion Heavy Industry and Technology Development, each delivered a welcome speech. The opening ceremony was also attended by Fu Danzhou, vice president of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Hunan Sub-council (HNCCPIT), Yang Qingqian, former vice president of CMCA, Zheng Jianhua, vice president of CNACCE, and Li Guangyuan, vice secretary of CEPCA. The contestants said they were thrilled to attend the highest-level hoisting contest of construction cranes, and that they will continuously improve their skills as well as inherit and advocate for artisan spirit in order to contribute to the hoisting industry. A new poll has some good news for Joe Biden that sets him apart from the 2020 Democratic field yet again: hes the only candidate who leads Donald Trump in a hypothetical matchup outside the margin of error. Mr Biden, who leads the Democratic field in virtually every poll by 10 or more points, has solidified his position as the frontrunner to take on Mr Trump, and it appears he could easily take on the president in 2020, according to the poll from Fox News. According to that poll, Mr Biden leads Mr Trump in a hypothetical match up among registered voters by 11 points, receiving 49 per cent of the vote compared to 38 per cent for Mr Trump. Of course, other candidates fare well against Mr Trump as well, just not at that level. Bernie Sanders, for instance, leads Mr Trump by 5 points, while Elizabeth Warren leads by 2 points. Kamala Harris ties with Mr Trump, and Pete Buttigieg finds himself just one point behind. The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Show all 25 1 /25 The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Bernie Sanders The Vermont senator has launched a second bid for president after losing out to Hilary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primaries. He is running on a similar platform of democratic socialist reform Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Joe Biden The former vice president recently faced scrutiny for inappropriate touching of women, but was thought to deal with the criticism well and has since maintained a front runner status in national polling EPA The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Elizabeth Warren The Massachusetts senator is a progressive Democrat, and a major supporter of regulating Wall Street Reuters The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Amy Klobuchar Klobuchar is a Minnesota senator who earned praise for her contribution to the Brett Kavanaugh hearings Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Michael Bloomberg Michael Bloomberg, a late addition to the 2020 race, announced his candidacy after months of speculation in November. He has launched a massive ad-buying campaign and issued an apology for the controversial "stop and frisk" programme that adversely impacted minority communities in New York City when he was mayor Getty Images The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Tulsi Gabbard The Hawaii congresswoman announced her candidacy in January, but has faced tough questions on her past comments on LGBT+ rights and her stance on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Pete Buttigieg The centrist Indiana mayor and war veteran would be the first openly LGBT+ president in American history Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Deval Patrick The former Massachusetts governor launched a late 2020 candidacy and received very little reception. With just a few short months until the first voters flock to the polls, the former governor is running as a centrist and believes he can unite the party's various voting blocs AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Beto O'Rourke The former Texas congressman formally launched his bid for the presidency in March. He ran on a progressive platform, stating that the US is driven by "gross differences in opportunity and outcome" AP The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Kamala Harris The former California attorney general was introduced to the national stage during Jeff Sessions testimony. She has endorsed Medicare-for-all and proposed a major tax-credit for the middle class AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Bill De Blasio The New York mayor announced his bid on 16 May 2019. He emerged in 2013 as a leading voice in the left wing of his party but struggled to build a national profile and has suffered a number of political setbacks in his time as mayor AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Steve Bullock The Montana governor announced his bid on 14 May. He stated "We need to defeat Donald Trump in 2020 and defeat the corrupt system that lets campaign money drown out the people's voice, so we can finally make good on the promise of a fair shot for everyone." He also highlighted the fact that he won the governor's seat in a red [Republican] state Reuters The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Cory Booker The New Jersey Senator has focused on restoring kindness and civility in American politics throughout his campaign, though he has failed to secure the same level of support and fundraising as several other senators running for the White House in 2020 Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Wayne Messam Mayor of the city of Miramar in the Miami metropolitan area, Wayne Messam said he intended to run on a progressive platform against the "broken" federal government. He favours gun regulations and was a signatory to a letter from some 400 mayors condemning President Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord Vice News The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Kirsten Gillibrand The New York Senator formally announced her presidential bid in January, saying that healthcare should be a right, not a privilege Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: John Delaney The Maryland congressman was the first to launch his bid for presidency, making the announcement in 2017 AP The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Andrew Yang The entrepreneur announced his presidential candidacy by pledging that he would introduce a universal basic income of $1,000 a month to every American over the age of 18 Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Julian Castro The former San Antonio mayor announced his candidacy in January and said that his running has a special meaning for the Latino community in the US Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Marianne Williamson The author and spiritual adviser has announced her intention to run for president. She had previously run for congress as an independent in 2014 but was unsuccessful Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Eric Swalwell One of the younger candidates, Swalwell has served on multiple committees in the House of Representatives. He intended to make gun control central to his campaign but dropped out after his team said it was clear there was no path to victory Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Seth Moulton A Massachusetts congressman, Moulton is a former US soldier who is best known for trying to stop Nancy Pelosi from becoming speaker of the house. He dropped out of the race after not polling well in key states Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Jay Inslee Inslee has been governor of Washington since 2013. His bid was centred around climate change AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: John Hickenlooper The former governor of Colorado aimed to sell himself as an effective leader who was open to compromise, but failed to make a splash on the national stage Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Tim Ryan Ohio representative Tim Ryan ran on a campaign that hinged on his working class roots, though his messaging did not appear to resonate with voters Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Tom Steyer Democratic presidential hopeful billionaire and philanthropist Tom Steyer is a longtime Democratic donor AFP/Getty In the matchups between Democrats, Mr Biden leads the way with 39 per cent support, while 17 per cent goes to Mr Sanders, 9 per cent goes to Ms Warren, 6 per cent to Mr Buttigieg, and 5 per cent to Ms Harris. In addition, Beto ORourke attracted 4 per cent support, and Cory Booker got 3 per cent. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events The Fox News poll was conducted between 11 May and 14 May, and the survey contacted 1,008 registered American voters by home. The margin of error was 3 per cent. Donald Trump has unveiled a new immigration plan which favours younger, totally brilliant, highly-skilled workers who speak English. We want immigrants coming in. We cherish the open door, the US president said at the White House. He said his new system, which awards points for those with advanced degrees, job offers and other attributes, will make it clear what standards we ask you to achieve. Adopting a softer tone than his typical rhetoric at campaigns, Mr Trump said immigrants would be required to learn English and to pass a civics exam. Our nation has a proud history of affording protection to those fleeing government persecutions, Mr Trump said. Unfortunately, legitimate asylum seekers are being displaced by those lodging frivolous claims. Most shocking remarks made by Trump at campaign rallies Show all 7 1 /7 Most shocking remarks made by Trump at campaign rallies Most shocking remarks made by Trump at campaign rallies Doctors and mothers killing babies At a rally in Wisconsin in April 2019, Mr Trump made this extraordinary claim. The baby is born, the mother meets with the doctor, they take care of the baby, Mr Trump said. They wrap the baby beautifully and then the doctor and the mother decide whether they will execute the baby Getty Most shocking remarks made by Trump at campaign rallies "China rapes our country" At a rally in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 2016, Mr Trump said this in reference to the US trade deficit with China: "we cant continue to allow China to rape our country and thats what theyre doing. Its the greatest theft in the history of the world" Getty Most shocking remarks made by Trump at campaign rallies "EU formed to take advantage of US" At a rally for the midterm elections in October 2018, Mr Trump called the EU a "brutal" alliance that "formed to take advantage of us" AFP/Getty Most shocking remarks made by Trump at campaign rallies "I will build a wall and Mexico will pay for it" Mr Trump first made this claim at the launch of his presidential campaign back in 2015: "I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will have Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words" AFP/Getty Most shocking remarks made by Trump at campaign rallies "Horrible, horrendous people" At a Republican rally in Pennsylvania on August 3 2018, President Trump deemed all journalists in attendance "horrible, horrendous people". He later denounced the "fake, fake, disgusting news" for falsely reporting that he was late to his meeting with the Queen when visiting Britain AFP/Getty Most shocking remarks made by Trump at campaign rallies "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody" Mr Trump said this in reference to his popularity during a rally in Iowa in 2016 AFP/Getty Most shocking remarks made by Trump at campaign rallies "I wish I could punch him" Mr Trump said this in reference to a protester who was escorted out of his rally in Las Vegas on 22 February, 2016. There was often violence between protesters and supporters at Trump's campaign rallies AFP/Getty Even before Mr Trump gave his speech Democrats attacked his plan and questioned the Republican Partys commitment to families. Are they saying family is without merit? asked house speaker Nancy Pelosi. Are they saying most of the people whove come to the United States in the history of our country are without merit because they dont have an engineering degree? Ms Pelosi continued: Certainly we want to attract the best to our country. But she said merit is a condescending word that means merit in the eyes of Donald Trump. Under Mr Trumps plan, officials want to shore up ports of entry to ensure all vehicles and people are screened and to create a self-sustaining fund, paid for with increased fees, to modernise ports of entry. The plan also calls for building border walls in targeted locations and continues to push for an overhaul of the US asylum system, with the goal of processing fewer applications and more quickly removing those who do not qualify. It also includes a proposal to allow public donations to pay for the border wall the president has promised for a long time. The plan would see the US award the same number of green cards as it currently does, around one million annually, but far more would go to exceptional students, professionals and people with high-level and vocational degrees in lieu of family members of immigrants. Mr Trump said 57 per cent would be awarded on merit as opposed to the current 12 per cent. Our plan is pro-American, pro-immigrant and pro-worker, Mr Trump said, arguing it contrasts with what he called Democrats support of chaos. Donald Trump to Hungary's far-right leader Viktor Orban: 'You're respected all over Europe. Probably like me a little bit controversial, but that's okay' Republicans in Congress welcomed the plan. Its obviously just a start, said Texas GOP senator John Cornyn, who will be among those running for re-election in 2020. Its a clear statement of what our immigration policy should be. Were not eliminating family connections, its just adding an emphasis on merit. Mr Trumps plan has been under preparation for months, a project of his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who has been meeting with business groups, religious leaders and conservatives to find common ground among Republicans on the divisive issue of immigration. The barrier Donald Trump wants to build along the Mexico border will be a steel bollard fence, not a concrete wall as he long promised, and the president is fine with that. He has a few other things he would like to change, though. The bollards or "slats," as he prefers to call them, should be painted "flat black," a dark hue that would absorb heat in the summer, making the metal too hot for climbers to scale, Mr Trump has recently told White House aides, Homeland Security officials and military engineers. And the tips of the bollards should be pointed, not round, the president insists, describing in graphic terms the potential injuries that border-crossers might receive. Mr Trump has said the wall's current blueprints include too many gates placed at periodic intervals to allow vehicles and people through and he wants the openings to be smaller. At a moment when the White House is diverting billions of dollars in military funds to fast-track construction, the president is micromanaging the project down to the smallest design details. But Mr Trump's frequently shifting instructions and suggestions have left engineers and aides confused, according to current and former administration officials. Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California Show all 20 1 /20 Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California The prototypes for President Trumps border wall are being demolished. AP Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California The US Customs and Border protection had built the eight 30-foot tall steel and concrete models near San Diego on the US-Mexico border. Reuters Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California A 2018 report from the Government Accountability Office found that the construction challenges presented by the four concrete models would be extensive and those presented by two of the other models would be substantial. Reuters Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California It was intended that Mr Trump would choose his favourite of the designs after testing had been completed. AFP/Getty Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California The President is yet to comment. AFP/Getty Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California Each prototype cost $300,000 to $500,000 to build and they are being knocked down in order to make way for the San Diego Secondary Wall project which will see up to 14 miles of barrier being built to support the existing steel border fence. AP Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California The new barrier will not employ the design of any of the prototypes, instead being built of the favoured steel bollards which make up the current section of the wall at San Diego. Reuters Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California The new secondary barrier being built near San Diego. Reuters Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California The rubble of one of the demolished prototypes. Reuters Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California A steel wall prototype AFP/Getty Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California A wall prototype made from a mix of steel and concrete AFP/Getty Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California A wall prototype made from a mix of steel and concrete AFP/Getty Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California A concrete wall prototype AFP/Getty Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California A steel wall prototype AFP/Getty Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California A concrete wall prototype AFP/Getty Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California A concrete wall prototype AFP/Getty Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California A concrete wall prototype AFP/Getty Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California A digger approaches the prototype wall AFP/Getty Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California Aerial view of the wall prototypes at the US-Mexico border after they were torn down AFP/Getty Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California An aerial view showing Tijuana, Mexico on the left and the demolished wall prototypes on the right AFP/Getty Mr Trump has demanded Homeland Security officials come to the White House on short notice to discuss wall construction and on several occasions former secretary Kirstjen Nielsen in the early morning, waking her up to discuss the project, officials said. Mr Trump has also repeatedly summoned the head of the US Army Corps of Engineers, Lieutenant General Todd Semonite, to impart his views on the barrier's properties, demanding that the structure be physically imposing but also aesthetically pleasing. "He thinks it's ugly," said one administration official familiar with Mr Trump's opinions, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid being fired. The president sees himself as "a builder," said David Lapan, a former Homeland Security official who worked at the department when it spent more than $3m (2.35m) on the construction of eight border barrier prototypes near San Diego. "But building high-rises in New York City is not the same as putting up a barrier at the border," said Mr Lapan, now at the Bipartisan Policy Centre in Washington. "You're not looking for aesthetics, you're looking for functionality." Homeland Security officials had settled on the steel bollard design many years earlier, but Mr Lapan said many of the prototypes were built using concrete to suit the president's tastes and demonstrated that the material was impractical and vulnerable to breaches. White House officials did not respond to questions about the president's design requests for the barriers and about his conversations with engineers and border officials. Homeland Security officials declined to comment. An Army Corps spokesperson confirmed that Mr Semonite has met with several times with Mr Trump, but referred inquiries to the White House. The president who repeatedly promised to force Mexico to pay for his desired border wall has pledged to build 400 miles of new barriers by next year, a goal he reiterated during an immigration speech at the White House on Thursday afternoon. The plan would likely require him to reprogramme additional taxpayer funds from military budgets. Mr Trump's changing tastes are potentially driving up the price. He remains adamant that the barrier should be painted black, despite warnings that it would significantly increase construction costs and maintenance budgets. "Once you paint it, you always have to paint it," said another administration official. Mr Trump has also changed his mind repeatedly about the structure's height, urging engineers to make it as tall as possible, though his desires have been tempered by cost concerns and engineers' worries about structural integrity. The president's critics are determined to stop or slow down a project they denounce as a wasteful monument to the president's vanity more symbolic than security-minded along a border that cannot be completely walled off because of rugged geography and the Rio Grande. Trump compares US-Mexico border to Disneyland and calls end to family separations a disaster In the compromise deal to end the government shutdown in February, Democrats agreed to provide $1.4bn for the border barriers, far less than the $5bn Mr Trump sought. Democrats also inserted language limiting the expenditure to "operationally effective designs" that US Customs and Border Protection already uses. With the White House using an emergency declaration to get an additional $2.5bn in funds diverted from military budgets, Mr Trump will face no such congressional scrutiny, potentially giving him more latitude to tailor the structure. Before her removal from DHS last month, Ms Nielsen had "very specific meetings" on the wall project, another administration official said. She thought the president's acute interest in the barrier's appearance became a distraction from other, more pressing border issues, the official said. Ms Nielsen did not respond to a request for comment. On the 2016 campaign trail, the president told crowds of chanting supporters he wanted the wall to be big and "beautiful," and those two qualities continue to drive his requests. "He thinks not only can the wall be effective, it doesn't have to be an eyesore," a DHS official said. "He wants one standard uniform height. That's what he's going for, and we have to match that with operational reality." The steel bollards remain vulnerable to sawing, but Homeland Security contractors have filled the hollow cavity of the metal with an undisclosed compound to make them more difficult to cut. The material is poured to a certain height which officials declined to specify, citing security reasons and ordinary concrete, which is cheaper, is added after that. One official called the saw-resistant compound a "secret sauce" in the bollards, declining to provide more detail. Mr Trump often brought up the construction of the barrier at unrelated meetings, and aides learned to bring prep books and even sketches to address his questions. He often grew frustrated when he would learn that more of the barrier was not built, the current and former officials said. He continued to insist on speeding up construction, blanching at suggestions from aides that it would take many years, according to former administration officials. Mr Trump frequently delved into the minutiae of contracts and suggested that some of his friends in New York would have ideas on how to build it faster, officials said. Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Show all 14 1 /14 Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Immigrant children, many of whom are separated form their parents, are housed in Texas' tent city Reuters Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border A two-year-old Honduran asylum seeker cries as her mother is searched and detained near the US-Mexico border Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Undocumented migrants ride on the top of a freight train referred to as the beast, or La Bestia Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border A cage inside a US Customs and Border Protection detention facility in Texas Reuters Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border US Border Patrol Academy All new agents must complete a months-long training course at the New Mexico facility before assuming their posts at Border Patrol stations, mostly along the US-Mexico border Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border US-Mexico border fence A group of young men walk along the Mexican side of the US-Mexico border fence in a remote area of the Sonoran Desert Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border US-Mexico border fence in the US Man looks through US-Mexico border fence into the US in Tijuana, Mexico Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border US-Mexico border fence US Border Patrol agent Sal De Leon stands near a section of the US-Mexico border fence while stopping on patrol on in La Joya, Texas Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border US Border Patrol Academy US Border Patrol instructor yells at trainees after their initial arrival to the academy Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Memorial service in Guatemala Families attend a memorial service for two boys who were kidnapped and killed in San Juan Sacatepequez, Guatemala. Crime drives emigration from Guatemala to the United States, as families seek refuge from the danger Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Arrests on the border Undocumented immigrants comfort each other after being caught by Border Patrol agents near the US-Mexico border Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Detention holding facility A boy from Honduras watches a movie at a detention facility run by the US Border Patrol Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Mexican farm workers Mexican migrant workers harvest organic parsley at Grant Family Farms in Wellington, Colorado Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Mexican family in Arizona A Mexican immigrant family sits in the living room of their rented home in Tuscon, Arizona. The family that Arizona's new tough immigrant law had created a climate of fear in the immigrant community. Getty Mr Trump has been so eager to see sections of the barrier in place that he has taken credit for fencing construction that was planned well before he took office. Along one 2.25-mile span of replacement barrier in California completed last year, a plaque welded to the structure heralds it as "the first section of President Trump's border wall," even though US agents say planning began in 2009. At periodic meetings to update the president on construction progress, sometimes held more than once a month, Mr Trump has asked questions about how border-crossers might be able to "cut a hole in it, dig under it, climb over it," in the words of a meeting attendee. Some of the president's requests have led to significant alterations in the design. In particular, he insisted on boosting the height of the structure to 30 feet, far taller than the 15-to-18-foot range that CBP officials had previously settled on as optimal. The advantages of the 30-foot design were made apparent after the administration paid for a series of prototypes, another former official said. "We were able to test what happens when you put someone up that high. They freeze up," the former official said. "There was significant deterrence value to putting people on a 30-foot wall." Another official familiar with the president's desires said: "He always wanted to go higher." Barbara Res, a former Trump Organisation executive, said Mr Trump would get closely involved in design aspects of his hotels, resorts and other development projects. "If it was very visible, he got very involved," she said. Ms Res said the president cared deeply, for example, about the kind of marble and brass in Trump Tower, as well as the kinds of floors in the apartments and the kitchen finishes details that Ms Res characterised as "trivial." But for a massive Homeland Security project, she said: "Who cares what colour a wall is?" One design Mr Trump panned, according to a former official, was topped by a rounded, barrel-like metal cylinder to prevent climbing. Approved barrier designs include a flat-panel anti-climbing surface that has been field-tested, but the president does not like the way it looks either, arguing that sharp spikes would appear more intimidating. Mr Trump told one group of aides that the metal points would cut the hands of climbers and function as a more effective deterrent. The Washington Post A dog with only three legs has rescued a newborn baby that was buried alive reportedly by its teenage mother. Ping Pong is being hailed a hero in Thailand for saving the child whose 15-year-old mother was believed to have been hiding her pregnancy from her parents. The dog was barking and scratching at dirt by a field, alerting his owner, who then found an infants leg sticking up. Locals rushed the 5.2lb baby to hospital, where doctors cleaned him up and declared he was healthy. Police said they had arrested the mother and charged her with child abandonment and attempted murder. University wellbeing dogs Show all 5 1 /5 University wellbeing dogs University wellbeing dogs Middlesex University is using dogs to help students with exam stress MiddlesexUni University wellbeing dogs Middlesex University is using dogs to help students with exam stress MiddlesexUni University wellbeing dogs Middlesex University is using dogs to help students with exam stress MiddlesexUni University wellbeing dogs Middlesex University is using dogs to help students with exam stress MiddlesexUni University wellbeing dogs Middlesex University is using dogs to help students with exam stress MiddlesexUni The girls parents have offered to raise the baby although authorities have not yet decided whether to allow that. Lt Col Panuwat Puttakam, of Chum Phuang police station, told the Bangkok Post that although the girl was underage, police were bound by law to charge her and she would be interrogated in the presence of child service workers. Recommended Teen pregnancies rise in Guatemala after sex education ban The girl is now in the care of a psychologist and her parents because she is in great fear. She regrets what she did and said she acted on impulse without thinking it through. She feared her parents would find out she had been pregnant, the officer said. The teenager will also be assessed for her mental health. Police officers are preparing to prosecute the mother but she is also a child and we must consider her mind and be professional. It is important that she is nurtured and treated fairly, said Wichian Chantharanothai, governor of the Nakhon Ratchasima area. He said the baby survived because he was buried only shallowly. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Ping Pongs owner, Usa Nisaikha, said the dog lost the use of a leg when it was hit by a car. I kept him because hes so loyal and obedient, and always helps me out when I go to the fields to tend to my cattle. Hes loved by the entire village. Its amazing, he said. On a rainy Friday in Taipei, Taiwan made history becoming the first place in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage. Over 40,000 supporters had gathered in the capital outside the legislature since the early hours, according to the rallys organiser, many of them taking overnight buses from other parts of Taiwan to join the demonstration. As the bill was passed, the crowds celebrated, chanting: First in Asia! Jennifer Lu, from the Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan rights group, broke down into tears on the stage, thanking supporters for staying through the rain with them. Thank you all for taking it to the street with us, as always, Lu said. Today is the day that Taiwan legalises same-sex marriage, and from now on, we will never forget 17 May. Taiwan Same Sex Marriage Show all 10 1 /10 Taiwan Same Sex Marriage Taiwan Same Sex Marriage Same-sex marriage supporters hug outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, Taiwan AP Taiwan Same Sex Marriage Same-sex marriage supporters kiss outside the Legislative Yuan AP Taiwan Same Sex Marriage Same-sex marriage supporters celebrate after Taiwan became the first place in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, Taiwan Reuters Taiwan Same Sex Marriage Same-sex marriage supporters hold umbrellas and rainbow flags as they take part in a rally during a parliament vote on three different draft bills of a same-sex marriage law, outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, Taiwan Reuters Taiwan Same Sex Marriage A couple kisses as they celebrate after Taiwan became the first place in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, Taiwan Reuters Taiwan Same Sex Marriage Supporters of same-sex marriage celebrate as they gather outside the parliament building as a bill for marriage equality is debated by parliamentarians in Taipei, Taiwan EPA Taiwan Same Sex Marriage Supporters of same-sex marriage celebrate as they gather outside the parliament building as a bill for marriage equality is debated by parliamentarians in Taipei, Taiwan EPA Taiwan Same Sex Marriage People celebrate after Taiwan's parliament voted to legalise same-sex marriage Getty Taiwan Same Sex Marriage People celebrate after Taiwan's parliament voted to legalise same-sex marriage Getty Taiwan Same Sex Marriage People celebrate after Taiwan's parliament voted to legalise same-sex marriage on May 17, 2019 in Taipei, Taiwan Getty Taiwans president Tsai Ing-wen, who campaigned heavily on the platform of marriage equality in 2015, wrote on Twitter: We took a big step towards true equality, and made Taiwan a better country. The landmark ruling came nearly two years after Taiwans constitutional court said banning LGBT+ couples from marrying was unconstitutional. Among the crowds were Lily and Amy, who both took the day off from work in order to witness this change in history. For them, Taiwan is a comfortable society that is generally inclusive, but last Novembers referendum result forced them to re-evaluate the way they present themselves as a lesbian couple there. After the court ruling, opponents of same-sex marriage initiated three referendums, with over 7.6 million Taiwanese people voting in favour of defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman. No one has ever really given us a hard time for being a lesbian couple in public, and it made us think that Taiwanese society really doesnt judge us for loving who we love, Amy told the Independent. People celebrate after the announcement (Getty) But the referendum result made us realise that we might have actually been judged by most of the people in Taiwan all along. With same-sex marriage now legalised, it has helped restore their faith in Taiwan. Weve always had plans to get married, but we never dared to start planning after the referendum defeat. Now we can rest assured that the government is on our side, said Lily, who asked that only her first name be used. For Aurelien Jegou, a French filmmaker living in Taiwan, the bill strengthens his belief that Taiwan remains one of the few places where he will never feel threatened as a gay man. Even though same-sex marriage has been legalised in France for many years, I always feel a bit insecure when Im walking down the street while holding my boyfriends hand, Jegou said. But I never felt this way in Taiwan, even when same-sex marriage hadnt been legalised. Im very glad I could now marry my boyfriend if I want to. Its a confirmation of what Ive already felt about Taiwan, the sense of freedom. The same-sex marriage bill will come into effect on 24 May (EPA) But for Chi Chia-wei, a well-known Taiwanese gay rights activist who has been campaigning for marriage equality since 1986, the current bill still fails to address the issue of transnational marriage and second-parent adoption. We are forced to accept a compromised version of the same-sex marriage bill, Chi explains. I believe in three to five years, Taiwan will be ready to grant full marriage rights to its LGBT+ citizens. Victoria Hsu, whose team represented Chi in a lawsuit that led to the constitutional court ruling, hopes the new bill will mean activists can now focus on improving other aspects of LGBT+ rights. Yet despite its limitations, Jay Lin, also at the event, is celebrating the chance to start planning a real future with his partner and two sons. This isnt a perfect bill, but today gives me faith that we will get there and that we will continue to take gigantic steps towards building a better society. Taiwan has become the first parliament in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage, as it shot down last-minute objections from conservative politicians to approve the change in a vote on Friday. The constitutional court had given parliament two years to come up with legislation on same-sex marriage, after ruling that gay couples had the right to legally marry. But matters were complicated by a series of referendums in November in which voters convincingly rejected defining marriage as anything other than a union between a man and a woman. Three possible bills were debated, including two by conservative groups that referred to same-sex civil-unions or family relationships rather than marriage. These were rejected, and the most progressive of the three was passed. The successful bill includes limited adoption rights for same-sex couples. It was tabled by the government and begrudgingly backed by gay rights campaigners, who see it as falling short of full equality but at least a step in the right direction. Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan Show all 35 1 /35 Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan Participants take part in the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taipei, Taiwan, 27 October 2018. AFP/Getty Images Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan Thousands of people attended the march in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. REUTERS Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan Participants walk in the parade. REUTERS Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan The march took place ahead of a landmark vote next month on LGBT+ rights in Taiwan. REUTERS Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan On May 24 2017, the Constitutional Court in Taiwan ruled that same-sex couples have the right to marry in the state. AP Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan After making its ruling on same-sex marriage in May last year, the court stated that its decision must be implemented in two years. AP Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan On November 24, a public vote will be held in Taiwan on same-sex marriage. AFP/Getty Images Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan A participant of the march poses next to a wedding studio. REUTERS Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan A young woman from Chongqing in mainland China holds a fan reading "free writers" before the start of the march. AFP/Getty Images Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan Participants with Pikachu-styled costumes pose as they gather at the square outside the presidential office for the start of the march. AFP/Getty Images Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan Thousands took part in the parade in support of same-sex marriage. REUTERS Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan Participants in the square outside the presidential office before the start of the parade. AFP/Getty Images Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan A couple take part in the march with their baby. AFP/Getty Images Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan Members of Tokyo Rainbow Pride walk in the parade. AFP/Getty Images Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan The parade was awash with rainbow-coloured paraphernalia. AFP/Getty Images Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan A participant of the march poses with a fan. AP Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan A participant from Japan holds a banner before the start of the march. AFP/Getty Images Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan Young women display rainbow flags. EPA Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan A person taking part in the march waves a rainbow flag. EPA Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan A man, decorated with balloons and a rainbow flag, takes part in the celebrations. EPA Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan An American man and his Japanese partner, both wearing headbands saying 'Japan' in Japanese, kiss each other during the march. EPA Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan Thousands of people attended the annual march. EPA Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan Taiwan gay rights activist Chi Chia-wei attends the march. Chi became the first person in Taiwan to come out as gay on national television in 1986. EPA Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan Participants take part in the march, organised by Taiwan LGBT Pride. AP Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan Participants hold up a large rainbow flag. EPA Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan People walking in the parade. EPA Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan A person stands in front of a rainbow-coloured flag. EPA Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan A Japanese couple hold a sign saying 'You Are My Safe Harbour' in Chinese. EPA Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan A man, decorated with balloons and rainbow flags, takes part in the march. EPA Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan The first Taiwan Pride march was held in 2003. EPA Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan Participants display a huge rainbow flag during the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March. EPA Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan Two men take a selfie in front of a rainbow flag. EPA Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan A man waves a rainbow flag during the march. EPA Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan The annual Taipei Gay Pride March is the largest in East Asia. EPA Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan The Rainbow City Symphonic Band performs during the march. EPA Thousands of gay rights supporters gathered outside parliament in Taipei on Friday during the debate, awaiting the landmark vote. And fighting through the heavy rain, demonstrators embraced tearfully and celebrated with chants of Asias first, and Way to go, Taiwan! President Tsai Ing-wen whose party holds the majority in parliament recognised the issue had been divisive but said in a Facebook post that the governments bill was the only option to respect both the court ruling and the referendum. She wrote on Twitter on Friday morning: Today, we have a chance to make history and show the world that progressive values can take root in an East Asian society. Fridays measure could prove a challenge to Tsais bid for a second term in a January presidential election, after a poll defeat last year for her DPP was blamed partly on criticism of her reform agenda, including marriage equality. The will of some seven million people in the referendum has been trampled, one conservative group, the Coalition for the Happiness of Our Next Generation said in a statement. The massive public will strike back in 2020. Additional reporting by agencies The UN secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, has called climate change the battle of his life but one that were not winning. As secretary-general, I have many battles, Mr Guterres tweeted on Thursday, adding: We need stronger political will and urgent climate action to save our planet and our future. Mr Guterres is visiting Fiji and the other South Pacific countries on the front line of the battle against climate change. According to estimates by the London School of Economics, up to 1.7 million of the 10 million people living in the Pacific islands could be displaced by 2050 as a result of climate change. Tuvalu, an island country in the South Pacific, could be one of the first places in the world to disappear because of rising seas. Tuvalus highest point is less than 5 metres (16 ft) above sea level. Penguin habitats threatened by climate change Show all 9 1 /9 Penguin habitats threatened by climate change Penguin habitats threatened by climate change Gentoo penguins on Ardley Island, Antarctic, where global warming has affected the glaciers that the penguins live on and has brought new species to compete with AFP/Getty Penguin habitats threatened by climate change Gentoo penguins on Ardley Island, Antarctic, where global warming has affected the glaciers that the penguins live on and has brought new species to compete with AFP/Getty Penguin habitats threatened by climate change Gentoo penguins in Cuverville Island, designated as an Important Bird Island. These penguins feed on krill but krill is growing scarcer due to climate change AFP/Getty Penguin habitats threatened by climate change Penguins on Ardley Island, Antarctic, where global warming has affected the glaciers that the penguins live on and has brought new species to compete with AFP/Getty Penguin habitats threatened by climate change Gentoo penguins in Cuverville Island, designated as an Important Bird Island. These penguins feed on krill but krill is growing scarcer due to climate change AFP/Getty Penguin habitats threatened by climate change Chinstrap penguins on King George Island. Global warming has affected the glaciers that the penguins live on and has brought new species to compete with AFP/Getty Penguin habitats threatened by climate change Gentoo penguins in Cuverville Island, designated as an Important Bird Island. These penguins feed on krill but krill is growing scarcer due to climate change AFP/Getty Penguin habitats threatened by climate change A penguin and a seal. Global warming has affected the glaciers that these animals live on and has brought new species to compete with AFP/Getty Penguin habitats threatened by climate change Gentoo penguins on Ardley Island, Antarctic, where global warming has affected the glaciers that the penguins live on and has brought new species to compete with AFP/Getty While in Fiji, Mr Guterres held a joint press conference with Fijis prime minister, Josia Furek Benimarama, calling climate change a life battle for Fiji and the Pacific. He also boarded a solar-powered boat and participated in an interactive session on combating climate change with students at the University of the South Pacific, where he heard about their work. The world needs your generation to keep my generation accountable, he told them. Bear attacks on local sheep have forced Spain and France to call an emergency meeting, which the local press is dubbing summit of the bear. Spanish and French environmental officials met today after the Autonomous Community of Navarre, the Spanish territory where the attacks have taken place, requested governments discuss a solution to a French bear roaming freely and killing Spanish sheep. Claverina, a female Slovenian bear, was released in the French Pyrenees region of Bearn in late 2018 as part of a plan to revive the local bear population. But Claverina took to attacking sheep and showing an apparent preference for Spanish animals that ruffled the feathers of local shepherds. It killed eight sheep in Spain during seven different attacks, but only one in France, El Pais reported. Slovenia has more than 500 brown bears and is helping the French National Hunting and Wildlife Agency (ONCFS) to reintroduce the mammals to the Pyrenees, where their numbers shrank because of hunting. Shepherds, many of whom are used to leaving animals roaming freely, have protested against the policy in both France and Spain. Polar bear cub and mother pictured together for the first time Show all 9 1 /9 Polar bear cub and mother pictured together for the first time Polar bear cub and mother pictured together for the first time Mother Tonja and her cub have been pictured together for the first time Steffen Freiling/SWNS Polar bear cub and mother pictured together for the first time As yet unnamed, the cub was born on December 1 2018 at Berlin's Tierpark Zoo Steffen Freiling/SWNS Polar bear cub and mother pictured together for the first time 9-year-old Tonja has previously given birth to two sons, both of whom died in infancy Steffen Freiling/SWNS Polar bear cub and mother pictured together for the first time The pair have been living together in a birthing den where Tonja can raise her cub in privacy for the first few months Steffen Freiling/SWNS Polar bear cub and mother pictured together for the first time Previously, the first pictures of the cub were released on February 14 AP Polar bear cub and mother pictured together for the first time These pictures were taken after the cub's first veterinary examination which revealed that the 11-week old is a female AP Polar bear cub and mother pictured together for the first time A name will not be announced until the cub and her mother Tonja are ready to make their first public appearance AP Polar bear cub and mother pictured together for the first time These pictures were taken after the cub's first veterinary examination AP Polar bear cub and mother pictured together for the first time These pictures were taken after the cub's first veterinary examination AP The bears introduced in the scheme carry tracking devices, but Spanish authorities have no access to the information they produce they receive the information belatedly from France. Spanish officials will seek to obtain access to tracking data during the summit of the bear. Its obvious that there cant be bears around, least of all Claverina, the killer of sheep, Felix Bariain, president of the Union of Farmers and Shepherds of Navarra, told El Pais. We were told about the news only after the decision had already been taken, without consulting our industry. Sorita, another bear who was brought over from Slovenia and released with Claverina, gave birth to two cubs in the winter, according to AFP news agency. Gulf coalition warplanes have pounded Yemens Houthi-held capital Sanaa after rebels struck Saudi oil installations, in a surge of violence that threatens to shatter a peace deal. The Houthi health ministry said six civilians were killed and 60 wounded, including two Russian women working in the health sector. Among the dead were as many as five children, a United Nations humanitarian coordinator added. The strikes on Houthi targets in the capital were launched after the Iran-backed rebels claimed responsibility for an armed drone attack on two oil-pumping stations in Saudi Arabia two days earlier. Residents in Sanaa shared photos of civilians dragging the limp bodies of children out of the rubble of a residential building. They later circulated an image of a little girl, who was believed to be the sole survivor of an airstrike that hit her home. There was an airstrike near us, in the middle of an area packed with residents between Hael and Raqas [streets], Abdulrazaq Mohammed said. The explosion was so strong that stones were flying. This is the first time our house shakes so much. Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Show all 17 1 /17 Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Doctors take some blood of Yemeni Yousef Abdullah Bakhit Ali, 13, suffering from severe acute malnutrition. With ongoing and unending conflict in Yemen, humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate across the country Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen A doctor weighs Yemeni baby Yahya Hamoud Ali Al Huzef, 9 months suffering from malnutrition Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Ali Mohammed Ahmed Jamal,12 years old and suffering from severe acute malnutrition. He arrives with his family at a Unicef supported treatment centre in a hospital in Sanaa Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen A doctor measures the arm of Yemeni Ali Mohammed Ahmed Jamal, 12, who is suffering from malnutrition at a treatment centre in a hospital in Sanaa Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen There are over 400,000 severely malnourished children in need urgent lifesaving assistance in Yemen Unicef/Abdulhaleem Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Ali Mohammed Ahmed Jamal is weighed Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen A doctor measures the arm of baby Yahya Hamoud Ali Al Huzef Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Unicef are currently working to reach 275,000 malnourished children with critical life-saving supplies and care for over 5 million people with safe and clean water to stop the spread of life-threatening diseases Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Yahya Hamoud Ali Al Huzef with his family in his house in the outskirts of the capital Sanaa Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen The country is on the brink of famine and children's chances of survival are becoming slimmer by the day Unicef/Abdulhaleem Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Ali Mohammed Ahmed Jamal has his arm measured Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Unicef are currently working to provide nearly 1 million children with vaccines and healthcare Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Unicef are working with partners around-the clock to save children suffering from malnutrition and disease Unicef/Abdulhaleem Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Unicef are currently working to provide 9 million people with emergency cash assistance to help families buy basic commodities so they can survive Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Ali Mohammed Ahmed Jamal is suffering from malnutrition Unicef Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Unicef/Abdulhaleem Other civilians in the city said they were shaken awake by the bombings. The Saudi-led coalition told Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV that their alliance struck military facilities and weapons storage sites, neutralising the ability of the Houthi militia to carry out acts of aggression. The coalition added: The sorties achieved its goals with full precision, and said it had urged civilians to avoid those targets. Yemenis carry a body recovered in the rubble of a destroyed building following reported Saudi-led coalition airstrikes in the Yemeni capital Sanaa (Mohammed Huwais/AFP/Getty) (MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP/Getty Images) In a later statement the coalition said the possibility of an accident had been referred to a body it had set up to investigate claims. The Iran-backed rebels have held Sanaa since taking control of the city at the end of 2014 and forcing recognised president Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi from power. Saudi Arabia, the UAE and its Gulf allies launched a bombing campaign in the spring of 2015 to reinstate Mr Hadi, triggering the devastating civil war. Four years on there is little hope of an end to the fighting, which has sparked what the UN has called the worlds worst humanitarian crisis and pushed more than 13 million to the brink of famine. A preliminary ceasefire deal was hammered out during talks held in Sweden in December, anchored on the withdrawal of all troops from the lifeline city of Hodeidah, that had become the front line of the conflict. Under the agreement the Red Sea port, Yemens main channel for food and aid, would be handed over to a civil authority. Five months on, the withdrawal tentatively has begun, with the Houthis saying last week they had unilaterally pulled out of Hodeidah and two other ports after Gulf-backed government troops refused to. The Yemen authorities later accused the Houthis of merely handing over the port to fighters dressed in coastguard uniforms. On Wednesday, fighting erupted in the city once more between the two sides. Talks were held in the Jordanian capital Amman the following day, but the warring sides failed to agree on how to manage revenues from Hodeidah. Tensions reached breaking point on Tuesday after an armed drone attack on two Saudi oil-pumping stations. Saudi Arabias deputy defence minister accused Iran of ordering the attack. The terrorist acts, ordered by the regime in Tehran and carried out by the Houthis, are tightening the noose around the ongoing political efforts, Prince Khalid bin Salman tweeted. Recommended Hundreds killed and injured by Houthi landmines in Yemen The Houthis later claimed responsibility and denied Iran had directed the strike. Tehran also denies providing arms to the Houthis. We are not agents for anyone, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, the head of the Houthis Supreme Revolutionary Committee, said. We make decisions independently and do not take orders for drones or anything else. The coalition described the drone attack as a war crime. Iran condemned the airstrikes over Sanaa and called on international and human rights bodies to act according to their responsibility to prevent the repetition of these crimes, the state news agency IRNA reported. British tourists travelling to New Zealand will have to pay for an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) from 1 October. The Foreign Office issued an updated travel advisory yesterday, stating that British nationals travelling by air or cruise and entering New Zealand will need to hold an ETA before travelling to New Zealand. Applications for ETAs will be open from July 2019. Valid for citizens from visa-exempt countries, the digital approval is linked to a travellers passport and will be valid for two years (unless the passport expires before then). An ETA costs NZD 9 (4.60) for mobile applications and NZD 12 (6.10) for web requests. Best sights on New Zealand's South Island Show all 14 1 /14 Best sights on New Zealand's South Island Best sights on New Zealand's South Island Hokitika Gorge Getty Best sights on New Zealand's South Island Lake Tekapo Getty Best sights on New Zealand's South Island Mount Cook Getty Best sights on New Zealand's South Island Waiau River, Hanmer Forest Park Getty Best sights on New Zealand's South Island Fox Glacier Getty Best sights on New Zealand's South Island Lake Wanaka Getty Best sights on New Zealand's South Island Milford Sound Getty Best sights on New Zealand's South Island Marlborough Sounds Getty Best sights on New Zealand's South Island Fiordland National Park Getty Best sights on New Zealand's South Island Abel Tasman National Park Getty Best sights on New Zealand's South Island Split Apple Rock, Abel Tansman National Park Getty Best sights on New Zealand's South Island Larnach Castle Getty Best sights on New Zealand's South Island View from Larnach Castle over the Otago Peninsula Getty Best sights on New Zealand's South Island Queenstown Getty Alongside the ETA, New Zealand is introducing a tourist tax the International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL). The IVL costs NZD 35 (17.90) and lasts as long as a corresponding ETA is valid. Recommended New Zealand in 12 days First mooted in 2018, the taxs purpose is to ensure tourists contribute to the infrastructure they use and help protect the natural environment they enjoy, according to the New Zealand government website. With tourism having increased by 8 per cent in 2017, according to New Zealands annual report, the surge in tourists combined with the tax is set to be highly profitable. The money accumulated by the new tax will be spent on infrastructure for tourists including car parks, toilets and maintenance of hiking trails, as well as conservation projects such as native planting, breeding programmes and predator eradication. It is expected to raise up to NZ$80m (42m) a year for these projects. Its only fair that [visitors] make a small contribution so that we can help provide the infrastructure they need and better protect the natural places they enjoy, said conservation minister Eugenie Sage. The New York Times this morning released a report on Bernie Sanders' foreign policy activities before his time in Congress that appears to show him aligning with Ortega, Castro, and the Soviet Union. As mayor of Burlington, Vermont, he spent a great deal of time traveling internationally and proclaiming on foreign matters in service of an "anti-imperalist" ideology that seemingly led him to support authoritarians. In one vivid example, Sanders is reported to have said, You are worms to George Crile, a prominent CBS journalist, while scolding American reporters for not reporting the truth about Nicaragua. More recently, the usually ready-with-a-lecture senator has been deafeningly quiet when asked to fully condemn the disastrous and repressive Maduro regime in Venezuela. Somehow, it seems, he still can't bring himself to quite side with the yanqui imperialists over a socialist dictator who starves and kills his people. As of February, 3.4 million people had fled the unlivable conditions in Venezuela, according to the UN. Bernie shares more opinions with The Clash than with foreign policy experts. In one paragraph in the report, we find him claiming the American media won't tell the sunny truth about the Sandinistas apparently the media was inventing all of the reports of paramilitaries viciously pillaging the Nicaraguan people and assassinating political opponents. In another, we find him praising the Soviet system in its decrepit late-80s state. The Times also reports him writing a letter of apology for the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that helped bring an end to Emperor Hirohito's rule. This may or may not be a moral position, but it is certainly not an anti-imperalist one. Sanders also travelled to Cuba, where he spent time vaunting the Cuban healthcare model rather than noting the Castro regime's brutal repression and imprisonment of dissidents. That same regime is still up to its old tricks under the rule of Fidels brother. According to Human Rights Watch, "the Orwellian laws that allowed their imprisonment and the imprisonment of thousands before them remain on the books, and the Cuban government continues to repress individuals and groups who criticize the government or call for basic human rights." Meanwhile, the actual American policies that have most benefited Latin Americans are those which favor borders that are porous to trade and immigration things Bernie has long opposed. Should a presidential contender not care for basic human rights in practice, rather than in theory? The American people, many of us, are intellectually lazy, Bernie is quoted as having said in a 1985 interview. The quote comes from a Washington Post piece detailing what we know about his self-described very strange honeymoon in 1988 in the Soviet Union. How much of a political liability will stories like this, including links to him sitting shirtless with his Soviet hosts and drunkenly singing folk tunes, be? 1989 interview shows Bernie Sanders warning of global ecological disaster Perhaps the American people are what Bernie says: intellectually lazy. If so, they wont notice the trouble with the senator from Vermont whose moralizing view of world affairs is both Manichean and backwards. But perhaps as reports of Bernies ideas and adventures about the world abroad continue to come out during the primary, the American people will sit up and start listening. Perhaps they will notice that the democratic socialist senator from Vermont who has so famously refused to join the Democratic Party unless he is running for its nomination is more committed to socialism than he is to liberal democracy. Perhaps they will reject this. Personally, I believe that Bernies foreign policy outlook as revealed by his decades-long record is a serious flaw. There is a tension in leftwing internationalism between the anti-imperialist and the anti-authoritarian tendency. Bernie has consistently refused to acknowledge this while refusing to properly challenge the authoritarian side of things. That is the mark of an ideologue with a dangerous outlook about the United States and its role in the world. It's fine to criticize American activity in Latin America and elsewhere. There is plenty to criticize, in Guatemala, in Chile, and in too many others. It's not fine to hold American power itself definitionally in contempt while wielding it. Bernie's foreign policy views are disqualifying. Im not in the habit of feeling sorry for privileged white men, but I have a smidgen of sympathy reserved for Beto ORourke. Part of that is rooted in me typically wanting the best for any non-Republican Texan because as a fellow native, I know the heat is bad enough so must we suffer fools, too? But with ORourke in particular, Im genuinely perplexed at how he has somehow managed to rapidly bungle a credible chance at becoming the next president of the United States by turning into what increasingly looks like the political equivalent of the reflective Justin Bieber bop Sorry. This week, ORourke sought to reset what has become an increasingly irrelevant bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. It started with an appearance on The Rachel Maddow Show in which he conceded that I recognize that I can do a better job, also, of talking to a national audience." Personally, I was most intrigued by ORourkes acknowledgment that Americas meddling in the affairs of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua coupled with the War on Drugs contributed to migrants fleeing to the US through the years, but the admission that he could have done a town hall by now or whatever is what garnered headlines. Shallowness of such outcome aside, it actually is mind-boggling to discover that Beto ORourke is not aware that his political ascension is largely driven by people in the national press who could not wait to cover a young-ish, conventionally handsome, white dude with somewhat of a messianic air to him but means well. So, yes, it was confusing to see ORourke arrive at The View and apologize for effectively being a politician by announcing a presidential bid in a way that would command attention. Although I am somewhat tickled at the notion of Meghan McCain, testament to the unyielding power of a famous surname, lecturing anyone about the perks of his privilege, she is correct that ORourke yields more as a straight white man than any of his female competitors. Such reality is why it was perfectly fine for him to offer pledges such as swearing to be a better person and become more mindful to the experiences that others have had different than the experiences that hes had. However, I dont quite get why hes so suddenly bothered about his Vanity Fair cover. After Joy Behar branded the decision elitist, ORourke said in response, Yeah, I think it reinforces that perception of privilege and that headline that said I was born to be in this, in the article I was attempting to say that I felt that my calling was in public service. He went on to add, No one is born to be president of the United States of America, least of all me. As much as some like to pretend we have a widely informed electorate despite ample evidence that the rising propaganda which fills much of our airwaves has long soiled public discourse the rest of us understand that many political campaigns and outcomes are driven by media narratives. Even our imbecilic American president understands that and exploited his background as a former reality star and eternal scammer throughout the campaign. All ORourke did was take advantage of the interest in him, and in now slamming that choice, he comes across as not less of an elitist but a veritable ingrate. Radhika Jones, the editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair, rightfully stood by the cover in an interview with CNNs Christiane Amanpour that aired on Friday. As she should have, because really, the problem isnt the cover but ORourke stumbling on his own lack of political savviness despite being handed a path to the presidency. The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Show all 25 1 /25 The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Bernie Sanders The Vermont senator has launched a second bid for president after losing out to Hilary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primaries. He is running on a similar platform of democratic socialist reform Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Joe Biden The former vice president recently faced scrutiny for inappropriate touching of women, but was thought to deal with the criticism well and has since maintained a front runner status in national polling EPA The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Elizabeth Warren The Massachusetts senator is a progressive Democrat, and a major supporter of regulating Wall Street Reuters The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Amy Klobuchar Klobuchar is a Minnesota senator who earned praise for her contribution to the Brett Kavanaugh hearings Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Michael Bloomberg Michael Bloomberg, a late addition to the 2020 race, announced his candidacy after months of speculation in November. He has launched a massive ad-buying campaign and issued an apology for the controversial "stop and frisk" programme that adversely impacted minority communities in New York City when he was mayor Getty Images The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 Tulsi Gabbard The Hawaii congresswoman announced her candidacy in January, but has faced tough questions on her past comments on LGBT+ rights and her stance on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Pete Buttigieg The centrist Indiana mayor and war veteran would be the first openly LGBT+ president in American history Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Deval Patrick The former Massachusetts governor launched a late 2020 candidacy and received very little reception. With just a few short months until the first voters flock to the polls, the former governor is running as a centrist and believes he can unite the party's various voting blocs AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Beto O'Rourke The former Texas congressman formally launched his bid for the presidency in March. He ran on a progressive platform, stating that the US is driven by "gross differences in opportunity and outcome" AP The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Kamala Harris The former California attorney general was introduced to the national stage during Jeff Sessions testimony. She has endorsed Medicare-for-all and proposed a major tax-credit for the middle class AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Bill De Blasio The New York mayor announced his bid on 16 May 2019. He emerged in 2013 as a leading voice in the left wing of his party but struggled to build a national profile and has suffered a number of political setbacks in his time as mayor AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Steve Bullock The Montana governor announced his bid on 14 May. He stated "We need to defeat Donald Trump in 2020 and defeat the corrupt system that lets campaign money drown out the people's voice, so we can finally make good on the promise of a fair shot for everyone." He also highlighted the fact that he won the governor's seat in a red [Republican] state Reuters The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Cory Booker The New Jersey Senator has focused on restoring kindness and civility in American politics throughout his campaign, though he has failed to secure the same level of support and fundraising as several other senators running for the White House in 2020 Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Wayne Messam Mayor of the city of Miramar in the Miami metropolitan area, Wayne Messam said he intended to run on a progressive platform against the "broken" federal government. He favours gun regulations and was a signatory to a letter from some 400 mayors condemning President Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord Vice News The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Kirsten Gillibrand The New York Senator formally announced her presidential bid in January, saying that healthcare should be a right, not a privilege Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: John Delaney The Maryland congressman was the first to launch his bid for presidency, making the announcement in 2017 AP The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Andrew Yang The entrepreneur announced his presidential candidacy by pledging that he would introduce a universal basic income of $1,000 a month to every American over the age of 18 Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Julian Castro The former San Antonio mayor announced his candidacy in January and said that his running has a special meaning for the Latino community in the US Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Marianne Williamson The author and spiritual adviser has announced her intention to run for president. She had previously run for congress as an independent in 2014 but was unsuccessful Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Eric Swalwell One of the younger candidates, Swalwell has served on multiple committees in the House of Representatives. He intended to make gun control central to his campaign but dropped out after his team said it was clear there was no path to victory Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Seth Moulton A Massachusetts congressman, Moulton is a former US soldier who is best known for trying to stop Nancy Pelosi from becoming speaker of the house. He dropped out of the race after not polling well in key states Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Jay Inslee Inslee has been governor of Washington since 2013. His bid was centred around climate change AFP/Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: John Hickenlooper The former governor of Colorado aimed to sell himself as an effective leader who was open to compromise, but failed to make a splash on the national stage Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Tim Ryan Ohio representative Tim Ryan ran on a campaign that hinged on his working class roots, though his messaging did not appear to resonate with voters Getty The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020 DROPPED OUT: Tom Steyer Democratic presidential hopeful billionaire and philanthropist Tom Steyer is a longtime Democratic donor AFP/Getty ORourke became a folk hero after narrowly losing to Ted Cruz, who Im not convinced has better favorables than Satan. HBO is about to release a documentary about said campaign later this month. Since losing the campaign, ORourke has spoken with Oprah, Univisions Jorge Ramos, and met with former President Obama, who actually welcomed comparisons between him and his would-be acolyte. Did any of this happen to Andrew Gillum or Stacey Abrams? After a press push that felt like a drafting effort, ORourke announced via Vanity Fair and raised $6.1m in his first 24 hours, topping the previous record set by Bernie Sanders. ORourke didnt have to offer much in the way of campaign specifics, or hell, even a central core theme to be a frontrunner. All he had to do was play the part and allow his privilege to let him skate by a massive contrast with the female and nonwhite candidates he grossly overshadowed upon entering the race (despite not proving himself to be more knowledgeable, capable, or dynamic than any of them). Instead, ORourke stopped speaking regularly with the people responsible for his rise, allowing Pete Buttigieg to step in and build his own national following as a political press corps, still predominantly white, set their sights on his gay equivalent. Now ORourke feigns guilt over a glossy mag spread as if thats the real problem. But the simple fact is that he is going to get white male privilege no matter what, but he could use it in demonstrably more effective ways. FYI, live-streaming his haircut is not advisable usage. One thing about growing up as a black person in America is that you are treated to countless examples of someone failing up, and no one can fail up better than a white man. I have often thought about the many ways I could have benefited from white male privilege, since it feels like its lifes winning lotto ticket if employed correctly, anyway. Here, Beto ORourke, an affable but not necessarily exceptional politician, is catapulted to stardom largely due to the image of cute, popular woke white boy projected onto him by a national press. All he does then is squander it, and in his seeking to reboot a star that has since fallen, allowed himself to be owned on The View. How dreadful. Like Dettol used to kill off all known germs, Europe has a habit of killing off all known Conservative Party leaders. Theresa May is only the latest in a long and pitiful line of failures, unable to lead a party when it no longer wants to be led. There is a no reason to believe that her successor, whoever he or she turns out to be, will have any more luck than May did (or Cameron, Hague, Major, Thatcher...). Quite the opposite. To use one of her more baleful catchphrases, when the new leader is selected and takes their commission to form a government from the Queen it will soon be apparent that nothing has changed. Style, yes; substance, no. If the Tories choose a hard Brexiteer any of Boris Johnson, Dominic Raab, Esther McVey, Liz Truss, Andrea Leadsom they still wont be able to get such a hard Brexit on World Trade Organisation (WTO) terms through the House of Commons, even if they reconstruct the administration with a hard Brexit cabinet and sack the likes of Philip Hammond, David Gauke and Greg Clark. They will have the ERG on side, possibly not the DUP, but many Tory MPs who simply cannot vote for such an act of economic and political self-harm will rebel once again. The Bozzerites in the Commons and in the country have to face that fact, even if Nigel Farage will be applauding and showing a bit of leg for an electoral pact. Nor will the EU willingly give them what they think they can just demand on the Irish border and other issues. Johnson might try to force the EU to force the UK out of the EU, by making it more difficult to grant further extensions but that would more likely mean that the house would just vote to revoke Article 50, as Ken Clarke (the leader they should have had all along) wisely advises. Boris, of course, would then have inadvertently delivered Remain. Stranger things have happened to him. The front pages on what would have been Brexit Day Show all 12 1 /12 The front pages on what would have been Brexit Day The front pages on what would have been Brexit Day March 29 2019 - The original date for Britain's departure from the EU, what do the newspapers have to say about it? The front pages on what would have been Brexit Day Daily Express The Daily Express focuses on the fact that today was the original day for Britain's departure from the EU The front pages on what would have been Brexit Day Daily Mail The Daily Mail warns MPs that they have "one last chance" to back the Prime Minister's Brexit deal The front pages on what would have been Brexit Day The Independent The Independent Daily Edition reports that the Prime Minister is gambling as she holds a vote today on the withdrawal agreement The front pages on what would have been Brexit Day The Sun The Sun reports that the Prime Minister last night sought to convince DUP leader Arlene Foster to back her deal The front pages on what would have been Brexit Day The Guardian The Guardian reports that some ministers want the Prime Minister to step down now, while Michael Gove becomes the favourite at the bookies to replace her The front pages on what would have been Brexit Day The i The i reports that Boris Johnson is preparing his leadership bid for when the Prime Minister resigns The front pages on what would have been Brexit Day The Times The Times reports that Brexit may be delayed for a further year The front pages on what would have been Brexit Day The Daily Telegraph The Daily Telegraph reports that the Prime Minister is making a "desperate final plea" to pass her Brexit deal through the house of commons The front pages on what would have been Brexit Day Financial Times The Financial Times reports on the Brexit Betrayal march that will reach London today after setting off from Sunderland with the intention of reaching London on Brexit day The front pages on what would have been Brexit Day Daily Mirror The Daily Mirror reports on the Prime Minister's difficulty passing her deal through the commons The front pages on what would have been Brexit Day Daily Star The Daily Star calls on its readers to shut up about Brexit Another solution to the parliamentary impasse is to hold a general election, with every likelihood of another hung parliament and the whole pantomime starting up again. If the Tories end up losing badly to Labour, then prime minister Boris Johnson would have to quit the shortest tenure in No 10 in modern history. A brief, spectacular, but ultimately futile adventure that will bequeath a wonderful memoir but not much else. Europe will have claimed a fresh victim. How about a soft Brexiteer someone who can do something with Mays deal? Improve it; refine it; use clever stratagems to get it through the Commons? Maybe Jeremy Hunt, Michael Gove, Sajid Javid or Amber Rudd have the necessary skills? Or maybe, as is the truth, the logic and parliamentary realities will soon overwhelm them too. Now, no Tory leadership contender is going to openly advocate Remain. Of course not. But maybe one or two of them might face up to reality and state the obvious that the only way through Brexit is to put the issue to the people. Thus far only Rory Stewart an attractively open, articulate and fresh-faced contender, a kind of reborn Tony Blair for the Tories has even hinted that the facts of the situation may mean that such an outcome is inevitable. If he, or someone like him, could guide his party, the Commons and the country through such a course he will have done everyone a huge service. The snag, of course, is that the Conservative grassroots would never accept such a candidate because they would, given the chance, prefer to have Nigel Farage leading the party than any of the long list of names currently being canvassed perhaps even including Boris. Which leaves the overwhelming probability that the next Tory leader and prime minister will, just like May, fail to make sense of the inherent contradictions of Brexit. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events In which case, then, Boris or Sajid or Amber or Jeremy will join a monumental Conservative funeral pyre constructed over more than half a century. In summary, it comprises: Theresa May pushed out by her backbenchers on Europe by the summer of 2019; David Cameron lost the European referendum of 2016; William Hague lost 2001 election partly due to splits over policy on the euro; John Major administration wrecked by Maastricht divisions and the bastards, crushed by Blair in 1997; Margaret Thatcher in 1990, partly because of splits on joining the European Exchange Rate Mechanism and her militant Euroscepticism; Ted Heath who lost the 1974 election after Enoch Powell, former Tory, advised people to vote Labour because they were offering a European referendum; and Harold Macmillan the whole purpose of his governments economic and foreign policy destroyed after president De Gaulle vetoed the UKs first application to join Europe, in 1963. It is, as a sort of compensation, a very distinguished club but the fee for joining is ruinously high for you, your party and the country. Anyone casting even a cursory eye over the national news recently would have alighted on at least half a dozen examples of major government failings. This is my list; you probably have yours. The Ministry of Justice is to take the privatised part of the probation service back in-house after it was judged to have been systemically flawed. This follows the announcement that it will end its contract with G4S to run Birmingham Prison, which inspectors found to be in a state of crisis. Not only has violent crime risen over the past year, in some categories, sharply, according to the Office for National Statistics, but the rate of charging and convictions has fallen. When you hear your neighbours complaining that the police are not interested in domestic burglary, or car theft, or shoplifting any more, their impression is borne out by official figures. Only 8.2 per cent of recorded crime leads to a conviction. At last, leading designers and publishers have agreed to stop using models under the age of 18 in editorials and on the catwalk. Francis Pinault, chief executive of the Kering Group which owns Gucci, Balenciaga, St Laurent and McQueen, made the commitment this week at a conference for the fashion industry in Copenhagen, along with the the Council of Fashion Designers of America. Kering is following Vogue publishers Conde Nast, which made a similar commitment last August. Yet in December Kaia Gerber, the daughter of former supermodel Cindy Crawford, was crowned Model of the Year. Shes just 17 and walked the catwalk in Stella McCartneys show earlier this year. Enforcing any kind of ruling is bound to be difficult, and the fashion industry is notorious for breaking rules. How can luxury brands square their mission with sustainability? The fashion business is predicated on persuading us to shop even when our wardrobes are already full. Crown Princess Mary of Denmark was praised for wearing a recycled skirt from 2015 to the event, but she also turned up in a brand new McQueen blazer and an H&M dress both companies were sponsors of the conference. Staying on message is difficult on Planet Fashion. The owners of Dundrum Town Centre are leading the opposition to plans by Iput for a new retail and residential development at Carrickmines in south Dublin. Last month, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Co Council gave the green light for the 83,996 sq m development which comprises a neighbourhood centre including two supermarkets along with 130 residential units and a seven-to-eight-screen cinema that will involve the third phase of The Park, Carrickmines. Well-known retail brands including PC World, Smyths Toys, TK Maxx, Lifestyle Sports, Harvey Norman and McDonald's already operate in the first two phases of The Park. The planning authority granted planning having regard to the high quality of the scheme's overall design concept, its zoning and that the site is well served by public transport. Now, the Dundrum Retail Limited Partnership (DRLP) representing Dundrum Town Centre along with movies@dundrum Ltd have appealed against the council decision to An Bord Pleanala. Hammerson and Allianz-owned firm, DRLP has told the appeals board that it is concerned over the scale of the proposal and has requested the appeals board stage an oral hearing. In the appeal, consultants for DRLP argue that the permission "would send a very negative message of uncertainty to funders and investors seeking to invest in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown and in particular those investing in major town centre and district centres in the county". Movies@Dundrum is operated by the Spurling family who also operate multiplexes at Dungarvan, Gorey and Swords. Consultants for Movies@Dundrum say that the case for the proposed cinema "is completely absent". Iput has also appealed against the conditions attached to the council decision stating some attached "have the potential to significantly affect the viability and deliverability of the development". Some of the conditions that Iput is appealing including the condition that the firm pay 7.1m in planning contributions to the council and an additional 5.7m towards Luas works. Iput consultant John Spain told the council that proposed development will generate additional economic activity in the area. Bayer AG is confident its appeals of recent court rulings that its glyphosate weed killer Roundup caused cancer will be successful, a senior executive said on Thursday, amid a steep selloff of the company's shares this week. Liam Condon, president of Bayer's crop science division, said the appeals of jury rulings against the chemical will be heard by judges, a factor he sees as favorable to Bayer's chances. A California jury on Monday awarded more than $2 billion to a couple who claimed Bayers glyphosate-based Roundup weed killer caused their cancer, in the largest U.S. jury verdict to date against the company in litigation over the chemical. It was the third consecutive U.S. jury verdict against the company over the widely-used weed killer, which Bayer acquired as part of its $63 billion purchase of Monsanto last year. "The key point is from a regulatory point of view, nothing has changed," Condon said at the BMO Farm to Market investor conference in New York. "We just need to get this litigation sorted out and move on." Shares of Germany-based Bayer have fallen about 38 percent since the first adverse U.S. judgment on Roundup last August, leaving the company with a market value smaller than the price it paid for Monsanto. The "phenomenal" selloff is due to investors being uncertain how to price the lawsuits into the stock, Condon said. The experience has been in all industries (involved in litigation), these things always get solved," he said. "There has been a significant overreaction there and its a great buying opportunity. Its almost like buy one, get one free. ICOS Marts Committee have warned that if a new 50m beef support package announced by EU Commissioner Phil Hogan amounts to slaughter only assistance it could be directed to a handful of factory agents. The committee is seeking an immediate meeting with Minister Creed and his officials to discuss the proposed new compensation package for beef farmers. ICOS wants the Minister to ensure that the scheme is implemented equitably to include provision for farmers who traded animals through livestock marts. Ray Doyle, Livestock and Environmental Services Executive of ICOS said, The package will be provided through an implementing regulation from DG AGRI, which is expected to be quite short and will potentially be based on the compensation package given specifically to Finnish dairy farmers directly following the Russian import ban. "It will therefore be nearly entirely up to the Department of Agriculture to decide how the package is distributed, with little prescription from DG AGRI. He said that undoubtedly beef finishers have had a disastrous 2018 and 2019 but so too did sellers of weanlings, forward stores and cull cows. " It will not be acceptable that this compensation could be directed to a handful of factory agents if this scheme amounts to slaughter only assistance. With the Animal Identification and Movement system it will be possible to ascertain the ownership and trading history of animals before they have been presented for slaughter. While the funds are finite, their distribution must be fair to all producers in the beef chain. That is why we are seeking a meeting with the Minister, he said. It comes as the distribution of a new aid package for beef farmers has been greeted by some with concerns raised that factory owned feedlots may have access to the supports. The Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association are insisting that any support measure must include the suckler sector. The 50m fund allows the Irish Government the possibility to match this fund, which would bring the total amount of financial support for Irish beef farmers to 100m. INHFA President Colm ODonnell said while the main focus over the last number of months stated ODonnell has been on losses incurred by beef finishers, suckler farmers selling through the marts have also experienced major losses which needs to be recognised and included in this support fund. Clearly, he continued beef finishers who have been impacted will need to be supported and we have no problem with this, however, we also need to consider the fact that 20pc of finished stock comes from factory controlled feed-lots which are seen by many as a mechanism to deflate the price. Details of how beef farmers will receive the money or its distribution have yet to be announced. It is not clear whether beef processors may receive any of the funds. There is speculation that the money could be distributed based on cattle slaughter numbers from late last year, with farmers and possibly feed lots, who slaughtered large numbers of cattle in these months receiving the most money in this scenario. Another possibility is that, similar to the EU dairy aid package, when 26.4m was allocated to dairy farmers in the form of flat payments of just under 1,400 per farmer. Dublin-headquartered Falcon Oil & Gas is looking to raise up to $10m (8.9m) through a share placing. Proceeds from the placing will be used to fund Falcons expenditure on the drilling and fracking of four horizontal wells in the Beetaloo Sub-basin, Australia. The shares are being placed at a price of 14p (16 cent) per share. The placing, which commences immediately, is being conducted through a bookbuilding process, which is being managed by Davy, RBC Capital Markets and Cenkos Securities. Davy is also acting as nominated adviser and Euronext Growth advisor for the purpose of the Euronext Growth Rules to the company in connection with the placing. Falcon has a joint venture with Origin Energy, operator of the Beetaloo licences, in Australia's Northern Territory. Earlier this year the group said Origin Energy had signed a rig contract with Ensign Australia to cover stage two of its 2019 drilling campaign. This will allow assessment of the liquid rich gas fairway targets in the Kyalla and Velkerri formations. Last year Falcon reported a loss of $1.3m (1.1m) for 2018, down from a loss of almost $4m (3.5m) the previous year, The groups portfolio also includes projects in South Africa and Hungary. Big lift: Irelands 12pc growth in exports was the highest in the EU aside from Luxembourg. Stock image IRISH exports have defied more cautious Department of Finance forecasts, rising by 12pc and far outpacing a 3.9pc gain for the European Union as a whole. Official forecasts from the Department of Finance had pencilled in a drop in the pace of increase for exports to 5.2pc this year from 8.9pc in 2018. They also reckoned that economic growth would shift down a gear - to 3.9pc this year from 6.7pc, with modified exports contributing just 1.6 percentage points to domestic growth in 2019 compared with 5.7pc last year. Ireland's 12pc growth in exports was the highest in the EU aside from Luxembourg and compares with just 2pc growth from Germany, Europe's largest economy and industrial powerhouse. "While care must be taken with these (nominal) data due to the statistical curveballs that the multinational sector can produce, we note that our 2019 economic forecasts for Ireland assume real (volume) export growth of 2.5pc this year," said Investec's chief economist, Philip O'Sullivan. "Notwithstanding the cloudier international outlook, the risks to our Irish export forecast look to be tilted a little to the upside at this juncture," Mr O'Sullivan said. Ireland is the most exposed European economy to the US, at 10pc of gross value added produced in the economy. It means that the country could be in for a torrid time if US President Donald Trump expands his trade wars by slapping tariffs on cars, a move that would prompt retaliatory tariffs from the EU. KBC Bank sees insurance as an area for Irish growth, potentially through acquisition, according to the new head of the group's Irish unit. The bank declined to name possible targets, but as a stand-alone insurer FBD could be a attractive in any such scenario. KBC Ireland's new CEO Peter Roebben said the focus within the lender was on driving organic growth, but accelerating that through acquisition "is potentially something that is always on the agenda", he said. Nothing specific is in the works, he said, but the bank will look "if the right opportunity comes along in banking or insurance". The Belgian executive was appointed in March to lead the Irish business, joining from its Brussels headquarters. KBC Ireland is positioning itself as a challenger bank, with a big emphasis on "digital first" customer growth. In its home market, KBC is a bank-insurer while in Ireland it mainly provides banking services with its insurance products sourced from Zurich. "Insurance is definitely something where we see opportunity," said Mr Roebben. That includes digitalisation which is less developed in insurance than banking, he noted. "Digital disruption is around the corner. It's true for all industries," he said. KBC Ireland yesterday reported a profit of 14m for the three months to the end of March. That was down from a 57m profit in the same period last year; the result of tighter lending margins, increased costs, and lower write-backs on previous bad loan provisions. Mortgage lending increased 9pc year-on-year to 216m and the bank said it has an 11.5pc market share for new and existing mortgages. A big push to increase customer numbers led to a 10pc increase in new accounts - an extra 18,000 - opened during the period. The bank has exited corporate and business banking to focus on retail and so-called micro-enterprise customers - small business owner-operators. That was accelerated by sales of a buy-let-mortgage portfolio last year and 260m of legacy corporate loans to Bank of Ireland this year. "We are in the place where we want to be. We are now a pure-play retail bank," Mr Roebben said following the results. The bank's non-performing loan book also now only includes residential mortgages and the preference is to resolve cases through engagement, Mr Roebben said. "We know how sensitive this issue is - these are people and people's houses," he said. Last December KBC was involved in a high-profile attempt to repossess a farm in Strokestown, Co Roscommon after securing a possession order from the High Court. After those events a number of KBC branches in Dublin were attacked. Mr Roebben said the bank had been dismayed by the violence. KBC's position is to accept the decisions of the "independent courts" and "rule of law". "We strictly follow the legal process, we accept the court decisions," he said. THE owners of the historic Wynn's Hotel in Dublin have secured the green light for a large extension to the hotel. An Bord Pleanala approved the plan for a two-storey extension to the hotel on Dublin's Abbey Street in spite of the board's own inspector recommending refusal. The development involves a hotel revamp and increasing the number of floors to seven, adding 27 bedrooms. John Desmond, senior planning inspector with the appeals board, had recommended refusal after concluding that the development would be contrary to the proper planning and development of the city centre. Mr Desmond found that the development would seriously injure the amenities of neighbouring buildings by way of loss of daylight and visual overbearing. The extension was opposed by An Taisce along with Nina Cafolla and Suzanne O'Neill. However, in a split 2:1 decision, the board voted to disregard their own inspector's recommendation to refuse. The board said that it agreed with the City Council that the site is located in a dense urban environment, that there is a need to ensure sustainable levels of development on scarce urban lands, and that the proposal would not preclude development on neighbouring sites. The board said the development would not adversely affect the existing street environment of Harbour Court and would not seriously injure the amenities of neighbouring properties. The appeals board also found that the proposed development would provide a building of high-quality design and would constitute an appropriate form of development at the subject site. The board concluded the proposed development would not seriously injure the visual or other amenities of the area and would be acceptable in terms of its impact on the architectural and cultural heritage of the area, The decision by the appeals board upholds a decision by Dublin City Council to give the project planning permission. Wynn's Hotel has been in existence in one form or another since 1845 and has witnessed many of the events which have shaped the history of Dublin City. It hosted the first meeting to establish the Irish Volunteer Force in 1913 and it was later bombed during the 1916 rising before being rebuilt in 1921. The EU has fined Barclays, Citigroup, JP Morgan, MUFG and Royal Bank of Scotland a combined 1.07bn for rigging the multitrillion-dollar foreign exchange market. Banks have been hit with billions in fines worldwide over the last decade for the rigging of benchmarks used in many financial transactions. The European Commission said traders at the banks formed two cartels to manipulate the spot foreign exchange market for 11 currencies. Citigroup was hit with the highest fine of 310.8m, while Swiss bank UBS was not fined as it had alerted the two cartels to the commission. "These cartel decisions send a clear message that the Commission will not tolerate collusive behaviour in any sector of the financial markets," Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said. She said most of the traders knew each other and set up chatrooms like 'Essex Express 'n the Jimmy' - named because all bar 'James' lived in Essex and shared a commute. The five-year probe found nine traders across the banks exchanged sensitive information in the chatrooms and occasionally co-ordinated trading strategies. The "Three Way Banana Split" cartel, made up of traders at UBS, Barclays, RBS, Citigroup and JP Morgan, was fined 811.2m. The Essex Express group involving UBS, Barclays, RBS and MUFG, was fined 257.7m, with the fine against Barclays the largest for this cartel at 94.2m. Reuters NESTLE has entered exclusive talks to sell its skincare business to a group led by EQT Partners for 10.2bn Swiss francs (9bn) in what would be one of the biggest private-equity deals this year. The discussions with the consortium, which is co-led by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, are moving ahead as the world's largest food company wraps up a hotly-contested sale process for its Cetaphil moisturisers and Proactiv acne treatments. The unit had revenue of 2.8bn francs in 2018. In Nestle's biggest divestment in more than a decade, CEO Mark Schneider is dismantling a business that his predecessor, chairman Paul Bulcke, touted as a promising new avenue just years ago. Mr Schneider has instead been focusing on products such as coffee, water and pet food as Nestle works to spur sales and revamp growth. The agreed deal is the second major transaction for EQT, the Nordic region's biggest private equity firm, this month. The skincare unit had been a weak spot, with activist investor Dan Loeb at hedge fund Third Point saying that Nestle's foray into the business was unrelated to its core portfolio and should be unwound. After an efficiency drive at the unit, which shed a fifth of its employees, at least a dozen potential bidders showed interest in the auction, according to people familiar with the matter. While sales have kept growing, Nestle had made it clear the business didn't fit into Mr Schneider's strategy. EQT is exploring an initial public offering, having raised more than 60bn since it was started about 25 years ago. Investor AB, founded by the wealthy Wallenberg family, is the firm's anchor investor with an ownership of about 10pc in its most recent funds, according to the company's website. Bloomberg Emmie O'Neill from Cabra delivers hilarious Holy Communion sketch at the Helix, and the crowd absolutely love it. Written and performed originally by Martin Higgins and June Rogers. A young Cabra girl's delivery of a piece of performance poetry in a Communion dress has gone viral. Emmie O'Neill was encouraged to perform the sketch by her dance teacher and, although she hadn't previously acted, the young Dub proved herself to be the perfect candidate. "Emmie's stage school teacher, Sonya Johnson from Gotta Dance Stage School, gave me the sketch in January and asked me what did I think of it for Emmie," Emmie's mother told Independent.ie. "I seriously had my reservations because she's never done any acting, just dancing and singing. "Myself and Philip couldn't get over her show in the helix, she got such an amazing reaction from the crowd. She had them in the palm of her hands and she loved every minute of it." The video has been shared widely across social media sites, with hundreds commenting to express their delight. "We can't thank everybody, but all their comments put a huge smile on Emmie's face. She's making her Communion on Sunday and this has made this week even more special." The Irish Distillers Building in Smithfield after its demolition The demolition of a 19th Century distillery structure has generated anger among heritage campaigners. The Irish Distillers Building, converted in the 1970s and located beside the Jameson Distillery, was demolished as part of the Distillers Building development plan. Linders of Smithfield were granted planning permission by Dublin City Council in 2016 but was to keep the limestone facade. Office space will be developed within the 20,000 sqm two-storey development. Dublin City Council said: Approval was given by Dublin City Council to demolish the building except for the eastern wall but when the demolition happened, the developer discovered a structural issue which meant the eastern wall would also need to be demolished. Expand Close The Irish Distillers Building in Smithfield before its demolition / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Irish Distillers Building in Smithfield before its demolition Dublin City Council gave approval for this on health and safety grounds. However, the developer has been instructed to rebuild the eastern wall as part of the works. But a statement from the heritage group An Taisce said: A significant heritage building in the Smithfield area has been demolished in contravention to planning permission conditions. Ian Lumley, from An Taisce, told Independent.ie that the incident on Bow Street was a clear breach of planning permission which provided for maintenance of a 19th Century stone wall. Separately, an appeal by the Limerick chapter of An Taisce is underway in a bid to stop the demolition of a 200-year-old red brick Georgian building, Curragower House, which could be torn down to make way for a private residence, an apartment block and cafe. Limerick City Council approved the application by Derry Corbett to develop the land but An Taisce is attempting to block the demolition. The council said it could not comment on the issue as it was under an appeal. Meanwhile An Post is also set to alter the facade of the 20th Century General Post Office on Lower Cecil Street in Limerick. Planning documents show An Post is seeking to remove part of the timber frame facade and to remove existing ceramic and mosaic tiling finishes. An Post is also set to overhaul the interior of its St Andrews Street post office in inner city Dublin and to upgrade a post office in Newbridge, Co Kildare. Both are 20th Century buildings. A spokesman for An Post said: Limerick and Newbridge will be two of the concept post offices across the country... It will be quite innovative. The projects are part of a 9m plan to refresh the An Post brand nationally. We are upgrading the post office network. Any work taking place in Limerick will be done so sensitively and within planning regulations, the spokesman addded. Independent.ie attempted to gain comment from the developers in Limerick and Dublin without success. Schoolgirl Ana Kriegel's blood was found on a backpack, a pair of gloves, a mask and a set of knee pads which gardai seized from the home of one of the boys accused of murdering her, a trial has heard. The jury was also told the mask had a mixed DNA profile around the mouth and nose which contained all the elements of Ana's DNA and that of Boy A's DNA. Earlier, the jury heard Boy A told a Garda interviewer he was "looking for horror movies online" when asked about a screenshot of a list of videos on his phone which included "15 most gruesome torture methods in history". Gardai also found a number of search items on Boy A's phone, one of which read "abandoned places in Lucan". Two youths, Boy A and Boy B, who were aged 13 at the time, have pleaded not guilty before the Central Criminal Court to murdering Ana Kriegel (14) at Glenwood House, Laraghcon, Clonee Road in Lucan, on May 14 last year. Boy A has also denied a charge of aggravated sexual assault. Expand Close Geraldine and Patric Kriegel leaving court yesterday. Photo: Collins / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Geraldine and Patric Kriegel leaving court yesterday. Photo: Collins John Hoade, a blood pattern and DNA expert with Forensic Science Ireland, was recalled to give evidence yesterday afternoon. Just before lunch yesterday, gardai gave evidence of obtaining a warrant and searching Boy A's home on May 24, 2018. During the search, the court heard gardai seized 59 exhibits, including a backpack which was found in Boy A's wardrobe. In his evidence, Mr Hoade said he examined the backpack and its contents for blood staining on June 11, 2018. He said the backpack contained a mask, a pair of black woollen gloves, black plastic knee pads, black plastic shin pads, and a black woollen snood. He said there was blood staining on both the inside and outside of the backpack, and the DNA matched Ana Kriegel's DNA. Mr Hoade said there was blood staining on the mask and it too matched Ana's DNA. He further examined the area around the nose and mouth of the mask for any DNA, and said the mixed profile DNA sample matched that of Ana and Boy A. Ana's DNA was also found on blood on the knee pads and gloves. On Wednesday, Mr Hoade gave evidence he had not tested a blood-stained concrete block found at the crime scene. Yesterday, he said he had gone back and examined that concrete block, and the DNA from the blood matched Ana's DNA. Dr Charlotte Murphy, also from Forensic Science Ireland, looked for male-specific DNA on a neck swab taken from Ana Kriegel. Dr Murphy said this male-specific DNA matched Boy A's DNA profile. The possibility of this DNA being from someone unrelated to Boy A was one in 7,160, she said. Cross examined by Patrick Gageby SC, Dr Murphy agreed it was possible this DNA transfer was caused by "casual intimacy". Earlier, prosecution counsel Gerardine Small BL continued to lead Detective Garda Tomas Doyle through a series of interviews with Boy A. During the fourth interview which began after 9pm on May 24, 2018, Gda Doyle showed a series of photographs of the room where Ana's body was found to Boy A. When Gda Doyle pointed out blood in a photo, Boy A responded: "Oh, that's blood, my God." Gda Doyle pointed out a wooden stick in a photograph, telling Boy A it was believed some of Ana's injuries were caused by it. Boy A replied: "Oh my God." The court heard interview four finished after Boy A's solicitor Donough Molloy said his client was "very distressed", was only 13 and had been in the Garda station since 8am. The fifth interview began at 11.37am on May 25, 2018. Boy A was told gardai had examined his mobile phone and had retrieved data from a Safari search engine. Boy A told Gda Doyle: "That's not possible as I don't have Safari on my phone." Gda Doyle said the phone had been examined by an expert. "I don't have Safari on my phone so I don't know how," Boy A responded. Gda Doyle told the court an exhibit was shown to Boy A during the interview. It was a screenshot of a list of videos saved on February 14, 2018 and included the "15 most gruesome torture methods in history" as well as "horror movies that will blow everyone away" and "10 top sexiest video game characters of 2017". When asked what he was doing, Boy A said he was "looking for horror movies online". This was an interest of his, he told Gda Doyle. Boy A clarified that he was interested in ghost horror movies, but said he could not remember the last one he had watched. Asked what he typed into the search engine on February 14, 2018, Boy A said: "Horror movies." A second printout was shown to Boy A during interview five. This data was also retrieved from Boy A's phone and part of it read "abandoned places in Lucan". Asked if he remembered this, Boy A told gardai: "If it was something I looked up regularly it would come up recommended." During the sixth interview, sections of Boy B's interviews were put to Boy A. Asked if he had any clarification he wanted to make, Boy A said: "[Boy B] is lying, that's it." The trial continues. Flash A senior Chinese diplomat on Thursday said here that current uncertainties in the international situation and the global challenges facing humanity require concerted efforts from all countries. Chen Xu, the new Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG), made the remarks during his presenting credentials to Michael Moller, the Director-General of UNOG. Describing Geneva as one of the most important multilateral diplomatic centers, Chen said that maintaining multilateralism is the common aspiration of most countries, and the Chinese delegation in Geneva is willing to work with UNOG to actively promote multilateralism, enhance international cooperation and make greater contributions to building a community of human destiny. Moller expressed his agreement with the new Chinese representative, saying that the world today needs multilateralism and the importance of Geneva as a multilateral diplomatic center is growing. He told Chen that the United Nations attaches great importance to China's status and role and appreciates China's contribution to maintaining multilateralism. The United Nations Office at Geneva is willing to maintain a high level of cooperation with the Chinese Permanent Mission to jointly safeguard and promote multilateralism and promote the international community to better respond to global challenges, Moller added. Prior to his appointment to Geneva, Chen had been serving as Director-General, Department of European Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China since 2016. He served as China's Ambassador to the Netherlands and Permanent Representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons from 2012 to 2016. A career diplomat, Chen joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China in 1985. He has held various posts there, including as Director-General, Department of International Organizations and Conferences from 2010 to 2012. A BUSINESSWOMAN, who illegally supplied skin bleaching creams containing prescription-only steroids, has been spared a jail sentence and a criminal record. Yemi Rabiu, originally from Nigeria but living at Cherrywood Park, Clondalkin, in Dublin pleaded guilty to 24 charges for unlawfully conducting retail pharmacy business at her hair extension business address in November 2015 and supply of prescription only products including skin creams on other dates in 2015. She was prosecuted in Dublin District Court by the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) the agency which regulates medicines in Ireland. Judge Anthony Halpin noted the businesswoman had complied with an order made by the court in October 2017 to pay 2,500 in prosecution costs. He applied the Probation Act sparing her a recorded conviction as well as a possible prison sentence. Solicitor Ronan ONeill, for the HPRA, had told the court the case related to skin lightening and skin treatments and contained steroids which can only be dispensed under guidance of a medicinal practitioner. Customs officers intercepted a package from Nigeria in September 2015 at An Posts mail centre in Portlaoise. It contained five substances and Mr ONeill furnished the court with an experts report on the products contents. Her home was later searched and 356 cream lotions were recovered. The prosecution solicitor said Rabiu was co-operative and confirmed she had been importing packages of skin creams from Nigeria. She was selling skin lightening cream for 5 each and other creams at 2 each at her business premises in Clondalkin where another 24 products were found which also contained steroids. The woman had no prior criminal convictions and has not come to attention since, the court was told. Pleading for leniency her barrister said the creams and lotions were readily available in Nigeria and the mother-of-four did not realise she was breaking the law in Ireland. He asked the court to note that she has limited earnings from her business and it was simply ignorance of the law. Counsel also asked the court to note that he woman has not been a burden on the State. She faced a possible a fine of up to 4,000 per charge and a maximum 12-month sentence. A DUBLIN mother prosecuted because her daughter missed 50 days of school over a year has had sentencing adjourned to ensure the childs attendance has improved. Judge Anthony Halpin agreed to grant an adjournment after it has improved since January when the case was last before the court. Prosecution solicitor Orla Crowe said the Child and Family Agency was seeking the adjournment and it would encourage good school attendance continues. The woman has pleaded guilty at Dublin District Court to breaking the Education (Welfare) Act by not complying with official warnings about school attendance. The penalty on first conviction is a fine of up to 1,000 and a possible one-month sentence per charge. The minimum school leaving age is 16 years, or the completion of three years of post-primary education. The court had heard the womans daughter missed 42 out of 175 days in the 2017-2018 school year and 10 out of about 71 days from September until January. The judge had warned he wanted a significant improvement in the girls school going. Former Garda commissioner Martin Callinan will not have to pay any legal costs in connection with his representation at the Disclosures Tribunal, despite its findings he waged a "campaign of calumny" against whistleblower Sergeant Maurice McCabe. Mr Callinan was represented by the Chief State Solicitor's Office at the tribunal and his legal bill is being paid out of the taxpayer-funded office's resources, sources have told the Irish Independent. However, former Garda press officer David Taylor, who assisted Mr Callinan in the campaign, could have to pay some or all of his costs. Unlike the former commissioner, Mr Taylor did not have a State-funded legal team and must seek his costs from the tribunal itself. At a costs hearing yesterday, his counsel, Michael O'Higgins SC, asked the tribunal to pay most of his client's legal costs. He suggested to chairman Mr Justice Peter Charleton that if a decision is made not to award all of Mr Taylor's costs, then a 10pc deduction might be appropriate. Mr Justice Charleton is to rule on the matter soon. Both Mr Callinan and Mr Taylor were heavily criticised in the tribunal report, which concluded they engaged in a campaign against Sgt McCabe by falsely linking him to allegations of sexual assault. Mr Taylor, who was a Garda superintendent, retired from the force last year in the aftermath of the tribunal findings. In his report, Mr Justice Charleton said he had the gravest difficulty in accepting Mr Taylor's evidence to the tribunal as anything approximating to the truth. At the costs hearing, tribunal counsel Kathleen Leader SC said the default position was that parties were entitled to have their costs paid by the tribunal. However, she said it had discretion and could opt not to award some or all of the costs. In making this decision, Ms Leader said the tribunal had to consider whether a party co-operated and whether they told the truth. Mr O'Higgins said the judge's decision "might involve an element of compassion". The barrister said that while Mr Taylor had "been found wanting" by the tribunal, he did co-operate. Submissions were also made on behalf of Mr Taylor's wife Michelle, Garda head of human resources John Barrett, 'Irish Examiner' journalists Cormac O'Keeffe, Juno McEnroe and Daniel McConnell, Inspector Patrick O'Connell and retired garda John Kennedy. They are all seeking 100pc of their costs. Former Labour Party TD and Minister for State Joe Costello has settled a High Court defamation action over an article in the Irish Mail on Sunday. The terms of settlement included an apology read in court to Mr Costello on Friday. Mr Costello, who is a candidate in the forthcoming elections for Dublin City Council and was in court with his wife Emer, had sued Associated Newspapers (Ireland) Ltd over an article published in the Irish Mail on Sunday on February 14th 2016. Today, Declan Doyle SC, for Mr Costello, told Mr Justice Bernard Barton the case had settled on terms including an apology to be read in court by counsel for the newspaper. It stated: We wish to apologise to Mr Joe Costello for the contents of the article about him in the edition of the Irish Mail on Sunday of the 14th February 2016. The picture accompanying the article was headlined HYPOCRISY! on the front page. The story continued on pages four and five. We accept that the assertion of hypocrisy and the further assertion that Mr Costello was posing gleefully with Mr Gerard Hutch aka the monk was incorrect and untrue. Mr Costellos political career as a City Councillor, Senator, TD and Minister for Trade and Development has been one of the utmost probity and integrity. We apologise to Mr Costello for the distress and embarrassment caused to him by our report. After the apology was read, Mr Justice Bernard Barton made on order on consent striking out the proceedings. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's promises to rural Ireland are piling up by the day - but he insists it's just a coincidence that there's an election next week. Beef farmers are to be bailed out to the tune of 100m following a campaign by the unions who claim the industry is becoming unviable. Transport Minister Shane Ross also yesterday sanctioned 21m for bus services aimed at combating rural isolation. It comes a week after Mr Varadkar committed 3bn to rolling out broadband to the most remote homes. Half of the beef subsidy will be paid by the European Commission while the Department of Agriculture is expected to match the funding. European Commissioner Phil Hogan denied he was trying to give his former Fine Gael colleagues a pre-election boost. He said the "fund recognises the particular difficulty that Irish beef farmers have experienced during an unprecedented and sustained period of low prices, principally driven by events beyond their control. "This fund will support a fragile but very important sector and protect its long-term viability." Details of how farmers will receive the money or its distribution are unlikely to be announced until after the elections. The 50m from the European Commission would be worth just 625 to each of approximately 80,000 beef farmers in Ireland, if divided equally, amid calls by some farming bodies for the funds to support suckler farmers and those who finish cattle. Farm organisations broadly welcomed the announcement, but there is speculation the money could be distributed based on slaughter numbers from late last year, raising the possibility farmers who finish cattle and factory-owned feed lots will receive a significant amount of the fund. The Irish Natura & Hill Farmers Association is insisting any support measure must include the suckler sector. Irish Cattle and Sheep Association beef chair Edmund Graham said the evidence was clear beef farmers had taken a big Brexit hit already. Losses are currently running at 4m a week due to price cuts. While denying the move was an election stunt, the Taoiseach said: "If we could have got it over the line a few weeks ago, we would have been very happy to, as you can imagine". Meanwhile, the Department of Transport has sanctioned the continuation of a pilot scheme for rural buses until the end of the year. The scheme was originally proposed by Fine Gael parliamentary party chairman Martin Heydon amid the debate over Mr Ross's crackdown on drink-driving. A total of 65 extended services were ultimately trialled and 59 are to be retained. Mr Ross said: "It's good news and just because it's good news doesn't mean it's timed for an election. It's got nothing to do with it." Rural Ireland is fast becoming the winner from the local and European elections. First the Government put all its eggs in a broadband package that must be delivered regardless of the cost. Now, after months of seemingly endless talk about the plight facing the beef sector, comes the sudden news of a 100m bailout. Certainly the farmers will be relieved that after a tough couple of years there is acknowledgment at European level that they need help. However, there's no such thing as a free burger. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and European Commissioner Phil Hogan are really the ones looking for a bailout. Mr Varadkar needs to get his poll figures up in rural Ireland. There is a perception he doesn't understand country life. When he brought the Cabinet to Cork, Mr Varadkar was met with chants about his veganism. He's not a vegan but that doesn't seem to matter. So he had to create a new narrative for his election candidates to tell on the doorsteps. "As a Government we've been listening to what beef farmers have to say," he said yesterday. Over in Brussels, Phil Hogan is looking at the clock ticking down towards the end of his five-year term which has come with a basic 2.5m income before you add in the EU perks. It's no secret he would like a second roll of the dice, but that's in the gift of the Taoiseach. While he's not believed to have made any formal move, Tanaiste Simon Coveney's name is being whispered around Leinster House as a possible replacement. How convenient then that 'Big Phil' is in a position to give Mr Varadkar a big dig-out with 10 days to polling. All sides say the timing is a coincidence. But it also just happened that the announcement conveniently clashed with the publication of the weekly 'Farmers' Journal'. Everybody wins - but will the voters buy it? Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has set out his stall with a new anti-corruption unit, which already has several files earmarked for its attention. The commissioner, who has been in the role for nine months, has pledged the unit will be "up and running" before the end of the year. Mr Harris said last week he believed it was appropriate that gardai should gather the intelligence as it would be difficult for an external agency to be aware of "data flowing" outside the organisation. "We have the experienced investigators, who know the organisation from the inside and also have access to the tools necessary to fully inquire into allegations of wrongdoing," he said. The unit will have relatively few members initially and will focus on gathering intelligence on alleged wrongdoing in the force. In due course, it will be expanded to become more pro-active. It was learned last night that the unit, to be based at Garda headquarters in the Phoenix Park, is likely to concentrate resources in its early stages on cases where crime victims, particularly women, allege they have been exploited by investigating gardai. Expand Close Leader: Assistant Commissioner Dave Sheahan will lead the new unit investigating Garda corruption. Photo: Damien Eagers / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Leader: Assistant Commissioner Dave Sheahan will lead the new unit investigating Garda corruption. Photo: Damien Eagers The anti-corruption model to be used is based on studies carried out by the Garda authorities of similar units established in other police forces, including the PSNI and the London Met. As a former senior officer in the PSNI, Mr Harris has wide experience of how its anti-corruption unit operates. Allegations of the exploitation of vulnerable people, mainly women, have emerged in those forces and have been actively pursued. The Garda unit will come under the control of the assistant commissioner in charge of governance and accountability, Dave Sheahan, who has drawn up a blueprint currently under examination by Mr Harris and other senior officers. The unit will gather intelligence on a case and then hand over its file to be outsourced for investigation by members of the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (NBCI), which is currently in charge of inquiries involving internal affairs. A senior officer said last night: "Down the road, it will be decided how much the unit should outsource its files to NBCI and how much it should be expanded to carry out its own investigations." The setting up of the unit should not interfere with the work of the Garda Ombudsman Commission (Gsoc) as it is intended that information will be shared between them. Mr Harris said the Garda was serious about wrongdoing in the organisation and would make sure it was stamped out. He added that while the anti-corruption unit would work out of Garda headquarters, it would also liaise closely with Gsoc and would not attempt to take over its role. "There are all forms of wrongdoing and corruption that we will become aware of firstly," Mr Harris aid. "We know our workforce best and I think we have a responsibility to make sure it is a healthy workforce in terms of its behaviour." He said the corruption to be investigated would comprise any form of criminality or behaviour which was grossly outside the Garda discipline code, such as use of drugs and inappropriate associations with criminals or victims of crime. An external investigation has been ordered at the National Maternity Hospital into the circumstances involving an abortion after a finding of fatal foetal abnormality. It is understand a termination of pregnancy was carried out after a screening test was performed privately at the hospital. The findings indicated the baby had a possible diagnosis of trisomy 18, also called Edwards' syndrome, which is recognised as a fatal foetal abnormality under The Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act, which came into force in January. It is alleged that not all stages of the test results were available before the couple were in a position to make an informed decision. The results of the final part of the definitive findings of the process had not been returned from the UK when the couple were told of the diagnosis. The couple went ahead with the termination, but they were shocked to learn the catastrophic news that the test results later were negative for the anomaly. It is understood the pregnancy was terminated in the second trimester. The issue has been brought to the attention of the Health Minister, Simon Harris, who has been called on to carry out a statutory investigation. The external review is to be carried out by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in the UK, who will nominate experts. A spokesman for Holles St said it does not comment on individual cases. He said he can confirm that the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists will conduct a review of a recent case at the hospital. Edwards' syndrome is a genetic disorder caused by a third copy of all or part of chromosome 18 and occurs in about one out of every 5,000 births. Pregnant women can pay to have non-invasive prenatal screening involving a blood test. It analyses cell-free DNA circulating in the pregnant mother's blood. It involves a number of stages with the final stage involving high level cell culture which looks at chromosomes. This must be sent to the UK for analysis. Fatal foetal abnormalities are usually not diagnosed until around the 20th week of the pregnancy when a woman has an anomaly scan. Termination of pregnancy is allowed for under the new abortion law since January with no time limits. Two of the three main maternity hospitals in Dublin are continuing to only accept women seeking a medical abortion who live in their catchment area nearly five months after the new law began operating. Vaccination against measles before children start school should be mandatory, a new study warns. Current policies may not be enough to eliminate the disease and prevent a resurgence in Ireland, Australia, Italy, the UK and the United States. A research team at the Bruno Kessler Foundation and Bocconi University, Italy, used a computer model to simulate the measles risk between 2018 and 2050 in Ireland, Australia, Italy, Singapore, South Korea, the UK and the US. Two doses are required to give the best protection. In Ireland, the first is at 12 months by GPs and the second at junior infants' schools. The study, published in the journal 'BMC Medicine', found that in Ireland, Australia, the UK and US, vaccination from routine programmes would need to continuously cover more than 95pc of the population to keep the proportion of susceptible individuals below 7.5pc until 2050. The current uptake in Ireland is 92pc but lower in some areas. Health Minister Simon Harris said he has asked the Attorney General to look at whether the MMR - measles, mumps and rubella - vaccine should be made compulsory for school entry. Dr Filippo Trentini, who led the research, said: "In recent years, we've witnessed a resurgence of measles cases even in countries where, according to World Health Organisation guidelines, elimination should already have been achieved. "This resurgence is due to suboptimal vaccination coverage levels. In Italy, where measles incidents rates were among the highest, the government has made vaccination compulsory for children before they enter primary school." Measles can cause chest infections, fits, swelling of the brain and brain damage. Flash The U.S. space agency NASA said on Thursday it had selected 11 private companies to conduct studies and produce prototypes of human landers for its lunar exploration program. The program is expected to put American astronauts including the first woman on the Moon's south pole by 2024 and establish sustainable missions by 2028. Among those selected companies are SpaceX, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Blue Origin, many of which have already been NASA's contractors. Jeff Bezos, founder of U.S. aerospace manufacturer Blue Origin and chairman of Amazon, on May 9 unveiled a lunar lander that may land on the Moon by 2024. The lander is a flexible lander which is able to provide precise and soft landings and eventually enable a sustained human presence on the Moon, according to Blue Origin. These companies are required to study or develop prototypes during the next six months that reduce schedule risk for the descent, transfer, and refueling elements of a potential human landing system, according to NASA. NASA proposed to transport astronauts in a human landing system from a transfer station called Gateway to low-lunar orbit, using a descent element to carry them to the surface and an ascent element to return to them to the Gateway. The total award amount for all companies is 45.5 million U.S. dollars and companies will contribute at least 20 percent of the total project cost, according to NASA. INSURANCE companies have been told to stop buying off dodgy claimants by throwing money at them to avoid the cost of fighting cases in courts. And former High Court president Nicholas Kearns has also questioned if the Law Society is doing enough to clamp down on solicitors associated with fraudulent claimants. He said judges were becoming increasingly aware of the damage to jobs and the countrys reputation caused by exaggerated and fraudulent personal injuries claims. Mr Kearns said public patience with the delay in reforming the insurance system has run out. Insurance premiums in Ireland are much too high, we have too many claims and pay far too much for minor injuries, he said at the International Fraud Prevention conference in Dublin. Mr Kearns headed up the Personal Injuries Commission, which found that awards for minor injuries in this country are almost five times those paid in England. He said in his address to the anti-fraud conference the commission found that awards here are the highest in the world. If there are higher levels of awards than ours anywhere in the European Union we were unable to find them. He said it was axiomatic that higher claims costs result in higher premiums, but this was not the sole reason for high insurance costs in this country. A tipping point has now been reached in this country with schools, leisure centres, pubs, hospitals, playgrounds for kids, and local authorities being pushed over the edge due to personal injury claims and the massive increase in premiums which insurers say is the necessary. Mr Kearns said fraud and exaggerated claims play their part in driving up premium s and driving the carousel of claims costs. He said insurers and lawyers must do more to tackle the issue of dodgy claims. Insurers need to abandon their historic policy of buying off dodgy or suspect claims by throwing all- in settlements at claimants so as to avoid incurring the costs of fighting cases in court. And he said lawyers have an obligation to carry out rudimentary inquiries into the bona fides of claims who walk into their offices off the street with what appears to be a suspicious claim. Misconduct for a solicitor includes engaging in conduct which may bring the profession into disrepute. An association with a fraudulent claimant or claimants is surely caught by this definition. Could the Law Society do more to ensure these kinds of situation dont arise? The former High Court president said false and exaggerated claims were a stain on out system, and were damaging the countrys reputation. Judges did not want to see swathes of people being forced out of employment by some combination of excessive awards and swingeing insurance premiums. Judges are increasingly mindful of the damage caused by exaggerated and fraudulent claims, but a lot still requires to be done, Mr Kearns said. Abdurrahman Raguragui, Father of Azzam Raguragui (18) who was stabbed to death in Dundrum leaving the Irish Cultural Centre of Ireland to bury his son. Pic Steve Humphreys 17th May 2019 Abdurrahman Raguragui, Father of Azzam Raguragui (18) who was stabbed to death in Dundrum leaving the Irish Cultural Centre of Ireland in the back of the hearse to bury his son. Pic Steve Humphreys 17th May 2019 The remains of Azzam Raguragui (18) who was stabbed to death in Dundrum are taken from the Irish Cultural Centre of Ireland for burial. Pic Steve Humphreys 17th May 2019 The funeral prayer of teenager Azzam Raguragui who was killed in Dublin last week has taken place. Hundreds of mourners paid their respects at the Islamic Cultural Centre in Clonskeagh today for the Dundrum teenager. Expand Expand Previous Next Close Azzam Raguragui Azzam Raguragui Victim in Dundrum stabbing From Dundrum / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Azzam Raguragui The service was led by Imam Hussein Halawa who urged young Muslims to work hard and lead good lives in the face of the tragic events. He urged them to "leave the matter of Azzam to Allah" and to the Gardai and the courts who are dealing with the case. Expand Close The remains of Azzam Raguragui (18) who was stabbed to death in Dundrum are taken from the Irish Cultural Centre of Ireland for burial. Pic Steve Humphreys 17th May 2019 / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The remains of Azzam Raguragui (18) who was stabbed to death in Dundrum are taken from the Irish Cultural Centre of Ireland for burial. Pic Steve Humphreys 17th May 2019 Read More He said that "death comes all of a sudden" and that 18-year-old Azzam would be missed by all in the community and had died as a martyr. He extended his sincerest condolences to his family. Azzam's body was then taken to Newcastle Cemetery. Azzam (18) was fatally stabbed last Friday night in Dundrum following a row in a local park. Minister Shane Ross and Super Intendent Martin McGonnell from Blackrock were among mourners. Supt McGonnell said that the community were rallying around Azzams parents. I think at least the community will back up the family through a very, very difficult time now and into the future, he said. We are following lines of inquiry and I have to pay tribute to our investigative team who are doing great work. Minister Ross said that what had happened was a tragedy. He had been at the centre just two weeks ago for a very different reason, delivering a talk on road safety. Its so sad, its a tragedy. Its absolutely awful for everybody. I just met his mother and father and it is just awful. You always worry about [your children] but you never think it will happen. I am here to sympathise with the parents today, he said. Drector of admin and finance at the ICCI Ahmed Hassain said that the Friday prayer had been much busier than usual with the funeral, with attendance 40pc higher than the norm. He spoke of Azzams parents Hajiba Elouaddaf and Abderrahmane Raguaragui, saying: Theyre coping but not sure in the long run. Theyre getting lots of support from everybody. But when things calm down they will feel the loss. The service on Friday also remembered DIT Professor Amr Arisha, aged in his 40s, who passed away from cancer recently. Earlier this week, his grieving parents Abderrahmane Raguragui and Hajiba Elouaddaf thanked the public for their support and said they are hopeful that those responsible for their son's murder will face justice. Read More They said in a statement: "The past few days have been very difficult and challenging for our family. "An Garda Siochana is leading in the investigation to uncover the truth behind our son Azzam Raguragui's murder and we are resting our faith in the Irish justice system to hold the perpetrator(s) to account. "We are grateful for the community support we have received. At this critical time we would like to request some space and privacy to allow us to grieve as a family." Azzam has been described as respectful and cheerful, and was due to attend evening prayers in Clonskeagh Mosque on Friday. Detectives have ruled out a racial motive. Gardai have spoken to a teen who is the chief suspect in the killing. Knock Marriage Introductions - formerly known as the Knock Marriage Bureau - is to be wound down, it has been announced. In a statement issued by the Catholic Communications Office, Fr Stephen Farragher announced its closure as the service was no longer "sustainable in the long term". Online dating and apps have rendered the service redundant as people can now connect at the touch of a button, the statement said. The agency - which began its service in 1968 - was responsible for some 960 marriages and introduced many couples to each other. The service was based at Knock Shrine, Co Mayo, in the diocese of Tuam. Fr Farragher said there has been a noticeable decline in demand for their service in recent years, stating that when it was first established, Ireland was a very different country. "When Father Michael Keane had the vision to establish the agency back in the 1960s in Ireland, the west of Ireland in particular, was a very different place. "Emigration was rife and most of the means of communication that today we take for granted were practically non-existent. "The advent of the internet and online dating agencies, and apps have made it possible for people to meet a partner literally at the touch of a button," Fr Farragher said, before noting that the Knock service was able to offer confidentiality to service users. "Many of the couples who met through Knock Marriage Introductions commented on the personal nature of the service and that they felt safe and secure being able to speak to someone in confidence at the end of a phone.2 Annual subscriptions to the service had to be supplemented in recent years from funding from dioceses around the country as demand has fallen, and the service is no longer viable. "In recent years there has been a noticeable decline in the demand for the service offered by Knock Marriage Introductions, to the point that is no longer viable to run the service. "The annual subscriptions from clients who have used the service have had to be supplemented in recent years by donations from dioceses around Ireland. Obviously this is not sustainable long term. "It is for these reasons that the Board of Directors of Knock Marriage Introductions have decided at a recent meeting to wind down the agency. "We do so with heavy hearts, but happy in the knowledge that at least for 960 couples, it played a part in helping them to become husband and wife. "We wish to express our gratitude to all who worked for the agency, especially the women who answered the calls and who were responsible for making the introductions. "We extend particular thanks to Father Michael Keane who was the founder and first director and to Canon Joe Cooney who took over the mantle from him and was director until his retirement two years ago." MORE TO FOLLOW Eight Houses under construction in Santry Near Magenta Crescent and Schoolhouse Lane. Eight Houses under construction in Santry Near Magenta Crescent and Schoolhouse Lane. Eight Houses under construction in Santry Near Magenta Crescent and Schoolhouse Lane. The main local authority in charge of managing services for homeless families said they are unaware of Conor McGregor's plans to help alleviate the situation. In a post to his instagram account overnight, the MMA superstar said he was building eight houses which he was going to give to homeless families staying in hotels. McGregor posted ten images from the construction site, which showed a row of new terraced homes under construction. The homes are located at the corner of Schoolhouse Lane and Magenta Crescent in Santry in north Dublin at the site where a vacant commercial warehouse had been situated. Expand Close Conor McGregor. Photo: AP / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Conor McGregor. Photo: AP The Crumlin fighter claimed he was building eight three-bedroom houses which would be earmarked for homeless families currently residing in emergency accommodation such as hotels. "Back on the site today, it has been a while. This is my first property development. We have eight homes here closing in on finish. "Three bedroom houses, designated for families that currently reside in hotels around the capital, without a home to call their own. But not for long. Through the storm comes the sun. "Walking around this land and these homes today, meeting all the neighbors, knowing that soon there will be families living here, creating their own memories, and building back their lives, gives me great pride. "Ireland forever. Ireland first. Ireland always," he wrote. When contacted by independent.ie, a spokesperson for Dublin City Council said they were not aware of the development, and were not involved in any housing development with McGregor. However, the spokesperson did stress that McGregor may be working with other parties in this development and any project or planning application may be under another name. A senior council source added that while any additional permanent accommodation in the city is welcome "we've heard nothing at all about it. It's us he should be getting in touch with". The Dublin Regional Homeless Executive (DRHE) is provided by Dublin City Council, which is the statutory local authority which responds to homelessness in the capital. Planning documents state that the applicant was a company called 'Quayspoint Propertiez Ltd'. Accounts for the company filed to the Companies Registration Office (CRO) listed Aimee Bourke and Michelle Moore as directors of the company. There is no obvious link between McGregor and the company according to the CRO filings. However, McGregor has described the project of eight three bed homes as "my first property development" in his Instagram post. Attempts were made to contact the company today. Local TD for the area Noel Rock praised McGregor for getting involved. "Conor McGregor's best known catchphrase is 'you'll do nothing' so credit where it's due to him for actually doing something," Mr Rock said. "The development is about a five minute walk from my own constituency office, so I've been watching these units go up at an impressive rate. "Soon there'll be eight more families living here - that's a good thing, so credit where due to all involved," he added. Residents living next to the Conor McGregor housing site feel they have been left in the dark regarding the homes reserved for homeless families. The semi-detached properties, which are being constructed behind the Swiss Cottage pub in Santry, are now in the advanced stages of development. Residents praised McGregor's generosity, but a number of them said they were not consulted before the construction started. I understand that families need homes, but we should have been informed about this development, said homeowner Theresa Fitzpatrick. Its hard to really express an opinion right now because we know so little about them, she said. Others living in the two Santry estates were delighted to see new homes being built for the homeless. Marie Murphy (50s) believes the eight homes would be very good for the area. I think it will be very nice to have more families with children living here, she said. There are so many people living in hotels so Im sure these homes will be a Godsend to them. There has been a lot of negative press about McGregor in recent months, but what hes doing here is just extraordinary, she said. Ms Murphy added that she was over the moon to get a picture with the sports star when he visited the site on Thursday afternoon. There was so much commotion on the road when he arrived. I was so happy that he agreed to pose in a picture with me. He didn't say much, but was an absolute gent. He even put the photo on Instagram and over one million people liked it, including Kim Kardashian. Its kind of like my five minutes of fame, she said. Fall: Trinity College professor and climber Seamus Lawless had reached the summit on Everest early yesterday morning and was starting the descent The search for the missing Irish climber on Mount Everest has now been classified as a recovery operation. Father-of-one Seamus Lawless (39), from Bray, Co Wicklow, fell at an altitude of 8,300 metres while descending from the worlds highest peak. Mingma Sherpa, owner of Seven Summits Treks, told RTE News that conditions descending the mountain were "very good" but that Mr Lawless appears to have had an accidental fall. "It is a very difficult situation. We are searching for a body," Mr Sherpa said. Expand Close Seamus Lawless and Jenny Copeland on one of their earlier treks in training for the climb / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Seamus Lawless and Jenny Copeland on one of their earlier treks in training for the climb "The Sherpas were shouting for him last night but couldn't find him." Mr Mingma confirmed to RTE that he has spoken to Mr Lawless's wife, Pam. "She called me many times, but how do we explain the details? When the team returns, we will have more details." "We are very sad because we have lost one of our best mountaineers. Everybody is very upset in the Himalayas, he said. The 39-year-old Trinity College professor had been part of an eight-member expedition team, led by professional mountaineer Noel Hanna. It is understood he slipped while in an area known as the Balcony after reaching the mountain's summit on Thursday morning. His climbing group has not yet returned to Everest base camp, so the exact details of the incident remain unclear. Poor weather conditions are also preventing searches from being carried out, with temperatures dropping as low as -45C. A GoFundMe page has been set up by the Lawless family, which has already raised more than 13,000. It is with an extremely heavy heart that the Lawless family have had to set up this GoFundMe page to ask for donations, the description read. Shay achieved his lifelong dream on the morning of Thursday 15th May when he reached the peak of Mount Everest. Tragically, on his descent, Shay fell and has been missing since. With the weekend upon us, we, the family of Shay, have been left with no other option but to ask for assistance in raising funds to gather a team of expert Sherpas to locate and bring our beloved Shay home to Ireland. Time is of the essence in the search mission and the costs of running this mission are substantial. The family spokesperson added that they have received little to no information about what happened on Thursday morning. It is our priority to locate him and bring him home and we appreciate all the support that can be offered as we face this hugely challenging situation. Mr Lawless had embarked on the exhibition in a bid to raise 25,000 for the Barretstown charity, which provides support for seriously ill children and their families. Dee Ahearn, chief executive of Barretstown, has said that everyone at the charity is thinking of Mr Lawless's loved ones as the search continues. "This is a dreadfully upsetting and uncertain time for Seamus and his family. "Our thoughts, and indeed the thoughts of the entire Barretstown community, are with Seamus, his family and friends," Ms Ahearn said. Mr Lawless said when he was a child his father gave him a National Geographic map of the climbing route up the south face of Mount Everest. The map stayed on his bedroom wall as he grew up, staying there until he left for Nepal in April. The father of one said that he had been preparing for the challenge alongside fellow climbers from the Ireland on Everest group for four years. "I turn 40 in July," he said in February. "My friends are joking that climbing Everest is my mid-life crisis." THE Government has expressed concern about "loose comments" following UK Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt's intervention on protecting veterans. She wants to end the "chilling" threat of "repeated" investigations of troops who served in Northern Ireland. Tanaiste Simon Coveney told the Dail parliament it is a sensitive time to be discussing legacy in the region, as he reiterated his opposition to any amnesty from prosecution. He said: "We need to ensure that loose comments that are made are not damaging in terms of trust and the willingness of all sides to co-operate to make sure that the legacy structures committed to and agreed by both governments, supported by all political parties, move forward in the spirit that they were intended." An announcement by the British Government on measures to address the legacy of unresolved killings in Northern Ireland was not made this week despite reports it was imminent. Significant numbers of families are seeking answers or justice. Many are suffering financial, psychological or physical consequences following the violence. The issue could form part of ongoing Stormont talks aimed at restoring devolved powersharing. Mr Coveney said he expects the British Government to uphold its previous assurances that stronger legal protections against prosecution of soldiers and veterans would apply only to overseas service. He added: "There should be effective investigation into deaths during the Troubles, regardless of the perpetrators. "That is what is provided for in the legacy framework of the Stormont House Agreement and it is imperative that we move forward." He said no provision had been made in earlier political agreements on Northern Ireland for amnesties from prosecution. Mr Coveney added the Government would not support the introduction of such measures for alleged state or non-state perpetrators. Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley wrote to him on April 18 saying that where there is evidence of wrongdoing, members of the British Army should be prosecuted, he said. He recalled Prime Minister Theresa May indicating that measures providing protection only applied to those who served overseas, not Northern Ireland. Mr Coveney said: "The Government expects those assurances to be upheld." Six former soldiers who served in Northern Ireland during the 30-year conflict face prosecution. Their cases surround the killings of two people on Bloody Sunday in Londonderry in January 1972, plus separate incidents involving the deaths of John Pat Cunningham, Aidan McAnespie, Joe McCann and Daniel Hegarty. Not all charges involve murder. A public consultation by the British Government on proposals contained within the 2014 Stormont House Agreement did not include a statute of limitations, or amnesty, for Troubles killings. Some veterans and MPs have campaigned strongly for the legal assurance, while many victims in Northern Ireland are adamantly opposed to the concession. Sinn Fein deputy leader Michelle O'Neill said: "The comments made by the British Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt undermine the legacy mechanisms agreed by the two governments and five main parties at Stormont House." Minister Regina Doherty, Former SDLP leader Mark Durkan, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tanaiste Simon Coveney arriving for a press conference in Dublin to announce Mark Durkan and Francis Fitzgerald will run for Fine Gael in the European Elections. Picture credit; Damien Eagers / INM A ROW has erupted between Fine Gael and RTE after minister Regina Doherty claimed that one of the partys candidates has been excluded from an upcoming TV debate. Ms Doherty said her party was not allowed choose which of their two Dublin candidates will appear on Monday night's Claire Byrne Live debate as the criteria set out by RTE meant Mark Durkan was disqualified. Expand Close 4/3/2019, former SDLP leader, Mark Durkan, who will run for Fine Gael in the European Elections, with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. Picture credit; Damien Eagers / INM / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp 4/3/2019, former SDLP leader, Mark Durkan, who will run for Fine Gael in the European Elections, with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. Picture credit; Damien Eagers / INM Former SDLP leader and Northern Ireland deputy first minister Mr Durkan is running for Fine Gael in the capital alongside former Tanaiste and Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald. The debates are only open to elected MEPs, TDs, councillors and Senators as well as politicians that got more than 5pc of the vote in the most recent European, General, Local or Presidential elections. Ms Doherty said: "As Director of Elections for Fine Gael Im disappointed that our national broadcaster dictated who we would put on the airwaves next week." She added: "I dont think its right that our national broadcaster should have excluded him." She said Ms Fitzgerald will take part in the debate on Monday but that "RTE took that choice away from us". RTEs managing editor of current affairs David Nally responded to Ms Dohertys remarks. He said: RTE current affairs decides who appears on its programmes in the best interests of the viewing public and not anybody else. He said that the reason Ms Fitzgerald was selected ahead of Mr Durkan is that RTEs criteria for the debates say that where a party has two candidates in the same constituency, the one that is currently elected will be invited. He said: Frances Fitzgerald is currently elected to the Dail and Mark Durkan is not currently elected to any body. Its the same reason why we invited Mairead McGuinness and not Maria Walsh, he added -referring to the Midlands/North-West debate to be broadcast on Tuesday. The Government is confused as to why Donald Trump is stalling on announcing his visit to Ireland. Security checks have already taken place ahead of an expected stay in his Co Clare hotel next month. But the White House appears to be keeping open the possibility of him traveling to Scotland instead. The Secret Service is believed to also have done an advance inspection at a property he owns there. There was speculation last night that Mr Trump is unhappy about a demand from the Irish government that he meet with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at a neutral venue. Mr Varadkar is believed to want to hold talks with the President at Dromoland Castle, which is 50km from the Doonbeg hotel owned by Mr Trump. The Government is concerned about the optics of allowing the Taoiseach to meet the billionaire at his hotel. However, sources indicated that they didn't believe an issue over the location of a 'meet and greet' would be enough for the President to drop the Irish leg of his European tour. "We are all wondering why the White House hasn't announced," a source said. Meanwhile, Mr Varadkar was left stumped when asked whether there were any policy issues on which he agrees with US President Donald Trump. Ahead of Mr Trump's expected visit next month, Mr Varadkar said he wouldn't criticise anyone taking part in a protest against the Republican president. But he was caught off guard when asked whether there were any areas where he and Mr Trump were in agreement. He said: "I'm absolutely sure there are. It's always the differences that spring to mind but let me think about that." Mr Varadkar added: "A lot of people have been critical of President Trump, including me on occasion, on issues around climate for example, on his opposition to free trade, on the criticisms he has made of the European Union, and on issues such as women's rights. "I'll have the opportunity to raise those issues with him in person; but I understand that other people will wish to do so by means of protest and in a democracy protest is allowed and welcome." Mr Varadkar reiterated that protocol dictates the official announcement of a visit has to come from the White House. Reputation: The force has a good track record for arresting its own members if deemed relevant to an investigation How significant are these arrests and what next? Tom Brady tells us everything we need to know. How significant are the three Garda arrests in the corruption investigation? These arrests represent a major development in an investigation into allegations that strike at the core of An Garda Siochana as a police force. Apart from significance in this lengthy inquiry into suspected links with gangland, they also underline the commitment given by the force to the public that it will tackle wrongdoing whenever or wherever it is alleged to have taken place, even if it could involve some of its own members. Are there likely to be more arrests in this case? Yes. We can expect a number of suspected members of an organised crime gang to be arrested for questioning and there is a strong possibility that further arrests of gardai could take place. How many arrests have been made so far in this investigation? Five arrests, including one garda who has been detained twice for questioning about different offences. What are the offences alleged to have been committed by the three gardai arrested yesterday? The superintendent was arrested on suspicion of passing information obtained in the course of carrying out his duties to another person, knowing that the information was likely to have a harmful effect. The inspector was detained for an alleged breach of the Misuse of Drugs Act. The detective garda was arrested and questioned about a suspected conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Has the force a good track record for arresting its own members, if this is deemed relevant to an investigation? Yes. Gardai have been arrested in connection with inquiries into a variety of offences, ranging from supplying information to criminals and terrorists, to passing documents or verbal communications to the media, possessing child porn, supplying driving licences, to rape. Who was the last officer to be detained for questioning? Former Garda press officer Superintendent Dave Taylor, who was accused of illegal disclosure of information obtained in the course of his duties. He was released without charge. A former detective sergeant was also accused of passing a confidential document to a news reporter. Were there other members of senior rank arrested or dismissed in the recent past? Yes. Former superintendent Kevin Lennon was dismissed from the force by the government in 2004 after he was found by the Morris tribunal to have orchestrated hoax explosive finds and to have told the tribunal "a tissue of lies". He had been suspended in 2002. Only the government has the power to dismiss a garda of the rank of superintendent or higher. The Commissioner does not have the power to fire members of the higher ranks and the cabinet acted on recommendations of then justice minister Michael McDowell. What were the cases of alleged co-operation between the force and terrorists or external security agencies? A garda based in Limerick, Denis Kelly, was arrested in 1992 and convicted of tipping off the Provisional IRA about impending Garda raids on arms dumps. He was sentenced to five years imprisonment. In the 1970s, a sergeant attached to the Garda's then anti-terror intelligence section, C3, Patrick Crinnion, was accused of passing confidential information to an agent from the British intelligence organisation, MI6. He was acquitted of the major charges and after his release, was believed to have moved with his family to South Africa. Are gardai modernising the methods in which they tackle allegations of corruption in the force? Yes. Commissioner Drew Harris is setting up a new anti-corruption unit in the force and promised it will be up and running by the end of the year. It will, at least initially, outsource its intelligence files for investigation to the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation and will also share its information with the Garda Ombudsman Commission. As Ireland was basking in sunshine last week, these super-sized sharks were basking off the south coast. Literally. Photographer James McCarthy was testing out a new drone at Caliso Bay, Co. Waterford, when he spotted a group of the North Atlantic's biggest fish. 'When I arrived at the beach I could see the sharks' fins just off the shoreline," he told Independent.ie Travel. "I flew the drone out to where I saw them. Around 12 sharks were split into a couple of groups about 400 metres offshore." "It was amazing to capture them on camera." Basking shark were once abundant off the Irish coast, but overfishing has led to their listing by the ICUN as endangered in the Northeast Atlantic. The sharks are thought to grow up to 10m (35 feet) in length, and can be spotted feeding off the Irish coast from April to August. Last week, several of the animals were spotted from the deck of the nearby Cliff House Hotel in Ardmore. Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Basking sharks swimming in Caliso Bay, Co. Waterford. Photo: James McCarthy Basking sharks swimming in Caliso Bay, Co. Waterford. Photo: James McCarthy Basking sharks swimming in Caliso Bay, Co. Waterford. Photo: James McCarthy / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Basking sharks swimming in Caliso Bay, Co. Waterford. Photo: James McCarthy Basking shark have also been spotted off Cork, Kerry and Clare in recent weeks, although bathers needn't worry. Despite being the world's second-largest fish (only whale sharks are larger), they are docile, toothless and harmless to humans. It has since transpired that one of the Caliso Bay sharks, nicknamed 'Flowrider', has been tagged and is tracked by the Manx Basking Shark Watch non-profit. "The drone gives that perspective that we don't normally get, and allows us to see these animals naturally without interfering with them in any way," McCarthy says. Got any basking shark footage or photos to share? We'd love to help get the word out on these amazing animals. Send your snaps to Independent.ie Travel via Facebook here, or email travel @ independent.ie. See more of James McCarthy's photos and videos on Facebook here. To find our more about basking sharks, or report a sighting, see baskingshark.ie. Watch more: Flash Iraqi Airways will resume flights to neighboring Syria on Saturday after more than eight years of suspension, a spokesman said Thursday. Iraqi Airways will operate its first flight on May 18 to the Syrian capital of Damascus, with an official delegation on board to inaugurate the resumption of operations of Iraqi aircraft on the Baghdad-Damascus route after eight years, Iraqi Airways spokesman Layth al-Rubaie told Xinhua. "There will be one flight per week as a start, but the flights can be increased as needed," al-Rubaie said. The Baghdad-Damascus air route is vital to both countries because there is a large community of Iraqis in Syria, in addition to the large volume of trade between the two countries, he noted. Iraqi Airways suspended flights to Syria since the Syrian conflict erupted in March 2011 in which anti-government demonstrations ignited a bloody civil war that killed hundreds of thousands of people. One of the most difficult parts of my job as an oncologist is telling a man or woman sitting opposite me in my clinic that the cancer treatment they are on is not controlling the growth of the cancerous cells in their body and there is no other option available. While this can be a very uncomfortable conversation for any doctor, for the person with the cancer it is utterly devastating. My cancer-treating colleagues around the country and I are focused on opening as many cancer trials in Ireland as we can so that we can avoid these heartbreaking conversations and find cures for cancer. Unfortunately it's an uphill battle as the Government is starving cancer trials. Cancer trials can provide people with cancer with access to new and potentially promising treatments that are not yet available through the mainstream health service. While not all cancers respond to trial treatments, during the past 20 years they have extended and improved thousands of lives. Incidences of cancer in Ireland will double over the next 20 years, so naturally the need and demand for access to cancer trials, which can provide people with options, will also increase. The National Cancer Strategy published in 2017 acknowledges this. The previous strategy in 2006 was a game changer for cancer care. We in Cancer Trials Ireland initially believed this recent strategy could be a game changer for cancer research because its target is to double the percentage of people with cancer joining cancer drug trials in Ireland each year from the estimated 3pc with the disease to 6pc by 2020. For this 6pc of the population with cancer, a trial could be life changing and offer hope. The big problem with the new strategy is that it costs nothing to set a target and no funding has been put behind this target. It is effectively not a target - it is an aspiration. It gets worse. Not only is there absolutely no possibility that this target will be met anytime in the near future, due to funding cuts Ireland's performance in this area is going backwards. The genesis of this terrible situation for people with cancer, like problems facing many facets of society, is the continuing fallout of the recession. In 2014, 3pc of people with cancer in Ireland were on a cancer drug trial. In 2016 the annual grant Cancer Trials Ireland receives from the Department of Health to part fund its portfolio of trials was cut by 20pc and has not yet been reinstated. This cut equates to 750,000 per year and so far represents a total budget cut of 3m. This might not seem like a huge amount in the context of the overall cancer care budget, but for cancer trials it's huge. As a direct result of this cut the percentage of people in Ireland with cancer on a cancer drug trial has halved to 1.5pc. So the National Cancer Strategy's target in reality represents a 400pc increase in the number of people on a cancer drug trial from 1.5pc to 6pc within the next 19 months. That will never happen. That's why it's just an aspiration. What this means in real terms is that many patients are being denied any further options when their treatments are not working. For many, the potential lifeline that trials might offer will never be available to them. There are trials in areas such as lymphoma, testicular and endometrial cancers that we could open in Ireland and make available to people with cancer, but cannot because of these cuts. We could pursue opportunities to open trials in Ireland that are available from research organisations outside Ireland in areas such as pancreatic, lung, testicular and cervical cancer, but can't for the same reason. Compounding the frustration of many of my colleagues is that cancer treatments can be provided to patients through trials at a fraction of what they would cost if provided through the health service. This is because trials are supported by the sponsor companies who supply the drugs free and they contribute towards diagnostics, scans, radiotherapy and lab tests. Often pharmaceutical companies make the drugs available after the trial on compassionate grounds. An independent report carried out in 2016 estimated that the availability of cancer trials saved the HSE a minimum of 6.5m a year in treatment costs. Cancer Trials Ireland's objective is to test and prove treatments that kill cancer and stop it in its tracks. All the teams around the country working on trials are having a profound impact on the lives of people with cancer today. This distinguishes cancer trials research from other types of cancer research; it benefits people not only in the future, but also today. While an ambitious target sounds good and creates a positive sound bite, a target has little value unless its achievement is supported. The cancer trials target in the 2017 National Cancer Strategy is not being financially supported so will remain meaningless until the policy decision to cut cancer trials funding is reversed. Professor Bryan Hennessy is the clinical lead with Cancer Trials Ireland. He is a consultant medical oncologist at Beaumont Hospital and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital Things are about to get real for our election candidates. It has by all accounts been a very predictable campaign for the European Parliament up to now. There has been no 'Peter Casey moment' even though the man himself is running in the Midlands-North West constituency. But that could change in the coming days as the hopefuls get sight of the finish line and those who are ahead of them in the home straight. Nowhere is this truer than in the incoherent constituency taking parts of Leinster, Connacht and Ulster. Fine Gael and Fianna Fail have completely changed their electoral strategy in recent days. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has suddenly got greedy eyes for two seats, while Micheal Martin is growing concerned that, for the second MEP election in a row, his party may have gotten it wrong. Although she would forcibly argue that not a single vote has been cast, Mairead McGuinness seems certain to top the poll with plenty to spare. Expand Close General view of the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Photo: REUTERS / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp General view of the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Photo: REUTERS The Parliament's first vice-president hasn't been too keen to share, though, so party HQ took it on itself to widen the ground available to Maria Walsh. Ms Walsh, a former Rose of Tralee, is now allowed to campaign in Longford and Westmeath, which were previously off-limits. She has also been given copious opportunities to represent the party in radio and television debates, and the Taoiseach is heading west to canvass with her today. Over in Fianna Fail, it's been decided to scrap the constituency divide altogether. Back in 2011, the party gained more than 100,000 first preferences (17.8pc) but still couldn't win a seat. The mistake was splitting the territory between two strong candidates: Pat 'The Cope' Gallagher in the west and Thomas Byrne in the east. Strangely, the party opted for exactly the same tactic this time around with Anne Rabbitte and Brendan Smith - until jitters set in over recent days. In an email to the two candidates yesterday, Fianna Fail's director of elections Lisa Chambers ripped up the plan. "Our strategy must evolve to give a final boost to both candidates," she wrote. "We must ensure that we maximise our vote and I believe that the best way to do that is to remove the divide and open up the constituency to both candidates for the remainder of the campaign." In other words, all bets are off as Fianna Fail desperately scraps for a seat. The playbooks are being ripped up as we edge towards polling and that means things might finally get interesting. The arrests of a Garda superintendent and inspector as part of a corruption investigation are a dramatic and unprecedented development which has sent shock waves through the force and the community. It is always disturbing and concerning when senior members of the national police force are under suspicion for leaking information to an organised crime gang. The three arrests - which also included a detective garda - are part of a long-running criminal investigation which began probing the links between a garda and a drug gang operating in the mid-west. That officer was arrested earlier this year by colleagues in the National Bureau of Fraud Investigation. He was not among the three officers arrested yesterday morning. At the time the Irish Independent revealed that the officer was suspected of receiving 20,000 in return for secret information on the progress of a CAB investigation into the gang's money laundering operation. The arrests of the superintendent, inspector and detective in the south of the country are believed to be the latest development in that corruption investigation. The two senior officers who were detained shortly before 8am are well known and respected. Both men have extensive experience in investigating organised crime and played a crucial role in the capture and conviction of members of one of the country's most dangerous criminal gangs. The inspector was released from custody last night and was suspended from duty. Reliable and senior sources revealed that the decision to make the arrests, rather than interviewing the three officers, was not taken lightly. The sources confirmed the arrests are the culmination of a long-running investigation headed up by Assistant Commissioner John O'Driscoll, of special crime operations. It is understood that the investigation included surveillance and the interception of phone and text conversations between a number of individuals over several months. This arrest operation is unlike any other internal investigation in the history of An Garda Siochana. Previously the arrest of the former head of the Garda press office, the now disgraced superintendent Dave Taylor, was the first time an officer of such elevated rank was lifted as part of a criminal investigation. This related to the alleged disclosure of information to media, and not a criminal gang. The DPP eventually decided Taylor had no case to answer and his suspension from duty was lifted. A senior source said: "The arrests have shocked everyone in the organisation because the guys involved are experienced and well respected. The decision to arrest senior members was not taken lightly because if it is found that the officers have no case to answer they would be perfectly entitled to sue the commissioner because accusing a police officer of corruption is the worst possible attack on a person's integrity and reputation." With Donald Trump set to touch down within a matter of weeks, the world at large on a crash course to becoming an apocalyptic wasteland, and women's rights being eroded in pockets of the globe at a rate that would have the overlords of Gilead rubbing their hands in glee, I struggle to muster much more than a thimbleful of enthusiasm for local politics. In truth, it's the local part that leaves me cold. In the last few weeks, a number of wannabe councillors have called to my house. After the polite introductions, they invariably steer the conversations towards 'local issues'. Do I care about the crater-like pothole three streets away? Am I overly exercised by the plan to hack down some local fruit trees? Have I given much thought to the proposed bus corridor? My eyes start to glaze over. Then they ask if there's anything particularly bothering me in the local area. I look skyward and open mouth to fashion some sort of reply. But all that comes out is an elongated, meandering "uhhhhhhhhh". Last week, I decided to fill the awkward silence by claiming to have just moved into the area. The candidate enthusiastically welcomed me to an area I've been living in for almost three years before cheerily moving on. Shameful behaviour on my part. I know. So why can't I get excited about the council and those who want to represent me? Is it because only people with children really invest in their locality? Am I part of a generation that feels more connected to a global tribe rather than a local one? Or am I simply a poster child for apathy? I think part of it stems from the negative associations 'local politics' has among many people in my age group. Often seen as low-level and inward looking, this bottom rung on the political ladder is sometimes thought of as the preserve of chancers who like to wheel and deal, getting no-parking signs erected outside people's house or hurrying along the stalled student loan application for the son of a local businessman. If I'm completely honest, local politics and council business has always felt a little, well, grubby. This is not, of course, an entirely fair way to talk about those who want to better society, but, when I reach into the deepest, darkest recesses of my mind, it is a feeling that I harbour. But I am determined to stir up some sort of fire in my belly in the run-up to next Friday. I may care more about climate change and the spread of the far right than the state of my local park, but I know I ought to pay more attention to what's happening on my own doorstep. After all, like charity and fights over the remote, shouldn't politics begin at home. Canine candidate Kaya certainly gets my vote Speaking of candidates, there has been one who's seriously piqued my interest. I know she lacks experience, but she'll make up for it with dogged determination to serve the people. Posters for Kaya, a handsome-looking south Co Dublin pooch, have made their way on to lampposts this week and her slogan, "Barking Up the Right Tree", is certainly catchy. Also, her message is clear and her demands reasonable: more dog parks; more poop bins; and more treats for dogs. Now that's a message a dog-owner like me can get behind. Trump, our burger king I wonder what kind of reception Trump can expect when he does touch down in Shannon next month. The Taoiseach said the president would "be given the welcome his office deserves". I suspect, though, that nobody will be falling over themselves to uncover Trump's Irish ancestry or name a motorway service station in his honour. Though we do know Donald likes a good burger... Eve Parnell (Letters, Irish Independent, May 16) cites the number of male epistles in the Irish media to signify Irelands media is male biased: By excluding women, theyre missing out on a whole load of sales. Personally, I think, not enough Irish women feel bold enough to write to the editor. We need no, want women like Eve to encourage other Irish women to write on any subject that they feel requires public attention. Mna na hEireann are the descendants of Queen Maeve; Grace OMalley, Maud Gonne, Lady Gregory, Cumman na mBan and Cathleen Ni Houlihan to name but a small number of great Irish women. No editor would turn down a well-penned letter, irrespective of the sex of the author. Practise makes perfect so come on ladies get to it, we need your views on every facet of life, every day. Declan Foley Berwick, Australia Men suffer violent domestic abuse too and need our help On reading your article on sleeping with the enemy, coercive control, I was somewhat dismayed and very disappointed by the obvious bias in the article. While it did state that either women or men can be victims of coercive control, the listings down along were all relating to him; furthermore the addresses and contact numbers for support at the end of the article were only for women and did not mention one for men, eg, Amen. Yes, indeed there are women suffering across the country every day and night and there are also plenty of men out there who are suffering too. In my work I have become aware there is serious under-reporting of domestic violence against men. Males in these situations are equally as vulnerable and as isolated. I welcome articles like this one which are so important to highlight the very serious nature of coercive control but, please, in future list all support services. Tricia Healy Address with editor Broadband plan an issue of equal rights for everyone I love reading Keanes Kingdom every Saturday in your newspaper. The article (Irish Independent, May 11) on the Governments broadband plan for rural Ireland is a brilliant piece of writing. He knows rural Ireland and what this plan would mean to the lives of so many. In particular children: Kids in rural Ireland who do not have broadband are being victimised. So like Billy, I say to the powers that be: get on with it. Be brave. Deliver. Should never be about money. Its all about equal rights for all. Brian McDevitt Glenties, Co Donegal Legendary Three Sisters arent from the same cradle The Suir, Nore and Barrow rivers are known as the Three Sisters but it doesnt follow that they were born in the same place. The source of the Barrow is the Slieve Bloom Mountains and not the Devils Bit, which is the cradle of the Suir. Even Homer nods! Margaret Hogan Thurles, Co Tipperary Boss finds a new way to turn up the pressure on workers We read that in China the boss of tech giant Alibaba is urging his employees to have sex six times in six days. Puts pressure, one imagines, on those working a five-day week... Tom Gilsenan Beaumont Dublin 9 Geography of today may be the dinosaur of tomorrow Geography is a very important and interesting subject on the primary and secondary syllabus. Can any of your (older) readers recall a geography book Bonn Agus Forscreamh na hEireann? Our school taught every subject through Irish. We learned that huge creatures roamed the earth, on land, in the sea and in the air. We never knew the names of these creatures not to mention seeing pictures of them. Now, my grandchildren have not only pictures of the various tauruses (tauri) but have models of them and can sing off the names of these prehistoric creatures, all of which makes the subject more real and interesting. We learned that huge creatures roamed the earth and I quote from memory Bhi said ag eitilt san aer, ag snamh san fharraige agus ag snagadh ar an dtalamh roughly translated as flying in the air, swimming in the sea and wallowing on land; no pictures or models just our imagination. How did we cope? If this subject has changed so much in 60 years, what can its future be in 60 years time? Una Ni Raibeaird Portlaois, Co Laois Good Counsel students with gardai having been presented with their Garda Youth award Students and staff from Good Counsel College, New Ross, have won a national Garda Youth award for their tremendous work over the past two years fundraising for Gorodishche Orphanage in Belarus. Last May a group of TY students from Good Counsel College travelled to Belarus to volunteer with children and young adults with physical and intellectual disabilities and another group of students from the school are leaving this month to work at the orphanage. In May 2018 a group of ten Transition Year students and two of their teachers, Aoife Sutton and Kieran Barron travelled to Belarus to volunteer in Gorodishche Orphanage. Prior to their departure the group did a lot of preparation and planning and a huge amount of fundraising work within their communities. The New Ross students were thrilled to win an award at the Garda Youth Awards ceremony in Portlaoise. A group spokesperson said: 'The boys spent a fantastic week with the children. It was challenging and life changing and undoubtedly an incredible experience for all. The project was such a big success that the school are sending another group of students this May who have been equally hard-working and determined. Overall, the students and staff have raised almost 25,000 in the past two years.' New Ross sergeant Eddie Wilde praised the youths on their fantastic work in Belarus with the orphans there. The Garda Youth Awards celebrate outstanding young people between 13 and 21 years of age and recognises the good work being done by young people throughout communities. The awards acknowledge the young people who by their presence make their communities and society in general, a better place in which to live. They also acknowledge the endeavours of young people who have faced and overcome challenges in their life. There were 24 awards given out on the night. The Good Counsel students also won the overall award and will go forward to represent the county at the national awards in Portlaoise later this month. 'They were all in shock but absolutely thrilled with their achievement. They have become local celebrities, even making it onto the local radio station!' A student from the college, Diarmaid Murphy, of Old Ross, is going to Gorodishiche Orphanage as part of The Burren Chernobyl Project. He has been actively fundraising with all monies going directly to the orphanage. Diarmaid will pay his own travel and accommodation costs. He will be travelling to Belarus with nine other Good Counsel College students and their teachers as part of their Transition Year in school. Each student is required to raise funds on their own initiative. Jada Pinkett-Smith has said an upcoming episode of her talk show discussing pornography addiction was one of the toughest to film (Anthony Devlin/PA) Jada Pinkett Smith has said an upcoming episode of her talk show discussing pornography addiction was one of the toughest to film. Pinkett Smiths Red Table Talk sees her sitting down with 65-year-old mother Adrienne Banfield-Jones and 18-year-old daughter Willow for often intense conversations on topics including sex, family and race. The Emmy-nominated Facebook Watch show has proved hugely popular and has attracted star guests such as Greys Anatomy Ellen Pompeo and Pinkett Smiths husband, Hollywood actor Will Smith. Expand Close Jada Pinkett Smiths Red Table Talk has gained popularity online (Ian West/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Jada Pinkett Smiths Red Table Talk has gained popularity online (Ian West/PA) Ahead of the launch of new episodes, Pinkett Smith, Banfield-Jones and Willow gave a talk in Los Angeles to discuss the show and its future. Mondays instalment sees the trio discussing pornography and Pinkett Smith, 47, said it was a challenge to make. She said: We did a show about pornography addiction and that one was hard because I had to have some conversations with my daughter and my mother that were like, TMI (too much information). At times I was literally like, wow, this is a lot. Really having to get into what our experiences have been, what weve seen and what we think about it. It was deep. Turning to Willow, she added: You just have to say, relax, shes 18, shes part of the internet generation, of course shes seen some things. Video of the Day Despite the challenge of discussing an intimate topic with her mother and daughter, Pinkett Smith said it gave her the opportunity to be authentic. She added: I believe there are things that are private. But sometimes you have those things inside that you feel you have to hide, for other reasons. Whether you feel like people may feel about me a certain way. Thats the time I challenge myself, just let it out. New episodes of Red Table Talk will be available on Facebook Watch every Monday at 5pm BST. There is only one issue that matters: Brexit. There might be only one politician who can get it done: Boris. The fact that I don't have to use his surname speaks volumes. In an age of over-information, faff and paralysis, he cuts through. If there was a general election tomorrow, the Conservatives would be in third place, on just 19pc, the Brexit Party second, and Labour could form a minority government. The only leader who can put the Tories close to beating Labour is Boris Johnson - and even he only wins them 26pc of the vote. It's a mark of the destruction wreaked by Theresa May that whoever takes over the Conservative Party has to start from scratch: reopen negotiations with Europe and rethink every aspect of policy. The data suggests Boris alone has the appeal and recognition to do it. According to YouGov he's the most admired Tory in the UK, and his nearest rival for the leadership, Sajid Javid, only places 12th on the list. Mr Javid is less popular than Norman Tebbit. One common reservation against Boris is personal - that he has a reputation for being fickle or vain or untrustworthy. Politicians who brief against these qualities are like sharks complaining about teeth: they are intrinsic to the entire species. What's unusual about Boris is that he leavens the natural nastiness of politics with humour and a classical education - he knows his Ares from his Io. Opponents say these make him "unserious", a critique contradicted by the attendant accusation that he is "fiercely ambitious" and willing to play the populist card to win. He is, they mutter, dangerous. They cannot have read any of his columns from beginning to end. Boris is an old-fashioned liberal, being pro immigration ("We have prospered and flourished by being open"), pro globalisation ("a positive force") and in favour of Britain becoming "more outward looking and more engaged in the world than ever before". None of this is my cup of tea - my post-Brexit vision is a country that shuts the curtains and pretends no one is at home - but I revel in the irony that liberals who think Boris is a fascist because he once told a joke about burkas don't realise that when he failed to become Tory leader in 2016, they lost the chance for a Brexit with which they would feel most at ease. Had Boris been PM, Britain would not only have left on time but with fireworks and a disco in Hyde Park, drenched in the Global Britain brand. The UK would have gone out and into the world under Boris, rather than stay stuck in the driveway with Mrs May, arguing about hate crimes and Northern Ireland. Boris can sell change by painting it with the veneer of tradition, which is why all the bumbling and blond hair is a major asset. As the world changes around us, these are the political symbols - like Thatcher's handbag or Wilson's pipe - that the British cling to for proof they remain themselves, still British after all these years. If Borisphilia sounds like the triumph of style over substance, it's worth remembering that he has executive experience as both London mayor and foreign secretary. Plus, symbols can stand for principles that happen to be shared by the exact voters the Tories need to win back. At this stage in its terminal decline, the Conservative Party cannot waste time reaching out to Cambridge or Brighton; it should be scrambling to hold on to Plymouth or Morley and Outwood. Electoral survival depends on reuniting the national pro-Brexit constituency, and Boris is Mr Brexit. Unlike Mrs May, who mistakes a conservative approach to governance with having no fixed opinions and nothing to say, Boris has always understood that the real red line in Brexit is sovereignty. Not immigration, not trade. Both are hugely important, no doubt, but control over them flows from the question of who governs - parliament or a foreign power? - and that question has been the stuff of world wars. Yet it is sovereignty that the government has been happiest to use as a bargaining chip, be it in talks with Brussels or with Labour over the customs union. This has been interpreted by many Leave voters as not just an error but a betrayal, a far bigger issue than the mere procedural failure of not getting the withdrawal agreement through the Commons. Expand Close Devastation: Theresa May is leaving a sinking ship in her wake. AP Photo / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Devastation: Theresa May is leaving a sinking ship in her wake. AP Photo Anyone who is for Brexit does not favour it at any price, if only because a botched Brexit is likely to end in us returning to the EU. That's why Boris left the government over Chequers. His best qualities are charisma, clarity of philosophy and willingness to take risks. He is, like his hero Churchill, a singular man waiting to be called. Such politicians are often disliked for long periods of time, until their colleagues suddenly realise they were right all along and that, even if they are not necessarily wanted, they are needed. This feels more and more like the hour of Boris Johnson. And if, after writing so much shameless flattery about, him he decides not to run, I shall find Boris's bicycle and let down his tyres. ( Daily Telegraph) Germany's Angela Merkel reaffirmed yesterday that she would leave politics after serving out her fourth term as chancellor, dismissing speculation that she could take a big European Union job in Brussels. "I am not available for any further political office, regardless of where it is - including in Europe," the 64-year-old Ms Merkel told a joint news conference with visiting Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. Speculation about Ms Merkel's future swirled in Berlin after she told yesterday's edition of the 'Suddeutsche' newspaper: "Many people are concerned about Europe, including myself. This means I feel even more duty-bound to join others in making sure that Europe has a future." She made clear at the news conference that she saw it as her responsibility in her role as chancellor to promote a "good, functional Europe given the situation we have and the polarisation". Anti-establishment, Eurosceptic parties around the bloc see the May 23-26 European Parliament elections as a potentially defining moment and hope that a strong showing will bolster their efforts to slow European integration and return more power to national capitals. Ms Merkel has loomed large on the European stage since 2005, helping guide the EU through the eurozone crisis and opening Germany's doors to migrants fleeing war in the Middle East in 2015, a move that still divides the bloc and Germany. Europe's longest-serving leader, Ms Merkel announced last October that her fourth term as chancellor would be her last and that she would not seek any political post after her term ends, beginning a stage-managed gradual exit from politics. In December, she then handed over the leadership of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) to heir apparent Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. Earlier this week, Ms Merkel said politicians should not hang on in office "until nobody wants to see you any more". Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer, sometimes dubbed 'mini-Merkel', said in comments published earlier this week that she had no ambition to succeed Ms Merkel as chancellor until 2021, which is when the current German legislative term is due to expire. "The chancellor and the government are elected for a full term and citizens are right to expect that they take this mandate seriously," Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer told the 'Welt am Sonntag' newspaper in an interview. "Speaking for myself, I can rule out that I am working in my own interest for a change." When Ms Merkel came into office in 2005, George W Bush was US president, Jacques Chirac was in the Elysee Palace in Paris, and Tony Blair was British prime minister. The reception between Deputy PM Trinh Dinh Dung and French enterprises. (Photo: CPV) On May 15th, the Deputy PM received several large French enterprises operating in aviation infrastructure. Welcoming the business delegation, he stressed that the Vietnam-France strategic partnership is developing well in all fields, especially in economics, trade, and investment. Mr. Dung hailed the cooperation between the two countries businesses. Many French business poured investment capital in Vietnam in the fields of aviation infrastructure, services management and flight safety assurance. Accordingly, cooperative projects will help Vietnam modernize its infrastructure and bring about benefits for French investors. For ongoing projects, he asked relevant parties to exert efforts to ensure progress and quality of projects, especially those related to the expansion of Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat International Airports. France is Vietnams fourth biggest trade partner in Europe, with two-way trade hitting USD5.1 billion last year, a year-on-year rise of 10.8%. It is also the leading official development assistance provider for Vietnam./. Flash U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday held back from further escalating tension with Iran. When asked by a reporter at the White House on Thursday morning about whether the United States was going to war with Iran, Trump replied "I hope not." Washington has piled up military pressure on Tehran over the past week by intensifying deployment including an aircraft carrier group to the Middle East following U.S. intelligence information revealing "an escalating of threatening actions" from Iran. U.S. hawks on Iran, led by National Security Adviser John Bolton, have reportedly advocated to confront Iran while Trump himself has showed restraint on further escalating the situation. Trump told his acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan on Wednesday that he does not want to go to war with Iran, reported The New York Times on Thursday, citing several anonymous administration officials. Also on Thursday, Trump met with Swiss Confederation President Ueli Maurer at the White House, whose country acts as a protecting power for the United States in Iran as the diplomatic ties between Washington and Tehran were cut off decades ago. Their meeting has been seen by U.S. media as a sign that Trump was likely to seek dialogue with Tehran. Trump and Maurer discussed "a range of international issues" during their talks, including the crises in the Middle East and in Venezuela, according to a White House statement released after the meeting. However, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Thursday called the U.S. government a "bully" trying to force all other countries to do something "illegal," according to Press TV. There is not any prospect of negotiation with the United States, Zarif noted. Over the recent weeks, Washington has ratcheted up pressure against Tehran with a series of sanctions, designations and military threats, following Washington's year-long campaign against Iran after U.S. exit from the landmark Iran nuclear deal in May last year. Killed: Jamal Khashoggi was a Saudi Arabian dissident journalist who was killed and dismembered by a hit team from the kingdom in Istanbul. Photo: Virginia Mayo Hatice Cengiz, the fiancee of Jamal Khashoggi, the journalist murdered at a Saudi Arabian consulate in Turkey last year, said on Thursday she could not believe that no one has yet faced serious consequences for the crime. "I cannot understand that the world still has not done anything about this," Cengiz told a US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs subcommittee, speaking in Turkish through an interpreter. "I still cannot make human sense of it. I still cannot understand. I still feel that I'll wake up," she said in emotional testimony to a hearing on international press freedom and the dangers of reporting on human rights. Cengiz was the last person to see Khashoggi, a U.S. resident and columnist for the Washington Post, before he went into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 to obtain papers for their upcoming marriage. He never left the building. The Saudi journalist, a royal insider who became a critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed and dismembered inside the consulate by a team of Saudi operatives, provoking international revulsion. "We still don't know why he was killed. We don't know where his corpse is," Cengiz said. She called for sanctions to punish Saudi Arabia and for Washington to push for the freedom of political prisoners held in the kingdom. U.S. authorities have concluded that responsibility for Khashoggi's death went to the highest levels of the Saudi government. Riyadh denies the crown prince was involved. Cengiz said she came to Washington hoping to help provoke a stronger reaction to her fiance's death. She said President Donald Trump invited her to the White House months earlier, but that she had not come then because she was not confident about his response. "I think we choose between two things ...," Cengiz told the subcommittee. "We can either go on as if nothing has happened ... or we can act, we can leave aside all interests, international interests and politics, and focus on the values for a better life." The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In the past, Trump has resisted imposing consequences such as strong sanctions. Saudi Arabia is considered an important partner in the Middle East and a counterweight to Iran. Calling the United States "a fortress" protecting freedom of thought and human rights, Cengiz appealed for justice. "I think it is a test for the United States and I believe it is a test that it can and should pass," she said. The Trump administration has been on high alert in response to what military and intelligence officials have deemed specific and credible threats from Iran against US personnel in the Middle East. But President Donald Trump is frustrated with some of his top advisers, who he thinks could rush the United States into a military confrontation with Iran and shatter his long-standing pledge to withdraw from costly foreign wars, according to several US officials. Mr Trump prefers a diplomatic approach to resolving tensions and wants to speak directly with Iran's leaders. Disagreements over assessing and responding to the recent intelligence - which includes a directive from Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that some American officials interpret as a threat to US personnel in the Middle East - are also fraying alliances with foreign allies, according to officials in the United States and Europe. Mr Trump grew angry last week and over the weekend about what he sees as warlike planning that is getting ahead of his own thinking, said a senior administration official with knowledge of conversations Mr Trump had regarding national security adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. "They are getting way out ahead of themselves, and Trump is annoyed," the official said. Mr Bolton, who advocated regime change in Iran before joining the White House last year, is "just in a different place" from Mr Trump, although the president has been a fierce critic of Iran since long before he hired Mr Bolton. Mr Trump "wants to talk to the Iranians; he wants a deal" and is open to negotiation with the Iranian government, the official said. "He is not comfortable with all this 'regime change' talk," which to his ears echoes the discussion of removing Iraqi president Saddam Hussein before the 2003 US invasion, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Mr Trump is not inclined to respond forcefully unless there is a "big move" from the Iranians, a senior White House official said. ( The Washington Post) Barred: Conrad Black was deported from the US. Photo: REUTERS US president Donald Trump gave a full pardon to a long-time friend who last year authored a glowing book about his successes. Conrad Black was convicted in 2007 on fraud charges, including alleged embezzlement, and obstruction of justice. He served more than three years in prison before being deported to Canada. He was barred from returning to the United States for 30 years. In 'A President Like No Other', Black writes: "Like the country he represents, Donald Trump possesses the optimism to persevere and succeed, the confidence to affront tradition and convention, a genius for spectacle, and a firm belief in common sense and the common man." President Donald Trump has said that, after two weeks of mixed signals, even Iran may be confused about its future relationship with the United States. Mr Trump wrote on Twitter: With all of the Fake and Made Up News out there, Iran can have no idea what is actually going on. Mr Trump said he hoped the US was not on a path to war with Iran, but some wonder if his two most hawkish advisers could be angling for such a confrontation. A day earlier he expressed a desire for dialogue, tweeting: Im sure that Iran will want to talk soon. But Tehran has showed no outward sign of preparing to talk. Mr Trumps recent tone contrasted with a series of moves by the US and Iran that have sharply escalated tensions in the Middle East in recent days. For the past year, national security adviser John Bolton and secretary of state Mike Pompeo have been the public face of the administrations maximum pressure campaign against Tehran. On Friday, an official with Irans powerful Revolutionary Guard warned that Iranian missiles can easily reach warships in the Persian Gulf and elsewhere in the Middle East. Expand Close National security adviser John Bolton, right, has a hawkish reputation (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp National security adviser John Bolton, right, has a hawkish reputation (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) The semi-official Fars news agency quoted Mohammad Saleh Jokar as saying that Irans missiles have a range of about 1,250 miles and can attack any target in the region. The escalating rhetoric has rattled members of Congress who are demanding more information on the White Houses claims of rising Iranian aggression. Top leaders in Congress received a classified briefing on Iran on Thursday, but many from both parties have criticised the White House for not keeping them informed. Iran poses a particular challenge for Mr Trump. While he talks tough against foreign adversaries to the delight of his supporters, a military confrontation with Iran could make him appear to be backtracking on a campaign pledge to keep America out of foreign entanglements. Members of Congress and allies, however, worry that any erratic or miscalculated response from Mr Trump could send the US careening into conflict. Mr Trump pulled the US out of the Iran nuclear deal last year and reinstated sanctions on Tehran that are crippling its economy. Tensions rose dramatically on May 5, when Mr Bolton announced that the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group would be rushed from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf ahead of schedule in response to a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings, without going into details. Expand Close USS Abraham Lincoln (Kaitlin McKeown/Virginian-Pilot/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp USS Abraham Lincoln (Kaitlin McKeown/Virginian-Pilot/AP) Since then, four oil tankers, including two belonging to Saudi Arabia, were targeted in an apparent act of sabotage off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, according to officials in the region, and a Saudi pipeline was attacked by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels from Yemen. The US also ordered non-essential staff out of Iraq and has dispatched additional military assets to the region. The Senate will receive a classified briefing on Iran on Tuesday, according to Jim Risch of Idaho, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. The House has requested a classified briefing as well. House speaker Nancy Pelosi said briefings are necessary because informing leaders is no substitute for the full membership of the Congress. She said a failure to inform representatives is part of a pattern for the Trump administration that is not right, because the power to declare war resides with Congress. Expand Close Nancy Pelosi (J Scott Applewhite/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Nancy Pelosi (J Scott Applewhite/AP) I hope that the presidents advisers recognise that they have no authorisation to go forward in any way against Iran, Ms Pelosi said. Mr Trump has dismissed suggestions that any of his advisers, particularly Mr Bolton, are pushing him into a conflict. John has strong views on things, but thats OK. I actually temper John, which is pretty amazing isnt it? Mr Trump said recently when asked if he was satisfied with Mr Boltons advice. I have different sides. I mean, I have John Bolton, and I have other people that are a little more dovish than him. And ultimately I make the decision. Donald Trump has said he hopes the US is not on a path to war with Iran amid fears that his two most hawkish advisers could be angling for conflict. Asked if the US was going to war with Iran, the president replied I hope not, a day after he repeated a desire for dialogue, tweeting: Im sure that Iran will want to talk soon. The tone contrasted with a series of moves by the US and Iran that have sharply escalated tensions in the Middle East in recent days. For the past year, national security adviser John Bolton and secretary of state Mike Pompeo have been the public face of the administrations maximum pressure campaign against Tehran. The friction has rattled legislators who are demanding more information on the White Houses claims of rising Iranian aggression. The Islamic Republic of Iran has engaged in an escalating series of threatening actions and statements in recent weeks. Any attacks by them or their proxies against U.S. citizens or our interests will be answered with a swift and decisive response. Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) May 10, 2019 Leaders in Congress received a classified briefing on Iran on Thursday, but many other legislators from both parties have criticised the White House for not keeping them informed. Iran poses a particular challenge for Mr Trump. While he talks tough against foreign adversaries to the delight of his supporters, a military confrontation with Iran could make him appear to be backtracking on a campaign pledge to keep America out of foreign entanglements. Legislators and allies worry that any erratic or miscalculated response from Mr Trump could send the US into conflict. He pulled the US out of the Iran nuclear deal last year and reinstated sanctions on Tehran that are crippling its economy. Expand Close USS Abraham Lincoln (Kaitlin McKeown/Virginian-Pilot/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp USS Abraham Lincoln (Kaitlin McKeown/Virginian-Pilot/AP) Tensions rose dramatically on May 5 when Mr Bolton announced that the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group would be rushed from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf ahead of schedule in response to a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings. Since then, four oil tankers, including two belonging to Saudi Arabia, have been targeted in an apparent act of sabotage off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, according to officials in the region, and a Saudi pipeline was attacked by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels from Yemen. The US also ordered non-essential staff out of Iraq and has dispatched additional military assets to the region. The Senate will receive a classified briefing on Iran on Tuesday, according to Jim Risch, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. The House has requested a classified briefing as well. Expand Close Nancy Pelosi (J Scott Applewhite/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Nancy Pelosi (J Scott Applewhite/AP) House speaker Nancy Pelosi said briefings are necessary because informing leaders is no substitute for the full membership of the Congress. She said a failure to inform legislators is part of a pattern for the Trump administration that is not right because the power to declare war resides with Congress. I hope that the presidents advisers recognise that they have no authorisation to go forward in any way against Iran, Ms Pelosi said. Mr Trump has dismissed suggestions that any of his advisers, particularly Mr Bolton, are pushing him into a conflict. John has strong views on things, but thats OK. I actually temper John, which is pretty amazing, isnt it? he said recently when asked if he was satisfied with Mr Boltons advice. I have different sides. I mean, I have John Bolton, and I have other people that are a little more dovish than him. And ultimately I make the decision. WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives approved one of Indian Country's longest-running legislative priorities on Wednesday even as Republicans revolted against a closely-related bill opposed by President Donald Trump. By a vote of 323 to 96 , lawmakers in the chamber approved H.R.375 , which ensures that all tribes, regardless of the date of federal recognition, can restore their homelands through the land-into-trust process. The action marked the first time since 2010 that such a measure, also known as a "fix" to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Carcieri v. Salazar , has cleared either the House or the Senate. Yet while the roll call looks promising -- a quarter of the House voted in favor of H.R.375 -- it reinforces the challenges that tribes and their advocates face in the Trump era. Republicans supported the bill, but only by a narrow margin, and they ditched a second tribal land measure in droves after the leader of their party told them to. "We have seen the president, through his tweets, trying to sink an entire Native American tribe in the name of special interests, dirty lobbying and outright bigotry," Rep. William Keating (D-Massachusetts) said of Trump's controversial missive The tweet, according to Keating, was "racist." In it, Trump took aim indirectly at the Carcieri fix by targeting H.R.312 , the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reservation Reaffirmation Act, and by invoking the name of a Native woman, Pocahontas , in a derogatory manner. H.R.312 happens to be a Carcieri fix too, just on a more narrow basis. It ensures that the homelands of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe can't be taken out of trust but Trump derided it as "special interest casino Bill" because it has been supported, in the past, by one of his political rivals. "Some members of this body are eager to let him get away with it," Keating said in reference to the president's 24-word social media post . "But not me, not my co-sponsors, and not the majority of this House." The May 8 tweet resulted in H.R.375 and H.R.312 being pulled from consideration in the House that same day. It drew condemnation from the National Congress of American Indians and the United South and Eastern Tribes , some of whose members have been lobbying for both measures in hopes of bringing more certainty to the land-into-trust process and in order to prevent the federal government from taking a tribe's land out of trust for the first time in decades "In 2018, the administration issued a decision that would take the Mashpees' reservation out of trust," said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma), a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation , without specifying that the decision was issued under Trump's watch "This marked the first time since the termination era that a tribe has lost their trust land," added Cole, referring to the destructive federal policy that resulted in about 2.5 million acres of tribal property being lost between the 1940s and the 1960s. "Frankly, from my standpoint," continued Cole, who is the sponsor of H.R.375 and a co-sponsor of H.R.312 , "an attack on trust land anywhere threatens trust land everywhere." Indian bills, especially ones that enjoy bipartisan support , typically pass the House with overwhelming support from both parties. That happens regardless of which party is in charge of the chamber. Both H.R.375 and H.R.312, in fact, were originally going to be brought up under a procedure that reflected how stand-alone tribal bills have been treated as non-controversial for the past decade. After Trump's tweet, however, only the Carcieri fix was brought up under a suspension of the rules, which requires a bill to pass with the support of at least 2/3rds of the House. While the vote on H.R.375 met that threshold, the outcome shows the damage that was inflicted on Indian Country's legislative priority by the occupant of the White House. Nearly as many Republicans voted against the H.R.375 (88) as those who were for it (101), with only 13 votes separating the two camps. Trump, in essence, gave more members of his party permission to say no to the Carcieri fix because of its connection to H.R.312. The connection was gladly exploited by one Republican during debate on Wednesday. "H.R.375 has ridden alongside H.R.312 largely unnoticed, and no one has pointed out two crucial facts. One, that it exists as a contingency plan in case its sister bill, H.R.312, fails. And two, that its effect would be national rather than local," said Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Arizona), who led opposition to both measures. "H.R.375 and H.R.312 are two heads of the same snake, one large, one small," added Gosar, who once called Native Americans "wards of the federal government" and refused to apologize for the inaccurate comment "Senator Warren, regardless, will get her casino if either bill passes," Gosar concluded, happily pointing out the reason why H.R.312 is under fire. It's because Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts), who is hoping to defeat Trump as the Democratic presidential nominee in 2020, has supported the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe's efforts. The House just passed two bills to protect tribal land rights. After years of broken Republican promises to address the land into trust issue, we're moving forward and righting historic wrongs. I said @NRDems would fight for Native American rights. This is what that looks like. pic.twitter.com/Y7aDPxKsh8 Raul M. Grijalva (@RepRaulGrijalva) May 15, 2019 Trump's attack led to H.R.312 being brought up under a rule . It was the first time in recent memory -- perhaps about 10 years and maybe more -- that a stand-alone tribal bill was subjected to such scrutiny, another sign of how the tweet inflicted damage on Indian Country. "Bipartisan legislation to help a tribe like the Mashpee would normally pass the House without issue," Keating observed on Wednesday. "Just two weeks ago, we passed a parallel Republican-led bill for a tribe in California without a single member objecting -- not a peep from the other side." That bill is H.R.317 , which protects the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians from having some of its lands being taken out of trust, just like the Mashpee measure. It's title is remarkably similar too -- it's called the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Land Affirmation Act. But unlike H.R.312, the Chumash bill was brought up under a suspension of the rules . In a sign of its non-controversial nature, it passed the House without even going through a recorded vote, a route that is frequently taken for stand-alone Indian Country legislation. In contrast, more debate was required on the Mashpee bill, as was a roll call. And after Trump's tweet, Republicans weren't afraid of saying no to something they liked just a short while ago. A staggering 144 Republicans voted against H.R.312, according to the roll call . Only 47 supported it, far fewer than the ones who voted for H.R.375. As a result, both bills are in danger going forward on Capitol Hill. The Republican leaders of the Senate are already on record as refusing to bring up legislation that lacks backing from their party. After 10 years of unnecessary turmoil, NCAI thanks the House of Representatives for passing a Carcieri clean fix, (H.R. 375) addressing the land into trust conflict. NCAI hopes the Senate will also pass this legislation, marking a big win for all of #IndianCountry pic.twitter.com/2fPaaPk8b0 NCAI (@NCAI1944) May 15, 2019 With a Carcieri fix in reach for the first time since the Obama era, tribes and their advocates are hoping for a different outcome. "NCAIs hope is that our champions in the United States Senate will get behind this bill for a swift passage," the largest inter-tribal organization said in a statement on Wednesday. "Its passage would be a monumental win for Indian Country as tribal government land bases are part of the foundation of tribal sovereignty." Putting these issues off has already led to years of unnecessary misery for Indian Country, and tribes are tired of broken Republican promises to move tribal bills, so lets get these done in the Senate and move on, Grijalva said in a statement. These should not be controversial issues, but well have to see what Senate Republicans have in mind. Native Americans have waited too long for Congress to act, and Im proud to say today that the House has done its part under a Democratic majority. On February 24, 2009, the Supreme Court issued its Carcieri decision . The case is named for the Republican governor of Rhode Island who challenged the way the land-into-trust process has worked in the decades since it was authorized by Congress through the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. For the first time, a tribe must show that it was "under federal jurisdiction" in 1934 to qualify for the land-into-trust process. The requirement is considered unfair for those like the Mashpee, which gained federal recognition in 2007 despite having a long relationship with colonial, state and federal entities. "All tribal nations deserve to receive equal treatment under the IRA," NCAI said on Wednesday. H.R.375 clears up the uncertainty by stating that any federally recognized Indian tribe can follow the land-into-trust process. That would include the Narragansett Tribe , whose rights were diminished by the Carcieri ruling. Due to that connection, Rep. David Cicilline (D-Rhode Island) and Rep. James Langevin (D-Rhode Island) were among the small number of Democrats -- 8 total -- who voted against the Carcieri fix. Statement from Rep. Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma) on passage of H.R.375 in US House of Representatives on May 15, 2019. Cole's bipartisan bill ensures all tribes, regardless of the date of federal recognition, can restore their homelands through the land into trust process. #CarcieriFix indianz.com (@indianz) May 15, 2019 Despite a misguided Supreme Court opinion 10 years ago that jeopardized ownership of tribal trust lands and questioned the authority of the Secretary of Interior, I am encouraged progress has been made to reverse it and rightly restore 75 years of past precedent, said Cole. indianz.com (@indianz) May 15, 2019 While the federal government & tribal nations have at times had a battered and troubled relationship, this legislative action in the House symbolizes desire to keep the promises made to tribes, respect their sovereign status & repair damage done, said Cole, who is Chickasaw. indianz.com (@indianz) May 15, 2019 Despite bringing parity to all tribes, the language in H.R.375 doesn't resolve the doubts facing Mashpee, which is why H.R.312 was drafted. In addition to affirming the trust status of the tribe's reservation, the bill requires any litigation to be dismissed. Congress did the same for another tribe in 2014 and the Supreme Court later sanctioned the approach as constitutional in a decision known as Patchak v. Zinke , which was issued during Trump's second year in office. Only two Democrats voted against H.R.375: Cicilline and Langevin. Both remained silent about the Carcieri fix because speaking up might require involving the tribe in their home state. In contrast, they were honest about the reason they were vocal about a tribe in neighboring Massachusetts. Both said the First Light Resort and Casino would hurt Rhode Island's gaming interests. "This bill will allow the Mashpee Tribe to open a massive off-reservation casino right on the border of Rhode Island and Massachusetts, nearly 40 miles away from their historic tribal lands in Cape Cod," Cicilline asserted. "This bill will have enormous impacts on my home state of Rhode Island," Langevin said. "The intent of this bill is to allow for the construction of a new casino resort near the state line between Rhode Island and Massachusetts, which would rival the existing casinos in our state." Reaction from Chairman Cedric Cromwell on passage of H.R.312, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reservation Reaffirmation Act in US House of Representatives on May 15, 2019. #StandWithMashpee pic.twitter.com/puvqsbYnIk indianz.com (@indianz) May 15, 2019 "This is a Big Step for My Tribe, The People of The First, The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Nation!! Powerful Day for My people!! Onward to the Senate!! Thank You for your Patience, Love and Continued Support!!" indianz.com (@indianz) May 15, 2019 Join the Conversation Related Stories You are here: World Flash The Saudi-led coalition involved in the war in Yemen announced on Thursday the investigation of its airstrikes against Houthi military targets in Sanna, Saudi Press Agency reported. Turki al-Maliki, spokesman of the coalition, said in a statement that the findings related to a military operation conducted on Thursday in Yemen's capital Sanaa were referred to the Joint Incident Assessment Team for probing the possibility of accidental civilian casualties. He said all required documents were referred to the team. The spokesman asserted the coalition's commitment to the international law and the protocols of the military operations to ensure the highest level of responsibility and transparency. KXL Pipeline: Lakota warn state to protect water for public PIERRE At a May 8 hearing, Lakota speakers and other members of the public cited treaty law in warning the South Dakota Water Management Board to make sure its decisions benefit the public when considering staff recommendations to approve permits for TC Energy Corp.s proposed man camps and Keystone XL hazardous materials pipeline. The Canada-based proponent of the pipeline, formerly called TransCanada Corp., seeks nearly 167 million gallons of water over a two-year period from the Cheyenne, White, and Bad rivers for use in building and testing the tar-sands crude oil line. In addition, separate individual well owners have applied for two permits to divert flow from Inyan Kara and Hells Creek underground water tables in order to assure supply for six man camps, which are squatter settlements for the transient workers from elsewhere who would be hired to finish installing the line through unceded Lakota treaty territory. My great, great, great grandfather is Crazy Horse, and he never would have allowed people to have our water, said Mniconjou speaker Gathers People Woman of the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation. Now we have to stand on our treaties and ask why you have to allow foreign countries to come in and do what they want. She referred to the 1851 and 1868 Ft. Laramie treaties, which guaranteed the land and water of Lakota Territory would remain in the hands of the Oceti Sakowin, or Great Sioux Nation. Noting that she is teaching her grandchildren the use of traditional medicinal and culinary plants native to the territory, in addition to carrying on 30 years of service in cooking for ceremonies, as well as having helped feed 30,000 people at the 2016-2017 Oceti Sakowin spirit camp to oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline across unceded treaty territory, she said: We have to live off these lands. Our people still hunt. Our people still fish. We have our natural plants we gather every year after year after year. I come here with a sad heart today listening all day, cooking for my people. Come eat with us. Eat some of our buffalo. Eat some wild chokecherry wojapi. Eat some of our homemade bread, she added. We have good food. Lets make positive choices for the people so we can live life together in harmony, she concluded. Mni wiconi! Water is life! We cant drink oil. Ricky Gray Grass, 5th Member of the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council, spiritual leader and Sundance Chief, cited the treaties, noting, Article 6 of the Constitution says treaty law is the supreme law of the land. Were gonna make a stance on that. We were taught by the elders to carry on the fight ever since the discovery of America. Before the time of the discovery of America, we were here, and we didnt put claims to the air, land and water. It is a blessing given to us by the creator. Today I sit here in anger to hear about water being distributed to man camps. Im going to pray for your minds to make a right decision. Think about your children, their children, and the generations to come. Are we gonna be drinking bottled water from this time forward? Wopila, he concluded. Martin Bates of Sioux Falls addressed the board, saying, Protecting treaties is protecting the Constitution. He noticed the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) slogan is Protecting South Dakotas tomorrowtoday! and reasoned that even talking about giving away water for an oil pipeline project would be at odds with said purpose. A presenter who only identified himself as Jeremy, said, I came here from Colorado to support my Lakota friends. He told the board, This is not your land. This is not your water to give away, especially to man camps, which we know are notorious for picking up native women and disappearing them. Giving them access to water is not what were about. Were not afraid of you, and I trust that youll make the right decision, he concluded. Janie Stein, a Dakota Rural Action member from Sioux Falls, stressed, Water is precious. She objected to treaty rights being trampled in favor of fossil fuels that are hastening climate change. Water is a very important source of all life on this planet. We are in the middle of a climate catastrophe with 1 million species being threatened with extinction right now, she said. The diversion of water from agriculture to man camps, as DENR Chief Engineer Jeanne Goodman has recommended for the two individual water permits, and the entire KXL project should be immediately stopped, Stein argued, saying, I submit that the protections of our waters shall be held sacrosanct. Contact Talli Nauman at talli.nauman@gmail.com Copyright permission Native Sun News Today Join the Conversation Mira Rajput was recently spotted at the airport along with her husband Shahid Kapoor and kids Misha and Zain. They were travelling to Singapore for a holiday to attend the inauguration of Sasha's wax statue. Viral Bhayani As usual, Shahid and Mira were photographed by the photogs at the airport, but something uncommon happened which the trollers couldnt digest. One video of Shahid and Mira from the airport has gone viral after the onlookers spotted Taimurs nanny. The irony is that she is not Taimurs nanny. Every nanny who wears a white shirt with blue jeans is not Savitri. If you look closely, she is not Taimurs nanny. So its better the trollers stop judging Mira. Ever since this video has been viral, there have been speculations that Mira has hired Taimurs nanny, and if she has, its no big deal. To each one, his own. Viral Bhayani Mira, who has been the soft target for the trollers was brutally trolled. She was blamed for not holding her son properly, was labelled as a housewife, and was even told she is badly copying Kareena. Instagram Instagram For the uninitiated, Shahid and Kareena share a past but today they have buried the hatchet and moved on. In fact, they both featured in Udta Punjab and Shahid was the one who suggested Bebos name for the film as he thought she would be perfect for it. Superwoman Lilly Singh is an inspiration to every woman out there. She fought all the odds and is a self-made woman, she is loved and appreciated by everyone. She is one of the biggest Canadian Youtuber, comedian, television host and an actress. Sending out a loud and clear message to young women of India, Lilly joined the Olay, Face Anything campaign opening up about the judgments she faced, encouraging women to hold their heads high and put their fearless foot forward. Twitter But her journey hasnt been easy. Talking about her journey exclusively to Indiatimes, Lilly says, It definitely didnt happen overnight, I have been doing this since 2007, everything I have done, every mistake I have made, every lesson I have learned helped me get where I am. Talking about being fearless, well thats still in process, over the years I have travelled a lot, which had an impact on me as who as a person I am. It honestly made me comfortable in who I am and who I want to be. Twitter We quizzed her on how can one be fearless like her and she laughed and said, I think its tough growing up especially with my experience. I was born in a typical Asian family that had a lot of limitations. I grew up listening to girls shouldnt do certain things, they shouldnt laugh too loud, talk too much and all of those things, so its really tough being raised in that and then speaking out for yourself. It makes you feel that you are doing something wrong or disrespectful. She urges every girl to live and follow her dream because that whats makes you, So all girls out there, you have to decide and understand standing up for yourself and following your dreams and working hard doesnt mean you are disrespecting anyone or the tradition, what it means is that you are worth living a life and be who actually you are like and as a women we really need to understand. We just have to get rid of that we are disrespecting someone by following our dreams. Twitter When asked if the biggest problem. And Lilly said she isnt qualified to differentiate whats the biggest problem but definitely addresses whats the greatest problem. Lilly said, "One of the greatest problems is the culture, even women themselves believe that they cant speak up for themselves, my mom and grand-mom were like if I didnt get to do it so even you dont. I think thats not them trying to intentionally hurt us, they are raised like that and I think that cultural conversation should be taken up by men, women and everyone for a change. Lilly says the day she started being fearless and her game changed in her career and we agree. Twitter While concluding the interview, we asked her if she would want to be a part of Bollywood films, she happily said, I would love too and hope it happens; I would love to be in a Bollywood movie. I would happily do anything that involves dancing. We are sure her fans would love to see her do some thumkas in Bollywood films. What say? The Lok Sabha Elections, which began on April 11 is on its last phase now. With the voting to 59 seats across West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar in the seventh phase, the elections will come to an end on May 19. This Lok Sabha Election saw back and forth fights unlike anything in the past. The key issues ranged from national security to political legacies. If you ask voters, their priorities are way different from that of the political parties. One of the early surveys had found that among a number of issues in this election, female voters are most concerned about crimes against women. BCCL A Facebook poll by Indiatimes had also reflected the same with 87 per cent of the 7,400 participants saying that women safety is one of the most important issues in the Lok Sabha election. But other than the usual claims in their election manifestos and occasional references in speeches do politicians parties really care about women safety? The 2019 Lok Sabha elections will undoubtedly go down in the history as one of the crassest - with women candidates, cutting across party lines targeted with the most shameful and disgusting comments and remarks. According to Swati Maliwal, the Chairperson of Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), until there is a change in the patriarchal mindset, we will see politicians making such crass and misogynist comments on women politicians. She also added that such incidents discourage women from entering politics. "It is unfortunate that women do not occupy political space, whether you look at the parliament or assemblies, and when they try there is a lot of trolling and naming and shaming. Till women occupy political space women issues will remain unsolved," Maliwal said. BCCL She also felt that only if their political presence increase women will feel safe to go out. "For thirteen days, we travelled across Delhi and interacted with women voters to understand what their issues are. I was amazed to see that the real issues of women are not political issues at all. One thing each and every woman we interacted with raised was how unsafe they are, when they are out on the streets and when they are inside their houses," she said. Maliwal said that despite the alarming number of cases reported in the national capital, the conviction rate is very low. "I think people are just not scared. They think that they can do anything to any woman or girl and get away with it. When we asked the Delhi Police, they informed us that between 2012-14, 31,446 crimes against women were reported in Delhi, and less than 150 were convicted," she said. BCCL She also felt that even in the cases were convictions happened the system has failed to deliver justice. "Recently, I met the mother of Nirbhaya. She said something that will haunt me forever. She said sometimes she feels happy that her daughter died. At least she doesn't have to go through the scary and humiliating process to get justice. It has been six years, the SC has rejected the review petition of the convicts. But till now the death penalty has not happened." #ITCounts is an Indiatimes initiative to move beyond the noise and the name-calling and focus on issues that really matter to our generation. We aim to be more about migration, pollution, LGBTQ rights, women's issues and healthcare than about Pakistan, political posturing and trolling. If you have any suggestions/inputs/feedback or advice please hit us up at kabeer.sharma@timesinternet.in A few days ago Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in an interview, mentioned the Khan Market gang saying, Modis image has not been created by the Khan Market gang, or Lutyens Delhi, but 45 years of his toil good or bad. You cannot dismantle it. But Lutyens and the Khan Market gang created an image for a former Prime Minister [Rajiv Gandhi], Mr Clean, Mr Clean; how did it end up? Since then, the matter has been puffed up to an extent that BJPs Scheduled Caste Morcha member Deepak Tanwar has written to Home Minister Rajnath Singh requesting to change the name of Khan Market to Valmiki Market. In an interview with India Today, Tanwar said, The idea to get the name changed came from PM Modi's interview, where he mentioned the name of the market and said his identity or image is not built by the Khan Market lobby. If he himself is saying this then who are we to judge?" Facebook/Deepak Tanwar Tanwar does not own a shop or has any association with the market. He said he wants the name to be changed because Lord Valmiki is a part of our rich history." Khan Market, set up in 1951, was named in the honour of freedom fighter Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan, who helped traders migrate to India safely during partition. In BJPs rule, it all began with the renaming of Aurangzeb Road in Lutyens Delhi to APJ Abdul Kalam Road in September 2015. While many welcomed the change from the name Aurangzeb, the least popular of the six Great Mughal rulers, others characterised it as meddling with history. BCCL In September 2016, Race Course Road, known for housing the Prime Minister, was renamed to Lok Kalyan Marg. Later, the name of Dalhousie Road was changed to Dara Shikoh Road. The Yogi government has already named Mughalsarai city and railway junction after the name of BJP ideologue Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya. Allahabad has been renamed to Prayagraj and Faizabad is now Ayodhaya. The growing chorus for changing names of places and the name-change spree has little to do when it comes to benefitting the masses. PM Narendra Modi addressed media persons during a party-held press conference, at BJP headquarters this evening. It was the first time that the PM was at a Press conference amid several demands and challenges by the opposition parties in the last 5 years. The Press meet was organised moments before campaigning ends for the last phase of Lok Sabha Elections. BJP President was expected to anchor the meet, but Prime Ministers presence attracted more attention. PM Modi started off his address on a light note, mentioning tea, and then went on to admire his tenure for achieving an India where, "Ramzan, exams and elections are held at the same time." "I believe that some things we can say to the world with pride. We are the world's biggest democracy," said Mr Modi. Since it was the first of its kind event, media was full of expectation. However, Mr Modi spoke briefly and chose to avoid any direct question from journalists. Party president would answer the questions, he said. AP Amit Shah seemed confident that BJP will cross 300 seats. He said that journalists these days have double accountability citing their daily work and the regularly updating their social media. "I have come here to say thanks. I want to thank the people of the country through you (media). It will happen after a long time in the country, our government will come to power with absolute majority for the second consecutive time," he added. He said his government will work on everything mentioned in the manifesto one by one and bring a new governance culture. AFP Meanwhile, Congress president Rahul Gandhi also held a parallel Press conference in New Delhi. "Prime Minister holds a press conference just 4-5 days before the election ends. It is unprecedented. Prime Minister of India is holding a press conference for the first time," Rahul Gandhi said. "Role of Election Commission has been biased in this election. Modi can say whatever he wants to say while we're stopped from saying the same thing. It seems that the elections schedule was made for Modi's campaigning," said the Congress President. "The statements given about Gandhiji or Godse are very bad and are wrong for the society. Though she (Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur) apologised but I will never forgive her," Prime Minister Modi said in an interview with News24 TV channel. Read more Here's more top news of the day: 1) Now There's A Demand To Change The Name Of Khan Market To Valmiki Market Facebook/Deepak Tanwar Since then, the matter has been puffed up to an extent that BJPs Scheduled Caste Morcha member Deepak Tanwar has written to Home Minister Rajnath Singh requesting to change the name of Khan Market to Valmiki Market. Read more 2) Some Things Must Remain Sacred Or We Become Taliban, Says Anand Mahindra Amid Row Over Godse BCCL Mahindra posted a tweet on social media reminding his followers India is recognised worldwide as land of the Mahatma and has been a moral beacon in times of distress. Read more 3) After Man Allegedly Lynched By Cow Vigilantes In Jammu, Protests Grip State; Curfew Imposed AFP/Representational Image A Muslim man, identified as 52-year-old Nayeem Ahmad Shah, was shot dead and another injured by an armed group in the Chenab valleys Bhaderwah district, leading to protests and eventual curfew in the communally sensitive area. Read more 4) AFSPA Is Set To Be Withdrawn From Assam After 29 Years Of Insurgency And Struggle bccl/representational image Twenty nine years after its imposition, the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act is set to be withdrawn from Assam in August, and the Centre has already asked the Army to plan its return from the state. Read more 5) After Cyclone Fani Destroyed Their Home, This Odisha Family Is Forced To Live In Toilet odishapost Khirod Jena, a 59-year-old resident of Raghudeipur village under Derabishi block of Kendrapada has been living in his toilet since May 3, when Cyclone Fani ripped through the coastal district. Read more Almost all issues that people really care about in this country are missing from the manifestos and political campaign of nearly all major political parties. Education is one such as aspect without which any civil society cant be imagined. Its quite depressing to see that none of the political parties are even talking about education. Indiatimes spoke to Assistant Professor, Sayendeb Chowdhury, who teaches English and Cinema at School of Letters in Ambedkar University, Delhi. Professor Chowdhury spoke about education system in India, its future and whether what the government is doing for it will bear any fruits for education or not. Present state of education Professor Chowdhury isnt content with the present state of education in the country and says that bigger challenges lie ahead. bccl/representational image No, the present state of education in India isnt something it can say its proud of. There was a time when India had limited yet strong educational foundation but over a period of time, the education has expanded by leaps and bounds and its become very challenging to ensure quality, said Professor Sayandeb. Quality and quantity and missing bridge If we look around, there are schools and college all around, but do the numbers serve the collective purpose of imparting education to make an upright society? bccl/representational image The gap between quality and quantity is massive in India. Yes, we have colleges, school but when it comes to quality, there is a huge difference because majority of the institutes fail to compete along the global standard and those which are good, they dont have enough strength to accommodate people, Said Professor Sayendeb. Expand but ensure quality This is perhaps the biggest challenge before India - to ensures that its large population gets access to education without any reduction in . bccl/representational image More and more people want to go for higher education. Graduation has become a norm and in this scenario, there are two major challenges before us - one is to expand education and second is not to loose on quality. Because the kind of size, people and diversity, its very important that we have a system which imparts quality education to all because if we contain the quantity in order to ensure the quality, it poses a threat of some people who have access to quality education become elitist, he added. Education is must for a functional democracy Education is must for any democracy to function because educated youth can lead the nation to growth and prosperity. Many say if education gets into private hands, a solution to find equilibrium between quantity and quality can be reached, but Professor Chowdhury thinks differently. bccl/representational image Its true that there has be a solution to the quantity and quality conundrum because given the size of India, both in terms of land, diversity, cultures and of course population, we have ensure quantity with quality. Private institution can be a solution but its also a fact that even private institution have failed to address the quality and I dont education can be imparted properly if the state gets out of the system. Only the state with the help of private universities and institutions can find a solution to educational needs of the country and the solution lies in joint and constant effort by the state as well as the private entities, Professor Sayendeb added. #ITCounts is an Indiatimes initiative to move beyond the noise and the name-calling and focus on issues that really matter to our generation. We aim to be more about migration, pollution, LGBTQ rights, women's issues and healthcare than about Pakistan, political posturing and trolling. If you have any suggestions/inputs/feedback or advice please hit us up at kabeer.sharma@timesinternet.in Some people have a very simple way of thinking and looking at life. In a world where people are self-centred and only think about the things that will benefit them, there are people who actually believe in going beyond their call of duty to help others. Jay Singh, owner of a 7-Eleven in Toledo, Ohio, was working in the back office when an employee alerted him of a possible shoplifter. Singh checked the CCTV cameras in the shop and watched the teenager slyly keeping some food items in his back pocket. Singh came to the main store area, where the teen was at the counter paying for a few things. "I asked him, 'Take out whatever you have in your pocket,' so he took out one of the items," Singh told CNN. Singh knew that he had more items, so he told him to take out everything from his pocket else he will call the police. After that he told his colleague to call 911, but few seconds later he asked the boy the most important question Why did he steal?. To this the boy replied that he was hungry. At this point, an employee had a 911 operator on the phone but Singh told him to hang up. He said, Well that's not food. You're stealing gum, candies and junk food. That's just something for munching. If you're hungry, ask me. I'll give you food. Singh decided not to call the police, instead he gave him hot food and let him go. "When he said, I'm hungry and that's why I'm stealing, I said okay, he has some genuine problem. He's not a thief who's going and stealing stuff and selling it," Singh told CNN. Singh didnt want to ruin the boys life because he felt that if he went to jail hell only learn bad things. "Once you go to jail, you'll have a criminal record later in life. You're not going to be able to get any good job or anything," Singh told CNN. A customer who witnessed the incident also posted about it on Facebook. The post has till now garnered 2.8k shares and 9.2k reactions. Here is the post: After reading his post, people started praising the shop owner. 1. Facebook 2. Facebook 3. Facebook 4. Facebook 5. Facebook 6. Facebook Karen Vinacour, who worked as a social worker throughout her life, was almost about to lose her life savings worth $ 424,000 (almost 3 crore) at a pizza joint in New York but a waiter she had not tipped not only saved her check but also returned it to her safely. Karen visited the pizza joint with her daughter after looking at a house in the neighbourhood as she was planning on buying a new house with her life savings, most of which was money she got after having sold her old house. After the meal, she simply didnt tip the waiter and left. While clearing the table, the waiter, Armando Markaj found an envelope and when he opened it, he got the shock of his life upon seeing a check worth almost half a million dollars. Markaj is a medical student who is currently working part-time to reduce his student debt and hence, understood the value of money. NY Daily News He told The News that: Im happy for her, really. Saturdays are pretty busy and I was very close to taking everything left on the table and throwing it out when I saw an envelope. I just pulled up the flap and I saw Citibank and thought it was important, so I ran out to the street to look for her, but she was gone. Karen, however, didnt find out that the check in her purse was missing till a day after having left it. While Karen found out that her life savings contained in a check were missing from her purse, she didnt quite remember where she could have left it. She called up multiple places, including her daughter, but no one knew anything. In the meanwhile, Markaj along with the owner of the pizza joint were hell bent on getting the check back to the rightful person and hence, contacted the local newspaper in order to find Karen after having failed to find her using the internet which they did after having waited for a couple of days to see if the person who left it would return to take it. New York Daily News It was only a couple of days after that they could finally locate her and when she heard the news, she felt relieved and rushed to the pizza joint. However, she did apologise to Markaj for not having tipped him. She thanked everyone and collected what was hers. Flash Two teenage suspects of a high school shooting in U.S. state of Colorado have been hit each with 48 charges including first-degree murder and attempted murder. A Colorado prosecutor pressed the charges Wednesday against 18-year-old Devon Erickson and 16-year-old Alec McKinney in court, hours before thousands of people gathered to mourn the death of Kendrick Castillo, who died trying to save his classmates in the shooting. The two suspects were charged for the attack that left one dead and eight others wounded at the STEM Highland Ranch magnate school southwest of Denver on May 7. District Attorney George Brauchler, who led prosecution efforts in the 2015 trial of Aurora theater shooting which killed 12 people and wounded 70 others, chose to charge McKinney as an adult. McKinney, listed in court documents as Maya Elizabeth McKinney, appeared in a closed proceeding after Erickson Wednesday, and is reportedly a transgender transitioning from female to male. Douglas County District Judge Theresa Slade has put the case file under seal, banning the public from seeing it, and both suspects are being held without bond subjected to review at the next hearing on June 7. Erickson, of slim build with bushy, black hair dyed partially purple, was kept shackled at his wrists and ankles during Wednesday morning's hearing, by a judge's order. Castillo's parents stared at both defendants during the hearings. Hours later, they traveled a few miles away to their son's memorial service which drew more than 2,000 people. Castillo was shot trying to tackle Erickson after the suspect entered his classroom brandishing a handgun, witnesses said. Hundreds of vehicles lined the road for Castillo's service, where his father told those in attendance that his son's act was no surprise. "We love our community," John Castillo said. "We're a family of three and a little dog, but you know, I feel the love of thousands." Speakers at the service praised young Castillo, who was the only son of his family and just days away from graduating from the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) school of 1,800 students. "He died for us. Now it's time for us to live for him," said Dakota Mann, who was on the school robotics team with Castillo. In 1999, just about 11 kilometers away from Castillo's school, two teenagers killed 12 students and a teacher and injured 21 others at Columbine High School in a mass shooting. Do we not always dream to live in a place which is a mix of peace and party? Did you say Thailand? Well, then Thailand it is. Turns out you can buy a home in Thailand as its economy is reportedly getting weaker. They have come up with stricter mortgage-lending rules that is creating a whole new buyers market in Bangkok. Twitter Last year, about 65000 new apartments were added to the city, an 11% increase over 2017 and the most since 2009. With slightly warm demand in place, developers reported take up rates of 55% whereas average asking prices are decreasing 6% year-on-year. Aliwassa Pathnadabutr, a managing director of CBRE Group in Thailand says that now is your time to invest into Thailands market as home bulders are planning to clear excess stock at lower prices. She added that, The overall condominium market will be slower this year but there are still opportunities in some locations with the right product at the right price, she said. We believe the market is entering an equilibrium stage where prices will be adjusted to a more realistic level. The Finance Ministry predicted the slowest expansion in three years in the country and decided to cut its economic growth last month. Due to disputed elections the country is dealing with moderating exports and heightened political risk. Twitter The revised mortgage-lending rules that kicked in April may also limit the appeal of real estate because they restrict how much money some second-home buyers can borrow. Chinese visitors in Bangkok have also been dropped which is not a good sign and is impacting the country as a whole. Most of the foreign property buyers in Thailand had baan made up by Chinese Investors. Due to Chinas slow economy and limited outflow of capital controls, Chinese absence is evident enough. CBRE said that in 2019 real estate market outlook report that it was concerned about Thailands high reliance on foreigners. Most of the recent foreign buyers are investors and CBRE doubts they will live in the units they have bought. Foreign sales are highly sensitive to economic conditions of the buyers home country. According to Sopon Pornchokchai, president of the Agency for Real Estate Affairs, around 454,814 residential units across the country were left unsold last year, with a value of $41 billion. So it is not just Bangkok that is suffering. Twitter The falling prices may be short lived according to Knight Frank as Bangkok has good planned infrastructure projects that will help in its renewal. Ask anyone whos been in property how many times theyve heard the bubble will burst?, the firms Bangkok-based head of residential, Frank Khan, said. Ive heard this more than 10 times, but in my last 15 years, its never burst. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the first ever and joint press conference with BJP President Amit Shah in New Delhi. "It has not happened often in our country that a government with full majority returns once again with a majority," said PM Modi said. PM Modi has been criticised in the past by the opposition for not attending press conferences, despite giving numerous interviews in his five-year tenure. Amit Shah, meanwhile, said the press conference was organised to give the party's view on the completion of campaigning for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Meanwhile, media expected that they will get a chance to question the Prime Minister but they were left disappointed as he left the conference without answering a single question. And people could not keep calm: 1. #modipressconference I guess google has mistaken with the meaning @narendramodi didnt answer any questionsIt was on sided, stop misleading us google, how can he be wrong in this entire universe? pic.twitter.com/OUVDbErfNt Rucha Kanolkar (@RuchaKanolkar15) May 17, 2019 2. Modiji during his first and last Press Conference. #modipressconference pic.twitter.com/N6dYF5UHOt TONY G (@DeplaneDeplane) May 17, 2019 3. #ModiPressConference He came, he sat, he spoke, he sat, he made faces and he walked off! (@KavithaReddy16) May 17, 2019 4. Is that our PM or his cutout? Why wasnt he answering any questions?#Election2019 #modipressconference pic.twitter.com/y8QPbg7PRx aquib ali khan (@_aquib_) May 17, 2019 5. When your mann ki baat isn't cutting any mangoes anymore.#Modipressconference pic.twitter.com/CLWKTf9YXQ Aurindam (@Aurgho_) May 17, 2019 6. When your mann ki baat isn't cutting any mangoes anymore.#Modipressconference pic.twitter.com/CLWKTf9YXQ Aurindam (@Aurgho_) May 17, 2019 7. Role of Modiji in his press conference is same as role of 'p' in pseudo#modipressconference Ayush Ghai (@ayushghai) May 17, 2019 8. 9. 10. 11. If they call this a press conference. I can safely declare that I'm GOD. *no questions asked *#Modi #ModiPressConference Dr. Vikram (@indian_politics) May 17, 2019 12. Is Amit Shah going to be the next PM of India #ModiPressConference Joseph Ronald (@ajronald) May 17, 2019 Meanwhile, taking a jibe at PM Modi, Rahul Gandhi also tweeted, 'Congratulations Modi Ji. Excellent Press Conference! Showing up is half the battle. Next time Mr Shah may even allow you to answer a couple of questions. Well done! ' Congratulations Modi Ji. Excellent Press Conference! Showing up is half the battle. Next time Mr Shah may even allow you to answer a couple of questions. Well done! Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 17, 2019 What is your take on it? Tiring shifts in restaurants and bosses who don't let you live down honest mistakes, can make life for some employees. But this generous manager pulled through and his heartwarming message to the errant employee is winning hearts. A steakhouse in Manchester, England tweeted a really motivating message to a server who made a costly mistake. A server at Hawksmoor Manchester steakhouse and cocktail bar mistakenly poured wine from a bottle of Chateau le Pin Pomerol 2001 for a customer which was worth 4500 (Rs 4 lakh). But the customer had ordered a bottle that cost about 110 (Rs 10k). The two bottles looked similar, and the error was realised much after the wine has been poured and had. But the way the manager handled the situation was unexpected: To the customer who accidentally got given a bottle of Chateau le Pin Pomerol 2001, which is 4500 on our menu, last night - hope you enjoyed your evening! To the member of staff who accidentally gave it away, chin up! One-off mistakes happen and we love you anyway Hawksmoor Manchester (@HawksmoorMCR) May 16, 2019 And while some people went on to post negative replies, the message from the restaurant, this time in all CAPS, read: THEY LOOK PRETTY SIMILAR OK?! pic.twitter.com/JWFW81cbe8 Hawksmoor Manchester (@HawksmoorMCR) May 16, 2019 That the man behind the tweets had a big generous heart did not go unnoticed: 1. Excellent handing of an unfortunate (or fortunate for that lucky customer) situation. I'm really impressed by this refreshing attitude towards simple human error. I also hope the member got a generous tip! Rera (@ReraPops) May 16, 2019 2. I wonder did they know what they were drinking? Presumably as a resto error, had they mentioned it you still could not have charged. My guess is those very lucky customers had no idea Parkers Arms (@parkersarms) May 16, 2019 3. This tweet is criminally underrated. Bravo good sir Andy Widdowson (@andygwiddowson) May 16, 2019 4. This could be an exciting new feature @HawksmoorMCR - lucky dip Wednesdays! Ben Smith (@benxwine) May 16, 2019 5. Wouldnt expect you to handle this in any other way... first class restaurant and culture Cuckoo Prestwich (@CuckooPrestwich) May 16, 2019 6. Not quite on the same scale but the same thing happened to one of my staff once... best thing was the guest brought it back and complained that it was wrong after one glass! We then decided it was a good opportunity to taste a rare wine as a team! Jack Salter (@JackBSalter) May 16, 2019 7. We love the way you handled this guys Manchester Confidential (@mcrconfidential) May 16, 2019 Hawksmoor founder Will Beckett told BBC News that a manager from another Hawksmoor location was helping the waitress on a busy night, and erred when picking up the bottle. The customer apparently did not know of the mistake. Beckett told BBC that the employee involved was "brilliant, and we know she is brilliant," so he thought forgiveness was the correct way to handle it. "I am going to tease her for this when she stops being so mortified," Beckett said. What will it take for companies like Amazon to realise that hurting religious and patriotic sentiments with what they sell won't increase sales but simply offend communities? In some cases it was noticed that Amazon wasn't selling these products directly, but third party sellers were. But how does a huge e-commerce platform like Amazon not have a clue of the stuff being sold on its website? One can only assume that the blinders Amazon has on seem to be quite overworked. A brief timeline of events: 2017: Canadian arm of global e-commerce giant Amazon was seen selling the national flag of India online. A curt warning from External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj-- of not granting Indian Visa to any Amazon official--sent Amazon scrambling to remedy the situation. Swaraj tweeted demanding an unconditional apology from the company and that the product should be removed. Indian High Commission in Canada : This is unacceptable. Please take this up with Amazon at the highest level. https://t.co/L4yI3gLk3h Chowkidar Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) January 11, 2017 2017: Not much after the national flag fiasco, Amazon India started selling skateboards with an image of Lord Ganesha on it. Infuriated, Ajay Jagga, a Chandigarh-based advocate then wrote to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh seeking the removal of product, an apology and an FIR, if needed. "If the needful is not done, lodge FIR against under Section 295 of the IPC against Amazon India for hurting the sentiments of people," he said. KXCDN.COM 2018: Next, in December, 2018, there was a strong reaction from the Sikh Coalition after it was found that doormats, rugs and toilet seat covers with the image of Golden Temple were reportedly being sold on Amazon. "It has come to our attention that several sellers are posting products onto your platform that culturally appropriates the imagery of the Golden Temple and spiritual imagery of other eastern cultures," The Sikh Coalition's Senior Manager of Advocacy & Policy Sim Singh said in a letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Senior Vice President & General Counsel David Zapolsky. Not much later, the product was removed. But, the damage was done. People were pissed off. The sacred Darbar Sahib & Khanda do not belong on toilets @amazon@JeffBezos we're extremely disappointed to see you sell these highly offensive products. Pls consider our #SikhAwareness Training offer. Read our press release: https://t.co/BmwDL0UPkl #BoycottAmazon to remove pic.twitter.com/zFxs5iJzWJ UNITED SIKHS (@unitedsikhs) December 19, 2018 2019: Earlier this year, in January, Amazon was at it again. This time again, toilet seat covers and floor mats featuring Islamic scripture were reportedly found being sold online. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a "civil rights and advocacy organization", released a statement asking "Amazon to remove a number of doormats and bath mats imprinted with Islamic calligraphy, references to the Prophet Muhammad and verses from the Quran, Islam's holy text." And in a process Amazon was all too familiar with by now, Amazon took down the items. Again, sentiments had been hurt. Now again, Amazon's encore performance in the show nobody's impressed with so far, the company was found selling shoes, rugs and toilet covers with images of Hindu gods on it. And it was just a matter of time before #BoycottAmazon would trend on Twitter. And it did, on May 16, 2019. The following tweet from user Sushil Dixit just about sums up what everyone's feeling. Mistake is a mistake when it is done once or twice But #Amazon is a repeat offender who seems to enjoy hurting the religious sentiments of #Hindus Do u have the guts to sell products mocking Islam or Christianity or Hindus are soft targets?? Shame on Amazon#BoycottAmazon pic.twitter.com/Y7mmi2fhzv Sushil Dixit (Adv) (@advosushildixit) May 16, 2019 Thousands of people on Twitter tagged Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and urged her to take action against the worlds biggest online retailer. This is how Indians across the world reacted to it: 1. #BoycottAmazon Nothing more to pen down here Panchu SP (@SpPanchu) May 16, 2019 2. mocking against any religion is not acceptable.#BoycottAmazon akram (@akrambharatt) May 16, 2019 3. Shamful for Amazon, all people should be Bycot Amazon. Vishnu (@Vishnu54342006) May 16, 2019 4. 5. #BoycottAmazon You have no right to hurt any religious sentiments and beliefs @amazon @AmazonHelp @AmazonUK @amazonIN never ever buying from your platform and uninstalling you. You better need to learn to respect other religions and countries. pic.twitter.com/ZNqyetEzmt Rohit verma (@rohitverma221) May 17, 2019 6. I dont know when these people will show respect for others. My India is a place of holy people but overseas there are some whose mentality is just making money and criticising others. " ". #BoycottAmazon #AmazonInsultsHindu pic.twitter.com/LiJRnRoxIZ Keshav Singhal (@_keshavsinghal) May 17, 2019 7. #BoycottAmazon What are you guys trying to prove? Who are you trying to appease by doing this? What happens to everyone's cultural appropriation when it comes to Hinduism? pic.twitter.com/xLz53zSmrU Deepak Nadgir (@deepaknadgir) May 17, 2019 8. Am a fan of Amazon for how it revolutionised e-commerce in India, but disregarding religious sentiments for the sake of business is unacceptable! All responsible should be sacked and an apology tendered to all Hindus. Till such time no more Amazon for me.#BoycottAmazon ANIRUDH BISHT (@MrAnirudhbisht) May 17, 2019 9. #BoycottAmazon Show some bloody respect to Indians Amazon pic.twitter.com/RTo3bY35Yf Sangem shekar (@SangemShekAR116) May 17, 2019 10. #BoycottAmazon let's stop this . amazon is making fun of our culture and hindu gods . https://t.co/AIfQcAIMJp saathvik bhat (@SaathvikB) May 17, 2019 It's high time Amazon pulled up its socks. Because while we're accusing the media and political parties of fuelling the fire of communal discord, we can't discount e-commerce companies we shop daily from. Indian American filmmaker Nirav Bhakta and Indo-Canadian filmmaker Gayatri Bajpai won the first prize for their short film, Halwa, at the 2019 Asian Pacific American Visionaries Short Film Competition. Seen are (l-r): Sujata Day, APA Visionaries 2019 Ambassador; Asit Vyas, lead actor; Vijaya (Vee) Kumari, lead actress; Bajpai, Bhakta, Jackie Gagne, vice president of multicultural marketing at HBO; and Rajendra Vora, founder and president of Beverly Hills Jain Social Group. (photo provided) Molycorp Inc. has put its rare earths mining and processing business up for a Chapter 11 vote and confirmation hearing in the US state of Delaware later this month, after releasing a revised reorganisation plan that acknowledged major unknowns and potential objections to its bankruptcy exit route. The move followed the cancellation of a final court session, scheduled for Friday last week, on public disclosure terms of the plan, which has a 25 March voting deadline, according to a report by Law 360. The Colorado-based miner still does not have a firm plan of action for Molycorp Minerals business and Mountain Pass rare earth mine in southeast California. The assets attracted just a single bid after they were put up for auction last month. According to Law 360, the outcome of the vote is uncertain and could see Molycorp lose control of the restructuring of the company, which has $1.7bn in debt. In China, Shenghe Resources Holding Co. and China Nuclear Energy Industry Corp. (CNEIC) have signed a strategic cooperation agreement for the production and storage of the rare earth-bearing ore, monazite, with Two Seven Two Uranium Industry Co., a subsidiary of China National Nuclear Corp. Shenghe is a rare earths separation, smelting and processing businesses. Its deal with CNEIC and Two Seven Two is aimed at promoting the use of rare earths in the civil nuclear industry, according to local media reports. Also in China, the countrys Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has announced 213 new industrial standards, six of which apply to rare earths, and is seeking public consultation before making them official. These proposed rare earths standards apply to cerium-ironalloy, holmium oxide, yttrium metal, scandium-aluminum alloy and holmium-iron alloys. If passed, the new standards will replace existing regulations relating to quality certificates and applications for the materials. In Australia, Alkane Resources Ltd has revealed it is in discussions with aerospace companies about supplying them with hafnium from its Dubbo zirconia and rare earths project (DZP) in New South Wales (NSW). "We are certainly talking to aerospace companies about coming on as strategic partners and investors, because these are the guy who have a long-term requirement for our products," Ian Chalmers, Alkanes managing director, told The Australian. Chalmers said that there was scope for such business to provide funding for the DZP, pointing out that the project was still two years away from production. "When we do come on stream, we will be a big player in the hafnium market," he said. Separately, Alkane announced that its subsidiary, AZL, has been granted an environmental protection licence (EPL) for the DZP by the NSW Environmental Protection Authority. The EPL specifies limits on the project's emissions to air, land and water and details environmental monitoring and reporting requirements. Alkane said that the EPL is the final major step in the approvals process needed to AZL to proceed to construction, subject to financing. ASX-listed Arafura Resources Ltd has warned that it expects to incur a non-cash impairment charge to previously capitalised assets of its Nolans rare earths project in Australias Northern Territory of Australian dollar (A$) 27.7m ($20.9m*). The company explained that the anticipated charge has resulted from a review of the deferred evaluation costs for the Nolans project and specifically those incurred in the development of a now superseded hydrochloric acid pre-leach flowsheet. Arafura has been developing the flowsheet for extracting rare earths from Nolans ore for a number of years and has devised a process based on a sulphuric acid pre-leach and double sulphate precipitation, meaning the previously developed hydrochloric acid-based route is no longer required. The company stressed that the charge is non-cash in nature and will therefore not affect Arafuras future cash flow or cash position. Fellow Australia-based Northern Minerals Ltd has signed a deal with uranium developer Toro Energy Ltd to take over Toros stakes in four tenements in and around the Brown Range rare earths project in the Northern Territory. The tenements, which were previously held under a joint venture between the two companies, will now be 100% owned by Northern, which will issue Toro with A$200,000-worth of Northern Minerals shares within the next 12 months in return for the stakes. Alternatively, if Northern manages to raise A$10m in capital within the next year, the sum will be paid in cash. Last month, Northern secured an $A1.1m loan facility from Innovative Technology Funding Pty Ltd and has an application in for an R&D rebate from the Australian governments Research and Development Tax Incentive scheme for its work on producing dysprosium oxide from Browns Range. Finally, TSX-V-listed Ucore Rare Metals Inc. has completed construction of the all the necessary molecular recognition technology (MRT) superstructure, processing architecture, automation systems and initial water testing for its SuperLig-One rare earth separation plant. The facility, which is being constructed by Utah, US-based IBC Advanced Technologies of American Fork, is currently being put through pre-production quality control and testing near Salt Lake City in Utah. The next step for the plant is the commissioning phase, which is due to be commissioned later this month. Ucore plans to use the facility to process rare earths ore extracted from its Bokan Mountain rare earths project in Alaska. *Conversion made March 2016 By William Adams Lithium producer share prices have diverged with the "Traditional 5" remaining near the bottom of their 52-week ranges, see chart 1, while others have become more buoyant, led by the next-in-line producers and followed by some of the Australian hard rock producers that started production last year. Australian conglomerate Wesfarmers bid for lithium producer Kidman Resources has excited the market once again and boosted interest in the share prices of those lithium producers, both newly in production and next in line, that are still open to investment or partners. Wesfarmers announced the proposal on May 2. The 100% acquisition was valued at $776 million and is subject to due diligence, approvals and final board agreements. The deal includes a 50% stake in Mount Holland lithium project in Western Australia, with the other 50% owned by leading lithium producer Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA (SQM). Other new producers and junior mining projects that have already found partners, such as Mineral Resources which formed a joint venture with Albemarle for the Wodgina project and Lithium Americas with Ganfeng, have not been that affected by the Wesfarmers bid, as their share prices had already been boosted by their individual partnering announcements. Other miners still open to investment have seen share prices rise since Wesfarmers bid for Kidman Resources, see chart 2. For example, Pilbara Minerals is considering partners for an uncommitted stage 3 offtake, chemical plant participation and potentially a 20-49% minority ownership of the project. When it announced it was looking for stage 3 partners on March 28, share prices rallied some 16%, but then fell back when there was no fresh news of actual partnerships. The price rallied again on the back of Wesfarmers bid for Kidman Resources since the bid may signal that other large corporations may start to get more interested in merger and acquisition activity in the lithium space. Share prices of junior lithium miners Birimian Ltd, Bacanora Lithium, Sigma Lithium and Neo Lithium, among others, also rose on the back of the Wesfarmers bid. This shows M&A activity has potential to breathe life into those miners and projects that could still benefit form fresh investment, as in the case of Kidman Resources. If the Wesfarmers bid goes ahead, Wesfarmers will also invest its share of the extra project capital needed to bring the Mount Holland project into operation. Wesfarmers estimates its share of that project capital could be $600 million, so M&A activity is likely to remain a lifeline to those projects that still need financing. The rising tide from the Wesfarmers bid has not lifted all boats, the "Traditional 5" producers from South America have all remained under pressure, especially Livent who issued a sales warning on May 8. Generally, lower spot and new contract prices and increased competition is weighing on these traditional producers. Fastmarkets forecasts the spot lithium carbonate price, cif China, Japan and Korea, to average $10.25 per kg in 2019, after a range last year of between $14 and 17.60 per kg. The price was recently assessed at $11-13 per kg. The traditional producers may even have to take the lead in restricting supply to underpin prices. SQM announced its 2019 sales would be some 10,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) below its production, meaning it will stockpile material and Albemarle has said it would only sell spodumene from the Wodgina project if there was demand for it and they could get their required margin these both seem proactive steps to help avoid too much oversupply. The other equities that have underperformed have done so for various reasons: Advanced Metallurgical Group (AMG) is a well-established diverse producer and therefore not a pure lithium play and Nemaska Lithium is still struggling following its announcement in February that it needed extra financing. Nemaska is now following a dual-track financing action plan to raise equity, and/or look at M&A opportunities. While Wesfarmers is an outsider investing in the lithium supply chain, there are many potential companies that will need lithium that could also be interested in securing supply, or indeed have access to lithium at the cost of production. As such, we do expect M&A activity to pick-up and for that to boost the share prices of those involved. That said, share prices might rise into any M&A event, but then subside once a deal is done - this is because the more M&A that is done the more likely those projects will come on stream sooner rather than later and that could push the next supply deficit further down the road. Conclusion Our outlook is bullish for demand for electric vehicles and energy storage systems and we expect strong compound average growth rates (CAGR) of 35% and 42% for each respectively. But, not wanting to over simplify the situation too much, the sudden pick-up in new lithium production in 2018, which will ramp up this year with more of the new material getting qualified, means the market has suffered a significant supply response in a short period of time and it will take demand, even at 35% CAGR, time to catch up. So while lithium prices look set to remain depressed due to current oversupply, M&A activity in the industry may well step up a gear when potential buyers, and those looking to secure supply, take advantage of this low price environment. Nollywood actress, Uche Ogbodo, who is celebrating her birthday today, took to her Instagram story to ask a question about legalizing prostitution in Nigeria. The actress who shared Nude photos queried the government on why prostitution is not legalised in Nigeria. Also Read:I want to f**k Ned Nwokos daughter- Speed Darlington Uche Ugbodo is believed to be reacting to the arrest of prostitutes in Abuja by police officers. The actress who had earlier revealed that she always dreamt and prayed for love, for a real man a husband, for a happy family, but she became a single mother instead. She wrote: A former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) is no doubt, one of the most popular critics of President Muhammadu Buhari. However, Fani-Kayode says although nothing has changed, he commends the president for declaring late MKO Abiola, Winner of the June 12, 1993, presidential election and declaring that June 12 replace May 29th as Democracy Day. The declaration was endorsed on Thursday by the National Assembly Meaning Nigerians will now celebrate Democracy Day on June 12th, every year While May 29th, every four years when a new president is to be sworn into office. According to Fani-Kayode, while speaking via Twitter on Friday, he would continue to commend Buhari for the move Because not even one PDP government including the one he served in, from 2003 till 2007, had the courage to do so. He wrote: I remain an ardent critic of the Buhari admin. but there is one thing that I shall always commend them for the establishment of June 12th as the real Democracy Day, he said. Sadly not one PDP govt, including the one I served from 2003 till 2007, had the courage to do that, FFK added. The judgment of a man who killed his daughters boyfriend to die by hanging has been upheld by an Appeal Court sitting in Calabar, Cross River State. The Appeal Court upheld the High Court decision to sentence Godwin Elewana, a former employee of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, to death by hanging for murder. Elewana, in suit Number CA/C/278C/2018, had appealed against the High courts ruling in Calabar, sentencing him to death for fatally shooting 22-year-old Douglas Ojugbo, said to be his daughters boyfriend. Justice Y. Ninpar, on behalf of three other judges of the Appeal Court, while delivering the judgement said: The court, having gone through all the evidence and addresses by counsels for both parties, finds the judgment of the lower court credible and therefore valid before the law. The presiding judge of the High Court in Calabar, Justice Ukpa Ebitam, had said in his ruling that the prosecution team, led by Mr Eneji Amajama, a Deputy Director in the Department of Public Prosecutions in the State Ministry of Justice, proved its case beyond any reasonable doubt that the accused committed the crime. The prosecution team also proved the second ingredient of the murder, which was the intentional act. To have fired the victim twice with his pump action gun, I agree that the killing was intentional and I hereby find the accused person guilty of murder. Subject to Section 319 of the Criminal Code of Cross River State, any person who commits murder is sentenced to death by hanging. The arrest of a Kannywood actress Hadiz Gabon has been ordered by a Chief Magistrate Court after their Thursday sitting. The order for the arrest was made after the actress failed to appear before the court following allegations against her by Mustapha Badamasi Naburaska. The court also ordered that an investigation be carried out on the assault allegation against the actress. The court held that Since the invitee is not willing to respect the order of this court, I hereby order the C.O.P [Commissioner of Police] to cause the arrest of the invitee, he said. I further order the C.O.P to investigate the allegation of the complainant and if there is an iota of truth, to charge the suspect before any court of law for prosecution. Recall a fellow Kannywood actress, Amina Abdullahi, also had an issue with Jadiza claiming the actress hacked her social media accounts and edited some messages in her inbox. What happened was that I posted something on one of my social media handles and I didnt know that the post angered Hadiza Gabon, whom I regard as a role model. In the beginning, it was a picture that was not decent. So, a lot of people were complaining and in the end I included another DM (direct message) and some wordings. However, I didnt know that she was not happy with the post since I didnt mention anyones name in it. She said the video of the assault went viral after it was uploaded on social media. The disclosure was made by the minister of finance, Zainab Ahmed, who, however, noted that the federal government is still working out modalities before the implementation of the new allowance for corps member. She said: The other aspect that should be clear is that there is an increase for the NYSC as well because NYSC, by its Act, is designed that they earn the minimum wage. So, NYSC allowance also has to increase to N30, 000. So, I cannot give you projections right now because the negotiations are not yet concluded. The newly wedded Wife of popular Ghanaian actor John Dumelo, Gifty Mawuenya, has accused a troll of being a witch. Gifty Mawuenya posted a photo of herself, mother and father, one of the photos taken during her wedding ceremony on Instagram and captioned it; Mummy and daddy Also Read: Nollywood Actress, Charity Nnaji Blames Herself Over Pastors Suicide An Instagram user, @tizzlin9524 for replied with contempt. The user wrote; I dont know but this wedding irritates me so much, no had feelings tho I just dont know why sorry. Mawuenya replied the troll; I dont know why but I think this is certainly the highest form of witchcraft thank you See conversation below: Dolapo Badmus the Zonal Police PRO, has made it known that more internet fraudsters will be nabbed. Following the arrest of Naira Marley, Zlatan Ibile and a couple of other young men over allegations of internet fraud, Badmus while responding to a comment on her Instagram page, said, the raid is ongoing, Im sure the security arm will sanitize the Internet space, more will still get tracked since the radar is on in the social media space! We cant continue to allow criminals celebrate their crimes like its a normal thing to do. More will still go. No amount of colouration can right wrong! Bad will not take over good in our land. See screenshot below; Adesua Wellington posted about how married people get fat after a little time. She wrote: A fan jokingly warned her that anything she says at the moment can be translated to mean her announcing her pregnancy. The fan wrote: Lina Nwoko, One of the wives of a Former House of Representative member, Ned Nwoko, has accused Nollywood actress, Regina Daniels, of using voodoo to get the attention of her husband, Ned Nwoko. It all started after Regina Daniels dropped a picture via her Instagram page which she captioned Legit and Lina who is a Moroccan took a swipe at her. According to Lina who spoke via the comment section of the screen divas page, she dropped that the teenage actress used voodoo on Ned Nwoko before going on to add that she is also poor at cooking. See The Post below: Kemi has now released chats she claimed proved that the actress was indeed sleeping with the pastor despite having denied this. The controversial journalist captioned her posts; The PAIN is too much for me and my son!! After two and a half years, not waiting to publish it in my book or even the newspaper Punch that I gave exclusively to yesterday 5/16/19, I am now releasing the letter that came from @iyaboojofespris NGO phone #PinkiesGroup. It was traced by a retired Canadian police officer I once worked with, now a private investigator got the phone number that opened this fake account with the @Instagram app from Facebooks legal department and @truecaller in Sweden tracked the SIM to that name. This is NOT Iyabos PAs phone!!! This is Iyabos business line which #VivianMetchie told me Gbeminiyi Adegbola always carries. So who did Adegbola conspire with to attempt to destroy Iyabo using a Journalist and substitute the name of Apostle Suleiman with Ibiyeomie an innocent pastor? Could it be Iyabos ex husband? They say Gbeminiyi is on the run from police from stealing from the NGO. Why did they bring their dirty lives to me because I write credible stories about pastors and vindicated? This is why my testimony at #SalvationMinistries was themed Dont let the devil use you. Because if this case I retired from Journalism in Nigeria, no longer take newstips while people no longer have a voice. This case was a set up from Iyabos phone line that took away my own livelihood. I dont eat everyday because I have no funds to do anything anymore due to my Psychological health. I went to prison for NOTHING. Vivian Metchie says she returned the car Iyabo was fighting her for and they have reconciled back as friends. The prosecutors as you can see say I made up the Ebiye patience letter which was sent to me and even Vivian Metchie was an imaginary person. The Rivers State prosecutors even dragged me to their jurisdiction where I did not even commit the so called crime, DEFAMED me as not being a Journalist nor receive news tips from the public. Civil and Criminal cases will be announced. This is why you see some blogs call me self acclaimed Journalist when I attended a 50 yr American Broadcasting school. The disrespect, defamation and unjust criminal accusations was just too much. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH IYABO OJO #kemiolunloyo The presidential candidate of the Young Progressives Party(YPP), Kingsley Moghalu has described as bad the secret mining of gold in Zamfara state while the open sharing of the crude oil in Niger Delta. Moghalu who says he believes in Nigeria, but that the country comprises of many nations in one According to the former presidential candidate, Nigeria can only become one nation if smaller nations have space to thrive in the larger one. Speaking via a tweet on Thursday, Moghalu said there must be a shared national ambition before h country can become one nation. He wrote: I believe in Nigeria. But we are many nations in one country. We can only become one nation if all the smaller nations have space to thrive in the larger one. Plus a shared national ambition. Secret gold mining in Zamfara while we share Niger Delta oil is bad! #Restructuring The Securities and Exchange Commission has sternly warned Nigerians against participating in the trending online investment scheme tagged Loom Money Nigeria. The warning was given by Mary Uduk, acting director-general of the commission, at a news conference in Abuja on Thursday. According to Efe Ebelo, SECs head of media, Uduk, who was represented by Isyaku Tilde, acting executive commissioner, operations of SEC, said Loom Money Nigeria had taken over the social media. The director-general revealed further that the scheme tried to get young people to participate in this pyramid model of the Ponzi and that those behind it carry out their illegitimate activities via social media platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp. A Ponzi scheme is an investment fraud that involves the paying returns to existing investors using from funds contributed by new investors. The scheme lures young people to invest as low as N1,000 and N13,000 and to get as much as eight times the value of the investment in 48 hours. We are aware of the activities of an online investment scheme tagged Loom Money Nigeria. The platform has embarked on an aggressive online media campaign on Facebook and WhatsApp, she said. They lure the investing public to participate by joining various Loom WhatsApp groups to invest as low as N1,000 and N13,000 and get as much as eight times the value of the investment in 48 hours. Unlike MMM that had a website and the promoter known, the people promoting Loom are not yet known and this pyramid scheme operates through closed groups mainly on Facebook and WhatsApp. If it were a local Ponzi scheme with known offices, it would be very easy for the Commission to seal their offices and freeze their accounts. We therefore wish to notify the investing public that the operation of this investment scheme has no tangible business model hence its a Ponzi scheme, where returns are paid from other peoples invested sum. Also, its operation is not registered by the Commission. As a result, Uduk warned Nigerians to stay far away from the scheme, else they do so at their own risk. She said an inter-agency committee, financial services regulation coordinating committee, was working on the issue, and that the commission was also collaborating with security agencies to track them down. Interestingly, Nigeria isnt the only country where Loom Pyramid Scheme exists In the UK for instance, there were reports last month that the scheme resurfaced online all over the world, with different names such as loom circle, fractal mandala and blessing loom. However in Nigeria, its central name is Loom Money Nigeria but individuals create their own groups such as Amaka Loom, Bode Loom on WhatsApp. Femi Fani Kayode, a former minister for aviation and a staunched Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) has expressed shock after a man was sentenced to death for farting inside the mosque during a prayer session. According to Fani Kayode who shared the story via his Twitter handle today, 17th May, he said the incident happened in Pakistan. Muslims across the World are currently observing the mandatory Ramadan fasting which is expected to last for at least a month. His words: A man is sentenced to death in Pakistan for farting in a mosque during Ramadan. What is the world coming to? His tweet: Femi Fani Kayode, a former minister of Aviation says he might not be a member of the All Progressives Congress(APC) but he commends its National leader, Bola Tinubu for aspiring for 2023 presidency. The Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) chieftain said this in a few tweets on Friday afternoon. Fani-Kayode said Tinubus aspiration for 2023 presidency has broken some myths that the APC is a party of the North. And that the North owns Nigeria. What he wrote A national leader of the All Progressives Congress(APC) has been praised by Femi Fani-Kayode, a former Minister of Aviation for having the courage to aspire to be president in 2023. The former Minister also a Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) chieftain said he might not be a member of the APC but Tinubus 2023 presidential ambition is worth commending. According to Fani-Kayode, many Southerners have shied away from even aspiring for the highest office in the country, thereby giving credence to the myth that Nigeria belongs to the North. Speaking via his Twitter hand on Friday, Fani-Kayode wrote: I am not in Bola Tinubus party but I commend him for having the courage to aspire to be Pres. in 2023. How many southern politicians from either @OfficialAPCNg or @OfficialPDPNig have had the guts to do that? If nothing else he has challenged the myth that the north owns Nigeria. The former minister said Tinubu also challenged the view that the north owns the APC. He stated further that Tinubus presidential ambition is the reason many people in the APC have risen against him By attempting to rubbish and undermine his(Tinubu) effort. And that is precisely why some northern hegemonists and irredentists within his own party are now attempting to rubbish him and undermine his efforts, he stressed. Let us wait and see how successful he will be in his quest, he added. Nnamdi Kanu the leader of IPOB leader, has slammed the FG for honouring MKO Abiola instead of former Head of State, late Gen. Aguyi Ironsi. Kanu made this known via a live broadcast from London where he clearly slammed the June 12 declaration as Democracy Day which was done in honor of late MKO Abiola, who had won the June 12 annulled election. According To Kanu Yoruba political class with their media hegemony and the ever treacherous Igbo Efulefus pushed and pushed until the FG of Nigeria declared June 12 a remembrance day to honour MKO Abiola while nobody remembers Aguiyi Ironsi a former Head of state because hes a Biafran of Igbo extraction. They passed a bill today to recognise and honour June 12 because of one man, then turn against IPOB for honouring 6 million victims of genocide and those that fought to save those of us who are alive today. They must be mad and insane. Anybody who fails to sit at home on May 30th deserves to be stoned to death. Read more: Suncorp tackles flood debate This project will not only strengthen the local economy by minimising disruption and productivity loss but ease the cost of living pressures, and even potentially save lives, said Gary Dransfield, Suncorp Insurance CEO. We must acknowledge all levels of government for funding the project, particularly Rockhampton Regional Council and the mayor for designing and championing this for many years now. Suncorp looks forward to receiving data and information about the project and getting on with the important business of re-pricing premiums for those households and buildings that stand to directly benefit from the reduced flood risk. Pass the adviser licensing exam administered by Prometric. Applicants can apply online at www.prometric.com or by calling 800-741-9380 to schedule their written examination. All applicants must be at least 18-years-old. You cannot apply if youve had an insurance license revoked or suspended from you in the past. Applicants must be trustworthy and competent. Pre-licensing education Before taking the adviser licensing examination, applicants are required to carry out an insurance pre-licensing course. Applicants can do this in different formats, including: classroom learning, web classes, online courses or self-study. A.D. Banker & Company is one of the top firms offering pre-licensing courses across the country. What happens when you get to your examination? Once applicants have booked their licensing exam with Prometric, there are a few things they need to know before they show up to take their tests. The first is that they must take a current, signed form of identification that is government issued, has a current photograph and signature, and has a name that exactly matches the name the applicant used to register for the exam. Something like a drivers license, a state-issued ID card or a military ID card will suffice. Attendees must then register at the test center 30 minutes before the examination is due to start in order to verify their identification and be photographed. All personal items like phones, watches and purses must be left outside the test center. Whats the exam format? Insurance pre-licensing exams are in a multiple-choice format. There will be 100 questions per exam, some of which will be experimental questions. The so-called experimental questions are mixed in with the graded questions and might be on subjects that werent explicitly covered during pre-licensing educational courses. They dont affect your final score. The pass mark for each exam is 70%. The relevant examination codes include: 16-53 Producers exam for property insurance (2 hours) 16-54 Producers exam for casualty insurance (2 hours) 16-57 Advisers exam for property & casualty insurance (2.5 hours) 16-58 Exam for public adjuster (2 hours) 16-61 Producers exam for personal lines (2 hours) A.D.Banker & Company explains: When you complete the exam, your score will be shown on the screen and you will receive a printed score report. The score report will include whether you passed or failed, the overall percentage score, and percentage correct for each of the major sections of the exam. Candidates who do not pass can schedule the exam again with no waiting period. Prometric notifies the Department of Insurance of your exam results within two business days. Whats next? If you successfully pass with 70 or higher, you can apply for a license. Best of luck! Charles Taylor Adjusting America has announced the launch of a consulting engineering service to provide full-service engineering, specialty consulting, project management, and forensics business. The company has appointed Richard K. Ladroga as chief technical officer. Ladroga will lead a team of engineering experts in the new consulting service. Ladroga is a licensed professional electrical power engineer with more than three decades of experience. Prior to joining Charles Taylor, he served as director of energy at DeSimone Consulting Engineers. He has also served as president and principal engineer of Risk Management International and as vice president of global strategic development at Doble Engineering Corporation. Stevens is based in London and will report to Christopher Schaper, CEO of Victor Insurance Holdings. Prior to joining Victor International, Stevens served as head of international development for Marshs global risk and digital division. He has worked throughout Europe and Asia-Pacific on the carrier, brokerage and consulting sides of the industry. A technology-driven leader, Anthonys extensive experience in building next-generation commercial insurance distribution models, as well as international development, make him ideally suited to drive Victor Internationals extensive growth plans, Schaper said. Technology, data and analytics are globally revolutionizing the way in which the insurance industry transacts business, and managing general underwriters are at the forefront of this transformation, Stevens said. Victor is a new breed of MGU and is now well-established in numerous markets including the UK and across continental Europe. Im excited to develop new opportunities incorporating innovative insurance products and digital solutions throughout the international insurance market. Prosecutors say the limousine company operator charged in connection with an upstate New York crash that killed 20 people was aware of prior passenger complaints about the ill-fated vehicle and had even refunded fares. In a document filed last week in the case against Nauman Hussain, Schoharie County District Attorney Susan Mallery also said individuals had refused to drive the 2001 Ford Excursion stretch limousine because of its poor condition. Hussain faces 20 counts of second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the Oct. 6 crash in rural Schoharie. State police have said the limo should have been taken out of service based on brake issues identified in a September inspection. Attorney Lee Kindlon said the defense team wont comment on individual pieces of evidence before trial, set for September. Related: Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Auto New York More than a week after a cyberattack hobbled Baltimores computer network, city officials said Wednesday they cant predict when its overall system will be up and running and continued to give only the broadest outlines of the problem. Baltimores government rushed to take down most computer servers on May 7 after its network was hit by ransomware. Functions like 911 and EMS dispatch systems werent affected, officials say, but after eight days, online payments, billing systems and email are still down. Finance department employees can only accept checks or money orders. No property transactions have been conducted since the attack, exasperating home sellers and real estate professionals in the city of over 600,000. Most major title insurance companies have even prohibited their agents from issuing policies for properties in Baltimore, according to the Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors. Citing an ongoing criminal investigation, Baltimores information technology boss Frank Johnson and other city leaders said Wednesday they could provide no specifics about the attack from the ransomware variant RobbinHood or realistically forecast when the various hobbled layers of the citys network would be back up. Anybody thats in this business will tell you that as you learn more those plans change by the minute. They are incredibly fluid, said Johnson, stressing that city employees, expert consultants and others were working round the clock to mend the breached network. The FBIs cyber squad agents have been helping employees in Marylands biggest city try to determine the source and extent of the latest attack. Johnsons tenure has now included two major breaches to the citys computer systems. This months problems come just over a year since another ransomware attack slammed Baltimores 911 dispatch system, prompting a worrisome 17-hour shutdown of automated emergency dispatching. The March 2018 attack required operating the critical 911 service in manual mode. Johnson is one of the citys highest paid employees, earning $250,000 a year. Thats more than the mayor, the citys top prosecutor and the health commissioner are paid. This latest attack came about a week after the firing of a city employee who, the inspector general said, had downloaded thousands of sexually explicit images onto his work computer during working hours. While all municipalities are menaced by malware, cybersecurity experts say organizations that fall victim to such attacks often havent done a thorough job of patching systems regularly. Asher DeMetz, lead security consultant for technology company Sungard Availability Services, suggested that eight days was a long time for a network to remain down. The City of Baltimore should have been prepared with a recovery strategy and been able to recover within much less time. That time would be dictated by a risk assessment guiding how long they can afford to be down, DeMetz said in an email. They should have been ready, especially after the previous attack, to recover from ransomware. City Solicitor Andre Davis said Baltimore was working hand in glove with the FBI, Microsoft officials, and expert contractors that he and other officials declined to identify. Before TV news crews, Davis likened the cyberattack to a brutal assault, a comparison that many residents can clearly understand in a city struggling to bring down one of urban Americas highest rates of violent crime. My preferred way of thinking about it is: The city network was viciously assaulted by a culprit and seriously injured, Davis said. Baltimores top lawyer portrayed the city network as an injured patient who has emerged from the ICU and faces a long course of physical therapy. Baltimore authorities, who hope to prosecute the culprit behind the latest attack, said they were in close contact with counterparts in Atlanta. Last year, a ransomware attack significantly disrupted city operations there and caused millions of dollars in losses. In December, two Iranian men already indicted in New Jersey in connection with a broad cybercrime and extortion scheme were indicted on federal charges in Georgia related to that ransomware attack demanding payment for a decryption key. Its not clear what culprits are demanding from Baltimores City Hall. Were not going to address or discuss in any way the ransom demand, Davis said. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Cyber Numbers AXA XL has promoted Marc Bertha as team lead for the U.S. Eastern Region Multinational Casualty group. Based in New York, Bertha will be leading the regions underwriting team whose overall mission is to partner with new and existing clients in the strategic management of their complex international risks. Bertha joined AXA XL in 2013 as a senior manager of Global Programs and Network Services. He previously worked at Zurich, North America. AXA XLs Multinational Casualty insurance team provides primary casualty coverage for multinational companies around the globe and partners with clients to address local liability concerns, insurance requirements, as well as international legal, regulatory and tax compliance issues. AXA XL Insurance offers property, casualty, professional, financial lines and specialty insurance to mid-sized companies through large multinationals globally. AXA XL provides insurance and risk management products and services for mid-sized companies through large multinationals and reinsurance to insurance companies globally. It is a division of AXA Group providing products and services through four business groups: AXA XL Insurance, AXA XL Reinsurance, AXA XL Art & Lifestyle and AXA XL Risk Consulting. Source: AXA XL Topics USA AXA XL Casualty Europes biggest insurers are on the hook for as much as $450 million from a pair of airline crashes involving Boeing Co. 737 Max planes. Munich Re reckons it could pay 150 million euros ($168 million), an estimate that Chief Financial Officer Christoph Jurecka called very conservative. Swiss Re expects to pay up to $135 million; Hannover Re says it will pay out as much as $56 million. Allianz SE and Zurich Insurance Group AG covering directors and officers liability may have to part with a combined $91 million. For now, the insurers losses are on paper only. It will be months, if not years, before payouts are made, with Bloomberg Intelligence estimating the bill for settling passengers claims from the 737 Max crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia at more than $1 billion. Investigators in multiple countries are looking at why the same model crashed twice within five months. The outcome of those probes will affect how much the insurers pay. Among some of the worlds other major insurers, American International Group Inc., Chubb Ltd. and Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Co. declined to comment. Spotlight on Plane The twin disasters involving the 737 Max the latest variant of the worlds most widely flown jetliner are unusual because the aircraft itself is being investigated as the possible culprit. That has put the spotlight on Boeings insurance cover. Its policies cover several potential liabilities. For example, Boeing has an airline-manufacturers liability policy that pays out more for each day the planes stay on the ground, according to two people familiar with the matter. Sixty-five days have passed since March 11 when Chinas aviation regulator banned flights of 737 Max planes within its territory. Authorities around the world followed Chinas lead within days. The manufacturers liability policy is capped at $500 million, according to the people familiar with the matter. It was arranged by a panel of insurers; one of those Allianz SE said Tuesday that it expects to pay $56 million for losses related to Boeing. Some of the $500 million risk was passed on to reinsurers, which insure risks taken by other insurers. Boeing doesnt comment on its insurance cover, spokesman Charles Bickers said, adding, we have been in constant contact with our customers and our focus remains on supporting them during this difficult time. We continue to work with airline customers and regulators to safely return the Max to service. Lawsuits Swiss Re is among those that covered the manufacturers liability policy and it is one of several insurers of Ethiopian Airlines. Ethiopian has an airline all-risk policy capped at $330 million, according to one of the people. That policy will pay the $55 million Ethiopian needs to replace its crashed plane, leaving it with $275 million to compensate the passengers families. Legal experts agree that the payouts to the passengers families will probably rise if evidence shows Boeing knew of flaws with the 737 Max before the crashes in October and March. That question has already prompted investor lawsuits claiming that the company hid safety risks. If Boeing was at fault, its insurers could end up paying even more than the $500 million covered by the manufacturers liability policy, the person said. The insurers havent included payouts for Boeing doing something wrong in their estimates because so far nothing has been proven. Boeing, Ethiopian Airlines and their insurers will go through a detailed discovery process, a Swiss Re spokeswoman said in an emailed statement. In parallel, we will support our insureds in managing the impact of this tragic event on the victims and their families. Where there are lawsuits, there are also delays to payouts. According to Mactavish Group, which advises companies on their insurance cover, the insurers take on average three years to pay for major claims. Its researchers also found that if a claim goes to court in the U.K., the insurers win 70% of the time. They wrote the terms and conditions, after all. At least one insurer faces only modest losses from the Boeing mess. Zurich Insurances policy will pay up to $35 million, people familiar with the matter said in March. But it didnt back the airline manufacturer policy. Around the Boeing topic, all the significance comes from the loss of the two aircraft, the liability to compensate for the passengers, and the potential liability to compensate for the fact that the fleet is currently grounded, Zurich CFO George Quinn said in an interview. We are not in those markets. Related: Copyright 2021 Bloomberg. Topics Carriers Europe Aviation Manufacturing Aerospace Weakening rules for banks and insurers after Brexit would be anathema, but Britain could change its style of regulating to respond faster to change, Bank of England Deputy Governor Sam Woods said on Thursday. So as far as the stringency of financial regulation goes, we at the Bank have a clear view of what would make sense for the UK in a post-Brexit environment: we should keep it calibrated roughly where it is now and have no desire whatsoever to weaken it, Woods said at a conference in Switzerland. Britain has been forced to postpone Brexit twice and is still struggling to agree on the terms of its departure from the European Union before the next deadline, Oct. 31. Regulators want to head off calls from some lawmakers for a Brexit dividend that ditches some financial rules. Britains finance ministry, parliamentary Treasury Select Committee and the Financial Conduct Authority have begun reviews of financial regulation after Brexit. The bulk of rules applied in Britain come from the European Union, and some lawmakers say Brexit would allow Britain to revise its rules to keep London competitive as a global financial center. The Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority have poured cold water on that idea. Much will hinge on what form of access to the EU market Britain secures after it leaves the bloc. Woods said it would be undesirable if Britain became a rule-taker, meaning it continued to apply EU rules in some form, echoing FCA Chief Executive Andrew Bailey, who said last month that rule-taking would be dangerous. Britain faces a tricky trade-off. The EUs default system of financial-market access for foreign companies is based on equivalence aligning with the blocs rules so any major divergence in UK rules could jeopardize access. Brussels has begun toughening up equivalence conditions now that it faces a huge, foreign financial center on its doorstep, forcing it to consider how much access to grant Britain after Brexit. While Britain should not compromise on stringency, it could change the style of regulation, Woods said. The EU favors detailed rule-making given the need to create a single rulebook across 28 countries, Woods said. In Britain, parliament has traditionally approved overarching changes, leaving the day-to-day application to regulators. Alternatively, we could adopt a hybrid approach which doesnt replicate either of the pre-existing EU or British approaches, he said. Once you open this box, the possibilities are legion. (Reporting by Huw Jones, editing by Larry King) Topics Carriers Legislation Europe Uk Curv, a cloud-based institutional digital asset wallet service, has partnered with Munich Re to provide insurance protection of up to $50 million for digital assets offered through its service. Munich Re will offer an opt-in solution to Curvs customers that provides the financial capability to pay for losses of crypto assets. The insurance for Curv is underwritten by a primary insurance carrier of Munich Re Group. According to Ali Kumcu, head of Cyber Innovation and Services, of Munich Re, Curvs Institutional Digital Asset Wallet Service reduces the risks associated with holding digital assets. The Munich Re policy covers customer-controlled wallets in Internet-connected settings. Curv has developed multi-party computation (MPC) protocols to sign blockchain transactions in a mathematically secure, distributed way, eliminating the single point of failure introduced by private keys. The company said digital assets cannot be stolen from Curvs Wallet Service with a single cyber breach or even through insider collusion. Curv uses cryptography to deliver the cloud-based Institutional Digital Asset Wallet Service to manage and secure all digital assets. Curv is headquartered in New York with R&D offices in Tel-Aviv, Israel. Related: Bayer AG plans to argue that a $2 billion jury award and thousands of U.S. lawsuits claiming its glyphosate-based weed killer Roundup causes cancer should be tossed because a U.S. regulatory agency said the herbicide is not a public health risk. Some legal experts believe Bayer will have a tough time convincing appellate courts to throw out verdicts and lawsuits on those grounds. Bayer has a better shot if a business-friendly U.S. Supreme Court takes up the case, experts said. But that could take years. Bayer has come under intensifying pressure after a third consecutive U.S. jury on Monday found Roundup to be carcinogenic, awarding more than $2 billion to a couple who used the chemical on their property the largest verdict in the glyphosate litigation to date. Bayer, which inherited the Roundup litigation with its $63 billion acquisition of Monsanto last year, faces lawsuits by more than 13,400 plaintiffs nationwide, alleging the product causes cancer. The Germany-based companys shares have been hammered since the first Roundup cancer verdict against it last August, wiping out some 40 billion euros ($44.76 billion) in market value and leaving Bayer worth less than the price it paid for Monsanto. Bayer denies that Roundup causes cancer, saying decades of studies have shown glyphosate and the weed killer to be safe. On Wednesday, the company said it will argue that the lawsuits, which are brought under state law, conflict with guidance from a federal agency, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. EPA Guidance On April 30, the EPA reaffirmed prior guidance saying that glyphosate is not a carcinogen and not a risk to public health when used in accordance with its current label.. Citing the EPA decision, Bayer has repeatedly rebuked plaintiffs calls to add a cancer warning to Roundup, saying the agency would reject that change. Under the legal doctrine of preemption, state law claims are barred if they conflict with federal law. We have very strong arguments that the claims here are preempted and the recent EPA registration decision is an important aspect of that defense, William Hoffman, one of Bayers lawyers, said during a call with reporters on Wednesday. Hoffman said the argument applied to all U.S. Roundup lawsuits. Preemption is generally regarded as a silver bullet defense because it stops claims across the board, said Adam Zimmerman, a law professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. But Zimmerman and three other legal experts agreed that Bayer faces a big hurdle convincing appeals courts that the EPA determination on glyphosate shields it from state law claims. They cited a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the EPAs approval of a product does not necessarily bar state law claims. The ruling, Bates v Dow Agrosciences, gives broad leeway to juries to decide if such claims should proceed, they said. Judges in the three Roundup cases that have gone to trial against Monsanto all rejected the companys preemption argument, citing this ruling. In light of the Bates decision, its going to be an uphill battle for the company to win on preemption on appeal, Zimmerman said. Bayer also said it will argue on appeal that trial courts improperly admitted evidence that was not backed up by science. But legal experts said appellate courts generally defer to lower court evidentiary rulings. Sore Thumb Lars Noah, a law professor at the University of Florida, said Bayers chances of success would increase significantly if the Supreme Court takes up the Roundup appeals. The high court only accepts around 70 cases each year, but a business-friendly majority on the court could be inclined to hear the dispute, said Alexandra Lahav, a law professor at the University of Connecticut. Since 2005, the high court has decided at least three preemption cases in favor of companies, none of which involved the EPA. The Supreme Court will soon rule in another case that rests on whether a U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval preempts tort claims. In that case, plaintiffs sued Merck & Co. over the companys alleged failure to warn of the risk of serious bone fractures associated with its osteoporosis drug Fosamax. Merck, which denies the allegations, argued the lawsuits should be preempted because the FDA did not require an additional fracture warning in the drugs prescribing information. During a January hearing, the Justices appeared to side with the company. Bayer in a statement on Thursday said it does not believe the 2005 Bates ruling posed a barrier for the appellate courts due to other Supreme Court rulings since then. Noah agreed that the Court has more recently signaled its appetite to limit lawsuits that contradict opinions by experts at regulatory agencies. The Bates decision by now sticks out like a sore thumb, Noah said. Bayer has more than enough ammunition in recent Supreme Court cases to show the trial court judges got it wrong. ($1 = 0.8936 euros) (Reporting by Tina Bellon in New York Editing by Noeleen Walder and Bill Berkrot) Topics Lawsuits Legislation USA Pollution U.S. senators warned allies that Chinese telecommunications companies such as Huawei Technologies Co. cant meet security standards for advanced networks due in part to Chinese law that demands cooperation with security agencies. There is no way in hell China can meet those criteria because of the way theyre governed, Senator Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who is chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said in a hearing of the panel. The only way China can meet the criteria is to stop being China. Graham said allies should know theyll lose access to American information and technology if they buy Chinese equipment. The Trump administration is pressing other governments to exclude gear made by Huawei from super-fast 5G mobile networks that will connect billions of devices, including autonomous cars and robotic factories. But the campaign is finding little success: so far no European country has barred the Chinese supplier. Last week, the Federal Communications Commission rejected China Mobile Ltd.s bid to provide phone service in the U.S., citing national security concerns about the company controlled by Beijing. The move added friction to fraught trade relations that have erupted into a tit-for-tat of tariffs between the worlds biggest economies. Lawmakers have increased their focus on Chinese telecommunications providers in recent months. Senator Dianne Feinstein, the leading Democrat on Judiciary Committee, cited Chinese law and said that Huawei has been very assertive. She said there had been importunings without offering details, and said it could make our country incredibly vulnerable and we cannot let China do this. The U.S. is urging allies to analyze risk before buying gear, Robert Strayer, deputy assistant secretary for cyber policy at the State Department, told the committee. Criteria include the extent to which vendors are subject to control by a foreign government with power to compel cooperation with intelligence and security agencies, Strayer said in testimony submitted to the committee. Strayer said U.S. diplomacy on the issue had made progress. Through our engagements, many other countries are now acknowledging the supply chain risk, he said. The U.S. says Chinese law compels Huawei to cooperate with Beijings espionage agencies. U.S. officials fear Huawei can build vulnerabilities, or backdoors, into equipment to enable spying by the Chinese government. Huawei Denial Huawei has said that governments and customers in 170 countries use its equipment, which poses no greater cybersecurity threat than that of any communications technology vendor. Huaweis rotating chairman, Guo Ping, said in a February opinion piece that the fusillade against Huawei results from Washingtons realization that the U.S. has fallen behind in developing 5G technology, and has little to do with security. Senator Chris Coons, speaking at an event at the Council on Foreign Relations, said he was concerned that Chinas expansive belt and road initiative might also at some point include telecommunications involving 5G technology, expanding the reach of Chinese technology companies such as Huawei. The belt and road initiative may become a belt, road, cell phone initiative, said Coons, a Delaware Democrat. I dont think the U.S. has fully grasped the extent to which even our core allies a G7 country like Italy, a core ally like the United Kingdom are differing from us in our assessment of the intelligence threat of having Huawei integrated into the telecommunications systems of the coming decades. I think we have a real challenge on our hands, he said. Copyright 2021 Bloomberg. Topics USA Tech China A few months before this years biennial legislative session, a report commissioned by Gov. Greg Abbott on lessons learned from Hurricane Harvey declared a dire need to future-proof the state. Some progressives hoped that might involve planning for climate change a concept that remains politically divisive in Texas even as public opinion has shifted in the state toward the overwhelmingly scientific consensus that the warming trend is real, and human-driven. But half a dozen bills filed earlier this year that would require the state to study the issue were never even scheduled for public hearings the first, big step legislation must go through before becoming law. All of them were filed by Democrats, who have unsuccessfully pushed for climate action for years now but hoped Abbotts future-proofing declaration and Harveys unprecedented intensity might bolster their cause. Scientists have linked climate change to bigger and more frequent storms in Texas, as well as increased temperatures and more intense droughts. States from Alaska to Maine are preparing for such impacts with climate action plans and other policies. Abbott, along with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dennis Bonnen, didnt respond to requests for comment on why requiring for state-level climate change planning isnt a priority for them. State Rep. Ron Reynolds, a Democrat from Missouri City, filed House Bill 1980 to study the impacts of climate change on the health, safety, and welfare of Texans. Reynolds said its unfortunate that climate change has become such a partisan issue that even discussions of the subject have been blocked. The bare minimum is having a hearing, said Reynolds, who filed his bill in February. You can get people from both pro and con, but at least youre having a formal hearing to listen and move the conversation forward. Reynolds, whose district experienced extensive damage from Harvey, said constituents have approached his office to ask what the Legislature is doing to address climate change, but that he feels his hands are tied. Recent polling by the University of Texas and the Tribune found that 48 percent of Texans say the U.S. government should be doing a great deal or a lot about climate change. Twenty-one percent said the government should be doing nothing. Produced by the Commission to Rebuild Texas a coalition of scientists from Texas A&M; University the 175-page report Abbott ordered only mentioned climate change once, in an endnote. It outlined a variety of steps Texas should take to better protect the state against future natural disasters, including improving local emergency response procedures and construction of big infrastructure projects aimed at hardening the state. (Those projects will have to built to certain standards that could incorporate climate modeling.) Abbott called the study a roadmap for the Legislature and the state to use moving forward. And several bills were filed mirrored the reports recommendations. Texas State Climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon, who was appointed in 2000 by then-Governor George W. Bush, said there are definitely known impacts of global warming in Texas, and the state could be doing more with that knowledge. Its my mission to help the state of Texas make the best possible use of weather and climate information, and if theyre not using the information theyre not making the best possible use of it, he said. So far, efforts to prepare for climate change have largely happened at the local and regional level; Austin, for example, adopted a climate resilience action plan last spring and the Houston-Galveston Area Council issued a report in 2008 on the potential impacts of climate change on the region. Even more conservative cities likes San Angelo in West Texas, are preparing. Senate Bill 2069 by Democrat Sen. Jose Menendez of San Antonio would have required the development of a state-level climate adaptation plan; It was referred to the Senate Committee on Business and Commerce but has not yet had a public hearing. (Unlike the House, the Senate has no hard deadline for committees to vote on bills.) Other climate change-planning bills, like House Bill 3023 by state Rep. Mary Gonzalez, D-Clint, and House Bills 942 and 928 by state Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, have also stalled. HB 3023 and HB 928 would study the expected effects of climate change on Texas and how the state would address those impacts. HB 942 would create a global climate change commission to study how to address the consequences of climate change and how Texas should adapt to remain economically competitive. State Rep. Erin Zwiener, D-Driftwood, filed a bill that would prohibit retaliation against state employees for referencing climate change or global warming. Zwiener said House Bill 2558 was her attempt to get the conversation on climate change back on pragmatic grounds here in Texas. Zwiener, whose district has experienced catastrophic flooding in recent years, said Texas needs to factor climate change into everything from state flood planning to agriculture to water availability. I dont see Texas being willing to take that step right now, largely because of a scientific conversation that never should have been politicized, said Zwiener, who holds a degree in natural resource conservation. When I was in school, we talked about how to prepare for it [climate change], and to make sure ecosystems were resilient enough to be prepared for the changes coming forward. This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune: https://www.texastribune.org/2019/05/10/climate-change-bills-do-not-get-hearings-this-session-in-texas/. The Texas Tribune is a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans and engages with them about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. Topics Texas Climate Change The Louisiana Supreme Court has determined that state law does not expressly prohibit a clause in a commercial property insurance policy that specifies that any coverage dispute ending up in litigation must be heard in a forum, or venue, named in the policy. The high court made that determination in Creekstone Juban I, L.L.C. v. XL Insurance America, Inc., a case that concerns a dispute over claims related to flood damage to commercial property in Louisiana. In writing for the courts majority, Justice Scott J. Crichton explained that the underlying case involves claims filed with XL following massive flooding in Louisiana in August 2016, in which the property, Juban Crossing, sustained extensive flood damage to the buildings and their contents, including loss of revenue. Before the lawsuit was filed, XL paid $5 million to Creekstone Juban, the entity that owns the property, for damage caused by the flooding. XL did not immediately pay additional amounts requested by Creekstone, which subsequently filed suit against the insurer in the 21st Judicial District Court in Livingstone Parish. The suit against XL was over various disputes, but the Louisiana Supreme Court opinion released on May 8 only addressed the issue of the forum selection clause. The Policy includes a forum selection clause, whereby the parties agreed that any disagreement related to the Policy shall be brought exclusively in the State of New York, Crichton wrote. In answer to Creekstones suit filed in Louisiana district court, XL filed a motion to dismiss, citing the forum selection clause, under which the parties agreed to litigate all issues involving the contract in New York state. Opposing XLs motion to dismiss, Creekstone contended that the forum selection clause was invalid under La. R.S. 22:868, which provides that no insurance contract delivered or issued for delivery in Louisiana and covering subjects in Louisiana shall contain any provision [d]epriving the courts of this state of the jurisdiction of action against the insurer. The trial court agreed with Creekstone that upholding the forum selection clause would violate public policy. In a split decision, the five-judge panel of the First Circuit Court of Appeal, denied XLs application for supervisory writ. Accepting the case, the state supreme court recognized that the narrow legal question raised by the forum selection clause requiring litigation be heard in New York state is whether the clause violates Louisiana law and public policy. Creekstone argued that the clause goes against public policy as it deprives Louisiana jurisdiction over the dispute. XL countered that the clause doesnt deprive Louisiana of jurisdiction, rather it sets forth a contractual agreement that New York is the proper venue for any action under the Policy, and leaves the courts subject matter jurisdiction unaffected, the opinion states. The Louisiana Supreme Court in its opinion pointed out that it has previously explained that jurisdiction and venue are distinct legal concepts. The court then agreed with XL, finding the plain language of the statute does not prohibit the forum selection clause at issue in this case, as it chooses New York as the venue for the dispute, and does not deprive Louisiana courts of jurisdiction. The Court also pointed out that the parties to this contract are sophisticated Delaware entities engaging in a commercial transaction, and they exercised contractual freedom to resolve any dispute related to the contract in a particular forum in arms-length negotiations. Upholding the trial courts ruling in this case would undermine the ability of the parties to freely engage in sophisticated contractual agreements and thereby impair the ability of companies to do business in this state. Additionally, the court said, Creekstone had offered no evidence whatsoever of difficulties it would encounter in litigating in another forum. The trial courts judgement was reversed insofar as it denied the exception of improper venue. The courts decision was not unanimous. Justices Genovese and Hughes dissented. Topics Louisiana Commercial Lines Flood Business Insurance New York Higginbotham has forged an agreement with with Willis Towers Watson, under which Fort Worth-based Higginbotham will acquire an Oklahoma City group of insurance professionals led by broker Richard Ross who formerly were with Willis Tower Watson. The transaction expands Higginbothams capacity to serve Oklahoma City businesses and individuals with property/casualty insurance, risk management and employee benefits. Higginbotham has expanded into more than 20 markets in and out of Texas since 2009 when it began its partner growth strategy. It established its Oklahoma City practice in 2017 when local brokers Gray Holden and Chris Lavigne joined the firm. Higginbotham named Ross a managing director. He and existing staff will move to Higginbothams office at 3535 NW 58th Street. Source: Higginbotham Topics Oklahoma Willis Towers Watson Louisianas medical marijuana patients would be able to inhale cannabis, if senators agree to a proposal that won overwhelming support from lawmakers in the House. Rep. Ted James, a Baton Rouge Democrat, says his bill shouldnt be seen as an expansion of the medical marijuana program, because it only changes the delivery method for patients. James says the legislation would let therapeutic cannabis patients use an inhaler, like asthma patients use. The House voted 73-3 for the proposal Tuesday, sending it to the Senate for debate. Louisiana lawmakers created the framework for dispensing medical marijuana four years ago, but regulatory hurdles and disagreements have slowed getting the product to shelves. One of the states two state-sanctioned growers estimates medicinal-grade pot could be available in June. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Legislation Louisiana Cannabis A 21-year-old man has been charged with intentionally setting a fire that damaged two Columbia rental properties owned by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage. Frank John Wilberding was arrested Tuesday and charged with two counts of arson, according to Columbia police. Wilberding was listed Wednesday as an inmate in the Richland County jail, and it wasnt immediately clear if he had an attorney. Authorities said Wilberding set a fire about 6 a.m. Tuesday on the porch of one home. The fire spread to an adjacent property, causing about $450,000 in damage and displacing at least a dozen residents. During a Tuesday news conference, Fire Chief Aubrey Jenkins said a separate debris fire at another house burned itself out before spreading to the second property. In all, Jenkins said 48 firefighters put out the flames in about an hour. Police Chief Skip Holbrook said officers found Wilberding shortly after releasing surveillance images of a possible suspect. Holbrook said authorities dont think the fires were set because the governor owns the properties. McMaster and his wife own 20 rental homes around Columbia and rent many to students at the University of South Carolina. Tax records show the couple earns about $300,000 a year from the rentals, according to the Post and Courier . Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Homeowners South Carolina Arson Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has suspended Insurance Commissioner Jim Beck from his position while he faces a 38-count indictment from a federal grand jury. On May 16, Kemp issued an executive order suspending Beck, effective immediately. The order came in response to Becks request that he be suspended after an earlier call by the governor that he resign. In a letter to the governor, Beck maintained his innocence against the indictment that alleges he stole nearly $2 million from the Georgia Underwriting Association (GUA) while he worked there as general manager of operations. Beck said it would be inappropriate for me to resign but acknowledged the case would be a distraction and authorized the governor to suspend him from office pending the final disposition of the case. In the coming months, it will unfortunately be necessary for me to spend a significant amount of my time defending myself against these false charges, Beck wrote. Preparing for that trial will be a significant distraction from my public duties. Kemp requested Beck resign on May 15, a day after the indictment was issued, saying it would be highly inappropriate for you to continue to hold public office. I ask that you do what is right for our state and step down immediately. According to the indictment, while in his position at the GUA, Beck formed and had a controlling financial interest in two businesses in Carrollton Creative Consultants and GA Christian Coalition. U.S. Attorney Bjay Pak said during a press conference May 14 that Beck convinced four of his associates to create four different businesses with the alleged purpose of supplying the [GUA] with services, such as residential property inspection and water damage mitigation. However, through an elaborate system of invoicing which included producing false documentation, Beck regularly approved substantial Georgia Underwriting Association payments to the four newly formed companies that were formed by his associates, Pay said. Beck then allegedly sent fraudulent invoices from the businesses he had control over Creative Consultants and the GA Christian Coalition to the four companies and then directed his four associates to pay the fraudulent invoices from a portion of the money paid to their businesses by the GUA, the indictment alleges. He allegedly used the proceeds for personal expenses such as credit cards and retirement accounts, as well as state and federal personal income taxes. Prosecutors said Beck also made payments to his campaign for insurance commissioner and used proceeds for the purchase and improvement of personal rental property. The scheme is alleged to have gone on between 2013 and 2018, before Beck became insurance commissioner. Beck said in a statement May 14 through his lawyer Bill Thomas to the Associated Press that he strongly denies the allegations. Who will take his place as commissioner has not been determined by the governor as of yet. A spokesman for the Georgia Department of Insurance said Chief Deputy Insurance Commissioner Drew Lane will act as commissioner in the interim. Yesterday, Commissioner Jim Beck announced that he is suspending himself from office. This means he will be absent from making decisions with regard to the daily operations of the Department of Insurance, GADOI spokesman Brandon Wright said in an e-mail to Insurance Journal. The Department anticipates Governor Kemp will soon appoint an acting Insurance Commissioner who will serve until the case against Commissioner Beck is resolved. The employees of the Department of Insurance remain focused on their service to the people of Georgia and will continue to work hard to fulfill their mission. Multiple local media outlets reported that Beck will continue to receive his annual salary of $120,000 while suspended. Beck was ordered to report to federal authorities Wednesday. He arrived at a Georgia federal court in the morning, according to local media outlets, and granted $25,000 cash bond. The judge said the commissioner cant travel out of state without permission and must recuse himself from any dealings with the GUA, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported. This story has been updated from an earlier version with comment from the Georgia Department of Insurance Kemp Executive Order Beck Suspensiion Topics Georgia California Insurance agent Francis Okyere, 67, self-surrendered this week at the Los Angeles County Superior Court after being charged with four felony counts of grand theft. The charges arose from an investigation by the California Department of Insurances investigation division out of the Valencia regional office into multiple complaints filed by clients of Okyere alleging their insurance policies were cancelled despite paying Okyere for the coverage. The investigation shows that between July 2015 and September 2016 Okyere misappropriated at least $65,456 in insurance premiums payments from four small business owners and used those funds for his personal benefit. Okyeres actions left the business owners uninsured against potential liability and workers compensation claims, according to the CDI. Okyere is set to be arraigned on July 11, and bail was set at $30,000. The case is being prosecuted by the Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office. The CDI legal division filed an acusation against Okyere on last year, and is seeking to revoke his insurance license. Topics California Agencies Commercial Lines Business Insurance A city in Wyoming has settled a lawsuit over a fatal shooting by two police officers. Attorneys for the estate of John Randall Veach said Tuesday they settled the lawsuit for $925,000 in damages. Rawlins Police Sgt. Jared Frakes and Officer Joe Balestrieri shot and killed the Fort Collins, Colorado, man in a gas station parking lot in December, 2015. A prosecutor from a county elsewhere in Wyoming concluded the shooting was justified. Attorneys for Veachs estate say the officers killed him execution style while he was trying to drive away. They say the officers werent in danger and killed Veach without reason. They say the department failed to discipline its officers. Rawlins City Attorney Amy Bach and City Manager Scott Hannum did not immediately return phone messages seeking comment. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - May 17, 2019 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Bluhen Botanicals, an emerging hemp cannabidiol (CBD) company, opened its first retail wellness location on May 17, in parallel with the company's presenting sponsorship of Knoxville's Rhythm N' Blooms music festival. Coinciding with this opening, Bluhen begins selling the company's premium CBD hemp products online. The 4,086 sq. ft. retail store is located in Knoxville's Old City at 111 E. Jackson Ave. The retail space includes Bluhen products for purchase: full spectrum hemp extract oil, softgels, premium hemp flower, pre-rolls, hemp vaporizers, oil, and more. The flagship location will also offer a lounge, community meeting and event space, and a cafe featuring hemp seed-infused food and beverages. "Our retail wellness location includes small batch food, snacks, coffee, tea, and hand-selected craft beer and cocktails - all of which were developed in partnership with community artisans," said Joe Fox, Bluhen Botanicals' Co-Founder and CEO. Bluhen's flagship location will also host events and activities promoting hemp education and overall wellness: educational workshops, yoga, DIY lessons, etc. "Our staff will educate local customers about the benefits of hemp, while also providing them with premium products," added Fox. Fox praised the work of local firm, Sanders Pace Architecture, in designing the company's flagship retail location. "Their plans and design for our Knoxville location encapsulates and elevates our vision for a space that is more than a retail store it is a full wellness experience." Earlier this year, international cannabis business, SOL Global Investments Corp., announced a $30.06 million investment in Bluhen as part of its plan to diversify into hemp-related businesses through HeavenlyRx Holdings. This investment will allow Bluhen to continue to grow at a rapid pace with plans to open multiple retail locations across the southeastern U.S., including a location in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. later this year. Learn more at www.bluhenbotanicals.com. About Bluhen Botanicals Headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, Bluhen Botanicals is a hemp biomass processing and extraction company with farming and distribution partners across the United States. With a dedicated, pharmaceutical grade hemp research facility, Bluhen works with manufacturers to produce custom formulations for its own blend of boutique wellness products such as full spectrum hemp extract oils, softgels, creams, and pet treats and oils. The company employs expert entomologists, plant pathologists, agronomists, chemists, and engineers. Learn more at www.bluhenbotanicals.com. Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions. More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ and tickertagstocknews.com Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp May 17, 2019 (Investorideas.com Newswire) The valuation gap between Australian and Canadian producers, highlighted by a recent takeover offer, is reviewed in a BMO Capital Markets report. In a May 15 research note, BMO Capital Markets analysts Brian Quast and Andrew Kaip wrote that St. Barbara Ltd.'s (SBM:ASX) recent offer to acquire Atlantic Gold Corp. (AGB:TSX.V) exemplifies that "the valuation gap between Australian and Canadian producers creates an environment ripe for consolidation." He added that "we view the consolidation of Australian and Canadian midtier miners as being inevitable." The analysts pointed out that today's valuations favor Australian gold producers, which are trading at a premium to Canadian producers on a price to net present value basis and a price to cash flow per share basis. As such, the Australian companies are nicely positioned to make accretive acquisitions of Canadian assets. Conversely, Canadian producers have been struggling recently. A perfect example of this theme playing out, the analysts indicated, is St. Barbara's bid on May 14 for Atlantic Gold at a 41% premium to that day's closing price. "The deal values Atlantic Gold at 1.3x net present value 5% at spot, above peer valuations at 0.7x," Quast wrote. The premium is higher than that in recent takeover transactions of junior gold producers, he added, due to Atlantic Gold's Touquoy being a low cost, high margin gold mine with growth potential. The BMO analysts gave a shortlist of companies that could seize on the current market opportunity. The Australian companies, Evolution Mining, Northern Star, Kirkland Lake and Saracen Mineral Holdings, could be potential acquirers. Possible Canadian targets include New Gold, Pretium Resources, TMAC Resources and Wesdome Gold Mines. "From our analysis, we see that, overall, Australian gold producers have several options to expand in Canada in transactions that would be accretive to shareholders on the basis of net asset value and/or cash flow," the analysts concluded. Disclosure: 1) Doresa Banning compiled this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an independent contractor. She or members of her household own securities of the following companies mentioned in the article: None. She or members of her household are paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None. 2) The following companies mentioned in this article are billboard sponsors of Streetwise Reports: Pretium Resources. Click here for important disclosures about sponsor fees. 3) Comments and opinions expressed are those of the specific experts and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. 4) The article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional, and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. 5) From time to time, Streetwise Reports LLC and its directors, officers, employees or members of their families, as well as persons interviewed for articles and interviews on the site, may have a long or short position in securities mentioned. Directors, officers, employees or members of their immediate families are prohibited from making purchases and/or sales of those securities in the open market or otherwise from the time of the interview or the decision to write an article until three business days after the publication of the interview or article. The foregoing prohibition does not apply to articles that in substance only restate previously published company releases. As of the date of this interview, officers and/or employees of Streetwise Reports LLC (including members of their household) own securities of Pretium Resources, a company mentioned in this article. Disclosures from BMO Capital Markets, Australia-Canada Gold M&A: Crossing the Pacific via Atlantic, May 15, 2019 IMPORTANT DISCLOSURES Analyst's Certification We, Andrew Kaip and Brian Quast, hereby certify that the views expressed in this report accurately reflect our personal views about the subject securities or issuers. We also certify that no part of our compensation was, is, or will be, directly or indirectly, related to the specific recommendations or views expressed in this report. Analysts who prepared this report are compensated based upon (among other factors) the overall profitability of BMO Capital Markets and their affiliates, which includes the overall profitability of investment banking services. Compensation for research is based on effectiveness in generating new ideas and in communication of ideas to clients, performance of recommendations, accuracy of earnings estimates, and service to clients. Analysts employed by BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. and/or BMO Capital Markets Limited are not registered as research analysts with FINRA. These analysts may not be associated persons of BMO Capital Markets Corp. and therefore may not be subject to the FINRA Rule 2241 restrictions on communications with a subject company, public appearances and trading securities held by a research analyst account. Company Specific Disclosures For Important Disclosures on the stocks discussed in this report, please click here. More Info: This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions. More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ and tickertagstocknews.com Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp May 17, 2019 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Michael Rowley, president and CEO of Group Ten Metals, speaks with Maurice Jackson of Proven and Probable about the results of recent drilling at the Stillwater West project that delivered Platreef-grade mineralization. Maurice Jackson: Joining us today is Michael Rowley, president and CEO of Group Ten Metals Inc. (PGE:TSX.V; PGEZF:OTCQB; 5D32:FSE), which is known for platinum, palladium, nickel, copper and cobalt in the Stillwater district in Montana. Reader should note, Group Ten Metals is on hot streak as far as quantity and quality news flow! The company continues to deliver exciting results and information from the target areas identified at the 25-km flagship Stillwater West Project. And what we are seeing is not just mineralization, but rather, high-grade mineralization. The team must be eagerly anticipating the upcoming exploration season. We just featured Group Ten Metals on our program on the 20th of April and we invite you visit that discussion on our website provenandprobable.com. Mr. Rowley, sorry if I stole some of your thunder, but I'm quite impressed with the progress your team has and continues to make on the behalf of shareholders. The company released a press release on May 7 regarding high-grade mineralization results from the Iron Mountain target. Before you take us there, for first time listeners please introduce us to the Stillwater West Project and the opportunity it presents for shareholders. Michael Rowley: Thank you, Maurice, glad to be back. The enthusiasm is appreciated, and we share it. We are indeed on a hot streak, and Stillwater West is driving that. Group Ten is the one of two companies that are active in the Stillwater Complex in Montana. The other one is Sibanye-Stillwater, a company that was created when South African gold miner Sibanye bought Stillwater Mining in 2017 for $2.2 billion. That company operates three mines on one depositcalled the Johns-Manville or J-M Reef depositand it is the highest-grade PGE deposit in the world, and one of the largest, hosting 80 million ounces of platinum and palladium at over 16 grams per tonne grade. If you think about that for a minute, we get excited when gold deposits have 10 million ounces at a couple of grams per tonne. The J-M Reef deposit is eight times that size and also eight times that grade. And it is open for expansion. It is a truly fantastic deposit, and it speaks to the amount of metal that is in the layered magmatic system at Stillwater. Group Ten has a very large land position that adjoins Sibanye-Stillwater across about 25 kilometers and covers the lower portion of the Stillwater Complex, and we also have claims above there in the layered geology. In addition to the land position, we have also compiled a terrific database including about 12,000 meters of physical core, plus geochemical and geophysical surveys, and have attracted a world-class team that is familiar with new geologic models developed at the Platreef in South Africa, which is a similar layered magmatic complex. We have now completed the initial phase of data compilation and modeling work on the priority target areas and have issued a series of news releases on those results. Everything we have done to date, including our compilation and modeling work and our 2018 programs on the ground, confirms the potential for multiple large and very large polymetallic platinum, palladium, nickel, copper and cobalt deposits at Stillwater. We are calling these "Platreef-style" deposits based on the similarities we see with the Platreef District in South Africa, which has become a world leader in the supply of low-cost platinum, palladium, nickel and copper supply since the 1990s with the development of Anglo American's Mogalakwena PGE-Ni-Cu Mine, and Ivanhoe's Platreef PGE-Ni-Cu Mine that is now under construction. These are truly massive mines, and they occur in the lower part of layered magmatic systems. That same portion of the Stillwater Complex has never been systematically tested for deposits of this type, even though the geological parallels are well known, the setting is correct, and every indication is there in the database, including drill results. That exploration process was basically interrupted at Stillwater. We took a big step forward in 2018 when Dr David Broughton, a key member of the discovery team at Ivanhoe's Platreef project, joined our team and confirmed that potential at Stillwater West. Maurice Jackson: Mr. Rowley, before we delve into the press release, can share the successes that Group Ten Metals has delivered thus far from the 2018 drill targets? Michael Rowley: The whole project has been a success from day 1 in the summer of 2017. It just keeps unfolding and offering more and more. At this point we are in the middle of a series of news releases to reveal what we have found to date and lay out our priority targets and plans for 2019. This is a massive project with a large database, so we started on the west and have been working to the east, focusing on eight large target areas that have the potential to host "Platreef-style" deposits in the lower Stillwater Complex. Maurice Jackson: You and I had an offline discussion prior to the interview and you referenced that Group Ten Metals has the 3 G's. What are the 3 G's and does Group Metals have the 3 G's? Michael Rowley: Geologists get excited when the "3 G's"geophysics, geochemistry, and geologycorrelate, and that is basically how we developed those eight target areas. In each target we see kilometer-scale geophysical anomalies (i.e., areas of highly conductive rocks) that correlate with large areas of high levels of metals in soils. And, where we have data, we see rock and drill data confirming that the conductive anomalies are indeed targeting copper and nickel sulphide mineralization. Three of the eight target areas have a substantial amount of past drilling and are priorities for follow-up work in 2019: the Chrome Mountain, Camp Zone and Iron Mountain target areas. We'll discuss Iron Mountain and the current news release in a minute, but the successes at Chrome Mountain and Camp Zone center on known mineralized zones that are open for expansion in terms of both grade and size based on our data compilation and targeting work. We see the potential to quickly advance known mineralization to resource delineation stage at both areas. Maurice Jackson: Michael, take us now to the Iron Mountain Target, which just released some exciting high-grade polymetallic results. I want to begin with some historical context. What did we know about the target area prior to drilling? Michael Rowley: Well, we knew that the Iron Mountain target area was the most advanced at Stillwater West. We knew it was mined historically for high-grade nickel, copper and other commodities, like other parts of the Stillwater West project. And we knew it had excellent coverage by soil geochemistry studies. Our early compilation work showed a 2.9-kilometer-wide conductive high anomaly in geophysical survey results, which is the correct size of footprint for a Platreef-style deposit. It also has the biggest drill database, which provides a great deal of valuable information to guide our drill programs. Maurice Jackson: Fast forward to last week's press release, please share with us what Group Ten Metals discovered. Michael Rowley: This was a pivotal press release for us because it reports Platreef grades for all of our target metals over long intervals in drill holes that are over 100 meters apart. In addition we begin to discuss our plans to drill at Stillwater, including the potential we see to advance some of the more advanced areas quickly to resource delineation stage. The results of our compilation work, combined with our 2018 work program, surprised us. We knew the area had good grades in drill results, but the proximity and orientation of these hits in relation to each other, and to the geophysical and soil anomalies, was an eye-opener. The HGR target in particular delivered true, Platreef-grade mineralization over long intervals, in multiple holes within an area of 750m x 400m that is open for expansion towards an untested conductive high to the east and along a magmatic layer with known very high-grade samples to the west. We have a number of holes drilled in the 1970s by AMAX that targeted nickel and copper sulphides in the basal zone. These holes were often about 250 meters long but were not systematically assayed for PGEs or other minerals. And then we have holes drilled in the 2000s that were shallow, often less than 100 meters, but include complete assay data for all elements. We are the first to model these results from different eras together, and bring geophysics and geochemistry into the same systematic targeting process. One of the best holes is IM2002-07, which returned 8 meters of 3.65 g/t Pt+Pd+Au starting at surface, plus 0.16% combined nickel and copper, and significant cobalt. That grade is directly comparable to grades now being mined in South Africa. Then consider the fact that that drill hole was drilled about 60 meters away from a 1970s hole, 355-62, that returned 221 meters of similar, actually slightly higher combined nickel and copper grade at 0.19%, but with no PGE data. And there are two more excellent holes from the 1970s about 150 meters away that also show potentially minable nickel and copper grades, again without PGE data: 33.5 meters of 0.77% Ni and 0.65% Cu in hole 355-59, and then in 355-64 we have 26.8 meters at 0.98% Ni and 0.45% Cu within a broader interval that returned a whopping 259.1 meters grading 0.25% Ni and 0.20% Cu starting at 15.2 meters depth, and ending in mineralization. That second hole, number 355-64, is particularly interesting because we have some limited palladium data that reports 2.7g /t in that higher-grade interval. This could easily be 4 g/t total PGE, based on ratio of platinum to palladium that we see elsewhere in the area. These results tell us that there is a lot of metal in this system, and that the conductive high anomalies are successfully targeting nickel and copper sulphide mineralization that is enriched in PGEs and cobalt. At HGR, the past results are potentially minable "as is," even before testing the conductive high to the east, or the area of a grab sample which returned 3 opt of PGE to the west. These are priority targets for drilling, and we are now working up our plans in that regard. Did the results meet or exceed the company's expectations? These results exceeded our expectation, and set the stage for very exciting exploration programs in 2019 as we work to bring known grades together with the size potential that we see in these results. Maurice Jackson: Sir, what is the next unanswered question for Group Ten Metals, when should expect results, and what determines success? Michael Rowley: Results of continued work on other target areas will be ongoing, but perhaps more importantly we are now finalizing our priority targets and planning drill programs, and will be releasing details on those in the coming weeks. These are big targets, and we have a terrific base to build upon. I think it will be an exciting year. Maurice Jackson: Switching gears, Mr. Rowley, what would you like to say to current and prospective shareholders regarding the value proposition of Group Ten Metals juxtaposed to the current share price? Michael Rowley: I have a three-part answer to that question. First, junior mining stocks present a great value opportunity these days because we are really undervalued relative to our target commodities and a number of other metrics. Group Ten's market cap is about $8 million at present, and yet we have great assets in three truly world-class districts. That is most apparent at Stillwater where we are sharing very rare geology and a famously metal-rich district with an asset that is valued at nearly $3 billion. Another important consideration concerning Group Ten's value is the fact that we are focused on an American asset at a time when the U.S. is recognizing a need to secure supplies of strategic and critical metals within its borders. We saw this in the past week regarding energy metals and in the past year with a broader list that included PGEs. The Stillwater district has some of the absolute best geology in the world for a number of the commodities listed, including nickel, cobalt, platinum, and palladium, and we are right there beside three active mines. And the last consideration is that we have some assets that we aren't getting much value for in the market, and we have been clear that we are working to monetize those in order to focus on advancing Stillwater West. For example, we recently announced the signing of an LOI towards the sale of one of our Yukon assets, the Ultra project, where we receive cash, shares and exploration work. We have interest in our other non-core assets as well, and are following up on that. And, projects aside, we have about $2.5 million in warrants that are in the money. These are callable, and we have seen a number of exercises recently, which provides us with cash to keep the pre-season machine turning. Maurice Jackson: Last question, sir, what did I forget to ask? Michael Rowley: Well, let's touch on The Metallic Group for a minute, as Group Ten is one of three growth-stage exploration companies that share an office and follow the same philosophy. All three companies consolidated high-quality projects in high-grade brownfields districts through the bear market cycle and are now applying bigger and more modern geologic models to those assets. Metallic Minerals sees potential for billion-ounce silver deposits by applying Couer d'Elene thinking to the Yukon's iconic Keno Silver District. And our newest company, Granite Creek Copper, has consolidated the Stu copper-gold property in the Yukon to apply models developed at the neighboring projects. All three companies have been strategically founded around great assets by experienced teams, and are very well positioned to add real value this exploration season and beyond. Maurice Jackson: For information on The Metallic Group of Companies, please visit its website (here). For readers who want to get more information on Group Ten Metals, the website address is www.grouptenmetals.com. And as a reminder Group Ten Metals trades on the TSX-V: PGE and on the OTCQB: PGEZF. For direct inquiries please contact Chris Ackerman at 604-357-4790 ext. 1 and he may also be reached at info@grouptenmetals.com. As a reminder, Group Ten Metals is a sponsor and we are proud shareholders for the virtues conveyed in to today's interview. Finally, please visit our website provenandprobable.com, where we provide mining insights and bullion sales, you may reach at contact@provenandprobable.com Michael Rowley of Group Ten Metals, thank you for joining us today on Proven and Probable. Maurice Jackson is the founder of Proven and Probable, a site that aims to enrich its subscribers through education in precious metals and junior mining companies that will enrich the world. Disclosure: 1) Maurice Jackson: I, or members of my immediate household or family, own shares of the following companies mentioned in this article: Group Ten Metals. I personally am, or members of my immediate household or family are, paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None. My company has a financial relationship with the following companies mentioned in this article: Group Ten Metals is a sponsor of Proven and Probable. Proven and Probable disclosures are listed below. 2) The following companies mentioned in this article are billboard sponsors of Streetwise Reports: Group Ten Metals, Metallic Minerals and Granite Creek Copper. Click here for important disclosures about sponsor fees. As of the date of this article, an affiliate of Streetwise Reports has a consulting relationship with Group Ten Metals. Please click here for more information. 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. 5) From time to time, Streetwise Reports LLC and its directors, officers, employees or members of their families, as well as persons interviewed for articles and interviews on the site, may have a long or short position in securities mentioned. Directors, officers, employees or members of their immediate families are prohibited from making purchases and/or sales of those securities in the open market or otherwise from the time of the interview or the decision to write an article until three business days after the publication of the interview or article. The foregoing prohibition does not apply to articles that in substance only restate previously published company releases. As of the date of this article, officers and/or employees of Streetwise Reports LLC (including members of their household) own shares of Group Ten Metals, Metallic Minerals and Granite Creek Copper, companies mentioned in this article. Proven and Probable LLC receives financial compensation from its sponsors. The compensation is used is to fund both sponsor-specific activities and general report activities, website, and general and administrative costs. 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More Info: This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions. More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ and tickertagstocknews.com Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp Two students from Cork will travel to the US after winning an intensive executive mentorship programme with the leadership of tech firm Park Place Technologies. Emma Brennan, from CIT and Amy Dolan from UCC, who both graduate in 2021, were chosen from entrants across Ireland to win a 10-day placement with Park Place Technologies in Boston, Massachusetts and Cleveland, Ohio, where they will participate in training to develop their leadership skills. The competition is in partnership with I Wish, the Cork-founded initiative designed to teach young women more about career opportunities in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). The competition was open to all college students who had previously attended an I Wish event. Ms Dolan said: "The theory you learn at college is, of course, important, but this will give me the opportunity to experience first-hand what a career in STEM is really like." Ms Brennan said: "I hope I will look back on this moment in the years to come as the catalyst for my career in STEM." I Wish co-founder Caroline O'Driscoll said the partnership was a chance for the initiative "to support these girls as they enter STEM courses in college and onwards into the workplace". Founded in 1991, Park Place Technologies provides maintenance for IT data centres. It opened an EMEA operations centre in Cork last November, with 70 jobs to be created over two years. The firm's services are spread across 55,000 data centres in more than 141 countries. "The lack of female participation in STEM means we are leaving 50% of our talent pool behind, said Jennifer Deutsch, chief marketing officer at Park Place Technologies. The opportunity for women in Irish and global STEM careers is unlimited. As a leader in our field, we believe we have a responsibility to help address this imbalance and this is one of the key reasons why we set up this initiative in partnership with the IDA and I Wish. We are confident this initiative will foster STEM ambitions among Irelands young women. More people who have cancer are asking about medical trials at a time when cutbacks are reducing the availability of potentially breakthrough treatments. Cancer Trials Ireland said the 3m in cutbacks that had accumulated over the last three years was now impacting on possible lifesaving treatment options. It is unable to open trials in a number of disease areas because of a 20% cut every year since 2016 in the grant it receives from the Department of Health. Because of the cutbacks, people with diseases such as lymphoma, and testicular and endometrial cancer cannot access the newest promising treatments. This is at a time when an increasing number of patients want to join cancer trials and most (93%) believe it is important to have cancer trials as a treatment option. New research from the University Hospital Limerick found that the number of its patients asking to participate in a cancer trial increased by 7% last year. Bryan Hennessy, clinical lead at Cancer Trials Ireland, said it made no sense to starve an area of research that could offer a lifeline to people with cancer. Prof Hennessy said the cutbacks had been imposed at a time when cancer rates were doubling and when one in two people in Ireland would develop cancer during their lifetime. As a result of these continuing cuts, the number of people joining cancer drug trials each year is falling drastically, he said. In 2014, before the 2016 cuts were introduced, 3% of people with cancer were on a cancer drug trial. Last year, it was down to 1.5%. This means that, every year, fewer people with cancer can access potentially effective treatment options when the standard treatments are not working. As an oncologist, he saw patients every day and some had no options left. Continuation of these cutbacks is unjustifiable by any standards, he said. Eibhlin Mulroe, chief executive of Cancer Trials Ireland, said trials were also a very cost-effective way to provide cancer treatments, because the trial drugs were supplied by pharmaceutical companies. For every 1 in government grant we get, we can attract 3 in investment in trials. So, at a health policy and economic basis, its a no-brainer, she said. Averil Power, chief executive of the Irish Cancer Society, said the cuts in government funding must be addressed as a priority. Cancer Trials Ireland is a registered charity, partly funded by grants from the Health Research Board, the Irish Cancer Society, and St Lukes Insititute of Cancer Research. The charitys Just Ask Your Team campaign, launched yesterday, aims to raise awareness of cancer trials in Ireland and to encourage people with cancer, their families, and friends to ask their local team about a trial that might be suitable for them. Minister for Health Simon Harris is being asked why an air ambulance service is still grounded since last January despite being ready to launch. Cork County Council is to write to Mr Harris after the Irish Examiner highlighted that the country's first charity-funded air ambulance has been sitting in a hangar in Millstreet waiting for ministerial approval to go into service. Councillors say lives could be lost in the interim and want an explanation for the hold-up. Irish Community Rapid Response (ICRR) used hundreds of thousands of euro donated by the public to lease a helicopter, develop an airbase, and train medical and support staff to run the service. Cllr Paul Hayes sought support from colleagues when he told a meeting in County Hall it is unacceptable that such a vital service is still not operational: "I want this council to write to the Minister for Health, asking what specifically are the impediments to allowing the Irish Community Rapid Response Air Ambulance service to begin operation." Cllr Hayes pointed out that from its base in Millstreet the helicopter could be in Dingle in 22 minutes and Waterford in 45 minutes. He said: "The service aims to provide fast access by highly-trained personnel. It will save lives." The county council has been very supportive of ICRR and those behind it received a Mayor's Award for their endeavours. Cllr Declan Hurley said the case for a rapid transit emergency helicopter has been proven over and over again. "It will save lives. It's a shocking indictment that the minister hasn't moved on this already. We want to see this activated as soon as possible before more lives are lost." Mayor of County Cork, Cllr Patrick Gerard Murphy described it as a critical service and said he would immediately write on behalf of the local authority to Mr Harris expressing the urgency of the situation. Deputy Michael Moynihan, who represents the largely rural Cork North West constituency, also questioned the delay. He said it would be able to serve a population of a 15,000 square kilometre area within 20 minutes: "That can only be beneficial to the people living in remote and rural parts of Cork." A New York city chief of detectives has said that resources and collaboration with other forces are necessary for combating cyber threats and fraud. Dermot Shea, who is in Ireland for the International Fraud Prevention conference in Dublin, told RTE radios Morning Ireland that the landscape of law enforcement is changing and it is a challenge to stay ahead of criminals. Technology is changing so rapidly. It crosses borders, this is not a law enforcement problem alone. Events such as conferences are important opportunities for police forces to share information. Collaboration is key. Mr Shea said that in New York the level of fraud had risen in the past five to 10 years from 20% to 40% of major crimes. Dealing with it is taking up a growing amount of time. He pointed out that laws have not kept up with technology. It is a perpetual game of cat and mouse. Resources are key, he added. No police chief will ever say that they have enough resources. We added 200 detectives to tackle cybercrime. We are fortunate". New York citys police department also hired 100 analysts, he said. These are non-uniformed members of the force. They are another tool in our tool box in the fight against fraud. Their key focus is coding. Trading information at conferences is important, said Mr Shea. Criminals purposefully seek to exploit weaknesses in law enforcement, they will travel the world. Their schoolmates may not welcome the outcome but the science is behind their finding: Pupils of a Cork primary school have shown that watching TV while doing written homework is a no-no. Following intense scientific research, 28 fourth class students at Ovens National School were able to demonstrate that having a TV in the classroom equals major distraction. If it sounds like the obvious outcome, less expected was the finding that some children asked to leave the classroom as they couldnt get their work done on account of the TV being on. Far more work went into this research than you might realise. It took the form of a randomised trial, modelled on the kind of randomised clinical trials that are part and parcel of the modern health landscape. As the organisers of START (Schools Teaching Awareness of Randomised Trials) point out, the challenge for the students is to put together a research question and then answer it, using the rigorous steps of a trial, from selecting outcomes (Does watching TV while doing written homework cause you to lose concentration?) to identifying participants (28 sixth class pupils), obtaining informed consent (all students signed forms), and randomisation (assigning participants to each group randomly). Conor Murphy, the fourth class teacher who oversaw the project, said the children came up with the research idea during a class debate. They initially considered measuring speed of completion, correct answers, quality of handwriting, and the amount of time their subjects become distracted. However, one child wisely said: We then decided it wouldnt be fair to judge a childs homework based on their handwriting because some children just have neater handwriting than others naturally. They began with a survey of seven classes from third to sixth class and the results werent as we expected, they said. Of 176 children surveyed, only seven think that watching TV while doing homework is a good idea. Asked if they think that watching TV while doing their homework would affect concentration, 170 said yes. The children warn to treat the results with caution: We felt that some children might not have been saying what they truly believed and only answered that way to keep their teachers happy. They pushed on with the study, selecting sixth class as their test subjects,dividing them into two groups and keeping them under observation in two separate classrooms, the only difference between the two being a TV in one, via an interactive whiteboard. They were closely observed by the fourth class researchers for four days, over a period of two weeks. We decided that distractions would count as the following talking, fidgeting, staring at the TV, and staring out into space, said the researchers. We made sure that the sixth class students sat spread out in both classrooms to limit their chance to chat. Among the findings were that there were far more distractions in the TV room and children were a lot more focused and determined to get their work done in the TV-free classroom. The young researchers are among three primary schools shortlisted to showcase their randomised clinical trials at NUI Galway today when the overall winner will be presented with the START Trophy, in a competition run by the Health Research Board. Final word goes to Ovens NS: TV is great but it uses you as bait to get your homework done late. Listen to the Ovens National School START 2019 entry podcast here. A Cork City Council election candidate who has campaigned against illegal dumps and anti-social behaviour has been subjected to vandalism at her home. Independent candidate Noreen Murphy has expressed disappointment at the dumping of muck and farm waste over her car which was parked in the drive of her home in Ballyvolane on the northside of the city. Ms Murphy says she will not be forced in to silence on illegal dumping by mindless bullies. "Our home was targeted last night in, what I believe, is an attempt to intimidate me into silence over the illegal dumping in the area. Or maybe it is because Im running in the election," she said. My car was vandalised in my drive. A load of muck was thrown over the gate on top of my car, probably as a warning to back down. The gardai were here and are now investigating it. Ms Murphy said she is not going to apologise for wanting her kids to breathe clean safe air. I am certainly not going to apologise for wanting every child, woman and man in my community to be healthy and safe. "The council removed five tonnes of asbestos from Elliss Yard (an illegal dumping site). Every single person in this community was at risk of cancer. Every child and every adult is now safer, and no, I wont be apologising for helping to stop that." The Cork City Fire Brigade has been called to dozens of fires at Elliss yard which is an illegal dumping ground. Earlier this year Noreen gathered items from the dump and brought them to Cork City Hall in a bid to highlight what she calls the serious health and safety issues. "Burning rubbish releases poisonous fumes that can also kill or cause terrible disease." The people who profit from illegal dumping, who poison our communities do not care if your child is sick as long as they are making money. They do not care if your child has lung cancer or asthma. They do not care if your mother is choking and spends half her life with an oxygen mask. They only care about making money regardless of the human suffering." She has urged householders not to engage with illegal rubbish collectors. "When the cheap rubbish collectors come to your door, think of a child on an oxygen mask in a hospital. Think of a grandmother with lung cancer or emphysema fighting for her life. "And just think, they could be your family. Is it worth it?" Europes top human rights court will issue a ruling next week on a challenge brought by the killer of a Limerick rugby player shot in a case of mistaken identity. Barry Doyle is attempting to have his conviction in February 2012, for the murder of Shane Geoghegan four years earlier, quashed by the European Court of Human Rights. Doyle, 33, has lodged a case against the State, claiming he was denied access to a solicitor during questioning on suspicion of murder. Doyle, of Portland Row, Dublin, was recruited by members of the Dundon gang to carry out a hit on a rival gang member, but shot Mr Geoghegan by mistake as he arrived at his home in Dooradoyle. Doyle was first arrested in February 2009 in connection with the killing of the Garryowen player on November 9, 2008. He was taken to a Garda station, informed of his rights, and given access to a particular solicitor. Doyle was subsequently interviewed many times and had access to a solicitor in person and by phone, prior to and during interviews, but the solicitor was not present at the interviews themselves. In his 15th interview, he admitted killing Mr Geoghegan and provided details about the crime. In a retrial before the Central Criminal Court, in February 2012 a jury failed to reach a verdict in his first trial for murder Doyles lawyers sought to have his admissions to gardai, while in custody, excluded, amid claims he had been induced, threatened, and denied access to legal advice. The trial judge dismissed the application and he was subsequently found guilty of Mr Geoghegans murder and given a mandatory life sentence. In recent years, before the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, he mounted unsuccessful challenges against his conviction. In 2017, the Supreme Court ruled 6-1 that there was no constitutional right to have a solicitor present during questioning. Under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which relates to the right to a fair trial and right to legal assistance, Doyle is complaining he was not able to have a solicitor present during his interrogation. He claims this represents a failure by the State to afford him a fair trial. In the absence of a solicitor, Doyles lawyers maintain his rights to silence and not to incriminate himself were eroded and that the refusal by the Central Criminal Court to exclude his admissions effectively deprived him of any defence at trial. A former photojournalist from the US who is in Ireland this week is looking to be reunited with an Irishman who he met in 1984 when he made him an honorary CNN reporter in Dublin for the visit of the then-US President Ronald Reagan. Speaking this morning, Reggie Selma told Ryan Tubridy on RTE Radio 1 that he picked out a nine-year-old boy from a crowd of about 50 people who had gathered near Trinity College for a live broadcast with the then-President. Reggie told Ryan: "As is my custom if there was time and a crowd I would try and pick a youngster out of the crowd and would make him or her an honorary CNN reporter, because you never know who you are going to inspire. "So I saw this kid with the happiest smile and I waved him over. After I asked him how old he was, and he said nine, I said 'great, you meet the union requirements' and everybody laughed." After setting the youngster up with mics and putting him on the box where the CNN reporter would stand, Reggie said the boy automatically did a mic check. He said: "He was a natural. And I said 'young man, what's your name?' and he said 'Martin'." Then Martin told Reggie "my mum named me after her hero Dr Martin Luther King Junior". Reggie explained this morning: "Coming from the south and being a child of the civil rights movement and having this young Irish lad telling me that that was his hero." This really touched Reggie who told Ryan that he would love to know what Martin, who would now be in his 40s, is doing. He said: "I have this dream while I'm here, I'd love to find Martin and tell him that he is my hero as well." A five-year jail term with the last year suspended was imposed on a man who set fire to two cars outside a house in Glanmire but said the owners had nothing to fear from him as it was a mistake and he had burned the wrong vehicles. Judge Sean O Donnabhain said yesterday, Apparently the accused thinks the victims are to take solace from the fact that he thought he was burning someone elses cars. It would not be of great reassurance to me. He is not in a position to make up the loss. It was a deliberate and conscious act and an accelerant was used. The judge imposed the jail term on Tim Saubolle, of The Green, Tir Cluain, Mill Road, Midleton, Co Cork, at Cork Circuit Criminal Court. Garda Linda OLeary investigated the arson and said that one car was burnt out on March 15, and that Saubolle returned two nights later and did the same to the second car. He even smashed a rear window and slashed the tyres of the second car. Petrol was used to commit the arsons. Both cars were written off. The loss to the family, who were very distressed by the arsons, was 9,000 for the first car and 2,000 for the second. Saubolle did not give evidence yesterday but previously, in this case, he did apply unsuccessfully for bail and said, I was not in the right head space. Saubolle said he would not burn any more cars and apologised for the anguish caused to the owners of the cars that he did set on fire. Saubolle said, I apologise for the damage and for the torture caused to that family. I do not want to be here on any other charge. All I am asking for is a chance to show I made a mistake and I want to rectify it and gather compensation. I had a traumatic experience. I was beaten by hammers and people trying to cut my fingers off, he added. Sinead Behan, defending, said the accused had been assaulted and that it was as a response to that that he was setting fire to the two cars. However, she said he got the wrong people and that it was a case of mistaken identity in relation to the people he did target. Saubolle said that in November and December 2017 he was using cocaine on a daily basis but was clear of it since the new year started. Detective Sergeant Martin Canny said the same defendant also carried out the crime of demanding money with menaces from a family at Ballyphehane, Cork, in October 2017. Saubolle went there and said people would come down from Dublin if 3,000 was not paid for a young man in the family who had a drugs debt. Similar demands were made through Facebook. And finally, Saubolle went back to the house and said the debt had increased to 6,000 and that if it was not paid there would be repercussions. Ms Behan said the defendant was put under pressure for a debt of his own and she said he made no effort to conceal his identity when he made the demand for payment. In a third book of evidence against the same defendant yesterday, he was also convicted of having 16,000 worth of cannabis at a house in Lagan Grove, Mayfield, for sale or supply around this time. By Cormac OKeeffe, Sean ORiordan and David Raleigh More gardai may come under the scrutiny of an internal probe into alleged corruption following the dramatic arrest of three members, including a high-ranking officer. A superintendent, an inspector and a detective garda were questioned about alleged links to organised crime, specifically a Munster gang. The allegations include the leaking of information, conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, and drugs offences. It brings to four the number of gardai arrested, with the detective garda arrested a second time. His first arrest in January related to a separate suspected offence. Garda sources said the number of arrests, and the rank of those involved, was unprecedented. There may have been arrests before of gardai, but not like this, not three of them, and not a superintendent and an inspector. Usually its at garda rank or sergeant, said a senior source. It is thought to be the second time a superintendent has been arrested as part of a criminal investigation. Separate sources said the net may widen to other officers. Commenting on the four arrested so far, one senior source said the number of gardai under suspicion was at least that number. A separate source said other Garda operations in which these officers were either involved in or had knowledge about could also come under investigation. A third source said that investigating gardai had uncovered a significant problem and said that he would not be surprised if more gardai came under suspicion. The source also said that other interactions by these gardai, beyond the gang under investigation, could well be examined. The arrests were conducted in the Southern region and relate to an investigation by the Dublin-based National Bureau of Criminal Investigation into alleged links with an organised crime gang in Munster. This drug gang has connections with a notorious international criminal network based in Munster. In a statement, Garda HQ provided details of the yesterday mornings arrest: The superintendent was arrested for breach of the provisions of section 62 of the Garda Siochana Act 2005 which relates to disclosing information that is likely to have a harmful effect; The inspector was arrested under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977-84, but the specific suspected offence has not been disclosed; The garda was arrested for suspected conspiracy to pervert the course of justice under common law. This detective garda was arrested last January on suspicion of leaking information, in relation to CAB operations, to the gang. This garda was suspended from duty by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris. Last night, the inspector was released without charge and a file sent to the DPP. He was suspended after his release. The superintendent and garda had the periods of detention extended. Gardai spoken to by the Irish Examiner expressed their shock at the arrests. Last October, it emerged a criminal gang had allegedly blackmailed a serving garda (separate to the other three officers) into providing them with bogus car insurance certificates. The garda in question was arrested. Some of the leaked information is alleged to be linked to a planned raid last March by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) targeting a suspected money-laundering associate of a Munster gang involved in the drugs trade. In its biggest seizure of vehicles, CAB took away 115 cars, worth around 2.8m. It is understood that CAB did not involve local gardai in that operation because of serious concerns about leaking of information. The NBCI probe is led by Detective Chief Superintendent Walter OSullivan and a team of senior detectives. It is thought that the investigation involved the interception of communications and surveillance. Deputy Commissioner Policing and Security John Twomey said: An Garda Siochana is fully committed to investigating any alleged wrongdoing or corruption involving Garda personnel. Update: Gary Hand has been found safe and well. Earlier: Gardai appeal for help in finding man, 48, missing in Dublin Gardai have appealed for the public's assistance in locating a 48-year-old man missing in Dublin. Gary Hand was last seen on the North Circular Road, Dublin 7, at around 8.30am on Wednesday morning. He is described as 5' 7'' in height, of stocky build, with grey hair and hazel eyes. When last seen he was wearing dark jeans and a grey tracksuit top. Gary's family are concerned for his well-being and are appealing to the public for information. People who can assist in locating him are asked to contact Mountjoy Garda Station on 01 666 8600, The Garda Confidential line 1800 666 111 or any Garda Station. A national blueprint for more balanced growth in Ireland has identified a number of key infrastructure projects vital for sustaining and increasing the population in West Cork. A number of recommendations for improving infrastructure in the region are contained in a draft report compiled by the Southern Regional Assembly, which will form the basis for the National Planning Framework document. It is a blueprint for vital projects which will be delivered between 2020 and 2040. The Southern Regional Assembly is strongly supportive of the economic role of towns in West Cork and it is also supportive of improved connectivity. The roads infrastructure in West Cork, in particular, lags behind many other areas of the country. The report identifies measures which have to be taken to improve this situation. Specific road corridors identified for upgrades include the N71, which runs from Cork to Glengarriff before it then crosses into Kerry linking Kenmare with Killarney. While the section of the road from Cork to Halfway is relatively modern, it then deteriorates rapidly. The report also says the R585 regional road from Bandon to Bantry via Dunmanway needs to be significantly upgraded, as does the R572, which links Castletownbere with the N71. Cllr Joe Carroll, the only West Cork member of the Southern Regional Assembly welcomed the news. He said representatives of the assembly living in rural areas had to battle hard to get their point across. "The whole purpose of the National Planning Framework was to address the population imbalance between the Eastern seaboard and the rest of the country. Initially it was designed to get growth in Waterford, Galway, Limerick and Metropolitan Cork. There was total disregard for West Cork and Kerry, which is now being addressed," Cllr Carroll said. He pointed out that improving connectivity would lead to more jobs being created in West Cork. Cllr Carroll said the region relies heavily on its fishing industry and plans to expand it. He said that there were a huge amount of trucks connected with the fishing industry which were having to negotiate the Dickensian 'Bantry Line' which runs from Crookstown, through Coppeen and onto Beara. The councillor said the road was totally unsuitable for such traffic. He said that was why it had been recommended that the main road serving the fishing industry in West Cork should be from Bandon through Dunmanway and onto Bantry. Key infrastructure requirements also include investment for regeneration of town centres and relief roads for Skibbereen and Bantry. A section of the report identifies further measures which can help the marine economy (fishing, offshore energy etc) and this includes the need for investment in the regeneration of a number of harbours along the West Cork coast. In particular the ports of Bantry, Castletownberehaven, Union Hall and Schull are singled out as in need of further investment. The importance of the Wild Atlantic Way Corridor is also referenced because of its tourist-drawing potential. Reference is also made to increasing rural innovation through assets such as E-Centres in Bantry, Bere Island, Dunmanway, Goleen and the Ludgate Hub Skibbereen. The report also says that improvements are needed to public transport in the region, including enhancing the Local Link service. A 29-year-old man is due in court this morning in relation to the seizure of 63,000 worth of drugs in Dublin. Heroin with an estimated value of 16,000 along with cannabis valued at 47,000 was discovered at a house in Tallaght yesterday. Political Correspondent UK prime minister Theresa May has agreed to discuss a timetable in June to choose her successor. It is expected Ms May could stand down if she loses a fresh Westminster vote on Brexit next month. However, a new British government leader will not alter Brexit or trigger a reopening of negotiations with the EU, Irish Government figures say. Developments prompted former foreign secretary Boris Johnson to declare his candidacy. High-profile appearances from government members Jeremy Hunt, Michael Gove, and Dominic Raab has also buoyed speculation that they will run. Ms May agreed to outline the path for her departure next month after meeting conservative MPs. She has come under fresh pressure to leave Downing Street amid the Brexit impasse and poor results for the Conservatives in local elections. A Government spokesman here says the issue is one for internal British politics. Privately, figures ruled out any chance of a new Conservative leader succeeding in reopening Brexit talks. Tanaiste Simon Coveney told the BBC last week a change of leadership would not change things, saying: This is not a personality-based issue. Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin told the Irish Examiner last night he hoped any leadership process would not complicate Brexit further. Clearly the internal politics of the British Conservative Party are a matter for them, but my hope is that as this process moves forward, everyone involved works to ensure that no further instability is introduced to the already strained and difficult Brexit politics of the UK, he said. A pensioner who was born in an historic clock-gate tower staged a sit-in protest at the landmark Cork visitor attraction yesterday in a row over the display of a family photograph. John McGrath, 80, from Youghal, said he felt he had no option but to occupy the towns landmark structure after being refused permission by Cork County Council to display the montage and family crest in the building his family lived in for half a century. I gave them so much and now Im the villain, he said. It has caused me huge upset and its become an obsession for me. It would mean so much to me to be allowed to put this over the mantlepiece. Three generations of the McGrath family lived as tenants in the tower from 1915 until 1955. They had responsibility for winding its clock and announcing a death by ringing its bell. Owned by the county council, the building was restored in stages from 2008 until it opened as a visitor attraction in March 2017. The McGrath family living room is replicated inside. Mr McGrath features in a video screened as part of the visitor tour. He has been trying for months to get permission to display the 21 by 21 collage of family members linked to the building but officials have refused. He has rejected a compromise offer to display a photo without the crest. His frustration boiled over yesterday, when he entered the building at 10am and refused to leave until 4.30pm. Its a collage of my grandparents and their family, my parents and our family, said Mr McGrath. It would mean a lot to me to have it displayed in the building. Friends of his called for fresh negotiations. Cork County Council did not respond to queries last night. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald says that her party will work with Boris Johnston if he becomes the new leader of the Conservative party. We will do business with whomever we need to, she told RTE radios Today with Sean ORourke show. The specialist garda team investigating alleged corruption in the force is examining how far and deep the suspected criminality goes following the release of three officers. The three gardai a superintendent, an inspector and a detective garda were arrested as part of a high-level and secretive investigation into alleged links between garda members and an organised crime gang in Munster. The team, from the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, is set to examine, and possibly arrest, other gardai and civilian staff. Sources said detectives will probe if they had direct contact with the gang or if they were given information by colleagues, which they then acted upon, that, unknown to them, benefited this gang. The gang, which is involved in the drugs trade and other illegality, is linked to an international criminal network, also based in Munster. Sources said detectives will try to determine whether any officers also had contact with this organised crime group. The investigation team is expected to look back at the various stations in which the three officers served as part of their inquiries. Senior officers are examining in detail the statements made by the three members during questioning, following their dramatic arrest early on Thursday. Sources on Thursday described the arrests to the Irish Examiner as unprecedented not just because of the number of gardai and the suspected offences, but the ranks of those involved. The fact they included a superintendent, which is a high-ranking senior officer, and an inspector, which is mid-ranking manager, shocked gardai. The superintendent was arrested for allegedly disclosing information, contrary to section 62 of the Garda Siochana Act 2005. The inspector was arrested for alleged drug offences under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977-84. The detective garda was arrested for suspected conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, contrary to common law. The garda was previously arrested, last January, on suspicion of receiving payment for disclosing information regarding investigations by the Criminal Assets Bureau against the gang. The garda has been suspended from duty since then. The inspector was released on Thursday evening, and the superintendent and garda were released early on Friday. The superintendent was also suspended from duty. A file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions. Sources said that while the team will be focused on this investigation, it could be a first phase of a wider operation. One senior source said: The question is how deep and far does this go. Once you start pulling threads, things unravel. He said the team will look back at the officers stints in different stations and their actions there. But sources said the ability to gather evidence will be far more limited than the current investigation, which is thought to have been based, at least in part, on the interception of communications and surveillance. Senior sources said there is no indication of any local investigations suspected of being potentially compromised and that inquiries were currently related to operations in Munster by the Dublin-based CAB. These sources also said they do not expect that successful prosecutions involving these three officers against organised crime gangs will be affected by the NBCI investigation. There will be 36 hospitals impacted by strike action by some 17,000 support workers who are in dispute with their employer over a job evaluation scheme. The thousands of chefs, porters and other support staff voted overwhelmingly in support of stoppages and could commence industrial action in June as a result of the vote. Siptu said that the dispute stems from the government's failure to deliver on the outcome of an official review of the work of healthcare assistants under a job-evaluation scheme established as part of the 2015 Landsdowne Road public service pay agreement. The review, according to Siptu, found that some staff had been underpaid for a decade and that they should receive pay rises of approximately 2,000 per year. Siptu also noted that about 1,000 chefs in the sector are also seeking to move onto higher pay scales in accordance with their duties. The union said they have been waiting for movement on this since 2017. The result of the ballot was announced at a special conference on pay justice at Croke Park today. Siptu members working as health support staff voted by 94% to 6% in favour of strike action. In a separate ballot, chefs working for the HSE also voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action by a margin of 97% to 3% in favour. Siptu deputy general secretary for the Public Sector, John King, said that the response is "clear and emphatic". He said: "Our union is demanding meaningful engagement with government on the resolution to this longstanding issue once and for all. Our members have played by the rules and kept the health services going in recent times. They deserve to get the pay justice they have waited so patiently for. Our members have the full backing of our union on this as it was conceded as part of a previous national public sector agreement. Siptu health division organiser, Paul Bell said: "The size of the vote in favour of strike action undoubtedly demonstrates our members anger with the Government due to their failure to give them the fair and equal treatment they demand. "It is a fact that this vote was brought about by the failure by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe to honour the provisions included in the Lansdowne Road and Haddington Road agreements." He said it was never the union members desire to engage in strike action which will put additional pressures on the health service. "However, after months of obstruction, our members have been left with no option but to express themselves and their frustrations," he said. "The ball is now in the court of the Government and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. They can either pay our members what they are owed or face the consequences." One of Irelands busiest writers, Sinead Gleesons book about bodies is a fascinating collection of essays about a life hit by serious illness. She spoke to Sue Leonard. Sinead and I first met on a snowy morning in 2010. She was on crutches after a hip replacement; my arm was in a sling because Id tripped over my dog, and the writer Howard Jacobson, who we were both there to interview, asked if all Irish journalists were broken. In the years since, Sinead has been dizzyingly busy. A prolific journalist and broadcaster, she presented RTE radios Book Show for four years; shes edited three anthologies two of which won an Irish book award and shes a constant as a moderator/interviewer on the festival scene. Shes also found time to write a few short-stories, and has started work on a novel. Right now, shes writer in residence at University College Dublin, a post which requires her to teach on both the MA and MFA programmes; shes putting together yet another anthology, and her debut book a collection of highly praised essays, which have also sold to America, is about to be unleashed into the literary world. There has been so much pre-publicity expectation, that Sinead has already been booked to do 27 events. It feels really terrifying at the moment, she says, when we meet to discuss Constellations. Theres that fear of repeating yourself and of being boring. Im used to being the person on that stage asking the questions, and Ill have to figure out how to talk about the book. Theres plenty to talk about. Its an original, wide-ranging collection, which charts Sineads life through her body and body politics and contains tales of sickness, child bearing, motherhood, feminism, loss and death but references social history, the arts and politics. Above all, its about the restrictions suffered by Irish women and is sure to resonate, and spark a myriad of ideas in the reader. For all her nerves, Sinead cant help but be grateful for the attention. As a journalist she knows what an honour that is in a crowded market. But how did that change from journalist to essayist begin? About seven years ago, on the anniversary of the day I got leukaemia, I wrote something on my website and a publisher got in touch. He asked to meet me. "Id never thought of writing a memoir, but I started to write these pieces for him, and he was really interested. And it was a big publishing company. "But they said, we like the sick, death element of it, and I didnt want to write a book like that, so I said no. I started reading books by people like Leslie Jamison on body feminism, and realised that was what I had been trying to do I found the form a really brilliant way of investigating how I feel about something. So, in a sense it was a book that demanded to be written? Yes, but it was never going to be straightforward. People think that non-fiction is something you coughed up out of your diary without any care, but I find it harder to write than fiction. Things are in your head but its different when you start negotiating with the page. The book opens with Blue Hills and Chalk Bones an essay that explains in graphic, but artistic detail, both the leukaemia Sinead endured in her twenties, and the juvenile arthritic problems that led, eventually, to that hip replacement. Appearing in Granta, this was the first of her essays to be published. Mingling the pain of her hospital experience, and the frustrations of negotiating the teen years through the prism of sickness, its a masterclass in essay writing, but the form didnt come easily. I sent the first version to Siobhan Mannion, a friend and brilliant writer who is always my first reader, and seeing the reams of social comment there on the evil church and the dogma, she said: You need to get rid of loads of this. She told me I was avoiding writing about myself by burying the personal in political dogma. I resisted changing it, but I knew she was right. That was hard. And if that one was difficult, writing about Rob her first love who later died in a tragic accident proved harder still, because, shes still in touch with his family, and knew she had to take their sensibilities into account. I had promised that essay to Kevin Barry for The Winter Pages nearly three years ago. The deadline was looming around the time of the Brexit vote. "I emailed Kevin in a panic and said: I cant give you the piece. Im worried Ill mess it up. I was always running away from it, going back to it and telling myself I could not do it. "Id been at it for almost 10 years, but If I hadnt felt Id pulled it off I wouldnt have included it in the book. So many of our most talented writers were sick as a child from Bram Stoker, to Liz Nugent, and Christine Dwyer-Hickey. And, certainly, the experience has impacted on Sineads career choices. It helped me on two levels, she says. I spent a lot of time being sick, sitting in waiting rooms and being confined to bed. "I was like a triathlon reader spilling through a couple of Agatha Christies a day. And I kind of turned my hobby into my job. And by missing all that school, I was always playing catch up, so I was used to working hard and pushing myself. Im not good at doing nothing. "And though there have been times, through fear of saying no, I have taken on too much and felt overloaded, I cant imagine not being busy. When I gave up the Book Show I thought, Ill have loads of time, but its like a collapsing sand-dune where it gets instantly filled in. "But something had to give, and I knew I was never going to finish this book if I didnt make a big step. Wanting, in the future, to write full time, Sinead would like to continue conducting public interviews, and keep up some teaching. Has the journalism helped her as a writer? I remember, a few years ago, when I wanted to write and wasnt doing it out of fear, I interviewed Justin Hill and John Banville a week apart. Justin said the worst thing a writer could be was a journalist. He said, Go and work in Tesco! but Banville said that was the worst advice ever. He said, it teaches you about pace and story telling and language. What journalism really did teach me was discipline, deadlines, and just knuckling down. And that is the hardest part of writing. You have to keep showing up and putting words on the page. She hopes to do just that in May, when publicity for the collection wanes. Poetry peppers Sineads collection and the book ends with an inspirational non-letter to her daughter, detailing the trials she might face because shes female. I felt like I had to end on that point. My life was so much better than my grandmother and great-grandmothers lives, and hopefully, life will be even better for my daughter. "But shell possibly face the difficulties and awfulness that comes of being female because of patriarchy and rape culture. Its a difficult navigation for women in the world, but I wanted to end on a hopeful and open note. There are lots of women in this book who have difficult and different lives, but hopefully hers will be just, and free from health problems. "When she was six weeks old she got bronchiolitis and we were in Our Ladys Hospital with her for a few nights. There was a baby in the room next door who had been there for almost a year. I dont think we think enough about the fragility of life. We give out about certain things. "I guess this book is saying, remind yourself what you have. Constellations: Reflections from Life, Sinead Gleeson, Picador, 14.99; Kindle, 9.96 CHRIS O'Dowd and Rosamund Pike star as a time-crunched couple who are undergoing relationship therapy in a new mini-series, State of the Union. They meet up every week in a London pub, have a drink, and then hurry to the office of their counsellor. Although we never see what happens when they meet their therapist, the sessions have a deep impact on their relationship. And, indeed, therapy has been shown to help a troubled relationship according to research published in the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy in 2011 - it found that that couple therapy positively impacts 70% of couples receiving treatment. After nearly two decades of experience as a relationships counsellor and psycho-sexual therapist, Eithne Bacuzzi has found that couples seeking support tend to be between the ages of 20 and 60. However, she says, within this is a sub-category of time-poor, under-pressure couples in their late 30s with busy careers and up to three young children she says. The relationship can be neglected as a result of time constraints and family pressures - the relationship goes to the end of the pile and gets neglected because they literally do not have the time for each other. Its a case of time-famine - a routine of running and racing, she observes. Although he believes theres no typical issue or any specific age at which couples decide to seek help, Dr Fergal Rooney, principal psychologist at John of Gods Hospital, has found that people are generally about 10 years into a relationship by the time they seek therapeutic support. However, this is not a strict rule - he has worked with troubled couples whose relationship is just a few years old. Reasons for seeking therapy cover all of lifes dilemmas, he says, from infidelity and the pressures of child rearing to infertility and addiction. Relationship therapist Bernadette Ryan has found some older couples can struggle with the difficulties posed by adult children - sometimes in their late 20s or older - remaining at, or returning, home. This is something which crop ups, particularly for urban residents, she says. Communication difficulties are at the foundation of everything in couple therapy, believes Bacuzzi, who has also found that porn has become an increasing issue for modern couples. She believes this can stem from over-exposure during teenage years, leading to pornography becoming a template for a young mans perception of sexual relationships. However, she warns, problems can be exacerbated by the fact that many couples dont seek therapy until their relationship is at shut-down point. Lisa OHara, a counselling therapist specialising in relationship difficulties. OHara points to the finding by relationships guru Dr John Gottman, that couple generally dont seek therapy for six years after they first start experiencing problems: They will have been unhappy for a long time, she says adding that for younger couples, there can be steadily increasing difficulty with issues such as commitment, parenting, work stresses or money. Such difficulties can also crop up for partners in their 40s and 50s, adds OHara, along with other problems such as empty nest syndrome, caring for ageing parents or the decision by one partner to do something unexpected later in life, like returning to college. The overarching thing is that a disconnect appears. Defences are high and they cannot see each other. There may be criticisms, contempt, stonewalling and defensiveness - these are the four key issues behind a problem, and a couples inability to be close. Expectations - often shaped by the way things were done in one partners family of origin - can cause problems when they come up against the other partners expectations, says Bacuzzi. Given its complexity, she says, couple therapy is one of the most difficult kinds of therapy". This is an area which warrants significant further training, believes Bacuzzi, who underwent four years of training in the speciality in Britain. Rooney believes couples seeking relationship therapy would be advised to ensure their therapist has specific training around working with couples There is no standardised legislative training level but it would be reasonable to expect a therapist to have additional training, he says. So what happens when a couple find themselves sitting in front of a therapist for the first time? Bacuzzi explains there will be an initial getting to know you session in which the therapist gathers information about the couple and gains insight into the dynamics of the relationship in terms of whats working or not working. From there, she says, the trio tease out the issues. Once there is acceptance and understanding on both sides, we look for change, she says. The outcome of the therapy is dependent on a couple engaging in the process and each partners willingness to own their part in the difficulties they are experiencing together. One of the most important issues at the start of the therapeutic process, says Rooney, is establishing with a couple exactly what they want from therapy - because they may not actually know. Do they want to re-establish a more committed relationship, do they want to negotiate a separation, or simply learn how to exist together for the sake of their child? Realistic expectations are critical for the couple and the therapist, he says. Its very much about what the couple needs and it can take time to establish what the couple want to achieve - because they may not know what they want. They may just know theyre in trouble, he says. At first, Rooney meets the couple together. Then he meets them on an individual basis before agreeing on a programme of therapy to work through whatever the goals are. Its about supporting the couple to communicate more effectively and hear what each other is saying, and rekindling empathetic responses to each other. Without that, I dont think the relationship can progress. Its a major problem when people stop listening to each other and become entrenched in their own perspective and lose empathy for one another in the process. Very often a critical piece is about listening effectively to each other and developing fundamental communication skills so that can move beyond their entrenched positions. Success, however, may not always be about a happy couple walking hand-in-hand into the sunset. Sometimes its about realising that a relationship is over and the couple can reach an amicable way forward with an understand of what has happened," says Bacuzzi. Failure, she adds, can come about from something as simple as one partner's refusal to become involved in the therapeutic process. Its also about how you perceive or measure success, says Ryan. If a relationship is irretrievably broken down, counselling can help a couple break up in the best way possible. She has encountered situations where one partner firmly wants to save the relationship and one wants to leave. One participant might only come to the counselling to ensure the relationship can be broken up in a safe way. However, she says, couples often get caught in a "negative downward spiral" which can be reversed if both of them want to change. Therapy is about helping a couple to come together to make the decisions and choices they need to make for both of them, for their relationship and their family, she says. However, she has seen couples who have come through very difficult times in their lives and found a way to work together. "That is what gives me hope, she says. A sense of goodwill is crucial to the success of therapy, says OHara. A couples ability to resolve their differences depends on their ability to talk about it, to forgive and to have compassion for each other, she says. Its very important because it gives you something to work on. If couples can respond positively to the question whats working in the relationship?, its a sign, she adds, that theres gas in the tank. The outcome is largely dependent on how willing people are to engage. Couples who do better are those who tend to take responsibility for their part and are willing to engage in the whole process and to listen to what their partner says without shooting them down. Therapy is only effective if each partner is willing to engage in the work and to change as appropriate. The outcome of therapy is not guaranteed. It can fail if the couple is not in a position to mutually engage with each other," says Rooney. Other factors that can contribute to the breakdown of therapy range from the honesty of the couple to their fit with the therapist and external pressures, says Rooney. Its worth putting real work into it, because the cost of couple therapy can be expensive, depending on where you find it. Sessions cost from about 25 to 150. In Accord, which offers marriage preparation courses and counselling, sessions the cost is 25 for couples outside Dublin (Accord charges 35 a session in the capital) but some private urban-based therapists will charge up to 150. None of the therapists interviewed expect any great changes in the area of relationship breakdown to result from a yes vote outcome of the May 24 referendum on divorce, which if passed would mean the Constitution would no longer require a person applying for a divorce to have lived apart from his or her spouse for at least four years. While it would make it easier to get a divorce following separation, the process of relationship breakdown and separation, says OHara, usually takes much longer than people think. The reality is that a lot of people think about separating," she says. "But it can take a lot longer than you think in terms of the emotions, the logistics - and children. 10 tips for conflict resolution In this special report Elaine Loughlin reveals the extent of expenses payments accrued by Irish MEPs over the most recent five-year European Parliament term. Irish MEPs each claimed 600,000 in expenses during their terms in Brussels. This staggering sum is on top of their 105,000 salary, a 24,943 monthly allowance to pay staff, and a severance package of up to 210,000. An Irish Examiner investigation has found nine of Irelands 11 MEPs claimed 5.55m in expenses during their five-year term much of this is unvouched and does not require them to produce any receipts. European poll-toppers Luke Ming Flanagan and out-going MEP Brian Crowley refused to answer questions about expenses and allowances and did not provide any indication of how much they have received in taxpayers funding. Unlike TDs and senators, whose expenses are published on the Oireachtas website, MEPs do not have to tell the public what they claim. Last year, the EU Court of Justice rejected calls for greater transparency and found that politicians are not required to reveal their expenses. The Irish Examiner submitted an identical list of seven questions relating to the amounts claimed or refunded by each of our 11 elected representatives in Brussels. While nine of the 11 responded, the level of detail differed and the answers were presented in various formats, for example some MEPs did not provide details for the six months of 2014 remaining in the year after they were elected, while others did./ It is important to note that some MEPs gave details of the amount claimed in the first half-year of their term in 2014 and also provided expenses to date. Others only provided information for the four full years, 2015 - 2018. In these cases the years are blank. The top claimant over the past five years has been Fine Gael MEP and European Parliament vice-president, Mairead McGuinness, who received 709,625 in allowances and reimbursements. This was almost 200,000 more than Sinn Feins Lynn Boylan, who said she has claimed 517,829 in travel, attendance payments, medical, and general allowances. The MEPs are allowed to claw back the massive sums without providing receipts or any evidence of spending, through the European Parliaments expenses system. These include an automatic, 4,513 monthly general expenditure allowance, which is intended to cover computers and telephones, representation activities, conferences, and office rent (although MEPs are provided with offices in Brussels and Strasbourg.) Our representatives in Europe get a flat-rate clocking-in allowance of 320 for each day they attend Brussels or Strasbourg on official business. While this daily payment is provided to cover accommodation and related costs, MEPs do not need to show any proof of how this stipend is spent. MEPs do, however, have to provide receipts to claim back the cost of their travel to and from parliament. This can include business-class flights, taxis, and first-class train journeys. They are also entitled to a reimbursement of two-thirds of their medical expenses. In the Ireland South constituency, Fine Gaels Deirdre Clune took 642,759, party colleague Sean Kelly 622,212, and Sinn Feins Liadh Ni Riada 597,897. Mr Kelly said he uses the allowances as a bridge between my constituents and the EU. I have a very big constituency and so costs can be significant, he said. I am proud to have handed back over 1m, since being elected as an MEP, in various unclaimed expenses, such as media, language training, etc. I also donate my teachers pension of 35,000 to the State. Ms Ni Riada said she takes the lowest cost option and she has also called for an end to holding parliament in Strasbourg. Travelling to Strasbourg every month is not only a waste of public money, but, by ending the compulsory travel of MEPs to Strasbourg, we would reduce the carbon footprint of parliament by 40%, she said. Sinn Feins Matt Carthy, who is hoping to retain his seat in the Midlands North-West area, received 646,271 in expenses and his constituency colleague, Marian Harkin, estimated that she claimed 590,017. Mr Carthy said his largest reimbursement related to air-travel costs, which he said are an unavoidable expense, considering we live on an island. However, he was critical of the monthly, 4,513 general expenditure allowance and said there should be an accountability mechanism attached to it. In Dublin, outgoing MEPs Brian Hayes received 627,313 in allowances, while Nessa Childers got 603,456. - Since this story went to print, Luke 'Ming' Flanagan has contacted the Irish Examiner. His expenses from his time in the European Parliament can be seen here Flanagan and Crowley refuse to reveal how much they claimed on EU expenses and allowances Average amount claimed by nine MEPs who disclosed their expenses was 617,000 writes Political Correspondent Elaine Loughlin. EUROPEAN poll-toppers Luke Ming Flanagan and Brian Crowley have refused to state how much they have claimed in expenses and allowances from taxpayers. An Irish Examiner investigation has found nine of Irelands current 11 MEPs claimed 5.55m in expenses during the current five-year term which averages out at more than 617,000 per representative. Luke Ming Flanagan This was on top of their annual salary of 105,000 paid out of public finances and a separate monthly budget of 24,943 given to pay for recruiting personal assistants wages. Neither does this amount include the severance allowance of up to 210,000 that MEPs receive when they stand down or are not re-elected. However, Mr Flanagan, who is again running in the upcoming European elections did not respond to multiple queries both by email and phone which were first sent on April 5. Outgoing Cork MEP Brian Crowley who was first contacted in March also failed to provide any details of expenses he claimed when contacted via phone and email. Unlike TDs and senators whose expenses are published on Oireachtas website, MEPs do not have to make the amount claimed by them public. MEPs can claim multiple allowances and expenses to cover everything from paper clips to airline tickets, meals, and medical bills. The Irish Examiner submitted an identical list of seven questions relating to the amounts claimed or refunded by each of our 11 elected representatives in Brussels. While nine of the 11 responded, the level of detail differed and the answers were presented in various formats, for example some MEPs did not provide details for the six months of 2014 after they were elected, while others did. Brian Crowley Fine Gael MEP and European Parliament vice president, Mairead McGuinness claimed 709,625, the highest amount based on the figures obtained. Sinn Feins Lynn Boylan received the lowest amount of expenses, she was reimbursed 517,829.43 in travel, attendance, medical and general allowances. Ms Boylan said that where possible she tries to take the lowest cost option available by booking in advance. In 2018 the total amount of vouched travel was 23,113.70. I am a member of the Single Seat campaign which calls for the Parliament to be located in one place. My personal opinion is that this location should be Brussels. Travelling to Strasbourg every month is not only a waste of public money but by ending the compulsory travel of MEPs to Strasbourg we would reduce the carbon footprint of the Parliament by 40%, the Dublin MEP said. Ireland South MEP Liadh Ni Riada, who claimed a total of 597,897, gave a similar explanation. Party colleague Matt Carthy said his largest reimbursement related to air-travel costs which he said is an unavoidable expense considering we live on an island. Mr Carthy also hit out at the general expenditure allowance which he said is is correctly considered the most controversial of allowances paid to MEPs, currently 4,513 per month. The main problem is that it is completely unvouched and there is no accountability mechanism, said Mr Carthy who pointed out that he gets this allowance paid into a seperate business account. Independent MEP Marian Harkin said he was unable to give an exact amount for many expense categories but gave a total of 590,017 as reliable estimate and explained how she arrived at this. She said she could not provide the exact figure claimed from the subsistence allowance but said she is in Brussels on average three days per week and in Strasbourg for four days per week. This would work out at 47,500 approximately or maybe a little less, she said. Marian Harkin She also provided estimates on the amount claimed back under the vouched travel reimbursement system. I travel Aer Lingus/Ryanair about 50/50. Return flights to Brussels vary and can range from 200 to 300 depending on how close to the day you book and if you need to change. Strasbourg flights are more expensive and return flights can be 350 to 450, the outgoing MEP said. Some MEPs, including Dublin representative Brian Hayes, who has decided not to run for Europe in this weeks elections, provide information publicly on their websites on an annual basis on the amount they recieve in expenses, but there is no obligation to do this. Mr Hayes was unable to provide exact details of the amount claimed under the attendance allowance but said: Roughly, I would be present in Brussels/Strasbourg three to four days per week for about nine to 10 months of the year. He added that during the summer break, on weeks when parliament does not sit and over Christmas he works in his constituency. Ireland South representative Sean Kelly also said he signed in an average of three or four days in Brussels and four days on Strasbourg plenary weeks. I have had a participation rate of over 97% in roll calls in parliament since my first appointment in 2014. I am proud to be near the top of the list in parliament in terms of participation in votes, and indeed attendance at plenary and committee, and contributing to parliamentary debates. It is vital that my constituents are well represented at EU level and my record shows that I work hard to ensure this, Mr Kelly said. I am proud to have handed back over 1m since being elected as an MEP in various unclaimed expenses such as media, language training, etc. I also donate my teachers pension of 35,000 to the State. Also providing information on her website, Deirdre Clune said the 51,603 she claimed last year covered the cost of her travel to and from her constituency in Ireland South to either Brussels or Strasbourg each week. It usually involves four flights a week or two flights and a rail connection, which is the most efficient route from Cork to the European Parliament, she said. As well as covering costs involved in running a constituency office, she said she uses the monthly general expenditure allowance to defray the cost of hotels and subsistence when travelling within my constituency, which includes the 12 counties of Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Clare, Waterford, Tipperary, Carlow, Kilkenny, Wicklow, Wexford, Laois and Offaly. Nessa Childers, whose total claim amounted to 604,212, provided full details for each year, apart from her expenses for the first five months of this year. - Since this story went to print, Luke 'Ming' Flanagan has contacted the Irish Examiner. His expenses from his time in the European Parliament can be seen here Daily clocking-in allowance of 320 one of the many perks Imagine receiving 320 on top of your salary just to turn up to work welcome to the murky unvouched underworld of MEPs expenses. The daily clocking-in allowance is just one of a number of payments those elected to the European Parliament can claim without providing a single receipt. The European Parliment building. From hotel stays, to business class flights, taxis, eye tests, medication, restaurant meals, mobile phone bills, political leaflets, representation activities, baggage charges, the list of things they can claim back is extensive and much of it is unvouched. But the public who through their taxes foot the very hefty expenses and allowances bill have no right to know how much is being paid to our 11 Irish MEPs. Indeed the nine MEPs who provided figures to this paper Luke Ming Flanagan and Brian Crowley refused did so on a voluntary basis, they were doing the Irish Examiner and the Irish public a favour. But Mr Flanagan and Mr Crowley are not alone. An investigation carried out by journalists in 2017 found that out of 748 MEPs just 53 were prepared to show documentation for actual spending. While MEPs must submit receipts to claim back the cost of travelling (business class is permitted) to Brussels and Strasbourg, they do not have to explain what they spend the 320 flat-rate allowance they get when they sign the register of attendance each day. Nor do they have to provide details of where the 4,513 monthly general expenditure allowance, that is automatically paid and which the parliament says is intended to cover expenses resulting from members parliamentary activities, such as office rent and management costs, telephone and subscriptions, representation activities, computers and telephones, the organisation of conferences and exhibitions. This unvouched general expenditure allowance costs European taxpayers 40m a year alone. A consortium of investigative journalists has been campaigning for many years to force MEPs to come clean on the amount they claim each year through travel expenses, the daily allowance and other payments. However, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) last year ruled in favour of the politicians stating that the European Parliament is not required to provide access to documents on how MEPs spend their various allowances. The court favoured the privacy of the elected representatives rather than the publics right to know where exactly their taxes are going, effectively allowing the secret spending to continue. At the time Transparency International EU said the ruling had set a dangerous precedent and that it is simply indefensible that the European Parliament continues to block transparency on how public money is being spent by elected MEPs. The journalists who brought the case correctly recognised that it is in the public interest to allow citizens to scrutinise how MEPs are using taxpayers money. At a time when trust in the EU institutions is so low, this is a ridiculous message to send ahead of the European elections, said Nick Aiossa, policy officer at Transparency International EU. Many efforts to introduce greater regulation and proof of spending have been quashed by the parliament itself. A new system of voluntary disclosure is being adopted, and while this is a step towards greater transparency, it will in no way force MEPs to come clean when it comes to spending. If you bump into a candidate or their campaign team in the coming days, as those in the race to Europe make a final bid to win your vote, you might ask if they will be willing to come fully clean on what they claim. Opinion: I dont believe any MEP is in it for the money By Matt Carthy The allowances and expenses are too high. The transparency and accountability mechanisms are pathetic. That is why Sinn Fein MEPs have consistently voted in favour of proposals in the European Parliament to reduce salaries and expenses and increase transparency measures. We are the only Irish party with a 100% positive record in this regard. Matt Carthy I dont believe any MEP is in it for the money. The hours most of us work are extensive. But anyone who stands over a situation where large sums of expenses and allowances can be received without the provision of receipts is doing themselves, and us all, a disservice. The European Parliament is currently devising a mechanism whereby MEPs can voluntarily vouch and account for all expenditure. When that system is in place, Sinn Fein will partake in it. Why only a voluntary scheme? Because MEPs from the largest political groups, those groups of which Fine Gael, Labour, and Fianna Fail are members, have resisted even the most minimal levels of mandatory accountability. In fact, even when a majority of MEPs backed nominal improvements, the Bureau of the European Parliament (thats a core group of the parliament president), the 14 vice-presidents (yes, there are 14 vice-presidents), and five quaestors rejected the proposals, in spite of the majority plenary vote. It is time for other Irish MEPs to state clearly whether they will partake in the voluntary scheme and whether they will join Sinn Fein in enforcing a mandatory accounting operation that will show our voters how much we draw down and what we spend it on. It is an honour to represent the Irish people at EU level. The Irish people have a right to know how much money we draw down and what we spend it on. Matt Carthy, Sinn Fein MEP Midlands North-West Post-election legal action, drinking with Nigel Farage, a brother involved in anti-Government protests, EU broadband funding demands oh, and the little matter of the Ireland South MEP race. Fiachra O Cionnaith meets Fine Gaels Sean Kelly. As the early summer sun beats down and the lakes of Killarney shimmer silver in the distance, Fine Gael MEP Sean Kelly should be relaxed and living the Kerry dream. But instead, the former GAA presidents face is momentarily etched with the look of a man who has the worlds problems on his shoulders. And, as any politician around the world knows, those problems can only mean one thing - the polls. Days earlier, the latest Ireland South opinion poll placed Mr Kelly at 18% support, making him - in the eyes of the public - a racing certainty to be re-elected next week. In other words, exactly the impression a savvy politician facing into a crucial political dog fight doesnt want to give. Wheres a spot of rain when I need one, you can almost hear him thinking as he looks out at the blazing heat outside. You have to see that in context, it was only a poll of 500 people and Id like to know how it was done, Mr Kelly explains, trying his best, like all good Kerry GAA people in early summer, to downplay his chances. There was obviously a margin of error involved in it, and it contradicts evidence of polls that have been done which showed me far behind initially, so Ill take it with a pinch of salt. Given what is at stake, Mr Kellys reluctance to admit that he seems likely to retain the MEP seat he first won in 2009 is understandable. The decision by consistent poll-topper in Ireland South, Fianna Fail MEP Brian Crowley, to retire from politics means the sprawling constituency is not as predictable as it once was. And with Sinn Fein MEP Liadh Ni Riada, Fianna Fail duo Billy Kelleher and Malcolm Byrne, and Independents4Change TD Mick Wallace all in the mix, there are unavoidable internal rivalries for the three Fine Gael candidates. Fine Gael officials still claim that the party can win three seats. However, Mr Kelly - who earlier this week revealed that he and Andrew Doyle are in a running turf war with fellow party MEP Deirdre Clune over where they can campaign - is clear that the crowded field and other factors mean only two are realistically still on the table, spelling trouble for at least one of his colleagues. I would say if I wasnt an MEP, Fine Gael, like Fianna Fail, would be running two candidates. One from Cork and one probably somewhere east. Because Im an MEP and am here in the far south west, and because Deirdre Clune is an MEP in Cork, they felt they needed another candidate in the east of the constituency. I dont know how it will pan out. Hopefully we will get the two seats. I think initially in fairness to Fine Gael, there was this talk that maybe on a very good day you could get three out of five, but theres not going to be five now, the British are having elections, there may never be five because the Brits may never go, youre talking two out of four. So that has changed the dynamic, he says. What happens to the fifth seat that has muddied the election waters is anyones guess. Under complex EU rules that would make a Super 8s All-Ireland explainer blush, Ireland is officially being given two extra seats in the next European Parliament to fill part of the gap left by Britains departure. As part of the plan, Ireland South is moving from four to five seats and Dublin from three to four, with Ireland Souths seat increase meaning that Laois and Offaly have been taken from Midlands North West to meet a strict population-to-MEP ratio. Sean Kelly MEP with Gosia Borucka and Julie Healy from Julies Barber Shop. Picture: Sally MacMonagle However, should Brexit be cancelled or paused and British MEPs take up the seats they are reluctantly running for at the moment, the extra Irish seats will be scrapped. After a lifetime in the GAA and a decade in politics, Mr Kelly spots trouble from a mile away. Forget bowing out gracefully - the MEP says that if someone finishes fifth and has their seat snatched away from them there is every likelihood of legal action. I have a mischievous sense of satisfaction it has turned out this way because when they were debating in the European Parliament how many seats they were distributing, I said take my advice, dont until the British have actually left. I think the person who is fifth, if they do not get the opportunity to take up their seat, do not get their salary, would have a strong case to take legally. If it [the results] is tight, there will be questions of how the votes were counted, what was the quota, was it for four or five candidates, and will it affect Midlands North West [due to Laois and Offaly moving] as well. I think the European Court of Justice would like to get its legal hands on. There will be legal minds, I would think, looking at that after the election, he says. The Brexit issue does not just loom large for the final seat in Ireland South, however, with the political crisis continue to engulf - and at times undermine - the entire EU. In his decade in Brussels Mr Kelly has had a ringside view of the issues that have led to the stand-off, including the occasional pint with arch-Brexiteer and long-time MEP Nigel Farage, who the Kerry man describes separately as a dosser who doesnt really believe what he says, and someone he is fine with. Ive often had a coffee with him, Ive had a pint with him once or twice. I think he likes Ireland, he told me his first wife is from West Cork, and the last speech I gave about him, afterwards I met him and he laughed and said [puts on cut-glass English accent] I liked your speech. Im not sure how really committed he is to an independent Britain, I doubt he really believes its taking back control, making the United Kingdom great again and all that. Brexiteers in the European Parliament, while they wont admit it, are very happy theres an election, its a very handy cop-out for them. The ideal life if youre a kind of a dosser, he says. Mr Kelly admits one of the reasons that has allowed space for Brexiteers to play this game is that the EU has been too remote for a lot of people a lot of the time. And, with Ireland not immune from critical EU views, he says the lesson of what has happened in Britain must be learned here, with a need for politicians to genuinely listen to grassroots concerns. Sean Kelly MEP with Donal ORiordan and Oscar. He is on the campaign trail in his home town of Killarney ahead of the European elections, which take place May 24. Picture: Sally MacMonagle The EU should consider giving Ireland emergency funding for broadband, he says, saying there are big opportunities to invest loans from the European Investment Bank for this and housing if you got a town or community to come up with a proposal together. Greater steps must be taken to limit the attempts by Spanish trawlers to come into west Cork and Kerry to take fish from our shores, he continues. And on farming, an issue close to his own family, Mr Kelly is keen to emphasise that EU funds - revealed yesterday to be 50m - will be made available for a crisis that has already happened for farmers. Given his desire to listen to grassroots matters, the farming sector frustration with the Government over the lack of Brexit supports will not have gone unnoticed by Mr Kelly - even if ignoring some of it is exactly what he wants to do. At the start of this month, the Irish Farmers Association held a 500-strong protest outside Cork City Hall where the Government was holding a special cabinet meeting. And among the main protesters was one Diarmaid O Ceallaigh, a Kerry representative and vocal critic of Fine Gaels response to farmers Brexit concerns - who just happens to be Mr Kellys brother. When the subject is broached, Mr Kelly pauses for what seems an eternity, before saying yeah, theres a brother of mine involved. There is no problem, he insists, and every politician has a family member whose views differ starkly from their own. But, given the proximity to the May 24 election, it is not an issue Mr Kelly is keen to highlight either. Ah no, he was elected as an officer of the Kerry IFA last year, and, in that capacity hes taking care of the IFA interests, if he wasnt prepared to do it he shouldnt be an officer. Hes the least of my worries, with due respect. Sure everybody has a brother involved or a sister involved in something. Hes fairly well down the pecking order. No conflict of interest, and everythings fine, he says. Thirty minutes later, Mr Kelly is back in the middle of Killarney town, shaking hands with a steady stream of local voters promising to back the popular Kerryman next week regardless of any wider EU issue concerns. Not that the Fine Gael MEP candidate wants to hear it - or at least have it be heard. Oh, no, not at all. Sure this is my home town, if I couldnt count on support here Id have no chance at all, he tells the Irish Examiner again, gripping the handshake tighter to emphasise the point in a bid to wring out every last vote on offer. As any GAA fan still nursing the bruises of a crushing All-Ireland defeat knows from experience, never trust a Kerryman downplaying his chances in early summer. Doubly so when that Kerry man is a former GAA president trying to get every one of his supporters out to vote in just a weeks time. Children are dying from preventable diseases and women are giving birth in unsafe conditions in a Syrian camp, Medecins Sans Frontieres have said. Those in Al Hol camp, northeastern Syria have been displaced from where Islamic State (IS) and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have been fighting. The overcrowded camp now houses some 73,000 people, who are contained inside by local security forces with the vast majority of them women and children. They arrived crammed into the back of trucks, says Will Turner, MSF emergency manager for Syria. Most were covered in mud, many were wounded or suffering from illness. People were clearly hungry and many children were malnourished. There are humanitarian organisations and donors that are not willing to provide services to certain areas of the camp due to peoples perceived affiliations, Mr Turner added. Healthcare should not be compromised. Regardless of people's background, nationality, status and origin of displacement, everyone is entitled to access to medical and humanitarian assistance in a timely manner. Water and sanitation in the camps are not meeting minimum emergency standards as the humanitarian crisis in the region continues. #Syria | Vulnerable people, mostly women and children, are living in overcrowded and substandard conditions in Al Hol camp. People lack access to even basic healthcare and water and sanitation needs are not being met, resulting in illness. Our latest: https://t.co/oppXDgZZVu MSF International (@MSF) May 17, 2019 Numerous latrines are non-functional and, as a result, people are forced to defecate in the open, according to Mr Turner. We are seeing patients with illnesses such as acute watery diarrhoea due to the poor water and sanitation conditions. As summer approaches, there are fears that the situation will only get worse as people in the camps will die from diseases if they cannot get sufficient healthcare. As summer temperatures start to soar, we are very concerned about the impact of people living in unfit conditions, says Turner. No child should die from dehydration or other preventable diseases because of neglect and lack of access to basic healthcare. MSF reiterated their call for humanitarian assistance to the Al Hol and called for all people in the camp to be treated humanely. MSF launched a response in Al Hol camp in January this year providing emergency medical care and donating tents, hygiene kits and blankets. In the intervening months, they have expanded the support they are giving and have treated over 17,000 patients in northeastern Syria. There has been unrest and civil war in Syria since the 2011 Arab Spring protests. The consensus was reached by Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh and Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah during their talks in Hanoi on May 16th. The two sides were resolved to work together in order to remove difficulties facing their businesses and create favourable conditions for them to cooperate, especially in such potential areas as urban development, renewable energy, electronic production, electricity, and agro-forestry-fishery. Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh spoke highly of collaboration in national defence and security between the two countries over the years, particularly experience sharing and exchanges between army and security forces. They concurred to push ahead with the establishment of mechanisms and the signing of new cooperation documents in national defence and security, as well as law enforcement. The officials discussed measures to enhance partnerships in other spheres, such as education-training, employment, transport, information-communications, culture-tourism, maritime affairs, and fisheries. Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh (right) and Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah (Photo: VNA) Saifuddin affirmed that Malaysia attaches great importance to promoting affiliation with Vietnam across various industries, and that the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs will partner with its Vietnamese counterpart to swiftly build an action programme on implementing the strategic partnership for the upcoming period; address obstacles to the bilateral cooperation; and create favourable conditions for Vietnamese citizens to live, study, and work in the country in line with law. The officials rejoiced at the comprehensive and sustainable development of the bilateral friendship and cooperation in recent times. They consented to increase all-level delegation exchanges via the channels of the Party, State, Government, and National Assembly, as well as people-to-people exchange. The two sides will maintain and effectively implement bilateral cooperation mechanisms, especially the Joint Committee on Economic, Scientific, and Technical Cooperation chaired by the two foreign ministers. Regarding regional and international issues of shared concern, they agreed to intensify consultations and coordination in matters relating to regional security and strategy. Vietnam and Malaysia agreed to join hands with other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to strengthen the intra-bloc solidarity, successfully realise the ASEAN Community Vision 2025, and enhance the 10-member groups central role in the regional architecture. They agreed to further their close cooperation and coordination at other multilateral forums, especially the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, and Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). At the same time, they consented to promote regional economic connectivity through agreements to which both are members, like the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement. Malaysia pledged to support Vietnam in successfully assuming the ASEAN Chairmanship in 2020 and the countrys bid to run for a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council for the 2020-2021 term. Meanwhile, Vietnam vowed to closely coordinate with and back Malaysia in hosting the APEC Year 2020. The officials reiterated their consistent stance on the East Sea issue and the principle of peacefully settling conflicts in line with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). They also stressed the need to increase trust and the significance of non-militarisation and exercise of self-restraint in activities that may complicate the situation and escalate tensions in the East Sea. The ministers reaffirmed their support for the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and will push ahead with negotiations to reach an effective and practical Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC). During the talks, Minh expressed his hope that the Malaysian foreign ministers first ever visit to Vietnam will contribute significantly to consolidating and strengthening the strategic partnership between the two countries./. Asia Sri Lankan Army Defends Rehiring Major Amid Outcry from Rights Groups Christians pray at a mass in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on May 12, 2019, following the Easter Sunday bomb attacks in that city in April / Reuters COLOMBO Sri Lankas army on Thursday defended its decision to reinstate an intelligence official arrested in 2017 on suspicion he attacked journalists, saying he is the right person to investigate the Easter bombings claimed by Islamic State. Major Prabath Bulathwatte was arrested on suspicion he assisted in the abduction and torture of Sri Lankan editor Keith Noyahr in 2008. He was also accused in the murder of Lasantha Wickrematunga, an outspoken editor of The Sunday Leader newspaper, who was killed in 2009 while stuck in rush hour traffic in Colombo, according to police and prosecutors. Bulathwatte, 45, has not been convicted and was released on bail in 2018, state-run media reported. A lawyer representing Bulathwatte in 2017 said he was being politically victimized, according to a local media report at the time. A military spokesman was not immediately able to provide Reuters with contact details for Bulathwatte. Sri Lankas army commander Mahesh Senanayake said he was reinstating Bulathwatte due to his knowledge of the Eastern Province, home to the Muslim-majority town of Kattankudy, where two of the bombers came from, as well as his previous work monitoring Islamist groups. More than 250 people were killed in the April 21 attacks on churches and hotels, mostly in Colombo. We should be able to use the best resources available within the army to fight thisI am trying to restore the peace and normalcy in minimum time, Senanayake said at a news conference on Thursday. Rights groups have decried the decision. Promoting to active duty an intelligence officer who has been implicated in the killing of one journalist and the torture of two others severely undermines Sri Lankas claim that it is fighting impunity for crimes against journalists, The Committee to Protect Journalists Asia Program Coordinator Steven Butler said in a statement on Wednesday. The cases hark back to former president Mahinda Rajapaksas 2005-2015 rule during the end of Sri Lankas 25-year civil war against mostly Hindu, ethnic Tamil separatists. Since the end of the war in 2009, Sri Lankas former defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who oversaw the crushing of Tamil Tiger rebels under his brother, has been accused by rights groups of multiple crimes during the civil war, including extrajudicial killings. Wickrematungas daughter Ahimsa filed a complaint for damages from Gotabaya earlier this year in California for allegedly instigating and authorizing the extrajudicial killing of her father. Ahimsa did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Bulathwattes reinstatement. Gotabaya, who recently told Reuters he was running for office in this years election, has rejected the allegations as politically-motivated and designed to weaken the military. You may also like these stories: Activists Point to Links Between Exploitation of Waterways and Conflict, Rights Abuses Rights in Poorer Nations Must Be Upheld as Thai Firms Go Abroad, Activists Say Sri Lanka Police Arrest 23 for Targeting Muslims after Easter Bombings Top Sri Lanka Officials Arrested While Taking Bribe: Anti-Graft Body Burma Assam, Meitei Rebels Sentenced to Two Years in Prison Assam and Meitei rebels appear at Hkamti District Court in Sagaing Division in May 2019. / Monywa Gazette YANGONThe Hkamti District Court in Sagaing Region on Wednesday sentenced 24 Assam and Meitei rebels to two years in prison. The fighters are based in Myanmar and staging a rebellion against the Indian government. Responding to a tip from Military Intelligence, the Northwestern Command of the Myanmar military (or Tatmadaw) raided the headquarters of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K) in the Naga Self-Administered Zone of Sagaing Division on Jan. 29, and later arrested Assam and Meitei rebels from there. The Tatmadaw filed a complaint against the rebels under Article 17(1) of the Unlawful Association Act. At their sixth hearing, the Hkamti District Court sentenced the 24 rebels to two years in prison. We prosecuted them under Article 17(1) because they are rebels, Colonel Than Naing of the Northwestern Command told The Irrawaddy, adding that the Tatmadaw has not yet decided whether to charge them for illegally crossing the border. U Aung Htut, chairman of the Naga Literature and Culture Committee, confirmed the guilty verdict but had no further details. Hkamti Police Station declined to answer The Irrawaddys request for information. According to the Tatmadaw, the jailed rebels belong to the Manipur Peoples Army (MPA), the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL), the Peoples Liberation Army of Manipur (PLA), the Peoples Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) and the Peoples Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak. The Tatmadaw has also arrested five senior leaders of the NSCN-K and charged them under the same law for harboring the Assam and Meitei rebels. The National Socialist Council of Nagaland was founded in 1980 with the aim of establishing a sovereign Naga State. It split into two factions in 1988: the NSCN-K led by S. S. Khaplang, which is based in Myanmar, and the NSCN-IM led by Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muviah, which is based in India. S. S. Khaplang died in 2017. The Kuki Youth Network (KYN) held a press conference in Yangon in August last year to discuss what the network said were attempts to distort the history of the Kuki people. At that event, KYN chairman Se Gin said there are at least six Meitei rebel groups based in Myanmar: the PREPAK, PLA, UNLF, UPPK, KYKL and Kanleipak Communist Party (KCP). He said the groups are spread across Leshi, Homalin and the border town of Tamu in Sagaing Region, as well as Mandalay Region. Speaking in the Upper House in July 2017, lawmaker U Maung Maung Latt from Sagaing Division urged the Union government to crack down on Meitei insurgents, complaining that they were threatening the security of Tamu Township, which shares a 78-mile-long border with the Indian state of Manipur. He also said there were frequent killings and extortion of civilians, as well as arson attacks and arms seizures in Tamu, all because of the rebel groups. You may also like these stories: Heavy Wind Kills Two and Injures Six in Sagaing Four Dead and Several Injured in Clash at Sagaing Jade Mine Peace in Nagaland: Myanmar and India Both Have a Role to Play 6 Prisons Hit by Riots over Unfair Pardons; Inmates Reported Killed Burma One Sentenced, One at Large in Mandalay Corruption Case The Myanmar Anti-Corruption Commission office on January 2, 2018. / ACC / Facebook MANDALAYThe Mandalay Region High Court sentenced a clerk of the regional Department of Rural Road Development to four years in prison with labor on Thursday for corruption, while another suspect is still at large. The companies that paid money to them filed a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). There were two suspects and one of them is still on the loose, a Mandalay Region High Court law officer told The Irrawaddy. Myanmars ACC filed a complaint on October 31 last year against Department of Rural Road Development Deputy Director U Aung Kyaw Myint and Daw Thuzar, a clerk, who were responsible for the accounts in question. According to the ACCs statement, the department invited tender for the construction of inter-village roads in rural areas of Mandalay Region in the 2017-18 fiscal year, and after six tender winners partially completed their projects the department paid out 25 percent of costs. As the department distributed the money, the two individuals charged abused their power by diverting a total of three percent of the costsor 10.278 million kyats (US$6,660)to their own pockets, according to the statement. The punishment is light for [Daw Thuzar] as she is just a clerk. She may appeal if she feels the punishment is not fair. I still dont know what she thinks, defense lawyer U Kyaw Myaing told The Irrawaddy. The Mandalay Region High Court has issued an arrest warrant for the deputy director. You May Also Like These Stories: Overall Corruption Situation Has Not Improved, Anti-Graft Chief Says Lawmaker Blocked from Asking about Govt-Military Ties on House Floor China-Backed Muse-Mandalay Railway to Cost $9 Billion Burma Township Administrator Sues Nationalists over Ramadan Prayer Site Closures in Yangon One of the temporary Muslim worship sites in Yangons South Dagon Township that was forced to close by nationalists / Htet Hkaung Lin / The Irrawaddy YANGONThe General Administration Department (GAD) in Yangons South Dagon Township has filed lawsuits against two nationalists involved in forcing the shutdown of three temporary places of worship set up for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in South Dagon Township, regional lawmaker U Nyi Nyi, who represents the township, confirmed to The Irrawaddy. According to officials of South Dagon Townships GAD, local Muslim leaders signed agreements to use the buildings as places of worship during Ramadan. The Yangon regional government gave Muslim community leaders permission to use a building owned by U Maung Maung in the townships Quarter No. 26; another owned by Haj. U Tin Soe in Quarter No. 64; and another owned by U Myint Lwin in Quarter No. 106 as prayer halls during Ramadan from May 6 to June 7, according to U Yan Aung, a resident of Quarter No. 106. On Tuesday and Wednesday, a crowd of around 100 Buddhist monks and nationalists including U Michael Kyaw Myint forced the closure of the temporary prayer sites. According to the head of South Dagon Township Police Station, cases have been opened against Michael Kyaw Myint and another [person] under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code. The township administrator filed the complaints, U Nyi Nyi told The Irrawaddy. I will face trial and I am preparing for it, U Michael Kyaw Myint told The Irrawaddy. All three temporary prayer halls have been re-opened and are being used for Ramadan. [Township] security personnel promised to provide security throughout the month, during which Muslims fast and concentrate on prayer. Section 505(b) of the Penal Code states that whoever makes, publishes or circulates any statement, rumor or report with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public or to any section of the public whereby any person may be induced to commit an offense against the State or against the public tranquility; shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to two years, or [a] fine, or both. World Standing Tall: First Black African Woman Scales Everest Khumalo summited the peak of Mount Everest on May 16, 2019. / CGTN Africa KATHMANDUA South African mountaineer reached the top of Mount Everest on Thursday, becoming the first black African woman to conquer the worlds highest mountain, her expedition organizer and her government said. Saray Nkusi Khumalo, a 47-year-old e-commerce executive, scaled the 8,850-meter (29,035-foot) mountain after three failed attempts that were foiled by bad weather and a deadly earthquake in 2015. With her birth in Zambia, Rwandan bloodline and now a South African, this sister of Africa has achieved her goal of becoming the first black woman from Africa to summit Mount Everest, her expedition organizer, Summits with a Purpose, said on Facebook. Mira Acharya, a Nepal tourism department official, confirmed Khuwalos ascent, but did not say if she was the first black African woman to do so. However, Mingma Sherpa of the Seven Summit Treks hiking agency, which provided local support to Khumalo, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that the record feat was one hundred percent true. Congratulations to iMbokodo (strong woman) Saray Khumalo for being the first Black African Woman to reach the top of the world by conquering Mount Everest, South Africas government said on Twitter. Bosso ke wena!, it added, which means you are the boss in the local Sesotho language. Khumalo, who has conquered five mountains, including Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Aconcagua in Argentina and Mount Elbrus in Russia, uses her expeditions to raise funds for childrens education and libraries in Africa. She also dedicates her quests to women and girls, daughters of the African soil who dare to dream, Khumalo says on her website. Nepal is home to eight of the worlds 14 highest mountains. The climbing season ends in May and hundreds of climbers are currently on Everest. In 2003, Sibusiso Emmanuel Vilane, a South African park ranger, became the first black person to summit Mount Everest, according to Himalayan archives that record major climbs. Everest, which straddles the Nepal-China border, has been climbed by nearly 5,000 people since it was first scaled by New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa in 1953, according to a post by Everest blogger Alan Arnette. Specials Infographic: A Look Inside Yangons 80 Projects for Economic Growth Downtown Yangon seen at night. / The Irrawaddy YANGONMajor infrastructure projects slated for Yangon featured heavily at the second Invest Myanmar Summit held in January, wooing foreign direct investment to the city which some 8.2 million people call home. The Yangon regional government showcased a total of 80 projects in the Yangon Project Bank, saying they would enhance the living standards of lower-income citizens, and raise the level of income of middle- and high-income citizens. According to the Yangon government, the project bank is in line with the Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan (MSDP) drawn up the National League for Democracy (NLD) government with the aim of achieving genuine, inclusive and transformational economic growth. Among the 80 projects, 16 are to be managed by the Yangon Region government: Dala City Centre Development, San Gyi Wa Transportation Hub, Hmawbi Agriculture Vocational Training School, a farm service center project, a fish/prawn pond project, New Yangon City Project Phase 1 Stage 1 and Stage 2, the East Dagon Modern Industrial Zone and Housing Project Zone 1 and 2, Yangon Special Economic Zone, an affordable and government staff rental housing project, Gyo Gone Housing redevelopment, Mayangone Villa project, Ngwe Pin Le Logistics Park, an inland water transport jetty and Pyi Taw Thit Housing. A further 31 projects are to be implemented under the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC), relating to the upgrade of markets and parks across the city and a water supply project on the Toe River. Another 11 industrial projects managed by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs focus on undeveloped areas on the outskirts of Yangon. The Ministry of Construction is managing 11 major projects including three expressway projects, Eco-Green City, Smart & Eco City, the Korean-Myanmar Industrial Complex and five housing development projects. Another 11 projects are managed by the Ministry of Transport and Communications: nine railway station developments including that at Yangon Central Railway Station and two Yangon Urban Mass Rapid Transit projects. The Yangon regional government signed 19 MOU agreements at the investment forum. They involved the implementation of the Yangon Financial Project, a cross border e-commerce project, a new light industrial park and the Hanthawaddy Industrial park, a housing project and a hotel project. However, only one of the projects is included in the project bank. According to information released with the project bank, among the 33 major infrastructure projects, only eight projects are geared up to move forward this year, while nine are undergoing feasibility checks and four are currently inviting expressions of interest. The status of a further 12 projects is still unknown. Here, The Irrawaddy compiles clear visualizations of the 80 projects listed in the Yangon Project Bank, including a master list and details of those already making headway. Project Types in Numbers Scroll your mouse over the visual for more. Scroll left and right for more. International-Standard Industrial Zone in 11 Townships Click the arrows for more. Visualizations by Nan Lwin. On This Day 65 Years Since Thousands of Monks Began Sixth Buddhist Council in Yangon The Sixth Buddhist Council in progress in Yangon in 1954. Sixty-five years ago today, 2,500 years after the Buddhas death, the state-sponsored Sixth Buddhist Council opened in Yangon to review and settle doctrinal disputes relating to the entire text of the Exalted Ones Theravada teachings. Joined by 2,617 Buddhist monks from Myanmar, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Laos and elsewhere, it is the most recent synod, or Sangayana. At the First, Second and Third Councils, convened in India between 544 B.C. and 308 B.C., the texts were purified and revised orally. At the Fourth Council in Sri Lanka in 94 B.C., the teachings were revised and documented on palm leaves. After the Fifth Council in Mandalay in 1871, the texts were inscribed on 729 stone slabs. The opening ceremony of the Sixth Council at the Mahapasana Cave of Kaba Aye Pagoda was attended by Myanmars then President Dr. Ba U and Prime Minister U Nu. The heads of religious orders from Thailand, Cambodia and Sri Lanka, as well as the Indian president, the kings of Nepal and Thailand, and the Sri Lankan prime minister sent congratulatory messages. The state Burma Broadcasting Service aired the ceremony live. The council ended in 1956. Since then, the revised version of the Theravada texts approved by the Sixth Council have been available in printed form. You may also like these stories: When Helen Keller Visited Myanmar Referendum on Military-Drafted Constitution Pursued Amid Cyclone Devastation The Day the Prime Minister of British Burma was Hanged The 1930 Earthquake Which Flattened Bago ANALYSIS A trade pact between China and the US appears to be unlikely following the actions taken by the US Government against Chinese telecommunications equipment vendor Huawei Technologies on Thursday (Australian time), with the more serious ban being one that prevents Huawei from importing components from American companies without government approval. The order extends to 68 affiliates as well, including some in other countries like Canada, Japan, Brazil, the UK, Singapore and others. But the broader fallout could also affect American companies. According to the South China Morning Post, Greater China is Apples third largest market, contributing about 20% of revenue in 2018, while China, including Hong Kong, accounted for 67% of Qualcomm's sales last year and 17% of Broadcom's revenues. Intel depends on China to such an extent that it reduced its full-year revenue forecast last month and missed analysts estimates for the first quarter as its China business was hit by a slowdown. US President Donald Trump also put in placeon the use of equipment from Huawei and its fellow Chinese firm, ZTE, within the US but that would not have much effect on either firm as the US uses very little equipment from either company. Huawei gear comprises less than 1% of wireless equipment in US networks. Ericsson and Nokia each account for 48%, while Samsung Electronics has 3% of the US$30 billion-a-year American market for mobile equipment, according to analyst Stefan Pongratz of DellOro Group. On the consumer business front, Huawei has anticipated some kind of adverse reaction from the US and has managed to largely become self-sufficient as far as components go. But it needs a lot of parts from American companies to build its networking gear and the US move will definitely affect its ability to keep up with 5G network building commitments, both in China and other countries where it has won contracts. Last year, Huawei reported US$105 billion in revenue; the figure for 2019 is likely to be lower as the ban begins to bite. Contract manufacturer Flex derives 7% of its revenue from Huawei, Broadcom 6% and Qualcomm 5%. According to a listing in November 2018, Huawei considers 92 of its suppliers as core: of these 33 are US companies, 25 from mainland China, 11 from Japan and 10 from Taiwan. The remainder are from countries and regions including Germany, South Korea and Hong Kong. The SCMP quoted Mo Jia, an analyst from the research firm Canalys, as saying that since the middle of 2018, Huawei had been trying to lessen its dependence on suppliers like Qualcomm and shifting to sources like Taiwan-based MediaTek. Huawei had also been building up a reservoir of US-made components so that it could keep going for at least six months in case there was some adverse action from the US. Trump has signed the Huawei orders now because he had adopted a protectionist stance when he ran for office in 2016; seeing that it worked, he may well be calculating that he will be able to cow Beijing into a trade deal and thereby have something to wave around when he runs for re-election next year. Given his erratic nature and unpredictability, one cannot rule out him completely changing tack in order to make himself look good. In the case of ZTE, he did a complete backflip and allowed the company to trade in the US after it was hit with a seven-year ban on using American-made parts in its equipment in April 2018 for violating the terms of an agreement over breaking sanctions on exporting products to Iran and North Korea. ZTE shut down its main business activities in the US on 9 May last year. But following Trump's intervention, a deal was worked out for the Chinese firm to return to business by paying a fine of US$1 billion, changing its management team and depositing US$400 million in an escrow account against possible future transgressions. One doubts, however, that Huawei will be counting on any such change of heart from Trump; the US actions have nothing to do with national security as claimed, and everything to do with preventing Beijing from overtaking Washington as the biggest global economy sometime in the near future. Malware definition Malware, short for malicious software, is a blanket term for viruses, worms, trojans and other harmful computer programs hackers use to wreak destruction and gain access to sensitive information. As Microsoft puts it, "[malware] is a catch-all term to refer to any software designed to cause damage to a single computer, server, or computer network." In other words, software is identified as malware based on its intended use, rather than a particular technique or technology used to build it. This means that the question of, say, what the difference is between malware and a virus misses the point a bit: a virus is a type of malware, so all viruses are malware (but not every piece of malware is a virus). Types of malware There are a number of different ways of categorizing malware; the first is by how the malicious software spreads. You've probably heard the words virus, trojan, and worm used interchangeably, but as Symantec explains, they describe three subtly different ways malware can infect target computers: A worm is a standalone piece of malicious software that reproduces itself and spreads from computer to computer. is a standalone piece of malicious software that reproduces itself and spreads from computer to computer. A virus is a piece of computer code that inserts itself within the code of another standalone program, then forces that program to take malicious action and spread itself. is a piece of computer code that inserts itself within the code of another standalone program, then forces that program to take malicious action and spread itself. A trojan is a program that cannot reproduce itself but masquerades as something the user wants and tricks them into activating it so it can do its damage and spread. Malware can also be installed on a computer "manually" by the attackers themselves, either by gaining physical access to the computer or using privilege escalation to gain remote administrator access. Another way to categorize malware is by what it does once it has successfully infected its victim's computers. There are a wide range of potential attack techniques used by malware: Spyware is defined by Webroot Cybersecurity as "malware used for the purpose of secretly gathering data on an unsuspecting user." In essence, it spies on your behavior as you use your computer, and on the data you send and receive, usually with the purpose of sending that information to a third party. A keylogger is a specific kind of spyware that records all the keystrokes a user makesgreat for stealing passwords. is defined by Webroot Cybersecurity as "malware used for the purpose of secretly gathering data on an unsuspecting user." In essence, it spies on your behavior as you use your computer, and on the data you send and receive, usually with the purpose of sending that information to a third party. A is a specific kind of spyware that records all the keystrokes a user makesgreat for stealing passwords. A rootkit is, as described by TechTarget, "a program or, more often, a collection of software tools that gives a threat actor remote access to and control over a computer or other system." It gets its name because it's a kit of tools that (generally illicitly) gain root access (administrator-level control, in Unix terms) over the target system, and use that power to hide their presence. is, as described by TechTarget, "a program or, more often, a collection of software tools that gives a threat actor remote access to and control over a computer or other system." It gets its name because it's a kit of tools that (generally illicitly) gain root access (administrator-level control, in Unix terms) over the target system, and use that power to hide their presence. Adware is malware that forces your browser to redirect to web advertisements, which often themselves seek to download further, even more malicious software. As The New York Times notes, adware often piggybacks onto tempting "free" programs like games or browser extensions. is malware that forces your browser to redirect to web advertisements, which often themselves seek to download further, even more malicious software. As The New York Times notes, adware often piggybacks onto tempting "free" programs like games or browser extensions. Ransomware is a flavor of malware that encrypts your hard drive's files and demands a payment, usually in Bitcoin, in exchange for the decryption key. Several high-profile malware outbreaks of the last few years, such as Petya, are ransomware. Without the decryption key, it's mathematically impossible for victims to regain access to their files. So-called scareware is a sort of shadow version of ransomware; it claims to have taken control of your computer and demands a ransom, but actually is just using tricks like browser redirect loops to make it seem as if it's done more damage than it really has, and unlike ransomware can be relatively easily disabled. is a flavor of malware that encrypts your hard drive's files and demands a payment, usually in Bitcoin, in exchange for the decryption key. Several high-profile malware outbreaks of the last few years, such as Petya, are ransomware. Without the decryption key, it's mathematically impossible for victims to regain access to their files. So-called is a sort of shadow version of ransomware; it claims to have taken control of your computer and demands a ransom, but actually is just using tricks like browser redirect loops to make it seem as if it's done more damage than it really has, and unlike ransomware can be relatively easily disabled. Cryptojacking is another way attackers can force you to supply them with Bitcoinonly it works without you necessarily knowing. The crypto mining malware infects your computer and uses your CPU cycles to mine Bitcoin for your attacker's profit. The mining software may run in the background on your operating system or even as JavaScript in a browser window. is another way attackers can force you to supply them with Bitcoinonly it works without you necessarily knowing. The crypto mining malware infects your computer and uses your CPU cycles to mine Bitcoin for your attacker's profit. The mining software may run in the background on your operating system or even as JavaScript in a browser window. Malvertising is the use of legitimate ads or ad networks to covertly deliver malware to unsuspecting users computers. For example, a cybercriminal might pay to place an ad on a legitimate website. When a user clicks on the ad, code in the ad either redirects them to a malicious website or installs malware on their computer. In some cases, the malware embedded in an ad might execute automatically without any action from the user, a technique referred to as a drive-by download. Any specific piece of malware has both a means of infection and a behavioral category. So, for instance, WannaCry is a ransomware worm. And a particular piece of malware might have different forms with different attack vectors: for instance, the Emotet banking malware has been spotted in the wild as both a trojan and a worm. A look at the Center for Internet Security's top 10 malware offenders for June of 2018 gives you a good sense of the types of malware out there. By far the most common infection vector is via spam email, which tricks users into activating the malware, Trojan-style. WannaCry and Emotet are the most prevalent malware on the list, but many others, including NanoCore and Gh0st, are what's called Remote Access Trojans or RATsessentially, rootkits that propagate like Trojans. Cryptocurrency malware like CoinMiner rounds out the list. How to prevent malware With spam and phishing email being the primary vector by which malware infects computers, the best way to prevent malware is make sure your email systems are locked down tightand your users know how to spot danger. We recommend a combination of carefully checking attached documents and restricting potentially dangerous user behavioras well as just familiarizing your users with common phishing scams so that their common sense can kick in. When it comes to more technical preventative measures, there are a number of steps you can take, including keeping all your systems patched and updated, keeping an inventory of hardware so you know what you need to protect, and performing continuous vulnerability assessments on your infrastructure. When it comes to ransomware attacks in particular, one way to be prepared is to always make backups of your files, ensuring that you'll never need to pay a ransom to get them back if your hard drive is encrypted. Malware protection Antivirus software is the most widely known product in the category of malware protection products; despite "virus" being in the name, most offerings take on all forms of malware. While high-end security pros dismiss it as obsolete, it's still the backbone of basic anti-malware defense. Today's best antivirus software is from vendors Kaspersky Lab, Symantec and Trend Micro, according to recent tests by AV-TEST. When it comes to more advanced corporate networks, endpoint security offerings provide defense in depth against malware. They provide not only the signature-based malware detection that you expect from antivirus, but anti-spyware, personal firewall, application control and other styles of host intrusion prevention. Gartner offers a list of its top picks in this space, which include products from Cylance, CrowdStrike, and Carbon Black. How to detect malware It's fully possibleand perhaps even likelythat your system will be infected by malware at some point despite your best efforts. How can you tell for sure? CSO columnist Roger Grimes has written a deep dive into how to diagnose your PC for potential malware that you might find helpful. When you get to the level of corporate IT, there are also more advanced visibility tools you can use to see what's going on in your networks and detect malware infections. Most forms of malware use the network to either spread or send information back to their controllers, so network traffic contains signals of malware infection that you might otherwise miss; there are a wide range of network monitoring tools out there, with prices ranging from a few dollars to a few thousand. There are also SIEM tools, which evolved from log management programs; these tools analyze logs from various computers and appliances across your infrastructure looking for signs of problems, including malware infection. SIEM vendors range from industry stalwarts like IBM and HP Enterprise to smaller specialists like Splunk and Alien Vault. Malware removal How to remove malware once you're infected is in fact the million dollar question. Malware removal is a tricky business, and the method can vary depending on the type you're dealing with. CSO has information on how to remove or otherwise recover from rootkits, ransomware, and cryptojacking. We also have a guide to auditing your Windows registry to figure out how to move forward. If you're looking for tools for cleansing your system, Tech Radar has a good roundup of free offerings, which contains some familiar names from the antivirus world along with newcomers like Malwarebytes. Malware examples We've already discussed some of the current malware threats looming large today. But there is a long, storied history of malware, dating back to infected floppy disks swapped by Apple II hobbyists in the 1980s and the Morris Worm spreading across Unix machines in 1988. Some of the other high-profile malware attacks have included: ILOVEYOU , a worm that spread like wildfire in 2000 and did more than $15 billion in damage , a worm that spread like wildfire in 2000 and did more than $15 billion in damage SQL Slammer , which ground internet traffic to a halt within minutes of its first rapid spread in 2003 , which ground internet traffic to a halt within minutes of its first rapid spread in 2003 Conficker , a worm that exploited unpatched flaws in Windows and leveraged a variety of attack vectors from injecting malicious code to phishing emails to ultimately crack passwords and hijack Windows devices into a botnet. , a worm that exploited unpatched flaws in Windows and leveraged a variety of attack vectors from injecting malicious code to phishing emails to ultimately crack passwords and hijack Windows devices into a botnet. Zeus , a late '00s keylogger Trojan that targeted banking information , a late '00s keylogger Trojan that targeted banking information CryptoLocker , the first widespread ransomware attack, whose code keeps getting repurposed in similar malware projects , the first widespread ransomware attack, whose code keeps getting repurposed in similar malware projects Stuxnet, an extremely sophisticated worm that infected computers worldwide but only did real damage in one place: the Iranian nuclear facility at Natanz, where it destroyed uranium-enriching centrifuges, the mission it was built for by U.S. and Israeli intelligence agencies Malware trends You can count on cyber criminals to follow the money. They will target victims depending on likelihood of delivering their malware successfully and size of potential payout. If you look at malware trends over the past few years, you will see some fluctuation in terms of the popularity of certain types of malware and who the most common victims areall driven by what the criminals believe will have the biggest ROI. Recent research reports indicate some interesting shifts in malware tactics and targets. Cryptominers, which had surpassed ransomware as the most common type of malware, are falling out of favor due to the decline in cryptocurrency values. Ransomware is becoming more targeted, moving away from a shotgun approach. Malware attacks on businesses spike Businesses saw a 79 percent increase in the amount of malware they dealt with in 2018 over 2017, according to the Malwarebytes Labs State of Malware Report 2019. What we usually see year-end or quarterly end is that there has been some sort of increase or large amounts of detections on the consumer side, says Adam Kujawa, director of Malwarebytes Labs. On the business side it might slowly grow, but certainly nothing like weve seen this last six months. By comparison, consumer detections decreased by 3 percent over the same period. Weve observed that there is a significant push by cyber criminals to move away from consumers and put their really heavy stuff against businesses instead, Kujawa adds. That really heavy stuff comes largely in the form of older consumer-focused malware thats been weaponized to become a bigger, more versatile threat for business. Kujawa cites Emotet as one of the most significant. Its a nasty little information stealing Trojan that also installs additional malware, spreads laterally, and acts as its own spam sender. Once it infects a system, it starts sending email and tries to infect other people. Emotet has been around since 2014 and targeted mainly consumers. Originally, it infected a computer looking for an individuals financial or credit card information to steal. Since then, its picked up new capabilities inspired by or borrowed from other successful malware like Wannacry or EternalBlue. Now its become much more modular and we see it able to use these exploits to traverse through a corporate network whereas before they were limited to a single endpoint, says Kujawa. Even if its a small network in a small business, its more juicy than infecting Grandma. Lateral movement of malware is increasing, according to the Global Threat Report: The Year of the Next-Gen Cyberattack from Carbon Black. Nearly 60 percent of malware attacks on business are now designed to move laterally across a network. One reason for the spike in malware attacks on business might be the EUs General Data Privacy Regulation (GDPR). Kujawa believes its possible that attackers stepped up business attacks thinking that it would be harder to steal personal and other data after the regulation went into effect. That combined with the decline of cryptocurrency values and stepped up defenses against ransomware turned attackers to what worked in the past. They always [go back to what works], he says. Cyber crime is cyclical. It always comes back around. Cryptomining attacks decline The Malwarebyte Labs report has seen a shift away from cryptomining starting in the second quarter of 2018, due largely to the decline in cryptocurrency values. Still, the number of cryptomining detections increased for the year by 7 percent. Instead, cyber criminals are turning to information stealing malware like Emotet to turn a profit. Overall, it seems as though criminals have reached the consensus that sometimes stealing is better than mining, the report stated. Ransomware becoming more targeted Kujawa notes that small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are becoming more popular targets. He attributes this to the likelihood of being paid for ransomware attacksSMBs often cant afford the downtime and see paying ransom as the fastest way to recover. They also often softer targets than larger businesses. Ransomware detections actually declined by 26 percent worldwide in 2018, according to the Malwarebytes report. However, ransomware detections at businesses rose by 28 percent. Industries most often targeted were consulting, education, manufacturing and retail. Kujawa believes criminals focus on these industries because of opportunity and likelihood of ransoms being paid. More on malware Register with JOC.com and receive 5 free pieces of content for the first thirty days. After thirty days, you will receive 3 pieces of content and after sixty days you will receive 1 piece of content. To receive full access, Subscribe Today . You can also subscribe to our daily newsletter. Register Otting responded by saying that Wells Fargo is currently not a troubled bank by the definition, but adding that the OCC will conduct the CEO review according to its authority. No one has been tougher on Wells Fargo than the OCC, Otting said, to which Warren responded thats a low bar. I disagree and I find that insulting that you make that comment, Otting said in return. Good, Warren answered. On April 11, the bank said it would not provide a deadline for when it expects to have a new chief executive in place, or what the board search committee is prioritizing other than than hiring an outsider. Allen Parker, the banks general counsel, is serving as interim chief executive, but will have a limited role in the search process. Under ordinary circumstances, Id be railing about excessive government intrusion over this one, said Tony Plath, a retired finance professor at UNC Charlotte. But, lets not forget, Wells Fargo is under a prudential enforcement action, and in such circumstances, the banks prudential federal regulator has every justification to pass judgment over the companys senior leadership choice. SB622 raises standard deductions by $375 to $10,375 for single taxpayers and married filing separately, by $563 to $15,563 for a head of household, and by $750 to $20,750 for married filing jointly, effective in 2021. Sen. Jerry Tillman, R-Randolph, and co-primary sponsor, said SB622 represented the culmination of eight years of Republican efforts to reduce the states franchise tax, with a goal of eventually eliminating it. It is one of the most onerous laws and most hated by employers, Tillman said during the floor debate. It is as anti-business as it gets. Offsetting revenue loss Although Tillman acknowledged the tax-revenue reduction, he and other GOP leaders stressed it would be more than offset by sales tax growth, as well as by businesses adding jobs and opening operations in the state. Tillman projected as much as $9.5 billion in tax-revenue growth over the five-year period. Sen. Floyd McKissick, D-Durham, expressed concern the states economy has not recovered evenly across North Carolina, and said tax revenue from the current franchise tax should be used to bolster healthcare, infrastructure and educational spending. She didnt go to that part of town, Gregory Little said. Minnie and Gregory Little said they want answers regarding Richardsons death. I would like to know who did it to her, Minnie Little said. I want them to pay for want they did. It was a shock, she said of her daughters death. I never expected that something like this would happen to her. On May 10, someone called police about 9:30 a.m. to report that an unresponsive woman later identified as Richardson was lying on the ground on Liberia Street Detectives believe she had been shot earlier that day, between 4 and 7 a.m. Richardson had personal items on her when officers found her body, but its unclear whether anything was stolen from her, Dorn said. Her death was the citys fifth homicide of the year, compared with nine in the same time period in 2018, police said. Richardsons death has devastated her family, Minnie Little said. Her daughter has three adult sons. The Hobby Lobby property off Hanes Mall Boulevard has been sold for $8.07 million to a Florida commercial real-estate company, according to a Forsyth County Register of Deeds filing Thursday. The buyer of the 7.63-acre site is Consolidated Tomoka Land Co. of Daytona Beach, Fla., with a direct 45.4% stake and its CTO19 Winston-Salem NC LLC affiliate with a 54.6% stake. The seller is BayRock Investment Co. of Charlotte. Hobby Lobby opened in its 55,000-square-foot building in March 2015. The transaction is the latest along the western side of the busy Hanes Mall Boulevard corridor. The property where Panera Bread recently opened a restaurant at 100 Hanes Square Circle was sold May 8 for $2.67 million. The buyer was B&K Investment Co. of Charlotte and the seller was Crown/Hanes Square Circle LLC of Dobson. On May 4, The Bedrin Organization purchased the building occupied by Mitchell Piano Gallery and the clearance center for Casual World Furniture. Casual Worlds owners Eddie and Debbie Rowell sold the two-story, 10,000-square-foot building that is behind the showroom building for $1.27 million. The airport served as an Army Air Corps training facility, Conrad said. The airport and Winston-Salem gave birth to a legacy carrier, which was Piedmont Airlines, so we definitely qualify as an airport that has contributed significantly to the development of aviation in the state. Of course, Piedmont merged with USAirways, which was folded into American, Conrad said. Conrad said that having a legacy designation could be useful in branding and in economic development activities. The goal is to have the airport prepared should money become available for legacy airports in a proposed federal infrastructure bill, which could reach up to $2 trillion in funding. While most federal dollars go to international airports, legacy airports in our state could try to leverage that status to obtain funds to advance the utilization of these important assets in our state, Conrad said. We would be able to use legacy in the branding and marketing of Smith Reynolds. The legacy designation could make the airport more attractive to aviation tenants or low-fare airline carriers, supporters say. On June 19 the defendants allegedly went to the Orkney Street residence and met up with Ramon, who was "physically assaulted" and forced into a vehicle that was driven to a Chester County residential garage. Ramon was restrained with duct tape, handcuffs, and zip ties. Prieto, Castillo, Bernal, Delgado, or Guerrero allegedly shot Ramon at least once in his head, killing him, either in Pennsylvania or Maryland, where he was taken on or about June 19. The five also are charged with possessing or using a firearm in a crime of violence. After Ramon was kidnapped, the defendants called his wife with "demands for ransom in the amount of hundreds of thousands of dollars," and a ransom call was also made to an associate of Ramon's, the indictment says. Philadelphia police previously said that the victim's wife told them she had met on June 21 with a man in South Philadelphia and paid a ransom, but did not disclose the amount. "These ruthless individuals are a serious threat to the safety of our neighborhoods -- not just in Philadelphia, but the entire mid-Atlantic region and beyond," U.S. Attorney William M. McSwain said in a statement. A cafeteria worker in Canaan, New Hampshire, was fired after a supervisor caught her violating her employer's policy. Her offense? Giving food worth $8 to a student with no money in his account. Bonnie Kimball had worked for five years serving lunch to the teens at Mascoma Valley Regional High, who she called "another family," the Valley News reported. The contract to provide lunch to the school's 326 students was expiring. A competitor was touring the facilities on March 28, and Kimball's employer had extra managers on hand. Kimball saw that a student's account was empty and let him keep his food, the New Hampshire Union Leader reported. She also asked him to have his mother add money to the account. The next day, he paid his lunch bill. But later that day, Kimball was called in by a manager who had witnessed her act of leniency and fired, she told the paper. "It was my life for five years. I went and I took care of another family," she told the Valley News. "You don't just lose a family member, be OK and move on." Wrestling legend Ric Flair was hospitalized in Atlanta Thursday with a "very serious" medical issue according to TMZ Sports, but other sources are disputing that dramatic interpretation. Sean Ross Sapp, managing editor of Fightful.com, quotes Flair's son-in-law Conrad Thompson saying the "situation is not as grave or serious as TMZ makes it out." Thompson says Flair was actually in the hospital for a "planned procedure" the wrestler wanted done before his appearance at the "Starrcast" convention in Las Vegas next week, according to Sapp. Flair lives near Atlanta, in the Gwinnett County town of Lawrenceville. TMZ was first to report the news of his hospitalization, saying Flair was "initially taken to the emergency room to be treated" for a "medical emergency." It did not cite a reason for Flair's visit. News outlets across the world ran with the story, based on TMZ's report. Representatives for Flair have yet to comment. In math classes, students learned about Alan Turing, the English mathematician who broke Nazi codes during World War II. In English classes, they studied James Baldwin, the writer and activist whose work highlighted the experiences of black and LGBT Americans. And in science, students learned about Sally Ride, the first American woman in space. Students in kindergarten through fourth grade could also opt into a story hour with Daie. Drag queen story hours have been popping up at schools libraries and bookstores across the country since 2015. Purnsley went to Durham School of the Arts, but in an interview said he didn't fully come out until the summer after his senior year. "I remember being scared, many times in my high school and middle school experience, to just Google the word 'gay,'" he said. "I would have been gobsmacked to go to an assembly and have a drag queen like Vivica C. Coxx tell me that I am someone who is celebrated," Purnsley said. National trends In a letter to parents, Schmidt emphasized the what can happen when kids are bullied and harassed. From December 19th through December 26th we will be granting free access as a gift to our readers presented by High Point University There is your border crisis. These days, most of the people crossing are not economic immigrants from Mexico, whose numbers are way down. With more opportunity in Mexico, folks are staying put. Refugees dont have that option. You cant stay home when the house is on fire. You jump out the window and pray for mercy. Some people will see the comparison. Others dont want to see it. We dont have to say that brown-skinned Latino refugees coming from Central America in 2019 are exactly the same as light-skinned Jewish refugees who came from Europe in the 1930s and 1940s. And we dont have to argue that ruthless and well-armed drug gangs in Central America are the moral equivalent of the Nazis. Thats not the point. This is about the common denominator: Americans, and how they treat the stranger. Despite what it says in the brochure, the answer often depends on just how strange the visitor appears to the hosts. Im sick of duplicity and double-talk. Its time to decide whether or not were going to live up to our brand. Is America still, as advertised, a nation of immigrants seeking opportunity and a safe haven for refugees yearning to breathe free? Or not? OK. Somebody has to go first. Somebody has to be willing to set partisan division aside and do what is right and fair. Somebody has to step off of the destructive merry-go-round of what-aboutism and tit-for-tat that masquerades as leadership in state government. The Democrats had that opportunity this week with the state elections board. And they blew it. By effectively firing N.C. Board of Elections Executive Director Kim Strach, North Carolina Democrats are doing precisely to N.C. Republicans what the Republicans have done to them: use power as a blunt instrument. Which gets us nowhere except where we already are: I hit you. You hit back. I hit you back in retaliation for hitting me back. And so on. Heard enough Enough is enough! We have heard enough about the Mueller report that was and is a total waste of taxpayers money. So they spend another $25 million and impeach President Trump. Then what? As with Bill Clinton, the House will vote to impeach and the Senate will vote against. What will be accomplished? Regardless of whom we send to Washington, although they promise to stand for change, once they get there they have two major concerns: to get re-elected and try to destroy the other party. And what happens with the promise of government of the people, for the people and by the people? Unless someone can truly drain the swamp, honest, efficient government that works for the people will never happen. A possible solution to the problem is to have term limits for Congress and the Supreme Court. But how can this be achieved? As long as the swamp exists, people in Congress will never vote to terminate their jobs. So what are we the people to do? Donald Crews Winston-Salem Hysteria When Utahs Legislature floated a proposal earlier this year to levy sales tax on a number of services, including accounting services, the Utah Association of CPAs quickly voiced opposition. Susan Speirs, CPA, CGMA, the associations CEO, called on members to voice their concerns about the negative impact the proposal would have on their firms as well as on their clients. The Utah reform proposal would have increased the list of services subject to sales tax, including legal and accounting services. Within a few days, lawmakers received more than 500 emails and calls from accountants and other affected professionals. Lawmakers backed off of their plans to pass the wide-ranging tax reform plan. We were able to shut that bill down, Speirs said. We were nimble enough, and we were able to swing into action a lot faster than other professional groups. Utah isnt the only place considering taxing accountants invoices, a situation that Speirs said would inevitably hurt both clients and firms. Connecticut and Wyoming had similar proposals this year, brought up as a way to close a budget gap by extending sales tax obligations to accounting and other services. CPAs in both states voiced concerns the proposals would mean their state governments were essentially taxing people for seeking assistance paying their taxes. While the sales tax proposals were not adopted in Connecticut, Utah, or Wyoming, they raised concerns among the AICPA, state societies, and other professional groups that similar proposals could pop up in the future. Several more states California, Florida, Montana, Nebraska, and Texas are in the midst of debating revisions to their state tax codes, and professional services such as accounting work could face additional taxes, according to information compiled by the AICPA. Accountants arent necessarily being singled out, but rather legislative and city leaders are trying to find ways to spread tax liabilities around a broader base or meet their budget needs, said Megan Kueck, the AICPAs lead manager of state regulation and legislation. Its a larger look at taxing in general, Kueck said about the impetus behind the recent legislation. Three states Hawaii, New Mexico, and South Dakota already have taxes on accounting services on the books, Kueck said. Several other states, including Florida and Michigan, passed tax reforms in the past that included taxing professional services but ended up overturning those laws shortly after implementation, she said. Its not just states where the possibility of additional taxation on accounting services has popped up. In Chicago, Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot suggested the city raise needed revenue by adding a tax to the bills that large legal and accounting firms send to clients, according to comments she made during a March interview with a Chicago-area radio station. Smaller CPA firms would be exempt from the tax, Lightfoot said in her remarks, while large firms could be subject to a tax like the value-added taxes used in Europe. Putting a small fee on the invoices they send their clients will barely be noticed but yet could generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, Lightfoot said, according to a Chicago Tribune article about her comments. While Lightfoots comments caught the attention of plenty of Chicago-area CPAs, the idea of taxing professional services like those provided by accounting firms hasnt yet shown up in any formal proposal, Kueck said. The AICPA and affected state accounting societies have had success pointing out that adding state taxes on accounting services essentially adds a tax onto an act paying taxes that governments already make compulsory for their residents and citizens. This is a tax on a government requirement, Kueck said. In Utah, Speirs isnt quite ready to declare victory. A state task force is meeting now with plans for a special legislative session on tax reform later this year. Taxes on professional services could very well be a part of Utahs future tax landscape. CPAs in other states should be paying attention to similar efforts in their own states, she said. Staying in contact with state professional associations or chambers of commerce could be helpful to get the message out quickly about how state-based proposals affect the profession. If it hasnt been talked about in a state, it will be, Speirs said, about tax reform efforts. Be on your toes. Sarah Ovaska-Few is a freelance writer based in North Carolina. To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Ken Tysiac, the JofAs editorial director, at Kenneth.Tysiac@aicpa-cima.com. Today Mostly cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy in the afternoon. High around 65F. Winds light and variable. Tonight A few clouds. Low around 50F. Winds light and variable. Tomorrow Some sun in the morning with increasing clouds during the afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High near 70F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Summerville, SC (29483) Today Intervals of clouds and sunshine. High around 75F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight A few clouds from time to time. Low around 60F. Winds light and variable. Thunder Bay, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - May 16, 2019) - Benton Resources Inc. (TSXV: BEX) ('Benton' or 'the Company') today announced that it has completed a 1,913-line kilometre, High-Resolution Heliborne Magnetic Survey over the entire Panama Lake Project. The survey will be a valuable tool in delineating structure and lithological contacts, two very important features which control gold mineralization throughout the Red Lake District. Benton will use this survey to prioritize targets for summer exploration as the Company plans to focus most of its field season on exploring the Panama, Slate Lake and Ben Lake Zones at the Panama Project. New Website and Branding Benton would also like to announce that it has released a new user- and mobile-friendly website (www.bentonresources.ca) with updated corporate materials to reflect the Company's new branding. Acknowledgment The Company would like to acknowledge the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador for their continued support of the Company through the Junior Exploration Assistance Program. As an applicant of the program, Benton received a $9,525 grant to subsidize the exploration work performed on the GNP Property located on the Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland. On behalf of the Board of Directors of Benton Resources Inc., "Stephen Stares" Stephen Stares, President About Benton Resources Inc. Benton Resources is a well-funded Canadian-based project generator with a diversified property portfolio in Gold, Silver, Nickel, Copper, and Platinum group elements. Benton holds multiple high-grade projects available for option which can be viewed on the Company's website. Most projects have an up-to-date 43-101 Report available. Parties interested in seeking more information about properties available for option can contact Mr. Stares at the number below. For further information, please contact: Stephen Stares, President & CEO Phone: 807-475-7474 Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. CHF Capital Markets Cathy Hume, CEO Phone: 416-868-1079 x231 Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Website: www.bentonresources.ca Twitter: @BentonResources Facebook: @BentonResourcesBEX THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and on acceptable terms; risks related to the outcome of legal proceedings; political and regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; risks related to the maintenance of stock exchange listings; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of feasibility studies; the uncertainty of profitability; risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; results of prefeasibility and feasibility studies, and the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks related to gold price and other commodity price fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in the Company's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. These forward looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations or projections. VICTORIA, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2019 / Erin Ventures Inc. [TSXV: EV] is pleased to announce the appointment of Dusan Podunavac, P. Geo., to its Board of Directors. Throughout his career, Mr. Podunavac has been active in all facets of geological exploration, mine development and public policy advice in both the private and public sectors. Since 2014, Dusan has served as Project Manager for Erin Ventures, overseeing its geological program at the Piskanja Boron Project. Between 1988 and 2014, Mr. Podunavac held senior positions at the internationally acclaimed Geological Survey of Serbia, most notably as its Senior Geologist, then Technical Director, and ultimately as General Manager. In addition, Dusan served as Exploration Manager (Nonmetallic and Metallic Raw Materials) and Department Head - Mineral Resources Assessment, at the Geological Survey where he was responsible for geological, mineralogical, metallurgical, and technical studies and the coordination and management of technical teams for multiple tasks (mineral exploration, hydrology, environmental, mining engineering, and remediation) for a diverse set of mineral resources in both open pit and underground settings. Specifically, Mr. Podunavac's expertise and duties at the Geological Survey included: management of the geological and engineering divisions within the institute, with supervision of technical teams of up to 250 professionals; team leader on mining feasibility studies; cash-flow analysis; international project-specific financing; and, the management/supervision of mining and environmental engineering, technical studies, mine planning, construction and remediation on multiple projects. Along with his experience in the private sector, Mr. Podunavac has extensive experience consulting to the Serbian government and governments internationally. He has provided public policy advice in the areas of privatization of government-owned mining assets, along with all facets of mining regulations. Additionally, he has been called upon to provide technical evaluations to governments with respect to various mining operations and companies, as well as to perform environmental audits. As a result, Dusan has cultivated and maintains good working relationships with a variety of scientific researchers, policy managers, and government officials within Serbia and elsewhere. "I believe that Dusan is a logical choice for our board," said Tim Daniels, CEO of Erin. "He is a geologist with extensive experience, both in the field and in management. He knows Piskanja intimately, as he has been involved with the project in various ways since 1997. Importantly, he is very well connected and respected within the local mining community and within the Ministry of Mining. And ultimately, he is a good man and is like-minded regarding how to best develop our project." The appointment of Dusan Podunavac is subject to shareholder and TSXV approval. On behalf of the Board of Directors, Blake Fallis, General Manager About Erin Ventures Inc. Erin Ventures Inc. is an international mineral exploration and development company with boron assets in Serbia. Headquartered in Victoria, B.C., Canada, Erin's shares are traded on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "EV" and the OTCQB Venture Market under the symbol "ERVFF". For detailed information please see Erin's website at www.erinventures.com or the Company's filed documents at www.sedar.com. For further information, please contact: Erin Ventures Inc. Blake Fallis, General Manager Phone: 1-250- 384-1999 or 1-888-289-3746 www.erinventures.com Erin's Public Quotations: Canada TSX Venture: EV USA OTCQB: ERVFF Europe Berlin Stock Exchange: EKV The technical information in this release was prepared and approved by James E Wallis, M.Sc. (Eng), P. Eng., a director of the company, who is a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101. 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 or refers to forward-looking information under Canadian securities legislation, including statements regarding the timing of future mineral resource estimates and the PEA, estimation of mineral resources, exploration results, potential mineralization, exploration and mine development plans, timing of the commencement of operations and future production and is based on current expectations that involve a number of business risks and uncertainties. The words "believe," "expect," "feel," "plan," "anticipate," "project," "could," "should" and other similar expressions generally identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expected results. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statement include, but are not limited to, failure to convert estimated mineral resources to reserves, capital and operating costs varying significantly from estimates, the preliminary nature of metallurgical test results, delays in obtaining or failures to obtain required governmental, environmental or other project approvals, political risks, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, changes in equity markets, inflation, changes in exchange rates, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in the development of projects and the other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry, as well as those factors discussed in the section entitled "Risks of the Business" in the Company's most recent regulatory filings which are posted on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company assumes no responsibility to update them or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances other than as required by applicable securities law. These and other factors made in public disclosures and filings by the Company should be considered carefully. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. "Inferred Resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence, and economic and legal feasibility. Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource reported in this news release will ever be upgraded to a higher category or to reserves. U.S. persons are advised that while mineral resources are recognized under Canadian regulations, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission does not recognize them. U.S. persons are also cautioned not to assume that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource is economically or legally mineable. COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - More than 60 people have been arrested after violent clashes erupted in Sri Lanka on Monday, police said in a statement on Tuesday, Xinhua News Agency reported. Police Spokesperson SP Ruwan Gunasekara said that several people were being questioned and 33 out of those arrested had been further remanded. Gunasekara said that a curfew would be reimposed for the second consecutive night across the island which, beginning from 9 pm local time Tuesday to 4 am Wednesday. This was intended to prevent further clashes. Gunasekera also said that more than 80 people were in custody as of Tuesday evening. The North Western province was also severely affected by violence. Security remained heightened across the island since Monday as several Muslim mosques, houses and businesses were burned and damaged by angry mobs. One person was killed. On Wednesday, authorities said Wednesday they had the situation "under control", according to Agence France-Presse. Fears of ethnic violence have been growing in Sri Lanka following the April 21 terror attacks on churches and hotels, which killed over 250 people and injured 500 others. "The situation is now totally under control," said Military spokesman Sumith Atapattu. "There were no incidents of violence overnight and we are arresting groups of people responsible for taking part in mob attacks." Military spokesman Sumith Atapattu said security forces were arresting small groups of suspected troublemakers and handing them over to police. They were being held under emergency laws under which convicts can be jailed up to 10 years, police spokesman Gunasekera said. Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, in a statement released on Monday evening, urged people to remain calm and adhere to the laws. He said security forces had been entrusted with maintaining law and order and he requested the public to abide by their instructions to ensure peace is maintained. (China Daily 05/16/2019 page11) A Tel Aviv court on Thursday charged a 65-year-old Israeli man for allegedly spitting at the Polish ambassador, the police said, amid heightened diplomatic tensions between the two countries. Polish ambassador Marek Magierowski was sitting in his car on Tuesday when a man approached and spat at him, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. Eric Lederman, from the city of Herzliya north of Tel Aviv, was charged with assault against the diplomat and with threatening his driver, the police said Thursday. Israels envoy to Poland Anna Azari was summoned to the Polish foreign ministry in Warsaw over the incident, Polish foreign ministry spokeswoman Ewa Suwara said. Polands Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called it a xenophobic act of aggression while President Andrzej Duda said it appeared to be an anti-Polish act of hatred. Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon expressed our fullest sympathy to the ambassador and our shock at the attack. The alleged incident came a day after Poland cancelled a visit by Israeli officials over their intention to raise the issue of the restitution of Jewish properties seized during the Holocaust, a matter Warsaw insists is closed. Last year, Warsaw passed a law that made it illegal to accuse the Polish nation or state of complicity in Nazi German war crimes. The move sparked an outcry from Israel, which saw it as an attempt to ban testimonials on Polish crimes against Jews. In response, Warsaw amended the law to remove the possibility of fines or a prison sentence. In February, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz drew Polands ire by quoting late Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Shamir saying Poles suckle anti-Semitism with their mothers milk. In April, the World Jewish Congress condemned a Polish town after reports that residents burnt an effigy made to look like a stereotypical Jew in a revival of an old Easter tradition. Lederman is set to appear in court again on June 23, and is banned from approaching Polands embassy in Tel Aviv for 30 days. The Syrian regime and its ally Russia are engaged in a deliberate and systematic assault on hospitals in the countrys northwest, Amnesty International said Friday. The UN Security Council was holding an emergency session Friday to discuss the situation in Syrias Idlib, a jihadist-controlled region which has come under increased regime and Russian bombardment. The majority of strikes have hit southern Idlib and the north of neighbouring Hama province, areas controlled by Syrias former Al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). We are urging Security Council members meeting today to do everything in their power to end the onslaught against civilians in Idlib and hold the perpetrators of these appalling crimes to account, said Lynn Maalouf, Amnestys Middle East research director. The rights group called for Russia to be pressured by the Security Council over the deliberate targeting of 15 hospitals in Idlib and Hama. At least 18 hospitals and clinics have been destroyed or damaged by air strikes and shelling over recent weeks, according to the United Nations. This is part of a well-established pattern targeting medical facilities to systematically attack the civilian population and it constitutes crimes against humanity, Maalouf said in a statement. The attacks against hospitals took place despite a UN mechanism aimed at sparing medical facilities from the fighting. Amnesty said staff from four hospitals told the organisation they had been targeted despite sharing their coordinates with the Syrian and Russian governments. Idlibs population of three million is meant to be protected by a buffer zone deal signed in September by Russia and rebel-backer Turkey. But the increase in attacks from late April to May 9 has prompted 180,000 people to flee southern Idlib and northern Hama, according to UN figures. Millions have been displaced and more than 370,000 killed since Syrias civil war erupted in 2011 with the violent crackdown on anti-government protests. In the last 20 months, the conflict has left 1,850 dead, 530,000 internally displaced and tens of thousands of refugees. The intransigence of the belligerents threatens to generate further violence and prolong the conflict, which neither can win in the short term, says the report. The ICG says the government is counting on a military victory and refuses to discuss the form of the state; the separatists demand independence. To force the two sides to start a dialogue and end the conflict, ICG recommends international pressure, including from the International Criminal Court. The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) should state her intention to launch a preliminary examination into abuses committed by both sides, it says. This could encourage the government to initiate its own investigations and, depending on the outcome, start criminal proceedings, as well as deterring others from further abuses against civilians. That would also show the separatists that their violent actions spark international disapproval. War crimes Contacted by JusticeInfo, Hans de Marie Heungoup, a researcher on Central Africa at ICG, explains that some of the crimes reported do indeed fall within the ICCs mandate. There are crimes that fall within the ICCs jurisdiction, including war crimes. When there is systematic targeting, when there is repeated shooting at civilians, when schools, hospitals and entire villages are set on fire by security forces, we think there is a war crime, he says. Crimes are being committed by both sides; separatists have kidnapped and executed dozens of civilians, but the security forces were the first to commit these crimes. And yet they are the ones who have been trained in academies where they have received training to ensure the safety of people and their property, he continues. Hans de Marie Heungoup points out, however, that we cannot speak, for the moment, of the crime of genocide. There is nevertheless a difficulty: Cameroon has not acceded to the Rome Statute and therefore does not automatically fall under the jurisdiction of the ICC. The only credible option, for the time being, would be for the UN Security Council to refer the matter to the Court, without this being vetoed by one of its permanent members. Deterrent effect Another question is what deterrent effect could be expected from the ICC when in other countries where it is investigating like the Central African Republic crimes continue unabated? The case of Cameroon is a little different, explains the specialist. In Cameroon, President Paul Biya is doing everything he can to keep the country out of the international spotlight and agenda. The announcement of a preliminary examination by the ICC would therefore have a major deterrent effect. It would create a kind of panic within the political establishment. The massive violations perpetrated in north-west and south-west Cameroon have also been documented by local and international human rights organizations. In the context of the armed conflict in the English-speaking regions, many crimes have been committed, including murder, kidnapping, rape, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, burning schools, markets, hospitals and homes, says Paul Guy Hyomeni, national coordinator of the Cameroon Network of Human Rights Organizations. The people responsible are certainly on both sides. But in most cases, the two parties blame each other. Separatists have sometimes claimed responsibility for hostage-taking and ransom demands. The government, for its part, has generally denied any responsibility for any of the crimes committed. According to Hyomeni, this justifies the need for an independent and impartial investigation that of the ICC, which in our view has the necessary competence. Paul Guy Hyomeni, however, sees difficulties in conducting an investigation in the regions concerned at this time. Given the situation in both regions, it is not easy to investigate on the ground. Such an investigation would only be possible if its preparation is thorough, namely through consultation between the investigation team and the various actors: government, traditional and religious authorities, separatists, political parties, the media, etc. This consultation would need to ensure that the parties cooperate in the proper conduct of the investigation and to inform them of the risks they would face if they were to obstruct its proper conduct. National justice absent What can we expect from national justice? Before the outbreak of hostilities in both regions, Cameroon had courts capable of trying the perpetrators of violations, abuses and crimes. Since the beginning of the conflict, due to the various threats against magistrates and other administrative personnel by the separatists and the governments inability to ensure the protection of these personnel, many have abandoned their posts to settle in safer areas, says Hyomeni. As well as the difficulty related to the absence of court staff, there is also the issue of the separation of executive and judicial powers. Although the Constitution enshrines this principle, the fact remains that the Supreme Council of the Judiciary in charge of the promotion, assignment and sanctioning of judges is presided over by the President of the Republic. This situation has an impact on the ability of judges to make fair decisions. International pressure The release of the ICG report coincided with the visit to Cameroon of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet. In a statement issued on May 6 at the end of her visit, Michelle Bachelet accused security forces and separatist armed groups of committing crimes. Civilians trapped between these two powerful, if asymmetric, opposing forces, are increasingly vulnerable to lethal abuses and violations by both sides, said the High Commissioner, whose visit included a meeting with President Paul Biya. An informal meeting of the UN Security Council was also held on May 13, at the initiative of the United States, which was the first to denounce the serious human rights violations in this conflict. In a statement released a few hours before the meeting, the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) sought to increase the pressure. In the follow-up to this meeting, the UN Security Council should make Cameroon a formal item on its agenda and press authorities to investigate members of the security forces alleged to have carried out killings and destruction of property and prosecute those responsible. It should also publicly announce to armed separatist groups that their leaders will be held responsible for serious crimes committed by their fighters, wrote the human rights organization. Cameroon tried unsuccessfully to oppose this informal meeting. The Cameroonian authorities, which deny human rights activists access to the areas concerned, are finding it increasingly difficult to maintain the silence on the Anglophone crisis. Deep-dive learning: Submarine built with help of Kansas State Polytechnic students to be unveiled June 1 Friday, May 17, 2019 The unveiling of the Pisces VI submarine, shown in this rendering, will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, June 1, in Salina. The submarine, built with the help of Kansas State University Polytechnic Campus students, is one of the deepest-diving, privately owned submarines. | Download this photo. SALINA One of the deepest-diving, privately owned submarines in the world will be unveiled Saturday, June 1, in Salina and it was built with the help of Kansas State University Polytechnic Campus students. The Pisces VI is a three-person capacity submarine, able to dive to an operational depth of 7,155 feet and support a minimum of 140 hours underwater with a mission length of up to 14 hours. The public unveiling of the Pisces VI submarine will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, June 1, in Hangar 509 at the Salina Regional Airport. Pisces VI, which is owned by Scott Waters, Salina, partnered with Kansas State Polytechnic to involve students in the building process, furthering the campus's hands-on education style. Students assisted in various aspects of the project, from technical, manual procedural documentation to a slurp gun device fitted specially for the Pisces VI submarine. "Working with Kansas State Polytechnic has been amazing," Waters said. "The ability to have students working on this project with us has been very helpful, and the students have been able to gain real-world knowledge and apply the skills they're learning. "I'm most excited knowing that the students will be able to put this project on their resumes and allow them to stand out with employers," Waters said. "Kansas State Polytechnic shows how important their students' futures are to them by being so proactive. I look forward to this long-term partnership and the impact we're able to have on students." The slurp gun is a device, created by a Kansas State Polytechnic sophomore, allows the submarine to take specimen samples while deep below the surface and transport those samples safely and securely back to study. The device essentially operates like an underwater vacuum, operated from inside the submarine, and stores samples in a holding tank until the submarine again reaches the surface. The submarine will be available for hire for scientists, filmmakers and high adventure tourists. It is designed to fit into a shipping container, providing for inexpensive travel around the world. Its first expedition after sea training is in December. "This has been a fantastic opportunity for our students to be involved with something really significant," said Kurt Barnhart, associate dean of research at Kansas State Polytechnic. "It's hard to overstate the potential impact of this project has had as Pisces VI partners with explorers around the globe to push the boundaries of deep-sea exploration." The Pisces VI company mission is to explore, educate and inform about the deep ocean what Waters refers to as the "last remaining unexplored frontier on the planet." Walter believes the oceans are a valuable shared resource and expanding knowledge is essential. He says his company wants to discover new life, educate the youth of the world on the importance of STEM education, and aid in preserving oceans. Waters said he has always had an interest in exploration and entrepreneurship. He built his first hobby submarine in 2007, a 350-foot-diving, two-person submarine. That sparked interest in a deep-diving submarine, and after years of searching, he found the Pisces VI. For information on the public unveiling, visit polytechnic.k-state.edu/piscesunveiling. For information on the Pisces VI company, visit piscessub.com. Receiving Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah in Hanoi on May 16th, PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc expressed his delight at the effective outcomes of the talks between the Malaysian FM and his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh. PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc said that both foreign ministries should work to carry out practical measures to foster the relations and cooperation between the two countries in the time ahead. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (R) and Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah (Photo: VNA) Saifuddin Abdullah, for his part, said that the Malaysian PM wishes to enhance cooperative ties with Vietnam while expressing his appreciation of Vietnam for continuing palm oil imports from Malaysia in the context that European countries are reducing orders for this product. He suggested both nations bolster cooperation beyond traditional fields to Industry 4.0 and robotics, saying that they need new approaches in promoting collaborative ties. PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc welcomed the Malaysian diplomats recommendations, highlighting that Vietnam holds potential in these fields. The Vietnamese Government leader said that due attention should be paid to lever cooperation in high-quality infrastructure development, high technology, logistics, and energy. Laying stress on the effective cooperation between Malaysias Petronas and PetroVietnam, he said that both sides should expand work in oil and gas exploration. The Vietnamese Government commits to providing favourable conditions for Malaysian corporations to do business in Vietnam, he said. Regarding the East Sea issue, PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc agreed with the Malaysian FMs viewpoint on a consensus in ASEAN on accelerating negotiations of the Code of Conduct in the waters with China. He said all parties must respect international laws, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982), and ensure security, safety, and freedom of aviation and navigation in the region./. We attempted to send a notification to your email address but we were unable to verify that you provided a valid email address. Please click here to update your email address if you wish to receive notifications. Otherwise, you may click here to disable notifications and hide this message. PORTLAND, Ore. More than eight years after the attempted murder of a police officer, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is calling attention once more to the search for suspect David Durham as national Police Week honors officer killed and injured in the line of duty. Around 11 p.m. on the night of January 23, 2011, a Lincoln City Police officer stopped the driver of an SUV for a traffic violation. During the traffic stop, the driver later identified as David Anthony Durham shot the officer multiple times, leaving him critically wounded. According to the FBI, Durham then attempted to flee. When officers tried to chase him, Durham exchanged gunfire with them. Finally, Durham abandoned his vehicle in Waldport, Oregon and disappeared. The FBI said that there have been no confirmed sightings since that night. "This was a well-known, outstanding, veteran police officer who was ambushed during a traffic stop, said Lincoln City Police Chief Jerry Palmer of the injured officer. He will never be the same. Palmer stressed that it remains a priority of the department to find Durham. By January 27, local authorities had issued a warrant for Durham's arrest in Lincoln County, charging him with dozens of counts, including four counts of attempted aggravated murder. The FBI took out a federal arrest warrant on January 29, making Durham a federal fugitive. The agency has been trying to assist Lincoln City with tracking Durham down ever since. "Durham is known to possess survival skills. He was wearing full green camouflage at the time of his disappearance, as well as tan or dark boots, and a dark-colored beret," the FBI said. "In the past, he has expressed a desire to travel or is believed to have traveled to California, the Caribbean, and Thailand." Durham is described as being a white man, between 160 and 185 lbs, about 6'3" with blue eyes and long blondish brown hair. He was born in Oregon during 1967 and would be 52 years old today. The FBI is still offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to Durham's arrest. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI, by submitting a tip online at https://tips.fbi.gov or calling the nearest FBI office. MEDFORD, Ore. -- After several months of wondering what the fate of their children will be, parents of the Program for Deaf and Hard of Hearing have gotten a clearer answer. In early May, NewsWatch 12 first reported that parents received a letter in February from Medford School District Special Education Director Tania Tong saying the district planned on providing services to students who live in Medford at the Medford School District. That change would have gone into effect at the start of the 2019 school year and would have split up an already small group of students. For about 40 years, the program has pulled all of the deaf and hard-of-hearing students from around the region to be educated together in the Central Point School District. Parents of the program say that's the way they like it. The letter caused anger and frustration among parents. Several spoke out saying the change will have lasting, negative effects on the already small group of kids. On Friday, parents were emailed out a letter from Special Education Services Director Susan Peck. The letter said the Medford School District has decided it will not open classrooms in the Medford School District for students to receive PDHH services during the 2019-2020 school year. Medford School District Communication Specialist Natalie Hurd told NewsWatch 12 the district decided to make the change so that it can use the 2019 school year productively. The district plans to use the year to do professional development with teachers and staff, site visits and work on engagement with families who will be affected by the change. Hurd said the district realizes there was poor communication during the last few months and apologizes for that. Parents of the program tell NewsWatch 12 the district promised them they would be receiving letters about any changes, which they did not receive until several weeks later. Parent Lauren White said the last few months have been stressful for her and her family trying to get meetings with school leaders and figuring out what's going on. "Once we caught word that it was postponed, you know we took a small sigh of relief, but we know that there's so much more to go," White said. White said parents hope to see the district consult with experts in the deaf community as they move forward. "What I want to see is professionals in deaf education helping with these decisions, specifically our local teachers of the deaf," White said. Hurd said the lengthy process took longer than the district expected because of the complex nature of the issue and the district's efforts to work with all parties involved in the regional structured program. Hurd said families who live in Medford will be receiving a letter in the next few days updating them on these changes and working toward better communication. GRANTS PASS, Ore. Smokey Bear will be taking to the sky this year as part of the Grants Pass Balloon & Kit Festival, thanks to a partnership between the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF), the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), and Keep Oregon Green. It's more than just another outing for the venerable forester Smokey Bear turns 75 on August 9 of this year, and forestry officials are celebrating three-quarters of a century promoting fire prevention alongside him. "Along with the balloon, Smokey himself will be on hand to take pictures with as well," ODF said in a statement. The Smokey balloon is an Aerostar SP-1 that was designed and built in 1987 by a group of public volunteers, private sponsors, and USFS employees. It is owned and operated by the nonprofit Friends of Smokey Bear. Friends of the Smokey Bear Balloon, Inc. is a non-profit corporation of volunteers dedicated to assisting federal, state and local agencies to educate and convey messages to prevent human-caused wildfires, Gwen Wynn said. We also stimulate active support from schools, local fire departments, businesses, industries, civic club, and groups of persons interested in protecting Americas natural resources. The Grants Pass Balloon and Kite Festival takes place May 31 through June 2. For more information, you can visit their website. MEDFORD, Ore. On Thursday, students of Southern Oregon University (SOU) are helping to raise money for foster workers and support vulnerable children by hosting a fundraiser at MOD Pizza in Medford. Between 10:30 a.m. and 10 p.m. on Thursday, 20 percent of the proceeds from MOD patrons who show the fundraiser flyer goes directly to Every Child, a non-profit that works to bridge the gap between communities and foster care kids. "We show value and worth to vulnerable children in crisis, we support the families who care for them and we show hospitality to the staff at DHS," Every Child said. There will be another chance to support Every Child on May 28 at Red Robin in Medford, when SOU social psychology students host a fundraiser as part of Foster Care Awareness Month. "As part of the Social Psychology class with Dr. Reeder we have decided to fundraise for Every Child Jackson County," the students wrote. "Every Child aims to provide love, care, and support for vulnerable children and families in Oregon." Every Child provides the means for community members to give direct support to foster kids through care packages (a Welcome Box, Launch Box or Baby Bag) or by helping interested adults look into becoming foster parents themselves. ASHLAND, Ore. -- Southern Oregon University's tuition will be more expensive for the 2019-2020 school year. It will increase between five percent and 13.5 percent. The SOU Board of Trustees said the exact amount depends on if a student is a resident or a nonresident and the Oregon legislatures budget for higher education. According to the Board of Trustees, a resident undergraduate student's tuition is expected to increase between 8.5 to 13.5 percent. That amounts to $15 to $23 per credit hour. Based on a student taking 15 credits per term, that totals to $675 to $1,035. A nonresident undergraduate student can expect their tuition to increase five percent. That amounts to $26 per credit hour which comes to $1,170. Environmental Studies sophomore Turtle McCloskey is putting herself through SOU. "I have a lot of financial aid through scholarships that I apply for every year," McCloskey said. "The amount that I have to pay out of pocket is between $1,500 and $2,000 every quarter." In order to afford that amount every quarter and to finish debt-free (without taking out student loans), she works four jobs. "It's a lot. Sometimes the cost of credits limits how much I can take. My scholarships only cover up to 15 credits. If I want to take more, it's out of pocket and then it ends up being $3,000. I can't do that. No matter how hard I work, I can't pay that off." Thursday afternoon, the Board of Trustees unanimously voted to accept the university president's recommendation to raise tuition for the next school year. The Board said one of the reasons for the increase is the rising cost of supporting the Public Employee Retirement System or PERS. The exact amount of the tuition increase will depend on how much the Oregon legislature contributes to all seven public universities in the Public University Support Fund. "For every $20 million that the legislature adds to the Public University Support Fund, SOU will be able to reduce our per credit charge by $2,"said SOU President Linda Schott. Every board member in the room said they didn't want to raise tuition but said it had to be done in order to maintain SOU. "You know you are going to make it a little more difficult for the most vulnerable students and that's why we try to emphasize let's keep the access as high as it can be and keep it as affordable as it can be," added SOU Board of Trustees Chair Lyn Hennion. State legislatures will not make the final decisions on the state budget until early July. Until then, students will not know how much they will pay in tuition for the 2019-2020 school year. The prosecution noted that the mens cooperation in the investigation and testifying at Quinns trial was valuable. The prosecution stated that these men did make terrible decisions, but each of the men had minimal criminal history before this case and were at low risk to offend again. KEARNEY Horizon Middle School was named a Nebraska Green School by the Nebraska Forest Service and Nebraska Department of Education and received the award from Hanna Pinneo, the Nebraska Forest Services conservation education coordinator, at a ceremony Wednesday afternoon. More 300 Horizon students with the leadership of their Green Team Leader and Alternative Education Para Andrea Loya-Perez completed five environmental assessments to determine if the school was a steward of Nebraskas natural resources. The team also recommended steps that could make Horizon more environmentally friendly. During the last six school years and throughout their work toward Nebraska Green School Status, their most popular initiative was an annual Green Science Fair. The fair allowed Green Team students to mentor their peers in educational activities, like cutting back on waste, repurposing and reusing household materials, and how to conserve energy at school and home. OMAHA Kearney High School won multiple awards for the schools spring musical Into the Woods from Omaha Performing Arts, including Outstanding Musical Theatre Production. KHS students, along with the other winners that were announced Thursday by Omaha Performing Arts, will receive awards at the annual Nebraska High School Theater Academy Showcase 7:30 p.m. June 7 at the Orpheum Theater in Omaha. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at TicketOmaha.com. Modeled after Broadways Tony Awards, the red-carpet event features performances from each of the award-winning schools and students. Representatives from more than 80 high schools and middle schools statewide will work with leading local musicians and Omaha Performing Arts artist-in-residence, Omaha native Ray Mercer, currently playing in Broadways The Lion King and resident choreographer of the Ailey/Fordham Institute, on the awards large group opening and closing numbers. Omaha native Q. Smith, currently a member of the Come From Away Broadway cast, will host this years event and perform with students. The event also will honor outstanding Nebraska educators. We had a lot of people scared, she said. I still believe the vast majority of people want us to do something about property taxes. This (the Briese amendment) gives us a start. Linehan also said some of the blame for stalling LB 289 lay with Ricketts, who she said failed to engage in serious discussions and failed to recognize the severity of the property tax problem. He says we can cut our way out of this, so tell us where to cut. Where? she said. The summer and fall, she said, would be used to sell and educate school officials about the state aid changes proposed in LB 289 a $500 million boost in state aid to schools, along with a guarantee that each Nebraska district would get at least 33% of its funding from the state, a big increase for small, rural and midsized schools that have seen their share of state aid dwindle in recent years. The 21st century will be led by the nation that best prepares for the future of technology. President Donald Trumps high-stakes Game of Tariffs with China could help the United States protect its companies intellectual property rights and pressure China to stop its unfair trade practices. However, it takes the focus away from what his administration, Congress and the technology industry should be doing: - Investing in infrastructure needed for a tech-based economy that will be dominated by artificial intelligence, robotics and breakthroughs in energy, medicine and transportation. - Ensuring the United States is the world leader in research and development. - Producing well-educated youths capable of leading the next wave of innovation and providing the workforce needed to support the new businesses that emerge. - Winning the talent war, which requires comprehensive immigration reform that would ensure that the best and brightest minds from around the world bring their ideas and energy to the United States. 213 Shares Share I delight in learning my patients stories and giving them exactly what they need when I take care of them in the hospital. Who they are and what is the best approach to their problem is the primary mystery to be solved, my Sherlock Holmes moment. This is why, if somebody asks me, I will tell them that doctoring is the best job in the world. The opportunity to connect fully with another human being and use my heart and hands and brain to help them is a profound gift and a sacred trust. When Im not so overwhelmed that I cant function, that is. Lately at work, with the recent flu epidemic and the collateral illness that a hard winter has brought on, my job as a hospitalist at my local rural hospital has become rushed and nearly overwhelming. I cut corners in ways that I hope will not compromise patient care. At times I dream of retiring, forgetting that Im a doctor, letting the skills Ive been collecting over these 30 years drift away like objects at a garage sale. But I dont really want to. I really want to keep doing the job that involves actually having the time to listen, examine, think and interact. I just dont want my job to suck. I can tolerate bad days, that will always be the way of it. Epidemics happen. There are confluences of illness that result in surges of sick people who need help all at the same time. Once in awhile everyone just has to suck it up and deal with the fact that time and care must be rationed. At those times I will get neither sleep nor food in adequate quantities. It is my job, though, as a mistress of my own destiny, to make sure that this doesnt happen often and not as a result of systemic problems that could be prevented by adequate forethought. Recently there have been changes that will lead to me, as a hospitalist, being responsible for more patients. Since Im already often at my limit of competent care, there will need to be some kind of increased staffing for my program. My brain is aging, as is my body, and I dont think my capacity for work can just increase. I now need regular sleep and food and time to think in order to do this rather difficult job of being a doctor. The job needs to continue to be something I can love. The hospital, my employer, has not given assurance of adequate help. Also, my salary, though generous compared to that of a teacher or an accountant, is low when compared to other doctors doing what I do. Because of this and the upcoming changes and perhaps the phase of the moon, my partners have all given their three-month notice, and we will have trouble recruiting replacements to adequately staff my program. Dreading what I predict to be a situation that will have me trying to function beyond my abilities, I have also given my notice. And I am sad about it. Why, we are all wondering, will the hospital not step up to make the program sustainable? I suspect it is because they are succumbing to the inexorable movement in the U.S. toward corporate health care. In the last ten years, hospitals have gradually become an important spigot on the huge tank of health care dollars, controlling the flow of money by employing physicians and opening clinics. As such, doctors have changed from being the bosses of hospitals to its employees. Hospitals spend over half their revenues on paying their staff. When we became hospitals paid staff, we became a line item in a budget, a cost to be kept in control. If we want more time per patient to do the job the way we think is right, that means they may have to hire more of us, thus increasing their financial obligations. So long as the patients dont notice any problem and stay happy, controlling expenses attributed to physicians by minimizing staffing will be a successful strategy for them. There are ways that the system can be tweaked to make it possible for doctors to handle more patients. Simplifying the way we order tests and document our encounters can give us more time for the important work of talking to nurses and examining and listening to patients. So far, however, even the best computer systems absorb what seems to be increasing amounts of time. Other strategies involve giving the patient the impression that they have been listened to, respected and that we have a coherent interpretation and plan for them. There are algorithms (AIDET) that dont take much time but increase patient satisfaction. This particular one dictates a way to speak to patients that covers a checklist of important talking points. As an algorithm, it is not entirely bad unless it is used to replace genuinely good care, which I think it often is. Eventually, artificial intelligence will help us take the confusing data that can be generated by our patients and use it to make evidence-based decisions about diagnosis and management. This will probably improve our patients health outcomes, a good thing. It appears that we have been involved in an experiment, driven at its core by economics and the flow of money, in removing the heart from medicine. Because of the way we pay for health care and the vast number of businesses that depend on health care, it has gotten expensive, pricing itself nearly out of reach of regular people. This is a problem to be solved. In working on this sticky problem there have been many technological advances and updates in systems that may improve efficiency. I love some of these. Doing bedside ultrasound, for instance, has made me a much better doctor and the concept of a computerized medical record is wonderful, with its ability to store and communicate information about our patients to the people who need to know. But we have also modernized the art and heart of delivering medical care just about right out of the picture. Nurses used to give patients massages with lotion before they went to bed (I kid you not) and doctors spent hours at the bedside of dying patients. Now we all just dont have the time. A few years ago I read a book by Victoria Sweet MD, a physician and historian who spent 20 years as a doctor at the last alms-house hospital in San Francisco ( Gods Hotel) . This was a place where people ended up when their health was gone, and they had no other resources. They stayed a long time. Many would eventually die there; some would move on. She spent as long as it took to take care of each patient and there was no rush. There is a movement known as slow medicine which first took shape in Italy because of the slow food movement. It is based around doing what we do, but more slowly, paying attention to a persons story, context, and values and not hurrying the process. Dr. Sweet wrote a book about that, too, entitled, not too surprisingly, Slow Medicine. Sometimes in my job, when everything is going OK, and there arent too many patients with problems that are simultaneously blowing up, I can do slow medicine at my little hospital. Ive been lucky. How, though, with the amount of money it takes to pay a doctor, can we afford slow medicine? I think slowing us all down would have an avalanche of positive effects that would result in profound cost savings. There would be fewer tests and radiological procedures when we spent the time to figure out what was probably wrong and invited the patient to come right back if the problem didnt resolve with our well-thought-out advice. There would be fewer referrals to specialists as we spent the time to take a good history, do our research and reach out to our colleagues for advice. There would be more demand for primary care physicians, but the job would be much more rewarding and therefore attractive. Medical students would want to become primary care physicians because it wouldnt be a meaningless full-out grind. Internal medicine and family practice would be so much more gratifying than the organ centered specialties that now seduce some of our finest graduates. Drug costs would be lower since patients would be given consideration and advice rather than a pill. Savings such as these, unfortunately, would accrue to patients and payers, but not to hospitals. This makes it very unlikely that my hospital will find these to be compelling reasons to pay more so that I can work more slowly. I am sad that Ive gotten caught up in this experiment and Im eager to find other ways to do what I do best. Its probably not quite time to retire. Being a doctor is awesome. Janice Boughton is a physician who blogs at Why is American health care so expensive? Image credit: Shutterstock.com 113 Shares Share Apart from a minority number of academic physicians, nearly all of the physicians openly discussing finance matters online are either retired or in private practice. The data might be skewed since most practicing physicians dont work in academia anyway. What might be interesting is to compare the percentage of financially literate academic physicians to that of those outside of academia. I would venture to surmise that academic physicians might be more financially literate than everyone else simply because they are likely a more analytic bunch I guess it also ultimately depends on how we define financial literacy. Why academic doctors might be less informed about finances Doctors as a group are intelligent you might argue that there is a difference between intelligence and common sense, but in order to get through the training process to become anointed with an MD (or DO) not only requires a long time but an ability to troubleshoot at least the medical aspects of our jobs. Just as how any educator would assess her students, proficiency (or lack thereof) in a subject could be attributed to one reason: Motivation. Weve all known people who are gifted but dont apply themselves. I would argue that most people who didnt flunk out of medical school should have the chops to open a Roth IRA or decide whether they can afford a new yacht every five years. But no matter how much intelligence you have, going into a college final cold turkey can only get you so far. Lack of motivation could be summed up by a multitude of reasons: Too busy. This is not unique to academic medicine, but if your life doesnt afford you the time to learn about finances youre not going to understand it. The barrier to understanding money is somewhat low compared to understanding metabolic acidosis from oral hypoglycemics, but if youve spent no time learning youre starting with an empty deck. Pre-existing financial independence. It might be presumptuous to assume that one reason why you dont spend time managing your finances is because you started with a loaded deck. I know a few of those people in medicine, and we all wish that more people were as altruistic as these gals. Their trust funds are still being managed by somebody, however. It would be nice if all of us had this luxury. Unawareness. A number of my colleagues think that their six-figure salaries can buy more than they can, so they dont pay attention to the details. Once the kids move off the waiting list for the highly competitive daycare that all of your coworkers send their kids to, the $50,000 a year nanny would start looking inexpensive. Everything else. This is a catch-all bucket. Maybe the lack of financial motivation is due to a combination of the aspects mentioned above. Frankly, the norm is not to talk about finance as a doctor. If your colleagues dont seem to be worried about it, why should you? Academic medicine somewhat highlights being too busy to be deeply knowledgeable about finance. Aside from being a clinician, academic doctors may be responsible for a multitude of tasks: Training residents, students, and fellows. This includes ACGME mandated roles for residency directors. Drafting new grant requests, both within an institution or with the NIH. Conducting either laboratory or clinical research, along with going through dozens of revisions on multiple papers. Traveling to conferences across the globe to present their research. Sitting in administrative meetings. Participating in fund raisers for their departments. Scut monkey for their departmental chair Theres only so much you can throw onto your plate before it spills. The financial ceiling of academic medicine While most careers will have an income ceiling, its pretty well known that academic medicine will usually have a lower overall income ceiling over a normal career length compared to other clinical jobs. What this means is that those doctors whose incomes are in the lower range of physician incomes will need to be more conscientious about their finances as they might not have the financial firepower to get themselves out of negligent spending. Conclusions What does this mean if you are in a career in academic medicine or are considering it? All is not lost! You dont have to resort to owning a dozen rental properties to make ends meet. You do have be aware of the pros and cons that your career choice offers and make appropriate choices: Be aware of your earning firepower, and make sure your lifestyle doesnt exceed what your W-2 shows. Some academic arrangements are private practices with academic titles. This might confer the benefits of being in both academics and private practice. If you are working in the public sector, consider PSLF. You could start the process while in residency and continue for a few years after you finish. It may not be as long as you think. Dont try to compare yourself with others not in your shoes. You will only be disappointed. Make sure that you know what you want. Dont make job choices based on what others think of you. Do it for yourself and your family. Smart Money, MD is an ophthalmologist who blogs at the self-titled site, Smart Money MD. Image credit: Shutterstock.com EUGENE, Ore. -- The interim fire chief for the Eugene Springfield Fire Department is talking about the dangers of urban wildfires. Chief Chris Heppel spoke to the League of Women Voters at the Valley River Inn on Thursday. He said the Dowens Fire in Cottage Grove last week is a reminder of how dangerous wildfires can be, especially in warm and dry conditions.It took firefighters three days to contain it, and it burned 75 acres. Chief Heppel said there are ways to make wildfires easier to fight, and it all starts with creating a defensible space around your home. He said to take a look around your property for storm damage as well because downed trees can be an easy fuel source. LEBANON, Ore. -- Police have arrested a man on arson charges, accused of setting a fire Tuesday at the Walmart in Lebanon. Police said when they were called to the store at 12:49 p.m. for a report of pool chemicals on fire inside the store, employees had already started evacuating. RELATED: Chemical fire at Lebanon Walmart results in hazmat response They said fire damage was mostly contained to one aisle, but the smoke contaminated a large portion of the store's interior. They later determined several chemicals had been mixed, which then ignited. Detectives said they quickly identified Joel Lee Reynolds, Jr., 49, of Lebanon as the suspect. They arrested him on Thursday without incident. He's facing charges of arson in the first degree and criminal mischief in the first degree. Police said they've had multiple contacts with Reynolds. In 2018, they arrested him for theft at Walmart and he was trespassed from the store. The estimated cost of damages isn't known. Walmart is still closed while a restoration company makes repairs. SALEM, Ore. (AP) - Oregon has approved the largest statewide expansion of the federal free lunch program. The state will ensure all students living up to 300% above the federal poverty level will have access to free lunch and breakfast. Schools with high poverty rates will be able to provide free meals to all their students no matter their income level. One in seven Oregon households don't know where they'll get their next meal. The program will cost $40 million a year and is part of a sweeping education tax package lawmakers approved this week. Senator Arnie Roblan is a Democrat from Coos Bay who helped write the measure, and said this is the one aspect of the tax package that received no opposition. Roblan also said, providing free meals for children, is simply "the right thing to do." Ten schools, including CBS Kilkenny, came together this week to take part in a unique Environmental Awareness Day to Save our Seas and to discuss and exhibit their plans to reduce their use of single use plastics in their schools and in their communities. The schools are all Edmund Rice schools and the campaign is a key part of the networks focus on social advocacy, peace and justice. At a meeting in Callan last September, students from the ten schools decided themselves to focus on the need for an emergency response to the excessive use of throw-away plastics and their impact on marine life. The Environmental Awareness Day, which was hosted by Ard Scoil na Mara in Tramore, was the culmination of the years work. SOS, the campaign was launched officially by Senator Grace OSullivan. It is estimated that about 8 million tonnes of plastic enters the sea globally every year, which means that at this rate the world faces a future with more plastic in the Ocean than fish by 2050. The students said that they wanted to tap into the power of the youth voice, which has gathered momentum hugely this year with the growth of the Fridays for Future movement. Many of the schools in attendance at the Environmental Day have taken part in the Climate Strikes. They also heard first-hand about the devastating effects of marine litter with Cian Luck, marine biologist with Marine Renewable Energy Ireland, who they invited to be their key note speaker. Cian spent 18 months on Bird Island in South Georgia with the British Antarctic Survey where he studied the impacts of climate change, fisheries by catch and marine litter on the resident wildlife, including seals, albatross, and penguins. The students also heard from Eoin Gill, Director of Calmast and lecturer Waterford Insitute of Technology (WIT), about its Plastics: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly exhibition, a visual and artistic outlook on the current drastic state of the climate, and the damage of single-use plastics and marine litter. Camilla Turney, from An Tasice also spoke to the students about their Think before you flush campaign, which aims to educate people about the consequences of flushing items away without thinking. The parents of a six-year-old Kilkenny youngster battling to access the life-saving drug Spinraza are devastated that a decision due this week on whether or not the drug could be made available has been delayed. Isaac Brennan lives with Spinal Muscular Atrophy - a degenerative genetic condition which forces him to use a wheelchair. Because of this condition Isaac also has a shortened life expectancy. Spinraza has been proven to have a positive impact on people with this condition but currently is unavailable in Ireland. Minister for Health, Simon Harris informed Philip and Carol Brennan this that a decision which was expected to be reached on Tuesday was not available. "While there was an expectation that a decision would be reached on the 14th of May, this will now not be the case. We have been advised that the assessment is receiving priority attention and we will be provided with a further update as soon as one becomes available," said the Minister. Isaac's parents, along with a number of local TD's have been campaigning for access to the drug. "This response is unacceptable at this stage. We have been waiting for so long on a decision to be made. Our children our getting weaker every day and we need to see results on a positive decision made on the reimbursement of Spinraza in Ireland sooner rather than later," said Carol. Spinraza was made available on the NHS in the UK this week for sufferers of SMA. "Ireland need to follow suit immediately. There is now only two countries to approve in the EU, Ireland and Estonia. What is Ireland always the last to make a decision like this?? It is so frustrating for families in Ireland and we need answers imminently," Isaac's parents told The Kilkenny People. Thomas Ryan, manager of Value Centre Kilkenny, has been shortlisted for a prestigious national industry awards in the annual ShelfLife Grocery Management Awards. The awards ceremony will be held at the Citywest Hotel, Dublin on May 22 next. One of the most eagerly anticipated events in the Irish retail calendar, the National Grocery Management Awards is Irelands premier scheme for recognising and honouring management excellence. To win a Shelflife retail management award is a high point in the career of many of Irelands best performing managers from across a variety of categories and at various levels of career progression and the event is also the principal networking event for managers from across all retail and wholesale brands to gather with colleagues, business partners, suppliers and friends. Thomas, who has been manager of Value Centre Kilkenny for the past 12 months, is nominated in the Cash & Carry Manager of the Year category. Commenting, Group Head of Sales, Wholesale Division, BWG Foods, Paul Bealin said, The honour of being a finalist in the annual ShelfLife National Grocery Management Awards is a tremendous acknowledgement of the ongoing excellence of Value Centre Kilkenny. I want to take the opportunity to congratulate Tom and the whole team at Value Centre Kilkenny on being finalists. The ShelfLife National Grocery Management Awards are now in their 16th year and are the long-standing benchmark for those in management in the retail industry. Tipperary farmer Liam Minehan has thrown his hat into the EU Parliament election race and hopes to win over 100,000 votes to be elected in May. The Puckane man, best known for his 'Fight the Pipe' opposition to the Irish Water proposal to take water from the River Shannon to be pumped to serve the greater Dublin area, says that he wishes to start a conversation about the reinvigoration of rural Ireland, and the necessity of rebuilding population bases so that the rural economy can flourish. I don't want my grandchildren to be forced to live in apartment blocks in the middle of Dublin, Liam told the Tipperary Star this week - his four sons PJ, Bill, Michael and Jim all work locally in the agricultural sector, while his wife Marian is the Secretary of the North Tipperary GAA Board and is very well known in sporting circles. My whole thing is about the fact that rural Ireland should be developed and supported in order to create a level playing field for everyone. Why is it that everything has to be inside the Pale? Why does everything have to go through the M50? It is only through repopulating the rural areas that we can breathe life back into the communities where people can live, work and play. You cannot have communities dying, but we are allowing that right now, because the system is wrong. I want to make democracy work for the people of rural Ireland, he says. Liam ( pictured above) points to the governments spatial strategy being allowed to tie up the legs of the local economy and says that there needs to be a return to the days of decentralising of government departments throughout the country. Decentralisation got a bad name the last time round because civic servants were made to move. But, there are so many now who wish to get out of Dublin, there would be no problem in implementing it. Like, why does the Department of Agriculture have to be right in the middle of Dublin city - it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. We need to use pillar 2 to maintain farmers and farming, not to maintain the factories, he says. Liam speaks straight forward with a real clarity of thought. And, he offers the view that there are many many like minded people out there who are very frustrated at the systems which govern the country at the present time - a system, which he says is broken and must be fixed. Indeed, the fifty eight year old readily admits that it is not Europe which really interests him, but rather Dail Eireann, and agrees that many of the structures and systems he wishes to see replaced are the responsibility of the elected representatives of Dail Eireann, rather than MEP's. However, he also points out that the European elections ensures that his views reach far more constituencies than the general election and affords the opportunity for more like-minded individuals to understand his thinking. I understand the process. But, my view is that if I can get 100,000 people to vote for me and to elect me to Europe, then I can have a voice which can be heard. I want to create an awareness in the Ireland South constituency that there is an alternative way, a straight forward and direct way. I have a very wide range of views on a lot of matters and I consider them all to be common sense. And, from speaking to a lot of people, I realise that others are of the same view, he says. Liam is standing as an independent candidate and says that he will have a very small team working with him. But, he is hoping to tap into a thought process in rural Ireland which is very frustrated at the manner in which small local towns and villages are being left behind due to lack of broadband, poor road networks etc. People are angry at what is going on but they don't really have another outlet. How is it that there are major housing problems in Dublin - people can't get a house - and yet we have rural villages crying out to be repopulated. You'll get all the usual answers, but you won't get the real answer, which is that there is no will to make the changes necessary, Liam says. The Fight the Pipe campaign continues as Irish Water bids to pump 330 million litres of water to Dublin from Lough Derg. This will increase the water supply to Dublin to be in the region of 960 million litres, which will be three times above the required capacity. But, more than half the water produced is being lost through leakage and wastage, according to figures. There are very real, viable and economical alternatives to solve the water problems in Dublin, but they don't want to hear about it. Temple Bar is one of the worst areas in the country for leakages, but when you mention digging up the streets around Temple Bar, you know the reaction you will get. They prefer to pump millions of water from Tipperary to top up their supply, rather than dig up a street in Dublin, he says. The decline in small towns and villages has been well documented and we are now probably at the bottom of the curve in that we have pretty much lost everything that can be lost. Our post offices are gone, the few pubs that are left are fighting for their very survival and there are very few small shops still in existence. Rural isolation is a very real, rapidly increasing phenomena and it is now possible for a person living alone to go the full day without as much meeting a neighbor. This has to change, this is our watch, only we can make a difference. Looking at our villages and small towns it is difficult to see how the shops, post offices and pubs that have closed will ever be reopened. We live in a different world and have become accustomed to different ways, either by choice or legislation. The reinvigoration of our villages and towns will require ambitious and creative projects, but it can be done. Technology is rapidly presenting an opportunity unlike anything we have previously witnessed. Many workers spend their working day in front of a computer screen in an office inside the M50 where road networks and accommodation are struggling to cope with demand. This need not be the case. Why could these offices and their associated computer terminals not be located in smaller, well appointed hubs in our villages and towns? This would allow workers move from the overpriced accommodation in the greater Dublin area to a part of the country where realistic house prices and quiet roads are the norm. A small hub capable of accommodating 20 to 30 workers would inject much needed life into our villages and towns and could begin the process of finally redressing the balance. Liam Minehan is a passionate advocate for rural Ireland with many forward thinking, some might say radical, ideas. But, many others will be very taken his direct narrative. Liam is contactable at: liamminehan@gmail.com OR marianminehan@live.ie If you would like to discuss any matters with him, his phone number is 085 7215444 The fisheries resource will come to life at the National Museum of Ireland Natural History this summer as a free event called Fishy Fun will bring a range of interactive activities suitable for all the family. Inland Fisheries Ireland and the National Museum of Ireland Natural History are partnering on a one day event (Saturday, July 20) as part of International Year of the Salmon(IYS) which aims to engage the public around the challenges facing salmon today. Sean Canney TD, Minister with responsibility for the inland fisheries sector, launched the initiative which is one of a number of activities taking place throughout the summer to promote salmon conservation and the fisheries resource. Visitors to the museum will learn more about the fantastic collection of fish on display and how Irelands most iconic fish species, salmon, is facing its biggest challenge yet. Fisheries staff will be on hand to help young fisheries enthusiasts examine the creepy crawlies which live in Irelands rivers and lakes via microscopes while novice anglers can try their hand at fishing through a virtual fishing simulator! In addition to the collection within the museum, aquariums will also showcase some of the freshwater fish which live in waters across Ireland. The event is just one of a number of initiatives (outlined below) taking place across the country as part of International Year of the Salmon which is a world-wide initiative of the North Atlantic Salmon Organisation (NASCO) and the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC). It is hoped that IYS will create a framework for international outreach and research while also raising awareness of what humans can do to ensure salmon and their habitats are conserved and restored against a backdrop of several environmental factors. Minister Canney said: Salmon are an iconic species in Ireland, and indeed in many other countries along the north-west coast of Europe. International Year of the Salmon offers an opportunity to start an important conversation about salmon and how we can kick start efforts to restore salmon habitats. This event, alongside the many other initiatives, will allow the public to discover more about the fisheries resource and the challenges facing salmon today. This is a fun day out aimed especially at families and I would encourage parents and carers in particular to give children the opportunity to learn about our native fish and see how they can contribute to protecting them into the future, he added. Dr Ciaran Byrne, CEO of Inland Fisheries Ireland said: We are looking forward to introducing the public to the mystical aquatic world at this family focused event. Novice anglers, future fisheries biologists or scientists or anyone who has an interest in the natural world will enjoy learning more about the fish and creatures which live in our waters and what we can do to ensure their ongoing conservation for future generations. The Director of the National Museum of Ireland, Lynn Scarff said: National Museum of Ireland is delighted to work in partnership with Inland Fisheries Ireland on this exciting event which will allow visitors of all ages to engage with Irelands natural history and in particular discover more about the fascinating and symbolic Irish salmon, its habitat and other creatures that live alongside it. The Fishy Fun event is free and will take place from 10am-4pm on Saturday, 20th of July in the National Museum of Ireland Natural History, Merrion Street, Dublin 2. As part of the event, children and schools are also invited to enter a national colouring competition The Salmon of Colour which will be available in the museum and online in the summer months with more information coming soon. To find out more about International Year of the Salmon or to register an event, visit www.yearofthesalmon.org. To learn more about what is happening in Ireland and how you can get involved, visit www.fisheriesireland.ie/iys . Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 17) The Philippines and Japan are expected to sign at least 10 business deals when President Rodrigo Duterte goes to Tokyo at the end of the month to speak at a business conference, Trade Secretary Mon Lopez said on Thursday. Deals include investments in electronics, manufacturing, and artificial intelligence, as well as agreements related to energy, transportation, and tourism including theme parks. He said the deals include investments in electronics, manufacturing, and artificial intelligence, as well as agreements related to energy, transportation, and tourism including theme parks. "So far we have mga 2 MOUs (memorandum of understanding) and mga 8 na letters of intent. In other words companies that are already here that are intending to expand their operation, invest more, expand the operations," he said in a chance interview. Lopez said the amount of the deals are "substantial," adding there may be more signed agreements. "These are big Japanese companies na we cannot also ignore, they still want to express their support and confidence for the current administration and they want to indicate their intent to invest more," he said. The deals will be inked when Duterte heads to Tokyo as a keynote speaker at the 25th NIKKEI Conference on the Future of Asia, which will be held from May 30 to 31. He will be joined by the Philippine business delegation. Lopez said Duterte is expected to discuss the S&P credit rating upgrade. Indonesia is encouraging investments in its nickel processing sector to produce battery chemicals to position itself in the global supply chain of electric vehicles. Inalum, along with state-controlled miner PT Aneka Tambang (Antam), and Zhejiang Huayou are planning to build a high pressure acid leaching (HPAL) plant and a rotary kiln-electric furnace to process nickel ore, the SOE said in a statement. The announcement was issued after SOE Minister Rini Soemarno met with Zhejiang Huayou officials in China . Currently there are at least four HPAL plants under development or study by local and foreign companies, with a plant by China's steel giant Tsingshan Group in Central Sulawesi potentially starts operation in 2020. The partnership with Huayou would support Indonesian government efforts to have mining companies build more ore processing facilities to produce higher-value finished products rather than exporting ore. "In order to carry out the mandate of the mining industry holding to carry out downstreaming, Inalum continues to aggressively look for strategic partners who can provide access to the technology and have good expertise," Inalum's Chief Executive Budi Gunadi Sadikin said in the statement. Antam's Corporate Secretary Kunto Hendrapawoko told Reuters in a text message that the partnership is still in the exploratory stage and no details have been decided yet. "Antam continues to seek opportunities to cooperate in expansion and downstream development, especially in nickel," he said. (Reporting by Bernadette Christina, Wilda Asmarini; writing by Fransiska Nangoy; editing by Christian Schmollinger) Editor's Note: Get caught up in minutes with our speedy summary of today's must-read news stories and expert opinions that moved the precious metals and financial markets. Sign up here! (Kitco News) - Gold prices are near steady and treading water in early-morning U.S. trading Friday. Working in the bulls favor today are lower U.S. stock indexes and a weaker world stock market. However, limiting buying interest is a strong U.S. dollar index that is not far below this years high. Traders and investors are looking for fresh fundamental inputs to drive price action. June gold futures were last up $0.10 an ounce at $1,286.40. July Comex silver prices hit a 5.5-month low overnight and were last down $0.074 at $14.465 an ounce. World stock markets were mostly weaker overnight. U.S. stock indexes are pointed toward lower openings when the New York day session begins. News reports out of China late Thursday painted a bleaker picture of the U.S.-China trade discussions, including questioning whether any further talks are scheduled between the worlds two largest economies. This has helped to pressure world stock markets to end the trading week. Also, the U.S. stock indexes have had a very good week after Mondays sell off. It could be that traders are booking some profits heading into the weekend. The Chinese yuan continued to depreciate against the U.S. dollar Friday, due to the U.S.-China trade war. European traders are a bit unsettled and the British pound has sold off this week on news that British Prime Minister Theresa May will resign. Thats creating more uncertainty on the Brexit matter. And the Australian dollar continues to wilt against the greenback, with the Aussie hitting lows not seen in around 10 years. In other overnight news, the Euro zone reported its April consumer price index at up 0.7% from March and up 1.7%, year-on-year. Those numbers were right in line with market expectations. Simmering on the back burner of the world marketplace this week is rising U.S.-Iran tensions. The U.S. has sent a naval task force to the Persian Gulf and there is talk that President Trump may send thousands more troops to the region. Its very likely this situation will intensify before it fully plays out. Such would likely be bullish for the safe-haven metals. The other key outside market today sees Nymex crude oil prices also up and trading around $63.50 a barrel. U.S. economic data due for release Friday includes the University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey and leading economic indicators. Technically, the gold bulls and bears are on a level overall near-term technical playing field but the bulls are fading. A fledgling price uptrend on the daily bar chart has been negated. Bulls next upside price objective is to produce a close in June futures above solid resistance at $1,300.00. Bears' next near-term downside price breakout objective is pushing prices below solid technical support at the May low of $1,267.30. First resistance is seen at $1,290.00 and then at $1,295.00. First support is seen at this weeks low of $1,282.40 and then at $1,275.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 5.0 July silver futures bears have the solid overall near-term technical advantage and have gained fresh power late this week. Prices are in a three-month-old downtrend on the daily bar chart. Silver bulls' next upside price breakout objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at $15.00 an ounce. The next downside price breakout objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at the November low of $14.175. First resistance is seen at the overnight high of $14.555 and then at $14.75. Next support is seen at the overnight low of $14.45 and then at $14.30. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 2.0. LONDON (Reuters) - Britains tumultuous divorce from the European Union was again in disarray on Friday as the opposition Labour Party declared last-ditch cross-party talks dead as Prime Minister Theresa Mays premiership crumbled. Nearly three years after the United Kingdom voted 52% to 48% in a referendum to leave the EU, it is still unclear how, when or if it will ever leave the European club it joined in 1973. The current deadline to leave is Oct. 31. Brexit talks between Mays Conservative Party and Labour collapsed hours after May agreed on Thursday to set out a timetable for her departure in early June. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn wrote to May on Friday informing her that the Brexit talks, which began on April 3, had gone as far as they can due to the instability of her government. We have been unable to bridge important policy gaps between us, Corbyn, a socialist who voted against joining the predecessor of the EU in 1975, wrote to May. Even more crucially, the increasing weakness and instability of your government means there cannot be confidence in securing whatever might be agreed between us, Corbyn said. He said Labour would oppose Mays deal when it returns to parliament early next month. The divorce deal, which May agreed last year with the EU, has already been rejected three times by a deeply divided parliament. The pound sank to $1.275, its lowest level since mid-January. Mays hands have been tied, knowing that to make concessions to Labour would lead to fury in her divided party. Labour has feared any compromises on issues such as workers rights would be torn up by Mays successor. Britains labyrinthine crisis over Brexit has stunned allies and foes alike, and with deadlock in London, the worlds fifth largest economy faces an array of options including an exit with a deal to smooth the transition, a no-deal exit, an election or a second referendum. The Brexit impasse is unlikely to be broken swiftly. May will put her European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill to a vote in parliament in early June even though rebels in her party have pledged to defeat it. Then she must agree a timetable for the election of a successor. MAY ENDS IN JUNE Boris Johnson, the face of the campaign for Britain to leave the EU, said he would be standing as a candidate to replace May as Conservative leader. Tories must go with Boris Johnson if they want to survive or theyll end up as dead as a dodo, Sun newspaper columnist Trevor Kavanagh said. Even sopping wet Remainers can see the writing on the wall and want Theresa May out as fast as possible. The winner of a leadership contest will automatically become prime minister and will take control of the Brexit process, which has plunged Britain into its worst political crisis since World War Two. Johnson has been one of Mays most outspoken critics over Brexit and supports leaving the EU without a deal. Parliament has repeatedly said it does not want a no-deal Brexit. The Brexit crisis has left the United Kingdom divided and smaller parties - such as Nigel Farages Brexit Party and the pro-EU Liberal Democrats - are poaching support from both the Conservative and Labour parties at the fastest rate for decades. Britain is divided down the middle over Brexit: it was in 2016 and it is in 2019 - and that is one of the reasons why this issue is so difficult to resolve, John Curtice, Britains top polling expert, told Reuters. We are also polarised: Most Leavers would prefer to leave without a deal and most Remainers want a second referendum in the hope we shall change our minds, and there isnt an awful lot of support for any of the compromise options between those extremes. Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Janet Lawrence LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) - Copper prices headed for their fifth consecutive weekly decline on Friday as the United States and China intensified their confrontation over trade. Investors fear the trade dispute will damage economic growth and reduce the amount of metal the world consumes. Industrial metals prices are down sharply from last summer when the confrontation began. Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was down 0.8% at $6,049 a tonne at 1015 GMT. The metal used in power and construction has lost 1.3% this week to trade close to its lowest since January. Harsher trade rhetoric from Washington and Beijing was pushing prices lower, said Societe Generale analyst Robin Bhar, but he added that copper's solid fundamentals meant prices were likely to recover to around $6,500 by the end of the year. TRADE WAR: The trade war with the United States will only make China stronger and never bring the country to its knees, the ruling Communist Party's People's Daily wrote in a front-page commentary that evoked the patriotic spirit of past wars. The commentary came after both countries increased tariffs on each other's goods and the United States blocked China's Huawei Technologies from buying vital American technology. GLOBAL MARKETS/DOLLAR: World stock markets fell and the dollar strengthened to near two-year highs against a basket of major currencies, making metals more expensive for non-U.S. buyers. YUAN: China's yuan has slumped 3.5 percent against the dollar since mid-April. China is the world's largest consumer of metals. CHINA PREMIUMS: Chinese import premiums at $47 are down from $120 in October and the lowest in two years. ALUMINIUM: 44,950 tonnes of cancellations pushed on-warrant stocks of aluminium in LME-registered warehouses to 757,725 tonnes. On-warrant stocks have fallen from more than 4 million tonnes in 2011 but are up from lows of just over 600,000 tonnes in October. Benchmark LME aluminium was down 1.1% at $1,840.50 a tonne. NICKEL: Cash nickel on the LME flipped to a $21 premium against the three-month contract from a discount of around $80 at the start of the month. The premium is the highest since 2011 and points to a tightening of nearby supply. Headline stocks of nickel in LME-registered warehouses meanwhile slipped to 164,400 tonnes, the lowest since March 2013. LME nickel was down 1.2% at $12,035 a tonne. ZINC SPREAD: The premium of cash zinc over the three-month contract rose to $151, the highest in more than 20 years. Zinc prices were down 0.9% at $2,613.50 a tonne. OTHER METALS: Lead was down 0.8% at $1,822 a tonne and tin was little changed at $19,475 a tonne. (Reporting by Peter Hobson; Additional reporting by Tom Daly; editing by Louise Heavens) OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke on Friday with U.S. President Donald Trump about tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and about the trade agreement signed last year between the two countries and Mexico. The two leaders spoke about Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum, and Canadas retaliatory tariffs, Cameron Ahmad, Trudeaus communications director, said on Twitter. They also discussed China, uranium, and the new NAFTA. It is the third time Trudeau and Trump have spoken in nine days, and the latest conversation comes amid media reports saying the United States is close to a deal to remove tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and Mexico. Reporting by Steve Scherer Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 17) Eleven more Filipinos, including two minors, are coming home amid the fighting in Libya. The Philippine Embassy in Libya on Friday said the Filipinos have been evacuated to Tunisia, another North African country some 400 kilometers from the Libyan capital of Tripoli, waiting for their repatriation. "[They] will be repatriated later today by a team from [the Department of Foreign Affairs and Department of Labor and Employment]," Charge d'Affaires Elmer Cato said in a tweet. He did not elaborate on the situation of the returning Filipinos but mentioned that two of them are under 18 years old. He said they are among 55 Filipinos assisted by the government since fighting broke out in April. At least two of them were wounded one wounded from an explosion while the other was injured during multiple rocket attacks in Tripoli. The government has since raised the highest alert level which means mandatory evacuation of Filipinos. Cato, however, admitted to CNN Philippines the government could not force anyone to go home. On Friday, Cato said the government is "assisting several more of our kababayan who have expressed their desire to go home." The Philippine embassy has been appealing to all 2,000 overseas Filipinos in Libya to allow the authorities to bring them home, assuring them that the government will shoulder all costs for the repatriation. Cato said many of them were reluctant to leave, thinking the fighting will soon end. Tensions rose in Libya as rebel forces from the east of the country try to enter the capital. Guest post by John Stringer. CHRISTIAN POLITICS in NZ, National and 2020. The conservative family values vote is the largest unrepresented block in NZ. Its often bigger than the Maori roll vote results and has polled strongly (4.2-3.9%) and consistently (1996-2014) when viable leadership has been in place. The Christian vote on occasions in the past achieved 4x that of combined smaller parties who were elected to parliament on coat-tail arrangements but remained unrepresented. The system is worked and accommodated, but so far Christians have remained unrepresented at party level (although many MPs share these values inside other parties). One of the issues is the reticence of mainstream parties to accommodate the contentious issues such as abortion or gender-politics at party level. Ive been at the forefront of this for many decades while still a National supporter and even staffer. I was seconded by National to assist the Christian Coalition in 1996 (the first MMP election) and was one of the pioneers of the Christian Democrats party set up under National minister of Internal Affairs Hon Graeme Lee. His daughter is now a National MP and ex-president of the United party (an ostensible Christian entity) under Dunne who eventually absorbed the remnants and morphologies of the Christian Democrats (United, Family parties etc). I was Campaign Director of the Coalition campaign in 1996, and a List candidate for the Conservatives in 2014, so Ive seen up close and personal with the interface of Christian politics and progressive liberalism in NZ. In 1996 the Christian Coalition got 4.2% of the party vote in a high turnout election, which worked against them; as did Rev. Graham Capills undesirable co-leadership (eventually jailed for sex crimes). In 2011 and 2014 the new Conservative party got 2.6% and 3.9% of the List vote, hindered by Colin Craigs leadership. I finally blew the whistle on Craig, after much long suffering, in 2015 after trying to salvage the Conservative party and build a stronger team leadership model internally for 2017, to help offset some of Craigs excesses and give him space to attend to his private life and family. He simply sued me, not once but twice, as Capill also tried to do. As many political commentators and media have agreed, there remains a place for a Christian values type party in NZ, as there is in Germany and Israel (both of whom have MMP). But the 5% threshold in NZ is too high for our population base, as the Electoral Commission review noted, which has effectively kept a Christian voice out of party politics here. A seat accommodation is the only prospect, as sought quite strongly by the Conservatives in 2013-4 but mismanaged by them with John Key. Of interest is the growing conservative movement against abortion amongst young people in America that transcends Republican or Democrat tribal affiliations. Millennials see abortion essentially as a human rights issues. Liberal legislative moves to effectively allow infanticide under the umbrella of abortion, has polarised opinion. Montana States legislative ban this week on abortion after eight weeks, is perhaps a milestone of that growing development in the US. It may spread inevitably here and to Australia. Like Dunne and Seymour, if National MP Alfred Ngaro was to be supported in Botany by National, and won that seat, then there is a 4-5% List vote block available in the spectrum for a party with perspectives on abortion, cannabis reform, gender politics, euthanasia, smacking bills, family politics and other issues of distinct interest to conservative, religious and values-minded NZers. The Israel Folau debacle in Australia, with obvious ties to us here, has added freedom of religion to freedom of speech debates, so the spectrum of interest has only widened, enlarging the potential voter pool. In 1996, many voters, including Jews, Buddhists, Mormons and Muslims, joined the Christian Coalition as it was a political base they wanted and could support. Watch this space. John Stringer is a long-time advocate of a conservative/Christian model in NZ politics; was a National candidate in 1999 against NZs first openly gay MP; founded the widely supported special interest group Christian Voice inside National in 2000s; Campaign Director of the Christian Coalition in 1996 (seconded from National); and a make-up-the-numbers Conservative list candidate in 2014. Share this: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Reddit WhatsApp More Pinterest Print Tumblr Photo: VNA Upon the entry into force of the mentioned IA, the five ASEAN member countries, namely Laos, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, will provide Hong Kong (China) enterprises investing in their areas with fair and equitable treatment of their investments, physical protection and security of their investments, and the assurance on the free transfer of their investments and returns. Meanwhile, parts relating to Hong Kong (China) and Laos, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam under the free trade agreement (FTA) between Hong Kong (China) and ASEAN will take effect on June 11th. Upon the implementation of the mentioned FTA, Singapore will bind all its customs duties at zero, whereas Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam will progressively reduce or eliminate their customs duties on goods originating from Hong Kong. The tariff reduction commitments cover various kinds of Hong Kong commodities including jewelry, articles of apparel and clothing accessories, watches and clocks and toys. On trade in services, Hong Kong (China) service providers will enjoy legally binding market access conditions and thus benefit from the enhanced business opportunities in a wide range of services sectors. Hong Kong (China) and ASEAN signed the FTA and the IA at the end of 2017. The dates of entry into force for the remaining five ASEAN member countries, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, will be announced as soon as they are confirmed./. CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. When voters in the Shenendehowa School District go to the polls on May 21 to vote on next years budget, they will also have the opportunity to change the makeup of the Board of Education. Three seats on the board are up for election this year, and four candidates are in the running to fill them. The terms of office for incumbent board members Gary DiLallo, Todd Gilbert and Deanna Stephenson are up at the end of June. All three have chosen to seek re-election. They are joined on the ballot by Ram Lalukota, who is making his second run for school board. Each of the seats comes with a three-year term. Gilbert is seeking his third term on the Board of Education. He and his wife have lived in the district since 2008. They have five children attending Shen schools. He is a manager of the Field Marketing team for the Northeast U.S. and the Channel and Carrier team for the entire U.S. for Spectrum Enterprise. He holds an undergraduate degree from SUNY Plattsburgh and a graduate degree from the University of Dallas. Stephenson is running for her second term on the board. She is the director of Provider Relations for Fidelis Healthcare and has lived in the district with her husband for 20 years. The couples children are in high school and middle school. She holds an undergraduate degree from SUNY Oswego and is enrolled in a graduate program in Healthcare Administration at Union College. Lalukota is seeking his first term on the board. He and his wife have resided in the district since 2005. They have two children in Shen schools, one in high school and one middle school. A native of India, he obtained an undergraduate degree in engineering from Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology (CBIT), Hyderabad, a private engineering college. He owns and operates a technology consulting business in the Capital Region. DiLallo is seeking his seventh, three-year term on the board. He is a lifelong resident of the Capital District, having moved from Schenectady to the Shenendehowa School District in 1982. He and his wifes three grown children went to Shen schools, earned college degrees, and now work in a variety of professions. He is a retired area high school and middle school teacher with undergraduate and graduate degrees from Louisiana State University. The Community News asked each of the candidates two questions. Their answers follow. Question No. 1: Briefly explain why you are running for a seat on the board. Gilbert: We have a very highly functioning board that has been getting the business of the district done in a very collaborative and efficient way. All seven of us bring a strong skill set and we complement each other very well. I feel that together, the seven of us will continue to drive our district forward in the 21st Century. Our students, staff, and community all benefit from a strong, well-run school district. Stephenson: I love it! I get excited at being a part of something bigger and truly contributing and engaging selflessly toward a common goal. The goal, of course, is sustaining quality and relevant educational experiences for all students at Shenendehowa. As I close out my first term as a board member, I reflect back on three years of various continuous discussion on topics that affected our 10,000 students, how we were going to take on the issue of mental wellness and what it meant to our student body? What measures were we going to implement? How safe were our schools and what were we going to do to assure that our school remains a place that students feel they can learn and feel safe in their environment. If we buy land, where and what are we going to build? What does alternative schedules look like? How do we make sure that EVERY student is prepared to walk out of Shen and begin their next phase of life successfully? How do we continually engage our community, teachers and students? These are only a few of the discussions that we as a board along with district leaders collaboratively discussed. Each and every topic, policy and budget is what contributes to the backbone of this high functioning, collaborative board. I feel that I have a proven track record of collaboration, problem-solving and leadership with all stakeholders throughout Shenendehowa and the 518 community. I continually find myself challenged and wanting to discuss how to foster a students passion for learning. As we continue to define what our 21st century student looks like I would be honored to remain part of the team and part of those discussions. Lalukota: Im running for a seat on the board because I believe my leadership and experience will both support our current school board districts initiatives and the following areas where I believe more work is needed; full-day kindergarten, preparing students with new skills in a world where global markets are changing, the safety and security of our schools, and providing more training opportunities for our teachers and school staff so that they can work in an environment technologically advanced to create a better experience to benefit student education. I bring my wealth of experience in information technology. I believe my creativity, collaborative spirit, passion, and commitment for public education will enable me to be an effective Board of Education member. DiLallo: Our board currently has four people in their first term and no one other than me has served three full terms. This is a major concern and is one reason Im seeking to serve another term. Serving on a school board is much more than meets the eye. Virtually everyone is surprised by what they need to learn to serve effectively. There is a need for institutional knowledge and for having gone through a multitude of experiences. I have been and continue to be, the source of new approaches and ideas, however, not every idea should be implemented. Because time, money and human resources are limited there is a need to be judicious. Experience allows board members to identify and support the best choices which may not be the latest idea. Question No. 2: Name one issue you feel is a very important one facing the district, explain why you feel that way, and what youd like to see the district do about it. Gilbert: Shenendehowa, like districts all over the country, are faced with questions on how to better protect our children and employees, how to safely and effectively integrate technology into the curriculum and how to effectively prevent substance abuse in our youth. All those are very important issues, but the one issue I feel we need to continue to focus on, which affects each and every one of these above, is mental wellness. Shen has done a great job, so far, in creating programs, integrating with third-party experts and providing outlets for our kids and parents to seek the help they may want or need. For example, we have the R U OK hotline, which allows students in high school to text if they are having a problem physically or emotionally. We have a great partnership with the Saratoga Center for the Family, which too provides mental health intervention for anyone whom may need it and integrates right on campus. We have held multiple forums on items such as substance abuse, to help educate parents about the substances and ways our children are abusing them. Getting to the core of why our children need to use drugs is key in preventing it. The more we do to educate our students and parents, provide easier outlets for them to get the help they need, and provide our parents with the tools they need to proactively identify potential issues, the better off we will be as a school, a community, and a society. Stephenson: I would like to delve more into overall student outcomes and how we assist our students in finding and realizing their fullest potential. We need to continually check our progress and growth of programs against student achievement and not set unrealistic goals. Every year we are able to find more opportunity to either expand or fine-tune programs that help foster an environment that a student wants to be a part of but there is still more work to be done. It is important that our district leaders and board members continually ask the question; how can the education and experiences at Shenendehowa prepare our students for what lies ahead. Lalukota: I strongly feel that full-day kindergarten and less crowded classrooms are very important. Rebalancing enrollment or redistricting can help with crowded classrooms and could position the district to determine what is needed to move to full-day kindergarten. As a board member, I would like to work through these issues and budget numbers to make recommendations. DiLallo: School climate is extremely important to the effectiveness of any school. Improving school climate will be a major focus for me should I get elected to another term. The following describes the kind of school climate I seek for our children: a school where each child feels welcome, safe, comfortable, respected and valued; where children are engaged in learning and sense that they are important to every adult they encounter regardless of that adults role in their school We need to be mindful that each child is unique and deserves to be recognized and treated as unique. We must remember that school is about the children, not the adults. Each student should have every chance to live a worthwhile and meaningful life, and it is our obligation that they have the opportunity to live life to the fullest. Voting for the candidates, the district budget, and a proposal to buy 14 large and six small school buses will take place from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. May 21 in the Gowana Middle School gym. To learn more about the candidates view the League of Women Voters of Saratoga Countys website at http://onyourballot.vote411.org/race-detail.do?id=19425226 To learn more about the candidates in other Saratoga County Board of Education races go to https://www.lwvsaratoga.org/candidates. Ten members of an Idaho-based white supremacist gang, the Aryan Knights, have been indicted on racketeering charges, according to United States Attorney Bart Davis. According to a news release issued Friday, nine of the 10 members were already in the Idaho Department of Corrections custody and four of those were also charged with attempted murder in aid of racketeering said the United States Attorney General. The indictment states those charged, increased their reputation for violence within the IDOC through acts of violence. Nine of the 10 members charged and already within IDOC custody include Buck Pickens, 30, Lucas Johnson, 30, Christopher Foss, 30, Nicholas Sites, 34, Michael McNabb, 34, Steven Bowman, 36, James Ramsey, 38, Jeremy Brown, 40, and Harlan Hale, 53. Bowman and Mark Woodland, 48, were charged with attempted murder and assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering for the February 2017 beating and stabbing of an inmate associated with a rival gang. Gov. Brad Little issued the following statement after the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday its indictment of 10 members of an Idaho prison gang called the "Aryan Knights." "The indictment of this prison gang is a welcome step for Idaho citizens as well as our correctional officers and prisoners," Little said. "The indictment signals the weakening of a criminal enterprise that spreads hatred and crime throughout our communities and threatens the safety of our citizens. In addition, prisoners paying their debt to society who want to turn their lives around should have the opportunity to do so without violence and drugs surrounding them. I commend the collaboration between the Idaho Department of Correction and local and federal law enforcement partners to bring forward this indictment of members of an organized crime organization." In Count Two, Ramsey and Hale also were charged with attempted murder and assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering for the June 2016 stabbing of an AK member who had come into conflict with Ramsey, the AK's overall leader at the time. All defendants, except for Johnson, are currently in IDOC custody. Johnson, a former IDOC inmate, was arrested Thursday. Read the full news release . Kendallville, IN (46755) Today Rain showers early with overcast skies later in the day. High 49F. ESE winds shifting to WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Mainly cloudy. Low 31F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph. Angola, IN (46703) Today Showers in the morning, then cloudy in the afternoon. High 48F. ESE winds shifting to WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Mostly cloudy skies. Low around 30F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph. Auburn, IN (46706) Today Showers in the morning, then cloudy in the afternoon. High 52F. E winds shifting to W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Mostly cloudy skies. Low 31F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph. Photo taken on May 15, 2019 shows the photo exhibition on Asian civilizations held at the media center of the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations (CDAC) in the China National Convention Center in Beijing, capital of China. (Photo by Zhang Zhou/ Guangming Online) 9 1 [ Editor: WPY ] Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Mass Spectrometer Market 2019 Industry research report provides a detailed analysis of Global Mass Spectrometer Industry overview along with the analysis of industrys gross margin, cost structure, consumption value, and sale Mass Spectrometer. The leading companies of the Global Mass Spectrometer Market, manufacturers, and distributors are profiled in the report along with the latest Industry development current and future trends. Get Sample Copy of this Report https://www.orianresearch.com/request-sample/990199 The Global Mass Spectrometer Market 2019 research provides a basic overview of the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The Global Mass Spectrometer Market analysis is provided for the international markets including development trends, competitive landscape analysis, and key regions development status. Development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures are also analyzed. This report also states import/export consumption, supply and demand Figures, cost, Mass Spectrometer, revenue and gross margins. Inquire more or share questions if any before the purchase on this report @ https://www.orianresearch.com/enquiry-before-buying/990199 The report, like all reports added to the provides a comprehensive and descriptive view of the Global Mass Spectrometer Market. It develops market dynamics, the extent of growth in different segments and regions and other parameters that have been so far effective in expanding in value and size. This study is therefore a quantitative and qualitative study aimed at providing a clear view of all possible situations and structures in the global market for Mass Spectrometer, as well as factors that may exist between 2019 and 2024. Global Mass Spectrometer Market competition by top manufacturers, with production, prMass Spectrometer, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the TOP PLAYERS including: Major Players in Mass Spectrometer market are: Thermo Fisher Scientific Ion Science Evans Analytical Group Waters Corp PerkinElmer FLIR LECO AMETEK Process Instruments Agilent Technologies Inc. JEOL Shimadzu Extrel Bruker Corp. Alpha Omega In our aim to provide our erudite clients with the best research material with absolute in-depth information of the market, our new report on Global Mass Spectrometer Market is confident in meeting their needs and expectations. The 2019 market report on Global Market is an in-depth study and analysis of the market by our industry experts with unparalleled domain knowledge. The report will shed light on many critical points and trends of the industry which are useful for our esteemed clients. Order a copy of Global Mass Spectrometer Market Report 2019 @ https://www.orianresearch.com/checkout/990199 Conclusively, the Mass Spectrometer Market Research report inspects manufacturers, distributors and suppliers of Mass Spectrometer Market along with sales channel, data resources, research findings and appendix. Most important types of Mass Spectrometers products covered in this report are: Type 1 Type 2 Type 3 Type 4 Type 5 Most widely used downstream fields of Mass Spectrometers market covered in this report are: Application 1 Application 2 Application 3 Application 4 Application 5 There are 13 Chapters to thoroughly display the Mass Spectrometer market. This report included the analysis of market overview, market characteristics, industry chain, competition landscape, historical and future data by types, applications and regions. Chapter 1: Mass Spectrometer Market Overview, Product Overview, Market Segmentation, Market Overview of Regions, Market Dynamics, Limitations, Opportunities and Industry News and Policies. Chapter 2: Mass Spectrometer Industry Chain Analysis, Upstream Raw Material Suppliers, Major Players, Production Process Analysis, Cost Analysis, Market Channels and Major Downstream Buyers. Chapter 3: Value Analysis, Production, Growth Rate and PrMass Spectrometer Analysis by Type of Mass Spectrometer. Chapter 4: Downstream Characteristics, Consumption and Market Share by Application of Mass Spectrometer. Chapter 5: Production Volume, PrMass Spectrometer, Gross Margin, and Revenue ($) of Mass Spectrometer by Regions (2014-2019). Chapter 6: Mass Spectrometer Production, Consumption, Export and Import by Regions (2014-2019). Chapter 7: Mass Spectrometer Market Status and SWOT Analysis by Regions. Chapter 8: Competitive Landscape, Product Introduction, Company Profiles, Market Distribution Status by Players of Mass Spectrometer. Chapter 9: Mass Spectrometer Market Analysis and Forecast by Type and Application (2019-2024). Chapter 10: Market Analysis and Forecast by Regions (2019-2024). Chapter 11: Industry Characteristics, Key Factors, New Entrants SWOT Analysis, Investment Feasibility Analysis. Chapter 12: Market Conclusion of the Whole Report. Chapter 13: Appendix Such as Methodology and Data Resources of This Research. Major Points from Table of Contents: Global Mass Spectrometer Industry Market Research Report 1 Mass Spectrometer Introduction and Market Overview 2 Industry Chain Analysis 3 Global Mass Spectrometer Market, by Type 4 Mass Spectrometer Market, by Application 5 Global Mass Spectrometer Production, Value ($) by Region (2014-2019) 6 Global Mass Spectrometer Production, Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2014-2019) 7 Global Mass Spectrometer Market Status and SWOT Analysis by Regions 8 Competitive Landscape 9 Global Mass Spectrometer Market Analysis and Forecast by Type and Application 10 Mass Spectrometer Market Analysis and Forecast by Region 11 New Project Feasibility Analysis 12 Research Finding and Conclusion 13 Appendix About Us: Orian 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 Mendez Mass Spectrometer President Global Sales & Partner Relations Orian Research Consultants US +1 (415) 830-3727 UK +44 020 8144-71-27 Email: info@orianresearch.com Website: www.orianresearch.com/ Follow Us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company-beta/13281002/ Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Market Overview: Global Superalloys are having significant application in numerous industries owing to its good oxidization, corrosion resistance, and surface stability. Market is driven by growing application of Superalloys in reaction vessels, piping and pumps of chemical industry. For instance, United Nation Industrial Development Organization (UNDIO) has reported that in 2018, world chemical growth rate was around 3.1%. Total chemical production volume is projected to rise at around 3.6% by 2019. Furthermore, according to American Chemistry Council, the United States chemical manufacturing sector is expected to grow owing to demand for polymer in automotive and packaging industries. Thus, rise in chemical industry is positively impacting the Superalloys products demand by 2023. Get Free Sample @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/7472 Superalloys find significant application in automotive turbochargers. The automotive industry plays a vital role in the growth of the Global Superalloys Market as the sale of vehicles across the globe is increasing. In 2016, the Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs dAutomobiles (OICA) reported a sale of 93,905,634 vehicles, which increased to 96,804,390 in 2017. The growing population is the prime factor driving the growth of the automotive industry. Growing trend of buying luxurious and sport vehicles is also projected to favor the application of Superalloys in automotive industry. Competitive Analysis: The leading players in the global Haynes International, Ltd. (U.S.), ATI (U.S.), Special Metal (U.S.), VDM Metals GmbH (U.S.), Aperam (Luxemburg), Carpenter Technology Corporation (U.S.), Doncasters Group Ltd (UK), AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group (Netherlands), Supreme Engineering Ltd. (India), UNIVERSAL STAINLESS (U.S.), AcmeCast (India), TI STEELS PRIVATE LIMITED (India), BALAJI SUPER ALLOYS (India), thyssenkrupp AG (Germany) and Arconic (U.S.). Market Segmentation: The Global Superalloys Market has been segregated on the basis of Products, End-Use Industries, and Region. By Products, the Global Superalloys Market is divided into nickel, iron and cobalt. The nickel segment held significant market share in 2017 and is expected to lead during the forecast period owing to its creep resistance and high temperature structural application. On the Basis of End-Use Industries, the Global Superalloys Market has been divided into aerospace, automotive, oil and gas, industrial and others. In 2017, the aerospace segment held the largest share of this market owing to its high melting point which makes it ideal for application for aerospace engine. Regional Analysis: North America contributes the largest share in the Global Superalloys Market due to high investment in aerospace industry. Asia Pacific is significantly growing with healthy CAGR owing to rising consumption of agrochemicals, thus the agrochemical market is growing over a CAGR of 4.5%. Increase in demand for agrochemicals is positively influencing the application of Superalloys products during assessment period. The regional market in Latin America and Middle East & Africa is projected to have steady growth owing to application of Superalloys for exploration of oil & gas. 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. MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by Components, Application, Logistics and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions. Contact: Market Research Future +1 646 845 9312 Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Oh dear! Ms KOO is not done with Iyabo Ojo. Kemi has just released a chat which implicated Pastor Ibiyiomie and Iyabo Ojo. According to Kemi, this was how she got the info before her ordeal with the Pastor began. She shared the leaked chat with this long caption #BREAKING The PAIN is too much for me and my son!! After two and a half years, not waiting to publish it in my book or even the newspaper Punch that I gave exclusively to yesterday 5/16/19, I am now releasing the letter that came from @iyaboojofespris NGO phone #PinkiesGroup. It was traced by a retired Canadian police officer I once worked with, now a private investigator got the phone number that opened this fake account with the @Instagram app from Facebooks legal department and @truecaller in Sweden tracked the SIM to that name. This is NOT Iyabos PAs phone!!! This is Iyabos business line which #VivianMetchietold me Gbeminiyi Adegbola always carries. So who did Adegbola conspire with to attempt to destroy Iyabo using a Journalist and substitute the name of Apostle Suleiman with Ibiyeomie an innocent pastor? Could it be Iyabos ex husband? They say Gbeminiyi is on the run from police from stealing from the NGO. Why did they bring their dirty lives to me because I write credible stories about pastors and vindicated? This is why my testimony at #SalvationMinistries was themed Dont let the devil use you. Because if this case I retired from Journalism in Nigeria, no longer take newstips while people no longer have a voice. This case was a set up from Iyabos phone line that took away my own livelihood. I dont eat everyday because I have no funds to do anything anymore due to my Psychological health. I went to prison for NOTHING. Vivian Metchie says she returned the car Iyabo was fighting her for and they have reconciled back as friends. The prosecutors as you can see say I made up the Ebiye patience letter which was sent to me and even Vivian Metchie was an imaginary person. The Rivers State prosecutors even dragged me to their jurisdiction where I did not even commit the so called crime, DEFAMED me as not being a Journalist nor receive news tips from the public. Civil and Criminal cases will be announced. This is why you see some blogs call me self acclaimed Journalist when I attended a 50 yr American Broadcasting school. The disrespect, defamation and unjust criminal accusations was just too much. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH IYABO OJO Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates The Nigerian Senate on Thursday unanimously endorsed June 12 of every year as Democracy Day in Nigeria. The Senate passed the bill seeking to legalise June 12 as Democracy Day just like the House of Representatives had already done. If the bill is assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari, May 29 celebrated as Democracy Day since 2000 will cease to be so marked. It also means that June 12 of every year will replace May 29 as Democracy Day in the country if the bill is signed by Buhari Buhari, had in June 2018, as a way to immortalise late Chief M.K.O Abiola, the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 Presidential election, declared June 12 as the new Democracy Day. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates ELKHORN A Walworth County judge has agreed to postpone the trial of a county fair carnival worker accused of sexually assaulting a woman last summer. Terrence Leflore, 25, who worked for the company running the county fair midway, is charged with attempted murder, sexual assault and armed robbery. The traveling carnival worker from Jackson, Mississippi, is accused of attacking a woman in downtown Elkhorn as she was leaving work on Aug. 28 the day before the county fair opened. Prosecutors allege that he sexually assaulted the woman, who was 21 at the time, and struck her in the head with a hammer. Doctors removed part of her skull to relieve pressure on her brain. If convicted on all charges, the defendant could face more than 200 years in prison. Leflore was scheduled for a jury trial June 3, but attorneys in the case May 16 told Circuit Judge Phillip Koss that they need more time to get ready. Being held on $1 million bond, Leflore appeared in court with defense attorney Mackenzie Renner and told the judge that he had no objection to a trial delay. Hes disappointed. He wants it done sooner, Renner said. But I think he understands. Attorneys on both sides told the judge they needed more time to organize witnesses and prepare their cases. Leflores defense attorneys in the state public defenders office earlier tried unsuccessfully to have his confession to police thrown out as evidence. No new date has been set for the jury trial, which is expected to take about a week. Attorneys are due back in court June 11 for a status update. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Dhaka, May 16: With the arrests of three people - two writers and an activist - in last one week under Digital Security Act (DSA) and the Information and Communication Technology Act (ICTA), people are concerned over the freedom of speech in Bangladesh. Following the unseen attempt of curbing the freedom of expression, international rights group Amnesty International opposed their arrests under 'draconian laws'. World Press Freedom Day 2019: Quotes to Celebrate Free Speech Here's the Tweet: A human rights defender, a poet and a lawyer have been arrested in Bangladesh under draconian laws that punish speech with heavy fines. We call on the authorities to respect peoples right to peaceful freedom of expression. Amnesty International South Asia (@amnestysasia) May 16, 2019 Among the arrested people include prominent poet Henry Sawpon (48) - living in the southern district of Barisal. He has been arrested under DSA on Tuesday for allegedly hurting the religious sentiments of Bangladesh's minority Christian community. He is currently on bail. The second person who was arrested was writer Imtiaz Mahmud (61), as reported by Al Jazeera. The police arrested him under ICTA in the capital Dhaka on Wednesday over a Facebook post. He had written about the rights of minorities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region. It is to be known that CHT - a semi-autonomous region within Muslim-majority Bangladesh - is under low-intensity conflict between its 13 ethnic minorities and the country's armed forces for decades. World Press Freedom Day 2019 History And Significance: All About The Day To Mark Free Press. The last arrest that was made by the state's police was of rights activist Abdul Kaium under DSA on May 11. The arrest was made following a complaint by the principal of an Islamic school, accusing Kaium of'sharing improper content online'. The recent arrests of writers by the South Asian nation have drawn criticism from activists and international rights groups, as fears of a crackdown on freedom of expression looms large. As per these two laws, not only there is a curb on free speech - mainly in the press - but also a provision of 14-years sentence waits for 'offenders'. Bangladesh Christian Poet Arrested over Writing on Priests Protesters threatened to go on an indefinite strike beginning Friday. Even they have called for the abolition of the DSA and ICT, calling the two laws 'inhuman'. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 16, 2019 11:30 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). Over the decades, Southern California been welcoming to many people: the sickly sun seekers and the weirdly healthy; down-to-earth atheists and the space-voyaging theosophists; the truly innovative and the unrepentantly nutty. Then there were those who were fleeing both major political upheavals (pogroms, Nazis, revolutions and repressive notions of gender and identity) and not-so-major general discomforts (bad weather, Old World morality). That is probably why so many radical European artists and philosophers eventually spent large parts of their lives in the Southland, from the great early 20th century film directors such as F. W. Murnau, Fritz Lang and Ernst Lubitsch to the spiritually adventurous (and, lets face it, sort of crackpot) Aldous Huxley. Three recent books explore the somewhat unexpected Southern California connections of European thinkers Michel Foucault, Bertolt Brecht and Salka Viertel. Foucault in California by Simeon Wade Heyday; 151 pp. $25 Advertisement Simeon Wade, left, and Michel Foucault in a photo in Wades book Foucault in California. (David Wade) Over the decades, many intellectuals came to Southern California from somewhere else; and often they came to escape the systems of politics, logic and art they left behind. This seems especially true of French philosopher and social theorist Michel Foucault, the subject of this odd memoir. Foucault was one of the most influential philosophers of the 20 century, producing numerous disciplinary histories documenting how systems of knowledge (sexual, linguistic, medical) were more effective at controlling populations than at disseminating knowledge. (He was also an early proponent of shaved heads and cool Kraftwerkian demeanor.) Foucault in California is written by an academic who brought Foucault out to speak to his students at Claremont Graduate School in the mid 1970s, a place the author described as our little avant-garde outpost in one of the most reactionary regions of California. Over the course of a long weekend, Simeon Wade and his partner, Michael Stoneman (both of whom died before this memoir was discovered and published), escorted Foucault around Death Valley, dropped acid with him staring out at Zabriskie Point, and entertained him through a couple of boozy student parties to all of which Foucault responded joyfully. Book jacket for Foucault in California: [A True Story-Wherein the Great French Philosopher Drops Acid in the Valley of Death] by Simeon Wade (Heyday) In many ways, this weird book seems like one of those alternate history stories you might read in a science fiction magazine, as in What if the Nazis won WWII? or What if Superman joined the Fantastic Four? But one of the charms of California is that many of these crazy what if scenarios (What if Michel Foucault dropped acid in Death Valley and then hung out with graduate students?) are actual events that grow wildly on the palm trees; and Foucault, who spent his life investigating the way systems of knowledge invest who we think we are, called his brief California adventure the greatest experience of my life. Sometimes, the best way to investigate systems of knowledge is to get as far away from them as possible; and Foucault may have, very briefly, felt he did just that during his brief trip to Death Valley. Foucault went on to become a visiting professor at UC Berkeley in 1980, and later lectured at various universities around America, including UCLA. In 1984, he died in Paris of complications from AIDS. He was one of Frances first high-profile deaths because of the disease. Although this excellent and surprising book starts off looking like a joke about a secret event in the life of Foucault, it turns into an affectionate memoir about the very human man who clearly enjoyed being free from his often inhuman-sounding prose style. A book jacket for Salka Viertels The Kindness of Strangers. (NYRB Classics) The Kindness of Strangers by Salka Viertel NYRB Classics; 343 pp., $17.95 Wherever they came from, and whatever they were looking to find or escape when they got here, many of Southern Californias most notable intellectual imports passed through what was affectionately known as the same port of entry the home of Austrian actress-turned socialite Salka Viertel at 165 Mabery Road in Santa Monica. In a recently reissued memoir by New York Review of Books classics, The Kindness of Strangers, Viertel begins by recounting her years as a young actress and mother in Berlin and Vienna and gathers steam at the point when she buys her Santa Monica home in 1933, where she lived for the next several decades (when she wasnt subletting it to survive her lean years as a scriptwriter). After her errant husband, writer-director Berthold Viertel (the inspiration for Dr. Bergmann in Christopher Isherwoods Prater Violet), returned to Europe, Salka stayed on to raise her children. She wrote some good scripts for producer Irving Thalberg, went on to make a precarious living with a series of second-string producers and developed her chief commercial reputation for being able to work with the difficult-to-typecast Garbo, with whom she shared a life-long friendship. Viertels greatest talent, however, was for assembling talented people at mealtimes, and the lists of her dinner guests read like some postmodern collage of radically juxtaposed personalities including Olympic gold medal winner and Tarzan-portrayer Johnny Weissmuller, Freudian psychologist Alfred Adler, Nobel Laureate Thomas Mann, Albert Einstein, and that unfairly neglected British master of short-short stories, John Collier (who apparently introduced Hollywood to the 4 oclock break for tea, which turned out to be a great success). 165 Mabery Road in Santa Monica Canyon, former home Salka Viertel. (Jerome Adamstein / Los Angeles Times) Its hard to imagine so many interesting people assembled around the same table without Viertel there to welcome them and despite her achievements as an actress and writer, her greatest talent may have been her rare ability to appreciate the talents of others; its certainly an ability which makes this memoir so much fun to read. Whether shes describing the Hollywood Anti-Nazi League (what all these people do is sit around their swimming pools, drinking highballs and talking about movies, while the wives complain about their Filipino butlers) or expressing her admiration for Wiemar-era German poet and playwright Bertolt Brecht (He was a slight man, polite and considerate, who never uttered a banality) she always manages to illuminate the innate human qualities of the artists and people she admired even those who are often misrepresented as superhuman. A book jacket of The Collected Poems of Bertolt Brecht. (Liveright) The Collected Poems of Bertolt Brecht Translated and edited by Tom Kuhn and David Constantine 1286 pp. Liveright. $49.95 The prolifically committed Brecht produced some of his best work living in exile in 1940s Santa Monica. Certainly Brechts brilliant lifetime of production seems superhuman and the beautifully produced, massive, thousand-dense-pages-plus new edition of his Collected Poems might foster that illusion just by reason of its heft and gravity. But then all you need to do is read two or three lines from anywhere in it to find that Brechts concerns were never superhuman at all, but always deeply focused on the all-too-human people and events around him such as this, from the Hollywood Elegies, written during the years he was enjoying meals with Viertel and her friends: The angels of Los Angeles / Are tired out from smiling. Or this: Every morning, to earn my bread / I go to the market where lies are traded/ In hope / I take my place among the sellers. Like many artists who came to Hollywood, Brecht solicited work from the film industry he despised, and some might say that he often bit the hand that fed him. But for Brecht, biting the hand that fed him was, as for any artist, sort of the point. The Collected Poems book is a massive, unwieldy and endlessly inventive tome that never grows tired of smiling. Bradfield is a writer whose novels include The History of Luminous Motion and Dazzle Resplendent: Adventures of a Misanthropic Dog. A boy sits in the window of a flat in Manchester, watching animals fight. A whole fox? the boy marvels. Chased leaping and scurrying by a cat? So wrong. Like a husband walloped by his wife. Foxes, fighting, whats right and whos wrong: In Uganda, the boy muses setting the terrain for this majestic new story collection by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi God was hands on. He watched and recorded every wicked deed, word and thought in his black book But here in Manchester, where the family has come, where something isnt right, God gave up a long time ago, [and] grown-ups are out of control. How, then, the boy wonders, can he wrest back any semblance of power? Unmoored, afraid, aware his mom and dad are hurting, he calls child services but relents when they knock on the door. The story climaxes at a gathering of family and friends with ties to Uganda. The mother drinks too much, yet again. She falls, cant manage her bladder and then yells out in rage. Her pain versus his own: The boy rides home, drunken mother passed out, head leaning heavily against her sons, neither of them behind the wheel. Men behave badly in these stories, women suffer or negotiate for power, families bicker and try to cooperate. There is Uganda, and there is Britain, and then all the miles in between. The genius of the book, anchored by 2014s award-winning title story Lets Tell This Story Properly, is the same as the argument for its more universal power: the way Makumbi can take two countries neither of which might strike the average reader as particularly germane and still make their intersections feel like exactly the stories we all need. Advertisement The second piece ricochets back to the 1950s, tracing the progress of a Ugandan man newly arrived in the U.K., dazzled by postwar Manchester, thrust into a crew of other Africans trying to make a living. Then comes the moment of tension, when he finds himself the father of a boy his white British girlfriend has given up. The nurse shows him proof of the betrayal, and he writes on the adoption papers, son of Muttiko Jjuuko of Kawempe, Kyadondo, Uganda, giving the boy as much of a heritage as he can. The matter of origins and ambition, who we are and who we can become, where is your house and what makes a home (and what to do with all the children) haunts so many of these stories. Inside, we were dying, an expat writes of her life in Manchester. I threw away all that Uganda had taught me socially and culturally and allowed Britain to realign me. Meanwhile, grandparents mourn children lost to England, let alone the grandchildren wholl never come home at all. To future generations, old-timers warn, that to send your children abroad is to bury them. Yet when a woman returns, she realizes everyone expects who she is not, such that their anger was not about me per se, she thinks. It was about them. Theyve spent years constructing themselves through dress, associates, jobs, boyfriends, houses and even areas they live. In my absence, I was co-opted into the masquerade. Makumbis previous book, the doorstop-sized novel Kintu, is a lush and epic story, the kind of career-defining book that signals great ambition and tremendous historical depth, tracing as it does the history of Uganda over hundreds of years. Her new collection, though it covers fewer years, and does so with a lighter touch, might end up being the more sly and risky project. The final story, and maybe the books best, dramatizes a British-Ugandan familys effort to navigate their sons to desire to return home. The purity of his effort to complete the coming-of-age ritual of male circumcision becomes complicated, not just by the clash of values and expectations, but by a BBC film crew and the matter of the more than 600,000 pounds that the young man has raised in what seems to have begun as an online dare. These inventive, heartbreaking, fully engaging stories range far and wide, but at the center throbs a persistent problem. Your skin becomes too heavy to carry, a woman in a later story says. Black guilt, like the genocide in Rwanda, Kill the Gay Bill, Tiger Woods sex life, black on black crime, the ghettoism of blackness in a white world its an almost impossible weight to bear. A book jacket for Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbis Lets Tell This Story Properly. (Transit Books) Colonized in the 20th century, freed in 1962, the plaything of Idi Amin, and now the seat of another president for life, Uganda and its diaspora, the book argues, can still have more than a thing or two to say, as well, about recent historys idea of real power. Who knew, a worldly grandmother in Uganda says, in a delightfully twisted moment, that Britain itself would one day be forced to claim an independence day. So you people really Brexited? she asks. We saw it on TV and asked ourselves: Did Europe colonize Britain? :: Lets Tell This Story Properly by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi Transit Books, 294 pp., $17 Deuel is the author of Friday Was the Bomb: Five Years in the Middle East. If you have $250,000 burning a hole in the pocket of your probably hand-tailored slacks, you can buy a 2018 Bentley Continental GT in British racing green. Or you can buy a very limited edition book about the English luxury car manufacturer. Bentley is marking its 100th anniversary with the publication of three books about its iconic cars, one of which will set you back a quarter of a million dollars. That would be the 100 Carat Edition of the book, one of three published by British press Opus. Only seven of those books, each decorated with 100 carats of diamonds and a gold or platinum border, will be printed. Bentley fans on a budget might want to settle for one of the two less expensive versions of the book the $16,000 Mulliner Edition, limited to 100 copies, or the $3,800 Centenary Edition, limited to 500. All of the books feature a foreword by American fashion designer (and car collector) Ralph Lauren. Advertisement The volumes would be great coffee table books if you have a coffee table strong enough to hold them each 780-page book weighs 66 pounds, and measures 18 inches by 18 inches. Karl Fowler, the chief executive of Opus, told The Times that buyers of the books will be able to customize them. Owners can have the option to be actually in their edition they can have their copy tailor made to include photographs of themselves, such that they can have their very own chapter and be part of the 100-year Bentley celebrations, he said. It was a special element we wanted to include for people to hopefully make it a little more unique and personal to people. Owners can have the option to be actually in their edition they can have their copy tailor made to include photographs of themselves. Karl Fowler, chief executive of Opus Purchasers will also get to choose the color of their books. The Centenary Edition comes with a choice of four colors, while buyers of the Mulliner Edition can select one of 17 Bentley leather colors. The Mulliner Edition also comes with a bit of racing history. Included in those books will be a piece of rubber taken from the tire of the Bentley car that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in 2003. Buyers of the Mulliner Edition will also be invited to go on a private VIP tour of the Bentley factory in Crewe, England, and stay at the Cafe Royal Hotel in London, Fowler told The Times. The Centenary Edition comes with a choice of four colors, while buyers of the Mulliner Edition can select one of 17 Bentley leather colors. (Bentley) Fowler said that Opus has already taken orders for the elaborate books. We had a customer only last week who has pre-ordered her Bentley Opus as a gift for her husband, and she has sent us a small selection of photographs that we are creating the extra pages that will be hand-bound into the front section of the edition, he said. When her husband opens the copy, the first thing he will see will be photographs from their wedding day 40 years ago, including a wonderful photograph of them both leaving the church as a newly married couple in a stunning Bentley R Type. For us, its kind of endearing, and humbling, that owners can be part of the Bentley history in this way, he said. It becomes quite emotive for people, I guess. A boutique talent agency has broken ranks and sided with Hollywood writers in their ongoing dispute with agencies. Verve, a young Los Angeles agency focusing primarily on writers, is the biggest agency so far to make peace with the opposition, though it is far smaller than the four major Hollywood agencies that are at the center of the fight. The Writers Guild of America said in a message to members late Thursday that it had reached a negotiated franchise agreement with Verve for a three-year term. The agreement includes key provisions of the guilds proposed code of conduct that it has asked all agencies to sign. Those provisions would prohibit Verve from charging packaging fees and engaging in production activity two of the most contentious points in the dispute between writers and agents. This agreement is an important step forward in our efforts to realign agency incentives and eliminate the conflicts of interest that have undermined representation of writers, the guild said in the message. Advertisement Verves decision is more symbolic than substantive, since the agency doesnt engage in production activity and also doesnt do much packaging. The agency, which was founded in 2010, is believed to represent a few hundred clients. But Verve is the biggest firm yet to break ranks with the agencies, making the deal a publicity coup for both parties. Siding with the writers could prove a financial boon to Verve if the agency begins poaching clients from other agencies. But that could expose Verve to potential lawsuits, since the major Hollywood agencies have a history of taking legal action to protect their businesses. Verve joins a handful of other small agencies that have already sided with writers. But the big Hollywood agencies that account for the overwhelming share of writer representation and packaging WME, CAA, UTA and ICM Partners remain unmoved and are currently locked in a court battle with the guild over the legality of charging packaging fees. In recent weeks, Hollywood TV and movie writers have been firing their agents as part of the guilds efforts to put pressure on agencies. The guild has said that more than 7,000 members have sent termination notices to their agents. Verve said in a statement that its clients interests remain the firms top priority. As a result of our meaningful dialogue with our clients and their elected leadership, Verve has decided this course of action is in the best interest of our clients and our company, the agency said. Although there will be modifications to our business practices that are necessitated by todays decision, one thing that will not change is our commitment to providing long-term, premium service to our clients. The agencys client roster includes writer-director Colin Trevorrow, screenwriter Michael Arndt and screenwriter Meg LeFauve. The agency isnt a member of the Assn. of Talent Agents, the trade organization that is representing agencies in the fight. The ATA said in a statement Thursday that Verves decision was disappointing. The WGA leadership has put writers and agents alike in an untenable position, the association said. It is disappointing but not surprising that some of the most vulnerable agencies may reluctantly be forced to sign an onerous agreement. While Verve is not an ATA member agency, their decision to sign the WGAs Code will ultimately harm their business and the artists they represent on many levels. david.ng@latimes.com @DavidNgLAT UPDATES: 4:47 p.m.: This article was updated with a statement from Verve as well as additional company information. Egg whites are universally accepted as a healthy source of protein. But because they come from chickens, one could worry about animal welfare, the environmental damage wrought by industrial poultry and even salmonella since the Food and Drug Administration estimates that 79,000 Americans are sickened by tainted eggs every year. Or maybe youre just a vegan. Regardless, the way to solve all of these problems is to just make eggs from plants. The market for such egg alternatives, once a fusty category targeted mostly at institutional bakers and vegans, is officially blowing up. One need only walk the aisles of the recent Natural Products Expo to spot fake egg whites in snacks of all sorts, or look around the grocery store for an uptick in the selection of eggs made from any number of ingredients decidedly unrelated to chickens. But toppling real eggs isnt going to be easy. Egg whites (the real kind) have long been the protein people refuse to do without because its seen as irreplaceable. Egg whites are the most efficient and allergen-light source of protein when compared with rivals such as whey, soy and peas. Moreover, food manufacturers rely on eggs because they add natural protein thats flavorless and highly soluble. Advertisement Cholesterol, pollution and unhappy chickens notwithstanding, how do you replace something with all that going for it? The first fake scrambled egg to market was VeganEgg, introduced by Follow Your Heart in 2015. That powdered-egg substitute was originally formulated with algae, but the company eventually swapped it out for soy powder. Chief Executive Bob Goldberg said Follow Your Heart hopes to have a more convenient, liquid version on shelves by the end of this year. According to Nielsen, his product, which is used in Gardein frozen foods and some restaurants, is the No. 1 seller at Whole Foods. Another contender is Spero, a San Francisco Bay Area start-up thats making liquid eggs from pumpkin seed protein. But the dominant player in the non-egg space is Just Inc., a $1-billion enterprise previously known as Hampton Creek. Just launched its own liquid egg substitute late last year, one made primarily from protein derived from mung beans. The company said Thursday that it has sold the plant-based equivalent of 6.3 million chicken eggs in the U.S. to date but theres still a long way to go: The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that total egg production in the U.S. was more than 8.5 billion in February alone. Just CEO Josh Tetrick said the company has signed partnership agreements with major chicken egg suppliers that will manufacture and distribute Just Egg. The companies, he said, will build factory lines separate from where they process real eggs. Tetrick said he plans to expand into Europe this year and eventually Asia. Just is seeking to move past a tumultuous few years, during which Hampton Creek was investigated for purchasing its own products to boost revenue ahead of a fundraising round. The claims prompted inquiries by the U.S. Justice Department and securities regulators. Tetrick told staff that the investigations ended with no wrongdoing found. Most people dont care as long as their cake is bouncy. You can change up an ingredient and it will be mostly invisible to consumers. Michele Simon, Plant Based Foods Association Nielsen data show that traditional eggs are still a $7-billion business. Right now, the market for egg substitutes is largely limited to those used as a component in cooking, particularly baking. Until a consumer-friendly alternative is invented a plant-based egg substitute that can be quickly used to make scrambled eggs or an egg sandwich, for example the real egg market is unlikely to suffer. Unsurprisingly, finding a popular consumer alternative to real eggs is what many in this sector consider true north. But for now, said Michele Simon, executive director of the Plant Based Foods Assn., food service is the key to enacting real change. There are ways to quietly replace eggs in the food supply, said Simon, whose group has grown from 22 company members to 140 since its founding three years ago. Most people dont care as long as their cake is bouncy. You can change up an ingredient and it will be mostly invisible to consumers. Clara Foods is doing just that. The San Francisco start-up recently closed a Series B financing round for more than $20 million with Ingredion a major ingredient supplier as the strategic partner. Part of IndieBios synthetic biology accelerator, Clara is coming to market with what it calls the worlds most soluble protein. Arturo Elizondo, the CEO and co-founder, describes the process: We use the DNA that codes for certain proteins, then we use yeast (like beer or wine). Our yeast is a protein factory. It reads the DNA and churns out the protein. The company has successfully re-created three egg proteins (of the 80 that are found in a chicken egg) and plans to launch early next year with its first: a flavorless egg protein that can be used in drinks and food, and an egg protein that foams, which is especially useful in baked goods. Clara Foods hopes to convert manufacturers to its version of egg white proteins, but Elizondo recognizes thats only half the battle. Consumer palatability is the hardest piece an attachment to it coming from an animal, he said. The fact that it doesnt come from a chicken will alienate a lot of people. Still, Elizondo said the success of companies in the beef space, in which plant-based products that look and taste like meat are gaining traction, gives him hope. But shifting consumer habits take time. Egg Beaters, the leading liquid egg brand on the market with 27.3% market share, said the entire industry is about to pivot. The world has changed. Eggs have been viewed as a villain not good, with lots of cholesterol. Thats how Egg Beaters was created, said Bob Nolan, senior vice president of demand science at Conagra Brands, its parent company. But then, in the last 10 years, its no longer a villain but celebrated. In addition to launching a whole-egg version of Egg Beaters this summer, Conagra is developing a plant-based liquid egg to be marketed under its Earth Balance brand. Its about consumers wanting more choices and getting alternate forms of protein, said Darren Seifer, executive director of market research firm NPD Group. Eighty-six percent of people that use these [plant-based] products also eat meat. They arent vegetarian or vegan. Its about giving choice to consumers. Beyond the ick factor, there is one more obstacle ahead for egg substitutes, however. Many of the products natural constituents arent big fans of processed food. By definition, fake eggs are processed food. Consumers want new and healthy foods, said Peter Rahal, co-founder of protein bar maker Rxbar, which was sold to Kellogg in 2017 for $600 million. A lot of times, the ingredient deck might not look healthy or clean. Theres a tension between food science and consumers wanting healthy, heirloom and local. President Trump said freeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from government control is a pretty urgent problem that his administration plans to work with Congress to address. Trump, speaking Friday at a conference hosted by the National Assn. of Realtors, said that the mortgage giants lack competition, that taxpayers remain on the hook for any losses at the companies and that they arent being run as well as they could be. He added that his administration is discussing ideas for fixing Fannie and Freddie with some incredible talent from Wall Street. The presidents remarks reflect the White Houses determination to release the companies from conservatorship, something lawmakers and policymakers have failed at for years. In March, the Trump administration released an outline for overhauling the housing finance system that directed the Treasury Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development to write plans for reform. The reports are expected to be completed within the coming months. Its really a problem that other than government should be doing, Trump said Friday. So were looking at different alternatives. We have many geniuses looking at it and well figure something out. Advertisement What to do with Fannie and Freddie, which backstop about $5 trillion of mortgage securities, is the main unresolved issue from the financial crisis more than a decade ago. The companies were taken over in 2008 as the housing market cratered and were sustained by a taxpayer bailout. They have since returned to profitability and paid dividends to the Treasury totaling $105 billion more than they received. The taxpayers actually been in some ways, in many ways repaid from the bailout of Fannie and Freddie, Craig Phillips, the departing Treasury official who has led the departments housing finance reform efforts, said Thursday at an event in Virginia. Weve got to turn the page and fix it to move on. While there are many aspects of housing reform that require legislation, administration officials and regulators have signaled they may take action on their own if Congress doesnt act. Mark Calabria, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said last week that hes fine with releasing the mortgage giants from government control without lawmakers action. In his remarks Friday, Trump said he would work closely with Congress to pass housing legislation that welcomes the private sector, competition, protects taxpayers and preserves homeownership for future generations. But he said his administration would also consider taking other actions to modernize housing programs and expand affordable housing. State lawmakers had a chance Thursday to vote on ensuring that all Californians get the healthcare they need. Instead of rising to the occasion, they punted. No, the matter at hand wasnt a single-payer bill to provide universal coverage, although that would be a good thing too. Rather, the California Assembly Appropriations Committee decided to put off a vote until next year on a bill that would expand the ability of nurse practitioners to treat patients. Such a move would go a long way toward addressing a severe shortage of primary-care doctors and would align us with other states that have adopted similar measures. Advertisement The legislation AB 890 shouldnt be controversial, but killing or weakening it has become a top priority for the California Medical Assn., doctors main trade group. The California Medical Assn. has been very successful at pushing this back over many, many years, said Assemblyman Jim Wood (D-Healdsburg), who is a dentist and the author of AB 890. Theyve been organizing their doctors and lobbying heavily against it. He told me hes tried to work with the group to craft legislation that addresses their concerns. But the talks havent been productive. Wood said he met in February with the associations top brass and asked for evidence studies, surveys, whatever showing why expanding the scope of nurse practitioners medical capabilities is a bad idea. Im still waiting, Wood said. They havent produced anything. Maybe thats because all the doctors have are vague warnings about creation of a two-tier healthcare system in which wealthier Californians are treated by highly trained physicians and everyone else has to settle for nurse practitioners, which the medical association suggests would be a risk to life and limb. Thats just hooey. The only tiers are care and no care, said Karen Bradley, president of the California Assn. for Nurse Practitioners. Were not trying to replace doctors. Were part of the same team. As Ive previously noted, a nurse practitioner falls between a doctor and a registered nurse. She or he must have at least a masters degree and must receive advanced training in a specialty, such as family medicine. Unlike an ordinary nurse, a nurse practitioner can order tests, diagnose medical problems and manage a patients overall care. A nurse practitioner mostly focuses on wellness. More complicated issues are referred to a doctor. At the moment, California requires that nurse practitioners be supervised by a physician, particularly if they want to prescribe drugs for patients. The supervising physician is seldom in the exam room. He or she could in fact be miles away and may be in touch with the nurse practitioner only on an occasional basis. Were one of about two dozen states that still require such supervision, and the only one in the West to do so. AB 890 aims to fix this. Among other things, it would eliminate the need for a doctors oversight after a supervised training period and would allow a nurse practitioner to, for example, prescribe insulin for someone with diabetes or cholesterol medication for someone at risk of heart disease. This is a big deal because California will be short about 4,100 primary-care doctors by 2030, according to a recent report from the California Future Health Workforce Commission, a blue-ribbon panel co-chaired by University of California President Janet Napolitano and Lloyd Dean, chief executive of Dignity Health. The commissions recommendations included boosting the number of nurse practitioners statewide and providing them with greater practice authority, with particular emphasis in rural and urban underserved communities. By 2028, it said, greater use of nurse practitioners would result in more than $500 million in savings through reduced hospital visits. However, the California Medical Assn. says the bill would remove critical patient protections and allow nurse practitioners to practice medicine without completing the necessary education and training required for doctors. The group also says the bill will not achieve expanded access to care, maintain patient safety or promote affordability of care. These are bogus claims. AB 890 would establish an Advanced Practice Registered Nursing Board within the state Department of Consumer Affairs to oversee nurse practitioners. They wouldnt be loose cannons. Of course, nurse practitioners wouldnt have the same education and training as doctors. If they did, theyd be doctors. Instead, theyd continue receiving the postgraduate education, training and certification necessary to be nurse practitioners. It goes without saying that an increase in the number of nurse practitioners would expand access to care and promote affordability of care. How could it not? Is the medical associations real issue here that the current system requires some nurse practitioners to pay physicians to serve as their supervisors, and that AB 890 thus represents a potential loss of revenue? Are doctors worried that nurse practitioners, who are paid less for their skills than doctors, will prompt some people to wonder if theyre being overcharged by physicians for routine exams? Or is the doctors opposition rooted in something as petty as having their status as primary caregivers threatened by well-trained colleagues who just want to address a crucial need for medical professionals? Janus Norman, who oversees legislative matters for the California Medical Assn., dismissed such speculation as red herrings. He told me the only issue for doctors is ensuring that nurse practitioners are sufficiently experienced and monitored to guarantee high-quality care. Were interested in protecting the patients of California, he said. I asked if he could cite any documented evidence of malpractice from the 28 states, plus the District of Columbia, that have granted more independence to nurse practitioners. Norman said he had no such data. But he said his group is aware of massive anecdotal evidence from doctors in other states about inappropriate referrals and unnecessary testing by nurse practitioners. Thats not very impressive. In fact, a 2017 study found that instances of malpractice were far higher for physicians than for nurse practitioners. A 2018 study found that when nurse practitioners are given more authority to practice and prescribe, overall malpractice costs drop for all medical professionals. Wood, the bills author, said if there was proof that giving nurse practitioners greater independence is potentially harmful to the public, critics such as the doctors group would have it at their fingertips. They have nothing, he said. What they do have is plenty of funding and political clout. Unfortunately, that wont change when AB 890 returns in the future. David Lazarus column runs Tuesdays and Fridays. He also can be seen daily on KTLA-TV Channel 5 and followed on Twitter @Davidlaz. Send your tips or feedback to david.lazarus@latimes.com. Lisa Bloom, the civil rights attorney and former truTV host, and her husband, entrepreneur Braden Pollock, have listed the so-called murder house in Los Feliz for sale at $3.5 million. The Spanish Colonial Revival-style home, which dates to the 1920s, gained notoriety in 1959, when then-owner Dr. Harold Perelson killed his wife in the master bedroom before taking his own life, according to Los Angeles Times archives. Subsequent owners, a Lincoln Heights family, owned the property for decades without ever moving into the home a mystery still unexplained. Bloom and Pollock bought the property three years in a probate sale for $2.3 million, The Times previously reported, and were reportedly renovating the hillside home, which had fallen into disrepair as it sat dormant for more than half a century. However, it appears theres much work to be done for the next owner; a listing for the property notes that the homes interior has been taken down to the studs. Advertisement Originally designed by Harry E. Weiner for prominent businessman Harry Schumacher of the Schumacher Distributing Co., the three-story house has more than 5,000 square feet of interior space, grand formal rooms, a library/study, five bedrooms and four bathrooms. A ballroom with rolled ceilings occupies the top floor. A three-car garage sits off the street, while another two-car garage is reached by a long drive. Despite a grisly past, the home does come with Hollywood cachet. German filmmaker Frederic Zelnik and his wife, silent film star Lya Mara, also owned the property at one time. Bloom, 57, anchored the truTV news series Lisa Bloom: Open Court from 2001-09 and has been a legal analyst for The Today Show since 2013. The only daughter of high-profile civil rights attorney Gloria Allred, she was the attorney for three women who accused news anchor Bill OReilly of sexual harassment in 2017. The complaint led to an investigation into OReillys behavior and his eventual dismissal from Fox News. Scott Pinkerton and Jeff Simon of Century 21 Peak are the listing agents. neal.leitereg@latimes.com | Twitter: @LATHotProperty In the opening vignette of Sean Dorseys latest work, Boys in Trouble, the choreographer performs a gentle solo within the confines of a single spotlight. As he dances, his recorded voice fills the theater with reflections on his experience as a transgender man. Im a shapeshifter. Ive literally changed the shape and smell of my own body, he says, before hes joined by the other four men who make up his San Francisco company Sean Dorsey Dance. You cant pretend thats not powerful. Premiering in April 2018 in San Francisco, Boys in Trouble is a modern and theatrical dance work about American masculinity. Split into 22 sections, it digs into the vastly different experiences of manhood, including what it means to break free from the traditional bounds of masculinity and how everyday experiences, like a late-night bus ride, can quickly turn terrifying as a transgender person. On Friday and Saturday, Dorsey and his company will perform the evening-length work at the Highways Performance Space, the queer-centric venue in Santa Monica. Advertisement Creating Boys in Trouble was a three-year process, Dorsey said during a recent rehearsal. The choreographer, 46, held community forums across the nation about masculinity. Common themes that emerged included body shame, self-esteem, self-harm and how shame could drive people perceived or socialized to be masculine to bully and to be violent. Ideas from those workshops informed Dorseys choreography and spoken-word segments in the show. He also turned to his dancers, who include gay and bisexual men, to incorporate their own life experiences. The work is very much of our bodies and bones and blood, Dorsey said. Im shaping it and directing it, but everyones humanity is really just super interwoven into the work. Sean Dorsey Dance rehearses Boys in Trouble. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) Dorsey and company are about halfway through touring Boys in Trouble to more than 20 cities. They are performing the work in major cities but also in small, conservative communities. Last fall Dorsey wasnt sure what to expect when his company stopped in Whitewater, Wis. But he was moved hearing from both the LGBTQ community there as well as young, heterosexual, student jocks about how the work resonated. Dorsey hopes everyone can connect with the work, regardless of gender or sexual identity, but its especially important that transgender and gender-nonconforming people can feel seen and acknowledged through dance. Although his company is in its 15th season, has received numerous accolades, has performed at the celebrated Joyce Theater in New York and has toured abroad, Dorsey recalled the profound isolation of the early days of his career. I never imagined until I was literally in my mid-20s, that someone like me could become a professional dancer, let alone a choreographer, Dorsey said. And that was because I never saw a single person like me in modern dance. Even as gay rights battles are won, transgender people continue to face obstacles Raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, Dorsey grew up writing stories, performing in school and dancing to records in his living room. He spent his early 20s pursuing social justice organizing before taking a break from grad school to study dance. Thats where he encountered the struggles of being transgender in the concert dance world. The kind of things I had struggled with in nonprofessional level classes I was taking were only intensified, he said, referring to issues such as bathroom access and gendered costumes. Dorsey recalled being chastised for his first piece of choreography a queer duet by the director of the dance school. The tradition of modern dance and ballet is completely built on a foundation of assumed heterosexuality and cisgender, gender-conforming body and identity, he said. These experiences fueled the choreographer to fill a void, despite a lack of transgender peers or mentors in the concert dance world. After moving to San Francisco, Dorsey in 2002 founded the nonprofit Fresh Meat Productions, which has paid more than 500 transgender, gender-nonconforming and queer artists over its 17-year history. In 2004 he launched Sean Dorsey Dance, a company where he could explore the experiences of transgender and LGBTQ community. Its works include 2009s Uncovered: The Diary Project, which featured a suite of dances based on journals from Bay Area trans and gay activist Lou Sullivan, and 2015s The Missing Generation about forgotten LGBTQ survivors of the AIDS epidemic. In recent years, Dorsey has met a few other professional modern dancers and choreographers who are transgender or nonbinary. Hes also received encouraging messages from people who have been intimidated by the binary confines of the dance world but were inspired to pursue the art form after seeing his work. Although the dance world is on track to become more inclusive, theres still much work to be done, he said. He pointed to a dearth of transgender and gender-nonconforming people in key arts jobs. If we dont see ourselves in positions of cultural leadership and creativity and power, its impossible to imagine a pathway for us getting there. Sean Dorsey Dance rehearses Boys in Trouble. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) ===== Sean Dorsey Dance Boys in Trouble Where: Highways Performance Space, 18th Street Arts Center, 1651 18th St., Santa Monica When: 8:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday Admission: $20-$25 Info: highwaysperformance.org For most audiences in the U.S., the new film The Souvenir will make for not one but two major discoveries. One is the raw, emotional performance by its 21-year-old star in her first significant screen role. The other is its 59-year-old writer-director making her fourth feature film. The film is about a young woman (Honor Swinton Byrne) in early 1980s London, hesitantly moving toward self-discovery and struggling to find her artistic voice in film school. She meets an older man named Anthony (Tom Burke), a seeming sophisticate with an air of intrigue, and soon he is staying in her apartment and they are locked in a tempestuous, all-consuming relationship. Along the way, she gains a newfound strength and sense of self. The story is based in the experiences of filmmaker Joanna Hogg and a relationship she had in film school. Hogg had a successful career directing British television dramas before making her first feature, Unrelated, in 2008, followed by Archipelago in 2010 and Exhibition in 2013. Speaking to Hoggs international stature despite being little-known in the U.S. up to now, Martin Scorsese and his producer Emma Tillinger Koskoff signed on as executive producers on The Souvenir. All three of Hoggs previous features were personal to varying degrees, but with nowhere near the exactitude of The Souvenir. Nevertheless, while Hogg notes that some of the movie is extremely accurate, down to specific words and phrases, she is now hard pressed to recall exactly what is true and what has been shrouded by memory. Advertisement Its not easy to answer because Im a little bit confused myself now, the London-based Hogg said recently while tucked into a back corner of a hotel lounge during a recent stop in Los Angeles. Because having spent all that time remembering and then re-imagining, in a way youre almost in danger of forgetting what actually happened. Honor Swinton Byrne in a scene from the movie The Souvenir. (Nicola Dove / A24) The movie is a breakthrough performance for Honor Swinton Byrne in the lead role. She previously appeared briefly in 2009s I Am Love, which starred her mother, Oscar-winner Tilda Swinton. Hogg and Swinton have known each other since they were both children, and Swinton was very much a part of Hoggs life during the period covered by the film. Hogg is also godmother to Swinton Byrne. Hogg was visiting Swinton, who was already cast in the role of Julies mother, only a few weeks before production was to begin, not yet having cast her lead role. She and Swinton Byrne saw each other in passing on a train platform and after a brief conversation, Hogg realized she had found her actress at last. I hadnt not wanted to act, said Swinton Byrne, recently on the phone from an airport returning to England from Rome. I think it was just one of those things I always wanted to try, along with almost everything else. On being cast by Hogg, Swinton Byrne added, I still dont really understand what she saw in me. But I think it was something about feeling kind of like an outsider and feeling a little bit wobbly in life and trying to find what I was good at and what my passions were. I dont know exactly what I said, but I think something hidden in there inspired her to cast me. I was looking for someone who didnt inhabit the space in front of the camera, someone who was much more comfortable behind the camera because shes a filmmaker, said Hogg. So I wasnt looking for a performer, I was looking for an artist and I found that incredibly difficult because I would meet a lot of actresses and they felt like actors. And with Honor, although shes not a filmmaker, she writes and shes very creative, Hogg said. So there was something I saw in her that connected with myself, with my younger self. The Souvenir is the first of a two-part project. When the film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year where it picked up the world cinema dramatic grand jury prize there were titters in the audience at the final title card announcing part two was coming soon. But there will be a part two and the next film does go into production soon, with Robert Pattinson joining the cast. Following its completion, however, Swinton Byrne has no immediate plans to act again. Tom Burke and Honor Swinton Byrne in The Souvenir. (Nicola Dove / A24) From her first feature, Unrelated, Hogg has developed an unusual production method. Rather than a conventional screenplay, she writes a more literary document including images and descriptions of the scenes. Burke saw the document, as well as other artifacts Hogg had from her real-life relationship. Swinton Byrne did not see any sort of script but did see Hoggs journals and notebooks from that time for preparation. Shooting the scenes in chronological story order, the actors largely work out the dialogue for themselves, with some prompts from Hogg. For Hogg, this process both frees the actors and also shakes loose much of the structure that she found limiting during her time working in television. I cant quite understand why more people dont work this way because of what you get, said Swinton, on the phone from a boat in Venice, Italy. You get real people really behaving in real time and really responding to one another. I cant quite understand why more people dont work this way because of what you get. Tilda Swinton on making The Souvenir As a testimony to Hoggs unusual methods, in one of the films most electrifying scenes, Julie confronts Anthony over a transgression, and during the course of the argument tests the boundaries of her burgeoning self-possession before retreating. When Ive watched the film with an audience, during that scene there is a kind of group ugh when she starts apologizing, said Burke, on the phone from a car on his way to rehearsal for Ibsens Rosmersholm onstage in London. And I think thats why the scene is so affecting, there wasnt anything that was forced, that just came out. Its a very original kind of confrontation, but thats what Joanna wants; youre not going in there with a preconceived idea. Actress Alice McMillan, in the role of Julies friend Elisa, is essentially playing Swintons part in the story, including appearing in Julies student film at the end of The Souvenir, reciting from Shakespeares Measure for Measure as Swinton once did for Hogg. (Swinton also appeared in Hoggs 1986 short film Caprice, billed as Matilda Swinton.) Swinton compared the experience of participating in The Souvenir to Charlie Kaufmans 2008 movie Synecdoche, New York in which a group of people make a play of their lives, noting the moment she came to the set that was an exacting recreation of the apartment Hogg lived in during that time. Photographs taken then by Hogg were used to create the views of the London skyline from the sets windows. Honor Swinton Byrne and Tilda Swinton in The Souvenir. (Sandro Kopp / A24) The thing I find so interesting about Joanna is that whether she knew or not at the time, she was preparing for this film even when she was living through the times that inspired it, Swinton said. Lo and behold, Joanna had all this information, all this material that she had been collating even while living through the events that the film depicts, Swinton added. So on some level I believe that she unconsciously made a deal with herself, I will one day make a film of this and now shes done it. And is doing it. Hogg is so consumed by preparations for the continued exploration of the story of her own artistic awakening that she hasnt had much time to take in the widespread acclaim for part one of The Souvenir. How exactly the two films will relate to one another is still coming together, even in her own mind. I see them as separate stories, but they obviously completely connect, said Hogg. So maybe until I finish the second one, I wont know exactly the answer to that, but I am aware of wanting to make it a film in its own right and that people could see the second one without having seen the first one. Im not sure, which is why Im so uneasy about this stage because Ive got so much more work to do. SIGN UP for the free Indie Focus movies newsletter Mark.Olsen@latimes.com Follow on Twitter: @IndieFocus Maria Drenched in rather noticeable, digitally created blood splashes, the simply titled Maria, from Filipino director Pedring A. Lopez, serves grisly tropes of vengeance in an adept but generic package. Formerly known as Lily during her years slicing throats for the Black Rose criminal organization, the titular Maria (Cristine Reyes) renounced her deviant past as an assassin seven years ago, morphing into an everyday wife and mother. Now, as expected with action sagas following the persecuted deserter recipe, unsettled quarrels have resurfaced. Early on, the mention of a popular political candidate grounding his campaign on fake news suggests the writers were attempting to imbue greater substance into their trite formula. Its disheartening, however, to witness those minimal touches of personality be devoured by conventional feuds among thinly constructed characters. In the aftermath of a massacre, Marias demand for retribution rises as the films sole priority, disregarding most opportunities for moral nuance or insight into her psyche. Think last years Peppermint minus the racist undercurrents. Nevertheless, Reyes impressively harnesses the physicality and stoic demeanor of the heartbroken killer. One never doubts shes a highly trained, fear-instilling combatant. Advertisement Aside from the aforementioned CG spatter, Lopez and crew produced a sleekly photographed venture. American viewers may still find amusement in watching this type of movie from another part of the world, even if every beat is blatantly foreseeable. Short on cultural specificity or distinctive attributes, Maria is utterly universal in the most discouraging manner. Carlos Aguilar Maria In Filipino and English with English subtitles Not rated Running time: 1 hour, 29 minutes Playing: Available on Netflix ------------- The Meanest Man in Texas Mateus Ward in the movie The Meanest Man in Texas. (Ammo Content) Uninspired even in how it communicates its religious intentions, Justin Wards The Meanest Man in Texas doesnt warrant much hyperbole in favor or against it. At best, its an amateurish effort with ill-judged ambitions that surpass both the skill level involved and its budget. At worst, its an incoherent collection of brutishly crafted and edited scenes. Taking its title from Don Umphreys novel about real-life offender Clyde Thompson who in 1928 became notorious as the Kick Killer after taking the fall for a gruesome double murder it suffers from a lackluster screenplay that crams a decades-long process into a TV movie format, jumping through time with little concern for clarity. Somehow Thompson, played by the directors son Mateus Ward, never visibly ages despite surviving death row, adding life sentences to his name, and enduring barbaric corporeal pain. Physically, there is no transformation to back up the timeline, plus the graceless structure renders his path to redemption unearned on an emotional level. Commendably, amid the second-hand dialogue that plagues his role, Mateus gives a palatable turn which functions to his advantage when paired with seasoned thespian Jamie McShane (as the arrogant Captain Colt). Legions of inconsequential supporting characters fill the flatly lighted environments while being so underdeveloped it makes no sense to decipher whos who. Showing up in the final third, love interest Julia (Alexandra Bard) adds another awkward performance. Not only are the films individual parts subpar, but perhaps more concerning is that Ward managed to conceive a faith-based project devoid of conviction typically, their primary strength. Carlos Aguilar The Meanest Man in Texas Not rated Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes Playing: Laemmle Music Hall, Beverly Hills ------------- Extracurricular Activities Colin Ford in the movie Extracurricular Activities. (1091) Everyone is terrible in Extracurricular Activities, a dark comedy without any laughs and a mystery that doesnt need to be solved. The indie film is as cynical as the best teen black comedies such as Heathers and Election, but it lacks that crucial element: wit. You cant root for its awful characters, and you cant really laugh at them either. Though Reagan Collins (Colin Ford) is smart, the 17-year-old has an extracurricular activity he cant list on a college application. He engineers the deaths of his fellow students parents to look accidental, then collects a portion of the insurance and inheritance as a fee. However, hes met his match in smug detective Cliff Dawkins (Timothy Simons of Veep), who sees Reagan as the connection between all the deaths. Beyond its pair of leads, Extracurricular Activities assembles a cast of recognizable faces from TV comedies, including Angela Kinsey of The Office, Vicki Lewis of NewsRadio and Bobby Lee of MADtv. However, they only appear briefly and dont buoy the film significantly with their presence. The script from Bob Saenz is contemptuous of teens, their parents and the audience, but theres little actual humor here. Jay Lowi proves to be a largely competent director on the technical side, but Saenzs idea is entertaining only in concept, not in execution. Extracurricular Activities tries to give its characters an undeserved happy ending, but the only thing happy about it for the audience is that its over. Kimber Myers Extracurricular Activities Not rated Running time: 1 hour, 26 minutes Playing: Laemmle Monica Film Center, Santa Monica; available June 4 on VOD ------------- Zilla and Zoe Aida Valentine in the movie Zilla and Zoe. (Indican Pictures) Theres promise in the premise of Zilla and Zoe, a quirky, Portland-set comedy about a 10-year-old girl who would rather blow up her Barbies than play dress-up with them. Writer-director Jessica Scalises debut starts off strong with its introduction of Zoe (Aida Valentine) as she sets up a shot for her horror movie that leaves her doll in pieces and her cherubic face covered in fake blood and a triumphant smile. But Scalises film wanders away from its fun concept with the addition of its other titular character, Zoes college-age sister, Zilla (Sam Kamerman). She has returned home to announce her impending wedding to her fiancee Lu (Mia Allen). Zilla and Zoes dad (Greg James) tries to prepare for the ceremony, and he hopes that hiring Zoe as their videographer will dissuade her from her dreams of making a gore fest. (It doesnt.) Zilla and Zoe eventually gets to a message of love and acceptance, but you have to slog through some real cruelty from the girls father to get to that point. His behavior feels out of step with the films sweet, oddball core and leaves a far worse feeling than any of Zoes faked violence ever could. Some scenes especially the ones with the impending wedding and family drama drag on and on, and you just want to get back to the magic of Zoes world. Theres something special here, but its surrounded by drudgery. Kimber Myers Zilla and Zoe Not rated Running time: 1 hour, 44 minutes Playing: Laemmle NoHo, North Hollywood ------------- calendar@latimes.com @LATimesMovies The might of the monogram continues with a new pop-up for Longchamp LGP by the luxe Paris brand Longchamp. In this case, the logo on the LGP items was inspired by Bauhaus art. The new collection was hinted at during Longchamps February New York fashion show and launched globally on Tuesday. A 1,000-square-foot Century City space is the only place in Los Angeles where this particular collection is available. (Longchamp opened an L.A. store at the Beverly Center late last year.) Each piece of the LGP ready-to-wear and accessory offering is emblazoned with a jumble of bold letters that spell out Longchamp; they are arrayed all over puffer jackets and backpacks. However, just one outward-facing mention of the brands name is featured on the back of a drawstring-waist black velour sweatshirt and across the top of sneakers. Other LGP pieces include of-the-moment fanny packs and slender totes as well as black leather slides and luggage. Colors in the collection are predominantly black and white with the occasional pop of red or yellow. Prices range from $90 for nylon accessories to $1,300 for ready-to-wear. Advertisement Longchamp LGP pop-up, open through June 21, the Atrium, Westfield Century City, 10250 Santa Monica Blvd., us.longchamp.com Zella Community Collection Nordstrom worked with a handful of customers to create a capsule collection of activewear pieces with Zella Community. (Emily Malan / Nordstrom) Nordstroms Zella Community Collection, an activewear capsule offering that the Seattle retailer co-created with some of its Los Angeles customers, drops May 20. Shea Jensen, Nordstroms senior vice president of service and experience, said the Zella offering is part of the retailers Project 18 program, where the stores top L.A. customers are invited to weigh in on various initiatives. Several of them worked with the retailer to create the nine new Zella styles, which include leggings, hoodies and tees. Our Zella design team wanted to work closely with the Project 18 members to get their feedback on each piece and make sure the collection was reflective of what they were really looking for in an activewear collection, said Jensen, adding that the Zella design team provided members with product ideas and they worked together on details such as pockets, colors and fabrications. The collection is made of recycled polyester in colors including pale pinks, grey and blues. Prices range from $39 to $79. Zella Community Collection, available at Nordstrom stores nationwide, nordstrom.com Happy Socks Swedish brand Happy Socks opened its second store in the Los Angeles area this time in Silver Lake in early May. (Happy Socks) Although socks are the among the most fool-proof wardrobe staples you can buy online, Swedish brand Happy Socks has opened some 150 bricks-and-mortar stores around the world during the past decade. The latest outpost of the label known for its exuberant colors and prints opened in Silver Lake in earlier this month. As for the brands offerings, co-founder Mikael Soderlindh said, Its like buying candy. You come in and see all these colors and patterns. Its an explosion of emotion. Happy Socks is best experienced live. The 2,000-square-foot store is the latest for the 11-year old brand and its second in the L.A. market. Theres also a store on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice and another expected to open in Westfield Century City this summer. This store is our new creative hub, said co-founder Viktor Tell. When we started the brand, we wanted to do something that was going to be fun. Weve since become a big company, and sometimes its hard to have that creative flow. But in spending more time in Los Angeles, we feel like weve found that passion again. The new store will carry the brands full line of socks for men, women and children as well as swimwear and slides for men and women. In the mix are knee-high socks emblazoned with prints of hamburgers and French fries; one-piece swimsuits with an all-over watermelon print; and polka-dotted pool slides and beach bags. Prices start at $14 for the socks, while swimwear is $65 to $75. Happy Socks, 3902 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, happysocks.com The Outnet Pieces from the Outnets 10th-anniversary capsule collection. (The Outnet) In celebration of its 10th anniversary this year, the Outnet, the luxury discount e-tailer, part of the Yoox Net-a-Porter Group, unveiled a 75-piece capsule collection from 35 designers, including Oscar de la Renta, Christopher Kane and Carolina Herrera, on Tuesday. Emma Mortimer, managing director of the Outnet, said the offering celebrates the strong relationships we have with our brands and we are excited to showcase a really varied, compelling, exclusive collaboration. Styles include an off-the-shoulder silk dress by de la Renta, a mustard colored silk suit by Adam Lippes and, from Paco Rabanne, a dress using his signature metallic mesh chain. Prices range from $90 for a bracelet by Noir to $2,799 for a Paco Rabanne dress. The Outnet, theoutnet.com image@latimes.com For fashion news, follow us at @latimesimage on Twitter. Breakfast burritos a flour tortilla stuffed to capacity with scrambled eggs, cheese, potatoes and insert-your-favorite-meat-here are basically their own Southern California food group. And when someone makes a really good one, Angelenos tend to notice. Chris Dade, chef-owner of the Lucky Bird food stall inside Grand Central Market, grew up eating the enormous breakfast burritos at Lucky Boy in Pasadena. Its one of my favorite breakfast burritos of all time, he said, and Ive always wanted to have a breakfast item to call my own. Advertisement RELATED: Nashville hot chicken is taking over Los Angeles Instead of the more common sausage or bacon as the meat of choice, Dade stayed true to his brand and went with fried chicken. He slices a chicken thigh into bite-size nuggets before dredging and frying them for optimum crunchiness. He sweats onions and jalapenos in chicken fat, then folds them into soft scrambled eggs along with chopped cilantro and a substantial amount of melty American cheese. Finally, he adds fried hunks of Yukon gold potatoes. Its an excellent breakfast burrito. If you took out the chicken, it would still be an excellent breakfast burrito. But then you get a piece of fried chicken and you wonder why its taken so long for someone to concoct one of these. If youre thinking this would taste even better with hot sauce, youre correct. While this wont technically be available on the menu, you can order the burrito wet (slathered in a hot buffalo sauce with a zigzag of creme fraiche). RELATED: Where to get hot chicken in Los Angeles The fried chicken breakfast burrito ($9) will be available from 10 to 11 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, starting this weekend. President Trump is moving fast to spend billions of dollars to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border with money secured under his declaration of a national emergency, but he first must get past the courts. On Friday, a federal judge in Oakland is set to consider arguments in two cases that seek to block the White House from spending Defense and Treasury Department money for wall construction. California and 19 other states brought one lawsuit; the Sierra Club and the Southern Border Communities Coalition, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, brought the other. On Thursday, a federal judge in the nations capital will consider a bid by the House of Representatives to prevent Trump from spending any Defense Department money for a border wall. At stake is billions of dollars that would allow Trump to make major progress on a signature campaign promise heading into his campaign for a second term. Advertisement The presidents adversaries say the emergency declaration was an illegal attempt to ignore Congress, which authorized far less wall spending than Trump wanted. Trump grudgingly accepted congressional approval of $1.375 billion to end a 35-day government shutdown on Feb. 15 but declared an emergency in almost the same breath. The White House says it has identified up to $8.1 billion that it could spend. Trumps actions amount to a usurpation of Congress legislative powers in violation of bedrock separation of powers principles embedded in the Constitution, the state attorneys general wrote. The administration argues that the president is protecting national security interests as unprecedented numbers of Central American asylum-seeking families arrive at the U.S. border with Mexico. The increasing surge of migrants, the highest in over a decade, has placed a tremendous strain on the limited resources of the Department of Homeland Security and exacerbated the risks to border security, public safety, and the safety of the migrants themselves, the Justice Department said in a court filing. The courtroom showdowns come amid a flurry of activity to accelerate wall construction. Kenneth Rapuano, an assistant secretary of Defense, said in a court filing last month that work on the highest-priority, Pentagon-funded projects in Yuma, Ariz., and in New Mexico could begin as soon as May 25. The Defense Department transferred $1 billion to border wall coffers in March and an additional $1.5 billion last week. Patrick Shanahan, the acting Defense secretary, may decide as soon as Wednesday whether to transfer an additional $3.6 billion. Last month, the Army Corps of Engineers awarded a $789-million contract to SLSCO Ltd. of Galveston, Texas, to replace 46 miles of barrier in New Mexico, paid for by Pentagon funds. On Wednesday, Barnard Construction Co. of Bozeman, Mont., won a $141.8-million contract to replace 5 miles in Yuma and 15 miles in the Border Patrols El Centro, Calif., sector. Southwest Valley Constructors of Albuquerque won a $646-million contract to replace 63 miles in the Border Patrols Tucson, Ariz., sector. All of those projects are funded by the Defense Department, with construction expected to begin in as little as 45 days. Also this week, the Department of Homeland Security waived environmental impact and other reviews to replace wall in California and Arizona under a law that gives the secretary sweeping powers to spec construction. The environmental waivers cover a 15-mile replacement in El Centro that is funded by the Homeland Security Departments 2018 appropriations and was awarded in a contract to SLSCO last year. The administration said construction could begin on that project as early as Saturday. Aside from California, states participating in the legal challenge are Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin. When Bruno Youn was 3 years old, his mother noticed something was off about her firstborn son. He could parrot what he heard. He could remember and recite poetry. But he could not string together words to communicate his own thoughts. She brought him in for testing and learned the truth: He had autism. I could not cope with the idea, said Josette Thompson, a Seal Beach physician. I couldnt have a child with autism. Never talk. Never have a job. Never get married. You lose all those dreams for your child at once. I couldnt go there. She neednt have worried. Advertisement On Saturday, Youn, now 22 years old, will walk across the stage to receive his diploma at Claremont McKenna College. But before he does, he will stand before an audience of hundreds and do what his senior class elected him to do: deliver the student commencement remarks. In four years at the small, highly selective liberal arts college in the Pomona Valley, Youn has grown from a freshman who avoided people, spending most of his time holed up in his dorm playing video games, into a campus leader. Bruno Youn, right, helps sophomore Juan Diego Herrera in a computer coding class at Claremont McKenna College. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) He majored in philosophy, politics and economics, and will graduate with Phi Beta Kappa honors and a 3.8 GPA. He worked on policy research at Claremont McKennas Rose Institute of State and Local Government. He was selected for a prestigious post as one of two student fellows to host and moderate panel discussions with high-profile figures for the colleges Athenaeum speakers program. He has worked with political campaigns. He has had a girlfriend and made lots of friends. I have left behind me a trail of broken stereotypes, Youn plans to say in his commencement speech. Youns success in academia is rare. About 1 in 59 children are diagnosed with autism and, of those, about a third have intellectual disabilities, according to experts. Among those without intellectual disabilities, only about half pursue college, with most attending community colleges and having difficulty transferring to four-year universities, said Susan White, a University of Alabama psychology professor who specializes in studying autism. A lot of times they are dropping out early or struggling with mental health, White said. Soon, this will present a challenge for the nation, she said. In what specialists are calling an autism tsunami, some 500,000 teens with the disorder will enter adulthood in the next decade and need more services to help them succeed in the way Youn has. We are, on the whole, unprepared to help them function to their true potential, White said. We as a society need to do better. For Youn, academics were never a problem. He breezed through Los Alamitos High School with near-perfect grades and 13 Advanced Placement courses, nailing every test and becoming a class valedictorian. But it hasnt come easy, even when it looks that way. At a recent campus event, Youn wore a gray suit and maroon tie, and his hair was neatly parted and slicked into place, as he greeted the speaker of the night: Symone Sanders. The 29-year-old dynamo was national press secretary for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders during his 2016 presidential campaign and recently signed on as a senior advisor to former Vice President Joe Bidens campaign. Hello, Im Bruno, he said, looking Sanders in the eye and shaking her hand. Pleased to meetcha. He guided her to the front table, showed her the coffee bar and chatted about postgraduate plans. When he introduced her to the crowd of about 150 students, staff and faculty, he joked that Sanders bested him at hosting speakers because she introduced former President Bill Clinton at an event when she was just 16. Bruno Youn helps seat people attending a guest lecture by Symone Sanders, formerly national press secretary for Sen. Bernie Sanders. Youn, who has autism, will speak at his commencement on Saturday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) My 16-year-old self would have shuddered at being at any kind of social luncheon with more than maybe two people, Youn said, drawing laughs. By the end of the night, however, he was exhausted. His condition limits his energy to socialize, he said. After maybe 2 hours, he needs to get away, drop his mask and relax alone. Youn took two hours to write the two-minute introduction for Sanders, and managed the night by following a script in his head: Greet the speaker with small talk. Offer coffee or tea. Explain the evenings program. Without a script, Youn said, he would blurt out something awkward or unintentionally offensive. He can get tongue-tied, as he sometimes seemed at the Sanders reception. The pressure to be more socially outgoing was a big reason Youn said he chose Claremont McKenna. From an early age, he had difficulty making friends and often felt alone on an island. He was determined to change that in college and thought the small campus of 1,300 undergraduates compared to the 31,000 at UC Berkeley, his alternative choice would force him out of isolation. At Berkeley, I could vanish into the crowd very easily, he said. I knew I was throwing myself to the wolves by going somewhere like CMC. But I wanted to make it as easy as possible to make friends and get out of my shell. Jennifer Sandoval-Dancs, Claremont McKennas assistant vice president for admission, said the college enrolls just a handful of students on the autistic spectrum in each class of about 330 and knows about it only if they share their condition. Youn wrote about it in his personal essay, she said, describing how he had to push himself to make eye contact and chat with people during a summer volunteer stint with Meals on Wheels. A breakthrough came when one man shook his hand and complimented his social skills. I remember how hard he had to work for things that others take for granted, how much strength hes shown, Sandoval-Dancs said, recalling some of the reasons his college application stood out. Youn quickly caught the eye of John J. Pitney Jr., a professor of American politics, who invited him to be part of a group of 19 students in his honors government class. Pitney had just published a book on autism and politics, which Youn read. Each of us was intrigued by the other, said Pitney Jr., who served as faculty advisor on Youns senior thesis about ways to revive the U.S. Office of Technology Assessment. Youn, Pitney Jr. said, exceeded high expectations with his vigorous participation in class discussions in honors government, and research and writing skills that made his papers consistent standouts. In another class on Congress, Youn was able to work in a team and read and react appropriately to other people social skills, Pitney said, not normally associated with people with autism. The classes changed Youns academic trajectory from economics to government and public policy. They also helped lay the groundwork for his campus activities and friendships. Melia Wong, a senior who met Youn in honors government and later worked with him at the Rose Institute, said his brilliance, humor and, at times, quirkiness endeared him to classmates. He represents the best of CMC, she said. Youns mother said she is thrilled by how much he has thrived in college. She still remembers being devastated when her son couldnt attend preschool alone because he couldnt follow directions, use the toilet or interact with other children. She hired an aide to stay with him and spent a fortune, she said, on therapy to help improve his speech, motor and social skills. I was dreaming he would be in good enough shape to work at a grocery store, she said. My dream for him now is to be an icon and trailblazer for people with autism who dont know what their future will be like. Youn says hes not sure what hell end up doing he taught himself data science and machine learning, and is leaning toward a technology job in Utah. But he, too, hopes his journey can inspire others. For people on the autistic spectrum who are considering college, particularly extroverted places like CMC, he said, I think Im proof you can fit in. teresa.watanabe@latimes.com Twitter: @TeresaWatanabe Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti spent five days in Israel this week, chairing a visiting bipartisan delegation of American mayors. The trip, co-sponsored by the nonpartisan American Jewish Committees Project Interchange and the U.S. Conference of Mayors, aimed to boost U.S.-Israel relations at the municipal level. Garcetti met with The Times in Jerusalem a few hours before returning to Los Angeles. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. The United States celebrated the first anniversary of the controversial transfer of its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem while youve been here. Whats your take? As an American, as a Jew, Im sorry to see Israel portrayed by some leaders as a more and more partisan issue. Advertisement I support the embassy being here. Israel shouldnt be the only country in the world that cant determine where its capital will be, but there is usually a process to these things rather than what seems like an overnight, one-sided, partisan move. The turning of this relationship into a partisan thing, by some who decide this is in their short-term political interest, seems to run counter to building a long-term deep relationship between Americans and Israelis, when many of us will always have lifetime ties to Israel. Is it lonely these days, being a Democrat with nuanced views about this matter? Not at all. We have this really caricatured debate right now thats defined by whoever gets the most clickbait, where two or three people suddenly are 99% of the discussion, as if they were the only spokespeople in the party. So no, its not lonely at all, because there is still a huge consensus in Congress, huge support. Undoubtedly, we have to go beyond old talking points, and have to confront new challenges. But the Democratic Party is not suddenly fraying because younger people dont know as much about Israel or might question human rights issues or race relations here. I think the questioning is healthy. It requires going beyond superficial answers to thinking on both sides and a deeper engagement. This was my message to Israeli officials here: Lets do that. Lets have deeper conversations than just the talking point response to something. Israelis and American Jews need to spend more time together. We have to continue to make sure this isnt about two leaders, but about two nations. But there is absolutely a space to be pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian. And if anybody thinks there will be resolution to this conflict, how can you not be pro-both? More so if our nation is going to lead any resolution of this conflict, to help our friends in the region. How do you feel about the Democratic field? Great! They are amazing people. Im not scared by the numbers. I embrace them. I think its awesome. There are many brave voices from different perspectives. In presidential elections, I think people focus way too much on ideology. It is absolutely about character and a feeling people have because its almost like electing a parent, but we dont have just one image of what that parent looks like or where she might come from, or what she might look like. Its much more honest regarding what American people want to hear and see. They want options. They want authenticity. And I happen to be personally close to a lot of the people in the race, so Im excited. Have you decided on who youll endorse? No. Im close with Kamala [Harris]. Cory Booker Ive known since 1993. We used to be part of the LChaim Society at Oxford University together. He was the first person to greet me when I got off the bus at Oxford, so weve been deep, close friends before we were elected officials. Pete Buttigieg is one of my closest friends as a mayor. And Joe Biden has been an extremely close friend and mentor who helped me raise the minimum wage and came out to support me. I was with him at his home in Washington on the day he decided not to run for 2016, at a one-on-one breakfast. I know a bunch of the other people. And those I dont know are reaching out to me, which I appreciate, because Ive got a few thoughts on what we should do, and California matters for more than money. Our early voting starts on the same day as the Iowa caucuses. But another reason I havent endorsed is that I represent 4 million people, and on their behalf I want to ask each of the candidates what are they going to do for Los Angeles. What are the issues youll ask about? Environment, homelessness, infrastructure and immigration. Im very focused on all four, which are critical to the success of Los Angeles. We need national leadership on homelessness, which doesnt exist, which I think is our biggest day-to-day concern. Environment is our biggest long-term concern. Were doing a lot of infrastructure work on our own, but Washington has been missing in action. And we need common sense on immigration. Sometimes it seems like the president has declared war on California. Were definitely a whipping boy, but I dont know if he has declared war. He doesnt stay focused enough to literally fight a war. People ask me, day to day, does it mess up my life as mayor? No hes loud about things. Its Im not going to give you your fire money, but of course the fire money comes. These are the people of the federal government who actually do things. Tarnopolsky is a special correspondent. An F-16 military fighter jet was armed before it crashed into a Riverside County commercial building, officials said Friday, and the unexploded weaponry has since been detonated. The jet was flying with a standard armament package. The weaponry has been secured, and TV news helicopters captured video of the ordnance being blown up in a nearby field, allowing the 215 Freeway to reopen Friday afternoon. There was no smoke or fire from the crash, or serious injuries. The plane went down just before 3:45 p.m. Thursday. Ten people, including some first responders, were treated in an emergency room and released, including some who were decontaminated after they were exposed to fumes and debris at the crash scene. Three other people were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, said physicians at Riverside University Health System in Moreno Valley. Advertisement In light of the event, we feel very fortunate and blessed, said Dr. Michael Mesisca, medical director for the hospitals emergency department. The hospital, which trains for the possibility of crashes at March Air Reserve Base, had been preparing for a much greater catastrophe perhaps more than 50 patients in the moments after hearing about the crash. (Los Angeles Times) It was an event that we all planned for, and we all work toward and hope that never happens, said Leah Patterson, associate clinical nursing officer. Thank God for the outcome. A fire official said he couldnt recall a crash at March Air Reserve Base in the last 29 years. The jet crashed into the roof of the See Water Inc. warehouse at 22200 Opportunity Way, just west of the airfield at March Air Reserve Base and adjacent to the 215 Freeway and Metrolink train tracks between the Moreno Valley/March Field and downtown Perris stations. The freeway and the Metrolink tracks around the crash site had been ordered closed until the jets weapons were found and detonated. Authorities said circuit boards are manufactured in the building into which the jet crashed. Military officials said the jet, a single-engine Fighting Falcon, was returning to March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley after a routine training mission when it slammed into the building. The pilot had reported hydraulics problems and said he was returning to base, just across the freeway from the warehouse, when he was forced to eject moments before impact, authorities said. Captured by a freeway commuters dashboard camera, the jet appeared to be leaning to one side as it dropped to the ground outside the base. The jet, assigned to the 114th Fighter Wing in Sioux Falls, S.D., was on a training mission for North American Aerospace Defense Command, according to the U.S. Air Force. The pilot, who has not been identified publicly, landed with a parachute in a nearby airfield. He was taken to a hospital and is in good condition, Col. Thomas McNamara, vice commander of the 452nd Air Mobility Wing at the base, said during an earlier news conference Friday morning. The crash ruptured the buildings sprinkler system, and water was raining down when law enforcement and fire officials arrived. Timothy Holliday, the bases deputy fire chief, said Thursday that authorities set up a perimeter while they secured the live ordnance the jet was carrying. Several businesses surrounding the crash site were evacuated as a precaution because of possible hazardous materials, officials said. The evacuation area encompassed a three-quarter-mile radius around the warehouse. Nearby Riverside National Cemetery was closed Friday, but no residential homes were affected, officials said. A person who was in the industrial building when the plane crashed recorded the immediate aftermath on camera and published it on Facebook. Holy ... dude. Thats a ... airplane; thats a military airplane in our building, he said, using expletives. Images from the scene broadcast by news stations showed a sizable hole in the buildings roof. A photo from inside the building, which was loaded with pallets of boxes and other items, showed the aircrafts wreckage amid the debris. #BREAKING image from inside a warehouse near March Air Reserve Base where a fighter jet crashed this afternoon Courtesy: Jeff Schoffstall pic.twitter.com/OJa0WBRMnM Rob McMillan (@abc7robmcmillan) May 16, 2019 Baldur Castro, an employee at the warehouse, told KTLA-TV Channel 5 that hes used to hearing jets working so close to the military base, but the sound from the crash was thunderous. To me, it sounded like breaking the sound barrier, he said. hannah.fry@latimes.com Twitter: @Hannahnfry Activists and attorneys urged Los Angeles city officials Thursday to renew funding for a legal defense program for migrants. The L.A. Justice Fund, a city- and county-backed program that was launched after President Trump took office, pays for attorneys for individuals and families who are detained or at risk for deportation. Los Angeles had set aside $2 million and the county committed $3 million for the fund in 2017, to be spent over several years, and private philanthropic groups also gave money. But budget leaders have declined to put new money toward it. Overall, the fund has granted $7.4 million to help with legal representation and counsel, according to the website of the California Community Foundation, a philanthropic organization that disburses the money. In the year since the program launched, 19 people had been released from custody and 223 cases were handled, the foundation said in September. Advertisement So far, city and county officials have resisted renewing the L.A. Justice Fund money in the upcoming budget year, as officials evaluate the program and its effectiveness. From the outset, the L.A. Justice Fund was developed and implemented as a two-year pilot program with a one-time county expenditure, said L.A. County spokeswoman Rachel Estrada. Jay Cortez, a spokesman for City Councilman Gil Cedillo, said Thursday that the city is still awaiting data about the program. Cedillo also wrote a letter on May 3 to Councilman Paul Krekorian, who heads the budget committee, expressing his support for the program. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said last month that there is enough city money in the L.A. Justice Fund to last until October. The goal, he said, was for the fund to raise $10 million, but private groups havent raised their share. He also questioned how much each case is costing the Justice Fund compared with similar programs. It was like looking at $20,000 per case, versus the state program, which is about $5,000 per case, Garcetti said. With a report back, with those questions answered, we will look at continuing that, but that wont be until after October. On Thursday, Garcetti spokeswoman Andrea Garcia said the mayor plans to work with California Community Foundation and others to evaluate the impact of this program and develop a long-term strategy to support this vital work and keep immigrant families together. The foundation didnt provide answers about the program to The Times as of late Thursday. Earlier in the day, frustrated immigrant advocates came to City Hall for a budget hearing to rally for new funding, arguing that not supporting it is tantamount to abandoning L.A.s immigrant community. Attorney Jossiel Moreira said the Justice Fund helps pay for his work providing legal representation for child immigrants and refugees who have come to the U.S. alone. Those youths arent guaranteed attorneys in court, he said, citing a study that found unaccompanied children without representation are more than four times more likely to receive a removal order. We must work together to guarantee that no child goes to immigration court alone, Moreira said. Mariana Magana, a policy advocate with Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, said her groups attorneys are often the last resource for families about to be split up. As a city who welcomes immigrants from all over the world, the City of Angels has an obligation to live up to its values and step up in a time when needed the most, Magana said. The proposed budget now goes to the City Council for a vote. dakota.smith@latimes.com Twitter: @dakotacdsmith California is spending millions of dollars to stem the tide of homelessness without much to show for it. The latest evidence of that arrived Thursday, when several Bay Area cities and counties reported that their latest tallies of homeless people revealed big increases. San Francisco saw a 17% jump in the number of homeless residents over the last two years, according to preliminary results of the citys point-in-time count. In January, volunteers recorded 8,011 homeless people living in shelters and on the streets in the city of roughly 880,000. Their 2017 count logged 6,858 people. The initial results of this count show we have more to do to provide more shelter, more exits from homelessness, and to prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place, the citys mayor, London Breed, said in a statement. Advertisement The number of people living in cars and campers grew a big part of the reason the number of unsheltered people increased, the city said. San Francisco has seen rental prices skyrocket, making it a major player in the statewide debate about how to best reduce the number of people living on the streets. But Breed did share some good news for her city: Youth and veteran homelessness dipped 10% and 14%, respectively. She also announced that the citys budget would include $5 million for projects aimed at preventing people from becoming homeless. But San Francisco plans to release more extensive findings on homelessness in July that could reveal more troubling trends. Farther south in the Bay Area, the number of homeless people living in Santa Clara County increased 31% over the last two years, from 7,394 to 9,706, according to preliminary results released by the county. San Jose saw a surge of 1,822 people, for a total of 6,172 homeless residents living in the countys largest city. We all have a shared responsibility to address this crisis every city and every neighborhood, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said in a statement. That means we must house homeless neighbors here, not the proverbial somewhere else. In the East Bays Alameda County, the numbers werent any better, with a 43% increase since 2017. The homeless population there numbers 8,022, of which 6,312 are unsheltered. The full reports for both counties will be released in July as well. The organization that conducted Alamedas count, EveryOne Home, says that about 1,500 people return to permanent housing every year, but that number is offset by the 3,000 people who fall into homelessness for the first time each year. Point-in-time counts are required by the federal government as a way to asses how funding is distributed for homelessness. Statewide, there were an estimated 129,972 homeless people in 2018 and these increases in homelessness square with a worrisome already trend seen by several counties in Southern California. Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties all recorded percent increases in homelessness in the double digits for 2019. Los Angeles is expected to release its findings by the end of the month, and local officials are not optimistic that it will show any signs that the problem is abating even as $619 million was spent last year to grapple with the crisis. benjamin.oreskes@latimes.com @boreskes The controversial search of a veteran San Francisco journalists home and office by police as part of a leak investigation about Public Defender Jeff Adachis death was violent and breathtakingly overbroad, the reporters attorneys told a judge Thursday. The attorneys representing freelance videographer Bryan Carmody asked a San Francisco County Superior Court judge to void the search warrants that allowed police to show up with sledgehammers and raid his home at gunpoint. His lawyers also asked the judge to order the return of 68 items computers, notebooks, hard drives and phones seized by officers. Authorities were investigating how Carmody obtained the police report that offered details and photos related to the sudden death of Adachi on Feb. 22 at an apartment in the Telegraph Hill neighborhood. Carmody said he sold a package of his reporting, which included the report, to Bay Area TV stations. But the salacious details broadcast on television and online prompted anger from Adachis family and condemnation of police for allowing the report to get into journalists hands. Advertisement It is black-letter constitutional law that a reporter cannot be held liable, criminally or civilly, for receiving, possessing or publishing truthful information on matters of public concern merely because government officials were supposed to keep the information secret, Carmodys attorneys, Thomas R. Burke and Daniel Laidman, told the judge in their motion Thursday. Both attorneys have previously represented the Los Angeles Times. Citing strong legal protections for journalists, including the federal Privacy Protection Act and the states Shield Law, which is included in the California Constitution, the lawyers said the warrants were plainly invalid. State and federal law make it virtually impossible for government officials to obtain and execute search warrants targeting journalists newsgathering material, the attorneys said in their motion. The motion will be heard Tuesday morning before Judge Samuel Feng, the assistant presiding judge of San Francisco Superior Court. A spokesman for the San Francisco Police Department declined to comment. Chief Bill Scott defended the searches during a Wednesday night police commission meeting. We went through the appropriate legal process in furtherance of a criminal investigation, Scott said. Asked by a commissioner if police considered issuing a subpoena, Scott did not give a clear answer. The warrants in question for Carmodys home and the office of his news company, North Bay News were approved, respectively, by Judges Gail Dekreon and Victor Hwang. Neither has responded to a request for comment, and judges are ethically prohibited from discussing pending cases. Also Thursday, the nonpartisan First Amendment Coalition, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and the local branch of the Society of Professional Journalists asked the same judge to immediately unseal the warrants obtained by police. The sealed affidavits would outline how investigators had probable cause. The public portion of the warrants said police were investigating stolen or embezzled property. The warrants at issue here are particularly troubling and it is therefore particularly important to provide the public with information about how and why they were issued, the groups attorneys said in the motion. Adachi was the citys longtime public defender who gained a reputation for championing civil rights and criticizing the Police Department. He died Feb. 22 at the age of 59. Carmody, who has worked as a freelance videographer for nearly three decades, was pursuing details about Adachis death when he said that he passively obtained an incident report that added intrigue to the unfolding story. I did not ask the source to provide me with this document but when it was provided to me, they insisted that I not reveal their identity. I did not pay or provide any compensation whatsoever to this source for providing this report to me nor did I promise them that I would pay or compensate them in the future in any way, Carmody said in court papers. The document, as reported by KGO-TV in San Francisco, said Adachi had dinner with a woman named Caterina, who was not his wife, then returned to an apartment he was using for the weekend. The woman called 911 for emergency medical help, and Adachi was rushed to the hospital. Later that night, officers went to the apartment and found alcohol, cannabis-infused gummies and syringes believed to have been used by the paramedics, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The city medical examiner would later conclude that Adachi died of an accidental overdose of cocaine and alcohol. Images of the apartment were circulated online. Carmody told the Chronicle that he sold the package, which generally includes documents, video and other reporting material, to three TV stations. When the details of his death went public, it clashed with the prevailing narrative of Adachi and was viewed by some as a smear attempt by critics in the Police Department. His widow and city officials chastised police for allowing images and notes from the confidential report to get into the medias hands. I can say everybody, no matter how you felt about Jeff Adachi, was appalled at the release of the police reports, Police Commissioner John Hamasaki said at the Wednesday meeting. It was an attack on Mr. Adachi, an attack on his family, and it was an attack on the department. Police launched an internal investigation. In April, investigators showed up at Carmodys home and asked him to reveal the identity of who leaked the report, he told The Times in an interview. Of course, I politely declined, Carmody said. On the morning of May 10, eight to 10 police officers arrived with a sledgehammer, banging on his gate, and searched Carmodys home. He was handcuffed for the duration of the search, about six hours, and police hauled away hard drives, cellphones, notebooks and thumb drives, according to an inventory log police left behind. During the search, two FBI agents took the handcuffed Carmody into his home office, spoke with him for five minutes and pressed him about the Adachi report, he said. The agents repeatedly asked me to reveal the name of my confidential source, Carmody said in a declaration that accompanied Thursdays motion. Police then searched Carmodys newsroom at North Bay News, where investigators found the sought-after Adachi incident report in a safe, he said. Outrage over the searches quickly spread, with advocates, legal experts and media groups criticizing police for apparently violating state and federal laws that protect journalists and their unpublished materials. Its pretty plainly unlawful, David Snyder, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition, said in an earlier interview. Its something youd expect out of an authoritarian regime, not the city of San Francisco. Fifty-nine media organizations, including the Los Angeles Times, joined an amicus letter supporting Carmodys motion. Times staff writer Joseph Serna contributed to this report. matt.hamilton@latimes.com Twitter: @MattHjourno Herman Wouk, the prolific and immensely popular writer who explored the moral fallout of World War II in the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Caine Mutiny and other widely read books that gave Americans a raw look at the horrors and consequences of war, has died at his Palm Springs home, where he wrote many of his acclaimed novels. Wouk, who was honored by the Library of Congress in September 2008 with its first lifetime achievement award for fiction writing, died in his sleep Friday at the age of 103, his literary agent Amy Rennert told the Associated Press. Wouk was working on a book at the time of his death, Rennert said. As a writer, Wouk considered his most vaultingly ambitious work the twin novels The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, about the great catastrophe of our time, World War II. Critics, however, considered The Caine Mutiny to be his finest work. Taut and focused, the book is a riveting exploration of power, personal freedom and responsibility. Caine won the 1952 Pulitzer Prize for literature and was on the New York Times bestseller list for more than two years, selling more than 5 million copies in the U.S. and Britain in the first few years after its publication. Advertisement In the novel, Wouk creates one of American literatures most fascinating characters, Philip Francis Queeg, the captain of the U.S. destroyer-minesweeper Caine, who is removed from his command by a lower-ranking officer in the middle of a typhoon. In one of the books most famous scenes, concerning the theft of the captains strawberries, Queeg lapses into paranoid incoherence as he is questioned during his court-martial. He pulls a pair of ball bearings from his pocket and obsessively shuffles them in his hand: Ah, but the strawberries! Thats, thats where I had them. They laughed at me and made jokes, but I proved beyond the shadow of a doubt, and with, with geometric logic, that, that a duplicate key to the wardroom icebox did exist. And I would have produced that key if they hadnt pulled the Caine out of action. I, I know now they were only trying to protect some fellow officer. (He pauses, realizing that he has been ranting.) Naturally, I can only cover these things from memory. The officer who took over the Caine is legally vindicated in a court-martial for his removal of Queeg. But Wouk doesnt let the character or the crew off that easily. In the midst of the drunken celebration of the victory over Queeg, the officer who has been named captain of the Caine is berated by his own attorney. I got you off by phony legal tricks by making clowns of Queeg and a Freudian psychiatrist which was like shooting two tuna fish in a barrel, the inebriated lawyer spits at his client. Many critics found this turnabout ending an apologia of Queeg and a trick on the reader. But the moral ambiguity also added to the books complexity and helped ensure its place in important World War II fiction. In 1954, Wouk turned the court-martial aspect of the novel into a Broadway play with Lloyd Nolan as Queeg and Henry Fonda as Lt. Barney Greenwald, the lawyer who defended the officer who took the command away from his captain. The play ran for a year and was revived on Broadway in 1983 and again in 2006. Caine also was made into a notable film in 1954, directed by Edward Dmytryk and starring Humphrey Bogart as an unforgettable Queeg. Wouk came to view Caine, published in 1951, as an anecdote about the war, in which he served as a Navy lieutenant. But it was not, in his view, the great war book that he was determined to write. #RIP author Herman Wouk who passed away today at the age of 103. His novel The Caine Mutiny and the film adaptation are both classics pic.twitter.com/oDcEw9rqWj U.S. Naval Institute (@NavalInstitute) May 17, 2019 Twenty years later, he published the first installment of what he thought was that book The Winds of War, which was followed several years later by its sequel, War and Remembrance. The novels, sweeping and epic in their ambition, followed career naval officer Victor Pug Henry and his family in the years building up to and during the war. The Winds of War takes events up to the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, and Americas entry into the war. War and Remembrance (1978), which includes a harrowing account of the Holocaust, concludes shortly after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in 1945, marking the end of the war. Wouk took great pains to recount real events and actual timelines and to incorporate the major figures of the time in their correct historical circumstances. But partly because the books were labeled even by Wouk as romances, they were not taken as seriously either as literature or as history, reinforcing his image as a middlebrow writer. In 1973, novelist Gore Vidal reviewed the top 10 bestsellers for the New York Review of Books, including The Winds of War. Vidals complaints were many, but in the end, he wrote that for all Mr. Wouks idiocies and idiosyncrasies, his competence is most impressive and his professionalism awe-inspiring in a world of lazy writers and TV-stunned readers. I did not in the least regret reading every word of his book, Vidal added, though I suspect he is a writer best read swiftly by the page in order to get the sweep of his narrative while overlooking the infelicities of style and the shallowness of mind. Many Americans became familiar with the Henry family during the 1980s when the books provided the basis for a pair of television miniseries that aired five years apart. The two series broke all records in terms of cost of production and length; The Winds of War came in at $40 million and ran 18 hours in 1983, and War and Remembrance cost $110 million and ran 32 hours in 1988. ABC reported that The Winds of War was watched by more viewers than any other program in television history at that time. Viewership of War and Remembrance was not as high, but still tens of millions of viewers watched all or parts of it. Herman Wouk was born May 27, 1915, in New York City, the child of immigrants from Minsk, Russia. Wouks father, who had arrived in New York City in 1905, began work as a $3-a-week laundry worker and eventually did so well in the laundry business that the family moved from the Bronx to the Upper West Side. Wouk graduated with a degree in comparative literature and philosophy from Columbia University, where he also wrote comedy bits on the side. He launched a career writing for comedy radio shows, once saying that his first job was copying old jokes out of tattered comic magazines onto file cards. But before long he was working on scripts with radio comedian Fred Allen. Wouk said that his greatest ambition was to write farces for the Broadway stage. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the Navy and was assigned to be assistant communications officer on the destroyer-minesweeper Zane and later as second-in-command on another destroyer-minesweeper, the Southard. I was the only Jew aboard, Wouk told the Washington Post in 2000. I was commanding Americans from all over the country of a sort I had never met, living with them, fighting battles with them, betting my life on them and having them bet their lives on me. Out of this experience, he said, he evolved from a writer of gags to a writer. He often said that he wrote his first novel, Aurora Dawn, because he was bored at sea. He was shocked to find that book, a spoof on radio broadcasting, was selected by the Book-of-the-Month Club. Next he created one of his favorite characters, Herbie Bookbinder, the forlorn yet comic young hero of the somewhat autobiographical The City Boy. Wouks follow-up to Caine, his third book, could hardly have been more startling: Marjorie Morningstar, the story of starry-eyed Marjorie Morgenstern, who changes her name and defies the traditions of her Bronx family in pursuit of an acting career and the love of her life, a bohemian songwriter. In the end, she marries a good if unexciting man and becomes a housewife and mother in suburban New York City. The books conservative conclusion remained a controversy for years among supporters of womens rights. Published in 1955 with a fanfare that included Wouk on the cover of Time magazine, Marjorie Morningstar one of the first popular novels about Jewish life was on the bestseller lists for so long that it became somewhat of a publishing phenomenon. Wouk continued his remarkable output with Slatterys Hurricane (1956), Youngblood Hawke (1962) and Dont Stop the Carnival (1965), a short comic novel set in the Caribbean that, in an odd turn of events 36 years after publication, was turned into a musical play with songs by Jimmy Buffett. Wouks other books include Inside, Outside (1985), The Hope (1993), The Glory (1994) and A Hole in Texas (2004). In November 2012, when Wouk was 97, Simon and Schuster published a new novel, The Lawgiver. Wouk rarely granted interviews and never wrote an autobiography, nor were any substantial biographies written about him. The essentials of his life his work, his family, his faith were generally known, but little was ever said, for example, about the death of his firstborn son, Abraham, in 1951 at the age of 4. Time magazine said the boy drowned in a swimming pool while the family was on vacation in Mexico, apparently after having slipped out of the house one morning to sail a toy boat his father had given him. His sons death affected Wouk through his life, a loss he described as a senseless waste. His wife, Betty Sarah, died in 2011. He is survived by his two sons, Nathaniel and Joseph. Luther is a former Times staff writer. Officials in some of south Floridas Democratic strongholds said Thursday that they had been warned the federal government is considering a plan to send them hundreds of migrants from the U.S.-Mexico border in two weeks without any resources to house or feed them. Theyre just going to be letting them into the county with no shelter, no food, no plan, Broward County Mayor Mark Bogen said. Theyre giving us absolutely zero information, zero help and just basically using these people as pawns. Its horrible, absolutely horrible. In a statement, Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony said the U.S. Border Patrol notified him and Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw on Wednesday that it was considering a plan to send immigrants to both counties. Although state and federal government officials have yet to confirm plans, Tony requested an emergency meeting with county commissioners to prepare for any potential influx of immigrants. Advertisement The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately comment. On Thursday, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio sent a letter to Kevin McAleenan, the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, requesting details of any plan to transport 500 migrants a month from El Paso to Florida. Does the Department intend to transport migrants currently in custody at the southern border to states that do not share a land border with Mexico, Rubio asked. If so, why? He also asked whether the department had engaged with state and local government organizations to plan for the migrants arrival and if those entities had asked for additional resources. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, a loyalist to President Trump, also weighed in. The governors office was not informed of this decision, he tweeted. Florida counties do not have the resources to accommodate an influx of illegal immigrants. Last month, the Washington Post reported that White House officials had tried to pressure U.S. immigration authorities to release detainees onto the streets of sanctuary cities, areas whose municipal laws protect people in the country illegally from deportation or prosecution. But the Department of Homeland Security said the idea was ultimately rejected. Trump took to Twitter shortly after the story was published to say he was still considering releasing immigrants who illegally crossed the border in immigrant-friendly communities. Due to the fact that Democrats are unwilling to change our very dangerous immigration laws, we are indeed, as reported, giving strong considerations to placing Illegal Immigrants in Sanctuary Cities only, he wrote. The Radical Left always seems to have an Open Borders, Open Arms policy so this should make them very happy! A Border Patrol official who asked not to be identified said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement had begun flying migrants out from Rio Grande Valley to Del Rio, Texas, to mitigate crowding in the border holding areas. With little information, officials in Broward County and Palm Beach are scrambling to reach out to local charities, nonprofits and businesses to coordinate a plan to help any migrants who may arrive. Its probably one of the most inhumane things and irresponsible policies of the Trump administration, Bogen said. We have two weeks to prepare, and we dont have any information. Are these seniors? Are they children? Are they adults? Reaching out to state officials and officials representing Florida in Washington, Bogen was shocked to find they knew nothing. In normal times, theres coordination between the federal government, the state government and then the county government, he said. We called our governor doesnt know a thing. Our U.S. senators didnt know anything about it. Our U.S. congressman had not been informed. Its hard to believe that the president of the United States would use people as political pawns in an inhumane policy, he added. The president is playing politics with peoples lives. The areas of southeast Florida that have been told they may receive immigrants are overwhelmingly Democratic. About 66% of Broward County voters and 56% of Palm Beach County voters supported Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. Broward County is not a sanctuary city. But in early 2017, the County Commission approved a resolution declaring itself an inclusive county that welcomes, celebrates, and offers refuge to all residents and visitors irrespective of race, religion, ethnicity, or national origin. The resolution declared that immigrants are the foundation of this country and have, throughout history, made significant contributions to the economic and social fabric of the nation. Immigration is a contentious issue in Florida, a swing state that is controlled by a Republican governor, House and Senate. Last month, the state House and Senate passed different versions of a bill banning sanctuary cities and punishing local law enforcement agencies that do not fully comply with federal immigration authorities. The two legislative chambers have yet to reconcile their separate proposals, but Gov. DeSantis is widely expected to sign any sanctuary city ban. Over the last month, Trump has repeatedly singled California out for criticism, suggesting it should take more immigrants. California certainly is always saying, Oh, we want more people, he told reporters at the White House last month. And they want more people in their sanctuary cities. Well, well give them more people. We can give them a lot. We can give them an unlimited supply. Lets see if theyre so happy. Trump himself owns several properties in south Florida, including his lavish Mar-a-Lago resort. That gave Bogen an idea. All I can suggest is that we take these people, if they become homeless, over to Trumps Doral hotel and ask Trump to open up his heart and home to these people, he said. Staff Writer Molly Hennessy-Fiske contributed to this report from El Paso. Casino giant MGM Resorts told federal regulators it might pay up to $800 million to settle liability lawsuits stemming from the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas the deadliest in modern U.S. history. The company believes it is reasonably possible that a settlement will be reached by next May, it told the Securities and Exchange Commission in a quarterly report filed Thursday. MGM Resorts also said it has $751 million in insurance to pay toward a settlement. However, a lawyer handling mediation talks for plaintiffs called it premature for the corporate owner of the Mandalay Bay resort to report a possible settlement range between $735 million and $800 million. Advertisement Were not even close to resolving all the terms and issues before we have a settlement, attorney Robert Eglet said. He said he represents about 4,200 claimants, including those who have sued in California, Nevada and other states, and people who have not formally filed for damages. Its true that a settlement is possible, Eglet said. But I will tell you its not probable. Nothing is signed. We have a long way to go before we have an agreement. Eglet said talks are ongoing with MGM Resorts attorneys, and that he was aware the company would make its report to the SEC. Eglet said he reviewed the SEC document on Thursday and agreed that a settlement should be reached within a year. Company spokeswoman Debra DeShong said progress has been made after multiple mediation sessions over several months. The goal is to resolve these matters so that all impacted can move forward in their healing process, she said. MGM Resorts has defended itself against liability claims, outraging victims last summer when it filed lawsuits against more than 1,900 people in a bid to consolidate claims in one federal court. The plaintiffs are seeking compensation for a range of physical and psychological harm after a shooter rained gunfire from a Mandalay Bay suite into an open-air-concert crowd, killing 58 people and injuring more than 800. They accuse MGM Resorts, which owns the high-rise hotel and owned the concert venue across Las Vegas Boulevard, of failing to adequately protect the 22,000 people attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival. They point to findings that the shooter, Stephen Paddock, spent several days amassing an arsenal of assault-style weapons and ammunition in the two-room suite. Paddock was a 64-year-old retired accountant and high-stakes video poker player. Police and the FBI say he acted alone, firing out the windows with guns equipped with rapid-fire bump stocks then killing himself before officers reached his room. Paddock didnt leave a note or a manifesto, and authorities closed investigations saying they didnt identify a motive. Missouris Republican-led Legislature has approved a ban on abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy, and GOP Gov. Mike Parson is expected to sign it. House lawmakers gave the sweeping abortion bill final approval Friday. The proposed ban allows exceptions only in medical emergencies, not in cases of rape or incest. The Missouri legislation comes after Alabamas governor signed a bill Wednesday making performing an abortion a felony in nearly all cases. Advertisement Republican-led legislatures around the U.S. are imposing new abortion restrictions, hoping more conservative justices will overturn the U.S. Supreme Courts landmark 1973 Roe vs. Wade ruling legalizing abortion nationwide. Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio and Georgia have approved bans on abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can occur in about the sixth week of pregnancy. Former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning was ordered back to jail for refusing to testify to a grand jury, even after telling a judge shed rather starve to death than cooperate with prosecutors. U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga ordered her Thursday to remain incarcerated at the Alexandria jail either until she agrees to testify or until the grand jurys term expires in 18 months. He also imposed fines that will kick in at $500 a day after 30 days and $1,000 a day after 60 days. Manning already spent two months in jail for refusing a previous subpoena to testify to a grand jury investigating WikiLeaks. She was released last week when that grand jurys term expired, but prosecutors quickly hit her with a new subpoena to testify to a new grand jury. Manning has offered multiple reasons for refusing to testify, but fundamentally says she considers the whole grand jury process to be unacceptable. Advertisement Trenga was unimpressed with her rationale and noted that grand juries are embedded in the Constitution. He said he hopes that while incarcerated Ms. Manning would reflect on the principles she says shes embracing ... and whether those views are worth the price shes paying for them. Mannings lawyers had argued that she should not be jailed because she has proved that she will refuse to testify no matter how long shes behind bars. Under federal law, a recalcitrant witness can be jailed for civil contempt only if theres a reasonable possibility that the incarceration will coerce the witness into testifying. If a judge were to determine that incarcerating Manning were punitive rather than coercive, Manning would not be jailed. Whatever you might think of her, Chelsea Manning is a principled person, said her lawyer, Moira Meltzer-Cohen. Shes more willing to put herself at grave risk than to betray her deeply held principles. Manning herself told the judge directly: I would rather starve to death than change my principles in this regard. Prosecutors, though, said that so far Manning has only faced up to two months in jail. She has not faced the reality of being incarcerated for up to 18 months. Simply put, Ms. Manning has not spent enough time in jail to arrive at the time when she could argue that she cant be coerced into testifying, prosecutor Thomas Traxler said. U.S. Atty. G. Zachary Terwilliger said after the hearing that Manning is not being asked to do any more than any other citizen who might have relevant information. He noted that the grand jury has given her immunity for her truthful testimony and that grand juries role in the legal system is to serve as a check on prosecutors by requiring them to present evidence to a group of ordinary citizens before obtaining an indictment. All we want is for her to truthfully answer any questions, he said. Manning served seven years in a military prison for leaking a trove of documents to WikiLeaks before President Obama commuted the remainder of her 35-year sentence. The grand jury in Alexandria has already obtained a separate indictment of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for his role in helping disclose the documents Manning gave him. Manning has argued that Assanges indictment is proof that her testimony is no longer needed and is merely intended to harass her. Grand juries, though, often issue superseding indictments that can outline additional charges to those spelled out in an additional indictment. Terwilliger declined comment on why Mannings testimony is needed now. Well, it looks like 2019 wont be the state Legislatures Year of Housing after all. For months, it seemed like California lawmakers were warming to the idea of sweeping legislation to make it easier to build badly needed housing. The boldest proposal on the table, by Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), called for the state to override local zoning laws to allow mid-rise apartment buildings to be constructed within half a mile of major transit stops or in jobs-rich areas, even in single-family neighborhoods that lawmakers havent dared to disturb. The bill also would allow property owners to convert single-family houses into four-unit apartment buildings anywhere in the state. But on Thursday, a Senate committee put SB 50 on hold without explanation. The bill isnt dead it could be considered again in 2020. Still, the decision by legislative leaders to put the proposal on ice, rather than keeping it going for more negotiation this session, was a surprise and a disappointment. Advertisement The state has to increase housing production, even if it means overriding local control in certain locations. We like the idea behind SB 50, which is to boost housing construction near transit and job centers so people can get around without driving. The goals are well-nigh inarguable: increasing the supply of housing, easing traffic congestion and cutting the vehicle emissions that are polluting the air and fueling global climate change. The proposal has some real shortcomings, however, and we wanted it to be amended to give cities a final chance to accommodate more housing before the bills overrides kick in. Its generally preferable to have the state set housing targets and let local officials who are closest to the people most affected by land-use decisions figure out how to meet those targets. Postponing the bill to 2020 certainly gives lawmakers plenty of time more than they need to develop a model that sets ambitious and equitable housing goals, then gives cities a limited amount of time to zone their land to meet those goals. If cities fail to act, their ability to block denser housing development near transit centers should be preempted by SB 50. But the postponement should be just that: a delay, not a denial. Its clear that the state has to increase housing production, even if it means overriding local control in certain locations. California is in the middle of a housing crisis that is exacerbating poverty and homelessness and driving people out of the state. Many communities, particularly those in urban coastal cities, have steadily put up obstacles to housing construction, leaving the state unable to meet the needs of its growing population. California must build 180,000 units of housing each year just to keep up with demand, but it has averaged only 80,000 a year over the last decade. Even opponents of SB 50 professed to support the goal of building more housing near transit and jobs. Much of the angst has come from communities worried that the bill would destroy single-family neighborhoods. But the fact is, California cant build enough housing if single-family zoning which makes up nearly 80% of the states residential land remains sacrosanct. Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute Banning multi-family development in vast swaths of the state limits the number of homes that can be built, excludes would-be-residents from living near good schools or workplaces, and perpetuates racial and economic segregation. Lawmakers at the local and state level have to allow more apartments, townhouses and condos in more neighborhoods. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who had not taken a public position on SB 50, said Thursday that he was disappointed by the Senates decision to hold the bill. Theres still time for the governor to help shape the next round of negotiations on SB 50. Its also time for Southern California lawmakers to take on a more visible role in shaping and advocating for housing reforms. So far, Wiener and other Bay Area legislators have carried the most ambitious housing bills. City and state leaders from Southern California cant sit on the sidelines and complain about one-size-fits-all solutions. Theyve got to come up with meaningful reforms that cut through the NIMBY gridlock. Newsom had also said he was looking at SB 50 as one piece of larger housing package that would include tenant protection bills. Californias homeless crisis continues to worsen as more and more renters are priced out of their homes. The decision to postpone SB 50 cannot and should not delay vital proposals to expand rent control and require landlords to have just cause to evict tenants. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook The Justice Department has added another level of confusion to the nations already muddled capital punishment system, advising the Food and Drug Administration that it lacks the authority to regulate the importation of drugs used in lethal injections. As a consequence, the Justice Department said, the FDA cant stand in the way of states acquiring them from manufacturers overseas, potentially a key source of these compounds. Yet the advice contradicts a federal judges ruling in 2012, later upheld on appeal, that the FDA must enforce its regulations, including banning drugs entering the country for unapproved purposes or with improper labeling. Up to that point, the agency had refrained from interfering with the drug imports. So now what we have is a situation kind of like when your father tells you to ignore an order your mother gave you. Whats a child to do? At this point, it seems mom wins. Obeying the advisory opinion by the Justice Departments Office of Legal Counsel and letting the drugs come in would mean violating a court order. Advertisement Look for a legal challenge coming soon to a court near you. Justice essentially takes Texas side in a dispute with the FDA over the states attempt to import sodium thiopental, a drug that pharmaceutical companies refuse to make in the U.S., in part because it is used in lethal injections. States have used it as the first dose in a three-drug protocol; sodium pentothal renders the condemned insensate, a second drug paralyzes and the third stops the heart. If the condemned is not rendered unconscious, the paralytic and heart-stopping shots can cause excruciating pain but prevent the inmate from showing it, experts say. Without access to sodium thiopental and similar drugs, some states have turned to using midazolam, a relatively mild sedative not intended to render a patient insensate, as the first drug in the sequence. That had led to some tortured executions, yet the Supreme Courts 2015 Glossip decision reinforced the courts view that some risk of pain is inherent in any method of execution. How humane. Europe bans export of pharmaceuticals for use in executions, so states that want to use sodium thiopental and related drugs have contracted with compounding pharmacies, which specialize in crafting one-off drugs for use by people who, for instance, are allergic to some ingredients in mass-produced drugs. Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute Many of those states also have dropped a legal veil of secrecy over the procurement process, so the public doesnt get to know how much the state is paying in tax dollars to whom to supply the execution drugs. So much for transparency. It says something that many such pharmacies, and the states that turn to them, insist on doing so in the shadows. That brings us to the remaining sources of lethal-injection drugs, and the focal point of the new Justice advisory opinion: China, India and other countries less concerned with whether their products, designed to alleviate suffering, are used to kill people. That has involved dealing with some sketchy characters, as Buzzfeed reported a few years ago. The advisory says that the FDA cant regulate drugs imported for executions because they are not a drug or a device under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act of 1938, which says drugs cant enter the country unless the FDA has approved them as safe. In 2000, the Supreme Court ruled that the FDA couldnt regulate tobacco because there was no safe use for it. The Justice advisory, relying on that interpretation, says drugs imported for executions arent intended for safe use and thus fall outside the FDAs control. Never mind that the drugs are to be administered to a human being. Even if the intent is to kill the person, the drugs ought to be regulated to ensure they are what they are purported to be, and will do what they are expected to do. Look for a legal challenge coming soon to a court near you. President Trump made a great show Friday of declaring that imported automobiles are a threat to national security, buttressing his argument in favor of tariffs on global auto imports. Happily, he put off deciding whether to pull that trigger for at least six months. The escalating trade war with China is already threatening to hit an increasing percentage of U.S. consumers with higher costs, as higher tariffs are applied to a growing number of goods. But a hefty tariff on cars would raise the ante on the consumer pain (and political blowback): More than 15,000 people across the country buy imported vehicles each day about a third of the roughly 17 million cars and light trucks sold each year are assembled in foreign factories, according to research by Frank DuBois of American University. And even domestic manufacturers import at least a third of their components, DuBois found. Trump has been public for some time about his desire to impose auto tariffs as a way to gain leverage in trade negotiations with the European Union (and Germany in particular). The gears started turning last year when he ordered a study by his tariff-happy Commerce Department on the damage imports were causing domestic car makers. But after the department submitted its report privately in February, Trump sat on it for three months, raising hope that he was listening to the howls of protest from industry, the business community and Congress. Thats right U.S. automakers decided they are not asking for Trump for this help. Thats because they have global supply chains and global markets, so they would be hurt not just by U.S. tariffs, but by the inevitable retaliations from our trading partners. Advertisement Trumps proclamation confirmed that auto tariffs remain just a threat at the moment. According to the White House, Trump instructed U.S. trade negotiators to seek a deal with Japan, the European Union and other auto exporters, and if agreements are not reached within 180 days, the president will determine whether and what further action needs to be taken. But as weve seen in Trumps trade fight with China, this is the sort of threat the president actually carries out. Considering how difficult the negotiations are likely to be, especially with the European Union, it feels like the countdown to tariffs on cars and vehicle parts just started. (Imported light trucks and SUVs have been subject to a 25% tariff since the 1960s.) Perhaps the most galling thing about the latest threat is the justification cited by the White House. Trump is trying to exploit a World Trade Organization rule that gives countries latitude to impose tariffs unilaterally when they believe their national security is at stake. But the argument the White House offered Friday was even more specious than the one used to justify slapping 10% to 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imported from longtime U.S. allies. (Trump also announced Friday that he would finally exempt free-trade partners Canada and Mexico from the metals tariffs a move done to win support from U.S. and Canadian lawmakers for the presidents proposed update to the North American Free Trade Agreement.) According to the administration, carmakers research and development on engines, powertrains, materials and autonomous control are important to the U.S. defense industry. That R&D is threatened by competition from foreign automakers, the administration argues, and the (unfathomably large) U.S. military budget isnt sufficient to take the place of private investment. Hence the need to preserve U.S. automakers share of the domestic market for cars. In other words, to preserve innovation by U.S. companies, the government needs to protect them from the competition that drives innovation (as well as improvements in efficiency and quality). But the protection would only be from the competition thats coming from factories overseas. If Trump imposed car tariffs, they wouldnt apply to automobiles made by Honda, BMW or any other foreign manufacturer in their U.S. plants. Forget logic are there no capitalists in this White House? Beyond that, the market for cars is global. While Ford and General Motors obviously want to sell lots of cars in the United States, thats not their only focus. And one can only imagine what might happen to their sales around the world when other markets retaliate with tariffs on U.S. cars. And do we really think the United States is so much of an island unto itself when it comes to national security that its paramount to have U.S.-owned companies making every crucial technology? Granted, Trumps version of America First has come to look like America Alone. But its not a realistic view of the world or of U.S. security interests. If lawmakers had the courage of their convictions, they would take back some of their constitutional authority over tariffs from the White House. There are two bipartisan bills in the Senate to do that, but neither has advanced. Trumps countdown for a deal on automobile imports has given legislators a deadline that should stiffen their spines. Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute For a while there, it looked like California lawmakers were ready to support the kind of dramatic change needed to finally ease the states crushing housing crisis. San Francisco Sen. Scott Wieners bill to override local zoning and allow mid-rise apartment buildings near transit and job centers, even in single-family neighborhoods, cleared two committees and had support from labor, environmental groups and some big-city mayors. Gov. Gavin Newsom said he wanted a package of housing bills from the Legislature, and the details of the bill were still under active negotiation. In short, Senate Bill 50 appeared to have momentum. Until Thursday, when Sen. Anthony Portantino, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, unceremoniously shelved SB 50. Portantino announced at the beginning of the committee hearing that the bill would not move forward this year, although it could be voted on in 2020. Advertisement Committee chairs hold tremendous power to make or break bills, and Portantino a Democrat from La Canada Flintridge clearly dislikes Wieners approach, which is to force cities to allow more construction in select areas. Portantino said SB 50 isnt the right fix at this time. What, then, is Portantinos proposal to address Californias massive affordable housing shortage? License plates. The senator authored Senate Bill 509 to create a specialized California Housing Crisis Awareness license plate program. As if driving past sidewalks lined with tents wasnt enough to raise awareness of the states dire housing and homelessness crisis? Money raised through the sale of the specialty plates would go toward an existing program that helps moderate-income people buy homes. Cmon! Thats not a solution. It wouldnt even offer a Band-Aid for the human suffering and economic damage caused by the states massive housing shortage, which stems from a decades-long failure to construct enough homes to keep up with population growth and restrictive zoning that dramatically limits the number of homes that can be built. So its pretty appalling when a senator chooses to kill SB 50 which is a serious effort to get at the root causes of the housing shortage without even attempting to negotiate a compromise or offer amendments to address his concerns. With leaders like this, dont expect Californias housing crisis to end any time soon. Nor will you be able to express your concern about the problem on your car. Like SB 50, Portantinos bill for the housing crisis awareness license plate was also shelved for the year. Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute As anticipated on Oct. 6, 2018, the day alleged sexual assailant Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed to the Supreme Court, high-stakes gynecology is back in the news. On Wednesday, Kay Ivey, the governor of Alabama, signed into law a bill that could jail for life anyone who performs an abortion. Reminder: Abortion is a 20-minute procedure for ending a pregnancy or, conversely, restarting a menstrual period. Its one of the safest, least eventful procedures in all of medicine. The Alabama law comes timed with proposals and passed legislation in red states across the country restricting access to abortion, in some cases after as little as six weeks of pregnancy and even in cases of rape or incest. Since politicians are newly fascinated by our monthly cycles, we might as well note this too: Girls and women often have no idea theyre pregnant at six weeks. The flood of new, sweeping restrictions is widely seen as what the legal scholar Dahlia Lithwick calls a Supreme Court squeeze play, an attempt to get the justices, five of whom are conservatives, to overturn Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 decision that ruled that Americans have a Constitutional right to privacy when making decisions about pregnancies. Advertisement Its unconscionable to criminalize safe, legal abortions in the name of child welfare. But thats the United States in 2019. Ivey, a politician in a nation founded on the principle of separation of church and state, didnt bring up privacy in Montgomery on Wednesday. Instead, as she signed the abortion ban into law, she invoked religion: This legislation stands as a powerful testament to Alabamians deeply held belief that every life is precious and that every life is a sacred gift from God. A lot of people probably didnt blink at her words. Maybe they dont know that more than 40% of the citizens of Alabama have told pollsters about their deeply held belief that abortion should be legal. Anti-choice grandstanding is so commonplace that weve begun to grow deaf to the relentless sophistry. When President Trump stirs up his pep rallies with haphazard lies about Democrats supporting the slaughter of newborns, hes just Trump being Trump. Whats worse, twisted anti-abortion ideology with its references to magical thinking (you cant get pregnant from rape) and the minutiae of ultrasound microscopy (the millisecond an ootid is penetrated by a spermatid, it has legal rights) is kept so relentlessly center stage that its easily mistaken for a mainstream Republican position. Its not. Just 18% of Americans say they oppose abortion across the board, in the way that the reddest of red states legislatures have in mind. And only a fraction of that fraction has made Roe a decision about privacy rights its bete noire, supercharging any discussion of reproductive health with increasingly hysterical rhetoric about fetal heartbeats, bloodshed, cherubic babies, murderous mothers and genocide. The extremists may invoke Gods precious gift of life, but their rhetoric is prurient, aggressive and nasty. And way over the line. Right now, as a result of the Trump administrations truculent approach to immigration and asylum, children are sleeping in heaps on the ground, or in cages along the southern border. Theyre given nothing but plastic blankets and what one man told Buzzfeed News was food for a dog. Because the law wont allow the government to seize migrant babies anymore, the administrations hope now seems to be that if it mistreats families, theyll self deport. In this context, its unconscionable to criminalize safe, legal abortions in the name of child welfare. But thats the United States in 2019. Catastrophic internment camps are represented as business as usual, and standard gynecological practice is called a moral crisis. Lithwick argues that the frank extremism of Alabamas new law may force the Supreme Court to confront and reject its own anti-abortion leanings. With either an up and down high court vote, or a lower court overrule thats allowed to stand, the anti-abortion forces could lose big rather than win with this showy and cruel law. This makes some sense. At the very least, the Alabama law makes it clear that singling out abortions for undue regulation is never a matter of concern for a womans life or health. Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute One way or another, though, jurists like Kavanaugh, who sounds anti-choice dog whistles under cover of narrow, gentlemanly jurisprudence, will soon have to wrestle with the unscientific and illiberal assumptions that under-gird their panic about womens reproductive freedoms. If a Roe challenge makes it to the Supreme Court, less partisan figures, notably Chief Justice John Roberts, who has been outspoken in defense of the judiciary as apolitical, will be faced with ceding authority to extremists blatantly using religious language and pseudoscience to undermine the Constitution. Betting on rationality or hoping that institutionalism will prevail in Trump times has rarely panned out. As we head into the latest gut-wrenching battle over reproductive rights, disinformation will be pervasive. The worst of it will come from the president, who, in addition to spinning psycho myths about murder in maternity wards, entertains we were told on Thursday graphic fantasies of impaling migrant families on a spiked border fence. The biggest lie of all? That Trump, like so many others who support his border camps and impaler wall, gets to call himself pro-life. Twitter: @page88 Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday met with Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal in Beijing. Wang said that China and Turkey should strengthen strategic coordination and maintain the common interests of the two countries and other developing countries. China hopes that the Turkish side will respect China's core interests in safeguarding national sovereignty and security, and support China's efforts to combat East Turkistan terrorist forces with practical actions, Wang said. The two sides should promote political mutual trust and strengthen cooperation on major projects, he added. Onal said that Turkey supports China's efforts to safeguard national unity and combat terrorist forces and is willing to deepen pragmatic cooperation with China. [ Editor: Zhang Zhou ] As President Trump rails against border crossers from friendly countries to the south, it is worth observing that, when convenient to U.S. purposes, we have brought in our Latin neighbors by the thousands, through bi-national agreements and even by force. During World War II, the United States kidnapped more than 6,000 residents of Latin American countries, selecting those with German, Japanese or Italian roots, and transported them in ships holds or crowded cabins and in trains with blacked-out windows to concentration camps, mostly in Texas. There they were held, sometimes for years, for potential use in trade for U.S. civilians caught behind enemy lines in Europe and the Pacific. At the same time, under an agreement with Mexico we imported hundreds of thousands of farm workers to cover a wartime labor shortage. The secret wartime capture operation, called Quiet Passages, is a blight on our history. The WWII bracero program, which recruited Mexicans anxious for work, was a success, ensuring a stable food supply for U.S. troops and the home front. Unlike residents of other nations caught up in the war, Americans suffered little in their daily food intake. Eventually abuses crept into the bracero program; nevertheless, some 4.5 million Mexican workers labored legally in the U.S. under the agreement until it was terminated in 1966. When convenient to U.S. purposes, we have brought in our Latin neighbors by the thousands, through bi-national agreements and even by force. Advertisement On a spring day in 1943, six months after the bracero agreement was signed, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Mexican President Manuel Avila Camacho sat side by side in high-backed chairs at a rose-covered banquet table in Monterrey, trading viewpoints that are important, even poignant, to remember. Geography made the border between the U.S. and Mexico , which was unfortified and undefended, a natural bridge of conciliation between the Latin and the Saxon cultures of the continent, said Avila. A year later, 300 fliers of Mexican Air Force Squadron 201 trained in Texas and Idaho before making bombing runs over Luzon and Formosa during the liberation of the Philippines and ferrying aircraft from Papua New Guinea to the Pacific theater for the Allies fighting Japan. Minerals vital for military equipment and ammunition flowed from Mexico to U.S. war industries copper, zinc, mercury, cadmium, graphite, lead. We have all of us recognized the principle of independence, Roosevelt said. It is time that we recognize also the privilege of interdependence one upon another. During the Central American wars in the 1980s, a wag among reporters called the El Salvador conflict the war you could drive to, but the road ran both ways. At night in San Salvador, a local radio program took calls from neighborhoods in Los Angeles, which was then becoming the worlds second largest Salvadoran metropolis. To the Rivas family of Santa Tecla thank God we have arrived. For safety and community, young Salvadoran refugees formed gangs in Los Angeles; deported members wrought violence when they returned to their homeland, which now drives other Salvadorans to the United States. The war you could drive to became a Mobius strip, endlessly traveled. In Guatemala, Central Americas largest country, people head north with little regard for obstacles. Ya no da, an indigenous Maya friend of mine says about the fields near her highland village; the earth no longer gives forth as it did before climate change brought drought, or excessive rains. A border wall, or even the threat of seeing their children held in cages, does not stop people from leaving. What would slow or stop them is positive change at home. Nobody wants to be a refugee. Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute Among efforts that have helped to keep Latin Americans from fleeing north are private programs such as one a friend founded with private donations almost 30 years ago, which has benefited hundreds of Guatemalan children and their families, providing the shoes and books they must have for school, and after school, teaching skills that can be applied to professional work. I remember the first youngsters to join; they were living in the city dump, unable to read or write. Now they have jobs in government and media and run the program themselves. (They call themselves Fotokids, after the first skill they learned, photography.) They dont want to leave their families, or Guatemala. Instead of blustering about asylum seekers and cutting aid to Central America, Trump should ensure that assistance goes to non-government organizations with proven records on the ground. Save the Children and Catholic Relief Services, for instance, have worked in the region for decades, providing services such as free monthly check-ups for infants, and they are present in crises, like last years volcanic eruptions in Guatemala. Groups like these can be trusted to know the region and bypass entrenched and corrupt elites. Successful government programs should not be cut but reinforced. In El Salvador, violence has been reduced by 61% in municipalities where the Agency for International Development funds programs. Technical assistance to Honduran farmers has reduced soil erosion by 70,000 tons, encouraging farm families to stay put. With or without a wall, our southern border is just a thin line winding across rivers and ranch land and enormous stretches of desert. That vast landscape is inhabited by neighbors who can each benefit the other in multiple ways. All that is required is a recognition of the interdependence of the countries of our hemisphere, of which President Roosevelt so eloquently spoke at a time when that recognition was a matter of life or death. Mary Jo McConahays latest book is The Tango War: The Struggle for the Hearts, Minds and Riches of Latin America During World War II. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook To the editor: The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has concluded that Pacific Gas and Electric equipment caused the Camp Fire. Most of Europe and many utilities in the United States, including the local telephone company in my second home in the Sierra foothills of Madera County, have buried their lines in the ground. Theyve come through the hills and valleys with big trenching equipment and buried all their lines, even new fiber optic cables, which arent likely to start fires. These lines are buried 3 feet down and run through PVC conduit that wont deteriorate for the foreseeable future. Some utilities decided decades ago that burying lines was too expensive. Let us now compare the costs of burying versus having wires overhead where, despite the work of crews dedicated to keeping them clear of trees, they are an eyesore and source of sparks that start massive fires. Advertisement Bury the darned things. Andrew Carrillo, Venice .. To the editor: Here is a perfect example of fake news. Everybody knows the fires are caused by leftists who refuse to sweep and vacuum the forest. Ill remove my tongue from my cheek now. Jon Hartmann, Los Angeles Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook Eager to score a victory on trade, President Trump agreed Friday to remove a large set of tariffs, rather than impose new ones as he has been prone to do, to boost the chances of getting Congress to approve the renegotiated North American Free Trade Agreement. Trump agreed to withdraw tariffs of 25% and 10%, respectively, on billions of dollars of steel and aluminum from Canada and Mexico that he had imposed a year ago. In return, Canada and Mexico said they would lift retaliatory duties on many American goods, including politically sensitive farm products. The agreement clears one major hurdle for Trump in his bid to get the revised NAFTA through Congress. Trump had faced heavy bipartisan criticism in Congress for levying tariffs on neighboring countries, particularly Canada, Americas close ally. The tariffs were imposed under a section of trade law that allows the president to respond to national security threats, a designation that especially angered Canadians. I am pleased to announce that weve just reached an agreement with Canada and Mexico, and we will be sending our product into those countries without the imposition of tariffs or major tariffs, Trump said Friday in announcing the agreement. Hopefully, Congress will pass the USMCA quickly, he added, using his preferred acronym for the revised NAFTA. Advertisement The announcement came just hours after Trump took another conciliatory step, delaying for up to six months his threat to impose sweeping new tariffs on imported autos and auto parts, also on the basis of threats to national security. Had Trump decided to go ahead with those tariffs, it would have sparked a major backlash and likely retaliation from trading partners. After Canada and Mexico, Japan and Germany are the two biggest exporters of autos to the United States. Taken together, Trumps two moves, delaying one set of tariffs and lifting another, could help deescalate tensions with allies as the administration intensifies its trade fight with China, with whom the United States has the largest trade imbalance and has long struggled to even the playing field. After many months of trade talks, the United States and China appear to be at an impasse, with both sides having ratcheted up tariffs and digging in on their positions. Trumps unilateral approach to trade and his aggressive use of tariffs have caused friction with allies and adversaries alike. Analysts said they remained uncertain whether Trump, who has repeatedly praised tariffs, was truly now looking to ease tensions with allies and build a coalition to help bring China to heel, as many lawmakers and policy experts have urged him to do. In postponing the auto tariffs, for example, Trump largely repeated his argument that auto imports constitute a threat to U.S. security, a position rejected by many U.S. trading partners. The automotive tariff threat will continue to hover over the negotiations with Japan and the EU, said Wendy Cutler, a top trade negotiator for Presidents George W. Bush and Obama and now with the Asia Society Policy Institute. It doesnt mean that the [Trump] administration has a clean slate on trade with them. Trumps removal of steel and aluminum tariffs, however, won widespread applause from businesses and lawmakers. The biggest hurdle to ratifying USMCA has been lifted, said Sen. Chuck Grassley, (R-Iowa). The Senate Finance Committee chairman had said the metal tariffs made USMCA a nonstarter. But the North American deal remains far from assured of ratification by Congress, which is required before it can go into effect. Congressional Democrats have said they would not support the agreement unless changes were made to provisions on enforcing labor rights and the duration that drug companies can keep exclusivity for their products. It is a good thing these tariffs will be lifted, and we should urge our allies to join us in preventing Chinas predatory practices, said Sen. Charles E. Schumer, (D-N.Y.), the Senate Minority leader. But, he added, There are still many other issues that are outstanding before Democrats would support the USMCA. For months, Trump had resisted advice from lawmakers and administration officials to remove the 25% duties on imported metals that he imposed on Canada, Mexico and other countries. Trump wanted to keep protecting domestic steelmakers and help factory workers, who are among his strongest supporters, and he saw the tariffs as leverage for getting better deals from trading partners. But Canadian officials, and prominent Republican senators, had made clear that the revisions to NAFTA could not win approval of either Congress or the Canadian Parliament unless the tariffs were lifted. Canada is the United States largest steel and aluminum trading partner. Trump spoke Friday with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, their third call in about a week, according to a statement from the Canadian government. This is pure good news, Trudeau said, referring to the tariff agreement during a visit Friday to a steel plant in Hamilton, Ontario. As we look at moving forward with the new NAFTA, it didnt make a lot of sense to continue to have tariffs on steel and aluminum between our countries, he said, adding that the tariffs were harming workers and consumers on both sides of the border. In a joint statement, the U.S. and Canada agreed that the metal tariffs would be lifted by Sunday. The U.S. imported about $14 billion of steel and aluminum from Canada last year. After the United States imposed the metal tariffs last June, Canada hit back with tariffs of 10% to 25% on about $13 billion of U.S. goods, including steel, whiskey, appliances and motorboats. The two sides agreed to take steps not to import steel and aluminum sold at below-market prices or produced with unfair subsidies and to prevent shipment of those metals from other countries a provision aimed at preventing Chinese metals from being shipped through Canada to the U.S. The two countries also agreed that they could issue tariffs and counter-tariffs on a narrow basis in case of surges of imports. Although Mexico was also covered by the tariffs, it is a much smaller producer of industrial metals than either the U.S. or Canada. The U.S. imported about $3.5 billion in steel and aluminum from Mexico last year. Mexico had also imposed retaliatory tariffs, mostly on farm and food goods, including apples, pork and cheese. Mexicos deputy foreign minister, Jesus Seade, said his country enthusiastically welcomes the agreement. This action will clear the way to progress on ratification of the USMC trade agreement, he said. The tariffs have boosted steel production and investments in the United States. Domestic steel factory utilization in early May reached 81.7%, up from 76.4% a year ago, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. But the import taxes also have hurt a much wider array of domestic companies that have struggled with higher metal prices and supply problems. I think the administration was feeling a lot of pressure to deliver, either to resolve some conflicts and to get out from under retaliation, and of course it would be nice for the president if he could show some results, said Philip Levy, senior fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and a White House economist under President George W. Bush. As a tactic in trade talks, administration officials and supporters say the tariffs have worked, at least in bringing parties to the table and, in Canada and Mexicos case, in agreeing to revise NAFTA, one of Trumps key campaign promises. The three countries reached their deal on the newly named U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement last fall. Critics, however, said Canada and Mexico were willing all along to negotiate changes to the NAFTA agreement and that the tariffs were not needed. Staff Writer Tracy Wilkinson contributed to this report. The latest from Washington More stories from Don Lee President Trump and Joe Biden have twin obsessions: with each other and with the state of Pennsylvania. Like iron filings to a magnet, both will be drawn in the coming days to Pennsylvania, which was key to Trumps victory in 2016 and would be central to almost any scenario for a Democratic victory in the 2020 presidential campaign. Their trips Biden on Saturday, Trump on Monday elevate an emerging rivalry that has them locked in a wrestlers grip long before Democrats even choose a nominee. Trump, fearing Biden poses the most serious threat in industrial states like Pennsylvania, is trying to diminish him with a barrage of tweets and derisive comments. Biden welcomes the attention and sees it as validating his central argument to Democratic voters: that hes the candidate best equipped to beat Trump. Advertisement Together they are paying little attention to the 22 other Democrats running for the partys presidential nomination, acting as if the starting gun has already been fired on the general election. Their Pennsylvania itineraries are emblematic of their competing political strategies. Trump, aiming to energize the white working-class voters who brought him to victory, plans to hold a rally in rural Lycoming County in the central part of the state, which went for Trump by nearly 45 percentage points in 2016. Biden, hoping to make up for his partys 2016 shortfall among black and working-class voters, will hold his first large-scale 2020 campaign rally in Philadelphia, a bastion of black Democratic strength. Bidens first campaign event was a union-heavy affair in Pittsburgh three weeks ago, when he threw down the glove before the president. If Im going to be able to beat Donald Trump in 2020, its going to happen here, he said. Trumps visit, during which he is slated to campaign for a GOP candidate in a special election who looks to be a shoo-in, comes at a perilous time politically. Public surveys show Biden leading the president in this crucial battleground. The latest Quinnipiac University poll in Pennsylvania found Biden out-polls Trump 53% to 42%, with especially wide margins among independent voters and women. The Trump teams own polling shows him trailing in the state. Thats a far cry from his stunning 2016 victory in Pennsylvania, which, along with narrow wins in Wisconsin and Michigan, demolished Democrats blue wall of support across the industrial heartland. Not since 1988 had a Republican presidential nominee carried Pennsylvania or Michigan. Wisconsin hadnt voted for a Republican nominee since 1984. But Trumps margin of victory in Pennsylvania was only about 44,000 votes out of about 6 million cast. Ever since that upset, warning signs for the GOP have been flashing in Pennsylvania. In special elections in 2017, Democrats flipped some long-held GOP local offices, and Democrat Conor Lamb, a centrist, won a House seat in the heart of Trump country. The 2018 midterm election was a statewide blowout as Democrats won the U.S. Senate and gubernatorial races by double-digit margins. Moving to get a grip on the situation, the Trump political team a few weeks ago traveled to Harrisburg, Pa., for a meeting with Republican National Committee and state GOP officials to address concerns over party infrastructure, organizational readiness and their string of losses, according to two officials with knowledge of the meeting. The Trump campaign officials including David Urban, who oversaw Trumps 2016 operation in Pennsylvania, and Trump 2020 political directors Bill Stepien and Chris Carr came to make it clear that theyll be running the show, one attendee said. Trumps hope for holding on to the state depends heavily on galvanizing Trump voters who may not have turned out in 2018. Democrats are excited about whats been happening here, but you have a very different electorate in a presidential year than in off years, said Charlie Gerow, a GOP consultant in Harrisburg. Urban, who will serve as an informal advisor to Trump in 2020, has tried to keep the presidents focus on positive economic news. If the question is always Are you better off than you were four years ago? people in Pennsylvania will say Yeah, we are better off, and there are numbers that point to that, Urban said. Pennsylvanias unemployment rate in March dropped to 3.9% the lowest since 1976. The Quinnipiac poll found that 54% believe they are financially better off today than they were in 2016. But that does not necessarily translate into political victory, as indicated by the numbers in the same poll showing Trump trailing Biden. Matt Morrison, executive director of Working America, a labor-backed grass-roots political group, said Democrats needed to offer substantive economic alternatives to counter Trumps claims on the economy in Pennsylvania. Even in smaller communities, you are starting to see pickup in job growth and wages, but this is trying to overcome a 40-year slide, Morrison said. A Democrat is not going to win those voters by saying, See, that guy failed. Bidens approach so far has been to promise in general terms to lift up the middle class and to appeal to people who are not benefiting from recent economic growth and Trump-era tax breaks. The stock market is roaring, but you dont feel it, Biden said in Pittsburgh. Theres a $2-trillion tax cut last year. Did you feel it? Did you get anything from it? Of course not. Of course not. All of it went to folks at the top and corporations that pay no taxes. Bidens Pennsylvania launch also sends a message to Democratic primary voters: As a Scranton-born centrist, he brings unique strengths to beating Trump in Pennsylvania and across the industrial belt. When you look at Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, these are the constituencies that Joe Biden has fought for his entire life, said John Anzalone, a Democratic pollster who advises Biden. Philadelphia, where Biden is basing his campaign headquarters and holding his kickoff rally, is particularly important to Democrats if they are to make up for the failings of Clintons 2016 campaign. Although Clinton won the city and surrounding suburban counties, the margins were not as big as she needed to overcome the massive increase in rural turnout that carried Trump to victory. African American turnout in Philadelphia fell. Biden hopes his ties with the black community will allow him to change that in 2020. Bidens Democratic rivals dont buy his argument that he has a unique lock on places like Pennsylvania. The Quinnipiac poll showed that, in hypothetical matchups, Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts also out-polled Trump, although Biden did so by the widest margin. But Republicans concede that Biden will be a much more formidable opponent than Clinton in 2016. He was raised in northeast Pennsylvania, spent a large part of his political career in southeast Pennsylvania and fancies himself as a candidate who can garner a lot of blue-collar support from the building trades all of those are areas that were nontraditional supporters of the Trump campaign last time, said Mike DeVanney, a GOP consultant in Pittsburgh. But with months to go until the first primary contests, Republicans are hopeful that Biden, should he survive the primary, will emerge seriously bruised and pushed far to the left. Hes obviously a formidable candidate, but he hasnt even been attacked yet, DeVanney said. His numbers have only one way to go, and thats down. The latest from Washington More stories from Janet Hook The Trump administration on Friday missed another deadline to produce President Trumps tax returns. A top House Democrat said he expects to take the administration to court as early as next week over the matter. Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said in a letter that he will not comply with the subpoena from House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal for six years of Trumps tax returns because the request lacks a legitimate legislative purpose. Mnuchins rejection of the subpoena had been expected. Earlier Friday, Neal had said, We will likely proceed to court as quickly as next week. Asked if he might seek to hold Mnuchin in contempt of Congress for his refusal to supply the tax returns, Neal said, I dont see that right now as an option. I think that the better option for us is to proceed with a court case. Advertisement Democrats are seeking Trumps tax returns under a 1924 law that directs the Internal Revenue Service to furnish such information to the chairs of Congress tax-writing committees. In a statement Friday after Mnuchins decision was announced, Neal said that the law does not allow for discretion as to whether to comply with a request for tax returns and return information. In his statement, Neal said he would consult with committee lawyers on how best to enforce the subpoenas moving forward. Besides Trump, every president since Richard Nixon has made his tax returns public. In a tweet on May 10, Trump said that he had won the presidency in 2016 partially based on no Tax Returns while I am under audit (which I still am), and the voters didnt care. Now the Radical Left Democrats want to again relitigate the matter. Make it part of the 2020 Election! When he issued the subpoena last week, Neal said he was seeking six years of Trumps personal and business tax returns to aid a committee investigation into whether the IRS is doing its job properly to audit a sitting president and whether the law governing such audits needs to be strengthened. In his letter Friday saying he would not comply with the subpoena, Mnuchin said he had consulted with the Justice Department and had been advised that he was not authorized to turn over the tax returns because Neals request did not represent a legitimate congressional purpose. Mnuchin said that while he will not turn over Trumps tax returns, he has offered to work with the congressional panel to accommodate its stated interest in understanding how the IRS audits and enforces the federal tax laws against a president by providing the committee with information on the mandatory audit process for presidential returns. The fight with Congress over Trumps tax returns is one of a number of battles House Democrats are having with the administration over the release of information. The House Judiciary Committee has voted to hold Atty. Gen. William Barr in contempt and is fighting to obtain an unredacted report prepared by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III on Russian interference in the 2016 election. The California Energy Commission has concluded that market manipulation may be one factor in why the states gas prices are so high and has proposed a five-month study to pin down why motorists here pay more than those in the rest of the country. California motorists were paying an average of $4.05 a gallon for gasoline on Friday, the highest price in the country and $1.20 more than the national average, according to AAA. The Energy Commission has identified a number of possible causes that could explain the residual price increase in California, ranging from refinery outages to potentially market manipulation, the panel said in a six-page memo to Gov. Gavin Newsom. The commission concluded that a study should be conducted to thoroughly quantify the possible causes discussed in this memo. The Energy Commission proposes to spend the next five months examining those causes and reporting back to the Governor. Advertisement The memo was sent to Newsom, who requested a review of the high gas prices last month and on Friday supported the planned deeper dive into the issue. We appreciate the work of the Energy Commission and look forward to reviewing their findings, said Brian Ferguson, a spokesman for the governor. The oil industry responded Friday by saying that causes for the states gas prices include market forces, the states environmental rules, such as a requirement for special blends of gas, as well as the states decision in 2017 to raise the gas tax by 12 cents per gallon to pay for road repairs. This report provides further evidence of what market experts and government agencies have maintained for years: there are many factors that influence movement in the price of gasoline and diesel, but the primary driver is the dynamics of supply and demand of crude oil, said Catherine Reheis-Boyd, president of the Western States Petroleum Assn. The initial review by the Energy Commission said that California gasoline prices have diverged noticeably from U.S. averages beginning in 2015 when an explosion at the Torrance refinery interrupted supplies. While that outage lasted roughly one and a half years, the increase in California gasoline prices remained well after the restoration of normal operations at Torrance, the report said. The residual price impact ranging of between 17 cents and 34 cents per gallon has remained in the market, and might be explained in part by other refinery outages and crude prices, the report said. Others have labeled the differential in price as a mystery surcharge, the cause of which is debatable. The commission said that at least part of the explanation for the residual cost could be the practice of higher-priced brand retailers of gasoline Chevron, Shell, Exxon, Mobil, and 76 to charge higher prices than unbranded, ARCO and hypermart retailers, for essentially the same product. That issue would be a focus of the five-month study, the commission said. While this practice is not necessarily illegal, it may be an effort of a segment of the market to artificially inflate prices to the detriment of California consumers and could account for at least part of the price differential, the memo said. Representatives of oil companies, including Chevron, referred requests for comment on the reports findings to the Western States Petroleum Assn. The states cap-and-trade program that requires polluting businesses to pay for credits to offset the impact of their operations, also play a role in Californias higher fuel prices, the report said. Assembly Republican leader Marie Waldron of Escondido put much of the blame for high gas prices on the Democratic majority in control of state government. We know the most obvious cause of high gas prices and thats the gas tax that was voted by Democrats two years ago, with more increases coming, said Waldron. She also said the state Air Resources Board is considering stricter regulations on refineries that she believes will drive up gas prices. If there is fraud in the market, we certainly need to put an end to it. But if we want to lower gas prices immediately, theres a simple solution repeal the gas tax, Waldron said. Consumers can still find competitive prices if they shop around, according to Marie Montgomery Nordhues, a spokeswoman for the Automobile Club of Southern California. California gas prices could definitely benefit from increased competition, increased refinery capacity, and easier access to alternative fuel sources in other parts of this country, she said. The new five-month study announced Friday may not be the only look at California gas prices. Some lawmakers have asked state Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra to look into the surcharge at the start of the year, but the Department of Justice has not commented publicly on the request. Sign up for our Essential Politics newsletter patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com Twitter: @mcgreevy99 California lawmakers balked Thursday at cutting taxes on cannabis to help the foundering legal market, while they moved forward a proposal to require more cities to allow pot shops but reduced the number of new stores required. Both bills were aimed at bolstering state-licensed cannabis sales and reducing the black market for the drug two years after Californians approved Proposition 64, which legalized its recreational use. With two-thirds of cities outlawing pot shops, the state has licensed 631 retailers, about 10% of what state officials originally expected. Cannabis sellers and consumers complained that state taxes on the drug were too high, providing an incentive for residents to buy it on the black market. Advertisement In response, Assemblyman Rob Bonta (D-Alameda) authored a bill that would have reduced the state excise tax on cannabis sales from 15% to 11% for three years and suspended the cultivation tax of $148 per pound during that period. The Assembly Appropriations Committee shelved the bill for the year after its staff estimated it would cost the state $227 million in revenue for the fiscal year starting July 1. The measure was supported by state Treasurer Fiona Ma and the California Cannabis Industry Assn. as a way to create a more level playing field for the legal market. We are deeply disappointed that the committee chose to hold the bill, said Amy Jenkins, senior policy director for the association. Reducing taxes on the compliant cannabis industry is essential to ensuring that licensed operators can compete against the illegal market. Supporters said the proposal may resurface next year. Im not happy, Ma said after the bill was delayed. You are just killing the businesses of the people who are trying to do the right thing and comply. A committee staff review said a tax cut could draw a lawsuit challenging the Legislature for altering a voter-approved initiative. Staffers recommended the committee may wish to consider whether this bill is premature given that the legal industry has been operating for just a few years. Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego), the committee chairwoman, declined to comment on the decision to hold the bill. Last year the committee shelved a similar bill that she called really expensive. As it is, Gov. Gavin Newsom this month reduced his estimate of cannabis tax revenue for next year to $359 million, down $156 million from earlier estimates. A leading supporter of Proposition 64, Newsom had not taken a position on the tax cut legislation but urged those concerned about the slow growth of the market to be patient, saying it could take five or more years to reach its potential. A second bill aimed at helping legal cannabis sales was advanced by the committee to the Assembly floor Thursday, but only after it was changed to reduce its effects on cities. The measure would require cities to approve cannabis stores if a majority of their residents supported Proposition 64. The measure by Assemblyman Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) originally would have required one cannabis store for every four bars and restaurants with liquor licenses or 10,000 residents, whichever is less. The Assembly panel amended the bill Thursday to require one pot shop for every six liquor licenses or every 15,000 residents. Ting noted that while voters approved Proposition 64 in 388 of Californias 540 cities and counties, two-thirds of local governments have outlawed cannabis shops. The lawmaker said he was pleased that his bill moved forward to a floor vote. We must ensure legal cannabis businesses can compete against the black market, Ting said. AB 1356 will bolster public health and safety, and help the regulated market succeed. The change in the bill did not convince representatives of cities, including Burbank Mayor Emily Gabel-Luddy, to drop their opposition to Tings proposal. Proposition 64 gave cities authority to ban cannabis stores, the cities said. The amended bill, Gabel-Luddy said Thursday, still violates the terms of the initiative that was passed. The proposal also continues to be opposed by the California State Assn. of Counties, according to spokeswoman Sara Floor. The bill infringes on local control and the ability to decide when and where commercial business are permitted in cities and counties, Floor said after the Thursday vote. Tings proposal ratchets up a dispute over cannabis sales after cities sued the state recently to challenge a rule allowing home delivery in areas that have banned pot shops. His original bill would have required about 2,200 new cannabis stores to be approved. State officials said they are still calculating the effects of the amended bill. The Assembly panel shelved some 249 of the 721 bills it considered Thursday. Those sidelined for this year include a bill that would have placed a $25 excise tax on the sale of new firearms with the proceeds to go to programs aimed at reducing gun violence. Assemblyman Marc Levine (D-San Rafael) proposed the measure just weeks after a gunman killed 12 people at a Thousand Oaks bar. The lawmaker hoped the issue could advance next year. The sad reality is that more children will be killed in schools and more families will be killed in their houses of worship until we take serious action to end gun violence, Levine said late Thursday. Now is the time to act, and I hope my legislative colleagues will show courage when this bill is considered in January. Sign up for our Essential Politics newsletter patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com Twitter: @mcgreevy99 California public health officials estimate four in 10 children would be denied a waiver from vaccines required to attend school under a contentious bill to tighten medical exemptions in the state. State public health officials said they expect students and their families to make 11,500 requests each year seeking an exemption from immunizations due to a medical reason, with 5,000 of those likely to be rejected under the new authority that Senate Bill 276 would grant to the agency. The bill has prompted immense backlash from some parents, who say their children had adverse reactions to vaccines that would be deemed not severe enough to warrant a medical exemption under the bill. Hundreds of parents have flooded Capitol corridors for hearings and jammed legislators office phone lines arguing that the state should not be able to overrule a doctors medical advice. Someone like my daughter who suffered 16 seizures after her first and only vaccination would not qualify, said Michelle Sabino of Orange County. She would be forced to be vaccinated in order to attend kindergarten. Advertisement California has been able to reduce its vulnerability to diseases such as measles due to a high vaccination rate. Nationally, more than 750 people have been diagnosed with measles this year, the most cases nationwide in more than 20 years. Of those, 44 cases of the measles have been in California, which has some of the strictest laws in the country requiring childhood vaccinations in order to attend public or private schools. California only allows exemptions if a doctor says there is a valid medical reason to skip all or some shots. But the author of SB 276, Sen. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) said doctors are excusing too many children from immunizations for questionable reasons, such as for having asthma or diabetes, prompting his push to allow the state to review existing and newly sought exemptions. The states public health department estimated that temporary medical exemptions would also be reduced under SB 276, with 500 being denied each year of the 3,500 the state expects would be filed. The real issue we are looking at is we have these schools with high numbers of medical exemptions, Pan said in an interview Friday. These schools are not safe from an outbreak. One student during spring break who travels to Europe can catch a disease and bring it back to their school. You have children who legitimately need a medical exemption and we are trying to protect them. Pan said reports of doctors advertising medical exemptions for money prompted him to introduce the bill. He said the states medical board that oversees doctors has found it difficult to investigate unscrupulous physicians selling medical exemptions because the parents seeking them are not cooperative. Now, with a nationwide surge in measles, Pan said the state must ensure every child who can be vaccinated gets their shots. Under SB 276, the states Department of Public Health would ultimately decide whether the underlying condition for seeking the medical exemption meets guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control. Medical exemptions that have already been approved would have to be submitted to the state for inclusion in a non-public database by the end of 2020. The bill would allow public health officials to review and possibly revoke existing exemptions. Opponents of the legislation have argued that the majority of medical exemptions would be rejected under the bill, far more than the 40% predicted by the Department of Public Health. Legitimate medical exemptions will be approved, said Catherine Flores-Martin of the California Immunization Coalition. Opponents just dont like that their particular exemption may not be approved. California, West Virginia and Mississippi are the only states that do not allow parents to opt out of vaccinating their children based on religious or personal belief reasons. California eliminated its personal belief exemption in 2015 under a bill authored by Pan that increased the states overall immunization rates. However, since that law was passed, the number of medical exemptions in the state increased from 0.2% in 2015-2016 to 0.7% the following two years. Pan said his bill would stop that number from trending upward. This is all to deal with a very small number, said Christina Hildebrand, founder of A Voice for Choice Inc., a group that opposes what it calls forced vaccinations, in testimony to lawmakers in opposition to the bill. It doesnt make sense. The bill must pass the state Senate before May 31. If it does, it heads to the Assembly for consideration. melody.gutierrez@latimes.com Follow @MelodyGutierrez on Twitter and sign up for our Essential Politics newsletter. About a billion miles more distant than Pluto is Ultima Thule, a peanut-shaped object in the outer solar system thats the farthest place ever visited by humans. For the record: A previous version of this article said Ultima Thule receives 900 times less sunlight than Earth does. It receives nearly 1,900 times less sunlight than our planet. NASAs New Horizons spacecraft zipped past Ultima Thule on New Years Eve (Pacific time), flying within 2,200 miles of the space rocks rust-colored surface. The data it captured is now giving scientists a rare glimpse into the solar systems early days. Ultima Thule has spent most of its 4.5 billion years frozen in time in the Kuiper Belt, a doughnut-shaped region beyond Neptune that contains remnants from the solar systems early days. Its surface is barely heated by the sun, which is about 4 billion miles away, according to an initial analysis of New Horizons data published in Fridays edition of the journal Science. Advertisement We had never seen something that was so primordial, so unchanged since the early formation days, said Alan Stern, the principal investigator for the New Horizons mission. The kilogram is redefined, and scientists say it was worth the weight Ultima Thule is whats called a contact binary object, consisting of two lobes that formed separately through an accumulation of small particles of gas and dust. Only later did they fuse together, scientists believe. The new report is based on only 10% of all the data collected by New Horizons during its flyby. The full download wont be complete until mid-2020. Here are seven things weve learned about Ultima Thule so far: It has been essentially undisturbed for more than 4 billion years Ultima Thule is about 43 times farther from the sun than we are, and as a result, it receives nearly 1,900 times less sunlight than we do on Earth. Since it has never gotten warmer than about -350 degrees Fahrenheit, it has been well preserved since its formation shortly after the solar system was born. During its 293-year orbit around the sun, some regions of Ultima Thule receive no sunlight for decades at a time, while others face the sun for decades straight. Scientists think variations in daily and seasonal temperatures have probably only affected a very shallow surface layer of the Kuiper Belt object, ranging from a few millimeters to a few meters. Different chemical changes that might happen dont occur, said astronomer Will Grundy of the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz., leader of the projects surface composition team. It just never got warm. At all. Its lobes came together in a very gentle collision The larger lobe is nicknamed Ultima and the smaller one is called Thule. They came together in an unusual way. Collisions in Ultima Thules section of the Kuiper Belt typically occur at the speed of a bullet, but Ultima Thule doesnt display the scars that would have resulted from such a violent merger. They would be very heavily damaged, if not catastrophically destroyed, by such collisions, said Stern, who is based at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo. Instead, scientists estimate that Ultima Thules lobes made contact traveling only a few miles per hour. Planetary scientist Cathy Olkin, a deputy project scientist for New Horizons who also works at the Southwest Research Institute, said researchers arent exactly sure why the lobes came together at such slow speed. They might have lost momentum as a result of having to slog through gases that hadnt yet been pushed out of the solar system at the time, or by interacting with objects such as lumps of dust. They would exchange momentum with these other small objects, sending them far away and bringing Ultima and Thule closer together until they touched, she said. There are no moons or rings Many objects in Ultima Thules region of the Kuiper Belt are accompanied by satellites, but Ultima Thule itself appears to be flying solo. New Horizons also looked for rings around the object and didnt find any of those either. If there had been a moon, it would have helped scientists determine the density of Ultima Thule. Instead, all the study authors could say is that its most likely to resemble the nuclei of comets. It is lightly cratered Both lobes have pits, but the team identified only two possible impact craters, in a depressed region on Thule called Maryland. Scientists said the relative dearth of possible impact craters they have found so far may point to a deficit of small objects on the Kuiper Belt. There are fewer things to crash, and when they do crash, they are crashing at smaller speeds, Grundy said. Its surface has patches of brightness Ultima Thule is extremely dark and reflects no more than 12% of the light that strikes its surface. For the sake of comparison, potting soil reflects about 10% of its light, Stern said. The surface has three types of bright patches: circular or oval spots; lanes that are either straight or gently curved; and what Stern described as broad, diffused regions. The brightest spots are at the objects neck the junction between both lobes and on Maryland. Its unclear how these bright patches came about. They are generally correlated with low regions, Stern said, and they could have been created by bright, fine-grained particles that slid downhill. Theres little water on the surface There are indications of water ice on Ultima Thules surface, but it doesnt appear to be abundant. Whatever water ice might be there is probably either limited or masked behind other material, Grundy said, but it likely hasnt evaporated. Its not that easy to get rid of water ice at those kinds of low temperatures because its basically a rock, he said. Ultima is unusually flat Ultima is wider than Thule, and its significantly flatter too. New Horizons project scientist Hal Weaver, a planetary scientist at Johns Hopkins University, said that the flatness could have resulted from natural variability during its formation, when an elongated swarm of small particles collapsed around a core clump of matter. The stuff is streaming with a particular speed and preferred direction, he said. Its that directional thing thats giving you an elongated shape. Telecommunication companies are steadily rolling out 5G services across the country and installing devices needed to power a faster data infrastructure. However, several protesters gathered in front of an AT&T store in downtown Burbank Wednesday to tell companies to pump the brakes and consider the possible health impacts that 5G devices could have on the public. Rola Masri, research director for the nonprofit California Brain Tumor Assn., said 5G wireless devices have not been tested for safety, and the Federal Communications Commission is making it easy for telecommunication companies to install their equipment. A consultant for Burbank previously said the 5G devices are smaller and use less energy than previous equipment, which results in more devices having to be installed to cover a given area. The additional wireless devices, which could be installed near homes, raise concerns, according to Masri and other protesters. Additionally, they took issue with a recent FCC ruling that prohibits state and local governments from impeding on the implementation of 5G devices. We need to protect our children, and we havent been doing that at all, Masri said. These industry lobby groups have spent millions of dollars lobbying to get these bills passed, and the FCC is industry-captured. Masri, a La Crescenta resident, said she is proactive when it comes to limiting the use of wireless devices by her family. All of the computers in her home access the internet via ethernet cables, and their cellphones are put on airplane mode and placed in other rooms whenever possible. We do know that there is some need for [wireless and cellular services], but we limit it, Masri said. There should be a way to limit this. If we put a man on the moon, we can figure this out, too. Also attending the rally was La Crescenta resident Ted Baumgart, who wore a sign that read NO 5G around his neck and held two other signs with a similar message. He, too, has hard-wired all of his technology devices to the internet and thinks telecommunication devices can result in cancer or other illnesses. Instead of focusing on increasing internet data speeds, Baumgart said telecommunication companies should be concerned about the well-being of their customers and the public. Im not against the progress, but we need a better quality of life, he said. Do I want [5G devices] without medical studies? No. We need to slow down. Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. This year presented a series of firsts for married couple Kevin and Lisa Long and the people of Orange County. For the Longs, it marked their first time opening a business that sells Cariloha bamboo products. For the county, it signaled the first time having a Cariloha shop. The Longs 1,139 square-foot store on the first floor of the Pacific City shopping mall along Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach sells bedding, mattresses, clothing and other products made of bamboo. In order to be made into fabric, the bamboo is taken out of the stalk, mixed into a solution and then spun into yarn, the Longs said. The materials feel cool to the touch because of bamboos natural properties. The fabric is able to wick away moisture, meaning it grabs moisture from the body and moves it to the outside of the fabric where it can easily evaporate. Some products, such as the bed sheets, are made entirely out of bamboo. Other items like towels and various apparel are a blend of bamboo and other materials, including cotton. Cariloha carries bamboo clothing including robes and shirts at the Pacific City mall in Huntington Beach. (Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer) The Cariloha company chain has more than 50 locations in the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean. Besides the Longs Cariloha location in Huntington Beach, there are three others in California San Francisco, San Diego and Solvang. The Mission Viejo couple first learned of Cariloha during a trip to Las Vegas where Lisa bought a shirt from Carilohas Mandalay Bay location. As she checked out her item at the cash register, she saw a set of brochures on how to open a Cariloha. At the time, Kevin had finished working in the human resources industry for 30 years after the most recent company he had worked for was sold. He had an offer to return to the corporate world, but he said his wife told him, You dont seem happy to be going back. So the couple started researching how to open their own business in September of last year. We thought we probably didnt want to open a brick and mortar location with all the online presence already out there, Kevin said. But this is the type of product you really have to touch and feel. If you love the product then its easier to run the business and we can look people in the eye and say that we love these sheets. Socks made from bamboo spun into yarn are part of the clothing and other fabric items at Cariloha in Huntington Beach. (Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer) In the process of getting their shop off the ground, the company provided different types of support, such as designing the store, picking the products and having a customer service manager train them. The two opened the Orange County location in May. The Longs said the shift in careers has been gratifying for them in a multitude of ways, including giving a high school student her first job and getting to know regular customers. Weve seen the same customers come back three or four times, Lisa said. Like, they first got a mattress and now they need pillows and sheets. Then their son needs sheets. Then their daughter needs sheets. Shirts and other clothing made from bamboo at Cariloha in the Pacific City mall in Huntington Beach. (Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer) Whether they face days filled with plenty of hustle or others that are slow, the Longs are prepared to take on either one. If we dont sell anything, we can just look at the ocean, Kevin said with a laugh. But having only been open for a few months, theres still a list of things the two are ready to face together. We havent been through a whole year of seasons and we dont know what the holidays will bring just yet, said Lisa, whom Kevin calls the face of the store. Its scary and thrilling at the same time, and those are the sort of things that make you feel alive. Alexandra.Chan@latimes.com Twitter: @AlexandraChan10 Newport Beach has a front-running candidate to lead community outreach in updating the citys long-term planning and development guideline. The city received five applications and the citizen-led General Plan Steering Committee publicly interviewed three applicants Wednesday, asking about their familiarity with general plans and how they would engage casual observers of local government. After weighing the candidates answers and seeing work samples, the committee tentatively pegged Kearns & West, which has offices around California and elsewhere in the country, as its top pick. The outreach specialist, which will be confirmed by the City Council this summer, will be expected to become familiar with the current general plan, capture community desires and summarize them as part of a full general plan update process that is expected to take about three years. Committee member Larry Tucker said he was impressed with how the Kearns & West employees who would directly handle Newports outreach took the committees questions. Committee Chairwoman Nancy Gardner said she liked how the firm is focused on the educational process more than a particular outcome. A staff review also placed Kearns & West at the top of the application pile, giving it high marks for qualifications and experience, references, understanding of scope and ability to perform. The two Kearns & West project managers said they have worked on more than 25 local general plans between them, while one of the firms consultants has worked on more than 60 general plans. Locally, the firm has worked on the Laguna Beach Village Entrance project, which wrapped up its first phase this month. The committee split its search for consultants, separating the preliminary listen and learn outreach from the preparation of the actual plan, which will require another application process. However, the panel leaned toward firms with both strategic communications and municipal planning backgrounds. City Community Development Director Seimone Jurjis said the next step for staff will be to review the applicants proposed prices. The city plans to spend about a year on outreach. Public forums generally will cover land use, housing, traffic, sea level rise, sustainability and, specifically, the future of development in the John Wayne Airport area, Banning Ranch, Mariners Mile, Newport Center and the harbor and bay. Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. The vastness of the universe is in the palms of teenagers hands all the more significantly for Lucie Courtois. Courtois, 18, is visually impaired. She and two friends with normal vision huddled this week around a laptop that, fed with code in the Quorum programming language, directs telescopes in Chile to capture images of asteroids. Quorum is simplified for blind users of screen-reader technology. The images the telescopes at the Cerro Tololo Observatory capture using its commands will be run through specialized software that converts the data points into sounds. Astronomers, computer scientists, software engineers, high school students and their teachers are piloting Quorum and the Afterglow Access software to make typically visual astronomy applications accessible for blind and visually impaired people through a nationwide project called IDATA, or Innovators Developing Accessible Tools for Astronomy. That draws Courtois, a junior at Corona del Mar High School, and Abby Gordon and Cooper Hubbard, freshmen at Edison High in Huntington Beach, to a classroom at St. James Episcopal Church in Newport Beach to be part of the discovery. Abby, 15, runs pictures of an asteroid and the surface of Earths moon through Afterglow Access to demonstrate its musical chiming. It gets louder as it gets brighter, she said. I didnt think you could listen to a picture. They also can feel space imagery. On a nearby table are plastic tiles with the Whirlpool Galaxy in relief, created with a 3-D printer in teacher Barbara Stachelskis classroom at a Tustin middle school where she teaches special education by day, before the weekly late-afternoon class at St. James. The galaxys nucleus and star factories are rounded bumps and the largest stars are distinct pin heads. A sighted person can see the spiral arms. A blind person touches them, processing the bumps and pins like the raised dots in a Braille book. Cooper Hubbard uses Afterglow Access software that interprets a photograph through sound. Two white lines move up through the image and a tone plays as the lines pass over the object in the photo. It goes silent as the lines move over the black areas. (Kevin Chang / Staff Photographer) Stachelski, a St. James parishioner and Sunday school teacher, is part of a team that received a National Science Foundation grant two years ago to teach astronomy to visually impaired and fully sighted students. Last summer she took two of her astronomy students to IDATA program headquarters in Wisconsin to meet teachers, students, astronomers and programmers from around the world to learn and plan sessions for this year. She expanded her program to Newport Beach in the fall, housing it in a St. James Sunday school classroom open to all. Cooper, 14, started programming in the C++ language in seventh grade but had memorized the solar system much earlier, around kindergarten. He said he enjoys astronomy and wants other people to enjoy it too. Hearing light and touching representations of stars millions of light years away are other ways of doing it, Courtois said. Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. A former Orange Coast College student suspected of vandalism and violating a protective order that barred him from the Costa Mesa campus has filed a civil lawsuit against the college. Robert McDougals lawsuit, filed in Orange County Superior Court on Monday, alleges negligence, emotional distress, assault, battery and false imprisonment on the part of the college and school officials. McDougal, a 22-year-old Costa Mesa resident who has been diagnosed with autism, started attending the community college in 2014 and was excelling academically, according to the lawsuit. In an August 2017 letter to OCC officials that was attached to the lawsuit, McDougals parents allege that the college, despite being told about his disability, failed to accommodate their son. The letter was part of a claim filed with the college that month that sought $5 million in damages. OCC was grossly negligent in handling this situation, the claim states. OCC harassed Robert and discriminated against him because of his disabilities. The damage to Roberts image and reputation is irreparable. An OCC representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. The lawsuit, which names OCC, the Coast Community College District and several college employees, is seeking an unspecified amount in damages. College officials have said McDougals issues at the campus began in February 2017 when he started incessantly emailing his chemistry instructor asking to retake an exam with the help of a calculator. He had received a B on the exam without a calculator, a lower grade than he expected. The instructor, Amy Hellman, declined his request to retake the test, according to transcripts of emails filed in Superior Court last year. School officials have said on Feb. 27, 2017, he barged into the classroom while other students were present. Security officers escorted McDougal out of the building, but when they werent looking, he ran back inside and sprinted in circles around the classroom, according to a Costa Mesa police report. McDougals lawsuit presents a different version of events. It states that he was so upset and fixated on the fact the two questions could affect his grade that he impulsively dropped the class then immediately tried to get reinstated into the class. McDougals attorney, John Christl, wrote in court papers that Hellman sent McDougal an email saying she would allow him to complete the test questions and be reinstated into the class. However, when he showed up, he was told to wait outside until class was over. McDougal was confused when security walked him away from the building, according to the suit, and when the bell rang his sole focus was to get to Hellmans class to retake the two quiz questions and be reinstated into the class. He ran back to the class, got slammed to the ground and doused with pepper spray by a security officer, according to the lawsuit. Costa Mesa police, who ultimately arrested McDougal, have said he was pepper-sprayed after kicking security officers and yelling a racial slur at one of them. A restraining order barring McDougal from entering the campus or contacting Hellman was granted by Judge Michael McCartin in March 2017 at the behest of college officials. That same month, McDougal was suspended from all Coast Community College District facilities until March 2019, according to college officials. He was arrested again in March 2017 on suspicion of carving a swastika and the N-word into the hoods of two OCC security vehicles and slashing their tires. He was booked into Orange County Jail and later posted bail. Prosecutors allege McDougal returned to the campus several times over the next several months in violation of the protective order. McDougal is facing felony vandalism charges and misdemeanor charges of disturbing public school, remaining on campus without consent, resisting a public or peace officer, and disobeying a domestic relations court order in connection to the incidents, according to court records. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and is expected to appear in court in Westminster for a pretrial hearing on March 16. hannah.fry@latimes.com Twitter: @HannahFryTCN Not to be dramatic, but its almost call time for the Orange Coast College student repertory as rehearsals wind to a close and the Costa Mesa community colleges 33rd annual One Act Play Festival comes center stage starting this weekend at the campus Drama Lab Studio. The One Act Play Festival first began with retired instructors Alex Golson and Bill Purkiss as an opportunity for students to choose and direct their own original or published productions. Golsons brother Rick Golson, a professor of theater arts and co-manager of the repertory, said: We are great believers in learning by doing. We are indebted to one of our alumni, Sean Wellengard, who went on to get a graduate degree in playwriting and now gives free playwriting workshops to help the students develop original works for the One Act Festival. Wellengard, who works at Orange Coast Colleges scholarships office, said he never tells the students that they need to change this or that, but ask them why and if this is what they intended. The goal of the workshops was not only to help students understand formatting and play structure so their work might be easily produced by the [Orange Coast student repertory], as well as other theaters in the area, but also to give a high-quality festival of plays to close out the academic year, Wellengard said. The One Act Play Festival runs Saturday and Sunday and the following weekend, May 25 and 26. It will include five different plays, averaging about 30 minutes each. Bryan Harris, a fifth-year student, described his production, Love, as a sadcom. Its a comedy in some areas, but it does not shy away at all from the sadness of life, he said. He said he doesnt like the term dramedy a show that is part drama and comedy for his play because he feels it doesnt capture how satirical and abstract it is. Harris said Love is loosely based on a story by Winston Rowntree but that he wanted to put myself in it and my own experiences. He said he has been writing since January. The show, which will play Sunday, is the fourth draft of it hes written. At least one thing people can take away from my show is if you feel lonely, if you feel like no one understands you, there are people out there that do, Harris said. Amira Satah, a freshman, said she started writing her play, Thursday Shift, last semester as part of an assignment for her directing class. She said she expanded it when Anthony Farley, a fellow student and one of the actors in the production, suggested it. Satah described the play as kind of a farce, really. Its a mix between comedy and a bit of drama in there, but its mostly a farce. The show is basically a married couple cheats on each other with the same person, she said. Anthony and I have put a lot of work into this talking about it ... trying to find a cast and trying to get the costumes together, Satah said. It was definitely a stressful process, but I do feel very proud that my names going to be on the program as director and writer. IF YOU GO What: One Act Play Festival When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and May 25 and 26 Where: Drama Lab Studio, Orange Coast College, 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa Cost: Free Information: Thursday Shift will play Saturday and May 26. Diversions, What is Honestly, Personally Best, Stern All for Your Lives and Love will play Sunday and May 25. All shows are recommended for mature audiences. Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. A sign welcoming motorists to Glendale stood undamaged for almost a year and a half until Friday morning when a car crashed into the concrete marker, and the vehicle flipped onto its roof. The crash occurred sometime around 9 a.m. near Foothill Boulevard and Pennsylvania Avenue. The impact caused the car to flip over and cracked the sign in two. The sign is pretty much destroyed, Dan Bell, a city spokesman, said. Weve cordoned it off and secured the location. Well be assessing the damage further in the coming days. Bell added that no injuries were reported from the crash in what he calls a good testament to wearing a seat belt. OK someone destroyed the remaining stupid 'welcome to glendale' sign this morning at Foothill & Pennsylvania in #LaCrescenta Hopefully, this time @MyGlendale was admit these tombstones were a disastrous idea & remove the remains. #GlenFAIL (Photo credit Hayrik) pic.twitter.com/CLX4V6sbi7 Mom2-3Ls (@Mom2a3Ls) May 17, 2019 The marker was one of two Welcome to Glendale signs installed in late 2017 along Foothill. The other, installed near Lowell Avenue, was removed in December after being struck by motorists in three separate incidents. The first crash at Lowell occurred a month after the signs installation in a hit-and-run collision where the driver fled from the scene on foot. The sign was repaired and, five-months later, a 78-year-old man drove into it after making an illegal lane change. That incident prompted city officials to install additional safety measures around both signs, including reflective pavement markers and safety stripes. However, the Lowell sign was knocked down a third time in late November by a male driver who was arrested at the scene for driving under the influence. The last crash at Lowell led city officials to remove the sign. The Pennsylvania marker was left up because it hadnt been damaged by any crashes until now. Bell said its unknown if city officials will remove the sign or repair it since all options are on the table in regards to its fate. Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. It is hard to believe that three-fourths of a century ago, the D-Day Normandy invasion occurred on June 6, 1944, a major turning point leading to the end of World War II. Reading stories about veterans making the journey back to France for the 75th commemoration is a reminder about how few World War II servicemen are still alive under half a million. Time is running out for young people to hear firsthand what World War II was like, and to hear from Holocaust survivors, for they too are dying off only 400,000 remain. Soon, students will only learn about these major historic events from textbooks and videos. With the world increasingly rife with fake news and debunkers of facts, the rallying cries of Remember Pearl Harbor and Never Again will evaporate. In fact, just last year after the Parkland, Fla., high school shooting, a hashtag Never Again was used to label school shootings, effectively wiping away its original meaning about the six million Jewish people who were exterminated. Two-thirds of millennials dont know anything about Auschwitz, according to a 2018 study released by the Conference of Jewish Material Claims Against Germany. Meanwhile, in an Anti-Defamation League study, there was a doubling of anti-Semitic assaults in the United States last year, which included the deadliest mass shooting of Jews in the United States at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. The Holocaust is part of the California History-Social Science Framework, one of 11 states that require such instruction. That means 39 other states do not mandate the teaching of the most heinous grand-scale mechanization of killing the world has ever known. Is there a connection between the lack of teaching and the rise of hatred? The Poway synagogue attack was just a few weeks ago. And this week, two students from Palos Verdes High School made the news for an online post of a promposal sign which spelled out the N-word. The photo of them holding up the sign and laughing hysterically reminds us about how much young people need to learn. They also need to learn that colleges and employers have access to the internet. Remember, these are kids from high economic backgrounds who will enter the workforce and, while they may make money, they will not make the world a better place with such a lack of sensitivity of people unlike themselves. Currently, my students are studying the Holocaust and reading Night, Elie Wiesels memoir about his year in Auschwitz as a 15-year-old. We could be right in the middle of a tender moment between Elie and his father struggling to find food, but as soon as the passing bell rings, students quickly slam the books shut and head for the exits as if they sit on joy buzzers, quickly plugging in their earbuds and texting friends. Earlier this year, Holocaust survivors visited Hoover High. I had a student TV crew videotape the event. As these frail, elderly people shared the most traumatic experiences of their lives, there in the front row, center seat, was a girl whose head was down. Not only should that student be ashamed, so should the teacher who did not properly monitor or prepare the students for this outing. One would think that with a large Armenian population, these students would have more motivation to learn about genocide from people who escaped it. As a teacher, it is sometimes disappointing to recognize that no matter how talented some of my students may be, their maturity lags behind due to their brains not fully developing until a decade later. That is why auto insurance rates are so high for young drivers and dont drop until age 25. Every year, I teach William Staffords Fifteen, a poem about a teen who upon discovering a riderless motorcycle gets on the bike. After revving the engine, the 15-year-old decides he is not ready to take the motorcycle on his lifes journey. He stood there, fifteen ends the poem. Parents and teachers need to make sure their children are not riderless and guide them toward becoming better informed people. Brian Crosby is a teacher in the Glendale Unified School District and the author of Smart Kids, Bad Schools and The $100,000 Teacher. He can be reached at www.brian-crosby.com. Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. After over a year of the passageway between the Orange Street garage and Brand Boulevard being closed to the public it has finally reopened. It appears the city has again given over public land to another commercial enterprise. When it opened, the Chess Park park was touted as being award-winning. It was also part of the Glendale Fresh Air Initiative. Those signs have been taken down. There was little public open space downtown as it was. Now there is even less. I fear that people who wish to patronize businesses on Brand Boulevard, including the Alex Theatre, now will have to face the gauntlet of tobacco smoke emanating from the outside dining area that has taken over three-quarters or more of what was Chess Park. This is very shortsighted of our city. More pollution rather than less. People have no option but to walk around the block if they wish to avoid a cloud of tobacco smoke emanating from a commercial business. In the morning when I walk to work down Brand I can count 100 cigarette butts on the sidewalk and in the gutter in front of a bar/billiards hall that has two pole-mounted ash trays outside. This establishment has a bouncer who sits on a stool out front. It would be nice if he were given a broom and a bucket for him to police the area, a courtesy this business could contribute to the cleanliness of the city. This establishment is directly across the street from the former Chess Park that has been reduced in size to a mere passageway. Hence, the two steps backwards. John King Glendale -- In the years Ive lived in Glendale many diverse cultures have been commemorated or otherwise publicly observed, including Armenian Remembrance and Korean Comfort Women. With so many LGBTQ families opting for Glendale as their home, I look forward to the City Council including this community into their public embrace and comments as part of this citys continued narrative. As June 28 marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, this is a good year for that to begin. While we wait for City Council to catch up, be sure to follow the many Gay Pride events scheduled at ace/121 Art Gallery in DTGlendale (Facebook, Instagram) including an intergenerational panel that will discuss what its been like living queer in Glendale over the years. Grey James Glendale Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. On Nov. 5, 1932, officers of the Beverly Hills Police Department gathered for their semiannual inspection. A brief story in the next morning's Los Angeles Times explained that "uniformed officers of the Beverly Hills Police Department yesterday assembled the thirty beat men and radio patrolmen who safeguard the peace and order of the unique metropolis where a majority of the motion-picture celebrities reside." "Members of the motorcycle squad and detective bureau," the Times article explained," are not included in the group." After posing for group photos on the steps of Beverly Hills City Hall, "they lined up for the inspection before Chief Charles C. Blair." The Beverly Hills Police Department formed in 1927. Blair, the first police chief, served until 1942. Nov. 5, 1932: Members of the Beverly Hills Police Dept. in courtyard of Beverly Hills City Hall, being inspected by Police Chief Charles C. Blair. Los Angeles Times Archive / UCLA See more from the Los Angeles Times archives here In 2014, Mukesh Kumar, like much of Indias underclass, had pinned his hopes on Narendra Modi, who became prime minister after his party won elections in a landslide. Today, Kumar regrets voting for him. In five years there should have been so much progress, but nothing has changed, said Kumar, 26, a municipal sanitation worker who earns about $200 per month sweeping the streets of Varanasi, one of the holiest cities in Hinduism. Modi is only building roads, he said. What about those of us who are cleaning those roads? We are right where we were, dying in the heat of the sun, burning on the streets. Advertisement Kumar belongs to the Dalit community, formerly known as the untouchables, the lowest level of Indias ancient caste hierarchy and in the last election an important part of the historic victory by Modis Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. Though the party, known by its initials BJP, was traditionally seen as catering to upper-caste Hindus and the business elite, it won 40 of the 84 parliamentary seats reserved for Dalits, primarily on Modis promises of economic development for all. Now as Modi seeks a second five-year term in multi-stage national elections whose results are expected Thursday, Dalits are once again expected to play a crucial role. But here in Uttar Pradesh, Indias most populous state, many Dalit voters say Modi has failed to keep his economic pledges, while others point to growing caste-based violence and a perception that Modis government has diluted some legal protections for Dalits. In 2014 and through the early part of Modis tenure, the BJP was trying to use more inclusive language, saying that Modi cuts across all castes and communities, said Neelanjan Sircar, a senior visiting fellow at the Center for Policy Research, a New Delhi think tank. That has significantly shifted, and in the last couple of years there has been noticeable caste polarization. Indias constitution in 1950 outlawed caste-based discrimination and enshrined affirmative action for Dalits. But the countrys 200 million Dalits are still often denied access to basic rights such as public water sources and in some areas are still banned from marrying into higher castes or even sharing food with them. Many are confined to the most menial jobs, such as cleaning sewers by hand, a practice euphemistically called manual scavenging. In cities and villages, Dalits are often shunted into separate enclaves like the 1,000-person shantytown where Kumar lives, in the Ravindrapuri neighborhood of Varanasi, which runs alongside a newly paved road with recently installed LED street lamps. The residents of the shanties say Varanasis progress has not made it to their doorsteps. They complain of a paucity of jobs, stagnant income, rising prices and a lack of water. One day recently, just outside the labyrinth of tightly packed, one-room brick homes, five hogs feasted on rotting garbage that had spilled onto the side of the road. A statue of Babasaheb Ambedkar, the Dalit author of Indias constitution, stood a few hundred feet away just outside Ravindrapuri. In 2014, Modi ran for Parliament from Varanasi, a nod to his Hindu values, and won by a large margin. Soon afterward, he established an office down the road in Ravindrapuri and embarked on ambitious plans to clean the city and the banks of the Ganges River, boost tourism and build new roads. A partnership with the Japanese government was meant to transform Varanasi into a high-tech smart city in the image of Kyoto. Little of that has materialized. Though Modi is still expected to win comfortably in Varanasi which votes on Sunday, the last stage of the election some analysts see his party losing ground in Uttar Pradesh. The state holds 80 of the 543 seats in Indias Parliament, 71 of which the party won in 2014. Dalits account for roughly one-fifth of the voters in the state, and surveys by the independent Center for the Study of Developing Societies showed Dalit support for the BJP falling from 31% in January 2018 to 22% in May 2018, the most recent month for which figures were available. The suicides of two Dalit university students in 2016 and 2017 made national headlines. In Modis home state of Gujarat, Hindu vigilantes battered four Dalits for skinning a dead cow, an animal sacred to Hindus. In 2018, Indias Supreme Court introduced measures to restrict the use of a law aimed at reducing hate crimes against Dalits and indigenous tribes, a move that sparked nationwide protests. (Modis government eventually reversed the court order.) Dalits also opposed a recent move to extend affirmative action quotas for government jobs and higher education to poor upper-caste Hindus, a change that educated Dalits said could eventually unravel their own protections. There has been vikas progress only on the surface, said Rita, a 24-year-old Dalit who goes by one name and is a doctoral student at the Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi. She helped lead student protests against the affirmative action ruling. My communitys condition is only deteriorating, becoming more insecure, she said. She said she would cast her vote for an alliance of two regional parties the Bahujan Samaj Party, which has historically represented Dalit voters; and its erstwhile rival the Samajwadi Party, which has relied on support from other low castes and Muslims, another community that has complained of marginalization under Modi. The two parties won a significant chunk of the Dalit vote in Uttar Pradesh in 2014, and their so-called grand alliance this time poses a serious threat to Modis dominance in the state. There has been a political reawakening in the Dalit community in opposition to the BJP, and the BJP has not been able to understand it fully, said Hemant Kumar Malviya, an associate professor of political science at Banaras Hindu University. The BJP has attempted to woo Dalit voters by appointing Ram Nath Kovind, a Dalit, to the mostly ceremonial post of president in 2017. In March, Modi washed the feet of five Dalit sanitation workers, a move that he described as an expression of his values and which has reportedly been featured on BJP election pamphlets distributed in Dalit-dominated areas in Uttar Pradesh. Kumar said that when Modi visits Varanasi, police restrict Dalits movements for security reasons and remove Dalits from the streets. Of course, now, in election season, he will wash our feet, Kumar said, shaking his head angrily. He will do whatever he can to win our votes. Thirani Bagri is a special correspondent. There are many hairstylists out there who can easily work with hair and make their clients look really good. But one lady whose work with hair looks so impressive has caught attention on social media. The lady known as Laetitia Ky aka Mastermind Laetitia can create images, just like any other artistes does, with just her hair. Photos sighted by Legit.ng show a variety of 'unusual' styles Laetitia does with her hair. READ ALSO: Talented Nigerian man works wonderful artworks with condemned tyres (photos) She can braid images of a TV, an umbrella, a fish, a scorpion, a hand carrying a phone, and other amazing stuff out of her hair Laetitia, Legit.ng understands is from Ivory Coast who learnt how to braid at the tender age of five. As she grew up, Laetitia perfected her act and turned it into an art. Let's take a look at some of her works below: 1. Phone in hair: Laetitia can breathe life into her hair. 2. Hair TV: Laetitia carries a whole TV on her head. PAY ATTENTION: Read best news on Nigeria's #1 news app 3. Swim like a fish: Laetitia turned her younger sister into a fish 4. No teddies needed: Laetitia only needs her hair for company. PAY ATTENTION: Get your daily relationship tips and advice on Africa Love Aid group 5. On the mic: Laetitia sings her favourite song through her hair microphone. 6. Hair of justice: Laetitia preaches justice and equality with this style. READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda 7. Rain or shine: Laetitia has an umbrella for the bad weather. 8. Bike hair: It looks like Laetitia loves bikes. READ ALSO: Berla Mundi goes black in latest no makeup photo and she's just beautiful 9. Walking video woman: Laetitia can shoot a whole movie all by herself. In other news, Legit.ng gathered the report of Nigerian actress Regina Daniels who showed off her newly customized car plates. The teen star customized her plate number as 'forever 16'. She shared the photos with fans and followers on her Instagram page. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have upgraded to serve you better Talented Nigerian man with 28 skills says he did not learn from anybody (Amazing Story) | Legit TV Source: Legit.ng - A human rights group has commended the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai for exposing those behind the unrest in Nigeria - The group said what Buratai have disclosed is not really new - According to the group, political support for Boko Haram is something that it had expressed concerns about shortly before the elections A human rights group has backed the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai for exposing those behind the unrest in Nigeria. The Coalition of Human Rights Groups warned those behind the serial acts of banditry, kidnapping and killings must desist from these evil acts and change their ways. The executive director of the group, Maxwell Gowon, in a statement released on Thursday, May 15, appealed to defeated political players in the last election to use proceedings in expressing dissatisfaction with election outcomes without resorting to bloodletting. Gowon said what Buratai have disclosed is not really new. He said political support for Boko Haram is something that the coalition had expressed concerns about shortly before the elections. "The favor General Buratai has done for Nigerians is to confirm that the threat from politicians that lost election is real," Gowon said. READ ALSO: Senate backs Buhari, passes bill shifting Democracy Day from May 29 to June 12 He said the coalition was drawing the attention of Nigerians to five critical points which included, an opposition backed terrorist groups and foreign mercenaries to cause insecurity in several parts of the country prior to the elections. Gowon said the groups were backed with an aim that the resulting chaos will either allow them rig the polls or deplete potential votes for President Muhammadu Buhari in his strongholds. He said: "We are calling on the politicians that lost elections to have a rethink and immediately desist from sponsoring killings and supporting Boko Haram or any terror group to unleash deaths on Nigerians. There are legal proceedings to expressing dissatisfaction with election outcomes without resorting to bloodletting." He urged the Nigerian Army and other branches of the Armed Forces not to relent in the commendable efforts they have made in saving the country from the killers unleashed on the rest of us by the failed politicians. "It is apparent that the situation would have been far worse if Nigeria does not have committed leaders in the military. "Our appeal to the federal government is to repeat an earlier stated position that the situation at hand has gone past the one for political consideration. "People that are devious enough to send killers after the electorate as punishment for not being voted do not require pampering; what they need is the activation of the full powers of the Nigerian state against them and the military and security agencies should be allowed to deploy this," Gowon said. "They should get the backing to go after anyone found to be sponsoring these killers irrespective of whether there will be cries of clamp down on the opposition or not," he added. READ ALSO: PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news update Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Buratai, has blamed the violence and banditry in the country on the embittered politicians who lost in the last general elections. Buratai said this on Wednesday, May 15, during the visit paid to the Army by the House of Representatives committee at the militarys headquarters of the Theatre Command Operation Lafiya in Maiduguri, Bornu state. I want to believe and rightly so that what is going on in the northwest is a fall out of the just concluded general elections. "There are several political interests; politicians in particular who lost in the election and because of their defeat, therefore they are trying to take revenge sponsoring some of those banditry activities and seeming conflicts between farmers and herders," Buratai said. Follow LEGIT to keep pace with the breaking news in Nigeria! Primate Ayodele releases 2019 prophecies, says B/Haram will infiltrate the army| Legit TV Source: Legit.ng - Edo state commissioner of police, DanMallam Abubakar, has washed his hands off the arrest of Benin kingdom chief priest - The policemen who carried out the arrest of the chief priest were said to have done so without the permission of Abubakar - Top officers in the state are said to have been questioned by the IG of Police over the matter Mohammed Adamu, inspector general of police, is said to have queried top officers in the Edo state police command over their role in the arrest of chief priest of Okhuaihe Shrine, Osarodion Usuanlele, Ohen Nu Koni Evbuekoi of Benin kingdom. News Telegraph reports that the state commissioner of police, DanMallam Abubakar, has since washed his hands off the invasion of the palace of the chief priest and his subsequent arrest. He said the command never authorised the arrest of the priest. Uhunmwonde, where the chief priest resides, is more than 60 kilometres from Benin city. READ ALSO: Saraki, Dogara, others defection unlawful - Court The police commissioner said it was a sad development that the indigenous people who were conversant with the traditions were the same people who tried to mess it up. He said: "Firstly, I did not authorise the arrest of the chief priest and nobody informed me until the traditional offence had been committed. "Benin kingdom is one of the oldest kingdoms and we have high regards for the kingdom and will not allow anybody to come and mess the tradition up." READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda Recall that Legit.ng reported that Police IG Adamu Mohammed on Thursday, May 9, said the force would embark on new strategies to stem the rising tide of criminalities in Nigeria. The police spokesman, Frank Mba, made this disclosure during a conversation with journalists in Abuja. NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service! 2019 Election: New IGP Speaks Tough | Legit TV: Source: Legit.ng A police stakeout at a local dog and cat grooming business helped catch a repeat thief in the act, Bethlehem Township police said. The owners of Pettin On The Ritz grooming, 2514 Willow Park Road, noticed money was missing multiple times, and they believed the cash was being taken after the business closed for the day. A new surveillance camera recorded the thief stealing cash on Wednesday, but police said they wanted to catch the burglar in the act. Twenty five minutes after the business closed on Thursday, officers on a stakeout said they caught Ramon Rivera, 44, going into the shop. Rivera was using a key to the business, which he had fraudulently obtained, police said. Rivera, of Oberly Street in Bethlehem, was arrested and charged with five counts each of burglary and criminal trespass, and single counts of theft and receiving stolen property. Police said he was sent to Northampton County Prison in lieu of bail to await a preliminary hearing. Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. A masked man just before 3:45 a.m. Friday entered a Wilson Borough convenience store, put a gun to the 20-year-old cashiers head and demanded money, borough police report. The cashier at the Penn Jersey Gas Station at 2134 Northampton St. turned over an undetermined about of money and the gunman assaulted the cashier before heading east on the 2100 block of Ferry Street, police said. The cashier was unhurt, police added. In looking at surveillance, police saw a second man come into the store with the gunman and guard the front door during the robbery, police said. The second man left with the robber, police said. An armed man just before 3:45 a.m. May 17, 2019, robbed the Penn Jersey Gas Station, 2134 Northampton St., borough police report. A second man, seen here, served as lookout, police say.Courtesy photo | For lehighvalleylive.com Anybody with information on the crime or the men sought is asked to contact Detective Jason Hillis at 610-258-8542 or via the Northampton County 911 non-emergency line at 610-330-2200. Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. A man who exposed himself to two 12-year-old girls in a Bethlehem area supermarket was sentenced Friday to spend one to two years in state prison. Benjamin Franklin Ryder admitted he first exposed himself to a 17-year-old employee on Oct. 2, 2018, at the Wegmans supermarket in Hanover Township. Then the 23-year-old Hatboro, Montgomery County, man exposed himself to the 12-year-olds in the same supermarket on Dec. 4, 2018. The incidents were captured on surveillance video, records say. Police tracked him down after lehighvalleylive.com readers identified him from the photo. He pleaded guilty to two counts of indecent exposure, one for each date. Prior to that, a woman said Ryder was fondling himself so that she could see him on June 26, 2018, in the 400 block of Brighton Street in Bethlehem. He pleaded guilty to open lewdness in connection to this case. Northampton Count Judge Jennifer Sletvold sentenced Ryder to one to two years plus three consecutive years of probation. He must comply with treatment recommendations, stay away from children under 18 and stay away from the victims and their families. Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook. When Northampton County Assistant District Attorney Abraham Kassis needed her to testify, Thressa Duarte was nowhere to be found. Now that county sheriffs deputies tracked her down, she is in prison. The 26-year-old Easton woman said she fled to Pittsburgh because she didnt want to testify in the trial of Dekota Baptiste, the man police called her boyfriend. Police said Baptiste killed Terrance Lex Ferguson out of jealousy because Duarte was with him. I didnt want to come to court. I was scared, Duarte told Northampton County Judge Samuel Murray. Kassis expected Duarte would testify that she was in the car with Ferguson when Baptiste opened fire on it Feb. 23, 2017, in front of the Palmer Township AutoZone store. Baptiste, 26, of Easton, was convicted despite Duartes absence. A jury deadlocked Tuesday on whether to sentence Baptiste to death. Murray sentenced him Friday to life in prison without parole plus 19 years and five months to 51 years in prison for crimes related to the killing. Duarte briefly took the witness stand on Monday, May 6, but was too emotional to testify. Murray told her the court waited for her Tuesday, then Wednesday, then Thursday but she never showed up. She was brought into the courtroom via wheelchair on Friday, May 17. She had an awkward smile she hid behind her hand, a pose that appeared to bother the judge. Am I taking up your time? Murray asked. No, Duarte said. Then pay attention. Look at me when Im speaking, he said. The judge set bail at $1 million and scheduled a contempt hearing for June 7. Kassis said she could be sentenced to up to six months for failing to appear to testify. The judge said he set a high bail because she was a material witness in a capital murder case and failed to appear in court. She was also sought on a domestic relations warrant. The warrant was withdrawn when she appeared in court to testify May 6 because she was expected to appear at the Northampton County domestic relation division. The judge reinstated the warrant after she disappeared. He set a hearing date for Monday to address that warrant. Kassis said Northampton County sheriffs deputies apprehended Duarte. She did not turn herself in. Duarte told Murray she is now living with her grandmother in Easton. She also stayed in Bethlehem recently, she said. Baptiste denied in court that Duarte was his girlfriend. He said he killed Ferguson in self-defense. Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook. A Phillipsburg man accused of having child pornography is also facing accusations he used social media to contact children for illicit sexual activity. Matthew Settele, 42, was arrested last week in Warren County when police raided his home. He faces a charge of possession of child pornography in New Jersey following that search, and is being held in county jail while awaiting extradition to Massachusetts. Police in Newbury and Salisbury, Massachusetts, said Settele used a popular social media website to contact children for illicit sexual activity and for illicit sexual photos. The Eagle-Tribune reports the investigation included alleged chats with Settele via Facebook since late February. Settele reportedly believed he was talking to children, but they were actually undercover detectives, the paper reports. In Massachusetts, Settele faces a total of 19 counts of providing obscene matter to a minor and a single count of dissemination of obscene matter. Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. A Laois resident accused of murdering her boyfriend told gardai that she had washed the knife she had been holding during the fatal fight with him without looking or realising there was blood on it. Her trial heard that the knife was found by gardai in a kitchen drawer and showed, under magnification, three specks of blood matching the deceaseds. The evidence was heard on Friday in the Central Criminal Court trial of a 48-year-old woman, charged with murdering her 40-year-old boyfriend in her Co Tipperary home. Inga Ozolina, originally from Latvia, but with an address at Old Court Church, Mountrath, Co Laois, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Audrius Pukas at The Malthouse, Roscrea, Co Tipperary, on November 20, 2016. He died from a stab wound to his chest. Forensic Scientist John Hoade testified that he examined a knife seized from Ms Ozolinas kitchen. The court already heard that it was found in the cutlery drawer. He took it out of its protective case and held it up for the court and jury. He explained to Paul Murray SC, prosecuting, that he had found light blood staining on its 21cm-long blade. The bloods DNA profile matched that of the deceased. They were three very small specs of blood, he said, explaining that he had used magnification in his exam. I imagine it would be very difficult to see with the naked eye. He agreed with Caroline Biggs SC, defending, that this was the knife described by Ms Ozolina in her garda interviews. The accused said she had grabbed the knife after her boyfriend started hitting and biting her and that he had tried to wrestle it out of her hand before he retreated. Detective Garda Stuart Beatty then gave evidence of an interview in which she was asked why this knife was so clean when found. I threw it in the sink and then naturally I realised there was blood on my hand, she said, adding that this was a tiny bit and that she could have scratched herself. So, I washed my hand, a few forks and something else, she continued. I could have washed that knife as well. I did not look. I threw it into the sink. She was asked how she would not see blood on the knife. I was concentrating on my hands, she replied. She was asked about the knife causing her boyfriends wounds. While he was biting me, I could have made a reflex motion towards somewhere, she said. I could have hit him with the knife. It was just a reflex. She said that fights had happened so many times before, knives had been produced and chairs had gone flying. She said she had used a knife to defend herself before but that he hadnt previously tried to take it off her. I was in pain. It was a reflex. I didn't think where the knife was going, she added. I could not control my arm. Hes a male, stronger than me. Why are you torturing me? The trial continues on Monday before Mr Justice Alexander Owens and a jury of seven men and five women. A Portlaoise man has been given a suspended sentence for his third conviction for driving with no insurance. Patrick Murphy (36), 21 OMoore Place, Portlaoise, was charged with having no insurance or driving licence, at Church Avenue, Portlaoise, on April 9 last. Sgt JJ Kirby gave evidence that the accused had nine previous convictions, including driving without insurance and drink driving. Judge Catherine Staines noted that the accused had been driving on this occasion in breach of two disqualifications. Defence for the accused said that the accuseds partner had been driving on the day and she parked in an area where another vehicle came in behind her. The accused tried to get the attention of the third party, but the driver was on the phone, so the accused decided to get into the car and drive it. Defence said the accused had remained at the scene, to which Judge Staines asked had he caused an accident to. Defence replied he had. Defence went on to say that the accused was not working now but he had been employed with the British Army for four years. Defence said that the accused made a very foolish decision on the day, which could have potentially devastating consequences for his family. As this was the accuseds third conviction for driving without insurance, Judge Staines imposed a six-month prison sentence but suspended this for one year. She disqualified him from driving for six years. If you get into a car before you get your licence back you will go to prison, Judge Staines warned the accused. A landmark Laois pub on the Offaly border in the heart of Portarlington has sold at auction above the asking price to a Westmeath publican. Matt Dunne, of Matt Dunne & Associates RICS SCSI, the Portarlington-based auctioneering, put the pub under the hammer at the Heritage Hotel Killenard on Tuesday, May 14. The Pint O Port licensed premises on Upper Main Street was lot two in the auction. Mr Dunne was selling the premises on behalf of Michael and Collette Manley who are retiring from business. "The reserve was placed at a very realistic 150,000 which was surpassed almost immediately. Four bidders contested with the eventual winner Mr Edward O Donoghue, a former publican from Mullingar securing the premises with his final bid of 181,000. "The purchaser was delighted as he thinks the premises has fantastic potential in one of Ireland's fastest growing towns," said the auctioneer. The pub was one of three properties auctioned on the same day. Lot one was a detached 4-bed bungalow on one acre. There were three bidders for this lot. "It was only when it was put on the market at 195,000 that the bidding really took off between two people that wanted it," said Mr Dunne. After 35 bids, the gavel came down at 234,000. "The lucky buyer was Mr Martin Barrett who was renting and works in the area. He was delighted with his purchase as it suits him perfectly," said Mr Dunne. The final lot was eight acres of land in Mylerstown, Naas, Co Kildare. Described as marginal, it has extensive road frontage. Bidding stopped at 85,000 and the property was withdrawn. Mr Dunne says he is in active negotiation with the underbidder and is confident of bringing matters to a successful conclusion over the next few days. RTE journalist and author Barry Cummins has closely followed some of the most high-profile missing cases in Ireland including Kildares Deirdre Jacob who vanished over 20 years ago. Where did they go? Are they dead or still alive? How many have been murdered? How many killers have got away with their crimes? The updated edition of his bestselling book, Missing examines the latest leads and developments in these unsolved cases, including Annie McCarrick, Mary Boyle, Jo Jo Dullard, and Fiona Pender women who disappeared under eerie circumstances in the 1990s and whose bodies have never been found. Written with the assistance of the gardai and the families concerned, Cummins also examines the possibility that a serial killer, who has never been caught, may be responsible for the murders of some of these women. Also included is two new chapters exploring the work of the An Garda Siochana Operation Trace Unit since its foundation in 1998, along with a detailed chapter on the abduction and brutal murder of teenager Marioara Rostas in Dublin city centre in June 2008. This new edition of Missing: The Unsolved Cases of Irelands Vanished Women and Children is described as a comprehensive and shocking account of 30 years of investigations into the unsolved cases of those who have been abducted, murdered or simply vanished in Ireland. SEE ALSO: New Kildare campaign highlights issues around childbirth and trauma A Newbridge candidate in next Fridays local election has issued a statement after details emerged of a conviction he received for embezzlement from the public health service in the 1990s. The Irish Times has reported that Tom Dempsey pleaded guilty to fraud in 1994, on charges relating to 5,000 he was accused of defrauding from the Eastern Health Board. It was, they say, a sample charge out of a claimed total of 63,000 that was taken. Mr Dempsey has said that the money was used to make discretionary payments to people in enduring great hardship and in extraordinary circumstances and that all of these payments were approved in writing by his supervisor subsequently. The Irish Times reports that press accounts from the time court case indicated that Mr Dempsey, a former priest, was a Robin Hood figure. Mr Dempsey states he did not benefit personally from any of the payments. He says he deeply regretted his actions at the time and believes he has atoned and made a fresh start. In his statement, Mr Dempsey outlined that after he left the priesthood, he was employed by the Eastern Health Board as a Community Welfare Officer in the early 1990s, a position he held for a number of years. As part of my work, I was in a position to make discretionary payments to members of the public, in exceptional circumstances; these people were frequently enduring great hardship, and I formed the view that they were entitled to the assistance I could offer. All discretionary payments were subsequently approved in writing by my supervisor. I resigned my position following an attempted petrol bomb attack at my place of work. Some time after I had resigned, the EHB contacted me, and put it to me that some of the payments I had made were inappropriate. I accepted their position, and signed a statement, regrettably before getting legal advice - and consequently, pleaded guilty when the matter came to court. I want to make it clear I did not benefit personally from any of the payments I made. Following the court case, my legal team agreed the terms of repayment, and I paid back everything that was asked of me, from my own resources and through additional borrowings. I deeply regret my actions at the time, but felt that I was doing everything I could, to relieve people of great hardship. I have atoned and made a fresh start. People in Newbridge know me well, and I trust they will have confidence in my ability to represent them; I want to give something back to the people of Newbridge, and I feel I am well equipped to represent their interests on Kildare County Council. A spokesperson for Fine Gael said the events referred to happened over 25 years ago. As Mr Dempsey has stated, he fully accepted his wrongdoing and repaid the monies. Fine Gael believes Mr Dempsey is an upstanding party member in Newbridge, who is well known and respected in the area. Indecon, the independent economic research organisation, has published a report which found that County Kildare was one of a number of regional locations around Ireland where the funds industry has an established employment footprint. Read also: Kildare girl wears unique communion dress handcrafted by great grandmother almost 60 years ago While the funds industry has had a long-standing presence throughout Ireland, it said the regional impact on towns and cities can now be seen clearly through Indecons report. Read also:See more Kildare news here The funds industry in Ireland contributes 837 million annually in direct taxes to the exchequer, with 16,000 people now directly employed in the funds sector across the country. At a roundtable event held in Naas today, Indecons Economic Impact Assessment report was launched by Pat Lardner, CEO of Irish Funds. The report found that activity and growth in the sector brings with it a 14 billion contribution to economic output nationally which is being dispersed in communities across Ireland. The independent report focused on the profile and contribution of the investment funds industry to the Irish economy. Commenting on the findings, Pat Lardner, CEO of Irish Funds, said: We are very pleased with the findings of the Indecon report and recognise Kildares contribution to the funds industry in Ireland. A total of 16,000 people across Ireland are directly employed in the funds sector, contributing 837 million in taxes annually directly to the exchequer. We are proud to play a part in offering people who want to live and work in Kildare this type of employment. At the same time that we are enabling global savings and enhancing Irelands reputation as a destination for knowledge-based industries, we are making a tangible contribution to the State in cities and towns across Ireland. This has been a 30-year journey and one we want to build on. If we can grow the industry in Ireland, we see no reason why we would not be looking at direct employment closer to 20,000 and a tax contribution of 1 billion annually. We should not forget however that we operate in a highly competitive global market while we have earned the right to compete and serve our customers, we should never take this for granted. We will continue to work on behalf of our members, with Government, its Departments and Agencies, and our public elected representatives to build on this contribution to communities across Ireland. Launching the report, Minister of State, Michael DArcy said: The funds industry is a vital sector in our overall international financial services sector. The ecosystem for funds has been built up over 30 years and now represents a recognised global centre of excellence. Todays assessment, which was completed by Indecon, is a welcome addition to the information and research on the investment funds industry in Ireland, which we will strive to continue to grow and diversify through the Ireland for Finance strategy. Name: Angela Feeney Address: Straffan Road, Maynooth Co. Kildare Occupation: Head of School of Languages, Law and Social Science at Technological University, Dublin (formerly DIT). Party: Labour Why have you decided to run in the Local Elections? I have put myself forward for the local elections on May 24th because I believe it is time to add a new and truly local voice to Kildare County Council. My family are from Maynooth, generations back, I was educated locally at the Presentation Girls School, then at Maynooth Post Primary and thanks to being awarded the Presidents Scholarship, I attended Maynooth University. My three children have also been educated locally, my husband Barry is a great supporter of Maynooth GAA and gives a hand with their second senior team. I have seen Maynooth grow over the years and much of it has been positive but I think we need to continue to be vigilant and monitor that growth. Why should people vote for you? Over the years I have always tried to contribute to the local community, I was on the Playground Committee which successfully secured the badly needed playground amenity for our children. I served as the elected parent representative on Maynooth Post Primary Board of Management. I am the vice-secretary of the Carton Avenue Preservation Society, Chair of our Residents Association, a member of Maynooth Community Council as well as having served as Secretary of the Labour Branch. Having lived here and raised my family here, I know what the issues are that are having an impact on people's lives in our community. I feel the combination of real understanding and knowledge of my area and my skills of negotiation and a can-do approach to solving issues, makes me a suitable candidate. I will work hard and work in partnership to address issues and protect the character of our communities. What do you think is lacking in your area and what will you be campaigning for? If elected, I would: Work to preserve the heritage and character of the beautiful place where we live. Work in partnership with Maynooth University to manage future growth. Work to get increased Garda presence in our town. We need that 24 hour Garda station! Work to preserve and improve the public amenities we have but also add to them, we need that swimming pool! Work to get the DART extended as a sustainable form of transport into the future. Work to manage traffic congestion. We need that ring road! Work to ensure there is sustainable and realistic planning for our community. Work with all relevant bodies to provide further PLC education opportunities for our growing younger community. Work to ensure there are adequate local childcare provision. We need more creches! Is Gaeilgoir mise, bhain me ceim sa Ghaeilge agus is mor an onor dom tacaiocht a thabhairt do Ghaelcholaiste Ma Nuad. Please give me your Number One vote on May 24th! Go raibh mile maith agaibh! "As my campaign has progressed, I have heard about the concerns for the future of towns such as Carrick-on-Shannon, Mohill and the surrounding areas", said Independent candidate, Yvonne Hollidge. Both local businesses and residents have voiced concerns about seemingly stagnant or blocked development. What is often standing in the way of development is personal gain and interest being put before the good of the town. For example, I would ask why is it that Leitrim is the only county not to have a Dunnes Stores? Luckily there is a solution. Available funding should be invested into supporting and protecting existing business, attracting real sustainable businesses that offers fair employment rights and improve key infrastructure rather than only improving the aesthetics of our towns. Personal interest should be set aside and dealt with, because our community deserves better. We should be putting in place developments to show off our communitys personality and values and not just concentrate on the business that benefits only a few in our community. If I am elected as a councillor, I will push for the changes needed while protecting the traditions of the area that we value so much. I will focus on the job in hand and work with anyone with a wish to improve our lovely county, she stated. A former psychic charged with deception and money laundering offences involving approximately 1.7 million said he used alternative names in an effort to stop gardai from tracking him down, a court has heard. Simon Gold (54) with an address of Augharan, Aughavas, Co. Leitrim, has pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to 22 charges including money laundering, theft, deception and control of false instruments on dates between January 1, 2010 and October 22, 2012. On the second day of evidence before the jury, the transcript of a garda interview with Mr Gold was read into evidence. During the interview Mr Gold accepted he had used the names Simon Gold, Simon Magnier and Niall O'Donoghue. Mr Gold told gardai he used to work as a psychic and that his stage name was Simon Gold. He said he changed his name legally to Simon Gold and that his original name was Niall O'Donoghue. He agreed he also used the names Simon Gould and Stephen Gould, saying he used them in an effort for you guys to not track me down over the years. He said he did not exactly make it difficult and that he was in plain sight. Mr Gold agreed in interview that on October 15, 2012, 800,000 was transferred into an Ulster Bank account in the name of Anglo Irish Global Ltd and on October 19, 2012, a further 800,000 was transferred into same account. He told gardai it was his understanding that the money was to be used for a renewable energy project in the Ivory Coast and that Anglo Irish Global Ltd would receive about 20% of whatever funds went through the account. Mr Gold agreed that he had dispersed some of the funds into various accounts, saying he did so under instructions from others. He agreed he transferred money into an account in the name of Niall O'Donoghue, saying he felt justified in doing as per terms of the contract Anglo Irish Global Ltd was entitled to 20%. He told gardai that because he signed a contract he thought Anglo Irish Global Ltd would not be open to criminal prosecution. He said he does not believe that he performed a multi-million euro fraud. Mr Gold agreed during interview that he used a false ESB bill to open the account in Ulster Bank for Anglo Irish Global Ltd. He also agreed in interview he used a false UK driving licence to purchase a computer from Harvey Norman. Detective Sergeant Clodagh White told Lorcan Staines SC, prosecuting, that on October 22, 2012, she obtained a search warrant for the offices of Anglo Irish Global Ltd at Westside Centre, Main Street, Leixlip, Co Kildare. Det Sgt White said she could not initially locate the office as she was looking for signage of Anglo Irish Global Ltd. She said she found signage for Westside Centre and the owner of an auctioneers named Mr Michael Mc Greevy operating at that address showed them to upstairs offices. She said that the offices appeared to be vacant and that there was no one working there at the time. She said there was no documentation found or anything with Anglo Irish Global Ltd written on it. Mr Michael Mc Greevy told Mr Staines that a man named Simon Gold, whom he described as being plump with dark hair, expressed interest in renting an upstairs office at the premises and he agreed to do so on foot of Mr Gold making a deposit and signing a lease. Mr Mc Greevy said that there was never any activity of Anglo Irish Global Ltd at this office. The trial continues before Judge Martin Nolan and a jury. Drumkeerin Councillor Mary Bohan has called the HSE dishonest in their response to her claim that the public health nurse (PHN) in her area has had her hours reduced. Cllr Bohan said it is fact that the public health nurse hours have been cut from 31 to 19.5 hours a week and that this is causing hardship for many families. The HSE replied to Leitrim County Council after being requested to do so from a previous meeting saying while the public health nurse presence has been reduced, the service has engaged a registered general nurse (RGN) to ensure that the clinical needs of the population of Drumkeerin continue to be met. Cllr Bohan said this is simply not true. She asked the council to ask the HSE for the date this supposed registered general nurse started work in the Drumkeerin area and the hours provided. Cllr Bohan exclaimed is was unbelievable the untruths that the HSE are sending out, I will not stand over this message by the HSE to our local constituents. Cllr Bohan called on the Minister for Health, Simon Harris and the HSE to look at the situation in Drumkeerin and urged them to restore the previous hours of the public health nurse. Fair Deal Scheme Cllrs Sean McGowan and Gerry Dolan received full support on their motions calling on the Department of Health to extend the Fair Deal Scheme to home care support for people living in their homes who fulfil the criteria on a needs assessment. Cllr Dolan said some people have to pay approx 1,600 a week for nursing home care. He went on to say some people are living in fear of losing their homes and in some cases their farms which they want to leave to their families. Also read: Lack of home help in Leitrim is a 'national scandal' ALL THREE members of An Garda Siochana who were arrested on suspicion of corruption have been suspended from duty, it was confirmed this Friday morning. On Thursday morning, a garda superintendent, garda detective and garda inspector were arrested in the South of Ireland as part of an operation led by the Special Crimes Operation. All three gardai have been since released without charge, and a file is now being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions, gardai have confirmed. On Thursday night, the garda inspector was released without charge and was suspended from duty upon his release. The garda superintendent and garda detective were released without release and suspended from duty upon their release early this Friday morning. A statement on Thursday morning from the Garda press office read: "In the course of an operation led by the Assistant Commissioner, Special Crime Operations (SCO), involving personnel attached the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (GNBCI) and the Garda National Drugs & Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB), a number of arrests have been made and a number of premises searched, this morning. A Garda Superintendent has been arrested for suspected breach of the provisions of section 62 of the Garda Siochana Act, 2005. A Garda Inspector has been arrested for suspected breach of provisions of the Misuse of Drugs Act, 1977-84. A member of Garda rank has been arrested for suspected conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Deputy Commissioner John Twomey, Policing & Security confirmed this morning that three members of An Garda Siochana are in custody and are detained for the purpose of questioning arising from suspicion that they have been involved in the commission of one or more criminal offences. The Deputy Commissioner stated, "An Garda Siochana is fully committed to investigating any alleged wrong-doing or corruption involving Garda personnel, and will work with other relevant agencies in doing so. As this is a live and ongoing investigation, it is not appropriate to make any further comment at this time. CREATIVE secondary school students at Colaiste Nano Nagle are celebrating a string of recent awards for their artistic talents. Wipe Out and Romeing in DeNile, two designs created by students for Junk Kouture 2019, made it through to the grand finale of the competition in the 3Arena. Wipe Out was also presented with a prize for the best performance on the night by Louis Walsh. Romeing the Nile, which uses disposable towels and wipes to question our throwaway society, was created by students Abbie OKeeffe, Lauren Kelly and Feruza Rameto. The groups design was inspired by the destructive effect disposable materials have on the earth. Wipe Out, inspired by the waste products left behind by using face and baby wipes, was created by student designers Nancy Ekhator, Leah Cosgrave and Nikoletta Kosma. Second year student Dewa Ishaq was also awarded with a special merit prize at the 65th Texaco Childrens Art Competition for her artwork, entitled Grief. Over 25,000 students entered this years competition where students are encouraged to create an art work that interests them. Above, Grief by Dewa Ishaq Dewa will attend an awards ceremony this month where the president will be in attendance. She will be awarded with a certificate and an art box to the value of 100. Tess Lim, another second year student at Colaiste Nano Nagle was also recently awarded with a certificate of merit for her Book of Kells inspired artwork. Tess attended an awards ceremony in Trinity College Dublin. Colaiste Nano Nagle students Samantha Makula and Abbey OKeefe were also named the Junior Art Student of the Year and Senior Art Student of the Year by their school. THERE were angry scenes at a meeting of Kerry Co-op shareholders in the South Court Hotel on Monday night. Some 400 attended and it went on for over three hours. But amid all the shouting the big question is what's next? Kerry Co-op Shareholders Alliance are calling for the full liquidation of their shares. Alliance members want to sell their remaining 13.7% stake (2.2bn) in Kerry Group Plc and share the dividends, worth on average 165,000, amongst co-op shareholders. There are believed to be around 2,500 shareholders from County Limerick. They include current milk suppliers and those who for a variety of reasons, including retirement, have stopped supplying milk. Kerry Co-op have recently sent its members an information pack about a voluntary cash for shares scheme. The board has approved and recommended the equity redemption scheme for members which would offer shareholders the opportunity to sell some or all of their shares. Members can avail of the offer until June 5 but the scheme will have to be approved at Kerry Co-op's upcoming AGM on June 19. Dave Scannell, of Kerry Co-op Shareholders Alliance, said out of the 400 in attendance not one of them spoke positively about the cash for shares scheme being offered. It was abundantly clear to anyone at the meeting that the relationship between the shareholders and Kerry Co-op chairman Mundy Hayes has broken down and that there is no support for the cash for shares scheme being proposed. The entire tone of the meeting was one of anger that the shareholders felt over the board ever proposing a scheme which would lead to such outlandishly penal tax rates. The point was made over and over again that shareholders were not prepared to pay income tax on their shares, the scheme being proposed is of absolutely no use to the vast majority of shareholders. The topic of liquidation was brought up repeatedly at the meeting. This was clearly shareholders favoured way of accessing their shares due to its tax efficiency and ease of doing so, said Mr Scannell, a dairy farmer with a farm in Listowel and in Ardagh. There was no reply to an email from the Limerick Leader to Kerry Co-op asking for their view of how the meeting went. However, secretary Thomas Hunter McGowan has argued that no two people have the same tax situation. This scheme will be better for those on the lower tax rate, he said. Mr Hunter McGowan has also said the shares are locked in and there was no other option for discharging them except via the proposed scheme. One County Limerick farmer who was at the meeting got in touch with Farm Leader to give his viewpoint. As a Kerry milk supplier and shareholder sitting at my kitchen table this Wednesday morning after Monday nights meeting in Limerick I can't help but wonder what the two gentleman from Kerry PLC must have been saying to each other on their way home. It was probably something to the effect of "I think that went well" or "we got off lightly there" but they probably missed the best part of the night as the circus was only beginning. At no point of the evening had we a balanced view. Everyone who contributed had a valid point but flaws could be seen in all as the shouting match continued from the floor to the top table and vice versa. I wonder would we be having this conversation at all if the shares were only 10 instead of 100 at which point we would be discussing what a co-op was originally designed for? It is to help its members get the best possible price for their products and provide them with a good service and benefit its members, which I have not seen for a long time. So the question I find myself asking is has our co-op run its course as it no longer seems to serve its members, or do we continue to fight amongst ourselves but then again what would I know I'm only a farmer just like the members of our board, he wrote. A LIMERICK publican has been asked to invite two members of the Harty family to his pub and stand them a drink. But delivering her reserved judgement at Newcastle West court, Judge Mary Larkin found that the publican had not discriminated against Christy Harty of Assumpta Park Newcastle West. Mr Harty had sued Eamon ONeill, the owner of Hallinans Bar, Askeaton claiming he had refused to serve him last July 29 because he was a member of the Traveller community and was in breach of the Equal Status Act 2000. A relative of Christy Harty, who was with him on that day, also brought a claim of discrimination but that case was dismissed at a hearing in March. In her judgement last week, Judge Larkin noted there had been a previous altercation involving Harty family members on the same premises, following which some members of the family had been barred. She noted too that on the evening in question, Christy Harty and his relative had come from another bar. He (Eamon ONeill) was concerned they were drinking somewhere else which he is entitled to do, the judge said. She also noted: Mr ONeill in his evidence said he felt intimidated. He felt the necessity to protect his customers and himself. Mr Harty, she said, was not refused because he was a member of the Traveller community but because of his association with the Harty family, a family that had been associated with certain events leading to violence in the locality. Judge Larkin also noted Mr ONeills evidence that he does serve members of the Traveller community. She was not going to convict, she said. She asked Mr ONeill to invite Christy Harty and the other man to have a drink in his bar and to pay for them. That will prove to the court he has no prejudice as is being alleged here. Mr ONeill said he was prepared to do as she asked. Following the conclusion of the case, the judge made no order as to costs. GARDAI arrested a man at the weekend in connection with 16 bales of silage being slashed to pieces in the dead of night, the Limerick Leader understands. Last October, half of 32 bales made on land in Ardroe, Pallasgreen, owned by Patsy OKeeffe, were cut. It is believed the perpetrator, armed with a knife or sharp implement, damaged the precious fodder under the cover of darkness. Gardai picked up a male at his home address in east Limerick at around 7.30am on Saturday morning, May 11. He was conveyed to Bruff Garda Station where he was questioned by investigating officers about the criminal damage to Patsy OKeeffes property and a number of other related incidents. The man, aged in his sixties, was released without charge by gardai on Saturday afternoon. A file is being prepared by gardai for the Director of Public Prosecutions. The Limerick Leader ran a story on the bales being slashed last October. Limerick IFA chairman, Shay Galvin said he never heard of anything like this happening before and called it wanton vandalism. And especially after a year like this when there is a fodder crisis, said Mr Galvin. Patsy OKeeffe described it as a despicable crime. It is a chilling thing to see a field full of bales and half of them cut to shreds, said Mr OKeeffe. We consider ourselves a decent, hard-working family and we cant understand why somebody would do this, he continued. Mr OKeeffe, aged 60, lives in Kilteely but farms 10 acres in Pallasgreen that were left to him by his late mother. He sold the silage crop from a five acre field to a neighbour. It was a fine crop - it was top quality silage. My neighbour sent down a lad to bring them back to his farm. The lad rang my neighbour straight away when he saw there was 16 - exactly half of the bales cut and damaged. It was right through the plastic and netting. My neighbour rang me. It was shocking in the extreme, despicable carry on. It was pure blackguarding, said Mr OKeeffe. Each silage bale is valued at around 40 so Mr OKeeffe was at a significant financial loss. The money was ear-marked towards his three sons college fees and accommodation. GARDAI have launched an investigation into an overnight burglary at a beauty salon in Limerick city, the third local business over the last four days to be targeted within a mile radius. Gardai in Roxboro are investigating a burglary on during the early hours this Friday morning at Seventh Heaven beauty salon at the Courtfields Shopping Centre in Raheen, during which a sum of money was taken. The salon is open for business as usual following the incident. This burglary follows a break-in at Plush Beauty on Father Russell Road during the early hours of Tuesday morning, and a second break-in at Mungret Fresh and Fast, also known as Mungret Kebab, during the early hours of Thursday morning. It's a crime spree at this stage, Metropolitan Mayor Daniel Butler said. It is incredibly alarming and highlights an urgent need for resources to be deployed to the surrounding area to stop this from happening again. There is a good chance that these incidents could all be related. Gardai at Roxboro can be contacted on 061-214340. A CLOSURE Order which was served on the proprietor of a retail premises in Limerick city centre earlier this week remains in place, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland has confirmed. According to the FSAI, the order, under the provisions of the EC (Official Control of Foodstuffs) Regulations 2010 was served on a worker at Tim Nessa, Davis Street on Tuesday after environmental health officers from the Health Service Executive visited the premises. The specific regulation referred to in the Closure Order relates to controls to ensure the verification of compliance with feed and food law, animal health and animal welfare rules. The store, which has been categorised by the HSE as 'retailer-other' is located on the ground floor of a two-storey building which is close to Colbert Station. The reason for the closure order has not been publicly disclosed and its not known when the order will be formally lifted. The store was closed when the Limerick Leader visited but according to signage at the front of the premises, it is an Afro Carribean Shop which deals in Afro/Carribean Food. It also assists with the shipment of cargo to Nigeria, call cards, hair products, African video rental and Money transfers. The closure order was the first to be served on any premises in Limerick since January when a takeaway in Bruree was ordered to close. Six Closure Orders and one Improvement Order were served on food businesses across the country during April while a furthers six Closure Orders and one Prohibition Order were served on food businesses nationwide during March. A Closure Order can only be lifted once the Heath Service Executive is satisfied the matters of concern have been rectified by the food business. A court in Kenya has ordered former President Daniel arap Moi to pay 1.06bn shillings ($10.5m; 8.2m) in compensation to a widow for illegally seizing her land. President Moi transferred to himself 53 acres of land belonging to widow Susan Cheburet Chelugui, the judge ruled. The land was illegally grabbed 36 years ago but only transferred to Mr Moi's name in 2007. Chelugui's husband Noah Chelugui was a local chief during Mr Moi's rule. The former president, who remains Kenya's longest-serving leader, was accused by Ms Chelugui and her son David Chelugui of transferring their family land into his name two years after Ms Chelugui's husband passed away. Moi is then said to have sold the land to Rai Plywood Limited, a timber firm, the BBC's Mercy Juma reports from Nairobi. Rai Plywood Limited told the judge that it had bought the land from Moi in 2007 after thorough legal checks. However, Moi was unable to provide the court any proof of how he came to possess the land, our correspondent says. Judge Anthony Ombwayo said Mr Moi had behaved in a way that was "unconstitutional, irregular, unprocedural" and "tainted". Mr Moi became Kenya's second president in 1978 and served until 2002. Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan are celebrating their 7th wedding anniversary today. The couple who are currently in Greece shared a selfie on social media with the caption, 'celebrating 7 years of happy marriage at the temple for the goddess of wisdom'. The couple had previously celebrated Mothers Day in Paris earlier this week, sharing a selfie they had taken in front of the Louvre. Chan and Zuckerberg met at Harvard University and started dating in 2003, before tying the knot in a surprise ceremony in May 2012. Together, they launched the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative in 2015, which they pledged 99 percent of their wealth to causes including improving education and curing disease. Do you have a passion for event planning? Are you the go to organizer in the office or amongst your friends? Then seize the moment and become a certified Wedding and Event planner at the WED Business School, owned by the founders of WED Expo. There is no better time to turn that passion into a profitable business and the WED Business School can show you how. With operations in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt we are strategically placed to ensure accessibility in major regions in Nigeria. Then you might ask, Why WED Business School? Well, we have Experienced Faculty Our Facilitators are working professionals in the industry with vast experience in wedding and event planning Project Management Focused We teach skill that help you manage resources and deliver projects within budgets and on time Conducive learning Environment Our locations are created and managed to deliver the best and optimal learning experience Live Events We create opportunities for you to experience live events and learn Flexible Payment Plans Wed Business School offers its students a payment structure that is flexible and convenient for all knowledge seekers. Find out what payment plan you qualify for so that you dont procrastinate Why wait? CALL: 09030001246, 08095556137, 09090006832 or Send DM to @wedexpo or @wedbschool also www.wedbschool.com Lagos Campus Certified Wedding and Event Planner Program The Lagos Campus has 2 types of schedules to suit both busy professionals looking to acquire new skill and full time event planners. 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This is why the advanced class is designed for established wedding and event planners and decorators looking to up their game and boost their business. You cant afford to miss this opportunity. For Details on enrolment please CALL: 09030001246, 08095556137, 09090006832 or Send DM to @wedexpo or @wedbschool also www.wedbschool.com WED Business School Alumni Focus The WED Dream Wedding 2019 just held between Ope and Ope #HouseofOpemipos and it was super amazing thanks to all the sponsor vendors that participated but do you know the whole planning team attended the WED Business School and clearly it showed with how successful the event was at the end of the day. Planning Team - Planner: Michelle Siyanbola (@mimiluxe_events ) Class of 2016 - Project Manager: Aramide Akinsulire (@atlevents_ ) Class of 2018 - Project Coordinator: Sharon Njemanze ( @eventsbysharoncatar ) Class of 2018 - Project Coordinator: Preye Ebelike ( @naturesglamevents ) Class of 2018 See a few pictures from the amazing wedding and stay tuned to all it took to put the biggest wedding of 2019 together as it comes to your screen soon via Wedding Channel Africa. Here, one of the 2,500-year-old skeletons discovered in a kurgan in Russia. A farmer in Russia has uncovered the remains of three elite members of a nomadic tribe from 2,500 years ago. A horse's skull and harness were found buried alongside one of the individuals. Three 2,500-year-old burials of elite members of a group known as the Sarmatians have been discovered within a kurgan (a large mound) in a village called Nikolskoye located northwest of the Caspian Sea in Russia. The three skeletons were discovered inside the remains of wooden coffins within the kurgan. [See Photos of the Burials and Skeletons from the Nomadic Tribe] Though the kurgan had been robbed in ancient times, many artifacts such as weapons, gold jewelry and household items (such as a bronze cauldron) were discovered near the coffins, according to two Russian language statements released by the Astrakhan regional government. The three burials date back to a time when the Sarmatians flourished in the region. This nomadic group thrived in southern Russia, before moving into eastern and central Europe while fighting wars against other ancient peoples such as the Scythians, Romans and Goths. Rustam Mudayev discovered the kurgan after noticing a bronze cauldron while working on a farm. Mudayev reported the discovery to authorities, and a team led by Georgiy Stukalov, an archaeologist at the Astrakhan State Museum, excavated the site. Excavation of the kurgan and analysis of the remains is ongoing. They have yet to determine how the individuals died or their gender and age. Kurgans have frequently popped up throughout Russia and neighboring countries over the last century; they often contain the burials of elite members of ancient groups. Archaeological remains from the newly found kurgan are being taken to the Astrakhan State Museum, the statements said. Originally published on Live Science. Here, a cast from a reconstructed Neanderthal skull. Researchers just examined tooth shape among Neanderthals, humans and our close relatives to figure out when the groups diverged. Modern humans and Neanderthals may have diverged at least 800,000 years ago, according to an analysis of nearly 1,000 teeth from humans and our close relatives. This new estimate is much older than previous estimates based on ancient DNA analyses, which put the split between humans and Neanderthals as happening between 500,000 and 300,000 years ago. However, while outside researchers called the new dental analysis impressive, they note that it's based on one big assumption: that tooth shape evolves in a steady fashion, especially in Neanderthals. If tooth shape doesn't evolve at a steady rate, then "the construction of this paper collapses," said Fernando Ramirez Rozzi, director of research specializing in human evolution at France's National Center for Scientific Research in Toulouse, who was not involved in the study. [Photos: See the Ancient Faces of a Man-Bun Wearing Bloke and a Neanderthal Woman] That said, it is quite possible that teeth (and Neanderthal teeth in particular) do evolve at a predictable rate, meaning the new study's calculation might be on target. "At the moment, there is the idea of a steady evolutionary rate change in the shape of cheek-teeth," Ramirez Rozzi said. Tons of teeth The researchers examined 931 teeth belonging to a minimum of 122 individuals from eight groups, including humans and our close relatives. Of those, 164 of the teeth were from the early Neanderthals from the Sima de los Huesos ("Pit of the Bones") site in Spain, a sample that includes almost 30 individuals that lived about 430,000 years ago, during the middle Pleistocene epoch. In all, researcher Aida Gomez-Robles examined 931 teeth belonging to a minimum of 122 individuals. (Image credit: Aida Gomez-Robles) By comparing the differences in tooth shape between samples, study researcher Aida Gomez-Robles, a paleoanthropologist at University College London, was able to calculate the evolutionary rates for dental shape change and then estimate the divergence time from the last common ancestor between humans and Neanderthals. The result that Neanderthals and modern humans probably diverged more than 800,000 years ago shows that the last common ancestor of these two groups is probably not Homo heidelbergensis, as some scientists think. "H. heidelbergensis cannot occupy that evolutionary position because it postdates the divergence between Neanderthals and modern humans," Gomez-Robles told Live Science in an email. "That means that we need to look at older species when looking for this common ancestral species." The finding also "has profound implications for the way we interpret the fossil record and the evolutionary relationships between species," Gomez-Robles said. Outside takes Pushing back the divergence between Neanderthals and modern humans "is opening a new door" because it suggests that the two groups were distinct for much longer than previously thought, Ramirez Rozzi said. However, this raises a question, he said. Humans and Neanderthals interbred around 60,000 years ago, when modern humans left Africa. (This interbreeding explains why the genomes of some modern humans contain nearly 3% Neanderthal DNA.) But if humans and Neanderthals broke apart at least 800,000 years ago, it's surprising that they were still able to interbreed just 60,000 years ago, Ramirez Rozzi said. "In other words, almost 1 million years of evolution was not enough to establish barriers (genetic, endocrinological, behavioral, etc.) to separate definitively these two species?" he asked. The argument is laid out well by Gomez-Robles, who is "a well-known specialist of the Neanderthal lineage dental morphology," said Bruno Maureille, director of research at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), in Paris, who was not involved in the study. But, it appears that the dental remains of Neanderthals from different pockets of Europe each have "their own particularities," Maureille told Live Science. "Can we simply try to draw such global scenarios? [I'm] not so sure." The study was published online May 16 in the journal Science Advances. Originally published on Live Science. A Stone-Age person who once chewed on this wad of pitch left some of their DNA behind. More than 10,000 years ago, humans who settled in what is now Sweden chewed gobs of sticky pitch, a tar-like material extracted from birch bark. This ancient "gum," recovered from a Mesolithic settlement, still contains traces of DNA the oldest human DNA from Scandinavia. The finds are especially valuable because few Mesolithic human bones have been found in Scandinavia; even fewer contain viable DNA. Scientists found eight chewed-up wads of birch-bark pitch at a site called Huseby Klev, on Sweden's western coast. During the Stone Age, people across Scandinavia used pitch gum as a glue for tools, according to a statement. [Photos: Ancient Human Remains from Beneath the North Sea] Though Huseby Klev was originally excavated in the 1990s, at the time it was not yet possible to test for ancient human DNA. Decades later, however, the researchers were able to extract DNA from three pieces of pitch. The DNA belonged to three individuals: two females and one male. When the scientists realized that they could sequence DNA from the chewed lumps that had been spat out 10,000 years ago, "the results overwhelmed us," said lead study author Natalija Kashuba, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Archaeology and Ancient History at Uppsala University in Sweden. Kashuba performed the experiments as a researcher with the Museum of Cultural History (MCH) in Oslo, Norway. A "pleasing" taste Ancient pitch samples like these often bear imprints of the long-ago chewers' teeth. Though the three pieces that the scientists analyzed did not include tooth marks, The black wads exhibited the consistency of "chewed bubble gum," the scientists reported. But unlike modern gums, these ancient wads were not artificially sweetened. They probably tasted like resin, a flavor "which is said to be pleasing," according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. When the study authors analyzed the DNA, they identified three different genomes from the three pitch samples, and determined that the gum chewers did not share gums and were not related to each other. The scientists also found that the individuals were genetically similar to Mesolithic people from Scandinavia and northern Europe. Gums made of pitch and other substances that were chewed up thousands of years ago have been found around the world, including in regions where human remains are poorly preserved or unavailable for study, the scientists said. Pitch samples could therefore serve as a possible source of DNA data, even when remains are out of reach, study co-author and MCH researcher Per Persson said in the statement. And human saliva preserved in sticky pitch doesnt just provide genetic information, he added. "DNA from these ancient chewing gums have an enormous potential not only for tracing the origin and movement of peoples long time ago, but also for providing insights in their social relations, diseases and food," Persson said. The findings were published online May 15 in the journal Communications Biology. Originally published on Live Science. About 29 million years ago, the sands of the western Egyptian desert melted and created tiny pieces of canary yellow glass some of which ended up decorating King Tut's pectoral (chest ornament). This natural glass, found across thousands of square kilometers in western Egypt, is thought to have originated from one of two events: either a meteorite impact on the surface of Earth or an airburst, an explosion that happens when a space rock enters our planet's atmosphere. [Photos: Giant Spiral Grows Out of Egypt's Desert] An ancient meteor impact melted sand into Libyan desert glass. (Image credit: Shutterstock) A new study suggests it's the former. The glass once contained pieces of a rare "shocked" mineral called reidite, which forms only during a meteorite impact, researchers from Australia and Austria reported May 2 in the journal Geology. The heat created by either the meteorite impacts or an airburst would have been enough to liquefy the sand in the desert, creating the glass particles. But while airbursts create shock waves up in the air that can be thousands of pascals (a unit of pressure), asteroid impacts cause shock waves of billions of pascals on the ground, the researchers wrote. (In other words, meteorite impacts create shock waves that have millions of times more pressure than those created by airbursts.) These ground-based shock waves, but not the airbursts, are strong enough to also create reidite. In the new study, the researchers analyzed grains of the mineral zircon found in the glass; the scientists discovered that it contained evidence of the former presence of reidite. In other words, its constituents are oriented in a way that indicates a once-present reidite transformed, at one point, to zircon. This provides the first "unequivocal" evidence that the glass was created by high-pressure shock waves, and thus from a meteorite impact, the researchers wrote in the study. "Meteorite impacts are catastrophic events, but they are not common," co-author Aaron Cavosie, a senior research fellow at Curtin University in Australia, said in a statement. "Airbursts happen more frequently, but we now know not to expect a Libyan-desert glass-forming event in the near future, which is cause for some comfort." Originally published on Live Science. Google Earth is an interactive map that allows users to see all over the world. Google Earth is a unique geomapping and tagging program that uses composite imagery to form a comprehensive, interactive map of the Earth. By stitching together more than a billion satellite and aerial images, the application provides a versatile tool that allows individuals and groups to track climate change, discover unknown geographic and ecological features, and record our history. This digital cartography tool continues to be a useful resource for governments, private organizations and individuals who want to track and tag geographic data to myriad ends. By collecting and curating enormous amounts of data, Google has made it possible for conservationists to observe the shifting patterns of flora and fauna on a global scale, for governments to observe the growth of cities worldwide, and for individuals to tell their personal stories in a unique way. Who makes Google Earth? The underlying technology for Google Earth was originally developed by Intrinsic Graphics, a gaming company that built visual databases. In 2004, Google purchased Keyhole Inc., a spin-off of Intrinsic, which eventually became Niantic, the Google subsidiary responsible for "Pokemon Go." Launched in 2005, Google Earth was the first widely available, interactive composite map of our world. In 2015, the development team started planning a revamped version that focused on accessibility and availability. Unveiled in 2017, the new app is now available via Google's Chrome browser and by downloading their standalone app. Google Earth features 3D reconstructions, annotation tools and satellite imagery provided by NASA dating back all the way back to 1984, allowing users to virtually travel back in time. As new images become available via satellite and aerial imagery, the map is constantly updated to reflect our ever-changing world. The imagery and data used by Google Earth is collected through partnerships with NASA, National Geographic and others, making it quite a collective effort. According to Gopal Shah, Google Earth's product manager, the development team consists of four to five user experience designers, and around 30 engineers who are mostly focused on improving the app's ability to send data. "Even if you're a kid in rural India on a 2G network, we want you to be able to access Google Earth in a meaningful way," Shah told Live Science. How are the images made? Google Earth digitally stitches together billions of images taken by satellite and aerial photography, using the highest quality pixels from each photograph to create the clearest view of any portion of the Earth. "When you open Google Earth for the first time, that image is composed of trillions of pixels from NASA satellite photos," Shah said. "When you see that image, it's showing you springtime on every area of the planet. We call it 'Pretty Earth.'" Many areas also have also been rendered in 3D, created from thousands of aerial photos of the same place from different angles. To gather these pictures, a plane flies overhead in a tight pattern, "like mowing a lawn in the sky," Shah said. A complex algorithm then models the landscape and creates a 3D view that users can interact with. Google Earth patches together numerous satellite images to create it's interactive map of the world. (Image credit: Shutterstock) How Google Earth is used For most people, Google Earth is a novel way to explore cities and landscapes from above, allowing us to view our world within the greater context of itself.How Google Earth is used "Probably around 99% of first-time users visit their neighborhood first," Shah said. Using NASA's satellite imagery, you can view a timelapse of the changes and growth in your corner of the world over the last 30 years. [7 Amazing Places to Visit with Google Street View] Saroo Brierley, an orphan from India who was raised in Australia, was able to reconnect with his birth family after being separated for 25 years, by following geographic markers on Google Earth. He detailed these experiences in his book "A Long Way Home" (Viking Australia, 2013), which was adapted into the feature film "Lion" in 2016. New features have provided conservation groups and researchers with the tools to keep track of our changing world. "One of our new featuresEarth Enginehas allowed researchers to visualize global deforestation patterns, map waterway changes, and discover as-yet-unknown areas all over the world," Shah said. News organizations also make extensive use of Google Earth via the Earth Studio function, which allows people to export video. "Any time you see a major news network zooming in and out of a region to show context, that's Earth Studio," Shah said. Allowing people to better understand current events in a geospatial context improves our ability to recognize the issues of our day in a more holistic way. "One of the most direct and positive results we've seen is from Indonesia," Shah said. "A conservation group was able to view illegally fished and overfished areas off the Indonesian coast, and the government there has stepped up enforcement and implemented policy to maintain a healthy coastline." Another conservation group has also discovered an "uncharted, untouched rainforest atop a plateau in Mozambique," Shah said. "They've been able to take steps to ensure that the location of this forest remains hidden, and that its integrity remains preserved." Shah also described a new feature that makes climate change modelling accessible to anyone. "If you want to see how coastlines and geographic features change when global temperatures rise, you can do that." Google Earth's future Educational tools are one of the biggest areas of focus for the Google Earth team right now. The new Voyager feature (not to be confused with the NASA probe), allows for geotagged annotations, stories and videos to appear within Google Earth, giving geographic and cultural context to people's stories. "Voyager can best be described as a magazine for Google Earth," Shah said. Google has partnered with "Sesame Street," "Carmen Sandiego" and National Geographic to develop interactive games, tours and stories to help people get a better perspective of our world. "Each region of the world has its own unique 'Sesame Street' characters," Shah explained. Now, kids are able to be taken on guided cultural tours of different regions across the world, led by that place's special 'Sesame Street' guide." Additionally, people have been using Voyager to tell their own stories. By annotating areas where their own life events have taken place, individuals are able to record their personal histories, to share with others and preserve for posterity. Additional resources: NEW YORK - In 1770, the 14-year-old Mozart premiered an opera called "Mitridate, re di Ponto," about the historical king of Pontus, who fought desperately to keep the Roman empire at bay in the 1st century B.C. The libretto was based on a minor play by Racine, which was based on various accounts from Roman historical writers. Today, the name (and the opera) are little known, a curious bit of old-fashioned narrative exotica that has long since fallen to the wayside of the layman's knowledge of the ancient world. Mithridates VI, the king of Pontus, ruled over one of the countries that fell into the large, diverse and culturally vibrant land that the Metropolitan Museum of Art calls "The World Between Empires." That is also the title of an exhibition surveying the art, architecture and luxury goods of what we now think of as the "Middle East," including present-day Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iraq and Iran, among others. "The World Between Empires" focuses particularly on the period from 100 B.C. to about 250 A.D., when the empires of Rome to the west and Parthia to the east contested this territory, with shifting borders, long periods of uneasy peace and devastating wars that seemed to settle nothing. Rather like Mozart's opera, the artistic residue of these lands is hiding in plain sight in any decent museum of art. The halos around the head of Christ and the saints one finds in medieval and Renaissance painting derive from the sun-ray crowns that once picked out the divinity of gods such as Malakbel and Aglibol, sun and moon gods worshiped in Palmyra, a cosmopolitan entrepot in what is now Syria. The plant and animal motifs present everywherein medieval architectural reliefs and wall decoration worked their way there into churches in France and Italy and England through the Parthian influence on late Roman visual culture. Even the frontal, symmetrical, stylized depiction of the human body common to byzantine and medieval art - a style that often seems static to modern viewers - was largely an inheritance from the art of this "in between" region that partook of both Hellenistic and Eastern or Parthian models. For generations, art history has suggested this style marked a decline or degradation of the classical ideal. But as this exhibition demonstrates, it makes much more sense to think not in terms of decay but rather of a kind of smorgasbord of artistic options available in the early centuries of the first millennium, with Parthian influence coming to the fore as new ideas about religion and spirituality transformed the late classical world. Exhibitions that look at cross-cultural influence, that explore the impact of trade and the transfer of ideas and goods across great distances, are popular today. Google "exhibition" and "silk road," and you find an array of recent shows, not just in Western museums but in countries all along the loose network of trading paths that stretched between the Roman empire and China. But the Metropolitan Museum exhibition is better than the usual display of textiles, glassware and jewelry, meant to reinforce the obvious: that trade is a perennial of man's dominion, that globalization has been at work, slowly and methodically, long before it became a fashionable idea in the 21st century. The Metropolitan exhibition is more about dismantling fundamental, reflexive ideas about the Roman world. Among these is the assumption that there was a single, pervasive Roman aesthetic, which radiated out from the capital to the peripheries of the empire. Rather, there was a complex world of both local and broader aesthetics, and these didn't just flow from Rome to the provinces. Communities from places such as Palmyra - a trading hub and oasis that was heavily damaged by Islamic State during its occupation of Syria - lived in Rome and brought their gods with them. One fascinating carving shows two divine figures, one dressed in Parthian style with loose trousers and a tunic, the other in Roman style with a muscled breastplate, joining hands in front of a cypress tree. The lesson here isn't just that religious life drew on many different sources, though that is definitely true. Rather, it tells us something about the psychology of the day, that people clearly felt little dissonance in the diversity of religious belief, aesthetic style and cultural identity that was common to these lands. From our vantage point, defined by centuries of bloody-minded monotheism and nationalism, this diversity looks like a mess that needs sorting out. It's tempting to believe that for those who lived within it, the richness and range of aesthetic and spiritual material felt like a happy superabundance. If your gods can look like polished boxes with abstract faces, or Greek youths with perfect, muscled bodies, you have options, not just in whom or what to worship, but in how you conceive your relationship to divinity. The exhibition requires of the viewer a mental change and a refusal of familiar categories. Even what seems to us quintessentially "Roman" isn't necessarily Roman. Classical pediments and Corinthian columns were an architectural language as much at the disposal of those who resisted Rome as it was the basic design vocabulary of the Roman capital. When the murderous louts of the Islamic State blew up large parts of the ancient ruins of Palmyra between 2015 and 2017, they were destroying a city of columns and arches, with an agora and theater, that had been a thorn in the side of Rome for centuries. The "world between empires" was once far more familiar to us than it is today, largely through Latin and Greek sources that told a very biased view of history. Parthian narratives were lost when the Sasanian empire supplanted it. Roman accounts were popular enough that Mozart could base an opera on a central figure from the era, the same king whomRalph Waldo Emerson memorialized in his 1846 poem "Mithridates." The region allowed Western artists and writers to project innumerable fantasies, of petty potentates and internecine rivalries, and cosmopolitan oases of culture and decadence. Looking at the magnificence of the material brought together by the Met, one is sympathetic with Emerson's depiction of an intellectually voracious king at the crossroads of trade and history: "I will use the world, and sift it,/To a thousand humors shift it,/As you spin a cherry." --- "The World Between Empires: Art and Identity in the Ancient Middle East" is on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art through June 23. For more information, visit metmuseum.org. Beanie Feldstein reaches over a table to place her hand in Kaitlyn Dever's. "A quick handhold," Feldstein playfully announces while discussing how she and her co-star bonded in the nine-ish weeks they spent working on the new high school comedy "Booksmart." They lived together for the entirety of that period, rehearsing trickier lines over morning pancakes and snuggling up to watch "Gilmore Girls" at night. On this late April day, Feldstein, 25, wears a vibrant floral print and block heels that make her feet hurt. Dever, 22, is a bit moodier in her mannerisms and attire, sporting a tiger-striped sweater dress and heeled Doc Martens. They both complement and compliment one another - not unlike their characters, BFFs Molly (Feldstein) and Amy (Dever). "Booksmart" carries the studious friends through their last day of high school, when they discover that, contrary to what they long believed to be true, hard partying didn't prevent their classmates from also getting into Ivies (or from landing a job in Silicon Valley, in one kid's case). Panicked by the thought of having missed out and determined to prove how fun they can be, Molly persuades Amy to set out for a wild night on the eve of their graduation: "I'm going to experience a seminal fun anecdote!" Molly declares. The film, directed by first-timer Olivia Wilde, is the latest quick-witted project to use friendship as a means to explore the complex emotions of teenage girls. Molly and Amy join the protagonists of several films released in the past few years, among them "The Edge of Seventeen" and "Lady Bird" (in which Feldstein also stars), in straying from established high school archetypes. These girls are bold yet vulnerable, awkward yet self-assured. Never the punchlines, they're treated with genuine interest and a refreshing honesty more often reserved for their male counterparts. "I feel like in a lot of films, they wouldn't allow space for two of these characters to exist," Feldstein says, "let alone be the center of the film." "Or even just one," Dever adds. "It's crazy, but it's really rare for me - or both of us, being young women - to be sent comedic scripts to lead. It just doesn't happen." Though it centers on nerdy high schoolers, "Booksmart" lacks the classic glasses-off, hair-down transformation - the only makeover here took place behind the scenes. Wilde recruited Katie Silberman to overhaul a script by Susanna Fogel, who had reworked another that writing partners Emily Halpern and Sarah Haskins drafted a decade ago. (All four women are credited on the film.) It wasn't until 2015 that Wilde got her hands on Fogel's version, she says over the phone, adding that she loved the core idea of "two smart women who are unabashedly brilliant" but wanted to direct a version that spoke significantly to "this young generation." Molly and Amy wound up as socially conscious Gen Zers who stage impromptu dance parties before driving to their Los Angeles high school in a car decorated with "Resist" and "Elizabeth Warren 2020" bumper stickers. They have bright futures ahead of them at Yale and Columbia, respectively - "where the culture is," as Lady Bird would cry - and worked tirelessly to get there. Feldstein refers to them as "unapologetic feminists" who are "confident in their intelligence." They know there's always room for growth, but they don't start out wanting to change. Both actresses join Wilde and Silberman in expressing the view that a film like theirs might not have been as viable back in 2009, when the original script was written. Now, because of everything that has unfolded over the past three years, Silberman says over the phone, a wave of bravery and strength has pushed dynamic young women into the limelight more than ever. "In a lot of ways, it felt like the industry needed to catch up to a story about young, smart women who were multidimensional," she says. "Now that it's 'OK' for women to be smart, it's something that everyone feels comfortable with, what else are they?" Molly and Amy are funny and supportive, exhibited by their frequent compliment battles (which are exactly what they sound like). They're sex positive, as we learn from an exceedingly frank conversation about Amy's masturbation habits. But they can also be naive. Among Silberman's additions to the script was the plot's catalyst, a scene in which Molly discovers that in writing off her classmates who drink and have sex, she misjudged those who she assumed had been judging her. She learns about their respective bright futures while confronting three of them in the bathroom after overhearing them poke fun at her intense personality - lighthearted criticism Feldstein considers somewhat valid, given that Molly "ostracizes people" instead of letting them in, and subtly revolutionary because, in another film, they might have unfairly targeted her appearance. "All these assumptions we make are unraveled," Wilde says. Silberman adds that she and Wilde wanted to make sure "Booksmart" didn't have any villains, but instead characters whom Molly and Amy simply "misunderstood in the beginning." It's an emotional journey similar to, if less dramatic than, the one high school junior Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld) embarks on in 2016's "The Edge of Seventeen," written and directed by Kelly Fremon Craig. Rocked by the sudden death of her father, the only family member she felt close to, Nadine leans on her best friend Krista (Haley Lu Richardson) for support. But when Krista begins dating Nadine's older brother, Darian (Blake Jenner), a popular jock judged harshly by his sister, Nadine channels her feelings of betrayal into anger. She lashes out, isolating herself further. "I wanted to make a film that made you laugh but also gave you a really close-up look at the complexity of a teenage girl's internal life. Even the ugliest corners of it, you know?" Craig says over the phone. "A film that really showed all of her - every little messy, complicated nook and cranny - and didn't shy away from the parts that weren't pretty." While working on the script, Craig chatted with high schoolers from all over the country to find out what made them tick. She was reminded of "all the ways that age is so painful, ugly and embarrassing, but also beautiful and buoyant and a time where your emotions are bigger than they ever are in your whole life." Before they became the sort of friends to wear matching necklaces bearing the title of their movie, Feldstein and Dever used to cross paths at film festivals. They were never formally introduced, but Feldstein can recall the moment she first laid eyes on her future co-star. "I will never forget," she says, pointing at Dever. "You were in pink." "Oh my God." "I had flown out that morning to go to the Toronto film festival for 'Lady Bird,' and at my first stop of the day, you were taking photos for something. ... I don't think I had yet met with Olivia, but I was about to. I was like, 'That's Kaitlyn Dever.'" The actresses' mutual appreciation mirrors the dynamic that anchors "Booksmart," which has earned numerous comparisons since its premiere at South by Southwest to 2007's "Superbad," starring Michael Cera and Jonah Hill, who happens to be Feldstein's older brother. Wilde and Silberman cite "Dazed and Confused," another story that takes place over one crazy night, as inspiration for their film, as well as "Fast Times at Ridgemont High," "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and "Clueless." Friendship is so central to "Booksmart" that the film's most devastating moment is not when Molly and Amy discover (spoiler alert) that their respective crushes on a handsome slacker and chill skater girl are unrequited, but when the wild night culminates in a fight between the two friends. The more introverted Amy is upset with Molly for pushing her out of her comfort zone, while Molly tires of always being the one who takes initiative. "The fight was a challenging scene to write," Silberman says. "The fights with your best friend are the worst fights because they have all the ammo - they know the most about you. The restraint versus what the kill shot is, in that way, was difficult." Dever says the fight is her favorite scene to watch, largely because the intimacy with which Wilde shot the interaction, which takes place in the center of a party, "just fits with the emotion." "What we've always said with that scene is that both of them are right and both of them are wrong," Feldstein adds. "It has to be that way for the scene to work. Where one line, you're like, 'Amy, no!' and the next you're like, 'Molly, stop, don't say that!' You're really on that journey." It was the only scene the actresses never rehearsed. Dever says the shot included in the film is the second of four takes, a noticeably low number for a scene between multiple leads. The emotion is fresh, palpable - and reminiscent of a more humorous fight from Greta Gerwig's 2017 solo directorial debut "Lady Bird" between the uncool titular character (Saoirse Ronan) and her best friend Julie (Feldstein). Lady Bird, thinking she has outgrown the friendship, abandons Julie to hang out with the edgier cool kids but then confronts her after class. "Why aren't you in Algebra II?" Lady Bird asks, to which Julie responds that she switched sections. "Aren't Jenna and Kyle enough?" she demands, chastising Lady Bird for skipping out on drama club. Too stubborn to see her missteps, Lady Bird gives up the play, but returns to an emotional Julie's side on prom night. "I wanted to explore the fact that I think when you're a teenager, you're trying to figure out who you are through the refraction of other people," Gerwig told NPR of the relationship. "It's reaching for a definition of oneself through relationships and sometimes rejecting the ones that are close to you because you are sure that someone else is better." As with "Lady Bird," "Booksmart" avoids making a big show of the reconciliation. "We're not trying to push some larger message onto people," Dever says. "It just reminds me of all the people I know, some of my closest friends." It's simply understood that rocky periods are a fact of best friendship, and that the relationships worth keeping will make it through. The government of Nuevo Leon and the city of Guadalupe recognized Cuellar for his commitment to their economic and security partnerships Washington, D.C.On Monday, May 13, the government of Nuevo Leon, Mexico and the city of Guadalupe, Mexico recognized Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28) during their legislative session for his continuous efforts to develop a stronger relationship between the U.S. and Mexico. Congressman Cuellar was presented with awards for his support of trade and economic development. During the session, the speaker of the Congress from Nuevo Leon, Marco Gonzalez, highlighted the Congressmans accomplishments during a ceremony designated as Espacio Solemne. Attendees to this event included the Governor of the State of Nuevo Leon Jaime Rodriguez Calderon, mayors, senators, federal congressmen and businessmen. Now in its sixth year, the Mexico Lindo 2019 concert featuring performances by the Gabriela Mendoza-Garcia Ballet Folklerico has become a family event in our city. This concert will dig deep into the history of Mexican Dance using oral, written and bodily stories. Dr. Mendoza-Garcia will discuss key areas of the book Dancing Throughout Mexican History (1325-1910) as written by Sanjuanita Martinez-Hunter and edited by herself, which documents how dance was essential to the religious, social and political life of the Mexican people. Then, dancers of all ages will bring this history to life through performance. Children of the Gabriela Mendoza-Garcia Ballet Folklorico Infantil & Juvenil, as well as the adult beginner group will perform traditional dances of regions in Mexican history. Furthermore, the Gabriela Mendoza-Garcia Ballet Folklorico company will carry on where the book left off by performing the traditional dances of Mexico from the twentieth century and onward. These dances include Sinaloa which was choreographed in the 1940s, Aguascalientes from the 1940s to 1990s and continue until they premier the calabaceado dances from Baja California which were officially documented in 1989. In addition, the audience will be treated to the poetic recitation of legendary Spanish teacher, Rosa Maria De Llano. This concert is unique in that Dr. Mendoza-Garcia incorporates her own academic and historical research into her chorography on stage. This is a method employed by only a handful of Mexican folkloric dance directors. "Dance is always changing and evolving, yet we must continue passing on our histories from one generation to the next," she said. Copies of Dancing Throughout Mexican History (1325-1910) will be available for purchase at this concert and Dr. Mendoza-Garcia will sign books at the conclusion of this event. Dr. Gabriela Mendoza-Garcia, Artistic Director of the dance company is a scholar, choreographer and an educator at heart. She earned her Doctoral Degree in Critical Dance Studies from the University of California, Riverside in 2013. Ever since then, she began her Dance school and company as way to engage, examine and continue Mexicos Dance legacies. The sixth annual Mexico Lindo concert is a ticketed event to take place at the Laredo Little Theatre on Saturday, May 25 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, May 26 at 3 p.m. Admission is $12 for adults and $6 for children 12 years of age and under. Tickets may be purchased at the door. For more information, contact Gabriela Mendoza-Garcia at 956-725-1832, visit her webpage at https://gabrielamendozagarciafolklorico.com, or see her Facebook page at Gabriela Mendoza-Garcia Ballet Folklorico. Photo for The Washington Post by Stacy Zarin Goldberg You may celebrate National Rose Day on June 8, or celebrate rose every day like many of us do. Either way, variety is key. From pale, ethereal pink to a deep rose color, these wines provide refreshment and bring smiles to our lips. This week's greatest value is the Usoa de Bagordi Rosado 2018, a delightful garnacha rose from Spain's Rioja region. If you can splurge a little, don't miss Pico Maccario's amazing Lavignone 2018 from Italy's Piemonte, or Early Mountain's from Virginia. And to turn your patio gathering into a celebration, try the Bueyyes sparkling malbec from Argentina. SEBEWAING There will be a celebration at the American Legion Post #293, at 8255 Unionville Road, Sebewaing, Saturday, to honor those who served in the Armed Forces. The event, which starts at 12:30 p.m. with patriotic music, has several purposes, explained William Bill Mielke, who helped coordinate the Veteran Appreciation Day event to honor Vietnam veterans and dedicate a new veterans memorial. The National Anthem will be played at 1 p.m., and a fly over of the United States Air Force is schedule for 1:30 p.m., weather permitting. The focus will be on honoring Vietnam era veterans those who served from 1955 to 1975 regardless of where they served and whether they saw combat action. Each Vietnam era veteran who attends will receive a special pin in honor of their service. Mielke, who was a colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps, attended a dedication and pinning ceremony last fall in Cass City that inspired him to do a memorial and pinning ceremony in Huron County. I was moved by the ceremony there, and appreciated being honored, he said, noting he wanted to make other Vietnam veterans also feel appreciated. Tuscola County Veteran Affairs Director Mark Zmierski helped me do the ceremony here. Although those who served during this era left the jungles of Vietnam 50 years ago, some veterans never felt they truly returned home because of how they were treated when they arrived stateside. They were spit on, called baby killers, and worse. (Former president) Obamas speech that, it was a national shame and disgrace the way (Vietnam) veterans were treated when they came home, was right, Mielke noted. Saturdays event is an effort to show appreciation for those who served. The Vietnam War was Americans longest running war. During that 20-year span, 7.2 million veterans served, and 58,272 killed. One out of every 10 who served over there were either injured for killed. Michigan currently has about 600,000 veterans and of that number, about 200,000 are Vietnam veterans. Sebewaings new memorial for veterans includes a flag pole, benches, and decorative memorial bricks that can be inscribed to honor those who served their country. About 150 bricks have been sold so far, and although the memorial is done, bricks can still be bought, inscribed, and placed. WASHINGTON - Chinese buyers canceled a major order for American pork, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Thursday, heightening fears that the U.S.-China trade dispute was set to inflict even more pain on American farmers who have taken a series of hits in Trump's trade wars. As of April 18 there were export commitments of American pork to China of 150,000 metric tons, only 50,000 of which had been shipped, leaving others in the balance. The uncertainty is unsettling farmers like Randy Spronk who raises 250,000 pigs a year at his farm in Pipestone County, Minnesota, and sells to giant food processing companies like JBS, Tyson and Hormel. The U.S. withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement in 2017 cost American farmers market share in Japan. Spronk says 20 percent tariffs in Mexico have cost hog farmers an additional $12 per animal and that an earlier round of Chinese retaliatory tariffs cost $8 per animal. "American pork is a $6.4 billion export market, but we've been hit more than any other sector," Spronk says. "Our highest value markets are the ones that are impacted by these tariffs. We got side swiped. The additive effects of these tariffs come out of my back pocket." Hog farmers saw a small financial uptick in March, attributed to the prospect of selling into China after that country's pig industry was decimated by African swine fever. That seems unlikely to happen now. The latest escalation of tariffs means that American pork will not be economically competitive in China. Still, Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM, thinks pork is an important negotiating tool with China. "If the administration is serious about seeking a deal, that is clearly the path of least resistance," he said. "Because of African swine fever and their own domestic situation, China doesn't really have a choice and they will have to fulfill their needs by global supply." With the imminent release of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's new trade relief program for farmers and ranchers, a battle has begun among agricultural sectors about who should get what, how much and in what form, and exactly who has suffered the worst losses due to trade disputes. President Trump has promised at least $15 billion, a number he says corresponds to Chinese purchases of American agricultural products. This is on top of $12 billion distributed as relief to farmers last year to offset losses associated with Chinese retaliatory duties. With that $12 billion, there were winners (soy) and losers (corn and wheat), specialty crops that were singled out for assistance (cherries and almonds) and other parts of the American food system that received no aid at all despite discernible losses due to tariffs (the seafood industry). Spronk's hogs have been part of the export market for years. Japan has historically been No. 1 by price and volume, buying high-value loins; Mexico is No. 2 by price, buying mostly hams. China has been the No. 3 export country, using up organs, feet and other lower-value cuts; Korea is in fourth place, prizing shoulder cuts, and Canada represents the fifth market by volume. What Spronk wants to see is the removal of tariffs from Mexican and Canadian steel and aluminum (and thus retaliatory tariffs from Mexico), free trade agreements with Japan and China, and the ratification of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. "I don't want the check from the government, I want to take pride in what I do. I want to compete," he said. Even within his own industry, there is dissent on what relief should look like. Nick Giordano, vice president and counsel for the National Pork Producers Council, says the pork industry will ask the USDA to purchase pork for food aid. He says food banks and noncommercial channels represent a win for consumers and those in need without driving down pork prices with a glut on the market. Senator Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and others have indicated that purchasing farmers' excess for international food relief would be subject to World Trade Organization violations. "Unless the food is used for humanitarian reasons we'd be subject to WTO violation," Grassley told The Washington Post early this week. "If (President Trump) buys up $15 billion and he can't ship it overseas because he doesn't want to violate the WTO . . . then it's a depressant on the market because people know that the government holds so much grain." "Trump has opened the door to helping needy people outside the U.S.," Giordano says, "And that's the door we want to walk through. Most of our producers are going to say, 'So what if there's a WTO issue? We've got a five-alarm fire on our hands.' I defy anybody to look my producers in the eye and tell them the government shouldn't work with them on pork as food aid." Although pork is just one of many sectors of American agriculture that have been injured by the trade wars, it is likely the hardest hit of the animal agriculture categories. The U.S. accounts for a relatively small share of beef and poultry sold into China because of other non-tariff barriers. But there's one American protein that has been welcomed with open arms in recent years in China: Maine lobster. In the early 1990s there were 30 to 40 million pounds caught annually; by 2011 that number had grown to 100 million pounds. Producers like Tom Adams of Maine Coast, a lobster wholesaler, had to find new customers who weren't going to drive down the domestic price. "We started shipping to China in 2013 and it was our fastest growth area. Asia accounted for 40 percent of our sales in 2016 and 2017, and China accounted for half of that, $10 million a year in revenue from China." He had three weeks' notice about the last round of retaliatory Chinese tariffs, which went into effect July 6, 2018. He had to make a fast pivot to find additional domestic sales, and he says the Canadian lobster industry has swooped in to sell to China. "We were already at a trade disadvantage in the E.U. with Canada. In 2018 we had 35 percent of our market affected negatively by a trade agreement or trade war." Of the upcoming trade relief program, Adams isn't hopeful. "Grains play a much bigger role in our economy, but it bothers us as seafood industry members that we've never really been represented. We fall under agriculture but not in these relief programs. Our net income has been affected much like soy. These tariffs have affected my employees, my family and my industry." DAKAR, Senegal - Some doctors fighting the second-deadliest Ebola outbreak in history are afraid to wear scrubs. They mask their identities to avoid harassment and violence in Congo, where the epidemic is spreading at the fastest rate since it started in August - and where rampant misinformation fuels a distrust of outsiders in medical garb. The World Health Organization has logged 119 attacks this year against health workers. Eighty-five have been wounded or killed. Fear is changing tactics among aid staffers, who set out to convince communities that Ebola is real and they were there to help end it. Now some downplay their mission in public, swapping white coats for street clothes and attention-grabbing SUVs for motorbikes that blend into traffic. "Our staff has to lie about being doctors in order to treat people," said Tariq Riebel, emergency response director in Congo for the International Rescue Committee (IRC), a global aid group. And the violence hampers the response effort in a more direct way: Ebola infections tend to spike after attacks, experts say, because emergency responders are forced to take cover and halt the distribution of immunity-boosting vaccinations. The death toll in the central African country reached 1,136 this week, government officials said. The infection count, meanwhile, has climbed to 1,632 - with 88 more suspected, Congo's Ministry of Health said. Concerns are growing that the crisis in Congo's North Kivu province could become as lethal as West Africa's battle against the hemorrhagic fever from 2013 to 2016, which killed 11,310 people across three countries. "The tragedy is that we have the technical means to stop Ebola, but until all parties halt attacks on the response, it will be very difficult to end this outbreak," WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted May 10. An April assault on a hospital killed a Cameroonian epidemiologist in the verdant city of Butembo, the outbreak's current hot spot. The killing drove hundreds of Congolese doctors and nurses into the streets. They threatened to strike if the mayor did not support them with stronger security. But a string of assaults followed. A WHO team was attacked in early May after burying an Ebola victim. Five days later, dozens of gunmen stormed the team's neighborhood and exchanged bullets with security forces near their temporary homes. Riebel, who oversees a team of about 100 IRC workers in Goma, said his staff had to suspend treatments last week after taking cover from gunfire in nearby streets. The doctors don't wear their uniforms in public because people throw rocks at them, he said, and they've stopped driving SUVs through town. Motorbikes draw less attention. "When our doctors try to find housing," he said, "some say they are lawyers." After attackers killed WHO epidemiologist Richard Valery Mouzoko Kiboung in April, a city official told the Associated Press that armed fighters believed foreign health workers had started Congo's epidemic. "According to witnesses at the scene, these militiamen wanted all the expatriates to go home because, according to them, Ebola does not exist in Butembo," said Patrick Kambale Tsiko, the deputy mayor of Butembo. "They said they will continue if these expatriates do not return as soon as possible." U.S. officials are assessing the American role in curbing the crisis after sending a delegation - including Tim Ziemer, acting assistant administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development - to Congo this month to meet with Ebola experts on the ground, USAID acting spokesman Tom Babington said in an email. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pulled Ebola experts from North Kivu last year after an armed group attacked a Congolese military site along a road near where the team was traveling. The CDC has 17 people in the cities of Kinshasa and Goma but hopes to expand its response team in Congo to 40, CDC Director Robert Redfield said in an interview Wednesday. Timing will depend on whether the State Department approves security precautions for those experts. "The outbreak response is not succeeding despite all the efforts," he said. Redfield said the additional personnel for Goma are in anticipation of new cases moving to the city, which is home to more than 1 million people and has direct flights to key transit hubs including the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa and Entebbe, Uganda. Redfield said a long-term plan needs to be put in place, which he added could take as long as two years. "We make a mistake underestimating the complexity of this outbreak," he said. Experts are urging the global community to pour more resources into Congo's struggle. "We're at a breaking point," said Stephen Morrison, a senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington who has tracked the outbreak. "Violent attacks are winning, and infections are unchecked." More than 140 armed groups operated last year in North and South Kivu provinces, according to a 2019 Human Rights Watch report. "We need to call the situation what it is," said Jennifer Nuzzo, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. "Countries will be forced to act if the outbreak spills across [Congo's] borders, but by then, the cost of response will be much greater and the prospects for containment will be much more difficult." - - - Sun reported from Atlanta. The rush of Republican-controlled states to mount a challenge to the Supreme Court's landmark Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion nationwide has sparked confusion about what these new laws actually do. Here's what you need to know. Ten states have tightened restrictions on abortions this year, and similar measures are pending in other states. The new laws have prompted questions about whether women who have abortions could be punished and why some of the pieces of legislation are called "heartbeat bills," among other topics. These restrictions generally are meant to provoke legal challenges that ultimately elevate the issue to the Supreme Court. "I have prayed my way through this bill," said Alabama state Rep. Terri Collins, a Republican who sponsored that state's abortion ban, on Tuesday. "This is the way we get where we want to get eventually." Now that two Trump-appointed justices are on the Supreme Court, social conservatives see potential for a reversal of the court's 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade - although the court tends to make incremental changes to its interpretation of law, instead of dramatically overturning precedent. New York and Vermont, meanwhile, have enacted protections of abortion rights. So, why is everyone talking about Alabama's new law? The bill signed Wednesday by Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican, prohibits abortion in almost every circumstance and is considered the most restrictive abortion law in the country. The legislation makes exceptions only for the health of the mother and for fetuses with "fatal anomalies" that make them unlikely to survive outside the womb. Rape and incest are not exceptions to Alabama's ban. Which state most recently passed an abortion law? Missouri's Republican-controlled Senate voted early Thursday to ban abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy. The state's House is scheduled to vote on the bill by Friday. If the bill passes, it will await the signature of Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican who has said the bill would make Missouri "one of the strongest pro-life states in the country." Like with the law in Alabama, rape and incest would not be exceptions to the ban in Missouri. Can a woman who has an abortion be punished? The laws in Alabama and Missouri specifically exempt women from being criminally liable, said Katherine Kraschel, the executive director of Solomon Center for Health Law and Policy at Yale Law School. Georgia's new bill, she said, is less clear because it defines a fetus or embryo as an unborn child, but other provisions of Georgia law protect the rights of pregnant women. Can a health-care provider who performs an abortion be punished? Alabama's bill explicitly states that women are exempt from criminal and civil liability. Instead, the law targets doctors, who can be prosecuted for performing an abortion, a felony punishable by up to 99 years imprisonment. Carol Sanger, professor at Columbia Law School, said such penalties on doctors were "just another way to make women frightened" and create "more disincentives for physicians and residents to take up this practice." The Georgia law also says that doctors who perform abortions will be prosecuted, but is more vague about women. The measure could not be used to successfully prosecute women, according to Planned Parenthood's Staci Fox. But if a woman had a miscarriage, she could be pulled into an investigation looking at whether someone performed an illegal abortion on her. "You don't want a woman to be forced to prove how she lost her baby," said Sanger. Georgia's law does not unequivocally say that women are exempt, but legal experts point to other areas of Georgia's penal code which have specific defenses for women, including those who miscarry. Why are some of these abortion bans called "heartbeat bills?" Some bills, like the one in Georgia, prohibit abortion after the detection of what the bills call the fetal heartbeat, which usually happens about six weeks into pregnancy. This time period is about two weeks after a woman's missed period, when many women do not yet know they are pregnant. Supporters of this type of abortion ban refer to the legislation as "heartbeat bills," while many abortion rights activists say the term is inaccurate because an embryo's heart has not fully formed at that point. An ultrasound will usually show electric activity in an embryo's forming heart at about six weeks of pregnancy, said Jen Villavicencio, an OB/GYN and member of The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. She said although that activity is not the same as a heartbeat that pumps blood, she often uses the term "heartbeat" with her patients at that point because they are familiar with that terminology. Villavicencio said it technically is an inaccurate description. "I think that when you are legislating biology in this way, you need to be really, really precise," she said. Why are some people objecting to the six-week cutoff written into these "heartbeat bills?" Doctors date a pregnancy from the first day of a woman's last period, not from the date when she had sexual intercourse. Most women are at least four weeks pregnant when they discover the pregnancy, Villavicencio said. Many women do not realize it until the fifth or sixth week, she said, especially if they did not expect to become pregnant. Women are taught to suspect pregnancy if they miss their period, but other factors - like stress, obesity or new medications - can also disrupt a woman's menstrual cycle. How likely is emergency contraception to prevent pregnancy, as an alternative to abortion? Over-the-counter morning-after pills generally prevent pregnancy when taken within 72 hours of sexual intercourse, Villavicencio said, although the pills are much less effective in women who weigh more than 170 pounds. Emergency contraception that requires a prescription should be taken within five days of sexual contact, Villavicencio said. Women who want to avoid becoming pregnant, she said, "have a very tight timeline to access emergency contraception over the counter." Does banning abortion reduce the rate of abortion? Not significantly. Countries with total or partial bans have an abortion rate of 37 in 1,000 people, while 34 in 1,000 people have abortions in countries with no restrictions on it, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organization that advocates for abortion rights. Expanding access to contraception, however, does correlate with lower rates of abortion, the Guttmacher Institute says. A study by Washington University in St. Louis found in 2012 that giving women free birth control reduces abortion rates by 62 to 78 percent, compared to the national rate. - - - The Washington Post's Lindsey Bever, Ariana Eunjung Cha, Carol Eisenberg, Laura Helmuth and Josh White contributed to this report. WASHINGTON - A federal judge on Thursday ordered that prosecutors make public a transcript of a phone call that former national security adviser Michael Flynn tried hard to hide with a lie: his conversation with a Russian ambassador in late 2016. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan in Washington ordered the government also to provide a public transcript of a November 2017 voice mail involving Flynn. In that sensitive call, President Donald Trump's attorney left a message for Flynn's attorney reminding him of the president's fondness for Flynn at a time when Flynn was considering cooperating with federal investigators. The transcripts, which the judge ordered be posted on a court website by May 31, would reveal conversations at the center of two major avenues of special counsel Robert Mueller III's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. So far they have only been disclosed to the public in fragments in court filings and the Mueller report. Sullivan also ordered that still-redacted portions of the Mueller report that relate to Flynn be given to the court and made public. Sullivan's orders came very shortly after government prosecutors agreed to release some sealed records in Flynn's case. The release was in response to a motion filed with the court earlier this year by The Washington Post, which argued that the public deserved to know more about Flynn's role in key events and cooperation with investigators. Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 to one felony count of making a false statement to FBI investigators about his contact with the ambassador and awaits sentencing. The purpose of the phone calls, and the motives of the callers, have been hotly debated. In the December 2016 call, Flynn urged that the Kremlin not get too riled up about U.S. sanctions that President Barack Obama had just announced against Russia and to give Trump time to take office. That conversation, intercepted by U.S. intelligence, raised grave concerns about Russians' secret and frequent contact with Trump allies and advisers during the campaign and before his inauguration. In the second conversation, an attorney for Trump tried to learn whether Flynn had any problematic information about the president after Flynn's attorney signaled his client might begin cooperating with Mueller's investigators. The attorney was John Dowd, then a private attorney for the president, according to people familiar with the episode. The special counsel was then threatening to charge Flynn with lying to FBI agents about his call to the ambassador. Dowd's voice mail was scrutinized as Mueller's investigators probed whether the president engaged in obstruction of justice to try to thwart the probe, and whether he deployed his aides to assist him. In one of the previously redacted filings released Thursday, prosecutors said Flynn described multiple episodes in which "he or his attorneys received communications from persons connected to the Administration or Congress that could have affected both his willingness to cooperate and the completeness of that cooperation." In addition to the transcripts, it also is possible that the judge may release the audio recordings of the conversations. In his Thursday order, Sullivan directed that the government provide a copy of those recordings to him in his chambers, along with any other calls Flynn made to the Russians, so he can review them. Dowd and the president's current attorney, Jay Sekulow, declined to comment as did a spokesman for the White House. Robert Kelner, the attorney for Flynn, could not be reached for comment Thursday night. The newly unsealed portions of court records showed Flynn was a fount of useful information to the special counsel's team in 2017 and 2018, helping it probe the Trump campaign's effort to gain stolen emails and the question of whether Trump sought to criminally interfere in the investigation bearing down on him. The records confirm the questions that Flynn, a retired lieutenant general and former military intelligence officer, helped federal prosecutors answer after his guilty plea. Flynn admitted in 2017 that he tried to conceal the nature of his conversations with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, and then began cooperating with Mueller's team to try to reduce and possibly avoid a prison sentence. Flynn also provided the special counsel with information about efforts by the Trump campaign and Trump allies to seek out stolen emails during the campaign after WikiLeaks began publishing internal Democratic correspondence in July 2016, the records show. He also provided evidence of "multiple efforts" by people connected to Trump that could have impacted his willingness to cooperate with the probe, useful information as Mueller explored whether the president obstructed justice. At the same time, Flynn assisted federal prosecutors based in Alexandria, Virginia, who were preparing criminal charges against his former business partner, Bijan Kian, for working as an unregistered agent of Turkey. Kian has pleaded not guilty to the charges. He is expected to face trial in July, and Flynn is expected to be a critical witness for the government. The new material echoes the Mueller report findings, but helps explain why prosecutors told Sullivan they had found Flynn's cooperation valuable and recommended he receive little or no prison time. Ultimately, Flynn opted to postpone his sentencing when Sullivan said he was distressed by Flynn's conduct and said he was inclined to give him prison time if he hadn't yet finished cooperating with the government. The Mueller team analyzed the Dowd call to Kelner and other allies' outreach to Flynn for possible obstruction of justice, but ultimately determined the evidence of Trump's intent was "inconclusive." Mueller's team noted their inquiry was hampered because much of the conduct involved Trump's legal team, and concerns about attorney-client privilege limited the special counsel's investigation. Mueller's team noted in particular that in November 2017 - after Flynn withdrew from his joint defense agreement with the president - Trump's "personal counsel", who was Dowd, left a voice mail for Kelner that urged him to give a "heads up" if they had anything that implicated the president. He added: "remember what we've always said about the President and his feelings toward Flynn." In a later call, Kelner repeated that he could not share information with Dowd, and Dowd grew indignant and said he believed the president would be very displeased, the report said. Trump seemed particularly eager to convey his affection for Flynn after Flynn left the White House in the wake of reports about his calls with Kislyak. Former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus told Mueller's team that Trump asked him to call Flynn after he was let go to convey that the and former deputy national security adviser K.T. McFarland both told investigators Trump asked them to reach out to Flynn to check on him and tell him to stay strong, according to Mueller's report. - - - The Washington Post's Matt Zapotosky and Spencer S. Hsu contributed to this report. COLONIE The man sitting next to me, dressed in military garb, blows on his Chicken Florentine soup before he gives up, reaches two fingers into his water glass, grabs an ice cube and drops it in the broth. The televisions on the wall air local news: a Shaker High student makes it to the finals of American Idol, an Albany cop pleads guilty to a DWAI charge, the Niskayuna boys lacrosse team wins yet again. The manager on duty, Tony Pasos, walks behind the counter upon which I eat my grilled cheese and french fries, to refill his coffee. People usually call me crazy for having caffeine at 8:30 p.m., but for Pasos I highly doubt this cup, at 11:45 p.m., would be his last of the night after all he still has six hours on his shift. The surly voice of a gruff man sitting in the red-plastic lined booth behind me catches my attention. "I'm starving," he says. The man, George, would later tell me he had driven three hours from New York to Albany. He and his wife were on their way to Montreal for their granddaughter's wedding. "Thank God this place is open." His remark echoes the two words at the bottom of the lit Latham '76 Diner sign off of Route 9 'Always Open.' Although 24-hour diners seem to be a dwindling industry in the Capital Region, Latham '76 is one of the few that has stuck true to its promise of always being a place that customers can rely on, no matter what the time, whether for a conversation with one of the waitresses, a bite to eat or a place to wake up with a Cup of Joe after a long night out. "That's we want people to always remember," Tony Loupessis who runs Latham '76 said. "We are always going to be open." A quick Google Search reveals that Latham '76 is only one of a few 24-hour diners -- the others being Bob's Diner, a staple in Watervliet for more than 39 years, and Denny's, which is a chain. I did talk to locals to ask if they could think of other diners open 24/7. Plaza 23 Truck Stop diner? Nope, I called. Only open till 9:30 p.m. on weekdays. Compton's in Saratoga? While they are open at 3 a.m., perfect time for those bar-goers shuffling home, they close at 2:30 p.m. The beloved Betty Boop's Diner on Philip Street? Despite Google maps listing them as open 24 hours, their website says they actually close at 10 p.m. Now there may be some I'm missing, but I think we can agree there are not many, and in any case, definitely not as many as there used to be. Loupessis said it wasn't always that way. "If you go back to when I was a kid, to when my father opened the restaurant, Route 9 had lots of bars, even a disco, right nearby," Loupessis said. "Back then bars didn't serve food. They didn't have chicken fingers and wings, all they had were peanuts and popcorn. So, people would have to go somewhere else to get food, so 24-hour diners made sense." But over the years there have been many changes. Bars started serving food, restaurants stayed open later and Grubhub would bring food right to your door by you putting in the maximum effort of pressing some buttons on your door. "There are other options now," Loupessis said. "There's other ways to get food and now there are only a few of us left." But for Loupessis and his family, the reason to stay open 24/7 was fairly simple. "My dad would say, 'You're not a diner unless you are open 24-hours and serve breakfast all day long,'" Loupessis said. Latham '76 at 722 Loudon Road was opened by Loupessis' father, Alex Loupessis, in 1973 after he came to America from Greece. Just 10 years earlier, in 1963, 7-Eleven opened its first 24-hour convenience store in Las Vegas which really kick-started the trend of 24-hour establishments. Tony Loupessis said he never saw his dad with a pair of keys to the diner and legend has it Alex Loupessis had actually buried the keys under the steps of the diner so the doors could never be closed. Alex Loupessis had told the Times Union, in 2005, that the only time the diner locked its doors was during the snowstorm of 1987. For the past three years the diner has closed its doors for Christmas as well. Alex Loupessis said he and his dad, who died in 2006 after a car crash on the Northway while coming home from the Saratoga Gaming and Raceway, often had the conversation along the lines of, "but what if we aren't open 24 hours?" Loupessis said his father always convinced him to stay open. One of the reasons being is there would basically always be someone there with the amount of food prep they have, which is an astonishing amount. There are more than 200 items on the menu, ranging from a $23 seafood platter, gourmet omelets, chicken pot pie, lasagna, traditional Greek stuffed peppers, pulled pork nachos, sauteed baby beef liver, cheesecakes to a simple bowl of Frosted Flakes cereal. Oh, and it's all made from scratch the pancake batter, the lasagna, the soups. "That prepping can last late into the night, so we figured while the cook is prepping they can make a couple sandwiches or scramble some eggs," Loupessis said. "Throw in a hostess and a waitress and you are open 24 hours." Financially, Loupessis said, they typically break even on the weekdays or make a small profit. But that doesn't matter, what does matter are the customers. "They don't have to worry about what time we close or ask when we are open," Loupessis said. "They just know they can always get something to eat on their way to work or back home." And they see customers at all hours -- people meandering in from the bars searching for something to satisfy their hunger (I'm told the Cuban sandwich is perfect for this), people killing time after their flight to Chicago from Albany International Airport was delayed yet again, police officers and hospital staff grabbing a quick bite before their shift, a Times Union reporter who stops in after covering his late night Troy City Council meetings and on Tuesday night this reporter for a late night (midnight) dinner. As I pushed my grilled cheese plate, only a few fries remaining, away from me and started to cut into the baklava I took in the sights and sounds of Latham '76 Diner had to offer. High schoolers walk past me, debating how much they'll "piss off mom" if they stay out for another hour. An elderly woman makes conversation with a waitress, asking her how her kids were. What were the kids name again? Brendan and Sam? A couple, on what I assume is a first date that extended from 10 p.m. till now due to a special connection, giggles as they share a slice of cheesecake. It's 12:51 a.m. now. The front door of the diner swings open and a man, who I can't tell if he is just tired from work or slightly buzzed, walks in and sits a few seats away from me. The waitress goes to place a menu before him, when he holds up his hand to stop her. "It's OK, I already know what I want," he says. "I'll take two eggs scrambled. Toast wheat. And a side of bacon." WASHINGTON - An increasing number of House Democrats are frustrated by their stalled investigations into President Donald Trump, with an uncooperative chief executive, their own leader's reluctance about impeachment and courts that could be slow to resolve the standoff. Democrats have yet to hear from special counsel Robert Mueller III, who led the nearly two-year investigation into Russia interference in the 2016 election and possible involvement with the Trump campaign. Even with negotiations, the earliest Mueller could testify would be next month. And any hopes of former White house counsel Donald McGahn facing a congressional panel on Tuesday are slim, as the White House moves to block all current and former aides from cooperating with congressional inquiries. Weighing all options, Democrats have raised the specter of imposing fines or jailing people who ignore subpoenas, extreme measures that have prompted some legal experts to wonder whether Democrats have a strategy for this constitutional conflict. A group of House Judiciary Committee Democrats privately have discussed ways to increase pressure on leadership to being impeachment proceedings despite House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's wariness, according to several Democrats who spoke on the condition of anonymity to freely discuss the plan. "There's no doubt in my mind that we are all going to come to a point [where more has to be done] - including the speaker," said Rep. Marcia Fudge of Ohio, a senior Democrat. "We respect her leadership and we respect her strategic sense about how these things work, her political sense. But I think we're all getting to a point where we know something more has to be done." The anxious search for next steps comes as Pelosi, D-Calif., has settled on a long-game approach and most Democrats have fallen in line. She has argued that without Republican and public support for impeachment, the move is largely futile and Democrats should focus on their policy agenda ahead of the 2020 election. Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Friday rejected a subpoena from House Democrats demanding copies of Trump's tax returns and the administration again ignored a compulsory measure from the House Intelligence Committee to hand over a still-redacted part of the Mueller report. In total, the White House has moved to block dozens of inquiries, document requests and subpoenas in at least 20 House investigations. Some Democrats say they've had enough. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., a member of the House Judiciary Committee and Pelosi's leadership team, said the White House "is treating us like the Mexican government or the prime minister of Luxembourg" rather than an equal branch of government. Raskin has been encouraging colleagues to try to make the distinction between voting to impeach Trump and voting to begin an impeachment inquiry - the latter of which, investigators argue, could help them secure documents they have struggled to get. Raskin said Friday that a debate about opening impeachment proceedings would occur "over the next several weeks." Asked if he wanted proceedings to begin now, Raskin hesitated, saying, "We are in the process of reasserting our preeminence as a constitutional actor, and the members recognize that we have a weighty, historical and constitutional responsibility to fulfill." To be sure, any pro-impeachment faction faces resistance not just from Pelosi but also from dozens of rank-and-file Democrats who are skeptical that such a step makes sense with an election in less than 18 months. Rep. Lois Frankel, D-Fla., said she was "satisfied" with the pace of the investigative committees. "Right now, I'm much more worried about what's happening to women's rights in this country," she said. "I mean, listen: Should this guy be president? No. Is there enough there to impeach him? Probably. But I think it's going to have to be done in an election . . . Impeachment is a very extreme remedy, as much as I cannot stand this guy." Some lawmakers are mindful that the closer the country gets to the 2020 election, the less justifiable impeachment becomes. "As we get into the real campaign, as Democrats land on a candidate . . . all the focus is going to be there rather than on impeachment," said Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va. He added, though, that there was a flip side to waiting to counter Trump's stonewalling - calling it an "obvious attempt to run out the clock." "And if he were to somehow run out the clock and win, then you go back to the old argument: 'Look, the voters decided on this,' " he said. Many senior Democrats are hopeful the courts will come to their rescue. A federal judge earlier this week expressed skepticism about Trump's effort to block his accounting firm from turning over years of financial records to a House panel. The judge promised a quick decision. But even if the judge acts swiftly in Democrats' favor, it stands as a legal victory for just one subpoena out of dozens that have been ignored by Trump and his administration. Should Democrats try to litigate all of those in court, they could face months, if not years, in limbo as their probes languish, experts say. House Republicans in 2012 held Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt for failing to turn over documents pertaining to a gunrunning investigation. The GOP House sued him in civil court to try to get a judge to force compliance, but it took seven years for both parties to settle the case. It's one reason some House Democrats have started talking about inherent contempt, a rare step in which the House instructs the sergeant at arms to take an individual into custody for congressional proceedings. Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va., a member of the House Oversight Committee, said that a dragged-out court fight is exactly why it's vital that House Democrats "short-circuit that time frame." Democrats on the investigative panels, he said, are not only talking about $20,000-plus fines but also moves to try to disbar lawyers who don't cooperate with their probes, like McGahn. "I would say the sentiment for something like this has been growing " he said. "Our base is furious with the defiance of the Trump administration and absolutely expects us to respond forcefully." On Thursday, however, Pelosi notably sidestepped a chance to endorse those ideas. "Let's not leapfrog over what we think should be the path," Pelosi told reporters, suggesting talk about using inherent contempt was a bit premature. "This is one of the possibilities that is out there - I'm not saying we're going down that path. . . . I don't have to have a position." House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., earlier in the week also rebuffed questions about the House's use of inherent contempt to levy fines or incarcerate people outside of a court's jurisdiction. "I don't think we're going to jail people and put them in the basement," he said. "I don't want to deny that we have inherent contempt authority, but we are somewhat limited in our ability to carry that out." Even if the House slaps fines on Trump officials, the officials could ignore them. And the only way to enforce those fines would be to take them to court - another legal fight that could languish. To address ignored subpoenas, Democratic leaders have backed the idea of eventually scheduling one major contempt vote that bundles several citations together - then taking them to court. That means investigators could be waiting for weeks to begin the litigation process. In the meantime, several rank-and-file lawmakers are impatient. "If we're going to say that this administration has been unprecedented in its lawlessness and its obstruction, then we need to exercise our power that follows through on that," said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. "Everything is there telling us what to do." Jacksonville Police ARRESTS, CITATIONS Ryan P. Steele, 24, of 405 E. Maple St. in New Berlin was booked into the Morgan County jail at 4:40 p.m. Thursday on a charge of criminal damage to property. BURGLARIES, THEFTS A cellphone was taken from the YMCA mens locker room, according to a report filed at 8:51 p.m. Wednesday. A cellphone, drivers license and debit card were taken from the 800 block of West Morton Avenue between 1:30 a.m. and 2:06 a.m. Thursday, according to a report filed at 2:06 a.m. Thursday. OTHER REPORTS The bottom half of a glass security door was broken on a building in the 300 block of Holkenbrink Drive, according to a report filed at 2:26 a.m. Thursday. A window in the 400 block of Dorset Lane was broken between 6 and 9 p.m. Wednesday, according to a report filed at 1:20 p.m. Thursday. Compiled by Samantha McDaniel-Ogletree and Rosalind Essig BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Different civilizations should try to find common roots and focus more on what brings them together rather than what sets them apart, said Nada Al-Nashif, assistant director-general for Social and Human Sciences at UNESCO. "If we focus on the positives of how we come together, we can overcome the fear, the distrust, and even the paranoia that sets in," Al-Nashif told Xinhua in an interview on the sidelines of the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations (CDAC) being held in Beijing. Discrimination, racism or stereotyping, said Al-Nashif, are never the basic to human nature but were "things that we create." "We have to be very careful to steer clear of those things," she added. The CDAC, in Al-Nashif's eyes, manifested the convergence of values between China and the UNESCO, whose ongoing Silk Roads project is also committed to fostering a mutual understanding of diverse cultures. "There is a lot of strength from culture diversity. This idea of how we interact, how we cross-fertilize each other, how we can learn, is very important to growth, to innovation, to how we can prosper as societies," she said. Speaking of the ancient Chinese philosophy of "harmony without uniformity," Al-Nashif said people need to listen to all of the wise voices. "We need more harmony, we need not just tolerance, we need empathy, more empathy, the thing of putting yourself in others' shoes, and understanding how we can be spiritually united is very important," she said. As for China's role in exchanges of civilizations, Al-Nashif said China has been very helpful in supporting UNESCO's programs. "This is a very strong partnership with China that has exhibited and reflected itself through the Silk Roads project for many, many years now ... To us, the value is really in trying to understand what mutually existence, what tolerance was about," said the official. Al-Nashif recalled Chinese President Xi Jinping's speech at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris in 2014, and praised his vision that civilizations come in different colors, civilizations are equal and civilizations are inclusive. "I think this has been a very big strength ..." she said. "This is not just about the past, it's very much about the future. And I think that was the spirit of the president's encouragement to us." Al-Nashif said she was delighted that with China's support, the co-working on the UNESCO Interactive Atlas has covered all layers of the Silk Road via digital technology, which fulfills a very tangible collaboration. "We have a lot to learn from China's very extensive history, from its geography, from the magic of this cultural sites, and all that they mean. There is no monopoly on wisdom in this day of age, I think we have to be open, and absolutely equal in understanding," she said. [ Editor: WPY ] BAD AXE Huron County commissioners passed a resolution this week urging the governor to continue construction of a new state psychiatric hospital in the Thumb area. However, commissioners elsewhere are hoping the state selects their county for the facility instead. During this weeks Huron County Board of Commissioners meeting, commissioners unanimously approved a resolution asking Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to carry on with construction of a new 200-bed facility on the grounds of the Caro Center. Relocation of the facility would have dramatic, devastating negative repercussion to businesses, schools, and families living in the communities throughout this region of the state, the resolution states. The area's economy is already struggling from the previous closure of state prisons. More than $3 million has been spent on the facility before Whitmer and Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Robert Gordon halted the project in March to reassess the viability of building in Tuscola County. I dont think theyre (state officials) looking at it correctly because it's a population that requires special services and special needs, Commissioner Steve Vaughan told the Tribune. Theyve been able to provide that very well for over 100 years in the Tuscola facility. Genesee County commissioners passed a resolution this week to work with its delegation to the Michigan Legislature to advocate for the hospital, the Associated Press reported. Genesee Health Systems the countys public mental health provider stated its county has three in-patient psychiatric hospitals that are able to attract the staff needed to make a state hospital run. Their public works division cant even provide good water to the citizens of their own county, Vaughan said. Now, they want to add to the system that they cant even fulfill the needs of the citizens that they already have. Vaughan said having the psychiatric hospital built elsewhere is a disadvantage to the people in Caro and Tuscola County that live and support the current facility. The people could drive from Tuscola County to Genesse or Saginaw, but why relocate something in an area where its not feasible? he said. WASHINGTON - Responding Thursday to a motion filed by The Washington Post, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ordered the Justice Department to make public the still-redacted portions of special counsel Robert Mueller's report relating to Michael Flynn. Sullivan also directed the government to publish the transcripts of two conversations by May 31: The first is from Flynn's December 2016 phone call with Sergey Kislyak during which then president-elect Donald Trump's incoming national security adviser urged the then-Russian ambassador to go easy in response to the sanctions that President Barack Obama had just announced so that the incoming administration would have breathing room. Flynn later lied to FBI agents about this call, which had been intercepted by U.S. intelligence, a felony for which he has pleaded guilty and still awaits sentencing. The second transcript might be more politically explosive: Trump's then-private attorney John Dowd left a voice mail for Flynn's lawyer Robert Kelner on Nov. 22, 2017, a few hours after being informed that the former Marine general had withdrawn from a joint defense agreement. It was a clear sign that he was planning to cooperate with the special counsel. Dowd wanted to convey that Trump felt fondly about Kelner's client, though he had forced him out of the White House earlier that year, and he also demanded to know whether Flynn was going to turn over "information that implicates the president." This voicemail was mentioned as part of one of the 10 episodes of potential obstruction of justice that Mueller explored in the second volume of his report, but it hasn't drawn nearly as much public attention as the chapters involving former White House counsel Don McGahn. That could change if the public gets to hear the audio of Dowd's message. Sullivan, the judge, directed the Justice Department yesterday to provide him with a DVD of the original recordings, along with any other calls Flynn made to the Russians, so he can consider whether to release them. The Mueller report includes this excerpt of Dowd's voice mail: "I understand your situation, but let me see if I can't state it in starker terms. . . . It wouldn't surprise me if you've gone on to make a deal with ... the government. . . . If . . . there's information that implicates the president, then we've got a national security issue, . . . so, you know, . . . we need some kind of heads up. Um, just for the sake of protecting all our interests if we can. . . . Remember what we've always said about the President and his feelings toward Flynn, and that still remains .. . ." (Ellipses and punctuation are taken directly from the report.) Kelner called Dowd back the next day and told him that he could no longer share information with the president's defense team under any sort of privilege. "According to Flynn's attorneys, the President's personal counsel was indignant and vocal in his disagreement," the Mueller report said. "The President's personal counsel said that he interpreted what they said to him as a reflection of Flynn's hostility towards the President and that he planned to inform his client of that interpretation. Flynn's attorneys understood that statement to be an attempt to make them reconsider their position because the President's personal counsel believed that Flynn would be disturbed to know that such a message would be conveyed to the President." Mueller struggled to establish obstruction in this instance because Dowd was protected by attorney-client privilege from needing to answer questions about whether Trump had personally directed him to pass along this message. The president also refused to grant an interview to Mueller, and he declined to answer even written questions related to possible obstruction of justice. "That sequence of events could have had the potential to affect Flynn's decision to cooperate, as well as the extent of that cooperation," Mueller wrote. "Because of privilege issues, however, we could not determine whether the President was personally involved in or knew about the specific message his counsel delivered to Flynn's counsel." "Dowd and the president's current attorney, Jay Sekulow, declined to comment, as did a spokesman for the White House," The Washington Post reported. "Kelner, the attorney for Flynn, could not be reached for comment Thursday night." The Mueller report highlighted how eager Trump seemed from the start to keep his former national security adviser from flipping. The president asked then-White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and former deputy national security adviser KT McFarland to reach out to Flynn to encourage him to "stay strong," Priebus and McFarland separately told investigators. We also learned last night that there was a previously unknown congressional element to this effort. In a portion of a December filing that was finally unsealed yesterday, Mueller's team said that Flynn had described multiple episodes, before and after his guilty plea, in which "he or his attorneys received communications from persons connected to the Administration or Congress that could have affected both his willingness to cooperate and the completeness of that cooperation." We do not know the identity of the person or persons connected to Congress and what they said, though that seems important. It seems quite germane whether that lawmaker, if it's safe to assume it was a member of Congress who called and not a staffer, had been in touch with the president before receiving said communications. Making the case that Flynn shouldn't serve prison time, prosecutors told the judge that, "in some of those instances," they had been "unaware of the outreach until being alerted to it by the defendant." A few days after the Dowd voice mail, Flynn pleaded guilty to making false statements as part of a deal to cooperate. The next day, Trump was asked whether he still stood behind Flynn. "We'll see what happens," the president replied. The ongoing, record-high influx of migrant families crossing into the United States along its southern border has strained U.S. Border Patrol resources so far beyond capacity that, for the first time, the Trump administration's border crisis is spilling out into America's interior. A senior official at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said Friday that federal officials are in the process of identifying locations hundreds of miles from the border that have the capacity to take on some of the arriving migrants, but said no location has been finalized. "This is an emergency," the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said during a conference call with reporters. "The entire system is overwhelmed, and we're simply trying to safely get them out of our custody as quickly as possible while maintaining border security." CBP officials said they are looking "across the entire nation" for space to house and process migrants before releasing them to await immigration court hearings. A senior Department of Homeland Security official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said numerous destinations with government facilities that have the capacity to process migrants are under consideration. Border Patrol authorities say they have apprehended an average of 4,500 people each day along the southwest border with Mexico, 65% of whom are families and unaccompanied children. The number of people in CBP custody recently surpassed 17,500 people - nearly 30% more than the agency was detaining when Homeland Security officials declared they had reached a "breaking point" earlier this year. The Trump administration has said one of its top priorities is to deport MS-13 gang members and other criminals from the interior of the United States, but people apprehended at the border - most of whom are not criminals - are increasingly filling up detention centers this fiscal year, federal records show. Border crossers account for three-fourths of all migrants booked into immigration custody this fiscal year, up from 61% in fiscal 2018, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Matthew Albence testified earlier this month at a House Homeland Security budget hearing. The Border Patrol's detention facilities along the border, largely built in the 1980s and 1990s, were constructed for short-term stays and were not designed to accommodate families. "Our processing cannot keep up with the flow that's coming across, nor can our facilities," the CBP official said Friday. The Border Patrol, which in recent months began busing migrants from overcrowded facilities in the Rio Grande Valley; El Paso, Texas; and Yuma, Arizona, to other areas of the border, last week took the unusual step of using government aircraft to make some of those transfers. To make limited transfers of families from the Rio Grande Valley to Del Rio, Texas, and San Diego, California, CBP has been employing aircraft that ICE normally uses for deportations. ICE has contract use of 10 passenger jets, each with a capacity to seat 135 people. But those locations also are filling up. So CBP has begun "contingency planning" to identify other facilities that can hold them, primarily along the coasts and the 4,000-mile continental border with Canada. The discussion about transferring thousands of newly detained migrants to cities hundreds of miles from the Rio Grande Valley already is fueling new tensions between the federal government and some local jurisdictions that want nothing to do with the administration's border crisis. County officials in southern Florida spoke out against the idea Thursday, warning that the transfer of a large migrant population to the region could overwhelm local resources. Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony said Friday that he had requested an emergency meeting with county officials after he and another local sheriff's department had learned that CBP was considering releasing "a potential influx of immigrants into both Palm Beach and Broward counties." Local authorities in Broward and Palm Beach counties said CBP informed them that it was weighing plans to transfer more than 1,000 people a month from the El Paso area of Texas, 1,800 miles away. "It's insane," Broward Mayor Mark Bogen said in an interview Thursday, noting the impending summer hurricane season and the state's overcrowded homeless shelters. "It's actually inhumane." CBP said there is no immediate plan to transfer migrants there. "We do not have any aircraft flying into Florida at this time," the CBP official said Friday. "But we are looking at contingency plans." Bogen and other local officials said CBP had informed them that border authorities would release many of the migrants into their communities after they had been processed and assigned court dates, standard protocol for migrants encountered at the border. Most of the families arriving at the southwest border originated in the impoverished and violence-ridden countries of Central America. They often emerge from government holding cells in Texas and Arizona needing food, shelter and medical services - which they often receive from charities and nonprofits that are stationed there. In Florida, a peninsula where severe hurricanes in recent years have caused significant displacements, officials say they are not set up for a massive influx of migrants in need of housing and other assistance. "Every day we're watching our border right out here, which is the ocean," Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said at a news conference Thursday. "We spend a lot of time to make sure that people don't come into South Florida illegally." Trump in April threatened to release migrants directly into so-called sanctuary cities, an idea that drew internal concerns from the Department of Homeland Security and immediate backlash from Democrats. Asked whether likely transfer locations included sanctuary cities, the CBP official said: "All we are looking at right now is where we have the capacity and the bandwidth for the computer systems, and the computer systems to be able to do the processing." - - - Video link: https://wapo.st/2JGypT4 A new White House campaign to collect stories about alleged instances of political bias on social media has drawn wide-ranging objections from members of Congress, free-speech advocates and privacy hawks, some of whom question whether the Trump administration's effort violates the constitution. Their concerns stem from a survey the White House tweeted to followers on Wednesday. The web site asked people to provide their names, citizenship status, contact information and links to their accounts on Facebook or other social platforms, along with details about instances when they feel they had been censored. While the Trump administration said it sought input from people across the political spectrum, the president himself regularly has charged that tech giants unfairly silence conservatives. Lawmakers bristled at what they saw as a political stunt. Many took particular exception that the White House was targeting Facebook, Google and Twitter on the same week that the administration, citing free-speech concerns, opted against joining a widely supported international pact to combat online extremism citing free-speech concerns. "It's clear President [Donald] Trump is just using this as another cynical ploy to amass more data from his supporters and fan the flames of division. He should instead be working collaboratively to fight extremism online," said Rep. Frank Pallone, the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees tech and telecom issues. The White House declined to answer a series of questions about its new effort, including what it plans to do with the data it amasses. But spokesman Judd Deere said Friday the information will "absolutely not be shared" with Trump's re-election campaign. Facebook, Google and Twitter, meanwhile, long have stressed their political neutrality. "The success and growth of internet companies depends upon a broad user base regardless of party affiliation or political perspectives," said Michael Beckerman, the president of the Internet Association, a Washington-based group that represents those tech giants. For more than a year, Trump has claimed - sometimes citing inaccurate or misleading data - that social media giants wrongly limit his reach or unfairly target his supporters. He has claimed Google promotes negative stories about him, for example, though such assertions have been widely disputed. And he has alleged that Twitter removes some of his followers, a claim Trump raised during a private meeting with Jack Dorsey, the company's chief executive. Twitter has long maintained that follower counts fluctuate as it takes action against spam or enforces other site policies. Still, Trump repeatedly has threatened heightened oversight of the very online platforms that he tapped to great effect to win the White House in 2016. Last August, one of the president's top aides suggested they are "taking a look" at regulating Google's search results, a comment that provoked widespread outrage before Trump appeared to walk it back. In March, he pledged to "do something about" his allegations that Facebook, Google and Twitter censor conservatives, though he didn't elaborate. And Trump promised this month to "monitor" social media after Facebook took action to remove people from its site that it deemed to be "dangerous," including users affiliated with the conspiracy theory site Infowars. "The White House move is a major escalation of the right-wing effort to pressure tech companies to leave vile content online, instead of doing the right thing and policing their platforms," said Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon. He pointed to federal law that paves the way for tech companies to craft and enforce their own policies without being held liable for their decisions. "I've long warned that asking the government to police free speech would have dangerous consequences," Wyden said. "It flies in the face of the Constitution." Outside the Capitol, digital-rights advocates said Trump had complicated some of their work to find and study online censorship. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, for example, long has called on Facebook, Google and Twitter to be more transparent about the content they allow or block. The group's work has focused on preventing governments from adopting laws that hamstring speech and collecting stories from activists and marginalized communities who have been affected. "This kind of sucks all the air out of the room," said Jillian York, the director for international freedom of expression at EFF. "Companies have become so big. . . they should, and have, a moral responsibility to take human rights into account," she said. But York said EFF would be especially concerned if the Trump administration sought to regulate in response. "While we think companies have a moral responsibility to step up on this, seeing them regulated is not the answer," she said. Others questioned whether the Trump administration had broken federal rules in the way that it launched its survey in the first place. In a letter to the White House, sent Thursday, the Electronic Privacy Information Center said there is no evidence that the government ever conducted and published a report on its data-collection activities, a mandatory inquiry called a Privacy Impact Assessment. Absent that, the Washington-based watchdog organization said the administration's social media campaign may be "unlawful." EPIC also argued the Trump administration may have violated the First Amendment by requiring visitors to its site to provide their names - while denying those who are not U.S. citizens from making submissions - pointing to two Supreme Court cases that EPIC said should allow web users to express themselves anonymously and without regard to their country of origin. "Americans across the country share a deep commitment to the First Amendment and the protection of personal privacy," the group wrote. "The White House should protect these fundamental rights." A suspect accused of fatally shooting a man 2 years ago outside a Southeast Side fast food place was arrested Wednesday. Juarez Bibbs, 52, was charged with murder in the death of Eddie Carter, 38. His bail amount had not been set as of Thursday evening because he was still being processed into the Bexar County Jail, according to the Bexar County Sheriffs Office. Carter was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds at about 1 a.m. Dec. 28, 2016, outside of the Jack in the Box at 5311 Rigsby Ave., according to Bibbs arrest warrant affidavit. FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox His vehicle had also been stolen but was later recovered, according to the affidavit. At about the same time, Bibbs was taken to San Antonio Military Medical Center for a gunshot wound in what police initially handled as a separate incident, the affidavit states. During an interview with detectives at SAMMC, Biggs said he was at a car wash on Rigsby Ave. and Lakefront Drive, half a mile from where Bibbs was found. Investigators asked Bibbs if he had any knowledge of Carters death and if he was at the Jack in the Box when the shooting occurred. Bibbs said no, and that he was shot by two men who robbed him at the car wash, according to the affidavit. RELATED: SAPD officer accused of stalking ex who was allegedly beaten by his lover But when detectives went by the car wash immediately after the interview, they did not find any blood, bullet casings or other evidence. On April 12, 2018, the Bexar County Crime Lab told detectives that DNA matching Bibbs was found on the passenger seat of Carters vehicle. Jacob Beltran is a reporter covering San Antonio and Bexar County. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | jbeltran@express-news.net | Twitter: @JBfromSA Five top executives of the pharma giant Insys Therapeutics, maker of the synthetic opioid fentanyl Subsys, have been found guilty on federal racketeering charges. Court records claim the execs bribed doctors to prescribe Subsys to patients who did not need it. Convictions Mark Major Milestone in Legal Fight Against Opioid Providers According to CNN, a Massachusetts jury took 15 days to reach its verdict against the executives which included former billionaire John Kapoor, 76. Andrew Lelling, US attorney for the district of Massachusetts, called the convictions the first successful prosecution of top pharmaceutical executives for crimes related to the illicit marketing and prescribing of opioids. During the trial, prosecutors brought attention to unsavory sales tactics including lap dances to lure doctors. Lelling compared the executives to street-level drug dealers and accused them of fueling the opioid epidemic by recklessly and illegally distributing [opioids]. In addition to Kapoor, convictions included Richard Simon, 48, former national director of sales, Sunrise Lee, 38, a former regional sales director, Joseph Rowan, 45, a former regional sales director, and Michael Gurry, 55, the former vice president of managed markets. All five face up to 20 years in prison. Two other execs, former President and CEO Michael Babich and former vice president of sales Alec Burlakoff, pleading guilty prior to trial and provided testimony incriminating their former colleagues. Opioid Addiction and Death Statistics The following information was provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): More than 700,000 people have died from drug overdoses since 1999 with opioids accounting for roughly 400,000 of those deaths. Around 68% of the 70,200 overdose deaths recorded in 2017 involved and opioid. The number of opioid-related overdose deaths has increased 6 fold since 1999. Every day, an average of 130 Americans died from opioid overdose. Contact an Experienced Dangerous Drug Attorney If you or a loved one has been the victim of a dangerous pharmaceutical drug or medical device, you may be entitled to compensation. You deserve dynamic representation from a law firm with the resources necessary to take on the pharmaceutical companies. Thomas J. Henry has a track record of helping clients receive record-breaking verdicts, settlements, and judgments. Our firm has offices in Corpus Christi, San Antonio, Austin, and Houston, serving clients across Texas and nationwide. Call us today for a free case review attorneys are available 24/7, nights and weekends. Editors Note: This content is made possible by Thomas J. Henry Personal Injury Law. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of The San Antonio Express-News' or mySanAntonio.com's editorial staff. Learn more about our advertising products at www.hearstmediasanantonio.com. Auto recalls have been trending higher and higher each year, with major recalls like the those for vehicles equipped with GMs faulty ignition switches and Takatas exploding airbags affecting tens of million of cars, pickups, and SUVs. Defective vehicles create an unnecessary and entirely preventable risks for motorists. At such, Thomas J. Henry urges all vehicle owners to keep up to date on recalls. Here are the largest five recalls issued for automobile for the month of April. Audi MDX Recall # of Vehicle Recalled: 322,000 Models Affected: 2014-2019 Acura MDX 2014-2019 MDX Sport Hybrid Problem: The recall involves moisture finding its way into tailgate lid lights, potentially disabling taillights completely. The absence of taillights can greatly increase the risk of a rear-end accident, especially in situations where a sudden stop is necessary. To make matter worse, replacing taillights would not resolve the issue. As a fix, Audi will modify the tailgate lid lights and install additional gaskets. Work will be completed free of charge. Dodge Dart Recall # of Vehicle Recalled: 298,000 Models Affected: 2013-2016 Dodge Dart Problem: The Dodge Dart recall involves potential failures in the vehicles shifter cable bushing. The cable can detach from the transmission, preventing drivers from shifting correctly. The defect can also cause roll away accidents even if the driver places the vehicle in Park. Dealers will replace the defective part free of charge. Owners can expect to receive notices beginning at the end of May. BMW 3 Series, 5 Series, and Z4 Recall # of Vehicle Recalled: 184,500 Models Affected: 2006 BMW 3 Series 2006 BMW 5 Series 2006 BMW Z4 Problem: BMW models have been recalled for issues with the positive crankcase ventilation valve. The heater in the valve may short-circuit, causing parts within the valve to melt. This problem result in vehicle fires and can only be repaired through a complete replacement of the positive crankcase ventilation valve. Chevrolet Trax Recall # of Vehicle Recalled: 113,000 Models Affected: 2017-2019 Chevrolet Trax Problem: A joint on one or both of the front lower-control arms may be improperly welded and may break. Failure could cause the attached front wheel to jut outward, resulting in decreased handling and damage. Dealers will take corrective action on improperly welded parts free of charge. Acura and Honda Recalls # of Vehicle Recalled: 94,000 Models Affected: 2018-2019 Acura MDX 2018-2019 Honda Pilot 2019 Acura RLX 2019 Acura RLX Sport Hybrid 2019 Acura TLX 2019 Honda Odyssey 2019 Honda Ridgeline Problem: Timing belt teeth may separate from the belt resulting in potential engine stalls, increasing the risk of crash. Dealers will inspect the vehicle and replace defective timing belts. Vehicles will be inspected for resulting damage and repairs will be completed for free. Contact an Experienced Vehicle Recall Attorney Drivers have enough to worry about while traversing the roadways on a daily basis. When a person gets behind the wheel of a car, there is a reasonable expectation that the car is going to perform in a matter that would not put the operator's life in jeopardy. Unfortunately there are hundreds of vehicle recalls each year due to manufacturer defects, from the tires to the ignition switches, that can cause catastrophic injuries and in some cases death. If you or a loved one have been injured due to a defective part in a vehicle, contact Thomas J. Henry. Our experienced defective vehicle lawyers have handled a multitude of injury claims caused by recalled vehicles. We continue to handle cases involving faulty and dangerous GM ignition switches and Takata airbags. Our firm has offices in Corpus Christi, San Antonio, Austin, and Houston, serving clients across Texas and nationwide. Call us today for a free legal consultation our attorneys are available 24/7, nights and weekends. Editors Note: This content is made possible by Thomas J. Henry Personal Injury Law. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of The San Antonio Express-News' or mySanAntonio.com's editorial staff. Learn more about our advertising products at www.hearstmediasanantonio.com. The 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 A 59 year old Co Longford man has been sentenced to 12 months in prison after being found guilty of indecently assaulting his nephew almost 40 years ago. A jury convicted Mel Greene, formerly of Edgeworthstown, Co Longford, but currently residing in the UK, in October 2018 on 15 separate counts between October 1 1979 and June 30 1980. His victim, John Greene, who waived his right to anonymity at Fridays sentencing, was five years old when the offending started. A student at the local primary school, the victim was brought by the accused man to his bedroom at 16 St Patricks Terrace, Edgeworthstown on the proviso of showing his nephew a tape recorder in order to record him. The court heard how the victim recalled sitting on his uncles knee and having his voice recorded before the accused rubbed the victims body against his crotch area. The victim alleged those incidents took place two to three times a week for possibly two weeks. Evidence was also heard of how the victim, on another occasion, was in his uncles bedroom where his trousers were taken down and would be masturbated by the accused. He also recalled the accused, on other dates, putting his head under the bed covers while the accused was in bed before putting his penis in his nephews mouth. From February 1980 onwards, the victim said the accused would also get him to put his hands under the bed covers and force him to masturbate his then 20-year-old uncle. After a statement of complaint was made by the victim to gardai, the accused man made a voluntary statement to police in the UK. He confirmed that his nephew had attended his parents house during the dates which were subject to investigation but denied indecently assaulting the victim at any time. At the four day trial, the accused provided an alibi on the first six counts with his sister Gretta and brother Christopher giving evidence that the accused was temporarily resident in England during the dates of when the offences took place. This, however, was rejected by the jury who returned majority verdicts of 11 to one. In a victim impact statement read out to the court by Mr Greenes wife, Deirdre, the court heard how his uncles absence of an apology and denial over what had occurred brought with it far reaching implications for him and his family. Mel, I tried to contact you on three occasions but you never replied, she said. There was also a feeling of vindication, she added, over the jurys verdict and noted how even though the abuse stays with the victim, by speaking out on it would likely increase the chances of eradicating it in other cases. It is too hard to put into words (the aftereffects of what transpired). There was shock, embarrassment, disbelief, shouting and tears. Mel, you never spoke in court. John did and had to endure hours of uncontrolled and relentless questioning. It was very clear the jury believed John Greene and found you, Mel, guilty on all charges. Coming into court may have represented an unacceptable risk of retraumatisation but by not pleading guilty or showing any type of remorse is mind boggling, insulting but not really unexpected. In determining sentencing, Judge Keenan Johnson praised John Greene for the great courage, strength and tenacity in both making a statement to gardai and by the evidence given at the jury trial. It is clear that he (victim) does not seek vengeance but merely to highlight the devastating effects that child sexual abuse has not only on the victim, but also on the extended family, he said. During the course of the four day trial last year, Judge Johnson said he was very much aware of how trials of such nature can leave lasting and bitter effects on families. However, he urged both sides to reflect on the trial and its outcome, with a view to mend fences provided there was a willingness to accept the jurys verdict. I sincerely hope that there can be rapprochement within the family as I believe this will be of benefit to all parties, he commented. Allowing bad feeling to fester going forward will serve no useful purpose other than prolong and exacerbate the emotional hurt and pain of everyone. Despite the historic nature of the offences committed, Judge Johnson added it was the courts duty to impose a sentence which reflected the type of sanction that would have typically been handed down at the time. It was equally incumbent on the judicial system, he said, to weigh up both aggravating and mitigating factors. The former, he said, included both the nature and propensity of the offending, adding the use of a tape recorder along with attempts by the accused to keep the abuse secret represented an element of grooming. In terms of mitigation, Judge Johnson said the accused mans willingness to cooperate with UK police at the time of the incidents coming to light and a probation report which indicated the 59-year-olds low risk of re-offending, were factors to consider. His poor health and numerous testimonials in support of his character and the fact offences of such nature carry considerable public ignominy represented a certain degree of punishment in itself, he added. He sentenced Mel Greene to 18 months in prison, suspending the final six months of that term for a period of five years. In doing so, he attempted to explain the rationale behind the judgement and how the severity of the sentence might be deemed. I appreciate that the victim may feel that the sentence imposed is unduly lenient, however it has to be put into context of the sentencing options available t the court and the realisation that the maximum sentence which the court could impose before mitigation is, in reality, two to three years, he said. Judge Johnson said this was largely due to the fact the nature of the offending ranked in the mid to upper range, the accused man's age, his previously unblemished record and health difficulties. I hope John Greene will understand the reasoning behind the court's judgement and the constraints which bind the court's determination, added the judge. A father of three who agreed to be a 'money mule' by allowing his bank account to be used to fraudulently launder over 78,000 to a Nigerian associate in order to facilitate a tractor purchasing business in Co Longford, has been sentenced to 240 hours community service. The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to money laundering at Ulster Bank, Main Street, Longford on May 16 2016. The court was told the victim, made a statement to gardai over alleged suspicious activity relating to an 150,000 investment she had made with a Galway based financial firm. During the following garda investigation, it was discovered a number of 'pressurised' emails had been sent to the investment firm purporting to be the victim in which demands were made for monies to be transferred from the victim's account. One of those, Sgt Jimmy Cronolly confirmed, involved an email sent on April 27 2016 requesting 78, 250 be transferred to an Ulster Bank account which belonged to the accused. It emerged however, that the email, which contained the victim's forged signature, was not prepared by the accused and instead was the work of an unidentified third party. The court also heard how the accused man's bank account was frozen while enquiries continued. During an interview with gardai at Longford Garda Station, the man admitted to consenting to allow his account be used by a friend by the name of Benecolo, who resided in London. It was also revealed the friend the accused man he had last seen in 2006 was an accountant and a member of a Nigerian Ebo tribe. Judge Keenan Johnson was told the victim had since been fully reimbursed but that almost 39,000 was still outstanding to Irish Life. In defence, the court heard how the accused man had been 'susceptible' to becoming embroiled in the scam due to his dire financial circumstances. Among them concerned details of how the accused had missed 39 monthly repayments on his mortgage and was now 25,000 in arrears. In delivering sentence, Judge Johnson had been "naive in the extreme" to become involved in the incident and in so doing giving his consent to bring a "money mule". He said there were clear lessons for financial institutions to be learned, stressing the importance of such organisations to refrain from relying solely on email communication and to follow that up by using a phone call for greater "authenticity" purposes. Judge Johnson, in taking account of the 49 year old's early guilty plea and that he made no personal financial gain from the incident, sentenced him to 240 hours community service in lieu of a three year prison sentence. Local News, Crime, Press Releases, Politics By Long Island News & PR Published: May 17 2019 This legislation criminalizes the manufacturing, sale, transport, and possession of weapons that are undetectable by an X-ray machine. The Senate Democratic Majority announced that they will pass legislation (S.1414-A) that will ban undetectable guns, including 3D printed guns, from being manufactured and sold across New York State. This legislation expands on gun safety legislation previously passed by criminalizing the manufacturing, sale, transport, and possession of firearms, rifles, shotguns, and the major components of weapons that are undetectable by an X-ray machine. Our country is under assault from gun violence, and there is a flood of firearms hitting our streets, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said. Banning undetectable guns should be a non-controversial priority for all elected officials, yet it took the new Senate Democratic Majority to finally bring this legislation to the floor for a vote. I commend Senator Kevin Parker to sponsoring this common sense gun safety bill. Bill Sponsor, Senator Kevin Parker said, As legislators it is our duty to do everything in our power to New Yorks citizens from gun violence. My legislation will hold gun manufacturers accountable for knowingly producing undetectable firearms, which will make New York a safer and stronger state. It sends a clear and direct message that that the manufacturing of a firearm will not be tolerated in New York State. The legislation that will be passed by the Senate Majority includes: Protecting New Yorkers by making it illegal for any person knowingly possess, manufacture, sell, transport, or possess firearms, which cannot be detectable by an X-ray machine. Establishing certain crimes relating to the criminal manufacture or possession of an undetectable firearm, rifle, or shotgun. A.G. James Announces Settlement with Long Island Developer for Entering into Contracts at Prices Above Those Disclosed in Offering Plan Local News, Crime, Business & Finance, Press Releases By Long Island News & PR Published: May 17 2019 Developer Must Forfeit $60,000 and Pay a $15,000 Penalty For Violating the Martin Act. Attorney General Letitia James announced a settlement with Bayport Meadow Estates, LLC and Demetrius A. Tsunis requiring them to lower sales prices on 4 units a total of $60,000 and imposing a $15,000 penalty for violating the Martin Act by entering into sales contracts at prices above those disclosed in the offering plan. The developer and Mr. Tsunis have also agreed to implement appropriate policies and procedures to ensure that no other units in this condominium or units in any of their other projects are offered at inflated prices. New Yorkers have a right to know the maximum price a developer can ask for a condominium so they can make an informed decision about one of the potentially largest purchases in their lives, said Attorney General Letitia James. Under New York law, a condominiums offering plan must, among other things, identify the maximum price a developer can ask for a condominium unit. Disclosing such information is crucial for purchasers, as it allows purchasers to know the maximum legal asking price for a condominium unit and prevents price gouging. Here, however, the developer entered into several contract in excess of these maximum prices. In the settlement, Bayport Meadows Estates and Mr. Tsunis admitted that they violated New York law by marketing and entering into sales contracts at sales prices higher than the maximum legal price for condominium units located in the Bayport Meadow Estates project. Under the terms of the settlement, Bayport Meadow Estates and Mr. Tsunis have amended the sales contracts to reduce the sales prices to the maximum legal prices and will pay a penalty of $15,000. The case was handled by Chief of Enforcement Louis Solomon in the Real Estate Finance Bureau. The Real Estate Finance Bureau is supervised by Chief Deputy Attorney General Meghan Faux. Local News, Crime, Press Releases By Long Island News & PR Published: May 17 2019 Gurpreet Singh, 35, was charged with Unlawfully Dealing with a Minor 1st Degree. Suffolk County Police arrested a man for selling alcohol to a minor at a business in Shirley. In response to community complaints, Seventh Precinct Crime Section officers conducted an investigation into the sale of alcohol to minors during which nine businesses were checked for compliance with the law. During the investigation, while working at Mastic Deli & Market, located at 234 William Floyd Parkway, Gurpreet Singh sold alcohol to a minor who was working with police. Singh, 35, of Shirley, was charged with Unlawfully Dealing with a Minor 1st Degree. He was issued a Field Appearance Ticket and is scheduled to appear at First District Court in Central Islip on July 11. The following establishments were also checked and found to be in compliance with the law: Ocean Gas, located at 980 Montauk Highway, Shirley Valero Gas, located at 1651 Montauk Highway, Mastic Hispano American food market and deli, located at 1088 Mastic Road, Mastic Track Gas Station, located at 310 Mastic Beach Road, Mastic Beach Oakwood Superette Inc., located at 525 Neighborhood Road, Shirley Star Deli, located at 161 Commack Road, Mastic Beach Gotham Smokes Inc., located at 1271 Middle Country Road, Middle Island Seven Star Deli, located at 431 William Floyd Parkway, Shirley In order to be effective, disaster risk management, more precisely disaster risk reduction, must involve all every sectors, administrations and official and unofficial actors in the country. At the same time alongside the need for comprehensive inclusion, failing to include disaster risk factors in development policies could undermine risk management measures in the event of a disasters, natural or otherwise. During the sixth Sixth Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction that took place in Geneva from 13 to 17 May, organized by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), the Arab countries' efforts in to address risk management were discussed, as well as the challenges they continue to face. At the meeting, Lebanon appeared to be in a good position in terms of its administrative preparations (according to the United Nations Disaster Risk Reduction Arab Bureau), having developed a national disaster risk management strategy (that is yet to be approved by the Council of Ministers) with regular reports submitted to the UN office. Zahi Chahine, head of the Risk Management Unit affiliated to the Prime Ministers office, provided some details. "We prepared a first national strategy in 2012 with the assistance of UNDRR, but given the particular circumstances the country has witnessed, we could not submit it to the Council of Ministers for ratification he said. In 2018, the decision was taken with UNDRR to develop the strategy by the end of the year (following the Sendai Framework), so that it could be adopted by the Council of ministers,. said Chahine. Speaking to OLJ, Mr. Chahine said that the main risks considered in Lebanontaken into consideration by the plan were forest fires, landslides and floods, which are frequent events, in addition to seismic risks, which are rarer. Lebanon has made progress in terms of strategy and awareness, but it still needs to refine its action plan and compensation schemes, and perhaps most importantly, work on prevention, he added. On the administrative level, Lebanon has formed two committees. One is for made up of decision-makers, composed of all this committee is made up of general directors, while the other, which does most of the work on the national level, is composed of representatives of from different concerned administrations involved in the strategy. If the strategy is on track, the action plans for early intervention in the event of various disaster scenarios should also be implemented, said Mr. Chahine said, explaining that one of the challenges that may need to be addressed involves any conflicts that may arise between different security agencies on the ground. "In Lebanon, we do not yet have an early intervention plan in case of emergency," he lamented. We are the office responsible for risk management, it is true, but we have to work out where to turn when it is necessary, for example, to evacuate the population. The chain must be completed. And, above all, there is nothing more worthwhile than investing in prevention because it saves a lot of funds in terms of compensations later on. " "Despite UNDRR's assistance in the monitoring and follow-up of the Sendai Framework, one of the major challenges is the need to integrate this risk-prevention mentality into all [the] ministries, so that they can do their own monitoring he added. This is how we will have the data needed to conduct a national assessment. Currently, it is mainly the CNRS that provides us with data of this type," Mr. Chahine further explained, in reference to the National Council for Scientific Research. Asked about the prerogatives of the Risk Management Unit, Mr. Chahine said the Prime Minister has issued a circular asking all administrations to collaborate with it, "but what matters the most is the implementation of strategies that we have defined and not the texts themselves., he said. Saida, a resilient city As Chahine pointed out, the strategies must not focus only on the national level alone, but also need to be also developed at the sectoral and local levels in across the different regions. He stressed that one of the commissions objectives is to establish control rooms and action plans in the different districts regions of across the country (currently, only Beirut and Nabatiyeh do not have strategies aligned with the principles of the Sendai Framework, for multiple a variety of reasons). During the presentation of by the UNDRR, two cities were cited as having resilience capacities, Saiida and Jbeil. Saida was represented at the UNDRR summit by Moustapha Hijazi, a member of the citys municipal council. "We joined the resilient cities (disaster-resilient) campaign that was launched in the Grand Serail early on," he told OLJ, adding Saida now has its own strategy for dealing with risks, as well as its own urban development policy that takes this factor into account, since any development that is not based on potential risks cannot be sustainable. " In terms of risks, he pointed out that Saida is particularly exposed to destructive storms and very high waves, or "mini tsunamis". "That's why we expanded the pier to protect the old city," he said. This adaptation in the infrastructure paved the way for many improvements in to the city, including the fact that we were able to change the location of the commercial port. And historically, the city has experienced significant coastal pollution due to the presence of a large dump (now treated). So we fought pollution at this level. " Mr. Hijazi said the municipality held training sessions in schools, launched awareness campaigns, and organized a live simulation to verify the level of preparation of various actors how prepared various actors were in case of a major disaster such as an earthquake for example. "At the level of [the] South Lebanon districts, we now have an operations room that will greatly facilitate coordination in case of emergency," he stressed, adding: We have focused our attention on certain sensitive points such as intervention in the old city for example, which is particularly difficult to access." Mr. Hijazi further pointed out to the importance of local strategies that complement the national strategy they are aligned with. "Some disasters affect a limited geographic area and therefore do not require intervention at a national level," he said. In these cases, local authorities are the main actor the population resorts to. They must be prepared for all eventualities. " (This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour on the 15th of May) At a Glance Experts Rating Pros Strict no-logging policy Granular, per-country server selection Respectable number of servers spread over 60 different countries Torrent-friendly Subscriptions can be purchased using Bitcoin AES-256-bit encryption Cons No power user options to change VPN protocol as on Windows Expensive no subscription/month-to-month fee Our Verdict CyberGhosts connection speeds make it a great VPN option for most people, but users who deal in sensitive information may wish to look elsewhere for greater privacy from government actors. Best Prices Today Retailer Price Delivery CyberGhost $47.88 View We havent looked at Romania-based CyberGhost since version 5 in early 2018. CyberGhost is on to version 7 now, with a whole new look, more servers, and more country locations. Overall, its still the same great service with solid speeds, and the ability to get around regional restrictions of all kinds of streaming services including Netflix, Hulu, and others. Many people prefer CyberGhost thanks to the fact that it operates in Romania, which is well outside of the so-called Five Eyes, Nine Eyes, and Fourteen Eyes intelligence alliances. If that concerns you then I suppose CyberGhost is a good fit. Before you get all paranoid about your browsing habits, however, consider the online services you currently have. If you use Gmail, Outlook, or Yahoo for email, or put your documents in Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive theres a lot more to worry about than your browsing habits if youre really concerned about western intelligence spying on your stuff. CyberGhost 7 with an active connection on macOS. Privacy considerations aside, CyberGhost is a good choice for keeping your data secure over open Wi-Fi and streaming your favorite shows overseas. Note: This review is part of our best VPNs roundup. Go there for details about competing products and how we tested them. CyberGhost: Security, software, servers, and speed CyberGhost uses IKEv2 as its preferred VPN protocol, but unlike its Windows counterpart there are no settings to choose a different option such as OpenVPN. For data encryption it uses AES-256, authentication is handled by TLS, and the handshake uses TLS v1.2 and a certificate signed with SHA-256. CyberGhosts privacy policy says it does not log any user data including browsing history, data content, connection logs, IP address, timestamps, or session duration. It does, however, log connection attempts and successful connections in aggregate form. For country connections, youve got 60 countries to choose from and more than 3,700 servers. When you first start up CyberGhost youre presented with a single-panel interface that makes it easy to just click and go if all you want is the fastest possible server. If you want to choose a different location or a streaming-specific server, however, you can expand the window into a larger interface. CyberGhost breaks down its servers by favorites, all servers, servers for downloading, or servers for streaming. Each country in the All servers section shows your approximate distance from each location and the load in percentage. Click the arrow to the far right of each country, and you can dive into every server available in that country. Here again, youll see distance and server load. CyberGhost 7s Connection features section. Beyond the server listings, CyberGhost 7 for Mac also has a Connection features section where you can turn on a variety of features all of which are disabled by default. These include an ad blocker, malicious websites filter, data compression, online tracker blocking, and an automatic HTTPS redirect. Theres also a Smart rules section for whitelisting known Wi-Fi networks if you want CyberGhost to automatically connect on startup when not on a trusted network. CyberGhost supports up to seven simultaneous connections with apps for iOS, Android, and Windows in addition to macOS. In our tests, CyberGhost maintained about 36 percent of the base speed across five locations. CyberGhost pricing CyberGhost 7s streaming servers. CyberGhost will set you back $13 a month if you want to pay month-to-month. A yearly commitment will cost $72, or you can get two for about $89, or three-years for $100. CyberGhost accepts payments via credit card, PayPal, or cryptocurrency via BitPay. Bottom line CyberGhost is a good service with a lot to offer people interested in breaking down regional restrictions for streaming services. Its also got a pretty solid country selection and the privacy promises are right. You can definitely find cheaper services, but few with the range of streaming options that CyberGhost has and the higher number of simultaneous device connections. Editors note: Because online services are often iterative, gaining new features and performance improvements over time, this review is subject to change in order to accurately reflect the current state of the service. Any changes to text or our final review verdict will be noted at the top of this article. A video of a little (only in size, not in mana) 3-year-old boy performing a karakia has gone viral due to the almost un-believably mature nature of his delivery. Te Urunga o te Ra Ahipene was at a wananga in Brisbane when the video and karakia took place. The video itself has already amassed 130K views on Facebook, after only being uploaded on Wednesday night. TODAYS WORD is repast. Example: Following the service Sunday, during which Brother Claude will preach and the Harmonizing Sisters will sing, a repast will be served in the fellowship hall. THURSDAYS WORD was gamut. It means the full range or content. Example: Dolois ran through the full gamut of emotions Thursday, when after she left the courtroom from an acrimonious divorce she got news that her daughter was expecting a baby the first grandchild and then her numbers came up in the lottery, making her rich. Todays chuckle While scrolling through Facebook the Stroller came across this joke (paraphrased here), shared from Amazing Things Daily on Oct. 4. Someone was chatting with an 80-year-old woman who just had gotten married for the fourth time. He asked her questions about her life, about what it felt like to be married again at 80, and then about her new husbands occupation. Hes a funeral director, she answered. Interesting, said her companion, then asking her to tell a little about her prior husbands and what they did. She first married a banker, when she was in her 20s, she said. Then it was a community theater director, while she was in her 40s, and finally a preacher, when she was in her 60s. I married one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready and four to go, she said. Breakfasts Saturday Axton Lifesaving crew will hold a community breakfast at 8-10 a.m. Saturday, at the squad building. On the menu are eggs, bacon, sausage, apples, hashbrowns and biscuits and gravy. The price per breakfast will be by donation. Fairystone Volunteer Fire Department will have a country breakfast at 6:30-10 a.m. Saturday at the departments building at 6687 Fairystone Park Highway in Stuart. The menu will feature pancakes, gravy, country ham, baked apples, sausage, homemade biscuits, bacon, eggs, coffee, orange juice and water. The price is $7, with half price for children. Take-out orders may be called in to 276-930-2113.. First Presbyterian Church, 1901 Patrick Henry Ave., will host a free community meal at 8-9:30 a.m. Saturday. and lunch Saturday Smith Memorial United Methodist Church, corner of John Redd Boulevard and Daniels Creek Road, will have a barbecue chicken dinner from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. Each plate will have half a chicken, a baked potato, coleslaw and a roll. The cost is $9 for a meal, or $8 for each meal when bought in groups of four or more. THURSDAYS TRIVIA QUESTION: Every time you turn around, it seems like, there are more and more words to refer to peoples sexual orientation, such as trans, bigender, LGBT, FTM, boi -- and cisgender, which the Stroller didnt recognize and had to look up in the dictionary. Merriam-Webster Dictionarys definition for cisgender is of, relating to, or being a person whose gender identity corresponds with the sex the person had or was identified as having with birth. It sounds to Stroller like Cisgender is the new word for straight although, perhaps, saying straight may not be politically correct anymore? (The Stroller means well but sometimes has a hard time keeping up.) TODAY'S TRIVIA QUESTION: Which two areas of land does the Strait of Magellan separate? In Defence of Marxism is committed to safeguarding your privacy. At all times we aim to respect any personal data you share with us, or that we receive from other organisations, and keep it safe. This Privacy Policy (Policy) sets out our data collection and processing practices and your options regarding the ways in which your personal information is used. This Policy contains important information about your personal rights to privacy. Please read it carefully to understand how we use your personal data. We may update this Policy from time to time without notice to you, so please check it regularly. The provision of your personal data to us is voluntary. 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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 Arlington police and state authorities are investigating and searching for a potential suspect after a second suspicious outdoor fire was reported outside a rabbis home that also serves as the Chabad Center for Jewish Life. A second fire occurred outside the rabbis Arlington home at 129 Lake St. Thursday night, around 9 p.m. Jewish community leaders confirmed a fire also broke out at a Chabad home in Needham Thursday night. Authorities said an Arlington police officer on patrol in the area arrived about 30 seconds after the emergency was reported. The officer noticed light flames coming from one side of the house, confined to the wood shingles. The officer used a handheld fire extinguisher to put out the flames, authorities said in a statement. The first fire occurred outside the home on Saturday, May 11 at 11 p.m. The rabbi told police he was home with his wife and three children Saturday night when they smelled smoke. The rabbi said he had not recently received any threats, nor observed any suspicious activity in the area, according to a statement from Arlington police. The rabbi also indicated that since he performs religious services at the home, the familys address is publicly available online. Following the response Saturday night, fire and police investigators quickly determined the incident was suspicious, but did not uncover any information or evidence indicating the family was targeted. Film captured by a neighbors home surveillance camera spotted a person leaving the area on Lake Street Saturday night. Police shared the footage in the hopes someone may identify the suspicious person by the way they walk. No additional footage was available from the incident Thursday night. Neither of the two fires caused any damage to the interior of the home, police said. According to Arlington police, the department is leaving open and actively investigating the possibility of a hate crime. No graffiti or evidence of arson were immediately found, police said. These are extremely concerning incidents in which an innocent family has had the safety and security of their home compromised by someone elses violent actions, Arlington Police Chief Flaherty said in a statement. The Arlington Police Department will use every resource at its disposal to find the facts and ensure that any suspect or suspects are brought to face justice. Arlingtons Human Rights Commission co-chair, Naomi Greenfield, said Arlington is a community that rallies around its own and supports its Jewish residents. We are keenly aware of the rise in hate speech and biased-related incidents around the country, though we hope the investigation will conclude that this is not one of them. There is no place in our community to incite fear and threaten the safety and security of our residents on the basis of their beliefs and religious background," Greenfield said in a statement. "We encourage the Arlington community to focus its support on assisting with the investigation if possible and extending support to the affected family and the Center for Jewish Life in Arlington/Belmont, she added. Arlington police said a full-time detail officer has been placed outside the Lake Street home. Anyone with information on the fires or a potential suspect is urged to contact the Arlington Police Department at 781-643-1212. A federal judge ruled Thursday that an ACLU lawsuit challenging a Trump administration practice of arresting undocumented immigrants visiting federal offices hoping to secure their legal status can be extended to all of New England, potentially adding hundreds or thousands of similarly situated couples to the lawsuit. Judge Mark Wolf allowed the suit to extend to all of New England - the area covered by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements Boston field office - during a hearing in a Boston federal court on Thursday. In January 2018, at least seven people in Massachusetts and Rhode Island were arrested during or following their appointments with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. Lucimar de Souza, Lilian Calderon, both parties in the suit, and others were arrested outside CIS offices where they were securing their legal status after marrying US citizens. The practice drew criticism nationally and was seen as a signal of a new attitude toward undocumented immigrants in the Trump era. It has also drawn a legal challenge by the Massachusetts ACLU in April 2018. The ACLU of Massachusetts, along with law firm WilmerHale, argues the government weaponized the provisional waiver process which allowed some immigrants who are married to U.S. citizens a pathway to remain in the country, even after being issued a formal order of removal. They currently represent five United States citizens and their spouses, who are seeking citizenship. The class designation could add thousands more, according to the ACLU. Through testimony from ICE officers and filings, the case has showed the ways U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services coordinate with ICE to trap people who were coming in to be interviewed as part of the process of seeking legal status. Wolf said Thursday that the spouses had the right to see the process through. The petitioners reside in the U.S. unlawfully, many have resided here for a long time, Wolf said Thursday. They have a constitutional right to the fifth amendments equal protection. The ACLU praised Wolfs decision and said the case will now extend to possibly thousands of others impacted in the New England area. The family separation crisis whether on the southern border or in New England government offices is the direct result of the Trump administrations policy choices, driven by the view that immigrants deserve nothing but cruelty and punishment, Carol Rose, executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts said. This class certification is about ensuring that families stay together. The lawsuit was born out of the case of Calderon, a 30-year-old mother of two who came to the United States from Guatemala when she was 3 years old. Calderon was detained by ICE in January 2018 following an interview she completed at the Rhode Island United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. She and her husband were confirming their marriage. She was released in February 2018, but others were not the ACLU says. NORTHAMPTON Vincent Vince Jackson of Hadley has been named executive director of the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce. He will take his post in June, just in time for the chambers 100th anniversary celebration. Jackson was selected by the chambers Board of Directors to replace current director, Suzanne Beck, who will be retiring at the end of May. Its an honor for me to join The Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce at this pivotal time in its history, Jackson said in a statement Friday. With deep respect for the chambers legacy and leadership, I look forward to working with the board, partner organizations, community leaders, and volunteers to chart the new path forward. Jackson is an entrepreneur and CEO of Marketing Moves in Hadley, a company he founded. He will begin his role at the Chamber Monday, June 3 and will make his first public appearance as director at the Chambers centennial event on Thursday, June 13 at the Academy of Music in Northampton. Vinces experience, qualifications, and expertise were an exact fit with the characteristics that the Board wanted to see in the new Executive Director, said David DeSwert, Chamber Board President and Chair of the Search Committee in a press release. It was clear that Vince is the right person to lead the Chamber. Over the coming months, the chamber will be launching a new strategic plan, which will boldly reimagine what a 21st century Chamber should be, according to the release. Beck said shes excited to welcome a new community leader to drive our new vision for the Chamber that strengthens our cause to build a thriving economy and a thriving community. Prior to founding Marketing Moves in 2000, Jackson worked in Texas for PepsiCo, Inc., in roles including brand and product management, innovation, and acquisitions. Marketing Moves is a consulting business that specializes in strategy development, brand management, and marketing and communications, working with a national client base of large corporations, small businesses, and government and non-profit organizations. Jackson holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Grambling State University and a Master of Business Administration degree from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He has lectured in the Department of Marketing at the UMass Amherst Isenberg School of Management and has served on several non-profit organization boards, including time as President of the Lee B. Revels Scholarship and Mentoring Foundation and the Beta Sigma Boule Foundation based in Springfield MA. Members of the executive director search committee included Jody Doele of Thornes Marketplace, a former Board President, along with Board members Lindsay Barron of Applied Mortgage, Dan Felten of ACTG Services, Ruth Griggs of RC Communications, Rich Horton of Viability Inc. and Rus Peotter. Christmas Tree Shops have pulled offensive shark-related merchandise from stores on Cape Cod after residents complained that the products were distasteful. CapeCod.com reported that some shoppers believed the items, which included a kitchen towel featuring an image of a great white shark and the words, Nice to Eat You, mock shark attacks. The company responded by pulling the products from all Cape Cod stores. We have removed these items from the Cape locations. It is never our intention to offend customers by our merchandise assortment, Jessica Joyce, senior manager of public relations for Bed Bath & Beyond Christmas Tree Shops parent company told the Times in a statement. The companys Sandwich store sold t-shirts that read, Come to the Shark Side of Cape Cod and Cape Cod, Massachusetts Dangerous Summer Shark Patrol with images of sharks on them, the newspaper reported. The Cape saw two shark attacks last summer. In August, a New York man was seriously injured after being bitten at Long Nook Beach in Truro. A month later, a Revere man was killed while surfing at Newcomb Hollow Beach in Wellfleet. It was the first fatal shark attack in the state since 1936. Christmas Tree Shops have stores in Sagamore, Falmouth, West Dennis, Hyannis and Orleans. Authorities have identified the two people killed in a hit-and-run crash in Easton Thursday evening as a married couple from East Bridgewater. John Masefield, 79, and Virginia Masefield, 77, died after the vehicle they were traveling in was hit by a Dodge Journey traveling at a high rate of speed at the intersection of Route 138 and Purchase Street around 6:18 p.m., according to Easton police. Authorities said a preliminary investigation shows the Dodge Journey, driven by Sheri Vazquez, 33, of Easton, was speeding on Route 138 when it collided with the Masefields vehicle. Vazquez ran from the scene after the crash, according to police, and is now facing criminal charges. She was arrested a short time later just over the town line in West Bridgewater, authorities said. Vazquez was charged with leaving the scene of a crash resulting in death, motor vehicle homicide, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, reckless operation of a motor vehicle and unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. She was taken to an area hospital for a well-being check and is undergoing an evaluation to determine whether she will be brought to Taunton District Court for arraignment Friday. The news of MGM Resorts International and Wynn Resorts discussing a possible sale of the Everett casino leaves several questions unanswered. Chief among them: Would Everett officials support such a deal and let Wynn Resorts transfer its host-community agreement with the city? City Councilor Michael J. McLaughlin says its too early to tell, but news of the talks are concerning. Its very concerning and alarming to myself as a city councilor, but also as a strong supporter of Encore Boston Harbor from the beginning, said McLaughlin, who represents Ward 6. Its too premature to make a sound decision because theres so many moving parts that need to occur before I feel could actually take place," he said. The 2013 agreement states that neither Wynn Resorts nor the city shall transfer its rights or obligations without prior written authorization of the other party. Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria wrote in a Facebook post on Friday that he "had the foresight to include section 10 in the host community agreement that states, Neither Wynn nor the city shall transfer or assign its rights or obligations under this agreement without prior written authorization of the other party. He did not respond to a call or email seeking comment Friday afternoon. Both companies confirmed on Friday their talks to possibly sell the $2.6 billion casino, which is expected to open on June 23. The two companies issued a joint statement, following inquiries from the Boston Globe, calling the talks very preliminary even though talks were rumored to have been happening for more than a year. Under state law, no company can hold more than one gaming license in Massachusetts. If MGM Resorts buys the casino, it would need to sell its Springfield property. The company was awarded the Western Massachusetts gaming license in 2014. Springfield City Council President Justin Hurst said he was shocked to learn of the talks and that it would be a travesty if MGM sells off its downtown Springfield casino. Everett city council members say they have been in the dark about logistics leading up to the casino opening. Council members expressed frustrations in April about what details are available to them, the Everett Independent reported. A hearing on transportation regarding Encore Boston Harbor is scheduled on May 28. The news comes after the Massachusetts Gaming Commissions review of Wynn Resorts suitability in light of the companys failure to report sexual misconduct allegations against its founder and former CEO Steve Wynn. A month after the suitability hearings, the commission issued a $35 million fine against Wynn Resorts and an additional $500,000 fine on CEO Matt Maddox, stating the company can retain the license if it agrees to the fine and multiple conditions. The company has until May 31 to pay the fine or appeal the decision. Wynn Resorts is in talks with MGM Resorts International to possibly sell its yet-to-be opened Encore Boston Harbor. Wynn Resorts officials confirmed in a statement Friday afternoon that the companies have been in talks over the past few weeks over the $2.6 billion Everett casino. The two companies issued a joint statement in response to inquiries from the Boston Globe. They wrote that the talks are very preliminary and common, adding that when such opportunities are presented, they have to explore. Yet rumors of talks between the two companies have swirled for more than a year. We cannot say today where these conversations will lead, however we can reaffirm our commitment to the communities where we operate today, they wrote. If such a sale were to occur, MGM Resorts would need to part with its Western Massachusetts property as state law prohibits a company holding more than one gaming license. MGM Springfield, a $960 million casino, opened in August. MGM Resorts was awarded the Western Massachusetts gaming license in 2014. In the run-up to opening, MGM told the state it expected $418 million in annual gross gaming revenue in its first year or $34.8 million per month. The highest one-month take was $26.9 million in September, its first full month of operation. Company executives say the New England property had a slower than predicted start but expect a ramp-up in business as temperatures rise. Obviously, its seasonal. Northeast Corridor, particularly, spring will bring more business. Its happened throughout Connecticut and throughout the region. We anticipate that, MGM Resorts President Bill Hornbuckle said during a call with stock analysts in recent weeks. Were in full leverage mode on entertainment, Cher, Aerosmith, Steve Martin all come to Springfield in the near future. The development comes after Wynn Resorts faced a harsh investigation from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. Wynn Resorts officials, especially CEO Matt Maddox, were grilled on how the company responded to years of sexual misconduct allegations against founder and former CEO, Steve Wynn. The commission concluded that Wynn Resorts could keep its license if it pays a $35 million fine and allows an independent monitor to check its compliance. Maddox faced an additional $500,000 fine and was ordered to undergo leadership and sensitivity training. The company continued construction and hiring with the question of whether it would keep the casino license hanging over its head. The companys tentative opening date is June 23, but Maddox told shareholders in an earnings call that the opening could be delayed a week or two. A year earlier, Maddox told investors that the casino project could be sold if there was ever any risk due to heightened rhetoric that there could be any contagion from Massachusetts into our $20 billion company in Las Vegas and Macau, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. When asked about a possible sale on CNBC, Maddox denied it and said Bostons not up for sale." That was before regulatory investigators concluded that the company had several violations when it tried to keep the allegations against Wynn from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. In a statement, commission spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said the written decision regarding Wynn Resorts suitability to retain the eastern Massachusetts license still stands and the deadline for the fine payment and notice of appeal is May 31. The MGC continues to focus its efforts on the significant amount of regulatory preparations required before Encores opening, she said. Former WWE Superstar Ashley Massaro died Thursday in New York. She was 39. The Suffolk County Medical Examiner in New York told The Blast that Massaros death is currently under investigation by that office. Police responded to rescue call shortly before 5:30 a.m. from Massaros home in Smithtown, New York, according to The Blast. Police do not believe foul play was involved, and have classified her death as non-criminal. The Stamford, Conn.-based WWE issued the following statement: We are saddened to learn of the tragic death of former WWE Superstar Ashley Massaro. She performed in WWE from 2005-2008 and was beloved by her fellow Superstars and fans around the world. WWE offers its condolences to Ashleys family and friends. Massaros most high-profile WWE matches were against Melina at WrestleMania 23 in 2007 and a Playboy Bunnymania Lumberjill match at WrestleMania 24 the following year. She was a contestant on CBSs Survivor: China in 2007. She also made appearances in the TV series Smallville and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition that same year. Willie Nile is scheduled to play Infinity Hall in the fall. The rocker will perform at the Norfolk, CT venue on Oct. 12 at 8 p.m. Tickets for the show are on sale through the venue website at infinityhall.com. Nile is touring behind his latest release Children of Paradise. The Buffalo-born rocker is most closely associated with New Yorks Greenwich Village late 1970s music scene. He was discovered during a residency at the famed Village rock club Kennys Castaways and after his debut release Willie Nile, he opened for The Who on their 1980 summer tour. Police in Arlington are warning residents to keep their pets inside as they search for a bear in town. In a statement shared on Twitter around 7:40 a.m. Friday morning, Arlington police said residents should avoid Washington Street and Overlook Road as authorities look for a bear in the area. The search prompted a response from local authorities as well as members of the Environmental Police Department. Helicopters are being used in the search, police said. Few details were immediately available. Arlington police warned residents to be safe and share the warning. The two rabbis whose homes and Jewish centers in Arlington and Needham were targeted by apparent arson attacks said they will not be deterred from their work of providing a Jewish community to anyone who seeks one. Our message is and will always be open doors, Rabbi Avi Bukiet of the Chabad Center for Jewish Life of Arlington said Friday. We are opening our doors to anyone. Anyone who wants to study, anyone who wants to learn, anyone who wants to have a little piece of spirituality and Judaism in their life, we will be there for you. Rabbi Mendy Krinsky of the Chabad Jewish Center in Needham, said, We have to counter any hate with love, and do more and spread more light. State, federal and local officials are investigating three suspicious fires at Chabad houses in Arlington and Needham. The first fire was set at the Chabad center in Arlington on Saturday, May 11, around 11 p.m. Thursday night, fires were set at the Arlington Chabad at 9 p.m. and at the Chabad Jewish Center in Needham around 10 p.m. No one was injured in any of the fires, which were confined to the exteriors of the buildings. Law enforcement say they cannot confirm yet whether the fires are connected, but they are all suspicious and are being investigated as possible hate crimes. Chabad houses are Jewish institutions where a couple affiliated with the Orthodox Chabad movement will set up a community center and offer services like prayers, Sabbath meals, Jewish communal events and Hebrew schools. The buildings targeted by the fires were also homes for the Chabad families. Rabbi Avi and Luna Bukiet spoke to reporters at a press conference at the Arlington Police Department. They did not take questions. We have committed our lives to spreading the universal message of light and love, Luna Bukiet said. This will not deter us. If anything, we will double down on our efforts to bring more goodness into the world and create a better world for all of our children. Avi Bukiet, who also teaches at a Jewish school in Watertown, said the arsonist has targeted not just the Jewish center, but his family. We are hurting because of this, he said. But he said his family has received an outpouring of support from both the Arlington and the Jewish communities. It just shows us were in a community where we want to stay, where we plan on staying, where we plan on thriving, Bukiet said. Whatever setback that is happening right now, were going to figure it out. Krinsky spoke to a reporter by phone on Friday. He said the fire is concerning but thankfully his family is safe. He said the family is asking people to do extra good deeds, acts of goodness and kindness to combat the hate were probably dealing with. Its very unfortunate that these things are happening butthe response has to be more goodness in the world, Krinsky said. Krinsky said the apparent arson will get us to do more and be more visible and do more mitzvot (good deeds) and help more people grow in their Judaism. A $20,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest or conviction of the person or people responsible for the fires. A federal and state Joint Terrorism Task Force as well as other state and federal agencies are involved in the investigation. These are extremely concerning incidents in which innocent families lost that all-important sense of safety and security that the home is meant to convey, said Arlingtons acting police chief Julie Flaherty. Robert Trestan, executive director of the Anti-Defamation Leagues New England office, said he hopes the investigation will be quickly resolved to restore a sense of safety and security among the community. This is scary and serious, because theyre not just houses of worship, these are places where people live, Trestan said. Jeremy Burton, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council, said, Any attack on any part of the Jewish community is an attack on all of us. We will be united standing with each other and supporting each other. Friday night and Saturday are the Jewish Sabbath, when Jews will gather at synagogues and Chabad houses to worship. Both Bukiet and Krinsky said they will not cancel any scheduled programming. Trestan said he has gotten calls from some Chabad houses who plan to ask for additional police protection. Rabbi Shalom Prus, the director of a Chabad in Newton, said he has been in close contact with law enforcement, and the police will beef up patrols during the Sabbath. He said the organization is constantly improving its security protocols. Were thankful for law enforcement and confident that well be secure, Prus said. The Arlington Human Rights Commission is planning a solidarity gathering at Arlington Town Hall Monday at 6 p.m. HOLYOKE Heritage State Park has upped its visitor experience with a new spray park, playground equipment and improved access for all thanks to a $1.7 million renovation. Mayor Alex B. Morse and Leo Roy, commissioner of the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), presided over a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday afternoon. The parks long-dormant water fountain was transformed into a vibrant spray pad, a cool spot on a hot day. Sidewalk improvements cut straighter and more even paths for visitors, especially for visitors who use wheelchairs. The new playground areas accommodate children ages 2 to 5 and 5 to 12 years old. Cushion rubber surfaces offer a softer and more forgiving landing for children. The equipment frame the Upper Canal. A seating area with a pergola was installed near the spray park. The Merry-Go-Round and Holyoke Childrens Museum are only a short stroll away. The park opened in 1986 on the site of the former Skinner Silk Mill. The parks main hall honors the citys industrial heritage and includes interactive displays. Roy said the Baker-Polito Administration continues to invest in the states recreational facilities, which provide families opportunities to enjoy the outdoors. He added the playgrounds were designed for children of all abilities to play. The DCR has seventy playgrounds across the system and, obviously, we want to make sure theyre safe, Roy said. He wants the newly designed park to act as a gathering place for families. The park holds several festivals year-round, including Celebrate Holyoke and Junior First Night. Holyoke Heritage State Park is an oasis in the middle of this city. Its a tremendous investment in the City of Holyoke by the Baker-Polito Administration. He hopes the new features will bring more visitors from outside Holyoke to the park. Morse thanked the DCR and Gov. Baker for their commitment to maintaining and improving recreational areas and open spaces in the Commonwealth. In the past eight years, the City of Holyoke has invested $10 million for parks and public spaces. This is not the culmination but the continuation of the investments we made in parks and open spaces, Morse said. Phase II of a $60 million renovation of nearby Lyman Terrace is underway. Families can easily walk across the street and enjoy the spray park, he said. I would argue this to the most family-friendly campus in all of Western Massachusetts if not all the state. He added, This is not just a destination for Holyoke families but families across the region. Michelle Moriarty, who represented state Sen. Donald Humason (R-Westfield), said her children often visited the park when they were younger. This is such a gem we have in Holyoke. Im absolutely thrilled, and I cant wait for more improvements as the years go by, she said. Pat Duffy, who spoke on behalf of State Rep. Aaron Vega (D-Holyoke), said Vega is a huge advocate of DCR funding, which improves the quality-of-life for Holyoke and state residents. Duffy praised the cooperation between the Baker-Polito Administration and the legislature for allocating funding for such projects. The DCR hired Berkshire Design Group as the lead designer and Mountain View Landscape as the contractor for the project. SPRINGFIELD Aspiring cardiologist Pauline Nizeyimana is one of 30 students in a chemistry class at Central High School, so she and her classmates have a hard time getting extra help from the teacher. In Chicopee, Madison Hartling is one of 37 students in an Advanced Placement English class. She and her classmates have learned how to turn on broken computers by sticking the end of a pencil in the hole where the start button should be and twisting it around with the hopes it will connect. When Gladys Francos first-grade daughter struggled to learn to read, she was able to get extra help. But other children in her Springfield elementary school had to wait because there were not enough reading specialists to go around. On Thursday, hundreds of teachers, parents and students from Springfield, Holyoke, Chicopee, Southampton, Northampton, West Springfield, Longmeadow, Ludlow and other communities gathered at Springfield City Hall to call on legislators to adopt the Cherish and Promise Acts, which would increase funding for public schools and colleges by $1 billion to $2 billion across the state. The bills are based on recommendations from a committee that reviewed the 25-year-old formula that sets state aid to schools. They would increase money in underfunded areas of employee health insurance, special education and programs for children who are learning English. They also would raise funding for districts with more low-income children. Teachers also gathered for rallies in Pittsfield and at the Statehouse in Boston for a day of action to support the Fund our Future campaign. Our children cant wait. This is the social justice issue of our time, said Maureen Colgan Posner, president of the Springfield Education Association. At the rally on the steps of Springfield City Hall, students and parents wore red shirts for the Red for Ed(ucation) campaign, chanted, blew whistles and held signs calling for better funding. One after the other, speakers talked about how there is never enough money. We have seen less funding for basic necessities, said Hartling, a senior at Chicopee High. In the computer lab, half the computers dont work and a lot of textbooks are missing pages and even chapters. Springfield students said they feel cheated, saying their schools are not offering the same programs high schools in wealthier communities can. "The reality is that our schools in Springfield don't have what we need to compete with students in other towns with more resources," Nizeyimana said. "I have two younger brothers. They deserve every educational opportunity that students in wealthier communities get." Jenedi Mohamed, a senior at the High School of Commerce, said he is interested in becoming an actor and took drama classes, but the school does not offer plays. That puts him at a competitive disadvantage with students in wealthier districts that have better arts programs. The Fund our Future campaign also calls for an increase in funding for state colleges to prevent tuition from rising and make it easier for students to concentrate on classes. Students at Holyoke Community College are working as much as 60 hours a week while going to school. Some face homelessness, struggle to feed themselves and come to class too tired to focus, said Stephanie Marcotte, who teaches at the college. "When we underfund these institutions, we aren't giving our students their best chance," she said. While the Cherish and Promise Acts would put the bulk of new money into districts with poor students, all schools would benefit, which is good news for rural schools. In Southampton, teachers have been working on an expired contract all school year and no money was added into the budget to provide them with a raise if one was negotiated, said Diane Scott, an elementary music teacher. She has been teaching for 34 years and her job was reduced to part-time for five years to balance the budget. One of the problems is the state requires schools to do many things without providing the money. For example, a student with severe disabilities who must attend a special school can cost the district $100,000, which is a big amount to absorb in a small budget, Scott said. State and federal law enforcement are investigating three suspicious fires set at Jewish institutions in Arlington and Needham. State Police spokesman David Procopio confirmed that the state polices Fire Investigation Unit and Fusion Center are assisting in the investigation, as are troopers and federal agents assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force. The Fusion Center is an organization of state, federal and local law enforcement that share intelligence and resources. Procopio said law enforcement is meeting currently to discuss next investigative steps as well as a public release of information. A fire was allegedly set at a rabbis home in Needham Thursday evening the same night a fire was set at a rabbis house in Arlington. Both buildings targeted were Chabad houses, which are Jewish institutions where a couple affiliated with the Orthodox Chabad movement will set up a community center and offer services like prayers, Sabbath meals and Jewish communal events. John Guilfoil, a spokesman for the Arlington police, said, The Arlington and Needham Police chiefs have spoken and the Arlington Police Department is in contact with state and federal law enforcement agencies. There were similar incidents at a Chabad Center in Arlington but we cant say the incidents are conclusively connected at this time, Needham police said in a statement Friday. Rabbi Avi Bukiet, the rabbi of the Chabad House in Arlington, said in an email sent to parents at the school where he teaches, that he and his family are safe but are very rattled by this second incident within one week. Chanie Krinsky, who runs the Chabad Jewish Center in Needham along with her husband, posted on Facebook that her home, which also functions at the community center, was intentionally set on fire Thursday night. Krinsky wrote that she smelled the fire and her husband, Rabbi Mendy Krinsky, was outside with a fire extinguisher to put it out even before the smoke alarms went off. Krinsky wrote that the family is safe and the only damage is to some shingles. Somebody out there wants to hurt us. Just because we exist. And that is frightening, Krinsky wrote. Reached by phone, Krinsky asked a reporter to call back later. There were no threats made and no graffiti on the dwelling, however this is being investigated as a possible hate crime, Needham police said. Also Thursday evening, a second fire was reported at the Chabad Center for Jewish Life in Arlington. A previous fire was reported there on Saturday night, May 11. The Arlington police and fire departments are investigating those fires as suspicious. According to the police, firefighters responded to the 9 p.m. fire at 129 Lake Street in Arlington immediately upon getting a call and noticed light flames coming from one side of the house, confined to the wood shingles. The officer used a handheld fire extinguisher to put out the flames. While we will leave it to the (Arlington Police Department) to determine how to officially classify these incidents, we feel the overwhelming sense that these incidents were targeted at our home and our Jewish community, Bukiet said. These incidents have shaken us, our families and you, our beloved community. But they will not shake our resolve to live our lives as Jews, to teach gmilut chesed, acts of loving kindness, and to work toward a world that is filled with G-dliness. State Fire Marshal Peter Ostroskey said in a statement, Every arson fire causes fear and anxiety in the community, but one in a house of worship more so because of the possibility a group was targeted for violence. There have been 21 arson fires in houses of worship over the past decade in Massachusetts. The Arlington Human Rights Commission is planning a gathering on Monday. This is a breaking news story that has been updatedT A $20,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest or conviction of the person or people responsible for setting fires at Jewish institutions in Arlington and Needham. The state fire marshal participates in the Arson Watch Reward Program, which is funded by the insurance industry and offers up to a $5,000 reward for information that solves in arson case. The Anti-Defamation League is adding another $15,000. This is not just an apparent attack on a Jewish house of worship, this is also an attack on a Jewish home, said Robert Trestan, executive director of the Anti-Defamation Leagues New England office. Homes and places of worship are among the safest places not just for Jews, but for everyone in the country and in the community. State, federal and local officials are investigating three suspicious fires at Chabad houses in Arlington and Needham. The first fire was set at the Chabad Center for Jewish Life in Arlington on Saturday, May 11 around 11 p.m. Thursday night, fires were set at the Arlington Chabad at 9 p.m. and at the Chabad Jewish Center in Needham around 10 p.m. Chabad houses are Jewish institutions where a couple affiliated with the Orthodox Chabad movement will set up a community center and offer services like prayers, Sabbath meals and Jewish communal events. The buildings targeted by the fires were also homes for the Chabad families. No one was injured in any of the fires, which were confined to the exterior of the homes. Law enforcement say they cannot confirm yet whether the fires are connected, but they are all suspicious and are being investigated as possible hate crimes. Investigators from the Arlington and Needham Fire and Police Departments, Massachusetts State Police, the Office of the State Fire Marshal, the Joint Terrorism Task Force, and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are all involved in the investigation. Information can be provided to the Arlington police at 781-643-1212 and the Needham police at 781-455-7570. Update, 4:15 p.m.: The Massachusetts chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations added an additional $1,000 in reward money. CAIR-MA Executive Director John Robbins said the group condemns the attacks. While an attack on any house of worship must be condemned, it is especially appalling when a family is threatened in their own home," Robbins said. "We are offering this award in the hope of helping to bring the perpetrators to justice. Correction: The source of the $5,000 reward has been corrected. A Springfield man wanted for the May 5 shooting of a woman during an armed robbery in Springfield was arrested by federal authorities Friday afternoon. Ryan Walsh, spokesman for the Springfield Police Department, said Aleczander Liriano, 21, was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Violent Fugitive Task Force in Wilmington, North Carolina. According to the Massachusetts State Police, Liriano was placed on the states Most Wanted list on May 10 after he was accused of shooting a woman as he robbed her near the intersection of Dickinson Street and Lansing Place. The woman survived her wounds. State Police and Springfield officers investigating his whereabouts turned up evidence that Liriano was at a Wilmington address and tipped off federal marshals. The suspect is being held pending extradition to Massachusetts where he will face charges of assault and battery with a firearm, armed robbery with a firearm and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building. SPRINGFIELD Mayor Domenic J. Sarno was told Thursday night by MGM Resorts International that it has been in talks for weeks with rival Wynn Resorts to buy the Encore Boston Harbor casino. The telephone call came less than 24 hours before news reports of the possible deal that would force the sell off of the nearly $1 billion MGM Springfield, which opened in August. State gaming laws ban the single ownership of two casinos in Massachusetts. MGM Resorts International President Bill Hornbuckle reached out to me late yesterday evening to indicate that Wynn Encore had reached out to MGM wanting to speak with them and again, this is all speculative," Sarno said in a statement to The Republican. "Bill reassured me of MGMs commitment to Springfield and that if anything was to be entertained, and/or occurred, that myself and the Mass Gaming Commission would have a big and ultimate say in what might or might not happen. The biggest take here is that Bill reassured me of their commitment to the City of Springfield and I will always continue to stand and fight for what is best for our City of Springfield. This is preliminary and conjecture at this time. We had a very good and mutually respectful conversation. Kevin E. Kennedy, the citys chief development officer, noted that MGM Resorts has "an obligation to their shareholders to explore an option like this. City Council President Justin Hurst said he was shocked to learn MGM Resorts International is in talks to buy the Encore Boston Harbor casino project, adding it would be a travesty if MGM sold off its downtown Springfield casino. Its disappointing and disheartening to hear, Hurst said. I dont want to speculate at this time in terms of MGMs plans. However, it it is true that they are looking to take over Wynn, which would mean that they would no longer, according to state law, be able to operate MGM Springfield, then my expectation is that any other operator who comes into the city will be held just as accountable to fulfill the expectations laid out in the host community agreement at a minimum. He added, It would be a travesty to lose them at this juncture. They have been great partners with the city and have filled just about all of their obligations with the city. Councilor Michael Fenton, chairman of the council's Casino Oversight Committee, said he was just learning of the news, but "its not the first time this idea has been circulated." There were rumors about this in the past, said Fenton, referring to reports of talks between the two casino companies last year. MGM is a business and they are entitled to explore business opportunities. Unless he receives notice from the city or the Mass. Gaming Commission or MGM specifically about the issue, "I dont see a role for us to play." "However, if it turns out that a transaction of this type is proposed, I would have significant concerns about it and would begin working immediately on having those concerns addressed," Fenton said. "In the meantime, it's just talk." Councilor Adam Gomez, whose Ward 1 includes the MGM Springfield property, agreed. Obviously, what they have said, it does raise some concerns, Gomez said. Wynn Resorts officials confirmed in a statement Friday afternoon that it has been in sale talks with their Las Vegas rival, MGM Resorts, over the past few weeks. Meanwhile, the possible acquisition of MGM Springfield by the Native American tribes that own rival Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun was raised in a Hartford Courant article on Wednesday. Asked if the tribes might buy MGM Springfield, rather than build a casino in nearby East Windsor, Conn., Rodney A. Butler, chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation that operates Foxwoods casino, said the Springfield casino was not worth the nearly $1 billion spent to build it. MGM just spent $1 billion in Springfield. You cant pay what its currently valued at because its not hitting its earnings.'' Butler said. "If youre looking at it based on a multiple of what its earning today, its probably a $300 or $400 million property not a $1 billion property. They have shareholders they have to appease. Theyre not going to sell it for a 70 percent discount.'' In 2016 I learned for the first time that there were over 500 active natural gas leaks from pipes under the street in the City of Springfield. These leaks were just a percentage of thousands recorded across the state, and at the time, there was no mandate that many of them be repaired. Only leaks found inside a contained space, Grade 1 Leaks, were required to be repaired within 24 hours. Leaks close to contained spaces or that met certain other criteria, Grade 2 leaks, were required to be fixed within 12 months. But these other leaks, known as Grade 3 leaks, were left unattended, some for over a decade. Further investigation and studies by Harvard and Boston University revealed that a small percentage of these leaks, known as super emitters, were responsible for vast amount of gas being lost from the system. These super emitters were releasing untold amounts of methane into the atmosphere, a greenhouse gas 100 times more potent than carbon. The cost of this wasted gas was passed onto customers. It was for that reason that we began working in the City of Springfield to hold the gas company accountable for these leaks. With the support of a coalition of organizations like the Springfield Climate Justice Coalition, Arise for Social Justice, Mothers Out Front, and the statewide watchdog group HEET, we worked to bring the gas company together with local officials and community members, and in 2017 were able to announce a deal to repair these leaks over time, with a concerted focus on the largest leaks first. The announcement was the first of its kind in Massachusetts. Two construction seasons later, at a recent oversight hearing, Columbia Gas reported that the total number of leaks in Springfield has dropped from 566 to 348. This season another 162 are scheduled for repair. Included in those already repaired were 186 Grade 3 leaks, including the largest super emitters. Without the work of dedicated community advocates, those leaks never would have been repaired, nor would more be scheduled for repair this coming season and into the future. As a further result of this important work, the statewide watchdog group HEET confirms that of the three largest cities in Massachusetts, Springfield now has the least leaks per mile of infrastructure. This is a clear result of our communitys early efforts to hold the utility responsible and accountable. Since then, legislation supported by local groups and the Springfield City Council was passed by the state legislature to move towards total elimination of Grade 3 leaks across Massachusetts, bringing more transparency to the reporting and tracking of leaks in the Commonwealth. Locally, gas utilities are collaborating with our Department of Public Works to ensure whenever a road is opened leaks that may exist in the area are addressed proactively, and partnering with independent organizations like HEET to utilize newly invented technology that compare emissions of leaks apples to apples and allow the largest to be prioritized for repair. While Columbia Gas seems on track to keep their commitment, it is important for municipalities and community members to continue to hold them accountable for repairs to their infrastructure, and for communities across the state to do the same with their utility companies. As Chairman of the Councils Environment and Sustainability Committee, I remain in close contact with the utility and watchdog organizations to monitor and ensure continued progress on their original commitment, and am committed to continuing to hold oversight hearings to ensure accountability, and keep the community informed as well. In all of this, it is important to remember that if it wasnt for the community stepping up and speaking out the progress and partnership we see today would not have been possible. Jesse Lederman is an At-Large member of the Springfield City Council and Chairman of the Councils Sustainability and Environment Committee. The Republican Party, as it stands now, is at war with women, blacks, Muslims, Latinos, the LGBTQ community and even young people. It is also at war with the FBI and the House of Congress, and is looking for yet another real war in the Middle East - Iran this time, to go along with Iraq and Afghanistan. The GOP is trying to destroy labor unions (which lift ALL workers). The GOP is at war with voting rights and they are scared to death of the idea that all eligible voters should be able to cast ballots and that all votes should count. That idea has even been called un-American by some in the GOP. The party also believes health insurance should be a luxury. The GOP used to stand for things; it had values and morals and policies. Now all they stand for is their dear leader. The party is devoid of ideas - all they have now is culture wars and conspiracy theories (the wilder the better) and lies and racism and fear. They have chosen party over country and stand and watch while Fascism grows, and if you think that is hyperbole, you need to pay better attention. Is the Republican Party un-American? Absolutely. Dana Vicalvi, Hampden The driver charged in a Easton hit-and-run crash that killed a couple was ordered to be held without bail Friday afternoon in Taunton District Court. Sheri Vazquez, 33, appeared in court for her arraignment a day after the fatal crash on Route 138 that killed 79-year-old John Masefield and 77-year-old Virginia Masefield, a couple from East Bridgewater, according to a news release. She was charged with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, reckless operation of a motor vehicle, two counts of motor vehicle homicide by reckless operation and unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. Vazquez was ordered to be held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing that is scheduled at 11 a.m. Wednesday in Taunton District Court. Police were called around 6:18 p.m. about the two-car crash at the intersection. A preliminary investigation shows the Dodge Journey driven by Vazquez was speeding on Route 138 when it crashed with a Hyundai Elantra that was about to turn onto Purchase Street, prosecutors said. Vazquez left her car and ran from the scene, police said. She was arrested shortly after in nearby West Bridgewater. The crash is under investigation by Massachusetts State Police, Easton Police, West Bridgewater Police and the Bristol County District Attorneys Office. While some states are testing the limits of abortion protections in the United States, Elizabeth Warren on Friday published an abortion plan that calls on Congress to pass laws preserving abortion rights. The Massachusetts senator, one of countless Democrat 2020 White House contenders, published her abortion plan in a Medium post Friday morning. New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, another presidential hopeful. published a number of abortion-related proposals in a Medium post on Thursday. Both called on federal laws that preserve access to abortion services even if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. The overwhelming majority of Americans have no desire to return to the world before Roe v. Wade," Warren wrote. "And so the time to act is now. Her post comes off the heels of abortion restrictions passed in Alabama and Georgia. The Alabama bill that was signed into law bans any abortion at any stage of pregnancy unless there is a serious health risk, including in cases of rape or incest. The legislation also punishes doctors with 99 years in prison for performing abortion services. Georgia, Ohio and other states have passed heartbeat bills that ban abortions as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. Today, I signed into law the Alabama Human Life Protection Act. To the bills many supporters, this legislation stands as a powerful testament to Alabamians deeply held belief that every life is precious & that every life is a sacred gift from God. https://t.co/DwKJyAjSs8 pic.twitter.com/PIUQip6nmw Governor Kay Ivey (@GovernorKayIvey) May 15, 2019 The White House said in a statement about the Alabama bill that President Donald Trump is defending the dignity of life," NBC News reported. Health advocates and politicians across the country, including Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, say the laws are so extreme that theyre designed to trigger a review of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court, which now has two Trump appointees Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. Its about power. Its about keeping women down, said Healey, who added that the state likely will pursue litigation as the legal battle over abortion moves forward. I think as a state, weve got to continue all we can to make sure women have access to health care that they need. The Alabama law sparked criticism from other Republicans. The Republican National Committee chairwoman, Ronna McDaniel, said she is personally opposed to the states abortion law, the Washington Post reported. Heres what Warrens abortion plan proposes. Affirming Roe v. Wade protections in federal law At the center of her plan is a demand for Congress to pass laws that codify the spirit of Roe v. Wade, barring states from passing bans or otherwise interfering with womens access to abortion and other reproductive health care services,. Although abortion remains legal in all 50 states, such a federal law would invalidate laws restricting access such as those in Alabama, Georgia and other states. Passing federal laws that bar states from passing TRAP laws Multiple states have passed Targeted Regulations on Abortion Providers, commonly known as TRAP laws, that place restrictions on medical abortion. Some required abortion clinics to meet the same requirements as ambulatory surgical centers, including having certain room sizes and hallway widths. Other TRAP laws required doctors performing abortions to obtain admitting privileges in a local hospital. The American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists joined Planned Parenthoods legal fight against TRAP laws, arguing abortion services are already safe. The Supreme Court struck down Texas TRAP law in Whole Womans Health v. Hellerstedt in 2016, determining that the law placed a substantial burden in womens access to abortion. Warren calls TRAP laws medically-unnecessary and only exist to limit womens access to abortion. She pointed to a bill filed in Congress, the Womens Health Protection Act, that would bar such laws. Making insurance companies cover abortion Warren called for a repeal of the Hyde Amendment. Since 1976, the amendment has blocked federal funds from being used for abortion services. Her plan also called for making abortion services covered by all insurance providers, including Medicaid, the Veteran Affairs insurance and the Indian Health Service. She noted that the EACH Woman Act, a bill filed in Congress, prohibits private insurance companies from placing restrictions on abortion coverage. We should ensure that all future health coverage including Medicare for All includes contraception and abortion coverage. Securing Title X funding for doctors performing abortions Warren calls on reversing the domestic gag rule" issued by the Trump administration earlier this year. The rule bans doctors for getting Title X funding if they perform an abortion or even offer a patient an abortion referral. Title X provides funding for birth control and other family planning services for low-income patients. NEBO - Trail closures are in place as firefighters respond to the Lost Cove Fire burning in the Wilson Creek area on the US Forest Service Grandfather Ranger District in Avery County. The fire is located near Bee Mountain in a remote part of the Lost Cove Wilderness Study Area, 10 miles southeast of the town of Linville. The fire, which was reported on Friday afternoon, is estimated at 350 acres and 10% contained. Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a speech at the Asian culture carnival, a major event of the ongoing Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations, at the National Stadium in Beijing, capital of China, on May 15, 2019. Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan attended the carnival together with foreign guests on Wednesday evening. (Xinhua/Li Xueren) BEIJING, May 15 (Xinhua) -- Dazzling dance steps and music from different corners of Asia livened up the National Stadium in Beijing Wednesday evening as a grand carnival was held to celebrate the diversity of Asian civilizations. Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan attended the carnival, a major event of the ongoing Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations, together with foreign guests. Wang Huning also attended the event. In a speech to declare the beginning of the carnival, Xi said Asian cultures demonstrate great richness and vitality thanks to the diversity of Asian civilizations. "Tonight, the colorful flowers of Asian cultures will blossom in full," he said. "Arts will transcend the boundaries of nations, touch people right in the heart and connect their minds, showing to the world a radiant, dynamic, peaceful and progressive Asia." Chinese people sincerely hope that Asian countries will help each other and work closely together to advance with the rest of the world, he said. The same stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, was the stage of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics Games in 2008. Around 30,000 audience from home and abroad watched artists from across Asia perform folk dances, play traditional musical instruments or sing popular songs from their homeland. Upasana Madan, an Indian dancer, said she felt thrilled to be back on a Chinese stage 18 years after a three-week performing tour in China. "Everyone is coming and sharing their cultures. We see artists from other countries and understand their cultures through their dance and music," she said. "It is beautiful how this program is bringing all these countries together." Apanaeva Gyuzel, who led a team of Russian artists to attend the carnival, told Xinhua that she and her fellow artists were honored to present Russian culture at the event and carefully chose a dance that could best showcase the characteristics of Russian people. "The stage, equipped with the latest visual technologies, is very impressive, and the show is so spectacular. We learned a lot and made many friends," she said. "It is indeed a great journey." The audience was fascinated by the performances and visual effects of the stage, as many stood up, applauded, and waved glow sticks in their hands, singing and swaying with the music. "This show brings back memories of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. I was overwhelmed tonight," said Tang Yuting, a student from a Beijing college. "The conference is a very good opportunity to promote our own culture and to better understand the outside world." New Study On 2018-2025 API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate Market Global Key Player, Demand, Growth, Opportunities and Analysis Forecast Added to Wise Guy Reports Database This report researches the worldwide API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate market size (value, capacity, production and consumption) in key regions like United States, Europe, China, Japan and other regions. This study categorizes the global API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate breakdown data by manufacturers, region, type and application, 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. Try Sample Report @ https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3566145-global-api-active-pharmaceutical-ingredient-intermediate-market-insights This report focuses on the top manufacturers API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate capacity, production, value, price and market share of API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate in global market. The following manufacturers are covered in this report: Jigs Chemical Sanofi Winthrop Industrie S.A. Shandong Jiulong Fine Chemical Co., Ltd. Hipharma Limited AMPAC Fine Chemicals BASF Cambrex Corporation A R Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd. Dragon Hwa ChemPharm. Co., Ltd. Ami Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd. API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate Breakdown Data by Type By Product Biotech Intermediates Chemical Intermediates By Type of Intermediate Patent Intermediates Non-patent Intermediates API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate Breakdown Data by Application Oncology Diabetes Endocrinology Cardiovascular Disease CNS & Neurological Disorders API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate Production Breakdown Data by Region United States Europe China Japan Other Regions API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate Consumption Breakdown Data by Region North America United States Canada Mexico Asia-Pacific China India Japan The study objectives are: To analyze and research the global API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate capacity, production, value, consumption, status and forecast; To focus on the key API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate manufacturers and study the capacity, production, value, market share and development plans in next few years. To focuses on the global key manufacturers, to define, describe and analyze the market competition landscape, SWOT analysis. To define, describe and forecast the market by type, application and region. To analyze the global and key regions market potential and advantage, opportunity and challenge, restraints and risks. To identify significant trends and factors driving or inhibiting the market growth. To analyze the opportunities in the market for stakeholders by identifying the high growth segments. To strategically analyze each submarket with respect to individual growth trend and their contribution to the market. To analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the market. To strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies. For Detailed Reading Please visit WiseGuy Reports @ https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/3566145-global-api-active-pharmaceutical-ingredient-intermediate-market-insights Some Major Points from Table of content: Global API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate Market Research Report 2018-2025, by Manufacturers, Regions, Types and Applications 1 Study Coverage 1.1 API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate Product 1.2 Key Market Segments in This Study 1.3 Key Manufacturers Covered 1.4 Market by Type 1.4.1 Global API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate Market Size Growth Rate by Type 1.4.2 Biotech Intermediates 1.4.3 Chemical Intermediates 1.5 Market by Application 1.5.1 Global API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate Market Size Growth Rate by Application 1.5.2 Oncology 1.5.3 Diabetes 1.5.4 Endocrinology 1.5.5 Cardiovascular Disease 1.5.6 CNS & Neurological Disorders 1.6 Study Objectives 1.7 Years Considered 2 Executive Summary 2.1 Global API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate Production 2.1.1 Global API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate Revenue 2013-2025 2.1.2 Global API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate Production 2013-2025 2.1.3 Global API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate Capacity 2013-2025 2.1.4 Global API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate Marketing Pricing and Trends 2.2 API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate Growth Rate (CAGR) 2018-2025 2.3 Analysis of Competitive Landscape 2.3.1 Manufacturers Market Concentration Ratio (CR5 and HHI) 2.3.2 Key API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate Manufacturers 2.4 Market Drivers, Trends and Issues 2.5 Macroscopic Indicator 2.5.1 GDP for Major Regions 2.5.2 Price of Raw Materials in Dollars: Evolution 7 Market Size by Application 7.1 Overview 7.2 Global API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate Breakdown Dada by Application 7.2.1 Global API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate Consumption by Application 7.2.2 Global API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate Consumption Market Share by Application (2013-2018) 8 Manufacturers Profiles 8.1 Jigs Chemical 8.1.1 Jigs Chemical Company Details 8.1.2 Company Description 8.1.3 Capacity, Production and Value of API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate 8.1.4 API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate Product Description 8.1.5 SWOT Analysis 8.2 Sanofi Winthrop Industrie S.A. 8.2.1 Sanofi Winthrop Industrie S.A. Company Details 8.2.2 Company Description 8.2.3 Capacity, Production and Value of API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate 8.2.4 API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate Product Description 8.2.5 SWOT Analysis 8.3 Shandong Jiulong Fine Chemical Co., Ltd. 8.3.1 Shandong Jiulong Fine Chemical Co., Ltd. Company Details 8.3.2 Company Description 8.3.3 Capacity, Production and Value of API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate 8.3.4 API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate Product Description 8.3.5 SWOT Analysis 8.4 Hipharma Limited 8.4.1 Hipharma Limited Company Details 8.4.2 Company Description 8.4.3 Capacity, Production and Value of API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate 8.4.4 API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate Product Description 8.4.5 SWOT Analysis 8.5 AMPAC Fine Chemicals 8.5.1 AMPAC Fine Chemicals Company Details 8.5.2 Company Description 8.5.3 Capacity, Production and Value of API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate 8.5.4 API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate Product Description 8.5.5 SWOT Analysis 8.6 BASF 8.6.1 BASF Company Details 8.6.2 Company Description 8.6.3 Capacity, Production and Value of API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate 8.6.4 API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate Product Description 8.6.5 SWOT Analysis 8.7 Cambrex Corporation 8.7.1 Cambrex Corporation Company Details 8.7.2 Company Description 8.7.3 Capacity, Production and Value of API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate 8.7.4 API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate Product Description 8.7.5 SWOT Analysis 8.8 A R Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd. 8.8.1 A R Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd. Company Details 8.8.2 Company Description 8.8.3 Capacity, Production and Value of API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate 8.8.4 API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate Product Description 8.8.5 SWOT Analysis 8.9 Dragon Hwa ChemPharm. Co., Ltd. 8.9.1 Dragon Hwa ChemPharm. Co., Ltd. Company Details 8.9.2 Company Description 8.9.3 Capacity, Production and Value of API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate 8.9.4 API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate Product Description 8.9.5 SWOT Analysis 8.10 Ami Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd. 8.10.1 Ami Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd. Company Details 8.10.2 Company Description 8.10.3 Capacity, Production and Value of API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate 8.10.4 API(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Intermediate Product Description 8.10.5 SWOT Analysis Continued. For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.com About Us Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports understand how essential statistical surveying information is for your organization or association. Therefore, we have associated with the top publishers and research firms all specialized in specific domains, ensuring you will receive the most reliable and up to date research data available. Contact Us: Norah Trent +1 646 845 9349 / +44 208 133 9349 Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wise-guy-research-consultants-pvt-ltd-?trk=biz-companies-cym Market Insights Market Research Futures latest research report discloses an impressive CAGR of 10% during the forecast period of 2017 to 2023. MRFR thoroughly examines the global capillary blood collection devices market in its report and has estimated evaluation of USD 778.38 million by 2023. Blood collection for diagnostic sampling is unavoidable and plays a crucial role in diagnostics and treatment. Capillary blood collection is one of the most minimally invasive methods to draw blood for medical purposes. Favorable government regulations have been an important driver for market growth. Changing regulations, ongoing research & development of medical technology, rising occurrence of diseases and an increasing global geriatric population are expected to fuel significant market growth during the forecast period. Request Free Sample copy at https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/4213 A major challenge for this market includes the risk of blood contamination or infection. However, due to capillary blood collection being the most preferred method of blood collection by both patients and medical professionals, this challenge is unlikely to restrain market growth. Key Players Key players in the global capillary blood collection devices market which have been featured in MRFRs competitive analysis include Weihai Hongyu Medical Devices, Abbot Laboratories, F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, Danaher Corporation, Becton Dickinson, Novo Nordisk A S, Medtronic PLC, B. Braun Melsungen AG, Thermo Fisher Scentific Inc., Terumo Corporation, Ypsomed Holding AG, HTL-STREFA S.A., Owen Mumford Ltd., Sarstedt AG & Co, Greiner Bio-One, Improve Medical, Chengdu Rich Science Industry Co. Ltd., Weigao Group, Nipro, Medigard and others. Market Segmentation The Global Capillary Blood Collection Devices Market has been segmented by material, type of devices, end-user, and region. By material, the market has been segmented into plastic, glass, stainless steel and others. The plastic segment is expected to possess the largest segment with a market share of 42.3% and a significant CAGR of 10.4% during the forecast period 2017-2023. By type of device, the market has been segmented into blood collecting tubes & collector, lancets, and warming devices. By end-user, the market is segmented into hospitals, clinics, diagnostic centers & pathology laboratories, home diagnostics and others. Blood collecting tubes & collector as a segment is expected to grow to a market share of 48.4% due to their common use on a global scale. However, lancets are the fastest growing segment at a CAGR of 10.4% during the forecast period 2017-2023. The growth of the lancet segment is due to the minimum invasiveness of blood collection devices that use lancets. By region, the market has been segmented into the Americas, Europe, the Asia-Pacific and the Middle East & Africa. Regional Analysis The Americas possess the largest share of the global market with 37.4% in 2016. This is primarily attributable to the availability of a well-developed healthcare sector, increased healthcare spending and growing demand for appropriate diagnostic tests. In-vitro diagnostics such as capillary blood collection allows patients in the region to monitor diseases. Both infection and non-infectious diseases can be effectively monitored using these devices. The increasing occurrence of these diseases has driven the demand for advanced diagnostic techniques. MRFRs data experts predict the market to reach an evaluation of approximately USD 292.96 million by 2023. Europe has the second largest share of the global market and is expected to maintain a steady yet significant growth during the forecast period. Government encouragement, increasing research & development by market leaders present in the region, and an increased occurrence of lifestyle diseases that require consistent monitoring such as diabetes are expected to drive growth in this region. The Asia-Pacific is predicted to be the fastest growing region in the global capillary blood collection devices market. Emerging economies in this region have massive patient populations with an increased incidence of diabetes. There is also a strong demand for minimally invasive capillary blood collection devices which makes this region high promising. Meanwhile, the Middle East and Africa, due to the regions inclusion of impoverished African countries, market growth is expected to be limited. Growth that will occur in this region is likely to come from the Middle East due to the prevalence of lifestyle diseases and a growing healthcare sector. Get Full Report With Top Companies and Segments at https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/capillary-blood-collection-devices-market-4213 Latest Industry News The Gibralter Health Authority has donated a new sophisticated Point of Care analyzer to the Accident and Emergency Department (A&E). The donation will allow easy and convenient capillary blood collection from pediatric patients. The new machine allows the test to be carried out and make results available in 3 minutes. The Central Drugs Standard Control Organization has clarified that the new ISO requirements for capillary blood samples for glucose concentration measurement will be implemented by October of 2019. About Market Research Future: At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services. Contact Market Research Future Office No. 528, Amanora Chambers Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar, Pune 411028 Maharashtra, India +1 646 845 9312 Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com WiseGuyRerports.com Presents New Document to its Studies Database A contract research organization is a company that provides support to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries in the form of research services outsourced on a contract basis. A CRO may provide such services as biopharmaceutical development, biologic assay development, commercialization, preclinical research, clinical research, clinical trials management and pharmacovigilance. In 2018, the global Contract Research Organization market size was xx million US$ and it is expected to reach xx million US$ by the end of 2025, with a CAGR of xx% during 2019-2025. This report focuses on the global Contract Research Organization status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and key players. The study objectives are to present the Contract Research Organization development in United States, Europe and China. Request Free Sample Report @ https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/4038408-global-contract-research-organization-market-size-status-and-forecast-2019-2025 The key players covered in this study Pharmaceutical Product Development Charles River Laboratories Quintiles Transnational Covance Market segment by Type, the product can be split into Biologic Assay Development Clinical/Preclinical Research Commercialization and Clinical Trial Management Market segment by Application, split into The Medical Device Industries Pharmaceutical Firms Others Market segment by Regions/Countries, this report covers United States Europe China Japan Southeast Asia India Central & South America The study objectives of this report are: To analyze global Contract Research Organization status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and key players. To present the Contract Research Organization development in United States, Europe and China. To strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their development plan and strategies. To define, describe and forecast the market by product type, market and key regions. Complete Report Details @ https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/4038408-global-contract-research-organization-market-size-status-and-forecast-2019-2025 Table Of Contents: 1 Report Overview 2 Global Growth Trends 3 Market Share by Key Players 4 Breakdown Data by Type and Application 5 United States 6 Europe 7 China 8 Japan 9 Southeast Asia 10 India 11 Central & South America 12 International Players Profiles 13 Market Forecast 2019-2025 14 Analysts Viewpoints/Conclusions 15 Appendix List of Tables and Figures Continued. CONTACT US: NORAH TRENT Partner Relations & Marketing Manager sales@wiseguyreports.com www.wiseguyreports.com Ph: +1-646-845-9349 (US) Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK) Genitourinary Drugs Market Overview Genitourinary Disorders are caused by damage to urinal or genital part of the human body. Kidney, bladder, ureter and urethra are parts of genitourinary system, genitourinary drugs are used to treat the medical complications caused to these parts. The rising prevalence of genitourinary disorders, increasing number of pipeline drugs, and technological advancement in genitourinary diagnosis are expected to drive the growth of the market. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine more than 480 clinical trials are lined up for treatment of urinary tract infection. The increasing appearance of drug counterfeiting in pharmaceutical industry, intense competition from generic manufacturers and drug patent expirations are likely to hinder market growth during the forecast period. Get Free Sample @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/6802 Genitourinary Drugs Market Key Players Some of the key players in the Global Genitourinary Drugs Market are Bayer AG AstraZeneca Abbott Astellas Pharma Inc. Pfizer Inc. Eli Lilly and Company Genentech, Inc. Immunex Corp GlaxoSmithKline plc. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Merck & Co. Bristol-Myers Squibb Company Antares Pharma Novartis AG Genitourinary Drugs Market Segmentation The Global Genitourinary Drugs Market has been segmented on the basis of disease, product, and end user. The market, by disease, has been classified as urinary tract infections, erectile dysfunction, urinary incontinence and overactive bladder, kidney/renal cancer, genitourinary cancer, bladder cancer, bladder cancer, cervical cancer, sexually transmitted diseases, interstitial cystitis, hematuria, ovarian cancer, and prostate cancer. On the basis of product, the market has been segregated into urological, hormonal therapy, gynecological, and anti-infectives. The end user segment has been divided into, hospitals, clinics, super specialty centers, and others. Genitourinary Drugs Market Regional Analysis The market in the Americas is expected to dominate the Global Genitourinary Drugs Market during the forecast period owing to the rising prevalence of genitourinary disorders, increasing number of cancer patients in the region, the rise in healthcare expenditure, and the presence of a well-established healthcare system. The European market is expected to be the second-largest due to government initiatives for the development of the healthcare sector, increasing research and development activities in the region, and the rise in a number of chronic disorders. Moreover, the market in Asia-Pacific is anticipated to be the fastest-growing market during the forecast period owing to the increasing geriatric population, rising investments in the healthcare sector, and favorable government policies. The market in the Middle East and Africa is likely to account for the smallest share of the global genitourinary drugs market. The market growth in this region can be attributed to increasing healthcare expenditure and growing medical tourism. About Market Research Future: At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services. In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members. Contact: Market Research Future Office No. 528, Amanora Chambers Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar Pune 411028 Maharashtra, India +1 646 845 9312 Email: salesteam@marketresearchfuture.com New Study on 2019-2022 Medical Aesthetic Devices Market Global Key Player, Demand, Growth, Opportunities and Analysis Forecast added to Wise Guy Reports Database Aesthetic medicine comprises all medical procedures that are aimed at improving the physical appearance and satisfaction of the patient, using non-invasive to minimally invasive cosmetic procedures. The aesthetic medicine specialty is not confined to dermatologists and plastic surgeons, as doctors of all specialties seek to offer services to address their patients aesthetic needs and desires. All aesthetic medicine procedures are performed under locoregional anesthesia. Try Sample Report @ https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/3168766-medical-aesthetic-devices-technologies-and-global-markets The exciting field of aesthetic medicine is a new trend. Patients not only want to be in good health, they also want to enjoy life to the fullest, be fit and minimize the effects of natural aging. Indeed, patients are now requesting quick, non-invasive procedures with minor downtime and very little risk. This recent trend explains the current success of aesthetic medicine around the globe. These aesthetic procedures consist of: Injections of neurotoxins and dermal fillers. Chemical peels. Cosmetic dermatology treatments. Microdermabrasion. Body contouring and treatment of cellulite. Nutrition. Hair transplant. Hair reduction. Fat grafting/platelet rich plasma. Laser and IPL. Scar management. Venous treatment. Initially, concerning simple skin care and facial treatment, aesthetic medicine borrowed extensively from mainstream medicine. Fat grafts in orthopedics found new life as compatible long-term fillers to flesh out wrinkles in aging faces. Chemical peels removed dead skin cells, freeing up fresh ones to glow and grow. Botulinum, an R&D success, became a popular injection for removing wrinkles and creases. Today, effective aesthetic medicineas a minimally invasive practiceis based on doctors having skilled hands, whereby they leverage reliable, cutting-edge medical technology, such as laser technology, chemical peels, fillers and injectables of natural or bio-ingredients. It spans surface treatments through chemical peels and lasers to minimally invasive procedures, such as thread-lifts, botulinum type A injections, derma fillers, fat grafts and hair transplants. Aesthetic medicine bridges the gap between beauty and health. It is important because beauty is not just skin deep. Beauty includes the need to feel good in ones own skin, thereby nurturing a psychophysical balance. We cannot ignore the importance of aesthetics from a psycho-sociological point of view, especially when todays society so highly covets attractive appearances. So, consumer patients are seeking aesthetic doctors to improve their appearance, and thus their self-confidence for social and/or professional reasons.Report Scope: The report on medical aesthetics devices gives a detailed analysis of the devices used for medical aesthetics procedures. In addition, the report covers the applications and end-users for the medical aesthetics devices market. The report covers applications, such as botulinum neuromodulators, breast augmentation devices, dermal fillers, energy-emitting devices and assistive liposuction devices. The market landscape is captured through end-users such as hospitals, beauty clinics and medical spas. A detailed analysis illustrating market dynamics and market structure is incorporated in the report. Porters Five Forces analysis as well as the supply and distribution chain are discussed in detail. The report covers the current regulations and guidelines for medical device quality management and manufacturing practices in the context of their use within the medical aesthetics devices industry. Top market playersincluding details on their business operations and segment focusas well as revenue and strategy analysis are included the in the report. In addition, market share analysis of the leading market players, product launches and pipeline products are captured in the report. In terms of geography, the report analyzes the market across North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. Key countries like the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe (top five countries), China, India and Japan are discussed considering the high concentration of medical aesthetics manufacturing companies and contract manufacturing organizations in these nations. This report includes market size estimates for the base year of 2016 and 2017 and the forecast for 2022. Report Includes: 36 tables An overview of the global markets and technologies for medical aesthetic devices Analyses of global market trends, with data from 2016 and 2017, and projections of compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) through 2022 Discussion of the properties and characteristics of human skin, hair, and breasts Description of medical devices, including botulinum neuromodulators, breast augmentation devices, and injectable dermal fillers Coverage of devices for assisted liposuction using ultrasound, light, or water Insight into the regulatory environment for medical devices and drugs in the U.S. and Europe Comprehensive company profiles of major players in the market, including Allergan PLC, Cutera, Inc, El. En. Group, Hologic, Inc, Implatech Implant Teknolojileri and Johnson and JohnsonALLERGAN, PLC ANIKA THERAPEUTICS, INC. CONTURA INTERNATIONAL A / S CRISALIX S.A. CUTERA, INC. CYNOSURE INC. EL.EN. GROUP HOLOGIC INC. IDEAL IMPLANT INC. IMPLATECH IMPLANT TEKNOLOJILERI JOHNSON & JOHNSON LUMENIS LTD. MEDYTOX INC. MERZ PHARMA GMBH & CO. KGAA PHOTOMEDEX, INC. REVANCE THERAPEUTICS INC. SIENNA BIOPHARMACEUTICALS, INC. SUNEVA MEDICAL, INC. SYNERON MEDICAL LTD. VALEANT PHARMACEUTICALS INTERNATIONAL, INC. VENUS CONCEPT LTD. Some points from table of content: Chapter 1 Introduction Study Goals and Objectives Reasons for Doing This Study Scope of Report Methodology Geographic Breakdown Analysts Credentials Related BCC Research Reports Chapter 2 Summary and Highlights Importance of This Report Key Questions Answered in the Report Overview of Findings For Detailed Reading Please visit WiseGuy Reports @ https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/3168766-medical-aesthetic-devices-technologies-and-global-markets Chapter 3 Market and Technology Background Introduction Overview Medical Aesthetics Societies Medical Tourism for Medical Aesthetics Key Statistics for Medical Aesthetics Medical Aesthetics Devices Market Segments Market Dynamics Drivers Restraint Chapter 6 Market Breakdown by Region Overview Market Size and Forecast North America Market Size and Forecast United States Canada Mexico Europe Chapter 7 Patent Review Anatomy of a Patent Application Chapter 8 Analysis of Market Opportunities Overview Opportunities Chapter 9 Competitive Landscape Overview Major Players and Market Share Porters Five Forces Analysis Bargaining Power of Suppliers Bargaining Power of Buyers Threat of New Suppliers Threat of Substitutes Competitive Rivalry/Degree of Competition Mergers and Acquisitions New Product Launches Agreements, Collaborations, and Partnerships Chapter 10 Company Profiles ALLERGAN, PLC Business Overview Company Financials Products and Services Developments and Strategies ANIKA THERAPEUTICS, INC. Business Overview Company Financials CONTURA INTERNATIONAL A / S Business Overview Products and Services CRISALIX S.A. Business Overview CUTERA, INC. Business Overview Company Financials Products and Services Developments and Strategies CYNOSURE INC. Business Overview EL.EN. GROUP Business Overview Company Financials Products and Services HOLOGIC INC. Business Overview Company Financials Products and Services Developments and Strategies IDEAL IMPLANT INC. Business Overview IMPLATECH IMPLANT TEKNOLOJILERI Business Overview Products and Services Developments and Strategies JOHNSON & JOHNSON Business Overview Company Financials Products and Services LUMENIS LTD. Business Overview Products and Services Developments and Strategies MEDYTOX INC. Business Overview MERZ PHARMA GMBH & CO. KGAA Continued. For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.com About Us Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports understand how essential statistical surveying information is for your organization or association. Therefore, we have associated with the top publishers and research firms all specialized in specific domains, ensuring you will receive the most reliable and up to date research data available. Contact Us: Norah Trent +1 646 845 9349 / +44 208 133 9349 Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wise-guy-research-consultants-pvt-ltd-?trk=biz-companies-cym Pediatric Neurology Device Market Highlights Pediatric Neurology is a medical segment that deals in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system of children. Pediatric neurology devices are designed to be useful in diagnosis and treatments of various neurological complications occurring in children such as disorders of the nervous system, brain, spinal cord, nerves, muscles, and pain. Get Free Sample @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/565 Additional factors substantiating the market growth include increasing governmental funding and programs especially in the developing regions to support the R&D activities undertaken for the invention of new devices. Technological advancements that took place in the smart and connected devices and the proliferation of some ubiquitous technologies such as the Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) in the pediatric neurology devices foster the market growth. Furthermore, factors fostering the market growth include the changing lifestyle led by the growing urbanization and industrialization alongside the improving economic conditions that enable access to the quality care and to the improved healthcare worldwide. Advancements in surgeries, fuel the market growth. Most of the countries around the world, including well-developed and developing regions, are grappling with shortages of pediatric neurology devices. Pediatric Neurology Device Market Key Players Some of key the players in the market are Elana, Inc. (the Netherlands) Ethicon Inc. (U.S.) Inova Health System (U.S.) Medtronic (U.S.) The Nemours Foundation (U.S.) Stryker Corporation (U.S.) Boston Scientific Corporation (U.S.) Braun Melsungen AG (Germany) Integra LifeSciences Corporation (U.S.) Jude Medical, LLC (U.S.) Pediatric Neurology Device Market Segmentations The Global Pediatric Neurology Devices Market is segmented on the basis of type, service and treatment, neurological subspecialties, age group, and end user By type, the global market is segmented into neurosurgery devices, neurostimulator, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) management devices, and others. Get Discount on Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/check-discount/565 On the basis of service and treatment, it is segmented into electroencephalogram, intrathecal baclofen therapy, neurological evaluations, vagal nerve stimulation, and others. On the basis of the neurological subspecialties, it is segmented into neuro-oncology, neuromuscular, neonatal neurology, neuro-immunology, stroke, and others. On the basis of the age group, it is segmented into neonates, infants, children, and adolescents On the basis of the end user, it is segmented into hospitals, healthcare centers, neurological research centers, and others. Pediatric Neurology Device Market Regional Analysis The Americas dominate the market owing to the rising prevalence of disease such as depression, epilepsy, and migraine, high healthcare spending, and increasing government support for research & development. According to a report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2017, more than 470,000 children below 17 years have epilepsy. Additionally, According to the Migraine Research Foundation, (2014), migraine was the 3rd most prevalent illness in the world. Nearly 1 in 4 U.S. households includes a migraine patient. Europe holds the second position in the market owing to the government support for research & development and availability of funds for research. Moreover, people of this region have more healthcare awareness. This is expected to continue to drive the European market over the forecasted period. Asia Pacific is considering the huge Pediatric Neurology Devices Market players owing to the presence of huge patient population in countries like India and china. Moreover, high health care expenditure, adding the fuel to this market. Additionally, countries from this region looking forward to adopt advanced technology and treatment from developed nations to improve the quality of life for their citizen. Whereas the Middle East and Africa are considering the low market due to incapability of investment and poor healthcare infrastructure. About Market Research Future: At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services. In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members. Contact: Market Research Future Office No. 528, Amanora Chambers Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar, Pune 411028 Maharashtra, India +1 646 845 9312 Email: salesteam@marketresearchfuture.com ADVERTISEMENT INVITATION FOR BIDS TENDER TITLE: SUPPLY AND INSTALLATION OF BODY AND BAGGAGE SCANNERS AT TUNDUMA ONE STOP BORDER POST (OSBP) TENDER NUMBER: PRQ20180039 TradeMark East Africa (TMEA) is an organisation funded by a range of development agencies to promote regional trade and economic integration in East Africa. Tanzania Revenue Authority with support from TradeMark East Africa (TMEA) wishes to engage a reputable firm/consortium to supply and install Body and Baggage Scanners at Tunduma One Stop Border Post. The tender documents can be obtained at https://www.trademarkea.com/get-involved/procurement/. All queries quoting the above Tender Title and Number should be emailed to procurement@trademarkea.com. The closing date for submission of this tender is on Thursday, 6 June 2019 at 4.00 p.m. (Tanzania Time). Interested and qualified firms/consortiums must submit their bids through TMEAs mail box using the email address, procurement@trademarkea.com, clearly indicating the tender number and description. All attachments must be 5 MBs or less. TMEA cannot answer any query relating to this tender 7 days or less prior to the submission deadline by Sean Hargrave , Staff Writer, May 14, 2019 It was a fairly rare outing for Eric Schmidt in the UK media when, earlier this week, he appeared on the BBC's in-depth news programme Newsnight to talk about his life as an author and take on some inevitable tough questions on Google, ending up with, you guessed it, Google and tax. Journalist and presenter Emily Maitlis began to take Schmidt to task on the company culture, including public walkouts over poor treatment, which he claims showed the company was "transparent." This lead to the follow up question that it was rather odd to say the company was clear with its workers when many only found out it was developing a version of its search service for China when a newspaper report broke the news. Schmidt, who is stepping down from Google's board in June, would not be drawn as to how good an idea it is for a company built around "don't do evil" to be considering developing a search engine that allowed for heavy, official censorship. To me, the big blow was landed with tax. Considering that this is a company that has always claimed to do the right thing and to be a breath of fresh air in the corporate world, it needs to look at its tax strategy. The question was put to Schmidt that moving more than $22bn through a shell company in the tax haven of Bermuda is not conducive to the image of a company that is trying to do the right thing. Schmidt, unfortunately, chose to give the old, tired answer that it fits in with the global rules on tax and has broken no laws. His answer went on to return the question of whether people really think the company will pay more tax than it really has to. The point was also made that the company must be breaking rules to be fined more than 8 billion Euros by the EU for abusing its monopoly in search and for trying to strong arm its rivals via its Android operating system. Yes, you guessed it -- Schmidt denied that the company had broken the law, and so pointed out he and Google did not agree with the rulings and the company was appealing. Which brings us to the point. Schmidt started the interview talking about how important ethics are in business and how companies need to tap into and share those core beliefs, hence the whole "do the right thing" motto. To have this motto and to claim to tap into customers' values is disingenuous when the conversation then moves into defending shifting $22bn through an offshore tax haven. When your answers are about being legal but your corporate pitch is about being moral, it just underscores how disingenuous Google truly is. by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, May 15, 2019 Twitter is asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Rep. Devin Nunes over allegedly libelous tweets, arguing that he filed the case in the wrong state. This lawsuit does not belong in a Virginia court, Twitter writes in papers filed late last week in Henrico County Circuit Court. The company adds that Nunes, a Republican from California who is himself a Twitter user, agreed to bring any claims in California when he accepted the company's terms of service. The legal battle dates to March, when Nunes sued Twitter and three users -- including the anonymous creators of the parody accounts Devin Nunes' Mom and Devin Nunes' Cow -- over insulting tweets. The other Twitter user named in the case, political consultant Liz Mair, is a Virginia resident. advertisement advertisement Nunes alleged that Twitter allowed its platform to serve as a portal of defamation as part of an anti-Republican bias. He is seeking $250 million. One tweet by Devin Nunes' Mom that he referenced in the complaint reads: @DevinNunes your district is looking for you? Are you trying to obstruct a federal investigation again? You come home right this instant or no more Minecraft! He alleged that Mair made defamatory posts, including one reading: HOLY CRAP: A yacht, cocaine, prostitutes: Winery partly owned by Nunes sued after fundraiser event, which linked to a Fresno Bee article with the same headline, minus the phrase Holy Crap. Numerous judges have ruled that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act protects platforms like Twitter from defamation liability for content posted by users. Judges have also ruled that only false statements of verifiable facts can be defamatory, as opposed to opinions and hyperbole. But Twitter, at least for now, is making the more procedural argument that Nunes filed the case in the wrong locale. Plaintiff does not allege that any of Twitter's alleged suit-related conduct occurred in or was targeted at Virginia in particular, the company writes. The company adds that Nunes' claims regarding Twitter's supposed anti-conservative bias center on alleged policy choices and editorial decisions that Twitter made, if anywhere, at its California headquarters or another Twitter office -- none of which is in Virginia. Mair also filed papers asking the court to throw out Nunes' lawsuit on the grounds that the case belongs in California. Nunes represents a congressional district in California and has no particular connection to Virginia, her lawyers argue. They add that the evidence and witnesses are in California, and that state's laws will apply to most or all of his claims. Virginia is therefore an inappropriate forum for this dispute, which consists mainly of a complaint against Twitter -- the only defendant conceivably capable of satisfying Mr. Nunes's claim for $250 million in damages, her lawyers write. by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, May 16, 2019 Last year, Facebook responded to Russian interference in U.S. elections by removing dozens of accounts that the company believed were controlled by the Kremlin-backed troll farm Internet Research Agency. One of those accounts, the Federal Agency of News or FAN, subsequently claimed in a lawsuit that its First Amendment rights were violated when it was censored by Facebook. The Russian company insists it's a legitimate news organization, despite at least one connection to an operative who allegedly sought to meddle in elections: FAN's accountant, Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova, was indicted last year for conspiring to manipulate elections in the U.S. FAN went ahead with its lawsuit despite the fact that numerous judges have said Facebook -- like Google, Twitter and other tech platforms -- is free to remove content at will. advertisement advertisement Judges have also ruled that companies like Facebook aren't liable for removing users' posts, because the Communications Decency Act immunizes web platforms when they remove material. On Wednesday, FAN doubled down on its claims, arguing in papers filed with U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California that its First Amendment rights were violated by Facebook. By blocking FANs Facebook account and deleting the contents on its web-based platform, Facebook engaged in content-based restrictions of free speech, and violated Plaintiffs First Amendment rights, the news operation argues. The First Amendment prohibits state actors -- meaning the government and its agents -- from censoring speech based on viewpoint. That's why government officials can't pick and choose, for instance, which groups are allowed to hand out literature in public places. But the First Amendment doesn't prevent private companies, like newspapers, from makings decisions about, say, which op-eds to run. FAN essentially argues in its new legal papers that Facebook should be viewed more like the government than a newspaper. Among other reasons, the Russian agency contends that Facebook is heavily entwined with the government, because Facebook cooperated with congressional inquiries into election tampering. For its part, Facebook said in court papers filed last month that the case should be dismissed. Facebook is, quite obviously, not a government actor. It is a private company, the tech platform wrote. Facebook has reason to believe Koh will agree. Several years ago, she sided with Facebook in a similar lawsuit brought by the nonprofit group Sikhs for Justice, which alleged that its pages were blocked in India by Facebook. Koh threw out that matter, ruling that Facebook's decisions about content were protected by the Communications Decency Act. A federal appellate court upheld that decision in 2017. by Tanya Gazdik , May 16, 2019 Hilton Honors, the hotel chains loyalty program with 89 million members, is partnering with rideshare company Lyft. The loyalty members will now be able to earn Hilton Honors Points when they ride with Lyft. Sign-up is available on a dedicated web page. The partnership follows others the hotel company has entered into with major brands, including Live Nation and American Express. We know ridesharing is important to our members and extends beyond getting to and from our hotels to a function they rely on nearly every day, states Mark Weinstein, senior vice president and global head of customer engagement, loyalty and partnerships at Hilton. The Lyft partnership is yet one more example of how were connecting with a category that will allow us to do just that -- make the travel experience better and connect authentically with our members. advertisement advertisement Customers dont always have a reason to engage with Hilton on an everyday basis, which is why the company is always looking for ways to connect with members more regularly, through partnerships, products, rewards, and experiences, he adds. This is the first time in the hospitality space that members are allowed not only to earn points, but will soon have the ability to switch out points, too, he says. Later this year, Hilton will offer members the ability to redeem their Hilton Honors Points for Lyft credits. Both companies share an interest in cutting their environmental footprint, says David Baga, chief business officer at Lyft. What excites me most about the future of travel is the increased opportunity and interest that organizations have to make a meaningful impact at scale on the communities they operate in, Baga states. I hope to see other brands adopt a similar mindset where tech and travel can come together to provide the best user experience while also making a positive impact. by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, May 17, 2019 The Big Bang Theory ended its storied run on CBS Thursday with two back-to-back episodes that were long on sentiment -- and the shows trademark comedy. With characters who are so familiar by now that saying farewell was like saying good-bye to old friends, the show ended with a series of milestones both comedic and loving. In the former category, the elevator that had been out of commission in the building where Leonard and Sheldon lived across the hall from Penny was finally fixed -- a repair that took 12 seasons and 278 episodes to make. It was a nice touch, and would have been a complete surprise too, if not for rumors circulating in the days before airtime that the elevator would be functional at last. Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) and wife Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik) won a joint Nobel Prize for Physics. Penny (Kaley Cuoco) and Leonard (Johnny Galecki) revealed they are expecting a child. advertisement advertisement And even Rajesh (Kunal Nayyar) may have found love with none other than Sarah Michelle Gellar, TV's original Buffy the Vampire Slayer who Raj met on the plane to Stockholm, Sweden, to attend the Nobel ceremony. Gellar guest-starred as herself. The whole gang made the trip to Sweden, but on the way there, Howard (Simon Helberg) and Leonard both became enraged at Sheldon for his self-centeredness, and threatened to ditch him in Stockholm. But not surprisingly (and predictably), amity prevailed and all of the friends were united in their celebration of Sheldon and Amy's big prize. The Nobel ceremony gave Sheldon the opportunity to give a selfless speech extolling the virtues of friendship while his friends stood and took their bows in the Nobel audience. Over the years, The Big Bang Theory cast gelled into one of the most close-knit in the history of sitcoms. But if there was a standout star in this ensemble, it was Parsons. And perhaps in acknowledgement of that fact, the two episodes that formed the show's one-hour finale were decidedly Sheldon-centric. In another Sheldon storyline seen Thursday night, Sheldon became unnerved by the media attention that was suddenly focused on he and Amy in the aftermath of their Nobel win. That's Sheldon, looking like Kilroy was here in the photo above, hiding behind his desk to avoid a reporter seeking an interview. The phrase Kilroy was here and its accompanying doodle, featuring a man peering over a fence or wall with his two hands partly visible, gained popularity in World War II when GIs left this graffiti in places where they had been stationed. After they left, Kilroy was the only thing that remained to mark that they had been there. What remains from The Big Bang Theory? A stellar collection of 279 episodes that will continue to generate income for all involved for the foreseeable future. At its heart, The Big Bang Theory was a celebration of science, intelligence and education. It is the show's great legacy. Sheldon, Leonard and the rest of their genius friends were here, and they just possibly helped nurture a whole generation of new scientists and innovators. It is an accomplishment that is rare among television shows. FREDERICTON May 17, 2019 Matt DeCourcey Maryam Monsef Egale Canada University of British Columbia University of Toronto Toronto Egale Canada's Canada Helen Kennedy Egale Canada Funding for these projects is provided by the Public Health Agency of Canada and Women and Gender Equality Canada as part of Canada's Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence. Violence against women, girls, and LGBTQ2 people is one of the most widespread, persistent, and devastating human rights violations around the world. Globally, it is estimated that one in three women experiences intimate partner violence in her lifetime. In more than 70 countries, laws that criminalize LGBTQ2 people perpetuate gender?based violence against members of these communities. In Canada, nearly half of people aged 15 and older who identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual report having experienced childhood physical or sexual abuse, compared to 30% of heterosexual people. In June 2019 , Canada will host the Women Deliver Conference, the world's largest conference on gender equality and the health, rights and wellbeing of girls and women. Saskatoon /CNW/ - Gender-based violence has a disproportionate impact on LGBTQ2 people (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and two-spirit). Based on self-reported data, people who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual are three times more likely to experience violent victimization than heterosexuals. In addition, there is some evidence that transgender people experience intimate partner violence at almost twice the rate of cis-gender people.Today, Member of Parliament,, on behalf of the Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Minister of Health, and the Honourable, Minister of International Development and Minister for Women and Gender Equality, announced $2.8 million to support four initiatives aimed at preventing and addressing gender?based violence for LGBTQ2 people.The following organizations are receiving funding to develop and deliver programs and interventions that will support LGBTQ2 people and address gender-based violence in communities across Canada:, the, the, and The 519, based in. These programs will help address the root causes of gender-based violence and equip health professionals with the knowledge and resources needed to support survivors of violence.MP DeCourcey made the announcement on the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia, while attendingbiennial OUTShine Summit. The Summit brings LGBTQ2 people and secondary school youth together with educators and community members to discuss school initiatives, share resources and experiences, network, and celebrate identities."LGBTQ2 Canadians have been, and continue to be, deeply affected by homophobia, transphobia and biphobia, along with other forms of discrimination. The Government of Canada is working with partners across the country to address the root causes of gender-based violence, promote gender equality, and support survivors of violence in ways that are sensitive to their needs and relevant to their experiences. The projects announced today will build on these efforts to support people who identify as LGBTQ2 and achieve our goal of ending gender?based violence.""When half of all LGBTQ2 individuals inreport experiencing gender-based violence, it is a national crisis that calls for an immediate response. That is why our government is investing in The 519's project to use a rapid response approach to respond to violence targeting LGBTQ2 communities. By supporting work like this, we are helping to ensure much-needed support and resources to those most at-risk of experiencing gender-based violence.""Through our work at Egale Youth OUTreach mental health counselling and drop-in centre, we know all too well the dangers and prevalence of gender-based violence experienced by LGBTQI2S young people. With the funding from PHAC, Egale aims to identify, address, and hopefully prevent dating violence experienced by LGBTQI2S teens and youth."Backgrounder: Projects to support LGBTQ2 communities to prevent and address gender-based violenceGender-Based Violence ProgramGovernment of Canada supports partners focused on preventing gender-based violence Government of Canada supports LGBTQ2 survivors of gender-based violence inSOURCE Public Health Agency of Canada Advertisement Patients went through a careful medical assessment, then went onto chemotherapy with just two drugs* and were allocated at random to receive them at either full-strength, medium-dose or low-dose. They were then carefully monitored to see how well the cancer was controlled, whether they had symptoms and side-effects, whether they felt their treatment was worthwhile, and what overall effect it had on their quality of life.But when the researchers looked at the overall effect of treatment, including quality of life, they reported that it was the lowest dose treatment that came out best.**Around 15,800 people in the UK are diagnosed with stomach and oesophageal cancers every year***. Almost half (45%) of these people are 75 and over****. By 2035, this proportion is projected to rise to 55%*****, because of the UK's ageing population. This study, is one of few phase III trials in the country that seek to address how to best care for and treat this increasing population of elderly or frail cancer patients.These findings also open up the possibility of more older and frail patients being able to take part in clinical trials.Professor Charles Swanton, Cancer Research UK's chief clinician, said: "These valuable results reduce fears that giving a lower dose chemotherapy regimen is inferior and could make a huge difference for patients with stomach or oesophageal cancer who can't tolerate intensive courses of treatment."Older or frail patients are often not considered for new drug trials or standard of care therapy as they're less able to tolerate combination chemotherapy. These trials are critical to provide much needed evidence on the effectiveness of new therapies and combination approaches, helping us develop new treatments for this growing group of patients."The researchers also assessed whether there were differences for the patients in the study who were under 75, or less frail, who might be expected to benefit from stronger treatment; but will be reporting that the lowest dose treatment gave the best results for them as well.Professor Matt Seymour, co-chief investigator at the University of Leeds and Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said: "When we're treating people who are elderly or frail, we are especially conscious that treatment can have harmful as well as beneficial effects. Doctors often prescribe reduced doses of drugs, or sometimes no chemotherapy at all, based on their clinical experience, but until now there has been little hard evidence to help them in those decisions. Our results provide that evidence, so doctors can confidently give people a lower dose of chemotherapy, sparing them side effects without worrying that it's compromising their chance of survival. "We hope this approach can be applied in other disease types so that more work can be done to improve both survival and quality of life for elderly and frail patients."Liz Chipchase, from Cambridge, was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in 2017 at 69 years old. She had two non-invasive surgeries under sedation to remove the cancerous cells and didn't require any additional treatment.She said: "When I was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer, I was lucky that it was caught early enough that I didn't need chemotherapy. I was offered the choice between two different surgeries, giving me the opportunity to select the treatment I thought was best for me. "Trials like this are important to empower people with choices that give them control over how they're treated - something I was fortunate to have. Any research that can help improve the quality of life for other patients is essential, so it's great to see results like these doing exactly that."Dr Peter Hall, co-chief investigator from the Cancer Research UK Edinburgh Centre, said: "Increasingly we're realising it's not just age that affects how well someone can tolerate their treatment and we need to do more work to understand how other conditions or aspects of frailty might play a role."We should now look beyond chemotherapies, at some of the newer targeted therapies or immunotherapies to understand how we can tailor different treatments to patients based on their individual circumstance."Source: Eurekalert Advertisement Despite effective treatments, keeping asthma in check can be particularly tricky. An attack can come seemingly without warning and up to 40 percent of children hospitalized with asthma wind up back in the hospital within a year. A major contributing factor is that signs that precede an attack often go unnoticed.Scientists and physicians at U of U Health designed eAsthma Tracker as a way to continually monitor a child's disease. Asthma care is typically reactive, focusing on treating recurrent attacks, says the study's senior author and U of U Health hospitalist Bryan Stone, MD, MS. While most children with asthma show signs days to weeks before an attack, parents can easily miss these changes. eAsthma Tracker allows for monitoring at home, opening an opportunity to observe worsening signs and intervene in time to prevent a flare-up.A unique feature of the app is that it sends parents and doctors data in real-time, and triggers an automated alert when a child's asthma is acting up. When that happens, the app prompts parents to make an appointment with the child's doctor. A doctor receiving an alert may decide to call parents to determine how to address the issue proactively."Parents love the idea that they can see how their child is doing and that their doctor is on the other end of the app and working with them," says Stone.Families who use eAsthma Tracker fill out a brief weekly online survey based on a standard assessment called the Asthma Control Test. The app assigns a score reflecting whether asthma is impeding the child's daily activities and how often they're using medication to control symptoms. It then issues recommendations dependent on being categorized as severe (red zone), under control (green zone) or approaching severe (yellow zone).More than 300 children and parents at 11 clinics throughout Utah enrolled in the study designed to determine whether the app improved patient outcomes. Researchers found that children who used the app: * improved their asthma control * made significantly fewer visits to the emergency department and hospital * significantly reduced oral steroid use (a surrogate measure for asthma attacks), * missed 60% fewer days of school, and * had an improved quality of life. Also, their parents missed 70% fewer days of work.Children and parents showed improvements in all measurements three months after starting to use the app, and the benefits persisted 12 months later.The investigators also compared outcomes from children who used eAsthma Tracker with outcomes from children who did not use the app. Results from this part of the study showed that children who used the app: * made 60% fewer visits to the emergency department and hospital, and * had a 35% reduced use of oral steroids.The main limitation of the study was the lack of a control group pulled from the same clinics that study participants were recruited from. Although the design of this part of the research was not optimal, the reasoning behind the omission was intentional. Based on promising results from a pilot investigation, the parent and community stakeholders that helped design the research recommended against withholding the app from willing participants.Nkoy and Stone are now working with the university's Center for Technology & Venture Commercialization to conduct market validation and develop a commercialization strategy to expand to other hospital systems."We are optimistic that spread of eAsthma Tracker can significantly improve asthma care and reduce asthma-related healthcare costs," says Nkoy.Source: Eurekalert Here's someone you ought to know about by now: Maluma. With collaborations with Madonna and Shakira, Maluma is an emerging global pop artist. But Maluma is his stage name, he was born as Juan Luis Londono Arias in Medellin, Colombia. (Medellin is also the name of the song on which he's collaborated with Madonna) Maluma started performing at the age of 16 in 2010. 'Maluma' comes from a combination of the first syllables from each of his immediate family members names: His mother Marli, dad Luis and older sister Manuela. Besides dropping one hit after the other, he also keeps his fashion game on point. He recently did an interview with Jimmy Falon where he performed, proving that he can set the stage on fire with his magnetic personality. Here are ten times he set his Instagram on fire with his effortlessly chill style: 1. He made his Met Gala debut recently and we love his openness to experiment with a bit of sparkle, because it suits him. Instagram/ Maluma 2. Here's a casual picture of Maluma chilling with his dog in a jacket we love. No big deal. Instagram/ Maluma 3. Look at those kicks and then look at the sweats, we love how coordinated those two are. Instagram/ Maluma 4. We think that this leather one piece is great to make a statement and it's super edgy. Instagram/ Maluma 5. Not just clothes, we love the stellar tattoo ensemble on his arm. *Adding tat designs to my wishlist* Instagram/ Maluma 6. There is something about Maluma's affiliation to jumpsuits that we really admire. A bum bag takes any look to another level and here, it complements the look seamlessly. Instagram/ Maluma 7. That in no way suggests that Maluma can't clean up well. Here's evidence that suggests otherwise. Instagram/ Maluma 8. While wine needs to be swirled a couple of times before consumption, if you want to enjoy coffee the Maluma way, here's what you should do: Instagram/ Maluma 9. Another picture that proves Maluma's love for sneakers. Instagram/ Maluma 10. An airport look that screams Maluma means business wherever he goes. Instagram/ Maluma Our teachers and parents often told us that one shouldn't be afraid of making mistakes. After all that's how we learn in life, right? But, what if that mistake is an expensive one...Rs. 4 lakh (approx) to be precise? In a bizarre turn of events, Hawksmoor Manchester, a restaurant in UK served a group of three businessmen their most expensive bottle. And the best part is, they didn't even ask for it. They had called for a bottle worth 260 (Rs. 23,200 approx), but instead were 'accidentally' served wine that costs 4,500 (Rs. 4 lakh approx). Pexels Seriously, who would order such an expensive bottle of wine? Well, in this case, literally no one. Honestly, if I was served wine that expensive, I would either pour it in a bottle and sell it to a museum or savour every drop so carefully, as if my life depends on it. According to reports, the blokes who drank that expensive wine didn't even notice and are probably still unaware about the goof-up. Or maybe they know now. It was the trainee manager's mistake, who got confused between the two bottles as they "looked pretty similar". The staff realised the mistake when the customers called for a second bottle, but didn't publicly admit the mistake. Twitter For all the wine connoisseurs out there, what the diners called for was a 2001 bottle of Chateau Pichon Longueville Contesse de Lalande - price 260. What they got was a 2001 bottle of Chateau Le Pin, Pomerol, - price 4,500. Next time, you go to UK be sure about your drink. Here are the two bottles. THEY LOOK PRETTY SIMILAR OK?! pic.twitter.com/JWFW81cbe8 Hawksmoor Manchester (@HawksmoorMCR) May 16, 2019 The restaurant, however, accepted their mistake in the best way possible and are now being praised on social media for their stand. They wrote, "To the customer who accidentally got given a bottle of Chateau le Pin Pomerol 2001, which is 4500 on our menu, last night - hope you enjoyed your evening! To the member of staff who accidentally gave it away, chin up! One-off mistakes happen and we love you anyway." To the customer who accidentally got given a bottle of Chateau le Pin Pomerol 2001, which is 4500 on our menu, last night - hope you enjoyed your evening! To the member of staff who accidentally gave it away, chin up! One-off mistakes happen and we love you anyway Hawksmoor Manchester (@HawksmoorMCR) May 16, 2019 Reportedly, Will Beckett, co-founder of Hawksmoor said "Another manager picked up on it when they asked for a second bottle." In order to avoid an awkward situation, the staff member "gently steered the customers toward another bottle of wine and kept quiet." The restaurant staff was really sweet and charged the men a bill of over 400 (Rs. 35,700 approx). It was only after the shift was over that the trainee manager was told that she had served the restaurant's most expensive wine. But, the way the restaurant reacted to the entire incident is commendable. We hope we had such great bosses at work. And for the chaps who drank that wine, you guys are the luckiest diners ever. Source: The Telegraph Yes, it's finally happening! Sony and Microsoft have joined hands announcing an unusual partnership, under which the rivals will work together on cloud-based gaming services. The two companies will explore joint development of future cloud solutions in Microsoft Azure to support their respective game and content-streaming services, Microsoft said in an official statement. But wait, before you start speculating about the end of console wars, or prepare yourself for a joint Microsoft/ Sony streaming service that'll let you play, say, Halo and Uncharted on a single platform, let me burst your bubble and tell you that it's not happening. Microsoft As a part of the agreement, Sony will use Microsoft's Azure servers and data centers for its own game and content-streaming services. That, in case you don't know, includes Sony's PlayStation Now and PlayStation Vue. Additionally, the companies also agreed to explore collaboration in the areas of semiconductors and AI. It's not entirely clear what that means just yet, but that sounds more Microsoft's mixed reality and AR stuff to me. Let's leave that for some other day. The Console War Is Still On Considering the arrival of Google's Stadia service and reports about Amazon's cloud gaming service, it's easy to expect the two to join hands. I mean, who wouldn't want to see the rivals join hands to make a powerful next-gen console or come up with some sort of streaming standard? Google Stadia That, however, isn't happening because both Sony and Microsoft are making their own powerful next-gen consoles and they've made some big promises like impeccable CPU and GPU, faster SSDs, and what not. If they want to make money, then these new consoles, I am sure, are going to need exclusive titles to convince gamers like me. Now, for instance, the only reason I'd recommend the PS4 over the Xbox One is the exclusives. God of War, Last of Us, etc. It's a long list of awesome games, but you get the point, right? Sony and Microsoft teaming up for a streaming standard to put the rivals out of business looks good on paper, but not so much in reality. I doubt Sony, or even Microsoft, will give up the software exclusivity. Naughty Dog Why bother building a new console when you're simply going to make your next big exclusive fully accessible to people buying a competing console or subscription-based service? Why Microsoft? Now that's out of the way, you might be wondering why Microsoft, and not Amazon's AWS or Google? Well, if you have a service that caters to gamers across the globe, then it only makes sense to opt for a cloud-computing service like Azure. Its wider distribution of data centers across the globe will make sure Sony's streaming services are not facing any latency-issues. It's as simple as that. Competitors like Amazon and Google missed out on hosting Sony. Final Thoughts Though the idea of having a standard subscription platform to play all games in one place sound drool-worthy, let me tell you that we're not going to see that happening anytime soon. If that's what you made out of the picture of Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella shaking hands before reading, then I am here to tell you that you're living in a delusional world. I doubt if that's even something which Microsoft or Sony have thought about at this point in time. Microsoft Today's announcement of Sony and Microsoft's partnership is purely strategic and it has nothing to do with the console wars. Yes, the partnership could be great for the future of gaming with implications such as crossplay, especially for multiplayer titles like FIFA. Yes, an interesting possibility, but for now, both companies are readying their flagship consoles. The console war is here to stay! JOURNALIST: Mr Minister, how was the meeting with your Turkish counterpart? G. KATROUGALOS: I conveyed categorically our condemnation for the unilateral illegal actions of Turkey in the Exclusive Economic Zone of Cyprus and requested that they stop. We also talked about the need to defuse the tension in the Aegean and for the violations of our air space to stop. On this issue, as agreed between the two leaders when the Prime Minister visited Turkey, it has been decided to initiate talks on confidence-building measures between teams on a military level. We also agreed on the need to activate these teams, which are meeting in Athens on Monday. Consequently, this was obviously not a meeting seeking a permanent solution. Both sides reiterated their known stances and, as I have already mentioned, the main aim of the meeting was to de-escalate the tension in the Aegean so theres no accidents, which neither side wants. The inauguration ceremony of the activity to match high-level talents with companies was held in Chongqing on May 13, 2019. Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality held an activity on May 13 to match doctoral students with the companies and institutions based in Chongqing, in an effort to attract high-level talents to help construct these enterprises. Some 103 doctoral students from elite universities both at home and abroad were invited to attend the activity, where they are expected to secure a job after in-depth communication with employers. The students will confirm their willingness to work for companies they are interested in after paying a visit to the company premises to know what their responsibilities would be. The most suitable students, some of whom are from China's Tsinghua University and Peking University, were selected out of 347 candidates. Chinese universities sign agreements with the human resources department of Chongqing, May 13, 2019. At the opening ceremony, 19 universities on the "The Double World Class" list reached cooperation agreements with Chongqing Human Resources Market. The partner program includes establishing a collaborative mechanism between the universities and the local education government, setting up a green passage for talents and promoting exchange and communication. The event is hosted by the Organization Department of the Chongqing Municipal Committee of the CPC and Chongqing Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau and is organized by Chongqing Human Resources Market. PORTLAND The condition of the motorcyclist injured in a collision on Main Street on Wednesday evening has been upgraded. Raymond Stebbins Jrs condition was upgraded to serious, a spokeswoman for Hartford Hospital said Friday afternoon. Stebbins, 28, had been listed in critical condition since he was admitted to the hospital following the collision that took place at the intersection of Main and Marlborough streets 6:31 p.m. Stebbins was southbound on Main Street riding a 2007 Harley Davidson motorcycle when he was struck by a 2005 Hyundai Tuscan, according to police Officer Paul Liseo. The Tuscan, which is small SUV, was crossing from a driveway on the west side of Main Street across four lanes of traffic onto eastbound Marlborough Street when the accident occurred. The driver of the Tuscan, Donna Downing, 64, was not injured in the collision. However, she was charged with driving while intoxicated after being interviewed by police, Liseo said. But, he quickly to add, That doesnt necessarily mean she was responsible for the accident. Liseo said Downing was cooperative when questioned by police at the scene and expressed concern for Stebbins well-being. He also said police from a joint Portland/Middletown Accident Reconstruction Team are still in the early stages of their investigation. The investigation will involve wide range of intensive activities, including seeking to determine the speeds at which both vehicles were traveling, the condition of the roads, any mechanical issues with either vehicle and looking for any video that may have recorded the accident. Liseo also asked that anyone who either saw the accident or might have information that would aid police in their investigation contact Portland police at (860) 342-6780. HARTFORD A working draft of the toll bill indicates that the state would cut the gas tax by one cent per gallon per year over a five-year period to offset the additional cost of tolls. The draft also includes discounts for low-income residents and outlines investments in a number of critical projects. The bill, which House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz doesnt want to release publicly, has not been finalized and the words Working Draft are written across the top. Aresimowicz said he doesnt want to have to make a change to the bill at the last minute and lose support from the public, who may view it as a change in position. Already, Gov. Ned Lamont has been criticized for changing his mind about truck-only tolls shortly after taking office. Theres widespread distrust of public officials and their handling of the Special Transportation Fund because money has been diverted before reaching the fund in the past. The draft of the legislation says the toll revenue will be focused on operational improvements to interstates 95 and 84, the mixmaster in Waterbury, Heroes Tunnel in New Haven, the Gold Star Memorial Bridge in New London, and the interchanges between 84 and 91 and between Route 7 and Route 15. More for you Fate of CT highway tolls remains uncertain amid political spin That will free up money for the replacement of the movable bridges on the New Haven rail line, help the state improve service on the Hartford Line and Shore Line East, and build new commuter rail stations in Newington, Bridgeport, and West Hartford. Bridgeport lawmakers recently said they want a new East Side train station in exchange for their support for tolls. The draft plan says the state cant install more than 50 electronic gantries on Interstates 84, 91, 95, and portions of Route 15. It also gives the Commissioner of Transportation the ability to enter into tolling agreements with the federal highway administration and a third-party toll operator. The draft also says the state will create a bipartisan Connecticut Transportation Commission, which would have the ability to raise or lower toll rates after the first three years. The starting rate will be 4.4 cents per mile during peak periods and 3.5 cents during off-peak periods. Toll rates shall be fixed at the lowest amount necessary to achieve congestion reduction and to provide sufficient funding to operate the tolled highways, according to the bill. The commission would be comprised of 13 members, six chosen by the legislature, six from among state officials, and one additional individual picked by the governor. Specifically, the six state officials on the commission would be the commissioners of Transportation, Department of Economic and Community Development, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Housing, the OPM Secretary, and the State Treasurer. According to the draft, the Connecticut Transportation Commission would have extraordinary powers in that it would be allowed to approve or reject five-year plans proposed by the Department of Transportation aside from setting toll rates. Republican legislative leaders continue to hold out hope that their plans to improve Connecticuts infrastructure will convince Democratic lawmakers not to vote for tolls, but Gov. Ned Lamont is making it hard for them to reject a plan that hardly anyone has seen. Late Thursday afternoon, Republicans released a new proposal to slow momentum toward tolls. The plan calls for using $375 million in general obligation bonds annually over the next five years to get started on improvements. Thats a few hundred million less than suggested by their Prioritize Progress plan, which called for $700 million in general obligation bonds be dedicated toward transportation. Were all in agreement we need to fund transportation, we just didnt agree with the tolling plan, House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby, said. But Lamont blasted the Republican proposal, saying its nothing more than a study that delays making tough decisions. I can see why voters are so cynical about politics and politicians, Lamont said. If you dont want a toll, say it. If you want to borrow, say it. If you dont want to do anything, say it. You know where I stand, Lamont continued. Im not going to let them hide behind yet another study. Im going to make everyone cast a vote to get this state moving again. House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby, said the Democrats dont have the votes for their proposal. If they did, Lamont wouldnt have needed to visit the House Democratic caucus on Wednesday night. When you have a governor who is basically making promises, monetary promises, to caucuses and then you have a governor who has been going all around the state trying to coerce and convince people to support tolls because he doesnt have the votes, you see the kind of desperation that were dealing with right now, Klarides said. Senate Republican Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, said that if the toll proposal could be defended then it wouldnt have to be changed every 30 seconds. Lamont defended his decision to offer support to lawmakers. Sounds like Im going to support people that share my mission and share my vision, Lamont said. ... Im going to be asking people to take a tough vote and Im going to be standing with them when I do. Asked about the appearance that he looked to be buying votes, Lamont said hes going to support these folks. Im asking people to make a tough vote and Im going to be standing with them, he added. Emily DiSalvo contributed to this report. Caitlin Clarkson Pereira is not backing down. The Fairfield Democrat and mother appealed a decision by the state elections board blocking candidates for office from using public campaign grants to pay for child care. Clarkson Pereira filed a complaint in Bridgeports Superior Court against the State Elections Enforcement Commission on Friday seeking to overturn its decision. When I submitted my written request for an opinion last July, I never imagined that we would end up taking SEEC to court, Clarkson Pereira said. Since the Federal Elections Commission and a number of states far less progressive than Connecticut had approved the requests brought in front of them, I couldnt think of a reason that we wouldnt do the same. I still cant. Clarkson Pereiras complaint argues the all-male boards decision is unconstitutionally discriminatory against women in effect. It asks the court to reverse the commissions decision and render a decision to permit public campaign grants to be used to pay for child care while a candidate is campaigning. Michael Brandi, general counsel and executive director of the State Elections Enforcement Commission, said SEECs decision follows state laws established to protect the public campaign financing progam. The Commission and its staff are committed to working with the legislature, if it should choose, to craft the best possible solution for the people of Connecticut, Brandi said. The Commission is receptive to the policy concerns expressed by Ms. Pereira, and the laudable goal of increasing the opportunities for parents of young children to more easily participate in state elections. Gov. Ned Lamont spoke out against the SEEC decision in April and urged the legislature to pass a law permitting parents to use their campaign grants to pay the babysitter. The General Assembly has yet to act on that request. Clarkson Pereira case has drawn the attention of some national media and political figures like former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Federal Election Commission Chair Ellen Weintraub, who urged Connecticuts election board to rule in Clarkson Pereiras favor. A first-time candidate, Clarkson Pereira ran against Rep. Brenda Kupchick, R-Fairfield, in November and lost. She regularly brought her four-year-old daughter Parker on the campaign trail with her because she struggled to afford child care while she knocked doors and attended events. The Federal Election Commission has ruled that child care is a permissible campaign expense, as have at least five other states. In Connecticut, the issue is muddied by strict rules governing the Citizens Election Program, which gives qualified candidates public money to run for office. 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. Clarkson Pereira is represented in the appeal by David Rosen and Alex Taubes of David Rosen & Associates in New Haven. Caitlin is calling on the law to make elections more fair and more equal, Rosen said. emunson@hearstmediact.com; Twitter: @emiliemunson WASHINGTON Sen. Chris Murphy has emerged as a leading Democratic voice on foreign policy, helping his party forge an alternative to Trump administration initiatives and raising his profile in an area that could advance his political career. Since President Donald Trump assumed office at the beginning of 2017, Murphy, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has increased his focus on foreign policy matters. But hes been active in that arena much longer than that. In December 2013, he made a trip with the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to show support for Ukrainians who wanted greater independence from Russia. Most recently, in April, he traveled with another Republican senator, Mitt Romney of Utah, to the Middle East ahead of the Trump administrations release of its peace proposal expected in June for Israel and Palestine. Since his election to Congress, Murphy has made at least a dozen overseas trips. Hes also a frequent speaker at Washington D.C. think tanks that focus on foreign policy. All those trips and speeches, as well as his work in Congress, op-eds and frequent tweets, contain a common thread criticism of the Trump administrations approach to global affairs that has resulted in a shrunken diplomatic corps and a harder line against U.S. foes, most recently Venezuela and Iran. Trumps America First agenda is pulling America out of the world, Murphy said. If we are not present in other parts of the world, other countries, like China and Russia, will dominate the world. Thats really terrible. Although Murphy has reached out to Republicans like McCain and Romney on issues of foreign policy, Emma Ashford, a research fellow on foreign policy at the Cato Institute, said the senators greatest accomplishment is helping Democrats reshape their policy on foreign affairs. The senators views are increasingly what you see in the Democratic Party today, Ashford says. She said Murphy has been ahead of most other Democrats in proposing a non-interventionist role in Israel and that the senators ideas are catching on in his party, where they are now considered mainstream. Its really obvious foreign affairs is where he wants to put his efforts, Ashford said. And theres a place in Congress for strong voices in foreign policy. Murphys views center on increased diplomacy and trade and, with some exceptions, less military intervention - the polar opposite of the Trump doctrine. His latest concern centers on the Trump administrations threats against Iran, saying a conflict with Tehran is totally avoidable and that president is engaged in a series of blind escalations without any endgame. As he has before, Murphy has called on Congress to reclaim its war-making authority through the passage of legislation limiting the Trump administrations authority to launch new military conflicts or expand existing ones. The latest flareup with Iran was prompted by a report by unidentified U.S. officials who say they have seen photographs of missiles on small boats in the Persian Gulf that were put on board by Iranian paramilitary forces. Tensions escalated even further after an incident with four tankers off the United Arab Emirates on Sunday. U.S. investigators believe Iran is behind an attack on those tankers, but Iran says it has nothing to do with the incident and there is no proof it does. While Murphy and other Democrats call for restraint, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ordered the evacuation of U.S. embassy personnel in Tehran and engaged in diplomatic saber rattling. We have also made clear to the Iranians that if American interests are attacked, we will most certainly respond in an appropriate fashion, Pompeo said. While Murphy is becoming a national figure in diplomatic affairs, he said his work on foreign policy is based in part on his job representing Connecticut interests. One of the primary responsibilities in being a member of Congress is keeping your constituency safe from harm, Murphy said. There are a lot of people who want to do harm to us around the world, and I want to play a role in reducing the likelihood that anything like Sept. 11 ever happens again. He also said increased U.S. military involvement overseas means more Connecticut men and women will be sent to fight wars. So, I think in perilous times like this, part of the job description of a U.S. senator is to play a role in national security and foreign policy, Murphy said, adding, Im also not blind to the fact that there is a legacy of U.S. senators from Connecticut playing a role in the world. Both Joe Lieberman and Chris Dodd were very active in global affairs. I think that elevated their stature in the Senate, Murphy said. I dont think Ill ever fill the shoes of Joe Lieberman or Chris Dodd, but I think theres a model there thats worth pursuing. Dodd made his name battling U.S. involvement in the wars in Central America in the 1980s and through his efforts to ease the U.S. economic embargo on Cuba. Lieberman was known for his strong support of Israel and his Middle East initiatives. Filling a Democratic vacuum Perhaps Murphys biggest victory in the foreign policy arena is Congress approval of a resolution that would end Saudi-led military intervention against Houthi rebels in Yemen. After several years of failing to win enough support for his legislation, the resolution was finally approved by the House and Senate this year with bipartisan support. But Trump vetoed the bill earlier this month. Still, congressional approval of the Yemen resolution set the stage for the next fight over U.S. involvement in that nations civil war and showed Trump there was GOP opposition to his policy, inherited largely from Obama. Murphy also led the push to sanction Saudi Arabia, especially after the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, whose assassination last year was believed to be ordered by the kingdoms government. While Murphys stance on Yemen was adopted by most Democrats and some Republicans, most members of the GOP opposed it. Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Jim Risch, R-Idaho, for instance, said in a floor speech the Yemen resolution was counterproductive and said it was common knowledge there were other legislative proposals to punish Saudi Arabia for its recent actions, including the assassination of Khashoggi. Yet Ashford said Murphy has done a great job in his efforts to end U.S. military involvement in Yemen by pushing back on a situation that is both a strategic problem - bad for U.S. national security - and a humanitarian disaster. Ben Rhodes, a foreign policy adviser to former President Obama and co-chair of the liberal National Security Action, said Murphys position on Yemen has been adopted by several Democratic candidates running for the White House and sends a message to Trump. Hes defining what a foreign policy would look like if Democrats take the White House in 2020, Rhodes said. He also said Democrats are sometimes afraid to engage in foreign policy, preferring to campaign on domestic bread and butter issues. You dont have a lot of national Democrats talking about foreign policy, and Murphy is filling that vacuum, Rhodes said. He also said Murphy is using the same approach on foreign policy as he has on two other issues the senator has championed - health care and gun control. Theres both an element of idealism and an element of common sense, Rhodes said. Murphy has bounced between Senate Foreign Relations subcommittees on Europe and the Middle East. Hes been a fierce defender of NATO, which the senator says has been threatened by the Trump administrations hostility toward that a strategic alliance between North America and European nations. If NATO falls, that makes the United States less safe, Murphy said. And Connecticut does a lot of business with Europe our defense companies sell a lot of equipment over there. Ive always seen an economic benefit to the state in having a senator that has good relations over there. Murphy decries the Trump administrations failure to fill key diplomatic posts overseas, as well as his treatment of longtime U.S. allies. The Europeans dont follow our lead anymore, they dont answer our calls because Trump spends all his time insulting them, he said. But Murphys main interest is in the Middle East. He said thats where most of the men and women in uniform from Connecticut end up and its also where the groups that want to do the most harm to the United States anchor themselves. Murphy said the United States has abandoned its traditional role as a broker between the United States and the Palestinians, creating a lot of anxiety in the Muslim nations surrounding Israel. Instead of assuming the role of an honest broker, Murphy said, the United States has become an advocate for the Israeli side. Gary Rose, head of the political science department at Sacred Heart University, said Murphys interest in foreign policy is going to move him up the [political] ladder. After three terms in the U.S. House, Murphy was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2012, becoming the youngest member of that chamber. Rose said Murphys foreign affairs expertise could make him a good running mate for a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate or a future run for the White House. I think Chris Murphy has national aspirations well beyond the borders of Connecticut, Rose said. But so much interest in world affairs could have a downside at home. Dodd, for instance, was criticized for paying so much attention to Central America and Liebermans strong backing of the Iraq War lost him the support of Connecticut Democrats. Rose, however, sees little risk for Murphy. This is a global environment were living in, he said. MIDDLETOWN Cat Tales will hold a Sit & Beg collection drive at the Big Lots in Middletown, May 25, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Members are looking for donations of canned or dry cat food and cleaning supplies including paper towels, disinfectant wipes, bleach or laundry detergent. Details at http://www.cattalesct.org/events/sit-beg Buttonwood offering Laughter Yoga at wellness center MIDDLETOWN The Buttonwood Tree has partnered with the Community Health Center to bring a stress-reducing, fun program, Laughter Yoga, to the CHC'S Family Wellness Center on Wednesdays in May and June free of charge. The Family Wellness Center is at 635 Main Street, just a few steps away from The Buttonwood Tree Performing Arts Center, where Laughter Yoga is offered twice a month on the first and third Tuesdays from 6-7pm. Laughter Yoga, beside being fun, has both mental and physical health benefits. It stimulates a mild to moderate cardiovascular workout; it produces endorphins which counteract the production of stress hormones; it appears to optimize the immune system; it reduces self-consciousness and boosts self-confidence; and it relaxes muscles and helps fight chronic pain associated with muscle tensions. The Laughter Yoga program does not involve traditional humor or comedy. It includes conscious breathing, mindfulness, stretching and "laughtercises". Classes start with simulated laughter which evolves into genuine laughter. With playfulness and a release of ego, we light up and feel much better. Often it's completed by a short laughter meditation and guided relaxation, according to a statement from the Buttonwood Tree. Laughter Yoga was Founded in 1995 by a Medical Doctor from Mumbai, India named Dr. Madan Kataria. Motivated by his research on the psychological and physiological benefits of laughter he started a Laughter club in a local park. Today, it has become a worldwide phenomenon with more than 7000 Laughter Yoga Clubs in over 100 countries. Laughter Yoga has been recommended by important figures in the medical community such as Dr. Mehmet Oz and Dr. Andrew Weil as a fun way to exercise and relieve stress. It has also been widely covered by the media including: TIME magazine, the Wall Street Journal, CNN, the BBC, and the Oprah Winfrey Show. Hostess (Mimi Claire) Mylene Claire Poitras will lead the program. She is a certified laughter yoga leader affiliated with the Laughter Yoga Institute of Laguna Beach and The Laughter Yoga University. She has been trained also as a certified laughter leader with The World Laughter Tour. Cancer foundatin offers wellness series OLD SAYBROOK The Connecticut Cancer Foundation (CCF) along with Val Koif, M.S. Clinical Nutrition, presents a monthly speakers series Eat Well, Live Well: Nutrition & Wellness. Each month, with collaboration from Dr. Matthew Castanho, naturopathic physician, along with other nutritional experts the series will have a specific food-related topic, with practical tips and recipes. The session began April 25. The remaining sessions are: May 30, Juicing and Smoothies; June 27, Sugar, Your Body, and Your Brain; July 25, Balanced Nutrition on a Balanced Budget; Aug. 22, Go with Your Gut; Sept. 26, On-Trend Cooking Paleo & Keto with Pasta Vita's Chef Lou; Oct. 24, The Food-Brain Connection. Monthly sessions are held on Thursdays from 5:45-7:30 p.m. at the CCF Headquarters in Old Saybrook. Tickets are available at www.eatwelllivewellccf.org Students can apply now for scholarship CENTERBROOK/OLD LYME Musical Masterworks and Community Music School are accepting applications for the third annual scholarship to honor the memory of Nancy D. Thomas, a well-known and beloved piano instructor with Community Music School for 30 years and initiated the Kindermusik program and Kate's Camp for Kids at CMS. She influenced the lives of many young musicians and inspired their talents. Thomas also was on the staff of Musical Masterworks for almost 25 years. The scholarship will provide a one-time award of tuition for a middle school student to take music lessons, 30 minutes each, for one full academic year (34 weeks) at Community Music School. The five-year scholarship was established in 2017 and will be awarded annually for the next two years. To be eligible, the candidate must be a student of classical voice or instrumental music and reside in Middlesex County or New London County. Interested students must complete an application and submit an audio recording of two pieces of classical music in contrasting styles as well as a written recommendation. A three-member jury comprised of representatives of both Community Music School and Masterworks will review applications. The application deadline for the scholarship is June 24, and the scholarship recipients will be notified mid-summer. To obtain an application, contact Community Music School at 860-767-0026. Volunteers needed for shorebird education WESTBROOK The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Friends of Westbrook Barrier Islands are seeking volunteers to conduct shorebird education on Westbrooks West Beach from May through August. A training and orientation session for volunteers will be held May 20, 6:30 p.m. at the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge - 733 Old Clinton Road, Westbrook. For more information on the training session, or for directions, email USFWS Visitor Services Manager Shaun Roche at shaun_roche@fws.gov. Reservations are not required; but an e-mail letting us know you will be attending is appreciated. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley made it official Thursday: 95-year-old Bob Dole, the former senator, presidential contender and World War II veteran, is now a colonel. In a private ceremony at one of Dole's favorite spots, the World War II Memorial, where he sometimes shows up unannounced to greet other veterans, Milley conferred the honorary rank of colonel on the former Army 10th Mountain Division captain. "Dole's legacy of valor in combat and lifelong career of selfless service to the nation represent the highest ideals and values of the Army as well as the Greatest Generation," Milley said at the ceremony, according to an Army release. Army Secretary Mark Esper, who recommended Dole's promotion, said in a statement that there were "few Americans who have compiled such a record of leadership and achievement in both war and peace as has Sen. Bob Dole." The idea for Dole's promotion came from Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, who asked Esper to review Dole's record. In March, Congress approved a special bill authorizing Dole's promotion, and President Donald Trump signed it in April. While serving with 10th Mountain in Italy, Dole was severely wounded by German machine gun fire in April 1945 during an offensive in the Apennine Mountains south of Bologna. As Dole described it in his 1988 autobiography, "I could see my platoon's radioman go down" and "after pulling his lifeless form into the foxhole, I scrambled back out again. As I did, I felt a sharp sting in my upper right back." It took Dole nearly three years to recover, and he never regained full use of his right arm. He was medically discharged from the Army in 1947. His awards included two Bronze Stars and the Purple Heart, the Army said. Dole represented Kansas in Congress from 1960 to 1996. He served in the House beginning in 1960 and was elected to the Senate in 1968. He was the Republican leader in the Senate from 1985 to 1996. In his political career, Dole became known for his sharp wit, but on occasion he got it back. Reporters who traveled with him on the last legs of his unsuccessful presidential campaign against Bill Clinton in 1996 could recall his initial surprise when he went to vote in his hometown of Russell, Kansas. He was Sen. Dole everywhere else but in Russell, it was "Bob." An old friend was at a folding table checking registrations. She officiously snapped at Dole: "Name please." It took Dole a few seconds to figure out he was being joshed. "Oh c'mon, Martha," he said. They both burst out laughing. -- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com. Military families can wait six months or more for slots to open in on-base child care facilities, service personnel chiefs testified Thursday, but a lawmaker said the Army might be low-balling the numbers. The Navy has about 8,000 personnel on wait lists for child care, and "about 2,000 of them are in excess of 180 days," Vice Adm. Robert Burke, chief of Naval Personnel, said at a hearing of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel. He said the Navy has to do a better job on access to child care and military family support across a spectrum of services or risk sending the signal "to our sailors and families that we just don't care." Lt. Gen. Thomas Seamands, the Army's deputy chief of staff for Personnel, said his service's wait lists for child care vary from location to location. In some cases, the waits are "nominal," but can be 100 days or more for Hawaii posts, he said. "Well, that's actually not a great answer," Rep. Jackie Speier, D-California, told Seamands. She said she recently led a delegation to five military installations, including Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where military spouses complained of waits of more than a year for on-base child care. Speier told Seamands to get back to the subcommittee at a later date with better data. Air Force Lt. Gen. Brian Kelly, deputy chief of staff for Manpower, Personnel and Services, also promised better data but said Air Force families can face wait lists for child care that are "upward of 140 days." He said that Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska are especially problematic "in that there's not a lot of off-base child care available at those locations as well." Marine Lt. Gen. Michael Rocco, deputy commandant for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, said that wait lists for child care are six months on average at Camp Pendleton, California; Quantico, Virginia; and bases in Hawaii. "A lack of child care impacts unit readiness," he added. Rocco said a factor in the wait lists at those locations is the high turnover rate of credentialed staff at the base day care centers. The bases are in high-income areas, and the day care staff can go to off-base facilities "and get paid a lot more money" than the military allows, he said. Rep. Trent Kelly, R-Mississippi, the ranking subcommittee member, said "family services are directly related to retention," and the failure to deliver risks the departure of talented personnel whose skills are in demand in the private sector. He joined Speier in noting the "severe shortage of quality military child care" with wait times of more than 180 days at many installations. "This is unacceptable," he said. Burke said the Navy is committed to the Defense Department's policy to improve military family support in the effort to boost recruitment and retention. "As important as the programs themselves is the manner in which we deliver our personnel services," he said. "What we ask of our sailors and families is tremendous. "But if we do a poor job of delivering basic services to them," Burke said, "or we pile additional financial stress onto an already stressful event like a move because of our unimaginative processes, that sends a signal to our sailors and families that we just don't care. Customer service is clearly a key retention driver." According to a Congressional Research Service report last August, the DoD "operates the largest employer-sponsored child care program in the United States, serving approximately 200,000 children of uniformed service members and DoD civilians, and employing over 23,000 child care workers at an annual cost of over $800 million." -- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com. Navy leaders failed to address sailors' safety concerns after a sexually explicit list targeting female crewmembers surfaced aboard the service's second submarine to integrate women, resulting in the firing of a commanding officer and several other punishments. A "rape list" was shared by members of the guided-missile submarine Florida's Gold crew, where investigators found "lewd and sexist comments and jokes were tolerated, and trust up and down the chain of command was nonexistent." That's according to a 74-page investigation into the misconduct, obtained exclusively by Military.com through a Freedom of Information Act request. The Florida, homeported in Kings Bay, Georgia, was the second submarine to integrate enlisted women. Capt. Gregory Kercher, who became the Florida Gold crew's commanding officer about a year later, was fired in August for a loss of confidence in his ability to lead. At least two sailors assigned to the submarine have been separated from the military, and an undisclosed number faced administrative punishment in connection to the list, Navy officials said. On June 16, 2018, Kercher's senior enlisted adviser alerted him about two lists discovered aboard the sub. One ranked the female crewmembers using a star system. A second, which included sexually explicit comments next to each name, corresponded to those rankings, according to the investigation. "Rumors of a 'rape list' were promulgated throughout the crew, significant numbers of females became concerned for their safety, and male members who learned of the list were equally repulsed," Rear Adm. Jeff Jablon, then-commander of Submarine Group 10, wrote to his superior days before Kercher's relief. "Very few knew what limited action was being taken by the [command]." Kercher directed a search of the sub's network to locate the list and identify those accessing it, the investigation states, but stopped short of opening a formal investigation and failed to notify his command. "Although he took some action in response to the list, there is no question that those minimal actions fell far short of expected standards and norms for an event of this magnitude," Jablon wrote. Reached for comment, Kercher did not provide a statement about the investigation or his relief to Military.com by press time. The investigation raises troubling questions about the submarine community's ability to treat female colleagues with respect nearly a decade after the Navy lifted its ban on women serving aboard the vessels. The sexually explicit list follows a 2014 scandal involving female officers and midshipmen on another submarine over a 10-month period being recorded while they undressed. After a thorough review of the force, the top admiral overseeing all submarine personnel insists he's confident the situation aboard the Florida was an isolated event, and "not at all reflective of the overall outstanding performance and behavior of our submariners force-wide." "While I cannot guarantee that an incident such as this will never happen again, I can guarantee that we will continue to enforce our high standards of conduct and character in the Force," Vice Adm. Chas Richard, commander of U.S. Submarine Forces, said in a statement provided to Military.com. "I expect every submariner to treat one another with dignity and respect, and will hold our personnel accountable if they fall short of our standard." 'Fear, Anger and Disgust' Ohio-class subs have two crews: a gold and a blue, which alternate manning the boats. The first female enlisted sailor reported to the Florida in 2016. There were 32 women on the Florida's Gold 173-person crew, including five officers, two chief petty officers and 25 sailors at the rank of E-6 and below. On June 3, 2018, a sailor aboard the Florida printed the first list with the names of every female Gold crewmember when the sub was at Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. The sailor gave the list to a female petty officer the following day. It included between one and four asterisks next to every woman's name. About 10 days later, that same sailor printed the second list and again gave it to the same female petty officer. The sailor told her the lists were housed on the submarine's computer network, where they were updated every few weeks. Male crewmembers were going to vote again on them soon, the sailor told the petty officer. "The sexually explicit list describes various USS Florida females by appearances, characteristics and various sexual acts the creators of the list wish to perform with them," the investigation states. "The list describes aggressive sexual activity, but does not reference non-consensual acts." The petty officer took photos of the lists before she and a second petty officer took them to a male chief on June 16. That chief took the lists to the sexual-assault prevention and response point person, who referred them to the command's equal opportunity manager. Kercher's senior enlisted adviser was also notified about the lists. The adviser, the chief of the boat, "took it straight to the CO," according to the investigation. But Kercher declined to open an investigation because "they only had a piece of paper," the report states. "CO believed he needed to determine where it was generated and who generated the list before assigning an investigating officer," investigators wrote. At that point, the chief of the boat told investigators he was cut out of further talks about the lists. He was not present when Kercher discussed the list with sailors and suspects, he told investigators. At one point, Kercher told him to "slow down" because he was getting too involved, the investigation states. A search of the submarine's network failed to locate the lists on the drives. Kercher even Googled ways to search a network so he could find the lists himself, the report states. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service got involved but, after a "thorough forensic search of the submarine's computer networks and drives," they too were unable to locate the lists, said Cmdr. Sarah Self-Kyler, a spokeswoman for U.S. Submarine Forces. As time passed, rumors ran rampant aboard the sub, but Kercher did not communicate what he was doing to find those responsible. "Junior sailors do not feel safe knowing that the command has done 'nothing' to try to actively find out who has written or added to the list," the report states. At least one woman told investigators she thought the command 'had forgotten about the list a long time ago.'" When asked about the lists, the report says female crewmembers were full of fear, anger and disgust. Men described feeling horrified, appalled, outraged and less trusting, investigators wrote. One woman told investigators the lists made "her question all males on the boat," despite wanting to trust her shipmates. The female petty officer who was first given a copy of the lists began sending pictures of them to her boyfriend and family back home, the report states. She also sent a copy to a senior chief back at the Florida's homeport. "[She] sent pictures off hull because she did not trust the upper chain of command to do the right thing and strongly believed that they were trying to 'sweep it under the rug,'" the report states. 'Breach of Trust and Confidence' It was for that inaction over almost two months -- along with failing to address other command climate concerns -- that Kercher was removed from his post as Florida Gold's commanding officer. "Only after being formally approached by a female petty officer ... several weeks after the discovery of the list, did Capt. Kercher recognize that additional actions were warranted," Jablon, Kercher's former group commander, wrote in his letter recommending the relief. Commanding officers are held to high standards of responsibility, reliability and leadership, Self-Kyler said, adding that the Navy holds them accountable if they fall short. Aside from Kercher, the investigation found two enlisted sailors had displayed inappropriate conduct, she said. "These sailors were administratively discharged from the Navy," Self-Kyler said. "Additional administrative actions were taken against other members of the command for their mishandling of the report." At one point, some of the women concerned about the lists were told to "suck it up and not add to the drama," according to the investigation. That person turned out to be a divisional-level leader, Self-Kyler said. "[They later] received appropriate administrative action," she said. The investigation also found the command's equal opportunity reporting process to be ineffective. Personnel responsible for those programs were also held accountable, Self-Kyler said. Ultimately, any sailor who falls short of treating their shipmates with the utmost dignity and respect, regardless of gender, will pay the price, said Richard, the vice admiral in charge of Submarine Forces. "Once notified, our Force leadership responded quickly, investigated, and held those responsible fully accountable for their actions," he said. The investigation into the "rape list" and other concerns about the command's workload and morale took place while the Florida was stopped at Diego Garcia and underway in the Indian Ocean. A Troubled Command The lists weren't the only problem aboard the Florida. In August 2017, about a month before Kercher took command, an anonymous inspector general complaint was filed about long working hours, lack of sleep and crew stress. The crew was working six-day weeks, and one person told investigators "sailors would rather pay to stay in hotels to avoid tasking on their evening time." "If you were spotted on board by anyone senior on Sunday, you would be tasked with additional work," the investigators wrote. It was about a year later when the inspector general was hit with a second complaint about the lists referencing female crewmembers. All incoming commanding officers have 90 days to complete a command climate assessment, Self-Kyler said. Throughout their tenure, they must do follow-up assessments every nine to 12 months. "Commanders must conduct a face-to-face debrief of their command climate assessment executive summary, to include a plan of action, with their immediate supervisor within 30 days of receiving the results," she said. Seven months into Kercher's time with Florida's Gold crew revealed the same command climate problems as when he began, the investigation states. Jablon said that not only led to subpar operational performance, but likely the lists targeting women too. After the turnover in leadership, the Navy provided "external assistance to the command to address the culture on board," said Capt. Chris Nash, commodore of Submarine Squadron 16, who was Kercher's immediate supervisor in command. That led to an audit of the command's sexual-assault prevention and response plan and equal opportunity programs, he said. Officials also updated the liberty policy, increased morale activities, are giving sailors more time with their families, and improved the command's mentorship programs, Nash said. The crew's most recent command climate survey was completed in February, and it showed improvements, he added. A follow-on Submarine Culture Workshop will be held in June 2019, and the command will continue to monitor command climate. The Florida Gold crew recently returned from a deployment, during which it supported two combatant commands over a four-month period. "I am proud of this crew and the progress that they made in the months following this event," Nash said. -- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins. Editor's Note: The year women joined the guided-missile submarine Floridas crew was 2016. Isaak Olson was two months from graduating in 2014 when he disclosed that his fiancee had given birth several months earlier... How Bad Do You Want to Achieve Your Goal? Heres How to Tell If You Want It Enough to Succeed Do you have a goal in front of you? How badly do you want to achieve that dream? Are you willing to take on the challenge to... How to use the mindat.org media viewer Click/touch this help panel to close it. Welcome to the mindat.org media viewer. Here is a quick guide to some of the options available to you. Different controls are available depending on the type of media being shown (photo, video, animation, 3d image) Controls - all media types Zoom in and out of media using your mousewheel or with a two-finger 'resize' action on a touch device. Use the mouse or your finger to drag the image or the view area of the image around the screen. < and > at the left and right hand side of the screen move forwards and backwards for the other images associated with the media you selected. Usually this is used for previous/next photo in a gallery, in an article or in search results. Keyboard shortcuts: use shift + the left and right arrow keys. < and > in the bottom center are used for switching between the photos of the same specimen. Keyboard shortcuts: use the left and right arrow keys. > in the bottom center, raises the information box giving details and further options for the media, < at the top of this box then hides it. Keyboard shortcuts: use the up and down arrow keys. ? opens this help window. Keyboard shortcuts: use the H key or the ? key. Other keyboard shortcuts: 1 Fit image to screen 2 Fill screen with image 5 Display at full resolution < Make background darker > Make background lighter space Hide/dim titles and buttons Scalebar If the field of view (FOV) is specified for the photo, the scalebar appears in the left bottom corner of the viewer. The scalebar is draggable and resizeable. Drag the right edge to resize it. Double click will reset the scalebar to it's default size and position. If the scalebar is in default position, double click will make it circular. Controls - Video Video files have a standard set of video controls: - Reset to start, - Skip back, - Play, - Pause, - Skip forwards. Keyboard shortcuts: You can stop/start video play with the P key. Controls - Animation (Spin Rotation) Animation (usually 360 degree spin rotations) have their own controls: - enable spin mode. Note that while images are loading this option will not be available but will be automatically activated when the animation has loaded. Once active you can spin the image/change the animation by moving your mouse or finger on the image left/right or by pressing the [ or ] keys. The button switches to move mode so that you can use your mouse/fingers to move the image around the screen as with other media types. The button, or the P key will start playing the animation directly, you can interrupt this by using the mouse or finger on the image to regain manual movement control. Controls - 3D Stereoscopic images If a stereoscopic 3D image is opened in the viewer, the 3D button appears in the bottom right corner giving access to "3D settings" menu. The 3D images can be viewed in several ways: - without any special equipment using cross-eyed or parallel-eyed method - with stereoscope - with anaglyph glasses. - on a suitable 3D TV or monitor (passive 3D system) For details about 3D refer to: Mindat manuals: Mindat Media Viewer: 3D To enable/disable 3D stereo display of a compatible stereo pair image press the 3 key. If the left/right images are reversed on your display (this often happens in full-screen mode) press the 4 key to reverse them. Controls - photo comparison mode If a photo with activated comparison mode is opened in the viewer, the button appears in the bottom right corner giving access to "Comparison mode settings" menu. Several layouts are supported: slider and side by-side comparison with up to 6 photos shown synchronously on the screen. On each of the compared photos a view selector is placed, e.g.: Longwave UV . It shows the name of currently selected view and allows to select a view for each placeholder. Summary of all keyboard shortcuts Redditch woman faces five challenges for charity A woman from Walkwood, Redditch will cycle over 270km starting from Milan and arriving at Venice in the first instalment of her five decade challenge for charity. In the run-up to reaching 50 years of age, Julie Rae will tackle five individual challenges in support of good causes, including the Women v Cancer Partnership, Redditch Home Start and Help for Heroes. Those raising funds for charity often promote their efforts to the public by using flyer printing services. Rae commented on her goal: Last year I decided I was going to help others by doing something different for my birthday. Challenge one will be the three-day cycle in May. Its going to be really tough but Im feeling physically ready for it. The mother of three is maintaining her fitness with regular weekly training sessions, but states the toughest test is keeping mentally strong. After the cycle ride in Italy, Rae will face the 100 kilometre Peak District Challenge followed by the Great North run and a 10km swim in Devons River Dart. The final challenge for Rae is not so gruelling but does involve much hard work. She has tasked herself with organising a winter ball, the proceeds of which are going to Midlands Air Ambulance. At the ball, Rae will also reveal the amount her challenges have earned for charity. Anibal Sanchez suffered a left hamstring strain that forced him out of todays start in the second inning, and Nationals manager Davey Martinez told reporters (including Sam Fortier of the Washington Post) that Sanchez is headed for the injured list. This will keep Sanchez out of action for at least one start, though the veteran righty will undergo an MRI tomorrow to determine the extent of the hamstring problem. Todays news only adds to what has been a rough start to Sanchezs stint with the Nationals, as he has managed only a 5.10 ERA over 42 1/3 innings with the club. Following a nice bounce-back year with Atlanta in 2018, Sanchez inked a two-year, $19MM free agent deal with Washington in December, but has thus far struggled to replicate his success from last season. Sanchez is allowing significant less soft contact in 2019 than he did in 2018, and he has also displayed an uncharacteristic lack of control. Sanchezs 5.31 BB/9 would be a career high over a full season, far exceeding his 2.7 BB/9 from 2010-18. The Nationals have already been hit hard with injuries this season, and now have yet another hole to fill with Sanchez set to miss time. Erick Fedde would seem like the most logical candidate to start while Sanchez is out, though Martinez only said that the club was still discussing its options. While Fedde has a history as a starting pitcher, the Nats have been using him as a reliever this season, and a jump back to the rotation could disrupt that has thus far been a solid transition to the bullpen. Fedde allowed four runs to the Mets over 2 2/3 innings today, though he hadnt allowed a run in eight innings prior to todays rough outings. Right-hander Odrisamer Despaigne has opted out of his minor league contract with the Reds, MLBTR has learned. Despaigne inked the deal back in January, and wouldve earned $875K in guaranteed money had he reached Cincinnatis Major League roster. Over eight starts and 41 1/3 innings for Triple-A Louisville this season, Despaigne had posted a 3.92 ERA, 8.7 K/9, and 2.50 K/BB rate. Those numbers present a solid recovery from a very rough 2018 season that saw Despaigne post a 6.69 ERA over 39 frames for the Marlins and Angels, plus more shaky numbers in those two clubs respective farm systems. Despaignes Louisville performance would surely have earned him a call-up in any other season in recent Reds history, though Cincinnati looks to finally be on track after years of pitching futility. Both the Reds rotation and bullpen rank solidly within the top ten in several league-wide statistical categories, leaving less opportunity for Despaigne to crack the roster. On the plus side, the 32-year-old probably shouldnt have much trouble landing a contract elsewhere, given Despaignes good Triple-A numbers and the number of pitching-needy teams who can offer a clearer path to the Majors. Fiat Chrysler is recalling 410,351 of its Ram pickup trucks in the U.S. to upgrade the tailgate locking mechanisms due to the risk the tailgate itself could unexpectedly unlatch. The Auburn Hills, Michigan-based automaker announced the recall in a Friday, May 17 news release. FCA says an internal investigation revealed that the power locking mechanisms in 2015-2018 Ram 1500, 2500, 3500 pickup trucks feature an internal component that could break over time. FCA is not aware of any incidents or injuries related to this recall at this time. Specifically, FCA is recalling 2015-2017 models equipped with the 8-foot truck bed and power-locking tailgate. Affected 2018 models were manufactured before April 1, 2018 and come with the power-locking tailgate, as well. The redesigned-for-2019 Ram 1500 is not affected. Its tailgate mechanism features a new design that delivers enhanced functionality, such as lift-assist," the automaker writes in its posting. "Trucks equipped with manual tailgate locks also are excluded. Affected owners should receive notification via the mail in late June, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration documents. Once this happens, dealers will make necessary repairs for free. The automaker urges those driving affected trucks to secure all loose cargo using tie-down rings, cleats, high-friction bed-liners, bulkhead dividers or bed-extenders. FCA reports that an additional 63,753 of the affected Ram 1500, 2500 and 2500 trucks are recalled in Canada, 4,020 in Mexico and another 6,985 outside of North America. To search active recalls, use the NHTSAs website to search your 17-character VIN at this link. VIN numbers are typically located under the drivers side windshield, or along the inside of the doors behind the seat or under the steering wheel. To sign up for NHTSA safety alerts for a specific vehicle, sign up at this link. MOUNT CLEMENS, MI A Michigan couple who hired out a mentally and physically disabled women for sex while forcing her to live in a shed has learned their sentence. Forty-year-old Michael Welch and 32-year-old Misty George of Macomb Township were charged in 2017 with prostitution and human trafficking. Couple accused of sex trafficking disabled woman from mobile home park shed According to authorities, the couple kept the 29-year-old victim in a vacant shed near their trailer in the Westbridge Manor mobile home park at 21 Mile Rd and Heydenreich Road. Welch was sentenced Thursday to five to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges including human trafficking, according to the Associated Press. George pleaded no contest to human trafficking and agreed to testify against Welch. She was sentenced to five years of probation, with credit for more than a year in jail, according to the AP. Authorities previously said the victim had been renting space in Welch and Georges mobile home, but they kicked her out when she fell behind on rent payments. George and Welch set up date advertisements for the victim through an online website, through which several men responded and paid money to the suspects for sexual services from the victim, police said. A bipartisan group of lawmakers are rolling out a plan to make Michigan the 49th state to require state-level officeholders and candidates to disclose basic financial information. Led by Rep. David LaGrand, D-Grand Rapids, the eight-bill House package would require candidates and sitting officeholders in the legislative, executive and judicial branch - as well as members of elected university boards and the State Board of Education - to publicly disclose financial information about themselves, their spouse and dependent children to root out any potential conflicts of interest. The proposed language for the legislation was submitted to the House Thursday and will likely be formally introduced on the floor next week. If passed as is, the policy would go into effect May 1, 2020, and lawmakers would be required to disclose information about their income sources, business ownership or affiliations, investments, property holdings other than a personal residence, paid corporate and non-profit board positions and any relatives employed as lobbyists. I hope that as we continue these conversations, my colleagues will simply participate, and then theyll realize its not that scary, LaGrand said at a press conference to introduce the legislation. We have come a long way in a very short amount of time, and I dont think weve got that much further to go. Bills in the package are sponsored by four Democrats and four Republicans: LaGrand, Yousef Rabhi, D-Ann Arbor; Bill Sowerby, D-Clinton Twp.; Tenisha Yancey, D-Detroit; Julie Calley, R-Portland; Graham Filler, R-DeWitt; Mark Huizenga, R-Walker; and Steve Marino, R-Harrison Twp. Sens. Jeremy Moss, D-Southfield, and Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, said they also planned to introduce similar legislation in the Senate. LaGrand included a voluntary disclosure of his finances in materials provided to the press. The other sponsors on the House package said they would soon be voluntarily disclosing their finances as well. In other states, its standard practice to collect employment history, potential conflicts and other financial information from elected officials. Michigan and Idaho are currently the only states in the country that dont require their state-level officeholders to submit some form of financial disclosure. Although Michigan law and state House and Senate rules technically ban lawmakers from influencing issues where they could stand to benefit, the onus is on elected officials to determine conflicts and recuse themselves from votes, meaning its essentially an honor system. Michigan ranked last in the Center for Public Integritys 2015 State Integrity Investigation that rated each states transparency laws. Potential conflicts of interest or corruption in the state remain buried in an honor system with no honor, the report concluded. This month, MLive Media Group created a financial disclosure form modeled after forms used by several governmental bodies, including Congress. MLive asked the governor, attorney general, secretary of state and each member of the state House of Representatives and state Senate to answer basic questions about their finances, and requested those interested in participating fill out the forms by 5 p.m. Monday, May 20. None of the representatives who sponsored the bill package have filled out MLives disclosure form. So far, the only public official to do so is state Sen. Adam Hollier, D-Detroit. Huizenga said the differences between what other states do and what Michigan does is profound. This package is something that creates something thats both simple and it creates accountability for all of our residents to feel confident that their decisions that are being made are being made in the spirit of the right decision for them, he said. The bills also include enforcement provisions if a person failed to file or knowingly submitted inaccurate information. Eligible candidates or officeholders who fail to file would incur late fees of up to $5,000 dollars, being charged $25 a day for each of the first 10 business days the report is not filed or $50 for each business day after that point. Knowingly filing an incomplete or inaccurate report would be a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $10,000. The Bureau of Elections could investigate any complaints or potential violations and forward them to the Attorney General for further review. View the form proposed by Michigan lawmakers below: House and Senate Republican leadership opted not to push ahead with additional votes on auto insurance legislation this week, telling reporters they were optimistic they were closer to consensus on a deal with Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. On the House floor Thursday afternoon, House Speaker Lee Chatfield, R-Levering, and Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clark Lake, said they were encouraged by Whitmers recent indications she was open to allowing drivers some choice on personal injury protection, or PIP, coverage. We feel were one step closer to finding real consensus to drive down car insurance rates, Chatfield said. Weve decided to not move on a bill today in good faith in an attempt to reach a consensus. Shirkey said hes more optimistic today than I have been in the last two weeks and said he believed the governor was moving in the right direction. Fine wine takes time, he said. There is no question in my mind real reform is going to get it done, and when we get it done, it will be viewed as a very fine wine. Both Chatfield and Shirkey said they expected negotiations with Whitmer and her staff to continue over the weekend. Earlier Thursday, Whitmer said shed be open to giving drivers the option of choosing $250,000 or more in personal injury protection, or PIP, coverage, but a complete zero-coverage option for Michigan drivers is where I have to draw the line, because that just shifts the burden on to the taxpayers in a different form, which is Medicaid." The ongoing negotiations between Whitmer and legislative Republicans come after lawmakers in both the House and Senate passed versions of a bill making big changes to auto insurance last week. Both versions give consumers levels of personal injury protection to choose from aside from the current unlimited coverage option and put a fee schedule on what hospitals can charge auto insurers for specific injuries. The legislation was opposed on the floor by House and Senate Democrats, and Whitmer initially threatened vetos on both bills. ANN ARBOR, MI - Three houses with a long history in Ann Arbor will make way for a new home of the University of Michigans College of Pharmacy. UMs Board of Regents approved the $120 million, 131,000 square-foot building during its meeting on Thursday, May 16. The building will be constructed in place of three houses currently owned by the university at 1007, 1015 and 1027 East Huron Street, in Ann Arbors Old Fourth Ward Historic District. Unless someone purchases the houses and moves them from the site, theyll be demolished, said UM spokesman Rick Fitzgerald. Because there is an immediate need for that space, they would be demolished if no one was interested in buying, he said. The houses are considered contributing structures," meaning they were built during the period of significance for the district - 1944 or earlier - and retain their historic character. The fact that each of the houses were acquired by a state institution, however, means regulations from the local historic district would not apply, Ann Arbor City Planner Jill Thacher said. Longtime Ann Arbor historian Susan Wineberg was unhappy to hear the news that the houses would be making way for the new College of Pharmacy, offering historical context to her displeasure in an email to university administrators and the Board of Regents. Our neighborhood had no meetings with staff regarding any concerns we might have about traffic, parking, and of course, the demolition of these important houses, said Wineberg, who lives nearby on East Ann Street and has served in the past on the Washtenaw County Historical Society and the Ann Arbor Historic District Commission. We are very disappointed about this as we were promised in the past that a better effort to contact affected neighbors would be made. We are in shock. Wineberg wrote about one of the houses, known as the Charles Whitman house, in her book Historic Ann Arbor: An Architectural Guide," noting it was built by railroad tycoon and State Commissioner of Railroads Charles Whitman. It later served as a home for Chi Psi and Psi Omega fraternities before being purchased by UM for $75,000 in 1936. Most recently, the house served as an annex of UMs Literature, Sciences & the Arts administration. The house at 1015 East Huron served as the first residence of UMs Alpha Chapter of Nu Sigma Nu - the oldest medical fraternity in the United States. Fraternity members purchased the property in 1902, according to UM historical files, eventually starting construction in 1905 before moving into the house in 1907. The total cost of the house was $17,000. Nu Sigma Nu spent more than 50 years at the location before it was acquired by UM in 1965 through a property exchange that had the fraternity move to university-owned property at 1912 Geddes Ave. It recently served as a home for UMs Health Management Research Center, but is now vacant. The house at 1027 E. Huron was built in 1895 for Josephine Murfin, whose son, James, would later become a regent for the university. It was acquired by the university in 1938, serving as the home for the Michigan Child Guidance Institute. In recent years, it has been home to University of Michigan Telefund, a student call center that solicits donors for scholarships, programs, unpaid internships and other resources like the UM Museum of Art and university libraries. UM spokesperson Kim Broekhuizen said its not yet known where current occupants of the existing buildings would be relocated, once construction begins. Broekhuizen said UM would take additional time after the design of the project to determine the future use of its current College of Pharmacy building. We are considering units and programs that would benefit most from the geographic location, she said. "This includes interdisciplinary needs, critical student support and administrative functions, and activities that are currently in off-campus leased space. The current College of Pharmacy at 428 Church St. has 56,000 square feet of space. It was built in 1960 with a major addition built in 1992. While the building is in good condition, according to a UM Regents action request, it has narrow structural bays and shallow building floor-to-floor heights that dont allow for re-configuring spaces into modern classrooms and laboratories. The college has seen its enrollment increase steadily from 398 students in 2009 to 487 students this past fall. UMs five-year master plan, submitted in 2017, noted it had become more difficult for the college to deliver high-quality education in its current facilities, despite a modest building renovation in 2013. FENTON, MI A Fenton High School teacher has been placed on administrative leave after taking part in what the school district called a senior prank that included wearing clothing that could be deemed culturally insensitive and inappropriate. In a letter sent out Friday, May 17 by Fenton Area Public Schools Superintendent Adam Hartley, he states high school administrators became aware Thursday of students that were dressed in such a way that may be construed as offensive and inappropriate. A picture from at least one Snapchat message circulating on social media shows several people, including a staff member, dressed in bandannas, plaid or white shirts buttoned at the top, baggy shorts and flashing what appears to be gang signs. Over the frame reads the words Cholo Day. A Cholo is defined as a man or boy of Mexican descent, but it is also defined as a Mexican-American youth who belongs to a street gang, according to Merriam-Webster. Hartley said the administration spoke with the students about why the clothing choice was offensive and directed them to remove the items or change. On Friday morning, the district learned that additional students were also dressed in the same manner and that the staff member, whose name has not been released, was allegedly participating in this senior prank captured on camera in a classroom. Hartley confirmed the staff member has been placed on administrative leave. We are currently investigating the matter at (Fenton High School), said Hartley. The implementation of using this situation as a learning experience for our school community will be the next step after the investigation is complete. Hartley affirmed that he, the school board, and the Fenton schools community do not condone this behavior, or any behavior that is offensive to others. Our mission of educating students to be responsible citizens in a global society means we strive each day to foster an environment filled with empathy, respect and diversity, he said. As superintendent of Fenton Area Public Schools, I am immensely disappointed with the people involved, however, I am confident that this event will help us understand what additional training and learning must take place to ensure it never happens again." FLINT, MI -- A man was shot and killed early Friday morning in Flint, police said. Police were called out at approximately 1 a.m. Friday, May 17 to the 2000 block of Burns Street, between Broadway Boulevard and Davison Road, in reference to a subject yelling about someone being dead in the area. Officers arriving at the scene located a male whod been shot and was dead inside of a residence in the neighborhood. The mans name and age have not been released. The scene was processed by the Michigan State Police Crime Lab out of Bridgeport. Suspects are still unknown at this time and the investigation is ongoing by the Flint Major Crimes Unit, consisting of Flint police and Michigan State Police investigators. Anyone with information about the fatal shooting is asked to contact Detective Tpr. Jon Miller at 810-237-6922 or Crime Stoppers of Flint & Genesee County at 1-800-422-JAIL (5245), on the P3 Tips app, or online at P3Tips.com. GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- A 22-year-old man offered a tearful apology in court Thursday for causing a speed-related crash that killed a family matriarch. Brady Jacob King was sentenced to four months in jail on a charge of moving violation causing death for a Sunday, May 20, 2018 crash on Byron Center Avenue SW that killed 89-year-old Geraldine Lucas. King was in a rush to get to work when his southbound vehicle collided with another vehicle pulling off 38th Street and onto northbound Byron Center Avenue. There are no words that can honestly be said that can right this wrong, King said. I am so sorry. All I had to do was just think for two seconds and just slow down, and realize that work did not matter more than somebodys life. Geraldine Lucas and her husband, 91-year-old Henry Lucas, were on their way to their church that morning just a few blocks away when the crash happened. Geraldine Lucas was critically injured and died three days after the crash. Henry Lucas also was seriously injured and now requires 24-hour care, his children said. This has dramatically changed our dads life, said daughter Judy Ensing following the Thursday, May 16 sentencing. She moved back to Michigan from Hawaii to help care for him. Ensing and two other siblings were in court to watch the sentencing. The children described their mother as someone who was very giving and who always thought of others before herself. Geraldine Lucas had volunteered for non-profit groups, brought food to neighbors and donated items she sewed. We referred to her as the glue that kind of held our family together, Ensing said. Just two weeks prior to the crash, the couple had driven from Florida back to their Michigan home. They lived independently. Jim Lucas, a son, said he realizes the crash was an accident. We do feel for Brady. It was a huge mistake, he said. As part of the sentence, King also was placed on one year of probation. GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called recent vote-bribery allegations against a state lawmaker very disturbing," saying it erodes trust in elected officials. I think that the allegations are very disturbing and very serious, Whitmer said of the May 15 federal indictment against state Rep. Larry Inman, R-Traverse City. I dont know all of the facts, so Im not going to weigh in beyond that, but this is something that looks bad for everyone who commits their lives to public service when you see stories like this. Whitmer addressed the allegations with reporters May 17 following a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Grand Rapids Home for Veterans. Federal prosecutors on May 15 indicted Inman on charges of attempted extortion, bribery and lying to an FBI agent. The government alleges Inman solicited money from the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights labor union in exchange for a no vote on the 2018 legislative initiative petition to repeal the states prevailing wage law. He faces bipartisan calls to resign and has been stripped of his committee assignments. House leadership has not indicated they will start expulsion proceedings. Inman said he wouldnt step down, calling resignation an "admission of guilt. He maintains his innocence and claims the whole affair is a misunderstanding. According to text messages in the indictment, Inman told the union he expected he and 11 other lawmakers would get bigger campaign contributions if they voted against the repeal. The indictment did not implicate any other lawmakers. We have only 12, people to block it. You said all 12 will get $30,000 each to help there campaigns, Inman texted a representative of the union on June 3. The state House voted 56 to 53 to repeal the law, with Inman voting yes. The government says the union provided no additional campaign funds after receiving Inmans June 3 text message. Whitmer said the text messages create the perception that other lawmakers could be involved in Inmans alleged scheme. If so, she said, they should be brought to justice. If that is the case, then yes: there should be ramifications for anyone who is abusing office, Whitmer said. Its important that we hold everyone accountable. No one is above the law. Some lawmakers close to Inman told MLive they were surprised by the charges and believe he acted alone. GRANDVILLE, MI -- Grandville officials are drafting an ordinance to regulate backyard chickens amid increasing complaints and questions to city hall about urban poultry keeping. If somebody calls city hall and asks, How many chickens can I have? We dont have an answer for that right now, said Grandville City Manager Ken Krombeen. The city currently has no ordinance regarding backyard chickens, meaning theres no framework for those who want to keep poultry. City administration brought the issue before Grandville City Council on Monday, May 13. Presented with options to do nothing, ban backyard chickens or create an ordinance, council opted for the ordinance route, Krombeen said. City administration is now tasked with drafting an ordinance that could, among other things, include a limitation on the amount of chickens, a prohibition on keeping roosters and a required setback from neighboring properties, he said. Because theres no poultry-specific rules on the books, the city is forced to rely on animal nuisance laws, such as odor and noise, when mediating complaints between neighbors about the chickens. Grandville Assistant City Manager Matt Butts wrote in a memo to council that last summer, the city took in more nuisance complaints regarding chickens than ever before. The keeping of backyard poultry is an increasing trend in Grandville," Butts wrote to council. "We have received several inquiries and complaints about keeping chickens. It has become a weekly conversation with residents." Many other nearby municipalities have already adopted an ordinance or an outright ban on backyard poultry. According to Butts memo to council, Holland, Georgetown Township and Walker permit up to a certain number, Kentwood requires approval from the zoning administrator and both East Grand Rapids and Wyoming prohibit keeping backyard chickens. GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- A 57-year-old man who police say robbed two Fifth Third banks on the same day just hours apart has been sentenced to prison. Kenneth Moore was sentenced to 57 months to 60 years in prison Thursday, May 16 in Kent County Circuit Court. He was accused of robbing the Fifth Third bank branches at 1319 Michigan St. NE and then at 700 Bridge St. NW on Sept. 10. He was arrested Sept. 25 in California and returned to Michigan. When the robberies happened, Moore had been a Michigan Department of Corrections parole absconder for three years on assault and weapons charges. GRAND RAPIDS, MI A man considered a person of interest in the Sunday, May 12, shooting death of Jordan Kyree Brown, 21, is in custody He turned himself in on Wednesday. The 32-year-old man is expected to be arraigned Friday, May 17, in Grand Rapids District Court on firearms charges related to the slaying. He is charged with carrying a concealed weapon and possession of a firearm by a felon, court records show. The shooting happened around 2:40 a.m. Sunday near Highland Street SE and Union Avenue. Grand Rapids police were responding to a report of shots fired when the victim was dropped off Mercy Health St. Marys hospital. Brown was pronounced dead at the hospital. Brown and the person of interest were Grand Rapids residents. Detectives continue to investigate and will present reports to Kent County prosecutors to review for potential additional charges against the person of interest. GRAND RAPIDS, MI Drinking water testing is expanding again in a neighborhood with wells contaminated by PFAS chemicals near Gerald R. Ford International Airport. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) plans to sample another 67 wells near the airport after new testing found moderate to high PFAS levels at homes between the airport and the Thornapple River in Cascade Township. State officials made the announcement on Thursday, May 16, prior to a townhall meeting at the East Grand Rapids library organized by state Sen. Winnie Brinks. Itll be an expansion of the existing testing area, said Abby Hendershott, director of the EGLE remediation division in Grand Rapids. This spring, the state found three neighborhood wells with contamination above 100 parts-per-trillion for Total PFAS, which is the sum of all PFAS compounds in a sample. EGLE mostly sampled along Trout Creek, a small tributary that runs through the neighborhood behind Tanglewood Drive SE. Detections were found along Tanglewood and Tricklewood drives, on Tripoli Court and on Goodwood Drive along the river. The Kent County Health Department is giving kitchen sink filters to homes with any level of detection. Of the 33 wells tested, the highest Total PFAS detection was 150-ppt. The highest detection of the individual compounds PFOS and PFOA was 54.8-ppt. Those are the only two among thousands of PFAS compounds regulated thus far in Michigan groundwater. Test results show PFAS detections in residential wells near Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids. The Environmental Protection Agency health advisory level for PFOS and PFOA is 70-ppt, but the adequacy of that safety benchmark is a matter of considerable national debate. The airport previously tested neighborhood wells last summer, but found little detection among 29 homes selected. It subsequently declared that drinking water in the area was safe, no further testing was needed and refused to name streets where it took samples. The airport investigated an area that was more directly east of the airport, said Hendershott. We thought it was more important to investigate along the creek itself. Theres a really dramatic change in the geology once you get across Thornapple River Drive. In a statement, the airport said it is following a step-wise, data-driven approach as our investigation proceeds on GFIA property. GFIA continues to be a part of the conversation with local and state officials about PFAS and potential sources in Cascade Township. The airport contamination is blamed on its past use of PFAS-laden AFFF firefighting foam for training and emergencies. Although the airport is the only confirmed PFAS source in the area, EGLE believes there may be others nearby among industries clustered around the airport. However, Hendershott said the airport hasnt proven that PFAS isnt leaving its property. Hendershott said a former Cascade Resource Recovery plating waste landfill excavated years ago on the airports south end isnt believed to be a contributing factor. So far, all the stream samples around it and associated data doesnt point to there being an indication that its an issue, she said. At the townhall meeting, EGLE said 22 homes with PFAS detections from a nearby but separate Cascade Township PFAS plume caused by an old Lacks Enterprises plating shop are being connected to municipal water. The Lacks plume runs southwest, parallel to Cascade Road from Spaulding Avenue toward Burton Street SE. The plume runs under Walden Lake, which is contaminated by deep groundwater discharged into it by an old purge well used to clean up boron. Al Taylor, with the EGLE hazardous waste division, said fish in Walden Lake tested high enough to warrant a do not eat advisory by the state health department. Taylor said EGLE is installing monitoring wells along Burton Street, but hasnt yet decided whether to expand residential well testing. Most area homes are connected to the Grand Rapids water system, which has a low 3-ppt detection in its Lake Michigan source water. At the meeting, Eastown resident Karissa Laidlaw watched from the back with her newborn daughter in a sling wrap. Laidlaw recently moved to Grand Rapids from Saranac, where Lacks Enterprises is dealing with another PFAS plume from an old plating shop there. Laidlaw said PFAS detections in the water at schools like Alto Elementary near Lowell and EightCAP near Belding factored into her familys decision to move into the city. She finds the ambiguity around the EPA advisory level alarming and asked why signs havent yet been posted on lakes and rivers where PFAS is accumulating in surface water foam. On Thursday, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services issued a formal advisory suggesting that people wash if they come into contact with the foam, which has been found in Kent County on the Rogue River in Rockford and the Thornapple River in Cascade. Ive seen that foam myself and did not know (it was contaminated), Laidlaw said. KALAMAZOO, MI -- Scientists from The Upjohn Company behind a pioneering achievement in steroid chemistry were awarded a prestigious national designation Friday. The American Chemical Society has granted National Historic Chemical Landmark status to the steroid chemistry achievements of Kalamazoo scientists who worked at The Upjohn Company from 1950 to 1990, according to a press release from Kalamazoo Valley Museum. The achievements of The Upjohn Company were honored at a dedication ceremony 11 a.m. Friday, May 17, at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum. Medicines that treat a variety of things such as mosquito bites, asthma, arthritis, autoimmune conditions and some forms of cancer are available because of the work of these scientists, Peter Dorhout, past president of the American Chemical Society, said during the ceremony. For many of us, life would clearly unimaginable without medicines containing steroids, Dorhout said. Many of these modern drug therapies would not available without the pioneering research and development that was done here at Upjohn." The landmark status represents a pioneering achievement that contributed to society and the chemical profession, Alan Rocke, chair of the landmark subcommittee, said in a news release about the honor. Upjohns research in steroid medicines is a prime example, because it enabled the firm to make low-cost, high-quality treatments for debilitating diseases like rheumatoid arthritis," Rocke said. The company was founded in 1886 in Kalamazoo by Dr. William E. Upjohn, an 1875 graduate of the University of Michigans medical school, the release said. Steroids in 1949 were a new, major medical breakthrough, the release said. One class of steroids, the corticosteroids, could treat inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis. In 1949, those medicines were only available from natural extracts or after lengthy manufacturing processes, making them scarce and expensive, the release said. The Upjohn Companys ability to create large volumes of the medicine at a lower cost was behind the unprecedented expansion of steroid work in the 1940s, great-grandson of the companys founder, Don Parfet, said in the release. "The commercial production of beneficial corticosteroids and later general steroid medicines was provided to the world through a continuous string of chemical and microbiological discoveries and inventions by Kalamazoo scientists, Parfet said. Parfets great-grandfather would be thrilled" with the award, Parfet said in an interview with MLive after the ceremony. Its recognizing the hard work, the innovative work of all of these chemists," he said. As a local physician, Parfets great-grandfather traveled around the county on horseback, he said. Upjohn found that medicines of the day were not doing their job well. Dr. W.E. Upjohn and his brothers figured out a better way to make medicines, Parfet said. That launched the company. The demand became very high, very quickly. Its a great celebration of all that did take place in Kalamazoo through these great minds in chemistry. But it also recognizes that the community continues to benefit from this work as Pfizer now has ownership of the company and all of its assets. The museum will serve as a permanent home for the awards plaque, museum director Bill McElhone said in the release. This historic designation, for one of Kalamazoos most famous institutions and the ground-breaking work of its scientists, is an important part of the regions history, McElhone said. The National Historic Chemical Landmark program was established in 1992 to enhance public appreciation for the contribution of chemical sciences to modern life. To date, there have been 85 landmark designations granted, the release said. Kalamazoo Mayor Bobby Hopewell and Portage Major Patricia Randall each spoke during the ceremony of the companys impact on their communities. Im honored to be here," Hopewell said. "And Im excited for this marker recognizing the work that you do every single day and certainly the work of an amazing company that has been part of our community in so many different ways. Randall said the Portage community celebrates alongside Kalamazoo. I have to believe the roads that were paved by The Upjohn Company have been a tremendous magnet to bringing creativity, intelligence and people here, Randall said. Upjohn merged with Pharmacia AB in 1995 to form Pharmacia & Upjohn. In 2000, that company merged with Monsantos pharmaceutical operations creating Pharmacia Inc. In 2003, Pfizer acquired Pharmacia and has since maintained the Kalamazoo manufacturing site, which is the largest integrated chemical and pharmaceutical site in its portfolio, the release said. MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI A West Michigan credit union robber has been sentenced to at least eight years in prison. Andrew Jay Geldersma, 32, of Roosevelt Park pleaded no contest to armed robbery for the July 2, 2018, holdup of the Shaw Box (SB) Community Federal Credit Union, 991 W. Broadway Ave. in Roosevelt Park. He was accused of robbing the same credit union on Oct. 15, 2018. Prosecutors dropped the second robbery charge as part of a plea deal. However, restitution of $18,812 was ordered, covering both robberies. On Wednesday, May 15, Geldersma was sentenced to a minimum of eight years and a maximum of 23 years in prison by Muskegon County Circuit Judge Timothy Hicks. He gave Geldersma credit for 211 days served in the Muskegon County Jail. Police said earlier that the robber had presented notes to the tellers. He implied he had a gun during both robberies, Muskegon County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Timothy Maat said earlier. During the first robbery, the suspect got away with more than $11,000,Maat said. During the second one, the robber took more than $7,000, he said. The robber lived about a block from the credit union, Roosevelt Park Police Chief David Boone said earlier. Police talked to him after the first robbery, but couldnt pin it on him at that time, Boone said. A couple of people tipped police to him, Boone said. I think he thought he was slick -- you know, smarter than everybody else, especially after the first one, Boone said. Geldersma was arrested the day after the second robbery with the help of citizens who responded to requests for help identifying the robber whose image was captured by credit union surveillance cameras. He was positively identified in a lineup, police said. Geldersma was charged as a second-time habitual offender due to a 2013 home invasion conviction. GRAND RAPIDS, MI A man accused of prostituting teens faces up to life in prison after he was convicted of sex trafficking minors in Kent and Muskegon counties. Richardo Leodoro Urbina, 58, of Muskegon, was convicted of multiple charges this week in a jury trial in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids. In May 2015, he targeted and recruited runaway girls who needed cash and a place to stay. He provided them with alcohol and drugs to help them dance or give massages to men who expected them to engage in sex acts. Urbina would take half of the money the girls earned for sex acts. In September 2016, Urbina recruited then-18-year-old Francisco Soto to help find girls. Soto would contact them on Facebook with offers to party. While they were partying, the Soto and Urbina would talk to the girls about dancing and massages," prosecutors said. The men would advertise the girls for sex on Backpage.com. They used a cellphone application to hide their real phone numbers. Jurors reviewed over 4,000 messages sent through the app coordinating sex dates. Soto pleaded guilty to a single charge of sex trafficking a minor. He agreed to cooperate with investigators. Ten girls testified against Urbina. A woman testified that she was sex-trafficked after Urbina heard she needed a place to stay. He offered to let her live with him but on the first night, he made her have sex for money, federal prosecutors said. When she tried to leave, Urbina hit and choked her, prosecutors said. He told her she had to pay him $1,000 because he made so much money off of her. She finally escaped. He told the woman that he owned her, assistant U.S. attorneys Davin Reust and Alexis Sanford wrote in a trial brief. Prosecutors said Urbina sought teen girls and knew they were underage when he prostituted them. Urbina recruited and picked up some of the minors from high school. Urbina also had a reasonable opportunity to observe each of the minors, given that he spent considerable time with them, they wrote. The FBI, as part of the West Michigan Based Child Exploitation Task Force, began investigating Urbina in 2015 after local agencies reported allegations of sex assault and prostitution. Urbina faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison, and up to life, when sentenced Sept. 23 by U.S. District Judge Janet Neff. Soto faces at least 10 years, and up to life, in prison. His sentencing is June 10. MUSKEGON, MI - The Muskegon Public Schools Board of Education has shifted gears in its plans to replace the districts outgoing superintendent. The board decided earlier this week not to seek an interim superintendent, but rather name a new superintendent by mid-July. Thats a departure from initial discussions in late April when the board indicated it would name an interim superintendent by June 3, and keep that interim for up to a year. Superintendent Justin Jennings, who has had a turbulent tenure in Muskegon, submitted his resignation on Tuesday, May 14, and plans to leave for a job in Ohio after July 31. The board is seeking community input on what to look for in the districts next leader. A survey was posted to its website on Tuesday, May 14. It will remain open until Wednesday, May 22. The open-ended survey asks three questions: What are the unique skills, qualifications and characteristics desired of the new superintendent? What are the challenges facing the Muskegon Public Schools in the next three to five years? What are the points of pride for Muskegon Public Schools? The superintendent job was posted on Tuesday and will remain up until Friday, June 14, according to a Michigan Leadership Institute timeline provided to MLive/Muskegon Chronicle. MLI has been contracted by the board to conduct the search. The board is expected to select candidates for public interviews on Thursday, June 20. Interviews would be held June 24-26. Final candidates would then be named for second interviews to be held July 8-9. The board would hold a separate meeting later in July to officially hire the next superintendent. We are focused on this transition - its important, board President Cindy Larson said during a previous meeting. Its big for this community and our school district." Jennings informed board trustees of his intent to leave the district on Thursday, April 25, in favor of the CEO position at Youngstown City School District in Ohio. He is expected to start that job on Aug. 1. He turned in his official resignation letter during a committee of the whole meeting on Tuesday, May 14. Jennings signed a 3-year contract with the Ohio district this week, according to a news release. The contract ending July 31, 2022, includes an annual salary of $190,000 plus bonus compensation of up to $10,000 annually. Jennings salary at Muskegon was about $188,000 in 2018, according to transparency reporting. With all benefits, his total compensation was about $283,000. Jennings is a first-time superintendent. He was promoted from within the district during January 2017 after the retirement of former Superintendent Jon Felske. He previously was an assistant superintendent for the district. The district came under fire repeatedly since Jennings took the job, especially for an increase in administrative salary spending that was revealed in fall 2017 and plans for school building realignment in spring 2018. I really didnt have the desire to leave Muskegon, Jennings told MLive/Muskegon Chronicle earlier this month. It would be good for the community to have a leader they trust. The transition comes during the campaign for a 30-year continuation of a 7.36-mill bond that would raise $77 million to upgrade school buildings. It is expected to come before voters in May 2020. The current bond expires in 2021. I dont want to mess up the bond by being here, Jennings said previously. It also comes in the midst of district planning to close several school buildings. The Hackley Administration Building and Marquette, Oakview and Moon elementary schools would all close under the preferred plan presented at a town hall meeting Thursday, May 16. The plan calls for two K-5 elementary schools, one at Lakeside Elementary and the other at Muskegon Middle School. Nelson Elementary would be converted into a middle school. Jennings said his main task as superintendent was consolidation. He has made progress toward that goal with the announcement on May 1 that Moon Elementary School will close after this school year. He also closed Muskegon Community Education Center (MCEC) at the end of the 2017-18 school year. Jennings is now in negotiations to sell MCEC, formerly Angell School, to the Boys & Girls Club of the Muskegon Lakeshore. He previously attempted to sell the Hackley Administration Building to a local developer. But that was met with opposition from the community and some board members who either thought the district should get more money for the building or should keep it, which caused the buyer to back out. OTTAWA COUNTY, MI A nurse has had her license suspended following allegations that she was pregnant and actively using drugs. Sarah Ann Remenar of Spring Lake had her licensed practical nurse license suspended on an emergency basis on March 18, according to state documents obtained by MLive/Muskegon Chronicle through the Freedom of Information Act. An administrative complaint by the Michigan Board of Nursings disciplinary subcommittee details the concerns about Remenar. Remenar had been referred to the Health Professional Recovery Program in late October 2018 for evaluation of potential substance abuse issues, according to the complaint. During an intake interview about a month later, Remenar disclosed that after a 2008 surgery she became addicted to pills and later began using heroin from the streets. A January drug screen revealed that she had submitted a urine screen that was dilute and positive for Tramadol, the complaint states. Tramadol, an opioid pain reliever, is a schedule 4 controlled substance with high dependency risk. A February assessment determined Remenar was unsafe to practice and had opioid and stimulant dependency as well as some mental health disorders, the complaint states. The evaluator noted that Respondent was actively using drugs and pregnant, the complaint states. A representative with the recovery program twice tried contacting Remenar to refer her to inpatient substance abuse facilities that treat pregnant women, but she did not return the phone calls, according to the complaint. At that point, she was determined to be noncompliant and action was begun to suspend her license, documents show. Remenar could not be reached for comment. MARYSVILLE, MI Criminal charges are not being sought against a fifth-grader accused of uttering a potentially threatening statement. The student made the inappropriate comment during a May 14 all-district choir concert, according to a statement authored by Marysville Public Schools Superintendent Shawn K. Wightman. The district is in St. Clair County. This information was immediately brought to the attention of building-level administration, Wightman wrote. The student involved was removed from school today (May 15) and picked up by a parent. The student was not to return to school or be near any school properties until further notice. Marysville police were notified and investigated. They interviewed the minor and have elected not to request charges from prosecutors. Disciplinary action is being handled by school staff. We are very thankful that one of our students stepped forward to communicate their concerns, Wightman wrote. This is a perfect example of what we expect from our students and staff; if you see, hear, or know something say something. Most of the U.S. has been in a wet pattern for the past several months. As a result of the wet weather, the amount of area in the U.S. ranked with some level of drought is the lowest since digital drought rankings dating back to 2000. The U.S. Drought Monitor produces a map that shows you how much drought there is across the U.S. U.S. Drought Monitor for May 14, 2019 As of this week, the map shows only parts of the Southeast, Southwest and Northwest have drought at the current time. The U.S. Drought Monitor website has a table of the percentage amount of various drought severity categories. There are several ways to look at how much drought is covering the U.S. The table below shows these ways to quantify the drought. The table shows we are currently in the least amount of drought areal coverage dating back to January 4, 2000, when the digital records started. Table shows the amount of area in percent for each of the drought levels. One way to look at the amount of drought is to see how much of the U.S. has no drought status. As of May 14, 2019, 91 percent of the country was not in some level of drought. That means only nine percent of the land is in the various stages of drought. There is also an index on the right, called the Drought Severity and Coverage Index. The index attempts to put all of the drought severity amounts together to give a sense of total drought. Currently the Drought Severity and Coverage Index(DSCI) is 11. I have the table sorted from lowest DSCI to highest. The DSCI at 11 is also the lowest DSCI since the beginning of the digital records on the U.S. Drought Monitor. Weve had large areas of above average precipitation across the U.S. in the past three months. The map above shows the deviation from average precipitation for the past 90 days. Most of the county has had above average precipitation. The map above shows above normal rainfall in green, blue and purple. This is just a map showing precipitation in the last three months. Some areas of the U.S. have had one foot more rainfall than usual in just the last 90 days. Lets compare now to one of our more droughty times - summer 2012. The current drought status is on the left, with the drought status in August 2012 on the right. Look at how expansive the drought coverage was back in 2012. Right now it looks like the above average precipitation will continue in the next month. We have numerous storms hitting the West Coast every three to five days. Those storms are moving into the Plains, drawing in water vapor from the Gulf of Mexico. The storms then have a large area of rain that moves across the U.S. When you get crushed at the ballot box and want to undercut the guys who beat you, the best strategy is to say they are in love with the Kremlin and want to sell the country to Putin, the ruling Dutch party apparently believes. Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), the party of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, is in a perilous situation at the moment. Two months ago political newcomers from Forum for Democracy (FvD) crushed the centrist ruling coalition in provincial elections. Also on rt.com Euroskeptic newcomers unseat Dutch PMs conservative Senate majority in wake of Utrecht shooting Next week Dutch voters choose their representatives at the European Parliament and Prime Minister Rutte and his people have apparently decided its time to unpack the ultimate weapon: red-baiting. A political ad published by VVD on Thursday tells the Dutch they shouldnt vote for FvD because its leader Thierry Baudet wants to hand the Netherlands over to Vladimir Putin. Why? Because Baudet, is in love with the Russian president at least thats what the cartoonish popping out eyes, with hearts in them and the hashtag #Kremlincrush imply. The ad does not seem very convincing though. The evidence of Baudets infatuation boils down to him going against Western establishments common wisdom in saying that the threat of Russia is grossly exaggerated and that Moscow could be a good ally in the modern world. Why the Eurosceptic nationalist party would be conspiring to betray its country to a foreign power is never explained. The secret proof is probably the Soviet anthem, which creators of the video used as background music. The Russian one uses the same tune with different lyrics, so they are difficult to distinguish for a foreigner, but maybe VVD wanted to say Baudet had been recruited over 30 years ago, when the USSR still existed? Also on rt.com The Russians are coming for European elections! Just dont ask for proof The attack is the latest in a series launched by VVD against their FvD opponents in the run up to next weeks vote and may seem like an act of desperation, but it is actually not. At least thats what Klaas Dijkhoff, the leader of the party faction in the Dutch House, says. We just lost an election. This doesnt mean we are in a panic, he told Algemeen Dagblad daily. If our military and intelligence services all say Russia is a threat and you say Russia can be our friend, you have some explaining to do. FvD on the contrary believe their critics are simply going into a full meltdown before ultimate political demise. Russia scaremongering is quite a popular campaign tactic these days in many countries, but it doesnt necessarily pay off. For example, Ukraines incumbent President Petro Poroshenko tried to get reelected by stating that his actual opponent is Putin rather than Volodymyr Zelensky, the comedian turned politician, whose name was on the ballot. Zelensky won in a landslide, scoring over 73 percent of the votes. VVD is no stranger to using Putins name for political grandstanding and getting burned as a result. Halbe Zijlstra, Dijkhoffs predecessor as party faction leader who later became foreign minister, had to resign in disgrace last year after confessing that he had lied about a meeting with Putin. Zijlstra had falsely claimed that he heard the Russian leader lay an imperialistic claim on neighboring countries. If you like this story, share it with a friend! Italy has joined a growing list of nations to challenge US tech giant Google in connection with alleged abuse of the corporations market power in the smart device sector. The Italian Antitrust Authority said it launched an investigation into antitrust practices. According to a statement, the move comes after Google refused to integrate the application Enel X Recharge, designed by Italys energy multinational Enel, on its Android Auto app. According to the regulator, Android Auto allows users to use some apps and phone features while driving, while the exclusion of the Enels app reduces the usability of the app, including the booking of recharge stations. Also on rt.com Breaking up Facebook & Google? RTs Keiser Report looks at the best way to disband the monopolies Enels app helps to inform users about the location of charging stations for electric cars and how to reach them. Google reportedly reinforces the business model of its Google Maps app, which also allows the Android users to get information about charging stations. The competition regulator said that its officials conducted inspections in some of the companies concerned. The investigation is expected to be completed by May 30 next year. Also on rt.com EU keeps piling on fines on Google, slapping tech giant $1.7bn for blocking rivals' ads Googles Android operating system is one of the worlds most popular mobile software systems. Android is installed on more than 80 percent of devices globally. Google enjoys a dominant position in the market of smart device operating systems. In March, the European Commission fined the California-based company 1.5 billion ($1.7 billion) for abusing its market dominance, marking the third antitrust penalty against the Big Tech firm in less than three years. In 2018, the EU hit Google with the biggest antitrust fine of 4.3 billion, saying that its Android system tended to block rivals. A year earlier, the corporation was fined 2.4 billion over manipulated search results. For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section Russia will respond reciprocally to the US sanctions placed on Chechen special police unit Terek, Vladimir Putins spokesperson said, slamming Washingtons move as destructive. Obviously, the principle of reciprocity applies here, Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday, adding that Washingtons recent actions against Chechnyas Terek Special Rapid Response Team will trigger necessary countermeasures. DETAILS TO FOLLOW Also on rt.com US sanction Chechen special police force in latest Magnitsky Act blacklist for human rights abuses Moscow to react reciprocally to US blacklisting of elite Chechen police unit Kremlin Moscow to react reciprocally to US blacklisting of elite Chechen police unit Kremlin Source : RT - Daily news An airstrike by the NATO-led Resolute Support mission reportedly killed 17 police officers in Afghanistan on Thursday, injuring a dozen others in a mistake during fighting between Afghan forces and the Taliban. The strike was conducted as Afghan police were fighting the Taliban outside Lashkar Gah in southern Helmand province, with Afghan officials describing the incident as a mistake. Head of the provincial council Attaullah Afghan said 14 policemen were also wounded in the strike. It wasnt clear whether Afghan or US forces carried out the strike, the AP reported, although the Taliban claimed it had been US forces. Also on rt.com Rules of engagement have been liberalized: Ex-Pentagon analyst to RT on US killings in Afghanistan The provincial governors spokesman Omar Zwak said the strike was carried out by NATO Resolute Support mission forces in the Nahr-e-Seraj area, al Jazeera reports. DW reports Zwak said that only eight police officers were killed in the NATO strike. Resolute Support is a NATO-led mission that advises and assists Afghanistans national security forces and consists of over 13,000 troops from the US, Germany, the UK, and other countries. NATO has not commented on the incident. Helmands Governor Mohammad Yasin said the air strike is being investigated. Like this story? Share it with a friend! Iran has pulled no punches with regards to Washington, saying that while the US is urging talks, it simultaneously holds a gun at Tehran. The latest war of words comes as tensions between two states continue to grow. The actions of American leaders in exerting pressure and launching sanctions [] while speaking of talks, is like holding a gun at someone and asking for friendship and negotiations, Rasoul Sanai-Rad, a political deputy of the armed forces command said as quoted news agency Mehr quoted. US President Donald Trump has been recently insisting his country was not on a path of war with Iran and that the latter will want to talk soon. That said, two US Navy destroyers entered waters of the Persian Gulf on Thursday. Also on rt.com 2 US destroyers enter Persian Gulf amid tensions with Iran Hawks in Trumps administration have long been calling for tougher stance on Tehran. Last year, Washington unilaterally pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal and renewed sanctions on the country. In recent days, the situation in the Middle East has dramatically worsened with the White House rushing the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group to the region ahead of schedule in response to a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings. The deployment was meant to be a warning to Iran. Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei earlier this week assured that neither Iran nor the US actually seeks war. Meanwhile, as tensions between Washington and Tehran gain ground, European leaders have urged both countries to measure their statements. That said, the bloc again expressed its regret on US sanctions targeting Iran as well as ditching the landmark nuclear accord (known as JCPOA), which Trump has been boasting as one of his major achievements. Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! RTHK: Another US state approves harsh abortion law Missouri's Republican-led legislature has approved a bill to ban abortions after eight weeks of pregnancy, following a heated debate in which a lawmaker used the phrase "consensual rape". Governor Mike Parson is expected to sign the bill. During the debate, Republican legislator Barry Hovis said most of the sexual assaults he handled before retiring from the police weren't strangers "jumping out of the bushes" but instead "date rapes or consensual rapes". Abortion-rights supporters who attended the debate hissed in response. The law would see Missouri joining Alabama and other states that have moved to ban the procedure, and would be among the most restrictive in the US. It would include an exception for medical emergencies, but not for pregnancies caused by rape or incest. Doctors who violate the limit would face five to 15 years in prison. Women having the termination would not be prosecuted. Planned Parenthood Action Fund President Leana Wen said that enacting the measure would be disastrous, adding "Missouri Governor Parson should be ashamed of riding the disgraceful coattails of 25 white men in Alabama who just voted to ban safe, legal abortion." The Missouri legislation comes after Alabama's governor signed a bill on Wednesday making performing an abortion a felony in nearly all cases. Supporters say the Alabama bill is meant to spark a court case that might prompt the current panel of more conservative Supreme Court justices to revisit abortion rights. (AP) This story has been published on: 2019-05-17. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. TIANJIN, May 16 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the Third World Intelligence Congress, which opened in northern China's Tianjin municipality Thursday. In the letter, Xi expressed his sincere welcome to renowned international entrepreneurs, industry leaders and Turing Award winners who attended the congress. Noting that artificial intelligence (AI) is casting significant and far-reaching impacts on economic development, social progress and global governance, Xi said China attaches high importance to innovative development and takes new-generation AI as the driving force for scientific and technological development, industrial optimization and upgrading, as well as increasing productivity, striving to achieve high-quality development. Xi expressed hope that participants of the congress could further exchanges, enhance consensus and step up cooperation to promote the healthy development of the new-generation AI. Having read out Xi's letter at the opening ceremony, Li Hongzhong, secretary of the Tianjin Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, said Tianjin would embrace a new era of intelligence, create a new intelligence-based economy, step up cooperation with other countries in the field of AI and speed up building "intelligent Tianjin." The congress will last until Sunday. IMC ZWZ - projekty uchwa: podzia zysku, zmiany w RN IMCS.A. (the Company) will hold its annual general meeting of shareholders (the AGM) on 25 June 2019 at its registered office: 16, rue Erasme L-1468 Luxembourg R.C.S. Luxembourg B 157843 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of the Company (the "AGM") to be held on 25 June 2019 at 10.00 a.m. CET at the registered office of the Company with agenda as follows: 1. To nominate Mr Christian Tailleur or any other employee of TotalServe Management (Luxembourg) S.A. as the chairman of the general meeting of shareholders. 2. To nominate Mrs Catia Campos or any other employee of TotalServe Management (Luxembourg) S.A. as the scrutineer of the general meeting of shareholders. 3. Presentation of the management report of the board of directors of the Company (the "Board of Directors") in respect of the statutory financial statements of the Company and the consolidated financial statements of the Company and its group for the financial year ended on 31 December 2018 (the "Report of the Board"), the independent auditor's report in respect of the statutory financial statements of the Company and the consolidated financial statements of the Company and its group for the financial year ended 31 December 2018 (the "Auditor's Report"), the individual annual accounts of the Company for the financial year ending 31 December 2018 (the "Annual Accounts"), the consolidated financial statements of the Company's group for the financial year ending 31 December 2018 (the "Consolidated Financial Statements") and presentation and report by the Board of Directors of the salary, fees and advantages paid to the executive directors. 4. Review and approval of the Annual Accounts of the Company for the financial year ending 31 December 2018. 5. Review and approval of the Consolidated Financial Statements of the Company's group for the financial year ending 31 December 2018. 6. Approval of the interim dividends distributed in 2018 for an amount of EUR 12,164,579. 7. Allocation of the profit for the financial year ending 31 December 2018. 8. Discharge to the members of the Board of Directors. 9. Re-appointment of Mr Alfons Wilhelm Balmann as a non-executive director of the Company for a new mandate until the annual general shareholders meeting to be held in 2022. 10. Confirmation of the mandates of the other executive and non-executive directors of the Company. 11. Miscellaneous. Notice to shareholders - need to register for participation Each shareholder wishing to exercise its rights to attend and vote at the AGM should send to the Company a form to confirm its participation to the AGM (the "Form of Participation") available on the Company's website, no later than Tuesday 11 June 2019, 18.00 CET. The rights to vote at the AGM are determined in accordance with and at the record date (the "Record Date"), which is set on Tuesday 11 June 2019, at 24.00 (midnight) CET. Only shareholders who confirmed their participation to the Company on due time will be authorized to participate and vote at the AGM (the "Authorized Shareholder(s)"). The Form of Participation can be downloaded from the Companys website at www.imcagro.com.ua and shall be returned in original by the shareholder to the Company's registered office. In addition to the Form of Participation, each shareholder who holds its shares in the Company through the facilities of the Polish National Deposit of Securities (the "KDPW") or Clearstream Banking S.A. (as the case may be) shall request an original depositary certificate (the "Shareholder's Certificate") from the broker or custodian bank who is a participant of the KDPW or Clearstream Banking S.A. (as the case may be) and who maintains the securities account for such shareholder evidencing its amount of shares held at the Record Date. The Shareholder's Certificate (original or copy) must be sent by the Shareholder to the Company no later than on Tuesday 18 June 2019, 18.00 CET. Only Authorized Shareholders who were holders of the Company's shares at the Record Date will be allowed to attend and vote to the AGM subject to (i) the confirmation of their participation to the Company (through the form of participation available on the Company's website at www.imcagro.com.ua, no later than Tuesday 11 June 2019, 18.00 CET and (ii) the delivery to the Company of the original Shareholder's Certificate, within the forms and delays prescribed in the document called "IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR PARTICIPATING TO THE AGM". Further information is available on the Company's website and in particular in the document called "IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR PARTICIPATING TO THE AGM". Shareholders of the Company may obtain further information on the AGM by addressing their request to the Company by email (Christian.tailleur@lu.totalserve.eu) or by post at the registered office of the Company (quoting "2019 IMC AGM"). General information for shareholders In accordance with Luxembourg law, shareholders holding individually or collectively at least five per cent (5%) of the issued share capital of the Company have the right to put items on the agenda of the AGM and to table draft resolutions for items included or to be included on the agenda of the AGM. These rights shall be exercised upon written requests of the shareholders (which needs to be an Authorized Shareholder) submitted to the Company by postal services at the registered address of the Company or by email (Christian.tailleur@lu.totalserve.eu) (quoting "2019 IMC AGM"). The requests shall be accompanied by the evidence that (i) the shareholder is an Authorized Shareholder, (ii) a justification or a draft resolution to be adopted at the AGM and shall include the electronic or mailing address at which the Company can acknowledge receipt of these requests. The requests from the shareholders shall be received by the Company at the latest on Monday 3 June 2019. Campa Cola, the brand that dominated India's soft drinks market between 1970s and 1990s, is back. Campa's parent company, Pure Drinks Group, aims to make it a national brand again, competing with the likes of Pepsi and Coca-Cola, as per a report in The Times of India. It all started in 1949 when Pure Drinks Group introduced India to soda drinks by becoming the only manufacturers and distributors of Coca-Cola. However, Coca-Cola was forced out of India in 1977 because of the run-ins it had with the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act of 1973, which meant to protect locals from exploitation. Campa was introduced then, with the slogan 'The Great Indian Taste' to fill the hole in the market created by Coca-Cola's exit. Without a foreign competitor, Campa flourished and grew. Now, Jaywantjit Singh, great-grandson of Sardar Mohan Singh, the founder of Pure Drinks Group, wants to bring it back to life and rule the market. Campa Cola is available in 80 percent of the states across India with 13 franchises in Jammu & Kashmir, UP, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh and Bihar. The brand now wants to enter the south and soon be available pan-India. "We have a few franchising plants across India, catering to tier-2 and 3 cities, mainly in the north and northeast markets. We are now setting up a bottling unit in Silvassa with a capacity of 600 bottles per minute, which will cater to the western markets. We have a presence in Nepal and are looking at southern markets like Chennai. In a way, we are gradually moving to tier-1 cities as well. We are doing about 4 million cases across India," Jaywantjit told the paper. While Coca-Cola was absent, Parle had risen through 70s and 80s with brands like Thums Up, Gold Spot and Limca. When Coca-Cola re-entered the market in the 1990s, it acquired these famous brands from Parle. All local cola brands crumbled after Coca-Cola and its rival PepsiCo came back to the market. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Dr Reddys on May 17 said it is planning to launch 20 products in the US and aims to maintain 50 percent plus gross margin in FY20. The company anticipates US FDA approval for generic Nuvaring, a contraceptive, in the first half of FY20. The US launch of generic Copaxone, used in the treatment of multiple sclerosis, may get further delayed until FY21. It has received additional queries from the drug regulator relating to the product, the management said in the companys earnings call. Dr Reddy's is banking on generic Suboxone used in the treatment of drug addiction to boost US sales. It is expected to gather pace in the second quarter, led by conversion from innovator product to generic, it said. The uptake of Suboxone, launched in February this year has been slow. The company said it is litigating for the recovering bond of $72 million held against the Indivior for delaying the launch of generic version through litigation. The company said its expecting the gross margins in FY20 to be over 50 percent and guided of spending around $250-300 million on R&D. The company had gross margins of 52.2 percent in FY19, while the spend on R&D stood at Rs 1,561 crore. For FY19, net profit of Dr Reddy's stood at Rs 1,880 crore on revenues of Rs 15,385 crore. It is focusing on improving R&D productivity and already seeing signs of improved efficiency, it said. Dr Reddys said it will be majorly investing in India and China to grow the business and has identified 70 products for China, and started the process of filing. On the regulatory front, the company said it is trying to resolve the warning letter on CTO-6 active pharmaceutical ingredient plant in Srikakulam. It has been answering queries raised by USFDA and soon will be meeting with the agency to seek re-inspection, it added. Dr Reddys earlier cleared inspections of Duvvada oncology injectable facility and Miryalaguda API plant, which were also mentioned in the USFDA warning letter issued in 2015. Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) recently came out with an order penalising NSE, India's leading exchange, some of its past officials, and several organisations and individuals for misuse of the NSE's colocation services. What is the NSE colocation controversy all about, who were the players and what was the modus operandi? Here's an explainer. Q: What is the NSE colocation controversy all about? A: It was alleged that certain trading members had faster access to the price feed distributed by the National Stock Exchange to its members. A whistle blower had written to market regulator SEBI in January 2015, explaining the flaws in NSEs colocation system, and how some brokers had exploited those flaws in collusion with some employees of the NSE. Q: Before we go into the details, tell us what exactly is a colocation facility A: In August 2009, NSE introduced the colocation facility, which allowed brokers to place their servers in the data centre of NSE. Of course, there was a charge for this service, and only the big brokers can afford it. The benefit of colocation is that it allows faster access to the price feed (buy/sell quotes) distributed by the stock exchange. That is because the brokers server sits right next to the stock exchanges server and so the data has to only travel a very short distance from the exchange server to the brokers server. This was a big advantage to those trading members engaging in high frequency trading strategies. Q: What is the time lag in the buy sell quotes reaching a co-located server vis-a-vis a non-co-located server? A: The difference is in milliseconds, but it can make all the difference between a profitable trade and not being able to catch the trade at all. Because the co-located server gets the quote first, the trade would be executed by the time the broker on a non-co-located server got to see it. Q: OK, before we get into high-frequency trading, tell us: is there anything illegal about the colocation facility that NSE is providing A: No, it is not illegal. World over, stock exchanges provide colocation facility to brokers who are willing to pay for it. The NSE has done nothing illegal by offering colocation services. However, the introduction of this facility was not transparent. SEBI usually puts out a discussion paper to seek the views of market participants on major policies like these. In this particular case, SEBI did not take the feedback of market participants before allowing NSE to offer colocation services to its broker members. The other point is that of fairness. World over, there has been a debate on whether exchanges should discriminate between those who can pay for faster access and those who cannot. Q: The whole controversy is referred to as the NSE algo trading scam. Is that a right description? A: Technically, it cannot be called algo trading scam. Algorithmic trading or algo trading is a method of executing a large order using pre-programmed instructions. These instructions could be based on many variables, such as time, price, and volume. In general, it could be a fast strategy or it could be a slow strategy where small slices of the order are sent out to the market over time. High frequency trade is a type of algo trading characterized by high speeds and high turnover rates. The algo is rapidly shooting buy and sell orders at a speed that cannot be matched by a human. The key factors that drive HFT are highly sophisticated algorithms, fast access to order books and colocation. Q: What happened in the NSE colocation case? A: Three months after introducing the colocation facility, NSE started offering tick-by-tick market data. Again this was available for a fee. Each tick constituted a packet of information like a buy/sell order, order cancellation, order modification, or a trade that has happened. The data was exhaustive and only those brokers with sophisticated IT systems could take advantage of it. Initially, this data feed was distributed through a tech architecture called Transmission Control Protocol/IP. In TCP/IP, the information would be delivered one-by-one, unlike a broadcast, where everyone got the information at the same time. Also, the data was distributed sequentially in the sequence in which trading members logged in to the NSE server. So the first one to connect to the server with the least load would receive data faster than others. One broker in particular, OPG Securities is alleged to have gamed the system because it was said to be aware of the workings of the NSEs IT department. Q: How was OPG able to game the system? A: The whistleblower alleged that OPG Securities, with help from some officials in NSEs IT department was able to able to figure out which server was working better, what time the servers would be started, and would access the least crowded servers. Brokers availing the colocation facility are given details of the servers and the ports to which they could connect to access the price feeds. Investigations revealed that many brokers used multiple IP addresses to connect to the servers. IP is a unique address that identifies a device on the Internet or a local network. OPG Securities was alleged to have mapped multiple IPs to a single server such that it would get the first two or even three connections to that server and crowd out other members. There were allegedly no policies and procedures for allocation/mapping of the IPs of members to the exchange servers, nor was there a Standard Operating Procedure to deal with requests for change in IP mapping to a particular server. Such requests were left to the discretion of the NSE's Project Support and Management Team OPG Securities would allegedly regularly connect to the secondary server, commonly known as the backup server, which had the least load. The NSE took no action to prevent this despite having knowledge of this. Q: Were the allegations of the whistleblower probed? A: Yes, by the Technical Advisory Committee of SEBI and by Deloitte India, which was appointed by the NSE board. Q: What were their key findings? A: The TAC concluded that NSEs TBT architecture was prone to market abuse thereby compromising market fairness and integrity, in that it provided quicker order dissemination to those who managed to login early. OPG tried to exploit this architecture by not only logging in 1st on select servers but it even tried to crowd out others by occupying 2nd, and 3rd positions on those servers. The reported also said that it was likely that OPG and some other brokers were given preferential access to back up servers of the NSE TBT system. The Deloitte report too said that NSEs TBT architecture the system was prone to manipulation, and that sequential distribution of price information reached brokers logged on to less crowded servers, faster than it reached somebody on a crowded server. Q: Could the NSE have negated the advantages some brokers had by connecting to least crowded servers? A: Yes. The advantage of connecting to least crowded servers would have been nullified if the NSE had a load balancer system in place. There was a prescribed limit of 30 connections for each port of the server from which the NSE disseminated price data to trading members. However, this limit was not followed and the number of connections on one port often exceeded 30. This put members who were on more crowded ports at a disadvantage. NSEs colocation support and project support management teams were aware of the load on each server. A load balancer would have distributed network/traffic load across a number of servers based on specific algorithms like least connections, least response time and ensured equitable load distribution across trading members. Q: Why did the NSE not implement the load balancer? A: The NSEs stand was that deployment of a load balancer would have introduced an increase in time lag because the additional hardware device would add an extra step through which the data would need to flow. Q: Could the NSE have nullified the advantage to brokers logging in early? A: Yes. It could have removed that advantage by introducing a randomizer. A randomizer, as the name suggests, would randomly pick a connection to begin dissemination of data rather than starting with first connection each time. But the NSE did not implement the system on the servers disseminating Tick by Tick data. This gave an advantage to brokers who logged in first. Q: Did the NSE plug the loophole that gave an unfair advantage to the broker who logged in first? A: In April 2014, the exchange introduced the Multicast Protocol transmission, which meant that all brokers would have access to the tick-by-tick price feed simultaneously irrespective of when they logged into the exchange servers. Q: There was also the issue of some brokers with colocation facility benefitting by logging on to the secondary server of the NSE. How were they able to do that? A: When a brokers application for colocation facility was approved, the activation e-mail gave details of the secondary server as well, in addition to those of the primary server. Also, the secondary server was active at all times. There was no system whereby the secondary server would start only when the primary server failed. Since there was no documented policy on connecting to the secondary server, and since trading members had the details, they could log in to the secondary server anytime. Also, NSE did not have a monitoring mechanism to check if the brokers connecting to the secondary sever had a valid reason for doing so. Q: What was the advantage for brokers connecting to a secondary server to access price feeds? A: Since the secondary server was to be accessed only when the primary server was not working, few brokers connected to the secondary server. As a result, the load on that server was low, and the few members connected to the secondary server would receive the price feed faster than members connected to the primary server. Q: If it was so obvious, why did more brokers not access the secondary server? A: Initially many of them did. Following warnings by the NSEs IT team, most brokers reverted to the primary server. But some like OPG Securities continued to connect to the secondary server despite warnings. The SEBI report observed that the NSE did not penalize the brokers who were repeatedly flouting NSEs directive on connecting to the secondary server. Q: What is SEBIs conclusion? A: The regulator has ruled that the stock exchange has failed to ensure a level playing field for the trading members who had subscribed to NSEs colocation services and were getting the tick-by-tick data. However, SEBI feels the exchange cannot be charged with fraud as there is no proof of collusion of employees with brokers, or proof of some brokers having been discriminated against, or some NSE officials or brokers having gained financially because of the lapses. Also, SEBI feels failure to have a randomizer or load balancer cannot be seen as a breach of the principle of fairness and equity. So NSE cannot be held guilty under the provisions of fraudulent and unfair trade practices. At the same time, the exchange did not exercise the requisite due diligence while putting in place the TBT architecture. Also, the exchanges policy on retention of electronic records were weak. For the above failings, the exchange has been ordered to disgorge a part of the profits made from the tick by tick data dissemination between 2010-11 and 2013-14. That works out to Rs 625 crore along with an interest of 12 percent from April 2014. Also, NSE has been barred from accessing the securities market for six months Q: Were any of the other NSE officials penalized? A: SEBI ruled that Ravi Narain and Chitra Ramakrishna, who were MD and CEO of NSE in succession during this period, failed in their responsibility to ensure equal, fair and transparent access. Narain has been asked to disgorge 25 percent of the salary drawn from FY 2010-11 to 2012-13 and Ramakrishna has been asked to disgorge 25 percent of her salary drawn for FY2013-14. Trade tensions between Washington and Beijing are unlikely to aid Indian exports as there is a stark difference in the nature of commodities exported by the two economies, India Ratings and Fitch wrote in a joint report published on May 17. The ongoing trade war could lead to China dumping goods at predatory prices in emerging markets, including India, and potentially disrupting the domestic demand-supply dynamics in the country, the agencies said. Products such as electronic goods, iron, steel and organic chemicals would be most affected, analysts at the two agencies wrote. India Ratings and Research is a 100% subsidiary of the Fitch Group. Two of the world's largest economies are locked in an increasingly acrimonious trade dispute that has seen them level escalating tariffs on each other's imports in the middle of negotiations, adding to fears about risks to global growth and knocking financial markets. "A fall in Chinese exports to the US could potentially put downward pressures on the Chinese yuan. A likely devaluation of the yuan could stimulate a competitive depreciation in the Indian rupee, failing which the competitiveness of Indian exports could be affected," they said. The rupee has lost just about 0.3% so far in 2019 as the currency had gained on the back of large foreign portfolio inflows earlier in the year. A stronger rupee, however, would prove to be a concern for exporters. India's imports of steel, capital goods and polymer from China could potentially increase as Chinese exports to the United States start losing traction. India Ratings expects demand-supply dynamics in these sectors to get skewed unfavourably over the medium term. "Nonetheless, the impact is difficult to quantify at this point in time and will be contingent on the Chinese production/capacity utilisation levels, global demand-supply scenario and a host of other evolving factors." The United States must show sincerity if it is to hold meaningful trade talks, China said on Friday, after US President Donald Trump dramatically raised the stakes with a potentially devastating blow to Chinese tech giant Huawei. Bharat Iyer, head of India Equity Research at JP Morgan, spoke to CNBC-TV18 on the market fundamentals and shared his outlook on select sectors. In terms of our forecast for the Nifty, we had a June target of 11,500-12000. The Nifty went there but pulled back because of global sell-off. So, medium- term still constructive on the market, near-term there could be factors that create volatility, Iyer said on May 17. From a sector perspective, "Banks look good within the financials and the other space that looks good is materials like steel and cement", said Iyer in an interview with CNBC-TV18. "The house has been positive on the cement space for some time now and would continue to be buyers there," said Iyer, adding that volume growth for the sector has been good. On the elections front, Iyer said, "Elections are important from a near-term perspective in influencing sentiment and from the medium-term point of view in terms of policy. If the incumbent government gets voted back then it is likely we would see a relief rally." Source: CNBC-TV 18 The Indian arm of food and drink company Nestle on May 17 announced its entry into the Indian organic food segment with the launch of its ready-to-cook childrens breakfast cereal Nestle Ceregrow. "Organic is a worldwide trend but is relatively nascent in India. Organic food brings together the core disciplines that Nestle is known for in its food and nutrition space. We have been working on this for two years now. The product is made from 100 percent organic wheat, milk and ragi," Suresh Narayanan, Chairman and Managing Director, Nestle India said. The Indian arm of the Switzerland-headquartered multinational company has been involved in developing farms where organic practices are in place and hiring the necessary expertise required for the organic segment. "We have worked with farmers in Rajasthan, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh to develop organic wheat, millet and rice. We are also working with one of the reputed foundations in Rajasthan that is making organic milk for six-seven years to hone up their practices and make them acceptable as organic for us," Narayanan said. The challenge in the organic segment is not in marketing but in procurement, Narayanan said. The company has plans to introduce more products in the organic category but didn't disclose any details. The management of Hindustan Unilever , Britannia Industries and Dabur India have conveyed concerns over a slowdown in consumption after they, along with Godrej Consumer Products (GCPL), released their quarterly earnings this week . With regards to that, Narayanan said the fundamental thesis of consumption-led growth cannot be dismissed. He said that Nestle came out stronger than its counterparts because 25 percent of their exposure is rural and 75 percent urban. "Rural slowdown has happened, but it is too early to pronounce that it is systemic," he said. Though there has been an increase in raw material prices like wheat and milk, the company has been able to mitigate the costs by creating efficiencies of scale, he said, adding that the company also plans to launch five-six new products by the third quarter of the calendar year. On May 14, the company announced its Q1 results for the Janauary to March quarter. Nestle recorded a 9 percent increase in its total global sales. In India, Nestle witnessed a growth of over 10 percent. Also, with Rs 463 crore, the companys profits swelled by 9.25 percent. Nestle has also clocked in a total income of Rs 3,076.14 crore. Oil edged higher towards $73 a barrel on May 17, supported by real and threatened supply disruptions in the Middle East and heading for a weekly gain. US sanctions on Iran have cut the OPEC member's crude exports further in May, adding to supply curbs resulting from an OPEC-led pact. Meanwhile, rising tensions in the Middle East this week has raised concern about additional supply disruption. Brent crude rose 15 cents to $72.77 a barrel at 0908 GMT. The global benchmark is up almost 3 percent this week, having ended last week steady and fallen the week before. US West Texas Intermediate crude added 24 cents to $63.11. "The Middle East is acting as a tinderbox for conflict," said Stephen Brennock of oil broker PVM. "So long as this remains the case, the energy complex will continue to be supported by bullish supply-side signals." The mounting tension overshadowed bearish developments for oil prices this week, such as an unexpected increase in US crude inventories. A Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen carried out several air strikes on the Houthi-held capital Sanaa on May 16 after the Iranian-aligned movement claimed responsibility for drone attacks on two Saudi oil pumping stations. Earlier this week, staff were evacuated from the US embassy in Baghdad, while US President Donald Trump ordered the deployment of an aircraft carrier group, B-52 bombers and Patriot missiles to the Middle East. "When tensions are this high, with the US deploying a sizable military force, even a mistake or a tactical error by Iran could ignite the Middle East powder keg," Stephen Innes, head of trading and market strategy at SPI Asset Management told Reuters by email. "There are lots of supply risks with tensions this high." The market is also awaiting a decision from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producers over whether to continue with supply cuts that have boosted prices more than 30% so far this year. A meeting of an OPEC-led ministerial committee in Saudi Arabia this weekend will assess member states' commitment to their deal reducing oil production and may make a recommendation on whether to extend or adjust the pact. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Some call them chalk and cheese. One was Rahul Bhatia, who had started off as a reluctant entrepreneur, and wanted to get into teaching after a venture failed. But when his father was 'ushered out' of the travel company he had founded, the son started another - InterGlobe. Over the years, Bhatia mastered the art of networking, building contacts in government offices in Delhi, often sitting for hours to get an appointment. And at InterGlobe, which started off selling tickets for airlines, he built a company that would give him the mastery over back-end operations of an airline. Even as Bhatia built and diversified InterGlobe, which later ventured into hospitality, thousands of miles away in the US, Rakesh Gangwal had already made a reputation as the consummate aviation professional. An alumnus of IIT Kanpur and Wharton School, Gangwal had built on his aviation career since joining United Airlines - now the fourth largest in the world - in 1984. He went on to hold senior positions in the airline, was an Executive Vice President at Air France and capped off his aviation career after completing his term as the CEO of US Airways, which was later merged into American Airlines, the world's largest airline. The two had first met in the corridors of United Airlines. Bhatia was there representing IBM, where he worked for two years while studying engineering at the University of Waterloo. The Indian entrepreneur would later say in an interview that he was sure that if he ever started an airline, Gangwal had to be his partner. A-Team The two did make a "terrific team," as an industry old-timer puts it. "Rahul and Rakesh complemented each other; as a team their combined skillsets was lethal," says the executive who didn't want to be named. "Rahul had a well-entrenched knowledge of the Indian market and could manage the local environment, had a great distribution network with InterGlobe and had attention to detail on the product. "That gelled with Rakeshs great experience with large airlines and his visionary thinking in placing very big aircraft orders and in-depth knowledge of the operational area," said the official. The partnership's success was for all to see. While other airlines like Jet Airways and SpiceJet seem to be struggling with the industry conditions, including high fuel costs, IndiGo - since its start in 2005 - seemed to be only gaining. Some of the rivals even commented that IndiGo's financials should be taken "with a pinch of salt." The two partners Bhatia and Gangwal's expertise came out in two ways. Bhatia was obsessed with the cost. He said in an interview with Forbes India, that he would think before spending each dollar. "Do I need to spend it? Can I get away without it?" The airline invariably had higher aircraft utilisation rates and quicker turnaround time than its peers. The frugality - once Bhatia turned up for an important industry meeting in a Wagon R, while other honchos came in luxury cars - was ridiculed by rivals. But the market noticed. Gangwal, as the executive mentioned above, was a path-breaker by convincing Airbus to sell 100 of its A320 aircraft even before IndiGo started flying. Not just that, he managed a contract that included maintenance agreements with full guarantees on aircraft parts. As a result, IndiGo grew steadily. In 2010, it had a market share of 18.6 percent, the same as Kingfisher. That share has grown to 44 percent by March, this year. Meanwhile, Kingfisher has shut operations, and Jet Airways is struggling to resume after suspending services in April. The cracks Industry insiders say that differences between Bhatia and Gangwal were always there. "But I could never imagine that the situation was in any way this serious," says an executive. First visible cracks in the partnership between the two came last year with the exit of Aditya Ghosh, the IndiGo president who was said to be close to Bhatia, in April last year. In place of Ghosh, IndiGo roped in Greg Taylor, who had an earlier stint with the airline. Taylor, who sources said was a Gangwal appointee, was initially appointed as senior advisor and was tipped to take over as president & CEO later in the year. But later when Taylor had to resign due to lack of security clearance (a very flimsy reason) and Ronojoy Dutta (perceived as Bhatias man) came, "something appeared to be off," said a senior executive from an airline. In December 2018, Dutta - who also had a stint in United Airlines - was appointed Principal Consultant of IndiGo. A month later, he was crowned the CEO. "There is no doubt that Dutta has rich experience. But does Dutta, who was also a president at Air Sahara, have the experience of running a big, low-cost airline?" asks an industry veteran. That question added the veteran, rankled Gangwal. IndiGo is now Asia's largest low-cost carrier. It has over 220 aircraft, operates 1,400 flights a day and flies to nearly 70 domestic, and 18 international destinations. End game? While the two have differences over the shareholder's agreement, it is still not clear what the exact bone of contention is, and for what have the two partners involved lawyers. "The shareholder's agreement details rights of appointments, rights of board seats and rights to decide strategy. There could be differences in the interpretation of the agreement, and lawyers could help in this," says Shriram Subramanian of InGovern, a proxy advisory firm. The two founders have almost equal stakes in the company. While Bhatia and his family own a little over 38 percent, Gangwal controls a shade lower than 37 percent. IndiGo has a market share of Rs 55,277 crore, and both Gangwal and Bhatia are billionaires, many times over. While Bhatia ranks 41 on the Forbes India Rich List with a wealth of 3.55 billion, Gangwal has a net worth of $3.4 billion. Gangwal is a US citizen and thus doesn't feature in the Forbes India list. But he appears on the global list of richest people. Company insiders say Bhatia has more say in IndiGo affairs. "There is no doubt that Gangwal can never have control. The question is if he should exit the company," says one of the officials quoted above. If he does decide to, Bhatia has the right of first refusal. But there would be many other interested parties, including Qatar Airways, who would want to buy Gangwal's stake. Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker has been vocal about his interest in taking a stake in IndiGo. But it is an exit that not many, including investors, would like. IndiGo stock had its worst intra-day loss in more than six months, falling over eight percent on Thursday after news about the founders' surfaces again. Moneycontrol was the first to break it, in December 2018. "They have worked together so well till now. No reason for them to not try and settle differences and make IndiGo even more successful than it already is," says an industry executive. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Share price of Mindtree gained in the early trade on Friday after infrastructure and engineering major Larsen and Toubro (L&T) has increased its stake in the company to more than 26 percent. The stake of L&T in Mindtree has risen to 26.48 percent after an open market purchase on May 16. The L&T purchased 8,86,438 shares via open market on May 16 at Rs 979.81 per share, crossing the necessary 25 percent level to trigger the open offer on May 9. Also Read - L&T now owns over 26% stake in Mindtree However, pending approval of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), L&T had to postpone the open offer scheduled on May 14. According to sources, the nod from SEBI is expected within a fortnight. Once the approval is in place, L&Ts open offer for Mindtree shares can start. L&T on May 9 upped its stake to 25.93 percent in Mindtree. A stake of over 25 percent stake in Mindtree means that L&T can call for board meetings and seek a seat on the Mindtree board. Sources said L&T had raised concerns about Mindtrees governance and board practices and these matters would be the focus for L&T management. At 09:38 hrs Mindtree was quoting at Rs 986.85, up Rs 6.60, or 0.67 percent and Larsen & Toubro was quoting at Rs 1,337.50, up Rs 0.60, or 0.04 percent on the BSE. For more market news, click here The Congress is not averse to supporting any regional party leader for the Prime Minister's post even if it emerges as the single largest party, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said on May 16. "My party high command has already made it clear that the Congress is not averse to making a prime minister from any regional party," Azad told reporters in Shimla. He was asked if the Congress will be ready to support any regional party leader for the PM's post even if it emerges as the largest party in a hung Parliament. Speaking in the same vein in Patna on May 15, Azad had said the Congress will not make it an issue if the PM's post is not offered to it. Azad's remarks assume significance as the Congress has been asserting that it would be the fulcrum of any non-NDA government, which was seen as its claim for the PM's post and had led some major regional parties to maintain a distance from it. Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala, however, seemed not to agree with Azad. He said the Congress believes it will be the single largest party in the country, subject to the final outcome on May 23. "Naturally, the biggest political party should get a chance to lead," he told reporters. "All Congressmen believe that we will be biggest political party and as the biggest political party, we should be leading this country holding hand with all other like-minded political parties interested in giving a stable democratic, liberal and secular government to the country," he added. On the question that in the event of no party getting simple majority in Lok Sabha polls, whom should the President call, Surjewala said, "I think the norm on that is fairly established by the Supreme Court...and the norm as I understand is whoever has the largest number in pre-poll alliance is normally called first. And that is the settled principle as laid down by the Supreme Court." Earlier, Azad in an apparent mellowing of Congress' stand on the PM's post, had said in Patna, "It will be good if there is a consensus on Congress leader's name for heading the government at the Centre after the Lok Sabha election results are out. But we are not going to make it an issue that we (Congress) will not let any other (leader) to become the PM, if it is not offered to us (Congress)." The Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha had said the sole objective of the Congress is to stop the NDA from forming the government at the Centre. Asked about Modi's assurance of constructing a 'grand statue' of 19th century reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar at the same spot where his bust was vandalised in Kolkata, the Congress leader replied, "Now he should prepare for installing his own statue." Azad, however, was quick to add that "some alive persons also erect their statues as BSP supremo Mayawati had done in UP". Drug-resistant pathogens are the stuff horror movies are made of. But this is slowly becoming a reality as a long list of these harmful microbes begin to mutate or emerge unaffected by long-standing antibiotics. Since the discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming, modern medicine has saved millions of lives. But more and more of these pathogens fighting back, and breakthroughs in treatment coming coming few and far between, the threat is very real. The latest on the list? Candida auris; also known as C. auris. What is it? A deadly fungus with a high resistance to the most commonly available anti-fungal drugs and long incubation period, C. auris has emerged as a major global health threat. The fungus is highly infectious and with a mortality rate of 30-60 percent, as per a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) factsheet. Amplifying the threat is low knowledge and delayed detection of the bug. The CDC has identified three major reasons for concern to treat C. auris infections: - It is often multidrug-resistant, meaning that it is resistant to multiple antifungal drugs commonly used to treat Candida infections. - Difficult to identify with standard laboratory methods, and it can be misidentified in labs without specific technology, which may lead to inappropriate management. - Has caused outbreaks in healthcare settings through contact with contaminated environmental surfaces or equipment, or from person to person. For this reason, it is important to quickly identify C. auris in a hospitalised patient so that healthcare facilities can take special precautions to stop its spread. Detection and threat Considered an emerging pathogen because of the increasing numbers of infections, C. auris has been identified in multiple countries since it was recognised. The CDC report noted that patients who are infected with the fungus are also usually affected by other diseases, making it difficult to detect. Symptoms such as fevers and chills that do not go away after persistent treatment with antibiotics taken for a suspected bacterial infection should ring alarm bells for a possible C. auris infection. Identified in 2009 in Japan, followed by two cases in South Korea in 2011, and in India the same year, it has now spread to at least 30 countries over a span of just 10 years. ''Because identification of C. auris requires specialised laboratory methods, infections likely have occurred in other countries but have not been identified or reported,'' the CDC stated. In India, as many as 200 cases have been reported in hospitals in the last two years alone and research has shown that the strain grows well at 40 degrees Celsius, which explains why tropical countries like India tend to offer a better place for such germs to spread, Mint reported. The battleground is the intensive care units (ICUs) of hospitals, where the fungus finds ground to incubate and infect patients with lowered immunity. ''In some patients, this yeast can enter the bloodstream and spread throughout the body, causing serious invasive infections,'' the CDC factsheet added. Countries from which Candida auris cases have been reported, as of March 31, 2019 Source: CDC The first cases in India were detected by a team among 12 patients in two Delhi hospitals between 2011 to 2013. Leading the team was Anuradha Chowdhary from Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute, Delhi University, who told Mint that the fungus behaved like bacteria by cloning itself quickly and being easily transmittable. Chowdharys study found that of the 27 ICUs studied across the country, as many as 19 were affected by the fungus at different times during the period of the research. Mint cited another paper published in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy in 2017, which found that the number of C. auris infection cases was higher in public hospitals in North India. In 2017, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) issued an advisory and mandated hospitals to report the occurrence of the fungus. ''But many labs do not have access to higher-end identification systems, the cases go unreported,'' Dr Joy Sarojini Michael of Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore told the paper. Prevention & treatment The Mint report noted that as of now, three classes of anti-fungal drugs exist azoles, echinocandin, and polyenes, and C. auris shows highest resistance (nearly 90 percent) to the first line of drugs; the level of resistance to the second line of drugs is around 5-7 percent. The CDC factsheet points out that most C. auris infections are treatable with echinocandins. However, some C. auris infections have been resistant to all three main classes of antifungal medications, making them more difficult to treat and requiring multiple classes of antifungals at high doses. Chowdhary told Mint that when it comes to treatment, the options are limited and no new antifungal drug has entered the market in the last 10 years. While the prospect seems grim, simple preventive measures could go a long way. Once detected, the ICU and equipment must be properly disinfected and patients should be appropriately quarantined for treatment. In countries like India , a little over one million modern medicine doctors to treat a population of 1.3 billion people and only around 10 percent working in the public health sector, the shut down of facilities detected to house the fungus would be an expensive ask. File image Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath said legal action should be taken against BJP's Bhopal candidate Pragya Singh Thakur for calling Mahatma Gandhi's killer Nathuram Godse a "patriot". He said her statement reflected the BJP's way of thinking. "Now BJP will condemn it. But this is BJP's old style. First, it makes its leaders give a controversial statement and later condemns it. The people of the country must take cognizance of this. This shows the level of flaws in their thinking," Nath told reporters. Expressing displeasure over Thakur's remark, he said, "Legal action should be taken against her for stating so about our father of the nation." Thakur is contesting the Lok Sabha polls against former chief minister and Congress candidate Digvijay Singh. Nath also questioned Election Commission's decision to cut short the campaign period in West Bengal. "This decision is a result of the tie-up between the Centre and the EC. The ruling BJP should admit that it has a pact with the political parties as well as the EC," he said. Referring to former MP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's allegations that the Congress has failed to fulfil its important promise of waiving farmers' loans, he said, "I don't need a certificate from Shivraj Singh on the issue, but I need it from the people of the state." In his first appearance at a press conference, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted in opening remarks that the BJP will come back to power with a full majority on its own, but refused to take any questions, citing party discipline. In a surprised move, Modi showed up on the dais for a scheduled press conference by BJP president Amit Shah, who gave a detailed report card on the performance of the NDA government as well as party's extensive electioneering. Modi diverted questions, saying he will not answer because the press conference is being addressed by Shah, and in BJP's system, discipline has to be followed. "We are disciplined soldiers of the party. The party president is everything for us," Modi said. On the BJP's performance, Modi said,"the election has been amazing (shandar). Elections were held in a positive spirit. A government with full majority will come back after remaining in power for five years . This is probably happening after a very long time. This is a big deal in itself." "The public has decided on the next government. We have promised many things in our manifesto to take the country forward. As soon as possible, the new government will take charge and we will take decisions one after another," Modi added. He said India should impress the world with its diversity and democracy. "I believe some things we can proudly say to the world. This is the world's largest democracy, it is our responsibility to take the power of this democracy to the world. We should impress the world with the diversity of the democracy," he said. He said there was a time when Indian Premier League had to be shifted out of India due to polls, but under the current government, elections can be held even when the Ramzan was being observed and Easter commemorated. The prime minister said, during the campaigning, he told people that "I have come to thank you for your blessings....The country has always been with us. So in a way the campaigning was a way of saying thank you to the people. Even today, I am here to thank you and thank them through you." Modi said work to fulfil promises made in BJP's manifesto will be started as soon as the party comes to power. "We ensured last-mile delivery which was a new structure of governance...Our government will take up its responsibility as soon as possible," he added. The prime minister said the journey for an honest government started on May 17, 2014, a day after Lok Sabha election results were announced. "Election results came on May 16, 2014 and a huge casualty took place on May 17, 2014. Today is also May 17. People in 'Satta bazaar' who bet for Congress to win in elections faced huge losses on May 17," he added. Kamlendra Kanwar Bihar, which is a crucial battleground state for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), especially after it clinched a deal with Nitish Kumars Janata Dal (United) in 2016, is still steeped in intricate but obscurantist caste politics. With 40 seats at stake, this highly-politicised state has regard for Nitishs no-nonsense politics and inclusive approach, which cuts across caste lines and respect for Prime Minister Narendra Modis charisma. However, the caste factor still runs strong to hand out a fair chance to the jailed Lalu Prasads Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) whose caste (Yadavs) accounts for 14 per cent of the states electorate. The Congress is a relatively small player. Lack of job creation and absence of industries in Nitishs 13-year sway is, however, a sore point for the electorate and this could work against the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Unlike 2014 when there was a Modi wave in Bihar, this time around there is no wave but a less pronounced sentiment for the BJP and the NDA. At the same time, the undercurrent for son of the soil Lalu is strong not only among the Yadavs but even in other segments though Lalus son Tejashwi Yadav has manifest lack of resources to bank upon. With Lalu having been denied bail to campaign for his party, his demagoguery is no longer there to sway masses. Tejashwi is well-schooled in politics but no match for his father in wit and substance. His estrangement with his elder brother, Tej Pratap Yadav, has somewhat dampened Tejashwis campaign. Nowhere is the battle between the NDA and the rival combine of the RJD and the Congress is as pronounced as in Patna Sahib. Here two-time MP (on a BJP ticket) actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha is crossing swords with his erstwhile party this time on a Congress ticket. Sinha is pitted against Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who is a formidable opponent. Sinha is fighting with his back to the wall and considering that he is bad-mouthing Modi who he once revered like a demi-god, he evokes derision and scowls from a section of the electorate. Sinha has indeed been making common cause with Modis detractors, which is being looked upon as betrayal by many. Despite his two terms as Member of Parliament, Sinha is virtually a novice in politics with his participation in Lok Sabha debates too infrequent and too pedestrian. By contrast, Prasad is a political veteran who has given a good account of himself as a central minister. Nonetheless, this is a prestige fight and Prasad can hardly afford to take his victory for granted given the stakes involved. Patna Sahib is a constituency of over 21 lakh voters and Sinhas margin in 2014 was a significant 2.65 lakh. How much of the impressive margin was the result of Sinhas candidature will be revealed when the results come on May 23. Another prestigious battle will be between BJPs Ram Kripal Yadav and RJDs Misa Bharti, Lalus daughter. Misa had lost the Pataliputra Lok Sabha seat by about 40,000 votes in 2014 and while she no longer has Lalus demagoguery to support her, she is confronted by Modis waning charisma. In addition, sympathy for Lalu could help Misa this time around. In another key contest, Upendra Kushwaha of the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) who was earlier with the NDA but crossed sides to the RJD-Congress camp is seeking to test his strength against the NDA in Karakat. The Kushwahas have a six per cent share of the total vote and the BJP may well regret having jettisoned Upendra Kushwaha from the NDA to accommodate other allies such as Nitish and Lok Janashakti Partys Ram Vilas Paswan. There is also Congress stalwart late Jagjivan Rams daughter Meira Kumar pitted against BJPs Chhedi Paswan in Sasaram, where the contest is expected to be keen with an edge for the BJP. As for the Muslims who account for a sizeable 17 per cent of the electorate, the BJP is normally anathema but the joining of Nitish in the alliance has weaned away a section of them towards the NDA. A section of Muslims believe that Nitish is an insurance for them against any excesses by the BJP and that could prove the NDAs saving grace. All in all, the contest in Bihar could be keen but the NDA seems to have an edge, especially with Modi with all guns blazing taking on the opponents in the final stage. Kamlendra Kanwar is a senior journalist. Views are personal. For more Opinion pieces, click here When the rest of India has managed to have a relatively peaceful Lok Sabha election, West Bengal has shocked everyone with its attacks on candidates, polling booths, central police forces and even roadshows and rallies of top leaders during its seven-phase voting drill. Deluged by complaints from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Election Commission of India (ECI) has had to even curtail the campaign by 20 hours. The ECI also transferred two key aides of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who were accused of running the local law enforcement machinery to coerce TMCs political opponents and intimidate voters. The violence in the state hit a crescendo during a roadshow by BJP President Amit Shah in Kolkata on May 15. Clashes broke out between TMC and BJP supporters and in the process the bust of famous reformist Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820-1891), placed inside a college in his memory, was vandalised. Both parties blamed each other for the vandalism; Mamata blamed the BJP for trampling upon Bengals pride and culture, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi put the onus on Mamata and her supporters. Modi also promised to install a bigger statue for Vidyasagar, a key figure of the Bengal Renaissance. This episode brought out the contours of West Bengals current political battle: A well-entrenched regional party, headed by an ambitious satrap, has been resisting the possibility of a national party gaining acceptability among the people as an alternative option, filling the vacuum left behind by the Communists who ruled for three decades and their predecessor, the Congress. High stakes Bengal sends 42 MPs to the Lok Sabha the third largest number of MPs after Uttar Pradesh (80) and Maharashtra (48). In 2014, the TMC won 34 seats while the BJP won only two. This time the BJP is not likely to win as many seats as it did from the heartland in 2014. To make up for these losses, the party leaders have been extensively focusing on West Bengal and Odisha where it was the runners-up in many constituencies in 2014. Riding high on the Modi wave the BJP polled nearly 17 per cent votes in 2014. Subsequently, in the 2016 assembly polls, the BJP secured just over 10 per cent, which renewed Mamatas hold over voters. However, in 2018 panchayat polls, which was marred by violence, saw the BJP win 18 per cent of the seats, giving it a confidence to prepare for the Lok Sabha polls. Panchayats in West Bengal are seen as powerful tools to control at the ground level. The BJP claimed 52 of its workers were killed in the run up to the panchayat polls. The TMC countered the claim by saying it lost 14 of its workers. The levels of violence was so unprecedented that there were unusual sights of candidates of BJP, Congress and Left candidates going together to file their nominations to avoid attacks by the TMC. The three parties approached the courts as civic polls are conducted under the watch of the state election department and not the ECI. The three parties together blamed Mamatas TMC for the threats and violencewhich ensure that the TMC won 34 per cent of seats uncontested. After the panchayat polls, and in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls, political violence claimed many lives when supporters of the BJP, the Congress, the Left and the TMC clashed at various places. Among those who lost their lives were students, teachers, labourers, farmers, and shopkeepers. Mamatas ambition in Delhi Today, the battle for West Bengals 42 Lok Sabha seats is also about Mamatas hope to pitch fork herself as a potential prime ministerial candidate in the event of the numbers game not going in the BJPs favour. With 30-plus seats in her kitty, Mamata hopes to be naturally considered a PM candidate since the other contenders Sharad Pawar, Mayawati, N Chandrababu Naidu, K Chandrasekhar Rao cannot hope to have their partys tallies higher than hers, barring, of course, the Rahul Gandhi-led Congress. Mamata also fears that a victory for the BJP even in a handful of seats will ring alarm bells for her party in the 2021 assembly polls. Over the years, the BJP has emerged as the main challenger to the TMC. She has seen that the BJP has been able to draw to its fold workers from her party and other parties, primarily the CPI(M) in South Bengal. Many BJP candidates in the Lok Sabha polls today are disgruntled leaders from the TMC and the CPI(M). Didi in Bengal The irony of it all is that when Didi, as Mamata is called, ended the 34-year entrenched rule of the Marxists in West Bengal, she had given a call Bodla Noy, Bodol Chai (We Want Change, Not Revenge). She had herself faced a life-threatening assault from CPI(M) goons in Kolkata way back in August 1990. She had even paraded in Delhi more than once victims of the Left terror tactics who had lost their limbs and fingers because they dared not to vote for the Communists. Sadly even her first term (2011-2016) proved to be a repeat of what was witnessed under the Left rule from 1977 till 2011. In fact, the CPI(M) had to bear the brunt of violence unleashed by TMC goons in rural and suburban Bengal. The Left was forced to retreat in the wake of the murder of its lower-rung leaders. (The National Crime Research Board showed that Bengal topped the chart for political murders in 2013, accounting for 25 per cent of such crimes in India.) Undeterred by violence, the BJP has shown that it can challenge her rule, by seeking a foothold in the villages. Unfortunately, with the import of disgruntled TMC leaders and cadre, the local BJP did not shy away from using violence to resist the ruling party. The TMC has also accused the BJP of fomenting religious trouble. The BJPs campaign got a boost as Mamata feared losing the Muslim votes on her side and came with measures such as pensions for maulvis. The BJP expanded its base in districts where a Hindi-speaking population was on the rise. It also articulated concerns in the bordering districts, where an unchecked influx from Bangladesh created local problems. Restrictions over the Durga Puja celebration (because of Muharram) and Saraswati Puja sharpened the communal divide, and helped the BJP agenda. Mamatas vehement opposition to the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam and support for the Rohingya Muslim immigrants further polarised the people. BJPs Bengal connection and outsider tag The BJP has been at pains to reject Mamatas charge that it is an outsider party. It has pointed out that its current foray has a lot to do with the Bharatiya Jan Sangh (BJS) founder Syama Prasad Mookerjees roots in the state. Mookerjee had resisted the second Partition of Bengal. He came under the influence of RSS founder KB Hedgewar who studied medicine in Bengal. In fact, the RSS began its Hindutva work in 1950s in West Bengal. The BJS, as an earlier avatar of the BJP, won two Lok Sabha seats and nine assembly seats in first elections in 1952. However, it was not until 1998 that the BJP could register victory when Tapan Sikdar won the Dum Dum seat. He held on to the seat till 2004. Dum Dum is one of the nine Lok Sabha seats going to the polls on May 19. History of violence in Bengal Many Bengal analysts have pointed out that right from 1947 the states politics has witnessed violence, beginning with the Tebhaga movement. It was an uprising of sharecroppers demanding higher returns from the produce of the land they cultivated in undivided north Bengal. The rights over the land was also the core issue that saw an uprising by armed peasants in the small north Bengal village of Naxalbari against landlords in March 1967. That became the Naxal Movement in Bengal, in which many students, intellectuals, political activists and policemen lost lives as it was suppressed by the Congress government headed Siddhartha Shankar Ray. That period, according to the CPI(M), witnessed the killing of about 7,000 Communist workers by Consals a term of used for surrendered Naxalites who backed Rays Congress. The Left ended the Congress rule in 1977, undertook land reforms through Operation Barga. Sharecroppers (bargadars) became owners of land, bringing electoral dividend year-after-year until Jyoti Basus long rule also set industrial Bengal on the decline. Mamata entered the scene with a bang by steering the Singur and Nandigram land agitations against the Left governments decision to hand over agricultural land for industry. These agitations saw the Left accuse Mamata of taking help of the Maoists. Several incidents of large-scale political violence and killings rocked the state. Does it mean that a peaceful conduct of elections whether for the panchayat, assembly or Lok Sabha will remain a distant hope? Shekhar Iyer is former senior associate editor of Hindustan Times and political editor of Deccan Herald. Views are personal. For more Opinion pieces, click here The Guwahati Police on May 16 arrested a person acting as a "sleeper cell" of the ULFA and a woman accomplice for their role in the grenade blast that injured 12 people. The police identified the woman as author and actress Jahnabi Saikia. The police also recovered 20 kg of gunpowder, one 9 mm pistol, 25 rounds of live ammunition, ULFA documents, mobile phones and other "incriminating materials" from their rented accommodation at Panjabari locality in the city, Guwahati Police Commissioner Deepak Kumar told reporters. "We have arrested Pranmoy Rajguru, who is a pro-talk faction ULFA militant. He was acting as a sleeper cell of the outfit and was responsible for arranging all the logistics," he said. ULFA chief Paresh Baruah had reportedly claimed the responsibility for the blast minutes after it occurred, but the police was tight-lipped about the involvement of the outfit till these recoveries. At least 12 people, including two SSB personnel and a woman, were injured in the grenade blast in front of a shopping mall in the heart of the city on May 15. Rajguru, Kumar said, had joined the militant group in 1986 and is a senior cadre of the outfit. "The woman, identified as author and actress Jahnabi Saikia, was his accomplice in the crime. The house was rented by her and they moved there on May 1. They keep changing their locations," the police commissioner said. Kumar said both of them have confessed to their involvement in the grenade blast. He added that the police have identified two-three more people for their role in the crime and investigation is underway to nab them. "No one involved in this bomb blast will be able to escape. They will be arrested and punished. Strict instructions have been issued to the DGP in this regard," Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said on Thursday. Kumar had Wednesday told PTI that two people riding a motorcycle hurled the grenade in front of the shopping mall located at arterial R G Baruah Road, just opposite the state zoo around 8 pm. Visiting the spot, DGP Kuladhar Saikia had said that a police barricade was set up in front of the mall to conduct routine checks of vehicles, and it is suspected the grenade was hurled aiming the police party. The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) jawans were on patrolling duty with Assam Police personnel near the barricade. Dismissing his colleague Ram Madhav's assessment that the BJP will need the support of allies to form government, senior leader P Muralidhar Rao says his party will get more than 280 seats while the NDA's tally will be 300 plus. Regional leaders like BSP supremo Mayawati and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav are irrelevant in the national context, the BJP's national general secretary told PTI. Taking a potshot at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Telangana counterpart K Chandrasekhar Rao, he said everybody is thinking of becoming prime minister regardless of the numbers their parties might get in the elections. Discussing Madhav's comment in a recent interview that the BJP will require the support of allies to form the next government, he said, My entire party does not agree with him. It is not me alone. My party president, my PM candidate and my party have expressed the opinions disagreeing... And I have also learnt that he has changed his view after his interview." Rao said the BJP has got a clear advantage and this perception has increased phase by phase. So, in my view, we will either not be less than 300 (with NDA allies) or 280 plus on our own, Rao said. We will be calling it NDA government. In 2014 also, we formed the NDA government but we had our own majority. So the same situation will continue, he said. Modi said in a rally in Bihar this week that the BJP will cross the 300 mark on its own. According to Rao, the Congress and opposition parties have been unable to put up a united front to fight the BJP. Though they were desirous of giving a united fight, they could not translate it into action, the senior party functionary said ahead of the last round of the seven-phase election on May 19. To a question on the party's probable tally in Uttar Pradesh, which has 80 Lok Sabha seats, Rao said the BJP is seen as a party with a "Delhi advantage". Because of this, people think Mayawati is no choice for Delhi. Akhilesh Yadav is no choice for Delhi. Even the voters of these parties think... why should we vote for this party when they are not relevant in the Delhi context," he said. Referring to the SP-BSP alliance in UP, Rao said their politics will not work in the state and the BJP will be able to improve its position in UP and the entire north India. I don't see a great deficit or shortfall (there), Rao said, when asked whether the BJP will be able to maintain its 2014 tally of 71 in Uttar Pradesh. Reacting to KCR's reported statement that the next prime minister should be from south India, Rao said everybody is thinking of becoming the prime minister, whether or not they have the numbers. When he (KCR) is saying so he must be having his own name (for becoming the PM). Mamata Banerjee is contesting 42 seats in Bengal... She is also available for PM. So everybody is thinking (of becoming the pm), he said. Rao said the party will get all the seats in Rajasthan this time too. In a state like Rajasthan where we had 100 per cent seats, all 25, we cannot win more seats. So our entire effort is to retain that number and achieve that number again. With the kind of feedback we are getting in MP and Rajasthan, we will be able to get the same number if seats we had in 2014, he said. The party got 27 of 29 seats in Madhya Pradesh in the last general election. Talking about Bihar, he said Modi wave is at its peak in the state. The feedback is our alliance is going to do very well in Bihar and we will be adding one or two seats to our previous result as we are going to do in Karnataka, Rao said. BJP has joined hands with Nitish Kumar-led JD (U) and Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party in Bihar. Rao said the issues of corruption and the Rafale jet deal raked up by the Congress and the opposition parties has gone against them. Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and all the opposition parties will realise this after May 23 results. I have gone to many parts of the country and there I have talked to people and there they are not willing to accept that Modi can be corrupt... So attacking him has not given any advantage to Congress or to the entire opposition, Rao said. File Image: Mamata Banerjee Subir Roy Tolerance in Indias public life has reached a new low. The process which can be said to have begun in its present form with the installation of the Trinamool Congress government led by Mamata Banerjee in 2011 in West Bengal, gathered momentum under the NDA government which came to power in 2014 and has reached a nadir of sorts with the current Lok Sabha elections. What is perhaps most serious is that the intolerant mindset is not restricted to any single political party. Hence, it is likely to continue, irrespective of who comes to power. The first major sign of this intolerant mindset surfaced with the 2012 arrest of a professor at Jadavpur University, Kolkata for, of all things, posting a cartoon poking fun at the West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. The cartoon, neither offensive nor libelous, depicted a vanishing act conducted by a magician in the manner of a character in a Satyajit Ray childrens movie. Perhaps even more than the intolerance, the official action represented a singular lack of humour. What was not funny was the taxpayer money spent in paying compensation to the professor on court orders. Today, it is the same West Bengal government which has been reprimanded by the Supreme Court for arresting a woman BJP activist for posting a picture of actress Priyanka Chopra with the actresss face being morphed into that of Mamata Banerjees. Again, the meme circulated on the social media was not offensive or libelous, though it could well be faulted for not being all that funny. Earlier this year, the West Bengal government found itself in another controversy when it was taken to court for obstructing the screening of a new movie Bhobishyater Bhoot which was a sequel to another popular film by the same director. The latest film is based on a group of ghosts gathered together in a deserted refugee colony contemplating an existential crisis how to remain relevant by engaging in issues that matter today and how to also find a home, what with old haunted buildings giving way to property developers projects. The assembled ghosts on the lines of a politician, extortionist and cabaret artiste -- think of going on social media and boning up on contemporary themes. In the process, the film turns out to be a deeply satirical one on current realities. It is the dark humour and the mocking of a politician in the film which the states official machinery found unacceptable. The Supreme Court not only ordered the same official machinery to ensure that the films screening was not obstructed but also awarded damages. There again the government of Banerjee showed itself to be singularly lacking in a sense of humor. While these West Bengal developments got people into trouble, they did not threaten lives. But others havent been so lucky. Gauri Lankesh, a Karnataka based-journalist, editor and activist who was critical of right-wing Hindu extremism, and campaigned for womens rights and opposed caste-based discrimination, was shot down in front of her Bengaluru home in 2017. One of the most pointed articulations of current trends in India and what made up the basic ethos of the country came from former President Pranab Mukherjee in an address in 2018 to the RSS, the organization at the core of Hindutva. He argued that any attempt to define India through religion, hatred, dogmas and intolerance will dilute the nations existence. Indias soul resided in pluralism and tolerance, he said. He added that every day we see increased violence around us. At the heart of this violence is darkness, fear and mistrust. We must free our public discourse from all forms of violence, physical as well as verbal. Interestingly, Mukherjees decision to visit the RSS headquarters and speak at a public event there was criticized by many, including people from his own Congress party and his own daughter because it was seen to give the RSS some kind of legitimacy. The RSS chief, on the other hand, described this controversy as meaningless, adding that Mukherjee will remain what he is and the Sangh will remain the Sangh after the event. Kannan Sundaram, a publisher, told a literary gathering in 2018, that in todays context, majority fundamentalism is the biggest threat to a writer and an artists free expression. But he simultaneously cautioned that Hindu intolerance cannot be met by anti-Hindutva intolerance. The real counter is to meet it with tolerance, discussion, debate, peaceful demonstrations and campaigns. Subir Roy is a senior journalist. Views expressed are personal. Stakes are high for the BJP as high-decibel seats of Varanasi and Gorakhpur are all set to vote in the last phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections on May 19. The world will be watching Varanasi as it is the home turf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi; while Gorakhpur is the citadel of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. It becomes important to note here that both Modi and Adityanath are considered star campaigners by the saffron party. Varanasi In the 2014 general elections, Narendra Modi had won Varanasi by a margin of 3.7 lakh votes, polling 58 percent votes from the seat. Not only that, he had trounced 41 candidates to win from the seat, of which 40 lost their deposits. The only candidate to get a significant number of votes was Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, but he too managed only 2 lakh votes. This time too, the seat is going to be closely watched. Samajwadi Party had earlier fielded Shalini Yadav, daughter-in-law of Shyamlal Yadav, who was elected MP from Varanasi in 1984. The Akhilesh Yadav-led party later attempted to counter Modis chowkidar campaign by fielding ex-BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav. But, the Election Commission rejected his nomination, saying he failed to submit a certificate that he was not sacked for either corruption or disloyalty. Read Also | Rejection of my nomination a political conspiracy, says ex-BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav As a result of this, SP finalized Shalini Yadav as their candidate from Varanasi. Shalini has only contested for the 2017 mayoral election on a Congress ticket, in which she came second after the BJP. The Congress, on the other hand, has fielded Ajay Rai from Varanasi. Rai belongs to the Bhumihar community and has a considerable following among Bhumihars and Brahmins. He won the UP assembly elections from Kolasala seat three times in a row on a BJP ticket between 1996 and 2007. In 2009, he contested unsuccessfully against BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi (who won by a slender margin of 17,000 votes) on an SP ticket. It is noteworthy that Congress supporters in the constituency seemed to be demoralised when Priyanka Gandhi turned down her much-anticipated candidature from the seat. Modi had promised to make Varanasi Indias Kyoto, the Japanese town famous for its temples. For this, the Centre had allocated a whopping Rs 30,000 crore in various development projects. The Kashi-Vishwanath corridor and Clean Ganga project are some popular ones. Read Also | Ground Report: From Ganga cruise to Kashi corridor, PM Modi goes the extra mile to woo voters in Varanasi Meanwhile, the SP-BSP-RLD gathbandhan, as well as the Congress, will be banking on the caste dynamic in Varanasi. Muslims form the largest chunk of the electorate here with around 3 lakh voters. They are followed by Brahmins (2.5 lakh), Kurmis (1.5 lakh), Yadavs (1.5 lakh), Bhumihars (1.5 lakh) and Dalits (80,000). In the previous elections, the combined vote share of the gathbandhan was 10.7 percent, while Congress could poll only 7.3 percent. However, in 2009, the gathbandhan polled 46.6 percent votes against Murli Manohar Joshis 30.5 percent. Gorakhpur Such was his popularity that the first thing that came to mind when one said Gorakhpur was Yogi Adityanath. He had polled 54.6 percent votes and won the seat with a margin of over 3 lakh votes. Once a mahant of the celebrated Gorakhnath temple, which stands tall at the centre of Gorakhpur, he was made the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh after his glorious victory. Adityanath had won the seat five times in a row between 1998 and 2014. Before that, Gorakhpur was held by Adityanaths guru, Yogi Avaidyanath. However, Adityanath had to vacate the seat to become chief minister, and bypolls were held in the seat in 2018. This is when the BJP lost its citadel to SP-BSP combine. This is also when SP-BSP realized the power of their combined vote share and dubbed it the Gorakhpur model. Read Also | Could Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav change the dynamics of UP politics? This time around, the BJP has fielded Brahmin Bhojpuri actor Ravi Kishan, who according to party leaders enjoys the support of Adityanath as opposed to Upendra Shukla, the partys bypoll candidate. While campaigning for Ravi Kishan, Adityanath is seen telling crowds that if the actor wins, he would set up a Bhojpuri film studio which would give employment to at least 1 lakh youth. Read Also | Yogi Adityanath takes lead role in Gorakhpur, Ravi Kishan plays supporting cast Contesting against him is SPs Rambhuyan Nishad. Praveen Nishad, who had led the party to victory during the 2018 bypoll, joined the BJP recently but wasn't given a ticket. The Nishad community, which forms a significant chunk of voters in Gorakhpur, is apparently not happy with this move. While Varanasi is a contest of prestige, Gorakhpur is a battle for bastion and both will be watched keenly by pundits and commoners alike. Pataliputra in Bihar has prepared ground for a Yadav vs Yadav battle in the upcoming seventh phase of the Lok Sabha elections. In the fray from this seat are Lalu Prasads daughter Misa Bharti and his close aide Ram Kripal Yadav, who had left the RJD to join the BJP just ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. At that time, the RJD camp was brimming with betrayal, and Misa is now seen cashing in on that betrayal. In the constituency, which has a significant chunk of Yadavs, both the BJP and the RJD have fielded Yadav candidates and the fight between Lalus daughter and close aide will indeed be absorbing. However, traversing through several towns of the Pataliputra districts paints a different story altogether. In Danapur, the traditional voter base has always favoured the lantern, which is the party symbol of the RJD. Yadavs in Bhagwatipur, a quaint hamlet in Danapur, have always supported Lalu and this time, have made up their mind to support Misa, who connects well with women too. However, winning the Yadav vote doesnt seem to be enough. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Misa lost Pataliputra to Ram Kripal Yadav by 40,000 votes; and in the 2009 general election, Lalu Prasad had lost to JD(U) candidate Ranjan Prasad Yadav by 23,000 votes. In both cases, the CPI(M) polled more votes than the loss margin. This time, the Left is supporting Misa in return for the RJDs support of their candidate in Arrah. So much so, that more red flags were seen canvassing Misas rally than the RJDs. In addition, Upendra Kushwahas RLSP is supporting the gathbandhan, which could add the votes of the Kushwaha (OBC comunity) votes in Misas kitty. On the other hand, the votes pulled by the JD(U) in the last election over 97,000 will now be in BJPs favour. In addition, Kurmis, the caste which Nitish Kumar belongs to, may end up voting for the BJP. This makes non-Yadav votes the key deciding factor in the Yadav dominated area. As far as local issues are concerned, most Danapur residents are unhappy with both Misa and sitting MP Ram Kripal Yadav , particularly for failing to check periodic floods. In the last election, people voted for a sturdier bridge across the Ganga so as to shorten the distance between Patna and Chhapra, but were left disappointed. Besides, after Nitish Kumar introduced new contract rules, Yadav youths in the business of selling sand lost their jobs. Representative Image In a bid to increase the speed of counting of votes on May 23, the Election Commission (EC) has allowed to increase the number of tables in some Lok Sabha and assembly constituencies in the Maharashtra. According to a letter the Kolhapur district collectorate has received from the EC, there will be 20 tables each instead of 14 in Kolhapur and Hatkanangale Lok Sabha constituencies. The EC also allowed to increase the number of tables in Maval and Panvel assembly constituencies, which are part of Maval Lok Sabha seat. "The decision is taken mainly due to the number of polling stations in these Lok Sabha and assembly segments. With more number of polling stations, the actual counting procedure with only 14 tables will take over 10 hours to finalise the results," Sanjay Shinde, resident collector of Kolhapur, said. "Similar is the case with Maval and Panvel assembly segments, which are part of Maval Lok Sabha seat. Both the assembly segments have more than 800 polling stations, whereas general average is of 700-800 polling stations in every assembly segment," an official from Pune district collectorate said. "Hence, the EC has permitted to use more tables, so that counting of more polling stations can commence at once," he said. The VVPAT machines as well as service voters' papers with bar-codes are going to be counted as well, Shinde said. "The bar-code feature is going to increase the counting time. Hence, the state officials have requested the ECI to increase the counting tables and deploy more people for this procedure," he added. These requests have been accepted as well. A detailed communication will be shared soon, the official from Pune said, adding that the ECI has already started training sessions for the counting day. File image This very long election is now almost over and we will soon know what the public thinks about the many important issues raised during the campaign. We are all agog to find out what stand the voters have taken on some of the most thought-provoking matters. For instance, voters have to decide whether ex-prime minister Rajiv Gandhi did indeed party with friends and relatives, some of them Italian, on board the aircraft carrier INS Viraat and if so, did he endanger national security or did he just save some money by having the party on the ship instead of in a hotel. At first glance, the voters decision seems easy enough. Since there has never been even the remotest possibility that an ancestor of Narendra Modi entertained anybody on Indian Navy ships, the vote should go to the BJP, assuming the voter agrees that entertaining on Navy ships is a genetic trait passed down via male progeny. After all, its quite likely this sort of thing runs in families. But hold on a second----even Mayawatis and Mamatas ancestors have not been accused of partying on Navy ships. I am not so sure about Akhilesh though, his dad was defence minister in the 90s. It is also entirely possible that one of Stalins forefathers entertained some foreigner while serving on a ship during the Chola empire. To be sure, there are all these pictures of Modiji on a ship with Akshay Kumar, who is supposedly a Canadian citizen, but that may merely have been an attempt to reinforce cordial Indo-Canadian relations. The fact remains, though, that the voter perturbed by Rajiv Gandhis alleged partying may well choose to vote for Mayawati or Mamata. Talking of Mamata, the important thing for voters is what to make of the beheading of the Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar statue. It is unlikely that anybody demolished the statue because he was against the great mans policy of widow remarriage, although one cant rule out the possibility of some henpecked guy who had married a shrewish widow taking his anger out on Vidyasagars statue. But its far more likely the goons thought the statue was of Rajiv Gandhiin a dim light, seen from a certain angle, there is a distinct similarity. Its unclear, though, which way people will vote on this. Voters also have to weigh Amit Shahs accusation that Mamata prevents people from chanting Jai Shri Ram in Bengal. However, there is a simple explanation to this. Bongs are incapable of pronouncing Jai because the language lacks the short a sound. That is why they say Joy Hind and Joy Awmit Shah and Joy Shree Ram. Nobody is preventing them from saying Jai, they just cant do it. In fact, in Bengal voters will not choose Mamata or Narendra, but either Mawmota or Nawrendro. Voters have also to determine whether Nathuram Godse was a terrorist or an assassin or an extremist, after Kamal Haasan drew their attention to it. At some polling booths, long lines of voters studying the Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary, Merriam-Websters Advanced Learners English Dictionary and the Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology to decide this issue have been spotted. The matter has been further complicated by Pragya Thakur, herself accused of aiding a terrorist plot, saying Godse was a patriot and then apologising---this has left the dictionary users scratching their heads. She has also posed a difficult question to voters: did anti-terrorist cop Hemant Karkare, so long thought to have been killed by terrorists, actually die because of her curses? Voters also have to make up their minds about her assertion that cow urine cured her cancer. The elections will tell us whether voters are pro or anti-cow urine. Needless to add, if they are anti-urine, they could be cursed. Taken together with Sakshi Maharajs cursing folk who dont vote for him, its likely the combination of curses and the benefits of cow urine therapy would prove to be a potent weapon for these candidates. The problem for Pragyaji is that her opponent Digvijay Singh has Computer Baba in his corner. Voters have a choice between the Sadhvi and the Baba. Moving from religion to science, the scientific question of whether radars work with cloud cover is another major issue voters have to grapple with, together with whether email and digital cameras existed in 1988. Those who say they didnt havent considered the possibility of time travel, which would allow a person to get to the future, grab a gadget or two and return. There have been reports of voters watching The Time Machine over and over to make up their minds on this important issue, apart from cogitating on WhatsApp forwards, of course. In fact, a time machine would be very useful to voters for a lot of the issues in this election. For example, it would take such a machine a few minutes to travel back to 1954 and check whether Nehru did indeed suppress news about the Kumbh Mela stampede that year. But even if they went there, they would still have to decide whether an ancestor suppressing news of a Kumbh Mela disaster is worse than the suppression of a government report on unemployment. This election has seen hardly any discussion about the economy. The only concern is that if everybody becomes a security guard, can the economy flourish by all of us charging fat fees from each other to guard each other? While some believe the excess supply of watchmen could drive down their wages, economists point out that, according to Says Law, the supply of chowkidars will create its own demand for chowkidars. Finally, since much of this election has been about history and nationalism, I will have to say a word about my ex-colleague Tony Josephs book Early Indians: The Story Of Our Ancestors And Where We Came From, which says our forefathers were a bunch of Homo Sapiens who came from Africa ages ago. Some of us feel insulted by the idea that our first ancestors werent Aryans born in some cave here and these people are very agitated about the book. It is absolutely essential for our nation for voters to decide whether we came from Africa 65,000 years ago, or whether we are actually descended from ape-like proto-humans who lived here 100,000 years ago. That is probably, in a nutshell, what this election is all about. In 2018, BMW cut the lead of rival and market leader Mercedes. And in Q1 CY19, it continued to outpace the struggling German luxury behemoth, further narrowing the gap. Hans-Christian Baertels, President (acting) and CFO, BMW India, said the carmaker has six more launches lined up for 2019. Edited excerpts: A. There will be no prediction from our side. We have 10 launches this year, we will try to leverage them as best as we can. The product substance will speak for itself. In 2018, we outperformed the market. In January-May, we have done well against the market trend. But this is not because we were planning to do it like that, it happened as we focused on products and customers. A: We had the John Cooper Works (Mini), 530iM Sport and Z4 so far this year. Up ahead, we have the X7, 3 Series, 7 Series, X3 M and X4 M. We might see the Mini Clubman and X1 facelift by end of the year. This is good for us to make a statement, but we want to ask buyers to come to our showrooms and experience the product. Q: The petrol version of the X5 is Bharat Stage-VI compliant, but what about the price impact of the Is working on BS-VI complaint diesel version of X5 A: We are working on it. The BS-VI will come at a certain cost, but we have to talk to Munich (BMWs headquarters) on how to minimise the impact. Its a big concern for us. The smaller the car the more disruptive it really is in terms of price impact. We are trying to get the number down to the minimum.A: We have been running the i3 (hybrid) for six years now. There are several countries which are very friendly for EVs and hybrids. That is yet to happen in India. But it can happen very quickly and we need to be ready. Our ambition is to talk to Munich to figure out which models would be the most relevant for us and bring them to our plant in Chennai. Post that, we need to see what are the necessary investments and how big would the customer base be. A: Yes, we have. In India, such things move very fast and you have to be ready for new legislation. If you start talking to Munich then, you lose time. And our headquarters know that this will happen in all the markets at some stage. Same thing goes for shared mobility. Every market has a different environment, players and data bandwidth. So, we need to figure out if we need to do our own thing or do we need to rely on local players. A: I dont hope at any time point in time to be in that situation where I have to make a choice like that. I hope things will happen in a way that clearly says this is the time to do it now. If there is a huge uncertainty about how big the market is and how reliable the legal environment is to do things in a certain way, then I am not comfortable.A: Almost everything we sell is localised. About 90 percent of our sales are localised. Except for Z4 and M branded vehicles, everything else is localised. The tensions between Iran and the United States are escalating by the day. Iran President Hassan Rouhani has said the country is facing "unprecedented pressure" from international sanctions, calling it a "war unprecedented in the history of Islamic revolution". Meanwhile, the US on its part ordered a partial evacuation of its Baghdad embassy in Iraq, Iran's neighbour, on May 14. The drums of war between the two nations started beating ever since. Experts monitoring the situation have said a potential US-Iran conflict would prove to be catastrophic for the entire region, with countries like Israel also likely to be pulled in. How did it all start? The relations between US and Iran have been in troubled waters ever since US President Donald Trump assumed office in 2016. As a candidate, Trump's campaign included blasting the deal between Iran and six other nations called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreement to curb Iran's nuclear programme. Trump had called it the "worst deal ever negotiated". In May 2018, Trump pulled out of the agreement, calling it "decaying and rotten". The tussle between US and Iran has been on ever since. More recently in April, the US designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (ISGC) as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO). More commonly known as the Revolutionary Guards, it is Iran's elite military force, and Trump stated that this was for the first time that the US had designated a part of a foreign government as an FTO. Then on April 22, US announced that it would stop extending sanction waiver to nations importing Iranian oil a move that had direct impact on India. Iran had hit back by signalling that it might start part of its nuclear programme, as also stating that it will close the vital Strait of Hormuz for commercial shipping purposes. Come May, sabotage on oil tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, and a drone attack on Saudi pipeline were blamed on Iran and its proxies. Reports suggest that as a response to intelligence received regarding Iranian actions against its personnel, the US decided to send its warships and bombers to the region. Where do things stand now? At this point, the US has said it does not want war with Iran "fundamentally". Trump has also said he expects that the pressure exerted on Iran will bring it back to the negotiating table. Iran, on its part, has been stating that it won't negotiate with the US, but has also made it clear that the country does not want a war. At the same time, leaders from both sides have claimed that they are ready in case a conflict breaks out. The New York Times has reported that the US reviewed its military plans against Iran. The plan included sending over 120,000 troops to the Middle East in case the Iranian forces attack US personnel stationed in the region, or start accelerating its work on the nuclear programme. On the Iranian side, commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami has said Iran is "on the cusp of a full-scale confrontation with the enemy". What is the international community saying? Countries that could directly be affected by a conflict between US and Iran are keeping a wary eye on the developments. America's European allies have kept their distance, but cautioned that additional US pressure on Iran might lead to Tehran repealing the nuclear agreement. According to reports, the British, Netherlands and German forces deployed in Iraq and Syria have downplayed the immediate threat from Iran. Germany and Netherlands have, however, suspended training of its soldiers in Iraq due to the "generally heightened" state of alert in the region. Qatar has also moved to de-escalate tensions between the two countries. Qatar's Foreign Minister met his Iranian counterpart on May 15 to discuss ways to resolve the crisis. How is India placed in all this? India was Iran's second largest buyer last year, and Tehran was the third largest supplier of oil to India. After the US announcement of cancellation of sanction waiver, India completely stopped importing oil from Iran. While India does not rely on Iranian oil, the stopping of import comes at a significant cost: for India, importing oil from Iran was convenient both financially and geographically. India's overall relationship with Iran can also get affected by the growing tensions, according to observers. For India, Iran provides an access to Central Asia and Europe by bypassing Pakistan. Experts have argued that India needs to finely balance its approach towards Iran and the US, since a significant amount of Indian interests lie in both countries. With Iran, for instance, India is developing the Chabahar project, which the US has said won't be affected by its refusal to renew sanction waivers. Officially, India has stated that it would want all parties to continue fulfil their commitments and resolve all issues "peacefully and through dialogue". Moreover, according to an Indian Express report, over 8 million Indian migrants live and work in West Asia, and they could be affected by a potential conflict in the region. In terms of India's relationship with Washington, with the US pulling strings in the listing of Masood Azhar as global terrorist, experts state that it expects India to reciprocate on Iran. Google launched its first Pixel device in 2016. The smartphone was lauded for its camera unit and was even awarded as the best camera on a smartphone. The device, however, did come with some issues, one of which is a faulty microphone unit. A class action lawsuit was filed against Google for launching faulty Pixel devices. The lawsuit stated that Google manufactured Pixel devices with a faulty microphone unit until January 4, 2017. Google had acknowledged the issue in March 2017, and soon, the lawsuit was filed against it. The faulty microphone unit caused a problem for users while making calls or while using the voice assistant. Google stated that there was a small hairline crack in the solder connection on the audio codec, which resulted in a defective microphone unit. Google has settled the lawsuit for an amount of $7.25 million and agreed to pay up to $500 to owners of Pixel 1 and Pixel 1 XL manufactured before January 4, 2017. The settlement agreement states that the highest payout of $500 would be due to owners of Pixel 1 and Pixel 1 XL, who got a defective replacement device against their faulty original unit. Owners with the original defective device would get up to $350, whereas users who fixed the problem through insurance can get their amount repaid. The lawsuit also stated the Pixel owners who did not complain or face any issue would be eligible for a $20 payout. Although Google has agreed to settle, the next hearing of the lawsuit would take place on June 5. Google was previously involved in a similar lawsuit wherein the company agreed to pay $9.75 million to Nexus 6P owners due to a bug that caused shutdowns and boot loops. The eldest son of Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav is not happy. Miffed over not being allowed to speak a word at the recently concluded Mahagathbandhan rally in Bihars Pataliputra, Tej Pratap Yadav posted an emotional tweet about his fathers absence. The rally was attended by his siblings Misa Bharti and Tejashwi Yadav and AICC president Rahul Gandhi. Hinting about feeling sidelined and ignored in the rally, Tej Pratap took to Twitter on Friday and used the hashtag: I miss you papa. He further claimed that had his father been around, he would not have been ignored. At the moment, Lalu Prasad is serving his jail term for being convicted in the Fodder Scam case. The young RJD leader alleged that despite Rahul Gandhi personally asking him to speak at the rally, he did not get a chance to address the audience. According to an India Today report, he went on to attack the Congress over the treatment meted out to its Bihar Mahagathbandhan allies, claiming incidents like these will defeat their purpose. Alluding to the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, he addressed the media after the rally on Thursday and said: If they [Congress] do not let the soldiers handle the front, how will we win the war?" Notably, Tej Pratap was campaigning for his sister and now RJD chief Misa Bharti; his younger brother Tejashwi Yadav was also present at the rally. Misa is contesting the ongoing elections from Pataliputra constituency for the second time; she had contested in 2014 unsuccessfully. Due to differences with his younger brother Tejashwi, Tej had even quit as the patron of RJDs student wing. Later, the two brothers agreed to keep their differences aside and campaign together for their eldest sister. PM Narendra Modi Mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress President Rahul Gandhi shared a new word Modilie with netizens on Wednesday. He tweeted a photoshopped screengrab of a replica of the Oxford Dictionary website showing an entry of the word. Rahul wrote: Theres a new word in the English Dictionary. Attached is a snapshot of the entry. In the screen grab, the word Modilie is listed as a noun and is defined as: to constantly Modify the truth, to lie incessantly and habitually, and to lie without respite. In the subsequent paragraphs, there is a list telling readers how the word can be used in a concrete sentence, such as Modiliar and Modilying. Rahul tweeted the same information twice. In the first screenshot he shared, the logo read Oxford Living Dictionaries. The new screenshot, on the other hand, had a logo that read English Living Dictionaries. He later went on to post more such pictures and memes on Twitter. Theres a new word in the English Dictionary. Attached is a snapshot of the entry :) pic.twitter.com/xdBdEUL48r Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 15, 2019 We can confirm that the image showing the entry Modilie is fake and does not exist in any of our Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford Dictionaries (@OxfordWords) May 16, 2019 Of course, no such word is actually listed on the Oxford Dictionary website, and they replied to Rahul's tweet later, to make sure no one is misconstrued. Rahul was presumably alluding to frequent Congress allegations accusing the PM of lying on several occasions. Notably, this is not the first time the Congress party has used the word Modilie. It can, in fact, be traced back to 2012, when it was used to criticize Modi, who was then the chief minister of Gujarat. Eight serial blasts rocked Sri Lanka on Easter and turned several otherwise jaunty gatherings into macabre sites. The bombings of churches and posh hotels that claimed 253 lives promptly put Tamil-speaking Islamist groups in India and Lanka under the scanner. Shortly after, the National Thowheed Jamaath (NTJ), one of the prime suspects of the blasts in Lanka was banned by the government; the Islamic State (IS) later claimed responsibility for the blasts. President Maithripala Sirisena used emergency powers to ban the outfit along with another group called the Jamathei Millathu Ibraheem (JMI). Lankan counter-terrorism experts believe NTJ to owe its origin to the Sri Lanka Thowheed Jamaath (SLTJ). Now, SLTJ is a known fundamentalist group that believes furthering the cause of the Wahhabi version of Islam; the group is also known to spew racial hatred and even vandalise pagodas and endorse IS brand of jihad. Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamaath (TNTJ), which faced the brunt of speculatory blame in the wake of the attack, is an affiliate of SLTJ. In the past, the latter had even hosted TNTJ leaders on Lankan soil. Although TNTJ is seemingly a hardliner religious body, it insists it had no role to play in the April 21 blasts, according to a report by the Hindustan Times. The allegations still kept coming from all quarters, laced with frequent latent media trials, forcing the leaders to finally address a presser to official deny the accusations and condemn the terror attacks as anti-Islamic. Commenting on the allegations, B Abdul Rehman, the Vice-President of TNTJ, said: Connecting NTJ with TNTJ is like saying All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) are sister groups because DMK is common to both their names. Thowheed is an Arabic word that means oneness of God, and several organisations use it. No government has linked us with NTJ Whoever has carried out the attacks cannot be a real Muslim. TNTJ runs 600 mosques in the state and holds summer camps for kids. It also extends ambulance services and arranges blood donation camps, apart from providing medical and educational help to needy Muslims. The organisation additionally runs old age homes, orphanages, and Islamic schools. US President Donald Trump on May 16 unveiled immigration reform proposals that would dramatically increase the quota for skilled workers. "The biggest change we make is to increase the proportion of highly skilled immigration from 12 per cent to 57 per cent, and we'd like to even see if we can go higher," Trump said. "This will bring us in line with other countries and make us globally competitive." "We cherish the open door that we want to create for our country. But a big proportion of those immigrants must come in through merit and skill," he said at the White House. Under the proposed reforms, immigrants will be "required to learn English and to pass a civics exam prior to admission," Trump said. The US president also took aim at what he said were abuses of the country's asylum system. "Our nation has a proud history of affording protection to those fleeing government persecutions. Unfortunately, legitimate asylum seekers are being displaced by those lodging frivolous claims," Trump said. The plan -- which the US president said would make the country's immigration system "the envy of the modern world" -- is unlikely to get far in the sharply divided US Congress. Trump has staked his presidency on his insistence that the United States is being overrun by migrants and asylum seekers. But opponents, mostly in the Democratic Party, say his push for building more barriers on the Mexican border and his frequent denunciations of migrants as dangerous criminals incites racial hatred. The president declared an emergency to bypass Congress and unlock billions of dollars in funding for his controversial wall project, and has also deployed troops to the border with Mexico. (AFP)SCY . The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Ahmedabad has busted, what it claims to be, an international racket involving smugglers from Pakistan, China, Myanmar and India teaming up to import high-end drones into Indian heartland through the northeastern border of India. The DRI stated in a release on Thursday that its officials rounded up the alleged Ahmedabad-based mastermind of the racket and he has admitted the offences. The agency said the racket had been going on since 2017 and thousands of drones valued at over Rs 10 crore and involving duty evasion of around Rs 3 crore have been smuggled into India. The DRI has been able to intercept and seize 85 high-end drones of DJI Mavic, DJI Phantom and MI brands. Besides, 27 DJI Mavic Air Fly More Kit and 34 DJI Ronin S hand-held gimbal stabilizer for DSLR and mirrorless camera, smuggled from China, having a market value of more than Rs 1 crore, were also seized from the tempo van that was carrying the smuggled goods from Air Cargo Complex, Ahmedabad and from the shop of the allegedly involved person in Paldi area of Ahmedabad. According to DRI, Pakistani-based firms placed an order for drones with Chinese firms. The drones were supplied by Chinese firms to a warehouse in Dehong, Yunnan located in South China and is close to the eastern border of Myanmar. From Dehong, the Myanmar smugglers were tasked to get them across China-Myanmar border into Myanmar. After the drones reached Myanmar, they were transported hundreds of kilometres away to a place called Tamu in Mayanmar. From there, it was transported to India through Moreh and on to Imphal. Different modes of transport were used to reach the drones till Imphal. And from Imphal, domestic airlines were used to get the drones to Ahmedabad. This was done by declaring the prohibited cargo as camera stand, household goods, electronic items and so on to elude detection by Indian agencies, the DRI release stated. From Ahmedabad, it was couriered to different locations in India. The money was sent to the Ahmedabad-based "smuggler" by the Chinese company through hawala transaction operating from Mumbai. According to the DRI, the illegal drones in private hands could be a threat to national security since they could be used for espionage and sabotage purposes by the enemy states and anti-national and terrorist groups. Considering the security risk involved, equipment type approval from wireless planning and coordination wing of the department of telecommunication, import clearance from Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Directorate General of Foreign Trade import licence, DGCA unique identification number, among other things, are required for the import of drones into India, the DRI stated. Here is How Tenders Are Rigged in India https://www.moneylife.in/article/here-is-how-tenders-are-rigged-in-india/55430.html Will India Become Dumping Ground for Imported Drones? https://www.moneylife.in/article/will-india-become-dumping-ground-for-imported-drones/55226.html Here is why China exports 1000 drones a day and India does not even produce 1000 a year https://www.moneylife.in/article/here-is-why-china-exports-1000-drones-a-day-and-india-does-not-even-produce-1000-a-year/51388.html 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. ASX-listed lithium producer Galaxy Resources [ASX:GXY] confirmed its interest in Alliance Minerals Assets ltd [ASX: A40] via a placement of new shares, making Galaxy the biggest shareholder. At the time of writing, Galaxy Resources share price is trading slightly higher to $1.65, up 0.61%. Related: Dont buy a single lithium stock until youve read this report. Read more about it here for free. Galaxy Resources buys more shares in Alliance On Thursday Galaxy pledged for $22.5 million of Alliance shares, making it the biggest shareholder. GXY previously held a small investment in the company prior to the placement. However the announcement today did not clarify what size stake GXY now has. But it was enough to push Galaxy above Burwill (Alliances former biggest shareholder), leading analysts to expect a 1013% stake. Galaxy chairman Martin Rowley verified the lithium miner had been under the threshold for a substantial shareholder for some time. Galaxy has been a minority shareholder in Alliance for some time, and we welcome this opportunity to increase our holding and become the largest individual shareholder in Alliance, he said. Mr Rowley commented on the high-quality of lithium-rich Spodumene concentrate produced by Alliances Bald Hill mine, and the prospect of the tenements around Bald Hill, in Western Australia. At the moment, Galaxy is trying to offload its stake in its Sal de Vida Lithium project in Argentina, but hasnt received an adequate offer so far. Across the last year of trading the Galaxy share price has been hit hard over concerns its Australian Operations are producing low grade lithium shredding some value off its share price. Galaxy Resources share price outlook Thursdays move signals another busy period in the Australian lithium sector, which has seen a downturn in lithium prices since January 2018. Both Mt Cattlin and Bald Hill mines export their spodumene concentrate through the same port at Esperance, giving rise to a merging opportunities for the projects, which would enable an owner to optimise sequencing of development, The Australian Financial Review reports. And while share price is still pretty volatile after being hit hard over the last year, concerns over the companys ability to fund Sal de Vida have been pulling Galaxys share price into a downward trend. Hopefully this Alliance stake will be a step in the right direction for Galaxy Resources, but investors may have to wait this one out. Regards, Ryan Clarkson-Ledward, For Money Morning PS: Free investor report reveals the highest potential growth sectors for 2019 and beyond. Download now to find out more (for free). Ohyou thought since the Second World War wed done away with labour camps? David Kilgour Canadian pollie and Nobel Peace Prize winner tells us of a Dr Lee. As soon as the American Lee stepped foot in China, he was arrested and taken to a camp. There, he worked long hours for three years making slippers. It was only when the Americans finally pressured China that Lee was released. He was finally able to return home to New Jersey. Harry Wu, now a human rights activist, was another one of these labour prisoners. For 19 years he toiled away making cheap goods for American businesses. Everyday, 12, 14, 16-hour day. You have a quota. If you cannot completely finish the quota, you will get punishment. You will go to solitary confinement. The police always say good labour, good food. Less labour, less food. You dont labour, no food. Wu goes on to say: This is American corporation, dam it! Shame[they]cooperate with Chinese government. They have to say, we have to follow Chinese lawOtherwise we cannot do it. Yeah! You have to follow Soviet law. You have to follow Hitler law. Are you going to do it? Download your free report and learn our three favourite small-cap stocks right now. Undoing the wrongs of the past Surely this is motivating enough to take manufacturing jobs away from China. Maybe it was a motivating factor for the Trump administration to finally put tariffs on China. Clinton wouldnt do it. Bush didnt. Neither did Obama. Maybe Trump is exactly the kind of guy the people of China needa guy willing to stand up to Chinas governmenta guy willing to say things as they are. God knows the Clinton mess had to be cleaned up. Yesterday, I was reading the latest from The Rum Rebellion. Its an Australian libertarian e-letter run by our very own Greg Canavan. If you dont already subscribe to the letter, you should! I believe its some of the best writing on politics, money and stocks. So if you havent already, you can subscribe here. What I thought was important to understand in this whole trade spat, which Greg highlighted, was the WTO mess Bill Clinton forced upon the American people. And its what lead to a boom in Chinese labour camps. Heres how Greg put it The last [Trump] tweet is key. We have to be allowed to make up some of the tremendous ground we have lost to China on trade since the one-sided formation of the WTO. The WTO is the World Trade Organisation. If you followed my recommendation from last week and watched Death by China a documentary made by one of Trumps trade advisers, youll understand exactly what he means by that. In short, the US allowed China into the WTO based on certain expectations of China opening their economy. The expectations were never met. China reneged on their promises and instead benefitted from the US shifting its manufacturing base to the Middle Kingdom. With very low wages, no labour or environmental laws, it was a no brainer for US companies to move to China. Cheap consumer goods were an immediate benefit. Then the post-2008 tech revolution created an IT supply chain with China at its source. The result? Lower prices for everything. Tariffs dont seem all that bad now, huh? Consider the wealth transferring from the US to China, which funds an authoritarian communist party. Consider the prisoners meeting quotas for food. Consider the forced transfer of technology, which likely costs American businesses (not management but shareholders) billions over time. Trump will never win a Nobel Peace Prize. He might not even care about the prisoners in China or unemployed factory workers in America. But surely his tariffs count for something. If nothing else it starves China of US dollars, an asset theyve juiced their economy on for years. Higher tariffs limits the weapons in Chinas arsenal to grow. Of course, I have no idea when this trade spat ends, or to what heights it could climb. My guess is that neither Trump nor Xi will budge until something drastic happens. But there is one thing Im quite sure of, the US will not get a resurgence in manufacturing jobs. The jobs arent coming back Yesterday, I pointed out why the US buys so much from China. Its nothing you probably dont know already. But its important to note nonetheless. Heres what I wrote Yes, America buys more from China than they buy from the US. But thats how it is for a lot of US trade relationships. America is wealthy. US households consume far more than most. Manufacturing is largely offshore. Where are Americans going to buy their goods? Obviously offshore. The US is also a service dominated country. Source: The Washington Post [Click to open new window] Services tend to be local in nature. Youre not heading to China for a haircut or Germany to see your GP. What this means is America imports a whole lot, and has few goods to export. If there was no China, do you really think Americans would shuffle back to the factories? Of course they wouldnt! In fact, heading back into the factories could mean a pay decrease for most Americans. No, I think theyre happy working their service-orientated jobs, making bonuses and bringing home more money each year. From an economic sense, businesses wouldnt want it either. Without China, American businesses still have other options, other countries with low labour wages to trade with. Take Vietnam for instance. Theyre also a part of the WTO. The average factory worker in Vietnam makes less than a third of their American counter parts. The assembly worker in Vietnam might take home US$280 per month. The assembly supervisor might get US$468 per month. Compare that to the US average factory wage of US$1,950 per month and its a no brainer. With no China to trade with, US businesses just divert their supply chain through Vietnam. But theres another reason why Americans wont shuffle back onto the assembly line. And its for the same reason you see few if any American farmers today. Productivity will be the death of manufacturing The death of manufacturing Do you remember when the agricultural sector was on top, when most of us were farmers growing grain and raising cattle? Maybe some of you do, but who today thinks agriculture is a path to riches? Anyone? Almost no nation across the world is looking to get rich from farming. And thats because its a mugs game. There are a lot of competitors trying to sell wheat, corn and rice. They already sell produce at rock-bottom prices. Where are the juicy profits to be had? Well, the same is going to happen to manufacturing. And it will be for the same reasons. Efficiency, productivity and limited demand. Thats what killed agriculture and its going to kill manufacturing too. Take a look at how efficient American farming became when robotics and automation were introduced Source: The 20th Century Transformation of U.S. Agriculture and Farm Policy [Click to open new window] The global farming industry has learnt how to produce more on the same patch of land, which is why single farms are becoming that much larger (US example) to maximise output Source: The 20th Century Transformation of U.S. Agriculture and Farm Policy [Click to open new window] The American story of farming is much like the world story of farming. Everyone got more efficient, more productive. Prices for grains and other foods came down. Farming profit margins get cut to the bone. Today, there are little to no American farmers. The majority kept in business are constantly looking to the government for a helping hand. Source: The 20th Century Transformation of U.S. Agriculture and Farm Policy [Click to open new window] Again, which nation today stakes their future on producing rice or grains? Almost none! Yet when it comes to producing things everyone wants in. Even Trump. But the same thing will happen. Manufacturing will become more efficient. Productivity might be 4% whereas global demand for goods is only 2%. There will be no more workers on the factory floor. All manufacturers will look like Japan, who has more workers on the loading docks than they do working the machines. So maybe tariffs do move manufacturers around. Maybe instead of in China, factories will move to Vietnam. Maybe the bold ones will even come back to the US. But long term, I think those jobs are dead Your friend, Harje Ronngard, Editor, Money Morning PS: In this just released report, Matt Hibbard shows you his top five dividend picks for 2019. Click here to claim your copy today. Friday night takeaways could be delayed as hundreds of fast-food workers go on strike. Unite Union says its members at KFC, Carl's Jr and Pizza Hut will walk off the job at 2pm on Friday, and won't be back until after the weekend. National secretary Gerard Hehir says there are a number of issues owner Restaurant Brands has to answer for, including pay, understaffing, use of part-time contracts, cuts to overtime and a push for shortened breaks. Eighty-eight percent of Unite's membership that took part in the secret ballot voted in favour of strike action. In response, Restaurant Brands said it was offering an average 5.7 percent increase in wages, but Unite was demanding 7 percent. "These increases also balance the impact of minimum wage increases with the need to minimise increases to the consumer," said NZ chief executive Arif Khan, noting that Restaurant Brands was the first major fast food company in New Zealand to scrap zero-hour contracts, after a previous Unite campaign. "Restaurant Brands apologises if any customers are impacted during this period." The two parties have been in negotiations for six days, Unite said. Newshub. Controversial blogger Constance Hall is being praised after her emotional, yet brutally honest, post she penned on her Facebook page. The Aussie influencer shared a photo of herself lying in bed balling her eyes out and wrote how she feared "perfect parents" may criticise her for opening up about her struggles but she had reached her breaking point. Constance explained how she can no longer breastfeed her son Raja and how he will only drink a bottle from her partner Denim Cooke when she's not around, leaving her exhausted and frustrated. She began the lengthy post: "I woke up this morning and burst into tears. Having to say goodbye to your beloved pets is one of the most heart crushing things any pet parent has to do. In an ideal world our furry friends would live the same lifespan as us, but unfortunately that ideal world is not meant to be. One vet clinic in Wellington is honouring those who are in their clinic giving their pet a final farewell in a simple yet heartwarming way. As pointed out by our very own Polly Gillespie, the clinic has a candle that they light whenever someone is there to put down their furry friend. This is not a gift. It is an investment. Please let your baby know that an old Aboriginal man invested $20 in her college fund, the letter read. Taken aback by the gesture, the mum took to Reddit to post a photo of the note and gift, expressing her gratitude. Thank you kind stranger on the train! Its people like you making Sydney a better place, she said alongside an image of the $20 note and letter. We will frame this and make sure she sees it! Many love, kind stranger in a suit, who had a joyful interaction with our 9 months old girl! Comments poured in on the thread with many people absolutely blown away with the act of kindness. Thats awesome. Small gestures like that often go a long way, This is a very good message and an example. This needs more attention, That man invests on the young way better than the governments. Doris Fullwood, president of the local chapter, spoke about Caldwells devotion to the school in a statement in the program. Ola is active in all chapter fundraising activities, and in most cases, exceeds our chapter membership revenue in selling event tickets, Fullwood said. She uses all of her network to solicit the support of community leaders, clergy and elected officials, including her past work associates at Drexel Heritage Furnishings/Masco and the Department of Corrections (Foothills Correctional Institution), as well as the educational professionals in Burke County Public Schools, where she periodically substitutes. Caldwell was raised in Morganton, graduated from Olive Hill High School and took business classes at Western Piedmont Community College , according to a previous News Herald article. She worked as an administrative assistant to the senior vice-president of marketing and design for the Drexel Heritage furniture company until the mid-1990s , then worked for eight years as an administrative assistant for the superintendent of programs at Foothills Correctional Institution. Following her retirement from there, she began substituting for teachers in Burke County Public Schools. During Volunteer Appreciation Month in April , Big Brothers Big Sisters of Western North Carolina took some time to recognize some of its dedicated volunteers, including Beth Davidson, the first person to volunteer 20 years ago when the Burke County chapter of Big Brothers Big Sisters was created. Beth was looking for an opportunity to give back to her hometown community by investing in the youth, said Nina Ervin, the Burke County branch program coordinator. Davidson was matched with her Little Brother, and for two years provided him with the support and opportunities he needed to develop into the man he is today. So many kids fall through the cracks because they dont have someone to pay attention to them, Davidson, who now works in the medical field and owns a restaurant, said. Ive seen kids act out, and when you ask them about their home lives, you find out that a lot of them came from single-parent homes, that their mothers are at work all the time and cant help them with their homework or take them to the library. Which is what makes you feel important. I think all kids should feel special. The Spahns discovered that Tanzania does not participate in international adoptions and only allows residents of Tanzania to adopt. We had to ask ourselves whether Gods call was to see if we were listening or if God was calling to push through the adversity, the first of many, Beth said. The two Lutheran churches created a position for Beth to work as a congregational coordinator in the Tanzania church. She moved to Tanzania in 2007. Kreig remained in Pennsylvania with his medical practice and cared for their three children, who were 13, 14 and 15 years old. The process for adoption in Tanzania is to first be a foster parent in order for the children to get to know them. The total adoption process took nine months. During that time, a local pastor discovered another 5-year-old orphaned girl. On our fourth day in Tanzania, during the adoption process, a woman knocked on our door and handed me the hand of a child and a medical card, Beth said. Thats how we got our daughter. Through the assistance of a local Tanzanian lawyer, the Spahns were allowed to adopt the two children and Beth returned with them to Meadville. The History Museum of Burke County will welcome Chris Wood, a District 8 fisheries biologist with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, who will speak at 10 a.m. on Thursday, May 30, at the museum as part of its Coffee at the Museum series. The presentation is free and open to the community, and refreshments will be served. Wood said he will discuss the local fisheries and aquatic resources in Burke and surrounding counties. He will explain the historical and contemporary approaches to managing and conserving the surrounding waterways, with an emphasis on Lakes James, the Catawba River, and other streams, rivers, ponds and lakes that are important to local residents. Wood earned a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in freshwater ecology from Appalachian State University and has worked as a biologist for the NCWRC for 14 years. He also has worked for the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and North Carolina State University conducting aquatic research on fish and freshwater mussels, and has served as an adjunct instructor at Appalachian State University and Western Piedmont Community College. He is a past president of the North Carolina Chapter of the American Fisheries Society and is currently chair of the NCAFS education and outreach committee. Wood has lived in Morganton for almost a decade and has an office at the Table Rock State Fish Hatchery. Otis Pitts Jr. is building a new home on Collett Street. Wish we could report a hundred new residences. Collett Street now goes all the way to Riverside Drive and is one of the prettiest thoroughfares in the city. We can well remember when the citys standpipe off West Union Street held 85,000 gallons of water. Now the standpipes, one in the north-eastern part of the city and the other west, combined hold 1,500,000 gallons. Man alive, what a difference! When the delegation returns from South Carolina on a tour of facelifting inspection, we are hoping the look on our business section will be changed at a real early date. This is a subject we have been preaching for a number of years. Come to think of it, well bet a mule that Morganton has as fine as supermarkets as you will find in this neck of the woods anywhere, and more coming. Will we have an old-time Fourth of July celebration in Morganton this year? We hope so. Retrospection: Do you remember when Waiting for the Robert E. Lee was a real song hit? When Cox and Nelson operated a dry-goods store on North Sterling Street? When you could mail a letter for two cents and postal cards for a penny? The way we qualify income is through a 12-month period, but the average executive or person in lower level management earns 20-30% of their income as a bonus or through commission, she said. The reality is that theyre only earning it in January or February when the bonus arrives, so we came out with this product that allows more flexibility in their mortgage payment. They may have a mortgage thats 80% the value of their home but we may do 50-60% percent of that value in interest-only. When they get the rest of the salary through a bonus later, they can put it on the mortgage so its still being paid down, but theyre not strapped for money when they want to take that family vacation in the summer. Gregory noted that the interest-only mortgage has become a differentiating factor for MERIX because brokers strive to keep their clients from falling deeper into debta problem not uncommon in Canada, she added. Brokers are finding that this is a great product for them to consistently be involved in their clients financial solutions. Instead of saying, Heres your five-year fixed mortgage, talk to you in five years or 90 days before maturity, they can talk to their clients once a year and track the progress paying down the mortgage. They may find their clients will have extra funds saved in a year or two for a down payment on a rental, or that they can do some renovations. Its helping brokers remain engaged with their customer throughout the life of their mortgage. The numbers came on the heels of a CBRE Ltd. report earlier this quarter, which found that an influx of returning tenants has pushed Calgarys office vacancy rate down from the peak of 27.8% in Q2 2018, to 26.5% in Q1 2019. CBRE credited much of the improvement to the regions oil and gas sectors managing to prevent further catastrophic reductions in their workforces. Theyve just stopped the four or five hundred people being laid off like we saw a year or two years ago, where large companies like Cenovus and Suncor and basically all the major oil companies were laying off in droves we dont see that happening right now, CBRE Alberta regional managing director Greg Kwong told CBC News. However, policy interventions have compelled many companies to instead use their extra cash to buy back shares and pay off debt funds that would otherwise be spent on business expansion and acquisition of more commercial space in the region. Theres no point growing with the Alberta production curtailment in place and the lack of egress opportunities, MEG Energy chief executive Derek Evans said in an interview with Reuters. Canadian housing activity appears to be broadly stabilizing, as there are signs that the market has largely digested the many policy changes, Bank of Montreal chief economist Doug Porter wrote in a report, as quoted by The Canadian Press. And while the regional divide is wide, fundamentals look to be a bit more supportive in the year ahead, with the policy tightening likely having run its course, job growth surprisingly solid and borrowing costs ebbing. As for supply, the CREA figures indicated that the number of newly listed homes went up by 2.7% last month, on the heels of 3.4% growth in March. The Canadian sales-to-new listings ratio stood at 54.8%, from the 54.3% in March. The average sale price ticked up by 0.3% annually to reach $494,978. Pressure from the two most expensive markets nationwide cannot be understated, however, as the average price in April with Toronto and Vancouver excluded was just a little over $391,000. For any would-be buyer whos renting while saving enough money for a down payment on a home, time may not be on their side. As the housing market slows down across the country, rents are going up, and landlords are cashing in. Home-price appreciation continued to slow in April from a year earlier, driven in part by softening West Coast metros like San Jose and Seattle, according to data released Thursday by Zillow. The company also reported the first nationwide monthly price dip in more than seven years, although at just 0.1%, its far from drastic. Rent growth, on the other hand, actually accelerated, climbing 2.6% on an annual basis, after a lull in 2018. Warren and other Democrats have accused Otting and other regulators of being too soft on the embattled bank a charge Otting denied, CNBC reported. The search for Sloans replacement already faces challenges, according to CNBC. There are not many people with the experience necessary to run a bank that large and many who do have the right qualifications might not want to hitch their wagon to a company that has been mired in scandal after scandal. The search is also being hampered by limits on how much Wells can pay for the job, according to a Reuters report. Intense regulatory scrutiny of the banks pick is likely to narrow the field of eligible candidates even further, CNBC reported. Sloan became CEO in 2017, replacing former CEO John Stumpf, who left the bank in the wake of its fake-accounts scandal, in which it was revealed that Wells employees had opened millions of unauthorized customer accounts. However, numerous other scandals came to light during Sloans tenure, and he was ousted in March after numerous calls for him to step down. Wells Fargo general counsel C. Allen Parker is currently serving as interim CEO. The new Houston energy startup Spur Energy Partners said it will partner with the private equity firm KKR & Co. for financing to develop oil and gas acreage in the booming Permian Basin. Spur Energy was founded by Jay Graham and his team after selling Houston's WildHorse Resource Development for $3 billion late last year to Chesapeake Energy. KKR said it expects to develop a multibillion-dollar partnership with Spur Energy moving forward. While Spur will initially focus on the New Mexico portion of the Permian, WildHorse was an oil and gas company that honed in on the northeastern portion of the Eagle Ford shale outside of College Station. Spur is a private corporation - at least for now - while WildHorse was publicly traded. RELATED: Houston driller WildHorse acquired by shale pioneer Chesapeake Spur Energy will start out relatively small, with 22,000 net acres in New Mexico, and plans to grow with the help of New York-based KKR's financial muscle. But Spur Energy also will look to develop other U.S. shale assets throughout the Lower 48. "KKR is the ideal partner for Spur as we look to build a large scale business in the oil and gas sector that creates value through exceptional technical and operational execution," Graham said. "We look forward to working together as we make our first investment in this high-quality asset with a strong existing production base and attractive development potential." KKR will fund the partnership through what it calls its Energy Real Assets strategy, which has invested $4 billion through 12 transactions since 2015. Exports of the Permian Basins newest kind of oil are set to jump as production surges, exceeding the appetite of U.S. refiners. Sales of the new grade, known as West Texas Light, began in September, as explorers sought to separate out increasingly lighter and less sulfurous crude bubbling up from wells in West Texas and New Mexico, so it wouldnt lessen the quality of U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate. WTL supply has grown to over 500,000 barrels a day, a nearly four-fold rise from last year. While some of that is staying close by, most will need to be exported. Even as ample shale barrels and tighter supplies of heavier crudes have encouraged U.S. refiners to process the lightest oil since 1990, that may reach a limit soon. But since many of the biggest refineries have invested billions of dollars in upgrades over the years and are set up to run the heaviest, dirtiest oil, theres only a certain amount of light oil they can handle. IN FLUX: Report looks at changing demographics of the Permian Basin "I suspect that refineries that can blend to run lighter slates are likely already doing so to the best they can," said Michael Tran, a commodity strategist at RBC Capital Markets LLC in New York. "Every incremental barrel produced in the U.S. should be earmarked for export," unless its a heavy crude, Tran said. Shipments overseas began in February and have neared 1.42 million barrels through this month. Most was sent to the Netherlands and the rest for Canada, while none has headed to Asia so far, according to U.S. Customs data and ship tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. Renewed U.S.-led sanctions on Iran could provide an opportunity. Buyers of Iranian condensates such as South Korea, might consider WTL, Jonathan Aronson, analyst for Cornerstone Marcro LLC in New York. Presently, some 1 million barrels of storage has been set aside in the Permian and Cushing, Oklahoma, to market WTL, according to people familiar with the matter. Some pipes are starting to accept it as a proper grade, the people said. RIGS: Drilling rig count dips as 2019 slump continues More Pipelines Still, more pipeline capacity would be needed, which is expected to start coming online late this year and in 2020. "Pipelines from Midland and Cushing to the Gulf Coast are full right now. Its a problem for any crude, including WTL," Aronson said. WTL is being marketed to Asian buyers for refining and petrochemical use, according to a report by analysts at Macquarie Capital (USA) Inc. Even with its higher content of light products such as naphtha, it would be globally marketable for at least three years. However, that could change later on because of rapidly growing natural gas liquids and condensates supply, both of which have similar yields. That might be a boon for buyers, as WTL prices could drop, particularly in Asia, which has numerous other options for light, low-sulfur crudes. Currently, the grade is trading at $1 to $1.50 a barrel under WTI Midland, compared with a $2.50 discount last month, according to people familiar with the matter. On the whole, WTL would be a great crude for a simple refinery to run and chemical plants would like it, whether in Asia or Europe, Cornerstones Aronson said. 2019 Bloomberg L.P. Courtesy Photo The West Texas Food Bank will hold weekly sessions beginning in June for its new Produce of the Week Club. Participants can learn nutritional facts, preparation techniques and recipes about one fruit and one vegetable each week. The classes are free, but registration is encouraged. Classes will be led at each location by WTFB nutrition education specialist Kimberly Corazzini. Classes will be 10-11 a.m. June 11 and 25 and July 9 and 23 at the Midland location, 1601 Westcliff Drive. A proposal to require those seeking an Illinois Firearm Owner Identification card to provide fingerprints is being called necessary by some and unconstitutional by others. Assistant House Majority Leader Kathleen Willis, D-Addison, said the measure she proposed in an amendment to Senate Bill 1966 would increase the fee for FOID cards to $50 for five years instead of $10 for 10 years. We need that money to be able to have the resources to work on the revocations and to get that back taken care of, Willis said. Willis said the measure is in response to the Aurora shooting earlier this year durng which an employee opened fire at a warehouse and killed five coworkers after he learned he was being fired. The shooter got a FOID card after lying about a previous felony conviction in another state and bought a gun after that application was approved. Illinois State Police later revoked the shooters FOID card in 2014 when he applied for a concealed-carry permit, which included fingerprints. Illinois State Police rejected his concealed-carry application because fingerprints with that application flagged the mans 1995 felony conviction in Mississippi. That revocation came shortly after he bought the gun, but the man didnt relinquish his card or gun. ISP later reported there were more than 10,000 revocations in 2018, many of which never were followed up on. We put in stronger mandates for the courts to make sure that they are doing a check right there and make sure that if they have someone in front of them and they do a check and theres a revocation there, take care of it right there and then, Willis said. Better communication with the state police and local law enforcement, again, to help make that a smoother transition. Those who already have a FOID would be grandfathered in. They wouldnt have to comply with the new regulations until their card expired, Willis said. They will need to get fingerprints and it will shorten their FOID time to five years as opposed to 10 years, but once you get fingerprints once, youre good for life, Willis said. Fingerprinting is an option in the states concealed-carry application as a way to speed up the application process. Fingerprints are not required. Illinois State Rifle Association Executive Director Richard Pearson said the cost of mandating fingerprinting for FOID applicants could be upward to $300, when considering the increased FOID fees, the fingerprinting and the travel to a vendor to get the fingerprints. That would be compounded for families where everyone has a FOID card and for the poor. So theres a lot of problems with this bill and it shows where the anti-gun movement wants to go, they want to wipe out private gun ownership in Illinois, Pearson said. Pearson said the FOID card could be tweaked when it comes to notifications of revocation, but other than that he said its fine as it is. The man responsible for the Aurora warehouse shooting fell through the cracks, which Pearson said was on law enforcement for failing to enforce existing laws. The measure would require all FOID card applicants to provide fingerprints. State Sen. Neil Anderson, R-Andalusia, who supports getting rid of the FOID card altogether, said the idea of mandating fingerprinting is fundamentally wrong. The fingerprinting thing is, in my mind, blatantly unconstitutional, Anderson said. There is no other amendment in the Bill of Rights where you have to provide fingerprints to exercise that right. Senate Bill 1966 has yet to be amended, but is in the House Judiciary Committee. I did not authorise payment for ... Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum is presented with a painting by Chinese artist Liu Zhong (fourth right) featuring giant pandas Ling Ling and Xing Xing, the panda pair China sent to the US after later US President Richard Nixon's ice-breaking visit in 1972, in California on Sunday. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] The opening ceremony of the Panda and Its Friends: An Art Exhibit by Liu Zhong was held at California's Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum on Sunday. A total of 46 paintings of giant pandas and other animals and plants by renowned Chinese artist Liu Zhong will be displayed at the museum from May 13 to 15. As the "panda ambassador" honored by Ya'an, the "hometown of giant pandas" in Southwest China's Sichuan Province, Liu is known for his keen participation in public welfare activities related to panda protection. In recent years, Liu has been actively communicating with people from different cultural backgrounds on the world stage like the Olympic Games and expos. While promoting Chinese culture and giant pandas, Liu has urged the protection of endangered species and to cherish the harmony between different species and cultures. The three-day exhibit, sponsored by the Richard Nixon Foundation and Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, is believed to be a symbol of the continuity of the friendship between the Chinese and American people, since the giant panda has a special meaning to the two sides. At a state banquet in Beijing during the late US president Richard Nixon's ice-breaking visit in 1972, when then-US first lady Pat Nixon mentioned her great affection for China's giant pandas, the late Chinese premier Zhou Enlai said that China would give a pair of pandas to the Washington National Zoo, where they were extremely popular afterwards. It is said that more than one third of the worlds malnourished children live in India. Ayush Gharat, 15 years old from Head Start Educational Academy, has designed mNutrition, a mobile application that diagnoses malnutrition. After his visit to a few places where there are numerous homeless children on the streets within the city, he was determined in doing his part to eradicate malnutrition. Ayush, a partial guitarist is very fond of technology. Ayush says, The irony is the rural population are not aware of the malnutrition and the urban population are not aware of the extent of its effects. Im designing the app in such a handy way, that even the Anganwadi teachers and the rural population will also be able to use it. With proper research material from the WHO and other research papers, Ayush designed the app that diagnoses this severe issue in the country. By answering few basic questions about the child that include details like the weight, height, gender, mNutrituin app identifies whether the child is malnourished or not. The cumulative results are based on the WHO charts with guided measures for calculations. An image of a malnourished child He is also one of the top 100 finalists of the Google Science Fair where he proposed the idea of mNutrition in October. With his intention to serve his nation and to help eradicate malnutrition, he feels that mNutrition can create the impact in the country. He is also Android and JAVA certified (with Platinum and Gold certificates respectively) which he used to take up during the weekends. When asked about his time-management, he said, Its been two years since Im into my field of interest. Being active in my extracurricular activities in the school, I also manage my homework and take online course too. IAPEN (Indian Association for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition) is working in collaboration with Ayush and helping him with the necessary information and implementation of the application. Very soon, mNutrition will be available for usage by everyone. Ayush is willing to offer it to the government or the health departments of Bengaluru to make the platform live. Ayush adds, This handy mobile application will surely make an impact not just within the country because malnutrition is a global issue. To make the app more easy and smart, I will add more parameters like artificial intelligence which gives the precise outcome. Further, I will also add the measures to avoid, side effects, supplements and medicines to deal with malnutrition. He created his personal Twitter account to see if anyone would be willing to collaborate with him on mNutrition. He adds, I got an overwhelming response from the Health ministry and nutrition department and they asked if I could give them a detailed presentation. New Delhi: A day after stating that the grand old party would not make it an issue if the top post was not offered to it and that the Congress was amenable to a Prime Ministerial candidate drawn from its alliance partners, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Friday took a complete u-turn. In a clear hint to allies as well as prospective partners of the Congress just ahead of the final phase of elections, Mr Azad said: "No, it is not true that Congress will not claim the Prime Minister's post." "We are the biggest and oldest political party. If the government is to run for five years, the biggest political party should be given a chance. But what I have been saying is that while we are in the midst of elections we should not fight among ourselves. It (PM's post) should be decided by consensus, " Mr. Azad said. In a press conference in Patna he had said that a consensus on the candidate for the top post before the results of the Lok Sabha elections are announced, would be welcome but stressed the party would not make it an issue if the prime minister's chair was not offered to it. He had further added that his party will not make an issue if the Prime Minister's post is not offered to his party. Congress chief spokesperson Mr. Randeep Surjewala, had a different view than that of the Leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha. He said the Congress believes it will be the single largest party in the country, subject to final outcome on May 23. He further added, "Naturally, the biggest political party should get a chance to lead. All Congressmen believe that we will be biggest political party and as the biggest political party, we should be leading this country holding hand with all other like-minded political parties interested in giving a stable democratic, liberal and secular government to the country." As the date of the results of Lok Sabha elections draws closer the opposition parties seem to be closing ranks. A meeting of several opposition parties have been called by the UPA Chairperson Mrs. Sonia Gandhi on May 23 to discuss the results. The opposition parties including the Congress are confident of a result that will catapult them in a position of forming the next government, given that the party has earlier tried to position its chief Rahul Gandhi as the prime minister if it makes a decent showing in polls. This despite the fact that Mr. Gandhi has repeatedly denied being interested in the post. Sonora, CA A Tuolumne County Health Department survey found a jump in sales of cigarettes and other tobacco products to those under the age of 21 in the area. The county has one of the highest use rates for tobacco in the state, according to health officials that point to a recent survey of use that found nearly half of all county households have at least one smoker and its use is higher in households with children. Those statistics have made educating on the dangers of tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure a top priority for the department. Conducted every year through its Tobacco Education and Prevention Program, this years survey found that 6 of 20 randomly selected retailers sold to minors. Its the highest weve had in a while, reports health department spokesperson Kristina Herrera, who added, We typically have zero, so six is not good for us. Six is too many. While California laws like Penal Code 308 and the STAKE Act carry penalties for merchants and employees who sell tobacco products or paraphernalia to minors. Herrera indicates that their approach is one of educating retailers, noting, A lot of its due to just clerks maybe not being trained up enough on how to check Ids appropriately or to even ask for them in the first place. Retailers are being notified of the survey results and are given an informational packet containing appropriate signs, training materials, education on the California tobacco laws and the important role retailers play in the prevention of youth having access to tobacco products. Hyderabad: AP Chief Minister and TD supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu on Friday said that he was open to work with whichever party that was against the BJP. He was responding to a specific question whether he was ready to work with the TRS. Mr Naidu spoke to media in New Delhi after submitting a memorandum to the Election Commission. His comment assumes significance against the backdrop of reports that the Congress high command is trying to get the support of the TRS and YSRC, and that UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi has invited TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao and YSRC president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to a meeting of opposition parties on May 23. Mr Rao and Mr Naidu are touring the states to get regional parties into their fold. Mr Rao has proposed Federal Front with regional parties against the BJP and Congress while Mr Naidu wants to bring all anti-BJP parties into the UPA fold. Against this backdrop, Mr Naidu was asked if he was ready to work with the TRS. Dont ask speculative questions. Whichever party is against the BJP we are ready to work with them. There is no need to discriminate any particular party, the TD chief said. Whataburger with its yellow-wrapped burgers, fries and Spicy Ketchup is as familiar to Texans as H-E-B and as beloved as the Dallas Cowboys when theyre having a good season. Now the San Antonio fast-food chain is looking to put its iconic orange-and-white stores on many more street corners, and its turned to Wall Street for help. Whataburger confirmed Thursday it has hired investment banking firm Morgan Stanley to help the company determine how best to fuel its expansion. That will mean considering several potential strategies: selling the company or part of it, re-franchising, finding large private investors or selling Whataburger shares through an initial public offering. For now, company officials are vague about their next steps. Our company is growing and is always attractive to investors, and weve brought in Morgan Stanley to help us explore our options, a spokesperson for Whataburger Corporate Communications said in an email. We have always evaluated the opportunities that can accelerate growth and maintain the success of our brand, and we will continue to do so in the future. On ExpressNews.com: Whataburger urged by activists to stop using Styrofoam cups, containers The company has more than 820 locations, with more than 670 in Texas alone. Whataburgers other restaurants are located in the South and Southwest, including Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Oklahoma. Most are company-owned. Whataburger has increased its slice of the market as other fast-food companies have struggled in an intensely competitive industry, an industry expert said. Like other businesses, restaurants are grappling with a staffing crunch amid historically low unemployment rates, fewer workers looking for jobs and rising wages. Another hit: meat alternatives are becoming more popular. The company ranked seventh among U.S. burger brands by 2017 sales, raking more than $2.2 billion, restaurant publication QSR reports. That put it behind fast-food heavyweights such as McDonalds and Burger King for sales. But it was ahead of Hardees, which generated more than $2.1 billion in 2017 sales, and nipping at the heels of Jack in the Box, which brought in more than $3.4 billion. The company reported $2.4 billion in 2018 sales for an upcoming report by Nations Restaurant News. That marks a 6 percent uptick, the publication noted, and Whataburger added more restaurants. Founded by Harmon Dobson in 1950, the company remains family-owned to this day. When Dobson opened the first Whataburger restaurant in Corpus Christi, he made $191 in the first three days selling burgers, according to the company. Victory came on the fourth day: Big day$141.80ChristWhat a workhorse. 551 burgers, Dobson wrote in his diary. The company had swelled to more than 17 locations by the early 1960s and opened the first of its A-frame restaurants. Dobson died in a plane crash in 1967, and his wife, Grace, stepped in. The company expanded, branching into more states and adding hundreds of restaurants. Son Tom Dobson took over the business in 1993 and Grace Dobson died in 2005. Whataburger continued growing, and in 2009 it moved to San Antonio. The company, with its corporate office at 300 Concord Plaza Drive, is run by siblings Tom, Lynne and Hugh Dobson. But its current CEO, Preston Atkinson, took over from Tom Dobson in 2012. Atkinson started building and designing locations for Whataburger in 1986. He joined the company in 1998 and held several executive positions before becoming its leader, the company says. madison.iszler@express-news.net 'Hope not,' Trump said when asked by reporters if Washington was going to war with Tehran. (Photo:AP) Washington: US President Donald Trump has told his top advisers he does not want to get the United States involved in a war with Iran, three US officials said on Thursday. He doesnt want to go to war. Its not who he is, one official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Trump has communicated to his national security team and other aides that wants to keep tensions with Tehran from boiling over into an armed conflict, the officials said. Also Read: Next government will decide on oil imports: India tells Iran But he has also made clear that he will protect US interests in the region, one official said. US intelligence showed heightened activity by Iran or its proxies that US officials took as a threat against American targets in the region. Trump won the 2016 election in part by promising to stay out of conflicts abroad after what he viewed as costly wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Earlier this year he ordered US troops out of Syria but was persuaded to leave some in. Trump told reporters on Thursday that he hoped the United States was not heading to war with Iran as he met with Switzerland President Ueli Maurer, whose nation has served as a liaison conduit between the two countries since they do not have diplomatic relations. Also Read: Iran will 'soon' want to negotiate with us, predicts Donald Trump Hope not, Trump said when asked by reporters if Washington was going to war with Tehran. Tensions have escalated in recent days with increasing concerns about a potential U.S.-Iran conflict. Earlier this week the United States pulled some diplomatic staff from its embassy in Baghdad following weekend attacks on four oil tankers in the Gulf. In this picture released by the official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attends a meeting with governmental officials in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, May 14, 2019. Khamenei said his country won't negotiate with the United States and there will be no war between the two countries. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP) The president has been clear, the United States does not seek military conflict with Iran, and he is open to talks with Iranian leadership. However, Irans default option for 40 years has been violence, and we will protect US personnel and interests in the region, said Garrett Marquis, spokesman for the White House National Security Council. A White House statement said the two leaders discussed a range of international issues, including the crises in the Middle East and in Venezuela. Trump has said publicly he wants to pursue a diplomatic route with Iran a year after withdrawing the United States from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. He has said privately that he was worried that some of his advisers, such as White House national security adviser John Bolton, were pushing for war, two officials said. The Pentagon has prepared options for potentially sending US troops to the region if needed ranging from a relatively small number of troops up to 120,000, although officials stressed these are the types of options that are always considered for hot zones. Update: Moulton's maiden name is actually Naiman (not Boardman). Thanks to Tim Biba at the Moulton campaign for setting this straight. Turns out Heavy.com had made an error that we picked up when referencing that source. +++ The wife of Presidential candidate and Massachusetts representative Seth Moulton hails from Rye. Elizabeth Moulton (maiden name Naiman) is a graduate of Rye High School. If her husband Seth, one of twenty odd Democrats in the race, wins the White House, she will be the second First Lady from Rye, joining Barbara Bush. Heavy.com ran a profile on Elizabeth Moulton 5 "Fast Facts": "5. She Grew Up in Rye, NY, a Well-Heeled Suburb of NYC Moulton attended Rye High School, a public school in Rye, New York. Rye is a prosperous suburb of New York City. The Washington Post named Rye one of the countrys superzip areas for its high average household income and its high concentration of college-educated residents." Read the rest. In the sea of thousands of San Antonio graduates, there's a chance at least one of their faces will be memorable for years to come. More than 20 alumni from San Antonio colleges have worked toward careers in television, music and even science. It was retro day at the AT&T Center as music group New Kids on the Block took over the AT&T Center Thursday night. The Mixtape tour packed your favorites from the '80s and '90s including Salt N Pepa, Debbie Gibson, Tiffany and Naughty By Nature. The "Texicanas" are on the move as some of the San Antonio cast members made a trip to New York City this week. Penny Ayarzagoitia and Mayra Farret, along with Luz Ortiz and Blanca Montagne were in the Big Apple promoting the new San Antonio-based show. Only two episodes in, the Bravo docuseries has already delivered plenty of chisme and drama, leaving viewers wondering what will happen next. Another thing watchers of the show are wondering is whether the "Texicanas" will appear on "What What Happens Live!" MORE TEXICANA COVERAGE: Hotel Discotheque transforms into exclusive red carpet premiere party for Bravo's 'Texicanas' Ayarzagoitia and Farret stopped by the studio during a taping of the show, which is hosted by Andy Cohen. The two sat in the audience, but Farret and Ayarzagoitia did take a photo with the Cohen while meeting him. It's still unclear if any of the women will be on the live show this season as Bravo's other reality stars have done in the past. Meanwhile, Ortiz and Montagne made appearances for Bella TV and the Daily Mail to promote the show. Ayarzagoitia and Farret also promoted the show while speaking with OK! Magazine at their Summer Kick-Off party. Aside from interviews, the women did some shopping, sight-seeing and of course enjoyed New York City dining. MORE TEXICANA COVERAGE: 'Paracemos Christmas tree, we're all lit:' Quotes from 'Texicanas' San Antonio can relate to It was good timing for Farret as she also celebrated her birthday. "Every girl's dream is to spend her birthday in NYC and of course meeting Andy Cohen," Farret wrote in an Instagram post. For Oritz, the experience in New York was memorable. "Thank you NYC for showing these Texicanas your love...see you soon," she wrote on Instagram. Candice.Garcia@express-news.net | Twitter @_candicegarcia Live roaches, a slimy ice machine and a baby bed: San Antonio restaurants racked up numerous violations this week. A total of 30 eateries scored an 89 or below during health inspections across the Alamo City, according to the Bexar County Metropolitan Health District. At least six of those establishments received marks for evidence of rodents or pests, including a local bakery where the inspector "observed rat droppings and roach activity throughout." LAST WEEK'S INSPECTIONS: Server touches shrimp with bare hands at posh downtown steakhouse Notable highlights include a West Side Mexican restaurant whose employee had "artificial nails that cut through the rubber gloves" while serving food, a South Side taqueria that had menudo "thawing out below raw shelled eggs" and a Northwest Side pastry shop that had both a baby bed and Hot Shot pesticide stored in the establishment. Click through the gallery above to see the gross violations spotted at eateries by San Antonio health inspectors this week. To land on this weekly list of restaurants compiled by the Express-News, an establishment must score 89 or below or anything less than an "A" during a random city health inspection. Click through the gallery above for a look at the violations spotted by health inspectors this week. Restaurants are graded on a 100-point system where "100" is a perfect score, and demerits are based upon the number of violations found during a regular food establishment inspection. There are three categories of demerits and each is assigned a demerit score between 1 and 3 points, according to the health division. If you have questions about inspections or complaints about a food establishment, contact the Metropolitan Health District office by calling 3-1-1 or 210-207-6000. Be prepared to provide the name, location, date of incident and details of the incident. CHESTER One man was shot in the back, and another suffered a graze wound in the chest, following two separate shooting incidents in the city Wednesday afternoon, according to police. It was about 12:21 p.m. when police were dispatched to the area of the 1200 block of West Ninth Street for shots fired, a report that was upgraded within minutes to a shooting. Arriving officers found Rashawn Crosby, 18, on the ground in front of a residence with what appeared to be a gunshot wound to his back and a graze wound to his left hip, according to a release issued by city police Capt. James P. Chubb. Paramedics transported Crosby to Crozer-Chester Medical Center, where he was listed in fair condition at press time. Investigating officers discovered a crime scene in the area of Eighth and Pennell streets, where numerous shell casings were recovered. Officers also found a vehicle struck by gunfire. City Detective Brian Pot is leading the investigation into this shooting. Anyone with information is asked to contact him at 610-447-8431 or at bpot302@chesterpolice.org. About two hours later, at 2:26 p.m., police were dispatched to Crozer for a report of a victim who walked into the hospital with a gunshot wound. The victim, identified as 22-year-old Quadir Williams-Monroe, appeared to have a graze wound to the right side of his chest. According to the release, Williams-Monroe was traveling in a car in the area of Route 291, near Kerlin Street, when he exited his vehicle and heard gunshots. Moments later, he realized he had been struck. He was taken by private vehicle to Crozer, where he was listed in good condition at press time. Prior to the shooting, Williams-Monroe said he was traveling north on Interstate 95, and exited onto Kerlin Street. From Kerlin Street, he proceeded to Route 291. He was traveling east on 291 when he exited the vehicle. City Detective Victor Heness is leading the investigation into this shooting. Anyone with information is asked to contact him at 610-447-8429 or vheness245@chesterpolice.org. Graduates fresh out of college looking for their best chance to find jobs and affordable living arrangements: Head east. Looking to make some big bucks (if youre lucky enough to find work): Head west or to Texas. Real estate site Trulia worked with LinkedIn to find the most grad friendly markets. The analysis looked at average wages, how much of your paycheck goes to rent and job opportunities for people between the ages of 22 and 30. The result: The East and Midwest might be the best places to start your career. But you might not live in the most exciting city. Fifteen male suspects ranging from their 20's to their 50's were arrested in an undercover prostitution sting conducted in Cypress last week by the Harris County Constable Precinct 4 Office. Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman said the sting was conducted mostly near North Harris county schools, businesses and neighborhoods in preparation for the summer months when children are out of school. Undercover female officers arrested the 15 suspects and charged them with prostitution, a class B misdemeanor. The operation was held in the area of FM 1960 from Kuykendhal east to Aldine Westfield, Herman said. FELONY SEX CRIMES: Nearly a dozen arrested in Galveston County All of the suspects received a bail of $100. One of the suspects, Tomas Gonzalez was arrested twice during the operation. Herman said after Gonzalez made his $100 bail he was arrested the the very next day along with his daughter for interfering in the operation when he saw an undercover female officer and tried to warn another suspect. "[He] and his daughter basically ran up to the location and started yelling 'She's a cop, she's a cop,'" Herman said. Gonzalez was arrested again and his daughter was also arrested for interfering with public duties of a police officer. Herman expressed frustration with the district attorney's office after the interfering charge against Gonzalez were dropped. "I am very concerned about those charges," Herman said. "I have reached out tot he DA...they are looking into that. ... We feel confident that they will hopefully reinstate the charges but I guess time will tell." Herman said the low bonds the suspects receive contribute to the risk officer's face when out conducting undercover operations. "From a public safety standpoint, I am very concerned what message are we sending to the human trafficking victims on the streets. We are out here trying to make a difference, protect our streets, get the area safe for the kids getting out of school and everyone one of these individuals got a $100 bond - $10 and they are out." Herman said some of the suspects were also arrested for drug charges and warrants. He said despite the low bonds being issued and the DA's decision to drop Gonzalez's charges, his team is dedicated to cleaning up the streets. "What bothers me is when people compromise the safety of men and women in blue," Herman said. "The DA's office takes charges and then they just dismiss the charges. I have a real issue with that, and I think we all should." STAY INFORMED: Text CHRON to 77453 to get breaking news alerts by text | Sign up to receive breaking news alerts delivered to your email here. CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The crowds were packed along that same stretch of beach, cameras ready. Their eyes trained on the site that sent men to the moon 50 years ago but had now been reborn as the perch for another powerful rocket ready to fly. The scene here last month was at once familiar and nostalgic, the past revived. But it was also altogether different. The rocket on the pad, the Falcon Heavy, was developed not by NASA but by a private company, SpaceX. Many in the crowd weren't born when Walter Cronkite narrated the lunar landing for millions and this stretch of coastline held a sacrosanct spot in the national consciousness. Instead, in the years since the Apollo era, the Cape had become a symbol of the abandoned dreams and diminished ambitions that ultimately led to the retirement of the space shuttle eight years ago and the end of human spaceflight from U.S. soil. Now, though, the Space Coast is coming back. A host of companies have laid claim to the old government launchpads. Buildings left vacant have been torn down or rebuilt. And the Cape is once again on the verge of sending humans back to space for the first time since 2011, the crescendo of a new, reinvigorated space age that many hope will restore the flag-waving pride of a bygone era. As new life is being breathed back into this venerable coastline, the resurrection is coming in fits and starts, and in an entirely new form that is far more unstable and unpredictable than the one infused by government cash in the 1960s. Today, the new space age is built on the fortunes of private enterprise, subject to the whims of the economy. And like the next chapter of America's grand adventure in space, the future of the Space Coast is far from guaranteed. Having seen the devastation that can come when a town reliant on a single industry buckles, local leaders have gone to great lengths to try to diversify their economy. They've put in special taxing districts and offered incentives to woo all sorts of businesses to create a better sense of stability. But this is a place where kids go to Astronaut High School, where the area code, 321, is designed to mimic the launch countdown and reminders of the Space Age are everywhere, including monuments to astronauts and streets named Apollo Road and Tranquility Boulevard. This is where the Space Age was born, with heroes named John Glenn, Neil Armstrong and Sally Ride. This is where the crowds crammed the beaches before launch, counting down in unison, and captured the world's imagination. And then it didn't. The question now is: Can it again? - - - At the dawn of the Space Age, this swampy stretch of coastline quickly became a thriving boomtown. Fueled by the Cold War to beat the Soviet Union to the moon, the population soared with engineers and rocket scientists. Astronauts with the "right stuff" trained by running on the beach during the day and partied at night on the Cocoa Beach strip full of jazz clubs and restaurants. It was "a glamorous honky-tonk town with young girls twisting in bars, gamblers playing poker upstairs, lots of noise," as Gay Talese wrote in the New York Times in 1965. "It was total excitement," said Roy Tharpe, 78, who grew up in the area and started working for NASA in 1963. "It seemed like we were launching rockets every three or four days - and they would explode all the time." If the Cape had a cathedral, it was Launch Complex 39A. Built for the Apollo missions, its spire stood more than 500 feet tall and launched the Apollo astronauts to the moon in July 1969 on a Saturn V rocket so powerful it felt like an earthquake. After Apollo, 39A was reborn as the host for space shuttle launches. But when the shuttle program was shuttered after a 30-year run, the venerable launch site started rusting away in the salt air, joining the many other abandoned pads that dot the Cape like the ruins of a once-great civilization. At the peak of the recession, the unemployment rate in Brevard County, where the Space Coast is largely based, spiked to 12 percent. The real estate market plunged. The median price for single-family homes fell from nearly $250,000 in 2007 to less than $100,000 by 2011. "What we didn't anticipate was that [the shuttle retirement] would coincide with the recession - the deepest, longest recession," said Lynda Weatherman, the president and CEO of the Space Coast Economic Development Commission. "I saw the numbers, and it was bad. And Florida was a bad place, and Brevard was particularly bad, especially for the housing markets. So we got clobbered." By 2013, maintenance on pad 39A was costing NASA $100,000 a month and even a spokesman admitted at the time that the launchpad had "not been kept up." Since the facility is on the National Register of Historic Places, it could not be torn down. NASA was desperate to find someone to use it - even a start-up company that improbably was leading the commercialization of space. SpaceX, the California venture founded by Elon Musk, was looking for a new launchpad and won the rights to take over the site. The company had secured contracts from NASA to carry cargo to the International Space Station and was winning back the commercial launch contracts that had gone overseas. With a growing manifest, and perhaps a quixotic faith in the future, SpaceX was looking to expand. Others soon followed. Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos, had made a last-minute bid to lay claim to 39A, touching off a feud with Musk's SpaceX. But without a rocket capable of flying from the site, Blue Origin was rebuffed. (Bezos owns The Washington Post.) Instead, it set its sights on another fading relic, launchpad 36, just down the road. Home to 145 launches, including the Mariner missions, which sent probes deep into the solar system, it, too, was wasting away. In 2015, Blue Origin reached a deal to take it over for the new rocket it was developing, called New Glenn. "The pad had stood silent for more than 10 years - too long," Bezos said at the time. "We can't wait to fix that." Blue Origin has also built a massive rocket manufacturing facility nearby with plans to expand. Across the street, OneWeb, a satellite company that wants to create a worldwide Internet system delivered from space, also has a new plant. Boeing has taken over an old space shuttle processing facility where it is building a spacecraft designed to fly NASA astronauts to space from another nearby launchpad. And NASA is developing a massive rocket, the Space Launch System, that it hopes will help get astronauts to the moon within five years. NASA is scrambling to get its first launch, with the Orion crew capsule, built by Lockheed Martin, off the ground next year. - - - The future of the Space Coast is also being written by the smaller start-ups beginning to emerge in an industry once dominated by big government programs and military industrial complex contractors. A San Francisco-based company called Relativity, founded by former employees from Blue Origin and SpaceX, is working on a rocket that's built entirely by 3-D printing. The goal is to be able to launch small satellites quickly and affordably. Recently, the company signed an agreement to take over the Cape's launchpad 16. Next door, at launchpad 20, another start-up, Firefly, intends to launch the rockets it plans to build at a nearby facility. Taken as a whole, the activity is helping NASA fulfill its goals of turning the Kennedy Space Center from a government-dominated facility to one with multiple tenants that showcases a new space economy. "When you consider that in all of human history, only three nations have sent humans to space: the United States, Russia and China," said Robert Cabana, the director of NASA's Kennedy Space Center. "Today, there are several U.S. companies building space vehicles to take humans to space." Outside the gates of the Kennedy Space Center, developers are building residential communities up and down the coastline. The unemployment rate dropped to below 4 percent earlier this year. The tax base has bloomed with monthly taxable sales rebounding from a low of nearly $450 million in 2010 to over $850 million last year. And housing prices are back where they were before the recession. The coast was known first and foremost "as a launch site," said Weatherman, the head of the local economic development commission. "But we knew we could do more than that." The city of Titusville put out a video recently highlighting all the development going on across the town: an 18,000-square-foot day-care enter, a 170-unit subdivision, a new Hyatt and a new Marriott. The Miracle City Mall, torn down after the recession, has been rebuilt as a new shopping center, with a new Harley Davidson dealership. Nearby, there's a trendy new brewpub that serves oxtail mac and cheese and fancy cocktails like the "creamsicle fizz." "We got our very own Starbucks," said Jim Hale, who works as a volunteer with the Air Force Space and Missile Museum here. "That was big. . . . Now everything is new again." In the end, the double blow of the loss of the shuttle program and the recession was devastating, leaving streets filled with empty buildings. But it was not as bad as it could have been. "We were preparing for a Category 5 hurricane," said Robin Fisher, a former county commissioner. "We got a Category 3." By the time the shuttle program was ending, a new commercial space industry was starting to take form. It was unclear what its future was or how successful it would be. But there was an enthusiasm surrounding it, and local officials embraced it. "That was the second act for space in our county," Weatherman said. Still, space is a risky business. While many new entrants are trying to make their mark on the Cape, not all of them will survive. And for all of the success stories here, there have been missteps. SpaceX has had two rockets explode, one destroying a pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Then, just recently, one of its spacecraft blew up during an engine test, sending a huge plume of smoke over the Cape. NASA has turned over a few facilities to private companies that showed promise but ultimately faltered. "Not everything worked," Cabana, the director of the Kennedy Space Center, said. Some "lost contracts they thought they were going to get, and the bottom line was they were unsuccessful." There is a lot of excitement and enthusiasm for the commercial space industry. The investment money is pouring in. New companies seem to pop up every day. But some may be reminded of the old maxim: The quickest way to become a millionaire in space is to start out as a billionaire. - - - They had packed the beaches once again. This time for the launch of the Falcon Heavy, the most powerful rocket in the world currently in operation. At liftoff, it christened pad 39A on a warm Thursday evening in April, thundering away on a towering pillow of smoke. On the beaches, the crowds came not just for the launch, but a bit of rocket artistry unimaginable a generation ago. Instead of ditching its rocket boosters into the ocean after flight, SpaceX flies them back so they can be reused - a bit of aerial acrobatics the company says helps lower the cost of spaceflight. On this day, both side boosters flew back to one of the newest structures on the Cape: a pair of landing pads. The crowds craned their necks skyward to watch the boosters touching down in unison, twin sonic booms announcing their arrival. Hale, the Air Force museum volunteer, watched from a nearby park with his wife, awestruck, as this new chapter evoked a memory of the old - and a question: "Where is Walter Cronkite when you need him?" A San Antonio police officer arrested on suspicion of stalking his ex-girlfriend allegedly threatened to kill her if she didn't take him back, according to an arrest affidavit. Officer Kenneth Moreno, a 13-year veteran with the San Antonio Police Department, was arrested Wednesday, according to a news release, after his ex-girlfriend called police to report a theft. FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox An affidavit revealed new details about the arrest, including an assault allegation that investigators are looking into. On Wednesday evening, Moreno's ex-girlfriend called 911 after the officer allegedly followed her around that day. She told police she went to work out at Gold's Gym that morning and Moreno walked in and stole her phone, the document states. Moreno unsuccessfully tried to unlock the phone and even asked her for the pass code, according to the affidavit. Then, the document states, Moreno pleaded with the woman to give him another chance. When she told Moreno their relationship was over, he allegedly said "that he didn't care, that he was going to end up doing something stupid" and threatened to kill her, according to the affidavit. The woman told police Moreno pleaded with her for 45 minutes before leaving. RELATED: SAPD officer arrested after allegedly assaulting her boyfriend's lover "The victim stated she was shaken to the point that she was sick and had to call in to work." Later that day, Moreno continued texting the woman and drove to her house when she would not respond to the messages, according to the affidavit. On May 2, investigators also learned from the woman's relative that Moreno assaulted her. She allegedly has photos of the injuries stemming from the incident, according to the police document. Though Moreno hasn't been charged with family violence, police said Thursday they may arrest him on additional charges. Weeks earlier, on April 19, police arrested Officer Nicolette Muniz on suspicion of family violence. Police believe Muniz, who was allegedly having an affair with Moreno, drove to the ex-girlfriend's house and assaulted her. In a statement Thursday, Police Chief William McManus called the recent incidents "disturbing." "The allegations against this officer (Moreno) are disturbing especially in light of all the recent focus on domestic/dating violence," he said in the statement. "Simply put, this behavior is not acceptable and will not be tolerated by any member of the San Antonio Police Department." Moreno, who was previously placed on administrative duty, is now on administrative leave while police continue their investigation. Fares Sabawi covers crime in San Antonio and Bexar County. Read him on our breaking news site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | fsabawi@mysa.com | @FaresInSA A San Antonio firefighter accused of assaulting his wife was arrested Thursday, according to police. Dennis Parks Jr., 48, faces a Class A misdemeanor domestic violence charge in connection to the assault. He was booked into the Bexar County Jail on a $5,000 bail. FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox According to a statement from the San Antonio Fire Department, Parks has been placed on administrative detail pending the outcome of the criminal case. "The SAFD has a zero-tolerance stance with regards to any form of domestic violence," reads the statement. "This behavior by any of our personnel will not be tolerated." Police responded to the 1100 block of Lion King at about 10:40 p.m. for reports of an assault. When officers arrived, they determined an argument between Parks and his wife had escalated into an assault, according to a preliminary police report. Following interviews with Parks and his wife at police headquarters, officers arrested Parks on the domestic violence charge. Text "NEWS" to 77453 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com Caleb Downs covers crime in San Antonio and Bexar County. Read him on our breaking news site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | cdowns@mysa.com | @calebjdowns A man was hospitalized early Friday after crashing into a ditch on the far West Side, deputies said. The driver was traveling at a high rate of speed near Alamo Ranch Parkway and Lonestar Parkway at about 3 a.m. when he lost control and rolled his car into a ditch. A San Antonio police officer was hospitalized late Thursday following a head-on crash on the Northwest Side. The officer was stopped in a turning lane near Huebner and Vance Jackson roads at about 11:30 p.m. when a driver pulled into the lane and smashed into him head on. FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox Paramedics took the officer to University Hospital with minor injuries. According to police, the driver told officers he didn't see the officer's squad car and he showed no signs of intoxication. Text "NEWS" to 77453 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com Caleb Downs covers crime in San Antonio and Bexar County. Read him on our breaking news site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com | cdowns@mysa.com | @calebjdowns Lysistrata, the character from the Aristophanes play of the same name, declared a sex strike to try to stop a devastating war in ancient Greece. Alyssa Milano, the actress and political activist, declared a sex strike to try to stop Georgia from protecting unborn children in the womb. The state just passed and signed into law a so-called heartbeat bill to outlaw abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detectable. This led Milano to conclude that women cant risk pregnancy until further notice and must stop having sex, at least stop having sex with cis men. Its apparently never occurred to Milano that women, not just cis men, support pro-life legislation and that unborn babies are both boys and girls. In her fictional cause, Lysistrata had mercy and humanity on her side. Milano has neither, although her lack of seriousness makes her a perfect spokesperson for the backlash against the Georgia bill. It is one of a spate of heartbeat bills around the nation that are sure to get enjoined in the courts, but have highlighted the hysterical opposition to the idea that a tiny human being with a heartbeat should be afforded protection under the law. Georgia has come under Hollywood pressure, and not just from the latter-day Lysistrata. Fifty actors and actresses signed an open letter against the law several weeks before it passed. The missive included the condescending line that these worthies find Georgias restaurants and hotels to be comfortable and of a high quality. The states determination to protect the unborn, on the other hand, is completely unacceptable. The signatories thundered that should the heartbeat law pass, we will do everything in our power to move our industry to a safer state for women. Its always amusing to get a lecture about the interests of women from representatives of an industry that produced and shielded so many predatory creeps for so long, but Hollywood hasnt let its own sins stop its nonstop hectoring of everyone else. The left-wing trope online repeated by multiple news outlets is that the Georgia bill would give women life in prison if they have an abortion. This is a stupid lie. The relevant section of Georgia abortion law makes it clear that it applies to third parties, and it has been interpreted as such by the Georgia courts. Nor does it call for life imprisonment of anyone. The common arguments against restrictions on abortion are that they infringe on womens health and bodies. But the vast majority of abortions are made out of discretionary choice, not medical necessity. And the heartbeat bills underline how another body is involved in the equation. An appendix or a kidney doesnt have its own separate heartbeat. The pro-abortion case is that a fetus is a blob of cells of no account with a heartbeat. That the fetus is a nonhuman being with a heartbeat. That the fetus isnt truly alive but has a heartbeat. The heartbeat bills, even if blocked by the courts, have an educative effect. Most people dont realize how soon a fetal heartbeat begins around six weeks into a pregnancy. The pro-life bumper sticker Abortion Stops a Beating Heart isnt just a slogan but a fact. As a pro-life tactic to get a test case in front of the Supreme Court to reconsider Roe v. Wade, the heartbeat bills may be lacking. Chief Justice John Roberts is cautious and unlikely to use a sweeping piece of pro-life legislation to overturn Roe, if he is inclined that way at all. But the heartbeat bills show, despite the Supreme Courts effort to stifle it, that the debate over abortion policy in the United States is still very real. The pro-life movement has survived setbacks in the Supreme Court, the disdain of the countrys cultural elite and predictions of its inevitable demise. Somehow, it will survive Alyssa Milanos sex strike as well. comments.lowry@nationalreview.com Suffering injuries is painful enough without having to deal with insurance companies. This pain is especially true when an insurer provides a low-ball offer for your injuries. So, how should you respond to a low settlement offer from an insurance company? Take Some Time to Analyze the Offer As soon as you receive a low offer from your insurance company, your first response might be to lash out and react angrily. This knee-jerk reaction is the last thing you should do. Instead, take some time to calm down so that you can think clearly and calmly. When you respond quickly, you are putting your future relationship with your insurer at risk. This step is essential, as usually, these lower-than-expected offers are a starting off point for future negotiations. Respond to the Offer in Writing Once you decide an offer is too low, you need to write to the insurance company to explain your reasoning. Speak to the insurance adjuster to get a sense as to why the offer was so low. Once you have this information, you can formulate a response that is courteous and counteracts the answers the adjuster provided. In your reply, you should always try to emphasize the emotional aspects of your case, and why these circumstances warrant a larger settlement. Perhaps, for instance, the initial offer fails to take into account all the information about your injuries or does not include time off work. Make a Counter-Offer Once you state your reasons for rejecting the initial offer, make a counter-offer you think you are due. It is essential, however, to ensure your counter-offer is reasonable, both to what you believe you deserve and what the other party can likely afford to pay. Making outrageous and extravagant demands may seem like the best way to counter a low offer, but once again, it is not a great way to foster a good working relationship with an insurance company. Once the insurance company receives a counter offer, they may accept, or they may make further offers until both sides settle. Contact an Experienced Personal Injury Attorney When dealing with a settlement offer, one of the smartest things you can do is talk with an experienced personal injury attorney. A knowledgeable personal injury lawyer can help you understand all aspects of your claim, where the insurers are playing hardball, and what type of settlement you deserve. If you suffer injuries and face the prospect of dealing with insurance companies over a settlement, make sure you contact one of the largest personal injury firms not only in Texas but the entire United States. Thomas J. Henry has the experience, expertise, and determination to get their clients the large settlements and verdicts they deserve. We serve clients across the country and are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So, if youve been injured in an accident, dont fall for flashy gimmicks. Call the personal injury experts at Thomas J. Henry today at 361-221-5053. Editors Note: This content is made possible by Thomas J. Henry Personal Injury Law. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of The San Antonio Express-News' or mySanAntonio.com's editorial staff. Learn more about our advertising products at www.hearstmediasanantonio.com. One of Prophetic Healing and Deliverance (PHD) Ministries leader Prophet Walter Magayas personal bodyguards yesterday appeared in court on allegations of issuing death threats to prominent actress Charity Dhlodhlo, who was reportedly revealing sordid details about the controversial churchmans business and private life. James Dzamu (41), who resides at PHD Ministries compound in Waterfalls, Harare, appeared before magistrate Mr Stanford Mambanje at Mbare Magistrates Courts facing charges of threats to commit murder. Dzamu was remanded out of custody on his own recognition. He was ordered not to interfere with State witnesses and to continue residing at his given address. It is alleged that on December 12 2018 Dhlodhlo, who appeared in the popular local soap opera Studio 263 as Mai Madziva, arrived at her Waterfalls home only to find Dzamu waiting for her. Dzamu approached Dhlodhlo and issued the chilling death threats. Charity if you want to die keep on doing what you are doing talking about (Prophet) Magaya, he reportedly said. The court heard that after uttering these threats, Dzamu left and Dhlodhlo proceeded to Waterfalls Police Station and reported the matter. Herald Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News TENSIONS boiled over at a Zanu PF parliamentary caucus meeting on Wednesday morning as MPs confronted Finance minister Mthuli Ncube over the parlous state of the economy and their welfare issues. This comes as MPs are also calling for a 250% increase in Constituency Development Fund allocations, saying the RTGS$50 000 which they are receiving each was insufficient to allow them to undertake development projects in their constituencies. Ahead of Ncubes Wednesday address to parliament on the economy, Zanu PF summoned its MPs to a caucus meeting at the party headquarters in Harare to whip them into line after it reportedly gathered information that they intended to tackle him head-on over the spiralling economy and their welfare before the nation. Ncubes presentation in parliament was broadcast live on state television, ZBC. In the tense caucus meeting, agitated parliamentarians accused Ncube of sabotaging the party through his damaging policies and not taking their welfare issues seriously. Ncube was also asked to field questions to MPs in the meeting, but left early leaving Zanu PF deputy chief whip Obedingwa Mguni on the firing line. Zanu PF MPs who spoke to the Zimbabwe Independent in off-the-record briefings this week said there was a tense atmosphere in the caucus meeting as MPs attacked Ncube and openly denounced him. Sources said the meeting started with the Zanu PF chief whip Pupurai Togarepi, MP for Gutu South, outlining the agenda which was to discuss how they should conduct themselves during the state-of-the-economy address. Ncube was then invited to speak to the MPs, they said. In his address, which was repeatedly interrupted as he was also later in the day in parliament, Ncube said government did not have the means to fund MPs lavish lifestyles. Basically, we zeroed in on our welfare issues; for instance we were previously promised Toyota Landcruiser vehicles, but Ncube told us that government for now can only afford Toyota Hilux trucks. Alternatively he offered us vehicle loans amounting to RTGS$40 000. In the last parliament, we got US$35 000 and the MPs felt that Ncube was being dismissive. What sort of a car can you buy now with RTGS$40 000? We demanded that he should at least raise it to at least RTGS$200 000, but he refused. So people started making all sorts of accusations and hurling insults at him, one of the MPs who attended the meeting said. There was also the issue of our sitting allowances. As you may be aware, we get RTGS$100 per sitting, which is now very insignificant. So the MPs put it to him that since he is the one who devalued the currency, he should own up and make sure our allowances are reviewed upwards. Again he did not budge. This greatly angered some of us. Another source said: The meeting turned chaotic as MPs confronted Ncube. Some accused him of being a sellout and a traitor who had introduced policies that will cost the party in the next elections. He didnt take that particular criticism lightly. According to sources, chaos intensified when Ncube stood up and put on a brave face as he took the marauding MPs head-on. Instead of retreating, he stood up and launched counter-accusations against MPs and started banging tables in a fit of rage. He insisted that the policies would work if they had the support of the party. This further infuriated the MPs and the scene became dramatic as some started walking out, while others kept on locked in heated exchanges him. In the end, Togarepi calmed down the situation and ended the meeting, the source said. Later in the day, Ncube kept the National Assembly in wait for about half an hour, raising fears that he might have developed cold feet to avoid facing the combined wrath of Zanu PF and opposition parties. But when he finally made his way into the House, Zanu PF MPs maintained their cool throughout his presentation, which had to be cut midway through in accordance with the Standing Rules and Orders which prohibit parliament business from proceeding beyond 7:55pm unless prior special leave is sought. Togarepi yesterday declined to comment on the issue. Parliaments administration is dealing with those issues through the Ministry of Finance. Both parties are guided by decisions already made on the adjustments to their allowance, he said. Ncube could not be reached for comment as his mobile number went unanswered. Zimbabwe Independent Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News AS the European Union (EU) and Zimbabwe prepare to resume formal re-engagement talks, with Brussels insisting on sweeping reforms, including security sector overhaul, President Emmerson Mnangagwa is between a rock and hard place. Security sector reform is one of the key demands from Western countries, which have imposed sanctions, including arms embargoes, on Harare, before Zimbabwe could be accepted back into the international community fold and receive new funding. Diplomats say Mnangagwa is under pressure to reform the military, which brought him to power, but government and army insiders say he fears rocking the boat and is in any case unable to overhaul the edifice which forms his administrations bedrock. Acting ambassador EU ambassador to Harare Thomas von Handel told the Zimbabwe Independent in an interview this week reforms were critical to dialogue and bilateral issues between Harare and Brussels Mnangagwa has below the radar been making a series of changes within the security sector, which insiders say are designed to consolidate power rather ensure security sector reform aborted before the November coup 2017 due to former president Robert Mugabes reliance on the army for political survival and his succession battle. Purges of targeted commanders and senior security officers have angered some military bosses and their political allies, army insiders say. In a revealing article published in the state media on April 28, which reflected governments position, Information permanent secretary Nick Mangwana said some of the retired commanders were seen as characters who perpetuated toxic politics of yesteryear. Mangwana claimed the purges were part of Mnangagwas security sector reform agenda, an assertion disputed by army insiders who insist those are merely political eliminations to realign politics, not reform the military institution, its guiding policies and the command element. Security sector reform is about ensuring the security forces operate within the parameters of the constitution and in terms of the law in an apolitical and professional manner. In a daring manoeuvre, Mnangagwa in February retired some influential military commanders who thrust him into power pending diplomatic postings. He also changed critical personnel and commanders in strategic military units such as the Presidential Guard and Mechanised Brigade in a major shake-up among troops that staged the coup which ousted Mugabe and facilitated his dramatic rise to power. Military sources told the Independent that the retired commanders are reluctant to serve abroad as diplomats as they see their redeployment as an agenda to exile them into political Siberia and isolate them. Senior military commanders retired pending diplomatic assignments include Major-General Anselem Sanyatwe, who was commander of the Presidential Guard; former Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) chief-of-staff (administration) Douglas Nyikayaramba, chief-of-staff responsible for service personnel and logistics, Major-General Martin Chedondo, and Air Vice-Marshal Sheba Shumbayawonda. Informed security sources told the Independent the retirements were designed to contain Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga, who was the commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) during the coup, as he has presidential ambitions. Mangwana said the changes were part of the security sector reform process. President Mnangagwa has redeployed those members of the security services who have served their country with distinction to other areas of the establishment to strengthen Zimbabwes democracy, Mangwana wrote. These include General Constantino Chiwenga (Rtd), who is now Vice President, Major-General Sibusiso Moyo (Rtd), who is now Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and a host of other eminent sons who have been redeployed to the party and diplomatic service. He has also permanently retired those members who perpetuated toxic politics of yesteryear, and appointed and elevated other patriotic cadres to replace them. Officials say Mangwanas remarks seen as a reflection of Mnangagwas thinking have set tongues wagging in military circles. In briefings with the Independent, military bosses, however, insisted that there was no realistic prospect for genuine security sector reform designed to ensure that the military goes back to the barracks given the armys role in Mnangagwas rise to power, his controversial election with a wafer-thin margin hence lack of popular support and its dominance of the political scene. It is an implausible scenario to say Mnangagwa is undertaking security sector reform as Mangwana claims. What Mnangagwa is doing is changing faces within the command element to consolidate power and protect himself from possible removal by the same military. In the first place, Mnangagwa and his military allies, before the new splits, thwarted security sector reform under Mugabe because of militarised politics and the succession battle. So they wont embrace it now because the military is the foundation of his administration; overhauling it means he will be left exposed and wont survive politically, a retired army commander said. Remember he has no popular electoral support and this was demonstrated during last years general elections. He relied on the military to assume power, he depended on it to controversially win the election and still relies on it to remain in power. What he has done and is still doing is merely replacing commanders he doesnt want or those he doesnt trust with those who are loyal to him. The military infrastructure remains the same because he is aware that he cant institute genuine security sector reforms without collapsing his rule. At the same time he knows it would be good for him to reform the security establishment and assert his civilian rule. Thats an ideal position. So he is in a quandary. He is dammed if he does; damned if he doesnt. If he engages in genuine reform, he will rock the boat and collapse his springboard to power, and the very security edifice that supports his administration. If he doesnt, the military will remain deeply involved in politics and will continue sinking its roots deeper in political affairs to consolidate its dominance of the political arena. As a result, Mnangagwa has basically gone for consolidation based on maintaining the institutional fabric and security architecture as it is, while simply replacing commanders and other security officers that he does not want or trust. This is what is actually going on, not what Mangwana is saying. Military insiders say the chance for genuine security sector reform was lost during the Government of National Unity era (2009-13) when it was on the formal agenda and Mugabe was under pressure to change things. After the 2013 elections, deepening of Zanu PF factional fights also contributed to derailing the security sector reform agenda. Mnangagwa and Chiwenga were allies before the coup, but did not take long to fall out resulting in the unfolding power struggle between the two. Although Chiwenga is ailing, insiders say he is vowing to fight back at some point. Before the recent military shakeup, Mnangagwa had made changes at the Zimbabwe Republic Police and Central Intelligence Organisation, removing senior officers deemed close to Mugabe, while elevating those loyal to him. He is also reportedly planning more changes in the ZRP command structure by retiring Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga and replacing him with one of the senior officers. Sources say some security officers were worried that Mnangagwa was making regional and ethnic appointments as part of his power consolidation strategy. There are no genuine security sector reforms taking place. What we are seeing is power consolidation by Mnangagwa. Of course, his backers are telling diplomats that the shake-up in the security sector is part of the reform agenda, but its clear that this is a power consolidation strategy, a source said. He is removing Chiwengas supporters and replacing them with his allies, particularly from Midlands and Masvingo provinces. During Mugabes presidency, most commanders were Zezurus. Mnangagwa has removed the Zezurus at the top and appointed Karangas. You cant call that security sector reform. Most Karanga speaking people hail from Mnangagwas Midlands home province or neighbouring Masvingo. The commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces General Phillip Valerio Sibanda, Airforce of Zimbabwe commander Elson Moyo, Central Intelligence Organisation Director-General Isaac Moyo and Defence secretary Mark Grey Marongwe are all from the Midlands province. Zimbabwe National Army commander Lieutenant-General Edzai Chimonyo is Masvingo province. One of the senior police officers, who is expected to become the new police boss, is from Masvingo. The Mnangagwa administration has been under pressure from the international community to institute political, economic and security sector reforms. The calls grew even louder following the August 1, 2018 fatal shooting of six people by the military in Harare, which resulted in a commission of inquiry chaired by former South African president Kgalema Motlanthe. The commission blamed the military for the killings and recommended use of police in crowd control during public protests. The killing of 17 people by security forces during the civil unrest in January, which resulted in widespread global condemnation, also piled more pressure on government to institute security sector reform. Zimbabwe Independent Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News Yves here. Even thought this critique of Boeing might seem a bit.bloodthirstyBoeing does have blood on its hands and has been astonishingly unrepentant about it. Given the fact that Boeing is part of a duopoly of makers of large planes, and there is no plausible way that Airbus could take up the new orders slack, predictions of its demise would seem to be premature. But AIG was widely viewed as indomitable until it started its nosedive. Another way to return Boeing to the community of adequately-behaved major corporations would be a housecleaning of its executive ranks, starting the the CEO, and the board, along with board reforms such as the creation of a safety subcommittee with clout. But the odds of anything like that happening look remote. Why might Boeing be at much greater risk of serious trouble than it now appears? Huawei. China likely perceives that the US is engaging in hostage-taking, both close to literally with the extradition request for the CEOs daughter, Meng Wanzhou, and the Trump Administration moving towards a blacklisting yesterday. From the Financial Times: The White House and US Department of Commerce took steps on Wednesday night that would in effect ban Huawei from selling technology into the American market, and could also prevent it from buying semiconductors from suppliers including Qualcomm in the US that are crucial for its production. The US Department of Commerce said it would put Huawei on its so-called Entity List, meaning that the American companies will have to obtain a licence from the US government to sell technology to Huawei. At the same time, US president Donald Trump signed an executive order declaring the US telecoms sector faced a national emergency giving the commerce department the power to prohibit transactions posing an unacceptable risk to national security. Paul Triolo, a technology policy expert at Eurasia Group, a risk consultancy, said it was a huge development that would not only hurt the Chinese company but also have an impact on global supply chains involving US companies such as Intel, Microsoft and Oracle. The US has basically openly declared it is willing to engage in a full-fledged technology war with China, he said. Huawei has few alternatives for critical semiconductors to Qualcomm, which would likely be denied an export license if the US follows through on its threat of putting Huawei on the Entity List (the second most stringent category, but still sufficient for the US to bar licensing). One is Murata, but Japan has joined the US ban on Huawei 5G products, and would presumably fall in line if the US were to ask Japan to tell Murata not to sell semiconductors to Huawei. The advantages of China going after Boeing, as opposed to making life miserable for US technology companies, would be considerable. Targeting, say, Microsoft would be an obvious tit for tat. By contrast, China was the first country to ground the 737 Max, and its judgement was confirmed by other airline regulators and eventually the FAA. China does not have a credible competitor to Boeing, so it could wrap continued denial of certification of the 737 Max in the mantle of being pro-safety, even if independent parties suspected this was a secondary motive. On top of that, Ethiopian Airs forceful criticism of the 737 Max gives China air cover. Unlike Lion Air, which is widely seen as a questionable operator, readers who fly emerging economy carriers give Ethiopian Air high marks for competence and safety. One even wrote, I have flown Ethiopian Air. Its certainly far better than Irish-owned and operated Ryan Airlines (even though the latter has white pilots with nice Irish accents). Chinese interests have made large investments many countries in Africa, so its conceivable it could get other countries on the continent to follow its lead. Admittedly, China plus those countries collectively may not be large enough to do considerable damage to Boeing. But this action would break the hegemony of the FAA as certifier for US manufacturers, and that could prove crippling in the long run. Another issue that hasnt gotten the attention it warrants is that Boeing appears to lack the stringent software development protocols necessary for fly by wire operations. Boeing historically has relied on pilots being able to reassert control over automated functions; Airbus has fly by wire systems as far more prominent and accordingly the expectation and ability of pilots to override these systems is lower. However, many articles noted that MCAS took the 737 further into a fly-by-wire philosophy than it had been before. Yet Boeing was astonishingly lax, having only two angle of attack sensors, of which only one would be providing input to MCAS, and then on an arbitrary-seeming basis. By contrast, the Airbus philosophy stresses redundancy, not only in hardware they use not three but four angle of attack sensors but in software, and even software development. Two or more independent flight control computing systems are installed using different types of microprocessors and software written in different languages by different development teams and verified using formal methods (Approaches to Assure Safety in Fly-By-Wire Systems: Airbus Vs. Boeing). By Gregory Travis, a writer, a software executive, a pilot, and an aircraft owner who has logged more than 2,000 hours of flying time, ranging from gliders to a Boeing 757 (as a full-motion simulator) and Marshall Auerback, a market analyst and commentator. Produced by Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute If we fly [the Boeing 737] again, well be the last airline to fly them again, said Tewolde Gebremariam, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines. Almost immediately after the takeoff of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 on March 10, thefirst signs of trouble appeared. The Boeing 737s two angle of attack indicators, one on either side of the aircraft, gave inconsistent readings. The left indicator suddenly recorded a dangerous angle of attack of 36 degrees, while the right one showed a benign 11 degrees. In response to the angle of attack from the left side, the stick shaker on the captains side (left) activated. The stick shaker vibrated the pilots control column to warn of an impending stall. The co-pilots column, however, did not vibrate as it was activated from the right-side angle of attack sensor. This was the first indication to the pilots that the angle of attack sensors disagreed with one another. In less than a second, after going from 36 degrees, the pilots left-hand angle of attack (AOA) sensor suddenly jumped to 75 degrees of angle of attack. If it were actually true that the aircraft pitched up that rapidly, the airframe would have broken apart. It was not true, however. The sensor was faulty. Yet the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) computer software did not disregard this obviously incorrect reading. Six seconds later, the heater on the left-hand side AOA sensor changed state. Angle of attack sensors are particularly susceptible to malfunction when water from rain or a recent airplane washing gets into their guts. To prevent this, they are fitted with ice-melting heaters. Two minutes after takeoff, the captain called for the airplanes flaps to be retracted. Because the 737s MCAS function does not activate until the flaps are retracted, the captain has unconsciously summoned his, and his passengers, executioner. Two minutes and 15 seconds after takeoff had passed. Because it was only reading the faulty left-hand AOA sensor and because that sensor was indicating a dangerous stall, the MCAS software activated for 10 secondsspinning the trim wheels 46 revolutionsand pushed the 737s nose toward the ground. Ten seconds later, the pilots disabled MCAS by throwing the cutout switches. Next, they attempted to roll back those 46 revolutions manually but found that the aerodynamic forces were so great that the trim wheels could not be moved back by hand. Meanwhile, the captain asked his first officer to help him hold the control column back as the nose-down force commanded by MCAS was overwhelming his strength. In desperation, they turned the trim cutoff switch back on so that they could use the electric motor to turn the trim wheel, which they could not move by hand. They were successful for a moment at un-winding it, but MCAS rapidly reactivated and drove the trim back nose-down. The trim wheels were rotating nearly 300 RPM, in the wrong direction, under MCAS command. The pilots were helpless. The trim reached its nose-down stop, and the control column force necessary to keep the plane level overwhelmed the pilots. The plane eventually plunged into the ground at a 40-degree angle while traveling nearly 600 miles per hour, killing everybody on board. This mishap is one of the most tragic illustrations of Boeings decline. It boggles the mind to consider how these issues escaped regulatory review and how the aircraft were deemed airworthy. This could only happen in an industry afflicted by a wholesale collapse of regulation and oversight. Is the Boeing company even capable of building safe commercial airliners any longer? And should we expect to see the fatally flawed 737 MAX 8 return to service? In regard to the latter, no less than the CEO of Ethiopian Airlines has just said no.The evidence seems to indicate that public-sector regulatory oversight is incapable of reviewing manufacturers designs and ascertaining their airworthiness. In short, it looks like the system has collapsed. Shareholder Capitalism, the Military, and the Beginning of the End for Boeing The fall of the Berlin Wall and the corresponding end of the Soviet Empire gave the fullest impetus imaginable to the forces of globalized capitalism, and correspondingly unfettered access to the worlds cheapest labor. What was not to like about that? It afforded multinational corporations vastly expanded opportunities to fatten their profit margins and increase the bottom line with seemingly no risk posed to their business model. Or so it appeared. In 2000, aerospace engineer L.J. Hart-Smiths remarkable paper, sardonically titled Out-Sourced Profits The Cornerstone of Successful Subcontracting, laid out the case against several business practices of Hart-Smiths previous employer, McDonnell Douglas, which had incautiously ridden the wave of outsourcing when it merged with the authors new employer, Boeing. Hart-Smiths intention in telling his story was a cautionary one for the newly combined Boeing, lest it follow its then recent acquisition down the same disastrous path. Of the manifold points and issues identified by Hart-Smith, there is one that stands out as the most compelling in terms of understanding the current crisis enveloping Boeing: The embrace of the metric Return on Net Assets (RONA). When combined with the relentless pursuit of cost reduction (via offshoring), RONA taken to the extreme can undermine overall safety standards. Related to this problem is the intentional and unnecessary use of complexity as an instrument of propaganda. Like many of its Wall Street counterparts, Boeing also used complexity as a mechanism to obfuscate and conceal activity that is incompetent, nefarious and/or harmful to not only the corporation itself but to society as a whole (instead of complexity being a benign byproduct of a move up the technology curve). All of these pernicious concepts are branches of the same poisoned tree: shareholder capitalism: [A] notion best epitomized by Milton Friedman that the only social responsibility of a corporation is to increase its profits, laying the groundwork for the idea that shareholders, being the owners and the main risk-bearing participants, ought therefore to receive the biggest rewards. Profits therefore should be generated first and foremost with a view toward maximizing the interests of shareholders, not the executives or managers who (according to the theory) were spending too much of their time, and the shareholders money, worrying about employees, customers, and the community at large. The economists who built on Friedmans work, along with increasingly aggressive institutional investors, devised solutions to ensure the primacy of enhancing shareholder value, via the advocacy of hostile takeovers, the promotion of massive stock buybacks or repurchases (which increased the stock value), higher dividend payouts and, most importantly, the introduction of stock-based pay for top executives in order to align their interests to those of the shareholders. These ideas were influenced by the idea that corporate efficiency and profitability were impinged upon by archaic regulation and unionization, which, according to the theory, precluded the ability to compete globally. Return on Net Assets (RONA) forms a key part of the shareholder capitalism doctrine. In essence, it means maximizing the returns of those dollars deployed in the operation of the business. Applied to a corporation, it comes down to this: If the choice is between putting a million bucks into new factory machinery or returning it to shareholders, say, via dividend payments, the latter is the optimal way to go because in theory it means higher net returns accruing to the shareholders (as the owners of the company), implicitly assuming that they can make better use of that money than the company itself can. It is an absurd conceit to believe that a dilettante portfolio manager is in a better position than an aviation engineer to gauge whether corporate investment in fixed assets will generate productivity gains well north of the expected return for the cash distributed to the shareholders. But such is the perverse fantasy embedded in the myth of shareholder capitalism. Engineering reality, however, is far more complicated than what is outlined in university MBA textbooks. For corporations like McDonnell Douglas, for example, RONA was used not as a way to prioritize new investment in the corporation but rather to justify disinvestmentin the corporation. This disinvestment ultimately degraded the companys underlying profitability and the quality of its planes (which is one of the reasons the Pentagon helped to broker the merger with Boeing; in another perverse echo of the 2008 financial disaster, it was a politically engineered bailout). RONA in Practice When real engineering clashes with financial engineering, the damage takes the form of a geographically disparate and demoralized workforce: The factory-floor denominator goes down. Workers wages are depressed, testing and quality assurance are curtailed. Productivity is diminished, even as labor-saving technologies are introduced. Precision machinery is sold off and replaced by inferior, but cheaper, machines. Engineering quality deteriorates. And the upshot is that a reliable plane like Boeings 737, which had been a tried and true money-spinner with an impressive safety record since 1967, becomes a high-tech death trap. The drive toward efficiency is translated into a drive to do more with less. Get more out of workers while paying them less. Make more parts with fewer machines. Outsourcing is viewed as a way to release capital by transferring investment from skilled domestic human capital to offshore entities not imbued with the same talents, corporate culture and dedication to quality. The benefits to the bottom line are temporary; the long-term pathologies become embedded as the companys market share begins to shrink, as the airlines search for less shoddy alternatives. You must do one more thing if you are a Boeing director: you must erect barriers to bad news, because there is nothing that bursts a magic bubble faster than reality, particularly if its bad reality. The illusion that Boeing sought to perpetuate was that it continued to produce the same thing it had produced for decades: namely, a safe, reliable, quality airplane. But it was doing so with a production apparatus that was stripped, for cost reasons, of many of the means necessary to make good aircraft. So while the wine still came in a bottle signifying Premier Cru quality, and still carried the same price, someone had poured out the contents and replaced them with cheap plonk. And that has become remarkably easy to do in aviation. Because Boeing is no longer subject to proper independent regulatory scrutiny. This is what happens when youre allowed to self-certify your own airplane, as the Washington Post described: One Boeing engineer would conduct a test of a particular system on the Max 8, while another Boeing engineer would act as the FAAs representative, signing on behalf of the U.S. government that the technology complied with federal safety regulations. This is a recipe for disaster. Boeing relentlessly cut costs, it outsourced across the globe to workforces that knew nothing about aviation or aviations safety culture. It sent things everywhere on one criteria and one criteria only: lower the denominator. Make it the same, but cheaper. And then self-certify the plane, so that nobody, including the FAA, was ever the wiser. Boeing also greased the wheels in Washington to ensure the continuation of this convenient state of regulatory affairs for the company. According to OpenSecrets.org, Boeing and its affiliates spent $15,120,000 in lobbying expenses in 2018, after spending, $16,740,000 in 2017 (along with a further $4,551,078 in 2018 political contributions, which placed the company 82nd out of a total of 19,087 contributors). Looking back at these figures over the past four elections (congressional and presidential) since 2012, these numbers represent fairly typical spending sums for the company. But clever financial engineering, extensive political lobbying and self-certification cant perpetually hold back the effects of shoddy engineering. One of the sad byproducts of the FAAs acquiescence to self-certification is how many things fall through the cracks so easily. AOA: A Recipe for Disaster You can see this problem in regard to the AOA sensors in the Boeing 737 aircraft. Historically, these sensors have not been a particularly important metric in regard to commercial flying done by human pilots. Boeing neither put much effort into the AOA system, nor was it regarded as a particularly crucial safety consideration. This is why taking off with inoperative AOA heaters on a Boeing airplane like the 737 was never a big dealthe worst consequence would be an annoying activation of the stick shaker when it was clear the activation was erroneous. However, AOA sensors become veryimportant in computer-controlled (fly by wire) aircraft, which is why the A320 has three AOA sensors and why having heaters working on two of the three is an airworthiness requirement. When Boeing put MCAS on the new Max 8 737, it did make the AOA sensor a first-line flight-critical item. But it never went back and revised the Master Minimum Equipment List (MMEL) to reflect the AOA systems new importance. And this didnt get caught by the FAA because, as noted earlier, they were allowing Boeing to self-certify under the new rules. There wasnt an independent set of eyes to catch the oversight. The Cost of Building a Safe Airplane Since these decisions were largely governed by bottom line considerations, what would it take to quantify the financial implications to Boeing of fielding a good 737 MAX? Good here means a version of the 737 plane that actually addressed the problems of the current MAX 8 model, whose aerodynamic instability led Boeing to the MCAS software Band-Aid fix (a software solution that supposedly addressed the problems thrown up by the engines modifications, but which in reality led to the tragic crashes in Indonesia and Africa). Making a good 737 MAX would have involved three things: Fundamental changes to the 737 airframe to raise its height to fit the larger engines. A new aircraft type certificate, reflecting and acknowledging the changes. Costs of training pilots for what is, essentially, a new aircraft. Lets estimate the total cost of a-c, above, as $5 billion. Thats $5 billion more to make a good 737 MAX vs. the current bad 737 MAX. These calculations reveal that, deploying the shortcuts that Boeing actually adopted, the bad 737 design yielded Boeing a profit margin of 21 percent per aircraft sold. By contrast, a good design, which properly incorporated better safety features, yielded a profit of 19 percent per aircraft. (At least according to our calculations.) That doesnt sound like that much of a decrease. In fact, a 19 percent profit margin, per airplane, sounds pretty goodespecially for an aircraft that no longer has a greater-than-average propensity to dive for the dirt. But it represents a 2 percent reduction in profit margins. When you evaluate that against the fact that the 737 program accounts for nearly half of all of Boeings profits and that the wizards astride the corporation have told Wall Street that they can conjure 1 percent to 1.5 percent annual profit increases, company-wide, the actions undertaken by Boeings senior management begin to make sense. Boeings MCAS wizardry, to cast a spell upon the 737 MAXs aerodynamic instability, then, bears all the forensic fingerprints of a panic. It was a cheap financial fix designed to safeguard a 21 percent profit margin. This despite the fact that designing the 737 properly would still have yielded substantial profits. True, Boeing wouldnt have met its profit forecasts, which may have affected the stock price. But we would have avoided a situation whereby Boeing played the equivalent of Russian roulette with the airlines and, by extension, the passengers on those planes. And heres the likely fallout from this putrid exercise in greed: Boeing is probably done as a credible manufacturing concern. Its credibility has been shattered as the company has repeatedly failed to get out in front of the problem and even today keeps finding itself reacting to yet more damaging disclosures. Its somewhat difficult to impute motives, but Boeings upper management arrogantly seems to be making an implicit assumption that it can overcome this problem, on the basis that the flying public has very few alternatives to its increasingly flawed products. That may be true in the immediate short term, but surely Airbus and future competitors out of Asia are licking their proverbial chops thanks to the magnitude of the incompetence displayed here by Boeing. Ironically, Boeings increasing resort to offshoring is foaming the runway (pun intended) for its future competitors. For some time now, the company has been engaged in instructing its future competition on how to build commercial airliners. The Chinese have been gobbling up U.S. aviation capacity, everything from Teledyne Continental Motors to Cirrus aircraft, at a breakneck pace. And, like a play out of Hart-Smiths paper on what notto do, Boeing has been teaching the Chinese, in China, how to build commercial airliners. For students of history, the irony of the capitalists having actually sold the communists the rope with which to hang themselves is, frankly, too much to bear. But the Chinese, like the Airbus consortium, can afford to take a long-term strategic view that a company captured by the disease of shareholder capitalism like Boeing clearly cannot. In China, the planes will be built domestically, and will not be subject to the arbitrary dictates of private portfolio managers; they will not be constrained by strategies that seem largely to be focused on meeting (or beating) an arbitrary quarterly earnings per share figure. Boeing has no inherent capacity to plan for the future nor is the companys leadership compensated for their strategic vision. Their executives are tactically compensated on the basis of the annual gyrations of the stock price, which constrains the ability to take the long-term risks and investment, much less evince concerns about engineering and safety that are a unique requirement of airliner building. They should be worried more about facing manslaughter charges. The negligence has become even worse since the 2005 regulatory reform that handed all inspection and certification of Boeings airplanes over to Boeing itself. It was not hard to predict the sad outcome of that denouement: a failed 787 Dreamliner program and, now, a 737 MAX 8 plane with nothing to show but bodies strewn across the desert and beneath the sea. Cow kiss challenge: Austria tells people to shun charity dare Guardian (ChiGal). Nearly a quarter of West Antarctic ice is now unstable Science Daily (DL). Original. Jared Diamond: Theres a 49 Percent Chance the World As We Know It Will End by 2050 (interview) New York Magazine (OregonCharles). 49% is an obvious case of spurious precision, oddly unquestioned by the interviewer, David Wallace-Wells. But its still interesting. Boom in Dodgy Wall Street Deals Points to Market Trouble Ahead Bloomberg How the Promise of a $120 Billion Uber I.P.O. Evaporated NYT Silicon Valleys kingpin banker takes an Uber hit FT Loose Lips and FX Tips: How Chatrooms Cost Banks $1.2 Billion Bloomberg Facebook has struggled to hire talent since the Cambridge Analytica scandal, according to recruiters who worked there CNBC Meltdown Redux: Intel Flaw Lets Hackers Siphon Secrets from Millions of PCs Wired (DL). Boeing 737 MAX Boeing says its software fix for the 737 MAX is ready, awaits FAA approval Seattle Times How much was pilot error a factor in the Boeing 737 MAX crashes? Seattle Times In his opening statement Wednesday at the House Aviation subcommittee hearing on the 737 MAX in Washington, D.C., the lead Republican congressman blamed errors by the Indonesian and Ethiopian pilots for the two deadly MAX crashes in those countries. Pilots trained in the United States would have successfully been able to handle the emergencies on both jets, said Rep. Sam Graves of Missouri, ranking member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. He added that preliminary reports about the accident compound my concerns about quality training standards in other countries. Graves was repeating the main points in a report written by two pilots at a major U.S. airline that pointed to pilot error as the most consequential factor in both crashes. Their report was commissioned and paid for by institutional investors with large holdings in Boeing stock. Hmm. A must-read. Bjorns Corner: Why I wouldnt hesitate to fly on the MAX after the fix Leenam News. Now a person of logic says: If Boeing was as negligent in the development of the 737 MAX to let MCAS slip through, what else is in there? Here I rely on the Boeing CEO and top management to have realized the Boeing airliner which pays the bills cant fail. If theres one more blip, Boeing will not only be shaken, it will be down for counting. I expect the top management to have put the question to its MAX team: If theres anything else in the MAX you dont feel 100% confident about, just tell us. Well fix it, no matter what. This time, theres no pressure, the engineers would have been told. You will crash your career if you dont speak. Before, it was the reverse. I rely on this question being put and any answers finding its way into the fix. A 737 flight control software update is not a local patch of a software corner. Its a global update of the system and any cleanups will ride along. Any such cleanups have been flying on the MCAS test flights for more hours than any cleanups before. This time, theres no pressure strikes me as requiring an inordinate amount of trust in management by workers. Not so easy for a union-busting firm. More Questions Than Answers About Boeing, the 737 Max, and the F.A.A. John Cassidy, The New Yorker (MA). The final sentence: The problem at the FAA] predates the Trump Administration, and it urgently needs dealing with. Name the problem that doesnt. Cassidy, however, probably flies a good deal. So, on this issue he keeps a cool head. (Natural News) Washington state investigators found that more than 15,000 people bought school supplies and jewelry geared toward young children that contained dangerous levels of lead and cadmium from Amazon in 2017 and 2018. (Article by Sean Walton republished from TheDailySheeple.com) Even after Amazon was notified of the illegal childrens products and said it had removed them, investigators found some of the same products again, as well as others that contained the metals at levels well beyond the legal maximum. Both lead and cadmium can cause damage to the nervous system, liver, kidneys and other internal organs, and are especially harmful to children. Under an agreement announced Thursday by Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, Amazon must require third-party sellers of these products to provide certificates proving their safety and compliance with U.S. and Washington consumer-protection statutes. Manufacturers and importers already must have such certification but ordinarily, they arent required to show it to retailers or distributors. Amazon admits no wrongdoing in the agreement. As a parent, when I buy products for my kids, I expect them to be safe, said Ferguson. All retailers must ensure that their products do not pose a threat to Washington children. If they dont, they will hear from my office. While so many of us benefit from the convenience of online retailers, the products they sell shouldnt harm our families or the environment where we live, said Department of Ecology Director Maia Bellon. This is especially true with products marketed for kids. I appreciate the close collaboration with the Attorney General in supporting the enforcement of the Childrens Safe Product Act, and Im proud of the long-term difference we at Ecology can make with our product testing efforts. The Seattle-based technology and commerce giant will also pay Fergusons office $700,000, funding for continued investigations into environmental and product safety issues. The products, mostly made in China, were sold on Amazon by third-party merchants, an increasingly important part of its retail business. These sellers, who use Amazons marketplace and logistics network to reach customers, in 2018 represented 58% of the companys gross merchandise sales a fact touted by founder and CEO Jeff Bezos in his annual letter to shareholders last month. Amazon collected nearly $43 billion in commissions and fees from third-party sellers in 2018. Read more at: TheDailySheeple.com (Natural News) If you wish to sell goods or services within the digital universe of Amazon, which is rapidly gobbling up the entirety of the retail-sphere, then youre soon going to have to submit to Amazons Mark of the Beast, according to new reports. In the very near future, prospective Amazon Marketplace sellers will be required to submit to the Orwellian demands of Jeff Bezos, who reportedly wants to record every sellers face using his Rekognition facial recognition technology in order to verify them. Getting approval to sell things on Amazon, in other words, will soon be contingent upon allowing Beelzebezos to capture five-second recordings of your face, which will then be processed through Amazons artificial intelligence (AI) apparatus for approval. Amazon claims that the move is part of a larger-scale effort to crack down on fake sellers, many of whom sell counterfeit goods via the Marketplace. By using facial recognition to verify sellers identities, Amazon can, in essence, create a safer and more honest Marketplace experience, the company claims. We always experiment with new ways to verify the information sellers provide us in order to protect our store from bad actors, an Amazon spokesperson told the DailyMail Online (U.K.). Seller identification information is securely stored and used only for identify verification. Amazon is helping to build the New World Order by implementing precursors to the actual Mark of the Beast prophesied about in the Book of Revelation But privacy and surveillance experts warn that the creepy technology is just the latest phase of a calculated, technocracy-led affront to individual liberty like something out of George Orwells dystopian novel 1984. Imagine a technology that is potently, uniquely dangerous? ?something so inherently toxic that it deserves to be completely rejected, banned, and stigmatized. Something so pernicious that regulation cannot adequately protect citizens from its effects, writes Evan Selinger for Medium.com. That technology is already here. It is facial recognition technology, and its dangers are so great that it must be rejected entirely. What makes Amazons Rekognition technology so nefarious, as we earlier reported, is that it can easily be expanded to keep 24/7 tabs on sovereign individuals, in clear violation of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. People should be free to walk down the street without being watched by the government, warned the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), responding to the use of Amazons Rekognition technology by law enforcement in Oregon. Even if Amazon really was acting completely above-board with its Rekognition technology, planning only to use it for improving the Marketplace experience for both buyers and sellers which we know isnt the case, seeing as how Beelzebezos has already been caught sharing Rekognition with government agencies the technology would still eventually end up in the wrong hands. As Selinger warns, theres simply no way to introduce full-scale facial recognition technology into society, no matter its stated purpose, without also opening up a Pandoras Box of oppressive, ubiquitous surveillance systems and the kind of loose and dangerous data practices that civil rights and privacy rules aim to prevent. Consent rules, procedural requirements, and boilerplate contracts are no match for that kind of formidable infrastructure and irresistible incentives for exploitation, he contends. The ACLU has actually publicly demanded that Amazon stop engaging in this fascist partnership with government agencies, warning that this public-private surveillance infrastructure poses a grave threat to customers and communities across the country. Amazon should not be in the business of providing surveillance systems like Rekognition to the government, the ACLU maintains. For related news about the AI invasion and how technocrats are using it to implement 1984 on a massive scale, be sure to check out AISystems.news. Sources for this article include: DailyMail.co.uk Medium.com NaturalNews.com Bypass censorship by sharing this link: (Natural News) Poynter Institute describes itself as a champion of freedom of expression. Its brands includes the far left fact-checking websites including MediaWise, International Fact-Checking Network and Politifact. (Article by Jim Hoft republished from TheGatewayPundit.com) Poynter Intitute recently published a list of 515 unreliable news websites. Poynter wants these publishers blacklisted and blocked by advertisers. A quick scan of their list includes every major conservative outlet including The Gateway Pundit. The list includes: The Gateway Pundit, The Drudge Report, Breitbart News, Media Research Center, Pajamas Media, Washington Examiner, The Daily Wire, The Blaze, Red State, Project Veritas, Newsmax, Zero Hedge, LifeSite, Judicial Watch, Frontpage, The Washington Free Beacon, The Daily Caller, American Lookout and 100% Fed Up. Whats worse is Poynter used a deranged far left activist Merrimack College assistant professor Melissa Zimdars, a complete lunatic who specializes in fat studies, to complete their list. Zimdars is a complete Trump hater with zero expertise on fact based journalism. This is just the latest list of fake news websites that includes most every conservative publisher. Poynter is funded by George Soros and his Open Society. Poynter put together this list to urge advertisers to avoid conservative publishers certainly a criminal act. After push-back from conservative publishers Poynter deleted their list but their liberal leadership and vision remains. Now this Facebook is using Poynter to flag and eliminate conservative media and content on their platform. Facebook is using the same organization that just listed EVERY conservative outlet as fake news and tried to destroy their income. Facebook has removed over a billion page views to conservative top conservative websites since the 2016 election. Now we know why. And now we know their agenda. Eliminate conservative voices. Read more at: TheGatewayPundit.com (Natural News) Bees are not the only pollinating insects in danger of disappearing from the face of the Earth. The population of monarch butterflies in California has dwindled to alarming levels after the destruction of so much of their natural habitat. A recent study by the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation warns that the number of butterflies spending the winter in central and southern California has dropped to the lowest level ever seen. Researchers say there are less than 29,000 individuals during the winter of 2018 in comparison, there used to be around 4.5 million of the insects during the 1980s. The monarch butterfly population in the eastern U.S. has also undergone a massive drop in numbers over the years. However, they did not lose as many as the West Coast butterflies. Experts say that the loss and destruction of natural habitats are to blame for the plummeting numbers of monarch butterflies. The animals exclusively feed on milkweed, but humans consider that plant to be a pest and have destroyed most of them, thereby depriving the butterflies of their food source. Humans degrade or destroy the winter homes of monarch butterflies in California Once the weather starts getting too cold, monarch butterflies fly south to warmer areas. Most of them spend the winter in Mexico, but many also stay around Santa Cruz, California. Monarch butterflies in Idaho and other western states prefer to spend winter in central and southern California. Researchers observed large numbers of the insects taking up residence in the tall trees that line the coasts. When spring breaks, the butterflies start looking for milkweed and nectar that are close to their over-winter sites. After stocking up, they will head back to their summer homes. However, much of the monarch butterfly habitats in the central valley, coastal foothills, and foothills of the Sierra Madre mountains have been damaged or destroyed by human activity. Many of the big trees that shelter the animals during the winter season are either too old or are no longer there, having been either cut down by humans or brought down by natural actions. Other contributing factors to the broken migratory chain of 2018 include pesticides that indiscriminately kill insects and wildfires that destroy milkweed and trees alike. The latter deprives the butterflies of both food and shelter. Efforts to save monarch butterflies include planting and preserving milkweed In response to the rapidly dwindling number of monarch butterflies in the western United States, the Xerces Society is mobilizing efforts to save the endangered species. They are urging Californians to plant milkweed and flowers that bloom very early. Those plants will provide migratory butterflies with enough food to sustain them on their flight to other states. Other researchers are teaching locals about the importance of leaving at least some milkweed around to serve as habitats for the animals. Many people are surprised to find out that the plant they consider to be a pest is vital to the life cycle of these beautiful and essential insects. This is my name for milkweed, it should be called monarch manna because it is so important, said Idaho-based conservationist Beth Waterbury, who is trying to change public attitudes toward milkweed. So many people do not know that it is the only plant that monarchs will lay their eggs on. The monarch butterfly is one of the many natural pollinators of flowering plants. They are much more vulnerable to factors that harm other pollinators the pesticides that kill monarch butterflies also threaten even more important bees so anything that causes their population to drop precipitously can be expected to affect other similar animals. Sources include: LMTribune.com Xerces.org (Natural News) For more than a year, the social media behemoths have been testing POTUS Donald Trumps patience with their shadow banning, censorship, and outright deplatforming of one conservative figure and voice after another. In August, for instance, the president publicly blasted what he deemed illegal censorship by the social media behemoths. Google search results for Trump News shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake New Media, he wrote on Twitter. In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD. Fake CNN is prominent. Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out. Then in March, the president warned Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg after the social media behemoth blocked Trumps social media manager, Dan Scavino. I will be looking into this! #StopTheBias the president wrote. Well, POTUS Trump as much as he has on his mind given the Russian collusion hoax, the border crisis, and global hot spots did, in fact, look into it. And now the White House is taking what is surely just a first step in addressing the blatant anti-Trump, anti-conservative bias of the Left-wing social media platforms. The Trump Administration is fighting for free speech online. No matter your views, if you suspect political bias has caused you to be censored or silenced online, we want to hear about it! https://t.co/9lc0cqUhuf pic.twitter.com/J8ICbx42dz The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 15, 2019 On Thursday, the Trump administration launched a new website that allows users of social media to report incidents of bias. The Trump Administration is fighting for free speech online, said a tweet from the White House. No matter your views, if you suspect political bias has caused you to be censored or silenced online, we want to hear about it! Visitors to the website are greeted with this message: SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS should advance FREEDOM OF SPEECH. Yet too many Americans have seen their accounts suspended, banned, or fraudulently reported for unclear violations of user policies. No matter your views, if you suspect political bias caused such an action to be taken against you, share your story with President Trump. Twitter alternative Gab approved of the administrations new initiative, tweeting, Excellent, we will email our ~1m users and get you a very large set of data. (Related: Big tech fascism progressing as social media giants not only BAN but DE-PERSON political figures who dont goose step to their propaganda.) Are antitrust violations occurring? The initiative has been a long time coming. Not only has the president himself called out the tech giants after repeated complaints from conservatives, they have either been banned outright or had their content shadow banned downgraded without their knowledge so that even their own followers could not see their posts but some leading lawmakers have also addressed the issue. In April, for instance, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) threatened legislation that would regulate social media companies after the president repeatedly accused them of anti-conservative bias. What makes the threat of political censorship so problematic is the lack of transparency, the invisibility, the ability for a handful of giant tech companies to decide if a particular speaker is disfavored, he said during published remarks last month. Also, freshman GOP Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, who, as attorney general of the Show-Me State sued the tech companies over alleged privacy violations, has grilled social media representatives in committee over similar issues. Of course, representatives from the tech giants have all denied that their platforms are inherently biased, but significant studies and some good old-fashioned investigative journalism have proven otherwise. In March, James OKeefe and his journalism outfit Project Veritas caught a pair of Twitter engineers on video discussing shadow banning, banning a way of talking, specifically targeting conservatives, and classifying any user who talked about guns and God as Russian bots, thereby suppressing their speech. The new website will gather information about social media censorship; lets hope it leads to some sort of antitrust action by federal agencies responsible for ensuring all Americans are treated fairly. Read more about tech giant censorship and the Trump administrations response at TechGiants.news and WhiteHouse.news. Sources include: ZeroHedge.com NaturalNews.com Investors.com TheNationalSentinel.com (Natural News) Not only is the militant American Left working to stifle conservative, pro-Trump speech, they are also working to stifle freedom of expression even to the point of mislabeling a harmless gesture that has always meant nothing but OK. The speech Nazis at Facebook are in cahoots with the militant American Left, as evidenced by the increasingly ridiculous and baseless excuses used to kick supporters of POTUS Trump off the platform. The most recent incident involved a user known as God Emperor Trump who was deplatformed for 30 days because he flashed the A-OK sign. You know the one: Just got banned for 30 days because I used the OK sign. Go home, Facebook, you're drunk. pic.twitter.com/CwsuKi6agE God Emperor Trump (@realGETrump) May 15, 2019 That, were now told, doesnt really mean A-OK, its code for white supremacism. And, you know, Facebook cant have any of that on its platform because it has to make bandwidth room for anti-Semite lawmakers, Antifa domestic terrorists, and, well, militant anti-Trump Leftists. Another user responding to God Emperor Trump Two Way Radio claimed they were banned as well for retweeting something from Matt Walsh, creator of MattWalshBlog and a contributor at The Daily Wire. Now, its possible that the ban could be related to the hat that the man in the picture is wearing Make Frogs Straight Again a homosexual reference. But that is related to the notorious Alex Jones meme based on a rant about gender-bending chemicals in rivers that are causing frogs and fish to become genderless, Infowars noted, which is actually happening. Its tied to a chemical called atrazine, a popular weed killer used by farmers, according to scientific studies. In any event, the symbol has also been widely employed by supporters of POTUS Trump, who himself would flash it during his 2016 campaign at various times during speeches and appearances. But, as Infowars noted, the Left and the speech Nazis in Silicon Valley are now triggered by it after being trolled on social site 4chan by campaigners who tricked them into believing its some secret white supremacy code. Remember when free speech used to apply to all Americans and all ideas? Infowars reported: Earlier this month, a Chicago Cubs fan was banned from Wrigley Field for flashing the gesture during a game. In a subsequent news report about the incident, NBC News blurred out the image of the hand gesture. But honestly, even if the hand signal were indicative of something sinister, its just a gesture; its not violence, its not committing violence, its not calling for violence, its not terrorism, and its not a signal to inflict harm on someone else. Its just speech, period. In this case, its innocuous speech, but if it werent innocuous if the A-OK sign really meant what the 4chan trolls said it means, it would still be protected speech under the First Amendment. Just not on Mark Zuckerbergs speech platform. (Related: New film You Cant Watch This chronicles the big tech censorship of conservatives.) Mind you, if Zuckerberg, Twitters Jack Dorsey, and the rest of the social media authoritarians were around in the 1780s when the Bill of Rights were being created, the First Amendment either would never have been written as is or there would have been restrictions and conditions placed on speech. But as it was, our real founders did not want any limitations on the free exchange of ideas especially political, social, and cultural ideas a) because they had been repressed by the British monarchy; and b) they understood that only through a free exchange of ideas can people truly be free. The founders never intended for all speech and all ideas to be universally accepted. What they sought all they sought was to establish within our governing document the inherent right of people to speak, express, worship, and believe what they want, without fear of reprisal or harm. So much for those good ol days. Read more about the tech giants and their efforts to censor certain ideas at TechGiants.news and Censorship.news. Sources include: Infowars.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) calls the process of adding fluoride to drinking water to improve dental health one of the ten most important public health advances of the 20th century, claiming that it significantly decreases rates of dental decay. Water fluoridation has been the official government policy of the United States for many decades now, and over 64 percent of American citizens drink fluoridated water every day. In addition to drinking water, health officials also recommend that fluoride be added to most toothpastes, including those designed specifically for use by children. Has all this fluoride fulfilled its promise of improved dental health? Actually, studies have found a marked increase in the number of people diagnosed with fluorosis in recent decades. Fluorosis is a condition caused by excessive intake of fluorine compounds which causes stained, mottled teeth, and in severe cases, can result in calcification of the ligaments. As reported by the U.K.s Daily Mail, one possible reason for this disturbing increase is that according to a survey conducted by the CDC, almost half of all children 40 percent use far too much toothpaste, which instead of promoting dental health can result in dental fluorosis. (Related: Is severe dental fluorosis an adverse health effect?) What the survey determined Even though health officials insist that the benefits of adding fluoride to toothpaste outweigh the risks, they do recognize the need to use exactly the right amount. Toddlers under the age of three are supposed to use a minuscule smear no bigger than a grain of rice, while kids between three and six are supposed to use just a pea-sized amount. The CDCs survey, which included 5,000 children between the ages of three and 15, found that most kids use far more toothpaste than the recommended amount, likely because child-specific toothpastes are generally made to taste sweet. The Mail reported: Fluoride is a wonderful benefit but it needs to be used carefully, said Dr. Mary Hayes, a pediatric dentist in Chicago. Young kids may push for independence in brushing their teeth, but kids toothpaste tastes sweet. You dont want them eating it like food, Hayes said. We want the parent to be in charge of the toothbrush and the toothpaste. The study found about 60 percent of kids brushed their teeth twice a day. It also found that roughly 20 percent of white and black kids, and 30 percent of Hispanic kids, didnt start brushing until they were three or older. Why fluoridation is NOT an important public health advancement While a very specific amount of fluoride added to drinking water and consumed at just the right doses appeared to improve dental health in scientific studies conducted nearly 100 years ago, the reality is that most of us are consuming far too much of it, resulting in a dramatically increased risk of dental fluorosis. Natural News previously reported: Data collated by the World Health Organization found no difference in tooth decay numbers, when countries with fluoridated water supplies were compared with those that did not add fluoride to theirs. Other studies found that, in fact, cities with fluoridated water had higher cavity rates than non fluoridated cities. This result was attributed to a condition known as dental fluorosis, where fluoride actually weakens and eventually damages the tooth enamel. Fluoride accumulation in bones has also been found to make bones brittle and more susceptible to fractures. So, not only does adding fluoride to drinking water and toothpaste increase the risk of fluorosis, but it likely doesnt even reduce the risk of tooth decay. Fortunately, fluoride-free childrens toothpastes are available, and water filters like the Big Berkey are capable of reducing levels of this dangerous toxin in drinking water. Learn more at Dentistry.news or Fluoride.news. Sources include: DailyMail.co.uk Nature.com NaturalNews.com Scientists have discovered a DNA mutation linked to breathing problems in popular dog breeds. Breathing difficulties are most often associated with flat-faced breeds, such as French bulldogs and pugs, but scientists have found the mutation is also carried by Norwich terriers, which have proportional noses. The finding raises the future possibility of genetic tests that could help vets identify animals at risk and could one day help breeders avoid producing affected pups. French bulldogs are the most popular dog breed in the UK but underneath their prized features can lie a life-threatening health problem. The breed - and others such as English bulldogs and pugs - is commonly affected by a condition called Bracycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome - or BOAS - which leaves dogs gasping for breath. Scientists had thought their short faces were the only explanation for their breathing problems. Norwich terriers, suffer from a similar breathing problem called Upper Airway Syndrome, however, despite having proportional noses. A team led by The Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh's Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies analysed DNA from more than 400 Norwich terriers. Vets also carried out clinical examinations of the dogs to check their airways for signs of disease. The researchers pinpointed a DNA mutation in a gene called ADAMTS3, which is not linked to skull shape and has previously been found to cause fluid retention and swelling. The mutated version of the gene was also common in French and English bulldogs, which may help to explain why some dogs of these breeds develop breathing problems and complications after surgery to treat them. Researchers say their findings shift our understanding of breathing problems in dogs. They suggest fluid retention in the tissue that lines the airways could make it more likely that dogs with the mutation will develop breathing problems. The study, published in PLOS Genetics, also involved experts from the Royal Veterinary College and the University of Bern in Switzerland. Dr Jeffrey Schoenebeck, of The Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh's Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, who led the study said: "BOAS is a complex disease. Although skull shape remains an important risk factor, our study suggests that the status of ADAMTS3 should be considered as well. More studies are needed to dissect the complex nature of this devastating disease." The Hospital for Small Animals at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies hosts a specialist clinic for dogs with upper airway problems called BREATHE. Vets use a range of cutting edge technologies to care for affected animals, including whole body scans and a specialist tool that monitors lung function called plethysmography. Senior specialist surgeon Dr Jon Hall, who leads the BREATHE clinic, said "This discovery is a step change in our understanding of upper airway problems in dogs, which we hope will allow us to identify dogs at greater risk of catastrophic airway swelling before it happens." Vallejo Police have the highest number of people shot by police officers, per capita, in Northern California. Thats the third highest in the entire state. NBC Bay Areas Investigative Unit spent a month riding along with officers, speaking with community leaders and meeting with Police Chief Andrew Bidou to learn why. THE NUMBERS Since 2011, Vallejo Police have shot and killed 16 people. Ten of those shot by police officers were people of color. A data analysis by NBC Bay Area of deaths in custody data from the California Attorney Generals office found that the 16 shooting deaths by Vallejo police officers during the last seven and a half years adds up to one of the highest per capita death rates at the hands of police in the state. Only two police departments in California have higher per capita rates: San Bernardino, with 17.7, and South Gate, with 14.7, according to the California Attorney General data. Two shooting cases, Willie McCoy and Ronell Foster, are still under investigation. The Solano County District Attorneys Office has cleared Vallejo police officers of wrongdoing after reviewing each of the other 14 cases using the procedures outlined in the Solano County Fatal Incident Protocol. According to that state Attorney Generals data, Vallejo police officers have killed more than 13 people per 100,000 residents since 2011. With Vallejos population size of 122,000, thats a per capita rate of 13.8, which is considerably higher than any other Bay Area city. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}})}(); NBC Bay Areas Investigative Unit also compared Vallejo with its next door neighbor, Richmond, a city with a similar population and high violent crime rate. In the time Vallejo police killed 16 people, a per capita rate of 13.8, Richmond officers killed three, a per capita rate of 2.9 THE NAACP Linda Daniels, Ronald Scott and Jimmie Jackson are with the NAACP in Vallejo. This cant continue, said Daniels, Are you really, really sure that there wasn't another way, she asks, referring to the killings. It's come to the point now where we see the car, and we don't see a server or a protector we see an adversary, said Jackson, local NAACP President. Linda Daniels, Ronald Scott and Jimmie Jackson at the NAACP say trust between residents and the Vallejo Police Department has eroded. Its like a volcano waiting to erupt, said Daniels. Daniels, Jackson and Scott say they see the killings as the result of deeply rooted problems in Vallejo, a city forced into bankruptcy during the recession in 2008. That bankruptcy was caused in part by the recession and a drastic drop in property values, unemployment setting off a tide of foreclosures that reduced city tax revenue and prompted city leaders to cut its police force in half, Its an event everyone NBC Bay Area talked to agreed is something the city has yet to fully recover from. The cause is the lack of money, the lack of training, the lack of personnel that feel like they're a part of the city, said Jackson. When asked for solutions, he answered simply: Hiring better officers. Not that we don't have some good ones. We have some great ones. But we also have some that are not so good, and we have to we have to understand that. FRIENDSHIP BAPTIST MISSIONARY CHURCH Dr. Dante Quick, Senior Pastor said, Its hard to kill somebody if you know their name. If we don't diversify the police department both in its leadership and its rank and file membership, if officers don't look like the community they're policing, it makes it much easier for misunderstandings to happen, said Dr. Dante Quick, who serves as Senior Pastor at the Friendship Missionary Baptist Church. Dr. Quick is convinced that one key in reducing the number of killings by Vallejo officers is to diversify the department so that it reflects the racial make-up of residents. Someone can say, 'I have black friends," and they are sincere. But if they don't understand how that black life is lived out, someone can say, 'Well, I work in a black neighborhood.' But if you can go to your enclave and your children don't go to institutions where black people live, it really doesn't matter, Dr Quick said, It's hard to kill somebody if you know their name. WILLIE MCCOY On Feb. 9, police shot 20-year-old rap artist Willie McCoy to death in his car after he fell asleep at a Taco Bell drive-through with a gun in his lap. McCoys cousin, David Harrison, watched bodycam footage of the shooting at the Vallejo Police Department. I felt the pain of all the other families that I have witnessed on television in news reports, Harrison said. I felt their pain. You lose trust, said Harrison, after seeing the shooting of his cousin Willie, and you become more vicious because you don't want to be vulnerable. And you become fed up. Just think of being a man and feeling like I can't protect my family I can't protect my children. Asked what needs to change, Harrison answered: Legislation needs to change to make it a level playing field. You know, officers have to be held responsible for their actions. They have too much power. And we the people are powerless. POLICE CHIEF ANDREW BIDOU When asked about the shooting of Willie McCoy, Vallejo Police Chief Andrew Bidou said McCoy woke up before his officers finished putting their procedure in place. They were actually in the midst of a plan to block that car and isolate that incident to protectthe surrounding public. That person (McCoy) awoke on their own, and officers have limited choices at that time. Police Chief Andrew Bidou oversees 103 officers currently working at the Vallejo Police Department. I think that you know everybody should be very critical of the police and in officer involved shootings particularly, especially where we are in our country, Bidou said. But I think that it's important to also recognize that we should (be) equally critical of the events that led up to that. And I don't see that happening a lot right now. I think there's a lot of factors in Vallejo that lead to these things. And so one is you have an under-resourced police department. You have a very high crime city. Speaking specifically about the killing of Willie McCoy, Bidou said his officers didnt have time to put their plan to end the confrontation peacefully in place. They were actually in the midst of a plan to block that car and isolate that incident to protect the the surrounding public. That person (McCoy) awoke on their own. And officers right have limited choices at that time, Bidou said. When asked to comment on the fact that some people in the Vallejo community feel they are at war with the police department, Bidou answered: Well that's honestly that's crazy. Despite the numbers, he believes the police are doing as well as they can. This city has somewhere in the neighborhood of 60,000 police contacts a year, around 3,000 arrests and somewhere, you know, 150 of those result in some sort of injury from (police) force. I mean the numbers are very, very small. Asked what can be done to reduce the shootings, Bidou said, Certainly, you know we should strive to do better every single day. He added, But we're only focused on a police problem. We're not considering that there's a community problem. You know, why do these young people have guns? Why do they need them? Why is our crime rates so high? You know, why are these shootings occurring? These are what these officers are responding to every day. Is that not part of the problem? SERGEANT STEVE DARDEN Sergeant Steve Darden has been policing Vallejo for 23 years. Talking about shootings by police officers, he said, Its something that you regret ever having to do no matter what the circumstances. For someone to think that you know as a police officer I get up every day and want to come in and kill someone, theyre absolutely nuts, said Sgt. Steve Darden, a 23-year veteran with Vallejo PD. On a recent Saturday night, an urgent call comes in over the radio. A man is leading police on a high-speed chase. He has driven into the city of Vallejo. During the chase, he called his mother and told her he was going to commit suicide by cop. Suicide by cop doesn't mean that you're just gonna let us kill you, said Darden. That means that you might try to take as many of us (with you) as you can before we have to kill you. Darden works the busy weekend night shifts. What our community needs to understand is we don't have enough police officers to do the job the way it needs to be done, said Darden. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, the city of Vallejo had 158 sworn police officers. In 2009, the number went down to 115 and hit its lowest point in 2013, with 77 officers on the force. The highest number of shootings roughly correlates with the lowest number of officers. Darden believes that many of the problems at Vallejo PD are rooted in the citys financial woes. Because we're among the lowest paid, we can't compete with the neighboring agencies who are attracting experienced officers he said. The low pay means that our applicant pool consists of inexperienced people. Darden points out that good policing takes years on the job. When you become a police officer it takes you probably a good three to five years just to figure out what the heck you're doing, he said. A five- to 10-year cop, 10- to 15-year cop is much more experienced and much more comfortable, much more relaxed around people. That's just how it is. When we hear the community say that we don't care about them and, you know, all the police do is terrorize us. I mean, we know that that's not true, said Darden. But at the same time, that's how they perceive us to be based on what they see. So, it's unfortunate, but that's our reality. And all we can do is just continue to do the job the best that we can. In the weeks NBC Bay Areas Investigative Unit rode with Darden, he and his officers saved a little boy and his mother from a pitbull attack, de-escalated a potential stabbing, helped a cyclist who had been hit by a car, and restored order at a house party after a shooting. And then there was the man on the highway who said he wanted to die from whats now called suicide by cop. Despite guns drawn, the standoff ended without any shots fired. As long as you listen to us, you won't get shot, said Darden. Now, if he would have started reaching in his waistband - different story. The Alameda County District Attorney's Office on Thursday charged a 43-year-old ex-felon with three counts of murder for allegedly killing three people in Oakland, San Francisco and Berkeley in a period of less than five hours last month. Prosecutors also charged Stefon Jefferson with the special circumstance of committing multiple murders. Witnesses place Jefferson at the scene of all three homicides and he has confessed to killing all three victims, Oakland police Officer Kris McClain wrote in a probable cause statement. The first alleged victim was 57-year-old Marcus Jackson of Oakland, who police said was fatally shot in the 4100 block of Market Street in Oakland at about 10:15 a.m. on April 26. A spokesman for Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin said Jackson worked for the Berkeley Public Works Department. The second alleged victim was 49-year-old Laron Davis of San Francisco, who police said was shot in the 1100 block of Donner Avenue in San Francisco at 1:27 p.m. The third alleged victim was identified as 43-year-old Calvin Kelly of Berkeley, who police say was shot at People's Park in Berkeley at about 2:40 p.m. Authorities say that after the three homicides, Jefferson went to the South Lake Tahoe area in Nevada, where he allegedly shot and wounded a Douglas County sheriff's deputy before being taken into custody. According to the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, Jefferson faces 13 felony counts, including attempted murder of a peace officer, assault with a deadly weapon, being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm, eluding a peace officer and numerous additional traffic-related offenses. Jackson remains in custody in Nevada in lieu of $1 million bail. Douglas County District Attorney Mark Jackson previously said that his county will prosecute Jefferson first because he's already in custody there. Authorities have not revealed Jefferson's possible motives or how exactly he was connected to the victims. According to court documents, Jefferson has a prior assault with a deadly weapon conviction in San Francisco in 2001 and a 1998 conviction in San Francisco for receiving stolen property. The man accused of brutally killing a San Jose woman in her own home was set to enter a plea in Santa Clara County Court Friday but a judge postponed the hearing because his public defender says he had just received evidence in the case on Thursday. Carlos Arevalo Carranza, 24, is charged with the murder of 59-year-old Bambi Larson and being that he is a transient from El Salvador, his crime put the city of San Jose back in the sanctuary policy debate. Carranza's attorney said Friday that his client is significantly mentally ill, but family and friends of Larson argue that regardless of Carranza's mental wellness, he shouldn't have been in the country as an undocumented immigrant who has committed crimes. "Hes not currently in 8th floor mental health unit, as far as whether hes getting appropriate mental health Im subpoenaing records to see," public defender Miguel Rodriguez said. San Jose Police Chief Eddie Garcia said that Carranza stalked Larson for some time before beating and stabbing her to death on Feb. 28. as neighbors' surveillance video shows Carranza walking to and from her home the day of her death. Immigrant officials and San Jose police both said he should not have been on the streets. "If he already had priors, been deported he shouldnt have been back if he was back with those charges. This wasnt wrong place wrong time," Celeste Delamore, who identified herself as Larson's friend, said. ICE reported that agents tried to deport Carranza nine times before but their retained requests were not honored by Santa Clara and Los Angeles Counties. An ICE agent reported that he was convicted of 10 crimes in three years. Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith issued a statement saying that ICE shouldve had time to evaluate Carranzas status as a serious and violent felon and that she would advocate to change county sanctuary policy. Carranza is expected back in court on June 14, after his lawyer reviews all the evidence. Former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning was released from a northern Virginia jail Thursday after a two-month stay for refusing to testify to a grand jury. Manning spent 62 days at the Alexandria Detention Center on civil contempt charges after she refused to answer questions to a federal grand jury investigating WikiLeaks. Her lawyers fear her freedom may be short-lived, though. She was released only because the grand jury's term expired. Before she left the jail, she received another subpoena demanding her testimony on May 16 to a new grand jury. Her lawyers say she will again refuse to answer questions and could again face another term of incarceration. Manning served seven years in a military prison for leaking a trove of documents to WikiLeaks before then-President Barack Obama commuted the remainder of her 35-year sentence. Earlier this week, Manning's lawyers filed court papers arguing that she should not be jailed for civil contempt because she has proven that she will stick to her principles and won't testify no matter how long she's jailed. Federal law only allows a recalcitrant witness to be jailed on civil contempt if there's a chance that the incarceration will coerce the witness into testifying. If a judge were to determine that incarcerating Manning were punitive rather than coercive, Manning would not be jailed. "At this point, given the sacrifices she has already made, her strong principles, her strong and growing support community, and the disgrace attendant to her capitulation, it is inconceivable that Chelsea Manning will ever change her mind about her refusal to cooperate with the grand jury," her lawyers wrote. Manning filed an eight-page statement with the court on Monday, outlining her resolve. She wrote that "cooperation with this grand jury is simply not an option. Doing so would mean throwing away all of my principles, accomplishments, sacrifices, and erase decades of my reputation an obvious impossibility," she wrote. She also said she was suffering disproportionately in jail because of physical problems related with inadequate follow-up care to gender-reassignment surgery. Ticks and the diseases they carry are on the move, rapidly expanding into new territories once considered inhospitable. While many factors are to blame, the U.S. government affirmed with "high confidence" in a report that one reason is warmer weather connected to climate change. In the last decade, the number of cases of Lyme disease in the U.S. have tripled, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The risk of this tick-borne disease was historically concentrated in the Northeast and upper Midwest, but a recent study by lab giant Quest Diagnostics found cases of Lyme have been detected in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. no description "Lyme disease is a bigger risk to more people in the United States than ever before," said Harvey W. Kaufman, M.D., senior medical director for Quest Diagnostics. "Our data show that positive results for Lyme are both increasing in number and occurring in geographic areas not historically associated with the disease. We hypothesize that these significant rates of increase may reinforce other research suggesting changing climate conditions that allow ticks to live longer and in more regions may factor into disease risk." Named after the coastal Connecticut town where it was first identified in the mid 70s, Lyme disease emerged from obscurity to become the leading vector-borne disease in the U.S. Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, which typically lives in white-footed mice, chipmunks and birds all animals that ticks feast on. The disease is transmitted to deer and humans through the bite of an infected tick. Lyme can cause fever, skin rashes, fatigue, arthritis-like joint pain and in some cases nervous system complications and brain fog. Lyme isnt the only disease thats spreading. The CDC said state and local health departments reported in 2017 a record number of cases of other tick-borne diseases, including anaplasmosis, spotted fever group rickettsia (Rocky Mountain spotted fever), Babesiosis and Tularemia (rabbit fever). AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File The agency has also reported an explosion in the population and geographic range of ticks, particularly the blacklegged tick, the primary transmitter of Lyme disease in the U.S. Also known as the deer tick, these blood-sucking arachnids have extended their reach north, south and west and with it, their illnesses. Tick Migration and Survival The deer tick has a two-year life span that is divided into three main developmental stages: larva, nymph and adult. These tiny arachnids require a bloodmeal in every one of these stages for their development, and each of these bloodmeals provides an opportunity for the tick to contract or spread Lyme disease. A ticks survival is also dependent on climate. "If they dont have a long enough season to find a host, theyll use up their reserves and drop dead, said Rick Ostfeld, an ecologist at the the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, New York. Deer ticks can't reproduce or seek out a host to feast on if the temperature drops below 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Warmer seasons, earlier springs and longer summers in broader parts of the country mean more ticks stay alive through the winter, remain active for longer periods of time and travel further and further north to look for their food. Ticks' survival are so dependent on environmental factors that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses the number of cases of Lyme disease as an indicator of climate change. Studies provide evidence that climate change has contributed to the expanded range of ticks, increasing the potential risk of Lyme disease, such as in areas of Canada where the ticks were previously unable to survive, the agency reported. The life cycle and prevalence of deer ticks are strongly influenced by temperature Thus, warming temperatures associated with climate change are projected to increase the range of suitable tick habitat and are therefore one of multiple factors driving the observed spread of Lyme disease. Across the Northeast, where, over the last three decades, average winter temperatures have risen by almost 4 degrees Fahrenheit, according to NOAA, the cases of Lyme disease have skyrocketed. States from Pennsylvania and northward to Maine are becoming warmer and more humid, creating a favorable environment for ticks to thrive. In 2017, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire had their warmest autumn since record keeping began, the agency reported. EVENTO DE REGRESO A CLASES EN EL METROPLEX That same year, health officials in Connecticut also discovered that the Lone Star tick, the most common human-biting tick in the southeastern U.S. and Texas, which causes a food allergy to red meat, had reached their shores. In a 2017 press release announcing the findings, Connecticuts Agricultural Experiment Station (CAER) said their northern range may be increasing due, in part, to the milder winters the northeast has been experiencing over the past few years. Mary Beth Pfeiffer, an investigative journalist and author of the book "Lyme: The First Epidemic of Climate Change," said climate change is abetting the spread of ticks to new frontiers, including Canada. "They are climbing mountains. They are also climbing latitudes. They are going up the Scandinavian peninsula. They have even been found in parts of Siberia, Pfeiffer told NBC in a phone interview. "And weve had lots of big changes in the ecosystem that's causing ticks to spread." Lyme Disease Cases Rising One of those changes is the increase in the developmental rate of ticks due to rising temperatures and in turn, an uptick in the number of tick-borne illnesses. A 2015 study found that, as the climate warms, it is pushing the feeding timing of nymphs to earlier in the spring, potentially influencing transmission dynamics. "When nymphs emerge months before larvae, they inoculate the host community with pathogens that the later-emerging larvae can then contract," said Taal Levi, a biologist at Oregon State University and lead author of the study. "The Lyme disease pathogen is long-lived it will remain in the host. So an increasing gap between the nymphs feeding in the spring and the next cohort of larvae feeding in late summer will give the nymphs more time to infect the hosts with bacterium that can then be passed to the next generation of tick larvae." Researchers led by Levi and Ostfeld, the New York ecologist, analyzed nearly two decades worth of data to tie changes in tick emergence directly to climatic changes. "The climate has clearly warmed," said Ostfield. "Thats not even slightly controversial." And in this one location, at least, ticks have shifted their lifecycles accordingly. Since 1995, the number of cases of Lyme disease through tick bites reported to the CDC has tripled from less than 10,000 a year to over 30,000 annually. The CDC estimates that the number of infections is actually closer to 300,000 due to underreporting from state health agencies and doctors. And while the majority of cases of Lyme have historically been concentrated in a cluster of states in the Northeast, the analysis by Quest Diagnostics found that in 2016 and 2017, California and Florida saw the largest absolute increases in positive test results. The New Jersey-based lab testing company found infection in California increased 194% over 2015 levels. In Florida, it rose 77% over the same period. In Connecticut, where a team of scientists around the state are tracking and monitoring the growing tick population, about 50% of the arachnids tested for organisms that cause human diseases have Borrelia burgdorfei, according to Theodore Andreadis, the New Haven-based director of CAER. Andreadis said this year's tick season is expected to be bad because the winter wasn't severe enough to knock down the population. "It's always bad here," Andreadis told NBC. "We have so much habitat in the northeast 60% of the state is forested so it's a prime environment for ticks to thrive." More Research Is Needed The CDC notes that while the exact reason for the geographic spread of ticks and the diseases they carry is unclear, a number of other factors also contribute. One key driver in the Northeast is the reforestation of land that was once used for farming. Another is the proliferation of the deer population in the Northeast, thanks to stricter hunting laws, fewer predators and the deer-friendly landscape of New England. Human encroachment into wildlife zones is also factor. With suburbanization, more people are living near the animals that carry Lyme. The irony is that we have set this epidemic in motion, Pfeiffer said. A warmer world is hospitable to more ticks in more places. Broken bits of forest sustain mice and deer, on which ticks feed and breed. And human development abuts landscapes devoid of predators to curb infection. Weve created the perfect storm of conditions for ticks to move around the planet. An estimated 300,000 people in the United States are infected with Lyme disease each year. Here are some helpful tips that can help your family prevent tick bites which can reduce your risk of Lyme disease. The CDC urges people to protect themselves from getting a tick bite by avoiding areas with high grass and leaf litter, walking in the center of trails when hiking, using EPA-registered insect repellents and by wearing long clothes. Shower as soon as possible after coming indoors to wash off and more easily find crawling ticks before they bite you. The agency said people should do full body checks using a hand-held or full-length mirror to view all parts of the body upon returning from the outdoors. The likelihood of picking up a tick is quite high so people should be checking for ticks when they come outside from any outdoor activity, including your backyard, Andreadis said. Alabama's Republican governor signed the most stringent abortion legislation in the nation Wednesday, making performing an abortion a felony in nearly all cases. "To the bill's many supporters, this legislation stands as a powerful testament to Alabamians' deeply held belief that every life is precious and that every life is a sacred gift from God," Gov. Kay Ivey said in a statement. The bill's sponsors want to give conservatives on the U.S. Supreme Court a chance to gut abortion rights nationwide, but Democrats and abortion rights advocates criticized the bill as a slap in the face to women voters. "It just completely disregards women and the value of women and their voice. We have once again silenced women on a very personal issue," said Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison, a Birmingham Democrat. Coleman-Madison said she hopes the measure awakens a "sleeping giant" of women voters in the state. But Republican pollster Chris Kratzer noted that there is no congressional district and likely no legislative district with enough swing voters to put Republicans at serious risk in the state. "The people who are outraged about this are not the people who are electing these guys, generally speaking, especially when we're talking about the primary," he said. Further, Kratzer argued, there aren't enough potential swing voters and disenchanted Republicans to make the issue any kind of advantage for the lone Democrat elected to statewide office, U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, who scored a surprise win in a 2017 special election. Jones upset Republican Roy Moore in part on the strength of GOP-leaning college graduates abandoning the controversial Moore. But Kratzer said that was more about Moore's long history of flouting federal courts as chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court and accusations that Moore sexually harassed teens when he was in his 30s not Moore's hardline stance on abortion. The legislation Alabama senators passed Tuesday would make performing an abortion at any stage of pregnancy a felony punishable by 10 to 99 years or life in prison for the provider. The only exception would be when the woman's health is at serious risk. Women seeking or undergoing abortions wouldn't be punished. Rep. Terri Collins, the bill's sponsor, said she believes the measure reflects the beliefs of the majority of the state electorate. "I've heard from lots of women in the state who are extremely pro-life, and they're very supportive," Collins said. Ivey acknowledged Wednesday that the measure may be unenforceable in the short term. The law is set to go into effect six months after being signed, but supporters expect it to be blocked by lower courts as they fight toward the Supreme Court. "The sponsors of this bill believe that it is time, once again, for the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit this important matter, and they believe this act may bring about the best opportunity for this to occur," Ivey said. Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio and Georgia recently have approved bans on abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can occur in about the sixth week of pregnancy. The Alabama bill goes further by seeking to ban abortion outright. Abortion rights advocates vowed swift legal action. "We vowed to fight this dangerous abortion ban every step of the way and we meant what we said. We haven't lost a case in Alabama yet and we don't plan to start now. We will see Governor Ivey in court," said Staci Fox, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Southeast. Evangelist Pat Robertson on his television show Wednesday said the Alabama law is "extreme" and opined it may not be the best one to bring to the U.S. Supreme Court "because I think this one will lose." "God bless them they are trying to do something but I don't think that's the case that I'd want to bring to the Supreme Court," Robertson said. One mile from the Alabama Statehouse down the street from the Governor's Mansion sits Montgomery's only abortion clinic, one of three performing abortions in the state. Because of its location, the clinic sees a stream of patients from Mississippi and the Florida Panhandle because other clinics have closed. Clinic staff on Wednesday fielded calls from patients, and potential patients, wrongly worried that abortion was now illegal in the state. They were assured abortion remained legal in the state. "It's been a lot of fear. A lot of people who are afraid they can't get their procedure," said Kari Crowe, a clinic employee and escort. "Abortion is OK!" read a banner paid for by abortion rights advocates that a plane carried as it circled the Alabama Capitol and Statehouse on Wednesday. Associated Press writer Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says the state "cannot accommodate" an influx of immigrants that local officials say are being sent by the federal government from the U.S.-Mexico border. Speaking at a news conference Friday, DeSantis said he plans to speak with President Donald Trump after Broward County Mayor Mark Bogen said Thursday that officials in his community and neighboring Palm Beach County were alerted by the federal government that more than 100 immigrants would be sent weekly to each of the two counties by plane starting in about two weeks. "We cannot accommodate in Florida just dumping unlawful migrants into our state. I think it will tax our resources, the schools, the health care, law enforcement, state agencies," DeSantis said. DeSantis said he's still looking into the matter. "Nothing's concrete, there's been no migrants released in Florida," he said. Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said he was notified of the plans by the Miami-based office of the U.S. Border Patrol, and that a total of 1,000 people per month would be brought to the two counties from the El Paso, Texas, area. He said immigrant parents and children would be processed in both Florida counties, given a notice to appear in court and then released into the community. The federal government has run out of space to process the thousands of immigrants who have been arriving at the border, forcing them to fly migrants to Border Patrol facilities in other locations that have room. The migrants are typically processed, released and given a court date in a city where they plan to reside, often with family members. Once the immigrants are released, nonprofit organizations in other cities have been stepping in to provide meals and bus tickets to their destinations. U.S. authorities have already been using buses and aircraft to move migrants to cities both on and away from the border, including Phoenix; Albuquerque, New Mexico; San Antonio and Colorado. Despite the practice being widespread amid the recent surge of immigrants, Florida leaders from both parties reacted with alarm at the development and put the blame on the Trump administration. Bogen warned that the influx would strain the county's social services and be harmful for immigrants stranded without money, housing or knowledge of the city. He said officials are reaching out to nonprofits and businesses to find resources and other support. "If the President will not provide us with financial assistance to house and feed these people, he will be creating a homeless encampment," Bogen said. "I would suggest that we bring them to the Trump hotels and ask the President to open his heart and home as well." Democratic Florida Congressman Ted Deutch said he was unable to get federal officials to clarify the Florida plans. He urged the Customs and Border Protection agency to brief Congress on the situation and what help the federal government would provide. Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, after saying he'd been briefed by the Palm Beach County sheriff, wrote a letter to the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Kevin McAleenan, urging him not to transport any undocumented migrants to Florida before clarifying the arrangements and conferring with local officials on their needs to receive the influx. Officials at U.S. Border Patrol offices in Miami and Washington did not immediately return phone calls and emails seeking comment. In April alone, the Border Patrol apprehended nearly 99,000 people for crossing illegally, with more than two-thirds being unaccompanied children and adults traveling with children. There is also a massive backlog of people on the Mexican side waiting for months for their chance to apply for asylum, including thousands of Cubans in Ciudad Juarez. President Trump suggested last month he was considering releasing immigrants into so-called "Sanctuary Cities" to punish Democratic congressional foes for inaction on the border. DeSantis said Florida has been cooperative with the federal government and pointed to Florida recently passing a bill outlawing "Sanctuary Cities." "We're not gonna be like some of these other states that are not allowing federal authorities to come in a jail or a courthouse," DeSantis said. "We have been very cooperative, and then to have this put into certain communities, I think it's just something that we don't want." Although the Justice Department has in the past listed Broward and Palm Beach as sanctuary jurisdictions and both are Democratic strongholds officials in both counties have maintained they are complying with federal immigration enforcement requests. Administrators in Broward and Palm Beach planned to have a strategy session. Palm Beach County Mayor Mack Bernard said he would reach out to DeSantis, saying that the burden on his county would be "humongous." Maria Rodriguez, executive director of Florida Immigration Coalition, said the group has been told of the relocation and is trying to come up with a plan. "We will support and welcome refugees no matter where they come from," Rodriguez said. Activists rallied outside the Illinois Capitol to demand a revenue stream from marijuana sales to communities affected by violence spurred by illegal drug activity. Gov. J.B. Pritzker's recreational cannabis legalization proposal allocates 25% of tax revenue generated by marijuana sales for community development. Pritzker rolled out the recreational cannabis proposal earlier this month. A provision in the proposal is the expungement of some drug-related convictions, an element the bill's sponsors said this week is likely to undergo changes. Ciera Walker of Live Free Chicago on Thursday encouraged the crowd at the Capitol rally to keep the pressure on lawmakers as they continue to debate legislation. Walker says the communities ravished by violence deserve 100% of that tax, "but we're only asking for 25%." She added she also wants the expungement of some drug convictions. You may be wanting to drive green, but the cost to operate an electric vehicle in Illinois could get a lot more expensive. Illinois lawmakers have proposed raising electric vehicle registration fees from $35 every two years to $1,000 every year. The fee increases are part of a plan that would provide funding for transportation infrastructure improvements. Our transportation system has been underfunded for far too long and its time for Illinois to transition to a more sustainable funding method to fix our crumbling roads and the more than 2,300 bridges in our state that are rated as structurally deficient, said State Senator Martin A. Sandoval (D-Chicago). House Bill 3233 would also hike the gas tax from 19 cents a gallon to 44 cents a gallon. That would result in the average Illinois driver paying between $347 and $481 a year in gas taxes, according to data compiled by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute. A press release posted to Sandovals website said the measure is estimated to provide an additional $2.4 billion in funding for needed projects throughout the state. The Illinois Road & Transportation Builders Association supports the tax and fee hikes to pay for infrastructure improvements. Illinois infrastructure is literally crumbling, said president and CEO Michael Sturino. Theres a cost for not doing anything: wear and tear on your vehicles, congestion. But not everyone is on board with the proposed legislation. Doug Snower sells electric vehicles at Green Wheels on Western Avenue in Chicago. He said talk of the proposed fee hikes is already causing potential customers to think twice. Its a very high amount of money to be paid up front on an annual basis, Snower said. Snower said a more reasonable solution would be to base fees on how many miles someone drives every year. Three teenagers were indicted on federal charges Tuesday after allegedly stealing an SUV at gunpoint last year in Edgewater on the North Side. The men face a maximum sentence of life in prison for brandishing a gun during the carjacking and another attempted carjacking, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Northern District of Illinois. Jamar Jarvis, 18; Raynell Lanford, 19; and Jamaal Ashsaheed, 19; all of Chicago, were charged with conspiracy and using a firearm during a crime of violence, prosecutors said. Javion Bush, 19, also of Chicago, was also charged with assisting the men after the carjacking. On Oct. 18, Jarvis brandished a Kel-Tec P-11 semiautomatic handgun while Lanford, Ashsaheed and other unknown suspects surrounded the driver of a 2006 Lexus RX 400h, according to prosecutors. The group then took the SUV and drove it to the BP gas station at 1221 S. Wabash, where they filled up the tank and bought a gas can. Prosecutors allege that Bush later took steps to hinder and prevent the apprehension, trial, and punishment of the three men. Jarvis, Lanford and Ashsaheed also tried to carjack a 2010 Acura TSX the previous evening in the Uptown neighborhood, prosecutors said. In that incident, Lanford displayed a handgun while he and his alleged accomplices unsuccessfully tried to commandeer the car. In addition to facing life in prison for using a gun during the two incidents, the trio faces up to 15 years for the carjacking and attempted carjacking and five more years for the conspiracy charge, prosecutors said. Bush faces over seven years in prison, prosecutors said. All four men are being held at the Cook County Jail. Their arraignments in federal court in Chicago have not yet been scheduled. A foster mom is speaking out after the 20-month-old child she was fostering died just weeks after the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services returned her to her family. Renee Mingilino is heartbroken by the death of her former foster child Cheri Kennon, who she cared for for nearly a year. "I feel like I lost a child," Mingillino said. Cheri was returned to her birth mom this Spring. She died 6 weeks later. "It was my goal that Cheri be returned to her family, but under the right circumstances," Mingilino said. "This family was not held accountable." Mingilino says when she took custody on Cheri in April of 2018. She was 7 months old and weighed only 6 pounds. She was born blind and was diagnosed with a brain malformation which affects development. She had a whole team of medical providers, saw a medical professional once a week. In February there was an accident, Cheri fell off her therapy wedge which caused a bruise. DCFS removed her and launched an investigation. Mangilino received a notice in April showing she was clear to foster again, however a Cook County judge had determined Cheri could go home March 25. And then to learn that there was another investigation opened just weeks before she died is just even more gutwrenching. DCFS confirms three days after Cheri went home there was a new allegation of neglect. It was still an open investigation when Cheri died on May 8. A newly released report ordered by Gov. JB Pritzker found DCFS failures dealing with parents who dont cooperate with counseling services and pressure to keep families together despite evidence of abuse or neglect. "Hold those parents accountable and if they dont do it, they dont get the kids back," Mingillino said. "This is about making change in a system where children--innocent children--are at stake." The murder of 19-year-old Marlen Ochoa horrified people throughout the country, but for one suburban family, the young mothers death brought back to mind another horrific slaying from two decades ago. In November of 1995, Debra Evans was brutally murdered in her Addison home. Her 10-year-old daughter Samantha and her 7-year-old son Joshua were also killed, and Evans, who was nine months pregnant at the time of her death, had her baby ripped from her womb after she was killed. That baby, named Eli, and Evans 22-month-old son Jordan survived the attack, and their grandfather Sam Evans is speaking out about his traumatic experiences, and the helping hand hes offering to Ochoas family after her death. It broke me. It just broke me, Evans said in a phone interview. I felt for the mother. I felt for the baby. I felt for the family. Man, all those feelings, its just like (Debras death) happened all over again. Sam Evans raised Eli and Jordan after his daughters death, but he credits his grandsons with helping him through an incredibly difficult time. We could have laid down and died, but we didnt, he said. The three suspects charged with strangling a pregnant Chicago teenager to death, then cutting her baby from her womb, were expected to appear in court Friday. Lauren Petty reports. Three people were ultimately convicted in Evans slaying, with Fedell Caffey and Levern Ward both being sentenced to death before their sentences were commuted by Governor George Ryans elimination of the death penalty in the state of Illinois. Both are serving life in prison, and Jacqueline Annette Williams, also convicted in the crime, has sought to have her sentence shortened, but remains in custody. Evans grandson Eli, who survived the brutal attack, has asked his grandfather not to disclose where they are or what they are doing, but Sam is clearly proud of the young man his grandson has become. They are sharp, and they are doing well, he said. Theyre doing well. Weve all survived. Evans also has advice for Ochoas family as they deal with the tragedy of losing their young daughter, wife, and mother, saying that they should be honest with her surviving son about what happened to his mom. Dad, you love that kid and dont be afraid to tell him everything about the good and the bad about his mother, he said. He has a right to know, because hes been robbed of years and years of being with his mommy. Sam Evans also called on the community to support Ochoas husband, children, and parents, saying that notes and hugs are incredibly powerful during the healing process. He also offered a helping hand to the Ochoa family, saying that if they ever need to talk, or even if they just need a hug, hes willing to be there for them. UPDATE: A new timeline, with additional details from Assistant States Attorney James Murphy, has been published here. Laying out a horrific narrative, Chicago police detailed their investigation into the murder of 19-year-old Marlen Ochoa, who was strangled to death after she went missing in late April. Police believe that Ochoa, who was nine months pregnant at the time of her disappearance, was lured to a South Side home to buy baby supplies, and that two women at the home strangled her to death and cut her fetus out of her body before taking it to a local hospital and claiming that one of the women had given birth to the child. Deputy Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan then detailed a timeline of events that ultimately led to the arrest of three suspects in the case: April 23: Marlen Ochoa was last seen on this date after leaving Latino Youth High School, where she was a student. April 24: Ochoas husband reported her missing on this date after she didnt pick up the couples son from daycare. Marlen Ochoas family is coming to grips with the murder of the 19-year-old mother, and NBC 5s Michelle Relerford has the details on the case. April 25: Ochoas husband began cooperating with detectives in the case, and the search intensified on that date. From April 25 to May 7, detectives searched for leads in the case, but police didnt get any big leads in the investigation until May 7. May 7: Working with one of Marlens friends, detectives discovered that Ochoa was on a Facebook group called Help a Sister Out, trying to secure items for the baby she was due to give birth to in early May. Detectives discovered that a woman had allegedly taken her up on that offer: 46-year-old Clarisa Figueroa. The pair had arranged for Ochoa to pick up items at a home near the intersection of 77th and Pulaski on April 23, the date that the expecting mother was last seen. Detectives then arrived at the home and encountered Figueroas daughter, identified as 24-year-old Desiree Figueroa. When asked about where her mother was, the woman said that her mother was in the hospital having her legs looked at, but later said that her mother had recently given birth. Detectives also discovered Ochoas vehicle nearby on the same date, casting further doubt on Desirees story. Later that day, detectives went to an area hospital to interview Clarisa Figueroa. She denied that she had set up a meeting on April 23 with Ochoa, but acknowledged that she knew her and that they had met in the past. May 8-13: Detectives subpoenaed hospital records from the birth of the child and found that the baby had been brought to an area hospital, with Figueroa telling hospital employees that she had given birth to the child and that the baby wasnt breathing. Detectives also collected DNA samples from Ochoas husband, the baby, and Figueroa. The DNA samples later revealed that Figueroa was not the babys mother, and that Ochoas husband was indeed the father of the child. We were getting all the evidence in place to confront Clarisa, Deenihan said. May 14: Detectives get a search warrant and execute it at the home. Bleach and cleaning solutions were discovered inside the home, along with blood stains in the hallway and on the carpeting. Burned clothing was also discovered at the scene. Four people were brought to police stations to be questioned in the case. Detectives also found a garbage can on the premises, and discovered remains that were later identified as those of Marlen Ochoa. May 15: The Medical Examiner determined that Ochoas cause of death was strangulation, and that a coaxial cable had been used to kill the woman. Police searching the home found the cable, along with other evidence in the case. May 16: After a long interrogation session, Desiree Figueroa confessed to police that she had helped her mother in strangling Marlen Ochoa. After that, detectives arrested Figueroa and her mother, along with a third individual, and murder charges will be filed against the pair. A third suspect, 40-year-old Piotr Bobak, was arrested and charged with multiple felony counts for his alleged role in concealing the crime. The Dallas Police Department executed search warrants at three Catholic Diocese of Dallas properties Wednesday morning, looking for records of sexual abuse related to five priests. The warrants were served at three locations, including the diocese's headquarters at 3725 Blackburn Street, a storage location on Ledbetter Drive and the St. Cecilia Parish. Dallas police Maj. Max Geron, with the department's special investigations division, said Wednesday's raid was the furtherance of an investigation into sexual abuse allegations against Rev. Edmundo Paredes, the longtime pastor of St. Cecilia Parish who was credibly accused of sexual abuse by the Diocese of Dallas last year. Since the Paredes investigation became public, Geron said, the department has received additional allegations of child abuse against other priests. The search warrant documents obtained by NBC 5 Wednesday morning identified the others as 77-year-old Richard Thomas Brown, 77-year-old Alejandro Buitrago, 63-year-old William Joseph Hughes Jr, and 62-year-old Jeremy Myers. According to the search warrant (Pg. 4), all five priests are accused of sexual assault of a child, a second-degree felony, however Dallas police clarified that statement Wednesday afternoon to say that the only one of the five priests to have been charged in the case is Paredes. NBC 5 News All of the men named in the search warrant were included on the list of priests incardinated by the Diocese of Dallas who were credibly accused of sexual abuse by the diocese earlier this year. None of the men, Geron said, have been arrested. Geron said the search warrants executed Wednesday serve to further the investigations into those five priests and that detectives are looking for records, data, or other evidence of records of abuse held by the diocese. "The Dallas Police Department is working to complete a thorough investigation into each allegation independent of any other entitity to ensure that each victim has a voice within the legal system," Geron said. The Dallas Catholic Diocese had hired it's own investigators to review church records from the past. "What the police wanted to do was talk to those investigators, but they were denied access to them by the diocese," said Dallas Morning News Writer David Tarrant, who has been covering the Parades investigation. "Now what we have is law enforcement getting involved and saying, 'No, were going to control this investigation, not the Catholic Church.' Thats a very significant event," Tarrant said. "The police want to say, 'We want to make that judgement about credibly accused.'" In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, the Bishop Edward Burns, of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas, said the following: "The diocese has been cooperating with the ongoing investigation of these priests even before the list was made public, has given police the personnel files for all of the priests named in the warrant, and has been involved in ongoing discussions with DPD investigators. To date, the Diocese has not received a subpoena and the Diocese's involvement has been voluntary. The Diocese will continue to cooperate in all investigations of sexual abuse of a minor by clergy." Paredes, meanwhile, who led St. Cecilia Parish for 27 years, hasn't been seen for months and his whereabouts are unknown. According to a 2018 report, the diocese said allegations of sexual abuse by Paredes came from three adult men. The adults said the incidents occurred more than a decade ago when they were in their mid-teens. Paredes, the diocese said at the time, had already been suspended for unrelated accusations of theft. NBC 5 News The searches in Dallas come as the Vatican continues to try to deal more and more allegations of sexual abuse and cover-ups. Earlier this year, all dioceses in Texas released a list of clergy "credibly accused" of sexual abuse. The Dallas list can be found here and the Fort Worth list can be found here. A lawsuit filed Tuesday by three brothers in Minneapolis who say they were sexually abused by a priest attempts to trace a direct line from clergy sex abuse victims to the Vatican. NBC 5 News The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests released a statement Wednesday after learning of the Dallas raids. That statement is below. We applaud Texas law enforcement officials for raiding the secret archives of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas. We are glad that police and prosecutors are taking the issue of clergy abuse in Texas seriously and are not just relying on the promises of church officials. While the Diocese of Dallas released a list of publicly accused priests back in January, we suspected that the list was incomplete and have police and prosecutors to investigate further. As we have seen in places like Buffalo, Pennsylvania and Illinois, catholic dioceses have not consistently been forthright in disclosing full lists of credibly accused priests, nor providing information about the church officials who covered-up their crimes. We hope that this raid today sheds more light on the clergy abuse scandal as it relates to the Diocese of Dallas and will uncover the full truth of who knew what, when they knew it, and what steps church officials took in response to allegations of sexual abuse. Institutions cannot police themselves and it is only through strong action from law enforcement that the full truth of their scandals can be revealed. We applaud the move and hope that it will inspire others who saw, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes or cover ups in Texas to make a report to law enforcement officials immediately. NBC 5's Jack Highberger, Ken Kalthoff and Noelle Walker contributed to this report. International worries that the Trump administration is sliding toward war with Iran flared into the open amid skepticism about its claims that the Islamic Republic poses a growing threat to the U.S. and its allies in the Persian Gulf and beyond . The U.S. military on Tuesday rebutted doubts expressed by a British general about such a threat. President Donald Trump denied a report that the administration has updated plans to send more than 100,000 troops to counter Iran if necessary. But Trump then stirred the controversy further by saying: "Would I do that? Absolutely." The general's remarks exposed international skepticism over the American military build-up in the Middle East, a legacy of the 2003 invasion of Iraq that was predicated on false intelligence. U.S. officials have not publicly provided any evidence to back up claims of an increased Iranian threat amid other signs of allied unease. As tensions in the region started to surge, British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said his nation was worried about the risk of accidental conflict "with an escalation that is unintended really on either side." Then on Tuesday, Spain temporarily pulled one of its frigates from the U.S.-led combat fleet heading toward the Strait of Hormuz. That was followed by the unusual public challenge to the Trump administration by the general. "No, there's been no increased threat from Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and Syria," said Maj. Gen. Chris Ghika, a senior officer in the U.S.-backed coalition fighting the Islamic State group. Ghika, speaking in a video conference from coalition headquarters in Baghdad, told reporters at the Pentagon that the coalition monitors the presence of Iranian-backed forces "along with a whole range of others because that's the environment we're in." But he added, "There are a substantial number of militia groups in Iraq and Syria, and we don't see any increased threat from any of them at this stage." Late in the day, in a rare public rebuttal of an allied military officer, U.S. Central Command said Ghika's remarks "run counter to the identified credible threats" from Iranian-backed forces in the Mideast. In a written statement, Central Command said the coalition in Baghdad has increased the alert level for all service members in Iraq and Syria. "As a result, (the coalition) is now at a high level of alert as we continue to closely monitor credible and possibly imminent threats to U.S. forces in Iraq," the statement said. At the White House, Trump, who has repeatedly argued for avoiding long-term conflicts in the Mideast, discounted a New York Times report that the U.S. has updated plans that could send up to 120,000 troops to counter Iran if it attacked American forces. "Would I do that? Absolutely," he told reporters. "But we have not planned for that. Hopefully we're not going to have to plan for that. If we did that, we'd send a hell of a lot more troops than that." Reinforcing Trump's denial, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at a joint news conference in Sochi with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, "We fundamentally do not seek war with Iran." A Trump administration official said a recent small meeting of national security officials was not focused on a military response to Iran, but instead concentrated on a range of other policy options, including diplomacy and economic sanctions. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. Lavrov said Pompeo told him that a potential deployment of 120,000 U.S. troops to the Mideast was only a "rumor." Lavrov said the international community needs to focus on diplomacy with Iran, including on the potentially explosive issue of Iran's nuclear program, which is constrained by a U.S.-brokered deal in 2015 that Trump has abandoned. U.S. Iran envoy Brian Hook told reporters traveling with Pompeo in Brussels that the secretary of state shared intelligence on Iran with allies since "Europe shares our concerns about stability in the Gulf and the Middle East." What the Europeans do not share, however, is Washington's more aggressive approach to Iran. "We are very worried about the risk of a conflict happening by accident, with an escalation that is unintended really on either side but ends with some kind of conflict," British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt told reporters in Brussels. "What we need is a period of calm to make sure that everyone understands what the other side is thinking," Hunt said. Last week, U.S. officials said they had detected signs of Iranian preparations for potential attacks on U.S. forces and interests in the Mideast, but Washington has not spelled out that threat. The U.S. has about 5,000 troops in Iraq and about 2,000 in Syria as part of the coalition campaign to defeat the Islamic State group there. It also has long had a variety of air and naval forces stationed in Bahrain, Qatar and elsewhere in the Gulf, partly to support military operations against IS and partly as a counter to Iranian influence. Gen. Ghika's comments came amid dramatically heightened tensions in the Middle East. The U.S. in recent days has ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to the Gulf region, plus four B-52 bombers. It also is moving a Patriot air-defense missile battery to an undisclosed country in the area. As of Tuesday, the Lincoln and its strike group had passed through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea, but officials would not disclose their exact location. Tensions rose another notch with reports Sunday that four commercial vessels anchored off the United Arab Emirates had been damaged by sabotage. A U.S. military team was sent to the UAE to investigate, and one U.S. official said the initial assessment is that each ship has a 5- to 10-foot hole in it, near or just below the water line. The official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation, said the early interpretation is that the holes were caused by explosive charges. The official on Tuesday acknowledged seeing some photographs of the damage to the ships, but those images have not been made public. The official also said that the team is continuing to conduct forensic testing on the ship damage and that U.S. leaders are still awaiting the final report. The team's initial assessment is that the damage was done by Iranian or Iranian-backed proxies, but they are still going through the evidence and have not yet reached a final conclusion, the official said. AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee and Associated Press writer Zeke Miller contributed to this report. Five state attorneys general announced lawsuits Thursday seeking to hold the drug industry responsible for an opioid addiction crisis that has become the biggest cause of accidental deaths across the country and in many states. The new filings in Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, West Virginia and Wisconsin mean 45 states have now taken legal action in recent years against Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin. Some of the states are also suing Richard Sackler, a former president and member of the family that owns the Connecticut-based firm. Maryland is also suing other members of the Sackler family. Some states have also sued other drugmakers or distributors as the fallout from the crisis moves increasingly to courthouses. "There's far too much senseless death in West Virginia and many ruined lives," that state's Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said Thursday. "We cannot and will not tolerate companies that allegedly use false and misleading information to deceive medical personnel and patients." States' suits are among the highest-profile claims in flood of litigation over the crisis. Opioids, including prescription painkillers and related drugs such as heroin and fentanyl, were involved in nearly 48,000 deaths in the U.S. in 2017 more than AIDS killed at the peak of that epidemic and more than auto accidents kill annually. The death toll since 2000 is 391,000. The states and about 2,000 local and tribal governments that have sued assert that Purdue and other companies downplayed the addiction dangers of the drugs and used sales representatives to encourage doctors to prescribe even more of them. But the legal cases are complicated. Purdue points out that the majority of the recent deaths are linked to heroin or fentanyl not prescription drugs. States say most users, though, start with prescription pills, whether they're prescribed to them or diverted. A judge in North Dakota last week dismissed all of that state's claims against Purdue, perhaps the company's biggest court win in a round of litigation. In a written ruling that the state says it will appeal, Judge James Hill questioned the idea of blaming a company that makes a legal product for the deaths. "Purdue cannot control how doctors prescribe its products and it certainly cannot control how individual patients use and respond to its products," the judge wrote, "regardless of any warning or instruction Purdue may give." Mark Cheffo, a lawyer for Purdue, said he's hoping other judges will reach similar conclusions as they delve into the cases. All the cases filed by state governments except one are working their way through state courts. Alabama's case is among about 1,500 in federal court and being overseen by one federal judge based in Cleveland. He has rejected arguments to dismiss the suits and has scheduled an initial trial in October for the claims of two Ohio counties. The looming trial could put pressure on Purdue and other companies to settle the cases something the judge has said he wants to see. In March, Purdue and the Sackler family, which owns the company, settled with Oklahoma for $270 million. Purdue also settled with Kentucky in 2015 for $24 million, and a handful of other companies have entered deals with other states in the last few years. Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, one of the leaders of a multistate investigation of the opioid crisis, announced a lawsuit earlier this week against Purdue, saying the company was not working in good faith on a settlement. Cheffo, the Purdue lawyer, disputed that in a phone interview Tuesday. "While we recognize the complication of a resolution process involving so many different parties and interests and certainly cannot get into the details of them, we remain optimistic and believe that both sides are participating in good faith in an effort to try to reach some resolution that is in the best interests of the parties and the public health." A lawyer representing members of the Sackler family has also said the family would like to settle. For some states, there's a political element in deciding to join the litigation now. For instance, Wisconsin didn't sue earlier because Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel opted to join a multistate investigation instead. Schimel argued that it would be a faster way to hold them accountable. But Schimel was defeated in November by Democrat Josh Kaul, who campaigned on a platform that included filing opioid lawsuits. Kaul's suit named Purdue and Richard Sackler as defendants. ___ Mulvihill reported from Cherry Hill, New Jersey. AP reporters Regina Garcia Cano in Baltimore; John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas; Scott McFetridge in Des Moines, Iowa and Todd Richmond in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed to this article. The state House of Representatives has passed legislation to prohibit the sale of cigarettes, tobacco products, electronic delivery systems and vapor products to anyone under the age of 21. A news release from the governors office says the House voted 124-22 and the bill needs approval from the Senate before getting to the governors desk. States like Massachusetts and New Jersey have already upped the age to 21. In Connecticut, Hartford and Bridgeport have already increased the age. Other towns like Milford and South Windsor have considered it. In April, the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association lobbied to keep pressure up on lawmakers to raise the age. Several groups went to the State Capitol on Wednesday to promote a proposal to raise the legal age to buy tobacco products to 21. The bill would also prohibit the sale of flavored products, which . are often viewed as enticing to young teens. The vaping industry said that will harm people trying to quit smoking cigarettes. Governor Ned Lamont issued a statement on Thursday afternoon, saying, (W)ith the rising use of e-cigarettes and vaping products among young people, we are seeing a growing public health crisis. Some have pointed out that raising the age to 21 will result in a net revenue loss to the state, but when it comes to the health of our young people we need to do what is right, Governor Ned Lamont said in a statement. I commend the legislators today who had the courage to vote for this bill, and particularly express my gratitude for the leadership of Representative Jonathan Steinberg and Representative Cristin McCarthy Vahey. Lets get this bill through the Senate so I can sign it into law. Read the bill here. As local, state and federal investigators try to figure out who set a mosque on fire, New Haven public safety officials have started a new safety campaign for places of worship. "Unfortunately, now we are talking about security measures," said Ceylan Ozen Erisen, the Consul General of Turkey in Boston. "This is where we are now unfortunately." There is still no break in the case following Sunday's fire at the Diyanet Mosque on Middletown Avenue. Both the FBI and ATF are supporting the New Haven Police arson investigation. Fires at places where people gather to pray are not a new phenomenon, New Haven Fire Chief John Alston said. We saw them rise in the 60s during Civil Rights movement, saw a rise in the 90s, he said. Following the suspected arson at the New Haven mosque, the new city effort is focused on protecting houses of worship. This is one of the projects we wanted to get off the ground," Alston said, "but its just been expedited. This project is about promoting proactive measures to prevent fires, both accident and intentional, Alston explained. That includes increasing lighting on the property, trimming shrubbery and removing excess leaves or vegetation that could fuel a fire, setting up a neighborhood watch and keeping doors and windows locked, and making sure smoke alarms and sprinkler systems work properly. It is very sad that we are talking about all these things because these mosques are supposed to be open houses of worship for everybody, said Erisen, who didn't expect her planned visit to New Haven during the holy month of Ramadan to come days after a destructive fire. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) checked out the damage Friday morning and he said he plans to share photos of the charred mosque with members of Congress. "I hope that my colleagues in Washington will be inspired to double or triple the amount of federal resources going to the security and safety of places of worship, all non-profits across the country that may be susceptible to this kind of attack," Blumenthal said. Sunday's fire has forced the Diyanet Mosque to hold services outside in trailers and under a tent. The director of Muslim life at Yale University Omer Bajwa told NBC Connecticut he is encouraged by an online fundraiser that has already raised more than $155,000 to help rebuild the mosque. It's heartwarming to see the response from not just our community," Bajwa said, "but kind of globally, people that have heard about this on social media and as well of the fact that many of these people are not Muslim and theyre strangers, but they really deeply care about supporting the cause. During a visit by federal agents to the mosque Friday afternoon, the ATF announced it is offering $5,000 for anyone with information leading to an arrest in the mosque fire investigation. There are now three rewards being offered totaling more than $17,000. The 45-year-old man who was taken to the burn unit at Bridgeport Hospital Thursday after fire at a Plainville home has died, according to hospital officials. Hospital officials said 45-year-old Stephen Androwski died Thursday night at the Connecticut Burn Center at Bridgeport Hospital. The fire broke out on Fairbanks Street. Larry Sutherland, the fire marshal for the town of Plainville, said fire consumed the second floor of the house and the victim was found on the second floor. An ambulance brought him to a hospital in New Britain, then Lifestar flew him to Bridgeport Hospital, officials said Thursday. Officials said Thursday that the residents of the building were a father and son but did not identify them. Felicia Kenniston, a neighbor, said she was out walking when she saw smoke from the top floor of the home. So we knocked on the door and a gentleman answered and we said, Your house is on fire, He said, OK and closed the door and went back inside, which made us very nervous, Kenniston said. The police showed up a few minutes later, went in and got him out, she said. He said his son was upstairs and he couldnt get the door open, Kenniston said. Plainville has a volunteer department and Sutherland said they had less than half a dozen firefighters when they arrived so they immediately called for mutual aid. After 6 hours of debate, members of the state Senate passed a bill with a 21-14 vote to incrementally increase the state's minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2023. Lawmakers began the debate Thursday night and continued it into early Friday and voted at 2:45 a.m. If it becomes law, Connecticut would become the seventh state in the country to pass a plan to phase in a $15 minimum wage, joining New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, California, New Jersey and Maryland, as well as the District of Columbia. Under the bill, the current $10.10 an hour wage will climb to $11 on October 1; $12 in 2020; $13 in 2021; $14 in 2022; and $15 in 2023. The wage would then be tied to the federal Employment Cost Index. The bill will now head to Governor Lamont for his signature. The governor says he supports raising the minimum wage to $15. With this increase in minimum wage, thousands of hardworking women and men many of whom are supporting families will get a modest increase that will help lift them out of poverty, combat persistent pay disparities between races and genders, and stimulate our economy," Governor Lamont said. A Florida man was arrested Thursday after Transportation Security Administration officers at Bradley International Airport found a loaded handgun and ammunition at a checkpoint, according to TSA. TSA officers who spotted the gun when the mans fanny pack went through the X-ray machine, so they contacted the Connecticut State Police, who responded, confiscated the gun and bullets and detained the man, according to TSA. The Plant City, Florida man was carrying a .22 caliber handgun loaded with 10 bullets and a box with 50 additional rounds of ammunition, according to TSA, and he was arrested on state weapons charges. State police said 74-year-old David Charles Schultz, of Plant City, Florida, was charged with illegal tamper airport/equipment. Bond was set at $500. Passengers are allowed to travel with firearms in checked baggage if they are properly packaged and declared, but firearms must be unloaded, packed in a hard-sided case, locked and packed separately from ammunition, according to TSA. TSA said this was the fourth gun caught at the airports checkpoint so far this year. TSA officers caught nine firearms at the BDL checkpoint in 2018. Schultz is scheduled to appear in court on May 30. A bill to raise Connecticut minimum wage to $15 is almost a done deal. But some say that change is coming at a price to local business owners. Forum Plastics, LLC. has been making medical devices in Waterbury for eight years. The company started in Stamford in 1992, but its president says its days in Connecticut are numbered. We have a lot of minimum wage employees. Its kind of the nature of our business, said Mark Polinsky, president of Forum Plastics, LLC. When the minimum wage hits $15 an hour its gonna have about a $1.2 million effect on our profitability. Friday, the state Senate passed the minimum wage bill which incrementally increases the minimum wage, starting in October. The bill already passed the House and is awaiting the governors signature. Wages will increase by $1 each year until they hit $15 an hour in 2023. Ultimately, beginning January 1, 2024, the minimum wage will be indexed to the employment cost index, which is calculated by the U.S. Department of Labor. It will reduce our profits from nine percent to less than two, said Polinsky. The company employs roughly 150 people Polinsky said around 80 are full time and 65 are temporary workers. He said 100 of their employees make $15 an hour or less. Were squeezed in the middle, he explained. My customers buy products from China, from Mexico, from outside the US. I cant go to them and say listen I need to charge you more because of the minimum wage is going up. Instead of raising prices, Polinsky said the company will cut jobs to cover the new cost of doing business in Connecticut. In the next six months were going to try to significantly reduce our workforce with automation. We have to. I know theyre looking for their best interests but I think they could push it a little more to help the working group, said Neldy Echebarria, a Forum Plastics employee for over seven years. Its going to be difficult for them to find a job in Waterbury because the companies are leaving Waterbury. Here we go again. Been through it in the past and its not a fun thing, added Santiago Cora, referring to another company he worked for that went through a round of cuts. Although Cora is a full-time technician, he said hes worried about his job. The cuts are just the beginning. Right now, the company covers 80 percent of their employees health insurance costs. Employees will be asked to pay a bigger piece of the pie. Forums owner has also said that he plans to close the plant and set-up shop in another state in the next four years. It kind of hurts a little to see that a good company like this, because of the economy and the minimum wage, had to move out of state, said Cora. Theres nobody working. So, what is this accomplishing, asked Waterbury resident Kevin Russell. They wont be the only ones to leave. Opponents of the minimum wage hike think the increase will ultimately be passed onto them. I think its absolutely awful. I mean we are barely surviving as it is, said Sharon Zabbara of Wolcott. Zabbara said she and her husband have considered leaving Connecticut. Its sad to say but its almost becoming unaffordable, just unaffordable to stay in Connecticut anymore, she pointed out. Her son, Alex, has held a number of minimum wage jobs. With one more year left at the University of Connecticut, he's also worried as he looks towards his own future. I was thinking initially that within the next year Ill be better off with a higher minimum wage but as someone whos going to be getting a degree in electrical engineering theres a lot of smaller business that are looking for engineers that may be moving out of Connecticut, said Alex. Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont believes the hike will spur growth. This is a fair, gradual increase for the working women and men who will invest the money right back into our economy and continue supporting local businesses in their communities, he said in a statement. Polinsky said Forum plans to cut five to 10 jobs in the next six months and ten more each time the wage goes up. They plan to be moved out of Connecticut by the time it reaches $15 an hour in 2023. He added that the company will offer employees jobs in their new location, which will likely be North Carolina or Texas. Cora said he doesnt blame the business for worrying about their bottom line and would gladly follow them wherever they end up. The company has to better themselves, just like we have to better ourselves, he said. What to Know An NYPD officer was arrested after she tried to have a hitman hired to kill her ex-husband as well as a child, prosecutors say. Valerie Cincinelli appeared in federal court Friday where she was ordered held without bail A source familiar with the investigation tells NBC 4 New York the child was her current boyfriend's 14-year-old daughter An NYPD officer was arrested after she tried to have a hitman hired to kill her ex-husband as well as a child, prosecutors say. Valerie Cincinelli, 34, tried to get her current boyfriend to hire a hitman, a police official told NBC 4 New York. Cincinelli was arrested Friday by the FBI following a sting operation. NYPD Internal Affairs assisted in her arrest. A source familiar with the investigation tells NBC 4 New York the child was her current boyfriend's 14-year-old daughter. The officer's father spoke out late Friday night, defending his daughter saying he doesn't believe she did it. "I haven't seen anything, and until I do I really shouldn't be saying anything," Lou Cincinelli said at his Long Island home. "But I guarentee you my daughter is innocent of this." The officer previously worked out of the 106th Precinct in Queens, before being placed on modified duty in 2017 for an unrelated domestic incident, the police official said. Before that though, she was an award-winning officer, including a "cop of the month" award from the Jamaica Rotary in June 2017. Cincinelli, who joined the NYPD in 2007, was most recently in a unit known as VIPER that monitored security cameras. Cincinelli was ordered held without bail at hearing federal court on Central Islip Friday afternoon. NBC 4 New York reached out to her lawyer who had no comment. According to a complaint filed against Cincinelli by federal prosecutors, she made a cash withdrawal on or about Feb. 18 of $7,000 from a bank to give to a cooperating source, identified to NBC 4 New York as her current boyfriend, who would in turn give it to the hitman. On or about May 8, the complaint says, Cincinelli told her boyfriend "to have the hitman kill Jan Doe over the weekend and then wait a week or a month to kill John Doe." A review of the boyfriend's cell phone and text messages between the him and Cincinelli confirms that they communicated using cell phones multiple times between about February 2019 and the present in furtherance of this murder-for-hire plot, some of which calls and texts were made to or from Oceanside, New York, according to the complaint. At about 10:10 a.m. Friday, at the direction of FBI agents, Cincinelli was notified in person by a Suffolk County Police Department detective at her home, that her estranged husband had been murdered, according to a detention memo filed by prosecutors. The boyfriend was present with Cincinelli at the time of the notification, outfitted with a recording device at the direction of law enforcement, the memo says. After the detective left the home, Cincinelli allegedly began to discuss her alibi. Then, at approximately 10:48 a.m., an FBI agent, posing as the hitman, sent a text message to the boyfriend, which included a photograph of the alleged crime scene in which Cincinelli's estranged husband appeared dead in his car, and a demand for an additional $3,000 to kill Jane Doe, the memo said. In response, Cincinelli allegedly instructed her boyfriend to delete the text messages and photographs, citing her fear that law enforcement could subpoena the phone. Congresswomen who have served in the military are setting up a new caucus to support the nation's growing ranks of female service members, and they're looking for clout, too, in American politics. The caucus, bipartisan and including men, would be a first. There are more than a dozen military and veteran-related caucuses in the House, but none dedicated to the specific needs of women who serve. The still-forming Congressional Servicewomen & Women Veterans Caucus, which organizers said Wednesday includes 50 members of Congress, is part of this group's growing network of influence in national politics. Organizers also are aiming to recruit more female veterans to run for office in 2020. "It's a long time coming," said Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., an Air Force veteran and third-generation service member who is also among the historic class of House freshmen that delivered a Democratic majority in last year's elections. She recalls leaving the military in 1991, after she and her husband had a baby, because she could not afford child care in Boston, where they were living. "What I've learned nearly 30 years later is that it hasn't changed." But child care isn't the only concern of the group, which Houlahan hopes will eventually include senators who have served. Educating women on the veterans' health care and other services that are available to them also is on the agenda, as well as delivering and expanding on those services. In the next 25 years, the number of female former service members is expected to nearly double and will account for nearly 1 in 5 living veterans. That's because the number of enlisted women serving is eight times more than it was when the draft ended, in 1973, according to statistics released from Houlahan's group. Women now account for 18 percent of the officer corps, up from 8 percent. Female veterans face unique health-related challenges, according to letters the future caucus members have sent to Army Secretary Mark T. Esper and Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer. The caucus wants all the services to follow the model of an Air Force pilot program that offers four hours of training on the health services offered by the VA to women leaving the military. Joining Houlahan at a news conference Wednesday were Reps. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii; Elaine Luria, D-Va.; Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J.; Don Bacon, R-Neb.; and Gil Cisneros, D-Calif. "We did not want to be the last people to fill these shoes" as female veterans and members of Congress, Luria said. "We're here to stand behind these young women." Houlahan, Luria, Sherrill and Reps. Abagail Spanberger, D-Va., and Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., were part of a record number of female veterans with military or intelligence experience who ran for Congress last year. They're raising money together for potential candidates in 2020 with military experience through Service First Women's Victory Fund and New Politics, a bipartisan organization. Authorities are asking people in a Central Texas city to conserve water after a spillway crumbled, emptying a lake of much of its water. Dramatic video posted on Facebook showed the spillway at Lake Dunlap collapse Tuesday, sending a wall of water cascading through the open middle gate and to the Guadalupe River below. Lake Dunlap is located just south of New Braunfels and provides water for the city of Kyle, about 30 miles to the north, KXAN reported. The report said city officials are asking residents to avoid watering their lawns, filling up pools or washing their cars "anything that's not really necessary," James Earp, the Assistant City Manager for the city of Kyle, told KXAN. The report noted the city of about 40,000 gets most of its water from the Edwards Aquifer and Barton Springs. There is no word yet on what caused the spillway to collapse, according to a Facebook post by the Guadalupe Blanco River Authority. On National Peace Officers' Memorial Day, ceremonies across the country recognized officers killed in the line of duty last year. In Plano Thursday, the department's ceremony put a special emphasis on Richardson Officer David Sherrard killed last February. Sherrard's parents couldn't travel to the national service in Washington D.C., but they were able to come to Plano's service which recognized their son's sacrifice. "I know he never failed to do his job and he did it with all his heart," said Alvin Sherrard, David Sherrard's father. "But you never know when something's lying in wait for you. And that's just wrong." Officer Sherrard was killed responding to a disturbance call at a Richardson apartment complex on February 7, 2018. Police said Sherrard was the first officer through the door of an apartment where a suspected gunman was holed up. The suspect, Brandon McCall, is facing two capital murder charges for the death of Sherrard and McCall's friend Rene Gamez. The Collin County D.A. expects McCall to face a jury in the death penalty case next February. Thursday, the Plano Police Department read the names of the Texas officers who died in the line of duty, either by homicide, car crash, medical emergency. "This is a very difficult and dangerous job," said Plano Police Chief Gregory Rushin. "Any day we could be called to do the same. It's a stark reminder to everyone." David Sherrard had close ties to Plano, a neighboring department. He was on the Richardson Police SWAT which trained with Plano SWAT officers. Sherrard's wife, Nicole, previously worked as a dispatcher for Plano. The ceremony also recognized Fort Worth Officer Garrett Hull and Dallas officers Jamie Givens and Rogelio Santander. "I know Dallas hasn't forgotten, neither has Richardson, neither has Plano," said Alvin Sherrard. "And I pray for all for all the departments." A suspected serial killer accused of targeting elderly women in Dallas and Collin counties is now facing 12 counts of capital murder. This week, a Collin County grand jury handed down five capital murder indictments against suspected serial killer Billy Chemirmir. The jury voted on the indictments Tuesday, but the details didnt become available until Thursday. According to court documents, Chemirmir is accused in the murder of five Plano women: Ann Conklin, who died March 18, 2018 Carolyn MacPhee, who died Dec. 31, 2017 Martha Williams, who died March 4, 2018 Miriam Nelson, who died March 9, 2018 Minnie Campbell, who died Oct. 31, 2017 Most of the women lived in the Preston Place Retirement Community. One victim's son-in-law told NBC 5 his family had concerns about security there. NBC 5 reached out to Preston Place but could not get through. Earlier this week, a Dallas County grand jury handed down an additional six indictments of capital murder against Chemirmir, who is accused of posing as a home health care worker or maintenance worker to gain access to elderly victims. Hes accused of strangling or smothering the victims to rob them of jewelry, cash and other valuables. Court records identify the six victims in Dallas County as the following: Phyllis Payne, May 14, 2016 Norma French, Oct. 8, 2016 Phoebe Perry, June 5, 2016 Doris Gleason, Oct. 29, 2016 Rosemary Curtis, Jan. 17, 2018 Mary Brooks, Jan. 31, 2018 Phoebe Perry was a major donor to the SPCA of Texas and was devoted to saving animals. She and her husband helped the SPCA build the Russell H. Perry Animal Care Center in Mckinney, leaving a lasting legacy. "She was so full of joy, she was so full of light, she was so full of love," said SPCA Spokesperson Maura Davies. "She deserved the best in life for every moment of her life and my heart is broken." Chemirmir was previously indicted on capital murder for the death of a 91-year-old Dallas woman named Lu Thi Harris who died March 20, 2018. A Collin County grand jury also indicted Chemirmir on two counts of attempted capital murder. The victims, one in Plano and another in Frisco, survived the attacks. Last year, Dallas police said a string of attacks prompted the department to review 750 unattended death cases to look for similarities. Other local departments also planned to review their cases. The investigation into Chemirmir began after police identified him as a suspect in the attack of a 91-year-old woman who was smothered and robbed inside her Plano apartment on March 19, 2018. An arrest affidavit said Chemirmir forced his way into the woman's apartment and told her to "go to bed, don't fight me." The victim lost consciousness but was later revived by Plano Fire-Rescue and told investigators the person stole jewelry from her. Plano police said they identified Chemirmir as a suspect from a license plate at the complex. Following up on that lead, investigators kept tabs on Chemirmir in Dallas on March 20, 2018, when they watched him throw a jewelry box in a trash bin. Police retrieved the box and found a name inside. Investigators connected the name to Harris, where officers found the woman dead. In Frisco, police said Chemirmir posed as a maintenance worker in October 2017 and forced his way into the home of a 93-year-old woman living at Parkview Elderly Assisted Living in Frisco. The victim told police she was smothered with a pillow and began praying because she thought she was going to die. The woman's attacker, police said, stole jewelry. Chemirmir's attorney, Phillip Hayes, said Thursday that this week's charges were a surprise and that he hadn't had time to review them yet. "These cases came out of the blue and I don't have any information on them yet," he said. But he noted that Chemirmir "has denied it since Day 1" that he played any role in Harris' death. "They have circumstantial evidence that puts him in the area but that's as far as the evidence goes," Hayes said. NBC 5's Alice Barr contributed to this report. What to Know A bipartisan group of lawmakers said after a classified briefing with the agencies Thursday that they were told the names of the counties. Members of Florida's congressional delegation said Thursday it was unacceptable that the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security will not publicly identify the two counties where Russian hackers gained access to voter databases before the 2016 election. A bipartisan group of lawmakers said after a classified FBI briefing that they were told the county names but were not allowed to share that information with the public. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, had a similar briefing last week and also said afterward that he could not release the names. The Florida lawmakers want the federal agencies to be more transparent and are pledging to work on bipartisan legislation to strengthen notification rules. They said the public has the right to know if their data was breached, similar to a credit card company notifying customers. The FBI also told the lawmakers there was "suspicious activity" around other counties, but didn't identify those counties by name. "The public needs to know which countries were hacked and what steps are being taken to hold the bad actors accountable," said Democratic Rep. Stephanie Murphy. Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz was blunter: "I don't know who the hell they think they are to not share that information with us." The Florida revelations add new anxiety for officials as they work to secure their systems for the 2020 elections. Many fear a repeat of 2016, when Russian hackers targeted election infrastructure in at least 21 states. The rising concerns could push Congress to take another crack at election security legislation that stalled before the midterm elections last year. The lawmakers said they were told with certainty that election results weren't compromised, but it was less clear whether the Russian hackers were able to use the voter data in any way. "We couldn't get with certainly that the Russians were not actually able to manipulate the data that they had access to," said Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, D-Fla. "They have no evidence but couldn't say with certainty." Some Florida officials were taken by surprise last month when special counsel Robert Mueller's report said hackers gained access to the network of at least one Florida county. The FBI identified two counties in the briefings with Florida officials. DeSantis said this week that he was frustrated when he saw the vague reference to hacking in Mueller's report, adding that "no one ever said anything to me." The lawmakers confirmed what DeSantis said after his own briefing that the hackers gained access through a spear-phishing email after workers clicked links. Multiple lawmakers said the law enforcment officials described it as similar to burglars gaining access to the "garage, not the house." There has been speculation about the hackings since then-Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said last August that Russians had penetrated the systems of certain Florida counties and had "free rein to move about" before last year's midterm election. Then-Gov. Rick Scott, who defeated Nelson in the November election, criticized Nelson's allegations, saying they were sensational. After Nelson's comments, the FBI and DHS said in a letter that they saw no signs of any "new or ongoing compromises" of state or local election systems. Some experts warned that hackers could have left malware on computer systems to be triggered later. Scott, now a senator, got his own briefing from the FBI this week and said he urged the agency to do a briefing for all senators. He said in a statement that the FBI "could not provide any evidence to support" Nelson's specific claims, but did not elaborate. He said he was confident in steps he had taken as governor to improve election security. The briefings come as senators are try to restart talks on an election security bill that stalled last year after Majority Leader Mitch McConnell declined to move it to a Senate vote. The White House and some Republicans said at the time that the legislation could exert too much federal control over the states. Some states have objected to the bill because it would require all states to use paper ballots as a backup to electronic systems if they want to receive federal election money for voting equipment. While many states already use paper ballots, a few said they would be too expensive or burdensome. The legislation would also require that all 50 states conduct audits after elections and direct the Homeland Security Department to immediately notify any states if the federal government detects that they have been hacked. The last requirement was added after Homeland Security took around a year to tell states they had been hacked in 2016. Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, one of the lead sponsors of the legislation, said this month that senators are still working on it and expressed optimism that it could pass this year. He said one of the administration officials who found the bill problematic was former White House counsel Don McGahn, who called him with some "constructive ideas" that were later incorporated. Lankford said McGahn told him he was calling in a private capacity because of his experience as a former member of the Federal Election Commission, not as White House counsel. Lankford said the White House was officially neutral on the bill. Senate Rules Committee Chairman Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican who was supportive of the legislation last year, sounded less hopeful at a hearing on elections Wednesday. "At this point I don't see any likelihood that those bills will get to the floor," Blunt said in response to a question by Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin. "I think the majority leader is of the view that this debate reaches no conclusion," Blunt said. Associated Press Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report. A U.S. assessment determined it is "highly likely" that Iran was behind the attacks on four tankers last weekend, according to three U.S. officials familiar with the findings. The U.S. has evidence, including photos of the damage and forensics, tying Iran or its proxies to the Sunday attacks off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, one of the officials said. The four ships two from Saudi Arabia and one each from the UAE and Norway were struck with what is now believed to be explosive charges, the officials said and NBC News reported. The incident escalated tensions in the region at a time when the U.S. has ramped up its efforts to choke off Iran's oil exports. And in the days before the tanker attacks, the Trump administration announced that it was sending a carrier strike group and Air Force bombers to the Middle East. A separate U.S. intelligence assessment on Friday found that the recent movement of more U.S. military assets into the region was having an effect on Iranian posture and behavior, according to the three U.S. officials. An agreement between China and UNESCO to sponsor young scholars to conduct research along the Silk Road was signed during the parallel session, "Safeguarding the diversity of Asian civilizations," on Wednesday, as part of the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations. Representing UNESCO on the project, Ms. Nada Al-Nashif, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences, said the best way for UNESCO and China to better promote inter-civilization exchanges between countries all over the world is through young people. "We are putting a lot of investment on young people, as China has historically," she noted during an exclusive interview with People's Daily Online during the CDAC. China vowed to provide $1 million to aid scholars under 35 years old to conduct research on the Silk Road, which aims to promote education in a bid to push forward the dialogue between civilizations. "We are modernizing the understanding of the ancient Silk Road, while also making sure the Silk Road is about young people," Al-Nashif continued. "This way, they can learn lessons about the past and better comprehend how so much knowledge was spread through that vast network so many centuries ago." "UNESCO has had to rethink how we work with young people," Al-Nashif said. "We don't see it appropriate that we continue to treat young people as beneficiaries, meaning passing on planned projects for them to simply implement. We are starting to work with them as full partners: we design initiatives together, which we implement together - and we hold each other accountable," she said. Nada Al-Nashif, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences had an exclusive interview with People's Daily Online during the CDAC.(Photo: He Zhuoyan/People's Daily Online) As an agency of the United Nations that specializes in education, science and culture, UNESCO plays an active role in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the globally-agreed blueprint for peace and prosperity for humans and the planet. "We are firmly committed to understanding the idea of this integrated development of social, economic and environmental sustainability all at the same time," opined Al-Nashif. "The objective is social justice and the commitment to leave no one behind, which China has been working on for a very long time, with its poverty alleviation efforts as well as its economic growth," she noted. During a keynote speech at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris in 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke about inter-civilization exchanges and mutual learning, and a community with a shared future for humankind, a concept that UNESCO has also championed for years. "When President Xi came to UNESCO, we had just launched the International Decade for the Rapprochement of Cultures," Al-Nashif said, adding that the international decade from 2013 to 2022 is a commitment to address the pressing need of a universal global consciousness free from stereotypes and prejudices and to demonstrate new articulations between cultural diversity and universal values. "President Xi gave it a tangible meaning with this idea of a community with a shared future for humankind," she said. 'Tilapia sales to US to decline further in 2019' Tilapia's popularity in the US continues to decline as it is set to take another hit with the current 10% tariff on Chinese-origin fish raised to 25% as announced. According to GLOBEFISH, the FAO's fish-trade site, China's exports of farmed tilapia to the US continues its declining trend, while Latin America, Southeast Asia and Africa continue to increase in relative importance as producers of tilapia. The total output share of biggest player China is projected to drop as smaller producing countries such as Egypt, Indonesia and Brazil increase their production relatively faster. GLOBEFISH cites the most recent Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) survey data indicating Chinese tilapia harvests might have reached 1.75 million tonnes in 2018. But reports at the end of the year also indicated that a number of farms in key producing regions experienced mass mortalities as a result of a period of abnormally cold weather. The Chinese output is still larger than the combined production in Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines, which is around 1.33 million tonnes in 2018. These countries, as per GLOBEFISH, have the advantage of the opportunity presented by the new tariff regime and have the potential to inhibit China's dominance of the US market. China's supply to the US market still remains as the most significant flow in international tilapia trade, but US per capita consumption of tilapia is falling as it competes with alternative seafood options. China supplies 62% of US imports China accounts for 62% of US tilapia imports, and the announcement of tilapia's inclusion in the new tariff regime caused a flurry of trade activity in the last quarter of 2018, pushing prices temporarily upwards, GLOBEFISH reported. However, the increase of the import duty on tilapia to 25% has resulted in price decline that may have negative consequences for wholesalers who are now sitting on large inventories, added GLOBEFSH. EU28 imports of tilapia also fell by 16% in euro terms during the review period, pointing to continued challenges for tilapia marketers targeting this market, GLOBEFISH noted. According to the European Union Fish Processors and Traders Association (AIPCE-CEP), the 28-nation bloc consumes only about 1 percent of global tilapia supply, most of which is in the form of frozen fillets coming from China. Markets in Africa such as Cote d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso are now absorbing some of the Chinese volume previously destined for the US, while growing production in countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia and the Philippines is increasingly directed to domestic and regional markets. Latin American tilapia farmers are also seeing a decline in exports to the US market, which has stopped buying tilapia fillets, GLOBEFISH said. In the first nine months of 2018, Honduras, Ecuador and Costa Rica observed drops in both value and volume terms compared with the same period in 2017. Brazil and Mexico exported higher volumes but for lower value. Meanwhile, Colombian tilapia exports to the US increased by 10.5% in volume terms and 11.6% in value. A suspect was arrested in a March 1974 killing in California after investigators used the same advanced DNA testing that helped crack the Golden State Killer case, authorities said Thursday. John Arthur Getreu, 75, was arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting and strangling 21-year-old Janet Ann Taylor, the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office announced. Taylor was last seen alive attempting to hitchhike from Palo Alto to her home in nearby La Honda. Her body was found along a busy street. Getreu was already in custody in Santa Clara County after being charged last year with sexually assaulting and strangling Leslie Perlov, another 21-year-old woman, in 1973. Investigators previously believed the killings of Perlov and Taylor were connected. But their cases had gone unsolved until DNA testing evolved enough to deliver credible results from the degraded DNA collected at both killing scenes. Authorities in both counties submitted DNA samples to the same publicly available DNA database used to identify Joseph DeAngelo, who authorities believe is the Golden State Killer. Getreu was linked to both killings after the testing connected him to both crime scenes, investigators said. In the Golden State Killer case, investigators used DNA from the attacks to locate a relative of DeAngelo then turned to traditional techniques to find the suspect. Authorities have linked the Golden State Killer to 13 attacks of women throughout California between 1974 and 1986. "Law enforcement is not giving up on victims," Assistant San Mateo County Sheriff Gregory Rothaus said at a news conference on Getreu in Redwood City. "We have new DNA technology that is a great tool for us." Santa Clara County court records show Getreau is represented by the county's public defender's office, which didn't return a call. Getreau has not yet been appointed a lawyer in San Mateo County. Businesses near the site where an F-16 Fighting Falcon crashed into a warehouse just west of a Southern California air base remained closed Friday as fire officials and military personnel conducted their investigation. The pilot and 12 people on the ground were injured in the crash near March Air Reserve Base, about 65 miles east of Los Angeles in Riverside County. A warehouse worker at See Water Inc. said he heard the deafening noise of an F-16 jet moments before it smashed through the roof of the building. The pilot, listed in good condition Friday morning, ejected and parachuted to safety before the Air National Guard fighter plane hit the warehouse in an industrial area. Witnesses at the warehouse said they were stunned to see what was happening overhead. "Sales rep says, 'Hey, there's a plane going down over us,'" said Frank Sandoval. "There's no way, and sure enough we saw a guy eject right over our warehouse. The plane went into one side of the building through the other side of the building." Update: Deputy Fire Chief Timothy Holliday gives us the latest after a military jet crashes, and pilot manages to eject safely just before. https://t.co/CSoRQ2joh9 pic.twitter.com/9k8C66VU0X NBC Los Angeles (@NBCLA) May 16, 2019 In total, a dozen people were hosed off for exposure to debris before being taken to hospitals for evaluation and treatment of minor injuries, state fire Capt. Fernando Herrera said. The F-16 punched a huge hole in the roof of the 500,000-square-foot building and ruptured the on-site sprinkler system, but no fire was reported, according to fire officials. No one was seriously injured. The warehouse is stacked with plastic pipes, aluminum awnings and other materials, according to the CHP, which received the 911 calls. Cellphone photos and video from inside showed what appeared to be the tail of the plane buried in twisted metal and piles of cardboard boxes. Base officials said an ordnance disposal team was at the site Friday morning. "Any time you're dealing with an aircraft incident, there are potential hazards," said Col Tom McNamara. "Incidents like this are very complex. Safety is our No. 1 priority at this point." Fire officials took a cautious approach. "Anything that may be in (the warehouse) is a concern, obviously not just to (firefighters), but to the military," Herrera said. "So we're going to take whatever precautions are necessary." A large area around the warehouse was evacuated and nearby Interstate 215, which runs between the base and warehouse, was shut down until crews could render the jet's weaponry and ordnance safe. No residences were evacuated, but businesses with a three-quarter mile perimeter of the crash site were closed. "As long as the aircraft is here, we are considering it a viable and dangerous area and we're taking the precautions necessary," Herrera said. Around 4:30 p.m. Friday afternoon, military officials detonated the ordnance in spectacular fashion and reopened lanes on the northbound 215 Freeway. Southbound lanes were reopened shortly thereafter to close the loop on a 24-hour shut-down. The crash happened during a training mission, March Air Reserve Base Deputy Fire Chief Timothy Holliday said. "The pilot was having hydraulic problems," Holliday said. "He started losing control of the aircraft." The jet's cockpit canopy was on a runway, and a parachute had settled in a nearby field. The F-16 was on a training mission under the direction of the North American Aerospace Defense Command. The pilot is from the 144th Fighter Wing, an Air National Guard unit based in Fresno, and the F-16 belongs to the South Dakota Air National Guard in Sioux Falls. The base is home to the Air Force Reserve Command's Fourth Air Force Headquarters and various units of the Army Reserve, Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, California Air National Guard and California Army National Guard. An Arizona woman who allegedly snatched a 4-year- old boy from a fast-food restaurant in downtown Los Angeles but was stopped outside by a witness was charged Friday with kidnapping and grand theft auto. Maralyn Ramos -- who said in an outburst shortly before her case was called that she tried to help the child find his parents -- pleaded not guilty and was ordered to remain jailed in lieu of $170,000 bail. Ramos is due back in court May 31, and could face up to 11 years and eight months in state prison if convicted as charged. Ramos, 33, allegedly carried the boy out of a McDonald's restaurant at 1310 E. Olympic Blvd. about 3:15 p.m. Tuesday and tried to get into a parked vehicle with him before being stopped by a witness, then ran off on foot, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The alleged abduction attempt was captured on the restaurant's security video. Ramos was spotted in a stolen car and taken into custody about 10:45 p.m. Wednesday at Agatha and San Pedro streets in the downtown Los Angeles area, according to Deputy District Attorney R.J. Dreiling. Police initially suspected that Ramos also tried to kidnap another 4-year-old boy, but later determined she was not involved in that incident. That second attempted kidnapping occurred about 11:15 a.m. Wednesday, when a woman -- since identified as 28-year-old Dominique Del Villar, who is homeless in the downtown Los Angeles area -- approached a boy who was walking alongside a family member on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard near San Pedro Street and attempted to walk away with him before being stopped by a witness, according to the LAPD. Del Villar remains at large. What to Know Prado Dam is located on the Santa Ana River in the city of Corona in Riverside County southeast of Los Angeles The Santa Ana River bed is typically dry, but water flow can be heavy after winter storms Work on the Prado Dam spillway will begin in 2021 A recent assessment has raised concern about the potential for failure of the spillway of a flood control dam on a Southern California river where 1.4 million people live and work downstream, according to the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. The Corps said Thursday it has changed the risk characterization of Prado Dam from moderate urgency to high urgency. Prado Dam is located on the Santa Ana River in the city of Corona in Riverside County southeast of Los Angeles. Disneyland and 29 cities, including Anaheim, Santa Ana, Orange, Costa Mesa and Newport Beach, are all along the river's path to the ocean. The 96-mile river usually has little water flow except during winter storms and the dam is typically dry. The Corps' report cites concerns about the spillway during a major flood. "The dam, which is typically dry, has historically operated without incident," according to the Corps. "It has not experienced a large enough storm to cause water to flow over the spillway." The dam, about 30 miles upstream from the Santa Ana River's confluence with the Pacific, was built in 1941. An assessment this month indicates potential for poor performance of the spillway during a "significant flood event." Risk areas include Anaheim, "Our concern right now is about the concrete slab of the spillway and how well it will perform if water were to spill over the top of the dam," said Lillian Doherty, the Army Corps' division chief, according to the Los Angeles Times. "We will determine whether or not it is as reliable as it should be." Work on the spillway will begin in 2021. Doherty said her team with work with experts to determine risk-reduction measures. "Public safety is our number one priority," said Col. Aaron Barta, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District. "The primary objective of the Corps' Dam Safety Program is to review our dams and ensure resources are prioritized to address the highest risks." About 65 percent of the nearly 700 dams managed by the Corps are more than 30 years old. Twenty-eight percent have reached or passed their 50-year design life. The agency has five dam safety classifications, ranging from normal to urgent and compelling. The Prado Dam analysis in May came more than two years after a dam spillway crisis at the nation's tallest dam forced evacuations in the Northern California town of Oroville. A concrete spillway at Oroville Dam crumbled during winter downpours in February 2017. The Corps determined later that year that the Whittier Narrows Dam, a 60-year-old structure about 40 miles west of Prado Dam, was structurally unsafe. Engineers found that storms could cause a premature opening of the dam's spillway, unleashing water in the directino of more than 1 million people who live along the San Gabriel River floodplain. It will cost about $600 million to upgrade Whittier Narrows, according to the Corps. NBC4's Jonathan Lloyd contributed to this report. President Donald Trump is moving fast to build a wall on the Mexico border with billions of dollars secured under his declaration of a national emergency, but he first must get past the courts. On Friday, a federal judge in Oakland heard arguments in two lawsuits seeking to block the White House from spending money from the Defense and Treasury departments for the project. California and 19 other states brought one lawsuit; the Sierra Club and Southern Border Communities Coalition, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, filed the other. The plaintiffs asked U.S. District Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. to block the shifting of funds and construction on the wall. They want a quick decision, arguing that some of the Pentagon-funded projects could begin in eight days. Gilliam said he will issue a decision next week. In another case, a federal judge in Washington on Thursday will consider a bid by the House to prevent Trump from spending any Defense Department money for a border wall. At stake is billions of dollars that would allow Trump to make major progress on his signature campaign promise heading into his campaign for a second term. The president's adversaries say the emergency declaration was an illegal attempt to ignore Congress, which authorized far less wall spending than Trump wanted. Trump grudgingly accepted congressional approval of $1.375 billion to end a 35-day government shutdown on Feb. 15 and declared the emergency in almost the same breath. The White House says it has identified up to $8.1 billion that it could spend on the project. Trump's actions "amount to a usurpation of Congress' legislative powers in violation of bedrock separation of powers principles embedded in the Constitution," the state attorneys general wrote. The administration argues that Trump is protecting national security as unprecedented numbers of Central American asylum-seeking families arrive at the U.S. border. "The increasing surge of migrants, the highest in over a decade, has placed a tremendous strain on the limited resources of the Department of Homeland Security and exacerbated the risks to border security, public safety, and the safety of the migrants themselves," the Justice Department said in a court filing. The courtroom showdowns come amid a flurry of activity to accelerate wall construction. Kenneth Rapuano, an assistant secretary of defense, said in a court filing last month that work on the highest-priority, Pentagon-funded projects could begin as soon as May 25. The Defense Department transferred $1 billion to border wall coffers in March and another $1.5 billion last week. Patrick Shanahan, acting defense secretary, may decide as soon as Wednesday whether to transfer an additional $3.6 billion. Last month, the Army Corps of Engineers awarded a $789 million contract to SLSCO Ltd. of Galveston, Texas, to replace 46 miles of barrier in New Mexico, paid for by Pentagon funds. On Wednesday, Barnard Construction Co. of Bozeman, Montana, won a $141.8 million contract to replace 5 miles in Yuma and 15 miles in the El Centro, California, sector. Southwest Valley Constructors of Albuquerque, New Mexico, won a $646 million contract to replace 63 miles in the Tucson, Arizona, sector. All of those projects are funded by the Defense Department, with construction expected to begin in as little as 45 days. Also this week, the Department of Homeland Security waived environmental impact and other reviews to replace sections of wall in California and Arizona under a law that gives the secretary sweeping powers to spec construction. The environmental waivers cover a 15-mile replacement in El Centro that is funded by the Homeland Security Department's 2018 appropriations and was awarded in a contract to SLSCO last year. The administration said construction could begin on that project as early as Saturday. Aside from California, states participating in the legal challenge are Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin. The White House is not endorsing a global pledge to step up efforts to keep internet platforms from being used to spread hate, organize extremist groups and broadcast attacks, citing respect for "freedom of expression and freedom of the press." The statement came Wednesday after World leaders led by French President Emmanuel Macron and executives from Facebook, Google, Twitter and other tech companies gathered in Paris to compile a set of guidelines dubbed the "Christchurch Call," named after the New Zealand city where 51 people were killed in a March attack on mosques. Much of the attack was broadcast live on Facebook, drawing public outrage and fueling debate on how to better regulate social media. Facebook said before the meeting that it was tightening rules for livestream users. In a statement, the White House said it will "continue to be proactive in our efforts to counter terrorist content online" while also protecting free speech. The Christchurch Call "is a global response to a tragedy that occurred on the shores of my country but was ultimately felt around the world," said New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinta Ardern, who has played a leading role pushing for globally coordinated efforts to eliminate online extremism. "Fundamentally it ultimately commits us all to build a more humane internet, which cannot be misused by terrorists for their hateful purposes," she said at a joint news conference with Macron. The French and New Zealand governments drafted the agreement a roadmap that aims to prevent similar abuses of the internet while insisting that any actions must preserve "the principles of a free, open and secure internet, without compromising human rights and fundamental freedoms." The call was adopted by U.S. tech companies that also included Amazon, Microsoft and YouTube, along with France's Qwant and DailyMotion, and the Wikimedia Foundation. Countries backing France and New Zealand were Britain, Canada, Ireland, Jordan, Norway, Senegal, Indonesia and the European Union's executive body. Several other countries not present at the meeting added their endorsement. The meeting in Paris comes at a pivotal moment for tech companies, which critics accuse of being too powerful and resistant to regulation. Some have called for giants like Facebook to be broken up. Europe is leading a global push for more regulation of how the companies handle user data and copyrighted material. The tech companies, meanwhile, are offering their own ideas in a bid to shape the policy response. Unlike previous official attempts to regulate the internet, "the Christchurch Call is different in that it associates all actors of the internet" including the tech companies themselves, Macron said. He said he hopes to get broader support for the agreement in coming months, with technical questions to be discussed by June. In Wednesday's agreement, which is not legally binding, the tech companies committed to measures to prevent the spread of terrorist or violent extremist content. That may include cooperating on developing technology or expanding the use of shared digital signatures. They also promised to take measures to reduce the risk that such content is livestreamed, including flagging it up for real-time review. And they pledged to study how algorithms sometimes promote extremist content. That would help find ways to intervene more quickly and redirect users to "credible positive alternatives or counter-narratives." Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Twitter issued a joint supporting statement, outlining in further detail actions they would take individually or together to combat abuse of technology to spread extremist content. They include making it easier for users to flag up inappropriate content, using enhanced vetting for livestreaming and publishing transparency reports on material that's removed. Facebook, which dominates social media and has faced the harshest criticism for overlooking the misuse of consumer data and not blocking live broadcasts of violent actions, said separately it is toughening its livestreaming policies. It's tightening the rules for its livestreaming service with a "one strike" policy applied to a broader range of offenses. Activity on the social network that violates its policies, such as sharing an extremist group's statement without providing context, will result in the user immediately being temporarily blocked. The most serious offenses will result in a permanent ban. Previously, the company took down posts that breached its community standards but only blocked users after repeated offenses. The tougher restrictions will be gradually extended to other areas of the platform, starting with preventing users from creating Facebook ads. Facebook, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, said it's investing $7.5 million to improve technology aimed at finding videos and photos that have been manipulated to avoid detection a problem the company encountered with the Christchurch shooting, where the attacker streamed the killing live on Facebook. "Tackling these threats also requires technical innovation to stay ahead of the type of adversarial media manipulation we saw after Christchurch," Facebook's vice president of integrity, Guy Rosen, said in a blog post. The Christchurch Call was drafted as 80 CEOs and executives from technology companies gathered in Paris for a "Tech for Good" conference meant to address how they can use their global influence for public good for example by promoting gender equality, diversity in hiring and greater access to technology for lower income users. Ardern and Macron have insisted that the Christchurch guidelines must involve joint efforts between governments and tech giants. France has been hit by repeated Islamic extremist attacks by groups who recruited and shared violent images on social networks. Free speech advocates and some in the tech industry bristle at new restrictions and argue that violent extremism is a societal problem that the tech world can't solve. Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, a member of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said that while "a higher level of responsibility is demanded from all of the platforms," it is necessary to find a way to not censor legitimate discussion. "It's a hard line to draw sometimes," he said. Kelvin Chan reported from London. Angela Charlton, Masha Macpherson and Catherine Gaschka in Paris contributed to this report. They're forced into having sex for money. Sex trafficking happens in all types of places. It could even be happening in the hotel room next to where you're staying. "I just want them to actually do something that is going to change this, no one else should have to go through this," a sex trafficking victim said. "It's something that stays with you forever." The woman said as a teenager she was taken to various hotels and forced to have sex with men. "When you can have a conversation with a 16-year-old who's clearly dressed inappropriately and watch all these people come in your room and still say nothing, something's not right," she said. Florida ranks 3rd in human trafficking cases, according to the National Human Trafficking Hotline. Some victims say businesses aren't doing enough to protect them. The Polaris Project, an anti-trafficking group, has recorded 3,300 cases of sex trafficking in hotels over a ten-year period. Police reports show it's happening across South Florida. "We've met with a lot of the hotel industry ourselves and said, 'Look you might not suspect this, but this is going on in your facilities and it's a liability issue and it's also a morality issue,'" said Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. The state attorney says traffickers are attracted to South Florida for the same reason tourists visit the area: the weather, the attractions and the diverse population. The Marriott Corporation is training all of its workers on how to spot signs of human trafficking and how to report those signs to management. "We are bringing awareness to our hosts about this terrible crime that's happening," said Andres Banus, the room operations manager for Marriott Stanton South Beach. "Florida is a hotbed for this and we just want to be prepared," Banus said. The company gave NBC 6 access to one of the training sessions where they teach employees how to detect trafficking activities that could be taking place. They warned them to watch out for customers asking for rooms near an exit, for a person standing guard outside a hotel room and even to young women and men not making eye contact or speaking with hotel workers. "We just keep our eyes open," Banus said. "Not just one sign could mean something but the joining of many of them might mean something and at the end of the day this is to save lives." Companies, like hotels, can be held liable for human trafficking activities in court. Lawsuits have been filed in states like Texas and Pennsylvania claiming corporations benefited from the human trafficking of minors and failed to take reasonable steps to protect victims. A non-profit group against child exploitation has found four states require mandatory training for hotel workers. Florida isn't one of them. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials say a miscommunication is to blame for South Florida officials being led to believe that an influx of immigrants would soon be sent to the Sunshine State by the federal government from the U.S.-Mexico border. CBP officials said Friday that the plan to fly immigrants to South Florida is part of a broader contingency plan to deal with the border crisis, but that no such flights would be arriving imminently. The cities under consideration under the plan have border patrol presence already, so they will be coastal or northern border cities, CBP officials said. Officials stressed that they were still in the preliminary stages of the planning. Unless conditions ease at the border, some immigrants may still make their way to South Florida. On Thursday, Broward and Palm Beach county officials said they were notified by U.S. Border Patrol that about 1,000 migrants per month would be sent to the two counties starting in about two weeks. The federal government has run out of space to process the thousands of migrants who have been arriving at the Texas border, forcing them to fly migrants to Border Patrol facilities in other locations for processing. Once processed, they are released and given a court date in a city where they plan to reside, often with family members. That could be anywhere in the U.S., including going to the Latino communities of South Florida. For migrants arriving in Broward and Palm Beach, some may ultimately intend to go to cities outside of South Florida or even out of state. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday that the plan concerned him. "We cannot accommodate in Florida just dumping unlawful migrants into our state. I think it will tax our resources, the schools, the health care, law enforcement, state agencies," DeSantis said. Three people have been arrested in the murder of a man last week outside of a barbershop in Little Haiti. Alex Coronado Alexander, 27; Esaie Jean Desir, 23; and Latravius Deondre Rolle, 24, are all facing charges of second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of 44-year-old Reginal Joseph, according to the Miami Police Department. On May 7, officers found Joseph suffering from gunshot wounds outside of a barbershop near Northwest 59th Street and Northwest 2nd Avenue, police said. He was taken to a hospital, where he later died. All three suspects also face charges of drug trafficking. Prosecutors say one of them set up a meeting with the victim to buy large quantities of oxycodone from him. Alexander, Desir and Rolle remain in jail without bond under the murder charges. Attorney infomation was not available. Nearly 2,000 people turned out Wednesday for a memorial service to honor the Colorado teenager who was killed while charging one of the two gunmen who opened fire inside a high school and shot nine people just days before graduation. A line of Jeeps and trucks stretched along a Highlands Ranch roadway ahead of the service for Kendrick Castillo, 18, who was a Jeep and off-road vehicle enthusiast. His casket was draped with yellow and blue flowers that represented the colors of the STEM School Highlands Ranch, and the stage of the church where the service was held was adorned with symbols of his passion for science, the outdoors and his faith. His father, John Castillo, said it was no surprise to him and his wife, Maria, that their son acted as he did on May 7, when he and two classmates disarmed one of the suspects. He urged those in attendance to be more like his son and put love and compassion for others first. "We love our community," Castillo said. "We're a family of three and a little dog, but you know, I feel the love of thousands." Speaker after speaker praised the young man, focusing on his character and the accomplishments of his short life. References to the shooting were few, including one by Dakota Mann, who was on the school robotics team with Castillo. "He died for us. Now it's time for us to live for him," Mann said. Earlier Wednesday, the Castillos attended court hearings for the two teenagers accused of killing their son and wounding eight other students. Investigators say the accused assailants, 18-year-old Devon Erickson and 16-year-old Alec McKinney, opened fire with handguns. They were arrested at the school. Erickson and McKinney appeared in court to face dozens of criminal charges that include murder, attempted murder, arson and theft. While court documents are sealed, the charges against the teenagers were listed in electronic court records. Prosecutors said both will be tried as adults. McKinney's attorney, Ara Ohanian, said he would seek to move McKinney's case back to juvenile court. Judge Theresa Slade denied the prosecution's request to make some of the documents public but said she would address the issue at the next hearing on June 7. Erickson appeared more involved in Wednesday's proceedings compared with his initial court appearance last week. His face was visible, and he looked forward toward the judge while attorneys discussed the case. He wore a jail uniform and was kept shackled at his wrists and ankles after the judge denied a request to remove them. McKinney appeared in court after Erickson. He glanced back several times during the hearing toward the bench where his mother was sitting. Castillo's father stared at both defendants during their hearings. "It would have been easy for them to say, 'I'm not going to make it to court today because in less than two hours we're going to have a memorial service for our son,'" District Attorney George Brauchler said of Castillo's parents. "But from the word go they have made it clear that our intention is to be here for every single hearing." Brauchler also revealed that he has asked an outside prosecutor to investigate whether charges should be filed against a private security guard who has been credited with apprehending one of the suspects in a hallway. Brauchler did not explain why the security guard would face charges. A law enforcement official told The Associated Press last week that the guard, a former Marine who has not been named, fired his weapon during the shooting. Two news organizations citing anonymous sources reported that authorities are investigating whether the guard mistakenly fired at a responding sheriff's deputy and may have wounded a student. Brauchler did not directly address those reports. "This is a witness in the case, and I felt like in the abundance of caution that a decision about the facts related to the security guard needed to be addressed by a separate prosecutor," Brauchler said. The security guard's attorney, Robert Burk, said last week that his client acted to protect the children at the school. Burk did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Wednesday. Castillo and classmates Brendan Bialy and Joshua Jones were credited with helping minimize the bloodshed by charging at one of the suspects in a classroom. According to Bialy, Castillo sprang into action against the shooter "and immediately was on top of him with complete disregard for his own safety." Jones said he was shot twice in the leg during the ordeal. Bialy said he was able to take the attacker's weapon. Jones, 18, said Tuesday that he is recovering quickly from his wounds, but said emotionally he's "still in a bit of a funk." All of the wounded students have been released from hospitals. The shooting happened nearly three weeks after the neighboring town of Littleton marked the 20th anniversary of the Columbine High School attack that killed 13 people. The two schools are separated by about 7 miles (11 kilometers) south of Denver. ___ Associated Press writer Thomas Peipert contributed to this report. Nearly three decades ago, when Democratic Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards' wife was 20 weeks pregnant with their first child, a doctor discovered their daughter had spina bifida and encouraged an abortion. The Edwardses refused. Now, daughter Samantha is married and working as a school counselor, and Edwards finds himself an outlier in polarized abortion politics. "My position hasn't changed. In eight years in the Legislature, I was a pro-life legislator," he said. When he ran for governor, his view was the same. "I'm as consistent as I can be on that point." Edwards, who has repeatedly bucked national party leaders on abortion rights, is about to do it again. He's ready to sign legislation that would ban the procedure as early as six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant, when the bill reaches his desk. Louisiana's proposal, awaiting one final vote in the state House, would prohibit abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected, similar to laws passed in Kentucky, Mississippi, Georgia and Ohio that aim to challenge the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion. Alabama has gone even further, enacting a law that makes performing abortions a felony at any stage of pregnancy with almost no exceptions. But the abortion bans in those other conservative states spurred by anti-abortion activists hoping the addition of conservative judges to the Supreme Court could help overturn Roe v. Wade were backed by Republican governors. A rarity in his party, Edwards' anti-abortion stance provokes angry outcries on social media from Democratic voters and disappointment within the party's broader ranks across the country. "When Republicans are taking away women's rights at every step, it's on the Democrats to show that we are the party that will protect women. When we fail to do that, we make it absolutely hopeless for women around the country," said Rebecca Katz, a progressive Democratic consultant. The abortion-rights debates that divide state Capitols across the nation cause few ripples in the Louisiana Legislature. It is one of the country's most staunchly anti-abortion states, with a law on the books that immediately outlaws abortion if Roe v. Wade is ever overturned. State lawmakers annually enact new regulations seeking to curb access with bipartisan support. This year's so-called heartbeat bill, sponsored by Democratic state Sen. John Milkovich, has received little public opposition from lawmakers as it steadily advances. The ban, however, only would take effect if a federal appeals court upholds a similar law in Mississippi. The Louisiana bill includes an exception if the pregnant woman's health is in "serious risk," but not for pregnancies caused by rape or incest. "It gives a very small window for a woman to be able to access abortion services," said Elizabeth Nash of the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion rights organization that researches reproductive health issues. Edwards' embrace of the anti-abortion legislation is unusual for a present-day Democratic governor, Nash said, although that was not always the case. "If you think back 20 years, abortion politics were less along party lines," she said. "There were moderate Republicans who supported abortion rights because they felt there was a right to privacy and places where government should not go." Edwards said his views are in line with the people of his conservative, religious state, who he described as "overwhelmingly pro-life." And he said he extends that philosophy to his decision to expand Louisiana's Medicaid program under the federal health overhaul law, a decision unpopular with Republicans, "because I think that, too, is pro-life." "That's the way I was raised. That's what my Catholic Christian faith requires," the governor said on his monthly radio show. "I know that for many in the national party, on the national scene, that's not a good fit. But I will tell you, here in Louisiana, I speak and meet with Democrats who are pro-life every single day." When he ran for governor in 2015, Edwards made opposition to abortion a central platform of his campaign. In a TV ad, his wife, Donna, described being advised to have an abortion because of their daughter's spinal birth defect. The ad showed a grown-up Samantha as Donna Edwards said, "She's living proof that John Bel Edwards lives his values every day." Four years later, as Edwards runs for a second term, his two major Republican challengers U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham and businessman Eddie Rispone have tried to hammer him for abortion rights policies endorsed by his party nationally. But that narrative is tough to make stick against a governor who repeatedly signs abortion restrictions, along with data released in March that showed the number of abortions in Louisiana declined each year of Edwards' tenure. "This is not an easy issue to pigeonhole people or especially me on, at least, because I don't think the labels really work," Edwards said. Associated Press Writer Kevin McGill contributed to this report from New Orleans. Businesses near the site where an F-16 Fighting Falcon crashed into a warehouse just west of a Southern California air base remained closed Friday as fire officials and military personnel conducted their investigation. The pilot and 12 people on the ground were injured in the crash near March Air Reserve Base, about 65 miles east of Los Angeles in Riverside County. A warehouse worker at See Water Inc. said he heard the deafening noise of an F-16 jet moments before it smashed through the roof of the building. The pilot, listed in good condition Friday morning, ejected and parachuted to safety before the Air National Guard fighter plane hit the warehouse in an industrial area. Witnesses at the warehouse said they were stunned to see what was happening overhead. "Sales rep says, 'Hey, there's a plane going down over us,'" said Frank Sandoval. "There's no way, and sure enough we saw a guy eject right over our warehouse. The plane went into one side of the building through the other side of the building." In total, a dozen people were hosed off for exposure to debris before being taken to hospitals for evaluation and treatment of minor injuries, state fire Capt. Fernando Herrera said. The F-16 punched a huge hole in the roof of the 500,000-square-foot building and ruptured the on-site sprinkler system, but no fire was reported, according to fire officials. No one was seriously injured. The warehouse is stacked with plastic pipes, aluminum awnings and other materials, according to the CHP, which received the 911 calls. Cellphone photos and video from inside showed what appeared to be the tail of the plane buried in twisted metal and piles of cardboard boxes. Base officials said an ordnance disposal team was at the site Friday morning. "Any time you're dealing with an aircraft incident, there are potential hazards," said Col Tom McNamara. "Incidents like this are very complex. Safety is our No. 1 priority at this point." Fire officials took a cautious approach. "Anything that may be in (the warehouse) is a concern, obviously not just to (firefighters), but to the military," Herrera said. "So we're going to take whatever precautions are necessary." A large area around the warehouse was evacuated and nearby Interstate 215, which runs between the base and warehouse, was shut down until crews could render the jet's weaponry and ordnance safe. No residences were evacuated, but businesses with a three-quarter mile perimeter of the crash site were closed. "As long as the aircraft is here, we are considering it a viable and dangerous area and we're taking the precautions necessary," Herrera said. Around 4:30 p.m. Friday afternoon, military officials detonated the ordnance in spectacular fashion and reopened lanes on the northbound 215 Freeway. Southbound lanes were reopened shortly thereafter to close the loop on a 24-hour shut-down. The crash happened during a training mission, March Air Reserve Base Deputy Fire Chief Timothy Holliday said. "The pilot was having hydraulic problems," Holliday said. "He started losing control of the aircraft." The jet's cockpit canopy was on a runway, and a parachute had settled in a nearby field. The F-16 was on a training mission under the direction of the North American Aerospace Defense Command. The pilot is from the 144th Fighter Wing, an Air National Guard unit based in Fresno, and the F-16 belongs to the South Dakota Air National Guard in Sioux Falls. The base is home to the Air Force Reserve Command's Fourth Air Force Headquarters and various units of the Army Reserve, Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, California Air National Guard and California Army National Guard. Warning: Details of this story are disturbing and may be difficult to read. The mother-daughter duo accused of murdering a pregnant Chicago teen before cutting her baby out of her stomach distracted the woman with a photo album of their late son and brother before strangling her, prosecutors said Friday. Clarisa Figueroa, 46, and her daughter Desiree Figueroa, 24, allegedly plotted 19-year-old Marlen Ochoa's death for weeks before luring the teen to their home after meeting her through a Facebook group for mothers in need, prosecutors said. The pair, along with Clarisa Figueroa's boyfriend, were ordered held without bond Friday as prosecutors detailed the horrifying case. Prosecutors said it all began when Clarisa Figueroa first claimed she was pregnant in late-2018, just months after the death of her 20-year-old son. In February, she began posting in a Facebook group called "Help a Mother Out," stating she had a crib and other baby items available. She ultimately offered to give Ochoa new clothes for her baby, which was due in May. According to officials, Ochoa first visited Figueroa's home in the 4100 block of West 77th Place on April 1. While there, Clarisa Figueroa allegedly told her daughter the pair needed to kill the teen. When Clarisa Figueroa's boyfriend threatened to call police, they let Ochoa go and told the boyfriend it was a joke, prosecutors said. When Ochoa returned to the home weeks later to obtain baby clothing and a stroller, prosecutors allege the mother and daughter turned up music in the home and went into the kitchen where they discussed a plan to strangle the teen to death and cut the baby from her womb. That's when prosecutors say Desiree Figueroa distracted Ochoa with a photo album of her late brother while Clarisa Figueroa wrapped a cable around the teen's neck. At one point, Clarisa Figueroa told her daughter "you're not doing your f---ing job," prompting Desiree Figueroa to peel Ochoa's fingers from the cable, one by one, allowing it to tighten around the teen's neck, prosecutors said. Ochoa was strangled for four to five minutes before the pair stopped, saying she "must be dead," prosecutors said, citing a confession from Desiree Figueroa. Clarisa Figueroa then allegedly told her daughter to get a blanket, a garbage bag and a butcher knife, which she used to slice Ochoa's abdomen open and remove the baby, placenta and umbilical cord, according to prosecutors. The baby, placenta and umbilical cord were wrapped in a blanket before Ochoa's body was placed in a plastic bag and taken to a garbage can on the side of the house, prosecutors said. That's when Clarisa Figueroa called 911 and told dispatchers she had given birth and the baby wasn't breathing, according to prosecutors. Both she and the baby were transported to Advocate Christ Medical Center for treatment, where hospital staff told authorities her body showed no signs of giving birth. Clarisa Figueroa still had blood on her hands and face at the time, prosecutors said. Meanwhile, Desiree Figueroa, who is four months pregnant herself, took Ochoa's phone and car to her sister's house, prosecutors said. Red light cameras captured her driving the vehicle and Ochoa's phone tracked the location before the device was thrown out, authorities said. Clarisa Figueroa's boyfriend Piotr Boback allegedly helped Desiree Figueroa clean the home of blood and other "remnants of Ochoa's body." Clarisa Figueroa later created a GoFundMe page for the baby, saying she was the mother, prosecutors said. Her boyfriend also shared the page, they allege. Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson said detectives received a break in the missing person investigation on May 7, when they learned that Ochoa "was in communication with one of the offenders" before she disappeared. Deputy Chief Brendan Deenihan said one of Ochoa's friends told police that Ochoa was part of a "chat site" on Facebook, and detectives went into the group to find that Ochoa had arranged to go to Clarisa Figueroa's house to pick up baby items the day she went missing. DNA evidence determined Clarisa Figueroa was not the mother of the child and Ochoa's husband, Yovany Lopez, was the father, authorities said. On May 14, Ochoa's body was found by police in the garbage can at the home with a cable still wrapped around her neck, prosecutors and police said. "They find a garbage can on the premise, it's kind of in a hidden area on the premise, and unfortunately that's when they discover the remains of Marlen," Deenihan said, adding that investigators also found a device used to strangle Ochoa, as well as remnants of burnt clothes and traces of blood in several places throughout the house. The Cook County Medical Examiners Office determined Ochoa died of ligature strangulation and ruled the death a homicide. Deenihan said that during an interrogation earlier this week, Desiree Figueroa confessed "that she assisted her mother strangling Marlen," and she and her mother, as well as Bobak were charged later that day. Clarisa Figueroa, 46, and Desiree Figueroa, 24, were each charged with one felony count of first-degree murder Thursday, according to police. They were also both charged with one felony count of aggravated battery to a child under 13 resulting in a permanent disability, authorities said, in connection with the harm caused to Ochoa's baby. Bobak was charged with concealing a homicidal death and concealing the death of a person, both felonies, police said. Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson addresses the media after charges were filed against three people in connection with the murder of 19-year-old Marlen Ochoa. "Words cannot really describe how disgusting, and thoroughly disturbing, these allegations are," Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson said Thursday. I would like to offer my sincere condolences and prayers to Marlens family, who instead of celebrating the arrival of a new life into their family, are now mourning Marlens loss, while at the same time caring for a new little baby thats in grave condition. Marlen Ochoas family is coming to grips with the murder of the 19-year-old mother, and NBC 5s Michelle Relerford has the details on the case. "It's a blessing that we found Yadiel, the baby, that's the name of the baby that Marlen had chosen," family spokeswoman Cecilia Garcia said at a news conference Wednesday. Ochoa's family stood by a family spokeswoman Thursday morning ahead of the suspects' bond hearing, calling the trio "monsters" and saying they were living a "nightmare." "Today there is only one message that the family has and that is justice for Marlen," said Julie Contreras, with the League of United Latin American Citizens. Casino giant MGM Resorts told federal regulators Thursday it might pay up to $800 million to settle liability lawsuits stemming from the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas the deadliest in modern U.S. history. "The company believes it is reasonably possible that a settlement will be reached" by next May, it told the Securities and Exchange Commission in a quarterly report. MGM Resorts also said it has $751 million in insurance to pay toward a settlement. However, a lawyer handling mediation talks for plaintiffs called it premature for the corporate owner of Mandalay Bay resort to report a possible settlement range between $735 million and $800 million. "We're not even close to resolving all the terms and issues before we have a settlement," attorney Robert Eglet said. He said he represents about 4,200 claimants, including those who have sued in Nevada, California and other states, and people who have not formally filed for damages. "It's true that a settlement is possible," Eglet said. "But I will tell you it's not probable. Nothing is signed. We have a long way to go before we have an agreement." Eglet said talks are ongoing with MGM Resorts attorneys, and that he was aware the company would make its report to the SEC. Eglet said he reviewed the SEC document on Thursday and agreed that a settlement should be reached within a year. Company spokeswoman Debra DeShong said progress has been made after multiple mediation sessions over several months. The goal is "to resolve these matters so that all impacted can move forward in their healing process," she said. MGM Resorts has defended itself against liability claims, outraging victims last summer when it filed lawsuits against more than 1,900 people in a bid to consolidate claims in one federal court. The plaintiffs are seeking compensation for a range of physical and psychological harm after a shooter rained gunfire from a Mandalay Bay suite into an open-air concert crowd, killing 58 people and injuring more than 800. They accuse MGM Resorts, which owns the high-rise hotel and owned the concert venue across Las Vegas Boulevard, of failing to adequately protect the 22,000 people attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival. They point to findings that the shooter, Stephen Paddock, spent several days amassing an arsenal of assault-style weapons and ammunition in the two-room suite. Paddock was a 64-year-old retired accountant and high-stakes video poker player. Police and the FBI say he acted alone, firing out the windows with guns equipped with rapid-fire bump stocks then killing himself before officers reached his room. Paddock didn't leave a note or a manifesto, and authorities closed investigations saying they didn't identify a motive. Missouri's Republican-led House on Friday passed sweeping legislation designed to survive court challenges, which would ban abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy. If enacted, the ban would be among the most restrictive in the U.S. It includes exceptions for medical emergencies, but not for pregnancies caused by rape or incest. Doctors would face five to 15 years in prison for violating the eight-week cutoff. Women who receive abortions wouldn't be prosecuted. Republican Gov. Mike Parson pledged to sign the bill , but it's unclear when he'll take action. When pressed on the lack of exceptions for rape or incest, he told reporters that "all life has value." "I'm going to stand up for the people that don't have a voice," Parson said. "Everybody should have a right to life." The Missouri legislation comes after Alabama's governor signed a bill Wednesday making performing an abortion a felony in nearly all cases. Supporters say the Alabama bill is meant to conflict with the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationally in hopes of sparking a court case that might prompt the current panel of more conservative justices to revisit abortion rights. Missouri Republicans are taking a different approach. GOP Rep. Nick Schroer said his legislation is "made to withstand judicial challenges and not cause them." He cited extensive "legislative findings" included in the bill about fetal development that are aimed at backing up the state's interest in limiting abortion if the measure is challenged, as well as new judges appointed to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals by President Donald Trump. If courts don't allow Missouri's proposed eight-week ban to take effect, the bill includes a ladder of less-restrictive time limits that would prohibit abortions at 14, 18 or 20 weeks or pregnancy. "While others are zeroing in on ways to overturn Roe v. Wade and navigate the courts as quickly as possible, that is not our goal," Schroer said. "However, if and when that fight comes we will be fully ready. This legislation has one goal, and that goal is to save lives." Kentucky , Mississippi , Ohio and Georgia also have approved bans on abortion once fetal cardiac activity can be detected, which can occur in about the sixth week of pregnancy. Some of those laws already have been challenged in court , and similar restrictions in North Dakota and Iowa previously were struck down by judges. Missouri's bill also includes an outright ban on abortions except in cases of medical emergencies. But unlike Alabama's, it would kick in only if Roe v. Wade is overturned. If courts don't allow Missouri's proposed eight-week ban to take effect, the bill includes a ladder of less-restrictive time limits that would prohibit abortions at 14, 18 or 20 weeks or pregnancy. "Laundry bleach, acid, bitter concoction, knitting needles, bicycle spokes, ballpoint pens, jumping from the top of the stairs or the roof," Democratic Rep. Sarah Unsicker told colleagues on the House floor. "These are ways that women around the world who don't have access to legal abortions perform their own." Clinicians reacted with disgust to the passage of the bill. "Ob-gyns and other women's health care providers should not be threatened with criminal penalties for delivering evidence based, necessary health care," the Missouri Section of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said in an emailed statement. The bill "would force clinicians to decide between their patient's needs and facing criminal proceedings. All clinicians must be able to practice medicine that is informed by their years of medical education, training, experience, and the available evidence, freely and without threat of criminal punishment," the group said. The Hope Clinic for Women, which performs abortions in Granite City, Illinois, just across the river from St. Louis, noted it already sees Missouri patients on a daily basis. "Our doors remain open for any patient who needs abortion care," Executive Director Dr. Erin King said in a statement. Abortion-rights supporters in the House chanted, "when you lie, people die" and "women's rights are human rights" during debate on the measure before being escorted from the chamber. Outside, they shouted "shame, shame, shame" after lawmakers voted 110-44 to pass it. Several women dressed as characters from the "The Handmaid's Tale" watched silently. The Margaret Atwood book and subsequent Hulu TV series depicts a dystopian future where fertile women are forced to breed. A handful of abortion opponents protested outside the Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis on Friday. Among them was 21-year-old Teresa Pettis, a Catholic who is five months' pregnant with her first child. She said she supports the bill even though it outlaws abortions for women who have been raped. "Honestly, I don't think it's right to punish the child for something the child can't control," Pettis said. "The baby might be born in unfortunate circumstances, but it's still a human life." Rep. Shamed Dogan was the only Republican to vote against the bill. He cited the lack of exceptions for pregnancies borne of rape and incest, and said most residents of his suburban St. Louis district "think that's going too far." One Democrat voted in favor. A total of 3,903 abortions occurred in Missouri in 2017, the last full year for which the state Department of Health and Senior Services has statistics online. Of those, 1,673 occurred at under nine weeks and 119 occurred at 20 weeks or later in a pregnancy. About 2,900 abortions occurred in 2018, according to the agency. The bill also bans abortions based solely on race, sex or a diagnosis indicating the potential for Down Syndrome. It also requires a parent or guardian giving written consent for a minor to get an abortion to first notify the other parent, except if the other parent has been convicted of a violent or sexual crime, is subject to a protection order or is "habitually in an intoxicated or drugged condition." A change was made after hours of late-night negotiations in the state Senate to also remove the requirement when the other parent lacks legal or physical custody. If Parson signs, most provisions of the bill would take effect Aug. 28. Associated Press writers David A. Lieb and Jim Salter in St. Louis contributed to this report. A Texas man used a hacksaw to cut off his mother's head before fleeing and leading police on a chase into Oklahoma last week before they arrested him, authorities said. Isaac Israel Warriner, 22, was being held Friday in a Denton County, Texas, jail on charges including the abuse of a corpse. Denton Police Department Warriner hasn't been charged with killing his mother, 65-year-old Sarah Warriner, though authorities didn't immediately reply to phone messages and emails seeking further details, including whether such charges could be coming. Police in Denton, which is about 35 miles northwest of Dallas, were called to an apartment complex May 5 by a neighbor who said Isaac Warriner "was acting weird" and carrying around cleaning supplies, according to an affidavit. Officers found his mother's headless body and the hacksaw inside the Warriners' unit, though they only said at the time that she'd suffered "obvious trauma." The woman's head wasn't found in the apartment and it isn't clear whether it has been located. The adult son of a woman found dead inside a Denton apartment Sunday has been taken into custody following a police chase in Oklahoma Monday, police say. Authorities believe Sarah Warriner had been dead for two days before her body was found. Days earlier, a nurse at a Denton hospital called security when Isaac Warriner threatened to kill his mother and himself, according to the affidavit. It isn't clear why he was at the hospital, but he left before police arrived. Isaac Warriner was spotted in his mother's car on May 6 and led police on a chase up Interstate 35 into Oklahoma, where he was arrested and held before being returned Thursday to Denton. Online jail records don't indicate whether he has an attorney. His father, Kenneth Warriner, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram this month that his son suffered a mental breakdown a few months ago. "She had allowed him to stay with her after his last rehabilitation stay," Kenneth Warriner said of his ex-wife. "He was prescribed psychotic drugs to try and help, but that didn't seem to work." The Trump administration will delay tariffs on cars and auto part imports for up to six months as it negotiates trade deals with the European Union and Japan. In a proclamation Friday, Trump said he directed U.S.Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to seek agreements to "address the threatened impairment" of national security from auto imports. Trump could choose to move forward with tariffs during the talks. "United States defense and military superiority depend on the competitiveness of our automobile industry and the research and development that industry generates," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. "The negotiation process will be led by United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and, if agreements are not reached within 180 days, the President will determine whether and what further action needs to be taken." In his proclamation, Trump argued in part that domestic conditions of competition must be improved by reducing imports. The White House had to decide by Saturday whether to slap duties on autos. Earlier this year, the Commerce Department said Trump could justify the move on national security grounds. By law, the administration can push back its decision by up to six months if it is negotiating with trading partners. In a statement Friday, EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said we completely reject the notion that our car exports are a national security threat. She added that the trade bloc is prepared to negotiate a limited trade agreement including cars, but not so-called managed trade, in which the partners could set targets like quotas. Malmstrom said EU officials will discuss the issue with Lighthizer next week in Paris. Levying the auto tariffs threatened to open new fronts in a global trade war that could drag on the U.S. economy. The EU has already prepared a list of American goods to target with tariffs if Trump goes ahead with the car duties. Automakers and some U.S. lawmakers opposed the potential tariffs. The American car industry said the duties would put jobs in jeopardy and raise prices for consumers. The decision comes after the U.S. and China fired new shots in their trade war. The White House is working to salvage a deal with Beijing to address what the U.S. calls trade abuses amid the widening conflict. Trump also used the national security justification last year to put tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, including metals coming from allies such as the EU, Canada and Mexico. Europe previously retaliated to those duties. This story first appeared on CNBC.com. More from CNBC: President Donald Trump says he hopes the U.S. is not on a path to war with Iran amid fears that his two most hawkish advisers could be angling for such a conflict with the Islamic Republic. Asked Thursday if the U.S. was going to war with Iran, the president replied, "I hope not" a day after he repeated a desire for dialogue, tweeting, "I'm sure that Iran will want to talk soon." The tone contrasted with a series of moves by the U.S. and Iran that have sharply escalated tensions in the Middle East in recent days. For the past year, national security adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have been the public face of the administration's "maximum pressure" campaign against Tehran. The friction has rattled lawmakers who are demanding more information on the White House's claims of rising Iranian aggression. Top leaders in Congress received a classified briefing on Iran Thursday, but many other lawmakers from both parties have criticized the White House for not keeping them informed. Iran poses a particular challenge for Trump. While he talks tough against foreign adversaries to the delight of his supporters, a military confrontation with Iran could make him appear to be backtracking on a campaign pledge to keep America out of foreign entanglements. Lawmakers and allies, however, worry that any erratic or miscalculated response from Trump could send the U.S. careening into conflict. Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal last year and reinstated sanctions on Tehran that are crippling its economy. Tensions rose dramatically May 5, when Bolton announced that the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group would be rushed from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf ahead of schedule in response to "a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings," without going into details. Since then, four oil tankers, including two belonging to Saudi Arabia, were targeted in an apparent act of sabotage off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, according to officials in the region, and a Saudi pipeline was attacked by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels from Yemen. The U.S. also ordered non-essential staff out of Iraq and has dispatched additional military assets to the region. The Senate will receive a classified briefing on Iran on Tuesday, according to Jim Risch of Idaho, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. The House has requested a classified briefing as well. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said briefings are necessary because informing leaders "is no substitute for the full membership of the Congress." She said a failure to inform lawmakers is "part of a pattern" for the Trump administration "that is not right," because the power to declare war resides with Congress. "I hope that the president's advisers recognize that they have no authorization to go forward in any way" against Iran, Pelosi said. Trump has dismissed suggestions that any of his advisers, particularly Bolton, are pushing him into a conflict. "John has strong views on things, but that's OK. I actually temper John, which is pretty amazing isn't it?" Trump said recently when asked if he was satisfied with Bolton's advice. "I have different sides. I mean, I have John Bolton, and I have other people that are a little more dovish than him. And ultimately I make the decision." Mark Dubowitz, an advocate of a hardline policy toward Iran and chief executive of the Federation for Defense of Democracies, said, "Trump is smart to let these advisers play the roles they play and it really does help him lay the table for negotiation, but ultimately, it comes back to his ability to oversee a negotiation and do so wisely and judiciously, and that's an open question." Tensions started to spiral last year when Trump pulled out of a deal the U.S. and other world powers signed with Iran during the Obama administration. The deal lifted economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for curbing of its nuclear program. Trump agreed with critics of the deal that it didn't address Tehran's work on ballistic missiles or its support of militant groups around the region. His administration reinstated sanctions that had been lifted under the deal the Europeans and other signatories are still in it and has piled on more. Trita Parsi, an adjunct associate professor at Georgetown University who advised the Obama administration on Iran, thinks the Iranians are trying to exploit Trump and Bolton's divergence on foreign policy issues. He cited a recent tweet from Hessamoddin Ashena, an adviser to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, directed squarely at Trump and Bolton, who is easily recognized in public by his white, bushy mustache. "You wanted a better deal with Iran. Looks like you are going to get a war instead. That's what happens when you listen to the mustache," the Iranian adviser said. Associated Press writer Zeke Miller contributed to this report. The United States has reached a deal to lift steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada and Mexico, removing one key obstacle to passing updates to the North American Free Trade Agreement, two people familiar with the matter told CNBC. In a joint statement Friday, the Canadian and American governments said the U.S. will scrap the metals duties within two days. Canada will remove tariffs levied on American goods in retaliation for the steel and aluminum duties. They will also: Drop all pending litigation in the World Trade Organization related to the tariffs Set up measures to prevent the importation of aluminum or steel that is unfairly subsidized and/or sold at dumped prices and prevent the transshipment of aluminum and steel made outside of Canada or the United States to the other country Make an agreed-upon process for monitoring aluminum and steel trade between them In a separate statement, the Mexican government also said it would remove retaliatory tariffs it put on the U.S. and cease pending litigation. Mexico also said it would set up measures to stop unfair trade practices in the aluminum and steel markets and to monitor trade of the metals in North America. Trump referenced the tariff removal during remarks Friday to the National Association of Realtors, saying, Im pleased to announce weve just reached an agreement with Canada and Mexico to sell product without the imposition of major tariffs. The Canadian and Mexican governments, along with top U.S. lawmakers, have pushed the Trump administration to remove the tariffs before the countries approve the United States Mexico Canada Agreement. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke Friday about the duties on metals and the tariffs Canada slapped on U.S. goods in retaliation, according to a spokesman for Trudeau. Now that weve had a full lift on these tariffs we are going to work with the United States on timing for ratification of USMCA, Trudeau said after speaking with steelworkers on Friday. He said he is optimistic about moving forward with the agreement in the coming weeks. Trump cited a national security threat when he put respective tariffs of 25 percent and 10 percent on steel and aluminum imports last year. When the White House decided not to exempt Canada and Mexico, the U.S. neighbors and some members of Congress questioned why the allies posed a threat to the U.S. The deal could boost Trumps hopes of getting the USMCA, one of his top policy priorities, through Congress. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, among others, pushed him to remove the tariffs before lawmakers ratify the trade agreement. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle cheered the de-escalation in tensions with Canada and Mexico. Grassley, an Iowa Republican, said the biggest hurdle to ratifying USMCA has been lifted. Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., called the move great for America, great for our allies and certainly great for Nebraskas agriculture industry. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said we should be focusing our effort on China, not on Mexico, Canada or Europe. But he added there are still many other issues that are outstanding before Democrats would support the USMCA. The deal still faces its hurdles: Democrats have raised concerns about environmental and labor provisions in USMCA, as well as how it could affect drug prices in the U.S. Mexico passed a labor law last month in part to address those concerns. On Wednesday, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer met with Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland. The negotiators were expected to discuss a process for removing the tariffs. The Trump administration aims to send paperwork to Congress soon, which could set up a vote on USMCA before lawmakers leave for the entire month of August. The White Houses recent escalation of a trade war with China rattled investors and raised concerns about damage to businesses and consumers. But developments Friday boosted markets. Before reports of the deal to remove steel and aluminum tariffs, the Trump administration said it would delay tariffs on imports of cars and auto parts from Europe, Japan and other countries. This story first appeared on CNBC.com. More from CNBC: By The Hill, May 14, 2019 Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) voted against one of President Trumps judicial picks Tuesday over past controversial comments the judge made about former President Obama. Romney, who faced off against Obama in the 2012 presidential race, cast the lone GOP no vote against Judge Michael Truncale, who was ultimately confirmed to the Eastern District of Texas by a 49-46 margin. A government review of how journalists, attorneys, immigration advocates, and activists were monitored and tracked by U.S. border agencies confirms the Mexican government had a major role in the controversial tracking program. In a letter dated May 9, 2019, Randy Howe, Executive Director of Field Operations for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) notes that ...CBP partnered with the Government of Mexico [to] address developing threats posed by the Central American Migrant caravan. A number of journalists and photographers were identified by Mexican Federal Police as possibly assisting migrants in crossing the border illegally and/or as having some level of participation in the violent incursion events, CBPs letter states. That information contradicts initial statements by top Mexican officials, including President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who said their government was not involved in the controversial surveillance effort. On March 7, 2019, the day after NBC 7 Investigates broke the database story, Mexicos foreign secretary pledged to ask the U.S. government, via official channels, to clarify any possible cases of illegal spying. The government of Mexico disapproves of all acts of illegal espionage against any person, domestic or foreign. The Mexican government does not conduct illegal surveillance on anyone, for any type or category of activity, a statement read. News of the letter and the completion of CBP's review into the controversial surveillance program was first reported by The Intercept. NBC 7 Investigates revealed the existence of the surveillance database after obtaining leaked screenshots of individual entries from a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) source. The leaked documents included dossiers compiled on some of the individuals in the database, including an immigration attorney. The database was used by border agents to track and store information on 59 individuals, including journalists, attorneys, and immigration advocates, tied to a migrant caravan that arrived in Tijuana, Mexico late last year. On May 1, the Center for Democracy and Technology, along with 100 civil rights organizations, sent a letter to the DHS Acting Secretary voicing opposition to the data collection and urging the department to stop targeting activists, journalists, and lawyers for exercising speech and associational activities protected by the First Amendment. In its May 9 response, CBP said it had completed its internal review of the targeting of reporters, attorney, and advocates at the Southwest Border. To read the letter, click here. CBP said its surveillance operation started in October 2018, when the threat level of the Central American migrant caravan in Mexico reached higher than normal levels (and) demonstrated violent tendencies. According to CBPs letter, ...varied sources of information helped identify a number of people involved in assisting migrants in crossing the border illegally or having witnessed the violent actions taken against law enforcement at the border. Some of the journalists, attorneys, and advocates included in the database told NBC 7 Investigates they were not present for any acts of violence against border agents and were not asked about border violence when questioned by agents in secondary inspections. Ariana Drehsler, a U.S. photojournalist included in the database, previously told NBC 7 she was pulled into secondary inspections three times and asked questions about who she saw and photographed in Tijuana shelters. Kitra Cahana, another U.S. photojournalist said she spent 13 hours detained by Mexican authorities when she tried to cross the border into Mexico City. Eventually, she was denied entry into Mexico and sent back to the U.S. CBPs letter notes that Efforts to gather this type of information is a standard law enforcement practice. CBP does not target journalists for inspection based on their occupation or their reporting. But the agency also acknowledged criticism of its surveillance program. CBP may inconvenience law-abiding persons in our efforts to detect, deter, and mitigate threats to our homeland, the agency explained. We rely on the patience, cooperation, and understanding of travelers to ensure effective protection of our borders. Gregory Nojeim, senior legal counsel for the Center for Democracy & Technology, said CBP's response heightens his organization's concerns about the surveillance effort. Nojeim told NBC 7 Investigates the letter confirms his suspicion that CBP has abused its authority by investigating the "legitimate activities of journalists, lawyers, and activists. "It can't be a crime to advise an asylum seeker how to seek asylum, or to cover their plight," Nojeim said. "That can't be a crime." Nojeim is also critical of Mexico's involvement in the surveillance effort. "When our government teams with another government to violate the rights of U.S. citizens, our concerns are magnified, exponentially," Nojeim said. He said Mexico and the U.S. should not "work together to deprive people of their rights (or) to investigate people who are merely associating with non- citizens." Want to learn more about how the NBC 7 Investigates team reported this story? Listen to INSIGHT: Episode One below. Trendy food halls are quickly becoming the easy way to taste a bunch of different things under one roof. Locally, a couple more of these food emporiums are on their way in, one specializing in Italian eats and the other in Korean cuisine. Eater San Diego shares that scoop and other top stories of the week from San Diegos food and drink scene. East Village Scores Large-Scale Italian Market and Eatery The owners of RoVino Restaurant + Wine in Little Italy are bringing RoVino The Foodery to the East Village this summer. Combining an Italian specialty market and an eatery, it will stock fresh pasta, housemade sauces, and other gourmet items in addition to a casual menu of pizza and Italian street food. Kearny Mesa Market Announces Food Court Offerings Asian superstore H Mart will open this June in Kearny Mesa. The 40,500-square-foot market will include a food court with a mix of local and global eateries serving Korean fried chicken, deep-fried hot dogs, noodles, kimchi fried rice, and other classic Korean dishes. Frozen Treats Shop Expanding to Little Italy Holy Paleta, which specializes in gourmet frozen popsicles, will open a new location in Little Italy later this summer. The Bonita-based shop puts its spin on the Mexican-style paleta, offering vegan fruit pops as well as flavors like creamy avocado and chocolate milkshake. Fashion Valley's North Italia Heads to One Paseo Joining the stable of restaurants at One Paseo is North Italia, which opens in June at the Carmel Valley shopping and dining complex. The popular modern Italian eatery landed last fall at Fashion Valley Mall, and serves a menu of fresh pasta, pizza, and more. Where to Eat Italian Food in San Diego From pasta to pizza and everything in-between, Eater's map of San Diego's top Italian eateries includes cozy mom-and-pop shops as well as elegant fine-dining restaurants that feature the best in regional Italian fare. Candice Woo is the founding editor of Eater San Diego, a leading source for news about San Diegos restaurant and bar scene. Keep up with the latest Eater San Diego content via Facebook or Twitter, and sign up for Eater San Diegos newsletter here. Alabama's vote to restrict abortion in almost all circumstances has moved one of the most polarizing issues in American politics to the center of the 2020 presidential campaign. The state's legislation the toughest of several anti-abortion measures that have passed recently, with the only exception being a serious risk to the woman's health prompted an outcry from Democratic presidential candidates, who warned that conservatives were laying the groundwork to undermine the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. The White House, meanwhile, didn't comment on the Alabama bill as President Donald Trump tries to balance his conservative base against the potential of antagonizing women who are already skeptical of his presidency. The furor over abortion quickly took over on the Democratic campaign trail. Rallying supporters in New Hampshire, Sen. Kamala Harris said she would back a legal challenge to the Alabama bill after Republican Gov. Kay Ivey signed it into law. She also vowed to make a commitment to upholding the Roe decision a "significant factor" in any Supreme Court nominees she might choose as president, though she declined to go as far as presidential rival Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who has promised to only nominate judges ready to preserve the 1973 ruling that established a woman's constitutional right to an abortion. "I respect every woman's right to make a decision about what's in the best interest of herself and her family," Harris said. Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio and Georgia have approved abortion bans once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can occur in about the sixth week of pregnancy. None of these laws are yet in force, either because of later effective dates or legal challenges that have blocked them. But supporters have openly predicted that the laws could spark court fights that will eventually lead the Supreme Court to revisit its Roe decision. Gillibrand plans to fly to Atlanta on Thursday to meet with women protesting Georgia's state law. Sen. Cory Booker told The Associated Press that backers of the Alabama measure are "saying that they designed this bill with certain provisions like not having any exceptions for rape or incest specifically designed so that they can lead a fight to the Supreme Court" to "undermine other freedoms and liberties of women to control their own bodies." Booker said it's not enough to hope that Roe will be upheld, adding: "We cannot wait to see if this gets worse." Several Democratic presidential candidates sought to use their high-profile positions to boost organizing against the state-level abortion laws. Harris emailed her campaign supporters offering to "split a donation" to four advocacy groups working to defend abortion rights. Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana, directed his supporters by email to the abortion-rights group NARAL. Among the other Democratic candidates who took to Twitter to blast Alabama's law and other state-level restrictions were Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, as well as former Vice President Joe Biden and former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke. Ilyse Hogue, the president of NARAL, lauded the Democrats for their support. But she urged them to go further than pro-abortion-rights rhetoric, calling instead for "articulated plans about how we're going to address and get out of this crisis." The Democratic pushback comes as Trump makes his selection of conservative judges a centerpiece of his political stump speech, part of a long-running courtship of social conservatives whose support he needs to win reelection next year. Republicans have long believed that the politics of abortion have shifted somewhat in their favor in recent years. But the near-absolutist nature of the most recent bills has sparked some concern among the president's team that it could energize Trump critics and female voters, with whom the president has long struggled. Polling suggests that the issue of abortion has the potential to stoke political engagement among both parties. The General Social Survey released last year found 64% of Democrats, but just 35% of Republicans, saying a woman should be able to have an abortion for any reason. Other surveys have found majority support for legalized abortion in "all or most cases." A Pew Research Center survey in September 2018 found 58% of Americans saying abortion should be legal in at least most cases, compared with 37% who said it should be illegal in all or most cases. Trump won the White House in 2016 in part because of strong support from socially conservative Republicans who wanted to ensure that a conservative justice got named to the Supreme Court seat that had been occupied by Antonin Scalia a seat held open by the GOP's refusal to confirm President Barack Obama's pick for the lifetime post. Since his first campaign began, Trump has supported a ban on abortions at the point that a fetus is believed to feel pain and publicly released a list of conservative judges from which he would select a nominee for the nation's highest court. The president's selection of Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court has emboldened conservative allies of the White House who believe the time is ripe for a court case to challenge Roe v. Wade. Kavanaugh assured senators before his confirmation last year that he viewed Roe as precedent, but Democratic senators pointed to a 2003 memo he wrote that suggested it wasn't necessary to call the landmark abortion-rights ruling "settled law" because the "Court can always overrule its precedent." The Trump campaign deferred to the White House on whether Trump supported the Alabama measure or other restrictive bills passed by other states. White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere touted Trump's record on abortion, noting that he "is protecting our most innocent and vulnerable, defending the dignity of life, and called on Congress to prohibit late-term abortions." A federal program has paid out millions of dollars to people injured after having a vaccine they say was given incorrectly, but many patients are finding out, even if they have that same injury, they're not eligible for the program, leaving them few options for any relief. The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program pays injured patients settlements to prevent them from suing vaccine makers. The News4 I-Team tracked more than $133 million paid to people with a condition called shoulder injury related to vaccine administration (SIRVA). It now makes up more than half of all the new cases filed in the program each year. "Everybody is starting to become more aware of the incidence of SIRVA. That's why I think that number will keep going up," said Paul Brazil, who specializes in vaccine injury cases. Brazil has filed hundreds of SIRVA claims for patients around the country. He says they've experienced excruciating pain and limited use of their arm. Any shot given too high in the deltoid muscle can cause SIRVA, no matter which vaccine is in the syringe. "People have multiple surgeries. They could be missing time from work. They could have out-of-pocket medical expenses," Brazil said. "It can be a pretty substantial monetary payment." Virginia resident Bob Simmons said he developed SIRVA immediately following a shingles vaccine in April 2018. More than a year later, the 72-year-old triathlete said he can't even use his left arm to hold a dinner plate, let alone pick up his eight grandchildren. "Compared to the injuries a lot of people have, catastrophic injuries and everything else, it's hard for me to complain too much. But it is an inconvenience; it's tough," Simmons said. "And it doesn't seem to be getting any better." But even though SIRVA is believed to be caused by how the shot is given, Simmons found you have to have had the right shot to get paid through the program. Seasonal flu shots are covered. Tetanus shots are covered. Shingles shots are not. "Any claim where you list the shingles vaccine as the cause of your injury will just be summarily dismissed," Brazil said. The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program was created decades ago for the childhood vaccines that kids are required get in their first few years of life. If adults get the same version kids get, they're covered, too. In fact, adults now account for most of the cases in the program. But Congress never expanded it to include adults-only versions of vaccines. The pneumonia vaccine, Prevnar, is covered, but Pneumovax, primarily for adults, is not. The shingles vaccine differs slightly from the childhood vaccine for chicken pox, so injuries from a chicken pox shot are covered, but the same injuries when caused by a shingles shot are not. Simmons says if SIRVA is a covered injury in the program; it shouldn't matter what kind of shot it was. "It's ridiculous! Why should it [matter]? It's the administration of the shot, not what's in the shot," he said. Brazil said it's unfair, but there is an explanation. "It really comes down to money," he said. For every vaccine covered by the program, the patient getting the shot pays a 75-cent tax, which helps fund those payouts. So shots that don't collect the tax can't be included. Brazil said sometimes you can't even tell which shot caused the injury. Seniors often get multiple shots at the same time, in the same arm. "There are a lot of reasons why it would make sense to just include every vaccine," Brazil said. "If Pharma wanted to change it, if they wanted to be included, they'd be included." He said the pharmaceutical company Merck could have pushed to get its shingles shot, Zostavax, into the program but didn't. Now the company is facing dozens of lawsuits alleging serious side effects, including death. But Brazil said SIRVA cases are excluded from that action. "SIRVA's a little different because we think SIRVA is caused by improper administration. Therefore, the manufacturer wouldn't be on the hook for that," Brazil said. Plus, the shingles shot Simmons got was from a different vaccine-maker. His only option would be going after the vaccine-giver. "That would require suing the pharmacy, or wherever he received the vaccine, and trying to prove negligence," Brazil said. "Mr. Simmons is in a tough spot." Simmons said the Costco pharmacist who gave him the shot was standing while he was sitting down, which the CDC warns against. Costco cannot comment on the specifics regarding this particular case, however, all Costco Pharmacists are certified to administer immunizations and have received training through a nationally recognized accredited program, Costco said in a statement to the I-Team. Our immunization procedure manual is updated annually and includes information on proper vaccine administration. Additionally, any reported immunization incidents are submitted to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). Simmons said Costco did report his injury to the manufacturer and a federal system that tracks vaccine injuries. It's now been a year since his shot, and he said he's lost 80 percent of his arm's strength. "I'm not really litigious in nature," Simmons said. "I just want to get my arm fixed. I was in pretty good shape up until that point in time." Reported by Jodie Fleischer, produced by Rick Yarborough, and shot and edited by Jeff Piper. A man accused of threatening to kill a federal official from Virginia is going to prison. The case was first reported by the News4 I-Team. Markara Man, of California, was sentenced to a year and a half in prison. Federal officials accused Man, 33, of sending email threats to Ajit Pai, the head of the Federal Communications Commission, and threatened to hurt Pai's family and children. Man was upset about the agency's decision on net neutrality. He has pleaded guilty and will serve a term in federal prison. A recent News4 I-Team investigation shows the number of investigation of threats against federal officials and members of Congress has increased dramatically, reaching the hundreds last year. One local member of Congress says most of those threats are now being posted on social media. A man has been charged with murder in the death of a missing 15-year-old West Virginia girl whose body was found Thursday morning, the Morgan County sheriff said. Fifteen-year-old Riley Crossman, of Berkeley Springs, was last seen the evening of May 7, though a video call was placed from the teens phone to her boyfriend at 5:40 a.m. the following morning, her mother, Chantel Oakley, told "Dateline" earlier this week. Oakley said it wasnt until Riley didnt come home from school May 8 that the family began to worry something was wrong. West Virginia Natural Resources Police officers assisting in the search for Riley discovered a decomposing body in a rural area of Berkeley County, according to Morgan County Sheriff K.C. Bohrer. Official identification of the body will be made by a pathologist, but investigators believe the body to be Riley, the sheriff said. Andy J. McCauley Jr., 41, is charged with murder. He is the boyfriend of Riley's mother, Bohrer said. The case stunned the small town in the states Eastern Panhandle. On Wednesday, hundreds of people gathered to canvas parts of Morgan County in a coordinated search led by the sheriffs office. Law enforcement agencies from across the region, including Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, reportedly assisted in the search. Bohrer previously said authorities were almost certain Riley didnt disappear of her own volition, according to The Herald Mail. Rileys father, Lance Crossman, told News4s Erika Gonzalez Wednesday the family believed the teen was abducted, saying she wouldnt have run away from home. He shared an emotional plea recorded on video by Rileys 12-year-old sister, Jade. Im scared for her safety and Im scared that Im never going to see my sister again, Jade Crossman said, calling Riley her best friend. In the recording, Jade added: Riley, if youre out there, just please come home. Whoever has Riley, just please bring her home safely. Counselors will be made available at Berkeley Springs High School, which Riley attended. The FBI, Department of Homeland Security and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, among others, are also involved in the investigation, according to a press release issued by Bohrers office Wednesday. Anyone with information about the case is encouraged to call the Morgan County Sheriffs Office at 304-258-1067 or 911. It's called DIPG, and chances are, it's one of the worst cancers you've never heard of. And it's one that hits children. That's why DIPG Awareness Day May 17 has been created. It's also why a Herndon family is sharing their battle against this terrible illness. Maddie Hartman had been a normal kindergartner. She especially loved to dance. It all changed over the course of three days in January. Her daycare called to say Maddie had fallen ill. "When I got to daycare, I thought my daughter had a stroke," her father, Nathan Hartman, recalled. "The left side of her face was limp; her speech was slurred; her arm would not move. It was almost hanging off her body." The diagnosis came about week later: Maddie had Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG), an aggressive type of tumor that attacks the brain stem, impacting speech, vision and mobility. Maddie is just one of between 200 and 400 children who will get the diagnosis this year. Her mom created a photo display to show the cancer's rapid progression, with steroids also taking their toll on her body. Hartman family photos "Nobody knows about DIPG," her father said. "I didn't know [about] DIPG until we were in the hospital in this situation, quickly googling DIPG to find out what it was. And with Maddie every step has been immediate no symptoms to all the way in three days." Now the Hartmans are joining an effort to put a spotlight on the disease. The first DIPG Awareness Day was designated in 2016 by Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, when the family of a Bethesda boy Michael Mosier began the push to educate more people. The day is held May 17 to mark the date that Michael passed away. Treatment hasn't really advanced in the 35 years since DIPG was named, a fact that frustrates both Michael's parents and Maddie's. Their goal is to "get people talking and get funding to it to try to advance the research," Nathan Hartman said. WRC-TV As Maddie's dad, mom and stepdad join the effort for more funding and awareness, their biggest focus is bringing joy to Maddie's life. There was the Make-A-Wish Foundation trip to Disney, as well as a "wedding," when Maddie "married" her sweetheart from daycare. She has fun picking out her nail polish, too. "We are blessed every day that we wake up and Maddie is still progressing and doing well, and that is our hope and our plan, is to continue make every day as imaginable and amazing as possible," Nathan Hartman said. Later this month, on May 26, a fundraising run in honor of Maddie will be held at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda, Maryland. A Virginia woman accused of posing as a psychologist treated hundreds of adults and children for years, police say. Authorities in Stafford County received numerous complaints last October from people who questioned whether 42-year-old Sharonda Avery was a licensed psychologist. "Some of her patients believed that they had been misdiagnosed or that their children had been misdiagnosed while under her care and they couldnt find a licensing number for her," said Amanda Vicinanzo, a spokesperson for the Stafford County Sheriff's Office. A detective for the Stafford County Sheriff's Office spent months looking into Averys background and speaking to families shed treated. "He discovered that not only was she not a licensed psychologist, but she also didnt have a degree from any of the colleges or universities she claimed to have a degree from," Vicinanzo said. Starting in 2012, Avery worked for a group called Pediatric Partners for Attention and Learning. She was fired last year and the practice is no longer in business, the sheriff's office said. Investigators say Avery likely treated hundreds of people while she was at the pediatric practice. They are encouraging anyone with concerns to come forward. "This is egregious for the victims in this case and we know there's more out there. And we just hope they'll contact us so we can complete a full investigation," Vicinanzo said. Avery turned herself into authorities Thursday. She was charged with obtaining money by false pretenses, passing a forged document, perjury and practicing psychology without a license. She is in custody at the Rappahannock Regional Jail and is being held without bond. Her attorney did not comment. Elizabeth Warren is calling for a series of targeted measures designed to safeguard abortion rights following a flurry of new state laws that dramatically restrict women's ability to terminate pregnancies, moves Democrats have decried as a planned effort to chip away at the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. Warren's abortion rights platform, released Friday by her Democratic presidential campaign, centers on the establishment of "affirmative, statutory rights" that would "block states from interfering in the ability of a health care provider to provide medical care, including abortion services," and sets similar restrictions on states' power to block patients from getting medical care, including abortions. Her proposals come as Missouri joins Alabama, Georgia and other states in advancing laws that limit abortion access with Alabama's law drawing skepticism from some anti-abortion Republicans as too draconian, given its lack of an exception for cases of rape or incest. "The overwhelming majority of Americans have no desire to return to the world before Roe v. Wade," Warren said in an online post announcing her ideas. "And so the time to act is now." The senator from Massachusetts also urged passage of legislation that would stop states from passing constraints on abortion providers that are built to avoid violating the 1973 Roe decision, in which the Supreme Court recognized the constitutional right to an abortion. Backers of the Alabama law have described it as a conscious attempt to get the Supreme Court to revisit and potentially overturn Roe. Another element of Warren's abortion-rights proposal urges passage of legislation that would prevent the government from imposing abortion-related restrictions on private health insurers. The presidential hopeful also joined several of her Democratic primary rivals in urging the rollback of a 1976 restriction on the use of federal funds to pay for abortions, except for cases of rape, incest or pregnancies that imperil the life of a mother. Warren also pushed for the rejection of limitations on abortion access proposed by President Donald Trump's administration, including a rule that would block certain federally funded clinics from providing counsel regarding abortions as part of the family planning process. She's not the first Democratic presidential candidate to call for the codification of Roe's ruling on abortion rights into law, an idea that would face significant resistance from congressional Republicans. Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York also have endorsed the codification of abortion rights, while Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana, said Thursday that such a move "deserves to be taken seriously." Missouri's Republican-led Senate has passed a wide-ranging bill to ban abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy, acting only hours after Alabama's governor signed a near-total abortion ban into law. The Missouri bill needs another vote of approval in the GOP-led House before it can go to Republican Gov. Mike Parson, who voiced support for an earlier version Wednesday. The legislation includes exceptions for medical emergencies, but not for pregnancies caused by rape or incest. Doctors would face five to 15 years in prison for violating the eight-week cutoff. Women who receive abortions wouldn't be prosecuted. Republican Senate handler Sen. Andrew Koenig described it on Thursday as "one of the strongest" abortion bills yet passed in the U.S. Missouri joins a movement of GOP-dominated state legislatures emboldened by the possibility that a more conservative Supreme Court could overturn its landmark ruling legalizing the procedure. Its senators voted only hours after Alabama's governor signed the most stringent abortion ban in the nation on Wednesday, making performing an abortion a felony in nearly all cases. Outnumbered Missouri Senate Democrats launched into an attack on the bill before Republican supporters had a chance to bring it up for debate on the Senate floor. "So much of this bill is just shaming women into some kind of complacency that says we are vessels of pregnancy rather than understanding that women's lives all hold different stories," St. Louis-area Democratic Sen. Jill Schupp said. Missouri is among a growing number of states where abortion opponents are working with renewed enthusiasm following President Donald Trump's appointment of more conservative high court justices. Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio and Georgia have approved bans on abortion once fetal cardiac activity can be detected, which can occur in about the sixth week of pregnancy. Similar restrictions in North Dakota and Iowa have been struck down in court. Supporters say the Alabama bill is intentionally designed to conflict with the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationally in hopes of sparking a court case that might prompt the justices to revisit abortion rights. Missouri's bill also includes an outright ban on abortions except in cases of medical emergencies. But unlike Alabama's, it would kick in only if Roe v. Wade is overturned. If courts don't allow Missouri's proposed eight-week ban to take effect, it includes a ladder of less-restrictive time limits that would prohibit abortions at 14, 18 or 20 weeks or pregnancy. Roe v. Wade legalized abortion up until viability, which is usually at 22 to 24 weeks. "This is not a piece of legislation that is designed for a challenge," Missouri's Republican House Speaker Elijah Haahr said. "This is the type of legislation that is designed to withstand a challenge and to actually save lives in our state." Republicans and Democrats worked for hours to reach a compromise on the bill, which included an expansion of tax credits for donations to pregnancy resource centers, and waters down other provisions. The approved version of the wide-ranging bill bans abortions based solely on race, sex or a diagnosis indicating the potential of Down Syndrome. It also requires that both parents be notified for a minor to get an abortion, but a change was made after hours of late-night negotiations to remove the requirement when a parent lacks legal or physical custody. Current law requires written consent from only one parent. Still, some lawmakers on both sides of the debate walked away unhappy. Democrat Schrupp said even after changes, it's "an extreme and egregious piece of legislation that puts women's health at risk." "It is outrageous that it has no exemptions for victims of human trafficking, rape or incest," she said. Republican Sen. Bob Onder said negotiators went too far to compromise, leaving the bill "a shadow of what it once was." "This should be entitled not the 'Missouri Stands for the Unborn Act,'" Onder told colleagues on the Senate floor, "but the 'Missouri Stands for the Unborn Act, sort of kind of only after the minority party and the strongest Planned Parenthood lawyers in the country were done with the bill.'" A 71-year-old Massachusetts man has embarked on a 3,600-mile, coast-to-coast walk to draw attention to the plight of military veterans. William Shuttleworth departed his hometown of Newburyport on Wednesday for what he estimates will be a 7-month trek to Vandenberg Air Force Base in Lompoc, California. He plans to talk to veterans along the way and raise public awareness about the health care, housing and economic issues that many face. The Air Force veteran tells The Daily News of Newburyport he was inspired while working last year at a California park where many veterans were camping because they were homeless and struggling with addiction. He has mapped his route and plans to walk about 25 miles per day. He intends to camp because he hasn't reserved overnight accommodations. Classes were canceled Friday for students at a Massachusetts high school after a small fire broke out in the structure. The blaze was reported sometime before 6:15 a.m. at Hingham High School. Fire Chief Steve Murphy said the fire was contained to one room on the second floor of the building. Fire crews extinguished the flames by 6:40 a.m. and stayed at the site to clear the smoke. Officials said the fire appeared to have started from a VHS player that had been left on. The blaze shut down power at the school, prompting school officials to cancel class for the day as they clean up the affected classroom. AP exams scheduled for Friday were also canceled, according to the school's superintendent. Aerial footage from NBC10 Boston's Sky Ranger Helicopter showed at least a dozen firefighters and several firetrucks responding to the scene. Some firefighters inspected from the roof of the building. No injuries were reported. The defense attorney in the high-profile wrongful death case of a 20-month-old Maine girl has issued a response to the lawsuit. Michael Waxman represents Justin DiPietro, accused in the suit of contributing to the December 2011 disappearance of his daughter, Ayla Reynolds. Waxman is denying his client had anything to do with her death. DiPietro is one of three people, including his mother and his then-girlfriend, who were in his mother's home the day Reynolds disappeared. DiPietro has said he believes his daughter was abducted, but he has also said he doesn't know who took her. Waxman's answers on behalf of DiPietro are broken up into 43 individual responses. "There are no facts that tie Justin to the disappearance or death or harm of his child," said Waxman. To that point, the responses contain denials, admissions and requests for qualification for various pieces of the civil suit. The denials or disputes include a reference to the discovery of Reynolds' blood in places like DiPietro's truck during the initial investigation, evidence Maine State Police have repeatedly said leads them to believe the three people who were in the home at the time Ayla would have disappeared know more than they have said publicly. "My understanding is that she was simply vomiting repeatedly, and there can be a small amount of blood in somebody whod been vomiting a lot," said Waxman. The defense attorney and DiPietro also say the suit from Ayla's mother, Trista Reynolds, mischaracterizes a November 2011 arm fracture the girl sustained after DiPietro claims he tripped and fell while carrying her. He admits he did not seek immediate medical attention in his response but says that was because he wasn't aware of the severity of his daughter's injury. One other dispute is over an allegation Ayla Reynolds started immediately crying when DiPietro took custody of her for the last two months of her life. "What's claimed there is simply not accurate about the child being upset to go with him," said Waxman. As for what happens next in the civil case, Waxman says there will be periods for discovery and various motions that would leading to a trial. In the interim, Waxman is advising DiPietro not speak to media directly, but he says his client, despite numerous summonses and living thousands of miles away, is not hiding from the case. "He's not going to evade this lawsuit, he's going to participate," said Waxman, who elaborated that the reason DiPietro had left Maine was primarily repeated harassment in the seven years since Reynolds vanished. "This lawsuit, as I see it, is singularly an effort to get information, because the mother is insanely frustrated about not having any answers," he said. "I'm fearful for her that this is simply going to be a waste of time." However, if Trista Reynolds wins, it would be a significant emotional and financial retribution for her. Since Reynolds' case is a civil suit, if DiPietro is found guilty, he would be forced to pay damages that Waxman estimates "could be millions." The defense attorney added, however, that there is a very remote chance the case could become a criminal lawsuit after an unforeseen development though Waxman does not expect that to happen. There will likely be a long period of time before a trial happens. Attorneys are estimating it could take 18 months to a year to argue the case before a judge. As of this afternoon, attorneys for Trista Reynolds have not returned a request for an interview submitted by necn and NBC10 Boston. Police are searching for a teenage girl last seen in Lowell, Massachusetts on Wednesday evening. Authorities say Lowell resident Lydia Lewis' last known whereabouts were around the area of Fort Hill Avenue and Sherman Street around 7 p.m. The 17-year-old is described as 5 feet 2 inches tall, 140 pounds, with blue eyes and blonde hair with a pink streak. Officials ask that anyone with information about Lewis' location call 978-937-3200. A mother whose son died in the line of duty serving the Vermont State Police received an assurance that his name will be added to a memorial, despite delays, after necn started looking into the situation. Kyle was a hero, Ginny Woolf of Watertown, New York said Friday, adding that she thinks about her late son, Trooper Kyle Young, every dayall throughout the day. Young, a father of two girls who also served several tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan with the U.S. Air Force, died in September 2015 at age 28, after collapsing from heat stroke while training for a specialized tactical team of the Vermont State Police. Its important for our family to have his memory alive, Woolf said of her son. In 2016, Youngs name was added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. However, back home in Vermont, nearly four years after his death, the Vermont Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Pittsford still has not been updated to reflect the loss of Young. He deserves it, Woolf said. Col. Matt Birmingham, the commander of the Vermont State Police, has requested that the committee in charge of the memorial add Youngs name to it, according to a VSP spokesman, who noted that Birmingham did so with a sense of urgency. Woolf encouraged necn to seek answers from the committee about why her sons name had not been added, and the news station took those to Kevin Blongy. Her son definitely will get recognized, said Blongy, who is a police officer in Rutland. Our purpose is to honor anybody who gave the ultimate sacrifice. Blongy explained the all-volunteer memorial committee has been challenged by fundraising, the need to research other historic names that belong on the tablets in Pittsford, and weather factors that made carving the stone difficult. Then, he said, the group encountered problems with a vendor. Blongy told necn the committee has now overcome those hurdles, and promised the names will be added very soon. We will not give up on it, Blongy pledged. Im committed to finishing this, with the rest of the committee. Woolf said she deeply appreciates the work to remember her son, and other Vermont first responders who died in the line of duty. I thank them from the bottom of my heart, Woolf said, referencing both the promise by the committee to add Trooper Youngs name to the memorial, and the continued advocacy for her sons memory by Birmingham and other members of Vermont State Police command staff. Youngs name was read aloud Friday, along with the names of more than 30 other officers, at a memorial service at the Vermont Police Academy in Pittsford, which houses the Vermont Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. Law enforcement officers, their loved ones, family members of fallen officers, and state and federal officials including Gov. Phil Scott, R-Vermont, and U.S. Attorney for Vermont Christina Nolan attended the memorial servicewhich honored a range of law enforcement members from correctional officers to state troopers to municipal police officers, sheriffs deputies, and more. The event happens each May, during National Police Week, and is devoted to honoring members of law enforcement who made the ultimate sacrifice working for the safety of their communities. We promise to never forget those folks, said Chief Michael Evans of the Thetford Police Department, one of the events organizers. Then annually, we hold this event to show that we do remember their sacrifices and the service that they gave to the people of Vermont. According to numbers compiled by the Vermont Police Academy, 36 Vermont law enforcement officers have died in the line of duty since the year 1814. A separate ceremony is held in Pittsford in the fall which honors all first responders who died in the line of duty, including EMS personnel and firefighters, Blongy said. His aim is to have the memorial up-to-date by that event. The Dean of Norwich Cathedral, the Very Rev Jane Hedges, say that for every single one of us, at the moment, life is full of uncertainties. The Dean of Norwich Cathedral, the Very Rev Jane Hedges, say that for every single one of us, at the moment, life is full of uncertainties. Pantomime cast take part in Norwich carols The cast of Norwich Theatre's pantomime Dick Whittington and his Cat attended a Christmas Carol concert at St Peter Mancroft Church on Thursday December 23 to spread festive cheer and the Christmas message. Read more Norwich church hosts Watch Night service See in the New Year with worship! A Norwich church is holding a Watch Night service on December 31 starting at 22.45. Read more Bishop's Christmas refugee message In his Christmas message the Bishop of Norwich the Rt Rev Graham Usher, says at Christmas we look back to the story of someone who soon after his birth, became a refugee, we look back to a story to help navigate our future. Read more Ed Sheeran and LadBaby boost Waveney foodbank Pop superstar Ed Sheeran and Christmas sausage roll song group LadBaby paid a surprise visit to Waveney Foodbank near Eye earlier today. Read more Dilham musician recalls Josephs letter home What might Joseph had written if he had sent a letter home from his experiences during that first Christmas time? Read more The true gifts of Christmas Regular columnist Ruth Lilley reflects on the gifts which God gave us at that first Christmas, and continues to make freely available to us. Read more An Advent reflection from Bishop Alan Hopes In his Advent Reflection, the Bishop of East Anglia, the Rt Rev Alan Hopes says: "God is not distant, he is very close to us. In fact, in Jesus, God is one of us. Read more YMCA Norfolk needs a Senior Wellbeing Engagement Worker YMCA Norfolk is looking for a Senior Wellbeing Engagement Worker, to build relationships of trust with vulnerable and marginalised youth people within the community. Read more Norwich Foodbank needs an Administrator Norwich Foodbank is looking for an Administrator to help ensure the Christian charity can continue to serve people in food crisis. Read more Looking beyond the Nativity story Andrew Frere Smith reminds us of the hardships that were faced by the family of baby Jesus at that first Christmas. Read more Norwich churches offered Christmas food hampers Christian youth project ENYP is offering Norwich churches the chance to join its successful food poverty initiative and receive Christmas food hampers to give out. Read more Salvation Army gifts bring joy to Norwich children Salvation Army volunteers in Norwich have packed a record number of Tins and Toys boxes for their Christmas giveaway this year. Read more Covid stops Yarmouth Minster Christmas lunch Fears over the increasing spread of Covid 19 have caused the Open Christmas event at Great Yarmouth Minster on Christmas Day to be cancelled this year, but those who would have attended will be receiving goodie bags instead. Read more Norwich church requires an Administrator Holy Trinity church in Norwich wants to appoint an Administrator to help it introduce the gospel of Jesus Christ to the people of Norwich. Read more Acle churches unite for carols The churches in Acle held their annual carol concert at the Methodist Church last Sunday, and were evidently visited by the Man in Red! Read more Norwich church giving out 150 food hampers Gateway Vineyard church in Norwich is giving 150 food hampers to individuals and families across the city as part of the Love Christmas initiative. Read more Norwich church invite to sing on Saturday On Saturday December 18, Norwich's oldest chapel close to the city is holding a 'sing on Saturday' at 3pm. There is plenty of space inside to join together to sing some well-known hymns. Read more Venue taken for European elections A Neighbourhood Watch meeting has been cancelled because of the upcoming European Elections. The Newbury and Thatcham Neighbourhood Watch meeting was planned to be held in the West Berkshire Council chamber on Monday. But with the European elections being held on Thursday, May 23 the council needs the chamber. Group chairwoman, Angela Money, said: "Unfortunately, Mondays Neighbourhood Watch meeting has had to be cancelled as the council chamber is being utilised for European Election preparations and will be sealed and inaccessible on Monday evening. "Please accept my apologies for any inconvenience." The next Neighbourhood Watch meeting will be held on Monday, August 12. Awareness raised for Fibromyalgia LOCAL groups and businesses worked to turn West Berkshire purple as part of an international awareness campaign for people suffering from fibromyalgia. Healthwatch West Berkshire (HWWB) joined forces with the Department of Pain Medicine at Royal Berkshire Hospital (RBH) for the event last weekend. A range of organisations displayed posters and changed their window displays and lighting in order to support the #MillionsMissing campaign, which aims to get those with fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), and their symptoms visible within the community. The Turn West Berks Purple activity is part of a larger project in the region, sponsored by HWWB to raise awareness of the conditions, particularly among young people aged 16 to 30. The fibromyalgia spectrum of conditions is not entirely understood because each sufferer displays different symptoms, many of which are largely unexplained and may not be constant. Clinical lead for pain medicine at Royal Berkshire Hospital Dr Deepak Ravindran, whose clinic with the local community is at the West Berkshire Community Hospital, said: The research programme that my colleagues in the department and I are undertaking is principally surveying younger people between 16 and 30 years old. We are looking at the nature of the symptoms individual sufferers have, how they manage those symptoms, what support they get and how their condition is understood by those around them. Conditions range from pain and exhaustion, to sleep disturbances, depression and anxiety, all of which may be made worse by even the slightest exertion, such as having a shower, making a bed or going for walk. This wide and varying range of individual symptoms makes diagnosis difficult and currently, although the symptoms can sometimes be managed via talking therapies, physiotherapy, pain management and other activities, there is no single regime that works for everyone. HWWB chief officer Andrew Sharp said: Turn West Berks Purple is about being part of an international movement to raise awareness among young people. Weve engaged with a number of different organisations in our community in order to get our message out to a younger audience and to gain an overall picture of those between 16 and 30 who suffer from fibromyalgia, CFS and ME. Via Newbury College we are hoping to engage with a young audience, as the students work on initiatives to raise awareness of the conditions and to support a 4th of July Independence From Fibromyalgia event at the college. Local organisations who joined the campaign included The Gallery Cafe, West Berkshire Community Hospital, Newbury College, the Corn Exchange, The Unruly barbers, Draco Florist, The Ugly Duckling Pottery Painting Coffee House and Burdwood Surgery. Newbury College work placement coordinator Julie Barker said: We are delighted to be working in partnership with Healthwatch West Berks and Dr Ravindran from RBH. Our students are part of the local community. So, we are pleased to help with this initiative and for various departments to be involved with the Independence Day event, which will give young people in the area a chance to fact find, share experiences and socialise within our college. We are delighted to help Turn West Berks Purple. The Gallery Cafe contract manager Ifor Sheldon said: Dr Ravindran holds a regular pain clinic at the West Berks hospital and his patients with fibromyalgia, CFS and ME often enjoy a cup of coffee in our cafe. This is an often invisible condition, so we are pleased to help the West Berkshire Fibromyalgia Group raise awareness. For further information about the research survey, go to www.facebook.com/westberksfibro The NWN won the 'Newspaper of the Year' award at the Regional Press Awards in London The Newbury Weekly News has won the 'Newspaper of the Year' award (over 10,000 circulation) at the Regional Press Awards in London on Friday afternoon. NWN editor Andy Murrill and news editor Dan Cooper were at the awards which were held at the IET, Savoy Place, London. Meanwhile, photographer Phil Cannings also made the shortlist for the 'Weekly Photographer of the Year' award at the event. The paper was in a category with the Bucks Free Press, Kent Messenger, The Cumberland News, The Powys County Times and The Westmorland Gazette. Congratulations to those publications for being shortlisted for the prize. At this moment we would like to thank all of our readers for all of your support. We'll have more on this in next week's Newbury Weekly News - out on Thursday. A community brainstorming event to re-imagine the Catherine E. Lillis Administration building in New Milford will be held Thursday from 6 to 9 p.m. at the New Milford Senior Center. The event, to be held at the 40 Main St. center, will be facilitated by Pirie Associates for the purpose of obtaining input from residents regarding the potential reuse of the building, commonly referred to as the East Street school, and site. Earlier this year, the Town of New Milford was awarded a $20,000 planning grant from the State Historic Preservation Office. With the help of the State Trust for Historic Preservation office, the town prepared and issued an RFP and recently awarded the project to Pirie Associates to assist with preparation of the East Street School Adaptive Reuse Master Plan. The scope of the study will include extensive community outreach and input. The project goal is to assess possible future uses for the school building and property that respect and retain the historical elements and features of the building, while arriving at possible uses that are financially feasible, fiscally advantageous to the community, and consistent with the needs and desires of the residents. Pirie Associates is a multi-disciplinary firm with specialized expertise in adaptive reuse particularly historic building assessment community engagement and master planning. For this project, they will team up with the Connecticut Economic Resource Center. CERCs role will be to complete a Financial Feasibility Study and to recommend funding sources and strategies. For more information, contact Kathy Castagnetta, community investment officer, at kcastagnetta@newmilford.org or 860-488-0055. Sheri Lewis, 59, of Seattle, needed a hip transplant. Bradley Fuller, 63, of nearby Kirkland, needed chemotherapy and radiation when the pain in his jaw turned out to be throat cancer. And Kim Bruzas, 55, of Waitsburg, hundreds of miles away, needed emergency care to stop sudden and severe rectal bleeding. Each of these Washington state residents required medical treatment during the past few years, and each thought they had purchased health insurance through an online site. But when it was time to pay the bills, they learned that the products they bought through Aliera Healthcare Inc. weren't insurance at all and that the cost of their care wasn't covered. Lewis and the others had enrolled in what Aliera officials claimed was a health care sharing ministry (HCSM) faith-based co-ops in which members agree to pay one another's medical bills. But Washington insurance officials this week said the firm doesn't meet the definition of a sharing ministry and described Aliera's products as a "sham" aimed at misleading consumers. Other states, including Texas and New Hampshire, are poised to take similar action. Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler on Monday ordered Aliera, which operates Trinity Healthshare Inc., both of Delaware, to halt operations in Washington, alleging the firm was selling health insurance illegally and engaging in deceptive business practices. Aliera falsely represented itself as a sharing ministry, which would be exempt from insurance regulations, an investigation found. Though he wouldn't name them, Kreidler said he's investigating two additional firms over similar concerns. "They don't have the direct affiliation with a particular religious group, a church, a pastor," Kreidler said. "These appear to be ones that come in with an opportunity here to make money." In a statement, Aliera officials disputed Kreidler's conclusions. The company has 90 days to request a hearing. "Aliera has never misled consumer and sales agents about its health plans," the statement said. "For example, our website, marketing materials and other communications clearly state that Trinity's health sharing products are not insurance. Most importantly, they have never been represented as insurance." The Washington order followed complaints from nearly two dozen people, including Lewis, a dance teacher who was told her planned hip surgery wouldn't be covered. Across the U.S., several state insurance regulators report similar concerns. Texas insurance officials have scheduled a hearing to consider a similar order against Aliera, which has 100,000 members nationwide and reported revenue of $180 million in 2018, documents showed. New Hampshire insurance officials on Tuesday warned consumers about Aliera, saying they were concerned about "potential fraudulent or criminal activity." Officials in at least five other states told Kaiser Health News they are reviewing firms operating as "illegitimate" health care sharing ministries. Aliera is operated by Shelley Steele of Marietta, Ga., and her husband, Timothy Moses, who was convicted in 2006 of federal securities fraud and perjury. He was sentenced to 6 years in prison and ordered to repay more than $1 million to victims. Nationwide, nearly 1 million people are enrolled in more than 100 sharing ministries in at least 29 states, according to the Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries. But that's just an estimate, said James Lansberry, executive vice president of Samaritan Ministries International of Peoria, Ill. No comprehensive data is available. "We try to track what's going on out there," Lansberry said. "Anyone claiming to be a health care sharing ministry could spill over onto our reputation." Samaritan is among what have been the three top players in the sharing ministries field. The oldest, founded in 1993, is the Medi-Share program of Melbourne, Fla., operated by Christian Care Ministry. The third is Christian Healthcare Ministries of Barberton, Ohio. All are explicitly religious and emphasize faith as the basis for members to share medical burdens. Those groups originally were certified by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and required to meet specific criteria. Consumers who enrolled were shielded from the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate that required they show proof of insurance or pay a fine. But CMS no longer certifies HCSMs and, since Congress zeroed out the mandate's penalty in 2017, a new crop of companies, including Aliera, has sprung up. That worries some of the traditional ministries. "HCSMs must operate with integrity, transparency, full compliance with the law, and enforcement of the law," officials with Medi-Share, which has 415,000 members nationwide, said in a statement. "Anything outside of that violates the true spirit of the HCSM community." Washington investigators found that Aliera's marketing materials rarely mention religious or ethical motivations, and they don't meet government requirements. Many of these entities mimic the marketing, structure and language of ACA-compliant health insurance plans but offer none of the protections, said JoAnn Volk and Justin Giovannelli, researchers at the Georgetown University Center on Health Insurance Reforms, who wrote about the issue last summer. "The way they advertise and the services they are providing, it sounds a heck of a lot like health insurance," Giovannelli said. "They're letting folks believe they have a product that has a promise to pay." That's exactly what Lewis thought. "It looked like Aliera was health insurance to me," she said. When Aliera denied her surgery, she had to resort to a GoFundMe site organized by friends to raise nearly $13,000 and then travel to Tijuana, Mexico, to get a hip transplant she could afford. Fuller, who was diagnosed with throat cancer, said he was stuck with $81,000 in bills for his first month of treatment. "They started checking my insurance and it didn't cover nothing," said the retired commercial electrician. Fuller, his voice still raspy after radiation, said he had insurance through his union for years, but when the premiums spiked, he went online to find something else. The person he talked to from Aliera said he could get insurance, no problem, Fuller said. The premium would be $350 a month, rather than the $1,300 fee for a gold plan on the state insurance exchange. "And that was with dental, too," he added. Low premiums also attracted Bruzas, who left her well-paid government job in Tacoma, and the insurance it provided, after her husband died in 2015. She moved to a small town in southeastern Washington to care for her parents and went online to find health insurance. "I just sat down and Googled 'Obamacare,'" she said. "I got a call back from a lady who said she could help me find coverage." Bruzas was charged $219 for the first month. Four days later, she was in the local emergency room with massive rectal bleeding. As she was discharged, hospital officials said they had "never heard of Aliera Healthcare," she said. The $10,000 bill was not covered. Bruzas, who works part time at a hardware store, filed for charity care and the debt was reduced to $6,500. She is paying it off slowly, $50 each month. The Washington patients recalled mentions of "sharing" and vague references to spirituality. But none realized they were signing up for a religious cost-sharing ministry, they said. "I would have hung up the phone if she would have said, 'We're a group, and we'll review your records and pray for you,'" Bruzas said. Aliera officials said they make the nature of their products clear. "Aliera disagrees that Trinity's inclusive and specific statement of beliefs misleads consumers or violates the applicable regulations governing healthcare sharing ministries," the statement said. It's not clear how states can curb the new sharing ministries. If Aliera ignores his order, Kreidler said, he'll seek a court injunction to force the groups to cease operations. But several states contacted by KHN said that because the ministries are not health insurance, state insurance officials don't review or regulate them. Some users of sharing ministries say the lower-priced products should be available for consumers who understand and accept the risks involved. But consumers need to pay close attention to details when they sign up for any health plans, said Colorado Insurance Commissioner Michael Conway, who is investigating sharing ministries operating in his state. "Ask if it's actually insurance," he advised. "Ask if there's a guarantee of coverage. Get into the policy documents. Read the contract they're agreeing to." Experts from an Italian study have suggested that compulsory measles vaccines before children start attending school may be necessary to prevent increasing disease incidence rates worldwide. Shutterstock | Kaspars Grinvalds What is Measles? Measles is a viral disease that is highly contagious and is transmitted through droplets from the nose, mouth, or throat of people infected with the disease. Symptoms of measles progress from fevers, white spots inside the mouth, and bloodshot eyes, to a rash on the face and neck that spreads across the body. Although the infection can clear within 7 to 10 days, it can cause life-threatening complications including blindness, encephalitis (swelling of the brain) and pneumonia. Severe cases of measles are more likely to develop in malnourished, young children, or in people with suppressed immune systems like those living with HIV/AIDS or other diseases that compromise the immune system. Why is Measles an Issue? Despite the NHS stating that measles is now uncommon in the UK because of the effectiveness of vaccination, there has been a sharp increase in measles cases worldwide in recent years. Preliminary measles surveillance data for 2019 published by the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed a clear trend in measles outbreaks, with outbreaks currently occurring in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Madagascar, Myanmar, Philippines, Sudan, Thailand, and Ukraine. It also states that in 2017, an estimated 110,000 deaths were caused by measles, and mostly affected children under the age of 5. This is despite approximately 85 percent of the worlds children having one dose of the measles vaccine by the age of one. Researchers in Italy have suggested that vaccines for measles should be made compulsory to combat the fall in vaccination rates in several countries, from the US, Ireland, Australia, but particularly in the UK. The Side Effects of Vaccines - How High is the Risk? Play Researchers from the Bruno Kessler Foundation and Bocconi University expressed concern about the fall in vaccination rates worldwide. Using computer modelling, they have predicted how many measles cases could occur between 2018 and 2050, detailed in a study published in BMC Medicine. The projections made in the study suggest that by 2050, if vaccination policies remain the same, the proportion of the population susceptible to measles would range from 3.7 percent in the UK to 9.3 percent in Italy. In recent years, weve witnessed a resurgence of measles cases even in countries where, according to World Health Organization guidelines, elimination should already have been achieved. This resurgence is due to suboptimal vaccination coverage levels. In Italy, where measles incidence rates were among the highest, the government has made measles vaccination compulsory for children before they enter primary school. We investigated the potential of this and other policies to reinforce immunization rates in seven high-income countries. Dr. Filippo Trentini, First Author of the Study However, not everyone agrees that compulsory vaccination would be an effective tactic to combat a resurgence of the disease. Professor Adam Finn of the University of Bristol explains that this approach may not be effective for everybody. Mandatory immunization is certainly one way to try and increase coverage but its far from clear how well it works or whether it would work at all in many places. If the reasons that the vaccine is not getting into the children relate to easy access, vaccine supply or clarity of information available to parents, then making it compulsory will do nothing to alleviate such obstacles. If there is widespread mistrust of authority or of the motivation behind any such requirements, it could actually make things worse. Professor Adam Finn, University of Bristol Co-author of the study Dr. Stefano Merler is confident about the conclusions made by his study. Our results suggest that most of the countries we have studied would strongly benefit from the introduction of compulsory vaccination at school entry in addition to current immunization programmes. In particular, we found that this strategy would allow the UK, Ireland and the US to reach stable herd immunity levels in the next decades, which means that a sufficiently high proportion of individuals are immune to the disease to avoid future outbreaks. To be effective, mandatory vaccination at school entry would need to cover more than 40 percent of the population. Smitha Mundasad, a BBC health correspondent said that vaccines may have become a victim of their own success. Because theyre working so well and doing what theyre supposed to do, maybe people arent seeing the serious complications of [] measles anymore. This may lead to people underestimating the seriousness of the disease and not believing vaccines are necessary. The fall in vaccination is also due to a study that was based on just 12 children drawing links between the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism, leading many people to be wary of vaccinating their children, despite this research being extremely flawed and later disproven and removed by the Lancet where it was first published. Social media is also helping to fuel anti vaccine debates through sharing low quality or inflammatory information. Health Secretary Matt Hancock stated that he was open to considering all options to help England raise its vaccination levels, which included bringing in compulsory vaccinations, although he said he did not necessarily want to reach that point Sources Researchers at The University of Chicago have demonstrated that the type of bacteria living in the gut can influence the development of Alzheimer's disease symptoms in mice. The study, which will be published May 16 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, shows that, by altering the gut microbiome, long-term antibiotic treatment reduces inflammation and slows the growth of amyloid plaques in the brains of male mice, though the same treatment has no effect on female animals. The community of bacteria that live in the gastrointestinal tract- the gut microbiome- is generally harmless, but, because they affect the activity of the body's immune system, these bacteria can influence a wide range of diseases, even in distant tissues such as the brain. Recent evidence suggests that intestinal bacteria could play a major role in various neurological conditions including autism spectrum disorders, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease." Professor Sangram S. Sisodia, director of the Center for Molecular Neurobiology at The University of Chicago Alzheimer's disease is characterized by the formation of amyloid plaques and the activation of immune cells present in the brain known as microglia. These cells can help remove amyloid plaques, but their activation may also exacerbate the disease by causing neuroinflammation. Alzheimer's patients exhibit changes in their gut microbiome, and Sisodia and colleagues have previously reported that gut bacteria may influence the development of these symptoms in rodents. Long-term antibiotic treatment limited the formation of amyloid plaques and reduced microglia activation in male, but not female, mice expressing mutant proteins associated with familial Alzheimer's disease. "While compelling, our published studies on the role of the gut microbiome on amyloid plaque formation were limited to a single strain of mice," Sisodia says. In the new study, Sisodia and colleagues therefore examined the effects of antibiotics on a different mouse model of Alzheimer's disease known as APPS1-21. Long-term treatment with a cocktail of antibiotics again reduced the formation of amyloid plaques in male mice but had no effect on females. Antibiotic treatment also appeared to alter the activation of microglia in male mice, changing them from a form that is thought to promote neurodegeneration to a form that helps to maintain a healthy brain. To prove that these improvements in Alzheimer's symptoms were caused by alterations in the gut microbiome, the researchers transplanted fecal matter from untreated mice into antibiotic-treated animals. This procedure restored the gut microbiome and caused an increase in amyloid plaque formation and microglial activation. But why do alterations in the gut microbiome only affect male mice? Sisodia and colleagues discovered that long-term antibiotic treatment changed the gut bacteria of male and female mice in different ways. The changes in the microbiome of female mice caused their immune systems to increase production of several proinflammatory factors that could influence the activation of microglia. Our study shows that antibiotic-mediated perturbations of the gut microbiome have selective, sex-specific influences on amyloid plaque formation and microglial activity in the brain. We now want to investigate whether these outcomes can be attributed to changes in any particular type of bacteria." Professor Sangram S. Sisodia Source: Rockefeller University Press Journal reference: Sisodia, S.et al. (2019) Sex-specific effects of microbiome perturbations on cerebral A amyloidosis and microglia phenotypes. Journal of Experimental Medicine. doi.org/10.1084/jem.20182386 An app that allows parents and doctors to monitor a child's asthma has a big impact on managing the disease. When families monitored symptoms with eAsthma Tracker and adjusted care accordingly, children had better asthma control and made fewer visits to the emergency department. Using the app also meant that children missed fewer days of school and parents took fewer days off work, improving quality of life. Results of the study were published online in the journal Pediatrics. It's exciting to see that using an effective app can not only help improve the lives of children with asthma and their parents, but also allow their providers to give optimal care." Flory Nkoy, MD, MS, MPH., study's lead author and University of Utah Health professor of pediatrics He and his team created the app and carried out the research along with collaborators at Intermountain Healthcare and Parent Partners in Salt Lake City. Despite effective treatments, keeping asthma in check can be particularly tricky. An attack can come seemingly without warning and up to 40 percent of children hospitalized with asthma wind up back in the hospital within a year. A major contributing factor is that signs that precede an attack often go unnoticed. Scientists and physicians at U of U Health designed eAsthma Tracker as a way to continually monitor a child's disease. Asthma care is typically reactive, focusing on treating recurrent attacks, says the study's senior author and U of U Health hospitalist Bryan Stone, MD, MS. While most children with asthma show signs days to weeks before an attack, parents can easily miss these changes. eAsthma Tracker allows for monitoring at home, opening an opportunity to observe worsening signs and intervene in time to prevent a flare-up. A unique feature of the app is that it sends parents and doctors data in real-time, and triggers an automated alert when a child's asthma is acting up. When that happens, the app prompts parents to make an appointment with the child's doctor. A doctor receiving an alert may decide to proactively call parents to determine how to address the issue. "Parents love the idea that they can see how their child is doing and that their doctor is on the other end of the app and working with them," says Stone. Families who use eAsthma Tracker fill out a brief weekly online survey based on a standard assessment called the Asthma Control Test. The app assigns a score reflecting whether asthma is impeding the child's daily activities and how often they're using medication to control symptoms. It then issues recommendations dependent on being categorized as severe (red zone), under control (green zone) or approaching severe (yellow zone). More than 300 children and parents at 11 clinics throughout Utah enrolled in the study designed to determine whether the app improved patient outcomes. Researchers found that children who used the app: improved their asthma control made significantly fewer visits to the emergency department and hospital significantly reduced oral steroid use (a surrogate measure for asthma attacks), missed 60% fewer days of school, and had an improved quality of life. In addition, their parents missed 70% fewer days of work. Children and parents showed improvements in all measurements 3 months after starting to use the app, and the benefits persisted 12 months later. The investigators also compared outcomes from children who used eAsthma Tracker with outcomes from children who did not use the app. Results from this part of the study showed that children who used the app: made 60% fewer visits to the emergency department and hospital, and * had a 35% reduced use of oral steroids. The main limitation of the study was the lack of a control group pulled from the same clinics that study participants were recruited from. Although design of this part of the research was not optimal, the reasoning behind the omission was intentional. Based on promising results from a pilot investigation, the parent and community stakeholders that helped design the research recommended against withholding the app from willing participants. Nkoy and Stone are now working with the university's Center for Technology & Venture Commercialization to conduct market validation and develop a commercialization strategy to expand to other hospital systems. We are optimistic that spread of eAsthma Tracker can significantly improve asthma care and reduce asthma related healthcare costs." Flory Nkoy Source: University of Utah Health Journal reference: Nkoy, F. et al. (2019) Ambulatory Management of Childhood Asthma Using a Novel Self-management Application. Pediatrics. doi.org/10.1542/peds.2018-1711 As many as 90 percent of individuals who have a parent with Huntington's disease (HD) choose not to take a gene test that reveals if they will also develop the fatal disorder -- and a new study details the reasons why. Understanding the "why" matters as new clinical trials testing therapies for people who haven't yet developed symptoms of Huntington disease requires participants to be tested for the HD gene to be included in the trials. The study, published today in Clinical Genetics, also suggests that individuals who have chosen not to be tested can benefit from supportive counseling, which is not usually offered. Health care providers really need to help individuals at risk for Huntington's disease think through their decision whether or not to participate in a clinical trial that requires testing. For someone who has not wanted genetic testing for many years, we may be leading people to do a test that has not been and still may not be in their personal interest." Karen E. Anderson, MD, study's lead investigator, associate professor of psychiatry & neurology at Georgetown University Medical Center She says, "For those who want testing and are ready to cope with the result, either positive or negative, it is our duty to help them get this information so they can make decisions about future care, financial planning and, possibly, study participation. For those who are not ready to be tested, or never want testing, we need also to support their choices," says Anderson, who is also director of Huntington's Disease Care, Education & Research Center, a joint program of Georgetown University and MedStar Georgetown Hospital. Huntington's disease is caused by an inherited defect in a single gene. Inheritance is autosomal dominant: only one copy of a mutated HD gene is needed to pass on the disorder, thus the chance of inheritance is 50 percent. (A person inherits two copies of every gene, one from each parent. A parent with a defective gene can pass on either a mutant or healthy HD gene.) The disease produces progressive degeneration of nerve cells in the brain, which affects the ability to move and think, and often results in depression and other psychiatric disorders due to functional changes in the brain. To date, there is no cure for the disease and no way to prevent its onset. It is always fatal. People who have the HD genetic mutation expansion will develop HD (unless they die of other causes before it develops). Anderson says there are effective treatments for the symptoms, and a "pipeline" of drugs that may alter the course of the disease are now in clinical testing. Among them are gene silencing techniques that may lower the level of abnormal protein that is produced by the HD gene. The age at which a person with the HD genetic mutation develops the disorder depends on the number of times a coding mistake in the gene is repeated. Symptoms in adults can begin as early as age 20, or, more likely, in mid-life, (ages 30-50). Onset after age 80 has been reported. Once they begin, symptoms worsen over 10-25 years until death. The HD gene that causes the disease was isolated in 1993 and a predictive gene test quickly followed. Studies have been conducted on why people choose to take the gene test, but only one large study has been done on why people don't -- the subject of the Clinical Genetics publication. This study included 1001 potential HD mutation carriers who had chosen not to learn their HD status. These individuals agreed to participate in the Prospective Huntington At-Risk Observational Study (PHAROS), carried out between 1999 and 2008. Data from a subset of 733 of these subjects were used in the current report by Anderson and others. The two primary reasons why participants did not want to know their risk was because they felt no effective cure or treatment exists and their inability to undo the knowledge they learned from the test. "Our subjects were optimistic that a treatment to improve symptoms or postpone treatment would be developed with the next ten years, but they had less certainty about the prospect of preventing the disease," Anderson says. "Back in 1993, when the genetic mutation causing HD was discovered, we anticipated that many people at risk would want to be tested, just to deal with the uncertainty, but that is not the case. Only about 10-15 percent of people who know they are at risk for HD have been tested since the test became available, and that percentage really hasn't changed much over time. This study shows there are important, relevant reasons why people don't want to be tested," she says. As part of the PHAROS study, participants gave permission for gene analysis with the understanding that they would not be told the results. Helping to understand why people chose not to test makes it easier for physicians and genetic counselors to broach the subject with individuals at risk, especially if they are considering a clinical trial, she says. "We already know that clinicians have fewer conversations with people at risk for Huntington's who chose not to test, compared with people who do seek a test, who receive evaluation and supportive counseling prior to testing. Now we know factors people cite for why they don't want to know their status," says Anderson. "This study shows us that, as new treatments develop that will require genetic testing for clinical trial participation, we should reassess attitudes about how people at risk for disease approach this life-altering choice. It tells us that we should understand, and respect, decisions not to have that testing," she says. Currently there are about 30,000 Americans who are symptomatic, and more than 200,000 who are at risk of developing the disease, according to the Huntington's Disease Society of America. Source: Georgetown University Medical Center Journal reference: Anderson, K.E. et al. (2019) The choice not to undergo genetic testing for Huntington disease: Results from the PHAROS study. Clinical Genetics. doi.org/10.1111/cge.13529 A study conducted at the University of Sao Paulo (USP) in Brazil and described in an article published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence may help healthcare workers identify patients who risk relapse after undergoing treatment for cocaine use disorder. According to the authors, the findings reinforce the need to offer individualized treatment strategies for these cases, which are considered severe. The principal investigator for the study was Paulo Jannuzzi Cunha, a professor at the University of Sao Paulo's Medical School (FM-USP), with a postdoctoral research scholarship from Sao Paulo Research Foundation - FAPESP and support from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq). For 30 days, the researchers monitored 68 patients admitted for treatment for cocaine dependence to the Psychiatry Institute of Hospital das Clinicas, FM-USP's general and teaching hospital in Sao Paulo. All patients volunteered to participate in the study. They were contacted three months after discharge to verify their abstinence. All but 14 reported a relapse, defined as at least one episode of cocaine use during the period. One of the goals of the study was to determine whether the 11 criteria for diagnosing chemical dependence established in the DSM-5 were also effective at predicting the response to treatment. DSM-5 is the latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and valued as the standard classification by mental health professionals in many parts of the world. Our hypothesis was that these criteria would not help accurately predict relapse. However, after completing the study, we recognized that they may in fact be useful for predicting vulnerability to relapse." Paulo Jannuzzi Cunha The DSM-5 criteria for diagnosing a substance use disorder include taking the drug in larger amounts and/or for longer periods than intended; craving, or a strong desire to use the drug; giving up social, occupational or recreational activities because of substance use; continued use despite having persistent social or interpersonal problems caused or exacerbated by the effects of the drug; tolerance (needing increasing amounts to achieve the desired effect); and withdrawal symptoms, among others. According to the DSM-5 guidelines, a substance use disorder can be considered mild if two or three of the 11 criteria are met for a year, moderate if four or five are met for a year, or severe if six or more are met for a year. Our sample included only cases classified as severe. We observed a clear difference between patients who met six to eight criteria and those who met nine to 11. The relapse rate was significantly higher in the latter group." Danielle Ruiz Lima, first author of the article The results suggested that the three categories recommended by DSM-5 should be reviewed. "There seems to be an 'ultra-severe' group as well as a 'severe' group," they said. Refining the analysis Another hypothesis investigated was that the pattern of cocaine use (DSM-5 score plus factors such as age at use onset and intensity of use in the month prior to hospital admission) and the cognitive deficit caused by the drug were related variables that could help predict a relapse after treatment. The researchers used several tests to assess the participants' performance in executive functioning, which include working memory (required for specific actions, such as those of a waiter who has to associate orders with customers and deliver them correctly), sustained attention (the ability to focus for as long as it takes to complete a specific task, such as filling out a form, without being distracted), and inhibitory control (the capacity to control impulses). The researchers applied the tests a week after admission on average, as they considered this waiting time sufficient to know whether the urine toxicology was negative. The aim of this procedure was to avoid acute effects of the drug on the organism. One of the tests used to measure memory span required the patient to repeat an ascending sequence of numbers presented by the researchers. Patients who had made intensive use of cocaine in the previous month before admission underperformed on this test. In other tests, in this case used to measure selective attention, cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control, patients were asked to repeat a sequence of colors and then to name the ink color when the name of a different color is printed (the word "yellow" printed in blue ink, for example). "The automatic response is to read what's written instead of naming the ink color, as required. Inhibitory control is essential to perform this task. This function is extremely important in the early stages of drug dependence rehabilitation, when the patient has to deal with craving and situations that stimulate the desire to use the drug," Cunha said. The analysis showed a correlation between inhibitory control test results and the age at cocaine use onset. "The earlier the onset, the more mistakes they made, which could point to a higher risk of relapse. The idea is to identify the people who have substantial difficulties so that we can work out individualized treatment strategies," Lima said. Intense cocaine use in the 30 days preceding admission also correlated with underperformance on the inhibitory control test and the working memory test, in which the patient was asked to listen to a sequence of numbers and repeat them in reverse order, reflecting an important function for the manipulation of information as a basis for decision making. According to the researchers, studies have shown that executive functions may be restored after a period of abstinence, but to what extent and how long this recovery may take are unknown. The research group at FM-USP advocates cognitive rehabilitation programs to support the recovery process. "We have a motivational chess proposal that's being studied right now," Cunha said. "A therapist plays chess with the patient and then discusses the moves, making analogies with the patient's life in an attempt to transfer the knowledge acquired in the chess game to day-to-day experience and train inhibitory control, planning and healthy decision making in the real world." In his view, the assessment of cognitive deficits is important for both diagnosing substance use disorder and predicting relapse. "Chemical dependence is a brain disease, and these neuropsychological tests offer a slide rule with which to measure objectively whether the damage is mild, moderate or severe, along similar lines to the classification of dementia," he said. According to the researchers, despite the clinical relevance of neuropsychological test results, they are not part of the DSM-5 criteria, which are based solely on self-reported factors and clinical observations. We hope the sixth edition of the DSM takes these developments into account in recognition of the research done by us and other groups worldwide." Paulo Jannuzzi Cunha Source: Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo Journal reference: Cunha, P. J. et al. (2019) The role of neurocognitive functioning, substance use variables and the DSM-5 severity scale in cocaine relapse: A prospective study. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2019.01.013. We fare better during health challenges when we have a little help from our friends, family and community. And perhaps an assist from artificial intelligence. Researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) trained natural language processing (NLP) software to look for mentions of social isolation in clinical notes in the electronic health record (EHR). NLP is a type of artificial intelligence that tries to make human language "readable" to computers. Once trained by the MUSC team, NLP identified socially isolated patients with 90 percent accuracy. The findings are reported in BioMed Central Medical Informatics and Decision Making. Social isolation is one of the "social determinants of health," aspects of a person's life that affect well-being and health. Other examples of social determinants are income, education, race, and marital status. These social determinants have been shown in clinical trials to affect health outcomes as much as usual suspects such as blood pressure and diabetes. We know from careful evidence that social determinants are important to health care and health outcomes." Chanita Hughes-Halbert, Ph.D., senior author on the article "Social isolation is a really important social determinant because it reflects the extent to which people perceive they have a high level of connectedness and support." Hughes-Halbert is professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at MUSC. She also directs a center funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) focused on precision medicine and minority men's health at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center. "The mission of our center is to identify the ways in which social, clinical, psychological and behavioral data and genomic information interact with each other to lead to disease risk and affect how men respond to treatment options," explains Hughes-Halbert. "As part of that, we're really interested in the role that social determinants play." Like many teams using artificial intelligence to unlock the insights embedded in the EHR, the MUSC team paired a subject matter expert, Hughes-Halbert, and a bioinformatics team. The bioinformatics team was led by Leslie Lenert, M.D., MS, Chief Research Information Officer for MUSC and director of MUSC's Biomedical Informatics Center (BMIC). Other team members included Vivienne Zhu, M.D., M.S., first author of the article, and Jihad Obeid, M.D, both of BMIC, and Brian Bunnell, Ph.D., of the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences. The team came together to find a way to help physicians provide care informed by an awareness of their patients' social determinants of health, including social isolation. The National Academy of Medicine has called for physicians to document social determinants in the EHR. However, busy physicians do not always have the time to do so. Even when they do, the current EHR has no place to enter information on a number of the social determinants as coded data. At best, physicians can mention a discussion with a patient about social isolation in their clinical notes. "When people go to the doctor, they do talk about social isolation and other determinants of health. But you won't find that in the coded data," explains Zhu. "You have to look at the clinical notes - that's where the information is embedded." It would take a human many months to sort through the notes looking for mentions of social isolation. In contrast, the NLP software combed through the 55, 516 clinical notes comprising 150,990 documents from 3138 prostate cancer patients in the training data set in just eight seconds. There were I don't know how many hundreds of thousands of documents in this prostate cancer data set. It's too many for a human being to read through to do the abstractions, but it's relatively easy for a computer." Leslie Lenert Once trained, NLP was able to analyze a new set of documents from 1057 patients and identify patients who were socially isolated with 90 percent accuracy. "It's pretty darned accurate," says Lenert. "It performed well, but the problem remains that some physicians do not comment on these issues and so don't leave a trail for NLP to follow." Artificial intelligence could help here too. Lenert and the bioinformatics team hope that they can use another type of artificial intelligence known as machine learning to identify which clinical and other traits characterize socially isolated patients. Machine learning could then search for patients with that constellation of traits in the EHR. It would be able to identify socially isolated patients even when the physician made no explicit mention of social isolation in the clinical notes. Future studies will be needed to develop and test Interventions for socially isolated patients. For now, these patients can be referred for hospital- and community-based support services. The NLP strategy developed by the MUSC team can be applied to other social determinants of health, particularly those that cannot be entered as coded data, and to other diseases. The team is already using NLP to identify patients with financial insecurity and alcohol abuse. MUSC owes its expertise in NLP in part to the NIH-funded South Carolina Clinical & Translational (SCTR) Institute. SCTR is a Clinical and Translational Science Award hub housed at MUSC. "The general expertise in NLP, the infrastructure for the access to the notes, and some of the support for the software comes through SCTR," says Lenert. In a sense, NLP can help physicians "listen" to their patients better, understand their health challenges in the broader context of their lives, and provide more informed and nuanced care. "Sometimes physicians focus excessively on the 'medical' problems and don't pay enough attention to the context that people live in and the social aspects that influence their health," says Lenert. "Our study once again highlights the importance of knowing this information in order to provide patients our very best care." Source: Medical University of South Carolina Journal reference: Hughes-Halbert, C. et al. (2019) Automatically identifying social isolation from clinical narratives for patients with prostate cancer. BioMed Central Medical Informatics and Decision Makin. doi.org/10.1186/s12911-019-0795-y A little over three years ago, a student uploaded an 'objectionable' post on Facebook against Prophet Muhammad at Illambazar in Birbhum. Soon, an angry mob ransacked a police station and a 30-year-old man died after being shot in the head by a stray bullet. The BJP state president called for the beheading of anti-nationals and demanded self-respect for Hindus. With Assembly polls around the corner, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) attacked the BJP for fostering hate. No stranger to political violence, the incident was an anomaly in the district that hadnt had a reported case of communal violence for decades. A sign of things to come, this was the first in a string of communal incidents that would punctuate Bengals politics in the coming years. It predicted the extent to which the BJPs call for self-respect for Hindus, fuelled, at least partly, by Mamata Banerjees alleged Muslim appeasement would resonate in the coming years. At Bhagabatipur at Illambazar, less than a half an hours drive from the Vishwa Bharati University that Rabindranath Tagore had envisioned as a place of learning unfettered by religion or nationalism, the anger at the death of Rezaul Islam continues to rankle. His widow, Farida Bibi, had moved away from the village with her kids. What remained, Abul Kalam (64) said, was a sense of impending doom. The former panchayat board member explained, At the time, there was no way for us to gauge the extent to which this kind of hatred between Hindus and Muslims would spread. I dont know what will happen to this state. Tagore had written that he would never allow patriotism to triumph over humanity but the BJP emphasis on national security has greatly aided it in its growth across north Kolkata. The Lok Sabha seat is one that the BJP has had on its radar since it finished third there in 2014, with a net vote gain of nearly 14 per cent. The seat, with its 37 per cent Muslim population (varying from 15 to 99 per cent in each of its 13 blocks) is a perfect template of how the BJPs relentless campaign of Hindutva has allowed them to gain traction and acceptability in a state where it couldnt muster 2 per cent of total votes two decades ago. With the BJP gaining ground, the TMC victory in last years bloody rural polls saw them win 87 per cent of gram panchayat seats uncontested amid allegation of intimidation and murder. Polling on Monday in Birbhum left at least nine injured in clashes between the two parties. The CPI(M) often cites the three decades of Left Front rule as evidence that Hindutva is antithetical to Bengal, that under its rule, ideology had trumped identity. But the fact remains that Bengal, unlike the rest of India, was partitioned twice and between 1905 and 1947, relations between Hindus and Muslims had deteriorated, eventually manifesting in the Great Calcutta killings and Noakhali-Tipperia riots in 1946. The state with a Muslim population of 27 per cent saw both conflict and cohabitation between the two communities. Today, the Left is a shadow of its former self and the politics of identity dominates discourse. As the state goes to polls, political conversations from Contai to Cooch Behar, from Darjeeling to Diamond Harbour are eventually whittled down to the binary of Mamata versus Modi, Hindu versus Muslim. How can the BJP claim that theirs is a party that belongs to Hindus? The BJP doesnt have any respect for the Hindu religion, thundered Mamata Banerjee at Pandua in Hooghly last month, while listing the development works her government has done for religious sites, in particular for Tarakeswar. An hours drive from the hallowed fields of Singur where Banerjee scripted her 2011 victory, the 450-year-old temple at Tarakeswar has come to represent the challenge that Banerjee faces today. For more immersives like this subscribe to our newsletter. In June 2017, Banerjee announced the creation of Tarakeshwar Development Authority (TDA), with a budget of Rs 5 crore to develop the temple. At its helm, she appointed Firhad Hakim, now the first Muslim mayor of Kolkata since Independence. The BJP was up in arms, opposing the decision to appoint a non-Hindu at the head of a temple board and flung the charge of Muslim appeasement at her. Since then, the temples priests have welcomed the move and its head priest, Dandiswami Sureshwar Ashram, was quoted in December 2017 by Times of India as saying that any help is welcomewhy should we not welcome this? But for Mamata Banerjee, who strategically polarised Muslim votes in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections to win eight of the 14 Muslim-dominated seats, the charge of appeasement has stuck. Her governments announcement of a monthly honorarium for nearly 30,000 imams in the state saw the VHP launch a campaign for similar honorarium to Hindu priests and unemployed youths. Competitive communal politics continued, polarising the electorate and weakening the Left. The BJP, meanwhile, gained traction and consolidated the pro-Hindutva, pro-Modi and anti-Mamata votes. Almost exactly at the halfway point between Tarakeswar and Singur is Kaikala village, where, at a 19th century school, Hindu conservative writer and literary critic Chandranath Basu had first used the expression Hindutva in 1892. Although his Hindutva signified something very different from what we know, the ideologys connection to Bengal is something that neither the BJP, nor the RSS tire of reiterating. After all, RSS founder KB Hedgewars stint as a medical student in Calcutta was greatly influenced by Bengals radical nationalists. His successor MS Gowalkars time at the Ramakrishna Math was a factor in his understanding of Hindu nationalism, as one characterized by ideas of service and renunciation. It was on Hedgewar and VD Savarkars advice that Shyama Prasad Mookherjee became the president of the Hindu Mahasabha, after joining the organisation in 1939. Inducted into the Jawaharlal Nehru cabinet as minister for industries in 1947, he resigned from the Hindu Mahasabha in 1948 and he would subsequently resign from the Nehru cabinet as well, seeking instead to form a political party to oppose Nehru. The RSS, at the time, banned after Mahatma Gandhis murder, was looking to form its own political front. This would culminate in the formation of the Bharatiya Jana Sangha (BJS), the BJPs predecessor. In the 1952 general elections, the BJS contested six of Bengals 36 seats, winning two seats and securing 5.59 per cent of the vote share. SP Mookherjee won from Calcutta South East and the party, buoyed by Mookherjees leadership and support from Hindu refugees, would continue to script impressive electoral performances. But after his death and BJSs inability to offer political patronage to Hindu refugees, the party and Hindutva dissipated from the state. That is until the early nineties. The list of holy and inspirational men that Modi listed, while countering Banerjees salvo of sending him rasgullas filled with soil, wasnt accidental last week. The soil of Bengal gave birth to so many great men such as Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Swami Vivekananda, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Shyama Prasad Mookerjee. If Modi gets rasgullas made out of this soil, it will be like prasad to him, the Prime Minister said. With the BJP growing in north India, the party had realised in the nineties the need to shed its image of being a north Indian party of the Hindi-speaking other in the state. A state-level political campaign began where the BJP celebrated regional icons while at the same time asserting the Bengali roots of its Hindu nationalist politics. In February 1990, a rally to celebrate Swami Vivekananda was held in Kolkata, where national leaders LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi accused the pseudo-secular Left and Congress of neglecting Bengali personalities. The Organiser, the RSS organ wrote, Any country would have been proud to have a personality like Vivekananda. But the Marxists and Left progressives in Bengal are a different breed. They are now threatened to be buried in the quicksand of their frothy Marxist ideology that is completely unrelated to the psyche of Bengal, nay of India. The Ram Mandir issue, the BJP decided, would be utilised in the state differently, fusing the national and the regional. For instance, in April 1991, the state announced a series of jatra (folk theatre) performances where the campaign conflated scenes of the Ramayana with local politics the victorious Ram was the BJP, a defenseless Sita was Bengal and Ravana was the Left. Even local panchayat leaders and the legend of SP Mookherjee would find space in these performances. The seeds of Hindutva were planted then. The party is taking advantage of it now. But it is unfortunate that those visionaries like Advani have been sidelined, said one Bengal BJP leader, who didnt wish to be identified. The Present HOW HINDUTVA IS SHAPING BENGAL On April 15, a day after the Bajrang Dal organised their Ram Navami rally at Purulia, the TMC countered it with theirs. The two rallies were nearly identical: saffron flags and youth dancing to the shuddering beats reverberated across the city. For two days, the streets of Purulia, once a Maoist bastion and a Forward Block stronghold, brimmed, almost entirely with young men. Dancing wildly to Hindutva pop a cocktail of thundering techno music, combined with nationalism and religious references the city remained acutely aware of the political machinations at play. The Bajrang Dal had been organising rallies here for three years, the TMC was a new entrant, coping when no longer able to cope. Children at Ram Navami celebration organised by the BJP in Purulia, south west Bengal. Armed Ram Navami rallies, organised by the BJP, had first become part of the Hindutva mobilisation in the state in 2016. The procession drew criticism, not just from Mamata Banerjee, but also from within. Union home minister Rajnath Singh had criticised the processions at the time in particular the fact that children were seen wielding arms. Last year, during the armed rallies, one person died in Purulia while a Puja pandal was attacked in Bardhaman district. "One shouldnt hope to win the hearts of Bengalis with repression." But in the Lok Sabha seat, where the district administration maintains that at least 500 temples for Lord Ram and Hanuman were constructed in the past year, encapsulates the changing face of Hindutva in the state. As one TMC MLA from Kolkata put it, We tried making the case that this isnt Bengali culture. But there has been a lot of assimilation. The difference between the north and Bengal is less than it was. The result: the TMC has decided to, wherever possible, also assert its own Hindu identity. In Purulia, for instance, the TMC-supported rally was organised under the banner of Nagarik Manch (Citizens Platform) and managed by Gaurav Singh. Singh, until recently a key figure in the Bajrang Dal, is now the TMC youth wing president of Purulia town. BJP district president Bidyasagar Chakraborty said, The Bajrang Dal has been doing it for two years, this is the third. It is a non-political, religious festival. There is a request to all Hindus to participate and last year, some from the TMC had also participated in the past. With the TMC not being able to stem the flow of Hindutva in Bengal, it has decided instead to ride the wave the best it can. The MLA explained, Something has changed in the psyche of Hindutva in the state, but it is difficult. With the BJP growing in north India, the party had realized in the nineties the need to shed its image of being a north Indian party of the Hindi-speaking other in the state. In Barrackpore Lok Sabha constituency, where 2016 saw rioting at Naihati, the partys heavyweight, Arjun Singh, switched over to the BJP and is challenging Dinesh Trivedi. A series of defections followed, along with the mobilisation of the BJP and RSS on the ground. A member of Trivedis team said that with the Muslim votes and Hindi-speaking Hindu votes cancelling themselves out, the Bengali Hindu voters might end up deciding. At the seat that was once the jute bowl of India and elsewhere, the question of Bengali-ness has become key for the TMC. The party has been repeatedly attacking the BJPs legitimacy as a Bengali party -- a tactic it had deployed in December last year to counter the BJPs attempt at conducting rath yatras in the state. At the time, Banerjee had flagged off a rath yatra for Lord Jagannath in Kolkata and said, There is a close connection between Maa Kalis Temple and the Jagannath Temple of PuriI am praying for peace to reign in Bengal as well as in the entire country. Her nephew, Abhishek had been more direct. In the name of rath yatra, they have brought a 7-star AC luxury bus from Delhi. We have heard of rath yatra of Shri Jagannath or Shri Krishna (referring to the Rash Mela held in districts like Cooch Behar). But in the name of rath, communal asuras of Bangla will be riding a luxury buswe have to be alert, he said. The TMC has also tried to counter the BJPs narrative of the National Register of Citizen where it proposes a binary of the Hindu refugee and the Muslim infiltrator as being anti-Bengali. During the exercise in Assam, Banerjee posited herself at the heart of the debate and claimed that of the 66% of the Bengalis in Assam, whose names dont feature in the first draft were Hindus. Does BJP president Amit Shah have the original birth certificates of his parents, she asked, before concluding, One shouldnt hope to win the hearts of Bengalis with repression. A child pushing a bicycle received by his family as a part of a TMC government scheme with a BJP Hanuman wall painting behind him at Purulia. This is key. In 2014, the BJP had received only 21 per cent of the Hindu votes in the state, compared to the TMCs 40 per cent and the Lefts 29 per cent, as per data from the Centre for Study of Developing Societies, adding that the TMC also received 40 per cent of the Muslim votes, while the BJP only received 2 per cent. It is a misconception that the TMC is a Muslim party. It has a large support base among Hindus and its vital that the BJP isnt able to erode that, said a TMC Rajya Sabha MP. But, the MP added, With polarisation pitting Muslims against Hindus, it is a difficult balancing act to maintain. "Those that ate and laughed together for yearsnow sit across the road, separated from each other." The balancing act that the MP spoke about can be seen across the state. Hindutva is no longer confined to the margins or restricted to dusty pamphlets. Its central and finds expression in daily lives. At Basirhat, another seat that has seen rioting in the past years, Mohammad Arif, who owns a restaurant, said the balance was one he had to maintain on a daily basis. I had one restaurant, and my best selling item was the beef biryani and chaap. The mutton biryani a close second, he said. In the past year, his customers nearly halved and for the first time, the 63-year-old Arif Restaurant was dubbed a Muslim eatery. After some consideration, he eventually opened up a smaller restaurant across the road for Hindus that served mutton but not beef. Those who ate and laughed together for yearsnow sit across the road, separated from each other, he said. Sharon Kelly hasnt always had to rely on a property manager to fix things. She spent years in her own home, a beautiful double-wide on several acres, and prided herself on her ability to maintain her house. Then several years ago, the Lynchburg resident had to go on disability and her husband died. The resulting income change forced her into government-subsidized housing. Now, instead of buying and installing a door when her current one broke, Kelly had to wait for her property management company to do it for her. She said she first filed a maintenance request for that was off level from the door frame and let air into I went through all the correct ways to get it done, she said. Instead of replacing it, her property management company installed weather stripping, something Kelly said didnt fix the issue. She then called the company, who said theyd look into it. F&W Management, Kellys property management company, did not respond to requests for comment. A year later, nothing had happened, so Kelly reached out to Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va. His secretary wrote her back and they began a correspondence that resulted in a connection to the Department of Housing and Urban Developments Innovation Lab. Members of HUD were able to get in touch with F&W Management and get Kelly a new door. And the thing of it is were low income, Kelly said. If they dont put new windows and new siding and new doors, you know our rent and light bill are [sky-high]. My light bill for one month using my air conditioner last year was $150. Kellys apartment is less than 1,000 square feet. She said she wanted to speak up about how she advocated for her renters rights because she knows there are so many others who are in the same situation but are scared to come forward because they think theyll be evicted. After speaking with Virginia Legal Aid, Kelly knows thats not true. Legally, landlords only can evict a tenant for not paying rent or for damages to the residence. Denise Crews, Director of Housing, Counseling and Community Development for Lynchburg Community Action Group, said this is a concern she sees from local citizens as well. People think if they try to report to the city or a county official for code violations, that theyre going to be evicted, she said. There have been landlords that have tried to threaten that. Thats a no-no. However, Crews said it is also important for renters to understand that they cannot withhold their rent just because their landlord does not fix an issue. Put in a request, she said. Document every single thing and give them a reasonable amount of time to fix it. If the landlord hasnt rectified the issue in 30 days, Crews said a tenant has a right to legal recourse that would require the property manager to correct the issue within 21 days or face further action. In these cases, Lyn-CAG will refer tenants to Legal Aid for advisement. Crews said Lyn-CAGs housing department offers several programs to aid local renters, including a tenant rights and responsibilities class and one-on-one counseling. She said the most important aspect of the landlord-tenant relationship is simple. Communication is key, she said. Dont be afraid to communicate and communicate with respect. I cant stress enough to be proactive rather than reactive. It also is critical for tenants to understand their leases, Crews said, so theyre aware of what theyre signing so they arent taken advantage of by a landlord. Because unfortunately, while we do have some good landlords, we do have some not-so- good landlords, she said. Zanita Robinson, a housing counselor with Lyn-CAG, said renters need to make sure they have a written lease as well. Theres a lot of communication between people that usually never works out in court so the main thing I always tell them is get a lease, and then explaining to them the importance of that lease and what it means and what their responsibilities are, she said. Landlords have a tendency to be good landlords when they have good tenants. Director of Community Development Kent White said there are thousands of landlords who are doing great work in this city and are overly responsive and overly accommodating, but there is a small group of landlords that require additional education and staff follow-up. In 1994, city council created the Residential Rental Inspection Program in the citys urban core to address concerns from citizens about housing conditions. Keith Wright, Lynchburgs neighborhood services manager, said there are about 4,000 properties in the district. A team of five rental inspectors examines all rental properties within the residential rental inspection district on a four-year rotating basis to ensure compliance with city code. White said this is the citys only proactive housing inspection program. If inspectors identify an issue with the unit, the landlord will receive a citation and must rectify it or face court action resulting in a misdemeanor charge with potential fines. Tenants also can notify the citys inspections office if they have an issue with their rental property and inspectors will come out to take a look. Kelly said she hopes other renters will feel comfortable coming forward when they have an issue. Somebodys got to speak up and say something, Kelly said. If not to get something done, then to at least get the ball rolling.People who dont live it dont understand. An 18-year-old E.C. Glass High School student was killed and another seriously injured in a shooting Thursday evening at a city apartment complex, police said. Dreyon TyShean Browley, of Lynchburg, succumbed to his injuries after being taken to a hospital, the Lynchburg Police Department said in a news release Friday morning. The fatal shooting is the first in Lynchburg this year and the first in nearly seven months. Another 18-year-old Lynchburg man, whose name police did not release, remains hospitalized in critical but stable condition with serious injuries, police said. Neighbors identified the man as Justin Barnett. Lynchburg City Schools confirmed in a statement both shooting victims attended E.C. Glass. A 2018 football roster lists both as varsity athletes. A 17-year-old male juvenile from Campbell County, whose name police did not release, was arrested within three hours of the shooting and charged with murder, malicious wounding and two counts of the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. The juvenile is currently being held at the Lynchburg Regional Juvenile Detention Center, according to Lynchburg Commonwealths Attorney Bethany Harrison. Under Virginia law, any person aged 14 or older charged with murder must be tried as an adult. Police responded at 7:30 p.m. to The Meadows Apartments at 2315 Yorktown Ave., near E.C. Glass High School, after callers reported two people had been shot behind the 400 building, according to the news release. The six-building apartment complex, which was originally built in 1982, according to property records, sits off Langhorne Road. The 400 building is located in the heart of the complex. Police officers gave the victims first aid and Lynchburg Fire Department medics attempted life-saving measures on scene before the two were taken to Lynchburg General Hospital, police said. Investigators and forensic units responded to the scene soon after. Thanks to community cooperation, police quickly developed suspect leads and broadcast information across the region. The Campbell County Sheriffs Office found the suspect and a vehicle a short time later. The suspect was taken into custody within three hours of the shooting, police said. Police said the incident appears to be isolated. They did not offer a motive behind the shooting. Stanley Woolfolk said hehad just arrived at the apartment building to visit his mother as the shooting unfolded around 7 p.m. He said he watched the shooter flee the building with a handgun moments after the shots rang out. In an instant, he decided to chase after him. I got in my vehicle and, you know, I tried to run him down, he said. But the shooter had climbed into his own car and was already speeding north on Langhorne Road. Woolfolk quickly lost sight of him. He described the shooter to police as young, white, blond and wearing eyeglasses. Woolfolk said he felt compelled to help catch the shooter because he knew both victims. He noted Browley was scheduled to graduate with his high school diploma in two weeks. They were athletes, you know, getting ready to walk the stage, he said. Its sad man, its real sad. Amber Greer, a mother of two, was inside her apartment in the 400 building when she heard three gunshots in quick succession. She said Browley and Barnett were standing outside the rear of the building near a staircase moments before the shooting. She found them both lying on the ground when she left her apartment. Friday afternoon, blood could still be seen drying on the sidewalk pavement. Greer said police regularly respond to the apartment complex. She said the shooting has her scared for the safety of her children. I have a four-year-old and a one-year-old and I feel like they cant come outside and play, she said. Bullets dont have anyones name on it; you just never know. It is unclear if the victims or the suspect in the shooting lived at The Meadows. On Friday, classes continued as scheduled at nearby E.C. Glass. In a statement, the school system said additional support was on site to help students and staff through this difficult time. In a Facebook post, Lynchburg Mayor Treney Tweedy asked the community to pray for the families affected by the shooting. As a community I pray we wrap our arms, hearts and time around all of our youth. They matter to us and we love them! Keep praying for all impacted by this tragedy, Tweedy wrote. Local faith leaders have scheduled a candlelight vigil for 5 p.m. Sunday. The vigil will be held at the E.C. Glass football field and the public is invited to attend. 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. Don't 'tart up' D-Day ceremony On the morning of June 6, 1944, 13,000 Allied aircraft took to the air supporting the invasion of France in the unprecedented military maneuver Operation Overlord. These aircraft, fragile by todays standards, represented the cutting-edge of technology and firepower available to combat the Axis forces entrenched along the French coastline. Boldly delivering the resolve of the Allied forces, these aircraft flew into the hornets nest of Nazi anti-aircraft fire, advancing the call of freedom. At the upcoming 75th anniversary remembrance ceremony in Bedford we have the extraordinary privilege of witnessing a fly-over featuring aircraft types from Operation Overlord. A child today can watch and begin to understand the bravery and sacrifice airman displayed in these old aircraft 75 years ago. Unfortunately, following this elegant and solemn display of respect, the ceremony will be reduced to a muscle pumping nationalistic fervor as modern warfare aircraft parade overhead in a circus of noise and grandeur. How are we showing proper reverence to the troops of 1944 by juxtaposing the majesty of their vintage aircraft with a loutish and irrelevant display of current air power? June 6 is their day, a day to honor fallen brothers, remember the sacrifices made by a nation and teach a new generation what constitutes true courage. Theres something majestic and rare about hearing the reverent hum of aircraft that won the war, period. Why tart it up with a bunch of unrelated jet noise? ADAM WRIGHT Lynchburg The proper decision Kudos to the Lynchburg City Council for approving funding for sidewalks on Florida Avenue. Councilmen Jeff Helgeson and Turner Perrow, Im not sure why you would oppose such a thing. I am sure you appreciate the sidewalks in your own neighborhoods. I cant imagine how this is even a controversial decision. MARTHA KJESETH-JOHNSON Lynchburg The MCU future of the Kingpin may be a mystery, but Marvel Comics has an answer Marvel Comics has already provided the perfect way for Kingpin to keep going in the MCU (Newser) Going to war with Iran is not on the to-do list of President Trump, officials say. Sources tell the New York Times that the presidentwho strongly criticized America's Middle East entanglements during his 2016 campaigntold Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan during a Wednesday morning briefing that he didn't want to go to war with the country. The BBC reports that when asked Thursday if the US and Iran would be going to war, Trump said: "I hope not." American diplomats have also been acting to defuse tensions, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asking European officials to help persuade Iran to "de-escalate" the situation, the Times reports. story continues below There are tensions not just between Washington and Tehran, but between hawkish advisersnational security adviser John Bolton in particularand other members of the administration, the AP reports. The Times' sources say Bolton has expressed frustration with Trump's failure to take military action against Iran and other countries, while Trump has poked fun at his adviser's hardline stance, quipping during one meeting: "If it was up to John, we'd be in four wars now." The Pentagon says recent military deployments may have actually helped ease tensions. The deterrence part of this is going pretty well from our perspective," a defense official tells the Wall Street Journal. (Earlier this week, the State Department told nonessential staff to leave Iraq.) (Newser) Gray whales are starving to death in alarming numbers off the West Coastand researchers aren't entirely sure why. So far this year, at least 53 dead gray whales have washed up on shores from San Diego to Washington state, a number only rivaled by a die-off in 1999 and 2000, USA Today reports. Many of the whales are juvenile and while some were killed by ships and nets instead of malnutrition, researchers say it is because they are entering risky areasincluding San Francisco Bayin an effort to find food. "It's definitely not normal," Mary Jane Schramm at the Greater Farallones Marine Sanctuary, which monitors the whales' migration, tells the San Francisco Chronicle. story continues below Researchers say only 10% of dead whales wash ashore, meaning the total number of deaths is likely 530 out of a population estimated at 20,000. The whales, which live off stored fat during the months they spend near California and Mexico, where the females give birth, have been making their way to feeding grounds in Alaska. Researchers believe weather patterns, possibly caused by climate change, meant they were unable to get enough food last year. "We have been facing record low levels of sea ice and earlier melting, which does not bode well for the organisms that the gray whales feed upon," says NOAA researcher Elliott Hazen, though other researchers say the whales, whose numbers dropped as low as 2,000 before protections were introduced, may have reached a natural limit. (This gray whale surprised researchers with a 14,000-mile journey.) (Newser) There were gasps at a hearing in New York City Thursday as a police commander was asked to read out the texts he had exchanged with a sergeant who was at the scene of the arrest that led to Eric Garner's death. After Sgt. Dhanan Saminath told Lt. Christopher Bannon that Garner went into cardiac arrest after officers took him down and was "most likely DOA," Bannon responded: "Not a big deal. We were effecting a lawful arrest." "Not a big deal" may now join "I can't breathe"which Garner shouted 11 times after he was wrestled to the groundas one of the "defining quotations" from the case, the New York Times reports. Garner, 43, was suspected of selling loose cigarettes. story continues below Bannon was testifying at the disciplinary trial of Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who is accused of using a banned chokehold during the July 2014 arrest. Under cross-examination, Bannon said the text was an attempt to calm down an officer who had been put in a "bad situation." He said he was trying "to bring him down to a level where you put him at ease." He described Pantaleo as one of the best officers he has ever supervised. After the hearing, Garner's mother, Gwen Carr, told the Guardian that the messages were a "smack in the face." "For the officer to disregard a human life like that ... in other words it was business as usual," she said. "Leave him there, do what you want to do, go on about your business. Thats what it felt like to me," (Read more Eric Garner stories.) (Newser) Police in Texas believe they've uncovered one of the state's most prolific serial killers, a man accused of killing 12 women in less than two years. Billy Chemirmira citizen of Kenya living in the US illegally, per KTVTwas jailed in March 2018 on suspicions that he smothered an 81-year-old woman in Dallas and tried to kill two others in Plano and Frisco. One of those women described losing consciousness after Chemirmir put a pillow over her face, later awaking to find her jewelry missing, per Dallas News. But this week came 11 additional capital murder indictments stemming from the deaths of other elderly women, some of whom lived in senior communities. Several families previously sued those communities, arguing their loved ones weren't adequately protected from a person known to pose as a health-care or maintenance worker. story continues below Relatives of 85-year-old Norma French, smothered with a pillow on Oct. 8, 2016, sued Dallas' Tradition-Prestonwood apartment facility last July, claiming its inadequate security "gave Chemirmir the opportunity to kill" her. Three weeks after French was killed and her wedding ring taken, 92-year-old Doris Gleason was also murdered at Tradition-Prestonwood, which is cooperating with authorities. Her gold necklace was never found. According to authorities, Chemirmirwho also went by Benjamin Koitabakilled and robbed the women, ages 76 to 94, between May 2016 and his March 2018 arrest. The 46-year-old is being held in Dallas County Jail with bail set at $9.1 million. His attorney tells the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that Chemirmir "seemed surprised with the indictments" and claims he is innocent. (Police say another serial killer struck this year in Virginia.) (Newser) Clever police workor an abuse of technology? When a suspect who looked a lot like a long-haired Woody Harrelson was caught on camera stealing beer from a CVS and the NYPD's facial-recognition system didn't provide any matches, a detective used a photo of the actor, according to a report from Georgetown University's Center on Privacy and Technology. The study says that instead of the pixelated security footage of the suspect, the detective used a high-quality photo of Harrelson with long hair from 2012's Hunger Games, and found 11 matches, including a man who was eventually arrested for the crime, the AP reports. The report says detectives also used a photo of New York Knick JR Smith to search for a man wanted for a Brooklyn assault. story continues below The Georgetown University reporttitled "Garbage In, Garbage Out"is highly critical of the practice of using celebrity photos to find lookalike suspects, as well as the use of artist's sketches in facial recognition systems, the New York Post reports. "The stakes are too high in criminal investigations to rely on unreliableor wrong inputs," writes researcher Clare Garvie. "It is one thing for a company to build a face recognition system designed to help individuals find their celebrity doppelganger," she writes. "Its quite another to use these techniques to identify criminal suspects, who may be deprived of their liberty and ultimately prosecuted based on the match." No comment yet from Harrelson. (San Francisco has banned police use of facial recognition technology.) (Newser) A man convicted of killing his wife decades ago at a camping center he managed in Memphis prayed and sang hymns as he was put to death Thursday in Tennessee. Don Johnson, 68, was executed via lethal injection inside a maximum-security Nashville prison for the 1984 suffocation of his wife, Connie Johnson. His last words were a long prayer that in some places echoed the words of Jesus as he was crucified, the AP reports. He asked for forgiveness for those participating in the execution, saying "they know not what they do." Johnson, who killed his wife by stuffing a trash bag down her throat, also prayed for "all those I have hurt" and thanked God for God's blessings, including his attorneys and loved ones. story continues below After the lethal injection drugs began flowing, Johnson asked if he could sing. Given permission by the warden, he sang "They'll Know We Are Christians" and then "Soon and Very Soon." His voice trailed off in the middle of the second song after the words, "no more dying there." He then began making noises that some witnesses interpreted as snores and others said were more like gurgling and gasping. They lasted about three minutes. After the execution, one of his attorneys, Kelley Henry, said she believes the noises were an indication that he could feel pain. After the execution, a Department of Correction spokeswoman read a statement from Connie Johnson's sister, Margaret Davis. "Connie's death was inhumane and indescribable," she said, and Don Johnson was rightly sentenced to die. But the 34 years he spent on death row are an indication that the criminal justice system "needs to be reevaluated." (Johnson rejected a last meal and asked supporters to buy a meal for a homeless person.) (Newser) It wasn't exactly the Gettysburg Address, but a speech Ted Cruz made at a recent Senate panel meeting certainly caught the internet's attention. "Since the ancient Greeks first put to sea, nations have recognized the necessity of naval forces and maintaining a superior capability to protect waterborne travel and commerce from bad actors," the Texan said Tuesday before the Senate Subcommittee on Aviation and Space. Then came his main point: Outer space is a potentially dangerous place, and a powerful Space ForcePresident Trump's proposed new military branchis an utter necessity. "Pirates threaten the open seas, and the same is possible in space," Cruz warned, per the BBC. story continues below USA Today notes that although Cruz also talked about more practical considerations, like the rise of satellite technology, it was his "space pirates" remark that soon brought ridicule onlineand a complaint from Cruz to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey on Wednesday. Cruz tweeted, "Hey @jack how come Twitter's 'moment' quotes all the snarky leftists making fun of my comments, but doesnt include my tweets in response explaining the real point that NATIONS like China have already developed & tested weapons to destroy satellites?" MSNBC's Chris Hayes called it "the saddest tweet I've ever seen," and Cruz had a fiery reply: "May Space Pirates devour your liver," he tweeted, adding a couple of pirate flag emojis for good measure. (Read more Ted Cruz stories.) (Newser) The owner of a South African lion farm has conceded that the big cats in his charge sometimes "play a little rough," but an incident at the farm Sunday went far beyond play, leaving a 4-year-old girl in bad shape after one of the lions reached through a fence, tore her scalp off, and put its claws through her skull. The Independent and New Zealand Herald report on the horrific attack at the Weltevrede Lion Farm, where little Dina-Marie de Beer was with her family after they'd stopped there to pet lion cubs, a popular offering at the farm. Dina-Marie's father, Pieter, was reportedly holding her near one of the barricades, and a tour guide tells the Independent that the dad "got a bit too close [and] the lion grabbed him through the fence." story continues below While the elder de Beer was barely hurt, Dina-Marie wasn't so lucky. She was said to be in critical condition, with part of her skull removed Monday to ease brain pressure. News24 reports she remains in an induced coma. Via the Independent, Netwerk24 reports a man was similarly attacked through the fence at the farm just a week earlier, while in 2010, lionesses went after two sisters, who sustained bite wounds. The manager of the farm tells the news outlet the incident was a "freak accident" and adds that not only are the farm's rules on not getting too close to the animals made clear to all visitors, but Dina-Marie's family was personally warned. Dina-Marie's father tells the Independent it looks like a long road ahead of her in healing. (Read more animal attack stories.) (Newser) Next Wednesday was supposed to be the day. That's when Islamic militants were planning on setting off a bomb, an Indonesian police spokesman saysand they reportedly had a high-tech plan in place. They were going to use WiFi to detonate it, Dedi Prasetyo tells the New York Times, a terror tactic he says has never been successfully used before in Southeast Asia, though terrorists have used it in the Middle East. Per the Times and the AP, nine suspected militants were arrested following raids on the island of Java, with several suspects believed to be linked to the Jamaah Ansharut Daulah militant network, which is tied to ISIS. story continues below In the raid, a counterterrorism squad says it recovered bomb-making explosives and detonators that could be triggered via WiFi using cellphones or radio transmitters. Dedi tells the Times that although cops will often use cellphone-signal jammers in large crowds to stop potential bomb detonations, WiFi signals are more challenging to stymie. And if suspects can set up such a system, they can achieve a detonation range of up to two-thirds of a mile. "One guy with electronics skills, that's all you need," says the head of Jakarta's Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict. Police say the bombing was set to coincide with the announcement Wednesday of the vote tally in the country's elections. (Read more Indonesia stories.) (Newser) It was a surprisingly simple plan as far as prison escapes go, but it worked like a charm. For a while. Maxine Feldstein, 30, posed as a sheriff's deputy to free Nicholas Lowe from the Washington County Detention Center in Arkansas, reports KFSM. She showed up at the prison as Deputy "L. Kershaw" from the Ventura County Sheriff's Office in California and presented bogus paperwork to have Lowe released, according to court documents. Out they went, and the ruse didn't come to light until a few days later when an actual VCSO deputy called to say he was coming to retrieve Lowe. The pair were arrested about a month later in Fayetteville, and Feldstein just learned the heavy price she will pay: 15 years in prison. story continues below Feldstein was sentenced this week after pleading guilty to forgery, third-degree escape, and second-degree criminal impersonation, per THV11. As for Lowe, he received an additional one-year sentence for escape but also was credited with 167 days for time served. It's not clear why he was in jail in the first place or how long he will remain there. Court documents suggest it was Lowe's idea. A jail video captured him telling her to pose as the deputy and to say that Ventura County was "having issues with overcrowding and all low-priority extraditions have been suspended," according to an affidavit. (Read more weird crimes stories.) (Newser) An all-too familiar scene unfolded at Southbridge High School in Massachusetts Thursday morning when the school went on lockdown. This case would prove unusual, however: Hours after the discovery of live ammo, police said they'd found the surprise culpritthe very teacher who called in the scare. The details surrounding the incident: The teacher: Police say biology teacher Alfred J. Purcell, 57, informed school officials about 8am that he had discovered a live round of 9mm ammunition in a stairwell, reports CNN. The school immediately went on lockdown. Police say biology teacher Alfred J. Purcell, 57, informed school officials about 8am that he had discovered a live round of 9mm ammunition in a stairwell, reports CNN. The school immediately went on lockdown. The video: School staff looked at video during the lockdown and noticed a strange thing: The video shows Purcell remove the ammo from his pocket, drop it on the ground, leave, then return 10 minutes later to take a photo and call in the "discovery" on a school radio, say police, per WCVB. (That video can seen in this report.) story continues below A maybe confession: Police say Purcell confessed to planting the ammo because he wanted to prove the need for metal detectors at the school, reports WBZ. They say he cited an incident earlier in the week he felt was handled improperly, when a student showed up with spent ammunition he said he'd found at a former shooting range. However, Purcell's attorney later said that his client had not planted the ammo, calling the idea of a confession a misunderstanding. Police say Purcell confessed to planting the ammo because he wanted to prove the need for metal detectors at the school, reports WBZ. They say he cited an incident earlier in the week he felt was handled improperly, when a student showed up with spent ammunition he said he'd found at a former shooting range. However, Purcell's attorney later said that his client had not planted the ammo, calling the idea of a confession a misunderstanding. More trouble: A search of Purcell's car turned up 102 live rounds of shotgun ammunition in his trunk. He is charged with unlawful possession of ammunition, carrying ammunition on school grounds, disturbing a school assembly, disorderly conduct, and disturbing the peace. Police also say they detected the "faint odor" of alcohol on his breath, but Purcell denied drinking, per MassLive. A search of Purcell's car turned up 102 live rounds of shotgun ammunition in his trunk. He is charged with unlawful possession of ammunition, carrying ammunition on school grounds, disturbing a school assembly, disorderly conduct, and disturbing the peace. Police also say they detected the "faint odor" of alcohol on his breath, but Purcell denied drinking, per MassLive. Was losing job: Prior to Thursday, the school had informed Purcell that his contract would not be renewed, says Southbridge Public Schools Superintendent Jeffrey Villar. "This individual acted in a disgusting manner," Villar said of Thursday's incident. "I feel very badly for our students because it's an adult who's failed them." (Read more schools stories.) (Newser) Maine has adopted a ban on Native American symbols as public school mascots, making it the first US state to do so, reports CNN and the Hill. "While Indian mascots were often originally chosen to recognize and honor a school's unique connection to Native American communities in Maine, we have heard clearly and unequivocally from Maine tribes that they are a source of pain and anguish," said Gov. Janet Mills at the signing. The law, which takes effect later this year, blocks public schools from having "a mascot, nickname, logo, letterhead or team name" that "depicts or refers to a Native American tribe, individual, custom or tradition." story continues below Skowhegan Area High School was the last school in the state to use a Native American mascot before it was retired earlier this year, reports Fox News. While some opponents had argued mascots should be left up to school boards, Rena Newell of the Passamaquoddy Tribe said the law was the "start of a higher trust of promoting cultural diversity and awareness." Last month, Mills signed a law replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day. (Read more Maine stories.) (Newser) After 30 seasons and nearly 500 stories, Steve Kroft will announce his retirement from 60 Minutes at the end of Sunday's broadcast. The program will air a segment on the career of Kroft, 73, in September, per the Hollywood Reporter. Lesley Stahl, 77, who joined the program in 1991, will become its longest-serving correspondent. Kroft is leaving at a younger age than some former colleagues; Mike Wallace was nearly 90, and Morley Safer was 84. Kroft has cut back already, filing eight to 10 stories per season the past couple of years. He exits Sunday with a piece about a money-laundering scheme. Executive producer Bill Owens said Kroft set the bar at 60 Minutes with his "sharp eye for detail, rich writing and demanding journalism," per USA Today. story continues below Kroft's memorable interviews included one with Bill and Hillary Clinton in 1992, in which Bill Clinton became visibly irked when Kroft asked if their marriage was "an arrangement." His wife then invoked Tammy Wynette in discussing their marriage, and, to cap the interview off, a light fixture fell, prompting the Clintons to jump off the sofa. Kroft interviewed Barack Obama 16 times, per the Reporter. He brought 60 Minutes its only interview of a serial killer, when he spoke to former nurse Charles Cullen, thought to have killed hundreds of people. But Kroft's strength was investigations. His team uncovered Saddam Husseins hidden financial assets, estimated to be billions of dollars; sparked the passage of a law with a story on insider trading in Congress; and discovered the theft of $500 million by Iraqis entrusted by the US with refitting the nation's army. (Read more 60 Minutes stories.) (Newser) The attorney general took flak from Democrats last month when he asserted that "spying" on the Trump campaign occurred in 2016. On Friday, William Barr made clear that he meant exactly what he said. Government power was used to spy on American citizens, Barr told the Wall Street Journal in an interview. I cant imagine any world where we wouldnt take a look and make sure that was done properly. In that interview and another with Fox News, Barr defended the decision to open his own investigation into the origins of the Russia inquiry, and he used similar wording in both. To the Journal: "Just like we need to ensure that foreign actors dont influence the outcome of our elections, we need to ensure that the government doesnt use its powers to put a thumb on the scale. story continues below And to Fox: "We should be worried about whether government officials abused their power and put their thumb on the scale, and so I'm not saying that happened. But I'm saying that we have to look at that." Barr said the inquiry could result in new rules on counterintelligence investigations in regard to political campaigns, though he didn't elaborate. He also called the accusation that he lied to Congress "laughable," per Politico. His boss, meanwhile, raised his own rhetoric on the subject. "My Campaign for President was conclusively spied on," President Trump tweeted Friday. "Nothing like this has ever happened in American Politics. A really bad situation. TREASON means long jail sentences, and this was TREASON!" (This week, Barr and Pelosi joked about the attorney general's potential arrest.) Sorry! This content is not available in your region Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, meets with representatives attending a ceremony commending role models with disabilities and people who have made outstanding contributions in helping the disabled, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, May 16, 2019. Premier Li Keqiang and Wang Huning, a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, both members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, also met with the representatives. (Xinhua/Li Xueren) BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping on Thursday met here with representatives attending a ceremony commending role models with disabilities and people who have made outstanding contributions in helping the disabled. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, congratulated the representatives on their commendations and encouraged them to make continued efforts to achieve new accomplishments in supporting China's disabled. Xi shook hands with the representatives, asked them about their work and lives, and took a group photo with them. Premier Li Keqiang and Wang Huning, a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, both members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, also met with the representatives. In a speech delivered at the ceremony, state Councilor Wang Yong called for improved mechanisms and efficient measures for disability support. He demanded efforts to enable more people with disabilities to live better lives and to lift impoverished people with disabilities in rural areas out of poverty. Wang also called for concrete measures to guarantee equal rights for the disabled. People with disabilities should learn from the role models to carry forward the spirit of self-reliance, he said. A total of 167 role models with disabilities, 100 outstanding units and 100 outstanding individuals of disability support, 100 disability support centers, as well as 33 model workers of disabled persons' federations were commended at the ceremony. New Delhi: Back in 2017, Toyota and Maruti Suzuki officially confirmed that both the Japanese automobile manufacturers had agreed to make an alliance in areas including environmental, information and safety technologies and mutual supply of products and components. The very first product of the partrnership i.e Toyota Glanza is all set to be launched on 6 June this year. Notably, Toyoto on Friday released yet another teaser video which reveals the face of the Glanza. In the teaser video, the Glanza looks identical to the Maruti Suzuki Baleno facelift on the outside, however, it has got a new chrome-lined grille. The car even wears the same alloy wheels as the Baleno. At the back, the only changes are the addition of the Toyota and Glanza badges and the variant logo. Also, the interior of the Toyota Glanza is almost exactly the same as that of the Maruti Suzuki Baleno facelift. From the dashboard and steering wheel to 7.0-inch touchscreen for the infotainment system, the Glanza is practically the same as the Baleno. The only difference comes as the Toyota's badges. As far as the Toyota Glanzas engine options are concerned, the car will be powered by the 1.2-litre and four-cylinder K12 petrol engine which powers the Maruti Suzuki Baleno. Toyota could also offer its 1.2-litre four-cylinder petrol engine that is tuned to make 79 bhp and 104 Nm torque. The Toyota Glanza will get a 5-speed manual gearbox as well as the option of a CVT. The V variant is likely be the top-spec model based on the Baleno's Alpha trim level and below it will have a G variant based on the Baleno Zeta. The Toyota Glanza is expected to be offered with three-years / 100,000 km warranty. New Delhi: In a shocking incident, Congress leader and former district president of JD(S) Reshma Padekanura was found in Krishna River near Kolhar of Basavanabagewadi taluk of the district on Friday. Police suspect that Reshma was murdered on Thursday night and her body was thrown in the river. According to reports, she was last seen with All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) party leader from Maharashtra Toufik in his car on Thursday night. Police said Reshmas husband has blamed Toufiq, alleging that they had a property dispute. He added that Reshma had gone to meet Toufiq on Thursday and she had got into the car with him. Before joining the Congress, Reshma served as the JD(S) district president of womens wing for over a decade. She also contested from Devarahipparagi assembly constituency on a JD(S) ticket in 2013 but lost the elections. After JD (S) leaders denied her a ticket in the last assembly polls, she had quit the party and joined the Congress. She had also alleged that she was sidelined by the JD(S) even after serving for years. For all the Latest Crime News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The staff of Delhis St Stephens College will hold a protest dharna against the inclusion of a member of institutions Supreme Council in the interview panel for selection of students, on Friday. Teachers will stage a dharna outside the colleges front gate. The teachers will wear black bands and hold posters. Our demands include preserving academic integrity of admission process, withdrawal of warning letters to teacher representatives on governing body, upholding teachers dignity and safeguarding the college constitution, said Nandita Narain, one of the three members of the governing body who condemned the institutions decision. The protest call prompted college authorities to put up a notice signed by Principal John Varghese on Thursday, saying there should be no disturbance of working environment in the college and those doing that will be dealt within the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules. The college has also banned the entry of media persons on the premises. According to the Central Civil Services Conduct Rules, no government servant shall make any statement of fact or opinion which has the effect of an adverse criticism of any current or recent policy of the central government or a state government. However, the Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA) said the CCS rules apply to bureaucrats and not to teachers. The notice put up by the college authorities also stated that there are examinations being conducted at present in the institution and any form of disruption to the exams will be dealt with strictly. The Supreme Council is a subset of six members of the Governing Body (Managing Committee) and comprises all members of the Church of North India. According to the college constitution, the Supreme Council of the college shall have the control of the religious and moral instruction of students of the college and of all matters affecting its religious character as a Christian college of the Church of North India. Three members of the governing body Narain, NP Ashley and Abhishek Singh condemned the illegal and unacademic decision taken by the Principal, that could compromise the academic integrity of our admissions process while demanding its withdrawal. They were also issued warning letters. New Delhi: Taking a jibe at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, the Opposition Congress on Friday changed their Facebook and Twitter display picture (DP) with photo of Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of the Indian independence movement against British colonial rule. The move comes a day after BJP's Bhopal Lok Sabha candidate Pragya Thakur stirred a fresh controversy by calling Nathuram Godse, the assasin of Mahatma Gandhi, a "patriot". Godse, who shot dead Mahatma Gandhi at a prayer meeting in New Delhi on January 30, 1948, was hanged after a trial. Earlier in the day, Congress president Rahul Gandhi also took a swipe at the Saffron Party, saying the BJP and the RSS are not "God-ke Lovers" but "God-se Lovers". "I finally got it. The BJP and the RSS... Are not God-Ke Lovers. They are God-Se Lovers," Gandhi tweeted. Speaking to a news channel during an election campaign in Madhya Pradesh, Thakur said, "Nathuram Godse was a 'deshbhakt', is a 'deshbhakt' and will remain a 'deshbhakt'. People calling him a terrorist should instead look within. Such people will be given a befitting reply in these elections". Senior BJP leaders Anant Kumar Hegde and Nalin Kateel came out in Thakur's support and praised Godse, giving a further boost to the controversy. Amil Saumitra, who is the head of BJPs media cell of Madhya Pradesh, in a Facebook post also termed Mahatma Gandhi the "father of Pakistan", adding that crores of people were born in India like him. However, the BJP has distanced itself from these extremist remarks, saying that it was their personal comments and the party had nothing to do with them. The party has also suspended Saumitra and asked him to submit a reply within seven days over his controversial post on Facebook. Pragya also tendered an apology after her 'Godse a patriot' remark drew widespread criticism from leaders of opposition parties as well as the BJP. Her statment also forced PM Modi to publicly state that he will never forgive Pragya Singh Thakur for insulting 'Bapu'. In a similar move, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and several top Trinamool Congress leaders on Wednesday switched to Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar's picture on their respective Facebook and Twitter profiles to protest against the desecration of the bust of the 18th century social reformer during a roadshow of BJP president Amit Shah in Kolkata. In wake of the widespread violence between the BJP and Trinamool Congress supporters in West Bengal, the Election Commission, in an unprecedented action, on Wednesday curtailed campaigning in nine Lok Sabha constituencies of the state, going to polls on May 19. New Delhi: BJP chief Amit Shah is addressing the BJP's press conference in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. PM Modi is scheduled to address party workers later. Meanwhile, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi is also addressing Congress' media briefing. The pres conferences come as election campaigning for the seventh phase of the Lok Sabha elections comes to an end at 5 pm today. 17:29 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In BJP chief Amit Shah: We'll perform good in North-East, very good in West Bengal. We'll do good in Odisha & there will be improvement in number of seats in all the states in the South. We'll improve in Maharashtra also. pic.twitter.com/vkkGHMCMD3 ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2019 17:20 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In ragya Thakur's candidature is a 'satyagrah' against a fake case of fake Bhagwa terror. I want to ask Congress, some people were earlier arrested in 'Samjhauta Express' who were related to LeT.A fake case of "bhagwa terror" was made in which accused have been acquitted: Amit Shah 17:19 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In 80 BJP workers have been killed in one and a half years. What does Mamata Banerjee has to say about this? If we were responsible for this, why violence didn't take place anywhere else?: Amit Shah 17:15 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Pragya Thakur's candidature is out protest against a fake case of 'saffron terror': Amit Shah 17:14 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In We closed 90 per cent doors for Narendra Modi; he closed 10 per cent for himself by abusing opponents: Rahul Gandhi 17:13 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Party has served her a show cause notice & asked her to reply within 10 days. After she files a reply, party's disciplinary committee will take appropriate actions: Amit Shah on Pragya Singh Thakur's remarks 17:12 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Priority number two is to push Congress ideology, priority number three is to win the Vidhan Sabha election. But ideological they are on the same page like us, I don't see Mayawati Ji, Mulayam Singh Ji, Mamata Ji, Chandrababu Ji supporting Narendra Modi govt: Rahul Gandhi 17:11 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Congress has tried to protect institutions from PM Modi and BJP: Rahul Gandhi 17:10 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In We ensured last-mile delivery which was a new structure of governance: PM Modi 17:06 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Election results came on May 16, 2014. A huge casualty took place on May 17, 2014. Today is May 17. People in 'Satta bazaar' who used to bet for Congress to win in elections faced huge losses on May 17: PM Modi 17:05 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Now that the Prime Minister is doing a live press conference, I want to ask him 'why didn't you debate with me on Rafale? I had challenged you for a debate, tell the press why didn't you debate?': Rahul Gandhi 17:03 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In PM Modi will again do some 'distract India' event, but country won't get distracted: Rahul Gandhi 17:03 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In I'm not Narendra Modi, won't ignore experience; Congress will benefit from Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh's experience: Rahul Gandhi 17:00 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Congress dismantled idea of Narendra Modi, claims Rahul Gandhi. 16:58 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In It will happen after a long time in the country, our Government will come to power with absolute majority for second consecutive time: PM Modi 16:56 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In In last 2 elections, even IPL couldn't be held. When government is strong, IPL, Ramzaan, school exams and others take place peacefully: PM Modi 16:56 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Role of EC has been biased in this elections, Modi Ji can say whatever he wants to say while we're stopped from saying the same thing.Seems that the elections schedule was made for Modi Ji's campaigning. BJP and Narendra Modi have lots of money while we have truth: Rahul Gandhi 16:55 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Cong's role as opposition party has been 'A' grade: Rahul Gandhi. 16:55 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In I have come straight from Madhya Pradesh to meet you, says PM Modi in his first press conference. 16:55 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In I have said it clearly, public will decide on May 23, and the basis of which we will work: Rahul Gandhi on opposition alliance 16:52 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Election Commission's role in these polls has been biased and it has issued orders keeping in mind PM Modi's schedule: Rahul Gandhi. 16:52 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Why did PM not accept my challenge for debate on Rafale issue, asks Rahul Gandhi. 16:50 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Philosophy of Amit Shah, PM Modi not philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi: Rahul Gandhi 16:49 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Prime Minister holds a press conference just 4-5 days before the election ends, unprecedented, Prime Minister of India is holding a press conference for the first time: Rahul Gandhi 16:48 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Rahul Gandhi reiterates charges of corruption in Rafale deal. 16:46 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Rahul Gandhi thanks party workers for election campaign. 16:46 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Rahul Gandhi mocks PM for attending first press conference accompanied by BJP president Amit Shah just days before polling ends. 16:44 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Shah gives a report card of Modi government's performance in last five years; refers to development and national security. 16:43 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Narendra Modi govt has launched 133 schemes to uplift all sections of society: Shah. 16:42 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In We started our election campaign from January 16...Our target was to win 120 Lok Sabha seats which we couldn't win the last time. We are confident that we'll receive good results: Amit Shah 16:42 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Since Independence, these elections have been the biggest for the BJP: Shah 16:42 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In We will come back with a much bigger majority: Amit Shah New Delhi: Makkal Needhi Maiam founder Kamal Haasan on Friday backed his remarks that Mahatma Gandhi killer Nathuram Godse was free Indias "first Hindu extremist", saying that all the religions have their own terrorists and that no one can claim to be sanctimonious. "I feel the quality of polity is going down. I don't feel threatened. Every religion has their own terrorists, we cannot claim that we are sanctimonious. History shows that all religions have their extremists," Haasan said. The actor-turned-politician, who faced backlash from BJP leaders and attacked during a rally, said that he was not afraid of being arrested as whatever he said was an "historic truth". "I am not afraid of being arrested. Let them arrest me. If they do that it will only create more problems. It is not a warning but only an advice," he said. On Thursday, two unidentified persons allegedly hurled eggs and stones at the Makkal Needhi Maiam founder during a rally in Tamil Nadus Aravakurichi. Following the attack, MNM workers roughed up the attackers who were later taken into police custody. The incident comes a day after footwear was hurled towards a vehicle from which Haasan was addressing an election meeting in the Tirupparankundram Assembly constituency in the state on Wednesday evening. Meanwhile, terror accused BJP candidate from Bhopal, Pragya Singh Thakur has apologised for hailing Godse. Reacting to Haasans remarks, the accused of Malegaon terrorist attack had said that Nathuram Godse was a deshbhakt (patriot) and those calling him a terrorist should instead look at themselves. Godse, who was allegedly associated with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), had killed Mahatma Gandhi in Delhi on January 30, 1948. He shot the father of the nation in the chest three times at point-blank range. He was said to be an advocate of Hindu nationalism. New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday launched a no-holds-barred attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and accused him of not paying heed to the advice of experts in order to run the government. Addressing the last rally of 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Himachal Pradeshas Solan, Rahul Gandhi said that while the BJP doesnat accept its mistakes, the Congress learns from them. aVirbhadra Singh (former Himachal Pradesh chief minister) became chief minister for six times but he says we should learn from our mistakes. Congress party learns from its mistakes while the BJP and Modi donat accept their mistakes. He destroyed businesses by his demonetisation move,a Gandhi said. Referring to the prime ministeras recent anon-political interviewa with Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar, the Congress president took a dig at the prime minister and said that while Modi is being asked how he eats mangoes and cut kurtas, journalists ask him about the NYAY scheme and farmers issue. aIn press conferences, journalists ask me about NYAY scheme, how are we going to implement it, where did the money for the scheme come from, how will you ensure better MSP for farmers. But Modi ji they ask you how do you eat mangoes and wear kurtas,a the Gandhi scion said. The Congress leader also mentioned the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks to accuse the prime minister of politicising the national security issue. He said, aTerrorists were storming the city of Mumbai and at the same time, Modi was doing politics by holding a press conference. But we stood by the government during the Pulwama attack. This is the difference.a Taking a jab at Modias apakoda remarka during an interview, he said that while Modi government import apples from China, youth of Himachal Pradesh are asked to make pakodas (a traditional Indian snake prepared with gram flour). The campaigning for the seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha elections 2019 will come to an end on Friday. The last phase polling is scheduled to be held on May 19 and the results will be declared on May 23. New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday took a dig at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for latest remarks Nathuram Godse - the man who killed Mahatma Gandhi -A saying they are not "God-ke Lovers" but "God-se Lovers". "I finally got it. The BJP and the RSS...Are not God-Ke Lovers...They are God-Se Lovers (sic)," Gandhi tweeted.A I finally got it. The BJP and the RSS... Are not God-Ke Lovers. They are God-Se Lovers. a Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 17, 2019 The Pandora's box opened on Thursday with Malegaon blast accused and BJP's Bhopal Lok Sabha candidate Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur lauding Godse as a "patriot" and issuing an apology hours later, saying she respected Gandhi and his work for the country cannot be forgotten. Amid all this controversy, BJP's MP from Karnataka Nalin Kumar Kateel compared Godse with former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. "Godse killed one, Kasab killed 72, Rajiv Gandhi killed 17,000. You judge who is more cruel in this??" Kateel tweeted on Thursday, equating Godse, 26/11 Mumbai terror attack convict Ajmal Kasab and Rajiv Gandhi.A A A Union minister Anantkumar Hegde also found himself in the news with a purported tweet justifying Godse's action. However, later the minister claimed his account was hacked.A "My account was hacked since yesterday. There is no question of justifying Gandhi ji's murder. There can be no sympathy or justification of Gandhi ji's murder. We all have full respect for Gandhi ji's contribution to the nation," Hegde tweeted.A "My Twitter account has been breached twice in the past one week and certain tweets have been posted on my timeline which has been discarded and deleted. Regret the posts attributed to me," the Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship said in another tweet.A Meanwhile, BJP president Amit Shah on Friday came out strongly against the controversial remarks of his party leaders saying the BJP has taken serious note of their statements, which are against its ideology. Stating that these comments were their personal statements and had no link with the party, the party president said that all the three leaders have been asked to explain their remarks within 10 days. New Delhi: On the last day of campaigning for the final and final phase of polling, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a rally in Khargone, Madhya Pradesh and said, "Ab ki baar, 300 paar (we will win over 300 seats now)." He also told the people of Khargone, "After decades you will elect a majority government for the second time in a row." PM Modi also ssured the tribals, "Till Modi and BJP are there, nobody can touch land of those living in forests." Congress chief Rahul Gandhi addressed a public meet at Solan in Himachal Pradesh where he said that the 'BJP government hasn't fulfilled promises.' He also said that the PM never talks about unemploymentand corruption. Yogi Adityanath will address numerous rallies in Uttar Pradesh. Here are the LIVE updates: 20:40 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Delhi: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu meets Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. Delhi: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu meets Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal pic.twitter.com/qwDYhl31oM ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2019 18:47 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Campaigning ends for the last and seventh phase of Lok Sabha elections 2019 on Friday evening. 17:17 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In 80 BJP workers have been killed in one and a half years. What does Mamata Banerjee has to say about this? If we were responsible for this, why violence didn't take place anywhere else?: Amit Shah. 17:16 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Priority number two is to push Congress ideology, priority number three is to win the Vidhan Sabha election. But ideological they are on the same page like us, I don't see Mayawati Ji, Mulayam Singh Ji, Mamata Ji, Chandrababu Ji supporting Narendra Modi government: Rahul Gandhi. 17:13 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In I respect the fact that BSP-SP decided to fight the elections together in UP. From the Congress party perspective, I have to push the Congress ideology in UP. I made it very clear to Jyotiraditya and Priyanka that priority number one is to make sure BJP losses: Rahul Gandhi. 17:12 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In BJP President Amit Shah on Pragya Singh Thakur's statement on Nathuram Godse: Party has served her a show cause notice & asked her to reply within 10 days. After she files a reply, party's disciplinary committee will take appropriate actions. 17:08 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Election results came on May 16, 2014. A huge casualty took place on May 17, 2014. Today is May 17. People in 'Satta bazaar' who used to bet for Congress to win in elections faced huge losses on May 17: PM Modi. 17:06 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In For me, the election campaign was a medium to thank the people of India for having given me the opportunity to serve them: PM Modi. 17:04 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In PM Modi will again do some 'distract India' event, but country won't get distracted: Rahul Gandhi. 17:02 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In We are confident that we will get more than 300 seats: Amit Shah. 17:01 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Role of EC has been biased in this elections, Modiji can say whatever he wants to say while we're stopped from saying the same thing. Seems that the elections schedule was made for Modiji's campaigning. BJP and Narendra Modi have lots of money while we have truth: Rahul Gandhi. 16:59 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In It will happen after a long time in the country, our Government will come to power with absolute majority for second consecutive time, says the prime minister. 16:59 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Earlier IPL was shifted due to general elections. Today, IPL, Ramzan, Easter, Hanuman Jayanti, school exams, all take place peacefully: PM Modi. 16:53 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In I have said it clearly, public will decide on May 23, and the basis of which we will work: Rahul Gandhi. 16:50 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Election Commission's role in these polls has been biased and it has issued orders keeping in mind PM Modi's schedule: Rahul Gandhi. 16:48 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Philosophy of Amit Shah, PM Modi not philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi: Rahul Gandhi. 16:47 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Why did PM not accept my challenge for debate on Rafale issue, asks Rahul Gandhi. 16:45 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Prime Minister holds a press conference just 4-5 days before the election ends, unprecedented Prime Minister of India is holding a press conference for the first time: Rahul Gandhi at media briefing. 16:44 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Shah gives a report card of Modi government's performance in last five years; refers to development and national security. 16:42 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Narendra Modi govt has launched 133 schemes to uplift all sections of society: Shah. 16:42 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In 2014 had created an atmosphere where some people were questioning whether the multi-party democratic system can take the country forward? Today we have proven it: Amit Shah. 16:40 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In We have now come to the end of election campaign. The BJP has run the most extensive campaign in history: Amit Shah. 16:37 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Congress president Rahul Gandhi addresses media after his last rally for 2019 Lok Sabha elections. WATCH LIVE: LIVE: Congress President @RahulGandhi addresses media after his last rally for 2019 Lok Sabha elections. https://t.co/cwEOl9xis3 Congress (@INCIndia) May 17, 2019 16:36 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Narendra Modi-led NDA government will come back to power with a stronger mandate: BJP president Amit Shah. 16:34 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Today is the end of a long and successful campaign for the BJP: Amit Shah. 16:34 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In PM Narendra Modi attends his first press conference at BJP headquarters on Friday. 15:39 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Priyanka Gandhi Vadra holds a roadshow in Kushinagar; Congress candidate from the constituency, RPN Singh is also present. 13:37 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In BJP made a huge mistake by implementing demonetisation, says Rahul Gandhi in Solan. 13:05 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Mirzapur: Ab aap samajh lijiye ke apne duniye ke sabse bade abhineta ko apna PM bana diya hai, is se accha toh aap Amitabh Bachchan ko hi bana dete, karna toh kisi ne kuch nahi tha aapke liye. 12:45 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In There has been no development under BJP government, BSP chief Mayawati said in Mirzapur. 12:27 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In PM Narendra Modi in Khargone,Madhya Pradesh: From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, from Kutch to Kamrup, the whole nation is saying- Ab ki baar, 300 paar, phir ek baar Modi Sarkar. 12:26 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In PM Narendra Modi in Khargone,Madhya Pradesh: This Sunday when you go to cast your vote then you will be scripting history. After decades you will elect a majority govt for a second time in a row. 12:19 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Khargone was crucial to the revolt of 1857. Bhima Nayak played an important role, says PM Modi. 12:17 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In I am fortunate to come to Maa Narmada, says PM Modi at Khargone in Madhya Pradesh. 12:16 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Amit Shah:Statements of Ananthkumar Hegde,Pragya Thakur&Nalin Kateel are their personal opinion,BJP has nothing to do with it.They have withdrawn their statements&apologized. BJP has taken their statements seriously and sent these statements to disciplinary committee 12:02 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Delhi: Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N. Chandrababu Naidu to meet Election Commission of India, today. 10:55 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Maharashtra: Congress- NCP candidate from Thane, Anand Paranjpe cut a cake on his birthday with 'Desh ka Chowkidaar Hi Chor Hai' written on it. Maharashtra: Congress- NCP candidate from Thane, Anand Paranjpe cut a cake on his birthday with 'Desh ka Chowkidaar Hi Chor Hai' written on it. (16/05/19), reports ANI. pic.twitter.com/5ryz53aE18 News Nation (@NewsNationTV) May 17, 2019 08:59 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Kamal Haasan on stones thrown at his rally in Trichy: I feel the quality of polity is going down. I don't feel threatened. Every religion has their own terrorist, we cannot claim that we are sanctimonious. History shows that all religions have their extremists. 08:59 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Kamal Haasan on protest over his Godse remark: I am not afraid of being arrested. Let them arrest me. If they do that it will only create more problems. It is not a warning but only an advice. 08:28 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to hold roadshows in Mirzapur and Kushinagar today. 07:06 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee: Allocation was done by Congress high command in Delhi&they'd chosen not to accept Navjot Kaurs application for ticket to contest from Chandigarh,he said,adding Chandigarh wasn't under Punjab&he had no role in selection of candidate from the city. 07:04 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee: Denying any role in the denial of ticket to Navjot Singh Sidhus wife from Chandigarh, Punjab Chief Minister on Thursday said she had been offered ticket from Amritsar and Bathinda, but she refused the same. 07:04 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Yogi Adityanath will address rallies in Salempur, Bansgaon and Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh today . 07:03 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Congress chief Rahul Gandhi will address a public meet at Solan in Himachal Pradesh. New Delhi: For the first time ever, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati has openly expressed her will to become the prime minister of the country, saying that Narendra Modi was unfit for the top job, while she was a perfect fit as far as the development is concerned. As far as development goes, Bahujan Samaj Party has managed to change the face of UP. Lucknow was beautified to a great extent. On the basis of all this work, it can be assumed that for the welfare of people and the country, BSP national president is fit and in comparison with her, Narendra Modi is unfit, Mayawati said in a statement. Terming Modis legacy as Gujarat chief minister a black mark on the countrys history, Mayawati praised her work as the CM of Uttar Pradesh. She said that while her stint as the chief minister was lesser than that of Modi, her image was clean and pro-people. "PM Modi has been CM of Gujarat for a longer time than me but his legacy is such that it is a black spot not only on himself but also on the BJP and a burden on the communal history of the country," she said. The BSP chief also hit back at the prime minister for calling her daulet ki beti and said that the entire country knows that most of the corrupt people belonged to the BJP. The entire country knows that most of the corrupt people who have benami properties are associated with BJP, she said, adding that Modis remarks against her reflected his anti-Dalit attitude. This was the first time the BSP chief had pitched for the top job. Earlier, several Opposition leaders, including Akhilesh Yadav and Sharad Pawar had landed their support for her. Yadav, her ally in Uttar Pradesh, had said that he would be happy to see Mayawati as the prime minister of the country. New Delhi: Amid massive controversy over Mahatma Gandhis assassin Nathuram Godse, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that he will never forgive Pragya Singh Thakur for insulting Bapu. The Malegaon blast accused, who is the BJPs contestant from Madhya Pradesh capital Bhopal, on Thursday had said that "Nathuram Godse was a deshbhakt (patriot), is a 'deshbhakt' and will remain a 'deshbhakt'. People calling him a terrorist should instead look within, such people will be given a fitting reply in the election." Thakur, who is out on bail since 2017, is known for making controversial statements. Not to be left behind, Congress chief took a sharp swipe at both BJP and RSS. I finally got it. The BJP and the RSS... Are not God-Ke Lovers. They are God-Se Lovers, Gandhi said on Twitter. Meanwhile, BJP leader Anil Saumitra was suspended from primary membership of the party over his social media post calling Mahatma Gandhi father of Pakistan. The party asks him to reply in 7 days. In a related development, Amit Shah on Friday came out strongly against the controversial remarks of his party leaders, Pragya Singh Thakur, Union Minister Anant Kumar Hegde and MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, over Nathuram Godse, saying the BJP has taken serious note of their statements, which are against its ideology. Thakurs legal troubles are also mounting. A Special NIA Court in Mumbai on Friday directed Thakur, Lt Col Prasad Purohit and all other accused of Malegaon 2008 blast case to remain present before the court at least once a week. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) Court, which expressed displeasure over their absence in the courtroom, has set May 20 as the next date of hearing. Six people were killed and over 100 injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon, a town about 200 km from here in north Maharashtra, on September 29, 2008. In October last year, a special court had framed charges under the UAPA against Purohit, Sadhvi Pragya and some other accused persons in the case. New Delhi: The Election Commission is learnt to have given its go ahead to Prime Minister Narendra Modis proposed visit to Kedarnath and Badrinath shrines in Uttarakhand beginning Saturday while reminding the prime minister's office that the model code of conduct is still in force. The prime minister's office is learnt to have sought the views of the Election Commission on the two-day official visit of Modi to Uttarakhand. As it is an official visit, the Commission has only "reminded" the PMO that the model code of conduct which came into force on March 10 with the declaration of Lok Sabha polls, is still in force, sources aware of the development said. The last and seventh phase of Lok Sabha polls is on May 19. "The visit is official so it can be undertaken. But the office of the PM has been reminded that the poll code is still in force," a source said without elaborating. Modi will undertake a two-day visit to Uttarakhand beginning May 18. While he will be in Kedarnath Saturday, he will visit Badrinath on Sunday before returning to the national capital in the afternoon. In November last year, PM Modi had visited the hill shrine of Kedarnath where he prayed for "India's progress" and well-being of the people of the country. PM Modi had earlier visited the holy shrine in May 2018. New Delhi: Hitting back at the opposition for criticising Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakurs candidature for the Lok Sabha elections, BJP chief Amit Shah said that it was a satyagraha against a fake case of Bhagwa terror (saffron terror). Pragya Thakur's candidature is a 'satyagraha' against a fake case of bhagwa (saffron) terror. I want to ask Congress, some people were earlier arrested in Samjhauta Express who were related to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and later released. A compensation of Rs 5 lakh was given to them as part of votebank politics. A fake case of 'bhagwa terror' was made in which accused were released by the court, Shah said while addressing the BJPs press conference in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "The entire Hindu community was defamed and Congress president should tender an apology for this," he added. Thakur, who is out on bail in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, is the BJPs candidate from Bhopal who is facing challenge from senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh. Reacting to Thakurs remarks hailing Mahatma Gandhis assassin Nathuram Godse as patriot, Shah said the party will take appropriate action against her. Party has served her a show cause notice and asked her (Sadhvi) to reply within 10 days. After she files a reply, party's disciplinary committee will take appropriate action, he said. Earlier in the day, PM Modi had said that he will never forgive Thakur for insulting Mahatma Gandhi by calling his assassin a true patriot. "The remarks made about Gandhiji or Nathuram Godse are very bad and very wrong for society," he said. "She has sought an apology but I would never be able to forgive her fully," he added. Shah exuded confidence that Narendra Modi will return as the prime minister on May 23 and added that the BJP would win over 300 seats. New Delhi: Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday mocked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for holding a press conference just 4-5 days before the Lok Sabha Elections ends. During the press conference, the Congress president alleged that the Election Commission is biased towards PM Modi and the poll schedule was made to suit his campaigns. BJP chief Amit Shah and Modi held a press conference at the party headquarters at the same time when Gandhi addressed the media at the Congress head office.A A "Why did the prime minister not accept my challenge for a debate on the Rafale issue," asked Gandhi.A Gandhi also said that the Election Commission's role in these polls has been "biased" and it has issued orders keeping in mind Modi's schedule.A Talking about the BSP-SP-RLD grand alliance in Uttar Pradesh, Gandhi said that he made it clear to party general secretary Jyotiraditya Scindia and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra that party's priority is to make sure that BJP losses. "I respect the fact that BSP-SP decided to fight the elections together in UP. From the Congress party perspective, I have to push the Congress ideology in UP. I made it very clear to Jyotiraditya and Priyanka that priority number one is to make sure BJP losses," he said "Priority number two is to push Congress ideology, priority number three is to win the Vidhan Sabha election. But ideological they are on the same page like us, I don't see Mayawati Ji, Mulayam Singh Ji, Mamata Ji, Chandrababu Ji supporting Narendra Modi government," he added. Rahul Gandhi: Priority number two is to push Congress ideology, priority number three is to win the Vidhan Sabha election. But ideological they are on the same page like us, I don't see Mayawati Ji, Mulayam Singh Ji, Mamata Ji, Chandrababu Ji supporting Narendra Modi govt. 2/2 https://t.co/GjJasTBxm5 a ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2019 Earlier in the day, he also spoke about the promises kept by Congress governments in different states and asserted that his party's ambitious Nyay Yojana would jumpstart the economy when implemented. "We told you we would bring MGNREGA and we did. We told you we would waive off farm loans, and we have. You can go and see for yourself in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh," Gandhi said while addressing a rally in Solan, the town known for mushroom and tomato cultivation. "We waived the loans of Shivraj Singh Chouhan's nephew and brother. We have all the documents to prove it. But he (Chouhan) is lying to the people in Madhya Pradesh that farm loans were not waived off," said Gandhi. Here are the highlights of press conference: 17:24 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Congress, BSP-SP are ideologically on same page with aim to dislodge Narendra Modi: Rahul Gandhi 17:17 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In PM Modi had a huge opportunity. I would have liked to see him moving the country forward. He lost sight of the real picture, people chose him to give country a vision, but he chose to abuse our vision: Rahul Gandhi 17:16 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Our strategy for the last 2 years was to systematically close every door to stop PM Modi from escaping. We closed 90% of the doors, and he helped us close the remaining 10% by abusing people: Rahul Gandhi 17:06 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Congress dismantled idea of Narendra Modi, claims Rahul Gandhi. 17:04 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Congress has tried to protect institutions from PM Modi and BJP: Rahul Gandhi 17:03 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Now that the Prime Minister is doing a live press conference, I want to ask him 'why didn't you debate with me on Rafale? I had challenged you for a debate, tell the press why didn't you debate?: Rahul Gandhi 17:00 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Proud to say we have fought the BJP, protected the nation's institutions from the BJP & the RSS and we have done it successfully: Rahul 17:18 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Election Commission's role in this election is biased. The entire election schedule is formed primarily to benefit Modi: Rahul Gandhi 16:58 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In We will use experience of Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi. I am not like Modi who discards experience: Rahul Gandhi 16:57 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Role of EC has been biased in this elections: Rahul Gandhi Rahul Gandhi: Role of EC has been biased in this elections, Modi Ji can say whatever he wants to say while we're stopped from saying the same thing.Seems that the elections schedule was made for Modi Ji's campaigning. BJP and Narendra Modi have lots of money while we have truth. pic.twitter.com/X3rKqAFw0I ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2019 16:55 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In I won't disrespect the people of this country by pre-judging what they will decide. The mood of the nation will be clear of May 23: Rahul Gandhi 16:54 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In You say chowkidar anywhere, in any city and you get a reply chor hai: Rahul Gandhi 16:52 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Congress has been an A-grade opposition party this election: Rahul Gandhi 16:50 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In It doesn't please me when he's asked all informal questions while I am asked all the hard questions: Rahul Gandhi 16:49 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Why did PM not accept my challenge for debate on Rafale issue, asks Rahul Gandhi. 16:49 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Rahul Gandhi thanks party workers for election campaign. 16:48 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In Philosophy of Amit Shah, PM Modi not philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi: Rahul Gandhi 16:45 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In I had told some journalists here to go and ask couple of questions from our side but believe they aren't allowed: Rahul Gandhi New Delhi: Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu on Thursday backed her wifes allegations against Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh that he opposed her claim for a ticket from Amritsar and Chandigarh. "My wife has that much strength and moral authority that she will never lie. This is my answer," said Mr Sidhu. Earlier, Navjot Kaur Sidhu had claimed that she was denied party ticket from Amritsar due to the Punjab Chief Minister, with whom her husband shares an unfriendly relationship. Navjot Kaur claimed Amarinder Singh told her that she may not win from Amritsar as people were against her after the Dussehra train tragedy, where at least 60 were killed and 57 others injured. "Captain Sahib (Amarinder Singh) and Asha Kumari (Congress's Punjab in-charge) think Madam Sidhu does not deserve an MP ticket," she had said on Wednesday. She also claimed that the Punjab CM told her that he would win all the 13 Lok Sabha seats in the state by himself. Look, Amarinder Singh is our junior captain. Rahul Gandhi is our senior captain. Our junior captain has said he would win all 13 seats by himself," she added. Amarinder Singh, however, denied the allegations levelled by Navjot Kaur, saying he had no role in ticket allocation and the decision was taken by party high command in Delhi. Ticket allocation was done by the Congress high command in Delhi, and they had chosen not to accept Navjot Kaur's application for ticket to contest from Chandigarh," he said, adding that Chandigarh was not under Punjab. The Congress party once again trusted four time MP to fight against BJPs Kirron Kher in Chandigarh. In 2014, Kher had defeated the Congress veteran and wrested the constituency from him. The Punjab chief minister also said that he will resign from the post of chief minister if the Congress party was wiped out of the state in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. I would take responsibility and quit if the Congress was wiped out of the state in these Lok Sabha elections. All ministers and MLAs have been made responsible for Congress partys performance in the state, Singh said. Punjab will go to polls in the seventh and last phase of Lok Sabha elections on May 19. The counting of votes will take place on May 23. The Congress party is hoping to continue its 2017 Assembly elections' performance when it won 77 of the state's 117 seats to end the 10 year Akali Dal-BJP rule. New Delhi: Bollywood superstar Salman Khan is all set to entertain the audiences with his first release of this year Bharat. It is to be noted that Priyanka Chopra walked out of Bharat just a few days before the film went on floors. Later, Katrina Kaif came on board as the lead opposite Salman. Bharat's song Zinda was launched at the films first promotional event on Friday and it was attended by its lead actors including Salman and Katrina Kaif. Well, during the launch of the song, Salman was in a jovial mood and was making funny comments and casually pulling his co-stars leg. Salman once again took a jibe at Priyanka Chopra. During the media interaction, when Katrina was quizzed about her experience and preparation for her role, the actress said, As an actor, I think it is definitely my most incredible experience working with Ali.. we have done three films together, but I can honestly say that this film has been the best experience so far and I think we have got super super excited for everyone to see the film. However, Salman immediately interrupted Katrina and said, Thank You Priyanka. The comment was was enough for everyone to have a hearty laugh at the event. Salman further said, "Katrina will get a National Award for the film. Without any jokes, she is so good in the film and she has worked very hard."Though Salman keeps taking a jibe at Priyanka, the two remain great friends. Salman had even attended the reception party of Priyanka and Nick Jonas wedding. Previously, Ali Abbas Zafar too had said that he doesnt hold any grudges against Priyanka because she left the film for personal reasons (obviously it was her marriage with Nick). Coming back to Bharat, the film is all set to hit the silver screens on June 5. Apart from Salman and Katrina, Sunil Grover and Disha Patani will be seen playing pivotal roles in the film. For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The Jodhpur High Court on Friday issued a notice to the Rajasthan government in the wake of recent incidents of rape, including the gangrape of a scheduled caste woman in front of her husband in Alwar. According to the ANI news agency, the high court has sought Ashok Gehlot-led Congress governments reply seeking detailed information about the multiple incidents of gangrape in the state. Days after the Awlar gangrape triggered protests across the state, another woman from the SC/ST community was gangraped by two men at a hospital in the districts Kathoomar town. Another incident took place in the nearby Bharatpur district where 16-year-old mentally challenged girl was allegedly raped by a man. In addition to these incidents, a five-year-old was sexually assaulted in the Rajasthans Chittorgarh. The opposition BJP in the state, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has accused the Congress-led Rajasthan government of trying to supress the Alwar gangrape incident in the wake of Lok Sabha elections on May 29 and May 6. The incident had taken place on April 26 but the police allegedly told the victims to wait till the elections are over. The FIR in the case was registered on May 2 but the case came to light only on May 6 after the accused shared the video on social media. Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday visited Alwar to meet the family of the victims and assured them justice. Speaking to reporters after meeting the victims, Gandhi said that he didnt go there to do politics and refused to respond to PM Modis attack. The only thing I would say is this girl, this family, will get justice. I have not come here to do politics. It's an emotional thing for me. I have come here to meet the survivor, Rahul Gandhi had said after meeting the victims family. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: In an alarming, an intel report has said that the terrorists are planning to carry out attacks on Srinagar and Awantipora air bases. According to news agency ANI, the security forces are on high alert in and around these air bases. Pakistan-based terror group Jaish e Muhammad and ISI are planning an unprecedented attack in Kashmir Valley during Ramzan. Alert has been issued around National Highway, South Kashmir and some key installations of Indian Army, Air Force and Jammu and Kashmir Police. Intel agencies had warned that the attack might be carried out in the Lethipora region of the Pulwama district. As per the report, the terrorist will not use vehicle - as done during the February 14 Pulwama attack - but will target security establishments, camps, and buildings using Improvised Explosive Device (IED), as per media reports. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: A Special NIA Court in Mumbai on Friday directed BJP' Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Lt Col Prasad Purohit and all other accused of Malegaon 2008 blast case to remain present before the court at least once a week. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) Court, which expressed displeasure over their absence in the courtroom, has set May 20 as the next date of hearing. Six people were killed and over 100 injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon, a town about 200 km from here in north Maharashtra, on September 29, 2008. In October last year, a special court had framed charges under the UAPA against Purohit, Sadhvi Pragya and some other accused persons in the case. Out on bail, 48-year-old Thakur has been discharged by a court on charges under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in the 2008 case but is still facing trial under other criminal provisions. Bringing its Hindutva plank to the fore, the BJP has fielded Malegaon blast case accused Sadhvi Pragya in Lok Sabha elections from Bhopal against Congress heavyweight and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh. Born in Bhind district of Madhya Pradesh, Thakur has had a long association with the RSS. A post-graduate in history, she worked with the RSS student wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and Durga Vahini, women's wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Tension prevailed in Jammu and Kashmirs Bhaderwah and indefinite curfew was imposed after a man was allegedly murdered by cow vigilantes. The victim has been identified as Nayeem Shah of Mohalla Qilla. The villager, believed to be in his late 40s, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen on Thursday at around 2am. He was returning home along with two other people when the trio was stopped by some men and Shah was murdered in cold blood. The victims family has blamed cow vigilantes for the murder. However, multiple media reports quoted the police as saying that the facts were yet not clear. Meanwhile, the Sanatam Dhadam Sabha, an organisation of Hindus, has demanded the constitution of a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the Bhaderwah murder. "We suspect a well-planned and coordinated action of anti-social and anti-national elements to disturb the peaceful situation in the Bhaderwah area. We demand constitution of an SIT to probe the case," the organisation's spokesman said. The organisation also requested the governor to take action against erring officials. The Doda district administration, however, ruled out cow vigilantism as the reason behind the murder and said that some people were trying to give communal colour to the incident to flare up the situation. "One person with the name of Nayeem was coming from Chatergala side during midnight. When he reached near Nalthi area, he was killed and another person with him suffered splinter injuries (in a firing incident)," IGP Jammu Zone, M K Sinha told PTI. Two suspects, who allegedly had opened fire, have been arrested and five others detained, he said. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Mumbai: A special court in Mumbai conducting trial in the 2008 Malegaon blast case Friday directed all the seven accused, including BJP's Bhopal Lok Sabha candidate Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Purohit, to appear before it once a week. Upset over the frequent absence of the accused during the trial, NIA court judge Vinod Padalkar gave this direction. He also directed that exemption sought without cogent reasons will be rejected. The judge observed that it appears that the accused do not attend court on one ground or the other, and prayers in all the applications are one and the same. Considering the nature of the offence and charges, it would not be proper for the accused to remain absent forever by filing exemption applications, he said. The court, at present, is recording the testimony of the witnesses in the case.The matter will be next heard on May 20. Besides Purohit and Thakur, Major (retired) Ramesh Upadhyay, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Sameer Kulkarni are the other accused in the case. They are all out on bail. In October last year, the court had framed charges in the case against all the seven accused for terror activities, criminal conspiracy and murder, among others. The accused face trial under sections of the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC). They were charged under sections 16 (committing terrorist act) and 18 (conspiring to commit terrorist act) of the UAPA. Under the IPC, they were charged under sections 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 153 (a) (promoting enmity between two religious groups). The accused were also charged under relevant sections of the Explosive Substances Act. On September 29, 2008, six people were killed and over 100 injured when an explosive device strapped on a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon, a town about 200 km from here in north Maharashtra. The court also rejected a plea seeking the presence of anti-terrorism squad (ATS) officers in court during trial to assist the special public prosecutor. It is for ATS to depute officers and decide whether or not they can remain present, the judge observed, adding that it is not the business of the court to depute ATS officer to assist the public prosecutor. The plea was was filed by Nisar Ahmed Sayyed (59), who lost his son Sayyed Azhar in the blast. He filed the plea through advocates Shahid Nadeem and Adil Shaikh, requesting the court to direct the head or higher authority of the ATS to depute officers concerned to assist the special public prosecutor (NIA) during the trial. (With PTI inputs) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday withdrew interim protection given to former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar from arrest by the CBI over his alleged role in destroying evidence in Saradha chit fund case. The top court has given seven days to Kumar to seek legal remedies. Sources in the CBI said that the agency officials have not seen the order yet. The future course of action will be decided only after going through the top courts order, the sources said. It is still not clear that whether the probe agency officials will interrogate Kumar or wait till the end of 7-day period. A Bench of Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi with Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna also made it clear that the CBI can pursue the case in accordance with law. The Court, however, added that this order may not be treated as a direction to the CBI to carry out custodial interrogation. Kumar has been in news but not for right reason. A day before the Supreme Court order, the Election Commission had ordered the removal of Kumar, who was posted as Additional Director General, CID, in West Bengal and had asked him to report to Union Home Ministry following the violence in Kolkata during BJP chief Amit Shahs roadshow. The CBI had told the apex court that it wanted custodial interrogation of Kumar, who was earlier heading West Bengal Police SIT probing chit fund scam, as there was prima facie evidence of his allegedly trying to destroy or tamper with evidence and "shield high and mighty" in the case. However, Kumar's counsel had countered CBI's submissions and told a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi that the agency wanted his custodial interrogation "just to humiliate" him and CBI should not be allowed to abuse the process of law. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Xiomi recently announced that it has over two million Redmi Note 7 Pro and Redmi Note 7 smartphone units in India. After the grand success of Redmi Note 7 Pro and Redmi Note 7, Xiomi is all set to launch the Redmi Note 7SA in India on May 20.A Yes, you read it right. In a tweet, Xiaomi India VP Manu Kumar JainA on Friday, revealed that the Redmi Note 7S would be the next 48-megapixel camera phone in the Redmi Note series in the country. The tweet also confirms the launch date of the new Redmi Note phone that is set for May 20. Take a look:A The feeling when you get your hands on #RedmiNote7S. Y I generally don't dress up like this, but posing with this amazing #48MP camera phone is special. Y How do you like this steaming hot Red coloured Gorilla Glass 5 back? Y Launch on Monday!#Xiaomi ai #48MPForEveryone pic.twitter.com/BsHlwEJahM a Manu Kumar Jain (@manukumarjain) May 17, 2019 The teaser image posted with Jain's tweet confirming the Redmi Note 7S will get a Red colour variant. As per a teaser page set up by Flipkart, the upcoming Redmi Note 7S smartphone will be available on its websites and apps when released.A A In addition to Flipkart, the smartrphone will be offered via Mi.com, Mi Home stores, Mi Studio outlets and Mi offline partner stores in the country. Well, the new phone will join the Redmi Note 7 Pro that was launched in India back in February this year with a 48-megapixel Sony IMX586 camera sensor at the back. Importantly, the Redmi Note 7S could come as a superior variant of the India Redmi Note 7 version that arrived alongside the Redmi Note 7 Pro earlier this year.A Redmi Note 7S will be a part of the smartphone family that already has the Redmi Note 7 Pro at Rs 16,599 and Redmi Note 7A at Rs 11,295 as the two latest models. The new phone, however, is likely to range between the Redmi Note 7 Pro and Redmi Note 7 to attract new customers. Xiaomi India has already confirmed that it will soon launch the first flagship smartphone named as Redmi K2.0. The self-proclaimed Flagship Killer 2.0 will feature the Snapdragon 855 and a 48MP camera and it will challenge OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 pro.A London: Britain's Opposition Labour Party ended the crucial cross-party Brexit talks with embattled Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday without a deal, saying negotiations have "gone as far as they can". Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn wrote to May to declare an end to the negotiation process, blaming the "weakness and instability" of her government as a leadership contest gets underway within the ruling Conservative Party. May in turn blamed Labour for not having a "common position" within its own ranks on issues such as a second referendum. The development came a day after Prime Minister May was forced to set a June timeline for her exit from Downing Street. "I have written to Theresa May to say that talks on finding a compromise agreement for leaving the European Union have gone as far as they can," Corbyn tweeted. "The government's growing weakness and instability means there cannot be confidence in its ability to deliver," he said. Britain's exit from the 28-member European Union had been due to take place on March 29 - but after MPs voted down the deal May had negotiated with the bloc three times, the EU gave the UK an extension until October 31. "The increasing weakness and instability of your government means there cannot be confidence in securing whatever might be agreed between us," Corbyn wrote. "As you have been setting out your decision to stand down and Cabinet ministers are competing to succeed you, the position of the government has become ever more unstable and its authority eroded," he noted. Prime Minister May acknowledged that there have been areas where "we have been able to find common ground, but other issues have proved to be more difficult". Commenting on the talks after a meeting with her party activists in Bristol soon after the Opposition's letter became public, May said her government would now consider what had come out of the meetings with Labour so far and consider whether there are some ideas that could command a majority in the House of Commons. Stressing that his party had conducted the exercise in "good faith" and that some constructive effort had gone into finding a possible consensus, Corbyn pointed to growing concern within the Opposition ranks about the government's ability to deliver on any compromise agreement. The Labour Party has been in favour of a form of a common customs arrangement with the European Union (EU) that keeps the UK aligned with its European neighbours on trade tariffs post-Brexit. Some Labour MPs have also insisted they would not back a deal with the government unless it includes another referendum. Both scenarios have caused anger among Brexit-backing Conservatives, who claim a customs union would stop the UK negotiating its own trade deals around the world and who believe another public vote is undemocratic. In his letter to the British Prime Minister, Corbyn noted: "Not infrequently, proposals by your negotiating team have been publicly contradicted by statements from other members of the Cabinet. "In recent days we have heard senior Cabinet ministers reject any form of customs union, regardless of proposals made by government negotiators." The Labour leader is equally clear about the party's opposition to May's unchanged Withdrawal Agreement, which is set for a fourth House of Commons vote in the week beginning June 3. "I should reiterate that, without significant changes, we will continue to oppose the government's deal as we do not believe it safeguards jobs, living standards and manufacturing industry in Britain," Corbyn said. The compromise talks were convened around six weeks ago, when May lost the third vote in Parliament on her EU Withdrawal Agreement, rejected repeatedly by MPs over the controversial Irish backstop clause. The latest Labour stance means May's deal looks even more unlikely to secure the parliamentary arithmetic required for the Withdrawal Agreement to be enforced in time for the new October 31 Brexit deadline. On Thursday, after a crucial meeting with the powerful 1922 Committee of Tory backbench MPs, it was announced that May would set out a clear timetable for her resignation as Tory leader and make way for a new prime minister by next month. Former Cabinet minister and hard Brexiteer Boris Johnson is seen as a frontrunner in the race, with a number of other Cabinet ministers set to throw their hat in the ring. Meanwhile, May is likely to offer a set of binding indicative votes in the Commons as she had indicated when she announced the cross-party talks. These votes are likely to take place within days as the UK Parliament is set for a break from next Thursday before reconvening in early June. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Ratodero (Pakistan)): Nothing seemed unusual to Rehmana Bibi, the mother of 10-year-old Ali Raza, when the boy came down with a fever at their home in the dusty, largely neglected district of Larkana in southern Pakistan. Bibi took her son to a local doctor, who prescribed paracetamol syrup for Raza and told her there was no need to worry. But she panicked after being alerted that several children who initially came down with a fever had tested positive for HIV in nearby villages. Alarmed, Bibi took Raza to a hospital where medical tests confirmed the boy was among about 500 people, mostly children, who authorities say tested positive for the virus, which can lead to AIDS. A local physician who has AIDS has since been arrested and is being investigated for possibly intentionally infecting patients. "We were in great pain the day we heard about our son testing HIV positive," she told The Associated Press on Thursday. Bibi said it was heartbreaking to learn that her child contracted HIV at such a young age. She said all her family members have been tested for the virus that attacks the immune system, but Raza was found to be the only victim. Bibi said she has had sleepless nights from worrying and has been looking after her son since early this month when he was confirmed HIV-positive. She said she wants to see her son healthy and fully recovered as soon as possible. Sikandar Memon, head of the AIDS Control Program in Sindh province, said officials have screened 13,800 people from Larkana and 410 children and 100 adults tested positive for HIV. Nationwide, Pakistans Health Ministry has registered over 23,000 HIV cases. Pakistani health officials have said HIV is usually spread in the country by using unsterilized syringes. Authorities say the HIV outbreak in Larkana was apparently started when local physician Muzaffar Ghangharo, who has AIDS, infected patients in early April. Ghangharo was arrested earlier this month after Raza and others tested positive for the virus. Police are still trying to determine whether Ghangharo knowingly spread the disease to others. Larkana is the home district of former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was hanged to death by military dictator General Ziaul Haq. After Zulfikar's death, his daughter Benazir Bhutto also served as the prime minister. She was killed in a bomb and gun attack in the garrison city of Rawalpindi in 2007. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Are you a social media buff? Do you have great expertise in transforming some boring photographs into dream-worthy Instagram posts? If the answer is 'yes' to the above questions, your dream job is waiting for you. Yes! Buckingham Palace, the London residence and administrative headquarters of Britain's royal family, is currently looking for a social media manager. The key responsibility of the 'digital communication officer' will be finding "new ways to maintain the Queen's presence in the public eye and on the world stage", according to the job listing website of the royal household. Other duties in the role include managing the daily news flow on digital and social networking platforms, creating content, as well as researching and writing features. "This is your opportunity to use your digital expertise to deliver the exceptional," the job post read. The job advert comes months after Queen Elizabeth II posted her first Instagram post during a visit to London's Science Museum. Taking to the official Instagram handle - @TheRoyalFamily - the Queen wrote, "Today, as I visit the Science Museum, I was interested to discover a letter from the Royal Archives, written in 1843 to my great-great-grandfather Prince Albert". The selected candidate will be paid a mouth-watering salary of A30,000 (approximately Rs 26,84,280) and provided with some attractive facilities such as 15 per cent employer contribution pension scheme (after six months), 33 days annual leave (including bank holidays), free lunch and access to training and development to support professional development. The job, which is located at Buckingham Palace, require the employee to work 37.5 hours per week, Monday to Friday. An ideal candidate should possess an educated degree, good photography skills along with natural communication skills. The interested candidates should apply for the social media manager position before midnight on 26 May. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Taipei: Taiwans parliament legalised same-sex marriage on Friday in a landmark first for Asia as the government survived a last-minute attempt by conservatives to pass watered-down legislation. Lawmakers comfortably passed a bill allowing same-sex couples to form exclusive permanent unions and another clause that would let them apply for a marriage registration with government agencies. The votewhich took place on the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobiais a major victory for the islands LGBT community and it places the island at the vanguard of Asias burgeoning gay rights movement. Thousands of gay rights supporters gathered outside parliament despite heavy downpours, waving rainbow flags, flashing victory signs and breaking into cheers as the news filtered out. In recent months conservatives had mobilised to rid the law of any reference to marriage, instead putting forward rival bills that offered something closer to limited same-sex unions. But those bills struggled to receive enough votes. Gay rights groups hailed the vote on Friday, saying the ability to apply for a marriage registrationknown as Clause Fourput their community much closer to parity with heterosexual couples. The passage of Clause Four ensures that two persons of the same-sex can register their marriage on May 24th and ensure that Taiwan becomes the first country in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage and to successfully open a new page in history, said the Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights. Two years ago Taiwans top court ruled that not allowing same-sex couples to marry violates the constitution with judges giving the government until May 24, 2019 to make the changes or see marriage equality enacted automatically. Other key sections of the law were still being debated and voted on Friday, including what, if any, provisions there will be for same-sex couples to adopt. That resulted in more muted celebrations outside parliament as gay marriage supporters continued to keep a close eye on voting. Whatever the result, the law will not bring full equality with heterosexual couples as even the most progressive version only offers biological adoptions. But gay rights groups have said they were willing to accept compromises, as long as the new law recognised the concept of marriage, adding they could fight legal battles over surrogacy and adoption down the line. In Taiwan a marriage will take effect when its registered, so allowing marriage registration is no doubt recognising the marriage itself, Victoria Hsu, a gay rights lawyer, told AFP. For me the outcome today is not 100 percent perfect, but its still pretty good for the gay community as it provides legal definition, added Elias Tseng, a gay pastor who was among the crowds outside parliament. In the last decade, Taiwan has been one of the most progressive societies in Asia when it comes to gay rights, staging the continents biggest annual gay pride parade. But the island remains a staunchly conservative place, especially outside urban areas. Conservative and religious groups were buoyed by a series of referendum wins in November, in which voters comprehensively rejected defining marriage as anything other than a union between a man and a woman, illustrating the limited popular support. President Tsai Ing-wen hailed the vote as a big step towards true equality that made Taiwan a better country. Tsai had previously spoken in favour of gay marriage but was later accused of dragging her feet after the court judgement, fearful of a voter backlash. Taiwan goes to the polls in January and the gay marriage issue could hamper Tsais chances of re-election. Opponents were incensed by the vote, saying the inclusion of the marriage registration clause ignored the 70 percent of voters who had cast ballots in the referendum wanting to keep marriage limited to a man and a woman. Tseng Hsien-ying, from the Coalition for the Happiness of Our Next Generation, told local media the vote trampled on Taiwanese peoples expectations that a marriage and a family is formed by a man and a woman, a husband and a wife. Australia and New Zealand are the only places in the wider Asia-Pacific region to have passed gay marriage laws. Taiwan is the first place in Asia to do so. Vietnam decriminalised gay marriage celebrations in 2015, but it stopped short of full legal recognition for same-sex unions. We hope this landmark vote will generate waves across Asia and offer a much-needed boost in the struggle for equality for LGBTI people in the region, Annie Huang, from Amnesty International Taiwan, said in a statement. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Islamabad: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will release 572 Pakistani prisoners languishing in its jails under an amnesty during the ongoing holy month of Ramazan, according to a media report. Pakistans Foreign Office spokesperson Muhammad Faisal said on Thursday that the UAE government will release the prisoners under an amnesty announced by UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. ?Subsequent to the order of the president of the UAE to pardon 3005 prisoners, serving sentences in different jails of the UAE under various categories, the government of the UAE has decided to release 572 Pakistani prisoners,? he was quoted as saying by the Geo TV. He said that the Pakistani mission is in touch with local authorities to expedite their release and deportation to Pakistan. Our mission is extending all necessary assistance, including the issuance of outpasses/passports and air tickets, where required,? he said. Currently, around 2,409 Pakistani nationals are in eight UAE jails, facing imprisonment in different minor and major crimes, he added. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Video Footage: Violent brawl breaks out in front of the Prophets Mosque in Medina Video Footage: Violent brawl breaks out in front of the Prophets Mosque in Medina WARNING: Due to the violent nature of the footage, viewer discretion is advised A mass violent brawl erupted meters away from Al-Masjid an-Nabawi between individuals gather for ifthar in the holy city of Medina in Saudi Arabia. Video footage circulation on social media platforms shows a group of people aggressively exchanging blows and kicks on and around the food intended for ifthar. The commotion took place moments prior to the designated time to break their fast. While local news stated the reason for the quarrel is undetermined, reports on social media state a dispute between two individuals over which one gets to offer the needy their food paved the path for the mass fight. Built by the Prophet Mohammed himself, Al-Masjid an-Nabawi is the second holy mosque located in Saudi and the third mosque to be built in the history of Islam, making it a significant pilgrimage spot. Bahrain will carry on with its diversification efforts to continue expanding non-oil revenues, said HRH the Crown Prince yesterday evening. His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander, and First Deputy Prime Minister was visiting the Majlis of HH Shaikh Ebrahim bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Majlis of the Al Musallam family, the Majlis of the Al Mahmood family and the Majlis of the Minister of the Shura Council and House of Representatives Affairs, HE Ghanem bin Fadhul Al Buainain. Stressing the need to further align non-oil revenues with the economic growth, HRH Prince Salman said, Bahrain will continue to build on its economic achievements by advancing its smart oil economy as well as competitiveness in all sectors of the Kingdom. Bahrains Economic Vision 2030, HRH the Crown Prince said, has delivered and continues to support a wide range of initiatives that drive sustainability and competitiveness in the economy. The Crown Prince expressed his gratitude to citizens on their firm commitment to Bahrains development efforts saying, Citizens are the foundation on which Bahrains development continues to thrive under the leadership of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. For their part, the Majlises hosts and guests expressed their gratitude for HRH the Crown Princes visit and highlighted HRH the Crown Princes support to the Kingdoms comprehensive development HH Shaikh Isa bin Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa accompanied HRH the Crown Prince to the Majlis visits. The Bahrain Free Labour Unions Federation (AlHurr) yesterday affirmed that the Union and all its affiliates would stand behind HM the Kings leadership for safeguarding the nation. Praising His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifas keynote speech at the Joint Cabinet-Supreme Defence Council (SDC), Al-Hurr called on all Bahraini citizens to stand united behind HM the Kings leadership, in light of the difficult circumstances. In his keynote speech earlier, His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa warned that Bahrain will firmly address all attempts to incite sedition, division in the society or acts that are inconsistent with the national interests. Bahrain has the capabilities to confront risks to its security, stability and its people, said HM the King praising the readiness of the Bahrain Defence Force and security agencies. HM the King assured that the situation in Bahrain is stable, the growth rate is promising and optimistic and peoples needs would be met under any circumstances.This came as HM the King chaired a joint meeting of the Cabinet and the Supreme Defence Council to discuss the latest regional and international developments at the Sakhir Palace. The meeting was held in the presence of HRH Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa and HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister. HM the King stressed Bahrains strong condemnation of the terrorist drone attacks on oil pumping stations in Saudi Arabia and the sabotage operations that targeted commercial vessels near the territorial waters of the United Arab Emirates. His Majesty underlined Bahrains firm support to the two brotherly countries, backing any measures they take to maintain their security and stability. HM the King also praised full commitment to patriotic stances that rejected exploiting religious platforms for disseminating extremism, supporting terrorism, sowing division and sedition. King Hamad welcomed the national achievements made during the first session of the fifth legislative term of the Parliament, thanks to the cooperation accomplished between the legislative and executive branches. Concerning Bahrains Arab and international relations, HM the King underscored the Kingdoms keenness to boost its ties and broaden cooperation with Arab and friendly countries. Separately, in another statement, Shura Council yesterday reiterated Bahrains unflinching and full solidarity stance in supporting the two brotherly countries to confront terrorism and sabotage. The Council expressed Bahrains support to all the measures they take to protect their sovereignty and prevent the threat of terrorism. The Council also took pride in Bahrains advanced cooperation with both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates which continue to grow in various sectors. Emerging Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies could contribute $320 billion to Middle Eastern economies by the year 2030, said a top expert citing a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report. There are high expectations for AI across the Gulf, said Dr Robert Mogielnicki, a Resident Scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington during think talks, an event organised by Derasat on Artificial Intelligence in the Gulf Arab States: Prospects & Challenges. This is my research visit where I am looking at the growing technology in the Gulf, Dr Mogielnicki told Tribune adding: I am speaking to policymakers and researchers in the private sector, entrepreneurs and investors to find out how the tech scene in their country is changing and shaping up in the Gulf. Bahrain, he said, is growing gradually, as it is quite a hub for technology in terms of Fintech and rest of the emerging technologies. It is a very interesting time to be here as it would enable us, researchers, to look in to AI more in detail. GCC states, he said, always try to find a competitive advantage. And in Bahrain this is Fintech. Bahrain has a well established Fintech bay and the regulators here have done a tremendous job in regulating it, especially the cryptocurrencies. These things, along with efforts to roll out 5G, will help Bahrain to become a regulatory meter, where the same could be done for AI also. AI development, he said, should be done keeping in mind that it is not necessarily going to be easy. Its a very competitive field and we have a lot of industries trying around the globe. Private sector in AI Mogielnicki stressed the importance of the private sector in spearheading AI developments. I believe works to grow AI in the country has to be spearheaded by the private sector as we have here some big industrial players that are implementing AI technologies in their business process. A lot of big players here are doing a lot of work with blockchain and increasingly with artificial intelligence, thus for the country the major and the first step is digitalisation. Creating an AI hub The difficulty, according to Mogielnicki, Bahrain would face in the AI race will be creating a hub. We see a lot of interests, but the country still doesnt have yet what it requires to make a hub. The challenging part would be attracting the tech talents to the country and create AI-driven technology that will have a global impact, Mogielnicki said. Nayla Al Khalifa, Director of Communications and Knowledge at Derasat told Tribune, The idea behind the Think Talk series is creating a platform for researchers and academics to be an integral and vocal part of global conversations. Efforts to create a smart app, which allows customers to follow investment opportunities, without creating bank accounts, landed Sprive a top price in the Fintech for Sustainability hackathon. The app, Sprive said, aimed to include the unbanked and underbanked sector of the population through a smart app. Beam, took the second spot for creating a holistic solution that allows the user to track and manage electricity consumption in addition to bill payment and other functions. Third place winner DonateTech introduced Bahrains first cashless Crypto-philanthropy platform. Besides, the first Fintech for Sustainability hackathon, powered by BENEFIT, conducted online voting for the Peoples Choice Award. Codex emerged as the winner for introducing a Smart Cart solution to help reduce water generated through supermarkets supply chain. The month-long Hackathon was hosted by the Bahrain Fintech Bay, in cooperation with various knowledge partners in Bahrain. Winners were announced during a ceremony held at Arcapita Building. The awards were presented by principal partner BENEFIT, in partnership with The Manama Hub of the Global Shapers Community. Students from various universities in Bahrain came up with 6 solutions that addressed 10 Sustainable Development Goals during the event. The month-long hackathon kicked off in March. Judges included Yasmeen Al Sharaf; Head of the Fintech and Innovation Unit of the Central Bank of Bahrain, Khalid Saad; CEO of Bahrain Fintech Bay, Shaheen S. Shaheen; Investment Manager at Osool, and Hanan Hasan, Assistant Manager at BENEFIT. BENEFIT Acting CEO, Yousif Alnefaiei, said: This initiative was an impactful journey for our students they have taken away key lessons and achieved a great milestone. The hackathon provided Bahrains university students with the opportunity to address real-world challenges sustainably and attain advice from experts in different fields. We will continue to support the students in translating those ideas in commercially-feasible projects, said Khalid Saad, CEO Bahrain Fintech Bay. International Motor Trading Agency (IMTA), the Bahrain distributor of Chinas Geely, has launched an exclusive promotion on three new 2019 models to celebrate the Holy Month of Ramadan. Under the promotion, the new 2019 Emgrand 7 model will be available at a starting price of BD74* monthly with zero down payment; the Emgrand GS 2019 will be offered at BD91* monthly with zero down payment and the Emgrand X7 Sport 2019 will start BD104* monthly with zero down payment. All the prices are inclusive of value-added tax (VAT). In addition, IMTA is offering a free gift of the buyers choice worth BD100*, free insurance, free registration and free rust-proofing. A special finance deal with three months deferred instalments* and a special rate of interest of 1.99 per cent* on select finance options is also available. Customers also stand a chance to win fabulous prizes in a raffle draw. This offer is valid until the end of Ramadan and terms and conditions apply. Ramadan is a very special time for our customers and communities in the Middle East, and we want to make it even more special for them by offering more value, said IMTA President Suzan Salman Kanoo. A trade-in facility is also available from IMTA for any make any model. There will be a free evaluation for old cars with deals provided by IMTA with hassle-free documentation if a car is exchanged. During Ramadan, Geely showroom will be open from 8.00 am to 5.00pm and from 7.30pm to 11:30 pm. It will remain closed on Friday An important conference on Red Sea security was convened in Washington last month. Over two days (April 15 and 16), scores of participants from some 20 countries and organizations discussed the security threats facing the two shores of this waterway, as well as the risks to international navigation. Political, defence and security officials and experts debated the responses and opportunities for cooperation to reverse recent gains by bad regional and transnational actors in the region. More than 10 perc ent of world trade crosses the Red Sea, which stretches between two important narrow passages and possible chokepoints for freedom of navigation: The Bab Al-Mandab Strait and the Suez Canal. About 300 million people live on its shores and have been trading for millennia, but they now face major challenges both regionally and internationally. Threats facing the Red Security zone include terrorism, piracy, human trafficking, drugs, arms smuggling and other illicit human trade. New and emerging threats include cyberattacks and the smuggling of missiles, drones and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). And they are all connected; for example, pirates and former pirates provide protection for illegal fishing boats, and some now cooperate with Daesh and other terror groups. With war in Syria raging, drugs from Afghanistan now go to Europe through East Africa, and terrorists are funded by the drug trade. The lucrative but illicit trade in charcoal from Somalia funds Al-Shabab terror group. Iran exploits the instability in the region to smuggle weapons to the Houthis, threaten freedom of navigation in Bab Al-Mandab, sell fuel and get around sanctions. Iranian boats are also the main beneficiaries of illegal fishing in Somali waters. Human traffickers smuggle children and teenagers to Europe, paying local warlords and terrorists to facilitate their trade. Interactions and possibilities for collaboration between organized crime, terrorists and rogue states are infinite. And they are getting more sophisticated. In addition to cyber threats, newer guided missiles and drone boats, they use tide timings to get local fishermen to help in their activities. The threats are magnified by the fact that there are many ungoverned spaces along the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, in Yemen and Somalia, and security forces on the west coast have limited capacity. Other than Djibouti and Egypt, there is no coastal policing to speak of. Poverty and weak governance in some Red Sea countries also enable this network of transnational illegal activity, making the Horn of Africa in particular a hub for international organized crime and terrorists. The US presence at the Red Sea conference was the most organized and vocal. Officials from the Departments of State and Defence were there, as well as representatives from several organizations, including the US Institute of Peace, the Near East and South Asia Centre for Strategic Studies, the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies, and other nongovernmental organizations and research groups. They presented the most detailed accounts on the threats facing the Red Sea zone. The Gulf Cooperation Council, African Union and others provided suggestions for cooperation to reverse the recent gains by illicit actors. There was wide consensus on the need to cooperate more closely to face the conventional and emerging threats in the Red Sea. It was agreed that a trilateral cooperative approach provides the best way forward. Cooperation between countries and regional organizations on both sides of the Red Sea is essential, and without which very little can be achieved. However, the responsibility for freedom of navigation in the Red Sea is global. Major trading nations, such as China, Japan, the US and European nations, as well as the UN and other relevant international organizations, should share the burden of safeguarding international waters. Participants agreed to meet again in the near future in Mombasa, Kenya, to fine tune the various proposals for useful cooperation and the division of labour between these three components. Among the suggestions that were discussed and will be the subject of closer scrutiny in future meetings are the following. Defence cooperation, joint exercises, and training and capacity-building efforts should continue and intensify, in addition to developing effective methods to counter new threats such as cyberattacks, missile and drone proliferation, drones, and IEDs and booby-trapped boats. A more holistic approach to countering terrorism should be more effective. It would include political consultations (on designating groups and individuals), operational cooperation and information sharing between security forces, disrupting terrorist funding, and degrading terrorist groups ability to recruit and radicalize young people. However, most countries along the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden are either poor, unstable or both. They have limited economic means and technical capacity to exercise their authority over their territorial waters. As such, military cooperation and counterterrorism will have limited value if they are not accompanied by addressing the underlying causes of instability, underdevelopment and poverty in the region. Promoting trade between the Red Seas two shores is an important first step. Although about a 10th of world trade, including 4 million barrels of oil, passes through the Red Sea daily, relatively limited trade takes place between the countries overlooking the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. For millennia, the two sides traded briskly, but in modern times that trade has atrophied. Only investment can create jobs and provide the youth with viable alternatives to illegal activities, but promoting investment faces formidable governance challenges, which need to be addressed candidly and robustly. International donors give generously, but there is very little coordination between them to focus aid on addressing technical capacity limitations and governance. Development aid can help local communities to build a more hospitable investment climate. Better coordination between humanitarian aid providers is needed to target the most vulnerable communities and deprive terrorists of the ability to control aid or direct it to serve their objectives. These and other proposals will be on the table when the next Red Sea security dialogue takes place in Mombasa in the near future. Saudi-led coalition warplanes bombed Yemeni Huthi targets including in the capital yesterday following insurgent drone strikes on a key oil pipeline that Riyadh said were ordered by Tehran. The Saudi deputy defence minister warned that Tuesdays attack by Yemeni Huthis on a major pipeline in the kingdom was tightening the noose around peace efforts. The Saudi-led coalition confirmed that its warplanes were carrying out multiple strikes across Huthi-held territory. We have begun to launch air strikes targeting sites operated by the Huthi militia, including in Sanaa, a coalition official, who declined to be identified, said. A strike on one Sanaa neighbourhood killed at least six people and wounded 10, Dr Mokhtar Mohammed of the capitals Republic Hospital said. The coalition carried out 11 strikes on the capital in all, among 19 across rebel-held territory, the rebels Al-Masirah television reported. The raids began around 8 am (0500 GMT). There were many strikes, a witness said. Sudans military rulers yesterday suspended crucial talks with protesters on installing civilian rule, insisting more time was needed to finalise the deal as Khartoums security situation deteriorated. On Wednesday army generals and protest leaders were expected to decide on the make-up of a new body to govern Sudan for three years, the thorniest issue in instating civilian rule following the ouster of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir last month. But after at least eight people were reported wounded by gunshots near a sit-in outside the army complex in the capital, Sudans army ruler General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan announced negotiations would be suspended for 72 hours. Burhan -- the chief of the ruling military council that took power after Bashir was toppled -- left the door open to resume talks but demanded protesters dismantle roadblocks in Khartoum, open bridges and railway lines connecting the capital and stop provoking security forces. There were armed elements among demonstrators who were shooting at security forces, he added. Earlier on Wednesday, protest leaders told AFP of the ruling military councils decision to suspend talks. They asked us to dismantle barricades in parts of the capital, Rashid al-Sayid, a spokesman of the umbrella protest movement the Alliance for Freedom and Change said. Many assaults on us Roadblocks on key thoroughfares are being used by demonstrators to pressure the generals to transfer power to a civilian administration. The protest group that spearheaded the campaign against Bashir said the generals wanted the demonstrators to restrict themselves to the sit-in area where thousands have camped for weeks in central Khartoum, demanding civilian rule. Some roadblocks were later removed after the protest group urged demonstrators to abide by the request, an AFP correspondent reported. Protester Mohamed expressed disappointment over the suspended negotiations, telling AFP they had delayed so many times and there have been so many assaults on us. The protest movement is demanding a civilian-led transition, which the generals have steadfastly resisted since bowing to their demands and toppling longtime autocrat Bashir. During the first two days of talks the two sides had agreed on an overall civilian structure, including a three-year transitional period for the full transfer of power to a civilian administration. They had also agreed that parliament be composed of 300 members for the transition, with 67 percent from the alliance and the rest drawn from other political groups. The composition of the new sovereign council has been the toughest part of the negotiations, with the two sides so far proposing different compositions of the body which is expected to take all key decisions concerning national issues. The generals want it to be military-led, while the protesters insist on a majority civilian body 3 1 of 3 Dave Kotinsky / Contributed photo Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Contributed photo Show More Show Less 3 of 3 Billed as the ultimate girls night out, An Evening with Celebrity Housewives returns to The Ridgefield Playhouse on Friday, May 31, featuring Teresa Giudice (New Jersey), Kelly Dodd (Orange County) and Sonja Morgan (New York) of the Real Housewives series. The celebs will dish about their personal lives, families and businesses and how fame has changed them forever. Giudice, who appeared on Real Housewives of New Jersey and on Celebrity Apprentice, is the author of four New York Times best-sellers, including Fabulicious: Fast & Fit! Shes also a mother of four all girls. Jessica Hill / Associated Press HARTFORD House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz said they are close to a deal on a bill that would allow electronic tolls to be installed on four highways in Connecticut. The bill they will vote on will include information about how much residents will be charged per mile, both peak and off-peak and what type of discount residents will receive. Contributed photo / New Milford Mayor Pete Bass recently welcomed new citizens at Literacy Volunteers on the Green's Celebration of Literacy gala. All three new citizens Navia Payano, Minju Jung and Seongho Hong are students at Literacy Volunteers on the Green. Contributed Photo / contributed Easton, Redding and Region 9 schools are seeking community members to help students discover their passion about the real world of work as part of the Community Assets Network. There are about 120 community members in the network now, representing a variety of fields. The assets have agreed to serve as mentors and guest speakers for the ER9 schools. Local residents with expertise in any career area, volunteer or professional, are urged to join the network. The fiancee of Jamal Khashoggi called Thursday for members of Congress to put greater pressure on Saudi Arabia to answer questions related to the Saudi journalist's slaying, telling lawmakers, "I am asking for justice." "This act - this murder - was a great brutality, and the last seven, eight months, nothing was done," Hatice Cengiz said at a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing on the dangers of reporting on human rights. "We still do not know why he was killed. We don't know where his corpse is." She urged lawmakers to press Saudi Arabia's leaders and sanction the kingdom in response to the killing of Khashoggi, a contributing columnist for The Washington Post. "In the early days, President [Donald] Trump said that this would be solved," Cengiz said. "And Ms. Pelosi talked about how unacceptable this was. But seven, eight months later, we see that nothing has been done, and that is why I'm here today." The House and Senate voted earlier this year to end U.S. support for the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen, in a rebuke of the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. But Trump vetoed the resolution, and the Senate failed to override it. Cengiz's testimony before the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations comes one day after she criticized Trump's response in a meeting with Washington Post journalists. Also speaking at Thursday's hearing was Gulchehra Hoja, an ethnic Uighur journalist with Radio Free Asia in Washington. Hoja has said that more than 20 of her relatives - including her brother and her elderly parents - have been detained in China because of her reporting on human rights abuses in the Muslim-majority Xinjiang region. Joel Simon, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, and Sarah Repucci, senior director for research and analysis at Freedom House, also testified. In her interview with The Washington Post, Cengiz said the Saudi government has not contacted her to offer compensation or even condolences since Khashoggi was killed in the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul in October. By contrast, the kingdom has given millions of dollars in cash and property to Khashoggi's four adult children. Cengiz and Khashoggi met at a conference last year and made plans to marry soon after. At Thursday's hearing, she said that when they were making their wedding preparations, "I was happier to be alive than I had ever been in my life." All of that came crashing down seven months ago when, according to U.S. and Turkish authorities, Khashoggi was killed by a team of Saudi assassins after he entered the consulate to obtain papers for their planned marriage. "It wasn't just Jamal that was killed" in the consulate that day, Cengiz said. "It was also what we're talking about here - the values that the United States represents. Didn't they get murdered as well?" She told lawmakers that she "still cannot make human sense of it." "I still feel that I'll wake up and it will get back to that," she said. "And I cannot understand that the world still has not done anything about this." At one point in the hearing, freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, thanked Cengiz for her courage and told her that Khashoggi had once encouraged her to run for Congress when they were attending an Iftar dinner together. "I remember he had said to me, he took a famous picture of Keith Ellison and I, and he said, 'Ilhan, you need to run for Congress,' " Omar said, referring to the Democrat who previously held her seat. "And I said, 'I can't run for Congress, because the only seat I can run for is occupied by Keith Ellison.' And we laughed about that, and I didn't really know that that would be the last time that I would see him." Lawmakers of both parties said that they shared Cengiz's sentiment that more needs to be done to hold Saudi Arabia to account for the killing. "I think the world was horrified at the open, blatant murder of your fiancee, and the fact that that has gone unanswered in the world is a source of shame," said Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., the subcommittee's chair. "We will do what we can. There needs to be justice for what was done." Rep. Christopher Smith, R-N.J., accused Saudi Arabia's leaders of being "very, very unforthcoming" with information, not just on Khashoggi's killing but also in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. "I find it appalling; I think we all must find it appalling," he said, criticizing the "incredible arrogance" of the Saudi government. - - - The Washington Post's Greg Miller contributed to this report. The Bethel Library is hosting an art show by a family of three artists Saturday, May 18, through Friday, June 14. Titled Lineage, the show will feature the works of Jo-Ann Cordes, her husband James Cordes and daughter Ashley Cordes. There will be a public reception May 18 from 12:30 to 2 p.m., with the artists onhand to and talk about their work, which will be on exhibit in the Maria Parloa Community Room. No registration is required. WINNIPEG, May 15, 2019 /CNW/ - Medicure Inc. ("Medicure" or the "Company") (TSXV: MPH, OTC: MCUJD.PK), a pharmaceutical company, today announced the appointment of Manon Harvey CPA, CA, to the Board of Directors. Ms. Harvey is a CPA, CA, and holds a Bachelor of Commerce (summa cum laude) from the University of Ottawa. Additionally, Ms. Harvey has her ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. In January 2019, she joined the University of British Columbia's Okanagan Campus as Director, Integrated Planning and Chief Budget Officer where she is responsible for supporting the University's mission through long range financial planning, financial advice and effective resource allocation strategies. For the prior 21 years as Vice-President, Finance and Corporate Services for the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), Ms. Harvey was responsible for the finance function, human resources, information technology, and administrative services. She was an Officer of the CFI Board of Directors, and served as the Secretary and Treasurer. For over 10 years, until June 2014, she was both a member of the Board of Directors, as well as Chair of the Audit Committee, for Hydro Ottawa. She is an external member of the Departmental Audit Committee of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. "It is a great pleasure to have Ms. Harvey join the Board of Directors", stated Dr. Albert D. Friesen, Chair of the Board of Medicure. "We look forward to working with her to continue to guide and grow Medicure." About Medicure Medicure is a pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of therapies for the U.S. cardiovascular market. The present focus of the Company is the marketing and distribution of AGGRASTAT (tirofiban hydrochloride) injection, ZYPITAMAGTM (pitavastatin) tablets and the ReDS device in the United States, where they are sold through the Company's U.S. subsidiary, Medicure Pharma Inc. For more information on Medicure please visit www.medicure.com. To be added to Medicure's e-mail list, please visit: http://medicure.mediaroom.com/alerts Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE Medicure Inc. For further information: James Kinley, Chief Financial Officer, Tel. 888-435-2220, Fax 204-488-9823, E-mail: [email protected], www.medicure.com Related Links www.medicure.com Trump is banning Chinas Huawei in 5G. US companies will not sell components for Chinas 5G. Qualcomm, Micron and other companies will not be selling to Huawei. Cisco is a big winner and is up 6.6% today. This is more than the Trade War. This will be full technology war with the US blacklisting China for 5G. China will have to try to recreate key technology. China was able to get around US restrictions on supercomputer technology. The US still has the upper hand in technology and consumer purchasing power. This is engaging a full technological and economic competition. The US still has twice as much consumer spending as China and China is behind in critical technology of semiconductors, materials and jet engines. Trump declares a national emergency setting up a ban on China's Huawei in 5G #Politics #POTUS #Whitehouse https://t.co/ZKkoUkLifb Presidential News Network (@POTUSNetwork) May 15, 2019 SOURCES- Twitter, CNBC HAMDEN A 22-year-old woman and nearby witness averted an attempted strong-arm robbery on Dixwell Avenue Thursday night, police said. Capt. Ronald Smith said police responded to the parking lot of the Walgreens at 1191 Dixwell Ave. at approximately 11:45 p.m. for a reported attempted strong-arm robbery. Investigation revealed that a 22 year-old Hamden resident advised police that she was walking towards Walgreens, when she was attacked by an unknown male. The male, described as a light-skinned black male, 20 to 30 years of age, 60 and possibly bald shoved her to the ground. The male attempted to take her purse, said Smith. A witness, who observed the attempted robbery, assisted the victim by pulling the male off of her. The male subsequently fled on foot towards the Farmington Canal Trail. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Detective Matthew Barbuto of the Hamden Police Department Detective Division at 203-287-4807, Smith said. william.lambert@hearstmediact.com NEW HAVEN Nardy tossed his gun. Now, according to federal authorities, Alvin Crawford, also known as Nardy 34, is headed for prison. This is because Crawford, whose criminal history includes state felony convictions for criminal possession of a firearm, carrying a pistol without a permit, violation of a protective order, and second-degree assault, was sentenced to nearly 2 years in prison because federal law prohibits anyone previously convicted of a felony offense to possess a firearm or ammunition that has moved in interstate or foreign commerce, according to a release by the office of Connecticut U.S. Attorney John H. Durham. Further, the case arose because, according to court documents and statements made in court, Crawford, who was holding a yellow plastic bag at the time, ran from Hartford Police on April 2, 2018, ignored verbal commands to stop, tossed the bag over the fence, scaled the fence, picked up the bag and continued to run, according to authorities. Officers caught Crawford and a search of the bag revealed a Taurus .38 Special revolver and five rounds of ammunition, the release said. Crawford, of Hartford has been held since he was arrested and on Dec. 11, 2018, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of firearm by a convicted felon, according to authorities. In total, Carwford was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven to 42 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, the release noted. NEW HAVEN In this city of great art and artists, theres a new art installation. This is possible because East Street Arts, a social enterprise of Marrakech, Inc., (dedicated to fostering the creation of art) recently unveiled the public art installation Fiber Sculpture: A Community Constructed Project, as part of its 3-year anniversary celebration, according to a release. This did not sound like a great plan: a restaurant in a storied New Haven space decorating its dark-paneled walls in a pop-up circus theme. But dont send in the clowns; it works. Ordinary, New Havens oldest tavern for its place on Chapel Street as taproom for the former Hotel Taft, celebrated the taverns six-year anniversary (it was previously Richters) recently with the launch of its new P.T. Barnum decor, food and cocktail theme. It works because the space is homey and historic, and the staff led by Ordinary co-founders Tim Cabral and Mike Farber along with brothers Tom and Jason Sobocinski (Caseus Fromagerie, Black Hog Brewing Co.) can hit that sweet spot between neighborhood bar and historic tavern with good eats and service. At a preview recently, Ordinary showed off items added in collaboration with The Barnum Museum in Bridgeport reprints of posters, chalk art of the drink menu above the bar with colored round lights and tented top to the dining room entrance. In the restaurants compact dining room at the rear were a seer doing card tricks and a liquor distributor in top hat and cape pouring liquor samples. But the real fun came in the drink additions developed by the five bartenders on property (more on that in a moment). The idea for the theme came after the restaurants Miracle pop-up theme during the winter holidays, which involved lighting this place up like the merriest Christmas ever, said one manager. The idea for the bar area now is going to an old fairgrounds, carnivals or circus and seeing wagons that are circled, he said. The dining room entrance is the Big Top. The Barnum Museum, by the way, was dealt punishing blows by tornado and hurricanes earlier this decade and closed until 2018. To salute that longstanding museum, Jason Sobocinski said in a release, We are also planning on donating $1 from the sale of each special P.T. Barnum Charitable Cocktail to The Barnum Museum throughout the run of this pop-up. The theme is expected to continue through the summer. Also sampled this day were the themed Dirty Water Dogs Hummel Bros. hot dogs cooked with Black Hog SWAG wheat ale (and served with spicy mustards, pickled cabbage or relish), Cracker Jacks and tasty house-made hot pockets. But back to the cocktails, which are inventive and fun (and $12-$15). The one called Now You See Me (Peloton Mezcal, Ancho, Chipotle/Tamarind syrup, citrus) is made with cotton candy, which bartenders were experimenting with as a garnish but decided to use it this way. A brownish mix of liquor is poured over a small cotton candy in a cocktail glass and the cotton candy dissolves. Pure sweet fun. Another, called Tunnel of Love (Hacienda Reposado, Green Chartreuse, Cocchi Americano, beet shrub, bitters) is mixed and placed in a cocktail glass inside a brass and glass box (hurricane lamp) filled with lavender smoke. The smoke wafts out of the box when the door is opened and sticks to the glass for flavor. If thats not enough of the Greatest Show on Earth, theres the Sweet Corn Colada, made with bourbon, amaro, banana liqueur and cold brew coffee. Served over frozen banana cubes and topped with a thick sweet corn foam, it is delicious. The Slush Puppy (gin, vermouth, pink peppercorn Syrup, citrus, watermelon, basil and bitters) was prettier than it was tasty mostly because the liquid had a hard time getting around the frozen watermelon cube. OK, theres irony in great cocktails with a Barnum theme since P.T. gave up drinking at 40 and was a Prohibition advocate. But this is the home of the New Haven Cocktail Museum, so well mention one more pop-up drink: the Snake Oil Peddler is served as a poison and antidote, the rum cocktail on the rocks and a red test tube of antidote in it. Of course, the tubes contents involve amaro and Wild Turkey rye, so ... theres a (willing) sucker born every minute. A New Orleans high school student who received over 115 college acceptances letters has made her choice. Antoinette Love, a senior at International High School of New Orleans, made the decision to attend Eureka College in Illinois. Love was surrounded by friends, family, IHSNO officials and Eureka College President Dr. Jamel Wright, who flew into New Orleans for the announcement. Love, who plans to major in elementary education, said she chose Eureka for its strong tradition of producing some of the country's best educators. "With so many colleges offering me acceptances, it was a very difficult decision to make," said Love. "After lots of prayers, talks with my family and school counselors, we decided Eureka would best put me on the path to becoming an educator." Love is the oldest of five children, and her parents, Anthony and Yolanda Love, said they've wanted the best for her since they were just teenagers when Love came into the world. "I was nervous when her dad and I had her at the young ages of 15 and 17, and I was frightened when she was viciously attacked by a dog as a 2-year-old and survived," said Yolanda, who gave birth to her daughter six weeks prematurely. Antoinette only weighed 4.4 pounds when she was born. The national spotlight has been on Love for weeks now as word of her record number of acceptances and scholarships swept the country, and her decision ends weeks of suspense for the Love family and the inquiring national media. "We couldn't be happier with Antoinette's decision to attend Eureka College and to follow in our footsteps to become a premier educator," said Sean Wilson, head of school for IHSNO, which is a public, college preparatory International Baccalaureate high school located in the heart of downtown New Orleans. Love, who is also a gifted painter, applied to more than 115 schools nationwide with the help of her counselor Denise James, who is credited with motivating Love and 2018's record recipient, Darrin Francois. "We're ecstatic Antoinette chose Eureka College," said Wright. "Our long tradition of producing some of the country's best educators starts with students like Antoinette who have a passion for inspiring and teaching others." North Haven Police Department NORTH HAVEN A town resident was recently arrested and charged after allegedly stealing rare coins from a community church, according to North Haven police. During the spring of 2018 North Haven Detectives responded to Montowese Baptist Church, 201 Quinnipiac Avenue, to follow up on a burglary. Stolen from an office within the Church were rare foreign and domestic coins, police said on Facebook. After a long-term investigation involving the State of Connecticut Forensic Laboratory, evidence on scene developed a suspect; 30 year old Matthew Vozza of North Haven. Kendrick Castillo was just three days away from graduating high school. Summer, then the 18-year-old with an interest in robotics would go to college to study electrical engineering. His father had talked with him about what to do if there were a school shooting. Dont try to be a hero, his dad advised. But Kendrick followed his instinct to protect others when, during a British Literature class at his high school last week, a teenager pulled out a gun saying, Nobody move. Kendrick lunged at him, which gave other students time to run. Most of you have not heard the name Kendrick Castillo, have you? Thats because the shooting at STEM School Highland Ranch in Colorado May 7 killed only one student and injured only eight. School shootings have become so common in this country that only large numbers of fatalities attract much attention beyond the affected community. I hope this makes you as angry as it does me. What does it say about our society, about ourselves, that we are no longer shocked to the core that someone would start shooting in a school? Or a place of worship. Or a concert. Or a movie theater. Or a nightclub. Or anywhere. Kendricks charter school with about 1,800 students is in a suburb of Denver, about seven miles from Littleton where the high school there became synonymous 20 years ago with school shootings Columbine. A shooting every other week At Columbine High School, on April 20, 1999, two students shot to death 13 people and wounded 20 more. The nation was shocked. But school shootings have become the new normal. Parents feel they must talk to their kids about how to respond and to text them they are OK. Schools put students through active shooter drills, eerily reminiscent of the nuclear bomb drills in their grandparents day. Back in the late 50s and early 60s, kids were taught to hide under their desks if the Russians dropped bombs. School shootings have become so common that a team of Yale University students developed an active shooter alert app to enable faculty and students to communicate immediately and to streamline response times. The app was in reaction to the Valentines Day shootings last year at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., in which it took 3-and-a-half minutes to learn an active shooter was in the school. Seventeen people died. In 2018 alone there were 24 school shootings with injuries or deaths (not including suicides) an average of one shooting every other week and 35 people died, 79 others were injured, according to Education Week. Here in Connecticut, the grief and trauma over the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings on Dec. 14, 2012 that took the lives of 20 first graders and six educators remain. Immediately after the tragedy, green signs sprouted around Newtown that proclaimed We are Sandy Hook We Choose Love. I believe that ultimately love will triumph, but love is taking too long. Since Sandy Hook, our country has seen nearly 2,000 mass shootings (four or more people harmed, in schools and elsewhere); more than 2,200 people killed and nearly 8,200 wounded, according to Vox. Since 2013, there has been only one full calendar week the week of January 5, 2014 without a mass shooting, the news site reported. Let that sink in. Mass shootings are now a way of life in America. Do not accept that; change it. Stop the violence There is not one all-inclusive solution. Gun safety measures are an obvious step, but instead of finding ways to better protect society, discussion has become deeply divisive. It is wrongly framed as infringement on individual Second Amendment rights. No one has the right to own a military-style semi-automatic assault weapon, such as the one used at Sandy Hook. Connecticut has rightfully banned them. Bills that have made it through General Assembly committees this year address safe storage of firearms, which do not impair gun owners and ought to pass into law. In response to Sandy Hook, groups such as Newtown Action Alliance have worked on the national level for sane legislation, such as universal background checks. For our country, and children, to be safer we have to move past polarization of rights and come together for the greater good. Mental wellness has to be part of the equation. Grassroots groups, such as Sandy Hook Promise, are developing programs such as Know the Signs of someone who is troubled and Start with Hello, to break through isolation for use in schools. The Jesse Lewis Choose Love Foundation, a nonprofit formed by the Sandy Hook first-graders mother Scarlett Lewis, teaches social and emotional learning responding to others with kindness, compassion and forgiveness through the schools. Another organization formed for a slain Sandy Hook first grader, the Avielle Foundation, aims to reduce violence by building bridges between biochemical and behavioral sciences. All of these endeavors are absolutely worthwhile. But the courage and determination of those parents do not let us off the hook. As a community, and individually, we need to consider how our culture makes it acceptable to pick up a gun and kill fellow human beings. How do we turn around the culture of violence? We have become inured to the killings and we cant let that happen. Funny and smart A year after Parkland, and student activists marching in the streets, school shootings are so commonplace that only one dead gets little notice. In his British Literature class last week Kendrick Castillo should have been analyzing the humor in the movie The Princess Bride for an assignment. Instead, he and two classmates were wrestling a teenage gunman to the floor of the darkened room. A second teen with a gun in a different area of the K-12 school was subdued by an armed school security guard. Classmates called Kendrick, a member of the schools robotics club, funny and smart. Kendrick Castillo died a legend, said Brendan Bialy who with Joshua Jones also tackled the gunman and were injured. After getting the gun away from the shooter, Brendan tried to get Kendrick to talk, but his friend wasnt moving. He then helped a teacher who came into the room and tried to give medical aid, according to the account by CNN. Kendrick loved patriotism, inspired by his late grandfather who was a Marine. We are Hispanic by nature, but we love America to the core, Kendricks father said. On Wednesday this week, Kendricks parents John and Maria Castillo went to the courthouse for a hearing of the accused shooters. Then they went to the funeral service for their only child. Jacqueline Smiths columns appear Fridays in Hearst Connecticut Media daily newspapers. Email her at jsmith@hearstmediact.com A longtime nanny for a family in Alpine was arrested Thursday and charged with stealing about $37,000 from them, according to the Bergen County Prosecutors Office. Gabriella Durso, 26, of Fort Lee, is accused of forging more than 60 checks and depositing them into her personal bank account, acting Prosecutor Dennis Calo said. She also allegedly used a credit card without authorization to buy personal items, according to Calo. The family reported Durso in November 2018 to the Alpine Police Department. After an investigation, Durso was charged with theft by deception, forgery, uttering and unauthorized use of a credit card, all third-degree crimes, Calo said. Durso was released pending a May 29 court hearing, Calo said. Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. The mayor recently criticized for hiring his daughter for the local police department and living with his police chief girlfriend recently received notices and fines for ethics violations. West Wildwood Mayor Christopher Fox was given seven notices of violations and fined $24,900 by the Local Finance Board, a division of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs. A letter, dated April 11 and signed by Local Finance Board Chairperson Melanie Walker, notified Fox of the violations. "Please be advised that the notices are not a final determination if you desire to avail yourself of the right to request an administrative hearing, Walker wrote in the letter. If a hearing is requested in accordance with the enclosed notices, the Board will not issue a final determination until the completion of the administrative hearing process. According to DCA spokesperson Lisa Ryan, the complaint was submitted anonymously and chronicled a list of incidents which violated several Local Government Ethics Law statues including using an official position to secure unwarranted privileges or advantages for himself or others. NJ Advance Media reached out to Fox for comment about the notices of violations. However, our request for comment was not returned. Nearly a month after the notices of violations were mailed to Fox, his daughter, Nicole Fox, was voted by the boroughs board of commissioners to be hired as a police officer, and reported to borough police chief Jacquelyn Ferentz. The mayor abstained from voting on the resolution. Residents at the meeting said Ferentz lives with the mayor. The other violations listed in the complaint include: Voting to appoint himself to serve as the Director of Public Safety while living with the boroughs police chief Jacquelyn Ferentz. He also took actions to restore Ferentz to her then-position of lieutenant at the police department. Ferentz also received back pay and granted a pension credit for the time she was not working in the department. On 50 occasions, recorded borough meetings documented Fox giving the police activity report and had direct and indirect financial or personal involvement that may have impaired his judgement and objectivity. In another 16 occasions, Fox was involved in personnel actions, which included hiring, promoting, and appointing officers in the police department. On seven occasions, Fox approved capital projects for the police department, including the purchase of an SUV for Ferentz to use. Using his position to have his daughter Nicole Fox appointed as Deputy Office of Emergency Management Coordinator from 2016 through 2018. Voting for resolutions including hiring a law firm to represent the borough, approve a $1,999,300 emergency appropriation to pay for the lawsuit the borough lost to Ferentz, who was living with the mayor at the time. Voting for a 2015 borough ordinance that allowed for the chief of polices maximum salary amount to increase 12.5%, then voted again in 2016 to increase the salary another 33.3%. Ferentzs salary went from $67,000 in 2015 to $101,000 in 2017. While serving as mayor of West Wildwood, Fox signed a shared services agreement September 2016 with the city of Wildwood for law enforcement support services. Fox was serving as the citys appointed municipal administrator. Fox never disclosed an annual pension he received from the Police and Fire Retirement System on his Financial Disclosure Statements from 2014 through 2018. The total amount of fines may increase. Language in each of the notices states Fox is subject to additional fines as determined by the Board per Violations and Penalty Statute. Chris Franklin can be reached at cfranklin@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @cfranklinnews or on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us.nj.com/tips Gov. Phil Murphy is calling for a state Board of Education member to resign after he asked Paterson school officials if they require American history class for their large population of Hispanic students. The governor on Thursday evening urged Jack Fornaro to step down following backlash from two state lawmakers who called Fornaros line of questioning shocking and insensitive." My administration is committed to fostering a learning environment where all students are welcome," Murphy said in a news release. I will not support comments during school board meetings that fly in the face of New Jerseys values. Fornaro has maintained he was simply asking if the district requires American history class because hes heard complaints that students dont learn enough about history. He may have misspoke by beginning his question by mentioning Hispanic students, he said, but he would have asked that question of any district. Im not that guy they are trying to make me out to be, Fornaro said prior to Murphys call for him to resign. I am not a prejudiced person. The dispute highlights the rising tensions nationwide over freedom of speech and the surging cancel culture that has pushed celebrities like Roseanne Barr out of their jobs for controversial or offensive remarks. One on side, theres the fear that national political rhetoric has stoked and normalized bias against people of color. On the other, there are claims of hypersensitivity and political correctness running amok. Murphy called for Fornaros resignation because bias cannot be tolerated, he said. Fornaro, appointed in 2011 by then-Gov. Chris Christie, said his comments have been overblown. Despite specifically mentioning Hispanic students, he said the question was meant to be applied to all demographics. He prefaced his question during the May 1 meeting by saying he was just being inquisitive." Then, he asked: With the demographics that you have indicated here, you know, the high population that is Hispanic, and, uh, I am just wondering, do you teach American history as a required course? He followed up by asking if the courses begin before or after the Civil War. He also asked for the pass rate for the course, according to audio of the exchange obtained by NJ Advance Media. Fornaro, of Oxford, Warren County, heard no backlash about his questions until two weeks later, he said, when reporters called him after two state lawmakers slammed his inquiry. State Sens. Teresa Ruiz, D-Essex, and Nellie Pou, D-Passaic, wrote the state education commissioner on Wednesday that the state must be clear that New Jersey does not stand for this type of prejudice." Ruiz and Pou said they were specifically concerned that Fornaro asked about the pass rate for American history, which they interpreted as a suggestion that immigrants and children of immigrants cant pass the class. Hispanic immigrants often face lasting doubts about their assimilation (are they American enough?), so the question of learning about American history could have been received as especially offensive the way Fornaro phrased it. Ruiz and Pou suggested all board members should be trained in cultural competency and cultural sensitivity. A former police officer, detective and investigator, Fornaro now works as an aide for state Sen. Gerald Cardinale, R-Bergen. Cardinale defended Fornaros character, telling NorthJersey.com he had never shown any tendencies to discriminate against anyone. Fornaro pointed out that hes the son of Italian immigrants and was raised in diverse Brooklyn in the 1940s and 1950s. I grew up in a mixed neighborhood, he said. I am fine with every population in the country. American history is required in the states current academic standards, which were approved during Fornaros tenure on the state board. Seats on the 113-member board are unpaid positions, and members appointed by the governor to six-year terms. Adam Clark may be reached at adam_clark@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on twitter at @realAdamClark. 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. Rutgers Universitys independent student newspaper is asking for donations after students voted to discontinue a fee that provided more than half a million dollars annually to the 150-year-old paper. The controversial vote will cost the paper a projected $540,000 next school year, close to 70 percent of its roughly $800,000 budget, said Melissa Hayes, an alumni member of The Daily Targums Board of Trustees. Salaries for students and three non-student staff members make up about half of that budget, and printing and delivery accounts for another $200,000, Hayes said. Even as the paper launched a $100,000 fundraising campaign Thursday, its evident seismic changes loom at one of the countrys oldest college papers. While this loss of funding is a huge blow to our organization, we are not closing our doors, said Hayes, a 2004 graduate who later covered politics for the Bergen Record. This isnt the end for The Daily Targum. Its just the beginning of the next chapter. The papers GoFundMe page raised more than $4,000 by Thursday afternoon, including small donations from many former staff members who said their careers were shaped by the student paper. The Daily Targum has been independent from Rutgers since 1980 and has no plans to change, Hayes said. We are exploring all options, Hayes said. Asking the university to fund us is not one of them. The papers leaders have declined to speculate about specific changes, such as reducing or eliminated the print product. Currently, the paper prints Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters with 10,000 copies a day, Hayes said. Many independent college newspapers, like media companies, have struggled to stay afloat amid declining print circulation and advertising revenue, leading them to scale back print operations and focus on their websites. The Daily Targum has benefitted from the student fee, which began in the 1980s and has gradually increased over the years. Students must vote in a referendum every three years to reaffirm their support for the fee. Students in each school at Rutgers New Brunswick campus are asked to vote, and the paper needs at least 25 percent of voters to support the fee for the university to keep charging students in a particular school. The referendum failed across all schools this year with more than 70 percent of students not casting a ballot at all. Hayes said the paper hopes to win back student support in the future. We know we have to adapt to reach our audience," she said. And we have been working on it. Adam Clark may be reached at adam_clark@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on twitter at @realAdamClark. 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. For nearly 30 years, Bjork has been pops celebrated mad scientist, melding virtually every musical style known to man and woman from skittering trip-hop and EDM to sweeping medieval sounds and folk music inspired by her native Iceland to forge a career so nebulous and chameleonic, it often defies description. Bjorks music simply is, take it or leave it. Yet such relentless acclaim including the hailings that surrounded her most recent project, 2017s ethereal Utopia has not spoiled Bjorks desire to challenge herself once more and unleash a run of shows billed as her most elaborate staged concert to date. Bjork's "Cornucopia" at The Shed in New York. (Santiago Felipe) Thursday marked the fourth of eight scheduled performances for Bjorks Cornucopia, a deeply experimental and visually splendid production directed by the lauded Argentinian filmmaker Lucrecia Martel and housed by The Shed, a modish new theater in midtown Manhattans sparkling Hudson Yards complex. Like the album Utopia, which acts as the 100-minute concerts audial centerpiece, Cornucopia strives to merge the grace of humanity with the vast delicacies of nature, endlessly swirling high-definition computerized images of female forms sometimes Bjorks own likeness with floral envelopments projected onto both a large screen behind the 10-piece live production and a translucent shield made of thousands of thin strands, which retracted back and forth in front of multi-tiered stage. Bjork's "Cornucopia" at The Shed in New York. (Santiago Felipe) The screens were also used to promote the performances underlying message: climate change awareness. During a mid-set flute solo, a scrolling text stressed to the crowd of 500 fans the dangers of the U.S. withdrawing from the Paris Agreement. Later, before the encore, a video of the now-famed Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg was presented, where the 16-year-old urged you are never to small to make a difference and it is the suffering of the many that pays for the luxuries of the few. But thats not to suggest this performance was simply a vehicle for Bjorks political views, or to say the musicians relied on the rooms exceedingly advanced tech as some sort of crutch. No, the most dazzling moments came from the humans involved in this mesmerizing production, which was at once bafflingly esoteric and immediately unforgettable. The most memorable moments from this kaleidoscopic sensory experience: During the new, nearly 10-minute opus Body Memory, Bjork stood on a round platform in front of the stage, nearer to the seated crowd of nodding listeners, and down from the rafters lowered a metal ring called The Circle Flute. Bjork stood within the ring as four of her seven flutists stood on the outside, each playing one of the four curved and conjoined segments yes, it was four people playing one whimsical instrument, which only functions if all four blow in unison. Bjork's "Cornucopia" at The Shed in New York. (Santiago Felipe) For Body Memory, as well as Hidden Place and a revamped, pounding rendition of 2004s Mouths Cradle, a sprawling Icelandic chorus called The Hamrahlid Choir took the stage and backed Bjorks vocal 50 teenagers all dressed in white and golden headpieces, bopping to the intense pulse. The choir also opened the show, masterfully singing traditional Icelandic folk songs for about 20 minutes. The experimental Brooklyn musician Serpentwithfeet joined Bjork on stage for a soulful and more grounded duet of the new tune Blissing Me, which was bolstered by percussionist Manu Delgado standing at a water bath about the size of an ironing board and creating rhythms by pouring bowls of water next to a set of microphones, the liquid splashing to the beat. I was in awe of this innovation above all else. Bjork's "Cornucopia" at The Shed in New York. (Santiago Felipe) While Cornucopia certainly succeeds in fulfilling its advertisements claims of elaboration, there remains a great warmth to the project, not unlike the artful romanticism that has pierced so many of the 50-year-old artists records, dating back to the mid 90s fan favorites Debut and Post (Venus As A Boy and Isobel were both worked into the Cornucopia set and met with raucous cheers from the audience). Anyone can switch on a drum machine, record a few bird sounds and call it art, but Bjorks innate sense of how this frequencies pair and why they should be paired has elevated her as the true queen of artpop. Cornucopia just might be her masterpiece. Cornucopia runs at The Shed until June 1. Bjork's "Cornucopia" at The Shed in New York. (Santiago Felipe) Bjorks setlist May 16, 2019 The Shed, New York The Gate Utopia Arisen My Senses Show Me Forgiveness Venus as a Boy Claimstaker Isobel Blissing Me(with serpentwithfeet) Flute Solo Body Memory Hidden Place Mouths Cradle Features Creatures Courtship Pagan Poetry (Partial) Losss Sue Me Tabula Rasa Encore: A message by swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg Future Forever Notget Bobby Olivier may be reached at bolivier@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BobbyOlivier and Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us.nj.com/tips Two giant pandas have returned to China after staying in the United States for years. Twenty-seven-year-old female giant panda Bai Yun and her son, six-year-old Xiao Liwu, arrived in southwest China's Sichuan Province Thursday after the San Diego Zoo's conservation loan agreement with China ended. The giant panda Xiao Liwu [Photo: Chinanews.com] FUZZY CHARM As the first panda on loan, Bai Yun arrived at the San Diego Zoo in 1996. The cuddly panda soon became an iconic image of the zoo and one of the most popular animals. The name of her son, Xiao Liwu, means Little Gift. On Thursday morning, the pandas arrived at the Dujiangyan Base of the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Pandas. Experts examined the pandas and said the chubby bears' conditions were good. "They will be under quarantine for a month to help them adapt to the conditions in China," said Zou Wenyong, with the center. A welcoming ceremony was held at the base at 3:30 p.m. Zhang Haiqing, deputy director of the center, presented an award to the San Diego Zoo for its protection of the pandas, while Shawn Dixon, with the San Diego Zoo, dedicated a book featuring joint research efforts to the center. Last month, the San Diego Zoo held a three-week farewell event for the two giant pandas. Around 1,000 Americans lined up at the zoo to say goodbye to the pandas, according to Dixon. GLOBAL COOPERATION The China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda has conducted scientific research cooperation with the San Diego Zoo for 23 years with fruitful results in the protection, breeding, disease control of giant pandas and related public education. After Baiyun and Xiaoliwu's return, the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda has welcomed 17 returnee giant pandas, said Zhang Zhizhong with the center. Zhang added that the center has launched giant panda research programs in cooperation with 16 zoos in 14 countries and regions, serving as the world's largest platform for the scientific research of giant pandas. In 1980, the Chinese government cooperated with the World Wide Fund for Nature to establish the "China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda" (CCRCGP) to save the endangered pandas. The center aimed at raising the number of pandas by captive-breeding programs, but its ultimate goal was to return them to the wild. Giant pandas are one of the world's most endangered species. Fewer than 2,000 pandas live in the wild, mostly in the provinces of Sichuan and Shaanxi. There were 375 giant pandas in captivity at the end of 2013, about 200 of them at the CCRCGP. BAYONNE More than six months after a 21-year-old was fatally struck on Route 440, becoming the latest victim of the dangerous freeway, efforts to make the road safer for pedestrians have yet to materialize. These safety initiatives include new sidewalks, traffic island modifications, new signage, pedestrian traffic signals and traffic signal timing modifications, according to city spokesman Joe Ryan. But officials in City Hall say adding these elements to a state road is a complicated and arduous process. Even then, it will still take finding funding sources to implement. Upon request by the state Department of Transportation, the city is currently reviewing a number of options to address the pedestrian safety issues along Route 440 specifically near the intersection of Goldsborough Drive. The City Administration has been working with the Bayonne Police Department and its engineering consultants to develop alternatives to address the pedestrian safety issue, he said . The city is preparing cost estimates in response to the NJDOT, Ryan said, adding that any modifications to the state highway requires NJDOT approval. But implementation would involve identifying funding sources to make the potential safety measures a reality. "In some cases, several years can pass from the grant application stage to the completion of a project. A variety of procedural requirements can prolong the process," Mayor Jimmy Davis said, citing an example where federal officials announced the city would receive aid to construct a new fire house in 2009. It wasn't built until 2014. Meanwhile, two resolutions approved by the city council in November to go out to bid for a concept study for a pedestrian bridge near the 34th Street Hudson-Bergen Light Rail station were pulled for further consideration as to federal eligibility requirements, the city said. The city approved the resolutions on Nov. 7, just hours before Christian Rodriguez, 22, was struck and killed on the highway between 21st and 22nd streets. The Hoboken resident was struck by a car driven by city resident Abanoub Malek, 21, who was charged a day later with leaving the scene of an accident. Malek pleaded guilty on March 8 to endangering an injured victim. His sentencing is scheduled for 9 a.m. on May 30. Rodriguezs death was the fifth traffic fatality in four and a half years, and came days after the third anniversary of the death of Tyler Sellers, 20, and Sabore Worrell, 24, who were struck and killed while crossing the highway in November 2015. No timeline has been established for either the pedestrian bridge or the safety alternatives being considered. Former industrial areas on the citys eastern most side have morphed into commercial shopping centers like the Bayonne Crossing near 21st Street and the South Cove Commons Plaza on 32nd Street. With hundreds of residential units coming online or slated for completion on the west side of the roadway, pedestrian traffic will continue to be a public safety concern. The city has been granted inclusion in the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authoritys Transportation Improvement Program, and has applied for a NJDOT grant for funding to build a pedestrian bridge, but have yet to receive a response. The lack of safe pedestrian and bicycle options discourages residents and visitors who might otherwise choose to walk or bicycle between the two sites and creates an unsafe environment for those who do ultimately walk or bike, the city said in its grant application for a pedestrian bridge between the Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor and South Cove Commons. The Pedestrian Bridge will allow for safer and more efficient surface travel for pedestrians and bicyclists in a rapidly developing area of the City. In the meantime, city engineering consultants still need to prepare plans and cost estimates for any alternative safety measures. Corey W. McDonald may be reached at cmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @cwmcdonald_. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook. Supporters of Jersey City anti-violence activist Pamela Johnson have organized a march to rally against what they say was excessive force used by police during her DWI arrest earlier this month. The march will begin at the 7 p.m. on Monday at the Jersey City Annex on Martin Luther King Drive near Ege Avenue. It will end at the Jersey City Police Departments West District station where speeches will be delivered. Authorities allege that Johnson, 45, threatened to have her friend the police chief discipline the officer who arrested her on May 7, but her supporters say it was Johnson who was victimized by the police. To pick a woman up and slam her to ground like a duffel bag its wrong, said Bruce Alston, who organized the march through his Urban Concerns organization. This lady sustained injuries. Alston said the march is not about whether Johnson is guilty or innocent of the charges, This is about the use of force." Messages seeking comment from the JCPD and the Jersey City Police Officers Benevolent Association were not returned. The incident began when a police officer pulled over Johnson at Union Street and Arlington Avenue at about 9:45 p.m. because she was allegedly speeding, law enforcement sources said. The officer had Johnson, the director of the Jersey City Anti-Violence Coalition Movement, get out of her vehicle and detected the odor of alcohol on her breath. The officer said Johnson repeatedly said she was a community activist and a friend of Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop and Jersey City Police Chief Michael Kelly, according to the report, which also alleges she said she would call Kelly and have the officer disciplined. The police report states the officer took Johnson to the ground because she resisted by forcefully, pulling away and pushing the officers hands off her when he tried to take her into custody. Johnson was charged with resisting arrest and making threats or other improper influence both criminal offenses. The fact that shes involved with a community of folks who are looking to reduce violence is where our relationship starts and ends, Kelly told The Jersey Journal on Friday. We have a common goal: reduce violence. Johnson has been one of the most vocal anti-violence advocates in Jersey City, working closely with the families of the victims of violence. She has organized anti-violence marches and numerous other events. She founded the Jersey City Anti-Violence Coalition Movement in 2014 in the aftermath of the murder of Jersey City Police Det. Melvin Santiago. Since then, she has become one of the most prominent community voices in Jersey City, especially in the wake of high-profile violence. (Ending) violence is a cause everyone should be a part of," Johnson told The Jersey Journal in 2016. In 2016, the Jersey City City Council named her a Woman of Action. "The best is yet to come.'' One of the decorated mortarboards at New Jersey City Universitys Class of 2019 said it all yesterday as the graduates looked back on their college careers but also to the new adventures that lie ahead. The Jersey City school gave out hundreds of diplomas during the graduation ceremony at the Prudential Center in Newark. Senior class president Nickia Williams delivered the student reflection. Donald M. Remy, chief operating officer and chief legal officer for the NCAA, received an honorary doctorate and delivered the commencement address. Alfred R. Parinello, a 1973 graduate of the school, and his wife, Anita, who earned her bachelors degree there in 1970 and her masters in 1974, received the schools Presidential Medallion. Al is a producer, director and writer for CNN and the Disney Channel, among others, while Anita is a retired special education teacher in Cliffside Park. Jersey Journal Photo Editor Reena Rose Sibayan captured many of the emotions of the day. JERSEY CITY Infinity Institute students are protesting a proposal that would move them from their Old Bergen Road location to a former middle school building about four miles away in Downtown Jersey City. Dozens of Infinity students appeared at Mondays school board meeting, where the board adopted its $638 million budget for 2019-20, to urge members to find an alternative plan to the proposed relocation. Alexandra Campos, 17, an Infinity junior, said the school has become an integral part of the citys Greenville section and it should remain there. We are our communitys pride, she said. If you move us, I think were going to lose that and I dont think thats the best thing to do. The planned relocation of Infinity Institute, a high-performing school of about 250 students in grades six through 12, would be a cost-saving move for a district that had to close a budget gap for 2019-20 that exceeded $100 million. The district is also facing tens of millions in cuts to state school aid annually for the next six years. The district pays about $500,000 every year to rent the Infinity location from the Archdiocese of Newark, according to Board of Education President Sudhan Thomas. The building used to house the St. Paul The Apostle School. The district mulled moving Infinity in 2012 and canceled that plan after parents protested. One proposed new home for Infinity is the old School 9 building located near Ferris High School. Right now its used largely for Ferris juniors. Infinity students told board members the building is too small for them Infinitys parent-teacher group was told the school would have access to one entire floor and some of a second and too far for students who live miles away. The plan to move a high-performing school to the citys wealthiest area has angered some Infinity students. McNair Academic High School, which is often cited as one of the best schools in the nation, is also Downtown. Why should Downtown get all the honors schools? said Ezra Bernheim, 16, an Infinity sophomore. Infinity opened in 2010. Its students perform well on state tests: 97% meet or exceed standards in English and 84% in math, versus the district wide average of 48% in English and 43% in math. Infinity has a 100 percent graduation rate. The district average is 79%. Campos told board members on Monday that if Infinity must move, it should go to School 40, located in Greenville near the Bayonne border. On Tuesday, Thomas told The Jersey Journal the district may move its central office staff to School 40 if a plan is approved to sell the central office. Campos said that news upset her. We proposed this and they just took it, she said. It felt like they stole our idea." Franklin Walker, the acting superintendent, told board members Monday that any plans to relocate schools will include input from parents and students. Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook. 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 and premium weekly content geared toward those interested in the marijuana industry. View a sample issue. Legalization is dead and decriminalization is off the table. But somehow expungement is still moving forward. State Senate President Stephen Sweeney on Wednesday announced his intention to pass an expungement bill along with medical marijuana expansion in New Jersey, even though he acknowledged that the legalization of recreational pot would almost surely end up on the ballot in November 2020. Sweeney also said that he wouldnt consider cannabis decriminalization. So that leaves quite a few questions. The main question is: How do you expunge a bunch of marijuana convictions when marijuana would still be illegal in the Garden State? You probably dont. Sweeney said Wednesday that even if the expungement bill were to pass soon, marijuana expungements likely wouldnt start until cannabis legalization was passed, which is likely more than a year away. So whats the point? Moving on expungement now could be a way to keep the social justice advocates, who have been some of the loudest pro-marijuana voices in the state, interested. It is unfortunate that we have to take a different route to adult-use legalization and we could not get this approved through legislative efforts, state Assembly Democrats Jamel Holley, Angela McKnight and Benjie Wimberly said in a statement. However, we are now moving forward on two bills that are critically important to New Jerseys communities." But not all social justice advocates are happy about this. Amol Sinha, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, said he doesnt understand Sweeneys effort to move expungement without a change to the legal status of cannabis. It just doesnt make sense to offer expungement relief when were not remedying the underlying problem, Sinha said. Were trying to expand expungements, which is noble, but were continuing marijuana arrests. Since 1990, more than 1 million people in New Jersey have been arrested on marijuana charges. New Jersey still has one of the highest marijuana arrest rates in the country. When state lawmakers began discussion marijuana legalization, it became clear theyd have to offer some remedy for the hundreds of thousands of people with old weed convictions. The answer was expungement, or the wiping away of a prior conviction by the state courts. Earlier this year, NJ Advance Media reported that New Jerseys expungement system is already troubled, even before we start talking about adding hundreds of thousands of people with marijuana convictions. One lawyer who deals with expungements said New Jerseys expungement system is the most burdensome one shes seen in the country. So if the state Legislature is able to pass an expungement reform bill, it would likely address some of those issues. But its unclear how exactly it would be implemented since were likely more than a year away from legalization. The state Attorney Generals office said Wednesday that it maintains its stance that county prosecutors should continue to use discretion when bringing low-level marijuana charges. But that guidance hasnt stopped weed arrests in the state. New Jersey Courts said that it would continue accepting expungement applications for people with old marijuana convictions, but that they would have to follow the same procedure as anyone else seeking to clear their record. The judiciary currently has no way to process mass expungements of marijuana convictions. One factor that could speed up the implementation of expungements, should the bill pass, is decriminalization. Sweeney said Wednesday that he would not consider it, but Sen. Ronald Rice said he will be pushing for decriminalization of cannabis. Expungement is not really social justice, so I think decriminalization becomes a part of the conversation," said Rice, D-Essex, who has sponsored a decriminalization bill. He added that if lawmakers wait until marijuana is legal before acting on expungement, that will prove to him that theyre motivated by money and not by social justice. For now, it seems that Rices plan will stay off the table and that expungement could move forward without any clear sign of when it would take effect. Payton Guion may be reached at PGuion@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @PaytonGuion. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Hamiltons mayor is accusing party politics of playing a role in the criminal charges brought against two men that used to run the townships animal shelter. In a letter to the U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito, Mayor Kelly Yaede called upon the office to look into the Attorney Generals 2018 investigation that brought charges of animal cruelty and mismanagement against Todd Bencivengo, 56, the former director of the animal shelter, and Jeffrey Plunkett, 62, the townships health officer. The two men were charged by the Mercer County Prosecutors Office earlier this month after an investigation found the shelter allegedly killed hundreds of animals prematurely. In her May 14 letter, Yaede said she had serious concerns as to whether political consideration from the New Jersey office of the Attorney General influenced this case. Yaede, a Republican, argued party politics may have tainted the investigation, saying the shelter received positive inspections until her political opponents raised issues. And, she argued, when a state inspection did find problems at the shelter, they were corrected. Despite Hamilton Townships prompt actions to address all citations listed in the initial shelter inspection, we find it suspicious that for the first time, charges were filed almost 10 months later, just weeks before a contested primary election in Hamilton Township, Yaede wrote in the letter. She points fingers at both her Republican and Democrat opponents for their alleged roles in the shelter investigation, while denying that she has political motives for writing it. My purpose in writing this letter does not concern my upcoming primary election, because I am tough enough to contend with that challenge, Yaede said in her letter. Among those Yaede blamed for playing politics is David Henderson, a Republican who is challenging her in the upcoming primary. Henderson, Yaede said, instigated the state investigation even though the shelter had received two satisfactory reports. Henderson denied the allegation. She claimed that I colluded to create the state investigation with my attorney and I didnt know I had that kind of power, he said. Henderson said the letter shows Yaedes lack of ability to take responsibility for problems in the township. She wants to claim that this is everyone elses fault, Henderson said. Yaede also blamed ties between Council President Jeff Martin and Gov. Phil Murphy. Martin, she said, is running for mayor in the uncontested Democratic primary, and would benefit if the shelter scandal boosted Henderson to a Republican win, allowing Martin to face an arguably weaker opponent in the General Election. There is not one bit of truth to what is contained in the letter, Martin said. This is a desperate and delusional action to avoid accountability for her mismanagement of Hamiltons animal shelter. But Yaede said Bencivengo and Plunkett have become casualties in an issue that seems to increasingly display political fingerprints." The U.S. Attorneys Office confirmed receipt of Yaedes letter, but did not comment further on it. The Attorney Generals Office declined to comment on the allegations in the letter. Olivia Rizzo may be reached at orizzo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @LivRizz. Have a tip? Tell us.nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. The Sarah Stern murder case is getting the Keith Morrison treatment. NBCs Dateline will air a two-hour special 9 p.m. Friday called The Betrayal of Sarah Stern. Morrison, with his signature cadence, will take a national audience through the case that rocked the Jersey Shore in 2017, starting from when Sarahs car was found abandoned on the Route 35 bridge in Belmar on Dec. 3, 2016, up until her childhood friend, Liam McAtasney, was convicted of her murder in February. Meanwhile, McAtasneys defense attorney, Carlos Diaz-Cobo, is seeking a new trial for his client. McAtasney, 21, was found guilty of strangling Stern and stealing about $10,000 in cash with the help of his roommate and Sterns junior prom date, Preston Taylor. Both men were scheduled to be sentenced on May 24. That date, however, will be reserved for oral arguments on Diaz-Cobos motion for a new trial. The Dateline special will feature interviews with Sarahs father, Michael Stern, lead Monmouth County Prosecutors Office Detective Brian Weisbrot, Sarahs friends and neighbors Carly and Sam Draper, and Diaz-Cobo, among others. Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. 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 52-year-old principal of a middle school in Morris County has been charged with the attempted sexual assault of a 16-year-old former student, authorities said Friday. Paul Iantosca, of Randolph, is also charged with luring and child endangerment, the Morris County Prosecutors Office said in a statement. Iantosca, the principal of Valleyview Middle School in Denville, was arrested and is being held at the Morris County jail. He has been suspended and is not permitted to have contact with any staff or students, superintendent Steven Forte said in a statement emailed to NJ Advance Media. The alleged crimes didnt occur on school grounds, Forte added. Iantosca has been a public employee in New Jersey since 1991 and is paid an annual salary of $155,998, according to state pension records. The Morris County Prosecutors Office declined to release additional details. Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Lydia Negron at the Morris County Prosecutors Office at 973-285-6213 or Det. Scot Tobin of the Denville police at 973-627-4900 x9. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters Immigrants who failed to leave the country after being issued deportation orders were among 13 picked up in a four-day surge in arrests in New Jersey this week, immigration officials said Friday. Most of those arrested have already been convicted or are facing charges for crimes, including assault, drunk driving, domestic violence and gun offenses, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said. All 13 were arrested by ICE agents between Monday and Thursday. As this operation clearly demonstrates, ICE continues to focus its efforts first on public safety threats, said John Tsoukaris, head of enforcement and removal operations for ICEs Newark Field Office. The vast majority of the individuals targeted in this effort have criminal offenses in addition to their immigration violations, making them among the highest priority for enforcement. The agency made similar announcements Friday about surges in arrests in other areas, including Maryland and New Orleans. ICE officials promised several months ago to step up arrests in New Jersey following the state attorney generals new rules limiting how much local police can help federal immigration officials. The sweeping new procedures, unveiled in November by State Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, went into effect March 15. The rules limit when New Jerseys 36,000 police officers can help ICE with arrests and cut back on cases where county jails can detain prisoners who are in the country illegally. The immigrants arrested in the four-day surge in New Jersey included: --An undocumented immigrant from El Salvador with prior convictions for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon/ bodily injury. --An undocumented immigrant from Ecuador with a pending assault/ domestic violence charge. --An undocumented immigrant from Jamaica with a prior firearms-related offense. --An undocumented immigrant from Mexico with a pending simple assault/domestic violence charge and two DUI convictions. All four were ordered removed from the country by a federal immigration judge, ICE officials said. ICE officials did not release any details about the other nine people arrested. None of the names of those arrested or the locations of the arrests were released. ICE officials said the 13 arrested in the surge face immediate removal from the country if they already have a deportation order. The rest will remain in ICE custody until their case can be heard by an immigration judge. Arrests by ICE immigration officers in New Jersey, which has one of the largest immigrant populations in the country, have risen sharply since President Donald Trump took office. There were 3,189 arrests in fiscal year 2017 in ICEs Newark region, which encompasses all of New Jersey, according to data released by the agency. That was a 42 percent increase compared to the previous year. Nationwide, ICE arrested 158,581 people in fiscal year 2018, federal officials said. About 90 percent of those arrested had criminal convictions, pending criminal charges or previous orders of removal. New Jersey immigration advocates have criticized ICEs efforts to step up arrests in the state, saying ICE is intimidating immigrant communities. The reality is ICE is already using unconstitutional tactics and violating peoples civil rights. Their intimidation of immigrant communities and families is the exact reason New Jersey state and local leadership choose again and again not to engage in civil immigration enforcement," Johanna Calle, director of New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, an immigrant advocacy group, said in December. Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KellyHeyboer. Find her at KellyHeyboerReporter on Facebook. 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. Prosecutors are appealing the 60-day jail sentence handed out last month to a Lakewood rabbi convicted of money laundering from the special needs school for children he formerly ran. The state Attorney Generals filed the appeal May 7, a little more than a week after Rabbi Osher Eisemann was sentenced to two years of probation in addition to the short jail term, a spokesman confirmed Friday morning. Prosecutors had sought a 12-year term. Eisemanns attorney, Lee Vartan said by phone Friday that his 62-year-old client is also contesting the sentence in the hope of getting the convictions overturned. Given the states decision to appeal, the defense had no choice but to do the same, Vartan said. We look forward to Rabbi Eisemann being fully vindicated before the Appellate Division. Eisemann was indicted in 2017 on theft, money laundering, corporate misconduct and misuse of government funds charges. He later resigned from the School for Children with Hidden Intelligence. In February, a jury sitting in Middlesex County found Eisemann guilty of money laundering and misconduct by a corporate official. Prosecutors said he used $200,000 in school funds in a money laundering scheme designed to make it appear that he used personal funds to repay debts he owed to the school. The money was returned shortly after it was withdrawn. The two appeals will be consolidated, according to Peter Aseltine, an Attorney General spokesman. The Attorney Generals Office hadnt been notified as of Friday morning that Eisemanns attorney filed an appeal, according to Aseltine. While the rabbi is no longer involved with the school, he is advising parents in an informal capacity from the sidelines," Vartan said. He has 25 years of experience dealing with special needs students that can still be applied and put to good use. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters The 67-year-old bus driver who authorities said left a 3-year-old special needs student on a bus earlier this month in Point Pleasant Borough was charged with child neglect. Richard Cohen, of Point Pleasant Borough, was issued a summons Thursday and released, police said Friday. Cohen and the 72-year-old school bus aide had already been fired by school officials. A high school student walking by a bus parked near the transportation garage heard the child crying around 10:30 a.m. on May 2 and told a school employee, police said. The child, who had been on the bus alone for about an hour, was not injured. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters Cory Booker lives in Newarks Central Ward, where some children grow familiar with the sound of gunfire before theyve heard their first string quartet. So he has made gun control the central theme of his presidential campaign for some compelling personal reasons, and now he has to sell it in places like Iowa. Iowa is a place where Republican lawmakers recently tried, among other things, to remove all age restrictions on children firing weapons and to allow loaded guns to be brought into child-care centers. Because freedom. There are a lot of states like that on the primary calendar. I have to say, Booker said last weekend, it wasnt part of my consideration how the politics would play on this. But it isnt often that a candidates signature issue can be a political albatross, which may explain why he is polling so poorly. It makes you wonder whether the New Jersey senator is missing the point of a campaign, which is not only to stand out from a field of 22 wannabes with a suite of gun safety proposals, but also to win the most support now, and in 2020. Because even in a country that has one mass shooting per day, there is a lingering suspicion that a 14-point gun control plan can be a tripwire in places like Pennsylvania and Michigan if Booker is the last Democrat standing against Donald Trump. That is a shame, because the proposal is bold enough to serve as a model for national reform. The slate includes ideas that always poll well, such as a ban on assault rifles and high-capacity magazines, a limit on handgun purchases (one per month), and the elimination of loopholes that allow domestic abusers and people on the terrorist watch list to purchase a gun. But the key component of Bookers plan is a federal gun licensing program, which has rattled the NRA. It requires a comprehensive background check and proof that the applicant has completed a certified safety course, with licensees subject to renewal every five years. Nine states, including New Jersey, already have such license requirements, and there is data that supports it as the most effective way to reduce gun violence. Consider Connecticut, where they adopted a permit-to-purchase law in 1995: Johns Hopkins researchers found a 40-percent decrease in gun homicides and a 15-percent drop in gun suicides in the decade following its passage. Or consider Missouri: They repealed their PTP law in August 2007, when gun purchasers no longer had to apply through the sheriffs office. Over the next three years, gun homicide rates soared 23 percent, while gun suicides rose 16 percent. The latest report from Johns Hopkins is unambiguous. The states that use a licensing system, which has 77 percent public support, see reductions in gun violence. Researchers surmise its because licenses mean accountability, and wherever training is required, safety tends to follow. But even Beto ORourke cannot sign on to Bookers plan, telling Fox News, I dont know that we need to take the additional step of licensing every single firearm to every single owner. That may be too far. They probably said that in Missouri, too. It is unclear whether Bookers vision can gain traction. But it is a good time to take on the NRA, politically wounded by infighting, corruption, and rampant financial impropriety, not to mention legal fees of $100,000 per day. And Peter Ambler of Giffords, the gun violence prevention group, reminds us that this is now an exigent kitchen table issue for American families, roiled by the dreadful drumbeat of live shooter drills in their schools. Those parents vote. By 2020, so will many of their kids. And with U.S. firearm deaths at a 40-year high, they may soon decide that a gun license isnt an unreasonable tradeoff for a communitys peace of mind. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook. 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 and premium weekly content geared toward those interested in the marijuana industry. View a sample issue. By Anna Francisco I want to urge legislators to expand the use of medical marijuana so New Jerseyans in acute or persistent pain can receive access to relief and comfort from their suffering. I agree that the medical marijuana legislation should be separated from the recreational marijuana bill so all of New Jersey has equal access to obtain medical marijuana. The passing of Assembly Bill, A3740, would benefit all in need of medical marijuana; in addition to those who suffer from cancer, chronic pain, seizure, glaucoma, anxiety, opioid use disorder, or post traumatic stress disorder. Expansion of use of medical marijuana will allow doctors to provide relief from pain caused by any medical condition and will allow equal opportunity to any New Jersey resident now suffering in pain or agony. I would like to share a short, personal story with you about my experience with medical marijuana: Two years ago, my mother, a New Jersey born resident of 56 years, was diagnosed with Stage 2 Triple Negative Breast Cancer. During that time, the impact of my mothers cancer took an extreme physical, emotional, financial, and moral toll on my family. I was very close to losing my mother to cancer last year; if it wasnt for marijuana, my mother wouldnt be able to defeat cancer. The effects of CBD in marijuana deteriorated the growth of my mothers rapidly growing cancer cells, and it also provided assistance to eat without being consistently nauseous, eased her internal aches and pains, and made her treatments more tranquil. If it wasnt for the aid of medical marijuana, she would not be here today, and watch me graduate from Kean University this spring semester with two degrees. My thoughts and opinions on marijuana were similar to most citizens who typically did not agree with its usage, at first. Yet, by having a first hand, eye-opening experience of going through the process of the New Jersey Medical Marijuana Program as a caregiver, seeing the distribution of marijuana through dispensaries, and its positive effects of saving my mothers life, my opinion on marijuana has completely changed for the good. There are currently 10 states and the District of Columbia that have made marijuana legal recreationally and medically. Our state, among other states, is truly unique. Although medical marijuana is legal, the expansion of it should not affect other aspects of passing the recreational use in New Jersey. When you pass the bill for legal marijuana, the benefits will truly impact New Jersey for the greater good. Like Colorado, the first state to pass recreational marijuana, they use its tax revenue of $200 million from a single year, according to The Denver Post, towards updating and benefiting their education systems, veterans hospitals, roads and highways (it would be a great idea to get rid of the tolls by using this new source of revenue and income to improve the state), psychiatric facilities, parks and reaction, department of public works, penal institutions, and so on. With such astronomic sales revenues, and by making this fast-paced state a little more at ease, the benefits of recreational marijuana will put a large dent on the incarceration rates, increase state income, provide citizens with business opportunities and create an overall better environment for the citizens of New Jersey. As you know, born and raised in Jersey, we are all rough on the outside. Yet, on the inside, we are highly compassionate and motivated individuals who use our voices to fight for those who cannot speak up and to better the welfare of others. As leaders of the state, I am asking you to help others, and legalize recreational marijuana. Anna Francisco is a student at Kean University. 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. Voters in West New York gave a decisive victory Tuesday to the team challenging incumbent Mayor Felix Roque so its time Roque admits defeat and starts working to ensure his successors a smooth transition. On Wednesday, Roque told Jersey Journal reporter Corey McDonald he is considering challenging the results, which would only prolong the especially nasty tenor of the campaign. West New York residents deserve better. The New Beginnings slate headed by Commissioner Gabriel Rodriguez garnered 54.6 percent of the vote to the Roque teams 40 percent. In the commission form of government, voters elect five representatives who will then vote among themselves to select a mayor. Its anticipated that Rodriquez will be chosen as mayor when the new team takes office on Tuesday. Roques post-election statement vaguely alluded to numerous irregularities and said the result goes against polling and his personal contact with voters on Election Day. Thats not enough to contest an election. Roque has led the town since unseating Mayor Silverio Vega in 2011 and cites lower and stabilized taxes, the hiring of 30 new police officers, reduced crime, and improved schools, parks and roads as his legacy. He was re-elected once, but this time, voters opted for change. Roque must accept and respect the peoples decision. Submit letters to the editor and guest columns to jjletters@jjournal.com. They booed. They shouted. They blew whistles at him. They even tried to drown him out with a 1980s hair-metal anthem. Dozens of angry very angry public workers berated New Jerseys most powerful state lawmaker Thursday night, just hours after he unveiled a controversial package of bills that would scale back government employee pensions and benefits to reduce costs to the state and local governments. State Senate President Stephen Sweeney came to Rutgers University in New Brunswick to host a town hall on the proposals, which are quickly becoming a lightning rod in his escalating feud with Gov. Phil Murphy, a fellow Democrat who instead wants to raise taxes on millionaires to balance the state budget. Sweeney, D-Gloucester, repeatedly told the rowdy crowd he wont back down from his plans. Then, about half an hour in, he cut the evening short. It all started with the audience packed with public-worker union members booing as Sweeney took the stage. Millionaires tax! Millionaires tax!" they chanted. One man was decked in a crown and burgundy robe, calling himself King George III a nod to South Jersey power broker George Norcross, Sweeneys ally. Another blew a whistle as Richard Keevey, a former state budget officer that Sweeney brought onstage, stepped to the podium to defend the bills, saying theyre needed to save taxpayers money. Dont touch our pensions!" the whistle-blower yelled. It was almost like the often-tense town halls Gov. Chris Christie used to hold but maybe more hostile. State Senate President Stephen Sweeney is not amused as a protester dressed as "King" George Norcross III tries to shake his hand prior to the town hall at the Douglass Student Center at Rutgers University in New Brunswick.Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Adva How many people here have been in the military? asked Keevey, who also served as a former U.S. undersecretary of defense. Because if you were, youd have the decency to shut up. Shame! Shame! the crowd yelled back. Game of Thrones made an appearance. pic.twitter.com/j555dWUZzy Anjalee Khemlani (@AnjKhem) May 17, 2019 Keevey insisted that Sweeneys pension plans would not affect anyone currently vested in the system. Why dont you listen? he asked them. Many in the audience shook their heads, to signal they didnt believe that argument. Union members heckle Sweeney during the town hall.Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Adva Then, as Sweeney took the microphone, a recording of Twisted Sisters Were Not Gonna Take It mysteriously began playing. Crowd members sang along. The music came from a speaker hidden underneath the stage. Police officers found it and dragged it away. Sweeney stayed seated. You can yell all you want, he told the audience. Youre not shutting me down. The people of this state need a solution. Im gonna stand up and fight for the taxpayers of this state, the lawmaker continued. Do you think this is scaring me? Sweeney has long been a pariah with some public employees for working with Christie, a Republican, to enact a series of pension and benefit reforms in 2011. But, Sweeney says, more is needed. Sweeney: You can yell all you want. Youre not shutting me down. The people of this state need a solution. pic.twitter.com/kBgn6cl9si Brent Johnson (@johnsb01) May 16, 2019 Above him Thursday was a screen with a slideshow arguing the state would face a $4 billion budget deficit if pension and benefits dont get another overhaul. The presentation got only two slides in before Sweeney shut the event down. We look forward to seeing you at legislative hearings, he said before walking off the stage to more jeers. Sweeney and co leave town hall 20 minutes in, was scheduled to go to 730 pic.twitter.com/ELmbzRSL4v Daniel Munoz (@DanielMunoz100) May 16, 2019 Sweeney later told reporters that union leaders are not telling the truth to members about his proposals said it was beyond disappointing the audience wouldnt let him talk without interrupting. Earlier in the day, Sweeney said at a news conference in Trenton that the 27 bills he introduced would collectively save New Jersey taxpayers billions of dollars and provide a chance to lower property taxes. In addition to numerous pension reforms, Sweeney is also seeking to consolidate school districts and more. He said hes preparing a contingency plan to ask voters to amend the state Constitution to approve some of the pension changes, bypassing Murphy if the legislation doesnt make it past the governors desk. It comes as Murphy is calling on the Democratic-controlled state Legislature to pass a millionaires tax to increase funding to education, transportation, and more. Sweeney is staunchly against it. If Murphy and lawmakers cant reach an agreement by July 1, when a state budget must be enacted, the governor could shut down state government until a deal is made. The already strained relationship between Murphy and Sweeney has gotten worse in recent weeks as a task force convened by the governor investigates whether tax breaks handed out to businesses including those with ties to Norcross, the power broker and Sweeney ally were misused. Sweeney told reporters Thursday night he believed the Murphy administration sent protestors to the town hall though he did not back up the claim with evidence. These are his supporters, the Senate president said. Where do you think they came from? Murphys office declined to comment. Murphy responded to Sweeneys bills Thursday by saying he prefers partnership and collective bargaining rather than confrontation." I will carefully review the bills introduced today to see where we can find common ground, but the bottom line is that savings alone will not help us meet the entirety of our obligations, the governor said in a statement. Murphy is steadfastly pro-labor, often saying the state abandoned public workers during the Christie administration and vowing to fully fund the states pension system. Many audience members Thursday night were wearing red Communication Workers of America T-shirts. Thats the largest state employees union, which is strongly opposed to Sweeneys new plans. Hetty Rosenstein, head of the New Jersey branch of the CWA, said Thursday that Sweeneys proposals pit those who dedicate their entire lives to public service against the public." That is shameful," Rosenstein added. Sweeney did have support from some private-sector union workers Thursday. A row of people with lime green International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers T-shirts cheered him on from the second row. Afterwards, Sweeney said he welcomes the protestors to come to the Statehouse in Trenton. Im not going away, he said. They cant shut me down in committee rooms. They had their night tonight. NJ Advance Media staff writer Samantha Marcus contributed to this report. 21 Sen. President Stephen Sweeney gets rude reception at Rutgers Town Hall Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Those being targeted in an ongoing investigation of New Jerseys controversial tax incentive programs insist that Gov. Phil Murphys task force behind the inquiry is itself illegal, and have threatened legal action against the state. Task force attorneys, meanwhile, arent worried about any potential lawsuit. Bring it on, declared Jim Walden, a New York-based attorney who serves as special counsel to the task force which has sparked all-out war between Murphy and South Jersey power broker George Norcross, whose business interests appear to have become a central focus of the high-profile investigation. Murphy launched the task force in January to probe the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, and particularly the generous tax incentive programs championed by former Gov. Chris Christie, following a critical audit by the state comptroller over the management of the EDA programs involving more than $11 billion in incentives. The task force is headed by Ronald Chen the former dean of the School of Law-Newark and a former state public advocate. Walden is a former federal prosecutor who once made cases against some of the most notorious organized crime families. But lawyers for Norcross and other companies tied to the Camden County Democratic said Walden is not licensed to practice law in New Jersey, and maintain thats a problem. We believe that multiple members and associates of Mr. Waldens law firm who have worked on task force matters, and whose time for that work was billed to the state, were and are not licensed to do so, said attorney Kevin Marino, on behalf of the Norcross-related entities that have found themselves in the cross-hairs of the task force. Waldens firm, New York-based Walden Macht & Haran LLP, has so far submitted nearly $1.3 million in invoices for its work since March, officials say. In a so-called litigation hold letter sent last weekend to Murphy and members of the task force, attorneys for Norcross demanded that all records and documents connected to New Jerseys tax incentive programs and the state investigation be preserved in expectation of a lawsuit that has yet to be filed. The letter also took further aim at the legal authority of the task force itself. The task force hearings are being conducted in flagrant disregard of the New Jersey laws regarding the unauthorized practice of law and the constitutional rights enjoyed by those accused of wrongdoing, wrote William Tambussi, counsel to Conner Strong & Buckelew, the insurance brokerage firm headed by Norcross. To date, neither the task force nor Professor Chen have responded to inquiries regarding Mr. Waldens eligibility to practice law in New Jersey. Chen, Walden and the governors office rejected those arguments. Walden said that instead of cooperating with requests for information as many other companies being examined by the task force have done, those tied to Norcross have challenged the legality of the task force. I cant explain the motivation behind it, but it doesnt seem to me that its a terribly credible position to take, Walden said in an interview on Friday. Given the number of times different government agencies have hired lawyers from out of state, often because of conflicts, he said the argument surprised him. This is a well-worn path and everyone must understand that, Walden observed. "If theyre going to file a lawsuit, bring it on. Were going to defend the governors right to appoint a task force and Im going to be in court vigorously arguing it. The task force also released a letter from the state Committee on the Unauthorized Practice of Law regarding Waldens position as the EDA task force special counsel. The committee is appointed by the New Jersey Supreme Court. Please note that your registration as a multi-jurisdictional practitioner permits you to practice in New Jersey; other lawyers in your firm who provide legal services in this matter but are not licensed to practice law in New Jersey will similarly need to register as multi-jurisdictional practitioners, wrote the committee. That, however, does not allow him to appear in court proceedings including litigating the enforcement of subpoenas. In such cases, the committee said Walden would have to request permission from the court for pro hac vice (for this occasion only) admission for that particular case. In a separate letter to Chen, the governors chief counsel, Matthew Platkin, also concluded that the task force was in compliance with state rules. There is precedent for the state of New Jersey to retain outside counsel who are not licensed to practice in the state to handle matters that are particularly complex, Platkin wrote, noting that Chen himself is a licensed attorney in New Jersey, as is Pablo Quinones, who also serves as special counsel to the task force. Platkin added that the number of companies involved in EDA projects made it difficult to find a New Jersey law firm without some kind of conflict. Most, if not all, of New Jerseys law firms that might have been capable of handling this matter were conflicted out of providing legal services to the task force, he said. Marino, though, said that regardless of whether Walden has secured limited approval to practice on an occasional basis in this state, he was, and is not properly licensed to counsel the EDA task force. The attorney scorned the idea that no New Jersey firm could be found to handle the work of the task force. The suggestion that there was not a single un-conflicted New Jersey law firm capable of handling this matter is, in a word, ludicrous," said Marino. Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Facebook: @TedSherman.reporter. 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. Its not every day that New Jerseys governor is told to stay out of one of his states most recognizable cities. But thats what happened Friday when three Democratic politicians representing Camden told Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy on Friday to keep away from the city as controversy continues to swell over New Jerseys tax incentive program. Camden Mayor Frank Moran, City Council President Curtis Jenkins, and state Sen. Nilsa Cruz-Perez released the statement as a task force convened by Murphy investigates possible abuse of corporate tax breaks handed out by the states Economic Development Authority. Hes not welcome here unless and until he stops attacking the city and talks to the people of Camden and the leaders who were elected to represent them," Moran said. Four of the companies at the center of the probe are based in Camden and linked to South Jersey Democratic power broker George Norcross, a Camden native who has a rocky relationship with Murphy. In response, Norcross and other South Jersey officials have accused Murphy of unfairly targeting Camden. They insist the tax breaks have helped improve the city. Murphy has insisted he isnt attacking Camden, stressing that the task force is needed because its his job to account for how taxpayer money is spent and that the incentives work for everyone, not just a select few. On Friday, the three local officials said they issued their statement because Murphy is set to visit the city soon. The governors office has not revealed a trip on Murphys upcoming schedule. Moran, the citys mayor, said Murphy is swooping into Camden" yet wont talk to the citys leaders about why hes attacking it. Cruz-Perez, who represents Camden in the state Legislature, said she will ensure policies coming from Trenton benefit the city as much as North Jersey. And if Phil Murphy is willing to work with us toward those goals, great," the lawmaker said. "But if not, he shouldnt come here. Jenkins, the council president, said Murphy never wanted to be a partner with Camden. And frankly, it hurts our city and its people, Jenkins added. Murphys office dismissed the comments. Spokesman Darryl Isherwood said the investigation into the tax incentives is the result of a report written by the state comptroller appointed by former Gov. Chris Christie and that the task force has never been about one geography or one company or one person. Its always been about determining if taxpayer dollars including those paid by the residents of Camden have been spent wisely, and to ensure that the program works for everybody, not just a select few, Isherwood added. The spokesman said Murphy has made Camden a priority, with increases to school funding, transportation and property tax relief. Im confident that, when all is said and done, this administration will have done more for Camden than any other administration in New Jersey history, Isherwood said. The tax incentive probe has sparked a civil war pitting Murphy against Norcross and his ally, state Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, that has threatened to upend politics and policy in Trenton. In a recent interview with NJ Advance Media, Norcross accused Murphy of pushing the tax force for political purposes, calling the governor a liar and saying Murphy thinks hes the King of England. Meanwhile, an attorney for Norcross recently sent letters directly to Murphys home and the homes of task force members, asking them to preserve all documents related to tax breaks a sign of a possible lawsuit. Murphy told the Philadelphia Inquirer on Thursday that theres no question Camden is improving, but the tax force has revealed some fairly troubling data." Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. In a move foreshadowing a likely lawsuit, an attorney for Democratic power broker George Norcross III sent letters directly to the home of Gov. Phil Murphy and to members of a task force investigating the states Economic Development Authority, demanding they preserve all records and documents connected to New Jerseys controversial tax incentive programs. Murphy administration officials, in sharp response, castigated the attorney who had the letters sent to the places where people live, rather than their state offices. The special counsel to the governors task force called it a clear attempt to threaten a public entity. It is highly uncommon to serve such papers to the homes of any government official, let alone the governor. At issue was a nine-page litigation hold notice, sent by mail and overnight delivery over the weekend to Murphys home in Middletown, as well as the home of task force chairman Ronald Chen and others, calling upon them to take all necessary steps to preserve all documents related to the controversial programs in anticipation of litigation. No lawsuit has yet been filed. Copies of the notice and several response letters were obtained by NJ Advance Media. The records referenced in the notice included all emails, social media messages, documents and records related to Conner Strong & Buckelew, the insurance brokerage firm headed by Norcross. You must also immediately suspend the deletion, overwriting, scheduled expiration or destruction of relevant documents, data and information on personal and employment-related devices, said the letter, sent by William Tambussi, who serves as counsel to Conner Strong. A Conner Strong spokesperson said only: The litigation hold documents speak for themselves. The governors task force now investigating the EDA has focused much of its attention on Norcrosss business dealings in Camden. Norcross, in an increasingly vocal pushback, has had angry words for Murphy and the task force. He has repeatedly defendied the tax incentives that went to Camden, and has maintained that he has been targeted by the governor in a remarkably public political feud that has turned to name-calling. Last week, in an interview with NJ Advance Media. Norcross called Murphy, a fellow Democrat, a liar" and politically incompetent," while also comparing he and his wife, First Lady Tammy Murphy, to the British monarchy. He thinks hes the King of England and Mrs. thinks shes the Queen of England, and they dont have to answer to anybody, Norcross said. The legal notice that went out over the weekend included a full-throated defense of the tax incentives now at the center of investigations, not only by the task force, but by legislative committees in the state Senate and Assembly, and by the New Jersey Attorney General. It spoke of Norcrosss efforts to advance and rebuild the city of Camden, and the investment of his own money and time. It derided the efforts of the governors ersatz task force as being in flagrant disregard of New Jersey laws. But the letters delivered to the homes of Murphy and to other officials involved in the EDA investigation, rather than their offices, particularly rankled some in the administration, who called it wholly inappropriate. Jim Walden, the special counsel to the task force, responded to Tambussi in a letter on Thursday, saying there was no reason to direct correspondence to anyones home. To be sure, the recipients of the letters viewed your actions as likely intended to harass, intimidate, or threaten them for performing their legal obligations, said Walden. It seems abundantly clear that you are attempting to threaten a public entity tasked with investigating a matter of great public importance. The governors chief counsel, Matthew Platkin, responded separately to Tambussi in a letter on Wednesday, also obtained by NJ Advance Media, questioning why the litigation hold notice went to the governors home, while reiterating the findings of the comptrollers audit that led to the task force investigation. An apparent attempt to intimidate individuals associated with Governor Murphy rather than to provide actual notice, wrote Platkin. In response to questions about the litigation hold letter, Walden said in a statement: "While we await word as to whether their witnesses will actually attend our next hearing, we hope everyone will turn to substance and away from unhinged tactics, hyperbole, and incendiary rhetoric. Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Facebook: @TedSherman.reporter. 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. WASHINGTON As deputy transportation secretary, Jeffrey Rosen played an outsized role in rejecting claims that the federal government had agreed to help fund the Gateway Tunnel project and that New Jersey and New York had put up their share of the money. When President Donald Trump nominated Rosen as deputy attorney general, New Jerseys two senators, Cory Booker and Robert Menendez, didnt forget. Both opposed his confirmation and both cited Gateway as a reason. Not that their efforts mattered. The Senate voted along party lines, 52-47, Thursday to confirm Rosen as the successor to Rod Rosenstein, who had named Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate whether Trumps campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 election and whether the president tried to interfere with the probe. Still, it gave the senators one more chance to vent about Rosen. Mr. Rosen has singled-handedly blocked efforts to advance the Gateway program, one of the most urgent infrastructure projects in the United States," Booker said. While he maintains that his role overseeing the operation of the Transportation Department is part of what qualifies him for the position of deputy attorney general, he would not answer a single question about his work and track record obstructing and delaying this critical project. In written responses to Booker, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee that held hearings on his nomination, Rosen declined to answer 13 separate questions about the Gateway project, which includes a new train tunnel under the Hudson River and a new Portal Bridge over the Hackensack River. It was Rosen who said in March that Trumps proposed budget for the 12 months beginning Oct. 1 contained no money for Gateway because those transit projects are local responsibilities, even though the tunnels are owned by Amtrak, the federal passenger railroad company. It was Rosen who insisted Congress never specifically set aside any money for Gateway, even though lawmakers inserted federal funding into specific accounts for the project. And it was Rosen also said New Jersey and New York have not come up with their share of funding for the project, even though the two states have publicly committed more than $5 billion, albeit much of it in the form of federal loans they would have to pay back. What worries me about him is his willingness to really bend the law in such a way that sustains the position that he has, Menendez said. Now hes going into the Department of Justice where bending the law is just simply not acceptable. As a result of the administrations stance, Congress approved a provision making it clear that loan money does count as the local share of a project. The legislation reversed the administrations decision to prevent New Jersey and New York from counting federal loans as part of their share of Gateway. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, defending Trumps decision to block funding, insisted that the loan money didnt count, even though the states would be paying it back. Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. WASHINGTON New York City is known by many names. Gotham. The Big Apple. The city that never sleeps. But its never been called Newarks suburb. That is, until Thursday, when U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, a former Newark mayor, took on the big city to raise money for his 2020 Democratic presidential campaign. Booker, D-N.J., sent out a fundraising email on Thursday shortly after New York Mayor Bill de Blasio became 24th entrant in the Democratic presidential contest, making it that much harder to claim one of only 20 seats at the first debate next month in Miami. You may have heard of Newarks suburb, New York City, Booker wrote, acknowledging de Blasios candidacy and warning that it could make it more difficult for him to get on the Democratic presidential debate stage. For an underdog campaign like ours, the debates mean everything, Booker wrote. They give us a platform to compete on even ground with every other campaign, especially ones that are raising millions of dollars. Booker has scored high enough in polls and received donations from more than 65,000 separate individuals, meeting the two benchmarks to qualify for the first debate next month. Still, he warned supporters that the thresholds could be raised going forward to weed out the also-rans, especially with 24 candidates vying for a maximum of 20 chairs on stage. With such a crowded field, the DNC will have no choice but to get more aggressive in defining who qualifies for the debate stage, Booker wrote. That means its no longer just about guaranteeing a spot for that first debate, but for future debates as well. Booker sits in seventh place among the Democratic contenders with 2.3 percent, according to the Real Clear Politics polling average. Former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders were the only candidates averaging double figures. Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Could New Jersey build the nations first futuristic Maglev train to the American Dream mega-mall in East Rutherford to spare shoppers from highway hell once it opens? Gov. Phil Murphy said a magnetic monorail was being considered as an alternative to extending the existing Meadowlands rail line that now serves MetLife stadium. Magnetic monorail is the formal name for the more futuristic-sounding Maglev train that uses magnetic fields to levitate and power a train instead of wheels and electric motors. Were living through trying to figure out how to build a rail spur to largest mall in America, Murphy said during a University of Chicago Institute of Politics infrastructure forum with former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. Our DOT commissioner wants to seriously, and is seriously considering, a magnetic monorail. Murphy followed up by saying such a monorail is probably "more of technology risk getting it done on time. The only Maglev systems built in the United States have been test tracks, but they are in regular operation in Asia. The state Department of Transportation had no details about the concept to build a train that would glide shoppers to and from American Dream beyond what the governor said. We are looking at a variety of technologies to serve American Dream and no decisions have been made, said Stephen Schapiro, a DOT spokesman, who added he had no details about what is being considered. New Jersey has one monorail in operation, the aging AirTrain that has served Newark Liberty airport for 23 years and is scheduled to be replaced. Comparing that to a Maglev train would be like comparing a 20-year old economy car to a Tesla. This concept would be nothing like that monorail. Trains on a Maglev line in Shanghai travel at 268 mph. Some varieties of Maglev trains run on a guideway, similar to a conventional monorail. Other, faster Maglev trains run on a different type of guideway or track. Six Maglev lines have been proposed in the United States in Pennsylvania, between Pittsburg International Airport, downtown Pittsburg and Monroeville. Another concept proposed a high-speed Maglev line between Washington D.C and New York. All are waiting for funding. Maglev trains are expensive to build. Shanghais 20-mile Maglev train cost $1.2 billion, or $60 million per mile, to construct. Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry. 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 new acting Union County prosecutor promised Elizabeth residents at a meeting Thursday that her office will fix the city police department that has been mired in controversy since an investigation revealed last month that the former police director James Cosgrove had used racist and sexist slurs against his employees. Acting Prosecutor Jennifer Davenport discussed her offices review of internal affairs complaints and pledged to look into residents concerns about racism and racial disparity in the department. Theres not a day that goes by that this is not the number one topic we are discussing, and the thing that were working on, Davenport told the group of about 35 at the African American Cultural Center Thursday. But it has only been a few weeks. We are doing that deep dive, but it is going to take us some time to see what the process is and what we want to change. Attorney General Gurbir Grewal named Davenport the acting prosecutor April 26, days after the prosecutors office took over the citys internal affairs investigations. Both decisions followed NJ Advance Medias report that the prosecutors office had substantiated complaints Cosgrove had used the n-word and c-word to refer to staff. Grewal called on Cosgrove to resign since only Cosgroves political ally, Mayor Chris Bollwage, had the power to fire him. Cosgrove resigned a week ago, and the city hasnt commented on how or when hell be replaced. While Cosgroves derogatory language did come up Thursday, most of the questions posed to Davenport were about increasing community policing, providing transparency and making sure officers who break rules are held accountable. Community leader Salaam Ismial, who led the event, also cited racial disparity in the department and data compiled by NJ Advance Media in The Force Report that showed an African-American person is more than 70 percent more likely to have force used against them by an officer compared to a white person. If thats not systemic racism, to the belly, to the core, I dont know what is, he said. Davenport said that in addition to reviewing internal affairs files, her office is looking at any way to make the department better. [Were] taking a look at the workplace culture, doing an audit there of the police department and taking a look and making sure theres sexual harassment training, that theres implicit bias training, she said. Davenport and her counsel, Joe Walsh, told the group that the office was reviewing all pending internal affairs investigations, and would consider looking at closed cases if those who filed complaints felt they were treated unfairly. If you are not getting the answers you want in your internal affairs investigations in Elizabeth Police Department, you come down to our office to have it done in person or you fill out a form and then we go ahead and look to see whats going on, and we do this with every municipality, said Vincent G. Gagliardi, chief of investigations in the prosecutors office. Davenport said anyone not willing to go to the prosecutors office can contact the Attorney Generals Office and make similar complaints. Activist Tormel Pittman told Davenport that he has concerns about Elizabeth police officers honesty. He believes they are actually contributing to street violence by allegedly misleading witnesses, telling them that a friend or witness has already snitched on them, in order to get them talking. Whether its true or not, the label sticks, he said. They get out on the streets, they get labeled a snitch, and now somebodys getting killed. Thats how serious that is, Pittman said, to a smattering of applause. The overseeing has to go beyond body cameras. James Carey, chairman of Elizabeths Resistance Movement Organization, praised African-American Detective Darin Williamson and said there arent many community-minded officers like him in Elizabeth. In the black community, theres a natural distrust when it comes to the police," Carey said. When you talk about community policing, we need people who interact with the citizens. Elsewhere in the city, Make the Road New Jersey, an organization that aims to empower Latino and working class communities, hosted another forum on policing in Elizabeth attended by approximately 100 people. PACKED house tonight at our community forum on policing in @CityofElizabeth. After the resignation of the police director bc of racist & misogynistic behavior, We are talking about what it takes to build real community safety in our city. pic.twitter.com/h3yVKnTQjr Make the Road New Jersey (@MaketheRoadNJ) May 17, 2019 Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. A 33-year-old woman New Orleans police said was shot dead Tuesday (May 16) when a man now accused of murdering her went to her workplace with a gun was a beloved member of the Clover Grill staff, according to a post on the restaurants Facebook page. The Bourbon Street diners post included a picture of the slain waitress, identified in the post as Shay de St Germain, smiling big with a purple, green and gold tutu, top and wig, and Mardi Gras beads around her neck. Those who knew Shay de St Germain knew her as the face of Clover Grill. Her smile was infectious and many a customer came to count on her to brighten their day, the post states. The shooting was reported shortly after midnight in the 900 block of Bourbon Street. Darleen M. Jacobs, the lawyer and spokeswoman for the restaurant and its owner, Wood Enterprises, said the shooting happened in the courtyard. It was not immediately clear, Jacobs said, if St. Germain had finished her shift when the shooting occurred. Alexander Kirby, 33, the accused shooter, was arrested minutes after the shooting, police said. He was the womans ex-boyfriend, according to a police source with direct knowledge of the investigation who was not authorized to speak publicly. Kirby was booked around 5:45 a.m. and charged with second-degree murder and aggravated assault with a firearm, jail records show. An affidavit for a warrant sworn by an NOPD homicide detective states de St Germain was trying to prevent Kirby from approaching her and another person when a struggle ensued and the gun went off, fatally striking her. Kirby tried to run away, but Louisiana State Police and NOPD officers with the French Quarter Task Force arrested him minutes later, according the affidavit. The woman was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead. Around 2 p.m. outside the 24-hour diner more than a dozen bouquets of roses and mums rested on a windowsill out front. Passersby slowed to look at a photo of the 33-year-old woman killed posted in the window before walking on. A melted milkshake was nudged between bouquets. Love You Shay, was written on the cup in marker. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Jacobs said Clover Grill has operated in that site on Bourbon Street for 65 years without a police incident, and the owners and managers are devastated. The Facebook post says management and staff deeply appreciated the floral memorial. Kyle Pollio, whose late night food order he said St Germain knew by heart, rested the first bouquet on Clover Grills window sill about 8 a.m. Shes just a good person, said Pollio, who lives in the same block as the restaurant. Its not about getting your order, its about seeing a friendly face. Kirby was scheduled to appear in Orleans Magistrate Court Thursday afternoon for a preliminary hearing but was not transported from jail because of a medical reason," said Orleans Parish Magistrate Commissioner Jonathan Friedman. Friedman set his bond at $600,000 and rescheduled the hearing for Friday. The restaurants post said it would provide information when its available about memorial services. Her energy will be sorely missed by friends, family, and customers alike, the post states. Staff writer Olivia Prentzel contributed to this report. The hostile friction between a pair of St. Rose teenagers ignited into gun violence Wednesday evening (May 15) that left four people shot, including a father and son and two juveniles, according to authorities. Caretaker booked with murder of Terrytown client; Suspects mother also arrested JeMarius Beason, 17, was arrested and booked with two counts of attempted second-degree murder and misdemeanor negligent injuring, said St. Charles Parish Sheriff Greg Champagne. JeMarius is accused of shooting a 19-year-old boy with whom he had beef, according to Champagne. He is also accused of shooting a 16-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl during the encounter. Cyrus London Sr., 39, the father of the wounded 19-year-old, was also arrested and booked with attempted second-degree murder, accused of exchanging gunfire with JeMarius after hearing about his sons injuries, according to authorities. Londons son was in stable condition Thursday while the 16-year-old boy was still in critical condition after suffering gunshot wounds to his legs, Champagne said. London and the 15-year-old girl were treated and released from Ochsner Kenner Medical Center. Detectives arent sure exactly why JeMarius and the 19-year-old boy were feuding, though investigators have heard rumors that the conflict involved a girl, according to Champagne. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up But the two found themselves in the parking lot of a strip mall in the 100 block of St. Rose Avenue just after 6 p.m. Wednesday. During the confrontation JeMarius pulled out a pistol and shot at the 19-year-old six times, Champagne said. The 19-year-old was hit in the chest and abdomen, according to authorities. The 16-year-old was hit in the legs. The 15-year-old girl, who had accompanied JeMarius, suffered a gunshot wound to her finger when she tried to stop him for firing, according to Champagne. Deputies dispatched to the scene following a 911 call found only the 16-year-old boy still in the parking lot. The 19-year-old and the girl were driven to Ochsners Kenner hospital in private vehicles, Champagne said. London quickly got word that his son had been shot in the strip mall parking lot, though detectives still havent confirmed how. As he drove to the scene, London spotted JeMarius running away, towards the Preston Hollow subdivision, Champagne said. London followed JeMarius until a confrontation in the 400 block of Turtle Creek Lane in St. Rose. London and JeMarius exchanged gunfire, and London was shot in the upper chest, Champagne said. JeMarius then fled to his home, about a block from the shootout, where relatives eventually had him surrender to authorities. Both JeMarius and London were being held Thursday at the Nelson Coleman Correctional Center in Killona, La., Champagne said. Bond for London was set at $500,000 while bond for JeMarius was set at $400,000. An Orleans Parish jury on Thursday (May 16) acquitted a man charged in a Mid-City armed robbery that authorities said led to Dominos driver Richard Chris Yeagers death in 2014. A jury last year acquitted Shane Hughes, 21, in Yeagers murder, and in another armed robbery that happened Uptown 26 hours before he was killed. That jury could not reach a verdict on the armed robbery of Yeager, and the case went to trial this week. Hughes and Rendell Brown were accused of robbing Yeager, a 35-year-old French Quarter DJ, after he delivered a pizza in the 2800 block of St. Louis Street in Mid-City in the early hours of Sept. 21, 2014. Yeager was shot 10 times and his car was stolen. Data from their electronic ankle monitors placed Hughes and Brown at the scene. Both were 16 at the time. Brown pleaded guilty last year to two counts of armed robbery and one count of manslaughter, and was sentenced to 40 years in prison. Hughes defense attorneys argued he wasnt responsible for the crimes, and said ankle monitor data showed he was leaving the scenes as the crimes were being committed. Hughes has been incarcerated since his 2014 arrest. Court records show ad hoc Criminal District Court Judge Dennis Waldron ordered Hughes release Thursday. Sarah Chervinsky and Greg Carter represented Hughes. An Arkansas man was formally charged Thursday (May 16) with using a weapon"a sword sheathed inside a walking canein raping a woman inside of a Central Business District hotel room this spring, according to the Orleans Parish District Attorneys Office. Yohon Vernon, 44, is accused of first-degree rape in the attack, which occurred in March at a hotel in the 500 block of St. Charles Avenue, according to an NOPD database available to the public. Vernon was arrested March 2, the same day the 23-year-old victim reported to police that she had been raped by him inside of her hotel room, the DAs office said in a news release. Vernon was booked with second-degree rape and indicted on that charge April 26. However, upon further investigation, prosecutors learned that Vernon had used a weapon during the attack, leading a grand jury to indict Vernon on the more severe charge of first-degree rape. Vernon has been appointed representation by the Orleans Public Defenders Office, court records show. He remained in the Orleans Justice Center jail Thursday with his bond set at $100,000. New Orleans grand juries also handed up indictments in two murder cases Thursday. A grand jury charged Michael Roberts Jr., 27, with second-degree murder in the late January shooting death of 29-year-old Lawrence Varnado at an Algiers apartment complex. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up The two-count indictment also accuses Roberts of obstructing justice in a homicide investigation. Officers responding to reports of gunfire mid-day Jan. 27 found Varnado fatally shot in a backyard in the 1100 block of Verret Street, according to the NOPD. Roberts, who lived in the same apartment building as Varnado, was arrested less than a day after the shooting. In a separate case, 26-year-old Quintel Morgan was charged with second-degree murder in Februarys fatal shooting of 20-year-old Jawan Bradley. Morgan also was charged with obstruction of justice in a homicide investigation and being a felon in possession of a firearm in Bradley's death in the Pines Village area of New Orleans East. Police found Bradley fatally shot in the head about 6:21 p.m. Feb. 26 near the intersection of East Filmore Avenue and Piper Lane, police said. Morgan was arrested the following day on drug charges and then booked March 12 in the murder. In connection with his February arrest, Morgan was indicted on a second count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, and single counts of possession with intent to distribute marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine and Tramadol. Laura McKnight covers crime and breaking news for NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune. A New Orleans doctor admitted in federal court Thursday (May 16) to scheming with other physicians in the area to solicit kickbacks for referring patients to a home health company for services they didnt need. Joseph Haynes, 61, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to solicit and receive healthcare kickbacks and bribes, the U.S. attorneys office for the Eastern District of Louisiana announced Friday (May 17). Haynes said he conspired with Dr. Muhammad Kaleem Arshad, 62, of New Orleans and Dr. Padmini Nagaraj, 60 of Kenner. The attorneys office said the three defendants worked with a patient recruiter and an outpatient clinic to secure bribes in exchange for referring patients for unnecessary services between July 2008 through March 2013. Earlier this year, Arshad and Nagaraj admitted that in return for accepting illegal health care kickbacks, organized by Haynes, they referred patients to a Louisiana-based psychiatric facility for home health services provided by Progressive Home Health in New Orleans. They also fraudulently certified that the patients needed the medical services, the attorneys office said. The owner of Progressive Home HealthMilton Diaz, 66, from Harveythen submitted the fraudulent claims to Medicare and was reimbursed for the services, according to the attorneys office. He pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme in federal court on July 13, 2017. In Hayes guilty plea, he also admitted to working with 52-year-old Kim Ricard of Gonzalez. She was found guilty of transferring mentally ill patients to the highest bidder, making $330,000 for her role. In January, she was sentenced to 51 months in prison. Hayes sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 22 before U.S. District Judge Barry W. Ashe. https://www.nola.com/crime/2018/02/2_new_orleans-area_psychiatris.html Former longtime North Shore District Attorney Walter Reed, once one of Louisianas most powerful politicians, is now federal inmate No. 34260-034. Three years after he was convicted on federal corruption charges and two years after being sentenced to a four-year prison term, Reed, 72, surrendered Friday (May 17) at the federal correctional facility at Morgantown, West Virginia, to begin serving his time, the federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed. He called me right before he went in at noon (Eastern Standard Time), Reeds attorney, Richard Simmons Jr., said. Simmons said Reed, who recently had surgery for prostate cancer, was more concerned about the medical care he will receive than the prison itself. Its not one of those high-walled institutions, Simmons said. "Its in the mountains. Aesthetically, its not that bad, but prison is still prison. The medical side has him more worried than the jail. Simmons said there are outpatient facilities near the prison were Reed can receive radiation treatments. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Reed, who had remained free on bond while appealing his case to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, was originally ordered to report to prison April 1 after his appeal was rejected. U.S. District Court Judge Eldon Fallon gave Reed extensions for medical tests and surgery after Reed was diagnosed with prostate cancer. The former longtime district attorney for St. Tammany and Washington parishes, who built a reputation as a tough-as-nails prosecutor, sought another delay until June 17 but was denied this week by Fallon. A jury convicted Reed of corruption charges in May 2016 after an 11-day trial. Reed was found guilty of 18 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, making false statements on his federal income tax returns and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and to launder money. The case focused largely on Reeds spending of campaign money and his pocketing of money from St. Tammany Parish Hospital for legal services when that money should have gone to the district attorneys office. Reeds son, Steven Reed, was convicted of conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering. Fallon sentenced him to five years of probation and 50 hours of community service. Simmons said he has asked U.S. Supreme Court to review Reeds case. Walter Reed guilty on 18 of 19 counts in federal corruption trial District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro unveiled a plan Thursday (May 16) to combat what he called an out of control juvenile crime problem in New Orleans that includes encouraging judges to be tougher on repeat offenders and getting additional funding for his office to prosecute juvenile cases. City leaders welcomed his suggestions, while critics said he was sensationalizing a recent tragedy and not proposing anything that would actually make the city safer. In unveiling an eight-point plan at a press conference in his Mid-City office, Cannizzaro said political and budgetary pressure has been placed on prosecutors, the police department and judges to downplay the scope of the citys juvenile crime problem. We will not get a handle on this problem until we all agree that for many of this citys habitually delinquent and violent teens, meaningful consequences for persistent and violent criminal conduct not only are appropriate, but overdue, he said. Cannizzaros proposal includes an additional $300,000 for his office to hire two juvenile court prosecutors and a case screener to help manage the growing juvenile felony caseload. He said the city already has sent that much this year to juvenile public defenders. The data over the last several years illustrates the overall success of the policy changes our community has made in our criminal legal system, said chief Orleans Parish public defender Derwyn Bunton. Sensationalizing tragedy is bad policy and offensive. What our children need is for the adults to stop letting the tail wag the dog and invest in solutions that strengthen our communities and make us safe. Cannizzaro has been publicly outspoken about juvenile crime in recent months. He called violent teen offenders the citys biggest crime issue in a speech at a Metropolitan Crime Commission luncheon in February, and started his press conference Thursday by addressing the senseless killing of Zelda Townsend, who was shot in the head during a failed auto burglary May 8. She and her husband, who was shot in the arm, went outside of their Cleveland Avenue home when they heard their car alarm and spotted someone in their vehicle. Police arrested three teens ages 16, 17 and 18 in connection with the crime. That an armed teenager took this womans life during a botched auto burglary is inexcusable, and the tragedy must be felt beyond her grieving husband and their relatives and friends, Cannizzaro told reporters. She should be considered family to us all. Because what happened to her could have happened to any one of us this year, in any part of New Orleans. The day after Townsend was killed, Mayor Latoya Cantrell and NOPD Superintendent Shaun Ferguson spoke to reporters at a news conference about the need for accountability by parents and other people in the criminal justice system, including police. Cantrell called the killing senseless and Ferguson said he was disgusted. We have to create spaces for these young people to go in the event they dont have someone to go home to or that is at home, Cantrell said. Goal is not to lock up children Cannizzaro also proposed prioritizing what he called a much-needed expansion of the Youth Study Center, noting city officials this spring have gone to court asking judges to order some teens be transferred to the Orleans Justice Center to relieve overcrowding at the youth facility. Because so many violent teens are running rampant across our city, the 40-bed detention capacity of the Youth Study Center is proving inadequate to ensure public safety, Cannizzaro said. An immediate push should be made to expand the number of beds, counselors and security staff to more sufficient numbers. Aaron Clark-Rizzio, the executive director of the Louisiana Center for Childrens Rights, the public defenders for children in juvenile court, said Cannizzaros proposal will not reduce youth crime. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up All it does is call for more of the same more policing and more incarceration of black children and their families, he said. Clearly this approach hasnt made us safer, so why does the DA keep insisting on it? We need to invest our resources in solutions that will actually help our young people and make our community safe. Cannizzaro insisted his goal is not to lock up children, despite what critics say. More social services, trauma awareness and better educational opportunities are needed to steer wayward children from anti-social behavior, he said. But those solutions require more money and a longer timeline than we presently can endure. Mayor, police chief organizing meeting to address juvenile crime Other suggestions Cannizzaro made Thursday include ending NOPDs federal consent decree, which he said could free up about $11 million annually. That money could be re-invested into juvenile crime solutions and programs, he said. He also proposed encouraging New Orleans police officers to enforce truancy and curfew ordinances, a practice he said has significantly declined in recent years. NOPD made 4,073 of those status offense arrests in 2011, he said. They made 287 such arrests last year, he said. He said city leaders should demand more engagement and supervision from parents, and should encourage juvenile court judges to be tougher on repeat offenders. He said the city should restore funding to Juvenile Court for an electronic monitoring program as an alternative to incarceration. Our juvenile judges have an obligation to this community to stop the unrestricted release of dangerous individuals, regardless of whether they are under 18 when they pull guns on people, he said. Chief Juvenile Court Judge Candice Bates Anderson said juvenile judges recognize the publics concern about recent reports of increases in juvenile crime, and they support interventions aimed at improving public safety. Our challenge in this community is to provide a justice system with graduated sanctions that discourage and prevent delinquent activity in the early stages, Anderson said, noting Cannizzaros plan primarily addresses delinquency once a youth has committed a crime and already is in the juvenile justice system. Judges would like to see resources directed toward early intervention and detention alternatives, she said, and are open to programs or opportunities to intervene before a crime is committed. This will allow the justice system to focus our limited resources on youth who present a risk to the safety of our community, she said. Cantrells office said Thursday theyre glad to see Cannizzaro is on the same page. Ferguson said NOPD is working with all partners in the criminal justice system, including Cannizzaro, and its important that all agencies offer ideas and solutions. Beau Tidwell, Cantrells communications director, said the mayor and police chief are taking steps to organize a meeting of all involved stakeholders. The solution calls for a system-wide change in how things are done, regardless of the consent decree, Tidwell said. The wholesale improvements and reforms that need to be made will have to come on a system-wide level, across the board. We believe the DA has a role to play, and we look forward to him joining us. Correction: This story initially said the Youth Empowerment Project received funding from the city. That was incorrect. State health officials have identified five potential cases of pertussis, more commonly known as whooping cough, among vaccinated students at Metairie Park Country Day School, a spokesperson for the school confirmed on Thursday (May 16). Whooping cough is a highly contagious respiratory infection that can produce uncontrollable coughing making it hard to breathe. It can affect people of all ages, but can be especially serious or deadly for infants, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Five potential cases of pertussis had been identified by state health officials, according to a statement released by Country Day. Officials determined a possible sixth case was not whooping cough as of Thursday (May 16), the statement said. The full statement reads as follows: "The health and safety of our students is of the utmost importance. Metairie Park Country Day School officials continue to work closely with the Louisiana Department of Health and with a group of well-respected, local pediatricians to ensure we are taking the most appropriate measures and that we share the most pertinent, timely information with our school community. We continue to share updates with our community and to utilize enhanced sanitizing measures, as recommended by healthcare professionals. We once again remind parents to help us minimize the spread of illness by observing their child for signs of pertussis. The school first informed parents about a confirmed case of pertussis in their elementary school in a May 6 letter. A copy of the letter was forwarded to NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune by a parent from the school. However, the school did not disclose the students grade or classroom citing confidentiality reasons. The letter noted the school was in contact with the Louisiana Department of Healths Office of Public Health over the case. It also stressed that pertussis is infectious for those who have been in close contact with someone who is infected over a prolonged period of time. A week later, school officials confirmed in a May 15 letter sent to parents of children in the elementary school that all four cases of pertussis were reported in one particular classroom that had a mix of 3rd and 4th-graders. The letter explained that the school was unable to divulge that information previously without proper consent, citing patient confidentiality. Two more potential cases in the 3rd and 7th grade were identified a day later, according to another letter sent on Thursday (May 16). All of the students were vaccinated with the pertussis vaccine, which is given in a series of courses throughout the childs life, according to the letter. The CDC recommends the vaccine at 2, 4 and 6 months, and at 15 through 18 months of age, followed by a third course between ages 4 and 6. That is followed by a booster shot for 11-year-olds. But even vaccinated children and adults can be susceptible to the illness. Kids will typically get about five vaccine doses up to about age 6 and a booster shot at age 11, but the efficacy of the vaccine can wane over time, explained Dr. Joseph Kanter, assistant state health officer at the Louisiana Department of Health. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up We still have quite a decent number of pertussis cases each year. It has not been eradicated from our country, Kanter said. Kanter confirmed his office is investigating a few cases of pertussis in a local elementary school, though he declined to name the school. There is nothing to suggest these cases have spread outside of this elementary school, he said. Depending on the age of the person, pertussis can be very difficult to diagnose. For the vast majority of adults it is a very mild illness. There were about 120 whooping cough cases reported in Louisiana last year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We know there is a lot of pertussis out there that doesnt hit the books, Kanter said. We have small case clusters every year. The illness usually results in mild symptoms in adults, but can be particularly dangerous for infants and very young children. It is particularly concerning for infants or children under 1. Theres a very high likelihood of being hospitalized for the illness, said Dr. Jeanne-Anne Moore, pediatrician Ochsner Lake Terrace clinic. The bacterial infection can potentially cause temporary damage in the lungs of very young babies. They can also develop apnea, where they stop breathing. We are much quicker to hospitalize a baby who has been diagnosed," Moore said. We ask that parents stay on top of their CDC recommended vaccine schedule. See the CDCs schedule of recommended vaccine by age. The fire that destroyed a Slidell house Wednesday (May 15) claimed the lives of the pets inside it, authorities said. The 2,600-square-foot house at 406 Starling Drive had flames coming through the roof when firefighters with St. Tammany Fire District No. 1 arrived just before 2 p.m. A neighbor had called 911 after seeing smoke and flames inside the structure. No one was inside the home at the time of the blaze, the district said in a news release. WWL-TV reported that four dogs died in the fire. Thirty-seven firefighters battled the blaze, the news release said. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. A GoFundMe account has been set up for the family to help cover expenses. Annabelle Hawkins is enjoying the last few days of school before her summer adventures begin. Hawkins, 11, is a fifth-grader at Heartland Christian School. Shes been at the school since her third-grade year. Looking back at the past few years, she said she is glad to be a part of the Heartland family. She said she is grateful for the kind, welcoming community. Its been really good, she said. I like that there a lot of nice kids. And teachers, too. Hawkins said she has enjoyed meeting new people and making new friends at Heartland. She said she likes most of her classes, but she really loves getting her heart pumping during physical education. Her favorite gym activity is playing trackball, a sort of twist on the traditional dodgeball game. Now that the warm weather appears to be sticking around, Hawkins is excited for the school year to wrap up next week so she can spend even more time outdoors. She said shell be doing plenty of traditional summer things like hanging out with friends and going on family trips. Shell also be spending some time with her mom at Camp of the Good Shepherd, a Christian summer camp in Louisville, Nebraska. Her mom cooks for the camp and Hawkins will be helping her out. Hawkins has had a good school year, but now shes ready for some summer fun. FRIDAY Seeking Safety 10 to 11:30 a.m., Catholic Charities, 1215 N. Broadway. Financial Education and Empowerment also offered from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Free classes for those who identify as a victim/survivor of domestic or sexual violence. New participants will need to schedule an intake. Call 712-256-2059 ext. 103 for more information. Elks Lodge TGIF Dinner 6 to 8 p.m., 380 McKenzie Ave. Call 712-323-2589 or find Elks Lodge 531 Council Bluffs on Facebook for weekly menu. Southwest lowa Narcotics Anonymous Noon, Let It Be, New Litehouse, 200 16th Ave.; 6:30 p.m., Just for Today, Faith Community Church, 2701 N. Eighth St., Red Oak; 7 p.m., Clean & Free Group, first floor McDermott building, 800 Mercy Drive; 8 p.m., Straight and Grateful, 309 Elm St., Atlantic; 8:30 p.m., Discovery Group Church of Christ, 714 Benson St., Omaha; 8:30 p.m., Rebellions, New Litehouse, 200 16th Ave. Freedom Seekers Al-Anon 7:30 p.m., Broadway Christian Church, 2658 Ave. A. Pickin and Grinnin Country Music Jam 6:30 to 9 p.m., Corn Crib restaurant, 12 East St., Shelby. Musicians and music lovers invited to a weekly jam session. Call the Corn Crib at 712-207-2676. Ag Committee Spring Cookout 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Ag Committee will serve steak sandwiches and hamburgers with chips and a drink from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Bayliss Park. Meal prices vary from $6 and $8. SATURDAY River City Farmers Market 8 a.m. until 1 p.m., west side of The Centers parking lot, 714 S. Main St. Through Mid-October. Overeaters Anonymous 8:30 a.m., Douglas County Health Center, town hall meeting room, first floor, 42nd and Woolworth Streets, Omaha. Call Tracy at 402-551-9711. 10:30 a.m., Unity Church, 3424 N. 90th St., Omaha. Wheelchair accessible and child care provided. Call Dala at 402-210-3755. Southwest Iowa Narcotics Anonymous 5 p.m., Saturday Serenity, St. Pauls Episcopal Church, 812 Farnum St., Harlan; 6 p.m., On the Right Track, 515 E. Broadway; 8 p.m., Living Clean, 303 Walnut St., Shenandoah; 8:30 p.m., Rebellions, New Litehouse, 200 16th Ave. Gamblers 12-Step Program 7 p.m., 354 N. 76th St., Omaha. For 24-hour hotline, call 402-978-7899. Crescent Optimist Club 7 a.m., Henrys Diner, 836 Old Lincoln Highway. Families Understanding Needs 6 p.m., Rue Elementary School, 3326 Sixth Ave. Support group for families with children with special needs. Treynor Optimist Club 8 a.m., Treynor Community Center. Underwood Optimist Club 7:30 a.m., UMBA Hall. Celebrate CB Parade and Activities Saturday, 10:30 a.m. The annual parade will begin around 10:30 a.m., and will begin at Ninth Avenue and Pearl Street, travel north up Pearl, turn onto South Main Street at West Broadway and end at the corner of Sixth Avenue and South Main Street. Bayliss Park childrens activities will begin following the parade. Following the parade, activities such as a Raise Me To Read story walk, face painting, wood building project and other activities for children will be available. Live music by the band Damaged Jenny will also be performed in the park. For more information, go online to celebratecb.com. Heartland Christian School librarian Cyndi Merriam brought history to life Thursday by replicating some of the places in the book I Survived the American Revolution, by Lauren Tarshis. Students in third through sixth grade read the book, which traces the path of colonial-era 11-year-old Nathaniel Knox, who runs away from home, stows away on a ship and, when it lands, finds himself in the middle of the Battle of Brooklyn. He makes it to Gen. George Washingtons tent on the battlefield and eventually finds his way back home. The kids loved the story, Merriam said. We went over the weapons, and we went over the uniforms. Nate has lost his parents and lives with his Uncle Storch, who is wealthy and owns two slaves: Elizabeth and her son, Theo. He likes to play with Theo and, when Theo throws a stick that hits Uncle Storch, he takes the blame to protect his playmate from possibly being sold. The son of a sailor, Nate boards a ship to get away, and his adventure begins. Merriam set up a series of locations that tie in with the book and designed tasks for students to do at each one that focused on plot, characters, vocabulary and a secret message. Its so important to get kids interested in reading, she said. The first station was a table overlaid with a fancy tablecloth and set with china dishes to represent Uncle Storchs dining room. Next was a ship Merriam created with a cardboard hull, portholes encircled by construction paper, a helm of various materials and a cloth sail. The ships hull encased two of the librarys rows of bookshelves. The third (although different groups of students visited the sites in different orders) was a desk with a canopy, colonial flag, uniform and hat to represent Washingtons tent. The fourth station was a plot back at Nates uncles house with flowers and a cherry tree where Nate and Theo used to play. Fifth- and sixth-grade students said their favorite stations were the ship and the cherry tree. Tarshis, who worked at Scholastic, wrote the book after the company got requests for books that would get children interested in history, Merriam said. The book became a bestseller and led to a series of I Survived the books. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. School officials were not surprised that a 74-year-old bus driver couldn't evacuate his burning bus in a 2017 fatal school bus crash because he had mobility issues. However, the reasons the driver's 16-year-old passenger couldn't escape remained unclear, according to reports newly released by the National Transportation Safety Board. Some bus drivers speculated in interviews with federal officials that Klindt wouldn't have left Hendricks alone. Dozens of pages of reports detailed safety, road, weather and other factors in the Oakland, Iowa, bus crash on Dec. 12, 2017, that claimed two lives. Donnie Hendricks, 74, and Megan Klindt, 16, were the only occupants on the bus that morning in rural Pottawattamie County. They were unable to escape flames that broke out from the engine compartment after the bus got stuck in a ditch, federal officials said. Interviews with bus drivers, the Riverside High School principal and Hendricks' wife revealed additional details. Hendricks and Klindt were friendly toward each other, and as the first pickup, Klindt helped make sure kids got on and off safely. "She was one of his favorites," Kathleen Hendricks, Hendricks' wife, told an investigator in an interview. The day of the fire was Donnie Hendricks' last work day before he would undergo back surgery two days later. He suffered from a host of medical issues high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes, among others but his most painful problem was chronic low back pain from a previous spinal fusion surgery. Fellow bus drivers said they saw Hendricks walk with a cane at work and before boarding the bus. Kathleen Hendricks said he used a cane and a walker, but for longer distances. And, he was comfortable sitting, especially in the bus seat that was oriented higher up, she told investigators. "The principal and one of the drivers advised that they knew if an emergency occurred that the crash driver would be unlikely to be able to self-extricate," according to an investigator's report. "However, the family denies that the drivers back problems affected his ability to operate a motor vehicle. The drivers deteriorating physical condition was noted by several coworkers and the principal of the local high school." According to the State of Iowa Department of Education, a school bus driver must be of "sufficient physical capacity to operate the bus effectively and to render assistance to the passengers in case of illness or injury. "It drives me crazy that she couldn't get out of that school bus. You know, I just don't get that," Riverside High School Principal David Gute said. "And I get him. I mean, we're talking mobility. I get him, why he couldn't get off. Just, I don't understand how she couldn't get off the bus." When first responders extinguished the fire, they found Klindt's body on the floor next to the driver's seat. A report also said that the bus' fire extinguisher was not readily accessible to the driver or the passenger, despite policy to the contrary. According to Iowa school transportation code: "The extinguisher shall be located in the drivers compartment readily accessible to the driver and passengers." The extinguisher was located in an unmarked compartment behind the interior rearview mirror, above the front windshield, the report said. The NTSB will hold a public board meeting in Washington D.C. on June 18 to determine the probable cause of the fire. Klindt's family has sued the Riverside School District, claiming negligence and wrongful death. The case is set to go to trial next March. Lets surpass $3M with Pottawattamie Gives! The fifth annual Pottawattamie Gives Day is May 22. It was an honor for me to work with the Pottawattamie County Community Foundation as then president and CEO to bring this idea to our area. By going to PottawattamieGives.org or ourpccf.org, more than 100 charities in our county have received $2.65 million during the past four Pottawattamie Gives days. Last year, PCCF president and CEO Donna Dostal and her team did great work with this giving day, so lets help them and all the charities surpass the milestone total of more than $3 million this fifth year. Jerry Mathiasen Council Bluffs Reynolds needs to protect IPERS Dear Governor Reynolds, I implore you to keep your promise to support and protect IPERS. Please veto SF 634 and do not endorse any legislation that would change or harm IPERS. I have received correspondence from your office claiming I have been misinformed and that SF 634 will not impact IPERS, which lead me to ask why IPERS should be part of a property tax bill at all. I have not received correspondence from your office explaining to me why IPERS is included in a property tax bill at all. I do not believe I have been misinformed. SF 634 will negatively impact IPERS. You promised to protect IPERS today, tomorrow, and into the future! You must veto SF 634 to keep that promise. Shari Anderson Council Bluffs What will our children say? The last year or two has seen an unprecedented number of U.S. natural disasters: major hurricanes, massive floods, deadly tornadoes, severe wildfires, subzero cold spells, some of the hottest years on record, etc. The rest of the world has likewise suffered increasing droughts, desertification, melting glaciers, typhoons, flooding, heat waves, etc. These phenomena are not unrelated. The vast majority of climate scientists say they are the beginning effects of climate disruption that will, without question, get significantly worse in the foreseeable future. For the next 11 years, according to the latest reports from both the UN and the US government, we have the chance to ensure that the worst case scenarios do not come to pass by de-carbonizing our economies (and those worst cases are truly frightening see David Wallace-Wells on YouTube.) Each additional degree of global warming will make the extreme weather weve seen many, many times worse for future generations (as well as creating untold millions of climate refugees). But it can be turned around, and must be, starting now. This is no joke, no hoax, but rather a deadly serious, long-term, life-threatening emergency. Instead of denial, we need to ask ourselves one serious question: What will our children and grandchildren say about us 30 or 50 years from now? Will they curse us for willfully ignoring the clear signs of the impending destruction of a reasonably livable planet for them? This question requires our active attention. Chuck Sher Petaluma, California Tariffs will be bad for U.S. economy Bruce Heyman, a former senior Goldman Sachs executive and the U.S. ambassador to Canada from 2014 to 2017, was interviewed by the Wall Street Journal today, May 15, 2019. He stated that Mr. Trump is essentially a liar by claiming that China will pay for the imposition of the Presidents trade tariffs. The fact is, as Mr. Heyman explained, the chief economists at Goldman Sachs unequivocally assert that it is middle class American consumers, along with American small and mid-sized businesses, who will bear the full cost of paying for the tariffs, not the Chinese. The tariffs, as Mr. Heyman stated, are nothing more or less than a tax on the large majority of American citizens. He went on to say that among the citizens of our closest ally, Canada, only 10% have a favorable opinion of Trump. These are alarming realities. What little benefit the much ballyhooed Republican tax cut was supposed to have for middle-income Americans is about to vanish in a flash with the new tariffs. And Canadians have lost trust in the Trump administration. When our economy begins to tank and our alienated allies turn aside when we next need them, it is Republicans who will own the blame and the shame. Steven Pokorny Urbandale North Augusta City Council members are set to make the final decision on whether or not Riverside Village will be rezoned as downtown during their meeting on Monday. Council will hold the third and final reading of an ordinance that would rezone 11 parcels, around 9.58 acres of land, from planned development to downtown zoning. The impacted parcels do not include SRP Park or Ironwood Apartments. Chris Schoen with Greenstone Properties, the developer of Riverside Village, said during a previous City Council meeting that height, setbacks and parking were issues they had under the Planned Development zoning. Council will vote on a motion to receive the Planning Commission's unanimous recommendation that the parcels be rezoned. +5 North Augusta City Council looking to swap land and acquire old Country Club North Augusta City Council took the first step in acquiring new land for a park on the citys north side during their regular meeting Monday evening. Council will also vote on the second reading of an ordinance regarding a land swap. City-owned property off Five Notch Road would be swapped for land formerly known as the North Augusta Country Club. The city purchased the property off Five Notch Road for a future park, and, if the ordinance is passed, the country club property would be made into a park instead. The country club property is currently owned by DWT Properties, LLC. In new business, Council will vote on a resolution relating to the a downtown Greeneway connector. The meeting agenda states that the proposed resolution is "supporting North Augusta Forward's contracting Studio Main, LLC to update the North Augusta downtown Greeneway connector master plan and preliminary construction documentation." During the study session before the meeting, Council will hear an update on the fiscal year 2018 audit from Cammie Hayes, director of the city's finance department. Libby Hodges, director of planning and development, will present wayfinding design options to Council. Council will meet at 6 p.m. for the study session and 7 p.m. for the meeting Monday, May 20 on the third floor of the Municipal Building, 100 Georgia Ave. Posted by: Mark Westman (NPS Photo / Dave Weber) Mountaineering ranger Dave Weber, park volunteer Mike Gibbs, and I have just returned from a mountaineering patrol on the remote Dall Glacier in the western Alaska Range. Our primary objective for this patrol was an ascent of Mount Russell, one of the Alaska Ranges most beautiful mountains. Our intention was an ascent of the unrepeated south ridge route, established in 2017 and which was reported to be an excellent, moderate route to this elusive summit and one destined to become a classic route of the Alaska Range. Part 2: Attempt on the South Ridge of Mount Russell Although Mount Russell remains a seldom-attempted mountain, in nearly every season at least a few teams come to Alaska considering a visit. Most never reach the mountain due to the noted issues with localized weather endemic to the region. Nonetheless, the 2017 report from the first ascent of the south ridge created a notable stir in the climbing community, and by 2018, one party had already made an unsuccessful attempt to repeat the route. I had attempted Mount Russells north/northeast ridge twenty years ago this spring with the late Joe Puryear and my wife Lisa Roderick. It was late March, and after making only minimal progress up the route, we were stopped cold by a trio of prolonged storms that featured high winds, bitterly cold temperatures, and multiple meters of new snow. We had planned on a maximum of six days out and back from Talkeetna. The weather prevented pick up until day fourteen, by which time we had been on severe food and fuel rations for the last four days of the trip. Similar to how it goes in the Kichatna Spires, where extended waits to get in or out of the mountains are common, Mount Russell is a place where having a robust bag of contingency supplies is a wise idea. The past three seasons, starting in 2016, fellow ranger Dave Weber and I had made plans to visit Mount Russell for a climbing patrol and to bring back more institutional knowledge of the mountain to our group here in Talkeetna. In each season, our efforts to even reach the mountain were unsuccessful due to poor weather. This season, our luck changed, and a strong high pressure system began settling into southcentral Alaska just prior to our April 27th scheduled departure. For this season, we recruited a volunteer to accompany us as a third for the patrol. Ordinarily, our technical mountain patrols consist of two rangers. But Mike Gibbs, in addition to being our groups technical rigging instructor for more than ten years, is a strong and experienced alpinist as well as enjoyable company, and we knew he would be a solid asset to our team in the face of such a remote and potentially serious adventure. VIP Mike Gibbs and ranger Dave Weber on Mount Russell. (NPS Photo / Mark Westman) On April 27th, we were landed at 5,600 on a small, north-south oriented arm of the Dall Glacier, 1 miles south of Mount Russells south face. In addition to Mount Russell, the terrain in this area offers vast and inspiring possibilities for ski touring, mountaineering, and alpinism. The Dall Glacier itself is wide, gently angled, and largely unbroken by open crevasses, offering many possible ski-wheel airplane landing sites for access. It can be assumed that very few if any of the nearby peaks in the area have ever been climbed. There are near-endless opportunities for exploration here. This is also an area that is far from the normal flight paths of the Talkeetna-based scenic flight services, so one can also expect virtually no air traffic apart from an occasional jet. It is truly remote wilderness country and visitors should be prepared to be highly self-sufficient. This area of the range is often the first place to cloud in during approaching storms, and the last to clear, so be advised that access by aircraft can be fraught with long delays. Warm weather greeted us at our midday landing. Above us rose the face, baking in the sun. Although there were very limited signs of recent avalanche activity, and virtually no signs of recent rockfall in the area, we stifled the urge to waste no minute of the sunny weather and to start climbing immediately; instead, we decided to spend this perfect day carrying our rack and some equipment up glacier to stash at the base, reconnoiter the route, and then plan for a pre-dawn start so as to ascend the lower face during the coldest hours of the early morning. The approach from our landing site was straightforward glacier travel which steadily gains about 1000 vertical feet in 1 miles. A solitary crevasse midway, easily bypassed to the right, presented the only obstacle. We reached the base in just over one hour. The uncomfortably warm travel conditions and soft snow on this initial adventure to the foot of the route confirmed the overall wisdom of our plan. The face remained silent, also, which provided positive evidence of local stability in the snowpack. We arose at 4:00 AM the next day and after preparing hot water and breakfast, struck out for the base of the route. Soon we were reunited with our cache. We exchanged our skis and poles for crampons and ice tools, and began climbing. We passed a large bergschrund on the left side by an easy traversing bridge, and then continued step kicking in friendly conditions, straight upwards on 30-35 degree snow for several hundred vertical feet in the central drainage of the face. The cold air and frozen snow kept the face nice and quiet, with no rockfall or snow sloughs. This portion of the climb might protect with pickets, but the only rock alongside most of this snowfield is the black shale which offers, at best, minimal to poor protection. (NPS Photo / Mark Westman) We were routefinding on this very complex face on the basis of a photo from the 2017 report with a general route line drawn upon it, as well as some aerial photos we had taken on our flight in. There are numerous options depending on how difficult of a line one is seeking. After about 800 feet of step kicking, the rock on our left changed to granite and we broke through this band on our left by a short, 45 degree snow ramp which led to a 200 meter snow bowl angled at about 35-40 degrees. At the bottom of this bowl, on the left, we spotted what would be the only fixed rappel anchor that we would find from the 2017 ascent. At the top of the bowl, a short easy mixed step gained yet another snow band, this one about 100 meters tall. The snow up to this point had been very good for step kicking, but here it changed to a more faceted pack. As such, pickets in this section were not as good for protection as below. Rock protection is available along the edges, but would require a more devious line of ascent. Atop this snowfield, we aimed for a prominent tongue of snow extending up into the next rock band. The granite on this band is initially flanked by an intrusion of black shale. The snow tongue led to a 12 meter step of moderate drytooling on loose rock which led up into a left trending ramp system. This ramp system, about 100 meters long, in turn led to a convenient exit onto the left hand ridge which borders the face. We later learned that we had taken a variation to the original route, which gained the ridge a few hundred feet lower. This variation and the original line are annotated on one of the accompanying photos with this report. (NPS Photo / Mark Westman) Above here, aesthetic ridge climbing on snow with occasional short steps of rock climbing on shattered but solid granite led upwards for hundreds of feet in a sensational position. Eventually we reached a taller and steeper rock step with many large protruding horns and which blocked the entire ridge. The first ascent party climbed directly through this appealing rock band. At this point, our sunny weather was continuing, but the wind was noticeably rising, with banners of snow streaming off the top of the step above. For expediency in the face of the weather, we opted to traverse out left onto the hanging glacier and bypass this rock step by way of an easy snow couloir which led up and then right to reach the top of the rock. (NPS Photo / Dave Weber) The top of the rock step was not level as we had hoped, and we were now in search of a bivouac. Up to this point, we had seen no place on the route where setting up a tent would not require significant chopping. The wind here had become quite strong with much blowing snow. Above us, the apex of the face was in view only perhaps 500 feet higher. We knew from photos that a flat bivouac site would be found up there, but the large snow banners streaming from the ridgetop foretold of much stronger winds at that location. We decided to search for a chopped bivi site nearby to minimize our exposure to the wind at the expense of having to spend more time leveling a tent platform. After a long search, finding only unappealing hard ice layers just beneath the snow surface, we noticed a large crevasse out to our left on the hanging glacier which offered a bench on the downhill side that appeared quite level. We belayed down to and across the crevasse and after some inspection, determined it safe and established our camp with minimal digging. Luckily, the wind, which had been gusting to about 35 mph, unexpectedly dropped away and became calm. We enjoyed a beautiful evening and dinner with inspiring views of the nearby Kichatna Spires and Mount Dall to the southwest, and far to the south, the edge of Cook Inlet and the Chugach Mountains. Later, as it became dark, we could see the glow from the lights of Anchorage far in the distance. We went to sleep that night with a plan to leave most of our gear cached here and to head for the summit the next day. (NPS Photo / Mark Westman) Overnight, the wind picked up again, and in the morning we looked out with disappointment to a rapidly changing environment. Wind wave clouds were building over the ridges and wispy vapor trails were streaming into the whole area. Above us, we gazed straight up into the bottom of a lenticular cloud cap over our mountain, racing over the ridge only hundreds of feet higher. An audible roar could be heard. We opted to wait a few hours to see if conditions changed, but the situation only worsened, and by 10 AM the decision was being made for us: this was not a summit day. We had some concerns about the complexity of the descent that awaited us below- some deviations from the climbing route would likely be needed, along with some mandatory downclimbing, and we had only seen one fixed rappel anchor. The terrain above us appeared from our photos to likewise be complex and time consuming for descent. Collectively, we determined that going to the summit and then descending all the way to basecamp- over 6000 vertical feet- in a single day would be overly ambitious. Hence, we decided that waiting for another day to pass in hopes of better weather was not a practical plan. We needed to return to Talkeetna within a few days, and a much stronger storm was forecasted to arrive only 48 hours out. Today needed to be up or down, and up was not an option. (NPS Photo / Dave Weber) Timing is everything in the Alaska Range, and we were just a day too late. We exited the tent to begin packing to descend; at the same moment, the winds increased dramatically. Large plates of sastrugi dislodged from the mountainside and launched airborne for hundreds of feet uphill amid winds that we later estimated to be sustained at forty to fifty miles per hour. We donned goggles and wind layers and endured unceasing torrents of blowing snow in a classically pitched battle with Alaska Range weather. In full conditions, we traversed back over to the ridge, found some ice that we had spied the day before, set v-thread anchors, and began our descent. These steps did not happen as quickly as that sentence would imply, or as quickly as we would have preferred! Within only two or three rappels, we found ourselves on the lee side of the ridge and thankfully more sheltered from the wind. As we continued down, the ever-present roar of the wind persisted above us, and the cloud ceiling followed us downward. Mike masterfully engineered our rappels. We deviated from the line of ascent in several places, downclimbed wherever possible, and made the most of each anchor by leaving as little gear as necessary while making near full rope length rappels. All in all, it went better than we had anticipated. Nevertheless, the descent took nearly as long as the ascent and we were impressed overall with the scale and seriousness of the route given the otherwise moderate technical difficulties. We reached our skis and other cached gear at the foot of the mountain just as the overcast skies gave way to steady snowfall. Happy to be off of the face, we skied away and returned to the comforts of our well-stocked basecamp. We rehydrated, cooked, and recounted our experience late into the night, already dreaming of an opportunity to return again someday. Summary The south ridge of Mount Russell is undeniably a classic climbing line in an extremely aesthetic corner of the Alaska Range. While the technical difficulties are not exceptional, the terrain is complex and committing. Getting caught high on this route in a storm could be a serious proposition, given that much of the route is exposed to the wind and the descent is time consuming. This is not a beginner route, but well-seasoned alpinists with a solid foundation of arctic mountaineering skills will find it an aesthetic and entertaining challenge. As with most long alpine routes, some objective hazards are present, but these can be well managed with proper timing and planning, patience, and a healthy respect for the areas notorious weather. Allow as much time as your schedule will permit when planning a trip to this area, and even if attempting to squeeze in the ascent in the span of a single weather window, come prepared to get weathered in. Finally, the routes low elevation, southern exposure, and terrain features make it a route for early season only. Aspirant teams would be advised to have concluded their expedition by early to mid May, with April being the ideal month. All of this, of course, is dependent upon the quality and depth of the winter snowpack in addition to the temperature and weather patterns of the spring season in question. The north/northeast ridge of Russell is, when passable, a considerably easier and less serious undertaking, involving just 3,500 feet of vertical gain and no rock climbing. By contrast, the south ridge involves 6000 feet of vertical gain, considerable mixed terrain in the steep lower face, and extended ridge climbing above, involving cornice traverses, ice aretes, and a significantly increasing level of commitment as one goes higher. Regardless of the route you might choose, a visit to Mount Russell and the surrounding area is guaranteed to be a grand adventure in some of the finest alpine wilderness landscapes of Denali National Park and Preserve. The U.S. Treasury Departments Office of Foreign Assets Control Thursday imposed sanctions on five individuals, including at least three Russians, and on a Chechen group for extra-judicial killings and torturing LGBT individuals. The sanctioned group is the Terek Special Rapid Response Team in the republic of Chechnya. The five individuals named Thursday were implicated in the deaths of whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky and Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, according to the Treasury Department. With Thursdays action, the United States has now sanctioned 55 individuals and groups under the 2012 Magnitsky Act. The law is named after the 37-year-old Russian lawyer who was tortured and killed in a Moscow prison in 2009 after exposing a $230 million tax fraud. Sanctions under the Magnitsky Act include visa bans and asset freezes on officials and others linked to Magnitskys death or to other human rights abuses. Among the individuals named Thursday are Elena Anatolievna Trikulya and Gennady Vyacheslavovich Karlov, both members of the Russian states Investigative Committee, for allegedly having participated in efforts to conceal the legal liability for the detention, abuse, or death of Sergei Magnitsky. The Terek Special Rapid Response Team sanctioned Thursday allegedly detained and tortured persons whom team members believed to be LGBTI. Some of the individuals were lured to meetings using social media, the Treasury Department said. The commander of the team in the Chechen Republic, Abuzayed Vismuradov, was sanctioned for being responsible for extrajudicial killings, torture, or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights committed against individuals seeking to expose illegal activity carried out by officials of the Government of the Russian Federation. OFAC Thursday also designated Ruslan Geremeyev, a Russian and former deputy commander of the Sever Battalion in Chechnya, as the possible organizer of Boris Nemtsovs 2015 murder. Nemtsov, 55, was an opposition leader and anti-corruption advocate who was shot four times in the back just steps from the Kremlin. ____ Here are the May 16, 2019 additions to OFACs SDN (Specially Designated Nationals And Blocked Persons) List: GEREMEYEV, Ruslan, Russia; DOB 10 May 1978; citizen Russia; Gender Male (individual) [MAGNIT]. KARLOV, Gennady Vyacheslavovich (Cyrillic: , ); DOB 27 Feb 1960; alt. DOB 1966; Gender Male (individual) [MAGNIT]. KOSSIEV, Sergey Leonidovich (Cyrillic: , ) (a.k.a. KOSSIYEV, Sergei); DOB 19 May 1975; Gender Male; Head of the Institution, Captain of Internal Service, Penal Colony IK-7 (individual) [MAGNIT]. TRIKULYA, Elena Anatolievna, Russia; DOB 18 Mar 1975; Gender Female (individual) [MAGNIT]. VISMURADOV, Abuzayed, Chechen Republic, Russia; DOB 21 Dec 1975; Gender Male; Commander of the Special Quick-Reaction Detachment (SOBR) Team Terek (individual) [MAGNIT]. TEREK SPECIAL RAPID RESPONSE TEAM (a.k.a. SPECIAL DIVISION OF FIRST RESPONDERS, CHECHNYA (SOBR)), Chechen Republic, Russia [MAGNIT]. ____ Richard L. Cassin is editor at large of the FCPA Blog. A 60-year-old North Platte man will answer allegations in Lincoln County District Court that he set fire to his mothers trailer last month while he lived in it. County Judge Kent Turnbull Thursday sent the case of Kevin L. Donnelly to district court after a preliminary hearing on one felony count of second-degree arson. No district court date was immediately set. No one was present in the trailer at 2109 W. 16th St. when North Platte firefighters were called to a fire there the evening of April 17. The trailer was destroyed in the fire, which Nebraska State Fire Marshals Office investigators determined to have been set deliberately. Donnelly apparently started the fire with gasoline stolen from a nearby convenience store, Deputy County Attorney Angela Franz said during his first court appearance April 18. Besides the arson charge, county prosecutors filed a separate misdemeanor count against Donnelly of theft, less than $500, in regard to the stolen gasoline. Turnbull Thursday continued proceedings on the theft charge until Aug. 29 and continued bail in Donnellys arson case at $25,000. Donnelly remained in the Lincoln County Detention Center Thursday afternoon. The Eagle Riders will transport about 3,000 letters to the State Capitol to try to raise awareness for childrens mental health across Nebraska. The riders stopped at The Connection homeless shelter in North Platte on Thursday to pick up letters, then headed to Gothenburg and Kearney. On Friday, the bikers will continue their trek eastward until they reach the capital city of Lincoln. The letters were written by youths, their families and other supporters of childrens mental health services. The purpose for this ride is to obviously raise awareness for childrens mental health, said Holly Stevens, coordinator. To help eliminate the stigma so that they can get assistance. Sheri Dawson, director of the Division of Behavioral Health at the Department of Health and Human Services, noted that suicide prevention in youth is a key focus for the ride this year. For the past 12 years, the Eagle Riders have been a key partner in raising awareness, Dawson said in a press release. We had a lot of people scared, Linehan said. I still believe the vast majority of people want us to do something about (high) property taxes. This (the Briese amendment) gives us a start. Linehan also said some of the blame for stalling LB 289 laid with Ricketts, who she said failed to engage in serious discussions and failed to recognize the severity of the property tax problem in the state. He says we can cut our way out of this (problem) so tell us where to cut? Where? Linehan said. Linehan had been criss-crossing the floor of of the Legislature in recent days, hoping to round up agreement from 33 of the one-house Legislatures 49 senators to bring LB 289 back up for debate this year. But that effort was abandoned Thursday, after a compromise with the large schools failed to materialize. The author of the school aid changes in LB 289, North Platte Sen. Mike Groene, angrily complained that the superintendents of the Lincoln, Millard and Omaha schools appear to run the State Legislature. After decades of cranking out steel for cars, washing machines and ships along the lakeshore in Northwest Indiana, Bethlehem Steel filed for bankruptcy in 2001 during the import crisis that wiped out many iconic American steel companies that had been around for a century or more. ISG bought the mill in 2003 and then sold it to the company that would become ArcelorMittal two years later. "Tracing its roots back to 1857, Bethlehem Steel Corp. was once Americas second-largest steelmaker, the 8th largest corporation in the United States and the worlds largest shipbuilder," Industrial Archives & Library said in a news release. "Pioneer in the development of the wide-flange 'Bethlehem Beam' that ushered in the age of the skyscraper, builder of the Golden Gate Bridge, the George Washington Bridge, the Chrysler Building, the U.S. Supreme Court Building, the Panama Canal locks, Los Angeles City Hall and countless other iconic bridges and structures across the country, inventor of high-speed tool steel, builder of Americas first true aircraft carrier, the USS Lexington, and 1,127 ships of all classes in World War II in historys largest shipbuilding program, supplier of virtually all the large caliber guns for the U.S. Navy and two-thirds of all the Allied artillery pieces in World War I, Bethlehem Steel was the company that 'Built, Transported and Defended America.'" Every spring, 3 Floyds' Dark Lord Day draws thousands of craft beer lovers to Northwest Indiana for a day of heavy metal, bottle sharing, special releases and the highly coveted "demonic" Dark Lord Russian-Style Imperial Stout. Other craft breweries and bars across the Region are increasingly looking to capitalize off the beer tourist traffic with special releases or promotions of their own. Dark Lord Day Eve has evolved into a Region beer holiday of its own, with many breweries in Northwest Indiana and the south suburbs putting out limited quantities of rare and potent beers at pre-game parties that feature live bands, food trucks and even goats. St. John Malt Brothers at 9623 Wicker Ave. in St. John released its Wicker Avenue Warlock imperial stout and its barrel-aged barleywine Third Level Stupid Thursday. "Dark Lord Day has always been great," St. John Malt Brothers President and Co-Founder Jim Estry said. "People all over the world come in for Dark Lord, so there's a whole bunch of people interested in the breweries of the area. It's fantastic for us. It helps increase the awareness of craft beer in Northwest Indiana." The American Red Cross has a critical shortage of type O blood and urges eligible donors to give now to help patients facing trauma and other CROWN POINT A judge granted prosecutors' motion to dismiss charges Thursday against a Chicago Heights man accused of running an unsanitary dog training facility in St. John. Larry Brodanex, 38, had been scheduled to stand trial May 20 on nine felony counts of torturing or mutilating a vertebrate animal and 34 counts of cruelty to animals. Lake Criminal Court Judge Salvador Vasquez granted Lake County Deputy Prosecutor David Rooda's motion to dismiss the charges Thursday and vacated Brodanex's trial. Rooda wrote the state would be unable to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt in light of Vasquez's recent order suppressing most of the evidence in the case because St. John police illegally entered the facility he was renting in the 9600 block of Industrial Drive. Defense attorney Matthew Fech said Brodanex was pleased Vasquez ruled police violated his constitutional rights and is ready to put the case behind him. "He is relieved that the state has decided to do the proper thing and dismiss this case," Fech said. We're not done, Beekman said, There's a lot we need to do. Beekman said Food Bank officials have heard thousands of stories from residents who don't know how they will obtain their next meal. He described how a boy waited for three hours without complaining during a food distribution. The child's face lit up with excitement when his family received milk and cereal to bring home. Beekman also recalled how an 80-year-old woman walked for 5 miles through rain and snow to receive assistance from the Food Bank. To help feed the community, Dutch Farms, a longtime supporter of the Food Bank, donated a truckload of eggs to the organization on Thursday. As the Food Bank looks to provide more services to those in need, the organization has goals to complete other projects in its facility, but additional funding is needed before that could occur. The renovation of the Merrillville building has been funded through the Food Bank's Fighting Hunger, Growing Hope capital campaign, which has a goal of raising $4 million. So far, the initiative has generated close to $3 million. INDIANAPOLIS The Lake County Council must pay $176,467.17 in attorneys' fees and expenses on behalf of the 14 county judges who sued the council in 2017 to force a wage hike for court employees. On Thursday, the Indiana Supreme Court affirmed the attorney fee award calculated by Special Judge W. Tobin McClamroch, which was less than the $223,234.17 requested by the Lake County judges. According to court records, McClamroch determined the expenses and time spent on the case by the judges' attorneys were reasonable based on the case's complexity. But he said the judges should recover no more than the $240 per hour, a "reasonable and customary" rate for an attorney in Lake County. The state's high court agreed in an unsigned opinion approved by all five justices. The Supreme Court rejected the county council's claim that the judges' attorneys incurred unnecessary expenses, and instead concluded that "substantial evidence supports the $176,467.17 award to the judges." Forecast5 Analytics, a Naperville, Ill.-based provider of decision support software to the public sector with 1,800 local government clients in 26 states, is to acquire Public Finance Resources, a provider of financial forecasting services for Ohio local governments. The amount of the deal was not disclosed. The entire PFR team will join Forecast5 and a new office will be opened in Columbus, Ohio. Led by Mike English, co-founder and President/CEO, Forecast5 provides a suite of data rich platforms for local government leaders to make financial, strategic, and academic decisions through data visibility. These tools assist with financial forecasting and benchmarking, monthly budget performance analysis, student data analysis, data transparency initiatives, and geospatial projects. The PFR team serves more than 300 public school districts as a producer of state of Ohios required biannual five-year forecasts. Their approach of regular forecasting seminars for clients and a highly experienced staff of advisors will continue, and be enhanced, by the Forecast5 platform of cloud-based software solutions. FinSMEs 17/05/2019 Lake County Assessor Jerome Prince said he was honored and humbled Monday to receive the Harold Washington Legacy Award. Prince, who unseated incumbent Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson in the Democratic primary and faces no opposition in this fall's election, was recognized for being the first African-American county assessor in Indiana. He also was honored for "having the courage to challenge the incumbent administration and (being) a voice for the people," he said. The award was one of several presented Monday during a ceremony at the Harold Washington Community Center on Chicago's south side. Harold Washington was elected Chicago's first African-American mayor in 1983 and was re-elected in 1987. A World War II veteran and former congressman, Washington's death in office Nov. 25, 1987, shocked the city. Prince, 54, a veteran of the Marines Corps, was first elected to the Gary City Council in 1999. He was re-elected twice before he was selected by caucus in 2008 to replace Will Smith on the Lake County Council. In 2014, he was elected county assessor. LAKE TOWNSHIP A semitrailer plowed into a slow moving tractor Thursday morning along U.S. 41 in Newton County, throwing the tractor driver from his vehicle, according to police. Daniel John Nelson, 51, of Lake Village, was transported to Riverside Hospital as a result of injuries suffered in the crash, police said. Police said they were notified about the crash at 7:35 a.m. and responded to the area north of County Road 1150 North along U.S. 41. The area in question is a quarter mile south of the Kankakee River. The initial investigation revealed the 2017 Mack semitrailer, driven by a 35-year-old man from Orland Park, Illinois, was traveling northbound on U.S. 41 when he failed to slow down or move to the left lane to avoid a collision with the International Harvester farm tractor, police said. The tractor was also traveling northbound on the highway. The crash remains under investigation. Love 1 Funny 3 Wow 2 Sad 17 Angry 15 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Salazar was hit several times in his torso and was taken to the Methodist Hospitals Northlake Campus in Gary, where he died, police said. Police tracked Guerrero's phone GPS and New Lenox police took him into custody while he was driving in Illinois. New Lenox police reported they found a 9mm firearm in his vehicle, court documents said. Guerrero spoke to police and allegedly confirmed he shot Salazar multiple times, court records said. After the witness and Salazar picked the boy up Tuesday night, Guerrero said he was angry about the argument and called the witness, driving to her home. Once outside the witness's residence, Guerrero said he stepped out of his vehicle with the gun in hand. He said he fired two warning shots in the air to scare Salazar, who was allegedly approaching Guerrero to take the gun from his hand. Guerrero told police Salazar continued walking toward him, and he fired four to five more times, aiming at Salazar's chest, court records said. At one point, Salazar attempted to get away from Guerrero. But Guerrero continued to fire the gun, he told police. Once Salazar was lying on the ground, Guerrero fled in his vehicle, the court report said. VALPARAISO Valparaiso schools had a brief lock out Tuesday morning as officers investigated a vague social media threat, police say. Authorities responded early Friday to a report of a vague school threat on social media, according to the Valparaiso Police Department. During the investigation, Valparaiso Community Schools implemented a temporary lock out for all locations, which spanned about two hours, police said. In a lock out, no one is permitted in out or out of the school buildings, however, regular student and faculty routines are not disrupted. Parents were notified and business was conducted per usual within the schools on Friday, said Valparaiso schools spokeswoman, Allison Hadley. The reported social media thread contained no direct threat to any school or school system, police said. The alleged treat was originally reported to school resource officers in Portage, who then contacted the Valparaiso Police Department. The person who reported the alleged threat believed a name in the thread was a Valparaiso student, however, police investigations showed this was not the case. CROWN POINT Next to a lone motorcycle helmet sat an open book with a sign, Please write down your favorite memory. When it comes to times shared with 17-year-old Clayton Gaudry, the recollections were many. From family vacations to four-wheeling with friends, the book's pages began to fill with photos and stories, one by one. However, there was much more ahead for the Crown Point High School student, his family and friends said. Several people gathered Thursday evening at Living Stones Church in Crown Point for family visitation and to remember Gaudry, of Crown Point, who was rear-ended by a truck while on a motorcycle on U.S. 231 on the night of May 7, police said. He died four days later at a hospital in Chicago surrounded by family and friends. He was the golden boy, said his aunt, Juanita Lunsford. He was one of the best kids you'll ever meet. I can't understand how something like this could happen to him. Lunsford said her nephew, a dedicated student, had a bright future. Today, she remembered him by bringing his favorite homemade treat to the visitation. By contrast, the new laws seek to curtail medical discretion. Under the Alabama measure, doctors can perform abortions only when a woman is facing death or serious risk of substantial physical impairment of a major bodily function. Otherwise, abortion is a Class A felony, and Reagan said the potential 99-year prison sentence it carries is far longer than any punishment a doctor could have faced in pre-Roe America. The text of the Alabama law explicitly likens abortion to a crime against humanity. More than 50 million babies have been aborted in the United States since the Roe decision in 1973, more than three times the number who were killed in German death camps, Chinese purges, Stalins gulags, Cambodian killing fields, and the Rwandan genocide combined, it says. Surely this is a signal to prosecutors to treat it as an extraordinarily grave transgression. At least the Alabama law exempts people having abortions from prosecution. But they are not spared by the Georgia law, which, as Mark Joseph Stern points out in Slate, has language that criminalizes self-induced abortion. Nor are women who abort exempt from punishment in the most recent version of Louisianas six-week abortion ban. Republican politicians in other states are clearly interested in locking women up; last month, Texas legislators held a hearing on a bill that would allow women who have abortions to be charged with homicide and potentially subject to the death penalty. In a post-Roe future, the political fight, at least in red states, could shift from whether women can have abortions to whether they can be imprisoned for them. None of this should whitewash the horrors and indignities that women in America endured before Roe. According to the Guttmacher Institute, there were almost 200 reported deaths from illegal abortion just in 1965, 17 percent of all deaths from pregnancy and childbirth that year. Each year thousands of women were hospitalized for botched abortions. And while women were rarely incarcerated for aborting, they were regularly threatened with prosecution to get them to testify against providers. America was a repressive place for women, without even the pretext of legal equality. Still, a lesson of fundamentalist regimes worldwide is that when reactionaries try to enforce their ideas about gender traditionalism, they can be more tyrannical than real tradition ever was. Granting personhood to fetuses has already enabled some states to subject women to new types of social control; as ProPublica reported, in 2014 a woman was arrested under Alabamas chemical endangerment of a child statute for taking half a Valium while she was pregnant. Those who might be ambivalent about abortion should realize that these strictures can apply to them as well. As we watch Donald Trump remake this country in ways that once seemed unimaginable, its tempting to reach for historical analogies to grapple with whats happening. Its why, as people struggle to understand how his abuses of power might be constrained, theres been renewed interest in Watergate. Yet, as in the comparison between Richard Nixon and Trump, the past can prove inadequate to understanding the depredations of the present. Rather than moving backward, were charting awful new frontiers. Pancho Arguelles works in Texas, accompanying workers who have suffered spinal cord injuries on the job. He helps find the diapers, wheelchairs and other things that will allow them to live with dignity. Pancho radiates a deep wisdom, almost a holiness. As he and the others spoke about their values, the same thought kept pounding in my head: How is this not a story? Why dont we cover these people more? At most conferences people lead with their bios, but at this gathering people led with their pain. A prominent researcher described how she was abused as a child, and how this led her into her research into childrens emotional development. A woman from South Carolina talked about loved ones she had lost and the time she tried to talk a man out of jumping off a bridge, finally confessing: If you jump, Im going to jump, too. A man admitted that all the people he had loved had left him, and that he had lived with the trauma believing that his wife will leave him, too. In the atmosphere created this week he felt free to let go of that trauma. It was emotionally gripping through and through. The weavers know how to open relationships with vulnerability and they know how to build connections and move to action. Their defining feature is that they are geniuses at relationship. This was a gathering in which it was permissible to be an angry black person. Some of the African-American participants fully ventilated their anger at injustice. It was uncomfortable and searing, but the discomfort broke through barriers and moved us closer. Martha Welch, a professor and researcher at Columbia, pointed out that our emotional health is dependent on connection with others. We dont just regulate emotions ourselves. We co-regulate with others and need connection with others to keep from spinning out of control. The weavers are acutely sensitive to states of mind that can build or mar relationship: how people can feel more or less efficacy, depending on the emotional conditions in a room; how words like social justice and biblical can be good or bad depending on whom you are speaking with, and how much damage is done when people demand you use words their way, instead of asking: Well, what do you mean by that word? There were so many acute observations about building community: Relationship moves at the speed of trust. Social change moves at the speed of relationship. Neighbors are people we practice doing life with. I dont fix peoples problems; I let them unfold. I respect the mystery of healing. Were trying to do something that has never been done before. Were trying to create the earths first mass, multicultural democratic republic. San Francisco, CA-based bamily mobile app maker Life360, Inc. (ASX: 360) announced the completion of its initial public offering (IPO) of securities and that it has been admitted to the official list of the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). Total proceeds raised were A$145.4m. Co-founded by Chris Hulls (CEO) and Alex Haro (President), Life360 operates a platform for families to communicate with and protect their people. The companys core offering, the Life360 mobile app, has features that range from communications to driving safety and location sharing. It has more than 20m users located in more than 160 countries. IPO Summary The IPO was completed via an offering of Chess Depositary Interests (CDIs) over shares of common stock (Shares) in Life360 on a 3 CDIs to 1 Share basis, at an IPO price of A$4.79 per CDI (the Offer). Under the Offer, Life360 issued 23.5 million CDIs to raise A$112.7m of new capital for the Company with existing shareholders selling 6.8 million CDIs into the Offer to realise gross proceeds of A$32.8 million. Total proceeds raised were A$145.4 million. The sell-down excluded the Companys co-founders Chris Hulls (CEO) and Alex Haro (President). The Board and key management personnel have entered into escrow arrangements which will see the majority of their holdings under trading restrictions until the release of the preliminary results of the Company for the year ended 31 December 2019. Similarly, a number of other shareholders have entered into escrow arrangements which will see trading of their holdings restricted until the release of the preliminary results of the Company for the half year ended 30 June 2019 or, in the case of The ADT Security Corporation, from 6 months from listing. FinSMEs 17/05/2019 INTERNATIONAL A picture caption with an article on Thursday about the struggles of women running for Parliament in India misstated the number of women contesting a seat in Haryana. As the article correctly stated, Swati Yadav is one of two women in the race. She is not the only woman candidate. SPORTS An article on Thursday about Tiger Woodss spinal fusion surgery misstated Tony Delittos position at the University of Pittsburgh. He is the dean of the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, not the chairman of physical therapy. ARTS Because of an editing error, an article on Thursday about the cancellation of the Jeremy Kyle Show referred incorrectly to the relationship between Steve Dymond and his former partner. She was his girlfriend, not his wife. Errors are corrected during the press run whenever possible, so some errors noted here may not have appeared in all editions. Because the satellites are lower, they travel faster. Thus, Starlink must provide a constellation of satellites whizzing around the planet. When one satellite moves away from one of its customers, another one must come into view in order to provide a continuous internet connection. Mark Juncosa, vice president for vehicle engineering at SpaceX, said that with 12 additional launches, SpaceX could provide good coverage over the United States; 24 launches would put enough satellites to cover most populated areas; and 30 would cover the entire world. If Starlink is successful, more satellites would be added to send and receive greater volumes of data. Are other companies also looking to launch constellations of internet satellites? Starlinks competitors include OneWeb, Telesat, Iridium and Amazon. Why is SpaceX, a rocket company, going into the internet business? For Mr. Musks dream of sending people to Mars, he is developing a giant spacecraft called Starship. He noted that SpaceXs rocket launching business might grow to about $3 billion a year. By contrast, internet revenue could bring in $30 billion a year for the company, Mr. Musk said. We see this as a way for SpaceX to generate revenue that can be used to develop more and more advanced rockets and spaceships, Mr. Musk said. We think this is a key steppingstone on the way to establishing a self-sustaining city on Mars and a base on the moon. Mr. Musk acknowledged that history is full of companies dragged into financial ruin by attempting to build ambitious constellations of communications satellites. No matter what kind of character shes playing, Susan Sarandon tends to register as the smartest person in the room, or movie frame. Even portraying an outlaw waitress on a highway to death (Thelma & Louise) or a glamorous initiate into bloodsucking bisexuality (The Hunger), Ms. Sarandon has maintained a sharp, skeptical sanity that cuts through excess and improbability. It made sense that when this Oscar-winning star returned to Broadway in 2009 after a 37-year absence it was as the voice of regal pragmatism amid the Absurdist antics of Ionescos Exit the King. And when she reincarnated Bette Davis in the Ryan Murphy television series Feud, she emphasized the cunning over the camp. All of which suggests that Ms. Sarandon might not be ideally cast in the role of the flamboyantly dotty Lorraine in Happy Talk, Jesse Eisenbergs latest comedy of queasiness, which opened on Thursday at the Pershing Square Signature Center. The exuberant, show-tune-spouting queen of a suburban community theater group, Lorraine tries to turn her every moment, onstage and off, into a delirious showstopper. Or thats how shes described, anyway. But as embodied by Ms. Sarandon in this wobbly New Group production directed by Scott Elliott and also starring the invaluable Marin Ireland Lorraine always seems a bit abstracted, as if she had other, darker things on her mind than the glories of musical comedy. So, to put it mildly, does Happy Talk. I believe if a woman carries a child, despite the situation, it is part of Gods plan, she said. No one is asking her to raise it, but I do believe if that child was created, it has a purpose and its our duty to humanity to allow it life instead of dictating if it should live or not just because of how it got here. Still, other women said they were alarmed by the limits emerging from the Legislature and the governors office, which opponents have vowed to challenge in court. Its insulting as an educated woman in consultation with my highly educated doctor that I cant come to a decision thats best for me and for my health, said Erin Arnold, who lives in Birmingham and teaches biology. A woman should have agency over her body. She added: I sometimes wonder if Alabama is the state to raise my children. I waver. When laws like this pass, its frustrating. A culture of silence about womens health is pervasive in many of the states 67 counties. Girls and women do not talk about their health issues here, said Emily Capilouto, 31, who also lives in Birmingham. You turn to those close to you when these issues arise, but now we are talking about it on a state level and nationally because of whats happening, but I dont know that there are larger conversations going on in the community. Beyond highly limited abortion access, critics of the bill contend that the restrictions distract from Alabamas endemic problems and further threaten a deeply troubled health care network that offers the states roughly two million women few options for specialized care, especially in rural areas. Across the state, there are fewer than 500 obstetricians and gynecologists, and in almost half of Alabamas counties, there are no doctors who specialize in the health of women. In crucial barometers of health care quality, including infant mortality and deaths of women during childbirth, Alabama has some of the nations worst figures. Chelsea Manning, the former Army intelligence analyst who provided secret military and diplomatic documents to WikiLeaks in 2010, was sent to jail again on Thursday after refusing to testify before a grand jury investigating the organization, which publishes leaks online. Ms. Manning was jailed for similar reasons in March, but was released last week when the term of the grand jury that had served her with a subpoena in January expired. This month she was served with another subpoena to appear before a new grand jury. At a closed hearing on Thursday, she told a federal judge that she would not answer questions, and he ordered her to be sent back to Alexandria Detention Center in Virginia, either until she agrees to testify or until the grand jurys term expires in 18 months. The judge, Anthony J. Trenga of United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, also ordered Ms. Manning to be fined $500 for every day she remains in custody after 30 days, and $1,000 for every day she remains in custody after 60 days. WASHINGTON The House on Thursday passed a suite of health care bills that tied shoring up the Affordable Care Act to lowering drug prices, as Democrats tried to hold Republicans to their campaign promises to secure coverage for pre-existing medical conditions and rein in the cost of prescription medicine. But Democratic leaders appeared to be focused less on the substance of the measures than on their likely demise in the Republican-controlled Senate. Theres been a relentless campaign of sabotage by the Trump administration to deny people health care, and thankfully, the new Democratic majority in the House has taken action, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said at a Wednesday news conference to push the legislation. But the Republican-led Senate? No movement. Nothing. By combining the bills to shore up the Affordable Care Act with several bipartisan measures to address high drug prices, Democrats had hoped to lure in some Republican support. But the minority party did not bite, calling the package a bailout for the health law and instead introducing a Republican bill that included only the drug-pricing measures, plus an extension of funding for community health centers and the National Health Service Corps. WASHINGTON Two Venezuelan diplomats on Thursday effectively ended a singular standoff that has been simmering on a quiet Washington side street since April. In a brief statement to a crowd of supporters, Carlos Vecchio, the ambassador appointed by the Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, and Gustavo Tarre, who represents the Guaido administration at the Organization of American States, celebrated the eviction of four activists who were the last of a larger group that had occupied the Venezuelan Embassy in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington for over a month. Prompted by the Trump administrations recognition of Mr. Guaidos government, diplomatic officials representing President Nicolas Maduro were expelled last month. In the weeks since, however, a small but dedicated group of activists, including members of Code Pink, moved inside, using the building as a site to protest American pressure on Mr. Maduros government, as well as foreign intervention more generally. While there, the activists hung banners and covered windows with political slogans. What does the United States look like, and who gets to decide? Our museums of modern and contemporary art, after far too long, have at last begun to esteem the work of living Native American artists and several major shows, including the Whitney Museum of American Arts just-opened biennial, have plunged into the ruinous legacy of settler colonialism in contemporary society. Recent biennials in New Mexico and Hawaii, states with sizable Native populations, have also pushed for a greater place for Indigenous people in todays art world. In some cases, debates over the presence of Native Americans in museums have come without warning; in 2017, at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, objections from Dakota people to Sam Durants public sculpture Scaffold led the artist to disclaim the work and approve its dismantlement. How to move forward, and build a common artistic future on stolen land? As American curators and artists get serious about unwinding the colonial legacies embedded in our views of modern art, another country can offer a primer: Australia, where debates on the contemporaneity of Indigenous art predate ours by decades. Two shows in New York offer profoundly different views of art from Indigenous Australia, and establish the stakes for exhibiting work made very far from our white cubes. At Gagosian through July 3, the radiant show Desert Painters of Australia:Works from the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia and the Collection of Steve Martin and Anne Stringfield features 10 artists, mostly of the Pintupi people, whose understanding of time, land and value operates in productive tension with that of the global art world. And, through May 27, MoMA PS1 is presenting an ambitious exhibition by the Karrabing Film Collective, whose members, from the Belyuen community, dramatize the historical disinheritance of their land as well as the daily joys and humiliations of Indigenous life. Call it KAWSMANIA. The former graffiti tagger Brian Donnelly, who in 2021 will be the subject of a survey show at the Brooklyn Museum, was definitely the artist of the moment at this weeks marquee auctions held by Sothebys, Christies and Phillips. Though Jeff Koons might have set an auction record on Wednesday night for a work by a living artist, that bar was reached courtesy of Christies recent increase in buyers fees, introduced on Feb. 1. Mr. Koonss Rabbit and David Hockneys Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures), auctioned last November, both sold for hammer prices of $80 million, but $762,500 of new fees at Christies inched Koons to that record level of $91.1 million. The transformation in the market for paintings and sculptures of the cross-eyed cartoon characters developed by KAWS, as Mr. Donnelly is better known internationally, was far more obvious. Demand for his work has reached a new level since the extraordinary $14.8 million bid last month in Hong Kong for his 2005 painting The Kaws Album. After watching this new edition, I spoke with Ms. Monk by phone about the work and its history. These are edited excerpts from the conversation. What was the biggest challenge in terms of restoring the film? Money was one! It was a long process to try to figure it out. The original was 16-millimeter film, and the sound was just on magnetic track. It sounded like it was coming out of a tin can. That was the first thing I did with this restoration project. Luckily enough, the original sound source tapes had not disintegrated. And so we just made much better recordings. The original film was made by the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Their idea at that time in 1976, 1977 was documenting dance pieces in a way that you would be able to maybe remount them in the future. Cybercriminals definitely have Canada on their minds. They have seen that Canadian businesses dont really have much protection against cybersecurity threats. Cybercriminals have targeted them multiple times, and a lot of businesses still dont do much to protect their companies. The Latest Cybersecurity Reports on Canadian Businesses According to a recent cybersecurity report, in 2018 Canada ranked third among the countries with the most cyberattacks in the world. A 2018 cybersecurity survey by CIRA (Canadian Internet Registration Authority) reported that 88% of respondents were concerned about future cyberattacks. It also stated that 78% were confident in their cybersecurity measures, while 37% had no anti-malware protection. An astonishing 71% of businesses had no security patching policy, leaving their systems full of security holes. The report also stated that 40% of respondents have experienced a cyber incident in 2018. Given these, and many other, reports about many Canadian businesses not being adequately protected against online threats, cybercriminals will definitely target them, now more than ever. How Can Canadian Businesses Protect Their Companies? Canada needs to start taking cybersecurity very seriously. Here are the most important steps every Canadian business should take right now. 1. Using a Firewall A firewall is the first line of protection that every business should have in place. Installing it is essential for anyone who connects their device to the internet. A firewall will monitor the network and connected devices for any suspicious activity. If an unauthorized user tries to get into the system, the firewall will block them and immediately sound an alarm. That way, no one outside the computer network can gain access. 2. Installing Antivirus and Antimalware Software Antivirus software protects against computer viruses, while antimalware offers an extra layer of protection against advanced malware programs. Installing both on every device, and updating them regularly, is a very important security measure to take. They can detect a potential breach, and remove any virus or malware from the system. 3. Applying Security Patches Cybercriminals are constantly looking for ways to exploit security vulnerabilities in various software. This is why developers regularly release new security patches to fix those vulnerabilities. Every business should apply those security patches as soon as theyre available so that they can effectively protect their devices and data. 4. Using a VPN A VPN offers the best protection against cybersecurity threats. It will encrypt your connection, effectively protecting all your devices and data. It will bypass geo-restrictions, which is ideal when youre traveling and need to access your corporate network or work PC remotely. A VPN with servers in Canada will keep you and your entire workforce anonymous online. So no one will ever be able to gain access to your system and steal your data. Explore the best VPN services in Canada, and find the one that fits your needs best. Canada, unfortunately, is often targeted by cybercriminals. If your business is operating here, dont let hackers harm you. Be smarter, use the necessary tools, and youll take your cybersecurity to a whole new level. 5. Regularly Backing up Data Data backups are also very important, as they keep data safe and secure on remote servers. If a breach occurs, and you need to get your systems offline, you can easily restore them later. Your backup servers will also let you retrieve all your data. 6. Encrypting Data You should encrypt all your data to keep it safe and secure from prying eyes. That way, if a breach happens, no unauthorized user could ever misuse your sensitive data. Make sure you also always use encrypted email when sending sensitive data, especially passwords. 7. Using Strong Passwords Strong passwords are absolutely paramount. They contain numbers, symbols, and both upper- and lower-case letters. They dont contain any personal information, nor anything else that someone can easily guess. The most vital thing is not to use the same password for more than one account, as well as to change them regularly. Also, be sure to use two-factor authentication for extra security. 8. Using a Password Manager Password managers provide excellent password security. They provide you with a master password for all your accounts, generate random passwords for each, and change them regularly. If a hacker ever cracks your master password, your password manager will instantly generate new passwords for all your accounts, together with a new master password. It will keep doing so until the threat is gone. 9. Encrypting the WiFi Network Every business that uses a WiFi network in their workplace should use advanced encryption to secure it. Cybercriminals often crawl into systems via WiFi networks, but strong encryption will keep them out. 10. Conducting Cybersecurity Training Every employee should be fully aware of potential cybersecurity threats. Most importantly, they should know how to prevent potential cyberattacks. For instance, they should never click on any links in their emails, unless theyre absolutely sure they come from reliable sources. They also shouldnt connect any unprotected device to the corporate network. Take the time to train them properly, so that they dont leave any door open for hackers to get in. Here are edited excerpts from the conversation. People are saying youre the best thing to happen to Catholicism lately. [Laughing] Its such a strange thing. I certainly think Fleabag has got people talking about sexuality and religion and how those two things can marry each other and coexist. The statistics that have come out since the show began, theyre mind-blowing about what people are looking up on the internet I saw something the other day that religious pornography has increased by 125 percent while the show is on. I mean, maybe something else is going on but I definitely think the show just does it for people. Are you still Catholic? No, its not something that I am anymore. I emancipated myself from that very rigid, controlled attitude toward sex. Its been an absolute great joy and its made me quite proud to be able to talk about sex in a way that is without self-consciousness or awkwardness. What about celibacy and the priesthood? I feel like its extremely dangerous territory to desexualize any human being. Frankly, I dont know if its possible because even if you are celibate it doesnt mean that youre not sexual. I really welcome a priest being able to marry because I dont think those things are mutually exclusive, the love of god and the love of having a sexual, romantic partner. I think, in fact, it would help things enormously. Youve spoken about the damage done to you by the church as a child. What do you mean? Being gay certainly wasnt allowed. So if you want to be a good kind member of the community, you cant also be a sexual member of the community. Youre either a renegade or youre a very good neighbor. You cant be both those things and I want to be both those things. [Laughs] And yet youve recently chosen to buy a home in Dublin, where same-sex marriage was legalized in 2015. 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. You First President Trump is trying to change the requirements for migrants entering the United States, making immigration more difficult for those trying to unite with their families and putting more emphasis on a migrants skills and cultural values. Most late-night hosts took a whack at Trump for the proposal on Thursday. Jimmy Kimmel joked that the president had no right to ignore immigrants family ties, considering some of his business ventures. A new adaptation of Catch-22 debuts on Hulu. And See You Yesterday, on Netflix, is a Back to the Future for a Black Lives Matter era. Whats Streaming CATCH-22 Stream on Hulu. When Joseph Hellers satirical World War II novel, Catch-22, was released in 1961, Richard G. Stern, in a mostly negative review for The New York Times, wrote that Heller is like a brilliant painter who decides to throw all the ideas in his sketchbooks onto one canvas, relying on their charm and shock to compensate for the lack of design. Stern might not have predicted the staying power and influence the book would have, but nobody can deny that it is a tangled read; the books fragmented plot and non-sequential narrative make it particularly difficult source material for screen adaptation. (The 1970 film version with Alan Arkin was an exercise in compression.) That challenge was apparently attractive to George Clooney, who is a star, director and executive producer of this stylish new streaming mini-series adaptation. Christopher Abbott (Charlie on Girls) leads as Yossarian, the protagonist and an Air Force captain stationed on an island in an Italian archipelago. Clooney and Hugh Laurie play higher-ranking military men. 42ND STREET Stream on BroadwayHD. Over 50 actors made up the ensemble of this English revival of the classic 1980s musical, which ran on Londons West End in 2017. Directed by Mark Bramble, the revival drew praise for its dance numbers (Randy Skinner was the choreographer) as it brought back the musicals story of backstage drama on 1930s Broadway. When the show debuted on Broadway in 1980, it became a de facto tribute to its original director, Gower Champion, who died hours before the show opened. This revival can be viewed in a similar way for Bramble, who died in February and was also a writer of the musicals book. BIG BUSINESS A Love Letter to an American Anti-Hero By Tyler Cowen Anti-business feelings in America now run so strong that even some leading bankers and hedge-fund bosses want capitalism reformed. Socialism (of some kind) is espoused by a growing number of Democratic politicians. A Harvard University study found 51 percent of 18- to 29-year-old Americans do not support capitalism. The business bashing is not solely from the political left; Donald Trump has tweet-attacked plenty of companies for offending his populist instincts. Voices demanding higher taxes and tougher regulations grow louder. Echoing the vigorous trust busting of the Progressive era, there are calls to break up Facebook and Google, the increasingly dominant tech platforms, while the titans of Silicon Valley are rebranded as 21st-century robber barons, heirs to what the Progressive president Teddy Roosevelt lambasted as malefactors of great wealth. Amid so much criticism, who would dare dispute that there is something rotten about the state of corporate America today? Enter Tyler Cowen, an economics professor who has written a determinedly positive book about business that he subtitles A Love Letter to an American Anti-Hero. Cowen did not become one of the worlds most-read bloggers on economics without understanding the value of a well-timed contrarian blast. He showed this to great effect in 2011 in a best-selling e-book, The Great Stagnation, arguing that the rate of increase in median income had slowed since the early 1970s as a direct consequence of a falling rate of innovation in the American economy, which was thus likely to continue to struggle to grow for the foreseeable future. Now he is back to speak up for business, to persuade you that it deserves more of your love and less hate. If you are hoping for a billet-doux to set your heart aflutter, remember that the author is a practitioner of the dismal science; the romance in his love letter is less Harry Met Sally than Demand Meets Supply. Still, there is no shortage of passion from Cowen. His beloved is the source of most of the stuff we enjoy and consume and gives most of us jobs. Business may not be the face that launched a thousand ships, but it built them; indeed, he enthuses, without business we would not have ships, trains and cars; electricity, lighting and heating equipment; most of our food supply and lifesaving pharmaceuticals; clothes for our children; telephones and smartphones; books; and access to the worlds online information. Cowen also argues, persuasively, that America tops the world in the quality of its corporate management if Chinese firms were managed equally well, they would be up to 50 percent more productive. American business is also the leading innovator globally in many areas. Image Tyler Cowen Credit... Mercatus Center So, as Cowen poses in his concluding chapter, If business is so good, why is it so disliked? He dismisses the familiar complaints made by critics of corporate America: that it is too corrupt and fraudulent to be trusted; that greedy executives are paid too much; that it hurts consumers by wielding too much monopoly power; that cronyism gives it too much influence in Washington; and so on. But the main reason the novels still feel urgent has to do with the nature of Wouks ambition. He didnt set out merely to write a family saga or to smuggle a history lesson into a story. Wouk wanted to know how so many people in Europe and America allowed the Holocaust to happen. He uses the tools of the novel to anatomize the various psychological mechanisms and sociopolitical rationalizations that enabled intelligent, generally well-meaning and well-informed individuals to justify or ignore what was right in front of them. As a novelist, Wouk could do things a historian couldnt: enter not only the living rooms but the minds of a diverse range of characters. Take Rhoda, for instance. She is a little frivolous, easily distracted, occupied more by her private life than by politics. In other words, she is a lot like many of us. When she and Pug arrive in Berlin, she at first refuses to walk in the Tiergarten: It was far more clean, pretty and charming than any American public park, she admitted, but the signs on the benches, juden verboten, were nauseating. But with time, her resistance wears down: Day by day, she reacted less to such things, seeing how commonplace they were in Berlin, and how much taken for granted. It seemed silly to protest she insisted that anti-Semitism was a blot on an otherwise exciting, lovely land. As such, her resistance primarily took the form of playfully chastising high-ranking Nazis at booze-filled dinner parties. This feels sadly right to me, the way someone with good intentions, someone not consciously monstrous, becomes nonetheless inured to cruelty and injustice in a context in which these evils are normalized. This is also the way we tend to feed our self-esteem but accomplish nothing, by railing against an injustice from a position of personal safety. Just as unsettling is the response of a Jewish character, Aaron Jastrow, a prominent American author living in Italy. Jastrow is so attached to his self-image as an intellectual someone too knowing and philosophical to do anything as gauche as panic that he responds to Hitlers rise to power with detachment, a reaction that on its face seems baffling, given that its 1939 and that he lives in a fascist country closely allied with Germany. Im impressed with Hitlers ability to use socialist prattle when necessary, and then discard it, Jastrow tells guests over a wine-filled lunch, weeks before the outbreak of war. He uses doctrines as he uses money, to get things done. Theyre expendable. He uses racism because thats the pure distillate of German romantic egotism. Pugs son Byron voices the readers discomfort: Im surprised you talk as calmly about Hitler as you do. Being Jewish, I mean. Image Jastrow answers a little peevishly: Young people young Americans especially arent aware that the tolerance for Jews in Europe is only 50 to 100 years old and that its never gone deep. If Hitler does win out, the Jews will fall back to the second-class status they always had under the kings and the popes. Well, we survived 17 centuries of that. We have a lot of wisdom and doctrine for coping with it. ORANGE WORLD And Other Stories By Karen Russell Theres a solid argument to be made that Florida is our most surreal state. It isnt the only American state with deranging humidity levels and primordial swamps populated by giant predatory reptiles, but of all 50 states Florida arguably does the best impression of a fever dream. Its the state with the mermaids, the state where you have to drive north to get to the South, and Im surely not the first to notice that its either the point of origin or the long-term home of several of our most original short story writers: Lauren Groff of Gainesville, Laura van den Berg of Orlando, Kelly Link and Karen Russell of Miami. In retrospect, Russell told The Chicago Tribune in 2014, reflecting on the landscape of her upbringing, theres a way in South Florida in which the natural and the artificial are just endlessly mixed up together. Which is actually a reasonable description of fiction as well, with its mix of artifice and realism. She said in the same interview that while her work was influenced by magic realism, the primary influence was just South Florida. Florida loomed large in Russells earliest work. A majority of the stories in her 2006 debut collection, St. Lucys Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, seemed to be set there, although the locations werent always named. Her only novel to date, 2011s haunting and critically acclaimed Swamplandia!, was divided between the natural and the artificial, the action set in a Floridian swamp and in an enormous, fully enclosed theme park nearby. In Orange World as in her previous collection, Vampires in the Lemon Grove, published in 2013 Florida is less central than it used to be, although it shimmers here and there on the periphery. What remains is Russells abiding interest in the surreal and the strange. Image Karen Russell, author of the story collection Orange World. Credit... Dan Hawk Striking a balance between realism and artifice is a difficult task for any fiction writer, but for those whose work bends toward the fantastical, the problem is particularly acute. While Russells talent has always been obvious, in her earlier books she occasionally slipped into a territory that felt perilously close to weirdness for the sake of weirdness. But one of the great pleasures of reading an authors body of work lies in observing the progression of her skills and sensibilities, and in Orange World the strangeness is never forced, the surrealism always grounded in recognizable emotion and experience. In recent weeks, the pressure on Mr. Trump to reach an accord with Canada and Mexico began to outweigh his affection for the tariffs. According to a congressional aide who has been involved in the talks among the three countries, the White House was growing increasingly sensitive to pressure from Republicans in rural states, whose farmers have been suffering from retaliation that diminished their access to sell in neighboring markets. Their problems were compounded when talks with China broke down this month, this person said, and ultimately Mr. Trump decided that he needed a victory on trade. The decision to ease the 25 percent tariffs on steel and 10 percent tariffs on aluminum came as the White House also announced a six-month delay in determining whether to impose levies on foreign automobiles. That extension delivers a temporary reprieve to global automakers and auto suppliers, which had been bracing for punishing tariffs of up to 25 percent. But it sets up a tight deadline for the president and his advisers to reach trade deals with Japan, Europe and potentially other countries. Farmers, ranchers and business groups had been pushing to lift the metal tariffs, to encourage Canada and Mexico to remove the tariffs they have placed on American products in return. Canadian and Mexican levies on products like pork, cheese and milk have especially hurt American farmers who are already smarting from Mr. Trumps trade conflicts with China and Europe. The agreement is likely to help the administration focus on the other trade fights it is waging, most notably fractious negotiations with China, which nearly collapsed last week. And it will remove one obstacle to the passage of the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement in Congress. The United States, Canada and Mexico signed that trade deal, the successor to the North American Free Trade Agreement, in November. The pact still needs to be ratified by legislatures in all three countries. American lawmakers of both parties, as well as Canada and Mexico, had insisted that tariffs on steel and aluminum must be lifted before votes would be held. Lawmakers have argued that the tariffs, while aimed at other countries, hurt American companies and consumers by raising prices for products that use imported steel and aluminum. Want climate news in your inbox? Sign up here for Climate Fwd:, our email newsletter. A severe drought in Panama has resulted in lower water levels in the Panama Canal, forcing some shippers to limit the amount of cargo their largest ships carry so they can safely navigate the waterway. The last five months have been the driest dry season in the history of the canal, said Carlos Vargas, the Panama Canal Authoritys executive vice president for environment, water and energy. The canal an engineering masterwork that provides a shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific handles about 5 percent of maritime trade. Any hiccup in its operation can ripple through the global economy and affect the United States, the origin or destination for much of the canals traffic. And those problems may become more commonplace as the climate changes. Earlier this year, the authority imposed draft limits on ships, forcing some to lighten their loads to ride higher in the water so they will not run aground. As Baselworld 2019 closed, he announced some changes, which he expanded on during a recent interview in London. He said exhibition fees, which are called surface rents and have been a closely held secret, would be reduced by 10 to 30 percent, and that he was planning to create an online platform like LinkedIn that would allow brands, journalists and consumers to interact year round. Also, he said, Baselworld would change the show decor every year, might add exhibitions and events of its own, and might use MCH Groups database to attract more attendees. He also promised to establish an e-concierge service, managed by Baselworld but operated by a third party, that would help make visiting Basel cheaper another longtime complaint from exhibitors and attendees alike, many of whom are known to stay an hours drive away in Zurich or across the border in Germany. In the past, hotels added margins of 300 to 500 percent during Baselworld. This is not sane, Mr. Loris-Melikoff said. If I manage 500 beds in a hotel, of course I have a totally different power to negotiate the price. Next year Baselworld is leaving its longtime March slot, moving to April 30 to May 5. It will immediately follow S.I.H.H., the industrys other major watch fair, which will be April 26 to 29 in Geneva. The two shows have worked together on the scheduling. But that coordinated schedule is promised only through 2024, at least so far. And although MCH spent 430 million Swiss francs ($423 million) refurbishing Messe Basel in 2013 it reopened the 1.5 million-square-foot exhibition site where Baselworld is held Mr. Loris-Melikoff said he was not obliged to keep the show in Basel. He said it could move to take advantage of MCHs Art Basel contacts in Hong Kong or Miami. He said he was also planning to do a Baselworld pop-up somewhere else (to be confirmed sometime this summer, he said). None of that was enough for some brands. Swatch Group announced last July that the $50 million it had been spending at Baselworld for everything from exhibitor fees to stand construction would be put to use elsewhere. Breitling withdrew last month, but said it might return in 2021. (The brand, owned by the British private equity firm CVC Capital Partners since November, also has been planning several summits in locations around the world.) For Mr. Studer of Oris, change has been coming too slowly. He said that when exhibition areas were left empty in March, there were some craters that could have been filled with new and exciting ideas, but sadly they werent. Microsoft Corporation has established an Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things Insider Lab in Shanghai to aid digital transformation across industries. Located in a 2,800-square-meter building in the Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park of the Pudong New Area, the lab, which began operation Wednesday, is established in partnership with the state-run Zhangjiang Group. It is the fourth and also the largest such lab run by Microsoft around the world. Microsoft said the lab provides "all-around support" for enterprises inside and taps into the Internet of Things and AI technologies to fuel the digital transformation taking place across industries, including manufacturing, retail, healthcare, finance and urban construction. Thirty Chinese and foreign businesses have been selected out of some 300 applicants as the first batch of "enterprises of empowerment" in the lab. They include both start-ups, among which 21 are based in Shanghai, and multinational corporations, such as ABB Engineering (Shanghai) Ltd. and Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center Co., Ltd. The lab will provide support for the enterprises in the next three to six months, offering hardware and software resources, cloud service and access to the Microsoft ecosystem, according to Microsoft. "The combination and application of AI and Internet of Things technologies are becoming the latest trends leading global digital transformation," Alain Crozier, Microsoft corporate vice president, chairman and CEO of Greater China Region, said at a launch ceremony held Wednesday. "A survey indicates that global Internet of Things business will exceed 255 billion U.S. dollars in 2022, and China will occupy nearly a quarter of it, which means a market with huge potentials," he said, adding that the lab aims to help enterprises "win market opportunities brought by the technology innovations." The three other Microsoft AI &IoT Insider Labs are located in Redmond of Washington, Shenzhen of China and Munich of Germany. Maybe you waited in line all night for tickets. Maybe you took your kid out of school. Maybe you sat through the somnambulant three-hour Brad Pitt movie Meet Joe Black six months earlier, just to see the first trailer. But even if you were a casual fan in 1999, you surely felt goose bumps when the lights went down and The Phantom Menace, the first Star Wars adventure after 16 years of rumors and anticipation, was finally unveiled. It took only 55 seconds for the disappointment to set in. First there was the full 20th Century Fox fanfare, leading into the glittering emerald of the Lucasfilm logo. Then a silent fade to black and A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, a phrase that so perfectly evokes storytelling tradition while suggesting the infinite. And finally, that familiar burst of brass and percussion that opens the theme music by John Williams, welcoming the titles and the opening crawl, and a prequel trilogy that will bring a new generation of fans into the Star Wars family. Turmoil has engulfed the Galactic Republic. Yes! Turmoil! The pretext to all interstellar conflict! We had the beach all to ourselves, said Mike Reinhardt, a co-owner of Locals Surf School, about Arverne, just a few years ago. We knew it was only a matter of time that people would wake up and realize its easier to get to this beach by subway than any other beach in Rockaway.(The A train to Far Rockaway runs directly to Beach 67th Street in Arverne, unlike the Rockaway Beach stops, which require a transfer at Broad Channel.) Several longtime business owners in Arverne welcome the renewed interest in their neighborhood. Weve been a food desert for so long, said Ms. Russell, who has been making 150 pizzas a week and selling them out of her home since 2014. She calls her business Last Dragon Pizza, and like Goodys, it also provides takeout for Rockaway Brewing customers during the off-season. Making pizza restored my faith in people, because Rockaway is very territorial, said Ms. Russell. For a long time, if you lived in Rockaway Beach, you didnt come down to Arverne my customers would be like, Where is that? Emmanuel Loncke, 34, who runs Smoothie Haven on Beach Channel Drive next door to his fathers church, Arverne Pilgrim Church, feels similarly to Ms. Russell. Growing up, people almost forgot we were here, he said. But now were seeing a lot of growth, commercial property is almost already gone, and I think we have the grounds to produce a small but mighty town. Carolyn Epstein and Chuck Mullen originally opened Biography Bookshop at the corner of Bleecker and West 11th Street. At the time, there were more independent bookstores in the area and they needed a niche, Ms. Epstein said. When that stretch of Bleecker was taken over by luxury stores about 10 years ago, the store moved east, between Cornelia and Jones Street. (The old location became a Marc Jacobs shop called Bookmarc.) Having expanded their selections beyond biographies by this time, Ms. Epstein and Mr. Mullen decided to change the name of the shop as well. Now, after 35 years, they have decided to close. Their lease is up and with operating costs rising, they would have needed a reduction in rent to continue. But more important, after years of working seven days a week with a skeletal staff, they are simply ready to retire. Were done! Ms. Epstein said, laughing as she rang up customers on a busy Saturday. Well, not quite. For all of June, New York City will serve as host to World Pride, the biggest celebration of gay liberation in the world. The event marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising in Greenwich Village and the half-century of activism and civil rights reform that followed. In conjunction, we asked readers to tell us which New Yorkers they would like to see paid tribute in the citys public spaces. We sought suggestions of people who have already died, because the city tends to honor the living differently. This is why you wont see names like Larry Kramer, the pre-eminent AIDS activist and playwright, on the resulting list. But what of the dead? Where is James Baldwin? you might find yourself screaming into your smartphone. Where is Walt Whitman? We tried to veer away from the exceedingly famous in favor of keeping the focus on names that have been lost to history or at least those not already so familiar. (Baldwin, Whitman and Gertrude Stein have also already been memorialized by the city in various ways.) It should go without saying that this list is not meant to be definitive. People will argue about it. Thats good. We welcome the debate. [What you need to know to start the day: Get New York Today in your inbox.] A vulnerability to payroll abuse at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is coming under the scrutiny of federal prosecutors in Manhattan after revelations that some employees were able to claim staggering amounts of overtime last year. One worker at the Long Island Rail Road, asserting that he logged about 74 hours of overtime every week atop his regular duty, was paid $461,646 last year more than the combined salaries of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio. Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed pay records for that worker, Thomas Caputo, and more than a dozen other employees at the Long Island Rail Road and New York City Transit, according to three people with direct knowledge of the investigation. The three who spoke with The New York Times this week declined to be identified because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly. Beyond those individuals, prosecutors plan to review the 19th-century time keeping practices used in some departments of the Long Island Rail Road: handwritten records submitted by employees. Bobbie Raymond, whose visionary strategy for curbing white flight from her suburban Chicago village was embraced as a national model for racial integration in housing, died on May 7 in Chicago. She was 80. Her son, Charles D. Raymond, said the cause was congestive heart failure. Ms. Raymond was a young woman with an academic background in sociology in the 1960s when residents of her village, nearly all-white Oak Park, Ill., could warily see resegregation going on right before their eyes across the boulevard that divided the village from Austin, an increasingly blighted community on Chicagos West Side. Austin, with its compact private homes and bantam bungalows, was undergoing a tumultuous, virtually overnight transformation from predominantly white to 95 percent black and Hispanic. Oak Park, home to about 50,000 people at the time, had also begun to change, if inauspiciously, in the 1950s, when the research chemist Percy Lavon Julian and his family blazed a trail as the first black people to move there; their house was firebombed several times. The challenge from Oak Parks white residents eventually abated, but it did not end altogether. Machiko Kyo, an actress whose many noteworthy roles in postwar Japanese films included the female lead in Akira Kurosawas groundbreaking Rashomon, died on Sunday in a hospital in Tokyo. She was 95. The Japanese news media reported that Toho, a studio where Ms. Kyo had worked, announced her death. In 1950, a year after being discovered by a film scout while performing in an all-female dance revue, Ms. Kyo appeared in Rashomon opposite Toshiro Mifune, the magnetic screen idol who was on his way to international stardom. In that movie, four contradictory accounts are given of the rape of Ms. Kyos character and the murder of her husband (Masayuki Mori) by a bandit played by Mr. Mifune. With its vivid portrayal of the unreliability of storytelling, Rashomon soon became recognized as a cinema classic. During rehearsals, Kurosawa recalled, he had been left speechless by Ms. Kyos dedication to learning her craft. Thomas Nozkowski, whose small, insistent, richly hued abstractions upended the heroic scale of postwar New York art and helped push painting in a more accessible, personal and wryly self-aware direction, died on May 9 in Rhinebeck, N.Y . He was 75. Pace Gallery, his representative since 2008, said the cause was pancreatic cancer. Kind and soft-spoken, displaying little in the way of overt artistic ego, Mr. Nozkowski was nonetheless a man of ambition, intelligence and firmly held opinions. In the early 1970s, after several years of making large abstract paintings and then more modest Post-Minimal sculpture, Mr. Nozkowski found himself put off by the macho scale of both Abstract Expressionism and Minimalism, and by what he considered their imperialist implications. He decided to work small, and on the easel initially painting on 16-by-22-inch pieces of art-store canvas board and later on somewhat larger rectangles of linen stretched over wood panels. He wanted, he told one interviewer, a size that was scaled to my friends apartments, that could hang in a three-room walk-up tenement on Seventh Street. I hope the governor of Alabama is listening to survivors of rape, incest, the death of a fetus. The physical and emotional changes that accompany pregnancy are almost unendurable once a doctor tells you, as mine told me, that the baby wouldnt be born alive. Can you imagine being forced to go through pregnancy and delivery of a baby born to someone who survived a rape or became pregnant by incest? Does cruelty know no bounds? Kathyb, Seattle The deck is stacked against girls and women Imagine how different the abortion issue would be cast if a woman who became pregnant against her will could file for damages against the male participant in the pregnancy. Without the remedy of abortion, it is the woman who suffers physically, emotionally and economically. The man may have regrets, but he pays a comparatively low price for his participation. As is obvious, the deck is stacked against girls and women by all-male or majority-male legislatures. Litote, Fullerton, Calif. Has anyone considered the viability of counter-legislation? Its far-fetched, but what if there were laws requiring mandatory DNA testing to determine paternal responsibility; paternal wage garnishing to financially support the mother and unborn child for the duration of the pregnancy; custody automatically transferring by law to the father if the mother declines custody after birth; in the case of rape or incest, taxpayer dollars are allocated to fund support of the mother and child, including all prenatal health care, mental heath care for the mother and safe housing where the mother will not be in danger of abuse. If men or conservative legislators were actually held accountable for the safety, financial security and futures of the unwanted children in whose interest they are supposedly passing anti-abortion laws, perhaps they might reconsider these draconian measures. Elisabeth MTR, Connecticut I just read a related piece on how the new laws in Alabama and Georgia are going to have an impact on men. This is new and its true: both those states also have strict paternity and child support laws. Now that their menfolk are going to be saddled with a child, lets see how quickly this discussion turns around. Myasara, Brooklyn Dont ask me to celebrate the right to abortion There is nothing positive about the act of abortion. It is always because of some failure to avoid pregnancy when contraception is available, of ethics or common decency if rape is involved, or of genetics or illness . No one should celebrate the event. I am O.K. if women are given the right to choose, and for God, if there is one, to punish. Thats above my pay grade. But dont ask me to celebrate the right. We should unite to continue to drive the numbers down, both Democrats and Republicans John Morton, Florida Power, although hard to handle, is greatly desired. There is no person or group or sect or party or mob that doesnt want power, convinced that it would know how to use it as no one ever has before. Im no different. And yet Ive always been afraid of having authority assigned to me. Whether it was at school or at work, men were in the majority in any governing body and the women adopted male ways. I never felt at ease, so I stayed on the sidelines. I was sure that I didnt have the strength to sustain conflicts with men, and that I would betray myself by adapting my views to theirs. For millenniums, every expression of power has been conditioned by male attitudes toward the world. To women, then, it seems that power can be used only in the ways that men have traditionally used it. There is one form of power that has fascinated me ever since I was a girl, even though it has been widely colonized by men: the power of storytelling. Telling stories really is a kind of power, and not an insignificant one. Stories give shape to experience, sometimes by accommodating traditional literary forms, sometimes by turning them upside down, sometimes by reorganizing them. Stories draw readers into their web, and engage them by putting them to work, body and soul, so that they can transform the black thread of writing into people, ideas, feelings, actions, cities, worlds, humanity, life. Storytelling, in other words, gives us the power to bring order to the chaos of the real under our own sign , and in this it isnt very far from political power. In the beginning I didnt know that storytelling was a kind of power. I became aware of this only slowly, and felt an often paralyzing responsibility. I still do. Power is neither good nor bad it depends on what we intend to do with it. The older I get, the more afraid I am of using the power of storytelling badly. My intentions in general are good, but sometimes telling a story succeeds in the right way and sometimes in the wrong way. The only consolation I have is that however badly conceived and badly written and therefore harmful a story may be, the harm will always be less than that caused by terrible political and economic mismanagement, with its accouterments of wars, guillotines, mass exterminations, ghettos, concentration camps and gulags. The election of Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party, or the B.J.P., in 2014 led to renewed efforts to rewrite Indian history so as to legitimize Hindu nationalist ideology. These efforts had begun when the B.J.P. first governed India between 1999 and 2004. Under Mr. Modis government and various state governments run by his party, the attempts to change history have taken many more forms, such as deleting chapters or passages from public school textbooks that contradicted their ideology, while adding their own make-believe versions of the past. They have peddled myths and stereotypes through pliant media networks and have been teaching these versions as history in schools run by the Rashtriya Swayemsevak Sangh, the parent body of Mr. Modis party, which he served as an outreach worker and organizer for numerous years. Why is history so important to the Hindu nationalists? Nationalists are known to construct an acceptable history to identify those they claim constitute the nation; extreme nationalists require their own particular version of the past to legitimize their actions in the present. Rewriting Indian history and teaching their version of it is crucial to justifying the ideology of Hindu nationalists. This article is part of David Leonhardts newsletter. You can sign up here to receive it each weekday. President Trump offered a preview last week of his 2020 campaign tactics, and they were ugly. He intends to use the power of the presidency to harass his political opponents and create an air of scandal around them. By doing so, he hopes to make at least some voters believe that all politicians are equally corrupt rather than recognizing that Trump himself is the most corrupt president in a long, long time. Specifically, Trump signaled that he might ask the Attorney General William Barr to investigate Joe Bidens past dealings with Ukraine. In the same vein, Rudy Giuliani, Trumps personal lawyer, said he wanted to ask Ukraines government for help in the investigation. On its face, there is nothing illegal here. Trump is leveraging his power as president to compel a dependent foreign government to smear the opposition party, Jonathan Chait wrote in New York magazine. Its just something no president has ever thought to do before. The powers legally available to a corrupt president and a party that has turned a blind eye to his violations of governing norms may be more terrifying than anybody has considered. To the Editor: Re I.M. Pei, 1917-2019: A Master Whose Buildings Dazzled the World (obituary, front page, May 17): I.M. Peis oeuvre attests to his singular talent for bridging East and West, classical and modern, geometry and functionality. His designs are multicultural and timeless, as accessible as they are Instagrammable. But for Asian-Americans like me, Mr. Peis work means so much more. On childhood visits to my parents native Taiwan, my father would bring us without fail to his alma mater to see Mr. Peis Luce Memorial Chapel . Years later, for my mothers first trip to Europe, our first stop was Mr. Peis pyramid at the Louvre. Thank you, Mr. Pei, for creating public places that foster and visibly represent cultural exchange and understanding. Your buildings are part of my familys memories and those of many others around the world. Andrew L. Chang San Francisco The writer is a former president of the Stanford University Asian American Graduate Student Association. To the Editor: Re Trumps Plan Upends Rules on Migration (front page, May 16) and Mr. Trumps Bold Immigration Plan (editorial, May 17): As much as I cling to memories of my father, there have been moments when I am relieved that he is no longer here to witness what life has become in America. For sure, President Trumps plan to increase educational and skills requirements for people migrating to the United States would be one of those moments. When my grandparents left Naples, Italy, and arrived at Ellis Island with their infant son, my father, in tow, neither of them had specific skills, nor English proficiency, nor the ability to pass a civics exam. But they went on to raise six children, including my father, who to everyones great pride graduated from Columbia University to become a noted forensic psychiatrist. And like so many other immigrants, he went on to raise children of his own, all to become either teachers or doctors. This is one story of so many that define this country. And now Mr. Trump and his imperious son-in-law, with their elaborate point system to determine eligibility, are dictating immigration entrance requirements as if they were screening candidates for The Apprentice. Cathy Bernard New York To the Editor: As noted in your editorial, President Trumps plan de-emphasizes reunifying families as a rationale for admitting new immigrants. This is interesting in that the Slovenians Viktor and Amalija Knavs obtained citizenship in the United States last year because their daughter Melania happened to be Mr. Trumps third wife. Between my freshman and senior years of high school in the late 90s, my father spent his evenings, weekends and vacations drilling my best friend and me for our SATs. My father was born black in the 1930s in the segregated South and became the first member of his family to go to college, let alone graduate school. These were lean years for my family, and my white mother had to return to work after decades as a homemaker. We just managed to rent a small house on the white side of our de facto segregated New Jersey suburb. My best friend, who was black and Puerto Rican and attended parochial school with me, commuted from a less affluent and more ethnically diverse neighborhood where his parents, who did not have graduate degrees and were divorced but frequently living together and pooling resources, were upwardly mobile homeowners. When the time came to take the test, I scored higher, though my friend did well enough to attend a selective four-year college, where he flourished, eventually moving on to the Ivy League and Wall Street. Both of us worked hard, had some advantages namely highly supportive and involved parents and were able to succeed despite being members of a historically oppressed demographic. I thought of those long hard hours studying at the dinner table when I heard on Thursday that the College Board, the company that administers the SAT, was appending an adversity index to aptitude scores essentially a handicap to standardize privilege. This overall disadvantage level will appear on something the College Board is calling an environmental context dashboard. It incorporates demographic and census data to profile high school students along a scale, from one to 100, of relative poverty, opportunity and achievement on the SAT in relation to their classmates. A score north of 50 indicates adversity; below that threshold lies privilege. Colleges will see this number, but students will not. Taylor wasnt just denied feelings of kinship and family connections. She was deprived of an education. In a court hearing in the 1960s, Taylors aunt would testify that her niece didnt go to no school I went to. Taylors older sister Mary Jane, who had two white parents, did have the opportunity to spend time in a classroom. While Taylors family didnt let her forget her heritage, they did their best to obscure it publicly. Not long after Taylor was born, her mother and her stepfather, J.J. Miller, moved to Mississippi County, Ark., to find work planting and picking cotton. In both 1930 and 1940, Taylor was marked as white on the census, just like the rest of the Millers. This government-adjudged racial purity affirmed that the Millers were law-abiding citizens. Arkansas law at the time banned the cohabitation of persons of the Caucasian race and of the Negro race, whether open or secret. According to a state statute, Any woman who shall have been delivered of a mulatto child, the same shall be prima facie evidence of guilt without further proof and shall justify a conviction of the woman. If Taylor had been declared a Negro, her mother would have been guilty of a felony. When she became a young adult, Taylor traveled the same road as millions of other black Americans, leaving the South for a locale that was reputedly more equitable. Taylor landed in the Bay Area during the World War II shipbuilding boom. But while California was often depicted as a place full of opportunity and relatively free of prejudice, the reality often didnt live up to that dreamy vision. Taylor found herself in a rat-infested apartment building in West Oakland. She was arrested multiple times in the mid-1940s for prostitution-related offenses. In California, as in Arkansas, Taylor hid her racial identity. In March 1948 six months before the Supreme Court of California declared the states miscegenation ban unconstitutional she married a man with German ancestry. Their marriage license identified Taylor as Hawaiian, a fiction that allowed her to account for the color of her skin while still conforming to the governments parameters for whiteness. That marriage wouldnt last, nor would her stint in California. She eventually moved to Chicago, managing to blend in for a time while living in the predominantly white neighborhood of Lincoln Park. But in 1964, Taylor chose to pursue an outlandish, risky gambit, claiming that she was the daughter of a black gambling kingpin and the rightful heir to his substantial fortune. Taylor didnt assume this new identity all that skillfully. The documents she presented to affirm her heirship were clear forgeries. More painfully, her white relatives came from Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Texas to tell a probate court judge that Taylor was a liar. Linda Taylors family was motivated less by a burning desire to tell the truth than an impulse to bury an uncomfortable secret. Taylors uncle claimed improbably that her father was Portuguese. Taylors mother also denied that shed given birth to her own daughter, testifying that the child had been left on her doorstep as a 3-month-old infant. That was a laughable story. It was also a pitiable one, confirmation that Taylor had never been wanted. The judge in that heirship case ruled, correctly, that Taylor had no claim on the gambling kingpins estate. At that point, one of her sons told me, Taylor decided that she was done with white people that theyd done nothing but abandon and abuse her. Taylor left Lincoln Park and moved to a part of Chicagos South Side that was essentially all black. Thats where she was living in the 1970s, when she was christened the welfare queen. Linda Taylor was inarguably a villain. She had no regard for other people, and she preyed on most everyone she met, including her own children. It doesnt excuse her crimes to acknowledge that she was also a victim, and she was victimized because of her race. Its impossible to understand her life without understanding where she came from, a place and time where the line between black and white could not be smudged. When Taylor changed identities, she wasnt deviously leveraging race to her advantage. She defied Americas strict racial categories to secure a life she couldnt otherwise grasp, and to construct a private mythology that made more sense to her than the grim reality of what shed seen and what shed done. Josh Levin (@josh_levin), the national editor of Slate and a host of the podcast Hang Up and Listen, is the author of the forthcoming book The Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth, from which this essay is adapted. The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. Wed like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And heres our email: letters@nytimes.com. Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram. Every time I hear that President Trump is talking about immigrants, I wonder what cruel language he has come up with to describe us rapists, drug dealers, invaders. But now Mr. Trump is talking immigration again, and this time, he is making some sense. In fact, the president has laid out a trap for liberals to fall into. The centerpiece of Mr. Trumps proposal is a promise to move the United States away from a system that favors family sponsorship toward one that favors merit or skills-based immigration. Whether judged according to merit or family ties, immigrants are already better educated than their native-born counterparts. So if Mr. Trump wants to shift the debate to skills, liberals should take him up on his offer. Unlike his previous proposals, this one would not reduce the total number of immigrants allowed in. This might feel like a minor victory, but it drastically undercuts the far-right fantasy of shutting Americas borders. No wonder reactionaries like Ann Coulter see this as a sellout. White nationalists in particular see high-skilled immigrants as the greatest threat. What could be scarier to a white supremacist than thousands of immigrants who are better educated and more employable than he is? By proposing no immigration cuts, Mr. Trump has conceded the fundamental liberal premise that America needs immigrants. It is only a question of which immigrants are selected, and how. Michael: Entirely. Theres also just the transparency of hearing both sides of a conversation. Not just one side. Natalie: Yes! I think that is really important, especially now. With the whole fake news meme. Michael: Whats been the most fun about it? Natalie: The most fun being in the studio with the producers or with you, hearing something incredible in the middle of an interview, and looking up at the producers and making eye contact and just being like, YES! Thats amazing! Michael: Give me an example. Natalie: Oh, well, when we were talking with Eldon, there was a moment in the middle of the interview where he brought up something that we hadnt really thought about in planning the interview. He pipes up with this smart, thoughtful description of what hes worried about. It was more than just the immediate questions of survival will the trade war kill his farm? but something much bigger and more diffuse. Will the trade war cause long-term damage to the trading relationships that the U.S. agriculture industry has built up over decades? I looked up at Paige, one of the producers, in that moment, and just shook my head, truly in wonder. Like, wow, this man needs a podcast! Michael: The Eldon Show. Hes one of those guests we end up talking about for years. Like, remember Eldon? Why dont we just call back Eldon and make that an episode? Natalie: I get that. Michael: O.K., so, I have to run into a script planning session. But I want to leave with a final question and a thought. You possess this rare combination of intelligence, kindness, authority and wittiness. We like you. Will you agree to host more episodes? Natalie: Hmmm. Just kidding. Obviously, yes. Please. Whenever. :slightly_smiling_face: Michael: Wonderful! Well be in touch. Natalie: Im just nervous the world will resist a Barbaro-free episode. Anyway, we can talk about that neurosis later. Byeee!!! No, she repeated: She was not a good person. I should not have been so surprised by her candor; visits with Ms. Sorokin had been strange even by jailhouse standards. Why would the interview go any differently? Ask anyone whos taken the Q100 bus all the way to the last stop on Rikers Island: Its hard to get into the jail of your own volition. Reporters who do jailhouse interviews are used to the long process of visiting inmates, but it never gets less exhausting. It takes many hours, several security checks, zero access to your cellphone and two quarters (used for two separate locker checkpoints to drop off personal contraband, like pens, notepads and electronic devices). Guards fingerprint you and swab your hands, sometimes twice, for traces of ballistics and drugs. Then, hours later and just before youre granted a 60-minute visit, a guard pats you down almost everywhere. (If youre lucky you can do it yourself, depending on whos in charge.) After all that, you better hope the inmate wants to see you. But thats just routine; with Ms. Sorokin, it was different still. For starters, lots of people want to meet the fake heiress. (She rejects reporters every day, she said.) She can have just one visitor or group of visitors on each visitation day. I arrived at 9 a.m. for 1 p.m. visitation. Seated at a double-facing bench, I waited for Ms. Sorokin to arrive, making eye contact so shed know whom to walk toward. I identified myself; she recognized me from court. Doors opened at 7 a.m. on my second visit. I arrived promptly for a fact-check and to get her reaction to her sentencing the day before. (She received four to 12 years.) Two other reporters with the same idea were on my bus. President Barack Obama spoke loudly, calling for Mr. al-Assads ouster, but carried a small stick. He backed off from even symbolic enforcement of the red line he had set. Support for rebels was nonlethal at first, then the C.I.A. backed some rebel groups, but ultimately Americas goal was not to oust Mr. al-Assad but to put pressure on him to go to the negotiating table. Even that effort later took a back seat to an anti-ISIS campaign. But the broader issue is how the United States views the region. It is not a binary choice between authoritarian rulers who torture their people ones the United States actively supports, like in Saudi Arabia, or ones it opposes but ultimately tolerates, like in Syria and toppling them with massive interventions that create power vacuums. Most people in the region, I believe, want more support for the ordinary people seeking to build a meaningful civil society and less support for the governments holding them back . One user asked Ms. Barnard about the history of torture prisons in the Middle East. Unfortunately torture and political imprisonment have been used through much of history, whether were talking about the Spanish Inquisition or the Stalinist gulag. From Ottoman times through Western colonialism to the upheavals of the 20th century, such abuses have been prevalent in many Middle Eastern countries as well. But even within a century rife with authoritarianism in the region, the current Syrian system stands out. Syrias prison system and tight lid on dissent were among the harshest in the region long before the uprising in 2011. After the uprising, the system was vastly expanded and played a pivotal role in crushing the civilian side of the revolt. Another asked how Ms. Barnards article contributes anything new to a global understanding of Islamic countries governed by Shariah law. This isnt about Islamic law; Syria is officially a secular state. Nor is it about Arab dictatorships writ large. The story in Syria is relevant because at this moment in time, the Syrian government has used these massive violations of human rights to put down a movement for reform and democracy, and has shown other leaders around the world, Arab or not, that such methods can be used with impunity. Its like the dog that chases the car and actually catches it, Mr. Zak said. Its still not cheap, but it was fair and it was in move-in condition. They have since installed a new kitchen, painted and brought in new rugs. In the shifting luxury real estate market, the highest priced homes are taking longer to sell, said Laura Brady, the president and founder of Concierge Auctions, in Manhattan. The companys Luxury Homes Index report, released earlier this month, noted that the 10 most expensive homes sold in the Hamptons last year had an average sale price of $24,079,286, and spent an average of 706.7 days on the market. Luxury homes that lingered on the market tended to go for less, selling at discounts of nearly 40 percent after six months, Ms. Brady said. In Montauk, the 20-acre oceanfront estate that belongs to Dick Cavett, the former talk show host, has been on the market for two years. The 7,000-square-foot, six-bedroom, four-bathroom house, which was listed for $62 million in June 2017, was designed by McKim, Mead & White in the 1880s and rebuilt in 1997 after a fire, using forensic architecture techniques to replicate the original house with a wraparound porch and a bell tower, said Gary DePersia, an associate broker with Corcoran. The price dropped to $48.5 million last August, then Mr. DePersia re-listed it in February, for $33.95 million. They are motivated sellers, Mr. DePersia said. Where are you going to get 20 acres with 900 feet of oceanfront and utter privacy with a historic house for that kind of money in the Hamptons? You are not. Luckily, a neighboring potato farmer named Mike Kaloski, who was known for experimenting with crops, offered to help. He taught us to farm. He taught us to get out of bed early in the morning. He said, You cant be a farmer and be in bed! she recalled. Viticulture growing grapes is a hard business to be in. Youre farming, making a product, said Pindar Damianos, 42, the youngest of five siblings who grew up working at their familys Pindar Vineyards in Peconic. Its very labor intensive, so you have to have a passion for it. Its also a year-round endeavor, requiring constant trimming and pruning, tying down vines, fixing trellises, and other endless tasks. Along with his siblings and their mother, Barbara, Mr. Damianos now runs the vineyard that his late father, Dan, founded in 1980, seven years after the Hargraves claimed their stake. (One of his siblings, Jason, has also passed away.) The inexperienced young Hargraves eventually did make wine, and ultimately expanded Hargrave Vineyards to 84 acres. But in 1999, with a pending divorce, they sold to an Italian prince named Marco Borghese and his American wife, Ann Marie, for almost $4 million. The vineyard was renamed Castillo di Borghese. Both Borgheses died tragically in 2014, Ann Marie from cancer, Marco several days later in a car crash . One of their children, Giovanni, has taken over the business. Image Louisa Hargrave, 71, is a Long Island wine-making pioneer. In 1973, she and her then-husband Alex founded Long Islands very first vineyard on a potato farm in Cutchogue. Credit... Tara Striano for The New York Times But as with any family business, children dont always carry on their parents legacy. Thats the case with Bedell Cellars, and Mr. Lynnes estate has put the vineyard on the market. Similarly, after Robert Palmer, the founder of Palmer Vineyards in Riverhead, passed away in 2009, one of his three daughters, Kathy Le Morzellec, put the vineyards two properties up for sale, although they came on and off the market over the course of several years. It wasnt until 2018 that their 60 acres under vine in Cutchogue, originally listed at $3.9 million, went to an undisclosed buyer for $1.245 million. The Palmer tasting room, inventory and vineyard in Aquebogue, originally listed at $6.9 million, sold to the Massoud family, owners of Paumanok Vineyards in Aquebogue, for $4.2 million. During his introductory remarks, Dr. Reis had a vexing encounter with an intertwined microphone cord. This is a good example of why we really care about this topic, he said. Dr. Reis grapples with the likes of long-overhand shoelace knotting, climbing knots, basket weaving, surgical sutures, and how to pass on the art of surgical-knot craftsmanship to robots. During the session, his lab mates described how they had used a CT scan to probe the internal structure of knot filaments and the friction that arises where filaments touch. After the meeting, Dr. Matsumoto sent him home with some of her swatches. Derek Moulton, of the University of Oxford, mentioned variants of sailors knots, DNA and protein knots, and worms that tie themselves into knots in order to minimize dehydration. He went on discuss whether a knotted filament with zero points of self-contact may be realized physically. That is, can a knot exist wherein none of its crossings touch? (It can; try it at home with a strip of paper, or a cord.) And Thomas Plumb-Reyes, an applied physicist at Harvard, presented his research on Detangling Hair to a standing-room-only audience. What is going on in tangled hair? he asked. What is the optimal combing strategy? Shashank Markande, a Ph.D. student working with Dr. Matsumoto, reported on their stitch classification work so far. Together, they had derived a conjecture: All knittable stitches must be ribbon knots. (A ribbon knot is a very technical tangle.) And they pondered the corollary: Are all ribbon knots knittable? Back in February, Mr. Markande (who started knitting only recently for the sake of science) thought hed found an example of an unknittable ribbon knot, using a knots-and-links software program called SnapPy. He sent Dr. Matsumoto a text message with a sketch: Tell me if this can be knitted? Dr. Matsumoto was just heading out for a run, and by the time she returned, having manipulated the yarn every which way in her head, she had worked out an answer. I think that can be knitted, she texted back. When Mr. Markande pressed her on how, she added: Its knittable by our rules, but it isnt trivial to do with needles. Ive always felt like a bit of a nomad, says Sander Lak, the creative director of Sies Marjan. Born in Brunei, he grew up between Malaysia, Gabon and Scotland before settling with his family in the Netherlands (his father worked as an engineer for Royal Dutch Shell). Despite being exposed to so many cultures, though, it wasnt until high school that Lak started paying attention to clothes and to the mid-90s indie fashions featured in Dutch magazine in particular. I remember paging through at a gas station and thinking, What is this beautiful form of storytelling? says Lak, 35. After getting rejected from film school, he enrolled at an arts college in Arnhem, and then at Central Saint Martins in London, which led to stints at Marc Jacobs, 3.1 Phillip Lim, Balmain and, most notably, Dries Van Noten, where he worked alongside the designer for five years. In 2015, Lak moved to New York to start his own label and became a seemingly out-of-nowhere sensation. An expert colorist, he is known to get waves of nausea from certain shades of neon, whereas weird combinations, such as the pink and blue of the Baskin-Robbins logo, send him into a Zen-like calm. Over the course of seven seasons, hes put out kaleidoscopic furs, iridescent trench coats and fuchsia-to-azure ombre dresses with Fortunyesque swirls of sunray pleating. Instead of using sketches, mood boards or precise themes, I make color cards and pair them with hyper-dramatic textures, explains Lak, who, in June, will hold the labels first dedicated mens show. I think the concept of masculinity is in a surprising place right now, but I also wanted to do mens for selfish reasons, he says. I needed clothes, and so this new collection is made up of the pieces I want to be wearing every single day. [Coming soon: the T List newsletter, a weekly roundup of what T Magazine editors are noticing and coveting. Sign up here.] An Art Exhibition With a Functioning Sauna and Face Masks A few years ago, the artist Nicolas Lobo remade his studio, a typically nondescript warehouse space in Miamis Little Haiti neighborhood, by adding a juice bar and air-cleaning plants. If we hear these things and think Instagram, Lobo, 39, was thinking more of 19th-century art studios. Youd have fabrics hanging on the walls and work out to be seen by other artists, he says. I wanted to make it an open place where people could come and be. He could just as easily be describing the main floor of Mike Kelleys Mobile Homestead a to-scale replica of Kelleys childhood home that sits on the grounds of the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit and functions as both an artwork and gathering space (and sometimes gallery) where Lobo just installed his new body of work, Wellness Center. Like Lobos studio, the show is an exploration of culturally held notions of comfort, and especially exhibited in Mobile Homestead, which has served as a blood bank and hosted A.A. meetings of community. Here he offers an answer to the fraught question of Who is wellness for? In this case, it is anyone curious enough to make an appointment for a treatment at his installation with Amy Corle, MOCADs curator of education and public engagement. For visitors, the overall impression is of a surreal self-service spa. Just past the main door to the house is an octagonal structure covered in tie-dyed terry cloth that turns out to be a functioning sauna. (Afterward, users can rinse off in the backyard under an outdoor shower with a Milo Baughman-inspired metal frame hung with clay tablets kneaded as if by a masseuse.) Another room has a sculpture incorporating a bathrobe, river stones and a concrete pillow cradling a serene (though disembodied) concrete head. On the walls, Lobo has hung photographic prints of panes of glass smeared not with paint or ink, but with moisturizer, turmeric and medical grade honey, and then pressed with translucent sheet masks. Clearly, he is attuned to the ways in which wellness, or at least the wellness industry, can be ridiculous, but the work is far from cynical (he is, after all, the owner of a standing desk). Lobo understands the power of ritual, whether its a skin-care routine or the process of art-making, in which the artist enters his studio and goes through the motions despite not knowing exactly what he is working toward. We have a lot of negative, traumatic things washing over us all the time, and they can be undefined its sort of a modern version of mal du siecle, he says. I have a theory that we want the remedy to be a little bit undefined as well. Wellness Center will be on view within Mobile Homestead through August 4, mocadetroit.org/mobile-homestead KATE GUADAGNINO SAN FRANCISCO Hewlett Packard Enterprise said Friday that it would buy the supercomputer pioneer Cray, a relatively tiny financial transaction that could loom large in a quickening race between the United States and China at the highest reaches of computing. The big Silicon Valley company will pay about $1.4 billion to absorb a much smaller rival that has designed some of the most powerful systems in use and on the drawing board at national laboratories in the United States. Supercomputers have long been a mainstay of military and intelligence agencies, used for chores ranging from cracking codes to designing nuclear weapons. They have many civilian uses as well, like predicting weather, creating new drugs and simulating the effect of crashes on auto designs. Cray, based in Seattle, traces its lineage to a company founded in 1972 in Minnesota by the computer designer Seymour Cray. That company was bought in 1996 by Silicon Graphics; it was sold in 2000 to Tera Computer, which adopted the Cray name. Mr. Cray died after a car crash in 1996, having left his original company several years earlier. Each week, we review the weeks news, offering analysis about the most important developments in the tech industry. Want this newsletter in your inbox? Sign up here. Hi, Im Jamie Condliffe. Greetings from London. Heres a look at the weeks tech news: The facial recognition genie, so to speak, is just emerging from the bottle, Microsofts president, Brad Smith, wrote in December, when he called for regulation of the technology. San Francisco just put it back in. On Tuesday, the citys Board of Supervisors banned the use of facial recognition software by the police and other city agencies in an 8-to-1 vote. Supporters said its use by government was an invasion of privacy incompatible with healthy democracy. Departments will now need to first submit proposals and post public notices to use the technology. Private-sector and federal use isnt affected. That the ban was introduced by San Francisco, a city pivotal to the development of the technology, was viewed by some as a siren call. This is like Detroit banning a certain model of vehicle because its too dangerous, said Alvaro Bedoya, a visiting professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center. You may not live in Detroit, but, boy, youd think twice before getting in that car. I asked Ms. Howe, who remains a close friend, if shed ever regretted Ms. Benings defection to the movies. Not for a minute, she said. I admire her for taking on Hollywood and for doing it on her own terms. In Los Angeles, where no one notices theater, she kept at it Chekhov, Ibsen, Ruth Drapers monologues. In 2014, she returned to New York, in a humdrum King Lear for Shakespeare in the Park. She entertained offers from Broadway, too. But when her children were at home she could never get the timing right even limited runs didnt coincide with school breaks. She always passed. The children grew up. And last year the director Gregory Mosher offered her Kate in All My Sons. (After a dispute regarding color-conscious casting, Mr. Mosher left the production; Mr. OBrien replaced him before rehearsals began.) She took it. All My Sons, is a play about responsibility, corruption and the nexus, as Ms. Bening put it, between a booming economy and bloodshed. Joe Keller, Kates husband, owns a factory that manufactured faulty cylinder heads during World War II. Those cylinder heads were shipped to Australia and welded to bombers. Twenty-one pilots died. Three years later, in 1947, with one son returned from the war, and another designated missing in action, Joe has been exonerated, but the question of his guilt remains. The play is asking, are we just responsible to ourselves or are we responsible to the greater good? Ms. Bening said. Thats a deep political question. But her relationship to the play, which she first saw as a graduate student, is more personal. And here at least, she wanted to talk. During World War II, she said, Russell Ashley, one of her mothers older brothers, joined the Royal Canadian Air Force (he was too old for the American one) and deployed to India. And he was killed because his plane had a mechanical failure, she said. His body was never found. She has a photograph of her family shortly after. Her grandmother is 60 or 61 in the photo, the same age Ms. Bening is now. Theres just this look on her face and theres this . She let the rest of the sentence fall. I asked what that meant for Kate and Ms. Bening evaded elegantly, describing unrelated sections of Millers autobiography, segueing somehow into Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Several colleagues mentioned what Mr. OBrien called this unmistakable quality of intelligence. Yes.) She acknowledged that her own experiences as a mother had informed the role, but only in the most general terms. It would be psychologically, physiologically impossible to be an actor and not use anything about your own experience, she said. (Using you and your rather than I and mine is big with her.) Anais Mitchells folk-blues adaptation of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth features two pairs of lovers whose lives intersect in the underworld. The costumed seven-piece band never leaves the stage during Hadestown, and at the top of Act II its members even get a shout-out by name. Beforehand, the trombonist Brian Drye confines his noisy warm-ups to an alley next to the theater. Inside, the musical director and conductor Liam Robinson checks in on the casts vocal health, sometimes conveying a few notes to the band in the basement before they head onto the stage. Just keeping the screws tight, he said. Meanwhile, the Fates are conspiring. Were very close, and usually laughing a bunch, said Kay Trinidad, one-third of the trio, who share a dressing room. Dont tell everyone were usually the last ones to places, she added. We try to beat Patrick Page [a Tony nominee who plays Hades]. If Patrick is ahead of us, were really late. The world has a newly named country, North Macedonia. And that is good news for regional relations and travelers, who are visiting the southeastern corner of Europe in growing numbers. In February, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia as the United Nations referred to the Balkan country during its admittance in 1993 officially became the Republic of North Macedonia. For many who know this nation in the heart of the Balkan Peninsula simply as Macedonia, this may seem like semantics. It is not. Macedonia agreed to change its name to resolve a decades-old dispute with neighboring Greece, and, in return, Greece said it would drop its objection to the neighboring countrys entry into the European Union and NATO. Greece had long opposed the name Macedonia, saying it implied territorial aspirations over the northern Greek region of the same name. For travelers, the end of the dispute means a new passport stamp and a novel reason to discover this nascent, yet ancient land, which is about the size of New Hampshire and borders Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, Kosovo and Albania. BURLINGTON, Vt. For Daniel Ortega, the president of Nicaragua, the summer of 1985 was to be a moment of extraordinary triumph. In July, on the sixth anniversary of the Sandinista revolution, Mr. Ortega would address a crowd of hundreds of thousands with a message of defiance for his political nemesis, Ronald Reagan, and the Contra militias waging war on him with support from Washington. Amid the festivities, Mr. Ortega would also meet with the mayor of Burlington, Vt. Bernie Sanders, then 43, journeyed for 14 hours to reach Nicaragua switching planes in Boston, Miami and San Salvador and made a truncated tour of the violence-stricken country before the grand event in Managua. Aspects of the trip might have unsettled another visitor. A reporter who traveled with Mr. Sanders wrote of strict limits on the taking of photographs. At the anniversary celebration, a wire report described a chant rising up: Here, there, everywhere, the Yankee will die. If Mr. Sanders harbored unease about the Sandinistas, he did not dwell on it. After many years of economic and political domination, Nicaragua is determined not to be a banana republic anymore, and its free to make its own decisions, Mr. Sanders declared, according to a Nicaraguan newspaper, El Nuevo Diario, quoting him in Spanish. Is this a crime ? Good morning. (Want to get California Today by email? Heres the sign-up.) Over the past eight years, the San Francisco Bay Area has added about 676,000 jobs and 176,000 housing units. The entirely predictable result has been a surge in rents and home prices along with a rising homeless problem that has jetloads of tourists convinced that one of the richest places on earth is actually a dystopia of misery and destitution. Can anybody fix this? Or is this just the new California reality that residents are going to have to accept as normal? Its an existential question for the worlds fifth largest economy and the nations most populous state. Despite its reputation for all things liberal, California has the highest poverty rate in the country about one in five people once the cost of shelter is figured in. This is not for lack of jobs or money, but because its cities are so exclusive that they are essentially turning working-class residents into poor people. Legislators have passed a few streamlining measures and voters have approved billions for new affordable housing, but so far the biggest ideas have been mostly pushed aside. The latest example came Thursday, when S.B. 50, an ambitious but divisive bill, was shelved until next year. The bill would expand the states housing supply by forcing cities to allow apartment buildings in the low-slung bungalow neighborhoods on which the state was built. In a statement, Gov. Gavin Newsom said he was disappointed. So was Scott Wiener, the San Francisco state senator who introduced the measure. Each year state legislators go through a Groundhog Day routine in which they introduce dozens of new housing bills that are full of technicalities and minutiae but fall into two basic categories. The first are bills that make it easier to build housing so that the long-term shortage can be rectified. The second are bills that provide more money for subsidized affordable housing and expand tenant protections so that people who already have affordable homes dont lose them. Born in 1980, I am the oldest millennial... or the youngest Gen Xer. (Today is my birthday, in fact.) I was too young to understand what happened with Anita Hill, but understood acutely what happened with Monica Lewinsky. Nonetheless, with two older sisters firmly in Gen X, it is undoubtedly a generation that claimed me, and a generation that I claim. When my family moved from Beirut, Lebanon, to the United States in 1984, I quickly became a glutton for all the American angst and ephemera I could stomach. And with few restrictions on the media I consumed, I was swept away on a wave of laugh tracks and Capri Sun. By the time I became a teen in the mid-1990s, I had one goal: to look like Gwen Stefani and Kurt Cobains Arab baby. I succeeded. This week, several of my colleagues came together to gripe about and celebrate the gloomy, goofy club of forgotten middle children that is, the 65 million people who came of age in the 1980s and 90s in a project dedicated to Gen X. Missouri lawmakers passed a bill Friday to ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, the latest in a flurry of anti-abortion measures across the country intended to mount direct challenges to federal protections for the procedure. The Missouri House passed H.B. 126 in a 110-to-44 vote after hours of heated debate, including impassioned speeches by both Democratic and Republican legislators and angry shouts of when you lie, people die from those who opposed the bill. Those protesters were eventually removed by the police. The measure, known as the Missouri Stands for the Unborn Act, now moves to the desk of Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, who is expected to sign it. The bill, which bans abortions at around eight weeks of pregnancy, often before a woman even knows she is pregnant, included no exceptions for rape or incest. The passage of the bill was the culmination of long years of effort by the anti-abortion movement in the state, and Republican lawmakers voted for it overwhelmingly. One of them, Representative Holly Rehder, a Republican from southeast Missouri, implied in her speech that rape and incest were not reasons for exceptions. To stand on this floor and say, How could someone look at a child of rape or incest and care for them? she said. I can say how we can do that. We can do that with the love of God. The court-martial of a highly decorated Navy SEAL platoon leader on war crimes charges has been thrown into turmoil by, of all things, a harmless-looking image of a bald eagle perched on the scales of justice. The bit of digital artwork, embedded in an email message, contained hidden software that could track if anyone read or forwarded the email, and may have also been able to allow access to all communications and files on the recipients computers, defense lawyers argue in court filings. The email was sent last week to defense lawyers representing Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher by the lead Navy prosecutor in the murder case against the chief, apparently with the judges approval. The tracking software was also included in emails sent to lawyers for the chiefs commanding officer Lt. Jacob Portier, who is charged in a related case and to a journalist for Navy Times covering both cases. Furious at what they see as an improper attempt to spy on them, the defense lawyers are demanding an investigation, and the suspension of proceedings against both men while it is conducted. Chief Gallaghers trial is currently scheduled to begin May 28. WASHINGTON A little-noticed provision in President Trumps sprawling new tax law is treating middle- and low-income college students as if they are trust-fund babies, taxing sizable financial aid packages at a rate first established 33 years ago to prevent wealthy parents from funneling money to their children to lower their tax burdens. Higher-education leaders are calling on Congress to fix the provision, which drastically raised the tax rate on so-called unearned income for children with assets and young adults in school. Students with large financial aid packages are finding their nontuition assistance for items such as room and board taxed by as much as 37 percent, even if their family income tax rates are much lower. The impact on full-time undergraduate and graduate students under the age of 24 went largely unnoticed until the waning weeks of tax season. But word is spreading. About 1.3 million undergraduate students and 15,000 graduate students have scholarships and grant aid that cover nontuition expenses. Ted Mitchell, the president of the American Council on Education, a Washington trade group representing 1,700 college and university presidents, wrote to Democratic and Republican leaders of the tax-writing House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees, urging them to swiftly correct a mistake. WASHINGTON The House passed sweeping legislation on Friday that would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill, passed 236-173, comes as departments across the Trump administration have dismantled policies friendly to gay, bisexual and transgender individuals, like barring transgender recruits from serving in the military or formally rejecting complaints filed by transgender students who are barred from restrooms that match their gender identity. The question before us is not whether the L.G.B.T.Q. community faces outrageous and immoral discrimination, for the record shows that it clearly does, said Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee. The question is whether we, as Congress, are willing to take action to do something about it. The answer goes straight to the heart of who we want to be as a country and today, that answer must be a resounding yes. The legislation, which amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964, prohibits discrimination of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in both the public and private sectors, offering civil rights protections in businesses, hospitals and welfare services. It explicitly states that individuals cannot be denied access to a locker room or dressing room on the same basis. For the same reasons, we are unable to provide the requested information in response to the committees subpoena, Mr. Mnuchin said. Mr. Mnuchin was widely expected to ignore the subpoena, as Mr. Trump has vowed to fight all subpoenas from House Democrats. The Treasury secretary has warned that allowing House Democrats to retrieve the presidents tax returns would open the door to lawmakers from both parties politicizing the Internal Revenue Service in the future. At a Senate hearing this week, Mr. Mnuchin said that House Democrats were trying to weaponize the I.R.S. He said that he had not yet decided how he would respond to the subpoena, but that you can guess which way we are leaning. He said that the judiciary, as the third branch of government, would most likely need to settle the dispute between Congress and the executive branch, signaling the potential for a protracted court fight. House Democrats have been weighing how to respond to the Trump administrations defiance of congressional subpoenas. On Friday, Mr. Neal made clear his preference for avoiding retaliatory threats, to the disappointment of several of his more liberal colleagues. Mr. Neal told reporters that he saw little value in trying to hold Mr. Mnuchin or Charles P. Rettig, the I.R.S. commissioner, in contempt of Congress. Instead, he said, he would go straight to the courts to try to enforce his subpoena, potentially as soon as next week. The case could take months or years to resolve. It would have been impossible for me to know this Mr. Trump was warned just after the election and in the first days of his presidency that keeping on Mr. Flynn, who was a campaign adviser, could be troublesome. And during the transition, Mr. Flynn told a top Trump aide that he was under federal investigation. He was first warned about Mr. Flynn two days after the election, when Mr. Trump met in the Oval Office with President Barack Obama, who cautioned his successor not to give Mr. Flynn a senior post on his national security team. (Mr. Obama had fired Mr. Flynn in 2014 as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency after repeated clashes over his management.) But even if Mr. Trump did not interpret Mr. Obamas comments as a warning, Mr. Flynn himself told the transition teams lawyer, Donald F. McGahn II, weeks before inauguration that he was under federal investigation for paid lobbying work he did secretly for Turkey while he was working on the presidential campaign. Then, six days after Mr. Trumps inauguration, the acting attorney general, Sally Q. Yates, told Mr. McGahn, by then the White House counsel, that Mr. Flynn was vulnerable to blackmail because he misled the vice president about conversations he had with the Russian ambassador to the United States during the transition period. With me being one of two people who would become president Mr. Trumps advisers have complained that the F.B.I. never disclosed to him during the campaign that some of the people closest to him were under investigation for their ties to Russia. WASHINGTON Pressed this week to define President Trumps goals in escalating military and economic pressure on Iran, one of his top foreign policy aides ticked through a familiar list: End the countrys support for terrorism, stop its missile launches and then, most important, keep Iran more than a year away from the capability to build a nuclear weapon. The United States would insist on zero enrichment for Iran, Brian H. Hook, the State Departments special envoy for Iran, told a small group of reporters. That would assure Tehran could produce no new nuclear material, and thus never get closer to building a weapon than it is now. It was a telling moment in a strange, circular week of mutual threats and missed signals between bitter adversaries. Designing an agreement that would assure it would take Iran a year or more to break out and make the fuel to build a bomb giving the United States, Israel and others plenty of time to respond was the driving force behind the 2015 nuclear deal that was negotiated under former President Barack Obama. Every requirement, every concession in the deal, was measured against how it would affect that timeline. And by all accounts, that deal was working before Mr. Trump withdrew the United States from it in May 2018, calling it a disaster. The College Board, the company that administers the SAT exam, unveiled a new tool for admissions officers this week that measures the economic and social adversity that test takers have faced. The adversity score, which the College Board calls a measure of disadvantage, is meant to help schools diversify their student bodies without looking explicitly at race. Heres how the rating works, what information it includes and leaves out, and how education experts are reacting: What factors are accounted for in the score? The score includes 31 pieces of information meant to measure social disadvantage across two broad categories: the students neighborhood and the students school. None of the factors directly reflect an individual student; all of them are about the census tract in which the student and his or her classmates live. And none of the measures include race or ethnicity. The goal is to find students who have transcended their environments by examining factors that are correlated, according to research, with lower academic achievement and lower lifetime earnings. And then you get turned into ashes! the little girl howled, incredulous. Soon the other 6-year-olds were laughing hysterically, too. I looked around the circular table as we cut shapes from colorful paper and drew with glitter markers. These children had all lost loved ones: a grandparent, a sibling, mostly a parent. Twice a month we made art and talked around grief. My role was to facilitate their conversation, let them lead. So when they started joking about cremation, I laughed, too. It felt good, actually. And, I mean, cremation was kind of hilarious. A few years earlier. I was taking a break from college to backpack alone in Greece and Turkey. Before leaving, I began to panic: The last time Id left the country, to go to South Africa two years before, my father had died suddenly. I was scared something would happen again. Dont be silly, I told myself. Dont be silly, friends said, supportively. Dont be silly, my therapist said, reassuringly. Dont be silly, my mom said, lovingly. Everyone will be fine. Five weeks into Turkey my mom died suddenly, too. While losing a parent at any age, especially as a young child, is enormous and profound, your 20s are a particularly odd time to become an orphan. Youre too old to receive the structural support a child receives no one finds you alternate parents or makes sure you have a roof over your head, food to eat. You dont garner the same sympathy. But in some ways, youre more like a child than an adult. Our teen brains dont fully become adult ones until were 25. My friend Tess and I started a two-person club, in jest OHO Orphans and Half Orphans. Tess was the half orphan, me the full member. I didnt know anyone my age whod lost both parents. I felt like the star of a freak show who spoke a barbaric language. In high school I studied Ancient Greek and learned that the word barbaric comes from barbaros, to disparagingly describe foreigners whose language sounded to Greeks like bar bar bar. In becoming an orphan in my 20s I was a barbarian an alien with an alien tongue, able to shut up a room with my story. No one knew what to say. I barely knew what to say. But Ms. Smith was determined to live as best she could, for as long as she could. She surfed, played volleyball and water polo, and graduated from Stanford University, where she majored in human biology. In July of 2016, doctors told them that the antibiotics were no longer working, and that Ms. Smith would need a lung transplant. On Sept. 11 the following year, Ms. Smith underwent a double lung transplant at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Initially she was getting better, and the family celebrated her 25th birthday at the hospital with hope. But the residual infection in her lungs led to pneumonia, and her organs began to fail. She needed treatment quickly, or she would die. Her father, Mark Smith, a lawyer, had heard of bacteriophage (or phage) therapy, and had been trying for years to secure some for his daughter. Bacteriophages Latin for bacteria eaters are viruses that infect and kill bacteria, including those that are drug resistant. Though phages were discovered over a hundred years ago, they have been used therapeutically to treat bacterial infections only sporadically in certain countries, including the former Soviet Union and France. Not a lot of medical groups use phages clinically, said Dr. Robert T. Schooley, co-director of the Center for Innovative Phage Applications and Therapeutics at the University of California, San Diego, the nations first phage therapy center, which opened in June 2018. Thats in part because there hasnt been a source of safe phage to give. Theres also a general perception that phages are some mystical creation of the early part of the 20th century. That perception may slowly be changing. A 2014 study in the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy found that phages helped reduce B. cepacia infection in immune-suppressed mice. Phages also helped save an Israeli mans leg from amputation, according to a paper published in March. RIO DE JANEIRO A dam in southern Brazil that contains tons of toxic waste from mining operations could burst imminently, prosecutors said on Friday, raising alarm in a region still reeling from a dam burst in January that killed more than 240 people. Prosecutors in the state of Minas Gerais said they had been informed by Vale S.A., the mining giant that operates both sites, that the dam built to contain waste from the Gongo Soco mine could burst as early as Sunday. They issued the warning based on information gathered by radar. The possible breach has led Vale and local officials to relocate hundreds of residents from the dams vicinity and to carry out emergency drills. The Gongo Soco mine, in the town of Barao de Cocais, has been inactive since 2016. Those precautionary steps come as prosecutors continue to investigate Vale executives for criminal negligence over the previous dam burst, on Jan. 23 in Brumadinho. That disaster has crippled Vale, one of the worlds largest mining companies, resulting in estimated losses of $4.8 billion. When things go wrong, those in power often promise to make it right. But do they? This is the first in a series in which The Times is going back to the scene of major news events to see if those promises were kept. After Colombias government signed a peace deal with the countrys main rebel group, ending decades of war and upheaval, both sides said it heralded a new era. But two and a half years after the militants agreed to lay down their arms, many of the promises made are not being honored, and the prospect of a true, lasting peace now seems far from certain. This is what we found: As many as 3,000 militants have resumed fighting, threatening the very foundation of the accord. Many of the millions of Colombians who once lived in rebel-held territory still await the promised arrival of roads, schools and electricity. The governments pledge to help rural areas was a big reason the rebels stood down. Since the peace deal was signed, at least 500 activists and community leaders have been killed, and more than 210,000 people displaced from their homes amid the continuing violence. That undercuts a core selling point of the deal: that it would bring safety and stability. Colombias new president, Ivan Duque, a conservative who took office in August, has expressed skepticism of the accords and wants to change a commitment that was fundamental to the rebels agreeing to lay down their weapons. The Path to Peace Colombias five-decade civil war took at least 220,000 lives and devastated large swaths of the countryside. In rebel-held areas, government services disappeared and the infrastructure crumbled. Many turned to the drug economy to survive. All sides were accused of atrocities kidnappings, rapes and summary executions that bred deep-seated animosities across the country and even within families. In a war so deeply personal, finding a way out posed an enormous challenge. LOMBOK, Indonesia The Indonesian police say they have foiled a suspected terrorist cell with the ability to use Wi-Fi to detonate explosive devices, highlighting advances in bomb-making in a country with a history of militant activity tied to the Islamic State. Several of the suspects, who were arrested in raids last week on the densely populated island of Java, are members of Jamaah Ansharut Daulah, a local militant group that has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, the police said. During the raids, counterterrorism agents found bomb-making equipment and traces of triacetone triperoxide, a highly unstable homemade explosive that is sometimes used by the Islamic State outside the Middle East. TATP was used in Islamic State bombings in Paris and Brussels, as well as last month in Sri Lanka, where more than 250 people were killed by suicide attacks at churches and luxury hotels. One of the suspects in the Indonesia plot, a skilled bomb-maker who was arrested on May 8, was perfecting the process of detonating a bomb through Wi-Fi networks, Dedi Prasetyo, the national police spokesman, said on Thursday. Mr. Dedi said that militants were planning to launch attacks on Wednesday, when the official results of Indonesias national elections are expected to be tallied. But Mr. Moons government has also feared that South Koreas conservative opposition would accuse it of coddling the North if it provided a larger aid package, especially with North Korea having resumed short-range missile tests. South Korean conservatives argue that the North has squandered resources on its nuclear arms program that it should have used to help its people. This is a time to stop aid if there is any going to the North, not to provide it, Jun Hee-kyung, a spokeswoman for the conservative Korea Liberty Party, said on Friday after the aid package was announced. She accused Mr. Moon of irresponsible appeasement. The United Nations has imposed a series of tough sanctions on the North over its nuclear program since 2016, banning the export of coal, iron ore and other key North Korean products, as well as sharply cutting oil imports. Those sanctions have deprived the government of important sources of income, as well as undercutting its ability to import food. North Koreas leader, Kim Jong-un, has been hoping to win relief from sanctions in return for partial dismantlement of his countrys nuclear weapons facilities. Mr. Trump refused such an offer in February at his second meeting with Mr. Kim, in Vietnam, demanding that the North relinquish all its nuclear weapons. The talks have since been stymied. North Koreas resumption of short-range missile tests last week has been widely seen as a warning that it may return to more ambitious missile launches unless sanctions are eased. Mr. Kim has given Washington until the end of the year to show more flexibility, indicating that his country will otherwise seek an alternative to diplomacy. The United Nations sanctions do not prohibit humanitarian aid to the North. But as its nuclear and missile work has escalated in recent years, international relief agencies have been unable to collect substantial donations for chronically malnourished children and nursing mothers in the North. Mr. Moons conservative predecessors had sharply curtailed humanitarian aid in response to the Norths nuclear and missile tests. But Mr. Moon, a political liberal, has backed humanitarian aid along with other forms of engagement with the North since taking office in May 2017. His government gave the North $1 million worth of pesticides last year, the Souths first direct governmental aid to the country since 2010. Mr. Moons government also said on Friday that it would let South Korean businesspeople visit the industrial complex in Kaesong, a North Korean border town, that was jointly operated by the Koreas until Mr. Moons immediate predecessor shut it down in 2016. The executives want to assess the condition of their factories at the complex, which was run with North Korean labor. Love has won over hate, and equality has won over discrimination, Annie Huang, acting director of Amnesty International Taiwan, said in a statement. This is a moment to cherish and celebrate, but it has been a long and arduous campaign for Taiwan to become the first in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. Taiwan has long been a leader of gay rights in Asia, a region where such rights have lagged, and the annual gay pride parade in Taipei is a magnet for gays and lesbians from countries where discrimination and unequal treatment is far more entrenched. In one of the harshest examples in the region, Brunei this year put into effect new laws that authorized executions by stoning for gay sex and adultery, although the countrys leader said it would maintain a de facto moratorium on the death penalty. Ms. Tsai, who took office in 2016, said during her campaign that she supported same-sex marriage, and her left-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, which took control of the legislature for the first time that year, also generally favors such legislation. But momentum for a same-sex marriage law had stalled as opponents, including some church and conservative groups, campaigned against the mandated changes. Voters overwhelmingly opposed same-sex marriage in referendums last year, and politicians have been slow to move forward out of fears of being punished in next years general election. That left the government facing a May 24 deadline. Several gay couples had said they planned to get married on that day, regardless of whether or not the legislature acted. KABUL, Afghanistan An American airstrike accidentally killed at least eight Afghan police officers in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, American and Afghan officials said. The police had requested air support after a Taliban attack near their outpost near the outskirts of Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand Province. Attaullah Afghan, the head of Helmands provincial council, estimated the police death toll at 17, including a commander and his assistant, and said that 14 more people were wounded. Col. Dave Butler, a spokesman for the American-led mission in Afghanistan, said that the Americans had coordinated with Afghan officials and had confirmed that the areas were clear of friendly forces. I liked his message of bringing people together, of getting the workers and unions working with employers, he said in a radio interview on Friday morning. I loved his message about protecting the environment. Mr. Hawke is, of course, an impossible act to follow. He was a maverick who led his center-left Labor Party to four consecutive election victories in the 1980s and early 90s. He was a union leader who also pushed through free-market liberalization, cutting protective tariffs and privatizing state-owned industries. He was also a Rhodes Scholar and a flawed husband whose image was hurt by his admitted adultery toward the end of his career. Through it all, in the minds of many Australians, he was one of them: a leader just as comfortable with wine-sipping elites as beer-chugging farmers and ascetic environmentalists. Hawke was authentic in just about every which way, said Stephen Loosley, national president of the Labor Party in the early 1990s, who worked on campaigns with Mr. Hawke for decades. What you saw with him privately was the projection of him publicly. Memories of his boldness and his heart for all Australians were flooding social media. Many Chinese-Australians, for example, were sharing clips of Mr. Hawke becoming weepy as he discussed the Tiananmen Square massacre. In the aftermath, he immediately offered humanitarian visas to 20,000 Chinese students and later, their families were welcomed too. As I wrote in the resulting profile, Mr. Trudeaus political fortunes may have been severely battered over the past few months, but hes not acting like a person whos been broken, and hes certainly not apologizing for doing what he contends was right. [Read: A Battered but Unbowed Justin Trudeau Vows to Stay the Course in Canada] As is usually the case, I couldnt squeeze everything from the interview into the profile. This weeks newsletter features some additional highlights from our conversation. Some of Mr. Trudeaus comments have been edited for brevity and clarity. Mr. Trudeau on what mistakes he made in the SNC-Lavalin affair: Nonetheless the collapse is yet another setback for a prime minister who has already suffered a remarkable string of defeats and been hounded by members of her own party to leave. Parliament has voted three times to reject her Brexit plan, which would keep Britain closely tied to the European Union at least until the end of 2020 but then extract it from the blocs main economic structures. She said this week that she would attempt a fourth vote on her plan early next month. Mrs. May had hoped to lure Labour with the prospect that Britain could stay at least temporarily in a type of customs union with the bloc, thereby eliminating the need for tariffs and many border checks on goods flowing between Britain and continental Europe. But that did not prove enough to tempt a Labour Party that favors retaining closer ties to the European Union to protect the economy. It had argued that Mrs. May had not offered enough concessions or effective safeguards to ensure that her successor could not tear up any agreement. Britons will vote in elections to the European Parliament next Thursday, almost three years after they opted in a referendum to quit the bloc. Mrs. May now has to gird herself for results that could prove disastrous. One recent poll has her Conservatives trailing both the Brexit Party, led by the hard-line Brexiteer Nigel Farage, and the anti-Brexit Liberal Democrats. But voters are expected to punish the Labour Party too, and Mrs. Mays last, faint hope of pushing her Brexit plan through Parliament is that a shock to the two main parties might galvanize lawmakers into supporting her deal. Pressure on Mrs. May and Mr. Corbyn to reach a deal increased this month after local elections that were bad for both parties. While the Conservatives lost 1,300 seats in local municipalities, Labour failed to take advantage, shedding around 80 itself. Though Mr. Corbyn, a lifelong Euroskeptic, argued that a deal needed to be reached, his partys divisions have made that outcome difficult. A very large faction in the Labour Party opposes Brexit and wants a second referendum on any deal, so any agreement with the Conservatives would have risked straining loyalty to a breaking point. WARSAW Anna Misiewicz was just 7 years old when she was invited into the private chambers of her parish priest, in the small village of Topola in southwest Poland. She thought he wanted her to count church donations. Instead, she found herself alone with a predator, identified only as Father Jan A. He touched her chest, stroked her body and forced her to use her hands to masturbate him. Decades later, the smell of milk disgusts her still, she said, because the priest would drink milk and the taste stayed on his mouth and lingered in mine. In a powerful new documentary that is rocking this deeply Roman Catholic nation, Ms. Misiewicz recalls these childhood nightmares, and then goes farther. She summons the courage to knock on the door of her abuser, a feeble old man but still a priest, and pose a simple question: Why? MOSCOW President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia intervened in a bitter dispute in a provincial Russian city that erupted in protests this week, calling on the regional authorities to settle the matter peacefully. Such bursts of public outrage are growing more common in Russia, where stagnating and even declining living standards juxtaposed with expensive foreign adventures, official corruption and environmental degradation are testing peoples patience and driving down Mr. Putins popularity ratings. The protests began this week in Yekaterinburg, around 900 miles east of Moscow, after construction workers arrived to install a fence in a popular park one of the few remaining green areas in the city of 1.5 million in preparation for breaking ground for a new Orthodox cathedral. As the week wore on, some of the protesters clashed with the police and private security guards. Dozens have been detained and 30 subjected to administrative arrest, Interfax, a Russian news agency, reported. VATICAN CITY A Vatican official has been acquitted by a Holy See tribunal of charges leveled by a former nun that he had solicited sex from her a decade ago while hearing her confession. The tribunal that had investigated the accusations against the Rev. Hermann Geissler found him not guilty at a trial that ended this week, the Vatican said in a statement. Father Geissler, an Austrian, was a section head in the Vatican doctrinal office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. He resigned in January after the accusations surfaced. He has denied them. The accusations were made in November by Doris Wagner, a German who entered the convent when she was 19. BRUSSELS With strong memories of the last catastrophic war in Iraq, Europeans are united in opposing what many consider the United States effort to provoke Iran into a shooting war. Yet, despite the strains in trans-Atlantic relations in the Trump years, flat-out opposition to Washington remains an uncomfortable place for European nations. Initially, not even pro-American Britain would go along with the Trump administration, with officials defending a senior British general in the coalition fighting the Islamic State who said that there was no enhanced threat from Iran in Iraq and Syria. But that brought an American rebuttal, and soon the Europeans, reluctant to confront Washington directly, softened the criticism. Britain officially rowed back, saying that it now agreed with the Americans, while Germany and the Netherlands suspended their troop training in Iraq, citing the American warnings. (Germany subsequently said it was planning to resume the training exercises.) Window dressing aside, however, there was little doubt about where the Europeans stood on the Iran issue. Updated June 13, 2019: On Thursday, apparent attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman raised alarms about the security of a key petroleum passageway. Across the Arabian peninsula, thousands of miles of pipes run above and below the desert in one of the worlds most sophisticated production lines for pumping oil from the ground and distributing it around the world. This vast system of oil fields, refineries and ports has largely run like clockwork despite political turbulence across the region. Then a drone strike claimed by Houthi rebels on May 14 forced the Saudis to temporarily halt the flow of a crucial oil artery to the western side of the country. The assault came a day after mysterious incidents damaged two Saudi tankers and two other ships in a key port in the United Arab Emirates. These were perhaps the most serious attacks on the kingdoms oil infrastructure since Al Qaeda militants were thwarted trying to blow up a key Saudi facility at Abqaiq in 2006. Before, we thought it would be a lot of coffee shops and nail salons because we thought you had to perform everything in the opportunity zone, she said. The legislation had already faced criticism because the areas eligible for the tax incentives are not all the same. Take two neighboring zones in Connecticut, for example. South Norwalk has a booming real estate market, as younger professionals move there and frequent the thriving restaurant and night-life scene. But neighborhoods in Bridgeport, just a few exits up Interstate 95, remain economically challenged. South Norwalk is a great opportunity zone, Mr. Rice said, but if youre stuck in the middle of Bridgeport, you could have all the tax benefits you want, but it may not turn out to be a great investment situation. Ms. Miller said it was wiser to think about the investment as if it were any other project. If the project does not stand on its own and the fundamentals arent there, its not a good deal, she said. Michael Tillman, chief executive of PTM Partners, an opportunity zone fund, agreed. The deals should be the same deals youd be doing if they werent in an opportunity zone, he said. That's good advice, whether you are deciding on the location of the property or your investment strategy. MemorialCare Miller Children's & Women's Hospital, in Long Beach, continued a years-long tradition this week of wrapping infants born on or right before Christmas in red stockings. Among those attending was the family of Motley, who was killed on Oct. 4, 1993, after attempting to help a child in the Walmart parking lot. He got killed doing exactly what he was called to do, said Juanita Kirkwood, Motleys widow. He was trying to save a child. Kirkwood regularly attends the annual service. Although she feels the event is important, it is still difficult for her. Its difficult to go through because it just brings up a lot of memories, good and bad, she said. Its important that they let all of the new officers, the younger officers know you could be the next one and you have to be vigilant. The greatest threat During his keynote address, former Lee County District Attorney Nick Abbett spoke about what he feels is todays greatest threat to law enforcement. I think the greatest danger to law enforcement is people that are mentally ill, people that are suffering from paranoia, he said. For some reason, people (law enforcement) in these positions become a target for mentally ill. I put books in there, so they can read during the summer, Rodriguez said. They can pass them along until we get to build that library in Guyana. I want this to be a central place in that community where it helps the children and the adults. We can have workshops and extracurricular activities, so after we are gone, they will have a place to come to. Community support Collaborating with local churches, Rodriguez has given more than 1,000 backpacks within a total of four trips, and when they arrive Friday, July 5, volunteers will lead a vacation Bible school to share the platitudes of their faith, volunteer Traci Benefield said. We are helping Backpack International pack the backpacks, organize it and get everything they need for the mission trip, Benefield said. Levi, my son, was interested in it, and Im supporting his interest. Its such a great organization, and her mission is to reach out to all the different nations and children to bring the gospel and much needed supplies to them." Rodriguez said Backpack International relies on donations and support from the local community. Individuals interested in volunteering or donating, can access the Backpack International website at www.backpackinternational.org to access the organization's social media accounts and signup for a newsletter to stay informed. Lanett police have identified the victim in a Thursday afternoon shooting and subsequently made an arrest in connection to the incident. Richard Hugley, also known as 240, was taken into custody Friday at a residence in Valley, Lanett police said in a Friday afternoon release. Hugley is being held with no bond until he is seen by a judge. At about 3:45 p.m. Thursday, Lanett police responded to 1221 E. Third Ave. in reference to a shooting. Officers located the victim, who was identified as Dustin Short, suffering from a gunshot wound to the lower torso, police said. Short was airlifted to Columbus, Georgia, for medical treatment and has since been released, police added. Witness information given at the scene quickly led police to develop Hugley as the primary person of interest. A warrant for attempted murder was obtained Friday by investigators from the Lanett Police Department. Information obtained during the investigation revealed that Hugley was hiding at a residence in Valley, the release reads. Hugley was then taken into custody with the assistance of surrounding agencies. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Will Ludlum Weber Shandwick has named Will Ludlam president of its western region, which includes offices in Seattle, Silicon Valley, San Francisco and Los Angeles. He takes over for Luca Penati, who left March 15 to pursue other opportunities. With more than 25 years of corporate and technology experience, Ludlam is joining the Interpublic unit from Edelman, where was executive VP and leader of its Pacific Northwest group, Seattle and Portland. Earlier, he was in charge of Hill+Knowlton's Seattle office following its acquisition of The Rockey Co. and partner/managing director of Porter Novelli. Ludlam has worked with clients such as Starbucks, Microsoft, Samsung HP, Safeco, Puget Sound Energy and Seattle Children's Hospital. Sara Gavin, president of WS North America, praised Ludlam's "leadership philosophy and vision for how best to deliver for clients and for our people." He'll be based in Seattle. Uproar PR has added Ruths Chris Steak House to its roster of restaurant clients. The agency will work to promote the brand to a national audience and increase awareness as it expands. The agencys efforts will include key placements in national media and regional markets and promotions surrounding the opening of new Ruths Chris restaurants in cities around the country, using the characteristics of each location to craft targeted messaging and campaigns. It will also launch a national campaign to bring recognition to new exclusive dinners and special events while pursuing Ruths Chris key demographics and markets. PAN Communications has picked up Sumo Logic, a cloud-native, machine data analytics platform, to its client roster. PAN will create personalized thought leadership and media relations programs to build consumer trust and credibility for the platform. The agency will also leverage its media expertise and analyst relations strategy to help Sumo Logic maintain its position across the brands competitive landscape. We were looking to significantly scale our brand and communications efforts as part of our multi-year growth strategy and selected PAN as our PR partner because of their out-of-the-box ideas and expertise across DevOps, security and cloud, said Sumo Logic. BAERING has been named agency of record by LCI (formerly LC Industries), one of the largest employers of Americans who are blind or visually impaired. The agency was engaged by LCI in 2018 to lead it through a comprehensive rebrand to advance its goal of driving innovation and providing meaningful employment for the blind and visually impaired community. Following the success of the rebrand, BAERING will continue to provide external and internal communications support, execute brand awareness initiatives and provide digital content and social media services. Our engagement with BAERING will allow us to stay innovative while furthering our commitment to our employees and the communities in which we operate and serve, said LCI president Jeffrey Hawting. Hawkins International is repping the upcoming Circle Line Brews Cruise on the Hudson River, which will take place on Sunday, June 9. The cruise will feature beers from eight New York area breweries, including Brooklyns Sixpoint Brewery, Staten Islands Flagship Brewery and Rockaway Brewing Co. in Queens. Hawkins is the agency of record for all New York Cruise Lines brands including Circle Line, New York Water Taxi, North River Lobster Co., World Yacht, and The BEAST. Tulsa's Williams Cos. uses Kivvit, which has close ties with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, to win support for construction of a nearly 23-mile underwater pipeline to transport natural gas from New Jersey to New York. Environmentalists hate the project, but utility National Grid claims the pipeline is needed to meet the growing energy demands of NYC and threatened a moratorium on gas hook-ups if the pipeline isn't built. The New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation rejected Williams' application on May 15, saying the nearly $1B project is "projected to result in water quality violations and fails to meet New York States rigorous water quality standards. The New York Times called the decision the state's most fraught environmental decision since it banned fracking in 2014 The Natural Resources Defense Council hailed the rejection as "a huge win that will stop a dangerous fracked gas pipeline from passing through NY harbor!" A Williams spokesperson told the NYT that the DEC "raised a minor technical issue with our application" and promised to resubmit the application. Eleven members of NYC's Congressional delegation including Jerry Nadler, Nydia Velazquez, Hakeem Jeffries, Grace Meng, Carolyn Maloney and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sent a letter to Cuomo on May 15, urging him to reject the pipeline because it poses a potential threat to public health, natural resources and the environment. The Governor has distanced himself from the issue, telling the DEC to base its judgment on facts, not politics. Kivvit's Rich Bamberger, who was Cuomo's communications director; Maggie Moran, advisor to the then Attorney General during his 2010 run for Governor; and Chuck Meara, advisor to a trio of New York City Council Speakers, represent Williams on its Northeast Supply Enhancement pipeline. Kivvit ranks No. 21 on O'Dwyer's rankings of independent PR firms with $24.2M in 2018 fee income. The Knock Marriage Introductions service is set to close, it has been announced. For over fifty years Knock Marriage Introductions, formerly Knock Marriage Bureau, has been responsible for introducing couples, many of whom went on to become husband and wife. In that time it has been responsible for 960 marriages. The service was based at the Knock Shrine, Co Mayo, in the Archdiocese of Tuam. "When Father Michael Keane had the vision to establish the agency back in the 1960s in Ireland, the west of Ireland in particular, was a very different place. Emigration was rife and most of the means of communication that today we take for granted were practically non-existent." "The advent of the internet and online dating agencies, and apps have made it possible for people to meet a partner literally at the touch of a button. Many of the couples who met through Knock Marriage Introductions commented on the personal nature of the service and that they felt safe and secure being able to speak to someone in confidence at the end of a phone," a statement continued. "In recent years there has been a noticeable decline in the demand for the service offered by Knock Marriage Introductions, to the point that is no longer viable to run the service. The annual subscriptions from clients who have used the service have had to be supplemented in recent years by donations from dioceses around Ireland." "Obviously, this is not sustainable long term. It is for these reasons that the Board of Directors of Knock Marriage Introductions have decided at a recent meeting to wind down the agency. We do so with heavy hearts, but happy in the knowledge that at least for 960 couples, it played a part in helping them to become husband and wife." "We wish to express our gratitude to all who worked for the agency, especially the women who answered the calls and who were responsible for making the introductions. We extend particular thanks to Father Michael Keane who was the founder and first director and to Canon Joe Cooney who took over the mantle from him and was director until his retirement two years ago." Hes just an inspiration. Hes amazing, Harrison said. He didnt let what happened to him stop his life. He kept going. In spite of ... Even with all the help, Mortel ultimately is responsible for that new associate degree in culinary arts and management. No one could complete that for him. Mortel had do it himself, and it required hard work, perseverance, patience and time. It took faith that this degree would not be an ending point for him. But, as the word commencement means, a beginning. My next step is to get my bachelors in business management, said Mortel, who has created a five-course dinner menu to be served at a special pop-up May 25 at Big Mamas, 3223 N 45th St., Building A. Tickets are available on Big Mamas Facebook page. Live jazz music will be included. How will a blind man handle this big event? LINCOLN The Nebraska committee of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission plans to investigate whether Nebraska prison inmates get adequate mental health care during a hearing next month. Jonathan Benjamin-Alvarado, who chairs the Nebraska Advisory Committee of the commission, said the hearing was inspired by conversations hes had with Bob Houston, the former director of the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services, and Mark Foxhall, the former administrator of the Douglas County Corrections Department, about dealing with the growing number of inmates that have behavioral and mental health problems. About 20% of the states prison inmates have serious mental illness, according to a 2016 estimate, and well over half deal with some kind of behavioral, mental health or substance abuse problem. The Douglas County Jail has been referred to as the largest mental health facility in the state because of the high number of offenders with such problems and the lack of treatment facilities. The question is, are there sufficient resources to adequately treat the conditions of these individuals, said Benjamin-Alvarado, a professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Forget the speculation about who will sit on the Iron Throne. Sarah Jareckis friends are looking forward to the amazing concoctions she plans to serve for Sundays finale of Game of Thrones. Shes already dazzled them with a wildfire cocktail, deviled dragon eggs and Sansas lemon cakes, all drawn from the wildly popular HBO show. It comes to an end on Sunday after eight seasons. I think the most fun was the three-eyed raven cookies, Jarecki said. The lemon cakes were the ones that tasted the best. Jarecki loves entertaining, a trait she picked up from her father, Bob. Shes been having friends over for the premiere and finale of Game of Thrones the past few years. Shes also created a lineup for a few other shows. For a season premiere of The Americans, she and partner Cory Gilinsky (a World-Herald editor) made a slew of Russian food. The 36-year-old attorney said shes not a creative person, although her friends would beg to differ. She checks out various blogs and Pinterest for ideas. I never thought about any of this until she became the new student in class 2D. At my daughter's school in India, there is no choice time. The children may not speak to one another during class. She has no recess. And there is a very specific, fairly elaborate list of which notebooks are for which subjects. Even the notebooks are a kind of uniform: They are all the same: plain brown, with the school logo on the front, covered in translucent white paper to keep them from getting worn. The students all write the same things in those notebooks, extensively, every day. My daughter comes home with these notebooks filled with everything she and everyone else in her class has copied off the board, including French poems, complex steps in long division and notes on "Values and Virtues." Though she has art class twice a week, it features a craft for which there are prescribed materials, steps and unvarying finished products. Every kid makes the same blue paper peacock, folded like a fan, with googly eyes stuck in exactly the same place. My daughter summarized her perception of the contrast recently when she said: "In India, we never have time to play with our friends. In America, all we do at school is play with our friends." Not surprisingly, it's been a rocky transition. WASHINGTON Nebraskans and Iowans can anticipate selling even more beef to Japan. That country has agreed to lift restrictions on U.S. beef exports, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Friday. Those restrictions go back to 2003, when Japan banned U.S. beef products after a cow in the United States tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy. Thats the degenerative nerve disease commonly referred to as mad cow disease. Over the years, U.S. pressure was able to pry the doors open with Japan offering partial access for products from cattle under a certain age. Those age restrictions will now be eliminated. Nebraska exported more than a billion dollars worth of beef and beef products in 2017, making it the top beef-exporting state for the second year in a row. And much of that exported Nebraska beef heads for Japan. News of the agreement Friday was welcomed by Capitol Hill lawmakers. King Kong of midtown Omaha is looking out of sorts, lost, rather emasculated. For years, the bulky beast has stood out on a sign along Dodge Street near 44th, gripping hamburgers and beckoning the hungry into a restaurant that bears his name. But lots of new real estate development has come to his neck of the woods and a hotel rising next door, to the west, now blocks a full view of the gorilla sign. Owner Nick Triantafillou says thats costing him business. He wants to move his King Kong monument sign to a different spot away from the multistory hotel that makes the ape look more chimp than champ. They want to squeeze King Kong, Triantafillou said. I dont think its fair. The City of Omaha appears poised to grant Triantafillous basic request that is, to erect a nearly 12-feet-tall gorilla monument sign to the east side of the restaurant on Dodge Street and out of the hotels shadow. Anna Bespoyasny, Omaha building superintendent in charge of permits and inspections, said the move shouldnt be a problem as long as the sign complies with the same size and setback rules. DES MOINES It was a strong performance, even if it was not the desired result. Treynor senior Jerry Jorgenson stuck with Garner-Hayfield/Venturas Reece Smith until the final 800 meters of the Class 2-A 3,200. Smith ran a 2:09.00 over the final two laps to set a state record in 9:11.33, and Jorgenson finished as the runner-up in 9:35.10 on Thursday in the state track and field meet at Drake Stadium. Jorgenson, who will run at Nebraska, improved from his third-place effort last year, but he is still in search of an individual state title. He will look to get it Saturday with races in the 1,600 and 800 on Saturday. When I found an opportunity available, I was going to go push the pace, but he was already pushing it pretty well. He is a great runner and had more than me today, Jorgenson said. I am not too happy with my race, but given the heat I will take it. The distance competitors were greeted by 80-degree weather on its way to the 90s in the afternoon on a sun-splashed day. It started in bizarre fashion for the St. Albert boys on Thursday and never improved from there. The Class 1-A 3,200 meters was deemed official after 2,800 meters (more on that later), and the Falcons pursuit of a repeat team title got off to a shaky start on the first day of the three-day coed meet at Drake Stadium. St. Albert ended with three points through five of 19 events. Sophomore Sam Rallis placed seventh in the 400 (50.66) and junior Bennett Heisterkamp was eighth in the 3,200. Rallis said the Falcons arent conceding anything. Get a good nights rest. Forget everything that happened today, he said. Its a new day tomorrow. Come out ready to go, and well get things done. Were staying positive. The seniors want it, and we want it, too. Rallis entered the state-qualifying meet with the fastest 400 time in 1-A, but he ran the ninth-fastest time at that meet and was forced into the second of three heats. He won his heat handily, but five runners bested that mark in the third heat. DES MOINES It was a strong performance even if it was not the desired result. Treynor senior Jerry Jorgenson stuck with Garner-Hayfield/Venturas Reece Smith until the final 800 meters of the Class 2-A 3,200. Smith ran a 2:09.00 over the final two laps to set a state record in 9:11.33 while Jorgenson finished as the runner-up in 9:35.10 on Thursday in the state track and field meet at Drake Stadium. Jorgenson, who will run at Nebraska, improved from his third-place effort last year, but he is still in search of an individual state title. He will look to get that elusive title with races in the 1,600 and 800 on Saturday. When I found an opportunity available, I was going to go push the pace, but he was already pushing it pretty well. He is a great runner and had more than me today, Jorgenson said. I am not too happy with my race, but given the heat I will take it. The distance competitors were greeted by 80-degree weather on its way to the 90s in the afternoon on a sun-splashed day. Darius Luff rolled his way from an embarrassing spot into what could be a double-gold medal Saturday in the hurdles at the state track meet. The Lincoln High senior fell while clearing the fifth hurdle in the preliminaries of the 300 intermediates at Burke Stadium. He somersaulted to his feet, staying in his lane to avoid a DQ, and won his heat. But the spill cost him the coveted Lane 4 for the qualifying leader Saturday. Hell be in Lane 7. What happened was a first for Luff in his prep career. I always have problems with that hurdle, he said. I tried to get my trail leg up higher and sooner. I guess I just fell. I dont remember much. I just fell and got back up. I had to do what I could to win. Luff came close to his state-record time in the 110 highs with a 13.85 three-hundredths of a second from last weeks 13.82 at districts. He said that shows him he has things to clean up before the final. Sharon and Robert Bruning bought a farm 40 years ago in what was then a rural area on the outskirts of Omaha. Over the years, the use of buildings on their land changed, and city officials ruled the couple had exceeded the agricultural zoning of their property. They sought a zoning variance, but that was rejected by the City Planning Board, a decision the high court upheld. City officials ruled that the couple had exceeded the agricultural zoning of the property, which prompted them to seek a zoning variance. But that was rejected by the City Planning Board, which, after four public hearings, ruled that the use of the property had become commercial because the Brunings were renting the buildings to others. That decision was upheld by a Douglas County district judge, prompting the appeal to the Nebraska Supreme Court. The court on Friday upheld the denial of a zoning variance, ruling that state law gives planning boards wide discretion in deciding zoning disputes and that the boards decision was supported by sufficient evidence, and not arbitrary. When the Brunings developed and began leasing the property to others, ultimately expanding to numerous separate businesses and uses, their activities became incompatible with agricultural use, stated the 10-page ruling, written by Supreme Court Judge Lindsey Miller-Lerman. The Brunings attorney, Diana Vogt, said that state law sets a high bar for overturning a zoning boards decision, requiring a showing that the ruling was illegal or not supported by evidence. A fourth person has been arrested in connection with a January homicide in Council Bluffs. Ryan McDonald, 25, was arrested Friday on a first-degree murder warrant by police in Glenwood, Iowa. He is being held in the Mills County Jail with no bail. He and three others are accused of being involved in the slaying of 38-year-old Adam Angeroth, who was last was seen alive Jan. 20 at his apartment in the Bluffs. His body was found four days later. Xavier Smith-Catchings, 16, was arrested March 5 and is being charged as an adult in the case. Liam Stec, 21, has been held at the Douglas County Jail on a Pottawattamie County murder warrant since January. Nicholas Haner, 20, of Harlan, Iowa, also faces a first-degree murder charge. Lincoln police have arrested a 22-year-old man in connection with the slaying of a 47-year-old Lincoln man. On Thursday morning, officials received several calls about a man who was on the ground and possibly injured at the southeast corner of 27th and Holdrege Streets. Just before 9:45 a.m., Lincoln police arrived and found Desmond Fowler with a gunshot wound. Lincoln Fire and Rescue workers came and declared Fowler dead. Police blocked off the intersection for more than four hours while crime scene technicians scoured the area for forensic evidence and investigators conducted interviews, collected video evidence and canvassed the area for witnesses, officials said. About 7:50 p.m., officers arrested Michael Dewey at a residence in the 2200 block of South 14th Street on suspicion of first-degree murder and use of a weapon to commit a felony. The Lincoln Police Department, the Lancaster County Sheriffs Office, the Metro Fugitive Task Force and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Police Department worked on the case. The bill would make it a crime to distribute sexual photos of someone in an attempt to extort money or other valuables from them. It also would clarify laws about teenagers sending sexual photos to one another. LB 680, introduced by Sen. Wendy DeBoer of Bennington, sets out when and how lawsuits can be filed over the disclosure of sexual photos or videos. Home early. Speaker of the Legislature Jim Scheer of Norfolk announced Thursday that the Nebraska Legislature will wrap up its session six days earlier than originally planned. The last day now will be May 31, instead of June 6. Scheer said he plans a vote on final passage of the budget Tuesday. Bills must clear first-round debate on Wednesday to have a chance of passing this year. Lawmakers will have a chance to override any gubernatorial vetoes on bills passed on May 24. As of Thursday, state senators had passed 52 of the 107 bills designated as priorities. Only 10 priority bills have not had at least three hours of debate. ] Robot Titan shows up during the Third World Intelligence Congress held in Tianjin, north China, May 16, 2019. The congress opened in northern China's Tianjin municipality on Thursday. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei) China attaches great importance to innovative development, and it considers new generation artificial intelligence as the driving force for scientific and technological development, industrial optimization and upgrading as well as major productivity improvements while it strives to achieve high-quality development, President Xi Jinping said on Thursday. Xi made the remark in a congratulatory letter to the World Intelligence Congress, which opened in Tianjin. The president noted that AI is having a significant and far-reaching impact on economic development, social progress and global governance. He expressed hope that participants at this third congress strengthen exchanges, enhance consensus and step up cooperation to promote the healthy development of new-generation AI. Having read out Xi's letter at the opening ceremony, Li Hongzhong, secretary of the Tianjin Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, said Tianjin would embrace a new era of intelligence, create a new intelligence-based economy, step up AI cooperation with other countries and speed up the building of an "intelligent Tianjin". Li said the city will intensify efforts to boost AI applications in fields of urban management, public services, transportation and logistics, healthcare and security. Minister of Science and Technology Wang Zhigang said China is drafting regulations and standards for regulating AI and will publish them soon. Wang said more effort is needed to make breakthroughs in basic AI theories and core technologies, expand the application fields of AI and further propel the deep integration of AI with various industries as part of a broader push to support the development of the real economy and improve people's livelihoods. "In particular, we need to strengthen international cooperation in AI governance including laws and regulations, ethical norms and international rules," Wang said. The State Council issued a plan in 2017 that set benchmarks for China's AI sector, with the value of core AI industries predicted to exceed 1 trillion yuan ($145 billion) and make the country the global leader of AI innovation by 2030. In December, Tianjin unveiled a three-year plan to boost the innovative development of seven AI-related industrial chains including independent and controllable information systems, smart security, big data, advanced communications, intelligent connected vehicles, industrial robots and intelligent terminals. According to the plan, the government will build Tianjin into an AI innovation center and a hub of AI industries and innovative applications by 2020. Server manufacturer Inspur Group has signed a strategic partnership with Tianjin to set up an AI research institute in the city. By opening the new institute, Inspur aims to join the top ranks of Chinese AI powerhouses in their quest to attract global talent. "We will step up our efforts to develop the AI sector in Tianjin, and will focus on fields including cloud operating systems and cloud databases," said Sun Pishu, chairman of Inspur. Xinhua contributed to this story. Gomez is an instructor of economics and program manager of the Institute for Economic Inquiry at the Heider College of Business at Creighton University. Thomas is an associate professor of economics and director of the Institute for Economic Inquiry. The Omaha City Councils proposal to ban single-use plastic bags should be thrown out. Council member Pete Festersen and Council President Ben Gray recently proposed an ordinance banning the use of plastic carryout bags at grocery stores. Mayor Jean Stothert opposed the original proposal, noting that it would impose unjustifiable costs only on some firms and consumers: the proposed ordinance originally would not include big-box retailers, such as Walmart and Target. Currently, the ordinance is being amended to be more fair, while likely excluding some stores. You may believe that a more comprehensive ban is the right way to go, but the evidence involving the environmental benefits of plastic bag bans is not as clear-cut. The negative environmental effects of plastic and the rise of plastic littering should, of course, be of concern. Bashir tried to bottle them up with a state of emergency, but demonstrators camped out in front of military headquarters and would not be silenced. On April 11, Bashir was removed from power and later held in a high-security prison. He was charged Monday with incitement and involvement in the killing of demonstrators. We hope that Sudan will have the courage to prosecute Bashir for crimes against humanity in the genocidal campaign against the people of Darfur or will hand him over to the International Criminal Court, which long ago indicted him. With good reason, protest leaders have demanded that a new civilian government with democratic principles take over. The gritty determination of the demonstrators has forced the military into talks that seem to be bearing fruit, including the promising agreement on a three-year transition. The generals have also tentatively agreed to give the opposition alliance two-thirds of the seats on a 300-seat transitional legislative council, and the remaining seats would go to other opposition parties. Whats not yet clear is the composition of an 11-member sovereign council, which would be the highest authority in the land. Maharashtra: 41 of the 42 ministers are crorepatis, 27 have criminal cases pending The top three crorepatis in the Delhi elections are AAP candidates Winning chances of crorepatis and candidates with criminal background in Delhi elections In new Punjab Cabinet all ministers are crorepatis 110 women candidates with criminal background, 255 crorepatis contested 2019 LS polls India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, May 17: Out of the 716 women candidates analysed in 2019, 110 (15%) women candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves. Out of 665 women candidates analysed during Lok Sabha in 2014, 87(13%) women candidates had declared criminal cases against themselves. 78 (11%) women candidates have declared serious criminal cases including cases related to rape, murder, attempt to murder, crimes against women etc in the Lok sabha Elections, 2019. 51(8%) women candidates have declared serious criminal cases in the Lok sabha Elections, 2014. BJP fielded 363 crorepatis in 2019 LS polls 2 women candidates have declared convicted cases against themselves. 4 women candidates have declared cases related to murder (Indian Penal Code Section-302). 16 women candidates have declared cases of attempt to murder (IPC Section-307). 14 women candidates have declared cases related to crimes against women such as Causing miscarriage without woman's consent (IPC Section-313), Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty (IPC Section-354) and Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman (IPC Section-509). 7 women candidates have declared cases of related to hate speech. 14 (26%) out of 54 women candidates from INC, 18 (34%) out of 53 women candidates from BJP, 2 (8%) out of 24 women candidates from BSP, 6(26%) out of 23 candidates fielded by AITC and 22 (10%) out of 222 Independent women candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits. 10 (19%) out of 54 women candidates from INC, 13 (25%) out of 53 women candidates from BJP, 2 (8%) out of 24 women candidates from BSP, 4(17%) out of 23 candidates fielded by AITC and 21 (10%) out of 222 Independent women candidates have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits. Financial: Out of the 716 women candidates analysed, 255(36%) are crorepatis. Out of 665 women candidates analysed during Lok Sabha 2014 elections, 219 (33%) women candidates were crorepatis. 44 (82%) out of 54 fielded by INC, 44 (83%) out of 53 women candidates from BJP, 15 (65%) out of 23 women candidates from AITC, 9 (38%) out of 24 women candidates from BSP, and 43 (19%) out of 222 Independent women candidates have declared assets worth more than Rs. 1 crore. 7th Phase LS polls: 170 with pending criminal cases, 278 crorepatis in fray The average of assets per women candidate contesting in the Lok Sabha Elections 2019 is Rs 5.63 Crore. The average of assets per women candidate contesting in the Lok Sabha Elections 2014 was Rs 10.62 Crore. Among major parties, the average assets per candidate for 54 INC women candidates is Rs 18.84 Crores, 53 BJP women candidates have average assets of Rs 22.09 Crores, 24 BSP women candidates have average assets worth Rs 3.03 Crores, 23 AITC women candidates have average assets worth Rs 2.67 Crore, 10 CPI(M) women candidates have average assets worth Rs 1.33 Crores, 6 SP women candidates have average assets worth Rs 39.85 Crore, average assets of 3 AAP candidates are Rs 2. Age and comparative details: 531 (74%) women candidates have declared their age to be between 25 and 50 years while 180 (25%) women candidates have declared their age to be between 51 and 80 years. While 1 woman candidate has declared she is more than 80 years old. 3 women candidates have not disclosed their age details and 1 woman candidate declared her age below 25 years. Number of Re- Contesting Women MPs Analysed: Number of Re- Contesting Women MPs analysed in Lok Sbaha 2019 is 43. Average assets of Re-contesting women MPs in 2014: The average assets of Re-contesting women MPs in 2014 was Rs 23.14 crores. 1,500 with criminal background, 2,297 crorepatis, 716 women contested LS polls 2019 Average assets of Re-contesting women MPs in 2019: The average assets of Re-contesting women MPs in 2019 is Rs 29.38 crores. Average growth in assets of Re-contesting women MPs from 2014 to 2019: The growth in average assets of Re-contesting women MPs is Rs. 6.23 crores i.e. by 27%. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 17, 2019, 17:21 [IST] Army clerk who leaked information to ISI was honey-trapped India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, May 17: An Army clerk who has been arrested on charges of spying for the ISI is alleged to have been honey-trapped, investigations have shown. The police in Madhya Pradesh arrested the 26 year old clerk on the charge that he was leaking vital information relating to the Indian Army to the ISI. The accused was on the radar of the security agencies for several months months. Both the Central and Military Intelligence had kept a watch on his activities for many months. Kashmir-Bengal-Kerala: Understanding the geographical remit of the ISIS He is believed to have been contacted by an ISI agent on Facebook. The agencies suspect that he was honey-trapped following which he is alleged to have shared the information. The investigating agencies say that the accused person hails from Bihar and was posted at the Army unit in Mhow. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 17, 2019, 17:08 [IST] Bengals ticking time bomb, an azadi moment and why this state is a concern India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, May 17: It was on expected lines that there was a major furore when it was decided to undertake an NRC in Assam. While there was a clear division among the political class, agency officials however say that the exercise should be conducted in every state to rid India of the problems that the illegal immigrants are causing. Data suggests that dates back to 2001 suggested that there were 12 million such persons living in 17 states. While Assam accounted for 50 lakh such persons, in the case of West Bengal the number stood at 57 lakh. The data prepared in 2006 suggested that the number went up to 20 million. Over the years, the problem spread to other states as well. In 2012, it was stated that the problem had spread to states such as Kerala, Telangana (then AP) and Karnataka. To understand this further, we need to revisit what former Pakistan prime minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had said in his book. He had said, "it would be wrong to think that Kashmir is the only dispute that divides India and Pakistan, though undoubtedly the most significant. One at least is nearly as important as the Kashmir dispute, that of Assam and some districts of India adjacent to East Pakistan. To these Pakistan has very good claims." Will bring NRC in West Bengal, throw out infiltrators, says Amit Shah Former Governor of Assam, S K Sinha had said that secular parties and the minorities do not see any danger from illegal migration. They believe that most of the so called illegal migrants are Bengali speaking Indian Muslims and this issue has been unnecessarily blown out of proportion. They fear that in the garb of deporting foreigners, Indian Muslims will be harassed. Former officer with the Research and Analysis Wing, Amar Bhushan says that this is a dangerous issue. He says that in the early 1990s, the Research and Analysis Wing carried out a daredevil operation in Bangladesh against the activities of the Jamaat-e-Islami. The intention behind the operation was a larger one and India was clearly worried about the rise of illegal immigration which the Jamaat was carrying out at the behest of the ISI. The agenda was a larger one and after losing out on Bangladesh, the ISI wanted to infiltrate as many Muslims as possible in a bid to either merge a portion of India with Bangladesh or divide the nation. We were in fact alarmed with the spurt in illegal immigration, he also says. The illegal immigration that takes place assumes worrying propositions. An intelligence file clearly suggests that illegal immigrations from Bangladesh are part of a devious agenda to set up a Greater East Pakistan/Bangladesh. Amidst this there was another report of how some locals in West Bengal with the help of illegal migrants from Bangladeshis had planned on declaring azadi in Murshidabad. The Intelligence had picked up information that a group of highly radicalised people were making attempts to take on the establishment. These persons who were in touch with their handlers in Bangladesh were gradually building a momentum in the area and had decided to declare freedom from India. The Intelligence says that the plan was hatched several years back and it was decided that these elements wanted to declare freedom and fight to merge with Bangladesh. Won't withdraw Central forces deployed in Assam for NRC work: Centre to SC Secret meetings were held in madrasas and other areas to plan the movement. It was decided to either merge Murshidabad with Bangladesh or remain independent. The plotters had even managed to rope in several like-minded locals into their fold. The funds too were being raised through various mechanisms that included fake currency peddling and also donations. Bangladesh trained terrorists were preparing for a launch into this region and carry out a series of spectacular attacks. However, there were some tough measures that finally foiled the movement, a highly placed source said. Can Kolkata police commissioner be arrested? SC order today India oi-Oneindia Staff By Anuj Cariappa New Delhi, May 17: The Supreme Court is scheduled to pronounce verdict on Friday on the CBI application seeking vacation of the order which granted interim protection from arrest to former Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar in the Saradha chit fund scam. The CBI had told the court that it wanted custodial interrogation of Kumar, who was earlier heading West Bengal Police SIT probing chit fund scam, as there was prima facie evidence of his allegedly trying to destroy or tamper with evidence and "shield high and mighty" in the case. SC reserves order on CBI's plea seeking custodial interrogation of former Kolkata police chief However, Kumar's counsel had countered CBI's submissions and told a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi that the agency wanted his custodial interrogation "just to humiliate" him and CBI should not be allowed to abuse the process of law. Kumar's counsel had told the bench that CBI's application seeking custodial interrogation of the IPS officer was a "mala fide exercise". Kumar was earlier heading the West Bengal Police's special investigation team (SIT) probing the chit fund scam. The apex court had in May 2014 directed the CBI to investigate the case. The apex court, on February 5, had granted protection from arrest to Kumar while directing him to appear before the CBI and "faithfully" cooperate into the investigation of cases arising out of the scam. The Election Commission on Wednesday ordered the removal of Kumar, who was posted as Additional Director General, CID, in West Bengal and had asked him to report to Union Home Ministry on Thursday. Kumar, involved in a face-off with the CBI in connection with the agency's investigation in Saradha and Rose Valley chit fund scams, was removed as Additional Director General, CID, in West Bengal for allegedly failing to control the incidents of violence in the state. During the arguments on CBI's plea, the apex court had said that it would examine whether there was evidence requiring Kumar's custodial interrogation in the case and had also perused the case diary placed before it by the agency. Chit fund case: Furnish evidence to seek custodial probe of Kolkata top cop says SC CBI had claimed in the court that they were seeking vacation of interim protection granted to Kumar as some crucial evidence, collected by the West Bengal Police SIT, was not shared with it despite repeated requests. Kumar's counsel had argued that the IPS officer was interrogated by the CBI for almost 40 hours and the agency was not able to spell out clearly as to what was the offence committed by him for which they want his custodial interrogation. Ex-Punjab CM Amarinder Singh to launch his own political party, 'hopeful of seat arrangement' with BJP Capt Amarinder refutes ticket denial charge after Navjot Sidhu says my wife doesnt lie India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, May 17: Days after his wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu stirred up a controversy by alleging that Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and senior Congress leader Asha Kumari ensured that she was denied the Lok Sabha ticket from Amritsar, Navjot Singh Sidhu on May 16 backed her accusation, saying she would "never lie". "My wife has that much strength and moral authority that she will never lie. This is my answer," said Sidhu. Navjot Kaur Sidhu had earlier said that she was told she would not win from Amritsar in the aftermath of the Dussehra train tragedy, where around 60 were killed and 57 were injured after a crowd of people celebrating the festival were mowed down by a train in October last year. "Captain Sahib (Amarinder Singh) and Asha Kumari (Congress' Punjab in-charge) think Madam Sidhu does not deserve an MP ticket," Sidhu said on Wednesday. "Look, Amarinder Singh is our junior captain. Rahul Gandhi is our senior captain. Our junior captain has said he would win all 13 seats by himself,'' Sidhu added. She hit out at the chief minister again earlier today, saying he should "respect women". Punjab ministers who will not ensure victory will be dropped: Amarinder Singh "You talk of women reservation, then please consider it. When educated leaders like me, who are ready to serve are there, don't deny us tickets by lying," she said. Amarinder Singh firmly denied the charges made against him, saying he had no role to play in ticket allocation. Singh also said he had no role in denying ticket to Kaur from Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat, saying ticket allocation was done by the Congress high command in Delhi and they chose Pawan Kumar Bansal. The ticket had instead gone to four-time parliamentarian and senior Congress leader Pawan Kumar Bansal. In 2014, BJP's Kirron Kher had wrested the seat from him. Amarinder Singh also said he would take responsibility and quit if the Congress was wiped out from Punjab in the Lok Sabha election. Chandrababu Naidu meets Kejriwal days ahead of poll results India pti-PTI New Delhi, May 17: Days ahead of the declaration of the Lok Sabha poll results, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu met his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal here on Friday, with the AAP terming it a "courtesy visit". Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh were also present at the meeting. According to sources, Naidu and Kejriwal discussed the scenario after the election results are declared and what role their parties, the TDP and the AAP would play in government formation if such a situation rises. However, the AAP maintained that Naidu paid a courtesy visit to Kejriwal. Earlier in the day, TDP president Naidu, who has been rallying regional parties to form a non-BJP coalition, met CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury in the national capital. Sources said that Naidu is likely to meet Congress president Rahul Gandhi in the national capital and BSP chief Mayawati in Lucknow on Saturday. [Modi slams Pragya Singh Thakur for Godse remark, says 'will never forgive her'] The TDP chief had met the election commission earlier in the day and told reporters that but any outfit which is against the saffron party are welcome to join a grand alliance after the election results are declared. Results of the general elections will be declared on May 23. PTI Congress could not win Ponnani Lok Sabha seat since 1951 elections India oi-Deepika S Kochi, May 17: Out of the 70 plus years in independent India, the Congress party which ruled monopoly over government formation for over sixty years Ponnani Lok Sabha seat remains a mystery. The Muslim dominant constituency in Kerala hasn't returned a single Congress candidate since 1951. This time around United Democratic Front incumbent E T Mohammed Basheer pitted against Left Democratic Front (LDF) Independent candidate P V Anvar in a no-holds-barred electoral battle in Ponnani, traditionally an Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) bastion. Sonia Gandhi invites non-NDA parties for meet on May 23 Ponnani has been represented 11 times by the IUML and its candidates have been recording a continuous run of victories from 1977 onwards. Since then, the Ponnani remained an IUML bastion. The Muslim-dominant constituency was Left lenient in 1962, 1967 and 1971 general elections. In 1977, IUML national leader G M Banatwala wrested Ponnani where he enjoyed landslide victory for seven times, while another national leader Ebrahim Sulaiman Sait sailed to an easy win in 1991. Former Union Minister E Ahamed won the seat in 2004. Sitting MP E T Mohammed Basheer retained Ponnani in 2009 and 2014. However, the next election onwards the constituency started witnessing a steady fall in the vote share of the UDF and a remarkable increase in the voter base of LDF. Basheer's lead of 82,684 votes in 2009 had dipped to 25,410 in 2014. In the Assembly elections held three years ago, the UDF lead in the Ponnani Parliament constituency had further fallen to 1,404. What is interesting is that even Congress top guns like former two time Chief Minister Oommen Chandy are not aware of Ponnani's 'track record'. A look at popular campaign slogans of 2014 BJP' V T Rema is hopeful that it can improve its position cashing in on the Sabarimala sentiment and Narendra Modi's achievements at the Centre. The BJP had less than 9 per cent share in the last Parliament elections. The Ponnani Lok Sabha seat encompasses seven assembly constituencies, of which six are in Malappuram district, while the Thirthala constituency is located in Palakkad district. ECI likely to reject display time of the VVPAT but might accept auditing of 30% machines Not obligated to conduct elections as per Congresss instructions says EC in Supreme Court EC rejects questions raised over movement of EVMs in UP, says Baseless and Frivolous Bihar assembly elections 2020: Heres how you can cast your vote using the EVM and VVPAT EC allows more tables for speeding counting of votes India oi-Oneindia Staff By Anuj Cariappa Mumbai, May 17: In a bid to increase the speed of counting of votes on May 23, the Election Commission (EC) has allowed to increase the number of tables in some Lok Sabha and assembly constituencies in the Maharashtra. According to a letter the Kolhapur district collectorate has received from the EC, there will be 20 tables each instead of 14 in Kolhapur and Hatkanangale Lok Sabha constituencies. The EC also allowed to increase the number of tables in Maval and Panvel assembly constituencies, which are part of Maval Lok Sabha seat. Opposition provides a frightening scenario for the electorate: Jaitley "The decision is taken mainly due to the number of polling stations in these Lok Sabha and assembly segments. With more number of polling stations, the actual counting procedure with only 14 tables will take over 10 hours to finalise the results," Sanjay Shinde, resident collector of Kolhapur, said. "Similar is the case with Maval and Panvel assembly segments, which are part of Maval Lok Sabha seat. Both the assembly segments have more than 800 polling stations, whereas general average is of 700-800 polling stations in every assembly segment," an official from Pune district collectorate said. "Hence, the EC has permitted to use more tables, so that counting of more polling stations can commence at once," he said. The VVPAT machines as well as service voters' papers with bar-codes are going to be counted as well, Shinde said. Lok Sabha Elections 2019: Who benefits from higher voter turnout? "The bar-code feature is going to increase the counting time. Hence, the state officials have requested the ECI to increase the counting tables and deploy more people for this procedure," he added. These requests have been accepted as well. A detailed communication will be shared soon, the official from Pune said, adding that the ECI has already started training sessions for the counting day. Full majority govt has benefits says Modi in his first presser India oi-Vikas SV New Delhi, May 17: In his first media briefing since assuming office in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday summarised the benefits of a full majority government and said governance takes a back a back seat when there is a coalition government. He said that in 2014, a full majority government was formed after many decades and that nation can see the benefits. PM Modi held a joint presser with BJP president Amit Shah in the national capital. Modi also said that the start of an honest government began on May 17, 2014, a day after the Lok Sabha election 2014 results were announced. LS polls 2019: How these witty one-liners decide the fate of the nation? "The election results were out on May 16, 2014. A huge casualty took place on May 17 in the same year. Today is May 17. People in 'Satta bazaar' who used to bet for Congress to win in elections faced huge losses then," Modi said. In 2014, a full majority government was formed and you have seen what difference makes, said PM Modi. "Rarely has it happened that a majority government after completing five years will come to power again..But, it will change this time. BJP will come back with a bigger mandate in 2019. We want to do more for the country," the Prime Minister said. Modi said India should impress the world with its diversity and democracy. "I believe there are some things we can be proudly tell the world. This is the world's largest democracy, it is our responsibility to take the power of this democracy to the world. We should impress the world with the diversity of the democracy," he said. He said there was a time when Indian Premier League had to be shifted out of India due to polls, but under the current government, Navratri, Ram Navami, Easter, Ramzan, IPL, board exams as well as elections could take place simultaneously and smoothly. ["Showing up is half the battle", Rahul's jibe at PM Modi] The prime minister said, during the campaigning, he told people that "I have come to thank you for your blessings....The country has always been with us. So in a way the campaigning was a way of saying thank you to the people. Even today, I am here to thank you and thank them through you." Modi ended the briefing by saying, "I have come to thank the media and thank the citizens through the media." At the end of the briefing, media were keen to ask questioned to the Prime Minister, but Modi refused to take a question and instead pointed towards Amit Shah. Amit Shah had earlier credited PM Modi's work in the government and his popularity with people for the success of the campaign that he described as one of India's hardest fought election. PM Modi, he said, had addressed 142 election rallies and conducted 4 road shows that let him made direct contact with 1.5 crore people. Pain, agony and judicial battle: How Nirbhaya's mother brought justice to her daughter Justice after 7 years, who said what on Nirbhaya hangings Nirbhaya: Only two convicts wrote a will, one wanted to donate paintings, another his body Nirbhaya: None of the four convicts slept at night Squirmed for a bit before going still: The final moments of Nirbhayas killers Bihar man hangs self in quarantine centre: Cops say he was stressed due to TB JNU student ends life by hanging from fan in hostel room, suicide note sent on mail India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, May 17: A Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student was found hanging from a ceiling fan at a hostel room inside the campus on Friday. The deceased has been identified as MA English 2nd year student of JNU. It is learnt that the English professor had called police informing them he has received a suicide note in his e-mail. Man jumps to death from 30th floor of World Trade Centre in Mumbai According to the preliminary enquiry, no foul play is suspected to be there in the incident. Meanwhile, further probe is underway. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 17, 2019, 16:27 [IST] Kashmir-Bengal-Kerala: Understanding the geographical remit of the ISIS India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, May 17: After announcing a province in India, the Islamic State has done the same in Pakistan as well. Media reports in Pakistan said that the ISIS claimed to have assassinated a police officer in Mastung and also hit rival Taliban fighters in Quetta. Both were attributed to the Pakistan Province of the group. The move comes just a few days after a similar province was announced in Kashmir. Several analysts tell OneIndia that the ISIS is trying to establish the Caliphate in the Indo-Pak-Afghanistan region after it fell in its mainlands of Syria and Iraq. Also Read | ISIS' South Asia branch comes under UN radar, sanctions imposed Similar attempts are also being made in the South of India. The group is in touch with several radical groups down South and is trying to replicate what it did with the National Towheed Jamath in Sri Lanka. Even in Kashmir, the ISIS would look for local groups to further its cause. Another development that has been worrying the agencies is the announcement of an Emir for West Bengal. All these groups of the ISIS would operate on a region wise basis. They would target specific issues relating to the region. Some analysts say that the ISIS would look to establish Caliphates in all these regions. The ISIS did not elaborate on the branch's geographical remit as it mentioned the name of its new branch in a low-key announcement.The announcement of the new branch is seen as part of ISIS' strategy to give the impression of strengthening its global affiliations following the territorial losses in the Middle East. Such a strategy was highlighted by ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in the past.The brief ISIS statement of May 10 via the messaging app Telegram said that the Islamic State militants using machine guns had clashed with the Indian security forces in the village of Amshipora in Kashmir's Shopian district, killing or injuring a number of them. Wilayah of Hind by ISIS in Kashmir is a step further towards Global Islamic Council Media reports on May 10 said that one militant was killed in clashes with security forces in Kashmir's Shopian district. ISIS began claiming attacks against Indian security forces in Kashmir since November 2017 without any branch affiliation. Prevously, ISIS attacks in Kashmir were linked to its so-called Khorasan Province branch, which was set up in 2015 to cover "Afghanistan, Pakistan and nearby lands". For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 17, 2019, 14:10 [IST] Ready to quit cinema if it becomes hurdle to political career: Kamal Haasan Let them arrest me, says Kamal Haasan over Godse remark India oi-Madhuri Adnal Chennai, May 17: A day after actor-turned politician Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) chief Kamal Haasan was attacked with stones for saying that Independent India's first terrorist was a Hindu, the MNM chief has issued a statement of clarification. Haasan, who made the remark in an apparent reference to Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse in Aravakurichi on Sunday, said, "History shows there are extremists in all religions, my speech that day was about peace and harmony and I will not indulge in mudslinging." Speaking on his Nathuram Godse remark, who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi in 1947, Haasan said,"I am not afraid of being arrested. Let them arrest me. If they do that, it will only create more problem. It's not my warning but only an advice." He also said that he is not threatened but "feels the quality of politics is going down". 'Godse was a first Hindu extremist' remark: HC refuses to entertain PIL against Kamal Haasan Haasan's remarks on Nathuram Godse, who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi in 1947, have snowballed into a major controversy. The 64-year-old, while campaigning in Aravakurichi on Sunday, had said: "I am not saying this because this is a Muslim-dominated area, but I am saying this before a statue of Gandhi. Independent India's first extremist (theeviravaadi) was a Hindu, his name is Nathuram Godse. There it starts." Following the stir his statements created, the actor defended his views and stated that people were making allegations against him without listening to his entire speech at Aravakurichi. A police complaint was also filed against the actor-politician on Tuesday in Aravakurichi over his comments. Speaking on stones thrown at his rally in Trichy, Haasan said, "I feel the quality of polity is going down. I don't feel threatened. Every religion has their own terrorist, we cannot claim that we are sanctimonious. History shows that all religions have their extremists." Will always be with you to fight injustice: Rahul Gandhi to media Lok Sabha Elections 2019 updates: Anti-BJP front gains momentum, Naidu meets Sonia Gandhi India oi-Oneindia Staff By Anuj Cariappa New Delhi, May 19: Andhra Pradesh Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday met BSP chief Mayawati and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow, continuing his efforts to put together a coalition to form the next government at the Centre. He reached Lucknow after meetings in New Delhi with Congress president Rahul Gandhi, CPI leaders G Sudhakar Reddy and D Raja, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and LJD leader Sharad Yadav. The Telugu Desam Party chief has already held several rounds of discussions with various opposition leaders, including TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal and CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury. Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his two-day visit to Uttarakhand today with a visit to Kedarnath shrine. The prime minister is also expected to offer prayers at Badrinath tomorrow before returning to Delhi in the afternoon. The prime minister's visit to the holy shrine came a day before the last phase of the marathon Lok Sabha elections. Fifty nine parliamentary constituencies, including Varanasi, will go to polls in the seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha elections and the results will be announced four days later, on May 23. Stay tuned for the Lok Sabha elections 2019 UPDATES: Will always be with you to fight injustice: Rahul Gandhi to media LS polls 2019: How these witty one-liners decide the fate of the nation? India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, May 17: Campaign slogans have a colourful history in Indian elections, and for centuries political parties have generated catchy phrases and one-liners that have infused campaigns with vigour and enthusiasm, giving the public a strong call to action during voting. An effective slogan will sum up a candidate's pitch to the country in a few words, and be powerful enough to cut through the endless onslaught of information in people's lives. A look at popular campaign slogans of 2014 It can be recalled that in 2014, BJP swept the nation with a number of catchy slogans both hitting out at Congress and also promising the country a new era of vikaas and acche din. In fact, during the 2016 US presidential elections, then Republican candidate Donald Trump had adopted the 2014 BJP slogan to reach out to the Indian diaspora in the US. Speaking in Hindi, Trump had said in a video, 'Ab Ki Baar Trump Sarkar'. Now, for the Lok Sabha elections 2019, BJP coined a slogan: Phir Ek Baar Modi Sarkar. People had been using similar words to gauge the possible outcome of the ongoing elections even before the party would announce it as its official slogan, continuing its 2014 narrative. Congress also launched its election campaign tagline - Ab Hoga NYAY. In its campaign tagline, the Congress made it clear that the party is serious about the minimum income guarantee scheme -- the NYAY scheme -- launched by party president Rahul Gandhi on March 25. But the drama doesn't end here. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi began referring to himself as Chowkidar, Congress president Rahul Gandhi was quick to attack him with the 'Chowkidar Chor Hai' slogan. The BJP then reacted to the jibe by launching the 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' slogan and song as part of its election campaign. Congress could not win Ponnani Lok Sabha seat since 1951 elections One can clearly witness the shift in the BJP's own issue-based slogans of the past five years like 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas', 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao', and 'Make in India' to more direction-less ones this time like 'Main bhi chowkidar' and 'Modi hai toh mumkin hai'. Does this framing reflect an intent to evade questions around the agrarian and job crisis? However, how much can a slogan contribute to election results cannot be ascertained but quirky slogans surely do add to the fun. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 17, 2019, 16:42 [IST] Got an idea of what was to come, former Pak envoy on meeting Ram Madhav Muralidhar Rao rejects Ram Madhavs assessment, says BJP will win 280 plus seats India oi-Oneindia Staff By Anuj Cariappa New Delhi, May 17: Dismissing his colleague Ram Madhav's assessment that the BJP will need the support of allies to form government, senior leader P Muralidhar Rao says his party will get more than 280 seats while the NDA's tally will be 300 plus. Regional leaders like BSP supremo Mayawati and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav are irrelevant in the national context, the BJP's national general secretary told PTI. Taking a potshot at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Telangana counterpart K Chandrasekhar Rao, he said everybody is thinking of becoming prime minister regardless of the numbers their parties might get in the elections. 110 women candidates with criminal background, 255 crorepatis contested 2019 LS polls Discussing Madhav's comment in a recent interview that the BJP will require the support of allies to form the next government, he said, "My entire party does not agree with him. It is not me alone. My party president, my PM candidate and my party have expressed the opinions disagreeing... And I have also learnt that he has changed his view after his interview." Rao said the BJP has got a clear advantage and this perception has increased phase by phase. "So, in my view, we will either not be less than 300 (with NDA allies) or 280 plus on our own," Rao said. "We will be calling it NDA government. In 2014 also, we formed the NDA government but we had our own majority. So the same situation will continue," he said. Modi said in a rally in Bihar this week that the BJP will cross the 300 mark on its own. According to Rao, the Congress and opposition parties have been unable to put up a united front to fight the BJP. "Though they were desirous of giving a united fight, they could not translate it into action," the senior party functionary said ahead of the last round of the seven-phase election on May 19. To a question on the party's probable tally in Uttar Pradesh, which has 80 Lok Sabha seats, Rao said the BJP is seen as a party with a "Delhi advantage". "Because of this, people think Mayawati is no choice for Delhi. Akhilesh Yadav is no choice for Delhi. Even the voters of these parties think... why should we vote for this party when they are not relevant in the Delhi context," he said. Referring to the SP-BSP alliance in UP, Rao said their politics will not work in the state and the BJP will be able to improve its position in UP and the entire north India. Congress could not win Ponnani Lok Sabha seat since 1951 elections "I don't see a great deficit or shortfall (there)," Rao said, when asked whether the BJP will be able to maintain its 2014 tally of 71 in Uttar Pradesh. Reacting to KCR's reported statement that the next prime minister should be from south India, Rao said everybody is thinking of becoming the prime minister, whether or not they have the numbers. "When he (KCR) is saying so he must be having his own name (for becoming the PM). Mamata Banerjee is contesting 42 seats in Bengal... She is also available for PM. So everybody is thinking (of becoming the pm)," he said. Rao said the party will get all the seats in Rajasthan this time too. "In a state like Rajasthan where we had 100 per cent seats, all 25, we cannot win more seats. So our entire effort is to retain that number and achieve that number again. With the kind of feedback we are getting in MP and Rajasthan, we will be able to get the same number if seats we had in 2014," he said. The party got 27 of 29 seats in Madhya Pradesh in the last general election. Talking about Bihar, he said Modi wave is at its peak in the state. "The feedback is our alliance is going to do very well in Bihar and we will be adding one or two seats to our previous result as we are going to do in Karnataka," Rao said. BJP has joined hands with Nitish Kumar-led JD (U) and Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party in Bihar. Will Rahul 's new anti-factionalism formula work? Rao said the issues of corruption and the Rafale jet deal raked up by the Congress and the opposition parties has gone against them. "Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and all the opposition parties will realise this after May 23 results. I have gone to many parts of the country and there I have talked to people and there they are not willing to accept that Modi can be corrupt... So attacking him has not given any advantage to Congress or to the entire opposition," Rao said. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 17, 2019, 17:31 [IST] Delhi HC asks Centre, Google to respond to mans plea to remove articles on his conviction in criminal case Who is Saurabh Kirpal? Indias likely to get its first openly gay judge of Delhi high court Delhi HC dismisses plea to stop publication, sale of Salman Khurshid's book : 'Ask people not to buy it' Place before cabinet committee the need for more fast track commercial courts: HC India oi-Oneindia Staff By Anuj Cariappa New Delhi, May 17: Taking note of the pendency of sexual assault and business dispute cases, the Delhi High Court directed the Delhi government to place before the Cabinet the requirement for 18 more fast track and 22 commercial courts. A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice A J Bhambhani said the high court had sanctioned certain posts of judges for establishing fast track and commercials courts but the matter has been pending before the government for over two years. "Once the high court made the demand, government is duty bound to process it," the bench observed. Cabinet approves amendment in POCSO Act, death penalty for aggravated sexual assault on minors The court was informed that as on day, 6,414 cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and over 2,800 cases of sexual offences, particularly rape, are pending in Delhi. It noted that the mandate of Section 309 CrPC contemplates that cases of rape under the IPC and of sexual offences against minors under the POCSO Act should be decided in two months after the filing of the charge sheet. Considering the pendency, the court said it is "humanly impossible" unless adequate number of courts are sanctioned. The court was hearing a plea for making fast track courts a permanent feature at the district level. Prag Chawla, in his plea, has contended that the Registrar General of the high court has made representations to authorities to make fast track courts (FTC) a permanent feature by sanctioning more posts of judges and ancillary staff, but till date no action has been taken. The petition, filed through advocate Sumit Chander, has claimed that FTCs at the level of additional district or session judge (ADJ/ASJ) was being run on ad-hoc or temporary basis and the Supreme Court in 2012 had directed that either they be discontinued or made permanent. Advocate Anupam Srivastava, representing the Delhi government, gave the details of a written by the state in which it wanted to know how many more courts are required to be set up. The court noted that under the Commercial Courts Act, the state is bound to create these courts and dispose of the commercial disputes and that the demand for 22 commercial courts is still pending with the government. "We direct that requirement for 22 commercial courts an 18 FTCs as demanded by the high court be placed before the Cabinet," the bench said. The requirement has to be placed before the Cabinet till the end of this month and a report has to be filed before the high court. The matter is listed for further hearing on May 30. The court said if there is any further query, the government will give the details to the registrar general by May 18 and he will then furnish the details to the law secretary by May 20. The court had earlier sought AAP government's response on the petition in which Chawla has said that after the apex court's decision, the high court had sent a letter in July 2012 to the Delhi government requesting it to continue the FTC scheme as a permanent feature. In 2013 the high court had again written to the Delhi government to expedite the setting up of permanent FTCs and to sanction 20 posts of additional district and sessions judges along with 95 posts of ancillary staff, the petition has said. The government, however, sanctioned the FTCs only for one more year, the plea has claimed and added that this sanction was given year after year whenever a letter was sent by the high court to make it permanent. "However, no such court (FTC) has become functional against this sanction as no appointment to such courts can be made on an ad-hoc basis," the petition has claimed. It has also claimed that there is a shortfall of over 200 judges in the subordinate judiciary which has led to an increase in pendency of cases, including those of sexual assault against minors and rape, in the lower courts. Delhi: 3-year-old girl raped by neighbour at her house The petition has also alleged that there is a shortage of commercial courts at the district-level and has sought creation of 22 posts with ancillary staff for this purpose. "The present petition is necessitated in view of the delay by the Government of NCT of Delhi to take any action or decision in respect of the establishment of FTCs on a permanent basis and its insistence on extending the scheme on an ad-hoc basis," the plea has said. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 17, 2019, 9:13 [IST] Congress always insulted B R Ambedkar in his lifetime and even after death: Amit Shah Pragya Thakur's candidature a 'satyagrah' against fake saffron terror' cases: Amit Shah India oi-Vikas SV New Delhi, May 17: BJP president Amit Shah spoke on a range of issue in a press briefing with Prime Narendra Modi including on the row over Sadhvi Pragya Thakur's remark on Nathuram Godse. Shah said the Modi would return as Prime Minister post elelcion results on May 23 and exuded condfidence that the BJP would win 300 plus seats. "The BJP will get a majority on its own and the NDA will form the government... But if there are other parties which want to join (the ruling alliance), they are welcome," Shah said. When asked about about Pragya Thakur's controversial remark, Shah said that the party has served her a show-cause notice for her terming Nathuram Godse a patriot. "We asked her to reply within 10 days. After she filed a reply, party's disciplinary committee will take appropriate actions," he added. "Pragya Thakur's candidature is like a satyagrah against a fake Hindu narrative," Shah further said when pressed by the reporters on Thakur's candidature. Pragya Singh Thakur, who is the BJP candidate from Bhopal Lok Sabha seat, had termed Nathuram Godse as a patriot. In a tweet, Union Minister Anant Hegde was seen supporting Pragya Thakur while BJP MP Nalin Kateel compared Godse with former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. When asked about Mamata Banerjee's allegation against the BJP of inciting violence, Shah said that party is contesting in all the states, but is violence happeneing only in West Bengal? "80 BJP workers have been killed in West Bengal. What does Mamata ji has to say? Why is poll related violence in West Bengal only?" Shah said. [Full majority govt has benefits says Modi in his first presser] Earlier, Prime Minister Modi, addressing the media, summarised the benefits of a full majority government and said governance takes a back a back seat when there is a coalition government. He said that in 2014, a full majority government was formed after many decades and that nation can see the benefits. Amit Shah had earlier credited PM Modi's work in the government and his popularity with people for the success of the campaign that he described as one of India's hardest fought election. PM Modi, he said, had addressed 142 election rallies and conducted 4 road shows that let him made direct contact with 1.5 crore people. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 17, 2019, 18:55 [IST] SC vacates interim protection to former Kolkata top cop India oi-Oneindia Staff By Anuj Cariappa New Delhi, May 17: The Supreme Court has vacated the interim protection granted to former Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar in the Saradha chit fund scam. The court however granted him seven days time to seek legal remedy. Kumar's counsel had told the bench that CBI's application seeking custodial interrogation of the IPS officer was a "mala fide exercise". Kumar was earlier heading the West Bengal Police's special investigation team (SIT) probing the chit fund scam. The apex court had in May 2014 directed the CBI to investigate the case. The apex court, on February 5, had granted protection from arrest to Kumar while directing him to appear before the CBI and "faithfully" cooperate into the investigation of cases arising out of the scam. The Election Commission on Wednesday ordered the removal of Kumar, who was posted as Additional Director General, CID, in West Bengal and had asked him to report to Union Home Ministry on Thursday. Kumar, involved in a face-off with the CBI in connection with the agency's investigation in Saradha and Rose Valley chit fund scams, was removed as Additional Director General, CID, in West Bengal for allegedly failing to control the incidents of violence in the state. During the arguments on CBI's plea, the apex court had said that it would examine whether there was evidence requiring Kumar's custodial interrogation in the case and had also perused the case diary placed before it by the agency. This is what happens if you elect an actor to become politician: Congress slam BJP's Sunny Deol Sunny Deol demands deployment of additional paramilitary forces in Gurdaspur India oi-Vikas SV Chandigarh, May 17: The actor-turned-politician today moved the Punjab and Haryana high court "fearing misuse of official machinery" by the ruling Congress and sought adequate measures to ensure free and fair polling. Deol is pitted against Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar, who is the sitting MP from Gurdaspur. Campaigning for the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab, including Gurdaspur, ended on Friday evening. The polling will be held on Sunday. Deol also demanded that the Gurdaspur constituency be declared "super sensitive", claiming it was prone to violence. He cited the incidents of poll-related violence in the border constituency during panchayat polls which were conducted across the state in December 2018. "We moved the court because we feared the official machinery could be misused in the elections by the Congress," advocate Pankaj Jain, the counsel for Deol, told reporters. He said after they filed the petition before a division bench of justices Daya Chaudhary and Sudhir Mittal, the court sought to know from the Election Commission about the measures being taken to ensure free and fair polls in Gurdaspur. [Why Gurdaspur won't be a cake walk for Gadar star, Sunny Deol] The petitioner's counsel submitted before the court that the "Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat is a prestigious constituency as not only the petitioner is a popular figure, he is contesting the election against a candidate, who is a state president of the Congress". The counsel representing the Election Commission informed the court that 24 companies of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) would be deployed at 866 polling booths in the parliamentary constituency. As many as 111 polling booths have been categorised as "critical" and 467 as "vulnerable", the court was informed about the measures taken by the EC. At 1014 booths, Micro Observes have been appointed and 1034 booths will be covered by webcasting. Besides, three General Observers have been appointed, the court was informed. In many booths, multiple security measures, including adequate deployment of state police force, have also been undertaken, the EC counsel further informed the court. "In view of the action taken, no further direction is required to be issued in this petition and the present petition is disposed of accordingly," the bench said in its order. Punjab's Additional Chief Electoral Officer Sibin C told reporters that "the court was satisfied with the measures being taken by the Election Commission for Gurdaspur constituency". For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 17, 2019, 21:27 [IST] 'It's ok to be mediocre': This is what Copter crash lone survivor wrote to school The politicisation of the Army explained by architect of surgical strikes India oi-Oneindia Staff By Anuj Cariappa New Delhi, May 17: Lt Gen D S Hooda (retd), the architect of the 2016 surgical strikes on terror launch pads in PoK, on Thursday said it is "worrisome" that the military is increasingly being drawn into the political discourse and used to win political arguments. The Indian Army's former Northern Command chief also said the talk around politicisation of the military "is sort of exaggerated". " ...the military (is) being increasingly drawn into the political discourse, it's being used to win political arguments, it's being used as something which generates success in the elections. And that frankly is worrisome," Hooda said at an event - "Dialogue on National Security", here. "For example, you saw the recent debate over 'my cross border strikes versus your surgical strikes'. What ultimately happened, a document was pulled out in reply to a RTI reply ... to say that look this is what the Army headquarters is saying, that's where, I think, the worry is when too much political debate starts over military," he said. "Then you could see military being increasingly drawn in and ultimately in the long run, everybody understands it that it is going to impact your impartiality, it is going to impact your apolitical character," he added. Responding to an RTI application filed by PTI, the Directorate General of Military Operations (DGMOs) said last year that the Army did not have any records of any "surgical strike" conducted before September 29, 2016 - the day when the raid was carried out in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Elite unit of the Armed Forces AFSOD begins operations "So, I think, if all political parties can just leave the military out of the political discourse, that would be the best. Whether it is going to happen, I don't know because people have also tasted success using name of the military for electoral victory," Hooda said. Replying to a question about "politicisation of the armed forces", Hooda said, "There is a lot of talk around politicisation of the Army, politicisation of the military, to me, some of it is sort of exaggerated. What exactly does politicisation mean? It means that men and women in uniform are taking a partisan political viewpoint and I don't see that to such an extent that you should start getting worried." Lt Gen (retd) Praveen Bakshi, who was also present at the event, said politicisation of the armed forces was his "biggest fear". "Politicisation of the armed forces is when the government in power can make the armed forces do its bidding, not in the national interest but for personal interest, that could be politicisation," said Bakshi, who headed the Army's Eastern Command during the Doklam standoff. "... we need to insulate ourselves and as a democracy all of us are stakeholders in preventing this part. If this (politicisation) happens, I am afraid, others are just baying for it. In fact, perhaps Pakistan's strategy is exactly this - to politicise our armed forces. We are a multi-party democracy, how can we be politicised?" he said. He added that the Indian armed forces have not been politicised yet, but it is at the germination stage and it may flower later. Congress leader Rajeev Gowda, also a panelist, said national security is not just what happens at the border and is a much broader subject. " ...it is fundamentally about our people, their security, their prospects... it is also about what happens internally in different parts of India, what happens within the economy and whether everyone is getting a chance to move forward in a manner that promotes harmony rather than discontent and division," he said. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 17, 2019, 6:08 [IST] TV Actor Karan Oberoi bail plea rejected by Mumbai Court India oi-Madhuri Adnal Mumbai, May 17: The Bail plea of TV Actor Karan Oberoi, who was arrested by police in connection with an alleged rape case, has been rejected by Dindoshi sessions court, Mumbai. Oberoi's lawyer Dinesh Tiwari on Thursday finished his arguments before the Dindoshi sessions court for seeking a bail for his client. Before he finished his argument, Tiwari told the court that the complainant had "created an impression of blackmail" by threatening Karan's sister of using "Black Magic to bring her down to the streets". He also said that the two had previously filed complaints against each other with the local police. Tiwari said the complainant had filed the case to gain "sadistic pleasure" and that it was only a means to seek revenge from Karan for not reciprocating the love she had for him. The victim's lawyer Sheetal Pandya on the other hand questioned the source of various messages that the accused was relying on. She also opposed Tiwari's statement that Tinder is not an app for "serious relationships" saying the people using Tinder have entered committed relationship and have even married at times. Oberoi was arrested after a fashion designer, in her complaint to the Oshiwara police, alleged the 'Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahi' fame actor raped her on the pretext of marriage. She claimed she was in a relationship with Oberoi since 2016. The police said the woman has alleged that Oberoi allegedly shot her objectionable videos, and threatened to make them public, if she didn't pay him. The police wanted his custody to recover the gifts the woman allegedly gave the actor. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 17, 2019, 15:42 [IST] TV actor, senior ULFA cadre held in connection with Guwahati blast India oi-Vicky Nanjappa Guwahati, May 17: The police have arrested a TV actor and another person in connection with a grenade attack that took place on the Zoo Road here. In the attack 11 persons including two security personnel were injured. The police arrested Pranomoy Rajguru and actor Jahnavi Saikia, following a raid which was conducted at a home rented by them. The police have accused both of playing a key role in the planning of the attack on behalf of the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA). During the raid the police recovered explosives including 20 kg of gunpowder. Further bomb making equipment, a pistol and 25 rounds of ammunition too had been found. The police say that Rajguru joined the ULFA n 1986 and was a looking after the activities of the outfit in Guwahati. It has been alleged that Saikia had helped him transport cadre to the area that was targeted in the attack. The police also alleged that the attack was planned at the rented house in Baghorbari. Will always be with you to fight injustice: Rahul Gandhi to media Will Rahul 's new anti-factionalism formula work? India oi-Hardeep Singh Bedi New Delhi, May 17: The Congress is a party where factionalism has always been a major issue during every election, and the 2019 Lok Sabha election isn't an exception. Earlier, Gandhi family, a.k.a. Congress high command used to ask various state leaders and party general secretary in-charges to iron out the differences among party leaders. "The new players of the Gandhi family (Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra) realised that this approach has not been yielding desired results as the party has been losing many seats that it could have won. The other problem with this approach was that even various general secretary in-charges were themselves leading one or another faction, " said a source. Rahul will play 'central role' in formation of new govt: Tejashwi When Rahul Gandhi started campaigning for the party then he devised a unique way to address the issue. Instead of asking various party leaders to sort out the problem of factionalism, Rahul himself took the responsibility. Wherever he went to address the rallies, he made sure to call party MLAs on the stage and talk with them. "The idea behind this exercise was to send a message among senior party leaders that he is not going to totally rely on their feedback, which is often self-centric rather than party-centric. Rahul used to inquire from the MLAs about their victory margin and after getting an answer he would tell them that they must ensure the Congress candidate from their parliamentary constituency should not get fewer votes than their victory margin from their area," said the source. With the final phase of polling remaining in the Lok Sabha elections, Rahul is using this new approach vigorously in Congress-ruled Madhya Pradesh and Punjab. All the 13 seats of Punjab and 08 seats of Madhya Pradesh will go to polls in the seventh phase on May 19. Rahul has told ministers of Punjab and Madhya Pradesh in plain words that they must ensure the Congress should not suffer because of the factionalism, says the source. In fact, Rahul had got the feedback that the ministers of the Congress-ruled states didn't provide requisite support to the party candidates during the last six phases due to their personal interests. However, a seasoned Congress observer is of the opinion that Rahul's efforts to be in touch with the MLAs and local state leaders are not being liked by the mandarins of 24, Akbar Road- the Congress headquarters, and plans are afoot to desist him or any future Congress president to break the newly found tradition of the party. "After the demise of Indira Gandhi, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) leaders started to become powerful as keeping distance between the Gandhi family and state level Congress leaders became their modus operandi. Because of the communication gap, the office bearers of the AICC always had a field day and the party paid the price, " says the observer. Image showing 'Modilie' entry fake: Oxford Dictionaries rubbishes Rahul Gandhi's claim "The tradition started with Rajiv Gandhi and reached its acme till the tenure of Sonia Gandhi. Since Rahul has assumed the office of the Congress president, he is doing various experiments that have made AICC office bearers a concerned lot. They have anticipated the fallouts of Rahul's anti-factionalism formula, " adds the observer. According to him, a Congress president getting involved with the lower rung of the party is not good for the health of the AICC office bearers. "Many AICC office bearers and General Secretary In-charges of the states get moolah in lieu of tickets and various appointments. If Congress President starts hobnobbing with party MLAs and state leaders then chances are high that their money-making scheme will ultimately suffer." "Therefore, the AICC office bearers and senior leaders did their best to fail Rahul 's formula. And, the proof is the feedback of the last six phases. Had it been successful, he wouldn't have to issue warning to the ministers of Punjab and Madhya Pradesh before the final phase," claims the observer. It's pertinent to mention here that Rahul Gandhi has been desperate to improve Congress tally in 2019 Lok Sabha elections and hasn't shied away from experimenting new things. For example, for the first time in the history of the Congress he allowed Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled states to fight the Lok Sabha elections on their face value instead of the Congress president. LS polls 2019: How these witty one-liners decide the fate of the nation? UP panchayat polls 2021: Only five people will be allowed during door-to-door campaigning, says SEC Assam assembly elections 2021: Campaign for first phase poll in Assam ends Assembly Elections 2021: Poll campaign to stop at 7 PM on April 4 A look at popular campaign slogans of 2014 Infographics oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, May 17: A political slogans is so powerful that it can unite people to rally for a candidate. Over the years, political parties have coined some memorable slogans that have infused campaigns with vigour and enthusiasm, giving the public a strong call to action during voting. In 2014, BJP won the elections with a number of catchy slogans both hitting out at Congress and also promising the country a new era of vikaas and acche din. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 17, 2019, 6:30 [IST] Austrian priest who was accused of trying to kiss nun cleared by Vatican court International pti-PTI Vatican City, May 17: A Vatican court has cleared a senior priest accused of making advances towards a German nun during confession, the Holy See said on Friday. The five-member Supreme Court said in a statement that after careful examination the "serious" allegation could not be proved "with the required moral certitude". Austrian Father Hermann Geissler proclaimed his innocence but resigned in January as one of three top officials at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which ensures Roman Catholic moral doctrine. A Canonical disciplinary procedure in 2014 let Geissler off with a warning after former German nun Doris Wagner accused him of inappropriate behaviour during confession. "He kept me for hours, kneeling before him, he told me that he loved me and that he knew that I loved him and that even if we couldn't marry, there were other ways," Wagner said. "He tried to take me in his arms and kiss me. I panicked and ran," Wagner said in testimony she put on social media. Wagner also accused another priest of raping her in 2008. He was removed from the Vatican but remains a priest in a community where "many young nuns live", according to Wagner. PTI How IAF shot down Pakistans F-16 in an aerial dogfight Abhinandan Varthamanan: This year, that year, the dog fight which took down a Pak F-16 F-16 fighter jet crashes into building in California; Pilot ejects safely International oi-Madhuri Adnal Sacramento, May 17: A pilot ejected safely just minutes before an F-16 fighter jet crashed into a building at the end of a runway near March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley of California in the US on Thursday. The crash took place about 3:30 p.m. on Thursday at the air base in Riverside County, U.S. Air Force Maj. Perry Covington said. Major Perry Covington, director of public affairs at the base, said that the pilot ejected before the crash on Thursday and was not hurt. Pentagon rejects US media report on Pak's F-16 count, says 'not aware of any investigation' The pilot managed to eject from the aircraft and was receiving medical treatment, according to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department. Twelve people who were inside the tilt-up building when it was struck were treated for injuries or exposure caused by debris, Cal Fire Capt. Fernando Herrera. They were also decontaminated with a water hose due to possible exposure to hazardous chemicals. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, May 17, 2019, 10:33 [IST] Delhi: Muslims of Basai Darapur living in fear of backlash after murder of a businessman New Delhi pti-PTI New Delhi, May 17: The tension in the air is palpable at the Basai Darapur village in west Delhi's Moti Nagar with several Muslim residents living under constant fear of backlash-- days after a member of the majority Tyagi community was killed by his neighbours from the minority community. While several Muslim families who had have fled their homes have returned after assurances from the Delhi Police, members of the Tyagi community have decided to boycott Muslims from outside Delhi. Locals claim that the village, around 10 km from the power corridors in Lutyens' Delhi, remained peaceful even in the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition back in 1992. However, the killing of the 51-year-old businessman on May 12, allegedly for resisting youths who passed lewd remarks at his daughter, has not only shook both the communities to their core but is now threatening the bonhomie that has characterised Basai Darapur for decades. "Even during the Babri Masjid demolition, we have never witnessed any such instance. Hindus and Muslims have always stayed as a family here for ages. This is the first time something horrific like this has happened," Irfan Salami, a property dealer in the area said. Salami who has been living here for the last 44 years said he was forced to move his family to a relative's place after he heard that thousands of people from the Tyagi community would be flooding the area. "I returned this morning after assurances from the police," he added. The SHO of Moti Nagar Police Station had met the Muslims of the area personally to assure them that there would be no threat to their safety. While the victim's family has appealed to not give the incident a communal colour, the locals have alleged that some fringe groups were trying to flame communal passions. [6 year old murder case solved, man arrested] "Just to achieve political mileage, some fringe elements are trying to create a rift between the two communities," Salami said. His views were corroborated by 32-year-old Riyaz Ahmed, who was among those who took the profusely bleeding Tyagi and his son to the hospital. "I shifted my family to my younger sister's house in Uttam Nagar. It was only after the assurance of the police that we returned," Ahmed, who has been living in the area for the last 35 years said. Recalling the fateful night, Ahmed said, as soon as he heard noises, he rushed to rescue the businessman and his son but by the time he reached there, they had been stabbed. "I tried to rescue his daughter from the accused and then immediately rushed the two to hospital. There were so many people watching the entire incident, but none of them came forward to help instead they filmed the episode," he said. The minority community has condemned the incident, saying crime has no religion and the culprits involved in the act should be hanged to death. Hundreds of locals joined the victim's family in a condolence meeting in the village on Thursday and demanded financial compensation for the deceased's kin and death penalty for his killers. A Mahapanchayat called by the Tyagi community on Thursday decided that Muslims from outside Delhi should not be allowed to stay as tenants or be given shops on rent, which has left the minority community unnerved. However, the Muslims of the area alleged that many among the protesters raised hateful slogans against their community and even filmed the entry and exit routes of the village mosque. "A recce was conducted to ascertain the number of Muslim residents living here. Most of them who stay here as tenants were threatened by hateful comments made by the protesters," Ahmed said. [Delhi doctor found murdered at her residence, two neighbours missing] "Even the entry and exit routes of mosque were being filmed. Now, who will take the responsibility if anything untoward happens here?" he asked. Another local, Shahbaaz Ahmed (27), reminisced about the days gone by when the two communities dwelled together in unity and harmony. "I along with my relatives - about 26 of us moved to Okhla fearing for our lives. Although we have returned, panic has gripped the area. We are feeling unsafe and I have never ever felt like this before," he said. PTI Janina Findeisen : Bonn woman talks about her captivity in Syria BONN In an event hosted by the Protestant Church, Janina Findeisen from Bonn spoke to an audience about her nearly one-year captivity in Syria. She said she made the wrong decision when she entered the civil war area while well advanced in her pregnancy. Teilen Teilen Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Tweeten Tweeten Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Drucken She who travels has a story to tell. This old folk wisdom was evident on Wednesday evening when Janina Findeisen made an appearance for a book reading at an administrative building of the Protestant Church in Bonn. More than 300 people came to see her and get an impression of the 34-year-old journalist firsthand. In 2015, while highly pregnant, she traveled to the Syrian civil war region. There she found, as planned, her old school friend Laura, who had gone to the "Holy War" as a convert from Bonn Islamist circles. Shortly afterwards, Findeisen was kidnapped by terrorists and spent almost a year held hostage by the militia. During this time she gave birth to her son. She wrote down her experiences and recorded them in the widely acclaimed book Mein Zimmer im Haus des Krieges ("My Room in the House of War"). The fact that questions remain unanswered despite the 336 pages was made clear by the conversation that took place on the podium between the author and GA chief reporter Wolfgang Kaes. Janina Findeisen, like her friend Laura, attended the Clara Schumann Gymnasium and grew up just around the corner from where she found herself on this evening. She answered one of the most pressing questions frankly: a "mixture of a perceived sense of security and naivety" led her to make the wrong decision to enter Syria. She also felt a certain pressure to not to let down her partners with whom she had started a film project. What remained open was whether the environment she was exposed to at the time, played a role in her decision. Her book is not only about Syria, but also about Bonn. It is about a city, which in its history, already boasted the highest density of lawyers, civil servants, spies and even jihadists relative to its population. Findeisen writes in the book that after the federal government's move (to Berlin), Bonn had "retired, so to speak". And further: "Bonn had become without meaning and we did too along with it". It was an attempt to explain the comparatively high number of young people in Bonn who became Islamists, which Wolfgang Kaes does not allow the author to get away with, responding that life in Bonn is not really so bleak, not a place where people lack any kind of perspective. Findeisen says she writes "from a very personal perspective". Answering a question about whether she had had a guardian angel, she said absolutely. Organizer of the reading, Holger Schwab from Buchladen 46, said that all proceeds from the evening would go to the organization Reporters Without Borders. New Jersey Online Gambling News Round-Up Published May 17, 2019 by Elana K New Jersey is suing the DOJ for not releasing documents pertaining to the current online gambling crackdown. In other news, a Nevada man won $29 gambling illegally at a New Jersey online casino; the casino is now being fined $25,000. What a month New Jersey is having, and its not even over. The attorney general announced that the state is suing the Department of Justice for failing to hand over information regarding Sheldon Adelson and the recent crackdown on legal online gambling. The AG requested the information in February, following the crackdown that began in January, and has since then heard nothing from the DOJ. The failure to deliver the requested documents is a violation of the Freedom of Information Act, according to the New Jersey lawsuit. New Jersey has regulated a thriving online gambling industry since 2013 and is considered by many states the paragon of a successful operation. In fact, this past March, NJ online gambling hit a record high of nearly $40 million. With so much at stake, AG Gurbir Grewal is not ready to give it all up. Grewal stated, Online gaming is an important part of New Jerseys economy, and the residents of New Jersey deserve to know why the Justice Department is threatening to come after an industry we legalized years ago. Its especially important that we figure out whether this federal crackdown is the result of a lobbying campaign by a single individual seeking to protect his personal business interests. The lawsuit requests that the DOJ deliver the documents within 20 days, but the consequences are not yet known should the DOJ choose not to. In Other New Jersey News Theres a reason New Jerseys online gambling operation is so successful: The Division of Gaming Enforcement takes it seriously. Case in point is last week's incident of a Nevada man winning $29 by gambling at a New Jersey online casino. This, of course, never should have happened, since the geolocation technology used by New Jersey online casinos is supposed to block anyone outside state borders from logging in. Due to the breach in technology, the Gaming Innovation Group, which runs the online casino of Atlantic City's Hard Rock Casino, is being fined $25,000. The group has stated that this was a one-time error and will not be repeated. Art installation in Bonn : Hundreds of Beethoven statues fill Munsterplatz BONN As of Friday, Beethoven statues have transformed Munsterplatz in Bonn city center. Organizers of the art installation have been surprised by the enormous interest. Visitors will have two weeks to enjoy the spectacle. Teilen Teilen Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Tweeten Tweeten Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Drucken Beethoven is for everyone - not only musically, but also in plastic. The Burger fur Beethoven (Citizens for Beethoven) have transformed Munsterplatz together with City-Marketing Bonn and the internationally renowned conceptual artist Ottmar Horl. They have filled it with hundreds of smiling statues of the city's most important son. The project is quite a sensation. Interest was so great that the sculptor, Ottmar Horl had to reserve two evenings, Monday and Tuesday, for a talk about the Beethoven sculpture project. Stephan Eisel, chairman of Citizens for Beethoven, spoke with the sculpture expert about his work, the essence of art and the success of the new installation "Unser Ludwig" (Our Ludwig), which has been much better received than the initiators had expected. Originally, a certain skepticism had prevailed. "There were many hurdles in the run-up," Eisel said on Monday evening. "We had to come to an agreement with the artist, which could have been difficult. We had to be able to use Munsterplatz for two weeks, which was considered impossible. And we had to find at least 500 sponsors so that the project could take place." In the meantime, nearly 1,100 of the plastic Beethovens have been sold. Horl explained that he had 1,000 square meters of space on Munsterplatz to work with, and he had to figure out how he could place all of those Beethovens within that space to make his art installation. I cannot fit more than 700 Beethovens, he explained. Of course, every buyer will receive his Beethoven. Those that are part of the art installation can be picked up when it is dismantled on June 1 and 2. All the others can be picked up at Haus des Karnevals. The enormous interest in the smiling Ludwig surprised all those involved, especially Horl. "Beethovens trademark look and at the same time, stigma, was always that the corners of his mouth were pulled down. But you can't write music like that if you're a sourpuss. That's why I wanted to put a new notion of Beethoven into the world, which, however, always involves a risk. I am extremely glad that the people of Bonn are proving to be so open." According to Horl, the concept of producing a series of Beethovens also makes sense: "Remember that Beethoven can already be found everywhere - in Japan, in China, in the USA, in Europe. His music is played and reproduced worldwide. That's how my sculptures should be." At the very least, these sculptures should soon be on display in numerous front yards and terraces in Bonn. Unser Ludwig: If you would like to have your own Beethoven in green or gold, you can get more information at www.unser-ludwig.com. Opalesque Industry Update - FundRock has opened a new branch in Singapore headed by Timothy Walkley, Managing Director - Asia Markets. Tim has been involved in the investment management industry for over 20 years with a significant experience in Asian markets. He has been actively involved in China-focussed investment activities since 1999 covering both private and public equities. Most recently, he launched a China A share ETF in partnership with FundRock for a large Chinese investment manager. Xavier Parain, Group CEO of FundRock said: "The establishment of a FundRock branch in Singapore is part of our strategy to expand our business in the Asia Pacific region and complements the cooperation agreement we signed in September with Perpetual Corporate Trust of Australia. Our clients are always in the centre of what we do and Tim's significant experience of dealing with Asian based managers will allow us to broaden the solutions we can offer them in the region". Tim Walkley commented: "As the leading third-party Management Company in Europe, FundRock has a long track record of offering solutions to Asia based managers and understanding the specific challenges they face. Following a significant increase in the number of Asian investment managers setting up funds in Europe, the establishment of a branch in Singapore allows us to better serve our existing clients and expand our client base". Global Animal Parasiticides Market forecast by 2025 | Major Players-Ceva, Bovian Health Care, Intas Pharmaceuticals Ltd.Eli Lilly and company, Merck and Co., Inc., Bayer AG, Virbac, Vetoquinol S.A. Global Animal Parasiticides Market https://databridgemarketresearch.com/request-a-sample/?dbmr=global-animal-parasiticides-market https://databridgemarketresearch.com/toc/?dbmr=global-animal-parasiticides-market https://databridgemarketresearch.com/speak-to-analyst/?dbmr=global-animal-parasiticides-market Global Animal Parasiticides Market report brings into light key market dynamics of the sector. It provides guidelines about planning of advertising and sales promotion efforts. The Global Animal Parasiticides Market report is a professional yet exhaustive study on the current state for the market.The Global Animal Parasiticides Market report analyzes and estimates the general drivers of the market in the form of consumer demand, government policy and demand associated with consumer buying patterns and therefore market growth and development. In addition, the report analyzes common market conditions such as price of the product, profit, capacity, production, supply, demand, and growth rate of the market, giving businesses a hand in deciding multiple strategies. The Global Animal Parasiticides Market report conducted SWOT analysis and many other standard steps of data research, analysis and collection.Market Analysis: Global Animal Parasiticides MarketThe Global Animal Parasiticides Market is expected to reach USD 12.17 billion by 2025, from USD 8.71 billion in 2018 growing at a CAGR of 4.9% during the forecast period of 2018 to 2025.The upcoming market report contains data for historic year 2016, the base year of calculation is 2017 and the forecast period is 2018 to 2025.FREE | Get a Copy of Sample Report Now! @Major Market Competitors/Players:Some of the major players operating in the global animal parasiticides market-Eli Lilly and company, Merck and Co., Inc., Bayer AG, Virbac, Vetoquinol S.A ., Oceanic Pharmachem, Zoetis, Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH, Ceva, Bovian Health Care, Intas Pharmaceuticals Ltd., among others.Market Definition:The animal parasiticide is also called as veterinary parasiticide because the products of animal parasiticides are used to kill parasiticide which infests on livestock, pets, and other animals. All the different products of parasiticides have their own properties to kill parasites on animals. Antiparasitics, another name of animal parasiticides, are chemical substances that kill or eradicate micro-organisms or parasites and improve animal health.Market Segmentation:The Global Animal Parasiticides Market is segmented based on product type, animal type and geographical segments. Based on product type, the market is segmented into sprays, oral tablets, pour-ons and spot-ons, collars, dips, and other ectoparasiticides. Based on animal type, the market is segmented into companion animals and food-producing animals. The food-producing animals segment is further segmented into cattle, sheep, poultry, pigs, goats and other animals. Based on geography, the market report covers data points for 28 countries across multiple geographies namely North America & South America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and, Middle East & Africa. Some of the major countries covered in this report are U.S., Canada, Germany, France, U.K., Netherlands, Switzerland, Turkey, Russia, China, India, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and, Brazil among others.Key Developments in the Market:July 2018, approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to NexGard (afoxolaner), a chewable tablet given once in a month to dogs for prevention of Borrelia burgdorferi ( burgdorferi) infections by killing Black-legged ticks (Ixodes scapularis), which carry the bacterium.The FDA originally approved NexGard in year 2013 to to kill Black-legged ticks, Lone Star ticks, prevent and treat flea infestations, American Dog ticks, and Brown Dog ticks.Jan 2018, Elanco Animal Health, a division of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY), has got approval of Credelio (lotilaner). Credelio is a new drug treatment (monthly oral tick and flea) that is easy on dogs.Table of Contents:1. Introduction2. Market Segmentation3. Market Overview4. Executive Summary5. Premium Insights6. Global, By Component7. Product Type8. Delivery9. Industry Type10. Geography10.1. Overview10.2. North America10.3. Europe10.4. Asia-Pacific10.5. South America10.6. Middle East & Africa11. Company Landscape12. Company Profiles13. Related ReportsFree Request Here for Detailed TOC at @Competitive Analysis:The Global Animal Parasiticides Market is highly fragmented and the major players have used various strategies such as number of product launches, agreements, joint ventures, partnerships, acquisitions, and others to increase their footprints in this market. The report includes market shares of animal parasiticides market for global, Europe, North America, Asia Pacific and South America.FREE | Speak to Analyst and Get Free Customized Information about Report @About Us:Data Bridge Market Research set forth itself as an unconventional and neoteric Market research and consulting firm with an unparalleled level of resilience and integrated approaches. We are determined to unearth the best market opportunities and foster efficient information for your business to thrive in the market. Data Bridge endeavors to provide appropriate solutions to complex business challenges and initiates an effortless decision-making process.Contact Us-Data Bridge Market ResearchUS: +1-888-387-2818Email: sopan.gedam@databridgemarketresearch.com Global Zero Emission Buildings Market Expected to Witness a Sustainable Growth over 2024 Top Key players like Top Key players like Johnson Controls,Siemens AG,Schneider Electric,Inc. https://www.marketresearchreportstore.com/reports/633353/global-united-states-european-union-china https://www.marketresearchreportstore.com/reports/633353/global-united-states-european-union-china https://www.marketresearchreportstore.com Market Research Report Store offers a latest published report on Zero Emission Buildings Market Analysis and Forecast 2019-2025 delivering key insights and providing a competitive advantage to clients through a detailed report. The report contains 91 pages which highly exhibit on current market analysis scenario, upcoming as well as future opportunities, revenue growth, pricing and profitability.Click to view the full report TOC, figure and tables:In 2019, the market size of Zero Emission Buildings is million US$ and it will reach million US$ in 2025, growing at a CAGR of from 2019; while in China, the market size is valued at xx million US$ and will increase to xx million US$ in 2025, with a CAGR of xx% during forecast period.In this report, 2018 has been considered as the base year and 2019 to 2025 as the forecast period to estimate the market size for Zero Emission Buildings.This report studies the global market size of Zero Emission Buildings, especially focuses on the key regions like United States, European Union, China, and other regions (Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia).This study presents the Zero Emission Buildings production, revenue, market share and growth rate for each key company, and also covers the breakdown data (production, consumption, revenue and market share) by regions, type and applications. history breakdown data from 2014 to 2019, and forecast to 2025.Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report coversJohnson ControlsSunPower CorporationKingspan GroupGeneral ElectricIntegrated Environmental SolutionsSiemens AGSchneider ElectricMarket Segment by Type, coversLightingWalls & RoofsHVAC SystemsOthersMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoCommercialResidentialFor More Information On This Report, Please Visit @Related Information:North America Zero Emission Buildings Market Growth 2019-2024United States Zero Emission Buildings Market Growth 2019-2024Asia-Pacific Zero Emission Buildings Market Growth 2019-2024Europe Zero Emission Buildings Market Growth 2019-2024EMEA Zero Emission Buildings Market Growth 2019-2024Global Zero Emission Buildings Market Growth 2019-2024China Zero Emission Buildings Market Growth 2019-2024Customization Service of the Report :Market Research Report Store provides 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 Us:Market Research Report Store (MRRS) is a professional organization related to market research reports in all directions .To provide customers with a variety of market research reports, MRRS cooperates with a large of famous market report publishers all over the world. Owing to our good service and the professional market reports in the wide range, MRRS enjoys a good reputation in the market. In pace with the development of MRRS, more and more customers and market report publishers choose to cooperate with us. As a specialized platform, MRRS upholds the supremacy of customers and aims to provide customers with better service and richer select.Contact USMarket Research Report StoreE-mail: info@marketresearchreportstore.comTel: +86-15521064060 00852-58197708(HK)Add: 17890 Castleton Street Suite 218 City of Industry CA 91748 United StatesWebsite: New study: Liquid Malt Extracts Market to 2027 insights shared in a detailed report - Barmalt India Pvt. Ltd., Briess Malt & Ingredients Co., Dohler GmbH, Harboe Liquid Malt Extracts Market http://bit.ly/2WQ8r31 http://bit.ly/2WQ8Lif https://www.theinsightpartners.com/ Do you need actual market size estimates for the Liquid Malt Extracts Market? Do you want to know the most attractive market segments in the Liquid Malt Extracts Market? Do you need technological insights into the Liquid Malt Extracts Market?Do you wish to benchmark your position in the global Liquid Malt Extracts Market?Do you need concrete data for making actionable business strategies?Check below link for our popular report on Liquid Malt Extracts Market that can help you transform your business with market potential analysis.This market intelligence report on Liquid Malt Extracts market evaluates and presents a worldwide market scenario along with market estimates, insights and projections for a timeframe of 2017 to 2027. This examination the market dynamics that are foreseen to influence the market growth in a coming couple of years. Also, the report clarifies the effect of the key factors like drivers and restraints for market development. Future trends and opportunities in the global Liquid Malt Extracts market have also been mentioned in the study.Get Sample Copy of this Report at A comprehensive view of the Liquid Malt Extracts market is covered with competitive landscape and analysis of PEST analysis for the market. PEST analysis provides information on a political, economic, social and technological perspective of the macro-environment from Liquid Malt Extracts market perspective that helps market players understand the factor which can affect business's activities and performance.The study encompasses a market potential analysis, all the major segments are detailed with their market size, growth rate, and potential opportunities. Companies Profiled in this report includes Barmalt India Pvt. Ltd., Briess Malt & Ingredients Co., Dohler GmbH, Harboe, Huajia Food Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd, IREKS GmbH, Maltexco SA, Muntons plc, Northern Brewer., LLC, The Malt Company (India) Pvt. Limited among others.Leading Liquid Malt Extracts market players are profiled in the report with key facts, product portfolio, business performance, and strategic initiates. The challenges faced by them and the reasons they are in that position is explained to help make a well-informed decision. Competitive landscape of the Liquid Malt Extracts market is given presenting detailed insights into the company profiles including developments such as merges &acquisitions, collaborations, joint ventures, new production, expansions, and SWOT analysis.Our research content is primarily focused on the quantification of market developments in terms of market sizing and forecasting. Studding company activities help design the competitive landscape, and forecast market numbers at regional and level. We provide a detailed break-up of segmentation in terms of geography, North America, Europe, APAC, MEA and South America etc.; which helps our clients to get a deeper analysis of various research topicsThe target audience for the report on the Liquid Malt Extracts market Manufactures Market analysts Senior executives Business development managers Technologists R&D staff Distributors Investors Governments Equity research firms ConsultantsPurchase a Copy of Report at -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.Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@theinsightpartners.comWebsite: Comprehensive analysis on Unified Communications & Collaboration Market| Key Players are ALE, Avaya, BT, Cisco, Genesys, Huawei, IBM, Microsoft, Mitel, NEC, Nextiva, Orange, RingCentral, Verizon, Unify, West https://www.marketstudyreport.com/request-a-sample/467684/?utm_source=openpr.com-AN https://www.marketstudyreport.com/check-for-discount/467684/ https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/unified-communications-market-by-platform-telephony-unified-messaging-conferencing-others-by-deployment-model-on-premise-cloud-based-by-end-user-bfsi-it-telecom-healthcare-retail-education-travel-and-hospitality-others-by-region-market-size-forecast-2017-2026/?utm_source=openpr.com-AN https://www.marketstudyreport.com https://www.marketstudyreport.com/blog MarketStudyReport.com Adds New Unified Communications & Collaboration Market 2019 2025 research report providing information and data By Platform, By Deployment Model, By Application, Industry Analysis, Regional Outlook, Growth Potential, Competitive Market Share & Forecast spreading across 300 Pages with table and figures in it.The Asia Pacific UCC market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 12% during the forecast timeline. The market growth is driven by the adoption of cloud-based UCC solutions and various government initiatives for modernizing ICT infrastructure. For instance, the South Korea Ministry of Science and ICT along with the major carriers in the country have drafted a plan to set up a nation-wide infrastructure by 2020. The huge penetration of low-cost smartphones in countries including China and Japan will also contribute toward market growth.Request a sample of this premium report at:With the increase in digitization, organizations are now focusing on geographic expansion due to which managing business communication processes has become a difficult task. The need for the UCC system is to consolidate communication processes under a unified framework that can be managed easily. This reduces operational cost for organizations and their expansion globally. With the rapid adoption of cloud computing, they are constantly involved in modernizing their communication infrastructure to enable business communication across diverse geographical business units.Unified Communications & Collaboration (UCC) market is projected to surpass USD 60 billion by 2025. The market growth is attributed to factors such as penetration of smartphones and the growing need among organizations to streamline their business communication process flows. The rising usage of smartphones globally has compelled the UCC vendors to create mobile unified communications that will enable enterprises to access UC applications through a single interface. Moreover, the growing investments in 5G networks will also support the adoption of modern enterprise communication solutions.Another factor driving the UCC market growth is the rising trend of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). The trend has added to the complexity of handling different communication channels in enterprises. To address this challenge, UCC solutions are widely being deployed by organizations to streamline communication functions easily.Conferencing platforms are expected to witness the highest growth of over 12% during the forecast period. The platforms, such as audio and video conferencing, ease communication process among businesses and provide various benefits such as improved competitive advantage, improved productivity & employee satisfaction, and improving the demand for these platforms over the forecast period.In the telephony market, the IP PBX market is projected to witness the fastest growth rate with a CAGR of over 8% from 2019 to 2025. The major factor driving the market is its easy support and reduced network latency. The majority of the hosted IP PBX providers have already started offering customized services, allowing users to connect to other servers without getting disconnected.Request a discount on standard prices of this premium report at:The on-premise deployment model held a dominant UCC market share of over 55% in 2018 and is expected to maintain its dominant share by 2025. As the on-premise model offers enterprises with the complete software and hardware service control, enterprises are widely using this model to have accessibility to equipment anytime for troubleshooting while managing disaster recovery.Furthermore, in November 2017, Beijing 263 Enterprise Communications Co., Ltd., one of the leading providers of enterprise SaaS services in China, and Arkadin, a provider of cloud communications (including UCC solutions), entered into a partnership to provide improved cloud communication solutions in the Chinese market. By joining forces to combine their respective expertise, the companies offer high-quality services including video/audio/web conferencing, unified communications, and web events. In October 2017, Ricoh, a global unified communications provider, partnered with Videxio, a provider of cloud-based video conferencing solutions, to extend its ?Ricoh Unified Communication System (Ricoh UCS) Advanced? to the Japanese market.The BFSI market is expected to register the fastest growth rate from 2019 to 2025 with a CAGR of over 11% due to the rapid adoption of UCC solutions to improve their profitability and way of conducting business. The financial institutions are using tools, such as mobile messaging and video conferencing, to personalize their relationships with customers to improve customer satisfaction. The growing use of such tools to facilitate seamless communication process and benefit from multichannel communications internally & externally will foster the UCC market growth in the BFSI sector.Table of content:Chapter 1. Methodology & ScopeChapter 2. Executive SummaryChapter 3. UCC Industry InsightsChapter 4. Competitive Landscape, 2018Chapter 5. UCC Market, By PlatformChapter 6. UCC Market, By Deployment ModelChapter 7. UCC Market, By ApplicationChapter 8. UCC Market, By RegionChapter 9. Company ProfilesRelated Report:Unified Communications Market [By Platform (Telephony, Unified Messaging, Conferencing, Others); By Deployment Model (On-Premise, Cloud-Based); By End-User (BFSI, IT & Telecom, Healthcare, Retail, Education, Travel and Hospitality, Others); By Region]: Market Size & Forecast, 2017 ? 2026North 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 trend of BYOD drive the market growth in the region. The growing demand of mobile devices, and technological advancements further support market growth in the region. Asia-Pacific is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period owing to growing demand of effective enterprise communication technologies in the developing countries of the region.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: Rivastigmine Transdermal Patches Market to Witness Robust Expansion by 2024 Top Key players like Novartis,Luye Pharma,Inc. https://www.marketresearchreportstore.com/reports/633446/global-united-states-european-union-china https://www.marketresearchreportstore.com/reports/633446/global-united-states-european-union-china https://www.marketresearchreportstore.com Market Research Report Store offers a latest published report on Rivastigmine Transdermal Patches Market Analysis and Forecast 2019-2025 delivering key insights and providing a competitive advantage to clients through a detailed report. The report contains 91 pages which highly exhibit on current market analysis scenario, upcoming as well as future opportunities, revenue growth, pricing and profitability.Click to view the full report TOC, figure and tables:In 2019, the market size of Rivastigmine Transdermal Patches is million US$ and it will reach million US$ in 2025, growing at a CAGR of from 2019; while in China, the market size is valued at xx million US$ and will increase to xx million US$ in 2025, with a CAGR of xx% during forecast period.In this report, 2018 has been considered as the base year and 2019 to 2025 as the forecast period to estimate the market size for Rivastigmine Transdermal Patches.This report studies the global market size of Rivastigmine Transdermal Patches, especially focuses on the key regions like United States, European Union, China, and other regions (Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia).This study presents the Rivastigmine Transdermal Patches sales volume, revenue, market share and growth rate for each key company, and also covers the breakdown data (sales, revenue and market share) by regions, type and applications. history breakdown data from 2014 to 2019, and forecast to 2025.Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report coversNovartisLuye PharmaMarket Segment by Type, covers4.6mg/24hr9.5mg/24hr13.3 mg/24hrMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoAlzheimer's DiseaseParkinsonOtherFor More Information On This Report, Please Visit @Related Information:North America Rivastigmine Transdermal Patches Market Growth 2019-2024United States Rivastigmine Transdermal Patches Market Growth 2019-2024Asia-Pacific Rivastigmine Transdermal Patches Market Growth 2019-2024Europe Rivastigmine Transdermal Patches Market Growth 2019-2024EMEA Rivastigmine Transdermal Patches Market Growth 2019-2024Global Rivastigmine Transdermal Patches Market Growth 2019-2024China Rivastigmine Transdermal Patches Market Growth 2019-2024Customization Service of the Report :Market Research Report Store provides 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 Us:Market Research Report Store (MRRS) is a professional organization related to market research reports in all directions .To provide customers with a variety of market research reports, MRRS cooperates with a large of famous market report publishers all over the world. Owing to our good service and the professional market reports in the wide range, MRRS enjoys a good reputation in the market. In pace with the development of MRRS, more and more customers and market report publishers choose to cooperate with us. As a specialized platform, MRRS upholds the supremacy of customers and aims to provide customers with better service and richer select.Contact USMarket Research Report StoreE-mail: info@marketresearchreportstore.comTel: +86-15521064060 00852-58197708(HK)Add: 17890 Castleton Street Suite 218 City of Industry CA 91748 United StatesWebsite: The U.S. Meditation Market U.S. Meditation Market https://www.bharatbook.com/marketreports/Sample/Reports/942988 https://www.bharatbook.com/marketreports/the-u-s-meditation-market/942988 www.bharatbook.com Bharat Book Bureau Provides the Trending Market Research Report on The U.S. Meditation Marketunder Healthcare category. The report provides information on industry overview, market size, latest developments, industry trends, Key players, global presence, and their future prospects.Practicing Meditation to reduce stress is becoming mainstream in America. Today, 9.3 million Americans meditate, fueling a $1+ billion industry comprised of meditation studios, books, DVDs, workshops, online courses, websites, apps and supplies. Like the yoga market, which has seen a major increase in the past decade, meditation is experiencing strong growth.Request a sample copy of U.S. Meditation Market Report @The following topics are covered: why demand exists, nature and evolution of U.S. meditation studios/centers/retreats, the key companies and gurus in the market, customer demographics, relationship to yoga studios, typical meditation center operations, for-profit vs. non-profit centers, key trends, market niches and 2022 forecasts. Analysis and $ size of these market segments: meditation studios/classes market, books/DVDs/CDs market, meditation apps & websites market, online courses market, corporate wellness programs market, and the supplies & accessories market. Includes meditation center start-up costs and revenues, competitor profiles, findings/market outlook via interviews with industry operators, and a list of resources for follow-up. Profiles of: Headspace, Inscape, Unplug, Mindful, Mind Body green, Hay House, Soundstrue, Gaia, Kadampa Centers, Shambala Centers, TM (Transcendental Meditation) Centers, Deepak Chopra, Jon Kabat-Zinn, and Eckhart Tolle.ContentReport Scope and MethodologySources and methodology used for the report, report scope 2-5Overview of Industry Facts & FindingsList of key industry metrics, trends, estimates, forecasts and conclusions ofthe report. 6-7Nature & Definition of the Market 8-9Types of meditation, history, percent and number of Americans that meditate,Why its becoming mainstreamCustomer Demographics 10-14Discussion of number of meditators, why the growth, reasons for becoming mainstreamFindings of government research studies: 2012 U.S. National Health Interview Survey: Prevalence of meditation use, patterns of meditation practice, profile of typical meditator (age, race, spending, types of services used).Tables:- Reasons for meditating- Where people get information (books, newspapers, Internet, DVDs, articles, etc.)- Meditations effects on health.Market Structure 15Market segments, types of facilities and products comprising the market (programs, studios/centers, apps, websites, books, online courses, workshops).Browse our full report with Table of Contents :About Bharat Book Bureau:Bharat Book Bureau is the leading market research information provider for market research reports, company profiles, industry study, country reports, business reports, newsletters and online databases. Bharat Book Bureau provides over a million reports from more than 400 publishers around the globe. We cover sectors starting from Aeronautics to Zoology.Contact us at:Bharat Book BureauTel: +91 22 27810772 / 27810773Email: poonam@bharatbook.comWebsite: Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Installation Market Impacts Higher Demand Due to Increasing Contribution by Major Players(2G Energy AG, ABB Ltd., Aegis Energy Services, Inc., BDR Thermea Group B.V) during 2018-2026 MRRSE https://www.mrrse.com/sample/489 https://www.mrrse.com/combined-heat-and-power-market https://www.mrrse.com/checkdiscount/489 Cogeneration, also known as combined heat and power (CHP), is a highly efficient process that generates electricity and heat simultaneously. Steam can be generated in a heat exchanger by utilizing the exhaust energy from gas turbines. This steam can then be used in large numbers of applications. CHP installation is likely to vary according to its requirement in various applications and qualities of the concrete required for construction activities. Consequently, optimization and development of prediction methods, such as real-time technologies, for CHP installation play an important role in the energy industry.Get Exclusive Sample Copy of This Report @Implementation of stringent regulations related to minimization of harmful carbon emissions is propelling the demand for CHP installation. Increase in residential and industrial construction activities in the developed and developing countries have boosted the demand of CHP installation. Therefore, governments of several countries are funding and supporting development and adoption of the latest technologies in CHP installation.Asia Pacific is estimated to emerge as one of the prominent regions of the CHP installation market. Highly environment-conscious Europe and North America are projected to lead the global CHP installation market in the near future. The global CHP installation market is projected to witness large number of collaborations between manufacturers and technology developers during the next few years.This report analyzes and forecasts the CHP installation market at the global and regional level. The market has been forecast based on volume (GW) and value (US$ Bn) from 2018 to 2026, considering 2017 as the base year. The study includes drivers and restraints of the global CHP installation market. It also covers impact of these drivers and restraints on demand for CHP installation during the forecast period. The report also highlights opportunities in the CHP installation market at the global and regional level.The report includes detailed value chain analysis, which provides a comprehensive view of the global CHP installation market. Porters Five Forces model for the CHP installation market has also been included to help understand the competitive landscape. The study encompasses market attractiveness analysis, wherein prime mover and applications are benchmarked based on their market size, growth rate, and general attractiveness.The study provides a decisive view of the global CHP installation market by segmenting it in terms of application, fuel, prime mover, and region. Based on application, the CHP installation market has been divided into commercial & residential and industrial. In terms of fuel, the CHP installation market has been classified into biomass, coal, natural gas, and others (wood, fuel cell, and nuclear energy). These segments have been analyzed based on present and future trends. Regional segmentation includes current and forecast demand for CHP installation in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of World.For More Information about This Report Please Visit @The report provides size (in terms of volume and value) of the CHP installation market for the base year 2017 and the forecast for the period between 2018 and 2026. The global CHP installation market has been provided in terms of revenue. Market numbers have been estimated based on prime mover, fuel, and application of the CHP installation market. Market revenue and size have been provided in terms of global, regional, and country level markets.The global CHP installation market is a highly competitive. Leading players dominate the market. Key players operating in the CHP installation market include Siemens AG, General Electric Company, Cummins Inc., Generac Holdings, and Capstone Turbine Corporation. Market players have been profiled in terms of attributes such as company overview, financial overview, business strategies, and recent developments.The global CHP installation market has been segmented as follows:CHP Installation Market, by FuelBiomassCoalNatural GasOthers (Wood, Renewables, Fuel Cell, and Nuclear Energy)CHP Installation Market, by Prime MoverSteam TurbineCombined CycleGas TurbineReciprocating EngineOthers (Stirling Engine and Organic Rankine Cycle)CHP Installation Market, by ApplicationCommercial & ResidentialIndustrialCHP Installation Market, by RegionNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaEuropeGermanyU.K.FranceItalySpainRussiaRest of EuropeAsia PacificChinaIndiaJapanASEANRest of Asia PacificRest of WorldKey TakeawaysIn terms of fuel, the natural gas segment constitutes major share of the CHP installation marketCoal is also used widely as fuel in CHP, as it is cost-effectiveKey players invest significantly in research & development to differentiate their products as a key strategy to strengthen their market positionMarket share of the industrial application segment is estimated to increase in the next few years due to the strong focus on expansion in construction activities. The segment is expected to provide lucrative opportunities to the market during the forecast period.Check Exclusive Discount @About Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE)Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of Energy Research Reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.Contact UsState Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY 12207(USA)United States Telephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.com Machine Condition Monitoring Market Insights | Key players: ALS Limited, Emerson Electric, General Electric, Honeywell and Meggitt MarketsandMarkets https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/machine-health-monitoring-market-29627363.html https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestCustomizationNew.asp?id=29627363&utm_source=OpenPR https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/speaktoanalystNew.asp?id=29627363&utm_source=OpenPR According to the new market research report on the "Machine Condition Monitoring Market by Monitoring Technique (Vibration Monitoring, Thermography, Oil Analysis, MCA), Deployment (On Premise, Cloud), Monitoring Process (Online, Portable), Offering, Industry, and Region - Global Forecast to 2024", The machine condition monitoring market is estimated to grow from USD 2.38 Billion in 2018 to USD 3.50 Billion by 2024, at a CAGR of 6.7% between 2018 and 2024. Factors such as the development of a secure cloud computing platform, increased use of wireless communication technology for condition monitoring of equipment, and inclination of end users toward predictive maintenance are driving the growth of the machine condition monitoring market at present.Browse 69 tables and 62 figures spread through 204 pages and in-depth TOC on "Machine Condition Monitoring Market - Global Forecast to 2024"Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report.The motor current analysis technique is expected to witness the highest CAGR during the forecast periodThe market for the motor current analysis technique is expected to grow at the highest CAGR between 2018 and 2024. Defects such as current imbalance and loading issues in motors, circuitry and motor insulation degradation, rotor damage, eccentricity in rotors, belt defects, and gearing defects can be detected by the motor current analysis technique, thereby resulting in high demand in the machine condition monitoring market.Request for Customization @The market for software is expected to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast periodThe market for software is expected to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast period. Machine condition monitoring software help companies to calculate equipment reliability parameters such as rotating speed, vibration frequency, bearing faults, shaft misalignment, and temperature of machines. Also, machine condition monitoring software generates a comprehensive report of the final result after executing the analysis of all algorithms. The diagnostic report helps plant operators to predict an impending failure and avoid any breakdown situation.The market for cloud-based machine condition monitoring solutions is expected to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast periodCloud-based monitoring is expected to exhibit a higher CAGR in the machine condition monitoring market during the forecast period. Cloud-based deployment benefits organizations with the increased scalability, speed, 24/7 service, and enhanced IT security. The growing adoption of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications by enterprises is bringing out huge growth prospects for cloud-based machine condition monitoring solutions.The market for online machine condition monitoring solutions is expected to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast periodThe market for online machine condition monitoring solutions is expected to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast period. Online machine condition monitoring provides real-time data to operators in the plant and is the most preferred monitoring process in critical plants that work continuously and are highly prone to defects.The market for the automotive industry is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast periodThe market for the automotive industry is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The automotive industry depends on the performance of assets to effectively perform their core business activities as a system downtime can affect the revenue of the organization. In the automotive industry, time plays a crucial role, and any unplanned asset breakdown can heavily impact its brand image and sales, resulting in the high adoption of the machine condition monitoring technique in the automotive industry.The market in APAC is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast periodChina and India are the fastest-growing economies that are witnessing a rapid penetration of Internet of Things (IoT) in APAC. High high adoption of modern technologies for smart manufacturing, reduction in operational costs, and importance of security measures at workplaces drive the demand for machine condition monitoring solutions in the APAC region, thereby making this region the fastest-growing market for machine condition monitoring solutions.Speak to Analyst @Major players operating in the machine condition monitoring market include ALS Limited (Australia), Emerson Electric (US), General Electric (US), Honeywell (US), Meggitt (UK), National Instruments (US), Parker-Hannifin (US), Rockwell Automation (US), Schaeffler (Germany), SKF (Sweden), Azima DLI (US), Bruel & Kjaer (Denmark), and Fluke (US).About MarketsandMarketsMarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions.Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve.MarketsandMarketss flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledgestore" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets.Contact:Mr. Shelly SinghMarketsandMarkets INC.630 Dundee RoadSuite 430Northbrook, IL 60062USA : 1-888-600-6441sales@marketsandmarkets.com Wind Energy Foundation Market Insights, Industry Player (MT Hojgaard and Statoil, Offshore Wind Power Systems of Texas LLC), Key County Analysis (North America, United States, Europe, Japan, India) and Forecast 2019-2025 Market Research Hub https://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=2333861 https://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/global-wind-energy-foundation-market-size-status-and-forecast-2019-2025-report.html This research report titled Global Wind Energy Foundation Market Size, Status and Forecast 2019-2025 has been added to the wide online database managed by Market Research Hub (MRH). The study discusses the prime market growth factors along with future projections expected to impact the Wind Energy Foundation Market during the period between 2019 and 2025. The concerned sector is analyzed based on different market factors including drivers, restraints and opportunities in order to enlighten the readers about the actual scenario prevailing in the Wind Energy Foundation Market.Get Sample Copy of This Report @In 2018, the global Wind Energy Foundation market size was xx million US$ and it is expected to reach xx million US$ by the end of 2025, with a CAGR of xx% during 2019-2025.This report focuses on the global Wind Energy Foundation status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and key players. The study objectives are to present the Wind Energy Foundation development in United States, Europe and China.The key players covered in this studyBladt Industries A/SBlue H Engineering BVDillinger GroupDONG Energy (UK) Ltd.FugroMarine Innovation & TechnologyMT Hojgaard and StatoilOffshore Wind Power Systems of Texas LLCOWEC Tower ASPrinciple Power, Inc.Ramboll GroupStatoil ASASuzlon Energy LimitedSWAY ASTAG Energy Solutions LtdMarket segment by Type, the product can be split intoMonopileJacket/Tripod Space FrameTLP/Semi-Sub Floating StructureTri-Pile Space FrameGravity Based Structure (GBS)OtherMarket segment by Application, split intoOffshoreOnshoreMarket segment by Regions/Countries, this report coversUnited StatesEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaCentral & South AmericaBROWSE Full Report NOW @Table of Contents1 Report Overview1.1 Study Scope1.2 Key Market Segments1.3 Players Covered1.4 Market Analysis by Type1.4.1 Global Wind Energy Foundation Market Size Growth Rate by Type (2014-2025)1.4.2 Monopile1.4.3 Jacket/Tripod Space Frame1.4.4 TLP/Semi-Sub Floating Structure1.4.5 Tri-Pile Space Frame1.4.6 Gravity Based Structure (GBS)1.4.7 Other1.5 Market by Application1.5.1 Global Wind Energy Foundation Market Share by Application (2014-2025)1.5.2 Offshore1.5.3 Onshore1.6 Study Objectives1.7 Years Considered2 Global Growth Trends2.1 Wind Energy Foundation Market Size2.2 Wind Energy Foundation Growth Trends by Regions2.2.1 Wind Energy Foundation Market Size by Regions (2014-2025)2.2.2 Wind Energy Foundation Market Share by Regions (2014-2019)2.3 Industry Trends2.3.1 Market Top Trends2.3.2 Market Drivers2.3.3 Market Challenges2.3.4 Porters Five Forces Analysis3 Market Share by Key Players3.1 Wind Energy Foundation Market Size by by Players3.1.1 Global Wind Energy Foundation Revenue by by Players (2014-2019)3.1.2 Global Wind Energy Foundation Revenue Market Share by by Players (2014-2019)3.1.3 Global Wind Energy Foundation Market Concentration Ratio (CR5 and HHI)3.2 Wind Energy Foundation Key Players Head office and Area Served3.3 Key Players Wind Energy Foundation Product/Solution/Service3.4 Date of Enter into Wind Energy Foundation Market3.5 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion PlansMore Information@@@About Market Research HubMarket Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports of different sector like power 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 Das Blaulicht auf einem Fahrzeug der Polizei leuchtet in der Dunkelheit. Foto: Monika Skolimowska COLOGNE A major demonstration in Cologne on Sunday is expected to result in traffic disruptions. Police are expecting around 25,000 people to march through Cologne. Cologne police expect up to 25,000 participants at a demonstration in the city on Sunday. According to police, a public rally has been registered to take place at the Cologne-Deutz shipyard between 12 pm and 6 pm, in a run-up to the European elections. Various groups and coalitions plan to march from Chlodwigplatz, Roncalliplatz, Rudolfplatz and Kalk Kapelle to a public rally at Siegburger Strae starting at around 11 a.m. Police advise that some streets will be closed off during the demonstration and rally, motorists should be prepared for traffic disruptions. Cologne law enforcement will publish up-to-date information about road closures and developments on their Facebook and Twitter accounts, as well as on the home page of the Cologne police website. In addition, a telephone number has been set up for the public, Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. : 0221/2297777. Global Foliar Fertilizers Market to Witness a Pronounce Growth During 2024 Top Key players like Haifa,Baicor,Samjeon,Inc. https://www.marketresearchreportstore.com/reports/633472/global-united-states-european-union-china https://www.marketresearchreportstore.com/reports/633472/global-united-states-european-union-china https://www.marketresearchreportstore.com Market Research Report Store offers a latest published report on Foliar Fertilizers Market Analysis and Forecast 2019-2025 delivering key insights and providing a competitive advantage to clients through a detailed report. The report contains 91 pages which highly exhibit on current market analysis scenario, upcoming as well as future opportunities, revenue growth, pricing and profitability.Click to view the full report TOC, figure and tables:In 2019, the market size of Foliar Fertilizers is million US$ and it will reach million US$ in 2025, growing at a CAGR of from 2019; while in China, the market size is valued at xx million US$ and will increase to xx million US$ in 2025, with a CAGR of xx% during forecast period.In this report, 2018 has been considered as the base year and 2019 to 2025 as the forecast period to estimate the market size for Foliar Fertilizers.This report studies the global market size of Foliar Fertilizers, especially focuses on the key regions like United States, European Union, China, and other regions (Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia).This study presents the Foliar Fertilizers production, revenue, market share and growth rate for each key company, and also covers the breakdown data (production, consumption, revenue and market share) by regions, type and applications. history breakdown data from 2014 to 2019, and forecast to 2025.Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report coversMiller Chemical & Fertilizer CorporationKoch Fertilizer, LLCSustainable Agro Solutions, S.A (CODA)K+SHaifaBaicorAgroLiquidSamjeonPlantinJ.R. Simplot CompanyKugler CompanySolufeedAtlantic Pacific Agricultural, IncAgriGro, IncMarket Segment by Type, coversNitrogenous FertilizerPhosphatic FertilizerPotassic FertilizerMicronutrients FertilizerMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoField CropsHorticultural CropsTurf & OrnamentalsOther Crop TypesFor More Information On This Report, Please Visit @Related Information:North America Foliar Fertilizers Market Growth 2019-2024United States Foliar Fertilizers Market Growth 2019-2024Asia-Pacific Foliar Fertilizers Market Growth 2019-2024Europe Foliar Fertilizers Market Growth 2019-2024EMEA Foliar Fertilizers Market Growth 2019-2024Global Foliar Fertilizers Market Growth 2019-2024China Foliar Fertilizers Market Growth 2019-2024Customization Service of the Report :Market Research Report Store provides 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 Us:Market Research Report Store (MRRS) is a professional organization related to market research reports in all directions .To provide customers with a variety of market research reports, MRRS cooperates with a large of famous market report publishers all over the world. Owing to our good service and the professional market reports in the wide range, MRRS enjoys a good reputation in the market. In pace with the development of MRRS, more and more customers and market report publishers choose to cooperate with us. As a specialized platform, MRRS upholds the supremacy of customers and aims to provide customers with better service and richer select.Contact USMarket Research Report StoreE-mail: info@marketresearchreportstore.comTel: +86-15521064060 00852-58197708(HK)Add: 17890 Castleton Street Suite 218 City of Industry CA 91748 United StatesWebsite: Wind Energy Equipment Logistics Market 2019-2025 Development Strategies and Key Players Analysis (Maersk, BDP International, DB Schenker, Deutsche Post DHL(DPDHL), DSV, Expeditors Etc) Wind Energy Equipment Logistics Market https://www.orianresearch.com/request-sample/760393 https://www.orianresearch.com/enquiry-before-buying/760393 https://www.orianresearch.com/checkout/760393 http://www.orianresearch.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/company-beta/13281002/ Wind Energy Equipment Logistics Industry Global Market Research Report 2019-2025 offers historical, current, and projected revenues for every sector, segment, Wind Energy Equipment Logistics end-use phase, and region. In this report additionally sheds lightweight on the analysis of growth opportunities, challenges, market threats and restrictive factors of the market. It studies native regional additionally as international market and rising segments, and market dynamics additionally. In addition, it offers insight into the competitive landscape, market driving factors, industrial surroundings, and also the latest and forthcoming technological advancements to see the general state of affairs of business and move forward to create moneymaking business methods effortlessly.The logistics of wind energy equipment involves the transportation, installation, and commissioning of oversized wind energy industry equipment such as turbines, generators, blades, towers, and nacelles to aid the large-scale setting up of onshore and offshore wind energy plants. One of the key trends in the wind energy equipment logistics market is the increasing long-term revenue that is driven by long-term agreements in wind energy projects. Government premises and state department of energy cover the wind energy farms. The wind energy projects are capital intensive and are responsible for boosting countrys economy. These projects are contract based and several parties like logistics, transportation, and utility companies are involved for a long term.Get Sample Copy of this Report The report includes executive summary, global economic outlook and overview section that provide a coherent analysis on the Wind Energy Equipment Logistics market. Besides, the report in the market overview section delineates PLC analysis and PESTLE analysis to provide thorough analysis on the market. The overview section further delves into Porters Five Force analysis that helps in revealing the competitive scenario with regards to Wind Energy Equipment Logistics market revealing the probable scenario of the market.The report provides a detailed overview of the industry including both qualitative and quantitative information. It provides overview and forecast of the global Wind Energy Equipment Logistics market based on various segments. It also provides market size and forecast estimates from year 2019 to 2025 with respect to five major regions, namely; North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA) and South & Central America. The Wind Energy Equipment Logistics market by each region is later sub-segmented by respective countries and segments. The report covers analysis and forecast of countries globally along with current trend and opportunities prevailing in the region.Inquire more or share questions if any before the purchase on this report @Global Wind Energy Equipment Logistics Industry 2019 Market Research Report is spread across 98 pages and provides exclusive vital statistics, data, information, trends and competitive landscape details in this niche sector.With tables and figures helping analyze worldwide Global Wind Energy Equipment Logistics 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.At the same time, we classify different Wind Energy Equipment Logistics based on their definitions. Upstream raw materials, equipment and downstream consumers analysis is also carried out. What is more, the Wind Energy Equipment Logistics industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed.Analysis of Wind Energy Equipment Logistics Market Key Manufacturers: Maersk BDP International DB Schenker Deutsche Post DHL(DPDHL) DSV Expeditors The report strongly emphasizes prominent participants of the Wind Energy Equipment Logistics Industry to provide a valuable source of guidance and direction to companies, executive officials, and potential investors interested in this market. The study focuses on significant factors relevant to industry participants such as manufacturing technology, latest advancements, product description, manufacturing capacities, sources of raw material, and profound business strategies.Order a copy of Global Wind Energy Equipment Logistics Market Report 2019 @Finally, the feasibility of new investment projects is assessed, and overall research conclusions are offered. In a word, the report provides major statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.Market segment by Type: Road Sea Rail AirMarket segment by Application: Offshore OnshoreMajor Points from Table of Contents:Global Wind Energy Equipment Logistics Market Research Report 20191 Industry Overview of Wind Energy Equipment Logistics2 Industry Chain Analysis of Wind Energy Equipment Logistics3 Manufacturing Technology of Wind Energy Equipment Logistics4 Major Manufacturers Analysis of Wind Energy Equipment Logistics5 Global Productions, Revenue and Price Analysis of Wind Energy Equipment Logistics by Regions, Manufacturers, Types and Applications6 Global and Major Regions Capacity, Production, Revenue and Growth Rate of Wind Energy Equipment Logistics 2014-20197 Consumption Volumes, Consumption Value, Import, Export and Sale Price Analysis of Wind Energy Equipment Logistics by Regions8 Gross and Gross Margin Analysis of Wind Energy Equipment Logistics9 Marketing Traders or Distributor Analysis of Wind Energy Equipment Logistics10 Global and Chinese Economic Impacts on Wind Energy Equipment Logistics Industry11 Development Trend Analysis of Wind Energy Equipment Logistics12 Contact information of Wind Energy Equipment Logistics13 New Project Investment Feasibility Analysis of Wind Energy Equipment Logistics14 Conclusion of the Global Wind Energy Equipment Logistics Industry 2019 Market Research ReportContinuedAbout 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 worlds 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.comWebsite:Follow Us on LinkedIn: Breast Imaging Market Outlook (2019-2025)| Siemens, Philips, Hologic, Perlong Medical global breast imaging market https://www.qyresearch.com/sample-form/form/955689/global-breast-imaging-industry-depth-survey https://www.qyresearch.com/settlement/pre/2eaa0e08b697e3506a868e71bd0766b1,0,1,Global%20Breast%20Imaging%20Industry%20Depth%20Survey%202019 www.qyresearch.com The research study presented here is a brilliant compilation of different types of analysis of critical aspects of the global Breast Imaging market. It sheds light on how the global Breast Imaging Market is expected to grow during the course of the forecast period. With SWOT analysis and Porters Five Forces analysis, it gives a deep explanation of the strengths and weaknesses of the global Breast Imaging market and different players operating therein. The authors of the report have also provided qualitative and quantitative analyses of several microeconomic and macroeconomic factors impacting the global Breast Imaging market. In addition, the research study helps to understand the changes in the industry supply chain, manufacturing process and cost, sales scenarios, and dynamics of the global Breast Imaging market.Each player studied in the report is profiled while taking into account its production, market value, sales, gross margin, market share, recent developments, and marketing and business strategies. Besides giving a broad study of the drivers, restraints, trends, and opportunities of the global Breast Imaging market, the report offers an individual, detailed analysis of important regions such as North America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. Furthermore, important segments of the global Breast Imaging market are studied in great detail with a key focus on their market share, CAGR, and other vital factors.Get PDF template of this report:Breast Imaging Market Leading PlayersSiemensPhilipsHologicPerlong MedicalANKEAngellSinomdtMacrooOrich Medical EquipmentGE HealthcarePlanmedMetaltronicaTOSHIBAMEDI-FUTUREFUJIFILMIMSGenorayBreast Imaging Segmentation by ProductAnalog Breast Imaging EquipmentDigital Breast Imaging EquipmentBreast Imaging Segmentation by ApplicationGeneral SurgeryBreast SurgeryPhysical examinationTable of ContentsIndustry Overview: The first section of the research study touches on an overview of the global Breast Imaging market, market status and outlook, and product scope. Additionally, it provides highlights of key segments of the global Breast Imaging market, i.e. regional, type, and application segments.Competition Analysis: Here, the report brings to light important mergers and acquisitions, business expansions, product or service differences, market concentration rate, the competitive status of the global Breast Imaging market, and market size by player.Company Profiles and Key Data: This section deals with the company profiling of leading players of the global Breast Imaging market on the basis of revenue, products, business, and other factors mentioned earlier.Market Size by Type and Application: Besides offering a deep analysis of the size of the global Breast Imaging market by type and application, this section provides a study on top end users or consumers and potential applications.North America Market: Here, the report explains the changes in the market size of North America by application and player.Europe Market: This section of the report shows how the size of the Europe market will change in the next few years.China Market: It gives an analysis of the China market and its size for all the years of the forecast period.Rest of Asia Pacific Market: The Rest of Asia Pacific market is analyzed in quite some detail here on the basis of application and player.Central and South America Market: The report explains the changes in the size of the Central and South America market by player and application.MEA Market: This section shows how the size of the MEA market will change during the course of the forecast period.Market Dynamics: Here, the report deals with the drivers, restraints, challenges, trends, and opportunities of the global Breast Imaging market. This section also includes Porters Five Forces analysis.Research Findings and Conclusion: It gives powerful recommendations for new as well as established players for securing a position of strength in the global Breast Imaging market.Methodology and Data Source: This section includes the authors' list, a disclaimer, research approach, and data sources.Get Full Report Now at USD 2,900 @Key Questions Answered What will be the size and CAGR of the global Breast Imaging market in the next five years? Which segment will take the lead in the global Breast Imaging market? What has the average manufacturing cost? What are the key business tactics adopted by top players of the global Breast Imaging market? Which region will secure a lions share of the global Breast Imaging market? Which company will show dominance in the global Breast Imaging market?About Us:QYResearch always pursuits high product quality with the belief that quality is the soul of business. Through years of effort and supports from the huge number of customer supports, QYResearch consulting group has accumulated creative design methods on many high-quality markets investigation and research team with rich experience. Today, QYResearch has become the brand of quality assurance in the consulting industry.ContactQY Research, INC.USA: +1 626 428 8800China: +86 1082 945 717Japan: +81 9038 009 273India: +91 9766 478 224Emails enquiry@qyresearch.comWeb Endpoint Security Market is Moving Fast. Heres What You Need to Know? | Top Key Players are ESET, F-Secure Corporation, IBM, McAfee, Kaspersky Lab, Microsoft, Panda Security Endpoint Security Market www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/1620 www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/1620 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/endpoint-security-market https://www.openpr.com/news/1741559/Bring-Your-Own-Device-Market-in-United-States-to-see-15-CAGR-till-2022-Leading-Key-Players-are-Alcatel-Lucent-Enterprise-Aruba-a-Hewlett-Packard-Enterprise-company-Avaya-Cisco-Duo-Security-HP-IBM-Meru-Networks-MobileIron-Oracle.html www.gminsights.com www.industry-source.org Endpoint security market is growing popularity of the BYOD trend in organizations around the world is also majorly contributing to the increased threat to enterprise networks for endpoint attacks. Tablets and smartphones have different capabilities, management interfaces, and operating systems. Hence, enabling centralized and consolidated network visibility is of utmost importance in BYOD environments.As budgets to improve client threat management witness an increase, endpoint security market outlook from the software segment is likely to undergo an even more positive transformation. It is prudent to mention however, that the success and effectiveness of endpoint security depends on the proper implementation and updation of the endpoint protection that has to combat with constantly evolving threats. This has consequently added a considerable boost to the service-based endpoint security industry share as well, which is likely to witness favorable growth over 2017-2024.Request for a sample of this research report @Endpoint security market, tagged as a revolutionary subset of the smart technology space, seems to have garnered the status of a niche vertical in the recent years. This growth can be precisely attributed to the fact that malware attacks have gained ferocity in stealing identities, draining bank accounts and generally bringing services to a standstill. In May 2017 for instance, a colossal cyberattack sealed down files and badly affected businesses, government bodies and the National Health Service of UK. Unfortunately, NHS back then, was still using an outdated version of the Windows operating system, the consequence of which led to MHS paying a heavy ransom in the form of bitcoins to retrieve the files.Company profiled in this report based on Business overview, Financial data, Product landscape, Strategic outlook & SWOT analysis:1. Bitdefender2. Cisco3. Cylance Inc.4. ESET5. F-Secure Corporation6. IBM7. McAfee8. Kaspersky Lab9. Microsoft10. Sophos11. Symantec12. Trend Micro13. ComodoMake an inquiry for purchasing this report @Asia Pacific Endpoint Security Market is projected to exhibit the fastest growth between 2017 and 2024. With the major focus on the digitization of economy in emerging countries including India and exploding penetration of smartphones and tablets and improving internet connectivity, the risk of malware attacks is being increasingly recognized in the region. Consequently, the adoption of endpoint security solutions in the region is expected to accelerate swiftly during the forecast timeline.North America dominated the endpoint security market in 2016 and is projected to maintain the dominance throughout the forecast period, primarily due to large-scale deployment of malware protection solutions for strengthening network security of government and corporate IT networks. In February 2018, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence revealed that the United States cybersecurity in both the public and private sectors is at a continual risk and the country should expect cyber attacks from various state and non-state actors. Such consistent cyber threats are leading to increased deployment of endpoint protection solutions across the country.The leading cyber security solutions provider is rightly touted as one of the most influential names in the global endpoint security market space having made a remarkable contribution to this sphere for over a decade now. The US based giant has recently unveiled a fully featured and its most advanced endpoint solution with an aim to bring together Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR), Mobile Threat Defense, intensive protection through advanced machine learning, and deception technology. Moreover, the latest solution is being described as the first of its kind across the endpoint security industry, as it delivers these features in a single form, lowers the overall costs, meets the challenges of the cloud generation by simplifying and improving security, and optimizes the environment of endpoint architecture. Concurrently, it would be prudent to mention that the new solution has been built on the firms Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP) platform which is known to effectively tackle malwares and ransomwares.This revolutionary cyberattack which was later named WannaCry was an eye opener for the IT sector, which rapidly deduced that such attacks will only become more commonplace in the future if nothing definite and foolproof is done to thwart their onslaught. While numerous other incidences have served as focal drivers, this particular event was speculated to have a direct impact on endpoint security market trends.Browse key industry insights spread across 380 pages with 1032 market data tables & 14 figures & charts from the report, Endpoint Security Market in detail along with the table of contents:The competition in the endpoint security market is primarily characterized by constant product innovation initiatives by companies to strengthen the endpoint protection against rapidly evolving types of malware. As thousands of new pieces of malware are created by attackers each day, the companies providing antivirus/antimalware solutions constantly update their detection tools with the latest security patches.With consistently increasing stealthy, targeted, financially-motivated attacks aimed at exploiting vulnerabilities in endpoint devices, enterprises have become highly aware about employing a multilayered, seamless approach for endpoint protection. Signature-based antivirus and anti-spyware protection measures, which are traditionally used by enterprises are not sufficient to deal with constantly evolving cyber-threats today. Hence, the demand for advanced endpoint security solutions is consistently increasing among enterprise and government organizations.Top key players operating in the endpoint security market are AhnLab, Inc., Bitdefender, Cisco, Comodo, Cylance Inc., ESET,F-Secure Corporation, IBM, McAfee, Kaspersky Lab, Microsoft, Panda Security, Sophos, Symantec, Trend Micro, and VIPRE Security.Browse Related Reports:About Global Market InsightsGlobal Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact UsArun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Blog: Calcium Tablets Market Outlook (2019-2025)| Pfizer, A&Z Pharmaceutical, Zhendong Group, HPGC global calcium tablets market https://www.qyresearch.com/sample-form/form/720956/global-calcium-tablets-industry-research-report-growth-trends-and-competitive-analysis https://www.qyresearch.com/settlement/pre/9fa3e19bf9869cd5b24779daee515814,0,1,Global%20Calcium%20Tablets%20Industry%20Research%20Report,%20Growth%20Trends%20and%20Competitive%20Analysis%202018-2025 www.qyresearch.com The research study presented here is a brilliant compilation of different types of analysis of critical aspects of the global Calcium Tablets market. It sheds light on how global Calcium Tablets Market is expected to grow during the course of the forecast period. With SWOT analysis and Porters Five Forces analysis, it gives a deep explanation of the strengths and weaknesses of the global Calcium Tablets market and different players operating therein. The authors of the report have also provided qualitative and quantitative analyses of several microeconomic and macroeconomic factors impacting the global Calcium Tablets market. In addition, the research study helps to understand the changes in the industry supply chain, manufacturing process and cost, sales scenarios, and dynamics of the global Calcium Tablets market.Each player studied in the report is profiled while taking into account its production, market value, sales, gross margin, market share, recent developments, and marketing and business strategies. Besides giving a broad study of the drivers, restraints, trends, and opportunities of the global Calcium Tablets market, the report offers an individual, detailed analysis of important regions such as North America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. Furthermore, important segments of the global Calcium Tablets market are studied in great detail with a key focus on their market share, CAGR, and other vital factors.Get PDF template of this report:Calcium Tablets Market Leading PlayersPfizerA&Z PharmaceuticalZhendong GroupHPGCBy-healthOsteoformAmwayCalcium Tablets Segmentation by ProductChildrenAdultThe AgedCalcium Tablets Segmentation by ApplicationPharmacyHospitalOnlineOtherTable of ContentsIndustry Overview: The first section of the research study touches on an overview of the global Calcium Tablets market, market status and outlook, and product scope. Additionally, it provides highlights of key segments of the global Calcium Tablets market, i.e. regional, type, and application segments.Competition Analysis: Here, the report brings to light important mergers and acquisitions, business expansions, product or service differences, market concentration rate, the competitive status of the global Calcium Tablets market, and market size by player.Company Profiles and Key Data: This section deals with the company profiling of leading players of the global Calcium Tablets market on the basis of revenue, products, business, and other factors mentioned earlier.Market Size by Type and Application: Besides offering a deep analysis of the size of the global Calcium Tablets market by type and application, this section provides a study on top end users or consumers and potential applications.North America Market: Here, the report explains the changes in the market size of North America by application and player.Europe Market: This section of the report shows how the size of the Europe market will change in the next few years.China Market: It gives an analysis of the China market and its size for all the years of the forecast period.Rest of Asia Pacific Market: The Rest of Asia Pacific market is analyzed in quite some detail here on the basis of application and player.Central and South America Market: The report explains the changes in the size of the Central and South America market by player and application.MEA Market: This section shows how the size of the MEA market will change during the course of the forecast period.Market Dynamics: Here, the report deals with the drivers, restraints, challenges, trends, and opportunities of the global Calcium Tablets market. This section also includes Porters Five Forces analysis.Research Findings and Conclusion: It gives powerful recommendations for new as well as established players for securing a position of strength in the global Calcium Tablets market.Methodology and Data Source: This section includes the authors' list, a disclaimer, research approach, and data sources.Get Full Report Now at USD 2,900 @Key Questions Answered What will be the size and CAGR of the global Calcium Tablets market in the next five years? Which segment will take the lead in the global Calcium Tablets market? What has the average manufacturing cost? What are the key business tactics adopted by top players of the global Calcium Tablets market? Which region will secure a lions share of the global Calcium Tablets market? Which company will show dominance in the global Calcium Tablets market?About Us:QYResearch always pursuits high product quality with the belief that quality is the soul of business. Through years of effort and supports from the huge number of customer supports, QYResearch consulting group has accumulated creative design methods on many high-quality markets investigation and research team with rich experience. Today, QYResearch has become the brand of quality assurance in the consulting industry.ContactQY Research, INC.USA: +1 626 428 8800China: +86 1082 945 717Japan: +81 9038 009 273India: +91 9766 478 224Emails enquiry@qyresearch.comWeb Cloud Infrastructure Services Market Will Hit Big Revenues In Future | Top Companies are AT&T, Alibaba, Dimension Data, AWS, IBM, InterVision, Oracle, Microsoft, Google, Rackspace, Fujitsu, Verizon, Bluelock, VMware Cloud Infrastructure Services Market www.gminsights.com/request-toc/upcoming/2957 www.gminsights.com/roc/2957 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/cloud-infrastructure-services-market www.gminsights.com www.industry-source.org Cloud Infrastructure Services Market in private cloud deployment model is anticipated to grow significantly over 2018 to 2024 . This private cloud market has been widely used by large and small businesses as it provides better control over data and information assets. It also provides better security and superior performance as compared to other deployment models. The public clouds are preferred by organizations that use application systems or web servers in which security is not a prime concern. The public clouds are most suitable for start-ups as there are minimal setup costs.Cloud Infrastructure Services Market in Asia Pacific is anticipated to grow at the fastest pace due to the growing demand from developing economies. The supportive government initiatives and policies across the region also promote the demand for cloud services. For instance, in 2017, China launched the Digital China Initiative to enable the rapid commercialization of digital business models on a large scale.Request for an in-depth table of contents for this report @North America is projected to the lead the cloud infrastructure services market over the forecast time. The market growth is attributed to the presence of major technology players such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. This region is also a major hub for technology start-ups. Favorable business conditions and supportive government policies have encouraged businesses to develop advanced cloud platforms. Moreover, increasing venture capital in the cloud technology by prominent tech players has also driven the market growth.Cloud Infrastructure Services Market is estimated to witness lucrative growth from 2018 to 2024 propelled by increasing digitalization and growing need for more scalable models. As the internet penetration and smartphone adoptions across the globe are increasing, customers are becoming more empowered. This is encouraging organizations to opt for more dynamic and advanced delivery models to connect to their customers and provide personalized experiences. Moreover, the growing need to reduce the operational costs and maintenance of the IT infrastructure also encourages the adoption of cloud infrastructure services by several organizations.The companies operating in the cloud infrastructure services market are AT&T, Alibaba, Dimension Data, AWS, IBM, InterVision, Oracle, Microsoft, Google, Rackspace, Fujitsu, Verizon, Bluelock, VMware, DigitalOcean, NEC, CenturyLink, OVH, Interoute, Tencent, Joyent, Skytap, Virtuestream, ProfitBricks, and NaviSite. The vendors in the market are conducting strategic acquisitions to increase their market share. In 2018, InterVision acquired Bluelock to own its Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaas) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) solutions. This acquisition positions InterVision to address the changing needs of its business in a better manner.Request for customization of this report @The Storage as a Service (SaaS) market holds the largest market share in the cloud infrastructure services market. This is a business model in which large businesses lend storage space to smaller companies. SaaS vendors are promoting the service as a convenient way to store the backup data. Compute as a Service (CaaS) market is anticipated to grow at a rapid pace over the forecast timespan. This service is used to allow access to raw computing resources on demand. Most of the CaaS services are priced through a consumption-based model.The growing demand for agility, flexibility, and control has accelerated the growth of the hybrid cloud market. The hybrid cloud allows organizations to respond to fluctuating demands and helps balance the high subscription costs associated with private cloud platforms. Vendors are focusing on expanding their hybrid cloud product portfolio. For instance, VMware has joined forces with Amazon to offer a complete hybrid platform on AWS. Some vendors are also offering on-premise platforms to extend their public cloud offerings.Browse Full Reports:About Global Market InsightsGlobal Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact UsArun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Blog: Global Aloe Vera Products Market by Top Players Terry Laboratories, Aloecorp, Lily of the Desert, Aloe Farms, Evergreen, OKF, Houssy Global, ESI s.p.a., Grace Foods & more https://www.bigmarketresearch.com/request-sample/3024255?utm_source=opr&utm_medium=geeta https://www.bigmarketresearch.com/request-for-discount/3024255?utm_source=opr&utm_medium=geeta Worldwide Global Aloe Vera Products Market report of 2019 provides a detailed market overview as well as industry analysis for / of companies, manufacturers and distributors covering data on gross margin, cost structure, consumption value, sale price and moreScope of the Report:The worldwide market for Aloe Vera Products is expected to grow at a CAGR of roughly over the next five years, will reach million US$ in 2024, from million US$ in 2019, according to a new GIR (Global Info Research) study.This report focuses on the Aloe Vera Products 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.Get Sample Copy of this Report@Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report covers: Terry Laboratories, Aloecorp, Lily of the Desert, Aloe Farms, Evergreen, OKF, Houssy Global, ESI s.p.a., Grace Foods, Forever Living Products, Okyalo, Simplee Aloe, Aloe Drink For Life, Suja Life, Take Tory, Savia, RITA, NOBE, Fruit of the Earth, Yuensun, Changyue, Yongyuan Bio-Tech, HuaTai Bio-fine chemicalMarket Segment by Regions, regional analysis covers: North America (United States, Canada and Mexico), Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia), South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia etc.), East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Market Segment by Type, covers: Gel Extracts, Whole Leaf ExtractsMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided into: Personal Care, Food & Beverages, HealthcareGet a discount on this research report @The content of the study subjects, includes a total of 15 chapters:Chapter 1, to describe Aloe Vera Products product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market driving force and market risks.Chapter 2, to profile the top manufacturers of Aloe Vera Products, with price, sales, revenue and global market share of Aloe Vera Products in 2017 and 2018.Chapter 3, the Aloe Vera Products competitive situation, sales, revenue and global market share of top manufacturers are analyzed emphatically by landscape contrast.Chapter 4, the Aloe Vera Products breakdown data are shown at the regional level, to show the sales, revenue and growth by regions, from 2014 to 2019.Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, to break the sales data at the country level, with sales, revenue and market share for key countries in the world, from 2014 to 2019.Chapter 10 and 11, to segment the sales by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2014 to 2019.Chapter 12, Aloe Vera Products market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2019 to 2024.Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Aloe Vera Products sales channel, distributors, customers, research findings and conclusion, appendix and data source.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 StatesDirect: +1-971-202-1575Toll Free: +1-800-910-6452E-mail help@bigmarketresearch.com Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Market Insight Strategies On Share with Top Players Astellas Pharma, Genzyme, Accord Healthcare., Watson Pharmaceuticals, Novartis organ transplant immunosuppressant https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/2495 https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-pdf/2495 Immunosuppressant is a drug used to suppress immune responses through various mechanisms. It is used in organ transplant to prevent the body from recognizing or attacking the transplanted organ. Immunosuppressant drugs can act by preventing and treating graft-versus-host disease and can minimize destruction of affected tissues in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. There are two types of immunosuppressant drugs: induction drugs and maintenance drugs. Induction drugs are antirejection medicines that are used during the transplant, whereas maintenance drugs are antirejection medicines intended to use for long term.Global Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Market: DriversIncreasing number of patients that require organ transplants is expected to boost the organ transplant immunosuppressant drugs market. For instance, according to the U.S. Government Information on Organ Donation and Transplantation, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, in 2017, 34770 organ transplants were performed in the U.S. and over 114000 patients were in need for organ transplantation.Moreover, increasing approval for new products is expected to boost the organ transplant immunosuppressant drugs market growth. For instance, in April 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Thymoglobulin (anti-thymocyte globulin (rabbit) produced by Sanofi. Thymoglobulin is intended to use in conjunction with concomitant immunosuppression in the prophylaxis and prevention of acute rejection in patients receiving a kidney transplant.However, decreasing number of organ transplantation due to shortage of organs may hinder growth for the organ transplant immunosuppressant drugs market. For instance, according to National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), in 2015, only 30,973 organ transplants from 15,064 donors were performed in the U.S., while over 121,000 candidates were in need for organ transplantation. Moreover, according to a report by Organ Donation and Transplantation Activity Report, the number of organ transplants decreased from 4,655 in 2013/14 to 4,431 in 2014/15 in the U.K.Request A Sample Copy:Global Organ Transplant Immunosuppressant Drugs Market: Regional AnalysisOn the basis of region, the global organ transplant immunosuppressant drugs market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa.Increasing cases of kidney disorders in the U.S. is expected to propel growth of the organ transplant immunosuppressant drugs market in North America. For instance, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), in 2016, 19,061 kidney transplants were performed in the U.S. compared to 17,878 kidney transplants in 2015. Therefore, the number of kidney transplants increased by 6.6% in 2016.Moreover, increasing number of pipeline studies to develop drugs for organ transplant rejection is expected to contribute to growth of the market. For instance, in November 2018, Temple University, in collaboration with Veloxis Pharmaceuticals, initiated phase 4 clinical trial for Tacrolimus Extended Release Oral Tablet to evaluate dosing strategies for de novo once-daily extended release tacrolimus (LCPT) in kidney transplant recipients. The study is expected to be completed by August 2019.Europe is expected to witness significant growth in the market over the forecast period. The growth is attributed to increasing product launch by key players in this region. For instance, in 2013, Roche Group launched two new highly-sensitive therapeutic drug monitoring tests for immunosuppressant medicines tacrolimus and cyclosporine worldwide (except U.S.). Therapeutic monitoring for immunosuppressive drugs is a major part of transplant medicine and is crucial for maintaining the health of patients with organ transplantation for longer period.Key player operating in the organ transplant immunosuppressant drugs market include, Astellas Pharma, Genzyme Corporation, Accord Healthcare Ltd., Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Novartis AG, Mylan Laboratories, Inc., GlaxoSmithKline plc., Belcher Pharmaceuticals LLC, Leo Pharma As, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Veloxis Pharmaceuticals Inc., Dr. Reddys Laboratories Ltd., Panacea Biotec Ltd., Strides Pharma Global Pte Ltd., and Hoffman La Roche.Download the PDF brochure: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 Dissolved Gas Analyzer Market Impacts Higher Demand Due to Increasing Contribution by Major Players(Weidmann ,General Electric , Morgan Schaffer Corporation (Canada), ABB Ltd.) during 2014-2020 Dissolved Gas Analyzer Market https://www.mrrse.com/sample/1191 https://www.mrrse.com/dissolved-gas-analyzer-market https://www.mrrse.com/checkdiscount/1191 This report provides strategic analysis of the Global Dissolved Gas Analyzer Market. The scope of the report includes competitive analysis of various market segments based on the extraction types of mineral oil from power transformers for the DGA (dissolved gas analysis) and analysis type being used during dissolved gas analysis process. Moreover, the market has also been segmented on the basis of power rating of power transformers for which dissolved gas analyzers are being used. In-depth scrutiny of the dissolved gas analyzer market across different geographic segments has also been included in the report. The major objective of a dissolved gas analyzer is to identify the incipient faults occurring in power transformers and other oil-filled electrical equipments. A dissolved gas analyzer helps to determine the faults by analyzing the gases formed by the decomposition of mineral oil present in power transformers.Get Excusive Sample Copy of This Report @Dissolved gas analyzers are used to monitor and diagnose the nature of gases being generated in power transformers and oil-filled electrical equipment. In transformers, mineral oils are used as coolant in power transformers. Complex chemical mixes and hydrocarbons are major components of mineral oil being used in transformers. Gases are being generated in power transformers through natural operations or accidental events. These gases are dissolved in mineral oils being used in power transformers. Through the measurement of volume, nature, the rate of production, proportions, and a spectrum of dissolved gases, probability of faults and nature of faults in power transformers can be determined. Therefore, by using dissolved gas analysis, health of a transformer can be monitored and in case of urgency, maintenance program can be initiated.The global dissolved gas analyzer market is mainly driven by the growth in utility (power transformer) and industrial infrastructure investments. Expansion of the power transmission and distribution network in emerging markets, apart from the requirement for prevention of transformer breakdown and increasing need for detection of fault gases in newly installed transformers, has significantly boosted the dissolved gas analyzer market. Additionally, various regulations pertaining to the environment and power industry, which are being enacted by different government agencies of different countries, such as the European Commissions (EC) Ecodesign regulation, are also positively impacting the market for dissolved gas analyzers. The increasing adoption of online DGA (dissolved gas analysis) is another significant factor which is helping to drive the dissolved gas analyzer market forward. The added advantages offered by online DGA devices, such as ability to continuously monitor the health of transformers and remote monitoring of the data captured among others, has also positively impacted this market. Considering all these positive impacts, demand for dissolved gas analyzers are expected to rise during the forecast period from 2014 to 2020.For More Information about This Repot Please Visit @For aiding in strategic decision making, the report includes competitive profiling of the leading players in the industry and their dissolved gas analyzer product portfolio. Selling price of dissolved gas analyzers offered by leading companies is mentioned in the report. Furthermore, various business strategies adopted by leading players have also been discussed in the report. The market attractiveness analysis and Porters five forces analysis included in the report provide insight into market dynamics and industry competition.The report also provides a breakdown and assessment of various factors impacting the market growth, which are suitably described as market drivers, restraints, and opportunities. These factors determine various existing trends and their impact on market growth. Overall, the report includes a holistic analysis of the global dissolved gas analyzer market, and provides an estimate of growth for the period 2014 to 2020, keeping in mind the various factors affecting the market.Some of the leading players in the market are LumaSense Technologies Inc. (US), Weidmann (US), General Electric (US), Morgan Schaffer Corporation (Canada), ABB Ltd. (Switzerland), Doble Engineering (US), Gatron GmbH (Germany), OELCHECK GmbH (Germany), SD Myers, Inc. (US), Qualitrol Company LLC (US) EMH Energy-Messtechnik GmbH (Germany), and Sieyuan Electric Co. (China) among others.The report segments the global dissolved gas analyzer market as:Dissolved gas analyzer market, by extraction typeVacuum extraction or rack methodHead space extractionStripper column methodOthers (multiple gas extractor)Dissolved gas analyzer market, by analysis typeSmoke alarmsEarly warning DGA monitoringComprehensive DGA monitoringLaboratory servicesDatabase softwarePortable DGA devicesDissolved gas analyzer market, by power rating:100 MVA - 500 MVA501 MVA - 800 MVA801 MVA - 1200 MVADissolved gas analyzer market, by geography:North AmericaThe U.S.Rest of North AmericaEuropeThe U.K.GermanyFranceItalyRest of EuropeAsia PacificChinaIndiaJapanSouth KoreaAustraliaRest of Asia PacificAfricaSouth AfricaRest of AfricaMiddle EastQatarIranSaudi ArabiaTurkeyUnited Arab EmiratesRest of Middle EastSouth AmericaBrazilArgentinaPeruChileRest of South AmericaCheck Exclusive Discount @About Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE)Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of Electronics Research Reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.Contact UsState Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY 12207(USA)United States Telephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.com Coconut Oil Market Anticipated to Grow at a Steady CAGR of 3.9% through 2022 | Key Players are Archer Daniels Midland Company, Adams Group Inc., etc. https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=91 https://www.factmr.com/report/91/coconut-oil-market https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=AE&rep_id=91 https://www.factmr.com/ FactMR has actively published a new research study titled Coconut Oil Market Anticipated to Grow at a Steady CAGR of 3.9% through 2022 | Key Players are Archer Daniels Midland Company, Adams Group Inc., etc. to its broad online database. This assessment works to discourse the major trends, opportunities and drivers motivating the coconut oil market during the period from 2017-2022. The insights structured for presenting the target market are procured from both primary research and secondary research, and are utilized for validation that is valuable to investors, manufacturers and new entrants.Request a Free 100 Page Sample Report from Here Manufacturers in the coconut oil market are making a smart switch from the traditional business model and leveraging the evolving statistics. The purpose of this switch is to ensure increased production and tap into prime opportunities. Sensing the fad for high-value products such as virgin coconut oil as a functional food oil across the global stratosphere, manufacturers are revving up the production of such products to attain high profits margins. With the onset of the eco-innovation trend, key stakeholders in the coconut oil market are swiftly adopting sustainable methods to come up with high-quality products in resonance with environmental wellness.The health benefits of coconut oil continue to be a subject of debate among prominent researchers. Proponents of coconut oil vouch for its health benefits such as enhancing metabolism, boosting ketone concentration, and dermatological benefits. On the contrary, opponents continue to warn consumers about its potential health impacts including high cholesterol, intestinal distress, thyroid problems, and so on. Two recent reports published in NCBI unveil that consumption of coconut oil not only has neuropositive impacts for Alzheimer patients, but also curtails the cognitive deficits associated with this disorder. Moreover, a recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Cambridge has found that coconut oil reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases.On the other hand, a significant section of researchers are of the opinion that coconut oil is bad for health. Dr. Karin Michels, Dean of Harvard T.H. Chan school of Public Health, condemned the idea of coconut oil consumption. The ambiguities over health benefits of coconut oil will continue to have an impact on the bottom lines of stakeholders. The burst in coconut oil sales, especially during the period 2011-2015, is steadily waning, as consumers look for alternatives that are not mired in controversy. It is highly likely that further negative press will lead to a steady decline in global sales over the course of the forecast period.Browse Full Report on Coconut Oil Market with TOC -Coconut oil has witnessed considerable demand in the last decade on account of its unmatched versatility. However, supply inconsistencies and sluggish rate of production have raised up coconut oil prices to a new high. According to sources, the rising demand for coconut-based variants such as coconut sugar and coconut water have skyrocketed in the past few years, exhausting raw materials used for oil manufacture. The inability of manufacturers to streamline the supply framework as per demand generated for coconut oil has led to this surge in prices. It is likely that this increase in prices might lead to debut of adulterated coconut oil in the market, which might pose threats for the product integrity quo of coconut oil market.Fuel crisis and rising concerns of the society regarding depletion of non- renewable energy resources have led to a quest for alternative options. Several efforts have been directed toward energy generation from various alternative sources, including solar and biological sources. Generation of energy by converting trapped energy from sunlight to electricity and renewable agricultural products to fuel have been prevailing as the conventional practices. A trend of using coconut oil to produce biodiesel fuel as an alternative to conventional diesel fuel has gained prominence in the past few years. A flurry of innovations in this regard might act as an elixir boosting prosperity of the coconut oil market in the foreseeable future.Competitive LandscapeThe competitive landscape in the coconut oil market report features key players operating in the industry. The key players of coconut oil market have been featured based on their revenue shares, key differential strategies, and several other factors. The report features key players operating in the coconut oil market such as Adani Wilmar, Ruchi Soya Industries, Associated British Foods, Cargill Inc., Archer Daniels Midland Company, Bunge Limited, Adams Group Inc., and American Vegetable Oil Inc. Cargill Inc., a prominent player in the coconut oil market, had acquired Dalmia olive oil business to forge ahead with new product launches. Moreover, Cargill Inc. invested approximately $17.5 million in Izegem edible vegetable oil refinery to upgrade its production capacity.Have Any Question? Ask Our Industry 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: Telehandlers Market 2019 Global Analysis, Size, Share, Incredible Growth, Detailed Industry Analysis and Business Prospects https://www.adroitmarketresearch.com/industry-reports/telehandlers-market https://www.adroitmarketresearch.com/contacts/request-sample/538 https://www.adroitmarketresearch.com/contacts/enquiry-before-buying/538 The Global Telehandler Market Size is expected to grow at a CAGR of x.xx% during the forecast period 2018-2025. By the end of 2025, the market will exhibit an impressive value of USD xxx Billion. The latest trend of telehandlers is modularity. Some vendors use state-of-the-art modular designs to manufacture telehandlers.Get more Information about this Report @Cumulative factors that strengthen the global telehandlers market size are dollar and time utilization, cash inflows from businesses, equipment utilization and high prices. The key factor which catalyze the market growth is growing need for bulk material handling in livestock farming and agriculture. Agriculture yield is gradually escalating. Use of high-yield crops which are derived with improvement in irrigation practices, higher use of Information technology and fertilizers and genetically modified crops have augmented agricultural yield per hectare of entire major crops. Heightened volume of agricultural produce boost the need for telehandlers in agricultural application. Not to mention, telehandlers also aids in fuel efficiency and have higher resale value than any other machines which creates immense opportunities for telehandlers market. However, the factor that may stand as obstacle to the market growth, is higher maintenance rate.Request Sample Pages for more Insights @The telehandler market 2018 is classified into product type, region, application and ownership. On the basis of application, the classification extends into construction, agriculture and others. In developing nations, the construction segment exhibit promising growth rate owing to higher construction across the globe. Furthermore, the introduction of novel construction projects in developed countries will show exemplary growth in the forthcoming future.With regard to product type, the telehandler market is breakdown into large and compact telehandler. Large telehandlers have numerous benefits over the other types of telehandlers which include four-wheel drive option, straight-mast forklift and others.In concern to ownership, the telehandler market is bifurcated as personnel and rental. The rental segment accounted a major share of telehandler market 2018 owing to rise in maintenance and operational cost and higher initial cost. Expansion of the construction will reinforce the rental segment of telehandler market in the next couple of years.For Any Query on the Telehandlers Market @With reference to geography, the telehandler market segmentation includes region, Europe, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, North America and Rest of the World. Asia-Pacific holds major global telehandlers market share as there is potential expansion in industrial sector of this region resulting higher number of telehandlers in operation. Asia-Pacific countries which include, India, Japan and China are anticipated to evidence higher demand for telehandler market owing to soared infrastructural development. Asia-Pacific is followed by Europe, referring to share of global telehandlers market.Prime players who lead the field with maximum global telehandlers market share are HAULOTTE GROUP, Doosan Infracore Construction Equipment America, Komatsu Ltd., Terex Corporation, JLG Industries, Inc., J C Bamford Excavators Ltd., Manitou Bf, Ltd., MERLO S.p.A., Bobcat Company, and AB Volvo.Key segments of Global Telehandlers MarketBased on technology, the market has been segmented into, Hybrid telehandlers Electric telehandlersBased on application, the market has been segmented into, Residential Infrastructure Non-residentialAbout us:We are here to provide credible market intelligence with actionable insights. We believe that with the fast changing business environment and rapid turns in economic cycles, a lot is overlooked. With the aid of technology, a large amount of data is produced which is waiting to be analyzed and patterned. The insights which can be mined from such a large amount of data can enable businesses to grow at a pace of their choosing, be it long term goals or short-term goals. Being aware of the market movements allows for agility and agility is one of the highest rated characteristics of modern businesses.Contact us:Contact Name: Ryan JohnsonContact Email: sales@adroitmarketresearch.comContact Phone: +1 (214) 884-6068 Test Automation Market Impacts Higher Demand Due to Increasing Contribution by Major Players (IBM Corporation, Capgemini S.A., Wipro Ltd., Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp) during 2017-2025 Test Automation Market https://www.mrrse.com/sample/1687 https://www.mrrse.com/test-automation-market https://www.mrrse.com/checkdiscount/1687 The Test Automation Market report provides analysis of the global test automation market for the period 20152025, wherein the years from 2017 to 2025 is the forecast period and 2016 is considered as the base year. The report precisely covers all the major trends and technologies playing a major role in the Test Automation Markets growth over the forecast period. It also highlights the drivers, restraints, and opportunities expected to influence the market growth during this period. The study provides a holistic perspective on the markets growth in terms of revenue (in US$ Bn), across different geographies, which includes Asia Pacific (APAC), South America, North America, Europe, and Middle East & Africa (MEA). An in-depth analysis of various geographical regions is going to provide a precise and detailed understanding of the global test automation market over the forecast period.Get Exclusive Sample Copy of This Report @The market overview section of the report showcases the markets dynamics and trends such as the drivers, restraints, and opportunities that influence the current nature and future status of this market. Moreover, the report provides the overview of various strategies of the key players in the test automation market and analyzes their behavior in the prevailing market dynamics.The report segments the global test automation market on the basis of various types of test automation into functional testing, configuration testing, web services testing, acceptance testing, compatibility testing, integration testing, load testing, security testing, mobile testing, migration testing, platform testing, usability testing, network testing, and QA process design. Thus, the report provides in-depth cross-segment analysis for the test automation market and classifies it into various levels, thereby providing valuable insights on macro as well as micro level. Classification of global test automation market into its various types offers in-depth understanding of test automation in different market scenarios.The report also provides the competitive landscape for the test automation market, thereby positioning all the major players according to their geographic presence, market attractiveness and recent key developments. This is identified as a crucial step for getting the full overview of the market through key market leaders and the strategies adopted by them. The complete test automation market 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 test automation markets growth.For More Information about This Report Please Visit @IBM Corporation, Capgemini S.A., Wipro Ltd., Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp, Hewlett-Packard Company, Infosys Ltd, Tata Consultancy Services, Hexaware Technologies, SmartBear Inc., Tricentis GmbH, SeaLights Technologies Ltd, Qasymphony, Inc., CA Technologies and Zensar Technologies are some of the major players which have been profiled in this study. Details such as financials, business strategies, and other such strategic information pertaining to these players has been provided as a part of company profiles.Global Test Automation Market, by ComponentServicesAdvisory and Assessment ServicesManaged ServicesOthersProductTest Automation ToolsFunctional TestingConfiguration TestingWeb Services TestingAcceptance TestingCompatibility TestingIntegration TestingLoad TestingSecurity TestingMobile TestingMigration TestingPlatform TestingUsability TestingNetwork TestingQA Process DesignTypeIndependent ToolsOthersGlobal Test Automation Market, by DeploymentPublic CloudPrivate CloudOn PremiseGlobal Test Automation Market, by GeographyNorth America (NA)Europe (EU)Asia Pacific (APAC)Middle East & Africa (MEA)South AmericaCheck Exclusive Discount @About MRRSEMarket 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.Our reports are single-point solutions for businesses to grow, evolve, and mature. Our real-time data collection methods along with ability to track more than one million high growth niche products are aligned with your aims. The detailed and proprietary statistical models used by our analysts offer insights for making right decision in the shortest span of time. For organizations that require specific but comprehensive information we offer customized solutions through adhoc reports. These requests are delivered with the perfect combination of right sense of fact-oriented problem solving methodologies and leveraging existing data repositories.Contact UsState Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY 12207(USA)United States Telephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.com Robotics Technology in Construction Market will be Valued at USD 19.36 Billion by 2025 | Top Key Vendors Komatsu, 3D Robotics, Advanced Construction Robotics, AeroVironment, Aibotix GmbH, Apis Corp, Brokk AB, Conjet AB Robotics Technology in Construction Market https://www.businessindustryreports.com/sample-request/113241 https://www.businessindustryreports.com/buy-now/113241/single The demand for Robotics Technology in Construction Market 2019 is anticipated to be high for the next few years. By considering this demand we provide latest Robotics Technology in Construction Market Report which gives complete industry analysis, market outlook, size, growth and forecast till 2023. This report will assist in analyzing the current and future business trends, sales and revenue forecasts.Global Robotics Technology in Construction Market Overview:The report spread across 197 pages is an overview of the Global Robotics Technology in Construction Market Report 2019. The Global Robotics Technology in Construction Market is projected to grow at a healthy growth rate from 2019 to 2023 according to new research. The study focuses on market trends, leading players, supply chain trends, technological innovations, key developments, and future strategies.The Global Robotics Technology in Construction Market will touch a valuation of nearly USD 19.36 Billion in 2025.Available Exclusive Sample Copy of this Report @The Global Robotics Technology in Construction Market is segmented on the basis of Product Type, Robot Function, Application and Region. Based on the Product Type, the Global Robotics Technology in Construction Market is sub-segmented into UAVs, Traditional Robots, Robotic ARMs, Exoskeletons and others. On the basis of Robot Function, the Global Robotics Technology in Construction Market is classified into Inspection and Surveillance Robotics, Demolition Robots, Bricklaying Robots, Concrete Structural Erection Robots, 3D Printing Robots and others. Based on the Application, the Global Robotics Technology in Construction Market is divided into Public Infrastructure, Commercial and Residential Buildings, Nuclear Dismantling & Demolition and others.Latest Industry News:Komatsu Limited (April 26, 2019) Starting the New Mid-Term Management Plan "DANTOTSU Value -- FORWARD Together for Sustainable Growth" Komatsu Ltd and its consolidated subsidiaries have embarked on the new three-year mid-term management plan (FY2019-2021), "DANTOTSU Value -- FORWARD Together for Sustainable Growth" for its 100th anniversary in 2021 and beyond. Under the new mid-term management plan, we remain committed to Quality and Reliability, as the management principle, and maximized our corporate value, the total sum of trust from society and all our stakeholders. To this end, we work for sustainable growth through a positive cycle of improving earnings and solving ESG issues, which is driven by growth strategies.Demand for construction and mining equipment had remained in an adjustment phase, as affected by sluggish prices of commodities and the economic slowdown of emerging countries since around 2013. However, it began recovery in 2017, earlier than our assumption, when we developed the previous mid-term management plan (FY2016-2018). Under such an environment, we steadily captured demand while working to strengthen our corporate muscle, and integrated Komatsu Mining Corp. (hereafter "KMC") to the Komatsu Group. As a result, we posted expanded sales and profits for the last two consecutive years of Fiscal 2017 and 2018. For FY2018, the final year of the previous mid-term management plan, we also achieved record-high sales and profits.Top Leading Key Manufacturers are: 3D Robotics, Advanced Construction Robotics, AeroVironment, Aibotix GmbH, Apis Corp, Autonomous Solutions, Brokk AB, Conjet AB, Construction Robotics, Cyberdyne, Dajiang Innovation Technology Inc. (DJI), Eagle UAV Services, Ekso Bionics, Fastbrick Robotics Limited, Fujita Corporation, Husqvarna Group, Komatsu Limited, Lifco AB, MX3D, nLink Construction Robotics, Sarcos Corporation, senseFly / Parrot, TopTec Spezialmaschinen GmbH, Trimble Navigation Ltd., Yingchuang Building Technique Co. and others. New product launches and continuous technological innovations are the key strategies adopted by the major players.Purchase this report online with 197 Pages, List of Tables & Figures and in-depth Table of Contents on Global Robotics Technology in Construction Market Report 2019 @Region segment: This report is segmented into several key regions, with sales, revenue, market share (%) and growth Rate (%) of Robotics Technology in Construction in these regions, from 2013 to 2023 (forecast), covering: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa and South AmericaMajor Points in Table of Contents:Global Robotics Technology in Construction Market Report 20191 Introduction1.1 Industry Definition and Research Scope1.2 Research Methodology1.3 Executive Summary2 Robotics Technology in Construction Market Overview and Qualitative Analysis2.1 Market Size and Forecast2.2 Major Growth Drivers2.3 Market Restraints and Challenges2.4 Emerging Opportunities and Market Trends2.5 Porter's Fiver Forces Analysis. Request free sample to get a complete Table of ContentAbout 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 ASEAN and China Biosimilars Market| Top Key Players- 3SBIO Inc., Qilu Pharmaceutical, Novartis International AG (Sandoz International GmbH), Pfizer Inc. (Hospira), STADA Arzneimittel, Beijing SL Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. https://www.kdmarketinsights.com/sample/4271 https://www.kdmarketinsights.com/product/asean-and-china-biosimilars-market-amrr https://www.kdmarketinsights.com/discount/4271 www.kdmarketinsights.com The ASEAN and China biosimilars market was valued at $687.6 million in 2017 and is expected to reach $5,506.2 million by 2025 with a CAGR of 29.7% during the forecast period. Biosimilars or follow-on-biologics are the copied version of reference biologics, which are protected by intellectual rights that are anticipated to expire in future. The development and validation of biosimilars with reference biologics is a crucial part of the overall process. The key driving factor for biosimilars is their implied ability of providing more cost-effective treatment than branded biologics.Key players operating in the pharmaceuticals industry are largely investing in the development of biosimilars that can be applied for the treatment of several chronic medical conditions. Biosimilars have the potential to offer up to 30% cost reduction as compared to branded biologics. This is attributed to the compact validation pathways that reduce the additional cost of clinical trials, which further assist manufacturers to achieve scale economies. The key contributing factor to the growth in demand for biosimilars across the ASEAN and Chinese market is the patent expiration of most of the blockbuster drugs in the past few years. However, the biosimilars industry is witnessing issues pertaining to achieving product efficiency while maintaining the required production capacity. This plays a pivotal role in the biosimilars industry considering the large population of ASEAN countries along with China. Progress in improving the product efficiency and quantity is expected to open new avenues for the expansion of the biosimilars market across ASEAN and China.Request for Sample @The ASEAN and China biosimilars market is segmented into molecule type, application, and region. Based on molecule type, the market is divided into human growth hormone, erythropoietin, monoclonal antibodies, insulin, interferon, granulocyte-colony stimulating factor, and peptide. Based on application, the market is classified into blood disorders, oncology diseases, chronic and autoimmune diseases, growth hormone deficiency, and others. Further, the chronic and autoimmune diseases segment is sub-categorized into diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), glaucoma, and others. Based on region, the market is analyzed across China and ASEAN region.Key Benefits ASEAN and China Biosimilars Market:The study provides an in-depth analysis of the ASEAN and China biosimilars market along with the current trends and future estimations to elucidate the imminent investment pockets.A quantitative analysis from 2017 to 2025 is discussed to enable the stakeholders to capitalize on the prevailing market opportunities.A qualitative analysis of the driving factors and opportunities help analyze the competitive scenario of the market.Porteras five forces analysis is provided to interpret the bargaining power of the suppliers & buyers, threat of new entrants & substitutes, and competition among the key players.ASEAN and China Biosimilars Key Market Segments:By Molecule TypeHuman Growth HormoneErythropoietinMonoclonal AntibodyInsulinInterferonGranulocyte-Colony Stimulating FactorPeptideBy ApplicationBlood DisordersOncology DiseasesChronic and Autoimmune DiseasesRheumatoid Arthritis (RA)DiabetesGlaucomaOthersGrowth Hormone DeficiencyOthersBy RegionChinaASEAN RegionSingaporeMalaysiaThailandIndonesiaPhilippinesVietnamRest of ASEAN CountriesKey Market Players3SBIO Inc.Qilu PharmaceuticalNovartis International AG (Sandoz International GmbH)Pfizer Inc. (Hospira)STADA ArzneimittelBeijing SL Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.Fosun Pharmaceutical (Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.)Amgen Inc.AstraZeneca PlcTeva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.Browse Full Report with TOC @Table of Contents:CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1.1. Report description1.2. Key benefits for stakeholders1.3. key market segments1.4. Research methodology1.4.1. Secondary research1.4.2. Primary research1.4.3. Analyst tools & modelsCHAPTER 2: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY2.1. CXO perspectiveCHAPTER 3: MARKET OVERVIEW3.1. Market definition and scope3.2. Key findings3.2.1. Top Winning Strategies3.3. Porters five forces analysis3.4. Asean biosimilars market size and forecast3.5. China biosimilars market size and forecast3.6. Market dynamics3.6.1. Drivers3.6.1.1. Various blockbusters going off patent3.6.1.2. High prevalence of chronic diseases among ageing population3.6.1.3. Lower cost of biosimilars drugs than original biologics3.6.2. Restraints3.6.2.1. High initial investment in research and development3.6.2.2. Medical efficacy and patient safety3.6.3. Opportunity3.6.3.1. Emergence of bio-better drugsCHAPTER 4: ASEAN AND CHINA BIOSIMILARS MARKET, BY MOLECULE TYPE4.1. Overview4.1.1. Market size and forecast4.2. Human growth hormone4.2.1. Key market trends and growth opportunities4.2.2. Market size and forecast4.3. Erythropoietin4.3.1. Key market trends and growth opportunities4.3.2. Market size and forecast4.4. Monoclonal antibodies4.4.1. Key market trends and growth opportunities4.4.2. Market size and forecast4.5. Insulin4.5.1. Key market trends and growth opportunities4.5.2. Market size and forecast4.6. Interferon4.6.1. Key market trends and growth opportunities4.6.2. Market size and forecast4.7. Granulocyte-Colony Stimulating Factor4.7.1. Key market trends and growth opportunities4.7.2. Market size and forecast4.8. Peptide4.8.1. Key market trends and growth opportunities4.8.2. Market size and forecastCHAPTER 5: ASEAN AND CHINA BIOSIMILARS MARKET, BY APPLICATION5.1. Overview5.1.1. Market size and forecast5.2. Blood Disorders5.2.1. Market size and forecast5.3. Oncology Diseases5.3.1. Market size and forecast5.4. Chronic and Autoimmune Diseases5.4.1. Market size and forecast5.4.2. Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)5.4.2.1. Market size and forecast5.4.3. Diabetes5.4.3.1. Market size and forecast5.4.4. Glaucoma5.4.4.1. Market size and forecast5.4.5. Others5.4.5.1. Market size and forecast5.5. Growth hormone deficiency5.5.1. Market size and forecast5.6. Others5.6.1. Market size and forecastContinueCheck for Discount @About Us:KD Market Insights offers a comprehensive database of syndicated research studies, customized reports, and consulting services. These reports are created to help in making smart, instant and crucial decisions based on extensive and in-depth quantitative information, supported by extensive analysis and industry insights.Our dedicated in-house team ensures the reports satisfy the requirement of the client. We aim at providing value service to our clients. Our reports are backed by extensive industry coverage and is made sure to give importance to the specific needs of our clients. The main idea is to enable our clients to make an informed decision, by keeping them and ourselves up to date with the latest trends in the market.Contact Us:KD Market Insights150 State Street, Albany,New York, USA 12207+1 (518) 300-1215Email: sales@kdmarketinsights.comWebsite: By 2024, APAC On-board Diagnostics Aftermarket to witness 20%+ gains| by key players Azuga, Verizone, Geotab, Vector Informatik, AVL Ditest, Autel https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/2839 https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/2839 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/on-board-diagnostics-obd-aftermarket https://www.gminsights.com http://solutionrocket.com Asia Pacific On-board Diagnostics Aftermarket is estimated to grow at a significant CAGR during the forecast period. due to the rapid growth in the automobile industry, particularly in China, India, and Japan. With huge investments by domestic and global auto players in the region, the market is projected to grow swiftly during the forecast timeline. For instance, in April 2018, the Hinduja Group flagship Ashok Leyland (ALL) in India made an announcement to invest Rs 1,000 crore to revamp its capacity and launch 20 new vehicles by the end of 2018. Similarly, in July 2018, Tesla planned to open a new electric car production plant in Shanghai to produce 500,000 cars a year. Due to a speedy growth in the automobile sector, the demand for OBD devices to tackle and diagnose the faulty emission-control systems is projected to increase during the forecast period.Request for a sample of this research report @North America is estimated to account for the largest share of over 40% in the global On-board Diagnostics Aftermarket by 2024. The market growth in this region is attributed to technological advancements in the transportation infrastructure and the high penetration of the smartphones and cloud technology in the region. The extensive presence of some of the leading global auto manufacturers and suppliers is also contributing to the growing automobile industry in the region. These players have made significant investments in their manufacturing facilities and R&D departments to develop new and advanced vehicle models. For instance, in January 2018, Ford Motor Company announced that it is planning to increase investments in electric vehicles to USD 11 billion by 2022 with 40 electric and fully-hybrid vehicles in its portfolio.The automotive industry uses two types of OBD hardware devices, viz., OBD scanners and OBD dongles. The scanners are more like code readers or scan tools that read codes from any vehicle equipped with OBD II. The OBD dongles are gaining more popularity among fleet managers. The dongle is a visible accessory that can be connected to the drivers smartphone, plugged directly into the OBD II port, and can also be connected in an effortless way to a network. As these devices can be independently used and do not require any wired connection, the demand for dongles is projected to grow swiftly over the forecast timeline.Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @The On-board Diagnostics Aftermarket is projected to register a lucrative growth at a CAGR of over 17% between 2018 and 2024. The growth can be attributed to the factors such as an increase in vehicle production and the growing need to implement emission control norms and regulations to tackle air pollution. The significant investments made by the automotive manufacturers and the aftermarket service providers around the globe are contributing to an increasing demand for the development of connected vehicles. The rapid growth of the automobile industry has forced the manufacturers to offer more robust OBD devices, particularly for light-duty and heavy-duty vehicles.On-board Diagnostics Aftermarket is projected to surpass USD 1.5 billion by 2024. Onboard diagnostics refers to a vehicles self-diagnostics and reporting capabilities. The technology facilitates the monitoring and evaluation of the vehicle?s engine and its sub-components to ensure that all components are functioning properly. Vehicle owners and the car technicians use OBD devices to gain access to a real-time status of the vehicle subsystems. A simple OBD system consists of various sensors that collect the data from various vehicle components, refine, and process this data to gain valuable insights, that further aid in the diagnosis and repair of faulty components. These systems are currently being used with telematics that enables vehicle owners to detect issues such as low performance, and heavy emissions along with the real-time driver behavior.Browse Full Report @Another factor driving the growth of the On-board Diagnostics Aftermarket is the increasing shift toward Usage-Based Insurance (UBI) to promote safer driving practices among the drivers. OBD devices help auto companies and insurance providers to set the premium amount depending on the driver?s driving habits, distance traveled, and the status of the vehicle. Based on these considerations, the insurance companies can decide whether to reward or penalize the customer.About Global Market Insights:Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Blog: Clinical Chemistry Analyzer Market Trends and Forecast 2025| Roche Diagnostics (Switzerland), Beckman Coulter (U.S.), Abbott Diagnostics (U.S.) https://www.qyresearch.com/sample-form/form/983356/global-clinical-chemistry-analyzer-industry-analysis-report https://www.qyresearch.com/index/detail/983356/global-clinical-chemistry-analyzer-industry-analysis-report https://www.qyresearch.com/settlement/pre/3c6927001f08f024603872cc0ba43339,0,1,Global%20Clinical%20Chemistry%20Analyzer%20Industry%20Analysis%20Report%202019 www.qyresearch.com Clinical Chemistry Analyzer is a new concept designed clinical chemistry analyzing system for biochemical research and clinical diagnosticsThis report segment the clinical chemistry analyzer market on the basis of products, test, end users and regions. The product segments included in this report are analyzers, reagents and other products. The clinical chemistry analyzer product segment is further divided on the basis of type into four segments, Small (400-800 Test/H), Medium (800-1,200 Tests/H), Large (1,200-2,000 Tests/H), Very large (2,000 Tests/H). The reagents product segment is further categorized into calibrators, controls, standards and other reagents. The tests segments included in this report are basic metabolic panel, electrolyte panel, liver panel, lipid profile, renal profile/kidney function panel, thyroid function panel, specialty chemical tests. The end-user segments included in this report are academic research institutes, diagnostic laboratories, hospitals, and other end users.Access PDF Version of this Report at:The application segments included in this report are tests such as, basic metabolic panel, electrolyte panel, liver panel, lipid profile, renal profile/kidney function panel, thyroid function panel, specialty chemical tests. The basic metabolic panel tests segment had the largest share of the clinical chemistry analyzers market in 2014, whereas the lipid profile test segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR between 2014 and 2019.The global Clinical Chemistry Analyzer market is valued at 9140 million US$ in 2018 is expected to reach 13700 million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of 5.2% during 2019-2025.This report focuses on Clinical Chemistry Analyzer volume and value at global level, regional level and company level. From a global perspective, this report represents overall Clinical Chemistry Analyzer market size by analyzing historical data and future prospect. Regionally, this report focuses on several key regions: North America, Europe, China and Japan.Major Key Manufacturers of Clinical Chemistry Analyzer Market are:Roche Diagnostics (Switzerland), Beckman Coulter (U.S.), Abbott Diagnostics (U.S.), Siemens AG (Germany),, Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics (U.S.), Thermo Fisher Scientific(U.S.), Randox Laboratories Ltd. (U.K.), ElitechGroup(France), Mindray (China), Horiba (Japan),Segmentation by Product-Small (400-800 Test/H), Medium (800-1200 Tests/H), Large (1200-2000 Tests/H), Very Large (2000 Tests/H),Segmentation by Application-Academic Research Institutes, Diagnostics Laboratories, Hospitals, Other End Users,Browse Details of this Report at:Regions Covered in the Global Clinical Chemistry Analyzer Market:-The Middle East and Africa (GCC Countries and Egypt)North America (the United States, Mexico, and Canada)South America (Brazil etc.)Europe (Turkey, Germany, Russia UK, Italy, France, etc.)Asia-Pacific (Vietnam, China, Malaysia, Japan, Philippines, Korea, Thailand, India, Indonesia, and Australia)Strategic Points Covered in TOC:Chapter 1: Introduction, market driving force product scope, market risk, market overview, and market opportunities of the global Clinical Chemistry Analyzer marketChapter 2: Evaluating the leading manufacturers of the global Clinical Chemistry Analyzer market which consists of its revenue, sales, and price of the productsChapter 3: Displaying the competitive nature among key manufacturers, with market share, revenue, and salesChapter 4: Presenting global Clinical Chemistry Analyzer market by regions, market share and with revenue and sales for the projected periodChapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9: To evaluate the market by segments, by countries and by manufacturers with revenue share and sales by key countries in these various regionsGet Full Report Now at USD 2,900 @Finally, the global Clinical Chemistry Analyzer Market is a valuable source of guidance for individuals and companies. One of the major reasons behind providing market attractiveness index is to help the target audience and clients to identify the several market opportunities in the global Clinical Chemistry Analyzer market. Moreover, for the better understanding of the market, QY Research has also presented a key to get information about various segments of the global Clinical Chemistry Analyzer market.About Us:QY Research established in 2007, focus on custom research, management consulting, IPO consulting, industry chain research, data base and seminar services. The company owned a large basic data base (such as National Bureau of statistics database, Customs import and export database, Industry Association Database etc.), experts resources (included energy automotive chemical medical ICT consumer goods etc.Contact usQY Research, INC.17890 Castleton, Suite 218,Los Angeles, CA 91748USA: +1 626 428 8800India: +91 9766 478 224Emails: enquiry@qyresearch.comWeb: Airships Market Impacts Higher Demand Due to Increasing Contribution by Major Players (Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd., Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik GMBH, Shanghai Vantage Airship Manufacture Co. Ltd.) during 2016-2024 Airships Market https://www.mrrse.com/sample/2229 https://www.mrrse.com/airships-market https://www.mrrse.com/checkdiscount/2229 Airships are lighter than air (LTA) airships. These aircrafts have the ability to navigate through air with the help of its own power. Airships, also known as aerostats gain their lift through large gas filled bags which are filled with lifting gases such as helium or hydrogen. The market for airships is expected to grow due to their rising demand for surveillance globally.Get Exclusive Sample Copy of This Report @The growing concern for safety has lead to the increasing demand for surveillance. However, the requirement for monitoring of large areas is leading to the demand for economic methods of surveillance. Airships have lower maintenance cost and can monitor a large area by staying uplifted for long time periods. These factors are aiding to the demand for airships in surveillance applications. Furthermore, the airships are being used as a mode of advertisement as they have the ability to stay up in the air with little or no movement which helps the advertisements to cover a larger target area. Moreover, advertising on airships has been analyzed to be much more cost effective compared to other forms of advertising.However, there are some issues related with the use of airships that can hinder the growth of the market. Currently, most of the airships operated with the help of lighter than air gases such as helium and hydrogen. However, hydrogen is a highly flammable gas which has led to several accidents earlier. Hence it becomes risky to operate an airship filled with hydrogen. Furthermore, the airships travel at a much slower speed compared to the modern day jets. Hence, the application of airships in commercial travel is being restrained due to slow speeds. Nevertheless, research is being conducted to develop hybrid airships which are supposed to run with the help of solar energy to avoid the operational hazards associated with lighter than air gases. The concept of hybrid airships is expected to push the demand for airships in future.The global airships market has been segmented by construction type, application and geography. By construction type, the market has been categorized into rigid airships, semi rigid airships and non-rigid airships. Non-rigid airships are strong demand because of their lower cost. Additionally, these airships are preferred for advertisements due to their light weight design. In terms of application, the airships market has been segregated into surveillance, research, commercial tours, advertisements and cargo transport among others. The advertisement and surveillance segment has the maximum demand for airships. The demand in advertisement is attributed by the large exposure gained due to more area coverage of the advertisements displayed in the middle of the sky. Furthermore, the increasing demand for safety has created the need for surveillance of large areas. These factors are pushing the demand for airships in these segments.For More Information about This Report Please Visit @By region, the airships market has been segmented into North America, Europe Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa and Latin America. North America and Europe is expected to dominate the airships market regionally. The dominance of this region is due to the presence of developed countries like the U.S., U.K. and Germany where maximum research and development and manufacturing facilities are present for airships.To get a better understanding of the global airships market, the market dynamics have been provided which discusses the drivers, restraints and the opportunities present in the market. Furthermore, the key trends effecting the growth of the airships market have also been provided. In addition, the market challenges associated with the development of airships has also been analyzed in the report.The global airships market has several dominating and emerging players. The leading players have been profiled on the basis of their product segments, financial overview, company information and business strategies adopted by them for airships market. The major players in the airships market include Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd., Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik GMBH, Shanghai Vantage Airship Manufacture Co. Ltd., Lindstrand Technologies Ltd. and Lockheed Martin Corporation.The global Airships market can be segmented as follows;-Global Airships Market, By Construction TypeRigidSemi RigidNon-RigidGlobal Airships Market, By ApplicationSurveillanceResearchCommercial ToursAdvertisementCargo TransportOthersGlobal Airships Market, By GeographyNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaMexicoEuropeU.K.GermanyFranceItalyRest of EuropeAsia-PacificChinaIndiaJapanSouth KoreaRest of Asia PacificMiddle East and AfricaUnited Arab EmiratesSaudi ArabiaSouth AfricaLatin AmericaBrazilRest of Latin AmericaCheck Exclusive Discount @About MRRSEMarket 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 Composite Bearings Market set to grow according to forecasts| Saint-Gobain S.A., Trelleborg Group, Schaeffler Group, Polygon Company https://www.qyresearch.com/sample-form/form/983385/global-composite-bearings-competition-forecast-amp-opportunities https://www.qyresearch.com/index/detail/983385/global-composite-bearings-competition-forecast-amp-opportunities https://www.qyresearch.com/settlement/pre/f56f0693cc963d251d5ede4baad6085b,0,1,Global%20Composite%20Bearings%20Competition,%20Forecast www.qyresearch.com The composite bearings, by product type, is further segmented into metal matrix and fiber matrix. The metal matrix based composite bearings comprise a major market share owing to their high strength, operational stability in harsh environments and moderate cost. Due to these properties, metal matrix based composite bearings are used in applications including construction & mining, agriculture and automotive, and others.Access PDF Version of this Report at:The major applications in the composite bearings market include construction & mining, automotive, agriculture, aerospace, marine, and others. The agriculture application is the fastest growing application in the composite bearings market. Composite bearings offer various features including being light in weight, dimensional stability and resistance against corrosion, and operational stability at high temperatures in comparison to traditional materials such as single metal bearings, due to which, the usage of composite bearings in the marine, construction & mining and aerospace industries is growing at a high rate.The global Composite Bearings market is valued at 5050 million US$ in 2018 is expected to reach 8800 million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of 7.2% during 2019-2025.Major Key Manufacturers of Composite Bearings Market are:Saint-Gobain S.A. , Trelleborg Group , Schaeffler Group , Polygon Company , RBC Bearings Incorporated. , Rexnord Corporation , Hycomp LLC , Tristar Plastic Corp. , Tiodize Co., Inc. , Spaulding Composites, Inc. ,Segmentation by Product-Fiber Matrix , Metal Matrix,Segmentation by Application-Construction & Mining, Agriculture, Automotive, Aerospace, Marine, Others,Browse Details of this Report at:Regions Covered in the Global Composite Bearings Market:-The Middle East and Africa (GCC Countries and Egypt)North America (the United States, Mexico, and Canada)South America (Brazil etc.)Europe (Turkey, Germany, Russia UK, Italy, France, etc.)Asia-Pacific (Vietnam, China, Malaysia, Japan, Philippines, Korea, Thailand, India, Indonesia, and Australia)Strategic Points Covered in TOC:Chapter 1: Introduction, market driving force product scope, market risk, market overview, and market opportunities of the global Composite Bearings marketChapter 2: Evaluating the leading manufacturers of the global Composite Bearings market which consists of its revenue, sales, and price of the productsChapter 3: Displaying the competitive nature among key manufacturers, with market share, revenue, and salesChapter 4: Presenting global Composite Bearings market by regions, market share and with revenue and sales for the projected periodChapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9: To evaluate the market by segments, by countries and by manufacturers with revenue share and sales by key countries in these various regionsGet Full Report Now at USD 2,900 @Finally, the global Composite Bearings Market is a valuable source of guidance for individuals and companies. One of the major reasons behind providing market attractiveness index is to help the target audience and clients to identify the several market opportunities in the global Composite Bearings market. Moreover, for the better understanding of the market, QY Research has also presented a key to get information about various segments of the global Composite Bearings market.About Us:QY Research established in 2007, focus on custom research, management consulting, IPO consulting, industry chain research, data base and seminar services. The company owned a large basic data base (such as National Bureau of statistics database, Customs import and export database, Industry Association Database etc.), experts resources (included energy automotive chemical medical ICT consumer goods etc.Contact usQY Research, INC.17890 Castleton, Suite 218,Los Angeles, CA 91748USA: +1 626 428 8800India: +91 9766 478 224Emails: enquiry@qyresearch.comWeb: Advanced wound care market to account to US$ 11,564.6 Mn by 2025 with industry key players 3M, Braun Melsungen, Integra Lifesciences, Smith & Nephew, Cardinal Health, Acelity, Acelity, Advanced wound care market https://www.theinsightpartners.com/sample/TIPHE100000825/?opsp https://www.theinsightpartners.com/inquiry/TIPHE100000825/?opsp https://www.theinsightpartners.com/discount/TIPHE100000825/?opsp Advanced wound care market accounted to US$ 8,181.9 Mn in 2017 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.5% during the forecast period 2018 2025, to account to US$ 11,564.6 Mn by 2025.Asia Pacific is the fastest geographic market and it is expected to be the fastest revenue contributor throughout the forecast period. Asia Pacific market is driven by the factors such as to huge patient population, increases in the number of surgical procedures and rising number of wound care admit to hospitals and ambulatory care centers.Some Of Major Key Players In Advanced Wound Care Market :Smith & Nephew, Acelity, Braun Melsungen, Integra Lifesciences Corporation, ConvaTec, 3M,MiMedx, Molnlycke Health Care, Paul Hartmann AG, Cardinal Health,Get Sample Copy Of Report@Approvals and agreements were observed as the most adopted strategy in global advanced wound care industry. Few of the recent product launch and collaboration and others are listed below: 2018: In April, 2018, Kerecis proposed the study results in Symposium on Advanced Wound Care (SAWC) Spring meeting to be held April 25 to 28. Kerecis is exhibiting at booth 230 at the Charlotte Convention Center. 2017: In October, 2017, Integra LifeSciences Launches Integra SurgiMend PRS Meshed Collagen Matrix For Breast Reconstruction In Europe. 2016: In April 2016, Integra LifeSciences Announces Agreement With Vomaris Wound Care, Inc. To Commercialize VolTAC Antimicrobial Wound Dressing.Market Insights:Increasing Prevalence of Diabetes & Related Chronic Wounds:Diabetes is one of the largest global health emergencies of the 21st century. Each year more and more people live with this condition, which can result in life-changing complications. According to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), in 2017, number of people with diabetes in North America was approximately 46 million which is expected to grow at 62 million in 2045. The increase in the disease prevalence is around 35% during the forecast period. Type 2 diabetes is the most prevalent form of diabetes and has increased alongside cultural and societal changes. In high-income countries up to 91% of adults with the disease have type 2 diabetes. As per the report of IDF, one in 11 adults have diabetes in 2015, and it will decrease to one in 10 adults till 2040.Technological Advancement in Advanced Wound Care Products:Advanced wound care products are ideally preferred for the post-surgery wound treatment. In October 2017, Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corporation launched the Revize / Revize-X Collagen Matrix, for plastic and reconstructive surgery. The matrix is an expandable matrix which is offering up to double the initial coverage area once hydrated and fully expanded. Likewise, Acelity innovated the V.A.C.ULTA Therapy System in the U.S. in April 2017, The V.A.C.ULTA Therapy System, is latest generation negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) system, which improve clinicians experiences by leveraging first-to-market connectivity technology.Speak With Industrial Experts@Product Insights:The global advanced wound care market by product was led by dressing segment. In 2017, the dressing segment held a largest market share of 46.8% of the advanced wound care market, by product. The dressing segment is expected to dominate the market in 2025 owing to the rising incidences of the people experiencing small and minute wounds due to the several physical activities. This segment is anticipated to witness the fastest growth rate during the forecast period, 2018 to 2025.Wound Type Insights:The advanced wound care market by wound type is segmented into ulcers, burns, trauma, surgical, and diabetic foot. The surgical segment held the largest share of the market, by wound type. In addition, the surgical wound is also expected to grow at the fastest rate during the coming years owing to factors such as, rising number of surgical procedures, and increasing wounds due to the surgical procedures.End User Insights:The advanced wound care market by end user is segmented into hospitals & clinics, ambulatory care centers, wound care centers, and others. The hospitals & clinics segment is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 5.1% during the forecast period. The segment is expected to drive market due to the advanced treatments offered by the hospitals and clinics are the first aid providers to the patients.Market Segments:By Product: Dressings Devices BioactivesBy Wound Type: Surgical Trauma Burns Ulcers Diabetic Foot OthersBy End User: Hospitals & Clinics Ambulatory Care Centers Wound Care Centers OthersBy Geography : North America Europe Asia Pacific (APAC) Middle East & Africa (MEA) South America (SAM)Global advanced wound care market, based on the product was segmented into dressings, advanced wound devices, and advanced wound bioactives. In 2017, the dressings segment held the largest share of the market, by product. The dressings led the market in 2017, contributing for the largest market share and is expected to retain its dominance during the forecast period from 2018 to 2025. This segment is also expected to dominate due to the increased demand for dressings and it is also expected to grow at the fastest rate during the coming years since the dressings provide better healing properties. Advanced wound care treatments revolve around the principle of moisture therapy, which provides moisture to the wound site to encourage natural cell repair while giving the wound room to breathe.Get Customization On Discount@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 committed to providing highest quality research and consulting services to our customers. We help our clients understand key market trends, identify opportunities, and make informed decisions by providing market research solutions at an affordable cost.Contact us:The Insight partners,Phone: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@theinsightpartners.com Respiratory Heaters Market to Develop Rapidly by Top Key Players: Teleflex Ink. , Care Fusion Corporation, Armstrong Medical, GE Healthcare Respiratory Heaters https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/2613 https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ongoing-insight/toc/2613 https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ongoing-insight/respiratory-heaters-market-2613 Respiratory heaters are external heaters used with a nebulizer system. Nebulizer is a drug delivery device which allows inhalation of the drug directly into the lungs. Respiratory heaters provides the heated breathing gas and heated aerosol to the patients who required the respiratory support through nasal cannulae and tracheal tube. Respiratory heaters has the ability of mixing the oxygen and warm ambient air to users.The high flow therapy is a type of respiratory support method which provides the high flow of medical gas through nasal cannulae. The respiratory heater warms the solution in the nebulizer and heats the diluted air. Respiratory heaters are used by patients who require the high flow therapy. These are used for treatment of asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and bronchitis.Ask for the Sample of the Study:An increase in prevalence and incidence of respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major factor that is expected to augment growth of respiratory heaters market. The Global Burden of Disease Study gives the prevalence of 251 million cases of COPD in 2016 and the bronchial asthma has approximately 358.2 million cases in 2015. The market is also driven by factors such as growing geriatric population, high prevalence of smoking, increasing pollution level. COPD is a progressive life threatening lung disease which is not curable but can be controlled by respiratory heaters. COPD is an under-diagnosed, life threatening lung disease that may progressively lead to death.On the other hand, high cost of devices and undefined reimbursement policies in rural areas are factors restraining the market growth. For instance, on 12 December 2017, Teleflex Incorporated, a leading global provider of medical technologies, announced that its respiratory division has signed a new group purchasing agreement with Health Trust. The agreement covers Teleflex's full line of active humidification, non-invasive ventilation (NIV), and high flow nasal cannula therapy (HFNCT) products.Click to view the full report TOC, figure and tables:On the basis of region, respiratory heaters market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. North America contributed the largest regional share in the global respiratory heater device market in 2018. Key factors driving the robust growth of North America region include well developed healthcare infrastructure, increasing prevalence of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease among children and geriatric population, presence of key regional players, and strong distribution network.In 2017, GGMs high flow oxygen system, HUMIDOFLO HF-2900, received an award at the Taiwan Excellence Awards. Humidoflo provides more patient friendly and effective treatment for both pediatric and adult patients. GGMs HF2900D Humidoflo represents the new state of art technology for delivery of high standard high flow therapy for pediatric and adult patients. The high flow delivery of oxygen or humidity can increase the tracheal temperature and humidity. Compared to other conventional mask type oxygen therapies, HUMIDOFLO delivers high flows of blended oxygen through unique nasal cannula.Key players operating in the market include Teleflex Ink. , Care Fusion Corporation, Armstrong Medical, Healthcare Trust and Mediline industries, Great Group Medical., Co., Ltd, and GE HealthcareFor More Information On This Report, Please Visit @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 Human Growth Hormone Market predicts rise in demand by Top Key Players: Pfizer Inc., Genetech Inc., Merck & Co., Eli Lilly And Company, Novo Nordisk, Sandoz International GmbH, Ferring Holding SA Human Growth Hormone https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/1859 https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ongoing-insight/human-growth-hormone-market-1859 Major driver for human growth hormone market is new mergers and acquisitions. For instance, in 2014, Pfizer Inc., a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company, merged with OPKO Health Inc., a U.S.-based company, to develop a long acting growth hormone (hGH-CTP) and to bring innovative treatments for growth hormone deficient patients. hGH-CTP is more convenient, as the patients need to take just one injection in a week rather than daily doses. hGH-CTP has an orphan drug designation in the U.S. and Europe for adults and children with growth hormone deficiency.Robust pipeline is also expected to support the growth in human growth hormone market size. For instance, Somapacitan sponsored by Novo Nordisk A/S, a Denmark-based company, completed phase 3 clinical trials in 2017. This drug is used for the treatment of growth hormone deficiency in adults. MOD-4023 sponsored by Opko Biologics, an Israel-based company, completed phase 2 clinical trials in 2015. High prevalence of growth hormone deficiency is another factor boosting growth of human growth hormone market. According to a survey conducted by the National Organization for Rare Diseases (NORA) in 2015, over 10,000 children and 50,000 adults have growth hormone deficiency in the U.S.Request for a sample of this research report @Europe human growth hormone market is expected to witness significant growth due to mergers and acquisitions. For instance, in 2017, Ferring Pharmaceuticals S.A., a pharmaceutical company, acquired a product i.e. Zoma Jet of Antares Pharma Inc, a pharmaceutical company. Zoma Jet is a needle free auto injectable device. Ferring Pharmaceuticals S.A acquired Zoma Jet in order to increase use of Zomacton (Injectable somatropin hGH). Zoma Jet is used to deliver Zomacton for the treatment of growth hormone deficiency in children and Turners syndrome in girls.By acquiring the injectable device Zoma Jet, would eventually lead to increase in use of the drug, Zomacton, which will further encourage Ferring Pharmaceuticals to develop better treatment options for growth hormone deficiency, thereby resulting in growth of the human growth hormone market. Asia Pacific is expected to grow over the forecast period due to robust pipeline. For instance, Cinna Tropin sponsored by Cinnagen, an Iran-based company, completed phase 3 clinical trials in 2017. This drug is used to treat idiopathic short stature in children and adults.North America is expected to hold dominant position in the global human growth hormone market due to new biosimilar approvals by Health Canada for biosimilar of human growth hormone drugs. For instance, in 2015, Health Canada approved the first generic biological called as PROmnitrope. PROmnitrope is a recombinant human growth hormone used to treat deficiency of growth hormone in adults as well as children. This can encourage new generic version of drugs, thereby fueling the human growth hormone market growth.For More Information On This Report, Please Visit @However, strict rules and regulations for the use of human growth hormone by athletes and sports professionals is expected to restrain growth of human growth hormone market. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the International Olympic Committee had banned the use of human growth hormone for sports professionals in 2006.Key players operating in the global human growth hormone market include Pfizer Inc., Genetech Inc., Merck & Co., Eli Lilly And Company, Novo Nordisk, Sandoz International GmbH, Ferring Holding SA, and Ipsen.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 Structural Insulation Panels Market Analysis & Opportunity Assessment by 2024, Key players are Kingspan, Isopan, Lattonedil Spa Milano Structural Insulation Panels Market https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/2452 https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/2452 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/structural-insulation-panels-market https://www.gminsights.com/ Growing population and rising consumer concerns regarding energy-saving building materials will drive structural insulation panels market development. Developing economies including Brazil, India, China, and Mexico will significantly trigger product development due to a large consumer base along with a shifting trend for modern building installations.Increasing consumer awareness pertaining to rising electricity bills and the necessity for energy-efficient building techniques have stimulated the product demand across residential as well as commercial buildings. Structural insulation panels market size is driven by rapid technological advancements in the construction industry. These technologies consist of various precast, modular, and prefabricated building structures, specially designed for residential and commercial sectors.Request for a sample copy of this report @North America Structural Insulation Panels Market is projected to exceed USD 200 million by 2024. The constant development of the business in the regional economy, along with its openness to imports, has provided an impetus to the international trade scenario for these products. The region is expected to witness growing investments towards house refurbishment and repair. Additionally, the growing infrastructure development owing to high economic growth and expanding immigrant population in the region is expected to support business growth.The necessity for effective energy conservation due to the rising energy demand along with growing concerns regarding resource scarcity will propel the Structural insulation panels market. The implementation of several programs such as LEED, Energy Star building certification, and ICC's Model Energy Codes is likely to influence industry dynamics over the forecast period.The global structural insulation panels market is highly competitive owing to the presence of a few dominating companies including: Kingspan Romakowski GmbH & Co. KG Lattonedil Spa Milano IsopanTheir prime initiatives to improve the market share include new product launches, geographical expansions, R&D investments, and mergers & acquisitions. This helps them explore the untapped market potential. Companies are also focusing on implementing forward and backward integrations across the value chain.Make an Inquiry for Purchasing this Report @Glass wool is expected to witness significant growth owing to increasing demand for thermal and acoustic insulation. Strong applications scope for reducing the energy consumption of buildings, offering a conducive environment and reducing fuel utilization will positively support product penetration over the forecast timeline. It is widely used in attics, critical opening spaces, and wall cavities. Amplified growth of new housing developments and overall building construction expenditure will drive structural insulation panels market gains.Wall panels dominated the overall industry and is expected to witness highest growth over the forecast period. Substantial reduction in the construction time of wall and labor cost are key factors supplementing product penetration. The factory-built SIPs eliminate the need to cut the material on job site which eliminates delays and enables quick interior finishing. Substantial reduction in the construction time of wall and labor cost are key factors supplementing product penetration.The residential sector accounted for over 50% of the market share by 2024 and will continue to maintain its dominance over the forecast period. Infrastructural expansion is a major factor that will drive the use of SIPs in the residential market during the forecast timeframe. Socioeconomic development along with housing subsidies by governments will positively impact the structural insulation panels market expansion. Household renovations have observed a strong demand in the past and are anticipated to witness significant gains over the forecast timespan. Affordable housing schemes along with the expansion of zero-energy homes supported by regional authorities are expected to provide a profitable opportunity for manufacturers.Browse Report Summery @About Global Market Insights:Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone:1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb: Global Regenerative Medicine Market is Estimated to Witness a CAGR of 16.6% from 2018 to 2024 by Valuates Reports https://reports.valuates.com/sreport/INFO-Othe-137/Regenerative_Medicine_Market https://reports.valuates.com/request/sample/INFO-Othe-137/Regenerative_Medicine_Market https://reports.valuates.com/request/discount/INFO-Othe-137/Regenerative_Medicine_Market https://reports.valuates.com/sreport/QYRE-Othe-373/Global_Regenerative_Medicine_Market https://reports.valuates.com/sreport/QYRE-Othe-479/Global_Stem_Cell_Therapy_for_Diabetes_and_Related_Conditions_Market https://reports.valuates.com/sreport/QYRE-Othe-378/Global_Stem_Cell_Therapy_for_Multiple_Sclerosis_Market https://reports.valuates.com/ www.linkedin.com/company/valuatesreports www.facebook.com/valuatesreports www.twitter.com/valuatesreports www.instagram.com/reportsvaluates www.youtube.com/channel/UCH4wNXynaTZbiD5m92WQI4A Regenerative medicine is an interdisciplinary field that applies life science and engineering principles for the regeneration or repair of injured/diseased tissues or organs resulting from various causes including, disease, defects, trauma and aging. The field includes the generation and use of tissue engineering, therapeutic stem cells and the production of artificial organs. It also allows scientists to grow organs or tissues in the lab and implant them in the body safely when the body fails to heal itself. Notably, it has great potential to solve the problem of organ shortage. According to the estimation of World Health Organization, there is an increasing prevalence of diabetes among adults over the age of 18 years, that has increased to 8.5% in 2014 compared to 4.5% in 1980 across the globe. As per the estimation of Arthritis Foundation, the number of people expected to be diagnosed from arthritis will be more than 78 million, by 2040.The market for regenerative medicine is driven by increasing prevalence of neuronal disease, cancer and genetic disease, emerging application of regenerative medicine, and advancement in technology. Huge number of ongoing clinical trails and strong product pipeline are providing market growth opportunity. High cost of the treatment, regulatory issues and ethical issues are hampering the market growth.View Full Report:Benefits:The report provides complete details about the usage and adoption rate of regenerative medicine in various therapeutic verticals and regions. With that, key stakeholders can know about the major trends, drivers, investments, and vertical players initiatives. Moreover, the report provides details about the major challenges that are going to impact on the market growth. Additionally, the report gives the complete details about the key business opportunities to key stakeholders to expand their business and capture the revenue in the specific verticals to analyze before investing or expanding the business in this market.Inquire for Sample:Regional Analysis:The regions covered in the report are the North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World (ROW). North America is the major shareholder in the global regenerative medicine market, followed by Europe. Asia-Pacific region is expected to have the fastest growth rate with the market growth centered at Japan, China and India. This is mainly due to increasing funding in healthcare research, rising research activities, growing patient pool, flexible regulatory environment for clinical trials, and rising healthcare expenditure.Key Players:Allergan plc, Integra lifesciences, Mimedx Group, Inc., Medtronic plc, Organogenesis Inc., Zimmer Biomet, Acelity L.P. Inc., Nuvasive, Inc., Stryker Corporation, Japan Tissue Engineering Co., Ltd. (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation subsidiary), Osiris Therapeutics, Inc., Vericel Corporation and other predominate and niche players.Inquire for Discount:Our aim is to collate unparalleled Market insights and notify our customers as and when ithappens.Valuates is curating premium Market Research Reports from the leading publishers around the globe. We will help you map your information needs to our report repository of Market research reports and guide you through your purchasing decision. We are based out of silicon.valley of India (Bengaluru) and provide 24/7 online and offline support to all our customers and just a phone call away.Click for Similar Reports:Regenerative Medicine Market:Stem Cell Therapy Market:Stem Cell Therapy for Multiple Sclerosis Market:Valuates Reportssales@valuates.comFor U.S. Toll Free Call +1 (425) 388-2538For IST Call +91-8040957137Source: Valuates ReportsTo know more visit us on:Website:Linkedin:Facebook:Twitter:Instagram:Youtube: One taproom is warm and inviting, nestled into a tree-lined Southeast Portland neighborhood. The other is open, airy and surrounded by a tantalizing food-cart pod in Northeast Portland. You could stop right there and have a winning combo. But throw in well-crafted beers featuring a sessionable lineup that effortlessly span styles not to mention Denim Vest Friday and an annual woodworking celebration and youve got Baerlic Brewing Co., as quintessential a Portland brewery as youll find in this beer town. Baerlics artisanship is on display throughout its tap list: Dad Beer pre-Prohibition lager is crisp but rustic and robust. Punk Rock Time IPA is a light, clean West Coast IPA that shows off the hops. And the European-inspired beers from the Eastside Pilsner to German-style offerings such as the Chill Helles lager and the Das Haze Craze Hefeweizen are bright but carry a solid malt backbone. We try to make consistently well-crafted beer, says co-founder Richard Hall. Balanced drinkability, not having any off-flavors. Clean, well-crafted beer. Adds fellow co-founder Ben Parsons: We are really particular about record-keeping and process. Weve had plenty of happy accidents, and we can re-create those through our record-keeping and dedication to processes. These are down-to-earth beers made by down-to-earth guys. In 2014, then-homebrewers Parsons, a graphic designer, and Hall, who earned his paycheck as a bike mechanic, took their work-a-day approach to life and transplanted it into Baerlic, which means of barley in old English. The former Pacific Wire and Fence Co. building, which was built in 1928 and most recently housed a Kettlemans Bagel Co. storefront, was available, so the two longtime friends high school buddies in Idaho -- got to work. They transformed the space, which is in the Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood but abuts Ladds Addition, rebuilding the interior from floor to ceiling. Parsons brought a graphics-artists eye to the place, as well as third-generation carpentry skills. Slatted blond woodwork lines walls, exposed Douglas fir overhead nods at history, and bold, modern logos such as the sky-blue and black Baerlic Brewing Co. bring an elegant touch. Polished concrete floors and clean, metal lines and furniture create a modern rustic feel, one that Parsons says was meant to convey a worn-in feeling and remove some of the typical masculinity of some brewpubs. Then last summer, they did it all again, building their second location, the Baerlic Beer Hall at Northeast 60th Avenue and Halsey Street. The open and airy beer hall mimics the original location in style but is cleaner and lighter, with roll-up bay doors and plenty of natural light. And its the centerpiece for The Barley Pod, a surrounding pod featuring 10 food carts and a variety of cuisines. Baerlics motto, The Beer Here is Near and Dear, is a statement on size and local connection. Parsons and Hall say they dont want to become a big brewery, so they self-distribute. And they have a connection to the community and open their doors for events, including the Holiday Woodworkers Market, a December festival with two purposes: a showcase for Baerlics WoodWorker Beer Series barrel-aged brews, as well as an exhibit for all sorts of wood-using community artisans and their creations. Then theres Denim Vest Friday a fun weekly event the owners adopted from a friends business and during which Baerlic offers $1 off pints to anyone wearing a denim vest. The approach appears to be working -- pushing back against the intent to stay small -- as demand has steadily grown. Baerlic sold just over 1,100 barrels in 2017, about 1,500 in 2018, and foresees selling 2,500 this year, the annual capacity on the 10-barrel system. Parsons and Hall have also expanded the barrel-aging program, ranging from mixed-fermentation in wine casks and spirits-barrel aging in bourbon and rum casks. Theyve produced such sought-after beers as Old Blood & Guts American Barleywine; Harshmellow Mountain, a Belgian blonde strong ale aged in gin barrels with brettanomyces; and Collusion Dulce de Leche, a Russian Imperial stout. Portland Breweries Series: Baerlic Brewing Co. Posted by The Oregonian on Friday, May 3, 2019 Baerlic Brewing sampler Why go: Well-made, sessionable beers across a range of styles, including lagers, ales and barrel-aged beers. Modern rustic taproom and, in Northeast Portland, a sun-dappled beer hall and mouth-watering array of food carts. What to drink: Punk Rock Time IPA, a lighter West Coast IPA thats tropical and piney; Dad Beer is a crushable pre-Prohibition lager brewed with flaked corn for a crisp but strong profile; Bretta de Milo, a funky, bottle-conditioned Saison with brettanomyces. What to eat: Theres no kitchen at the Southeast Portland taproom, but bar snacks are available and patrons can bring food or order from a nearby establishment. At the Northeast food-cart pod, get the kids chicken fingers and mac and cheese from Flew The Coop, and for the adults, there is a flavor for just about any taste from one of the 10 carts. Details: Southeast Portland: 2235 S.E. 11th Ave., 503-477-9418; baerlicbrewing.com ; hours vary, check the website; minors welcome until 9 p.m.; 11 Baerlic taps, with guest cider, wine and non-alcoholic options, plus bottles and cans to go. Northeast Portland: 6035 N.E. Halsey St., 503-284-6393, open noon-10 p.m. daily, minors welcome until 9 p.m.; 15 Baerlic taps, five guest taps of kombucha, wine, cider and cold-brew coffee, plus bottles and cans to go. Check out my reviews of Baerlic Brewings beers on Untappd and more content on Instagram. -- Andre Meunier More beer coverage: The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries has fined a Dollar Tree store in Vancouver just over $500,000, alleging unsafe conditions. The Columbian reports the fine announced Thursday is one of the largest the agency has ever issued. The agency accuses the store of having blocked emergency exit routes, unsafe ladder use and improper stacking of merchandise, among the numerous safety hazards. The agency says a recent inspection resulted in several "repeat willful" and other violations for unsafe merchandise storage and handling, and obstructed exit routes. A person who said she was the store manager referred questions to a spokesperson with the Chesapeake, Virginia-based corporation. The agency says the violations continued after the company was informed of the safety hazards and was provided instruction on how to improve employee safety at the store and avoid further violations. The FBI is asking the public for tips about a 2011 shooting which left a Lincoln City police officer critically injured and the suspect missing. The agency is highlighting the case, along with several other fugitive cases across the U.S., in honor of National Police Week, which honors officers killed or injured while on duty. The FBI is still looking for David Anthony Durham, who allegedly shot and badly wounded a Lincoln City police officer in January 2011 after the officer pulled him over for speeding. According to federal court documents and FBI wanted posters, Durham told the officer he was on his way to a military base in California, and was wearing green camouflage clothing and a dark-colored beret. Durham, at that time 43, then allegedly shot the officer several times, then drove away. Other police officers chased after him, and Durham exchanged gunfire with them, before abandoning his vehicle in Waldport, officials say. Police looked for him in the Waldport area for several days after the incident but never found him. The Lincoln County Major Crimes Team and the FBI continued to look into the case. Durham faces 68 criminal counts if found, including four of attempted aggravated murder, four of attempted murder, 12 of unlawful use of a weapon and 10 of menacing. He also faces one federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. During interviews with Durhams friends and family, investigators found that Durham had reportedly been selling his personal belongings in the weeks leading up to the incident and had been telling others he was going to go live in an island in the Caribbean. Officers also found Durhams passport, and they found that he had traveled to Thailand. The FBI asks anyone with information about the case to contact them at https://tips.fbi.gov or 800-CALL-FBI. Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox. Oregons attorney general filed a new lawsuit against Purdue Pharma on Thursday, but the latest complaint also targets the companys owners. Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum alleged that Purdue Pharma and eight members of the Sackler family took billions of dollars out of the company, transferred the money to their own accounts and continued to illegally market OxyContin, alleging that they have known for 20 years that OxyContin was addictive and deadly. Rosenblum filed a lawsuit against the company in 2018, alleging that Purdue had put Oregons senior citizens in danger by misleading them about the risks and benefits of OxyContin. Oregon had originally filed a lawsuit against Purdue Pharma, which was settled in 2007. At that time, Rosenblum alleged, the company was afraid lawsuits and civil investigations would bring it down, and it began taking funds out of the company and putting them into personal accounts. Rosenblum alleges that the Sackler family set up a massive network of shell companies and subsidiaries" to which they transferred money from the company. She alleges that they starved the company of funds and stunted its growth. According to a news release from the attorney generals office, Oregon is the first state to sue the Sackler family. Over the past decade, the destruction that OxyContin has caused has skyrocketed and it is clear we must go even further to ensure this company is held to account for its egregious misconduct, including violating their 2007 negotiated agreement, Rosenblum said in the release. Theres an election on Tuesday. But so far, only about 8 percent of eligible voters in Multnomah County have returned their ballots, according to the county elections office. Those figures are a tad bit low for an odd-numbered special election year, when school board races are the main event across the state aside from the odd request for education or public safety funding in some counties. In 2017, Multnomah County had an unusually high final turnout of 31 percent but that was with a $790 million school modernization bond on the line, which voters approved 66 percent to 34 percent. That year, more than 14 percent of eligible voters had returned their ballots by the Thursday before the election. In 2015, 10.3 percent of eligible voters had returned their ballots on the same day. Portland also played host to a school board race that cost more than a quarter-million dollars to settle that year. Amy Kohnstamm spent $130,000 to unseat incumbent Bobbie Reagan, whose campaign raised $180,000 for her re-election. Kohnstamm won the Zone 3 seat and is the only incumbent seeking a second term on the Portland school board this year. Shes challenged by education advocate Deb Mayer and Wes Soderback, a perennial candidate for local office. Kohnstamms campaign has raised nearly $11,200 this cycle but has spent little more than $1,400. Mayer has raised $656 and spent about $226. Soderback has spent about $4,780 and has a war chest worth more than $96,000, much of it the remnants of $100,000 he contributed to his campaign during an unsuccessful bid for a seat on the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners last year. The biggest election cycle spender this year is Portland Housing Bureau Policy Coordinator Michelle DePass, who has raised more than $41,000 in her bid to win the Zone 2 seat being vacated by Paul Anthony. Shes so far spent $31,687. Her competitor, Portland State University administrator Shanice Clarke, has raised $11,060 and spent $8,128. In Zone 1, Andrew Scott, the chief operating officer for the regional Metro government, is the only candidate running an active campaign although child psychiatrist Jeff Sosne will appear on the ballot. Sosne told The Oregonian/OregonLive that he was not pursuing the seat. And in Zone 7, Portland pastor Eilidh Lowery has spent $3,800 of the $8,311 her campaign has collected. Her opponent, Robert Schultz, indicated he would not raise or spend more than $750. Incoming board members will decide whether to ask the citys voters to extend a five-year property tax levy that in the coming budget will provide $94.7 million for the districts general fund. The local option expires this year, which means it would need to appear on the ballot in November lest it lapse. Next year, the school board is expected to ask voters to approve another multimillion-dollar bond to fund school modernizations. The most recent set of taxpayer-funded construction projects, which district officials told voters would cost $790 million, is facing cost over-runs topping $200 million. Ballots for the 2019 special election are due Tuesday at 8 p.m. We sent questionnaires to every candidate for Portland school board just before ballots were mailed out. Here are the links to their full responses: Zone 1 Andrew Scott Zone 2 Shanice Clarke Michelle DePass Zone 3 Amy Kohnstamm Deb Mayer Wes Soderback Zone 7 Eilidh Lowery Robert Schultz A double row of flowering cherry trees that line a park in front of the Oregon State Capitol in Salem have been spared the ax. Civil engineers determined that the roots of the cherry trees arent causing leaks in the state-owned Capitol Mall parking garage underneath the trees. Turns out a failing roof membrane on the underground garage is the culprit, according to a report prepared by the engineers for the state. The membrane reached its life expectancy in 2015. But the report indicates full replacement of the membrane is too expensive, so the engineers recommend improving existing irrigation and storm sewer systems to handle runoff. The estimated price for those repairs comes in at about $4.7 million. The work would include strengthening the structures existing gravity load system. Next steps, according to Liz Craig, who works for the states Department of Administrative Services, include figuring out how to pay for it all. The Department of Administrative Services has been working with the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, which maintains the iconic trees, to resolve the issues while ensuring proper care for the trees. -- Beth Nakamura Twitter: @bethnakamura Instagram: @bethnakamura In day five of the Coast Guard hearing into the January capsizing of the Mary B II fishing vessel, the mother of the captain described a man vastly different from the one depicted throughout the week by other witnesses. Mary B. Anderson, managing member of the Mary B II LLC, bought the former Bess Chet last fall, after her son, Stephen Biernacki, convinced her it would be a good business opportunity. He felt it was a stable vessel, Anderson said. I looked it over and agreed. I trusted his judgment because of his 30-some years experience. Biernacki was attempting to pilot the Mary B II back to port on Jan 8 under the guidance of two Coast Guard boats when the boat was swamped by a wave. Biernacki, 50, and James Lakey, 48, both of New Jersey; along with Joshua Porter, 50, of Toledo, died. Anderson described a man who was trustworthy, very open to advice and for whom safety was paramount. Anderson and Biernacki didnt talk about how conditions differed on the West Coast from the East, and she wasnt sure if he knew that himself. But he had the skills to handle stormy seas, she said. He didnt talk about the Yaquina Bay Bar, but all the winters he fished, with ice on the boats He fished through seven hurricanes, including the Perfect Storm in 1991, she said. Her son did not use drugs other than marijuana and had a policy of no alcohol or drugs on the boat, she said. But those words were in direct contrast with testimony heard earlier. Clint Funderberg, who sold Biernacki the boat, suspected Biernacki lacked experience and knowledge about West Coast fishing but said he was not interested in any tips Funderburg tried to share. Joshua Porters wife, Denise Porter, reported that on the first trip out, Biernacki had set the crab pots backwards and ran the boat aground but that when her husband attempted to give him advice, Biernacki refused to listen. She also recounted her husbands frustration of showing up early to go out to sea only to have to wait hours so Biernacki could buy beer for the trip. Biernackis toxicology report showed a blood-alcohol content of .033 and levels of methamphetamine that would have left him impaired. Encountering a mariner with similar levels, Dr. Brian Bourgeois, toxicology expert, testified, I would issue a stand down. My first call would be to a designated officer. I would tell them they have a mariner on board who must immediately be taken off duty. Anderson began her testimony Friday morning by offering condolences to all of the families. That afternoon, her testimony completed, she asked to make a closing statement. I just want you to know my son had so much respect for the Coast Guard, she said, her voice shaking. I want you to know I am truly grateful from the bottom of my heart for all youve done A decision on the capsizing is expected by Oct. 1. -- Lori Tobias Special to The Oregonian/OregonLive An Oregon man was arrested Thursday after hiding inside a restaurant until after it closed, then heading to the bar for some booze on the house, police say. Lincoln City police said Jason Daniel McIntyre, 31, was arrested on suspicion of burglary and theft charges. He was jailed, according to police, but has since been released. Authorities initially responded to the Beach Club shortly before 3 a.m. on the report of a burglary in progress. The business owners told dispatchers their surveillance system showed a man inside the closed restaurant, according to police. The owners met authorities at the business and let them in. They found McIntyre and arrested him without incident. Police said McIntyre, a Toledo resident, had been drinking inside the business while it was open. He hid in an unused area of the establishment until after it closed and its employees left, police said. He then went to the bar and resumed drinking, according to police. McIntyre was seen on video behind the bar, drinking alcohol valued at about $5, according to a probable cause affidavit. The affidavit does not state the kind of alcohol he was allegedly consuming. -- Jim Ryan; jryan@oregonian.com; 503-221-8005; @Jimryan015 Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox. Subscribe to get the Morning Briefing newsletter delivered to your email inbox weekdays at 7 a.m. Todays stories WATER DAMAGE: The burst pipe that flooded homes was unfortunate but unforeseeable, Portlands water chief says. Read more. NIKE SCANDAL: The University of Oregon is investigating alleged Nike payments to a Bol Bol associate, Michael Avenatti claims. Read more. CLIMATE BILL: What UO didnt want the public to know about an industry groups climate bill opposition. Read more. FOSTER CARE: Oregon moved two young sisters into a foster home, then sent a 13-year-old abuser to live with them, a $24 million lawsuit alleges. Read more. KICKER REBATE: A bill would divert half of Oregons $1.4 billion kicker rebate to an Interstate 205 bridge project and zero emissions programs. Read more. PORTLAND SCHOOLS: As Portlands school board election looms, fewer than 1 in 10 voters have returned their ballots. Read more. EDUCATION FUNDING: Oregons governor signs a multibillion-dollar tax and education funding bill into law. Read more. PORTLAND HOUSING: Home values are falling in the Portland metro area, an index says. Read more. BREWERY CLOSES: Columbia River Brewing is the latest Portland brewery to close. Read more. FACTORY FOR SALE: SunPower puts its Hillsboro factory up for sale but says it will keep operating. Read more. PARK OPENINGS: Providence Park will host two soft-openings featuring T2 in May. Read more. TREASURE HUNT: The Rose Festival Treasure Hunt is back for 2019. Read more. STARTUP SALE: Portland startup Cloudability sells to a Bellevue firm. Read more. SCHOOL LUNCH: Oregon OKs its largest expansion of a federal free lunch program. Read more. MEMORIAL DAY: Six Willamette Valley wineries are honoring military service this Memorial Day. Read more. SEE IT: The Full House Victorian mansion, remade, is now for sale at $6 million. Read more. More news Portland council overturns chief, finds that officer cited woman for jaywalking in retaliation for her filming police Ask Amy: Do not, under any circumstances, leave me money when you die! Dear Abby: Oregon man is chronically late and his girlfriend is So. Over. It. Carolyn Hax: Actually, if you are fixated on your boyfriends unlikely, untimely death, you probably havent worked out abandonment issues Hes my person but I do better when my boyfriend is absent: Dear Annie Find more at oregonlive.com Todays comics Click here to see today's comics Todays obituaries Click here to find area deaths reported recently Today in history AROUND THE WORLD: On May 17, 2004, Massachusetts became the first state to allow same-sex marriages. UPDATE 8:46 a.m. Saturday: Suspect identified. A distraught student entered a classroom Friday at Parkrose High School wearing a black trench coat and carrying a shotgun but didnt hurt anyone before he was tackled in the hallway by the football coach, police and witnesses said. Parents and students reported Coach Keanon Lowe, one of Oregons most prominent high school and college football players of the past decade, took the armed male student to the ground. Lowe, also Parkroses head track and field coach, works as a security guard at the school, several people said. Im just happy everyone was OK, Lowe said as he walked out of the schools fine arts building into a school parking lot shortly after police had cleared the school and talked to witnesses. Im happy I was able to be there for the kids and for the community. He said he was tired and wanted to go home to his loved ones. Several people greeted him in the parking lot. Two men shook Lowes hand and one woman hugged him and told him, Thank you. A police officer on a dispatch recording can be heard saying that he detected what smells like a blast here at some point but police later said they hadnt determined whether any shots were actually fired. Several students said they didnt hear any gunshots. Incidents such as the one that occurred today strikes the worst fear in the hearts of students and parents, Police Chief Danielle Outlaw said in a statement. The officers and school staff worked together to respond quickly and ensure the safety of all involved. I commend the school staff member who displayed quick actions and bravery when he confronted the subject. Senior Alexa Pope, 17, said she was in her government class in the stand-alone fine arts building when the coach came in looking for an 18-year-old classmate who wasnt there. About 10 minutes before the end of class, the student appeared in the doorway in a trench coat and pulled out a long gun from beneath his coat, said senior Justyn Wilcox, 17, who also was in the room. The student didnt point the gun at anyone, Pope said. Classmates were stunned, some screamed and others ran out. We all couldnt process this, she said. Wilcox yelled Run! and grabbed Popes arm. They fled out the classrooms backdoor, which leads to another classroom. The armed student was at the classrooms main door, which leads to a hallway. As I was running, I was just like, Lord dont let this be it, Pope said. She said the suspect student had told classmates that he could buy guns when he turned 18, and she knew he owned one. Hes always been an off kid, but he never made me think that he would do something to us, she said. She had noticed that he had seemed somewhat different over the past few months, possibly because of a break-up with his girlfriend, she said. Senior Ashton Caudle, 18, said the student with the gun had transferred to Parkrose this school year. Caudle said he and some other students had planned to talk to a school counselor about their classmate at lunchtime, saying he had recently told them he planned to kill himself and had been asking about what happens after people die. Help available National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 Multnomah County: 503-988-4888 or 1-800-716-9769 Clackamas County: 503-655-8585 Washington County: 503-291-9111 Southwest Washington: 1-800-626-8137 or 866-835-2755 YouthLine (peer-to-peer youth crisis and support service): Call 877-968-8491 or text teen2teen to 839863 They were worried he might hurt himself, Caudle said. The student "made some poor choices, but hes not an evil person, he said. Preston Anderson, 17, and Sair Nunez, 19, were also in the government class when the armed student walked into the room. Nunez said he saw the student was holding a gun. Students ran out, Nunez said. I didnt think twice, he said. I ran out the back door. Anderson said the student didnt fire the gun. We didnt hear anything go off, he said. All we know is that Mr. Lowe subdued him and held him down. Parkrose HS seniors Preston Anderson, 17, & Sair Nunez, 19 said they were in their government class in the Fine Arts building when a male classmate came in with a gun and was subdued by Keanon Lowe, a coach at the school. pic.twitter.com/aKU4zPj8XD Everton Bailey Jr. (@EvertonBailey) May 17, 2019 As the confrontation unfolded, an online city dispatch tracker referred to the incident as a suicide attempt or threat with weapon. A parent said students reported that the suspect had brought a gun to the school with the intention of dying by suicide. Police havent released details about the suspects intentions. A police spokesman said the suspect was in custody and being interviewed. At some point, a staff member at the high school confronted him, police said in a statement. A Portland Police School Resource Officer and other officers arrived and immediately entered the school and found the staff member detaining the subject in the hallway. Multiple Parkrose students told The Oregonian/OregonLive they were initially locked in their classrooms shortly after police responded. Sharie Lewis, a Parkrose School District official, said police split students into groups and were checking them individually to ensure they werent a threat. The students were loaded onto buses and dropped off at the parking lot of a shuttered Kmart near the school. Lewis called the names of the students through a megaphone, and they were reunited with their parents. Some reunifications were emotional. One girl broke into tears. The reunification process was mostly complete by about 3 p.m. Jesika Diaz, 36, was one of the parents who showed up at the parking lot to reconnect with her children. She found out about what happened when one of her twin daughters called her from outside the school on a strangers cellphone. Diaz said daughter Felicia Feigum, a senior at Parkrose, was in a classroom when someone came in with a gun. Feigum told her mom that she saw the butt of the gun and she ran so she didnt really see what happened. Feigum left all her belongings behind and called her sister, who was elsewhere on campus, and then called her mom. Cassy Feigum, 18, a senior at Parkrose HS says she was taking a test when she heard there was someone with a gun on campus at the Fine Arts Building. She said she ran out of school. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/6eHkjZo9XR Everton Bailey Jr. (@EvertonBailey) May 17, 2019 Im so proud of them because they could have been locked in the school, Diaz said as she waited for her daughters to finish speaking with investigators. She ran for her life like Ive always told her to do. Dozens of officers remained at the scene Friday afternoon, and yellow police tape surrounded the tennis courts near the Fine Arts building. Members of the Portland Police Bureaus tactical team could be seen leaving the building. The superintendent of the Parkrose School District, which serves six schools and approximately 3,400 students, also was at the scene. Superintendent Michael Lopes Serrao sent out a letter to families later Friday, saying the student with the gun would not be returning to school and that school would resume as usual Monday. We will have additional counseling support for students and staff at the school throughout the week, he wrote. Additionally, there will be an enhanced security presence to provide a sense of comfort to our students and staff. And, he added, the Parkrose junior/senior prom, set for Saturday night, would go on as planned. We will prepare our chaperone staff for students who may need support," he wrote. It is important for our students to connect and make memories with their friends . . . We are Parkrose Strong and showed that strength today. Lowe, the coach who subdued the suspect, is a Jesuit High School graduate and former star wide receiver for the Oregon Ducks. This past football season was his first as Parkroses football coach. Several seniors on the football team described Lowe as a genuine, selfless coach who inspired his players and changed the programs culture. The team made the playoffs in Lowes first year, a big jump from the previous seasons winless record. He pushes everyone to be the best versions of themselves, said Ty Singkhek, 18. Lowe was effective not only as coach but also as the schools security guard getting students to listen by treating everyone with respect, said Tim Shichalin, 18. He stays really calm all the time, he said. Lowe hosted a team barbecue at his house last summer and paid for players to eat at Kumi Buffet after a big win during the season, said Elijah Reginald, 18. Reginald said Lowe, in only one year at Parkrose, made an immense impact even before what happened Friday. I think he deserves a lot of credit for his bravery, Reginald said. If it wasnt for him, someone could have gotten hurt or potentially lost their life. Freshman Miracle Jackson was sitting in the cafeteria when she saw a school official run toward the door, and heard the word shooter come over a walkie-talkie that the man was carrying. She said she looked out the window and believes she saw a glimpse of the student. Then she packed up her backpack and ran. "I dropped it because I couldn't run fast enough," she said. She ran out of the school and didnt feel safe until she made it to a nearby Wendys. Junior Griffin Clover was among an early group of students to arrive at the parking lot of the Kmart where parents and family members waited for students to arrive. He remained there with his parents, waiting for his younger brother. Clover said he was in a video class when three classmates ran into the room to tell the others that there was an active shooter. The students and teacher locked down the room, shut off the lights and huddled in silence in the back of the room. Many students were texting their parents and classmates, he said, and showing others what they were learning by text. A senior-class group chat kept students throughout the building informed, many students said. Clover estimated that his class waited for 30 minutes until police arrived and escorted them to the school's weight room, where they waited another hour to board the bus. Students go through lockdown drills at least twice a year, Clover said. Weve practiced lockdown drills but no evacuations, he said. The Oregonian/OregonLive Jim Ryan, Everton Bailey Jr., Molly Young, Shane Dixon Kavanaugh, Andrew Theen, Lizzy Acker, Noelle Crombie, Hillary Borrud, Kale Williams, Mark Graves, Samantha Swindler, Jayati Ramakrishnan, Dave Killen and Brad Schmidt of The Oregonian/OregonLive staff contributed to this report Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox. After years of playing nice with vacation rental website Airbnb, Portland is gearing up to play hardball. Mayor Ted Wheelers office is readying an ordinance that would ban Airbnb and similar platforms from advertising or receiving a fee from unpermitted vacation rentals. The ordinance would turn up the heat on Airbnb after years of back-and-forth over whether Airbnb should turn over its list of hosts. Regulators say as many as 70% of those hosts havent secured a permit to run a vacation rental in Portland. The city wants Airbnbs list to help it track down scofflaws. Airbnb already collects local lodging taxes on behalf of its Portland hosts. The citys main concern is that illegal rentals in residential areas might eat up housing that could otherwise go to long-term residents, pushing the citys housing prices even higher. The city has been negotiating with Airbnb for more than a year on a framework for sharing its list. But the talks have come to an impasse, according to a resolution prepared by the mayors office. The companys latest offer was a step backward, the resolution says. The ordinance proposed would require Airbnb to limit its Portland listings to those included on a public registry of permitted short-term rentals, or else agree to provide the city with information on all its hosts. In a statement, Airbnb didnt directly address the ordinance or the citys allegation that the company walked back from a deal: Portlands registration process continues to be difficult and so we appreciate the citys efforts to try and streamline the process and remain committed to working closely with officials to make this happen. The approach replicates that of Santa Monica, California, which survived a legal challenge in federal court earlier this year. Host2Host, an association of 250 homeowners who operate short-term rentals in Portland, generally supports the measure, saying hosts who arent playing by the rules reflect poorly on the rest. Whats more, said Rob Hertert, a founder of the organization, they undercut the citys efforts to limit the effect of short-term rentals on housing costs. The regulations in Portland minimize that, but they have to be able to enforce it, Hertert said. Were to the point now where its hard to see how the policies can be enforced. Portland has maintained a relatively friendly relationship with Airbnb even as the city sparred with the companys competitors. Airbnb in 2014 announced plans to open an office with hundreds of employees in Portlands Old Town Chinatown, with then-Mayor Charlie Hales highlighting the move in his state of the city address. Later that year, the Portland City Council legalized Airbnbs business model, for the first time allowing short-term rentals in private homes. Soon after, the city signed an agreement with Airbnb for the company to collect and pay lodging taxes on its behalf of its hosts. Both hailed the agreements a model of cooperation. In 2015, the city started trading lawsuits with Airbnbs biggest competitor, HomeAway, which declined to collect lodging taxes for its customers. But a 2018 settlement with HomeAway appears to have put citys relationship with Airbnb on the rocks. HomeAway agreed to share its roster of hosts with the city to aid in collecting taxes and ensuring the rentals are permitted, but only when Airbnb did the same. That set off a year of negotiations with Airbnb, which the city says have proved fruitless. The company has declined to remove unpermitted listings and insisted on limiting what the user data can be used for, according to the resolution prepared by Wheelers office. Even as its enjoyed a cordial relationship with Portlands city government, Airbnb has clashed with cities around the globe over strict short-term rental policies. The company sued Boston last year over the citys regulations requiring the company to police its own listings and share information about its users with the city. This year, Paris said it would sue Airbnb over hundreds of illegal listings. Airbnb, headquartered in San Francisco, has a potentially pivotal year ahead. The companys chief executive has said its preparing for an initial public offering. Selling shares on the stock market could make its founders, early employees and investors a lot of money but it could also expose the company to much greater public scrutiny, both in the lead-up to the offering and in subsequent regulatory disclosures. -- Elliot Njus and Gordon Friedman enjus@oregonian.com; 503-294-5034; @enjus gfriedman@oregonian.com Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox. Goose Creek, SC (29445) Today Partly cloudy. High around 75F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly to mostly cloudy. Low around 60F. Winds light and variable. Last fall I spent a week in Italy. It had been a dream of mine to take a cooking class there, which I ended up doing one evening in Florence. The entire trip and the food were so magnificent. If any of you have traveled to Europe, you know how exhausting the flight is; long and confined. The trick that our tour guide gave us for the first day is, Keep moving. We, my friend Irene and I, moved all right, until we dropped. Our first stay was in Sestri Levante on the Italian Riviera. The setting was beautiful, right on the ocean. We sat at an outdoor eatery where we ordered drinks and had free appetizers. Then settled in our room and crashed. The next day we traveled by boat to Santa Margherita Ligure where I had the best Gnocchi with Pesto. That evening we went to what we would call a deli, which sold meat, cheese, pizza, focaccia and other wonderful breads. We drew a number out of the machine and waited our turn. We each chose a different pizza, bought a bottle of wine, and sat on the beach with some of our new tour friends and watched the sunset. The next day we took the train to Monterosso al Mare, one of the Cinque Tera (five lands) and Vernazza where I ate mussels. They were fantastic with wonderful bread to soak up the sauce. We toured in Lucca then readied ourselves for our bus trip to Florence. We were north of Florence at a villa in Impruneta where we had our pasta class. When we entered, there were 43 2-cup piles of flour on every flat surface (there were 43 travelers so one pile for each). We then made pasta and sauce. This was followed by an amazing dinner of which our pasta was only one course. There were eight courses. I think we rolled to our rooms. We then traveled to Sienna for a wine tasting. The owner would have us taste the wine, eat the sampling of food that they paired with the wine and had us taste the wine again. Many of you already know this, but the wine tasted different after the food. The next day was spent in the city of Florence where Irene had grilled fruits and vegetables, which were seasoned perfectly. Our last night we had a Farewell Dinner with more fabulous food and wine. I was sad to leave this beautiful country and its wonderful food. The trip was not nearly long enough, but my plans are to go back with my daughters and take a five-day cooking course. When I got home, I wanted to keep the memory alive and made fresh pasta several times. I decided to write this article to share some of my favorite Italian recipes with you. Italian cooking is more than just pasta, although there is a fair amount of pasta. Being a narrow peninsula, surrounded by water, seafood is also plentiful. The pace there is slower than in the U.S. and food preparation is deliberate and a gift to those who will eat it. They celebrate food and the art of preparing it. Donna Frawley is the owner of Frawley's Fine Herbary and author of "The Herbal Breads Cookbook," "Our Favorite Recipes." and "Edible Flowers Book." She also has her own DVD "Cooking with Herbs" and a weekly newsletter. She can be reached at 989-488-0170, frawleyherbs@yahoo.com or www.frawleysfineherbary.com BRUSCHETTA WITH ROASTED TOMATOES AND MOZZARELLA Roasted Tomatoes 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for the baking dish 8 Roma tomatoes, halved lengthwise Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper Two 3-inch sprigs fresh thyme The rest of the ingredients: 4 wide slices crusty bread, about 8 inches across, cut in half vertically to make 8 pieces 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more if needed 1 large garlic clove, peeled 8 ounces fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced 8 large basil leaves Position oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 300 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking dish just large enough to hold the tomatoes. Place the tomatoes, cut sides up, in the dish and season to taste with the salt and pepper. Add the thyme and drizzle with the tablespoon of oil. Bake until the tomatoes are shrunken and very tender, and their juices are thick and concentrated, about 2 hours. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature. Discard the thyme. Position the broiler rack 6 inch from the source of heat and preheat the broiler on high. Drizzle the bread with the olive oil. Toast the bread in the broiler on one side, about 1 1/2 minutes. Turn the bread and very lightly toast the other side, about 30 seconds. Remove the bread from the broiler and rub the first side with garlic clove. Turn over and divide the mozzarella evenly over the lightly toasted sides. Return the bread to the broiler and cook until the mozzarella melt, about 1 minute. Transfer the bread to a cutting board. Tear the basil leaves into small pieces. Top each slice with 2 tomato halves, sprinkle with basil and serve immediately. MUSSEL CHOWDER There are three pots going at the same time. It is more efficient doing it this way. 2 pounds mussels 1/2 cup dry white wine 3 cups vegetable broth 2 large Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 1/2 cup pancetta, diced into 1/4-inch pieces 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped 1 small rib celery, finely chopped 1 small carrot, finely chopped 1 garlic clove, minced 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme 3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 1/2 cup heavy cream Country-Style bread, toasted and rubbed with garlic Scrub the mussels under cold running water and put them in a large bowl. Add salted ice water to cover and let stand for about an hour or so. Drain and rinse well. Discard any opened or cracked mussels. Put the mussels and wine in a large pot and cover. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cook, shaking the pot occasionally, just until the mussels have opened, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. Using tongs, transfer the mussels to a large bowl, discarding any unopened mussels. Strain the cooking liquid through a fine mesh sieve into another bowl, leaving any grit behind in the pot. Measure the cooking liquid and add enough broth to make 4 cups. Set the cooking liquid mixture aside. Meanwhile, put the potatoes in a medium saucepan and add cold salted water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 25 minutes. Drain and set the potatoes aside. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the pancetta and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 5 minutes. Add onion, celery, carrot, garlic and thyme. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables soften, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle in the flour and mix well. Stir in the reserved liquid mixture and bring to a simmer. Adjust the heat to medium low and cook, with the lid ajar, for 10 minutes to blend the flavors. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in the cream and return to a simmer. Add the mussels and potatoes and cover. Cook just to warm the potatoes and mussels, about 1 minute. Serve the chowder in deep bowls with the bread. ANTIPASTO SALAD 8 ounces hard salami, cut into bite size pieces 8 ounces provolone cheese, cut into bite size pieces 8 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut into bite size pieces 2 tomatoes, cut into bite size pieces 1 jar artichoke hearts, drained 1 jar roasted red peppers, drained and sliced, but reserve the juice 1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives 1/4 cup green olives 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves 1 head romaine lettuce, quartered and rough chopped Olive oil Red wine vinegar Salt and freshly ground pepper Combine the salami, provolone, mozzarella, tomatoes, and artichokes in a bowl. Slice the roasted red peppers and add them to the bowl, along with about 3 tablespoons of their juice. Mix in the olives. Drizzled olive oil over the entire dish, followed by the red wine vinegar and black pepper. Salad can be made ahead of time and refrigerated until serving. Tear the fresh basil leaves into bite-sized pieces and add them to the salad just before serving. Mix thoroughly and serve. BRACIOLE 1 flank steak 8 to 16 slices of prosciutto 8 mozzarella slices Filling: 1 cup pork sausage 1 to 2 eggs A handful grated Parmigiano Reggiano 2 cups Italian bread crumbs Salt and freshly ground pepper 2 teaspoons olive oil and some for browning meat 4 to 5 cloves garlic, mashed 1 cup chopped Italian parsley Sauce: Olive oil for cooking 3 yellow onions, diced 4 cloves garlic, pressed 4 cups red wine 3 cans whole San Marzano tomatoes or crushed tomatoes 3 tablespoons tomato paste Pinch each of salt and pepper 2 Bay leaves 1 tablespoon dried oregano or 3 tablespoons fresh, chopped 2 tablespoons basil, or 6 tablespoons fresh, chopped Cut flank steak into four even rectangles. Placing your hand on top of one piece, gently split in two using a boning knife. Repeat to make eight pieces. Pound each piece thin between plastic wrap, using a meat mallet. Cover each slice with prosciutto slices, then a mozzarella slice. Mix the crumbled sausage, egg, grated cheese, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, olive oil, garlic, and chopped parsley. Spread the mixture on top of prosciutto, leaving a margin. Roll up the meat with the grain and fasten with toothpicks or cooking twine. Heat a pot, add olive oil to cover bottom of pot, and brown meat rolls on all sides. Remove braciola from pot. To make sauce: add chopped onion to pot, cook until translucent. Add garlic, stir until fragrant. Deglaze with red wine, scaping to get all meat pieces off the bottom of pot. Add braciola back to pot and reduce wine by 50 percent. Smash canned San Marzano tomatoes with your fingers and pour over meat. Dissolve the tomato paste in a little warm water and add to sauce. Add pinch of salt and pepper. Add herbs. Cover and simmer at a low boil for 1 1/4 hours. Remove braciola from sauce and allow to rest 5 minutes before slicing. Balance flavors of sauce, adding seasonings as needed. Slice against the rain and serve on a bed of sauce, topped with more sauce. Mid-Century Modern Midland, a project of the Alden B. Dow Home and Studio, has been recognized by Docomomo US, as one of 10 winners of the 2019 Modernism in America Awards. The MCMM's project to document and share Midland's unique contribution to the Mid-Century Modern movement was awarded a Citation of Merit in the Survey and Inventory category. MCMM undertook an expansive project in 2017 to identify, document, evaluate and share Midland's unique architectural heritage. The fruits of this labor, much of which was volunteer-based, was made available to the public in 2019 through a well-designed website and mobile app. The 2019 Docomomo Jury proclaimed the work of MCMM, "a model project that could and should be replicated elsewhere." The project's local coordinator described the effort as a "team project." "None of this would have been possible without the help of more than 30 volunteers who literally hit the streets and canvassed every structure within the city limits," said Carol Neff, coordinator of MCMM. The information collected by the volunteers then was verified by a review committee before being cataloged in a website database created by DC Tree LLC. The mobile app provides another avenue to the information in the database. It also includes a routing feature that allows users to customize tours. This component was created through a partnership with the University of Michigan's Department of Industrial Operation Engineering, Practicum in Production and Service System Class. Craig McDonald, director of the Alden B. Dow Home and Studio, said, "We are thrilled that the architectural heritage of Midland is being recognized and celebrated by this award. This award assists us in achieving the recognition deserved by the architects, designer and craftsmen who created these amazing structures. Carol Neff's coordination of our volunteers and project partners in addition to hundreds of hours of research and verification of information was paramount to the success of this project." Representatives of MCMM plan to attend the Modernism in America Awards ceremony, which will take place June 19 in New York City. Docomomo US, a committee of Docomomo International, is dedicated to the preservation of modern architecture, landscape and design. Through advocacy, education and documentation, it provides leadership and knowledge by demonstrating the importance of modern design principles including the social context, technical merits, aesthetics and settings of these important pieces of American history. Indian star lauds rare quality of watching world cinema Indian director-actor Amir Khan and Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi at the red carpet on Thursday. Photo: Li Hao/GT Indian director-actor Amir Khan said Chinese people have a "really rare quality," which is open-mindedness, and "there is so much love in their heart." The Indian superstar made the remarks to the media on the sidelines of the Thursday night event, part of the ongoing Asian Film and TV Week. The Asian Film and TV Week, as part of the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations, is being held from Thursday to May 23 in China. Themed "Promoting mutual learning and exchanges among Asian civilizations through Film and TV," the Asian Film and TV Week features the launch ceremony, Masters in Conversation, Asian Film Week 2019 and Broadcasting of TV Programs, organizers said. A total of 60 Asian films from 30 Asian countries will be shown in the Chinese cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Xi'an and Guangzhou. Film specialists from China, Japan, India, Vietnam and other Asian countries are expected to discuss the role and significance of Asian films in cultural inheritance, mutual learning among civilizations and bonding between peoples, the organizers said. "You see world cinema and films from other cultures. They get to be seen in all countries. But there is a very small audience for that. Even in India, we have audiences who watch world cinema, but it is a very small audience, not everybody watches world cinema. They don't watch world cinema; they only watch Indian films," Khan said. "However in China, I noticed that a large audience watches Indian films and that shows Chinese audiences are very open to different cultures, and stories and characters from different places. That is such a beautiful quality that Chinese people have. It is a very rare quality. It is the quality we should learn from. I think that we have a lot to learn from China and from the people of China. And there is so much love in their heart," he told the media. Khan also expressed his willingness to take films from China to India, "so that Indian people can also see films from China and get to know the stories of the people of China and their culture." That will really bring Indian and Chinese audiences together, he noted. Two great Midland community assets, the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programs at H.H. Dow and Midland high schools and the Alden B. Dow Home and Studio, have harnessed their strengths to bring about a truly unique experience for students taking the IB Theory of Knowledge, a required class for the IB Diploma. The International Baccalaureate Diploma (DP) was brought to the two high schools in Midland 12 years ago by the Dow Chemical Co. to continue to situate the education of Midland Public Schools students in a world context as well as to help attract international families to the company's world headquarters. The DP is recognized worldwide as a standard of excellence. Students who pursue the IB diploma do so in addition to their regular high school diploma. Students are required to take a cross-curricular program that emphasizes connections between the differing fields of study their junior and senior years. Their work is sent around the world for evaluation. Scores are often eligible for college credit. However, college credit is not the main goal of the program. DP teachers teach complex course material using the foundation of the IB Learner Profile, traits that span the disciplines: courage, caring, balance, thinking, knowledge, communication, openmindedness, inquiry, and reflection. Nine years ago, Sarah Pancost, the DP Coordinator at Dow High, toured the Alden B. Dow Home and Studio. She was fascinated by Alden Dow and the similarities in the patterns of his thinking, so evident in his living and working spaces, and the philosophy of the IB program. She asked Craig McDonald, the director of the Home and Studio, if she could bring her Theory of Knowledge (TOK) class to the Home for a visit. McDonald responded enthusiastically and with largesse. Instead of just a tour, he said, why not incorporate the Home and Studio into TOK's curriculum? Students could then see the IB philosophy at work in the real world. Pancost's request and McDonald's invitation led to a true partnership, a collaboration of two great educational programs in Midland. Pancost says, "Alden didn't talk about IB, but his 'A Way of Life Cycle' graphic is very much IB in action. He believed in being willing to try things, the importance of reflecting on the process as well as the result, and that educational disciplines aren't discrete. They very much flow into and enhance one another. The Home and Studio brings his philosophy to life." McDonald echoes her, "I saw in IB the essence of the Dow family. It was in their DNA to give back to the community." Giving back to the community is a huge part of the DP. Learning is more than just learning. Education, for Alden and Vada Dow and for the IB, is meant to make the world a better place. The partnership has enhanced both institutions. Not only have the DP students from both high schools benefitted, but the Home and Studio has gained as well. McDonald and Matt Woods, the education director at the Home and Studio, laughed as they talked about how much more they understand about how real learning occurs from working with Pancost. "Now when we're planning a lesson or activity for a school field trip or other activity, we'll say, 'Let's TOK-it!'" Meaning they think about how to get students to think about the IB principles through whatever material they are teaching. The heart of an IB education is not the material, however important the material certainly is, but what students do with it. Finding ways to engage every student is the essence of teaching this way. People matter. At its finest, education is always changing, never stagnant. The DP seeks to develop those qualities in both its teachers and students. Alden B. Dow, in his endless quest for knowledge and willingness to experiment with form and function, recognized the beauty inherent to an ever-evolving world. The collaboration of these two Midland educational assets gives life to the adage the whole is greater than the sum of the parts and strengthens not only the high schools but the Midland community at large. Ansley Dauenhauer is an International Baccalaureate volunteer and editor of the monthly H.H. Dow High School IB parent newsletter. Gaborone, Botswana (PANA) - The Human Resource Development Council of Botswana (HRDC) is to host a conference aimed at finding relevant education and skills for employability and entrepreneurship Paris, France (PANA) French foreign affairs minister Jean-Yves Le Drian will from Monday begin a 48-hour visit to Democratic Republic of Congo and Chad where he will discuss with authorities bilateral issues, the French foreign affairs ministry said on Friday Paris, France (PANA) French Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian on Friday had an audience with his Malian counterpart, Tiebile Drame, and the two diplomats reviewed the cooperation relations between their countries, official sources told PANA Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - The East African economic and development grouping, IGAD, Friday expressed hope Sudanese would continue to negotiate in good faith and in a spirit of compromise to finalize discussions between the Transitional Military Council and the revolutionary youth Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire (PANA) - Ivorian political stakeholders have proposed a reduction in the membership of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), from 17 to 14, including those appointed by the government Harare, Zimbabwe (PANA) - Local procurement is being weighed down by government being a bad debtor causing the few private companies participating in the process to overcharge their goods or services, PANA has learnt Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) African water security has come into sharp focus at the African Utility Week in Cape Town with delegates from around the world addressing the Replenish Africa Initiative (RAIN) Niamey, Niger (PANA) - A conference, jointly organized by UNICEF in close collaboration with the State of Niger and the World Bank, has opened in Niamey to reflect on the issue of pre-school problems in Niger and make proposals to promote early childhood development through substantial investments in pre-school education Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - A prosecutor in Rwanda asked a court on Friday to sentence a former senior banker to 7 years in jail for favouritism and receiving illegal benefits to offer a service Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - Sudanese civil society activists have accused the ruling military council, which seized power there, of atrocities against protesters and sought urgent response by the African Union BLOOMINGTON Central Illinois farmers have had fewer than 24 hours in May suitable for fieldwork, putting them behind schedule in getting crops in the ground but more time to think about the failure of trade negotiations with China. As farmers, we are used to working with several moving targets, but with the whole uncertainty about the trade deals, it seems like it adds another one, said Gene Whitaker, who farms near Decatur. Between the tariffs and the rain, it just feels like a bad start to the planting season, added Tom English, a Logan County farmer near Emden. As of Monday, only 11 percent of the corn in Illinois was in the ground, compared to 88 percent last year and 82 percent over the past five years. Wet ground due to heavy rain in the first two weeks of the month has stalled planters. Some farmers, like Ric Strum of rural DeWitt County near Clinton, got back into the field Thursday. Once we get started, assuming it stays dry, you may not see me again for six weeks, he said. It is still pretty muddy, and some fields still have standing water. While that is a short-term problem, farmers also are concerned about the ongoing trade war with China and worry that the damage inflicted on the soybean market will continue to grow. Earlier this month, President Trump announced raising tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods and taking steps to tax nearly all of Chinas imports as punishment for what he said was Chinas attempt to renegotiate a trade deal. Soybean farmers are among the hardest hit and most vulnerable to the continued tensions, said Lynn Rohrschieb, president of the Bloomington-based Illinois Soybean Growers Association. Despite assurances from Washington, D.C., the trade war between the U.S. and China lingers, she said. "We continue to see missed deadlines and unbrokered deals. As this persists, we face more pain and uncertainty at the time when we must take the risk of planting another years crop. Rohrscheib noted this is the second year in a row that soybean farmers have been affected. "When Chinas reciprocal tariffs hit our soybeans last summer, we lost nearly one-third of our market overnight, she said. "It was a predictable and preventable blow that no other major U.S. company or industry has had to endure. It seems like when it rains, it pours. Illinois soybean producers face greater challenges each day without a deal. We see no end in sight. There must be a better long-term strategy to remain viable and win the trade war. The only soybean farmers not scared are our competitors. Soybean futures dropped to their lowest prices in 10 years on Monday and are down about 20 percent compared to a year ago. July and August futures closed at $8.35 and $8.42, respectively. Farmers are concerned, agreed Todd Sage, general manager at Bloomingtons Ag Rail, a high-speed rail-loading facility built in 1999 by a joint venture of eight Central Illinois grain elevators. The facility originates grain by truck and then ships shuttle trains to domestic destinations and Mexico. At Ag Rail, we have not seen much of a change because our shipments are all domestic and so everything has remained pretty stable," he said. "But it is on the minds of our farmers, I know. Bloomington-based Illinois Farm Bureau President Richard Guebert Jr. is frustrated that farmers continue to bear the brunt of the trade war. We are deeply concerned about the imposition of the retaliatory tariffs that could further impact agriculture, he said. Tariffs historically have not been good for the farm economy. Farmers are on the front lines of this trade war and are sacrificing their livelihoods and it hasnt gotten better. We are sitting on a huge inventory of grain while our export markets are diminishing. And, it is starting to hit farmers in the pocketbook, he added. Corn and soybean prices are depressed, combined with a delayed 2019 planting season due to heavy rains, and farmers are facing their sixth straight year of declining net farm income. Contact Kevin Barlow at (309) 820-3238. Follow him on Twitter: @pg_barlow Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The business news you need Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. BLOOMINGTON Vandalism to St. Mary's School by four youths cost the Catholic Diocese of Peoria more than $140,000, according to an amended complaint filed against the minors and their parents seeking reimbursement for the repairs. In 2016, the diocese filed a lawsuit accusing the minors with trespassing and damaging the school at 603 W. Jackson St., Bloomington. Damage included wax poured on the floors in several areas of the building, broken windows, stolen supplies and money and spray-painting in areas of the school. In an updated complaint, the tally for the cost of repairs was listed as $142,179. The diocese is seeking that amount from the parents and the three boys who were 9, 10 and 11 and a girl who was 14 at the time. The lawsuit also seeks $50,000 from the parents for damages in addition to legal fees. Bills attached to the recently update complaint total $162,711 for repairs to hardwood floors and restoration work to other areas of the building. The juveniles were allowed to perform their community service work at the school by helping with maintenance work, a pastor at St. Mary's Parish, which includes the school, said in September 2017. The four minors were charged with burglary to a school, criminal defacement of school property and criminal damage to school property. Two of the youths also were charged with theft from a school. A July 11 case management hearing is scheduled in the lawsuit. Contact Edith Brady-Lunny at (309) 820-3276. Follow her on Twitter: @pg_blunny Love 0 Funny 5 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 0 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. SPRINGFIELD DeKalb County resident Tony Stahl said he waited five years for the state to put his disabled daughter, Allison, in the selection process that would allow her to live in her own home in a community. It took an extra three years before that home was found, he said. After that eight-year wait, Allison is living and paying rent with two roommates in Sycamore, where she also works at Walmart, ushers at a church and dances at a studio. Only the community home, rather than a state institution, could fully address her personal care, medical and community living needs, her father said. Nearly 300 other advocates and people with disabilities came to the Capitol on Thursday to say something similar. By segregating people, by limiting access to services and supports necessary for participation, Illinois communities are missing out on the benefits and contributions of people with disabilities, said Meg Cooch, executive director of The Arc of Illinois, a Chicago-based advocacy group. Cooch said Illinois is second only to Texas in the number of disabled persons it puts into institutions, and that the average annual cost to house someone there $280,000 does not compare to the $34,000 average yearly cost to help them live in communities instead. Cooch and representatives from the Going Home Coalition held a news conference to urge lawmakers to provide more funding for community-based living for people with disabilities. Among other things, they argued that the $107 million that Gov. J.B. Pritzker proposed to give to the Department of Human Services to help the agency comply with the new minimum wage law is not enough. Cooch said the average caregiver for people with disabilities is paid between $10 and $11 per hour by the state. While the caregiving role is not a minimum wage job in the first place, she said the additional money proposed is still insufficient. This is a job that means the difference between independence and non-independence for people with disabilities, Cooch said. That money is not enough. We need more from legislators. Bob Peterson, a disabled self-advocate from Naperville, said the shortage of caregivers caused by the low wages does not help either, but that without them, it is more difficult to get people into communities where they can be active and engaged. Allison and everyone upstairs, Peterson said during the news conference in the Capitol basement, we wouldnt be here if we lived in an institution. The state operates seven institutions for people with disabilities. In recent years, The Arc of Illinois has called for the closing of six of those facilities in order to move their occupants into community settings, which advocates say allow people to live safer and healthier lives. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 SPRINGFIELD Illinois falls short in providing the funding and worker compensation to keep the health care services industry stable, advocates representing various organizations from around the state said this week. Of the states 102 counties, 85 are designated as health professional shortage areas, Sara Howe, CEO for the Illinois Association for Behavioral Health, said during a House Appropriations-Human Service Committee meeting Thursday at the Capitol. Howe said Illinois is a detox desert with limited facilities, a national ranking of fifth for adult binge drinking, and hospitalization rates for adults with serious mental disorders that are 1.5 times higher than the national average. While requests for substance abuse and mental health services have increased, organizations that provide them have been underfunded for at least a decade, she added. At the same time, the rates for mental health and substance use disorders have remained stagnant with only sporadic, inconsistent and negligible increases that have not kept pace with the cost of providing quality, evidenced-based services, Howe said. State Rep. Robyn Gabel, a Democrat from Evanston, sponsored HB 2717 to increase by 10 percent the funding for community-based substance abuse center grants available through the Department of Human Services (to $9.2 million) and for certified community mental health centers (to $19.3 million). Howe said those appropriations would be a down payment to reverse the damage weve seen, but the actual amount needed to bring funding back in pace with cost is most likely higher. The budget impasse from 2015 to 2017 led to some closures of state facilities providing substance abuse care, she said. Additionally, funding for preventive services programs also was slashed from $7 million to $1 million. The agencies themselves that are gone are not coming back, Howe said. Most of them, their services have not been picked up in other communities. And the instability caused by underfunding has led to a reduced workforce, especially along the borders where workers travel to nearby states. Several organizations that provide services for the elderly and children hold a common position on funding: They need more money simply to maintain the services provided. Sister Catherine Ryan, on behalf of Maryville Academy as well as Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital, and Dr. Peter Smith, medical director of Almost Home Kids, testified about services provided to children with complex needs and representing stressed populations. Most receive insurance through the state. Ryan said without alternative programs, children would otherwise be hospitalized, incurring a cost to Illinois checkbook exceeding $3,000 per day for neonatal care or for a stay in a pediatric intensive care unit. The reimbursement for service through insurance amounts to $683 a day, she added, when the actual cost of services is $950. House Bill 2714, also sponsored by Gabel, would allow alternative, transitional facilities like the ones Ryan and Smith represent to receive a reimbursement of $950. No one anticipates a premature birth, or that their child will be the victim of gun violence or cancer, but providing such services through alternative care is cost-saving and the right thing to do, Smith said. These families, as youd imagine, are some of the families under the most stressed and difficult time of their lives in our communities, Smith said. Many of these families did not expect to be in these populations, to be parents of children with medical complexity. Organizations that provide in-home services for the elderly are also seeking an increase in funding. House Bill 2776, sponsored by state Rep. Jaime M. Andrade, a Democrat from Chicago, would increase in-home workers reimbursement rates from the state to $19.96 per hour for workers at a minimum hourly wage of $12, and to $21.64 per hour for those at a $13 minimum hourly wage. Home care aide Cathy Everett said she left her $35-an-hour career four years ago after battling breast cancer and watching her father struggle to assist her mother after a dementia diagnosis. She knew the career switch would result in a pay cut, which was $10 an hour, but she said she didnt think it would amount to an unlivable wage. I knew I had to focus my time and energy on helping seniors live their remaining years where they want and desire to be, and thats in their own homes, Everett said. ... I didnt enter this industry thinking Id get rich, but I cant believe that for all we do, home care aides dont earn a liveable wage. Dennis Mondero, executive director of the Chinese Mutual Aid Association, said its difficult hiring and keeping home care aides in the Chicago suburbs because they know they can earn more working in the city. Potential employees could make more money working at Target, he said. Stephanie Johnson with Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago, said without a funding increase, her organizations community care program will need to lay off 700 people, which would end its program to care for the elderly on the south and southwest sides of Chicago. Same for Mondero, who said his organization must consider laying off more than 200 if reimbursement rates dont increase, leaving more than 500 seniors without services. Johnson said the state would save money by paying more for human services instead of waiting for bills from nursing homes. Marta Pereyra, executive director of Coalition of Limited English Speaking Elderly, said its five times more expensive for a senior to stay and be cared for in a facility than in their homes in-home care costs average $1,200 monthly, compared to $5,000 to $6,000 at nursing homes. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Hundreds rallied outside the Illinois Capitol Thursday to push for a dedicated stream of revenue from marijuana sales to go toward violence reduction and programs that boost communities that have been disproportionately affected by the enforcement of lower-level drug offenses. A controversial provision in Gov. J.B. Pritzker's recreational cannabis legalization proposal is the expungement of some drug convictions, an element the bill's sponsors said this week is likely to undergo changes. The governor's initial proposal also allocated 25% of tax revenue generated by pot sales for community reinvestment. Ciera Walker, executive director of Live Free Chicago, encouraged the crowd at a rally in front of the Capitol to keep the pressure on lawmakers as they continue to debate legislation. "What I'm most concerned about is the hundreds of lives we've lost in Chicago. And not only in Chicago but the surrounding areas. The hundreds of black and brown lives," Walker said. "And so my question to them would be, how much is my black and brown life to you? How much is my black and brown sister and brother to you? Because to me, we deserve 100 percent of that tax, but we're only asking for 25 percent. "We want our 25 percent, we want the records expunged, we want this money to go toward mental health services, gun violence, re-entry -- all of that belongs to us," Walker said. Pritzker rolled out the recreational cannabis proposal earlier this month at the Black United Fund of Illinois on Chicago's South Side, touting that Illinois would have the "most equity-centric law in the nation." Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton told the crowd at Thursday's rally in Springfield the "best kind of policy-making is done when we hear directly from the people from our communities." "There's another part of justice, and that is making sure that communities that have been harmed through decades of disinvestment also know that in order to restore our communities, we must also invest in our communities," Stratton said. "And this means we have to make sure that as investments are made and we look at budgetary considerations, communities are not left out." Eddie Bocanegra, senior director for Readi Chicago, a Heartland Alliance gun violence response program, called it "natural" that the revenue benefits communities that have been disproportionately affected by lower-level drug convictions. "The idea of leveraging resources from the marijuana bill is critical. We have to address root causes," Bocanegra said. That also means giving people from those communities access to jobs in what would be a new sector. "Whether it's growing, selling or delivering -- all of the opportunities that come from it," Bocanegra said. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 SPRINGFIELD A Democratic state lawmaker called Senate President John Cullertons proposal to raise Illinois usage tax on tobacco products too unreasonable at a time when the General Assembly is considering a slew of other tax hikes. Cullerton announced last week he wants to increase the states tax on a pack of cigarettes by $1, to $2.98. That is about triple the 32 cents Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker introduced in his budget proposal. The Senate presidents initiative would also include a 64 percent bump on the wholesale price of other tobacco products, including cigars, chewing tobacco and snuff. But Rep. Thaddeus Jones, from Calumet City, said that plan would turn Illinois into a job creator for surrounding states. I appreciate President Cullerton for his advocacy, but this is the wrong way to go. Weve gone through several phases of taxing cigarettes that now is driving businesses and driving people away from Illinois and driving them to border states, and weve got to stop it, Jones said. Its not having the effect that the president wants. Its not stopping people from smoking. What its doing is making people in my community who can least afford it, who are on a fixed income, choose to go to Indiana to make sure they get cigarettes. His constituents are already travelling to Indiana to get gas and groceries, he said. Some purchase tobacco products there as well. That is an argument Cullerton addressed at a news event last week. But what we also know is that other states then see what we do and then they can go and change their own rate, their own laws, he said at the time. And so, it has somewhat of an effect, but its not enough of a reason to not do a statewide change in my opinion. Cullerton is a longtime champion of measures including Smoke Free Illinois and Tobacco 21. According to the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, the usage tax on cigarettes in Indiana is 99.5 cents, in Kentucky it is $1.10, in Missouri its 17 cents, and its $1.36 in Iowa. Wisconsins tax, at $2.52, is the only one higher than Illinois. But according to data from the American Cancer Societys Cancer Action Network, most cigarette consumers will resume purchasing their product of choice from a local retailer after experimenting with options to avoid paying higher prices. The Network supports the $1 increase, as opposed to the governors 32-cent proposal, because of studies that show a larger tax jump will ensure a public health impact of reducing tobacco use is achieved, despite industry attempts to offset the price increases and keep prices low, according to a fact sheet. Jones said he wants the Legislature to do whats practical, and that Cullerton needs to hit the pause button on this proposal. He said the 32-cent increase initially introduced by Pritzker also is too high, but is a better starting point than $1. He would prefer any usage tax increase to be staged at a five- or 10-year period so businesses have the opportunity to adapt. That is a plan Bill Fleischli, executive vice president of Illinois Petroleum Marketers Association and the states Association of Convenience Stores, said would be better than an immediate jump. Certainly we dont like any increase, but a gradual increase would give other states the time to think about keeping up with us, he said. The association, he added, opposes a cigarette tax hike. John Patterson, a spokesman for the Senate president, said polling shows Illinoisans support Cullertons proposal. They support it because research shows it encourages people to quit smoking or, even better, never start, which would save taxpayers millions of dollars in reduced health care costs, he said in an emailed statement. That has always been the Senate presidents motivation, and it appears thats why the public supports it, too. But Jones said he does not believe the House could successfully pass the usage tax bump, even if the Senate votes yes. Thats not what the governor introduced, so I dont think theres support to increase it to $1, he said. I think theres support to look at a sensible way to do it maybe 32 cents, like what the governor was proposing. A spokeswoman from Pritzkers office said the governor supports President Cullertons proposal and looks forward to ongoing negotiations with lawmakers in the Senate and House. Cullerton has not officially filed legislation to raise the tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products, but is expected to do so next week. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 If you had any doubts, throw them out: Alabama is not trying to support women, mothers or children. Per Newsweek, Alabamas Senate struck down a new bill that would provide free prenatal and medical care for mothers who had been denied an abortion on Tuesday; the vote failed 23-6. This bill, a response to Tuesdays near-universal abortion ban, was proposed by State Senator Linda Coleman-Madison, and intended to support expecting mothers with at-risk pregnancies. On the nature of her bill, Coleman-Madison asserts that Alabama doesnt provide substantive education. And then, Coleman-Madison says, the child is born and we know that mother is indigent and she cannot take care of that child, we dont provide any support systems for that mother. The bill received support from fellow State Senator Vivian Davis Figures, who proposed several amendments to it. The amendments would require Medicaid to provide funding for new mothers and their children, require the lawmakers that voted for the bill to pay the legal costs to defend it and outlaw mens access to vasectomies. Unsurprisingly, all three amendments failed to pass. Of note here is that this bill and its amendments are not trying to overturn Alabamas abortion ban; rather, they are just trying to support mothers and their children. Or, you know, do the absolute bare minimum that a government could do. Lets break down the three amendments. The first amendmentto require Medicaid to provide support for low-income mothers and their childrenseems poised to appeal to those with a pro-life mentality. It would, in other words, support the lives of women and children that otherwise might be in danger. To reiterate, this amendment failed to pass. The second amendment, which would require the lawmakers who voted for Alabamas abortion ban to pay for legal costs in the inevitable court battle that will unfold in the coming months, is likewise straightforward. Yet the burden of legal costswhich, it is worth noting, rack up quickly and easilywill fall on those who choose to take up the torch. This amendment failed to pass. The third, and arguably most radical, amendment would prevent men from getting vasectomies. A vasectomy, you may recall, prevents the creation of sperm. Sperm, you may also recall, has DNA in it. Ergo, it stands to reason that sperm has the same quantifiable amount of life in it as a fetus prior to six weeks. This amendment failed to pass. Coleman-Madisons bill and Figures amendments were meant to provide support as a means of allaying the harms inflicted by the abortion ban. The bill behind the abortion ban was proposed by State Representative Terri Collins. Heres what she has to say about the bill: My goal with this bill, and I think all of our goal, is to have Roe v. Wade turned over, and that decision be sent back to the states so that we can come up with our laws that address and include amendments and things that address those issues. For those misguided enough to believe that Alabamas abortion ban was meant to foster and support lives, heres your answer: Its not. Its about overturning Roe v. Wade. If it were anything but, maybe this bill and its amendments would have passed. To find out more about the recent abortion bans, go here and to see how you can support those affected, go here. It was only a matter of time before one of the Democrats came out with this position, and Bernie Sanders was always the most likely candidate, but seeing this news in print is still shocking. From CNN: In a major education policy speech set to be delivered Saturday, Sen. Bernie Sanders will call for a ban on all for-profit charter schools, a position that puts him directly at odds with the Trump administration and becoming the first of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates to insist on such a move. Charter schools are essentially a conservative institution designed to siphon money from public schools and re-introduce school segregation, and if the Trump administration and Betsy DeVos in particular had their way, our tax dollars would go to these schools (and private Christian schoolsyes, seriously) en masse. They are private institutions that largely operate for profit (even some of the so-called nonprofits), and they take public money based on enrollment, which means that when public schools lose children to charter schools, they have less money to spend on each remaining student. As one study in North Carolina showed, that can amount to roughly $500 less funding per student in areas where charter schools predominate. This is because certain costsutilities, pensions, etc.dont decline as attendance declines. Fixed costs remain the same, which means that the amount of funding per student takes a hit. In addition, charter schools tend to have less accountability and oversight from the state level, and operate under the auspices of a private board that is not compelled to include teachers. It wont surprise you, of course, to learn that the teachers themselves have a much harder time unionizing (about 90 percent of charter schools are non-union), make less money, and often have to watch school CEOs take home absurdly high salaries. The underlying goal of so many conservative policies, on every front, is to damage public institutions to the extent that they can justify shutting them down completely in favor of private alternatives. In education, charter schools have become their best weapon. Sanders policy aims to tackle these schools head-on, and his proposal is far more aggressive than weve seen from any other Democrat, including Elizabeth Warren: The Vermont independent also will call for a moratorium on the funding of all public charter school expansion until a national audit on the schools has been completed. Additionally, Sanders will promise to halt the use of public funds to underwrite all new charter schools if he is elected president The moratorium on the funding of public charter schools was initially called for by the NAACP; Sanders will say in his speech that he supports the groups efforts. Sanders will also make the case that the growth of charter schools has done disproportionate harm to the black community because it has pulled public dollars away from community public schools. Additionally, Sanders aims to reform weak oversight, put more teachers and parents on the boards of existing charter schools, insist on transparency of private funding, and improve collective bargaining for charter school employees. Lets just start here, with three quotes from Democratic leaders. We believe that we have a responsibility to seek common ground where we can. Openness and transparency, accountability [and] bipartisanship [are] a very important part of how we will go forward. Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi after taking control of the House in November 2018. On the thorniest issue, of immigration, the president said many times he would take a deal that had included DACA in exchange for the wall. I put that deal on the table in the Oval Office in a sincere effort at compromise. I put the wall on the table in exchange for strong DACA protections. Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in January 2018. The thing that will fundamentally change things is with Donald Trump out of the White House. Not a joke. You will see an epiphany occur among many of my Republican friends. Heavy favorite for 2020 Democratic Presidential Nomination, Former Vice President Joe Biden this week. Now, lets contrast these to a quote from an unlikely opponent. Joy Reid is an MSNBC anchor who is more entertainer than journalist. When confronted with tweets and blog posts from her past that were shockingly homophobic, Reid claimed that someone hacked her and posted them, and never provided any proof that it was anyone but her who said these things. She also elevated Malcolm Nance, a former intelligence officer who used his time on MSNBC to hype the Mueller investigation into a McCarthyite fever dream that was wholly rebuked by the Mueller Report (MSNBC shelved Nance after the report came out). Reid has also been one of the leading anchors pushing the false Bernie Bro narrative since 2016. She is simply a creature of the infotainment that is cable news, and she has been extremely loyal to MSNBCthe cable news station run by the Democratic Party and Comcast. I bring all this up, because you might have thought she just made an appearance on the insurgent leftist podcast, Chapo Trap House, given this tweet. Democrats' reluctance to wield power, and their quest for a mythical national consensus as some sort of permission to do so, is fairly breathtaking given all that's happening in the world right now. Especially given the other party's freewheeling, brutal use of it at every level. https://t.co/r9bHmvBkaS Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) May 16, 2019 Bipartisanship is the liberal version of Make America Great Again. That's simply not how big liberal things have gotten doneever! A simple scroll through Wikipedia could tell you how the 1964 Civil Rights Act fractured the Democratic Party and birthed a new GOP. Medicare, the most popular government program, was pushed through by a majority in defiance of an incredibly intransigent minority declaring this health care plan for seniors to be a socialist takeover of America (sound familiar?). FDR threatened to add seats to the Supreme Court when they kept striking down his new deal. This never happened because Associate Justice Owen J. Roberts swung to FDR's sideknown as The Switch In Time that Saved Nine. The only way to decentralize power is to exercise political power. Like incrementalism, bipartisanship has been co-opted by a generation sponsored by the C-suite class, and now these words are both a BS excuse to implement pro-corporate policies under the guise of bipartisanship, and also just the way that things work. Actual political incrementalism played out in the 20th centuryas we endured long fights that culminated in vast expansions of basic rights in near-unilateral action by the Democratic Party through the New Deal, Medicare and the Civil Rights Act. Progress doesn't move at a constant pace, and it doesn't always go forward. We have been struggling since the 1960s, and Americans are desperate for a new burst of life-altering legislation. Bipartisanship is necessary to keep the lights on, etcin the United States Congress, but when it comes to the large ideological battles about serious legislation, bipartisanship is the last thing liberals needespecially in this Trumpian moment. Joy Reid understands this. Chapo understands this. Hell, my dog probably understands this, and yet, the three most powerful Democrats in our current moment still preach the importancenay, the requirementof bipartisanship. This worldview centers Republicansnot liberal outcomesbecause according to the religion of bipartisanship, without Republicans, there can be no real legislation, and therefore no outcomes, let alone liberal ones. Bipartisanship is a nice fairy tale that liberals tell themselves to distract from the fact that Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf about how much he wanted to model his Germany off our early 20th century racist laws. This is and always has been a brutal, unforgiving country built on the dual foundations of genocide and slavery. We have yet to fully reckon with that fact, and that is a major reason why we have Trump. The only way that anything productive ever gets done is with major fights that result in leveraging levers of power against entrenched interests in order to create broad prosperity. That's how politics has worked forever and ever. Just because the 1990s brought a new Industrial Revolution-event (and a vast expansion of capital with it) doesn't mean that the basic rules of politics have changed. Power is still power. And Democrats refuse to engage in the political system that afforded them so much power, even when they have a historic mandate from the people. Nancy I'm not for impeachment Pelosi is giving a green light to Trump and all future presidents to commit impeachable offenses by refusing to honor Robert Mueller's request to look at the mountain of obstruction of justice evidence he collected. The current fight over subpoenas that Democrats are waging against the White House was literally one of Richard Nixon's articles of impeachment. All this is damning detail unnecessary to even go in to, because Democrats had all the evidence they needed to present an impeachment case the moment Trump started locking children in cages. And yet, the promise of tax returns, multiple investigations, fighting on the Mueller front, possibly impeachmentnone of those have fully materialized for a Democratic House that has held power for about four months now. Please ask yourselves why Democratic leadership is committed to telling you how horrible Trump is as a way of raising money for themselves but aren't committed to actually exercising their power to stop him. Bree Newsome Bass (@BreeNewsome) May 16, 2019 GOP: methodically stripping away human rights while moving the nation further toward white nationalist fascism The white Democratic leadership response: I have a black friend named Barack as well as Republican friends and I think we can all get along just fine Bree Newsome Bass (@BreeNewsome) May 16, 2019 Republicans understand power. Democrats refuse to wield it. Thats why we find ourselves in a constitutional crisis (Pelosi is right about that). Trump is going outside the bounds of the law to defy constitutionally-mandated Congressional oversight, and the Democrats are declawing themselves and pledging not to use their biggest weapon before the fight has even begun, and thus we find ourselves in a stalemate (at best). By promising to only wield power via bipartisan consensus in an increasingly polarized country, the Democrats are ultimately pledging to do nothing to address the failures that led to President Trumpother than fundraising off his widespread unpopularity. Jacob Weindling is a staff writer for Paste politics. Follow him on Twitter at @Jakeweindling. For almost two decades after the creation of Hendricks Gin in 1999, every drop of the brands award-winning gin was distilled in what was essentially a small, red brick shed. It wasnt a particularly inspiring sight, at least from the outside. A bombproof building on the site of a former munitions factory, which by and large had been turned into a distilling operation for the grain whiskies of William Grant & Sons, Hendricks always stood aesthetically apart from the rest of the operation. Although nestled in the picturesque Scottish hills of seaside Girvan, Scotland, flush with sheep and carefully laid stone fences, the actual distillery was fairly cramped and economical. Employees, including Hendricks Master Distiller Lesley Gracie, sarcastically referred to the idiosyncratic building as the gin palace, in honor of its unassuming nature. Two decades later, though, the term gin palace is no longer an inside joke. Now its a glistening showroom; a temple built in honor of gins delicate loveliness. What was once a punchline has become the brands most impressive asset. Aside from Gracie herself, that isthe palaces regal matriarch. The new Gin Palace, first unveiled to select friends of the brand in 2018, sits only 50 meters or so away from that original brick shed. The bombproof nature of the original building having made expansion impossible, William Grant & Sons decided upon a massive investment in Hendricks future. They knocked down a whisky warehouse, creating a blank patch of land that was destined to become a statement piece for Hendricks as a brandan ornate Victorian greenhouse, ensconced in tiny hills of flowing grass, that also houses a greatly expanded distilling operation. One gets a sense that much of the buildings design was conceived in honor of Master Distiller Gracies contributionsan acknowledgement of everything shes meant to the brand over more than 30 years of service. Here, the brand would create a playground for Gracies imagination to run wild. And indeed, following my return from visiting the Gin Palace at Hendricks invitation, Id hope you could forgive some immediate Willy Wonka comparisons, in terms of the imagination on display, as the place is frankly fantastical to see. Upon entry, a high-ceilinged reception room is flanked by dual hothousesone tropical in climate, one Mediterraneanwhere everything from mango and orchids to grapefruit and yuzu can be grown for flavor experimentation. On the second level, a miniature lecture theater bids guests aperire animo in a sign above its entrance: Open your mind. Down the hall, a lushly appointed lounge and bar showcase old gin bottles from William Grant & Sons pastand curious oddities like a 6 liter jug of Hendricks, or a leather guitar case made to hold an entire set of Hendricks cocktail paraphernalia in what might be the worlds most unexpected source of a G&T. Everywhere you look within the Gin Palace, theres another source of curiosity. And thats before you even get into the distillery proper. Certainly, its a changed landscape from when Lesley Gracie first arrived as an employee of William Grant & Sons in 1988. Calling herself not much of a spirits drinker at the time, she hailed from a background in analytical chemistry, with a pretty unique area of focus: Flavor itself. Having previously applied her skills in the pharmaceutical industry, the distilling company realized her unique skill set could be used to fingerprint the flavors in their products on a more concrete, analytical level. And from there, it was only a matter of time until she was tasked with creating new flavor profiles from scratch. That license to create first gave us Hendricks Gin in 1999. The gins present at that time were mainly classic London drys, quite light and dominated by juniper, says Gracie, surrounded by scientific implements in her personal lab within the Gin Palace. The cocktail culture hadnt picked up yet either, so it was mostly just gin & tonic, or gin & bitter lemon, things like that. Thats how people were consuming gin. I feel like when Hendricks came along, it sort of picked up the category and shook it by its neck. I think just the uniqueness of its flavors, and the ability to do different things with it, allowed bartenders to play more and expand their perception of how they could use gin. The classical Hendricks profile, or the Hendricks house style, as Gracie now refers to it, certainly stood out sharply from its competition at the time, both in flavor and in presentationno gin bottle on the rack looked anything like the short, squat, black bottle of Hendricks, which immediately helped set it apart. In terms of flavor, Gracie was asked to both celebrate the U.K. and deviate from the expected, something she accomplished by choosing to highlight two classical symbols of England that hadnt seen use before as gin botanicals: Rose and cucumber. The flavors of both are impossible to capture via traditional steam/hot water distillation, which meant another innovation in the form of vacuum distillation to capture the delicate essences of both. Now, the duo of rose and cucumber find themselves synonymous with Hendricks as a result, being captured in illustrations and stained glass all throughout the facility. Ever see a stained glass cucumber? Other experiments in Gracies flavor library followed in the years to come. She created several versions of a quinine cordial, designed to be added to soda water in the perfect Hendricks G&T, which ultimately led in the direction of Orbium, the bracing, sophisticated, quininated version of Hendricks first released last year. She traveled to Venezuela, spending 10 days in the jungle while researching potential botanicals, which resulted in small batches of the unique, scorpion tail plant -infused Kanaracuni gin that has been poured at limited events around the world. And most recently, the brand has put its biggest push behind the floral-centered Midsummer Solstice, which Gracie describes as a celebration of practically everything currently in bloom. Bottles of that particular limited release are hitting shelves now. Midsummer is when most flowers are at their best, and this gin was about capturing that, she said. To me, its like when you get a bouquet of flowers. Its not about the individual flowers; its about the effect of the whole bouquet. I dont like to talk about specific floral notes, because Id rather it be appreciated as a whole, rather than searching for specific parts. I really like it. Its floral, but its not bound to the floral essence in such a way where youd think of it as feminine. Of course, the unspoken intent of Orbium, Midsummer Solstice and the like would presumably be to help Hendricks maintain a hip and modern image in the very craft gin market it helped to establish back in 1999. On the production side, the Gin Palace houses greatly expanded distillation capacityenough to reach a current max of two million cases per year. But theres still far more space awaiting other potential stills in the same facility, which makes it clear that the brand is building with the future in mind. Who knowsperhaps one day, theyll be producing something like Midsummer year round. Or maybe theyll just continue scaling up production of their classic gin, which continues to thrive as the cocktail renaissance explores endless permutations of what can be crafted with any given base spirit. Speaking with Gracie, one feels like those topics will likely be left with the suits in charge of the companys strategic goals. The Master Distiller is much more interested in the novelty of experimentation for its own tactile, sensuous rewards. Listen to her enough, and youll hear certain words get repeated often enough to realize that they form a core of her philosophy toward gin. One of those key words? Roundness. I always say that when I taste something, I see its shapeIm a bit weird like that, says Gracie, after I ask her to elaborate on what the concept of roundness might mean to a more inexperienced taster. When you drink something, it has to all blend together seamlessly, rather than perceiving it as having something sharp sticking out. There has to be a sort of symmetry within the flavors. I had a drink recently where everything worked except for this one spicy flavor, and I felt like it was just sticking out, poking me. Being able to distinguish flavors in the finished spirit is important, but balance is even more important. As such, it is perhaps not surprising that Gracie shows little interest in the so-called new western gin style that has become popular within the U.S. microdistillery scene, as typified (rather unappealingly) by the likes of New Amsterdam. Sweeter, fruitier and eschewing any substantial juniper backbone, typically in favor of candy-like citrus impressions, these products have led to impassioned debate on what does and does not qualify as gin in the first place. Gracie knows where she stands. In any true gin, the juniper does have to be a presence, she asserts. If its not, then its not really gin. Theres some nice things out there that people are calling gin, but theyre more like nicely flavored vodkas than true gins. In fact, despite Hendricks being so associated with rose and cucumber, Gracie still finds herself as something of a juniper evangelist to those who dont really understand the juniper berrys flavor. Shes especially fond of the Macedonian juniper used in Hendricks, calling it brighter than the Italian variety used by many distillers. I think juniper is an amazing flavor, she said. And when you mention juniper, people often are thinking of a piney type flavor, but its really not that at all. It has so many fruity flavors and so much depth in it. These are the types of discussions wherein Gracie can easily hold court for hours at a time, but she doesnt always have that luxurytheres always something to be done at the Gin Palace, whether its overseeing production, studying new flavor compounds in small-scale distillation or tasting each distillation for quality control after it leaves the still via nosing panels. Every bottle needs to match the Master Distillers personal standard for what Hendricks should be. This is, after all, her baby, and shes producing it in a huge facility built more or less in her honorone that is currently only open to invited guests, although it could become a public attraction years from now. It rather makes you wonder if her exhausted palate might sometimes need a break from the flavors of gin. Curious of what she might say, I ask her what she drinks otherwise. Coca-Cola, she replies, chuckling. And I dont mind beer and wine. But if Im drinking a spirit, it will be Hendricks. Jim Vorel is a Paste staff writer and resident spirits geek. You can follow him on Twitter for more drink writing. Welcome to Paste politics weekly installment of the worst of Twitter. This week, weve got bad tweets from a liberal grifter, a conservative grifter and both a Democratic and Republican politician. Its a regular ol bipartisan jamboree. Uncle Joe would be so proud! If you are a liberal who is constantly crapping on the South and acting as if all our problems stem from it, understand that you are the worst kind of liberal (also the worst kinds of liberals? Grifters.) Why is anyone acting surprised that Alabama, the state where its legal to marry your first cousin, has outlawed 13-year-old rape victims from getting abortions? Can Alabama just secede already and stop embarrassing us all? Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) May 16, 2019 New York state has the most segregated schools in the country. I have lived in both Boston and Atlanta and it is no contest which city is more openly racist (hint: not the one in the south). Yes, the ex-confederacy and the bankrupt Lost Cause ideology are specific to the South, and have done untold damage to this country in the name of white supremacy, but that ideology arrived on our shores long before there was a South to secede. Hell, the Republican candidate for Senate in Virginia in 2018 was a declared Neo-Confederate who grew up in Minnesota. Hitler was writing about all of America in Mein Kampf when he praised our racist laws. We are all part of this mess, and we are not going to get out of it by simply blaming all racist and sexist laws on a region where most black Americans live (if you're the type to say just let the south secede, ponder what happens to all those nonwhite people in the GOP dystopia you are damning them to). Speaking of GOP dystopiasholy crap. Matt Walsh of the conservative infotainment site, The Daily Wire, becomes our first two-time entrant into bad tweets of the week withjustwow If a 12 year old is raped by her father and the father takes her to get an abortion, the evidence of the crime will be destroyed and he will go on molesting his victim for years. If however the child is born, his crime will be discovered and she will be rescued from the abuse. https://t.co/emV8tJifWE Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) May 15, 2019 Abortion is a wildly complicated issue in this country, and the wave of bills designed to dismantle Roe v. Wade being introduced across the nation in states like Alabama and Ohio are the result of a nearly 50-year conservative project to reverse the famed Supreme Court decision. While the country is evenly split on the topic of declaring ourselves to be pro-life or pro-choice, when it comes to the specifics of abortion, people are much more malleable. Half the country wants abortion legal only under certain circumstances, 29% want it legal under any circumstances, and 18% want it illegal in all circumstances. Not even a quarter of the population in any state wants a complete abortion ban, and yet, people like Matt Walsh control all legislation in the GOP (and people like Captain Krassendouche over there smear an entire region with a minority's viewpoint). This is why the Bidenist notion of bipartisanship is so radically naive. How do you compromise with such a black and white GOP agenda like this that doesn't even represent their own constituents, let alone Democratic ones? That last one was pretty heavy so we'll pivot to a much more lighter tone with a universally-detestable man of whom Lindsey Graham once hilariously said If you killed Ted Cruz on the floor of the Senate, and the trial was in the Senate, nobody would convict you. This is one of the saddest tweets I've ever seen. Hey @jack how come Twitter's moment quotes all the snarky leftists making fun of my comments, but doesn't include my tweets in response explaining the real point that NATIONS like China have already developed & tested weapons to destroy satellites? https://t.co/dwkM5ndXj3 Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) May 16, 2019 Conservatives spent my entire childhood in the 1990s berating the media and charging them with bias, so it should be no surprise that they are playing the same game with the media titans of our age. The difference is that Senator Ted Cruz yelling at Very Serious ABC/NBC/CBS news anchor carries a gravitas that tagging an overgrown child with a part-time CEO job on a platform called Twitter simply does not. With any hope, the optics of complaining to the Jack Dorseys and Mark Zuckerbergs of the world about censorship will reveal this playbook to be the farce it always was. Everyone with Twitter brain poisoning knows Esoteric Jeff of the election night analysis firm, Decision Desk HQ at this point (they do good work and have partnered with outlets like BuzzFeed in the past). Esoteric Jeff is good for about one piping conservative hot take a week that lights irony Twitter on fire for a few hours. But his compatriot at Decision Desk HQ, co-founder John Ekdahl, came out throwing absolute gas with this (ironic?) conservative hot take from the 1500s, quoting Jack Nicholson in As Good As it Gets. When asked how he wrote women so well, a great philosopher once said, I think of a man, and I take away reason and accountability. https://t.co/RIwBcchNz5 John Ekdahl (@JohnEkdahl) May 11, 2019 If Ekdahl and his kind didnt have a penchant for admiring flawed strong men characters in every movie, Id give him the benefit of the doubt that this was a tongue-in-cheek tweet. Instead, because he has been denounced by some fellow conservatives for going off the deep end, the odds tilt towards this being a literal interpretation of a quote intended to make the character look like a garbage person. Matt Walshs tweet is objectively worse than probably any tweet ever posted in these columns, but hes an internet nobody (and I say that as a proud internet nobody), and the relative power of these posters must be taken into account when assessing the gravity of their crimes against posting. Our worst tweet of the week comes from a Democratic candidate for president who acknowledged how bad this tweet was by deleting it minutes after he put it up. What we are learning in the early stages of this Democratic primary is that there is a generational war coming on the left. The 2016 primary was distorted by the fact that there were only two candidates, and the false Bernie Bro narrative took root on the left (thanks to heavy investment in it from major Democratic Party infrastructure like MSNBC). Now, its clear as day what is happening: older people are breaking for Joe Biden, and younger people are split among everyone. Bernie took 43% of the vote in 2016, and is hovering just below 20% in most polls right now, proving that this rebuke to the last generation of Democratic politics is not rooted in some so-called cult following (if youre curious, Seth Moulton is currently polling behind I dont know and isnt even in the RCP top 16). Millennials and Gen Z are far more liberal than Gen X and Boomers, and it is becoming increasingly apparent through our politics. Moulton was clearly angling for the McCarthyite-Poisoned Boomer vote by claiming that socialists cant be Americans, but he posted it on a platform dominated by millennials, and rightfully got ratioed into oblivionpurging it from his feed shortly after pushing this Trumpian nonsense out into the world. This deletion means that even Seth Moulton must admit that he posted a tweet worthy of being our worst of the political week. Jacob Weindling is a staff writer for Paste politics. Follow him on Twitter at @Jakeweindling. Apple's iPhone has dominated the Japanese market for years and in Q4 2018, with a slowdown in the smartphone market, Apple was #1 in Japan. Apple held 56% of the Japanese market with its closest competitor, Sharp, holding 9.8%. With the iPhone dominating the Japanese market, 7-Eleven has seen a market opportunity and will begin selling Apple Accessories in its 925 stores nationwide beginning next week, May 22. In a Japanese press release issued yesterday, 7-Eleven stated (roughly translated): "Apple products such as iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and iPod are all highly popular in the country. By selling Apple accessories at Seven-Eleven throughout the country, we will provide many customers with the convenience of being able to purchase at "when they want," "immediately," and "nearby" stores. In addition to audio charge accessories, Lightning cables (0.5m, 1m, 2m) of different lengths that can be used in various scenes, accessories for high-speed charge that iPhone 8 or later supports (18W USB-C power adapter and USB- We will develop a lineup of 9 products in total, including C to Lightning cable." A few of the accessories are illustrated below. Officially, 7-Eleven Japan will start selling in Tokyo, Hokkaido, Nagano Prefecture, Yamanashi Prefecture on May 22 and gradually expand nationwide. Apple may be using the Japanese market as a test site to see if this marketing concept could be duplicated in towns in the U.S. that don't have an Apple Store. For now the test is limited to Japan for the foreseeable future. The Japanese Apple news site Macotakara first discovered the press release issued yesterday. 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. On Wednesday U.S. President Trump signed an order to protect U.S. networks from foreign espionage. We're learning today that the order lists 67 Huawei affiliates around the world that will be restricted from accessing U.S. suppliers beginning today. A new report posted today notes that the U.S. department said it has put Huawei on an 'Entity List,' meaning that any U.S. company will need a special license to sell products to Huawei, which is the worlds largest telecom networking equipment maker and second-largest smartphone manufacturer. Following the restrictions on Huaweis access to U.S. suppliers, the Trump administration will come up with measures to block U.S. imports of Huawei products. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Trump had given his department 150 days to establish a process to screen U.S. companies purchases of equipment from Huawei and other equipment providers with which officials have concerns. Washington has pressured both allies and foes to avoid using Huawei for 5G networks as the company poses a significant risk of involvement in activities contrary to the U.S. national security or foreign policy interests. Though at the moment, France and Germany in particular are thumbing their nose at the U.S. position as they do on many issues at present. Washingtons action is expected to disrupt Huaweis production of telecom equipment and smartphones. Huawei is currently purchasing $67 billion worth of semiconductor-related parts from about 92 major suppliers every year. If Huawei suffers disruptions in its operations, it will affect the introduction of 5G services in many countries around the world. An employee of Huawei told Nihon Keizai Shimbun that if transactions with U.S. suppliers become more difficult, it could have a bigger impact on telecommunication devices than smartphones and that implementation of 5G services in other countries could be delayed due to a delay in supply of Huawei 5G telecommunication equipment. Analysts say that the U.S. sanctions on Huawei are not limited to U.S. companies. In principle, the U.S. Export Administration Act of 1979 applies to all products that contain more than 25 percent of U.S. products or software. For example, even products made by a Japanese company cannot be traded with Huawei if the U.S. parts account for more than a quarter of the total parts. Japan's Murata Manufacturing Plant, which supplies capacitors for smartphones to Huawei, and Taiwan's Hong Hai Precision Industry Co., which is the world's largest smartphone producer, are also expected to suffer. Washingtons sanctions against Huawei are also expected to escalate the ongoing trade disputes between the United States and China. Commerce Secretary Ross said that his departments action against Huawei is not part of China trade talks. But analysts say that the Chinese government will use non-tariff barriers to retaliate to protect Huawei. In a new report posted by China's Caixin global today, we hear the Chinese perspective on this issue. The reports states: "Wartime generals plan for the worst. And the head of Huaweis chip unit has drawn up her battle plan, according to a recently leaked document. Huawei's chip units CEO He Tingbo said Huawei foresaw years ago that the U.S. government might 'suppress' the company and cut channels for it to acquire chip-related technology from the U.S. And indeed, this fear has become a reality. The move may especially disrupt Huaweis chip production, which depends heavily on American components. Therefore, the chip unit, called HiSilicon, has developed 'alternative chips' for just such a scenario though it did not expect the situation to actually happen, the letter reveals. The letter, seen by Caixin, went on to state that "As the U.S. made the 'insane' decision to put Huawei on the blacklist "with no evidence," and "history has made the choice" to put all reserved alternative chips into formal use "in one night." In a report that we posted back on May 10, we presented a graphic from the New York Times that showed the tariff imbalance between the U.S. and China. Why should such an imbalance be allowed to continue? This is the time to stand up against Chinese aggression. The U.S. almost had a trade deal with China last week when the Chinese decided to back out of the deal by backtracking on protecting US Intellectual Property (IP). China wants to protect their aggressive stance on stealing U.S. IP Make no mistake about it, China is a powerful vindictive nation. For example, in Canada, for holding Huawei's CFO in Vancouver to face extradition to the United States on suspicion she violated U.S. trade sanctions against Iran, the Chinese immediately retaliated by arresting two Canadians out of nowhere. The Chinese then charged the two Canadians for espionage hours after the U.S. ban on Huawei was announced this week. Was that coincidental? Of course not. John Bolton was the latest ally of U.S. President Donald Trump to condemn China for its detentions of Canadians amidst a dispute with the Americans over Huawei. Earlier this month China banned Canadian Pork and Canola over the Huawei dispute. It's hard to feel sorry for Huawei when China is being a bully with a smaller country like Canada over Huawei. It's hard to not see China as an aggressor who will do anything it has to do to get its way. It was reported by Reuters on Wednesday that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had stated that he would be visiting China soon for more trade talks. On Thursday China's commerce ministry spokesman Gao Feng made it clear that he was unaware of any such plans for US trade negotiations to return to Beijing. In typical fashion, China twisted the reasoning for the failed talks on its home turf by stating that "Both sides had candid and constructive communications in the last round of talks, but very regretfully the US unilaterally and continuously escalated the trade conflict, which led to grave damage to the discussions." 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: Prior to the much-hyped road-show in Patna to prop up Shatrughan Sinha's candidacy from Patna Saheb, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday spoke at a public rally in Bikram at the outskirts of the state capital to seek support for Misa Bharti, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) candidate from Pataliputra constituency. Daring Prime Minister Narendra Modi to have a debate with him. Gandhi said that Modi was a coward who was afraid to face the press or come on a stage with him to debate pressing issues being faced by Indian farmers and poor people. "He does not want to talk about issues; instead all he knows is how to assassinate characters of those who are not on his side. He has failed on every single issue and any attempt to escape blame is not going to help him in this election cycle. The 'Chowkidar' is keeping mum on issues like black money, employment to youths, rights of women and instead counting on people's fear to win his second term. He has not done anything in the last five years so instead of talking about his accomplishments, he is using abusive and unparliamentary words against Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, and Lalu Prasad Yadav. By doing so, he has hurt the sentiments of the people of Bihar and India and Bihar is never going to forgive him for this," Gandhi said. The Congress leader, asking voters to cast their ballot in favor of Misa Bharti, said that May 23 would be the end of the failed Modi government and only then justice would be delivered to the poor people of India. Repeating his promise to deposit Rs. 6,000 in poor people's account each month, Gandhi asked the crowd if anyone received Rs. 15 lakh as promised by Modi during the last Lok Sabha elections. The crowd, on the cue, chanted 'No'. "Modi ji has plenty of time to go on television and talk about how to eat a mongo properly but he does not have time to talk to the farmers. He failed to wipe off farmers' loans but he had no hesitation in wiping off Rs. 500,000 crore owed by fifteen of his close friends. We promised to wipe off farmers loans in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, and Karnataka and we did that in less than ten days after sweeping elections in those states," he said. Rahul Gandhi had some choice words for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar saying he had done a tremendous job in turning Bihar the center of unemployment. "If we get to form the government, we will fill in 22 lakh positions currently lying vacant in less than a year. Those who are interested in opening their own business will be able to do without any intervention or governmental red-tape," the Congress leader said. RJD leader and former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Tejaswi Yadav said that both the BJP and Nitish Kumar were scared of his father and that is why they locked him in jail by implicating him in false and made-up cases. Yadav also took shots at his sister's rival from Pataliputra constituency Ram Kripal Yadav saying he turned out to be even a bigger turncoat than Nitish Kumar himself. On prohibition, he said it was a failed experiment as alcohol ban was limited only on papers. "Nitish Kumar is dreaming about becoming the Prime Minister but soon he won't even be the Chief Minister of Bihar," he said. Misa Bharti, the candidate herself, accused the Prime Minister of failing to keep his promises he made to farmers, women, and youths during the last election cycle. RJD state president Ramchandra Purvey, Tejaswi Yadav's brother Tej Pratap Yadav, Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) chief Upendra Kushwaha, Congress leaders Shakti Sinh Gohil, Madan Mohan Jha were among others who were also present on the occasion. Unfortunately for the team Mahagathbandhan, the crowd was nowhere near anticipated as nearly three-fourth of the maidan was empty. MIDDLEBURG Very catastrophic, completely expected is how the president and chief executive officer of the Central Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce describes the abrupt closing of Wood-Mode Inc. Rumors the custom cabinet maker in Kreamer was closing circulated for more than a year, Robert Garret said Friday. It was a fresh rumor a week, he said. The chambers offers to help were never accepted and it did not get advance notice the plant would shut Monday afternoon, he said. No one is getting any answers, Garrett said. Representatives of the state Department of Labor and Industrys Special Response Team have been already in the plant so maybe they have some answers, he said. Employees will have the opportunity to meet with them at 10 a.m. Tuesday in the Weber Chapel auditorium on the campus of Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove. An attorney met with approximately 400 employees and their families Thursday evening to answer questions. The chambers effort is focused on helping the 938 employees who lost their jobs, he said. We want them to have a square deal, Garrett said. Community support has been overwhelming, he said. Firms locally and farther away have expressed Interest in hiring Wood-Mode employees, he said. The Harrisburg Regional Chamber has referred several industries and an inquiry was received from Salinas, Kan., he said. Two years ago SSG Capital Advisors acted as the investment banker to Wood-Mode in the placement of a $22.5 million financial package that enabled the company to refinance existing indebtedness, generate additional liquidity for growth and meet a growing client demand. A news release issued in connection with the $13.5 million of the loan package provided by MidCap Financials stated Wood-Mode experienced a significant improvement in performance in fiscal year 2015 and had successfully implemented a number of operational initiatives for 2016 that positioned it for future growth. However, it stated, Wood-Modes capital structure did not provide adequate liquidity to fund the companys seasonal working capital requirements and anticipated second quarter fiscal 2017 production ramp-up. The company claimed it was forced to close abruptly after a prospective buyer on May 7 had backed out and two days later it learned a lender was unwilling to provide it additional money. A third federal lawsuit was filed Friday accusing Wood-Mode of not providing employees a 60-day written termination notice required by the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. Like the other two filed in U.S. Middle District Court, the complaint of Tina Clapper of Millmont seeks class-action status and payment of wages and benefits for the 60 days. Clapper, who was hired Aug. 24, 2015, says when the plant closed, she was being paid $16.85 an hour and had long-term and short-term disability insurance. 2019 Woodstock tickets may cost less than previously announced, Woodstock co-founder and 50th anniversary festival organizer Michael Lang now says. Woodstock 50 is scheduled for Aug. 16-18 at Watkins Glen International in Upstate New York with a lineup that includes Jay-Z, Santana, Miley Cyrus, The Killers, Chance the Rapper, John Fogerty, Janelle Monae, Dead & Company, Halsey, and Imagine Dragons. Original investor Dentsu Aegis Network attempted to cancel the three-day event after capacity was reduced to 75,000, but Lang won a court battle this week to continue with the show. The Poughkeepsie Journal reports Lang appeared on SiriusXM this week to give an update after the partial victory in New York State Supreme Court. Dentsu doesnt have to return $17.8 million to the festival account and doesnt have to continue funding the event, but Lang says a new financial backer is lined up and will be announced soon. We have an amazing production partner coming in, well announce in a week or so, which I think will surprise everybody. Its been an unbelievable ride," Lang told SiriusXM Volume hosts Ni Carter and Lori Majewski on their satellite radio show Feedback. Lang also said that Woodstock 50 tickets will cost less than $400 for three-day passes, with a limited number of one-day tickets also available. Thats a welcome change for fans -- prices and options have never been officially announced, but Lang previously said weekend passes would be $450 with no single-day admission. An on-sale date will be announced soon, Lang told SiriusXM, with tickets possibly available in as little as two weeks. Tickets were originally scheduled to go on sale April 22, but delayed due to a number of issues behind the scenes, including disagreements between Langs Woodstock team and Dentsu. There were disputes over capacity (originally pushed for as much as 150,000), concerns over logistics at the Watkins Glen site (where Phish canceled its Curveball festival last year due to health concerns and a lack of drinking water), and the state Department of Health has yet to approve a mass gathering permit, which wasnt submitted until April 15. Court filings Tuesday revealed a New York State Police trooper also complained about differing crowd estimates, expressed concerns about a proposed kidstock section encouraging children to attend, and worried a proposed pedestrian bridge would collapse. But all Woodstock 50 performers have been paid in advance and remain under contract to perform, Lang says. The cost of booking the talent was around $23.5 million, court documents said, with as much as $30 million more needed to stage the festival just three months from today. Similar organization issues plagued the first Woodstock festival, held Aug. 15-18, 1969, at Max Yasgurs dairy farm in Bethel, N.Y., weeks after a previous site fell through. More than 400,000 people still came to see legendary performances by Richie Havens, Jefferson Airplane, The Who, Joan Baez, Jimi Hendrix, Santana, Joe Cocker, the Grateful Dead and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. The iconic concert was revisited in 1994 with a modern lineup of artists like Nine Inch Nails, Sheryl Crow, Metallica, Cypress Hill and Red Hot Chili Peppers in Saugerties, but Woodstock 99 -- held at Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, N.Y. -- was marred by riots, fires and allegations of sexual assault. Lang helped organize both anniversary events. The original Woodstock site is planning its own anniversary celebration on the same weekend. The Bethel Woods Center for the Arts will host Arlo Guthrie and a screening of the Woodstock documentary on the field Thursday, Aug. 15; Ringo Starr, Guthrie, and The Edgar Winter Band on the pavilion stage Friday, Aug. 16; Santana with the Doobie Brothers on Saturday, Aug. 17; and John Fogerty on Sunday, Aug. 18. Guthrie, Winter, Santana and Fogerty all performed at the original Woodstock festival. The Antique Automobile Club of America, which says its the oldest and largest historical automotive society in the country, will soon have a new and larger facility in a more visible area in Derry Township. The organization purchased the former headquarters of the Pennsylvania American Water Company at 800 Hersheypark Drive in Derry Township in March and hopes to move to the new location next March after it renovates the building. The move for the organizations which has more than 55,000 members in more than 350 regions and runs a number of car shows including one in the Hershey area, will allow the organization to have a lot more parking, more library space and a more visible location which officials will hope bring more people to visit its displays and its public library and research center. The 84-year-old organization was founded in Philadelphia and has been in the Hershey area for decades. The Antique Automobile Club of America has been at its current location since 1970 in a former Milton Hershey School home at 501 W. Governor Road in Derry Township. The current location which was built in the 1930s is running out of room for its 10 employees, and only has 13 parking spots. And there is no more room to expand its library which has around two million documents. Weve just outgrown the building, Steve Moskowitz, CEO of the Antique Automobile Club of America said. There is no more room for staff. The new location will have 187 parking spaces and a gift shop, and its library which will take up about half of the 35,500-square-foot building can include more than four million documents. The library and research center for the Antique Automobile Club of America contains books, sales literature, brochures, company documents, owners booklets, periodicals, service manuals and other items relating to the automotive industry and hobby. The building also has an elevator, a loading dock and a six-car garage. There will also be a display of cars and artifacts. The building has clear windows so that people driving will be able to see the car display. Moskowitz says the goal for the display of cars is to have a representation through the decades that when somebody walks into the building they can see what a car looked like at the turn of the century all they way up to more modern cars. The building will also include a classroom and the organization hopes to host community events. This building is not just about us, Moskowitz said. We really want this building to be available for the community. The building will be open six days week and will be open to the public. There will be no admittance fee. Visitors will be able to look at the car displays, learn about car history in the library, learn more about the club and shop at the clubs gift shop. The Antique Automobile Club of America is not associated with the AACA Museum which is also located in the Hershey area in South Hanover Township. Moskowitz hopes to attract many of the tourists that are in town that are visiting the areas attractions. He says people can stop by for a few minutes at Americas automotive library and it wont even cost them a dime. We hope the public stops by and enjoys themselves, he said. The organization is currently holding a fundraising campaign. While the club may have members from around the world, staying in the Hershey area was important. We never wanted to move out of Hershey and this piece of property couldnt be more perfect for what we do, Moskowitz said. --Sign up for PennLives newsletters Rocky is coming home. Sylvester Stallone is returning to Philadelphia on Aug. 24 and 25 for the Keystone Comic Con. Stallone will be signing autographs and posing for fans on both days. Hes also slated to appear in a panel, according to Philly.com. His autograph and photo fee has yet to be announced. The Keystone Comic Con will be held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center (1101 Arch St., Philadelphia) Aug. 23-25. Stallone is the first big name star to confirm an appearance at the convention. Other guests slated to attend include Charlet Chung (an actress with notable roles in Carmen Sandiego and Overwatch), Erica Schultz (comic book writer for Xena and Daredevil) and Jim Cheung (comic book artist for Justice League and Young Avengers. More celebrity attendees will be announced as it gets closer to the show time. Keystone Comic Con is about more than just celebrity appearances. The convention will also features a gaming zone, cosplay area and an artist alley. There will also be a family-centric portion filled with activities for small children including face painting and LEGO building. Tickets for Keystone Comic Con are already on sale. Single day admission starts at $30 for adults and $15 for children (ages 6-12). Three day passes are available starting at $80 for adults and $25 for children. Learn more and purchase tickets at keystonecomiccon.com. Keystone Comic Con isnt the only pop culture convention coming to Philadelphia this summer. The City of Brotherly Love will be welcoming Wizard World on June 13-16, also at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Wizard World guests include Cheers star Ted Danson, Once Upon a Time actress Lana Parrilla and Gotham lead Ben McKenzie. When students send colleges their SAT scores in coming years, the admissions office will also get another number that rates the level of adversity applicants typically face - or privilege they enjoy - based on crime and poverty data and other demographic information about neighborhoods and high schools. The "overall disadvantage level," known in admission circles as the "adversity score," will be a single number from 1 to 100. With 50 set as the average, under a formula established by the College Board, higher scores will indicate higher adversity. Colleges will see the number on a template called an "environmental context dashboard." The College Board, a nonprofit organization that owns the SAT, is developing the program as its flagship test faces significant skepticism over breaches in test security and the value of the scores. The adversity score, which officials described Thursday, will focus on social and economic factors associated with a student's school and neighborhood, such as median family income, crime reports, housing circumstances, college attendance rates and parental education, according to the College Board. The formula does not consider race, the College Board said, or individual data about a student's family or financial circumstances. The idea is to give admissions officers a deeper framework for considering SAT scores than the information high schools typically provide. A score of 1400, out of a maximum 1600, might look more impressive coming from a student with a higher adversity score compared with a peer who comes from relative privilege. "The insight is in the judgment of the admissions office: 'Wow, this score, given this context, that's something I want to see,' " said David Coleman, chief executive of the College Board. Admission testing, always controversial, is drawing fresh scrutiny this year. Federal investigators recently uncovered a cheating and bribery scandal that includes sensational allegations of wealthy parents buying fraudulent SAT or ACT scores for their children. A movement to establish test-optional admissions among colleges has gained steam as critics have asked why grades are not a good enough indicator of academic potential. But testing is an enduring ritual in competitive college admissions. Fifty colleges and universities tested the dashboard in the most recent admissions cycle. The College Board said Thursday it plans to expand the program in the coming year and make it broadly available starting in 2020. Coleman has promoted the dashboard in recent months. The Wall Street Journal reported new details on the initiative Thursday. For decades, critics of standardized testing have pointed out correlations between SAT scores and family income. More affluent students tend to score higher on the admission test. Critics say high school grades are a stronger measure of potential, an argument that has led a growing number of colleges to stop requiring applicants to submit scores from the SAT or the rival ACT admission test. Among the latest are Indiana State University and the University of New Hampshire. Robert Schaeffer, public education director of the National Center for Fair & Open Testing, a group critical of the College Board, said the adversity score is a ploy to defend the SAT against "well-documented critiques" of the harm caused by relying too much on admission tests. "Test-makers long claimed that their products were a 'common yardstick' for comparing applicants from a wide range of schools," Schaeffer said in a statement. "This latest initiative concedes that the SAT is really a measure of 'accumulated advantage' which should not be used without an understanding of a student's community and family background." A large majority of the most selective colleges and universities, public and private, continue to require admission test scores. Christoph Guttentag, dean of undergraduate admissions at Duke University, said he likes the idea of the dashboard and plans soon to use it. Duke is one of the most competitive schools in the country, and it requires applicants to submit an SAT or ACT score. Everyone familiar with the college admissions process understands that its not a level playing field, Guttentag wrote in an email. Were always trying to understand each applicants context a little better, and I think this tool will be a positive step in that direction. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 16, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Isodiol International Inc. (CSE: ISOL ) (OTCQB: ISOLF ) (FSE: LB6B.F ) (the Company or Isodiol), announces that it will hold its annual general meeting of the Company's shareholders (the "Meeting") at 10:00 a.m. (Central Time) on June 6, 2019, at the Westin Santa Fe Hotel (Ballroom A) in Mexico City, Mexico. It is a pleasure to host Isodiol and its directors and shareholders in my home city and demonstrate the Companys commitment to Mexico and Latin America, said Leonardo Matesanz, a Director of Isodiol. Isodiol has been involved in various efforts in recent years to position itself as a market leader in Mexico once appropriate regulations are in place. We are now confident that the Mexican authorities are developing a path to legalization of our products and look forward to bringing them to consumers throughout the country soon. Mexicos Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risk (COFEPRIS) initially published regulations for CBD products on October 30, 2018, which indicated that products made from hemp were industrial products that could be traded as cosmetics, supplement foods, and herbal products. CBD medicines also were included in the regulations, subject to clinical trials and proper protocols. However, those regulations and the licenses initially awarded by COFEPRIS were revoked on March 27, 2019, leaving the industrys future in question. Nevertheless, the Mexican Senate stated in March 2019 that legalization is imminent, with medical and scientific regulations expected to be issued by October 2019. Isodiol established operations in Mexico in 2017 with the intent to take advantage of the initial regulations that ultimately were released by COFEPRIS on October 30, 2018. However, based upon concerns about the validity of those regulations and the licenses issued to Isodiols competitors, Isodiol strategically safeguarded its opportunities and withheld application for licensure under the initial regulations. As with regulatory matters in other jurisdictions around the world, we try to put our best foot forward in anticipation of what we hope laws will be, said Marcos Agramont, CEO of Isodiol. Sometimes we get it right, and sometimes we dont. In Mexico, we believed we were on the right track only to see some of our competitors obtain licensure in ways that did not make sense for us to pursue. Our suspicions proved out, and we look forward to being on a level playing field when the new regulatory regime is in place. Mexico and other Latin American markets are very important to Isodiol, and our management team is uniquely qualified to pursue these opportunities. Isodiol intends to apply for CPG and medical product licenses in Mexico following issuance of the new regulations and acceptance of license applications by COFEPRIS in Fall 2019. In an effort to reduce cash obligations and liabilities in the amount of CAN$680,587, the Company issued 523,851 shares at a weighted average price of CAN$1.30 per share on May 16, 2019. Follow Our Corporate Updates On Facebook at www.facebook.com/IsodiolInternationalInc/ , on Twitter @Isodiolintlinc , and on Instagram @isodiol . About Isodiol International Inc. Isodiol International Inc. is focused on the nutritional health benefits that are derived from hemp and is a product development, sales, marketing and distribution company of hemp-based Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) and solutions. Isodiol has commercialized a 99%+ pure, naturally isolated CBD, including micro-encapsulations, and nano-technology for quality consumable and topical skin care products. Isodiols growth strategy includes the development of over-the-counter and pharmaceutical drugs and continued international expansion into Latin America, Asia, and Europe through the proliferation of its various brands, including the recently acquired CBD Naturals portfolio of brands and proprietary technologies. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD Marcos Agramont, CEO & Director INVESTOR RELATIONS: Ir@isodiol.com 604-409-4409 MEDIA CONTACT: Christopher Hussey media@isodiol.com Forward-Looking Information: This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws relating to statements regarding the Company's business, proposed arrangement with creditors, products and future the Companys business, its product offerings and plans for sales and marketing. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance and developments to differ materially from those contemplated by these statements depending on, among other things, the risks that the Company's products and plan will vary from those stated in this news release and the Company may not be able to carry out its business plans as expected. Except as required by law, the Company expressly disclaims any obligation and does not intend, to update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information in this news release. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct and makes no reference to profitability based on sales reported. The statements in this news release are made as of the date of this release. The CSE has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the content of this press release. For news to spread on the Appalachian Trail in 1990, it was usually by word-of-mouth. Or perhaps a note tacked up at a shelter. The rattlesnakes are active in Virginia. Bears are awakening from their winter slumber. That sort of thing. And if you were out on the trail back then no Facebook, no phone, no town within miles it could take days for news to get to you. Even word of a tragedy. Earl Swift was in the Shenandoah National Park when he heard about what happened on September 13, 1990. A couple of day hikers bought me a milkshake, and they mentioned very idly, I guess you heard about the trouble in Pennsylvania, the author and journalist recalled. No, Swift told them. He hadnt heard that two hikers were slain five days prior just outside of Duncannon. It was a rugged area of the Appalachian Trail hed recently traversed. He pressed them for more. The two victims werent day hikers, they were through hikers, like himself. And like Swift, they had been heading south to complete the 2,100-plus-mile AT journey from Maine to Georgia. As soon as he could get to a phone, Swift called The Virginian-Pilot, where he was a reporter at the time, and he heard the news for himself. The victims were Geoff Hood and Molly LaRue. It happened at the remote Thelma Marks Shelter on the trail on Cove Mountain overlooking Duncannon. He was shot three times. She was tied up, raped and stabbed eight times. Molly and Geoff, Swift recalled Thursday. I was shocked. Memories of their murders re-emerged for many with another Appalachian Trail killing last week. Back in 1990, Swift had hiked and camped with Hood and LaRue for three days back in New Hampshire. They were slower hikers, sleeping in and soaking up the scenery, and Swift ended up parting ways with them, pulling ahead. Of all the people I met on the trail, they seemed to be the best equipped to avoid that kind of trouble, he said. Their personalities, their training, their experience, all of it led me to believe they were the least likely people I met to run into that sort of thing. Hood and LaRue were smart, capable and adept in the outdoors. They had worked with disadvantaged children, Swift said, adding if anyone could peacefully diffuse a bad situation, it was them. This convinces him they were asleep when it happened. It was eight days after the killings that Paul David Crews, a stranger who happened upon the couple along the trail, was apprehended. According to Swifts account, after the murders, Crews hiked north on the trail, hitched a ride on I-81, and rejoined the trail in the guise of a hiker. At his trial in May 1991, evidence was presented that Crews was wearing Hoods hiking gear and was carrying both murder weapons, Swift wrote. He had left his own gear at the scene near Duncannon, and DNA linked him to LaRues rape. He was convicted and sentenced to death. The savagery of those killings is still with Swift. Its always sobering to be confronted with irrefutable evidence that sometimes, things dont have a reason for happening, that chaos exists, that there might not be an order to the universe, he said. It was the first time I had personally known victims of violence well enough to have that brutal reality presented to me. Many hikers quit that year. Though he was deeply apprehensive at first, Swift still finished the trail. Now, 29 years later, Swift is shocked at the news of another killing. James Jordan was arrested last week and charged in the Appalachian Trail stabbing death of Army veteran and hiker Ronald Sanchez Jr., 43, of Oklahoma, and the brutal assault against an unidentified woman in Virginia. These are far from the only killings on the trail. Nearby in the Michaux State Forest in Adams County on May 13, 1988, a man named Stephen Roy Carr opened fire on Claudia Brenner and Rebecca Wight as the couple, who thought they were alone, began to have sex, according to an account on AdventureJournal.com. Brenner was injured and Wight, who was 28, was killed. Brenner has since written a book about the ordeal called Eight Bullets: One Womans Story of Surviving Anti-Gay Violence. As jaw dropping, painful and in violation of everything in nature as all of the killings on the trail are, many hikers, like Swift, seem to know they are far from the norm. The Appalachian Trail is about the safest place you can be in terms of encounters with people, Swift said. Three to four million people hike the trail each year. Were talking about a population bigger than the St. Louis metropolitan area. Yet since 1937, there have been 10 killings on the trail. A group passing through Duncannon on Tuesday leaving the Doyle Hotel, where Geoff and Molly once stayed felt the same way. I feel safer on the trail than I do in most towns, really, Kostas Gouzias of Massachusetts told PennLive as he and his traveling companions packed their bags and tied their boots. Hikers will persevere through times of pain and suffering, said trail volunteer Matthew Weinstone of Philadelphia, who was working at the Doyle Hotel this week. And its in pushing through the pain that a sense of camaraderie is renewed. Any time we have a tragedy, our trail family pulls together. We have a word Tramily, Weinstone said earlier this week. Thats our trail family, and we heal each other, because we need it after something like this. Swift agrees. He lives about a mile from the Appalachian Trail in Virginia and hikes five or six days per week, running into countless hikers. I cant remember the last time I had anything but a wonderful experience talking to those folks, he said. People who are seeking fellowship with the wilderness are unfailingly friendly. The camaraderie Weinstone speaks of seems to be connected to something deeper, something linking us all, and something we all have access to. The Japanese call it forest bathing, Swift said. Every walk along the Appalachian Trail, whether its in his backyard, the furthest reaches of Maine and Georgia, or in a return trip to a shelter near Duncannon, is a new experience. The passage of time unfolding in the cycle of the forest. Shady summers under guardian trees. Fall colors heralding the calm, winter snow. The restorative, exploding green of spring. It has become increasingly clear that spending time outside, especially in the woods, is like a prescription for good health, Swift said. No matter what kinds of problems Im mulling or challenges Im dealing with, I find spending that hour and 40 minutes in the woods every day gets me closer to an answer. All we have to do is walk outside to find it. Swift is the author of seven books, most recently Chesapeake Requiem: A Year with the Watermen of Vanishing Tangier Island. The gallery of official portraits of Pennsylvanias past governors is about to become current. On Friday in a private ceremony, former Gov. Ed Rendell, who has resisted having his portrait prepared, unveiled the one that will join his predecessors and even one of his successors, former Gov. Tom Corbett, that hang in the governors office suite at the state Capitol. Rendell, the states 45th governor, gathered with a group of former senior staffers and Cabinet members, including his former Revenue secretary and now Gov. Tom Wolf, and ex-wife, Judge Midge Rendell, at the Governors Residence in Harrisburg for the unveiling. The portrait that depicts him in the foreground as he looked in 2003 when he first took office with Independence Hall in his beloved Philadelphia behind him. It is a reproduction of a painting by artist Robert Mead Jones that hangs in the National Constitution Center, said his former press secretary Kate Philips, who attended the event. This is the official portrait of former Gov. Ed Rendell that will hang in the governor's office in the state Capitol On hand to assist the former two-term governor with the unveiling was his son Jesse and daughter-in-law Beka and his two young grandchildren, Roslyn and Dean. Rendell offered some off-the-cuff remarks about progress made in the areas of education, the economy, and the environment during his administration. You do want to be honored for the things you did, not for your persona, he said in explaining why he isnt a politician who likes to have things named after him. As has become the custom since 2009 when Rendell axed $7,000 from the state budget for a portrait of the late Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll due to budgetary constraints, funding for official portraits of governors and lieutenant governors now comes from private sources. In this case, Philips said Rendell paid for the reproduction of the portrait himself. Rendell took so long to have his portrait prepared that Corbett went ahead and had his painted. It was unveiled last October. Philips said Rendell resisted having his portrait done because he doesnt really enjoy these types of ceremony and fanfare especially for living people because we all are human and make mistakes. He has always resisted this type of event in general. But he does like to have fun as evidenced by a photo he arranged to have taken of several people including Wolf holding up signs he had made that said Free Tom, Free Milt, and Free Dick, referring to Corbett and former Govs. Milton Shapp and Dick Thornburgh. He wants to start a movement to free all the former governors [whose portraits] are held captive in the little office just off the governors office, where people have to be invited in to be able to view, Philips said. He thinks all of the governors portraits should be in the Governors Reception Room where the public can come and appreciate them if they are so inclined to pursue that. Until that happens, she said he wants his portrait hung over the bathroom in the governors office suite. Wolf spokesman Mark Nicastre said Rendells portrait will be hung in the frieze between the portraits of former Govs. Mark Schweiker and Tom Corbett in the chronological order of the years they served as Pennsylvanias chief executive. It is not over the bathroom, but Nicastre said, it is near the bathroom. Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy. You need more than headlines. Sign up for Good Morning, Pennsylvania. A dying man on State Street in Harrisburg declared that a wounded man on the sidewalk shot him early Thursday, but detectives are still trying to determine exactly what led to the double-shooting, according to an update provided by police officials Friday. Harrisburg police Capt. Gabriel Olivera said Corey Crishon, 38, had visited the City Gas convenience store at 16th and State streets early Thursday. The store manager, Jay Singh, confirmed that Crishon, who lived in the neighborhood, frequented the store almost daily and that he typically purchased tobacco products and played a Pennsylvania Skill game in the store. Early Thursday, he played the game before leaving the store at 12:59 a.m., the manager said. Video surveillance from the store showed Crishon leaving through its front door, amid a steady stream of other customers. Crishon walked toward State Street but the reach of the video cameras ends at the stores parking lot. Crishon continued across State Street, out of camera view, where he apparently encountered at least one other man. A shooting erupted, leaving that man critically wounded on the sidewalk. Crishon also was struck by gunfire and apparently ran back across State Street but collapsed in the middle of the five-lane road. Crishons legally-owned and legally-possessed gun was found on the sidewalk. It was not near Crishon or the wounded man, Olivera said. Crishon had a concealed carry permit. He had no criminal record and was known as a hard-working family man. The identity of the wounded man on the sidewalk has not been released. Police said he was in his 20s. His is expected to survive from his gunshot injuries. Police were called to the shooting scene about 1:03 a.m. Video surveillance from City Gas shared with PennLive by Singh shows police vehicles with flashing lights in the area at that time. A neighbor who lives at 16th and State streets started recording video of the scene from her front door on her cell phone after officers arrived. Law enforcement officials said officers did not fire their guns at the scene. Officers responded to the wounded man in the street, who said the wounded man on the sidewalk shot him in a robbery. The wounded man on the sidewalk did not say what happened while he was at the scene. Police said they will need to interview him as his medical condition improves to better determine what happened. Olivera said police cant confirm the number of rounds fired or the number of guns involved in the double-shooting. Police arent sure if anyone else was involved in the incident who may have fled before officers arrived. Police are investigating the case as a homicide, and a crime, but what crime specifically remains unknown. Police plan to test the guns, casings and other physical evidence to help with the investigation. But getting test results can take weeks or months. For as much as we know, Olivera said. Theres almost as much we dont know. Anyone with information should contact police at (717) 558-6900 or submit anonymous information through Dauphin Countys Crimewatch website. Crishons relatives could not be reached Friday, but Crishons high-school aged son posted a tribute on Facebook that said he would continue to strive for success and keep on the right like you did for me...I just wish you could see me graduate next year and watch me play my senior season. The son lamented that he didnt get to see his father the night he died because Crishon was at work when the teenager stopped by. Crishon was always there as a father and never missed a beat, the son wrote. He taught me how to ride a bike. Hes the reason I play sports, always kept clothes on me and he kept me on the right path." Editors Note: This article was updated to correct that the gun was not found near Crishon or the wounded man. A large media group has emerged as the sole qualified bidder to buy The Reading Eagle out of bankruptcy, the newspaper reported Thursday night. MediaNews Group, which formerly operated under the name Digital First Media, submitted the only qualified bid to purchase the Reading Eagle Company, the newspaper reported. The Eagle reported there was one other unidentified bidder that was not qualified. With only one qualified bidder, a planned auction for the company slated to take place Friday has been canceled, the Eagle reported. The Reading Eagle Company filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year amidst deep financial challenges. Peter D. Barbey, president and CEO of Reading Eagle Company, said the bid from MediaNews has neither been accepted nor rejected, the Eagle reported, and we continue to work with MediaNews Group/Digital First Media to resolve certain outstanding issues. MediaNews, based in Denver, Colo., owns the San Jose Mercury News, the Denver Post and many other news organizations nationwide. The company has bought a host of struggling newspapers and often engaged in deep cuts of newsroom staffs to reduce costs, industry analysts say. Earlier this year, MediaNews attempted to acquire the Gannett newspaper chain, which publishes USA Today and more than 100 other papers, but that takeover bid was rejected. On Thursday, Gannett shareholders turned back an effort from MediaNews to win seats on the companys board of directors, scuttling another attempt to acquire Gannett. MediaNews is controlled by New York-based hedge fund Alden Global Capital. The company operates several papers in Pennsylvania, including The Mercury in Pottstown, The Times Herald in Norristown, and the Daily Local News in West Chester, among others. The Eagle filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year in the wake of serious financial pressures, a common theme for newspapers nationwide in recent years. On Wednesday, bankruptcy attorney Robert Lapowsky said multiple bids were received by Wednesdays deadline but didnt specify how many bids were submitted. The Reading Eagle Co. issued a mass-layoff notice this week with the state Department of Labor and Industry. The company has 234 employees. A company official said the warning only indicated that layoffs were possible but not a certainty. Reading Eagle Company does not concede it is required to comply with WARNs notice requirements at this time, Jennie Priest, executive director-human resources, said in a statement on the papers website. Nonetheless, we wanted our employees to be aware of the protections WARN offers in the event of a mass layoff, which, as of the date of the notice, is only possible, not probable. Federal law requires companies with 100 or more employees to give such notice if there may be a mass layoff affecting at least 33 percent of the workforce. Six employees were laid off last week, according to The Reading Eagle. In addition to the newspaper, The Reading Eagle Company owns radio station WEEU, based in Reading, and a weekly newspaper in Schuylkill County. Last year, the Reading Eagle celebrated the 150th anniversary of the newspapers founding. The Reading Eagle has garnered recognition as one of Pennsylvanias strongest newspapers, earning dozens of awards in newspaper contests in recent years. Earlier this year, the Eagle won the top honors among newspapers in its size in the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Associations Keystone Press Awards. The Eagle has won the sweepstakes in its division for seven consecutive years. The Eagles staffers earned 21 prizes in the 2019 Keystone Press Awards and will receive those honors at a banquet Saturday night. MOUNTAIN TOP, Pa. (AP) Authorities say one person has been killed and another is missing after an explosion destroyed a home in northeastern Pennsylvania. Another person was injured in the blast, which occurred just before 2 a.m. Friday in Dorrance, Luzerne County. This is all thats left of the house in Dorrance Township after explosion @WNEP pic.twitter.com/b8wirlqKOg Sarah Buynovsky WNEP (@SarahBuynovsky) May 17, 2019 Emergency responders found an injured man outside the home when they arrived. From the Times-Leader: Nathan Hedgepath, 20, was found outside the home and taken to an area hospital. He told first responders that his parents were inside the home when the explosion occurred. One body was found, but the body was so badly burned, authorities say they dont know if it was a man or a woman. The injured man was taken to a hospital, but his name and further details on his injuries were not immediately disclosed. An explosion leveled a home on Alberdeen Road in Dorrance Township on Friday morning, May 17, 2019. (Photos courtesy the Times Leader in Wilkes-Barre) The cause of the blast remains under investigation. Subscribe to get this free newsletter, Good Morning, Pennsylvania, delivered to your email inbox at 6 a.m. weekdays. This is the May 17, 2019, edition. Weather High: 79, low: 56. Thunderstorms possible today, cloudy this weekend Photo of the Day Students enjoy the Penn Manor High School prom held at the Eden Resort on May 10, 2019. Bob Devonshire | Special to PennLiveBob Devonshire | Special to Penn The weekend What to do: Among 40 free things to do in central Pa. this weekend are the Greek Fest, Army Heritage Days and Petapalooza. Read more. Where to go: Hershey's Chocolate World will unveil a new tasting show on Monday. The park is open this weekend. Read more. Who to see: High school proms continue this weekend. Steelton, for one, will have a pre-prom parade at 5:30 tonight on Lincoln Street. Read more. One person is dead as a result of a shooting in Harrisburg. The shooting happened at around 1 a.m. May 16, 2019, in the area of 16th and Liberty streets. Crime Harrisburg homicide: Police found two shooting victims in a Harrisburg neighborhood early yesterday. Before he died, one man told officers the other was his killer. Read more. Dark moments: A man and a woman were fatally attacked while on the Appalachian Trail in Perry County almost 30 years ago. A friend remembers them clearly, and is shocked by another recent slaying on the trail. Read more. The annual Capital Region Greek Festival starts today at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Wormleysburg. It'll have plenty of food, plus music, shops and displays. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com/fileHAR Plenty to eat Eat and save: All-you-can-eat buffets have surged in popularity. Our food critic has picked the ones she thinks offer the best value. Read more. Nostalgia to go: There are still some old-school drive-in restaurants where you can pull in for fries, floats and burgers in Pa. this summer. Read more. Saquon Barkley paid a visit to 13-year-old Jack Ohl, who is battling a rare form of cancer. In sports Only the start: Penn States Saquon Barkley is considered one of the top 25 players under the age of 25 heading into the 2019 season. Read more. Unusual Preakness: The Preakness Stakes tomorrow will have just four horses that ran in the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago. Read more. In brief Child gets little help despite calls about abuse | Crash kills 23-year-old man | Doctor treats addiction with medicine | Can Penn State lure Julian Fleming? | Lancaster County restaurant inspections | auction for Reading Eagle canceled Pennsylvanias education department this week announced they would release more than $10 million in federal grants that had been suspended from the Harrisburg School District, but under new, stricter rules. State education officials sent a letter to Harrisburg Superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney on Monday that said the suspension of more than a dozen federal grants totaling $10.9 million had been lifted. However, it has become apparent that the districts ability to effectively document its implementation of the terms of the districts grant agreements and other applicable legal requirements is clearly in question, said the letter obtained by PennLive through a Right-to-Know request. As a result, all funds payable under the grant agreements will be paid on a reimbursement basis, effective immediately. Previously, the district could spend money without approval first and then file for reimbursements from the state. Going forward, the district would need to obtain approval for expenditures, make the expenditures out of pocket, then file documentation for reimbursements. Following review of this documentation, the letter said, the division of federal programs or the division of student services have the right to disallow any expenditures that are not in accordance with the terms of the grant agreements and/or federal regulations. Harrisburg School District Solicitor James Ellison fired back in a letter to state education officials that the new conditions were in bad faith and without sufficient legal basis or justification." Ellison said the state had not shown any evidence that the district was unable to properly document the terms of the grants. PDE offers no foundation for this premise, Ellison wrote. Your letter does not detail any specific instances where the district has failed to document its implementation of grant agreements in accordance with their terms and applicable legal requirements and certainly not to the degree that an extraordinary step such as changing our funding model is necessary or appropriate under the circumstances. In addition, Ellison said state officials can not legally impose the new requirements without documenting a history of the districts failure to comply with grant terms. There is no legal basis or justification for PDE invoking a reimbursement requirement thereunder, Ellison wrote, adding that the invocation of reimbursement requirement is unlawful and must be reversed. We await a positive reply. The letter from state education officials said they would not pay anything from the specific federal grants listed unless the expenses were in accordance with the districts approved budget and that expenses were necessary, reasonable and didnt replace or supplant expenditures that the district already was making through other sources of money. The $10.9 million was suspended more than three weeks ago after district officials refused to provide 13 requests by state auditors for specific financial documents and remote access to the districts electronic financial system. Board members last month voted 5-4 against providing state auditors what they needed to complete their audit. In response, state officials suspended a chunk of federal funds covering school improvement grants and Title 1 grants that provided additional support for refugees, immigrant students, students who speak English as a second language. Several days later, district officials changed their stance and provided the requested documentation and remote access to the districts eFinance system. The May 13 letter lifting the suspension specifically noted that state officials would expect much more documentation going forward such as salary schedules, time and effort documentation, evidence of procurement procedures for purchases, agendas and sign-in sheets for professional development activities and parent meetings. The suspension of the federal funds came amid a state-sponsored forensic audit of the school district after a series of financial scandals including embezzlement, overspending and repeated red flags in annual audits. The turmoil in the district prompted calls by Harrisburgs mayor and Harrisburg lawmakers for the state to take over district operations. Editors Note: This article was updated with information from Ellisons letter, which was obtained through a RTK request. I am running for Hampden Township commissioner because local government matters. Decisions made locally impact downstream and upwind. Local governments must communicate with residents and other municipalities while working with regional and state leaders to build safe and sustainable plans for the future. In short, it matters. I seek your support on May 21 (whether Democrat, Republican, third party, or independent) for Hampden Township commissioner as I look to become more involved in the community where my wife and I are raising our three children. I believe active civic engagement strengthens our increasingly diverse community, for the benefit of all, regardless of age, color, creed, disability, gender, gender identity, national origin, race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation. As a lifelong Pennsylvania resident, I lived and worked in the field of education on both sides of the Susquehanna River since 1996. First as a science teacher, then civil servant, and now as an administrator, I have academic, professional, and community experiences that will serve our community well as I continue listening and learning to support a safe and sustainable plan for the future. In addition to my professional experience, I have held leadership positions in church, with Boy Scouts, Jackson Township Sewer Authority, and Pennsylvania Special Olympics. Academically, I studied education (PSU), science (RPI), administration (McDaniel and Immaculata), and school business leadership (Wilkes). Thank you for your interest in our communitys election process. More information about my campaign is found online https://www.facebook.com/Dr.Argot/ Ryan E. Argot, Hampden Township Polls open on Tuesday. But more than 1.2 million independent and third-party Pennsylvanians will not be voting. Our state remains one of nine with a closed primary system, where only Democratic and Republican voters can cast ballots for candidates. Generations ago, this system was a much-needed reform, moving the nomination of candidates from the closed-door meetings of party bosses towards party members. But the Commonwealth has changed dramatically since the early 20th century, and so should its elections. Open Primaries PA, a nonpartisan coalition of civic and business organizations, is pressing for the next stage in Pennsylvania primary reform. Bills already introduced in the General Assembly (SB 300 and HB 192) would allow independent voters to simply choose a party primary to vote in a significant step forward when independents in Pennsylvania number nearly 800,000 and have been a growing segment of the electorate for years, consistent with national trends. But beyond shutting out hundreds of thousands of voters and incentivizing candidates to campaign to their partisan base, closed primaries constitute a form of taxation without representation. By one estimate the statewide cost of every spring primary election is $20 million, a tab every Pennsylvanian picks up regardless of whether theyre allowed to participate. As the National Conference of State Legislatures makes clear, primary elections can be set up in more than one way. In Pennsylvania, opening the party primaries to include independents is the common sense change we need to ensure greater fairness, accountability and representation. Open Primaries PA Coalition Jennifer Bullock, Founder, Independent Pennsylvanians Matt Fontana, Vice-chair, Philly Set Go Jill Greene, Executive Director, League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania John Rhoades, Chair, Commonwealth Commonsense Micah Sims, Executive Director, Common Cause Pennsylvania David Thornburgh, President and CEO, Committee of Seventy Gaylord native believes Northern Michigan can excel in space economy Besides Altas, Carey believes that Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula can lure more space related companies and the jobs they create. SAN DIEGO, May 16, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Presidio Residential Capital is proud to announce four of its joint venture partners have been named to Builder Magazines 2019 Builder 100 and Next 100, the housing industrys premier list of the nations most active homebuilders. Each year, Builder magazine releases a ranking of the top 200 homebuilding companies in the United States based on how many homes were closed in the previous year. Those that rank 101-200 are recognized on the Builder Next 100 List of the top up-and-coming builders in America, which was announced Monday. Presidios highest-ranking builder partner is San Joaquin Valley Homes, a local builder based in the Central Valley of California, which at No. 103 ranks third highest on the Builder Next 100 list of the nations most active medium-size homebuilders. SJV Homes closed 391 homes last year, which marks a 21% growth rate compared to 2017. Presidio has funded 22 communities built by SJV Homes since it was founded in 2013 for a total of more than 2,600 homes. Hard work pays off, especially when it is backed by our strong commitment to building quality homes for our neighbors in the Central Valley, said Joe Leal, co-founder for Visalia-based San Joaquin Valley Homes. Homebuyers tend to trust their local builder, and weve been active in the Valley for generations. The Valley is our home, so well always be here if they need us. Presidios second largest partner with 15 active projects, Cornerstone Communities closed 252 homes last year and came in No. 152 on the list. The San Diego-based homebuilder also earned a national award as the Fastest Growing Builder among the Next 100, based on annual volume. That growth reflects several years of careful acquisitions and entitlement work, said Cornerstone CEO Ure Kretowicz, who accepted the prestigious award at the annual Housing Leadership Summit in Laguna Niguel, Calif. In the last recession, no one was buying land or lots, he said. But we felt things were turning, so we stepped up, took the risk and started buying land much sooner than the competition. We are now reaping the fruits of that risk. One thing that really made us successful through this last growth spurt is that weve had the same core of team members for 25 plus years, said Cornerstone President and COO Michael Sabourin, noting that the staff grew from 30 to 80 employees. It was easier for us to build and respond when everyone knew their responsibilities. Two other joint venture partners also made the Next 100 List: Williams Homes of Santa Clarita, Calif., is ranked No. 115 with 358 homes closed across Southern California and the Central Coast; and Van Daele Homes is No. 154 with 250 homes closed in both Southern and Northern California markets. We definitely want to congratulate Presidios hard-working builder partners on their nationally recognized successes in the competitive California housing market, said Paul Lucatuorto, principal at Presidio Residential Capital. This year, we are continuing to work with all our business partners to provide much needed housing across the West with the goal of selling more than 1,000 homes in 2019. FILE photo shows a sign posted on a door alerting customers that cash is not accepted at Freshroll Vietnamese Rolls and Bowls in San Francisco. Read more Months after Philadelphia and New Jersey passed laws requiring retailers to take cash, lawmakers in Congress are seeking to ban cashless stores across the country. U.S. Reps. Donald Payne (D., N.J.) and David Cicilline (D., R.I.) introduced competing bills last week that would force brick-and-mortar retailers to accept cash. Both bills would exclude online transactions and those done over the phone, though the proposals differ over who would enforce such a law. The Payment Choice Act was informed by whats going on in New Jersey, Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, and elsewhere, Payne said in a statement, referring to bills that have been introduced in other cities. There is a movement underway across the country to ensure our increasingly technological world does not lock out low-income, minority, and immigrant populations. This bill is part of that movement. We have to ensure that technological convenience for some doesnt mean economic hardship for others.' The federal proposal comes after local lawmakers banned cashless stores in Philly the nations poorest large city and New Jersey despite criticism from business groups, which saw it as unnecessary government interference. Often, businesses say they go cashless to reduce the risk of being robbed and avoid the hassle of handling cash. In February, Philadelphia became the first major U.S. city to force shops to take cash after Mayor Jim Kenney signed off on a law that takes effect in July. New Jersey followed in March, when Gov. Phil Murphy enacted a law immediately banning cashless stores across the state. San Francisco passed a pro-cash law in May. The congressional bill introduced by Payne resembles the Philadelphia law, as it would not only bar stores from refusing to take cash, but also prevent stores from charging cash-paying customers a higher price. His bill would allow consumers to sue stores that wont take cash, with violators subject to fines of $2,500 for a first offense and $5,000 for subsequent violations. The legislation would let attorneys general intervene in civil cases brought against companies. By contrast, Cicillines legislation, called the Cash Always Should Be Honored (CASH) Act, would make the Federal Trade Commission enforce the cash requirement. It would let the agency craft regulations to implement the proposed law, with violators subject to unspecified penalties. Unlike the Philadelphia and New Jersey laws, neither federal bill would carve out specific businesses. For example, Philadelphia exempted parking lots, garages, and wholesale clubs, among others, while the New Jersey law carves out car rental companies and retailers inside airports. As technology gives consumers more ways to pay, including smartphones, some stores have gone cashless to improve efficiency, avoid handling cash, and reduce the risk of robbery. But consumer advocates argue that cashless stores effectively discriminate against poor consumers who do not have access to credit or bank accounts. Nearly 6 percent of the Philadelphia region was unbanked in 2017 and roughly 22 percent was considered underbanked, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Its an issue of fairness for working families, said Cicilline spokesman Richard Luchette. Cicilline "heard from constituents who ran into the problem, [a quarter of] people dont use credit cards, and many dont have bank accounts. This is about delivering results for working people. Following the local laws banning cashless stores, web giant Amazon said it will take cash at its cashierless Go convenience stores. Salad chain Sweetgreen also announced it will take cash, reversing course after it stopped accepting paper bills in 2016. Businesses have largely pushed back on the cashless bans, arguing store owners should have the choice on how to run their businesses. But some companies support keeping cash king. Cardtronics, which bills itself as the worlds largest ATM operator, lobbied for the Philadelphia and New Jersey laws, and backs the federal bills, too. Lets not forget that many unbanked or underbanked Americans only have one option in their wallet, and thats cash, Cardtronics spokesperson Crystal Wright said in a statement. Americans are becoming less reliant on paper bills and coins, according to a Pew Research Center survey released in December. The survey of 10,683 U.S. adults found that 29 percent said they made no purchases using cash during a typical week, up from 24 percent in 2015. Likewise, those who made all or almost all of their weekly purchases with cash dropped from 24 percent in 2015 to 18 percent. Massachusetts was the first state to pass a law requiring retailers to accept cash, in 1978. Some economists have questioned banning cashless stores. Kenneth Rogoff, a Harvard economics professor and author of The Curse of Cash, has said the government should play a role in regulating the transition to a more cashless economy, but called the cash mandates a very heavy-handed intervention. A parking meter with time expired in front of the the Reading Eagle. One qualified buyer has emerged. Read more MediaNews Group, also known as Digital First Media, was the only qualified bidder for the Reading Eagle newspaper and its sister radio station WEEU, the Eagle reported on its website on Thursday. Because there was only one qualified bid, Fridays bankruptcy auction has been canceled. The qualified bid has neither been accepted nor rejected, and we continue to work with MediaNews Group/Digital First Media to resolve certain outstanding issues, the statement said. Digital First Media owns several newspapers in the Philadelphia suburbs, among them the Pottstown Mercury and Norristown Times Herald, and has a history of deeply cutting the newsroom staffs in the newspapers it acquires. The Reading Eagle Co. also owns local radio station WEEU, a Schuylkill County weekly, and a website with 3.2 million page views a month. The company lost $4 million on $28 million in revenue in 2018. Its partly owned by two of the richest families in America, the Barbeys and DuPonts. Famed Rabbit, Run novelist John Updike got his first writing job at the paper. Reporters, printers, advertising reps, and others fear for their jobs. The company last week laid off six employees, and said on Monday that it is impossible to speculate whether there will be more cutbacks in the future. According to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice filed with the state, 209 Eagle employees could be laid off the companys entire staff. Reading Eagle reported on Wednesday that the notice will be updated to include 12 part-timers, bringing the total to 221 employees. If you're worried about your memory, maybe you shouldn't be. If your wife or husband is worried about your memory, that's another story. A study from Penn Medicine, which was presented last week at the American Academy of Neurology meeting in Philadelphia, found no correlation between progressive cognitive decline and peoples worries about their own memories. But proxies usually spouses were much better at identifying cognitive changes that progressed to mild cognitive impairment or dementia over the two years of the study, said Dawn Mechanic-Hamilton, a neuropsychologist who is director of cognitive fitness programs and neuropsychological services at the Penn Memory Center. She worked with David Wolk, co-director of the memory center, and Leah Zuroff, a medical student, on the study, which has not yet been published. Other recent studies that have explored whether people who think they have cognitive changes are at heightened risk for dementia have had mixed results, so the worriers among us can't relax completely just yet. Mechanic-Hamilton said the Penn study results support the importance of including someone who knows you well when your memory is being evaluated. Penn Memory Center always asks that a proxy attend meetings with the patient. If that's not possible, Mechanic-Hamilton asks for permission to call a family member or close friend. The study involved 540 pairs of subjects and informants whose perceptions were compared with the results of cognitive tests. The pairs agreed most closely when the subject had mild cognitive impairment, but the subjects reports still didnt correlate well with their actual performance. Normal subjects were more likely to worry when their proxies thought they were fine. The reverse was true when the subjects actually had Alzheimers disease. Mechanic-Hamilton said the normal worriers did have slower processing speed, a common age-related change that is not a harbinger of dementia. They may have perceived that their memory was worse when their brain was actually just working more slowly. Mechanic-Hamilton said people in this group were often still in the work force and finding it harder to keep up in fast-paced environments. Their memories actually were working, but their ability to search for information and find it was not quite as good as it used to be. The worriers were also more likely to be depressed. Depression, she said, is itself associated with cognitive problems, particularly processing speed and executive function. Previous work has shown that worries about memory are, not surprisingly, more common in people with anxiety. Mechanic-Hamilton said its really important to be assessing for depression in people with memory complaints. Their thinking could improve with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), a form of talk therapy designed to change thinking patterns, or a combination of CBT and medication. People with memory problems should steer clear of treatment with benzodiazepines. She also said people who are worried about their memories shouldnt keep it to themselves. One thing I usually ask people, she said, is, Have you talked to anyone else thats close to you and gotten their opinion? A Philadelphia jury on Friday found Brandon Olivieri guilty of fatally shooting two 16-year-old boys during a confrontation on a South Philadelphia corner in October 2017, a crime that attracted citywide attention and led to lingering tensions in the neighborhood. The verdict, delivered after nearly three hours of deliberation, capped a week-long trial in which several teens testified against Olivieri, now 18, and described how an aimless day after school turned deadly, with Olivieri wandering the streets with friends looking for trouble, then pulling a gun on a teen he perceived as a rival at 12th and Ritner Streets and firing during a struggle over the weapon. The panel of seven men and five women voted to convict Olivieri of first-degree murder for the killing of Salvatore DiNubile and third-degree murder in the death of Caleer Miller, as well as related weapons charges. Relatives and friends of DiNubile and Miller, who had packed the larger-than-normal courtroom all week, cried and exhaled loudly as the verdict was read. Afterward, DiNubiles father, also named Salvatore, said: We just got one little bit of justice today. Millers mother, Aishah George, credited the jurors with reaching what she called the right decision. I can finally smile, she said. But relatives of Olivieri, who faces decades in prison, said that they still believe he was innocent, and they accused the DiNubiles of intimidating witnesses. Olivieris attorney, Robert Mozenter, said simply: It was a very sad, tragic case. From the outset, the case has stirred ongoing turmoil, particularly between the DiNubile and Olivieri families, and the fallout has resulted in arrests and courthouse disruptions. Olivieris family home was riddled with bullets days after the shooting; that crime that has not been solved. The double murder attracted intense attention in part because the teens involved had large and loosely overlapping social circles but attended different schools. DiNubile went to St. Josephs Preparatory School, Miller attended Mastery Charter Schools Thomas campus, and Olivieri went to Neumann Goretti High School. Friends and relatives of DiNubile and Olivieri have frequently accused each other of threatening or menacing behavior, and court officials took precautions at the trial to prevent conflicts, placing an extra metal detector outside the courtroom, assigning seats in the gallery, and having a sheriffs deputy escort some of Olivieris relatives in and out of the room. Common Pleas Court Judge Barbara A. McDermott also warned spectators to behave or face being held in contempt of court. During closing arguments Friday morning, Olivieris attorney argued that the bitter history among the teens and their families was part of the reason that witness testimony against Olivieri should not be believed, saying that intimidation by vigilante hoodlums contributed to witnesses fabricating stories to implicate the teenager. Of one 18-year-old witness, Mozenter said, Hes a liar, and he was intimidated to lie. Assistant District Attorney Matthew Krouse, however, said testimony from several witnesses was consistent and corroborated by evidence, including cell-phone records. The result, he argued, was a portrait of Olivieri intentionally escalating a simmering feud with DiNubile by firing his gun on the street corner, accidentally hitting Miller with one of his three shots. Everyone is in agreement about what happened that day," Krouse said. The crime occurred Oct. 24, 2017. Witnesses testified that Olivieri and several friends, including Miller, had hung out after school that day in South Philadelphia and decided to go looking for a fight near Capitolo Playground, next to Pats King of Steaks and Genos. But when the boys arrived, witnesses said, their targets apparently werent around. Olivieri, Miller, and a key witness at trial, Nicholas Torrelli, now 17, were captured on surveillance video wandering the neighborhood. The group ultimately wound up at 12th and Ritner, where DiNubile lived and where he and several friends were hanging on the corner. Torrelli testified that Olivieri had previously boasted in Instagram messages that he would pop DiNubile and his friends because they had once beaten him up in a fight that he thought was unfair. When Olivieris group arrived, witnesses said, Miller approached one of DiNubiles friends, whom he knew, and shook his hand but Olivieri simply stared at DiNubile. Olivieri ultimately pulled out a gun, witnesses said, DiNubile lunged for it, and three shots were fired, one striking DiNubile and one striking Miller. Krouse, the prosecutor, said Olivieri wanted to avenge his embarrassing loss in the previous fight. Mozenter, however, said that the key witnesses were unreliable. Torrelli, he said, admitted lying under oath at the preliminary hearing, and one of DiNubiles friends at the scene, Andrew Zanghi, admitted he identified Olivieri to police only after speaking with DiNubiles family. DiNubile and Miller were declared dead shortly after the shooting. Olivieri was not arrested for several days, and one of his friends, Marc Malerba, now 21, testified that he and another man tossed the murder weapon into the Delaware River. But Mozenter attacked Malerbas credibility as well, saying that Malerba admitted he did not implicate his friend until after he was assaulted by DiNubiles father at Genos, where Malerba worked. Krouse said that the witness stories each buttressed one another, and that the totality of the evidence supported the conclusion that Olivieri attacked DiNubile and accidentally shot his friend Miller. This case, Krouse said, has never been a whodunit. Because he committed the crime as a juvenile, Olivieri faces at least 35 years in prison for DiNubiles killing instead of the automatic life sentence typically imposed for a first-degree murder conviction. The judge scheduled him to be sentenced in July. Ten firefighters and three employees were sent to hospitals early Friday as a precaution after a fire in a Chester chemical plant office extended into a nearby lab, officials said. No serious injuries have been reported following the blaze at the Norquay Technology Inc. complex, located at 800 Front St., officials said. Chester Fire Commissioner William C. Rigby IV said firefighters responded to a blaze in an office at the plant about 1 a.m. Friday. The fire extended into an adjoining lab, prompting officials to call in a hazmat decontamination unit in case firefighters and employees in the building had been exposed to potentially harmful chemicals, Rigby said. After on-scene decontamination, the 10 firefighters and three employees went to three area hospitals for further examination, Rigby said. They were released after evaluation. Norquays product line includes chromic, electronic, catalyst, ligand, medical adhesive and UV performance products, according to a statement announcing the companys acquisition by MPD Chemicals in January 2018. Eurocastle Releases First Quarter 2019 Financial Results, Announces First Quarter Dividend of 0.15 per Share, Tender Offer to Repurchase up to 10 million of Ordinary Shares at 7.50 per Ordinary Share, Renewal of Share Buyback Programme and Annual General Meeting on 19 June 2019 Guernsey, 17 May 2019 Eurocastle Investment Limited (Euronext Amsterdam: ECT) today has released its financial results for the first quarter ended 31 March 2019 declaring a dividend of 0.15 per share for the period. The Company also announces a tender offer (the Tender Offer) of up to 10 million of ordinary shares in the Company (Ordinary Shares) for a fixed price of 7.50 per Ordinary Share. As the Tender Offer is scheduled to close after the payment of the dividend, current investors who decide to tender will receive 7.65 per share. In addition, the current programme to buy back shares listed on Euronext which ended on 8 May 2019 will be renewed for a further period commencing on 20 June 2019 following the settlement of the Tender Offer (the Share Buyback Programme). Net Asset Value (NAV) of 437.3 million 1 , or 9.71 per share 2 , representing a quarterly increase of 44.3 million, or 1.01 per share, predominantly arising from the appreciation in the underlying share price of doBank during the period. of 437.3 million , or 9.71 per share , representing a quarterly increase of 44.3 million, or 1.01 per share, predominantly arising from the appreciation in the underlying share price of doBank during the period. Normalised FFO 3 of 6.5 million, or 0.15 per share, for the first quarter of 2019. of 6.5 million, or 0.15 per share, for the first quarter of 2019. First Quarter 2019 Dividend of 0.15 per share declared on 16 May 2019 and to be paid on 30 May 2019 to shareholders of record at close of business on 23 May 2019, with an ex-dividend date of 22 May 2019. Q1 2019 Q4 2018 million per share2 million per share2 NAV1 437.3 9.71 393.0 8.70 Normalised FFO3 6.5 0.15 10.2 0.22 Distributions 6.8 0.15 6.8 0.15 FIRST QUARTER 2019 BUSINESS HIGHLIGHTS doBank Financial Performance and Altamira Acquisition doBank continues to execute on its business plan, delivering strong operational results in Q1 2019: 8% increase year on year in collections reflecting substantial new mandates won and operating efficiencies increasing the collection ratio to 2.5% of AUM. In light of collection performance and indemnity fees received, revenues are up 17% year on year. Q1 2019 EBITDA 4 of 16.1 million and Net Income 4 of 8.3 million substantially up by 39% and 28% respectively versus Q1 2018 (EBITDA Margin up by 5% to 30% 4 vs. Q1 2018). Following the announcement of the acquisition of Altamira Asset Management in December 2018, doBank expects to become Europes # 1 independent pure servicer. Having received antitrust approval and completing all required steps to date, the transaction is expected to close by the end of H1 2019, pending final regulatory approval. Announced dividend of 36.8 million for the financial year 2018 (70% of net profit excluding non-recurring items). The dividend is payable on 29 May 2019 with Eurocastles share being 9.2 million. Investment & NPL Performance In February 2019, the Company funded 46.6 million of the 64.7 million deferred purchase price related to its interest in the FINO portfolio. The remaining 18.1 million commitment is expected to be payable in August 2020. NPL portfolios continued to perform well, with the unlevered pace of life to date collections of the entire portfolio representing 117% of underwriting and unlevered profitability on fully resolved loans at 166% versus underwriting. Open market Share Buyback Programme In Q1 2019 Eurocastle bought back 99,076 ordinary shares under the Share Buyback Programme at an average price of 6.96 per ordinary share, representing a 28% discount to Q1 NAV. The third buyback programme ended on 8 May 2019, with a further 0.4 million worth of shares bought back. BUSINESS HIGHLIGHTS SUBSEQUENT TO 31 MARCH 2019 Share Tender and Share Buyback Programme Based on the success of the November 2018 share tender and the Share Buyback Programme, the Company is pleased to announce a new Tender Offer of up to 10.0 million at 7.50 per share together with a renewal of the Share Buyback Programme for an amount up to 2.0 million commencing on 20 June 2019 and ending no later than 8 August 2019. Further details are set out below. For further information of the Company as at 31 March 2019, please refer to the Companys most recent Investor Factsheet which can be found under the investor relations section on the Companys website ( www.eurocastleinv.com ). NORMALISED FFO Normalised FFO (NFFO) is a non-IFRS financial measure that, with respect to all of the Companys Italian Investments other than doBank, recognises i) income on an expected yield basis updated periodically, allowing Eurocastle to report the run rate earnings from these investments in line with their expected annualised returns and ii) any additional gains or losses not previously recognised through NFFO at the point investments are realised. Cash flow receipts are therefore allocated by the Company between income and capital in accordance with this expected yield methodology. With respect to doBank, following the IPO, the Company recognises NFFO based on its share of doBanks reported annual net income excluding non-recurring items after tax together with any gains or losses arising from the sale of its shares. The income cash flow profile of each of the Companys investments may not exactly equal the NFFO recognised by the Company each period but will do so over the life of each investment. Normalised FFO for the Three Months Ended 31 March 2019 Average Net Invested Capital5 Annualised Q1 2019 Thousands Yield Thousands doBank 81,151 22% 4,356 Italian NPLs & Other Loans 99,675 23% 5,710 Real Estate Fund Investments 31,194 (3)% (257) Italian Investments NFFO before expenses 212,020 19% 9,808 Legacy portfolios - Manager base & incentive fees (2,402) Other operating expenses (862) Normalised FFO 6,544 per share 0.15 Income Statement for the Three Months ended 31 March 2019 (Unaudited) Q1 2019 Thousands Portfolio Returns doBank 54,121 Italian NPLs & Other Loans 11 Real Estate Funds 844 Fair value movements on Italian investments 54,976 Fair value movements on residual legacy entities - Other income loss on foreign currency translation (2) Total income 54,974 Operating Expenses Interest expense 61 Manager base and incentive fees 2,402 Remaining operating expenses 799 Other operating expenses 3,201 Total expenses 3,262 Net profit for the period 51,712 per share 1.15 Balance Sheet and NAV Reconciliation as at 31 March 2019 (Unaudited) Italian Investments Thousands Corporate Thousands Total Thousands Assets Cash and cash equivalents - 39,193 39,193 Other assets - 115 115 Investments: doBank 239,639 - 239,639 Italian NPLs & Other Loans 135,108 - 135,108 Real Estate Funds 27,477 - 27,477 Other net assets of subsidiaries (residual legacy entities) - 258 258 Total assets 402,224 39,566 441,790 Liabilities Trade and other payables - 2,086 2,086 Manager base and incentive fees - 2,402 2,402 Total liabilities - 4,488 4,488 Net Asset Value 402,224 35,078 437,302 FINO deferred purchase price commitment 18,111 (18,111) - NAV (segments adjusted for outstanding commitments)6 420,335 16,967 437,302 NAV ( per share)7 9.33 0.38 9.71 EARNINGS CALL INFORMATION Eurocastles management will host an earnings conference call at 2:00 P.M. London time (9:00 A.M. New York time) later today. All interested parties are welcome to participate on the live call. You can access the conference call by dialling first +1-844-492-7988 (from within the U.S.) or +1-478-219-0293 (from outside of the U.S.) ten minutes prior to the scheduled start of the call; please reference Eurocastle First Quarter 2019 Earnings Call or conference ID number 7576415. A webcast of the conference call will be available to the public on a listen-only basis at www.eurocastleinv.com. Please allow extra time prior to the call to visit the site and download the necessary software required to listen to the internet broadcast. A replay of the webcast will be available for three months following the call. For those who are not available to listen to the live call, a replay will be available until 11:59 P.M. New York time on Monday, 17 June 2019 by dialing +1-855-859-2056 (from within the U.S.) or +1-404- 537-3406 (from outside of the U.S.); please reference access code 7576415. TENDER OFFER AND BUYBACK PROGRAMME Background to and reasons for the Tender Offer and Share Buyback Programme Eurocastle and its Board of Directors (the Board) continuously monitor the Companys balance sheet with the aim of maintaining an efficient capital structure while meeting the requirements to execute on the Companys investment pipeline. In light of the discount at which Eurocastle has been trading to its net asset value (NAV) and the Companys available cash, the Board believes that the implementation of the Tender Offer at a premium to the prevailing share price provides liquidity to investors while representing an accretive and expeditious use of available cash. The Share Buyback Programme to follow the Tender Offer is seen by the Company as an additional means to continue to take advantage of any prevailing share price discount to its NAV over a prolonged period while also providing additional liquidity in its shares. The Tender Offer A circular (the Circular) to shareholders in relation to the Tender Offer has been posted on the Investor Relations section of the Companys website under the tab Periodic Reports and Shareholder Communications Tender Offer. The Tender Offer and the Share Buyback Programme are being undertaken pursuant to the authority passed at the Companys Annual General Meeting held on 20 June 2018. The Tender Offer will remain open until 5.00 p.m. (CET) on 14 June 2019 and is being made at a price of 7.50 per existing Ordinary Share in issue (the Tender Price). The repurchase of Ordinary Shares by the Company pursuant to the Tender Offer will be carried out through ABN AMRO Bank N.V. acting for and on behalf of the Company as agent. The Tender Price has been set at 7.50 per share and will be settled after the payment of the first quarter dividend of 0.15 per share. The Tender Offer price including the dividend represents a premium of 4.2% to the volume weighted average closing price on Euronext Amsterdam of 7.34 per Ordinary Share over the last month to 16 May 2019 (the latest practicable date before the publication of this announcement), and a discount of approximately 13.3% to the Companys Pro Forma NAV8 of 8.82 per share as at 16 May 2019. The Tender Offer will provide shareholders who are eligible with an opportunity to sell part or all of their Ordinary Shares and to receive their respective share of the cash which the Company is seeking to return. The Tender Offer will allow the Company to broaden the return of cash to include those shareholders whose Ordinary Shares might not otherwise be purchased by the Company through a general on-market buyback. Each eligible shareholder will be entitled to sell up to 2.96 per cent of the Ordinary Shares registered in their respective names on the record date under the Tender Offer, rounded down to the nearest whole number of Ordinary Shares. This is what is known as each eligible shareholders Basic Entitlement. All Ordinary Shares validly tendered by eligible shareholders up to their respective Basic Entitlement will be accepted and repurchased in full. Tendering shareholders may also be able to participate in the Tender Offer in excess of their Basic Entitlement to the extent that other eligible shareholders tender less than their respective Basic Entitlement, resulting in surplus Ordinary Shares (known as Excess Tender Offer Shares). Any Excess Tender Offer Shares will be repurchased from tendering Shareholders pro rata to the amount in excess of each eligible shareholders Basic Entitlement so tendered. The repurchase of Ordinary Shares by the Company will be carried out on-market through the available systems of Euronext. The Tender Offer will be financed through the use of the Companys existing and available cash resources. The Tender Offer is available to eligible shareholders outside Canada and Japan in respect of the number of Ordinary Shares registered in those shareholders names at 5.00 p.m. (CET) on 14 June 2019. The formal terms and conditions of the Tender Offer are set out in the Circular and tender form. The results of the Tender Offer will be announced on 17 June 2019 and published on the Companys website ( www.eurocastleinv.com ). Expected timetable 2019 Tender Offer opens. 17 May Latest time and date for receipt of Tender Forms. 5.00 p.m. (CET) on 14 June Record Date for the Tender Offer. 5.00 p.m. (CET) on 14 June Closing Date for the Tender Offer 5.00 p.m. (CET) on 14 June Announcement of results of the Tender Offer 17 June Euroclear Nederland accounts credited with Tender Offer proceeds and revised holdings of uncertificated Ordinary Shares (Settlement Date).. 20 June Despatch of cheques for Tender Offer proceeds for Ordinary Shares held through CREST and for certificated Ordinary Shares.. 20 June Despatch of balance share certificates for unsold Ordinary Shares and share certificates for unsuccessful tenders (certificated holders only).. 20 June The above times and dates may be subject to change and, in the event of such change, the revised times and/or dates will be notified to shareholders. Information in connection with the Tender Offer is available on the Companys website (www.eurocastleinv.com) or can be obtained from ABN AMRO Bank N.V., Corporate Broking (telephone number +31 20 344 2000). If you hold Ordinary Shares in CREST or in certificated form and have any questions about the procedure for tendering or you want to request tender forms, CREST payment forms or for help completing the tender form, please contact the Companys registrar, Anson Registrars Limited, between 9.00 a.m. and 5.00 p.m. (GMT) Monday to Friday (telephone number +44 1481 711301). Buyback Programme Under the Share Buyback Programme, Eurocastle is seeking to buy back shares up to an aggregate market value equivalent to 2.0 million, subject to the limitation of the buyback authority set out below. The Share Buyback Programme will commence following the settlement of the Tender Offer which is expected to occur on 20 June 2019. The buyback will be conducted in Eurocastles Ordinary Shares listed on Euronext Amsterdam. The Share Buyback Programme will take place within the limitations of the authority granted to the Board at its Annual General Meeting held on 20 June 2018, pursuant to which the maximum number of shares to be bought back is 13,178,041. Taking into account the amount of shares repurchased by the Company up to 16 May 2019 (the latest practicable date) since the buyback authority was renewed, and in the event that the Tender Offer is fully subscribed, the maximum number of shares that could be bought back under the Share Buyback Programme would be 4,136,495. The purpose of the Share Buyback Programme is to reduce the share capital of the Company and will be conducted within the parameters prescribed by the Market Abuse Regulation 596/2014, and the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1052. The Share Buyback Programme will commence on 20 June 2019 and will end no later than 8 August 2019, at which point the Board will review the success of the programme and determine whether to renew the programme for a further period. Eurocastle has entered into a non-discretionary mandate with Liberum Capital Limited to conduct the Share Buyback Programme on its behalf and to make trading decisions under the programme independently of the Company within parameters set by the Board. Enquires: Please contact the Eurocastle Investor Relations at investorrelations@eurocastle.com or +1 (212) 479-3165. This announcement does not constitute, or form part of, an offer or any solicitation of an offer for securities in any jurisdiction. NOTICE: This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of the Market Abuse Regulation 596/2014. This announcement may contain forward-looking statements, including forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Please refer to the forward looking statements disclaimer at the end of this announcement. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING The Company will hold its Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, 19 June 2019, at the Companys registered office at 2.00 P.M. Guernsey time (3.00 P.M. CET). Notices and proxy statements will be posted on 29 May 2019 to shareholders of record at close of business on 28 May 2019. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION For additional information that management believes to be useful for investors, please refer to the latest presentation posted on the Investor Relations section of the Companys website, www.eurocastleinv.com. For investment portfolio information, please refer to the Companys most recent Investor Factsheet, which is available on the Companys website ( www.eurocastleinv.com ). ABOUT EUROCASTLE Eurocastle Investment Limited is a publicly traded closed-ended investment company that focuses on investing in performing and non-performing loans and other real estate related assets primarily in Italy. The Company is Euro denominated and is listed on Euronext Amsterdam under the symbol ECT. Eurocastle is managed by an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group LLC, a leading global investment manager. For more information regarding Eurocastle Investment Limited and to be added to our email distribution list, please visit www.eurocastleinv.com . FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS This release contains statements that constitute forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements may relate to, among other things, future commitments to sell real estate and achievement of disposal targets, availability of investment and divestment opportunities, timing or certainty of completion of acquisitions and disposals, the operating performance of our investments and financing needs. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by use of forward-looking terminology such as may, will, should, potential, intend, expect, endeavor, seek, anticipate, estimate, overestimate, underestimate, believe, could, project, predict, "project", continue, plan, forecast or other similar words or expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions, discuss future expectations, describe future plans and strategies, contain projections of results of operations or of financial condition or state other forward-looking information. The Companys ability to predict results or the actual effect of future plans or strategies is limited. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, its actual results and performance may differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Companys actual results in future periods to differ materially from forecasted results or stated expectations including the risks regarding Eurocastles ability to declare dividends, amortise the Companys debts, renegotiate the Companys credit facilities, make new investments, or achieve its targets regarding asset disposals or asset performance. 1 NAV for Q1 2019 is before deducting the first quarter 2019 dividend of 0.15 per share declared and to be paid in May 2019. 2 Per share calculations for Eurocastle throughout this document are based on the weighted average or outstanding voting shares and therefore exclude shares held in treasury. As at 31 March 2019, 63.8 million shares were in issue of which 45.1 million were voting shares and 18.8 million were held in treasury. Amounts per share are therefore calculated on the following basis: Q1 2019 Net Asset Value per share (NAV per share) on 45.1 million voting shares, Q1 2019 NFFO on 45.1 million weighted average voting shares, Q4 2018 NAV per share based on 45.2 million voting shares and Q4 2018 NFFO per share based on 47.2 million weighted average voting shares. Q1 2019 distribution on 45.0 million voting shares and Q4 2018 distribution paid on 45.1 million voting shares. 3 Normalised FFO (NFFO) is a non-IFRS measure used to explain the financial performance of the Company, as outlined on page 3 of this announcement. 4 EBITDA and Net Income excluding non-recurring items; Q1 2019 EBITDA reported at 15.2 million, Q1 2019 Net Income reported at 7.7 million. 1 Time weighted average of invested capital (net of any capital returned) over the relevant period. 6 NAV segments adjusted for 18.1 million of unfunded committed investment relating to the deferred purchase price (DPP) on FINO payable in August 2020. 7 Amounts per share calculated on 45.1 million outstanding voting shares. 8 Pro forma NAV means the Companys last published NAV less the additional incentive compensation which would be due by the Company should all investments be realised at their last reported values (the Incremental Incentive Fees), adjusted for (i) the value of the doBank S.P.A. (doBank) and Unicredit Immobiliare Uno (UIU) share prices as at market close on 16 May 2019; (ii) the Companys open market buyback activity subsequent to 31 March 2019 and up to 8 May 2019; and (iii) movements in the Incremental Incentive Fee as a result of changes in the share price of doBank and UIU since the Companys last reporting date. Please refer to Tender Offer Circular for further details on the calculation. At least two of the panels in the drop-down ceiling of the multipurpose room at the East Passyunk Community Center are missing, and a half-dozen or so are stained yellow. One night this week, two hung at precarious angles near Philadelphia City Council candidates who had gathered to talk about crime and safety. These are the kinds of things that catch your attention when, except for a couple of bright spots, the people in front of you arent saying anything especially new. Thats not a dig at the panel of advocates asking most of the questions they were great. In fact, kudos to them for asking the same question in some form of the half-dozen candidates (out of 35) every time they failed to get an actual answer: If elected or reelected, what are you going to do to prevent young people in Philadelphia from being murdered? Pretty straightforward. Crime is the most pressing issue facing the city, according to a new Inquirer poll, and with an increasing rate of homicides and a decreasing rate of arrests, that shouldnt surprise anyone. Im sure there were other candidate forums where crime was discussed, but I went to the one hosted by the National Homicide Justice Alliance because Ive written about Aleida Garcia and Wilfredo Rojas, tireless advocates who co-founded the organization after their son was murdered in 2015. I also chose this forum because families of homicide victims are the ones consistently pushing for answers. These are mothers mostly, who too often are ignored by some of the very people who run and win on pro-victim platforms. Note to criminal justice reform evangelists: There are victims on both sides of the broken system those sitting in prison and those trapped in a prison of trauma and grief. Both deserve our attention and respect. But back to other well-intentioned folks who, thankfully, all seemed to have a grasp of what is at the root of so many of Philadelphias problems starting with deep poverty. They struggled to answer the question. As of May 12, more than 100 people have been shot to death in Philadelphia this year; more than 458 were shot, per the latest police information. As a former cop, Lou Lanni had a backstory that probably resonates with some. Sandra Dungee Glenn seemed thoughtful and energetic. And, like her or not, Helen Gym is a force. Of all the nothingness that clearly frustrated the panel of questioners, including the founder of Mothers in Charge, Dorothy Johnson-Speight, I was intrigued by the idea of crisis response teams in schools advocated by Gym. Trauma is a constant among many of Philadelphias young people. Its also what drives a lot of the violence in our city. Let me be clear: These arent endorsements. I dont do those. I especially dont do them this close to the primary or with reservations and I had many after listening to most of the panel stumble around for any concrete solutions. I dont totally blame them. Not even the citys Office of Violence Prevention, which led its own less-than-inspiring meeting recently, has come up with anything especially hopeful. I was glad to hear Councilman David Oh at least bring up the need to measure programs, something the city promises its working on as it continues to throw more money into pricey could work plans. Wanted: leaders who are bold and brave and clear-eyed about whats at stake. Listening to the candidates was Yullio Robbins, whose son James Walke III was murdered in 2016 in broad daylight. His murder remains unsolved. After the discussion, she wanted to know if Id heard: On Mothers Day, her sons 54-year-old aunt, Janis Walke, was shot and killed while she sat in her car outside her home on North 13th Street. So far, her story ends the way too many in Philadelphia do: no suspects, no motive, no answers. Janis will be buried near her nephew. Miguel Andrade speaks on behalf of the Latino activist group Juntos during an "End ICE Contracts!" rally in Center City on May 1. Read more Jorge Gutierrez calls himself an UndocuQueer activist. That is, an immigrant who entered the United States without permission, and who fights for people whose gender and sexuality fall within a broad spectrum. Both are identities that have shaped my world view, Gutierrez said, and influenced my activism and organizing. On Friday, the founder and executive director of Los-Angeles-based Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement will help welcome about 200 transgender, bisexual, and gay Latinos to Philadelphia for the groups first national conference. Participants are coming from as far as Seattle, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas to meet and strategize, gathering at a moment when the treatment of LGBT people has emerged as an animating issue in the national debate over immigration. Theyre arriving in a city thats home to one of the most aggressive Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices in the nation, and where a for-profit agency is fighting in court to house 60 undocumented Latino children in North Philadelphia. When you hear people talk about the immigrant rights movement, youre generally hearing about the situation at the border, or children being separated, said Miguel Andrade, a spokesperson for the Philadelphia Latino activist group Juntos. But there are other populations that are being victimized, and its important to talk about all of them. The three-day conference will be held at two sites the William Way LGBT Community Center in Center City on Friday and Sunday, and Taller Puertorriqueno in the Fairhill section on Saturday. Familia was founded five years ago to bring attention to the struggles of transgender and queer people, to help those held at government immigrant-detention centers, and to try to stop the construction of more of those facilities. These places are not good for anybody, Gutierrez said, particularly gay and trans people. We need more boots on the ground to push back. ICE says its committed to providing safe and humane treatment to all in its custody. But Familia and other advocates say transgender and gay immigrants are commonly mistreated in detention: LGBT people made up 0.1 percent of all those detained by ICE in 2017, but accounted for 12 percent of sexual-assault victims in those centers, according to a congressional letter to the Department of Homeland Security. A Honduran transgender womans health deteriorated during almost three months in solitary confinement before she was released and then promptly detained again by ICE agents in Texas this year, according to her asylum attorney and other advocates. Gay and transgender detainees in New Mexico have been targets of rampant sexual harassment, discrimination and abuse, the ACLU and other groups charged this year. Many LGBT migrants fled to the United States after being attacked in their homelands because of their sexuality. And they say they could be hurt or killed if sent back. That fear plays a key role in a high-profile Philadelphia case, where a gay Mexican immigrant, Jose Ivan Noe Nunez Martinez, was taken into custody last year as he met with federal authorities to try to resolve his status. The native of Michoacan fled to the U.S. after the murder of a gay friend in 2001, and said he, too, could be killed if he returned. He is now married to an American citizen, Paul Frame. The couple arrived at what they expected to be a routine interview with officials of Citizenship and Immigration Services in West Philadelphia. Instead, ICE officers entered the room, put Nunez Martinez in handcuffs, and took him away. ICE officials have said Nunez Martinez was unlawfully present in this country and had previously been removed. After nine months in detention, he was freed in October after winning the opportunity to post bail. Many in the movement have been galvanized by the case of Roxana Hernandez, a 33-year Honduran transgender woman who died in the custody of immigration officials while awaiting deportation last year. Hernandez sought asylum at the San Ysidro, Calif., port of entry, and died 16 days later at a hospital from dehydration and complications of HIV infection. Immigrant activists blamed her death on medical negligence by ICE, and said an autopsy showed injuries consistent with physical abuse. ICE said the agency provides medical care to detainees from the moment they arrive, and denied that the woman had been harmed while in custody. The agency said Hernandez had two criminal convictions in Dallas, for theft in 2006, and for lewd, immoral and indecent conduct and prostitution in 2009. She previously entered the country illegally in 2005, 2009, and 2014, ICE officials said. Gutierrez, born in Nayarit, Mexico, and raised in Santa Ana, Calif., was initially undocumented but now has legal status under DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which allows immigrants who were brought here as children to live and work legally in the U.S. We are queer, we are trans, many of us might be undocumented, but were organizing, Gutierrez said. Those most impacted can and should be on the front lines. George School senior Saleema Walter, 17, of North Brunswick, N.J., kneels for a portrait in the new prayer space for Muslim students and faculty on the school's campus in Newtown, Pa. Read more Saleema Walter and Anisgul Stanikzai traveled to George School in Bucks County from hometowns 6,800 miles apart, but when the students settled in at the Quaker institutions scenic 240-acre campus in Newtown, they missed the same things. The absence of traditions associated with their Islamic faith in North Brunswick, N.J., for Walter, and Jalalalbad, Afghanistan, for Stanikzai left a void that they filled by meeting their religions obligations mostly alone. There are so many students on campus who are close to each other ethnically, culturally, or religiously, said Walter, 17. I would see that and wish I had it. So, the two decided to re-create the communal feeling they missed. Walter revived a dormant Islamic student association soon after she enrolled in 2015, and earlier this year, she teamed up with Stanikzai, 19, to transform a part of a historic Quaker meeting house on the campus into a place where she and other Muslim students could feel at home. The two students, seniors set to graduate May 26, turned part of the balcony of the 207-year-old house of worship erected by the Religious Society of Friends into a Muslim prayer space. The small section, which had been used for storage, is now defined by a billowy blue curtain. Inside are prayer rugs, Qurans, and strings of beads to be held when making holy petitions while crouched and facing Mecca. Stanikzai calls it the best moment to have a place dedicated to our religion, which is practiced by about 15 students. George Schools Quaker roots made not only the accommodation, but the location inside a meeting house, an easy call, said J. Samuel Houser, head of school. The religion is not dogmatic, he said, We believe there is God in everyone. Founded in 1893, George School is a boarding and day school with 547 students who this year come from 22 states and 44 countries. They represent 22 faith traditions, practicing Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Confucianism, and no religion at all. They are required to attend a Quaker meeting for worship at least once a week, when they sit in silence with faculty and staff, and stand to share their thoughts, if the spirit leads them, said Tom Hoopes, head of the schools religions department. So far, the school has been free of tensions rooted in faith differences, Houser said, but students are aware of news outside the bucolic campus. We are actually encouraging students to be on a spiritual journey wherever they are, said Hoopes. At George School, students have observed Jewish holidays, Ramadan, and Lunar New Year, a cultural holiday that can have religious significance. As freshman, Walter and Stanikzai moved to the campus and were overwhelmed with homesickness and longing for familiar Islamic traditions. I knew there were Muslim students here, but we didnt come together for any events or holidays," Stanikzai said. Being together with everyone who is a part of our culture, it helps with homesickness. Walters brother, Zaid, who graduated in 2014, co-founded the Alliance for Learning about Islam (ALI) student group during his time at George School, but ALI no longer was active when Saleema arrived. Soon after, she began sending out emails in an effort to revive it. Eventually, after two years and more Muslim student enrollment, the groups activity increased. For the holy month of Ramadan, which began May 5 and ends June 4, students awake to meet in the TV room at 3:30 a.m., eat dates, fruit and oatmeal before they start their daily fast, and then return to the room at 8 p.m. to break their fast together. Last Fall, Stanikzai talked with Walter about asking administrators for a place of their own. The students approached Houser and Marcus Ingram, the schools director of inclusion, with their idea, and they agreed. For the Islamic prayer space, the balcony of the meeting house quiet and accessible seemed a good fit, Houser said. George Schools meeting house was originally located on 12th Street near Market Street in Philadelphia. In the early 1970s, the house of worship was scheduled to be torn down, but was saved by benefactors who arranged for it to be moved in pieces from Philadelphia to George Schools campus. Through the years, the meeting house has been used not only for Quaker worship, but for Jewish observances and community meetings. To prepare the space, students, their families, and residents of Pennswood Village, a Quaker senior community adjacent to the school, donated rugs, Qurans, books, and curtains. The school spent less than $500 to transform it, and the prayer space was dedicated in a ceremony last month. It was very overwhelming emotionally to be in a place that feels so much like home, Walter said. "After a long day of classes, its a break away from the stress of senior year. I come here, get out a rug, and it gives me peace. Now that the school has made space for Muslim students, it will be ready for other similar requests, Houser said. If students let us know what they want, and we can do it, he said, "we will. Dublin, May 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Indian Food and Beverage Vending Machines Market, Forecast to 2023" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. In India, it has been observed that vending machines have continued to have an insignificant presence for retail purchases; most vending machines operating in the country are being used for institutional sales. Therefore, the vending industry in India has a long way to cover to register optimal profits and revenue; it is estimated that only when the number of vending machines across India is multiplied exponentially year after year, will the vending industry show some consistency in growth followed by further developments in the future. Towards this end, the Airports Authority of India has supported the installation of vending machines in India to offer convenience to consumers. Moreover, the Indian government has also assisted by supporting the installation and maintenance of vending machines in metropolitan cities such as including Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. The Indian food and beverage vending market is still at a nascent stage. However, the growth in this market will be driven by the growth in organized retailing in malls and multiplexes, BPOs, IT and ITES sectors. Food vending machines available in India are cold beverages vending machines, snacks vending machines, combined vending machines, and others. Approximately 88% of the market is occupied by the snack and beverage combination vending machines. The largest share of food and beverage vending machines comes from the corporate sector, while the healthcare sector is likely to grow rapidly at a CAGR of 15% during the forecast period. Continuous investment in public infrastructure and growth in organized retail are likely to drive the demand of vending machines in the end-user segments. End-user Segments Covered Corporate Retail Public Infrastructure Healthcare Education Others Key Issues Addressed What is the market size of the food and beverage (F&B) vending machine market in India? What is the expected CAGR for the next five years? What is the market share by segment? Which segment is poised to grow? Who is the key end-user? What is the split between the end-user categories? Who are the key participants in the food and beverage (F&B) vending machine market in India? What are the drivers, restraints and needs of the market? Companies Mentioned Airports Authority of India Future Techniks India Private Limited Seaga India Private Limited Vendiman Private Limited Topics Covered 1. Executive Summary Key Findings 2. Market Overview Market Segmentation by Product Type F&B Vending Machines Market - Value Chain Key Market Trends Need Gap Analysis 3. Market Drivers and Restraints Market Drivers Drivers Explained Market Restraints Restraints Explained 4. Market Forecast Food and Beverages Vending Machines Market Overview Market Forecast by End User 5. Key Competitors Key Competitors Seaga India Private Limited - Profile Future Techniks India Private Limited - Profile Vendiman Private Limited - Profile 6. Growth Opportunities and Companies to Action Growth Opportunity 1 - Intelligent Vending Machines Growth Opportunity 2 - Changing Lifestyles Growth Opportunity 3 - Increasing Demand for Healthy Snacks and Beverages at the Workplace Strategic Imperatives for Success and Growth 7. The Last Word 3 Big Predictions 8. Appendix Abbreviations and Acronyms Used List of Exhibits For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/7rm033 Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. PHOENIX, May 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Item 9 Labs Corp. (OTC: INLB) (Item 9 Labs or the Company), a leader in comfortable cannabis health solutions for the modern consumer, today announced earnings for the second quarter which ended March 31, 2019. Item 9 Labs Corp and its subsidiaries made great strides in operations in the three and six months ended March 31, 2019. Operating efficiency has increased dramatically which can be seen in the growth in margins over the same periods in fiscal 2018. The expansion of the Arizona facility (completed in March 2019) should prove to increase the efficiency and revenues beginning in Q4. Overview for the three months ended March 31, 2019 as compared to the three months ended March 31, 2018: Revenue increased 302% to $1,130,270 Operating margins increased to 52% from 28% Pre-tax earnings of Item 9 Labs operating entities totaled $289,382 Net loss was $577,062 Diluted loss per share was $.01 Overview for the six months ended March 31, 2019 as compared to the six months ended March 31, 2018: Revenue increased 312% to $2,085,884 Operating margins increased to 52% from 39% Pre-tax earnings of Item 9 Labs operating entities totaled $471,623 Net loss was $900,789 Diluted loss per share was $.01 Company Updates Completed construction on Arizona expansion to more than double cultivation space Began construction on 20,000 square-foot Nevada cultivation and processing facility Entered agreement with North Dakota dispensary licensee to implement the companys Strive Life business model and brand Awarded contract to manage and operate processing facility in Ohio via Joint Venture Hired proven leader into role of Chief Operating Officer Accomplishments Ranked one of the fastest growing cannabis concentrate brands in Arizona by BDS Analytics For the 2 nd consecutive year, Item 9 Labs cannabis flower was awarded 1 st Place Sativa in ERRL Cup Awards in 2019 consecutive year, Item 9 Labs cannabis flower was awarded 1 Place Sativa in ERRL Cup Awards in 2019 CEO, Sara Gullickson selected as a top influential leader in the cannabis industry by Industry Leaders Magazine and a 2019 Women to Watch by Marijuana Business Magazine For information visit Item9LabsCorp.com. About Item 9 Labs Corp.: Item 9 Labs Corp. (OTC: INLB) creates comfortable cannabis health solutions for the modern consumer. The Company is bringing best of industry practices to markets from coast to coast through cultivation and production, distinctive retail environments, licensing services, and diverse product suites catering to different medical cannabis demographics. Item 9 Labs Corp. is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, with medical cannabis operations in multiple U.S. markets. Item 9 Labs Corp.s asset portfolio includes Dispensary Permits, Dispensary Templates, and Strive Life. These assets provide services specific to different stakeholder groups. Dispensary Permits is the Companys consulting firm specializing in strategic license application and compliance. Dispensary Templates, a subdivision of the firm, is a technology platform with an extensive digital library of licensing and business planning resources. Strive Life is a turnkey dispensary model for the retail sector, elevating the patient experience with consistent and superior service, high-end design, and precision-tested products. It is currently being implemented in Arizona and North Dakota. In addition, Item 9 Labs Corp. is advancing the industry with its dynamic product suites. The Company has created complementary brands Item 9 Labs and Strive Wellness to channel consumer diversity. Proprietary delivery platforms include the Apollo Vape and Pod system, as well as a pioneering intra-nasal device. The Company has received multiple accolades for its medical-grade flower and concentrates. Item 9 Labs Corp. will be managing cultivation, processing, distribution, and dispensary operations in up to ten U.S. markets by the end of 2019. Current facilities include distribution and processing operations Strive Wellness of Ohio and Strive Wellness of Nevada, as well as dispensary Strive Life North Dakota. For more information, visit Item 9 Labs Corp. at www.Item9labscorp.com . Forward-Looking Statement: This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, risks and effects of legal and administrative proceedings and governmental regulation, especially in a foreign country, future financial and operational results, competition, general economic conditions, proposed transactions that are not legally binding obligations of the company and the ability to manage and continue growth. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual outcomes may vary materially from those indicated. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements we make in this news release include the introduction of new technology, market conditions and those set forth in reports or documents we file from time to time with the SEC. We undertake no obligation to revise or update such statements to reflect current events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Media Contact: Neko Catanzaro Proven Media Neko@provenmediaservices.com (401) 484-4980 Investor Contact: Jeffrey Rassas Item 9 Labs Corp. Jeffrey@item9labs.com (602) 463-4246 PHILADELPHIA The last smidgen of hope for the Giants to entertain their fans this season is gone. In a last-ditch attempt to jump-start the offense, the Giants gave former Georgia star Jake Fromm his first NFL start. They had a chance to sweep the Eagles for the first time since 2007 and win at [] ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands, May 16 (Xinhua) -- COSCO SHIPPING Specialized, one of the core members of China's COSCO SHIPPING Corporation, on Thursday opened its European regional head office in Rotterdam, Europe's largest port. "The start up of this company is one of our method to provide integral total solutions to specialized shipping and related industries," said Guo Jing, vice-CEO of COSCO SHIPPING EUROPE. "COSCO SHIPPING has contributed for a long time to the sustainable development of Rotterdam, Netherlands and the entire Europe, by serving the infrastructure companies, manufacturers, import/export trading companies and EPC companies and projects," he said. "We are now giving birth to this new company, not only serving Chinese companies or Asian interests, but putting more focus and emphasis on European clients," he said. "This new company is now investing more in the development of Trans-Atlantic voyages and Intra-Europe sailings." Rotterdam "has witnessed the glorious history of cooperation between Europe and China and is leading the trend of global shipping development," said Wu Mingliang, executive vice-president of COSCO SHIPPING Specialized. With its specialized shipping fleet, the largest in the world, the group now "puts the most advanced tonnages and service team into the new company as a platform, not only to catch the development opportunities of European and Atlantic markets, but also to provide more service to our customers," he said. COSCO SHIPPING Specialized operates more than a hundred vessels, including multi-purpose and heavy lift vessels, semi-submersible vessels, pure car carriers, logs carriers as well as asphalt carriers. It provides a wide variety of solutions for the transportation of various non-containerized cargo at sea. Arno Bonte, vice mayor of Rotterdam, welcomed the global leading company in his city. "Rotterdam always welcomes companies, especially when it is a company like COSCO which aims at growing not only now, but also for the future," he said. He stressed that the Port of Rotterdam is moving to become the most sustainable and smart port in the world, an aim connecting to the aim of the Chinese company because "we know COSCO is a company sustainable in itself, has sustainable goals and also your customers are moving this sustainable direction". Rotterdam is building more wind farms in the North Sea, making offshore wind a growing market and COSCO has strong capacity in the shipping of windmills, he said. COSCO SHIPPING Specialized choosing Rotterdam to locate its European head office is a new proof of the strong bond between the city and China, the vice mayor added. Rotterdam and Shanghai celebrate 40 years of city sisterhood this year. Dublin, May 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "China Commercial Vehicle Finance Industry Report, 2019-2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. Over recent years, the auto finance industry in China steadily developed, assisting the uprising of penetration of auto finance constantly, which achieved 43% in 2018, up 3 percentage points versus 2017. The market size of auto finance in China is estimated to be RMB 1.200 trillion in 2018, up 2.6% yr-on-yr. Commercial vehicle enjoyed stable growth in sales volume over recent years. At present, its sales volume accounts for over 40% of the global total, and annual sales surpasses RMB 1 trillion. However, viewed from the status quo of China commercial vehicle finance service, there is still an obvious gap to fill compared to developed countries. At present, the penetration of the commercial vehicle finance market in China is approximately 50%, which is far below that of the international mature market (with 90% of penetration). Currently, main participants of China commercial vehicle finance industry include commercial banks, bank-affiliated financial leasing companies, manufacturer-affiliated financial leasing companies, and third-party financial leasing companies. Of these, commercial banks and bank-affiliated financial leasing companies occupy more than half of the market share, while the remaining one third is held by manufacturer-affiliated financial leasing companies. With the deep development of commercial vehicle finance service, its shortcomings and problems are presented. For instance, commercial vehicle finance service is of weak used-car evaluation system basis, unsound risk control system, vicious competition, large financial capital demand, and insufficient bank capital supply, which directly inhibited the development of China commercial vehicle finance service. At present, smart risk control and analysis & decision service providers represented by Tongdun Technology Co., Ltd. begins to offer solutions for problems (like unregulated market and unsound risk control system) that occurred in the commercial vehicle finance market. In the future, China commercial vehicle finance risk control ability will further be enhanced. Thanks to the favorable policy, China commercial vehicle finance market will be gradually mature, providing more products, with better risk control ability, lower credit threshold, and higher penetration rate. It is forecast that the penetration of commercial vehicle finance in China will be 70% by 2025. China Commercial Vehicle Finance Industry Report, 2019-2025 mainly includes the following aspects: Analysis of China auto finance industry, including development environment, development course, development status, market size, competition pattern, and development trend; Analysis of China commercial vehicle finance industry, including development status, main players, competition pattern, market size, and risk control system establishment & analysis; Analysis of 16 commercial vehicle finance-related enterprises, including company profile, commercial vehicle finance business analysis, etc. Key Topics Covered: 1. Overview 1.1 Overview of Automotive Finance 1.1.1 Definition 1.1.2 Classification 1.1.3 Market Players 1.1.4 Automotive Financial Leasing 1.2 Overview of Commercial Vehicle Finance 2. Automotive Finance Industry in China 2.1 Development Environment 2.1.1 Policy 2.1.2 Economy 2.1.3 Car Ownership 2.1.4 Automobile Production and Sales 2.1.5 Commercial Vehicle Production and Sales 2.2 Development Course 2.3 Status Quo 2.4 Market Size 2.5 Competitive Landscape 2.6 Operation of Auto Finance Companies 2.7 Development Trends 2.7.1 Market Share of Auto Finance Companies Grows Further 2.7.2 Used Car Financial Business Grows Rapidly 2.7.3 Auto Financial Products Becomes More Diversified 2.7.4 Improved Credit System Pushes the Development of Auto Finance Market 2.7.5 Internet Auto Finance Has Developed into a Trend 2.7.6 Cooperation between Banks and Enterprises Drives Auto Finance 2.7.7 Competition in Auto Finance Industry Intensifies 3. Commercial Vehicle Finance Industry in China 3.1 Status Quo 3.2 Major Participants 3.2.1 Commercial Banks 3.2.2 Bank-affiliated Financial Leasing Companies 3.2.3 Manufacturer-affiliated Financial Leasing Companies 3.2.4 Third-party Financial Leasing Companies 3.3 Competitive Landscape 3.4 Market Size 3.5 Risk Control System Establishment 3.6 Summary 4. Analysis of Commercial Vehicle Finance Related Enterprises 4.1 Lionbridge Financing Leasing (China) Co, Ltd. 4.1.1 Profile 4.1.2 Development Course 4.1.3 Financing Status 4.1.4 Commercial Vehicle Finance Business 4.1.5 Developments 4.2 Fincera Inc. 4.3 Pangda Automobile Trade Co, Ltd. 4.4 FAW Auto Finance Co, Ltd. 4.5 First AutoMobile Finance Co, Ltd. 4.6 Shandong HOWO Auto Finance Co, Ltd. 4.7 Guangxi Tongsheng Financial Leasing Co, Ltd. 4.8 Keking Financial Leasing (Shanghai) Co, Ltd. 4.9 Tianjin ForFin Leasing Co, Ltd. 4.10 Beijing CA Sinfusi Financial Leasing Co, Ltd. 4.11 Honggao Finance Leasing Co, Ltd. 4.12 Fortune Auto Finance Co, Ltd. 4.13 Dongfeng Motor Finance Co, Ltd. 4.14 Others 4.14.1 En-how Investment (Beijing) Co, Ltd. 4.14.2 Deron International Financial Leasing Co, Ltd. 4.14.3 Ping An International Financial Leasing Co, Ltd. For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/8h1i72 Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Must-Read Travel Guides EAST ASIA SOUTHEAST ASIA Featured Articles Contact Copyright Disclosure If you wish to contact me for questions, advertising, collaboration inquiries, comments, suggestions, reviews or just about anything, please send an email to. I will try my best to reply quickly! Unless, of course, I'm on a trip! :D All rights reserved. All photos and content in this blog are owned by(unless otherwise stated). Parts of the articles may be excerpted (a link to this site should be provided), but not reproduced as a whole. Photos may not be used without permission. Thank you very much!Unless otherwise stated, I personally write my blog posts and it expresses my own thoughts and opinions. I pay for all the expenses of my trips (unless otherwise stated). I welcome collaborations, advertorials and reviews as long as they are beneficial to my readers. All reviews on collaborations contain my own views and opinion and were not influenced by anyone. For inquiries, you may contact me here . Thank you very much! 888poker XL Inferno: "sh4xuR7" Wins $50,000 Opening Event for $13,721 May 17, 2019 Eric Mertens Aaron McBride On Thursday, tournament players could enjoy the start of the new edition of the 2019 XL Inferno Series on one of the biggest online poker rooms, 888poker. On the first day of the series, they kicked off with the $50,000 Opening Event and during the day, two more events started. 888poker XL Inferno #1 - $50,000 Opening Event Buy-in Date Players Prize pool $109 May 16 726 $72,600 The first event of the 888poker XL Inferno series has now come to an end, and it was Austria's 'sh4xuR7' taking down Event #1: $50,000 Opening Event for $13,721. 'sh4xuR7' came through 726 entrants to score the victory, which ended with a heads-up battle against the UK's 'pokerdave128'. The $50,000 guarantee was smashed with a total prize pool worth $72,600 as players took to the 888poker online field once more following the recent XL Inferno series. Final Table Results Place Player Country Prize 1 sh4xuR7 Austria $13,721 2 pokerdave128 United Kingdom $10,055 3 Alex_Vol Russia $7,405 4 jmsantos10 Malta $5,590 5 IMDool Lithuania $3,920 6 Farrugia_1 Malta $3,085 7 lNCURSIO Unknown $2,359 8 n0sferatv Peru $1,633 9 exPROsjak Serbia $1,110 Among the players in the 'Opening Event' battle was Ian Simpson, Espen Uhlen Jorstad, and Sam Grafton. Jorstad and Grafton both found a place in the money, with latter lasting the longest and ultimately departing in 24th place. When the action reached the final table, Serbia's 'exPROsjak' was first to go when they ran ace-ten into ace-queen and was quickly followed to the rail by Peru's 'n0sferatv' and 'lNCURSIO'. Malta's 'Farrugia_1' took sixth place after they ran king-jack into king-queen, with Lithuania's 'IMDool' exciting in fifth place following their shove with ace-jack unable to beat pocket kings. 'jmsantos10' missed out on a podium position and departed in fourth place when pocket kings held against ace-ten, and former chip leader 'Alex_Vol' had to settle for third place when their brave call with two pair couldn't match up against a full house. 'sh4xuR7' held a 4/1 chip lead heads-up and never looked back, ultimately holding with ace-three against king-three to seal the title and send 'pokerdave128' to the rail as runner-up. 888poker XL Inferno #2 - $20,000 Mini Opening Event Buy-in Date Players Prize pool $16.50 May 16 2,050 $30,750 Place Player Country Prize 1 wh4isthat3 Malta $5,114 2 k29mario Belarus $3,567 3 zotto18 Romania $3,309 4 F. Lupo Ireland $2,091 5 AMG_people Ukraine $1,522 6 xxtomasxx United Kingdom $1,215 7 Karenina3425 Venezuala $907 8 IcruAI Germany $600 9 ClaretBantam United Kingdom $332 888poker XL Inferno #3 - $20,000 Late Opening Event Buy-in Date Players Prize pool $55 May 16 579 $28,950 Place Player Country Prize 1 elephant107 United Kingdom $4,747 2 winlikefedor Finland $4,806 3 MorayEEEEEL Sweden $2,967 4 kAfRiNiUs Greece $2,258 5 instinctas Lithuania $1,592 6 gibidon Russia $1,230 7 pokerbob88 Germany $941 8 capuin Canada $651 9 LucySagary70 $481 888poker XL Inferno Full Schedule Date Time (GMT) Event Buy-in May 17 6 p.m. XL Inferno #4 - $30,000 PKO $55 6 p.m. XL Inferno #5 - $20,000 Mini PKO $22 8 p.m. XL Inferno #6 - $10,000 Late PKO $33 May 18 6 p.m. XL Inferno #7 - $30,000 8-Max $109 6 p.m. XL Inferno #8 - $10,000 Mini 8-Max $8.80 8 p.m. XL Inferno #9 - $15,000 Late 8-Max $55 May 19 6 p.m. XL Inferno #10 - $100,000 Tune Up $160 6 p.m. XL Inferno #11 - $50,000 Mini Tune Up $16.50 6:30 p.m. XL Inferno #12 - $10,000 Micro Tune Up $5.50 8 p.m. XL Inferno #13 - $20,000 Late Tune Up $55 May 20 6 p.m. XL Inferno #14 - $20,000 R&A Event $33 6 p.m. XL Inferno #15 - $10,000 Mini R&A $5.50 7 p.m. XL Inferno #16 - $15,000 Later R&A $16.50 May 21 6 p.m. XL Inferno #17 - $100,000 High Roller $320 6 p.m. XL Inferno #18 - $30,000 Mini High Roller $55 8 p.m. XL Inferno #19 - $20,000 Late High Roller $109 May 22 6 p.m. XL Inferno #20 - $50,000 PKO $109 6 p.m. XL Inferno #21 - $20,000 Mini PKO $16.50 8 p.m. XL Inferno #22 - $10,000 Late PKO $33 May 23 6 p.m. XL Inferno #23 - $50,000 PKO 8-Max $160 6 p.m. XL Inferno #24 - $20,000 Mini PKO 8-Max $22 8 p.m. XL Inferno #25 - $20,000 Late PKO 8-Max $55 May 24 5 p.m. XL Inferno #26 - $30,000 DeepStack $55 5 p.m. XL Inferno #27 - $20,000 Mini DeepStack $16.50 7 p.m. XL Inferno #28 - $10,000 Late DeepStack $33 May 25 6 p.m. XL Inferno #29 - $30,000 6-Max $109 6 p.m. XL Inferno #30 - $20,000 Mini 6-Max $16.50 8 p.m. XL Inferno #31 - $15,000 Late 6-Max $55 May 26 5 p.m. XL Inferno #32 - $500,000 Main Event $250 5:30 p.m. XL Inferno #33 - $50,000 Mini Main Event $33 6 p.m. XL Inferno #34 - $15,000 Micro Main Event $5.50 Follow PokerNews.com for continued coverage of the series and live updates from the biggest events. Dimitrios Michailidis Wins the 2019 PokerNews Cup 1,100 High Roller May 17, 2019 Georgios Simopoulos The 2019 PokerNews Cup 1,100 High Roller has crowned its champion here in Finix Casino and it was Dimitrios Michailidis that was victorious in an 89-player field. Michailidis defeated Marios Tzakos heads-up after a long battle that lasted more than three hours and received 23,025 ($25,724) for his victory. This wasn't the biggest cash in Michailidis' career since the Greek player had success in many live tournaments around Europe. His biggest cash came in August 2018 where he won a side event during 2018 European Poker Tour Barcelona for 55,400. His win in the High Roller ranks as 4th in the list with his lifetime cashes, based on The Hendon Mob's database. 2019 PokerNews Cup Finix Casino 1,100 High Roller Final Table Results Place Player Country Prize (EUR) Prize (USD) 1 Dimitrios Michailidis Greece 23,025 $25,724* 2 Marios Tzakos Greece 21,525 $24,048* 3 Marcel Galustov Bulgaria 9,990 $11,175 4 Polykarpos Stryvakis Greece 7,970 $8,915 5 Loukas Kioutsoukis Greece 6,120 $6,846 6 Dimitrios Dimitros Greece 4,410 $4,933 *Denotes heads-up deal Marios Tzakos and Dimitrios Michailidis played a long heads-up battle 2019 PokerNews Cup Finix Casino 1,100 High Roller Final Day Action The last day started with six players, where Dimitrios Dimitros had to work his way with just 6 big blinds. He managed to spin it up a bit in the early stages before getting his chips in the middle with ace-sixonin a two-three-four flop/ Marcel Galustov called him with king-four and held all the way. Dimitros earned 4,410 for his efforts. Next to depart was Loukas Kioutsoukis, who called all in against Tzakos on the river holding the ignorant end with four to a straight on the board. Tzakos held the higher straight and Kioutsoukis run was good enough to earn him 6,120. Polykarpos Stryvakis is the player who busted in fourth place, losing a big chunk of his stack when he made a call on the river and mucked versus Galustov's trips. He was left with three blinds and put them in the middle in the next hand, with Michailidis and Tzakos calling him and checking down up to the river. Michailidis made a pair which was enough to send the Finix Casino poker room owner to the rail with a payout of 7,970. Three-handed play started with the three players almost even in chips. Galustov was the first to bust after dwindling down to fourteen big blinds earlier. In his final hand, Tzakos shoved from the small blind with ace-seven, Galustov called with jack-eight and the board kept the ace-high ahead to send Galustov off to collect 9,990. Michailidis and Tzakos played heads-up for a bit, with Tzakos having a big advantage over his opponent. Michailidis managed to get back and even the two stacks. With stacks equal, the two players opted to see the numbers and then decided to split the money in half, leaving 1,500 and the trophy for the winner. After the deal was made, the two played it out normally for a bit longer before the players decided to speed it up and go all-in most of the hands. It took eleven all-ins eventually before Michailidis was crowned the victor. Dimitrios Michailidis and Friends 2019 PokerNews Cup Finix Casino Main Event The second of four opening flights of the 2019 PokerNews Cup Kulata 550 Main Event at Finix Casino is in the books after 14 blinds levels of 30 minutes each. Day 1b attracted 28 entrants including five reentries, all of which were from Bulgaria and Greece to bring the total field up to 52 entrants between the two starting flights. By the end of the day, the field was trimmed down to just five players, each of which will enter Day 2 already in the money with each flight playing down to 15 percent of the field. Bulgaria's Rosen Simeonov bagged almost half the chips in play and will head to Saturday's Day 2 with a big stack of 640,000 in chips. This places him ahead of Day 1a chip leader Marian Ivanov who managed to bag a healthy stack of 580,000 in chips. Simeonov took a considerable lead early in the day and never looked back with no other player ever coming close to his chip stack. Others to find a bag on Day 1b included Vasileios Gkogkas (second - 229,000), Andreas Chalkiadakis (third - 204,000), Edduart Eranosyan (fourth - 200,000), and Christos Kechagias (fifth - 126,000). 2019 PokerNews Cup Finix Casino Main Event Day 1b Survivors Player Country Chips Rosen Simeonov Bulgaria 640,000 Vasileios Gkogkas Greece 229,000 Andreas Chalkiadakis Greece 204,000 Edduart Eranosyan Bulgaria 132,000 Christos Kechagias Greece 126,000 Day 1b Survivors of the PokerNews Cup Main Event The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be back on the floor for coverage of Day 1c and 1d of the Main Event at 1 p.m. EEST. 61.2k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Democratic lawmakers Reps. Maxine Waters and Adam Schiff along with Sens. Sherrod Brown and Ron Wyden are calling for an investigation into Mitch McConnells Russia bribe. The lawmakers wrote, Given that EN+ is a company substantially owned by individuals and entities with close ties to the Russian government, we believe the proposed transaction warrants immediate review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. Read the full letter: Mitch McConnell got rewarded for helping to lift sanctions against Russia As I wrote when McConnell got his Putin payoff, This is one of the easier forms of Russia/Republican corruption that one will ever see. McConnell enabled the Russian attack on US democracy in 2016 by refusing to stand with Obama in denouncing Russian efforts to manipulate the presidential election. It is not a coincidence that the least popular senator in America used his power as Senate Majority Leader to stop Democrats from reimposing sanctions on a Russian oligarch and then that same oligarch just so happens to invest $200 million in McConnells home state before the reviled senator is running for reelection. Those are some unbelievable coincidences, and why Democrats are demanding an investigation into the investment in Kentucky. Mike Flynn told Mueller that members of Congress tried to obstruct the Russia investigation for Trump, and the red investment in the Bluegrass state shows that the national security threat is inside the Republican Party. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. Follow Jason Easley on Facebook 881 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard By Ginger Gibson WASHINGTON (Reuters) U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is the beneficiary of a legal defense fund set up to aid in expenses related to the 2016 election, according to disclosures the vice president made public on Thursday. The fund has $25 in it, according to the disclosure. Federal ethics laws prohibit officials form accepting gifts, including in the form of legal aid. President Donald Trumps 2016 campaign has been the subject of intense scrutiny after critics said those close to the president colluded with Russian operatives to influence the outcome of the election. Special Counsel Robert Mueller released a report in April that determined there was not enough evidence to charge Trump or those near him with criminal conspiracy related to collusion. The investigation saw dozens of Trump campaign employees and associates called before investigators, a grand jury and congressional panels. Obtaining private attorneys to assist in the interviews has caused some to rack up large legal bills. Pences office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the fund. The vice president is required to file an annual personal financial disclosure that details income and liabilities. New to the report this year was the defense fund, named the MRP Legal Expense Trust Fund. According to a footnote, James D. Atterholt of Florida created the fund on Dec. 10, 2018 to make payments in connection with the 2016 presidential election and related matters. The $25 payment to the fund was made to establish the trust, the footnote said. The Trust had no other assets, received no other contributions, and produced no income during the reporting period, the footnote said. (Reporting by Ginger Gibson; Editing by James Dalgleish) 4.4k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Mike Flynn told Robert Mueller that Republicans in Congress tried to interfere and obstruct his investigation to protect Trump. Republicans in Congress obstructed justice Tom Winter of NBC News tweeted: BREAKING / NBC News: Ret. Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn told Special Counsel Mueller's Office about efforts to interfere "both before and after his guilty plea, where either he or his attorneys received communication from persons connected to the Administration or Congress (1/2) Tom Winter (@Tom_Winter) May 16, 2019 MORE: ".that could have affected both his willingness to cooperate and the completeness of that cooperation. (2/2) Tom Winter (@Tom_Winter) May 16, 2019 Video: It wasnt just Trump obstructing justice It is amazing that Mueller got as much information as he did. He had to fight through both the White House obstructing justice and congressional Republicans. It doesnt take too much guesswork to figure who among the Republicans were obstructing the investigation for Trump. An excellent place to begin is Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) the former House Intelligence Committee chairman, and then you can look at someone like Reps. Jim Jordan and Matt Gaetz. The criminal activity goes beyond the White House. Congressional Republicans have also been trying to sweep the Russian attack on US democracy under the rug. The Russian influence goes beyond the buying of a president. Putin has bought the Republican Party. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. Follow Jason Easley on Facebook 2.1k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard With 2020 on the horizon, it appears voters in Trump country dont think this president and his party give a damn about them. At a town hall event in a Pennsylvania county that Donald Trump easily carried in 2016, a crowd of attendees laughed when they were asked about the Trump-GOP tax scam. Although the economy remains on a positive trend that started under Barack Obama, MSNBC host Chris Matthews noted that jobs still dont pay enough, even though unemployment is low. A lot of the jobs dont pay much, Matthews said. Did anybody here benefit from the tax cut? Many in the crowd either laughed or shouted, No! Video: Voters in a county Trump carried by 20 points have a surprising response when asked about the Republican tax scam. #ctl #p2 pic.twitter.com/HyTscSzqp9 PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) May 17, 2019 Voters wont fall for the Trump con in 2016 In 2016, Donald Trump managed to con enough voters into thinking he would break the status quo and stand up for workers, but now he has a record to run on and its a complete betrayal of the promises he made during his campaign. As a result, the American people wont give him the benefit of the doubt this time, even in counties that overwhelmingly supported him two years ago. Trump carried Luzerne county where the MSNBC town hall took place on Thursday by a 58 to 38 margin against Hillary Clinton in the last presidential election. According to WBUR, Trumps margin in this particular Pennsylvania county made up a stunning 60 percent of his victory margin statewide. In other words, if this part of the Keystone State is slipping away from Trump, its a bad sign for the president who needs to hold Pennsylvania in his column if he wants to win a second term in the White House. Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook and Twitter 1.2k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) responded to attacks on reproductive rights in Alabama, Georgia, and Missouri with a big plan to protect the right to choose. Elizabeth Warren has a bold plan to protect reproductive rights Warrens plan includes: Create federal, statutory rights that parallel the constitutional right in Roe v. Wade. The extremists behind proposals like the Alabama law dont reflect public opinion in America. Polling data shows that 71% of Americans oppose overturning Roe including 52% of Republicans. Congress should do its job and protect their constituents from these efforts by establishing affirmative, statutory rights that parallel Roe vs. Wade. These rights would have at least two key components. First, they must prohibit states from interfering in the ability of a health care provider to provide medical care, including abortion services. Second, they must prohibit states from interfering in the ability of a patient to access medical care, including abortion services, from a provider that offers them. Pass federal laws to preempt state efforts that functionally limit access to reproductive health care. States have passed countless Targeted Regulations on Abortion Providers (TRAP) laws, which are designed to functionally limit and eliminate womens access to abortion care while not technically contravening Roe. Geographical, physical, and procedural restrictions and requirements. Restrictions on medication abortion. These kinds of restrictions are medically-unnecessary and exist for only one purpose: to functionally eliminate the ability of women to access abortion services. A bill already proposed in Congress, The Womens Health Protection Act, would provide the mechanism to block these kinds of schemes concocted to deny women access to care. Congress should pass it. Guarantee reproductive health coverage as part of all health coverage. All women no matter where they live, where theyre from, how much money they make, or the color of their skin are entitled to access the high-quality, evidence-based reproductive health care that is envisioned by Roe. Making that a reality starts with repealing the Hyde Amendment, which blocks abortion coverage for women under federally funded health care programs like Medicaid, the VA, and the Indian Health Service. Congress should also expand culturally- and linguistically-appropriate services and information and include immigrant women in conversations about coverage and access. Congress must also pass the EACH Woman Act, which would also prohibit abortion restrictions on private insurance. And we should ensure that all future health coverage including Medicare for All includes contraception and abortion coverage. Ensure equal access and reproductive justice. Securing a federal right to Roe and ensuring that reproductive health care is available to every woman in America is just the beginning. We must undo the current Administrations efforts to undermine womens access to reproductive health care including ending Trumps gag rule and fully support Title X family planning funding. We must crack down on violence at abortion clinics and ensure that women are not discriminated against at work or anywhere else for the choices they made about their bodies. Elizabeth Warren is right. A Democratic president and Congress can act. Congress can pass, and the president can sign laws that protect reproductive rights and stop the Republican states attack on choice. Sen. Warren is stepping up and offering plans for a bold presidency. The other Democratic candidates have condemned the Republican attack on freedom, but it is Warren who has offered a plan to stop and reverse it. Sen. Warren is right something can be done, and Democrats must elect candidates who will pledge to do it for seats in the House and Senate, and as the next president. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. Follow Jason Easley on Facebook 1.5k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Trump is so terrified of Joe Biden winning Pennsylvania that he is overseeing his reelection campaign in the state. Trump is running his own Pennsylvania reelection campaign The Los Angeles Times reported: Moving to get a grip on the situation, the Trump political team a few weeks ago traveled to Harrisburg, Pa., for a meeting with Republican National Committee and state GOP officials to address concerns over party infrastructure, organizational readiness and their string of losses, according to two officials with knowledge of the meeting. The Trump campaign officials including David Urban, who oversaw Trumps 2016 operation in Pennsylvania, and Trump 2020 political directors Bill Stepien and Chris Carr came to make it clear that theyll be running the show, one attendee said. Biden is leading Trump by 11 points in Pennsylvania. White voters in the state have fled Trump for Biden at this early stage. The problem isnt state Republicans. The issue is Donald Trump. The presidents personality, conduct, and behavior have rubbed many Pennsylvania voters who supported Obama but flipped to Trump in 2016 the wrong way. Adding more Trump to the equation runs the risk pushing these voters firmly into Joe Bidens camp. Trump is trying to beat a native son candidate in a state that loves voting for its own Joe Biden has the perfect message and temperament for Pennsylvania, where voters love voting for moderates like Sen. Bob Casey and Gov. Tom Wolf. Pennsylvania isnt a place where far left or far right play well. The left does better in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. The right does better in the rural areas of the state, but as a whole, moderation makes for a successful statewide candidate in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvanians love for voting for their own, and Scrantons Joe Biden fits the bill. In the years since 2016, Trumps win in Pennsylvania is looking more like a fluke that was driven as much by Clintons strategy as anything that Trump did right. Trump is scared, and it might not matter who runs his campaign, Joe Biden could be unstoppable in Pennsylvania. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. Follow Jason Easley on Facebook French English Dassault Aviation at the EBACE 2019 event Saint-Cloud, France, 17 May 2019 - The Dassault Aviation group is delighted to be presenting its dual civil and defense know-how at the 2019 edition of EBACE, Europes primary business aviation event, to be held in Geneva from 21 to 23 May. Three Dassault aircraft will be presented in the static display: a Falcon 8X tri-jet, a Falcon 900LX tri-jet, a Falcon 2000S twin-jet. The Falcons designed and built by Dassault Aviation are a family of business aircraft which have earned a reputation for handling, operational flexibility, low consumption and technological innovation. On its stand, Dassault Aviation will also be presenting: a full-scale mock-up of the cabin of the Falcon 6X, the new Falcon twin-jet currently under development. Visitors will be able to enter this mock-up, which is fully representative of the features and comfort of the actual cabin; a mock-up of the Rafale, the multi-role combat aircraft, which has proven itself in numerous theatres of operations. The Rafale is a candidate for the Swiss Air Forces combat fleet renewal program; a mock-up of the nEUROn stealth combat UAV demonstrator built under the project leadership of Dassault Aviation, in cooperation with companies from five European countries, including Ruag of Switzerland; a representation of the new capabilities of Dassault Aviations Falcon maintenance networks, notably following the acquisition of MRO activities of TAG Aviation in Europe and ExecuJet in Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, the Middle East and Europe. As well as being the lynchpin of a strategic industrial network comprising hundreds of companies in France and around the world, Dassault Aviation is also the core industrial shareholder of the Thales Group and the leader of the new-generation European combat aircraft program. * * * About Dassault Aviation: With over 10,000 military and civil aircraft delivered in more than 90 countries over the last century, Dassault Aviation has built up expertise recognized worldwide in the design, development, sale and support of all types of aircraft, ranging from the Rafale fighter, to the high-end Falcon family of business jets and military drones. In 2018, Dassault Aviation reported revenues of 5.1 billion. The company has 11,500 employees. www.dassault-aviation.com Twitter: @Dassault_OnAir * * * Press contacts: Institutional Communication Stephane Fort Mathieu Durand Tel: +33 (0)1 47 11 86 90 Tel: +33 (0)1 47 11 85 88 stephane.fort@dassault-aviation.com mathieu.durand@dassault-aviation.com For high-definition photos: http://mediaprophoto.dassault-aviation.com/ For high-definition videos: http://mediaprovideo.dassault-aviation.com/ * * * Attachment 2.8k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard A federal judge has made a voicemail of Trumps lawyer obstructing justice in the Michael Flynn case public. The Washington Post reported: U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan in Washington ordered the government also to provide a public transcript of a November 2017 voice mail involving Flynn. In that sensitive call, President Trumps attorney left a message for Flynns attorney reminding him of the presidents fondness for Flynn at a time when Flynn was considering cooperating with federal investigators. The transcripts, which the judge ordered be posted on a court website by May 31, would reveal conversations at the center of two major avenues of special counsel Robert S. Mueller IIIs investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. So far they have been disclosed to the public only in fragments in court filings and the Mueller report. Democrats are investigating Trumps lawyers for obstruction of justice House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) was already preparing subpoenas for Trumps lawyers in relation to an investigation of their potential obstruction of justice. The voicemail that will be made public only adds to the evidence pile and the urgency of the congressional investigation. What has long been suspected appears to be true. Trump obstructed the Mueller investigation by having his lawyers tamper with witnesses and dangle pardons in exchange for their silence. The efforts to protect this president include a yet unnamed member of Congress who contacted Mike Flynn and obstructed justice. The investigation into the presidents behavior is anything, but case closed, as the information drip is slowing drowning Trump. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. Follow Jason Easley on Facebook 1k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Kamala Harris broke barriers at every stage of her career. Now shes going for the one between women and the White House. Everything about Kamala Harris is so much more than merely not being Trump. Though I will concede she is as much the opposite of Trump as one would want to be. Im not just talking about the fact that she is a woman of color. Im talking about her intellect, integrity, strength and courage and her willingness to fight for something she believes in. Harris believes in America. The America we knew for 200 plus years before Trump and his wrecking ball showed up. She believes in democracy, civil rights, the rule of law, and the desire to make this a more perfect Union where the value and dignity of all Americans is cherished and respected. She also believes in the America where healthcare is a right and where working hard is rewarded. Kamala Harris spent her life fighting for that America, while Mr. Trump was tending to his bone spurs, bankruptcies, and divorces. When she announced her candidacy, Harris talked about the soul of America as the reason she decided to run. She understands the irony in privileged white men whining about others using identity politics the very way they have throughout American history. There is, however, an important difference. Unlike Trump and other privileged white men of his ilk, Harris doesnt advocate using identity to keep anyone down. In 2020, our national identity is not the only thing at stake. Trump and his allies spent the last two plus years zeroing out the influence and rights of people who arent privileged white males. This includes a largely misogynistic media, content to play the same game it did in 2016. Simply put, if youre a woman running for president, odds are the media will care greatly about your hair, your clothes, whether you smile enough and whether you are nasty, (misogyny speak for assertive and tough.) Theyll continue to insist you dont have any ideas, no matter how many specific and detailed policies you put out there. It worked in 2016. We cant afford to let it work again in 2020. Not if we value the America that was great before Trump tried to turn it into a Putin satellite. Trump and his allies are going for it all. Theyre attacking the very framework of American greatness as written in the Constitution. In that America, most settled law will be overturned. Were seeing it happen with the current attempt to overturn Roe v. Wade and designate womens wombs as property of the state and the privileged white men who run it. Everyone else is invisible. That means we need people who are strong enough to fight and win. Fighting doesnt mean stooping to Trumps level. It can mean, as Kamala Harris has consistently shown, fighting smarter than him while using a few of those tactics that men would like to claim exclusive ownership over. We saw it in her examination of Jeff Sessions, as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Harris as a new member to the committee withstood the constant interruptions by male members that seemed more about protecting Sessions and their dominance over Harris than about form or procedure. She made Sessions squirm. We saw her do it again when she examined Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearing and recently as she baffled William Barr on the meaning of the word suggest. If we ever needed to ask why electing a woman as president is such a big deal, pretend for a moment that white men are entitled to a monopoly over the presidency and all aspects of power. In Trumps White House women are invisible and silent except when they are pretending to oppose cyber-bullying, pretending to oppose the policies of family separation and putting children in cages or violating the Hatch Act to promote Trump. You see the absence of women in policy. The past two years were one long face palm as policies look more like something concocted in Russia or one of its European Allies than something made in America. We see it in roll backs of legal protections for everyone except privileged white men. Its all over a tax policy that again benefits privilege, which for the most part is white and male. Then theres a foreign policy that is openly hostile to democracy, the dignity and rights of all human beings while embracing the strong men of Turkey, Egypt, China, Russia and its current satellites in eastern Europe and the Balkans. The most blatant example of backward policy is the coordinated effort by the far right to overturn Roe v. Wade. This has absolutely nothing to do with valuing life and Kamala Harris said so. Outrageous news coming out of Alabama. This law would effectively ban abortions in the state and criminalize doctors for doing their jobs providing health care to women. https://t.co/90utkxn7J2 Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) May 15, 2019 If you saw Kamala question Sessions, Brett Kavanaugh or Attorney-General Barr you saw someone who used her strength, persistence, and excellence from early in her tenure on the national stage. Whether the abuse is of a person or of power, Harris has shown an ability to expose it and call it out. With all the damage Trump has done and will continue to do, we need someone ready and able learn and work quickly from the very first day. We need someone who is used to tough fights and breaking barriers. If we really want to be sure that women will not be silenced or sent back to the days of silence and coat hangers, we need someone like Kamala Harris who is willing to take on anyone who tries to make any one less than they are, or less than they are capable of being. Someone who scares the coward in the White House so thoroughly that the best he can come up with as a criticism is to call her nasty. 785 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Senator Susan Collins of Maine, a Republican viewed as vulnerable as she seeks re-election next year, told reporters Alabamas law is terrible and very extreme. She said she did not think the Supreme Court would uphold it. By Amanda Becker WASHINGTON (Reuters) Several Republicans in the U.S. Congress are criticizing a new Alabama law that will ban nearly all abortions in the state as too extreme, saying exceptions should be made for rape and incest and questioning whether it will hold up in court. Alabamas governor on Wednesday signed the bill to ban abortions, except when a mothers life is in jeopardy, in the latest challenge by conservatives to the 1973 landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade that established a womans right to terminate a pregnancy. Asked about the new law at a Thursday news conference in Washington, House of Representatives Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy of California said that while he opposes abortion, Alabamas law goes further than I believe. In my whole political career, I also believed in rape, incest or the life of the mother, there was exceptions, he said, adding that that is the Republican Partys official position and where many of us stand. Senator Susan Collins of Maine, a Republican viewed as vulnerable as she seeks re-election next year, told reporters Alabamas law is terrible and very extreme. She said she did not think the Supreme Court would uphold it. Alabamas law is the most restrictive in the nation, and abortion rights activists have said they will sue to block its enforcement. The legal battle will play out in the run-up to the 2020 U.S. presidential and congressional elections, when all 435 seats in the House and roughly a third of the Senate will be on ballots. Democrats took control of the House in the 2018 elections, fueled by enthusiastic support from suburban women. Political strategists are warning that new abortion laws in Alabama, Georgia, Ohio and elsewhere could further alienate these moderate voters. In a sign of the political sensitivity around the issue, most national Republicans were reticent on Thursday to weigh in on Alabamas new law. Republican Senator Thom Tillis, who faces one of the most competitive 2020 re-election races in North Carolina and has supported abortion restrictions, said of course there needs to be exceptions. I havent read the bill to know whether or not that was in there, but when we approached pro-life measures at the (North Carolina) statehouse, we did it in a way that was respectful, Tillis told reporters of his time as a state lawmaker. President Donald Trumps appointment last year of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court has created a conservative-leaning court that many believe may be open to overturning Roe v. Wade. Trump, who has shifted from supporting abortion access to opposing it as president, did not address Alabamas law on Twitter or at White House events. In his February State of the Union address, he called for a ban on late-term abortions that he incorrectly described as allowing a baby to be ripped from the mothers womb moments before birth. Democrats including many of the more than 20 vying to be the partys 2020 presidential nominee have not hesitated to condemn Alabamas law. Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, a presidential contender, traveled to Georgia on Thursday to protest at the statehouse. Its clear that the laws passing here in Georgia, and in states across the country, represent the greatest threat to reproductive freedom we have faced since Roe v. Wade, Gillibrand said. (Reporting by Amanda Becker; Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell and Susan Heavey; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Jonathan Oatis) 1.7k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Trump is in full retreat mode and pretending like Barack Obama never told him in their face to face meeting not to hire Mike Flynn. Trump claims he knew nothing about Flynn It now seems the General Flynn was under investigation long before was common knowledge. It would have been impossible for me to know this but, if that was the case, and with me being one of two people who would become president, why was I not told so that I could make a change? Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 17, 2019 The problem is that Trump was told, by none other than the current president at the time, Barack Obama, not to hire Mike Flynn. Obama warned Trump not to hire Mike Flynn NBC News reported, Former President Obama warned President Donald Trump against hiring Mike Flynn as his national security adviser, three former Obama administration officials tell NBC News. The warning, which has not been previously reported, came less than 48 hours after the November election when the two sat down for a 90-minute conversation in the Oval Office.According to all three former officials, Obama warned Trump against hiring Flynn. The Obama administration fired Flynn in 2014 from his position as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, largely because of mismanagement and temperament issues. Obama told Trump not to hire Flynn. Trump ignored Obama because hes got the best brain. Flynn got indicted, pleaded guilty, and Trumps lawyers tried to obstruct justice. Donald Trump knew about Mike Flynn. He didnt care that he was risking American national security by naming Flynn his national security advisor. It is absurd that Trump is trying to rewrite reality, but it also demonstrates that the Russia scandal continues to haunt Trump long after Mueller has submitted his report. The Russia scandal isnt going away and will likely follow Trump for the rest of his life to his grave. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. Follow Jason Easley on Facebook It would be a lie to tell you that I dont think this president deserves to be impeached, or that I dont agree that the rule of law is imperiled if he is not impeached by the House and convicted by the Senate. Intellectually, impeachment is the only answer to the immoral, unlawful attacks on democracy that are Donald Trumps presidency. But unfortunately, rational thought and rule of law arent even real things anymore politically speaking, thanks to Senate Republicans and Donald Trump, and so it is against my own moral thought process that I have to warn that Democrats moving to impeach Trump right now would put vulnerable people at risk. Lets walk through this. But first, this position doesnt come out of concern for party politics. I know its not smart for Democrats to try to impeach Trump right now, because while polling shows Americans slowly moving toward it, they arent there yet. But that is the concern of strategists, and not the concern of the people. My issue is the people. And right now, if Trump were impeached by the House, the Republican-led Senate wouldnt convict. What would happen then? Many smart people argue that even if Republicans dont convict, Democrats would get information from impeachment proceedings, and certainly this is true. Democrats are actually leading several impeachment-like investigations currently, but could they get more under the flag of actual impeachment? Yes. Smart people also argue that to not impeach Trump is to negate the rule of law. This is also true. Of course, the abdication of this duty is on Republicans shoulders, but smart people want Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to do it anyway, because rule of law. And this is 100% true. Its very popular in liberal political circles to call for impeachment right now. So I get that my opinion here will be very unpopular, but I hope people will be willing to walk through this with me, because lives are at stake. This is not about our feelings for this President, or his absolute contempt for the rule of law. This is about how best to cut his power off before he kills more babies, hurts more immigrants and refugees, harms more people of color, LGBTQ people, women, journalists and more. I have my eye on these people, because that is the point of covering politics to me. I am to report on what is most helpful for people and what is doable within the framework of our government. Its easier to scream for impeachment, and I might spend some of my private time doing just that. But feelings dont get us results. Telling Democrats to impeach Trump is very popular and I agree, but what does it get vulnerable people? Trump wont be convicted by the Senate. The rule of law will then be even more undermined than if the House hadnt tested Republicans loyalty. Trump will use impeachment that goes nowhere as exoneration to attack the rule of law even more. This will not only embolden Trump, but leave him with nothing left to lose. Impeachment is not popular (yet, but it is growing in popularity) and thus could cause Democrats to not only lose the House, but fail to take back the Senate when the map is better for them than 2018, and fail to take back the White House. The country has a lot at stake and a lot to lose if Democrats dont proceed carefully. If this seems like Im making a political argument for Democrats to stay in power, I am, but not because they are Democrats. My argument is for anything that will best protect vulnerable people. Heres a photo of what went on in Russia today, because this is the kind of cruel, undemocratic leadership to which Trump aspires and he is already claiming the police and military to be his to use for his political purposes: Police officers detain a participant during a rally held by LGBT activists and their supporters on the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia in central Saint Petersburg, Russia May 17, 2019: The best scenario right now, given the Republican abdication of duty to their country, is the House slipping the information they uncover to a state like New York to proceed with indictments against this president if the law calls for it, and for Democrats to pass a law that a president cant run out the clock on indictments by being president. Of course, Republicans in the Senate would have to agree to that and we all know there isnt a patriotic bone to be found on the Republican side of the aisle when it comes to Trump. We also need a law that a person who cheats with the help of a foreign power to get into office will be automatically kicked out of office once the evidence is reasonably considered to be indisputable (we cant cede reality to Republicans version of it, so this is a rabbit hole for another day). But again, to protect our country we run into the GOP firewall in the Senate, which is where Democrats need to focus their energy even more than the White House. Any way you walk down a Democratic-led impeachment path right now, you end in more harm to innocent people. The very people liberals want to protect are the people who will be harmed. I am NOT arguing that the rule of law should be ignored for political benefit. If I thought we could protect vulnerable people while Democrats lost politically, I would be pushing for the rule of law to take precedent. Because of course, under normal circumstances it should and lets face it, Democrats have been pushovers in the past on this very issue. I am not a fan, nor am I condoning letting any politician get away with a crime because it helps Democrats politically. In fact, one of the things I write about a lot is my concern that we have incentivized committing crimes to get into the White House and then using that crime to protect ones criminal cabal from prosecution for other crimes. This is a real crisis. If I were addressing how we got into this mess, besides Republicans being unable to win national elections fairly anymore due to their extremism, I would point to Democrats letting Republicans get away with assaults on democracy for far too long, even though the current mood among Democrats is much more steely spine than it has been in the past. If Trump has given us anything, it is, FINALLY?, a Democratic Party that understands how to fight. This isnt about defending Speaker Pelosi (shes astute enough to see where impeachment goes right now and I would bet that the moment that changes, she will pounce; people are being silly if they really believe that she doesnt want Trump out of office) or House Democrats, many of whom want impeachment right now. Its about what being a liberal is based upon; caring about vulnerable people. Democrats cant protect vulnerable people if they have no political power, and Republicans are only interested in taking liberties away from vulnerable people, caging babies and separating families. Everyone who wants to see Trump impeached and who values the rule of law should be publicly protesting those who are telling Trump to ignore subpoenas and spitting on democracy by enabling a hostile foreign power to interfere with our elections on their behalf; this is the only way to get the needle to move on impeachment. Move the public perception by demanding impeachment from Republicans. Make them answer why they are failing to protect this country right now, when it is still under attack by Russia. Impeachment has to mean something or not only Democrats and vulnerable people, but this entire country, will be doomed. Impeachment cant mean anything with Trumps posse of Putinites in the Senate. Strategically speaking, but not politically, we need to clean Republicans out of the Senate and then prosecute Donald Trump and anyone who enabled him. Trump and his enablers belong in jail. But most of all, they need to be removed from power, where they can no longer hurt innocent people. 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. Charleston, SC (29403) Today Sunshine and clouds mixed. High 73F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies during the evening will give way to cloudy skies overnight. Low near 60F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. English Finnish Press release 17 May 2019 The owners of Tyosyke Oy, the city of Hameenlinna, the municipality of Kanta-Hame Hospital District, the city of Riihimaki, the municipality of the Riihimaki Region Health Center, the municipalities of Hausjarvi and Janakkala, and other shareholders are announcing their intention to sell Tyosyke Oy's operations to Terveystalo and their intention to choose Terveystalo to become their occupational health services provider. The acquisition process is still ongoing and is expected to be completed in the coming months. The acquisition will be handled by Hameenlinna City Board on 20 May 2019. City council will decide on the transaction on 10 June 2019. The other shareholders of Tyosyke Oy will handle the transaction in their own decision-making bodies. We warmly welcome all Tyosyke Oy employees and customers to Terveystalo! Together, we are able to serve the municipalities, businesses and occupational health customers of the area even better than today. Kanta-Hame is an important area for Terveystalo and we want to invest in growth and development in this area, says Laura Raty, Senior Vice President of Public Partnerships at Terveystalo. "Terveystalo is a good company that won the tender on its merits. Terveystalo is Finland's leading provider of occupational health services and an expert on quality development which provides digitally supported services to support employees, work communities, and leadership alike," says Juha Isosuo, Deputy Mayor of the City of Hameenlinna. In the transaction, the position of the company's employees will not change. Operations will continue in the former premises. Additional Information: Terveystalo, Customer Director Toni Siiskonen, Public Services, Western Finland, tel. +358 40 512 3699 City of Hameenlinna, Deputy Mayor Juha Isosuo, tel. +358 3 621 2300 Terveystalo in brief Terveystalo is a listed company on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. Terveystalo is the largest health care service company in Finland with net sales and network. The company offers versatile primary and secondary health care services for corporate and private customers and the public sector. The nationwide network covers 260 locations across Finland. The clinic network is complemented by 24/7 digital services. In 2018, Terveystalo had approximately 1.2 million individual customers and approximately 3.5 million visits to a physician. Around half of Terveystalos 10,000 health care professionals are employees of Terveystalo, while the other half are independent practitioners. www.terveystalo.com Tyosyke Oy is a leading company providing comprehensive occupational health services in its area, offering versatile preventive occupational health services to both the public sector and small and agricultural entrepreneurs in Kanta-Hame. The company employs 48 people. The company has about 12,000 end-users of occupational health. Net sales in 2018 amounted to approximately EUR 5 million. Tyosyke Oy has 6 offices in Hameenlinna, Lamm, Janakkala and Riihimaki. www.tyosyke.fi Signs direct the way to various locations in Santee. The Santee Police Department may be skirting a state statute that bars law enforcement agencies from implementing ticket quotas after a supervisor authored a memo demanding a "heavy increase" in traffic stops. File/Wade Spees/Staff Mikaela Porter joined The Post and Courier in April 2019 and writes about the city of Charleston. Previously, Mikaela reported on breaking news, local government, school issues and community happenings for The Hartford Courant in Hartford, Conn. 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. LOS ANGELES, May 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Global Aircraft Refueling Hose Market is estimated to grow at CAGR above 4.8 % over the forecast time frame 2019-2026 and reach the market value around USD 3 billion by 2026. The proliferation and increase in tanker sizes to support aviation refueling operations will drive growth on the market for military jets on special purpose missions. The increased defense budget, including the United States, China and India, and growing commercial aircraft delivery further propel the significant product demand. Free Download Sample Report Pages for Better understanding@ https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/request-sample/1371 The increased market share of aircraft refueling hose aircraft will boost the delivery of commercial aircraft with a high demand for lightweight aircraft with improved fuel efficiency. The increasing traffic of air passengers and the growing demand for low-cost carriers promote the use of refuelers in commercial air carriers. An increasing demand from low-cost carriers will improve the size of hose recharges for aircraft. Increasing adoption of low-cost carriers can be attributed to a large network of low-cost routes. Airlines also aim to reduce customers ' extra services for free and to offer packages at standardized rates that reduce air fares. Growing demand for advanced refueling equipment and sales is driving the fuel refueling aircraft over time. The wide range of built-in tubing assemblies with various diameters will further encourage business growth. The generation of income is supported by stringent global government regulations mandating periodic product maintenance and replacements of older products that don't meet standards. The growth of Helicopter In-Flight Refueling (HIFR) systems will be significant due to an increase in the size of the market. A growing demand for helicopters is contributing significantly to the tourism industry. In addition, further market size will increase helicopter applications in various sectors including petroleum and gas, mining, as well as installing refueling hoses for increased reliability and increased fuel flow assurance until 2026. View Detail Information with Complete TOC@ https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/aircraft-refueling-hose-market Due to increased installation of aircraft refuelers and ongoing technological advances, OEMs accounted for a substantial revenue shares in the airplanes refueling hose market. Participants from industry are developing lightweight fueling tubes to simplify the handling of buckets and satisfy the highest standards. In addition, aircraft manufacturers are concluding strategic agreements for air carriers that fuel U.S. defense requirements services. Due to the increasing investments of industry participants in advanced technology, North America will experience around 3% of CAGR in aircraft fueling the shale market share. In February 2016, for example, Boeing tanker KC-46 fuelled the F /A-18 with a successful flight. The use of multiple tankers, including theKC-130,C-160andKC-135, with probe & drug systems will also contribute towards a growth of this market over the time frame projected. Browse All official Market Research Reports Press Releases@ https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/press-releases Explore Our Market Blog@ https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/blogs Key Players & Strategies Eaton, Pear Hose Corp., JGB Enterprises, Inc, Husky Corporation, Parker Hannifin Manufacturing S.r.l., Elaflex, Cobham Plc., Apache Inc. and Aero-Hose Corp. are prominent players for aircraft fueling hose on market sizes. Strategic fusions and acquisitions are a prominent strategy for increasing the market share of industry players. Parker Hannifin Corporation, for example, announced in February 2019 that it had acquired Markwel Hose Products Pvt. Ltd., to complement and enhance the presence of its hose products in Asia-Pacific. Market players in the field of aircraft refueling of pants develop innovative processes which contribute to the offer of a reliable and efficient refueling of pants. Furthermore, manufacturers are also focused on introducing lower sleeves to improve the system efficiency. The increased demand for advanced hoses is further strengthening the size of the market through upgrade from regions such as North America and Europe as the company spends more consumption on business jets and military jets. In order to maximize their income, industry players are also expanding their operations and production plants. INQUIRY BEFORE BUYING@ https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/inquiry-before-buying/1371 The report is readily available and can be dispatched immediately after payment confirmation. Buy this premium research report - https://www.acumenresearchandconsulting.com/buy-now/0/1371 Would like to place an order or any question, please feel free to contact at sales@acumenresearchandconsulting.com | +1 407 915 4157 For Latest Update Follow Us: https://twitter.com/AcumenRC https://www.facebook.com/acumenresearchandconsulting https://www.linkedin.com/company/acumen-research-and-consulting Editorials represent the institutional view of the newspaper. They are written and edited by the editorial staff, which operates separately from the news department. Editorial writers are not involved in newsroom operations. Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, shake hands prior to their talks in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, southern Russia, Tuesday, May 14, 2019. Pompeo arrived in Russia for talks that are expected to focus on an array of issues including arms control and Iran. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, Pool) 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. 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. We arrived in New Orleans just a week before this column went to print. Heavy rains, combined with high Mississippi River water flowing from further north, put the river there at 17 feet above normal, just a foot below flood level. Id called the night before and talked with the Staci, our Airbnb host, who assured me we would be high and dry in her unique unit. Although the rain was a bit of a concern, I was kind of excited, as it would highlight one of my main reasons for the trip, seeing the lower Mississippi in high flow. Little did I know how impressed I would be with not only the river, but also the amazing houses and food of this colorful city, along with the wildness of the region. New Orleans was formed thousands of years ago as part of the Mississippi Delta, from water and sediments draining almost half of the continental United States. The crescent of high ground, undoubtedly from those sediments deposited above the mouth of the Mississippi, became a busy trading hub in 1723 as capital of the French colony. French rule would be replaced 40 years later with transfer to Spain as part of the Treaty of Paris. Although French architecture had been established, most was lost in major fires and replaced by Spanish style, some of which remains today. France reclaimed Louisiana in 1800, three years before Napoleon sold it to the U.S. as part of the Louisiana Purchase. ADVERTISEMENT With a connection to the Gulf of Mexico, trading boomed in New Orleans. But much of its wealth originated in the Delta region above New Orleans, where a massive sugar plantation economy was fueled by slaves. It gave the area between New Orleans and Baton Rouge the highest concentration of millionaires in America New Orleans human history is fascinating itself, but not as much to me as our nations largest river that flows through it. It was the Mississippi that provided the rich soils for not only the sugar industry, but also for cotton plantations. However, problems with the river would impact economies both in the Delta region of Louisiana and Mississippi, as well as the mouth of the big river. In the Delta region, flooding would often destroy crops. And, at the mouth, deposited silt flowing from hundreds of miles north would clog the connection of the Gulf to the Mississippi, often resulting in ships waiting for higher tides or rains to allow passage through. Following the Civil War, which New Orleans pretty much stayed out of, the city lost much of the glamour of both the French and Spanish influence, with more poverty, racial tension, and government chaos. But the heavily used port, still a major hub for U.S. commerce, along with the rising petrochemical industries that line the river, have fueled New Orleans Heading to Audubon Park on our first night for a close-up look at the river, I immediately saw this was not the Mississippi I was used to. Put plainly, it was huge, and the standing waves we could see further offshore were scary looking. I commented to Elise that I wouldnt want to be kayaking, or even canoeing through them. The water was also lapping the edge of the boardwalk, with shoreline trees partially submerged. It is well-known that much of New Orleans is below sea level, with massive pumps needed to keep it relatively dry. But we would soon learn the city is not worried about major Mississippi flooding because of the Bonnet Carre Bypass that had been built after the devastating flood of 1927. The Spillway allows for high Mississippi River water to be spilled through it into Lake Ponchartrain, essentially bypassing the water past New Orleans. We got a great aerial view of the bypass when flying in, and close-up looks at it the next day. Amazingly, the spillway essentially has 7,000 12-foot-long timbers that can be pulled up by crane one at a time to allow spillover of a high Mississippi. Since being built after the 1927 flood, the spillway has been opened 14 times, with two of them taking place thus far in 2019. That is due to the wettest spring in 124 years in the Mississippi watershed, which drains 40 percent of U.S. waterways. Spillway safeguards against river flooding, along with major construction projects following Hurricane Katrina, provides some protection for New Orleans against nature. But hovering over the fate of the city is the largest control structure on the Mississippi. Located above Baton Rouge, its failure could spell doom for both these cities. Read next weeks Nature Nut for a close-up look at this structure and why it may be doomed. ADVERTISEMENT Abigail Lindenfeld, who recently finished her freshman year at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, was a main puppeteer in the production of "A Simple Silhouette Circus." This four-show event was an original creation by Lindenfeld and seven other Cornell students. Although Lindenfeld had a previous interest in puppeteering, this was her first foray into this type of theater art. A 2018 graduate of Century High School, Lindenfeld had performance experience in both middle and high school and with Honors Choirs here in Rochester. At Cornell she is majoring in biochemistry and molecular biology and minoring in musical theater. In addition to her most recent work with puppets, she has also participated in the production of "Rent," the one act play "Watermelon Boats," and the play "Trifles at Cornell." Lindenfeld shared that a devised show with puppets involved the cast and director starting from scratch. Together they created the script and all the elements necessary for the production. ADVERTISEMENT "When the cast met up together for the first time, we literally had nothing," she said. "This was very ominous, but luckily through the devising process we created a wonderful show that we are all proud of." "A Simple Silhouette Circus" is a series of vignettes about "misfit circus people," Lindenfeld said. "While we may have been inspired by similar ideas from other forms of media such as Tim Burtons style, we came up with everything on our own and composed this show with guidance and help from one another." Two nurses, two languages Graduating this month from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Amanda DuBallwill be returning to Rochester with degrees in both nursing and Spanish. DuBalls mother, Mary DuBall, graduated from UW-Eau Claire with a degree in nursing in 1987, and so the pinning ceremony is quite special for both mother and daughter. "The pinning ceremony is a historically significant event, which honors the brotherhood and sisterhood of nurses," DuBall said. "My moms pin was engraved with her initials in 1987, which she wore on her RN badge. She gifted it to me, and its now engraved with my initials and the year 2019. Now I can place it on my badge and carry on the legacy." Describing her mothers commitment to nursing, DuBall said she is "continuously giving of her time and energy for others. She demonstrates compassion towards others and approaches every situation with consideration for what the person was, or potentially could be, going through. She motivates me to be the best version of myself." ADVERTISEMENT In addition to a nursing degree, she had a second major, Spanish. DuBall, a 2015 Century graduate, began studying in high school but had no experience using the language outside the classroom until college. A study abroad trip to Costa Rica not only provided an opportunity to learn about health care in a different culture, but also enhanced her Spanish language skills. Upon return, as a student nurse, while working with a Spanish-speaking patient, she was able to "obtain a detailed description of the pain as well as the aggravating and alleviating factors. This experience not only enhanced my life but allowed me to provide more individualized and holistic care for this patient." DuBall has secured a nursing position at Mayo Clinic. She is also interested in providing volunteer support to the migrant community in Rochester. Her hope is "that I would help Spanish speakers to navigate through the health care system and provide quality care." "Star Wars" fans have spent years waiting for Disneyland to let them enter a galaxy far, far away. How then does the Magic Kingdom get them to leave? Disneylands May 31 launch of Star Wars: Galaxys Edge will test the parks efforts to open a highly anticipated expansion without the crushing crowds, frustration and chaos that can accompany a new attraction. The much-hyped land is expected to attract such a throng that Disneyland engineers and landscapers have been working for months to accommodate more visitors by widening walkways and improving queueing systems. To maintain some order during the first three weeks after the 14-acre attraction opens, Disneyland will require reservations for each visitor to enter the land, with colored wristbands used to distinguish which four-hour time window corresponds with each visitor. ADVERTISEMENT Once a time window expires, park employees dressed as "Star Wars" characters will politely tell parkgoers that they need to leave the land to make way for new visitors. Disneyland representatives say they expect that most guests will abide by the courteous directions to move on. But they remain mum about what will happen if guests ignore the requests. "Four hours is a long time in the land," said Kris Theiler, vice president of the Disneyland Park. "Most guests are going to find that theyre ready to roll after four hours." The new $1 billion land was built in the northwest corner of the park, replacing several attractions in Frontierland, including a petting zoo. It will have three entrances, where employees can control the crowd flow. The expansion is designed to resemble a remote outpost on the planet Batuu filled with space outlaws, smugglers and rebels battling the evil empire. The land features two rides, four eateries, one space-themed cantina and five retail shops. Workers last week putting finishing touches on electrical and mechanical features, such as a robot that turns a spit at a barbecue eatery, as media members were allowed a glimpse of the new area. The buildings look aged and war-ravaged, and the rocky hoodoos that dot the landscape are meant to resemble the remnants of giant petrified trees. The roar of spaceships landing and taking off blasts from hidden speakers. Several shops and eateries operate out of what resembles a Middle Eastern bazaar. ADVERTISEMENT All the signs on the concrete buildings are in an alien language, but visitors with the Play Disney Parks app will be able to use it to translate the signs into English, park representatives said. Everyone else will have to ask staff for help in identifying the stores and restaurants. "If it doesnt work out, we can tweak it later," Theiler said about the signs. Only one ride, the interactive Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, will be operational on opening day. The second Galaxys Edge attraction Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is promised for later in the year. Park representatives have not disclosed whether they will limit how many times park visitors can ride the Millennium Falcon attraction during each four-hour window. If the ride breaks down during the three-week reservation period, Disneyland will make amends to the guests, park representatives said, but no details have been provided yet. The reservation system is Disneylands effort to avoid the gridlock and social media backlash that have come with the opening of other blockbuster attractions, such as the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood in 2016 and Cars Land at Disneys California Adventure Park in 2012. When the popular Tower of Terror drop ride at Disneys California Adventure Park was overhauled in 2017 to become Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout, the lines during opening weekend were as long as five hours. Park visitors who book rooms at any of the three Disneyland Resort hotels automatically get a four-hour reservation to visit the land. ADVERTISEMENT Parkgoers who didnt go the hotel-room route were allowed to make reservations online May 2. Those reservations for the initial May 31-to-June 23 opening period were filled within two hours. And there were a few hitches: Some people with hotel reservations complained that Disney sent them Star Wars land reservations for the wrong dates, and others groused that the online reservation system didnt give them the chance to add friends and family to their party problems Disney representatives say have been addressed. After June 23, the theme park will launch a virtual queueing system. By visiting the Disneyland app or a kiosk in the park, visitors can sign up to be part of a boarding group to enter the Star Wars land. Each boarding group will have a two-hour window in which to enter the land but no time limit once visitors enter. 1994 25 years ago Lorie Line in Concert will appear in Rochester for the first time. The Walking With You Tour, based on her latest release, is a high-energy musical experience, featuring Lories piano, accompanied by strings, woodwinds, and percussion. Reserve seating at the Mayo Civic Center is $20. 1969 50 years ago A "Big Slipper" slide, the fourth to be built in Minnesota, has opened north of Donaldsons at the Miracle Mile. Prices are 10 cents a slide or 12 slides for $1 for both adults and students. Glenda Lindorff is the valedictorian of the 1969 graduating class of Preston High School. The class salutatorian is Janelle Gatzke. ADVERTISEMENT 1944 75 years ago A wartime appeal to Rochester residents to quit "dining out" on Sunday is being made by the board of directors of the Rochester Chamber of Commerce. Restaurant owners are unable to find people to work. Local housewives, students and teachers are urged to seek full-time and part-time employment in restaurants and hotels to assist in the community problem. Sgt. Walter Theiss, who is listed as the first Wykoff man to enlist in service in this war, is now on furlough, visiting his wife and parents. 1919 100 years ago Washington reports that Dr. William J. Mayo of Rochester, formerly a colonel in the medical corps, has been awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. A fire prevention board for Rochester will be one of the developments in the near future. This will be brought about with cooperation of the fire department, the mayor, other city officials and citizens. From news services Ten years ago ADVERTISEMENT President Barack Obama strode head-on into the stormy abortion debate, telling graduates at the University of Notre Dame that both sides had to stop demonizing one another. In Sri Lanka, the Tamil Tigers admitted defeat in their fierce quarter-century war for a separate homeland. Barbara Mandrell, Roy Clark and Charlie McCoy were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Five years ago Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper signed a "Right To Try" bill allowing terminally ill patients to obtain experimental drugs without getting federal approval. Thousands of cheering supporters welcomed Narendra Modi, India's next prime minister, on his arrival in New Delhi after leading his party to a staggering victory in national elections. California Chrome won the Preakness to keep alive his bid for horse racing's first Triple Crown since 1978 (California Chrome would finish tied for fourth in the Belmont three weeks later.) One year ago With six Democrats joining Republicans in voting to confirm her, Gina Haspel won Senate confirmation to become director of the CIA. The Miss America Organization announced that it would now have women in its three top leadership positions, after an email scandal in which male officials were caught making vulgar and insulting comments about past winners. Today's birthdays Actor Peter Gerety is 79. Singer Taj Mahal is 77. Rock musician Bill Bruford is 70. Singer-musician George Johnson (The Brothers Johnson) is 66. TV personality Kathleen Sullivan is 66. Boxing Hall of Famer Sugar Ray Leonard is 63. Actor-comedian Bob Saget is 63. Sports announcer Jim Nantz is 60. Producer Simon Fuller (TV: "American Idol") is 59. Singer Enya is 58. Actor-comedian Craig Ferguson is 57. Rock singer-musician Page McConnell is 56. Actor David Eigenberg is 55. Singer-musician Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) is 54. Actress Paige Turco is 54. Rhythm-and-blues musician O'Dell (Mint Condition) is 54. Actor Hill Harper is 53. TV personality/interior designer Thom Filicia is 50. Singer Jordan Knight is 49. Rhythm-and-blues singer Darnell Van Rensalier (Shai) is 49. Actress Sasha Alexander is 46. Rock singer-musician Josh Homme is 46. Rock singer Andrea Corr (The Corrs) is 45. Actor Sendhil Ramamurthy is 45. Actress Rochelle Aytes is 43. Singer Kandi Burruss is 43. Actress Kat Foster is 41. Actress Ayda Field is 40. Actress Ginger Gonzaga is 36. Folk-rock singer/songwriter Passenger is 35. Dancer-choreographer Derek Hough is 34. Actor Tahj Mowry is 33. Actress Nikki Reed is 31. Singer Kree Harrison (TV: "American Idol") is 29. Actress Leven Rambin is 29. Actress Samantha Browne-Walters is 28. Actor Justin Martin is 25. Rochesters Library Board wants to ensure it is on the same page as the Rochester City Council, as council members discuss budget priorities that include plans for the library. Members heard an update Wednesday on recent council discussions from City Administrator Steve Rymer, who said its too early to tell where a final decision will land. "Im mainly curious about if you guys decide to budget in terms of a new library, if that means were only allowed to access those funds in terms of new library construction," Library Board member Antinea Ascione asked Rymer. Earlier this month, the council reviewed a set of proposed budget priorities, which included "fund a new downtown library facility rather than spending funds to maintain/repair existing" within the next seven years. The council is scheduled to vote on the priorities during its 7 p.m. meeting Monday at the city-county Government Center. Council President Randy Staver requested a modification to the library item to note the council will "consider" funding a new facility. ADVERTISEMENT "Im not saying Im for or against that," Staver said during the May 6 council meeting. "Im just saying we havent fully vetted that at the council yet." Rymer said that consideration will be part of ongoing council discussions, especially related to funding a proposed $1.6 million in library investments at the current site. New library? "The first step is: Does the council want to fund a new library," Rymer said, noting council members have said they dont want to invest in the existing library unless the final plan is to stay at the Second Street Southeast location. Library Board members said thats a decision they need to consider as well, since the board controls the building and its operations, while the City Council approves funding for the library. "We havent made the decision on whether the board wants a new library versus expansion of the current premises or branches," Library Board member Erin Pagel said. "Those decisions havent been made from our perspective." The board did seek support for a $55 million expansion project in 2015, which failed to receive the required funding support. Rymer said options could be limited based on how the council decides to move forward with funding library growth. He cited a public-private partnership as an option, but noted it would likely require a new building. ADVERTISEMENT Such a partnership, he said, would limit reliance on public investment, while using existing city assets, such as property, to attract potential investors. "If we looked at branches or expansion of this site, its much different financing, one that most likely will need to ask voters for additional funds," he said. Bloom site? One option being considered as a potential public-private partnership is building on city-owned land across the Zumbro River from the Government Center. When a planned Bloom International Realty project failed to move forward on the site, the City Council asked staff to seek options. The city is planning to look into potential partnerships to develop the 2.5 acres. "The library could be part of that equation, as well as housing, retail or a variety of things," Rymer said. "Thats yet to be determined, as well." The city administrator also referenced a potential option for working with University of Minnesota Rochester to build on land south of the citys downtown core. Calling it a "multi-multi-million conversation," Rymer said he anticipates the Library Board will be included in the process as the city pulls together a team to review options, as well as legal and financial implications of a possible public-private partnership. ADVERTISEMENT Library Director Audrey Betcher agreed efforts need to include all potential decision-makers. "I think its a great conversation, because the Library Board and the City Council do need to be in lockstep," she said, noting the Library Board has considered all options to be on the table since earlier expansion efforts failed. Library Board President Stephanie Saathoff agreed, citing years of uncertainty regarding potential options. "We want to make sure we are extremely involved with the next steps as much as possible, since we have been sort of in a holding pattern," she said. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Legend Power Systems Inc. (TSX.V: LPS) (Legend Power or the Company), a global leader in onsite energy management technology, today announced it will release its Q2 2019 financial results for the six months ended March 31, 2019, on Thursday, May 23, 2019 at 1:00PM PT (4:00PM ET). The Company has also scheduled a conference call to provide a business update and discuss its Q2 2019 financial results for Thursday, May 23, 2019 at 1:30PM PT (4:30PM ET). The call will be hosted by Randy Buchamer, President & Chief Executive Officer and Steve Vanry, Chief Financial Officer. CONFERENCE CALL DETAILS: DATE: Thursday, May 23, 2019 TIME: 1:30PM PT (4:30pm ET) DIAL-IN NUMBER: North America Toll Free Dial-in Number (877) 201-0168 Local and International Dial-in Number (647) 788-4901 CONFERENCE ID: 7484917 REPLAY: Available at: www.legendpower.com About Legend Power Systems Inc. Legend Power Systems Inc. ( www.legendpower.com ) is a global leader in onsite energy management technology. We help buildings overcome grid volatility challenges common to utilities around the world. Legends industry-proven SmartGATE enables dynamic power management of an entire building. The proprietary and patented system reduces total energy consumption and power costs, while also maximizing the life of electrical equipment. Legends unique solution is also a key contributor to both corporate sustainability efforts and the meeting of utility energy efficiency targets. For further information, please contact: Steve Vanry, CFO + 1 604 671 9522 svanry@legendpower.com Sean Peasgood, Investor Relations + 1 647 503 1054 sean@sophiccapital.com 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 This Press Release may contain statements which constitute forward-looking information, including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of the Company, its directors, or its officers with respect to the future business activities and operating performance of the Company. The words may, would, could, will, intend, plan, anticipate, believe, estimate, expect and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company, or its management, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future business activities or performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and that the Companys future business activities may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. Such risks, uncertainties and factors are described in the periodic filings with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities, including the Companys quarterly and annual Managements Discussion & Analysis, which may be viewed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Although the Company has attempted to identify important risks, uncertainties and factors which could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be others that cause results to not be as anticipated, estimated or intended. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements other than as may be required by applicable law. AUSTIN It started with some twinkling sounds, moved toward themes of the heart and added more than a few notes of humor. For your listening pleasure: "Mr. Kallman." Thursday night, the Austin High School Wind Ensemble premiered a piece commissioned for the schools band and written in tribute to one of the districts beloved teachers, the late Dave Kallman. "I was really taken by how relaxed and comforting he was when working with such young students," said Timothy Mahr, a professor of music at St. Olaf College in Northfield. Mahr, who also is a professional composer, did a student-teaching stint under Kallman, who was the middle school band instructor in Austin for several decades. "Mr. Kallman had a way with them that calmed them and let them know that they were cared for." Austin High School Band Director Christoph Dundas said the piece, composed by Mahr, started with donations to honor Kallman after his death. ADVERTISEMENT "Within my first month teaching here, I heard the family wanted to donate memorials from the funeral to the band program," Dundas said. "When the checks came in, it was five to six times what I was expecting it to be." The lone stipulation: Use the money for something thatll last. Dundas said the idea of music stands or the purchase of instruments would have fit the request, but the school came up with an idea that seemed more fitting to a man whod committed his life to teaching music joyfully to young men and women. Eventually, the school reached out to Mahr, who is friends with Kallmans son, and who has that student-teaching connection to Austin Public Schools. Dundas said Mahr has a reputation as one of the best college composers in the county, so he was concerned, even with the generous donation from the Kallman family, of meeting his fee. "I sent an email to gauge his interest, and he called me back within a half hour," Dundas said. "He said he really wanted to do this commission, and he worked with us on the price." That was in the fall of 2016, Dundas said. Mahr, meanwhile, had other projects on his plate, so the timing allowed the Austin band folks to raise funds to make up the difference between what they had in hand, and the full amount of Mahrs fee. About a week before spring break 2019, the Austin band started getting some sheet music from Mahr. He also worked with the wind ensemble to help them learn the piece for the performance. Mahr said he worked with the band on "Mr. Kallman" this week, but hed previously worked with them on a different project in January. ADVERTISEMENT "There are solos within the piece that were written with specific performers in mind students that had made an impression on me in January," he said. Both Mahr and Dundas talked about how the composition reflects the man and the music teacher who Kallman was. The beginning of the piece opens with quick, playful notes that represent the "twinkle he had in his eyes." There is a part that shows his heart, his love of students and of his family. There is a section that is big and bold, representing his legacy in Austin, and there are interjected notes that show his penchant for humor. Thinking back to the man hed known early in life, Mahr said, "Dave Kallman seemed to find great joy in every teaching opportunity and Ive tried to do the same ever since. Were fortunate to make a living helping the young discover who they are through the art of music." AUSTIN An Austin man was sentenced Thursday to a little more than a year in prison for stealing from a Dexter Township farm. Troy Alan Meyer, 52, was sentenced in Mower County District Court Thursday by Judge Jeffrey Kritzer to 15 months in state prison on a felony third-degree burglary charge. Meyer was also sentenced to 365 days in jail on a gross misdemeanor, fifth-degree drug possession charge. The two sentences are concurrent with one another and he will receive 63 days of credit for time already served, according to court documents. Meyer pleaded guilty to the two charges in March. Mower County Sheriffs Office deputies were called around 2:10 p.m. on Dec. 15 to a residence in the 25000 block of 630th Avenue in Dexter Township. A man reported seeing a red pickup full of things leaving a nearby unoccupied farm site. The man was able to give deputies a license plate number. ADVERTISEMENT The vehicle was located later that day in the 1000 block of Seventh Street Southeast at residence Meyer lives at with his sister, according to court documents. The vehicle was towed to the Mower County Law Enforcement Center and was subsequently searched. On Dec. 19, Meyer was arrested at another resident where the Austin Police Department executed a search warrant. Meyer reportedly admitted he had been at the farm site and took about 12 pieces of lumber but denied he entered the shed or took any other item from the property. He was also found with 0.24 grams of methamphetamine. AUSTIN A Racine man was sentenced Thursday to more than four years in prison for assault following a 39-minute pursuit by law enforcement. Elijah Joel Beckman, 31, was sentenced in Mower County District Court by Judge Jeffery Kritzer to 52 months in prison. Beckman was also given a concurrent jail sentence of 180 days, but satisfied that sentence with time he already served. On the prison sentence, Kritzer receives credit for 342 days already served, according to court records. He pleaded guilty in January to felony second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and gross misdemeanor driving while under the influence of a controlled substance. Meyer was arrested on June 8 after leading members of the Mower County Sheriffs Office and the Minnesota State Patrol on a 39-minute and nearly 43 mile-long pursuit. During the time Meyer was fleeing, he was seen attempting to intentionally ram his vehicle into the rear of a squad car and swerved directly toward a deputy who was standing outside his vehicle after deploying stop sticks, according to court documents. Meyer came within about 20 feet of where the deputy was standing. ADVERTISEMENT Meyer admitted that he ate methamphetamine. The Federal Aviation Administration's Flight Standards District Office in Hawaii has been informed of a Boeing 747 wing flap that washed ashore early Friday morning in Piti. Tim Cornelison, air-traffic manager for the FAA on Guam, confirmed that the aircraft part is called a "leading-edge flap." It is about 11 feet long, he said. The U.S. Coast Guard called the FAA about the discovery of the plane part and it was transported to the A.B. Won Pat International Airport for storage, Cornelison said. He said the Flight Standards office will determine where the part came from. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. Port Authority police and Guam Police Department officers responded to the shoreline where the flap had washed ashore. Port Authority General Manager Rory Respicio said the wing part was found on the beachside around 10 a.m. across from Toves Mart in Piti. Airport Police were at the scene with a flatbed truck to retrieve the wing part. The manufacturer's label on the wing flap states it's from a Boeing 747. The part, also known as a "fore flap" is registered to a cargo transport company called Aerosup. An Aerosup flight took off from Andersen Air Force Base on Saturday afternoon. That aircraft landed in Hawaii after it departed the base. TORONTO, May 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Arch Biopartners Inc., (Arch or the Company) (TSX Venture: ARCH and OTCQB: ACHFF), announced it has arranged a non-brokered, unsecured convertible note (Note) financing for gross proceeds of CAD $1,000,000 (the Offering). The Note matures on November 22, 2019 and will be convertible, at the option of the holder, into common shares in the capital of the Company (Common Shares) at a price per Common Share of $1.21, in the thirty-day period prior to the maturity of the Note. The Note bears simple interest of 5% per annum, which is payable in-kind by the Company with Common Shares to be issued at then market prices for the Common Shares and subject to TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) approval. The holder has the option starting October 22, 2019 until November 21, 2019 to extend the term of the Note another 3 years to November 22, 2022. The Note is unsecured and transferable, subject to resale restrictions under applicable securities laws and regulatory requirements. All securities issued in connection with the Offering are subject to a statutory hold period of four months commencing on the closing date of the Offering, which is expected to be May 22, 2019. The Company will primarily use the proceeds to fund the costs of the phase I human trial for Metablok. Metablok (LSALT peptide) is the Companys lead drug candidate for treating acute kidney injury and other organs damaged by inflammation. The Offering is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of applicable regulatory approvals, including Final Approval of the TSXV, which previously granted Conditional Approval of the Offering. There are no finder's fees to be paid in connection with the Offering. There is no material fact or material change about the Company that has not been generally disclosed. About Arch Biopartners Arch Biopartners Inc. is focused on the development of innovative technologies that have the potential to make a significant medical or commercial impact. Arch has established a diverse portfolio that includes Metablok, a potential treatment for inflammation, sepsis and cancer metastasis; AB569, a potential new treatment for antibiotic resistant bacterial infections in the lung, urinary tract or wounds; and, Borg peptide coatings that increase corrosion resistance and decrease bacterial biofilm on various medical grade metals and plastics. For more information on Arch Biopartners, its technologies and other public documents Arch has filed on SEDAR, please visit www.archbiopartners.com The Company has 58,662,302 common shares outstanding. Forward-Looking Statements All statements, other than statements of historical fact, in this news release are forward looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, statements regarding the future plans and objectives of the Company. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. These and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements are based on the estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. The Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements should circumstances or managements estimates or opinions change. 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. NORRISTOWN A judge has set a January 2020 trial date for a Philadelphia man accused of stabbing a woman outside her Whitemarsh workplace and then driving his three-ton vehicle over her several times, crushing her to death. Lawrence Maurice Crawley faces a jury trial on Jan. 13 and the trial is expected to last five days, according to a court order filed on Thursday by Montgomery County Judge Thomas C. Branca. Crawleys trial originally was scheduled to commence in July. However, the judge granted a defense request to continue the trial to a later date, according to the court order. Additionally, on Thursday, the judge scheduled a hearing on all pretrial motions on Oct. 4. Crawley, 34, of the 800 block of North 13th Street, Philadelphia, previously pleaded not guilty to charges of first- and third-degree murder, possessing an instrument of crime and possession of a weapon in connection with the alleged 2:27 a.m. Aug. 3, 2018, attack of Angela Maya Stith outside Vector Security along the 5100 block of Campus Drive in Whitemarsh. If hes convicted of first-degree murder, which is an intentional killing, Crawley faces a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment. Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty against Crawley. A conviction of third-degree murder, a killing committed with malice, carries a possible maximum sentence of 20-to-40-years in prison. Crawley remains in the county jail without bail pending his trial. District Attorney Kevin R. Steele is handling the prosecution with the assistance of prosecutor Allison Ruth. Crawley is represented by defense lawyer Carrie L. Allman, chief homicide lawyer for the Montgomery County Office of the Public Defender. Authorities believe Stith, with whom Crawley previously had a relationship, was on a workplace break at the time Crawley showed up on a rear parking lot of the business and the attack was captured by video surveillance cameras. An autopsy determined Stith, also 33 and of Philadelphia, died from combined blunt and sharp force injuries. An investigation began when Whitemarsh police responded to Vector Security for a reported stabbing and found Stiths body in the rear parking lot of the business. Video surveillance showed Stith exiting a rear door at Vector Security about 2:13 a.m. and walking to her Toyota sedan. The victim is then observed running from her vehicle while being chased by a male suspect, Whitemarsh Detective Stephen Kerns and county Detective William Mitchell alleged in the arrest affidavit, adding Crawley is observed attacking the woman with a stabbing motion. The video surveillance showed that several of Stiths coworkers appeared on the parking lot and attempted to render aid to her as she lay injured on the ground, a knife protruding from her back, court papers indicate. A Chevrolet Avalanche SUV is then observed driving over the area of the victim on three occasions while the vehicle circled the parking lot, detectives alleged, adding coworkers witnessed the horrific attack. Investigators said they found the drivers side window of Stiths sedan had been smashed. Scene evidence inside the Toyota indicates the victim was initially attacked inside the driver side of the car and escaped through the passenger door. Detectives also located a single knife, a knife handle and hammer at the scene, detectives wrote in the arrest affidavit. Crawley, according to court documents, spoke by cellphone with a woman after the alleged attack and stated, I stabbed her and then I ran over her with the truck. I am going to kill myself. Crawley allegedly told the woman that voices in his head made him do it, according to the arrest affidavit. Crawley later called his mother at 2:31 a.m. and told her, Mom, Im sorry I killed her, according to the arrest affidavit. Authorities alleged Crawley fled the scene in the blue Chevrolet Avalanche SUV and was spotted several hours later by state police traveling on the westbound Pennsylvania Turnpike in Somerset County. As troopers approached the vehicle, Crawley reportedly set himself on fire inside the vehicle and he spent several weeks in hospitals recovering from burns, according to court documents. The investigation further revealed that on May 23 Crawley was arrested by state police in Montour County following an assault of Stith during which she was strangled, according to the arrest affidavit. On July 18, Crawley pleaded guilty to a charge of simple assault, court papers indicated. NORRISTOWN Norristown and Montgomery County have been paving the way for infrastructure in a pretty big way. Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Deputy Secretary Michael Walsh joined state lawmakers including State Rep. Matt Bradford and Norristown and Montgomery County officials in a tour of the borough Friday afternoon. During the tour, they discussed how the Restore Pennsylvania proposal could help address green infrastructure needs in the borough. Restore Pennsylvania is a statewide plan, funded through a severance tax, to aggressively address the commonwealths infrastructure needs. In thinking about this event we thought about where we could go in Norristown, in Representative Bradfords district, to show whats going on, where the state, local, federal, where private organizations were investing in infrastructure. DCNR has its interest in trails in the area but here we have trails, we have the bus station, we have the taxi. We have all types of investment in infrastructure in Norristown, said Drew Gilchrist, regional adviser for the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The group met at East Lafayette Street and DeKalb Street beside the newly developed trail. A large focus of the conversation was on the trail as well as the Lafayette Street extension project and how the developments have helped bring communities together and work toward sustainability. The Schuylkill River Trail is the busiest trail in our region. Our region on the Pennsylvania side is 3.7 million people. Our region is the fifth largest region in the entire country. This trail is where many people ride more than any other trail in our region. The Chester Valley Trail is the second most used trail. The biggest two are going to connect right here, explained Matthew Edmond with the Montgomery County Planning Commission. This is a $90 million investment by the Federal Highway Administration and by the county, who is putting up 20 percent of the project from our own funds, continued Edmond pointing toward Lafayette Street. Weve widened Lafayette Street. Weve added sidewalks so people can walk. Were adding parking spaces so people can park here and we can humanize this road. Before that you couldnt get on this trail from Norristown. The Lafayette Street extension project, which Edmond discussed is an effort to improve highway access and mobility into downtown Norristown and Plymouth Township. This project is being headed by the Montgomery County Planning Commission in association with PennDOT, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and the PA Turnpike Commission. Construction for the project has been broken into six stages and is expected to conclude in Fall 2020. It is currently in its third stage. The following is the expected progression of the project: Stage 1 (Complete) Reconstruct freight Freight Station paved areas Construct trail connection to Chester Valley Trail Construct temporary detour to Schuylkill River Trail Relocate the Schuylkill River Trail Stage 2 (Complete) Remove temporary detour of Schuylkill River Trail Lafayette Street closed between Mill Street and Walnut Street Temporary detour of Lafayette Street between DeKalb and Ford streets Reconstruct Saw Mill Run Culvert Stage 3 (In progress) Remove temporary detour of Lafayette Street between Mill and Ford streets Remove old railroad viaduct retaining walls Construct storm water management basins Reconstruct and widen south side of Lafayette Street Short term lane closures of DeKalb Street between Washington and Lafayette streets Repave DeKalb Street between Washington and Lafayette streets Stage 4 (Summer 2019-Fall 2019) Reconstruct center portion of Lafayette Street Stage 5 (Fall 2019-Summer 2020) Reconstruct north side of Lafayette Street Short term lane closures of Ford Street between Main and Lafayette Street One nighttime closure of Green Street between Lafayette and Main Street Repave Ford Street from Lafayette Street to Main Street Stage 6 (Summer 2020-Fall 2020) Final milling, paving and striping of entire project area We mentioned the Schuylkill River Trail which will bring together four counties over those 130 miles. Its really an incredible investment. Its part of this Lafayette extension, said Michael Walsh, Deputy Secretary for Administration. It all connects together and thats why I wanted to come to Norristown today to encourage new and all people of Pennsylvania to ask their state representatives and senators to support Restore Pennsylvania. Its an investment in Pennsylvanias future. Its an investment in the kinds of green infrastructure we see here today and in the quality of life for communities across Pennsylvania. Dublin, May 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "North America IoT Sensor Market to 2027 - Analysis and Forecasts by Type; Connectivity Type; and Application" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The North America IoT Sensor market accounted for US$ 3,609.9 Mn in 2017 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 21.6% over the forecast period 2018-2027, to account for US$ 21,121.7 Mn in 2027. Factors including the growing application of IoT and connected devices are driving the North America IoT Sensor market. The introduction of connected cars is supporting in the industries is creating a massive opportunity for the North America IoT Sensor market in the forecast period. Connected cars enable travelers or the car itself to automatically share the data within the vehicle and also outside the vehicle. Internet of things (IoT) is one of those technologies which has been breaking grounds to offer automotive manufacturers a new set of products and services which are entirely a new layer to the traditional car perceptions. These new configurations may include sensors, controllers, lighting and software applications, these products and services are offered as stand-alone, where, the customer can plug and play as per the requirement or some of the features are built-in in the new generation cars. These systems can either be deployed in infotainment or automated control units of vehicles. The market players are focusing on various initiatives to enhance its reach to rural areas and boost its position in the North America IoT Sensor market. The North America IoT Sensor market is fragmented with the presence of several industries and the competitive dynamics in the market is expected to change during the upcoming years. In addition to this, various initiatives are undertaken by the governmental bodies to accelerate the North America IoT Sensor market further. For instance, the government of North America manages huge projects of infrastructural development such as bridges, telephone lines, gas connections, and many others. Similarly, for the IoT sector, the government takes responsibility for the regulation of intangible things such as data or information which flows between the devices, networks, and sensors. For different sensors and devices in order to share data and communicate, it is essential that these devices share common standards for communication protocols and data formats. The best and efficient way for the government to regulate and control IoT is to generate standards as a means for the regulation. These initiative provide various benefits to the IoT Sensor manufacturing companies located in the region. These initiatives are implemented to enhance the technologies that positively impact on the North America IoT Sensor market. These initiative provide various benefits to the IoT Sensor based companies located in the region; thus, increasing the growth of North America IoT Sensor markets. This is further expected to provide the North America IoT Sensor market players to cope up with the rapidly transforming industrial requirement. This initiative provides multiple benefits to the companies present in this region and thus increasing the growth of North America IoT Sensor market. Some of the players present in IoT Sensor market are Analog Devices, Inc., ARM Holdings PLC, Broadcom, Inc., Honeywell International, Inc., Infineon Technologies AG, NXP Semiconductors N.V., Omron Corporation, Robert Bosch Gmbh, STMicroelectronics N.V., and Texas Instruments Incorporated among others. Key Topics Covered: Part 1. Introduction Part 2. North America IoT Sensor Market - Key Takeaways Part 3. Research Methodology Part 4. North America IoT Sensor Market Landscape 4.1 Market Overview 4.2 Ecosystem Analysis 4.3 North America Pest Analysis Part 5. North America IoT Sensor Market - Key Industry Dynamics 5.1 Key Market Drivers 5.1.1 Growing Application Of IoT And Connected Devices 5.2 Key Market Restraints 5.2.1 Rising Security Concerns Among Customers 5.3 Key Market Opportunities 5.3.1 Introduction Of Connected Cars 5.4 Future Trends 5.4.1 Mounting Adoption Of Advanced Technologies 5.5 Impact Analysis Of Drivers And Restraints Part 6. IoT Sensor -North America Market Analysis 6.1 North America IoT Sensor Market Overview 6.2 North America IoT Sensor Market Forecast And Analysis Part 7. North America IoT Sensor Market Analysis - By Type 7.1 Overview 7.2 North America IoT Sensor Market Breakdown, By Type, 2018 & 2027 7.3 Temperature Sensor 7.4 Light Sensor 7.5 Pressure Sensor 7.6 Chemical Sensor 7.7 Motion Sensor 7.8 Others Part 8. North America IoT Sensor Market Analysis - By Connectivity Type 8.1 Overview 8.2 North America IoT Sensor Market Breakdown, By Connectivity Type, 2018 & 2027 8.3 Wired 8.4 Wireless Part 9. North America IoT Sensor Market Analysis - By Application 9.1 Overview 9.2 North America IoT Sensor Market Breakdown, By Application, 2018 & 2027 9.3 Automotive 9.4 Building Automation 9.5 Consumer Electronics 9.6 Healthcare 9.7 Industrial 9.8 Retail 9.9 Others Part 10. North America IoT Sensors Market - Country Analysis 10.1 Overview 10.1.1 North America IoT Sensors Market Breakdown, By Key Countries 10.1.1.1 U.S. IoT Sensors Market Revenue And Forecasts To 2027 (Us$ Mn) 10.1.1.1.1 U.S IoT Sensors Market Breakdown By Type 10.1.1.1.2 U.S. IoT Sensors Market Breakdown By Connectivity Type 10.1.1.1.3 U.S. IoT Sensors Market Breakdown By Application 10.1.1.2 Canada IoT Sensors Market Revenue And Forecasts To 2027 (Us$ Mn) 10.1.1.2.1 Canada IoT Sensors Market Breakdown By Type 10.1.1.2.2 Canada IoT Sensors Market Breakdown By Connectivity Type 10.1.1.2.3 Canada IoT Sensors Market Breakdown By Application 10.1.1.3 Mexico IoT Sensors Market Revenue And Forecasts To 2027 (Us$ Mn) 10.1.1.3.1 Mexico IoT Sensors Market Breakdown By Type 10.1.1.3.2 Mexico IoT Sensors Market Breakdown By Connectivity Type 10.1.1.3.3 Mexico IoT Sensors Market Breakdown By Application Part 11. Industry Landscape 11.1 Overview 11.2 Market Initiative 11.3 Merger And Acquisition 11.4 New Development Part 12. North America IoT Sensor Market - Key Company Profiles Analog Devices, Inc. ARM Holdings PLC Broadcom, Inc. Honeywell International, Inc. Infineon Technologies AG NXP Semiconductors N.V. Omron Corporation Robert Bosch Gmbh STMicroelectronics N.V. Texas Instruments Incorporated For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/o1texx Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. You may have heard that the College Board has announced the implementation of a proprietary secret sauce affecting college applicants who take the boards SAT tests. The secret sauce will supply the colleges with an adversity score of each applicant for use by the schools in addition to the SAT scores themselves. Is this because the colleges are incapable of figuring it out for themselves, or because the board is tired of defending itself? Where I can only groan, Heather Mac Donald assesses the adversity score to render an adverse judgment: For decades, the College Board defended the SAT, which it writes and administers, against charges that the test gives an unfair advantage to middle-class white students. No longer. Under relentless pressure from the racial-preferences lobby, the Board has now caved to the anti-meritocratic ideology of diversity. The Board will calculate for each SAT-taker an adversity score that purports to measure a students socioeconomic position, according to the Wall Street Journal. Colleges can use this adversity index to boost the admissions ranking of allegedly disadvantaged students who otherwise would score too poorly to be considered for admission. Advocates of this change claim that it is not about race. That is a fiction. In fact, the SAT adversity score is simply the latest response on the part of mainstream institutions to the seeming intractability of the racial academic-achievement gap. If that gap did not exist, the entire discourse about diversity would evaporate overnight. The average white score on the SAT (1,123 out of a possible 1,600) is 177 points higher than the average black score (946), approximately a standard deviation of difference. This gap has persisted for decades. It is not explained by socioeconomic disparities. * * * * * Those who rail against white privilege as a determinant of academic achievement have a nagging problem: Asians. Asian students outscore white students on the SAT by 100 points; they outscore blacks by 277 points. It is not Asian families economic capital that vaults them to the top of the academic totem pole; it is their emphasis on scholarly effort and self-discipline. Every year in New York City, Asian elementary school students vastly outperform every other racial and ethnic group on the admissions test for the citys competitive public high schools, even though a disproportionate number of them come from poor immigrant families. Colleges pay lip service to socioeconomic diversity, but that concept is inevitably a surrogate for race. Colleges have repeatedly rejected admissions schemes that purport to substitute socioeconomic preferences for racial preferences, on the ground that those socioeconomic schemes do not yield enough underrepresented minorities. Heathers column Grievance proxies is must reading in its entirety. I dont think it expressly addresses one question. Will the adversity score amplify the already powerful effect of racial preferences in the admissions process or is it designed to spare colleges the embarrassment of administering them? The Wall Street Journal speculates that the latter is the case in its editorial The new and unimproved SAT. How is it supposed to work? You can be sure that this is one question to which we will never be afforded a straight answer from the anticipated consumers of the adversity score. Short of intervention by the Supreme Court, however, we can be sure that the regime of racial preferences in higher education must be added to the list of lifes eternal verities along with death and taxes. Tom Lifson adds a third possibility to the question as I frame it above: By adding the adversity score and therefore a veneer of pseudo-science to the racial engineering of outcomes, the College Board is feathering its own financial nest. So its not only about hypocrisy, racial engineering, and achievement gaps, its also about the money. The Journal editorial concurs: The College Board may also be trying to maintain its college market share. If we were posing this as an exam question, SAT style, the correct answer would probably have to be all of the above. I want to add a few observations to those of Scott and Heather Mac Donald regarding the adversity score that the College Board offers to provide to colleges along with applicants SAT scores. First, college admissions offices already know the information that yields this score. Charles Deacon, the dean of undergraduate admissions at Georgetown acknowledged: We have so much personal data on all our applicants that we dont feel the need for a tool like [the adversity score]. Why, then, is the College Board offering it? I see the adversity score as a means of masking racial discrimination in objectivity, and without specific reference to race. Indeed, Anthony Carnevale, former employee of the College Board and director of Georgetown Universitys Center on Education and the Workforce, told the Wall Street Journal that the purpose is to get to race without using race. Given lawsuits like the one alleging that Harvard discriminates against Asian-American applicants, it may make sense to use the adversity score to render objective what colleges already are doing to get to race. In that case, discovery revealed that a large number of Asian-American applicants lose out based on Harvards use of a subjective assessment of personal characteristics. If Harvard is found to have discriminated, then using an objective score provided by a third party to achieve similar results may be a solution for colleges that discriminate on the basis of race (as nearly all do). This doesnt mean the changeover would be without consequences. Although the acceptance rate for Black applicants would likely remain about the same, using the adversity score might change the characteristics of admitted Black applicants. The new approach would likely help Blacks from the lower economic strata at the expense of Blacks from upper middle class and wealthy families. The former will be found to face more adversity than the latter. One can applaud favoring Blacks from poor families over those who are well-to-do. Keep in mind, though, that the latter cohort is probably more likely than the former to succeed in college. Theres a good chance they have better prepared in high school, and I suspect that as a group they have better SAT scores. How would Asian-Americans fare? It depends on how adversity is scored. An applicant who, for example, came to this country from Asia as a six-year old, and whose parents dont make much money and dont speak good English faces considerable adversity by any fair measure. However, that applicants parents may have sacrificed to make sure the applicant grows up in an okay neighborhood and goes to a good high school. The adversity score, as it has been described, seems to place considerable emphasis on neighborhood conditions and the quality of the high school applicants attend. Thus, Asian-Americans who face real adversity may be penalized for their parents attempts to help them overcome it. Even without knowing the full details on calculating the adversity score, I think we can conclude that a fair amount of subjectivity is involved in determining the calculation. And I have no doubt that the subjectivity tilts the score in favor of Black applicants, and intentionally so. As Carnevale, the former College Board employee, says: The purpose is to get to race without using race. Thats an improper and, I think, unconstitutional purpose. Over at The Federalist, Joy Pullman draws our attention to a new working paper from the University of Arkansas that finds liberal bias in academia manifesting itself in lower grades for conservative students. From the abstract: We find that while standardized test scores are the best predictors of grade point average, ideology also has impacts. Even with controls for SES, demographics, and SAT scores, liberal students report higher college grades and closer relationships with faculty. The language of the study is more blunt in the main text: Notwithstanding the GPA advantages held by conservative students in high school, students who support banning racist/sexist speech, and who endorse dissent as critical to the political process (positions typically associated with liberalism) enjoy a relative advantage over their peers. . . The ideology variable is positive, meaning that by the fourth year of college, liberal students tend to have higher grades than conservative peers: ideological self-placement is the only variable in the model changing direction from high school to college. Additionally, students whose fathers align with the Democratic Party tend to have higher fourth year college grades. [Emphasis in original.][H]olding all else constant, the most liberal student would enjoy a 0.16 point advantage over the most conservative student on a 7 point scale. Given our large sample size [of more than 7,000 students], this difference is statistically significant. The paper is careful not to conclude that this is the result of deliberate bias in the classroom by liberal professors, and the authors (I know one of them) offer a number of explanations and alternate factors that might explain the results. My own experiencea long time ago now, to be surewas that liberal and even radical professors can treat and grade conservative students just fine. Certainly I enjoyed classes I had with two radical professors (one undergraduate and one graduate), who stuck to the subject matter and enjoyed challenges in the classroom. But I do hear from students that the stifling conformity of college campuses these days deters them from speaking up in class, or among their classmates outside the classroom, and I hear stories of professors making politically-charged comments in classes whose subject matter often has nothing to do with politics. Above all, conservative students do worry that their opinions wont be respected or treated fairly in lots of classes in the humanities and social sciences. Well, heres an antidote, starting in about 10 days: POLSCI 109D 001 LEC 001 Special Topics in American Politics: Conservatism, From Burke to Bannon Instructor: Steven F Hayward; M, TU, W, TH; May 28 July 3 12:00 pm 1:59 pm, Dwinelle 145 Offered through Charles & Louise Travers Dept of Political Science. Class Description What is conservatism? Is it distinct from liberalismthat is, is conservatism a body of ideas contrary to liberalism, or is it a branch of liberalism? In other words, is conservatism in fact an ism? What are the fundamental differences between conservative and liberal perspectives today? Is conservatism the most significant challenge to the liberal idea today, or its erstwhile ally? This course will explore these and related questions, such as the range of conservative perspectives on human nature, authority, religion, social change and progress, science and technology, race and ethnicity, economics and markets, equality, individual rights, the State and civil society, and ethics. The first half of the course will explore the philosophical, historical, and trans-Atlantic roots of conservative philosophy and social thought before turning to the specifically American variants of conservatism. The subdivisions of modern conservatismlibertarianism, traditional/paleo, neoconservatism, religious conservatism, etc.will be defined and contrasted with each other. The second half of the course will transition to contemporary issues of social policy, the debates over economics, neoliberalism, equality, race, sex, class, national identity, immigration, and social justice. Ultimately the course is about what it means to be a free human being, and what are the requirements and institutions of a free society that support a free human being. For those of you in the Berkeley area, Dwinelle 145 is a large lecture hall with plenty of room, so youre welcome to sit in if youd like. For those of you not in the area, I plan to tape the lecture portion of the class sessions, and perhaps post them up in their entirety (it depends on a number of things), but certainly make them available as podcasts. You can download the syllabus and reading list here: Syllabus PS109D And yes, it means no early summer vacation for me! PR-Inside.com: 2019-05-17 06:56:01 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 645 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Crypto Beadles is now hosting TradingView Sessions; a new show on how to use TradingView.com for charting, strategy and trading of all different types of assets. The show features trading celebrities showing how and why they do what they doWOODBRIDGE, US / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2019 / TradingView is now hosting a new featured Blockchain and Cryptocurrency technology show by Robert Beadles, also known as "Crypto Beadles," called TradingView Sessions. The goal of the show is to help teach more people how to use TradingView for charting, strategy and trading of all different types of assets. The show will also feature trading celebrities showing how and why they trade the way they do. These will also introduce live trading and chat with the community."I'm honored to be given this opportunity to help people learn more about cryptocurrency, blockchain technology and how people can use the various trading charts and tools TradingView.com provides to the world. I believe cryptocurrency is changing the world and hope to make the space much more accessible to those who don't know much about it." - Robert Beadles, Founder of the Crypto Beadles YouTube Channel & President of Monarch, Creator of the Monarch Wallet.Crypto Beadles to date has published over 357 blockchain and cryptocurrency related videos on their YouTube channel since creation December of 2017. They have amassed over 14.5+ million video views and are considered by many to be one of the top ten cryptocurrency and blockchain channels to follow for people who are looking to learn more about various projects, get cryptocurrency and blockchain development updates and learn more about the space.The Crypto Beadles YouTube Channels most significant accomplishments include having a decentralized global audience, top thought leaders and top builders in the industry come on the show to address the audience, the ability for people to learn along with the community and the channel has enabled roughly 360 people who've won crypto and are now able to get involved in crypto on Robert's dime. The channel to date has given away more than roughly $50,000 in various cryptocurrencies, giveaways, Monarch Blockchain Corporation (Monarch) merchandise, and Sirin Labs Finny Phones. Crypto Beadles shares with his audience regularly that the credit for his accomplishments and helping others goes to God.The Crypto Beadles Youtube channel has covered the top cryptocurrency and blockchain events to include Consensus, Crypto Invest Summit (CIS), NEO DevCon, Hedera Devcon, BEFLATTOKEN, AND TF3. Robert has recently been a speaker at BEF, NAC3, CIS Los Angeles, and Token Forum (TF3) in Seattle and will be speaking at BEFLATOKEN in San Fran May 5-7. Crypto Beadles has had some of the top industry experts, business builders, and crypto advocates on his channel for in-depth interviews. Some of the people interviewed include Max Kaiser, Brock Pierce, Roger Ver, Alex Mashinsky, Michael Terpin, Eric Ly, and Tim Draper to name just a handful.Robert Beadles has won multiple awards for his Crypto Beadles show on Youtube, most consistently being recognized as the "most relatable." In his videos, it's evident he cares for his audience and wants to help people navigate away from the many dangers posed in the space. From helping people learn about cryptocurrency, how to protect their cryptocurrency and themselves from hackers, to warning people about scammers and the many schemes out there to watch out for. Robert is a veteran in the space and his company Monarch Blockchain Corporation has even created a Universal Decentralized Crypto Wallet to help bring more people into cryptocurrency by making cryptocurrencies safe, easy and straightforward to use.Be sure to check out the Crypto Beadles Website for all the latest crypto & blockchain news, information, blog posts, articles, videos and connect with his growing community.Contact Info:Name: Aaron BeadlesEmail: Send EmailOrganization: CryptoBeadlesAddress: 18826 North Lower Sacramento Road, Woodbridge, California 95258, United StatesWebsite: https://cryptobeadles.com SOURCE: CryptoBeadles The global coffee machine market is projected to register a moderate expansion over the forecast period during 2018 to 2027. Fact.MR PR-Inside.com: 2019-05-17 12:05:15 Press Information Fact.MR 11140 Rockville Pike Suite 400 Basant Manager 353-1-6111-593 email https://www.factmr.com/ # 857 Words 11140 Rockville Pike Suite 400Manager353-1-6111-593 The purpose of this rich study presented by FactMR is to elaborate the various market projections impacting the global coffee machine market during the period until 2027. This assessment delivers high-end statistics concerning market size, Y-o-Y growth in trends and revenue share (US& Mn) linked to different geographies and segmentation types. Readers can acquire precise insights about growth trends along with opportunities that are expected to reshape the overall structure of the coffee machine market during the forecast period.Request for Sample Report - https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=2452 Competitive Landscape: Notable HighlightsIn August 2018, Dualit Limited, a key player in the coffee machine market, launched a new CafePro Capsule Machine which is compatible with companys NX coffee capsules and other popular beverage brands such as Fine Tea capsules and Nespresso coffee capsules. Digital display and ease of use of the new machine is Dualits strategy to deliver a professional experience to consumers and expand its consumer base.In October 2018, Italian coffee maker illycaffe and German conglomerate JAB Holding Company announced collaboration to produce illy-branded coffee pods compatible with Nestles Nespresso machines. While illycaffes coffee pods were compatible with the companys own coffee machine, stronger Europe market position of Nestle machines has led illycaffe to introduce Nespresso compatible capsules.On November 21, 2018, Nestle Nespresso announced an investment of CHF 43 million for the development of two new production lines in companys Romont factory in a bid to meet the growing demand for coffee system Vertuo. The company has also inaugurated the Product Development Center and Coffee Campus which will develop innovative machines and coffees from rare origins.In March 2018, DeLonghi, a leading player in consumer appliances announced the introduction of specialty coffee machine category which also includes Dinamica Fully Automatic Coffee Machine. DeLonghi has been a traditional player in specialty coffee machines and the new additions are expected to further expand the brand popularity.In February 2018, JURA Elektroapparate AG announced a 14% rise in the sale of companys automatic coffee machines. In July 2018, the company launched Jura Giga X8s updated version at The H&C EXPO. The new introduction is an automatic bean-to-cup coffee machine line whose original version is highly embraced by consumers.Large Players Consolidating their Position through Breakthrough InnovationsProminent players continue to hold a hefty revenue share in the coffee machine market with their classic product portfolio as well as continual technology adoption aligned with consumer expectations. Koninklijke Philips N.V. is the front-runner in the coffee machine market whereas DeLonghi S.p.A and JURA Elektroapparate present strong competition with their consistent product developments.Browse Full Report on Market with TOC - https://www.factmr.com/report/2452/coffee-machine-market Along with the delivery of breakthrough customer experience, manufacturers are aiming at delivering a value-added product. A new trend of introducing coffee pods that are compatible with coffee machines or vice-versa is observed in the market to relieve machine owners recurrent bemusement. In addition, owing to the popularity of automation, in the past few years a meteoric rise in the introduction of automatic coffee machines with features like digital display and personalization facility has been observed.Demand Trends in Coffee Machine Market Differ among Tier 1 and Tier 2 CitiesWhile coffee machine plays a crucial role in the coffee shop industry, adoption trends of different types of coffee machines differ according to the location of the cafe. Coffee shops make their own coffee machine selection across cities. For instance, in Tier 1 cities, famous brands of coffee shops prefer high priced premium coffee machine brands.On the other hand, coffee shops in Tier 2 cities, with their tight budget cannot afford coffee machines whose prices are comparable to the capital investment involved in shop opening. The differing levels of adoption lead to variable purchase prices of coffee machines across cities.Brand Image and Consumer Sentiment Play Crucial Role in Coffee Machine SalesCoffee shop industry is flourishing with a significant number of cafes being built globally. As cafes and specialty coffee shops deliver extra features such as unique service, breakfast options and superior coffee quality, popularity of western brands such as Starbucks and Costa Coffee has increased significantly. Success of these coffee shop brands plays a crucial role in the growth of the coffee machine market, owing to their strong domestic presence in major world countries.In the commercial sector, coffee machines are the most important equipment. Commercial infrastructures prefer either automatic or semi-automatic coffee machines wherein purchase of coffee machine is decided on the basis of cost, coffee volume and consumer sentiments.Have Any Question? Ask Our Industry Experts - https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=AE&rep_id=2452 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.com Web: https://www.factmr.com/ PR-Inside.com: 2019-05-17 21:47:58 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 520 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 DALLAS, TX / ACCESSWIRE / May 17, 2019 / As a new group of consumers are set to be the majority buyers in the wine industry, executives are discussing the potential impacts of how these populations will change the market. With nearly 73 million consumers ranging from the ages of 23 to 38 set to be the primary drivers and influencers of wine sales, new business strategies will be necessary to attract and retain these consumers that have different interests, values and buying demands than previous generations.One big focus will be on the way these populations purchase and consume wine. Traditionally speaking the storefront model has driven buying patterns in the market but changes are being seen as younger demographics are making their purchases through other channels. "For many years the consumer experience in the wine industry has always been front and center but that is changing now as businesses are moving away from their roots in location-based operations to the direct-to-consumer model. Whether through monthly subscription services, personalized blends ordered via app or online wine purchases- the experience is becoming much more about convenience and accessibility." shares renowned wine collector and entrepreneur Marcus Hiles.This key fact will be critical to success for those wineries who are able to adapt to new groups of consumers with different values. Evolving retail strategies away from winery locations as the main point of consumption to more scalable means of delivery will be required as younger consumers look to easier access and convenience as a key part of their purchasing decisions.Also important is understanding this consumer groups' openness for new product discovery and their desire for authenticity in the wine industry. Having established a thriving market for high-priced, aged blends that often drives much of the profit and recognition for many wine businesses, younger consumer groups are looking away from the expensive model and more towards mid-tier blends that fall into different categories. Cost is a big factor as younger consumers are more likely to pass on high priced beverages for other more affordable options, which the market has made easy with a diverse selection at each price point.Price alone isn't the only driver of consumer behaviors with younger populations. One relatively new category of wine that is gaining popularity falls within the natural, organic wine sector. This subset of wine has a growing interest that outweighs more traditional types as it fits within the buying interests of today's majority consumers.As younger consumers start to enter the market on a larger scale, businesses will gain a clearer picture of what is to come and what will be required for success in the evolving wine industry and all its different facets. Initial trends show that there will be different interests and buying patterns which will force many to change their strategy and ultimately require change throughout the industry.To learn more about business and development news visit marcushiles-news.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwrLIhyaB0p_0F1gWg4R7cA/videos Houzz: https://www.houzz.com/pro/marcushiles/marcus-hiles Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marcus.hiles/ CONTACT:Marcus Hilesmedia@ marcushiles.net SOURCE: Marcus Hiles PR-Inside.com: 2019-05-17 00:02:10 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 709 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / May 16, 2019 / Sherry Li, ThompsonEducation Center's Chairman of Board, was accompanied by Mike Wang and other fellow associates when she attended the Victory Reception. This event honored Republican National Committee chair and incoming White House chief of staff Reince Priebus and took place at 12:30 p.m. Vice President Mike Pence, the newly appointed Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, Co-Chairman of the Republican National Committee Sharon Day, and Republican Finance Chair Lewis M. Eisenberg all attended the Reception.Later that night, Sherry Li, Chairman of the Board of Thompson EducationCenter and Chairman of the education center's school board will join the Cabinet Dinner with select Cabinet appointees and to have an intimate policy discussion.Thompson EducationCenter has always been a supporter and contributor of the Trump's victory campaign.Thompson Education Center also attended the Trump Victory Campaign Dinner in New York. Presidential Candidate Donald J. Trump and Vice President Candidate Mike Pence both attended and gave speeches during the dinner event. Throughout his speech, Mr. Trump talked about his vision of how to "Make America Great Again!"."As a real estate developer, I share the same American dream and the same American value with you," Sherry Li, Chairman of Board of Thompson Education Center shared her point of view with Presidential Candidate Donald J. Trump and Vice President Candidate Mike Pence before the dinner.After Donald Trump won the election, Thompson Education Center attended the breakfast event hosted in New York by President-Elect Trump and his Transition Finance Committee Members including well-known Steven Mnuchin (Treasury Secretary), Wilbur Ross (nominated as Secretary of Commerce), Ambassador Charles Glazer and many others including well known Lewis M. Eisenberg, a businessman and investor who serves as finance chairman of the Republican National Committee and sits on the leadership team of Trump's Inaugural Committee. The name list of the Transition Finance Committee attached below shows that promoting economic development will be the main agenda for Trump's administration. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-FIzP7Vx2I In addition to Thompson Education Center's donations towards Trump's victory campaign, Sherry Li, Chairman of Board of Thompson Education Center later become a RNC Regent Member of Republican National Committee.Thompson EducationCenter project is coming to the Town of Thompson. It will develop a new high-end education community in Sullivan County, New York. The project has entered into agreements and signed letters of interest with high schools, colleges, and education institutions of which each of them will provide a great number of students to attend the education center.Thompson Education Center project will help create many jobs in the region and stimulate the local economy. There will be total 6 phases for the project, and according to the economic report, each phase will create over 3000 jobs (including Direct, Indirect and Induced effect jobs). Over 20,000 jobs will be created throughout the entire project, such as construction professionals (including architect, engineer, land use lawyer, environmental specialist, planner, well driller, wastewater management team, traffic study team, modular manufacturer, landscape & lighting, general contractors and Sullivan local sub-contractors), real estate agents, professors, instructors, cleaning, and maintenance workers, etc. In addition to the jobs directly created from the project and the day-to-day operations on location, there will be a ripple effect throughout the community. The new employees along with the resources required to run the Education Center will increase demand greatly for local goods and services, benefiting the entire local community.Thompson EducationCenter will bring investment into the U.S. to create job opportunities, which includes many high-income jobs. As a result, the middle class will back to American society. The goal of the Thompson Education Center project is in line with President-elect Trump's new policy, together we can "Make America Great Again!"To view this video on YouTube, please visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZtDkHkaSu8 Thompson Education Center - A High-End Education Community in Sullivan County, NY: http://thompsoneducationcenternews.com Thompson Education Center Participates in Notte Di Savoia 2019: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/thompson-education-center-participates-notte-185500029.html Thompson Education Center Goes To The Oscars Hosting Viewing Gala, Dinner and Awards: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/thompson-education-center-goes-oscars-235000211.html Contact Information:contact@ thompsoneducationcenternews.com SOURCE: Thompson Education Center MTN Nigeria Communications Plc on Friday signed a seven-year 200 billion naira medium term facility with a consortium of seven mostly local banks. The company stated this in a statement by its Company Secretary, Uto Ukpanah, to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in line with its post listing requirements. The company said the seven banks were Access Bank, GT Bank, Zenith International Bank, Fidelity Bank, First City Monument Bank, United Bank for Africa and First Bank of Nigeria Limited. The telecommunications firm said the facility was coordinated by Citibank, while Quantum Zenith acted as facility agent. It noted that the medium-term facility would enable the company to fund its evolving business opportunities while assisting with capital expenditure and working capital, to deliver enhanced customer service. Commenting on the facility, Ferdi Moolman, the companys Chief Executive Officer, said the facility indicated MTNS confidence in Nigeria and local financial institutions. This facility expands our existing successful domestic debt programme which we are using to fund increased network capacity and the expansion of both the voice and data services on our network to customers in new areas. We have enjoyed remarkable funding support for Nigerias financial institutions since our first facility in 2003 and this has been critical to the development of the largest telecommunications network in Africa, Mr Moolman said. He said the syndicated loan showcased the strength of the Nigerian financial institutions and their confidence in MTNs vision as well as both parties joint ability to stimulate significant economic growth. The loan syndication came a day after the listing of MTN Nigeria Communications shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). MTN Nigeria on May 16 listed a total of 20.35 billion shares at N90 per share. The stock at the first trading day rose by N9 to close at N99 per share. The shares are currently trading at N108.90 per share. (NAN) Lagos State plans to roll out a state-run health insurance scheme next month. But doctors in the state are not convinced it will succeed under the planned arrangement. The doctors identified several pitfalls in the draft document establishing the scheme, saying the document is not yet complete. Moruf Abdulsalam, the publicity secretary of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in the state, said the government did not carry the doctors along in the drafting of the document. He said the association had several engagements with the government where it registered its displeasure with the model of the scheme. Mr Abdulsalam represented the Lagos NMA chapter on Thursday at an interactive session between some Senior Executive Course participants of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, (NIPSS) and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in the state. The NIPPS delegation is on a study tour of the states health sector. The visit is coordinated by NIPSS in collaboration with the Development Research and Project Centre (DRPC) through PACFAH@Scale. Despite not being carried along, NMA was present even at the launching of the health scheme. I believe we have registered our displeasure enough, Mr Abdusallam said. The health commissioner has invited us for a series of meetings to see how the input of NMA will make the documents work. We registered our displeasure and made suggestions which were acknowledged and we all agreed that its not a complete document. But the state government has to just roll it out as it is presently. Lagos State Health Insurance PREMIUM TIMES reported how government officials and experts in Lagos explained how the scheme will be implemented. Enrolment into the scheme is categorised into family and single units. In family enrolment, the beneficiary is expected to pay a premium of N40,000 yearly per family of six while a single enrollee will pay N8,500. The government said it subsidised the premium for public servants in the formal sector. For family premium, civil servants will pay 25 per cent or N10,000 while the government pays 75 per cent or N30,000. The stakeholders are optimistic that by the time the state begins the implementation next month, it will change the landscape of health insurance in Nigeria and become the benchmark for Universal Health Coverage. According to Jide Idris, the state commissioner for health, about 120,000 residents have enrolled. This newspaper also reported how technology will drive the progress of the scheme, according to the commissioner. Pitfalls: Low Capitation But the doctors said there are pitfalls. The NMA official said one of the major drawbacks is that capitation that will be paid to service providers is very low. Even at our national level, we observed that some states are patterning their health scheme on the model of the NHIS which gives low capitation. Some states want to pay as low as N200. Lagos is planning to pay N365. This is one of the reasons NMA at the national level gave that directive that at any state chapter having issues with the arrangement should try and sort it out before the takeoff, Mr Abdusallam said. The NMA had directed all doctors not to participate in any State Health Insurance Scheme (SHIS) until there is meaningful engagement between the government and stakeholders. The association observed that the manner some state governments are going about the establishment of SHIS lacks the necessary determinants for success. Mr Abdusallam explained how low capitation will impact negatively in the uptake of the scheme in Lagos. Advertisements The arrangement was that if an enrollee under family unit pays N3,333 monthly (40, 000 per annum), the health service providers will only be paid N365 capitation while the bulk of the money goes to HMOs and other administrative fees. The challenge now is that there is increased awareness and enrollees visit hospitals more frequently. At least two or three times in a month. Thats why providers are complaining because there is no way they can make profit and give quality service in this kind of arrangement. To treat simple malaria costs at least N3, 000. Now imagine when an enrollee comes to the facility twice in a month. Multiple Taxation The official also faulted the schemes arrangement for civil servants, saying it encourages multiple taxation. A family is supposed to pay N40,000 but what we found in the model for the formal sector where the enrollee pays N10,000 subsidised premium is that if a man and wife are public servants, the fee will be deducted from both of their accounts amounting to double payment, because the scheme is mandatory. Mr Abdusallam also said the model does not allow enrollees to make the choice of Health Management Organisation (HMOs) under which they will be enrolled. He, however, noted that the doctors are working closely with the government to address most of these challenges. The Nigerian governments media onslaught over purported opposition plots to seize power with extralegal tactics could have a serious implication for the nations already fragile stability, security experts warned on Thursday. The past week has seen a circle of senior administration officials and security chiefs ramp up claims of an uncovered conspiracy to overthrow President Muhammadu Buhari. Even though some of the top officials, including Chief of Army Staff Tukur Buratai and Information Minister Lai Mohammed, specifically accused the opposition, especially Atiku Abubakar and the Peoples Democratic Party, of being behind the alleged plot, none of them has offered any evidence to support the damning allegation. Security experts, including a former director at the State Security Service, said some parts of the country have already been placed on high alert even though no one was yet sure whether there is any veracity to the governments rhetoric. Charging rhetoric Mr Buhari was elected president on March 28, 2015, and sworn-in on May 29 of that year. He will wrap up his first four-year term on May 29, barely two weeks time. But he will be immediately sworn-in again by noon on May 29, having been declared winner of the 2019 presidential election in February. The transition will be the sixth between successive civilians since Nigeria returned to constitutional republic in 1999, after roughly 16 years of military grip starting in 1983. But as government-wide activities intensified ahead of the swearing-in later this month, some administration officials and security chiefs launched a parallel assault against opposition elements, describing them as anti-democratic forces scheming to truncate the current dispensation. The Nigerian Army led the charge against the purported plots with a statement that claimed the military had learnt of the sinister moves by some mischievous elements. The statement, circulated by army spokesperson Sagir Musa, said the elements planned to scuttle Mr Buharis inauguration, and they had the support of some foreigners. Neither Mr Abubakar nor the PDP reacted to the statement, and the tone of public criticism that followed it was largely mild. But just when Nigerians were moving on from the controversial alarm, the military pushed out another statement alleging attempt on Nigerias democracy. The Defence Headquarters, which coordinates the armed forces, said in the late-night statement on May 14 that a group had called for an interim government to replace Mr Buhari. The military said the demand for Mr Buharis ouster was contained in a document issued by a faceless Nigerian Continuity and Progress (NCP). It also condemned the undemocratic and demonic actions of the author of the document. As with the first statement by the army, the Defence Headquarters alarm failed to gain traction in public debate, and Mr Abubakar and the PDP equally ignored it. But less than 24 hours later, three separate comments came from the army and the Buhari administration that elicited a scathing response from Mr Abubakars office. The first comment came from Mr Buratai, who said at at a meeting with federal lawmakers in Maiduguri that defeated politicians were plotting to undermine Mr Buharis government. The myriad of security challenges we are facing now in the North West, North Central and other parts of the country, I want to believe, and rightly so, is the fallout of the just concluded general elections, Mr Buratai said. There are several political interests, politicians in particular not happy with their defeat and therefore, trying to take revenge, sponsoring some these criminal activities. The claim was the most confrontational since the narrative began on May 4, but its pointedness was soon surpassed by Mr Mohammed. Addressing a press briefing shortly after the Federal Executive Council meeting on Wednesday afternoon, the information minister said Mr Abubakar and the PDP were exhibiting desperate tactics to sabotage the Buhari administration. Mr Mohammed said Mr Abubakar and his party have, through their public utterances and their poorly-thought-out press releases, attempted to make Nigeria ungovernable. Unless they quickly retrace their steps, they may, sooner than later, overreach themselves, he said. Also on Wednesday, the police issued a statement, alleging attempts by some activists to sabotage oil installations and worsen the countrys economic crisis. Although the statement was less specific and confrontational compared to others, it was widely deemed a part of the larger government narrative against the opposition. Polity heat-up or political hot air? Both the police and the Defence Headquarters did not return requests for comments about the rhetoric Thursday evening. The ongoing scare of a purported attempt to overthrow the government is not the first under the current government. Exactly two years ago, Mr Buratai raised a similar alarm about a purported hobnobbing between military officers and some politicians. The army chief said at the time that some politicians had approached officers with an agenda that included overthrowing the government because Mr Buhari was away in London on a prolonged medical vacation. Advertisements Mr Buratai also met with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who was acting as president, over the alleged plot. Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai Although the army implemented a random redeployment of officers at the time, no politician or military personnel were arrested in connection to the coup scare. When the BBC asked Mr Buratai why he raised the alarm, he told the British broadcaster that it was just a pre-emptive warning in terms of what transpired before this administration came on board. It is good, once in a while, based on my knowledge and based on my experiences to tell the officers that there are bounds; we must remain within the constitutional boundaries that we have been assigned, Mr Buratai said. Mr Buratai did not clarify what he meant by what transpired before this administration came on board during the interview, but it could possibly be a reference to Nigerias ordeal under military regimes until 1999. PREMIUM TIMES also observed that neither the military nor the administration specifically attributed any incendiary statement to Mr Abubakar in all their recent statements. Also unclear was the claim about the group that the Defence Headquarters accused of circulating a document calling for Mr Buharis overthrow. Two days after the militarys statement, PREMIUM TIMES could not independently verify that any group named Nigerian Continuity Progress circulated a document. Both the group and its purported document remained a mystery to journalists, public commentators, security experts and even military insiders. At least eight military personnel, including two naval officers and one Air Force officer, said they did not see the statement in separate exchanges with PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday. At least five reporters on the defence beat said they did not hear anything about the group until the military released the statement alleging a document was circulated. Security experts and commentators, including those with vast understanding of the social media, all said they saw the military statement, but did not see the purported NCP document that preceded the alarm, neither could they locate it. If any group claiming to be NCP circulated any document as claimed by the military, PREMIUM TIMES can report it gained little or no traction in the public domain, raising questions about why the Defence Headquarters would issue a statement acknowledging it to begin with. National security, not rumour mill Mr Abubakar pushed back against the allegations on Wednesday, reiterating his democratic credentials and accusing Mr Buhari of plotting to rope him because of the judicial review he initiated against the presidential election results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The former vice president said he was being attacked because he insisted on seeing through his petition at the tribunal, despite repeated demands from the presidents supporters that he should drop the suit. Three national security analysts who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES said they have not seen any recent statements in which the former vice president threatened violence or national security. They also warned that the manner with which the government and security chiefs have been propagating the purported subversive plots was in itself a threat to national security. Allegation of an overthrow of government is not something you throw around in public domain, Mike Ejiofor, a national security expert, told PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday. I am very upset about the failure of government and security chiefs to draw the line between national security and injurious rumour. Mr Ejiofor, a former director at the State Security Service (SSS), said Nigerians are only interested in consolidating democratic gains and will not welcome any attempt by the military to return to power or set the tone for a coup detat. We want to consolidate our democracy and grow it, notwithstanding whether the incumbent government or opposition is elected. The analyst also said the allegations against Mr Abubakar appeared more of a political tactics by the government than any serious response to intelligence findings. Mr Ejiofor said as a dispassionate security analyst, he was sure that Mr Abubakar has not said anything inciting to warrant the latest claims by the government. Nonetheless, it is a known fact that Mr Abubakar does not control the military. If there is any seriousness to their allegations, he would have been arrested and prosecuted. This could be an attempt to frame Mr Abubakar and put him out of circulation, Mr Ejiofor said. For the past 20 years of democracy, there has never been any substantiated case of military takeover or any other sinister plot to overthrow a government in Nigeria. The allegations flared amidst Nigerias rising security crisis. The last few months have seen a surge in kidnapping, armed robbery, banditry and other violent crimes that have assailed the country for decades. Even though the Boko Haram has not been as virulent as it once was, the insurgent group has continued to carry out surprise attacks on military installations, killing soldiers in the process. Earlier this week, a Nigerian lieutenant colonel commanding a battalion was killed by a roadside bomb planted by the insurgents. His orderly and driver were also killed, and many of their colleagues wounded in action. The Nigerian people would be better served if the president and security chiefs focus more on the security challenges, said national security expert Charles Omole. Nigerias Information minister, Lai Mohammed. The perpetrators of instability will be emboldened to continue their destructive acts if the government is seen as content with playing politics with national security instead of taking firm and effective steps to curb the growing insecurity, Mr Omole said. The government with all the levers of power at its disposal cannot reduce itself to given mere commentary on matters of national security as if they are common observers from the sideline. With federal government controlling all security machinery in the country, it is difficult to see how opposition politicians can continue to cause instability as alleged without any effective response from the government, he added. Newspaper commentary is not a security response when people are dying all over the nation. Cheta Nwanze, a security analyst at Lagos-based SBM Intelligence, expressed worry that the military was dignifying a document that was either never issued or circulated amongst barely a few individuals. To be honest, this is the first time I am ever hearing of the group, which makes it shadowy at best, and non-existent at worst, Mr Nwanze said on Thursday. It is worrying that the government is reducing itself to a commentator on national issues, rather than what it actually should be, which is Nigerias sovereign. Mr Nwanze said the government and the security chiefs were untidy in their allegations against the opposition, which in itself spoke to their desperation. If it is true, as they have implied and outrightly alleged in the past, that the PDP and Mr Abubakar are planning to destabilise the country, then they are duty bound to arrest them, prosecute, and prove their case in court. Resorting to media drama rather than acting indicates that they do not have a handle on the situation, and are looking to distract the public from what is a deteriorating security situation in the country, he added. The analyst said his firm has tracked at least 116 attacks resulting in nearly 1000 deaths in just last month. In the month of April alone, we tracked at least 116 separate security related incidents with 916 fatalities, Mr Nwanze said. That is the real issue that needs to be dealt with, rather than drama which would have the unwelcome effect of emboldening the perpetrators to raise the stakes. TORONTO, May 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited (BlackRock Canada), an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK), today announced the May 2019 cash distributions for the iShares ETFs listed on the TSX or NEO which pay on a monthly basis as well as XIU. Unitholders of record of a fund on May 27, 2019 will receive cash distributions payable in respect of that fund on May 31, 2019. Details regarding the per unit distribution amounts are as follows: Fund Name Fund Ticker Cash Distribution Per Unit ($) iShares 1-10 Year Laddered Corporate Bond Index ETF CBH 0.052 iShares 1-5 Year Laddered Corporate Bond Index ETF CBO 0.041 iShares S&P/TSX Canadian Dividend Aristocrats Index ETF CDZ 0.090 iShares Equal Weight Banc & Lifeco ETF CEW 0.030 iShares U.S. High Yield Fixed Income Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) CHB 0.090 iShares 1-5 Year Laddered Government Bond Index ETF CLF 0.038 iShares 1-10 Year Laddered Government Bond Index ETF CLG 0.044 iShares S&P/TSX Canadian Preferred Share Index ETF CPD 0.050 iShares Short Duration High Income ETF (CAD-Hedged) CSD 0.078 iShares US Dividend Growers Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) CUD 0.063 iShares Convertible Bond Index ETF CVD 0.069 iShares Global Monthly Dividend Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) CYH 0.070 Dynamic iShares Active Tactical Bond ETF DXB 0.042 Dynamic iShares Active Canadian Dividend ETF DXC 0.040 Dynamic iShares Active Crossover Bond ETF DXO 0.057 Dynamic iShares Active Preferred Shares ETF DXP 0.072 Dynamic iShares Active Investment Grade Floating Rate ETF DXV 0.040 iShares Canadian Financial Monthly Income ETF FIE 0.040 iShares Core Canadian Universe Bond Index ETF XBB 0.075 iShares Canadian Corporate Bond Index ETF XCB 0.053 iShares Core MSCI Global Quality Dividend Index ETF XDG 0.062 iShares Core MSCI Global Quality Dividend Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) XDGH 0.045 iShares Core MSCI Canadian Quality Dividend Index ETF XDIV 0.074 iShares Core MSCI US Quality Dividend Index ETF XDU 0.043 iShares Core MSCI US Quality Dividend Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) XDUH 0.046 iShares Canadian Select Dividend Index ETF XDV 0.085 iShares J.P. Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) XEB 0.062 iShares S&P/TSX Composite High Dividend Index ETF XEI 0.082 iShares S&P/TSX Capped Financials Index ETF XFN 0.094 iShares Floating Rate Index ETF XFR 0.032 iShares Canadian Government Bond Index ETF XGB 0.043 iShares Global Government Bond Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) XGGB 0.029 iShares Canadian HYBrid Corporate Bond Index ETF XHB 0.066 iShares U.S. High Dividend Equity Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) XHD 0.063 iShares U.S. High Dividend Equity Index ETF XHU 0.055 iShares U.S. High Yield Bond Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) XHY 0.087 iShares U.S. IG Corporate Bond Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) XIG 0.063 iShares S&P/TSX 60 Index ETF XIU 0.180 iShares Core Canadian Long Term Bond Index ETF XLB 0.068 iShares S&P/TSX North American Preferred Stock Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) XPF 0.078 iShares High Quality Canadian Bond Index ETF XQB 0.044 iShares S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index ETF XRE 0.065 iShares ESG Canadian Aggregate Bond Index ETF XSAB 0.046 iShares Core Canadian Short Term Bond Index ETF XSB 0.055 iShares Conservative Short Term Strategic Fixed Income ETF XSC 0.047 iShares Conservative Strategic Fixed Income ETF XSE 0.048 iShares Core Canadian Short Term Corporate + Maple Bond Index ETF XSH 0.045 iShares Short Term Strategic Fixed Income ETF XSI 0.056 iShares Short Term High Quality Canadian Bond Index ETF XSQ 0.035 iShares ESG Canadian Short Term Bond Index ETF XSTB 0.041 iShares Diversified Monthly Income ETF XTR 0.050 iShares S&P/TSX Capped Utilities Index ETF XUT 0.081 Estimated May Cash Distributions for the iShares Premium Money Market ETF The May cash distributions per unit for the iShares Premium Money Market ETF are estimated to be as follows: Fund Name Fund Ticker Estimated Cash Distribution Per Unit ($) iShares Premium Money Market ETF CMR 0.069 BlackRock Canada expects to issue a press release on or about May 24, 2019, which will provide the final amounts for the iShares Premium Money Market ETF. Further information on the iShares Funds can be found at http://www.blackrock.com/ca . About BlackRock BlackRock helps investors build better financial futures. As a fiduciary to investors and a leading provider of financial technology, our clients turn to us for the solutions they need when planning for their most important goals. As of March 31, 2019, the firm managed approximately US$6.52 trillion in assets on behalf of investors worldwide. For additional information on BlackRock, please visit www.blackrock.com/ca | Twitter: @BlackRockCA | Blog: www.blackrockblog.com/can | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/blackrock . About iShares ETFs iShares unlocks opportunity across markets to meet the evolving needs of investors. With more than twenty years of experience, a global line-up of 800+ exchange traded funds (ETFs) and US$1.9 trillion in assets under management as of March 31, 2019, iShares continues to drive progress for the financial industry. iShares funds are powered by the expert portfolio and risk management of BlackRock, trusted to manage more money than any other investment firm1. 1 Based on US$6.52 trillion in AUM as of 3/31/19 iShares ETFs are managed by BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited. Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with investing in iShares ETFs. Please read the relevant prospectus before investing. The funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. Tax, investment and all other decisions should be made, as appropriate, only with guidance from a qualified professional. Contact for Media: Maeve Hannigan T 416-643-4058 Email: Maeve.Hannigan@blackrock.com An Abuja Division of the Federal High Court on Friday struck out a suit seeking the removal of Senate President Bukola Saraki and 53 other lawmakers from office following their defection from one political party to another. A civic group had asked that their seats be declared vacant due to their defection from the parties on whose platforms they were elected. The group, Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP), had on September 14, 2018, asked the Federal High Court to order that the members of the National Assembly who defected should vacate their seats. In July 2018, 37 members of the House of Representatives defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC). About 32 of them joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), four joined the African Democratic Congress (ADC) while one did not announce his new party at the time. On the same day, 14 APC senators defected to the PDP. Meanwhile, being part of the defendants, Mr Saraki and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, in their response asked the court to dismiss the suit filed by the group on grounds that it is an abuse of court process. The duo added that the suit lacked merit. The defendants had submitted that the plaintiff has no locus standi to institute the case. Delivering judgement on Friday, the judge, Okon Abang, held that the plaintiffs case has merit but lacks locus standi to institute the case. The plaintiff that instituted this case is not a political party that sponsored the election of the lawmakers. Also the plaintiff is not Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) that regulates the activities of political parties and monitor elections. The plaintiff is not a registered voter in Nigeria. They are not members of the National Assembly. None of the political party that sponsored the lawmakers is a party in this case. They, therefore, lack the capacity, legal power to institute the case. The plaintiffs case is incompetent and thereby struck out, Mr Abang ruled. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commissioner for Education, Science and Culture, Leopoldo Amado, has said the manipulation of young girls is prevalent in the West African educational system. Mr Amado said this on Wednesday at the Transparency International sub-regional meeting in Abuja. At the meeting, policy papers on land corruption and corruption in education systems in West Africa were also presented. According to him, the three major kinds of corruption prevalent in the regions education system is manipulation of girls, favoritism when it comes to admission into higher institutions and sex-for-marks. Mr Amado said young girls often fall prey to teachers, among others, who make the education sector the worst hit by corruption. He said the commission has put in place some schemes to prevent the trend and strengthen the educational terrain. According to him, in order to help vulnerable young girls who may fall prey, a scholarship programme has been put in place. In his remarks, the Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Auwal Rafsanjani, said that learning to read and write is a fundamental right. A recent 2017 UNESCO report, showed that 38 per cent of African adults were illiterate and two-thirds of these are women. According to him, having large numbers of girls outside the formal schooling system, for whatever underlying reasons, brings developmental challenges to both current and future generations. Until equal numbers of girls and boys are in school, it would be impossible to wholesomely build the knowledge necessary to eradicate poverty and hunger, combat disease and ensure environmental sustainability. Instances of forgeries, seeking of bribes for admission into institutions, cloning of land documents, allocating lands without following due process, land grabbing, sex for marks in higher institutions, discrimination against women, amongst others, are critical issues that need to be addressed across Africa, he said. Corruption at basic level Transparency International, Africa Regional Advisor, Samuel Kaninda, said the issue of governance must be addressed, especially corruption, as it affects development at the very basic level. Manipulation of young girls prevalent in West Africas educational system ECOWAS OfficialManipulation of young girls prevalent in West Africas educational system ECOWAS Official He said the organisation is making moves to ensure the implementation of policies on education and land. He assured that the policy will curb the sex-for-marks trend and see to it that teachers pass grades on merit. The event was attended by delegates from Transparency International chapters from 10 West African countries, the European Union (EU), Canadian High Commission, Transparency International UK, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Nigeria and Dakar, Technical Unit on Governance & Anti-Corruption Reforms (TUGAR) and the MacArthur Foundation. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has commenced hearing on the alleged harassment of women during the recent raids of nightclubs in Abuja. The hearing, which commenced on Thursday, was presided over by the Executive Secretary of the agency, Tony Ojukwu. Officials of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) and representatives of over 72 rights groups and individuals were present at the hearing. A few weeks ago, PREMIUM TIMES reported how some officials of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) raided a popular night club, Caramelo, and arrested 34 nude female dancers. Later, 70 women were arrested from different night clubs in Abuja and detained at Utako police station. The acting police spokesperson in Abuja, Danjuma Tanimu, said the women were arrested for hanging around nightclubs in Abuja. However, some of the women accused police officers of raping them in exchange for their freedom. The police have pledged to investigate the allegations. Following these allegations, Mr Ojukwu summoned the Director of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB). In his opening remarks, Mr Ojukwu said the Commission received several complaints over alleged unlawful arrests and maltreatment, which seemed to be targeted at women in FCT and Nigeria. He said civil rights groups stormed the NHRC building last Friday to protest alleged abuse of women by FCTA officials. Mr Ojukwu commended the FCTA officials for showing seriousness about its consideration of the issue of contention. He stressed the need to mainstream human rights into the operations of the FCTA in pursuit of overriding public interest. He also urged the FCTA through its agencies to ensure its officials act within the law especially while handling issues pertaining to women. Mr Ojukwu said there is an arrangement for the training of relevant FCTA officials on human rights while carrying out their duties. In her presentation which was made on behalf CSOs across Nigeria, the Country Director, Amnesty International, Osai Ojigho, clarified that the petition specifically raised the issue of the disturbing report of the unlawful arrest, assaults, sexual violence and verbal abuse against women in Abuja. The complaints alleged that over a period of two weeks, about hundred women were arrested by agents of FCTA Taskforce Team. They further alleged that the women were arrested on the suspicion that they were sex workers, as a result of their presence on the streets. In his remark, the coordinator of Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC), Umar Shaibu, assured the Commission of the Councils respect for its existence and functions. Mr Umar said that officials of the Council are not after the trampling of the Rights of anybody living in the city. He said they are the managers of the nations capital. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ilorin Zonal Office, has arrested a 31-year-old Islamic scholar/herbalist, Jamiu Isiaka, for impersonating the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Maikanti Baru, and the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, among other prominent citizens. The suspect, with others who are still at large, allegedly used the names of the senior government officials to scam a South Korean national, Keun Sig Kim, under the pretence of getting him an NNPC license that would enable him to purchase a company. The petitioner had paid over N30 million into the suspects account as a fee to get the license. According to him I transferred $4,285.071 (Four Thousand, Two Hundred and Eighty-five United States Dollars, Seventy-one cents) to the United Bank of Africa, account number 2107575870 in the name of one Jamiu Isiaka, an associate of Mr Shola Adeshina. It is noteworthy that this account particulars have been provided severally for me to make transfer to. Mr Isiaka, during interrogation with EFCC officials, claimed that he used the money to perform a sacrifice on behalf of the petitioner. He claimed to have bought a vulture, elephants skin, elephants intestine, skull of a lion, liver of gorilla, among others. The suspect will soon be arraigned in court while efforts are ongoing to nab the accomplices at larger. A Federal High Court Abuja on Friday ordered a lawyer, Orji Nwafor-Orizu, to produce a certificate of mental fitness confirming he is fit to appear in court. Mr Nwafor-Orizu had at previous sittings announced himself as counsel representing Osita Izunaso, the third defendant in the ongoing certificate of return suit filed by Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha. The judge, Okon Abang, made the order following what he described as Mr Nwafor-Orizu displaying conduct not befitting of a senior counsel. On account of Nwafor-Orizus conduct, not being counsel on record, and displaying such conduct not worthy of a senior counsel, he shall not be allowed to appear as a counsel in this matter, or any other court, unless and until he furnishes the court with a medical report from a government psychiatric hospital certifying him to be mentally fit. He shall also sign an undertaking and serve on all counsel that he shall henceforth be of good conduct and until then, S.M Anichebe shall appear as counsel to the third defendant, the judge said. At the resumed hearing of the matter, counsel to all parties announced their appearance following which the judge called on Okorochas counsel, Kehinde Ogunwumiji, SAN, to complete his submission which he started on Thursday. Mr Nwafor-Orizu then came into the court at this point and insisted that he must be heard since he had a process from the Court of Appeal stopping proceedings in the matter. The judge asked him to sit and allow Mr Okorochas counsel to continue his argument but the lawyer insisted saying; the court will not proceed until my motion is heard. The judge warned that he was frustrating his proceedings and should desist from any further antics. Following the warning, the judge rose for about five minutes and when he resumed, he asked the security personnel in the court to watch Nwafor-Orizu closely saying he didnt feel safe with him in court. The judge said he felt unsafe because he was not sure of the mental state of the lawyer, adding that no sane lawyer would act in the manner he did since he had not announced himself on record and yet was insisting to be heard. He asked the security personnel to be ready to remove him from the court should he display such conduct again, and where he resisted, he should be arrested. Mr Abang also sent for courts doctor and informed her to be on standby as he might need to send a lawyer to her to ascertain the lawyers mental fitness. In spite of pleas from N.A Nwawuche (SAN), counsel to the second defendant that the court should pardon Mr Nwafor-Orizus behavior, the judge said he would only acknowledge him after he presented a certificate of mental fitness. (NAN) A Federal High Court, in Abuja has instructed a former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC), Andrew Yakubu, to open his defence in the $9.8 million fraud charge leveled against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The accused had earlier filed a no-case submission to halt the case. The spokesperson of the commission, Tony Orilade, in a statement, on Thursday said the judge, Ahmed Mohammed adjourned the matter to July 3, 2019, so the defence can open its case. Mr Yakubu has been accused of failing to fully disclose his assets and receiving cash illegally. Backstory The EFCC had, on February 3, 2017, raided Mr Yakubus house, located in Kaduna South Local Government Area of Kaduna State, from where $9,772, 800 and 74,000 were recovered. Mr Yakubu, on February 8, 2017, reported to the Commissions Kano Zonal Office where he admitted being the owner of both the house and the money recovered. He was later arraigned on March 16, 2017, on a six-count charge for failure to make full disclosure of assets, receiving cash without going through a financial institution, which borders on money laundering. The anti-graft agency on October 17, 2018, closed its case against him, after calling the seventh witness, Suleiman Mohammed, an operative with the commission. The witness testified on how operatives recovered the stashed cash. However, Mr Yakubu through his counsel, Ahmed Raji, filed a no-case submission on December 5, 2018, arguing that the evidence provided in court, did not establish a case against him, and so the charges should be dismissed. Mr Mohammed, on April 1 granted Mr Yakubus permission to travel abroad for medical treatment to the United Kingdom. Ruling During the ruling on Thursday, Justice Mohammed dismissed the no-case submission. He held that: I agree with the defence counsel that the prosecution has failed to prove the essential element of transportation of money on counts five and six. Even though, I am tempted to discharge the defendant on counts one to four, I am however constrained to ask the defendant to explain how he came about the monies recovered from his house. Fortified with my position, the defendant is hereby ordered to enter his defence in respect of counts one to four. Mr Mohammed, thereafter, adjourned the matter to July 3, 2019. Mr Yakubu will now be expected to open his case on counts one to four, which is on failure to make full disclosure of assets and receiving cash without a financial institution an offence punishable under Section 1 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 as amended in 2012. The Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF) has created a joint financial institution worth six billion naira to serve as a vehicle for the regions economic recovery and development. Governor Kassim Shettima of Borno State and out-going Chairman of the forum made this known while highlighting his achievements in the last four years on Friday in Kaduna. He said the initiative was part of the efforts to make the region attain some degree of financial independence. He said under the scheme, the regions moribund textile industry and New Nigeria Development Company (NNDC) would be revived. Mr Shettima said the fund expected to be contributed by all the 19 northern governors of the region had so far realised 650 million naira. In pursuance of these objectives, each state is to contribute N50 million monthly for a period of six months. So far, we have N650 million out of the expected N5.7 billion. I am therefore calling on states that are yet to fulfill their pledge, to do so, in order to enable us embark on the implementation of the various programmes and projects articulated under the scheme. These include the establishment of a renewable energy plant, capable of generating 3000 4000MW of electricity. The forum has also taken pragmatic initiatives to resuscitate the New Nigeria Development Company (NNDC) to restore it to its position as the business and economic live-wire of the region, he said. According to him, about N6 billion was approved by the forum for the implementation of a five-year strategic development plan, which will propel the region into economic prosperity. In addition, a new commodity marketing company was established, as a subsidiary of the NNDC, to develop and promote agricultural activities in the region. To further consolidate the economic base of the region, the NNDC had signed a memorandum of understanding with Savanna Petroleum Limited for the development of four oil blocks. The NNDC has commenced negotiations with the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to venture into oil and gas exploration in the Northern region, Mr Shettima said. He also disclosed plans to resuscitate the Kaduna Textiles Company to full production of textile materials, which hopefully, would among other things, meet the uniform needs of our Armed Forces and other para-military agencies. Mr Shettima said the forum had also resolved the misunderstanding between pensioners and the management of the New Nigerian Newspapers. He said the process had commenced for the payment of the entitlements of the pensioners. He said the forum had a strategic plan to reinvigorate the newspaper and make it economically viable and professionally competitive. On security situation in the region, the NSGF chairman said We, as a forum, have introduced and implemented quite a number of measures to stem the tide of security challenges in the region. Mr Shettima said the NSGF had incorporated criminal offences into the penal code of Northern Nigeria to address the increasing security challenges in the region. Especially emergent criminal activities such as kidnapping, cattle rustling, incessant communal clashes, inciting religious preaching and suicide bombings among others, most of which were not properly codified in the criminal justice system of Northern Nigeria. The Forum, therefore established a Committee of Attorneys-General of the 19 Northern States to critically examine the provisions of the criminal justice system vis-a-vis, the emergent criminal activities, with a view to ensuring that perpetrators of such criminal offences are brought to justice. Accordingly, the forum advised all State Houses of Assembly in the 19 Northern States to make amendments and modifications to the existing criminal justice system, Mr Shettima said. He also commended the federal government for the steps taken to address the situation. Advertisements I would like to, therefore, express our gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari, for his quick and immediate response to the issues of insecurity in the region which of recent, seem to be deteriorating. We appeal to the federal government to re-strategise and come up with measures that could deal with the situation more permanently. He said the forum had also initiated the move to fight the menace of drug abuse among youths and women in the northern region in a holistic manner. Mr Shettima said the Forum had set up committees of relevant stakeholders in each state of the region, towards ensuring eliminating the scourge of drug abuse. At the National level, the Forum made a passionate appeal to the Federal Government to frontally deal with the issue of drug abuse and possibly declare a state of emergency in the fight against the scourge. It is gratifying to note that the federal government has heeded our call, which culminated in the setting up of the Marwa Committee against drug abuse. I would, at this juncture, extend the forums appreciation to the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hajiya Hadiza Usman. And Dr. Vincent, a professional psychiatrist, for drawing the attention of the forum to the problems associated with drug abuse and making invaluable and implementable recommendations on the way forward, he said. Mr Shettima expressed appreciation to members of the forum for what he described as considerable support and cooperation you have been giving me in the last four years I have had the honor of being the Chairman of the Northern States Governors Forum. Within this period, we have been able to collectively make some modest achievements in various sectors, which are deliberately initiated and implemented for the overall growth and development of the Northern region and to some extent, Nigeria as a whole. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that governors of Kogi, Niger, Katsina, Kano, Jigawa Sokoto Plateau and Kawa States attended the meeting. The governors later went into a close door session and are expected to issue a communique at the end of the meeting. (NAN) The Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, has been elected as the chairman of the northern governors forum which comprises 19 members. The second-term governor was elected during the forums meeting held on Friday in Kaduna. The forums outgoing chairman and Borno State governor, Kashim Shettima, disclosed this at the end of the meeting. He said Mr Lalongs tenure will begin May 29. The elated governor while accepting the nomination, promised not to betray the people of the region and his colleagues. According to him, the confidence bestowed on him will not be in vain. He described the outgoing chairman as very hard working leader, who did well in transforming the forum. Im indebted to you for electing me as the northern governors chairman. I will be stepping into the shoes of a very hard-working chairman, who is now moving to the National Assembly. I can assure that I will do my best not to betray the trust of my colleagues, he said. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has voided the suspension of Omoyele Sowore as the chairman of the African Action Congress (AAC). The electoral umpire said in a May 14 letter that those who suspended Mr Sowore from office did so without regard to the partys constitution or other governing documents. It, therefore, concluded that Mr Sowore will continue to be recognised as the AAC chairman. Mr Sowore was announced suspended by some members of the party on May 14, barely three months after he stood as the partys 2019 presidential candidate. The move came amidst a raging controversy between the Sahara Reporters publisher and other party chieftains, with both sides accusing one another of dishonesty, insubordination and fraud. Mr Sowore was specifically accused of misappropriation of funds and failure to comply with the statutory requirements of the party to hold NEC meeting over a long period of time, amongst other infractions. The politicians subsequently announced Leonard Ezenwa as the new chairman of the party. Mr Sowore dismissed his purported suspension in a press release shortly afterwards. He also responded by announcing the expulsion of Mr Ezenwa and others who took part in the meeting that removed him. The publisher said Mr Ezenwa and his band had previously been suspended for financial impropriety. Null and void A day after the suspension, INEC took a position on the matter, retaining Mr Sowore as chairman after finding no grounds to uphold his removal. The commission said Mr Ezenwa and others failed to show any documentary evidence that a meeting was called by the chairman as required by the partys constitution. It also found that the mandatory 21-day notice that should be circulated to members ahead of such critical meeting was not issued. The commission also said records of the purported meeting, including minutes, where Mr Sowore was removed, were unavailable. The commission shall continue to recognise Sowore as national chairman, the electoral body concluded. Mr Sowore emerged the presidential candidate of the AAC in October, 2018. He has also been the partys chairman ever since. The Gbong Gwom Jos and Chairman of the Plateau Council of Chiefs, Jacob Buba Gyang, has said state governors do not have the authority to redefine traditional boundaries. I am not aware of any authority by a governor to redefine traditional boundaries. Government cannot redefine boundaries where there is no problem, Mr Buba said on Friday in Jos. The monarch, who spoke at the Nzem Berom 2019, an annual cultural festival of the Berom ethnic group of Plateau, was reacting to a Thursday circular in which the state government created two traditional councils out of the Jos Traditional Council. The creation of the two traditional councils Jos North and Riyom has effectively whittled down the powers of the paramount ruler who superintends traditional rulers in the four local governments that make up the Jos Joint Traditional Council. With the split, the Gbong Gwom is left with only two local governments Jos South and Barkin-Ladi. According to the circular, the Attah Aten of Ganawuri will chair the Riyom Traditional Council, while the Chiefs of Anaguta and Afizere would be in charge of the two traditional stools in Jos North. There has been government pronouncement and actions to do with the traditional institution even when there was no problem. We have no problem with our neighbours and we have been in peace with one another. The traditional boundaries existed even before the existence of Nigeria as a country and every tribe on the Plateau has a defined territory. We want to appeal to politicians to respect these territories, Mr Buba stated. The monarch further said the country had a Land Use Act with the customary rights of land ownership embedded in it. All over Nigeria, land belongs to communities, families and individuals. We want to appeal that government must not take actions that will bring security challenges to Plateau. Yesterday night, I had to appeal to the Berom nation and its vibrant youths to please calm down. I told them that as sensitive as the issue is perceived, it has not gone beyond the Berom traditional institution, the elders and the Berom organisations. We will sit with government and educate government about what it is; we hope we will have the listening ear of the governor to make amends where they have made errors. There is no human being that is perfect, we all make mistakes. We appeal to the Berom nation to please calm down. We will follow due process and we are absolutely sure that God will not forsake us, he added. The monarch pointed out that people were craving for peace because there would be no development without it. He said he had had cause to write to the state government reminding it of reports of three judicial commissions of inquiry between 1994 and 2009. All the judicial commissions of inquiry agreed with the position that Jos belongs to the Afizere, Anaguta and the Berom. I wrote a letter last year reminding the governor of this and requesting him to allow traditional rulers of these tribes to sit with the state boundary commission to determine everybodys boundary. I am still appealing to government to look into this. We dont want a situation where government policy will bring chaos between neighbors, brothers and sisters that have lived together in peace over the ages, he said. The Commissioner for Water Resources and Energy, Jafaru Wuyep, who represented the governor, in his remarks, promised to convey the message. Advertisements Mr Wuyep acknowledge that the cultural festival was a unifying force that also promotes peaceful coexistence, adding that it was an avenue to project the Berom cultural identity, attract tourists and promote socio-economic activities. The cultural festival featured cultural activities by different groups and tribes, as well as the exhibition of Berom technology. Awards were given to two Berom personalities that had distinguished themselves and contributed to the development of the people. The awardees included Barnabas Dusu, now late, who received a posthumous award for being instrumental to the translation of the Holy Bible into Berom language. The other recipient of the award was Marie Nyam, who is famed as a major contributor to the educational development of many sons and daughters of Berom land. (NAN) LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, May 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GTX Corp (OTCQB: GTXO) (the Company) , a pioneer in the field of wearable GPS, people and asset tracking Location-Based Services (LBS) and Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS), today announced that it has been awarded a new contract for an initial installation of its versatile and scalable military-grade tagging, tracking & locating (TTL) GPS platform at Hill Air Force Base in Utah (Hill). GTX Corps GPS Platform was developed for large-scale installations such as military bases. Hill is the second U.S. military base that plans to deploy the Personnel, Equipment Tracking System (P.E.T.S. ), a lightweight, mobile, non-cellular, GPS technology platform designed to track personnel and equipment over a large remote area. The initial order is expected to be shipped and scheduled for phase I testing in June. After the success we have had at Edwards Air Force Base in California, we are pleased to have received a new contract from another Air Force base, said Patrick Bertagna, CEO of GTX Corp. We are very supportive of the U.S. Armed Forces and not only proud that many of our products are made in the U.S. but also honored to have been chosen for this new military project. As part of a long term roadmap, our team has been working with the Hill team on a next generation system which will include several enhanced custom features and as part of the contract we will be demonstrating the new concepts while on site next month. The proprietary GPS system is designed to monitor the location and movement of both human and non-human assets, but due to their remote locations or lack of conventional cellular coverage, requires the devices to transmit data through RF technology, report latitude and longitude coordinates every second, and encrypt the data. About GTX Corp GTX Corp (GTXO) is a pioneer in smart, mobile and wearable GPS tracking and recovery location based products, supported through a proprietary IoT enterprise monitoring platform. GTX offers a global end-to-end solution of hardware, software and connectivity. GTX Corp develops 2 way GPS tracking technologies which seamlessly integrate with consumer products and enterprise applications. GTX Corp utilizes the latest in miniaturized, low power consumption GPS, Cellular, RF and BLE technology enabling subscribers to track in real time the whereabouts of people or high value assets through a complete end to end - customizable transceiver module, wireless connectivity gateway, smart phone Apps, middleware, and IoT portal. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, GTX is known for its award-winning patented GPS SmartSole - Think Dr. Scholls meets LoJack, the worlds first invisible wearable technology tracking device created for those at risk of wandering due to Alzheimers, dementia, autism and traumatic brain injury. GTX Corps business model is built around technology innovation and holds over 85 patents with many issued patents in the area of GPS tracking. The company has international distributors servicing customers in over 35 countries and is a U.S. Military Government contractor. Other customers include public health agencies and municipalities, emergency and police authorities, private companies, public and private senior care homes, and consumers. GTX Corp is an equal opportunity employer with a history of employing a diverse workforce and U.S. veterans; makes many of its products in the USA, is a member of the United Nations Global Compact and Trust 2 Protect partnership. The Company doesnt just make and sell the best GPS tracking products, they deliver innovative, miniaturized, low power consumption wearable tech that provides safety, security and peace of mind at the touch of a button. GTX puts the "Where" in Wearable Tech. Online: www.gtxcorp.com Track My Workforce | GTX Corp www.gpssmartsole.com Social media - #withyou #smartsole #connectedandprotected #trackwhatyoulove GTX Blog http://gtxcorp.com/press/ https://www.facebook.com/gtxcorpcom http://www.twitter.com/gtxcorp www.linkedin.com/in/gtxcorp http://www.pinterest.com/GTXCorp/ http://instagram.com/gtxcorp General information, investor relations, wholesale licensing, consumer purchase: 213.489.3019 info@gtxcorp.com ir@gtxcorp.com http://gtxcorp.com/contact-us/ GTX Corp United Kingdom In the UK, GTX Corp operates from its London office. For more information, please contact: Nelson Skip Riddle Email: nsriddle@gtxcorp.com Tel: +44 7785 364100 Disclaimer: GTX Corp does not warrant or represent that the unauthorized use of materials drawn from the content of this document will not infringe rights of third parties who are not owned or affiliated by GTX Corp. Further GTX Corp cannot be held responsible or liable for the unauthorized use of this documents content by third parties unknown to the company. The Supreme Court on Thursday fixed May 24 to deliver judgment in the appeals over the disqualification of candidates of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Zamfara State. A five-member panel led by the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Tanko Mohammed, fixed the date after listening to the arguments from counsel in the matter. Mr Mohammed announced the date following passionate appeals that the court considers the judgment before May 29, so as not to create constitutional crisis in the state. The Governor Abdulazeez Yari faction of the APC , which emerged after the October 8, 2018, primary of the party had approached the apex court to set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Sokoto division. The appeal was filed by the Kabiru Marafa faction of the party challenging the outcome of the primary. During the court session on Thursday, the counsel representing the appellant, Lateef Fagbemi, pleaded with the court to allow the appeal and restore the judgment of the Zamfara High Court which allowed APC to field candidates in the 2019 general election. Mr Fagbemi said the judgement of the Court of Appeal, Sokoto Division, should be set aside on the grounds that the said judgement was a miscarriage of justice. Responding, the counsel representing Mr Marafa and other respondents, Mike Ozekhome, urged the court to dismiss the appeal. Mr Ozekhome further urged the court to affirm the appeal court judgment which held that the APC in the state did not conduct primaries that can qualify it to nominate candidates for the last general election. Adopting Mr Ozekhomes position, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) through its counsel, Tanimu Inuwa, told the court to dismiss the appeal for lacking in merit. Mr Tanimu while arguing said that the Court of Appeal in Sokoto was right in stopping APC from fielding candidates for the 2019 general election in the state. This, he said, was because the party failed to conduct any primary election known to law. He, therefore, urged the apex court to dismiss the appeal. The Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF) on Friday appointed Governor Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State to head its committee to proffer solution to the security challenges in the region. Governor Kassim Shettima of Borno State and outgoing chairman of the Forum disclosed this in the communique he read at the end of the forums meeting in Kaduna. The Northern States Governors Forum convened a meeting to deliberate on the major issues affecting the northern states and the Nations at large, particularly the current challenges of insecurity which seem to be deteriorating, despite concerted efforts by the federal and state governments. The forum deliberated extensively on the nature of insecurity currently bedeviling the region and various ways and means of dealing with the situation. In order to tackle the challenges holistically in an all-encompassing manner, the forum set up a committee under the chairmanship the Governor of Katsina State, Alh. Aminu Bello Masari to inter-alia develop a comprehensive regional plan of action that could bring lasting solutions to the lingering crises. The committee, as part of its mandate would seek audience with Mr. President and make adequate presentation to him on the true nature of the security challenges, Mr Shettima said. He said the committee would make suggestion based on insightful analysis and assessment of the situation on the best possible ways to solve the incessant problems. According to him, the forum also appointed a committee headed by Governor Badaru Abubakar of Jigawa State to study the current structure as well as, mission and vision of the New Nigeria Development Company Limited (NNDC). He said the committee would evolve a roadmap on how best to resuscitate and re-invigorate the company towards the realisation of its pre-set goals and objectives. Membership of the committee include Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Bello, Shamsudeen Usman, Ibrahim Ali, Bello Maccido, Ambrose Feese, MK. Ahmed and Abdullahi A. Sule. The forum after due consideration and wide consultations resolved to appoint Malam Tanimu Yakubu as the new Chairman of NNDC in view of his vast knowledge and wealth of experience. Tanimu Yakubu is a former adviser to former President Umaru Musa Yaradua on Economic matters. It also resolved that the current management of the company which had been operating in acting capacity should remain until the appointment of a substantive Executive management. The committee on the NNDC as part of its assignment should ensure that the board of the NNDC follows due process in the appointment of the new executive management through advertisement of vacant positions and other extant procedures. Similarly, due process to be followed in respect to the new Nigerian Newspapers Company Limited. The forum also directed New Capital Properties, a subsidiary under NNDC to continue with the disposal of NNNC properties with a view to settling other outstanding liabilities of the company and transforming it into a new media outfit, Mr Shettima said. He said the forum expressed appreciation to the federal government for settling the pension arrears of the companys pensioners. The forum thanked the management of Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation for their laudable programmes and other noble activities that have direct impacts on the lives of the people. The forum assured the foundation of its continued support and assistance at all times. The forum elected the Executive Governor of Plateau State, His Excellency, Mr. Simon Lalong as the New Chairman of the Northern States Governors Forum with effect from 29th May 2019. Governors of Borno, Katsina, Kano, Kogi, Niger, Plateau, Jigawa, Kwara, Sokoto and Kebbi States attended the event. (NAN) With the recent trend of kidnapping in Nigeria, lecturers of the Obafemi Awolowo University have called on the government and security agencies to curb the menace. PREMIUM TIMES recalls that the Chairman of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Mahmood Abubakar, and his daughter were kidnapped along Abuja- Kaduna Highway in April. The UBEC boss and the daughter were freed after 24 hours in the hands of the abductors. Likewise, a lecturer in OAU, Olayinka Adegbeingbe, was abducted two weeks ago. He was eventually released a day after, after paying the ransom demanded by the kidnappers. The incident occurred around 6:30 p.m. at the Apomu axis of Ibadan-Ife Expressway on Sunday, May 5. The professor, from the Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Traumatology, narrated how the abductors collected over N5 million before he regained freedom. Concerned lecturers In the press statement, sent to this newspaper, on Thursday, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in OAU condemned the growing trend of kidnapping. Part of its statement is reproduced below: We are all living witnesses to the gruesome and disturbing news of kidnapping all over the nation, and the consequent effects on the psyche of victims. Comrades and compatriots, the height of this was the experience of one of our colleagues and teacher, the unfortunate incident which occurred a few days ago. The Congress of ASUU OAU Branch met on Monday, 13th May, 2019 to deliberate on the unfortunate incident of kidnapping of one of its members, Professor A. O. Adegbehingbe of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Traumatology. ASUU OAU, while unanimously condemning the criminal act of kidnapping, not only as a crime against humanity and the state, also observed that it is a barbaric act violating the constitution, laws and customary decency of Nigeria. ASUU OAU also sorrowfully acknowledged the degrees of fear, trepidation and anxiety pervading the atmosphere under which academic staff, students and other members of the university Community are now going about their duties at the Obafemi Awolowo University. This is an unwelcome development capable of lowering the morale of workers and destroying academic, teaching and research activities. ASUU OAU equally observed that though the crime of kidnapping is not new in Nigeria, its upsurge and gradual incursion into Osun State, which is often celebrated as one of the most peaceful states in Nigeria, are issues to be seen as worrisome, and of serious concern to the Governor of the State as the Chief Security Officer, the State Commissioner of Police, all security agencies, Obas and traditional authorities, local government, state authorities and the people of the State. In view of the foregoing, Congress members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, hereby call on the State Governor, the Commissioner of Police, Obas and traditional chiefs, the OAU Vice-Chancellor, the Police and other security agencies to intensify efforts at fighting issues of insecurity in the state to a standstill. In particular, the Congress also called on the Inspector General of Police and the Director of State Security Services to continue to do everything within their power to expose the Fulani herdsmen and other criminals who masterminded the kidnapping of Professor A. O. Adegbehingbe and other perpetrators of crimes in Osun State and other parts of Nigeria. The 2,000 workers recruited by former Governor Ayo Fayose into the public service in Ekiti State on Friday staged a peaceful protest in Ado Ekiti, the state capital, over the recent cancellation of their recruitment. Governor Kayode Fayemi on Thursday cancelled their appointments over alleged irregularities. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the workers, alongside some of their dependants, stormed major streets of Ado Ekiti, claiming they were innocent of the alleged irregularities in their recruitment exercise seven month ago. They appealed to the governor to reconsider their case. They also stormed the state Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM) located within the State Secretariat complex, flaunting their original letters of appointment. Spokesperson for the protesters, Olawole Ganiyu, said contrary to the pronouncement made by Ekiti government that they were employed illegally, their appointments were in line with the civil service rule. During the Fayose-led government, we were at home when vacancies were advertised. Out of nothing, we paid N1,000 to buy forms. We wrote examinations and later sat for interview. Scores of the examination results were also pasted at the various ministries. Later, those shortlisted as qualified, again sat for separate interview and letters of appointment and posting issued out to successful applicants. What was in our letters is that we are to work for three months before getting salaries, but we have not been paid a dime since eight months ago. Government should please be compassionate with us. We were born and brought up here in Ekiti as indigenes, most of are long time graduates in search of gainful employment. Most of us even, out of the desperation to get pensionable jobs, resigned from private jobs to partake in the recruitment while many others had to relocate to our places of posting without a single kobo of mobilisation since about eight months ago that we were engaged, and has been working very hard to justify our appointments, he said. Another victim, Akande Adekunle, expressed sadness that they could be allowed to suffer since October 2018 they were offered employment without any pay. We went through due process. It was a process that was legitimate. When the present government came, we expected pronouncement from the government, but they said we should just be working because our employment was legitimate. We have to clarify that we were not sponsored by politicians. We have no godfathers and government should be a continuum. I do not know why we are being treated this way. It is shocking that they said we didnt go through due process. One of us has already lost her pregnancy, because of the shocking news of our disengagement. People of goodwill should please help us intervene in this matter. We should not be sacrificed on the altar of politics, we dont carry party cards, he said. (NAN) The Ogun State Governor-Elect, Dapo Abiodun, says an Oyo, Ogun and Lagos Joint Development Commission (JDC) is in the offing, toward fostering strong economic relationship among the states. Mr Abiodun told journalists of the plan on Friday in Ibadan where he came to pay a courtesy call on Governor Abiola Ajimobi in his office. The Ogun governor-elect said the states shared so many things in common, which ought to be fully harnessed for economic emancipation. What we want to do in the coming dispensation is to set up a Joint Development Commission between Oyo, Ogun and Lagos. In these states, we share so many things in common. We want to make sure that our economic development is in sync whether in the area of security, physical planning, revenue and physical infrastructure, he said. Mr Abiodun described the Lagos-Sagamu-Ibadan expressway as an important route which cut across the three states, adding it was a route that could raise the economic status of the region. The economy of Nigeria is also intertwined with this important Lagos-Sagamu-Ibadan express way, he said. Mr Abiodun said the three incoming governors, on assumption of office, would sit together and have a working relationship toward the development of the states. The Lagos State governor-elect, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, was also being expected in Ibadan. (NAN) PLEASE BE ADVISED: Soon we will no longer integrate with Facebook for story comments. The commenting option is not going away, however, readers will need to register for a FREE site account to continue sharing their thoughts and feedback on stories. If you already have an account (i.e. current subscribers, posting in obituary guestbooks, for submitting community events), you may use that login, otherwise, you will be prompted to create a new account. This was Burrows first time in the city, and he said what stood out to him was the contrast between the citys big, bustling casinos and some surrounding abandoned properties. While hes based in New York City, Burrows said he likes painting in places such as Atlantic City that need public art. A place thats gone through so many ups and downs, and I guess is now in sort of a purgatory phase of where its not clear whats going to happen, at the very least I think that public art can inspire people, Burrows said. I like the look on his face, said local artist Victor Sandoval, looking at Burrows work. The 41-year-old has lived in the Atlantic City for 28 years now, and he said he wished he saw more of these things when he was younger. For as long as Ive been here, no one walks around and gets inspired by what they see anywhere. Murals are important. I think they serve as good reminders of where we are. It might take your mind somewhere else, he said. MAURICE RIVER TOWNSHIP The more than 160-year-old East Point Lighthouse, threatened by rising sea levels and erosion, has been named among the most threatened historic places in New Jersey. The nonprofit Preservation New Jersey released its 2019 ranking of the 10 most endangered historic sites in the state on the steps of the Statehouse in Trenton on Thursday. NJ's 10 Most Endangered Historic Sites for 2019 Lee Brothers Park Pavillion in Morris CountyPort Colden Manor in Warren CountyThe Park Theat The mouth of the Maurice River and the adjacent bayshore is rapidly eroding, and tidal waters are now threatening the lighthouse, according to the list. East Point Lighthouse stands out on the list as one of the only places under threat from natural forces. The majority face demolition from developers and government entities. Over the past few years, theres been a push from local, state and federal stakeholders to protect the mid-1800s structure from rising waters. But no long-term plan has been put in place. Two pump stations were installed in the lighthouses basement in 2017 to push out flood waters as part of a $650,000 restoration project headed by the federal government and state Historic Trust Fund. As the latest class of graduates from New Jersey's flagship university meet Sunday to turn their tassels, the weather will be near full cooperation. Rutgers University's Commencement will take place at HighPoint.com stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey on Sunday, May 19 at 10 a.m. The Rutgers UniversityNew Brunswick and Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences will be graduating at this event. There were likely be a few hundred people from South Jersey cheering on the new grads. According to Carissa Sestito, part of Rutgers University News and Media Relations, 629 students from Ocean, Cumberland, Cape May and Atlantic counties graduated from the campus in the 2017-2018 academic year. 2017-18 Rutgers University Graduates, by County Atlantic County: 213 Cumberland County: 44 Cape May County: 45 Ocean County: 327 Total: 629 Newly Formed Scientific Advisory Board to Focus on Research, Education and Awareness For Premium Hemp-Based Wellness Products Dr. Zodkoy to Address the Association of New Jersey Chiropractors Spring Summit on Saturday, May 18th LAS VEGAS, May 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vitalibis, Inc. (OTCQB: VCBD), a technology based formulator of premium hemp-based wellness products, has appointed industry thought-leader Dr. Steven Zodkoy, DC, CNS, DACBN as the founding member of its Scientific Advisory Board to assist with research, education and awareness initiatives surrounding its premium hemp-based wellness products with naturally occurring cannabidiol. Dr. Steven Zodkoy is a board-certified chiropractor, nutritionist, kinesiologist and industry thought-leader who, for over twenty years, has specialized in treating patients who have been deemed "untreatable" through a standard course of treatment. Dr. Zodkoy attended Rutgers University and received his bachelors degree and Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Los Angeles College of Chiropractic at the age of twenty-four. Dr. Zodkoy is the author of the Amazon best-seller Misdiagnosed: The Adrenal Fatigue Link , which examines how adrenal fatigue has been linked to many health conditions and the best methods to diagnose and treat these conditions. Dr. Zodkoy currently operates a practice in Freehold, New Jersey, where he regularly lectures to groups in his community and holds continuing education courses for medical professionals. On May 18th, Dr. Zodkoy will address the Association of New Jersey Chiropractors Spring Summit on a panel titled The Opioid Epidemic: An Integrated Approach to Patient Care. Consumers naturally have an abundance of health and wellness questions related to products containing full spectrum hemp oil, said Steve Raack, Chief Executive Officer of Vitalibis. Unfortunately, there is an excess of misinformation regarding these products being promoted online. We believe that adding a trusted, widely respected industry thought-leader like Dr. Zodkoy will go a long way to educating the public as to the benefits of safe, premium, full-spectrum hemp oil . As a strong proponent of finding alternative solutions for medical issues deemed untreatable, I am incredibly honored to act as the founding member of Vitalibis Scientific Advisory Board, said Dr. Steven Zodkoy. I personally found the companys unique commitment to sustainability, safety and transparency in this emerging industry particularly refreshing. I look forward to leveraging my industry experience to add value to Vitalibis customer education initiatives. About Vitalibis, Inc. Vitalibis (OTCQB: VCBD) is a socially conscious brand focused on people, products and the planet. We are a technology-based formulator of premium, full spectrum phytocannabinoid rich hemp products with naturally occurring cannabidiol, along with safe personal care and nutritional products. Our Ambassador program combines the best elements of social selling, ecommerce and affiliate marketing into one innovative program - empowering our people and social mission driven ecosystem. For additional information, please visit www.vitalibis.com . FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS This news release includes forward-looking statements that reflect Vitalibis Inc. current expectations about its future results, performance, prospects and opportunities Vitalibis, Inc. has tried to identify these forward-looking statements by using words and phrases such as "may", "will", "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "should", "typical", "we are confident" or similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to the Company and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause the Company's actual results, performance, prospects of opportunities for the remainder of 2019 and beyond to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. Investor Contact: 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. Beijing criticizes moves as abuses of security concept, export controls The Ministry of Commerce urged the United States on Thursday to stop abusing the concept of national security and export control measures, and it promised that China will take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights of Chinese enterprises. The comments came after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday that is expected to restrict Huawei from selling its products in the US. Separately, on the same day, the US Commerce Department said it would be adding Huawei and its 70 affiliates to an Entity List, which will ban the company from buying parts and components of US companies without prior government approval. Gao Feng, spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, said at a briefing that the concept of national security "should not be used as a tool for trade protectionism". "China strongly opposes other countries imposing unilateral sanctions on Chinese entities," Gao said. He called on the US to stop its wrongful behavior and make more efforts to create conditions for normal international trade cooperation. Huawei has been increasing its 5G commercial contracts worldwide, with more countries giving the company a vote of confidence. But it is facing security allegations from the US, which Huawei has said are unfounded. Huawei said in a statement on Thursday that restricting the company from doing business in the US will not make the US more secure or stronger. "Instead, this will only serve to limit the US to inferior, yet more expensive alternatives, leaving it lagging behind in 5G deployment and eventually harming the interests of US companies and consumers." The company said it is ready and willing to engage with the US government to come up with effective measures to ensure product security. In response to the ban on Huawei buying parts from US companies, the company said such a decision will "do significant economic harm to the US companies with which Huawei does business, affect tens of thousands of US jobs and disrupt the current collaboration and mutual trust that exist in the global supply chain". Wang Peng, deputy head of the China Center for Information Industry Development, said the new US moves will disrupt the whole global electronics industry and hurt a string of US companies that supply chips and other components to Huawei. Huawei has more than 13,000 component and service suppliers worldwide. In November, it unveiled a list of its 92 core suppliers for the first time. Thirty-three of them are from the US, including chip giants Qualcomm Inc and Intel Corp. Wang Yanhui, secretary-general of the Mobile China Alliance, said, "Huawei has also been preparing for such a situation for some time and has hoarded chips to handle a worst-case scenario." The company became the world's third-largest buyer of semiconductors last year. China will definitely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of its businesses, and Trump's executive order is not a "constructive and friendly" gesture, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Thursday. Asked whether China will retaliate by targeting certain US companies, Lu said that as for foreign enterprises operating in China, there is no need for them to worry as long as their businesses are law-abiding. TORONTO, May 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CF Energy Corp., (TSXV: CFY) (CF Energy or the Company, together with its subsidiaries, the Group), an energy provider in the Peoples Republic of China (the PRC), is pleased to announce that, further to the press release of the Company dated April 23, 2019 CF Energy Signs Exclusive Operating Right Agreement for the Meishan Project, Meishan Hengtai Tianzhiyuan Energy Limited, a controlled subsidiary of CF Energy, has initiated the land transfer process (expected to be completed by August 2019) as well as begun the site preparation for the energy station of the Meishan Project. The Meishan Project The Meishan Project is in the Meishan New Economic Development Zone, an economic zone situated next to central urban area of Meishan City, Sichuan province, the PRC, with a planned development area of 50.5 square kilometers. The Meishan New Economic Development Zone will be a hub for manufacturers of drugs, supplements, medical equipment, and other medical related supplies. The year-round constant demand of steam necessary to produce drugs makes the Meishan New Economic Development Zone an ideal platform for integrated district energy distribution. About CF Energy Corp. (Previously known as: Changfeng Energy Inc.) CF Energy Corp. 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. CF Energy strives to combine leading clean energy technology with natural gas usage to provide sustainable energy to its customer base in the PRC. In 2009, CF Energy 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 TSXV 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. 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. NEW YORK, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- As WomenCorporateDirectors Foundation (WCD) prepares to open its innovation-focused Global Institute, the organization's Visionary Awards are recognizing corporate leaders for their innovation in diversity, inclusion, and corporate citizenship. WCD is honoring BMO Financial Group (BMO), Singapore Telecommunications Limited (Singtel), Hallmark Cards Inc., and Eileen McDonnell, CEO and Chairman of The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company (Penn Mutual). The 2019 honorees were selected "based on proven industry leadership, demonstrated achievement in ESG environmental, social, and governance factors and an unwavering commitment to diversity and inclusion in the board room and C-suite," said awards committee co-chair Joan E. Steel. This year's honorees are among those working to increase the number of women in senior roles. Only 27% of senior management roles in the S&P 500 are held by women, and the number of women CEOs now at 26 remains only 5.2%. Yet, study after study has shown the financial benefits of inclusivity with the latest research finding that inclusive organizations are 6X more likely to be innovative and agile and 2X more likely to meet or exceed financial targets. "This year's Visionary Award recipients from Canada, Singapore, and the United States are model corporate citizens and set a strong example for others around the world to follow," says Barbara Bowles, co-chair of the Visionary Awards committee with Steel. The leaders being honored on May 20 at the Visionary Awards Dinner in Silicon Valley include: Award for Innovation in Shared Value: BMO Financial Group (BMO) "BMO has long recognized the significant power and potential that diverse and inclusive workforces bring to the growth prospects of companies across all sectors, including ours," says Darryl White , CEO, BMO Financial Group . "While we still have more to do, we are extremely proud of the significant improvements we've made in the number of women leading in roles across our organization, including serving as directors on our board. With greater diversity at all levels of our organization, including greater female participation, we've accelerated our growth and performance and strengthened our organizational culture. It is clear that a diverse and inclusive team is good for our business and for our customers." . "While we still have more to do, we are extremely proud of the significant improvements we've made in the number of women leading in roles across our organization, including serving as directors on our board. With greater diversity at all levels of our organization, including greater female participation, we've accelerated our growth and performance and strengthened our organizational culture. It is clear that a diverse and inclusive team is good for our business and for our customers." This year, for the fourth year in a row, BMO was included in the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI), which honors companies that are committed to gender equality and inclusivity within the workplace and the community. For instance, in 2018, BMO announced that $3 billion in capital would be available over three years for Canadian businesses owned by women. in capital would be available over three years for Canadian businesses owned by women. Women make up over 40% of BMO's senior leadership roles in U.S. and Canada , and 35.7% of independent members of BMO Financial Group Board of Directors. , and 35.7% of independent members of BMO Financial Group Board of Directors. "BMO's deep commitment to advancing women's leadership has been in place for decades," says Bowles. "BMO has had at least three sitting female board directors since 1999 and was the first financial institution to receive the Catalyst Award for advancing women," adds Steel. "At BMO, sustainability is at the heart of their strategic agenda and represents the inextricable connection between BMO's financial performance and corporate responsibility." Award for Leadership and Governance of a Public Company: Singapore Telecommunications Limited (Singtel) Led by female CEO Chua Sock Koong , Singtel is one of Southeast Asia's largest telecommunications companies by market capitalization and reaches more than 675 million mobile customers in 21 countries. , Singtel is one of largest telecommunications companies by market capitalization and reaches more than 675 million mobile customers in 21 countries. "I am very honored for the Singtel Group to receive this recognition from WCD," says Chua. "Singtel operates in Asia-Pacific , in some of the most diverse markets in the world, and women constitute half of our customer base. We recognize the importance and value of diversity and corporate social responsibility in building a sustainable business. Our inclusive workforce and focus on responsible business practices, transparency, and integrity cuts across all levels of our organization our customers and the communities we operate in expect this of us. Their trust is hard-earned and sets the standards by which we measure ourselves. We will strive to keep on improving and be a corporate citizen that leads by example." , in some of the most diverse markets in the world, and women constitute half of our customer base. We recognize the importance and value of diversity and corporate social responsibility in building a sustainable business. Our inclusive workforce and focus on responsible business practices, transparency, and integrity cuts across all levels of our organization our customers and the communities we operate in expect this of us. Their trust is hard-earned and sets the standards by which we measure ourselves. We will strive to keep on improving and be a corporate citizen that leads by example." In January 2019 , Chua was the first woman appointed to Singapore's Council of Presidential Advisers. Singtel also has an executive on Singapore's Council for Board Diversity. , Chua was the first woman appointed to Council of Presidential Advisers. Singtel also has an executive on Council for Board Diversity. "Under the dynamic leadership of its CEO, Singtel's global growth consistently demonstrates diversity and inclusion in the board room and C-suite, and responsible corporate citizenship while delivering value to its stakeholders all to support its drive for excellence across all measures," says Steel. Award for Leadership and Governance of a Private Company: Hallmark Cards, Inc. Dave Hall , President of Hallmark , said of the award: "Hallmark is extremely honored to be recognized by WomenCorporateDirectors as one of this year's Visionary Award recipients. We feel fortunate to be guided by the contributions of female board members and company leaders, all of which help us put more care in the world through the products and experiences we create. Creativity is a defining characteristic at Hallmark, and it requires a culture of inclusion and diversity of background, thought, and experience to flourish. So, while we are proud of the work honored by this award, we are also reminded to maintain a fervent desire to do more." , said of the award: "Hallmark is extremely honored to be recognized by WomenCorporateDirectors as one of this year's Visionary Award recipients. We feel fortunate to be guided by the contributions of female board members and company leaders, all of which help us put more care in the world through the products and experiences we create. Creativity is a defining characteristic at Hallmark, and it requires a culture of inclusion and diversity of background, thought, and experience to flourish. So, while we are proud of the work honored by this award, we are also reminded to maintain a fervent desire to do more." Women make up 40% of senior management and the board in this $4 billion Kansas City, Missouri -based company that ranks the firm high as a "Best Employer of Women" by Forbes. -based company that ranks the firm high as a "Best Employer of Women" by Forbes. "Hallmark is dedicated to creating a more emotionally connected world and making a difference in the lives of others," adds Steel. "Its culture embraces a commitment to diversity and inclusion along with strong financial achievements and continued global growth and innovation." Award for Strategic Leadership: Eileen McDonnell, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company "It's truly an honor for our board, leadership team, and associates to be recognized by WomenCorporateDirectors for our strategic innovations that have led to industry-leading growth rates over the past decade," says McDonnell about the award. "As a Fortune 1000 company with over 40 percent female representation on our board and executive team, Penn Mutual's corporate philosophy is embedded in the fact that an inclusive and diverse workforce breeds success. We wholly advocate for shared leadership and our performance clearly demonstrates that it has been a winning strategy." As chairman and CEO of Penn Mutual since 2013, McDonnell has helped lead the company in its commitment to inclusivity and diversity through shared leadership of a diverse team. In fact, McDonnell and Sue Deakins , the second female CFO in the company's history, are one of only seven female CEO/CFO duos in the Fortune 1000. , the second female CFO in the company's history, are one of only seven female CEO/CFO duos in the Fortune 1000. " Eileen McDonnell is a highly effective CEO where innovation drives the company's strategic objectives," says Bowles. "Eileen's strategic leadership has led to strong culture spurred by innovation, workplace and board diversity, a dedication to policyholders, and a healthy financial position, while backed by over 170 years of history. With Eileen at the helm, Penn Mutual is now a Fortune 1000 company that continues to grow and remain a leading national competitive force among life insurance companies," says Steel. The awards will be presented at the Visionary Awards Dinner on May 20, 2019, as part of its annual invitation-only Global Institute (May 19-22) in Silicon Valley; the Institute's theme is "Harnessing the Transformative Power of Technology." Both events are sold out. Follow #WCDSiliconValley on Twitter for updates on the Institute and Awards. Some sessions of the Global Institute and Visionary Awards program will be open to select media. For media inquiries, please contact Suzanne Oaks Brownstein or Trang Mar of Temin and Company at 212-588-8788 or [email protected]. About WomenCorporateDirectors Education and Development Foundation, Inc. The WomenCorporateDirectors Education and Development Foundation, Inc. (WCD) is the only global membership organization and community of women corporate directors. A 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, the WCD Foundation has 80 chapters around the world. The aggregate market capitalization of public companies on whose boards WCD Foundation members serve is over $8 trillion. In addition, WCD Foundation members serve on numerous boards of large private and family-run companies globally. For more information visit www.womencorporatedirectors.org or follow us on Twitter @WomenCorpDirs , #WCDboards. SOURCE WomenCorporateDirectors Education and Development Foundation, Inc. Related Links http://www.womencorporatedirectors.org Vegas, Nevada, May 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Natural Health Farm Holdings, Inc (OTCQB: NHEL) (the Company or NHF Holdings), a nutraceutical biotechnology company, is pleased to announce that Mr. Tee Chuen Hau will be the Chief Financial Officer, effectively today. Vernon Tee will step down as the current Chief Financial Officer and remain as the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operation Officer of NHF Holdings. We are excited to welcome Mr.Tee to the NHEL team, said Vernon. We were looking for a leader who is enthusiast about business strategy and transformation, so Mr.Tees background is well suited to help us drive our strategy and bring tremendous capabilities to the Company. At NHF Holdings, Mr. Tee will oversee the Companys finance and accounting organization, company growth strategy and business planning. He will report directly to the Chief Executive Officer, Vernon Tee. Im pleased to have the opportunity to be part of the NHF Holding management team and excited to contribute to the Companys next phase of growth, said Mr. Tee Tee, 38, has more than 10 years of business strategy and consulting experience in various industries, working with private firms and government agencies. During his service as a Principal with A.T Kearney, a leading global management consulting firm, he has acted as professional advisor to his clients, mainly in oil and gas and high-tech industries, and led consulting engagements in the area of strategy formulation and business transformation. About Natural Health Farm Holdings Inc. Natural Health Farm Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB: NHEL) is a Nevada-based fully integrated nutraceutical biotechnology company offering clinically researched naturopathic products and related services through healthcare practitioners and direct-to-consumers. Since 2017, the Company has developed and commercialized a proprietary web-based Naturopathic Learning Management System that enables consumers and distributors to be educated on health-related aspects of various diseases. For further information, please visit www.nhf-holdings.com Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this news release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of Rule 175 under the Securities Act of 1933, are subject to Rule 3b-6 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and are subject to the safe harbors created by those rules. All statements, other than statements of fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding potential future plans and objectives of the company, are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and other results and further events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Future events and actual results could differ materially from those set forth in, contemplated by, or underlying the forward-looking statements. HOUSTON and PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Societe du Rhum Barbancourt, the family owned and operated rhum producer of the eponym brand, established in Haiti since 1862, has appointed BCI as their representative and advisor for the U.S. and Canadian markets. In this new role, BCI will work hand in hand with Societe du Rhum Barbancourt and will advise on strategy and successful execution, supporting the growth of the brand alongside Crillon Importers LTD., which has served the brand for over 20 years and will remain the sole and exclusive importer within the USA and Canada in the years to come. Barbancourt rhum is made using only freshly pressed sugar cane juice, without the addition of molasses or flavoring agents. The Barbancourt rhum is then distilled applying a proprietary method inspired from the ancestral "Charentaise" (otherwise used for the most exquisite eaux-de-vie from the Cognac region of France). Barbancourt rhums are then aged in French white oak casks to create a refined and subtle spirit. Jean-Marc Gardere and Michel Gardere, general managers of Barbancourt, said, "We are excited to be partnering with BCI and Jean-Francois Bonnete. The U.S. market is the most important export market for our company and for our brand. We look forward to accelerating our growth working together with BCI and building on Jean-Francois' track record in brand building." Jean-Francois Bonnete, CEO of BCI, said, "We're incredibly honored to be able to represent and contribute to the growth of this iconic brand. We believe Rhum Barbancourt to have a great potential in the U.S. market and we look forward to working closely with Barbancourt partners." For additional information on Societe du Rhum Barbancourt, please visit www.barbancourt.net and for more information on BCI, please visit www.bonnete.com. About Societe du Rhum Barbancourt: Since 1862, Societe du Rhum Barbancourt has produced rums in Haiti, endowed with a diversity of aromas and styles, both subtle and noble. Barbancourt dark rums are defined by a rich and aged body. The Barbancourt distillery offers rums of incomparable character, imbued with the heart of the island. It owes its peculiarity to its founder Dupre Barbancourt, originally from the Charente region of France. Barbancourt produces rum using the double distillation process, usually used for the greatest cognacs. Dupre Barbancourt succeeded in creating a rum of a unique quality, with flavors blending authenticity and refinement. For more than 150 years, Barbancourt has been transmitting its unique know-how, a legacy of its founder, from generation to generation. About BCI: BCI is a specialty wine and spirits brand builder that combines French care and acumen for craft with American sensibility and market experience. With expertise in developing, importing and expanding new and existing premium, prestige and luxury wines and spirits in the U.S. market, BCI's services include category analytics, brand positioning, commercial launches, strategic management, trade relations, marketing, program planning and tactical activation. The company's diverse portfolio includes: New Grove Rum, Bache-Gabrielsen Cognac, Gabriel Boudier Liqueurs and Gin, Trois Rivieres Rhums Agricoles, Calvados Coquerel Calvados, Normindia Gin, Boomsma Genevers & Bitters, Badet Clement Liberation de Paris wines, Chateau de Malle Grand Cru Classe 1855, Chateau Pessan and Chateau Bonnete. About Crillon: Based in Paramus, New Jersey, Crillon Importers was founded by CEO, chairman and legendary spirits master, the late Michel Roux. Crillon's mission is to provide the finest spirits, beverages and products from across the globe to inspire our customers and to ignite a passion for premium beverages. Crillon imports a variety of fine international wine and spirits, including Rhum Barbancourt, Absente | Absinthe Refined, Grande Absente, Magellan Gin, Wyborowa Wodka and H.B. Pastis among others. In addition, Crillon Importers was instrumental in reintroducing absinthe to the U.S. market in 2001, making it available for the first time since 1912. For more information, please visit crillonimporters.com. MEDIA CONTACT: Nathalie Bonnete, [email protected], (713) 969 9962 Related Images bci-logo.png BCI Logo BCI logo barbancourt-logo.gif Barbancourt logo Rhum Barbancourt Logo jean-francois-bonnet.jpg Jean-Francois Bonnete Jean-Francois Bonnete, President-CEO BCI SOURCE BCI Related Links http://www.bonnete.com SINGAPORE, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- LongHash , a global blockchain incubator supported by the Singapore government will be hosting the inaugural DLT Compass Conference in the Westin Hotel, Singapore this June 6-7. Expected to welcome over 300 attendees, the two-day conference aims to facilitate further collaboration between corporate enterprises and blockchain projects through driving discussion on enterprise blockchain applications. DLT Compass speakers and panelists range from regulators and financial institutions to multi-national corporations and high-potential startups, including the Taiwan Government, DBS, SGX, Standard Chartered Bank, KPMG, IBM, and Huawei. Commenting on the launch, founding partner and CEO of LongHash Singapore, Emma Cui said: "At LongHash, our overall objective is to accelerate the development, understanding, and adoption of blockchain technology among the masses. DLT Compass will not only be a forum for discussion, debate, and forward-planning but will provide attendees with practical insights and actions on how best to implement blockchain solutions to be future-ready proof." C-Level executives, government representatives, and innovators across insurance, finance, energy, and ICT, will gather under one roof to discuss the journey to mainstream blockchain adoption and the potential roadblocks along the way. Over the course of the two days, attendees will be given the chance to glean insights from one another on how emerging technologies can overhaul internal operations, remodel business interactions, and even transform entire business models while also discussing what is needed from an innovation and investment standpoint to further drive enterprise adoption. Peter Shen, Head of Technology Strategy and Innovation at Singapore Exchange (SGX), said, "Singapore is at the forefront of fintech and quickly becoming an innovation hub for emerging technologies. While it is encouraging to see so many milestones passed for blockchain, many challenges still remain before DLT can achieve mainstream adoption. Events such as DLT Compass play an important role in education, raising awareness, and facilitating actionable conversations as we approach the tipping point of mass adoptionfor blockchain." Speakers at the event include Peter DeMeo, IBM; Deepthi Prasad, Microsoft; Zhang Yu, Huawei Cloud; Jason Hsu, Taiwan Government; John Ho, Standard Chartered Bank; Amit Agarwal, DBS; Tomasz Kurczyk, AXA; Mike Kayamori, Liquid Group Inc.; Professor David Lee, Block Asset; Neil Thomas, SIX; and Amit Ghosh, R3. Additional speakers will be announced in the coming weeks. For more information on DLT Compass, visit: https://events.longhash.com/ Emma Cui, CEO of Longhash is available for an interview. About DLT Compass DLT Compass is a 2-day conference aimed at providing practical and strategic insights to enterprises who wish to utilise blockchain technology. Industry leaders and multinational corporations will share their direct experience on how they have implemented blockchain solutions, while leading technology players and technologists share key factors from design to implementation. About LongHash LongHash is a global platform for accelerating the development and understanding of blockchain technology. Supported by the Singapore government, LongHash runs 12-week incubation programs providing end-to-end support to start-ups across fundraising, mentorship, and professional workshops. LongHash data journalism helps inform the public about trends and key incidents related to blockchain technology. SOURCE DLT Compass A unit of C Spire, a diversified telecommunications and technology services firm, C Spire Business will train its engineers along with those of several selected Nashville businesses. "This training will help local firms prepare for the AWS Architect Associate certification exam," said Mike Girouard, executive vice president of enterprise sales The training will feature AWS Technical Essentials on Tuesday, May 21 and three days of specialized, instructor-led course work on Architecting with AWS from Wednesday, May 22 through Friday, May 24 at the Trevecca Nashville campus, 333 Murfreesboro Pike. Architecting on AWS training covers the fundamentals of building IT infrastructure on AWS and is designed to teach solutions architects how to optimize the use of the AWS cloud by understanding the company's services and how they fit into cloud-based solutions, Girouard said. Trevecca is the first Tennessee university to join the AWS Academy and plans to offer courses so students who are interested in an IT engineering career can pass the AWS certification exam, which could qualify them for entry-level jobs starting at over $100,000 a year. "AWS is a vital part of our larger hyper-converged, hybrid offerings," Girouard said. "Through our data centers, professional services and partnerships with other companies like Cisco and Dell EMC, we can deliver a full stack of managed IT solutions for any business." Amazon and local and regional economic development officials recently disclosed plans to invest $230 million and create 5,000 jobs, the biggest jobs announcement in Tennessee history, by building a huge operations center in the Nashville Yards site near the Gulch. The facility is expected to open in 2021. The company reported record quarterly profits earlier this month for AWS. Sales rose 41 percent to $7.7 billion while operating income jumped 59 percent to $2.2 billion. Company executives, including CEO Jeff Bezos, are predicting continued growth in the sector despite stiffer competition from Microsoft and Google parent company Alphabet, Inc. C Spire Business, with a 57 net promoter score that makes customers 2x more likely to recommend them to others, is the industry's first full-stack managed information technology solutions provider, but customers can count on far more than just gaining access to the latest technology, according to Girouard. "As the industry's first full-stack managed solutions provider, we can meet our customers wherever they are in the value chain and successfully help them manage their biggest technology challenges, whether it's data protection or IT resiliency, in an increasingly data-driven world," Girouard said. C Spire Business offers advanced connectivity, cloud, software, hardware, communications, professional services, cybersecurity, business continuity and technology support in a single, seamless, managed IT solution portfolio. "From desktop to data center, we help customers work smarter, faster and more secure," Girouard said. With over 500 service professionals, multiple data centers and ownership of nearly 9,000 route miles of fiber optic infrastructure, C Spire Business is poised to deliver world-class managed services to a variety of businesses. The firm is ranked 9th in the world among cloud service providers, Girouard added. About C Spire Business C Spire Business is a unit of C Spire, a Mississippi-based diversified telecommunications and technology services provider. The unit offers the nation's first full-stack managed IT solutions suite of services, including advanced connectivity, cloud, software, hardware, communications, professional services, cybersecurity, business continuity and technology support in a single, seamless, managed IT solutions portfolio. This news release and other announcements are available at www.cspire.com/news. For more information about C Spire Business, visit www.cspire.com and click on the business tab or follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cspire or Twitter at www.twitter.com/cspire. SOURCE C Spire Related Links http://www.cspire.com SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, May 14, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Thanks to the excellent human talent this country has to offer, and its contributions to companies' operating efficiency, the Shingo Institute has awarded three multinational companies based in Costa Rica with the highest recognition for operational excellence, the Shingo awards. The companies are: Boston Scientific Coyol (2019 Prize category), Hologic Surgical Products (2019 Silver category), and Bridgestone BATO Shared Services Center (2018 Silver category). The Shingo Award for Operational Excellence is granted by the Shingo Institute, part of the Jon M. Huntsman Business School at Utah State University, in recognition of the world's best manufacturing practices. This year in 2019, only four companies worldwide have managed to win an award in the Prize category, with two in the Silver category. In 2018, only two companies made it to the Silver category, which highlights excellence at the country level for executing high added value processes. Dyala Jimenez, the Minister of Foreign Trade, was delighted at the news, and remarked, "Companies in the life sciences sector have found a home in Costa Rica, where the high degree of specialization of our professionals has been a key element for their development. Costa Rican human talent is increasingly prepared to confront changing demands in the market and the environment where global business is taking shape, and this recognition is a clear example of this. The award to the companies Boston Scientific, Hologic Surgical Products and Bridgestone BATO Shared Services Center is also for their people. Great work is always recognized, and we thank you for putting Costa Rica on top. My very warmest congratulations!" The Managing Director at the Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE), Jorge Sequeira, said: "These prizes reflect the efficiency and productivity characteristic of Costa Rican culture. From 1999 to 2017, life sciences companies operating in the country have seen productivity growth per employee of 63%; whereas for the services sector, from 2005 al 2017, productivity has grown 100%, all of this measured by the value of exports per employee, according to CINDE data in 2018. We congratulate these companies for their commitment to excellence and their contributions to Costa Rica." Luis Javier Serrano, Vice President for Operations at Boston Scientific, Coyol plant, said, "This recognition is a real achievement for all of our employees. The passion, commitment and daily use of systems and tools for continuous improvement have created for us this magnificent culture of operational excellence. I have been a witness to these results, and the change that is generated when a team decides to embark upon this journey. Today we're celebrating what we once dreamed, which is what we have been working on for all these years." Senior Operations Director at Hologic Surgical Products, Nilo Caravaca, commented, "We set out on our path to operational excellence (LEAN) 10 years ago, and over the past four years we've been implementing the Shingo Operational Excellence model, in tandem with our Gallup Q12. We've chosen this model because we want excellent and sustainable results that we can compare with the operations and services of the best organizations in the world." Marshall Kelly, VP at Bridgestone Shared Services Center, noted that: "This is a very important success in our progress towards our strategic goals. It's a journey that began three years ago. We are proud to be the first Shared Services Center in Costa Rica to have won the Shingo Silver Medallion, a prize for operational excellence." The results achieved by these companies corroborate Costa Rica's standing in various international rankings of efficiency and innovation. For example: Costa Rica took first place in Latin America for efficiency and innovation according to World Intellectual Property Organization 2018. About CINDE The Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE) is a private, non-profit organization that for 37 years has been committed to the development and sustainable social progress of Costa Rica by attracting direct foreign investment in manufacturing and services industries of high added value that create quality employment, knowledge transfer and productive linkages. CINDE also collaborates in strengthening the Costa Rican business climate to foster the growth of activities of value for the country, improvement in the preparation of local talent, creation of jobs and greater opportunities for the population in the country's various communities. For more press information Fabiola Dominguez, CINDE [email protected] SOURCE Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency Related Links http://www.cinde.org "It is fantastic to welcome Sierra Nevada College to the Cuesta College SLO Campus," says Dr. Jill Stearns, Cuesta College President. "Our partnership with Sierra Nevada College launches tremendous opportunity for Cuesta College graduates, and local associate degree holders, who are ready to take the next step on their educational journey." Cuesta College joins SNC extension programs in Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno, Nevada, and Lake Tahoe Community College in South Lake Tahoe, California. Sierra Nevada College brings its commitment to instruction delivered by professor-practitioners, small class sizes, and flexible schedules into the extension center model. The extension center provides a pathway to higher education for those who might otherwise be held back by strong ties to work, family, and community. "Partnering with community colleges to create new pathways to 4-year degrees is good public policy," says SNC President, Dr. Alan Walker. "It helps students, it helps employers, and helps the communities where students live and work." As pointed out in 2016 by NPR, economic changes in this country have created a surge of "non-traditional" students. Almost half of those enrolled in higher education in 2016 were such students. Many students today have intricate ties to their communities, making a transfer to another institution difficult if not out of reach entirely. Adding to this is the impacted state of the California State University and University of California systems. The extension center model addresses this shortage, without asking students to leave the community where they already live. Interested students may apply to the program on the Sierra Nevada College admissions webpage. For more information on the Sierra Nevada College Extension Center, please email [email protected]. Degrees and site approvals pending with the NWCCU and CA Bureau of Postsecondary Education. SOURCE Sierra Nevada College WASHINGTON, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Association of Specialty Pharmacy (NASP) is extremely disappointed the administration did not initiate much needed reforms to ensure Medicare beneficiaries begin paying less at the pharmacy counter in 2020. This week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D Drug Pricing Rule (CMS-4180-F), deciding not to include much needed reforms of abusive Direct and Indirect Remuneration (DIR) fee practices. This after CMS's proposed rule highlighted DIR fee practices by plans and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) that result in: increased costs at the pharmacy counter, quickly pushing seniors into the catastrophic coverage gap, and threatening access to specialty medications for our most vulnerable populations. "CMS's decision to turn a blind eye is a significant blow to patients seeking relief from the high out-of-pocket costs they face on drugs at the pharmacy counter and is severely out of step with the administration's proactive and ambitious approach to confronting practices that drive up patient and government spending on drugs," said Sheila Arquette, R.Ph., NASP Executive Director. "NASP is concerned for patients and concerned about the continued impact pharmacy DIR fees will have on independent specialty pharmacy's ability to continue providing life-saving medications and care management services for patients with complex conditions such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, cystic fibrosis, and HIV/AIDS." Since 2012, NASP members have seen a dramatic growth in the collection of pharmacy price concessions in the form of DIR clawback fees by plans and their PBMs. In its proposed rule, CMS stated that pharmacy price concessions grew more than 45,000 percent between 2010 and 2017, with no savings passed onto Medicare beneficiaries. "Allowing the continued collection of these fees threatens quality, affordable medication access for seniors while giving the largest PBMs leeway to continue anticompetitive market practices and keep more Medicare dollars for themselves," says Arquette. "By failing to use its authority to act on reform of DIR fees and move pharmacy price concessions to the point of sale, the administration has failed patients." NASP is continuing its review of the policies set forth and justifications provided by CMS in the final rule. We have long advocated for policymakers to put a stop to DIR fees and we intend to continue efforts in coordination with more than 150 patient and other stakeholder organizations and bipartisan members of Congress who have joined pharmacy in advocating for this needed reform. NASP calls on Congress to act where the administration has not and eliminate DIR fees this year. The National Association of Specialty Pharmacy (NASP) is the only national association representing all stakeholders in the specialty pharmacy industry. NASP members include the nation's leading independent specialty pharmacies, pharmaceutical and biotechnology manufacturers, group purchasing organizations, patient advocacy groups, integrated delivery systems and health plans, technology and data management vendors, wholesalers/distributors and practicing pharmacists. With over 100 corporate members and 1,500 individual members, NASP is the unified voice of specialty pharmacy in the United States. Contact: Sheila Arquette, Executive Director, (703) 842-0122 SOURCE National Association of Specialty Pharmacy NEW YORK, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Wollmuth Maher & Deutsch LLP is pleased to announce that Brad Axelrod joined the firm's Bankruptcy, Restructuring and Insolvency group on May 1. Mr. Axelrod spent the first seven years of his career in the Restructuring and Bankruptcy Reorganization department of Skadden Arps and is well known in the New York restructuring community. He has three decades of experience advising clients on all sides of complex bankruptcy, restructuring, and distressed debt matters across the country and across all industries. Brad has particularly deep experience in energy, construction, engineering, and infrastructure businesses. Over his career he has represented virtually every type of party with an interest in a complex restructuring matter or bankruptcy case, including Chapter 11 debtors, trustees, examiners, committees, and creditors of all rank. He has substantial experience representing acquirors of troubled and bankrupt businesses, as well as institutional and alternative DIP lenders. Mr. Axelrod also has deep experience in the energy industry in each of development, acquisitions and restructurings for clients such as NRG Energy and various private developers. Mr. Axelrod will be based in the firm's New York City office. "I am thrilled that Brad has chosen to join the talented attorneys in our bankruptcy and restructuring group, which is experiencing strong growth," said Paul DeFilippo, who leads the firm's insolvency practice. "Brad's impressive skill set will complement the other lawyers in the group and help us serve our clients in areas of increased need," DeFilippo said. David Wollmuth, the firm's Managing Partner, added, "Brad's years of practice outside of New York and his substantial business experience bring a unique and diverse perspective to our firm and its clients. Most important, Brad has a strong reputation for integrity, good judgment and teamwork. He is also a fun guy to have around." Matthew Cantor, Executive Vice President of Legal Affairs and Chief General Counsel of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., a client of the firm, stated, "I met Brad thirty years ago on the Eastern Airlines case when we were fungible first-year associates. He was at Skadden and I was at Weil. Over the years Brad has been an invaluable source of advice and wise counsel, and I look forward to continuing to work with him in his new position." Mr. Axelrod joins Wollmuth Maher & Deutsch from McGlinchey Stafford in New Orleans. He earned his B.A from the University of Pennsylvania and his J.D. from Harvard Law School. CONTACT: Dave Wollmuth, 212-382-3300 SOURCE Wollmuth Maher & Deutsch LLP Related Links http://www.wmd-law.com BROOKLYN, N.Y., May 14, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- NYU Tandon School of Engineering's Future Labs a network of startup business hubs that includes the Data, Urban, Digital, and Veterans Future Lab celebrated its latest member acquisition. Bowtie.ai, an artificial intelligencedriven virtual receptionist for appointment-based businesses and a graduate of the AI Nexus Lab and Next Round programs, was acquired by MINDBODY. Since launching in 2009 as the first incubator with city support through the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), the Future Labs have seen 20 of their portfolio/graduate companies acquired for a combined total of over $530 million. The milestone is particularly noteworthy because the Future Labs support early-stage startups, which typically encounter difficult survivability challenges. The NYU Tandon Future Labs program was conceived to encourage a culture of entrepreneurship at the university and throughout New York City. Having 20 companies in the Future Labs portfolio acquired by tech leaders, including the likes of Uber, Google and Twitter, communicates the success of the program and its approach to fostering tech talent in New York. The Future Labs have experienced their greatest number of acquisitions in the data and artificial intelligence industries, both booming fields within the New York City tech community and the primary focus for the Data Future Lab, NYC's leading incubator for AI startups. Prominent acquired startups include: "This is a significant milestone for NYU Tandon and the Future Labs," said Kurt H. Becker, the School's vice dean for research, innovation and entrepreneurship. "Since opening our doors 10 years ago, we have seen New York City undergo a technology revolution, and our member companies and graduates have played a significant role in the city's transformation. We are proud that the Future Labs are expanding our work within the tech ecosystem and our support for some of the brightest and most innovative companies. Accomplishments of the Future Labs mirror the longstanding culture of our School and University to work side-by-side with our community to make New York City a better place." "Working with the Future Labs team we were able to take our company from a few paid clients to over 100. Their support and advice was crucial in helping our business scale," said Ron Fisher, co-founder and CEO of Bowtie.ai. "Moreover, the successful founders that came through inspired us every week to focus on what was ahead and see that the issues we were facing were, in many ways, standard when growing your startup." "NYU Tandon and Future Labs have been crucial to developing the startup ecosystem in New York City," said Ana Arino, chief strategy officer at NYCEDC. "Whether supporting early-stage startups or training the next generation of tech talent, this partnership is invaluable for companies looking to grow. We are proud to reach this significant milestone, and look forward to building on our success within the New York City tech ecosystem." Last year, the Future Labs a network of New York State Certified Business incubators - released an economic impact study that found the combined programs and member companies supported 3,201 jobs in New York State and reported an impact on New York City's economy of $4.06 billion. Together, the Future Labs comprise the largest university-affiliated startup ecosystem in New York City. Its companies and graduates are valued at $1 billion. About the New York University Tandon School of Engineering The NYU Tandon School of Engineering dates to 1854, the founding date for both the New York University School of Civil Engineering and Architecture and the Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute (widely known as Brooklyn Poly). A January 2014 merger created a comprehensive school of education and research in engineering and applied sciences, rooted in a tradition of invention and entrepreneurship and dedicated to furthering technology in service to society. In addition to its main location in Brooklyn, NYU Tandon collaborates with other schools within NYU, one of the country's foremost private research universities, and is closely connected to engineering programs at NYU Abu Dhabi and NYU Shanghai. It operates Future Labs focused on start-up businesses in downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn and an award-winning online graduate program. For more information, visit http://engineering.nyu.edu . About the NYU Tandon Future Labs The NYU Tandon Future Labs is a network of innovation spaces and programs that support the early-stage startups of tomorrow through personalized and curated support services, mentorships, and resources. Operated by the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, the companies work at the intersection of a leading academic institution and the City of New York. For more information, visit futurelabs.nyc. www.facebook.com/nyutandon @NYUTandon SOURCE NYU Tandon School of Engineering Related Links http://www.engineering.nyu.edu HARRISBURG, Pa., May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- With Tuesday's municipal primary election just ahead, Acting Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar today reminded Pennsylvanians that the Department of State's election night returns website offers up-to-the-minute results. "The public, candidates and the press can find the earliest and most complete picture of how the electorate voted on our election returns site," Secretary Boockvar said. "We collaborate with all 67 county election offices to consolidate results as soon as they are available." Visitors to electionreturns.pa.gov can customize searches, receive timely updates, view results on mobile devices, use a location-based service through the "My County" link to instantly bring up their county's election returns and connect to each county's election results website. The department will post unofficial results on the site as it receives reports from counties after the polls close at 8 p.m. on Election Day. On Tuesday, registered Democrats and Republicans in Pennsylvania will select their parties' nominees for: Judge of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania (two open seats) (two open seats) Judge of the Court of Common Pleas Judge of the Municipal Court ( Philadelphia ) ) County, school board and local seats such as mayor, city or borough council member, township commissioner or supervisor, magisterial district judges and precinct election officials. In addition, all registered voters in the following four districts will be able to vote in special elections to fill vacancies: 12 th Congressional District ( Bradford , Centre , Clinton , Juniata , Lycoming , Mifflin , Northumberland , Perry , Potter , Snyder , Sullivan , Susquehanna , Tioga , Union and Wyoming counties) Congressional District ( , , , , , , , , , , , , , and counties) 11 th House District ( Butler County ) House District ( ) 33 rd Senatorial District ( Adams , Cumberland , Franklin and York counties) and Senatorial District ( , , and counties) and 41st Senatorial District ( Armstrong , Butler, Indiana and Westmoreland counties) For complete information about voting in Pennsylvania, visit votesPA.com or call 1-877-VOTESPA (1-877-868-3772). MEDIA CONTACT: Wanda Murren, 717-783-1621 SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of State Seng Yee Lau, Senior Executive Vice President and Chairman of Group Marketing and Global Branding at Tencent expressed, "Openness, partnership and sharing, have become the value consensus in the digital era. With the digital wave sweeping across the global, China's innovations are getting attention now more than ever. Tencent is in discussion with LBS to actively explore opportunities in this context." The WeChat case study is developed by a top international business school for the first time, based on in-depth interviews with Allen Zhang, Senior Executive Vice President, President of Weixin Group, as well as early members of the WeChat team and other senior executives. The case study development is the first undertaking within Tencent's "Global Business School Cooperation Program", which was launched in 2018 with the goals of openly sharing Tencent's business innovations and practices, collaborating with the world's top business schools, exploring opportunities for joint research on cutting-edge business ideas, aiding the development of the industry, and enabling global talent development and exchange. Seng Yee Lau was invited to attend the China Business Forum 2019 hosted by LBS. As a representative of China's Internet technology sector, Lau shared his perspectives on the topic of "China's innovations". A flagship event of the school, the Forum builds bridges between the political, business, and academic sectors of the two nations. It is one of the largest and most influential business forums in Europe today. An important topic at this year's China Business Forum, "Created in China" is becoming a topic of global attention. Lau expressed that support on a national-strategy level has been the foundation, with the development of Internet technology providing a boost; the borderless nature of the Internet means technology created in China can be shared globally. He believes "Created in China" is driven by innovations, and shared how Tencent seizes the opportunities of the modern era and continues to innovate in business, ecosystems, and society. At the business level, Tencent is deeply rooted in internet-based technology and culture. "The exploration of basic research and cutting-edge technology have profoundly shaped past technology revolutions in human history. Tencent doesn't just rely on its own strengths, but also joins the business and academic sectors in contributing to the advancement of science and technology together," Lau said. Tencent continues to invest in pioneering technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, and robotics and promote technological innovation and application in various fields. It also encourages young scientists to dedicate themselves to basic scientific research. To this end, the Tencent Foundation has committed 1 billion RMB in funding (approximately 112 million GBP) and teamed up with renowned scientists to establish the "Xplorer Prize." Through industry investment, Tencent also works extensively with partners in various sectors all around the world, constantly exploring innovations and breakthroughs in disruptive technologies. No matter how advanced technology is, however, culture is irreplaceable, Lau noted. Tencent's commitment extends to fostering the new culture of the digital age. Tencent subsidiary China Literature brings together 7.3 million readers and is China's largest digital reading platform, as well as online literary creation platform. Similarly, in the digital culture fields of music, video, gaming, and more, Tencent has maintained its industry leadership through platform innovation. At the ecosystem level, Tencent enables innovation across businesses and sectors through its open and jointly created ecosystems. Lau shared industry innovation practices from China, such as how China Southern Power Grid was able to cut the time needed for a data sorting task from over one month to just a few days, thanks to Tencent Cloud AI computer vision technology. In retail, the YH Super Species supermarkets have placed QR codes on product labels so that consumers can scan and pay through a WeChat Mini Program, enabling them to quickly shop and be on their way, which significantly improves operational efficiency in retail. Lau noted that, "Tencent will be a good 'digitalization assistant' for all businesses and sectors providing new forms of infrastructure such as cloud computing, big data analytics, and AI capabilities; stimulating partners to create their own digital innovations; and building a digital ecosystem and community together." At the societal level, Tencent follows the vision of "technology for good", helping to build a sustainable world. "Innovation is only a means Tencent hopes that with the help of technological innovation, a smarter, more sustainably developed innovative society can be built," said Lau. "That's why we're advocating in our industry and in society for 'technology for good' using technology to solve problems from medical to educational or even address global challenges such as those relating to food, water, or the environment." Lau gave the example of how Tencent used computer vision technology to develop the AI Medical Innovation System, which helps doctors interpret diagnostic images. To date, it has read over a hundred million images, with an accuracy rate of 96%, making it an AI system that saves lives. Tencent AI Lab also worked with agricultural experts to create an agricultural AI system that improves the agricultural output and resource utilization. The system improves output by more than five times as compared with human-managed planting, and it won second place at the 2018 Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge. As the first Chinese internet product to break 1 billion monthly active users, WeChat is Tencent's most iconic exemplar, and now a case study in a top business school's curriculum. "Tencent's open sharing of WeChat's innovations and practices, together with analysis by LBS and subsequent research with top students around the world, will contribute to the advancement of global business thinking and the building of a more inclusive digital future," said Professor Julian Birkinshaw, Deputy Dean at London Business School and Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship. "The value of the WeChat case study is not just in its representation of China's innovation. WeChat also demonstrates an advanced level of global innovation, which sets an example to entrepreneurs and is a research subject for innovators." Against the backdrop of Chinese innovations going global in recent years, Tencent has accelerated its establishment of international collaborations, adapting its business strengths in a new model of overseas expansion. In May 2018, Tencent and the UK Department for International Trade signed a Memorandum of Understanding to boost the rapid development of the cultural creative industries through digital means, working with the British Tourist Authority, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Springer Nature, and other organizations and enterprises. The initial set of collaborations focused on the three major areas of film and television, art, and gaming. In January 2019, Tencent and the France National Museums Union (RMN) established a strategic cooperation. Based on Tencent's New Cultural Creativity experience and digital capabilities, Tencent and RMN are carrying out a deeper cooperative exploration in the domain of cultural exchanges, as well as traditional cultural inheritance and innovation. Together, they also launched the "Global Digital Museums for National Treasures" program to digitize precious Chinese relics in international museum collections, using the power of the Internet to enable more Chinese people to overcome borders to enjoy their country's historical treasures and experience traditional cultures. SOURCE Tencent English Swedish Press Release Stockholm May 17, 2019 Resolutions from the 2019 Annual General Meeting in CLX Communications AB (publ) Stockholm, Sweden CLX Communications AB (publ) XSTO: SINCH CLX Communications held its annual general meeting on Friday, 17 May 2019 at 2.00 p.m. in the meeting venue Horn, Lindhagen mat & moten, Lindhagensgatan 126, Stockholm. Adoption of financial statements, appropriation of the companys profit or loss and discharge from liability The meeting adopted the presented income statement and balance sheet as well as the consolidated income statement and consolidated balance sheet. In accordance with the proposal of the board of directors, the meeting resolved to not pay any dividend for the financial year 2018. The meeting further resolved to grant discharge from liability of the members of the board of directors, the former CEO, the CEO and the deputy CEO for the financial year 2018. Board of directors and auditor The meeting resolved that the board of directors shall consist of five members elected by the meeting with no deputy members and resolved to re-elect Erik Froberg, Renee Robinson Stromberg, Johan Stuart, Bjorn Zethraeus and Bridget Cosgrave. Erik Froberg was re-elected as chairman of the board of directors. The board member Kjell Arvidsson had declined re-election. Deloitte AB was re-elected as auditor. Remuneration to the board of directors The meeting resolved on an annual remuneration of SEK 300,000 for each of the board members not employed by the company and of SEK 650,000 to the chairman of the board of directors. Furthermore, it was resolved on an annual remuneration of SEK 40,000 for each of the members of the audit committee, of SEK 80,000 for the chairman of the audit committee, of SEK 20,000 for each of the members of the remuneration committee and of SEK 40,000 for the chairman of the remuneration committee. In addition, it was resolved that that remuneration to the auditor shall be paid in accordance with approved invoices. Principles for the nomination committee The meeting resolved on principles for the appointment of the nomination committee in accordance with the nomination committees proposal, which means that the principles are unchanged compared to the previous year. Compensation to senior executives The meeting resolved on the guidelines for remuneration to senior executives proposed by the board of directors. The remuneration to the CEO and other senior executives is to reflect CLXs need to recruit and motivate qualified employees through a compensation package that is on a fair and competitive level. Remuneration shall comprise a base salary, short- and long-term variable remuneration (including any share-related incentive programs), pension benefits, other benefits and severance pay. Authorization for the board of directors to issue new shares The meeting resolved, in accordance with the board of directors proposal, to authorize the board of directors, at one or several occasions, up until the next annual general meeting, to resolve on issues of new shares, and that such issues can be done with deviation from the shareholders preferential rights. The board of directors is entitled to resolve on share issues causing an increase of the company's share capital of at most 10 percent of the company's registered share capital at the time the board of directors first utilizes the authorization. The purpose of the authorization and the reason for the possible deviation from the shareholders preferential rights is to enable capital raisings for the acquisition of companies or parts of companies and for the operations of the company. Resolution to amend the articles of association The meeting resolved, in accordance with the board of directors proposal, to amend the articles of association, meaning, among other things, that the companys registered name is to be changed to Sinch AB (publ). Resolution on an incentive programme The meeting resolved to adopt an additional long term incentive programme for senior executives and key employees within the CLX group (LTI 2019). LTI 2019 comprises six series of warrants. Upon exercise of all warrants in LTI 2019 up to 510,000 shares, equivalent to approximately 0.9 per cent of the total number of shares and votes, may be issued. Upon full exercise of the warrants, the Companys share capital will increase with a maximum of SEK 51,000. For further information, please contact Thomas Heath Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Investor Relations CLX Communications AB (publ) Mobile: +46-722-45 50 55 E-mail: thomas.heath@sinch.com About Sinch (CLX Communications AB) Sinch brings businesses and people closer with tools enabling personal engagement. Its leading cloud communications platform lets businesses reach every mobile phone on the planet, in seconds or less, through mobile messaging, voice and video. Sinch is a trusted software provider to mobile operators, and its platform powers business-critical communications for many of the worlds largest companies. Sinch has been profitable and fast-growing since its foundation in 2008. It is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, and has local presence in more than 30 countries. Shares are traded at NASDAQ Stockholm: XSTO:SINCH. Visit us at sinch.com. Attachment WASHINGTON, May 16, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Below is a statement by U.S. Conference of Mayors President, Columbia (SC) Mayor Steve Benjamin on the Trump Administration's immigration proposal: "The nation's mayors have long called on Congress and the Administration to fix our broken immigration system. While we are pleased the President is offering a plan and starting a discussion, we have serious concerns with the provisions of that plan. "Based on our adopted policy, the U.S. Conference of Mayors believes that immigration reform must be family-based and must include: the Dream Act; strengthened border security, including funding for more CBP officers and more immigration judges; a streamlined visa system that provides access to the agricultural, lower-skilled and high-skilled workers we need; and an earned pathway to citizenship for the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country. "As mayors, we see every day the great contributions our immigrant communities make to the diversity, ingenuity and cultural richness of our cities. We look forward to working with Congress and the Administration on immigration reform legislation in a bipartisan way that is consistent with our principles and will fix our broken system." About The United States Conference of Mayors -- The U.S. Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. There are nearly 1,400 such cities in the country today, and each city is represented in the Conference by its chief elected official, the mayor. Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/usmayors, or follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/usmayors. SOURCE U.S. Conference of Mayors Related Links www.usmayors.org NEW YORK, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- United Benefit Advisors (UBA), the nation's leading independent employee benefits advisory organization, has announced those chosen to receive the annual "UBBIE" Awards for 2018. The award honors Partner Firms, Principals, and Strategic Solution Alliances who have demonstrated unconditional engagement with the UBA community, the clients they serve, and the benefits insurance industry. "The United Benefit Advisors UBBIE Awards recognize people and organizations who exemplify the UBA culture that shared wisdom yields powerful results. This is the highest award within UBA," says Peter Weber, UBA President. "The UBBIE Awards also acknowledge innovation, quality of work, professionalism, and contributions to programs that enhance business practices for the greater good of the entire UBA organization as well as Partner Firm clients and the employees they serve. Those selected for the award are respected at every level and are usually the 'go-to' people and organizations when seeking knowledge and collaboration." The UBBIE Award recipients were announced at the 2019 UBA Spring Conference in Rosemont, Illinois, which was attended by more than 325 employee benefit and financial advisors including 66 insurance carriers and industry-leading merchants. This annual event is an opportunity for UBA thought leaders to discuss the changing benefits industry and share solutions to better manage health care costs. UBA recognized outstanding individuals and organizations for their dedication and contributions by awarding the following UBBIE Awards: UBA Partner Firm of the Year: Brio Benefit Consulting, Inc. New York, N.Y. UBA Partner Firm Principal of the Year: Jason Pastrano , Partner of Brio Benefit Consulting, Inc. New York, N.Y. Recipients of the UBBIE Award all have the same things in common. They act selflessly to support others within UBA regardless of the situation. They consistently share insights and best practices to help peers be better than they can be individually and leverage the power of shared wisdom. About United Benefit Advisors United Benefit Advisors (UBA) is the nation's leading independent employee benefits advisory organization with more than 200 offices throughout the United States, Canada, England and Ireland. UBA empowers more than 2,000 Partners to both maintain their individuality and pool their expertise, insight, and market presence to provide best-in-class services and solutions. Employers, advisors and industry-related organizations interested in obtaining powerful results from the shared wisdom of our Partners should visit www.UBAbenefits.com. About Brio Benefits Brio was founded on the principle of getting away from the traditional broker model. After years in the insurance industry Brio's founders realized that the model simply wasn't working. A reactive process to benefits was leaving too many employees, executives, and HR teams frustrated and unhappy with renewals and benefits year after year. Brio Benefit Consulting, Inc. is a full-service employee benefits consulting firm offering customized solutions for their clients. Brio is committed to delivering solutions that advance the objectives of their clients and their employees. More information by calling 212.803.7160 or at www.briobenefits.com. SOURCE Brio Benefit Consulting Related Links https://www.briobenefits.com/ JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- WiSolar has proudly announced that it has established a gateway office in Bronkhorstspruit, South Africa. The company is known nationwide for offering affordable and environment-friendly rooftop solar for variable loads in South Africa. South Africa receives plenty of sunlight around the year and the company is making the most and best of this natural energy resource by converting it into useful electric power. WiSolar is primarily an end-to-end, customer oriented alternative energy company that is centered on the marketing, trading, supply, and distribution of solar energy systems in South Africa. "Our upgradeable solar electricity packages make all the difference. We shall begin franchising in South Africa Q4 2019," said Tonye Irims, the Executive Director at WiSolar while introducing the company in a recent news interview. "We love to show our clients various options regarding solar electricity, and our clients are residential as well as commercial and industrial entities," he added. In addition, the solar energy solutions offered by WiSolar are designed by some of the most skilled and experienced scientists and engineers. The company uses cutting-edge technologies and a forward-thinking approach to revolutionize storage and extend lifetime system usage over time. Moreover, the company also enables its clients to monitor their power generation and usage through a cutting-edge WiFi mobile and tablet app. With dire issues threatening the planet in the form of global warming and climate change, cleaner energy is the only hope for the preservation and survival of planet Earth in this energy demanding age. WiSolar's packages are durable and easily upgradable for future expansions. Meanwhile, the company is also getting great reviews, testimonials, and feedback from its growing number of customers. WiSolar is an end-to-end, customer-oriented alternative energy company that is centered on the manufacture, marketing, trading, supply and distribution of solar energy systems in the South African and Nigerian markets. Your neighbourhood solar electricity company. For more information, please visit the website at: www.wisolar.co This press release was issued through 24-7PressRelease.com. For further information, visit http://www.24-7pressrelease.com. SOURCE WiSolar Related Links http://www.wisolar.co AUBURN HILLS, Mich., May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The 53rd annual Louis Schwitzer Award was awarded to engineers Cara Adams, Brett Schilling and Phil Severyn for their expertise in developing the Firestone Firehawk 2019 Indy 500 Race Tire. Ms. Adams is the first female engineer to win a Louis Schwitzer award. BorgWarner and the Indiana Section of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) International presented the award, along with a $10,000 prize, to the engineers at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS). 2019 Louis Schwitzer Award Winners: Brett Schilling, Cara Adams and Phil Severyn with John Norton, BorgWarner "While the Borg-Warner Trophy celebrates the driver's racing achievement, the Louis Schwitzer Award recognizes the efforts of the engineers who invent and develop innovative technologies in the NTT IndyCar Series," said Frederic Lissalde, President and CEO, BorgWarner Inc. "Without their creativity, dedication and hard work, open wheel racing wouldn't be at the level it is today, and we are honored to be able to recognize their efforts." Focusing on new technology with applications in the engine, powertrain, profile, chassis or safety, and that adhere to the Indy Racing Series specifications, the Louis Schwitzer Award honors engineers who develop innovative new concepts to improve competitive potential. It is presented to engineers, by engineers, and judges aim to recognize advancements that increase performance, safety or efficiency. "As the official turbocharger supplier to the NTT IndyCar Series, we have a vested interest in seeing the Series' technology advance and evolve. We are honored to once again sponsor this awards program and commend Cara, Brett and Phil for their excellence in engineering technologies that will help drive the racing industry forward," continued Lissalde. The innovative change in construction of the Firestone Firehawk 2019 Indy 500 Race Tire improved the footprint of the tire, resulting in the lateral grip being less dependent on aerodynamic downforce. In addition, a change in the tire compound improved the mechanical grip. These changes are especially beneficial in race traffic when the aero load on the right front tire is reduced due to leading car turbulence. The tire construction changes allow for a more consistent level of performance. Beyond celebrating engineering excellence, the award memorializes Louis Schwitzer, who won the first auto race at the IMS in 1909 and designed the "Marmon Yellow Jacket" engine that powered the Marmon Wasp to victory at the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911. After founding Schwitzer Corporation in 1918, Schwitzer led the IMS technical committee and maintained a strong association with SAE throughout his career. BorgWarner acquired Schwitzer Corporation in 1999 to expand BorgWarner's turbocharger and engine cooling system offerings. When it comes to the Indianapolis 500, BorgWarner's heritage runs deep, centering around the famous Borg-Warner Trophy, which has been awarded to the winner of the big race every year since 1936. Originally costing $10,000, the Borg-Warner Trophy is one of the most recognized trophies in the world and is coveted by every driver that enters the race. Likewise, BorgWarner's role as the Official Turbocharger Partner of the NTT IndyCar Series means its EFR (Engineered for Racing) turbochargers boost the engine of every car participating in the Indianapolis 500. Built for reliability, the turbochargers deliver an unprecedented combination of advanced technologies including: Gamma-Ti (titanium aluminide) turbine wheels, ceramic ball bearings and stainless steel turbine housings. About BorgWarner BorgWarner Inc. (NYSE: BWA) is a global product leader in clean and efficient technology solutions for combustion, hybrid and electric vehicles. With manufacturing and technical facilities in 68 locations in 19 countries, the company employs approximately 30,000 worldwide. For more information, please visit borgwarner.com. SOURCE BorgWarner Related Links http://www.borgwarner.com "AIAA and its members have advanced aerospace research, technology, policy and education, resulting in a stronger industry that's well positioned for ongoing growth. Working together, we must continue investing in education to grow the next generation of technical talent," said Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing chairman, president and CEO. "Through Boeing's contribution, we're helping more students gain the knowledge and skills necessary for a career in the aerospace industry." "The AIAA Foundation is so grateful to Boeing and for Dennis Muilenburg's leadership for this incredibly generous $1 million gift," said AIAA Foundation Chair James "Jim" Maser. "By making an investment in the student programs, scholarships, conferences and competitions, Boeing is inspiring and supporting the next generation of aerospace professionals, and challenging others to do the same." Muilenburg announced the donation at the induction ceremony for the 2019 class of AIAA Honorary Fellows and Fellows, where he received AIAA's highest distinction of Honorary Fellow. Boeing Chief Technology Officer Greg Hyslop and retired Boeing employees Mostafa Rassaian and James Vasatka were also inducted as AIAA Fellows, a designation recognizing notable contributions to the arts, sciences or technology of aeronautics and astronautics. More than 1,000 Boeing employees are AIAA members, including a cohort of 12 current AIAA Fellows. About AIAA The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is nearly 30,000 engineers and scientists, and 95 corporate members, from 85 countries who are dedicated to advancing the global aerospace profession. The world's largest and most influential aerospace technical society, the Institute convenes forums; publishes books, technical journals, and Aerospace America; hosts a collection of 160,000 technical papers; develops and maintains standards; honors and celebrates achievement; and advocates on policy issues. AIAA serves aerospace professionals around the worldwho are shaping the future of aerospaceby providing the tools, insights, and collaborative exchanges to advance the state of the art in engineering and science for aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit www.aiaa.org, or follow us on Twitter @AIAA. About AIAA Foundation Founded in 1996, the AIAA Foundation is a nonprofit, tax-exempt educational organization committed to offering a wealth of resources that support students and educators at both the K-12 and university level. Efforts include K-12 STEM education programs including classroom grants and hands-on activities, college scholarships, design competitions, student conferences and recognition awards. For more information and to make a donation to the AIAA Foundation, please visit www.aiaa.org/foundation/. About Boeing Boeing is the world's largest aerospace company and leading provider of commercial airplanes, defense, space and security systems, and global services. As the top U.S. exporter, the company supports commercial and government customers in more than 150 countries. Boeing employs more than 150,000 people worldwide and leverages the talents of a global supplier base. Building on a legacy of aerospace leadership, Boeing continues to lead in technology and innovation, deliver for its customers and invest in its people and future growth. SOURCE AIAA American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Related Links https://www.aiaa.org ATLANTA, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- In August 2018, the CMS announced that Medicare Advantage (MA) plans would be allowed to utilize step therapy for Part B drugs. The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) expressed strong concerns about this proposal. The rheumatology community received some good news in this week's final rule from CMS, which makes changes to the original proposal and addresses several of the community's recommendations. "We were pleased to see that CMS included the ACR's suggestion to implement a 365-day 'lookback' period for Part B therapies, to determine if the enrollee has been actively taking a Part B medication," said Angus Worthing, MD, chair of the ACR's Government Affairs Committee. "The originally proposed 108-day lookback period would have put many of our patients at risk for having to go through step therapy all over again. Extending this period to 365 days will help to protect these patients, and we appreciate CMS listening to our feedback." In this way, patients who are stable on their current medication will be able to remain on their prescribed therapy under the final rule. The ACR is also encouraged by CMS' decision to require plans to respond to appeals within 24-72 hours. While these are positive changes to the original proposal, additional clarity and transparency is needed to put patients in the driver's seat. The ACR asks that CMS require MA plans to make the step therapy exception process readily available and understandable on its website for providers, patients, and caregivers. The College would also appreciate more detail on how CMS will ensure MA plans follow this direction and encourages CMS to increase monitoring of MA plans' implementation of utilization management practices. Utilization review entities should provide detailed explanations for denials of requests for prior authorization or step therapy override, including whether there was any missing information which resulted in the denial. CMS also finalized regulations related to the Part D Explanation of Benefits to require the inclusion of drug pricing information and lower-cost therapeutic alternatives in the Explanation of Benefits that Part D plans send members. "The ACR agrees that this information is helpful and beneficiaries should have access to any possible ways to lower their out-of-pocket costs," said Worthing. "However, we would not support this information being used to force a stable patient to switch to another biologic medication for the sake of cost control. This switch would needlessly disrupt continuity of care and put patients at significant risk for loss of disease control and potentially life-threatening complications." Ideally, the ACR hopes that CMS will monitor plans closely for non-medical switching and will require plans to ensure transparency about any utilization management requirements. The ACR is dedicated to ensuring that rheumatology patients have access to safe, effective and affordable therapies under the Medicare Part B program and will continue to serve as a resource to the agency on this topic. The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) is the nation's leading advocacy organization for the rheumatology care community, representing more than 7,700 U.S. rheumatologists and rheumatology health professionals who are committed to improving healthcare for Americans living with rheumatic diseases. As an ethically driven, professional membership organization committed to improving healthcare for Americans living with rheumatic diseases, the ACR advocates for high-quality, high-value policies and reforms that will ensure safe, effective, affordable and accessible rheumatology care. Media Contact: Jocelyn Givens [email protected] (404) 929-4810 SOURCE American College of Rheumatology HOUSTON, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- American Gilsonite Company (the "Company" or "AGC"), the world's principal commercial miner and processor of uintaite, the unique mineral marketed under its trademark name "Gilsonite," today announced that it posted financial and operating results for the quarter ended March 31, 2019 to the Company's Intralinks site on May 15, 2019. The Company will host a conference call for holders of its Subordinated Notes and holders of the Company's common stock on Wednesday, May 22, 2019 at 10:00am ET. David G. Gallagher, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Steven A. Granda, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, will discuss the Company's financial results and answer questions from the investment community. A rebroadcast of this conference call will also be available through June 21, 2019. The dial-in information for both the conference call and the rebroadcast has been be posted to the Company's Intralinks website. Participants for the conference call are requested to dial in five to ten minutes prior to the scheduled start time. Holders of the Company's Subordinated Notes and holders of the Company's common stock who have executed the Stockholders Agreement can request access to the Company's Intralinks site by contacting Michael Herley by email at [email protected] or by phone at 212-521-4897. About American Gilsonite Company (www.americangilsonite.com) AGC operates as an industrial minerals company and is the world's primary miner and processor of uintaite, a variety of asphaltite, a specialty hydrocarbon which AGC markets to industrial customers under its registered trademark name "Gilsonite". Gilsonite is a glossy, black, solid naturally occurring hydrocarbon similar in appearance to hard asphalt and is believed to be found in commercial quantities only in the Uinta Basin in northeastern Utah. Because of its unique chemical and physical properties, Gilsonite has been used in more than 160 products. The Company sells its products to customers in four primary markets: (i) oil and gas, (ii) inks and paints, (iii) foundry and (iv) asphalt. AGC is headquartered in Houston, Texas. Contact Michael Herley Kekst CNC 212-521-4897 [email protected] SOURCE American Gilsonite Company Related Links http://www.americangilsonite.com WASHINGTON, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the American Red Cross is recognizing Anheuser-Busch Foundation for its generous commitment of $500,000 to the Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces Giving Program (SAFGP). This is the largest financial gift by a corporate partner to SAFGP. Members of SAFGP enable the Red Cross to serve over two million military personnel, including active duty, National Guard and Reserves, as well as veterans. Each year, the Red Cross provides more than 422,000 services through its Hero Care Network to military personnel and veterans. This includes 24/7 global emergency communication services, guiding military families to critical community services, and supporting military and veteran health care facilities across the country and overseas. "Thanks to the generosity of our Service to the Armed Forces Giving Program members, we are able to provide the full spectrum of support for our service members and their families, from enlistment to life after the military," said Koby Langley, senior vice president for Service to the Armed Forces at the Red Cross "These funds, coupled with the support of the American people, are critical to ensuring a strong and resilient military community." For more than 135 years, the Red Cross has provided comfort and support to members of the United States military. Last year alone, investment in the Service to the Armed Forces: Provided 325,000 emergency services to more than 88,000 military members and their families Provided over 136,000 critical community services to more than 107,000 military members and their families Served nearly 159,000 individuals through rehabilitation and morale programs Briefed 847,000 service members and their families about Red Cross services and support programs Distributed 667,000 items to patients in military and veteran medical facilities "We are inspired by the work done by the American Red Cross to give back to those who give so much for our country and communities," said Bill Bradley, Vice President of Community Affairs at Anheuser-Busch. "Our family of brands, colleagues, and wholesalers are incredibly proud of our company's partnership with the American Red Cross and we are looking forward to the Anheuser-Busch Foundation expanding its commitment in support of our men and women in uniform." Individuals, groups and corporations can join SAFGP members to help provide much-needed resources to the military community across the country and around the world. Visit redcross.org or call 1-800-RED-CROSS (1-800-733-2767) to make a donation. About the American Red Cross The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation's blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or cruzrojaamericana.org, or visit us on Twitter at @RedCross. About Anheuser-Busch For more than 165 years, Anheuser-Busch has been woven into the cultural fabric of the United States, carrying on a legacy of brewing great-tasting, high-quality beers that have satisfied beer drinkers for generations. Today, we own and operate 23 breweries, 14 distributorships and 23 agricultural and packaging facilities, and have more than 18,000 colleagues across the United States. Anheuser-Busch is home to several of America's most recognizable beer brands, including Budweiser, Bud Light, Michelob ULTRA and Stella Artois, as well as a number of regional brands that provide beer drinkers with a choice of the best-tasting craft beers in the industry. From responsible drinking programs and emergency drinking water donations to industry-leading sustainability efforts, we are guided by an unwavering commitment to support the communities we call home. For more information, visit www.anheuser-busch.com or follow Anheuser-Busch on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. SOURCE American Red Cross Related Links http://www.redcross.org WASHINGTON, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Ankura, a leading business advisory and expert services firm that leverages integrated risk management, governance, compliance, investigations, forensics, technology, turnaround and restructuring, and management consulting capabilities, is pleased to announce its recognition as Construction Expert Witness Firm of the Year by Who's Who Legal. "We are honored to be named Construction Expert Witness Firm of the Year by Who's Who Legal," said Darin L. Buchalter, Senior Managing Director at Ankura. "This award is a testament to the dedication of our global construction professionals, 22 of whom were individually recognized by Who's Who Legal. With great pride, I congratulate our team on this achievement," says Buchalter. Who's Who Legal is a leading publication that annually identifies the foremost legal practitioners and consulting experts in business law. Based upon comprehensive, independent research, Who's Who Legal identifies leading consulting experts and firms of the year in each of its featured practice areas, including construction. "Recognition by Who's Who Legal and our clients demonstrates our ability to leverage the best and brightest talent across disciplines and geographies to ensure clients receive tailored and effective solutions," said Michael Stokes, EMEA and Asia Pacific Practice Leader for the construction disputes & advisory practice at Ankura. "With 200 construction professionals on four continents, who go above and beyond on every assignment and have experience serving clients in over 115 countries, our team has earned the trust of clients worldwide," said Steve Pitaniello, Americas practice leader for the construction disputes & advisory practice at Ankura. Ankura's construction industry experts support clients across the world by providing advice to assess, manage, and mitigate the risks throughout the capital project lifecycle. Our industry experience, robust credentials, and technical expertise in finance, accounting, architecture, engineering, real estate, scheduling, and project management provides our clients with specialized teams to advise on their most challenging projects. To learn more about the team's solutions and capabilities, please visit www.ankura.com/expertise/construction/. About Ankura Ankura is a business advisory and expert services firm defined by HOW we solve challenges. Whether a client is facing an immediate business challenge, trying to increase the value of their company or protect against future risks, Ankura designs, develops, and executes tailored solutions by assembling the right combination of expertise. We build on this experience with every case, client, and situation, collaborating to create innovative, customized solutions, and strategies designed for today's ever-changing business environment. This gives our clients unparalleled insight and experience across a wide range of economic, governance, and regulatory challenges. At Ankura, we know that collaboration drives results. For more information, please visit: www.ankura.com. SOURCE Ankura Related Links https://ankura.com MEXICO CITY, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Atento S.A. (NYSE: ATTO), the leading provider of customer relationship management and business process outsourcing services (CRM/BPO) in Latin America, and one of the top five providers worldwide, was recognized with the 2019 Socially Responsible Company Distinction in Mexico and Argentina (Distintivo ESR). Atento has received this distinction for the 12th time in Mexico and for the 8th time in Argentina. The ESR Distinction is a top recognition in the field of corporate social responsibility in Latin America, certifying companies that maintain high standards in working environment, corporate ethics, environmental protection and community engagement. Carlos Lopez-Abadia, Chief Executive Officer of Atento said, "We are very proud to be recognized as one of Latin America's most socially responsible companies. Atento is committed to generate value for our clients, employees, shareholders and the communities in which we develop our business activity. Recognitions such as the ESR Distinction reflect this commitment and strengthen our stakeholders' value creation strategy." The ESR Distinction was created in Mexico by the Mexican Center for Philanthropy (CEMEFI) and is given each year to organizations that satisfactorily meet its standards in the categories of business ethics, corporate social responsibility, environmental protection and community engagement. This distinction certifies a company in the eyes of employees, investors, clients, authorities and society overall as having voluntarily and publicly made a commitment to corporate socially responsibility as part of its business culture and strategy. About Atento Atento is the largest provider of customer relationship management and business process outsourcing (CRM BPO) services in Latin America, and among the top five providers globally, based on revenues. Atento is also a leading provider of nearshoring CRM/BPO services to companies that carry out their activities in the United States. Since 1999, the company has developed its business model in 13 countries where it employs 150,000 people. Atento has over 400 clients to whom it offers a wide range of CRM/BPO services through multiple channels. Atento's clients are mostly leading multinational corporations in sectors such as telecommunications, banking and financial services, health, retail and public administrations, among others. Atentos shares trade under the symbol ATTO on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). In 2016, Atento was named one of the Worlds 25 Best Multinational Workplaces by Great Place to Work for a fourth consecutive year. For more information visit www.atento.com Media relations Maite Cordero + 34 91 740 74 47 [email protected] Investor relations Shay Chor +55 11 3293 5926 [email protected] Fernando Schneider +55 11 3779 8119 [email protected] SOURCE Atento S.A. Related Links http://www.atento.com BOSTON, MA, May 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- AnnaBidiol, Inc. d/b/a First Harbor Capital, Inc. (OTC Pink: ACBD) (or the Company) announced today that the Company has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to acquire all issued and outstanding shares of Bryce Skin Care. Bryce Skin Care (formerly Bryce Organics), founded in 2007, is a high-end organic health and beauty line featuring breakthrough products formulated of superfruit stem cells and farm fresh fruit and vegetable puree. Featured in ELLE Magazine, OK! Magazine, Organic Spa Magazine, and many more, Bryce Skin Care has recently rebranded and developed a dermatologist recommended product line with a retinoid, collagen, and CoQ10 formula proven to help prevent wrinkles by stimulating cell regeneration, while tightening and firming skin. The high-end organic skin care line will continue to incorporate superfruit stem cells and fresh fruit and vegetable puree, keeping with their unique twist on edible skin care. Previously competing amongst recognizable brands at Whole Foods, independent retail stores and spas at Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton and Marriott Hotel properties, this strategic acquisition provides growth opportunities to both companies through access to each others clients, contacts and services. Additionally, Bryce Skin Care plans to launch a handcrafted, CBD-infused luxury skin care line, thus increasing the opportunity for retail sales and wholesale contracts to increase the return on investment. When launched, this CBD-infused luxury skin care line will help us penetrate the anticipated $22 billion dollar CBD market, stated Ken Martin, First Harbor Capitals CEO. In a millennial-driven boutique skin care market poised for multimillion dollar growth, we are extremely excited with the opportunity to make Bryce Skin Care a household name and are prepared to open great avenues for exposure, capital, investment opportunities, broadening the distribution of products with an immediate global reach. We are strategizing to gain a vigorous presence and create a dominating footprint in retail strongholds such as Whole Foods Market, and high-end spas within the Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton branded hotel properties, stated Adrian Diorio, Bryce Skin Cares founder. In a recent article it was stated: One of the fashion worlds most luxurious retailers are now bringing a touch of class to the legal cannabis market. Shedding light on how the industry is already being embraced by upper echelon establishments, the report continued: The department store chain, Barneys New York, is teaming up with several premium cannabis companies to launch their very own legal dispensary known as The High End. customers have made cannabis a part of their lifestyle, and The High End caters to their needs with extraordinary products and service they experience in every facet of Barneys New York. About Bryce Skin Care: What makes Bryce Skin Care different? Real ingredients. Real fresh. Real results. Founded in 2007, handcrafted in the USA and made fresh-to-order in small batches blending local, organic ingredients, Bryce Skin Care is committed to our environment by using sustainable ingredients and farm fresh, potent active superfruit stem cells. Bryce Skin Cares award-winning organic beauty products have been featured in ELLE and OK! Magazines, won a Best of Rhode Island Award for Best Mouth-Watering Facial Scrub from Rhode Island Monthly Magazine and have been mentioned in countless other magazines such as Organic Spa, SpaFinder, Vegetarian Times, Boston Magazine, Green Living, Los Angeles Magazine and more. For additional details, visit: www.BryceSkinCare.com About First Harbor Capital: We are a diversified holding company seeking to acquire emerging companies in key industries where rapid revenue growth and market share penetration are poised for significant gains. We intend to acquire, invest and partner with companies that have competent management teams with provable experience in their industry and have developed products or services that have a unique edge and strong growth in their marketplace. Visit: www.FirstHarborCapital.com Safe Harbor Provision: Cautionary statement for purposes of the "Safe Harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Information in this news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. If such risks or uncertainties materialize or such assumptions prove incorrect, the results of the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries could differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include the execution and performance of contracts by the Company and its customers, suppliers and partners. The Company disclaims any obligation to update or revise statements contained in this news release based on new information or otherwise. For More Information Visit: www.FirstHarborCapital.com or contact Top Priority Investor Relations: (833)266-2833 or Info@FirstHarborCapital.com JOHNSON CITY, Tenn., May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Crown Laboratories, Inc. ("Crown"), a leading, fully integrated skin care company, today announced it has partnered with The Boston Red Sox as it continues its 2019 Blue Lizard Australian Sunscreen ("Blue Lizard") community awareness campaign, We Heart the Reef! Blue Lizard is committed to delivering sun safety education to its fans. As the official sunscreen of The Boston Red Sox, Blue Lizard reached thousands of JetBlue Park patrons this spring by offering sun safety education, product samples, and free skin cancer screenings with help from Moffitt Cancer Center, a nonprofit cancer treatment and research center located in Tampa, FL. In addition, Blue Lizard partnered with the American Cancer Society to host a celebration for over 100 skin cancer survivors and their families. On May 18, 2019, Blue Lizard is proud to host Blue Lizard Day at Fenway Park with a Red Sox Fan Give Away that will reach thousands of families with their sunscreen safety message. Fans will also want to watch for an exciting promotional sweepstakes video on the center field scoreboard just before game time! Consistent with Blue Lizard's philanthropic endeavors, Blue Lizard is also a proud supporter of Fenway Fantasy Day to benefit The Jimmy Fund and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. On June 1, 2019, Blue Lizard will provide the community with an opportunity to learn more about its sweepstakes and its #1 pediatrician recommended mineral-based sunscreen brand. "This partnership is an ideal fit for Blue Lizard," said Jeff Bedard, Crown's President and CEO. "Our Blue Lizard sunscreen portfolio is the perfect protection and therefore fitting for world champions like The Boston Red Sox. I have no doubt the entire Boston Red Sox nation has spent countless hours in the sun supporting their favorite team. It is our pleasure to engage Red Sox fans with our promotional video and we invite them to learn more about Blue Lizard as the official kick off to summer quickly approaches." About Crown Laboratories, Inc. Crown Laboratories, Inc., a privately held, fully integrated global skin care company is committed to developing and providing a diverse portfolio of aesthetic, beauty, therapeutic OTC and prescription skin care products that improve the quality of life for its customers. As an innovative company with key products such as the first FDA-cleared medical grade microneedling device, SkinPen, Crown has enjoyed rapid growth and is poised to become a leader in Dermatology. Crown has a robust portfolio of therapeutic OTC skin care products, including Blue Lizard Australian Sunscreen, PanOxyl acne wash, Sarna anti-itch lotion, Zeasorb and Desenex anti-fungal powders, Mineral Ice pain-relieving gel, Keri Lotion, and Vita Liberata sunless tanning and skin care beauty products. Crown has been listed on the Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Privately Held Companies List for six consecutive years. For more information about Crown or its products, visit www.crownlaboratories.com. SOURCE Crown Laboratories, Inc. Related Links http://www.crownlaboratories.com RAMAT HA SHARON, Israel, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Body Vision Medical, a medical device company specializing in augmented real-time imaging, artificial intelligence and intra-body navigation, announced today that it has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to market their LungVision 2.0 System. The new release of LungVision System features real-time tool-in-lesion confirmation combined with seamless integration of LungVision Tool, a disposable lung navigation catheter with superb maneuverability. LungVision Tool guided by LungVision 2.0 System is used through the standard bronchoscopes to allow access of any endotherapy accessories to small pulmonary nodules. LungVision platform has demonstrated outstanding results through multicenter clinical trials in the U.S. of over 400 clinical procedures. Utilizing machine learning and a sophisticated augmented reality approach for accurate real-time navigation, LungVision allows physicians to plan, visualize, and track endobronchial tools inside the radiolucent lesions in real time. LungVision instantly fuses intraoperative imaging with pre-operative CT. "The second release of LungVision allows real-time tool-in-lesion confirmation through C-Arm Based Tomography (CABT) to provide an accurate access to pulmonary nodules. LungVision 2.0 reveals fluoroscopically "blind" lesions during biopsy sampling by means of any conventional C-Arm, which is widely available in a standard bronchoscopy suite. Real-time tool-in-lesion confirmation is required for successful diagnoses of pulmonary nodules and will ultimately be imperative in the future application of minimally invasive treatment." says Dorian Averbuch, the CEO and Founder of Body Vision Medical. Body Vision Medical will exhibit its LungVision 2.0 platform at the ATS Annual Meeting 2019, held in Dallas through May 19-21. In addition, Body Vision Medical features two presentations of LungVision studies: Krish Bhadra, MD, CHI Memorial Hospital, will present the strengths of artificial intelligence in navigational bronchoscopy. The AI-based technology is tracking complex anatomy and operational tools, making the guidance of diagnostic biopsy reliable and meaningful during procedure. This in turn translates into better control of procedure and high diagnostic results. A72, Sunday, May 19th, 11:15AM 1:00 PM, Session name: "Advances in Interventional Pulmonary" Daniel Nader, MD, Cancer Treatment Centers of America, will present the contribution of the LungVision Platform in fiducial marker placement to increase efficiency of SBRT radio surgery. A110, Sunday, May 19th, 2:15PM 4:15PM, Session name: "Novel Imaging for Lung Cancer: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words" About Body Vision Medical Body Vision Medical is a medical device company specializing in augmented real-time imaging, artificial intelligence and intra-body navigation. The company was founded in 2014 to address the contemporary unmet clinical need of early lung cancer diagnostics and, in future, the growing demand of minimally invasive treatment. To learn more about the company visit us at www.bodyvisionmedical.com . Contact email: [email protected] SOURCE Body Vision Medical The issue takes on special importance as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which specifies music as part of a well-rounded education, is implemented in states and local school districts under programs and funding available via the federal education law. Martin and McAllister will meet with Members of Congress and other elected officials to advocate for the funding of school music programs across the nation and to discuss the multitude of benefits music education espouses, such as increased brain function, focus, and language development. "Our mission is to communicate the value and importance of music education to our legislators," says McAllister. "We are proud to participate in the NAMM D.C. Fly-In, which gives us the opportunity to do so while uniting with our fellow music industry leaders." The week of advocacy work will begin on Monday, May 20, with a Day of Service assisting a local school. On Tuesday, Martin & McAllister will participate in a full day of advocacy training, as well as in developing a state-level advocacy program. On Wednesday, they will head to Capitol Hill for a series of meetings with Members of Congress, their staff, and other elected officials and stakeholders in education policy. About NAMM The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) is the not-for-profit association with a mission to strengthen the $17 billion music products industry. NAMM is comprised of approximately 10,400 member companies located in 104 countries. NAMM events and members fund the NAMM Foundation 's efforts to promote the pleasures and benefits of music, and advance active participation in music making across the lifespan. For more information about NAMM, please visit www.namm.org , call 800.767.NAMM (6266), or follow the organization on Facebook , Twitter, and YouTube . About Martin Guitars and Strings C. F. Martin & Co. has been Inspiring Musicians Worldwide for nearly two centuries with their superior guitar and string products. Martin guitars and strings remain the choice for musicians around the world for their unrivaled quality, craftsmanship, and tone. With an unwavering commitment to environmental sustainability and responsible manufacturing practices, Martin continually drives the acoustic guitar market forward, introducing innovative features that have become standards across the industry. Connect with Martin Guitars and Martin Strings on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, and via www.martinguitar.com. SOURCE C.F. Martin & Co. Related Links http://martinguitar.com CHICAGO, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- A pioneer in Talent Acquisition media, technology and services, CareerBuilder was named a Leader for Small and Midsize Business by IDC in the 2019 IDC MarketScape for Worldwide and U.S. Modern Talent Acquisition*. The IDC MarketScape series evaluates both dedicated talent acquisition software providers and recruitment modules by conducting client interviews and assessing providers' capabilities, solutions, strategic direction and product roadmap to meet employers' entire spectrum of recruiting needs. CareerBuilder Logo (PRNewsfoto/CareerBuilder) The IDC MarketScape on Modern Talent Acquisition stated that "CareerBuilder has significantly expanded its product suite, through both acquisitions and technology built from the ground up, and today, the company provides solutions to address the full candidate life cycle." With a team of more than 200 data scientists, CareerBuilder is using its nearly 25 years of rich intel and billions of data points to create powerful solutions that meet the changing needs of recruiting teams and candidates globally from Hello To Hire, which is the entire recruitment process from sourcing candidates to background screening and onboarding. With its dedication to innovation, CareerBuilder has positioned itself as a leading partner for companies as they search for and recruit new talent. "Choosing the right partner is critical for SMBs, and CareerBuilder's extensive data, along with the tools the company has created to help employers leverage that data, are instrumental for these companies as they compete for talent. CareerBuilder has set itself apart and made its dedication to its clients clear through the innovations it has introduced for companies of all sizes to support them through every step of the recruitment process," said Lisa Rowan, Research Vice President, HR, Talent, and Learning Strategies, IDC. "In lean organizations, having the right HR technology partners can streamline and simplify the entire recruiting process, and reduce time spent on administrative tasks by up to 50 percent. Today's tight labor market is creating a battle for talent -- where being able to move with agility and get candidates through the hiring process faster can mean the difference between finding and losing top talent. At CareerBuilder, we're working with our SMB clients throughout every step, from sourcing candidates to screening and onboarding employees," said Irina Novoselsky, CEO of CareerBuilder. "Being named a Leader for Small and Midsize Business by IDC shows the power of the work we are doing in partnership with our SMB clients as they navigate the changing demands of today's job seekers." CareerBuilder's recognition as a Leader for Small and Midsize Business underscores the company's commitment to client success, as the IDC MarketScape helps businesses make the right strategic investments when considering talent acquisition partners. CareerBuilder has collected 310 million resumes and 10 million job titles throughout its nearly 25-year history, giving it the ability to best connect employers with the right candidates through data-driven tools. The company's Hello To Hire solution provides employers with the tools they need to plan, find, screen, and hire the right talent faster. *Source: About The IDC MarketScape The IDC MarketScape vendor analysis model is designed to provide an overview of the competitive fitness of ICT (information and communications technology) suppliers in a given market. The research methodology utilizes a rigorous scoring methodology based on both qualitative and quantitative criteria that results in a single graphical illustration of each vendor's position within a given market. IDC MarketScape provides a clear framework in which the product and service offerings, capabilities and strategies, and current and future market success factors of IT and telecommunications vendors can be meaningfully compared. The framework also provides technology buyers with a 360-degree assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of current and prospective vendors. About CareerBuilder CareerBuilder is a global technology company that provides end-to-end talent acquisition solutions to help employers find, hire and onboard great talent, and helps job seekers build new skills and progressive careers as the modern world of work changes. A known disruptor for nearly 25 years, CareerBuilder is the only company that offers both software and services to cover every step of the Hello To Hire process, enabling its customers to free up valuable resources across their HR tech supply chain to drive their business forward. Specializing in talent acquisition recruiting platforms, employment screening and human capital management, CareerBuilder is the largest provider of AI-powered hiring solutions serving the majority of the Fortune 500 across five specialized markets. CareerBuilder is majority-owned by funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, LLC and operates in the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit careerbuilder.com for a great candidate experience and hiring.careerbuilder.com to learn more about our solutions for employers. Media Contact Amanda Kelley [email protected] 212.584.4272 SOURCE CareerBuilder Related Links http://www.careerbuilder.com HOUSTON, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Houston-based intellectual property boutique Heim, Payne & Chorush has again been selected among the top intellectual property law firms in the U.S. by Chambers USA, with firm co-founders Mike Heim and Leslie Payne earning individual honors for their patent litigation work. With a rigorous research and selection process based on unprompted client feedback and in-depth knowledge of the legal market, Chambers USA is considered one of the most prestigious rankings of business lawyers and law firms. The firm's patent litigation lawyers are described in the 2019 edition of Chambers USA as "easy to work with, excellent in their focus and brilliant in their judgment," effective at both "high-level strategy and at handling the details in the weeds." Chambers researchers described Mr. Heim as a "hugely experienced litigator with a fine track record in patent infringement cases pertaining to the technology sector. He is particularly noted for his representation of plaintiff-side clients and is described by interviewees as a 'fantastic' practitioner." In including Mr. Payne in the Chambers rankings for the first time, the publication described him as "a very smart lawyer" and noted "impressive market approval for his handling of complex patent infringement litigation, including recent cases relating to the oil and gas, telecom and technology sectors." Together and individually, Mr. Heim and Mr. Payne have led litigation teams involving complex patent disputes that have produced record verdicts and settlements. Both men have active appellate practices before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and have earned important victories for clients both plaintiffs and defendants in inter partes review proceedings at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Heim, Payne & Chorush, LLP, represents plaintiffs and defendants in litigation across a broad range of technologies and business sectors. With a wide variety of technical and scientific backgrounds, firm attorneys handle all facets of intellectual property litigation for some of the largest energy and technology firms, as well as individuals and smaller companies. Heim, Payne & Chorush takes pride in its ability to partner with other attorneys and firms to bring the best possible trial team together for the benefit of the client. To learn more about the firm and the work it does, visit www.hpcllp.com. Media Contact: Robert Tharp 800-559-4534 [email protected] SOURCE Heim, Payne & Chorush Related Links http://www.hpcllp.com SHANGHAI, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- China Rapid Finance Limited (NYSE: XRF) (the "Company") today announced changes in its business operations and to its board of directors (the "Board"), acknowledged its inability to file its annual report on Form 20-F in a timely manner and noted the receipt of notices from the New York Stock Exchange (the "NYSE") that the Company is not in compliance with the NYSE's continued listing standard with respect to both the minimum average share price and its failure to timely file the annual report. Changes in Business Operations The regulatory environment for the Company's business continues to be challenging. Chinese regulators have instructed P2P platforms nationwide to implement "triple reduction," which includes (i) reducing outstanding loan balances, (ii) reducing the number of lenders, and (iii) reducing the number of borrowers. The Company recently received a notice requesting changes to the Company's business practices in order to be in full compliance with regulatory requirements set forth in Circular 175. These events may have a negative impact on the company's financial performance. As a result of these developments, fewer new lenders are joining the Company's marketplace platform than are exiting. In addition, the Company has informed the lenders on its platform that it is transitioning from a "full redemption when due" repayment structure to a monthly payment plan due to insufficient demand for loan products as a result of the uncertain regulatory environment and other factors. This means that these lenders must rely on borrowers' monthly payment against their investments in accordance with the contractual arrangement the Company has with its lenders. An exchange has also been established by the Company for those investors that prefer to sell their loans; however, the Company provides no guarantees that investors will be able to sell their loans and at what price they will be able to sell them. The Company will continue to operate its marketplace lending platform and will concentrate on institutions as the primary funding source. The Company has also significantly downsized all parts of its operations relating to retail marketplace lending, other than collections. Going forward, the Company plans to focus on facilitating loans through its micro credit company and continue to market its decision science software to banks and other credit intermediaries. The Company is also evaluating certain strategic opportunities and fund-raising options for the future of its business, in light of the current regulatory environment. Russell Krauss, Vice-Chairman and Co-CEO of the Company has transitioned his day-to-day responsibilities to focus on strategic alternatives for the Company. Changes to Board of Directors Effective April 12, 2019, the Board has appointed Mr. Edward Yan as an independent director and Chair of the Audit Committee and has also appointed Chief Financial Officer Mr. Steven Foo to the Board as an executive director. Mr. Zhou Ji'an resigned from the Board for personal reasons effective April 29, 2019. Delay in the Filing of the Annual Report on Form 20-F for the Year Ended December 31, 2018 (the "Annual Report") On April 30, 2019, the Company filed a Form 12b-25 to extend the deadline for the timely filing of the Annual Report. The Company has been unable to file the Annual Report by the extended deadline of May 15, 2019, and is therefore not in compliance with the continued listing requirements under the timely filing criteria established in Section 802.01E of the NYSE Listed Company Manual. On May 16, 2019, the Company received a notice from the NYSE noting such non-compliance. This delay is the result of the recent change in the Company's finance department personnel, including the Chief Financial Officer, as well as the need to resolve issues relating to, among others, consolidation of a VIE entity's financial statements and other prior period adjustments that will likely result in the need to restate prior period financial statements. In particular, the Company expects that it will need to restate its quarterly results for the three months ended March 31, 2018, June 30, 2018 and September 30, 2018 that had previously been announced, and such results should not be relied upon by investors. The prior period adjustments are expected to relate to (i) accounting treatment on transition from the previous Safeguard Program to the loyalty incentive program for lifestyle loan in February 2018 (i.e., recognition of the termination of the previous Safeguard Program, and recognition of the new loyalty incentive program as refund liability), (ii) recognition of lenders' virtual accounts' funds held in custodian banks as restricted cash on balance sheet, which were previously treated as off-balance sheet items, (iii) accounting for coupon expenses paid to investors as a deduction of revenue instead of sales and marketing expenses, and (iv) consolidation of a VIE entity since the second half of 2018. In accordance with NYSE rules, the Company will have six months from the required filing due date to comply with the NYSE listing standards (which period may be extended at the discretion of the NYSE). The Company can regain compliance at any time during this six-month period by filing the Annual Report. In the interim, the Company's American Depositary Shares ("ADSs") will continue to trade on the NYSE, subject to compliance with other continued listing requirements, and to ongoing oversight by the NYSE. The Company will continue to endeavor to file the Annual Report and restated quarterly reports for the periods noted above as soon as it is able to resolve the issues described above. NYSE Notice of Non-Compliance with Continued Listing Standards On May 8, 2019, the Company received a notice from the NYSE that the Company is not in compliance with the NYSE's continued listing standard with respect to the minimum average share price required by the NYSE because the average closing price of its ADSs had fallen below $1.00 per share over a period of 30 consecutive trading days. Under the NYSE standards, the Company has six months following receipt of the notification to regain compliance with the minimum share price requirement. The Company can regain compliance during the six-month cure period if on the last trading day of any calendar month during the period or on the last trading day of the period, the Company's ADSs have a closing share price of at least $1.00 per share and an average closing share price of at least $1.00 per share over the previous 30 consecutive day trading period. The Company intends to cure the price deficiency and return to compliance with the NYSE continued listing requirement within the applicable cure period. As required by the NYSE, the Company will notify the NYSE of its intent to cure. During this period, the Company's ADSs will continue to be traded on the NYSE, subject to compliance with other continued NYSE listing requirements. The NYSE notification does not affect the Company's business operations or its Securities and Exchange Commission reporting requirements and does not conflict with or cause an event of default under any of the Company's material agreements. About China Rapid Finance Limited China Rapid Finance (NYSE: XRF) is a leading fintech company that operates an award-winning microcredit company and one of China's largest online consumer finance marketplaces. The Company enables affordable access to digital credit for one of the world's largest untapped consumer credit markets: China's mobile-active consumers. The Company utilizes its proprietary, mobile-first technology to select consumers for its platform. China Rapid Finance was founded by Dr. Zane Wang, who has decades of consumer credit industry experience in the U.S. and China. For more information, please visit http://ir.crfchina.com. Safe Harbor Statement This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements can be identified by terminology such as "may," "will," "expects," "anticipates," "aims," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "likely to" and similar statements. The Company may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its reports filed with, or furnished to, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in its annual reports 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 the Company'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 those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: the Company's ability to file its Annual Report in a timely manner or regain compliance with NYSE continued listing standards, adjustments to prior period financial statements, unexpected difficulties in the Company's pursuit of its goals and strategies; the unexpected developments, including slow growth, in the consumer lending market; reduced demand for, and market acceptance of, the Company's products and services; difficulties keeping and strengthening relationships with borrowers or investors; difficulties of expanding data and channel partnerships, potentially costly servicing activities; competition in the consumer lending market; PRC governmental regulations and policies; and general economic and business conditions in the regions where the Company provides products and services. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the Company's reports filed with, or furnished to, the Securities and Exchange Commission. All information provided in this announcement and in the attachments is as of the date of this announcement, and the Company undertakes no duty to update such information except as required under applicable law. Investor Relations Contact: The Blueshirt Group Gary T. Dvorchak, CFA +1 (323) 240-5796 [email protected] SOURCE China Rapid Finance Related Links http://ir.crfchina.com Situated on the main level of the historic Holt Renfrew Ogilvy, the 1,200-square-foot boutique features a heritage wall that visually narrates the Yurmans' journey from art to jewelry alongside current designs. The new boutique is nearly double the size of the previous David Yurman location at Holt Renfrew Montreal. The space will feature a curation of David Yurman products across all categories, including Women's, Men's and Wedding. Each product category is separated by the use of architectural finishes and elements such as metal portals and wooden screens that give the space an intimate yet luxurious feel. The storefront features a modern wall of rich black concrete, while the interior includes live edge walnut, travertine counters and touches of antique bronze as well as artisan plaster wall features. The millwork is a mix of walnut tambour and antique bronze. The store's fixtures are made up of 90% repurposed materials, in an effort to increase the brand's sustainability initiatives. "Montreal exudes style through all elements of art, architecture and design," said Carol Pennelli, President of David Yurman. "The opening of our new boutique at Holt Renfrew Ogilvy provides an opportunity for us to feature our most innovative designs and to tell a rich brand story." ABOUT DAVID YURMAN David Yurman is the premier American luxury jewelry brand with a mission to share in life's exceptional moments. Founded by two artists, David and Sybil Yurman, in New York in 1980, artistic inspiration, craftsmanship and unconventional yet elegant designs are at the core of the brand. The marriage of David's background in sculpture with Sybil's natural understanding of color and art yields signature jewelry designs; diamond, pearl, and gemstone jewelry that are renowned for capturing the essence of relaxed American luxury. David Yurman collections are available at 49 wholly owned retail locations throughout the United States, Canada, and France and at over 350 locations worldwide, through their exclusive authorized fine jewelry and timepiece network of retailers, including in the US, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, UK, Russia and the Middle East. ABOUT HOLT RENFREW Celebrating an over 180-year heritage, Holt Renfrew is recognized worldwide for an inspired shopping experience. Founded in 1837 as a modest hat shop, Holt Renfrew would soon become a purveyor of fashion to Her Majesty Queen Victoria. After many years of foreign ownership Holt Renfrew was acquired in 1986 by W. Galen and the Hon. Hilary M. Weston. Under Weston ownership Holt Renfrew has become Canada's destination for luxury retail. Visit us at www.holtrenfrew.com. Contact Adrienne Houdmont David Yurman [email protected] 646.264.7553 Belicia Chung Jane Gill PR [email protected] +1 416 922 4404 x27 SOURCE David Yurman GEORGETOWN, Texas, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Embree Capital Markets Group, Inc. today welcomed a new Director, Paul Pani, to the organization. Mr. Pani will lead the firm's private equity capital formation efforts as part of its burgeoning fund management business, which focuses predominantly on single-tenant, net-leased investments in the continental United States. "Embree has many current opportunities for growth, and we need a team member who understands the current state of private capital markets," stated Rocky Hardin, President of Embree Capital Markets Group. "Paul is the right person to help guide our capital raising efforts and brings a breadth of diversified investor relationships, including institutions, family offices, and registered investment advisors." "I'm pleased to be joining an organization celebrating its 40th year in business, as it embarks on this exciting new chapter of growth," said Mr. Pani, who has more than twenty-five years of demonstrable success in raising capital for world-class advisory firms and asset managers, including PaineWebber, Natixis, Cole Capital, and Kennedy Wilson. Mr. Pani received a Bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Colorado and holds FINRA Series 7 and 63 licensures. Embree Capital Markets Group, Inc. is part of the Embree Group of Companies, which provides nationwide turnkey real estate services, specializing in build-to-suit development, design/build, general construction, program management, and capital markets advisory for specialty retail, financial, automotive, restaurant, gas/convenience, self-storage, pharmacy, and healthcare facilities. Since 1979, Embree's foundation has been built on developing tailored programs for over 350 national clients. The firm is headquartered near Austin, Texas, with regional offices located in Dallas, Texas and Phoenix, Arizona. Over the past 40 years, Embree's executive team has developed, built, or transacted more than 12,000 projects in all 50 states, Canada, and Puerto Rico, with a total market value exceeding $10 billion. SOURCE Embree Capital Markets Group, Inc. Related Links https://www.embreegroup.com SANTA MONICA, Calif., May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Entravision Communications Corporation (NYSE: EVC), a diversified global media and advertising technology company serving Latino consumers, announced today that Esteban Lopez Blanco has decided to step down as Chief Strategy Officer. Mr. Lopez Blanco joined Entravision in 2009 as the company's Executive Director of Interactive, reporting to and helping the Chief Executive Officer lead digital initiatives at the company. Mr. Lopez Blanco was later appointed as the company's Chief Strategy Officer in 2013 to lead corporate strategy, new business development, innovation, investments and M&A. Prior to joining Entravision, Mr. Lopez Blanco was an entrepreneur, founder and CEO of a variety of successful digital and technology educational ventures in California. "Esteban has been a key part of the Entravision team for over ten years, and during that time he played a key role in the development and execution of our digital strategy. Esteban's knowledge, vision and creativity have been critical to helping us develop a business model of digital growth and become increasingly efficient, data-driven and future-looking. We want to thank him for his service and dedication to the company and wish him the best in his future endeavors," said Walter F. Ulloa, Entravision's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "I am very grateful to Walter and the executive team for trusting me to help them in leading during times of exponential change. I am proud to have been part of transforming Entravision's business and strategy on digital, technology, data, new products, new markets as well as through organic growth and multiple M&A accomplishments," said Mr. Lopez Blanco. About Entravision Communications Corporation Entravision is a diversified global media, advertising technology and data analytics company that reaches and engages Latino consumers in the U.S. and other markets primarily including Mexico, Latin America and Spain. Entravision's portfolio includes digital media properties and advertising technology platforms that deliver performance-based solutions and data insights, along with 55 television stations and 49 radio stations. Entravision's digital and technology businesses include Headway, a leading global provider of mobile, programmatic, data and performance digital marketing solutions, as well as Pulpo Media, the top-ranked online advertising platform in connecting businesses with U.S. Latinos. Entravision is the largest affiliate group of both the Univision and UniMas television networks, and its Spanish-language radio stations feature its nationally recognized talent. Entravision also operates Entravision Solutions, a national sales and marketing organization representing over 300 owned and affiliated radio stations, radio networks and digital media platforms, and Headway's audio advertising platform, AudioEngage. Entravision shares of Class A Common Stock are traded on The New York Stock Exchange under the symbol: EVC. Learn more at: www.entravision.com. SOURCE Entravision Communications Corporation With outbound travel becoming easier and an increase in personal income levels, the Chinese outbound travel market continues to expand. According to latest data, in 2018, more than 149 million Chinese tourists travelled abroad, and Europe took up 11 percent of it. Capitalizing on the dividends of Chinese tourist traffic will be key in the future growth of tourism related industries. However, differences in language and consumption habits often affect the overall travel experience of Chinese tourists. For merchants, the lack of good communication channels may result in losing the potential Chinese customers who may eventually go to their competitors. WeChat has 1.112 billion monthly active users worldwide, of which 800 million are users of WeChat Pay. WeChat Pay has officially entered more than 49 overseas countries and regions, making it an excellent way for global merchants to quickly and effectively connect with Chinese tourists. Dave Fan, Senior Director of WeChat Pay, says: "WeChat Pay is not targeting on solving payment issue, but more on communication. Smart industry solutions with WeChat Pay at their core have been brought to millions of offline stores across over 30 industries in China, and are common throughout users' daily lives. Together with our global partners, we hope to extend the convenient experience of WeChat Pay overseas, so that global businesses can share the dividends of China's growing outbound travel market." WeChat Pay team integrates a variety of functions to help European merchants smoothly accelerate their digitalization process and better connect with Chinese customers: WeChat Pay provides convenient payment service and eliminate the problem transferring currencies; WeChat Official Account provides a brand page for merchants to integrate their branding and promotional information; WeChat Mini Program allows merchants to easily customize their service for Chinese customers like a built-in full function app; WeChat Moments Advertising allows merchants to drive targeted traffic based on live location and customers demographic. Europe has been well-known as the hometown of fashion. Those famous fashion brands like Cartier, Dior, Armani Beauty, etc. have launched their WeChat Mini Program to stay ahead of their competition in digital era. With Mini Program, they realize multiple functions including membership management, e-boutique social commerce, self-service shopping, promotion mini site, product customize service, AI makeup trial and more. Brands could not only provide their customers with customized service but also integrate fragmented traffic from on and offline. Bradley Mo, Senior Director of Industry Application, WeChat Open Platform, shared: "As Chinese customers desire more personalized products and services, numerous brands are using Mini Programs to satisfy those needs through social commerce. Ultimately, the three underlying functions Mini Programs realize for social commerce are increase sales, engage users and optimize data." On the same day, London Business School introduced its latest case study "Innovation and Agility at Tencent's WeChat" in its Strategy and Innovation Class. SOURCE WeChat MIAMI, May 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via OTC PR WIRE -- On May 15, 2019, Miami-based United American Corp ("UnitedCorp" or the "Company") (OTC: UAMA) released the financial results of its first quarter ended March 31, 2019. It also provided corporate updates regarding regulatory, legal and operational matters. UnitedCorp reported positive results for the first quarter of 2019 including revenues of US $1.4 million, consolidated net earnings of $388,414 and consolidated EBITDA of $639,125. Revenues accrued are exclusively from its Canadian subsidiary, which owns and operates its BlockchainDome Heat Stations and also provides technical and management consulting services. These results represent the first complete quarter of BlockchainDome operations at its current installed capacity of 4 BlockchainDome Heat Stations. In February 2019, the Company also purchased the property where the 4 BlockchainDomes are located. 2019 Q1 Highlights (all figures in US dollars) Revenue in the quarter of $1,423,485 was primarily generated through the BlockchainDome Heat Station for hosting, management and power and includes $276,628 of consulting revenue with an operating profit of $854,684(1), with dome operations contributing $578,077 to the operating profit Consolidated net earnings for the quarter were $388,414 Consolidated EBITDA for the period was $639,125 (2) Increase in tangible assets to $3,887,763 5,000 miners in service at (8.5 megawatts) (1) Gross profit is a non-IFRS measure. Since the Company bills in advance for services and pays its main direct costs in arrears, gross profit as a percentage of revenue may be higher during the growth cycles. (2) EBITDA is a non-IFRS measure Financial Review 3 months ended Annual year ended (US$) Mar 31, 2019 Dec 31, 2018 Total Revenue $ 1,423,485 $ 1,703,259 Cost of Revenue 568,802 911,574 Gross Profit 854,684 791,685 General Expenses 215,559 451,843 Financial Expenses 42,130 37,363 Depreciation 58,963 52,786 Foreign Exchange 149,618 - Net Income 388,414 249,693 EBITDA 639,125 339,842 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. Financial Statements The Company's financial statements are available at www.otcmarkets.com under UnitedCorp's profile. TNW Wireless Spectrum License Deemed Transfer Approval On March 21, 2019, the Company announced the completion of the acquisition of TNW Wireless Inc. ("TNW Wireless"). The transaction was subject to regulatory approval of the deemed transfer of ownership to UnitedCorp by Industry Science and Economic Development Canada ("ISED") under the Framework Relating to Transfers, Divisions and Subordinate Licensing of Spectrum Licenses for Commercial Mobile Spectrum. On April 26, 2019 the Company received written confirmation from ISED that the deemed transfer had been approved. With all regulatory matters completed, the Company is pleased to announce that TNW Wireless is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of UnitedCorp. Approval documentation can be viewed at: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/smt-gst.nsf/eng/sf11505.html. Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission ("CRTC") Notice of Consultation: Review of mobile wireless services On July 3, 2017, TNW Wireless submitted a Part 1 Application to the CRTC which sought to compel Bell Mobility Inc. and Telus Communications Inc. to provide TNW Wireless with wholesale roaming services and to rule that TNW Wireless' iPCS Smartphone over IP technology was eligible for mandated wholesale roaming services. On February 28, 2019 the CRTC issued its Decision 2019-56 on the Application. In its decision the CRTC ruled that Bell and Telus were in fact required to provide TNW Wireless with wholesale roaming services, however it determined that iPCS did not fit the criteria for mandated wholesale roaming under the current regulatory framework On the same day and immediately following the release of the TNW Wireless Decision, the CRTC issued a Notice of Consultation ("NOC") 2019-57 for the review of wireless services in Canada. Citing the TNW Wireless 2017 Part 1 Application and its related decision as part of the basis for the consultation, 2019-57 will examine the level of competition in Canada and review and revise the country's regulatory framework for wireless services. The Company is encouraged both by the timing of the NOC and that the CRTC has already stated that an appropriate outcome for the proceeding would be to mandate that national wireless carriers provide national wholesale access to smaller carriers for what is referred to as MVNO (or Mobile Virtual Network Operator) service, which is part of the requirements to provide iPCS service in Canada. TNW was deemed to be an automatic participant in the NOC and as such it submitted its first intervention to the CRTC on May 15, 2019. The Company has also requested to appear in person before the CRTC at hearings to be held beginning January 13, 2020. The TNW Wireless intervention can be obtained at http://www.unitedcorp.com/corporate/regulatory/ Decision on Power Rates for BlockchainDome Heat Station Operations On June 14, 2018, Hydro-Quebec, the government-owned supplier of electricity in the Province of Quebec, made an application to the Quebec Regie de l'energie (the "Regie") to fix and potentially increase electricity tariffs and set conditions of service for operations related to cryptocurrency mining. Although the Company does not receive power directly from Hydro-Quebec, it does receive power from an independent electrical cooperative which in turn purchases power from Hydro-Quebec. Hydro-Quebec argued that this was necessary due to the sudden and massive number of requests for power related to cryptocurrency it received over the previous year (in the order of several thousand megawatts) and that it could not meet this demand. UnitedCorp, through its BlockchainDome Heat Station operation in Quebec, was one of the intervenors at the hearings of the Regie on this matter. On April 29, 2019, the Regie rejected Hydro-Quebec's application to increase tariffed rates for cryptocurrency operations and grandfathered existing power contracts for operators. This means that the Company's contract for 12.3 megawatts of power will remain valid for the foreseeable future at its favorable rate and will allow the Company to expand operations up to this amount under the existing contract. The Regie also mandated a 300 megawatt block of power for cryptocurrency operations which meet certain economic benefit criteria in order to be eligible for access to the block. The criteria includes a 10% environmental evaluation component for heat recovery, which the Company believes is a direct result of its intervention at the hearings as no other intervenor discussed environmental considerations. The Company believes this factor will be a competitive advantage when seeking additional power in the future. With the current cryptocurrency prices on the rise, the Company has received more interest in its technology for BlockchainDome Heat Stations and Data Centers and is currently evaluating various options in these areas. CPTAQ Matter In April 2018, the Company's then landlord received a Notice of Infraction from the Commission de Protection du Territoire Agricole de Quebec ("CPTAQ"), the provincial body which oversees agricultural land in Quebec, related to its BlockchainDome Heat Campus #1. The Notice questioned whether the BlockchainDome Heat Station was an appropriate use of agricultural land, as based on their perception the BlockchainDome Heat Station was a non-agricultural commercial operation. On June 27, 2018, the Company and its legal counsel addressed the complaint at a hearing of the CPTAQ and stated its position that the operation was fully compliant with all existing rules and regulations, as the operation's final output was for agricultural purposes. Furthermore, the BlockchainDome Heat Station is consistent with the province's sustainable development guidelines and policies of encouraging more local food production. The matter was then transferred to an independent provincial administrative tribunal for further review. Subsequently on March 26, 2019, the Company, its Counsel and its agricultural experts addressed the Tribunal Administratif du Quebec (the "Tribunal") at a hearing on this matter. The Tribunal is an independent provincial body which is intended to be a non-judicial arbitrator for matters regarding provincial boards. The Tribunal has no judicial or injunctive powers and decisions are appealable by companies and individuals to judicial courts up to and including the Quebec Court of Appeal. On April 25, 2019 the Company received notification that the Tribunal had rejected the Company's position and supported the CPTAQ complaint. The Company and its Counsel believe that the Tribunal erred both in fact and in law in rendering its decision and as such on May 15, 2019, the Company filed for permission to appeal the decision to the Quebec Court within the 30 days prescribed. The filing is available at: http://www.unitedcorp.com/wp-content/uploads/Demande-permission-appeler.pdf The Company is also reviewing other available administrative options including an application to formally approve use of BlockchainDome Heat Stations on the site, as the Tribunal did not exclude this. Further updates will be provided in the near future. United America Corp versus Bitmainet al. Further to the litigation announced on December 6, 2018 against Bitmain, Bitcoin.com, Roger Ver, Kraken Bitcoin Exchange and others, Alleging Hijacking of the Bitcoin Cash Network, the Company has been successful at serving additional defendants and has also received permission from the Court to extend the period required to serve other individual and corporate defendants located overseas. iFramedPatent Infringement Litigation The Company is currently moving to optimize the legal process related to various iFramed patent infringement suits. It is currently expediting litigation against Snap Inc. in Canada as well as Facebook/Instagram. TNW Networks On June 30, 2017, the Company announced the intent to acquire TNW Networks Corp. ("TNW Networks"). The potential acquisition of TNW Networks' assets is deemed by Management to support the Company's development plan, including TNW Wireless and iFramed. The Company was aware that on November 18, 2016, two of TNW Networks' clients (the "Petitioners") filed a Notice of Intention to make a Proposal pursuant to the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. This led to proceedings under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (the "Proceedings") on November 25, 2016. As a result of the Proceedings, certain of TNW client relationships and 3rd party assets, both of which TNW Networks and the Company believe were not assets of the Petitioners, were nevertheless claimed in the Proceedings by the CCAA Monitor. In two instances during the course of the Proceedings, the determination of ownership by the Monitor was appealed to the British Columbia Court of Appeal and in both instances the Court of Appeal ruled unanimously against the Monitor. On March 18, 2019, a portion of certain 3rd party assets were released by the Monitor and will be transferred to the Company. The exact list and value of such assets is currently being determined. On April 23, 2019, the British Columbia Court of Appeal granted yet a third leave to appeal related to determination of ownership of the balance of assets in question. The date for the appeal to be heard is currently being scheduled. 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. 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 Heat Station 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, as well as for more traditional data center operations. 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 Investor Relations investorrelations@unitedcorp.com 604 398 5000 ext: 109 A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/fb313230-5901-4ebc-9186-c4842a677b70 DALLAS, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- On a sparkling, philanthropic night, iconic designer Danny Nguyen wowed over 550 guests with his repurposed vintage works of art. He is known for his beautiful flowing gowns on runways in New York and Paris. But this night, the world-renowned Nguyen dazzled the red carpet with homeless women at Project Vintage Runway benefiting UGM Dallas Center of Hope Women and Children's Shelter. The sold-out gala raised over $95,000 for the charity. Featured Guest Designer Danny Nguyen received the "Designer of the Year Award" for his creativity and his inspiration. The homeless women who were his models felt like Cinderella. Photos The event included top local designers, TV and radio celebrities, high-profile athletes and fashion enthusiasts. Nguyen's five unique designs commanded praise and adulation as the event's grand finale. Video "It's wonderful that I can use my craft to not only make women look beautiful, but also make them feel beautiful, as we did in this show," said Nguyen. "For this one night, these women were able to put their bad experiences behind them and focus only on their positive potential. I'm proud to be a part of Project Vintage Runway, which has helped the ladies discover new-found confidence and self-esteem." Nguyen, whose fashion empire includes Danny Nguyen Couture and L'Atelier Wedding in Houston, was joined at the event by guest designer Terri Ives; Project Runway TV star Venny Etienne and former Dallas Cowboys Isaiah Stanback and Patrick Crayton. Master of Ceremonies for the event was FGI Rising Star Award Recipient, Designer Daniel Mofor of Don Morphy Custom Clothiers, who live streamed into the event from Italy. "We are extremely pleased with the community engagement we received for this incredible event supporting UGM Dallas Center of Hope Women and Children's Shelter," stated Margaret McKoin, creator of Project Vintage Runway and CEO of The Time Group. "Our event Co-chairs Rachel Brown, Laura Davis, Mary Margaret Hickey and Cynthia Collins did an amazing job gathering talent." For more information about Project Vintage Runway, visit www.projectvintagerunway.com. Margaret McKoin [email protected] Telephone: 817-403-0866 SOURCE UGM Dallas Related Links http://projectvintagerunway.com DUBLIN, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Instant Noodles Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2019-2024" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global instant noodles market reached a value of US$ 42.2 Billion in 2018, registering a CAGR of 6.2% during 2011-2018. The market value is further projected to reach around US$ 57.5 Billion by 2024, growing at a CAGR of 5.2% during 2019-2024. This report provides a deep insight into the global instant noodles market covering all its essential aspects. This ranges from macro overview of the market to micro details of the industry performance, recent trends, key market drivers and challenges, SWOT analysis, Porter's five forces analysis, value chain analysis, etc. The report also provides a comprehensive analysis for setting up an instant noodles manufacturing plant. The study analyses the processing and manufacturing requirements, project cost, project funding, project economics, expected returns on investment, profit margins, etc. Market Insights Growing urbanization and increasing disposable incomes have altered the eating habits of the consumers. Due to the hectic lifestyle, the working population now prefers affordable and quick meals, such as instant noodles, which require minimal cooking. This shift in their eating habit has created a great opportunity for the instant noodles market to flourish. Instant noodles are available in a wide range of flavors along with numerous vegetarian and non-vegetarian variations. Moreover, the manufacturers keep formulating with new flavors, colors, textures and seasonings/tastemakers, according to regional tastes and preferences, in order to expand their consumer-base. The growth of the organized food retail sector, with an increasing number of departmental stores, hypermarkets, supermarkets and convenience stores across the globe, is expected to facilitate the sales of instant noodles. Breakup by Product Type On the basis of product type, the market has been bifurcated into fried and non-fried instant noodles. Currently, fried instant noodles represent the most popular product type, accounting for the majority of the market share. As these noodles are flash fried, they help in securing the flavor, improving the shelf-life and averting bacterial growth. Breakup by Distribution Channel On the basis of distribution channels, supermarkets/hypermarkets hold the largest market share, representing the leading segment. They provide easy access different brands, types and flavors of instant noodles. Supermarkets and hypermarkets are followed by convenience stores, online stores, specialty stores and others. Regional Insights On a geographical front, China enjoys the leading position in the global instant noodles market. Noodles have been an essential part of the Chinese cuisine owing to which there has been a high demand for instant noodles in the region. China is followed by Indonesia, Japan, India, Vietnam, United States, Republic of Korea, Thailand and Saudi Arabia. Competitive Landscape The global instant noodles industry is fragmented due to the presence of a large number of players in the key markets such as China and Indonesia. Some of the leading players operating in the market are: Master Kong ( Shenyang ) Instant Noodle Foodstuff Co. Ltd. ) Instant Noodle Foodstuff Co. Ltd. Hebei Hualong Food Group Indofood Sukses Makmur Nissin Foods Nestle Acecook Vietnam Joint Stock Company Topics Covered 1 Preface 2 Scope and Methodology 2.1 Objectives of the Study 2.2 Stakeholders 2.3 Data Sources 2.4 Market Estimation 2.5 Forecasting Methodology 3 Executive Summary 4 Introduction 4.1 Overview 4.2 Key Industry Trends 5 Global Instant Noodles Industry 5.1 Market Overview 5.2 Market Performance 5.3 Price Analysis 5.4 Market Breakup by Type 5.5 Market Breakup by Distribution Channel 5.6 Market Breakup by Region 5.7 Market Forecast 5.8 SWOT Analysis 5.9 Value Chain Analysis 5.10 Porter's Five Forces Analysis 5.11 Key Market Drivers and Challenges 5.12 Success Factors for Manufacturers 6 Market Breakup by Type 6.1 Fried 6.2 Non-fried 7 Market Breakup by Distribution Channel 7.1 Supermarkets/Hypermarkets 7.2 Specialty Stores 7.3 Convenience Stores 7.4 Online Stores 7.5 Others 8 Market Breakup by Region 8.1 China 8.2 Indonesia 8.3 Japan 8.4 India 8.5 Vietnam 8.6 United States 8.7 Republic of Korea 8.8 Thailand 8.9 Saudi Arabia 8.10 Others 9 Competitive Landscape 9.1 Market Structure 9.2 Key Players 10 Instant Noodles Manufacturing Process 10.1 Product Overview 10.2 Detailed Process Flow 10.3 Various Types of Unit Operations Involved 10.4 Mass Balance and Raw Material Requirements 11 Project Details, Requirements and Costs Involved 11.1 Land Requirements and Expenditures 11.2 Construction Requirements and Expenditures 11.3 Machinery Schematic 11.4 Plant Machinery 11.5 Machinery Pictures 11.6 Raw Material Requirements and Expenditures 11.7 Raw Material and Final Product Pictures 11.8 Packaging Requirements and Expenditures 11.9 Transportation Requirements and Expenditures 11.10 Utility Requirements and Expenditures 11.11 Manpower Requirements and Expenditures 11.12 Other Capital Investments 12 Loans and Financial Assistance 13 Project Economics 13.1 Capital Cost of the Project 13.2 Techno-Economic Parameters 13.3 Product Pricing and Margins Across Various Levels of the Supply Chain 13.4 Taxation and Depreciation 13.5 Income Projections 13.6 Expenditure Projections 13.7 Financial Analysis 13.8 Profit Analysis 14 Key Player Profiles For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/6wttft Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com At this exhibition, Honghua exhibited its all-electric shale gas solutions and automated pipe handling systems with two pipe high-speed rigs, including the world's most powerful 6000HP electric fracturing pump. The innovative technology products attracted many old and new customers including NABORS and Schlumberger to visit and discuss the long-term strategic cooperation in all aspects. Honghua all-electric shale gas solution, with the concept of "network first, gas-consumed, gas-electricity combined, flowing operation, and factory production", is based on the experience of highly developed shale gas in the United States, which is also the situation in China, and makes full use of the characteristics of shale layer, with the application of Honghua innovation of research and development technology in equipment manufacturing, equipped with intelligent drilling rigs and all-electric fracturing equipment. Compared with the traditional solution, Honghua all-electric shale gas solution has greater advantages such as investment of fixed assets decreased by more than 30%, footprint of rig site decreased by 30%-65%, personnel operators reduced by 40%-50%, fuel cost reduced by 40%-60%, and fracturing operation cost reduced by 30%. The solution can also achieve zero emission, low noise and continuous operation day and night. This is in line with the current development concept of "energy saving, environmental protection, cost reduction and efficiency improvement." This solution has the world's largest single-machine VFD fracturing system, the 6000HP electric control fracturing system. The system uses a 6000V medium voltage variable frequency drive and a patented motor direct drive transmission structure to achieve precise displacement and pump pressure control, effectively reducing the energy consumption, maintenance and labor costs required for pump operation. The transmission, reliability and working efficiency are all greatly increased due to the absence of a diesel engine, transmission and clutch, which have to be used in a traditional fracturing truck setup. Honghua all-electric shale gas solution has been in use in USA since 2013. So far, the system has successfully completed lots of operations in China and US shale gas development sites, and has been highly praised by its users. It is also China's first electric fracturing system which has been successfully applied in industrial applications and achieved sales. Honghua, one of the earliest Chinese companies to participate in the OTC, has participated in the exhibition 16 times. OTC is not only a commercial exhibition for Honghua, but also a platform for getting together with global partners. Honghua, one of the world's leading manufacturers and China's largest exporter of drilling rigs, will make full use of various resources, continually improve equipment manufacturing and service capabilities and provide strong equipment support for efficient development to customers in oil & gas fields. First held in 1969, OTC is an international event hosted by the SPE-Society of Petroleum Engineers and co-organized by 12 organizations in the oil & gas industry including American Petroleum Institute. For decades, it has continuously demonstrated to the world the development trend of new technology in oil & gas industry. At present, it has become the world's largest and most well-known professional exhibition in the fields of oil & gas exploration, mining, production and environmental protection. SOURCE Honghua Group Ltd. WASHINGTON, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Family Research Council President Tony Perkins issued the following statement after passage of the Equality Act (H.R. 5) in the U.S. House of Representatives: "This is an all-out assault on parental rights, on the family, and on the millions of people of faith in this country. "The legislation goes far beyond just quarantining faith behind the four walls of a house of worship. This act quarantines faith within your mind and says that's where it must stay. It creates a world that punishes those who exercise their freedom to believe and live according to those beliefs. No institution or person of faith, be it a school, church, synagogue, mosque, business, or non-profit will escape its Orwellian reach. "The Religious Freedom Restoration Act will be committed to the 'memory hole.' We will then experience a catastrophic loss of religious freedom in America, and, as a result, every American, those who believe and do not believe, will suffer the consequences. "The American people must continue to speak with great force and clarity in opposition to the 'In-equality' Act," concluded Perkins. SOURCE Family Research Council Related Links http://www.frc.org SEATTLE, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Impel NeuroPharma, a late-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of transformative therapies that unlock the full potential of proven medicines for patients living with central nervous system (CNS) disorders with high unmet medical needs, today announced a poster presentation at the upcoming American Psychiatric Association (APA) Annual Meeting, to be held May 18 22, 2019 in San Francisco, California. Data highlighting the Company's Phase 1 safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) study of INP105 will be presented. "INP105 is a proprietary formulation of olanzapine administered by our proprietary, upper nasal cavity drug delivery technology, and we are excited about its potential to provide a needle-free choice for patients and their care providers as there is an unmet need in the mental health community for rapid, effective and more compassionate care," said Stephen B. Shrewsbury, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Impel NeuroPharma. "Based on conversations with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, we are pursuing a streamlined clinical development program for INP105, and we continue to expeditiously advance our late-stage clinical programs in acute migraine and treatment of OFF episodes in Parkinson's disease." The meeting abstract is available online and can be accessed via the below link or on the APA meeting website at www.psychiatry.org. Poster Presentation: Data presented at the meeting support the completed "SNAP-101 Trial" (Safety and Tolerability of Intranasal POD-olanzapine), a Phase 1, randomized, crossover, active/placebo study, evaluating the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics (PK/PD) of INP105 in healthy subjects. Impel is planning to publish full results of the SNAP-101 trial in a peer-reviewed journal in the second half of 2019. About the Trial The "SNAP 101" Trial (Safety and Tolerability of Intranasal POD-olanzapine) evaluated the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) profile of INP105 at three ascending doses compared with two doses of Zyprexa intramuscular (5 mg and 10 mg) and orally disintegrating Zyprexa Zydis (10 mg) in 38 healthy volunteers. The aim of the SNAP 101 trial was to establish the safety and tolerability of INP105, while informing appropriate dosing for future studies based on its PK and PD profiles. Further details of the SNAP 101 (INP105-101) study can be found on ClinicalTrials.gov. About INP105 INP105 is a drug-device combination product being studied for the treatment of acute agitation associated with schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder. It is comprised of a nasal formulation of olanzapine and Impel's proprietary Precision Olfactory Delivery, or POD, intranasal delivery device. The POD is a simple-to-use device designed to deliver consistent and predictable doses of drug. INP105 delivers olanzapine to the richly-vascularized upper nasal cavity, offering rapid, consistent and enhanced bioavailability that can be administered by the patient or a caregiver. Olanzapine is one of the most commonly used treatments for acute agitation, but its use has been primarily limited to intramuscular injection and in a hospital or inpatient settings. INP105 is intended to be suitable for use in the hospital emergency room setting as well as early in an episode where it could be administered by a provider in the patient's home or supportive care setting without a doctor. About Acute Agitation Acute agitation is a common symptom of neurological and psychiatric disorders, characterized by feelings of unease, excessive talking or unintentional and purposeless motions. Schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder patients experience an estimated 1.7 million episodes of acute agitation in the emergency room each year. The goal in treating agitation is to rapidly de-escalate the patient in crisis in a manner that retains the patient-provided relationship in a safe manner. About Impel NeuroPharma Impel NeuroPharma, Inc., is a privately-held, Seattle-based biotechnology company devoted to creating life-changing, innovative therapies for central nervous system (CNS) diseases. Impel NeuroPharma is currently investigating INP104 (POD-DHE) for acute migraine headache, INP103 (POD-levodopa) and INP107 (POD-carbidopa/levodopa) for reversal of OFF episodes in Parkinson's disease and INP105 (POD-olanzapine) for acute agitation in schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder. Impel's product candidates are delivered via its proprietary Precision Olfactory Delivery, or POD, technology which targets the richly vascularized upper nasal cavity with the goal of achieving enhanced bioavailability of therapeutic molecules. IMPEL, POD and the IMPEL Logo are trademarks of Impel NeuroPharma, Inc. To learn more about Impel NeuroPharma, please visit our website at http://impelnp.com. About Precision Olfactory Delivery or POD Devices Impel NeuroPharma's proprietary POD nasal drug delivery device is designed to deliver drugs to the richly-vascularized upper nasal cavity to improve biodistribution and bioavailability of both small molecules and biologic drugs. By consistently and predictably delivering therapeutics to the upper nasal cavity, the POD device may improve overall bioavailability of drugs without IV injection. Impel has developed dry powder and liquid compatible POD devices to improve upon current treatment options for central nervous system (CNS) disorders. Contact: Melyssa Weible Elixir Health Public Relations Ph: (1) 201-723-5805 E: [email protected] SOURCE Impel NeuroPharma Related Links http://impelnp.com NEW YORK, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Infinity Trading Corp., a NY wholesaler, filed for arbitration against Amazon because Amazon refuses to pay for products it ordered from Infinity and then sold to consumers. Infinity Trading Corp. is represented by Rosenbaum Famularo, P.C. On May 22-24, 2019 in Seattle, this NY business stands up to Amazon.com.1 Amazon ordered goods from an Amazon approved supplier in New York Amazon received complaints that the products were counterfeit Amazon continued to sell the products to consumers while refusing to pay the vendor for the goods.resulting in windfall profits to Amazon on those units. Amazon sells millions of products and also allows millions of others to sell products through its website. When Amazon sells products itself, it purchases inventory from Amazon Vendors. Amazon obtains inventory to sell to consumers via Purchase Orders. Amazon Vendors fulfill Amazon's purchase orders. Amazon Vendors are often middle-men for Amazon. Products are often shipped directly from factories to Amazon without any inspection by Amazon Vendors. It is not uncommon for Amazon to receive complaints that products Amazon delivered to consumers are counterfeit. The NY Amazon Vendor in the case was unaware of the extent of the complaints, continued filling Amazon's purchase orders and expected Amazon to pay for the inventory. Amazon continued re-selling the goods despite complaints that the products were counterfeit. Even though Amazon received payment from consumers, Amazon refuses to pay for the goods. For more details: CJ Rosenbaum, Esq.: 212-256-1109 / [email protected]. CJ is a partner of Rosenbaum Famularo, P.C., a law firm that helps people and companies that sell products on Amazon.com. CJ authored six books for Amazon Sellers. The firm maintains the largest depository of information in the world for Amazon Sellers at AmazonSellersLawyer.com. CJ and his partner Anthony Famularo, Esq., have been quoted in media around the world, Anthony testified before the California legislature, and they teach over 20,000 Amazon Sellers each year about business and intellectual property issues at Amazon Seller trade shows around the world. 1 Infinity Trading Corp. LLC et al. v. Amazon Services LLC, American Arb. Assoc. Case No. 01-18-002-4903 SOURCE Rosenbaum Famularo, P.C. Related Links https://www.amazonsellerslawyer.com LOS ANGELES, May 16, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Ignite International, Ltd. (the "Company"), a global super-premium CBD and cannabis consumer packaged goods company, is pleased to announce today that it has signed a definitive agreement with MMS Distribution, LLC ("MMS") for the distribution of CBD products in the United States. MMS is a leading distributor of vape and e-cig products to nationwide wholesale, c-store, smoke shop, and retail operators. Under a joint venture agreement, the Company and MMS will form a new company called Ignite Distribution, LLC with corporate operations based in Delaware. The newly formed joint venture will be able to access the brand recognition associated with the Ignite trademark, the iconic goat skull logo and founder Dan Bilzerian's 43 million strong social media follower base in addition to the extensive expertise of MMS's supply chain partners and existing customers. The joint venture will also serve as the Company's fulfilment partner on its existing e-commerce platform. Ignite Distribution, LLC intends to utilize the above noted valued assets to introduce a host of Ignite branded products to the US CBD market. "It is with great excitement that we welcome MMS Distribution, LLC to our family of companies with the formation of this joint venture," said Jim McCormick, CEO of Ignite International, Ltd. "With Ignite's high level of brand awareness, MMS Distribution, LLC's experience, and the explosive growth of CBD products in the US marketplace, we are extremely bullish on our business outlook." Added Zach Bader, Managing Partner at MMS Distribution, LLC: "We see an opportunity in the US CBD market today for a dominant brand like Ignite to emerge that rises above the rest to make its way to consumers at a national level through our strong national distribution and network of retailers." About Ignite International, Ltd. Founded by Dan Bilzerian, based in Los Angeles, California, and spanning a wide variety of CBD and cannabis products, Ignite has built the world's first global super-premium cannabis lifestyle brand. Ignite CBD products are sold nationally online, with cannabis products currently for sale in dispensaries across California and Nevada. From packaging and branding, to what's inside, Ignite delivers at the highest level and builds on the foundation that trust and quality truly matter. For more information on Ignite's complete line of CBD products, visit www.igniteCBD.co. MMS Distribution, LLC. MMS Distribution, LLC is an American owned and operated wholesale distribution company based in New York, New York. With over eighteen years of business operations, MMS Distribution, LLC is a trusted and well-known provider for major c-store chains, cash & carry wholesalers, independent distributors, and jobbers nationwide. MMS Distribution, LLC has exclusive distribution rights for products direct from manufacturers and a national reach of over 25,000 retail locations. SOURCE Ignite International, Ltd. Related Links https://ignitecbd.co AUSTIN, Texas, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The ITEX Group, in partnership with the Housing Authority City of Austin (HACA) is pleased to announce the Grand Re-Opening of Pathways at Gaston Place. Gaston Place is a senior community owned by HACA. The development was initially built in 1978 to provide housing to the elderly (62 or older), disabled, or those displaced by natural disasters. ITEX's scope for the project include both development and construction for the senior community. Michael Gerber, CEO, and President of HACA, will commemorate the celebration with a ribbon cutting at 10 a.m. on May 22, followed by guest speakers, refreshments, and tours of the renovated community. The festivities will continue throughout the morning with refreshments and tours for residents and guests. Gaston Place was in much need of repairs, renovation, and upgrades to meet ADA requirements. These changes, along with several common area upgrades throughout the community will help provide improved homes for residents in a location that is just north of Downtown Austin. "This celebration of Pathways at Gaston Place is all about the people we serve," said Ann Gass, Director of Strategic Housing Initiatives for HACA. "We completely remodeled each of the 100 units from floor to ceiling to give our residents a modern, clean, beautiful home to be proud of. " Tours for Pathways as Gaston place after the Grand Opening can be scheduled with the manager at 512-926-9575. Currently, the building is 100% occupied and leased but if anyone is interested in learning about any other availability from other communities owned by HACA they can contact the Housing Authority at Phone: 512-477-4488, TTY Number: 1-800-735-2989 or 711. About HACA Established in 1937, HACA is a public unit of government separate from the City of Austin. HACA's mission is to cultivate sustainable affordable housing communities and partnerships that inspire self-reliance, growth and optimism. As a high-performing housing authority that assists over 20,000 Austinites, HACA owns and operates 1,839 units of subsidized housing in 18 developments throughout Austin. For more information, visit www.hacanet.org About The ITEX Group: Headquartered in Houston, TX, The ITEX Group, LLC and its vertically integrated affiliated companies are devoted to multifamily real estate investment, development, construction, and property management. To date, ITEX has developed over 7,000 units, with total development costs in excess of $800 million and currently manages over 6,500 luxury and affordable apartment units. ITEX's experience includes general, family, senior living, historic and affordable developments. For more information, please contact: John Gonzalez, Marketing Director, at 832-941-5353 or [email protected]. To learn more about The ITEX Group, visit us at ITEXGrp.com SOURCE The ITEX Group Related Links https://ITEXGrp.com NEW ORLEANS, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Krispy Krunchy Chicken just announced a collaboration with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Man & Woman of the Year campaign to help drive forward LLS's goal of creating a world without blood cancers. In an unprecedented move, Krispy Krunchy Foods, LLC, will be donating 100% of their corporate profits from the sale of the Krispy Krunchy Chicken Sandwich to LLS where the money will help to fund blood cancer research, support families, and save lives. Krispy Krunchy will be conducting this program in more than 2,400 of their stores . The program is called "Krunchy for A Cure" and will run from May 13th until June 28th. LLS is the world's largest voluntary health agency dedicated to blood cancer. The LLS mission is "Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families." Man & Woman of the Year is a nationwide philanthropic competition that has helped LLS invest nearly $1.3 billion in lifesaving research that is changing the landscape of cancer cures. Katie Triplett, Executive Director of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society New Orleans Chapter said, "The fight against blood cancers cannot be won without supporters such as Krispy Krunchy Chicken, their operators, and their customers. Every action, every contribution is needed and valued. We are committed to working tirelessly until we find a cure." Krispy Krunchy Chicken is one of the fastest growing hot food concepts in the convenience store business. Krispy Krunchy was recognized by Thrillist, an online restaurant and food review media company, as "America's Best Fried Chicken You've Never Heard Of." They currently have more than 2,400 locations across 46 states and Mexico. Allison Shapiro Dandry, Director of Communications and Technology for Krispy Krunchy said, "This is the kind of support Krispy Krunchy loves. Two great entities - Krispy Krunchy Chicken and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society - fighting together to find a cure for cancer. That's a fight we want to win." To help LLS and KKC Krunch for A Cure, please donate at: www.krunchforacure.com or find a location nearest you: krispykrunchy.com/locations. Media contact: Allison Shapiro Dandry [email protected] 504-432-6095 SOURCE The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Related Links http://www.LLS.org WALTHAM, Mass., May 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In the second of its Quarterly Surveys, business.com asked nearly 500 business.com community members about the pros and cons of immigration and its impact on the small business economy. Optimism ran high among immigrant business professionals as 73% reported feeling positive about the future of business. The survey also revealed a split among respondents on the impact of immigration on business as 38.7% of small business professionals said immigration was good for business, 42% said it was bad for business and 19.3% said it had no effect on their business. These results underscore the current polarized attitude toward immigration in the U.S. Further details of the survey are outlined in the business.com story, Small Business Professionals Split on Immigrations Impact . The inaugural business.com Quarterly Survey explored the impact of Trumps administration policies on small business. Read more about those survey findings HERE . To learn more about business.com, our active community of small business owners and extensive bench of industry experts, please visit www.business.com . Quick Links: Check out our *infographic* revealing survey details HERE Join our small business community: HERE Gain expert advice on how to run your business: HERE Compare prices, features and more on products and services your business needs: HERE While sentiment was split on the impact of immigration on small business, the challenges for both immigrant and non-immigrant business owners were strikingly similar, as respondents noted hiring and managing employees and establishing a customer base as their greatest challenges. Immigrant-owned businesses, however, ranked their third biggest challenge as managing finances while non-immigrant business professionals said the third most pressing challenge was navigating U.S. business laws and regulations. A majority of both immigrant and non-immigrant business owners used personal savings to start their business (62% of immigrant business owners; 55% of non-immigrant business owners) and 84% of both groups noted that education was either important or very important for their industry. Forty-five percent of immigrant professionals said they hire members of their local community as employees, followed by family and friends. business.com also found that 33% of non-immigrant respondents said they or someone they knew hired illegal immigrants to work for their businesses. Many of those noted separately that they did so because they were unsure how to verify the legality of an employee. To learn more about how to verify if a worker is legally eligible to work in the United States, read our full article HERE . When asked "how has immigration impacted your local community and business?" the answers ranged from positive to deeply negative and many called for immigration reform. One respondent noted, "Immigrant labor in my field is very important. Immigrants get the job done. They are hard-working, reliable and strong. We need an immigration reform ASAP." Our survey results underscore the continued polarizing attitude toward immigration and its impact on our economy, but also highlights the American Dream is alive and well as small business owners continue to pursue their goals with the same passion, intention and dedication no matter where they get their start, said Doug Llewellyn, CEO, business.com. I am encouraged by the findings as small business -whether immigrant owned or not - continues to serve as the lifeblood of this country and will fuel our economy for years to come. To learn more about the results of this survey, please refer to the business.com story, Small Business Professionals Split on Immigrations Impact . About business.com : business.com is a comprehensive resource for small and medium-sized businesses who want to start, run or grow their business. Backed by a community of experts, our platform is designed to connect small business owners, industry experts, and vendors through a wide array of services, tools, and insights. Featuring relevant content and proven strategies, business.com provides information you can trust. Our company is privately held and headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts. To learn more about us or to join our growing community visit www.business.com . Media Contact: Sarah Murray Attune Communications 781-378-2674 sarah@attunecommunications.com OAKLAND, Calif., May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- LISNR today announces that they were named to CNBC's Disruptor 50 list2019 edition. In their seventh year of picking out the most impactful venture-backed companies, CNBC looked out for forward-thinking startups that have made a massive impact in their category and boast impressive valuations. In aggregate, this roundup of companies, including Grab, Robinhood and Stripe, has raised over $46 billion in venture capital, with valuation topping $266 billion. LISNR DARK LOGO LISNR, #41, was chosen because of its innovation in mobile payments and starts a list of company announcements driving ultrasonic payments across the customer journey for mobile devices. LISNR's proprietary data over audio solutions have been fueling connections across mobility, ticketing and IOT since 2012. In 2017, LISNR started to significantly enhance their technology offering to capture mobile payment opportunities. LISNR now powers payments for merchants enabling secure one-to-one and one-to-many transactionsoffering frictionless checkout experiences from all mobile devices. Current acceleration in mobile payments is being driven by retailers with over 62% of mobile wallet transactions attributed to retailer branded wallets. These wallets use QR codes, which introduces unwanted friction and transaction limitations or higher fee structures, due to it being considered an ecommerce transaction. LISNR's ultrasonic technology allows retailers to bypass this friction and create seamless and secure payment scenarios with better fee structures. LISNR also increases the throughput capacity of checkout experiences with the ability to detect and transact at a distance. With NFC transactions accounting for only 38% of total mobile transactions, LISNR is poised to standardize its payment method as a card present solution to capitalize on the fastest growing segment in mobile paymentretailer wallets. The implications of LISNR in mobile payments is tremendous as a card present solution that lives outside of the terminal infrastructure and in turn can allow any device to transact. LISNR's opportunity spans across retail, mobility, transportation and ticketing. Joining this prestigious list of CNBC Disruptor 50 companies in 2019 is LISNR's fourth inclusion in the past five years and the second consecutive year. "This Disruptor list continues to showcase the power of using ultrasonic solutions to pay in more ways and places than ever before. We're challenging the world of merchants and financial service providers to test and compare LISNR to other methods for your mobile wallets. We offer a superior product. As the flexibility of payment scenarios continue to grow, LISNR is positioned to be an integral component," says Eric Allen, CEO of LISNR. May has been an action packed month for the LISNR team, as just last week they announced their participation in the METRO Target Retail Accelerator, Certified by Techstars . And last month LISNR was featured as a company driving the future of business by the CNBC team as part of their 30th-anniversary celebration. LISNR's inclusion in the Disruptor 50 is a continuation of their recognition as a leading company in the connectivity space that is moving the needle in financial services and beyond. Learn more about what LISNR brings to the Disruptor 50 list here on CNBC . About LISNR LISNR powers transactions across the customer journey for retailers and restaurants globally with the most advanced Ultrasonic Data Platform. Today, companies like Jaguar Land Rover, Ticketmaster, and Visa use this solution to create secure & frictionless moments for consumers around the world. Founded in 2012, LISNR is located in Oakland, CA and Cincinnati, OH. Major investors include Intel, Jump Capital, Mercury Fund, R/GA, and Synchrony Financial. To learn more about the LISNR technology visit: https://LISNR.com or email [email protected] . James Bellefeuille 510-929-1042 [email protected] SOURCE LISNR Related Links https://lisnr.com LOS ANGELES, May 16, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Pop music royalty and legends in the making were on hand for exclusive performances and a surprise special guest as ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) celebrated the writers and publishers of the most-performed music of the past year at the 36th annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards tonight in Los Angeles. A capacity audience of industry VIPs and tastemakers packed the historic Beverly Hilton International Ballroom as songwriter Louis Bell received the 2019 ASCAP Pop Music Songwriter of the Year award for the first time for his work on songs including "Better Now" (Post Malone), "Havana" (Camila Cabello Feat. Young Thug) and "Wolves" (Selena Gomez & Marshmello). Two radio and streaming favorites nabbed top trophies for their popularity last year: "The Middle" (Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey) was recognized as Song of the Year, co-written by Stefan Johnson and Anton Zaslavski (Zedd) and published by 1916 PUBLISHING LLC, Kobalt Music, Universal Music Publishing Group and Zedd Music Empire. Most Streamed Song of the Year went to "God's Plan" (Drake), co-written by Ronald "Cardo" La Tour, Matthew "Boi-1da" Samuels and Noah "40" Shebib and published by 1Damentional Publishing, Cardo on the Beat, Sony/ATV Tunes LLC and Universal Music Publishing Group. Songwriter Emily Warren performed an acoustic version of her Dua Lipa hit "New Rules," also among the year's most performed songs. Pop music icon and leader of ELO Jeff Lynne was feted with the prestigious ASCAP Founders Award for his unparalleled hitmaking talent and a career that spans more than five decades. Famed guitarist and fellow Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Joe Walsh bestowed the honor. Previous recipients include Elvis Costello, Annie Lennox, Sir Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell, Tom Petty, Patti Smith, Stevie Wonder and Neil Young. As part of the show, Lynne treated the audience to an unusual stripped-down performance of three of his monster hits, "Telephone Line," "Evil Woman" and "All Over the World." Debbie Harry, Chris Stein and Clem Burke of punk and new wave game-changers Blondie received the ASCAP Golden Note Award for their extraordinary career and influence on the worlds of music, fashion and art. The award has previously gone to such luminaries as Duran Duran, Lindsay Buckingham, Trent Reznor, George Michael, A Tribe Called Quest, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys and more. The band members delivered a power-packed live performance of their hits "Call Me," "Long Time" and "Heart of Glass." Oscar-winning actress and superfan Julia Roberts made a surprise appearance to present the ASCAP Vanguard Award to newly minted superstars Billie Eilish and FINNEAS. The two join the ranks of previous recipients of the award such as Portugal. The Man, St. Vincent, Nine Inch Nails, Janelle Monae, Beastie Boys and Bjork which recognizes ASCAP members whose innovative work is helping to shape the future of music. In the most anticipated performances of the night, the brother/sister team provided riveting acoustic versions of Billie's songs "when the party's over" and "i love you," and from FINNEAS solo, "I Lost a Friend." Publisher of the Year went to Sony/ATV for their role in multiple hits of the past year including "Girls Like You" (Maroon 5 Feat. Cardi B), "Something Just Like This" (The Chainsmokers & Coldplay) and "God's Plan" (Drake). For their first time winning in this category, Kobalt Music took home Independent Publisher of the Year in recognition of hits including "God Is a Woman" (Ariana Grande), "I Like It" (Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin) and "High Hopes" (Panic! at the Disco). Photos, videos and a complete list of winners can be found on the ASCAP website: www.ascap.com/popawards19 . About ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) is a professional membership organization of songwriters, composers and music publishers of every kind of music. ASCAP's mission is to license and promote the music of its members and foreign affiliates, obtain fair compensation for the public performance of their works and to distribute the royalties that it collects based upon those performances. ASCAP members write the world's best-loved music and ASCAP has pioneered the efficient licensing of that music to hundreds of thousands of enterprises who use it to add value to their business - from bars, restaurants and retail, to radio, TV and cable, to Internet, mobile services and more. The ASCAP license offers an efficient solution for businesses to legally perform ASCAP music while respecting the right of songwriters and composers to be paid fairly. With more than 700,000 members representing more than 11.5 million copyrighted works, ASCAP is the worldwide leader in performance royalties, service and advocacy for songwriters and composers, and the only American performing rights organization (PRO) owned and governed by its writer and publisher members. Learn more and stay in touch at www.ascap.com , on Twitter and Instagram @ASCAP and on Facebook . SOURCE ASCAP Related Links http://www.ascap.com DALLAS, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Modern Message, the leader in resident loyalty and engagement solutions for Multifamily and Student Housing communities, announced today the organization has been named one of Inc.'s Best Workplaces for 2019 , the publication's fourth annual ranking in the fast-growing private company sector. The award is the result of a wide-ranging and comprehensive measurement of private American companies who have created exceptional workplaces through dynamic cultures, thriving employee engagement, and compelling benefits. Collecting data on nearly 2,000 submissions, Inc. singled out 346 finalists. Modern Messaged selected by Inc. for Best Workplaces of 2019. "This is a very proud moment for everyone at Modern Message . Our amazing culture can only be credited to an extraordinary team that believes in the mission and aligns with our company Core Values," says Modern Message CEO John Hinckley . "We are one as a team, we are not afraid to fail, we are transparent as an organization, and we have a lot of fun along the way. We are humbled to be recognized as one of the best places to work in the U.S." Modern Message is proud to represent the Multifamily and Student Housing industries to be recognized with such an esteemed honor as best places to work. It is a direct reflection of the team we have at Modern Message and their dedication to delivering exceptional service to our customers. "With today's tight labor market, building a great corporate culture is more important than ever," says Inc. magazine Editor in Chief James Ledbetter . "The companies on Inc.'s Best Workplaces list are setting an example that the whole country can learn from." Each nominated company took part in an employee survey, conducted by Omaha's Quantum Workplace , on topics including trust, management effectiveness, perks, and confidence in the future. Inc. gathered, analyzed, and audited the data. Then they ranked all the employers using a composite score of survey results. This year, 74.2 percent of surveyed employees were engaged by their workbesting last year's 72.1 percent. The strongest engagement scores came from companies that prioritize the most human elements of work. These companies are leading the way in employee recognition, performance management, and diversity. It's a different playbook from a decade ago when too many firms used the same template: free food, open work environments, and artifacts of "fun." About Modern Message Headquartered in Dallas, TX, Modern Message invents new ways to facilitate resident engagement approaches, empowering Operations, Marketing, and On-Site teams to make smarter business decisions resulting in increased revenue, resident retention, and loyalty. The company's portfolio comprises more than 500 asset management companies and ownership groups, spanning over 4,000 apartment communities, and more than 1.6 million active residents, supporting both the Multifamily and Student Housing sectors. The company continues to rapidly expand, yielding an average annual growth rate of 60% over the previous four years. About Inc. Media Founded in 1979 and acquired in 2005 by Mansueto Ventures, Inc. is the only major brand dedicated exclusively to owners and managers of growing private companies, with the aim to deliver real solutions for today's innovative company builders. Winner of Advertising Age's "A-List" in January 2015, and a National Magazine Award for General Excellence in both 2014 and 2012, Inc. has a monthly audience reach that's grown from two million in 2010 to more than 20 million today. For more information, please visit www.inc.com . About Quantum Workplace Quantum Workplace is an HR technology company that serves organizations through employee engagement surveys, action-planning tools, exit surveys, peer-to-peer recognition, performance evaluations, goal tracking, and leadership assessment. For more information, please visit www.quantumworkplace.com . Media Contact: Darcey A. Forbes (214) 238-4200 [email protected] SOURCE Modern Message SANTA MONICA, Calif., May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Tacotopia Tour, presented by Cholula Hot Sauce, is coming to Santa Monica. The exhibit, which made a splash in cities like Austin and San Diego, is stopping in Santa Monica on May 24, 2019 for a 14- week exhibit. Tacotopia is a larger than life playground, a hybrid amusement park and Taco Festival rolled up into a funky, Tacotastic, immersive experience. The imaginative experience is fun for all ages, and for all the non-taco lovers out there, if they exist, there are plenty of swoon worthy photo opportunities throughout the exhibit that aren't taco-centric. The interactive exhibit features more than thirty unique spaces with larger-than-life installations ranging from the Goddess of Tacos to the oversized Guac pit and Taco Teeter Totter? Guests can take a spin on a Taco Round-a-bout, dance in the "Party Like a Guac Star" disco or swing on a lime wedge in the "Senorita Needs a Margarita" room. The fun continues as guests channel their inner Cowgirl/boy on the mechanical taco, before wandering through a Chihuahua infinity room. After all this activity, guests may want to call a lifeline in the "Taco Dirty to Me" Telefono booths to join them in a game of checkers with oversize Cholula bottles or climb into a Jarritos Lucha Libra ring. The experience includes a Cholula Hot Sauce Sample Bar, a complimentary bottle of Jarritos soft drink and a coupon for one Free Taco at Azule Taqueria, recently voted best new taqueria in Los Angeles. Guests can choose their arrival time and will have approximately 60 minutes to explore and play in the taco wonderland full of shareable moments. A limited number of tickets will be available each day. Groups over 25 are welcome, however are encouraged to contact the office directly to reserve tickets. Guests who are ready to experience this unique installation can begin reserving their spots for Tacotopia at https://atacotopia.com. The Cholula Tacotopia tour will make stops in Chicago, Miami, New York and Phoenix following Santa Monica. About Cholula Food Company Cholula Hot Sauce is the flagship brand of The Cholula Food Company, a premium food distributor based in Jersey City, New Jersey. Cholula Hot Sauce is the delicious result of a recipe using a blend of peppers along with a creative mix of spices plus a rich Mexican heritage. The iconic wooden cap was selected to represent the true commitment to craftsmanship behind every product. In addition to the original recipe, the product line includes four additional varieties Chipotle, Green Pepper, Chili Garlic, Chili Lime and Sweet Habanero, which can be found in retail and in food service nationwide. For more information about Cholula Hot Sauce, check out www.cholula.com. About JARRITOS Sodas - More than sixty years ago, Jarritos was introduced as Mexico's first national soft drink. Today, Jarritos is the leading brand in the US in the Mexican soft drink category and has become a Mexican cultural icon. Whether it is the distinctive glass bottle or the thirteen unique and great tasting fruit flavors, Jarritos can be found throughout the U.S. in major and independent grocery stores, Mexican restaurants, taquerias, catering trucks and convenience stores. Jarritos flavors are a reflection of Mexico in its array of traditional Mexican flavors made with real sugar and 100% natural flavors including: Tamarind, Mandarin, Fruit Punch, Jamaica, Lime, Grapefruit, Guava, Pineapple, Strawberry, Mango, Watermelon, Passion fruit and MXCN Cola. www.jarritos.com About Tacotopia Tacotopia is production of West 54 Productions, a full-service event production company offering production and marketing capabilities for events of all scopes including festivals, touring exhibits, civic events and conferences. Creating immersive events and experiences that engage, excite and entertain, West 54 Productions is uniquely positioned to deliver scale and efficiency through the creative approach of an event production company coupled with the on-the-ground execution capabilities of a brand activation agency. SOURCE Tacotopia Related Links https://atacotopia.com NEW YORK, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX: OTCM), operator of financial markets for 10,000 U.S. and global securities, today announced Heritage Cannabis Holdings Corp. ("Heritage" of the "Company")(CSE: CANN;OTCQX: HERTF), a company focused on becoming a vertically integrated cannabis provider, has qualified to trade on the OTCQX Best Market. Heritage Cannabis Holdings upgraded to OTCQX from the Pink market. Heritage Cannabis Holdings will begin trading on Monday, May 20, 2019 on OTCQX under the symbol "HERTF." U.S. investors can find current financial disclosure and Real-Time Level 2 quotes for the company on www.otcmarkets.com. "Heritage Cannabis Holdings' graduation to the OTCQX Best Market will enable the company to provide more efficient and transparent trading for investors," said Jason Paltrowitz, Executive Vice President of Corporate Services at OTC Markets Group. "Upgrading to OTCQX from the Pink Market marks an important milestone in the U.S. for those international companies that seek to build visibility, liquidity and shareholder value. We are pleased to welcome Heritage Cannabis Holdings to the OTCQX Market." "We are very happy with this upgrade to the OTCQX Market, in particular with our recent expansion plans to enter the U.S. market, beginning with the 30% acquisition of Endocanna Health. This will provide U.S. investors with the opportunity to more easily invest in shares of Heritage," stated Clint Sharples, CEO of Heritage. "We already have a significant U.S. shareholder base, and we expect this will continue to grow as we expand into the U.S. cannabis market and Heritage becomes more widely recognized." J.P. Galda & Co. acted as the company's OTCQX sponsor. About Heritage Cannabis Holdings Corp. Heritage Cannabis Holdings Corp. is focused on becoming a vertically integrated cannabis provider that currently has two Health Canada approved licenced producers, through its subsidiaries PhyeinMed Inc. and CannaCure Corp. both regulated under the Cannabis Act Regulations. Working under these two licences, Heritage has two additional subsidiaries, Purefarma Solutions, which provides extraction services, and BriteLife Sciences which is focused on cannabis based medical solutions. Heritage as the parent company, is focused on providing the resources for its subsidiaries to advance their products or services to compete both domestically and internationally. About OTC Markets Group Inc. OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX: OTCM) operates the OTCQX Best Market, the OTCQB Venture Market and the Pink Open Market for 10,000 U.S. and global securities. Through OTC Link ATS and OTC Link ECN, we connect a diverse network of broker-dealers that provide liquidity and execution services. We enable investors to easily trade through the broker of their choice and empower companies to improve the quality of information available for investors. To learn more about how we create better informed and more efficient markets, visit www.otcmarkets.com. OTC Link ATS and OTC Link ECN are SEC regulated ATSs, operated by OTC Link LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. Subscribe to the OTC Markets RSS Feed Media Contact: OTC Markets Group Inc., +1 (212) 896-4428, [email protected] SOURCE OTC Markets Group Inc. Related Links http://www.otcmarkets.com CHICAGO, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Three of the most well known Chicago-born pizza families, Aurelio's Pizza, Home Run Inn Pizza, and Lou Malnati's came together to give back to the community and celebrate National Pizza Party Day on Friday, May 17. Joe Aurelio celebrated Aurelio's Pizza's 60th anniversary on National Pizza Party Day by inviting two other Chicago native pizza restaurateurs and fellow friends in the industry. Aurelio's Pizza, Home Run Inn, and Lou Malnati's gave away 60 minutes of free pizza to guests that come out to Maggie Daley Park. Over 3,000 slices were given away to the pizza fans. Aurelio's Pizza served their thin crust tavern cut slices, Lou Malnati's served their deep dish slices, and Home Run Inn served their thin crust slices. The pizza was free for guests, but the three Chicago pizza restaurateurs asked that guests make a donation to Advocate Children's Hospital. "We brought together the traditionally south side Aurelio's Pizza, north side Lou Malnati's, and then Home Run Inn that started right in the middle off of 31st street. There's no bigger debate in Chicago than deep dish versus thin crust pizza, but one thing we can all agree on is that Chicago has the best pizza," said Joe Aurelio, President of Aurelio's Pizza. About Aurelio's Pizza Aurelio's is Chicagoland's first and the nation's fifth established pizza chain. With a history as rich and entrenched in the community as the pizza it's famous for, the original Aurelio's Pizzeria opened on Ridge Road in Homewood, IL by Joseph A. Aurelio, Jr. at the age of 26. With its legendary "old oven" dating back to 1959 in its Homewood location, Aurelio's was a pioneer in the concept of the Family Pizzeria in the United States and helped to launch pizza into the American lexicon. Since that time, Aurelio's has become one of Chicagoland's claims to fame. And, transplanted Chicagoans all over the map have helped to bring their favorite pizzeria franchise to over 40 locations across six states, growing a strong fan base for the taste of Aurelio's. SOURCE Aurelios Pizza BELLEVUE, Wash., May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Paul Gauguin Cruises (www.pgcruises.com), operator of the highest-rated and longest continually sailing luxury cruise ship in the South Pacific, the m/s Paul Gauguin, received the award for "Best Small-Ship Cruise Line" for the fourth consecutive year during Global Traveler's 7th Annual Leisure Lifestyle Awards ceremony on May 16, 2019, at the Sofitel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills. Global Traveler, a monthly magazine for business and leisure luxury travelers, conducted a survey of its readers for "the best" in categories across leisure, luxury, and lifestyle travel. Awards were given to the best leisure destinations, airlines, cruise lines, hotels, and tour operators as selected by the readers and Global Traveler. "We are thrilled to be voted 'Best Small-Ship Cruise Line' again this year," remarked Diane Moore, President of Paul Gauguin Cruises, who accepted the award at the ceremony. "Thank you to Global Traveler and its readers for this prestigious honor. It's a testament to our dedicated staff, who delivers extraordinary service aboard our voyages in Tahiti, French Polynesia, Fiji, and the South Pacific." The winners are listed in the Leisure Lifestyle Edition of Global Traveler, available May 16, 2019, and online at www.globaltravelerusa.com. For more information about Paul Gauguin Cruises, please contact a Travel Professional, call 800-848-6172, or visit www.pgcruises.com. About Paul Gauguin Cruises Owned by Pacific Beachcomber S.C., French Polynesia's leading luxury hotel and cruise operator, Paul Gauguin Cruises operates the 5+-star cruise ship, the 332-guest m/s Paul Gauguin, providing a deluxe cruise experience tailored to the unparalleled wonders of Tahiti, French Polynesia, and the South Pacific. Paul Gauguin Cruises has been recognized by notable publications in travel and lifestyle and was voted "#2 Midsize-Ship Ocean Cruise Line" by readers in the Travel + Leisure World's Best Awards 2018*. The line was also recognized as one of the "Top Small Cruise Lines" in the Conde Nast Traveler 2018 Readers' Choice Awards and is honored on the publication's 2018 "Gold List." Paul Gauguin Cruises was also selected as "Best Small-Ship Cruise Line" in Global Traveler's Leisure Lifestyle Awards each year from 2016 to 2019, and has received top honors in BRIDES Magazine's Honeymoon Awards for the past three years. Media Contact: Vanessa Bloy Paul Gauguin Cruises Director of Public Relations (425) 440-6255 [email protected] *From Travel + Leisure Magazine, August 2018 Time Inc. Affluent Media Group. Used under license. Travel + Leisure and Time Inc. Affluent Media Group are not affiliated with, and do not endorse products or services of, Paul Gauguin Cruises. SOURCE Paul Gauguin Cruises Related Links http://www.pgcruises.com SHANGHAI and HONG KONG, May 16, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- On 15 May 2019, Forbes magazine released its "Global 2000" rankings for listed companies. Benefitting from steady growth in operating income, profit, assets and market capitalization, Ping An has moved up to 7th position in the 2018 rankings, climbing 3 places compared to last year's list. The Company is the top global insurer. Ping An ranks 6th among global financial companies, and ranks 4th among the listed companies in mainland China. Forbes ranks the top 2000 global listed companies each year. The list is regarded as internationally authoritative and features the best companies in the world. The rankings are based on data derived from operating income, profit, assets and market capitalization. The top 10 companies on the 2019 list are Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, JP Morgan, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of America, Apple, Ping An Insurance Company, Bank of China, Shell Group and Wells Fargo. Ping An's revenue during the period covered was US$151.8 billion, with a profit of US$16.3 billion, assets of US$1,038.3 billion and a market capitalization of US$220.2 billion. Forbes commented, "Few industries carry as much financial might and profitability as insurance with as little buzz. Ping An Insurance Group, a tech-driven company, ranks first among the global insurers." Under the strategies of "finance + technology" and "finance + ecosystem", Ping An's overall performance in 2018 achieved steady growth, with an operating income of RMB976.832 billion, a year-on-year increase of 9.6%. The company reports net profit of RMB120.452 billion, a year-on-year increase of 20.5%. The net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company was RMB107.404 billion, a year-on-year increase of 20.6%. The total assets of the company was RMB7,140 billion, an increase of 10% from the beginning of the year. As of now, the total market value of Ping An is nearly RMB 1,500 billion. Ping An said, "The year 2019 marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China and is the beginning of Ping An's fourth decade, a crucial period for its strategic transformation. The Group will pursue the strategic goal of becoming a 'world-leading technology-powered personal financial services group' guided by technology. Ping An will further optimize products and services experience to promote steady growth of business and continue to create value for customers and shareholders." About Ping An Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. ("Ping An") is a world-leading technology-powered personal financial services group. With 184 million retail customers and 538 million Internet users, Ping An is one of the largest financial services companies in the world. Ping An has two over-arching strategies 'pan financial assets' and 'pan healthcare', which focus on the provision of financial and healthcare services through our integrated financial services platform and our five ecosystems in financial services, healthcare, auto services, real estate services and Smart City services. Our 'finance + technology' and 'finance + ecosystems' strategies aim to provide customers and internet users with innovative and simple products and services. As China's first joint stock insurance company, Ping An Group is committed to upholding the highest standards of corporate reporting and corporate governance. The company is listed on the stock exchanges in Hong Kong and Shanghai. Ping An ranked 7th in Forbes' 2019 Global 2000, and it ranked 29th in Fortune Magazine's 2018 Global 500 Leading Companies. Ping An also ranked 43rd in 2018 WPP Millward Brown's BrandZTM Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands. For more information, please visit www.pingan.cn SOURCE Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. Related Links http://www.pingan.cn EAGAN, Minn., May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Prime Therapeutics LLC (Prime) announces it has earned URAC accreditation in Pharmacy Benefit Management (PBM). URAC is the independent leader in promoting healthcare quality through leadership, accreditation, measurement and innovation. By achieving this status, Prime has demonstrated a comprehensive commitment to quality care, improved processes and better patient outcomes. Prime has been providing PBM services for more than 20 years and now serves more than 28 million members nationally. Its mission is to make health care work better and help people get the medicine they need to feel better and live well. The company regularly pursues several accreditations to help improve service quality, and examine processes that enhance operations and compliance. "As a company focused on providing total drug management, we aim to service our health plan and employer clients with the utmost quality," said Renee Treberg, Chief Compliance Officer. "We are extremely proud to have been reaccredited by URAC in Pharmacy Benefit Management as it represents the gold standard in our industry and validates that Prime provides solid, high quality programs for our clients and their members. We hope people will see the URAC seal and know that we've been evaluated in a rigorous, meaningful way and that they can be confident doing business with us." URAC accreditation requires applicants to submit policies, procedures, and other organizational information that is followed by a review. The accreditation process demonstrates a commitment to quality services and serves as a framework to improve business processes through benchmarking organizations against nationally recognized standards. "URAC accreditation shows that Prime is a pharmacy benefit management organization able to adhere to standards that cover important aspects of care such as claims processing, developing proper drug formulary, and consumer access," said URAC President and CEO Shawn Griffin, M.D. "Quality policies and procedures are paramount as the price and complexity of medications rise. Prime Therapeutics chose to demonstrate their performance through URAC's independent accreditation of their services." Prime's accreditation is valid Jan. 1, 2019 through Jan. 1, 2022. About Prime Therapeutics Prime Therapeutics LLC (Prime) makes healthcare work better by helping people get the medicine they need to feel better and live well. Prime provides total drug management solutions for health plans, employers, and government programs including Medicare and Medicaid. The company processes claims and offers clinical services for people with complex medical conditions. Prime serves more than 28 million people. It is collectively owned by 18 Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans, subsidiaries or affiliates of those plans. For more information visit www.primetherapeutics.com or follow @Prime_PBM on Twitter. About URAC Founded in 1990, URAC is the independent leader in promoting healthcare quality through leadership, accreditation, measurement and innovation. URAC is a nonprofit organization using evidence-based measures and developing standards through inclusive engagement with a range of stakeholders committed to improving the quality of healthcare. Our portfolio of accreditation and certification programs span the healthcare industry, addressing healthcare management, healthcare operations, health plans, pharmacies, telehealth providers, physician practices, and more. URAC accreditation is a symbol of excellence for organizations to showcase their validated commitment to quality and accountability. For more information visit www.urac.org. Contact: Karen Lyons, APR, Prime Therapeutics Director of Public Relations 612.777.5742 [email protected] SOURCE Prime Therapeutics Related Links https://www.primetherapeutics.com THE HAGUE, Netherlands, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Royal Dutch Shell plc's ("Shell") (NYSE: RDS.A) (NYSE: RDS.B) (Notice of Annual General Meeting ("AGM") on April 11, 2019 provided an update on Resolution 22, requisitioned by a group of shareholders coordinated by Follow This. Shell welcomed the announcement on April 7, 2019 by Follow This of its intention to withdraw the resolution. Follow This has now collected written support to request the withdrawal of the shareholder resolution from all of the shareholders who originally requisitioned the resolution. The Directors of Shell maintain that Resolution 22 is not in the best of interests of Shell and its shareholders as a whole and unanimously recommended that shareholders vote against Resolution 22. Accordingly, the Directors intend to propose the withdrawal of Resolution 22 from the agenda of the AGM at the beginning of the meeting. ENQUIRIES Shell Media Relations International, UK, European Press: +44-20-7934-5550 Shell Investor Relations Europe: +31-70-377-4540 United States: +1-832-337-2034 CAUTIONARY NOTE The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate legal entities. In this announcement "Shell", "Shell group" and "Royal Dutch Shell" are sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words "we", "us" and "our" are also used to refer to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These terms are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular entity or entities. ''Subsidiaries'', "Shell subsidiaries" and "Shell companies" as used in this announcement refer to entities over which Royal Dutch Shell plc either directly or indirectly has control. Entities and unincorporated arrangements over which Shell has joint control are generally referred to as "joint ventures" and "joint operations", respectively. Entities over which Shell has significant influence but neither control nor joint control are referred to as "associates". The term "Shell interest" is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect ownership interest held by Shell in an entity or unincorporated joint arrangement, after exclusion of all third-party interest. This announcement contains forward-looking statements (within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) concerning the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of Royal Dutch Shell. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements of future expectations that are based on management's current expectations and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements concerning the potential exposure of Royal Dutch Shell to market risks and statements expressing management's expectations, beliefs, estimates, forecasts, projections and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as "aim", "ambition', ''anticipate'', ''believe'', ''could'', ''estimate'', ''expect'', ''goals'', ''intend'', ''may'', ''objectives'', ''outlook'', ''plan'', ''probably'', ''project'', ''risks'', "schedule", ''seek'', ''should'', ''target'', ''will'' and similar terms and phrases. There are a number of factors that could affect the future operations of Royal Dutch Shell and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements included in this announcement, including (without limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas; (b) changes in demand for Shell's products; (c) currency fluctuations; (d) drilling and production results; (e) reserves estimates; (f) loss of market share and industry competition; (g) environmental and physical risks; (h) risks associated with the identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and targets, and successful negotiation and completion of such transactions; (i) the risk of doing business in developing countries and countries subject to international sanctions; (j) legislative, fiscal and regulatory developments including regulatory measures addressing climate change; (k) economic and financial market conditions in various countries and regions; (l) political risks, including the risks of expropriation and renegotiation of the terms of contracts with governmental entities, delays or advancements in the approval of projects and delays in the reimbursement for shared costs; and (m) changes in trading conditions. No assurance is provided that future dividend payments will match or exceed previous dividend payments. All forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional risk factors that may affect future results are contained in Royal Dutch Shell's Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2018 (available at www.shell.com/investor and www.sec.gov). These risk factors also expressly qualify all forward-looking statements contained in this announcement and should be considered by the reader. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this announcement, May 17, 2019. Neither Royal Dutch Shell plc nor any of its subsidiaries undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or other information. In light of these risks, results could differ materially from those stated, implied or inferred from the forward-looking statements contained in this announcement. This announcement may contain references to Shell's website. These references are for the readers' convenience only. Shell is not incorporating by reference any information posted on www.shell.com. We may have used certain terms, such as resources, in this announcement that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) strictly prohibits us from including in our filings with the SEC. U.S. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 20-F, File No 1-32575, available on the SEC website www.sec.gov. SOURCE Royal Dutch Shell plc Related Links http://www.shell.com NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Western Copper and Gold Corporation (Western or the Company) (TSX: WRN; NYSE American: WRN) is pleased to report that it has completed the brokered private placement offering previously announced on April 29, 2019 (the Offering) of flow-through common shares (the FT Shares). PI Financial Corp. (the Agent) acted as sole lead agent in respect of the Offering. The Company issued a total of 3,727,000 FT Shares, comprised of (i) 3,333,333 FT Shares pursuant to the base Offering and (ii) 393,667 FT Shares pursuant to the Agents exercise of its option, at a price of C$0.90 per FT Share for aggregate gross proceeds of C$3,354,300. The gross proceeds received from the sale of the FT Shares will be used solely to incur Canadian exploration expenses as defined in subsection 66.1(6) of the Income Tax Act (Canada) on the Companys directly and indirectly held mineral properties at the Casino Project in the Yukon Territory. In connection with the Offering, the Agent was paid a cash commission equal to 6.0% of the gross proceeds raised from the sale of FT Shares to purchasers other than Presidents List Purchasers (as hereinafter defined) and 3.0% of the gross proceeds raised from the sale of FT Shares to purchasers identified by the Company to the Agent (the Presidents List Purchasers). The FT Shares are subject to a statutory hold period expiring on September 18, 2019 in accordance with applicable Canadian securities legislation and the rules of the Toronto Stock Exchange. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of any of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful, including 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 securities laws of any state of the United States and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons (as defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act) unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or pursuant to an exemption from such registration requirements. ABOUT WESTERN COPPER AND GOLD CORPORATION Western Copper and Gold Corporation is developing the Casino Project, Canadas premier copper-gold mine in the Yukon Territory and one of the most economic greenfield copper-gold mining projects in the world. For more information, visit www.westerncopperandgold.com . On behalf of the board, Paul West-Sells Dr. Paul West-Sells President and CEO Western Copper and Gold Corporation For more information, please contact: Chris Donaldson Director, Corporate Development 604.638.2520 or cdonaldson@westerncopperandgold.com Cautionary Disclaimer Regarding Forward-Looking Statements and Information This news release contains certain forward-looking statements concerning anticipated developments in Westerns operations in future periods. Statements that are not historical fact are forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and forward looking information as that term is defined in National Instrument 51-102 (NI 51-102) of the Canadian Securities Administrators (collectively, forward-looking statements). Forward -looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as expects, anticipates, believes, intends, estimates, potential, possible and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions or results will, may, could or should occur or be achieved. These forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the use of proceeds from the Offering. In making the forward-looking statements herein, the Company has applied certain material assumptions including, but not limited to, the assumption that general business conditions will not change in a materially adverse manner. Forward-looking statements are statements about the future and are inherently uncertain, and actual results, performance or achievements of Western and its subsidiaries may differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors. Such risks and other factors include, among others, risks involved in fluctuations in gold, copper and other commodity prices and currency exchange rates; uncertainties related to raising sufficient financing in a timely manner and on acceptable terms; and other risks and uncertainties disclosed in Westerns AIF and Form 40-F, and other information released by Western and filed with the applicable regulatory agencies. Westerns forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, expectations and opinions of management on the date the statements are made, and Western does not assume, 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 otherwise required by applicable securities legislation. For the reasons set forth above, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. ROYAL OAK, Mich., May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- More than a dozen residents were joined by Royal Oak Mayoral Candidate Stephen Miller and commission candidate Tom Hallock today in protesting the City Center Development that was partially funded with $5.5 million in taxpayer dollars and built on a former municipal parking lot that was gifted to the developer for one dollar The group gathered in front of city hall before taking their protest to the Royal Oak City Center site to express their anger over the no bid contract and political contributions associated with the project by Mayor Fournier and commission majority. The protest was organized by the Take Back Royal Oak Coalition, a group of business owners, farmers and taxpayers fed up with the lack of transparency from the Royal Oak Mayor, City Commission and city manager who continue to use no-bid contracts in violation of the city charter as well as the cronyism displayed in favor of political donors to the mayor and several commissioners. "The majority of Royal Oak's elected officials have failed to uphold their fiduciary responsibility," said Stephen Miller, a retired accountant and former city commissioner who is running for Royal Oak Mayor in November. "Mayor Fournier and the majority of the city commission have flagrantly disregarded the city charter by violating debt covenants, using no-bid contracts. The city also violated the Michigan Constitution by providing the developer with taxpayer dollars, which is prohibited as its illegal to use public funds for purely private purposes." Miller added, the biggest fraud of all is the abuse of the Public Safety Fund, a $10 million property tax increase on residents, which passed in 2012 and renewed in 2016 creating a "cash hoard" for the city as it stopped funding public safety from the general fund and in essence did not provide additional dollars for public safety as promised. "What occurred was a total bait and switch. Public safety hiring since 2012 only increased by 12 percent, that's 17 police officers and no fire fighters or EMS personnel. The tragedy is that 48 administrative positions have been created to work at city hall with the money raised by the giant property tax increase," said Miller. "That's not what the residents and taxpayers of Royal Oak were told, or sold, by the city when they voted for the tax increase. That money was supposed to be used to hire personnel, improve equipment and keep our emergency services team safe while they safeguard our community." "It's unsettling to see city leaders celebrating this development today," said Tom Hallock, former Royal Oak Commissioner who chaired the City of Royal Oak Planning Commission for many years and is now running for commissioner in November. "Today's event is the result of bad politics, favoritism and taxpayer dollars to developers, architects, construction firms and attorneys in bed with these politicians. Royal Oak residents deserve much better than the Chicago-style politics they are getting." Hallock added that the city has never answered questions about the lack of handicap parking, site planning that didn't involve surrounding businesses, nor why no formal traffic and parking studies were conducted. In his annual State of the City speech on July 16, 2017, Mayor Michael Fournier said, "The office building could bring more than 700 well-paid jobs to downtown Royal Oak and have an annual economic impact of $234 million and help diversify our tax base and stabilize our downtown." Erika Sykes, a 14-year resident of Royal Oak who joined other concerned citizens at the protest today said, "I'm not against development, but eliminating a half million dollar per year revenue-generating city parking lot and selling it for a $1 to a developer was a bad idea. This was prime real estate given away for an office building that was supposed to generate significant taxes for the city, but that's changed with tax exempt Henry Ford Health System becoming the sole occupant of the building with an equity transfer lease arrangement." The Take Back Royal Oak Coalition includes commercial property owners, business owners, resident taxpayers and farmers alarmed about Royal Oak City Hall's lack of transparency, no-bid contracts and favoritism to political donors. The group started with many of the businesses involved in lawsuits against the city over the City Center Development and has grown to expose the unlawful actions by the Royal Oak City Manager, Mayor and City Commission Majority. SOURCE The Take Back Royal Oak Coalition NEW YORK, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- EMC Insurance Group Inc. WeissLaw LLP is concerned with possible breaches of fiduciary duties by the Board of EMC Insurance Group Inc. in relation to the proposed merger of the Company with Employers Mutual Casualty Company. EMCI shareholders will receive a paltry $36.00 for each share they own. If you own EMCI shares and wish to discuss this investigation or your rights, please visit: https://weisslawllp.com/emc-insurance-group-inc/ Buckeye Partners, L.P. WeissLaw LLP is concerned with possible breaches of fiduciary duties by the Board of Buckeye Partners, L.P. in relation to the proposed acquisition of the Company by IFM Investors. BPL shareholders will receive a mere $41.50 for each share they own. If you own BPL shares and wish to discuss this investigation or your rights, please visit: https://weisslawllp.com/buckeye-partners-l-p/ Amber Road, Inc. WeissLaw LLP is concerned with possible breaches of fiduciary duties by the Board of Amber Road, Inc. in relation to the proposed acquisition of the Company by its digital supply chain rival E2open. AMBR shareholders will receive $13.00 in cash for each share they own. If you own AMBR shares and wish to discuss this investigation or your rights, please visit: https://weisslawllp.com/amber-road-inc/ If you own any shares in the companies listed above and would like to discuss our investigations or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact: Joshua Rubin, Esq. WeissLaw LLP 1500 Broadway, 16th Floor New York, NY 10036 (212) 682-3025 (888) 593-4771 [email protected] SOURCE WeissLaw LLP Related Links http://weisslawllp.com NEW YORK, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Smart & Final Stores, Inc. WeissLaw LLP is concerned with possible breaches of fiduciary duties by the Board of Smart & Final Stores, Inc. in relation to the proposed acquisition of the Company by funds managed by Apollo Global Management affiliates. SFS shareholders would receive $6.50 in cash for each share they own. If you own SFS shares and wish to discuss this investigation or your rights, please visit: http://www.weisslawllp.com/smart-final-stores/ HomeFed Corporation WeissLaw LLP is concerned with possible breaches of fiduciary duties by the Board of HomeFed Corporation in relation to the proposed acquisition of the Company by Jefferies Financial Group. HOFD shareholders will be entitled to receive either $38.00 in cash, or 2.00 JEF shares subject to a downward adjustment. If you own HOFD shares and wish to discuss this investigation or your rights, please visit: https://weisslawllp.com/homefed-corporation/ Aquantia Corporation WeissLaw LLP is concerned with possible breaches of fiduciary duties by the Board of Aquantia Corporation in relation to the proposed sale of the Company to Marvell Technology. AQ shareholders will receive $13.00 for each share they own. If you own AQ shares and wish to discuss this investigation or your rights, please visit: https://weisslawllp.com/aquantia-corporation/ If you own any shares in the companies listed above and would like to discuss our investigations or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact: Joshua Rubin, Esq. WeissLaw LLP 1500 Broadway, 16th Floor New York, NY 10036 (212) 682-3025 (888) 593-4771 [email protected] SOURCE WeissLaw LLP Related Links http://weisslawllp.com NEW ORLEANS, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Society of Plastic Surgical Skin Care Specialists (SPSSCS) announced Susan Eldridge, Aesthetician of Portland, OR as its new President today at the 25th Anniversary Meeting of the Society. Susan has been a member of SPSSCS for the past 23 years and has been a SPSSCS Board member for the last 4 years. Ms. Eldridge has been a dedicated aesthetician of The Waldorf Center staff in Portland, Oregon since 1996. An active member of SPSSCS, Susan Eldridge was an Editor of the Specialty Skin Care newsletter, a mentor for new members and a volunteer for the Phoenix Society's World Burn Congress. With more than 35 years of experience in the field of aesthetics, Susan has been practicing advanced techniques in skin care, providing targeted treatments for her clients. Since 2000, Susan has specialized in corrective skin care and pre and post-operative care with extensive experience and training for clients in need of treatments for burns and cancer. "I am an advocate of continuing education, and SPSSCS has always been the leader in advanced technique, safety, and education," notes Susan Eldridge, SPSSCS President-Elect. "The Skin Care Society and my peers are dedicated to making science-based choices for our patients." "Susan's extensive background in skin care and knowledge of the latest techniques will be a tremendous asset to the Skin Care Society as she enters her new role as President," said Immediate Past-President, Donna Erb, LA, NCEA. "Our annual meeting is devoted to advancing knowledge among skin care specialists, and Susan and I are excited to share the latest breakthroughs at our 25th Anniversary Meeting this year." Susan added, "It is truly an honor to become President of this prestigious organization. Being surrounded by professional and well educated providers who continue to learn as members of this organization is a blessing. I hope to serve you well. My goals for the year are to help the SPSSCS grow and be the best most sought after organization to be a part of in Medical Skincare." Program Highlights Include: Oncology Aesthetics in the Plastic Surgery Practice Facial Feminization: The Full Spectrum of Cosmetic and Reconstructive Surgery Post-Procedure Protocols to Improve Patient Experience Laser Safety Incorporating New Products with Tried & True Injectables The annual meeting of the SPSSCS is held each spring in conjunction with the annual meeting of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (The Aesthetic Society) and the Aesthetic Surgery Education and Research Foundation (ASERF). This year, scientific presentations and instructional courses will help advance knowledge and skills in plastic surgical skin care. SPSSCS develops a curriculum addressing topics from cutting edge skin treatments to advanced pre- and post-operative clinical skin care. About SPSSCS The Society of Plastic Surgical Skin Care Specialists is a voluntary, non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of education, enhancement of clinical skills, and the delivery of safe, quality skin care provided to patients from the offices of plastic surgeons certified by or eligible to sit for examination by the American Board of Plastic Surgery or the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada or facial plastic surgeons who are a member of the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery or oculoplastic surgeons who are a member of the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery or dermatologic surgeons who are a member of the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery. SPSSCS was founded in 1994 by a group of renowned plastic surgeons, members of the the Aesthetic Society who recognized the need to educate and provide clinical skills to skincare specialists who provide treatment to patients in the offices of board-certified plastic surgeons. The SPSSCS is uniquely positioned as the only national skin care specialty organization aligned with the plastic surgery specialty. The Society is comprised of members who are either nurses or aestheticians. For more information visit www.spsscs.org. Follow SPSSCS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SPSSCS Join SPSSCS on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spsscs About The Aesthetic Society The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (The Aesthetic Society) is recognized as the world's leading organization devoted entirely to aesthetic plastic surgery and cosmetic medicine of the face and body. The Aesthetic Society is comprised of more than 2,600 members in North America and internationally; Active Members are certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery (USA) or by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and have extensive training in the complete spectrum of surgical and non-surgical aesthetic procedures. International Active Members are certified by equivalent boards of their respective countries. All members worldwide adhere to a strict Code of Ethics and must meet stringent membership requirements. The Aesthetic Society is at the forefront of innovation in aesthetic plastic surgery and cosmetic medicine globally. Visit our website: www.surgery.org Follow The Aesthetic Society on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ASAPS Become a fan of The Aesthetic Society on Facebook: www.facebook.com/AestheticSociety Check us out on Instagram: www.instagram.com/theaestheticsocietyasaps/ Read the latest news and learn about procedures: Smart Beauty Guide: www.smartbeautyguide.com Locate a plastic surgeon in your area: http://www.smartbeautyguide.com/select-surgeon Media Contacts: Leigh Hope Fountain 562-799-2356 [email protected] or [email protected] SOURCE Society of Plastic Surgical Skin Care Specialists Related Links http://www.spsscs.org WASHINGTON, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- "We welcome the removal of the steel and aluminum tariffs this afternoon. "This step is enormously significant and paves the way for swift ratification of the USMCA in all three countries. "We urge the legislative bodies in Mexico, Canada and the US to move with all due haste towards modernizing our outdated free trade agreement for the benefit of the North American neighborhood as well as the global economy." For more information, contact Georgia Papadopoulos (202) 408 9122 or [email protected] SOURCE Canadian American Business Council CALGARY, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - TransAlta Corporation ("TransAlta" or the "Company") (TSX:TA) (NYSE:TAC) today announces the promotion of Todd Stack to Chief Financial Officer ("CFO"), effective immediately. Mr. Stack, who has served as Managing Director and Corporate Controller of the Company since February 2017, has been responsible for providing leadership and direction over TransAlta's financial activities, corporate accounting and reporting, tax, and corporate planning. "I am excited to announce Todd's well-deserved promotion to CFO," said Dawn Farrell, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Todd has been with the Company for more than 25 years and has been an instrumental member of our finance and corporate reporting team. As CFO, he will provide significant value to the Company based on his extensive experience in finance, valuation, economics and the power industry." Since joining the Company in 1990, Mr. Stack has acted as the Company's Treasurer, Corporate Controller, as well as a member of the corporate development team reviewing greenfield and acquisition opportunities. Prior to joining the finance team at TransAlta, Mr. Stack held a number of roles in the engineering team, including design, operations and project management. Mr. Stack is a registered professional engineer in Alberta and has received a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Calgary and is a holder of the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. Mr. Stack replaces Christophe Dehout, who will be leaving the Company to pursue new opportunities. About TransAlta Corporation TransAlta owns, operates and develops a diverse fleet of electrical power generation assets in Canada, the United States and Australia with a focus on long-term shareholder value. We provide municipalities, medium and large industries, businesses and utility customers clean, affordable, energy efficient, and reliable power. Today, we are one of Canada's largest producers of wind power and Alberta's largest producer of hydro-electric power. For over 100 years, TransAlta has been a responsible operator and a proud community-member where its employees work and live. TransAlta aligns its corporate goals with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and we have been recognized by CDP (formerly Climate Disclosure Project) as an industry leader on Climate Change Management. We are also proud to have achieved the Silver level PAR (Progressive Aboriginal Relations) designation by the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business. For more information about TransAlta, visit our web site at www.transalta.com. SOURCE TransAlta Corporation Related Links http://www.transalta.com RICHMOND, Va., May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Attorney Jeffrey Breit has been named to the Virginia Lawyers Hall of Fame by Virginia Lawyers Weekly! Based on an analysis of criteria including career experience, bar contributions, and efforts to improve the state, Virginia Lawyers Weekly annually honors deserving attorneys over the age of 60 with the Hall of Fame distinction. Jeffrey Breit's work has recovered millions of dollars for clients in Virginia and beyond. In his most significant out-of-state case, Jeffrey was on a team of attorneys who represented people in the Gulf who suffered after the BP oil spill in 2010. Jeffrey is admitted to practice in Virginia, Louisiana, New York, North Carolina, and Washington, D.C., as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court. His professional association memberships include the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, the American Bar Association, the American Association for Justice, and more. His contributions to the legal field extend past the walls of the Breit Cantor Grana Buckner offices. Jeffrey is active in local politics, contributing to Governor Ralph Northam's lieutenant gubernatorial campaign and serving as an advisor. He spearheaded the successful legislative initiative to raise the cap on medical malpractice damages that had been in place for 17 years before. Jeffrey also serves as an adjunct professor at the College of William & Mary's law school and has taught courses at Harvard University and Columbia University. This year's Virginia Lawyers Hall of Fame honorees will be awarded at downtown Richmond's John Marshall Hotel on May 21st. Breit Cantor Grana Buckner represents the wrongfully injured across the United States, as well as sexual assault victims and clients in need of civil rights, legal malpractice, and business litigation. Contact Breit Cantor Grana Buckner by submitting your information online or by calling 804-409-0227. SOURCE Breit Cantor Grana Buckner Related Links https://www.virginiatrialfirm.com WE Day Connect is made possible by Microsoft and The Allstate Foundation Visit WE.org/wedayconnect to learn more about today's event SEATTLE, May 16, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - Today, hundreds of thousands of young people and educators from around the world joined WE Day Connect, a free, interactive online celebration of social good hosted by WE. The 90-minute digital event engaged more than 18,000 classrooms across 49 countries in a service-learning webcast that explored some of today's most pressing issues from homelessness and climate change to access to clean water and cyberbullying empowering students to collaborate on innovative ways to tackle them. With support and technology from Microsoft, and additional support from The Allstate Foundation, WE Day Connect broadcasted live from five locations: Microsoft Studios in Redmond, Washington; Sacramento, California; St. Catharines, Ontario; Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago; and, Geneva, Switzerland. Featuring inspirational speakers, surprise guests and international activist and WE co-founder, Craig Kielburger, WE Day Connect transcended geographical barriers, delivering the power of WE Day, the world's largest youth empowerment event of its kind held in over 19 stadiums across North America, the U.K. and the Caribbean, to more youth and educators than ever before. Since the inaugural WE Day Connect in Spring 2018, the online event has reached over 556,000 viewers globally. "Through WE Day Connect we have used technology to expand our reach beyond the stadium, growing our global network and delivering free, service-learning tools to youth and educators around the world," said Carrie Patterson, Chief Operations Director of WE Charity. "We are thrilled that WE Day Connect is part of our dynamic series of service-learning programs, joining AP with WE Service, professional learning opportunities, workshops on social entrepreneurship and many others. Thanks to support from our partners, we are able to not only deepen service-learning in the classroom through this interactive online event, but also bring WE Day to the world stage." Remarkable youth and educators at the five locations inspired global viewers by sharing how they are bringing service-learning to life every day. A few highlights from the event include: Pine Grove Public School St. Catharines, Ontario All-girl coding group, GEMS Girls in Engineering, Math and Science is collaborating on an app called ImagineThat, which promotes inclusion for individuals with disabilities. Through a series of student-made, informational videos, ImagineThat educates users about the different types of disabilities and how important language is to creating a safe, inclusive space for all. To expand the reach and accessibility of ImagineThat, the GEMS group applied for a grant through WE Are One, an action campaign co-created by Microsoft and WE that encourages youth to make the world more inclusive through technology. Unknown to the entire school, the GEMS group was surprised live during WE Day Connect with a $1,000 WE Are One grant. Woodlake Elementary School Sacramento, California Student members of Woodlake Elementary School's philanthropy club, Tolerance Kids, dedicate time each day to giving back to their community. Through their participation in WE Volunteer Now, a campaign created by The Allstate Foundation and WE that enables schools and youth-serving organizations to plan and lead volunteer projects, the club regularly volunteers at a nearby youth shelter to help end local homelessness. In January, the Tolerance Kids received a $250 WE Volunteer Now grant, which helped them purchase and collect daily essentials - from toothpaste to socks - to build care packages for the youth shelter. The care packages were so well received by the shelter that the Tolerance Kids decided to complete 60 more live during WE Day Connect. Inspired by their continued contributions to the shelter, The Allstate Foundation decided to present them with a second WE Volunteer Now grant, this time for $2,500 , to put towards their future volunteer actions. Following WE Day Connect, students and educators can continue doing good through WE's free, yearlong service-learning program, WE Schools. Providing schools and community groups with curriculum, educational resources and action campaigns, the program is designed to enhance a school's existing social initiatives or spark new ones. As part of the program, educators and community leaders can access the free, interactive WE Schools Kit, which helps them collaborate with students as they create action plans throughout the year. Globally, more than 3.8 million students are part of the WE movement, taking part in service learning programs and campaigns. About WE WE is a family of organizations that makes doing good, doable. WE is made up of WE Charity, empowering domestic and international change; ME to WE, a social enterprise that creates socially conscious products and experiences to help support the charity; and WE Day, filling stadiums around the world with the greatest celebration of social good. WE Charity was founded in 1995 by then 12-year-old Craig Kielburger with a mission to fight child labor. WE has since grown and evolved to address the root cause of child labor extreme poverty. In the past 24 years, WE's programs have empowered over 1 million people with clean water, built 1,500 schools and schoolrooms overseas, and empowered more than 200,000 children with access to education. WE enables youth and families to better the worldsupporting 7,200+ local and global causes by volunteering millions of hours of service, shopping daily with an impact, and raising millions of dollars that directly benefit their local communities and the world. Join the movement today at WE.org . Stay connected on the latest news and updates on WE: #WE | @WEmovement | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Media Center About Microsoft www.microsoft.com About The Allstate Foundation www.AllstateFoundation.org SOURCE WE Charity Related Links http://we.org/ NEW YORK, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Weber Shandwick, one of the world's leading global communications and marketing solutions firms, announced today the appointment of Will Ludlam as president of Weber Shandwick West, with offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Seattle. With a strong background in corporate and technology public relations, he has supported a diverse group of blue chip and emerging companies in previous roles and brings deep expertise in strategic counsel and crisis communications. At Weber Shandwick, Ludlam will be based in Seattle and responsible for delivering best-in-class client services and solutions across Weber Shandwick West by leveraging the firm's deep roster of talent across the region. Ludlam's start date is Monday, May 20th. "Will brings a wealth of client experience, knowledge and passion to Weber Shandwick, as well as a keen sense for what it takes to support client growth and foster a culture of collaboration," said Sara Gavin, president, Weber Shandwick North America. "His leadership philosophy and vision for how best to deliver for clients and for our people will undoubtedly bring incredible value to our firm as we continue to propel our work in the West. We couldn't be more delighted to have him." Ludlam joins from Edelman, where he led the Pacific Northwest business unit, composed of offices in Seattle and Portland. Prior to that, he was general manager of Hill & Knowlton's Seattle office and spent more than a decade with Porter Novelli, where he led the firm's then-largest account and was managing director for its Asia-Pacific region, having expanded it into seven markets, including India and China. Earlier in his career, Ludlam worked at The Rockey Company and technology firms KVO (FleishmanHillard) and Waggener Edstrom. With more than 25 years of experience in communications, Ludlam has advised a wide variety of global and local brands, including HP, Microsoft, Safeco, Samsung, Starbucks, Seattle Children's Hospital and Puget Sound Energy. "I've been so impressed by the work coming from Weber Shandwick's West region and I'm looking forward to joining this talented team to continue bringing ideas that make an impact for clients," Ludlam said. Ludlam is active in the Seattle community, with past and present involvement including the Community Development Roundtable, the advisory board for the Edward R. Murrow College of Communications at Washington State University, the board of directors for the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, the board of trustees of Intiman Theatre and the Seattle Center Advisory Commission. He holds a bachelor's degree from Washington State University. About Weber Shandwick Weber Shandwick is a leading global communications and marketing solutions firm in 79 cities with a network extending to 129 cities around the world. The firm's diverse team of strategists, analysts, producers, designers, developers and campaign activators has won the most prestigious awards in the world for innovative, creative approaches and impactful work. Weber Shandwick was the only public relations agency included on the Advertising Age Agency A-list in 2014 and 2015 and the only PR firm designated an A-List Agency Standout in 2017 and 2018. Weber Shandwick was honored as PRWeek's Global Agency of the Year in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, The Holmes Report's Global Agency of the Year in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2017, and The Holmes Report's Global Digital Agency of the Year in 2016. The firm deploys deep expertise across sectors and specialty areas, including consumer marketing, corporate reputation, healthcare, technology, public affairs, financial services, employee engagement, social impact, financial communications and crisis management, using proprietary social, digital and analytics methodologies. Weber Shandwick is part of the Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG). For more information, visit http://www.webershandwick.com. Contact: Jill Tannenbaum Company: Weber Shandwick Phone: 212-546-7815 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Weber Shandwick Related Links http://webershandwick.com SACRAMENTO, Calif., May 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via OTC PR WIRE -- Smart Cannabis Corp. (OTC: SCNA) announced that it has secured the contract to expand on a cannabis cultivation site in Yolo County, California where the companys primary subsidiary, Next Generation Farming, recently retrofitted eight (8) greenhouses and installed the companys SMART App. The expansion project will include 60,000 square feet of the companys new, recently announced, iteration of the SMART by Design Gutter Connect series specifically modified to mitigate the threat of airborne hemp seed cross-pollinating with cannabis crops. By completion of phase two of this project, there will be 83,000 square feet of greenhouse installed at the clients site. The ground has been broken and development of the site is underway. According to the companys CEO, John Taylor, details are currently being negotiated to implement the companys portfolio of products and services into the contract. Additional details about this project will be shared with the public as they transpire. Learn more about the new greenhouse design by visiting: https://smartcannabis.com/2019/05/07/smart-cannabis-corp-designs-greenhouse-to-mitigate-threat-of-cannabis-crop-destruction-caused-by-hemp-seed-cross-pollination/ Smart Cannabis Corp. (OTC: SCNA) is a public equity corporation advancing the agriculture and cannabis industries and growing through acquisition, strategic alliances, and proprietary intellectual property. The companys wholly owned subsidiary, Next Generation Farming Inc., provides turnkey, automated, commercial greenhouses systems that efficiently improve yields and decrease water consumption for cultivators of organic food and cannabis crops. The company websites are http://smartcannabis.com https://sapinvestments.com https://smartcannabis.com/nextgenfarming Disclaimer: The Company relies upon the Safe Harbor Laws of 1933, 1934 and 1995 for all public news releases. The company may make forward-looking public statements concerning its expected future operations, performance and other developments. Such forward-looking statements are estimates that reflect the companys best judgment based upon current information. All investments involve risks and uncertainties, and there can be no assurance that other factors will not affect the accuracy of such forward-looking statements. It is impossible to identify all such factors. Factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those estimated by the company include, but are not limited to, government regulation; managing and maintaining growth; the effect of adverse publicity; litigation; competition; and other factors which may be identified from time to time in the companys public announcements. "We had a couple of options when it came to growth. After watching Pit Boss grow over the years and witnessing their success with taking products to market, we wanted that same accomplishment for our product," said Rhonda. "We are excited to continue to help grow A-MAZE-N, as well as Pit Boss. We [Rhonda, and Todd] have put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into building the brand name and its loyal customer base. We are grateful to be a part of this continued opportunity." In this partnership with Pit Boss, the A-MAZE-N product line will retain its brand name, and core designs. Changes and new items made to the product assortment will be made in partnership with the A-MAZE-N and Pit Boss teams. Drawing on years of cooking experience and their passion for BBQ, The Johnsons will continue to bring innovative products to the ever growing #PitBossNation. "Rhonda and Todd are great additions to the team," mentioned Jeff Thiessen, President, Pit Boss Grills. "Their outgoing personalities and passion have led them down an A-MAZE-N path (pun intended). We are excited about the energy they bring to the team," continued Thiessen. Teaming up with A-MAZE-N is the most recent effort in Pit Boss' ongoing commitment to provide best-in-class products, innovation and community value to its loyal customer base. Pit Boss Grills is a subsidiary of Dansons, Inc. which was founded in 1999 by Dan Thiessen and his two sons, Jeff and Jordan. Pit Boss Grills is known for their durability and craftsmanship, as well as for their faith, and family style approach to business. From portable grills like the Pit Boss Tailgater, to massive grills like the Pit Boss 1000 Traditions Pit Boss Grills takes pride in creating whatever the customers (and employees) dream up. Dansons was awarded EY Entrepreneur of the Year (2017). For more information about Pit Boss Grills, please visit the website at: https://pitboss-grills.com/ . If you would like more information about this topic, please contact: Ashley Evdokimo Dansons 3411 N 5th Avenue, Suite 500 Phoenix, AZ 85013 Office: 1.877.303.3134 (ext 160) Cell: 480.220.6700 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Pit Boss Grills Related Links https://pitboss-grills.com BEIJING, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Xinyuan Real Estate Co., Ltd. ("Xinyuan" or the "Company") (NYSE: XIN), an NYSE-listed real estate developer and property manager primarily in China and in other countries, today announced that it plans to release its first quarter 2019 financial results on Thursday, May 23rd, 2019, before the U.S. market open. The Company will hold a conference call at 8:00am ET on May 23, 2019, to discuss its first quarter 2019 results. Listeners may access the call by dialing: US Toll Free: +1-800-458-4121 International: +1-323-794-2093 A webcast will also be available through the Company's investor relations website at http://ir.xyre.com. A replay of the call will be available through May 30, 2019, by dialing: US: +1-844-512-2921 International: +1-412-317-6671 Access code: 6620456 About Xinyuan Real Estate Co., Ltd. Xinyuan Real Estate Co., Ltd. ("Xinyuan") is an NYSE-listed real estate developer and property manager primarily in China and in other countries. In China, Xinyuan develops and manages large scale, high quality real estate projects in over ten tier one and tier two cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Zhengzhou, Jinan, Xi'an, Suzhou, among others. Xinyuan was one of the first Chinese real estate developers to enter the U.S. market and over the past few years has been active in real estate development in New York. Xinyuan aims to provide comfortable and convenient real estate related products and services to middle-class consumers. For more information, please visit http://www.xyre.com. For more information, please contact: In China: Xinyuan Real Estate Co., Ltd. Mr. Charles Wang Investor Relations Director Tel: +86 (10) 8588-9376 Email: [email protected] ICR, LLC Mr. William Zima In U.S.: +1-646-308-1472 Email: [email protected] Media: Mr. Edmond Lococo In China: +86 (10) 6583-7510 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Xinyuan Real Estate Co., Ltd. Related Links http://ir.xyre.com SUZHOU, China, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 19, Dr Dougiamas, founder and CEO of Moodle, will deliver the keynote address at China's inaugural MoodleMoot, a conference held around the world to encourage collaboration and sharing of best practices of Moodle. China MoodleMoot, part of XJTLU's 2019 Annual Conference on Higher Education Innovation, will see Dr Dougiamas share his experience in using technology to transform teaching and learning. Dr Dougiamas, who developed the Moodle software as part of his PhD in Australia and went on to release it to the world as an open source technology in 2002, says he is looking forward to discussing the future of Moodle in China. "Anecdotally, we know many people use Moodle in China - we hope to see many of them at the first China MoodleMoot to help plan the future of Moodle, and open technology in general, in China," he says. "In the global context, the internet in general, and internet-based education in particular, is becoming a contentious place, with a three-way battle shaping up between proprietary commercial players seeking to control the space versus the widespread availability of free (but not always trustworthy) content vs open technology that is part of established education systems. "Moodle, which is already used by 60 per cent of all higher education institutions worldwide, stands firmly in the camp of open technology, and is helping to bring together many similarly-minded projects and people to help build open education infrastructure of the future." Roland Sherwood, manager of the Educational Technologies Team in the Educational Development Unit (ILEAD) at XJTLU, says the University is honoured to host Dr Dougiamas on campus. "Moodle has directly contributed to shaping the educational experiences of a whole generation of learners and educators," he says. Sherwood says technology is an essential part of modern educational practice yet its use in China is still emerging. "In many areas China is one of the most advanced countries in the world in their ability to create and implement cutting-edge technology to innovative and boost productivity," he says. "In the field of education however, teaching is often still done through a traditional approach. Educators deliver information, which students are then expected to memorise. In this space, there is not much room for technology. "But this is changing. I believe technology has the potential to be transformational for China as it gives everyone the chance to access education. Given China has one of the largest populations in the world, and an increasing number of people are pursuing a higher education, technology could help deliver education to the masses." Dr Dougiamas will speak during China MoodleMoot at 9:00am on May 19 at XJTLU's Central Building, located at 111 Ren'ai Road in Suzhou Industrial Park. SOURCE Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University and Moodle Paris, May 17 : A criminal investigation has been launched against a French doctor over the poisoning of 17 people in France. Frederic Pechier, an anaesthesiologist, has already been investigated for seven other cases of poisoning, in total leading to nine deaths, the BBC reported on Thursday. Prosecutors allege he deliberately tampered with his colleagues' anaesthesia pouches to create an emergency and show off his talents. Pechier denies all allegations, and faces a life sentence if found guilty. His lawyer, Jean-Yves Le Borgne, told a media outlet that the investigation proved nothing. "There is a possibility that Pechier committed those poisonings but this hypothesis is nothing but a hypothesis," said Borgne. "The presumption of innocence must be stressed." An examining judge in the eastern city of Besancon placed Mr Pechier, 47, under investigation in May 2017 for the first seven poisonings. The doctor was later released but disbarred from practising medicine. This week he was questioned by police about 66 cases of cardiac arrest during operations on patients who were considered low risk. The latest accusations are from these cases, involving patients aged four to 80. Prosecutor Etienne Manteaux told the media that Pechier had been "the common denominator" in each instance, and had been in open conflict with colleagues. "He was most often found close to the operating theatre" when the cases occurred, said Manteaux, and had made quick diagnosis on which action to take, "even when nothing allowed anyone to suspect an overdose of potassium or local anaesthesia". Pechier has denied the claims, and his lawyers have accused police of tampering with statements he gave during initial questioning. "Whatever the outcome of all this, my career is over," he told reporters at a press conference on Thursday. "You cannot trust a doctor who, at one point, has been labelled a poisoner... My family is broken and I am afraid for my children." Washington, May 17 : US President Donald Trump reported income of at least $434 million in 2018, according to his annual financial disclosure released by the White House. The income also include $40.8 million in revenue from his Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC, just blocks from the White House, CNN quoted the disclosure as saying on Thursday. Trump reported that his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida generated $22.7 million, a slight drop from the $25.1 million he disclosed for 2017. Overall, Trump's income appears to have gone down from last year, when he reported making at least $450 million. Trump reported holding outstanding debt of at least $315 million. The disclosure forms allow filers to report ranges, and five of Trump's loans are reported at "over $50 million" making the actual debt total impossible to calculate. Financial disclosure documents do not reveal as much about finances as a tax return, which include granular details about income and asset valuations, along with other information. Since taking office, Trump has broken presidential precedent by maintaining his interest in the Trump Organization, which is run on a day-to-day basis by his sons Donald Jr. and Eric. He's also the first President in decades not to release his personal tax returns, though he has submitted his required financial statements each year to the Office of Government Ethics. The fresh disclosures come as the Trump administration faces a Friday deadline to respond to a subpoena from House Democrats for six years of tax records. London, May 17 : A restaurant in the UK accidentally served a diner a wine bottle which was worth a whopping $5,800, a media report said. The customer at the Manchester, England, branch of steak chain Hawksmoor, ordered a 2001 Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, which is listed at 260 pounds ($335), a PR company representing the restaurant told CNN on Thursday. "It was a very busy night at the restaurant and a very simple mistake," Irena Pogarcic of Kitchen Communications said. "A member of staff picked up the wrong bottle, mistaking it for another Bordeaux of the same vintage." "The wine went out and was served to the customer. The customer didn't know and it was only afterward that one of the managers picked up what had happened." The restaurant later tweeted that the customer "accidentally got given a bottle of Chateau Le Pin, Pomerol, 2001" and said it hoped they enjoyed their evening. "To the member of staff who accidentally gave it away, chin up! One-off mistakes and we love you anyway," Hawksmoor added. The restaurant also tweeted a photo of the two wines side by side, saying: "They look pretty similar OK?!" The 2001 Chateau Le Pin features in the "rarities" section of Hawksmoor's menu and is the most expensive item on the list. San Francisco, May 17 : Elon Musk's company SpaceX has once again postponed the launch of the Falcon 9 rocket carrying the first 60 Starlink Internet communications satellites, this time owing to a "software issue". Just two hours prior to the opening of launch window late Thursday, the company cancelled the launch, second time in two days. "Standing down to update satellite software and triple-check everything again. Always want to do everything we can on the ground to maximise mission success, next launch opportunity in about a week," SpaceX tweeted. With a mass of 18.5 tonne, the launch is the company's heaviest to date for either the Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy rocket. The rocket will boost 60 Starlink satellites, each weighing 227kg, to an altitude of 440km, reports arstechnica.com SpaceX on Wednesday postponed the launch of the Falcon 9 rocket due to high winds. The launch will also feature a landing attempt by the Falcon 9's first stage on one of SpaceX's drone ships in the Atlantic Ocean, reports Space.com. Starlink is designed to provide high-speed Internet access to areas of the planet where broadband is rare, spotty or non-existent. SpaceX's ultimate goal is to put nearly 11,000 Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit between now and the mid-2020s, The company is one of several, including Jeff Bezos' Amazon, which are building these so called "constellations" of interconnected satellites to beam high-speed Internet from space. Mumbai, May 17 : Mac Mohan's daughters Manjari and Vinati Makijany are set to enter Bollywood with a feature film on skateboarding titled "Desert Dolphin". Mac is best remembered for his role of Sambha in Ramesh Sippy's "Sholay". He passed away in 2010. Manjari (writer-director) and Vinati (co-writer-producer) are excited about stepping into Bollywood with a film with women empowerment at its core. Set in a remote village in Rajasthan, "Desert Dolphin" is about Prerna, 16, who finds courage to skate against all odds when her path crosses with Jessica, 34, a graphic artist from Los Angeles who is looking for deeper joy in life. "Living in Los Angeles, I was exposed to the skate culture and skaters all the time but when I stumbled upon a video online and watched how a small village in Madhya Pradesh was transformed through skateboarding, I sat up and took notice," Manjari said in a statement. "Upon further research and meeting the skaters from there, I realised the concept was inspired by Skateistan in Afghanistan. This led me to dig deeper and I began my research process in September 2016. I immersed myself in studying the correlation between skating and social change," she added. The filmmakers have made a skatepark for this film, which is about 14,500 sqft, in a village of Khempur near Udaipur. The team hopes that the skatepark will serve as a local and international training ground for future champions and can be the beginning of a movement and add to the growing trend of skateboarding in the country. Talking about the research process, producer Vinati said: "Keeping in mind that this was India's first film based on skateboarding, the idea was to involve as many real skateboarders as we can. "During the auditioning process, we reached out to the skateboarding communities in India. I travelled to Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, villages in Rajasthan and Mumbai and spent a few days on workshop with over 3,000 kids. Personally, it was important for us to workshop with the local kids from the village and involve them in the film." On building the skatepark in India, producer Emmanual Pappas shared: "At the time, India didn't have a skatepark of the calibre we had envisioned and so we set out to build India's largest and most advanced skatepark. It's also rare for a film to leave behind a permanent structure and actually use it to bring about social change in the lives of the local community. With this initiative, we hope to impact the lives of over 5,000 children residing in and around the surrounding villages by introducing them to skateboarding.a Manjari has worked for nearly 12 years in the industry, and directed three short films. Over the years, she has worked with filmmakers like Christopher Nolan, Patty Jenkins and Vishal Bhardwaj. She assisted them on films like "Dunkirk", "The Dark Knight Rises", "Wonder Woman" and the fourth instalment of "Mission Impossible". In Bollywood, she has worked on films like "Saat Khoon Maaf" and "Wake Up Sid". Chennai, May 17 : Even as his anticipatory bail petition is pending before the Madras High Court for his 'Hindu terrorist' speech, actor-politician Kamal Haasan on Friday said it is advisable not to arrest him. Speaking to reporters here, the founder of Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) party said: "I am not afraid of getting arrested. At the same time, there will be tension if I am arrested. Hence it is better if I am not arrested." Haasan said he was not making a request not to arrest him but it was an advice not to take him into custody. Queried about DMK and others parties not coming to his support, Haasan said they may be having their own agenda. On Sunday, at the Aravakuruchi Assembly constituency, Haasan, while campaigning for his party candidate, said about the killer of Mahatma Gandhi: "The first extremist of independent India was a Hindu -- Nathuram Godse. It all started from there." The statement drew angry responses from the BJP. According to Haasan, he had made a similar statement in an election campaign earlier but only now the matter was blown up. Asked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement that no Hindu could be a terrorist, Haasan said history and historians will given an answer to that. "It is said that Modi is knowledgeable. He knows everything. I need not respond to his statement." Washington, May 17 : The US has claimed to have multiple images of Iranian commercial vessels in the Persian Gulf that it believes are carrying missiles and other munitions, a media report said. Although the US government has not provided proof that the ships were carrying hidden missiles and other munitions, an informed official told CNN on Thursday that the freighters have been modified with large areas of their decks removed. The official did not explain why these vessels would need to be altered to carry missiles. Recent surveillance has shown some of those freighters moving in and out of Iranian ports in recent days, he added. The Pentagon is yet to officially comment on the development. Earlier this month, the US moved bombers and a carrier strike group into the region and fears of a conflict have been stoked by a sharp increase in tensions between Tehran and Washington. English Lithuanian Siauliu Bankas AB, company code 112025254, address of the head office Tilzes str. 149, Siauliai, Lithuania. Siauliu bankas AB has received the notification of the person, closely associated with the manager, on transactions in securities issued by the bank (attached). Director of Securities Accounting Department Jolanta Dobiliauskiene is authorized by the Issuer to provide additional information and is available on tel.: +370 41 595669. Attachment California, May 17 : Grumpy Cat, the Internet's most popular cat and one of its first viral memes, has died at age seven, her family announced on Friday. The furry sensation's family announced her death on Twitter, saying: "We are unimaginably heartbroken to announce the loss of our beloved Grumpy Cat," the CNN quoted Tabatha Bundesen, Grumpy Cat's owner, as saying. "Despite care from top professionals, as well as from her very loving family, Grumpy encountered complications from a recent urinary tract infection that unfortunately became too tough for her to overcome. She passed away peacefully on May 14. "Grumpy Cat has helped millions of people smile all around the world - even when times were tough. Her spirit will continue to live on through her fans everywhere," Bundesen, who lives in Morristown Arizona, wrote. Grumpy Cat, whose real name is Tardar Sauce, had feline dwarfism. This, her owners said, probably accounted for her distinctive facial features and small size. She became an Internet celebrity in September 2012 when Bundesen's brother posted pictures of her on the media. Users on the platform immediately reacted by posting countless photoshopped variations and since then the grumpy cat has been seen in several social media memes and posts. Grumpy Cat became such a cultural phenomenon that she inspired art projects, perfumes, merchandise, comics and even a "Grumppuccino" coffee. In 2018, US coffee company Grenade was ordered to pay the Bundesens $710,000 for exceeding an agreement to use her image. At the time of her death, Grumpy Cat had 1.5 million followers on Twitter, 2.4 million on Instagram and 8.5 million on Facebook. New Delhi, May 17 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday expressed confidence that the BJP will again get a full majority on its own in the Lok Sabha elections, and it will be the "first instance of a party getting an absolute majority after a full term". "My overall thinking is that a full majority government will be formed again after winning the Lok Sabha elections. It is going to happen for the first time. This is the big thing in itself," Modi told the media at the BJP headquarters here. This is also the first time that the elections were fought on the basis of a pre-decided plan, he said in his first press conference during his five-year tenure. Modi has been repeatedly criticized by Congress President Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders for not addressing a single press conference since he took oath as the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister's announcement came two days ahead of the final phase of the staggered Lok Sabha battle and less than a week before votes are counted. Addressing the conference with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah, Modi also contended that the earlier governments were "formed on the basis of circumstances". "Either those governments got majority because of any dynastic tradition or any other reason. But it happened for the first time in 2014 when public made the decision to give full majority to another party. The second opportunity is being given again in 2019." Noting that there has been very "satisfying experience" for him in this election, Modi said he went to the public only to thank them for their support. "My campaign in this election has been a thanksgiving campaign for the support given to me by the people. I expressed thanks to everyone. "I also sought people's support and blessings to continue the journey of honesty. Now I am seeing the people giving their blessings to me more than that they offered me in 2014." Referring to his 2014 election victory, Modi said: "On May 16 the results came out. And on May 17 there was a big casualty. Those who were power hungry and those into betting suffered a biggest loss." "At that time, a huge casualty was the betting syndicate. The syndicate suffered losses in crores... because betting had been run for Congress' 150 seats and BJP's 218 seats." He said the people had decided to put the BJP in power again. He said the new government will start work as soon as possible. Modi said he thought there was a "new culture of governance in India". "We are proud of our achievements. We must influence the world because our democracy is so much vibrant." Earlier, the IPL (Indian Premier League) had to be shifted outside India. "But today, there has been celebration of Ramadan, IPL, Easter, Hanuman Jayanti, Ram Jayanti, Navaratri, examination of children and elections at the same time." The Prime Minister, however, didn't take a single question from the media and passed on the one question addressed to BJP President calling himself a "disciplined soldier" of the party. "Not me. We don't speak in front of the President," the Prime Minister said. Chennai, May 17 : Stones and eggs were thrown by two persons at the dais where actor-politician Kamal Haasan addressed an election rally at Aravakuruchi in Tamil Nadu. The two, who were taken into custody by the police, threw stones and eggs at Haasan when he was coming down the dais after addressing an election rally on Thursday night. Cadres of Haasan's party Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) attacked the two persons before police intervened and took the two to safety. Later Haasan tweeted: "Dear MNM family and fans, this is an acid test for our decorum and demeanour. Do not listen to their noises and be drawn into their violence. They are extremists who are slighted by the Truth. Naalai Namadhey (tomorrow is ours)!" The attack on Haasan follows the slipper thrown at him at Thiruparankundram at a poll rally on Wednesday night. Police said the person who threw the slipper has been taken into custody. The slipper fell before the dais and not near Haasan. At the meeting, a group of people shouted slogans. The police took 11 persons into custody. On Sunday, at the Aravakuruchi Assembly constituency, Haasan, while campaigning for his party candidate, said about the killer of Mahatma Gandhi: "The first extremist of independent India was a Hindu -- Nathuram Godse. It all started from there." Tamil Nadu Minister K.T. Rajenthra Bhalaji said the actor-politician's tongue "should be cut". Haasan, not resting on Friday, said in a tweet that it is ignorance to have the name Hindu given by Mughals or by others who had ruled the nation before that. Haasan said the 12 Alwars (Vaishnavite poet- saints) or the 63 Nayanmars (Saivaite poet- saints) did not mention the word Hindu. Haasan said the term Hindu was given by Mughals or by others who came earlier to rule. "The British who later ruled the nation seconded the term Hindu". "When we have various identities, it is ignorance to have a title given by a foreignor as a religion," Haasan said. According to Haasan, even though the identity 'Indian' is of recent origin, it will live long. He said: "It is a wrong choice of commercial politics and spiritualism to restrict our vast nation into a religion". Khargone : , May 17 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi brushed aside his party's embarrassment over the controversy sparked by Bhopal BJP candidate Pragya Thakur's comments praising Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse, as he addressed his last rally of the general election on Friday in Madhya Pradesh, exuding confidence about the ruling BJP-led NDA winning over 300 seats. Modi almost invited himself to head the next government. Modi offered anticipatory thanks to the crowd at Khargone for deciding to make him prime minister again. People will elect a majority government for the second time in a row after decades, he said. "The whole nation from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, from Kutch to Kamrup is saying - Ab ki baar, 300 paar, phir ek baar Modi sarkar (This time, we will cross 300 seats to elect Modi government again)," Modi said adding "The BJP-led NDA is the choice of 130 crore Indians." "This Sunday when you go to cast your vote you will be scripting history. After decades you will elect a majority government for a second time in a row," Modi told voters. The fourth and last phase of the Lok Sabha polls in the state will be held on May 19, along with the seventh and last phase in the country. Modi also sought to link the places where he held his first and last rallies of the current Lok Sabha poll campaign with the nation's freedom struggle. "My election campaign started from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. Now the last rally is being held in Khargone, Madhya Pradesh. From a historical perspective, there is a connection between Meerut and Khargone, which is often overlooked. Both the cities are associated with the 1857 War of Independence," he said, adding that both cities have inspired nationalism. "In Meerut, Indian soldiers rebelled against the British and in Khargone, freedom fighter Bhima Nayak led a tribal agitation and attained martyrdom," he said. "The election of 2019 is different from all the previous general elections. In this poll, people of India are voting for their country and not for any party. They are voting to build a 'New India'," Modi said. Modi said the Congress has not condemned Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy's remark that "those who don't get a square meal join the army and become jawans". He asked people to "never forgive" the Congress for its ally's remarks. Modi invoked freedom fighter and socialist thinker Ram Manohar Lohia to target the Congress saying Lohia, 50 years ago, told Jawaharlal Nehru that the most important issues facing women were water and sanitation. "I am fulfilling Lohia's wish. After constructing toilets and giving dignity to women, I will focus my next term on ensuring clean drinking water," he said. Bengaluru, May 18 : Hectic campaigning for the May 19 by-elections in Karnataka's two Assembly segments ended on Friday evening, an official said. "The 15-day campaign for the twin bye-elections concluded peacefully at 5:00 p.m. in Chincholi (SC) and Kundgol in the state's north and northwest regions," the poll official told IANS here. As many as 25 candidates, including 4 women, are in the fray for the two bypolls. There are 17 candidates in the Chincholi reserved seat in Kalaburagi district and eight in the Kundgol seat in Dharwad district. Chincholi is 580 kms north of Bengaluru and Kundagol is 410 kms northwest of here. Prominent candidates in Chincholi are Avinash Umesh Jadhav of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Subhash V Rathod of the Congress and Gautam Bomnalli of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Avinash is the son of Umesh Jadhav, whose resignation from the seat as a rebel Congress legislator necessitated the by-election. Jadhav senior quit the Congress and joined the BJP in early March to contest from the Gulbarga (SC) parliamentary seat against Congress leader in the outgoing Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on April 23. Besides the three main contestants, 11 independents, including two women, are in the race along with three others. In the Kundgol contest, Kusumavati Channabasappa is contesting from the Congress against S.I. Chikkanagoudar of the BJP. The remaining six, including a woman, are independents. The death of Congress Minister for Municipalities C.S. Shivalli on March 22 necessitated the by-poll. The Congress has fielded his widow Kusumavati to retain the seat on sympathy vote. A three-time legislator, Chikkanagoudar lost to Shivalli by a narrow margin of 633 votes in the May 2018 Assembly election. He is also related to BJP's state unit President B.S. Yeddyurappa, who campaigned for him to wrest the seat from the Congress. Congress legislative party leader and the southern state's former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and party's state unit President Dinesh Gundu Rao campaigned for Kusumavati. The vote count is on May 23 along with that of 28 Lok Sabha seats for which polling was held in two phases on April 18 and 23 after a hectic campaign. In the 225-member state Assembly, including one nominated, the BJP has 104 seats, Congress 77, JD-S 37, two are vacant, one speaker and one each of BSP, Karnataka Pragnyavantha Janatha Party (KPJP) - a regional outfit, and an independent. Ray White Double Bay have recruited Ballard Property young gun Alan Fettes to their team following the hole left by number one agent Gavin Rubinstein. Fettes, who has five years experience selling real estate in Sydney's eastern suburbs, has been billed as the youngest agent to ever earn $1 million in commission at the age of 24. The appointment has been described by Ray White as a "dawn of a new era" for Ray White Double Bay. Fettes was previously at Ballard Property for two years, having previously spent three years at Pillinger. Fettes (right of the main image) has brought his sales associate Calvin Stewart with him (left of the main image). Im thrilled to be joining the most successful real estate businesses in the country, Ray White Double Bay has always been an office in which I envied to be a part of," Fettes said. "The support from the agents within the office combined with the reach that the household brand provides will elevate my career to new heights. The processes and structures Ray White has been developing and mastering for last 117 years are in my opinion - unmatched. This will now allow me to add an extra level of service to my clients. Ray White Double Bay managing director Elliott Placks said now was the time to re-invigorate and add a new layer to his collaborative team. Bringing Alan to the team is an important step as we look towards the future. This business has been going from strength to strength for more than 32 years, and I look forward to leading the already strong sales force over the coming years, Mr Placks said. Every business goes through a period of renewal from time to time and were thrilled to have Alan join us. No doubt hell bring a new sense of excitement and fresh positive energy to our office. We have a team that thrives on the success of each other and we celebrate and share with each other. That is a value statement that we hold dear and very clear at Ray White Double Bay. Alan is an established agent and we will support his ambitions into the future. I am so excited about the future and since taking ownership of the flagship office in the Ray White stable, I am relishing the next phase of growth for us all." Gavin Rubinstein, who departed Ray White Double Bay late last month, has been kept on by the real estate giant and is opening his own Ray White shop in Woollahra. According to new data from the Tenancy Deposit Scheme, there has been a sharp rise in tenancy deposit disputes being resolved by agreement without the need to go to adjudication. By law, each deposit protection scheme must offer free dispute resolution services for tenants, landlords and agents who cant agree how deposits should be distributed at the end of a tenancy. Dispute resolution can involve a number of solutions and does not automatically involve formal adjudication. Not-for-profit company TDS and its sister organisations TDS Northern Ireland and SafeDeposits Scotland have been promoting mediation and early intervention in disputes over the last year to help parties resolve their differences at an earlier stage by agreement. New figures from the group of companies show that the number of disputes over tenancy deposits, which are resolved before going to adjudication, has risen dramatically. In England and Wales in the last 12 months, the number of tenancy deposit disputes being resolved before going to adjudication increased by 31% compared to the previous period. In Scotland, the increase was 18%, and in Northern Ireland, 56%. Fewer than 1% of the tenancy deposits protected by TDS in England and Wales ends in a dispute (17,628 cases between April 2018 and March 2019), but of that 1%, more than a fifth (23%) were resolved in the pre-adjudication stages. For TDSs insurance-backed tenancy deposit protection scheme in England and Wales, tenants can raise a dispute if they disagree with the deductions their landlord requests on the deposit. Agents and landlords can raise disputes too if tenants disagree with their proposed deductions. Both parties are then invited to submit evidence to TDS for review. TDSs alternative dispute resolution team, based in Hemel Hempstead, has now introduced an early resolution step that proactively helps both parties reach an amicable settlement, without the need for the formal adjudication process. SafeDeposits Scotland carries out the same process from its base in Glasgow. In TDSs Custodial schemes in England and Northern Ireland, an online self-resolution is triggered after the parties have disagreed about the repayment of the deposit. The system helps the parties to reach their own settlement through a process of proposals and counter proposals aimed at reducing the amount they are each prepared to settle for. Alison MacDougall, Director of Dispute Operations at TDS, said: Resolving disputes over how the tenancy deposit should be divided quickly is beneficial for both the landlord and the tenant. Thats why we actively open a dialogue between the parties to secure a swift and amicable agreement. Disputes can be tense for parties involved in a tenancy, but we find that by facilitating a negotiation, we can help defuse situations and settle disagreements quickly and fairly. The parties all benefit from keeping control of the decision rather than asking a third party to make a decision for them. New York state will begin the next steps in the ongoing effort to improve mobility on Route 17, including studying the addition of a third lane on the heavily traveled corridor. The state Department of Transportation (DOT) has issued a request for proposals for an engineering firm to begin a scoping and preliminary review process. The work is part of a $5 million Planning and Environmental Linkage study (PEL), which includes identifying priority locations and conducting environmental assessments and preliminary engineering. Funding for the PEL was committed as part of the states 2018-2019 budget. This is great news for this critical project, said Maureen Halahan, President and CEO of the Orange County Partnership and co-chair of 17-Forward-86, a coalition of stakeholders that has been advocating for creating a third lane between Harriman in Orange County and Exit 103 in Monticello, Sullivan County. Its a major victory for our coalition and for all the residents of our region. Were proud to be part of this vital effort to expand Route 17 and improve our quality of life and the economic well-being of the Hudson Valley and Sullivan Catskills. 17-Forward-86 has been engaging state legislators to secure funding in the DOTs multi-year capital plan to enable the implementation of recommendations contained in a 2013 capacity study issued by NYSDOT. The 2013 study, prompted by U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, found that existing congestion and delays on Route 17 will worsen over time and that development in the region necessitates an additional lane/added capacity. Coalition members have also been meeting directly with the DOT. The DOTs next capital plan is expected to begin in April 2020 and will be funded by state and federal funds. This project will have a significant impact on our workforce by creating over 3,000 construction jobs in our area, said Michael Makarski, of the Engineers Labor-Employer Cooperative, Local 825. And that, in turn, will directly benefit our communities, businesses and overall economy. The 2019 Route 17 Transportation Scoping/PEL Study will use a scoping/PEL process to develop, evaluate and select transportation alternatives to address identified needs in the study area. The study will be completed in a manner in accordance with the FHWA PEL process. The PEL study will lay the technical groundwork to make this project a reality, said coalition co-chair Marc Baez, President and CEO of the Sullivan County Partnership for Economic Development. We are so pleased to see the DOT moving forward to continue efforts from the previous study and deliver the resources to go forward. This sets the stage for inclusion of Route 17 capacity enhancements in the upcoming capital program. 17-Forward-86 launched its campaign on March 6 at a press conference in Albany. The coalition is seeking $500 million from New York state to add a third lane north and south on Route 17 to enable future designation as Interstate 86 in the region. As the volume of traffic on the corridor continues to increase, the mobility issues negatively affect everything from economic development and tourism, to public safety, the environment and population growth. This is not just about businesses wanting to expand, said Nancy Proyect, President of the Orange County Citizens Foundation. This is about smart growth for our communities and will benefit all of our residents. A livestream of the launch press conference can be viewed here: https://bit.ly/2EGwxWk. About the Proposed Expansion of Route 17: The 2013 Route 17 Transportation Corridor Study noted that the existing congestion and delays on Route 17 will worsen over the near- and long-term, and that the volume of development along the corridor necessitates an additional lane/added capacity. Projections by the Cornell Program of Applied Demographics indicate that, by 2020, Sullivan Countys population will grow to more than 79,000 and Orange Countys to more than 400,000, further increasing traffic along the corridor. The continued growth of tourism is also steadily increasing traffic. Sullivan County is expected to receive 8 million visitors in 2019. Currently, the population climbs to 350,000 during the summer months and to an additional 50,000 on any given weekend. About 17-Forward-86: 17-Forward-86 was established in August 2018 by a dedicated group of advocates who support the widening of Route 17. The coalition comprises more than 200 members of economic development groups, construction trades, tourism groups and energy companies who share a common vision for expanding the capacity of Route 17 to strengthen the economic well-being of the Hudson Valley and Sullivan Catskills. To learn more, visit http://www.17Forward86.org. Alexander Cusmano, a physician currently residing in Michigan with his wife and three inquisitive boys, has completed his book Ophelia and the Onerous Onychomycosis: a fun and educational story for young children. Alexander writes, It was another cold day in Michigan, and Ophelia was just setting up for a fun tea party when it happened. Something strange was on her nail! Will her nail fall off? Will it look ugly forever? Will she need to be quarantined from other people? An anxious trip to the doctors office reveals what afflicts Ophelia. Read on to find out what ails Ophelia and what happens to her! Published by New York City-based Page Publishing, Alexander Cusmanos book is a delightful addition to any home- or school-based childrens library. Readers who wish to experience this engaging work can purchase Ophelia and the Onerous Onychomycosis at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes store, Amazon, Google Play, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708. About Page Publishing: Page Publishing is a traditional New York-based, full-service publishing house that handles all the intricacies involved in publishing its authors books, including distribution in the worlds largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing knows that authors need to be free to create - not overwhelmed with logistics like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes, and the like. Its roster of accomplished authors and publishing professionals allows writers to leave behind these complex and time-consuming issues to focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at http://www.pagepublishing.com. Altman Vilandrie & Company has promoted to director Charles Cieutat, an expert in Telecom/IT Altman Vilandrie & Company, a leading strategy consulting firm focused on the communications, media, and related technology sectors, has promoted Charles Cieutat and Swope Fleming to director. Cieutat and Fleming advise the firms Telecommunications, Media, and Technology sector and investor clients on a range of business strategy issues. Charles and Swope have earned their promotions by making significant contributions to the success of our clients and growth of our firm, said Altman Vilandrie & Company COO Steve Conway. Swopes background in engineering and Charles dual experience in Telecom/IT provide them with unique perspectives to address the core business challenges of our TMT clients. Cieutat, who is based in Altman Vilandrie & Companys San Francisco office, has more than 15 years of experience in the Telecom and IT industries, advising on growth strategy, go-to-market planning, business case development, and M&A for communication service providers, Internet infrastructure providers, equipment manufacturers, software/IT services vendors, and investors. His areas of expertise include wireline and wireless/IoT telecom services, telecom infrastructure (e.g., data centers, fiber, subsea fiber, towers), cloud and IT services, and enterprise software. Prior to Altman Vilandrie & Company, Cieutat worked in corporate IT in France, including as a SAP System Manager at Renault/Nissan and as a Telecom Technical Sales Engineer at Orange, at which he designed complex corporate networks. Cieutat holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science with High Distinction from Telecom SudParis, France and a M.S. in Telecom Engineering with High Distinction from Monash University, Australia. He also earned an M.B.A. from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Fleming, who is based in the firms Boston office, has extensive experience in Enterprise services and related infrastructure. Fleming has advised numerous strategic operators on sales channel strategy, product strategy, and organic market expansion strategies. In addition, he has advised investors on numerous transactions, including regional and international fiber providers, data centers, wireless infrastructure, Enterprise software, value added resellers, and subsea cable assets. Prior to his work with Altman Vilandrie & Company, Fleming amassed 9 years of experience as an engineer in semiconductors, assisting multiple design teams at Sun Microsystems, Conexant, Freescale, SigmaTel and Oasis Semiconductor. Fleming holds a M.S. in Engineering and Management from MIT Sloan and graduated cum laude from Princeton University with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Architecture. About Altman Vilandrie & Company Altman Vilandrie & Company is a strategy consulting group that focuses on the telecom, media, technology and investor sectors. The companys consultants are experienced in strategy, marketing, finance, M&A, technology, regulatory and operations disciplines. Based in Boston, with offices in New York City and San Francisco, Altman Vilandrie & Company enables clients to seize new opportunities, navigate mounting challenges, improve business performance and increase investor value within complex and converging industries. Ninety percent of the boutique firms operator clients are large- to mid-cap companies including service providers, technology and software developers and media companies. Altman Vilandrie & Companys financial clients include many of the largest and most prominent investors in the telecom, media and technology markets. French English MONTREAL, May 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The President and Chief Executive Officer of TC Transcontinental (TSX: TCL.A TCL.B), Mr. Francois Olivier, will present today the Corporations brief in the context of public consultations by the Montreal Metropolitan Community (MMC) on its Draft Amendment to the 2015-2020 Residual Materials Management Plan (RMMP). It will propose the creation of a circular economy for plastic in Quebec in order to ensure that plastic is effectively managed from sourcing to end-of-life. TC Transcontinental has been an important player in the creation of a circular economy for paper in Canada, stated Mr. Francois Olivier, President and Chief Executive Officer of TC Transcontinental. In Quebec, sawmill residues are recovered in order to manufacture newsprint inserts and flyers with a recovery rate of 86%. As a leader in flexible packaging in North America, we have the resources, the knowledge, the financial capacity and the desire to play a similar role to ensure the transition towards a circular economy for plastic in Quebec. This effort will benefit from a collaborative approach involving all stakeholders, including private companies and industry groups as well as public administrations, sorting facilities, legislators and regulatory authorities, academics and experts, environmental organizations, citizens and citizen groups. Today, we are calling on all of them in order to realize this major and forward-looking project for Quebec. In this context, TC Transcontinental is announcing a first step to a circular economy for plastic in Quebec. Starting this fall, the Publisac, currently made from virgin and recyclable plastic, will be replaced by a bag that reuses 100% residual plastic. This new bag will still be 100% recyclable. Tests will take place over the summer including for bag formats that use less plastic and for paper jacket alternatives. TC Transcontinental intends to reuse residual plastic in its flexible packaging production and for the Publisac. All plastic packaging should be recovered and recycled. The MMC, and the City of Montreal as the party responsible for sorting facilities on its territory, have an important role to play in this regard. In March, TC Transcontinental became the first Canadian-based manufacturer to sign the Ellen MacArthur Foundations New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, a large-scale initiative. This foundation unites organizations worldwide and TC Transcontinental invites the MMC and its members to consider joining it. TC Transcontinental thus pledged, by 2025, for 100% of its plastic packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable, among other things. Reduction at source is an important element of residual materials management. That said, TC Transcontinental believes that the concept of reduction should be considered in its broader sense, namely reducing the environmental footprint of a business activity, a product or a service during its entire life cycle. In this sense, judicious use of plastic contributes, for example, to preserving food and reducing waste since about 30% of food produced in the world for human consumption gets lost or wasted1. Due to its light weight and low volume, flexible packaging uses less fossil energy, reduces greenhouse gas emissions and uses less water than other alternatives. TC Transcontinental invests on average $15 million per year in R&D for flexible packaging and recently won two awards for its eco-responsible solutions, notably in January 2019, for the design of a 100% recyclable pouch, in collaboration with U.S. tea producer Harney & Sons; and, in 2018, for producing a peanut bag made from certified compostable materials in order to support arenas and stadiums green initiatives. TC Transcontinentals brief summary will be available at www.tc.tc following Mr. Francois Oliviers presentation to the MMC, which will take place around 3:00 p.m. today. About TC Transcontinental TC Transcontinental is a leader in flexible packaging in North America, and Canadas largest printer. The Corporation is also a Canadian leader in its specialty media segments. For over 40 years, TC Transcontinental's mission has been to create products and services that allow businesses to attract, reach and retain their target customers. Respect, teamwork, performance and innovation are the strong values held by the Corporation and its employees. TC Transcontinental's commitment to its stakeholders is to pursue its business activities in a responsible manner. Transcontinental Inc. (TSX: TCL.A TCL.B), known as TC Transcontinental, has over 9,000 employees, the majority of which are based in Canada, the United States and Latin America. TC Transcontinental had revenues of more than C$2.6 billion for the fiscal year ended October 28, 2018. For more information, visit TC Transcontinental's website at www.tc.tc . For information: Media Nathalie St-Jean Senior Advisor, Corporate Communications TC Transcontinental Telephone: 514-954-3581 nathalie.st-jean@tc.tc Financial Community Mathieu Hebert Corporate Treasurer TC Transcontinental Telephone: 514 954-4029 mathieu.hebert@tc.tc American IRA CEO, Jim Hitt So many investors are focused on getting another 1% here or eliminating fees there, but what they fail to realize is just how powerful it is when you pay your taxes upfront The idea of a tax-free future might sound like a pie-in-the-sky notion to some. But a recent post at American IRA, a Self-Directed IRA administration firm based in North Carolina, revealed how retirement investors can maximize the potential for tax-free retirement benefits by using whats known as a Self-Directed Roth IRA. Within the confines of a Self-Directed Roth IRA, an investor uses after-tax money to invest. This money then grows tax-free for the duration of the investments. After a certain point, at which the investor matures to retirement age, they can then take out money from these retirement accounts without paying additional tax on the distributions. This creates what American IRA argues amounts to a largely tax-free future. The post, at AmericanIRA.com, points to an example of a 25-year-old saver who starts adding $60,000 per year to a Self-Directed Roth IRA. If this individual were to continue saving this way until the age of 68, a modest 6 percent annual rate of return would generate this individual some $1.1 million dollarswhich are then tax-free as available in retirement. When someone uses the tax laws properly to fund their retirement, they have automatic returns, points out Jim Hitt, CEO of American IRA. So many investors are focused on getting another 1% here or eliminating fees there, but what they fail to realize is just how powerful it is when you pay your taxes upfront. A Self-Directed Roth IRA allows investors to do that, which in turn gives them a far greater return than they might have imagined. The post also went through a list of rules for the Self-Directed IRA, as well as rules for those who use a Self-Directed Roth IRA as part of a jointly-filed tax return. These considerations should play a big part of retirement investing for someone with a Roth IRA, the post argues. For more information on the Self-Directed Roth IRA or to read the post, visit http://www.AmericanIRA.com or call 866-7500-IRA. "About: American IRA, LLC was established in 2004 by Jim Hitt, CEO in Asheville, NC. The mission of American IRA is to provide the highest level of customer service in the self-directed retirement industry. Jim Hitt and his team have grown the company to over $400 million in assets under administration by educating the public that their Self-Directed IRA account can invest in a variety of assets such as real estate, private lending, limited liability companies, precious metals and much more. As a Self-Directed IRA administrator, they are a neutral third party. They do not make any recommendations to any person or entity associated with investments of any type (including financial representatives, investment promoters or companies, or employees, agents or representatives associated with these firms). They are not responsible for and are not bound by any statements, representations, warranties or agreements made by any such person or entity and do not provide any recommendation on the quality profitability or reputability of any investment, individual or company. The term "they" refers to American IRA, located in Asheville and Charlotte, NC." The Athena Institute announces version 5.4 of its acclaimed whole-building life cycle assessment (LCA) software tool. The Athena Impact Estimator for Buildings has been providing sustainable designers with the power of LCA in a simple package since 2002. The Athena tool delivers reliable results with its best-in-class methods and the highest quality background data available, with true regionalization for North America and true cradle-to-grave assessments. As always, the software quickly models any building type at any design stage. It makes side-by-side comparisons easy. Thousands of users find it indispensable for helping them reduce the environmental impact of buildings, earn the LCA credit in LEED, or report embodied carbon. And its free. Whats in the latest release: New! Client-ready full project report New! Assembly algorithms for CLT walls, floors, and roofs New! Bulk import all CRMCA EPD concrete mixes into a product library New! Export all results to Microsoft Excel Updated regional N. America electricity profiles Updated Canadian wood product profiles Updated CMU wall take-offs for various regional and seismic locations Updated cradle-to-grave Sika Sarnafil roofing product profiles Find the software, transparency documents and video tutorials at https://calculatelca.com/ Thank you to our clients and members for making this update possible: American Institute of Steel Construction, American Iron and Steel Institute, Canadian Concrete Masonry Producers Association, Canadian Precast Prestressed Concrete Institute, Canadian Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Canadian Wood Council, Cement Association of Canada, Cornerstone Architecture, Forest Products Association of Canada, Forestry Innovation Investment, FPInnovations, Metal Building Manufacturers Association, Morrison Hershfield, Natural Resources Canada, and Sika Sarnafil. About the Athena Institute The Athena Sustainable Materials Institute is a non-profit research group that advocates for environmental performance measurement and accountability in the built environment. We are the North American leader in LCA for construction and its materials and have been providing ground-breaking research and free resources since 1997. Matt and Ross Duffer 07, the Chapman University alumni who created the Netflix hit Stranger Things, will deliver this years commencement speech at Chapman. WHAT: Matt and Ross Duffer, the 2007 Chapman University alumni who created the Netflix hit Stranger Things, will deliver this years commencement speech at Chapman. The Duffers speech will kick off Commencement Weekend when the class of 2019 gathers for Closing Convocation, the all-University assembly where degrees are conferred and graduates participate in the ceremonial turning of the tassels. WHEN: Friday, May 17, 2019 at 7-9 p.m. PDT (Duffer Brothers from approximately 8:05 8:25 p.m. PDT) WHERE: Chapman University, Orange, Calif. WHO: Matt and Ross Duffer (07), award-winning creators of Stranger Things, with season 3 beginning on July 4, 2019 exclusively on Netflix. DETAILS: Although this is a sold out and ticketed event, photos and videos of the Duffer Brothers Commencement speech will be available upon request. Please contact Lara Wyss at lwyss@chapman.edu for more information. The ceremony will also be webcast live, which can be viewed through Chapman Universitys official Facebook page. The Duffers are 2007 graduates of Chapmans Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, where they collaborated on numerous projects, including the short horror film Eater. In 2017, they returned to campus to receive the Alumni Achievement Award at the annual Chapman Celebrates gala. As part of the visit, they also met with students and shared insights about their filmmaking journey in a panel discussion before an overflow crowd. About Chapman University Chapman University is Californias third largest private university and ranks fifth in the U.S. News & World Report listing of Best Regional Universities in the West. Chapman is categorized by the Carnegie Classification as an R2 high research activity institution and offers personalized education to more than 9,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Chapman strives for diversity and inclusion by recruiting and supporting students representing a variety of backgrounds, experiences, learning styles and unique talents. The campus has produced a Rhodes Scholar, been named a top producer of Fulbright Scholars and hosts a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the nations oldest and most prestigious honor society. Founded in 1861 and based in the City of Orange, California, Chapman also includes the Harry and Diane Rinker Health Science Campus, 21 miles south in the Irvine Spectrum, Orange Countys technology hub. In 2020, the university will open its 11th college, the Fowler School of Engineering in its newest facility, Keck Center for Science and Engineering. Red Herring Top 100 Bayshore has won more awards in recent history than any other solution provider in the ICS security space. Red Herring today announced the winners of its Top 100 North America 2019 event, recognizing the continents most exciting and innovative private technology companies. The winners, celebrated at a special awards ceremony at the Westin Pasadena hotel, have been chosen from thousands of entrants, whittled down to hundreds making the trip to California. The ceremony, led by Red Herring chairman Alex Vieux, was preceded by two days of keynote speeches, discussions and finalist presentations. Companies were judged by industry experts, insiders and journalists on a wide variety of criteria including financial performance, innovation, business strategy, and market penetration. Winners ran the gamut of verticals, from FinTech and Marketing to Security, IoT, and many more industries. 2019s crop of Top 100 winners has been among our most intriguing yet, said Vieux. North America has led the way in tech for so many years, and to see such unique, pioneering entrepreneurs and companies here in California, which is in many ways the heartland of the industry, has been a thrilling experience. What has excited me most is to see so many people forging niches in high-tech and cutting edge sectors, added Vieux. Some of the technical wizardry and first-rate business models showcased here at the conference has been fantastic to learn about. We believe Bayshore embodies the drive, skill and passion on which tech thrives. Bayshore Networks should be proud of its achievement - the competition was incredibly strong. "Bayshore is tremendously pleased to see its recent efforts to refocus its product portfolio and bring four new products to market rewarded by the Red Herring Top 100 Award," said Kevin Senator, President and CEO. "From our SaaS OT remote access solution, Beacon; to Lighthouse, our flagship ICS visibility, asset management, and policy-enforcing protection system; to SCADAFuse, our turnkey protection appliance for less complex industrial network environments, Bayshore offers a comprehensive, modular strategy which enables customers to start with whichever use case is most pressing, and expand their deployments over time while preserving uniform policies and centralized management. Our unidirectional software gateway product, Compass, will be coming later this summer, to add another solution to the platform." In addition to the Red Herring award, Bayshore has also enjoyed recognition from two other major awards in recent weeks. The first, Network World's Top 10 IoT Security Startups to Watch, was also the result of a competitive and unpaid evaluation process driven by Jeff Vance, owner of Startup50 and contributor to Network World, Forbes.com, CIO, Wired, eWeek, and many others. Information about Bayshore's win can be found here: https://www.networkworld.com/article/3391413/10-hot-iot-security-startups-to-watch.html Finally, Bayshore was also selected as a Frost & Sullivan 2018 North America Customer Value Leadership Award for its Lighthouse product and related modular ICS strategy. Frost & Sullivan reviewed Bayshore's plans and corporate fundamentals in detail and selected the company as an award winner earlier this year. The material about this award may be found here: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bayshore-networks-applauded-by-frost--sullivan-for-its-comprehensive-cyber-security-platform-lighthouse-300848156.html "The demand for real problem-solving tools in the industrial network security space is growing tremendously," said Senator. "Bayshore has traditionally focused on the most sophisticated, highest end of the market, but we are confident that the same core engine in use for the past 6 years in some of the world's leading manufacturing and infrastructure environments is now ready for use in mainstream products with more of a plug-and-play approach." Bayshore invites interested parties, including potential resellers and distributors, to contact the company to discuss the portfolio in greater detail. About Bayshore Networks Bayshore Networks is the leading provider of industrial cyber protection. The Company's award-winning technology unlocks the power of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), providing enterprises with visibility into their Operational Technology infrastructure while safely and securely protecting ICS systems, industrial applications, networks, machines, and workers from cyber threats. For more information, visit https://www.bayshorenetworks.com. Northern Virginia Employee Benefits Brokerage Business Benefits Group (BBG), an employee benefits brokerage, announces its partnership with TouchCare, a healthcare concierge service dedicated to providing employees with personalized assistance and care. BBG has established this partnership with TouchCare to provide healthcare concierge to staff and clients of the firm. BBG have acquired services from TouchCare to provide its employees with healthcare concierge services. The partnership allows employees of the brokerage to receive concierge services for healthcare inquiries, maternity, prescription drug management, and cancer treatment. TouchCare provides employees at BBG with consultations to help them navigate their healthcare packages. Additionally, BBG can offer the services provided by TouchCare to its clients who acquire employee benefit packages or employee benefit consulting services. TouchCare is a healthcare concierge service that provides members with a personal health assistant. The company partners with the businesss existing HR department to provide open enrollment support and guidance. TouchCare offers 15-minute consultations with members, where they are able to provide insight on which individual healthcare plan would benefit them the most. Their healthcare assistants help members save money while making the best decision possible regarding healthcare plans. Furthermore, TouchCare assists members with navigation of their healthcare benefits package, including medical, dental, and vision. TouchCare conducts webinars for clients every Wednesday throughout the year, primarily focusing on employee wellness in and out of the workplace. Speak to the Business Benefits Group for more information about their partnership and to receive an employee benefits consultation for your company. BBG can be contacted online at https://www.bbgbroker.com/ or toll-free by phone at (844) 201-3612. The brokerage is headquartered at 4069 Chain Bridge Road, Top Floor, Fairfax, VA 22030. You Can Overcome: an immensely inspiring account of ones spiritual encounter with the Father in her life full of several trying events. You Can Overcome is the creation of published author Brenda Lee Pruitt, an industrial worker for Tyson Foods Inc. in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, where she currently resides. She has four children: Roosevelt Love, Bob Love, Jerry Love, and Cheria Love-Jackson, and eight grandchildren. She enjoys sewing, writing, reading her Bible, church, and traveling. Pruitt shares, You can overcome lifes obstacles and hurt even when they occurred as a child or as an adult. You may feel like all your life, there has been hurt that you just cannot get over, but with JESUS, you can overcome. The book of James 1:2021 states, Anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Get rid of all impurity and every expression of wickedness, and with a gentle spirit, welcome the Word planted in you that can save your souls. As a little girl, I was mentally, verbally, and physically abused. I wondered why I did not have any friends. I became very angry about the way I was treated. I cried almost every day and developed a feeling of bitterness and hatred. I asked my grandmother why I dont have friends and she told me, You have a friend named Jesus. My grandmother taught me about Jesus as a child and how bad he was treated even as a perfect man. She told me, Jesus was abused in every way, beaten, and they crucified him for no reason. If Jesus who was perfect was treated wrong, you will also be treated wrong. When she told me that, my cries of hurt became laughter. We can be of help to one another by showing love. When others do or say things to hurt others, its because they are hurting themselves. First Corinthians 4:89 tells us we are pressed on every side but not crushed, perplexed but not in despair, persecuted but not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed. We must forgive so Jesus can forgive us. We must pray for each other even those who do wrong toward us. The Lord says, No weapon formed against us shall prosper. We are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus! You have the victory! You can overcome! Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Brenda Lee Pruitts new book is a faith-lifting manuscript that will send the readers the message that God lives within, He is love and security. He is the one and only strength that can get them through whatever trials life rains down upon. View a synopsis of You Can Overcome on YouTube. Consumers can purchase You Can Overcome at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or inquiries about You Can Overcome, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919. Central Research, Inc. (CRI) announces the addition of Gregory (Greg) McCaffrey as Vice President of Business Development. An experienced executive with a record for business development, innovation and thought leadership, Greg has held senior leadership roles with several prominent Big Four, Fortune 500, and successful small businesses and start-ups. Greg brings nearly 30 years of management consulting experience, delivery, and business development in both the public and private sectors, said Scott Dillard, President and CEO of Central Research, Inc. His proven track record and understanding of public sector communities make him a natural fit for the company as we embark on a new chapter of growth for our company. With headquarters in Lowell, Arkansas, and a program office located in the Washington, D.C. Metro area, CRI has quickly grown from a service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) to a large business with more than 700 employees and projected federal contracting revenue of $100 million in 2019 a key milestone in the federal contractor community. As a prime contractor supporting such agencies as the U.S. Department of Education and Department of Homeland Security, CRI has developed a reputation in the ability to support public sector clients with national program requirements. In his new role, Greg will be responsible for developing, leading and executing the companys federal business development plan. This includes providing increased value and support to existing federal client base, expanding into new markets and increasing the companys presence in the federal community. About Central Research Inc. Central Research, Inc. (CRI) provides management and financial service solutions to federal, state and commercial sectors, including records and document management, call center and debt collection, and improper payments. We are committed to providing excellence with every service and solution. Learn more at central-research.com. Cybereason's Chief Operating Officer Emmy Linder Cybereason, creators of the leading Cyber Defense Platform, today announced that Chief Operating Officer Emmy Linder will be one of the featured speakers during the NEIBCs Third Annual Event 'Israeli Women as Business Leaders,' Monday, May 20, 6:30-8:30 pm, at INFINIDAT, 500 Totten Pond Road, Waltham, MA. Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Karen Polito will deliver the keynote address. What: The event will focus on the unique experiences of successful Israeli women across male-dominated industries and panelists will share their perspective on ways to build a more inclusive work environment enabling women to thrive. Agenda: 6:00 pm- Networking 6:30 pm- Dan Trajman, NEIBC President and CEO 6:35 pm- Keynote Address: Karen Polito, Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor 6:55 pm- Panel Discussion Panelists: Emmy Linder, Chief Operating Officer, Cybereason Michal Kimeldorfer, VP Human Resources, Teradyne Sharon Shacham, Founder, Karyopharm Therapeutics Inc. Michal Silverberg, Managing Director, Novartis Venture Fund Yana Shechterman, Organizational and Leadership consultant (Moderator) About Emmy Linder Emmy has more than a decade of senior management experience, including five years in operating product and project management roles in technology companies. Prior to joining Cybereason, she worked for The Boston Consulting Group, where she focused on operational excellence and organizational design programs. Emmy began her career in the Israeli Defense Forces Unit 8200 where she commanded a 24/7 intelligence team. About Cybereason Cybereason, creators of the leading Cyber Defense Platform, gives the advantage back to the defender through a completely new approach to cybersecurity. Cybereason offers endpoint detection and response (EDR), next-generation antivirus (NGAV), and active monitoring services, powered by its cross-machine correlation engine. The Cybereason suite of products provides unmatched visibility, increases analyst efficiency and effectiveness, and reduces security risk. Cybereason is privately held, has raised $189 million from top-tier VCs, and is headquartered in Boston, with offices in London, Sydney, Tel Aviv and Tokyo. Learn more: https://www.cybereason.com/ Follow us: Blog | Twitter | Facebook Media Contact: Bill Keeler Director, Public Relations Cybereason bill.keeler(at)cybereason.com (929) 259-3261 Comparing online quotes benefits both the drivers and the insurance companies , said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. Compare-autoinsurance.org has launched a new blog post that explains the importance of price comparison for the car insurance market. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.org/why-is-price-comparison-so-important-for-car-insurance-market/ In a highly competitive car insurance market, the customers are provided with access to all the useful information they need. This benefit both the drivers and the insurance companies. Price comparison is important for the following reasons: Price comparison ensures a safe economic climate. In a developed and correct economy, maximum transparency is ensured. Online quotes will help drivers have a better view of the prices provided by insurance companies. For this reason, all insurance companies will provide their customers with fair prices. Companies that exaggerate insurance prices will be greatly penalized by drivers that will simply go to another insurer. Price comparison offers equal chances for both customers and insurance companies. Some drivers would have a hard time finding an insurance deal without the help of online quotes. For example, drivers that are considered high-risk like teen drivers, DUI convicted drivers and senior drivers. These types of drivers can compare online quotes that are offered by non-standard carriers in order to get a better insurance deal. Price comparison can also help drivers to avoid scams. Unfortunately, many insurance companies that scam their customers still exist. Usually, they will try to lure customers by offering really low insurance prices for good coverage plans, but in reality, the coverage is very limited. For additional info, money-saving tips and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.org/ Compare-autoinsurance.org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. AR 3D Models powered by Emcore3D Emcore3D will be a catalyst to accelerate the development of richer and more immersive AR experiences on mobile apps, in an exciting market that is going to grow to more than US$198Billion in 2025. Things3D Ltd, a company that specialises in immersive experiences on mobile devices has today released Emcore3D - their native, lightweight and fast 3D engine software development kit ("SDK") to allow developers around the world to easily incorporate interactive 3D objects in their Augmented Reality (AR) apps and games on the world's largest AR platform - Apple iOS. The global AR market is witnessing a mass proliferation of supported devices with CPU power, camera capabilities and battery life needed to enable immersive and rich AR experiences driving the mass market adoption of ubiquitous apps such as Instagram, Snap, Facebook, and Pokemon-Go. This alongside the groundswell of support from industry leader Apple through ARKit which essentialy makes low-level object tracking available to all. Despite this progress, there is still a development barrier when it comes to integrating 3D models in most native apps as current off-the-shelf solutions require either the use of an external scripting language, are over-engineered or simply not fit for purpose. With the launch of Emcore3D, iOS app and games developers can easily integrate 3D objects into their applications with only a few lines of native code, allowing them to use their time on the creative aspects of the application rather than tackling the huge learning curve associated with 3D engine implementation. Emcore3D includes support for multi-media, machine learning and also model interaction and animation. There are over 20 million registered developers worldwide on Apple's iOS. Chris Byatte, Founder and Director of Things3D explains 'Emcore3D will be a catalyst to accelerate the development of richer and more immersive AR experiences on mobile apps, in an exciting market that is going to grow to more than US$198Billion in 2025.' He added 'Developers around the world will be empowered to create new immersive experiences as the pain of integrating with 3D objects is taken away through the use of Emcore3D'. Encore3D is available for download from today at https://www.emcore3D.com. ABOUT THINGS3D LTD. Things3D was founded by Chris Byatte and Joe Wee, who previously founded Chillingo ( later acquired by Electronic Arts ) who famously published Angry Birds and Cut the Rope on the mobile phone. Things3D is an immersive mobile technology company focused on mapping and augmented reality platforms based in the United Kingdom. Contact Information: Things3D Ltd Email: pr(at)emcore3d.com 2 catheters originally developed by Dr. Riyaz Bashir receive premarket clearance by FDA (Philadelphia, PA) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted premarket notification clearance for two catheters invented by Riyaz Bashir, MD, FACC, RVT, Professor of Medicine at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University (LKSOM) and Director of Vascular and Endovascular Medicine at Temple University Hospital, and Nicholas Green, Director of Research & Development at Thrombolex, Inc. Thrombolex is a company founded in partnership with Temple University to develop these catheter-based clot dissolving devices. This clearance now allows Thrombolex to commercialize the catheters. The Bashir Endovascular Catheter (BEC) is cleared for the controlled and selective infusion of fluids, including clot-dissolving medications, into the veins and arteries of the peripheral vasculature. The BEC is unique because it's the only catheter of its kind that, once advanced into the clot, can be expanded by the physician into six expandable mini-catheters to deliver medications in precise locations throughout the cross section of the clot. The Bashir N-X Endovascular Catheter (BEC N-X) is cleared for the controlled and selective infusion of fluids chosen by the physician into both the peripheral and pulmonary vasculature, which is comprised of the blood vessels of the lungs. Unlike the BEC, the BEC N-X is not expandable. "My inspiration for the BEC platform technology was to develop a device that I hoped would provide better treatment outcomes by rapid restoration of blood flow through the blood clot thereby enhancing the breakdown of the clot," said Dr. Bashir. "Acute Venous Thromboembolic (VTE) disease, which is marked by blood clots that start in a vein - often in the deep veins of the leg, groin or arm - and can break off and travel to the lungs causing a pulmonary embolism, has become a significant public health concern in the U.S. Approximately 900,000 patients have been diagnosed with VTE and it causes up to 100,000 deaths each year, according to the CDC." "Our dedicated team is proud to have received FDA clearance for these two unique catheter-directed thrombolysis products to be used in the treatment of patients suffering from acute VTE disorders," said Marvin Woodall, Chairman and CEO and co-founder of Thrombolex. Thrombolex has also received FDA approval to begin a multicenter early feasibility study in the clinical setting to evaluate the safety and feasibility of the Bashir Endovascular Catheter in the treatment of acute pulmonary embolism. ### Editor's Note: Dr. Bashir is a co-founder and has equity interest in Thrombolex, Inc. a medical device company developing interventional catheter-based therapies for the rapid and effective treatment of acute venous thromboembolic disorders. Temple University also holds a financial interest in Thrombolex, Inc., pursuant to the license granted to Thrombolex for the University's interest in the patent filed for the experimental catheter device developed by Dr. Bashir and Nicholas Green. About Temple Health Temple University Health System (TUHS) is a $2.1 billion academic health system dedicated to providing access to quality patient care and supporting excellence in medical education and research. The Health System consists of Temple University Hospital (TUH), ranked among the "Best Hospitals" in the region by U.S. News & World Report; TUH-Episcopal Campus; TUH-Northeastern Campus; Fox Chase Cancer Center, an NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center; Jeanes Hospital, a community-based hospital offering medical, surgical and emergency services; Temple Transport Team, a ground and air-ambulance company; and Temple Physicians, Inc., a network of community-based specialty and primary-care physician practices. TUHS is affiliated with the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, and Temple University Physicians, which is Temple Health's physician practice plan comprised of more than 500 full-time and part-time academic physicians in 20 clinical departments. The Lewis Katz School of Medicine (LKSOM), established in 1901, is one of the nation's leading medical schools. Each year, the School of Medicine educates more than 800 medical students and approximately 240 graduate students. Based on its level of funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Katz School of Medicine is the second-highest ranked medical school in Philadelphia and the third-highest in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. According to U.S. News & World Report, LKSOM is among the top 10 most applied-to medical schools in the nation. Temple Health refers to the health, education and research activities carried out by the affiliates of Temple University Health System (TUHS) and by the Katz School of Medicine. TUHS neither provides nor controls the provision of health care. All health care is provided by its member organizations or independent health care providers affiliated with TUHS member organizations. Each TUHS member organization is owned and operated pursuant to its governing documents. It is the policy of Temple University Hospital, Inc. that there shall be no exclusion from, or participation in, and no one denied the benefits of, the delivery of quality medical care on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity/expression, disability, age, ancestry, color, national origin, physical ability, level of education, or source of payment. About Thrombolex, Inc. Founded in 2016, Thrombolex, Inc. is engaged in the design, development, manufacture and distribution of innovative endovascular catheters used in interventional procedures, particularly in catheter-directed thrombolysis of large thrombus in patients affected by acute VTE disorders. Our vision is to orchestrate the medical profession's identified unmet needs with our unique product development capabilities. Our goal is to create a continuous stream of new products based on the original BASHIR platform technology, which we hope will improve the treatment outcomes for patients suffering from acute VTE. Please visit http://www. thrombolex. com to learn more about the organization. This story has been published on: 2019-05-17. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. U.S. President Donald Trump speaks regarding immigration reform at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, on May 16, 2019. Donald Trump unveiled a plan on Thursday to reform the nation's immigration system, intended to favor high-skilled immigrants and restrict family-based migration. (Xinhua/Ting Shen) WASHINGTON, May 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled a plan on Thursday to reform the nation's immigration system, intended to favor high-skilled immigrants and restrict family-based migration. Speaking at the White House, Trump said that his plan aims to create a "fair, modern and lawful system of immigration for the United States." "The biggest change we make is to increase the proportion of highly skilled immigration from 12 percent to 57 percent, and we'd like to even see if we can go higher," Trump said. "This will bring us in line with other countries and make us globally competitive." "We cherish the open door that we want to create for our country. But a big proportion of those immigrants must come in through merit and skill," said the president, noting that immigrants, under the plan, will also be "required to learn English and to pass a civics exam prior to admission." According to the White House, the proposal would tighten family-based migration to focus on allowing nuclear families who migrate to the United States, rather than extended family members. Currently, about two-thirds of the 1.1 million people allowed to migrate to the nation each year are given green cards granting permanent residency because of family ties. Trump's plan, which does not add protections to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival recipients, is expected to draw little support from Democrats who have railed against the administration's lack of support for so-called "Dreamers," who were brought to the United States as children by undocumented parents. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slammed the proposal as "condescending," signaling that Democrats would not support legislation that does not include a pathway to citizenship. "They say family is without merit -- are they saying most of the people that come to the United States in the history of our country are without merit, because they don't have an engineering degree," Pelosi asked at her weekly press conference on Thursday. The speaker also told reporters that Democrats have yet to receive a formal briefing on the administration's plan. The effort, championed by Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, also focuses on beefing up border security. Trump has claimed that the nation is being overrun by migrants and asylum seekers and sought to build a wall along the southern border with Mexico by declaring a national emergency so as to bypass Congress and unlock billions of U.S. dollars in funding. The president traveled to New York City for a private fundraiser Thursday afternoon. CHICAGO, May 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wolters Kluwers Enablon, a global leader in EHS, Risk and Sustainability Management software, today announced that Enablon AI for Safe Operations was named a 2019 SIIA CODiE Awards finalist in the Best Artificial Intelligence Enabled Solution category. Finalists represent the best products, technologies and services in software, information and business technology. The SIIA CODiE Awards are the premier awards for the software and information industries and have been recognizing product excellence for over 30 years. The awards recognize 76 categories that are organized by industry focus of education technology and business technology. The Enablon AI for Safe Operations software solution empowers organizations to manage their global safety programs through mobile event and observation reporting, incident management, investigation and root cause analysis, action planning and risk assessment. To unlock hidden insights from safety data and put the right preventative actions in place, Enablon Safe Operations is powered by the artificial intelligence capabilities of Enablon Juno and Enablon Pulse. Enablon Pulse, the industrys first out-of-the-box predictive analytics application, constantly calculates the risk, or the potential severity and likelihood of an event occurring at a specific site, based on event and observation data collected. Its ability to alert a site manager when a risk level changes at any site in real time is key to preventing incidents and reducing risk. Enablon Juno, a context-aware assistant, closes the loop by suggesting specific actions to users based on Natural Language Processing (NLP) technology. This allows EHS managers to leverage collective intelligence at every level of the organization, and mitigate the risk of incidents observed, while spreading best practices across their operations. Most innovative The 2019 CODiE Award finalists are some of the most innovative, high-impact products in the market. We are thrilled to place a spotlight on these innovations and the power they have to transform the future of how we do business, said Jeff Joseph, President of SIIA. As a global leader in EHS, Risk and Sustainability Management software, our mission has always been to help make organizations more efficient, resilient and sustainable through technology innovation, said Taylor Allis, Vice President of Product and Marketing, Enablon. The opportunities technology offers today, and specifically Artificial Intelligence, are game changing to our customers. AI allows them to go from managing risk and safe operations to predicting and preventing accidents from happening in the first place. We are honored to be recognized by SIIA for our innovation and are committed to continuing innovating to make the world a better and safer place. The SIIA CODiE Awards are the industry's only peer-recognized awards program. Business technology leaders including senior executives, analysts, media, consultants and investors evaluate assigned products during the first-round review which determines the finalists. SIIA members then vote on the finalist products and the scores from both rounds are tabulated to select the winners. Winners will be announced during the Business Technology & Company CODiE Award Winner Announcement Party immediately following TechConText , June 12 in San Francisco. In 2018, Enablon was named a winner by SIIA and received the CODiE Award for Best Compliance Solution. About the SIIA CODiE Awards The SIIA CODiE Awards is the only peer-reviewed program to showcase business and education technologys finest products and services. Since 1986, thousands of products, services and solutions have been recognized for achieving excellence. For more information, visit siia.net/CODiE . About Wolters Kluwer Wolters Kluwer (WKL) 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 18,600 people worldwide. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands. Wolters Kluwer shares are listed on Euronext Amsterdam (WKL) and are included in the AEX and Euronext 100 indices. Wolters Kluwer has a sponsored Level 1 American Depositary Receipt (ADR) program. The ADRs are traded on the over-the-counter market in the U.S. (WTKWY). Pretrial reform is a crucial issue facing our judicial system, impacting both social justice and national economic issues, said Furqan Nazeeri, partner, ExtensionEngine. ExtensionEngine, a leading provider of custom learning experiences, today announced it is pleased to be chosen to support Advancing Pretrial Policy and Research (APPR), a new initiative dedicated to achieving fair, just, effective pretrial practices, every day, throughout the nation. APPR, led by the Center for Effective Public Policy (CEPP), will offer assistance to jurisdictions across the country to examine their pretrial systems and identify improvements that prioritize public safety, equity, and harm reduction. This project is part of the newly formed National Partnership for Pretrial Justice, a grant-funded community initiative launched by Arnold Ventures. Pretrial reform is a crucial issue facing our judicial system, impacting both social justice and national economic issues, said Furqan Nazeeri, partner, ExtensionEngine. We are delighted to be working with CEPP on this important initiative and support its efforts to advance pretrial improvements. APPR is an initiative developed to expand learning and research related to evidence-based pretrial justice, including use of the Public Safety Assessment (PSA). The PSA is a research-based risk assessment that provides judges additional information to inform their judicial decision-making. ExtensionEngine is working with CEPP to design and build the online portion of the initiative that will use a technology solution to provide technical assistance to jurisdictions across the United States to improve their pretrial systems, including fidelity in implementing the PSA. About ExtensionEngine ExtensionEngine develops high-end custom learning experiences, delivering impactful, pedagogy-driven online and blended learning for universities, corporations, and nonprofit organizations. The company takes a collaborative, unbundled, fee-for-service approach to strategy, instructional design, platform development, content development, and creative and marketing services. A privately held company based in Cambridge, MA, ExtensionEngine has launched over 70 online programs for more than 40 organizations. To learn more, visit http://www.extensionengine.com. Winners of the Solar in Your Community Challenge, a $5 million competition launched in 2016 as a way to improve energy affordability and expand solar access to low-and-moderate-income (LMI) households, were announced by the Department of Energy (DOE) this week. A project led by the housing authority of the City and County of Denver, CO took the grand prize of $500,000. In total, the winning teams proposed 25.7 megawatts of solar energy projects across the country by 2020, benefiting more than 1,200 households and 18 nonprofit organizations through significant energy cost savings and community-level solar skill building. Bringing the next generation of energy technology to all Americans requires not just dollars but innovation and creativity, said Marc Ott, executive director of ICMA, the Challenges prize administrator. The Solar in Your Community Challenge meets this need through the power of local ideas and is yet another successful example of whats possible through local and Federal cooperation. The winners were chosen from among 170 teams across 40 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Guam. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, which evaluated all the teams in the competition, released a report detailing innovations tested by the program. The report is sure to inspire other communities and nonprofits looking to expand solar access to underrepresented markets, said Monisha Shah, Senior Energy Analyst. The teams were able to demonstrate the technical, economic, and social feasibility of a wide variety of business models and approaches. The projects, if fully developed, would benefit nearly 50,000 households and generate 1,600 megawatts of solar, she added. In addition to the winners, SETO recognizes 12 teams for their innovations in program design and ability to reach new markets. Below is a breakdown of the winning projects: The CARE Project (Denver, CO) - Grand Prize, $500,000 prize The Community Affordable Renewable Energy Project (CARE) is led by the Denver Housing Authority (DHA) and serves multi-family housing properties. The team interconnected 2 megawatts of solar, which is projected to bring nearly $3 million in electricity bill savings. The team also provided hands-on training to 51 low-income individuals. The off-site ground-mounted arrays are owned and controlled by DHA, which also served as the anchor tenant, cutting out the profit margin usually required by third-party developers. Partners included GRID Alternatives, Ensight Energy, Excel Energy, and SolarTAC. Community Solar for Community Action (Backus, MN) - Runner-up, $200,000 prize The Community Solar for Community Action (CS4CA) team was led by the Rural Renewable Energy Alliance (RREAL). The CS4CA team leverages LIHEAP, the nationwide energy assistance program, across all utilities and regulatory landscapes to serve low-income customers. The team deployed and integrated systems into the tribal energy assistance program, enabling the program to serve more families than have ever been served in the past. Since the energy assistance program is only serving 16% of the eligible population nationally, there is a significant unmet need which can be partially addressed at the national scale through CS4CAs model. The team raised $1.9 million for energy assistance integrated demonstration projects funded by foundations, donations, fundraisers, and Solar in Your Community (SIYC) seed fund prizes. Additionally, funds, hardware, and time were donated. Going forward, the team will use the Pay for Success model, a rapidly growing financial enterprise intended to de-risk public sector innovation. Under this model, private social impact investors would provide the upfront capital to build RREALs CS4CA project assets for generating solar energy assistance benefits. Partners included the American Indian Community Housing Organization, Leech Lake Energy Assistance Program, and Southeast Vermont Community Action. The Kerrville Area Solar Partners (Kerrville, TX) - Best LMI Program, $100,000 prize Kerrville Public Utility Board (KPUB), a municipal utility in Texas, implemented a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with a solar developer to build and feed into KPUBs distribution system. KPUB will receive 100% of the solar production and allocate the output towards LMI residents as well as the nonprofits acting as the host sites for the solar development. KPUB worked with property owners to identify multi-family properties in the Land Use Restricted Agreement and worked with the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs to prequalify low-income properties. There is no subsidy on the solar rate. Partnering with landlords and property managers for customer acquisition increases the number of LMI participants and eliminates the need for credit checks. Partners included Schneider Engineering, Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, RES Americas, and NextEra Energy. Making Energy Work for Rural Oregon (Portland, OR) - Best Nonprofit Project, $100,000 prize Making Energy Work for Rural Oregon was led by Sustainable Northwest and is a coalition of rural community leaders advancing community solar on public facilities throughout the state of Oregon. The team installed 120 kilowatts of community-led, community-financed solar over 4 nonprofit sites and created toolkits for rural solar best practices. The teams model leveraged newly established programs, including the Oregon Clean Power Cooperative, to finance its solar projects. The overall goal was to ensure the cooperative is self-sufficient, which the team proved with one of its pilot sites. The team is in pre-development for three to six more megawatts of community solar projects by the end of this year. Partners included Oregon Clean Power Cooperative and a coalition of rural communities in Hood River, Lake, and Douglas Counties. Fellowship Energy (Burlingame, CA) - Best Nonprofit Program, $100,000 prize The Fellowship Energy team, led by Fellowship Energy, created a financing alternative, leveraging the broader, national religious affiliation of the Episcopal Church in the financial underwriting process. The team identified the Episcopal Church Building Fund (ECBF), one of many Church Extension Funds, when planning their two pilot projects in Virginiaa church and a parochial school. The church entered a long-term PPA with a Virginia-based investor, with a financial guaranty from the ECBF, which was then backed by the Diocese of Virginia. The ECBF also provided the sites with a pre-approved, long-term low-interest loan following the 60-month IRS compliance period during which the investor must own the array to capture the federal tax credit. The team is in pre-development for projects in New Jersey and California and have a longer list of interested parties. Partners included Performance Solar, Episcopal Church Building Fund, St. Stephens Episcopal Church, and Trinity Episcopal School. About ICMA ICMA, the International City/County Management Association, advances professional local government management worldwide through leadership, management, innovation, and ethics. ICMA provides member support; publications; data and information; peer and results-oriented assistance; and training and professional development to more than 12,000 city, town, and county experts and other individuals and organizations throughout the world. The management decisions made by ICMA's members affect millions of individuals living in thousands of communities, from small villages and towns to large metropolitan areas. ICMA gathers more data on local government than any organization except the federal government, spanning a broad spectrum from economic development to local government innovation. Ida Rowan Roberts, a retired businesswoman, sixteen-year breast cancer survivor currently battling the effects of muscular dystrophy, and Kentucky native living in Radcliff with her husband, has completed her book Framed by Who?: a gripping mystery that keeps readers guessing until the stunning conclusion. Framed by Who? is a book about a young man named Jerod. Jerod was framed for a crime that landed him in jail. He was only sixteen years old. If found guilty, his dream of becoming a police officer would never be realized. His best friend, Marshall, and several other close friends knew he was not capable of breaking and entering a home and brutally beating up an elderly lady so badly that she needed to be hospitalized. Incriminating evidence found at the scene of the crime pointed directly to Jerod. Because of the nature of the crime, Jerod was charged as an adult. He was processed as an adult: arrested, booked, arraigned, and had a preliminary hearing. Thanks to some very good friends who believed in him, his innocence was proven. Jerod did not have to suffer through a final trial. Jerod did, however, have his enemies. This book keeps readers guessing who his enemies were and their motives. Published by New York City-based Page Publishing, Ida Rowan Robertss book is an engaging whodunit for mystery readers of all ages. Readers who wish to experience this engrossing work can purchase Framed by Who? at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes store, Amazon, Google Play, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708. About Page Publishing: Page Publishing is a traditional New York-based, full-service publishing house that handles all the intricacies involved in publishing its authors books, including distribution in the worlds largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing knows that authors need to be free to create - not overwhelmed with logistics like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes, and the like. Its roster of accomplished authors and publishing professionals allows writers to leave behind these complex and time-consuming issues to focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at http://www.pagepublishing.com. Breast reductions can help many women to lead healthier and more active lives. The association the general public has with plastic surgery has evolved over the years to now include positive and life-changing health benefits. A May 11th article in the World News reported on a rising trend in breast reduction surgery. The article noted that the main reason individuals decide on this specific procedure is typically more for health reasons than anything else. While many people choose plastic surgery for cosmetic purposes, the article states that those who opt for a breast reduction do so mostly to reduce back and shoulder pain. Orange County-based board certified plastic surgeon Dr. Michael A. Jazayeri says the association the general public has with plastic surgery has evolved over the years to now include positive and life-changing health benefits. The Orange County plastic surgeon notes that the image of plastic surgery has changed drastically. What was once seen as beauty procedures reserved strictly for the rich and famous for superficial purposes has now turned into procedures accessible to individuals from all walks of life for a number of reasons, Dr. Jazayeri says. Whether its a woman getting a mommy makeover to restore her body and skin after a pregnancy, or an individual receiving liposuction in order to feel more confident, Dr. Jazayeri says that everyone deserves to look and feel like the very best versions of themselves. With todays technological advancements, the field of plastic surgery has also moved toward cosmetic procedures that involve little to recovery time, such as injectables (Botox, facial fillers, etc.) and laser skin treatments, Dr. Jazayeri says. Social media, celebrities, and influencers openly sharing about receiving treatments have helped shape the new image of plastic surgery and cosmetic procedures, the surgeon notes. Dr. Jazayeri adds that, with the increase in plastic surgery and cosmetic procedures, it is crucial to thoroughly research a medical provider. Of course, in a beauty-obsessed region such as Southern California, the offerings are plentiful. However, Dr. Jazayeri cautions that those looking to receive a procedure should ensure that it is done by a board-certified plastic surgeon. These certified surgeons are not only qualified to safely perform the procedures, but their experience and knowledge lend them a better sense of aesthetics which may lead to better results compared to those who are not fully certified. Those interested in learning more about board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Michael A. Jazayeri may call (714) 834-0101 or visit his website at https://www.drjaz.com. His hours at his offices in Newport Beach and Santa Ana are from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. Monday through Saturday. Dickinson Wright PLLC is pleased to announce that Attorney Jacqueline Lu has joined the firms Austin office as Of Counsel. Ms. Lu focuses her practice on Intellectual Property Litigation, contributing both a strong technical background and excellent litigation experience to the firm. She counsels clients on Hatch-Waxman actions involving ANDA filings in the pharmaceutical industry and she assists clients in patent infringement cases involving the technology industry. Ms. Lu is admitted to practice law in Texas and California. Ms. Lu is a member of the American Bar Association. In addition to her law degree, she holds a B.S. (with honors) in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, with a concentration in organic chemistry and organic synthesis, and has participated in the REU Research Program, funded by the National Science Foundation. She also holds a B.A. in Chinese language from Berkeley and is fluent in written and spoken Mandarin Chinese. Ms. Lu received her J.D. from The University of Texas School of Law. About Dickinson Wright PLLC Dickinson Wright PLLC is a general practice business law firm with more than 475 attorneys among more than 40 practice areas and 16 industry groups. Headquartered in Detroit and founded in 1878, the firm has 19 offices, including six in Michigan (Detroit, Troy, Ann Arbor, Lansing, Grand Rapids, and Saginaw) and 12 other domestic offices in Austin and El Paso, Texas; Columbus, Ohio; Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; Lexington, Ky.; Nashville and Music Row, Tenn.; Las Vegas and Reno, Nev.; Phoenix, Ariz.; Silicon Valley, Calif.; and Washington, D.C. The firms Canadian office is located in Toronto. Dickinson Wright offers our clients a distinctive combination of superb client service, exceptional quality, value for fees, industry expertise and business acumen. As one of the few law firms with ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certification, Dickinson Wright has built state-of-the-art, independently-verified risk management controls and security processes for our commercial transactions. Dickinson Wright lawyers are known for delivering commercially-oriented advice on sophisticated transactions and have a remarkable record of wins in high-stakes litigation. Dickinson Wright lawyers are regularly cited for their expertise and experience by Chambers, Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, and other leading independent law firm evaluating organizations. Hot Head Cantina is the first iPourIt operator and fast-casual concept in the country to have self-pour shots of liquor. The iPourIt system is designed to prevent over-consumption by measuring patrons' pours and limiting the total amount they pour. Right now, Hot Head Cantinas allows for a 1.5-ounce pour and a total of six ounces of straight liquor. iPourIt, Inc. increases its lead in the market as the first self-serve beverage dispense technology to pour shots of hard liquor through its system. Hot Head Mexican Grill and Cantina, a fast-casual franchise, opened its first location with a self-serve tap system pouring shots of liquor using iPourIt technology in Centerville, Ohio. Darren Nicholson, Vice President of iPourIt, says, iPourIt is the only system in the country that is currently offering self-serve liquor. Hot Head Mexican Grill and Cantina is the first location to implement self-serve shots with five of their taps. The iPourIt system is designed to prevent over-consumption by measuring patrons' pours and limiting the total amount they pour. Right now, Hot Head Cantinas allows for a 1.5-ounce pour and a total of six ounces of straight liquor. Co-Founder of Hot Head Mexican Grill and Cantina Peter Wiley adds, Were excited to see the response from our customers and the success well gain from offering a variety of products from our self-serve tap wall. Our goal is to provide a fun and unique experience with high-quality food and quick service. iPourIt allows us to improve the patron experience while having more efficient and profitable operations. The Centerville location has a 27-tap self-serve beverage dispense system pouring seventeen craft beers, five mixed cocktails, and five straight liquors. Wiley explains that they also have a Pepsi Spire machine offering more than 1,000 combinations of soft drinks. Patrons can pour their own shots or make their own mixed drinks. Since 2012, iPourIt collects extensive data for their operators and to gain valuable market knowledge. The data collected includes products poured, amount poured, inventory, patron demographics, and more. iPourIts data shows Hot Head Cantinas alcohol to food sales at 25% compared to the industry average of 6.5%. About iPourIt, Inc. iPourIt, Inc. is North Americas leader in self-serve beverage dispense technology with over 170 locations installed and operating, over 130 million ounces poured, and more than 4,200 taps installed. iPourIt partners with operators to provide an interactive, on-premise, self-service beer & wine experience promoting consumer choice and sampling. The technology has proven to increase revenue and drive profitability through higher space utilization and lower operating costs for clients while enhancing customer satisfaction. Learn more at https://www.ipouritinc.com. About Hot Head Burritos Cantina and Mexican Grill Hot Head Burritos Cantina and Mexican Grill is a fast-casual restaurant started in 2007 in Dayton, Ohio. The franchise is operated by dedicated burrito lovers in over 75 locations in 8 states. The franchise features freshly made-to-order Mexican cuisine including burritos, burrito bowls, tacos, nachos, quesadillas, queso, and 12 sauces ranging from Mild to Wild. The Centerville location is the first location to implement the self-serve concept with a 27-tap self-pour beverage dispense system. For more info, go to https://hotheadburritos.com/. Performance Brokerage Services When I met Rich for the first time, he expressed his interest in buying a Harley-Davidson dealership. Only a few years later, he is the proud co-owner of an entire Harley-Davidson dealership group in the Bay Area. Performance Brokerage Services, a new car, Harley-Davidson and Powersports dealership broker is pleased to announce the sale of Lane Splitter Harley-Davidson in San Jose, California from Jeffrey Soffer to Rich Gargano and Cliff Chester. Located in Silicon Valley close to the neighborhoods of Morgan Hill and Oakland, it is easily accessible from all freeways. It is one of the largest dealerships in Northern California with millions of dollars in Harley-Davidson inventory and nearly 30,000 square feet. Customers say it is a one stop shop for everything Harley-Davidson. Seller, Jeffrey Soffer also owns Stinger Harley-Davidson in Medina, Ohio and Alligator Alley Harley-Davidson in Sunrise, Florida and is best known as a billion-dollar real estate developer in Miami, Florida. Rich and Cliff own multiple Harley-Davidson dealerships, secondary retail locations and alternative retail outlets in California including San Francisco Harley-Davidson, Alcatraz Harley-Davidson at Fishermans Wharf, the recently opened Mission Moto Harley-Davidson in Downtown San Francisco, House of Thunder Harley-Davidson in Morgan Hill, West Coast Harley-Davidson in Salinas and West Coast Harley-Davidson on Cannery Row in Monterey. All of the San Francisco Bay Area dealerships in Rich and Cliffs portfolio were acquired through George Chaconas and Performance Brokerage Services. Cliff is also the owner of Gold Rush Harley-Davidson in Elko, Nevada, Oil City Harley-Davidson in Casper, Wyoming and Snake Harley-Davidson in Twin Falls, Idaho. Following the purchase, Rich Gargano commented, When I bought my first Harley-Davidson dealership through George Chaconas several years ago, I never thought that with Georges help I would acquire three more stores with my partner Cliff Chester. If it wasnt for George, my lifelong dream of building a Harley-Davidson portfolio would not have come true. I am very happy and grateful to have developed a great relationship with George Chaconas and Performance Brokerage Services. The dealership will remain at its current location at 1551 Parkmoor Avenue, San Jose, California 95128. George C. Chaconas, the exclusive agent for this transaction and the head of the National Harley-Davidson and Powersports Division for Performance Brokerage Services commented, The most rewarding part of my job is being involved in life changing events. When I met Rich for the first time, he expressed his interest in buying a Harley-Davidson dealership. Only a few years later, he is the proud co-owner of an entire Harley-Davidson dealership group in the Bay Area. Between Rich and Cliff, they have accomplished so much in such a short period of time and I am grateful to have been part of it. About Performance Brokerage Services Performance Brokerage Services, an auto dealership broker, specializes in professional intermediary services to buyers and sellers of automotive, commercial truck, Harley-Davidson and Powersports dealerships. The company offers a different approach to the automotive, commercial truck, Harley-Davidson and Powersports industries by providing complimentary dealership assessments, no upfront fees, no reimbursement of costs and is paid a success fee only. Performance Brokerage Services gets paid only after the client gets paid. With over 25 years of experience, the company utilizes an extensive network of industry related accountants, attorneys, hundreds of registered buyers and enjoys longstanding relationships with most of the auto manufacturers and the Harley-Davidson Motor Company. The intermediaries at Performance Brokerage Services have been involved in well over 600 transactions. Pledging loyal and unwavering representation, confidentiality is vigilantly protected during the selling process and after the transaction closes. With corporate offices in Irvine, California, six regional offices in Utah, Florida, Texas, New Jersey, Alberta and Ontario, a dedicated Harley-Davidson and Powersports Division, and a dedicated Commercial Truck Division, Performance Brokerage Services provides its clients national exposure with local representation. For more information about the services offered by Performance Brokerage Services, visit https://performancebrokerageservices.com. With new advances in technology, Gale Toyota is helping drivers learn more about their vehicles. As more vehicles come standard with more and more forward-thinking technology, Gale Toyota has decided to help car owners understand that technology for optimal use. On May 30, 2019 Gale Toyota will be holding one of its Technology Nights. At this event, drivers will be taught how to use the convenience features and amenities inside some of the latest Toyota vehicles. There is no need to schedule an appointment. This event is open to the public. Toyota drivers who want to learn more about their vehicle or are having troubles with it are encouraged to come. The event will run from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Gale Toyota service department. There will be an overview lesson about the technology in the latest Toyota models as well as problem-solving tips and techniques. Visitors will also learn how to use Bluetooth navigation, pairing phones with a vehicles sound system and more details about the Toyota Safety Sense technology. There will be time to ask questions about other features and how to use other technology in Toyota models as well. This is a great opportunity for car owners to learn more about their vehicles and how to use them to their full potential. This Technology Night event can also be helpful for prospective car owners who want to learn more about new Toyota vehicles and the technology inside. Interested parties can learn more about this event by visiting Gale Toyotas website: galetoyota.com. If readers have any more questions about this event, they can visit Gale Toyota at 50 Palomba Drive, Enfield CT and speak with a representative or call at 860-269-3608. We are pleased to continue our global expansion with this new office and its stellar leadership in order to better serve our customers and ecosystem partners here in Japan, as well as South Korea. Multi-Tech Systems, Inc., a leading global supplier of M2M and IoT communication solutions, today launched its new APAC headquarters in Tokyo with a day-long celebration attended by CEO Stefan Lindvall and Vice President and Managing Director for EMEA and APAC, Duane Wald. The MultiTech Industrial IoT Seminar is being held at Tokyo Conference Center in Shinagawa from 10:00 to 17:00 and features senior representatives from Arm, Yokogawa, Actility, Fujikura, Daliworks, M2B Communications and MultiTech discussing global and local industrial IoT trends with a focus on cellular and LoRa technology-based LPWA solutions. Guests will enjoy an overview of related products, markets, ecosystems, and case studies, including demonstrations. The new office will be lead by KyungJun Lee, Japan and South Korea Country Manager, and is located at: Level 14 Jingumae Tower Building, 1-5-8 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0001 http://www.multitech.co.uk In response demand from both local and growing multi-national customers, we felt the need for a local presence, said Stefan Lindvall, CEO. Im pleased to continue our global expansion with this new office and its stellar leadership in order to better serve our customers and ecosystem partners here in Japan, as well as South Korea. MultiTech has a growing international presence supported by a global network of distributors and partners, said KyungJun Lee, Country Manager. Im proud to bring the world-renowned products of a well-established leader in top-quality Industrial IoT products and services to the region as MultiTech approaches its 50th anniversary in the business of connecting machines. About MultiTech MultiTech designs, develops and manufactures communications solutions for the industrial internet of things connecting physical assets to business processes to deliver enhanced value. Our commitment to quality and service excellence means you can count on MultiTech products and people to address your needs, while our history of innovation ensures you can stay ahead of the latest technology with a partner who will be there for the life of your solution. Visit http://www.multitech.com for more information. MultiTech Press Contact: Jennifer Costello - 781-715-4870, Email: jennifer.costello(at)multitech.com In country: KyungJun Lee +82-10-3305-0805, Email: kyungjun.lee(at)multitech.com Light Falls allows for the duality of humanity and science in Einsteins life, Jeff Beal explains. The music strives to portray the elusive and startling truths of relativity; and the singular mind which recasts our understanding of the universe in the span of a few short years, 100 years ago. Node Records releases Jeff Beals original soundtrack to Brian Greenes acclaimed theatrical production "Light Falls: Space, Time, and an Obsession of Einstein" through all digital platforms. Jeff Beal is a five-time EMMY award-winning composer, known for his genre-defying musical fluidity in film, television, and concert hall. His celebrated scores include "House of Cards," "Rome," "Carnivale," "An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth To Power," "Blackfish," and "Pollock." "Light Falls" premieres nationwide on Wednesday, May 29th - the 100th anniversary to the day of Einsteins Theory being confirmed through astronomical observations - at 10/9c on PBS (check local listings), and the PBS Video app. Produced by the World Science Festival and written by Brian Greene, the world-renowned string theorist and New York Times bestselling author, "Light Falls" follows Albert Einsteins electrifying journey towards the General Theory of Relativity through state-of-the-art animation and innovative projection techniques. Light Falls allows for the duality of humanity and science in Einsteins life, Jeff Beal explains. The music strives to portray the elusive and startling truths of relativity; and the singular mind which recasts our understanding of the universe in the span of a few short years, 100 years ago. Beal further describes the score, Musically, the solo violin that is featured represents the inner voice of Albert Einstein. I chose the violin because Einstein, himself was a violinist and loved music. The electronics I incorporated represent the driving nature of the scientific connection. The whole theme of time throughout the film I tried to reflect in the score as in a race, the intellectual race to uncover theories and a sense of urgency of Einstein recognizing his own mortality. The whole theme of clocks running at different speeds at the same time. Some of the music represents this feeling by incorporating two different tempos performed at the same time. Track Listing 1. Light Falls Main Title 2. April 17th 3. The Compass 4. Youthful Rebellion 5. Synchronization Of Clocks 6. The Patent Office 7. Vintage Einstein 8. See The Facts Clearly 9. Space And Time 10. Jewish Physics 11. Round Two 12. Newtonian Gravity Theory 13. Faster Than Light 14. Startling New Concept 15. Light Falls 16. Dancing Through Warped Space 17. Astoundingly Beautiful 18. Zurich Notebook 19. Two Long Years 20. The Race 21. Forty-three Arc Seconds 22. Thursday, November 18th 23. Under Assault 24. Theory Completed 25. A Jewel 26. Einstein's Fame 27. After Dinner Music 28. The Atomic Bomb 29. Search For A Unified Theory 30. Only An Illusion Node Records Node Records is a specialty boutique label committed to releasing and marketing music from groundbreaking artists and films. Based in Los Angeles and New York, Node is distributed by BFE / The Orchard. Recent releases include the Academy Award-winning documentary "Free Solo," and the Academy Award-nominated film "The Wife." World Science Festival Hailed a new cultural institution by the New York Times, the World Science Festival produces innovative live, digital, and broadcast content that brings the latest discoveries and the greatest minds in science and the arts to audiences around the world. Through discussions and debates, intimate salons and major outdoor extravaganzas, theatrical works and musical productions, the Festivals diverse, highly produced programming inspires and educates the public of all ages. World Science Festivals original musical and theatrical works tour nationally and internationally, and this production marks the Festivals first foray into nationwide live-theatrical television broadcasting. Media Contact for Node Records: Brielle Schiavone - email: Brielle.Schiavone(at)musicsales(dot)com Media Contact for Jeff Beal: Ray Costa Costa Communications email: rcosta(at)costacomm(dot)com HASBROUCK HEIGHTS, N. J., May 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Retail TouchPoints (RTP), the industrys go-to source for customer engagement strategies, has announced the 2019 Retail Innovator Award winners . In its sixth year, the Retail Innovator Awards honor business leaders who are going above and beyond in embracing innovation and technology disruption in retail. This years retail innovators are taking technology to the next level investing in AR, VR, AI and machine learning to advance their businesses, said Debbie Hauss, Executive Director, Content at Retail TouchPoints. Theyre also implementing employee initiatives to help deliver a higher-quality customer experience. And they are thinking out-of-the-box when it comes to influencer strategies, product delivery services, experiential retail and much more. All 20 RIA winners, representing 18 companies, were announced at the Retail Innovation Conference , held May 6-May 8, 2019 at the Convene event space in New York City. Attendees heard from the winners and learned their success stories and insights into their winning strategies. More than 100 executives in total were nominated for the awards. This year the winners are grouped into six categories: Tech Innovator Doug Zarkin, VP & CMO, Pearle Vision, Luxottica Gurmeet Singh, EVP, Chief Digital, Information and Marketing Officer, 7-Eleven Nata Dvir, EVP, General Business Manager, Beauty, Macys Shrenik Sadalgi, Head of Next Gen Experiences, Wayfair Data Guru Doug Jennings, VP, Data, Analytics and Customer Insights, Lowes Ekta Chopra, VP of IT, e.l.f. Cosmetics Michael Relich, COO & Miles Barger, VP, Lucky Brand Operations Operative Arnold Leap, CIO, 1-800-FLOWERS.com Cheryl Williams, CIO, Wakefern Food Corp. Christian Spor, Director of Store Operations Services, GameStop Gianna Venturi, Chief People Officer, Eyemart Express Marketing Mensch Russell Barnett, CMO, My/Mo Mochi Ice Cream Mobile Mogul Mohit Gulrajani, SVP, Omnichannel Strategy and Operations, Brooks Brothers Disruptor Cynthia Sandall, CEO/CMO, ROAM Fitness Dani Reiss, President and CEO, Canada Goose Diana Ganz and Jeanne Foley, Co-Founders, The Groomsman Suit Nicole Miller, Founder, Nicole Miller Stuart Landesberg, CEO and Co-Founder, Grove Collaborative To learn more, you can download the full 2019 Retail Innovator Awards Report . About the 2019 Retail Innovation Conference Hosted by Retail TouchPoints, the Retail Innovation Conference (#RIC19) is a three-day educational and networking event that aims to help retailers think differently by spotlighting the disruptors who are driving business success. RIC19 was held May 6-May 8, 2019 at the Convene event space in New York City. The exclusive RIC19 Store Tours took place May 6 at the newly opened Hudson Yards retail space. About Retail TouchPoints Retail TouchPoints is an online publishing network for retail executives, with content focused on optimizing the customer experience across all channels. The Retail TouchPoints network is comprised of a weekly newsletter, special reports, web seminars, exclusive benchmark research, an insightful editorial blog, and a content-rich web site featuring daily news updates and multi-media interviews at www.retailtouchpoints.com . The Retail TouchPoints team also interacts with social media communities via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Sheri Butts sheri@gthreecom.com O: 201.257.8528 x248 A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a7326a0d-bb88-4809-b866-4c6444fd5bdd Source: 2018 HNTB America THINKS survey A new HNTB Corporation Viewpoint discusses priced managed lanes as a solution to urban congestion. The Viewpoint, Priced managed lanes a proven mobility strategy are rapidly expanding across the US, is co-authored by Kevin Hoeflich, PE, HNTB Chairman Toll Services and senior vice president, and Tom Hutchinson, AICP, HNTB national tolls consultant and associate vice president. The white paper discusses how public-sector owners are advancing plans for more of these projects around the country. There are dozens of successful PMLs currently operating and demonstrating value to their customers. To see more HNTB thought leadership and media content, visit HNTBs Tolling media kit. About HNTB HNTB Corporation is an employee-owned infrastructure firm serving public and private owners and contractors. Celebrating 105 years of service in the United States, HNTB understands the life cycle of infrastructure and addresses clients most complex technical, financial and operational challenges. Professionals nationwide deliver a full range of infrastructure-related services, including award-winning planning, design, and program and construction management. For more information, visit http://www.hntb.com, or follow HNTB on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. The new locations demonstrate our growth as a company and bolster our already impressive team of professionals in the Hudson County market led by Brenda Giacumbo and Lourdes Mercado, says Charles Oppler, COO and Owner of Prominent Properties Sothebys International Realty. Prominent Properties Sothebys International Realty, one of New Jerseys leading luxury real estate firms, announces two new waterfront locations. The firm will add to their existing waterfront presence including the Hoboken, Edgewater, and Englewood Cliffs offices. The new offices will be located in downtown Jersey City and Port Imperial in Weehawken and are scheduled to open in the Summer of 2019. Prominent Properties Sothebys International Realty welcomes newly appointed Director of Business Development, Charleen Martinelli. Charleen brings 40+ years of real estate experience along the waterfront and will grow the firms presence in key market areas. Charleen, past president of the Liberty Board of REALTORS, and REALTOR of the Year, currently serves as Secretary & Treasurer on the Liberty Board of REALTORS. Were pleased to welcome Charleen to our team, and look forward to the opening of our new waterfront locations, says Charles Oppler, COO and Owner of Prominent Properties Sothebys International Realty. The new locations demonstrate our growth as a company and bolster our already impressive team of professionals in the Hudson County market led by Brenda Giacumbo and Lourdes Mercado. Prominent Properties Sothebys International Realty was ranked #5 in the state for Top Ranked Brokerage Firms in New Jersey by Transaction Sides by The REAL Trends 500 for 2019. In fact, Prominent Properties Sothebys International Realty celebrated its best year yet in 2018 with over 2,700 transactions and over $2 billion in sales. In 2019, they announced the opening of their new Montville regional office, expanding their presence in Morris County. Prominent Properties Sothebys International Realty is proud to be affiliated with Sotheby's International Realty, a brand with a global reach, with over 900 offices worldwide in 72 countries and territories, with 22,000 affiliated independent sales associates, and more than $112 billion in global sales volume in 2018. Prominent Properties Sothebys International Realty is located at 306 Washington Street in Hoboken, NJ 07030. They can be reached for additional information at (201) 795-5200. About Prominent Properties Sothebys International Realty: Marketing New Jersey Real Estate at the Highest Level, Prominent Properties Sothebys International Realty is an integral part of the New Jersey real estate landscape, with a dedicated team of over 600 licensed professionals and staff working out of 13 offices throughout Northern and Central New Jersey. Regional Offices are located in Alpine, Edgewater, Englewood Cliffs, Franklin Lakes, Hoboken, Montclair, Montville, Ridgewood, Saddle River, Short Hills, Summit, Tenafly and Westfield. Prominent Properties Sothebys International Realty is committed to skillfully serving their clients and the community, fostering a culture of ethics, collegiality, community, and diversity; delivering exceptional results within the industry as a top-ranked, fully integrated New Jersey real estate services firm. For further information visit: http://www.prominentproperties.com or connect on social via Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ppsir/. With REDCOM Sigma installed on the RESMini XR6, we can enable powerful and secure call control capabilities in an incredibly compact and resilient form factor. REDCOM Laboratories, Inc., the leading supplier of tactical edge communications systems, is pleased to announce it will be a part of the Mercury Systems booth at the Special Operations Forces Industry Conference in Tampa, FL, May 20-23, 2019. Designed to support U.S. Army modernization strategies, REDCOM and Mercury Systems are working together to deliver an integrated solution for mobile Army communications applications that range from tactical command posts to national and strategic-level communications. At the show, REDCOM will be exhibiting the latest versions of its military-grade virtualized call control software Sigma running on Mercury Systems RESmini XR6 small form-factor server. The RESmini XR6 was built from the ground up for mission-critical applications where performance, reliability, and availability are crucial. As a data center in a briefcase, the RESmini XR6 features an Intel Xeon scalable CPU with up to 28 cores, up to 384 GB memory, and up to 240TB storage via 8 hot-swappable drives. With REDCOM Sigma software running on the RESmini XR6, REDCOM and Mercury Systems can deliver dramatically improved interoperable communications capabilities for tactical, expeditionary, and Special Operations Forces. REDCOM's integration with Mercury Systems RESMini XR6 promotes true portability and interoperability at the tactical edge, said Michael Scaravillo, Government Program Manager at REDCOM. With REDCOM Sigma installed on the RESMini XR6, we can enable powerful and secure call control capabilities in an incredibly compact and resilient form factor. REDCOM Sigma is a software-based call and session controller with features and capabilities particularly advantageous for government and military users including VoIP, Video (P2P), Chat/XMPP with Presence, Voice Conferencing, Unified Messaging, and full MLPP support. REDCOM Sigma is built for maximum effectiveness with an intuitive interface, rapid boot time, and resiliency to hard power-off. REDCOM Sigmas encryption is a FIPS 140-2 validated engine and is continuously updated for NSA security guideline compliance (including NIAP & CSFC). REDCOM will also be showcasing the REDCOM Secure Client, the companys secure mobile app for Windows, Android, and iOS. The app features full preemption controls and Push-to-Talk for instantaneous voice communication via IP. Show attendees are encouraged to visit REDCOM within Mercury Systems booth for a live demo of REDCOMs tactical communication solutions. About REDCOM REDCOM Laboratories, Inc. is a woman-owned small business that specializes in the design and manufacture of advanced tactical and strategic communications solutions with a focus on security, reliability, and interoperability. REDCOMs customers include all branches of the military, government agencies, emergency responders, integrators, and enterprises. For additional information, please visit the REDCOM website at https://www.redcom.com. Mercury Systems Innovation That Matters Mercury Systems is a leading commercial provider of secure sensor and safety-critical processing subsystems. Optimized for customer and mission success, Mercury's solutions power a wide variety of critical defense and intelligence programs. Headquartered in Andover, Mass., Mercury is pioneering a next-generation defense electronics business model specifically designed to meet the industry's current and emerging technology needs. To learn more, visit http://www.mrcy.com. Herbert Scholes, a former truck driver who has spent the last fifteen years of his life entirely devoted to Christian living, has completed his new book What is Priest Nation, the Seed, and the H5G?: an insightful look into the process of approaching scripture in a more thorough way, as developed by the author. It is in my intention to share with you the vision of Priest Nation, The Seed, and the High Five Gospel, which shall be utilized as evangelical tools that will help you and your church family members become more effective soul winners and Christian counselors, Herbert Scholes said of his work. And as our Lord desires, to bring more unification and hopefully bring Scripture to light that will convince you that separation from your brothers and sisters in Christ is indeed sin. Published by New York City-based Page Publishing, Herbert Scholes book is the culmination of years of researching the gospel, real-world experience, and the understanding that while an individuals relationship with their savior is essential, there is also the fellowship and collective to be considered when discussing Christianity. If Jesus had been as just and righteous as men are today, he would have never come down and communed with sinners because he would have been afraid of defiling himself, or because he wouldnt want mankind to lead Him astray, or He wouldnt want to cause them to believe they were teaching correct doctrine, the author joked, exemplifying some of the humanity and humor that he brings to his very serious body of work. That hyperbole is meant to show that Jesus was righteous, and men that have Christian-on-Christian separation doctrines are not righteous. Readers who wish to experience this enlightening work can purchase What is Priest Nation, the Seed, and the H5G? at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes store, Amazon, Google Play or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708. About Page Publishing: Page Publishing is a traditional New York based full-service publishing house that handles all of the intricacies involved in publishing its authors books, including distribution in the worlds largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing knows that authors need to be free to create - not bogged down with complicated business issues like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes and the like. Its roster of authors can leave behind these tedious, complex and time-consuming issues, and focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at http://www.pagepublishing.com. Star Refrigeration sponsors World Refrigeration Day at the TCS&D show We are thrilled to be involved in the launch of World Refrigeration Day as an official sponsor Top engineers from Star Refrigeration, one of the most renowned industrial refrigeration companies in the UK, will be guests of honour at the TCS&D Show on the coolest day of the year. Star has announced it will officially sponsor World Refrigeration Day on 26th June 2019, which coincides with the Temperature Controlled Storage & Distribution Show taking place on 25th and 26th June in Peterborough. Now in its 5th year, the TCS&D Show is a two day long conference and exhibition at the East of England Arena. In addition to sponsoring World Refrigeration Day, Star will be exhibiting at stand B24 and speaking to delegates sharing industry knowledge with two presentations as part of the conference programme. Aimed at the frozen and chilled foods sector and pharmaceutical industry, the event promotes innovation and networking. Featuring a demonstration area, a World Refrigeration Day Village and four separate seminar arenas, the TCS&D Show is a highly anticipated event for the refrigeration industry. World Refrigeration Day is new for 2019 and will launch at the TCS&D Show with the help from the Institute of Refrigeration (IOR) and the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Industry Board (ACRIB). The date has been chosen as it makes the birthday of Lord Kelvin, an acclaimed thermodynamic engineer who described the theoretical basis for heat pumps in 1852. David Wallace on behalf of Star Refrigeration said, We are thrilled to be involved in the launch of World Refrigeration Day as an official sponsor. The organisers of the TCS&D Show are truly embracing the global awareness campaign, hosting a series of workshops from the IOR and ACRIB, and even live-streaming seminars internationally. As with all exhibitions we attend, representatives from Star will be raising awareness of the most common issues affecting the temperature controlled storage and distribution industry and presenting measures for energy consumption reduction as well as cost-friendly, effective low charge ammonia and CO2 solutions. Star Refrigeration will be providing seminars on two important subjects: minimising operational costs from a customer perspective, and natural refrigeration solutions including carbon dioxide and low charge ammonia. The talks will be giving by technical engineers David Wallace Director of Sales, and Aiden Perks Regional Sales Manager. Star has recently successfully lowered refrigeration costs for a number of customers by measuring, tracking constant performance data and analysing their refrigeration plants. These cost saving programmes will be discussed during the presentation along with other practical ways to reduce running costs and carbon emissions including building planning, construction, refrigeration system design, controls, maintenance, monitoring and system optimisation. Find out more about the TCS&D Show and register to attend at: https://www.tcsdshow.com To find out more about Star Refrigeration visit http://www.star-ref.co.uk The Guide to Eternal Life: a significant guide to fully recognizing the true essence of the Bible. The Guide to Eternal Life is the creation of published author Steve Metzner, an author who spent his young life on the farm. During his junior year in high school, at the age of seventeen, he quit school and joined the Navy. After his term in the Navy, he returned to Colorado and started Bible school, only to walk away again and started living life on his own terms for the next forty some years. The Holy Spirit brought him back to the Lord, and for the past ten years, he has been living for Him. Three years ago, his wife had a series of strokes that has left her bedfast, unable to speak, or comprehend. God has used this time to teach and bless him in ways he cant explain. Metzner shares, The Guide to Eternal Life was written to show that the Bible is the inspired word of God. You will see some of the evidences from astronomy, archeology, prophecies, as well as some other examples that point to that truth. Many people say the Bible is just a made-up story and does not have any meaning for us. There are thousands of archeological finds that give evidence to the authenticity of the Bible. The unbelievers reasoning is to say the examples are coincidences. How many coincidences can you have before you begin to believe that maybe the Bible is Gods inspired word. "The rest of the book points out what the Bible says about mans nature, and how that nature affects his eternal destiny. It points out what God has done for humanity and how we can acquire Gods gift for ourselves. Most people I talk to seem to think that believing in God, going to church, and just being a good person will, maybe, get them eternal life with God. The Bible tells us that these things have I written unto you so you may know you have eternal life. This book tells you what those written things are. "Once you have accepted the Bible as Gods word, you only need to find out exactly what it says and accept it. This book can make the difference where you will spend eternity. Happy reading. Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Steve Metzners new book is a mind-clearing read for the Christians which presented information about the Bible and what God has done for man that will, then, hopefully bring the message of Gods eternal love for His people. View a synopsis of The Guide to Eternal Life on YouTube. Consumers can purchase The Guide to Eternal Life at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or inquiries about The Guide to Eternal Life, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919. "For three years we have welcomed members of the Trident family to our career fairs, giving students and alumni an opportunity to network with hiring managers. - James Shiver, Manager, Trident's Career Center Trident University Internationals (Trident) Center for Career Planning and Workforce Strategies will hold a Virtual Career Fair on Wednesday, May 22nd. This no-cost event runs from 11am 2pm Pacific time. In addition to all Trident students and alumni, Virtual Career Fair attendance is open to all military veterans. Companies confirmed to attend include the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Maryland Department of Juvenile Services, and Waffle House. Designed to provide career development opportunities to its talented student and alumni community, Trident has regularly hosted Virtual Career Fairs since 2016. For three years we have welcomed members of the Trident family to our career fairs, giving students and alumni an opportunity to network with hiring managers, states James Shiver, Manager, Center for Career Planning and Workforce Strategies. Additionally, all military veterans are welcome to attend. Its our way of saying thanks for their service and dedication to this country. Tridents Center for Career Planning and Workforce Development was launched five years ago with a clear mission to prepare students and alumni for all facets of career planning and development. While employment cannot be guaranteed, the Center is dedicated to preparing members of the University community for their career search. The no-cost Virtual Career Fair is open to Trident students, alumni, current members of the military and veterans, but registration is required at either trident4careers(at)trident.edu with Virtual Career Fair as the subject line, or through the Trident4Careers link on the MyTLC student portal. About Trident University Founded in 1998, Trident University International (Trident) is a leading online postsecondary university serving adult learners. Trident uses the EdActive learning approach, which employs case-based learning in an online setting to teach real-world relevant critical thinking skills to enhance the lives and careers of students. Trident offers high-quality associates, bachelors, masters, and doctoral degree programs and certificates, led by a qualified faculty team, over 80% of whom have doctoral degrees. Trident is regionally accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) and has over 27,000 alumni, including more than 22,000 with a military affiliation. The University has received multiple acknowledgements from Military Times and Military Advanced Education & Transition for their dedication to military-affiliated students. Visit http://www.trident.edu, Tridents Facebook page, or call at (855) 290-0290 to learn more about Trident's wide range of educational options. As Catholic higher-education institutions working together, we are making opportunities for career advancement accessible to more people through our collaboration. Two established Catholic universities have come together to make it easier for education, healthcare, law enforcement, and other public-service professionals to pursue a graduate degree for career advancement. Through a collaborative effort, Saint Leo University will provide prospective students with an easy-to-navigate admissions process, and Notre Dame de Namur University will offer a quality online masters degree program in public administration that fits the career and lifestyle needs of adult students. One of the benefits of this partnership is that students now have two quality academic institutions working together on their behalf, said Dr. Melanie Storms, senior vice president at Saint Leo University. Our goal is to offer a program that is easy for the working professional to enter and access. The Master of Public Administration (MPA) program prepares professionals for administrative and management positions in public, nonprofit, and service-related organizations. The MPA is the preferred degree for many public-sector leaders because it delivers a comprehensive overview of organizations that rely on government budgets, taxes, or grants for funding. The updated, online program helps students develop competencies for dealing with individual differences in skills and behaviors, and learn about the basics of personality development as it relates to management. Many of the professionals who have graduated from Notre Dames program hold leadership positions as county managers or police chiefs, as well as senior administrators in education, healthcare, and other public service organizations. Saint Leo and Notre Dame have produced strong graduates in these sectors, said Dr. Hernan Bucheli, provost at Notre Dame de Namur University. As Catholic higher-education institutions working together, we are making opportunities for career advancement accessible to more people through our collaboration. The fall 2019 term for the program begins on August 26, and applications will be accepted through mid-August. The GRE and GMAT requirement will be waived for new students. To learn more about the Master of Public Administration program and admissions, visit saintleo.edu/ndnu or call (888) 875-8265. About Notre Dame de Namur University Notre Dame de Namur University (http://www.ndnu.edu) is a Catholic, not-for-profit, coeducational institution serving approximately 1,500 students from diverse backgrounds. Established in 1851 by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, NDNU is the third-oldest college in California and the first authorized to grant the baccalaureate degree to women. Notre Dame maintains a strong commitment to academic excellence, social justice, and community engagement. The university is fully accredited and offers a rich variety of undergraduate and graduate programs, including online MBA and MA TESOL programs, and a Criminal Justice BS (http://www.ndnu.edu/online/). Notre Dame has a historic California campus on the San Francisco Peninsula, and a satellite campus in Tracy, California, in the Central Valley. About Saint Leo University Saint Leo University (http://www.saintleo.edu) is a modern Catholic teaching university that is firmly grounded in the liberal arts tradition and the timeless Benedictine wisdom that seeks balanced growth of mind, body, and spirit. Saint Leo is a private, nonprofit institution that creates hospitable learning communities wherever students want to be or need to be, whether that is a campus classroom, a web-based environment, an employers worksite, a military base, or an office park. Saint Leo welcomes people of all faiths and of no religious affiliation, and encourages learners of all generations. The university remains the faithful steward of the beautiful lakeside University Campus in the Tampa Bay region of Florida, where its founding monks created the first Catholic college in the state in 1889. Serving nearly 12,000 students, Saint Leo has expanded to downtown Tampa, to other sites in Florida and beyond, and maintains a physical presence in seven states. Media Contacts: Marie Thornsberry, Saint Leo University, marie.thornsberry(at)saintleo(dot)edu, (352) 588-8253 Zack Rogow, Notre Dame de Namur University, zrogow(at)ndnu(dot)edu, (650) 508-3585 Photo Expo at Unique Photo, June 7 - June 9 "Photo Expo continues to be the premier source for photographers of all levels to find the latest camera equipment and get advice and training from industry experts, said President Alexander Sweetwood. Anyone who wants to take their photography skills to the next level should attend Photo Expo. Photo Expo 2019 returns to Unique Photo in Fairfield, N.J., for the largest photography event ever held in New Jersey. The three-day expo will provide photo enthusiasts from beginners to professionals with the opportunity to demo and purchase the hottest new cameras and gear, take free photography classes, participate in exciting photo shoots with models and aerial acrobats, and enjoy portfolio reviews. Unique Photo, the largest camera store in the state, will transform its 50,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art superstore into the free public photo extravaganza on Friday, June 7, Saturday, June 8 and Sunday, June 9 at its flagship store located at 123 Route 46 in Fairfield. Free classes from basic level to advanced--and every level in between--will be taught by renowned photographers and industry professionals. Classes range from understanding camera basics, storm chasing and nature photography to portraiture, action, lighting, video filmmaking, post-production Photoshop and much more. New this year is a class on taking unique images with Apple iPhones. Attendees will have the opportunity to sample and purchase the latest products at the lowest prices of the year through show-only sales from more than 30 of the industrys leading manufacturers. Now in its eighth year, the Photo Expo continues to be the premier source for photographers of all levels to find the latest camera equipment and get advice and training from industry experts, said President Alexander Sweetwood. Anyone who wants to take their photography skills to the next level should attend Photo Expo. Manufacturers scheduled to attend include Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Sony, Sigma, Tamron, Panasonic and Fujifilm. Attendees will also have the opportunity to trade in their old camera gear, and have the chance to win prizes throughout the three days of the show. Unique Photos Expo evolves and grows every year with over 3,000 people attending last year. This year is expected to attract more photo enthusiasts for its new opportunities to meet with manufacturers representatives and take advantage of new classes taught by industry luminaries such as Lindsay Adler and Kristi Odom. All are invited to attend the event and admission is free. To learn more or to register for a three-day pass, visit: https://www.uniquephoto.com/expo. Space is limited for all classes so pre-registration is encouraged. WHAT: Photo Expo 2019 WHEN: Friday, June 7 --- 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Saturday, June 8 --- 10 a.m.- 6 p.m. Sunday, June 9 --- 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. WHERE: Unique Photo 123 US Highway 46 West Fairfield, NJ 07004 973-377-2007 THE EVENT: Photo enthusiasts from beginners to professionals will be able to demo the newest cameras and gear from leading manufacturers, have the opportunity to enjoy exclusive sales, take free classes, and participate in exciting photo shoots with models and aerial acrobats. COST: FREE INFORMATION: http://www.uniquephoto.com/expo ABOUT UNIQUE PHOTO Unique Photo is New Jersey's largest camera and video superstore offering the latest in photographic products and imaging technology. Its 50,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility in Fairfield, N.J. features a spacious photography retail store, multi-media learning center, professional photo lab, meeting space, gourmet coffee bar and WiFi lounge. Unique Photo is also the top destination for photography education in New Jersey, hosting more than 1,000 amateur and professional photographers monthly for its classes. Unique University instructors include world famous photographers, industry guest lecturers and Unique Photos professional staff. For more information, visit http://www.uniquephoto.com or call 973-377-2007. United Way of Metro Chicago hosted the 2019 Stronger Neighborhoods Awards Luncheon in celebration of the individuals, businesses and community organizations that have joined forces to drive change at the neighborhood level across the Chicago region. At todays annual luncheon event, United Way raised more than half a million dollars to support their fight to transform lives and build stronger neighborhoods. By uniting changemakers across industries, United Way works to ensure that the public, private, labor and academic sectors are working together to address the Chicago regions most pressing needs. At United Way, were lucky to work alongside some of the most talented and dedicated civic leaders in the Chicago region, said Sean Garrett, President and CEO of United Way of Metro Chicago. The challenges facing our communities are complex and multifaceted, and tackling them requires a collaborative approach. With the enduring support of partners like Lester McKeever, Exelon, the Obama Foundation and many more, were working to make every neighborhood a place that people are proud to call home. This years event honored three of the Chicago regions most distinguished philanthropic leaders and their commitment to improving outcomes for children and families across our region. Lester H. McKeever Jr., Partner of Mitchell & Titus, LLP and Managing Principal of Washington, Pittman & McKeever, LLC, received the Lifetime Leadership Award in recognition of his lifetime of service to the Chicago region and his enduring dedication to improving the lives of all its residents. Exelon Corporation received the Corporate Leadership Award in recognition of their steadfast partnership with United Way and dedication to empowering individuals and communities. The Obama Foundation received the Community Leadership Award for their continued investment in the economic advancement of the south side of Chicago and its residents. The regions top business leaders where recognized for their leadership, vision and commitment to the community. BMO Financial Group received the Top Corporate Citizen Award for their enduring support of United Ways work, including their Cornerstone Investment and additional pledge of $3 million to the Neighborhood Network Initiative. Additionally, United Way recognized two agency partners for their best in class service and enduring impact on the lives of the clients they serve, with Primo Center for Women and Children receiving The Agency Partner of the Year Award and YWCA Evanston/North Shore receiving The Neighborhood Network Agency Partner of the Year Award. The event was co-chaired by Jeff Devron, President-Chicagoland, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co; Bob Reiter, President, Chicago Federation of Labor; Dorri C. McWhorter, Chief Executive Officer, YWCA Metropolitan Chicago; Melvin D. Williams, President, Nicor Gas; and Kristie P. Paskvan. For more information about the event, visit LIVEUNITEDchicago.org/stronger-neighborhoods. About United Way of Metro Chicago United Way of Metro Chicago fights for the health, education, financial stability and safety of every person in every neighborhood across the region. We advance the common good on both a regional and neighborhood level by focusing on the building blocks for thriving people and communities: access to quality health care, a good education, financial stability and ensuring people are safe. United Ways Neighborhood Network Initiative supports and coordinates investment and programming in 10 city and suburban communities to address community challenges and improve the lives of residents. Join the fight at LIVEUNITEDchicago.org. 17 May 2019 LEI: 2138003QW2ZAYZODBU23 LSE Code: 3NGS BOOST ISSUER PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY (a public company incorporated with limited liability in Ireland) BOOST NATURAL GAS 3X SHORT DAILY ETP SECURITIES PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE PRINCIPAL AMOUNT OF THE AFFECTED SECURITIES ADJOURNMENT OF MEETING OF THE ETP SECURITYHOLDERS THIS DOCUMENT IS IMPORTANT AND REQUIRES YOUR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION. If you are in any doubt about what action you should take, you are recommended to consult your independent financial adviser. If you have sold or transferred all of your Boost Natural Gas 3x Short Daily ETP Securities (the Affected Securities) of Boost Issuer Public Limited Company (the Issuer), please send this document, together with the accompanying form of proxy, at once to the purchaser or transferee or stockbroker, banker or other agent through whom the sale or transfer was made, for onward transmission to the purchaser or transferee. Boost Issuer Public Limited Company (the Issuer) wishes to announce that the Meeting of the holders of Boost Natural Gas 3x Short Daily ETP Securities (the Affected Securities, with ISIN IE00B76BRD76) scheduled for today at 11:00 a.m. (the Original Meeting) has been adjourned, in accordance with paragraph 20 of Schedule 7 of the Trust Deed, for lack of a quorum. The adjourned meeting will be reconvened on 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday 4 June 2019, being a date not more than 30 days after the Original Meeting, and will be held at the offices of Link IFS Limited (formerly Capita International Financial Services (Ireland) Limited) in 2 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland (the Adjourned Meeting). The Adjourned Meeting is being held to consider certain amendments to documentation, made under the powers set out in clause 2 of schedule 7 of the master trust deed of the Affected Securities, required to effect a reduction in the principal amount of the Affected Securities from USD 2.00 to USD 0.20. This follows the price of the Affected Securities falling below 500 per cent. (the Threshold) of its current principal amount on Wednesday 14 November 2018 (the Threshold Event Date), and the price of the Affected Securities having remained below its Threshold, and is designed to maintain the normal trading and operations of the Affected Securities. Full details of the Proposal and Extraordinary Resolution are set out in the notice dated 24 April 2019. Holders of the Affected Securities have received a form of proxy by post, allowing them to vote on the matters being considered at the Original Meeting and at the Adjourned Meeting. Under article 11.5 of the Issuers Articles of Association, no further notification is required for the Adjourned Meeting. Holders of the Affected Securities are therefore directed to the original notification posted to them on 24 April 2019, and also available on the website of the Issuer, at https://www.wisdomtree.eu/en-gb/-/media/eu-media-files/other-documents/operational/corp-action/boost/rns-corporate-actions/rns-announcement---3ngs-(april-2019)-proposed-principal-amount-reduction.pdf. Holders of the Affected Securities should note that a duly completed form of proxy deposited in respect of the Original Meeting will continue to be valid for the Adjourned Meeting unless previously revoked or suspended by a further form of proxy prior to the Meeting. In accordance with normal practice, The Law Debenture Trust Corporation p.l.c., as trustee, expresses no opinion as to the merits of the Proposal, the terms of which were not negotiated by it. It has however authorised it to be stated that, on the basis of the information contained in the original circular and in this document (which it advises holders of Affected Securities to read carefully) it has no objection to the form in which the Proposal and Notice of Meeting are presented to holders of Affected Securities for their consideration. Holders of the Affected Securities will be notified of the outcome of the Adjourned Meeting shortly thereafter. Attachment The University of Vermont Health Network Ventures and legal firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati recently invested in BioFacturas $6M Series B Financing Round. With the commitment from the UVM fund and WSGR, BioFactura is now securing value-added institutional investors who bring significant financial and business resources to bear as we advance our biopharmaceutical products to the clinic, said Darryl Sampey, BioFacturas President and CEO. Dr. Jeffrey Hausfeld, Chairman of the Board and Chief Medical Officer, stated, We are excited to work with the University of Vermont Health Network Ventures and WSGR and view them as important strategic investors in BioFactura. Both our Biosimilars and Biodefense drugs promote the health and safety of our patients using innovative, state of the art, biopharmaceutical manufacturing techniques. Improving access to highly effective biologic therapeutics, while bending the cost curve downwards in a meaningful way, are shared goals. Chris Jones, Director of Venture Investments for the UVM Health Network, commented, "Investments into biosimilars are directly aligned with the mission of improving access to care and reducing costs. There are additional benefits that BioFactura has revealed, such as improved quality and emergency preparedness, and I predict we will be seeing a lot of interest in this space and in this company going forward." Charles Andres Ph.D., RAC, Associate Attorney specializing in Intellectual Property states, WS Investments, the investment fund of Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati, was pleased to participate in the round. About BioFactura, Inc. BioFactura, Inc. (Frederick MD) develops and commercializes high-value, highly similar biosimilars (i.e., follow-on biologics or generic biopharmaceuticals) using its patented StableFast Biomanufacturing Platform, the optimal system for bringing these drugs to market with faster, lower cost, superior-quality manufacture. For over 10 years, BioFactura has been advancing life-saving medicines from the research bench to the patient using its innovative drug development and manufacturing technologies. Current and past programs include biodefense drugs against smallpox and Ebola, novel medicines for cancer, and low-cost/high-quality biosimilars for autoimmune and infectious diseases. http://www.biofactura.com About University of Vermont Health Network Ventures University of Vermont Health Network Ventures is the highly selective, mission-led ventures arm of Vermonts 6-hospital healthcare system. http://www.uvmhealth.org About Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati is a law firm in the United States that specializes in business, securities, and intellectual property law. WSGR provides legal services to technology, life sciences, and growth enterprises worldwide, as well as the venture capital firms, private equity firms, and investment banks that finance them. The firm's clients operate in a range of technology industries, including the biotech, communications, digital media, energy, financial services, medical devices, mobile, semiconductor, and software sectors. http://www.wsgr.com SPiN Thoracic Navigation System Our new software applications and Always-On Tip Tracked Triple Needle Brush provide additional flexibility to help physicians reach and guide treatment for early stage cancer when patients have the best prognosis. Veran Medical continues its mission to help physicians diagnose and treat early stage lung cancer with the launch of two, new navigation software applications. These software applications are designed to help diagnose and guide treatment of small suspicious nodules likely to be early stage lung cancer. Veran is also debuting a new Always-On Tip Tracked Triple Needle Brush. The new software and new tip tracked instrument will be debuted at the annual American Thoracic Society meeting in Dallas, TX. Veran has innovated and improved its industry leading software, making it even simpler for physicians to use for both the SPiN Planning and SPiN Drive software applications to assist in the early diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer. New capabilities have also been added for integration of Cone Beam CT, PET scans, and the ability to display blood vessels during both planning and navigation. In addition, Veran has made a great advancement on physician and hospital support with the enhancement of vSupport Connect, an on-demand secure screen sharing for live physician directed clinical support. Veran Medical will also debut a new Always-On Tip Tracked Triple Needle Brush. This electromagnetic tip tracked tool will help physicians take more samples to assist in the early diagnosis of lung cancer. Since this new instrument will be tip tracked, physicians will not need to use fluoroscopy during sampling. The expanding adoption of lung cancer screening has given us a real opportunity to catch cancer earlier and save lives, but only if we can help physicians reach the smallest nodules, said Veran Medical CEO Jason Pesterfield. Our new software applications and Always-On Tip Tracked Triple Needle Brush provide additional flexibility to help physicians reach and guide treatment for early stage cancer when patients have the best prognosis. Verans next generation SPiN Thoracic Navigation System offers an industry leading precision thoracic guidance platform that allows lung specialists to seamlessly transition between a navigated endobronchial approach and a navigated transthoracic approach utilizing SPiN Perc, to help physicians diagnose lung cancer earlier. A published clinical study utilizing a multi-modality approach, including Verans SPiN System and SPiN Perc, have demonstrated a 92% diagnostic yield. Lung Cancer remains the number one cancer killer worldwide. 94 million current or former smokers remain at elevated risk in the U.S. alone. More than 8 million people in the U.S. currently meet the criteria for lung cancer screening. When suspicious lesions are discovered, patients need answers. But mounting clinical data suggests that a large percentage of the hundreds of thousands of bronchoscopies performed every year on suspected lung cancer patients are non-diagnosticdelaying potential lifesaving therapy. About Veran Medical Technologies Veran is a privately held medical device company headquartered in St. Louis, MO. The companys mission is to empower physicians to diagnose cancer earlier and to enable precision therapy to save lives. In the United States, lung cancer kills more people each year than breast, prostate, pancreatic and colon cancers combined. Veran has developed and commercialized an FDA cleared, next generation electromagnetic thoracic navigation platform called the SPiN Thoracic Navigation System. Verans breakthrough technology has been adopted by leading cancer centers throughout the United States. Veran provides physicians with a full line of bronchoscopic brushes, needles, forceps and steerable catheters with tiny electromagnetic sensors embedded in the tips for precise navigation. The combination of these proprietary Always-On Tip Tracked instruments and Verans exclusive patient respiratory gating technology enables physicians to accurately access lung nodules by accounting for nodule movement during patient breathing, a common challenge for lung specialists. Another challenge lung specialists face is that approximately 40% of lung nodules lie outside of an airway, making them very difficult to reach endobronchially, and traditionally requiring an additional procedure. Verans SPiN Thoracic Navigation System is the first and only FDA cleared technology that enables Pulmonologists or Thoracic Surgeons the ability to safely and accurately access lung nodules outside of an airway using SPiN Perc, a navigated transthoracic needle. With SPiN Perc, Veran combines endobronchial navigation with percutaneous navigation, allowing physicians to access all lung nodules in a single procedure, regardless of nodule size or location. This eliminates the cost and risk of unnecessary procedures and empowers physicians to provide a same day diagnosis for their patients. The early diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer has been proven to save lives. Do new Walmart Supercenters improve local economies? Does hemp regulations change the development of it? And how does FoodAPS help us understand consumption in the United States? These questions get answered in the Applied Economics Perspectives and Policy, Quarter 2 Podcast, which is now available. Charles (Chuck) Coutemanche from the University of Kentucky discusses how Walmart Supercenters help to lower all food prices surrounding their locations in Do Walmart Supercenters Improve Food Security. Courtemache says, our estimates imply is that every time the distance from the nearest Walmart Supercenter is cut in half, say from 10 miles away to 5 miles away, the rate of household food insecurity drops by 1.2 percentage points and the rate of children's food insecurity drops by 1.4 percentage points. Trey Malone from Michigan State University talks about the new comings of hemp production in America in the article Help in the United States: A Case Study of Regulatory Path Dependence. He said that, about a third of Americans think that hemp and marijuana are the same thing. And Elina Page with the United States Department of Agriculture explores the results from a recent survey in the article, The National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey: Innovations in Research Insight, She states that the, households reported foods from food at home retailers, such as superstores, grocery stores and farmer's markets, from food away from home establishments such as restaurants, fast food locations and schools, and also foods obtained for free, for example, from friends and family, from work or from food pantries and community centers." Listen to the AEPP Quarter 2 podcast on iTunes. ABOUT AAEA: Established in 1910, the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA) is the leading professional association for agricultural and applied economists, with 2,500 members in more than 60 countries. Members of the AAEA work in academic or government institutions as well as in industry and not-for-profit organizations, and engage in a variety of research, teaching, and outreach activities in the areas of agriculture, the environment, food, health, and international development. The AAEA publishes two journals, the American Journal of Agricultural Economics and Applied Economic Perspectives & Policy, as well as the online magazine Choices. To learn more, visit http://www.aaea.org. When it comes to filing a lawsuit having a specialist can be the difference between collecting your case and ending up with an expensive judgment that you can do nothing with. When a company is forced to file a lawsuit to collect the funds that are owed to them their first choice is often to use theirs in house counsel or their general practice attorney. A lot of this decision is based on the comfortability and familiarity with working with someone they know. While general practice attorneys do have a purpose much like general practice doctors, engaging in litigation to collect a debt is a process that should be handled by a specialist. Attorneys that practice solely in debt collections and commercial litigation hold an advantage over full-service attorneys in that they have much more experience in these particular cases. A full-service firm may only devote 10% of their time to collection files while the rest is split up between criminal, family and probate matters. When an attorney that specializes in collections receives a case from a collection agency, you will also be able to leverage the collection agency's placement volume so that you can litigate on a contingency basis instead of paying $300.00 to $500.00 an hour to an attorney. On top of the benefits in cost and experience, using a collection agency to litigate a case through affiliate counsel also ensures that the attorney handling your case is knowledgeable about the statutes, case law, and rules in the court where your case will be filed. The attorney will also have relationships built with the judges, court officers, process servers and marshals that will be important for your case to move quickly and effectively through the arduous court process. In the end it really all comes down to experience. When you feel sick you see a full-service doctor, when you need heart surgery you see a cardiac surgeon. When it comes to filing a lawsuit having a specialist can be the difference between collecting your case and ending up with an expensive judgment that you can do nothing with. AccountsReceivable.com works with a network of over 500 attorneys throughout the United States and all over the world. When a collection claim is recommended for litigation, AccountsReceivable.com will only utilize attorneys that are experienced and effective. In fact, every attorney AccountsReceivable.com utilizes has a professional service bond guaranteeing only the highest level of performance. AccountsReceivable.com can be reached online at - AccountsReceivable.com or by phone at (321) 233-4211. Wilco, an agricultural cooperative serving farmers and customers in Oregon and Washington, announced that it has donated more than $1 million to the FFA organizations in the two states it serves through its FFA Forever campaign, launched in 2011. The funds represent donations from the cooperative, its employees, its customers and its vendors, garnered through the campaigns multiple annual initiatives: Silent Auction at the co-ops Annual Member Meeting featuring products from vendors and other donations; in 2019, the auction raised $10,000 Gift card program, through which Wilco coordinates an art contest for FFA students and prints the winning design on store gift cards with 10% of those gift card purchases going to FFA FFA Month in August, when vendors donate to receive point-of-purchase advertising in Wilco Stores and offer special promotions such as a donation made for every item purchased Cash register donations during FFA Month, when Wilco matches donations made by customers at all of its 20 stores, up to $25,000; in 2018, donations totaled $85,000 Employee vacation time donation, through which Wilco donates the monetary equivalent to the non-profit of the employees choice, many of whom choose FFA; in 2018, this FFA donation was nearly $12,000 Weve really looked for creative ways to engage and energize people to donate to the FFA cause, so that everyone can participate in supporting this important youth leadership organization, said TJ Colson, Wilcos Director of Store Operations who also sits on the Oregon FFA Foundation board. We recognize that FFA is grooming our future farmers, customers, employees and voters, so we want to do all we can to contribute to their personal and professional development. The majority of the money raised and donated by Wilco is delivered to the state organizations at their annual conventions, where Wilco also exhibits. In March 2019, for example, Wilco presented a check for $135,000 to Oregon FFA as its Platinum level sponsor. Many funds are earmarked for distribution to individual chapters via grants, applications for which are reviewed by a Wilco employee Grant Funding Board. We focus on funding projects that help sustain the chapters long term, projects that reach as many students as possible like building a green house or revitalizing a chapter land lab, said Nicole Anderson, Wilco Marketing and Communications Manager who sits on the Grant Funding Board and coordinates many of the FFA Forever campaign activities. Employee participation in FFA Forever has been comprehensive, with all of the cooperatives 900 employees participating. Our team is an engaged group, and many of them were involved in FFA as students themselves, or have children involved now, said Anderson. They recognize the value FFA delivers to the individual student participants as well as the broader community and the future of agriculture, and theyre excited each year about our activities. Wilcos support for FFA extends beyond financial donations: the cooperative allows local FFA chapters to hold fundraising events at their stores, participates in the annual Food Drive in conjunction with Les Schwab Tires, and discounts supplies purchased by FFA chapters, delivering additional financial value. Its a great privilege and honor to work for a company that believes so deeply in its values that it is willing to commit to this level of community support, which is a central tenet of Wilco as a cooperative, said Colson. ABOUT WILCO COOPERATIVE Wilco is a farmer-owned cooperative headquartered in Mt. Angel, Oregon, with roots that go back to the 1930s. Since then, Wilco has evolved into the Northwests largest and most sophisticated ag supply cooperative, and today serves the unique needs of over 500,000 customers with a member base of over 3,000 strong. Wilco delivers three main service lines to support these members: hazelnut processing and marketing, bulk fuels and the farm stores, which are open to the public. Wilco is also part of the Valley Agronomics joint venture and is committed to delivering on its core values and supporting communities, with a focus on growth and innovation in supplying todays agricultural needs. To learn more, visit the website at http://www.wilco.coop. If you are new to iQ you can schedule a demo and learn more about this opportunity. PSFK iQ - Where Innovators Turn for Research. Our professional-grade research platform is designed specifically for Retail and CX leaders who want to know whats next. Whether youre staying current on trends or need a real-time research partner to help you get ahead, count on PSFK iQ to deliver the info you need to make your next move. Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden this week announced that Richard Ford will receive the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction during the 2019 Library of Congress National Book Festival, set for Aug. 31 2019. Hayden selected Ford based on nominations from more than 60 distinguished literary figures, including former winners of the prize. [Ford] has been called our Babe Ruth of novelists, and there is good reason why, Hayden said, in a release announcing the prize. He is quintessentially American, profoundly humane, meticulous in his craft, daring on the field, and he hits it consistently out of the park." Fords seven novels include The Sportswriter, the first of the Bascombe Trilogy, Independence Day, the first novel to win both the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award, and Canada, which won the American Library Association's 2013 Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction. He has also published three short story collections, the New York Times bestselling novella collection Let Me Be Frank with You, and a memoir, Between Them: Remembering My Parents. The Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction is one of the Librarys most prestigious awards, honoring "an American literary writer whose body of work is distinguished not only for its mastery of the art but also for its originality of thought and imagination." The good fortune of being given this prizeeven apart from its private encouragementis to be allowed to participate in what Ive always taken to be the Library's great achievement: to encourage literacy, to advocate for the primacy of the literary arts and to draw closer to the needs of readers, Ford said, in a statement. The Library of Congress' Prize for American Fiction makes me feelaccurately or notwhat most novelists would like to feel, which is useful to our country's conversation with the world. Editor's Note: With BookExpo and ALA just weeks away, The Week in Libraries column will be on a brief hiatus as we devote our energies to covering these events. The column will return with the June 14 issue of PW Preview for Librarians. Reserve Reading The 2019 Library of Congress National Book Festival is shaping up to be a great event. Last week, the Library of Congress announced that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will be among the featured speakers, along with dozens of best-selling authors, novelists, historians, poets and childrens writers. Mark your calendars: this years festival will be held Saturday, Aug. 31, from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. Are you ready for the 2020 census? The ALA this week released the Libraries Guide to the 2020 Census, a new resource to help prepare libraries. With support from ALAs 2020 Census Library Outreach and Education Task Force, ALA teamed with the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality to develop the Guide, which includes basic information about the census process; highlights of new components in the 2020 Census, including an online response option; an FAQ; a timeline of key Census dates; and contact information and links to additional resources. In addition to the 18-page guide, ALA will also continue to add resources to its online census page. And, if you're headed to Washington D.C. for the ALA Annual Conference, a panel of experts will discuss the Guide and census topics in a session on Sunday, June 23, at 9 a.m. in room 145B of the Washington Convention Center. From The New York Times, Michael Kimmelman has a great piece explaining why outgoing Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's strategy of "co-locating" branch libraries in housing units across the city was more than just smart politics. "[C]o-location was also just plain good urban planning. In cities across the country, branch libraries, which futurologists not long ago predicted would be made obsolete by technology, have instead morphed into indispensable and bustling neighborhood centers and cultural incubators, offering music lessons, employment advice, citizenship training, entrepreneurship classes and English-as-a-second-language instruction. They are places with computers and free broadband access." From Library Journal, a nice interview with Cuyahoga Country Public Library director (and, PW columnist) Sari Feldman as she prepares to retire from CCPL this summer. "Ive been a librarian for over 40 years. Its been four amazing decades. Ive seen an incredible amount of change. I started my career without computersso that alone tells a big story." Also from Library Journal this week, the 2019 Textbook Affordability Survey. "Two-thirds of the libraries surveyed agreed that textbook affordability is a major concern for their institution, and nearly all95 percentbelieve that its a major concern for students." From Science, an interesting take on whether "green" open access is a viable path forward for open access. "Some publishers fear they wouldn't earn enough through author fees to remain financially viable. So, according to John Sack, founding director of HighWire in Los Gatos, California, which provides web hosting for nonprofit scientific publishers, many have warmed to another compliance option: 'green' open access." Butter churns? Pickleball? Yahoo has a fun list of 200 "random" things you can borrow from a local library. The list is fun to peruse, but it's actually quite an achievement, considering each item on the list actually links to the library lending the item. On the free speech front, via the Washington Post, an interesting article about the U.S. decision not to sign on to a global call to combat extremism online, featuring insight from Cornell law professor (and PW contributor) James Grimmelmann. Its hard to take seriously this administrations criticism of extremist content, but it's probably for the best that the United States didnt sign, Grimmelmann said. "The government ought to do its encouraging through laws that give platforms and users clear notice of what theyre allowed to do, not through vague exhortations that can easily turn into veiled threats. From Columbia News, the Obama Foundation has selected the Columbia Center for Oral History Research to produce the official oral history of Barack Obamas presidency. And this sounds really cool: Via Untapped Cities, a look at a 'Sorted Library' in New York City's DUMBO neighborhood. The overall vision is to have a large space...with about 12 or 13 rooms that are this size, and to showcase the personal collections of famous creatives. Christina Lauren's The Unhoneymooners, a dazzling standalone contemporary romance, is a hilarious comedy of coincidences. Olive Torres is a notoriously unlucky woman, but her luck seems to change after her twin sister Amelias wedding ends with almost everyone sick from food poisoning. The only ones who dodged it are Olive and Ethan Thomas, the brother of Amelias new husband. Olive and Ethan cant stand each other, and when Amelia insists that the two of them enjoy the prebooked Hawaiian honeymoon, which would be wasted on the unwell newlyweds, Olive is sure this will be the worst vacation ever. Instead, she finds herself having fun and rethinking her enmity with Ethan, who slowly reveals himself to be a genuinely decent guy. Lauren brilliantly wields familiar rom-com tropesenemies to lovers, fake marriage, even height differencesto craft a delightful romance that will have readers hanging on every word. Christina Lauren is the pen name of Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings, who share some of their favorite summer romance novels. There are a million reasons to look forward to summerwarm weather, vacation, BBQs with friends, a sun that sets late in the eveningbut lets be totally honest here: summer means long days spent ignoring everyone and getting lost in a book. If youre anything like us, theres absolutely nothing better than finding that perfectly engrossing read to spend a warm, breezy day with. Here are some of our absolute favorite romantic, summer reads. 1. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas If youre among the handful of people who hasnt had this series pushed in your face, then youre lucky because you still have the action, suspense, and ridiculously hot series to read for the very first time. We envy you. In this first book in the series, Maas re-stages Beauty and the Beast in a world of the Fae, but the series very quickly becomes something else entirely, and if you think you know whats going to happen at each bend in the road, we promise you dont. The romance in this is so smoking hot that it even made us blush, and the story is so addicting that, on a two-week road trip through Europe, Lauren managed to barely look up, reading the entire, enormous series in one go. 2. The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker Okay, honesty time here: this book OWNS US. If you havent had a chance to read it yet, you must get on it. In this book, Calla Fletcherwho left her small Alaskan frontier town when she was only a toddlerreturns to the wilderness to see her father, who doesnt have long to live. The setting is rustic, and its not a world that Calla knows at all anymore. Whats worse is the presence of Jonah, the shaggy, sarcastic pilot who is basically waiting for her to admit she cant hack it in the Alaskan wilderness so he can fly her home. But over time, she and Jonah find connection... and maybe more. This book is beautiful, yall, and we are jealous you get to read it for the first time. 3. Tangled by Emma Chase This was our introduction to the hilarious and talented author, and if youre looking for a wise-cracking narrator and scenes hot enough to put your air conditioning to the test, just trust us on this one. It will make you laugh out loud. Drews narration makes this book both naughty and sweet, and it is the perfect read for a warm day at the beach or a chilly night by a campfire. 4. One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid If you love womens fiction, and want your brain and heart to be hijacked for a leisurely summer day, this is the book to get. This is the story of Emma, who loses her husband Jesse in a tragic accident. When she moves home in an attempt to move on from her loss, she runs into an old friend, Sam, and over time the two begin to fall in love. By now youve probably guessed that Jesse returns, but although we were scared to read this story because we like our hearts and dont want to have them broken, we were delighted with how TJR carefully crafted the triangle. This book was everything we wanted it to be; both heartbreaking and delightful in equal, exquisite ways. 5. The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary Sometimes there are books well read and sit back and whine, Why didnt we think of this idea? This is that book for us. But to be fair, we are so glad that OLeary wrote it, because it means that we got to sit down and just enjoy it as a reader. This is the story of Tiffy and Leon, who share a flatLeon works nights and Tiffy works daysand who go from strangers, to still-strangers-but-flatmates, to more in the most delightful and original way imaginable. We were genuinely tickled by this book; we loved the concept, the writing, the characters. This is such a great book to take on vacation and read in one go with your toes dug into the warm sand. 6. Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev Sonalis most recent book is a new favorite, and it has it allgender swapped P&P themes, food, family, and romance. We adored Trisha and DJ. We loved that shes the Darcyterse, restrained, haughtyand hes the Elizabeth, but more of a gentle soul sweetheart. We adored the mouth-watering descriptions of food, and the unbending family loyalty throughout. Truly a feel-good read, with lush writing and a full and loveable cast of characters, this book will be your favorite thing you pack for that weekend getaway. 7. Geekerella by Ashley Poston Do you love romance? Are you a nerd? Do you love fandom? If youve answered yes to these questions and havent read Geekerella yet, you are going to love this book obsessively. It has fandom, and cons, and cosplay, and SWOONS. Honestly, what else can you ask for during the San Diego Comic Con season? This is the pinnacle of adorable nerd culture romance, and we are here for it. 8. The King's Man by Elizabeth Kingston We werent sure this would be our thing, because it takes place in the 13th century and we both worried the story or language would lose us but wow, we were w r o n g. Ranulf Ombrier is the former assassin of the king. Gwenllian of Ruardean is the widow of one of Ombriers victims. But when he ends up near death in her town in Wales, Gwenllian finds herself helping her enemy heal. But by helping him, Gwenllian creates problems for herself that turn the book into a masterful political thriller as well as an engrossing and smoking romance. This was honestly such a fun read, we cant wait to dive into the rest of the series. 9. Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat We (and many others) have been yelling about this series for a few years now, but if you havent read it, dig into this first in the series, Captive Prince. Damianos is a prince and hero to his people, but when his half-brother overthrows their home country of Akielos, Damen is sold as a slave to Prince Laurent of Vere. Vere is the enemy of Akielos, and Damen needs to keep his identity a secret from Laurent, who would murder him on the spot if he knew who he was. Although Damen is now only a slave, and Laurent is cruel and cold, both have the same goal in mind: to take overor take backAkielos. If you like your reads to be both brilliant and edgy, this serieswhere every book is even better than the lastis a great pick for you. 10. Blue Is the Warmest Color by Julie Maroh This graphic novel isnt just beautifully crafted, the story is sensual and gripping. It is a wonderful coming-of-age tale about queer identity, family, and growing up, and if youve ever wanted to read a graphic novel but find yourself lost in all the action and adventure options, this book is a perfect way to enter the graphic novel romance genre. 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, May 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aura Health Inc. (the Company or Aura) (CSE:BUZZ) is pleased to announce that it has closed the previously announced (May 8, 2019) acquisition of an 80% equity interest in Pharmadrug Production GmbH (Pharmadrug) for total consideration of 5.0 million. Pharmadrug is a cash flow positive German pharmaceutical distribution company with over 20 years of operating history and a Schedule I European Union narcotics license allowing for the distribution of medical cannabis to pharmacies in Germany and throughout the Eurozone as markets become legalized. Pharmadrug has supply agreements in place with Bedrocan International B.V., Canadian Licensed Producers, and is currently supplying medical cannabis to pharmacies in Germany. Daniel Cohen, CEO of Aura, commented, This is a historic day in the early life of Aura, having closed on our first flagship transaction. This acquisition establishes Aura in the European market as a medical cannabis supplier in Germany and opens doors to opportunities throughout the rest of the continent. Pharmadrug is a strong strategic fit with our Israel cultivation project and the opening of the Israeli export law. We now have a strategic avenue to export our own medical cannabis from Israel into the European Union. In addition, we plan to significantly grow the Pharmadrug business through additional supply agreements with other Canadian, Israeli, and European LPs. The Company has satisfied the escrow release conditions pursuant to its previously announced private placement of a cumulative amount of 21,545,454 subscription receipts (each, a Subscription Receipt) at a price of $0.22 per Subscription Receipt for gross proceeds of approximately $4.74 million and has successfully drawn $3 million from its previously announced bridge facility (see the press release issued by Aura on May 8, 2019). Resignation of Mr. Freudman Aura also announces that Joel Freudman has resigned as a director in order to focus on his other business ventures. Aura thanks Mr. Freudman for his corporate governance advice while also helping the Company through its first audit as a publicly-traded company. The Company is in discussions with other qualified candidates to replace Mr. Freudman and will be making an announcement once such replacement has been confirmed. About Aura Health Inc. Aura Health is building an international network of vertically integrated cannabis assets. Through an established product line of cannabis-infused edible products and oil extracts, Aura is dedicated to building a high margin downstream business in the medical marijuana sector. The Company owns 80% of Pharmadrug, a German medical cannabis and pharmaceutical distributor, as well as debt that converts to 54% equity of HolyCanna, a cultivation and nursery license holder in Israel. Aura also has a binding letter of intent to purchase CannabiSendak, the builder of a network of high-profile dispensaries in Israel. For further information, please contact: Daniel Cohen, CEO Aura Health Inc. (647) 202-1824 David Posner, Chairman Aura Health Inc. (647) 985-6727 Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information: THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED NOR DOES IT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. This news release may contain forward-looking statements and information based on current expectations. These statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results of Pharmadrug or Aura. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those implied by such statements. Such statements include reference to Auras expansion through Europe, and the entering into of additional supply agreements, among others. There is no certainty that any of these events will occur. Although such statements are based on management's reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that such assumptions will prove to be correct. We assume no responsibility to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. The Company's securities have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or applicable state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold to, or for the account or benefit of, persons in the United States or "U.S. Persons", as such term is defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act, absent registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in the United States or any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Additionally, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information contained herein, such as, but not limited to dependence on obtaining regulatory approvals, owning interests in companies or projects that are engaged in activities currently considered illegal under United States federal law; changes in laws; limited operating history, reliance on management, requirements for additional financing, competition, hindering market growth; regulatory and political change. All forward-looking information herein is qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement, and the Company disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking information or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments, except as required by law. Published on: 17 May 2019 Prime Minister of Malta, Joseph Muscat Prime Minister of Malta, Joseph Muscat The four-storey 8,100 square metre building is situated on the island of Gozo in Malta, next to Gozo General Hospital, and will feature a 150 seat auditorium, a lecture hall for 125 students, two computer labs (each with capacity for 70 students), a 250 square metre library, and a significant number of skills and simulation suites, classrooms, boardrooms and offices. At the site visit, the Prime Minister of Malta, Joseph Muscat, said: In 2016, the Maltese Government gave its commitment to Queen Mary University of London, and its medical school, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, that we would build and provide a state-of-the-art medical school and Anatomy Centre that would be unique in the Mediterranean. It is with great pleasure that Im here with you to witness the astonishing advancement in the works being carried out here at the medical school on Gozo. Professor Anthony Warrens and Prime Minister of Malta, Joseph Muscat Professor Anthony Warrens and Prime Minister of Malta, Joseph Muscat Professor Anthony Warrens, Dean for Education at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, said: With the support and dedication of some outstanding individuals we are now standing in front of a very impressive four-storey state-of-the-art building for our medical school, on the verge of being ready to accept our third cohort of students. Weve already been delivering a high-quality educational programme, which in combination with our fantastic new Anatomy Centre, has been giving our students the very best start to their medical careers and helping to train the next generation of doctors. When our new campus is complete, we will be ready to develop new educational opportunities in an ever broadening range of areas beyond medicine, and build innovative collaborations here in Malta with other academic colleagues. Professor Anthony Warrens, Dean for Education at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry Professor Anthony Warrens, Dean for Education at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry The Anatomy Centre, which opened in December 2018, is currently used by Year 1 and Year 2 medical students undertaking their MB BS medical degree with Queen Mary University of London in Gozo. The Centre includes a dedicated area for teaching anatomy through dissection and is equipped with facilities for clinical imaging, as well as containing office accommodation for academic, technical and administrative staff. The main medical school building on the Gozo General Hospital campus is due to be complete in 2019. More information Welcome to Railway Gazette. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. By continuing to browse this site you are agreeing to our use of these cookies. You can learn more about the cookies we use here. OK The advocate group for gender diversity within the broadcast manufacturing and services sector, Rise, has gained broadcaster Sky as the latest company to come on board as a sponsor for its mentoring programme. Skys broadcast engineering department will join Rise as a Gold Level sponsor and the company joins other several other Rise industry sponsors including Avid , Imagen, Clear-Com, NEP, DPP, Pixelogic and B ubble Agency. There are too few women working in broadcast engineering. Its a small sector but with lots of opportunities and we need to inspire more young women and girls into broadcast roles, commented Kat Lancaster, graphics and data solutions support manager at Sky. Im proud that Sky is fully committed to challenging the status quo and working with Rise to tackle the challenge. Rise director Carrie Wootten (right in picture) added: We are absolutely delighted that Sky is joining us as a sponsor for our award-winning mentoring programme. When we first began this initiative in late 2017 we knew the power of mentoring and the difference that can be made in the lives of both the mentees and mentors, but the amount of recognition and support that has been shown this year is outstanding. I look forward to see where this new sponsorship with Sky takes Rise and how the programme continues to grow with their support, and the continued support of all our other industry sponsors.At its first joint event on 15 May focused on women in television engineering at Sky, and also hosted a panel about women in broadcast technology. Stringr, an ad marketplace that allows media organisations to buy video footage from both amateur and professional videographers, has expanded into the United Kingdom. Through this expansion, UK-based broadcasters, publishers and brands can source, edit and publish custom footage from 80,000+ videographers across the globe.Since launching in Britain, Stringr said that it has recruited 3,000 local videographers across major cities and remote areas. Later this year, Stringr plans to launch similar recruitment efforts across the European continent, it said.Stringr helps the largest media organizations in the US source custom video , said Lindsay Stewart, CEO and co-founder of Stringr. Offering the same service of getting video fast and at a scalable price point to companies in the UK is a natural extension of what we already do, and a part of our larger plan to roll out to the rest of Europe over the next year.Professional and amateur videographers can contribute to Stringrs content library, which is made available to media organisations for B-roll purposes and the like. Stringr also recently announced the availability of its livestreaming function. Choo! Choo! On May 10, 1869, just four years after the end of the Civil War, a golden spike was driven into the ground at Promontory Point, Utah, in order celebrate the completion of the republics first transcontinental railroad. Today, in May of 2019, the American railroad system is recognized as the best in the world, at least when it comes to efficiency in regards to moving freight, but this wasnt always the case. Here are the 10 Railroads that Made America Great. 10. Union Pacific Railroad. The Union Pacific was responsible for laying the track from Omaha to Promontory Point. The men who worked for the company had to build a railroad through the Rocky Mountains and the Uintas. The railroad was a government charter, so it faced severe operational difficulties from the get-go. Still, Washington managed to pour enough money into the Union Pacific that it achieved its goal. By the time the railroad dissolved in 1880 (less than 20 years after its founding), the Union Pacific had united the coasts of the American republic. 9. The Central Pacific Railroad was the line that came from the west in order to meet the Union Pacific in Utah. The CPs line started in Sacramento and had to be built through the Sierra Nevadas and the high-altitude desert of the Great Basin. The Central Pacific was also a government charter, and therefore also faced stiff operational challenges, including corruption and labor strife. The Central Pacific Railroad is probably most famous for the Chinese laborers it hired to build its track. 8. Pennsylvania Railroad. A privately run railroad, the Pennsylvania Railroad was founded in 1846 in Philadelphia and grew into the largest corporation in the world by 1882. In 1946, 100 years after its founding, the famous railroad company reported its first loss. Ever. The Pennsylvania Railroad spread out from Philadelphia into Pittsburgh, Chicago, St. Louis, New York, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, the northern tip of Michigan and parts of West Virginia. In 1968, the Pennsylvania Railroad merged with a regional rival and ceased to exist. 7. Southern Pacific Railroad. Founded in 1865, the Southern Pacific line began in New Orleans and connected through Houston, Austin, San Antonio, El Paso, Phoenix, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, Portland, and Ogden-Salt Lake. The Southern Pacific was involved in a legal dispute with Santa Clara (Calif.) county in 1886, and the ruling from the case laid the foundation for present-day legal protections that corporations enjoy here in the United States. Southern Pacifics telecommunications network created Sprint (the phone company) and helped lay the groundwork for Americas fiber optic network. Plagued by financial problems, Southern Pacific is now part of the Union Pacific Railroad. 6. Buffalo Bayou, Brazos, and Colorado Railroad. The first operating railroad line in the great state of Texas, the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos, and Colorado (BBB&C) Railroad was supposed to go from Houston (where Buffalo Bayou is located) up to Austin and on through northern Texas to connect with ports along the Brazos and Colorado Rivers. The first segment was completed in 1853. All was going according to plan until the Civil War forced construction to halt, and when the Blue and the Gray finally stopped fighting, the BBB&C found itself in dire financial straits, eventually going broke during Reconstruction. The line was bought by another Texas company and instead of going north, to Austin, it continued west and connected Houston to San Antonio and, eventually, El Paso, where it connected to the much larger Southern Pacific Railroad and guaranteed that a transcontinental route through Texas would run west-east through southern Texas. Its now part of the Union Pacific family. 5. Santa Fe. The Santa Fe line was founded in 1859 to connect Topeka, Kan. with Santa Fe. That connection never happened, but thats what makes the Santa Fes history so great. (Today, by the way, the Santa Fe is part of the BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe) Railroad system, the largest in the United States.) The Santa Fe Railroad hustled. It built a network through the Rockies, built lines into Chicago and the Puget Sound, and even traded its rail lines at one point in time, opting to give up its track in Mexico for track in the San Joaquin Valley. 4. Northern Pacific Railroad. A government-sponsored enterprise from the start, the Northern Pacific was saddled with financial problems throughout its short lifespan. The railroad also achieved an amazing feat: building a transcontinental line from the Great Lakes to the Puget Sound. President Ulysses S. Grant drove in the final spike himself, in Montana, in 1873. The Northern Pacific was never able to compete with the privately financed railroads, and bankruptcies, labor violence, and corruption followed the line wherever it went. Still, the Northern Pacific survived in one form or another until 1970, when it was absorbed into the then Burlington Northern Railroad system, a private company now owned, indirectly, by Warren Buffet. 3. Western Pacific Railroad. There were actually two Western Pacific Railroads in American history. The first Western Pacific was responsible for building the westernmost portion of the transcontinental railroad, which started in San Jose and ended in Sacramento. In 1870, it was bought out by Central Pacific Railroad. The second Western Pacific Railroad was not even founded until 1903, well after the railroad system had linked the republic. The railroad became famous throughout the world as a leisure line (the California Zephyr was a part of WPs system). 2. Mobile & Ohio Railroad. Stretching from Mobile, Ala. to Columbus, Ken. (in the Ohio Valley), the M&O Railroad was completed just before the beginning of the Civil War, and was the longest railroad in the country operating under a single corporate charter. The M&O was used by the Confederate government liberally throughout the war, and because of that she was attacked often and had to be rebuilt almost from scratch after the war ended. The M&O also had to find a way to cover the $5 million that the Confederate government had borrowed from it. The railroad survived and even thrived for almost 80 years after the Civil War. The M&O operated under Southern Railways direction from early in the 20th century until 1940, when Southern sold its M&O bond to Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad. 1. The Great Northern Railway. A privately financed company, the Great Northern Railway has been the subject of much veneration in American libertarian circles. (The line was amazing. It began in Saint Paul and ended in Seattle.) American libertarians hold up James J. Hill (the founder and chief executive of GNR) and his corporate empire as an exemplar of liberty, but this is not quite true. Sure, the Great Northern Railway refused to get financing from Washington, but it sure received lots of other help from D.C., and Hill spent quite a bit of time with his friends on Capitol Hill. Most perniciously, the Great Northern Railway sought Washingtons help with land issues that the Native Americans, who had more clout up north due to a variety of factors, kept mucking up. With that being said, the Great Northern Railway did what no other line in American history has been able to do: build a transcontinental railroad system without a government charter. Further thoughts The superficial story of the railroads in the United States is focused on bringing the country together physically as well as spiritually and politically. Meh. Dig a little deeper and youll find out why American railroads are so popular in scientific and literary circles. The richer story to be told by the railroads describes rent-seeking in luscious detail. The railroads help to explain corruption in nominally democratic societies. The story of American railroads highlights the best and the worst of humanity itself. All aboard! MONTREAL and SARASOTA, Fla., May 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Intertape Polymer Group Inc. (TSX:ITP) (IPG) will host a webcast of its Investor Day event on Wednesday, May 22, 2019, from its manufacturing facility in Midland, North Carolina. The webcast of the invitation-only event will begin at approximately 11:45 a.m. Eastern Time and end at approximately 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The webcast will feature presentations by various members of IPGs senior management team. The main focus of the presentations will be IPGs methodologies and processes related to execution of its strategic initiatives in capital projects and the integration of business acquisitions as well as its continuous improvement culture. In addition, certain customers will share their background and experience in dealing with IPG. Investors and other interested parties will be able to access a live audio webcast, along with the presentation materials, from the Events and Presentations page in the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at www.itape.com. An archived replay of the webcast will be available for 30 days. About Intertape Polymer Group Inc. Intertape Polymer Group Inc. is a recognized leader in the development, manufacture and sale of a variety of paper and film based pressure-sensitive and water-activated tapes, polyethylene and specialized polyolefin films, protective packaging, engineered coated products and complementary packaging systems for industrial and retail use. Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec and Sarasota, Florida, the Company employs approximately 3,500 employees with operations in 30 locations, including 22 manufacturing facilities in North America, three in Asia and one in Europe. For more information about IPG, visit www.itape.com. Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale Buy real estate. Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale in US and Canada. Search Real Estate COMPANY REGULATORY ANNOUNCEMENT 17 May 2019 Result of Annual General Meeting At the Annual General Meeting of Irish Continental Group plc ("ICG" or the "Company") held today, Friday 17 May 2019, all resolutions proposed were passed on a show of hands. The full text of each resolution was included in the notice of the Annual General Meeting circulated to shareholders on 16 April 2019. Details of valid proxy appointments held by the Board are available on the Company's website www.icg.ie . The Board notes that a minority of shareholders who submitted proxy appointments directed voting against the advisory resolution on the directors' remuneration report. As part of ongoing engagement with shareholders ahead of the AGM, the Board received feedback from a number of shareholders and has a clear understanding of their views and expectations. The Board will build on past practice and continue its programme of engagement with shareholders on this and other matters in the period ahead. Copies of the above documents will be submitted to the Irish Stock Exchange and the UK National Storage Mechanism. These documents will therefore shortly be available for inspection at www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/NSM and at the following address: Companies Announcements Office Euronext Dublin 28 Anglesea Street Dublin 2 Tom Corcoran Company Secretary , We're sorry, this article is not currently available French English Paris, 17 May 2019 17h45 COFACE SA: Combined Shareholders Meeting of May 16, 2019 adopted all the proposed resolutions The Combined Shareholders General Meeting of COFACE SA was held on May 16, 2019 at the companys headquarters in Bois Colombes, and it was chaired by Mr. Francois RIAHI, Chairman of the Board of Directors. All the proposed resolutions were adopted by COFACE SAs shareholders, including the payment of a dividend of 0.79 per share for the 2018 financial year with the coupon date set at May 22, 2019, and the payment date at May 24, 2019. All documents related to this meeting are available on COFACE SA institutional website ( www.coface.com ) and more precisely under "Investors/General Assembly". The resolution voting results are on line at: http://www.coface.com/Investors/General-Assembly CONTACTS MEDIA RELATIONS Agency ComCorp Caroline PIERRON T. +33 (0)1 55 01 09 88 coface@comcorp.fr ANALYSTS / INVESTORS Thomas JACQUET T. +33 (0)1 49 02 12 58 thomas.jacquet@coface.com Benoit CHASTEL T. +33 (0)1 49 02 22 28 benoit.chastel@coface.com FINANCIAL CALENDAR 2019 (subject to change) H1-2019 results: 25 July 2019 (after market close) 9M-2019 results: 23 October 2019 (after market close) FINANCIAL INFORMATION This press release, as well as COFACE SAs integral regulatory information, can be found on the Groups website: http://www.coface.com/Investors For regulated information on Alternative Performance Measures (APM) please refer to our Interim Financial Report for S1-2018 and our 2018 Registration Document. Coface: for trade - Building business together 70 years of experience and the most finely meshed international network have made Coface a reference in credit insurance, risk management and the global economy. With the ambition to become the most agile, global trade credit insurance partner in the industry, Cofaces experts work to the beat of the world economy, supporting 50,000 clients in building successful, growing and dynamic businesses. The Groups services and solutions protect and help companies take credit decisions to improve their ability to sell on both their domestic and export markets. In 2018, Coface employed ~4,100 people and registered turnover of 1.4 billion. www,coface,com COFACE SA is quoted in Compartment A of Euronext Paris Code ISIN: FR0010667147 / Mnemonique : COFA DISCLAIMER - Certain declarations featured in this press release may contain forecasts that notably relate to future events, trends, projects or targets. By nature, these forecasts include identified or unidentified risks and uncertainties, and may be affected by many factors likely to give rise to a significant discrepancy between the real results and those stated in these declarations. Please refer to chapter 5 Main risk factors and their management within the Group of the Coface Group's 2018 Registration Document filed with AMF on 3 April 2019 under the number No. D.19-0261 in order to obtain a description of certain major factors, risks and uncertainties likely to influence the Coface Group's businesses. The Coface Group disclaims any intention or obligation to publish an update of these forecasts, or provide new information on future events or any other circumstance. Attachment THIS ANNOUNCEMENT (INCLUDING THE APPENDIX) AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS RESTRICTED AND IS NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, BY ANY MEANS OR MEDIA, IN OR INTO OR FROM THE UNITED STATES (OR TO ANY US PERSONS), AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, JAPAN OR THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA, OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT ITSELF CONSTITUTE A PROSPECTUS OR OFFERING MEMORANDUM NOR DOES IT CONSTITUTE AN ADMISSION DOCUMENT PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE AIM RULES OR EURONEXT GROWTH RULES OR FORM PART OF ANY OFFER, RECOMMENDATION, INVITATION TO SELL OR ISSUE, OR ANY SOLICITATION OF ANY OFFER TO PURCHASE OR SUBSCRIBE FOR, ANY SECURITIES IN THE CAPITAL OF THE COMPANY 17 May 2019 Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd. Results of Placing Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd. ("Falcon" or the "Company") (AIM: FOG, Euronext Growth: FAC, TSXV: FO.V), the international oil and gas company engaged in the exploration and development of unconventional oil and gas assets, is pleased to confirm the results of the proposed Placing announced by the Company on 17 May 2019. The Company can confirm that the Bookbuild has been completed and Falcon has, conditionally, raised gross proceeds of c. 7 million (c.US$9 million) through the Placing, with Placees agreeing to subscribe for a total of 50,543,242 Placing Shares at a Placing Price of 0.14 per Placing Share. The net proceeds of the Placing will primarily be used to fund Falcons share of estimated capital expenditure in respect of the drilling and hydraulic fracture stimulation of four horizontal wells in the Beetaloo Sub-basin, Australia. Application for Admission The Placing is conditional on the admission of the Placing Shares to trading on Euronext Growth and AIM. Conditional approval to trading of the Placing Shares on the TSX Venture Exchange Market was received by the Company on 16 May 2019. It is expected that settlement of the Placing Shares will occur, Admission will become effective and that dealings in the Placing Shares will commence on Euronext Growth and AIM at 8.00 a.m. on 22 May 2019. The Placing Shares will not trade on the TSX Venture Exchange Market until the date that is four months and a day after the day of issuance. The Placing Shares will, when issued, be subject to the articles of association of the Company and credited as full paid and will rank pari passu in all respects with the existing issued Common Shares, including the right to receive dividends and other distributions declared, made or paid in respect of such Common Shares after the date of issues of the Placing Shares. The Companys total issued share capital following Admission will be 981,847,425 Common Shares. The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014.Upon the publication of this Announcement this inside information is now considered to be within the public domain. Capitalised terms not defined in this announcement shall have the meaning given to them in the announcement made by the Company at 7.00 a.m. on 17 May 2019. Phillip OQuigley, Chief Executive Officer of Falcon, said: Falcon is delighted with the proposed placing to conditionally raise c.US$9 million. This placing will see the Company being adequately funded through the next c.US$100m of capital expenditure on the Beetaloo project. Preparations continue for the re-commencement of drilling of Stage 2 in mid-2019, which will include the drilling and hydraulic fracture stimulation of two horizontal wells, and we look forward to updating the market in due course. For further information on the Announcement, please contact: Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd +353 1 676 8702 Phillip OQuigley Anne Flynn Davy (Joint Bookrunner, Nominated Adviser and Euronext Growth Advisor) +353 1 679 6363 John Frain Ronan Veale Barry Murphy RBC (Joint Bookrunner) +44 20 7653 4000 Matthew Coakes Martin Copeland Duncan Smith Jack Wood Cenkos (Joint Bookrunner) +44 (0)131 220 6939 Joe Nally Neil McDonald Derrick Lee About Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd Falcon is an international oil and gas company engaged in the exploration and development of unconventional oil and gas assets, with the current portfolio focused in Australia, South Africa and Hungary. Falcon is incorporated in British Columbia, Canada and headquartered in Dublin, Ireland with a technical team based in Budapest, Hungary. Falcon is listed on AIM, Euronext Growth and the TSX Venture Exchange. 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. IMPORTANT INFORMATION Davy, who is authorised and regulated in Ireland by the CBI, is acting as the Company's nominated adviser (pursuant to the AIM Rules for Nominated Advisers), Euronext Growth adviser (pursuant to the Euronext Growth Rules) and joint bookrunner to the Company. Davy is acting exclusively to the Company in connection with the Placing and no other person in connection with the Placing. Davy will not regard any other person as its customer or be responsible to any other person for providing the protections afforded to customers of Davy nor for providing advice in relation to the transactions and arrangements detailed in this Announcement for which the Company and the Directors are solely responsible. Davy has not authorised the contents of, or any part of, this Announcement and, without limiting the statutory rights of any recipient of this Announcement, no liability whatsoever is accepted by Davy for the accuracy of any information or opinions contained in this Announcement or for omissions of any material information for which it is not responsible. The responsibilities of Davy as the Company's (i) nominated adviser solely for the purposes of the AIM Rules for Nominated Advisers; and (ii) Euronext Growth adviser solely for the purpose of the Rules for Euronext Growth Advisers, are owed solely to the London Stock Exchange and Euronext Dublin respectively and are not owed to the Company or any Director or to any other person in respect of his decision to acquire Common Shares, or otherwise invest, in the Company in reliance on any parts of this Announcement. Cenkos, who is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the FCA, is acting as Joint Bookrunner to the Company. Cenkos is acting exclusively for the Company in connection with the Placing and no other person in connection with the Placing. Cenkos will not regard any other person as its customer or be responsible to any other person for providing the protections afforded to customers of Cenkos nor for providing advice in relation to the transactions and arrangements detailed in this Announcement for which the Company and the Directors are solely responsible. Cenkos has not authorised the contents of, or any part of, this Announcement and, without limiting the statutory rights of any person to whom this Announcement is issued, no liability whatsoever is accepted by Cenkos for the accuracy of any information or opinions contained in this Announcement or for the omission of any material information for which it is not responsible. RBC, who is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority ("PRA") and regulated in the United Kingdom by the FCA and the PRA, is acting as Joint Bookrunner to the Company. RBC is acting exclusively for the Company in connection with the Placing and no other person in connection with the Placing. RBC will not regard any other person as its customer or be responsible to any other person for providing the protections afforded to customers of RBC nor for providing advice in relation to the transactions and arrangements detailed in this Announcement for which the Company and the Directors are solely responsible. RBC has not authorised the contents of, or any part of, this Announcement and, without limiting the statutory rights of any person to whom this Announcement is issued, no liability whatsoever is accepted by RBC for the accuracy of any information or opinions contained in this Announcement or for the omission of any material information for which it is not responsible. This Announcement has been issued by, and is the sole responsibility of, the Company. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is or will be made as to, or in relation to, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by any Joint Bookrunner or by any of their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers or employees as to or in relation to, the accuracy or completeness of this Announcement or any other written or oral information made available to, or publicly available to, any interested party or its advisers, and any liability therefore is expressly disclaimed. The distribution of the Announcement and the offering of the Placing Shares in certain jurisdictions may be restricted or prohibited by law or regulation. Persons distributing the Announcement must satisfy themselves that it is lawful to do so. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No action has been taken by the Company or any of the Joint Bookrunners or any of their respective affiliates, agents, directors, officers or employees that would permit an offering of the Placing Shares or possession or distribution of the Announcement or any other offering or publicity material relating to such Placing Shares in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required. Persons into whose possession the Announcement comes are required by the Company and the Joint Bookrunners to inform themselves about, and to observe, such restrictions. Solely for the purposes of the product governance requirements contained within: (a) EU Directive 2014/65/EU on markets in financial instruments, as amended (MiFID II); (b) Articles 9 and 10 of Commission Delegated Directive (EU) 2017/593 supplementing MiFID II; and (c) local implementing measures (together, the MiFID II Product Governance Requirements), and disclaiming all and any liability, whether arising in tort, contract or otherwise, which any manufacturer (for the purposes of the MiFID II Product Governance Requirements) may otherwise have with respect thereto, the Placing Shares have been subject to a product approval process, which has determined that such securities are: (i) compatible with an end target market of retail investors and investors who meet the criteria of professional clients and eligible counterparties, each as defined in MiFID II; and (ii) eligible for distribution through all distribution channels as are permitted by MiFID II (the Target Market Assessment). Notwithstanding the Target Market Assessment, Placees should note that: the price of the Placing Shares may decline and investors could lose all or part of their investment; the Placing Shares offer no guaranteed income and no capital protection; and an investment in the Placing Shares is compatible only with investors who do not need a guaranteed income or capital protection, who (either alone or in conjunction with an appropriate financial or other adviser) are capable of evaluating the merits and risks of such an investment and who have sufficient resources to be able to bear any losses that may result therefrom. The Target Market Assessment is without prejudice to the requirements of any contractual, legal or regulatory selling restrictions in relation to the Placing Shares. Furthermore, it is noted that, notwithstanding the Target Market Assessment, the Joint Bookrunners will only procure investors who meet the criteria of professional clients and eligible counterparties. For the avoidance of doubt, the Target Market Assessment does not constitute: (a) an assessment of suitability or appropriateness for the purposes of MiFID II; or (b) a recommendation to any investor or group of investors to invest in, or purchase, or take any other action whatsoever with respect to the Placing Shares. Each distributor is responsible for undertaking its own Target Market Assessment in respect of the Placing Shares and determining appropriate distribution channels. The Announcement contains (or may contain) certain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Forward looking statements include statements relating to the following: (i) future capital expenditures, expenses, revenues, earnings, synergies, economic performance, indebtedness, financial condition, dividend policy, losses and future prospects; and (ii) business and management strategies and the expansion and growth of the Companys operations. These statements, which sometimes use words such as "anticipate", "believe", "intend", "estimate", "expect", "will", "may", "should", "plan", "target", "aim" and words of similar meaning or similar expressions or negatives therefor, reflect the Directors' beliefs and expectations and involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results and performance to differ materially from any expected future results or performance expressed or implied by any such forward-looking statement. Many of these risks and uncertainties relate to factors that are beyond the Companys ability to control or estimate precisely, such as (i) price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas; (ii) currency fluctuations; (iii) drilling and production results; (iv) reserves estimates; (v) loss of market share and industry competition; (vi) environmental and physical risks; (vii) risks associated with the identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and targets, and successful negotiation and completion of such transactions; (viii) legislative, fiscal and regulatory developments including regulatory measures addressing climate change; (ix) economic and financial market conditions in various countries and regions; (x) political risks, including the risks of renegotiation of the terms of contracts with governmental entities, delays or advancements in the approval of projects and delays in the reimbursement of shared costs; (xi) drilling wells is speculative, often involving significant costs that may be more than estimated and may not result in discoveries and (xii) changes in trading conditions. The Company cannot give any assurance that such forward-looking statements will prove to have been correct. Statements contained in the Announcement regarding past trends or activities should not be taken as a representation that such trends or activities will continue in the future. The information contained in the Announcement is subject to change without notice and, except as required by applicable law, neither the Joint Bookrunners nor the Company assumes any responsibility or obligation to update publicly or review any of the forward-looking statements contained herein whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of the Announcement. Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to be a forecast, projection or estimate of the future financial performance of the Company or any other person following the implementation of the Placing or otherwise. The price of Common Shares and the income from them may go down as well as up and investors may not get back the full amount invested on disposal of the Common Shares. Past performance is no guide to future performance and persons who require advice should consult an independent financial adviser. This Announcement is not for release, publication or distribution, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States, Australia, Japan or the Republic of South Africa or any jurisdiction into which the publication or distribution would be unlawful. Overseas Shareholders and any person (including, without limitation, nominees and trustees), who have a contractual or other legal obligation to forward this document to a jurisdiction outside the United Kingdom should seek appropriate advice before taking any action. This Announcement is for information purposes only and does not constitute, or form part of, a prospectus relating to the Company nor does it constitute or form part of any invitation or an offer to any person, or any public offer, to issue, sell, subscribe for, purchase or otherwise acquire shares or the solicitation of an offer to acquire, purchase or subscribe for any securities in the United States, Australia, Canada, the Republic of South Africa or Japan or any jurisdiction in which such offer or solicitation would be unlawful or require preparation of any prospectus or other offer documentation or would be unlawful prior to registration, exemption from registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No public offering of the Placing Shares is being made in any such jurisdiction. The securities referred to in this Announcement have not been nor will be registered under the Securities Act, and may not be offered, sold or transferred, directly or indirectly, within the United States except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act and the securities laws of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States. No public offering of the securities referred to in this Announcement is being made in the United States, United Kingdom or elsewhere. Neither the content of the Company's website (or any other website) nor the content of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Company's website (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this Announcement. EXCHANGE RATES Conversions from to US$ in this announcement have been conducted at an exchange rate of 1.2742 being the relevant exchange rate on 17 May 2019. 'Can any nation claim, guarantee that there will be no terror strike?' "In 1971, when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi defeated Pakistan, and our leader, A B Vajpayee, who was in the Opposition, praised her, and she was credited with the military victory, similarly, why can't Prime Minister Narendra Modi be credited for the Balakot air strike?" So says Home Minister Rajnath Singh in an interview to senior journalist Sheela Bhatt of NewsX. About the Pulwama terror attack on Modi's watch, Singh "Can any nation claim, guarantee that there will be no terror strike?" "Talking about Pulwama terror strike, no intelligence department anywhere can claim that its inputs will be perfect. They are also humans. You can't just condemn them. Our people are so good that we even alerted Sri Lanka about the Easter Sunday suicide attacks. Shouldn't we appreciate them," he asks. Watch below: Home Minister Rajnath Singh's interview to Sheela Bhatt of NewsX. Video Courtesy: NewsX and iTV Network. About the NDA government's Kashmir policy, he says, "I can claim with total honesty that no home minister has visited Kashmir as many times as I have. And we tried an experiment there (referring to the alliance with People's Democratic Party), but it didn't work. Sometimes things succeed, sometimes they don't." When asked about the possibilities that open up if the Bharatiya Janata Party secured around 200 seats in the Lok Sabha elections, Singh says, "The BJP will win more seats than we won in 2014. It cannot be ruled out that NDA will get two-thirds majority." '...vis-a-vis state or local elections,' Prannoy Roy and Dorab Sopariwala tell Uttaran Das Gupta. On the results night in 1977, Prannoy Roy and a few of his associates sat hunched over a radio in their barsati. 'AIR (All India Radio) was still operating under the fearsome shadow of the Emergency. As the results began to come in, AIR persisted in presenting a falsely 'balanced' picture,' writes senior journalist and NDTV founder Roy in his new book, The Verdict: Decoding India's Elections, co-authored with market researcher and pollster Dorab R Sopariwala. But even the limited information revealed to them 'that there was a sweep... in favour of the Janata Party'. Wine bottles were already being uncorked. The Emergency era, the lowest point in the history of the Indian democracy, was drawing to an end. In their book, Roy and Sopariwala claim that 1977 marked a shift from the 'pro-incumbency' phase of the previous 25 years -- the first general elections were held in 1951-52 -- to an 'anti-incumbency' phase. "Dorab coined the term," says Roy. "I don't remember," replies his co-author. The duo had analysed data from 78 state assembly elections for the first phase (1952 to 1977) and 93 elections for the second phase (1977 to 2002). 'Now, 2002 to 2019, we are in a 50-50 era, where governments have a 50 per cent chance of being re-elected, if they perform,' they write. The message from the voter is clear: 'Perform or perish'. When I meet Roy and Sopariwala (in March), everyone is eagerly waiting for the Election Commission to announce the dates for another election. I meet the duo at Roy's cabin in the NDTV office in south Delhi. The small L-shaped room has glass windows. From where I sit, I can look out at the parking lot of the building complex. On one wall of the cabin hangs a large, rectangular TV playing eight news channels. On another wall, directly over Roy's neat desk, hangs another large flat screen playing NDTV. Both are mute. On the desk is a small Indian flag. This book has taken a long time to write, claim the authors. "Like true Librans, we are perfect procrastinators," says Sopariwala. "But he (Roy) is the king of them all." Roy agrees. "If the elections were not around the corner, we would never have finished it," he says. "There were many late nights, staying up till 3-4 am to meet a deadline. I work best to a deadline." Roy adds that he had, however, finished his PhD in three years flat. "That was to a deadline, right?" I ask. Roy demurs: "In Delhi University, six-seven years was the norm." I am curious how Roy, who did a PhD in economics, and Sopariwala, a graduate from the London School of Economics, got involved in the profession of election journalism and poll forecasting. "It is such an aphrodisiac," says Sopariwala. "If you are in India, you are always watching elections. "I am deeply interested in politics, though not as a participant." Roy says he was not interested in politics. "But I am an election junky," he adds. The very nature of Indian democracy and how elections are conducted -- and consequently forecasting and analysing polls -- has seen a sea change over the past 40 years. "You could call this one (2019) the WhatsApp election," says Roy. At this point, Roy and I decide to go for some coffee; Sopariwala sticks to water. One of the most important factors for elections anywhere now is the Internet and social media. After the Cambridge Analytica scandal (2018), governments all over the world and even in India are demanding more accountability from social media giants such as Facebook and Twitter for information spread on their platforms. Sopariwala says this is not such a significant factor for a pollster. "We are trying to analyse the output (the vote), not the input," he says. "As long as the voter is not lying about whom they are going to vote for, how does it matter what influence is working on them?" Roy says the influence of the Internet is an added factor for those analysing elections. "The great thing about the Internet is anonymity," he says. This is a subject they also write about in their book: 'While anonymity is at the very core of theIinternet, in the 'rarest of rare cases' -- where the aim of the message is to create violence, killing or rape -- the anonymity needs to be sacrificed.' Roy adds that this power should reside only in the judiciary and not in the governments. If not the Internet, how influential are opinion poll or forecasts, like the ones that Roy and Sopariwala do? "Not in the least, according to the research done in this area," says Roy. "It has no effect on the voters. It affects the morale of party cadres." And how politically motivated are such polls? "I doubt that there is any political motivation to polls that are close to the election," says Roy. "If a pollster puts out wrong data, he would look like a fool when the results come out. There is in fact a 97 per cent strike rate among Indian pollsters in predicting the right winner." There are other challenges as well -- especially for the EC. "Mainly logistical," says Sopariwala. For instance, 21 million women are missing from the electoral roles. "That's more than the number of women in Jharkhand," says Roy. (According to the 2011 Census, Jharkhand has 16,057,819 women.) Roy and Sopariwala are arguing for any women who can prove that she is above 18 years old to be allowed to vote at her nearest booth. "And, then we can make a genuine effort to include many more of them in the next election," says Roy. The focus of this election will be women in villages, they claim, adding that since 1971, when the number of rural women turning out to vote was 8 per cent lower than their urban counterparts, there has been a complete reversal. Now, 6 per cent more women from villages come out to vote than urban women. So, who will come to power in 2019? This is a question I could not help but ask the two leading pollsters in the country. "Anyone who tries to predict an election is either a liar, a fool or a politician," says Sopariwala. "No one has the foggiest (idea)." Roy adds: "A swing of 3 per cent means 100 seats changing hands. Can you feel a swing of 3 per cent? The job of a journalist is to tell the story and the issues in an election, not to forecast. Leave that to the pollsters." In India, there are 29 elections being fought, not one, "this is not a 'national election. It's a 'federation-of-states' election", they add. "The Lok Sabha is becoming less and less important for the voter vis-a-vis state or local elections," says Roy. Rohit Shekhar's successful legal fight established the right of a child -- at any age -- to know his paternity, reports Veenu Sandhu. Photograph: Sandeep Pal for Rediff.com IMAGE: Narayan Dutt Tiwari married Ujjawala Sharma in 2014, mother of his biological son Rohit Shekhar Tiwari with whom he was involved in a six-year-old legal battle. Sometimes in a journalist's life come stories that haunt them for a long time. The life of Rohit Shekhar Tiwari, who died last month aged 40 (the police suspect he was murdered), is one such story. I had met him with his mother at their house in South Delhi in 2014, a day after Narayan Dutt Tiwari, a four-time chief minister and former Andhra Pradesh governor, finally publicly acknowledged him as his biological son. For six years, Rohit Shekhar had been fighting a paternity suit against the powerful politician. That late afternoon I had expected to meet a triumphant, or perhaps relieved, man. But the person who appeared in the living room in a dishevelled kurta-pyjama looked agonised, angry even. As he sat down, his mother tried to tidy his kurta and gently asked him to go and fix himself up. But he brushed her aside. "Let people accept me the way I am," he said. IMAGE: Narayan Dutt Tiwari with Rohit Shekhar Tiwari. This wasn't going to be an easy interview. I wasn't sure he would speak to me or answer my questions, which would, given the nature of the case, be intrusive. MBut he did. And over the next two hours or so, I found myself looking into the life of a child whose world was thrown into turmoil when a relative told him that the man whose name was on his birth certificate and school report cards was not his father. That his father was the 'uncle' who would religiously attend his birthdays (but not his elder brother's), who would bring presents for him (but not for his brother) -- and who would one day sever all ties with the family. As he grew older, the boy became aware of, and increasingly sensitive to, how unforgiving Indian society is towards women and children. Rohit Shekhar belonged to a privileged family. His mother taught at a college in Delhi and his maternal grandfather had been minister of state for defence. He lived in a posh area of the national capital. But none of this could cushion him from the harsh patriarchal system that measures a woman's status through a husband, and a child's legitimacy through a father. "We were viewed as a joke in the extended family," he said. The never-ending trauma took a toll on his heath and at 28, Rohit Shekhar suffered a simultaneous stroke and heart attack. But he survived, and fought on -- relentlessly. He finally won the prolonged paternity battle against Tiwari, who then legally accepted him as his son and, a few months later, married his mother. IMAGE: Rohit Shekhar and his mother Ujjawala Sharma at the centre for DNA fingerprinting and diagnostics laboratory in Hyderabad. Photograph: Snaps India In his short life, the man who went all out to get justice for himself and his mother set a precedent for other such cases, with the court ordering a DNA test to determine paternity and then seeing it through. When Tiwari repeatedly tried to evade it, saying it would be a violation of his right to privacy, the courts directed the use of police force to collect the DNA test sample if he did not comply. The Delhi high court also rejected his plea to keep his paternity test result a secret. The Delhi high court order of December 23, 2010, in the case held that 'a child has a right to know the truth of his/her origin' and that 'the right of a child to know his biological roots can be enforced through reliable scientific tests'. And also that 'Indian law casts an obligation upon a biological father to maintain his child and does not disregard rights of an illegitimate child to maintenance'. Rohit Shekhar's successful legal fight established the right of a child -- at any age -- to know his paternity. But it did not end there. A law graduate, he talked about filing a PIL to get words such as 'bastard', 'unchaste', 'keep' and 'concubine' removed from the legal lexicon. "These are derogatory towards the woman and the child," he said. "The child is innocent, it's the father who is illegitimate." The language in our legal system is such that it sometimes puts women and children at a disadvantage. So, while expressions such as 'child as a bastard' or 'mother as an unchaste woman' are not uncommon, no such pejorative term is used to describe men. Rohit Shekhar drew attention to this, again and again. "These words should be banned from the courtroom," he said. Perhaps our legal system, which rests on a bedrock of equality and which stood up for this tormented man, could consider his plea for a more just vocabulary. West Atlantic AB (publ) (the Company) hereby informs the bondholders in its outstanding bond loan with ISIN SE0007783840 (the Bonds) that it will make a mandatory partial prepayment of the Bonds at par in accordance with clause 11.7.1 of the terms and conditions of the Bonds (the Terms and Conditions) and as set out in the notice to written procedure concluded on 7 May 2019. Unless otherwise defined herein, all defined terms in the Terms and Conditions shall have the same meaning herein. The Company has received the Equity Contribution from LUSAT and will prepay the Bonds pro rata (with no payment of Interest). The prepayment will be made by way of reduction of the Nominal Amount (rounded off to a multiple of SEK 1.00). The prepayment will be made to those bondholders that holds Bonds on the Record Date being 24 May 2019 and payment will be made on 3 June 2019. The total amount to be repaid amounts to SEK 107,548,800. Following the partial prepayment, the total outstanding nominal amount under the Bonds will be SEK 742,451,200. In addition to the amortisation above, an amortisation will be made in the amount of EUR 25,000,000. Information about this forthcoming amortisation will be communicated as soon as it has been decided when the transfer of the Boeing and CRJ aircraft to LUSAT will be made. For further information, please contact: Goran Berglund, Chairman of the Board Telephone: +46 (0) 10 452 95 00 E-mail: goran.berglund@westatlantic.eu This information was submitted for publication at 20.00CEST on 17 May 2019. About West Atlantic The West Atlantic Group is one of the market leading providers of dedicated airfreight services to European NMO's and airfreight capacity to Global Integrators and Freight Forwarders. The Group has a well-established geographic network and operates a customised aircraft fleet, whereof a majority is wholly owned. West Atlantic was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden. Operations are performed all over Europe and 2018 West Atlantic had 461 employees. For 2018 West Atlantic reported revenues of MSEK 1,813 and EBITDA of MSEK 156. West Atlantic AB (publ) Org. no: 556503-6083, Box 5433, SE-402 29 Gothenburg, Sweden Investor Relations: investor.relations@westatlantic.eu Webpage: www.westatlantic.eu Attachment WATERBURY - Webster Bank has named Theresa A. Kozikowski as its director of Human Resources, Enabling Functions and Employee Relations. She reports to Chief Human Resources Officer Bernard Garrigues. Kozikowski is also responsible for Human Resources policies, risk and compliance and regulatory matters, and serves as the Human Resources liaison to the Operational Risk Management Committee and Legal. The key to Websters success is our people, said Garrigues. Teris global experience in organizational assessment and employee relations will enhance our strategic investments in banker engagement. Kozikowski comes to Webster from Edelman Financial Services, where she contemporized the HR function as the chief human resources officer. Prior to Edelman, she was managing director of human resources, U.S. and Canada, at Marsh & McLennan Companies, and she spent 16 years at General Electric in positions of increasing responsibility within the Human Resources function. Kozikowski earned both her bachelors degree in biology and an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). An active RPI alumna, she is a past president of the Rensselaer Alumni Association Board of Trustees and currently serves as co-chair of the Rensselaer Alumni Hall of Fame program. CHH Primary Care Winsted welcomes new physician TORRINGTON General practitioner Andaleeb Shariff, MD has joined the Charlotte Hungerford Hospital (CHH) Primary Care of Winsted. The practice has also added podiatry services at it location at 200 New Hartford Road in the Webster Bank building of the Stop and Shop plaza off Route 44 in Winsted. We are so pleased to welcome Dr. Shariff to our team of medical professionals and expand specialty care services with podiatry in the greater Winsted area. We are committed to providing personal and compassionate care in our communities for both acute and long-term health conditions, said Joan Palmer, Administrative Director, CHH Multi-Specialty Group, in a statement. A welcome Open House will be held on Friday, May 31, 2 to 5 p.m. at the office, featuring an opportunity to meet and greet Dr. Shariff and the practice staff. Free blood pressure screenings and refreshments will be offered. Andaleeb Andi Shariff, MD is a graduate of McGill University in Montreal, Canada and The University of Limerick in Limerick, Ireland. She completed her Family Medicine Residency at the University of Ottawa in Ottawa, Canada. She is board certified by The College of Family Physicians of Canada and the Medical Council of Canada. In addition to family medicine, Dr. Shariffs areas of interest include womens health and minor skin procedures. The practice is also now offering office hours and follow-up by Podiatrists Dennis D Onofrio, DPM, FACFAS, and Benish Ali, DPM of the CHH Foot Center. They offer effective, timely diagnosis of foot related medical issues. CHH Primary Care Winsted Office hours are Monday through Friday, 9 am to 5 p.m. The practice accepts most major insurances. For appointments call 860-738-3398. The CHH Multi-Specialty Group is a local network of outpatient physician practices and services owned and managed by Charlotte Hungerford Hospital consisting of over 60 physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners. These outpatient hospital departments coordinate care among a multitude of specialties and include physician practices in the areas of Urology, Cardiology, Diabetes and Endocrinology, Ear, Nose & Throat, Podiatry, Neurology, Primary Care, Pulmonary & Critical Care, Surgical care, Wound Care & Hyperbaric Medicine, and infectious disease. Local attorneys, firm receive Chambers USA honors LITCHFIELD The 2019 edition of Chambers USA Guide to Americas Leading Lawyers for Business ranks two Carmody Torrance Sandak & Hennessey LLP practice areas and eight attorneys, from its Real Estate, Environment, Litigation and Labor & Employment practices, in the top tiers in Connecticut. Chambers USA is a publication by Chambers and Partners, a third-party research and publishing company, that ranks U.S. Law firms and attorneys based on extensive interviews with clients and members of the legal community. The publication highlights William J. Hennessey, Jr. under Real Estate: Zoning/Land Use, who is commended on his experience, knowledge and wisdom in connection with complex permitting matters and zoning disputes. Attorneys M. Anne Peters and Pamela K. Elkow are recognized under Environmental. Sources describe Peters as very down to earth and practical; Elkow is described as smart, effective and practical with an extremely broad base in environmental law. Carmodys Litigation Group is ranked again for its general commercial litigation practice and noted for its well-regarded practice with strength in a range of complex issues. The publication highlights two attorneys, James K. Robertson, Jr. and Trudie R. Hamilton. Robertson is described as an esteemed practitioner with leading experience representing clients in trials, arbitration and mediation. Hamilton is recognized as a very well known litigator who is particularly experienced in handling medical malpractice suits. The Labor and Employment Group is noted for a depth of litigation experience in claims concerning discrimination, retaliation and harassment, among other matters. Chambers USA highlights three attorneys, D. Charles Stohler, Giovanna Tiberii Weller and Domenico Zaino, for their extensive experience in labor and employment matters. Stohler is recognized for his excellent communication, strategic thinking and negotiation skills. Ms. Weller is praised for her long-standing employment litigation practice, which draws on significant experience as a trial lawyer and Zaino is noted for counseling employers on the full range of employment issues, including discrimination, harassment and preventative strategy. Carmody Torrance Sandak & Hennessey LLP is a Connecticut-based law firm serving a wide range of businesses, utilities, governmental entities and individuals. With more than 75 attorneys and offices in New Haven, Stamford, Waterbury, Litchfield, and Southbury, it practices in nearly 30 specific areas of law. More information is available at www.carmodylaw.com. HARTFORD A bill that will increase from 18 to 21 the minimum age to purchase tobacco products and e-cigarettes passed the House by a 124-to-22 vote Thursday. The bill now heads to the Senate. A number of Connecticut cities and towns including Hartford, Bridgeport, South Windsor, Southington, Wallingford, Trumbull, and Milford that have already passed their own ordinances to raise the age. This is one of the more important bills we will consider this year, Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, D-Westport, co-chair of Public Health Committee, said. The (U.S) Surgeon General has determined that vaping is a national epidemic. One recent report has given advocates added momentum a Department of Public Health 2017 Youth Tobacco Survey indicated e-cigarette use among Connecticut high school students has more than doubled from 7.2 percent using in 2015 to 14.7 percent using in 2017. Steinberg said the vaping epidemic is having an impact on our schools. We raid bathrooms to catch illegal vaping, installing detectors. The vaping that goes on in schools, Steinberg said, is distracting schools from their core mission, which is to education young people. The bill was amended from its original version to exclude a ban on flavored vaping. Steinberg said that decision was made because theres an expectation that there will be action at the federal level. If not, Steinberg said, the Public Health Committee would take up the issue again next year. Rep. Matt Blumenthal, D-Stamford, told his colleagues that he felt a small bit of disappointment that we arent going after the (vaping) flavors. But he quickly added that he was glad to hear that the state will take on the issue - next year if the federal government doesnt act. Rep. Nicole Klarides-Ditria, R-Derby, asked Steinberg if funds raised in the bill meant to be spent on tobacco cessation programs will be safe from raiding from the General Assembly. Steinberg answered: It is certainly our intent; we will make every effort that we do not succumb to temptation (to raid the fund). I cannot guarantee that, Steinberg added. Connecticut is one of the few states in the entire country that currently spends zero money taken in from the cigarette tax it takes in on tobacco cessation programs. It has continually received F grades from the American Cancer Society (ACS) for that practice. Gov. Ned Lamont proposed raising the age as part of his first two-year budget and says he will sign the bill if it passes the Senate. The bill raises, from 18 to 21, the legal age to purchase cigarettes, other tobacco products, and e-cigarettes (i.e., electronic nicotine delivery systems and vapor products). The bill imposes a $300 fine on a retailer who sells a tobacco product to anyone under age 21, increases, from $50 to $200, the annual license fee for cigarette dealers; and increases from $400 to $800 the annual registration fee for e-cigarette delaters. The bill results in estimated state revenue losses of $4.9 million next year and $6.3 million in 2021. The bill raises fees and fines, which are anticipated to increase state revenues by $1.2 million and will offset additional regulatory costs incurred by the state departments of Revenue Services and Consumer Protection. Lamont praised the House for passing the bill. With the rising use of e-cigarettes and vaping products among young people, we are seeing a growing public health crisis, Lamont said in a statement after the vote. Some have pointed out that raising the age to 21 will result in a net revenue loss to the state, but when it comes to the health of our young people we need to do what is right. Rep. William Petit, R-Plainville, asked Steinberg how the bill addresses the issue of regulating of tobacco products bought over the internet. We know this is a significant issue, Steinberg said. He said the bill addresses the issue by mandating that someone over the age of 21 signs for tobacco products that are sent to a home. We are trying to ensure some young person isnt trying to end run the system, Steinberg said. Petit quizzed Steinberg on what the impact of losing younger customers will mean to retailers in the state. We do expect there will be some impact on retailers, Steinberg said. He added, though: We feel very strongly that the public health imperative outweighs the negatives. There was also a lengthy discussion involving many lawmakers on minimum age requirements and what it means to be an adult. OCONOMOWOC, Wis., May 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Securities Arbitration Law Firm of Klayman & Toskes, P.A. (K&T) ( www.nasd-law.com ) announces that it has commenced an investigation on behalf of investors with Mutual of Omaha Investor Services, Inc. (Omaha) and Edward Earl Matthes (Matthes) in light of recent regulatory action concerning Matthes. In May 2019, Matthes consented to the entry of findings that he failed to provide documents and information requested by FINRA in connection with an investigation. FINRA barred Matthes from the securities industry in March 2019. According to Omaha, Matthes was discharged on or around March 12, 2019, for creating fictitious account statements and diverting customer funds for his own personal use. A check of Matthes FINRA BrokerCheck revealed that Matthes has a total of twelve disclosures on his report stemming from FINRAs allegations. On March 15, 2019, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) initiated its investigation into Matthes for the alleged misappropriation of funds. On May 10, 2019, the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions issued a cease and desist order permanently barring Matthes from obtaining a securities license. Under FINRA Rules, Omaha was obligated to properly supervise the activities of Matthes, including that he was not misappropriating his customers funds. Additional FINRA sales practice rules related to potential violations may include misrepresentations and omissions of material facts , conflicts of interest , and negligence . The sole purpose of this release is to investigate the misappropriation of funds by Matthes. Current and former customers of Matthes who held accounts with Omaha and have information relating to the manner in which Matthes managed their accounts, are encouraged to contact the attorneys of Klayman & Toskes at (888) 997-9956, or visit our website at www.nasd-law.com . About Klayman & Toskes, P.A. K&T is a leading national securities law firm which practices exclusively in the field of securities arbitration and litigation, on behalf of retail and institutional investors throughout the world in large and complex securities matters. The firm represents high net-worth, ultra-high-net-worth, and institutional investors, such as non-profit organizations, unions, public and multi-employer pension funds. K&T has office locations in California, Florida, New York and Puerto Rico. Destination: http://nasd-law.com/notice-to-clients-of-mutual-of-omaha-investor-services-inc-and-edward-earl-matthes-the-securities-arbitration-law-firm-of-klayman-toskes-p-a-commences-investigation-in-light-of-finra-disciplina/ TORRINGTON Two felons were charged Tuesday after they were found to be in possession of cocaine and guns, according to police. Gary Rodriguez, 36, was charged with possession with intent to sell cocaine and three counts of criminal possession of a firearm. Melissa Ammirato-Roller, 39, was charged with possession with intent to sell cocaine and criminal possession of a firearm. Torrington police were helping Connecticut Adult Probation to find Rodriguez on Tuesday, police said. Probation officers had been told Rodriguez, a felon with several active warrants for probation violation, was in possession of a gun during a recent road rage incident. Rodriguez was found Tuesday at 211 High St., the Torrington Commons Plaza. He was in the company of a woman that police later identified as Ammirato-Roller also a felon, also on parole. Police took Rodriguez into custody around 8:37 a.m. on the active warrants. At the time of his arrest, police said, he was in possession of a handgun. Parole and probation officers did a home visit of Rodriguez and Ammirato-Rollers home on Central Avenue and found three more guns in the bedroom of the first-floor apartment. Police later discovered that one of the guns was facsimile. During the search police also found a white powdery substance which later tested positive for cocaine and a digital scale. Police said the cocaine was packaged in numerous clear plastic bags, consistent with sale and distribution. Rodriguez was held on a $250,000 surety bond and Ammirato-Roller on a $50,000 surety bond. Court records show neither of them was released from custody. Rodriguez is expected in court on May 31. Ammirato-Roller is expected to appear in court May 29. Wang Yang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, meets with delegates to the fifth members' congress of the Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises on the Mainland (ATIEM) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, May 16, 2019. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao) BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) -- China's top political advisor Wang Yang on Thursday called on Taiwan business people to actively participate in cross-Strait exchanges and cooperation in various fields. Wang, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, made the remarks when meeting with delegates to the fifth members' congress of the Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises on the Mainland (ATIEM). Hailing the contributions made by Taiwan business people in facilitating the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations, Wang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, called on the ATIEM to uphold the 1992 Consensus and the one-China principle, and to resolutely oppose "Taiwan independence." Wang urged the ATIEM to build stronger confidence in the mainland's development and cross-Strait economic cooperation and to unite Taiwan compatriots in doing more things to promote the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations. Noting that the mainland boasts strong economic momentum and ever-deepening reform and opening up, Wang called on Taiwan business people to grasp the opportunity to be participants, promoters and frontrunners of cross-Strait economic and social integration. He vowed to implement and improve the mainland's preferential policies for Taiwan and to make it more convenient for Taiwan enterprises to invest and do business in the mainland. OTTAWA, May 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canadas unions welcome todays announcement lifting U.S. tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum. The cancellation of steel and aluminum tariffs is good news for workers, said CLC President Hassan Yussuff. Canadas unions welcome this decision to restore stability and predictability to our economy and to workers lives. For almost a year, these tariffs have had a damaging impact on an industry and the people who work hard to make it thrive. Last year, Canadians were shocked to learn that their most significant trading partner was imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum that would have a damaging effect on an industry, and indeed the entire Canadian economy. Canadas unions have consistently called the American tariffs, imposed under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, unjust and illegal because they cited an imaginary threat to U.S. national security. In reality, the tight integration of Canadian and U.S. steel industries has underpinned the economic security and prosperity for both countries for over half a century. Arguing the opposite during a trade negotiation was always more about politics than economics, said Yussuff. Since their imposition on June 1, 2018, these tariffs have hit the workers in one of Canadas key industries hard. The steel sector supports 22,000 direct jobs across Canada and the aluminum sector supports nearly 10,000 direct jobs mostly in BC and Quebec, with supply chains and related industries affecting more than 100,000 additional workers. Todays announcement also provides for continued monitoring of steel flows, to ensure that Canada doesnt become a dumping ground for other countries. Yussuff expressed his continued support of careful monitoring and robust anti-dumping measures to counter trade diversion. In the resolution of this dispute is a reminder of the importance of Canada maintaining a strong trade remedy system and vigilance against unfair competition so that dumped and subsidized steel from China and elsewhere are not redirected through the Canadian economy, said Yussuff. Canadas unions commend the Prime Minister and Minister Freeland for their determination and diligence in working to reverse these tariffs, without condition. Workers are hopeful that todays agreement puts an end to threats of politically-motivated tariffs that harm workers in both countries and fuel economic uncertainty. Canadian workers and their families are breathing a big sigh of relief today, and we hope that affected companies will be able to reverse any layoffs. Ending tariffs means Canadians can get back to work, said Yussuff. For more information, contact: SURREY, British Columbia, May 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Following its annual board of directors election, Coast Capital Savings members re-elected incumbents Bob Armstrong and Frank Leonard along with newcomers, Charlotte Burke, Frances Fiorillo and Calvin MacInnis. Two special resolutions were also passed in the 2019 member election. In the 2019 election, a total of 16,862 valid ballots were cast. The five candidates chosen for the board of directors were elected for three-year terms and each received more than14,000 votes. This years successful candidates are exceptional people, said Nominations Committee Chair, Mary Jordan. Each brings a depth of experience and skill to the table that will continue to add great value to the governance of Coast Capital Savings as the credit union enters into a very exciting chapter as one of the countrys first and largest federal credit unions. I personally want to welcome back Bob and Frank for another term, and look forward to the contributions of our newly elected board members. This year, Coast Capital Savings was looking for directors with significant senior or board leadership experience, specifically in the areas of financial services, technology and human resources. In addition, as a federal credit union, Coast Capital Savings is regulated under the Bank Act which requires that the President and CEO must be selected by the board of directors from members of the Board. As such, Coast Capitals President and CEO, Calvin MacInnis was included on the 2019 ballot and successfully elected. MacInnis has an outstanding track record as a leader in the financial service sector and brings his tactical experience in launching and leading large national organizations to the credit union as it expands beyond provincial borders. The 2019 election also asked members to vote on two special resolutions. Coast Capitals membership approved the addition of a rule to add a formula for determining the value of membership shares. A technical change only, the change does not impact the issue price or redemption price of membership shares. The second special resolution asked members for approval to amend the Credit Union Rules outlining how annual financial statements are distributed. The amended rule now allows the credit union to share statements electronically furthering the credit unions corporate sustainability commitment. About Coast Capital Savings Coast Capital Savings is Canadas largest credit union by membership and B.C.s first credit union to become a federal credit union. Owned by its 572,000 members, Coast Capital offers banking and investment services digitally and through its 52 branches in the Metro Vancouver, Fraser Valley, Okanagan, and Vancouver Island regions of British Columbia. An Imagine Canada Caring Company and a Certified B Corporation in recognition of its social performance, Coast Capital invests 10 per cent of its bottom line in youth focused community organizations, programs, partnerships and events. The credit union has been recognized as one of Canada's Most Admired Corporate Cultures, and holds a Best Managed Companies Platinum Club designation. Coast Capital has a history of introducing innovative products to help their members achieve financial wellbeing including Canadas first free chequing account from a full-service financial institution and Help Extras, enabling members to invest in their future. To learn more, visit coastcapitalsavings.com . Bangladeshs North-West Power Generation Company built this China-backed power plant in Patuakhali, outside Dhaka, officials said. Chinas footprint in Bangladeshs economy has expanded massively since 2016 and Beijing is now the South Asian nations biggest foreign investor, official figures show, with most of the Chinese money invested in a power sector tainted by allegations of bureaucratic corruption. Beijing outpaced the United States as Bangladeshs top investor in 2018, during which Dhaka recorded U.S. $3.6 billion in foreign direct investments (FDI), according to newly released official figures obtained by BenarNews. The Chinese are now the largest foreign direct investors in Bangladesh, Shams al-Mujahid, a director-general at the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA), told BenarNews. BIDA is an agency under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas office. Chinas overall investment of U.S. $1.03 billion in 2018 represented a 16-fold increase compared with its 2016 investment of just over $61 million. The Chinese have been the largest investor almost everywhere in the world, al-Mujahid said. Bangladesh is no exception. According to the BIDA figures, the Netherlands last year ranked as Bangladeshs second-largest foreign investor behind China, with $692 million, while Britain took the third spot with $371 million. Britain was Bangladeshs biggest foreign investor in 2017, with $313 million. In 2018, the United States, traditionally one of Bangladeshs biggest investors, ranked fourth with $174 million in direct investments, according to the figures. FDI has been a major source of foreign capital for Bangladesh since 1980, when the country adopted its Foreign Private Investment Act. In 1995, Bangladesh opened up foreign investments in the mobile telecommunications sector mainly because of the absence of ground-telephone infrastructure in the country. It attracted investments from telecoms giants such as Norways Telenor and Egypts Orascom. But Bangladesh also struggled with power outages, with the nation experiencing its worst electricity crisis in 2008 and 2009. Reports said one blackout alone, in 2014, affected as many as 100 million people more than 60 percent of the population. As persistent energy crises plagued Bangladesh, Chinese leader Xi Jinping unveiled the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) plan in 2013, saying that the massive infrastructure initiative would accelerate development in many of the worlds poorest countries by building trade routes that would bring economic benefits. OBOR, which critics say is a tool for Beijing to amass geopolitical power, is an ambitious project reaching from China to many points across the globe through investments that could rise above U.S. $1 trillion. Heavily invested in power sector As part of OBOR, Chinese banks have earmarked $23 billion to build coal-fired power plants in 23 countries, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), a U.S.-based think tank. Bangladesh is expected to be the biggest recipient with $7 billion, it said. In 2018, China invested more than $800 million in the South Asian nations power sector alone. Last year, China Huadian Hongkong Company Limited signed a deal with a local partner to build a 1,320-megawatt plant at Moheshkhali island in Bangladesh. Chinas involvement in Bangladeshs energy supply has spurred criticisms among Bangladeshi economists and experts who have underscored that the South Asian nations power sector is poorly governed. There is criticism regarding the business climate in Bangladesh. There is corruption, bureaucratic and legal hassles. But the Chinese businessmen have invested huge in the power sector, said Hossain Zillur Rahman, an economist and former government adviser. They want to get maximum benefits from the power sector, which practically has no governance and no accountability, Rahman told BenarNews. Khaleda Mahmood, chairman of the Bangladesh Power Development Board (PDB), brushed aside Rahmans allegations. It is not true that the power sector has no governance, he told BenarNews, underscoring that his public-sector organization was providing 45 percent of the countrys total electricity demand. Last year, Transparency International (TI) gave Bangladesh a score of 26 in its Corruptions Perceptions Index. China received a score of 39. The index, which ranks 180 countries and territories based on their perceived levels of public-sector corruption, uses a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean, according to TI, a Berlin-based nonprofit that fights global corruption. No accountability Allegations of corruptions had been raised in Bangladeshs energy sector during the past few years, but those claims were revived less than a week after officials said that three Chinese companies had started lobbying Bangladesh for a contract to build the nations second nuclear power plant. Mahbubul Hoq, chairman of Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission, told BenarNews that officials of three Chinese companies met with him during the past few months and expressed interest in building the second nuclear plant. It is expected to cost 1.5 trillion taka (U.S. $18 billion). In 2009, the Bangladeshi parliament led by the ruling Awami League passed a law that authorized the Power Development Board to procure electricity from the private sectors, bypassing the lengthy bureaucratic process. The law shielded its officials from prosecution on matters related to procurement of electricity, according to its critics. The law was initially passed to exist for two years, bringing temporary relief to the public, said Shahiduzzaman Sarker, chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on energy and mineral resources. But it has been extended every two years, he said. The PDB enjoys immunity for its actions," said Rahman, the economist. "So, there is no accountability in the sector." Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service. Taiwan on Friday passed historic legislation confirming a constitutional right of same-sex couples to marry, making the democratic island the first jurisdiction in the region to do so. "On May 17th, 2019 in #Taiwan, #LoveWon," President Tsai Ing-wen tweeted after the same-sex marriage bill passed in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan at 3:30 p.m. on Friday. "We took a big step towards true equality, and made Taiwan a better country," Tsai wrote, with a rainbow flag emoticon. Tsai, who had campaigned on a marriage equality platform in 2016, before taking the presidency in a landslide victory for her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), later told reporters: "Today is a proud day for Taiwan. It is the day Taiwan let the world see the goodness and value of this land." From May 24, two people of the same gender will be able to register a marriage in Taiwan, as long as they are over 18 and have two witnesses to their signatures. The news was greeted with huge cheers by some 40,000 supporters of marriage equality, who had gathered in the rain-soaked streets outside the legislature ahead of the vote, chanting slogans and waving rainbow flags. "Oh, wow, I feel so emotional!" said one protester after the announcement. "I have waited so long for this moment." Others chanted: "Marriage equality: first in Asia!" The move was also publicly supported by key cultural figures. Top movie director Tsai Ming-liang appeared on the podium, shouting to supporters: "Taiwan is awesome," while tech tycoon and Asus co-founder T.H. Tung appeared in the crowd, commenting: "Taiwan is a fantastic place." Ending hostility However, Tsai also called for an end to hostility between the pro- and anti- camps. "Starting today, we show more empathy, and love for those around us," she wrote on her Facebook page. "I want to offer my congratulations to same-sex couple friends, who have won society's blessing," she said. To those who opposed the change, which was mandated in a ruling by the island's highest court two years ago, she wrote: "Thank you for understanding." The island's supreme court ruled on May 24, 2017, that the physical and psychological need for permanent unions is "equally essential to homosexuals and heterosexuals, given the importance of the freedom of marriage to the sound development of personality and safeguarding of human dignity." It said foot-dragging over the issue had affected people's fundamental rights in recent years. The island's government was given two years to implement the ruling, but the ruling had already legitimize same-sex marriages by default, it said. Step forward for rights Premier Su Tseng-chang posted a photo of himself and his wife Chan Hsiu-ling to his Instagram account, writing in the caption: "Congratulations, now everyone can get married. Marriage, however, is no joke! #Advice from a man who has been married 45 years." Tseng Chien-yuan, an associate professor of public administration at Taiwan's Chung Hua University, said the move was a great step forward for human rights on the island, which had achieved something that many Western liberal democracies still struggle with. "Taiwanese society respects the value of diversity, and different values, as long as they don't impinge upon the rights of others," Tseng said. "They should all be respected and protected." "In a lot of countries, LGBTIQ+ people still face huge discrimination, and yet Taiwan has made a breakthrough in that regard," he said. "It was not an easy matter to get marriage equality legislation through in a country ... that espouses traditional Chinese culture." Rights groups welcomed the new law. "What a tremendous victory for #LGBT rights!" Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW). "#Taiwan's action today should sound a clarion call, kicking off a larger movement across #Asia to ensure equality for LGBT people and pro-active protection of their rights by governments throughout the region. No more excuses!" Robertson tweeted. Reported by Hwang Chun-mei and Hsia Hsiao-hwa for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Wong Lok-to for the Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. Wikipedia has confirmed that all language versions of its online encyclopedia are now blocked to users behind China's Great Firewall. "Access to Wikipedia has varied over the years with the Chinese language version being controlled more tightly than other versions," according to the Wikipedia page titled "Censorship of Wikipedia" said. "As of , all versions of Wikipedia are blocked in China," it said. The ruling Chinese Communist Party imposes tight control on what the country's 800 million internet users can do or see online, using a complex system of blocks, filters and human censorship known collectively as China's Great Firewall. Chinese rights activist and tech expert Pu Fei said people had once relied heavily on versions of Wikipedia that were still accessible, to get access to uncensored information. He said the new block is likely linked to a nationwide security clampdown ahead of the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre on, 1989. "This year, we have the 70th anniversary of Communist Party rule, their own anniversary, and the people's 30th anniversary [of the 1989 massacre], so you could say that things are pretty tightly controlled, especially the internet," Pu said. China's own Baidu search engine runs an encyclopedia site, but content is strictly regulated by government censors. Unified and preapproved thinking Pu said there are contributors to Wikipedia who live behind the Great Firewall, yet were still able to contribute their knowledge and research to the site. He said many users would now lose access to uncensored content. He called for an end to government censorship. "I wish that the authorities would feel able to countenance the development of online activity with a more open mind," Pu said. "There should be no more interference. The internet should be a free space." Current affairs commentator Jin Shan said it's also possible that Wikipedia has been blocked amid growing bilateral tensions and a trade war with the United States. He said sites like Wikipedia pose a constant threat to the unified and preapproved thinking that the ruling party is trying to impose on its own officials. "Once people are in the know, then they can't all hold the same views," Jin said. "Once that happens, this is going to have the effect of fragmenting decision-making." "That's why they want a high degree of unity [among decision-makers], so that is one motivation [for the block]," he said. Xia Ming, professor of political science at New York's City University, said the government is very nervous in the run-up to the sensitive anniversaries. "Whenever they let things go a bit, there is more chaos [in public opinion], so then they tighten up control again as soon as that happens," Xia said. "This is how they have always done it." Tightening under Xi Jinping He said control of public speech and thought via the internet began to tighten across the board after President Xi Jinping took power in 2012, however. "It's the only method known to Xi Jinping," Xia said. "They clearly believe that they can exert total control; it's their way of hanging onto power." "Xi Jinping is facing a lot of popular resistance and various economic problems," Xia said. "He is also engaged in an internal power struggle within the party." "Seen from this point of view, he is fighting for his life, especially because of the economic situation," he said. Repeated calls to China's powerful Cyberspace Administration rang unanswered during office hours on . Wikipedia said the Chinese-language site had received positive coverage in the state media as late as 2004, but was then blocked on that year, ahead of the 15th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and subsequent massacre by the People's Liberation Army (PLA). In , The New York Times reported that English Wikipedia was unblocked in China, with the Chinese version unblocked the following month, sparking Wikipedia boom during which 300400 new accounts were created daily and the rate of new registrations more than tripled to over 1,200 daily. However, government censors began targeting specific articles at some point in 2006, Reuters reported, in particular the article on the June 4, 1989 massacre. Forced amnesia on June 4 In 2012, both Chinese and English Wikipedias were accessible in China, with the exception of political articles. Chinese authorities started blocking access to the secure (HTTPS) version of the site on . However, the use of HTTPS meant that the government was unable to see which pages were being viewed by Chinese users, the article said. "As a result, Beijing chose to block the whole Chinese Wikipedia; as of , both encrypted and un-encrypted Chinese-language Wikipedia are blocked," it said. However, until last month, some Chinese users were still able to visit sites in other languages, including Japanese. The 1989 protests, which took over Tiananmen Square for several weeks, were sparked by a spontaneous outpouring of public mourning following the funeral of ousted liberal premier Hu Yaobang on that year. The government styled the 1989 student-led democracy protests a "counterrevolutionary rebellion," and the families of victims and pro-democracy campaigners have since focused their efforts on a re-evaluation of that verdict, as well as demanding compensation and the apportioning of blame and responsibility for the massacre. Public memorials and discussions of the events of are banned in mainland China, with activists who seek to commemorate the bloodshed often detained, with veteran dissidents placed under police surveillance or detention during each anniversary. Reported by Shi Shan for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Wong Lok-to for the Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. A police officer stands guard as supporters of the Falun Gong spiritual movement protest religious persecution in China at the Chinese Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, in a file photo. Authorities in North Korea's capital Pyongyang began a crackdown on the movement in May, 2019. Falun Gong, a controversial spiritual movement with recent origins in China, is reportedly spreading in the North Korean capital city of Pyongyang, even as North Korean and Chinese authorities have launched crackdowns to eliminate it, sources say. Founded in 1992 in Chinas northeast, the Falun Gong spiritual movement gained increasing influence as the fastest growing religion in the PRC and overseas over the next seven years. In 1999 the Chinese government at the orders of then President Jiang Zemin began a harsh and sometimes deadly crackdown on the sect, dragging practitioners from their homes and sending them to detention centers. Outside of China, the movement was considered harmless and continued to flourish. It is often cited as an example of religious persecution in China, with practitioners and allied religious freedom advocates holding protests in major cities to bring attention to the situation faced by Falun Gong believers in the PRC. Sources within North Korea have said that authorities in Pyongyang have begun a crackdown on Falun Gong as the city has seen a sharp increase in the number of followers within its population. The judicial authorities are struggling because the spread of Falun Gong among citizens of Pyongyang has surged beyond their expectations, said a source from Pyongyang in an interview with RFAs Korean Service on May 11. The source said that the authorities began their crackdown last month. In early April, the police issued a proclamation ordering citizens to voluntarily report their status as believers in Falun Gong. They threatened to impose harsh punishments on those who dont turn themselves in, but are found after the reporting period, the source said. Government action against Falun Gong appears to have backfired according to the source, as the negative publicity for the religion seems to have made it more popular. After the proclamation and subsequent crackdown, people are suddenly very interested in Falun Gong, which had already been spreading in [Pyongyangs] underworld. Falun Gong is known here as a religious practice that combines meditation and physical exercises, so people are now approaching it with curiosity, said the source. Trade officials introduce the practice While there is no official record of how Falun Gong entered North Korea, the source said it was introduced by trade officials in Pyongyang. The headquarters of the central trade organizations are concentrated in Pyongyang. As North Korea-China trade relations have become more active recently, Falun Gong began spreading in Pyongyang through trade workers, the source said. According to the source, during the first round of crackdowns, 100 Falun Gong followers were arrested in Pyongyanga number that is a lot higher than they expected. Many Falun Gong followers were arrested in other districts [of Pyongyang] and they will be sentenced to hard labor or correctional labor depending on the severity of their crimes, added the source. The source said that the crackdown has increased tension in the police department because so many practitioners were caught in the early crackdown. They cant predict how many more Falun Gong followers they will arrest and since [the religion] is spreading among high-ranking government officials and their families, it is becoming more than a troubling issue for them, the source said. Another source, also from Pyongyang likened the crackdown on Falun Gong to a war on the religion, and compared the situation to how North Korean authorities have persecuted followers of other religions in the past. The Central Committee [of the Korean Workers Party] say that Christianity is like opium or drugs and have harshly punished [Christians]. Now that Falun Gong is here, people are watching closely to see how the authorities will respond, the second source said. Rapid spread The second source believes that the religion has many features that North Koreans are quite curious about, leading to its rapid spread. Faun Gong has spread [here] because everyone wants to get martial arts training and exercise, and they [like] the magical spiritual ability to control the human soul, the second source said. While the rapid spread might be alarming to the regime, the second source believes that the religion will not be easy to quash. Even the Chinese government did not win [their battle] against Falun Gong, and now its spreading in Pyongyang, the heart of a historic hereditary dictatorship, said the second source. The second source also believes that Falun Gong is popular because the people live in oppression, and because followers of the religion make fantastic claims, giving them hope. [Its] like a rainfall during a drought because the citizens have no hope for the future. People in Pyongyang say absurd things like that Falun Gong followers will not die or dry out if they were hanged for 80 days. So many people believe this is true, said the second source. The Pyongyang crackdown on Falun Gong is the first ever action by the government against the movement in North Korea. The 100 people arrested for following Falun Gong were caught only in Pyongyang's Songyo district, one of 18 districts in the city. North Koreas constitution allows for freedom of religious beliefs, but true religious freedom does not exist within its borders and all churches and temples are state operated. The website of Liberty in North Korea (LiNK) says that organized religion is perceived by the regime as a threat, and besides token churches and temples built to give the appearance of religious freedom, North Koreans must practice their religions in secret or risk a stint in a prison camp or worse, execution. The website notes that thousands of Buddhists and Christians have been purged and persecuted throughout the history of North Korea. A 2014 United Nations report cited North Korean government figures showing that the proportion of religious adherents among the population dropped from close to 24 percent in 1950 to 0.016 percent in 2002. Reported by Jieun Kim for RFAs Korean Service. Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong. The Lao government has disciplined more than 200 officials involved in taking bribes or embezzlement in recent months as part of a bid to crackdown on rampant corruption in the Southeast Asian nation, but few have been held criminally accountable for their actions. Earlier this week, authorities in Xiengkhouang province re-educated 16 state officials, demoted two, and warned another nine after they were found to have embezzled several million dollars, according to state media reports. An official from the provinces Khoun district told RFAs Lao Service on Friday that some of the officials accepted bribes from businesses in return for helping them to illegally transport timber to the capital Vientiane, speaking on condition of anonymity. Another official from Xiengkhouang, who declined to provide their name, said others in the group of 27 signed documents requesting funds from the government to build a new office building, but after the building was completed, the finance department checked the expenses and found that they had withdrawn funds that were unaccounted for. Reports of the corruption in Xiengkhouang came weeks after Khampiane Panyavong, deputy director of the human resources department of Xayaburi Province announced that 102 provincial government workers had been disciplined for violating the rules and regulations of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party. Khampiane said that 37 of the 102 officials had committed economic crimes or acts of corruption, while the rest were involved in other crimes that included drug trafficking and property theft. Their crimes had led to losses of U.S. $25 million over the past year, he said. A member of the provincial inspection agency told RFA last week that of the 102 officials, some have been suspended, some fired, and others disciplined according to state law. In April, 19 party members and state employees in Savannakhet province were dismissed for the embezzlement of state funds and 21 faced discipline for involvement in the trade of illegal timber, according to a report by state media, which said their combined crimes had caused losses of U.S. $5.4 million. According to a provincial official, authorities had discovered the corruption after acting on public tips. We followed up on peoples complaints with investigations, and then reported them to the provincial party committee, the official told RFA, adding that last year the province also sent a dozen state workers to the prosecutors office for graft, but they have yet to be tried. March cases The discipline of state workers in Savannakhet followed several high-profile corruption cases in March, including the dismissal of 18 employees of Attapeu province, who a staff member with the provincial human resources department told RFA were among a group of 45 allegedly involved in embezzlement and property theft, and the warning of seven state employeesincluding the deputy provincial governorin Vientiane province for their involvement in the disappearance of U.S. $500,000. Also in March, the inspection department of the central governments Ministry of Public Works and Transport reported that it had uncovered 1,002 cases of state employees involved in corruption in 2018, mostly related to infrastructure development projects such as road construction and repairs throughout the country. Around 850 workers were disciplined, 61 charged with economic crimes, and the remainder sentenced to various jail terms. Our department is inspecting and auditing more effectively now, and hopefully we will be able to reduce corruption and fix all the leaks, an official from the ministry told RFA at the time. Widespread corruption Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith has vowed to tackle graft since coming to power in 2016, but the government has made few little headway with the problem, which is widespread due to weak laws and lack of enforcement by authorities. Transparency International, a Berlin-based global anticorruption coalition, ranked Laos 132 among 180 countries on its Corruption Perceptions Index for 2018 and gave the country a score of 29 on a scale in which 0 is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean. The group said corruption remained endemic among most of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Laos is a member state. Corruption exists at every level of government in Laos and is difficult to uproot because it has become part of the countrys culture, a Vientiane-based source with knowledge of the issue recently told RFA. Everybody knows that there is a lot of corruption in the country, but nobody sees any state employees being jailed for it, the source said. Reported by RFAs Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. Nyein Chan Soe, one of two members Generation Peacock Thangyat group who were denied bail on May 17, 2019 on charges their satirical performance defamed Myanmar's military, in photo taken on May 3, 2019. A court in Myanmars commercial capital Yangon has denied bail to two members of a satirical performance group on defamation charges for taking comedic shots at the countrys powerful military during their shows, members of the troupe and their supporters said on Friday. The two and five other members of Generation Peacock thangyat troupe were sued by the military under Section 505(a) of Myanmars Penal Code. They were charged by the military last month. Members of Peacock Generation thangyat troupe Su Yadanar Myint and Nyein Chan Soe were remanded to Insein prison, their lawyer said. On April 22, five other members of the troupeZeyar Lwin, Paing Ye Thu, Phoe Thar, Paing Phyo Min, and Kay Khine Tunwere denied bail and sent to Insein. Section 505(a) of Myanmars Penal Code criminalizes the circulation of statements, rumors, or reports with the intent to cause any military officer to disregard or fail in his duties. It carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison, a fine, or both. Lieutenant Colonel Than Tun Myint of the Myanmar militarys Yangon Regional Command filed a complaint with the court against the performers on April 15, accusing them of violating Section 66(d) of the Telecommunications Act, which prohibits use of the telecom network to defame people. Later the charges for all the troupe members were changed to Secion 505(a), a non-bailable defamation offense. I think the court has favored the plaintiffs wish. We are being charged under unlawful laws, said Su Yadanar Myint. I think its a waste of our time. The trial date is set in the plaintiffs favor and the court has ignored our wish. Its totally unfair, he said. This is a totally unjust country. Nothing is fair. Where are our human rights? We wont bow. We will stand for the truth, added Nyein Chan Soe. Lt-Col. Than Myint Tun of Yangon Command also filed a suit against the Thangyat group under Section 505(a) at a court in Yangons Mayangon Township. The thangyat performances have been described as similar to modern slam poetry. Their roots lie in the 19th century, but they were banned for about two decades in 1988, when the ruling military junta crushed a pro-democracy protest and instituted two decades of harsh rule. The ban was lifted in 2016 when Aung San Suu Kyis government took control of the country after winning general elections in late 2015, raising expectations of a more liberal system that have largely caused disappointment three years into her rule. I believe these cases show that under pretext of existing laws, a certain group is aggressively targeting people who are seeking the truth, said Nu Nu Aung of 88 Generation group of student activists who protested military rule 30 years ago. I think theyre doing it with a grudge and exploiting the law, and they are suing those who represent peoples sufferings, the activist added. Coinciding with Fridays hearing, activists launched a campaign called Blue Shirt calling on the military to drop the cases and urging Aung San Suu Kyis government to intervene. Wed like to show that at least we civil society groups will not bow, in defiance against injustice. The government has never intervened nor issued a statement on the militarys legal actions, said Saung Kha of the group Voice. Now we already have seen two presidents in power but no intervention on issues related to the Tatmadaw [Myanmar (military] have been taken. Legal actions now keep coming one after another and no one said this shouldnt happen. Its disappointing, the activist said. Another Thangyat group, Oway Than, attended Friday hearing in Yangon and joined the Blue Shirt campaign. We launched the campaign hoping many others would join. Were actually seeking justice. We want them to know that the armys dignity will not be restored by legal actions like this, said Oway Than leader Min Thway Thit. We will continue with more campaigns. We will try to find other steps if the campaign movements do not work. Reported by Aung Theinkha for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Nandar Chann. Written in English by Paul Eckert. A court in the Czech Republic has handed a suspended three-year prison sentence to a soldier after finding him guilty of joining Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. The court in the city of Pardubice also ruled on May 17 to demote Corporal Erik Estu to the rank of private and expel him from the Czech armed forces. Estu, 35, was found guilty of joining in April-May 2015 an organized criminal group established to conduct terrorist activities. The soldier was charged after he shared pictures of himself carrying firearms and wearing a uniform of the separatists in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk. Estu pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, and insisted he had traveled to Donetsk to visit relatives of his wife, a native of Ukraine. He said he bought the uniform in a local store because he collects military items. Fighting between Ukrainian government forces and separatists controlling parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions has killed some 13,000 people since April 2014. Based on reporting by Dnes and Cesky Rozhlas Ten more countries have qualified for the final of the 64th Eurovision Song Contest, the annual Europop song fest that draws tens of millions of viewers from around the globe. Azerbaijan, North Macedonia, Russia, and seven other countries qualified in the May 16 semifinal, which featured contestants from 18 countries. They will join Belarus, Serbia, and 24 other countries in the final round to be held on May 18 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Madonna is set to perform during the event. Five core European countries -- Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain as well as host nation Israel bypassed the semifinal rounds. Eurovision was first held in 1956 with the aim of uniting Europe after World War II. Today, the annual extravaganza has a combined global audience of around 200 million people and has even launched the careers of a few of its winners, most notably ABBA and Celine Dion. Viewers and professional juries in all 41 participating countries will pick the winner, with televoting and national juries from each country each representing 50 percent of the outcome. No country can vote for its own contestant. Based on reporting by dpa and Eurovision.tv English French NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN THE UNITED STATES. SAINT-MICHEL-DES-SAINTS, Quebec, May 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NOUVEAU MONDE GRAPHITE INC. (the Corporation) (TSX Venture Exchange: NOU) (OTCQX: NMGRF) (Frankfurt: NM9) is pleased to provide an update on its previously announced second private placement to selected existing institutional shareholders and other investors (the Institutional Placement). The Institutional Placement has been proceeding well and the Corporation is encouraged by the interest received thus far. The Corporation expects to close the Institutional Placement within the next few weeks. The outside date upon which the final acceptance of the Institutional Placement will be granted by the TSXV has been extended to June 18, 2019. About Nouveau Monde Graphite In 2015, Nouveau Monde discovered a major and high-quality graphite deposit on its Matawinie property, located in Saint-Michel-des-Saints, 150 km North of Montreal. The Corporation completed a Feasibility Study, which revealed strong economics with projected graphite concentrate production level of 100,000 tonnes per year over a 26-year period. Nouveau Monde will operate its demonstration plant until 2020. During this period, the Corporation expects the production of 2,000 tonnes of concentrated flake graphite to qualify its products with North American and international clients. Moreover, in a vertical integration and sustainable development perspective, Nouveau Monde is planning the establishment of a large-scale graphite downstream transformation facility, catering the needs of the booming lithium-ion battery and expandable graphite markets. With over 60 years of experience in the world of graphite, Nouveau Mondes team develops its project with the utmost respect of neighbouring communities, while favoring a minimal ecological footprint. Nouveau Mondes project is privileged by direct access to the workforce and infrastructure needed to operate its mining project, and it can also rely on an abundant, affordable and renewable source of hydroelectricity. Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information All statements, other than statements of historical fact, contained in this press release including, but not limited to, those relating to the closing and expected timing of closing of a private placement with certain selected existing institutional shareholders and other investors (the Institutional Placement), the subscription and amounts to be subscribed for by the investors contemplated by the Institutional Placement, the negotiation and execution of definitive agreements with respect to the funding plan required to finance the Matawinie Project, the intended use of proceeds of the Pallinghurst Placement and Institutional Placement, the Corporations long-term potential, its cost advantage and its reserves, the development, construction, operation and commissioning of the Matawinie Project and generally, the above About Nouveau Monde paragraph which essentially describes the Corporations outlook, constitute forward-looking information or forward-looking statements within the meaning of certain securities laws, and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as of the time of this press release. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Corporation as of the time of such statements, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. These estimates and assumptions may prove to be incorrect. Many of these uncertainties and contingencies can directly or indirectly affect, and could cause, actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements and future events, could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and risks exist that estimates, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not be achieved or that assumptions do not reflect future experience. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of providing information about management's endeavors to develop the Matawinie Project and, more generally, its expectations and plans relating to the future. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements as a number of important risk factors and future events could cause the actual outcomes to differ materially from the beliefs, plans, objectives, expectations, anticipations, estimates, assumptions and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and those made in our other filings with the securities regulators of Canada including, but not limited to, the cautionary statements made in the Risk Factors section of the Corporations Annual Information Form dated October 31, 2018. The Corporation disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forward-looking statements, except to the extent required by applicable law. For more information: Eric Desaulniers Tristan Menard President & CEO Director, Capital Markets Tel: +1 (819) 923-0333 Tel: +1 (514) 296-6339 www.nouveaumonde.ca Further information regarding Corporation is available in the SEDAR database ( www.sedar.com ) and on the Corporations website at: www.nouveaumonde.ca Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido has confirmed he sent representatives to Norway to join mediation efforts to resolve the crisis in his South American country, but he denied direct talks are taking place with President Nicolas Maduro's government. "There are some envoys in Norway," Guaido told a rally of his supporters in Caracas on May 16. He said that parties in Norway were attempting to mediate the crisis, but he said no agreements have been reached and no face-to-face talks with government representatives were being held. "There is no kind of negotiation. It is an effort by Norway for a mediation, which has been going on for months. This was the second invitation to Oslo. All the rest is speculation," the Venezuelan daily El Nacional quoted Guaido as saying. It was the first official confirmation that efforts were under way in the Norwegian capital, Oslo, to end the months-long power struggle between Maduro's socialist government and the opposition-led National Assembly. "We can neither confirm nor deny Norway's involvement in peace processes or dialogue initiatives," Norwegian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Ane Haavardsdatter Lunde told the AFP news agency. Maduro, backed by Russia, China, and Cuba, took office in 2013 and was sworn in for a second term in January following elections in May 2018 that were marred by an opposition boycott and claims of vote-rigging. Maduro has been criticized for alleged human rights abuses and for his handling of Venezuela's economy. Guaido, who leads the National Assembly, declared himself interim president in January, and won support from major powers, including the United States and more than 50 other countries. Based on reporting by AFP and dpa PRISTINA -- Kosovo's justice minister has said that a Serbian man wanted in connection with a 1999 massacre in Kosovo has been extradited from Hungary. In a statement on May 17, Abelard Tahiri did not name the man, but said he had been extradited by Budapest after "full guarantees" were given to respect the man's "dignity and rights." There was no immediate confirmation of the extradition by Hungary. Kosovar media said the man reportedly participated in the massacre of 113 Albanian men in a town west of the capital, Pristina, on March 26, 1999. The killings occurred one day after NATO started its bombing campaign against Serbian targets. The NATO campaign lasted 78 days, and ended a Serbian crackdown against ethnic Albanians. At the time, Kosovo was then a province of Serbia; in 2008, it declared its independence from Serbia in 2008, something Belgrade has not recognized. More than 10,000 people died in the fighting. With reporting by AP PRISTINA -- Ahead of the Kosovar parliament's plenary session on Serbian war crimes, a lawmaker waved before reporters a graphic image that she claimed showed Serbian soldiers raping an Albanian woman who, she said, currently lives in Kosovo. The photograph brandished by Flora Brovina, however, was in fact a still from an adult film that was posted online as early as 2008 and, according to reverse-image searches and descriptions on pornographic websites, features a war-rape motif apparently set in Iraq. Now Brovina, a respected rights activist with the ruling Democratic Party, is facing fierce criticism from fellow lawmakers and civic activists who accuse her of traumatizing sexual-violence survivors and undermining advocacy efforts on their behalf. Brovina's decision to show the photograph in parliament on May 16 has "shaken Kosovo's society as a whole, especially the families and survivors of sexual assault," Feride Rushiti, founder and head of the Kosovo Center for the Rehabilitation of Torture Victims, tells RFE/RL. "We have received many phone calls from the survivors who receive services here, from their husbands, asking to call upon media to remove that photo," adds Rushiti, whose activism led to a landmark government ruling on awarding pensions to victims of Kosovo wartime sexual violence. Officials and nongovernmental organizations say 20,000 women and men in Kosovo were victims of rape by Serbian forces during the 1998-99 war. Human Rights Watch says the crimes -- primarily committed by paramilitary forces -- were "used deliberately as an instrument to terrorize the civilian population." Kosovar militants also faced rape accusations, though the number of crimes is believed to be far lower. Social stigma surrounding rape has contributed to reluctance among survivors to open up about the abuse they suffered. A government commission says some 1,000 women have applied for recognition as sexual-violence victims under a 2017 law that would grant them reparations. Officials have considered more than 500 applications, granting recognition in 336 cases. 'Don't Use Our Pain' Brovina showed the printout of the graphic image to reporters in parliament shortly before lawmakers adopted a resolution on "genocide, crimes against humanity, and the war crimes of the former Serbian state regime in Kosovo" during the 1998-99 war. After local media quickly determined it had been taken from an adult video that purported to be shot in Iraq and was posted on pornographic websites, Brovina defended her claim in an interview with Dukagjini TV in Pristina. Brovina, who was abducted and imprisoned by Serbian forces during the war, said in the interview that she "was convinced that the photo was not a fake" and that she would hand over the information to prosecutors. She repeated her earlier claim in parliament that "the victim from the photo is alive and is in Kosovo." The furor over the photograph reverberated across Kosovo's political landscape. Pristina Mayor Shpend Ahmeti, leader of the Social Democratic Party, accused Brovina of harming both sexual-violence victims and Kosovo itself. He suggested her use of a fake image would be used to claim rape accusations against Serbian forces were fabricated. Former President Atifete Jahjaga wrote on Facebook that Brovina had dealt a "severe blow" to "thousands of survivors of sexual violence during the war in Kosovo." Vasfije Krasniqi Goodman, the first survivor to speak publicly about being raped during the Kosovo war, wrote in a May 16 tweet, "Don't use our pain and suffering for your own gain." Kosovo's current president, Hashim Thaci, meanwhile, sidestepped questions about Brovina's display of the photograph when asked by reporters on May 17. He responded by accusing Serbia of widespread human rights abuses during the war and echoing the resolution adopted in parliament the previous day. "Kosovo alone is a picture of Serbian genocide in 1998-99," Thaci, a former Democratic Party leader, told reporters in Pristina. 'Forged Document' Kosovo's special prosecutors announced that they would investigate the claims made by Brovina concerning the photograph and the alleged victim. But after being questioned by investigators on May 17, she appeared to concede that she may have unintentionally passed off a "forged document" as evidence of a real rape. "An activist gave me the document in an envelope and said that I could use it -- and that the person on it was alive," Brovina told reporters in front of parliament. She said she should could not remember the activist's name. Drita Hajdari, the special prosecutor, said that Brovina told investigators she believed in the authenticity of the photograph and that's why she decided to publicize it. Hajdari also said Brovina did not report the alleged crime to police, saying she wasn't aware she was obligated to report it. Brovina, meanwhile, apologized publicly, in particular to victims of wartime rape and their families, saying she accepted blame for not verifying the authenticity of the image. "I never thought that someone could present documents that are not verified, and thus I had the courage to use them. I didn't believe that this document could be something that is not accurate," Brovina said. She added: "The authenticity of the document will be verified by state authorities. I stand at their disposal at any time." Amra Zejneli of RFE/RL's Balkan Service reported from Pristina; Carl Schreck reported from Prague Russia and the Netherlands settled a multiyear dispute over the 2013 seizure of a Greenpeace ship during a protest at a Russian oil-drilling platform in the Arctic. The settlement, announced on May 17, involves Moscow paying about 2.7 million euros ($3 million) in compensation for damages suffered by the Dutch-flagged ship, the Arctic Sunrise. "The Russian Federation and the Kingdom of the Netherlands...have come to a full and final settlement of any and all mutual claims" arising from the incident, the Dutch Foreign Ministry said in a joint statement with Russia. Greenpeace protesters had targeted an oil rig owned by the Russian state-controlled gas company Gazprom that was located in Arctic waters in September 2013. Activists, two of whom climbed the platform, said the oil rig posed a danger to the fragile Arctic ecosystem. Russian commandos then seized the ship, and detained 30 Greenpeace activists and journalists on board. The activists were initially accused of piracy, but that charge was later downgraded to hooliganism. They were released on bail after two months and later amnestied by the Kremlin. Russia handed the ship back in 2014, but Greenpeace said it had suffered considerable damage after sitting in the port of Murmansk. "Russia is paying the Netherlands, [but] we don't know exactly how it will be transferred" to Greenpeace, Bram Karst, a spokesman for Greenpeace Netherlands, was quoted as telling AFP. "We are very happy with the result," he said. Based on reporting by AFP and TASS Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov says that his country has become a wheat-exporting nation, according to state media, amid reports that the local population is facing severe food shortages. "Turkmenistan has become a country that exports wheat abroad. In the year 'Turkmenistan -- Motherland of Prosperity,' we will have a generous wheat harvest again," the Altyn Asyr website quoted Berdymukhammedov as telling a cabinet meeting on May 15. The authoritarian Turkmen leader also said that "large-scale measures to ensure food abundance are being implemented in the country." Berdymukhammedov didn't give any further details. In a separate speech on May 16, the president said that "massive efforts" were under way to transform the agriculture sector to "one of the most profitable" spheres of activities. Berdymukhammedov's comments come as tightly controlled, energy-rich Turkmenistan in recent years has been facing widespread shortages of food supplies and price hikes for food staples. The government has resorted to rationing supplies of bread, flour, cooking oil, eggs, and other foodstuff and RFE/RL's Turkmen Service has documented frequent long queues in state-owned food stores. Prices are regulated in state-run shops that sell flour at the relatively affordable price of about $0.3 per kilogram. But RFE/RL has recently reported that these stores in the capital, Ashgabat, were selling only 50 kilograms of flour per family per month, which residents say is not enough to cover the needs of traditionally large Turkmen families. Unemployment is widespread in the country of some 5.6 million, and many ordinary Turkmen can't afford foodstuffs that are sold in bazaars at much higher prices. In the province of Mary, some state stores often run out of flour, according to the RFE/RL correspondent in the region. "In Mary's Bairamali district, merchants are bringing flour from neighboring regions and selling a 50-kilogram sack for 200 manats [$57]. That is four times more expensive than the price in the state stores," the correspondent said. Authorities in Turkmenistan have never publicly denied nor confirmed reports about the food shortages and rationing. State-controlled media rarely report about any problem in the country and never criticize government policies. KYIV -- Ukraine's ruling coalition in parliament has broken up in a possible setback for President-elect Volodymyr Zelenskiy's plans to hold early general elections. Parliament speaker Andriy Parubiy announced the European Ukraine coalition's collapse on May 17, after People's Front leader Maksym Burbak said his party was withdrawing from the coalition. The People's Front is the second-largest faction in the Verkhovna Rada. The move is seen as a maneuver by lawmakers to postpone or even avoid a dissolution of parliament, which Zelenskiy has vowed to disband following his inauguration on May 20, claiming that it does not represent the interests of the people. Ukrainian politicians are now arguing over whether Zelenskiy has missed a deadline to dissolve the chamber and call snap elections ahead of parliamentary polls scheduled for October 27. Under the constitution, parliament now has 30 days to form a new governing coalition, while the president has no right to dissolve the Verkhovna Rada and announce snap elections during that period. The constitution also does not allow the head of state to dissolve parliament six months before the deputies' duties officially expire. In a separate development, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin announced in a video statement posted on Facebook that he was resigning, saying he planned to take part in the upcoming parliamentary elections. Klimkin is not affiliated with any political party. Also on May 17, the head of National Security Council, Oleksandr Turchynov, announced his resignation, citing the incoming new presidential administration. A Poroshenko ally, Turchynov has been the face of Ukraine's military campaign against Russia-backed militants in eastern Ukraine. He's also a member of the People's Front political party. With reporting by Gordon and UNIAN A select group congressional leaders received a classified briefing on Iran from the White House following complaints that lawmakers had not been kept informed on recent U.S. military moves in the Middle East. The briefing was given on May 16 to the so-called Gang of Eight, a varying group of four Democratic and four Republican lawmakers who are at times given highly classified intelligence information. Briefings are also scheduled to be given to the full Senate and House of Representatives next week, U.S. news media are reporting, citing sources. Democratic Senator Mark Warner, the ranking member of the Intelligence Committee, did not comment following the Gang of Eight briefing, but he did say the administration should keep lawmakers better informed about any threat from Iran. "I think obviously there are certain protections that have to be maintained for the Gang of Eight, but it's very important that more members hear this story," Warner told reporters. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, also a member of the Gang of Eight, said a failure to keep Congress informed is "part of a pattern" for the current administration "that is not right" because Congress alone has the power to declare war. "So I hope that the president's advisers recognize that they have no authorization to go forward in any way" against Tehran, she said. Amid growing tensions between the United States and Iran, Washington announced the deployment of an aircraft carrier battle group and a bomber task force to the Persian Gulf to counter what U.S. officials called "clear indications" of threats from Tehran to U.S. interests or its allies in the region. U.S. officials have told their European allies that the recent military buildup is a "defensive" move, which is being made in response to multiple threats coming out of Iran. Brian Hook, the U.S. special representative for Iran, told RFE/RL on May 14 that Washington was "just trying to restore deterrence." "We're not spoiling for a fight, Hook said. Asked at the White House on May 16 whether rising tensions with Tehran could lead to war, President Donald Trump replied: "I hope not." Mixed with his threatening language, Trump has recently made comments urging Iranian leaders to sit down for talks, and tweeted on May 16 he was "sure that Iran will want to talk soon. Some lawmakers accused the White House of attempting to provoke Iran into retaliating. "The Iranians moving weapons around is not a new thing, and that they may be doing it at a more rapid pace after we have threatened them with a carrier strikes group is not surprising," said Democratic Representative Jim Himes, a senior member of the House Intelligence Committee. Republican Senator Marco Rubio defended the White House's actions, saying there has been "a persistent and clear stream of information" about Iranian threats to U.S. troops and other assets in the Middle East. Rubio, speaking on the Senate floor, said Iranian forces "and their proxies in the region pose a serious and potentially imminent threat to U.S. forces and U.S. civilians in Iraq and in the broader Middle East." Trump has taken a hard line on Iran since he took office in January 2017. In May 2018, he pulled the United States out of a 2015 nuclear deal that Iran signed with six world powers. The accord provided Tehran with relief from sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear program. In withdrawing, Trump said the terms were not tough enough to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons and did not address Iran's missile program or Tehran's alleged support for militants in the region. Iran described the U.S. moves as "psychological warfare," and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said there is "no possibility" of talks with the United States at this time. Zarif also said Tehran was showing "maximum restraint" despite the U.S. withdrawal from the deal and accused Washington of an "unacceptable" escalation of the crisis. With reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters GUADALAJARA, Mexico, May 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE: PAC; BMV: GAP) (the Company or GAP) announces that today it has made a capital stock reduction payment of Ps. 3.03 (THREE PESOS AND 03/100 M.N.) per outstanding share representing the Companys shareholder equity, to the institution S.D. INDEVAL, S.A. de C.V. for distribution to shareholders, according to the record date of May 16, 2019. The capital reduction was approved at the General Extraordinary Shareholders Meeting held on April 23, 2019. The payment of the capital reduction is equivalent to Ps. 1,592,493,907.41 (ONE BILLION, FIVE HUNDRED AND NINETY-TWO MILLION, FOUR HUNDRED AND NINETY-THREE THOUSAND, NINE HUNDRED AND SEVEN PESOS 41/100 M.N.). Company Description: Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico, S.A.B. de C.V. (GAP) operates 12 airports throughout Mexicos Pacific region, including the major cities of Guadalajara and Tijuana, the four tourist destinations of Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos, La Paz and Manzanillo, and six other mid-sized cities: Hermosillo, Guanajuato, Morelia, Aguascalientes, Mexicali and Los Mochis. In February 2006, GAPs shares were listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol PAC and on the Mexican Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol GAP. In April 2015, GAP acquired 100% of Desarrollo de Concesiones Aeroportuarias, S.L., which owns a majority stake in MBJ Airports Limited, a company operating Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, Jamaica. In October 2018, GAP entered into a concession agreement for the operation of the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, Jamaica. Subject to certain conditions precedent, GAP expects to take control of the operation of the Kingston airport in the last quarter of 2019. This press release may contain forward-looking statements. These statements are not historical facts, and are based on managements current view and estimates of future economic circumstances, industry conditions, company performance and financial results. The words anticipates, believes, estimates, expects, plans and similar expressions, as they relate to the company, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Statements regarding the declaration or payment of dividends, the implementation of principal operating and financing strategies and capital expenditure plans, the direction of future operations and the factors or trends affecting financial conditions, liquidity or results of operations are examples of forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the current views of management and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. There is no guarantee that the expected events, trends or results will actually occur. The statements are based on many assumptions and factors, including general economic and market conditions, industry conditions, and operating factors. Any changes in such assumptions or factors could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations. In accordance with Section 806 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and article 42 of the Ley del Mercado de Valores, GAP has implemented a whistleblower program, which allows complainants to anonymously and confidentially report suspected activities that may involve criminal conduct or violations. The telephone number in Mexico, facilitated by a third party that is in charge of collecting these complaints, is 01-800-563-0047. The web site is www.lineadedenuncia.com/gap . GAPs Audit Committee will be notified of all complaints for immediate investigation. IR Contacts: Saul Villarreal, Chief Financial and Administrative Officer svillarreal@aeropuertosgap.com.mx Alejandra Soto, IR and Financial Planning Manager asoto@aeropuertosgap.com.mx Gisela Murillo, Investors Relations gmurillo@aeropuertosgap.com.mx / +523338801100 ext.20294 Maria Barona, i-advize Corporate Communications mbarona@i-advize.com A dentist, a former Virginia Commonwealth University president and an information technology consulting firm executive were inducted into the Junior Achievement Greater Richmond Business Hall of Fame. The three business leaders joined 108 other business executives who have been inducted into the program since it was established in 1988. Inductees are chosen for their contributions to business in the Richmond area. The program is sponsored by Junior Achievement of Central Virginia. The ceremony and banquet was held at The Jefferson Hotel on Thursday. The 2019 inductees are: W. Baxter Perkinson Jr., who started Baxter Perkinson & Associates as a sole practitioner with one staff member in 1973 and turned it into the largest dental practice in the Richmond area that is now called Virginia Family Dentistry. Perkinson is a past rector of Virginia Commonwealth University, where he graduated from the universitys dental school in 1973. The Richmond Bacon Festival scheduled for June 9 in the renovated 17th Street Farmers Market has been canceled. We wanted to honor the neighborhoods request not to sell outside beer, said John Sydnor, executive director of Enrichmond, the nonprofit that had been managing events at the 17th Street Farmers Market since 2016. Weve decided to postpone the Bacon Festival until next year. He said the Richmond Bacon Festival will be held in a new location in 2020 and that the nonprofit has already received three offers from locations interested in being the festivals new home. Devils Backbone Brewing Co. will remain the sponsor for the event. The city of Richmond announced earlier this month that the city will be taking back control of programming at the 17th Street Farmers Market from Enrichmond starting July 1. The Richmond Bacon Festival was one of the most popular events hosted by Enrichmond at the Farmers Market. The event began in 2013 and drew up to 23,000 visitors at its height. The past few years, the festival was held at a temporary location while the Farmers Market was under construction and drew roughly 8,000 visitors. 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. Nolan said Cuffee-Glenn, who was hired by Mayor Dwight Jones in 2015 and retained by Stoney, did not influence her daughters hire to the position or discuss the prospect with any administrators who answer to her. The mayors understanding is that all city employment regulations governing provisional employment were followed, Nolan said. He also said Stoney learned of the hire after it was made. Nolan said Glenns job is a part-time position, but her hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, according to Glenns offer letter from the Department of Public Utilities. The city released the offer letter in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. Glenns hourly wage $26.44 would equate to about $55,000 annually. Thats more than 127 of the 130 other city employees with the same title, according to payroll data from the Department of Human Resources. Wages for employees with the title range from $15.06 to $30.11 per hour, according to the payroll data. The average is $20.57 per hour. Karen Garland, the citys interim director of human resources, said she signed off on Glenns hourly rate after receiving a recommendation from the Department of Public Utilities. If slavery was Americas original sin, reparations remains its unrealized penance. Conversations about how to address the legacy of slavery for the descendants of the enslaved tend to sputter on the fumes of guilt, resentment, denial and defeat before shutting down altogether. I refer to it as the barbed-wire history, said Danita Rountree Green, an author and trauma healing facilitator. Every time we come close to it and get pricked, we back up and say, Oh no, were not going to deal with that. But the idea of reparations, she added, is so much more than money. And just like anything in your house thats broken, the longer you wait to fix it, the worse it gets. Coming to the Table-RVA, the local chapter of a national organization committed to racial healing and social equity, held a forum on reparations Wednesday at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture. Titled Repairing What is Broken, the event was timely on a topic that appears to be gaining momentum. Please register or log in to keep reading Stay logged in to skip the surveys. SAXTON, Alexandra "Alex" Willis, loving and beloved wife, mother, daughter, granddaughter, sister, cousin and friend, passed away peacefully at home Tuesday night, May 14, 2019, after battling cancer for nine months. A lifelong Virginian with an insatiable curiosity for the world beyond our borders, Alex loved to explore near and far. Her travels took her to many countries on several continents, but she always kept a special place in her heart for her alma mater, the College of William and Mary. It was there she met her husband, Ben, with whom she would have a loving decade of marriage. They started their life together in Alexandria, Va., where Alex taught English as a Second Language (ESL) to students of all ages and nationalities. While expecting her first child, Soledad, her growing family moved to Richmond. As a passionate advocate for the immigrant community, she continued her work as an ESL teacher and became a coordinator for Chesterfield County. After the birth of her son Gael, Alex transitioned to her childhood dream of working in the medical profession. Ever the humanitarian, she began this new endeavor by volunteering as a medical interpreter for a free clinic. Shortly before her diagnosis, Alex and her family moved back to her hometown of Suffolk to pursue the next step in her medical degree: the Physician's Assistant program at Eastern Virginia Medical School. Alex continued her pre-requisite coursework well past her diagnosis, a sign of her indefatigable spirit. Alex will be missed by her husband, Benjamin Saxton-Ruiz; daughter, Soledad Elizabeth Saxton; son, Gael Alexander Saxton; parents, Leslie and Cynthia Willis; brother, Benjamin Willis (and wife, Samantha); and myriad cousins, aunts, uncles and friends. A small, private service will be held on the Eastern Shore, with a larger celebration of Alex's life taking place in Suffolk in the coming weeks. Donations may be made in Alex's memory to Crossover Healthcare Ministry, where she volunteered as a medical interpreter. www.crossoverministry.org/donate/ Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.doughtyfuneralhome.com. Arrangements were made by Doughty Funeral Home in Exmore, Virginia. Lets support the effective enforcement of protective orders in communities. Lets support law enforcement responses to domestic violence that recognize lethality and serve to connect individuals with lifesaving advocacy services. Lets enhance partnerships that lead to the appropriate charging and prosecution of crimes. Lets support coordinated and effective processes for removing firearms from convicted abusers and respondents in protective order cases to prevent intimate partner homicide. Lets address the lack of Coordinated Community Response Teams and judicial training on trauma in communities. This is just some of the work that recognizes the complexities of domestic violence and supports communities in identifying and building real solutions to this devastating issue. Jonathan Yglesias is the policy director at the Virginia Sexual & Domestic Violence Action Alliance. Contact him at jyglesias@vsdvalliance.org. Ruth Micklem is the community initiatives manager at the Virginia Sexual & Domestic Violence Action Alliance. Contact her at rmicklem@vsdvalliance.org. How or when President Donald Trumps trade war will end is anyones guess. Theres no long-term plan or endgame in sight. But two things are clear: Youll pay more and Trump will claim he won. Despite what youve heard, China is not paying for the tariffs any more than Mexico is paying for the border wall. We find that the U.S. tariffs were almost completely passed through into U.S. domestic prices, so that the entire incidence of the tariffs fell on domestic consumers and importers, three economists wrote in a report on the impact last year of Trumps tariffs. They are Mary Amiti at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Stephen Redding at Princeton and David Weinstein at Columbia. Trump imposed tariffs on nearly $283 billion in imports last year about 12% of total imports and foreign countries retaliated with tariffs of their own on American goods amounting to $121 billion. By the end of the year, tariffs reduced U.S. income by $1.4 billion per month, the economists calculated. Some seeking support of full House for probe WASHINGTON Some House Judiciary Committee Democrats, concerned about the Trump administration escalating its stonewalling into their investigation of potential obstruction of justice and abuses of power by the president and his associates, want the full House to approve their probe. I believe we are at a point now that we should issue a resolution of investigation, one senior member, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, said Thursday. That resolution would come to the Rules Committee and ultimately to the floor of the House, which would then instruct the Judiciary Committee to have a full-fledged investigation, which could not be challenged or would be difficult to be challenged by the presidents whimsical comments of who can testify and who cannot, she said. Carter plans to be back in church this Sunday ATLANTA Former President Jimmy Carter plans to teach Sunday school this weekend, just days after undergoing surgery for a broken hip, a spokeswoman said Thursday. Description GIS - 17 May, 2019: The new Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Mrs Amanda Serumaga, presented her letter of credence, yesterday, to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, and Minister of Public Infrastructure and land Transport, Mr Nandcoomar Bodha, in Port Louis. The new Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Mrs Amanda Serumaga, presented her letter of credence, yesterday, to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, and Minister of Public Infrastructure and land Transport, Mr Nandcoomar Bodha, in Port Louis. Discussions focused on the vulnerability of Mauritius with regard to the consequences of climate change and the difficulty of accessing green funds that would help ecologically risky countries, such as Mauritius, to enhance resilience and adaptation capacities. Minister Bodha called for a differential treatment by the UNDP in favour of Small Island Developing States. Minister Bodha also discussed the opportunities for an ecologically sustainable transport system with the advent of the Metro Express and the introduction of a feeder bus system comprising electric and hybrid buses. Mrs Amanda Serumaga reaffirmed UNDPs support for the development priorities of Mauritius including the development of the blue economy and adaptation to climate change. She indicated that beach erosion and the development of the blue economy are two other areas for which Mauritius is seeking UNDP assistance. The new Resident Representative of the UNDP i s a development practitioner with over 22 years experience. She has also served as a Senior Legal Advisor in the justice sector reform, working on access to justice for the poor and marginalised, and as Country Director of an international NGO leading on aid effectiveness, poverty eradication, inclusive governance and pro-poor allocation of public resources. Isla Mujeres fire destroys two buildings Isla Mujeres, Q.R. A fire in an Isla Mujeres marina completely destroyed two small buildings behind the secondary technical school. The fire was reported around 4:00 p.m. Tuesday at a marina near Patria y Progreso. Personnel from the fire department along with members of the Secretariat of the Navy of Mexico arrived to put out the flames, which consumed two cabins that were located behind the Benito Juarez secondary technical school. Photo: la Secretaria de Marina Armada de Mexico Fishermen and neighbors were first to the scene in an attempt to quelch flames, however, the fire continued on to burn both buildings. Fortunately, flames did not reach a nearby catamaran. Damages are still being tallied. There were no reports of human injuries. Mayor of Cancun announces new security head Cancun, Q.R. A new head of the Municipal Secretariat of Public Safety and Transit has been appointed for the municipality of Benito Juarez. Municipal president, Mara Lezama, confirmed the dismissal of Jesus Perez Abarca who served as head of the Municipal Secretariat of Public Safety and Transit. He has been replaced by Eduardo Santa Maria Chavez. Today we have the resignation of Secretary Jesus Perez Abarca and we have decided Eduardo Santa Maria Chavez is to be in charge of the office of the Secretary of Public Security. He has performed remarkably as director of the Tourist Police and Deputy Secretary of Control and Operations and has enough of the necessary experience to assume this important task, said Mara Lezama, the mayor of Cancun. Lezama said that the dismissal was due to the lack of results in security, so a new manager for the municipality was appointed to head la Secretaria Municipal de Seguridad Publica, who will coordinate with the Single Command. The decision was made before the XVII Ordinary Session of the Cabildo in which council members and Mayor Maria Elena Lezama Espinoza approved the agreement that incorporated the municipality of Benito Juarez into the Single Command, which is valid until September of 2021, handing over security tasks to the state government. Eduardo Santa Maria Chavez said that in the next few days, he will report on the work and safety plan for Cancun as well as give attention to high-impact crimes and robberies in different parts of the city. Santa Maria Chavez has been commissioner of security in different parts of the country including Director of Operations of the Ministerial Police in Morelos and Director of the Criminal Investigation Police in Morelos. He has also served as secretary of public security in Guanajuato, the Directorate of the Tourist Police in Cancun and most recently, Control y Operaciones of the Policia Quintana Roo in Benito Juarez. Municipalities sign Single Command agreement for new security strategies Cancun, Q.R. Nine municipalities have voluntarily joined the states single command leaving the Ministry of Public Security (SSP) in control over security strategies. Municipal councilors and the government of Quintana Roo signed the collaboration agreement for the implementation of the Single Command, handing over security control to Secretaria de Seguridad Publica (SSP). The newly signed agreement allows the SPP of Quintana Roo to direct security strategies for the fight against organized crime, as well as the application of material and technological resources to reduce the crime rate. Jesus Alberto Capella Ibarra, head of the SSP said that with the implementation of the Single Command, state police figures increase from 1,429 to 4,904, all of whom will be responsible for security in the municipalities in both the north and southern regions of the state. During the signing of the agreement, the governor of Quintana Roo, Carlos Joaquin Gonzalez, explained that the agreement involves the municipalities of the state, and in the case of the Solidaridarid City Council, it has been integrated through a decree that remains active until September of this year. We are going to use all resources and inter-institutional collaboration. This is not an invasion of constitutional autonomies. We are talking about a common project of collaboration for the benefit of Quintana Roo, said the governor. The governor insisted that regarding security issues, it is necessary to promote dialogue and that the implementation of the Single Command is not intended to violate the municipal autonomy, but to coordinate strategies to combat crime. Dialogue is constructed by confronting the problems and accepting the realities, not by going to knock on the doors of federal government officials so that they solve their own incapacities of governance of their territory, added Carlos Joaquin Gonzalez. The signing of the agreement was attended by the governor of Quintana Roo, Carlos Joaquin Gonzalez as well as head of the SPP, Jesus Alberto Capella Ibarra. Municipal presidents at the signing included those of Benito Juarez, Puerto Morelos, Cozumel, Isla Mujeres, Bacalar, Tulum, Lazaro Cardenas, Jose Maria Morelos, Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Jose Esquivel Vargas, as well as representatives of the Armed Forces. The signing of the agreement was not attended by Laura Beristain Navarrete, the municipal president of Solidaridad. Playa del Carmen journalist found shot to death Playa del Carmen, Q.R. The body of a Playa del Carmen journalist was found laying next to his motorcycle Thursday morning outside a bar in the Ejidal neighborhood. State police have confirmed the death of Francisco Romero Diaz, a reporter from Acceder Aqui. His body was discovered outside a bar along Avenue 110. He had been shot twice in the head. The municipal president of Solidaridad, Laura Beristain condemned the death of Romero Diaz and offered support to his family. I am a person who has always fought for the free expression of ideas and dialogue, for the construction of a democratic society where citizens feel heard, she said. She confirmed that in her government free expression is guaranteed. In Solidaridad there is no censorship and we work with the media and in the same way with civil organizations, the private sector and the academic sector, with the general public, she added. The State Commission of Human Rights in Quintana Roo also condemned the murder and urged the State Attorney General to consider the journalists work as a motive for his death. This state agency makes a respectful call to the state authorities to protect the physical and emotional integrity of the relatives of the deceased and urges the FGE to consider, in the lines of investigation of this crime, his work as a journalist, they said in a statement. La Fiscalia General del Estado, through its social communication office, also issued a statement in which it reported that they have initiated an investigation with respect to the murder of journalist Francisco Romero Diaz, who was found dead outside of a bar on the outskirts of Playa del Carmen. They added that the discovery of the body was made via an Emergency 911 call, where in the early morning hours of Thursday, the body of a male person was found at 25 south street between 110 and Arco Vial in the Forjadores neighborhood. They confirmed that the victim had filed a complaint on April 12 for the crime of threats, which was heard by the States Attorney Generals Office and the Special Prosecutors Office for the Attention of Crimes Committed against Freedom of Expression of the now General Prosecutor of the Republic. Francisco Romero Diaz of Acceder Aqui From this, Romero Diaz was reportedly under protection, but had dismissed his escorts earlier that evening. Romero Diaz reported mostly on police events in and around Playa del Carmen on the Facebook page Ocurrio Aqui (It Happened Here). Frederick Stone joined the U.S. Army Air Corps in June 1942, six months after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, leaving his pregnant wife behind. Stone was 39, a Roanoke native living in Bedford County, motivated to sign up because a family friend was killed in the bombing. He became commanding officer of the 301st Air Service Group, stationed in India, in charge of air shipments to China, aiding that country in its resistance to occupation by Japanese forces. Stone returned home from a theater of World War II little talked about today, with permanent damage to his hearing and his left leg and wild stories to tell about his mission through the mountains and jungles of Burma. Though most of the supplies the Chinese forces received from the U.S. arrived by air, the Army also constructed the Ledo Road, more than 470 unpaved miles that connected Northern India to a section of the Burma Road still under Chinese control. The construction was supervised by Virginia Polytechnic Institute graduate and future U.S. Army Chief of Engineers Lewis Andrew Pick. Stone, who died in 1968, possessed unpublished photos of the first convoy across the Ledo Road that included glimpses of Pick at work, given to him by a friend who served as official photographer for the mission. Starting Friday, the public can view images from Stones collection at the combined History Museum of Western Virginia and O. Winston Link Museum in Roanoke as part of Proud to Serve, a show commemorating more than a century of service from Southwest Virginia military veterans, from the Spanish-American War to Operation Desert Storm. The staff of the Historical Society of Western Virginia, which operates the joint museum, put the exhibition together in anticipation of the 75th anniversary of D-Day on June 6, said curator Ashley Webb. The display drawn from Stones collection, titled The First Convoy on the Ledo Road, makes up one half of a two-part photography exhibition containing previously unpublished photographs from World War II. The other half, The Aftermath of Hiroshima, holds snapshots taken by longtime Roanoke resident Jim Warren, who served from 1943 to 1946 in the U.S. Army Signal Corps. Stationed in Japan after the country surrendered, Warren used a weekend pass to take a jeep and a camera into Hiroshima, where he captured images of the cityscape devastated by the nuclear blast, and residents going about their daily lives amid the rubble. Warren, 94, will be at the free opening reception Friday. He has made news in recent years because of his campaign to give living World War II veterans commemorative ball caps decorated with the words World War II Veteran 1941-1945 as a way to increase public recognition for their service. The remainder of Proud to Serve gathers recruitment posters, uniforms, maps and other artifacts, many from the history museums collection, that give insights into the lives of generations of Roanoke Valley military personnel. The historical society has been working with Mill Mountain Theatre to hold story circles where veterans and family members can share stories of military service. Further sessions will be held July 20, 3 to 5 p.m. at the Gainsboro Branch Library at 15 Patton Ave. N.W., and Aug. 25, 3 to 5 p.m. at the combined history and Link museum at 101 Shenandoah Ave. N.E. The theater is making a documentary using the material gathered in the story circles, Webb said. For more information, email curator@vahistorymuseum.org. The history museum also intends to collect oral histories of veterans every Saturday during June and July. The recordings will be shared with the Library of Congress. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Open Heaven, the worship ministry of Faith Life Church near Columbus, Ohio, is proud to release their new album, Revival Rising. The 11-song album combines upbeat melodies with Spirit-filled, prophetic lyrics to provide a powerful, heartfelt response to the times in which we live. It sounds an anointed, impassioned call to seek answers in Jesus Christ, to draw close to Him, and shower His love and goodness on those around us who are fighting darkness. When the team sat down to write this album, produced by Matthew Wooten with executive producer Amy Freudiger, they had an important goal: to help people realize that revival is not a mysterious concept or abstract theory. It is available to us here and now, and it starts in each of us. Senior Pastor Gary Keesee of Faith Life Churcb said, "I'm very excited about this album because I know there are so many people who need to connect to God in a deeper way, desperate for hope. I believe people's eyes will be opened to the true power of God through the anointed Revival Rising lyrics." The title track, "Revival Rising" beautifully teaches that concept. As Worship Pastor Amy Freudiger says, "We aren't waiting on God, He is waiting on us! That's why the chorus of that song says, 'WE tear down every wall; WE break every chain. Revival is rising in this place. Jesus, You are in this place.' When we draw near to God intentionally, we see Him move in our lives." Open Heaven's mission is to bring a prophetic but musically relevant voice to believers everywhere, inspiring them to join together in seeking a spiritual renewal across America and the world. The group has released three projects on DREAM: Live From Faith Life Church (2015) Lion of Judah (2016), and Miracle Maker (2017). They also were featured on The Case for Christ album that accompanied the release of the film by the same name in 2017. Revival Rising track listing: One Promise Walls Fall Revival Rising Breathe Warrior All Here and Now Heaven's Song For Your Glory Higher Incredible Goodness (Featuring Pastor Gary Keesee) Connect with Open Heaven Web | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube Tags : open heaven open heaven new album open heaven revival rising open heaven news dream records Pulaski County author Simone Poirier-Bures memoir, Threads in the Acadian Fabric, led her home to Nova Scotia and now will take her to Newfoundland in June for the 2019 Atlantic Book Awards. The retired Virginia Tech writing teacher wrote the book over six years, basing it on family documents and artifacts, archival research and her fathers journals. It documents the history of Arthur Poiriers family going back nine generations in Atlantic Canada. Published in 2018 by Nova Scotia-based Pottersfield Press, the book has been named one of three nominees for the Robbie Robertson Dartmouth Book Award for nonfiction. Poirier-Bures wrote in a message that she is thrilled to be nominated and will travel to St. Johns, Newfoundland, for the June 6 awards gala, where winners in several categories will be announced. It is the 30th anniversary of the event. The award is part of the overall Atlantic Book Awards and Festival held annually to celebrate the literature of Atlantic Canada. The nonfiction award includes a $2,500 prize, according to festival coordinator Laura Carter. Threads in the Acadian Fabric masterfully documents the Acadian experience from their arrival in Acadia to the present highlighting the fact that hardship and tragedy did not end with the Expulsion, said Joanne Stonehouse, one of the jurors for the nonfiction award. The statement was provided to The Roanoke Times by the award organizers. It is a very moving story culminating in the very personal account of the authors family. A must read for those who wish to learn the full story, Stonehouse said. Work on the book began when Poirier-Bures discovered a trove of family papers and artifacts in 2012, and she began to fill the gaps in her knowledge about Arthur. My father hardly ever talked about his youth or his experiences, so we just didnt know anything about him, Poirier-Bures has said. He was a closed box. At first, Poirier-Bures, 74, said she intended to produce a small book for the family. But others encouraged her to widen the lens. It took numerous trips to Canadian archives, hours of reading and writing and interviews with experts to assemble the story. Poirier-Bures begins with the founder of her fathers family in Acadia, a settler named Jehan (Jean) Poirier, who arrived in the French colony of Port Royal, now Cape Breton, in 1641. From there, she traces her paternal ancestors as they built lives and communities on the rivers and coasts of Nova Scotia, all the while caught in the brutal rivalry between France and England. Charles Poirier took his family into hiding to defy the 1755 British expulsion of the Acadians from Nova Scotia. Later that century, Charles son Pierre became the first in the family to gain title to land. Later still, Pascal Poirier and his son, also Pascal, went to sea as ship captains traveling the world in the great Age of Sail. And finally, the complicated story of Arthur, a World War I medic awarded the French Medal of Honor for bravery in treating victims of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. The book seeks to understand him the taciturn man who was 53 when Simone, the second of his four children, was born. By the time she was 20, he had died of cancer. For more information, visit http://atlanticbookawards.ca. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Blacksburg residents listing their homes on Airbnb this Virginia Tech graduation weekend will earn a combined $320,000 after taxes and fees, the company disclosed this week. That marks a dramatic spike over last years graduation weekend, when Blacksburg hosts earned a combined $230,000. The town, meanwhile, will nab well over $20,000 in lodging taxes over the next few days dollars that would have gone largely uncollected in previous years. The towns Airbnb-style home rentals have been subject to taxes for years, but collecting what amounts to a small amount of money from hundreds of hosts many of whom do not publicly identify themselves has proven challenging. So Blacksburg and Airbnb signed a tax collection agreement last year, making the town the second locality in the state to do so. Other jurisdictions have balked at the arrangement because Airbnb requires the localities it works with to forfeit many of their auditing powers. But Blacksburg Town Attorney Lawrence Spencer said he has been satisfied with the agreement so far, noting that collections are up now that Airbnb is building the 7% tax into the bill guests pay online. Its not perfect, but Airbnb is complying with its terms, Spencer added. The California technology giant shared a slew of other stats with The Roanoke Times ahead of Blacksburgs busiest tourism week of the year. Nearly 1,100 Airbnb guests were slated to arrive in the town between May 16 and 19, Airbnb spokeswoman Liz DeBold Fusco said. That compares to 850 guests between May 11 and 14 in 2018, when Virginia Tech hosted last years graduation events. More than half of all guests report coming from somewhere else in Virginia. The second most common state is Maryland, followed by Pennsylvania, New York and Massachusetts. Of the hosts renting out rooms, 68% are women and 21% are over the age of 60, according to Airbnb. And of those booking the rooms, 60% are between the ages of 50 and 59. Fusco notes in her experience looking at Airbnb data, thats a significantly higher percentage of older guests than most college towns during graduation weekends. I think that sort of speaks to the fact Airbnb is growing in popularity among families, she added. Landmark Floyd County business the Pine Tavern Restaurant is for sale. Its listed for $499,000 on the website of Floyd County real estate agent Levi Cox. In a Friday phone call, Cox said the owners, who have had the business for 15 years, are keeping the restaurant open while it is on the market. The sale includes both the building, built in 1927, and the business. The neighboring hotel is not for sale, according to the listing at levicoxrealtor.com. Owners Reed and Jane Embrey bought the restaurant in 2004 from brothers Swede and John McBroom, who had bought it three years previously, according to a 2004 Roanoke Times article. Embrey paid $250,000 for the property, which the McBrooms had renovated and to which they had added a pavilion with a stage, courtyard and outdoor dining, according to the 2004 article. Reed Embrey was an owner of the old Billys Ritz in Roanoke and has had a long career in restaurant management, including Shakers and Cracker Barrel locations. The Pine Tavern has been serving Southern and other American cooking for lunch and dinner since he took over. In recent years, such national acts as Leon Russell, Norman and Nancy Blake, and Hamilton Loomis performed there, and multiple Southwest Virginia bands including The Kind, Alliens and Electric Woodshed have used the space as well. The business news you need Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. As members of Bethany Christian Church prepared to celebrate the churchs 75th anniversary this weekend, they reflected over a legacy that included worshipping in one of Roanokes oldest high schools; partnering with other churches and neighborhood organizations to rid the Williamson Road area of porn shops, massage parlors and other crimes; and promoting community involvement and unity. Interest in the establishment of a Disciples congregation in the northwest section of Roanoke was initiated in the fall of 1943 by several members of various Disciples congregations who lived in the neighborhood, about the time that the Christian churches of the Roanoke Valley formed the Roanoke Area Council of Churches (now known as District III). After a dedication and consecration service in 1944, 68 people signed the charter, and Bethany Christian Church was born. The congregation met for the first time at the old William Fleming High School, now Breckinridge Middle School. Records show that 172 people attended Sunday school and the morning worship then. Bethany eventually built its stone sanctuary across Fleming Avenue from the school. Under the leadership of a dozen ministers over the years, the congregation has been involved in feeding the needy and providing activities at extended-stay facilities for the elderly, in addition to assisting its own members and expanding its own facilities. Bethany hasnt fully recovered from a 1989 inner-congregational rift when 100 members left. Those who stayed have worked to continue the churchs religious mission and to keep up with the times by updating its technology, modernizing its facilities and aiding others. The congregation is working toward being more inclusive of its community, which has grown from being predominately middle-class white to an area with multiple ethnic groups. Bethany also has launched its Community Table mission under its first female pastor, the Rev. Elaine Austin. The Community Table draws in area residents for food, worship and other assistance. After Austin moved on to become minister at Boones Mill Christian Church, Bethanys search for a minister led to its first African American pastor, the Rev. Kevin McNeil, who was installed in 2018. The church also is trying to increase membership by working with youth, thus enticing entire families to participate. Members are optimistic that their Christian and charitable efforts will increase their ranks and help them carry out their mission of being the hands and feet of Jesus by loving all unconditionally and sharing his message through witness and service to this community, said church moderator Betty Whittaker. Bethany has a welcoming atmosphere, and that seems to be drawing people to services, according to both Whittaker and Brenda Allen, who joined after attending Bethany with other family members. The one thing about Bethany is the love felt among the members of the church we are truly a family! Allen wrote in an email. In a history prepared for the weekend anniversary celebration, church leaders said, With the changes now taking place as a result of neighborhood and pastoral transitions, the loss by death of several key members of our church family, and limited resources, we have new challenges ahead of us. Nonetheless we remain confident in Gods guidance for us to proceed onward. Not unlike what was initiated in 1944, we have entered into a time when we must exert our faith, work in cooperation, and encourage our best effort to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ ... loving all unconditionally and sharing his message through witness and service to this community. To that end we endeavor to persevere. Bethany Christian Church, 3115 Fleming Ave. N.W., is holding its anniversary dinner at 5 p.m. Saturday, and worship at 10:30 a.m. Sunday. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A woman who led police on a brief chase in Roanoke died when she crashed into a pole. Roanoke police pulled over a white Chevrolet Impala about 12:15 a.m. Friday after the driver ran through a traffic light at Gainsboro Road and Orange Avenue, according to a news releases from Virginia State Police. A police officer approached the vehicle, but it sped away. Police chased the car, and during the pursuit the Impala crashed into a pole in the 900 block of Moorman Avenue and overturned several times, ejecting the driver, the release said. The driver, Rashele Monique Lee, 23, of Roanoke, was pronounced dead at the scene. No officers were injured. Under Roanoke police policy, because police were involved in the chase, state police are investigating. Roanoke police are searching for a second suspect in a shooting downtown. But not the one they initially said. Tyriek Jordan, 30, of Patterson, New Jersey, is not believed to have been involved in a Sunday shooting that injured a man, police spokeswoman Caitlyn Cline said Thursday. The day before, police said Jordan was wanted on one count of malicious wounding. Police say theyre now searching for a different, unidentified individual. Police have arrested Javoun Shamire Jordan, 29, in the shooting and charged him with malicious wounding. On Wednesday, Cline declined to say how police believed either Jordan to be involved and if they are related. Anyone with information about the shooting can contact police at 344-8500 or via text at 274637 beginning with the phrase RoanokePD. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Riley Hodges will make a second attempt at becoming Franklin County sheriff. Hodges candidacy sets up a rematch with Sheriff Bill Overton, who won 52 percent of the vote when the two last faced off in 2015. Overton announced in February that he would seek reelection. Hodges, 43, began his career with law enforcement when he joined the county sheriffs office in 1998. He resigned in April 2015, which Hodges said at the time was encouraged by Overton. Hodges said he joined the Roanoke Police Department, where he currently serves as a detective, in 2017. The 2015 election was a close one, Hodges said, and he decided not long after the loss that hed seek the office again. Im looking to get in to do the job of sheriff there, which is protect the citizens of the county and their best interests, Hodges said. If elected, Hodges said hed like the sheriffs office to work more closely with other county law enforcement agencies, such as police in Rocky Mount, Boones Mill and at Ferrum College. Its a team effort, Hodges said. It doesnt matter what color your uniform is, what shape your badge is, its for the protection of the citizens and everybodys got to work together. Hodges also said hed work to minimize turnover at the sheriffs office, noting that recruiting and training new officers comes at a cost. Hodges, a lifelong Franklin County resident, first became interested in pursing a career in law enforcement while a student at Ferrum College. He studied criminal justice, and served as a student employee of the college police department. Hodges also said he is a certified instructor with the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services and has taught at a number of police academies. The county voter registrars office confirmed that Hodges has filed paperwork to be on the ballot Nov. 5. The filing deadline is June 11. Though Hodges originally filed as an independent, he said the Franklin County Republican Committee chose him as its candidate at a recent meeting. The registrars office said Hodges is now a qualified Republican candidate. Hodges also ran as a Republican in 2015. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Philip Trompeter gazed at the photo of himself projected on a screen, taken when he was the regions juvenile court judge. Now, almost four years retired, people remark on his appearance. You look so different, they say. You look so good. His crowd laughed. We are in the human misery business, Trompeter said. And that takes a toll on all of us. The message wasnt lost on his audience. Some 200 law enforcement officers gathered Thursday for the Roanoke regions annual memorial service to honor those killed in the line of duty. Held during National Police Week, the service at St. John Lutheran Church attracted officers and family across the Roanoke and New River valleys. Trompeters keynote address centered on gratefulness for the sacrifices law enforcement officers make daily. Its not only their falling that we focus on today, he said. Its not just about the departed, its about you, the living. Borrowing the Hebrew word dayenu meaning, it would have been enough Trompeter offered a litany of law enforcements service: to help a child who has witnessed domestic violence, to run toward gunshots, to talk down a suicidal man. Any one of these acts would have been enough, he said. Dayenu. And yet our women and men in law enforcement continue to do more every hour, every day, every week and every year. The memorial recognized 42 state and regional officers who had died on duty since 1892. A bell sounded after officials read each name. The service also recognized those Virginia officers who died since 2018: Hunter Edwards of the Winchester Police Department, Melissa Morrow of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Lucas Dowell of the Virginia State Police, and K9 officers Vader and Doby. Chief Craig Harris of the Virginia Western Community College campus police hosted this years service. Some family members of those who have died in the area come every year to the service, he said. But since it has been decades since the Roanoke Valley lost an officer, Harris noted, the number of family in attendance has dwindled. Joann Kochenderfer was one of the few members of the public to attend the memorial. Although she doesnt have close family in law enforcement, she wanted to support the officers and to expose her children, particularly her son, to another dimension of a calling that has captured his 4-year-old imagination. This is a different aspect, because this is the fallen officers, she said. Its not the glamorous side. 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. CHRISTIANSBURG Hanna Bartnick loves horses and adventure and she got to combine the two in her academic career and beyond at Virginia Tech. Shell graduate Friday with a degree in animal science, specializing in equine sciences. To get to graduation, Bartnick took a winding, grinding journey where she worked hard and got her fill of adventure along the way, traveling across continents on horseback. The journey is encapsulated in her capstone class, where she took her passion for endurance riding and wrote a term paper about horse care in the process. My whole life revolves around these animals, said Bartnick, 23, a Roanoke native who graduated from Auburn High School in Riner. Bartnicks love for horses started when she was about 5 years old and attending Penn Forest Elementary School in Roanoke County. She would see horses in a nearby field on her way to school and ask her father if she could ride them, she said. Thinking shed give up, he said she could get lessons when she turned 8. Bartnick never did, however, and she began taking lessons and clearing stalls and taking care of horses in exchange for riding lessons at that age. By 14, shed purchased a 6-month-old foal. Bartnick has a way with troubled horses, her friend and former Tech classmate Casey Lowe said. Lowe, who worked with Bartnick at Flanagan Stables in Christiansburg, said Bartnick could consistently take in an abused or difficult horse and get them used to people and ready to ride. You have to really have a love and trust and respect for the animal, Lowe said. Hanna cares deeply about the well-being of her horses. She has compassion for animals. She loves animals more than anyone else I know. Bartnick used that compassion to move to endurance rides, where she pushes horses to their limits. Its important to know how a horse is doing to get the best performance from it, she said. I guess Im just an adrenaline junkie, she said. The rides are physically taxing for both rider and horse. Shes taken long distance rides up and down the East Coast, in California, Mongolia and South Africa. The rides can be miserable, but they provide the best release when theyre over, she said. In June, Bartnick traveled to Mongolia first for the Gobi Gallop, a 10-day ride across the Gobi Desert. The ride was essentially from watering hole to watering hole, she said. The gallop is a fundraiser for the Veloo Foundation and Horse Trek Mongolia to raise money for the education of impoverished children in Mongolia. After that she went on a trip with Erik Cooper, an American who works as a Mongolian guide, to visit the Tsaatan tribe in Northern Mongolia, where she said she rode reindeer. Once back in the U.S. she took part in the Tevis Cup, considered one of the hardest endurance races in North America. She was unable to finish because of injuries to her and her horse. During the fall semester, she also took part in a 350 kilometer race along the Wild Coast in South Africa. That 217-mile race involved channel crossings and cliffside climbs. She impressed Cooper on their ride in Mongolia and hell be taking another ride with her to Mongolia in October. Shes just got such a determined personality, Cooper said. In the classroom, Bartnick was also determined, her adviser Caroline Leeth said. Leeth, a Tech animal science professor, said Bartnick exudes confidence in everything she does. And when she approached Leeth about doing a capstone class involving endurance rides, the pair worked together to make it happen. For that capstone, Bartnick wrote a term paper about the rides and how she applied what she learned in her animal sciences classes to endurance riding. That included things like examining things like what types of shoes are commonly used ranging from no shoes in Mongolia to steel shoes in South Africa. Leeth said it was one of the most unique requests for a capstone class shes ever received, but thats not too surprising from a unique student like Bartnick. Later this year, Bartnick plans to go back to Mongolia with Cooper. She has plans to hike the Appalachian Trail from end to end in the summer of 2020. But she doesnt have what she wants to do long-term figured out. And thats OK with her. Leeth said Bartnick stays cool under pressure. While her classmates stress out about finals and what theyll do after graduation, shes always collected. Shes not a follower, Leeth said. She basically makes her own path and if its not linear, thats fine with her. Bartnick just knows she wants a future filled with horses and adventure. She wants to put in the effort and just like finishing school at Tech, she wants to finish more endurance rides both near and far. She doesnt care so much about accolades. To finish is to win, she said. A HEADTEACHER banned a six-year-old girl found carrying a ceremonial religious sword from bringing it to school after complaints from parents. Paula Dobbin, head of Redscope Primary in Kimberworth Park, spoke out to reassure parents who kept their children at home over safety fears about a Sikh kirpan spotted being carried by a Year 1 pupil. The discovery of what the head called a small, blunt miniature sword sparked an outcry on social media, and police said they were investigating some of the comments made as possible hate crimes. One parent stormed: Im sorry but, religion or not, a childs health and safety comes first. Another said: Most girls arent allowed to wear make-up in school, never mind carry a weapon. In a letter home to parents, the head added that the kirpan was a religious ornament worn by Sikhs. Ms Dobbin said: The item is not sharp, and is often worn in schools by children of the Sikh faith nationwide. However, having spoken to the parents of the child concerned, they have agreed that the child will no longer wear this item in school. The family are new to school and want to be part of the Redscope family. They are keen their daughter is able to make friends and be part out of our school community. Ms Dobbin added: Concerns have been circulating on social media around this issue, which has caused a number of you to delay bringing your children into school today [Tuesday]. I reassure you there is no reason for you not to bring your children to school. Police said they had been told about the situation, which reportedly sparked race-related hate comments on social media. A spokeswoman said: Police are aware that a religious kirpan was brought into the school by a six-year-old pupil. Local neighbourhood officers continue to work closely with the school, providing advice and reassurance and talking to parents. There are no wider safeguarding concerns and no crime has been reported. A number of comments on social media have been reported to us as race-related hate crime, following this situation. South Yorkshire Police would like to remind the public that hate crime of any kind is not tolerated. An investigation into the comments is underway. A kirpan is a sword or small dagger typically 8cm carried by Sikhs as a symbol of their faith. A religious commandment given by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699 demanded that Sikhs must wear five articles of faith at all times, one of which is the kirpan. A CANKLOW man who brought a scared Romanian teenager to South Yorkshire to work as a prostitute at a brothel he ran with his business partner has been spared a jail sentence. Shane Booth (29, pictured), of Canklow Road, Canklow, was the manager of the Pandoras brothel in Attercliffe, Sheffield, and arranged for the woman to work there in October 2017. Booth went on trial last Friday alongside Sorina Cretu (23), of Attercliffe Road, Sheffield, who worked as a receptionist at the brothel. They both initially denied controlling prostitution for gain but changed their pleas to guilty on the second day of their trial. Mr Ian Goldsack, prosecuting, told the court, their victim, then aged 18, had come to the UK from Romania in October 2017 to work at a Milton Keynes branch of the Papa Johns pizza chain. She had travelled to Britain with Nicolae Ionita, another Romanian, who had also secured work at the takeaway. After coming to the UK together they were put in accommodation paid for by the pizza chain. But Nicolae Ionita and his sister, Claudia Ionita, who were jailed for 21 months in September for causing and inciting prostitution for gain, arranged to move the woman to Middlesbrough and, against her wishes, sold her for sex. The woman had sex with between two and eight clients a day, Mr Goldsack said. The Ionitas controlled her and kept the vast majority of the money she made from clients. Claudia Ionita then contacted Cretu, whom she had worked with at Pandoras massage parlour in Attercliffe. Arrangements were made for Sorina and Shane Booth, the manager, to collect [the woman] and Claudia and take them back to Pandoras to start work, Mr Goldsack said. The woman was expected to provide sexual services to clients and had been seeing around ten each day, he added. She [The woman] refused to work to begin with but was threatened and assaulted and felt she had no choice but to go along with it, said Mr Goldsack. She was scared. [The woman] did not get to keep the bulk of the money she was earning. This continued until November, when she informed people back in Romania what was happening to her. With their encouragement and support, she left that house [where she lived] and sought help at a nearby petrol station. The woman was taken into the care of police and, days later, Pandoras was raided by officers. Cretu and Booth were both given nine-month jail sentences which were suspended for 12 months. They denied charges of arranging or facilitating travel of another person with a view to exploitation and these offences were ordered to lie on file. Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R front) meets with Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal in Beijing, capital of China, May 16, 2019. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao) BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday met with Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal in Beijing. Wang said that China and Turkey should strengthen strategic coordination and maintain the common interests of the two countries and other developing countries. China hopes that the Turkish side will respect China's core interests in safeguarding national sovereignty and security, and support China's efforts to combat East Turkistan terrorist forces with practical actions, Wang said. The two sides should promote political mutual trust and strengthen cooperation on major projects, he added. Onal said that Turkey supports China's efforts to safeguard national unity and combat terrorist forces and is willing to deepen pragmatic cooperation with China. Federal engineers are raising alarms that a significant flood event could compromise the spillway of Southern Californias aging Prado Dam and potentially inundate dozens of Orange County communities from Disneyland to Newport Beach. After conducting an assessment of the 78-year-old structure earlier this month, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that it was raising the dams risk category from moderate to high urgency. Our concern right now is about the concrete slab of the spillway and how well it will perform if water were to spill over the top of the dam, said Lillian Doherty, the Army Corps division chief. We will determine whether or not it is as reliable as it should be. (Los Angeles Times) Advertisement Located beside the 91 Freeway on the border of Riverside and Orange counties, the dam impounds little to no water for much of the year. During periods of heavy rain, however, the structure is intended to collect water and prevent flooding along the Santa Ana River. Doherty said her agency is working with a national team of experts to develop interim and permanent risk-reduction measures at the dam, as well as public outreach strategies to alert the estimated 1.4 million people who live and work in 29 communities downstream. The sudden downgrade in the structures evaluation comes after major problems have been identified in California dams. RELATED: Rare L.A. mega-storm could overwhelm dam and flood dozens of cities, experts say In February 2017, a concrete spillway at the Oroville Dam disintegrated during heavy rains and triggered the evacuation of more than 180,000 people. The head of the California Water Resources Department, which operates the dam, was removed after an independent probe found the failure was the result of a lax safety culture. That same year, the Corps of Engineers discovered that the 60-year-old Whittier Narrows Dam, about 40 miles to the west of Prado Dam, was structurally unsafe and posed a potentially catastrophic risk to more than 1 million people in working-class communities along the San Gabriel River floodplain. In that case, engineers found that intense storms could trigger a premature opening of that dams massive spillway, swamping homes, schools, factories and roads from Pico Rivera to Long Beach. Engineers also found that the earthen structure could fail if water were to flow over its crest. The Corps estimates it will cost roughly $600 million in federal funds to upgrade the Whittier Narrows facility, which has been reclassified as the agencys highest priority nationally because of the risk of very significant loss of life and economic impacts. Now, given concerns that Prado Dam poses a flood threat to much of Orange County, the agency is collaborating with Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties and several dozen municipalities to develop emergency plans that could be implemented before repairs to the dams are completed. Col. Aaron Barta said the retrofit operations on the spillways at both dams could begin as early as 2021. An $880-million effort to increase storage capacity for floodwaters and sediment at Prado Dam has been underway since 2002. It includes raising the spillway crest by 20 feet to an elevation of 563 feet, replacing outlet systems, increasing the reservoir area, building new dikes and improving the wetlands behind the dam and the downstream channel for flood control purposes, as well as for habitat and possible recreational opportunities. Despite a development boom in neighboring Chino, Corona, Norco and Eastvale, the 2,150 acres of wetlands behind the dam comprise a labyrinth of channels, ponds and forests that are havens for threatened and federally endangered species including red-sided garter snakes and least Bells vireos. In the meantime, the Prado and Whittier Narrows dams continue to be fully functional and operable during storm events, said Dena ODell, a spokeswoman for the agency. Corps staff is routinely on site at Prado Dam to operate and monitor the dam during rain events, she said. The Corps assessment of the dam doesnt mean that failure is taking place; it means the agency has identified performance concerns that require attention to meet the corps rigorous dam safety standards. But some researchers doubt the overall safety of aging federal flood control systems that were not designed with climate change in mind. They argue that in a warming world, regions such as California will experience more whiplashing shifts between extremely dry and wet periods. These cycles, they say, will seriously challenge Californias ability to control flooding, as well as store and transport water. A troubling theme is emerging as the Corps reviews its portfolio of large flood control systems that were built a long time ago and are now showing signs of severe stress, said Daniel Swain, a UCLA climate scientist. Federal engineers are finding that these systems are not as resilient as they thought they were, and that the frequency of what were regarded as once-in-a-lifetime storms is increasing significantly. Doherty would not go that far. Unpredictable things can happen, Doherty said. But we are the preeminent flood risk management and engineering agency in the United States we are all about keeping people safe. The UC Regents on Thursday approved a $762 tuition increase for students who live outside of California, with an amendment to set aside some of that money for financial aid. The 12-1-6 vote on the 2.6% increase had been tabled since March after students and some regents said they were concerned about how it would affect low- and middle-income nonresident students, as well as students who dont meet the qualifications to receive in-state financial aid. The amendment was put forth as an olive branch. It will ensure that 10% of the money from the tuition increase will cover financial aid for 10% of nonresident students roughly the same percentage who rely on student loans to cover at least some of their UC education costs. The increase is the fifth in a row for nonresident students. Last year, their tuition jumped 3.5%, from $28,014 to $28,992. Now, tuition will rise to $29,754 on top of the base UC tuition of $12,570. Advertisement As we all recognize, our needs are great, UC President Janet Napolitano said at Thursdays Board of Regents meeting. Without this, we add another $30-million hole and that will have an impact on the education programs we can provide. Napolitano has said that the increase will add $26 million to the UCs budget, which will allow the system to enroll more Californians, increase financial aid, and hire more faculty, staff and teaching assistants. UC spending per student has dropped since 2000 because state funding has not risen to fully cover the tens of thousands of additional students enrolled since then. To make ends meet, campuses initially turned to recruiting higher-paying out-of-state and international students. But the growing number of nonresidents sparked a political backlash. Legislators ordered a state audit which contended that UC officials had harmed California students by enrolling so many from out of state and then directed UC officials to eliminate financial aid for nonresident students and place a cap on their numbers. During the public comment portion of Thursdays meeting, several students called the tuition hike shameful and embarrassing. Many criticized the regents for using nonresident students as an avenue to solve its budget problems. I am tired of the UC system milking me for funding that I do not have to fix their broken funding mechanism, one student said. Some students predicted the increase will make the population of nonresident students more wealthy and less diverse, as well as make it harder for students who lack immigration status and dont qualify for in-state tuition to earn a college degree. Others noted that foreign currencies have been devalued, doubling the cost of education for students from countries such as Mexico, Brazil and Europe. Such is the case for Ashraf Beshay, a UCLA student from Egypt who said that an economic collapse in his country had increased the cost of his UC education from $50,000 to $120,000. My journey to this moment has been riddled with pain and hardships, Beshay said. My parents income now would not have allowed me to afford an education here anymore. If you increase our tuition, you would be perpetuating a passively unapologetic and unsustainable discourse around UC financing. The additional financial aid which both Devon Graves, the student regent, and Hayley Weddle, the student regent-designate, also called insufficient will be enough to cover the tuition increase for 10% of nonresident students, according to the regents. Its a slightly higher percentage than those who took student loans in the 2017-18 academic year. According to UC, applications from domestic nonresident and international students have remained high despite tuition increases every year since 2015. Graduation rates also have improved over time. Regent Lark Park said she was grateful for the amendment for financial aid, but didnt feel that it was quite enough. As we increase tuition, people of lower means dont see it as accessible, she said. I dont like the trend line of the data. Regent Michael Cohen suggested adding a second amendment that would make the tuition hike contingent upon the passage of Assembly Bill 1620, which would allow more students who lack immigration status to become eligible for financial aid. it was voted down 9 to 11. More revenue has to come from somewhere, UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said Thursday, adding that he and other chancellors have worked to save families thousands of dollars by speeding up the time it takes to graduate. Of course, its expensive, but it has impact on all of our students. There really is a need for these resources to keep the institutions excellent. Times staff writer Teresa Watanabe contributed to this report. alejandra.reyesvelarde@latimes.com Twitter: @r_valejandra Austrian opposition parties called Friday for the countrys vice-chancellor to resign after a two German newspapers published footage of him apparently offering lucrative government contracts to a potential Russian benefactor. The daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung and the weekly Der Spiegel published extracts of covert video allegedly showing Heinz-Christian Strache, the leader of Austrias far-right Freedom Party, meeting a woman claiming to be interested in investing large amounts of money in the Alpine nation. The two papers said the meeting, which took place months before Austrias parliamentary election, was clearly a trap laid to compromise the two politicians, though its unclear who was behind it. In the video, the source of which the newspapers declined to reveal, Strache and party colleague Johann Gudenus are heard telling the unnamed woman she can expect lucrative construction contracts if she buys an Austrian newspaper and supports the Freedom Party. Sueddeutsche Zeitung and Der Spiegel said the footage was authenticated by a forensic video expert. It couldnt be immediately independently verified by The Associated Press. Its time to end this nightmare, the head of Austrias Social Democratic Party, Pamela Rendi-Wagner, said after the reports. Strache and Gudenus must step down today. Advertisement She urged Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz of the center-right Peoples Party to take responsibility for his government allies: He chose to enter into this coalition. Werner Kogler, a leading member of Austrias opposition Green Party, also urged Kurz to dissolve the coalition or he himself will become untenable. According to the two newspapers, the video spanned some six hours of drink-fueled conversation in a villa on the Spanish island of Ibiza between the Austrian politicians and a woman claiming to be the niece of a prominent Russian businessman. Aside from discussing possible investments in Austria, including the purchase of influential tabloid newspaper Kronen Zeitung, Strache also appears to suggest ways of funneling money to his party via an unconnected foundation to circumvent Austrian rules on political donations. There is no indication that any of the discussed Russian investments took place before or after the parliamentary elections, in which the Freedom Party came third with almost 26% of the vote. Neither Strache nor Gudenus could immediately be reached for comment. Spiegel reported that the men confirmed taking part in a private meeting on Ibiza, but denied any wrongdoing. ___ Sueddeutsche Zeitung report: https://bit.ly/2HoGwCg Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Seventeen people who were arrested in previous anti-government protests were wounded in a prison disturbance in which a 57-year-old Nicaraguan-American dual national was shot dead, a lawyer for several inmates said Friday. Attorney Yonarqui Martinez also said three student protest leaders were among those hurt, and alleged that Eddy Montes Praslin was shot in the back and murdered. There is proof of this, no legitimate defense exists, Martinez said via Twitter. Nicaraguan authorities have accused the inmates of causing a serious disturbance Thursday at La Modelo prison north of the capital, Managua. President Daniel Ortegas government reported Montes death and said six prison workers had been injured, but did not say anything about inmates being hurt. Advertisement U.S. Ambassador Kevin Sullivan expressed sadness at Montes death and said he met with his family Friday and conveyed the U.S. governments condolences. They deserve a comprehensive and credible account of this unjustifiable use of lethal force against an unarmed political prisoner, Sullivan said via Twitter. He met with Nicaragua foreign minister Denis Moncada and demanded a full investigation into the incident. A U.S. State Department official reiterated the governments call for the release of all political prisoners. The lack of justice for these prisoners and for the hundreds of innocent civilians killed by Ortegas security and parapolice forces show the regimes utter disregard for human life and democratic freedoms, the official said. Worried family members gathered outside La Modelo on Friday seeking information about their loved ones. They tell us everything is calm, but we cannot believe that when there was a death, said Jacqueline Valdivia, mother of student leader Nahiroby Olivas, one of those listed as wounded. Authorities later allowed a group of mothers inside. Emerging they described finding their sons bruised, wounded and broken, and said they had not been hospitalized. All the boys are totally wrecked, said Yesenia Estrada, the mother of Byron Corea Estrada, another student leader. Estrada alleged that guards used not only bullets but rifle bayonets against the prisoners. The government has said prisoners rushed guards inside the facility and struggled with one of them with clear intentions of taking away his service weapon, and Montes was shot in the melee. Contradicting that account, Valdivia said the disturbance started when guards insulted several prisoners in the recreation yard. In the exchange of words, a guard fired from a tower which led others to attack the prisoners, she said. Corporacion radio, a station critical of Ortegas government, said four people were in serious condition from gunshot wounds and attributed the injuries to armed police and guards. Corporacion published photos apparently taken in the prison yard showing bandaged men with bruises, welts, black eyes and cuts on the head, face, arms and back, as well as spent shell casings and used tear gas canisters. Martinez said the disturbance took place in a section of La Modelo that holds hundreds of people whom the opposition and human rights groups say are political prisoners who were arrested for opposing the government. Ortega officials allege that opposition protests were tantamount to an attempted coup and have called the demonstrators terrorists. The International Committee of the Red Cross, which had personnel inside the lockup at the time, confirmed the existence of wounded prisoners but has offered few details about what happened. The ICRC said that prison officials had asked it to mediate a problematic situation in several cellblocks, and that it had facilitated the exit of wounded prisoners who were treated by prison medical staff. Montes, a U.S. citizen, was arrested last November and accused of terrorism, aggravated robbery, illegal possession of weapons and disruption of public order. According to Nicaraguan local media, authorities alleged he had looted a police clinic and robbed and burned city hall in the northern city of Matagalpa. La Prensa newspaper said Montes was known to fellow prisoners as the pastor for performing nighttime religious services. Some young people staged a small protest on property of the Managua Cathedral; police deployed patrols and riot officers around the area. The incident is the latest chapter in over a year of political crisis. Protests against social security reforms began in April 2018 and grew in scope to demand Ortegas exit from office and early elections. The demonstrations were put down forcibly by security forces and armed, pro-government militias, with at least 325 people killed in the crackdown, more than 2,000 wounded and over 52,000 who fled the country, according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The government and the opposition opened talks on resolving the crisis in February, but those have stalled and there has been little consensus on issues such as the release of jailed protesters. Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. When U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sat down with Iraqi officials in Baghdad last week as tensions mounted between America and Iran, he delivered a nuanced message: If youre not going to stand with us, stand aside. The message, relayed to The Associated Press by two Iraqi government officials, underscores Iraqs delicate position: Its government is allied with both sides of an increasingly contentious confrontation. As tensions escalate, there are concerns that Baghdad could once again get caught in the middle, just as it is on the path to recovery. The country hosts more than 5,000 U.S. troops, and is home to powerful Iranian-backed militias, some of whom want those U.S. forces to leave. The big question is how Iraqi leaders will deal with (their) national interests in a country where loyalty to external powers is widespread at the expense of their own nation, Iraqi political analyst Watheq al-Hashimi said. If the state cannot put these (Iranian-backed militias) under control, Iraq will become an arena for an Iranian-American armed conflict. Advertisement Despite the escalation of rhetoric by both sides, President Donald Trump has said he doesnt want a war with Iran and has even said he is open to dialogue. But tension remains high, in part given the regions fraught history. For Iraq to be a theater for proxy wars is not new. The Shiite-majority country lies on the fault line between Shiite Iran and the mostly Sunni Arab world, led by powerhouse Saudi Arabia, and has long been a battlefield in which the Saudi-Iran rivalry for regional supremacy played out. During Americas eight-year military presence that began with the 2003 invasion of Iraq, U.S. troops and Iranian-backed militiamen fought pitched battles around the country, and scores of U.S. troops were killed or wounded by the militia forces armed with sophisticated Iranian-made weapons. American forces withdrew from Iraq in 2011 but returned in 2014 at the invitation of Iraq to help battle the Islamic State group after it seized vast areas in the north and west of the country, including Iraqs second-largest city, Mosul. A U.S.-led coalition provided crucial air support as Iraqi forces regrouped and drove IS out in a costly three-year campaign. Iranian-backed militias fought alongside U.S.-backed Iraqi troops against IS, gaining outsized influence and power. Now, amid an escalating conflict between the U.S. and Iran, Iraq is once again vulnerable to becoming caught up in the power play. An attack targeting U.S. interests in Iraq would be detrimental to the countrys recent efforts at recovering and reclaiming its status in the Arab world. Earlier this year, Trump provoked outrage in Baghdad when he said he wanted U.S. troops to stay in Iraq so they can watch Iran, suggesting a changing mission for American troops there. On May 8, Pompeo made a lightning, previously unannounced trip to the Iraqi capital following the abrupt cancellation of a visit to Germany, and as the United States had been picking up intelligence that Iran is threatening American interests in the Middle East. The two Iraqi officials said Pompeo relayed intelligence information the U.S. had received about a threat to U.S. forces in Iraq but kept it vague. They said he did not specify the nature of the threat. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to divulge confidential information, said Pompeo told the Iraqis that America did not expect them to side with the U.S. in any confrontation with Iran, but that they should not side against America. In other words, stand aside. A few days later, as U.S.-Iranian tensions continued to rise, the State Department ordered all non-essential, non-emergency government staff to leave the country. U.S. officials said Pompeo told the Iraqis the U.S. had an inherent right to self-defense and would use it if U.S. personnel, facilities or interests are attacked by Iran or its proxies in Iraq or anywhere else. The three officials, who were not authorized to publicly discuss the private meetings in Baghdad and spoke on condition of anonymity, said Pompeo was not contemplating any pre-emptive strikes on Iran or the use of Iraqi territory to stage military operations against Iran. Pompeos message, the officials said, was that the U.S. wants to avoid conflict but would respond or defend itself if necessary. The secretary told reporters on the flight that his meetings with Iraqs president and prime minister were intended to demonstrate U.S. support for a sovereign, independent Iraq, free from the influence of neighboring Iran. Pompeo also said he wanted to underscore Iraqs need to protect Americans in their country. A general at Iraqs Defense Ministry said Iraq was taking precautionary security measures in light of the information about threats against U.S. interests, although those measures have not reached the highest levels. Iraqi forces are worried that American forces could be targeted by factions loyal to Iran, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. He added that any attack on U.S. troops could come as retaliation if the United States were to carry out a military operation against Iran. The heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S. come a year after Trump pulled America out of Tehrans nuclear deal with world powers and as the White House ordered an aircraft carrier and bombers into the region over a still-unexplained threat from Iran. On Saturday, Iraqi officials said ExxonMobil employees began evacuating an oil field in the southern Iraqi province of Basra while the island nation of Bahrain ordered all it citizens in Iraq and Iran to leave immediately. On Sunday, the United Arab Emirates alleged that four oil tankers off its eastern coast were targeted by sabotage. On Tuesday, Yemens Iran-allied Houthi rebels said they launched seven drones to target Saudi Arabia. The drones stuck pumping stations along the kingdoms crucial East-West Pipeline, causing minor damage, Saudi officials say. On the streets of Baghdad, some shrugged off the rising tensions while others worried their country could be sucked into another war. Aqil Rubaei said he was worried that his country, which has been at war since a year before he was born, will be the place where the U.S. and Iran will settle their accounts. The 38-year-old was born in 1981, a year after Iran and Iraq began their eight-year war and was 9 years old when Saddam Husseins forces invaded Kuwait leading to a destructive war that forced Iraq out of Kuwait and 13 years of crippling sanctions. In 2003, the U.S. invaded and removed Saddam, leading to the rise of extremist groups that culminated in 2014 with the Islamic State group capturing large parts of Iraq and Syria and declaring a so-called caliphate. The war that followed left entire Iraqi cities and towns destroyed until Iraq declared victory in 2017. Iraqi people are fed up with war, said Rubaei inside his cosmetics shop in Baghdads Karrada neighborhood. We dont want Iraq to become an arena for an Iranian-American war. ___ Associated Press writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report. Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. A senior Republican in the Pennsylvania Senate said Thursday the state should sell the lieutenant governors residence at Fort Indiantown Gap, saying it would save money and the proceeds could help fund housing for military veterans. President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati asked for co-sponsors for legislation he is drafting to unload the three-story, 2,400-square-foot (223-square-meter) State House, as its called, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northeast of Harrisburg. Built in the 1940s, the property includes a couple houses, a five-car garage and a swimming pool. Scarnatis co-sponsorship memo said the property had been designated for the lieutenant governor in 1971. Advertisement Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman said in November he would not be living there and now rents an apartment a few blocks from the Capitol. Fetterman said Thursday there are plans to let underprivileged children swim in the pool this summer and that the National Guard, which is based at Fort Indiantown Gap, has expressed an interest in acquiring the property. The house is located on base land. Fetterman said he fully supports conveying the house to the National Guard. Ive always been fully for putting the house to the highest, best use, whatever that is, Fetterman said. One thing it will never be is that its my personal residence. Fetterman, who presides over the Senate, said Scarnati did not mention his plans to circulate a co-sponsorship memo when the two were together Wednesday. Had the president pro tempore simply took me aside yesterday in the Senate chambers, we could have done a joint statement, Fetterman said. Scarnati spokeswoman Kate Flessner said the legislation is still being drafted, and the senator is open to input about it. Were happy to engage in conversations regarding the sale of the property, Flessner said. Staff and maintenance costs have run about $400,000 annually in recent years. Scarnati, of Jefferson County, stayed in the official residence while he served as lieutenant governor from late 2008 until early 2011. As the top ranking senator, he succeeded Democratic Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll upon her death and held both positions until elected Republican Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley was sworn in. Fetterman, the former mayor of Braddock, won a five-way Democratic primary last year, beating the incumbent, Democratic Lt. Gov. Mike Stack, a former state senator from Philadelphia. Fetterman was elected with Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf in November. Wolf stripped Stack of state police protection and limited cleaning, groundskeeping and maintenance at the State House after an investigation into how state employees were treated there and the use of the troopers. The results of that investigation were not disclosed to the public. The pool was closed at the end of last season for a pump repair, the Department of General Services said last year. Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams says shes still considering running for president in 2020. Abrams answered yes when asked in an interview with Pod Save America airing Thursday afternoon if she was still contemplating joining the crowded Democratic presidential field. Abrams has also been floated as a possible vice-presidential pick, though she recently downplayed the idea, telling ABC that you dont run for second place. Last month, Abrams ruled out a 2020 run for Senate. She had been courted by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who has said he believes Abrams would have the best shot to defeat Republican Sen. David Perdue, one of President Donald Trumps most loyal Capitol Hill allies. Advertisement In 2018, Abrams came within 60,000 votes of becoming the first black female governor in U.S. history. Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. A former government intelligence analyst has been charged with leaking classified documents about military campaigns against terrorist group al-Qaeda to a reporter. Daniel Everette Hale, 31, of Nashville, Tennessee, was arrested Thursday morning. An indictment in Alexandria, Virginia, charges him under the Espionage Act with counts including obtaining and disclosing national defense information, as well as theft of government property. According to the indictment, Hale worked as an intelligence analyst for the Air Force and later as a contractor assigned to the governments National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. The indictment says Hale began communications with a reporter in 2013 while at the Air Force and continued communications after going to NGA. Advertisement According to the indictment, Hale provided 11 Top Secret or Secret documents to the reporter and his online news outlet. Those documents were later published either in whole or in part. They include a secret memo outlining a military campaign against al-Qaeda overseas, a top secret intelligence report on an al-Qaeda operative, and a secret PowerPoint slide outlining the effects of the military campaign targeting Al-Qaeda overseas, according to the indictment. At an initial appearance Thursday afternoon in the federal courthouse in Nashville, U.S. Magistrate Judge Alistair Newbern ordered Hale released under pretrial supervision pending his next hearing, which is May 17 in Alexandria. One of Hales attorneys Jesselyn Radack, who specializes in representing whistleblowers said the investigation of Hale had essentially lay dormant for five years up until Hales arrest. She said the Trump administration is continuing and escalating what she called a toxic trend started under the Obama administration of aggressively prosecuting legitimate whistleblowers. If you look at the charges, what hes accused of is classic whistleblowing, Radack said. He contacted a reporter about a matter of extreme importance thats been shrouded in secrecy. Court papers do not identify by name the reporter who allegedly received the leaks, but details in the indictment make clear that Jeremy Scahill, a founding editor of The Intercept, is the reporter who received them. The indictment states that many of the classified documents were disclosed in an October 2015 news article. On October 15, 2015, Scahill published an article on The Intercept titled The Assassination Complex that relies on a cache of secret slides that provides a window into the inner workings of the U.S. militarys kill/capture operations at a key time in the evolution of the drone wars. The story says the documents were provided by a source within the intelligence community who worked on the types of operations and programs described in the slides. Scahills book, Dirty Wars, was published in 2013, and the indictment indicates Hale and Scahill met while Scahill was promoting the book at a Washington, D.C., bookstore. The book reported on the use of drones to attack and kill targets like al-Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, among other things. The indictment states that Hale listed his work with drones on kill and capture operations on his resume and quotes Hale in a text message to a friend stating that Scahill wants me to tell my story about working with drones. Betsy Reed, The Intercepts editor-in-chief, issued a statement Thursday saying they do not comment on matters related to anonymous sources. She did say the documents described in the indictment detailed a secret, unaccountable process for targeting and killing people around the world, including U.S. citizens, through drone strikes. They are of vital public importance. She criticized the Trump administration for following the path of the Obama administration in aggressively prosecuting leaks and using the Espionage Act to prosecute whistleblowers who enable journalists to uncover disgraceful, immoral, and unconstitutional acts committed in secret by the U.S. government. John Demers, assistant attorney general for national security, said in a statement that the indictment is the latest step in the Departments efforts to stop the leaks of information that could damage the national security. We have brought four cases in the last two years and have secured three convictions thus far. The Eastern District of Virginia, where Hale will be prosecuted, has been a frequent location over the years for cases involving leaks and whistleblowers. Prosecutors in Alexandria have filed criminal charges against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and against former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, though both so far remain overseas despite U.S. efforts to obtain their extradition. In 2015, a judge imposed a 3 year sentence on former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling, who was convicted of exposing government secrets to a New York Times reporter. In 2013, another former CIA man, John Kiriakou, was sentenced to 2 years in prison after pleading guilty to leaking a covert officers identity to a reporter. Kiriakous indictment in 2012 prompted then-CIA Director David Petraeus to issue a statement reminding his agencys employees of the need for secrecy in their work. When we joined this organization, we swore to safeguard classified information; those oaths stay with us for life, he said at the time. In 2015, Petraeus pleaded guilty in federal court in North Carolina to a charge of unauthorized removal and retention of classified information. He was sentenced to probation. ____ Associated Press writers Eric Tucker in Washington and Jonathan Mattise in Nashville contributed to this report. Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. 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. The rate of bowel cancer -- otherwise known as colorectal cancer or CRC -- is rising among adults aged 20-49 in Europe, suggests research published online in the journal Gut today. Rates rose most steeply among the youngest age group (20-29 years), and the authors warn that if the trend continues, screening guidelines may need to be reconsidered. Rates tend to be lower among people over 50, but the opposite is true among younger adults in North America, Australia and China, say the researchers. And in the US, the increase in new cases among people aged 20-40 has prompted The American Cancer Society to recommend lowering the age at which to start screening to 45. Over the past decade, the number of new cases of bowel cancer has risen in most European countries, but the situation on rates among younger adults is unclear. So to shed some light on European trends, a team of researchers analysed data from national and regional cancer registries on the number of new cases and deaths related to bowel cancer between 1990 and 2016. advertisement They used data from 143.7 million people aged 20-49 years from 20 countries, including Germany, Sweden, the UK and the Netherlands. Between 1990 and 2016, a total of 187,918 people were diagnosed with bowel cancer and there was a steeper rise in the number of new cases in more recent years. Among 20-29 year olds, bowel cancer incidence rose from 0.8 to 2.3 cases per 100,000 people between 1990 and 2016, and the sharpest rise was between 2004 and 2016 at 7.9% per year. For the 30-39 year olds group, the incidence increased less steeply than the younger age group, at an average of 4.9% per year from 2005 to 2016. Finally, among the 40-49 years age group, the bowel cancer rates fell by 0.8% between 1990-2004, but then increased slightly by 1.6% per year from 2004 to 2016. advertisement New cases of bowel cancer rose significantly among people aged 20-39 in 12 countries, namely, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Ireland, France, Denmark, Czech Republic and Poland. But Italy showed a decrease in the number of cases. In eight countries -- the UK, Greenland, Sweden, Slovenia, Germany, Finland, Denmark and the Netherlands -- the number of cases rose significantly among 40-49 year olds, but rates fell significantly in the Czech Republic in more recent years (1997-2015). The number of deaths from bowel cancer did not significantly change among the youngest adults (20-29 years), but fell by 1.1% per year between 1990 and 2016 in the 30-39 age group and by 2.4% per year between 1990 and 2009 among those aged 40-49 years. This is an observational study, and as such, cannot establish cause. Moreover, the authors highlight some limitations, including the fact that the quality of data varied between countries and in some cases was only available for a limited number of regions. Several factors may be behind these trends, including the rise in obesity, and lifestyle factors such as lack of physical activity, alcohol intake and smoking, they write. Bowel cancer in young adults is "in part due to hereditary cancer syndromes, but most cases are sporadic," they add. They say that it is too early to use their findings to support lowering the screening age to 45 in Europe, but if the trend continues, screening guidelines may need to be reconsidered. They conclude: "Until the underlying cause of this trend is identified, it would be [a good idea] to raise clinicians' awareness and identify factors possibly associated with this trend." Drawing inspiration from biology and the toy shelf, researchers at Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College and City University of Hong Kong have developed a swimming robot with a light-controlled cellular engine that can perform highly-targeted drug delivery. Researchers combined cardiac tissue engineering, a 3D-printed wing structure and a light-sensitive gel to produce the soft robot with start-stop capability. The switchable device transforms its shape when exposed to skin-penetrating near-infrared light, causing it to drive and brake through fluid environments like the human blood stream. The transformable device dramatically improves the usefulness of robots designed to work inside the human body and other unconventional work environments. The research team at City University of Hong Kong produced the original robot design and performed the experimental tests. The Dartmouth team performed mechanical and numerical analysis on the device and suggested changes to design elements like size and shape. "With this technology we can create soft transformable robots with unprecedented maneuverability," said Zi Chen, an assistant professor of engineering at Thayer. "Our inspiration came from transformable toys that have different configurations and functionality. The result is no toy, it may literally change people's lives." Living organisms are capable of changing shapes to perform specific actions. A hedgehog curls into a ball for defense. Birds spread their wings to fly. Carnivorous plants such as the Venus flytrap open and close. The new study is part of a long-term effort to develop robots that mimic this shape-changing behavior found in nature. advertisement To be effective, the new generation of robots need to be energy efficient and they must be able to respond to different types of stimulus, like light or heat. While examples of these types of robots already exist, researchers have struggled to create a device that fluently transforms its shape to allow it to start and stop moving on demand. Most existing systems also depend on temperature variations that are difficult to stimulate in the human body because of its nearly-constant temperature. "The ability to control the robot's motion using light creates a much more functional device that can be operated with high precision," said Xiaomin Han, a recent PhD graduate from the Chen Research Lab at Thayer. The remote-controlled robot is driven by a tail fin that mimics the swimming action of whales. The structure was 3D printed in the shape of an airplane wing and then coated with heart muscle cells. In the same way that cardiomyocytes cause the heart to beat continuously, they also propel this biohybrid device through a constant undulating action. To control the movement of the robot, researchers applied photosensitive hydrogels to the wings. In the absence of light, the wings deploy, allowing the heart cells to propel it forward. When exposed to light, the floating plane retracts its wings, causing it to stop. advertisement "The heart muscles keep churning, but they are unable to overcome the stopping power of the wings," said Chen. "It's like pushing the accelerator pedal with the emergency brake on." The robot's high sensitivity to near-infrared light creates a response rate that allows an almost immediate transformation of wing shape, allowing it to be highly maneuverable. In the study, researchers used the "unprecedented controllability and responsiveness" of the floating-plane robot as a cargo carrier to conduct targeted drug delivery against cancer cells. "We literally dropped drug bombs on cancer cells," said Chen. "The realization of the transformable concept paves a pathway for potential development of next-generation intelligent biohybrid robotic systems." The biohybrid robot can be produced in a variety of sizes ranging from several millimeters to dozens of centimeters. Such scalability gives it good flexibility to take on tasks related to navigation and surveillance in difficult environments. A study describing the research first appeared in the academic journal Small in late March. In the current study, researchers control start-stop motion of the entire robot though the use of light. Future research will use light to target separate wings on the robot so that it can be steered with even more precision. This research was produced with Peng Shi and Bingzhe Xu from City University of Hong Kong. Yuwei Hu and Chia-Hung Chen from National University of Singapore and Yiming Luo from Hubei University of Technology also contributed to the study. "We now know for sure that Zika virus infection during pregnancy can affect the unborn fetus in such a way that the child develops microcephaly and other severe symptoms," explains Prof Felix Drexler, a virologist at the Charite who has been developing diagnostic tests for Zika and other viruses at the DZIF. Just a few years ago, pictures of affected new-borns were cause for worldwide dismay and perplexity. "However, what we did not understand then was that high incidence of microcephaly seemed to occur particularly in northeastern Brazil," says Drexler. Why are expecting mothers in these regions at a higher risk of developing a severe Zika-associated disease than in other regions? The scientists consequently began to search for cofactors that have an influence on whether a Zika infection during pregnancy will develop fatal consequences or not. A suspected cofactor Dengue viruses, which are widespread in Latin America and cause dengue fever, were suspected cofactors. Initially, the scientists suspected that the antibodies humans produce against the dengue virus contribute to the fetal damage caused in later Zika infection. It has been known for a long time that these antibodies can enhance subsequent dengue infections under certain conditions. However, in the case of Zika, the opposite seems to be the case. "Surprisingly, our study has shown that a previous dengue infection can protect against Zika-associated damage," emphasizes Drexler. The study As a first step to investigating the interactions between dengue and Zika viruses, the genomes of all known dengue viruses in Brazil were compared to each other. This was to enable the researchers to find out whether perhaps dengue viruses in northeastern Brazil had caused different immunity compared to the immunity observed in other regions in Brazil over the last decades. In addition, the scientists conducted extensive serological tests in Salvador, Brazil: Samples from a case-control study were tested for antibodies against four different dengue serotypes. Samples from 29 mothers who had undergone Zika infection during pregnancy and gave birth to children with microcephaly were investigated. Samples from 108 mothers who also had undergone Zika infection during pregnancy but gave birth to healthy children were used as controls. In this project, scientists from the Charite -- Universitatsmedizin Berlin collaborated closely with the Federal University of Bahia and the Institute of Virology of the Bonn University Medical Centre. advertisement Cofactor becomes a protective factor The study showed that an existing immunity against dengue virus significantly reduces the risk of Zika-associated microcephaly in newly borns. "We can now say that people who have had early infections with dengue do not need to worry much about contracting more severe forms of Zika infection due to this," summarises Drexler. This is an important message for pregnant women. Consequently, it could not be confirmed that the dengue virus acts as a cofactor for congenital Zika infection. The scientists are now looking for further cofactors and other possibilities of identifying the risk of microcephaly early on. Background Felix Drexler and his research group have already developed several novel Zika virus tests. The Zika diagnostics project in Brazil was brought underway by the DZIF in order to act against the threat of emerging infections. It is also being funded by the EU programme Horizon 2020. advertisement Zika and dengue viruses Zika viruses are usually transmitted by mosquitoes, particularly by the Aedes species, but they can also be transmitted sexually. Symptoms of Zika include rashes, headaches, joint pain and muscle pain, conjunctivitis and sometimes fever. However, these symptoms are considered mild compared to other tropical diseases that are transmitted by mosquitoes. During pregnancy, the virus can cause microcephaly and other malformations in the unborn child. The dengue virus is also transmitted by mosquitoes of the Aedes species and has similar symptoms to Zika infection. Dengue usually causes high temperatures, headaches, muscle and joint pain. People usually recover within a few days, but complications may also occur. Dengue fever is one of the most common diseases transmitted by mosquitoes worldwide. Recent decades have been witness to the increase in the global frequency of extreme heat because of global climate change. Southern-Central Japan and South Korea are no exemptions to the extreme heat of which both experience simultaneously. A group of climatologists studied the wide-scale circulation that led to the simultaneous extreme heat of these two regions. Their findings have been published in the Journal of Climate. "The concurrent extreme heat result from a deep anomalous anticyclone over East Asia, which induces anomalous subsidence and consequent higher surface temperature," said Ke Xu, the first author on the paper, who is a postdoc working with Prof. Riyu Lu and Prof. Jiangyu Mao in the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Wave trains that come from upstream regions start the anomalous anticyclone that move eastward along the Asian westerly jet in the upper troposphere. "These wave trains can be categorized into two types that are characterized by the precursor anticyclonic and cyclonic anomalies, respectively, over central Asia," Xu said. "The two types of wave pattern are indicative to the occurrence of EH over South Korea and southern-central Japan." The Asian westerly jet controls the distinction between these two kinds of wave train. "The Asian westerly jet, as the basic flow, can determine not only the propagation, but also the horizontal structure of the Rossby wave in terms of spatial scale and geographical distribution." Xu said. This study identifies the unique traits of the circulation responsible for extreme heat in these two regions. Extreme heat wave patterns from other regions are different from those found in South Korea and Southern-Central Japan. Other contributors include Prof. Baek-Jo Kim of the National Institute of Meteorological Sciences in South Korea, Prof. Jong-Kil Park and Prof. Jae-Young Byon of the Inje University in South Korea, Dr. Ruidan Chen of Sun Yat-sen University in China and Dr. Eun-Byul Kim of the Inje University in South Korea. If District Three were to reduce the number of school days per week, this could possibly mean classes would be held Monday through Thursday and extended 1.5 hours per day. Students would not report to school on Fridays if they are passing/meeting standards. Hickson said in her report to the board that the first and third Fridays of the month would be designated for academic assistance and tutoring for students. Students who attend schools that receive 21st Century Grants would attend on the first and third Fridays. The second Friday of the month would be for onsite or online professional development. And the fourth Friday of the month would be off, according to Hicksons report. Were just beginning to just do the research because were definitely going to have to find ways to try to keep our teachers when we have them, Hickson said. She wants the plan to be attractive to people looking for positions and also address the amount of funds that the district pays for substitutes. With the school boards permission, the next steps of the possible recruitment and retention plan would involve surveying parents and staff. The board plans to bring up the topic again at the next school board meeting. FLORENCE, S.C. Florence-Darlington Technical College held its 55th annual commencement ceremony Thursday night with 450 graduates participating. Maj. Mike Nunn of the Florence County Sheriffs Office was the speaker for the ceremony, which was held at the Florence Center. Nunn serves as the general counsel and the public information officer with the sheriffs office. In 2009, he left his private practice as a lawyer to accept his current position, he told graduates. He told them life doesnt always lead them down the expected path. Nunn challenged the graduating class to be men and women of integrity. He said integrity must be earned. It cant be purchased. But you can lose it or give it away, he said. Nunn said integrity is doing the right thing even if no one is looking. He told the Class 2019 that they dont have to be perfect. He said he has always learned more from his failures than his successes. You are here for a reason, he said, Make the most of this time. FLORENCE, S.C. Law enforcement agents took to the roof of the South Irby Street Chick-fil-A for a good cause Thursday and will be back there Friday. "We are raising money for Special Olympics South Carolina and the Law Enforcement Torch Run," said James Allen, an investigator with the Florence County Sheriff's Office. He was joined by fellow deputies, a deputy from the Marion County Sheriff's Office and officers from the South Carolina State Transport Police. "This is our third year; Mark and Kim Drummond let us come here and do this," Allen said as he and other deputies worked the lunch crowd for donations. The Drummonds are the Chick-fil-A franchisees. Atop the restaurant, under a canopy, Transport Police Officer Chuck Norton delivered music and monologues that urged people in passing vehicles to stop and donate to the cause. "All the money we raise her goes straight to South Carolina Special Olympics athletes to support them and their families in going to games and competing," Allen said. "Last year we sent athletes to the world games and we had athletes from Florence County we supported who went to the world games and won gold medals." Pacelle said Day frequently called state and federal lawmakers when animal issues hung in the balance. She advocated for a 1990 ban on the trophy hunting of mountain lions in California, was strong in urging an end to cosmetic testing on animals, helped with a 2010 ballot measure in Missouri to crack down on puppy mills and made calls and sent letters on a wide range of topics to help all animals. "Lawmakers who were old enough to have been fans were always thrilled to hear from her," he said. "She was one of the biggest celebrity names in the 20th century, and her guileless approach on animal issues won her so many admirers and fans. She was part of the process of making animal welfare a mainstream issue. She is like Jane Goodall in being above the fray and was almost impossible for apologists of animal cruelty to attack." The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed settled charges against five individuals for orchestrating a fraudulent pump-and-dump scheme involving multiple penny stocks. The SEC alleges that between May 2011 and May 2017, Andrew I. Farmer of Katy, Texas, Scott R. Sieck of Winter Park, Florida, Eddie D. Austin, Jr. of Houston, Texas, Carolyn P. Austin of Houston, Texas, and John D. Brotherton of Conroe, Texas ran a series of pump-and-dump frauds. According to the SEC's complaint, the Defendants engaged in a pattern of obtaining control of all the freely trading stock of a penny stock and then allocating the stock to foreign and domestic front companies they controlled. To create the false appearance of market interest in the penny stock and to set artificially elevated share prices, Defendants allegedly conducted coordinated trading between these front companies. Additionally, Defendants allegedly orchestrated materially misleading promotional campaigns via email blasts and internet advertising, which they timed to coincide with press releases they allegedly caused each issuer to disseminate. The SEC further alleges that Defendants took advantage of the resulting stock price and trading volume rises by unloading their worthless stock on unsuspecting investors. In 2017, the SEC suspended trading in Valmie Resources, Inc., which is one of the issuers allegedly involved in the Defendants' scheme. The SEC's complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, charges each of the Defendants with violating the registration and antifraud provisions of Sections 5(a), 5(c), and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and the antifraud provisions of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The Defendants have consented to the entry of final judgments which enjoin them from violating the charged provisions of the federal securities laws, enjoin them from future solicitation of the purchase or sale of securities, impose officer-and-director bars, impose penny stock bars, and order the Defendants to pay disgorgement of ill-gotten gains totaling $10.25 million and prejudgment interest totaling $895,487. The settlement is subject to Court approval. The Defendants have also pleaded guilty in a parallel criminal action. The SEC's investigation, which is continuing, has been led by Kelly V. Silverman and Christopher R. Mathews, supervised by Assistant Director J. Lee Buck, II, and assisted by Senior Trial Counsel Joshua E. Braunstein. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, the Ukrainian National Securities and Stock Market Commission, and the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority. Alma Media on Thursday reported that almost a fifth (19.2%) of respondents to its latest poll expressed their support for the opposition-bound, right-wing populist party, signalling a rise of 1.7 percentage points from the elections and 5.8 percentage points from its final poll before the elections. POPULAR SUPPORT for the Finns Party has spiked in the wake of the parliamentary elections held in Finland on 14 April. The National Coalition has managed to gain popularity after the elections, with 17.9 per cent of respondents expressing their support for it now instead of 17.0 per cent of voters in the elections. Support for the Social Democratic Party has contrastively fallen from 17.7 to 16.4 per cent since the elections. The Centre, similarly, has seen its popularity dwindle in the first month after the elections and is polling at 13.4 per cent. The Green League, Left Alliance and the Swedish Peoples Party the other three parties involved in the coalition formation negotiations have registered up-ticks in popular support since the elections, the first climbing from 11.5 to 12.1 per cent, the second from 8.2 to 9.4 per cent and the third from 4.5 to 4.7 per cent. A total of 1,508 people were interviewed for the poll between 3 and 14 May by Tietoykkonen. Over four-fifths (85%) of respondents were able and willing to reveal their party of choice. The Finns Party has emerged as the most supported party in the country after the elections also according to a poll by Helsingin Sanomat. Aleksi Teivainen HT Source: Uusi Suomi A San Francisco Superior Court judge handed a victory to First Amendment advocates Friday by issuing a tentative ruling that will require California Attorney General Xavier Becerras office to turn over misconduct records involving police officers and sheriff deputies across the state. Judge Richard B. Ulmer rejected the attorney generals claim that public records must be requested from local law enforcement agencies instead of the state Department of Justice in a three-page ruling. He also upheld previous decisions that records created before Jan. 1 should be released under SB1421. The legislature could not have been oblivious to the cost of its (Penal Code) 832.7 revisions, and the people will likely be agnostic as to which tax-funded agency foots the bill, Ulmer wrote. The judge also slammed Becerras claim that it would be a burden on his office to disclose records that could be released by local departments. Becerra said the ruling provided clarity, but his office disagreed with part of the decision, saying records pertaining to a specific officer must be released by his or her employer per SB1421. Any other conclusion would result in duplication of efforts by local law enforcement agencies and a risk of inappropriately disclosing information that could affect the local agencies pending investigations or reveal the identities of witnesses that should remain protected, the office said in a statement. KQED and the First Amendment Coalition filed the lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court on Feb. 14. The Departments refusal to release any records covered by SB1421 is anathema to the laws purpose of increasing transparency, attorneys for the First Amendment Coalition and KQED wrote in the petition. While Fridays decision is not final, the judge indicated the substance of the decision would be the same in the official ruling. David Snyder, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition, called Fridays decision a victory, although some portions of the legal back-and-forth remain fuzzy. We have been baffled that the states highest law enforcement officer, of all people, is holding out on a legal question that has been clearly settled, Snyder said. It is unclear when Becerras office will have to begin producing records and what they can legally redact or withhold, such as documents only available under attorney-client privilege. Under SB1421, law enforcement agencies must release records related to police shootings and sustained findings on sexual assault and dishonesty by officers. 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 bill was authored by Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) and went into effect Jan. 1. We dont need to have a full, blown-out hearing on every aspect of the law to rule on its merits, Skinner said, adding she was pleased with Fridays decision. The attorney general's office announced Friday afternoon it would begin to disclose state Department of Justice records pre-dating Jan. 1. With this courts ruling, my office now has much of the clarity we have sought in our efforts to appropriately follow the letter of the law, Becerra said in a statement. Police unions across the state sued earlier this year to prevent the release of pre-2019 records, claiming that the law should not apply retroactively. A state appeals court dismissed their claims in April and ruled that the bill applies to all records regardless of creation date. Gwendolyn Wu is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: gwendolyn.wu@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @gwendolynawu Science is where you find it, and you can find it these days in the middle of the Montgomery Street BART Station, absolutely free of charge. A genuine echo chamber is located directly beneath a 15-foot-wide decorative dome that used to adorn a newsstand. The newsstand is gone. Now a passerby can stand beneath the dome and speak a few words or hum a tune. Reflected back is something eerie the kind of celestial reverberations that come only in a recording studio, or maybe in that big room where Dorothy met the Wizard of Oz. This is pretty cool, said Bernie Brown, a visitor from Wellington, New Zealand, who paused while passing through the station Wednesday morning to hum a few bars of the New Zealand national anthem. Its different. Weird. Now Playing: The echo chamber at the Montgomery BART station in San Francisco meets old friend Bill Shakespeare. Reporter Steve Rubenstein tests the acoustics with a reading of the 55th sonnet. Video: San Francisco Chronicle Hearing your own voice unexpectedly magnified back at you, said BART passenger Doug Cordwell, brings exciting possibilities to the pedestrian. By pedestrian, he meant the mundane kind, not the two-legged kind, although he said it works both ways after you get off a train. Youre walking through the station, trying to get from the train to your office, and all of a sudden something new and interesting happens, Cordwell said. When youre 69, like me, you dont get a lot of new things happening anymore. The sound is complex and seemingly not of this world. Charlton Heston heard something like it from the burning bush in that movie. Theres definitely an echo, said BART police Sgt. Esteban Toscano, standing in the sweet spot and listening as the word echo echoed. Its like an exhibit at the Exploratorium. Except a ticket to the Exploratorium science museum on The Embarcadero costs $30. Exploratorium staff scientist Ron Hipschman said the museum does have four similar domes: two inside the museum and two on the outdoor plaza. The indoor domes require a ticket, but visitors also get scores of other exhibits included. We call it the God voice, Hipschman said, quickly adding its not the almighty talking but a human hearing his own sound waves reflected back from the entire surface, like a mirror. Its magic, but its not magic, he said. Anything that makes you stop and think about science is a good thing. By Kevin Fagan/The Chronicle The sweet spot at the Montgomery Street BART Station is precisely in the middle of a small circle of decorative flooring at the east end of the concourse, just a few steps from where the Jehovahs Witnesses volunteers set up shop. They traffic in the celestial, too. When business is slow, the volunteers have been known to wander over and check out the acoustics beneath the dome. It does make your voice sound different, volunteer Bob Duke said. Its reflective. He quickly added that there were even better ways to reflect, and he happened to have a few pamphlets to offer by way of explanation. From time to time, BART station agent Nathan Ison said, passersby have taken to standing beneath the dome. Street musicians tend to avoid it, he said, because the echo is disorienting. Any listener standing outside the dome doesnt hear the reverb effect. Its cool for a personal experience, but it might be a bit noisy for a musician, Ison said. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. One homeless man curled up directly beneath the dome the other morning and went to sleep, and his snores bounced off the ceiling and back at him, but he did not awaken. Tristan Burnside, an Australian living in San Francisco, was on her way home after casting her ballot at the Australian Consulate on Market Street. Voting in an election and listening to your own echo at a subway station are about the only things you can do for free in San Francisco, she said. Theyre both good things to do, she added, although she wasnt certain either would have any lasting effect. Malik Justin, 25, of San Francisco strolled to the sweet spot and yodeled. The echoes swirled all around him and he grinned. Yeah, I stop here all the time, he said. I imagine Im in a music studio. Justin tipped his head back and yelled, Hey, yo! I dont know what it is that makes it like that, but its and he gestured all around to take in the stone floor and curved ceiling a good instrument. Very nice. Steve Rubenstein and Kevin Fagan are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: srubenstein@sfchronicle.com, kfagan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SteveRubeSF @KevinChron Teachers in the New Haven Unified School District, which includes 12 schools across Hayward and Union City, plan to go on strike Monday after contract negotiations failed this week, officials said. The New Haven Teachers Association will become the latest group of educators in California to stop working in an effort to improve their conditions, following a one-day Sacramento teachers strike last month, a seven-day Oakland teachers strike in February and a weeklong strike in Los Angeles in January. Unlike some of the other groups, New Haven teachers demands relate only to salary and have nothing to do with class sizes or student support. It will be the first strike in district history. We have been frustrated that using just our voices, we havent been heard, but were inspired that other places have used this kind of action for attention and it got very positive results for students, teachers and the education community, said Joe Kue Angeles, president of the New Haven Teachers Association. The teachers union is asking for a 10% raise over two years, while the school districts last offer was a one-time 3% raise for the 2018-19 school year and a 1% ongoing raise beginning during the 2019-20 school year. The NHTA Bargaining Teams last, best, and final offer of a 10% on-the-schedule raise over two years would bankrupt New Haven, lead to negative certification and a possible state takeover, Superintendent Arlando Smith said in a statement. New Haven teachers have the highest starting salary of comparable Alameda County school districts at $72,886, according to the school district. Teachers argue that their wages have not kept up with cost-of-living increases, especially when they are required to pay their full health care premiums. It seems like teachers and students are the last priority in the budget. We need to impress that that needs to change, Kue Angeles said. A neutral fact-finding report issued in April found that New Havens spending on manager and administrator salaries increased from 5.5% to 7.65% of the budget between 2010 and 2019, while the budget for teachers salaries dropped from 54.5% to 44.17%. 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. Superintendent Smith, who is scheduled to retire in June, noted in a statement that the school district has to make $4 million in cuts to its budget next year and a 10% increase in teacher salaries could put other student services, like after-school programs, on the chopping block. This proposal from the district represented approximately $5 million for NHTA over a three-year period, Smith wrote. NHTAs last, best and final offer ... would cost the district at least $20 million over a three-year period and is unsustainable. Schools will remain open throughout the strike, and the district posted a hiring notice to its website for substitutes. New Haven serves about 11,000 students. The union includes 585 teachers, school counselors, nurses, psychologists and speech therapists. Ashley McBride is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ashley.mcbride@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Ashleynmcb Despite creating hundreds of new shelter beds and spending more than $300 million annually on homelessness, San Francisco has seen the number of homeless people in the city rise by 17% since 2017 with a whopping amount of that increase coming from people living in vehicles. A preliminary summary of Januarys one-night street count released Thursday pegged the new number of homeless people in the city at 8,011, but that number is sure to be lower than the more complete count to be released in July. Thats because it was calculated using federal guidelines, which dont account for as many types of homelessness as those the city uses. Still, the federal data give an early glimpse of what city officials will be finding out in more detail later, and the glimpse is bracing. The number of people living in cars, RVs and other vehicles has risen by 45% since the last one-night count was taken two years ago. That much has been anecdotally evident for months, particularly in industrial Bayview neighborhoods, where vehicle colonies have sprouted in ever-increasing numbers over the past year. Overall, the new count indicates at least 1,153 more homeless people are in the streets compared with two years ago, when the federal tally set the total number at 6,858. Todd Trumbull The 2017 count total typically cited by the city has been 7,499 homeless people. Thats because the national guidelines set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development exclude several categories of people counted as homeless by San Francisco officials, including people in jail, hospitals and many health treatment centers. San Francisco hasnt had a one-night count higher than 8,000 since 2004, the year then-Mayor Gavin Newsom began a major push to house and counsel chronically homeless people. The homeless population that year was listed as 8,640, using city-set guidelines. On a brighter note, the number of homeless veterans in Thursdays report went down 14%, the youth count dipped 10%, and the number of homeless families remained unchanged. Sheltered homeless people rose 13%, but that was largely because 412 new shelter beds have opened since July, when London Breed became mayor. Tallies from the other two Bay Area counties with the most severe homelessness problems, Santa Clara and Alameda, went up significantly more than San Franciscos. Santa Claras homeless population rose by 31% over the past two years to 9,706, and Alamedas rose 43% to 8,022. As the two-year counts are released across the state, the same trend is holding up 64% in Kern County and up 43% in Orange County. The only area reporting a drop so far is Marin County, where its already small homeless population dipped 7% to 1,034. But that was small comfort to San Francisco. Its increase was not entirely unexpected a controllers office survey released Monday found that 75% of residents believe homelessness has gotten worse since 2017. Im really disappointed in these numbers, said Jeff Kositsky, head of the city Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. I can make no excuses. These numbers are bad, and we have to own that. The problem of people living in vehicles is increasing at an alarming rate, and we are taking steps to address this, he said. Chief among those are expansion of a street counseling team Kositsky created to address vehicle campers and plans to create a Vehicle Triage Center in the coming year where people can park and get city help finding housing. Breed also said she found the numbers disappointing, but added, unfortunately its not a big surprise. Certainly there is more we need to do, but at the end of the day this is a challenge that exists in the entire state of California, she said. Figures from 2018 showed that California had 129,972 homeless people the biggest street population of any state and 24% of the nations total. San Francisco, with perhaps the most visible problem of homelessness, has the states highest rents, home costs and income inequity between rich and poor. What does that tell you? Breed said. We need more resources from the federal and state governments for housing, period, and we need to build housing faster. S.F. cant do it alone. She said she has several plans in the works to step up the citys homelessness efforts, including opening 304 new shelter beds and 300 more units of permanent supportive housing this year. Shes also proposing a ballot measure for a $500 million affordable housing bond, and supports rezoning efforts to allow higher-density, more affordable housing. Theres not just one thing thats going to fix this, she said. I know this count will discourage a lot of people, but its important to remember where we were last year. Last year you saw a lot of big tent camps like at 13th Street, and now we have a beautiful Navigation Center (shelter) there. Weve helped 1,200 people out of homelessness since I came into office. We have made progress. 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. Kositsky said city tracking data show that for every person who exits homelessness, three fall into it. Santa Clara and Alameda counties also are showing similar trends, and, bolstered by a Bay Area Council report issued last month calling for more regional cooperation on homeless efforts, planners across the Bay Area are trying to do that. We all are having a serious challenge, Breed said. It is not going to be San Francisco that will solve this problem alone. We need regional partners to help address. The latest sign of that cooperation was the simultaneous release Thursday of the preliminary Housing and Urban Development homeless numbers by leaders of the three counties with the most serious homeless problems San Francisco, Santa Clara and Alameda. That had not happened before. We all have to collectively up our investments in homelessness prevention, and as a region we have to accelerate the creation of low-income housing, said Jennifer Loving, executive director of the nonprofit Destination: Home in Santa Clara County. Homelessness is solvable. Its a man-made crisis. She gets full agreement on that point from plenty of people stuck in street life. Out along Cesar Chavez Street and its surrounding avenues in the Bayview, where lines of RVs regularly get cleared away only to reappear, most occupants said theyd gladly trade their mobile digs for a stable home if they could. Ive been up and down the West Coast, and things just keep getting worse, said James Janisse, 45, who has lived in his neatly kept camper on Cesar Chavez for about a year while he does construction work. You see more and more people in vehicles everywhere Walmart parking lots, in the woods, on the sides of roads. Id love to have a house, but housing is too expensive, and jobs dont pay enough. When you live in a vehicle you have to be a good citizen, clean up, show good heart and help out your neighbors because people can be afraid of you when they see you living like this, Janisse said. This is a nice town. But these are hard times. Some of us just dont have as many choices as other people. Kevin Fagan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kfagan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @KevinChron San Francisco supervisors moved closer Thursday to shutting down juvenile hall, with a unanimous committee vote pushing the measure to the full board for a final decision in early June. The decision followed nearly three hours of public comment during the Government Audit and Oversight Committee, with dozens of community organizers and formerly incarcerated youths supporting the effort, saying the facility is mostly empty, ineffective in rehabilitating juveniles and too costly. A large juvenile hall is no longer needed, said Supervisor Shamann Walton, one of co-authors of the measure. We can and will do so much better. Walton and seven other supervisors a veto-proof majority have already signed on to support the legislation, which would close the detention facility by the end of 2021. The measure would require the creation of a task force to assess the needs of youths in the juvenile justice system and identify community-based and therapeutic alternative settings, including a secure site for those who pose a safety risk. Supervisors drafted the proposal in response to a recent Chronicle report that documented a dramatic drop in serious youth crime that has left the states juvenile halls nearly empty and per-inmate costs skyrocketing. In San Francisco, the 150-bed juvenile hall is typically less than a third full, pushing the annual cost to incarcerate a child to $374,000 in 2018, up from $135,000 in 2011. The San Francisco Probation Department directed $11.9 million to juvenile hall last year, an amount that has remained relatively flat since 2011, even though the average daily population has been cut in half. The proposal would urge the county to redirect any savings to youth programs. District Attorney George Gascon and Public Defender Mano Raju, as well as school board President Stevon Cook, endorsed the legislation. If approved, San Francisco would be the first urban county in the state to close its juvenile hall. Supervisors Hillary Ronen, Matt Haney, Gordon Mar, Aaron Peskin, Sandra Lee Fewer, Vallie Brown and Ahsha Safai have also sponsored the measure. Im in strong agreement with my colleagues, with young people, with community advocates, that its long overdue to not just reform but transform our juvenile justice system, said Mar, one of three committee members. I believe we have a moral and fiscal responsibility to close juvenile hall. Its unclear whether the measure has the support of Mayor London Breed, who created a blue-ribbon panel to reform the countys juvenile justice system. The panels focus is addressing ways to reduce incarceration and racial inequities as well as how to best use the facilities, including the mostly empty juvenile hall. Of the several speakers who voiced opposition to the proposal, most were juvenile hall staff members who called on re-purposing the facility rather than closing it. Representatives from local chapters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People also lambasted the idea, saying they had been left out of the conversation. Several counselors who supervise and guard youths inside juvenile hall said they believed closure would increase the threat to public safety. They also described the positive impact they have on the youths. Im proud of the work we do, said counselor Alonda Austin. We educate. We are mentors. We offer them structure, give them manners. Walton lambasted the idea that the closure would make the city less safe or that there would be nowhere to send young people who are security risks. We would never put a system in place that is worse than juvenile hall, he said. Were saying we want to provide a better in-custody experience for our young people. Allen Nance, San Franciscos juvenile probation chief, has also opposed the measure, as has the Juvenile Probation Commission. In a letter to supervisors sent Tuesday, Nance called the proposal a drastic step and urged the board to focus on creating alternatives before closing the facility. 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. For the approximately 40 youths housed at (juvenile hall) on any given day, Nance said, the facility represents a safe, secure, nurturing and necessary environment where their needs can be assessed, and a plan for their return to the community can be developed, meeting their best interests and in the furtherance of public safety. Yet juvenile defender Robert Dunlap offered an alternative view, describing the prison-like policies and conditions inside juvenile hall in a memo forwarded to supervisors before the meeting. While incarcerated, the youths detained must remain silent during meals and sleep with a light on. They are shackled behind the back at times, even though every entrance is monitored and requires access through multiple steel doors, Dunlap said. The kids are also strip searched after parent visits, he said. This further imprints on the kids the notion they are criminals, as if the whole juvenile hall atmosphere were not enough, complete with sleeping on concrete slabs and using steel toilets, he said. One young woman, 18-year-old Leticia, told supervisors of her experience in juvenile hall, saying that she still remembers the sound of the locked cell door closing and sitting on cold concrete. Juvenile hall did not help me at all, she said. Shut it down, please shut it down. Nance argued that the closure would have a greater negative impact on children of color who make up the vast majority of youths at juvenile hall. Policymakers and community organizers have made the opposite argument. Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Redefining family Genetic testing can reveal unexpected results about families, and many people are not prepared for the fallout Redefining family Genetic testing can reveal unexpected results about families, and many people are not prepared for the fallout Claudia Bogner thought the message was a scam. It came from a stranger on Ancestry.com, just a few months after Bogner had gotten the results of a genetic test. It said, Are you aware you have a brother living in New York? She did have a brother, but he lived in California. Bogner wrote back to the stranger, who said she was related to Bogners half brother a man shed never heard of. Over the course of several messages and phone calls, Bogners initial skepticism gave way to confusion and then dismay. And everything she thought she knew about her father changed. A decade before Bogner was born, her father had another family in New York. He left them and moved to San Francisco, where he met Bogners mother and started a new family, including a son and daughter to whom he was utterly devoted until his death in 1991. He never mentioned his other wife and children. He was such a family man. He took us to the park every weekend, said Bogner, 73. I dont know how he did that, just abandoned a family. Bogner had taken the home genetic test because it sounded like harmless fun. She became another unwitting casualty of a market that has exploded over the past decade, as genetic testing has become increasingly affordable and easy to access. Genetic testing, run through companies such as 23andMe and Ancestry.com, has torn apart some families by exposing long-buried secrets, even as it reveals fragile new relationships among strangers who discover common DNA but no shared history. And there are almost no resources to help people like Bogner navigate the heartache and anxiety that testing can bring about. Bogner has been lucky: Shes met much of the family that her father abandoned and found them to be kind and respectful, and shes been able to compartmentalize what shes learned about her dad in a way that lets her continue to cherish warm memories of him. It doesnt work out that way for everyone. Many people find themselves fumbling through awkward, strained encounters with new family and struggling to come to terms with messy revelations about relatives they thought they knew. And theyre doing it with very little guidance, or none at all. Theres not yet an organized hub on how to help people, said Diane Tober, a UCSF family planning expert whose book, Romancing the Sperm, looks into the changing foundation of modern families. I see a lot of self-advocacy and self-help around these issues, but not necessarily a lot of conversation on a wider scale. Theres not much on the professional side. Dozens of reports have emerged of people discovering via genetic testing that they were conceived by a sperm or egg donor, or that their parents had secret affairs. Some have found and connected with half siblings or even met the donors responsible for their conception. In March, The Chronicle published an account of three siblings who discovered theyd all been conceived at the same Palo Alto fertility clinic in the 1950s. A few weeks later, reports emerged of a group of 30 siblings, all from one donor, who were conceived at the same clinic. Decades ago, no one ever imagined that family secrets like these would ever be revealed by science. They might have kept this secret all this time and not realized that when this direct-to-consumer testing emerged, that would be impossible, said Lauri Pasch, a psychologist with the UCSF Center for Reproductive Health. This is affecting thousands of families now. The fallout can reach people who never consented to take a test siblings who realize they dont share a biological father after one got curious about the family ancestry, husbands or wives who have to re-evaluate a marriage because a child wanted to know her medical risk factors. The widespread consequences of these genetic revelations surprised even the companies that make the genetic testing kits, which can be purchased for $100 or less and have become popular holiday gifts. They initially were advertised as tools for exploring a persons geographic ancestry or getting useful medical information. New families an extra sibling or two or 30, a sperm or egg donor, an unheard-of cousin or aunt or uncle werent part of the original marketing. No one knows how many people have gotten surprising results. But between Ancestry.com and 23andMe the best-known genealogy companies more than 20 million have been tested. Lindsay Grove, a senior product specialist with 23andMe in Mountain View, said customer support employees are trained to talk to people who call with questions about the accuracy of their results, but were not therapists; we cant help them digest information. She noted that many customers have reported positive experiences from finding new family members, especially people who were adopted or had always known they were conceived by artificial insemination. But when its unexpected, the information can be profoundly upsetting. It can cause people to reconsider relationships they had never thought to question. People who learn they are not biologically related to a parent who raised them can feel uprooted, like their sense of family, history and even their very identity is in doubt, said Lynn Westphal, a fertility specialist with Stanford University. To find out that something that is such a core part of you is not true, its a pretty difficult thing to wrap your head around, Westphal said. They dont know what was real. And who can they trust. And what is the truth. It really does make them question everything. And, at least for now, there arent many resources to help them process all those emotions. Pasch at UCSF said some therapists are beginning to specialize in guiding patients through genetic revelations, but even for them, this is new work, she said. In many cases, people are turning to their peers for support. Some individuals lean on their newly discovered family, if only because these people, though strangers, can best understand what theyre going through. Others join online support groups on social media; 23andMe has member forums where some people seek advice. Tober suggested that the companies offering genetic testing might consider a warning with their kits. A pamphlet could advise people that they might get news they werent expecting and recommend that they talk to a counselor or family physician if they are upset. It could even include advice on making first contact thats become the parlance for reaching out to a newly discovered relative. I dont think anyone knows the proper way to approach people, or what you do and dont say, said San Jose resident Jodi Hale, 41, who was the 15th sibling in the 30-sibling group conceived in the Palo Alto fertility clinic. Theres not really an etiquette book on this kind of thing. Her group learned through trial and error that Surprise! Im your sister! isnt the right way to contact someone for the first time, Hale said with a laugh. Now they have a system: They choose one person to reach out to a new half brother or sister and gently initiate a dialogue, only revealing how many siblings there are once the person seems ready. The group has a welcome packet for new siblings with everyones names and birthdays, and a private Facebook group so they can keep in touch. The ones who live nearby have regular meet-ups. But theyre still figuring out what kind of relationships they want with one another. Some of them joke about it. A few call each other diblings, for donor siblings. Hale and one of her half sisters were born two weeks apart and refer to themselves as turkey baster twins. Processing the sibling side was weird, Hale said. Some people go into it thinking its a ready-made family now and were going to spend holidays together. Some of us are, Lets get to know each other first. Bogner, in the two years since learning about her fathers second family or rather his first still hasnt figured out how to reconcile the man she adored with the one who abandoned a wife and two young boys. Del, hes the older of the two boys, he said our dad took them to the 1939 Worlds Fair and that was his last memory, Bogner said. Dad left them after that, and it was just devastating. The boys were just 5 and 8 at the time, and the family was destitute after their father left, Bogner learned. The younger brother died years ago. But Del has never expressed any resentment, and his family has been eager to get to know Bogner and her brother. In August 2017, a few months after getting that first disconcerting message, Bogner had her new extended family over for dinner at her home in San Francisco. It was just one of the best evenings of my life, Bogner said. I worshiped my dad. I was his princess, she added. If I really focused on what he did, Im sure Id be very upset. But I cant do that. I have to bury my head in the sand a little bit. Erin Allday is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: eallday@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @erinallday DNA results a test for some Four Chronicle readers had their DNA tested, and the results were far from what they expected DNA results a test for some Four Chronicle readers had their DNA tested, and the results were far from what they expected The Chronicle heard from dozens of readers with their own stories of genetic testing after it published the account of three strangers who discovered they are half siblings conceived at the same Palo Alto fertility clinic. Here are a few of those stories: Discoveries came like a tsunami Carlos Aguilar, 64, had never had much interest in pursuing his biological mother and father. The parents who adopted and raised him were wonderful and all he ever needed. So when he did genetic testing it was at the request of his children, who were curious about their shared medical history. Then, when the results came back, it was a relative with an interest in genealogy who insisted on trying to track down his biological family. A few weeks later, that relative sent him a photo from a 1955 Mission High School yearbook. I dropped my phone, Aguilar said. I was looking at myself. It was my spitting image. And then the information came like a tsunami. The person in the photo was his father. Soon, Aguilar learned he was the eldest of six children. His biological parents had been teenagers when he was born and placed him up for adoption, but after high school theyd married and raised their other five children in San Francisco. Aguilar grew up not so far away, in Atherton. The whole time my family lived 45 minutes from me, Aguilar said. He thinks he may have even met one or two siblings when he worked for a while at Buds Ice Cream shop in Noe Valley. The timing of finding them wasnt great, though. His first letter to the family, sent to the oldest sibling, arrived on Aug. 22, 2018 two days after their father had died, he learned later. None of them had ever heard of another sibling, and some didnt respond well to the letter. But eventually he heard back from a brother, and they met at a Starbucks in San Francisco. His brother was shy and hesitant at first. He couldnt really look me in the eye, Aguilar recalled. Then all of a sudden he said, God, look at your hands. Your thumbs you have the same thumbs I do, Aguilar said, laughing at the memory. After that meeting, Aguilar was introduced to more family: aunts and uncles who told him he had his mothers ears and his fathers eyes, siblings who look just like Aguilars son. He regrets that he never got to meet his biological parents; his birth mother died in 2010. And two of the siblings havent wanted to meet him yet. But the three siblings Ive met have been so welcoming and loving, and if thats it, thats fine with me, Aguilar said. I would love to meet the others, even if theyre not looking for anything other than hello. But its already way more than I ever expected. It just kind of undid me Renee Goldhammer, 73, was raised on stories of her parents harrowing escapes from Europe just before World War II. Much of her mothers family was killed during the Holocaust. Her fathers immediate family got out, and though she was an only child, she grew up surrounded by paternal aunts and uncles and cousins. When she heard about genetic testing, she thought it sounded like fun. Though Goldhammer was primarily Ashkenazi Jewish, she had always looked more Northern European and her family had sometimes joked that Vikings must have raided her ancestors villages. She was curious to see what her DNA would show. What she got was a message from a woman who identified herself as a half sister. Goldhammer didnt believe it at first, but a little sleuthing exposed the truth: They shared a biological father, and it wasnt the man who had raised Goldhammer. Getting gobsmacked by that at the age of 72, it just kind of undid me, she said. She and her half sister figured out that Goldhammers mother and the other womans father must have had an affair. Goldhammer doesnt know if her father ever knew, and both of her parents are dead so theres no one to ask. They were married for 48 years. They always seemed happy. It almost feels like I lost my father again. I lost him once when he passed away, and now I lost that biological connection, she said. I lost my identity to a certain degree. A year after she made the discovery, shes still grieving. There are silver linings, though. Her father had glaucoma, a condition that can cause blindness and is often hereditary. Goldhammer used to get tested for it every year. On her next visit, she plans to ask her doctor if she can stop. And shes enjoying getting to know her half sister. Goldhammer lives in Oakland and her sister on the East Coast, but theyve met. Theyre still exploring their new bond. The bottom line for me is, I have compartmentalized this, she said. Having a sister is positive. But, on the other side, Im absolutely heartbroken about my dad. New relatives, with a twist Growing up, Karen Thomas, 75, had a cousin Alma not her real name who was the worst black sheep ever. She was a longtime alcoholic whose lone daughter was raised by Thomas aunt. Alma died young and was spoken about only in whispers. Three years ago, genetic testing revealed that Alma had two other children, a boy and a girl. The daughter reached out to Thomas, who was the closest family she could find. It turned out that the other two children had been taken away and placed in foster care without anyone in Almas family ever knowing they existed at least as far as Thomas knew. Thomas had never known her cousin Alma, and she felt bad that she didnt have many stories or photos to share, but the children were happy to learn what they could. They seemed like good, decent people, said Thomas, who lives in Lafayette. I think theyd had hard lives. They seemed to have good hearts. The daughter friended Thomas on Facebook. She would post little cartoons, or needlepoint shed done, Thomas said. Then one day she posted an antigay meme. Thomas was horrified, but replied only that she was disappointed. Some people are just close-minded, she thought. A few weeks later, the daughter posted something else, a political hit piece on Hillary Clinton. Thomas realized she was a supporter of President Trump, which was a deal breaker for her. I didnt respond, just unfriended her. And that was that. I never heard another word, Thomas said. Unsettling revelations It can be unsettling, and even traumatic, for an adult to learn she was conceived through artificial insemination. But the news was especially upsetting for Kelly Lethin, partly because of the way it was revealed. Eleven years ago, Lethin and her husband were talking about starting a family. Lethin mentioned to her mom that their friends often joked that she and her husband looked so alike they could be siblings. Her mother didnt think that was funny, and she confessed: Because shed used an anonymous sperm donor, she couldnt be sure that Lethin and her husband werent somehow related. And that was how she shared a secret that had been kept Lethins entire life. Lethin and her husband quickly figured out that they werent related, and theyre now raising two healthy sons in San Bruno. But learning that the man who raised her was not her biological father was awful. It shook up Lethins identity, like there was an entire half of herself that she didnt know anything about. When genetic testing revealed two years ago that she had half siblings 17 of them so far through the same sperm donor, it was a relief. She had people who understood what she was going through, and who could also help her explore the parts of her identity that she felt shed lost. Theyve had sibling get-togethers, including a pilgrimage to the Palo Alto offices of the fertility clinic where they were all conceived, and playdates among their children, who are cousins. What humans need are two things: a sense of belonging and a sense of meaning, said Lethin, 40. Her squad of half brothers and sisters has returned some of that to her. Theyre a type of family I didnt know I had room for, she said. I learn so much about myself when I learn about them. But I also just really like them. Erin Allday is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: eallday@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @erinallday A San Francisco federal judge says the government must identify companies that received ultra-secret national security letters, requiring them to turn over the records of millions of customers, but have since had their gag orders lifted because they pose no security threat. The FBI issues thousands of letters each year to telecommunications companies, banks and other record-keepers, requiring customer information that the government considers relevant to investigations of terrorism or espionage. The letters originally included permanent gag orders on the companies, a restriction that another Bay Area federal judge declared unconstitutional in 2013. Congress passed a law in 2015 allowing the FBI to impose gag orders as long as the government could prove a need for secrecy, a provision the courts have upheld in rulings so far. Some companies, including San Francisco telecommunications firm Credo Mobile, have disclosed receiving the letters after their orders were lifted. But the Justice Department, under both the Obama and Trump administrations, has resisted identifying companies that have received termination notices lifting gag orders for particular national security letters about 750 such notices from 2015 to 2017, compared to more than 37,000 national security letters issued during those years, according to court filings. Justice Department lawyers argued that release of the information would disclose law enforcement techniques and alert criminals about which services to use and which to avoid. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria was unpersuaded and said he would order disclosure of the termination notices. These are particular investigations, of particular people, for which the FBI has determined it is not a problem to lift the nondisclosure requirement, Chhabria said in a ruling Tuesday in favor of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a privacy-rights group in San Francisco. Theres no reason to expect that company usage patterns for that unique subset of people would reflect the company usage patterns for everyone being investigated. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes He noted that, under the 2015 law, the FBI waits three years after issuing an individual gag order before considering whether to lift it. It is hard to understand how requiring the government to turn over this seemingly stale and harmless information would constitute disclosure of a law enforcement technique or procedure, Chhabria said. The Electronic Frontier Foundations executive director, Cindy Cohn, said release of the termination notices would improve prospects for a real public conversation about national security letters. Companies that are newly identified as recipients of the letters could be asked about the burdens they imposed, she said. The Justice Department declined to comment. The department could appeal Chhabrias ruling and seek to block the disclosure requirement during its appeal. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko KRON-TV must pay pension benefits to the domestic partner of a longtime employee who died in 2014, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday. Donald Gardner had worked on the technical staff of the San Francisco station for more than 30 years before retiring in 2009, then started collecting his pension. He and David Reed, his domestic partner since 2004, married in May 2014, five days before Gardner died of a rare blood disease. When Reed applied for the 50% benefit that the pension plan provided to surviving spouses, KRON turned him down, saying domestic partners were not spouses. The company noted that as of 2009, when Gardner became eligible for a pension, federal law denied marital benefits to same-sex couples. The Supreme Court declared that law unconstitutional in 2013, however, the same year that federal courts legalized same-sex marriage in California, and two years before the high court took the same step nationwide. Reversing a federal judges ruling in KRONs favor, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Thursday that the pension plan was explicitly subject to California law, which entitled Reed to benefits. Even in 2009, California law afforded domestic partners the same rights, protections, and benefits as those granted to spouses, the three-judge panel said. The court did not publish the ruling as a precedent for future cases. But Teresa Renaker, a lawyer for Reed, said it was still an important victory for same-sex couples who had either a retirement or a death before (the federal law) was struck down, entitling them to benefits under current law. She said Reed, who now lives in Rhode Island, was thrilled by the ruling. The ruling shows that employers cant use an unconstitutional law to disadvantage and prejudice LGBT people and their families, said attorney Amy Whelan of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, which also represented Reed. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes Representatives of KRON and electrical workers union IBEW Local 45, also a defendant in the case, were not immediately available for comment. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko A one-day statewide strike by two University of California unions led to a dozen arrests for disrupting a UC regents meeting at UCSF, attention from two Democratic presidential candidates and thousands of canceled appointments at UC medical centers Thursday. Labor unions representing 39,000 medical technicians and service workers at 10 UC campuses and five medical centers including UCSF went on strike Thursday to protest the outsourcing of their jobs. University of California police arrested a dozen union protesters at the UC regents meeting held at UCSFs Mission Bay campus Thursday morning. They were taken into custody as part of a civil disobedience demonstration after they refused to leave the podium following a public comment section of the meeting, said Todd Stenhouse, a spokesman for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, one of two unions participating in the strike. Claire Doan, a spokeswoman for the UC presidents office, said the protesters were cited and released. AFSCME represents nurse aides, respiratory therapists, radiology technologists, patient transporters, truck drivers and security guards, while the University Professional and Technical Employees-Communications Workers of America, or UPTE-CWA, represents pharmacists, social workers and psychologists. During the public comment session, union members urged the regents to stop hiring third-party companies to do their jobs. They contend the UC system has violated labor law by illegally hiring workers from private companies to perform their jobs without negotiating. The unions have filed three unfair labor practice charges with the state Public Employee Relations Board. UC officials said the outsourcing accusations are unfounded and that the unions are attempting to gain leverage in contract negotiations. 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. Thursdays strike marks the fifth action over the past year by AFSCME and UPTE workers, who have called for strikes in previous years over wages, retirement benefits, job security and other issues. The unions contract with the university expired more than a year ago, and the two sides are negotiating the terms of a new agreement. In anticipation of the one-day strike, UCSFs three San Francisco medical centers rescheduled several hundred appointments and procedures, officials said. The strike resonated with at least two presidential candidates. Former Obama Administration official Julian Castro joined strikers at UCSF for a rainy noontime rally. And presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders tapped into his campaign mailing list to raise support for the striking workers. The Sanders campaign sent 160,000 text messages to supporters who live near campuses across California and urged them to join the striking workers. Chronicle Staff Writer Joe Garofoli contributed to this report. Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan San Francisco police illegally seized computers and other property during violent and breathtakingly overbroad searches of a journalists home and office while trying to figure out who leaked him a police report into the death of Public Defender Jeff Adachi, an attorney for the journalist wrote in a court filing Thursday. The lawyer, Thomas Burke, filed a motion to quash search warrants and return property to freelance videographer Bryan Carmody, arguing police and judges violated state and federal laws, including Carmodys right to due process and Californias shield law that protects journalists from being compelled to identify sources. San Francisco Superior Court Judge Samuel Feng is scheduled to hear the motion Tuesday at the Hall of Justice. City police officers raided Carmody after obtaining plainly invalid warrants, wrote Burke. He said officers carried out an egregiously overbroad and intrusive search, violently breaking into Mr. Carmodys home, threatening him with drawn guns, and seizing dozens of communications devices after rummaging through his residence and home for hours while he sat in handcuffs despite posing no conceivable threat. After showing up with a sledgehammer at Carmodys Outer Richmond home Friday morning, police seized 68 items, including computers, phones, cameras, and notebooks, wrote Burke, who has represented The Chronicle and its parent company, Hearst Corp., in other cases. Free-press advocates including the First Amendment Coalition, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the Society of Professional Journalists have condemned the raid. On Thursday, the San Francisco Press Club sent a letter to the city district attorneys office and the state Department of Justice urging a full investigation. Californias shield law applies to freelance journalists like Carmody, advocates said. Carmody said the Police Department has issued him a press pass an image of which was included in the court filing. The First Amendment Coalition and other groups filed a separate motion to unseal the search warrants signed by two San Francisco Superior Court judges authorizing the raid. Carmody has worked as a freelance videographer in the Bay Area for 29 years. He often listens to police scanners all night, ready to chase a crime story, a fire or a car wreck. He said he obtained the police report from a confidential source while trying to track down the location where Adachi died on Feb. 22. He sold the report, along with video from the scene and other information, to three television news stations, he said. The police report was written by one of the officers who responded to the Telegraph Hill apartment where Adachi collapsed. He was later pronounced dead at a hospital. Details of the report soon appeared on television and in news articles, including that Adachi was at an apartment with an unidentified woman who was not his wife. Some city officials immediately accused members of the Police Department of trying to smear a man who fought misconduct by law enforcement, and they demanded an investigation during an April hearing called by Supervisor Sandra Fewer. The Chronicle also obtained a copy of the report, but did not pay for it or get it from Carmody. Two months after Adachis death, the city medical examiner confirmed many details in the leaked report, finding that Adachi died from a mix of cocaine and alcohol along with heart disease. Police Chief Bill Scott said Wednesday he was confident we took the appropriate legal matters to get the search authorized. We have to do our jobs and make sure reports are not released when they are not supposed to be released, Scott told the city Police Commission at its weekly meeting. If theres criminal activity thats proven, we want to get to the bottom of that. Mayor London Breed said in a statement this week that the police force went through the appropriate legal process to request a search warrant, which was approved by two judges. 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. Police officers filed the warrants under seal, so it is not clear how they described Carmodys job in affidavits to the court. The judges, Victor Hwang and Gail Dekreon, have not commented. Police did not consult the district attorneys office when applying for the warrant, Scott said. The chief declined to release details of the investigation and has not said if the order to raid Carmodys home came from within the Internal Affairs Bureau or from him. Two police inspectors visited Carmody last month and asked him to reveal his source, Carmody said. When he declined, they came back with a warrant and attempted to smash through the front gate of his home with a sledgehammer. Two FBI agents questioned Carmody during the raid, and tried to get him to reveal his source, he said. Its not clear if police are investigating Carmody as a suspect in the case. Scott said the warrant represents a step in the process of investigating a criminal case of a criminal incident and the illegal distribution of a confidential leaked report. Adachis wife, Mutsuko Adachi, and newly appointed Public Defender Mano Raju do not want Carmody prosecuted in the case a message that has been relayed to city prosecutors, the public defenders office said Thursday. Raju had initially appeared to support the raid before releasing a statement saying he does not condone or support excessive police actions ever. Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky The Oakland fire official in charge of extinguishing the Ghost Ship warehouse blaze told jurors Thursday there was nothing he would have done differently, even if he had known the locations of the 36 trapped victims, leading to a bitter clash with defense attorneys. Battalion Chief James Bowron was the commander on the fire response the night of Dec. 2, 2016. He sent 12 firefighters inside to attack the blaze and eight others to the rooftop to cut a hole to vent out smoke. When Bowron got to the scene, about five minutes after the initial dispatch call, he said a frantic bystander told him 50 to 70 people were inside the building. A crew from the fire station around the corner had already gone inside with a hose. The best thing the Fire Department can do for the people inside is put out the fire, Bowron said. I stand by my actions. Attorneys for defendants Derick Almena, 49, and Max Harris, 29, questioned that logic. The men have been charged with 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter apiece, one for each person killed in the fire. Jane Tyska / TNS Lawyer Curtis Briggs, representing Harris, suggested Bowron should have sent firefighters down through the hole in the rooftop to rescue the victims, while Almenas lawyer, Tony Serra, said fire crews should have used axes to break second-story windows to pull out victims trapped upstairs. Serra questioned whether Bowron was only sticking to his story to protect his employer, the city, which is being sued for untold millions by victims families, survivors and former warehouse tenants. Bowron rejected that argument. He said fire crews followed standard operating procedure, searching for victims as they stretched hoses through the front door. Breaking down windows which had panes of safety glass, heavy metal frames and wires stretched across would have wasted precious seconds and allowed the fire to grow. He said the rooftop ventilation increased the odds of survivability for those inside, while defense lawyers argued it siphoned a whirlwind of smoke over victims. Firefighters were in offense mode attacking the fire from the inside for about 22 minutes, when Bowron, who was outside, saw a large flareup of fire. He thought that it may have killed the crews and ordered anyone inside to leave as they moved to defensive tactics. Its very grave and very intense firefighting, Bowron said. Bowron said the warehouse was not a true two-story building. Rather, there was a mezzanine level with an open connection to the ground floor, where the fire started. So even if the victims had gotten on their hands and knees and crawled, they would have been overwhelmed by smoke. They are suspended in the worst possible place to be in a fire, Bowron said. By the time Bowron had gotten to the scene, smoke was already so thick that chances of survivability were low, if not zero, he testified. All 36 victims died of smoke inhalation. Investigators never determined an official cause of the blaze. Also called to the witness stand Thursday were a survivor, Ivan Mairesse, and two Oakland police officers. Mairesse testified that he felt a clear sense of panic as he attempted to descend a narrow, winding staircase that had uneven wooden planks for steps and too many people to easily maneuver. The warehouse was hosting an electronic music party that night. The lights had just gone out, the smoke was growing increasingly thick and, for a minute or two, Mairesse became disoriented and forgot where he was, he said. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Time started to slow down, said Mairesse, now a waiter in Los Angeles. It was essentially pitch black. The officers were called to testify about their encounters with Almena at the warehouse in the months before the fire. The prosecution has sought to show that Almena lied to authorities about people living inside the artists collective which lacked smoke detectors, fire alarms, escape routes and a sprinkler system while defense attorneys have argued that city and county officials should have seen the obvious signs of habitation and pursued safety remedies. Two years before the fire, Officer Tye Kushner, who has since retired, was called to the warehouse and told Almena at one point, Its obviously not a place to live. Also at the end of 2014, Officer Jonathan Low was called to the premises to perform a child welfare check. Almena and his wife lived in a loft structure on the top floor with their children. Low testified that he saw children running around the second floor. He found a refrigerator and determined that the youngsters had adequate food, shelter and clothing. The officer said he was called to the warehouse on at least four occasions and mightve had an impression that people may have been living there. Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerov A San Jose man walked free from prison this week after a conviction and life sentence for attempted murder were overturned, officials said. Lionel Rubalcava had spent the last 17 years behind bars, but around 7 p.m. Wednesday he walked out of Pleasant Valley State Prison and was greeted by about 20 of his family members, who were waiting with balloons to celebrate his release. Rubalcava, 40, received a life sentence in 2004 after he was connected to a San Jose shooting in 2002. Eyewitnesses, including the victim, erroneously identified Rubalcava as the suspect. On April 2, 2002, a drive-by shooting left a man paralyzed in San Jose. The victim identified Rubalcava in a photo lineup from his hospital bed, authorities said. Both the victim and his younger brother, who also witnessed the shooting, testified during the trial in 2003 that Rubalcava had been the shooter. Lawyers from the Northern California Innocence Project, the Santa Clara County public defenders office and law firm Simpson Thacher and Bartlett have worked to prove Rubalcavas innocence and gain his release since 2013, said Paige Kaneb, one of his lawyers. It took a lot of people and a lot of years to make this happen, she said. The conviction integrity unit within the Santa Clara County district attorneys office re-opened Rubalcavas case to examine the new information presented by the Innocence Project, including a statement from the victim that he had only seen part of the perpetrators face for a few seconds during the shooting and wasnt positive Rubalcava pulled the trigger. There were really two tragedies that happened that day, with two victims, said David Angel, who leads the conviction integrity unit. The first victim is the gentleman who was shot and has been in a wheelchair since that day. The second was Mr. Rubalcava, who was wrongfully convicted for this and lost 17 years of his life. The district attorneys office requested the court overturn the conviction in April. Reasonable doubt exists as to the identity of the shooter in the car, prosecutors said in court records. The foundation of our democracy and criminal justice system is the presumption of innocence. Based upon this new evidence, the People join the defense. The conviction must be vacated. 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. Rubalcavas lawyers credit SB 1134, a bill authored by former state Sen. Mark Leno, of San Francisco, with his release. The law, signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2016, allows defendants to petition for a new trial based on new evidence. Previously, defendants petitions had to point to prosecutorial misconduct or false evidence or testimony that had been presented at a trial leading to a wrongful conviction. The district attorneys office does not have any other leads in the 2002 shooting and doesnt plan to reopen the case, Angel said. Even though we dont believe theres any one person to blame for this, errors sometimes happen and we try to have some humility when we approach our job, he said. We can make mistakes and we try to fix them when we do. Ashley McBride is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ashley.mcbride@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Ashleynmcb An Uber driver was arrested by Berkeley police last week after allegedly trapping two women in his car in an attempt to rape them, forcing one woman to jump from his moving car near a busy intersection, authorities said. Gebrele Amare, 23, was booked into the Santa Rita Jail on suspicion of kidnapping to commit a sex crime and sexual battery. Amare, an Oakland resident, was driving for Uber when he picked up a woman in Berkeley around 5:30 a.m. on May 2, court documents said. Amare told the woman, who was on her way to work, that she couldnt leave his car or use her phone and that he would instead take her to a room before going to her workplace, authorities said. The victim pleaded with Amare to let her out of the car and when he refused, she opened the door and jumped from the car while Amare sped up near the intersection of Ashby and Telegraph avenues, police said. Thats one of our busiest intersections, because the hospitals a block away, said Byron White, a spokesman for the Berkeley Police Department. The woman suffered cuts to her ankle and elbow, authorities said. About two hours later, around 7:40 a.m., Amare allegedly picked up a woman who hailed a ride in Oakland and touched her thigh, documents said. The woman demanded to be let out and attempted to unlock the doors, but Amare kept the doors locked, authorities said. He let her out of the car when she threatened to break his window, according to court records. Both victims identified Amare in a photo line-up, police said. Amare was removed as a driver for Uber on May 2, when the women reported him. What the riders reported is deeply troubling. Upon learning of this, we removed the drivers access to the app and stand ready to assist police in their investigation, the company said in a statement. 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. Amare told authorities he had kidnapped the first woman to have sex with her and wanted to pimp her, court records said. He allegedly admitted to speeding up when she tried to escape so that she would stay in the vehicle. Amare denied the second incident, court records said. He is being held without bail until a plea hearing May 23. Ashley McBride is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ashley.mcbride@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Ashleynmcb A UC Berkeley student and former fraternity member has been charged with multiple felonies connected to at least two sexual assaults, one of which was at a fraternity house, police said Thursday. Finn Wolff, 20, was arrested Tuesday morning as part of Berkeley Police Departments investigation into multiple reports of sexual assaults that were committed by the same suspect dating back to November 2017, police said. He was booked into Berkeley Jail on suspicion of forced oral copulation, rape by force or fear, and forcible penetration, jail records show. It is unclear if Alameda County district attorney officials will pursue additional charges. Wolff was scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday afternoon. Police provided few details and declined to say whether the two victims are UC Berkeley students or staff, citing privacy concerns. The victims in both assaults, which occurred off campus in November 2017 and March 2019, told police they were physically injured after being punched, grabbed or bitten. The November 2017 assault took place at a fraternity house located on the 2400 block of Warring Street in Berkeley, and the 2019 incident occurred at a nearby residence on the 2300 block of Warring, said Officer Byron White, a Berkeley police spokesman. Wolff had been active in the Greek system at UC Berkeley sometime prior to his arrest but he is no longer in a fraternity, White said. Its unclear if the 2017 incident occurred while Wolff was an active member of a fraternity, White said. Its unclear which fraternity Wolff had been a member of, or for how long. Through the course of our investigation we have learned there may be additional victims who have not come forward to law enforcement, police said in a statement. 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. UC Berkeley officials could not be reached on Thursday afternoon. Anyone who believes they were assaulted by Wolff or has information about this case may contact Berkeley Police Departments Sex Crimes Unit at 510-981-5717. Lauren Hernandez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: lauren.hernandez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LaurenPorFavor San Franciscans have given their city an overall grade of B-minus in this years biennial survey of resident disgruntlement. While the survey contains plenty of food for thought residents think homelessness, street cleanliness, public safety and Muni service have all gotten worse over the past two years the results make sense. The overall Muni rating has seen the largest decrease, the city controller notes in the report, just weeks after San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency SFMTA boss Ed Reiskin agreed to resign. Meanwhile, San Franciscans recognize that we have great libraries (A-minus). We know we have a good park system if you have access to it (B-plus, with residents in wealthy neighborhoods the happiest). We know our local government and our infrastructure are somewhat dysfunctional (residents offered both a generous B-minus). Ill give my fellow residents a B-plus for their common sense. But the survey got me thinking. What if we could grade San Francisco on the things that are less obvious but equally important? My poll, for example, would include the following: Retention: Farmerbrown. Elbo Room. Galeria de la Raza. Lucca Ravioli. Its been a brutal two years for San Francisco closures and disappearances, and I havent even gotten to the people yet. But since I mentioned them, lets talk about the fact that in the past two years, Ive supported three separate friends through an eviction process. Three more families Im close to have moved out of state altogether. Oh, and every time I catch up with someone I dont see every day, the conversation inevitably turns to how long each of us is planning to stay the subtext being, that clearly leaving is an inevitability. As of May 2019, the rental platform Zumper was recording a median price of $3,700 per month for a one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco. The market isnt as ridiculous as it was just months ago and Ive already warned that IPO-mania wont create the total chaos some have anticipated. The problem is the status quo. Theres little relief in sight from not just $3,700 per month apartments but also $38 dinner entrees and $4 gallons of milk. Small wonder so many people are thinking about leaving, whether they want to or not. My grade: D-minus Innovation: This is what were famous for these days, right? Changing the world through our amazing new ideas. I guess theres been some of that over the past couple of years. You can now buy a tasty burger in San Francisco that was made by a robot. Its also pretty cool that robot cars will be on the market really soon. Yet somehow weve managed to create an on-demand world that still has no effective solutions for climate change, affordable housing, health care bankruptcies, or anything else that would fundamentally improve our lives and our futures. My grade: C-minus Political leadership: San Francisco continued punching way above its weight. The former mayor, Gavin Newsom, became Californias governor. The former district attorney, Kamala Harris, may be the next U.S. president. There were also plenty of local battles that led the way for larger national narratives. Beaten down by student debt, ruinous rents, and wage stagnation, young people across the country are increasingly interested in a different economic setup. Theres a new generation thats had it up to here and looking to San Francisco for inspiration, whether its the successful fight to unionize at Anchor Brewing or the surprisingly strong showing of the local Democratic Socialists of America (the two-year-old organization fought for two controversial ballot measures in 2018, and both passed resoundingly). On the other hand, San Franciscos income inequality is among the highest in the nation. Thats not a look any other city wants to replicate. My grade: B Cultural leadership: Lawrence Ferlinghetti turned 100 this year, and its safe to say that his party was San Franciscos biggest for an artist over the past two years. Thats great, because Ferlinghetti certainly deserves a big party in San Francisco. But its also a bit sad. Its impossible to imagine any of San Franciscos few remaining rent-pinched artists having the space and freedom to shape cultural space the way that he did. Instead, San Francisco is far more responsible than even New York City for hustle culture. Thats the always-on, always-working way of being thats been perfected by young people and is required by all of this technology and all of those rent payments. The person shaping this cultural space is not an artist in the traditional sense. Still, Jack Dorsey, the billionaire Twitter/Square CEO, has been shaping all kinds of global trends, from disordered eating for men to the rebirth of the meditation retreat. The startup guru is the new #lifegoals. San Francisco deserves the thanks and the blame. My grade: C Caille Millner is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cmillner@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@caillemillner Nigel Jones was in the kitchen of Kaya, his Caribbean restaurant in San Francisco, acquiescing to menu suggestions from business partners he barely knew when he had a discomforting thought: Maybe Kaya isnt actually my restaurant. Jones opened the restaurant in early 2018 through a partnership with Daniel Patterson, a Bay Area chef with multiple restaurants in the region. The deal came with advantages rarely afforded to minority chefs financial backing, a premier restaurant space near the headquarters of Twitter and Uber and ample staffing at a time when food businesses struggle to find workers. The cost, it turned out, was too great, according to Jones. Last week, Jones ended the partnership and closed Kaya. He also filed a lawsuit this month accusing Patterson of not fulfilling various financial obligations outlined in their partnership, which Patterson has denied. The situation is emblematic of a challenge familiar to many women and people of color in the Bay Area restaurant world, who so often lack access to capital: whether or not to agree to partnerships that promise financial success but mean reducing operational and creative control. A major problem with such partnerships is that they require a merging of different restaurant cultures, and cultures in general: usually white investors from the fine dining world with people of color who often operate on the fringes of the mainstream restaurant scene before signing their contracts. Though the problem is not unique to Pattersons Alta Restaurant Group, similar situations have unfolded at two of Kayas sister restaurants with similar arrangements. Reem Assil, the chef behind the Arabic restaurant Dyafa at Jack London Square, told The Chronicle she is terminating her consulting agreement with Pattersons group on Aug. 9. In April, Heena Patel, the chef of a Gujarati restaurant in San Francisco called Besharam, announced that she and Patterson had mutually decided to part ways. Patel has since assumed total control of Besharam. For Assil, the unavoidable problem is the disproportionate balance of power between investors and the minority business owner. I think many of the relationships end up exploiting (people of color) and women for the social capital they bring rather than helping them build more social capital, Assil said in an email. We end up getting tokenized without getting enough in return and are not recognized for the full value we bring to the table. With legal proceedings on the horizon for Jones and Patterson, and Assil still working at Dyafa, all parties involved have been cautious to speak on the record about the failed partnerships due to legal and financial entanglements. Patterson has said in the past that he recognizes the lack of racial equity in the industry, and that he hopes his partnerships could provide a leg up to women and people of color. Pattersons work has been recognized by industry leaders, including some who advocate for racial equity in the industry. There is no blueprint for the work were trying to do, Patterson said in an email. I wish wed taken on less and been able to do a better job in some cases building trust through communication, and I feel badly about that. Compounding the lack of opportunities for minority chefs and women in the industry are the volatility of the restaurant business and San Franciscos skyrocketing costs of entry. Landlords prefer working with well-known operators rather than unestablished talent, according to Oakland chef Preeti Mistry. There are doors that have opened for me at times just because I went into the room with a tall, straight white guy, said Mistry, the former chef-owner of Juhu Beach Club in Temescal and Navi Kitchen in Emeryville, which both have closed. But the thing is when you get in those doors, more doors open. Before Jones opened Kaya, he made his name at Kingston 11 on Telegraph Avenue in Oakland, which he has run since 2013. The restaurant was his domain, and he didnt have to weigh the input of others on design and menu tweaks as he had to do at Kaya. The same was true for Assil, whose Arab bakery, Reems California, was drawing crowds near the Fruitvale BART Station before Dyafa came to life. There, she hired, trained and oversaw her staffs daily efforts, while at Dyafa, she was mostly a consultant and the restaurants staff was in place before she arrived. It was a new, somewhat uncomfortable situation, Assil said. Small restaurants like Kingston 11 and Reems California functioned with more laissez-faire operating styles than higher-end restaurants. Decisions concerning structure often got made on the fly, sometimes changing from day to day just to keep the business afloat. There were plenty of upsides to the business partnerships Assil, Jones and Patel formed. Each restaurant gained national attention, something most of the chefs had yet to garner on their own. Esquire described Kaya as one of San Franciscos woke restaurants providing diversity in a region experiencing gentrification. After opening Dyafa, Assil went on to become a James Beard Award semifinalist. Vice published a profile on Patel, praising her for serving Desi nostalgia for immigrant kids. Yet some say that kind of publicity can be a double-edged sword. I had a man tell me a long time ago that he would take Juhu Beach Club all over the country, Mistry said. But the mentality with them is when things become successful, they begin treating you like an employee and not a partner. Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. Simileoluwa Adebajo has seen glimpses of the behavior described by Mistry. After her plans to open the San Franciscos first Nigerian restaurant, named Eko Kitchen, went viral in April, potential investors rushed to woo her including one woman who sent her a long list of ways she would change her business. Just imagine if I had taken money from her, Adebajo said. Beyond the business aspect of such partnerships, there are also undeniable racial undertones. Patterson, for example, is a white chef with a fine dining background. In the cases of Kaya, Dyafa and Besharam, his business partners are people of color. Warranted or not, the deals serve as fodder for discussions about the idea of a white savior in the restaurant industry, a white person who assists nonwhite business owners in a context that seems self-serving. But what happens when the chef Patterson in this instance has been forthcoming and consistent in his push to create racial equity in the industry? Patterson was part of a pilot program with the Restaurant Opportunities Center United to increase opportunities for people of color in the industry. The centers co-founder, Saru Jayaraman, the recipient of The Chronicles Visionary of the Year Award, has often touted Pattersons efforts, which include putting more people of color in management positions within his upscale restaurants. Hes an example of some of the positive work being done in this industry, Jayaraman said earlier this year. When it comes to future opportunities, chefs of color in the Bay Area say they are paying close attention to the types of deals presented to them by potential partners. Matt Horn is a black chef running a Texas-inspired barbecue pop-up mostly out of the East Bay with a formidable social media following. Over the last few months, he said he received offers from various individuals and groups but few have proposed agreements where control in the operation seems balanced. From a cultural standpoint, its important for me to find the right situation because I want to have a legacy that I can pass on in this business, Horn said. Thats all that matters. Justin Phillips is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jphillips@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JustMrPhillips Chef Nora Haron developed something of a cult following at Drip Line, a cozy cafe in West Oakland that became known for its unexpected Singaporean-meets-Californian dishes. But Haron abruptly left last summer, stating she and the owners couldnt agree on the culinary vision, and the restaurant closed. Now, shes back with similar flavors in a new San Francisco location: Local Kitchen (330 First St.), a 10-year-old Cal-Italian wine bar on Rincon Hill. Local Kitchen owner Jeff Handy brought Haron on as executive chef and partner about six months ago. Since then, Haron has been slowly and quietly training staff on ingredients like sambal, the chile paste of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. They were like, Who is this brown Asian woman coming into this restaurant telling us what to do? said Haron of her new staff. I had to gain everyones trust. I had to introduce things to family meal. They went from pizza to pasta to learning how to respect rice. Last month, after her cooks learned to make five different kinds of sambal, she started to slip new dishes into the otherwise Italian-leaning menu. In May, she unveiled an entirely new menu with dishes such as gado gado, an Indonesian salad with peanut sambal, fried tofu and tempeh; laksa, the Malaysian curry noodle soup and Kerala-style chicken curry. Ive always been pushing for my food to be known. Indonesian food and Malaysian food are so underrepresented here in this country, said Haron, who is Indonesian and Indian and grew up in Singapore. Going to San Francisco will allow me to be on a bigger stage. Albert Law / Local Kitchen Drip Line fans will recognize some dishes at Local Kitchen. In addition to the laksa, Haron is carrying over her Singaporean chicken rice, where the chicken thighs are fried after being poached and paired with ginger-infused rice and chicken broth. Her burger, featuring 40 percent shiitake mushrooms and 60 percent grass-fed beef, also returns. Given Local Kitchens wood-fired oven and existing customer base, Haron continues to offer a few pizzas. She changed the crust its now a sourdough base and offers some Southeast Asian toppings like beef rendang, a dry Indonesian curry, with roasted pineapple. Down the line, Haron expects to add brunch, which will see her popular sourdough waffles with kaya, the Singaporean coconut jam enjoying a moment in the Instagram spotlight thanks to Breadbelly, the forthcoming Asian American bakery in the Richmond that has been popularizing the ingredient through temporary stands ahead of its opening. Haron also wants to bring back her pop-up within Drip Line known as Funky Fridays, where she served bold, extra funky dishes rarely found elsewhere in the Bay Area. Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. Still, the Oakland resident also has her eyes set on opening a new restaurant closer to home. The condition was I would do this, she said, but I still want to come back to Oakland. Janelle Bitker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: janelle.bitker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @janellebitker On a recent Saturday afternoon inside a small Oakland conference room, about 30 men formed a standing circle, linked arms above their heads, and shouted out a call and response: Consent. KINGS. Consent. KINGS. Consent. KINGS. Jewel Love, the 36-year-old founder and creative director of Urban Healers, the Oakland mens group that had organized the gathering, paced back and forth inside the circle like a revival preacher. I saw boys in my junior high and high school and college grab women with no repercussions, he said. No one ever sat me down to talk about sexual consent. Urban Healers The next Urban Healers meeting is 1 to 4 p.m. June 1 at the Oakland Peace Center, 111 Fairmount Ave., Oakland, with a focus on Latino mens mental health. Tickets, $15-$30, at www.eventbrite.com The purpose of this Consent Kings workshop was to provide a forum to talk frankly, and in depth, about those topics that Love believes men generally avoid discussing with one another. It would be men talking to other men about the importance of respecting sexual boundaries and, perhaps, the ways that they have failed, or are failing, on that front in their own romantic relationships. Men talking to other men about their insecurities about all of the different ways men might do better. Attendee Christopher Bisignani explained that a desire for that kind of deeper connection with other men was a main reason he had come out to his first Urban Healers event. I have friends who are guys, he said. But it tends to be more in the bro realm. Not so much in the brother realm. Started last year with a mission of initiating cities into healthy masculinity for the purpose of planetary healing, Urban Healers is one of several mens groups in the Bay Area working to encourage these kinds of nontoxic, soul-searching interactions between men. In San Francisco, a monthly workshop called Men Confronting the Patriarchy promises that attendees will walk away with 25 concrete actions to become better men, for (them)selves and for others. Inside Circle in Sacramento offers support groups for prison inmates and the formerly incarcerated. And the ManKind Project, perhaps the largest and best- known of these organizations, runs intimate, peer-facilitated mens circles throughout the Bay Area. Tambu Kisoki (left) welcomes a participant to a "ritual for healthy masculinity" workshop on sexual consent by the Urban Healers all-men's group, in Oakland, Calif. on Saturday, April 27, 2019. Tambu Kisoki (left) welcomes a participant to a "ritual for healthy masculinity" workshop on sexual consent by the Urban Healers all-men's group, in Oakland, Calif. on Saturday, April 27, 2019. Photo: Paul Chinn / The Chronicle Photo: Paul Chinn / The Chronicle Image 1 of / 6 Caption Close Urban Healers looks to redefine masculinity as something vulnerable and spiritual 1 / 6 Back to Gallery That these groups are coming to the forefront in 2019 comes with its own set of complications. In many ways, the conversation around manhood today is as fraught as ever. The #MeToo movement brought about a public reckoning for a number of high-profile sexual harassers and sexual assaulters, and the idea of toxic masculinity has entered the mainstream lexicon. With this, too, has come a backlash: the increased prominence, for instance, of mens rights activists who argue that men, in fact, are the real victims of a feminist society. Russell Robinson is a professor of law at UC Berkeley whose own research has focused on cultural messages around masculinity and femininity, particularly as they intersect with race. He says that masculinitys link to toxic, violent behavior certainly isnt new; its the way that bad actors are now being called out that has put some men on the defensive: Their sense of crisis is stemming from their long-standing privilege not having to think about their identities as men. Urban Healers, on the other hand, very consciously does not align itself with that particular flavor of the contemporary mens movement. Instead, Anthony Butterfly Williams, one of the groups core members, said he sees Urban Healers as a proactive and positive response to the challenge that feminism has placed before men to be better. In that sense, the #MeToo movement represents an opportunity for men. This is not about mens rights, said Williams, a performance artist and psychology doctorate candidate who lives in San Francisco. This is about mens healing. Love, a psychotherapist whose Oakland practice focuses on black male executives, had previously been a member of the ManKind Projects board of directors. Last year, however, he decided he wanted to start a new group that would be more authentic to the culture he grew up in a little more hip-hop, more ethnically diverse, as he put it. At first, Urban Healers mostly functioned as a support group for its six founding members, but this year the group decided to host monthly rituals, each with a different theme, open to any man who bought a ticket. Like the ManKind Project, the group is in many ways simply a new iteration of the mythopoetic mens movement, which peaked in the 1990s, when groups of mostly straight, white, middle-aged men would go off into the woods to howl at the moon and share their deepest vulnerabilities with one another, all in the name of brotherhood and self-healing. Urban Healers draws on some of that movements interest in archetypes and rites of initiation for instance, at Aprils Consent Kings meeting, Williams wore a skin-tight yellow bodysuit meant to represent the Yellow Sand Earth Man (apparently an ancient Egyptian trickster figure). But unlike prior generations of mens organizations, Urban Healers defines itself as overtly urban and overtly diverse. All of the groups six core organizers or cast members, as Love calls them are black, Latinx (a gender-neutral alternative to Latina or Latino) or of a mixed-race background. Love peppered his talk on consent and masculinity with references to Tupac and Too Short, and future rituals will cover culturally specific topics such as mental health among Latinx men. Trans men are welcome. Two of the six current cast members are gay. What was most striking about the workshop was how eager the participants seemed to cast aside any notion of men not being in touch with their emotions, or being unwilling to confide in each other beyond a surface level. With only a little bit of prompting, the men split into groups of three and shared, in frank detail, ways they had been impacted by toxic masculinity, or instances when theyd crossed a line with their sexual partners. One man spoke at length about his porn addiction. Another talked about being sexually abused by his stepmother. If there is a critique to be made, perhaps it is that mens groups like Urban Healers are, to a large extent, preaching to the choir to the kind of men who talk casually about dismantling the patriarchy and have already discovered the benefits of personal therapy. The men who attended this workshop were, by and large, fluent in the language of growth edges and the acquisition of new tools for (their) toolbelt. More than half of them indicated that theyd participated in other forward-thinking mens groups in the Bay Area and, in several cases, held leadership positions in those groups. (Your regular-Joe toxic male probably isnt going to set foot in a meeting called Men Confronting the Patriarchy.) And initially, theres something a bit off-putting about a room full of men having a conversation about sexual consent something akin, perhaps, to a room full of white people trying to solve racism. Still, Robinson, the UC Berkeley professor, said that as long as the participants also find opportunities to listen to women, there is value, too, in having men talk among themselves. For too long, he said, the burden of talking about sexual harassment and of educating and fixing men has fallen on women. Its good that men are stepping up and creating spaces that can speak to men, he said. The workshop on sexual consent closed out with a performance by Scott Ferreter of the Oakland folk duo the Feelings Parade. His final number, Thanks for the Insight, was, as Ferreter explained, a song about humility of letting the medicine in instead of getting defensive when people point out your flaws. It was a fitting end to an afternoon of self-contemplation. I can represent the same bulls that Im trying to fight, Ferreter sang. Thanks for the insight. My good intentions, they only cut it half the time thanks for the insight. My meanness thrives on the belief that Im such a nice guy. By the time Ferreter headed into the songs kicker, it seemed like everyone in the room was nodding along. Thanks for the insight. Thanks for the insight. Luke Tsai is a freelance writer. Email: style@sfchronicle.com China never backtracks in trade talks, but the US did Washington lifted additional tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports from 10 percent to 25 percent as the 11th round of China-US high-level economic and trade consultations had just kicked off. The US, labeling China with reneging on promises, claimed that it has seen an erosion in commitments by China, and accused the latter of backtracking on its pledges and infringing upon its major concerns. It is totally nonsense that disregards facts, and such false accusation on China is nothing but a lie. Over last year since China and the US started trade talks, China has always promoted the negotiation with utmost sincerity, hoping to achieve an agreement that leads to win-win results based on equality and mutual respect. The Chinese team was still looking at the big picture and headed to the US for the 11th round of trade consultations even through the US threatened to raise additional tariffs. It demonstrated Chinas sincerity to advance the talks to the fullest. The consultations are a process in which the two sides exchange ideas and build consensus, so its normal that China and the US hold different opinions and have repeated discussion on certain issues. If the differences and different opinions in the process of consultations at the work level are often labeled as going back on ones word, then what is the point of consultations? Every country has its bottom lines in negotiations. China will never make concessions on major issues of principle, and its core concerns must be addressed. Since the consultations are still in progress and no agreement has been reached, how could the US blame China for reneging on promises? The US was also going back and forth during the trade talks, so is this blame applicable to the US? Washington holds a hegemonic logic that anything goes against its own wills is considered backtracking. Keeping promises is a moral principle that the Chinese nation has always adhered to. During the last 40 years, China opened its door for construction and shared the outcomes of its reform and opening up with the world. The contribution it made to the world economy is obvious to all. The country has always fulfilled its commitments since its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). By firmly supporting the multilateral system, largely lowering tariffs and reducing non-tariff barriers, and opposing unilateralism and protectionism, China is showing to the world an image of a responsible and faithful major country. By 2010, China had fulfilled all of its tariff reduction commitments, reducing the average tariff level from 15.3 percent in 2001 to 9.8 percent. As early as 2007, China had honored all of its commitments on trade in services, and now the breadth of the countrys openness in this sector is close to the average level of developed countries. Even the Office of the United States Trade Representative has praised Chinas performance in the WTO in many of its annual reports, saying the Chinese government has fulfilled WTO commitments. The US is a major constructor of and participant in the post-World War II international economic orders and multilateral system. It should have led the world in sticking to the multilateral rules, but what the country did was only frequent withdrawals from international organizations and going back on its words. Its practices have been broadly criticized by the international society. The US exploits only the treaties, clauses, and organizations that conform to its own interests, and slams those not able to help it maximize its profits. Under the results-oriented America first policy, Washington has withdrawn from a number of international organizations and multilateral agreements, escaping from its due responsibilities and obligations. So far, it has withdrawn from the Paris Agreement, the UNESCO, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iranian nuclear issue and the United Nations Human Rights Council. Such frequent backtracking practices revealed to the world the hypocritical essence of the US. The backtracking practices of the US are hurting the rest of the world. The efficacy of the Kyoto Protocol has been largely reduced since the US decided to withdraw from the international treaty in 2001. According to a report released by the Dispute Settlement Body of the WTO, the US is so far the largest rule-breaker among all WTO members, causing 2/3 of the violation cases. In the recent two years, the US believes that the whole world has been taking advantage of it, turning the American first strategy into American only. Such irresponsible hegemonic practice would only lead to opposition and indignation from the international society. The US went back on its words for times since it started trade talks with China a year ago. On May 29 last year, the US tore up the joint statement signed between the two parties to avoid a trade war, declaring to impose additional tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese commodities. On May 5 this year, it once again threatened to raise tariffs, setting a huge barrier for bilateral trade talks. The US, by adopting trade protectionism, abusing taxation, exerting extreme pressure and blackmailing, has severely damaged international trade order and hurt the interests of its partners. Such practice would also place negative impacts on its own enterprises and citizens. The arbitrary acts of the US increased uncertainty for the future development of global economy and disappointed the international community. Differences are unavoidable in international trade and economic exchanges, and cooperation remains the only right choice. No country is able to lead the world without cooperation. Its better for the US to conform to the trend of time, promote global peace and development, and stop playing tricks for its own profits. (Zhong Sheng, a homonym in Chinese for voice of China, is a pen name often used by Peoples Daily to express its views on foreign policy) Please enter a valid keyword with 2 or more characters / numbers. Confirm As the Trump administration scrambles to process record levels of migrants apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border, federal immigration officials are looking to add new detention centers across California. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is scoping out locations for facilities near Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco, as well as other areas in the state, to house about 5,600 detainees, according to a document the agency posted on a federal contracting website. In a request for information, posted April 26, the agency said its looking to identify potential detention facilities to hold criminal aliens and other immigration violators. The potential sites could be existing facilities or land to be developed. The move comes amid news reports Friday that the Trump administration plans to send hundreds of Central American migrants arrested along the southern border to Border Patrol stations across the nation. That would include facilities along the northern border with Canada and coastal states. Immigration officials this week sent the first flight of migrants from Texas to San Diego for processing. Officials also planned to send hundreds of migrants to Broward and Palm Beach counties in Florida in the coming weeks, according to state officials, who said they dont have resources to feed or house the influx of migrants. Its unclear if that plan still stands. ICEs California site search follows several shakeups at detention centers across the state that could eventually lead to massive bed expansions and much less transparency from the agency, according to immigration advocates. Immigration officials across the country are struggling to keep up with the number of people coming across the border each day. A record-breaking 100,000 migrants were arrested at the southwest border from Texas to California in April, compared with an estimated 93,000 in March and 67,000 in February, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Several California cities and counties ended contracts with ICE in the past year, which led to the closure of detention centers in Richmond and Elk Grove (Sacramento County) and the loss of 434 beds. In other cases, ICE hired the private corporation GEO Group to keep the detention facilities open after local jurisdictions bowed out. Critics have accused GEO, which operates detention facilities across the U.S., of pressuring local jurisdictions to end their partnerships with the agency so that the Florida-based company can contract directly with ICE. In California, that allows the corporation to sidestep a new state law that strictly regulates private for-profit prisons. Under SB29, signed into law by then-Gov. Jerry Brown in 2017, local governments are barred from entering into new contracts with private prison companies such as GEO or modifying existing ones for the purpose of immigration detention. It also prohibits the expansion of private for-profit prisons and immigration detention centers across California. It seems that there was collusion from the outset between ICE and GEO so that they can circumvent SB29, said Hamid Yazdan Panah, an attorney and advocacy director of the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice. It seems to indicate that all these things are part of a larger push by ICE to make up for the bed space that they lost in the closure of the facilities. In the government document, ICE emphasized the inquiry for new facilities is solely for information and planning purposes, and said weighing new options for bed space is routine. The facilities must provide detention, medical and transportation services, and must be properly staffed to maintain a safe environment, the document says. ICEs definition of the San Francisco region is unusually broad. Facilities in the region would have to be within 75 to 180 miles of Bakersfield, Fresno, Sacramento, San Francisco, Stockton, Morgan Hill and Redding, the document says. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is continually reviewing its detention requirements and exploring all acquisition options (which includes privately-operated) that will afford ICE the operational flexibility needed to house the full range of detainees in the agencys custody, ICE said in a statement Thursday. 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 agency did not address questions about its contracts with GEO Group. GEO Group did not reply to requests for comment. County officials in Contra Costa and Sacramento ended their contracts with ICE last June, and hundreds of immigrants were transferred to other facilities. In December, the city of McFarland announced it had ended its contract with the agency to run the Mesa Verde Detention Facility in Bakersfield. In that case, ICE entered a $19.4 million, one-year contract with GEO, avoiding a competitive bidding process under unusual and compelling urgency. The corporation previously owned and operated Mesa Verde under a subcontract with the city of McFarland in Kern County, which expired March 18. Officials in Adelanto (San Bernardino County) abruptly ended their contract with ICE in March for the largest immigration detention facility in California, one marked by dozens of allegations of substandard living conditions, high suicide rates and poor treatment of inmates. The contract expires in June. Tatiana Sanchez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tatiana.sanchez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TatianaYSanchez It is the term of the hour: constitutional crisis. Rep. Jerry Nadler, the New York Democrat who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, took it a step further: a full-blown constitutional crisis. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi put the imprimatur of her leadership on it. The nation, she declared, is in a constitutional crisis. Or is it? The drastic term constitutional crisis conjures dramatic notions of tanks in the streets, presidents and loved ones fleeing into helicopters, states seceding from the union or election results being nullified. The current disputes in Washington, while intense, pale in comparison by historical standards. Yet is there such a thing as slow-rolling constitutional crisis? There is no legal definition, let alone a widely accepted understanding, of the term. It brings to mind the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewarts struggle to define hard-core pornography in a 1964 case. I know it when I see it, he famously said. So what, exactly, does a constitutional crisis look like? At what point does not normal and contempt for the institutions of our democracy which have become expected on President Trumps watch cross the line into an existential challenge to the great American experiment? At what point has the term been cheapened and relegated to irrelevance, just another political cudgel, just another way of claiming ones adversary is not playing nice? It feels like one of those garbage-pail terms that we use to say that things are really bad in our government, said Jessica Levinson, a Loyola Law School professor whose focus includes public policy. She added: To use an example that we all live with all the time, its a car alarm. Nobody looks up at a car alarm anymore. The alarm was sounded back in the Obama administration when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder warned that Congress risked a constitutional crisis if it forced him to turn over documents related to the government Fast and Furious sting operation that ended up putting guns in the hands of Mexican drug cartels. It sounded repeatedly from the start of the Trump administration: from the travel ban on Muslim-majority countries to the declaration of a national emergency to bypass Congress for funding of a southern border wall. Its time to look up at the alarm. Erwin Chemerinsky, a preeminent constitutional scholar and dean of UC Berkeleys School of Law, said he had avoided using the term because it has been invoked so freely that it left no option to describe a genuine crisis. Real crises: Among the constitutional conflicts that were not anticipated by Americas founding fathers Southern secession (1861) Eleven slave states left the Union after the election of Abraham Lincoln, forming the Confederate States of America. Resolution: The Union prevailed in the Civil War, abolishing slavery and bringing the South back into the United States. Tilden vs. Hayes ELECTION (1876) Democrat Samuel Tilden had a majority of the popular vote, but the Electoral College count was excruciatingly close, with seemingly intractable disputes about the electors, leading to fears of civil war. Resolution: Congress had to create an Electoral Commission to break the deadlock, which was settled in favor of Rutherford B. Hayes. Watergate (1974) President Richard Nixon claimed executive privilege to try to conceal his culpability in the cover-up of an attempted burglary and bugging of Democratic headquarters. Resolution: The U.S. Supreme Court ordered Nixon to provide Congress with his White House tapes. They provided the "smoking gun" that led to his resignation. IRRECONCILABLE Recount (2000) The presidential race between George W. Bush and Al Gore came down to Florida's 25 electoral votes, leading to intense legal wrestling over the recount. Resolution: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to halt the recount, and Bush was declared the winner. See More Collapse Now I realize I was wrong, Chemerinsky said. If the voters choose a Democrat (in 2020) and President Trump says, Im not going to leave the White House and we come to armed conflict in the United States as in Venezuela ... thats an enormous constitutional crisis. If theres a judicial order and Donald Trump says, I dont care what the court says, Im doing it anyway ... thats clearly a constitutional crisis, Chemerinsky said. But there can be constitutional crises less serious than that. If President Trump says to all congressional subpoenas: Im not complying and I instruct everyone in my administration not to testify to Congress ... that, to me, is a constitutional crisis. Which, of course, is what Trump is doing. Chemerinsky also noted that Trump has been profiting from foreign governments from trademarks granted from China to his business at the Trump International Hotel near the White House in open defiance of the U.S. Constitutions emoluments clause intended to insulate American officials from susceptibility to outside influences. By those measures, we are there. It is not unusual that the White House would have a broad interpretation of its authority. President Obama certainly pushed the boundaries with his executive order providing protections for the young Dreamers, and some of the Democratic contenders for 2020 (notably Sen. Kamala Harris on gun control or Sen. Elizabeth Warren on an offshore drilling ban or Beto ORourke on climate change) are vowing to act unilaterally if Congress doesnt. Whats just entirely unprecedented is this idea that Congress will be issuing subpoenas, which on their face are valid, and the executive branch would be just thumbing its nose, Levinson said, citing Trumps refusal to provide everything from the un-redacted Mueller Report to tax returns and other financial records. I havent seen that corollary, wheres its been just a wholesale no. The extent of the current constitutional conflicts will be tested in the months ahead. The courts, and perhaps the highest court in the land, will be asked to rule on whether the president and his associates must comply with assorted congressional subpoenas. Pelosi has raised the specter that a Democratic victory in 2020 may bring an ominous test to the peaceful transitions of power that has been an American hallmark through its history. Trumps former lawyer-fixer Michael Cohen recently testified about such a concern. Now that would be a constitutional crisis by anyones definition. Some massive government breakdown in how we adhere to the Constitution, by which I mean one branch doesnt respect another branch, Levinson said of her definition of a constitutional crisis. I always fear that the constitutional crisis would be that the Supreme Court issues a ruling, President Trump doesnt respect it and just says, No thanks. Thats a constitutional crisis because the judiciary is a co-equal branch, and it doesnt have a military to enforce its decisions. Such a scenario might have seemed far-fetched in another era before a president who disparaged a so-called judge for upholding the Constitutions protection against religious discrimination, before a president who advanced dark conspiracies about law enforcement and intelligence agencies, before a president who deplored mainstream journalists as fake news and enemies of the American people, and before a president who laid down a blanket refusal to comply with committees of Congress trying to carry out their constitutional obligations for oversight. So what happens if the Trumpian nightmare reaches its ultimate conclusion, and the president does openly refuse to obey a court order or leave after defeat in January 2021. If were in a constitutional crisis now, what do we call it then? A worse constitutional crisis, Chemerinsky said, simply enough. John Diaz is The San Francisco Chronicles editorial page editor. Email: jdiaz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JohnDiazChron If there was a shred of doubt, its gone now. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. is to blame for the states deadliest wildfire caused by its poorly maintained power equipment, according to state investigators. The official word confirms what PG&E acknowledged in February, but the next step is worth watching. The report from the agency known as CalFire now goes to the district attorney in Butte County, home of the devastated town of Paradise, for possible criminal prosecution. Fines, conditions, probation and even jail time are all on the maybe list. The states largest utility is already in corporate prison stripes. Its a bankrupt felon, due to catastrophic wildfires, billions in lawsuits and its prior negligence that created a deadly pipeline explosion in San Bruno in 2010. More sanctions and penalties stemming from Paradise is all too easy to see. The pressure that the state report provides should be a powerful inducement for change at PG&E. Despite an executive and board of directors shuffle, the utility must prove it can run its vast energy system safely. It needs more than new faces at the top. Its in bankruptcy court to sort out its finances, faces a federal judge following up on multiple felony convictions stemming from the San Bruno disaster that killed eight and is dealing with angry lawmakers in Sacramento. Public trust is at a never-seen low point. There needs to be a thorough change in the companys orientation. Safety comes first, not cost-cutting. The Paradise fire was attributable to a poorly maintained high-voltage transmission line that snapped in high winds in a drought-parched landscape. The utility failed to take steps to avoid the ensuing inferno that killed 85, destroyed 19,000 structures and burned 153,000 acres. That result wasnt an accident or fluke. It was negligence. The utility is taking initial steps to forestall another Paradise. Its inspecting power lines, trimming fire dangers, and installing weather stations to report problems. The coming dry weather season will be a test of these moves. One sweeping idea to shut down large swaths of customers in dry, windy weather is drawing doubts about its practical effect. Still more is needed, especially from a company thats failed in so many ways. Bill Johnson, PG&Es newly named CEO, believes the company is learning from its mistakes and finding ways to minimize wildfire risks. He accepts that the companys to blame and faces enormous consequences. Thats a start but such pledges dont dodge the need for vigilant oversight of a wayward firm. 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. Paul Kuroda / Special to The Chronicle Embarrassed by a scurrilous leak about the untimely death of Public Defender Jeff Adachi, the San Francisco Police Department set about finding the leaker and promptly elevated itself from local to national embarrassment. Last weeks outrageous, abusive and possibly illegal police raid on a journalists home and office exposed the department as incapable not only of controlling its files but also of investigating its officers without trampling constitutionally protected press freedoms. Police Chief Bill Scotts defense of the error Wednesday revealed that the incompetence emanates from the top of the department, while the failure of Mayor London Breed and other politicians to differ with him shows the problem goes beyond the police. Seth Moulton, a candidate for president in 2020, dropped by The Chronicle on Friday. Readers can be forgiven if they had to turn to Google to discover that the 40-year-old is a two-term Massachusetts congressman. So it goes in the Democratic primary, in which the field expanded to 23 this week with the entry of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and Montana Gov. Steve Bullock. Democrats have plenty of choices in this diverse field, but is this too much of a good thing? Twenty of the candidates are going to qualify for the Miami debates next month. With so many on stage, there will be no chance for exchanges of any substance. Its sure to be a battle of one-liners. Meanwhile, if you want to hear Moulton at length, I commend Joe Garofolis interview of him and a succession of other candidates on his Its All Political podcast. Or you can catch their 60-second elevator pitches on our Opinion Central Twitter feed. Hurry up and study: The California primary is just 290 days away, and the field keeps growing. John Diaz, editorial page editor Associated Press Gov. Kay Ivey of Alabama knows full well the meaning of banning abortions. She need only look to the not-so-distant past, when botched illegal abortions were the cause of death to so many women. Why should women have to go to back alleys to try to obtain what should be a safe medical procedure? How many more women will die and leave young families behind because they know that they will be unable to care for one more child? Paul Kuroda / Special to The Chronicle I completely agree with SFPD assaults First Amendment (Editorial, May 14). Are we living in Russia, China or North Korea? I thought this was the United States, where the First Amendment guarantees freedom of the press. The San Francisco Police Department used a sledgehammer to break into Bryan Carmodys house in the outer Richmond, detained him in handcuffs for hours, and seized computers, notes, and more from his office. I learned to travel light from a young age. My mom, sister, and I lived in so many different apartments they all blur together. Mom would find a place, be able to pay rent for a while, but then Id come home one day to see her packing boxes, shuttling us out the door before an eviction could force us out. We lived in a van for a while when I was in my tweens. We slept by the side of the road, went to gas stations and rest stops to clean up. We were saving for the next apartment and had borrowed the van. We werent too proud to accept the help. Housing insecurity teaches you that, makes you creative, resourceful. Ive never forgotten those lessons. They guide my approach to housing policy today. San Francisco is in a housing crisis far too many households are struggling. San Franciscans dont need political posturing or naysaying. They need solutions. Ive worked hard to find city land for new affordable housing, to secure the McDonalds site on Stanyan Street for 100% affordable housing, and to build more affordable homes on Divisadero Street. I helped create the Neighborhood-preference program to give local residents priority for affordable homes in their neighborhoods; added $40 million to prevent Ellis Act evictions by buying at-risk buildings; and funded attorneys for renters facing eviction. We dont have to choose. We can make it easier to build more housing and strengthen protections for tenants. State Sen. Scott Wieners Senate Bill 50 proposes proactive, statewide changes and has been called Californias most promising proposal to build more housing. But it needs work. Thats exactly what the legislative process is for. I recently voted against a resolution opposing SB50, because I believe we should be doing that work just saying no isnt enough. Its too difficult to build housing in San Francisco for renters, even near transit, even on an empty lot, even 100% affordable housing. Recent developments in the legislature have postponed action on SB50 until 2020, but the status quo isnt working and we need solutions that reach beyond the city thats why we need to engage our state representatives. Were a city that leads, be it on climate change or immigration. We need to show this same leadership on housing. Lets lean in and demonstrate why our leadership matters. Heres what I propose: Amending SB50 to increase tenant protections, prevent demolitions of homes, preserve greater local authority, and ensure local communities can have meaningful input on proposed boundaries. Ive written my own resolution proposing exactly that. I hope my colleagues will support it, but Im already working with Sen. Wiener on incorporating these priorities. I believe this is what leaders do in a crisis: Work together. Fight for our priorities. As someone who has known housing insecurity, who has wondered where the van might take them next, I find it troubling that were not working harder to find shared solutions to build. Its unimaginative. I pledge to be a leader who seizes every opportunity to bring affordable homes to those who need them. Vallie Brown represents District 5 on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Despite headlines trumpeting prioritization of families in Gov. Gavin Newsoms revised state budget proposal, grandma and grandpa are largely missing from the picture. Newsom placed a whopping $21 billion into the states reserve fund, so why do we have a budget so out of whack with Californias older adult needs and programs? No other population is growing faster than older adults, and yet from 2010 to the present, funding by the Older Americans Act to states has decreased. This forced ongoing cuts by Californias 33 Area Agencies on Aging for assisted transportation, personal care, case management and more. Adding insult to injury, California cut funding over the years for older adult programs, such as adult day care and the Caregiver Resource Centers serving family caregivers. This ongoing underfunding of our older adult infrastructure cannot be addressed with one-time budget fixes. Demographics and the high costs of living in the Golden State prevent it. According to a federal Administration on Aging 2017 report, California is one of 14 states with poverty rates over 10% for older adults. Newsoms revised budget doesnt increase Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment grants needed by 1 million low-income seniors and people with disabilities for housing, food and other basic necessities. How does this help families? Bruce Chernof, president of the SCAN Foundation, said: We are exquisitely unprepared for that (oldest) age demographic pushing through. Hes right, and although the governor supports a Master Plan on Aging, why is there nothing in his budget to increase community-based options for nursing homes? Meanwhile, the opioid and methamphetamine epidemics are forcing more grandparents to raise grandchildren while fearing cuts to Medicare, Medi-Cal and Social Security as they plow through their life savings. Why is it so easy for Newsom and our Legislature to dismiss older adults? Ageism plays a big role and is so insidious that the World Health Organization launched a global campaign to address it. California should do the same. Adding to the problem was the exodus of institutional memory created by legislative term limits. This produced an inexperienced Legislature with few championing older adult issues. While term limits were great for lobbyists, it was bad for policy development and allotting budgets. How many legislators or their staff can say they understand state funding streams for older adults, know about the Older Americans Act, the California Older Adult Act, Medicare, Medi-Cal, elder and financial abuse, inter-generational programs, or understand that most older adults are not frail or living in nursing homes? This inexperience makes for a perfect storm fostering actions hurting the older adult support program infrastructure. The Legislature needs an Older Adult Caucus to improve education and legislation for this population. It needs improved data on the entire spectrum of long-term-care services and financing, and must address the painful shortages of community-based services and nursing home beds. Without appropriate legislative interventions, long-term care will continue to bankrupt people. Its time to stop underfunding and understaffing the California Department of Aging. Fix its problems and tell the governor to appoint a director immediately one with a strong aging background and who embraces innovation. Ageism must have the same attention that the #MeToo movement spawned against sexual harassment and assault. Unless we do this, job discrimination will flourish, health professionals will continue to be biased against older patients or even studying geriatrics, and age apartheid remains sanctioned in government, politics, education, the media and more. The Senior Rally Day earlier this month at the state capitol failed to get increased funding for older adult programs by Newsom. Its time to banish ageism from the budget and to fund older adults properly. Thats the key for helping all Californians and truly prioritizing families. Dev Berger is a retired health policy consultant and member of the California Senior Legislature. Congress never actually rejected President Trumps request to fund his wall along the southern border, a Justice Department lawyer told an apparently skeptical judge in Oakland on Friday in the nations first court hearing on the legality of Trumps attempt to re-steer billions of dollars for the project. Justice Department attorney James Burnham sought to counter arguments by California, 19 other states, and environmental and immigrant advocates that Trump had intruded on congressional authority over government spending by declaring a state of emergency and moving to fund the wall by transferring nearly $7 billion from other programs, mostly in the Defense Department. They want to say thats something that was denied by Congress because it wasnt funded by Congress. Thats not true, Burnham said. Congress approved only $1.375 billion for limited barrier construction after Trump triggered a record 35-day partial government shutdown over the issue, Burnham conceded. That was well short of what the president sought. But Burnham said lawmakers also approved the Defense Department budget in September 2018 without restricting the Pentagons ability to shift funds to future military-related projects, including the wall. If it was not denied in the budget process, then its available, Burnham argued. Although the Defense Department hadnt foreseen the need for wall money when its budget was approved, he said, military funds have been used to build fences near the Mexican border for 30 years, and everyone knew that this was on the table. U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam seemed unconvinced. Everyone knew it was on the table but it was unforeseen? he asked. Gilliam did not issue a ruling at the end of the hearing, which lasted two hours and 40 minutes. But he said he would decide whether Trump had exceeded his legal authority, apparently rejecting the administrations argument that the states and other opponents could not show they would be harmed by the wall and thus lacked the right to sue. Trump had promised during his presidential campaign that Mexico would pay for the wall. But he sought $5.7 billion in funding from Congress last year, and when lawmakers failed to include the funding in the current budget, the president vetoed an appropriations bill and shut down many government operations from Dec. 22 until Jan. 25. He declared a national emergency over illegal immigration on Feb. 15 and said he would fund the wall with $8.1 billion that was already in the budget. Lawsuits by the states, advocates for the environment and immigrants, and the Democratic-controlled House seek injunctions to block the funding and prevent construction. Congress is the only entity that can appropriate funds, Richard Letter, a lawyer for the House, told Gilliam. The president decided Congress is just a nuisance. The House filed arguments in support of the other plaintiffs in Gilliams court and will argue its own lawsuit in a Washington, D.C., federal court next week. Lee Sherman, a lawyer in California Attorney General Xavier Becerras office, said presidents act at the lowest ebb of their power in acting in defiance of Congress intent. Dror Ladin, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer representing the Sierra Club and the Southern Border Communities Coalition, an immigrant rights group, said Trump was also defying Congress by transferring funds from unrelated military programs. Lawmakers never intended that Pentagon money could be tapped to be used for anything, Ladin said. But Burnham, the governments lawyer, said the Defense Department funds now slated for the wall are governed by a federal law allowing their use for any construction with respect to a military installation, which he described as really broad authority to choose construction projects. Gilliam questioned that interpretation, saying the law seems to direct the funds use to military bases. Burnham also argued that states and environmental groups should not be allowed to sue because they cant show any potential harm from an internal accounting transfer of government funds. Ladin countered that for his clients, construction of a wall would fracture communities, damage their environments and sacred sites, and completely disrupt lands they call home. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton may have jumped into the presidential race three weeks ago, but that doesnt mean hes confident about his chances of beating President Trump in 2020 or those of any other Democrat. I think Donald Trump will be a lot harder to beat than most people think, especially those in Boston or San Francisco, Moulton told about 50 people at a Mission District fundraiser Thursday night. Id say its 60 percent that Trump will be re-elected, especially if the economy stays healthy. But four more years of Trump would be disastrous for the nation, he said. We need someone who can unite America in one of the most divisive points in history, said Moulton, who served in Iraq as a Marine officer. We cant do anything if we dont beat Donald Trump and bring this country together. This was Moultons first trip to the Bay Area since he announced his run for the White House. The event was billed as a $25-a-head grassroots get-together for young professionals at Mannys, a bar at 16th and Mission streets. The emphasis was on young. Only a handful of people in the audience appeared to be older than the 40-year-old congressman. That suited Moulton just fine, since one of the keys to his campaign is a call for a new generation of political leadership. A theme of this election should be generational change, he said, noting that hes still paying off his student loans from his years at Harvard University. Its now time for the generation that fought in Iraq and Afghanistan to step in for the people who sent us there. Moultons message found some support in the crowd. Zach Tratir, a San Francisco tech worker, came to the event because he knew the hosts, but liked what he heard from the congressman. Im still open to hearing from all the candidates, but Moulton has moved into my top two, he said. The idea that its time for new read that younger leadership hasnt made Moulton many friends in Congress. Moulton left the Marines as a captain and completed masters degrees in business and public policy at Harvard. In 2014, he took on and defeated nine-term Democratic Rep. John Tierney in the party primary. The successful challenge didnt endear Moulton to party leaders in the state or in Washington, who had backed Tierney. Moulton further alienated the Democratic leadership when he led last years unsuccessful effort to stop Rep. Nancy Pelosi from becoming House speaker, arguing that the party needed new, much younger leaders than the 79-year-old San Francisco congresswoman. Although he backed Pelosi in the final speakership vote, that very public dispute could be part of the reason he and Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, another congressman who tried to block Pelosi, are willing to give up their seats for long-shot runs for president. Raised in Marblehead, Mass., Moulton has long been willing to do the unexpected, starting when he graduated from Harvard in 2001 with a physics degree and went directly into the Marines. He served four tours as an officer in Iraq, receiving a Bronze Star and other commendations for valor. I wouldnt be running for president if it hadnt been for the Marines, he said. The hardest job I had in Iraq was bringing together a highly diverse group of Marines and pointing them toward a single goal. In Iraq, I saw the best of America in the worst of times. Moulton said that as president, support for abortion rights would be a litmus test for any of his U.S. Supreme Court nominees. He also said he is open to the idea of expanding the high court and packing it with more liberal justices. Maybe it wouldnt be the best thing, but we have got to have that option on the table, he said. The Republicans are playing hardball, and we have to play hardball, too. But time and again Moulton returned to his years as a Marine, noting how that would affect what he did as president. Having seen the cost of war, he said, he is worried about what he sees as the Trump administrations growing willingness to challenge Iran militarily. He called it a very dangerous situation. Its so important that we can fight Trump on national security, an issue that Democrats have long ceded to Republicans, he said. Im going to take on Donald Trump not just as president, but also as commander in chief. He added, I was an outspoken critic of the (Iraq) war. I had to fight because if I didnt, then someone else would have had to go in my place. It was the same in Vietnam, Moulton said. When Trump stayed out of the military because of a questionable diagnosis of bone spurs, some other person was forced to go instead, he said. Id love to be on the debate stage with Trump and ask him how his bone spurs are doing, Moulton said. John Wildermuth is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jfwildermuth San Francisco, Santa Clara and Alameda counties joined on Thursday Gov. Gavin Newsoms ambitious plan to lower prescription drug prices in California, adding major support to his plan to make California the biggest single purchaser of prescription drugs in the country. Newsom signed an executive order on his first day in office in January to create a collective bargaining group for agencies that buy medicine for government employees covered by state health care plans, retirees, hospitals and inmates. It also includes the 13 million recipients of Medi-Cal, the states health care program for the poor. By partnering with the governor, the three Bay Area counties and Los Angeles County which signed on to the plan last month agreed to sit at the same table when negotiating prescription drug prices with manufacturers. Newsom said California will have more bargaining power against pharmaceutical companies if public and private agencies work together. What we are doing here today is what I expect others to do tomorrow, the governor said. Big buyers mean lower costs. The Department of Health Care Services, which administers Medi-Cal, is the biggest purchaser of most pharmaceutical services in the state, according to the administration. Newsoms order enables the department to negotiate on behalf of all 13 million Medi-Cal beneficiaries, rather than the 2 million it negotiates for now. By serving all Medi-Cal beneficiaries, Newsom said the state could save hundreds of millions of dollars of savings on an annual basis. He announced the partnership at Laguna Honda Hospital in San Francisco, along with Mayor London Breed, Department of Public Health Director Dr. Grant Colfax, Supervisor Catherine Stefani and officials from Santa Clara and Alameda counties. While the administration has yet to specify how the plan will work, the negotiating power could be big for San Francisco, which spends millions of dollars a year purchasing prescription drugs for patients in facilities like Laguna Honda, San Francisco General Hospital or behavioral health clinics. When we have people struggling on the streets of San Francisco with mental health challenges or substance abuse disorders, or people fighting a battle with cancer, we need to be focused on helping them recover and heal, not on whether they can afford to pay for the medication, Breed said. Newsoms plan to use the states financial power to help lower prescription drug costs is part of a broad overhaul of Californias health care system. His other plans include expanding the Affordable Care Act and offering Medi-Cal coverage to undocumented immigrants up to age 26. Prescription drug prices vary widely across the state and country. According to GoodRx, a website that tracks prescription drug prices, the medicines cost 14% more in San Francisco compared with the national average. In Sacramento, they cost 3% above the national average. To compare, prescription drugs cost 11% below the national average in Indianapolis. California spends more than $8 billion annually on prescription drugs for Medi-Cal alone, according to the Legislative Analysts Office. Year after year, pharmaceutical companies continue to increase the price of prescription drugs, said Miguel Marquez, chief operating officer of Santa Clara County. We have to ask the question, do they really need to be that expensive? On Thursday, Newsom said also urged private companies to join the effort. We want to see companies large and small also joining and taking advantage of our ability to sit at the table as one purchaser, not disaggregated as thousands of purchasers where pharma has the power, he said. Now were taking back that power and were leveraging that power. Trisha Thadani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tthadani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TrishaThadani The Trump administration made good Thursday on its threat to cancel nearly $1 billion in federal funds for Californias high-speed rail project, saying the state has abandoned its original plan for San Francisco-to-Los Angeles service in favor of a truncated line in the Central Valley. But officials of the rail system said the administrations decision wouldnt have an immediate effect on the construction under way in the valley. We dont want to lose the $1 billion, and its a hard hit, said Russ Fong, chief financial officer for the California High-Speed Rail Authority. But we werent planning on using the money until 2021, which gives us time. The Federal Railroad Administration said it is terminating its agreement with the authority and will not give the state $928.6 million that it had agreed to supply for the project. Gov. Gavin Newsom denounced the action as political retribution by the Trump administration against California and indicated the state would fight for the money in court. The federal railroad agency originally threatened to cancel the funding after Newsom said in his State of the State speech in January that right now, there simply isnt a path for the envisioned San Francisco-to-Los Angeles train line and that the state should concentrate on completing a 165-mile leg from Bakersfield to Merced. Newsom later insisted that he wasnt giving up on the full project and that California would pursue funding to pay for it. The Federal Railroad Administration indicated Thursday that it wasnt convinced. California has abandoned its original vision of a high-speed passenger rail service connecting San Francisco and Los Angeles, which was essential to its applications for FRA grant funding, the agency said in a statement. Whats more, it added, construction delays mean the state hasnt complied with conditions for federal funding and has failed to make reasonable progress on the project. The Trump administration said it continues to consider all options for clawing back the $2.5 billion in federal funding that California has already received for the project, something state officials said would be against the law. In a statement, Newsom called the action Thursday illegal and a direct assault on California, including the workers on the project in the Central Valley. Just as we have seen from the Trump administrations attacks on our clean air standards, our immigrant communities and in countless other areas, the Trump administration is trying to exact political retribution on our state, Newsom said. This is Californias money, appropriated by Congress, and we will vigorously defend it in court. Republicans seized on Newsoms announcement in January as a cudgel against Democrats in Congress talk of a Green New Deal to combat climate change. One of the pillars of the plan, pushed in particular by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., was high-speed rail. Republicans including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield pointed to Newsoms announcement as evidence of the proposals futility. Todays announcement ensures that we move on from the failed boondoggle and focus on actual solutions that help Californians, like desperately needed water storage and infrastructure projects, McCarthy said in a statement Thursday. But McCarthy is unlikely to get his wish as long as Democrats have control of the House, especially with San Franciscos Nancy Pelosi as speaker. The administrations decision is nothing more than a partisan attack on California, said Taylor Griffin, a spokeswoman for Pelosi. We will continue to move forward with the construction of the project with the guidance and vision of our state leaders to promote economic growth and prosperity. The loss of a year of federal funds in no way kills the high-speed rail project, said Fong, the rail authoritys fiscal boss. The system has $9 billion from Proposition 1A, which voters approved in 2008; $2.55 billion in federal money thats already been spent; and $500 million to $750 million a year in state cap-and-trade funds from air quality protection efforts. The cap-and-trade money is there until at least 2030 and will conservatively raise between a low of $20.4 billion and a high of $23.4 billion, Fong said.So we have money to continue the work. Then theres the private investment that was expected to cover part of the systems costs, but so far hasnt shown up. Right now were doing civil work, digging dirt and laying tracks, so theres not much room for private investment, Fong said. But that could change when the system gets closer to running trains. The once-popular plan to link San Francisco and Los Angeles with high-speed trains has been plagued by budget overruns and delays. A combination of lawsuits, engineering and geological problems and bureaucracy have kept the program troubled, and its budget has more than doubled from $33 billion to $77 billion without a clear way to pay for it. In a report last month, the authority said trains running at up to 220 mph could go into service on the Central Valley line by 2028. If the tracks are finished before then, service could begin with current-day diesel engines pulling the passenger cars, the authority said. Construction in the Central Valley is under way, and several miles of viaduct have already been built and farmland has been purchased for future construction. Its not the first time in his short tenure that Newsom has found himself at odds with the Trump administration. President Trump has made a habit of bashing California and even threatened to cut off federal dollars for recovery from wildfires, though he has not followed through. Newsom has been unafraid to criticize Trump but has also said he wants to keep lines of communication open and continue to have a relationship with the president. Tal Kopan is The San Francisco Chronicles Washington correspondent, and John Wildermuth is a Chronicle staff writer. Email: tal.kopan@sfchronicle.com, jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @talkopan, @jfwildermuth For more stories like this, check out The Chronicles weekly Travel newsletter! Sign up here. As a symbol of Marin County, Mount Tamalpais distinctive profile the triple peak and the long sweep of the east slope down toward the bay is an ever-present reminder to Bay Area bicyclists of the outstanding riding just north of the Golden Gate Bridge. The two best bike routes to the 2,571-foot summit start within a stones throw of each other in downtown Mill Valley. One is the 11-mile unpaved Old Railroad Grade (perfect for gravel bikes but doable with care on a road bike); the other, an 8-mile paved road bike route following local streets and Marins famed Panoramic Highway. Each offers a different experience of the same glorious mountain. Both are short enough that they could be done in the same day, with a return to sea level in between. (For the adventurous rider, combine them into one round trip by climbing the bumpy dirt and descending the smooth pavement.) Old Railroad Grade, 8 miles Depot Plaza in downtown Mill Valley takes its name from the Mount Tamalpais and Muir Woods Scenic Railway, which from 1896 to 1930 shuttled tourists between Mill Valley and Marins two most famous destinations. (Check out the former train station, now home to the Depot Cafe & Bookstore, where the apricot bars, carrot cake and other treats will fuel any ride.) The railroad was done in by the increasing popularity of automobiles and a devastating wildfire, but hikers and bicyclists still follow the Old Railroad Grade to the summit. The unpaved trail is sometimes rough and features sizeble rocks and ruts, though not a technical mountain bike route: Ive climbed it on a steel road bike with 28mm tires. (Downhill, at higher speeds, is trickier and calls for a burlier bike.) To get to the start of Old Railroad Grade, follow Throckmorton Avenue east one block from the plaza and make a left on Blithedale Avenue. Look for a dirt trailhead past Lee Street, and then settle into your easy gear for 7 miles of climbing. The steam-powered train, which couldnt handle steep grades, followed 281 curves that earned it the title of the crookedest railroad in the world, and today these same turns offer bicyclists a long but mellow ascent. The lower half of the ride ascends through a deep redwood forest, while the upper half, above the tight switchbacks known as the Double Bowknot, breaks out of the woods for stunning views of the bay, the ocean and San Francisco. Two thirds of the way up, youll reach the West Point Inn, which has been welcoming visitors to Mount Tam since 1904. Today the inn, off the grid at two miles from the nearest paved road, is run by a nonprofit association of 600 volunteers and offers accommodations in rustic cabins. Theyre affordable at $50 per person per night but are typically booked months in advance. Even if youre just rolling by on your way up the mountain, its worth a stop at the inn to admire the grand views from the porch and enjoy a picnic with the whole Bay Area spread out below you. After the final push up from the inn to Tams East Peak, relax on the terrace, stretch your legs and explore the paved, pedestrian-only Verna Dunshee trail that circles the summit itself. The Tavern of Tamalpais that welcomed visitors in the railroad days is long gone, victim of another fire, but youll still find water and a basic vending machine around the terrace. Panoramic Highway, 11 miles The first rule of the paved climb is to ignore the big green sign for Mount Tam at the edge of the plaza, which leads drivers back out of town to busy Highway 1. Instead, hang a left onto Throckmorton Avenue and then turn left on Cascade Drive, left on Marion Avenue, right on Edgewood Avenue, and left on Sequoia Valley Road, where youll see a sign for Mount Tamalpais. Youll need to keep track of the directions through this stretch, but the routes beauty and quiet make it worth it. Youll pass burbling creeks (some of the stately homes here are reached by miniature bridges from the street) and lush forest on this gentle, winding uphill. At the top of Sequoia Valley, youll get your first glimpse of the ocean. Turn right and follow the aptly-named Panoramic Highway uphill, first steeply, then gently, then steeply once more. After the quiet residential lanes lower down, Panoramic can be busy, especially on summer weekends, but there are enough cyclists on the mountain that drivers tend to watch out. Water is available 7 miles into the climb at Pantoll Ranger Station, but take heart: at 1,500 feet, most of the climbing is below you. Turn right at the ranger station onto Pantoll Road, which swings out to the west and offers sweeping views of the hills dropping away to the ocean. At the top of Pantoll Road, turn right on East Ridgecrest for the final push to the summit. Youll descend and then climb again several times as you make your way to East Ridgecrests end at Mount Tams East Peak, where this route converges at last with the Old Railroad Grade. Especially if youre here for the second time in a day, take a well-earned break at the picnic tables. The view stretches as far as the Santa Cruz Mountains on a clear day and is grand even on a foggy day, when Mount Tam is an island above a white sea. As a descent, the Panoramic Highway route is a rollicking good time, and even the parts of Ridgecrest that in this direction trend back uphill dont spoil the fun. Itll feel over too soon when you bottom out back at Depot Plaza, but nothing says you cant head back up again. This article was first published on NerdWallet.com. New data from the U.S. Department of Education show that 518 borrowers federal student loans have been canceled via Public Service Loan Forgiveness as of March 2019. The average amount forgiven was $59,244. While fewer than 1% of those who have applied for forgiveness have been successful, the low approval rate isnt necessarily unexpected and it doesnt mean PSLF is hopeless. In a statement to NerdWallet, Education Department Press Secretary Liz Hill said: The Department expects few people to be immediately eligible for a loan discharge under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program. In part, thats because it takes at least 10 years to qualify for PSLF the first borrowers became eligible in October 2017 and the program has many complexities to navigate. Success should become more common as those holdups become less of an issue. Heres why. Some borrowers havent made enough payments A lack of qualifying payments is the most common reason PSLF applications are rejected, accounting for more than 50% of all denials, according to department data. You must make 10 years of on-time, in-full payments to qualify for PSLF. Employment gaps, missed renewals for payment plans and other periods of non-payment, like loan forbearance, that happen during that time frame could delay potential forgiveness. Borrowers should expect to be in repayment for an additional year or two due to such interruptions, says Paul S. Garrard, president and founder of PGPresents, an independent student loan counseling company in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. I think it is realistic to expect to see significant [forgiveness] numbers in 2021 or later. Garrard says. If you do qualify for PSLF but apply too early, your rejection notice will include how many payments short you are, so youll know when it makes sense to reapply. Some loans arent eligible Sixteen percent of PSLF applications are denied because the borrower has the wrong type of loans, according to department data. Only federal direct loans qualify for PSLF; older loans from the Federal Family Education Loan program do not. FFEL loans are federal, but they were not made by the federal government, says Garrard. Hence, they are not considered eligible loans. FFEL borrowers can consolidate these student loans to qualify for PSLF. Consolidation restarts the payment clock, though, meaning you would have to make 120 payments on the new consolidated loan before receiving forgiveness. Those who took this step after the FFEL program ended in 2010 could be eligible for forgiveness as early as 2020. Some used the wrong repayment plan Only payments made under the standard repayment plan or an income-driven repayment plan qualify for PSLF. But there is hope if you were denied forgiveness for using an incorrect repayment plan, such as extended or graduated repayment. These borrowers can request forgiveness under an alternate version of PSLF, known as Temporary Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness. This program was introduced in 2018, and according to department data, 442 TEPSLF requests have been approved to date, with an average balance of $39,723 forgiven. Some simply dont qualify PSLFs low approval rate can also be attributed to borrowers applying who shouldnt. The Education Department offers a PSLF Help Tool outlining the programs qualifications. However, the best way to confirm your eligibility is to submit an Employment Certification Form. Providing an ECF is not required, though borrowers are encouraged to do so. Without the critical information provided on the ECF, the Department has no way of knowing which borrowers may potentially be interested in or eligible for PSLF, Hill said. Submitting an ECF annually reduces the possibility of an unexpected outcome for borrowers. Borrowers who skip the ECF may learn too late that they dont qualify for PSLF. If you find yourself in this situation, stick with income-driven repayment which forgives any remaining loan balance after 20 or 25 years of payments and look at other student loan forgiveness programs. Either may provide eventual relief from your debt. Ryan Lane is a writer at NerdWallet. Email: rlane@nerdwallet.com. The article Dont Give Up on Public Service Loan Forgiveness originally appeared on NerdWallet. You don't have to leave the Bay Area to feel like you've escaped to a tropical getaway. Click ahead to see where you can find the best tropical drinks around the Bay Area. East Oakland native Corine Forward may have been trying to go viral when she posted her college graduation photos on Twitter, but she never expected the reception she got: 72,800 likes, 8,500 retweets and hundreds of encouraging comments. Forward graduates from Georgetown University on Saturday. The 22-year-old first-generation college student is graduating magna cum laude with first honors and a 3.88 grade point average. Before Georgetown, Forward attended Eastside College Preparatory, a private boarding school in Palo Alto for students historically underrepresented in higher education, and Montera Middle School in Oakland. Her viral Twitter post with photos taken by Ayo Stephens was intended to celebrate her immense accomplishments, of course, but there was more to it than that, she told SFGate by phone Friday, just a few hours before her family flew in from Oakland for the festivities. "A lot of my followers are from Georgetown or Oakland, and I wanted them to know that even though I'm gone [from the Bay Area], I'm still rooting for us," she said. "I wanted them to know that you can leave Oakland, do great things, and come back." She is coming back, though briefly for now: Forward will spend the summer working at Fentons Creamery in Oakland before moving to New York City, where she'll begin working toward a law degree at Columbia University. Oakland, where she was born and raised, has everything to do with her chosen path, she said. "I've known I wanted to go to law school since middle school," she said. Her family had some "run-ins with cops" and "experiences with incarceration" when she was growing up her first exposure to the criminal justice system. She hopes to go into criminal defense. "I want to be the lawyer that my folks should have had," she said. Having a longterm goal motivated Forward through college, especially while adjusting to Georgetown. Coming from racially and economically diverse Oakland, transitioning to life at an East Coast private school was tricky. In her first semesters, Forward remembered hearing peers talk about "their nannies, their yachts, where they had traveled." "I didn't even have a passport!" she said. Forward had considered other schools, including UCLA, but Georgetown won out when it came down to the funding. Her parents were supportive of the 3,000-mile move. "It was about having them live through me, yes, but also me being able to do as much as I can before it's too late." When I asked her to elaborate on what she meant by "before it's too late," Forward explained that some of her friends and peers have died by gun violence in Oakland. When she moved to Washington, D.C., the deaths started hitting closer and closer to home first it was a classmate, then a friend. She said the tragedies served as a "big push to live." At the same time, it was in Oakland, with all its complexity, where Forward experienced what she calls her "transformative moments" instances of personal growth spurred by inspiring friends, classmates and community members. She hasn't forgotten about them. No matter how long she's away from home, Forward intends to find a way back, if not to Oakland, at least somewhere in California. At the end of our interview, I asked Forward if she wanted to add anything. She did. "Don't forget where you come from," she said, "and give back any way you can." Read Michelle Robertson's latest stories and send her news tips at michelle.robertson@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. AUSTIN, Texas A year after a high school mass shooting near Houston that remains one of the deadliest in U.S. history, Texas lawmakers are poised to go home without passing any new gun restrictions, or even tougher firearm storage laws that Gov. Greg Abbott backed after the tragedy. A Republican governor pushing even a small restriction on firearms kept at home in gun-friendly Texas was a landmark shift after two decades of loosening weapons regulations. And it put Texas in line with other states exploring ways to prevent not just mass shootings, but thousands of lethal gun incidents involving minors. But the states effort was met with a swift and severe rebuke from gun-rights advocates who have all but killed the issue. The anniversary of the shooting at Santa Fe High School is Saturday. I saw my friend and co-worker killed, Flo Rice, a Santa Fe substitute teacher who was shot five times that day, told lawmakers. Had stricter gun laws been in place, maybe the shooters father would have had his guns locked up, 10 lives would have been spared. ... It is too late for Santa Fe, but maybe this bill will save other childrens lives. Her words had little impact. In the final two weeks of the legislative session, Texas lawmakers are instead moving toward arming more school personnel, boosting campus security measures and mental health services for teenagers. Those also were ideas from Abbott, who has gone silent on the issue of gun storage safety since first proposing it. Its really sad, said Ed Scruggs of Texas Gun Sense. Here we are coming up on the one year anniversary and theyre not doing anything but putting more guns in schools and hardening school sites. And this was something that could have applied directly to a situation like Santa Fe. Police have alleged the Santa Fe shooter, a student at the school, used his fathers shotgun and handgun to kill eight students and two substitute teachers. Thirteen others were wounded. Within days, Abbott held a series of roundtable discussions on school violence with victims and gun rights and gun control advocates. Ideas that emerged included increasing the penalty for gun owners from a misdemeanor to a felony when minors take and use their firearms to harm or kill someone. Texas has no requirement that all firearms be locked up. The blowback was almost immediate. Gun rights groups insisted firearms must be kept easily available for self-defense. I will fight it forever, Rep. Jonathan Stickland, a Republican, tweeted hours after Abbott first backed tighter gun storage laws. Jim Vertuno is an Associated Press writer. WASHINGTON Democrats in the House approved sweeping anti-discrimination legislation Friday that would extend civil rights protections to LGBT people by prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The protections would extend to employment, housing, loan applications, education, public accommodations and other areas. Called the Equality Act, the bill is a top priority of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, who said it will bring the nation closer to equal liberty and justice for all. Sexual orientation and gender identity deserve full civil rights protections in the workplace and in every place, education, housing, credit, jury service, public accommodations, Pelosi said. The vote was 236-173, with every Democrat voting in favor, along with eight Republicans. Cheers broke out on the House floor as the bill crossed the threshold for passage. The legislations chief sponsor, Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., said it affirms fairness and equality as core American values and ensures members of the LGBTQ community can live their lives free from the fear of legal discrimination of any kind. Cicilline, who is gay, called equal treatment under the law a founding principle of the United States, adding Its absurd that, in 2019, members of the LGBTQ community can be fired from their jobs, denied service in a restaurant or get thrown out of their apartment because of their sexual orientation or gender identify. Most Republicans oppose the bill and call it another example of government overreach. President Trump is widely expected to veto the legislation if it reaches his desk. At a news conference Thursday, the Republicans said the bill would jeopardize religious freedom by requiring acceptance of a particular ideology about sexuality and sexual identity. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo., called the legislation grossly misnamed and said it is anything but equalizing. The bill hijacks the 1964 Civil Rights Act to create a brave new world of discrimination based on undefined terms of sexual orientation and gender identity, Hartzler said. The legislation threatens womens sports, shelters and schools, and could silence female athletes, domestic abuse survivors and other women, she said. A similar bill in the Senate has been co-sponsored by all but one Senate Democrat, but faces long odds in the Republican-controlled chamber. Matthew Daly is an Associated Press writer. NEW YORK I.M. Pei (PAY), the versatile, globe-trotting architect who revived the Louvre with a giant glass pyramid and captured the spirit of rebellion at the multi-shaped Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, has died at age 102. Peis death was confirmed Thursday by Marc Diamond, a spokesman for the architects New York firm, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. One of Peis sons, Li Chung Pei, told The New York Times his father had died overnight. Peis works ranged from the trapezoidal addition to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., to the chiseled towers of the National Center of Atmospheric Research that blend in with the reddish mountains in Boulder, Colo. His buildings added elegance to landscapes worldwide with their powerful geometric shapes and grand spaces. Among them are the striking steel and glass Bank of China skyscraper in Hong Kong and the Fragrant Hill Hotel near Beijing. His work spanned decades, starting in the late 1940s and continuing through the new millennium. Two of his last major projects, the Museum of Islamic Art, located on an artificial island just off the waterfront in Doha, Qatar, and the Macau Science Center, in China, opened in 2008 and 2009. Pei painstakingly researched each project, studying its use and relating it to the environment. But he also was interested in architecture as art and the effect he could create. At one level my goal is simply to give people pleasure in being in a space and walking around it, he said. But I also think architecture can reach a level where it influences people to want to do something more with their lives. That is the challenge that I find most interesting. Pei, who as a schoolboy in Shanghai was inspired by its building boom in the 1930s, immigrated to the United States and studied architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. He advanced from his early work of designing office buildings, low-income housing and mixed-used complexes to a worldwide collection of museums, municipal buildings and hotels. He fell into a modernist style blending elegance and technology, creating crisp, precise buildings. His big break was in 1964, when he was chosen over many prestigious architects, such as Louis Kahn and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, to design the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library in Boston. At the time, Jacqueline Kennedy said all the candidates were excellent, But Pei! He loves things to be beautiful. The two became friends. A slight, unpretentious man, Pei developed a reputation as a skilled diplomat, persuading clients to spend the money for his grand-scale projects and working with a cast of engineers and developers. Some of his designs were met with much controversy, such as the 71-foot faceted glass pyramid in the courtyard of the Louvre museum in Paris. Many of the French vehemently opposed such a change to their symbol of their culture, once a medieval fortress and then a national palace. Some resented that Pei, a foreigner, was in charge. Kathy McCormack and Deepti Hajela are Associated Press writers. WASHINGTON Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Friday refused to comply with a congressional subpoena to hand over President Trumps tax returns, a move that is likely to be the final step before the matter heads to the courts. For more than a month, the Treasury Department and House Democrats have exchanged letters about the request, which was initiated in April by Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Mnuchin said lawyers in the agency concluded that the original request, made using an obscure provision of the tax code, was not legitimate. Neal then changed course and issued a subpoena to try to gain access to six years of Trumps tax returns. On Friday, Mnuchin wrote a one-page letter to Neal, in which he reiterated his previous position that the request lacked legitimate legislative purpose and said he could not comply with the subpoena. For the same reasons, we are unable to provide the requested information in response to the Committees subpoena, Mnuchin said. Mnuchin was widely expected to ignore the subpoena, as Trump has vowed to fight all subpoenas from House Democrats. The Treasury secretary has warned that allowing House Democrats to retrieve the presidents tax returns would open the door to lawmakers from both parties politicizing the IRS in the future. At a Senate hearing this week, Mnuchin said House Democrats were trying to weaponize the IRS. He said he had not yet decided how he would respond to the subpoena, but that you can guess which way we are leaning. He said the judiciary, as the third branch of government, would most likely need to settle the dispute between Congress and the executive branch, signaling the potential for a protracted court fight. House Democrats have been weighing how to respond to the Trump administrations defiance of congressional subpoenas. On Friday, Neal said he saw little value in trying to hold Mnuchin or Charles Rettig, the IRS commissioner, in contempt of Congress. Instead, he said, he would go straight to the courts to try to enforce his subpoena. Alan Rappeport and Nicholas Fandos are New York Times writers. Fishing ban begins in Xiongan 09:32, May 17, 2019 Xinhua SHIJIAZHUANG, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The first fishing ban has began in Baiyangdian Lake in Xiongan New Area in north China's Hebei Province, in an effort to protect fishery resources and biodiversity. The fishing ban started Thursday and will be effective until July 31, according to the agriculture and rural affairs bureau of Anxin county in Xiongan. Authorities with the bureau will take measures to ensure that the ban is strictly implemented. In April 2017, China announced the establishment of the Xiongan New Area, which is about 100 km southwest of Beijing and spans three counties in Hebei. Ecological restoration in Baiyangdian Lake, the largest wetland ecosystem in northern China, has been reinforced since Xiongan New Area was set up. 132 Plaza St., Healdsburg | 707-385-9410, www.idlewildwines.com | Noon-7 p.m. daily, appointment recommended | Tasting fee: $30-$35 Looking for a place to hang out and grab a drink in downtown Healdsburg? Idlewild is just as much fun as any of the bars in town. The small wine label is based here but sources its fruit from Mendocino County and looks to northern Italy for its inspiration. Youll find delicate wines of-fered here alongside hearty platters of cheese and salumi. Winemakerand owner Sam Bilbros wines most of them from Mendocino Countys Fox Hill Vineyard are elegant and understated, and unfailingly delicious. His passion for the wines of Piedmont, in northern Italy, and for revealing obscure-for-California grape varieties is contagious; once you taste his intense Nebbiolo, his delicate Dolcetto, his savory rose or his relentlessly floral Arneis, youll be an Italophile too. Idlewild OAKLAND (BCN) Two men were sentenced to state prison on Friday for the fatal shooting of a 15-year-old high school student in East Oakland in broad daylight in 2014. Tyrell Coulter, 27, and Savon Mims, 24, originally were charged with murder for the shooting death of Isaiah Christopher Smith, a sophomore at Fremont High School in Oakland, in the 5400 block of Trask Street just before noon on Nov. 29, 2014. But on April 19 the Alameda County District Attorney's Office agreed to a plea deal in which Coulter and Mims pleaded no contest to the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter. Superior Court Judge James Cramer on Friday sentenced Coulter to 16 years and state prison and Mims to 12 years. According to prosecutors and police Coulter shot Smith and Mims was his driver. Police said Smith was shot as he was walking on the street with a 16-year-old boy and an 18-year-old youth. After Smith's death, Oakland schools spokesman Troy Flint said, "Everyone at the school is distraught that someone so young had his life taken away from him so violently." According to a probable cause statement by Oakland police Sgt. Leo Sanchez, authorities who conducted a covert electronic surveillance operation after Coulter was arrested for a probation violation on Dec. 14, 2014, about two weeks after the shooting, recorded him "self-implicating himself as the shooter and Savon Mims as the driver during the murder of Isaiah Smith." Coulter also described details of the murder that only those who were involved in the shooting could have known about, Sanchez said. According to prosecutors, Isaiah Smith's older brother Anthony Smith, who's now 32, and Mykolay McGowen, 26, were involved in a retaliatory shooting on Foothill Boulevard near 65th Avenue on April 13, 2015, only five blocks away from the site where Isaiah Smith was fatally shot, that wounded three people. Alameda County prosecutor Matt Gaidos said in McGowen's trial in 2017 that McGowen, who he said was the shooter, and Anthony Smith, who he said was the driver, were targeting two brothers because they're associates of Coulter and Mims, who weren't arrested and charged until August 2016. Gaidos said some of the shots struck and injured the two brothers but several bullets also struck and injured an auto mechanic who was working on a car at his auto repair shop on Foothill Boulevard. Commenting on a video he showed to jurors in that case, Gaidos said, "This is street warfare, ladies and gentlemen." McGowen was convicted of three counts of attempted murder and on Aug. 25, 2017, was sentenced to 85 years to life in state prison. Anthony Smith also is charged with three counts of attempted murder for the 2015 shooting but hasn't stood trial yet and is scheduled to return to court on June 20. 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. Hinsdale Police Searching For Missing Woman The woman was last seen on Smith Road Wednesday morning. HINSDALE, Mass. Police are asking for help locating a woman who went missing Wednesday morning. Jacqueline Coutinho was last seen on Smith Road at about 10:15 on Wednesday morning. Police and emergency responders have been searching for her for three days now but have been unable to find any clues to her whereabouts. Anyone with information about where Coutinho might be to are asked to contact police at 413-655-0201. Police Chief Susan Rathbun said there nothing to suggest anything nefarious happened nor is there any indication of that the woman was suffering from any mental health issues causing her to wander off. But still, the search conducted by Police, the Fire Department, Berkshire Mountain Search and Rescue, and the Massachusetts State Police have so far been unsuccessful in locating her. "Wednesday until dark we searched and then we searched all [Thursday]," Rathbun said. The search has entailed K9 units, foot patrols, and a helicopter. Rathbun said there are no missing vehicles related to the case. The woman had been visiting her sister in Hinsdale. "She was here with her sister. She had been here about a month," Rathbun said. Coutinho was last seen wearing a purple/red sweater, blue jeans, and white sneakers. She is described as white with blonde and gray hair, and standing approximately 5-feet-6 and weighing about 130 pounds. The California Contractors State License Board has received complaints about a Central Valley company that was hired to rebuild homes after the 2017 Tubbs Fire in Sonoma and Napa counties. The eight complaints against Chiaramonte Construction and Plumbing of Tulare allege violations of the Business and Professions Code that include diverting or failing to account funds, departing from trade standards, committing a willful or fraudulent act, failure to pay for materials and services, abandonment without legal excuse of a construction project, no approximate start and stop dates and lack of reasonable diligence, according to the Rick Lopes of the California Contractors State License Board. The allegations are being investigated as possible violations. "At this point, there are not specific charges against the licensee, and they have not been allowed to formally defend themselves. But due to risk of harm, we do publicize our concerns online," Lopes said. The complaints came to the attention of the Contractors State License Board within the past two weeks, Lopes said. The Sonoma County District Attorney's Office is working on the complaints with the Contractors State License Board, Assistant District Attorney Bill Brockley said. Pam Chiaramonte, co-owner of the construction company, did not respond to an email request for comment on the complaints. 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) Hundreds of Latino business, political and community leaders are set to gather Friday evening in San Francisco for the 14th annual Latino Community Foundation Gala. The event will honor three Latino leaders: the Honorable Aida Alvarez, a former Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration during Bill Clinton's presidency; political activist and founder of Voto Latino, Maria Teresa Kumar; and Father Greg Boyle, the founder and director of Homeboy Industries. Former Treasurer of the United States Rosie Rios will deliver remarks and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf is set to attend. Clinton and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Henry Cisneros will make special video appearances. The event gathers community leaders who invest in Latino-led organizations interested in increasing voter participation among Latino youth in California. "In today's political climate, we are determined to elevate the voices of our leaders and communities that have planted the seeds of hope, justice, and equity. This nation has been made stronger because of Latinos," said Jacqueline Martinez Garcel, Latino Community Foundation CEO. According to the San Francisco-based LCF, it leads the largest network of Latino philanthropists in the U.S. and has invested nearly $10 million in Latino-led organizations involved in social activism. The event is happening at 5:30 p.m. at the San Francisco Fairmont Hotel, located at 950 Mason St. 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 move to shutter San Francisco Juvenile Hall in less than two years has passed its first hurdle, after the city's Board of Supervisors' Government Audit and Oversight Committee voted unanimously in favor of it on Thursday. The legislation, authored by supervisors Shamann Walton, Hillary Ronen and Matt Haney, seeks to close juvenile hall, located at 375 Woodside Ave., by the end of 2021, citing a citywide decrease in youth crime resulting in an underused facility. With the committee's approval, the legislation now goes to the full Board of Supervisors for a vote. According to the plan, jail time for youth offenders would be replaced with job training and youth enrichment programs, among other efforts, to deter kids from engaging in criminal activity. The legislation is personal for Walton, who said he spent time incarcerated as a minor in both Contra Costa and Solano counties. "What we're proposing is an alternative to juvenile hall that also provides a true opportunity for young people to be rehabilitated. Job training, mental health support, educational connections and exposure with a non-institutional focus that provides a true pathway to success, even for serious offenders. Individualized plans that focus on the person and not the infraction," Walton said. "Young offenders of serious crimes that may harm themselves or society would have a place that provides all those opportunities and focuses on helping them change versus teaching them how to live institutionalized and preparing them for prison," he said. According to Walton, with decreased juvenile crime, in 2018 juvenile hall was two-thirds empty each day on average. Despite low population numbers, it costs the city about $13 million annually to run the facility. Ronen said, "This jail needs to be shut down, we are more visionary than this. We have more adequate and updated science on how the youth brain develops. We have the resources that provide the best mental health service in the most rehabilitative setting, where we can truly alter the path of children's lives, many who have mental health illness and have been subjected to trauma all their lives." During the public comment portion of the item, dozens of criminal justice reform advocates echoed the sentiments of supervisors, while some shared stories of youth being shackled and kept in solitary confinement while incarcerated. Others, however, spoke out against closing juvenile hall. Ryan Kong, a probation officer at the facility said, "A lot of these kids that come through our door, their parents failed them; their home failed them; the community failed them and that's when we take them in. We care for them; we make sure that they're safe; we make sure that they get their meals; and we make sure that they walk out that door when it's time. "Everybody is talking about juvenile hall doing this, doing that, but they came in broken already. Stop saying that we broke them, it's not us," he said. The San Francisco branch of the NAACP has also opposed the legislation. In a statement, president the Rev. Amos Brown said the legislation was "hastily put together with barely an iota of input from community stakeholders -- not even Chief Probation Officer Allen Nance. "If we want to substantially improve the juvenile justice system in San Francisco, we must slow down, get together all stakeholders and have a deeper dialogue about this issue. We must ensure we continue to have the funding and space to treat this vulnerable group," he said. If the full board approves the legislation, the legislation mandates that a 13-person working group will be tasked with exploring alternatives to youth incarceration. Copyright 2019 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. FREMONT (BCN) Fremont police arrested an Antioch man last week on suspicion of surreptitiously recording male victims inside a restroom at a trampoline park and possessing child pornography, police said Friday. 36-year-old Charles Rocha remains in custody since his May 9 arrest and awaits his next appearance in court scheduled for June 3, 2019 in Dublin. An employee of Rockin' Jump, a children's trampoline business on 39100 Farwell Dr., reported a hidden camera in the men's restroom on May 3. Police said they found the camera's micro SD card contained videos of people, including children, using the bathroom. Officers said the film roll also showed the suspect setting up the camera. The suspect, later revealed to be Charles Rocha, appeared to be a Hispanic male with black hair and a full beard. Police said they identified Rocha by obtaining the business' security camera footage then executing a license registration check on a white SUV he was seen getting into. Police then attained an arrest warrant and a search warrant of Rochas' residence. There, they found multiple recording devices, which contained other surreptitious videos, as well as child pornography. Anyone with information about this case can contact Fremont Police Department at (510) 790-6900 or email aholguin@fremont.gov. Copyright 2019 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. OAKLAND (BCN) A man with prior felony convictions in three different Northern California counties who faced an attempted murder charge for stabbing a man in West Oakland in late March 2018 will be out of prison soon following his sentencing earlier this week. Troy Foote, 30, who has addresses in Oakland and Berkeley and also has family members in Antioch, initially was charged with attempted murder for stabbing another man in the area of Sixth and Castro streets, near where Interstate Highway 880 and Interstate Highway 980 merge, at about 3 p.m. on March 29, 2018. But on Jan. 25 the Alameda County District Attorney's Office dismissed the attempted murder charge and agreed to a deal in which Foote pleaded no contest to assault with a deadly weapon. Prosecutors also agreed to dismiss all enhancement clauses and strike his three prior felony convictions for sentencing purposes, which meant that he would only face a minimal prison term. On Wednesday Alameda County Superior Court Judge James Cramer sentenced Foote to 3 years in state prison but gave him 768 days of credits, which means that Foote will spend less than a year in prison. Oakland police Sgt. Jeffrey Smoak saw Foote in a physical altercation with the victim during which Foote appeared to strike the other man in the neck, Officer Gedam Gebremichael wrote in a probable cause statement. When Smoak got closer to the two men he discovered that Foote actually had stabbed the victim, according to Gebremichael. Foote was arrested nearby a short time after the stabbing, Gebremichael said. When officers searched Foote they recovered a folding knife with dried blood, gloves and bloody shoes, Gebremichael wrote. A witness identified Foote as being the person who stabbed the other man, according to Gebremichael. The victim suffered three stab wounds and was listed in critical condition so he wasn't able to provide a statement to police, Gebremichael said. Prosecutors say Foote was convicted of battery by a prisoner on a non-prisoner in Solano County in 2012, assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury in Monterey County in 2007 and resisting an executive officer in Amador County in 2007. On Christmas Eve 2017, Berkeley police issued an alert asking for the public's help in trying to find Foote after he allegedly walked away from the Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Berkeley against the advice of hospital staff. Berkeley police classified Foote as a missing "at risk" person and said he might be suicidal. A judge suspended the criminal proceedings against Foote on May 21, 2018, and ordered that psychiatrists examine him because his lawyer expressed doubts about Foote's mental competency. But on Dec. 5 a judge ruled that Foote was competent to stand trial and reinstated the criminal proceedings against him. 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 free-speech advocacy group filed a motion in San Francisco Superior Court Thursday to unseal applications for search warrants obtained by police before they raided the home and office of a journalist last week. Freelance stringer Bryan Carmody's home and office were raided May 10 in connection with an investigation into a leaked police report on the February death of San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi. According to the San Rafael-based First Amendment Coalition, they filed the motion on behalf of Carmody and with help from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the Northern California chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. The motion is set to be heard Tuesday morning at the Hall of Justice in Department 22. Leaders of the coalition said the search warrants in this case should already be public because the warrants were executed. In a statement, coalition executive director David Snyder said, "Our motion to unseal aims to answer one of the most disturbing mysteries of this case-how two judges separately issued warrants that allowed police to raid the home of a working journalist in order to reveal that journalist's source. "This obvious and unlawful intrusion on press rights demands accountability and accountability starts with knowing the facts," Snyder said. Coalition leaders said that in order for police to get a search warrant to seize property police must show that it's likely stolen or embezzled property will be found at the location. In making their case to a judge, police should have told the judge that Carmody is a working journalist and the warrant should not have issued. According to the coalition, the California Shield Law generally prevents law enforcement from forcing journalists to hand over unpublished material, including confidential sources. State law also says authorities are not allowed to use a search warrant to obtain material protected by the state's journalist shield law, according to the coalition. The coalition said it wants the applications unsealed to find out whether police told the judges that Carmody was a journalist or judges were told and ignored the fact. Carmody, 48, and a 29-year stringer journalist, has been accused of selling the leaked police report to local news outlets for $2,500, however, Carmody said the price was much lower. According to Carmody, during the raid last week, 10 police officers participated, seizing several items, including laptops and cameras. They also handcuffed him and detained him for nearly six hours, while trying to get him to divulge who leaked the police report to him. Two FBI agents were at the scene, but the agency has said its agents did not participate in the execution of the police search warrant. The agents were at Carmody's home for about 10 minutes in order to interview him, FBI officials said. Although Carmody was not ultimately arrested, he said he has yet to get his equipment back from police, which he uses to earn a living. "How long am I supposed to be out of business? How long am I supposed to wait?" he said. "They took every computer out of my home that I owned. They took every digital photo that I've ever taken; terabytes and terabytes of data," he said. He was even forced to buy a new cellphone recently, he said. Of the motion filed Thursday, Carmody said, "The basis of my motion is this is illegal and I'm a journalist... What they (police) should've done is gotten a subpoena; they should've sent a subpoena and we should've litigated in court." During a San Francisco Police Commission meeting on Wednesday, Police Chief William Scott maintained that the search warrant was approved by two judges and legal in all aspects. Scott said the search warrant came after city leaders demanded at a Board of Supervisors' hearing last month that the leak be investigated. He added that any SFPD member found to be involved would be held responsible. Also on Wednesday, the San Francisco Public Defender's Office said while it sought to find out who within the Police Department leaked the report to Carmody and what kind of punishment they would face, the public defender's office maintained it does not have control over how SFPD conducts its investigations and supported Carmody's efforts to seek remedy. 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. VALLEJO (BCN) Vallejo police arrested a man Wednesday on suspicion of exposing himself to women in the downtown area, a police lieutenant said. The first indecent exposure happened Feb. 28 when the man allegedly exposed his genitals to a woman in the Vallejo ferry terminal parking lot. Police received more indecent exposure reports of a similar nature with a similar suspect description in the downtown area at the ferry terminal, City Hall parking lot, 200 block of Georgia Street and the Virginia and Marin streets area, Lt. Fabio Rodriguez said. After a thorough investigation police arrested Andres Gutierrez, 33, of Vallejo, Wednesday morning near Marin and Louisiana streets. Gutierrez was booked in the Solano County Jail on suspicion of four counts of indecent exposure. 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. HAYWARD (BCN) Hayward police are looking for a pair of armed men who pointed a gun at them, prompting three officers to open fire at the scene of a home invasion robbery Monday afternoon. Police provided an update Thursday about the case that began around 3 p.m. Monday when the suspects entered a residence in the 28000 block of Capitola Street, holding a 19-year-old victim and his father at gunpoint while they stole valuables from the home. The younger victim was able to surreptitiously call the police, and officers arrived as the suspects fled the scene in a black, two-door Honda Accord. As the suspects were leaving, they allegedly pointed a gun at police, prompting the officers to shoot an undisclosed number of rounds. Police have not provided any details about whether the suspects may have fired back. They also have not disclosed whether the suspects may have been injured in the shooting. The suspects were described as black men both standing about 5 feet 11 inches tall and roughly 150 to 160 pounds. Police have distributed photos of the men and the vehicle they fled the scene in. Per the county's protocol for officer-involved shootings, the Alameda County District Attorney's Office has been notified and is conducting a parallel 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 Oakland fire battalion chief said on Thursday that the chance of surviving the fire at the Ghost Ship warehouse in 2016 that claimed 36 lives was "very low" based on the amount of fire he saw coming from the structure when he arrived at the scene. Battalion Chief James Bowron, who's been a firefighter for more than 25 years, said the fire during a music party at the warehouse at 1309 31st Ave. after 11 p.m. on Dec. 2, 2016, "was like nothing I've seen before due to the fuel-loading inside the building." Bowron was referring to campers, RVs, artwork, tapestries, rugs, statues, and dozens of pianos and organs that filled the building, which master tenant Derick Almena said was an artists' collective. Bowron, who took command of firefighting efforts when he arrived at the scene a few minutes after the blaze was reported, said the people who died "were suspended in the worst possible place in a fire," which he said in this case was the warehouse's second floor, where the party was being held. He said the best way to escape a fire is to get to the first floor, stay low to the ground and crawl out but the blaze doubled in size every second, the smoke became intense and rose up and "there was no safe space on that second floor." Bowron also said, "It was not a true second floor" in that it was like an improvised mezzanine and wasn't sealed, which made it unsafe to put ladders up to that part of the building. Bowron's testimony came at the end of the third week of the trial for Almena, 49, and Ghost Ship creative director Max Harris, 29, who each face 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter, one for each person who died in the fire. Prosecutors allege that Almena and Harris are criminally liable for the fire because there was no time and no way for the people at the party to escape since the warehouse didn't have important safeguards, such as fire extinguishers, smoke alarms and exit signs. Prosecutors also say Almena and Harris violated the terms of the warehouse's lease by turning it into a living space where up to 25 people stayed and hosting underground music parties there. But defense attorneys for Almena and Harris allege that the fire was an act of arson that Harris and Almena couldn't have prevented. Defense lawyers second-guessed Bowron's firefighting tactics on Thursday, just as they second-guessed those of Battalion Chief Heather Mozdean when she testified on Wednesday. Harris' lawyer Curtis Briggs said he thought, "A firefighter would run into a burning building and pull someone out" and alleged that Bowron prioritized saving firefighters' lives over the lives of the 36 people who perished. But Bowron said that's not true, saying, "We put service over self and take risks on a daily basis. They (Oakland firefighters) did everything they could that night." Bowron said that when the fire flared up about 22 minutes after 12 firefighters entered the warehouse, which went dark after the electricity went out, "I thought they possibly could have died due to the conditions" because the roof was ready to collapse. Almena's lawyer Tony Serra asked Bowron if the fire is "a terrible blight on your reputation" and alleged that the reason Bowron is defending his department's tactics is that it is being sued by the victims' families. But Bowron said, "That's not why I'm here, I'm here to tell what happened and give jurors the facts about what happened that night." Earlier on Thursday, two Oakland police officers testified that Almena told them that no one lived at the warehouse when they visited the site before the fire. Officer Jonathan Low said when he responded to a call at the warehouse on Jan. 31, 2015, he asked Almena if anyone lived there and Almena said no one did. Former officer Tye Kushner, who is now retired, said when he went to the warehouse on Dec. 3, 2014, Almena also told him that no one lived there. Testimony in the trial will resume on Monday. 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) One of five defendants who was charged with murder during a robbery last year pleaded no contest Friday morning in Sonoma County Superior Court to seven felony counts of home invasion robbery. Amber Hembree, 22, of Richmond Virginia, was the last of the defendants who were arrested and charged with 24 felony counts in connection with a home invasion robbery at a residence in the 3600 block of Melcon Lane southwest of Santa Rosa on Feb. 8, 2018. Jose Luis Torres, 54, was fatally shot during the robbery. The defendants also are charged in connection with a home invasion robbery in the 1900 block of Fulton Road on Feb. 8. A male occupant of that residence was shot but survived. The robberies in unincorporated Sonoma County happened between 4:20 and 6:45 a.m. The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office said at the time that the motive for the robberies appeared to be marijuana related. The five defendants, four of them from the East Coast, allegedly fled to Vallejo in a van after the robberies. Three defendants were quickly arrested there, a fourth defendant was arrested at a motel in Santa Rosa, and Hembree was arrested in Chester, Virginia on June 11, 2018. The remaining defendants, Jonathan Christopher Jackson, 20, and David Ealey, 24, both of Richmond, Virginia, Tyrone Lamar Mcrae, 26, of Jackson, Mississippi and Mussie Kibrom Himed, 29, of Santa Rosa, are scheduled for a preliminary hearing on May 30. The charges include murder, kidnapping, burglary, home invasion robbery, false imprisonment and assault with a semi-automatic rifle. Hembree will be sentenced to a stipulated 12-year term in any penal institution as part of the plea agreement. Each of the seven home invasion robbery charges applies to a victim in the residences. A sentencing date will be set in June. 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. You might want to considering bringing your Saturday backyard barbecue inside. After a moisture-rich atmospheric river soaked the Bay Area for two days straight this week, another storm is set to arrive Saturday, delivering a second dose of rain, according to the National Weather Service. The Bay Area is seeing unseasonably high rainfall this May. San Francisco sees on average .71 inch of rain in May and this year the monthly total as of May 16 is .78. Last year, at this time, the city hadn't seen a single drop of rain. MORE: Another inch of rain coming to San Francisco The city's rainfall record for May is 4 inches in 1925. The last significantly wet May was in 2015, when a little over an inch was measured. Dry conditions will prevail Friday as weak high-pressure builds over the region. Afternoon highs could reach the 60s in areas where the clouds break and the sun makes an appearance. The next storm will arrive in the North Bay on Saturday morning, initially bringing light showers and gradually intensifying and marching southward into the central Bay Area. "Most areas will see a several hour period of steady rainfall from late morning through mid afternoon, likely impacting Saturday outdoor activities," says the NWS. ALSO: Did the much-hyped atmospheric river perform as it was forecasted? This system isn't expected to be quite as strong as the one earlier in the week, and the rain will turn to lighter showers in the early evening Saturday. On Sunday, when San Francisco hosts the annual Bay to Breakers race, scattered showers are in the forecast. "Sunday won't be a rainout but expect numerous showers through the day," according to the NWS official forecast. "It's hard to tell," adds NWS forecaster Anna Schneider. "It might be more scattered by Sunday morning but there could still be periods of heavier rain." Forecasters predict rainfall totals for Saturday morning into Sunday night will be .5 to 1 inch in the San Francisco area, .75 to 1.25 inches in the North Bay valleys, 1.5 to 2.5 inches in the North Bay hills and .25 to .5 inch in the South Bay. Dry weather returns Monday but yet another system will bring a chance of rain Monday night into Tuesday. Next week looks to be generally dry with storms staying in the Sierra Nevada, but details are still unclear. Long-term models also show Memorial Day weekend to be unseasonably cool around the Bay Area. TEHRAN Irans Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif traveled Friday to China on his Asian tour aimed at keeping world markets open to Tehran amid an intense sanctions campaign from the U.S. as tensions across the Persian Gulf remain high. Concerns about a possible conflict have flared since the White House ordered warships and bombers to the region to counter an alleged, unexplained threat from Iran that has seen America order nonessential diplomatic staff out of Iraq. Tensions have also ratcheted up in the region after authorities alleged that a sabotage operation targeted four oil tankers on Sunday off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, and Iran-aligned rebels in Yemen claimed responsibility for a drone attack Tuesday on a crucial Saudi oil pipeline. Saudi Arabia directly blamed Iran for the drone assault, and a local newspaper linked to the Al Saud royal family called on Thursday for America to launch surgical strikes on Tehran. This all takes root in President Trumps decision last year to withdraw the U.S. from the 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and world powers and impose wide-reaching sanctions. Iranian officials remain skeptical. Imposing sanctions while seeking talks is like pointing a gun at someone and demanding friendship, said Iranian Gen. Rasool Sanaeirad, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency. For his part, Trump criticized the media in a tweet Friday about Iran and added: At least Iran doesnt know what to think, which at this point may very well be a good thing! Since the White Houses decision May 5 to deploy the bombers and aircraft carrier, the U.S. government has declined repeated requests to publicly explain the new threat they perceive coming from Tehran. Zarif later responded to Trump on Twitter. We in Iran have actually known what to think for millenniaand about the U.S., since 1953, the diplomat wrote, referring to the CIAs involvement in the overthrow of Irans prime minister at the time. At this point, that is certainly a good thing! On Friday, Zarif arrived in Beijing to speak to his Chinese counterpart. China was one of the signatories on Irans 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, which saw it limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of crushing economic sanctions. Zarif earlier visited Japan, a major importer of crude oil from the Persian Gulf. Nasser Karimi is an Associated Press writer. KABUL U.S. air strikes killed 17 policemen by mistake during a battle with insurgents in the countrys southern Helmand province, Afghan and U.S. military officials said on Friday. Attaullah Afghan, head of the provincial council, said the air strikes took place around 9 p.m. local time Thursday outside the provinces capital of Lashkar Gah, during clashes between Afghan police and the Taliban. Afghan added 14 policemen were also wounded in the strikes. Deadly incidents of friendly fire in U.S. military support for its Afghan allies have happened before, but are not common. Afghanistans beleaguered security forces come under near daily attacks by Taliban insurgents even as the U.S. is trying to broker a peace deal to end nearly 18 years of war. A U.S. military spokesman, Col. Dave Butler, said the air strike was called in by Afghan security forces who were taking heavy fire from Taliban fighters. Before dropping the bombs, Butler said the U.S. along with its allies on the ground sought to ensure the area was clear of friendly forces. An Afghan coordination force reported the targeted areas were safe from fellow personnel. Unfortunately, they were not and a tragic accident resulted, Butler said in a written reply to an Associated Press request for information on the deaths. He said both Afghan security forces and Taliban were killed in the strike. Were examining the miscommunication to ensure it is not repeated, said Butler. A higher frequency of U.S. air strikes has led to more civilian deaths, according to U.N. reports. A quarterly estimate by the United Nations issued recently said more civilians were killed by Afghan and U.S. forces than by insurgents in the first months of 2019. Amir Shah is an Associated Press writer. Page Content updated May 22, 2019 The U.S. health care system is notorious for its lack of price transparency. Some self-insured employers are responding by using reference-based pricing (RBP) with doctors and hospitalsin effect, setting their own prices for health care services. RBP is a cost-containment strategy that pays doctors, labs, clinics and hospitals a percentage of an established benchmark. Most often, the reimbursement rate is 120 percent to 300 percent of Medicare pricing for a given service, "based on what's reasonable in terms of the local health care market," said Marty Joseph, president of Chicago-based BAS Benefits Administrative Systems LLC, a third-party administrator (TPA) of self-funded plans. A May 2019 report by the RAND Corp., a research think tank, found that prices paid to hospitals by private health plans averaged 241 percent of what Medicare would have paid, with wide variation in prices among states. Based on their findings, the RAND authors suggested that employers design coverage using "contracts based on a multiple of Medicare or other prospective case rates." No Networks Unlike traditional preferred provider organization (PPO) coverage, an RBP approach typically has no in- and out-of-network payment tiers, explained Joseph when he spoke May 1 at the World Health Care Congress in Washington, D.C. Plan members can "go anywhere they choose for service, and the plan will pay the provider a fair and reasonable amount based off of Medicare plus a percentage, which is a profitable arrangement for a physician, hospital or other facility." RBP often reduces employers' health care claims spending by 20 percent to 30 percent, he said. While more employers are becoming aware of RBP, adoption remains limited. A 2019 survey of more than 1,300 U.S. employers by Lockton, a benefits broker and consultancy, found that 2 percent of respondents currently use reference-based pricing for targeted health care services, and an additional 10 percent are considering it for the future. [SHRM members-only toolkit: Managing Health Care Costs] Controlling Costs Employers can negotiate contracts with physician practices and hospitals to accept RBP for services, Joseph said. Absent a contract, doctors and facilities will still be paid RBP rates, but these providers may then "balance bill" the patient for what the provider considers the remainder of its fee. In those cases, "patients should be educated to immediately contact the plan TPA, who will intercede with the provider," Joseph said. Most often, the provider ends up accepting the RBP amount as payment in full, he noted. In those instances where providers won't accept the RBP rate, the plan will negotiate a settlement or pay the outstanding bill. With health plans using RBP, primary care physicians will typically be paid fees for their services on par with what they receive from a standard health plan. "The big savings comes from care received at hospitals and other facilities," said Matt Lund, CEO and president of Seattle-based Fortune Management Inc., a benefits brokerage that specializes in self-funded health plans. Hospital prices for the most part are not pre-negotiated, said Lund, who co-presented with Joseph at the conference. "If there are balance-billing issues that we can't resolve, we pay the difference. But in most instances, we can resolve them," he said, because the payment rate is competitive. "There is no transparency in health care," Lund noted. "Even when a PPO has negotiated a discount on services, that is a discount against a price the provider sets." RBP, in contrast, leads to more-predictable claim costs, he said, and because it reduces employers' spending, "it's an alternative to shifting costs to employees." What HR Should Know Eileen Clark, vice president of HR at Wayne, Pa.-based ELAP Services, which provides health care solutions for self-funded employers, also is enthusiastic about RBP. "Employers can reduce their total health care costs by up to 30 percent while also reducing out-of-pocket expenses for their employees," she said. "While the move to RBP can seem like a change that's mainly to the employer's benefit, we've seen employers pass on cost savings to their employees" by lowering deductibles and premiums or by increasing spending on other benefits, Clark noted. The key to a successful RBP rollout is education, she said, which "starts well before open enrollment, with HR teams being fully trained on the plan details, its benefits and what it will change for employees." HR should then be prepared to explain the new approach to plan participants and to answer their questionsand to allay any misperceptions they may have. Helping employees become well-educated health care consumers and advocating for plan members is key to a successful RBP program, Clark said, adding, "While it's often perceived that RBP will cause a lot of disruption, in the end there's more transparency and support for employees." Targeting Drug Prices "Some large employers and plan sponsors are taking matters into their own hands and lowering their pharmaceutical costs with a technique similar to international benchmarking: pharma-based reference pricing," said David Henka, president and CEO of ActiveRADAR, a pharmacy benefits management company. "Where international benchmarking negotiates deals based on what other countries pay for certain drugs, reference pricing programs compare all prices in the formulary to identify the lowest-cost option within each therapeutic category." An August 2017 study in the New England Journal of Medicine looked at The RETA Trust, a national association that purchases health care for employees at 55 Catholic organizations. When the trust adopted an RBP program for prescription drugs in which payment was limited to the price of the least-costly drug in each therapeutic category, it saved 12.2 percent on drug spending after the first year and 18.7 percent during the second year. Negative Perceptions A study in the February issue of the Journal of Managed Care found that while few employers are using RBP benefit designs, there is broad awareness of its potential for delivering savings, said the authors, from Harvard University and Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Employers identified several concerns that kept them from implementing RBP designs, including plan complexity, fear of catastrophic out-of-pocket costs and worries that RBP could hurt employee recruitment in a tight labor market. "Our interviews revealed that although employers were aware that RBP could lower spending, the difficulty they expected to face to put RBP in place and the possible risks for employees, both current and future, left them deciding it was not worth it," said lead author Anna Sinaiko, of Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Simplifying the plans, setting out-of-pocket maximums to protect patients from catastrophic costs and using turnkey solutions for communicating the changes to employees could help increase adoption rates of RBP plans, the authors wrote. "Solutions that can eliminate employers' biggest concerns about RBP, such as these, are likely needed if there is to be broader uptake of RBP benefit design than what we are currently seeing in the market," Sinaiko said. Related SHRM Articles: Employers Can Help with 'Surprise' Out-of-Network Medical Bills, SHRM Online, May 2019 Small and Midsize Employers Can Contract with Health Providers, SHRM Online, May 2019 Direct Contracting with Health Care Providers Can Lower Costs, SHRM Online, October 2018 Reference-Based Pricing: Another Self-Insured Option for Employers,SHRM Online, June 2018 Self-Insurance Is Just the Start, Say Health Plan Innovators, SHRM Online, May 2018 Page Content Ever since employer-friendly labor reform took effect in Brazil, unions have been struggling but fighting back. The labor reform, the largest modification to the Brazilian Labor Code since its enactment in 1943, took effect Nov. 11, 2017. Employers had lobbied for the modifications to help Brazil cope with an economic crisis going back to 2014. As expected, the new legislation led to union backlash. The labor reform eliminated mandatory union dues. This was a major change, as these dues had been the unions' main source of income since the 1940s. As a result, union earnings decreased by more than 85 percent. Under the previous law, companies had to annually withhold union dueswhich amounted to one workday's salaryfrom each worker's wages. While the total in union dues collected in 2017 came to 3.6 billion reals (approximately U.S. $908 million), that total shrank in 2018 to 500 million reals (approximately U.S. $126 million). This shortfall in finances forced unions to sell property and fire some of their workers. Three Approaches To avoid mergers or even extinction, unions are looking for creative options and have so far tried three approaches: Challenging the constitutionality of the law that eliminated mandatory union dues. Creating new types of dues. Trying to convince more workers to unionize. The first approach was frustrated in June 2018, when Brazil's Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision that the reform was constitutional. But the Supreme Court added that it would not analyze the constitutionality of union dues if an assembly of the unionized workers approved the dues. This point gave unions some hope, so they shifted to the second approach. Fueled by the Supreme Court's caveat, unions decided to create new union dues and get an assembly of the union-represented workers to approve them. To avoid the conditions of the labor reform, unions labeled these new dues with names like "negotiation contribution," "agency fee" or "social dues." According to union leaders, these new dues are voluntary if a union-represented assembly approves them. But employers and some employees argued that these assemblies did not truly represent all union members because union leaders failed to let all members know when and where the assemblies would meet or what their agendas were. Employers also accused union leaders of rigging elections and threatening employees who voted against the new dues. Courts have not made a final decision on these new union dues and are dealing with the issue piecemeal. [SHRM members-only toolkit: Introduction to the Global Human Resources Discipline] To try to circumvent these discussions in court, some unions have included in their collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) an opt-out system. Workers can refuse to pay union dues if they notify the unions within a given period after an assembly approves the dues. But the opt-out system can be burdensome. Employees must personally deliver handwritten opt-out notices to unions, and some union headquarters are not in the same neighborhood or town as the employees' workplaces. On March 1, newly elected President Jair Bolsonaro, who adopted a pro-business platform during his campaign, issued a decree prohibiting this opt-out system. This decree took effect immediately, but the Brazilian Congress must approve it within 120 days or it will sunset. Finally, unions are trying to engage with workers to increase union density. Besides organizing union campaigns using social media and big data, unions have also negotiated with companies a new type of CBA. These CBAs set forth that only employees who pay agency fees will be entitled to the benefits set out in these documents. In short, the current political climate doesn't seem to favor unions. Unless they can find a strategy to cope with their new funding challenges, some unions may merge or become extinct. Renata Neeser is an attorney with Littler in New York City. Lucas Camargo is an international attorney with Littler in New York City and an attorney with the Brazilian law firm Pinheiro Neto Advogados in Sao Paulo. By Sputnik May 16, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - Relations between the two allies, the US and the EU, particularly with Germany, have deteriorated since Washington withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, threatening the European firms there with sanctions and imposing higher import tariffs. Angela Merkels latest call to close ranks comes just ahead of Donald Trumps decision on new duties. In an interview with the German daily Zueddeutche Zeitung ahead of the European elections Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged Europe to unite and stand up to the US, Russia, and China. Amid the ongoing tussle with Washington over higher import tariffs and the US pulling out of the Iran deal, one of Europes most powerful politicians stated that the old certainties of the postwar order no longer apply expressing confidence that Europe needs to reposition itself in a changed world. She admitted that Europe appears weak since the US withdrew from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and pointed out that the euro is struggling to counter US sanctions because it is not the worlds leading currency. She, however, praised the fact that Europe is not divided on this issue like it was about the Iraq war. Merkel pointed out that Germany, France, and Britain have a different approach than the US and admitted that it shares common interests with Russia and China. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter However, speaking about China, Russia and the US, she also put Europe in opposition to them and said that they are forcing Europeans to find common positions, time and again, as cited by Newsweek. That is often difficult given our different interests. But we do get this donethink, for example, of our policy regarding the conflict in Ukraine, Merkel noted, also bringing up a common strategy on Africa, as an example. At the same time, she concluded that Europes political power doesn't yet match its economic capabilities. According to her, Europeans are moving forward gradually. "We must have a realistic assessment of our capabilities and must strengthen them for the future. As far as defence cooperation is concerned, we are making good progress, she added. Relations between the US and the EU have been strained since last year following several decisions by the current American administration. The US withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal, which implied lifting anti-Tehran sanctions in exchange for Iran maintaining the peaceful nature of its nuclear programme. Washington also re-imposed all sanctions and imposed new ones, with a stated goal of bringing down Iran's oil exports to zero despite opposition in Europe, which is now seeking a way to minimise the negative consequences for its business and security in the region. Additionally, last year Donald Trump introduced higher steel and aluminium import duties which evolved into a tariff rift with Europe. The EU then subsequently slapped the US with counter-tariffs on its goods. Trump has for some time been mulling over the idea of using national security concerns as a justification to implement auto tariffs as high as 25%. The White House faces an 18th of May deadline to decide whether to slap duties on car and auto part imports. However, according to a source briefed on the talks, an administration official and two foreign officials cited by CNBC, the decision to impose auto tariffs could be delayed by up to six months as the administration risks sparking fresh global trade clashes amid the escalating conflict over trade with China. Page Content United Kingdom (U.K.) employers can prevent former employees from working for competitors for limited periods, so long as the former workers were high-ranking and the clauses restricting work aren't too broad. But all too often in the pressure-cooker environment of talent acquisition, employers don't spend enough time reviewing the restrictions, which then wind up unenforceable. At the start of the employment relationship, an employer should decide what, if any, post-termination restrictions it will need if the individual begins working elsewhere. Pending Supreme Court Case The U.K. Supreme Court recently considered the wording of post-termination restrictive covenants in employment contracts in the case of Tillman v. Egon Zehnder. In this case, the employee left a recruitment firm to work for a competitor. The recruitment firm initially persuaded a court to bar the employee from working for the rival, but the U.K. Court of Appeal reversed. The restrictive covenant barred the employee from "directly or indirectly engag[ing] or be[ing] concerned or interested in any business carried on in competition with any of the businesses of the company." The court decided that the phrase "interested in" was too broad, because the contract elsewhere allowed the employee to hold a small percent of interest in any other business. While the U.K. Supreme Court's upcoming decision in this case is likely to turn on the use of the phrase "interested in," a clause that was possibly included by mistake, it may provide guidance on the wording of these clauses and on when courts can sever overly broad wording so that the rest of the agreement survives. Avoid Formulaic Approach Clearly, employers must take care when drafting restrictive covenant clauses. It's unlikely they'll be enforceable if an employer uses the same restrictions for every employee despite their differing grades, knowledge and experience. The general legal rule in the U.K. is that everyone should be free to pursue a career unhindered, unless hindering the career is necessary to protect the employer's business interests. For instance, it would be unreasonable to restrict a junior employee with little client contact or influence, and no special knowledge of the business, from working for any competitor for 12 months. But a court is much more likely to enforce a clause that temporarily restricts a director of sales or chief engineer from working for a new employer that provides the same service or type of product. A list of named competitors for whom the employee should not work would be even better, as it narrows the scope of the restriction. The narrower the restriction, the more likely a court will enforce it. [SHRM members-only toolkit: Introduction to the Global Human Resources Discipline] Clock Runs, Even During Litigation Employers typically take disputes over restrictions straight to the U.K. courts. Cases then often go on to the U.K. Court of Appeal. Even during litigation, the clock continues to run on the restriction's time frame. Hence, these cases move quickly and tend to involve many lawyers, with legal costs running into hundreds of thousands of U.S. dollars, and that's before any damages. Narrowly tailored restrictive covenants drafted when an employee starts work can save large sums when the employee leaves to work for a competitor. Simon McMenemy is an attorney with Ogletree Deakins in London. CITY HALL -- Nearly five years after the death of Eric Garner, whose last cries on Bay Street of I cant breath sparked nationwide protests against police brutality, a disciplinary trial for the Island officer accused of putting Garner in a banned chokehold before he later died began this week. The long awaited trial is expected to span 10 days and is being prosecuted by the Civilian Complaint Review Board, a police watchdog agency, before NYPDs Deputy Commissioner of Trials Rosemarie Maldonado at One Police Plaza. The CCRB will have to not only prove Pantaleo violated department rules for allegedly using a banned chokehold, but also show that his actions fit the criteria for criminal charges of assault and strangulation. He could face penalties ranging from the loss of vacation days to firing if he is found to have violated department rules. Police Commissioner James Oneill will have the final say in determining how Pantaleo should be punished. Pantaleo has denied wrongdoing. Asked ahead of Pantaleos trial whether he would fire Pantaleo if the administrative judge ruled against him, Police Commissioner James ONeill declined to say whether he would agree to fire the officer or whether the officers would face disciplinary proceedings. The last four days of the trial have painted a detailed picture of how the fatal July 17, 2014 event unfolded and has brought in witnesses including acquaintances of Garner who saw and captured his encounter with Pantaleo, as well as the other officers who were at the scene that day. Eric Garner's mother, Gwen Carr enters 1 Police Plaza before Officer Daniel Pantaleo's trial begins on May 13, 2019 in New York City(Photo by Yana Paskova/Getty Images)Getty Images DAY 1: OFFICERS WHO LED NYPD INTERNAL INVESTIGATION SAY THEY MADE REQUEST FOR INTERNAL DISCIPLINARY CHARGES AGAINST PANTALEO IN 2015 Pantaleos attorney, Stuart London, opened his defense on the first day of the trial Monday by arguing his client used an approved technique known as the seat-belt-hold to restrain Garner and that the officer was being used as a scapegoat in a politically charged atmosphere. Dozens of Garner supporters braved the pouring rain that day and waited for several hours outside of One Police Plaza for a chance get into the courtroom only to be turned away by NYPD security because the trial room was overcapacity. Two officers testified that day that an internal investigation they helped lead found Pantaleo likely violated department rules regarding a chokehold and a request was made in January 2015 for internal disciplinary charges against him. That day, Ramsey Orta, a friend of Garners who shot the viral video of the confrontation, also conceded during cross-examination that Pantaleos arm wasnt around Garners neck when when he cried I cant breathe. A still from a YouTube video shows Eric Garner being taken to the ground by Police Officer Daniel Pantaleo. DAY 2: NYPDS TOP RECRUIT TRAINER SAYS PANTALEO USED CHOKEHOLD ON GARNER On Tuesday, the head of the NYPDs recruit training section said Pantaleo used a banned chokehold during his fatal encounter with Garner. Inspector Richard Dees take on the viral video contradicted Londons, claim that the officer used an approved seat belt hold to restrain Garner. He said in 2014 officers were banned from using chokeholds and that Pantaleo never received training in the seatbelt maneuver when he attended the police academy. Dee said the seatbelt maneuver was not introduced to new recruits until 2011, after Pantaleo had already left the academy. DAY 3: CITY MEDICAL EXAMINER SAYS PANTALEO USED CHOKEHOLD TRIGGERING LETHAL CASCADE OF EVENTS THAT LED TO GARNERS DEATH A city medical examiner who conducted the autopsy on Eric Garner after his death said Wednesday she also believed Pantaleo used a chokehold on Garner triggering the lethal cascade of events that led to his death. Dr. Floriana Persechino said although Garner did not die of a chokehold in and of itself, the move triggered him to have an asthma attack which prevented him from breathing. During the autopsy, Persechino said she found hemorrhaging in his eyes, under the surface of his neck and deep within his muscle tissue. She said the hemorrhaging was caused by the chokehold. A still taken from video shows police wrestling Eric Garner to the ground. DAY 4: 120 SUPERVISING OFFICER SAID IT WAS NOT A BIG DEAL WHEN HE LEARNED GARNER MAY HAVE BEEN DEAD Text messages shown in court Thursday revealed that the Island lieutenant who called officers to the scene before Eric Garners fatal encounter with Pantaleo told his deputy it was not a big deal when he learned Garner may have been dead on arrival. Bannon headed the special operations team at the 120 precinct at the time of Garners death. When he was told by Sgt. Dhanan Saminath in a text message that Garner was most likely [dead on arrival]...he has no pulse, Bannon replied from a meeting: Not a big deal, we were effecting a lawful arrest. As Brannons text messages were being read many members of the audience started to gasp and cry in protest. Bannon said he only sent that reply to try to console the officers at the scene. He said the text was not intended to be malicious, but that he wanted to put their mind at a little bit at ease. @NYCMayor de Blasio has failed and he has failed New Yorkers Garner supporters say of his administrations failure to bring disciplinary charges against other officers involved pic.twitter.com/m7WQxxVmih Sydney Kashiwagi (@SydneyKashiwagi) May 14, 2019 GARNER FAMILY, SUPPORTERS SLAM MAYOR FOR NOT TAKING ACTION SOONER Over the course of the last several days of the hearing, Garners family and supporters have blamed Mayor Bill de Blasio for not stepping in to push the NYPD to conduct a disciplinary trial for Pantaleo sooner. They also doubled down on their call for the other officers who were at the scene on the day Garner died to face disciplinary proceedings too. Mayor de blasio has been blocking this case for five years, for five years everytime I turn around Im running into a brick wall with you Mayor de Blasio, Carr said, adding that she tried to get Pantaleos disciplinary records and that a judge said yes but the de Blasio administration said no. Stop playing games with us, this is our life Carr said to in a message to the mayor. After a Staten Island grand jury declined to indict Pantaleo on criminal charges, the U.S. Department of Justice moved forward with a civil rights investigation into the incident. Because of that investigation, the NYPD chose to delay its own internal disciplinary proceedings against the officers involved to not influence the DOJ investigation. But over the summer, several years after Garners death, the NYPD changed course and said it would proceed with departmental charges against Pantaleo that could result in his termination. Both Mayor Bill de Blasio and the Garner family say they have yet to hear from the DOJ about the status of its investigation. The Garner family and advocates have been calling for other officers involved in Garners death to also face disciplinary proceedings. Medical examiners ruled Garners death a homicide in 2014. The trial will resume Tuesday. Protestors yell at Pat Lynch and Pantaleo Attorney Stu London as the come out to address the press after the 4th day of Pantaleos disciplinary trial pic.twitter.com/KKv52qpA87 Sydney Kashiwagi (@SydneyKashiwagi) May 16, 2019 Associated Press material was used in this report. FOLLOW SYDNEY KASHIWAGI ON TWITTER. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. The district attorney said the community scored a victory last summer with the arrests of Derek Williams and eight other alleged drug dealers in a major sting around Tompkinsville Park. And, the final tally for Williams, 55, wasnt good: Six years behind bars. Williams was sentenced earlier this week, under a plea agreement, to a half-dozen years in prison, along with 18 months post-release supervision. The arrests of Williams and his co-defendants in August of last year marked the culmination of a five-month probe dubbed Operation Victory. Officials alleged those arrested sold heroin, fentanyl and cocaine to undercover cops working a probe that spanned from Tompkinsville to Tottenville. District Attorney Michael E. McMahon hailed the busts as a victory for the entire community. Authorities said narcotics the alleged dealers sold led to at least 10 non-fatal overdoses. Fifty victims of addiction who were taken into custody in and around the park were referred to the Heroin Overdose Prevention and Education (HOPE) program for help. Law enforcement officials cracked down on the area near Bay Street and Victory Boulevard after community complaints about the drug activity plaguing the park. Authorities said Williams and a co-defendant, Tracy Fair, 46, sold heroin and fentanyl to an undercover cop on several occasions between June and August of 2018. In February, Williams and Fair each pleaded guilty in state Supreme Court, St. George, to one count of third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance. Fair was sentenced in March to three years in prison, plus post-release supervision. Another defendant, Tanya Barcomb, 35, of Tompkinsville, admitted in court in February to selling heroin to undercover officers on two occasions last July in Tompkinsville and St. George. Barcomb pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance to resolve her case. She will be sentenced in state Supreme Court, St. George, on June 27 to consecutive one-year jail terms. Assistant District Attorney Timothy Pezzoli is prosecuting the cases. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A drug dealer who peddled heroin laced with fentanyl which caused a Staten Island mans fatal overdose 17 months ago has been convicted of narcotics conspiracy, authorities said. Paul Van Manen sold the victim the illicit drugs in December 2017 despite knowing they had caused a non-fatal overdose two months earlier, said Geoffrey S. Berman, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. Van Manen, 51, continued pushing heroin even after the deadly overdose, Berman said. Authorities said Van Manen is from both Staten Island and South Amboy, N.J. Public records reflect various addresses for him around the borough over the years. In January 2018, Van Manen was among 11 members of an alleged drug-trafficking ring indicted in Manhattan federal court on narcotics conspiracy charges. The other defendants were Staten Island residents. The Staten Island district attorneys office, the NYPD and the New York Drug Enforcement Administrations Strike Force aided in the probe that led to the defendants arrests, said Berman. At that time, District Attorney Michael E. McMahon said the indictments were a direct result of his offices mission to investigate every overdose through its Overdose Response Initiative. For several years prior to their arrests, the defendants peddled large quantities of heroin, including heroin laced with fentanyl, on Staten Island and in Brooklyn, Manhattan and New Jersey, said Manhattan federal prosecutors. They purchased the narcotics from a supplier in Brooklyn, which were then stored and packaged in stash houses on Staten Island or in Brooklyn, and resold, authorities said. Berman said Van Manen sold heroin and heroin laced with fentanyl to customers on Staten Island and in New Jersey dating to 2013. On Oct. 4, 2017, Van Manen drove a co-conspirator, who authorities previously identified as Shaun Sullivan, to Brooklyn where they obtained heroin from the rings primary supplier, Medin Kosic of West Brighton, officials said. Sullivan overdosed the next morning after using some of the drugs, which were found to contain fentanyl, said authorities. He was revived with Narcan, the anti-overdose spray, authorities allege. Kosic asked Van Manen if it was surprising Sullivan overdosed. He replied, Not surprising, no, said an indictment. Apparently undaunted, Van Manen continued selling the drugs. On Dec. 1, 2017, one of his buyers, a 26-year-old Staten Island man, purchased heroin which had been laced with fentanyl and suffered a fatal overdose, said authorities. Jurors on Thursday convicted Van Manen of conspiring to distribute more than a kilogram of heroin. A kilogram is 2.2 pounds. The panel further determined the conspiracy involved fentanyl, as well as the deadly and non-fatal overdoses. The defendant faces up to life in prison when sentenced. The mandatory minimum term is 20 years behind bars. A sentencing date has not been set. Kenneth Charlton, a co-defendant who was tried with Van Manen, was acquitted, said Berman. As proven at trial, Paul Van Manen peddled poison to the community of Staten Island and its vicinity, causing one of his many victims to die from a tragic overdose, despite knowing of a non-fatal overdose just two months earlier from the groups drugs, Berman said in a statement. Besides Van Manen, 10 other defendants have been convicted in connection with the conspiracy, Berman said. They include Kosic, who was sentenced in March to 14 years in prison; Mirsad Bogdanovic, who received a sentence of 160 months; Michael Nunez, who was hit with a 150-month term, and Alexander Bucci, who got 50 months, authorities said. Van Manens lawyer did not immediately respond Friday to an email seeking comment. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Muslims, Jews, Christians and people of many other faiths have formed an oasis of harmony in Tompkinsville in a world where intolerance sometimes seems as prevalent as grains of sand in a desert. Imams, rabbis, priests and other clergy, politicians, police brass and plenty of ordinary folks broke bread at tables and praised each other from the podium at the annual Iftar Dinner at the Albanian Islamic Cultural Center on Thursday evening. Over 250 people attended the event. Assemblyman Charles Fall (D-North Shore), the first Muslim and the first African-American to serve as a Staten Island representative in Albany, participated in the prayer service with others of his faith; then they sat down to break their fast that began at dawn and ended after sunset with the evening meal. PURPOSE OF THE FASTING Iman Tahir Kukaj said that the purpose of fasting is to unite Muslims in faith, mission and goals that include making them pious, tenderhearted and dedicated to doing good for the world. Its not about how much time you can make it without eating or drinking, the imam said. Its about how much you will prepare yourself to be a person that people will benefit from you. Imam Kukaj is slated to become a Muslim chaplain with the NYPD in June. Many of the speakers stressed the importance of unifying Staten Island through events such as the dinner amid acts of horrific violence, hatred and prejudice against religions throughout the world. TIME OF REFLECTION I know that Ramadan is a time of reflection, self-discipline and acts of kindness and forgiveness and its also a time for all of us to reaffirm our promise to uphold the ideals of tolerance and acceptance which have been hallmarks of our city," said Assistant Chief Kenneth Corey, the NYPD borough commander. "As I look around the room tonight, I see more than tolerance, I see community, I see Muslims, Christians, Jews, people of other faiths and people probably of no faith at all and were all sitting together preparing to share a meal. This is how it should be. This is how we keep each other safe, he added. Councilwoman Debi Rose (D-North Shore) said that many of her constitutes are rent-burdened, paying more than 30 percent of their income for rent and live in food deserts which means that people dont have access to healthy food choices. I represent a district that is the most diverse" on Staten Island, she said, adding that it truly represents what New York City is about. Rose was at the Albanian Center when a multicultural community gathered to show support after the mosque attack in Australia. We vowed then that we would stay together, we would pray together and that we would move together to make sure that we were all of one accord, Rose said. In presenting a proclamation to the Albanian Center and its leaders, Fall said, They do so much for our community, they unite our community and I think its only right that we recognize all the good things that they do. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The NYPD has apprehended a 41-year-old man in connection with a bank robbery in Stapleton. Edward Trifeletti was taken into custody at about 2:30 p.m. Thursday in the North Shores 120th Precinct, according to a spokeswoman for the NYPDs Deputy Commissioner of Public Information. Police said his last known address was on Central Avenue in St. George. Officers responded to Northfield Bank at 385 Bay St. after a man passed a note to a teller before fleeing northbound on Bay Street with $2,000 around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to police. Another bank robbery occurred only minutes earlier at about 12:15 p.m. after a man entered a Santander branch at 1850 Victory Blvd. in Castleton Corners and passed a note to a teller demanding cash, according to police. The individual fled on foot along Victory Boulevard in the direction of Jewett Avenue with $600, police said. Police are investigating whether the two bank robberies, which occurred less than three miles apart, are related. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. A West Brighton repeat felon is going away for a while, and its not because of an apparent death threat he allegedly posted on Facebook against another man. Edward Medina, 37, has been sentenced to six years in prison and 18 months post-release supervision for selling illegal drugs two years ago. An indictment accused the defendant of various drug crimes, to include selling heroin to an undercover cop on two occasions in June 2017. To resolve the case, Medina ultimately pleaded guilty in state Supreme Court, St. George, to third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance. He was sentenced on Thursday. While awaiting sentencing, Medina was accused of threatening another man on Facebook. Medina, who court papers allege is a self-admitted member of the Latin Kings street gang, posted a photo of a Port Richmond man on social media on March 1 with a violent call to action. This is a rat that claims to be a king," the post read, according to a criminal complaint. In the post, Medina allegedly claims the subject set him up. Im facing 15 years because of this face, the post allegedly reads. "All kings, its on sight...T.O.S. The acronym T.O.S., in the context of the Latin Kings, means terminate on sight. Medina was charged with a misdemeanor count of aggravated harassment and a lesser count of harassment. His case is pending in Criminal Court, where he is next scheduled to appear on May 30. Thomas Reilly, his lawyer, could not immediately be reached for comment. The defendant has served two prior prison stints, records show. In 2006, he was sentenced to 18 months to three years behind bars on a grand larceny conviction in Manhattan, according to online records of the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. Following, in 2008, he was sentenced in an unrelated case to up to eight years behind bars for a first-degree robbery conviction on Staten Island. UPDATE -- Man apprehended by police just over an hour after police respond. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A report of shots fired Friday afternoon prompted a large emergency response in Port Richmond. Police officers responded to the intersection of Nicholas Avenue and Richmond Terrace at around 3:10 p.m., according to an NYPD spokesman A window in the basement of 2298 Richmond Terr. appeared to be hit by a bullet, and officers could be seen inside the house searching for evidence. An NYPD spokesman confirmed that the incident caused property damage, but said there was no report of any injuries. A resident of Nicholas Avenue who asked that he only be identified as William, said he heard four or five gunshots. They sounded like pops, he said. While conducting an investigation, police cordoned off a portion of Richmond Terrace. According to emergency radio transmissions, police are searching for a white vehicle and a gray vehicle in connection with the incident. The investigation remains ongoing, an NYPD spokesman said. Five days after a high-school student jumped to his death from a flyover, another teenager was reported to have committed suicide by drinking pesticide and recording the incident in a video. Recent incidents of teenage suicides have sparked huge discussions among Chinese netizens, who are asking why these incidents happened and how to prevent this kind of tragedy from happening again, or at least, reduce them. What happened? Footage from surveillance video posted by China News Service has gone viral on Chinese social media from April 18, showing a white car suddenly stopping in busy traffic on a flyover. After a few seconds, a teenage boy rushes out of the car to the edge of the flyover. A woman gets out of the vehicle and chases after him. Seemingly without any hesitation, the boy jumps off the high flyover. Everything happened so quickly that the woman was unable to grab hold of the boy, despite being just one step behind him. The video shows the woman collapsing and repeatedly beating the ground with her hands. According to a report by Red Star News, a news platform based in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, the 17-year-old teenager was a Grade Two student at a vocational training school and the woman was his mother. Before jumping from the flyover, the boy had been criticized by his mother for quarreling with other students at school. Only five days later, another suicide was reported by Cover News. A Grade Three student at a middle school in Suining, Sichuan Province, drank a bottle of pesticide and shot an eight-minute video before drinking the chemical. In the video, he tears out his Chinese textbook page by page and drops them in a pot to burn them. At the same time, he keeps saying to himself, "Some people should not live in the world. I may be one of them," and "Why do people say teachers are like parents and treat students like their own children? Is he (she) worthy of being called a 'teacher?'" After burning the textbook pages, he drinks the pesticide and then sends a message to his class's online chat group: "Look, I'm dying. It's all Yang Xiaorong's fault." According to the boy's mother, surnamed Wang, Yang Xiaorong was the boy's teacher. She had called Wang that day, saying that her son had fought at school and failed his Chinese examination with a score of "only 80 points." Wang phoned the boy to ask whether he had fought at school and if he had failed his examination. The boy then flew into a rage and said the teacher had wronged him again. "I got 90 points! Why did she tell you I didn't pass? Why didn't she say I got first place in my history test?" the boy shouted to his mother. His father later told him off for getting angry at his mother. Wang and her husband believe that the school and the teacher should be held responsible for their son's death, but the local education bureau confirmed that this suicide had nothing to do with the school and teacher after an investigation was carried out. Divided opinion Opinion on social media is divided on the issue. Some of them criticized the two boys, saying their minds were too weak, and collapsed in the face of a little difficulty. They were gone but their parents and families will live with a lot of pain for the rest of their lives. "They had been spoiled so they could not endure any pain or difficulty. They chose a road to ruin themselves so they could avoid problems forever," one netizen commented. However, other netizens and some experts strongly disagreed, believing that these tragedies should be blamed on parents and teachers who use incorrect education methods and do not pay close attention to teenagers' feelings. One of the netizens had a similar experience and drank pesticide, but fortunately, was found quickly and survived. The netizen chose to attempt suicide because of a conflict with parents and stressful education methods. "After reading the news, I can understand them," the netizen said. A father of a middle school student surnamed Fang, living in Beijing, told the Global Times on Wednesday that in his opinion, parents use methods that are too impatient and radical to communicate with these teenagers. "They are at a special age, so parents should adopt smart methods to help them establish a variety of social and world connections. Let them understand how colorful life is through diverse activities such as reading and travelling," Fang said as advice to parents who have adolescent children. Xiong Bingqi, deputy director of the Shanghai-based 21st Century Education Research Institute, told the Global Times that education about life at school and at home is very important for children's growth. "Life education given at school and at home should not only teach theories to students, but should be close to their daily lives," Xiong said, "On the topic of suicide, parents and teachers can tell stories about cherishing life to children when taking them to travel or watching TV together, so as to subconsciously influence them." May 16, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - The schism between the United States and Europe over Iran bears the hallmarks of their friction over Iraq prior to the 2003 US-led invasion. Their current dispute is mainly over means not ends, but could have major implications for transatlantic relations and the Middle East. Both the US and the EU would like to see the Ayatollahs' Iran contained and constrained, preferably under new leadership - just as they wanted to see Saddam Hussein's Iraq before 2003 - but as in the past, they disagree on how to go about it. To put it simply, it is a dispute over "carrots or sticks" - or whether to bring Iran to its senses or bring it to its knees. The Europeans want to compel the Islamic Republic to change its behaviour using trade and investments in accordance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), while the US wants to coerce it into a much more debilitating deal through tough sanctions and the threat of force. But to paraphrase Mohamed ElBaradei, the former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran is no "donkey" to be managed with carrots and sticks. It is a defiant regional power that demands a US u-turn on sanctions, an apology, and respect. As the crisis deepens, the disagreements between the US and Europe are also worsening in tone and substance. Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get our FREE Daily Newsletter Europe, 'the hypocrite' The Trump administration does not see eye-to-eye with the EU on several issues. First, it argues that the JCPOA was a terrible deal negotiated in haste to serve as President Barack Obama's foreign policy legacy, rather than to ensure nuclear-free Iran. The deal allowed the Islamic Republic to expand its regional reach and subsidised Iranian "support for terrorism" and the destabilisation of Washington's Arab allies - so the argument goes. Second, the Trump administration believes that even though the deal is the culmination of multilateral diplomacy, multilateralism is no substitute for "doing the right thing". It has demonstrated it values international agreements and institutions only when these serve its policies and interests. The Trump administration, therefore, insists that any country that trades with Iran must pay the price for aiding and abetting an "evil" "state sponsor of terror". It has gone as far as comparing a diplomatic approach to Iran to the appeasement of Nazi Germany. Third, Washington considers the Europeans hypocrites or ungrateful "free-riders", who criticise US power, while benefiting from US military protection. It sees European caution as weakness: America acts because it can, Europe rails because it can't. In other words, Europe prefers carrots only because it lacks the big sticks. From the viewpoint of the Trump administration, if the Europeans are serious about having a say, they need to put their money where their mouth is, i.e. increase their military spending to at least meet their NATO commitments. If the EU expects the US to act when crises blow up in Asia, the Middle East or even in its own front and back yards, (say, in Kosovo or Libya), it is up to Washington to decide the when and the how, and it is up to Brussels to keep up or shut up. America, 'the bully' Europe obviously has a rather different perspective on these issues. First, the Europeans believe that the Iran nuclear deal, while not perfect, fulfilled its mandate. It ensured Iran would not become a "nuclear state" and encouraged a change in behaviour. They argue that whatever Washington believes is missing, such as provisions on Iran's missile programme and its controversial regional policies, can be negotiated separately. Why throw away a deal that the IAEA certifies has been working, when it could be strengthened and supplemented with additional protocols or agreements? Now that the US insists on going at it alone, it will have less leverage to pressure Tehran to come back to the table without the help of its European allies. Second, the EU sees the JCPOA as a successful multilateral effort that could set a precedent for reaching non-proliferation and other agreements in the future. By walking away from the deal and punishing those who honour it, the Trump administration is alienating its allies and setting a different kind of precedent: one that encourages other powers to act unilaterally and withdraw from important international accords, which could have damaging implications for world peace and security. The Europeans want to see the US lead by the power of its example, not by an example of its power. They would like to see it honour its commitments, not for Iran's sake, but rather for the sake of maintaining and strengthening an international rules-based system, the Western substitute of the more neutral "international law". Third, the Europeans, who admit to and even boast of learning from the horrors of at least two centuries of war, are troubled by a US refusal to learn from its own bitter experiences. Since World War II, the US has embarked on major wars in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq, none of which have ended well, let alone in victory. And still, the US continues to act like a "hyper-power", insisting on being the world's self-appointed sheriff. Brussels hopes President Donald Trump is pursuing a new deal not a new war, but his senior administration officials may be itching to teach Iran a lesson by forcing it to make an impossible choice between total surrender and total defeat. The Trump administration's reliance on the coercive power of its military and economic dominance and its use of the same prisms and pretexts as the Bush administration in 2003 could push the crisis down a slippery slope towards confrontation - one that promises to be far more costly than the Iraq war. And it may have already started. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's warning on Iran following the recent alleged attacks on two Saudi tankers has further irked Europe and left transatlantic relations severely strained. There are already reports that Washington is blaming Iran for the attacks and is considering the possibility of deploying 120,000 soldiers to the Gulf. Parallels are already being drawn with the Gulf of Tonkin crisis, when in 1964 the US government manufactured a military incident to deceive Congress and the public and justify its direct involvement in the Vietnam war. Two sides of the same West The bickering over Iran is only the latest of a series of crises and tensions that have been building up between the two sides of the Atlantic since the end of the Cold War. The EU and the US still have a lot in common, certainly more than they do with Russia or China, but they have been at odds over a growing number of issues, including the Middle East, Russian resurgence, weapons proliferation and climate change. As Europe asserts its global role mainly through its soft power and the US backs out of its global responsibilities while doubling down on its hard power, the gulf in transatlantic relations will only grow. While an exacerbated Iran crisis would damage but not break off US-EU relations, it could detonate the Middle East, if no one intervenes to stop the escalation. Unfortunately, both China and Russia - the other two signatories of the JCPOA - have so far tried to "pass the buck" hoping the other would stand up to the US over its economic sanctions and military deployment to the Gulf. This has left the EU trying on its own to salvage its huge investment in the deal with Iran. But assuming that Brussels could summon the will to act, it still lacks the means. It suffers from far too many internal divisions, disputes and crises to be able to stand up to the US. Even the French-German axis which held and advanced the cause of a united Europe for decades looks shakier than ever. So far the EU has failed to stop the US from launching a diplomatic offensive, a deception campaign, a public relations assault, an economic and psychological war on Iran. And, alas, there is no indication it can stop the Trump administration from taking its anti-Iran campaign to the next level. This may be another case of US cooking up dinner and leaving Europe to wash the dishes. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The prompt response of five librarians -- all from Staten Island -- helped find a man who got lost in Manhattan, possibly saving the mans life. Olisha James was attending a conference in Manhattan with four other fellow librarians when a notification on her phone caught her attention, according to NBC New York. I announced to the ladies that there was a Citizen Alert, said James. The alert, sent through the Citizen App -- an application that informs citizens about what is going on in their area -- described that an elderly man went missing. "[The alert] gave a description of what he was wearing, approximately how old he was, the fact that he doesnt speak English, the fact that he had dementia, said Katelynne Lawson, a childrens librarian. The five women joined forces and walked out of the conference near Herald Square searching for the man. Soon, the five women noticed a man who seemed lost and was walking back and forth, according to Cherryl Bailey. Bailey then decided to approach him asking if he needed help, but the man only spoke French. The librarian pulled out her phone and translated several phrases so that she could interact with the man. "At some point he walked into the middle of the street into oncoming traffic so Kaitlyn and I had to gently pull him back, said Krystina Humbert. The five women were then able to get in contact with police who eventually called for medical help. "Open your eyes, take a look around you, you might be able to help someone, Humbert added. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.-- Weeks after a Staten Island woman was charged in a violent hit-and-run in Brooklyn, she died of what a grieving friends describe as a brain condition that caused Alzheimers-like behavior before and after the incident. If you watch, when shes getting taken from her house to a cop car, her face is blank, said Kimberly Perricone, a friend of more than 30 years who said she was in contact with Julie Litmanovich by phone before and after the incident. You can see in her eyes. Like theres no one there. Police said Litmanovich, 49, of Oakwood, was driving at a high speed March 27 in Borough Park, when she hit a 14-year-old girl, sending the teen flying through the intersection. She got out of the car, briefly talked to the girl, then re-entered her car without providing identification or calling 911. Brooklyn prosecutors and the Brooklyn state Supreme Court are aware of the defendants death last week, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation. Litmanovichs attorney declined to comment on the case, or her clients death. At the time of the incident, Litmanovich was a social worker who practiced behavior analysis autism therapy. She lived with her 7-year-old son and boyfriend, without any other immediate family members in the area. She also was a recovering drug addict of more than a decade, with a troubled past in which she was arrested more than 30 times -- most of which were misdemeanors -- including three convictions for driving while intoxicated, according to multiple reports. Bizarre behavior In the weeks before and after the hit-and-run, friends said Litmanovich was acting strangely, in a way that Perricone said reminded her of her grandmothers Alzheimers disease. She was saying she saw me at the supermarket, saying, how did I not say hello to her," said Perricone, who was speaking to her over the phone from her home in Texas. At first, I thought it was drugs, but then other things she was saying sounded clear as day." Following her arrest, Litmanovich posted the $3,000 bond for her release, at which point her health worsened and she made multiple trips to and from the hospital before being diagnosed with a brain condition. Friends say they believe Litmanovich was confused at the time of the incident, due to her condition. Sources said that as officers escorted Litmanovich to Central Booking following her arrest, she asked What is the big deal?" A Staten Island woman was hospitalized amid bizarre behavior surrounding a hit-and-run in Brooklyn, then died last week from what friends described as a brain condition. (Facebook) The victim The criminal case against Litmanovich is dismissed, but the victim could theoretically pursue civil action with the defendants estate, sources said. Video of the incident shows the teenage girl sent flying through the Brooklyn intersection. In an interview with the Daily News, the victim told reporters: At first I thought, oh my God, did I do something wrong? Did I cross at the wrong time? I was so shocked. But then I realized shes the one who did something wrong," Success story with a sad ending Friends said Litmanovich was a child when she immigrated with her mother to New York City, then lost her mother when she was 17 years old. She had nobody," said Perricone. The Catholic Church helped her bury her mother. Two decades of drug abuse that followed resulted in multiple arrests, though friends say she was a functioning addict who always held down a waitressing job in diners throughout Brooklyn. The drugs started when her mother died in 87 or so, said Perricone. It was a long struggle. Then, after more than a decade of sobriety, college degree and steady job, things apparently went haywire. Its a shame because, before anyone jumps the gun on what happened, no one considered 'gee, maybe this person had a medical issue, said another longtime friend, who said she was with Litmanovich the day she died, but declined to give her name. To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account. We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription. A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much! Smearing Syria's Victory By Finian Cunningham May 16, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - The campaign is on for Syrian national forces to retake the last-remaining redoubt of militants in northwest Idlib. That might explain why the New York Times was prompted to publish a 5,000-word article based on flimsy anti-Syrian propaganda. It is the Damascus government's sovereign right to recover all of its national territory, yet Western media are again trying to spin another "Aleppo-style" onslaught to discredit the Syrian army from its ultimate task. This week Russia blocked a discussion at the UN Security Council on the grounds that Western powers were traducing the Idlib military operations as a criminal violation against innocent-sounding "rebels". Most of the militants holding out in Idlib province are foreign-backed mercenaries affiliated with internationally proscribed jihadist terror groups, such as Nusra Front or ISIS (Daesh in Arabic). At this critical juncture along comes a suspicious New York Times' article published on May 11, headlined: Inside Syria's Secret Torture Prisons: How Assad Crushed Dissent'. To be sure, the article is a re-run of a tired old story dating from 2014 when several Western media outlets had back then published sensational claims alleging a barbaric prison, torture and execution system overseen by President Bashar al-Assad. Strangely, the NY Times seems to be only Western media outlet still pushing the story with its recent update, while other outlets have left it behind. The anomaly could be because the original "torture story" has since been convincingly debunked by several independent researchers. The main source for Western media claims was a mysterious, alleged Syrian military police defector nicknamed "Caesar". He was supposed to be a photographer working for Syrian military police who smuggled out tens of thousands images purporting to show how detainees were tortured, starved and beaten to death, among other horrors. Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get our FREE Daily Newsletter The trouble is that "Caesar's" identify has never been verified, even though he has appeared incognito in front of the US Congress to testify against the Syrian government. It has also been demonstrated that many of the photos he allegedly smuggled out of Syria are either fake, or actually illustrate the opposite of what he and Western media were claiming: namely, that at least half of the victims were members of the Syrian state security forces or victims of war. Researchers like Rick Sterling, Tim Hayward, Adam Larson and Tim Anderson, have concluded that the so-called "Caesar photos" are unreliable, if not, more sinisterly, a compilation of Western/Qatari intelligence agitprop. The NY Times, however, persists in referencing the Caesar images as bona fide to form the basis for its latest article. It also cites supposed testimony from former detainees who had allegedly been held in Syrian government-run jails, primarily Saydnaya prison near Damascus. The Times also published what it claims are internal government memos acknowledging repressive practices. How do we know the memos are not forgeries? Again, the trouble is that the so-called evidence is unverifiable and based on uncorroborated claims made by political opponents of the Assad government. Paul Larudee, who chairs the Syria Solidarity Movement based in California, says that the NY Times' article is aimed at smearing the Syrian government and justifying further aggression against the Arab country. He said: "The Caesar photos and Saydnaya prison information is old news that has previously been shown to be at minimum not credible and at worst totally false. Much of the cited evidence is based on flimsy, politically biased and uncorroborated testimony." Larudee goes further to contend that the aim is to justify more US military intervention in Syria or at least reversing President Trump's declared policy to withdraw the 2,000 American troops from Syria. "The New York Times' piece is clearly timed to build public support for further US military intervention in Syria, as the Syrian Arab Army begins its slow recovery of the remaining territory that is legally Syria's but is still under the control of foreign and foreign-paid mercenary forces." That strategic US military agenda may be plausible. In any case, there appears to be other political motives behind the Times' attempt at smearing. The paper editorializes: "As Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad, closes in on victory over an eight-year revolt [sic], a secret industrial-scale system of arbitrary arrest and torture prisons have proven pivotal to his success. While the Syrian military, backed by Russia and Iran, fought armed rebels for territory, the government waged a ruthless war on civilians, throwing hundreds of thousands into filthy dungeons where thousands were tortured and killed." Note how the Times is attributing the Syrian state's victory to the use of torture and repression, rather than to the courage and tenacity of the Syrian Arab Army to roll back a foreign-backed mercenary army. That amounts to a cheap shot at smearing the victors, including allies Russia and Iran. Another swipe from the Times: "Now, even as the war winds down, the world's attention fades and countries start to normalize relations with Syria, the pace of new arrests, torture and execution is increasing." Based on uncorroborated claims of "increasing torture and execution", the US "paper of record" appears to be trying to ensure Syria remains a pariah state beyond the pale of redemption for normalized relations with the rest of the world. Such an outcast status would augment US and other NATO governments' agenda of refusing to allow international reconstruction aid for war-torn Syria. Still another scurrilous swipe from the Times: "Kidnappings and killings by the Islamic State [ISIS or Daesh] captured more attention in the West, but the Syrian prison system has vacuumed up many more times the number of people detained by ISIS in Syria." So, here we have the NY Times attempting to criminalize the Syrian state forces as somehow worse than the jihadist head-choppers who had been infiltrated into Syria by the American CIA and other NATO military intelligence to run amok in that country for Western-backed regime change. That criminal war for regime change was defeated by the heroic resilience of the Syrian people, their political leadership and national army, along with the principled military support of Russia, Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah. Western media like the NY Times long sought to obscure or justify the US-backed criminal war with outright lies, such as describing the conflict as a "pro-democracy revolt". Even in ignominious defeat, the NY Times just can't help trying one more time to smear Syria from its grave of journalism. Finian Cunningham has written extensively on international affairs, with articles published in several languages. He is a Masters graduate in Agricultural Chemistry and worked as a scientific editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, England, before pursuing a career in newspaper journalism. He is also a musician and songwriter. For nearly 20 years, he worked as an editor and writer in major news media organisations, including The Mirror, Irish Times and Independent. This article was originally published by "Sputnik" - Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here Our growing expectations for fast delivery are transforming not only the retail experience, but the industrial and logistics landscape the backbone of a behemoth e-commerce industry. To provide a seamless and high-speed shopping experience for customers, the infrastructure and background systems need to be robust, flexible and ever-changing. And location is imperative, with tenants increasingly prioritising their geographic position over rent. The robots are coming: a self-driving delivery robot that Amazon calls Scout. Credit:AMAZON Occupancy spend is just 5 per cent of total supply chain costs, while, by comparison, transport expenses account for 50 per cent of supply chain costs, almost a third of which is in "the last mile". Therefore, it's easy to realise why being situated in a key network location that provides quick and cost-effective access to population centres has the potential to deliver a competitive solution. The result is, seven years after the Gonski report was handed down, school-funding policy remains a "grotesque policy disaster", says Adam Rorris, an education economist who managed the school resourcing taskforce between 2002 and 2008. Instead of getting closer to its goal of more funding for disadvantaged schools, Australia has moved further away. According to analysis by the Grattan Institute, real resources available to schools were increased by more than $2 billion in a decade but, when wage growth was taken into account, private schools got more than 80 per cent of it. Part of the problem is that the public thinks funding has been dealt with. When Labor put forward an agenda and the Coalition eventually agreed to it, "everyone just assumed it would be implemented", Rorris says. But the reforms keep being quietly delayed and diluted; last year, the deadline for over-funded schools to lose that money was extended by two years, to 2029. In the same agreement, an accounting loophole was introduced that lets state governments include depreciation in their school operation budgets. Then prime minister Julia Gillard and David Gonski at the release of the Gonski review into education in 2012. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Another issue is that school-funding policy is diabolically complicated, making it difficult for most non-educators to follow. Simply put, the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) sets a base amount for each student, with loadings for different types of disadvantage, such as disability or Indigenous heritage. When the child attends a private school, the base amount is reduced according to their parents' capacity to pay. When a school is described as over-funded, it is receiving more than 100 per cent of its SRS as determined by that formula. The state and federal governments pay different proportions of the resulting bill; for private schools, the Commonwealth pays 80 per cent, and the state pays 20 per cent. That is reversed for public schools. Partly because non-government schools are not as expensive as public ones - there are not as many, for a start (in NSW, they make up about a third of schools) - and partly because it raises its own revenue, the Commonwealth has been better at meeting its financial obligations. The states are supposed to foot 80 per cent of their public-school bill, but they will all struggle to get to 75 per cent. At the moment, the ambition is to bring under-funded private schools to 100 per cent of SRS by 2023, and public schools to 95 per cent by 2027. Loading This year, the NSW public system was below 90 per cent of SRS, despite teaching needier children; in the 10 years to 2017, the number of students from the most disadvantaged quartile in Australian government schools grew from 81 per cent to 89 per cent. But the biggest problem facing funding reform, according to many within the sector, is lobbying power. The independent and Catholic sectors have always been vocal in defending their interests (and in ensuring the other doesn't get a better deal). But the Catholic system, in particular, has stepped up its efforts in recent years. Now, neither of the heads of the national or NSW Catholic Education Commissions have backgrounds in education (although educators remain in charge of each diocese). NSW's is headed by a former National Australia Bank lobbyist and member of the Liberal Party state executive, while the national office is headed by a former Labor senator. Until recently, the Victorian commission was headed by a former state Liberal MP. When it comes to lobbying for its fair share of resources, Rorris says the public system is fighting with one hand behind its back. The Catholic and independent systems can send letters to principals and parents, arguing their case. Priests can extol the virtues and needs of Catholic education from the pulpit. But the public system is required to be apolitical. Its champion is the education minister, who is responsible for the other sectors, too. "Private school authorities make full-blooded, unrestrained bids for public money for their schools, while state ministers of education are constrained and limited in their support for public schools because they are fighting their own treasurers," he says. "There is a governance issue with public schools that leaves those schools without an effective champion, which could forcefully make the case to defend and attain their resourcing requirements." Loading Adrian Piccoli, the former National Party MP, NSW education minister and now director of the Gonski Institute for Education, agrees. "The [Catholic] bishop can ring the premier or the prime minister - they are usually on a first-name basis. The bishop can say, 'We're going to put out a letter to our parents saying what a terrible government you are.' The secretary of the NSW Department of Education can't do that." They have a more subtle power, too, Piccoli argues. Their parent bodies include some of the community's wealthiest, most powerful people. "If you heat-mapped Australia based on social capital, power and influence of parents, it's weighted towards non-government schools," Piccoli says. "They're smaller in terms of numbers but ... they are newspaper editors, politicians, judges, lawyers. This is where they have a disproportionate amount of influence." A spokesman for the National Catholic Education Commission said public schools could lobby for their interests through the P&C Federation, while teacher unions spent millions on campaigning against funding for private schools. Catholic Education was bound by rules governing charities. "We represent and advocate on behalf of our schools and families," he said. "Our parents expect Catholic education to inform them about policy changes that will affect them." The head of the NSW Association of Independent Schools, Geoff Newcombe (who points out that many independent schools are both disadvantaged and under-funded), disputes the suggestion that public schools don't have a champion. "I think the NSW Teachers Federation sees itself as the main lobby group for government schools, and they are outdone only on occasion by the Australian Education Union," he says. Yet the influence of the union, which represents public school teachers and principals, stops at the school gate, and doesn't extend to parents and students, Rorris says. "[Catholic and independent] sectors have a machinery in place that directly engages parents and communities they serve," he says. "They can tap that, mobilise that, and apply pressure to the government far more easily than the union. That translates to a greater lobbying effectiveness on their behalf." Loading In today's federal election, the major parties are offering starkly different choices when it comes to education. The Coalition is pushing forward with its existing policy. It says it will pressure the states to increase their contribution to schools, but hasn't said how. When you think George Clooney, chances are the word "s---head" doesn't immediately come to mind. But that's what, and who, he plays in Catch 22 (Stan), the six-part series based on Joseph Heller's 1961 novel about the experiences of an American bombardier in World War II. Scheisskopf German for s---head goes from lieutenant to general over the course of the novel, and moves from training inductees in the art of marching to commanding them on the battlefield. In the series, Clooney plays him brilliantly as the embodiment of lug-headed military stupidity. He barks orders that make no sense even to himself. He demands robot-like precision in the marching technique of his charges, wishing he could drill bolts into their legs and attach wires "with exactly three-and-a-half inches of play" so they might finally get the arm movements right. And when someone is stupid enough to provide the answer he demands to a rhetorical question, he punishes them for doing so. Oh he's a Scheisskopf all right. Clooney is clearly one of the key attractions and selling points of the series, which was created by Australians Luke Davies (writer of Candy and Lion) and David Michod (writer-director of Animal Kingdom and War Machine). He's an executive producer and one of three directors (with Ellen Kuras and Grant Heslov) too. But he's not really one of the main actors; he's in the first third of episode one, barking those nonsensical orders on the parade ground, but not in episode two at all only the first two episodes have been made available for preview though I suspect (and hope) he will reappear in later ones. Cleo Codrington, Cox's partner, landed in hot water when she posted a photo on her Instagram feed showing her swimming at a spring in New Zealand. Some followers thought they recognised the spring as one closed to visitors in 2016. (Too many of them were trampling the vegetation and riverbed for happy snaps.) Codrington and Cox told the New Zealand Herald they weren't at the forbidden spring at all; they were more than 120 kilometres away, at another picturesque location. And, Cox added, the photos were not geo-tagged labelled with the exact location because "we don't want to ruin the places. We want to protect them." Australian Mitch Cox is an influencer. This means he has a sizeable following (about 113,000) on Instagram, and his job is to feed the beast with content from his life, which happens to involve a lot of travel. Generally, influencers make money endorsing products in their photos; Cox, for instance, has documented himself wandering around the outback with a brand's portable photo printer. The latest battlefront in the war to save the planet is trying to get influencers to practise "responsible geo-tagging". If you don't know what any of this means, congratulations, you are not wasting your life on Instagram. Certain places have become so Instagram-famous, via geo-tagging, that their survival is threatened. A Canadian sunflower farm had to bar visitors after they damaged the crops. Yellowstone National Park is overrun with selfie-seeking visitors in search of bison for the perfect shot. (If you'd like to despair for humanity, search #bisonselfie.) Other destinations have just become very unpleasant: at the Acropolis five years ago, it was difficult to appreciate the wonder of early democracy because I kept getting hit in the head by selfie sticks. The Broad, a contemporary art museum in Los Angeles, is less a gallery than a backdrop for photo shoots, which is maybe how Warhol would have wanted it, anyhow. The selfie isn't new. What has changed is the lengths to which people will go for an Instagram "like". Consider the case of Grand Teton National Park in Montana. Lucky enough to travel there before the influencers arrived, I found myself voluntarily using the word "awesome" for the first time ever because the landscape was exactly that. These days, though, the region is apparently overrun with influencers. The site they love more than any other is Delta Lake, which is an arduous hike from the main road. It used to be that only one or two trekkers would take the walk to the lake each day. But thanks to geo-tagging of its spectacular vista, now as many as 145 people a day are doing it. So much so that the Jackson Hole Travel & Tourism Board specifically asked visitors to avoid geo-tagging. Solicitor Mathai Joshi, first-time voter Kate Crowley and post-graduate law student Cate Farrant live in three of Queensland's most marginal seats. More young people are voting than ever before, with Saturday's election boasting the highest enrolment rate in history. And these three young voters want change. Mathai Joshi, Kate Crowley and Cate Farrant nominate youth unemployment as one of the biggest issues in their electorates. The Australian Electoral Commission said 88.8 per cent of eligible 18-to-24 year-olds were enrolled to vote, marginally higher than the percentage for the marriage equality postal survey, which had 88.6 per cent enrolment among young adults. Saturday will mark the first federal election in which Australians born this millennium can vote - almost half a million of them. The worlds children are demanding that we forget the past and look to the future. Hope? I dont want your hope, says Greta Thunberg, the deadpan Swedish teen who inspired the climate strikes. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear. Were moved, watching this stuff, but are we listening? Will we act? A recent poll puts climate change atop Australians list of perceived threats, with almost two-thirds of us believing its situation critical. This is scarcely a surprise, given the unignorable increase in intensity of heatwaves, cyclones, fire and drought, the unassailable axiom that all economies need ecology and the unwelcome news that atmospheric CO2 this week topped 415ppm for the first time in human history - not to mention the kids and their climate strikes. What is surprising is how few of us will vote accordingly. The evidence is mounting for climate change, but also for official acceptance of it by our hopelessly laggard institutions. In February, the NSW courts made history by rejecting the Rocky Hill coalmine (in part) for its climate impact. This is huge and will ripple far and wide through the system. Almost more astonishingly, even the NSW government although still frantically building motorways and increasing coal exports now thinks it might find room for a little climate change department within its voluminous but dowdy skirts. So climate-consciousness is now commonsense. Yet still the party most devoted to it the Greens - is generally seen as radical and nonsensical. Even those who vote Green do it, one suspects, more as heartfelt protest than from a genuine desire to see the Greens take government. For nearly three years, the polls, pundits and betting markets have consistently put Labor in a winning position, pointing to a landslide. But such is the magic of politics that Saturdays contest could be a lot closer than anyone had the right to expect a week ago. Remember that during the past half century, close federal elections always favour the incumbent. Scott Morrisons path to victory is about as narrow as Donald Trumps path to the White House in 2016. Sir Robert Menzies, who despaired for the future of his party, only years before a Liberal resurgence in the mid-1970s. Credit:Fairfax Archives Still, the smart money is on a third Coalition loss in a dozen years. If indeed that happens, get ready for a new round of doom-mongering. In coming days, well be told the Liberal Party is bereft of ideas, talent and leadership and that the country has moved on. On Monday night, the ABCs Four Corners plans to link a Tony Abbott defeat in Warringah to the dwindling influence of conservatives in the new era. However, history provides several pointers to why the Liberals should not be written off as a political force. May 16, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - American media still refer to Juan Guaido, Americas hand-picked legitimate leader or legitimate president of Venezuela, as having an administration. The truth is that his administration consisting of advisors and other opposition leaders are all either arrested and being held by the government, hiding, seeking asylum in various foreign embassies (Spanish, Italian, Brazilian and Argentinian) in the capital of Caracas, or have fled to other countries like Brazil and Colombia. Guaido, apparently a government of one, has so far avoided arrest probably because the elected Venezuelan President Maduro doesnt want to give the US an excuse to try and rescue him, or to launch military actions of some kind against Venezuela as the White House keeps threatening to do. Clearly, in calling for US military intervention, Guaido has both demonstrated almost his total lack of backing among the masses of Venezuelan people, as well as his desperation, given most Latin Americans visceral resentment of US interventions in their country, all of which have been designed to put autocrats or even military juntas in power, and many of which have openly overthrown popularly elected governments, as in Guatemala, Chile, Brazil, Nicaragua, Haiti, Dominican Republic, and elsewhere. None of this gets reported in the US. Only recently has the New York Times, always a reliable backer of US imperial policy in Latin America, at least hinted at the possibility that the reason Maduro remains president and that Guaidos efforts to oust him are failing for abysmally could be that the Venezuelan people want him to stay president, and do not want a US-backed coup or a US military intervention to replace him. At this point the huffing and puffing coming from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and especially from the White House National Security Advisor and chief militarist blowhard John Bolton, are looking pretty pathetic, with Bolton trying to sow dissension and distrust by hinting that Maduro better not trust his own generals loyalty, and by offering rewards to those generals willing to abandon Maduro. Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get our FREE Daily Newsletter It is an indication of the United States declining power and influence in Latin America that few outside the US with its insular mass media believe that the US would or even could successfully invade Venezuela and impose a government on that country of 32 million (a number that keeps declining as the upper middle class and rich flee). If anything, US sabotage and threats and US backing for a government of the wealthy are probably galvanizing support for Maduro. While people in the US, if they are paying any attention at all to events in Venezuela, may believe that Maduro is a corrupt thug, people in Venezuela itself, and in most of Latin America know full well that the main problems in that oil-rich country have to do with the collapse in oil prices since the heady days of Hugo Chavez when it was going for $100 a barrel, to American efforts to block Venezuela from exporting its oil now, and to freeze or even seize Venezuelan assets and oil receipts from the oil it does manage to export, and to other forms of economic warfare engaged in by the United States. As in Cuba, this kind of strategy by the US only works to build support for the countrys existing government. At some point Guaido is going to go. He will either be written off by the US media his main backer or will be arrested. Probably the latter will follow the former since once hes recognized as an impotent charlatan, his arrest will not make him a martyr for the opposition. Already he has lost what public support he had as Venezuelas wealthy abandon the country for Florida. As well, the 50 countries that we in the US keep hearing which supposedly back Guaido as Venezuelas legitimate leader are realizing that they were hoodwinked by the US, and are mostly calling for a calmer response to the crisis in Venezuela, refusing to buy into US military threats against the Maduro government. Nobody mentions that over 140 countries in the world support Maduro as the leader of Venezuela. In truth its impossible to find that list of more than 50 countries backing a self-proclaimed and unelected Guaido as Venezuelas president. The closest I could find by working google searches was a map produced by Bloomberg News listing 13 countries besides the US as supporting Guaido. These included Canada, the UK, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil. That is 13 plus the United States. Listed as supporting Maduro as elected President are Russia, China, Turkey, Bolivia, and Cuba, though I believe Bloomberg neglected to mention Nicaragua, a strong Maduro backer, which would make it six. For a time, most of the countries of Europe were lining up behind Guaido, particularly after Germany announced that it was recognizing him as the new interim leader of Venezuela in late January, and ousted the countrys ambassador, but then by late March Germany was having second thoughts, and rejected the person sent there by Guaido to assume the position of Venezuelan ambassador. At this point except for the UK, the countries of Europe, along with Mexico and Uruguay are simply calling for a dialogue and a negotiated solution to the Venezuela political crisis, and in addition to opposing any talk of military action or a coup, are seeking nothing more than a new election (which Maduro would probably win, given the alternative of the return of a government of the rich). Theyre no longer really backing Guaido. The reporters who continue to refer to more than 50 countries calling for Maduros ouster all must be using the same wrong news clip or some dated State Department press release. (I asked the State Department for an updated list today but so far none has been sent to me, though it would appear it shouldnt take long to compile.) Investigative reporter Dave Lindorff, a long-time Nation contributor, is author of several books, most recently Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here For some time now Australian voters have turned away from major parties in favour of independents and minority parties. Tired of years of spin, scandals, internal disunity and dysfunction, trust has been breached. This election is shaping up as a replay of the last few with the polls predicting the winner will scrape over the line, be it Labor's Bill Shorten or the Coalition's Scott Morrison. A hung parliament or minority government based on crafty preference deals could well be the outcome. Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten slug it out during the election campaign. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Unlike the past few elections this one is less Seinfeldian than the last. Headline policy differences this time are on meaty issues including climate change, education, health and tax issues. But there are other policy differences that have received less airplay which are also important and need to be considered. They include wage fraud, the financial services sector, whistleblower protections and oversight of the Australian Taxation Office. Mr Shorten made three trips to south-east Queensland: to the seats of Brisbane, Forde and Griffith on April 21, May 4 and May 9. He then headed north, targeting Warren Entsch's marginal seat of Leichhardt (3.9 per cent) and to support Cathy O'Toole in Herbert on April 22. He was back on May 10 - and then on to Flynn and Dawson (Mackay) on April 23. The turn after Turnbull Dr Williams believes the LNP's decision to switch leaders from Malcolm Turnbull to Mr Morrison has bolstered the party's prospects in Queensland. If Malcolm Turnbull was still prime minister, Labor would have picked up eight or possibly 10 seats in Queensland," Dr Williams said. It took a bit of time for Morrisons leadership to bite but coming into 2019 it started to bite and he has peeled back Labors appeal. Professor Bean agreed, saying Mr Morrison's campaign style had struck a chord with Queensland voters. I think the advantage of Morrison is that he has got that common touch with people, a bit like Bob Hawke in a way, which Turnbull just never had," Professor Bean said. "People respected Turnbull and thought that he was the rightful leader of the party. "Whereas I think people can warm to Scott Morrison and I think that is probably the thing that is keeping them in the race." But both said Labor appeared to win support from voters for setting an alternative policy agenda. Labor could take four SEQ seats They predicted Labor would win up to to four south-east Queensland seats in Saturday's poll - Dickson, Forde, Petrie and Bonner - and win about 80 seats in the 150-seat federal Parliament. Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton's seat of Dickson would be the toughest, they argued. The Labor surge hasnt come," Dr Williams said. There will be a small swing away from the government. Six months ago, we were talking about a swing of 4 per cent or more. "Now we are talking - in Queensland they will be lucky if it is 2 per cent." Margins: south-east Queensland seats in play Petrie: (LNP) 1.6 per cent Forde: (LNP) 0.6 per cent Longman: (Labor) 0.8 per cent Dickson: (LNP) 1.7 per cent Bonner: (LNP) 3.4 per cent Brisbane: (LNP) 6 per cent Griffith: (Labor) 1.4 per cent Moreton: (Labor) 4 per cent Most of the narrowly held federal seats in south-east Queensland are on the outskirts of Brisbane. These include Petrie, held by the LNP's Luke Howarth (1.6 per cent), and LNP colleague Bert van Manen's seat of Forde in Logan, which has a very narrow 0.6 per cent margin. "I like to think of Petrie and Forde as mirror electorates," Dr Williams said. "They both have more in common with regional Australia than with suburban Australia. Lots of struggle street issues, sensitive to populism." To the north around Caboolture, Labor's Susan Lamb holds the seat of Longman with a 0.8 per cent margin, while Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton faces the fight for his political life in the north Brisbane seat of Dickson with a margin of 1.7 per cent. South-east Queensland federal electorates at the 2019 election. Credit:Tally Room. On Brisbane's bayside - between Carindale and Wynnum - the LNP's Ross Vasta (3.4 per cent) narrowly holds the seat of Bonner, while in Brisbane's far western suburbs there remains disappointment with the way sitting Liberal MP Jane Prentice was dumped from her blue-ribbon seat of Ryan between Indooroopilly and Kenmore. The Greens could influence the outcome in the city's two inner-city seats. Brisbane, held by the Coalition's Trevor Evans with a 6 per cent margin, could be unsettled by a strong vote for the high-profile Greens candidate, former senator Andrew Bartlett. South-east Queensland issues The single major difference in major infrastructure issues is Brisbane's future underground rail project, the $5.4 billion Cross River Rail. Federal Labor has promised to contribute $2.24 billion the Cross River Rail project, while the Coalition has declined to fund the project. Both major parties have launched futuristic Fast Train policies and first-home owner policies. Adani's proposed Carmichael coal line and climate change policy remains the divisive issue. Promises to south-east Queensland seats by both major parties can be found here. Across the Brisbane River, Labor is expected to retain former prime minister Kevin Rudd's old seat of Griffith, now held by Terri Butler with a narrow 1.4 per cent margin. But Griffith is gentrifying, strengthening its Coalition base. It also has a strong Greens vote, but both political experts predicted Labor would hold Griffith on Green preferences. Dr Williams highlighted the large number of undecided electors whose voting patterns were difficult to predict but would shape Saturday's poll result. For most of my working life, the routine of putting on and taking off my tie bookended my day. In the morning, doing up my tie and checking the Windsor or schoolboy knot in the mirror signified the beginning of my workday. At night, after undoing my tie and hanging it up beside approximately a dozen others, my day was over. Closing the wardrobe door was my ritual circuit-breaker: I shut off any work issues still playing on my mind. Over the past two or three years, however, I've joined hundreds of thousands of other Australian men in giving up wearing ties, in line with much more casual dress codes in the workplace. All the signs indicate that the 300-year reign of the tie may be drawing to a close; there are even predictions it will be dead within 20 years. Ties are becoming less necessary, thanks to changing workplace dress codes. Credit:Getty Images What began with the growing popularity of casual Fridays in the 1990s accelerated with the rise of tech start-ups and multinational behemoths such as Google, Facebook and Amazon ushering in far less formal workplaces. Companies such as Google may be housed in multimillion-dollar glass-and-steel citadels on prime city real estate, but more often than not you'll see its male employees dressed in jeans and T-shirts, and in summer, shorts and sandals. On television, more and more newsreaders and reporters wear open-necked shirts. Ties are still worn for formal occasions, of course weddings, funerals, job interviews or high-level meetings and they remain common in more conservative fields such as real estate, banking and finance, and some sections of law. But overall, from Wall Street to the runways of Milan, the question that's being increasingly asked is, "Do I need a tie for this?" Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Filipinos have always been among the world's most enthusiastic smokers. According to the World Bank, more than 40 per cent of Filipino adult men smoke. Cheap tobacco and lax regulation has made smoking a way of life, and death, with health experts estimating that about 10 Filipinos die every hour from smoking-related illnesses. Lighting up has even become part of national mythology, in the form of Kapre, a nocturnal ogre who spends most of his time sitting in the fork of a mango tree, sucking on cigars the size of a chair leg. If you find yourself lost in the forest, and suddenly smell tobacco smoke, chances are you've strayed into Kapre's crib. For the past 10 years, however, the city of Balanga, near Manila, has been trying to buck the trend, bringing in some of the most progressive anti-tobacco measures in the country. In 2010, the council passed the Comprehensive No Smoking Ordinance, banning the use, sale, distribution, advertisement and promotion of cigarettes in the commercial centre. In 2016, the ordinance was expanded to include almost the entire city. That same year, the city enacted the Tobacco-Free Generation Ordinance, which denies the sale of cigarettes to anyone born after January 1, 2000. "We are very proud," Balanga mayor Francis Garcia tells me. "We have introduced a new normal, where one doesn't normally see anyone smoking around them on a daily basis, and we have fostered a generation of young adults who have grown up in a smoke-free environment." According to Garcia, the smoking rates in Balanga have more than halved since 2010. A sleepy city of 96,000, Balanga is built around the Plaza Mayor, a paved square, lined with palm trees and framed by Spanish colonial facades and an 18th-century cathedral. Originally an agriculture and fishing town, it has in the past decade set its sights on becoming a technology and investment hub, with an emphasis on higher education. The mayor's anti-smoking measures have been part of a push to make the city more liveable, with the ultimate goal being to turn it into the Philippines' first "model university town", along the lines of Cambridge, Oxford or Harvard. But not everyone has gotten on board. In August 2017, the city was sued by the Philippine Tobacco Institute (PTI), a front group for the world's biggest cigarette companies, including Philip Morris International and British American Tobacco. The PTI, which is widely regarded as the most powerful tobacco lobby in Asia, argued that the city's 2010 ordinance, and its 2016 amendment, created "unwarranted restrictions that are arbitrary and oppressive". According to the PTI's lawyers, the measures would cost Philip Morris 15,000,000 pesos (about $420,000) a month in lost sales. In July 2018, after a year in court, a regional judge found in the PTI's favour, noting that while Balanga city's anti-smoking efforts were "commendable", they were also "unconstitutional" and therefore invalid. Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), a US-based anti-smoking group, criticised Philip Morris for "putting corporate profits ahead of health". Balanga's Bishop Ruperto Santos called the ruling "disgusting". The city is appealing but its resources are spread thin, in part because of another lawsuit that was launched by the PTI in May 2018, aimed at annulling the city's Tobacco-Free Generation Ordinance. Garcia is staying upbeat. "We are fighting for what is right," he says. But he is under no illusions. Since 2007, the tobacco industry has launched 12 lawsuits against proposed government oversight in the Philippines: it hasn't lost a single one. Cigarette alternatives, including heat-not-burn and vaping products, still spur nicotine addiction, according to experts. Credit:Getty Images Advertisement Since its beginning in a tobacconist shop in London in 1847, Philip Morris has grown into the world's leading cigarette company, with a market capitalisation of $US124.3 billion ($178 billion). In 2018, the firm sold 781.7 billion cigarettes in more than 180 countries. Its brands include Virginia Slims, Chesterfield and the iconic Marlboro, the world's bestselling cigarette, which, according to Forbes, commanded 43.3 per cent of the US market in 2017, bigger than the next 10 cigarette brands combined. In late 2018, however, the company announced it had decided to stop selling cigarettes. In press releases sent around the world, it claimed it wanted to switch its customers "to smoke-free products entirely, so we can one day stop producing conventional cigarettes". Why? "Because it's the right thing to do." The announcement had a certain traffic-stopping quality, and an almost heretical tone: "Smoking kills people," it read. At once lofty and down to earth, the announcement seemed to signal an epochal shift, one driven by ethics, not money. In an open letter to the World Economic Forum, in Davos earlier this year, the company's CEO, Andre Calantzopoulos, wrote that creating a "smoke-free future" was "a transformative vision, one that will change society". But the release was, of course, a marketing exercise, in this case for the company's latest "reduced-harm" cigarette, called IQOS. IQOS is one of many next-generation products that have been developed by the major tobacco companies over the past decade. The most popular of these devices are "vape pens", which heat a nicotine fluid, or "juice", into a vapour that is then inhaled. (Selling a vape pen is legal in Australia, but selling the juice is not, meaning vapers have to source it from overseas.) IQOS, meanwhile, is what the industry terms a heat-not-burn product: it uses an electrical element, or "blade", to heat a stick of tobacco just enough to release the nicotine as an aerosol. Philip Morris claims the device cuts users' exposure to the carcinogens created when tobacco is burned, and that it could save the lives of millions of smokers. (Many experts are highly sceptical, noting, among other concerns, that IQOS hasn't been around long enough for its health impacts to be properly assessed.) What we are saying is that if for some reason you can't quit, there is a safer alternative for you. IQOS first launched in Italy and Japan, in 2014. According to the company, it is now being used by more than six million people in 45 countries; this month, it was made available for sale in the US. But it has not been approved in Australia, where authorities have taken a more cautious approach. "It's frustrating," says Tammy Chan, Philip Morris managing director for Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific. "Sometimes you hope that countries like Australia will be more receptive to what is happening around the world in technology, but we haven't seen that yet." Chan, who was born in Hong Kong, is in her mid-50s, with shoulder-length hair and a broad, unlined face. A non-smoker, she has been with Philip Morris for more than 20 years, and has worked for the company in Asia and Europe, including at head office in Lausanne, Switzerland. For the past year she's been based in Melbourne, where the company occupies three floors of a sleek new office block overlooking the Yarra. "IQOS is all about harm reduction," she tells me. "There are three million smokers in Australia, and they are risking their lives. At the moment, you either have to quit cigarettes or you die. There is no in-between. What we are saying is that if for some reason you can't quit, there is a safer alternative for you." According to Chan, Philip Morris has spent $US4.5 billion developing IQOS. In 2017, the company also set up the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, a research and funding organisation whose stated goal is "eliminating smoking worldwide as soon as possible". The company will fund the foundation to the tune of $US80 million annually for the next 12 years, but insists that it will be independent, saying it has "extremely rigid protections" against any involvement from Philip Morris or anyone else in the tobacco industry. (The World Health Organisation has rejected this claim, and says it will not engage with the foundation. Australian health bodies have done likewise.) Advertisement Chan insists the company wants to be "part of the solution". There are a billion smokers worldwide, mostly in developing countries; seven million of whom die each year. "We have a lot of knowledge to contribute," she tells me. "Our intentions are good, and we are totally transparent. We know the scepticism. But we are asking people to believe that we have changed." Most health experts find this laughable. "This is the same old industry," says Mike Daube, a veteran anti-smoking campaigner and former director general of the Western Australia Health Department. "In the past decade, all the things we did tax increases, health warnings, smoking bans really put the industry on the back foot. But globally, these companies don't go to sleep, they strategise. "The industry is resurgent now," Daube continues. "The only difference is they are more sophisticated." Philip Morris is selling IQOS as a revolution, but there is, in fact, nothing new about it. "Reduced harm" cigarettes have been around for decades. As far back as the 1920s, Lucky Strike advertised itself as "less irritating to the throat". When scientists conclusively proved the link between smoking and lung cancer, in the early 1950s, manufacturers began introducing filter tips, which they claimed cut the amount of tar reaching the lungs. Then, in the late 1960s, the industry introduced "lights" and "milds". "All these developments were designed to keep people smoking by giving them the impression that it was safer," says Daube. As has subsequently become clear, none of these low-risk "innovations" worked, and the tobacco companies knew it. In 2006, a US Federal Court judge found that the cigarette companies had for decades falsely marketed "lights" and "milds" as less harmful than regular cigarettes, and ordered them to make corrective statements in newspapers and TV stations throughout the US. (The industry fought for 11 years to water down the wording of the statements, which finally aired in 2017, and included warnings that there is "no safe cigarette", and that "more people die every year from smoking than from murder, AIDS, suicide, drugs, car crashes, and alcohol, combined".) In Australia, the catchwords "lights" and "milds" were outlawed in 2005, after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission deemed them to be misleading and deceptive. Still, Australia never saw corrective statements like those in the US. When I ask Chan why, she tells me that "it's a very different jurisdiction here," adding: "I prefer to look forwards than look back." Like other "reduced-harm" products, IQOS promises to lure new smokers to the market. Philip Morris internal corporate affairs documents from 2014, leaked to Reuters in 2017, revealed that the company sees these new products "as a pathway for future growth" and "an opportunity to normalise [our] corporate reputation". The documents also showed that it was time for the company "to be for something", and to use emotive, more "human" language to rehabilitate its image. Reputation-laundering is a corporate staple, of course, but it's especially important to the tobacco industry, which has, since the WHO's 2005 Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), been expressly shut out from engaging with governments, especially with regard to health policy. "Presenting itself as reputable is one way to get a foot in the door with officials," says Daube. Advertisement It is also a way to get your foot in the door with big business. This year, for the first time, Philip Morris sent a team of executives to Davos, site of the World Economic Forum, where the agglomeration of private wealth and political power afforded the company the perfect opportunity, as Philip Morris chief spokesperson Marian Salzman later wrote on the company's website, to "rejoin civilised society". The business media happily obliged: The Wall Street Journal hosted an event with the company on "communications in the era of disruption"; Politico, the US political journalism website, produced its Davos Playbook, a daily newsletter that was sponsored by Philip Morris, and which featured a link to CEO Andre Calantzopoulos's "open letter". In an article in Forbes in February, Salzman compared the company's transformation to glasnost, "that period of openness and transparency, in the dying days of Communist Russia, when it slowly started coming out of its hiding place to engage with the world". It was a process, she added, for which the company deserved to be "heavily awarded". Tammy Chan, Philip Morris Australias managing director. We know the scepticism, she says, but we are asking people to believe that we have changed." Credit:Darrian Traynor In my conversation with Chan, she repeatedly urges me to look at the science on e-cigarettes, much of which is presented on Philip Morris's website. "We do a lot of the research ourselves, in our own laboratories," she says. "The research clearly shows that if you burn something, there is this smoke. But when you use an e-cigarette or one of our products, you produce an aerosol. It's made purely of water droplets." (In 2016, the US Surgeon General concluded that "e-cigarette aerosol is not harmless 'water vapour'. ") Big Tobacco has long attempted to manipulate the science around cigarettes, most notably in the 1990s, when it tried to discredit research by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) into the dangers of second-hand smoke as "junk science". More recently, the industry has been shown to sow disinformation and doubt in much the same way as the fossil-fuel lobby has fostered climate science denial. In any case, it's hard to know what to make of the science, mainly because there is so much of it. The past 15 years have seen no less than 4490 research papers published on e-cigarettes and heat-not-burn products. Some of these papers were commissioned by governments, some by independent organisations and others by the industry. Taken as a whole, they are of such hair-pulling complexity as to confound even the most diligent policy-maker, which may partly explain why some countries, like Britain, have fully legalised e-cigarettes while others, such as Brazil, have banned them outright. Still, some recent studies point to the health benefits associated with smokers switching to e-cigarettes. In 2018, Public Health England suggested that vaping posed only a small fraction of the risk associated with smoking. In January 2019, The New England Journal of Medicine published the results of a year-long, randomised trial which showed that e-cigarettes were almost twice as successful as products like patches or gum in getting smokers to quit. "Vaping is a far safer alternative to smoking, and it has the potential to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of Australians who are unable or unwilling to stop smoking," says Colin Mendelsohn, from the School of Public Health and Community Medicine at the University of NSW. "Australia is the only Western democracy to ban vaping, despite the evidence that it would be a huge benefit to public health." Advertisement In 2017, Mendelsohn set up the Australian Tobacco Harm Reduction Association (ATHRA), a Sydney-based charity that has spearheaded the campaign to legalise vaping and heat-not-burn products in Australia. Mendelsohn writes about e-cigarettes and gives interviews; he also travels to "harm reduction" conferences worldwide. But he has been criticised for links to the tobacco and vaping industries, and has taken some $43,000 in vaping and tobacco industry-related funding. (He says ATHRA stopped accepting vaping money in March.) Mendelsohn denies that vaping is a "gateway drug" propagated by Big Tobacco to encourage young people to use nicotine. But this is not supported by the evidence. Juul, an e-cigarette that came on to the US market in 2016, has become phenomenally popular with adolescents; according to a national study, Juul, which comes in a variety of flavours, including mango, vanilla and cucumber, helped drive up US teen vaping rates by 91 per cent between 2017 and 2018. Vaping is leading youth into nicotine addiction, not away from it. "Vaping is leading youth into nicotine addiction, not away from it," said University of Michigan researcher Richard Miech. In September last year, the then US Food and Drug Administration commissioner, Scott Gottlieb, blamed Juul for what he called "an epidemic" of vaping among American high school students. Three months later, Altria, the parent company of Philip Morris USA, bought a 35 per cent stake in Juul, for $US12.8 billion. "Vaping is a weapon of mass distraction," says longtime Australian anti-tobacco activist Simon Chapman. "Big Tobacco sees vaping as a way to grow the market, but at the same time it gives them air cover to say, 'We're the good guys now,' thus helping people to forget that they are doing all they can to promote smoking by opposing effective tobacco-control policies like tax, plain packs, graphic health warnings, and smoke-free policies, particularly in poorer countries." The developing world is, indeed, the Wild West for Big Tobacco. In fast-growing markets like Asia, minimal health awareness and lax regulation allow cigarette companies to operate with near impunity. When, in 2017, the government in Sri Lanka proposed restricting the sale of cigarettes within 100 metres of schools, the Tobacco Retailers' Association met with the finance minister and had the measure scrapped. When the Indian government attempted to introduce more prominent health warnings on cigarette packets, in 2015, tobacco companies filed 27 legal challenges in various jurisdictions throughout the country, delaying implementation by three years. Internal Philip Morris documents uncovered by Reuters show how, in 2017, Philip Morris and British American Tobacco bullied Pakistan's then prime minister, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, into blocking larger health warnings on cigarette packets. Indonesia is particularly vulnerable. There, 67 per cent of adult men smoke, and children start as young as seven. It is also the only country in the world that still allows direct cigarette advertising, providing a dream canvas for Big Tobacco copywriters. "Rice has become expensive. Your business has failed. Just play," Sampoerna, Indonesia's third largest cigarette maker, told smokers. PT Djarum, meanwhile, advertised its L.A. Lights by telling customers: "DON'T QUIT!" Philip Morris entered the market when it bought Sampoerna in 2005, whereupon it launched its own, idiosyncratic marketing campaign, including a billboard with the slogan "Dying is better than leaving a friend. Sampoerna is a cool friend!" Advertisement I've been waiting for him to return. It's now my time to "walk the walk". The scope of my next course of action isn't lost on me. I'm still the captain, and there are no company representatives present to relieve me of that responsibility. As the captain, QF72 is my watch. I will remain on duty until relieved whenever that will be. Leaving the flight deck, I come across a group of medical responders who've boarded the plane. "How's it going?" I ask. There's blood on the walls, and on the faces and clothes of the injured. I know they're overwhelmed by the number of injured passengers and crew; it's etched on their faces. They tell me they're progressing towards the rear of the aircraft and treating the more badly injured who had been propelled into the cabin's ceiling by the plane pitching down, but they've run out of neck braces. "How many did you bring?" "Twenty-six our entire stock at the medical centre." Shit. "Okay. Are you able to source more? Can we assist through our company? Will you be looking to disembark those who are able to walk soon?" They're working on it, they say, and I leave them to continue with their duties. I've decided that my first public address to the cabin won't be made from the cockpit. My passengers and crew will be looking to me for leadership and compassion, so they need to see me as I talk. From the entrance to the cabin, I can see the many seat rows and people standing in the aisles. It's my first look at the destruction caused by the pitch-downs. How can I explain to my passengers that the computers controlling the plane went berserk and in their confusion slammed the aircraft's nose down? I pull the cord on the communication handset to its maximum length and start my announcement. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is the captain." I hold up my hand so all can see me in the cabin, even those still seated. Heads jut out from every seat row as far back as I can see. "Welcome to Learmonth." This is met with cheers and applause from everyone who is able to celebrate. "We are safe now, and we are working to get you off the plane as soon as we can. We're communicating with our company, and they're working on a rescue plan to fly us out of here and down to Perth. I thank you for your patience and understanding. Please remain near your seats as the medical team assists those who are injured. I will be making my way through the cabin now. Thank you for your attention." Stowing the handset, I start a walk that will change my life. The cabin looks like the aftermath of two opposing armies engaged in hand-to-hand combat on the Western Front. There's blood on the walls, and on the faces and clothes of the injured. There are hideous star-shaped holes in the ceiling that look like the Incredible Hulk punched them. They hold the remnants of the hair and bloodied scalps of those whose heads have punctured the aviation-grade plastic. The resulting wounds could easily have been made with a large serrated knife, raked along the victims' scalps. Rescue and medical workers from the West Australian town of Exmouth met the flight after its emergency landing, 50 minutes after the first nosedive. Bloodied bandages and pillows are strewn in the seat rows and aisles, mixed with the debris from broken luggage lockers and ceiling panels. Can you actually see a person's heart as it breaks? Parts of my psyche are being brutally ripped out of me as I move through the war zone that was once the cabin of an A330. I try to remain strong. But as I speak with my passengers and my courageous crew, seeing their injuries, feeling their grief, my heart is cracking. Moving down the aisle, I'm asked the same question by my bewildered and bruised passengers: "What happened?" What can I say to them? I answer sincerely that I don't know exactly what happened but that I tried to stop it. It's a bad state of affairs when the captain of his aircraft doesn't know the reasons for its violent behaviour. We have many young children on board, some secured in bassinets on the bulkheads and others on their parents' laps. I'm seeing them now as I move into the economy section. The parents are holding their children and trying to console their pain and tears. All of them have been injured in some way; most likely they were playing on their parents' laps after finishing lunch. Contusions are developing on some, while others are wearing bloodstained bandages. My heart is dissolving; as a parent, I sympathise with those who've helplessly witnessed their children being injured. Their accusing, silent glares burn into me like lasers, communicating the unsaid message: "Look what you did to my child." I can only offer sympathy and support as I continue my torturous walk towards the rear of the cabin. My best poker face, which I wore when I entered the front of the cabin, has completely dissolved by now. But it isn't until I enter the rear galley that my heart receives a death blow. The floor is littered with broken shards from the economy-class plastic cups, as if sprinkled with multi-coloured icicles. Beside them lies flight attendant Fuzzy Maiava, legs immobilised and splinted. I kneel next to him and clasp his hand in a brotherly grip. What can I possibly say to him? My face must say something that no words can convey. He thanks me and thanks God that I'm his captain. Tears well in my eyes as I try to comfort him. My face is burning in anger, in frustration, in compassion, as I release his hand. My heart splinters. The stainless-steel handhold connected to the galley bench has been bent Did a metal meal cart hit that bar, or a human body? I shudder in disbelief at the force required to deform that bar. I must keep moving; I must continue my cabin inspection. Across from Fuzzy, still in the crew seat, is Peter Casey, an off-duty captain. He has a bandage on his forehead partially covering his badly bruised left eye; blood is seeping through. His arm is immobilised in a sling, and his shirt is covered in a mix of blood and red wine. He looks like the victim of a violent home invasion, and I gaze upon him in shock and sympathy. Peter and I engage in some brief conversation; as a pilot, he's curious to know the reason the plane manoeuvred so violently. "Oh my god, Peter. Are you okay? Is that blood on your shirt?" "Some of it is, some is from the red we were drinking before we got knocked out. What the hell happened?" I repeat my feeble answer that the computers went berserk, that I still don't fully know the reasons but that they weren't pilot-induced or turbulence-related. My face is flushed and my eyes are wet with suppressed tears as I leave Peter. Slowly, I make my way forward again. I can't stop staring at the cabin's ceiling, and my memory permanently records the busted plastic holes still holding on to hair and bloodied remnants of scalp, the broken luggage lockers, the dislodged ceiling panels and exposed ducting. It's a nightmare reality, not of my doing, and not in my power to prevent. The Airbus A330s ceiling was punctured by passengers heads when the plane pitched down. It's very lucky no one lost their life during the pitch-downs. A male passenger asks me to explain the aircraft's behaviour. I offer my canned reply. I must look sad because he asks: "How are you doing?" "I'm okay, thanks. It's just going to be a long day." I'm a lousy liar. Passing the forward galley again, I meet with some of my crew. Samantha has a bruised eye, Kimberly can't move her neck without pivoting from the waist like a robot, and Tasha is favouring an injured shoulder. Rory is active in his zone, interacting with the passengers there. This is such bullshit; how could this happen? Pilot Kevin Sullivan worked in the US Navy and the RAAF before joining Qantas. Credit:Louie Douvis My career in commercial aviation has been anything but boring and routine. I've been challenged by many equipment failures and severe weather events, and I've always managed them appropriately and efficiently. Many have been classified as extreme events: an uncontained engine failure with strong vibration; airframe and engine damage caused by very bad hail on take-off; severe icing at altitude resulting in engine damage; and numerous fume events. I've learnt from these events, but none have generated the body response or trauma that this one has on October 7, 2008. This scenario involving computers, denial of control and potential mass casualties is at a different level. It seems we've survived a science-fiction scenario, a No Man's Land of automation failure on an unprecedented scale. I wasn't in a position to guess what was happening or to make up a procedure. But I had to make some big decisions extreme decisions to cater for an extreme event. Looks like my shit-magnet reputation will soar to new heights after this. I know my crew and I will be thoroughly questioned in corporate headquarters. I must try to make sense of what I saw, how I reacted and what I said. My compliance with company and Airbus procedures will be heavily scrutinised by safety and fleet management pilots. Have I missed something? I mentally review the sequence of failures and bad air data presented to me in the form of unreliable speed and altitude on my primary flight display tapes. But I can't access the information that was generated from the Air Data Inertial Reference Unit (ADIRU) and presented to the aircraft's computer systems. Perhaps the computers activated some "protections" that are built into their software but surely we should have been warned that these protections would be activated. Why hasn't the post-flight report or the status summary indicated which modes were activated and for what reason? Like a bad partner, the computer's systems went crazy then stopped communicating with me. Like a bad partner, the computer's systems went crazy then stopped communicating with me. This complex failure scenario was not raised during the Airbus conversion course. I doubt that even the Airbus test pilots have been exposed to this scenario. One thing is certain: the computers blocked my control inputs. For a pilot, loss of control is the ultimate threat. It's our job to control the aircraft, and if computers and their software, by design, can remove that functionality from the pilot, then nothing good is going to come out of that. I know our decision to divert to the airfield at Learmonth, instead of continuing on to Perth, will be scrutinised. But what risks would we have taken if we'd flown the extra distance to Perth? I shudder at the thought. I find hollow solace from the doctor in Two and a Half Men: "If you put a tuxedo on a goat, it's still a goat." In the aftermath of QF72, I retreat to my cave to let the dust settle, try to make sense of my body's chemical rebellion and contemplate the future. I keep thinking about the decisions I made and what could have been if the sequence of events had changed slightly. I'm lucky I wasn't physically injured: there was a margin of about five minutes where I wasn't secured while on my way back to the flight deck. If I'd been recalled from my rest break a few moments later and the meal service had finished a few minutes earlier, I would have been in the forward galley as First Officer Peter was when he got injured checking on my crew before returning to the flight deck for my duty period. The threat presented to my brain of crashing into the water at the hands of out-of-control computers activated an enormous fight-or-flight response. I'm sure it's the same for a soldier, police officer or first responder if you're placed in any position where you ask yourself, "Is my life going to end now?" then your life changes. I need information about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) now, and my first stop is a visit to my doctor. I hope he can shed some light on what is happening to me a week after my wild ride. A commercial pilot is directly responsible for the lives of those on every flight, and few occupations shoulder the level of responsibility that a pilot must manage throughout their commercial flying career. The appointment with my GP starts with my description of the flight. An aviation enthusiast, he's intrigued by the complexity of our failures and the workload we faced. I then recount the body response issues that I experienced during the flight and in the days since. He knows of my military background in the US Navy and the RAAF and agrees that this falls outside the boundaries of my extreme experience. As he describes the symptoms of a "chemical imbalance" associated with a traumatic event, he writes notes: 1) Mood swings. 2) Irritability. 3) Crying spells. 4) Early morning waking: 2am-3am. 5) Appetite disturbance. 6) No motivation. 7) Poor concentration/memory. 8) Low libido. 9) Anxiety. 10) Self-harm. I'm nodding as he reels off these symptoms, then I quietly start ticking off those I have experienced in the past few days. I explain my disrupted sleep, including the nightmares. As we discuss the list of symptoms, my alarm grows. Self-harm? Could I ever allow myself to do that? Part of me wants to dismiss this discussion as a short-term hiccup, but the other half accepts the precarious and potentially dangerous territory I'm navigating through. We talk about my libido, and I admit that I feel it has been affected. "Do you need something for that?" he asks. "Yes, that would help." He scribbles on his prescription pad and slides the form over to me as we keep talking. I tell him I'll be taking some time off work, and he starts to fill in a worker's comp form, annotated again with the abbreviation I'm starting to dread: "PTSD." The process of documenting my injury has begun. I collect the various pieces of paper he has filled out for me. Glancing at the prescription for the first time, I see it's for Viagra. "Hey! What's this for?!" I wave the prescription in front of him. "You said you needed something for your libido!" "Not for that! How is this going to help my disrupted sleep?" He quickly scribbles a script for some mild sleeping pills. "But do you want to hang on to that other prescription too?" he asks sheepishly. "Actually, Doc, I don't really need any assistance in that department." We laugh, and I thank him. But the levity of our banter is replaced by solemn concern as I digest our discussion on the drive home. I stop to fill the prescription for the sleeping pills but don't ever use them. For the first time, a wave of sadness wafts over me. I'm alarmed by my body response issues and the PTSD label. I know I need time to power down from this event, but I'll get back to work later on won't I? This internal questioning, in itself, concerns me. I'm working overtime to prevent it from consuming me. With time on my hands, I'm able to explore the flurry of media articles being written about QF72. Initial media coverage on October 7 and 8 was inaccurate, citing potential causes for the pitch-downs as autopilot malfunction or clear-air turbulence. Qantas published its first official statement on the Qantas and One World website on October 8, under the headline "Qantas Update on QF72". It summarised the event and said that the company was co-operating with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) in the investigation. The Royal Flying Doctor Service and other support agencies were formally recognised and thanked, and the main corporate focus was on the welfare of the passengers and crew. The statement ended by commending the professionalism of the crew in safely handling the emergency. For the ATSB team of investigators, the QF72 accident presents an enormous challenge in determining the causes of the computer and systems failures that confronted the operating crew and injured so many. On October 14, 2008, the ATSB team presents its initial findings at a media conference in Canberra. Examination of the recorded flight data from the aircraft has revealed significant failures of the automation, specifically that the air-data processing portion of the Air Data Inertial Reference Unit produced "spiked values" of data that were responsible for the false stall and over-speed warnings, the loss of the captain's instrumentation and the loss of other systems. This falsely generated data was responsible for the pitch-downs ordered by the flight-control computers and the subsequent faults with the electronic flight-control systems. The ATSB team comment on the actions of the flight crew: "The crew's timely response led to the recovery of the aircraft's trajectory within seconds." On October 15, Airbus issues the first of several operational engineering bulletins to address issues with abnormal operation and faults associated with the air-data computers. This is in response to the ongoing ATSB investigation, and is formulated after the recorded data from the aircraft has been downloaded and analysed. The enhanced procedure directs pilots to turn off both the inertial and air data portions of the ADIRU if any faults are displayed on the pilot's instrumentation. I've become very isolated. When you've been to the Moon, you can only talk to astronauts. In January 2016 almost eight years later I'm burdened by my most recent flight and mired in a month-long cycle of soul-searching. My aviation medical is due for renewal in February. I have a vivid dream. I'm flying at night; a supervised flight with a senior pilot observing. He puts me to the test, and I pass all the requirements. For some reason, I look down through the cockpit window and see a long road in an isolated area. At the end of the road is a car with its headlights on. I put down the wheels and flaps and land on that road, taxiing towards the waiting headlights. I shut down the engines and calmly climb from the aircraft on a ladder. The other pilots only stare in silence and don't try to stop me. My daughter is beside the car. She waves and smiles as I approach. I give her a big hug and together we drive away. I don't look back. I wake up with the realisation that I have to make a choice. I've been labelled a PTSD sufferer, but what does that really mean to me? I have to strip away the emotion, exposing the realities of persevering or ending my flying career. My 60th birthday is coming up later in the year. Flying is my passion. I've dedicated my life to being a pilot, and not an ordinary one. Following the course to fly fighters off aircraft carriers required total commitment, superior performance and courage. I cherished every second I was strapped into those fire-breathing machines. The good dreams I have are centred on that exciting and dangerous life. Now I've survived something that science-fiction stories are made of. The Kevin Sullivan I invested all my time and resources into developing has been compromised, battered and thrown into a minefield without a map. I've become very isolated. When you've been to the Moon, you can only talk to astronauts. I'm a self-exiled cave man, which I've adopted as a coping mechanism. If I stop flying, I'll lose the security and structure of employment, but should I stay tethered to a workplace that will only complicate my life further? The boundaries between PTSD and depression are blurred. I've resorted to medication to prolong my 30-year career, but the side effects have left me numb and robotic. The medication does not prevent me from feeling worried or threatened, they only stop the body's untethered release of chemicals in response to these feelings. Is this how I want to live my remaining years? I have to face the truth: my passion has become a cross to bear. This life-changing event has also damaged my daughter. She's had to watch helplessly as my persona changed. She knows she could have lost her dad on this day and that is very confronting. It's okay honey, I'm still here. In my dream she was there to take me away, waiting for me with a big smile and relief in her sparkling eyes. She knew I had decided to stop, and she was happy. That dream answers all my concerns, and I listen to it. I meet with my specialist to discuss my position. He's been monitoring my struggle, so my news is no surprise to him. He agrees it's time for me to stop. However, when I meet Qantas medical, they seem a bit surprised. "I'm not okay," I repeat. "And if I truthfully answer the mental-health questions in my upcoming aviation medical, I won't pass. What do you want me to do? Take the medical and fail, or just stop now and let the company decide my fate?" "But you're back flying." "Yes, but that doesn't mean I'm okay. I don't think I'll ever be okay. PTSD doesn't just go away. The company policies encourage us to self-report and well, I just have." A month later, I inform Qantas medical that I've finished taking medication for my condition and that redeployment within the company isn't an option. My decision is irreversible. I've honoured my commitment to stop flying if I ever doubted my ability to continue. I made the courageous decision before it was made for me. I've been trying to navigate my way out of No Man's Land, back to safety and salvation. If I need to leave something behind so I can move forward, then so be it. Edited extract from No Mans Land: the Untold Story of Automation and QF72 by Kevin Sullivan (ABC Books, $34.99) is out on May 31. A Sydney magistrate who indecently assaulted a boy should serve a reduced amount of time behind bars because of his age, his "less-than-perfect" health, and the fact he will face strict conditions in custody because of his job, his barrister has argued. Graeme Curran, 69, was found guilty in the NSW District Court last month of seven charges of indecent assault after he assaulted the teenage boy, who was known to him, in the early 1980s. Graeme Curran arrives at court on April 5, the day he was convicted. Credit:AAP Curran befriended the family of the boy whom he called his "little chicken" before assaulting him during a boat trip and in a "ritual" at his Sydney home where he ran his hands over the boy's naked body after they slept in the same bed with no clothes on. Curran was convicted of touching the boy's genitals during the boat trip, performing oral sex on him, tackling him to the ground and pressing up against him. In a characteristically sterile courtroom at the NSW Coroners Court in Lidcombe four small, bright paintings stood atop the witness stand. Looking as though they belonged in a gallery, they were from the hands of two siblings, aged just 10 and 11 at the time they died. Maria Lutz and Fernando Manrique with their children, Martin and Elisa. Sitting at the bench beside them Deputy State Coroner Elaine Truscott said the artworks, lauded by the promising children's school community, gave her pause to reflect on the talent of the prodigies whose lives were snatched by somebody who "should've been their protector and provider". She was delivering the inquest findings into the deaths of Elisa Manrique and her younger brother, Martin, as well as their Colombian-born mother Claudia Lutz and father Fernando Manrique, who had killed his family and himself by pumping carbon monoxide through their Davidson home between October 16 and 17, 2016. Two people have died horror crash in Cressy, west of Melbourne. Credit:Channel Nine Two people are dead and two others critically injured after a horror head-on crash west of Melbourne, but a baby in the back seat of one car was miraculously uninjured. A white Hyundai collided with a maroon Mitsubishi on Hamilton Highway in Cressey, about an hour west of Geelong, around 3.15pm. Both occupants of the Mitsubishi died at the scene and are yet to be identified. He says no matter the circumstances these cases are always about power and control. They think, I own her, she is my property, I can do what I like with her. With traditional crooks police have a fair idea of the likely profile, but on the dark end of domestic violence there is no type. It happens in nice suburbs and nice streets. We think of Julie Ramage, who was strangled to death in 2003 inside the family home by her brute of a husband James. They were a handsome couple with kids in private school, double income and nice friends. No one knew she was trapped in a violent prison. Julie and James Ramage. Name an industry and it will be there, says Andrews. They can hold down jobs and appear to live normal, respectable lives. People are being tortured. They are in living hell and we dont see it. There are people who have been in these relationships for 25 years and you shake your head as to how they survive. Pound for pound they are the most dangerous offenders we have to deal with. For a number of reasons many of the victims refuse to sign complaints, which means police have to find other methods to stop the violence escalating. There is a woman who couldnt understand how her ex-partner always knew her movements. Eventually when she walked into a police station to ask for help the offenders car was spotted outside. In the car was a balaclava and a pair of night goggles, says Andrews. When police checked her car, they found it had been secretly fitted with tracking devices. We are seeing repeated use of tracking devices and electronic surveillance. [The offenders] are using modern investigation methods - Big Brother is watching with evil intent, he adds. One victim was stalked for 11 years - the only relief was when her stalker was in jail or a psychiatric unit. When she moved to Victoria he chose to become homeless, then walked or took trains more than 1000 kilometres with the sole aim of finding her. A psychologist contacted police with a blunt warning: He is going to murder her. Cases of stalking demand that welfare, medical, prison and police authorities work together. Credit:Dominic O'Brien This is the sort of case where the criminal code alone cannot provide a solution and requires welfare, medical, prison and police authorities to work together. When this man was released from jail he was involuntarily committed and the woman was moved to a new location. An office worker would pour water on his wifes head every time he walked past her in a bizarre act of habitual humiliation. When she finally left he destroyed the house. A woman moved to Tasmania to get away from a stalker while he was in jail. He walked out of prison, went to the airport, flew to Tasmania and was arrested in her house that night. He has since been banned from Tasmania, Andrews says. When a woman moved on and started a new relationship, her stalker broke into her house and sent her photos from inside. Later he took photos inside her new boyfriends home. When she visited a friend he sent a photo standing outside carrying a gun. Loading A later police raid found he had four firearms. They also found a virtual shrine to her and her hacked computer passwords. A check of his records showed he had created a false identity and was talking to her through a dating site. There are thousands of women working in Melbourne and around the state who know they will be humiliated, beaten and sexually assaulted on a weekly basis and who feel they cant speak out often because they fear they will be killed. One woman is choked every night by her son but wont sign a complaint because she doesnt want him jailed. When some come to police they are beyond critical risk, Andrews says. A woman suffered an acquired brain injury after her partner repeatedly threw her through a plaster wall. Despite her injuries he convinced the doctor the victim was mentally ill and self-harming. To add insult to serious injury, the offender then began a relationship with the doctor. Yet the woman refused to sign a complaint because her tormentor is now her principal carer. A teenager who escaped her violent family was abducted, forced back and tortured. Her crime? She went on social media like any other kid, says Andrews. The traditional police response to family violence has varied from apathetic to illegal. When the woman did not want to go to court, the police would try and separate the victim and offender at the time - to cool down - and then leave them to it. On occasions the bully might cop a belting as a warning, but there was no follow-up. There were no specialists and it was never treated as a real crime a practice that continued well after the extent of family violence became obvious. Joy Rowley was murdered in 2011. Joy Maree Rowley was strangled to death in her Rye home in 2011 by her former partner James Martin Mulhall, despite a string of family violence reports that showed she was in imminent danger. She was one of many whose lives could and should have been saved. Now there is a serious commitment. A detective senior sergeant, three detective sergeants and 12 senior detectives will staff the Croydon VFU. We are really being supported by the courts not many of our offenders get bail. We have open information sharing between all the agencies, says Andrews. If police can charge, they will, but if they cant they have developed other tactics. They will move victims, help them conceal their identities, use anti-bikie disruption methods, turn them from the hunters to the hunted and have them banned from streets, suburbs, cities and states. Some are deported. Some of the people we have looked at would have been murdered. We have saved them, says Andrews. Our message is simple: You do not have to live with this. There are people here to help you. Importantly, other key areas in the police force that are difficult to access have bought in. Recently a bully who gets a kick out of terrorising his ex-partner got a different sort of buzz - at the end of a Special Operations Group electric stun gun during a high-end raid. And Victorias elite surveillance squad (known as The Dogs) roll out to follow the type that like to follow their victims. For police there is tremendous satisfaction in not so much solving crimes as stopping them. A veteran homicide investigator told me his best day in the job came when his team foiled a murder plot where a retail executive tried to hire a hitman to kill his wife. They slipped in an undercover agent to pose as a hitman and recorded the details as the businessman briefed the supposed killer. They even bugged the homicidal husband as he practised his grief-stricken response to being told of his wifes demise. The homicide detective eventually knocked on his door to say: "I have terrible news. Your wife is alive and you are under arrest." Trump Administration Withholds Information That Could Debunk Russian Interference Claims By Moon Of Alabama May 16, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - On Tuesday Russia's President Putin again rejected U.S. claims that his country interfered in the 2016 elections in the United States. Additional statements by Foreign Minister Lavrov provide that there is more information available about alleged Russian cyber issue during the election. He pointed to exchanges between the Russian and U.S. governments that Russia wants published but which the U.S. is withholding. On Tuesday May 14 Secretary of State Mike Pompeo flew to Sochi to meet with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergej Lavrov and with the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin. It was Pompeo's first official visit to Russia. Pompeo's meeting with Lavrov was followed by a joined news conference. The statements from both sides touched on the election issue. The State Department published a full transcript and video of the press conference in English language. The Russian Foreign Ministry provided an official English translation of only Lavrov's part. Both translations differ only slightly. Here are the relevant excerpts from the opening statements with regard to cyber issues. Lavrov: We agreed on the importance of restoring communications channels that have been suspended lately, which was due in no small part to the groundless accusations against Russia of trying to meddle in the US election. These allegations went as far as to suggest that we colluded in some way with high-ranking officials from the current US administration. It is clear that allegations of this kind are completely false. [...] I think that there is a fundamental understanding on this matter as discussed by our presidents during their meeting last year in Helsinki, as well as during a number of telephone conversations. So far these understandings have not been fully implemented. Pompeo: [W]e spoke, too, about the question of interference in our domestic affairs. I conveyed that there are things that Russia can do to demonstrate that these types of activities are a thing of the past and I hope that Russia will take advantage of those opportunities. During the Q & A Shaun Tanron of AFP asked Pompeo about the election issue: [I]f I could follow up on your statement about the election, you said that there are things that Russia could do to show that election interference is a thing of the past. What are those things? What do what would you like Russia to do? Thank you very much. Lavrov responded first to the question. He said that there is no evidence that shows any Russian interference in the U.S. elections. He continued: Speaking about the most recent US presidential campaign in particular, we have had in place an information exchange channel about potential unintended risks arising in cyberspace since 2013. From October 2016 (when the US Democratic Administration first raised this issue) until January 2017 (before Donald Trump's inauguration), this channel was used to handle requests and responses. Not so long ago, when the attacks on Russia in connection with the alleged interference in the elections reached their high point, we proposed publishing this exchange of messages between these two entities, which engage in staving off cyberspace incidents. I reminded Mr Pompeo about this today. The administration, now led by President Trump, refused to do so. Im not sure who was behind this decision, but the idea to publish this data was blocked by the United States. However, we believe that publishing it would remove many currently circulating fabrications. Of course, we will not unilaterally make these exchanges public, but I would still like to make this fact known. The communication channel about cyber issues did indeed exist. In June 2013 the Presidents of the United States and Russia issued a Joint Statement about "Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs)". The parties agreed to establishing communication channels between each other computer emergency response teams, to use the direct communication link of the Nuclear Risk Reduction Centers for cyber issue exchanges, and to have direct communication links between high-level officials in the White House and Kremlin for such matter. A Fact Sheet published by the Obama White House detailed the implementation of these three channels. Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get our FREE Daily Newsletter One inference from Lavrov's statement is that the "fundamental understanding on this matter" between the two presidents that has "not been fully implemented" is the release of the communications about cyberspace incidents. The Russians clearly think that a release of the communications with the Obama administration would exculpate them. That would also exculpate Trump from any further collusion allegations. Why then does the Trump administration reject the release? Who is blocking it? Pompeo did not respond to Lavrov's points. His next meeting that day was with President Putin. Putin let him wait for three hours. Both sides issued short opening statements. The English translations of what Putin said differ. In the version provided by Russia Putin explicitely denies the alleged election interference: For our part, we have said many times that we would also like to restore relations on a full scale. I hope that the necessary conditions for this are being created now since, despite the exotic character of Mr Muellers work, he should be given credit for conducting what is generally an objective inquiry. He reaffirmed the lack of any trace or collusion between Russia and the current administration, which we described as sheer nonsense from the very start. There was no, nor could there be any interference on our part in the US election at the government level. Nevertheless, regrettably, these allegations have served as a reason for the deterioration of our interstate ties. The State Department version does not include the Russian denial of election interference but doubles the rejection of the collusion claim: On our behalf, we have said it multiple times that we also would like to rebuild fully fledged relations, and I hope that right now a conducive environment is being built for that, because, though, however exotic the work of Special Counsel Mueller was, I have to say that on the whole he had a very objective investigation and he confirmed that there are no traces whatsoever of collusion between Russia and the incumbent administration, which weve said was absolutely fake. As weve said before, there was no collusion from our government officials and it could not be there. Still, that was that was one of the reasons certainly breaking our (inaudible) ties. An English language live translation of that paragraph (vid) by the Russian sponsored Ruptly does not include the word 'election' in the highlighted sentence, nor does a live translation (vid) by PBS. It seem that the Kremlin later inserted the explicit denial of election interference into Putin's statement. It is quite possible that Putin, who did not read from a prepared paper, mangled the talking point that Lavrov had already made. After the meeting Putin, Pompeo held a short press availability with the U.S. journalists accompanying him. There is no mentioning of Lavrov's point. There were secret communications between the Obama administration and the Russian government about the alleged election interference and 'hacks' of the DNC and of Clinton's campaign manager Podesta. They are not mentioned in the Mueller report nor in any other open source. As Russia wants these communications released it might be possible to file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to press for their publication. The Trump administration response to such a FOIA request could at least reveal the reasons why it is withholding them. The allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 elections are partly based on the fact that a commercial Russian enterprise used fake characters on Facebook to sell advertisement. A review of the themes and ideological positions those fake characters provided demonstrates that they were not designed to influence the U.S. elections. In contrast to those Russian fakes other fake characters on Facebook, provided by an Israeli company and revealed today, were clearly designed to influence elections: Facebook said Thursday it banned an Israeli company that ran an influence campaign aimed at disrupting elections in various countries and has canceled dozens of accounts engaged in spreading disinformation. ... Many were linked to the Archimedes Group, a Tel Aviv-based political consulting and lobbying firm that boasts of its social media skills and ability to "change reality." ... On its website, Archimedes presents itself as a consulting firm involved in campaigns for presidential elections. Little information is available beyond its slogan, which is "winning campaigns worldwide," and a vague blurb about the group's "mass social media management" software, which it said enabled the operation of an "unlimited" number of online accounts. Don't expect any protest from Washington DC about such obvious election interference in other countries. Hat tip to Aaron Mate for pointing out Lavrov's statement This article was originally published by " Moon Of Alabama " - Ms Head in a mock trial at Collins Place during Law Week in 1981. She was counsel for the defendant in the case Goldilocks v the Three Bears. Credit:The Age Archives The only woman on the Victorian Law Institute Council, Ms. Marilyn Head, found this out to her (and her clients) cost recently when she came before his honors court smartly dressed in slacks and top. In the Family Court of Mr. Justice Frederico it would appear that women lawyers wearing trousers are out. Mr. Justice Frederico said he did not allow women to appear in his court in pants. Therefore, I refuse to take your appearance, the judge said. A stunned Ms. Head was struggling for words when Mr. Justice Frederico said: I am not even going to hear you on the question of whether or not I should hear you. This case is adjourned. His honor stood and left the court. Ms. Heads client had come from Sydney for the case. She said yesterday: He was absolutely astounded. He could not believe it. I was very angry not only for myself but that my client was put in the position of not having anyone to appear for him for such a petty reason. I thought it downgraded the whole of the Family Court, which is supposed to be an informal, helping court, she said. Mr. Justice Frederico, 51, would not comment on the incident when contacted last night but sources close to him say it was his belief that Ms. Head was wearing jeans. Ms. Head insists this was not so and this has been supported by others present in the court. This government is not necessarily responsible for the rising violence. Theyre not responsible for that. But they are responsible for doing something about it. Mark Olson, ANF WAtoday understands some nurses are so stressed about their unsafe work environments they are having panic attacks on the drive to work. Many violent incidents go unreported. Mr Olson said big changes were needed in the way hospitals dealt with the violence crisis. We can increase security numbers, and police numbers, and that might do for now, he said. But you cant have a security person on every ward. Thats just not a practical solution at this time. We just dont have enough security staff to do that. Currently security guards could not take much action in the face of violence. Loading I feel for these guys, men and women who are security guards who dont have the powers that the railway police have, or the transit guards have, he said. They need those powers to enforce the standard that we all expect, the standards of safety in our hospitals. On Sunday a Royal Perth Hospital nurse was shanked in the neck by a patient. Police will allege the man approached the nurse from behind and struck her with a makeshift weapon. The charged man had been arrested by police hours earlier, but was left in the care of the hospital for medical treatment. Mr Olson said the event was shocking and the nurse involved wanted hospital security beefed up. Mr Olson said nurses often had concerns about whether a patient might be dangerous, but in that situation - where there were suspicions that a problem could arise - it was not appropriate for police to be called. There needed to be a facility the new unit who could act. Minister Cook said he too was concerned that information about the alleged offender and possible threats to safety were not passed on properly to staff on the ward on Sunday. He agreed the government must take steps to stop the assaults quickly. He had asked the Director General of the Health Department and Police Commissioner to work together to have a better understanding of the protocols associated with bringing patients under police escort to hospital and better manage those patients. But when pressed about taking immediate action to boost security numbers and provide a visible deterrent in emergency departments, he placed the responsibility for staffing changes back on the health service rather than issuing a directive. There are currently only four security officers at the massive QEII hospital site, meaning they could be up to seven minutes away from the emergency department where violence could erupt without notice. There are two on the ground at the Perth Childrens Hospital, with one in a control room. Graylands also has two on the ground and one in a control room. I expect the health service providers to take immediate action in the current situation. And that may require extra staff in relation to rosters, it may require beefing up of those resources. I expect that to happen as a normal part of their operation, Mr Cook said. But I will be expecting them to take extra measures as a result of the decisions that the government will make coming out of these discussion with the health service providers. My father was a Liberal voter. Had he lived beyond 94, he would have been 100 last month. Im pretty sure he wouldnt recognise the Liberal Party if he were alive today. He was a man of opinion. His opinion would likely be close to unprintable about an outfit that has consigned the remaining members of its ministry to metaphorical witness protection, gagged and out of sight, while its latest leader preaches inanities like it is my vision for this country as your Prime Minister to keep the Promise of Australia to all Australians. Like a lot of his generation, my father was drawn to the Liberal Party by Robert Menzies declaration that his party was for the forgotten people: those who were not protected by wealth or organised labour, but who were for the most part unorganised and unselfconscious. Taipei: Taiwan has became the first place in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage despite deep divisions over marriage equality. Despite heavy rain, thousands of demonstrators cheered and waved rainbow flags outside Parliament in the capital Taipei on Friday, some embracing tearfully while others hailed the vote with chants of "Asia's first", and "Way to go, Taiwan! Same-sex marriage supporters cheer outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, Taiwan, on Friday. Credit:AP MPs from the majority Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) backed the bill, which passed 66 to 27, though the measure could complicate President Tsai Ing-wen's bid to win a second term in presidential elections next year. The bill, which offers same-sex couples similar legal protections for marriage as heterosexuals, will take effect after Tsai signs it into law. A former Ohio State team doctor sexually abused at least 177 male students from 1979-96, according to an investigative report released on Friday. The abuse included athletes from at least 16 school sports teams and also encompassed other students who saw Dr Richard Strauss at the school's student health centre and an off-campus clinic. Ohio State said at least 177 men were sexually abused by team doctor Richard Strauss. Credit:AP Sexual abuse by university doctors has come under increased scrutiny after the prosecution of Dr Larry Nasser, who was found to have abused hundreds of girls while working as a team doctor for USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University. Both institutions had received complaints that were not acted upon. According to the report, the Ohio State "had knowledge" of sexually abusive treatment from Strauss as early as 1979, "but reports about Strauss' conduct were not elevated beyond the Athletics Department or Student Health until 1996". The criminalisation of abortion in Alabama this week under the Human Life Protection Act passed by 25 male, white Republican state senators and signed into law by the states female governor has rightly provoked outrage and condemnation. But this law, which makes it a Class A felony, punishable by a minimum 10 year prison sentence, for a doctor to perform an abortion, is neither the only nor even the worst anti-abortion measure to be enacted recently in an increasingly rabid effort by conservative American states to give the US Supreme Court the case it needs to overthrow the 1973 Roe v Wade decision that legalised abortion. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signing a bill that virtually outlaws abortion in the state. Credit:AP Georgias Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act, the so-called "heartbeat bill" signed into law on May 7 that prohibits abortions after six weeks, unlike Alabamas, provides exemptions in the case of rape and incest providing the woman files a police report in advance, but unlike Alabama it subjects woman suspected of having abortions, or even miscarriages, to criminal investigation. Five other states - Kentucky, Ohio, Mississippi, North Dakota and Iowa have also recently passed heartbeat bills while similar bills are wending their way through the legislature in Missouri and Louisiana. Arkansas and Utah have passed laws to ban abortion after 18 weeks, while numerous other states have "viability" laws that defy Roe v. Wades 24-26 week "viability" definition. PHILIPSBURG:--- Sint Maarten will be hosting the Wet/Hurricane Season Caribbean Climate Outlook Forum (CariCOF) next week from May 21-24. This is a collaborative effort between the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology & Hydrology (CIMH) and the Meteorological Department of St. Maarten (MDS). MDS falls under the Ministry of Tourism & Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunications (Ministry TEATT). The Forum will address climate change, increasing climate variability as exemplified by extreme weather and climate events, such as droughts, floods, storms/hurricanes that continue to pose a significant risk for the Caribbean region. Minister of Tourism & Economic Affairs Hon. Stuart Johnson said on Thursday that the Regional Climate Outlook Forum is promoted by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) through the Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems (CREWS) in different parts of the world. The forums are part of the development of an effective early warning system that provides real-time seasonal climate forecasts and interpretation for more than 25 Caribbean states and territories. This service would be tailored made for the region as part of an overall strategy for disaster preparedness, risk reduction and adaptation. Experiences, lessons learned, and best practices post-Irma will be discussed by attendees. The main feature event will be the climate forecasts for the 2019 Atlantic hurricane season. CariCOF is a timely event since it is being held one-week ahead of the official start of the hurricane season. We look forward to welcoming the Forum delegates and to having meaningful and productive discussions, Minister Hon. Stuart Johnson said on Thursday. The Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have climate change and increasing climate variability as regional and national priorities. CariCOF was re-established in June 2010, after the region suffered one of the most intense droughts in Caribbean history. There was a follow-up CariCOF in February/March 2012 that developed a draft seasonal (three-month) rainfall outlook. Since 2012, the CIMH has been coordinating climate forecasting activities throughout the region. The focus of CariCOF 2019 is the wet/hurricane season which usually has implications for disaster risk management, with perennial threats from tropical depressions, storms, hurricanes, floods and landslides. The training of meteorologists and climatologists from the across the Caribbean Basin about the art of climate forecasting will take place between May 21-22 followed by the stakeholders outlook forum from May 23-24. The Forum will also attract national disaster management practitioners, and participation from partner regional organizations and agencies representing climate sensitive sectors such as health, energy, tourism and water. Other areas to be discussed is building capacity in the disaster management fraternity and regional organizations in understanding, interpreting and applying climate-related forecasts, including sub-seasonal and one month will be key for decision making during the upcoming hurricane season. The development of a regional Roadmap and Plan of Action (RPA), orchestrated by the Regional Sectoral Early Warning Information Systems across Climate Timescales (EWISACTs) Coordination Partners, will be discussed with respect to its status as the region prepares for its implementation between 2020-2030. Other points to be discussed are: Forecast based early action to be led by the Overseas Development Institute (UK) in collaboration with the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre; National level sector specific climate information; and a proposed network for monitoring climate-related impacts. The Forum is taking place at the Simpson Bay Resort & Marina. PHILIPSBURG:--- On Wednesday, May 15th, 16 police officers from the Class of 2016 attended their graduation ceremony that was held in front of the Police Head Quarters in Philipsburg. The graduation was attended to by His Excellency the Governor of Sint Maarten Drs. Eugene Holiday, many government officials and department heads, representatives of several local associations and communities, colleagues, family members, and friends. The Police Chief Carl John, the police management team and representatives from the Nederlandse Politie Academy (N.P.A.) proudly congratulated all of the graduates for their academic achievements and expressed sincere thanks to the family members for the support they have given them while they were in training. KPSM continues to train its personnel to the highest level possible to give the foundation on which to build a carrier offering the highest level of professional police service. Two classes are presently going through the same intense training one of which will be doing their final exams early next year. KPSM is still recruiting young dynamic men and woman who are willing to take on this challenge. For more information visit the Police Facebook page. KPSM Press Release WILLEMSTAD:--- on May 9th and 10th a joint symposium on migration, was convened under the auspices of the Social Economic Councils (SERs) of Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten. The two-day event, was held at Avila Beach Hotel on Curacao. For this occasion, the institutions invited government officials and stakeholders from all three countries to participate in discussions and to share experiences and best practices on the topic of migration. In his opening speech the Prime Minister of Curacao, the honorable Eugene Rhuggenaath expressed the need for the countries of Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten, to continue to work together in order to find solutions for some of the common challenges within the Caribbean part of the Dutch Kingdom. The honorable Prime Minister of Aruba, Evelyn Wever-Croes, and the honorable Prime Minister of Sint Maarten, Leona Marlin-Romeo both agreed that the symposium took place at the right time: a time when the number of international migrants is higher than ever before. From the U.S.-Mexico border and the ongoing Venezuela exodus, the current mass movement of people seeking a safer and more prosperous home is making headlines across the world. Sint Maarten is no stranger to migration as the number of immigrant arrivals has increased over the years. Many of whom are dealing with great economic hardship in their respective countries. The issue of whether migration is economically beneficial can quickly become an emotional discussion at times in our community. The keynote speakers were representatives of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), Caribbean Migration Consultations (CMC), United Nations High Commissioner Refugee (UNHCR), the Canadian Embassy in Bogota, the University of Curacao, the University of St. Martin and the Think To DO Institute of Curacao. The President of the University of St. Martin, Prof. dr. Antonio Carmona Baez presented a review of current border issues, demographics and migratory patterns as it relates to the hybrid systems of higher education and accreditation across the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Special attention was given to the case of Sint Maarten and its peculiar bond to other English-speaking islands within the Kingdom, as well as with its largely migrant-based student body, which allowed participants to consider how education policies may impact the future of socio-economic development in the region. During the presentations and discussions, topics such as: human mobility, economics, work, employment, integration, insecurity, diversity and minorities, as well as culture, the legal and political aspects, were recurring highlights. Participants were also given the opportunity to sign up online and partake in a survey. The purpose of the survey was for the participants to express their views on migrants. The results of the online survey propelled interesting discussions. On the second day, the symposium centered around the Caribbean perspective on effective migration policies. Short presentations were given by various speakers followed by breakout sessions where it was discussed how Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten can best govern migration to enhance sustainable socioeconomic development. The topics of the five breakout sessions were: Reaping the benefits and minimizing the cost of migration; Migration is a tool to safeguard the socioeconomic model of the Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten (ACS)-countries: migration approaches revisited; Brain drain and brain gain: a matter of reversing the coin?; Changing the narrative on migrants and Informal and formal labor market approaches: towards win-win- approaches. Prior to the conclusion of the symposium, a panel discussion took place, during which different stakeholders were given the opportunity to share their views on the social economic challenges and potential benefits of migration. It was agreed that migrants have contributed to the cultural diversity, the economic and social development of the three countries. In addition, migration once managed properly, can be seen as a catalyst contributing factor to sustainable development of countries. The Prime Ministers of Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten welcomed this platform to pursue the development and implementation of a migration policy based on each countrys own migration realities and capacities, providing that safety, dignity and human rights are protected at all times. The SER of Sint Maarten will present its findings in a report which will be presented to the honorable Prime Minister Leona Marlin-Romeo, the Chairperson of Parliament and all relevant stakeholders. For more information on the joint symposium visit our website www.sersxm and the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Migration-Symposium-330723910971202/ IFSEC 2019: InnoSenT presents new radar products with Smart Tracker Donnersdorf, Germany, 17/05/2019. InnoSenT GmbH is taking part in Europe?s biggest security event, IFSEC, being held at the ExCeL London exhibition centre. From 18 to 20 June 2019, the radar experts will present their security solutions at their trade fair booth, no. IF1624. The focus will be on the Smart Tracker of the new iSYS-501 series.InnoSenT will be exhibiting at the leading trade fair for the security industry and related technology for the second time. More than 27,000 trade specialists from the sector meet every year at IFSEC to exchange information on the latest developments and trends. The company?s 42-m? booth provides the ideal setting to find out about innovative radar technology and the individual added value it can lend to one?s own security product.?IFSEC 2019 presents us with an ideal opportunity to demonstrate our new systems to the public for the first time. We are very excited to see how the audience of industry specialists reacts to our developments. Radar is very complex and is becoming increasingly popular thanks to the technical possibilities it opens up. At the event, we will have the opportunity to tackle questions about our radar technology in person?, explains Christian Bommel, Head of Industrial Sales & Marketing, in reference to the upcoming trade fair.InnoSenT will also showcase the successful iSYS-50xx series, which they recently expanded to include two additional radar systems. The products provide information on the speed, distance, direction of movement and position of persons or vehicles within the coverage area of up to 29,500 m?. Its features are perfectly coordinated with outdoor area surveillance.While integrating the iSYS-5010 and 5020 requires a great deal of radar expertise, InnoSenT also enables easier access to the technology by means of their new additions to the range: iSYS-5011 and 5021. The latter options are primarily aimed at customers with limited development resources. The systems include comprehensive signal processing. The customer can thus directly utilise important functions such as object classification and filtering of detections. The result is a quicker time-to-market phase. By defining ignore and alarm zones, users can focus on the relevant areas and thus increase surveillance efficiency.The highlight is the new tracker license available for the iSYS-5011 and 5021. The Smart Tracker clusters together individual radar detections and tracks them over time. This allows persons and their movement behaviour to be observed. The recorded track remains preserved even if the person briefly stops moving or changes posture. If the system is coupled with video equipment, the tracking function enables the camera?s field of vision to be pointed towards a person.In addition to the iSYS-50xx series, InnoSenT also offers a near-range security solution with the INS radar system. The combination of motion and presence detectors permits technical equipment to be controlled in two different, contactless ways. It also allows two different applications to be controlled with a single sensor. The end users do not need to put in place an additional system in order to utilise the different detection modes.The trade fair team looks forward to discussing the technology in depth with you at booth no. IF1624. Feel free to make an appointment to talk with our experts on site. The options for getting in touch with the sales team and further information about InnoSenT products can be found on the company website at www.innosent.de. Current news and live reporting during the event will be accessible on the social media channels.## May 16, 2019 " Information Clearing House " - During a House hearing on Thursday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez asked the CEO of one of America's largest pharmaceutical companies a simple but crucial question: Why does a life-saving HIV drug that costs $8 a month in Australia have a $2,000 price tag in the U.S.? Gilead chief executive Daniel O'Day declined to comment on the low price of Truvada for PrEP in Australia, but said the reason the cost is close to $2,000"the current list price is $1,780," he saidin the United States is because the drug has "patent protection." As the Washington Post reported in March, the development of Truvada as a treatment for HIV was "almost fully funded by U.S. taxpayers." The U.S. government patented the treatment in 2015, according to the Post, but has "opted not to file an infringement suit to enforce" the patent even as Gileadwhich argues the government patent is invalidrakes in billions of dollars in profits from Truvada. Ocasio-Cortez highlighted these facts during the House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing on Thursday. Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get our FREE Daily Newsletter "I think it's important that we notice here that we the public, we the people, developed this drug, we paid for this drug, we led and developed all of the grounding patents to create PrEP, and then that patent has been privatized despite the fact that that patent is owned by the public," said Ocasio-Cortez. "We refuse to enforce it." "There's no reason this should be $2,000 a month," Ocasio-Cortez added. "People are dying because of it. We own the intellectual property for it. People are dying for no reason. For no reason. We developed this drug." In a tweet following Thursday's hearing, Ocasio Cortez answered her own question on why Truvada's list price is $8 in Australia. "Spoiler: Because Australia has universal healthcare," wrote the New York congresswoman. The reason the United States hasn't joined the rest of the industrialized world in establishing a universal healthcare system is not individual drug company executives like O'Day, said Ocasio-Cortez. "I don't blame you. I blame us. I blame this body," Ocasio-Cortez said during the hearing. "Because every single developed country in the world guarantees healthcare as a right except us. Except the United States. Because we can't get it together. Because we don't have the fortitude to kick pharmaceutical lobbyists [out of] our congressional offices." .@RepAOC @AOC: "I blame us. I blame this body because every single developed country in the world guarantees health care as a right except us, except the United States, because we can't get it together." pic.twitter.com/9adUIKQlIb CSPAN (@cspan) May 16, 2019 Dreams - Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here London, Ont. (May 16, 2019) The 24th season of Southern Ontario Sprints racing continues this Saturday when the tour heads to Brighton Speedway for the second round of the 2019 SOS schedule. This weekends event at Brighton is the first of six SOS visits to the Rinaldi Family-owned facility in 2019. The SOS tour has raced at Brighton 113 times since first visiting there in 1997, with Rick Wilsons 22 victories topping the all-time SOS win list at the Northumberland County track. Dylan Westbrook, Cory Turner, Ryan Turner, Steve Lyons, and Ryan Susice claimed feature wins last season at the 1/3 mile oval. The off-season has seen some top SOS drivers change rides; Cory Turner will kick off his SOS title defense this weekend behind the wheel of the Burger Barn No. 13, while Dylan Westbrooks familiar No. 47x is now under the Hills Racing Team banner. All SOS races at Brighton Speedway in 2019 will feature a Dash race brought to you by Naylor Dock Systems, Docks Are Us, and Four Points Sheraton Hotels. Saturdays event at Brighton will start at 7:00 pm, with spectator gates scheduled to open at 5:00 pm. Please visit www.brightonspeedway.ca for additional event information. WHAT: 2019 Southern Ontario Sprints Season Round Two WHERE: Brighton Speedway 775 County Rd 64 Brighton, Ontario K0K 1H0 Phone: 613-475-1102 Website: www.brightonspeedway.ca Twitter: @BrightonSpdwy Facebook: www.facebook.com/BrightonSpdwy/ WHEN: Saturday, May 18, 2019 Racing begins @ 7:00 p.m. About the Southern Ontario Sprints: Founded in 1996, the Southern Ontario Sprints series is a traveling winged 360 Sprint Car tour based in Ontario, Canada. 2019 marks the 24th year of operation for the Southern Ontario Sprints tour. The 2019 schedule consists of 12 events at three different race tracks in Ontario; each SOS tour event pays a minimum of $1,200-to-win and $240-to-start. Visit www.SouthernOntarioSprints.ca for more information. Website: www.SouthernOntarioSprints.ca Twitter: @SOSsprints Facebook: www.Facebook.com/SouthernOntarioSprints YouTube: www.YouTube.com/user/SOSsprints The Southern Ontario Sprints would like to thank their 2019 partners, including Brighton Speedway, Merrittville Speedway, Ohsweken Speedway, the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and Museum, www.ImageFactor.ca, and Kreitz Oval Track Parts. The Georgetown Sheriff's Office provided this picture of a man who deputies say escaped from the Georgetown hospital May 17 while in custody. Congress can sometimes feel as distant and impenetrable as a black hole which was the topic of a House Science Committee hearing held yesterday (May 16). Four scientists affiliated with the Event Horizon Telescope project, which released the first-ever image of a black hole earlier this year , testified at the hearing about how the image was created, the importance of science research and education, and the future of the project itself. Throughout the hearing, the scientists' enthusiasm for black holes and the new image was clear. "Seeing these images for the first time was truly amazing, and one of my life's happiest memories," Katie Bouman, a computer scientist at MIT whose photograph went viral in the days after the image's release, said during the committee hearing. Related: Eureka! Scientists Photograph a Black Hole for the 1st Time This is the first image of a black hole as seen by the Event Horizon Telescope, a planet-scale array of eight ground-based radio telescopes forged through international collaboration. It shows the supermassive black hole in the center of the galaxy M87 and its shadow. (Image credit: EHT Collaboration) The panel also included Shep Doeleman, an astrophysicist at Harvard University and director of the Event Horizon Telescope project; France Cordova, director of the National Science Foundation, which funded the project; and Colin Lonsdale, director of MIT's Haystack Observatory. During the hearing, each panelist shared experiences that got them hooked on science and touched on how their new contribution could fuel the same process for future generations. "I think that this picture has really captured the imaginations of a generation of new young scientists," Bouman said. "I think that getting that interest in science to students at a young age will help them enter the STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] fields and make contributions to many different projects." Throughout her testimony, Bouman focused on emphasizing the importance of collaborating across experience levels and disciplines to succeed at this sort of large, complicated project. "Early-career scientists have been a driving force behind every aspect of the EHT," Bouman said, referring to the Event Horizon Telescope . "No one algorithm or person made this image; it required the talent of a global team of scientists and years of hard work to develop not only imaging techniques, but also cutting-edge instrumentation, data processing and theoretical simulations." The testimony also offered insight into why the image's release was such a dramatic moment the team was able to keep the details of the announcement, particularly which black hole had been imaged, under wraps until the coordinated news conferences. "[Being] bound by a common science vision, it really helps when you want to prevent a leak," Doeleman said. "We had 200 people from around the globe and nobody broke the code, nobody broke the silence, and I think it's because we all understood the impact that it would have. We wanted to be able to tell our story, the scientific story, after peer-reviewed publication of our results, so that's a key part of it." But of course, the Event Horizon Telescope team doesn't intend to stop its work any time soon, and the representatives wanted to know what would come next . Related: The Best Space Photos Ever: Astronauts & Scientists Weigh in "I learned a valuable lesson I hope not to repeat last week, which is that if you miss an episode of 'Game of Thrones,' you find out a couple days later that apparently it all ends with dragons," Sean Casten, D-Ill., said during one of the lighter moments of the hearing. "I don't want to do that again, so can you give us a little hint you mentioned that you're going to be able to now tune this on the black hole at the center of the Milky Way, when should we be tuning in for that?" (Doeleman demurred to offer any details, but said he expected the next release within a year.) But perhaps the most powerful moment of the hearing came toward the end, when Haley Stevens, D-Mich., asked the team to offer a bit of poetic advice about how not to get lost in a black hole , and Doeleman rose to the challenge. "In 1655, there was an image that startled people: It was the first drawing of a flea, by [Robert] Hooke," he said. "The microscopic world became real for us. All of a sudden something that was invisible to us became real, and it changed the way we thought about our lives." More than 200 years later, another iconic image was born, Doeleman continued, then another and another. "Think also about the first X-ray, made by Rontgen, of his wife's hand you could see the ring with the bony structure underneath. It made something visible for the first time that was invisible prior to that. And then think of the Earthrise over the moon , the first ' Blue Marble .' It really put things in perspective for us, it made us feel connected in a way that we hadn't before, it made us feel vulnerable. "These are iconic images; they're terrifying, but we can't look away," Doeleman said, adding that he believes the new black hole image may join this group of pivotal scientific images . "It may be the first image we have of a one-way door out of our universe," he said. "It's something that we've been taught it's a real monster exists, that the invisible has become visible, and that maybe it's the beginning of something new, not just the end." NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), shown here in a still from an animation, has completed 60,000 orbits of the Red Planet. NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has clocked a total of 60,000 laps around Mars, during which time the probe has collected invaluable data about the planet's surface and atmosphere. MRO circles Mars once every 112 minutes, traveling at about 2 miles per second (3.4 kilometers per second). On May 15, the probe reached its 60,000-lap milestone at 1:39 p.m. EDT (1839 GMT), according to a statement from NASA . "MRO has given scientists and the public a new perspective of Mars," Dan Johnston, project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, said in the statement. "We've also supported NASA's fleet of Mars surface missions , allowing them to send their images and discoveries back to scientists on Earth." Related: Latest Photos from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter by the numbers: 60,000 orbits of the Red Planet. (Image credit: NASA) The MRO mission launched in August 2005 and entered Mars' orbit in March 2006. The probe began its science operations in November 2006, collecting detailed views of the Red Planet's surface and monitoring daily weather patterns using its High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera (HiRISE). The data collected by MRO can help preparations for future crewed missions to Mars and identify potential landing sites, NASA officials said in the statement. MRO also serves as the primary relay for NASA's Curiosity rover . The ground-based spacecraft communicates with the orbiter, which then beams data back to one of NASA's Deep Space Network antennas on Earth. Later this month, MRO will reach another major milestone: relaying 1 terabit of data back to Earth since it arrived at Mars 13 years ago, according to the statement. "Mars is our laboratory," Leslie Tamppari, MRO deputy project scientist at JPL, said in the statement. "After more than a decade, we've collected enough data to formulate and test hypotheses to see how they change or hold up over time." From its vantage point above Mars, MRO can observe wide swaths of the planet, offering a more comprehensive view of seasonal changes, CO2 ice sublimating, migrating sand dunes, and how meteorite strikes have reshaped the landscape. Using its Mars Climate Sounder instrument and Mars Color Imager camera, MRO can also study the planet's dynamic atmosphere and monitor massive Martian dust storms like the one that halted operations for NASA's Opportunity rover in 2018. In addition to MRO, there are several other instruments that orbit Mars and send valuable data back to Earth every day. This includes NASA's longest-lived orbiter, Odyssey, which is the primary relay for the InSight Mars lander , as well as the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) orbiter, which will help the Mars 2020 rover land safely on the Red Planet in February 2021, according to the statement. Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect the MRO has beamed home 1 terabit of data, not 1 terabyte. By accelerating the timeline for getting astronauts back on the moon, "we are by definition accelerating the humans to Mars program," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a keynote speech at the Humans to Mars Summit in Washington on May 14, 2019. WASHINGTON A mission to the moon may be a good " steppingstone " for sending humans to Mars, but the experts are divided over whether NASA's new push to put humans on the moon in 2024 will help get the agency to Mars by the 2030s. This spring, Vice President Mike Pence directed NASA to put "the next man and the first woman" on the lunar surface by 2024, four years earlier than the agency had planned. President Donald Trump had originally proposed a 2028 moon landing with his Space Policy Directive-1, but he chose to speed up the process over concerns of a new "space race" with China and Russia. That news was received with a mix of cautious optimism and doubt among members of the spaceflight community, many of whom are now tasked with figuring out how to make a moon landing happen with a limited budget and limited time. Earlier this week, Trump published an amended budget request for fiscal year 2020 that includes an additional $1.6 billion (on top of the agency's $21 billion overall budget) to help NASA work toward that goal of landing on the moon in 2024. NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine called the extra cash a "down payment" for NASA's accelerated moonshot, which will require more cash flow if the agency is going to make it to the moon in 2024 and Mars in the 2030s. Related: Mars Base Camp: Lockheed Martins Red Planet Plan in Pictures "We're going to the moon because we want to get to Mars with humans," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said Tuesday (May 14) here at the Humans to Mars Summit. By accelerating the timeline for getting astronauts back on the moon, "we are by definition accelerating the humans to Mars program," he added. The agency has said that it plans to land astronauts on Mars in the 2030s, following President Barack Obama's request in 2016. The following year, Trump requested a nongovernmental, independent report about the possibility of launching humans to Mars in 2033 in his NASA Authorization Act of 2017. Although Bridenstine has said that NASA wants to achieve a landing in 2033 , he hasn't offered a new timeline for Mars based on the moon mission just yet. In February, the independent report from the Science and Technology Policy Institute (STPI) concluded that NASA will not be able to land astronauts on Mars until the late 2030s regardless of how much funding is available. That report was published before Pence announced NASA's accelerated timeline, and it doesn't account for the newly adjusted budget request. But according to the report, no amount of money can put astronauts on Mars by 2033, because there simply isn't enough time to develop, build and test all the technologies needed for that kind of a mission. Despite the findings of that report, however, Hoppy Price, chief engineer of NASA's robotic Mars exploration program, said here at the Humans to Mars Summit that he still thought a crewed lunar landing in 2024 could lead to human mission to Mars in 2033 "if sufficient funding was available." This proposed architecture for a human Mars mission utilizes lunar mission elements. Researchers came up with this "sortie-class" mission concept at the fifth Mars Achievability and Sustainability Workshop (AM V) in 2017. (Image credit: Hoppy Price/Explore Mars/AAS) Price suggested NASA could build an infrastructure in Mars orbit similar to the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway that the agency intends to put in orbit around the moon. That gateway could serve as a "home base" for the first human missions to Mars, and astronauts would complete only short-duration missions to the surface using a separate ascent/descent vehicle. This kind of architecture "would utilize more near-term technology systems and avoid a lot of the risks that were cited in the STPI report," he said, and explained that it would be more cost-effective and time-efficient to build upon existing technologies. In another panel discussion, Ken Bowersox, a former NASA astronaut who recently became the deputy associate administrator for NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, said that NASA's original plan to land astronauts on the moon in 2028 "was really pretty aggressive with the budget we were considering doing it with." However, he didn't seem discouraged by the accelerated timeline, calling the news "awesome" and "exciting." "I think it's going to be good for us," Bowersox said. "I think it's going to help us change in ways that will be better for the whole agency, and it will help us not just get to the moon but on to Mars and past Mars one day." He said the 2024 moonshot will force NASA to learn how to make missions simpler, easier and more affordable qualities that may be useful for more than just one rushed mission to the moon and could help us get to Mars faster. "Everything we do in this program is intended to inform our journey to Mars," Bowersox said. One thing that Bowersox said would be "key" to putting humans on Mars in 2033 is another big call to action much like President John F. Kennedy's famous moonshot speech before Congress in 1961, and the speech Pence gave in March, when he announced that NASA would be putting "boots on the moon" in 2024 instead of 2028. Bowersox suggested that whoever is president of the United States in 2025 or 2026 should give a similarly historic speech declaring NASA's goals for human exploration of Mars with a concrete timeline. NASA wants the public's help to create an oral history of the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing. Apollo 11's lunar module touched down safely on the moon on July 20, 1969, carrying astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. With the big anniversary coming up soon, NASA's Explorers: Apollo program will release a commemorative audio series that includes stories submitted by the general public, sharing their views on space exploration and the Apollo moon landings. All recordings should be submitted to apollostories@mail.nasa.gov . Recordings received before June 14 will have the best chance of getting featured in the series, NASA said. The ultimate deadline for submissions is Dec. 31. NASA has released detailed recording instructions in a statement . Related: 'Apollo's Legacy': Science, Politics and the Return to the Moon NASA's suggested questions for participants include: What does exploration mean to you? What do you think it would be like to see humans walk on the moon again? When you think of the moon, what comes to mind? What do you want to know about the moon? NASA is inviting the public to share their Apollo stories and views on its 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. (Image credit: NASA) If you remember the moon landing, NASA has some additional prompts for you to consider: Where were you when humans walked on the moon for the first time? Describe who you were with, what you were thinking, what the atmosphere was like and how you were feeling. What was your life like in 1969? Do you remember learning about space in school? If so, what do you remember? As the agency remembers the Apollo moon landing program, which saw 12 people walk on the lunar surface between 1969 and 1972, NASA is gearing up for the possibility of additional human landings in the near future. A few weeks ago, President Donald Trump's administration set a 2024 deadline to land the next astronauts on the moon, and the president's recent fiscal 2020 NASA budget request amendment includes $1.6 billion for that initiative . Visit the right patch of desert along the border of Libya and Egypt, and you could stumble on pieces of pale yellow glass, the traces of a meteorite impact that took place 29 million years ago. That glass, one notable piece of which was used in jewelry found in King Tut's tomb , has long been argued to have celestial roots. It's also the subject of a new study, which finds that so-called Libyan Desert Glass was likely created by a meteorite impact, not by an airburst of a space rock. If the research holds up, it suggests that scientists studying the threat of asteroids colliding with Earth may not need to worry so much about the consequences on the ground of large space rocks exploding in the atmosphere. "Both meteorite impacts and airbursts can cause melting," lead author Aaron Cavosie, a geologist at Curtin University in Australia, said in a statement . "However, only meteorite impacts create shock waves that form high-pressure minerals, so finding evidence of former reidite confirms it was created as the result of a meteorite impact." Related: Even If We Can Stop a Dangerous Asteroid, Being Human May Mean We Don't Succeed They knew that whether the glassmaking space rock hit the ground or not, it was large. But Cavosie and his co-author wanted to pin down whether the culprit was an impact or an airburst. So they worked with seven pieces of the pale yellow glass, looking at them under a high-powered scanning microscope. That let the pair get a close-up look at zircon crystals within the glass, which develop slightly different structures depending on what happens to them over the millennia. That analysis suggested some of the zircon crystals had once been reidite, a mineral that only forms under very specific high-pressure circumstances that match what occurs when a meteorite slams into Earth, but not when such a space rock explodes in the air. (In an email to Space.com, Cavosie added that although scientists haven't spotted a crater to match the impact, there's a lot of sand in the area that could be hiding such a structure below the dunes.) Cavosie and his co-author hope that's comforting news for planetary defense experts, who focus on the threat of asteroids colliding with Earth and what humans can do to protect ourselves. That's because after the airburst over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 2013 , people had worried that Libyan Desert Glass was formed during a much, much larger airblast. Now, the geologists say that with the reidite identified in Libyan Desert Glass, that scenario is off the table. Combine that with the fact that geologists haven't tracked down any evidence of relatively recent reidite-free glass samples, and the findings suggest that even massive airblasts don't have as serious of consequences on the ground as some people had feared. The research is described in a paper published May 2 in the journal Geology. A Bloc Against the Right The Dream of a Green Party Alliance with Macron Influential Franco-German politician Daniel Cohn-Bendit would like the German Greens to join forces with French President Emmanuel Macron to get the European Union back on track. But not everyone is taken with the idea. Archive Document Queen Outed Herself as a Fan of the EU Does Britain's future lie in Europe? In 1988, long before the prospect of Brexit, the queen spoke about the issue with a German diplomat. A document viewed by DER SPIEGEL shows that she held a very clear view. President Donald Trump looks to be cooling on the idea of an aggressive 25% tariff on imported cars and parts, according to Bloomberg News. That's good news for politicians and businesses in Europe, especially in Germany, which runs a $24 billion auto trade surplus with the U.S. A tariff hike of that magnitude would cost the eurozone's biggest economy $20 billion in car exports, according to industry analysts at UniCredit. Such a hike would hurt Americans too, pushing up their average car prices by $4,400, according to one estimate by the Center for Automotive Research. The idea has always looked reckless. But Germany and Europe aren't out of the trade woods yet. Any delay to tariffs beyond the Saturday deadline will probably be presented as a stay of execution, not an acquittal. If the threat is kept on the table, it will continue to have a political and economic impact. It will affect investment and financial market confidence and will be linked explicitly by Trump to progress by U.S. and European Union trade negotiators on striking a new trade deal. No doubt he will use it to try to split the EU member states. Brussels officials complain frequently of Trump using tariffs like a gun to the head. It's still loaded. Even without a 25% levy, Trump's trade antics have been extremely damaging to Berlin. The escalation of tit-for-tat tariffs with China has put sand in the gears of global trade - bad news for the export-dependent Germans - and chilled investor sentiment. Germany's economy narrowly dodged recession at the end of last year, and GDP growth in the first quarter was 0.4%. Factory orders have fallen sharply. Every 100 basis point drop in U.S.-China trade knocks about five basis points off euro zone GDP, according to Bank of America-Merrill Lynch. It is this pressure, combined with Trump's threat to "tariff the hell" out of the EU, that has dragged Brussels' top trade official, Cecilia Malmstrom, to the negotiating table with the U.S. (much to the annoyance of the French President Emmanuel Macron). The immediate problem is that it's hard to imagine what kind of progress might happen on a trade deal between now and November, when a new European Commission is appointed. The resistance on both sides to clearing away long-held objections - the U.S. wants access to Europe's agricultural markets, while the EU wants to avoid "Buy American" provisions - has left only industrial goods as the commonly agreed area for a quick deal. Trump could yet revive his threats. There are some optimistic voices who believe Trump is more reluctant to ratchet up a trade spat with the EU than he lets on. The president's main focus is containing the rise of China; Europe is treated somewhere between a punchbag and an afterthought. And given the EU's huge role as the No. 1 export market for the U.S., tit-for-tat tariffs can backfire. American icon Harley-Davidson, which got caught up in the earlier trade sparring with Europe, barely broke even at the end of 2018. The optimists assume two things: That Trump has a long-term game plan, and that it's one where he'll ultimately want to keep the Europeans onside. But there's every indication that this U.S. administration is ideologically opposed to the entire system that allows the EU to thrive as an open, trade-reliant and soft-power economy. Trump applauds Brexit, hates the World Trade Organization and prefers bilateral arm-twisting to international rules. It's hard to see how delaying fresh tariffs means anything other than short-term relief. - - - Laurent is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Brussels. He previously worked at Reuters and Forbes. 3 1 of 3 Epilepsy Foundation of Connecticut / Contributed photo Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Epilepsy Foundation of Connecticut / Contributed photo Show More Show Less 3 of 3 Fairfield County residents are expected be out in force in Stamford on Sunday, May 19, showing support for epilepsy awareness and the Epilepsy Foundation of Connecticut (EFCT) by participating in the Walk to End Epilepsy at the Cove Island Park. Registration for the walk begins at 9 a.m. and the event starts at 10. Registration is $35 and includes a T-shirt, lunch and a purple bandana for dogs. Note: dogs are welcome on-leash on the walk path at this family-friendly event. A birthday celebration in Pennsylvania ended with a 55-year-old woman facing aggravated assault charges. According to police, Georgia Zowacki had been drinking heavily throughout the day when she became angry that no one bought her a birthday present or a card. David Rea, who lives with Zowacki, told WTAE that Zowacki attacked him while he was in his room with a box cutter. "She stabs me four times. Then she went to my neck and said I'm going to kill you," Rea said. Rea said he had just met Zowacki two months ago when she moved into another room at his home in West Newton. He said he took her to lunch for her birthday earlier in the day and she started drinking when they got home. "It went 180 degrees," Rea said. "She got very belligerent." Rea had some cuts on his wrist, but otherwise is OK. According to police, Zowacki also trashed his room, destroying his television. She is being held in the Westmoreland County jail after being unable to post bail. Contributed photo MIDDLEFIELD Local elementary school student Addison Nappi was honored last week as a finalist at the 14th eesmarts Student Contest ceremony held at the state Capitol. Presented by Energize Connecticut, in partnership with Eversource and United Illuminating, Southern Connecticut Gas and Connecticut Natural Gas, subsidiaries of AVANGRID, the eesmarts competition invites Connecticut students in kindergarten through 12th grade to create projects about energy efficiency, renewable energy and sustainability, according to a press release. In two years as president, Donald Trump built a foreign policy strategy on applying as much pressure as possible on enemies -- and even some allies -- to make them bend to America's will. Venezuela, North Korea and Iran have all been targets of the administration's "maximum pressure" approach. Under Trump, U.S. sanctions were deployed to notable effect: Venezuela's battered economy is more isolated than ever, Iran has seen oil sales plummet and North Korea has struggled as fuel and electricity shortages crimp output and food shortages loom. Yet no adversary has buckled. So, short of war, what does the U.S. do now? "As a great power, the United States does have a lot of options," said Jonathan Alterman, director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "At the same time, though, other countries have lots of options, too, and the administration sometimes seems surprised that they are not merely submitting to superior U.S. power." The challenge the U.S. faces, and the loneliness of its campaign, were on display during Secretary of State Michael Pompeo's hastily scheduled stop in Brussels this week, when he met with the foreign ministers of the U.K., France and Germany to underscore the urgency of the threat posed by Iran. But European leaders openly expressed their exasperation with the U.S. approach to Iran. "I have to say that this is a distressful example of U.S. unilateralism -- it is short-term and inconsiderate of interests" of some of its closest allies, Germany's Deputy Foreign Minister, Niels Annen, said afterward during a speech in Berlin. "The current situation in the region, ladies and gentlemen, is extremely dangerous." Annen's remarks reflected how U.S. goals have been tripped up by its consistent use of strong-arm tactics with nations whose support it later needs to box in its adversaries. Allies such as Canada, France, the U.K., Mexico and Germany have all come in for withering public criticism for not bending to U.S. requests on key issues -- only to be courted on others. One senior administration official, who asked not to be identified discussing internal matters, said there were two ways to read the Europeans' response in Brussels: Either they don't believe the U.S. assessment of the new threats from Iran and want to tame the administration's impulses. Or the situation is just the opposite: They believe the threats but don't want to publicly admit it, for fear of giving momentum to a potential military confrontation. Three days after Pompeo's visit, though, Britain's foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, tweeted: "We share the same assessment of the heightened threat posed by Iran." Even as tensions build, Trump is wary of drawing the U.S. into a war with Iran, in part out of concern that an armed conflict would imperil his chances at winning a second term, according to people familiar with the matter. In a tweet on Friday, Trump said "highly inaccurate coverage of Iran" is "DANGEROUS. At least Iran doesn't know what to think, which at this point may very well be a good thing!" While Trump has said he's optimistic that "Iran will want to talk soon," his national security adviser, John Bolton, has advocated regime change and even preemptive strikes against Tehran for years. Pompeo, a former CIA director, is also seen as a hard-liner on the Islamic Republic, although he's said his goal isn't to seek a war with Iran or impose regime change from outside. His advisers argue that the maximum-pressure campaign already has limited Iran's ability to wreak havoc in the region. "If you look at 40 years of this regime, they change their behavior when one or more of these elements are present: economic pressure, diplomatic isolation and the threat of military force,'' Brian Hook, Pompeo's special envoy on Iran, said of the government in Tehran. "We think this is the right approach." In Tehran, officials say they won't negotiate under duress. And without a functioning diplomatic back channel, it's not clear how talks would even be initiated. "Nobody is going to call Trump, and eventually the Americans will be forced to raise the issue of negotiations with Iran in a serious way," Heshmatollah Falahatpishe, the head of Iran's parliamentary commission for national security and foreign affairs, said in a speech before his nation's lawmakers, according to the Islamic Students' News Agency. North Korea policy also appears at a stalemate. Tensions were raised between the two countries in 2017, when Pyongyang was undertaking a series of nuclear and missile tests and Trump responded by threatening to rain down "fire and fury" on Kim Jong Un's regime. He reversed course quickly, however, to open talks and offer effusive praise for the North Korean dictator, even saying they "fell in love." Yet little has been accomplished diplomatically: Pyongyang is further along in its weapons program and there's no clear path toward the denuclearization Trump's team says is its goal. One victory the U.S. has touted -- a suspension of major missile and weapons tests -- is teetering. Last week North Korea held two separate rounds of short-range missile tests that are barred under United Nations sanctions, leading even Trump to scale back his previously optimistic tone about the talks. "Nobody's happy about it," Trump told reporters last week. "I don't think they're ready to negotiate." Rather than realize their ultimate goals, administration officials may scale back their definition of success. "Trump isn't particularly interested in starting regional wars," said Heather Hurlburt, director of the New Models of Policy Change project at New America, a Washington think tank. "He will now look for developments in one or more of those regions that let him present himself as capitalizing on maximum pressure to achieve progress.'' The risk for Trump and the world is greatest now over Iran. Even with both sides saying they don't want war, analysts flag the risk of an accident or unintended clash turning into something larger. "Brinkmanship with Iran could quite easily backfire," said Paul Sullivan, a Middle East expert at Georgetown University's Center for Security Studies. "Batting mosquitoes with sledge hammers can be very costly for the batter, not just the mosquitoes." - - - Bloomberg's David Wainer, Margaret Talev and Jennifer Jacobs contributed. T he Bank of England today took the highly unusual step of issuing a message of support to Metro Bank, hours after it secured a 375 million funding package. With the bank reeling from accounting investigations and untrue internet rumours about its finances that saw customers rushing to withdraw cash, the Bank offered reassurance. The Bank said: The Prudential Regulation Authority welcomes the steps taken today by Metro Bank. Metro Bank is profitable and continues to have adequate capital and liquidity to serve its current customer base. A spokesman was unsure how often the Bank has felt the need to issue similar statements, but noted it had twice done so for the Co-op Bank, which only survived due to a bailout from New York hedge funds. Metro Bank said it welcomed the Banks intervention. Metro raised the 375 million in just a few hours yesterday at 500p a share, topping the 350 million it had asked for as investors looked to bolster a bank they believe will shake up the sector. The banks underwriting the deal RBC, Jefferies and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods are believed to have earned hefty fees, but they werent disclosed before the Standard went to press. Unusually, the banks seem not to have agreed to underwrite the stock at the 500p asking price but rather on a best endeavours basis. The battered shares rallied 100p to 636.5p, which leaves the company valued at 620 million. A year ago the shares were about 3400p. The successful fundraising eases the pressure on top management, including chief executive Craig Donaldson. T ech giant Amazon on Friday stunned the UK food world as it made a major investment in Deliveroo, valuing the home delivery group at 3 billion. Deliveroo, which last year walked away from talks to be bought by Uber Eats, raised 450 million from backers including Amazon in what is its seventh major fundraising round. Amazons move triggered feverish speculation about its intentions for the UK takeaway market. The owner of Whole Foods supermarkets set up Amazon Restaurants home delivery service in 2016 but wound it down amid competition from Deliveroo and Uber Eats. Analysts said todays move could lead to an outright takeover by Amazon, but even if not, its stake would give it an insight into Deliveroos operations, which prepare takeaways under Deliveroos own brands in residential areas. The move spooked investors in market leader Just Eat, whose shares were the biggest fallers on the FTSE-100 Index, crashing 8%, or 56p, to 621p. Deliveroos cash call takes the total amount it has raised to 1.2 billion, allowing it to beef up its tech arm at its HQ in the capital, lure new customers more quickly and build new kitchens. Existing backers T Rowe Price, Fidelity and Greenoaks also invested. Will Shu, the co-founder and boss of Deliveroo, described Amazon as an inspiration adding: We look forward to working with such a customer-obsessed organisation. His counterpart at Amazon UK, Doug Gurr, said: Were impressed with Deliveroos approach, and their dedication to providing customers with an ever increasing selection of great restaurants with convenient delivery options. Deliveroo employs 900 staff in London and operates in 14 countries. It held financing talks in 2017 with Tokyo-based Softbank, one of Ubers major backers, but a deal never materialised. It remains loss-making and faced controversy over having its delivery riders self-employed rather than employees. Peel Hunt analyst James Lockyer said: Deliveroo is still in its pre-profit phase as it invests for growth. If any company knows about the benefit of that strategy it is Amazon. T oday's service at Westminster Abbey to commemorate a century of women in the Metropolitan Police is an opportunity to reflect on how far women have come within the force, and the reasons we all have to be grateful to them. The most obvious symbol of womens importance in the Met is the present Commissioner, Cressida Dick. A century ago, no one could have conceived of a female leader of the force: now, its normal. More than one in four Met police officers is now a woman and the Commissioner wants more. She can be grateful for new and useful stereotypes of female police officers in series such as Line of Duty, where most of the feistiest and most visible players are the women officers: that will change attitudes. But as Ms Dick points out in an interview with this paper today, perceptions of what policing involves are often skewed by high-profile events such as the London Bridge terror attacks and the Grenfell Tower fire. People, she says, have got it into their heads that you have to be supremely fit or strong when actually the vast majority of our officers, most of the time, are not using huge amounts of physical strength to get the job done. They are using their communication skills, their problem-solving skills and their analytical skills. And in these respects women are at least as able as their male colleagues. Indeed, in some detective teams they constitute a majority. Recruiting women from ethnic minorities is another challenge; in some communities, joining the police can seem like an odd choice. But, as the Commissioner says, organisations such as the National Association of Muslim Police are working hard to encourage women to join and to dispel prejudice. The anniversary should cause us to reflect on the work that the Mets 8,000-odd women officers do to keep London safe and protect us from crime and violence. We are grateful to them. Deliveroo rides high For a company that began life only six years ago, Deliveroo has come an awfully long way. Amazon has invested 450 million in the business , perhaps the ultimate vote of confidence in a London company that now spans the globe. When its founder, Will Shu, came to London from New York, he was baffled at the difficulty he had in obtaining good food by delivery. So, with his friend Greg Orlowski, he set about providing a service, and the model he created, with its own app and drivers, has radically changed the way London eats. It has been innovative since, creating, for instance, kitchens where restaurants make food especially for delivery. There was controversy over whether its drivers are self-employed or not but it has undoubtedly created jobs 900 of them in London. The company which reported losses last year says it will use the funding to increase choice and invest in new technology. What it will also do is ratchet up the competition between Deliveroo and Ubers delivery service, Uber Eats, and another UK-based company, Just Eat. Londoners who dont have the time or inclination to cook or eat out have never had it so good. The end is nigh The 73rd Cannes Film Festival was supposed to kick off yesterday, however due to the outbreak of COVID-19 the festival has been cancelled. For a festival that has only been cancelled once in its entire history due to WW2, Cannes chief Thierry Fremaux lamented to Screen Daily that he "could never have imagined something like this." While the typical glitz and glamour of Cannes will be sorely missed this year, there's been a number of incredible moments over its 72 year history. Beyond the films vying for a coveted Palm d'Or, the French festival is also renowned for its glamorous red carpet which has seen the likes of Elizabeth Taylor and Rihanna dazzle over the years. With the event dating back to 1946, the Cannes archives are a hive of glamorous movie star moments. Here's a few red carpet style classics from over the years (featuring big diamonds, big dresses and even a crown). Brigitte Bardot, 1954 Lido/REX/Shutterstock Why: Although none of Bardot's films competed at the festival that year, the movie star's popularity had exploded at the festival the year before. Before Nicole Kidman was crowned Queen of Cannes in 2017, French bombshell Brigitte Bardot was one of the film festivals biggest darlings. In 1954 she opted for a white gown with a floral embellished belt, white elbow length gloves and metallic court shoes. While the Elizabeth Taylors of the time preferred large diamonds, she chose to wear elaborate pearl earrings - a jewellery trend which is still alive on Instagram today. Sophia Loren, 1955 Sipa/REX/Shutterstock Why: It isn't known which event Loren wore this to, however her film The Sign of Venus competed at the festival in 1955. When you think of old school Hollywood glamour, you think of mind-boggling jewels, dramatic dresses and fur coats (which havent dated so well). Actor Sophia Loren was the epitome of golden era celebrity, sweeping down Cannes staircase in a lace and tulle ballgown, elbow length gloves, an unusual sparkling necklace and a fluffy stole. Diana Dors, 1956 Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images Why: Dors attended the festival accompanied by her first husband Dennis Hamilton (right). Actress Diana Dors was clearly ahead of her time in an unusual mermaid tail gown, which featured an asymmetrical fur-lined split and tulle skirt. Given that dramatic fur accessories were the order of the day, she accessorised with a floor length stole and kept her jewellery to a minimum - allowing the sparkling embellishments on her gown to shine. Her finger-waved hair was also quintessential 50s glamour. Elizabeth Taylor, 1957 Getty Images Why: Taylor's husband, actor Richard Burton, seen accompanying her above, opened the film festival with a screening of his film Around the World in 80 Days. While Taylor chose not to break out the million dollar diamond that Richard Burton purchased for her in this moment at Cannes, her gems were no less impressive when she appeared at the festival in 1957. While her full dress cant be seen here, her accessories were truly the star of the show as she proved bigger is better with a large brooch, diamond earrings and - casually - a crown. Her detailed micro bag was also a beautiful touch, and still on trend today. Princess Diana, 1987 Tim Graham/Getty Images Why: Princess Diana and Prince Charles attended the 40th anniversary of Cannes. When Princess Diana walked Cannes red carpet alongside her then-husband Prince Charles, she turned to one of her favourite designers Catherine Walker for help. The chiffon sky blue dress with its pleated bodice, draped waist and matching blue scarf cemented her as an international style icon, accessorised with aquamarine jewels which enhanced the gowns shade. Madonna, 1991 AFP/Getty Images Why: Madonna's film In Bed With Madonna screened in 1991. In 1991, Madonna was in full swing as one of the biggest musican icons of the decade. Her appearance at Cannes was as on-brand as it gets. At the screening of her own film In Bed with Madonna, she chose to wear a silk conical bra and bloomers Jean-Paul Gaultier ensemble, which she cast off a silky mauve coat to display in its full glory. On Wednesday, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed in a law that bans abortion at any stage of pregnancy except when a womans life is at risk. This law makes no exception for rape and incest, meaning if a child falls pregnant due to rape they wont have an option to abort. The Alabama office has also put forward House Bill 314 which would make performing an abortion a felony offence in Alabama, and doctors could spend up to 99 years in prison longer than most murder and rape sentences. However, this bill will likely be blocked by courts. The new law has received heavy criticism, not just from women in the US but from people around the world arguing that it takes away a womans right to autonomy over her own body. Yet while the new law, which could be tied in the courts for years before it's ever enforced, is the strictest abortion law in the US, there are many countries around the world which have even stricter abortion laws including Northern Ireland. Below are the countries with the strictest abortion laws in the world. Northern Ireland Unlike other countries in the UK, the 1967 Abortion Act does not apply to Northern Ireland. This act decriminalises abortion in the UK under certain circumstances, namely that the pregnancy has not exceeded its 24th week. Instead, abortion in Northern Ireland is illegal and governed under the Criminal Justice Act (NI) 1945 which says abortion is only permissible to preserve the life of the mother meaning abortions will not be performed in cases of fatal foetal abnormality, rape or incest. On top of this act, the Offences Against the Persons Act 1861 still remains in place in Northern Ireland which means both pregnant women and medical staff that procure an abortion can face life imprisonment. After Ireland successfully repealed its abortion ban last year, Northern Irelands strict abortion ban came into question and a slew of protests have been held since. A Labour-led campaign in 2017 ruled that women from Northern Ireland can get free abortions on the NHS in England but this still means travel costs which arent viable for some women. Ireland abortion referendum - In pictures 1 /28 Ireland abortion referendum - In pictures Yes voters cheer at a counting centre in Dublin PA Votes are tallied in Ireland's historic referendum PA Two women wait for the results to come in PA Members of the public hold yes placards on Fairview road as the country heads to polling stations Getty Images A woman takes a picture of a mural in Dublin's city centre by art group Subset calling for 'Repeal The 8th' ahead of the referendum on the 8th Amendment of the Irish Constitution on May 25th PA Sandra Caulfield, whose daughter Hope Rose died at nine days old after she was diagnosed with Edwards syndrome when Ms Caulfield was 14 weeks pregnant, following a Save the 8th press conference ahead of the referendum on the 8th Amendment of the Irish Constitution on May 25th PA A woman walks past a pro-life poster in the city centre of Dublin, Ireland Reuters A woman sits in front of a pro-life poster in the city centre of Dublin, Ireland Reuters Martin McBreen and his daughter Grace, aged 3, and Monica Hadarean and son Cris, whose children both have Downs Syndrome, and were encouraged to have an abortion as they were told their children wouldn't survive attend a Pro-Life press event ahead of a 25th May referendum on abortion law, in Dublin, Ireland Reuters A man (name not given) arrives at the polling station in Knock National school, Mayo, as the country goes to the polls to vote in the referendum on the 8th Amendment of the Irish Constitution PA Garda Alan Gallagher and Presiding Officer Carmel McBride carry the polling box for the referendum on liberalising abortion law a day early for the few people that live off the coast of Donegal on the island of Inishbofin, Ireland Getty Images Election warehouse manager Michael Leonard checks the seals on ballot boxes that are ready for delivery to polling stations ahead of the referendum on the 8th Amendment of the Irish Constitution, in Dublin PA An abortion debate that's inflamed passions in Ireland for decades comes down to a single question: yes or no? AP Pro-life campaigners argue voting 'no' is about safeguarding human rights AFP/Getty Images Activists have been urging people to vote 'no' in Friday's referendum AFP/Getty Images 'Vote yes': Pro-repeal campaigners in Dublin make their message heard with a sign bearing the face of Savita Halappanavar, who died after being denied a termination PA Campaign: a pro-choice mural in Dublin featuring Savita Halappanavar, who died after being refused an abortion PA Pro-Choice activists dress up as characters from the Handmaid's Tale in a City centre demonstration ahead Friday's vote Reuters Protesters hold up placards during the London March for Choice, calling for the legalising of abortion in Ireland after the referendum announcement, outside the Embassy of Ireland in central London AFP/Getty Images Protesters hold up placards as they take part in the March for Choice, calling for the legalising of abortion in Ireland after the referendum announcement, in Dublin AFP/Getty Images Vote: A man and child walk past a sign for a polling station ahead of a 25th May referendum on abortion law, in Dublin Reuters Poland While abortion is legal in most European countries, Polands abortion law states that terminations are only legal when there is a threat to the mothers life, if there is a foetal abnormality or when a pregnancy has resulted from rape or incest. According to Krystyna Kacpura, executive director of the Federation for Women and Family Planning, up to 150,000 women in Poland obtained an illegal abortion in 2016, while only 1,055 women were permitted to have a legal abortion. That was the same year lawmakers tried to impose a blanket ban on abortion, with the only exception being if the womans life was in danger. After thousands of people protested this proposed law change, the plan was scrapped. Malta The only country in the EU where abortion remains completely illegal in all cases and circumstances, Malta has some of the strictest abortion laws in the world. In Malta, current laws state that anyone performing an abortion or a pregnant woman that consents to an abortion can face anywhere from 18 months to three years in jail. If the person that performs the procedure is a doctor, they can face up to four years in jail and will receive a lifelong ban from their work. El Salvador There has been a blanket ban on abortions in El Salvador since 1998, which means abortion is criminalised under all cases and circumstances. Described by Amnesty International as one of the most dangerous countries to be a woman, 20-year-old Imelda Cortez was recently released from prison after she was being held for attempted murder under the strict abortion ban. When Cortez gave birth to her baby in April last year, after falling pregnant to rape, doctors suspected she had tried to perform an abortion. Prosecutors argued that because she didnt tell anyone about her pregnancy and sought medical help after giving birth that this amounted to attempted murder something which carries a 20-year jail term. Cortez was held for 18 months before a court last December ruled that she had not tried to kill her child. This is not a unique case. A 34-year-old woman was freed from a jail in El Salvador in March last year after serving 15 years for having an abortion. Throughout her term, Maria Veronica Figueroa Marroquin maintained her freedom and said she suffered a stillbirth. Over 100 people have been convicted of abortion-related crimes in El Salvador since 2000. African nations Many of the countries on the African continent have extremely strict abortion laws, with 10 of the 54 African countries restricting abortion completely. These include Angola, Congo, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar, Mauritania, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal and Egypt. A report from the Guttmacher Institute found that 93 per cent of women of reproductive age on the continent live in country with restrictive abortion laws. Only three countries in Africa have legalised abortion: Cape Verde, South Africa and Tunisia. Andorra In Andorra, abortion is completely banned except in cases where the womans life is at risk. A pregnant women who performs or consents to an abortion can face up to two and a half years in prison. If another person performs an abortion on a pregnant woman they can face up to four years in prison while a doctor can face up to six years in prison if they perform an abortion. Philippines In the Philippines, abortion is illegal except in cases when the womans life is at risk. Anyone who performs an abortion on a pregnant woman whose life isnt at risk can face a six year jail sentence and a woman that performs an abortion on herself can face at least six months in prison. USA Local pro-choice activist Lisa King holds a sign in front of the U.S. Supreme Court / Getty Images In 1973, the US passed the landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court case which deemed access to safe and legal abortions a constitutional right. Yet, there have been a number of pivotal political shifts in the US recently meaning this law is at risk namely the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court , a republican with a long record of ruling to limit access to safe and legal abortion. This appointment has led to a number of abortion cases being brought to the Supreme Court and the possibility, that if the Roe vs. Wade law was brought to a vote, Kavanaugh would vote to overturn it. US abortion laws by state Alabama is the first state in the US to pass a total ban on abortions, but it looks like some are trying to follow its lead. Four states in the US have recently passed a heartbeat bill, which bans abortions once a foetal heartbeat can be detected usually at six weeks. These states are Mississippi, Ohio, Georgia and Kentucky. Most women find out theyre pregnant between weeks four and seven. North Carolina allows abortion up to the 20th week of pregnancy, while Arkansas and Utah have both passed a law this year that restricts abortion after 18 weeks. At present, Missouri, Louisiana, South Carolina, West Virginia, Florida and Texas are working to introduce stricter abortion laws. In the US, 23 states abide by the Roe standard law of not allowing abortion after the 24th week of pregnancy. These states include: New York Florida Massachusetts Nevada Pennsylvania Rhode Island Arizona California Connecticut Delaware Hawaii Idaho Illinois Main Maryland Michigan Minnesota Missouri Montana Tennessee Washington Wyoming Virginia While a number of states disallow abortion after 22 weeks. These include: Indiana Iowa Kansas Louisiana Nebraska North Dakota South Dakota Oklahoma South Carolina Texas West Virginia Wisconsin Brazil Under Brazilian law, women can only have an abortion in cases of rape, if her life is at risk or if there is a foetal brain abnormality. If an abortion is performed illegally in Brazil, this is punishable by a maximum of four years imprisonment for the person who performed the abortion. If a woman performs an abortion on herself she may face a maximum of three years in jail. Dominican Republic In the Dominican Republic, abortion is banned under all circumstances even if the womans life is at risk. The countrys criminal code states that women and girls who induce abortions can face up to two years in prison, and medical professionals who provide abortions can face up to 20 years in prison. New Zealand While certainly not as strict as some of the others on this list, as abortion is technically legal in New Zealand, there are some moral loopholes Kiwi women need to jump through in order to get an abortion. In New Zealand the only way an abortion is legal is if two certifying consultants agree that continuing the pregnancy would result in serious danger to a womans mental or physical health. The Crimes Act 1961 also rules incest or sexual relations with a guardian as terms for an abortion as well as foetal abnormality. Rape is not considered as grounds for an abortion but will be considered. B ella Hadid, Penelope Cruz and Amber Heard have lit up the red carpet in Cannes at the Pain and Glory premiere. A host of stars stunned at the Friday premiere at Palais de Festivals, including the supermodel and actresses who commanded attention. Wearing a vintage-style white lace and navy dress, with a circle skirt, Cruz headed up the Croisette's famed steps for the international premiere, alongside Antonio Banderas and the filmmaker Pedro Almodovar. The autobiographical tale starring Banderas is hotly tipped to take the top prize at the flm festival. Getty Images Bandersas stars as Almodovar's tormented alter ego, with Cruz playing his mother at the time of his youth. "There's a lot of me in the movie. But as soon as you start writing, fiction takes over," Almodovar, who headed up the jury at Cannes' cinema showcase in 2017, told Canal+ TV on his way into the screening. Arthur Mola/Invision/AP The film, well-received by critics, has already premiered in Spain. EPA A n 81-year-old man is fighting for life after a hit-and-run. The incident took place around 10pm on Thursday and the victim was rushed to hospital. The driver did not stop at the scene in Lea Bridge Road, Waltham Forest, and officers are investigating. A Scotland Yard statement said: "The 81-year-old pedestrian was treated at the scene for a number of injuries before being taken to hospital. He remains in a critical condition. "The driver did not stop at the scene and an investigation is underway to trace the vehicle and the driver." The incident happened at around 10pm in Lea Bridge Road / Google The force is keen to hear from any witnesses or anyone with information that could help in tracing the driver and the vehicle. Officers have also appealed for any dashcam footage that may have captured the incident or could assist in enquiries. A heroic nurse who died in the London Bridge terror attack told friends she had to help moments before she was fatally stabbed while tending to one of the victims, the inquest heard today. Kirsty Boden, who became known as the Angel of London Bridge, was crouching over stabbing victim Alexandre Pigeard when she herself was attacked by all three terrorists outside the Boro Bistro restaurant. When the incident began, Ms Boden who worked at Guys and St Thomas Hospital rushed towards the danger and told her friends: Im a nurse, I have to go and help. I need to see if they need help. Shocking mobile phone footage caught the moment the 28-year-old Australian was stabbed in the head by extremist ringleader Khuram Butt, 27, before being subjected to further attacks by Rachid Redouane, 30, and Youssef Zaghba, 22. She crouches down, said Jonathan Hough QC, describing the footage. A second or two after that she suffered a short but terrible attack. Kirsty Boden was killed in the London Bridge terror attack / PA The inquest into the deaths of the victims at the Old Bailey today heard Ms Boden, who is originally from Loxton in South Australia, was having dinner with friends Melanie Schroeder and Harriet Mooney on June 3, 2017, when terrorists struck, crashing a van into railings outside the restaurant which sent debris falling into the courtyard below. Kirsty jumped up and said Im a nurse, I have got to go and help, I need to see if they need help, said Ms Schroeder in a statement read out in the hearing. The victims of the London Bridge terror attack / PA Kirsty put her bag down, passed Harriet and went. The next thing I remember was hearing screaming. The two woman left their table and fled among a stampede from the restaurant, as diners desperately sought refuge from the three knife-wielding terrorists heading their way intent on stabbing people at random. Ms Schroeder said they eventually turned back towards the restaurant to find Ms Boden but spotted their friend lying on the ground in an alleyway. I saw Kirsty lying on the corner, I recognised the person lying on the floor as Kirsty because of her bright pink cardigan, she said. I screamed Kirsty and ran down the alleyway. Ms Schroeder added that her friend, who was due to be one of her bridesmaids at her wedding, was clearly badly wounded, struggling to breathe and was unable to talk. She was helped by a passing GP and a man called Warren, but efforts to revive her failed. She and Ms Mooney then sat holding their friends hand, with her body covered with a blanket, until police arrived to take them to safety. CCTV footage from Boro Bistro was played to the hearing this morning, showing Ms Boden going to help people injured by the falling debris and being attacked as she tended to Mr Pigeard. She was moving to go and help because she was a nurse, said Mr Hough. Butt appears to make a stabbing motion as he goes past, and Redouane in particular but also Zaghba appear to make stabbing motions. Phone footage shot from London Bridge clearly shows the three terrorists walking through the crowd stabbing people in their path before setting upon Ms Boden. Gareth Patterson QC, representing Ms Bodens family, said the footage showed the nurse thinking of others rather than thinking of her own safety, when she was right there in the thick of it with these three attackers just feet away from her. Coroner Mark Lucraft QC added that the CCTV clearly showed the sheer panic on the faces of people fleeing the danger, as they clamber over furniture and through a window to escape. Its pretty stark, isnt it?, he added. Ms Boden was posthumously honoured an Australian bravery medal for her actions moments before she was fatally stabbed. The inquest heard yesterday from another nurse, Helen Kennett, who was also stabbed as she went to try to help Mr Pigeard. She survived the attack and told the hearing she was stabbed in the neck after saying to one of the extremists: Whats wrong with you? Ms Boden was one of eight people, alongside Xavier Thomas, 45, Chrissy Archibald, 30, Sara Zelenak, 21, James McMullan, 32, Sebastien Belanger, 36, Ignacio Echeverria, 39, and Mr Pigeard, who died in the attack. T he macho image of male police officers dealing with terrorist attacks and the Grenfell Tower disaster could be putting off women from joining the Met, Scotland Yard chief Cressida Dick said today. She said the terror attacks in London in 2017, when mainly male firearms officers were deployed on the streets, and the Grenfell fire in the same year had led to a mistaken view of policing as a very physical service. Ms Dick told the Standard: People have got it into their heads that you have to be supremely fit or strong when actually the vast majority of our officers, most of the time, are not using huge amounts of physical strength to get the job done. They are using their communication skills, their problem-solving skills and their analytical skills. The Met commissioner said more had to be done to challenge the stereotypes and myths of policing as a macho culture. Her comments came as she attended a service of thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey today to mark 100 years of women police officers in the Met. Group photo of women police officers in Westminster in 1919 / Metropolitan Police Authority/Ma Last year the force launched its first recruitment campaign focused on women, entitled Strong. There are around 8,000 women in the Met which is about 27 per cent of the officer workforce. But Home Office figures show the Met has a low proportion of women officers compared with most other UK forces only those at the City of London and Cleveland are lower. Officers will be mirroring a photo taken of some of the Met's first women police officers / Jeremy Selwyn Ms Dick said research had shown two possible reasons for a reluctance among some women in London to consider a police career. In some of our minority communities there will be more questions asked about joining the police than there might be in others, she said. We are working hard to address this, for instance our Association of Muslim Police have lots of capable women officers and they are working really hard to get the message out that Muslim women can thrive and have a really important role to play. Secondly, she said: We have observed that the major incidents in 2017 of the terrorist attacks and Grenfell have portrayed an image of a very physical service, people have got it into their heads you have to be supremely fit or strong, a sort of macho image. Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick / Lucy Young She added: Of course we need confident, resilient people but I think there is still some way to go for some parts of the wider public not to see policing as primarily a male-dominated job. Ms Dick, who has said she wants half of Londons officers to be women, pointed out that many detective teams were now 50 per cent women something unheard of 30 years ago. About 2,000 people were expected at todays Westminster Abbey service. U p to 1.6 million people could be affected by noise from Heathrow's planned third runway, researchers have claimed. At peak times up to 47 planes an hour could fly over residents living near the west London airport, according to Greenpeace analysis. A spokesman for Heathrow dismissed the claims, saying final flight paths have yet to be decided. He added that plans aim to reduce the number of people affected by noise. The new runway is due to be operational by 2026. Concept image shows Heathrow Airport's third runway / PA Analysis of possible flight paths for the new runway showed that more than 11m people live within areas identified as at risk of flights at levels above 65 decibels, according to Greenpeace Unearthed. That volume is comparable to the noise level in a busy office. The 11m figure is expected to be significantly reduced when officials settle on flight paths. But experts claimed that the 1.6m people living in sections of the proposed flight paths closest to the airport are likely experience noise levels at or above 65 decibels. A High Court challenge over the expansion of Heathrow is underway / PA Last year the Commons Transport select committee reported that a third runway was likely to cause significant annoyance for 653,000 people by 2030. A spokesman for Heathrow rejected the analysis, saying the final flight routes had yet to be decided. He said: As part of our extensive consultation process, we are proposing options that would reduce the airports noise impacts. Our plans are designed to ensure that fewer people will be affected by noise than were affected in 2013, thanks to quieter planes, quieter airport design, quieter operations and a 6.5 hour ban on scheduled night flights. Heathrow will start a consultation on the expansion next month, including the layout of terminal buildings. The airport won the controversial bid to build an extra runway, beating out south London airport Gatwick, who sought to build a second runway. The expansion plans have been the subject of much criticism, anti-climate change demonstrations and has already faced a High Court challenge at the Royal Courts of Justice. Plans aim for a two-mile runway northwest of the existing airport to be operating by 2026. A bombshell leaked document today reveals Theresa Mays plan to block a second referendum and stage preferential votes in the Commons designed to allow Britain to leave the EU on July 31. The leaked memo, shown to the Evening Standard, was sent to Labour on Wednesday, a day after the Prime Minister and Jeremy Corbyn met for private talks. The revelation came as a surprise on the day Mr Corbyn pulled the plug on cross-party talks with the Government, saying that they had gone as far as they can. The plan involves: Free votes for MPs in which they would rank in order of preference five different forms of customs arrangements with the EU, ranging from a full permanent trade pact to a looser or temporary arrangement. The aim is to force the Commons, which has rejected every option shown so far, to a decision. A free vote on making any deal subject to a second referendum, which appears designed to block the campaign backed by 150 Labour MPs for a confirmatory ballot attached to any deal. Whipped votes on other areas where the two sides appear to have reached agreement, including to keep European worker rights and green standards. Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn met for talks earlier this week The document infuriated Labour MPs opposed to Brexit who said it seemed that the two leaders had discussed the plans. Labour MP Alex Sobel called on Mr Corbyn to disown the plan - and to back a referendum immediately. Mrs May at an EU election campaign event in Bristol on Friday / REUTERS This is the battle plan for a desperate Prime Minister to freeze the people out over the biggest decision facing the country in two generations, said the MP. TODO: define component type apester A Whitehall source told the Standard that the document appeared to show areas where the two sides had reached agreement in the talks, which have lasted for 42 days. It lists agreement to leave with a deal rather than on no-deal terms; to leave on July 31; to have as close as possible, frictionless trade; to end free movement; to seek the fullest participation in EU agencies covering medicines and other critical areas. However, a senior Labour source insisted that the document was not approved by Mr Corbyn and no decision had been made by Labour on the form of votes to be staged. It is a Government document that has been put to us, said the source, confirming the memo was genuine. Countdown to Brexit: 167 days until Britain leaves the EU In a letter to the Prime Minister, the Labour leader appeared to pull the plug on cross-party co-operation. I am writing to let you know that I believe the talks between us about finding a compromise agreement on leaving the European Union have now gone as far as they can, Mr Corbyn wrote. He added: It has become clear that, while there are some areas where compromise has been possible, we have been unable to bridge important policy gaps between us. The idea of preferential votes, with the least popular options being knocked out until a winning plan emerges, is controversial with Brexiteers as well as Remainers. Mrs May herself is said to be wary in case it could lead to everyones second choice being adopted. The document says both sides would take stock after such votes, which would be non-binding, to decide if the outcome could be endorsed officially. The PMs official spokesman confirmed the document was genuine. On the end of the talks, the spokesman said: We have made real progress on some issues such as workers rights and environmental protections but it is clear we are not going to be able to reach agreement. In particular there has been a challenging discussion in respect of a customs union and the holding of the second referendum. J eremy Corbyn has ended the cross-party Brexit talks with the Tories announcing they have "gone as far as they can". The two main political parties had been negotiating since early April, in a bid to breach the impasse on the UK's next step for leaving the EU. There had been hints the talks were on the brink and Labour released a statement on Friday confirming their intention to end them. Further outlining Labour's stance after the announcement, Mr Corbyn said it would not oppose a second referendum but such a vote would not be on "2016 terms". TODO: define component type apester In a latter to Theresa May on ending the talks, Mr Corbyn said: "I am writing to let you know that I believe the talks between us about finding a compromise agreement on leaving the European Union have now gone as far as they can. "I would like to put on record that the talks have been conducted in good faith on both sides and thank those involved for their efforts to find common ground. "The talks have been detailed, constructive and have involved considerable effort for both our teams." Theresa May called for the talks in a bid to breach the Brexit logjam / AP The Labour leader spoke of his concerns around the Government's "weakness and instability", adding: "There cannot be confidence in securing whatever might be agreed between us." "As I said when we met on Tuesday evening, there has been growing concern in both the Shadow Cabinet and parliamentary Labour Party about the governments ability to deliver on any compromise agreement," he wrote. "As you have been setting out your decision to stand down and Cabinet ministers are competing to succeed you, the position of the government has become ever more unstable and its authority eroded. "Not infrequently, proposals by your negotiating team have been publicly contradicted by statements from other members of the Cabinet." Mr Corbyn said that following the talks "it is only right that the Government now wishes again to test the will of Parliament" and his party would consider any proposals from the Conservatives. Though he concluded that the opposition would continue to stand against the withdrawal agreement without "significant changes", having said earlier in the letter the talks had "been unable to bridge important policy gaps between us". "I should reiterate that, without significant changes, we will continue to oppose the Governments deal as we do not believe it safeguards jobs, living standards and manufacturing industry in Britain," he told the PM. Labour's contingent in the negotiations had been led by Keir Starmer / PA Speaking in North London, after sending the letter, Mr Corbyn said "these talks have now reached what I believe to be a natural conclusion". The memo, seen by the Standard, details that there will be a stage of "preferential votes" in the Commons aimed at having Britain leave the EU on July 31. Commenting on a chance of a new referendum after the talks broke down, Mr Corbyn said: "But it wouldn't be a referendum on 2016 terms, it would be a referendum to prevent a no-deal, catastrophic exit from the European Union." Mrs May, speaking in Bristol, said the talks had been "constructive" and there has been "common ground" between the parties but said uncertainty on Labour's stance on a second referendum was an issue. She said her belief was that only her party could "deliver Brexit". After renewed pressure on her position, Mrs May is set to outline the timetable for her departure in early June after a crucial Commons vote on the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, the fourth time it will be put before the House. Should the Bill clear its first Commons hurdle, Mrs May would seek to persuade the 1922 Committee to allow her to remain in office and secure Brexit allowing her to leave having completed the main goal of her administration. C ross-party talks aimed at breaching the Brexit impasse are set to end with no agreement reached, according to reports. Tory and Labour figureheads have consistently struggled to find a consensus and the Government has now given up hope of striking a deal with Jeremy Corbyn, the BBC said. Labour is also said to have reservations over striking any sort of agreement due to Theresa Mays imminent resignation as Conservative leader, fearing its durability should she leave. The two party leaders will now move to a second phase, aimed at agreeing on a process for Parliamentary votes designed to find a consensus. Mr Corbyn had faced repeated calls from his shadow cabinet to end the talks. He said he found it hard to deal with a Government in "disarray". TODO: define component type apester However, Number 10 insisted on Thursday night the discussions remained active despite Labours apparent frustration at a lack of progress. Officials met on Thursday and the prospect of the talks collapsing was "not how I see it", a senior source said. Mr May has faced significant criticism since reaching across the House in a bid to unite Parliament on Brexit. The talks began in early April, after Mrs Mays withdrawal agreement was defeated for a third time. Under pressure: Theresa May / AP While there have been reports of the two parties seemingly having more common ground than it first appeared, little tangible progress has been forthcoming. This new hurdle for the Government comes as Mrs May begins another fight to revive her Brexit deal, ahead of bringing it forward for a fourth vote. The document, which could potentially be changed by the talks, will be brought before the House again in early June. Following this, the Prime Minister will set out the timetable for her departure, with defeat likely to hasten her exit from Number 10. After the vote, she will meet the chairman of the Tory backbench 1922 Committee Sir Graham Brady to agree to the details of the leadership contest to succeed her. Should the Bill clear its first Commons hurdle, Mrs May would seek to persuade the 1922 Committee to allow her to remain in office and secure Brexit allowing her to leave having completed the main goal of her administration. "If the WAB goes through, she could say 'this is my path for getting the Bill through Parliament, obviously it is something that is important to the '22 to see Brexit delivered, and I want to see that through' and then she is out after phase one," a source said. However, should it be defeated, they said "she would have to say 'this is how I envisage the timetable for a leadership election happening' and there would have to be some sort of agreement about that". With a leadership run looming, a number of Theresa Mays fellow Tories have set out their stock to run. Boris Johnson said on Thursday that he was of course going to run. F rom Tony Blair to Jeremy Corbyn, Islington has a rich Labour history. But in a borough where 75 per cent voted Remain, the party is facing the threat of traditional supporters switching to the Liberal Democrats or Greens because Mr Corbyn has dragged his feet over a second referendum. While Islington North has been held by Mr Corbyn since 1983, the more affluent south is the constituency of shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry. In the latter among the independent shops and Victorian terraces close to Upper Street voters say they could switch to the Liberal Democrats in next weeks European elections. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn / Ben Birchall/PA Im Labour Ive been Labour for years, says vintage shop owner Annie Moss, whose customers have included Kate Moss and Ralph Lauren. But the owner of Annies in Camden Passage said she is considering voting for the Lib Dems, who have positioned themselves as the Remain party, adding: I want to remain within Europe more than anything else. Islington is traditionally Labour and I think an awful lot are thinking Lib Dem. Jeremy Corbyn is on the fence, which is a shame. "I also feel we must have a second referendum because an awful lot of people didnt know what they were voting for the first time. Backlash: cheese shop owner Steve Cooper said he was going to shun the two main parties / Alex Lentati The parade of shops is just yards from the site of Mr Blair and Gordon Browns famous Granita pact over the leadership of the Labour Party. The Granita restaurant is long gone, with the site now home to a marketing suite for Galliard Homes 400 million Islington Square development of apartments and shops. Remain voter Steve Cooper, 44, owner of cheese shop Pistachio and Pickle, said he was going to shun the two mainstream parties: I will probably vote Lib Dem but I havent decided. In the area everyone is a remainer. If we are leaving then dare I say this is a waste of taxpayers money. How many hundreds of thousands of pounds is it costing to vote for this when we are not actually going to be included? Go spend it on a school or to rejuvenate the high street. Mother and psychiatrist Dr Aurelie Pach, 38, said: Im very sorry about Brexit. Im French, so for me its a real heartbreak that the UK is going to get out of Europe. I am away for the elections. If I had voted I would go for a party that is pro-Remain or at least has a sensible deal. At the moment I am not convinced by Labour or the Conservatives. Labour voter Samantha Perrin, 32, who works in marketing and was playing with her six-month-old son Oscar in Arlington Square, said: My husband is French and I think we both feel a bit let down by the whole Brexit vote. I have considered voting for the other parties but they just dont seem credible. I will probably end up voting for Labour, as I always do. Cafe worker Nina Tschorn has just got her settled status but was sad she had to apply MP Ms Thornberry said: The vast majority of people in my constituency didnt want Brexit in the first place and can see the whole thing has become a total mess. So I think they are right to demand and I agree with them that if any deal can be cobbled together to get through Parliament, we need to go back to the people and say do you want this or do you want to remain? Bernhard Niesner, chief executive of language learning app Busuu, which has its headquarters in Finsbury Square, added: I 100 per cent would like to see a second referendum. In fact, the current deal is so bad that it doesnt even pass Parliament. Photographer Nina Tschorn, 24, is originally from Germany and moved to England after her A-levels. She works in Kobo Cafe in Upper Street and said she will be voting in Germany for a party on the Left to prevent Right-wingers winning. She said: After Brexit Im more aware that Im only a migrant. I just applied for and got my settled status. I dont know if I should be happy or sad about it. Obviously Im happy I can stay but its very sad having to apply for it. The Green Partys Caroline Russell is the only opposition councillor on Labour-run Islington Council and her Highbury East ward is in Mr Corbyns constituency. The Greens say they have seen a surge in support. B rexit Party leader Nigel Farage has branded allegations he received financial support from Arron Banks as "gossip". The remarks came after Channel 4 News claimed the insurance tycoon spent approximately 450,000 on Mr Farage in the year following the EU referendum in 2016. A firm owned by Mr Banks leased a 4.4 million home in Chelsea for Mr Farage at an approximate 13,000 a month and he was also provided with a 32,000 Land Rover and a driver, a Channel 4 investigation claimed. Campaigning for the European Parliament elections in the West Midlands, Mr Farage said: "These are historical allegations that have been made, nothing to do with the Brexit Party and nothing to do with this campaign." Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage / PA Asked if he had received up to 450,000 from Mr Banks a year after the Brexit referendum, Mr Farage said: "Unfortunately not. If it was true it would be lovely." Pressed as to whether Mr Banks had paid for his flat, flights or a trip to the United States, Mr Farage added: "Where I went on holiday and what my private arrangements are, are none of your business or anybody's else's. "Let me just tell you this - this is the Brexit Party. I've told you how we're funded. You know what I am doing and all the rest is frankly gossip." Questioned as to how the Brexit Party is being funded, Mr Farage said: "That is the really big story - I agree with you. "We're well through 100,000 people now who've signed up as registered supporters, all paying their 25. This is a genuine grass roots upwelling of people who've had enough and want to get moving." Arron Banks / Victoria Jones/PA Mr Banks accused Channel 4 of attempting to smear him and Mr Farage. The businessman told the broadcaster: "Channel 4 attempts to smear myself and Nigel come at a time when the Brexit Party is riding high in the polls, so it should come as no surprise to anyone." Mr Farage has denied receiving any funding from Mr Banks for the Brexit Party. C hildren in the UK should have a compulsory measles vaccination before they can start school, experts have said. A new study has warned warned that current vaccination policies are not enough to keep the disease at elimination status and control rising numbers of cases. However, British experts have cast doubt on the idea, saying enforcing vaccines could alienate parents. Researchers from the Bruno Kessler Foundation and Bocconi University in Italy looked at current vaccination trends in several countries, including the UK, Ireland, Australia, Italy and the US. They concluded that in order to keep the percentage of the population susceptible to catching measles under 7.5% by 2050 - the level at which measles is regarded as eliminated - further action is needed. A New York county declared a state of emergency over a measles outbreak last month. / AP Either far more people need to be vaccinated or a schools policy should be brought in, they said. Their study, published in the journal BMC Medicine, found that an estimated 3.7% of the UK population across all ages remained susceptible to measles in 2018. But this figure is expected to rise by more than 50% by 2050 if current vaccination policies remain the same. The researchers said: "Our results suggest that most of the countries would strongly benefit from the introduction of compulsory vaccination at school entry in addition to current routine immunisation programmes." Co-author Dr Stefano Merler added: "In particular, we found that this strategy would allow the UK, Ireland and the US to reach stable herd immunity levels in the next decades, which means that a sufficiently high proportion of individuals are immune to the disease to avoid future outbreaks. "To be effective, mandatory vaccination at school entry would need to cover more than 40% of the population." Britain's Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock. / AFP/Getty Images In the UK, anti-vaccination groups have been blamed for some parents not vaccinating their children with the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR). Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, has said "vaccine rejection is a serious and growing public health timebomb", and "social media firms should have a zero-tolerance approach towards" dangerous and inaccurate scare stories. Health Secretary Matt Hancock has also said he "wouldn't rule out anything" when asked whether unvaccinated children should be banned from schools. Figures out last month from Unicef showed that over half a million children in the UK were unvaccinated against measles between 2010 and 2017. Children need two doses of the vaccine for protection, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommending 95% coverage to achieve herd immunity to stop the disease spreading. More than half a million children in the UK have not been vaccinated against measles, new figures covering an eight-year period show. / PA In the UK in 2017, there were 259 measles cases in England, rising to 966 in 2018. In 2016 and 2017, uptake of the first dose of the MMR vaccine in five-year-olds in the UK exceeded 95%. But uptake of the second dose of MMR in five-year-old children is 88% - well below the 95% WHO target. In response to the new study, British experts cast doubt on whether introducing a policy of compulsory vaccination would work. Dr David Elliman, consultant in community child health at Great Ormond Street Hospital, and from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said such a policy lacks evidence for the UK. He said: "Only about 1% to 2% of UK parents refuse all immunisations. A larger proportion may have concerns that are readily addressed by healthcare professionals, while a significant number still have problems accessing appropriate family-friendly services. Introducing compulsory vaccination in this country might reduce the very high level of trust that people have in the NHS and prove counterproductive. It could even result in lower levels of vaccination. "Before we even consider going down this route, we should ensure that we have efficient appointments systems and reminders and adequate numbers of well-trained staff, with time to talk to parents in family-friendly clinics. "Compulsion may work in some countries, but it is not for us." Sonia Saxena, professor of primary care at Imperial College London, said: "Making vaccination mandatory might have unintended consequences. "It risks disenfranchising parents and carers, as well as risking a rise in unvaccinated children being excluded from school - which could carry stigma for children whose parents do not comply. F irefighters are threatening to withdraw from all non-contractual work in a dispute over pay and conditions. The Fire Brigades Union said tensions were mounting with employers ahead of talks over pay. All work outside of a firefighter's core role, such as water rescues and aerial drone operation, could be withdrawn, the union warned. Matt Wrack, FBU general secretary, said: "Firefighters spend each day risking their lives to save others, but governments and employers have thanked them with a real terms pay cut and massive cuts to jobs, all while piling on new duties onto their daily work. "Enough is enough. We will not stand by while the work of firefighters is done for free. "We don't take industrial action likely - no community should have to go without their firefighters' vital non-fire work. "But we need to make it clear that, unless the Government and fire service employers treat firefighters fairly and with respect, we can and will consider all forms of industrial action." D octors have used keyhole surgery for the first time in the UK to correct the spine of an unborn baby with spina bifida. Surgeons at Kings College Hospital in London carried out the operation while Sherrie Sharp was 27 weeks' pregnant with her son Jaxson. The 20-week scan had shown problems with how his spine was forming. While surgeons say the procedure is not a cure, they say it is a pioneering measure that could be the difference between some children learning to walk or not. Hospitals starved of cash: The chief at King's College Hospital NHS trust has resigned (file photo of King's, in Denmark Hill) / Getty Images Ms Sharp, 29, from Horsham, West Sussex, said she wanted to go through with the three- hour operation despite knowing there were risks involved. Doctors had explained to her that the spinal cord was protruding from the babys back, leaving him exposed to amniotic fluid in the womb, which damages crucial nerves and could lead to paralysis. She said: "When we found out Jaxson had spina bifida I was given a number of options. "We knew we wanted to keep our baby and I'm here today thanks to the specialists at King's so I wanted my baby to have the same chance. "The procedure took over three hours and the specialists were happy with how it went. "We're thrilled with our beautiful boy and even though he arrived earlier than expected, he's doing well and his back is healing nicely." Doctors sedated Mr Sharp with an anaesthetic which also effected Jaxson, helping prevent him from wriggling. King's College Hospital / Alex Lentati Surgeons used keyhole surgery to put the spinal cord back in place and cover it with a patch. Dr Marta Santorum-Perez, a consultant at the Fetal Medicine Unit at King's, told the BBC: "We are operating on very delicate structures - the foetus's nerves. "The foetus is very small and inside the womb, so obviously it's a very delicate operation." Jaxson has now been born, arriving early at 33 weeks, and his mother hopes the operation has given her son the best start in life. She said: "He's got movements in his legs, we were told he'd have minimal movements if we didn't have the surgery and he wouldn't be able to move at all. "I've got high hopes for him, from day one he's done things, he's amazed us all. S pain and Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin has called on more men to "speak out" after abortion laws became more strict in the US. The 24-year-old said he wanted to see if more people "from the industry" would comment on the latest legislation. Missouri's Republican-led House recently passed legislation designed to survive court challenges, which would ban abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy That news came days after Alabama's governor signed a bill making performing an abortion a crime in nearly all cases. Bellerin is the latest public figure to hit out at the news, after Rihanna, Jameela Jamil and dozens of celebrities spoke out against the controversial Bill. He tweeted: "I wanted to see if anyone from our industry would speak out about the abortion bill, but I guess people are just too scared. "This isn't just an issue for women, it's one for every human being. "We fight equality and this is something men should fight for and not hide away from". Bellerin's tweet was met with praise on social media, with many commending him for speaking about the issue. One user on Twitter hailed him as a "credit to the profession" for "using your platform to bring inconvinient topics to light". F ormer WWE star Ashley Massaro has died aged 39. The WWE organisation released a statement following Ms Massaro's death, offering its condolences to the star's family and friends. The wrestler and model was a WWE Superstar from 2005 and 2008. She died of "non-criminal causes", police told local media. TV personality Ashley Massaro arrives for the CW Network Winter TCA Party at the Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel in 2007 / Getty Images Ms Massaro's death comes two months after she announced her return to wrestling. She tweeted in March: Gonna be bumping around the ring starting next week super pumped n ready to see what I go left in these ole boots of mine. Fans, friends and former colleagues shared their condolences, flooding social media with support for her family. We are saddened to learn of the tragic death of former WWE Superstar Ashley Massaro," WWE said in a statement. "She performed in WWE from 2005-2008 and was beloved by her fellow Superstars and fans around the world. WWE offers its condolences to Ashleys family and friends. Ashley Massaro was in the WWE from 2005 to 2007 / Getty Images Professional wrestler Torrie Wilson described Ms Massaro as one of the sweetest people she knows. She said: I cant even begin to explain how devastated I am. Fellow WWE stars have made tributes to their colleague / Getty Images Maria Kanellis Bennett wrote: I have no words. Ashley was my tag partner at Wrestlemania. My sometimes road wife. It seems like yesterday Ashley was a major part of my life and then our worlds changed and now she is gone. WARSAW, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Embassy in Warsaw opened its doors to Poles on Thursday, to celebrate both the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China and 70 years of Chinese-Polish diplomatic relations. Visitors to the embassy, including diplomats, students of Sinology, Polish employees of Chinese companies and school children, were welcomed with various Chinese cultural activities, such as Chinese Kung-Fu dance performance, Chinese music quintet concert, movie showings, calligraphy and color-clay workshops. Among the open day guests were students, including some who are planning study in China in the near future. "I'm heading out to China for an exchange program soon, so when a friend told me about the open day, I wanted to come to see what I can learn about the country beforehand," Szymon Gachowski, one of the open day guests, told Xinhua. "There are very few opportunities to learn Chinese at an advanced level in Warsaw and to practice the language, so I welcome the chance to participate in this event," said Adriana, who's in her third year of Sinology at Warsaw University and is also heading to China to study soon. The quiz about China also attracted many participators. "I very much enjoyed it -- especially the quiz about Chinese culture," Paulina Plecinska, a Polish employee of Bank of China, told Xinhua while her smiling colleagues pointed out that she had actually won the quiz. Welcoming the hundreds of visitors to the embassy, Chinese Ambassador to Poland Liu Guangyuan spoke about the "good momentum of China-Poland relations". "Today's gathering of old and new friends alike makes me feel the friendship between our two great peoples," said Ambassador Liu in his speech on Thursday. "From the beginning of this century, Chinese-Polish cooperation in various fields has continued to deepen," the ambassador said, adding that "Under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative and '16+1' cooperation we have made significant progress in cooperation in various fields." A Chicago woman has been charged with murder after she allegedly strangled a pregnant woman with a cord and cut the unborn baby from her womb, police have said. The body of Marlen Ochoa-Lopez, 19, who was nine months pregnant, was discovered behind a property in the city on Wednesday. The baby boy is fighting for his life and is not expected to survive. Clarisa Figueroa, 46, and her daughter Desiree, 24, were charged on Friday with murder and aggravated battery of a child causing permanent disability. Clarisa Figueroa has been charged in the death of 19-year-old expectant mother, Marlen Ochoa-Lopez / AP The older woman's boyfriend, 40-year-old Piotr Bobak, has been charged with concealing a homicide. Police say the 46-year-old woman wanted to raise another child two years after her adult son died of natural causes. Marlen Ochoa-Uriostegui went missing earlier this year / Chicago Police/Chicago Tribune via AP The three suspects are scheduled to appear Friday in bond court. Police said Ms Ochoa-Lopez, who was last seen on April 23, drove from her high school to Figueroas home after responding to a Facebook ad for free baby clothes. They added that she was strangled and the baby cut from her body after arriving at the property. Hours later, Figueroa is said to have called 911 claiming the newborn baby was not breathing. Desiree Figueroa, Clarissa's daughter, has also been charged in connection with the murder of the pregnant teenager. / AFP/Getty Images Police did not connect the woman's disappearance and the 911 call about the baby until May 7, when friends of Ms Ochoa-Lopez directed detectives to her social media account, which showed she had communicated with Figueroa in a Facebook group for expectant mothers. Ms Ochoa-Lopez's family had been looking for her since her disappearance, organising search parties, holding news conferences and pushing police for updates on the investigation. When police arrived to question Figueroa, her daughter told them that her mother was in the hospital with a leg injury, before adding that she had just delivered a baby, said Brendan Deenihan, deputy chief of detectives. Piotr Bobak, Clarisa's boyfriend, has been charged with concealing a homicide. / AFP/Getty Images At the same time, Clarisa Figueroa had started a GoFundMe campaign for the funeral of what she said was her dying baby, said Sara Walker, a spokeswoman for Ms Ochoa-Lopez's family. Police then conducted DNA tests, which showed that Ms Ochoa-Lopez, who also had a three-year-old son, and her husband were actually his parents, Ms Walker said. Figueroa is said to have wanted to raise another child after her adult son died of natural causes two years ago, investigators said. "Words cannot express how disgusting and thoroughly disturbing these allegations are," Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson told reporters on Thursday. T hree Britons and a South African have been killed after a UK-registered plane crashed near Dubai International Airport. The four-seat light aircraft crashed three miles south of the airport, killing all four people on board. The aircraft is registered to Shoreham Airport, West Sussex. Authorities have not yet said what they believe caused the Diamond DA62 aircraft to crash. Images showed the crash site in Dubai / AP The General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) said an investigation is under way. The crash happened as the aircraft was "on a mission to calibrate terrestrial navigation systems at the airport", said the GCAA. Screengrab of a tweet posted by Dubai Media Office of the air crash in Dubai / PA The Foreign Office said in a statement: "We are working closely with the Emirati authorities following reports of a small aircraft crash in Dubai." The plane belonged to the British firm Flight Calibrations Service Ltd., which flies staff around the world to inspect and calibrate navigation aids, including radars and landing systems for airports. The company announced in November it had signed a contract to work on the airport's "navaids" the beacons around an airport that show pilots where runways are and how to land on them. It declined to comment on the crash on Thursday night. The airport halted flights and traffic for nearly an hour following the crash / AP US engineering and aerospace company Honeywell said it had hired Flight Calibration Services and the DA42 plane for work in Dubai. It added: "The plane was not owned or operated by Honeywell but by a third party engaged by Honeywell. We are waiting for more details." Police, paramedics and flight investigators worked at the crash site early on Friday morning. T aiwans parliament has voted to legalise same-sex marriage following a landmark ruling on Friday. Hundreds of gay rights supporters cheered outside the parliament building in the capital, Taipei, as three different bills legalising same-sex unions were passed on Friday 17 May which is also the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. In 2017, Taiwans constitutional court ruled that banning same-sex couples from marrying was unconstitutional and gave parliament two years to make the necessary changes. The ruling marks a huge victory for Taiwans LGBT community who are still fighting the social stigma around homosexuality in their country. But where else in the world is being gay still illegal? Heres everything you need to know: Taiwan legalises same-sex marriage - In pictures 1 /12 Taiwan legalises same-sex marriage - In pictures Taiwan has become the first in Asia to pass such a law REUTERS Same-sex marriage supporters cheer outside parliament in Taiwan following the vote AP Member of Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party hold a sign with Chinese word "Agree" during the parliament vote REUTERS Crowds hold rainbow flags as they take part in a rally during the parliament vote REUTERS The vote is a landmark first in Asia AFP/Getty Images Same-sex marriage supporters gather outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, Taiwan AP A gay rights supporter holds a flower outside Parliament AFP/Getty Images Supporters of same-sex marriage gather outside the parliament building as a bill for marriage equality is debated EPA Supporters of same-sex marriage gather outside the parliament building as a bill for marriage equality is debated by parliamentarians EPA What will the new bill mean for Taiwans LGBT community? The proposal of a new bill legalising same-sex marriage was met with public backlash, leading parliament to hold a series of referendums, The results of these showed that the majority of Taiwanese people believe marriage to be strictly between a man and a woman. For this reason, a special separate bill was created which refers to same-sex partnerships as same-sex family relationships or same-sex unions. Whilst some of Taiwans LGBT community are not completely satisfied with the new bill, for many it is regarded as the closest thing to full equality with heterosexual couples, despite its limitations. Supporters of same-sex marriage react as they gather outside the parliament building as a bill for marriage equality is debated by parliamentarians in Taipei, Taiwan. / EPA Ahead of the vote, President Tsai Ing-wen said she recognised the divisiveness of the issue between families, generations and even inside religious groups. Today, we have a chance to make history and show the world that progressive values can take root in an East Asian society, she added in a Twitter post. When did the UK legalise gay marriage? Up until 1967 in the UK, gay and bisexual men could face a maximum sentence of life in prison. In 1967, gay sex was partly decriminalised by the Sexual Offences Act, but gay people living in the UK still faced discrimination. In 2002, the law was changed to allow gay people to adopt children. A foodie's guide to Taiwan And it was only in 2003 when the 1988 ban on 'promoting' homosexuality in schools was overturned. In 2013, gay marriage was made legal in England and Wales, and later in Scotland. In Northern Ireland, gay marriage is still not legal. Where else in the world is homosexuality still illegal? Homosexuality is still outlawed in the following countries: The Americas Antigua and Barbuda Barbados Dominica Grenada Guyana Jamaica St Kitts and Nevis St Lucia St Vincent and the Grenadines Africa Algeria Angola Botswana Burundi Cameroon Comoros Egypt Eritrea Ethiopia Gambia Ghana Guinea Kenya Liberia Libya Malawi Mauritania Mauritius Morocco Namibia Nigeria Senegal Sierra Leone Somalia South Sudan Sudan Swaziland Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe Middle East Iran Kuwait Lebanon Oman Palestine Qatar Saudi Arabia Syria United Arab Emirates Yemen Central, South and East Asia Afghanistan Bangladesh Bhutan Brunei Indonesia Malaysia Maldives Myanmar Pakistan Singapore Sri Lanka Turkmenistan Uzbekistan India's Supreme Court legalises gay sex in landmark ruling 1 /21 India's Supreme Court legalises gay sex in landmark ruling Gay rights activists celebrate after the country's top court struck down a colonial-era law AP Celebration: The law made homosexual acts punishable by up to 10 years in prison AP Indian Members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community react at the Supreme court premises in New Delhi EPA The judges in the case had previously said that gay people in India faced deep-rooted trauma and live in fear. EPA An activist celebrates after the result of the ruling was announced EPA The Supreme Court ruled that consensual gay sex is not a crime and said that sexual orientation is natural and people have no control over it. AFP/Getty Images The law - known as Section 377 - held that intercourse between members of the same sex was against the order of nature. The five petitioners who challenged the law said it was discriminatory and led to gays living in fear of being harassed and prosecuted by police. EPA Members of the LGBT+ community hold placards outside the Supreme Court AFP/Getty Images Campaignes react outside the Supreme Court in New Dehli AFP/Getty Images India's Supreme Court ruled on 6 September, that gay sex is no longer a criminal offence. EPA Five Supreme Court judges repealed a colonial-era law and legalised gay sex between two consenting adults EPA Gay rights activists celebrate after the country's top court struck down a colonial-era law Reuters Members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community react at the Supreme court premises in New Delhi EPA Supporters and members of the LGBT community celebrate AP Indian Members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community react at the Supreme court premises in New Delhi EPA People hug in celebration after gay sex is legalised in India AFP/Getty Images Oceania Kiribati Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu In April, Bruneis attorney general announced new sharia-based laws which make homosexual sex a criminal offence, punishable by whipping or stoning to death. In Iran, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, homosexuality is still punishable by death, under sharia law. The same applies in parts of Somalia and northern Nigeria. I M Pei, the architect behind iconic buildings including the glass Louvre pyramid in Paris, has died aged 102. The Chinese-American, whose modern designs made him one of the most prolific architects of the 20th century, died overnight, his son Chien Chung Pei announced. Among his most famous works are Bostons John F Kennedy Library and Museum, the Bank of China tower in Hong Kong and the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar, which he created in his 80s. Ieoh Ming Pei was born in Guangzhou, China in 1917. The son of a prominent banker, he moved to the US at the age of 18 to study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University. He became a US citizen in 1955. The Museum of Islamic Art in the Qatari capital Doha / AFP/Getty Images During World War Two, he worked as a research scientist for the US government, before going on to work for a New York developer in 1948 and founding his own architectural firm in 1955. Despite formally retiring from his company in 1990, he continued to take on projects into his late 80s, including museums in Luxembourg and his ancestral home of Suzhou. By that time, he had won a variety of awards and prizes. These include the American Institute of Architects gold medal, and the Japan Art Associations coveted international arts prize: the Praemium Imperiale for architecture. I M Pei's iconic work in pictures 1 /9 I M Pei's iconic work in pictures The Louvre, Paris EPA John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston AP Bank of China tower (centre), Hong Kong AFP/Getty Images Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland AP Dallas City Hall, Texas AP The Los Angeles Conservancy in California EPA Islamic Museum of Art, Doha AFP/Getty Images "He has given this century some of its most beautiful interior spaces and exterior forms," said the jury for the prestigious Pritzker Prize, which Pei won in 1983. He used his $100,000 prize money to start a scholarship fund for Chinese students to study architecture in America. "I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity," he once said. Peis global portfolio includes museums, hotels, and schools, which are renowned for their emphasis on precision geometry, plain surfaces and natural light. A new section of the German Historic Museum in Berlin, which I M Pei designed in 2003 / AP His preferred materials were stone, steel and glass and, as the Louvre illustrates, he often worked glass pyramids into his projects. The entrance to the Paris art museum proved to be Pei's most controversial work, beginning with widespread outrage that he was not French. Pei was chosen for the job by president Francois Mitterrand amid much secrecy. Before embarking on his design, he spent four months studying the history of the museum, parts of which date back to the 12th century. He created a futuristic 70-foot-tall steel-framed, glass-walled pyramid as a grand entrance to the museum, with three smaller pyramids nearby. It was a striking contrast to the Louvres otherwise classic French style and was loathed by many French traditionalists, with one French newspaper describing the pyramids as "an annex to Disneyland". Pei said he had wanted to create a modern space that didnt detract from the traditional part of the museum, but admitted that it was undoubtedly the most difficult job of his career when it opened in 1993. "Contemporary architects tend to impose modernity on something," he said in an New York Times interview in 2008. "There is a certain concern for history but it's not very deep. I understand that time has changed, we have evolved. But I don't want to forget the beginning. A lasting architecture has to have roots." Smiling as he accepts the Lifetime Achievement Award during the 2016 Asia Game Changer Awards ceremony in New York / AP Pei was recognisable by his round, owl-ish glasses and slight frame. He was was married to Eileen Loo from 1942 until her death in 2014. The couple had four children, two of whom became architects. In a statement on Friday morning, the Louvres president Jean-Luc Martinez issued a statement expressing the museums profound sadness at Peis death. M issouri's Republican-led Senate has passed a bill to ban abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy, just days after Alabama signed in the strictest abortion laws in the US. Senators approved the Missouri legislation 24 votes to 10 on Thursday. Missouris lower house and Republican Governor Mike Parson, who voiced support for it on Wednesday, must back the bill before it can become law. If it is approved, abortions past eight weeks would be banned in most cases, including rape or incest. Their vote came only hours after Alabama's governor signed an effective ban on abortion, making the procedure illegal after six weeks of pregnancy. If the law passes in Missouri, doctors would face five to 15 years in prison for violating the eight-week cutoff. Women who receive abortions at eight weeks or later into a pregnancy would not be prosecuted. Missouri state Senator Jill Schupp, a Democrat, condemned the bill for failing to "understanding that women's lives all hold different stories". However, Republican state Senators Dave Schatz and Caleb Rowden published a joint statement praising the "life-affirming" legislation. Missouri is among a growing number of states where abortion opponents are working with renewed enthusiasm following President Donald Trump's appointment of more conservative high court justices. Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio and Georgia have approved bans on abortion once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which can occur in about the sixth week of pregnancy. T aiwan has become the first country in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage. Officials passed the law following a vote on Friday, giving same-sex couples full legal marriage rights, including in areas such as taxes, insurance and child custody. The island's constitutional court ruled in May 2017 that same-sex couples had the right to legally marry. Parliament was given a two year deadline to adjust laws accordingly. Taiwan legalises same-sex marriage - In pictures 1 /12 Taiwan legalises same-sex marriage - In pictures Taiwan has become the first in Asia to pass such a law REUTERS Same-sex marriage supporters cheer outside parliament in Taiwan following the vote AP Member of Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party hold a sign with Chinese word "Agree" during the parliament vote REUTERS Crowds hold rainbow flags as they take part in a rally during the parliament vote REUTERS The vote is a landmark first in Asia AFP/Getty Images Same-sex marriage supporters gather outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, Taiwan AP A gay rights supporter holds a flower outside Parliament AFP/Getty Images Supporters of same-sex marriage gather outside the parliament building as a bill for marriage equality is debated EPA Supporters of same-sex marriage gather outside the parliament building as a bill for marriage equality is debated by parliamentarians EPA Thousands of demonstrators outside parliament cheered and waved rainbow flags as the bill passed 66 to 27. Despite heavy rain crowds were seen embracing tearfully while others hailed the vote with chants of "Asia's first," and "Way to go, Taiwan!" Crowds hold rainbow flags as they take part in a rally during the parliament vote / REUTERS The bill will take effect after President Tsai Ing-wen signs it into law. "Today, we have a chance to make history and show the world that progressive values can take root in an East Asian society," Tsai wrote on Twitter before the vote. "Today, we can show the world that #LoveWins," added Tsai, who campaigned on a promise of marriage equality in the 2016 presidential election. The vote is a landmark first in Asia / AFP/Getty Images The vote followed a years-long tussle over marriage equality that culminated in a 2017 declaration by the democratic island's constitutional court giving same-sex couples the right to marry, and setting a deadline of May 24 for legislation. However the vote comes despite deep divisions over marriage equality in the country. Late last year, Taiwan voters opposed same-sex marriage in a series of referendums, defining marriage as being between a man and a woman, while seeking a special law for such unions. Conservative groups that oppose same-sex marriage said the legislation disrespected the people's will. Taiwan's acceptance of gay and lesbian relationships began in the 1990s when leaders in today's ruling Democratic Progressive Party championed the cause to help Taiwan stand out in Asia as an open society. T wo British teachers are being held in prison in Oman after being accused of stealing dogs. Jenny Green and a female friend have been charged with theft and potentially others related to alcohol, according to Detained in Dubai. Ms Green and her friend were working for the British Council to help promote UK culture in the country. They allegedly intervened to save abused animals but abusing animals is not a crime in the nation. According to Detained in Dubai, animal abuse is not illegal in the county. / Getty Images Radha Stirling, CEO of Detained in Dubai said: This is yet another stark reminder that there are vast cultural and legal disparities between the West and the Gulf States. Jenny Green and her friend were in Oman working for the British Council, specifically to help promote UK culture in the country. They allegedly intervened to save abused animals, which is something honourable in Britain, but is a crime in Oman. As we see in this case, the original charges of 'theft', which were wrongful in the first place; appear to have been arbitrarily compounded with charges related to alcohol by judicial caprice; reportedly because the judge in the case 'thought the women may have been intoxicated'." She added: Conditions in Omani prison are well known to be dismal. It is outrageous that Jenny Green and her friend are enduring this blatant mistreatment, and the UK government needs to step in to secure their release. The British Council, whose staff are in the country visiting the pair, said on Thursday that the pair are "fine and being treated well". A spokesman said: We are aware of an incident in relation to two British teachers employed locally in Oman. "We cannot discuss the details of an ongoing legal case and await the outcome of due process by the Omani authorities. T he joy of online shopping is you can find pretty much anything at the click of a button if you know where to look. While many bricks-and-mortar high street stores are slowly cottoning on to the value of the plus size pound (hey, better late than never), they have still yet to stock full collections for clothing larger than a size 16 on the shop floor. And while some brands tacked on perfunctory plus sections to collections made for slimmer shoppers, the #BodyPositive movement (which has over 11.9m Instagram posts to date) and presence of more plus size celebrities (think Lizzo, Ashley Graham and Rebel Wilson to name just a few) means that retailers are starting to wake up to the fact plus size women want to be fashionable too. Banish all thoughts of boring tent-like smock dresses, ageing florals and ill-fitting trousers. Plus size fashion is bigger and better than ever, and online is the best place to find your next sartorial haul. Below youll find a directory of stores who offer fashion to women who wear a UK dress size 16 or larger. Weve also included some established brands whose superb selection of extended sizes earns them a place in our list. Theres everything from elegant formalwear, polished office attire, glam date night ensembles and casual off-duty apparel from brands you may know, and hopefully a few you dont. The best plus size clothing shops Price: Sizes: up to 34 Considered by many the mothership of fashionable plus size, ASOS Curves main draw is that it stocks so many great plus size designers in addition to its own brand range. Browse more than 2,000 fashion and lingerie pieces in extended sizes from brands like New Look, Pink Clove, Boohoo and Club L all under one digital roof. If you get ASOSs Premier Delivery, your spree will be at your door in around 24 hours, and sometimes less exactly the white horse you need when in the midst of a sartorial crisis. ASOS also offer a fantastic men's plus size range, check it out here. Snag Price: Sizes: 4 to 36 Snag Good tights are hard to find, especially when you wear a plus size. Thats why were so delighted with Snag, where hosiery and leggings are specifically made and sized to fit curves up to a UK dress size 36. The generous collection includes tights for all occasions, from thick wooly designs and rainbow-bright fishnets to barely-there sheers and skintones that are perfect for adding under summer frocks. The inclusive brand also offers clothing basics like leggings, tees, skirts and swimwear, giving women of all sizes more comfortable and flattering options than ever. Love. Monki Price: Sizes: up to XL Although the sizes go up to an XL, Monkis generous fit means most of the label is perfect for women with curves; some of their designs are the equivalent of a UK 24. The Swedish brand has the sort of signature style you can spot a mile off, louche and kooky: think whimsical motifs, punchy prints and colourways so cheerful theyll burn your retinas with their brightness (in a good way, of course). Monki are also big cheerleaders on body positivity, feminism and LGBTQ+ rights, which is mirrored across their ad and social media campaigns as well as some collections. Their online offering can often be more diverse than what youll find in stores, so point your digital compass there and dont miss their web exclusives; they sell out lightningfast. New Look Curves Price: Sizes: 18 - 28 Neutrals and wardrobe essentials are the backbone of New Looks current plus size offering, which youll find in its dedicated online Curves section. Prices are modest (around the 20 mark for a day dress), so you should have no trouble picking up the latest trends or updating your wardrobe on a budget. Dont forget to check out their shoes too they have a decent wide fit shoe range to go with the fashion on the site. The boys are covered too, with a dedicated mens plus size section. Junarose by Vera Moda Price: Sizes: up to XXL or a UK 28 Clothes that fit curvy women properly, Junarose is one of those brands youd be happy to spend your entire vacation in. Designed for sizes 16+, the site is dedicated to plus size style and the spring collection is filled with transitional pieces that have us reaching for our credit cards. The main collection is a bit more reserved think flattering midi dresses and length sleeve tops that would suit older shoppers who care about quality rather than jumping aboard passing fashion bandwagons. Simply Be Price: Sizes: 10 - 32 With everything from occasion to beachwear making a play for your next fashion buy, Simply Be has been designing for curves for years. Celebrating curves is central to the brands ethos, and they offer cool and stylish fashion-forward pieces in sizes 10-32. As well as their own brand, the online department store stocks an impressive selection of brands including AX Paris, Figleaves, Monsoon and Levis. Theres even a beauty selection so you can shop your look from head to toe in one place. Violeta by Mango Price: Sizes: up to 22 From one of Spain's best-known high street brands, Violeta by Mango is an absolute treasure trove of classic shapes and silhouettes, with the occasional punchy print. This season theres a decent selection of prints: floral and polka and the suit trousers will smarten up your office wardrobe if needed. Oh, and dont miss the Online Exclusives for kit you cant get anywhere else. In all, the collection stays true to the Mango aesthetic, its just bigger. Were obsessed. Oasis Curve Price: Sizes: 18 - 26 This brand was a bit late to the plus size party, but theyre here now and thats all that matters. Oasis only launched Curve in September 2018 after it saw the success its one-off plus size collab with Simply Be. Once they saw for themselves that the demand was there, the label rolled out a capsule collection featuring designs in extended sizes. Prim, proper and preppy, find cute staples across the whole range, all perfect for work and play. Chi Chi London Curve Price: Sizes: 18 - 26 If youve got a wedding to attend or need a special outfit for a birthday or big party and youre plus size - head to Chi Chi London. The brand has a well-earned rep of offering seriously pretty frocks that flatter and enhance curvy woman. In fact, their Curve range offers a spectrum of pretty, elegant styles: think demure tea dresses, florals and dreamy puffs. Think Tahanis wardrobe from The Good Place and youre on the right track. Formal wear is hard enough to shop for but to find high quality pieces in plus sizes can be practically impossible. Thankfully Chi Chi London is here to save the day with sizes up to a 26. Yours Clothing Price: Sizes: 16 - 36 Find a massive selection of trends and seasonal pieces at Yours Clothing, another e-retailer putting curves firmly at the centre of their business. They stock multiple brands such as Hell Bunny, Izabel Curve and Chi Chi London. Pink Clove Price: Sizes: 16 - 28 Dedicated to designing plus size fashion to style-conscious women, Pink Clove sells styles in sizes 16 to 28. There are so many want-it-now pieces, youll be glad your heaving online basket is a virtual one, but thanks to the plentiful discounts on already-low prices, your finances wont suffer the consequences of your impulse haul. Dresses from as low as 3. Lovedrobe Price: Sizes: up to 26 Selling trend-led fashion to an exclusively plus size audience, Lovedrobe has more than 40 years experience designing clothes for women. If its new day frocks youre after youll find plenty to inspire your next #ootd in its dedicated Dresses section. Inspired by the catwalk and current trends, garments are available up to size 26. Veronica Beard Price: Timeless, made-to-last fashion at a higher price point, Victoria Beard is all about investment pieces that will serve as a faithful foundation for all future outfits. We've got our eyes on the Gaya Dickey Jacket, a staple in any well-curated wardrobe. Based in New Jersey, USA, they offer worldwide shipping. In the Style Curve Price: Sizes: 14-28 With collab collections with reality TV stars like Dani Dyer, this is fast fashion for a young audience at hard-to-resist prices. Youll find dresses, swimwear and coats with an urban, clubby edge. Penningtons Price: Sizes: 18 28 Another US import, Penningtons caters to sizes 14 32, the equivalent of a UK 18 28. With a good mix of everyday staples and special occasion designs its a great base to build your wardrobe. The plus-size lingerie selection is impressive just check the measurements carefully before you buy as American sizes differ slightly to the UKs. Tutti Rouge lingerie Price: Sizes: Bras to 38HH Underwear can make such a difference to your whole outfit, so finding the best bra is crucial. Tutti Rouge stock hundreds of romantic, edgy and dramatic pieces in styles that fit and support where you need it the most. A UK-based design team creates bras from cup size DD and upwards. River Island Plus Price: Sizes: 18 - 28 River Island has been on the British high street for 60-odd years, bringing inexpensive, trend-led fashion to everyone from your mates to your work BFF. The Plus range is available exclusively online and comprises casual and clubwear: think cut-out dresses, slouchy joggers and statement prints (usually leopard-print) to update your SS20 wardrobe. Torrid fashion Price: Sizes: up to a US 30 Based in the US, but with international delivery from 10-20 business days, Torrid is popular on Instagram with plus size bloggers. And browsing the site, its really no wonder. The site sells everything from occasionwear like wedding dresses and bridesmaid fashion to athleisure for the larger lady; sizes run from a US 10 30. Check out the shoes, accessories and lingerie options while youre there youll find some pretty options you wont see anywhere else. Curvissa Price: Sizes: 14 - 32 Launched in 2011, Curvissa is one of the biggest online fashion shops for a plus size audience. There are over 3,000 fashion pieces in sizes 14 32 spanning everything from trousers and tops, to jackets, jeans, occassionwear, lingerie and swimwear. Laura Sutherland, Brand Manager at Curvissa, says: We wanted to create a brand that would ensure that all plus size women could visit our site for clothing they trust to feel comfortable and confident wearing. Most importantly, we wanted to provide women with plenty of choice. Mission accomplished. Quiz Price: Sizes: 16 - 26 Alongside wardrobe staples and holiday-ready bargains, Quiz also offers an occasionwear collection that works for everyone from bridesmaids to wedding guests. The Curve collection offers pieces for work as well as play, and if you sign up to their newsletter youll get 15 per cent off your first order. Blue Vanilla Curve Price: Sizes: 18- 28 Based in London, you may have spotted Blue Vanilla concessions in New Look and House of Fraser. Find the full collection online with international shipping to 150 countries. Their Curve section runs from sizes 18 28 and features pretty maxi dresses and printed tops which you can filter according to colour. Navabi Price: Sizes: 14 - 32 Finding designer plus-sized clothing can be tricky, but there are a host of amazing options at Navabi 214 to be exact. The e-retailers eponymous collection is perfect for updating your work wardrobe with plenty of blouses, trousers and shift dresses to choose from. The brand also regularly features influencer collabs, as well as styling advice. Pretty Little Thing Curve Price: Sizes: 4 - 28 Plus size everything is the primary agenda when youre on Pretty Little Things Curve section; think bodysuits and bottoms as well as dresses, bralets and jackets, plus plenty more besides. The 1,425 piece range echoes the style of the main PLT collection festival-friendly, glam and slick - ensuring you can keep up to date with the latest trends, whatever your size. Prices max out at 40. Boohoo Plus Price: Sizes: 16 - 24 Theres no need to wait until payday to nab the latest styles when shopping at Boohoo the site features new pieces daily at budget-friendly prices. There are sections for Maternity as well as Petite, Tall and of course, Plus Size. Whether youre looking for a new date night outfit or just want a quick wardrobe update, Boohoos your best bet for trend-let pieces that wont break the bank. Prices rarely breach the 60 barrier, averaging 30 or less and theres always something cute on sale. Find the men's Big + Tall collection here. H&M+ Plus Sizes Price: Sizes: up to size 24 L ove Island fans have kicked off the countdown to the long, hot summer after spotting the first show teasers. While some eagle-eyed fans have noticed some posters declaring #DayDotIsComing, excitement really got under way when a small teaser aired during This Morning on Thursday. Under the hashtag, which refers to the phrase many islanders have used to refer to the first day of the show, a series of nods to the programme helped to get fans in the mood for the impending fifth series. One clip showed a pair of swimming trunks emblazoned with the letters DBS in the corner, a reference to the Do Bits Society formed last year by contestants to discuss intimate moments. DBS: The Do Bits Society merchandise floated through the pool / ITV Another image had a piece of paper reading my type floating in a glistening pool while a different one showed a collection of eggs in a basket. Other releases featured quotes from previous series, including a sassy comment shouted by Eyal Booker at Hayley Hughes as they split. Comeback: Eyal Booker's sassy comment appeared on one teaser / ITV Earlier this week, Love Island host Caroline Flack posted a video of her in beachwear tucking into watermelon as part of what is believed to be promo filming. Happiest when Im eating melons and wearing socks ... coming soon ..., the presenter wrote alongside the clip. Caroline Flack reveals that Love Island starts filming this week Flack later revealed that she was flying to Majorca, where the popular show is filmed. Narrator Iain Stirling has also teased fans by hinting hes back in the voiceover booth for the new series. At the beginning of May, Flack excitedly told fans that filming had begun for the new series, confessing it had come around quick and was really exciting. Love Island returns to ITV2 in June. H uawei has officially unveiled its first 5G smartphone: the Huawei Mate 20 X 5G with a whopping 7.2-inch OLED screen, at an event in London last night. The Chinese tech giant initially released the Mate 20 X during its latest Mate range update last October as a phone designed especially for gamers with a large screen and even larger battery. However, the new version is complete with Huaweis 5G modem, the Balong 5000 chip, which will allow the phone to access 5G network speeds, which promise to be 20 times faster than 4G. Huawei isnt the only company set to release a 5G phone this summer. Earlier this week, Samsung revealed that its 5G phone, the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, is almost ready to pre-order ahead of a June release date. But, which 5G smartphone is the one for you? Here are the two contenders, compared. The Huawei Mate 20 X 5G and Samsung Galaxy S10 5G - the first 5G smartphones from the two tech giants Huawei Mate 20 X and Samsung Galaxy S10: prices Let's get pricing out of the way. Samsung is yet to release the pricing for the S10 5G phone, only revealing that it will be available to buy from Samsung, EE, and Vodafone when it goes on sale. On the other hand, we know Huawei's 5G phone is going to be a casual 999 and will be available from select retailers including O2, Three and EE. Huawei Mate 20 X and Samsung Galaxy S10: design 5G smartphones are bigger than their 4G counterparts in order to allow you to watch all that high speed content on the go. The Huawei device, with that 7.2-inch OLED screen, is huge, with a teardrop notch at the top. Samsung, on the other hand, has a more easy to handle 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED screen, with a discreet pinhole design in the left corner to house the dual selfie cameras. The Samsung Galaxy S10 5G has a pinhole design to house the front camera / Samsung Both devices have all-glass designs and offer wireless charging. In general, AMOLED screens are better because theyre often higher quality and more flexible than OLED screens. But really it depends on the size here: Samsungs 5G phone is a lot easier to handle than Huaweis mammoth design. Huawei Mate 20 X and Samsung Galaxy S10: camera If its the sheer number of cameras youre looking for then Samsung wins it with a total of six lenses across the device. On the front, there are two cameras: a 10-megapixel selfie camera and an 8-megapixel depth camera for selfie portrait shots. On the back, there is a 12-megapixel telephoto lens, a 12-megapixel wide-angle lens, a 16-megapixel ultra-wide camera lens and a 3D depth camera for augmented reality. The Huawei Mate 20 X 5G has a 7.2-inch screen and four camera lenses across the device / Huawei Over on Huaweis 5G phone, it has one 24-megapixel selfie camera, and three Leica lenses on the back: a 40-megapixel wide-angle lens, a 20-megapixel ultra wide angle lens, and an 8-megapixel telephoto lens. The 3D depth camera on the Samsung 5G phone might just cinch it given that improved AR capability is one of things 5G is supposed to offer, so the ability to access this kind of tech through your smartphone is going to come in very handy. Huawei Mate 20 X and Samsung Galaxy S10: performance Huaweis 5G device comes fitted with its in-house Balong 5000 chipset, which it says can reach download speeds reaching up to 6.5Gbps (gigabit per second). In comparison, 4G offers download speeds up to 60Mbps (megabits per second) so download speeds is one example of how 5G is going to be so much faster than before. Huawei's CEO Richard Yu with the company's 5G commercial chipset at Mobile World Congress / JOSEP LAGO / Contributor / Getty In comparison, Samsungs 5G modem, the Exynos Modem 5100, is expected to offer download speeds of 2.7Gbps at least in South Korea. It looks like Huaweis device will be faster than Samsung, if this is to be believed. Both phones have backwards capability so they will both work on 4G, 3G and even, god forbid, 2G speeds for when youre out of reach of the higher networks. Huawei Mate 20 X and Samsung Galaxy S10: battery If youre going to be downloading a lot of content to watch and playing lots of games on these fast devices, then battery size is very important. Huaweis non-5G Mate 20 X had a whopping 5,000mAH battery but the company have had to compromise on this for the 5G version, so it is only sporting a 4,200mAH. Thats quite a big difference, considering how big the screen is on this device, and might hamper its performance. The Samsung Galaxy S10 5G has a 4,500mAH battery, so slightly bigger than the Huawei one. However, the S10+ (non 5G) claims to have a 4,100mAH battery and the issues with the battery life was one of our main criticisms of the phone, so well have to see if the 5G version performs better. Both phones have their own super-fast charging capabilities so at least youll be able to power up with speed. When is Huawei Mate 20 X 5G released in the UK? Huawei is keeping quiet about when it comes to the Mate 20 X 5G release date. All it will say right now is that the device will be available to pre-order from late May and will be on sale from early June. When is Samsung Galaxy S10 5G released in the UK? A pples developer conference WWDC has been taking place this week in California and with it plenty of announcements about the exciting features to expect from iOS 13, the next Apple mobile operating software. It was revealed at the main keynote on Monday night that iOS 13 is going to include interesting developments such as dark mode, new editing tools for photos, and a private sign-in tool for safety on the internet. There's a few months to go until the new software arrives on your device - the next iOS is always released when the new iPhone range is, usually in September. However, depending on which iPhone you have, you may not be able to access the new update. Apple has released the iOS 13 beta for developers to try the new features and it has included the list of compatible devices. If you have an iPhone 6s or newer, including the 7, 8, X devices, then you will be fine. That means that the iPhone 6 and iPhone 5S will no longer receive software updates from Apple. This doesn't just mean the devices won't get the new iOS 13 features, eventually they will stop receiving security updates from Apple and apps will stop working, though not for a few years. The iPad range is also undergoing some major changes as Apple is breaking iPad away from iOS and giving it its own software in the form of iPadOS. The iPads that will miss out on the new iPad software when it is released in September include iPad 4 and below, the original iPad Air, and iPad Mini 3 and below. What is coming to iOS 13? For the iPhones that will receive iOS 13, there are lots of interesting features to look forward to. Dark mode brings a new system-wide colour scheme that promises to ease eye strain and improve readability on the devices. There was a demo of how this will look in native Apple apps, included Messages, and it looks pretty amazing. How iMessage will look in the new Dark Mode feature in iOS 13 (Justin Sullivan / Staff / Getty ) / Justin Sullivan / Staff / Getty Apple's Memojis are undergoing an update too. Before, memojis were only accessible on the iPhone X and above thanks to the 3D capabilities front-facing camera, however, a new Memoji stickers feature means anyone can create a memoji that looks like them and use it in chats with friends the same way you would emojis. New customisation features will allow you to accessorise your memoji with makeup, hats, and even Apple's AirPods. There are new photo editing tools coming to Photos, including the ability to rotate videos in the app, as well as portrait lighting adjustments to refine images. The new Private Sign In with Apple tool will allow Apple users to use their Apple ID to authenticate sign in to third-party apps, drawing on Apple's security features to stay safe online. A young female standing at an overpass bridge, threatening to jump. A man overdosed in a chair in a motel room with four children looking on. An unconscious male in a bathtub with a 12-year-old near by. Another man slumped over the steering wheel in a car parked in a shopping center parking lot. A man hanging from an electrical cord in a closet with children in the room outside it. A woman bleeding profusely from her wrists after trying to end her life. Settle recalled the date, time and place of each incident around town, occurring this year and last, emphasizing the reality of drug addiction and other mental health challenges. We dont want to be No. 1 for this, but currently we are No. 1 for drug overdoses, he said. In the past two years, the Culpeper Police Department has used NARCAN more than 75 timesand countingto revive people who overdosed, and in some cases died and were brought back to life. On the scene before paramedics arrive, the officers, young and old, male and female with families of their own at home, used other tools as well to revive stagnant pulses such as AEDs to shock peoples hearts back to life and tourniquets to stop the bleeding. Six days later, Judge Durrer wrote a letter to Chief Judge Timothy Sanner stating that since the Snows July trial dates come after Judge Worrell would begin presiding in Greene, Judge Worrell would hear the cases. At this time, Judge Worrell is schedule to take over as Greene County Circuit Court presiding judge on July 1, before the Snows mid-July trial. On the same day Judge Durrer wrote his letter to Chief Judge Sanner, Larry Snows attorney, Janice Redinger, wrote a letter to Donald Lemons, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia. Redinger requested the appointment of a new judge, as well as a new special prosecutor. The first request is for the court to designate a new judge for these matters, as well as the companion cases of Bryant Snow, Redinger wrote. She continues by stating, I ask this court to appoint a new special prosecutor and because of the egregious impropriety of the ex parte contact by the current special prosecutor, to order that he and his office not participate in this process at all. Clerk of the Supreme Court of Virginia, Douglas Robelen, responded to Redingers requests on April 25. You have not identified any authority that would permit the Chief Justice to intervene as you have requested, Robelen states. Absent a basis for the Chief Justice to intervene pursuant to your letter, it appears your requests would need to be directed to the circuit court. It is not uncommon for citizens to take a critical look at us and what we are doing, Spencer said. But, I think we are very fortunate to have the support of most of the community. In fact, I think the majority of people are very supportive of the work that we do. We are a very busy agency. We make a lot of cases and we are trying to provide the best public safety to make Scottsbluff and the area as safe as we possibly can. Law enforcement agencies are seeing lower numbers of people pursuing careers, including in Nebraska. A recent story from the Kearney Hub focused on lower numbers of law enforcement officers applying to and attending the Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center in Grand Island. Spencer said the lower numbers have affected all agencies, not just the state patrol, as they seek qualified applicants. The NLETC hosts three academies each year, with a limit of 50 students per academy. In the past, the center often had a waiting list for each academy, however, most recent academies have been under-enrolled. To be willing to serve in law enforcement is a tremendous sacrifice on a personal level, Spencer said. I think right now there are just not a lot of people who want to be police officers, he said. LINCOLN This Saturday will be a great day to go fishing or visit a state park area in Nebraska! May 18 is Free Fishing and Park Entry Day. Free Fishing and Park Entry Day is held annually in Nebraska on the Saturday preceding Memorial Day weekend. It means anyone can fish without a permit or visit a state park area without a park entry permit that day only. Even though fishing and park entry permits are not required, anglers must observe all fishing regulations, and camping, lodging and all other user fees still apply at state park areas. May 18 also is a great opportunity to participate in the Take em Fishing challenge, in which anglers pledge to take new or inexperienced anglers fishing. Visit outdoornebraska.gov/takeemfishing/ for more information. Many events are scheduled in conjunction with Free Fishing and Park Entry Day, including the grand opening of the Schramm Education Center at Schramm Park State Recreation Area. For more details on park events taking place on Free Fishing and Park Entry Day, visit Calendar.OutdoorNebraska.gov. Submit Your News We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Growing up in the 1950s and 60s, there was no avoiding the adorable Doris Day. She was cute as a bug, wholesome, winsome and adored, at least in movies, by the swooning-est leading men in Hollywood -- Rock Hudson, Cary Grant and Clark Gable, to name a few. As a young girl, I simply loved her and, of course, wanted to marry Rock. As dreamboats went, he was without par. And Doris (we were on a first-name basis back then) was this motherless girls idea of what a woman should be -- cheerfully feminine and wise to men. Today, Days characters would be laughable to world-weary children trapped in a sexualized world. But I can testify that watching grown-ups crawl into twin beds wearing pajamas brings no harm to the underaged. Im grateful for the innocence that society then permitted its younger generation, and to actors such as Day, who declined roles, including Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate, that defied her values. Also, Day was honest enough about herself to figure she probably wouldnt have been believable as a seductress. She was certainly glamorous, but was also perhaps cursed by a prevailing perkiness that could be neither subdued nor camouflaged. Besides, who would want to see a lascivious Doris Day? Surely, not her fans. ORLANDO, Fla. A Burke County woman arrested at Walt Disney World last month is threatening a lawsuit if the company and the sheriffs office responsible dont apologize. Hester Jordan Burkhalter, 69, was charged with felony possession of hashish after a Disney World security guard found a bottle labeled select CBD in her purse on April 15, according to an arrest affidavit from the Orange County Sheriffs Office. The charges were dropped against Burkhalter on April 26. According to the Associated Press, Benjamin Crump, the attorney who represented Trayvon Martins family, has been hired to represent Burkhalter. On Tuesday, Crump said Disney World and OCSO need to take responsibility for their actions, the AP reported. If they dont, Crump said he will file a lawsuit alleging violations of Burkhalters civil rights. OCSO has said in a statement that the arrest was lawful, while Disney has said the incident was a law enforcement matter, according to an AP report. 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A MAE release sent to AGERPRES conveys that the vote for the national referendum will be cast in the same polling stations organised for the elections to the European Parliament.The electors can choose to exercise their right to vote for one type of election or for both."For the 441 polling stations set up abroad for the Romanian electors, the Foreign Affairs Ministry will send 4,000,500 ballot papers, for both the elections to the European Parliament and the national referendum. There will be distributed 1,333,500 ballot papers for the election of Romania's candidates to the European Parliament, for question no. 1 of the national referendum, for question no. 2 of the national referendum, respectively," the MAE points out.The Ministry highlights that this is the biggest number of ballot papers to be distributed to the polling stations abroad in an electoral process, with the MAE "making sure that all conditions are met so that the vote in the elections on 26 May be carried out in the best conditions."The MAE adds that the number of ballot papers was established following the estimations made by the diplomatic missions, taking into account the turnout to the previous elections and the territorial distribution of the Romanian communities, as well as the estimations regarding the intention to participate in the voting, based on the pieces of information conveyed and the intentions expressed by the Romanian citizens within the consultations which Romania's diplomatic missions organised with the Romanian communities abroad.At the same time with the ballot papers, the MAE is also sending other materials necessary for voting: sticker stamps, stamps with the "Voted" mention, control stamps, additional electoral lists and minutes for recording the voting results.The list of polling stations organised abroad and the addresses of the locations where the voting will tale place can be consulted on MAE internet page.On 26 May, Romanians can vote for their representatives to the European Parliament, as well as express their opinion in a national referendum on Justice convened by President Klaus Iohannis. President Klaus Iohannis on Friday urged the students to turn out for the May 26 elections to the European Parliament. "In 2016 I encouraged the students to take part in elections. Next week you will have this chance again, some of you perhaps for the first time. This is an opportunity to make your voice heard in configuring the direction of our country and of Europe overall. I encourage you to do so, because although in many ways Timis County is the 'vanguard' of the country, voter participation in the polls has been a regrettable exception in recent years. Today we are faced with the harmful effects of absenteeism. Dear students, turn out to the polls and defend your interests, don't let those who promise much but do little hamper your development as Romanians and as Europeans!," the head of the state said at the debate "Become Your Best! Through Quality Higher Education" organized at the West University. The President also encouraged the youth to further get involved in the public life of Romania. AGERPRES The Federation Lodge of Honour of the Revolutionaries of December 1989 on Thursday sent a letter to President Klaus Iohannis asking him not to use the "Romanian Revolution in the electoral campaign." "After we have seen your press release called '30 Years since the Romanian Revolution of December 1989. 2019 - The Year of Paying Homage to the Victims of Communism,' we respectfully send this letter to you, Mr President of Romania, Klaus Werner Iohannis, which capacity you acquired thanks to the democratic vote cast by Romanians in free elections. In December 2019 we will have the 30th anniversary since the Romanian Revolution, 30 years of democracy of the Romanian people, a moment when we celebrate the heroes of that bloody December 1989, the ones who made the supreme sacrifice and brought freedom and democracy in Romania," reads the letter that was made public. According to the Federation, December 1989 is part of the history of the Romanian people, "it is the moment when the Romanian people, through the blood shed by our heroes, gained its freedom, the dignity of being Romanian, the right to elect and to be elected." "Mr President, we ask you not to use the Romanian Revolution in the electoral campaign, the Revolution must remain spotless in the memory of the Romanian people. Mr President, you do not have the right to change the history and signification that brought freedom and dignity to the Romanian people. The history of the Romanian people must remain ours, of the Romanian people. We must not forget that the Revolution is a moment of our history, of our entire people's history, which was achieved by people for people, with courage, sacrifice and dignity, in the name of ideals and rights, with the trust of a people which fears God and respects the truth," underscores the letter. AGERPRES The Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) welcomes the adoption by the European Commission and the EU High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the Joint Communication on the European Union and Central Asia, called "New opportunities for a stronger partnership." "The document lays the foundations for a new vision of the European Union for a strengthened partnership with the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, the Republic of Turkmenistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan, in view of capitalising on the opportunities provided by the consolidation of the bilateral dialogue and the substantiation of regional cooperation. Thus, the vision set out in the Joint Communication responds to the need for a high level of resilience and prosperity in Central Asia as a basis for the reform process, sustainable connectivity and sustainable development," a MAE release sent to AGERPRES on Thursday informs. The MAE mentions that "Romania is and will remain a firm supporter of boosting cooperation between the European Union and Central Asia states, through a new generation of bilateral agreements, as well as by promoting common regional policies and solutions to ensure an active role for Central Asia. The Romanian Presidency at the EU Council paid a special attention to developing the relations between the European Union and the five partner states of Central Asia, context in which the Foreign Affairs Ministry together with the European External Action Service (EEAS) organised on Wednesday, in Bucharest, the High-Level Conference on Central Asia, called "Connectivity for sustainable development," meant to mark the new EU Strategy for the region and capitalise on the importance of Central Asia in view of the EU Strategy on Connecting Europe and Asia. AGERPRES Prime Minister Viorica Dancila said at the Maramures International Airport (AIM) on Friday that the Government has supported the investments made in the infrastructure of this airport, as well as other investments made in the county, adding that the current Government is trying to attract as many investors as possible. "I think it is very important that in this year 2019, in which we focus on investments, these unfold on time, to see their stage. Wherever we see that things are not as we would have wanted, we will come with government support. I appreciate this good cooperation between the local communities, the County Council and the Government of Romania, because in fact all these things lead to the development of the local communities, the development of the county and, implicitly, the development of Romania," said Prime Minister Dancila. She also stressed that the Government is directly interested in supporting local investments, this being the reason why "we supported the construction of the airport from the governmental point of view, we supported from the governmental point of view the investments in Maramures and countrywide. (...) We encourage the investments in Romania, we also seek from a legislative point of view, from the point of view of conditions, of predictability, of a friendly business environment, to attract as many investors as possible because the economic development is closely linked to infrastructure investments. It is closely linked to the investors who come and develop here objectives, both economically and socially (...)," said Viorica Dancila. Prime Minister Viorica Dancila visited on Friday the construction site of Universal Alloy Corporation Europe, an investment close to Maramures Airport benefiting from a government aid scheme, the company being specialized in the production of subassemblies for the Airbus and Boeing Aerospace companies. AGEPRES Romania must seek third markets, such as the Arab countries and China, both in order to increase exports and to attract investment in our country, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila said on Friday, in Zalau, north-west Salaj County. "I went to all the countries of the Arabian Peninsula, I went to the Gulf countries, I resumed relations with many countries where a prime minister had not been since 1997, 1998. As a result of the discussions we had, (...) as a result of these visits, we started exporting to Arab countries, in Iran we sent 200,000 sheep, we got the veterinary certificate for Kuwait, we will start exporting to Kuwait as well, we will start exporting to the United Arab Emirates. We have signed an agreement on the export of honey (...) to China. In the next period we will sign an agreement on poultry, beef and mutton with China, and it is true that the European market implies a fierce competitiveness, and then we have to find other things too," Dancila told a press conference when asked about the open letter addressed to her by a regional investor who proposed as solution for "saving the Romanian economy" the export re-orientation to third countries, such as the Arab countries and China. At the same time, the prime minister added, the Government is trying to "push ahead" Romanian products. "A first step was to reduce the VAT on organic products and traditional products from 9pct to 5pct, and we must start a highly active promotion campaign abroad. So all of these discussions I had with my counterparts from Arab countries, from Turkey, from China, from other countries, now begin to show results both in terms of export, and once again I say the signer of the letter is right, but also in terms of investment to Romania. I showed that in Romania investments can be made, that we have created a friendly environment for business, that we can talk about predictability and at the same time stability and economic growth, and data from the National Institute of Statistics - 5pct growth in the first quarter of this year - confirms what I said," Dancila added. AGERPRES President Klaus Iohannis decided to postpone the solemn ceremony where he was supposed to declare 2019 as "The Year of Paying Homage to the Victims of Communism", 30 years after the Romanian Revolution of December 1989. "In the past couple of days, I saw there were certain speculations regarding the opportunity of the organisation on May 20, at the Cotroceni Palace, of a solemn ceremony to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Romanian Revolution of December 1989, where the year 2019 was to be declared "The Year of Paying Homage to the Victims of Communism." In order to eliminate any suspicion with respect to the association of the Romanian Revolution with the electoral period we are crossing right now and out of deep respect for all those who fought for democracy and our freedom during the tyrannic years of communism, President Klaus Iohannis decided to postpone the event to an ulterior date," informs the Presidential Administration.Ever since taking over as President, Iohannis has constantly participated in the actions of condemnation of the crimes and abuses of the repressive apparatus of the communist regime, also paying homage to the victims of totalitarianism."President Klaus Iohannis believes that the lessons of the past cannot be ignored and that taking responsibility for the horrors of communism in Romania must be for all of us a permanent civic exercise," the Presidential Administration also showed in the release.The Presidential Administration on Tuesday announced that the head of the state will declare 2019 as "The Year of Paying Homage to the Victims of Communism" during a public ceremony that will take place at the Cotroceni Palace, in the context of the 30th anniversary of the Romanian Revolution of December 1989.President Klaus Iohannis on Tuesday explained why he chose the date of May 20 for this event."Next week I will declare the year 2019 as the Year of Gratitude, the year in which I want to show my gratitude for those who made possible the great change in December 1989, and some people who like to comment more said to me: but why are you starting in May then? I want to declare the year 2019 the Year of Gratitude, which will end in December with a great celebration of the Revolution of December 1989 and I will start from the moment of the first democratic vote in Romania. The first free elections in Romania took place on May 20, 1990. That's why I chose May," explained the head of the state, on the launch of his third volume "EU.RO - Europe, An Open Dialogue," which took place in Ploiesti. Romania's Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici said on Friday before an ECOFIN meeting in Brussels that he wants to reach a general agreement on a package of directives the directives regarding the structure of excise duties on alcohol and the general regime of excise duties. "Our desire is to reach a general agreement on both directives, both the directive on the structure of excise duties on alcohol and the regime of common excise duties. Things have advanced as discussions, and hopefully an agreement of the participants after today's talks," said Teodorovici.Asked if Romania's proposal on the maximum amount of alcohol that can be distilled by households of 175 liters /year, Teodorovici said that there are other countries that have a different opinion and will see what the arguments are."There are talks, there will be talks at ECOFIN with the finance ministers; there are various proposals, countries that of course have another opinion, and we are trying to see what the arguments are in relation to the proposals that Romania has made. I am glad that other countries, such as Hungary and other member states, have understood and supported these proposals. I hope, however, that at the end of the day we will have an agreement on both directives (...) because that was the intention of Romania. Our negotiating strategy as holders of the presidency was to reach agreement on both directives," said Teodorovici.Romania's finance minister presides over a meeting of the EU Council for Economic and Financial Affairs (ECOFIN) on Friday.According to a press statement released by the Ministry of Finance, the agenda of the meeting includes items such as the directive on the structures of excise duty on alcohol and alcoholic beverages, the common excise duty directive, digital taxation, the revision of the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions, the European semester. Approximately 8,000 troops from six countries will take part June 3 - 24 in the Saber Guardian 2019 (SG19) multinational exercise co-led by Romania Land Forces Command and U.S. Army Europe, and conducted in Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary, the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement. According to the cited source, the exercise will see the participation of servicemen from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and the United States of America, and is intended to highlight the cohesion, unity and solidarity of partner and allied states in defending against any aggression, especially through the possibility of fast mobilization and concentration of forces in a short time anywhere in Europe. The planned SG19 joint training activities include general staff tactical exercises and live fire exercises, river crossings, the tactical deployment of the 2nd US Cavalry Regiment from Germany to Romania, as well as medical activities, the Defense Ministry said. "In order to render training activities more efficient in an international context, SG19 has been connected with a number of other national and multinational exercises that will total 13,500 participants from 14 allied and partner countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Germany, Great Britain, the Republic of Moldova, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine and the US) 7,600 of whom will represent the Romanian Forces," the cited source said. SG19 and the related exercises that are to take place in Romania will be conducted at the training ranges at Cincu, Babadag, Smardan, Capu Midia, Boboc and Bordusani. The Saber Guardian exercise has been organized every year since 2013 and has been hosted by rotation by Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine. As of 2017 Saber Guardian has become a biannual exercise. SG19 is included in the joint exercises program of the United States European Command, with a view to increasing joint and multinational interoperability with allied and partner nations. AGERPRES Senior official with Romania's Foreign Ministry (MAE) Maria Magdalena Grigore attended a meeting of the EU development ministers as part of a Foreign Affairs Council (FAC - Development) in Brussels on Thursday that addressed current development affairs and the situation in the Sahel. The ministers held a debate on the role of the EU in advancing the implementation of the external component of 2030 Agenda, based on a synthesis report on the implementation of the new European Consensus on Development presented by the European Commission on May 10, 2019, with Grigore mentioning that the Romanian presidency of the EU Council promotes an ambitious approach in this area, bearing in mind the importance of this file ahead of the High Level Political Forum to be held in New York in July, where the implementation of the 2030 Agenda will be approached. According to a MAE press statement, at the proposal of the Romanian presidency, the European officials also held a debate on youth promotion in the context of international development co-operation, with the participation of United Nations Secretary General's Envoy on Youth Jayathma Wickramanayake. "The Romanian presidency of the Council of the EU has placed youth and children at the core of its development policy efforts. These are among the main actors in development and Romania has consistently pursued within these six months in office the implications of development policies at European level on young people and children. I hope that the issue will be further promoted by the forthcoming EU Council rotating presidencies," Grigore said. Talks on the recent developments in the Sahel were an extension of foreign and defence meetings on May 13-14. The meeting highlighted the importance of an integrated EU involvement in the region, on all levels (political, security, development). Four sets of conclusions were adopted prepared by the Romanian presidency of the EU Council in the dedicated working group. Thus, with regard to the conclusions on the consistency of development policies, the council highlighted the role that an integrated approach to development policies has in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in the 2030 Agenda, the MAE points out. The conclusions on the Annual Report on the implementation of the European Union's instruments for financing external actions in 2017 highlight the efforts made by the EU and the member states to meet their global commitments (2030 Agenda, multilateralism, etc.) through the funding they provide at the external level, including through the funds allocated to the Enlargement Policy and the Neighbourhood Policy. The conclusions also encourage strengthening the youth and children's inclusion in the EU's external action, which is among the priorities of the Romanian presidency of the Council of the European Union. Conclusions on the implementation of EU commitments in the area of development assistance pointed out that the EU bloc was still a global leader in 2018, with the EU's annual contribution amounting to 74.4 billion euro, representing 57 percent of the total assistance provided worldwide. Conclusions on the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF) highlighted its added value as it facilitated dialogue with partner countries and produced concrete results. The conclusions also welcome the recommendations of the European Court of Auditors, namely that the trust fund should be more focused on actions that produce measurable results. On the side-lines of the development ministers' meeting, Grigore participated alongside the other ministers in a working lunch extended by Federica Mogherini dedicated to the future financial architecture for the EU's sustainable development and neighbourhood, where she highlighted the importance of agreeing as soon as possible on the future financial framework for implementing the EU's foreign policy. The Romanian official also had a bilateral meeting with British Minister of State for Africa and International Development Harriett Baldwin, to discuss implementing the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development. AGERPRES This content was produced by Brand Ave. Studios. The news and editorial departments of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch had no role in its creation or display. Brand Ave. Studios connects advertisers with a targeted audience through compelling content programs, from concept to production and distribution. For more information contact sales@brandavestudios.com What theyre looking for is growth, and businesses where they can provide some innovative technologies, he said. The ceiling fans were a nice business, they had it for a lot of years, but at this point the growth wasnt there, nor was the ability to differentiate. Farr came to the same conclusion. Id rather use those resources within our two core platforms, and put this business with a better owner that can do more with it over the long term, he said. Emersons core platforms are industrial automation and commercial and residential solutions. Its beefed up the automation side recently by acquiring a couple of software firms, including one that helps manage biomanufacturing processes. On the commercial and residential side, Emersons been investing in U.S. manufacturing, including a $49 million upgrade at its welding business in Connecticut and a $13 million expansion of a compressor plant in Indiana. Trump still is hoping to use the threat of auto tariffs to pressure Japan and the European Union into making concessions in ongoing trade talks. "If agreements are not reached within 180 days, the president will determine whether and what further action needs to be taken," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement. In imposing the metals tariffs and threatening the ones on autos, the president was relying on a rarely used weapon in the U.S. trade war arsenal Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 which lets the president impose tariffs on imports if the Commerce Department deems them a threat to national security. But the steel and aluminum tariffs were also designed to coerce Canada and Mexico into agreeing to a rewrite of North American free trade pact. In fact, the Canadians and Mexicans did go along last year with a revamped regional trade deal that was to Trump's liking. But the administration had refused to lift the taxes on their metals coming into the United States until Friday. "If you're going to continue to deliver the services in the same way, in the same format that we have for the last 20, 30 years, people are going to choose someone else," Britton said. ST. LOUIS Crewmen doused a mattress fire on the steamboat White Cloud, moored on the north end of the city's landing. They aired the bedding on deck, then dragged it back into a cabin. They must have missed an ember. About 10 p.m., flames burst from the passenger deck. Watchmen along the crowded landing clanged bells of alarm. Volunteers of Missouri Fire Co. No. 5, first to the scene, saw fire leaping from the White Cloud onto the adjoining steamboat, the Edward Bates. A hard wind blew from the northeast across the Mississippi River. It would serve as a bellows for the long, destructive night of May 17-18, 1849 - St. Louis' Great Fire. The firestorm added misery to the city's worst single disaster, a cholera epidemic that would kill at least 4,317 people. The May 17 newspapers were filled with news of death. The White Cloud was just another steamboat from New Orleans. The Bates burned free of its mooring on what is today's Laclede's Landing and drifted downriver, spreading fire. Crews on boats without steam cut their lines and tried to escape in the current, but wind pushed them back into the gathering inferno. In 30 minutes, 23 steamboats were ablaze along the riverfront. The partnership between Bloomberg Philanthropies and Washington U. will also collaborate with climate efforts undertaken by regional governments including the City of St. Louis, supplementing a grant for climate initiatives worth at least $2.5 million awarded to the city last year. Resources from that competitive grant came through the Bloomberg American Cities Climate Challenge and are aimed at reducing carbon emissions in two main areas, buildings and transportation. According to Bloomberg, one example of the additional work that will be done is aggregated procurement, which pools funds to multiply buying power for efforts such as solar energy projects. Bloomberg representative Lee Cochran said that the monetary gift required to support the announced initiatives has not yet been finalized, and that the funding was intended to apply for a finite amount of time. As director of CJM, Reck was paid $47,000 a year, according to that organizations IRS 990 forms. Its current executive director, Anthony DAgostino, is paid $75,000 a year. As a further comparison, J. Paul Molloy, national executive director of the Oxford House nonprofit, was paid just more than $99,000 in salary in 2016. According to the GuideStar annual survey of nonprofit compensation, salaries for an executive director or CEO of such organizations average $120,000 nationally, but are generally much lower in the Midwest. But at Dismas House, board members from the same family have been paid three or four times more than that. Bureau of Prisons officials refused to comment on the pay of Dismas House board members and executives. The Post-Dispatch filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the contract between the bureau and Dismas House, but the government indicated the request could take up to a year to process. Howard said he couldnt find a copy of the contract to share with a reporter. He said the salaries that show up on the tax records are a surprise to him. Howard is on the board of Forward Assist, and the tax records say the board members viewed and approved the 990s before they were filed. Howard said he never saw them. Teisha Jackson is the sister of Howard. She said all of the deceased men were related. Two of them, Brendan Williams and Kenneth Lee, were brothers, she said. Howard's grandmother, Phyllis Williams, died of natural causes shortly after hearing about the deaths, Jackson said. "She had been sick for a while, but this was just too much for her," Jackson said. "I'm just doing everything I can right now to keep from breaking down." Jackson, who lives in Arkansas, said she did not know why her brother and other family members were at the home on Shreve on the night of the shooting. Warnecke said in her statement issued Thursday that police believe there were other people present in the home at the time of the shooting "that could shed light on what exactly occurred." Police asked anyone with information about the shooting to call CrimeStoppers at 866-371-8477. Tipsters can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward. Several guns were seized from the home along with suspected illegal drugs, Warnecke said. Board of Alderman President Lewis Reed said he knew the aunt and the mother of one of the victims because they frequently volunteer for events together. Nearly 25 years ago, Kim Castro was a St. Louis police officer who stopped someone from tossing a woman over an Interstate 44 overpass. For saving the woman's life, Castro received the Medal of Valor. Now, retired as a cop and living in Florida, Castro is being lauded for more heroism. She swam into frigid waters and pulled family members to safety after two sightseeing planes collided in air Monday over Alaska's George Inlet, according to a family member's account. "The hero of the story is my sister Kim, who rescued my older sister Brenda, her husband Cliff and my brother-in-law Kevin," Castro's brother, Mark Castro, wrote on a social media account. "Even though she was injured, she was able to get these guys to shore since their injuries made swimming impossible." The crash killed six people, including a lifetime friend of the Castro family, Cassandra "Cassie" Webb, of the St. Louis area. Webb, 62, was nearing retirement, and getting some travel time in ahead of that. A Jefferson County deputy stopped Hopkins at a gas station in Festus on June 20, 2018, after Hopkins tried to drive off and avoid paying for about $6 in gas, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Dunkel said in court Friday. The deputy then found out Hopkins was wanted in St. Charles County for failing to register as a sex offender. The deputy handcuffed Hopkins and placed him in the front seat of a patrol car. As the deputy was talking with Hopkins girlfriend, who was going to pick up his car and pay for the gas, Hopkins maneuvered his handcuffed hands to the front of his body, slid behind the wheel and drove off on a multi-hour two-county joy ride, Dunkel said. DEBORAH CROMBIE : It is always such a treat for me to host my dear friend Marcia Talley ! And I have to admit that I've read an advanced copy of her newest Hannah Ives novel, TANGLED ROOTS , and I LOVED it. I've always said that reading a Hannah novel is as much fun as sitting across the table with Marcia for a nice long visit, and I love learning what leads to the plots in Marcia's books. I well remember discussing this one when it was just a gleam in Marcia's eye! Here's Marcia to fill you in! MARCIA : Last year about this time, after I delivered Hannahs sixteenth adventure, Mile High Murder, to my editor, and while I awaited her feedback, I began visiting my relatives the dead ones, that is. My sister, Debbie, started me off on what is turning out to be an addiction by entering our family details into Ancestry.com and sharing editorial responsibility with me, the oldest of our siblings. Just like the ads on television, a leaf pops up, you click on the leaf, head off on an adventure of discovery to a new family fact, click on another leaf and so on and so on until four hours have flown by and your husband is wondering what on earth has happened to dinner. Fortunately, there's already a lot we know. We had a great-great uncle on our fathers side who was deep into genealogy and wrote a book about it. Then theres our Mormon cousin who provided a family tree that takes our family back I kid you not to Ragnhild Hilda Hrolfsdatter, born in 1836 in Maer, Norway. Most of the Duttons came over with the Winthrop Fleet in 1630, it appears . I confirmed family legend that I'm directly related to John Hart, a signer of the Declaration of Independence through his daughter, Susanna, and to John and Priscilla Alden of Mayflower fame. But we knew all that. Fast-forward to the secrets? Before he married my mother-in-law, my father-in-law had been married before. Who knew? And that first cousin once removed we know never married? Well, apparently he did, during WW2, in Iowa. Its the deaths that fascinate me. Sometimes their tombstones tell the tale. In November 1910, baby Robert Culver, my second cousin once removed, lived only 6 hours. His mother, Helen, died a day later. But, the real treasure trove are the death certificates you discover online. My second great grandmother Helen Drew lost four of her children, ages 15, 17, 20 and 25 in a single year during a typhoid epidemic. I. Cant. Even. And two of these little angels only lived into their teens, drowning two years apart in separate accidents on Lake Michigan. My husbands step-grandfather, dropdead handsome James, was caught between train cars and decapitated. Papa Hise, another relative on his mothers side, fetched the shotgun out of the attic, killed the family dog before the horrified eyes of his daughter, Odie Grace, then shot himself in the head. It took him two days to die. Then there was the Brelsford great uncle who went West to seek his fortune. When prospecting didn't pan out, he shot his car before turning the gun on himself. Better the car then the dog, I say. One relative was murdered at age 21. What's that all about, I wonder? Another, a Rebel, died of smallpox in a Yankee prisoner of war camp. My great grandmother, Marcia Jane Drew, for whom I was named, died at age 42 in Lowell Massachusetts during dental surgery, or so my grandfather firmly believed. And yet theres her death certificate, staring me in the face: ovarian tumor. As a cancer survivor who confidently stated theres no history of cancer in my family that would have been good to know. About that time, I needed an idea for a novel, so I figured why look any further than my own familys deeply tangled roots? My 3rd great grandmother, Sarah Drew, died of suicide by hanging. Really? At age 84? I definitely felt a novel coming on. My deep research for Tangled Roots began with the obvious first step: I spit into a test tube and sent it off for DNA testing. I spent the weeks before the results came in constructing my family tree on a popular genealogy website and soon, like Hannah, found myself sucked, head-first, down a rabbit hole. Now, nearly a year later, Ive reconnected with a long-lost cousin (Hello, Ellen!), discovered that a first cousin in fact wasnt, learned that identical twins dont just run in the family, they run rampant, and visited a cemetery not far from the King Arthur Flour Company in rural Vermont where generations of my family lie buried. Some of these genealogical adventures inevitably wove themselves into the fabric of Tangled Roots. Hannah Ivess sister, Georgina, has some astonishing news. A DNA test has revealed she is part Native American, and Hannahs test has similar results. The link seems to come from their late mother. But how? As Hannah dives into constructing her family tree, she uncovers a heart-breaking love story and a mysterious death, while DNA matching turns up two second cousins, Mai and Nicholas. Hannah and her niece, Julie, are eager to embrace their new relatives and learn about their surprising ancestry, but Georginas husband, Scott, isnt so keen Are more revelations about to come to light? And can Hannah untangle her family roots to uncover the truth behind a devastating tragedy? Tangled Roots officially releases in the U.S. on July 1. What to do in the meantime? I have to admit that genealogy is now a passion. After building my own family tree, Im helping friends research theirs. When an elderly British friend told me she knew her mother had been married before, but she didnt know anything about the man, not even his name, I immediately volunteered to help. Several days later, I was able to give her a photograph of his tombstone in Flanders: over 4000 young British soldiers had died in combat on that same day in 1917. If the contents of friend and family closets ever peter out, what with the popularity of Scandinavian Noir these days, maybe Ill start writing under a family-inspired pseudonym Hilda Hrolfsdatter has a nice ring to it, dont you agree? You can learn more about Marcia Talley and her books by going to or follow her on Twitter at marciatalleybks Marcia blogs with the Femmes Fatales at https://femmesfatales.typepad.com/ DEBS: Marcia's family is certainly more interesting than mine--at least as far as I know! REDs and readers, what skeletons have you discovered in YOUR family closets?? DEBS PS: Marcia's book is available for pre-order from your favorite bookseller! JEFFERSON CITY Shortly before 4 a.m. Thursday, the Missouri Senate pushed through a tough anti-abortion bill. Republicans declared victory for the unborn. Several hours later, staff at the Planned Parenthood clinic in the Central West End the only abortion clinic in Missouri began getting calls. National media had begun to notice. Ive been shuffling media around all morning, said Jesse Lawder, spokesman for Planned Parenthood. National, international, local and theyre just showing up. Like I got a call from CBS Evening News this morning. Theyre like, were at the airport. All eyes will be on the Missouri House Friday, where state representatives likely will approve the measure. They face a deadline of 6 p.m., when the legislative session ends. The House passed a version of the bill earlier this year, but because the Senate made changes, the House needs to vote again before sending the measure to Gov. Mike Parsons desk. One of the most striking changes overnight was offered by Republicans. Under the House legislation, abortions would have been banned if a fetal heartbeat could be detected, which can occur as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. It was Dyer's last assignment, a daunting and dangerous one. I went along. Dyer was 60 then, ageless in a weathered way. Sturdy as the rock he stood on, he looks and sounds like a natural feature of the landscape, speaking the names of mountains and valleys as though they were good friends, I wrote. He had survived the Depression by riding rodeo broncs and bulls. He shot torpedoes from Navy ships during World War II, then joined the Geological Survey in 1947. His first assignment was hauling map-making equipment by mule for 15-day survey trips in the wilds of Alaska. When I ran into him, Dyer had not been in the office for 17 years. He had survived a lightning strike in Montana, and in one mishap held onto a helicopter skid 3,000 feet above the New Mexico desert. Dyer eventually worked in 110 places over four decades with the USGS, while his wife, Ella Mae, tended home fires in Page, Ariz. When told he came across like a reincarnated mountain man of the 19th century, Dyer just nodded. Looking down from one of those spires to the chocolate ribbon-like Colorado River far below, Dyer said: Makes you feel just a tiny bit small, dont it? Caretakers also would be allowed to care for no more than three children younger than age 2. Anyone who violates Nathans Law would be guilty of a Class C misdemeanor and would be subject to a maximum fine of $750. Missouri law now says a person who violates the current limits is guilty of an infraction and shall be fined up to $200. Subsequent offenses under Nathans Law carry a $2,000-per-day fine. Subsequent violators would be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor, which carries a maximum one-year prison sentence, the same as penalties under current law. It has real teeth to encourage prosecutors to prosecute when there are problems, Schupp said. It also gives the Department of Social Services the ability to go in and prosecute if the local prosecutor will not. And it raises the fines and fees, so its really going to discourage people from watching too many kids and putting their lives in danger, Schupp said. Schupp said she had filed Nathans Law for 11 years, and credited former Post-Dispatch reporter Nancy Cambria with exposing the problem of unregulated day cares in Missouri. He said the purpose of the bill is to optimize life his rationale for including exemptions in cases where the life of the mother is in jeopardy. The legislation also bans a woman from aborting a fetus that might have Down syndrome. It also requires both parents or guardians to be notified before minors can get an abortion, in most cases. The measure says anyone who knowingly performs or induces an abortion in cases that are not exempted by the legislation would be guilty of a Class B felony, which carries a minimum five-year prison sentence. If the Supreme Court overturns Roe vs. Wade, in whole or in part, the legislation states that all abortions would be made illegal except in cases of a medical emergency. The bill drew condemnation from Democrats, who control less than one-third of the states House seats. Laundry bleach, acid, bitter concoction, knitting needles, bicycle spokes, ballpoint pens, jumping from the top of the stairs or the roof, said Rep. Sarah Unsicker, D-Shrewsbury. These are ways that women around the world who dont have access to legal abortion perform their own. Franks said the mentoring job associated with the St. Louis Agency on Training and Employment, or SLATE, was not a typical 9-to-5 office position and included late night phone calls. In August, Franks filed for bankruptcy, saying his sole income is derived from being a state representative: $2,993 a month. He did not report any income from his mentoring position, which he left in February. Franks said his decision to resign was not motivated by the taint of scandal, but by a desire to show people of color that they can address mental health issues. He said he has been wracked by anxiety and depression brought on by survivors guilt. On his desk in the Capitol is a collage of recently deceased family and friends. In December I hit bottom. Ive lost a lot of people, Franks said. We dont talk about it. We are elected officials, but we are humans. Franks had signaled he wanted to run for Sen. Jamilah Nasheeds 5th Senate District seat when she is forced out by term limits after the November 2020 election. Ivey still has an opportunity to grant an appeal for clemency to Rocky Myers, a 53-year old man with a severe intellectual disability who was, according the American Civil Liberties Union, served by an incompetent lawyer and convicted on the evidence of one eyewitness who has since recanted. The judge in this case imposed the death penalty against the wishes of the jury. This is justice in Alabama. Have we lost all sense of reason in this country? The new abortion laws in Alabama and Georgia, and those being considered elsewhere, if enacted, will of course disproportionately affect poor and minority women, who will either be compelled to have babies irrespective of the circumstances of their conception, their ability to carry a live birth to term, or -- most importantly -- their desire to control their own reproductive lives. Alternatively, they will seek abortions, putting their medical providers at risk of incarceration. Or they may seek other methods of terminating their unwanted pregnancies, perhaps under unsafe conditions. Parson invokes invention of talking telegraph Missouri Gov. Mike Parson is expected to be the top ambassador touting this states hi-tech prowess and modern infrastructure capable of attracting new employers and investors. His six-minute interview on National Public Radio Wednesday accomplished exactly the opposite not so much for anything he said but for the abysmal quality of the phone equipment he was using. The interview was almost intelligible at the start, but the longer it lasted, the more it sounded as if Parson were speaking through a long irrigation tube on his farm while crushing graham crackers into the mouthpiece. The connection quality degraded to the point where almost nothing was understandable. We live in cost-conscious times, for sure. But it seems the governors office could spring for a few extra dollars to upgrade his phone so he doesnt embarrass the state and invoke the olden days when Missourians communicated using a new device called the talking telegraph. Tree muggers Regarding the letter to the editor, In God We Trust should have no place in our schools. (May 11): I am certain the atheist Karl Marx would have eagerly agreed with letter writer Eric Ressners objection to having In God we Trust being displayed in Missouris public schools. Marxs Communist Manifesto included the public school system as one of its 10 major planks, along with the Central Bank, the estate tax and the graduated income tax as tools to undermine Western countries. Its sad that supporters of President Donald Trump ignore the truths about the unethical happenings inside the White House. They have benefited from the booming stock market, cite the low employment rate and anything that is defined by money. To them it doesnt matter what lies the president has spoken or tweeted, or that Trump is captured on film making a statement and later denying it. As a cheating husband told his wife after she caught him in the act, Who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes? Im not denigrating the stock market or the economy in general, but is that all this nation is about? Have we reached the point where we excuse a president for defying not only Congress, but also the American people? Do we have no right to see the entire Mueller report because it paints Trump in a negative light? We the people have the right to know just exactly who and what our president is. Ethics in our government no longer seems to matter, but if we cant trust those who hold the nations fate in their hands, our republic is in trouble. Right now, we indeed have the best government money can buy. That, for me, is not good enough. Russian troops in Syria have been seen testing a new FAC (Forward Air Controller) vehicle. Called BOMAN (BOyevaya Mashina AviaNavodchika), this FAC vehicle uses a standard Russian army Tigr 4x4 vehicle. But instead of a machine-gun or RWS (Remote Weapons Station) on top, there is a RWS-like structure containing a laser rangefinder/designator and a thermal sight plus antennae for various communications devices. Inside there are various types of radios including equipment that links the FAC to Strelets KRUS, the new Russian battlefield networking system. Data is displayed on a laptop or tablet and the FAC personnel in BOMAN can communicate digitally with aircraft and UAVs overhead as well as any headquarters or other unit equipped with Strelets. This is similar to a system American forces have been using for nearly two decades and most other Western nations have adopted. For Russia, Syria and Ukraine are the first battlefield test for Strelets and the BOMAN vehicle. As the Americans discovered earlier in Iraq and Afghanistan, FACs in armored hummers can get close enough to the action (300-400 meters) to be safe from RPG fire and able to get a good view of targets, and then use laser rangefinders to get a precise location for calling in an air strike. Russia still uses a lot of unguided bombs because they cannot afford to go completely smart bomb like Western forces. The Russians have made the most of that by using the modern fire control system common to most fighter-bombers since the 1990s. These systems enable pilots, with some practice, to very accurately deliver unguided bombs or rocket fire on a ground target. American forces sometimes use these systems for strafing runs with their 20mm autocannon but that is rare these days because it exposes the aircraft (usually an F-16) to ground fire or coming in too low and clipping some object with a wing and crashing. That has happened a few times since 2001 and the American air forces have since banned it except in extreme emergencies. The A-10s still do this work but they are slower, armored and generally built for it. The Russian version of the A-10, the Su-25 regularly does this low-level work and the latest version of the Su-25 recently arrived in Syria where it is working with BOMAN. Since 1999, when Russia invaded Chechnya to defeat separatists and Islamic terrorists who had taken over, Russian firms have been developing versions of the more recent Western combat vehicles, equipment and even weapons (like modern sniper rifles and accessories). In the decade after that the Russian economy improved to the point where the Russian military could buy a lot of this stuff. Exports are still essential to keep production going and profitable. As always the Russians would sell to anyone who could pay and that is more likely if the new item has been tested in combat.. Since 2005 a Russian firm has been producing a vehicle remarkably similar to the armored version of the U.S. HMMWV "hummer" (the M1114 model) called Tigr (Tiger). Initially the major buyer was the Russian Interior Ministry for its police and paramilitary units. Chechnya was a particularly popular destination for this new vehicle. It is based on a hummer-like vehicle, the Gaz-2330. Like the M1114, the Tigr weighs five tons, carries a crew of four, and a load of about a ton (or an additional five men, if configured for that). At first, the Tigr cost $88,000 each, compared to $145,000 for the M1114, and was offered for export as a less expensive alternative to the M1114. The Russian military began using Tigr in 2006. The M1114, an armored, version of the hummer got a lot of publicity because of its popularity among troops in Iraq, where the 5.5 ton vehicle arrived early on. The M1114 had already been around for a decade. Originally intended for peacekeeping operations, it was successfully used in the Balkans during the 1990s. The M1114 was based on an earlier version that had served in the 1991 campaign in Kuwait. The M1114 is basically an armored car, with a crew of four and a payload of one ton (plus two tons that can be towed.) A 190 horsepower engine gives it a top speed of 80 kilometers an hour and a max range (on one tank, on roads) of 480 kilometers. All the armored protection (against 7.62mm machine-guns and rifles, bombs, landmines and nearby bursting shells of up to 155mm) has more than doubled the cost of the M1114 ($140,000 compared to $65,000 for an unarmored model.) Simon Bridges National Party Leader simonbridges.co.nz A couple of weeks ago we kicked off our first Women as Influencers event in Tauranga. The aim is to hear inspiring stories of local women. The first of these events focused on education and was a real success. We will be holding more of these over the next few months. As a parent, you want the best education for your children. You want them to be taught by teachers who are highly skilled and passionate about their work. You dont want your childs educators to be stressed and unhappy with their working conditions. The Governments pre-Budget education announcement was a bit of a mixed-bag for the sector. Its concerning that the Government is half way through its first term but it still has no plan or education strategy, only a vision statement. By not releasing a plan showing how many teachers are actually needed, the Government can avoid being held to account. During their election campaign, Labour built up high expectations around pay rises and working conditions for teachers. Where is the follow through now? A mega strike is now planned, and will see the largest ever industrial action by New Zealand primary and secondary teachers. Our childrens learning is suffering as a result of unresolved collective bargaining. The Ministry of Educations own data indicates we could need more than 2210 extra teachers over the next five years. Larger class sizes are likely if these teachers cant be found. This is not good for our children and their future education. Straight from city council A personal view, by Councillor Steve Morris If youve visited Auckland or Christchurch recently you may have noticed the proliferation of electric hire-scooters whizzing around. I was first introduced to an e-scooter by Cr Rick Curach who rides one to work most days. I liked it so much I bought my own. On a fine day, Ill park at Baywave and ride over the Matapihi rail bridge. Riding through the rural scenery is a great way to decompress after work too. When youre one of just a handful out there riding its quite peaceful. Its a different story altogether where e-scooter hire has been allowed. A few weeks ago, while in Auckland, I walked downhill to the viaduct and had to constantly be on guard as a multitude of scooters weaved in and out of pedestrians at 20kph or more. It wasnt just the ones that were mobile I had to watch out for. I lost count of the number of scooters that were parked in all manner of places along the footpath. Apparently, there are 500 for hire in Auckland and 700 in Christchurch. I had to get back uphill from the viaduct, so I rented a scooter. I felt as obnoxious as the other riders Id just witnessed. In my view, the solution is to make it legal for scooters to use cycle-lanes but not footpaths in retail/commercial areas. Council isnt in a rush to allow hire-scooters here. Id rather wait a while and learn from other cities mistakes first. Bay of Plenty man Tama Andrews grandfather named him, cherished him and taught him Te Reo Maori but he never shared his experiences as a soldier during the Second World War. In fact, Warrant Officer Class 1 Andrew, a New Zealand Army Master Driver, says he never knew that his grandfather, Lance Corporal Te Tuhera James Ruawai, fought in the war as part of 28 (Maori) Battalion until he found his medals as a 10-year-old. Warrant Officer Andrew wore those medals today when he led the New Zealand Defence Force Maori Cultural Group in commemorations to mark the 75th anniversary of the Battles of Cassino in Italy. The battles, in which the 2nd New Zealand Division participated in February and March 1944, were among the most gruelling New Zealand troops participated in during the Second World War. The division suffered more than 1600 casualties, including 343 deaths. Soldiers said fighting through a maze of rubble, in appalling weather, was absolute hell. Cassino fell in May 1944 to British and Polish troops, with support from New Zealand artillery. The 28 (Maori) Battalion played a crucial part in the Battles of Cassino it was the only New Zealand battalion able to cross the flooded Rapido River and attack the towns well-defended railway station. Soldiers seized positions in and around the station but were forced to withdraw when German troops counterattacked. More than 150 of the 28 (Maori) Battalion soldiers were killed, wounded or captured in the battle for the station. Lance Corporal Ruawai, who served from 1943-45, received head wounds and spent the rest of the war in a German prisoner-of-war camp. He was well known within our Tuhoe iwi as a strong advocate for veterans when he returned, Warrant Officer Andrew said. He was always pushing to get compensation for veterans, and dedicated himself to helping them. He and wife Riria Ruawai were passionate about their culture and raised their six tamariki and 28 mokopuna to be fluent Maori speakers something Warrant Officer Andrew considers a blessing. He grew up as one of eight children of Sue and the late Nga Andrew in Kawerau, and it was from there the Kawerau College-educated man joined the New Zealand Army 35 years ago on a dare. That dare turned into a career that has taken him around the world. He has served in Afghanistan, East Timor and the Sinai, and has been to commemorations at El Alamein in Egypt, Beersheba in the Middle East and to Gallipoli twice including the 100th anniversary in 2015. However, this week at Cassino, tracing the footsteps of his beloved grandfather, has been something extra special. I was really curious to see the area where they fought. I had visualised where he might have been when he got hit and how it might have played out when he was captured, what he was going through, Warrant Officer Andrew said. Im honoured to be on this trip, and to have my grandfathers spirit with me. He would approve and he would be very proud of my role here at the commemorations. I was very close to my grandfather. KFC along with Carls Jr and Pizza Hut is off the menu this weekend as hundreds of Fast Food workers employed by Restaurant Brands and members of Unite Union take strike action this weekend. Over the past week, members have been voting on the latest offer as well as on a secret ballot to authorise strike action. 89 per cent of the 763 who took part rejected this offer and 88 per cent voted to take strike action. Unite Union sent RBL a notice this morning of a strike beginning at 2pm this afternoon and finishing at 2am on Monday morning. Margins for skilled workers slashed: After six full days of negotiations Restaurant Brands is still insisting on cutting the margins for skilled and trained employees above the starting rate, says unite national secretary and lead negotiator Gerard Hehir. Most of the margins have been cut in half in RBLs last offer, with the qualified Pizza Hut Expert reduced to only 25 cents per hour above the starting rate, when it has been 80 cents. RBL has been forced to increase the starting rate by the minimum wage increase and to match the $18 start rate of major competitors like McDonalds but they want their skilled and trained staff to pay the cost. Low wage employers need to realise that they cant get away with just increasing their lowest rate only and undervaluing their experienced and skilled staff. Salaried Store Managers joining the action: For the first time ever Salaried Assistant and Store Managers - half of whom belong to the union - are standing alongside their waged colleagues to take action. "The last pay increase offer for salaried members was less than 3%. Many of them already find themselves working for a lower hourly rate than many of the waged staff they manage, despite having considerable extra responsibilities - managing staff, food production and a retail business. This offer actually makes the situation worse relative to waged employees" Chronic staff shortages: The other major issue is chronic understaffing and RBLs refusal to give managers authority to reduce services to ensure the health and safety of customers and staff. "Rosters are already far too thin, but KFC managers regularly find themselves with 25 to 50% of their rostered crew unavailable for one reason or another. There have been numerous media reports of customers shocked and angry at long delays in service. We receive daily reports from stressed-out staff unable to take breaks, reeling from angry customers and unable to ensure the stores are clean and correct food preparation procedures are followed." The strike will last from 2pm Friday May 17 until 2am Monday May 20. The Sidney City Council Tuesday approved changing zoning of a parcel known as 1101 Greenwood Road from Agricultural to Light Manufacturing and Industrial Zone. The change came at the request of new owners of the property, Kenneth and Jamie Starman of Gill, Colo. Starman said he would like the option of outside storage, which is not allowed in its current zoning definition. Right now, it is going to be a rental property, Ken Starman said when asked about his plans for the property. Wed like the option of storing outside. The property is located north of the Pepsi facility and... The concept revealed by the American aerospace company will be capable of hitting speeds up to Mach 5 (almost 4,000 mph) or twice as fast as the iconic Concorde. If that becomes a reality, air travel from New York to Paris will be cut down from 7 hours to just 1.5 hours. Hermeus says it has raised an initial round of funding led by Khosla Ventures that is being used to develop a propulsion demonstrator and other initial technologies needed for the hypersonic aircraft. The company claims it is not only developing an aircraft that improves the aviation experience with very reduced flight times, but also has the potential to have a great societal and economic impact, according to Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures. The four co-founders of Hermeus have significant industrial experience, while the startup also has high-profile advisers including Rob Meyerson, the former president of Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos Blue Origin space venture in Kent, Wash. Weve set out on a journey to revolutionize the global transportation infrastructure, bringing it from the equivalent of dialup into the broadband era, by radically increasing the speed of travel over long distances. Says co-founder and CEO AJ Piplica. Last year Boeing HorizonX joined Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems in investing $37.3 million in British-based Reaction Engines, which is working on its own hypersonic propulsion system. Meanwhile Boom Supersonic, another American startup, is also working on its own supersonic jet that will be capable of traveling at speeds of Mach 2.2. UNITED NATIONS, May 16 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Thursday called on the international community to take integrated approaches to support countries in the Sahel region. "The situation in the Sahel region is stable as a whole concurrent with multiple challenges," Ma Zhaoxu, China's permanent representative to the UN, told the Security Council. To attain stability and development in the Sahel, the international community needs to take integrated approaches, work from multiple angles, and continue to support countries of the region, especially to support the Group of Five for the Sahel (G-5 Sahel) in addressing regional security challenges in an autonomous manner, he said. The priority is advancing the political settlement of regional hotspot issues, the Chinese envoy said. In order to attain peace and stability in the Sahel, it is imperative to push forward the peace process in the related countries, said Ma, adding that military means alone cannot solve security issues. It is essential to continue supporting the relevant parties in Mali in carrying out inclusive dialogue and consultation, and accelerate the implementation of the Malian peace and security reconciliation agreement, he said. It is imperative to pay attention to tackling problems beyond the region such as the Libyan crisis, so as to mitigate their negative impact on the Sahel region, he added. The Sahel region stretches across the south-central part of Northern Africa between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea, touching multiple countries. Also, included in the budget is $1.3 million to supply sewer services to the Edgemont area of town. The budget also includes $100,000 for architectural and engineering fees to determine a new location and/or configuration of a new fire house. As the fire department shifts to a mostly paid department, more room is needed to house firefighters during their 24-hour shifts, Town Manager Wayne Sutherland said. The public hearing on the budget will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 28. The meeting will be held on Tuesday because of the Memorial Day holiday on Monday. The council hopes to adopt a final budget on June 10 and can make changes to the document until that time. During its meeting, the council was updated on this years Run for the Wall activities May 22-23. This will be the groups 19th visit to Wytheville. The welcome ceremony will be at approximately 4:30 p.m. on May 22 at Withers Park. That night, riders will enjoy a steak dinner courtesy of the Wytheville Moose Lodge. The next day, Spiller Elementary School students will present a program at the park before the riders leave town. The riders will then travel to the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford County before moving on to their final destination, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Among other Southwestern Virginia counties, compensation for Supervisors range from a low of $2,700 a year for Grayson up to $9,240 annually for Pulaski. Carroll County pays its Supervisors $5,500 each year. Supervisors Chairman Lauren Yoder told the Board he was open to any amount the Supervisors want but said he was not sure how he would vote when the time comes for final approval. If you want more, we can do it, he said. Burks Fork Supervisor Joe Turman said he feels most county residents will accept the need for a raise after 35 years. I honestly believe we will not get any flack at the public hearing. Indian Valley Supervisor Justin Coleman, the newest and youngest member of the Board, voted for setting the public hearing but said he will decide how he vote after hearing from the public. The salaries of the Boards chair and vice chair are higher than the other supervisors. The vice chair gets $1200 more, and the chairmans pay is $1,800 over the annual base. If the increases are approved after the public hearings, Yoder would receive $7,300 year, and vice chair Turmans new salary would be $6,700. SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Patty LaRocco was jarred awake early Friday in Syracuse by the sound of her family yelling. It was around 2:45 a.m. LaRocco said she opened the door of her North Side basement apartment and saw flames. LaRocco said she grabbed Gianni, her 4-year-old son, and wrapped him in her coat to protect him from the flames. With her son in her arms, LaRocco rushed out of the house onto the dark street. She then called 911, she said, and cried as she watched the fire destroy her family home. Ten people -- including five children between the ages of 3 and 15 -- safely escaped the fire at 346-348 Gertrude St., LaRocco and firefighters said. The damage is so extensive the homes will have to be demolished, she said. A lot of memories," LaRocco said. A lot of memories gone. Hours after the fire, LaRocco stood in a neighbors front yard with her family. Gianni, her son, stood beside her in the footie pajamas he was wearing when they escaped. When firefighters arrived at Gertrude Avenue early Friday morning, a heavy fire was burning the home, said Lt. Eric Yetman, a spokesman for the Syracuse Fire Department. The department was working to bring hoses inside the building when a fire chief noted the volume of flames and ordered firefighters to get out of the residence, Yetman said. Thats when a porch outside the home collapsed, he said. Firefighters worked to fight the fire from outside the home. Other parts of the home, including parts of the roof, also eventually collapsed. The home had working smoke detectors, Yetman said. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. LaRocco spent her childhood in the Gertrude Street home and, as an adult, rented the basement apartment from her mother. She lived there with her son and fiance, Robert Nicholson. Her brother and his family lived in the second-floor apartment. The first-floor apartment was vacant. Firefighters rescued her brothers dog from the second-story apartment, LaRocco said. She said her own dog safely escaped. But her brothers cat is missing, she said, and the family fears she died in the fire. After the fire, LaRocco said one firefighter grabbed her fiances CPAP ventilator from their apartment. Other firefighters salvaged what they could from her brothers apartment, leaving the crates of clothes in a yard across from the home. In the daylight, LaRocco stood with her family near the yellow crime scene tape fencing off the street in front of her charred home. Friends stopped by to drop off food and check on the family. Syracuse police officers stood in front of the home, keeping watch. The American Red Cross is helping the families find shelter and clothing this weekend. LaRocco said she isnt sure how her family will replace all theyve lost. But her 4-year-old son tried to cheer her up. Itll be OK, mommy, Gianni told his mother. Dont cry. OVID, N.Y. -- A school resource officer in Seneca County had a romantic relationship with one of the students she was hired to protect, deputies said. Elisia M. Panipinto, 20, of West Covert Road, Interlaken, was arrested Thursday night by the Seneca County Sheriffs Office and charged with official misconduct, police announced Friday in a news release. She is accused of using her position as an Interlaken police officer to have an inappropriate relationship with an eighth grader, deputies said. Eighth graders are typically 13 or 14 years old. Panipinto, then an officer with the Interlaken Police Department, was assigned to serve as as a school resource officer in the South Seneca Central School District at the time of the incident, deputies said. She used her authority as a police officer to have time with the child in the school and develop a "physical, romantic relationship, deputies said. There is no evidence Panipinto and the student had sexual contact or that there are other victims, deputies said. In a statement released Friday, South Seneca Superintendent Stephen J. Parker Zielinski said the district was shocked by the accusations made against Panipinto, a South Seneca alumna. He thanked the community members who shared their concerns. The witnesses helped to make sure we could catch the situation early, the superintendent said, "and to prevent it from developing further. Deputies started investigating Panipinto after a complaint was filed with the sheriffs office by the Interlaken Police Department and the South Seneca Central School District. Panipinto has been charged with official misconduct and endangering the welfare of a child, both misdemeanors. At arraignment, her bail was set at $250 cash or a $500 bond. She was released from the Seneca County Correctional Facility Thursday morning, custody records show. The investigation remains open, the sheriffs office said, and deputies are conducting more interviews. Deputies asked anyone with information about the case to call (315) 220-3240. As of early Friday afternoon, Panipinto was still listed as an officer on the Interlaken Police Departments website. Zielinski, the superintendent, said the investigation has been hard on the South Seneca community. For our school, it is especially difficult because every person involved is someone we care about," he said. "We are committed to acting in our students best interests to keep them safe, which is a prime reason why we seek the use of school resource officers in the first place. DECATUR, NY - In June 2018, sheriffs deputies in Otsego County, got a call that a premature infant had died in a bassinet at home. The baby boy, Liam, who was several weeks old, was born prematurely and had only been home about a week. His twin sister, Bonde, was still in the hospital. Authorities initially suspected SIDS, or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Several days later, Bonde came home from the hospital. The baby died the first night home in her bassinet, her mom told police. The second death triggered an investigation, which earlier this week resulted in the indictment of the infants mother, Kimberly Steeley, 27, of Decatur. She was indicted on two counts of second-degree manslaughter. Decatur is 20 miles southeast of Cooperstown. The medical examiner ruled the two babies had died of asphyxiation, Otsego County District Attorney John Muehl said in an interview Friday with Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard. Police initially had declined to release details of how the babies had died. Steeley, who had originally told police both died in their bassinets, told authorities shed been sleeping with the infants when they got tangled up in the blankets and suffocated, Muehl said. The mother said the deaths were accidental. Muehl said the grand jury was presented the evidence, and indicted Steeley on manslaughter charges. The babies father was asleep at the time of both deaths, Muehl said. Under New York state law, a person is guilty of second-degree manslaughter if he or she recklessly causes the death of another person. She was arraigned May 8 and remanded to the Otsego County Jail on $10,000 cash bail or $100,000 bond. She is currently not housed in the jail, records show. WASHINGTON U.S. Rep. John Katko voted Friday to approve what Democrats called a historic bill to expand gay rights and prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Katko, R-Camillus, was among only eight Republicans to split with the GOP and vote for the Equality Act, extending civil rights protections to LGBT Americans. The bill passed the House 236 to 173. All 228 Democrats who were present voted for the legislation, which now faces an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled Senate. President Donald Trump is expected to veto the bill if it reaches his desk. The bill was a top priority for House Democrats, who said its a long overdue amendment to the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the landmark law that banned discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. No one should be forced to lose his or her job, their home or to live in fear because of who they are and whom they love, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a floor speech before the vote. Katko said in a statement that he was pleased the bill will set a uniform standard against discrimination in all states. The bill expands federal civil rights laws to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans from discrimination in employment, public education, housing and other areas. In New York, this bill is already law, Katko said. The legislation before the House today, which has strong support in the business and manufacturing community, creates a uniform and clear federal standard for addressing discrimination. Two other New York Republicans -- Reps. Tom Reed, R-Corning, and Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville -- joined Katko and broke ranks with the GOP on the vote. Republican opponents said the Equality Act would threaten religious freedom by requiring people to accept an ideology about sexuality or sexual identity. Before the vote, Rep. Jody Hice, R-Ga., called the House bill horrifying and falsely claimed it could cause Catholic schools to lose federal grants for school lunches. Advocates for the bill said many opponents were misinformed about what the legislation requires. The law will not force priests or other clergy to perform same-sex marriages that are against their beliefs, nor will it eliminate single-sex activities or spaces. The bill was widely supported by businesses, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers, National Retail Federation and the Manufacturers Association of Central New York. Contact Mark Weiner: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751 New York corrections officials Friday recommended closing state prisons in New York City and Western New York to comply with Gov. Andrew Cuomos budget deal with lawmakers. The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision said it wants to close Lincoln Correctional Facility in Manhattan and Livingston Correctional Facility in Livingston County. The decision spares the five state prisons in the North Country, where the correctional facilities are major drivers of the local economy. State Sen. Patty Ritchie joined with other North Country lawmakers earlier this year to start a petition drive and rally public support to keep the prisons open. Rictchie, R-Oswegatchie, applauded the states recommendation on Friday. Thomas Mailey, a spokesman for the Department of Corrections, said the closures will eliminate about 1,200 vacant beds from the state prison system. Mailey said the prison population in the two facilities can be moved to other prisons without impacting the safety and security of the 52 remaining facilities. Cuomo justified closing the prisons as part of the state budget. The states prison population has declined 18.4 percent since 2011. As of Friday, 46,718 people were in New York prisons, the lowest number in 30 years. Contact Mark Weiner: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751 SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The ice cream made at Sinbad is unlike any other ice cream found around Syracuse. The restaurant, which opened at 2727 James St. in Syracuses Eastwood neighborhood on May 7, serves Syrian, Turkish and Moroccan cuisine, but its the desserts and ice cream, made in the traditional Syrian style, that are the stars of the show. To make the ice cream, owner Assad Almajid starts with two distinguishing ingredients: sahlab (or salep), a flour made from ground orchid roots and mastic, a gum harvested from mastic trees that Almajid sources from Greece. Both thickeners are mixed with whole milk and heated for around three hours. After the mixture is chilled, which takes around six hours, its poured into a chilled stainless steel container. Using a long pestle, Almajid hammers the ice cream like kneading bread dough, periodically scraping the hardening mixture from the sides of the large bowl. After about 20 minutes of kneading, the ice cream is removed and nuts are addedthe restaurant sells pistachio, almond, walnut and chocolate hazelnut ice cream, as well as several fruit flavors. Almajid then adds the ice cream back and pounds the ice cream into a round disc, coating the outside with the crushed nuts. The finished ice cream is rolled like a jelly roll and sliced to order. The sahlab and mastic give the ice cream a taffy-like consistency, with a stretch akin to melted mozzarella cheese. Its a recipe Almajid, 45, learned from his father, who ran a sweets and ice cream shop in their native Damascus, the capital of Syria. After finishing his education in Damascus, Almajid moved to Dubai, where he worked as an accountant. At night, he worked with his brothers restaurant group, Al-Madfoon, which operates four locations in the United Arab Emirates. It was there that he learned to make the savory dishes on the menu, such as kibbeh, fatteh, falafel and shawarma. Almajid later moved back to Damascus, where he opened a chocolate factory. But civil war broke out in 2011 and one year later, Almajid fled Syria to Jordan, where he spent the next 3 1/2 years. In 2016, Almajid and his family came to Syracuse as refugees. The process of turning the former East Room bar into Sinbad started in 2017. The restaurant is named after Sinbad, the mythical mariner whose seven voyages are common folklore in Arab culture. Almajid said his journey to Syracuse mirrors those epic tales. I thought I deserved this name, he said. His goal, he said, is to show people the traditional recipes of Syria and so far, the response from the community has been positive, particularly from fellow Syrians. They say its the same like they had in Damascus. Sinbad is open Monday to Saturday, from noon to 2:30 p.m. for lunch and 5 to 9 p.m. for dinner. The restaurant is reserved for private functions on Sundays. The restaurant is currently in a soft openinga grand opening is planned for June. Jacob Pucci finds the best in food, dining and culture across Central New York. Contact him at (315) 282-8611, or by email at jpucci@syracuse.com. Subscribers only: Join a group text with Jacob Pucci to get news and updates on the restaurants and cuisines of Central New York. SIGN UP HERE ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) New legislation introduced in New York state would ban the use of facial recognition software by landlords in residential buildings. The bill, announced Thursday, comes after officials in San Francisco voted to prohibit police and other city agencies from using facial recognition systems. The lawmakers behind the New York legislation cited tenant complaints about landlords who proposed installing facial recognition systems in their buildings. Assemblywoman Latrice Walker, a Brooklyn Democrat, says facial recognition systems are intrusive and their use by landlords could lead to illegal surveillance of tenants. The bill has not been scheduled for a vote. WASHINGTON - District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, said she opposes President Donald Trump's plan to put himself at the center of a redesigned Fourth of July celebration in the nation's capital, expressing concerns about what could be major logistical changes and the resulting strain on police and emergency services. During an interview Thursday, Bowser said she would prefer that the event on the Mall - which has not undergone wholesale changes to its planning since the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 - remain in its current format. "We are very happy to host the nation's fireworks here every year, and over the years it's become a pretty well-oiled machine," Bowser said. "That is our primary concern: How do people have a good time, celebrate and be safe on the Mall and getting home." The Washington Post reported last week that Trump wants to overhaul the nation's premier Independence Day event, which attracts hundreds of thousands of people and is broadcast live on national television. The president wants to move the massive fireworks display from its usual place on the Mall and perhaps deliver a speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The news ignited fears among the president's critics that he might try to transform one of Washington's most popular and nonpartisan traditions into what would effectively be a campaign rally. Some Democratic lawmakers said his appearance could inject partisan and divisive notes into what is normally a celebration of national unity. Trump has become intimately involved in planning the details of the new event, which would be called "A Salute to America," administration officials told The Post. For the city, however, the president's designs entail a host of planning headaches. The president's appearance would require moving the fireworks to a new location. Federal officials said last week that the likely new launch spot would be West Potomac Park, less than a mile southwest of the usual location near the Washington Monument. That could require a new police presence in that area, Bowser said, as well as additional security to cover the president's movements to and from the Mall for his speech. "If we have to put more police to cover his movements, more police for the fireworks and an additional location for police where the fireworks are going to get set off, that puts a strain on us," Bowser said. "We won't allow it to impact neighborhood safety. So the chief will have to think about if he needs additional resources." The closure of roads for Trump's travel could affect visitors' access to nearby Metro stations, which are heavily used on that day, as bus service is typically limited and parking is nearly impossible. D.C. Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice Kevin Donahue said the relocation of the fireworks could also have "ripple effects" on where the crowd gathers as people jostle for a better view of the show. "Anytime you're dealing with fireworks I think you have to be very careful, and a system of setting off the fireworks with that many thousands of people has worked for us pretty well," Bowser said. "We're concerned about that. And anytime you move the president, if the president is moving during that time, figuring out how to get people in and out . . . could be problematic." Asked whether she would prefer that the event remain as is, Bowser simply said: "Yes." "The president can speak at any event that he wants to speak at," she added. "And my great hope would be that he recognizes that the event is a unifying event that celebrates the birthday of our nation." White House Deputy Press Secretary Judd Deere said planning for the event among federal agencies is moving forward. "President Trump loves America and wants to help all Americans celebrate our Nation's Independence on July 4," Deere wrote in an email. "The White House, along with the National Park Service and the Department of Interior, continue to make preparations for the day's activities." Trump lashed out at D.C. officials after the collapse of his last effort to organize a marquee patriotic event centered on himself and his supporters. In August, after Trump canceled a military parade in the District amid concerns about its high cost, the president blamed the city in a tweet. "The local politicians who run Washington, D.C. (poorly) know a windfall when they see it," Trump wrote on Twitter. "When asked to give us a price for holding a great celebratory military parade, they wanted a number so ridiculously high that I cancelled it." Bowser responded with her own tweet: "Yup, I'm Muriel Bowser, mayor of Washington DC, the local politician who finally got thru to the reality star in the White House with the realities ($21.6M) of parades/events/demonstrations in Trump America (sad)." Donahue said federal officials have been "verbally briefing" the District's law enforcement and fire and emergency medical services agencies on the evolving Fourth of July plans. However, final details for the event have not been shared, and no cost estimates have been produced. Terrence Gainer, a former executive assistant police chief for the District, said the sudden changes sought by the president will be difficult, but not impossible, to pull off. "This will be painful to manage," said Gainer, who oversaw the city's July 4 security plans in the aftermath of 9/11. However, he said the city's long experience with hosting protests and large events such as the presidential inauguration showed they could rise to the challenge. If the president speaks, officers will have to anticipate a boisterous, rally-like atmosphere similar that of a campaign event, Gainer said. That would require tighter security, with more roads, transit and bridges closed. "He's sure to be a gigantic draw," Gainer said. "There's going to be a lot more people. . . . It's just going to be a lot of work. A lot more people to move. A lot more law enforcement. It's going to be a huge event. Apparently that's what [Trump] likes." Kim Dine, a former assistant D.C. police chief and former chief of the U.S. Capitol Police, likened preparing for July 4 as "being in a ballet," with "police as the conductor." There are so many agencies and jurisdictions that have to be coordinated, he said. Its not as simple as locking down this area or that area. There has to be a plan . . . if the president comes, that adds another host of concerns, in terms of traffic and safety. Ukraines prosecutor general said in an interview that he had no evidence of wrongdoing by U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden or his son, despite a swirl of allegations by President Donald Trumps lawyer. The controversy stems from diplomatic actions by Biden while his son Hunter Biden sat on the board of Burisma Group, one of the country's biggest private gas companies. As vice president, Biden pursued an anti-corruption policy in Ukraine in 2016 that included a call for the resignation of the country's top prosecutor, who had previously investigated Burisma. Yuriy Lutsenko, the current prosecutor general, said neither Hunter Biden nor Burisma were now the focus of an investigation. He added, however, that he was planning to offer details to U.S. Attorney General William Barr about Burisma board payments so American authorities could check whether Hunter Biden paid U.S. taxes on the income. "I do not want Ukraine to again be the subject of U.S. presidential elections," Lutsenko said in an interview Tuesday in his office in Kiev. "Hunter Biden did not violate any Ukrainian laws - at least as of now, we do not see any wrongdoing. A company can pay however much it wants to its board." He said if there is a tax problem, it's not in Ukraine. The prosecutor laid out a more detailed explanation about what was under investigation by his office after a flurry of diverging reports. While the prosecutor's office hasn't reopened a case against Burisma, it is pursuing information about the company's owner in connection with a long-running criminal investigation of another mogul who fled the country five years ago. That matter concerns a transaction unrelated to Hunter Biden, he said. In recent weeks, Rudy Giuliani, the president's personal lawyer, has said Joe Biden had a conflict of interest when he pressed Ukraine's officials to crack down on corruption. Giuliani said that Biden could have been trying to help his son's business dealings and that Ukraine needs to investigate. Those comments have brought fresh scrutiny of Ukraine's prosecutors and whether they are now investigating matters related to Burisma or taking other steps to curry favor with the U.S. administration. In March 2016, Biden threatened to withhold $1 billion in loan guarantees if Ukraine didn't address corruption and remove its prosecutor general, Viktor Shokin, who left office soon afterward amid widespread calls for his dismissal. Though Shokin had begun a probe into Burisma, it was dormant when he departed, according to a former prosecutor. "At the end of the day, Shokin submitted his own resignation," Lutsenko said. Giuliani scrapped a planned trip to Ukraine this month to discuss the Biden allegations and other matters with Lutsenko and Ukrainian politicians after a report in The New York Times spurred criticism that he was seeking to harm a Democratic opponent. Critics said he appeared to be enlisting a foreign government to investigate Trump's possible challenger in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Giuliani told Fox News that he believed the people around President-elect Volodymyr Zelenskiy were "enemies" of Trump. Addressing the controversy this week, Biden called it a "personal attack" by Giuliani. "I can't remember any lawyer representing the president, conferring with the president, deciding to go overseas where a government that relies on U.S. largess to try to get them to do something that everyone knows never happened," Biden said in an interview in New Hampshire, posted Monday on Twitter. The Bidens declined to comment for this article. Giuliani didn't respond to a request for comment. From his office in Kiev, Lutsenko said Giuliani had extended an invitation to meet in New York late last year. When the two met in January, they spoke over two days about the Ukrainian political situation and the fight against corruption, he said. Giuliani asked him about investigations into the owner of Burisma, Mykola Zlochevsky, as well as whether the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, was "not loyal to President Trump." The men met again in February in Poland, where Giuliani gave a speech at an anti-Tehran rally on the sidelines of a U.S. summit on Iran. The ambassador to Ukraine, Yovanovitch, has been subject to political attacks as anti-Trump, including a tweet by Donald Trump Jr. who called her a "joker." She is leaving Kiev within days, ahead of her planned departure this summer. Lutsenko said he told Giuliani that his relationship with the ambassador wasn't friendly enough for her to confide her opinions on Trump. Lutsenko said his prosecutors are now looking at Zlochevsky and dozens of other Ukrainians as part of one of the country's biggest criminal investigations, which began in 2014. That inquiry focuses on the activities of Serhiy Kurchenko, who owned a group of gas companies and was a close associate of former President Viktor Yanukovych. Ukraine's prosecutor general has accused Kurchenko of money laundering, tax evasion and theft of state assets. After the Maidan revolution toppled Yanukovych in February 2014, Kurchenko fled Ukraine, reportedly to Russia. The U.S. and the European Union imposed sanctions on Kurchenko, and his assets were frozen. A lawyer for Kurchenko didn't immediately comment. As part of the 5-year-old inquiry, the prosecutor general's office has been looking at whether Kurchenko's purchase of an oil storage terminal in southern Ukraine from Zlochevksy in November 2013 helped Kurchenko launder money. Lutsenko said the transaction under scrutiny came months before Hunter Biden joined the Burisma board. "Biden was definitely not involved," Lutsenko said. "We do not have any grounds to think that there was any wrongdoing starting from 2014." There is no additional investigation of Zlochevsky and Burisma, the prosecutor general said. A separate case focusing on Zlochevsky's sale of the oil storage company should be opened in the next month, he said, calling it a "small episode" in the bigger investigation. "As soon as a case will be separated against Zlochevsky, investigators will follow the procedure," Lutsenko said. "As far as I know, he is outside Ukraine, so he will be first put on a wanted list, then he will be put on an international wanted list. But for the time being, there is nothing in that regard." Prosecutors sent Zlochevsky a "notice of suspicion" and requested he appear for questioning as part of the Kurchenko case, but he never showed up, Lutsenko said. Zlochevsky didn't respond to requests for comment sent via Burisma, and his lawyer declined to comment. The current probe "in no way" concerns Burisma, the prosecutor general emphasized. Before he became prosecutor general in 2016, Lutsenko said, a probe into whether Burisma misappropriated gas licenses was transferred to Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and then closed. "I don't understand why NABU closed the cases," he said. This year, at the request of Ukrainian MPs, NABU reopened the gas license case. The matter concerns licenses granted to Burisma when Zlochevsky was Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources and predates Hunter Biden's time on the board. Zlochevsky's sale of the oil storage business to Kurchenko was part of a probe by the U.K.'s Serious Fraud Office started in 2014, only to be dropped after Ukrainian prosecutors failed to provide information to support the case and closed their own investigation into the matter. Another probe into unpaid taxes by Burisma was settled in 2016. "All cases against Burisma were closed," Lutsenko said. "I do not see any wrongdoings of any foreigners who worked for Burisma in Ukraine." Lutsenkos future as prosecutor general - a job he says hed like to keep - is uncertain. Zelenskiy, Ukraines new president, is due to be sworn in Wednesday and has vowed to name a new prosecutor general. Reach key decision makers with sales-ready leads that shorten your sales process. Move the needle by delivering funnel qualified leads to your sales team. Learn more Walmart last month announced that shoppers soon might see a lot morerobots in its stores but the company wasnt referring to toy robots or even humanassistant gadgets that are available for purchase. Walmarts new robots will be taking over repeatable, predictable and manual tasks that up to now have been carried out by human employees. At Walmart stores, robots will scan shelf inventory and track boxes aspart of the retail chains inventory management. Walmart is hardlyalone in deploying robots or artificial intelligence to handlethese mundane tasks, however. Amazon has increased the use of AI in managing itsfacilities, and in the not-too-distant future, many employees can expectto work side-by-side with such machines on a daily basis. Roughly36 million Americans hold jobs that have a high exposure to automation, according to a January report from the Brookings Institution. Upwards of 70 percent of tasks done by human workers soon could beperformed by machines. This shift could affect not only factory and retailworkers, but cooks, waiters and others in food services, as well as short-haultruck drivers and even clerical office workers. The timeline could be from the next fewyears to the next two decades, according to the Brookings study, but economic factors likely will play a major role. An economic downturn, which could compel corporations to seek ways toreduce costs, could result in layoffs, with workers replaced bymachines. This has happened in past recessions, so it is safe to assume that the impact could be more severe with the next downturn. What AI Means for Jobs With AI and robots handling more mundane tasks, what happens to those who typically held those jobs? This is not exactly a new debate. In the 19th century, the Luddites, a secret and somewhatradical oath-based organization of English textile workers, took todestroying textile machinery as a form of protest. Members of the group were born in the harsh economic conditions of the Napoleonic Wars. The group took its name from Ned Ludd (possibly born Edward Ludlam), and it became so strong that it even clashed with the British Army. It is unlikely that the military, or even armed security, will have aconfrontation with todays workers, but the echoes of concern over machineryreplacing employees have been growing louder. Is the threat AI poses to workers real? The Bureau of Labor Statistics has a database that lists occupationsbroken out to tasks, and from this data weve seen tasks that aresuitable for machine learning, noted Ramayya Krishnan, dean ofHeinz College Of Information Systems and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University, and president of Informs. What we have to remember is that a job is a role that consists of abundle of tasks, so a job itself wont be replaced but some of thetasks may be, he told TechNewsWorld. It is important to make the distinction between the job itself andindividual tasks that make up the job, said Megan Lamberth,researcher in the technology and national security program at theCenter for a New American Security (CNAS). A D V E R T I S E M E N T Tasks that involve routine cognitive or physical activity, likedata-base entry or elements of secretarial work, will be highlysusceptible to automation, but that doesnt necessarily mean that theentire job will be automated, she told TechNewsWorld. Another example would be bank tellers who have had some of their tasksreplaced by an ATM. So the question isnt whether or not so much of an occupation will change, but how some of the tasks will be done via technology, said Heinzs Krishnan. Most jobs will be impacted in some shape or form byautomation or AI, but a smaller percentage of jobs will be completelyeliminated by these forces, warned CNAS Lamberth. Different studies on the future of work have reached varyingconclusions about the percentage of the American workforce that willbe displaced by AI and automation, she explained. A commonconclusion exists in many of these studies: The scale of disruptionwill be vast, and we have to determine a way forward to manage thisdisruption. Threat to Jobs Overstated Just as the machinery didnt kill the British textile industry, and infact created new opportunities, there is the argument that AIactually could improve the lot of modern employees. The auto industry is a good example where AI, robots and computerizedsystems are nicely integrated with human workers, said Bryon Rashed,vice president of marketing at cybersecurity firm Centripetal. While it is an attractive option to human labor, there will always bea need to supervise, check, maintain and program these technologies,which will generate higher-level jobs, he told TechNewsWorld. Depending on the sector, you will see various forms of AI androbotics, but that would be highly verticalized, such as healthcareand manufacturing, Rashed added. The Skill Factor There is also the argument to be made that even those replaced by AIor robots might have opportunities to acquire new skills. Retraining workers displaced by automation or AI will be absolutelynecessary as we move forward, particularly for those in mid-career,said CNAS Lamberth. A D V E R T I S E M E N T This task of retraining and encouraging life-long learning will haveto be undertaken by a number of different stakeholders, including thegovernment particularly at the state and local level as well asthe companies themselves that are introducing increasing levels of AIand automation into their organization, she added. In some cases, where jobs are displaced by AI and automation, thoseforces could lead to the creation of new jobs and even careers. Many of these jobs we havent even conceived of yet, said Lamberth. Those at the beginning of their career will be able to learn thesenew skills and transition into these new careers, but many at themid-career level will need retraining programs to break into theseemerging fields, she noted. Because it likely wont take a full-on economic crisis for companiesto see the benefits that AI and automation provide, workers shouldntwait for their jobs to be replaced but should take advantage of allopportunities to get retrained or to acquire new skills. Companies will seek to reduce costs by adopting AI or automationwhether the overall economy is prospering or is in a recession, saidLambert. However, an economic recession could accelerate a companyor industrys adoption of AI or automation, which means this concept ofretraining and life-long learning for those displaced, is critical inthe years ahead, she added. Filling Unfillable Jobs AI also could help fill openings in some industries where there simplyarent enough workers. This is certainly true in the tech world,notably in IT and cybersecurity, where there is now a dangerousshortage. Its been estimated that by 2021, there will be 3 million openings in cybersecurity. Retraining workers to fill those positions isnt an option, but AI andmachine learning could take some of the burden off overstretched ITdepartments. Enterprise IT organizations are increasingly embracing AItechnologies to address the cybersecurity skills gap that they arestruggling with, said Franklyn Jones, CMO of Cequence Security. In fact, its been projected that there will be 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurityjobs within the next couple of years so it appears that AI is nottaking away jobs at all. On the contrary, AI and other intelligenttechnologies are filling the skills gap by automating many of themanual tasks that normally would be done by a human. Since humanswith those skills are unavailable in sufficient numbers, machines need to fill the void. AI to Retain Workers The other end of the spectrum for AI is in how it could be used byemployers to help retain workers, especially in a tight job market. AIis now being used by HR departments as a tool to help employers knowif employees are thinking about leaving their respective position. One example is IBM, which has replaced about 30 percent of its HRstaff with AI. In this case it actually is to help retain existingskilled workers not to replace them with AI, but to ensure that valuable talentdoesnt jump ship. The HR AI was designed to help employees identify opportunities for new skills training,education, job promotions and raises. In other words, AI can predict why employees may be thinking of seeking greener pastures elsewhere. By addressing these issues, IBM can keep itsworkforce intact whether by adding a new skill or promoting a deserving worker. One component of this is through the tracking of social media poststhat can indicate levels of happiness in ways that a human might notsee. AI can find patterns and determine if an employee is consideringa job switch. AI is actually made up of four layers; and this includes a sensinglayer where it can sense about an employees mood or feelings. Thiscan be a measure of motivation for example, said Heinzs Krishnan. From sensing you can learn, and then you can decide based on whatyouve learned to determine how youll act, he added. AI also could be used to aid in the recruiting process, but its use toretain or hire employees could come with ethical conundrums. The AI is capable of doing it, but it must be done in an appropriateway so that you dont cross any ethical boundaries, suggestedKrishnan. You want to make sure the AI isnt biased, just as humansin HR need to be free of bias. What just happened? Microsoft and Sony have been locked in a bitter console gaming rivalry for years now. Every console generation, both companies desperately try to one-up each other with upgraded hardware, better services (like Xbox's Game Pass), and unique exclusive games. With this longstanding corporate feud in mind, it may come as a surprise to hear that the two companies today announced a "strategic partnership." This partnership will see both Sony and Microsoft work together on "new innovations" in the fields of cloud-based gaming and artificial intelligence. It's tough to say precisely what this agreement might entail moving forward from a consumer perspective, but Sony and Microsoft claim their efforts will include "building better development platforms" for content creators of all stripes, and the development of "intelligent image sensor solutions" for enterprise customers. "...the two companies will explore joint development of future cloud solutions in Microsoft Azure to support their respective game and content-streaming services," The backbone of this partnership seems to be Microsoft's Azure cloud computing service. "Under the memorandum of understanding signed by the parties, the two companies will explore joint development of future cloud solutions in Microsoft Azure to support their respective game and content-streaming services," Microsoft's announcement reads. "In addition, the two companies will explore the use of current Microsoft Azure datacenter-based solutions for Sonys game and content-streaming services." In short, it sounds like Microsoft and Sony are agreeing to a rare intelligence and resource-sharing deal. Only time will tell what form that partnership will take in the long-run (the entire announcement is quite vague regarding specifics), but we'll certainly keep you updated if any new information comes to light. Nabisco, makers of the popular chocolate sandwich cookie Oreo, is launching a limited edition snack in line with the 50th anniversary of the Moon Landing. The company announced on Tuesday that it will release its new Oreo Marshmallow Moon cookies in June to celebrate NASA's historic Apollo 11 mission, which sent the first astronauts to the moon. Moon Landing Anniversary Cookies A spokesperson for Nabisco told space enthusiast website collectSPACE that the Marshmallow Moon cookies will feature three new Oreo designs inspired by the Moon Landing. All of these variants will come with purple marshmallow creme filling. The first cookie design shows a cartoonish waning crescent moon that is flanked by three stars. Meanwhile, the second one shows an Apollo astronaut in a spacesuit standing beside a flag with a ringed planet and stars behind him. The third design has a space shuttle traveling through space while passing by several planets and stars. The limited edition cookies will be available in special glow-in-the-dark packaging, complete with anniversary sticker sets. It also has an inscription that says "Moon Landing 50th Anniversary." While Oreos were already available by the time of the Moon Landing on July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins, and Neil Armstrong did not have the cookies along with them on the spaceflight. What they did have were sugar cookies formed into cubes. Oreo's Tribute To NASA Milestones Nabisco has been active in paying tribute to NASA's achievements in the field of space exploration. In 2012, the company celebrated the space agency's landing of the Curiosity rover on Mars by launching a social media post with the hashtag #dailytwist. The campaign featured an image of an Oreo cookie with rover tracks shown in the brand's red-colored creme. When Armstrong passed away in 2012, Nabisco also paid homage to the first man on the moon by releasing a special graphic on its cookies in his honor. "To the man who made us believe in the impossible," the Oreo maker wrote. The special edition Oreo also showed the words "celebrating an American hero" along with the image of the Apollo 11 commander in his spacesuit, cast over the signature white creme of the cookie. Nabisco joins other companies in commemorating the 50th anniversary of NASA's Moon Landing by offering limited edition products. Fisher Space Pen, Zippo lighters, Omega watches, and Budweiser have already announced their own tributes for the historic event. NASA's Lunar Landing Celebrations Other organizations have lined up several celebrations in time for the lunar landing anniversary. Last month, the Smithsonian announced that it will put Neil Armstrong's spacesuit on display at the National Air and Space Museum this summer. The fragile spacesuit, which Armstrong wore during the Apollo 11 mission, will be placed in a state-of-the-art display case while it is on exhibit. The museum will also conduct commemorative and educational programs for visitors from July 16 to July 20. These include the "Discover the Moon Day!" where people can join educational and fun-filled activities centered on the 50th anniversary of the lunar landing. There will also be a simulation of the Moon landing that will allow visitors to retrace the steps of Armstrong and his crew. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A new report from South Korea has described how Samsung is fixing the design flaws of its Galaxy Fold. The smartphone maker is said to be focusing on the foldable device's polymer layer and gap in the hinge. Fixing The Galaxy Fold As reported by Yonhap News (via SamMobile), Samsung is making the protective film on the display non-removable by tucking it into the body. That way, users won't be able to peel it off. Early reviewers who received a Galaxy Fold broke their units because they removed this layer, which, in their defense, looks like an ordinary plastic screen protector. The company is also going to minimize the gap at the top and bottom areas of the hinge so that dirt, debris, or other materials won't get inside and cause problems to the flexible display. Repair outfit iFixit highlighted this issue in its teardown of the Galaxy Fold, pointing out that there wasn't any sort of "hinge ingress protection" and describing it as "alarmingly fragile." Samsung is already testing the revised units with South Korean networks, according to the report. The launch schedule of the Galaxy Fold is expected to be released sometime during May, and the foldable phone itself is reportedly rolling out in June, but that's not a sure thing just yet. However, CEO of Samsung's mobile division DJ Koh did say that the company "will not be too late" in releasing the smartphone. Not to mention AT&T said that the device will ship out in June, aligning with the purported launch in June. Galaxy Fold Issues The $1,980 Galaxy Fold was originally planned to be launched on April 26 in the United States, but when one review unit after another broke in the hands of technology journalists and influencers, Samsung was forced to delay its release date and recall each one in the wild for investigation. iFixit then somehow managed to get a hold of a Galaxy Fold and subjected it to its usual teardown treatment, but soon after, the South Korean brand requested to have it taken down. The takeaway here is that Samsung's first-ever foldable smartphone is off to a rock start, and hopefully, these reported improvements will fix the flaws plaguing it. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, the first 5G-capable smartphone in the United States, has arrived, and it's now available at Verizon. It's priced at $1,299.99, but the carrier's promo shaves up to $650 off. That's half the cost of the smartphone. Galaxy S10 5G Discount To be exact, Verizon has announced a trade-in deal that lets customers get up to $450 off the Galaxy S10 5G. It also has another offer for those switching to its network, giving away a $200 Prepaid Mastercard. Putting two and two together, that adds up to $650 in savings. The handset is available in two storage configurations: 256 GB or 512 GB. Normally, the former costs $1,299.99 upfront or $54.16 a month for 24 months, while the latter is $1,399.99 or $58.33 a month for 24 months. From any perspective, those are considered as premium price points, but Big Red seems to be aiming to make 5G accessible and affordable. At that, buyers can get $450 off if they trade in any one of these phones: iPhone XS or iPhone XS Max iPhone XR iPhone X iPhone 8 or iPhone 8 Plus iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus Galaxy S9 or Galaxy S9 Plus Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S8 Plus Galaxy Note 9 Galaxy Note 8 Pixel 3 or Pixel 3 XL Pixel 2 or Pixel 2 XL LG G7 ThinQ LG V40 ThinQ Those who don't any of the devices listed above can still get a $300 discount with other handsets, such as a Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge, iPhone SE, iPhone 5s, and even the original Pixel and Pixel XL. Meanwhile, customers can get the $200 Prepaid Mastercard by switching to Verizon, purchasing a Galaxy S10 5G, and activating it on an Unlimited data plan. The 5G smartphone comes in Majestic Black and Crown Silver, and it's already available for purchase at the Verizon's online store and physical shops. Also, it's an exclusive to the carrier for a limited time. 5G Ready? The coverage of 5G isn't exactly widespread just yet. Verizon's networks offers 5G only in Chicago and Minneapolis at the moment, and the thing is, it's available only in select areas. The carrier has promised to expand its reach to 20 more cities, though, namely Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dallas, Des Moines, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Little Rock, Memphis, Phoenix, Providence, San Diego, Salt Lake City, and Washington, D.C. In other words, purchasing a Galaxy S10 5G despite the location limitations doesn't seem to be a bad idea since coverage is steadily increasing, after all. Not to mention that a connection to this network delivers jaw-dropping speeds, as demoed by Verizon's PR manager George L. Koroneos on Twitter. pic.twitter.com/Syxc7HGrqn This is 5G on the brand new Samsung Galaxy S10 5G in front of my hotel. It's crazy the difference a month makes. #FirstToRealTime George L. Koroneos (@GLKCreative) May 16, 2019 It's also worth mentioning that Verizon has technically offered a "5G phone" before the Galaxy S10 5G: the Moto Z3. It's a 4G device that can establish a 5G connection by way of a Moto Mod, which is yet another way to get into the 5G game. Still, the Samsung handset is deserving of its title as the first 5G phone in the United States since it does offer 5G connectivity from the get-go without needing an accessory. At any rate, the takeaway here is that Big Red is going all out with the next-generation cellular network technology, paving the way by making it accessible as much as possible. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Defending ones residence from thieves, prowlers and other disreputable characters is among the top priorities of many homeowners. While there are countless steps people can take toward securing their homes, few are as effective as cutting-edge security systems. Many modern-day security setups feature state-of-the-art motion detection, remote monitoring and remote accessibility all of which can prove invaluable in keeping your household safe. If youre currently on the fence about investing in a high-tech home security apparatus, the following perks may bring you around. Protecting Valuables No one relishes being stolen from. Even if certain items arent particularly important to you, having them stolen represents a breach of security and can make you feel unsafe in your own home. However, theres no denying that most of us value certain possessions over others. Whether its a valuable family heirloom or a childhood toy that holds sentimental value, most people seek to protect their most treasured belongings and having a security system in place is one of the most effective ways to go about this. Being able to leave your home for extended periods without having to worry about the fate of your most precious possessions is among the foremost advantages of owning a security system. Being Able to Monitor Your Home Remotely Homeowners who want to know whats happening at their residences when theyre away should look into purchasing a security system that offers remote monitoring. As the name suggests, remote monitoring allows you to keep tabs on both the interior and exterior of your home, regardless of where you happen to be. Many modern-day security systems enable homeowners to engage in remote monitoring via smart phones, tablets and computers. Whether youre out for a quick walk or embarking on a lengthy vacation, remote monitoring ensures that youll be able to keep a watchful eye on the old homestead. Anyone in the market for a security system thats equipped with remote monitoring will find no shortage of options at their disposal. Since remote monitoring has become such a common feature in modern-day security systems, youd be hard-pressed to find a company that doesnt offer it. Quaker City residents shopping around for security systems in Philadelphia will have no trouble finding a bevy of attractive options. Saving on Insurance In many cases, buying homeowners insurance is a mandatory part of owning a home. Assuming youre paying for your home through a mortgage as the vast majority of homeowners are youll most likely be required to purchase homeowners insurance in order to obtain mortgage approval. Rates vary depending on a number of factors, including location, personal claim history and the age of a home. Fortunately, many insurance providers offer discounted rates to clients whose homes are equipped with reliable security systems. As such, investing in a security system is a great way to kill two birds with one stone. Not only will you provide your residence with additional layers of protection, youll also be saving yourself a potentially substantial sum of money each month. Making Criminals Think Twice Criminals are constantly measuring risk against reward i.e., considering whether their potential reward for breaking the law is worth the consequences theyll face if they get caught. That being the case, many crooks are hesitant to target homes that are protected by security systems. Not only does breaking into a home equipped with a security system present a number of challenges for burglars, it also increases their likelihood of being caught. For most criminals, this simply isnt worth the risk. Rather than take a chance on a home thats protected, many of them would much rather focus their attention on unsecured houses. Security is not something any homeowner should take lightly. A single break-in has the power to turn your familys world upside down and taking proactive measures against such incidents can go a long way in ensuring the safety of your household. With this in mind, every responsible homeowner should look into purchasing a dependable home security system. The right system can stop criminals in their tracks and provide your family with tremendous peace of mind. Anyone whos serious about protecting their residence from outside threats would be wise to consider the benefits of investing in a home security system. Louisiana's nonfarm employment rose by 2,700 jobs for the 12 months ending in April, thanks to a big jump in the number of people working in education and health services. Louisiana ended April with 1,987,400 jobs, according to preliminary numbers released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The numbers are not seasonally adjusted. The number of people working in schools or health care was up by 9,800, or 3.1%, over the past 12 months to 324,000. Leisure and hospitality jobs increased by 3,700, or 1.6%, to 240,600; manufacturing, 1,700 jobs, or 1.3%, to 136,100; and professional and business services, 1,800 jobs, or 0.8%, to 215,400. Among sectors that saw a decrease, information had the biggest drop percentage-wise, falling by 2,000, or 8.3%, to 22,000 jobs. Construction was down by 8,000, or 5.3%, to 143,400; mining and logging, which includes oil and gas jobs, 1,100, or 3.1%, to 34,600; government, 1,400 jobs, or 0.4%, to 330,000; financial activities, 400, or 0.4%, to 90,400; trade, transportation and utilities, 1,200, or 0.3%, to 377,400; and other services, 200 jobs, or 0.3%, to 73,500. The state unemployment rate, not seasonally adjusted, was 3.5%, down from 4.5% in April 2018. Louisiana officials said that is the lowest rate on record, topping the previous low of 3.6% that was reached in April 2008. Louisianas civilian labor force people who are working or looking for work was down from 2.11 million in April 2018 to 2.09 million. Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Economist Loren Scott said he doesnt put a great deal of stock in unemployment numbers because the BLS bases the numbers on a sample of households, asking people if they are working or looking for work. The sample size is too small in Louisiana to get an accurate measure, he said. But the cities in south Louisiana are continuing to add jobs. Lafayette is recovering and doing well after the sustained low oil prices. Lake Charles, Baton Rouge and New Orleans are doing well, Scott said. Wage rates started rising about a year ago and thats a reflection of a tight labor market, he said. So these numbers are a good thing. The Labor Department said the national unemployment rate is 3.3%, down from 3.7% in April 2018. Plaquemine-area law enforcement is eyeing a huge swath of surveillance technology roughly $400,000 worth of neighborhood cameras, ShotSpotter devices and license plate readers to help combat a community unwilling to help in investigations. But, experts warn that additional surveillance on an already-reluctant population could breed more distrust than benefit. There has not been an increase in the number of shooting calls to prompt the funding request, but there has been a growing lack of witnesses or residents calling police in the first place, both Police Chief Kenny Payne and Iberville Parish Sheriff Brett Stassi told the Plaquemine Board of Selectmen. It would allow us to basically have a better witness than a witness, Payne said after the meeting. Its true sight as opposed to someone saying what they think they saw or putting in their opinions. The biggest issue we have is we dont get a lot of input regarding (investigations) from the public. Stassi, too, touted how beneficial the technology would be, saying its almost as good as having a deputy watching. Neither law enforcement leader nor the two representatives from technology companies present at Tuesday's meeting discussed exactly how the different technology types would be distributed, where, and if there would be any community input before doing so. American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana attorney Bruce Hamilton said in an interview Thursday that because surveillance, in general, sparks an inherent distrust, its imperative the city be open with residents about how and why itll use the technology. It sounds like theres been a breakdown in community trust between the residents and police, and if thats the case I would think implementing this kind of surveillance technology would be a very negative step, Hamilton said. Rather than the city leaders deciding whats best for the community, its more productive for the community to have a dialogue and say do you want these? And how do you want these implemented? The camera request comes after a 14-year-old was killed last month when an unknown gunman shot at his home, striking him in the neck with a bullet. Payne said the surveillance discussions started when Selectman Oscar Mellion approached him about the idea prior to the boys death, but that incident brought home the point. Payne said initially the 911 call sent sheriffs deputies to a home a mile away because a resident who lived in that area thought the gunshots were nearby. The wasted time to get from that location to where the shooting happened was time that could have netted quicker medical care for the teenager, undisturbed evidence and eyewitnesses who may have since fled when the shooting happened, Payne said. Ron Teachman, a ShotSpotter representative who gave a 45-minute presentation to the board on the gunshot-identifying audio technology, touted its efficiency in differentiating noises like car backfires to real gunshots, in getting officers to a scene, data-tracking and recording that can go on to help in court cases or officer-involved shooting investigations, for example. But, that kind of capability comes with a hefty price tag. Teachman estimated it would cost the city $385,000 for the first year to cover 5 square miles of Plaquemine and a little into the Iberville Parish jurisdiction. That covers installation, training and technology, but an ongoing subscription fee would be due annually. Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up License plate readers, GPS tracking among features in EBRSO's new handheld smart-devices The East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office has started distributing to deputies a new handheld mobile policing device intended to streamline techno Teachman said Shotspotter has grant writers on staff to help municipalities with the costs, but theres no guarantee those grants would be approved. The American Telephone Service cameras, more like traditional home security cameras, would cost $2,765 per camera, excluding the cost of installation, internet access and electricity. The cost of license plate readers was not discussed at Tuesdays meeting, but those would be additional. Payne said he doesnt see an issue with privacy because the cameras would not face into residents homes or yards, and the Shotspotter devices detect audio. He said the neighborhood cameras would not record constantly but would instead be motion sensor. Its just more efficient, its real time where we can locate valuable evidence before its disturbed, he said. A car driving down a street can get a shell casing caught in a tire and move it 100 feet before we get there. Chris Burbank, vice president of strategic partnerships for the Center for Policing Equity and a retired Salt Lake City police chief, said in an interview Thursday that leaders need to determine whether the benefit of solving the crimes would outweigh the impact of such technology on the community. Historically those types of things, whether red light cameras, facial recognition, they tend to inject a lot of bias and community mistrust and be low in efficacy, Burbank said. "What you have to weigh is, is that 1 percent (of cases solved) actually worth the pain it causes to the community, and that is a question that almost has to be weighed community by community. He likened it to equipping teachers in schools with firearms to curb school shootings or taking off shoes in an airport, arguing that while it may help in a handful of examples, there are many more cases of misuse. Instead, Burbank said, the funding would be better spent on programs, resources and community spaces for residents to gather and interact with police in a positive environment that fosters a better relationship. He recommended that beefing up funding for aspects like jobs and health care makes a community feel empowered and in doing that helps diminish crime rates. The board didn't take any action on camera funding at Tuesday's meeting, but said they would consider the presentations closer to budget presentations. As the East Baton Rouge Parish school system gets serious about buying land for new schools in school-scarce south Baton Rouge, the School Board is demanding to be much more involved. The School Board on Thursday voted 5-1 to amend a routine resolution to insert the board in the middle of the purchasing process. Board member David Tatman voted no. Board members Mark Bellue, Connie Bernard and Mike Gaudet were absent. East Baton Rouge school tax, in three parts, wins by wide margins in voting Saturday All three parts of a one-cent sales tax renewal for the East Baton Rouge Parish public school system were approved by wide margins in Saturday Superintendent Warren Drake has been looking for land for schools called for in the construction program approved by voters in April 2018 when they renewed a 1-cent sales tax for 10 more years. That construction program sets aside $90 million for new schools somewhere in south Baton Rouge. About $10 million of that can be used for land purchases. Drake was asking the board Thursday to let him hire Cook Moore Davenport and Associates to appraise property and Phelps Dunbar law firm to handle the preparation of purchase agreements, title and perform closing services for those properties. Tatman made a motion to approve the standard resolution as is. It allowed the superintendent to enter into purchase agreements for land but the board would have final approval. That wasnt good enough for board member Dadrius Lanus. As the resolution currently reads it gives the board little-to-no input as to the acquisition of land, Lanus said. I would like language added that would bring this back to the board just so wed know what was going on. Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Lanus then asked Tatman to change his motion, suggesting multiple language changes. Tatman balked. Thats the most complicated motion Ive seen, even in the Legislature, said Tatman, who is a registered lobbyist. Tatman asked Lanus to hold off a month so he could read a copy of his suggested changes rather than just try to make sense of them orally. Lanus, however, did not want to wait and offered his changes as a substitute motion, which passed quickly with little discussion. Baton Rouge school employees may see 6.4 percent hike in health insurance premiums After two years of no change, health insurance premiums for East Baton Rouge Parish school employees may soon rise again. In other action, the board postponed until June 20 a proposed 6.4 percent hike in monthly premiums for employees, both active and retired, who use insurance provided by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana, after it couldnt get five votes. The increase would take effect in January. Three board members were absent Thursday and then Tatman left the meeting right before the vote, meaning just five members were present, the minimum for a quorum. Then board member Jill Dyason recused herself, leaving only four board members left to vote on the item. Mercer, the human resources firm acting as the school systems health care consultant, is predicting employee medical expenses in 2020 will increase by almost 11 percent. Thats about $6.8 million more than that coverage costs now. The proposed monthly premium increases would fill nearly $4 million of that $6.8 million gap. The rest would be filled by raising deductibles, out-of-pocket minimums and by offering a third Blue Cross plan that offers employees big incentives to use doctors and medical facilities only in its network. WASHINGTON U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy is leading a bipartisan effort to introduce legislation meant to prevent people from receiving surprise medical bills when they inadvertently receive treatment out of their insurance networks a frustrating health care issue that affects countless patients each year. Patients should be the reason for the care, not an excuse for the bill, the Baton Rouge Republican said at a news conference explaining a proposal months in the making. The patient should be held harmless. Surprise medical bills happen most often after someone seeks medical care in an emergency room. A common scenario is when the hospital is in network, but the patient is treated by an out-of-network doctor. Additionally, some specialists, who are brought in for surgeries and other procedures, such as anesthesiologists, can be out-of-network and prompt additional out-of-pocket costs. The issue is one Cassidy, a medical doctor, has repeatedly raised, trying various proposals to eliminate the sticker shock he has heard about from constituents. The legislation, formally called the STOP Surprise Bills Act, could get its first committee vetting by the end of the month if all goes according to plan, Cassidy said. After quietly tolling away on hashing out a final proposal, the idea gained a public resurgence last week when Cassidy and other sponsors of the bill joined President Donald Trump for a news conference on the topic at the White House. Cassidy joins President Trump in call for end to 'surprise medical bills' WASHINGTON President Donald Trump has joined the push to protect patients from costly surprise medical bills a frustrating health care i If we get this the way we want it over the next two weeks, I think youre going to see something really great," Trump said at the time. Its something that will have a tremendous impact. They were joined by patients who told stories of facing thousands of dollars in unexpected medical bills when they received treatment from out-of-network providers without their knowledge. Senators who took part in Thursdays meeting said they often hear similar stories from their constituents. The scoop on state politics in your inbox Get the Louisiana politics insider details once a week from us. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Consumers want to know what they are paying at the time they receive care, not months down the road when they receive a bill, said Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo. People are mad. Theyre upset. Theyre frustrated, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said. Under the proposal outlined Thursday, patients would only be billed for in-network costs for emergency services, even in cases when they are treated at an out-of-network facility or by an out-of-network provider. Additionally, those who receive treatment at an out-of-network facility could only be billed further for in-network costs when they cant be safely transported to an in-network provider without medical transport. In non-emergency cases, patients would only pay their in-network share when an out-of-network provider treats them at an in-network facility. That would also apply to out-of-network specialist or lab costs. Doctors and the insurance industry have long disagreed on how that would work to ensure providers are paid a fair price and insurance companies dont end up saddled with unnecessary costs. Cassidy and Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., merged ideas they have previously proposed to create a plan that would first set a median amount for insurers to pay providers for the out-of-network services, but it also would create a new independent arbitration process for providers and plans to work out disagreements over payment amounts. The patient would not be a party to the arbitration and would never owe more than the in-network rate. Hassan said there was a good chance the bill could pass both chambers. There is a strong bipartisan momentum, Hassan said. It would clearly be unfair not to refund $6 million in fees unlawfully extracted from the people of Orleans Parish. If youre a public school teacher or support worker in Louisiana, theres some indisputable good news emerging from the ongoing legislative session: Just about everybody gathered in Baton Rouge wants to give you a raise, albeit a modest one. Theres also a catch, and thats because nothing in politics happens in a vacuum. Two competing proposals are still alive as the session enters its final weeks. Louisiana Senate's plan to boost public school funding would use this program to fund $39M hike Setting up a clash with the state House, the Louisiana Senate approved a $39 million increase for public schools Wednesday in a plan that also One, backed by Gov. John Bel Edwards and approved by the Senate this week by a whopping 37-1 vote, is part of a larger proposal approved by the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. Senate Concurrent Resolution 3 would raise teacher pay by $1,000 a year, increase support worker salaries by $500, and also steer $39 million in direct aid to schools. Lawmakers cannot adjust or amend the BESE recommendation, only pass or reject it entirely. The second, included in the House-passed budget, would appear to be slightly more generous, offering $1,200 to teachers and $600 to support workers. But the raises would not automatically recur next year or the year after, so while lawmakers may be unlikely to roll back the increases, they also cannot guarantee them for the future. Also, the House measure, included in a budget that passed 100-1, does not include the $39 million lump sum for schools, which some Edwards adversaries argue is unaffordable. How this will all resolve itself remains to be seen, and given the modest amount and the widespread agreement, its hard to believe that teachers will walk away from the session empty-handed. But the fact that an idea with so much support is still a flashpoint is a symptom of whats been ailing the Legislature ever since the day that Edwards was sworn in, and the House Republicans who make up the chambers majority bucked his choice for speaker, fellow Democrat Walt Leger of New Orleans. Proposed teacher pay raises boosted in Louisiana's $30B budget passed by House; see next steps Around this time last year, a divided Louisiana House was wrestling with a state budget that threatened to shutter hospitals, cut popular scho They chose Republican Taylor Barras of New Iberia over more openly partisan Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, who got the chairmanship of the Appropriations Committee as a consolation prize. But Henrys style of politics quickly prevailed and set the tone for all that followed. Its no coincidence that hes the man behind the competing teacher pay proposal. Theres something almost comical about politicians fighting over such a small dollar figure, but the battle is a logical extension of the budget battles that dominated Edwards and the current Legislatures first three years. It took an exhausting 10 legislative sessions to adopt enough revenue to dig the state out of the deep hole that former Gov. Bobby Jindal, with the help of willing prior legislators, had dug. This even though lawmakers wound up choosing the route of least resistance, a temporary bump in the state sales tax, rather than taking the opportunity to enact actual tax reform. The resolution of the fiscal cliff didnt end the fighting, though. First Henry and then Barras decided to make mischief with the normally routine revenue estimating process. They spent months refusing to accept estimates offered by state economists, which only succeeded in throwing a wrench into the governors standard budgeting process, for no apparent reason other than to deny him the ability to propose financial support for popular needs. The fight over teacher pay appears driven by the same dynamic: a combination of political gamesmanship and a desire to claim credit and deny bragging rights to others as everyone involved prepares to face the voters judgement this fall. Forget putting aside differences. In an environment like this, too many pols are going out of their way to create them. If Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry were a volunteer firefighter, hed be the guy who sets fire to the back of a house, then runs around to the front and makes a show of grabbing the first water hose just as a news camera arrived. Hed also be the only firefighter to call himself a hero for his efforts. The latest example of Landrys faux heroics is his push for a bill in the state Legislature to protect Louisianans with pre-existing medical conditions in the event health insurers try to deny them coverage or charge unaffordable premiums. Thats the water hose. The truth is that no one with pre-existing conditions would have to worry about losing coverage or facing higher premiums if Landry hadnt joined a federal lawsuit seeking to invalidate the Affordable Care Act (ACA), aka Obamacare, which is how people with pre-existing conditions got coverage in the first place. Thats the fire set by Landry. The suit, joined by Republican AGs from 19 states, hinges on the ACAs requirement that people carry health insurance or face a penalty. Congress repealed that mandate; now the lawsuit claims the entire law is unconstitutional. A federal judge in Texas agreed, and the case is before the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. Stephanie Grace: On health care, Louisiana lawmakers have a 'nobody knew' moment Soon after he took office in 2017, President Donald Trump famously bemoaned the difficulty of replacing the Affordable Care Act, which he had Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards, who oversaw the expansion of Medicaid in Louisiana under the ACA, has rightly blasted Landrys involvement in the lawsuit. Edwards and Landry both support legislative efforts to protect people with pre-existing conditions, but only the Landry-backed bill has gained traction. Thats Landry claiming heroics for the cameras. Its ironic that the Attorney General wants to try and take credit for fixing a problem that he himself caused, Edwards said in a statement, by involving the state in a lawsuit that eliminates protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Simply put, if Landry hadnt helped set the fire, he wouldnt have to grab a hose. While Obamacare has been demonized by the GOP, most Americans love major parts of it especially requiring insurers to cover pre-existing conditions. A survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 30 percent of Louisianans have pre-existing conditions that could let insurers decline to cover them. Two competing proposals to protect pre-existing conditions face one major problem in Louisiana Legislature Louisiana lawmakers on Wednesday began hearings on competing bills by two powerful political rivals that would enshrine in state law some of t The most laughable part of Landrys argument is his claim that Louisiana could regulate health insurers better than the federal government. State-based innovation," Landry has said, is the best way to lower costs for patients, protect people with pre-existing conditions, and improve the quality of care for all Louisiana families. Thats nonsense. The ACA is far from perfect, but it already works in many ways, and it can be improved. More than 465,000 Louisianans now have health care because of its expansion. We had generations of state-based innovation before the ACA was enacted and some of the poorest health outcomes in the nation. Louisiana was not obligated in any way to join the federal lawsuit. Landry acted against the wishes of Edwards and against the interests of more than a million Louisianans. The next time Landry crows about his fight against the Obamacare inferno, Louisianans should remember who started the fire. In a response to the abortion restrictions speeding through the Louisiana Legislature and state legislatures around the country abortion rights activists are planning a protest at One Shell Square (701 Poydras St.) at noon on Wednesday. Amy Irvin, director of the New Orleans Abortion Fund, said the event is part two of the demonstration that took place at the Capitol on the Wednesday, where ten activists held a die-in complete with fake blood to protest the restrictions. Lakeesha Harris, director of reproductive health and justice at Women With A Vision in New Orleans, read demands for abortion rights, equal pay and an end to maternal mortality as part of the demonstration. Protesters chanted for around half an hour before being arrested and escorted out the Capitol by security. As Alabama outlaws almost all abortions, Louisiana's 'fetal heartbeat bill' advances quickly On the same day the Alabama legislature passed a restrictive bill that would almost entirely outlaw abortion in that state, a House committee Irvin, who has testified against the current abortion bills before legislators, said she and others felt it was time to take take a different, additional approach. Despite years of testimony, legislators continue to pass anti-choice bills that would limit access to abortion, Irvin said. They seem to ignore the facts...So after years of doing this and legislation still being passed, the stories and real experiences of women being ignored, we thought it was important to do something more drastic. The New Orleans Abortion Fund, Women With a Vision and the New Orleans Peoples Assembly are organizing the second protest titled Just Laws or Outlaws: Take to the Streets which Irvin said will bring the same sort of tone and sense of demonstration as the first. Here in New Orleans, we know that not everyone can take a full day off to go to Baton Rouge to sit in a committee hearing or engage their legislator at the Capitol, Irvin said. This is an opportunity for people to come out during their lunch hour and show their opposition to abortion bans and the attack on reproductive justice. At the time of publication, 96 people have replied to the event on Facebook saying they are going, while 255 have indicated theyre interested. This is not going to be business as usual, Irvin said. Louisiana Senate overwhelmingly passes two anti-abortion measures The Louisiana Senate passed a bill 31-4 today that would let residents vote on adding language to the state constitution explicitly stating it While visiting Louisiana earlier this week, President Donald Trump spoke with House Minority Whip Steve Scalise and urged Scalise to jump in the gubernatorial race against Gov. John Bel Edwards, according to a report this afternoon from Axios. As Trump travelled to southwestern Louisiana on Tuesday with several members of Congress, including Scalise," Axios reports, "the president pulled out polling numbers to show Scalise how popular Trump is in Scalise's home state, according to a source with direct knowledge." Scalise, who has repeatedly said he's not going to run for the governorship, "politely dismissed the idea," Axios says. Edwards, a Democrat, will be facing off against U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham and businessman Eddie Rispone, along with independent candidate Gary Landrieu. (Rispone attended a fundraiser for Trump three days ago at the Metairie home of businessman Joe Canizaro, at which he donated $100,000 to Trump's reelection campaign.) Others may join the race by July 9, which is the deadline for filing. The gubernatorial primary will be held Oct. 12, with a runoff if necessary Nov. 16. President Trump in Louisiana: Promises of new bridge if he's re-elected, praise for clean energy HACKBERRY President Donald Trump praised workers at a southwestern Louisiana liquefied natural gas plant Tuesday, saying their work was fueling a new "American ... revolution" that would deliver clean energy to people across the world. Police responding to a report of a man threatening to shoot someone at a New Orleans East apartment complex Friday morning fatally shot the man during an exchange of gunfire, according to authorities. The man was shot multiple times and died about 10 a.m. at a sprawling apartment complex in the 6800 block of Parc Brittany Boulevard, Police Superintendent Shaun Ferguson said. Although officials did not release the man's name, a law enforcement source identified him as Donald Davis Jr., 40, a resident of the complex. No officers were hurt during the incident. Ferguson said three responding officers fired their weapons. All three have about three years of experience on the force. All of them had activated their body-worn cameras, Ferguson said. We are trying to investigate and determine who shot first and all of the other circumstances that may have occurred around this incident, Ferguson told reporters at the scene. Multiple people at the apartment complex said the man who was fatally shot was upset with the complex's leasing office, possibly over a broken key or door. They said the man had gone to the office with a gun, threatened to shoot someone there and then briefly left, at which time an employee called 911. Police arrived as the man was returning to the leasing office for a second time, still armed with a gun, said a resident and a maintenance man who declined to give their names. An exchange of gunfire ensued, said the resident and the maintenance worker, who each heard the clash and caught glimpses of the agitated man before he was slain. "They came just in time," the maintenance man said of the police. "That man was gonna (expletive) up everything in there." Apartment complex resident Reginald Bell spoke with WWL-TV and echoed the story about the man being killed after complaining to the leasing office over "minor things." Bell said he got the impression that the man had needed help for mental problems but had been unable to get it. "If you're going to make some complaints, don't go with a gun on you," Bell said. "If you're that dissatisfied, move." Ferguson declined to say who fired first during the shootout but noted that investigators had recovered a gun near the man who was killed. One law enforcement source familiar with the officers' version of events said they reported they shot back after being fired upon, though a review of the body camera footage of the incident was pending. The officers who fired their weapons have been placed on desk duty, as is routine in such cases. Their names weren't released Friday. Ferguson said the probe into the mans death would be led by the NOPD's Force Investigation Team, a special unit set up under the Police Departments seven-year-old reform agreement with the federal government. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Detectives and crime scene technicians could be seen gathered around a Ford F-150 with shattered windows in the complex's parking lot, near a one-story office building. Surrounding the truck were at least a dozen evidence cones, which are typically used to mark spent bullet casings. Can't see video below? Click here. In addition to a large police presence, city and federal monitors who investigate New Orleans officers' uses of force were also on the scene. Under Louisiana law, the initial call that brought police to the apartment complex aggravated assault is defined as attempting or threatening battery with a dangerous weapon. Numerous people at the complex and in the surrounding neighborhood told reporters they were tired of the violence plaguing that section of New Orleans East. The resident who described hearing Friday's gun battle said a friend of his was shot in the same block of Parc Brittany a week earlier. There was also a shooting in March on nearby East Coronet Court. One man who was watching Friday's activity, Kenneth Vaiton, said he was worried about his daughter and granddaughter who live in the neighborhood. "This area has been bad for (a while) all kinds of mess," Vaiton said. "I was scared to come around." Friday's incident was at least the third deadly shooting by New Orleans police this year. Zonell Williams, 33, was killed after he reportedly fired a handgun at an officer in Treme on Jan. 4. Reginald Bursey, a 32-year-old robbery suspect, was shot dead after he fired at cops who tried to detain him in the Central Business District on Feb. 17. Bursey wounded two bystanders, and police firing at him accidentally injured three other civilians, investigators said. Those killings ended a nearly two-year period in which New Orleans police were not involved in any fatal shootings. Advocate staff writer Matt Sledge contributed to this report. Update, 9 p.m., May 17, 2019: The city's Independent Police Monitor issued a statement Friday evening that said it was still too early to draw conclusions about the fatal police shooting earlier in the day. The statement applauded Ferguson for not drawing any conclusions about the officers' actions while updating the public on what had occurred. The monitor noted the man killed was the fifth person to die during police activity this year the three shootings, including Friday's, as well as an attempted traffic stop in March that resulted in a car plowing into a Broadmoor beauty salon. Two teens were killed in the car that crashed into the salon, causing a fire. A salon patron died as a result of the blaze as well, and police opened a disciplinary investigation into several officers involved in the case that hasn't wrapped up yet. Additionally, the monitor's statement applauded police Friday for erecting body shields around the slain man to block the corpse from view a step that the monitor called "a hard fought change" from some incidents in the past. The statement didn't elaborate on that point. A popular late-night diner on the city's busiest tourist drag became the site of a grisly slaying early Thursday, when a man showed up at his former girlfriend's workplace, confronted her new boyfriend, then fired a shot that struck her in the face and killed her, according to New Orleans police. Alexander Kirby showed up at Clover Grill in the 900 block of Bourbon Street just after midnight on the hunt for his ex-girlfriend, Shay De St. Germain, and her boyfriend, a law enforcement source said. Kirby allegedly pulled a gun on the boyfriend in a back courtyard, sparking an argument that drew in De St. Germain. Eventually, Kirby fired a shot, and De St. Germain was struck in the face, the source said. Paramedics took her to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. It wasn't immediately known how many people were in Clover Grill at the time of the shooting. De St. Germain worked at the diner, according to management. Her boyfriend also worked there, according to the law enforcement source. Kirby fled, but state troopers and New Orleans police caught him nearby. He was booked on counts of second-degree murder and aggravated assault with a firearm after a witness to the shooting identified him as De St. Germain's killer, police said. The aggravated assault count relates to the allegation that he threatened the current boyfriend with a gun. Documents filed in Criminal District Court on Thursday do not mention the former relationship between Kirby and De St. Germain, both 33. But they do describe security camera footage that they say shows Kirby pulling out a gun and pointing it at two people "while approaching them menacingly." The victim who was slain stood between Kirby and the other person Kirby was confronting, the documents say. The gun discharged, and a bullet hit the victim in the head. Authorities didn't officially release the name of the victim, but multiple people confirmed her identity Thursday. Men kill women in Louisiana with alarming regularity. The states homicide rate for female victims is roughly 2.42 per 100,000 women more than double the national average of 1.20 and the second highest rate in the United States, a 2018 study from the Violence Policy Center reported. Kirby will be sentenced to mandatory life in prison if convicted of murder. His bail was set at $600,000 Thursday afternoon. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up A statement on Facebook from a manager for the company that owns Clover Grill called the incident a senseless and violent act. He described De St. Germain as a team member but did not say whether she was on duty at the diner at the time she was killed. She was full of life, headstrong, and truly cared for everyone she surrounded herself by, the statement added. Though the diner normally is open 24 hours, a sign on the window Thursday read: Clover Grill is temporarily closed, sorry for the inconvenience. Flowers were left under the sign. An attorney for Clover Grill told WWL-TV that the restaurant would remain closed "as long as necessary to put our employee and friend to rest. "This was a domestic dispute that went bad, said the attorney, Darleen Jacobs. Were all devastated. Photos on social media show Kirby and De St. Germain embracing each other in past years. She is the second woman this year to be shot to death on Bourbon Street. Louis Barnes, 37, was booked in late February in a shooting that left a 36-year-old nurse named Julie Couvillon dead. Couvillon was walking near Willies Chicken Shack in the 400 block of Bourbon when she was shot in her neck while Barnes and a security guard struggled over a pistol. The fight began as the guard tried to toss Barnes out of the restaurant, according to authorities. Barnes, through an attorney, has denied pulling the trigger of the guards gun. Prosecutors recently charged him with manslaughter, and the case remains pending. WWL-TV and Advocate staffers Jeff Nowak and Sophia Germer contributed reporting. China cannot plausibly retaliate against Donald Trump by the dumping of US Treasuries on a grand scale. Any attempt to do so would backfire via multiple channels. Chinese President Xi Jinping is feeling internal pressure to strike back harder against Donald Trump. Credit:AP To the extent that this action weakened the overvalued US dollar it would be doing the White House a favour. The Fed could respond with a blast of quantitative easing. This would blanket the Treasury market and prevent yields rising. Each spasm of Sino-US hostilities leads to a chorus of calls from Chinese nationalists for the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (Safe) to pull the plug on its $US1.12 trillion ($1.6 trillion trillion) holding of US debt. Such a move would supposedly deliver a financial shock and teach Donald Trump a lesson. Global Times editor Hu Xijin has been leading the charge this time. "Many Chinese scholars are discussing the possibility of dumping US Treasuries and how to do it specifically," he tweeted. If China runs down its $US3.1 trillion stash of foreign reserves it drains liquidity in the process and tightens -internal monetary policy ("sterilisation" is a hard trick to pull off). This would cause an even sharper economic slowdown and compound China's trade recession. Note that retail sales growth in April fell to the lowest since the SARS outbreak in 2003. Manufacturing investment contracted. The fiscal front-loading by local governments in the first quarter is largely exhausted. Buoyant property is the last pillar preventing a double dip in China. Beijing has to be careful. It is short of dollars. Need a reason to sell? There's plenty. Seduced by prospects for a big year, a lot of stock investors don't want to hear them. The ongoing trade spat has Wall Street on edge. Credit:AP While drops like Monday and Friday are getting common, just as notable has been the S&P 500's resilience. Consider the last two weeks, when five times the index has clawed back more than half of its overnight losses. Instead of bailing, traders are splurging on hedges. Volume in bearish puts is jumping. Trade war anxiety may be running high, but it's hard to see it in closing prints. Traders awoke with futures in the red every day this week only to watch them finish higher in all but two. Headlines roiled stocks globally but did little to chase US investors from what is still among the best starts since 1987. "No one wants to give in," said Matt Maley, equity strategist at Miller Tabak + Co LLC. "Can it be dangerous? Of course. The stock market isn't listening to anyone. There is a high risk that this technical bounce from oversold position will roll over." By Lee Gyu-lee Korean actor Song Kang-ho will receive the Excellence Award at Switzerland's 72nd Locarno Film Festival in August, the organizer said Thursday. Song, 52, one of Korea's most prolific actors, is the first Asian to win the international award. It recognizes the unique contribution made by internationally acclaimed actors or actresses to the film industry. Past recipients include John Malkovich, Edward Norton and Ethan Hawke. "Thus far the recipients have all been American or European, but for me it was important to open up this prize to Asian cinema," festival artistic director Lili Hinstin said. She described Song as the "peerless interpreter of the variety and intensity of emotions generated by Korean cinema," emphasizing the diversity of his work. Song will receive the award on August 12 in Locarno. He will also hold a panel discussion the next day. The actor debuted in 1996 with a minor role in the film "The Day a Pig Fell into the Well." He became internationally renowned after starring in the award-winning film "The Host" (2006). His latest movie "Parasite," directed by Bong Joon-ho, is set to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival next week. It is compulsory for all Australian citizens aged over 18 to vote in elections. If you dont vote, you will need to provide a "valid and sufficient" reason why, or pay a $20 penalty. People who are homeless will not be fined if they don't vote . They can remain on the electoral role and vote. Election Day is finally here. If you're not sure how to vote or where to go, we've got you covered. How do I vote? After youve ticked off your name at the polling place, you will receive two papers - a green ballot for the House of Representatives and a large white ballot for the Senate. Choices abound. Credit:Matt Golding On the green ballot paper, you need to put a "1" in the box beside the candidate who is your first choice, "2" in the box beside your second choice and so on, until you have numbered every box. You must number every box for your vote to count, and do not include any information on the ballot that will identify you. On the white ballot paper, if you are voting above the line, number at least six boxes for parties in the order of your choice. If you are voting below the line, number at least 12 boxes in the order of your choice. Labor has gone into polling day on track to achieve what some observers have called a symbolic "fifth win" for Bob Hawke following the death of the party's longest-serving prime minister. The final full day of the campaign was inevitably overshadowed by Mr Hawke's passing on Thursday, with both leaders taking time to honour his legacy and Labor leader Bill Shorten diverting his campaign from Brisbane to Sydney. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten paid tribute to Bob Hawke with a beer at the former PM's favourite pub. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen The mood was reflective but upbeat as tributes flowed from Australian and world leaders - though not without an element of controversy sparked by former prime minister Tony Abbott's comments on Mr Hawke's economic reforms. Mr Shorten visited Mr Hawke's widow, Blanche d'Alpuget, at her home before joining other Labor members and well-wishers to place a floral tribute outside the Sydney Opera House. Bill Shorten and Scott Morrison have played a 100,000 kilometre game of tag through the five-week election campaign, focusing their efforts on that third of voters living in pivotal marginal seats across the country. A breakdown of their travels since the election was called on April 11 reveals where both Labor and the Coalition believe they have chances to snatch seats from their opponents or have to protect a sitting MP. Scott Morrison started his last day of the campaign in Queensland, where his seeking to protect a string of marginal seats. Credit:ninevms The two leaders visited 75 of the nation's 151 electorates. Of those, 56 got a visit from both. These included Solomon in the Northern Territory, Lindsay and Reid in Sydney, Boothby in South Australia, Braddon in Tasmania and Corangamite on Victoria's surf coast. She has collaborated with everyone from the late Karl Lagerfeld to Diane Von Furstenberg, but the winner of a prestigious Council of Fashion Designers of America award this year isn't a designer, or even a photographer. It's a doll. That's right, the US' most influential fashion body is honouring Barbie, the 60-year-old iconic doll, with its Board of Directors Tribute award in June. Barbie is receiving the Council of Fashion Designers of America Board of Directors Tribute Award. Credit:AP In a statement released overnight, the council said Barbie was being honoured "to celebrate her influence on American fashion and her role as an inspiring icon around the world". Previous recipients of the award include former US first lady Michelle Obama, Gloria Steinem and Janelle Monae. So, naturally, some people are questioning whether Barbie deserves to be in the company of so many great women. 8/72 Senator Penny Wong, Chloe Shorten and Tanya Plibersek place their hands over their hearts during a welcome to country by Darug elder Uncle Greg Simms and Jie Pittman, during the NSW Vote for Change rally at Bowman Hall, the same place where Gough Whitlam delivered his policy speech during the 1972 election campaign, in Blacktown, NSW, on Thursday 16 May 2019. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Two of the state's most reviled killers, Adrian Ernest Bayley and Steven James Hunter, have exchanged blows in Victoria's maximum-security Barwon Prison. The pair is understood to have broken out into a fight on Friday last week, briefly landing Hunter in hospital. Adrian Bayley is behind bars for the rape and murder of Jill Meagher. It's believed the 53-year-old who is behind the stabbing murders of two young women was treated for a minor head injury but was returned to his prison cell near Geelong the same day. Bayley, 47, was treated for minor injuries. Senior police are among the worst offenders for harassing and menacing LGBTI officers, with slurs such as "faggot" common in police stations, and officers receiving threats of violence from their colleagues. A scathing report into Victoria Police's culture found the force still tolerates a "culture of hypermasculinity" that fuels aggressive remarks and sexual harassment. The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission report, commissioned by Victoria Police and to be released on Friday, revealed incidents reported by LGBTI officers that show a pattern of overt homophobia. One LGBTI police officer said a fellow officer told him, "All gays should be gassed in the chamber like the Nazis," and another said, "they should be taken out the back of the station and shot in the head". A gay senior constable said a high-ranking sergeant pulled him aside on a night shift to tell him he could not work with a "poofter", while another officer said they were "ridiculed, harassed and mocked every shift". Jiawei Shen is one of Australia's most renowned portrait artists, a 14-time Archibald Prize finalist and a teacher to many. He has painted John Howard, Peter Cosgrove and Bronwyn Bishop. But he will always call himself Bob Hawke's student. The 71-year-old was among the tens of thousands of Chinese students granted asylum in Australia by the former Labor prime minister after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. Jiawei Shen went on to become one of Australia's most celebrated portrait artists after being granted asylum. Credit:Janie Barrett That decision - an act of leadership taken without consulting cabinet - has become a central part of Mr Hawke's legacy, and one that was remembered with great fondness by Australia's Chinese community in the immediate aftermath of his death. "Mr Hawke was a great friend of Chinese people," Shen says at his Bundeena home on Friday. "He had a vision. The normal politicians, they see only the voting [but] he very much cared about the world, including Australia's future." Now the former prime minister, an arch-conservative, former boxer, moral crusader, committed Catholic and gifted campaigner, the man who has been a fateful force in Australian public life for nearly three decades, faces what he calls "the fight of my life" to hold onto the seat. Loading Abbott has faced many foes in his political life, which started well before he entered Parliament in 1994 aged 37. But none has been quite like independent Zali Steggall, a former Olympic skier turned barrister who is campaigning on a platform of climate change action. His rhetoric is robust, hers is measured. He is passionate, she is calm. She positions herself as the future, Abbott stands on his record. Despite her opponents' attempts to paint Steggall as a puppet for GetUp, the Greens and/or Labor, Steggall is the preferred candidate of a genuine groundswell of grassroots activism in Warringah. Loading Several local groups, such as Vote Tony Out and North Shore Environmental Stewards, had been active in the electorate well before Steggall decided to run. They reject their local MP's stance on climate action, his social conservatism and what they say is his wrecking of the Liberal Party. Steggall enjoys the support of this loose coalition and the tacit support of progressive activist group GetUp, which recommends voting for her or fellow independent Susan Moylan Coombs. Abbott and his campaign assert Steggall has GetUp's backing. She says she has no formal or financial links with the group, which sent 600 orange-shirted volunteers into the electorate for the campaign. Meanwhile, Advance Australia has campaigned strongly against Stegall. One of the men behind the conservative activist group is former ABC chairman Maurice Newman, who worked for Abbott during his prime ministership, but Abbott's campaign says it is unconnected to Advance Australia. While Steggall's campaign has garnered maximum publicity, much of it favourable, Abbott's team has run a tightly controlled local campaign with little formal contact with major media outlets. In predicting a result in Warringah, there is the data and there is the mood, which seems split down the middle, with strong views on both sides. Of the data, we have little that is reliable - a recent GetUp poll of 805 voters had Abbott trailing Steggall 44-56 per cent. An Advance Australia poll had Steggall leading Abbott 51-49. A recent unsourced newspaper report said internal Liberal polling had the candidates locked at 50-50. An earlier report of internal Liberal polling said it was "diabolical" for Abbott. If Abbott does lose his seat on Saturday, it will mark the end of an era in Australian politics. He is one of a handful of extraordinary personalities who has shaped our politics over a generation, with his impact being felt most deeply in the last tumultuous decade. Abbott would probably stage a comeback, but nonetheless Steggall would become a dragon-slayer. She might be seen as emblematic of a new kind of consensus-driven independent who harnesses the forces of progressivism and community backlash to upset the status quo. If Abbott wins, his mission is clear. He has always been on a mission, since first winning the presidency of the Sydney University student body in 1978. The watchdog that oversees Queensland's corruption watchdog wants the power to turn up unannounced to conduct inspections. Parliamentary Crime and Corruption Commissioner Karen Carmody said current laws meant she had to give the Crime and Corruption Commission "reasonable notice" of an inspection. Queensland Parliamentary Crime and Corruption Commissioner Karen Carmody spoke at a hearing at the Queensland Parliament on Friday morning. Credit:Robert Rough "It's like saying, I've got a search warrant and I'm coming next week," she said. "That gives the party a week to hide whatever they might want to hide in terms of drugs. Pianist Sunwoo Yekwon plays Schumann's "Fantasie in C Major, Op.17" during a press conference in Seoul, Monday. Sunwoo is giving recitals across the nation until June 1. Courtesy of MOC Production By Anna J. Park Sunwoo Yekwon, 30, is currently on a nationwide tour with piano recitals focusing on the repertoires of the Schumanns Clara and Robert and Brahms. These recitals are his first national tour, with a collection of compositions the pianist has carefully chosen himself, since he won the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2017. "I personally felt really close to works by the Schummans and Brahms. Also, this year marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Clara Schumann. The three close musicians musically influenced one another, giving birth to incredibly precious music. On this tour, I play works mainly by these three composers," said Sunwoo, during a press conference in Seoul, Monday. Under the title of "My Clara," his selection of compositions includes Clara Schumann's "Notturno in F Major, Op.6-2," Robert Schumann's "Fantasie in C Major, Op.17," and Brahms' "Piano Sonata No.3 in F Minor, Op.5." Sunwoo explained the pieces have a wide range of emotional reach. "The selection could be a little difficult for the general public; even classical music enthusiasts might have difficulty understanding. Yet, I really hope the audience members can fill their hearts filled with happiness. For those who are weary in life or who live with empty hearts, I hope this music can console them," he said. The pianist added he personally loves every piece that he'll be performing. "I love them all. They are all musically superb pieces and they touch on deep human emotions." Pianist Sunwoo Yekwon plays Schumann's "Fantasie in C Major, Op.17" during a press conference in Seoul, Monday. He is currently giving recitals across the nation until June 1, focusing on the repertoires of Clara and Robert Schumman and Brahms. Courtesy of MOC Production Over the years Ive used various combinations of voice recording and note taking apps to quickly capture a conversation and convert it into an article. For years I stuck with iPad app Notability and particularly liked the way the app would timestamp whatever I scribbled to the audio recording, allowing me to easily find a moment of audio by scanning over my notes. Later versions of Microsofts OneNote can perform the same trick. But as voice assistants became better, I felt it was time to try an artificial intelligence transcription service. A friendly rival journalist suggested Trint, so I used the service for a few months, and around twenty interviews. Trints transcripts look similar to a Google Doc, with the current word playing back highlighted. You can jump in at any moment in the transcription and hit play, and follow along from there. Trint is inexpensive, and can be purchased on a monthly plan or as prepay for a few hours of uploads. Otter offers a very generous free version of its transcription service. But Trint had a few too many failings. The mobile app was terrible, both in usability and reliability. After a few failed recordings I stopped trusting the app and would instead use the built in voice recorder on my phone and import later. Half the time, these recordings wouldnt appear in the app for days, for no reason at all, even when they were available on the web. But most annoying, while Trint had better than expected accuracy transcribing American voices, it had no idea what I was saying most of the time. After trying Trints main competitors, I settled with Otter. Otters web interface is clean and friendly, and splits the conversation between speakers. The software is good, not great, at separating voices, so if you mark a chunk of text as yourself its easy to see where you were speaking. My favourite feature shows the main keywords at the top of the page, so you can click the word budget and find every time it was said, or simply glance at the keywords as a refresher on the conversation. New York: I M Pei, the versatile, globetrotting architect who revived the Louvre with a giant glass pyramid and captured the spirit of rebellion at the multi-shaped Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, has died at age 102. His buildings added elegance to landscapes worldwide with their powerful geometric shapes and grand spaces. Among them are the striking steel and glass Bank of China skyscraper in Hong Kong and the Fragrant Hill Hotel near Beijing. I M Pei designed the controversial faceted glass pyramid of the Louvre museum in Paris. Credit:AP His work spanned decades, starting in the late 1940s and continuing through the new millennium. Pei painstakingly researched each project, studying its use and relating it to the environment. But he also was interested in architecture as art - and the effect he could create. Washington: Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested on Thursday that House Democrats could always open an impeachment inquiry to pry free documents and testimony from stonewalling Trump administration officials. US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Credit:Bloomberg The move would represent a sharp response to the White House's blanket claim that House requests served no "legitimate" legislative purpose. "The courts would respect it if you said we need this information to carry out our oversight responsibilities - and among them is impeachment," Pelosi said during her weekly news conference at the Capitol. "It doesn't mean you're going on an impeachment path, but it means if you had the information you might," Pelosi said. "It's about impeachment as a purpose." "To the bill's many supporters this legislation stands as a powerful testament to Alabamians' deeply held belief that every life is precious and that every life is a sacred gift from God," Alabama Governor Kay Ivey said in a statement on Thursday. Pro-life activists hailed the move as a "landmark victory" in the fight against abortion. The pro-choice movement decried it as a "dangerous and demeaning" step. Alabama's new law classifies abortion as a more serious crime than incest or first-degree sexual abuse. But while Alabama's laws may be the country's most radical, abortion rights are currently being rolled back in Republican-voting states across the United States. It's happening at a frenzied pace. On Friday, the day after Alabama's law was approved, the Missouri state senate passed a bill banning abortions after eight weeks except in the case of a medical emergency. The previous week, Georgia's governor signed a bill into law banning abortions after a foetal heartbeat can be detected (usually at around six weeks). Mississippi, Kentucky and Ohio have also passed similar "heartbeat bills" this year, and other states are moving to legislate their own versions. These laws clearly conflict with the standard established by the US Supreme Court in its 1973 Roe v Wade decision, which ruled that states could only restrict abortion after foetal viability (around 24 to 28 weeks). And that's entirely the point. A pro-life activist holds a sign in front of the US Supreme Court as he participates in the annual March for Life event. Credit:AP Rather than reducing the number of abortions in their own states, the Republican legislators' main goal is to tempt the the Supreme Court into overturning Roe v Wade. They have been frank about their ambitions. This bill is about challenging Roe v Wade and protecting the lives of the unborn because an unborn baby is a person who deserves love and protection, Terri Collins, who sponsored Alabama's anti-abortion bill, said this week. State representative Terri Collins during the abortion debate in Alabama. Credit:AP Until recently there was no point in attempting this. Five of the Supreme Court's justices were committed to upholding Roe v Wade, including Anthony Kennedy, a Republican appointee who turned out to be a strong defender of abortion rights. But Kennedy retired last year and in October was replaced by US President Donald Trump's nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Both pro-choice and pro-life activists expect him to take a more conservative stance on abortion than his predecessor. David French, a columnist at the conservative National Review magazine, says Republicans feel emboldened by Kavanaugh's elevation to the Supreme Court and have decided to "go for broke" on abortion. "We are witnessing the beginnings of an anti-abortion legislative revolution in Red America," French wrote this week. "Two generations of pro-life activism, persuasion, and argument have yielded pro-life supermajorities in state houses across much of the South and Midwest, and they recognise the fact that we have reached a moment of legal possibility we may never attain again - perhaps not for generations." Brett Kavanaugh's appointment to the Supreme Court has transformed the politics of abortion in the US. Credit:Andrew Harrer 'A culture of death' Of all the reasons Donald Trump seemed such an unlikely Republican presidential nominee in 2016, his record on abortion was high on the list. In the late 1990s Trump described himself as "very pro-choice", but in the primaries he ran as a fierce opponent of both abortion and Roe v Wade. Loading "Over time, our culture of life in this country has started sliding toward a culture of death," Trump said in a Facebook post explaining his change of mind. "The Supreme Court in 1973 based their decision on imagining rights and liberties in the Constitution that are nowhere to be found." White evangelicals - who view overturning Roe v Wade as a top priority - were crucial to Trump's election victory and he has continued to court them in the White House. In 2018 he became the first sitting President to speak at the March for Life rally, an anti-abortion protest that has been held every year in Washington since 1974. And given the importance of evangelicals to his voting coalition, Trump's aversion to Roe v Wade makes perfect political sense. A more surprising critic of Roe v Wade is Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a proud feminist and abortion rights supporter. Ruth Bader Ginsburg: a renowned progressive who is critical of Roe v Wade. Credit:AP In a 2013 discussion at the University of Chicago, Bader Ginsburg said she believes the decision "ventured too far in the change it ordered and presented an incomplete justification for its action". She added: "My criticism of Roe is that it seemed to have stopped the momentum on the side of change." On this analysis, the desire to overturn Roe v Wade has been a huge animating force in the conservative movement for almost 50 years, and the prospect of securing a conservative Supreme Court majority to overturn that decision has motivated conservatives to vote en masse and become political activists. Progressives, by contrast, have been lulled into inactivity and a relative sense of complacency by the fact that abortion rights have been protected by the nation's most powerful court. The danger of backfiring Donald Trump with Reverend Pat Robertson. Credit:AP The main reason Pat Robertson is concerned about Alabama's "extreme" new abortion laws is not their effect on pregnant women. It is that they may be too radical to achieve their ultimate goal and could even backfire on conservatives. "They want to challenge Roe v Wade, but my humble view is I dont think thats the case Id want to bring to the Supreme Court, because I think this one will lose," he said. Loading Although the Supreme Court now has a 5-4 conservative majority, close observers have expected the court to chip away at Roe v Wade in increments rather than scrap it holus-bolus. Chief Justice John Roberts is an institutionalist who has indicated he does not want the court to be viewed as overtly political. If lower courts block Alabama's abortion law, as is expected, the Supreme Court may well choose not to take up the case. Roberts also knows that eliminating the protections guaranteed by Roe v Wade would be extremely unpopular with the American public. Apply Now for the 2019 Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence; $1 Million in Prizes to be Awarded to Top Public High School Skilled Trades Teachers, Programs CALABASAS, Calif. May 16, 2019; Apply now for the 2019 Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence, which will award cash prizes totaling $1 million to 18 of America's best public high school skilled trades teachers or teacher teams and their programs. Teachers and teacher teams can apply at HERE through June 17. The Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence was started in 2017 by Harbor Freight Tools Founder Eric Smidt. The prize recognizes outstanding instruction in the skilled trades in U.S. public high schools and the valuable work of teachers who inspire students to learn a trade that prepares them for life after graduation. "I have a special place in my heart for skilled trades teachers, especially those who teach in high school," Smidt said. "It is an honor to be able to recognize these unsung heroes each year and support them and their skilled trades programs that are so important to our country's future." The 2019 prize will award more than $1 million to 18 public high school skilled trades teachers or teacher teams and their programs. Three first-place winners will each receive $100,000, with $70,000 going to their high school skilled trades program and $30,000 directly to the individual skilled trades teacher or teacher team. Fifteen second-place winners will each win $50,000, with $35,000 going to the high school program and $15,000 to the teacher/team. Teachers whose school, district or state policy prohibits receipt of the individual portion of prize earnings are eligible to apply on behalf of their school's skilled trades program. More than 1,200 teachers from 49 states applied in the first two years of the prize, and more than 100 teachers have been recognized as winners or semi-finalists. Their winnings have supported programs that serve more than 11,000 students. Previous applicants have taught a variety of skilled trades including automotive technology, welding, carpentry, agriculture mechanics, advanced manufacturing, plumbing and HVAC repair. Previous winners have helped their students build mobility scooters for the elderly, operate a full-service, licensed auto repair facility that serves customers, and design, construct and sell a home. "These teachers excel not only at teaching trades, but also at building confidence, nurturing soft skills and laying the foundation for their students to pursue their passions," said Danny Corwin, executive director of Harbor Freight Tools for Schools. "We want to shine a spotlight on their essential contribution to students and to our country." The application process and the prize are designed to give teachers access to ideas and practices through a network of likeminded exceptional educators and leaders. Applicants are asked to review and respond to a series of online expert-led video learning modules. "The impact on our program is life-changing since we only get $500 to $1,000 a year for our budget," said Gerald "Dave" Huffman, a construction technology teacher at Gulfport High School in Gulfport, Mississippi, who was a winner of the 2017 prize. "This is an opportunity to invest for our future." There will be three rounds of judging, each scored by independent panels of reviewers. Applicants ranking in the top 50 will be announced on July 17. They will advance to a semi-finalist round and will be asked to complete a second set of learning modules. The semifinalists will then be narrowed to the top 18. Three first-place and 15 second-place winners will be announced on Oct. 24. Harbor Freight Tools for Schools does not determine the semifinalists or winners. For updates on the prize, follow Harbor Freight Tools for Schools on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. About Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Harbor Freight Tools for Schools is a program of The Smidt Foundation, established by Harbor Freight Tools Founder Eric Smidt, to support the advancement of skilled trades education in America. With a deep respect for the dignity of these fields and for the intelligence and creativity of people who work with their hands, this program was created to foster and shine a light on excellence in skilled trades education in public high schools. Believing that access to quality skilled trades education gives high school students pathways to graduation, opportunity, good jobs and a workforce our country needs, Harbor Freight Tools for Schools aims to stimulate greater understanding, support and investment by public entities and others in skilled trades education. Harbor Freight Tools is a major supporter of the Harbor Freight Tools for Schools program. For more information, visit harborfreighttoolsforschools.org/ HyLifes pending transition to a wholly foreign-owned entity proved to be a cause for concern around the La Broquerie council table last week, though the companys co-founder says the business remains committed to the community where it began. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/5/2019 (954 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. HyLifes pending transition to a wholly foreign-owned entity proved to be a cause for concern around the La Broquerie council table last week, though the companys co-founder says the business remains committed to the community where it began. At a meeting last Wednesday, several La Broquerie councillors offered up their thoughts on what the sale of a controlling stake in HyLife could mean for La Broquerie. HyLife announced last month that Charoen Pokphand Foods, an agri-food conglomerate headquartered in Thailand, was acquiring 50.1 percent of company shares. The deal, worth an estimated $498 million, is expected to close this fall, at which time HyLife co-founders Claude Vielfaure, Denis Vielfaure, and Don Janzen will retire. CEO Grant Lazaruk will become the companys new president. "I just hope it doesnt affect our municipality," Councillor Larry Tetrault said. "Im a bit worried about it." Tetrault allowed further growth was also possible. "It can also be positiveit could help our region too." Councillor Paul Gauthier started to share what hed heard since the sale was announced, but stopped himself abruptly, saying he wouldnt elaborate while a reporter was present. In a phone interview Monday, HyLife president Claude Vielfaure reiterated his view that the deal means "business as usual" for the companys local operations. Vielfaure also noted the companys "close relationship" with La Broquerie councils over the past 25 years. Stay informed The latest updates on the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 delivered to your inbox every weeknight. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. "For the municipality of La Broquerie, we still have created lots of jobs. Our barn facilities are going to stay there." A need for more office space at its La Broquerie headquarters is, however, prompting the company to look around the Southeast, Vielfaure said. "Weve grown so much over the years. I think weve added on to our office five times in La Broquerie, and now were renting a whole bunch of space outside of our office area for employees. So were looking at all our options." The company could expand in La Broquerie again, or purchase and renovate a building in "the Steinbach area," or build new, Vielfaure said. "We want to expand our office and well make the best business decision to do that." "No decisions been made one way or the other." By Park Hyong-ki Shinhan Card and Hancom have forged strategic ties to pursue smart city projects in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, the bank said Friday. The two will also collaborate on developing new digital businesses in the region using blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. This comes as they look for new opportunities abroad, with Hancom trying to be more than just a developer of the Korean word processing program. Lately, Hancom has been getting into cloud computing and pursuing acquisitions for new business. Hancom said: "The company will engage in strategic M&A and promotion of in-house ventures, as well as cooperation with the academic community to identify new engines of growth." "We will collaborate in various digital areas for new growth," a Shinhan Bank spokesman said. Shinhan Bank and Hancom will also conduct joint research and development of AI-based voice recognition and seek opportunities in mobility, or smart transportation. These will be an essential part of future smart city projects in Southeast Asia, the bank said. The two companies said they will be able to generate synergy in AI as Shinhan Bank has developed a chatbot that enables it to provide financial consultations in accordance with customers' needs via its SOL platform. Meanwhile, Hancom said it has developed a voice-recognition application that can be converged with Shinhan's digital banking services. By Kwak Yeon-soo Korean companies' global competitiveness is dwindling amid the economic slowdown. According to Forbes, a U.S. bi-weekly business magazine, only 62 Korean firms, including Samsung Electronics, made it onto its 2019 Global 2000 list of the world's biggest public companies, down from the previous year's 67. The rankings of most Korean firms have also fallen sharply. The setback reflects industry headwinds, such as declines in facility investment, consumption and exports in recent months, in contrast to President Moon Jae-in's optimistic view of the economy. The Global 2000 list is ranked according to a composite score from equally weighted measures of revenue, profits, assets and market value. The results reveal major trends shaping the global economy this year. The U.S. and China were two of only three countries that have added companies to the Global 2000 since last year. The U.S. now has 575 companies on the list, up 16 from 559 last year. China recorded 18 additions this year, to 309 companies. By companies, Samsung Electronics was 13th this year, from 14th in 2018. SK hynix ranked 179th, up 21 spots from last year. Other local firms tumbled in the rankings Hyundai Motor ranked 225th this year from 147th last year and KB Financial Group fell 57 spots to 276. POSCO dropped from 228 to 323, while LG Electronics fell from 411th spot to 502nd. In the wake of family scandals, Korean Air tumbled 358 spots, from 1088 to 1446. "Compared with China, Korea is falling short on making the list of unicorns [startups valued at over $1 billion]," an industry analyst, who asked not to be named, said. "Only one startup became a unicorn company in the first quarter of this year." According to authorities, shortly after 11 p.m., officers were dispatched to a home in the 400 block of Glade Street. Police said a man entered a home, threatened the occupants with a gun, took property and ran. Officers conducted a search of the area and did not locate the man, but they found the stolen property, which was returned to the owners. Were looking at our near-peer competitors, Russia and China, and how they are organizing. Theyre already looking at these optionally manned, remotely manned vehicles. Weve got to do the same thing. Army Col. Warren Sponsler, deputy director of the Next Generation Cross-Functional Team, said robotic combat vehicles will augment our current combat formations with a capability that will help reduce risk to soldiers. From our perspective, there are a lot of dirty and dangerous things that our soldiers do on the battlefield, he said. We certainly have a long way to go to be able to replace some of those functions that manned platforms or individual soldiers do today but we are strong believers that this is going to be a revolutionary change to what our units do. To participate in the demonstration, the vehicles needed to be able to travel over cross-country terrain, off-road and on paved roads at speeds of between 15 and 75 miles per hour, carrying a load of 1,000 pounds. The vehicles also needed to be capable of non-line-of-sight operation in myriad weather conditions and at a distance of more than 500 meters from the operator station. According to College Station police, the guardian of two brothers, ages 7 and 4, contacted authorities Feb. 19. The boys said on Feb. 3, Bradley Dean Smith, 32, had hurt them while they were at his home to watch the Super Bowl. Smith is accused of punching the 4-year-old in the stomach, then grabbing the older boy and throwing him to the ground before hitting his chest. The boys said they were afraid to come forward but did so after Smiths arrest on unrelated charges. Smith was indicted on two charges of injury to a child with intent to do bodily injury, a third-degree felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines. He remains in the Brazos County Jail on $31,000 bond. According to College Station police, around 11 p.m. on Feb. 1, first responders were dispatched to an apartment complex on Redmond Drive on a report of a possible robbery. When authorities had arrived, they were told a stabbing victim had been taken to the College Station Medical Center. For the Harmony Aeronautics team behind the flying vehicle Aria, which is currently part of the Boeing GoFly competition, the New Ventures competition offered a taste of what the future may hold as they move forward with their product. Its giving us a lot of experience, and its a great sort of relaxed atmosphere, Harmony team member Carl Runco said. We can essentially practice fielding all the questions investors will eventually ask and get a feel for what people are expecting us to be able to answer. It also allows the team to make connections that could be useful in the future as they try to go beyond the GoFly competition, team member Farid Saemi said. Even if these people cant directly help us, they might know someone who can help us. Just expanding that network to a friend of a friend is good, Runco added. It is that collaborative atmosphere that Rick Morris with sixth-place finalist company GaitIQ likes to see. This thing here is all about collaboration and networking and that sort of stuff. Its much more comfortable, he said. If I went to this thing in Silicon Valley, everybody would be like, Im going to get it, and youre not. Alaska Man Assaulted Unconscious Woman in Police Station Out of Boredom, Officials Say An Alaska man was arrested after he was caught sexually assaulting an unconscious woman inside a police statement. Devan Thomas Gage, 25, was arrested on May 13 at the Fairbank Police Department station after a dispatcher told officers that cameras caught the assault in the station, police said in a statement. Investigation into the incident revealed that at approximately 3:56 a.m., a male and female entered the lobby of the Fairbanks Police Department and, after slipping a lost debit card under the closed front-desk window, left the lobby and sat down in the vestibule to warm up, the statement said. The female then slumped over after passing out before Gage assaulted her, police added. After the assault, a dispatcher became aware of the assault after viewing the surveillance system. She quickly alerted the two officers that were in the building and the two officers responded immediately to the vestibule and pulled the male off the female. The female victim began to wake up and was very confused as to what was happening, Fairkbanks Police said. The victims level of impairment precluded her from providing consent for sexual contact, and the victim was transported by ambulance to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital for medical care. According to a criminal complaint obtained by the Fairbanks News-Miner, Gage said he assaulted the female really just out of boredom and admitted it was a mistake. Gage told police that he was sober and was hanging out with the woman all night. Police discovered vodka in his pocket, the report said. The woman had a 0.300 breath-alcohol content, and Gage had a breath-alcohol content of 0.000. The department also issued an alert. Sexual assault is a serious problem throughout Alaska, and the City of Fairbanks administration and the Fairbanks Police Department take all cases of sexual assault very seriously. While in this case officers were able to stop the sexual assault from continuing and arrest the perpetrator, it is very disturbing that it occurred at all. A victim advocate was arranged to provide further assistance to the victim, police wrote. A man in Fairbanks has been arrested and charged with three counts of sexual assault after he allegedly assaulted a woman in the vestibule of the Fairbanks Police Department after the two turned in a lost debit card.https://t.co/yl6kiM3n0E KTUU.com (@Ch2KTUU) May 14, 2019 Facts About Crime in the United States Violent crime in the United States has fallen sharply over the past 25 years, according to both the FBIs Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) and the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). The rate of violent crimes fell by 49 percent between 1993 and 2017, according to the FBIs UCR, which only reflects crimes reported to the police. The violent crime rate dropped by 74 percent between 1993 and 2017, according to the BJSs NCVS, which takes into account both crimes that have been reported to the police and those that have not. From 1993 to 2017, the rate of violent victimization declined 74 percent, from 79.8 to 20.6 victimizations per 1,000 persons age 12 or older, the U.S. Department of Justice stated. Both studies are based on data up to and including 2017, the most recent year for which complete figures are available. The FBI recently released preliminary data for 2018. According to the Preliminary Semiannual Uniform Crime Report, January to June 2018, violent crime rates in the United States dropped by 4.3 percent compared to the same six-month period in 2017. Traders and financial professionals work ahead of the closing bell on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City on May 13, 2019. Big US Hedge Funds Regain Ardor for FAANGs in First Quarter: Filings Some of the biggest, highest-profile U.S. hedge fund investors and money managers fell back in love with FAANGs in the first quarter, according to regulatory filings released this week After dumping shares of Facebook Inc., Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Netflix Inc., and Alphabet Inc.the FAANG componentsprominent hedge fund managers including Tiger Global Management LLC. have moved back into the popular group. Tiger, managed by Chase Coleman, boosted its Facebook stake by 64.5% to 8.8 million class A shares during the first quarter, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It increased its stake in streaming company Netflix by 42.8% to 2.1 million shares. Soros Fund Management LLC opened a new stake in Netflix, holding 50,000 shares, at the end of March. T. Rowe Price also added Facebook shares during the first quarter, increasing its stake by 19% to 107.9 million shares, as of the end of the first quarter. Netflix shares gained 2.7% to close at $354.99 and Facebook gained 3.1% to close at $186.27. FAANGs return to vogue in 2019 has mostly outpaced the broader markets recovery, with Netflix surging 33% year to date, despite slowing user expansion and the threat of Walt Disney Co.s upcoming video streaming service. Facebook has surged more than 40% in 2019 as investors bet that regulatory threats and calls to break up the worlds largest social network will not endanger its meteoric growth in ad sales. High-flying FAANG stocks came back to earth late last year amid fears that a decade-old bull market was fading. Facebooks stock price has been hammered on the back of recent controversies, making what was already a very attractive return outlook for the stock even brighter, Paul Greene, portfolio manager of the T. Rowe Price Communications & Technology Fund and Facebook analyst for the firm, wrote at the end of 2018. In my view, all the worries surrounding Facebook have been more than discounted in the stock, and we have been eagerly adding to our position. Quarterly disclosures of hedge fund managers stock holdings in 13F filings with the SEC are one of a few public ways of tracking what the managers are buying and selling. But the disclosures are made 45 days after the end of each quarter and may not reflect current positions. Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said it owned $860.6 million of Amazon shares at the end of March after the billionaire earlier this month admitted to having underestimated the online retailer and its chief executive, Jeff Bezos. Buffett, who told CNBC in early May that Berkshire had bought Amazon shares for the first time, detailed the stake in the 13F filing, revealing that Berkshire took a stake in the first quarter totaling 483,300 shares. Buffett had told CNBC that the Amazon investment was made by one of his portfolio managers, Todd Combs or Ted Weschler, and said he had been an idiot for not investing in Amazon himself. Amazon shares on March 29, the last trading day of that month, closed at $1,780.85. By Jennifer Ablan & Noel Randewich Back in 2005, in southern Afghanistan, I was a mission commander for a group of special operators and host nation soldiers who were going deep into the Uruzgan Province. The deeper we flew into Taliban sanctuary, the tighter the knot in my stomach grew as the pilots called off phase lines into my headset. That knot grew until they called off the mission decision line (MDL). In special operations, the MDL is an easily recognizable line on the ground, and on your map, that tells everyone involved with the mission that once youve crossed it, theres no turning back. Its the point of no return. No matter what happens, youre going forward with the mission. When we crossed that line, I felt a sense of relief. Doesnt that sound crazy. I sure thought so. So much so, that I looked around inside the chopper to see what my guys were feeling. You know what I saw? Teeth! Operators grinning from ear to ear. They were starting to lean into the mission set. You could see the tension melting away. Why? I think its because all other options were gone. We were singularly focused on the target at hand. Whatever waited for us up in those mountains, we were going forward to meet it together. We had trained for this, we had prepared for this, and there was a high level of energy around that. I believe this applies to your life, here at home. Whether you are military or civilian, we have too many choices these days. We have inundated ourselves in this society with so many choices, so many safety nets, for our kids and for ourselves, that there is no struggle; there is no risk in pursuing the things that light our fire. As a result of that, weve become too pasty, staying right in the middle of the road, in the bleachers, outside the arena. When we have too many choices in life; we dont commit to the things that are in front of us; we dont commit to the things that are on our heart. Creating all of these safety-net choices slowly erodes the confidence that our people have in us. When you think about your goals, dont look for plan B and plan C; dont look for the safety net. Go for it. Focus on plan A. Weve allowed contingency planning to supersede the primary planning, and as a result of that, we dont fully commit to things in mind, body, and spirit. High performers dont start with the contingency plan in mind. You make a plan, and bring everybody into it, involve them it, establish the common direction and vision. Then you set your MDL, a line in time or space that says, When we cross this, theres no turning back. And then you execute it relentlessly and learn from your failures. I think if more people used this approach, we would find that it creates more psychological safety for the people we lead, for the clients who buy from us, for the investors deciding whether or not they should take a chance on us, the donors trying to decide on putting money toward your nonprofit, or for the people you serve with that nonprofit who have entrusted their needs to you. All those elements require psychological safety. Your kids wont follow your guidance without it. If youre not singularly committed to the thing youre doing, then how will others find safety in what youre proposing? People respect those who establish an MDL, cross it, and dont look back. Thats who we follow; thats whos relatable; thats whos relevant; thats who owns the room. Gather your team. Take a look at your life and your business. Ask yourselves, Is there something on our horizon that we want to pursue? Could we establish a mission decision line between where we are now and where we want to go? Then, act! Agree with all your heart that when you cross it, theres no turning back. No plan B. Its all in. Thats the power of the MDL. Put it to work in your life and youll find that people follow you up the ladder, not because they have to but because they choose to. Scott Mann is a former Green Beret who specialized in unconventional, high-impact missions and relationship building. He is the founder of Rooftop Leadership and appears frequently on TV and many syndicated radio programs. For more information, visit RooftopLeadership.com Adan Lopez-Perez, is seen in a booking photo following his arrest after DNA evidence linked him to sexual assaults in the 1990s. (Maricopa County Sheriff's Office) Detectives Use DNA to Arrest Illegal Alien In 1997 Cold-Case Sexual Assaults Police in Arizona have announced the arrest of an illegal immigrant accused of committing two sexual assaults in 1997. The Chandler Police Department said in a statement cited by AZ Central that a DNA sample taken around the time of the crime was successfully matched decades later in April 2019 with DNA recently collected from 43-year-old Adan Lopez-Perez. Lopez-Perez was required to submit a DNA sample as part of an investigation into his alleged illegal entry into the United States. He was in federal custody when the sample was collected. According to AZFamily, Lopez-Perez was arrested on April 8 for his alleged involvement in the crimes. He was booked into Maricopa County Jail on five counts of sexual assault, two counts of sexual abuse, three counts of aggravated assault, two counts of kidnapping, and one count of burglary. The Crimes Police said Lopez-Perez lived in Chandler when the sexual assaults took place. In one incident, a male suspect sexually assaulted a 22-year-old woman in September 1997 in a local park. Ten days later, a male suspect sexually assaulted an 18-year-old woman inside her Chandler home, according to 12News. Detectives collected DNA samples at both crime scenes, but it took five years for the two assaults to be linked to the same suspect. But well over a decade would pass until Lopez-Pereza Mexican national said by investigators to be in the United States illegallywould be connected to the crimes. Detective Seth Tyler was cited by Arizonas Family as saying that Lopez-Perez had nearly been released by the time detectives identified him as the suspect in the decades-old assaults. My understanding is he had been incarcerated for a couple months. I was told when our department was notified, he was four days away from being released, Tyler told the publication. Our detectives actually worked around the clock, he said. The time, the clock.its ticking, because theres a time where this individual could be released and wed have to start the process all over again. According to AZ Central, citing court documents, Lopez-Perez was extradited to Maricopa County after he was released from federal prison. Court paperwork cited in the report indicates a grand jury warrant asked for a $250,000 cash bond and electronic monitoring for the suspect. Crime in the United States Violent crime in the United States has fallen sharply over the past 25 years, according to both the FBIs Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) and the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). The rate of violent crimes fell by 49 percent between 1993 and 2017, according to the FBIs UCR, which only reflects crimes reported to the police. The violent crime rate dropped by 74 percent between 1993 and 2017, according to BJSs CVS, which takes into account both crimes that have been reported to the police and those that have not. From 1993 to 2017, the rate of violent victimization declined 74 percent, from 79.8 to 20.6 victimizations per 1,000 persons age 12 or older, the U.S. Department of Justice stated (pdf). Both studies are based on data up to and including 2017, the most recent year for which complete figures are available. The FBI recently released preliminary data for 2018. According to the Preliminary Semiannual Uniform Crime Report, from January to June 2018, violent crime rates in the United States dropped by 4.3 percent compared to the same six-month period in 2017. While the overall rate of violent crime has seen a steady downward drop since its peak in the 1990s, there have been several upticks that bucked the trend. Between 2014 and 2016, the murder rate increased by more than 20 percent, to 5.4 per 100,000 residents, from 4.4, according to an analysis of FBI data. The last two-year period that the rate soared so quickly was between 1966 and 1968. Property Crime The property crime rate fell by 50 percent between 1993 and 2017, according to the FBI, and by 69 percent according to BJS. According to the FBIs preliminary figures for the first half of 2018, property crime rates in the United States dropped by 7.2 percent compared to the same six-month period in 2017. As with violent crime, the FBI survey only takes into account crime reported to the police, while the BJS figures include reported and nonreported crime. Public Perception About Crime Despite falling long-term trends in both violent crime and property crime, opinion surveys repeatedly show Americans believe that crime is up. The vast majority of Gallup polls taken since 1993 show (pdf) that over 60 percent of Americans believe there is more crime in the United States on a national scale compared to the previous year. Pew Research surveys show similar findings. A survey in late 2016 revealed that 57 percent of registered voters said crime in the nation as a whole increased since 2008, despite both FBI and BJS data showing double-digit drops in violent and property crimes. Perceptions differed on a national versus local level. Surveys of perceptions of crime levels on a local scale showed that fewer than 50 percent of respondents in every single Gallup survey (pdf) done since 1996 believed that crime in their area had risen compared to the previous year. The Purdue Pharma offices in Stamford, Connecticut. In 2007 in the United States, the company pleaded guilty and agreed to pay more than $600 million in fines for misleading the public about the risks of OxyContin. In Canada, Purdue faces just one class-action lawsuit for $20 million. (AP Photo/Douglas Healey, File) Five More US States Sue OxyContin Maker Purdue Pharma Over Opioid Epidemic Five U.S. states on May 16 filed lawsuits accusing Purdue Pharma LP of illegally marketing and selling opioids, escalating the wave of litigation over a nationwide abuse epidemic. Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, West Virginia and Wisconsin joined 39 states to file lawsuits targeting Purdue Pharma and its leaders, including former president Richard Sackler and his family. Officials accused Purdue Pharma of repeatedly making false and deceptive claims that opioids, including OxyContin, were safe for a wide range of patients seeking to reduce pain. This is a bipartisan effort, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, a Democrat, said on a conference call. The lawsuits were announced six days after a North Dakota judge dismissed that states lawsuit accusing Purdue Pharma of overstating the benefits and trivializing the addiction risks of prolonged opioid use. North Dakota is expected to appeal. Purdue Pharma called the new lawsuits misleading attacks, and said it will defend itself against them. These complaints are part of a continuing effort to try these cases in the court of public opinion rather than the justice system, the Stamford, Connecticut-based company said. Opioids, including prescription painkillers and heroin, played a role in a record 47,600 U.S. overdose deaths in 2017, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said. State and local governments have filed hundreds of lawsuits accusing drugmakers such as Purdue Pharma of deceptive marketing, and distributors such as AmerisourceBergen Corp., Cardinal Health Inc and McKesson Corp. of ignoring how opioids were being used illegally. Oklahoma reached a $270 million settlement with Purdue Pharma and the Sacklers on March 26. The prospect that Purdue Pharma might eventually seek bankruptcy protection is a reason that Sackler family members have been named as defendants in some lawsuits. On the conference call, Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh said the family has left a trail of addiction and death. In the North Dakota case, Bismarck-based Judge James Hill rejected the states argument that Purdue Pharmas conduct created a public nuisance. Purdue cannot control how doctors prescribe its products and it certainly cannot control how individual patients use and respond to its products, regardless of any warning or instruction Purdue may give, Hill wrote. The Sacklers have long been prolific cultural benefactors, but their alleged role in the opioid crisis has led some major museums to distance themselves. On May 15, New Yorks Metropolitan Museum of Art, whose Sackler Wing contains the popular Temple of Dendur, said it would stop accepting donations from the Sacklers. By Jonathan Stempel Girl Who Stole Pro-Life Sign Is Surprised When Cop Tells Her Shes Being Arrested A girl appeared to be sad and surprised when a policeman told her she would be arrested for larceny because she had stolen a sign from pro-life activists. The exchange, which occurred in April at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus, was captured in a video by pro-life group Created Equal. The video has received hundreds of thousands of views since it was published to YouTube on May 14. In the video the young woman, whose identity is unknown, snatched a sign from a pro-life activist, Austin Beigel, and walked away with it. The sign read, Warning: Abortion Victim Photos Ahead. She was later shocked when she found out she would be arrested for stealing the sign, which belonged to members of Created Equal. President of the pro-life group Mark Harrington told Fox News that students need to be taught that disagreeing with someone doesnt give them the right to break the law. College students who interfere with our First Amendment rights by assaulting us or stealing our signs are not the victims, Harrington said. Universities are failing to educate students on the basic American ideal of freedom of speech. What Happened? In the video Beigel, whose sign was snatched, followed the young woman and told her, Maam, dont steal the sign, you cant steal the sign. Youre on camera stealing the sign. Youre committing theft right now. Officer, shes stealing the sign, Beigel called out while following the young woman. Shortly after, a police officer approached the young woman and asked, Did you steal the sign? I just moved it, she said, while leaning on the sign against a railing where she was stopped. Well, you took it, the police officer said. He asked why. Because this restricts womens rights, she said while tapping on the sign. Hes promoting lies on college campus. She moved away from the sign after the policeman told her to do so. I cant believe yall protect them, she said, and proceeded to move away, before the policeman quickly stops her. Nope. Youre not going anywhere, the officer said, indicating that she was being detained. Detained for what? she asked, sounding confused. Um, for larceny. You stole his sign, the police officer said. He has it back! I moved it fifty yards, she responded. I dont care what the circumstance is, the policeman said. The policeman said to the girl that, while she may not agree with the message of the pro-life activists, You dont have a right to take someones property. He then asked for the girls ID, to which she asked, Am I being arrested right now? After she surrendered her ID, she pointed to the pro-life activists and said to the officer, I cannot believe these are the people who you protect. He clarified that he had to enforce the law. Do you see us being subjected to this [expletive]? the girl asked. The police officer explained to the girl that the pro-life activists have a right to be there and that it is a public area. If you dont like their speech you can go away, the police officer said. You dont have to watch it, you dont have to be here Theyre here because they want us to watch them, the girl interjected. Okay, but you can ignore them. If you ignore them that takes away their power, its that simple, okay? the officer responded. It doesnt matter how much you ignore them, theyre gonna come back. Theyre gonna come back again and this is why women have such a problem getting abortions in North Carolina, the girl responded, appearing quite moved. And yall just let them get away with this [expletive]. The policeman then asked the girl to turn around and put her hands behind her back, saying Youre under arrest for larceny. I cannot believe this is happening, the girl responded while appearing shocked. Is there something else that I can do? No, I just told you that youre under arrest. I cannot un-arrest you. The judicial system must do that, he explained. The video later shows the girl walking away, handcuffed. Created Equal is a pro-life group that uses a traveling photo exhibition to communicate their message. For years, we have documented violence against young members of our team. But perhaps even more shocking than violent outbursts is the incredulity some perpetrators show when held accountable, the organization said, WND reported. According to the website, Mark Harrington, president of the group, said students being groomed on college campuses to be leaders, writers, and thinkers of the Left are increasing in censorship and violence against those with whom they disagree. Their surprise when held accountable indicates college campuses have become safe spaces for pro-abortion violence. Students at UNC and campuses like it are in dire need of remedial First Amendment training, he added. Harrington told Fox News that the young womans behavior is similar to an earlier episode this month, when Democratic Pennsylvania State Rep. Brian Sims filmed and posted a video of himself confronting and repeatedly taunting an elderly pro-life woman for nearly 9 minutes. People visit the Tianjin Pavilion of the 15th China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, May 16, 2019. The fair held in Shenzhen attracts more than 21,000 overseas exhibitors from 103 countries and regions. (Xinhua/Mao Siqian) SHENZHEN, May 16 (Xinhua) -- More than 21,000 overseas exhibitors and purchasers from 103 countries and regions participated in the 15th China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair (ICIF) which opened Thursday in Shenzhen, southern China's Guangdong Province. According to the organizers, the five-day fair has attracted over 2,000 government entities, enterprises and organizations from China. Nearly 6,000 investment and financing projects in the cultural and creative industry will be presented and traded at this year's ICIF, with more than 100,000 exhibits on display. With a total exhibition area of 105,000 square meters, the main venue, Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center, consists of nine pavilions, including the first-ever established pavilion on cultural industries of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. More than 60 other venues have also been set up in various districts of the city. Focused on showcasing China's achievements in cultural development, innovations and creative designs, the event also attracted the participation of over 70 percent of cultural industry leaders around the country. Total transaction volume of the past 14 ICIFs exceeds 1.7 trillion yuan (247 billion U.S. dollars). By Jin Yu-young Based on true events, "The Tattooist of Auschwitz" tells the story of Lale Sokolov and how he survived the horrors of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Poland during the Holocaust in the 1940s. The author, Heather Morris, got to know Sokolov through a mutual acquaintance and met with him for three years to listen and piece together his narrative. The book was recently translated into Korean by Park Ah-ram. "The Tattooist of Auschwitz" by Heather Morris L: Architect I.M. Pei at the Ellis Island Museum in New York City on April 21, 2004. (Paul Hawthorne/Getty Images) R: Louvre in Paris on April 9, 2009. (Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images) I.M. Pei, the Mastermind Architect Behind the Louvre Pyramid, Dies Aged 102 I.M. Pei, the world-renowned modernist architect whose work includes the Louvre pyramid, died at his home in New York at the age of 102, his sons architecture firm has confirmed. Chinese-born Pei, who worked mostly in the United States, was the mastermind behind the controversial redevelopment of the Louvre Museum in Paris in the 1980s. Pei designed the landmark glass and metal pyramid and three smaller pyramids in the museums main courtyard. Life is architecture and architecture is the mirror of life REST IN PEACE IM PEI (1917-2019) https://t.co/ah82SFFKfI ???? pic.twitter.com/z58t2dCD0s Architectural Review (@ArchReview) May 16, 2019 The award-winning architect, whose other notable projects include the Kennedy Library in Boston, Massachusetts, and the Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong, passed away overnight, his son Chien Chung Pei told the New York Times, adding that the family had just had a celebratory dinner to mark his fathers 102nd birthday. Were mourning and saluting I.M. Pei , who died overnight, aged 102. He designed the NCAR Mesa Lab an amazing place to come to work every day. The world will miss your brilliance and your smile.https://t.co/ydD8pfXwK5 ##IMPei #architecture #NCAR pic.twitter.com/ldJkc0lQhw NCAR Science (@NCAR_Science) May 16, 2019 RIP IM pei, designer of the absolute best weird building in ithaca pic.twitter.com/3lTAcyI3GJ c (@cszabla) May 16, 2019 Pei became best known for his modern building designs emphasising natural light, plain surfaces, and sharp angles, such as his landmark East Building at Washingtons National Gallery of Art. Contemporary architects tend to impose modernity on something. There is a certain concern for history but it is not very deep, Pei told The New York Times in 2008. I understand that times have changed, we have evolved. But I dont want to forget the beginning. A lasting architecture has to have roots. Pei sparked deep controversy with his modernist work on the Louvre pyramid, which was once seen by locals as sacrilege because it was at odds with the classic French Renaissance style of the palace. It was dubbed as an architectural obscenity. At one point, up to 90 percent of Parisians opposed the project. Pei remembered receiving many angry glances in the streets, the Japan Times reported. The Louvre had also been called a gigantic, ruinous gadget by a critic, Quartzy reported. The first year and a half was really hell. I couldnt walk the streets of Paris without people looking at me as if to say: There you go again. What are you doing here? What are you doing to our great Louvre? Pei said in a 2010 PBS documentary. However, years later, the pyramid is now considered a masterpiece and an icon of the French capital. The monument is also often used as a venue for events ranging from fashion shows to public gatherings and political rallies. Last year, it broke its own record, welcoming 10.2 million visitorsup 25 per cent from the 8.1 million people that visited in 2017. Its previous highest attendance record was 9.7 million in 2012, France 24 reported. Pei was also responsible for designing the accompanying pyramid ininversee (inverted pyramid)an inverse of the original pyramid that is located in the Carrousel du Louvre in front of the Louvre Museum. I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art, it must be built on a foundation of necessity, Pei once said. Having grown up in Dallas IM Peis influence is hard to avoid. The Meyerson Symphony Center was finished my senior year of hight school. I got to play there that same year. It was a huge deal the other 2 buildings were featured heavily in Robocop for better or worse. pic.twitter.com/5hm0mgdGWM Ted Forbes (@tedforbes) May 17, 2019 Pei, who was born in China in 1917 to a banker father and artistic mother, arrived in the United States to study architecture at the age of 17. He completed his architecture undergraduate degree in 1940 with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He then undertook a masters degree in architecture with Harvard Universitys Graduate School of Design, which he completed in 1946. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1954. For me it doesnt get better than the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong. What a genius. #IMPei pic.twitter.com/zIJOW1RFW7 David Kwong (@davidkwong) May 16, 2019 Pei won the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1983 and was cited as giving the 20th century some of its most beautiful interior spaces and exterior forms His versatility and skill in the use of materials approach the level of poetry. Stylistic originality is not my purpose, Pei once said. I want to find the originality in the time, the place, and the problem. Internet sensation Grumpy Cat has died, according to reports. This file photo shows Grumpy Cat posing with her owner, Tabatha Bundesen, in New York, on Nov. 14, 2016. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) Internet Sensation Grumpy Cat Has Died Aged 7 A feline of legendary internet fame for her permanent sour look has died. Grumpy Cat, from Arizona, died at the age of 7, her owner has revealed. The cat that helped millions of people smile died after complications from a urinary tract infection became too tough for her to overcome, owner Tabatha Bundesen and her brother Bryan said in a statement. According to the statement, Grumpy Catwhose real name was Tardar Saucepassed away on Tuesday, May 14, at home in the arms of her mummy. Besides being our baby and a cherished member of the family, Grumpy Cat has helped millions of people smile all around the worldeven when times were tough, read the statement from the cats family, shared on Twitter on Friday morning. Her spirit will continue to live on through her fans everywhere. Some days are grumpier than others pic.twitter.com/ws209VWl97 Grumpy Cat (@RealGrumpyCat) May 17, 2019 The Instagram account associated with Grumpy Cat has over 2.4 million followers, billing the sourpuss as The Worlds grumpiest cat! Grumpy shot to online fame in 2012 after Bundesens brother, Bryan, posted a photo of her on Reddit, where people became enamored with Grumpys permanent frown. The look that catapulted the cat to fame, according to The Associated Press, is caused by an unusual combination of feline dwarfism and underbite. Over time, the cat became a merchandising machine, selling everything from iced coffee, to Friskies cat food, to perfume. Grumpy Cat has over 8.6 million total followers on Facebook, 2.5 million followers on Instagram and 1.5 million followers on Twitter, boasts a product plug on the Demeter Kitten Fur Fragrance landing page. Combined with Demeter, one of the most successful online fragrance brands in the world, Grumpy Cats Limited-Edition Kitten Fur will bring scent memories and smiles to more people and places than ever before! And everyone needs more smiles! Product reviewers on the page laud the fragrance, with Margaret M. writing, This is a soft, warm and sensual scent. I wear it often. The scent lasts all day. I also want to make note of Demeters great Customer Service. Commenter Rose said I love the scent but suggested their transactional system had kinks to iron out: Kitten Fur is the cats meowbut they billed me double! The cats rise to stardom included multiple television appearances and even her own 2014 Christmas film. The BBC reported that in 2015 Madame Tussauds in San Francisco even unveiled Grumpy Cats wax replica. Tributes Heartbroken fans have taken to social media to express their condolences. One person wrote: Thanks for the laughs, the memes & for just being a rad kitteh. Another wrote: Im so sorry to hear this sad news. Run free pretty friend Thank you for making the world smile, Grumpy Cat You will be dearly missed, another commenter wrote. The grumpiness will survive through us all, another wrote, everything from the merch to the memes that started it all. She was a special little kitty, and had a beautiful home during her stay here. Rest in peace, you sweet little grump. Lawsuit According to earlier reports, a California jury awarded Grumpy Cats owner more than $700,000 in January of last year in a federal lawsuit over the use of the cats identity. Citing documents obtained by The Washington Post, The Associated Press reported Bundesen won a lawsuit first filed four years ago against the Grenade beverage company. She signed on for the cat to endorse a Grumpy Cat Grumpuccino, but the company subsequently used the cats image to help sell other products, which an eight-person jury found was unauthorized. Bundesen previously worked as a waitress before her beloved pet gained internet stardom. She has told the Express newspaper that she quit her job within days of Grumpys first appearance on social media. According to HuffPost, Grumpy is believed to have a net worth of at least $1 million. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Jail Asked for Ex-Deutsche Bank, Nomura Staff in Paschi Case Milan prosecutors are seeking jail sentences for ex-bankers of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, Deutsche Bank AG, Nomura Holdings Inc. involved in allegedly falsifying the accounts of the troubled Italian lender and requested almost $1 billion be seized from the foreign banks involved. Prosecutors led by Giordano Baggio asked for jail sentences of five years and eight months in case of convictions for Deutsche Banks Michele Faissola, former head of global rates, for Michele Foresti, former head of structured trading, and Dario Schiraldi, former head of European sales. He asked for a six-year jail sentence for Sadeq Sayeed, former CEO of Nomura International. The prosecutors also requested eight-year jail sentences for former Monte Paschi Chairman Giuseppe Mussari and ex-General Manager Antonio Vigni in Milan on May 16. They also asked for the seizure of more than 440 million euros ($492 million) of funds each from Deutsche Bank and Nomura. Derivatives Trades The prosecutors requests came during a two-and-half-year trial in one of the highest profile European banking cases in the last decade, first revealed by Bloomberg News. They are seeking to prove Monte Paschi colluded with Deutsche Bank and Nomura to hide losses at the Italian lender by using complex derivatives trades, respectively dubbed Santorini and Alexandria, that led to a misrepresentation of its finances between 2008 and 2012. The bankers also are facing charges ranging from market manipulation to obstruction of regulatory activities. In addition to the former managers, the German and Japanese banks themselves are on trial, while Paschi reached a plea-bargain deal in 2016. Lawyers for Deutsche Bank and Nomura didnt have an immediate comment, while a lawyer for Monte Paschi didnt immediately respond to calls seeking comment. In his closing arguments at a hearing May 16, Baggio also accused Deutsche Bank of running a transnational criminal association. In previous hearings, he used internal Deutsche Bank documents and emails to bolster his case that there were additional, aggravating circumstances to the charges against the German lender. Prosecutors argued that the complex transaction Deutsche Bank helped put in place in 2008 hid about 430 million euros of losses that Paschi was facing on a previous deal, while Nomuras derivative hid more than 300 million euros of losses not reported in the banks 2009 income statement. Both transactions were carried out to cancel previous losses by building up two-leg deals, with one leg granting Monte Paschi an immediate gain and the other loss-making one designed to last for several years in order to pay back the investment banks for the gains realized by Paschi on the first one, according to prosecutors. Hidden Losses Monte Paschi hid losses by accounting derivatives as if they were repurchase agreements, Baggio said in his final remarks on May 2. Both Nomura and Deutsche Bank, to help Paschi in its criminal intent, received a sizeable profit from the lender that could be considered the price of the crime, Baggio said. Deutsche Bank defendants in previous hearings rejected the allegations saying that Santorini was a legitimate deal and carried risk, and was not designed as a sure-fire bet to hide losses at the Italian bank, as prosecutors allege. Nomura and Monte Paschis lawyers also rejected the allegations against their defendants, arguing that the deals were conceived to boost Monte Paschis interest margin and reduce previous risks. Holding derivatives for a nominal value of 5 billion euros exposed Paschi to big risks that if properly represented would have led the bank to an additional 1.5 billion euros of losses in 2011 amid the sovereign debt crisis, the prosecutor said. The banks exposure to derivatives in such difficult market conditions drained Monte Paschis liquidity, contributing to a banks technical default, he said. That forced the Bank of Italy to give Monte Paschi a bridge loan and request a management reshuffle, Baggio said. Prosecutors requested acquittals for Ivor Dunbar and Matteo Vaghi, former managers at Deutsche Bank. They also sought jail terms for Marco Veroni, Raffaele Ricci, Daniele Pirondini, Gian Luca Baldassarri, and Marco Di Santoall former employees of the three banks. The trial has been adjourned to May 23. In the next hearings, civil parties and defense lawyers will present their closing arguments before the judges start deliberations on the decision. By Sonia Sirletti & Sergio Di Pasquale Man Checks Out of Hotel With Rooms Flat Screen TV in Bag For most customers staying in hotels, free shampoo and pens may be sufficient complimentary gifts. Yet one man decided to take an unexpected extra item for himself before checking out. A man walked out of a hotel with a flat screen TV secretly packed in his travel bag in Shanghai, China. Police detained the man on April 28 for being suspected of theft, according to The Beijing News. Chinese police were only able to arrest the man, surnamed Qu, after he went to a different hotel and stole an employees cellphone from the front desk. The police only recently publicized information on the theft. To Steal a Hotel TV Qu was seen leaving the hotel on April 22. Security camera footage both captured images of the man walking down a hallway from the room with a large bag in hand, as well as speaking to the front desk. He then tricked the front desk employee by telling them that he would continue staying at the hotel, but was going out for a moment. His intent was to prevent the missing TV from being discovered, according to Weibos Morning Post. Weibo is a Chinese service similar to Twitter. Yet, later that day, a room service employee who went into Qus room to clean found that the flat screen television, which originally hung on the wall, had vanished. The hotel reported the incident to the police. The police looked at surveillance footage. However, after conducting the investigation, the police were only able to obtain the mans identification, but not where he lived. The report said that after Qu left the hotel, he quickly sold the television and spent all the money. Qu committed another theft at a different hotel. As he walked by, he spotted a smartphone sitting out in the open in the hotel lobby. Then Qu called the front desk, disguising himself as a customer, and asked for the receptionist to assist with opening the door. Just as the receptionist opened the door, Qu quickly snatched the phone and left. When the stolen phone was reported to the police, they were able to identify Qu as the same individual who stole the TV from the other hotel, The Beijing News reported. No details were given on how the police located him. Qu was detained on April 28 for suspected theft. Military F-16 Fighter Jet Crashes in Southern California, No Deaths A military F-16 fighter jet has crashed into a commercial building at the end of a runway at March Air Reserve Base in Southern California on Thursday, May 16. The crash took place about 3:30 p.m. local time at the air base in Moreno Valley, Riverside County, U.S. Air Force Maj. Perry Covington said, according to KTLA. The pilot was trying to land at the base, an Air Force official told Fox News. Riverside fire officials said that three people were transported with minor injuries but that no major injuries have been reported, according to ABC7. The pilot, the only occupant on the plane, was able to eject before the crash, and was being checked by medical personnel, according to the Riverside County Sheriff in a Twitter post. ????Plane crash???? into building, pilot ejected and being medically evaluated. Please stay away from area and clear from emergency vehicles until directed otherwise. Updates to follow. Riverside County Sheriffs Dept (@RSO) May 16, 2019 Officials said the pilot was hospitalized in stable condition and not seriously injured. A small fire sparked by the crash was put out quickly, March Air Reserve Base Deputy Fire Chief Tim Holliday told KTLA. One official told Fox News that the F-16 was armed. It was one of the alert jets for the North American Aerospace Defense Command. Live video from a news helicopter showed that the plane appeared to have crashed upon landing. According to the pilot of the helicopter, the building is used by See Water Inc. The jets canopy can be seen on the runway. The ejector seat and parachute were shown lying on the grass. Canopy on the Runway at March pic.twitter.com/DJ2HNOmTQO Dolphin (@IntelDolphin) May 16, 2019 Ejector seat and parachute. pic.twitter.com/yW2xI0DJbU Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) May 16, 2019 Melissa Melendez, the assemblywoman for the district, posted a Tweet saying all workers in the warehouse have been accounted for. An F-16 crashed into a commercial building on Opportunity Way on March ARB in Riverside this afternoon. Pilot alive, all warehouses workers accounted for. Waiting for update on fire, she wrote. Footage of the crash emerged online, showing a large hole in the building. Heres the scene where an F-16 fighter jet crashed into a building near March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County. The 215 Fwy is shut down in both directions. Details: https://t.co/pIyQXcCorG pic.twitter.com/1uBVypn61a KTLA (@KTLA) May 16, 2019 BREAKING: Here is a closer look at the hole in the building after the F-16 crashed. @foxla pic.twitter.com/iGYkxd7p72 Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) May 16, 2019 One photo shows part of the fighter jet sticking out of the rubble. A witness, Jeff Schoffstall, said he was working when he heard the plane come dangerously low to the ground before it made a loud noise, ABC7 reported. Schoffstall posted video of the scene. It was almost to the point where I had to cover my ears, and next thing you know I just hear this explosion, Daniel Gallegos, another witness, told the news station. I turn around to the back of the building and I just seen a burst of flames and just the ceiling start falling through every part of the building. In a matter of seconds, my ankles were filled with water. Thats a military airplane in our building. Video shows inside a Southern California warehouse after military officials say an F-16 crashed into the building. The pilot was able to eject and is believed to be okay. No other injuries reported. https://t.co/aQODahwync pic.twitter.com/0zryYt8xGK ABC News (@ABC) May 17, 2019 California Highway Patrol officials shut down both directions of the 215 Freeway between Harley Knox Boulevard and Cactus Avenue, and told people to stay away from the area. Holliday told KTLA that the F-16 belonged to the 144th Fighter Wing, an Air National Guard unit based in Fresno, but was permanently stationed at March Air Reserve Base. Video of #F16 moments before it crashed through the roof of a California warehouse. Pilot ejected. pic.twitter.com/cwpY8B0bef Doug Dunbar (@cbs11doug) May 17, 2019 The base is home to the Air Force Reserve Commands Fourth Air Force Headquarters and multiple units of the Army Reserve, Navy Reserve and Marine Corps Reserve. It also houses the California Air National Guard and California Army National Guard. From NTD.com Multiple Dogs Found Killed, Tortured in Vermont, $1,000 Reward for Tips Several disturbing discoveries have prompted police to tell pet owners to be on alert in Franklin County, Vermont, involving multiple dogs found tortured and killed. A $1,000 reward was offered for tips that could lead to the arrest of those responsible. Authorities say there have been least six incidents involving dogs across neighborhoods across the county since the beginning of May this year. Sheldon Animal Control Officer Nichole Michel told WPTZ. I sat here for a little bit just contemplating and asking why anybody would do this. Plastic bags tied over their head, tossed off onto the side of the road. Its in every case, torture, Michel told the station. She said in another case, one dog was found shot dead. Its body was found tied to a tree just steps off a popular trail. Vermont State Police are investigating the six cases. They have not commented on whether the attacks are related. Michel says these attacks appear to be an epidemic and it is unfathomable to her. I really have no words for someone who could do something so heartless, so cruel, she told the station. Dogs are our family. We add dogs to our family, we use them for protection, we should be able to let them run around our property, their home. We cant do that anymore. Michel says reports have come in from different areas around Franklin County about a mystery person in a silver sedan and gold SUV, trying to lure the unsuspecting animals into their vehicles. A $1,000 reward is being offered by the Franklin County Humane Society for any information that can help arrest the animal killers. An original offer was made of $500. You hear these cases of abuse and cruelty around Franklin County and everywhere and its so tragic when it happens, Karen Mitchell, said Humane Society board member, told WPTZ. Anyone with information is urged to contact State Police investigators at 802-524-5993. Animal Cruelty in the United States On Jan. 23, two Congressmen from Florida proposed a bipartisan bill that would make cruelty against animals a felony across the United States. Fifty states across the United States have currently have laws that prevent cruelty against animals, however, if animals get tortured across state lines, there is little to protect them. With the proposed bill, authorities will have federal jurisdiction to go after the culprits. They will also be able to prosecute those who engage in acts of cruelty on federal property. According to the Humane Society, a non-profit dedicated to resolving animal welfare problems, the animals that are most often reported as abused are dogs, cats, horses and livestock. Intentional cruelty to animals is strongly correlated with other crimes, which include violence against people. The Humane Society says that surveys have suggested that those who intentionally abuse animals are mainly men under 30. Besides intentional cruelty there are also other forms of abuse. Hoarding animals is one such form, where a person houses far more animals than they can take care of, which results in serious animal neglect. In such cases, those responsibleoften women over 60, according to surveysmay be in need of social or mental health services, the society says. At the start of 2016, the FBI added cruelty to animals as a data set in the Uniform Crime Reporting Program, a criminal reporting system commonly used in homicide investigations across the county. Before 2016, crimes that involved animals had been put into an All Other Offenses category. In its data collection of crime reports, the FBI divides cases of animal cruelty into four categories: simple/gross neglect, intentional abuse and torture, organized abuse (for example, dogfighting and cockfighting), and animal sexual abuse. Some studies say that cruelty to animals is a precursor to larger crime, Nelson Ferry, from the FBIs Criminal Statistics Management Unit, said in a release at the time. If somebody is harming an animal, there is a good chance they also are hurting a human, said John Thompson, deputy executive director of the National Sheriffs Association, said in the release. If we see patterns of animal abuse, the odds are that something else is going on. At the time, Thompson urged the public to rethink the notion that animal cruelty is just a crime against animals. Its a crime against society, he said. By paying attention to [these crimes], we are benefiting all of society. Indian soldiers inspect the remains of an Indian Air Force helicopter after it crashed in Budgam district, outside Srinagar on Feb. 27, 2019. (TAUSEEF MUSTAFA/AFP/Getty Images) Nine Killed in Gun Battles in Kashmir SRINAGAR, KashmirIndian troops and terrorists clashed in Indian-controlled Kashmir on May 16 and nine people were killed, officials said. In one of the deadliest clashes since the Feb. 14 suicide bomb attack in the valley, three Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists, two members of the local Hizbul Mujahideen, two Indian soldiers and two civilians were killed. Tension in Muslim-majority Kashmir has been high since the suicide bomb attack by the Pakistan-based JeM terrorist group killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police. Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave troops a free hand to respond to the attack, and near-daily searches in villages in Kashmir since then have often triggered violent confrontations, with civilians caught in the crossfire to the alarm of rights groups. Modis tough response to the bomb attack is believed to have given his party a boost in a general election that began on April 11 and ends on May 19. JEM leaders were killed in a gun battle in Dalipora, a village in south Kashmir, where clashes began between the terrorist group and Indian soldiers in the early hours, while Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists were killed in a separate clash in the Handew area of south Kashmirs Shopian district. Kashmir is at the heart of decades of hostility between India and Pakistan. The nuclear-armed neighbors both claim it in full but rule it in part. The rivals have fought three wars since independence, two of them over the Himalayan region, and came close to another after the February bomb attack. Terrorists, who India says are backed by Pakistan, have been fighting Indian security forces since 1989. Pakistan denies supporting them. Even in the holy month of Ramadan there is no let up in killings and bloodshed in Kashmir as civilians, armed youth or even Indian forces are getting killed, Kashmirs main separatist political group, the Joint Resistance Leadership, said in a statement. It called for a general strike in Kashmir on May 17. By Fayaz Bukhari On the Radar: Nissan Stays Cool on Lidar Tech, Siding With Tesla YOKOHAMA, JapanNissan Motor Co. Ltd. said on May 16 it would, for now, stick to self-driving technology which uses radar sensors and cameras, avoiding lidar or light-based sensors because of their high cost and limited capabilities. The Japanese automaker unveiled updated self-driving technology a month after Tesla Inc.s Chief Executive Elon Musk called lidar a fools errand, berating the technology for being expensive and unnecessary. Nissan, which wants to have its self-driving cars on city streets by 2020, has long shunned lidar, a relatively new technology for automobiles which has recently been the subject of an influx in investment by many of its rivals. At the moment, lidar lacks the capabilities to exceed the capabilities of the latest technology in radar and cameras, Tetsuya Iijima, general manager of advanced technology development for automated driving, told reporters at Nissans headquarters. It would be fantastic if lidar technology was at the level that we could use it in our systems, but its not. Theres an imbalance between its cost and its capabilities. Iijima unveiled Nissans own latest self-driving technology, which enables hands-free driving in single lanes on highways on predefined routes. The technology, to be released in Japan later this year, uses radar and sonar sensors along with cameras to compile the three-dimensional mapping data required for cars to see their surroundings. Apart from sonar, side radar, and around-view monitoring cameras, Nissan said it has developed a tri-cam that focuses on three points to the front and sides of the vehicle to capture a wide area of view. Tesla also relies on cameras and radars for its self-driving technology. Nissan wants to add its self-driving technology to more of its affordable models to boost sales and recover from a profit slump. When reporting earnings earlier this week, the automaker said it had hit rock bottom in the aftermath of a financial scandal involving its ousted Chairman Carlos Ghosn. Fools Errand? Lidar is currently used by companies including General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co., and Alphabet Inc.s Waymo as automakers and tech firms race to develop self-driving cars. Lidar technology uses light-based sensors that fire roughly 1 million laser pulses a second as it collects measurements that are analyzed and processed into 3D models and maps. More than $1 billion in corporate and private investment has been pumped into some 50 lidar startups over the past three years, according to a Reuters analysis in March of publicly available investment data. Still, it is a technology in flux. Initially using bulky spinning devices placed on the roof of cars, lidar developers have transitioned to more compact solid-state devices that can be mounted on other parts of a car. These now sell for less than $10,000 in limited quantities and are widely expected to eventually sell for as little as $200 in mass production. By Naomi Tajitsu Police Identify a Suspect, Clarissa Figueroa, in Murder of Pregnant Chicago Woman Chicago Police officials identified a suspect in the slaying of a teen who also had her infant son forcibly removed from her womb. Chicago Police announce three people charged in death of Marlen Ochoa-Lopez, including Clarissa Figueroa and her daughter Desiree, who police said killed Marlen, and a third who they said concealed murder, said aFox32 reporter on May 16. Police officials revealed her identity in a press conference. NOW: Chicago Police announce three people charged in death of Marlen Ochoa-Lopez, including Clarissa Figueroa and her daughter Desiree, who police said killed Marlen, and a third who they said concealed murder. Case cracked by a tip from Marlens friend, they said. @fox32news Dakarai Turner (@Dakarai_Turner) May 16, 2019 The family stated that they are praying for the child. I have a lot of faith that the babys going to live. God is going to give me that miracle. Were anxiously waiting to have him, to love him, Yiovanni Lopez, 20, the husband of Marlen Ochoa-Lopez, reported the Chicago Sun-Times. Three people have been arrested and charged, Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said in a press conference Thursday, reported CNN. People magazine also reported that the baby removed from the womb has no brain function. Fox32 reported that the family doesnt have plans to remove the child from life support. His young wife killed, their baby cut from her womb, a husband asks, Why did these bad people do this? https://t.co/Y9e5SVxfBG pic.twitter.com/GeCRoaNYNw Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) May 16, 2019 Ochoa-Lopez, 19, went missing for three weeks before her body was found May 15. She left behind a 3-year-old son, Joshua, who has reportedly been asking for his mother. We believe that she was murdered and we believe that the baby was forcibly removed following that murder, said Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi, Fox32 reported. The baby, he said, is in grave condition. My other son feels sad, Lopez told the paper. I cant explain what happened because hes still a kid, but I try to make him happy. Surrounded by family members and supporters, the father of Marlen Ochoa-Lopez nearly collapsed this morning as he walked into the Cook County medical examiners office to identify his daughters body.https://t.co/eqv5sZ3KJc pic.twitter.com/q3tPTKPigO Ashlee Rezin (@Ashlee_Rezin) May 16, 2019 There were plenty of clues and in my view this all took way too long. They kept saying how a judge had to OK every requestto check her phone, to check Facebook, he said. I hired a private investigator and he found all of that information, where my daughter was murdered, and he shared that information with police, he added. Arnulfo Ochoa, Ochoa-Lopezs father, meanwhile, said he is displeased with the Chicago Police Departments response. Reports said that Ochoa-Lopez was seen last on April 23. She had been communicating with a woman she had met in a Facebook group for mothers. We just want them to face justice, Arnulfo Ochoa said on May 16. We are not against them but we just want them to understand what they did wrong. Chicago Police tell me 4 people are being questioned, 3 of them are under arrest. A press conference will happen today and charges will be announced in the death of #MarlenOchoa. She was 9 months pregnant when she disappeared, sources say the baby was cut from her womb.@fox32news pic.twitter.com/XAJUFeFmLy Tia A. Ewing (@TIA_EWING) May 16, 2019 Cecilia Garcia, a spokeswoman for the family, said that Ochoa-Lopez was possibly lured on Facebook by a woman who told her she was giving away clothes, The Washington Post reported. She was giving clothes away, supposedly under the pretense that her daughters had been given clothes and they had all these extra boy clothes, Garcia told the Post. Thats the false pretenses that we believe led [Ochoa-Lopez] to that house. Oh Tae-heon, author of "Thriving on Core Business: The Power of Japanese Small Companies" / Courtesy of the author Author says stay focused, be stubborn with core business By Kang Hyun-kyung Every business encounters good and bad days. Some survive, some take a leap forward through crisis and many are pushed out of business. Why do some businesses thrive, while others fall prey to misfortune? Economist Oh Tae-heon, author of "Thriving on Core Business: The Power of Japanese Small Companies" published by Samsung Economic Research Institute, observes long-living companies have some common traits. Sharing his findings from case studies of 30 small but strong Japanese companies, the author says they are found to "stay focused, think outside the box, remain stubborn with their business focus and never waste resources to diversify business" even though their businesses have gone extremely well. Japanese pencil manufacturer Kita-boshi is a prime example showing how the small company with some 30 employees has managed to survive, and even thrive, despite the tough times that unfolded with the advent of the personal computer. The PC revolution was a groundbreaking change that reshaped industries. It has changed the way we live, work, communicate and even lead our lives. Kita-boshi was hit hard. Demand for pencils fell sharply as word processors were being predominantly used and it put the pencil manufacturer at risk of closing down. But Kita-boshi President Kazutoshi Sugitani didn't back down. After years of endeavor to make his business work, the pencil manufacturer came up with the idea of "pencils for adults," not children. Their brand-new pencils were a huge success with over 1 million pencils having been sold so far. Sugitani didn't stop there. To cut costs, he turned his eyes to sawdust which accounts for 40 percent of the manufacturing material and tried to find ways he could recycle it. Mokunensan, clay made from sawdust mix, is the brainchild of Kita-boshi's years of endeavors to recycle sawdust. The eco-friendly clay became a big hit. Then the pencil manufacturer unveiled paint made from wood after years of collaboration with Tamagawa University. Their wood paint created a new genre of art_ wood painting. Author Oh claims that there is no such thing as an industry doomed to sink. "We've heard a lot about the recession that lasted for two decades in Japan from the 1980s to the early 2000s. Japanese people called them lost decades. Those times would have been cruel, particularly to small- and medium-sized companies," he said. "How did they manage to survive? I presume that the crisis, albeit painful, led them to search their souls to find what went wrong and discover their strengths. It's noteworthy some companies were able to find a way to survive even though their business partnerships with large companies were cut." Oh is a Japan expert. After completing his doctoral degree in economics at the University of Tokyo, he gained extensive experience in think tanks, including Daewoo Economic Research Institute and Nomura Research Institute, before he joined Kyung Hee Cyber University as professor of Japan Studies. "Thriving on Core Business: The Power of Japanese Small Companies" published by Samsung Economic Research Institute Yin Liping (L) and her son before the persecution against Falun Gong adherents began in 1999. (R) Yin Liping holds up a picture of Masanjia Forced Labor Camp at a hearing in Washington on April 14, 2016. (Lisa Fan/The Epoch Times; Minghui.org) The Notorious Masanjia: One Womans Story of Torture and Sexual Violence in a Chinese Gulag Whenever I think of the notorious Masanjia Forced Labor Camp, my heart trembles, said Yin Liping. Masanjia Forced Labor Camp in China is known among Falun Gong adherents as a dark den of evil due to the vicious torture meted out by the guards. It was at Masanjia that Yin ended up in September 2000. She had been detained and tortured in other labor camps but refused to be transformeda term for forcing Falun Gong practitioners to give up the traditional meditation practiceso she was sent to Masanjia. Masanjia specialized in transforming Falun Gong practitioners by any means necessaryincluding rampant sexual abuse and torture. Unknown numbers of practitioners were sent there in the years after the Chinese regime launched its persecution campaign against Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa, in July 1999. Many didnt survive, or ended up disabled or insane from the torture. For the first two weeks after arriving at the camp, Yin, then 32, was forced to listen to propaganda that slandered the spiritual practice from 5 a.m. until 2 a.m. every day. When that didnt achieve the effect of transforming her, the physical torture began. She was beaten, kicked, punched, and shocked repeatedly in sensitive parts with high-voltage electric batons by one of the guards. She started to shock me with two electric batons, on my face, neck, feet and hands. I was in extreme pain. I had a hard time breathing and my face kept twitching. I couldnt stand up anymore and fell backward, Yin said in an interview with Minghui.org after she escaped to Thailand in 2013. I was dragged back to the cell. When I regained consciousness, I found my hands, my face, neck and back were covered with burn marks and blisters. I was extremely weak. Seeing how badly I had been tortured, an old lady in the cell wept and said, I dont know if you can handle it. Few people can bear the torture. If you cannot, just write the statements they want. Yins cellmate was referring to the so-called three statements that Falun Gong prisoners of conscience are pressured to sign as part of being transformed. They consist of a letter of repentance, a guarantee to never again practice Falun Gong, and a list of names and addresses of everyone they know who are practitioners. Next came sleep deprivation, solitary confinement, and beatings by other inmates. They slammed my head against the wall, which caused my ears to ring loudly, she said. When they got tired of beating me, they forced me to half squat down with my hands stretched out flat. They put needles under my wrists. If my hands dropped, they would pinch me. In less than two hours, my wrists were pinched so badly that blood flowed from them. If I moved my hands away from the needles, they would beat me with wooden sticks and slap my face. One day, Yin was dragged yet again to the office of division head Zhang Xiurong and pressured to sign the three statements. I refused, she said. Zhang and two guards beat and insulted me. She held me on the ground and cut my hair with scissors. Then she laughed wildly and said I looked like a mental patient. Sexual Assault at Mens Labor Camp On April 19, 2001, when Yin had served over 15 months of her 18-month sentence, she and nine other Falun Gong practitioners who refused to be transformed were taken by bus to Zhangshi Mens Labor Camp. There, the women were separated, with each put in one room. Four men were already in Yins room. When she went down the hall to use the bathroom, she saw a large room with 30 men sleeping on the floor. Yin was afraid and wondered what she was doing in this place. Yin asked the men to leave her room so she could sleep. A middle-aged man told her, You want to sleep? No one is allowed to sleep without being transformed. One woman was trained here for 18 days and not allowed to sleep. In the end, she became crazy. Then Yin heard terrified screams from the hallway. She knew it was her friend Zhou Guirong and ran out to try and protect her, but the male prisoners attacked them both. The male prisoners repeatedly beat us. My right eye swelled because of the beating and my clothes were torn and stripped off. Zhou and I were both dragged back to our cells. I was beaten by four or five men and became disoriented. Finally, I was forced to lie flat on the bed. One man sat on me and beat me. I became dizzy and passed out, she said. When I regained consciousness, I found three males lying next to me and their hands and bodies were all over me. Two stood between my legs, one was shooting a video and the other was watching the video. They kept talking dirty. They said dirty words and one of them kept saying, Dont pretend death. You have to renounce Falun Gong even if you are dead! I couldnt believe what I saw, Yin said. I vomited blood and there was blood all over. She realized she had been videotaped while being gang-raped when she was passed out. Meanwhile she could still hear Zhou screaming. She tried to get away from the men to go help her friend but one of them hit her in the head with a wooden clothes hanger. I suddenly felt warm liquid running down my face, but I struggled to get up. I had no concept of living or dying. Nothing could stop me. I smashed against the rooms door as hard as possible while the prisoners beat my body. I kept on calling her name, and then she rushed into my room. She held me up, and we ran to the door at the end of the hall. They were able to open the door, but then the men grabbed them and dragged them back to their rooms. They were allowed to sleep that night while four inmates kept watch. The next day, the prisoners who had tortured Yin the night before came to her room again with a video camera and tried to transform her. When she wouldnt cooperate, they beat her. And then it was evening, and the same thing happened as the night before, Yin said. They started to torture me like the night beforethe sexual abuse. The police guards had changedthey were not the ones from the night before. The guards also used electric batons to shock her nipples, genitals, and other sensitive body parts. It went on like this for the three days that the women were held at the mens camp. By the time they were taken back to Masnajia, they were not only seriously injured but utterly demoralized and humiliated. Of the group of nine that were sexually assaulted at the Zhangshi Mens Labor Camp, Zhou Guirong and Su Juzhen later died from torture. Su first had a mental breakdown. She Died in my Arms Yin was already weak when she arrived at Masanjia in September 2000. She had been sentenced to 18 months for appealing for an end to the brutal suppression of Falun Gong, and at two camps before Masanjia she was tortured and forced to perform hard labor. At Liaoyang Forced Labor Camp, her hair turned gray and her menstrual period stopped due to the grueling work, which included helping load eight tons of steel bars onto trucks in the daytime and binding artificial flowers at night until 2 a.m. Her weight plummeted from 165 pounds to 135 pounds, and she began vomiting blood regularly. After finishing her first stint at Masanjia, Yin was sent back there twice more and the brutal torture continued. Both times, she was released early because she was on the brink of death. At one stage, she was handcuffed to a bed and injected with unknown drugs for over two months at the rate of two bottles per day. As a result, she temporarily lost her vision and developed endocrine disorders, incontinence, and had blood in her urine. Through all her years of illegal detention and abuse, Yin stood her ground, remained firm in her faith, and was never transformed. After she fled to Thailand in August 2013, Yin subsequently gained refugee status in the United States in 2015. At a Congressional hearing on Chinas use of systematic torture in its detention facilities in Washington on April 14, 2016, she recounted her story of the years of abuse at Masanjia, which was closed in 2013. Yin told the hearing she witnessed the some of the sexual assaults and crimes described in the 2014 book Vaginal Coma, by former New York Times photojournalist Du Bin. revealing the brutal sexual torture of female Falun Gong practitioners and petitioners detained Holding up the book, she said, Three toothbrushes were tied together, and inserted into and stirred up female private parts. I saw with my own eyes a group of men beating an elderly Falun Gong practitioner in the restroom. They forcefully inserted a broken broom stick into her private part. Tears ran down her face as she spoke. She said 30 Falun Gong practitioners she knew personally developed mental disorders from the torture and 10 died, either in prison or after they were released. Ms. Wang Jie was one of them, she said, holding a picture of her friend. She died in my arms on April 21, 2012. Wang Jie, Zhou Guirong, and I had been through brutal and evil persecution. We promised one another that any one of us who survives will expose the persecution to the world. Today Im speaking up for them, the forever voiceless victims. Left to right: Desiree Figueroa, Clarisa Figueroa, and Piotr Bobak. The trio suspects have been arrested and charged, according to an announcement by authorities on May 16, 2019. (Chicago Police Department) Three Arrested in Murder of Pregnant Chicago Woman Police have announced that three people have been arrested and charged in connection with the death of a pregnant Chicago woman. Chicago Police said at a news conference on Thursday, May 16, that 46-year-old Clarisa Figueroa and her 24-year-old daughter, Desiree Figueroa, would face charges of first-degree murder. The mothers boyfriend, 40-year-old Piotr Bobak, is charged with concealment of a homicide. The victim, 19-year-old Marlen Ochoa-Lopez, was found on May 15, strangled to death. Her unborn son had been forcibly removed from her womb. Police said Clarisa Figueroa called 911 on April 23 hours after Ochoa-Lopez was killed to report a baby had stopped breathing. The child that Figueroa said was hers was rushed to an area hospital where he remains in grave condition and is not expected to survive. People magazine reported that the baby, who Ochoa-Lopez had intended to name Yavani Yadiel Lopez, has no brain function. Fox32 reported that the family doesnt have plans to remove the child from life support. Yavani Yadiel Lopez is Marlen Ochoa-Lopezs son. He is brain dead and on life-support at Christ Hospital where his family has decided to keep him on life-support. Charges against the people responsible expected shortly. You can help the family here: https://t.co/D7PUH1CJgQ pic.twitter.com/6LBjpgZ3Rf Dakarai Turner (@Dakarai_Turner) May 16, 2019 The family said that they are praying for the child. I have a lot of faith that the babys going to live. God is going to give me that miracle. Were anxiously waiting to have him, to love him, Yiovanni Lopez, 20, the husband of Marlen Ochoa-Lopez, reported the Chicago Sun-Times. Clarisa Figueroas adult son died of natural causes two years ago, and police believe the woman was hoping to raise the newborn as her own. However, they said the investigation is continuing. My Other Son Feels Sad Ochoa-Lopez, 19, went missing for three weeks before her body was found. She left behind a 3-year-old son, Joshua, who has reportedly been asking for his mother. My other son feels sad, Yiovanni Lopez told the paper. I cant explain what happened because hes still a kid, but I try to make him happy. There were plenty of clues and in my view this all took way too long. They kept saying how a judge had to OK every requestto check her phone, to check Facebook, Lopez said. I hired a private investigator and he found all of that information, where my daughter was murdered, and he shared that information with police, he added. Arnulfo Ochoa, Ochoa-Lopezs father, meanwhile, also said he is displeased with the Chicago Police Departments response. We just want them to face justice, Arnulfo Ochoa said on May 16. We are not against them but we just want them to understand what they did wrong. Chicago Police tell me 4 people are being questioned, 3 of them are under arrest. A press conference will happen today and charges will be announced in the death of #MarlenOchoa. She was 9 months pregnant when she disappeared, sources say the baby was cut from her womb.@fox32news pic.twitter.com/XAJUFeFmLy Tia A. Ewing (@TIA_EWING) May 16, 2019 Cecilia Garcia, a spokeswoman for the family, said that Ochoa-Lopez was possibly lured on Facebook by a woman who told her she was giving away baby clothes, The Washington Post reported. She was giving clothes away, supposedly under the pretense that her daughters had been given clothes and they had all these extra boy clothes, Garcia told the Post. Thats the false pretenses that we believe led [Ochoa-Lopez] to that house. The Disappearance Ochoa-Lopez disappeared from Chicagos Little Village neighborhood on the Southwest Side on April 23, according to the Missing Persons Cases Network. She was last seen in the 2000 block of South California Avenue after leaving Latino Youth High School in Pilsen. The family says surveillance video at the school shows Uriostegui walking off campus alone at 3:06 p.m. and appeared to be texting on her phone, according to the MPCN. She was supposed to pick up her 3-year-old son from daycare, WGN-TV reported, but never showed up. At the time, police appealed to the public for help and her family held a news conference on May 2 pleading for her safe return. We know nothing. Were asking the community to help us find her, said her father, Arnulfo Ochoa, according to ABC7. Her mother said at the time the family believed she had been kidnapped. Fox32 reported that Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said, We believe that she was murdered and we believe that the baby was forcibly removed following that murder. Epoch Times reported Jack Phillips and The Associated Press contributed to this report. President Donald Trump listens to a question during an interview with The Associated Press in the Oval Office of the White House, on Oct. 16, 2018. (Evan Vucci/AP Photo) Trump Says Authorities Spying on His Campaign Constitutes Treason, Warns of Long Jail Sentences President Donald Trump said that the FBI and other agencies spying on his 2016 presidential campaign was treason and said the people behind the attempt to frame him and the campaign warranted long jail sentences. My Campaign for President was conclusively spied on. Nothing like this has ever happened in American Politics, Trump wrote on Twitter on May 17. A really bad situation. TREASON means long jail sentences, and this was TREASON! he added. My Campaign for President was conclusively spied on. Nothing like this has ever happened in American Politics. A really bad situation. TREASON means long jail sentences, and this was TREASON! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 17, 2019 Trump also highlighted a poll by Fox News that found 58 percent of respondents believe the FBI broke the law in investigating the president. New Fox Poll: 58% of people say that the FBI broke the law in investigating Donald J. Trump. @foxandfriends Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 17, 2019 At least two spies were used to gather information about Trumps campaign. Stefan Halper, a retired professor who has links to the CIA and MI6, met with Carter Page, a volunteer adviser to Trumps presidential campaign in mid-2016, staying in touch for months afterward trying to glean information. Halper was paid more than $1 million by a secretive Defense Department think tank. A second spy, Azra Turk (not her real name), was named by Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos, who has said she tried to entrap him. Turk pretended to be an aide to Halper and met with Papadopoulos after Halper lured him to London by offering Papadopoulos $3,000 to write a research paper. Attorney General William Barr said in April that Trumps campaign was spied on and that he was reviewing the origin of the intelligence activities directed at the campaign, as well as the conduct of the agencies involved. A lot of this has already been investigated, a substantial portion of it has been investigated and is being investigated by the Office of the Inspector General at the department, he said. But one of the things I want to do is pull together all the information from the various investigations that have gone on, including on the [Capitol] Hill and in the [Justice] Department, and see if there are any remaining questions to be addressed. On May 14 it was reported that Barr has assigned U.S. Attorney John H. Durham in Connecticut to investigate whether spying on Trumps presidential campaign was adequately predicated. Durham may be one of the most uniquely qualified prosecutors for the job. In 2000, he exposed a group of FBI officials who used murderers as informants. The agents covered up a murder committed by a pair of mobster informants by framing four innocent men. The conspiracy to cover up for the murder involved the agents, their supervisors, and the FBI director himself, according to a ruling (pdf) by a judge who awarded the framed men and their estates more than $100 million in 2006. The bureau didnt appeal the ruling. Durhams findings led to a congressional investigation of the FBIs use of confidential human sources. In 2003, Congress released a scorching 3,500-page report titled The FBIs Use of Murderers as Informants. The report concluded that the FBIs conduct in the case amounted to one of the greatest failures in the history of federal law enforcement. In the wake of the murderer-informant lawsuits and investigation, the FBI overhauled its Confidential Human Source Program. Durham will now be probing the same program that was reformed as a result of his prior work. The investigation, along with other probes being conducted by the Department of Justice, will be examining some or all of at least 10 questions that have arisen about the origins of the spying, known as Spygate. Epoch Times reporter Ivan Pentchoukov contributed to this report. From NTD News Trump Says He Does Not Want US War With Iran WASHINGTONU.S. President Donald Trump has told his top advisers he does not want to get the United States involved in a war with Iran, three U.S. officials said on May 16. He doesnt want to go to war. Its not who he is, one official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Trump has communicated to his national security team and other aides, including the acting secretary of defense chief Patrick Shanahan, that he does not want to see tensions with Tehran escalate, the officials said. But he has also made clear that he will protect U.S. interests in the region, one official said. The New York Times and CNN made public details of U.S. intelligence reports to the White House saying that Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps had put fully assembled missiles aboard small boats in the Persian Gulf, citing media leaks from anonymous officials, which stoked fears that U.S. naval ships could be fired upon. The United States responded to the intelligence by sending a carrier strike group and a bomber task force that was in the Mediterranean, national security adviser John Bolton said on May 5. The Wall Street Journal later reported on May 16 that Iran has repeatedly denied that it has any plans to attack U.S. forces, calling the intelligence being cited by U.S. officials as fake intelligence. Trump won the 2016 election in part by promising to stay out of conflicts abroad after what he viewed as costly wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Earlier this year he ordered U.S. troops out of Syria but was persuaded to leave some in. Trump told reporters on Thursday that he hoped the United States was not heading to war with Iran as he met with Switzerland President Ueli Maurer, whose nation has served as a liaison conduit between the two countries since they do not have diplomatic relations. Hope not, Trump said when asked by reporters if Washington was going to war with Tehran. Tensions have escalated in recent days with increasing concerns about a potential U.S.-Iran conflict. Earlier this week, the United States pulled some diplomatic staff from its embassy in Baghdad following weekend attacks on four oil tankers in the Gulf. The president has been clear, the United States does not seek military conflict with Iran, and he is open to talks with Iranian leadership. However, Irans default option for 40 years has been violence, and we will protect U.S. personnel and interests in the region, said Garrett Marquis, spokesman for the White House National Security Council. A White House statement said the two leaders discussed a range of international issues, including the crises in the Middle East and in Venezuela. Trump has said publicly he wants to pursue a diplomatic route with Iran a year after withdrawing the United States from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Responding to reports of infighting between him and his advisers, such as White House national security adviser John Bolton, Trump tweeted, There is no infighting whatsoever. Different opinions are expressed and I make a decisive and final decision it is a very simple process. All sides, views, and policies are covered. The Fake News Washington Post, and even more Fake News New York Times, are writing stories that there is infighting with respect to my strong policy in the Middle East. There is no infighting whatsoever. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 15, 2019 Im sure that Iran will want to talk soon, Trump added, indicating his preference for direct negotiations if needed, which would be contrary to the advice of some advisors, the WSJ reported. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told Fox News Channels Fox & Friends that there is no friction between Trump and his advisers and he welcomes different viewpoints. Hes the one the American people elected. Hes going to take in the information and the guidance from all of his national security team and he then will make a decision on what he thinks is the best and safest thing for the American people, she said. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday welcomed what she called Trumps lack of appetite for military conflict with Tehran. Classified Briefings Expected Congressional sources said on Thursday that officials from the Trump administration will conduct classified briefings on the situation with Iran next week, after both Democratic and Republican lawmakers asked for more information. Congressional aides said that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Joseph Dunford and Shanahan would hold a session on Tuesday afternoon for all members of the Senate. Aides in the House of Representatives said they also expected a briefing next week with Pompeo, but other details had not yet been made final. By Steve Holland and Phil Stewart. With additional reporting by Epoch Times staff. Universal Basic Income Programs Dont Work Well, Report Says Universal basic income (UBI) programs in which the government gives all citizens regular, unconditional cash payments sufficient on which to live, dont work well in the real world, according to a study by a global trade union federation. Liberals have been pushing the idea of giving people money for doing nothing for years and the idea has popped up recently on the campaign trail as Democratic candidates compete for their partys 2020 presidential nomination. President Richard Nixon flirted with the idea in 1969, supporting legislation that would have paid $1,600 annually to a family of four, but the bill never made it out of Congress. In the 1960s and early 1970s, New Jersey and Pennsylvania experimented with income maintenance programs. Oakland, California, is scheduled this year to begin a five-year trial-funded Silicon Valley company, Y Combinator. The trial will randomly select 3,000 people and give half of them $1,000 per month, clawed back through tax from higher-income recipients, and $50 per month to the other half with no clawback, according to the report, which was produced by the France-based global trade union federation Public Services International and the Britain-based New Economics Foundation think tank, and written from a left-of-center perspective. Support for UBI programs, in which a simple cash payment is made to every citizen without other requirements or restrictions, surfaces periodically in the United States, a country that is traditionally more hostile to government-funded welfare programs than European nations. Business magnates Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and Richard Branson and right-leaning scholars such as Charles Murray of the American Enterprise Institute support it. Murray and some libertarian thinkers see UBI as an alternative to an ever-expanding bureaucratic welfare state. UBI has been tried in Kenya, India, and Finland, with mixed success. Labor leaders such as former Service Employees International Union boss Andy Stern and left-leaning businessman Andrew Yang view UBI as a means of cushioning the blow for low-skilled workers replaced by automation. In April, Yang, who is seeking the Democratic Partys presidential nomination, promoted the idea on ABCs This Week, saying it would undo some of the harm that automation has done to labor markets. He said that providing every American with a $1,000 guaranteed monthly income would help solve the problems that got Donald Trump elected in 2016. To me, the main driver of his victory was that we automated away 4 million manufacturing jobs in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, the swing states he needed to win, Yang said. Well, this has been in place in one state, Alaska, for almost 40 years, where its universal. Everyone in the state gets between $1,000 and $2,000 a year from oil money, Yang explained. And because its oil money, theres no stigma attached, its not a rich to poor transfer, and its wildly popular in a conservative state. So what we have to do is we make it a right of citizenship for all Americans and do what they are doing in Alaska with oil money, with technology money for everyone around the country. But the report, Universal Basic Income: A Union Perspective, concludes that making cash payments to individuals to increase their purchasing power in a free-market economy is not a viable route to solving problems caused or exacerbated by neoliberal market economics. There is no evidence that UBI has achieved durable improvements in well-being anywhere it has been tried, the report finds. There is also no evidence that UBI, which some claim is a silver bullet that will solve many of societys problems, in any form can be affordable, inclusive, sufficient and sustainable at the same time, and warns labor activists that there is no evidence UBI will help to increase the bargaining power of workers and trade unions or solve problems of low pay and precarious work. Pressing for UBI wastes political energies that could be devoted to more important causes. Yang is overselling the Alaska Permanent Fund, which was established in 1976 and remains in effect, according to the study. The fund makes annual payments to adults and children from revenue generated by oil, regardless of the individuals income. In 2017, the payment was $1,100. Payments are withheld from those incarcerated at any point during the year and those convicted of two felonies in a 10-year period are barred from the program for 10 years. Payments are seized from those who owe outstanding taxes, have filed for bankruptcy, or committed acts of domestic violence. Student loan debtors can elect to have the payment applied to their outstanding loan debt. The Alaska fund has had mixed results, according to the study. Under it, women are less likely to seek employment. Rural indigenous families have benefitted from the program, but any positive effect that it has drops over time. The fund has had a larger effect on poverty among children and elders than for the rural Alaska Native population as a whole, leading to declining poverty rates for older people but rising poverty among the young. The debate over universal basic income programs wont end anytime soon. US Ship Finds Mysterious Ghost Ship, Whole Crew Dead. What Happens Next Is Shocking The content is not available due to expiration. Students cheer during commencement ceremonies at Columbia University May 18, 2005 in New York City. This is the 251st class to graduate from Columbia. Spencer Platt/Getty Images What Is True Diversity? Commentary Among the advantages of occasional hops across the pond to visit children stationed in Germany, or more recently to relish coma-inducing dining experiences, is the opportunity to observe national habits and collect views on a variety of subjects. Indeed, no trip to the old country would be complete without imbibing cultural delights and learning, for instance, that many Europeans get views about the United States via CNN. I tried to point out that this is something akin to trying to learn about Soviet Russia from Pravda accounts, but to no avail. Shaking my head wearily, I plunged forward. Sometimes to my dismay. I dont advise dwelling on the Muppets Swedish Chef when visiting Gothenburg, or any other Swedish city, for that matter; my impressions of him werent welcomed. Neither was a question about the status of Muslim immigrants in that country, even though our perky, blue-eyed, blond-haired guide put on a convincing show about how there are no problems with Swedens newest inhabitants, and anyway, the country needs more people. You know, to keep the birth rate high, and to contribute to the tax base, as well as to the multicultural smorgasbord that Euro-elites insist must be continental policy. Diversity uber alles, one might say, though in a subdued voice. Which brings us to our current interest, one that dazzled us for every moment we were on a ship that seemed big enough to swallow the entire small town that we call home in the U.S. Midwest. What we observed in the staff and crew on our floating extravaganza was diversitytrue, functioning diversity of backgrounds, languages, interests, and skills, which hummed along with admirable efficiency in the performance of complex, time-sensitive tasks, every step of the way. Intrigued by this process, I asked several individuals about company recruitment procedures, shipboard priorities, employee qualifications, and the cultural and geographic range of efforts to acquire the best people possible. What I learned provided object lessons on how best to attain true diversity in a work environment. The most important point that emerged from our discussions was that the American cult of diversity, as preached in academia and business, has a perverse nature to it. In fact, the gargantuan diversity and inclusion bureaucracies in this country, as Heather Mac Donald stressed in The Diversity Delusion, are worse than useless; theyre saturated with self-serving functionaries whose activities undermine the foundations of U.S. societybusiness, government, and equal treatment under the law. Is this a harsh conclusion? Consider our recent national experience. The Diversity Scam Few shibboleths have had as much circulation as those associated with the word diversity. Our ears are hammered by variations of our strength is in our diversity, based on the multicultural creed that all cultures are more or less equal in their value to the enrichment and development of humankind. The obvious falsehood of this assumption leaps from pages of history filled with stunning variations of individuals well-being determined by experiments in recorded times; some cultures advance human freedom, prosperity, and enlightenment, and some dont. The United States vaunted diversity practices fall in the latter category. Mac Donalds trenchant observation summarizes this point quite well: Diversity in the academy purported to be about bridge-building and broadening peoples experiences. It has had the opposite effect: dividing society, reducing learning, and creating an oppositional mind-set that prevents individuals from seizing the opportunities available to them. It is humanistic learning, by contrast, that involves an actual encounter with diversity and difference, as students enter worlds radically different from their own. Humanistic study involves imaginative empathy and curiosity, which are being squelched in todays university in favor of self-engrossed complaint. Teaching the classics is the duty we owe these great works for giving us an experience of the sublime. Once we stop lovingly transmitting them to the next generation, they die. In fact, Mac Donalds thorough treatment cataloged how diversity protocols exacerbate social divisions, often to violent levels. Its no exaggeration to say that progressive diversity inevitably will destroy the country. Why is this the case? The principal reason is that diversity as preached and practiced on campus and in the business world is based on collectivist principles that are barely distinguishable from those embodied by totalitarian governments. Consider the remarks by Colleen Sheehan and James Matthew Wilson in a Wall Street Journal essay about A Mole Hunt for Diversity Bias at Villanova. They were responding to the universitys imposition of diversity sensitivity included in student evaluations of faculty teaching: Students are being asked to rate professors according to their perceived agreement with progressive political opinion on bias and identity. Students are also invited to comment on the instructors sensitivity to the diversity of the students in the class. Professors are rated on their sensitivity to a students biological sex, disability, gender identity, national origin, political viewpoint, race/ethnicity, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, etc.' The assumption is that the identities cited by professors Sheehan and Wilson constitute categories comprising persons who are regarded merely as so many interchangeable parts extracted from a collectivity dominated by a single point of view. In other words, there are no independent human beings in this scheme, only embodiments of groups characterized in self-defined terms, or by perspectives imputed to them by battalions of diversity and inclusion functionaries who run the organization. Thus, the concept of a university collapses into a menagerie of tribalized victims officially regarded as marginalized by the system and therefore deserving special treatment. They all have the assurance that diversity and inclusion are not accessories in higher education today, they are at its core, according to Villanovas official response to the SheehanWilson editorial. The universitys president and provost also insisted that to foster knowledge without a concern for human connection, or absent a concern for how such knowledge can ignite change in our communities is, simply put, inadequate and hollow. This appalling, politicized redefinition of academias core mission couldnt have been stated better by scribblers in Soviet Russia or the Third Reich. The Inclusion Scam The second half of the cult refers to practices that are as meretricious as the first, namely, that diversocrats with six-figure incomes truly are concerned with including every tribal hue, nuance, and peculiarity and guaranteeing a seat at the diversity table. No one should be left out (except those who object to the cult), everyone deserves to be included. Except when they dont or are encouraged to opt out. The National Association of Scholars (NAS) published a report this year that documents the neo-segregation they found on American campuses. The authors of this two-year study stated, What we found was that neo-segregation is widespread if not pervasive. About 46 percent (80 colleges out of 173 surveyed) segregate student orientation programs, 45 percent (75 colleges out of the total) offer segregated residential arrangements, and 72 percent (125 colleges out of the total) segregate graduation ceremonies. Like the United States descent into tribalism, this amounts to legal and cultural atavism, stepping backward in the social, legal, and constitutional development of the United States to the time when Plessy v. Fergusons separate but equal doctrine ruled the land. The effects of such practices, which are becoming more widespread, are stated in chilling terms by the NAS authors: They [members of the segregated group] are encouraged to see themselves as victims or potential victims, and as heirs to past grievances. Training students to see themselves as vulnerable to the transgressions of a larger, intolerant or bigoted community is poor preparation for life in American society. Students who venture outside the segregated bubble may indeed encounter some hostile attitudes and racial stereotypes, but surely it is better to learn how to deal with these realities than to hide from them. Indeed, more than hide from them, many prisoners of such bubbles conclude they have nothing to lose by emphasizing their status. They are victims, to be sure: victims of diversity and inclusion. What Is True Diversity? All of which brings us to our principal question about the true basis of diversity, if by that term, we mean including individuals from a variety of backgrounds to function in a community based on mutual respect and recognition. I queried several officials about this during our trip; the responses of gentlemen from Romania and Turkey were particularly instructive, and can be summarized as follows: The individual comes first. There are various ways to state this principle; the concept of meritocracy is inextricably involved, and cant be separated. Perhaps a better way of expressing the importance of individual qualifications is this: The individual and his or her qualifications come first; there is no second. In other words, human resources people dont agonize over irrelevancies by saying something like, Lets take the Iranian and Thai, put a hold on Morocco. Rather, its a matter of applicants going through a rigorous, three-part vetting process, the last stage culminating in the persons potential boss conducting the final interview. I do it! exclaimed the charming, no-nonsense chief from Turkey. Then, theres a probation period to determine if the person hired could cut it or has instead decided to try another profession. What was the result of this process? Diversity. Diversity of talent. I lost track of workers national origins after 20 or so countries, which included Indonesia, Mexico, Kazakhstan, the Philippines, Singapore, a whole slew of Asian countries (I apologize for this lack of specificity), plus a bunch in Europe and Africa. Im lousy at trying to figure out where people are from without asking, so I didnt even guess about those I didnt have a chance to meet. What did they all have in common? They had all succeeded in navigating a challenging review and performance process, which guaranteed to each employee that their colleagues deserved respect, not from a hyped-up affirmative action protocol renamed as diversity, but from proving themselves worthy on an individual basis. Admittedly, what took place behind the scenes was opaque to us and at all events didnt matter. To repeat, officials in charge told me in no uncertain terms that only performance counted; there was no anything else that claimed an iota of interest for those in charge or for their employees. Individuals doing their jobs dominated; who they were, where they came from, what their cultures were likeall extraneous. No doubt interesting, fascinating, in fact, but irrelevant. Conclusion: The lesson for American diversity and inclusion authorities is clear: Theyre going about it in completely the wrong way. That is, respect for disparate cultures and experiences must be earned, not dictated, and that can only happen when individuals are respected first for their talents and contributions to common efforts. Interest in individuals backgrounds naturally ensues after the person in question demonstrates his or her worthiness as a fellow student, colleague, or business associate. Then, we can explore more deeply what theyre all about. In fact, theres a good name for that sort of curiosity, that sort of practice, and the policy it implies. Its called diversity. Marvin Folkertsma is a retired professor of political science and a fellow for American studies with The Center for Vision and Values at Grove City College. The author of several books, his latest release is a novel titled The Thirteenth Commandment. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. White House Provides Site to Report Social Media Complaints Related to Political Bias The Trump administration has set up a website where people can file a report if they believe their social media accounts have been banned, suspended, or otherwise affected because of political bias. The Trump Administration is fighting for free speech online, the White House said in a May 15 tweet. No matter your views, if you suspect political bias has caused you to be censored or silenced online, we want to hear about it! The website, wh.gov/techbias, asks its visitors a series of questions, including name, email address, what happened to their social media accounts, and on what social media, offering the options of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Other. The Trump Administration is fighting for free speech online. No matter your views, if you suspect political bias has caused you to be censored or silenced online, we want to hear about it! https://t.co/9lc0cqUhuf pic.twitter.com/J8ICbx42dz The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 15, 2019 SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS should advance FREEDOM OF SPEECH, the site says. Yet too many Americans have seen their accounts suspended, banned, or fraudulently reported for unclear violations of user policies. If a specific social media post is involved, the website asks for a link to it. If the social media platform sent the user a notification, the website asks for a screenshot of it. The site asks people to agree with a roughly one-page User Agreement, which outlines that people who submit their reports must be citizens or lawful permanent residents of the United States and over 18 years of age. It also explains that the government can use, edit, display, publish, broadcast, transmit, post, or otherwise distribute all the information people provide. President Donald Trump recently came to the defense of conservatives censored by tech companies, after Facebook banned several influential figures from its social media platforms in early May. This is the United States of Americaand we have whats known as FREEDOM OF SPEECH! he said in a tweet. We are monitoring and watching, closely!! I am continuing to monitor the censorship of AMERICAN CITIZENS on social media platforms. This is the United States of America and we have whats known as FREEDOM OF SPEECH! We are monitoring and watching, closely!! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2019 The tech companies have denied that there is political bias in their content policing, but have increasingly cracked down on hate speecha concept derived from the ideology of political correctness, which is shunned by a majority of Americans. Only 36 percent of Americans would like the country to be more politically correct, according to a Nov. 28Dec. 4 NPR/PBS/Marist poll (pdf). Moreover, Americans significantly diverge on what hate speech is. Democrats are much more likely to call a variety of statements hateful, while Republicans are more likely to call them offensive, but not hateful, a 2017 Cato survey showed (pdf). Conservatives have been reluctant to call for government intervention into how social media polices content, but many worry that social medias silencing popular, albeit controversial, conservative commentators could sway the results of the 2020 presidential election. Everyone Facebook has banned was instrumental in getting Donald Trump elected. This is punishment, this is political purge. This has nothing to do with hate or violating terms of service, said Paul Joseph Watson, chief reporter at InfoWars, in a May 2 YouTube video after his Facebook and Instagram accounts were deleted. The most popular idea on how the government could push against social media censorship is to strip them of their designation as a platform. Interactive computer service providers are shielded from liability for content created by their users under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. The argument is that if the tech companies want to excessively filter, sort, and restrict content on their platforms, they should be treated as publishers and thus face liability if the content is defamatory. The hope would then be that the companies would lay off the censorship in order to avoid being designated as publishers. In this June 24, 2015, file photo, people walk between corn fields in South Hwanghae, North Korea. AP-Yonhap North Korea's media reported Friday that the country's precipitation has dropped to the lowest level in more than 100 years amid worries that the ongoing drought could aggravate the impoverished state's food shortages. North Korea received 56.3 millimeters of rain or snow from January to May 15, the smallest amount since 1917, according to the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North's ruling party. "We expect rain to fall twice by the end of May due to low pressure in the northern area, but we don't think it will rain enough to overcome drought," the paper quoted a weather expert as saying. "Such weather conditions will likely continue into early June." It appears that the North's drought has been getting worse in recent weeks. In this June 24, 2015, file photo, farmers are dwarfed against a hill as they work in a corn field in South Hwanghae, North Korea. AP-Yonhap Mike Burzynski, of Moneta, has recently been elected to serve a three-year term on Agapes Board of Directors. Having been an Agape volunteer for a little over a year, he is also a Mentor and Director of Furniture Pick-Up. I serve at Agape because being able to share the Gospel is the distinctive difference between Agape and many other good organizations in the area, Burzynski said. Burzynski first heard about Agape through a class he and his wife, Leslie, teach at CrossPointe Church in Wirtz. Burzynski and his family owned moving and storage businesses throughout the Mid-Atlantic states, and recently sold them in order to become more involved in ministry. He and Leslie have two daughters, one in Maryland and one in South Carolina. Gods sense of humor showed up because after we retired, I thought I was done with furniture and storage, Burzynski said. He put me here at Agape, where I am again involved in furniture and storage. Asking is an important element to everything he does, and as a result, he has seen several of his clients either turn, or return, to a life focused on Jesus and following the Lord, which is the mission of Agape. As a result of his business background, he keeps things simple. He recalls, When we were in business, we made decisions based on whether it was good for the customer and if it served the needs of the customer, it would be good for our business. It is that same approach I bring to the Agape Board: if it serves the client well, it will be successful for the organization. I think in terms of the experience each client will encounter here: how we treat them, do they come first, and do they feel significant to us? The Burzynskis have a background in premarital, marital, and family counseling, and have served in many roles within their church throughout the years. We just tried to plug in wherever help was needed, and that is the same attitude we have brought to Agape, he said. I am happy to serve on the Board and share my perspective in order to help make our organization even more effective. Burzynski traveled to Burma on his first mission trip in 2018. He said, We served in the feeding program among the most impoverished people and we also ministered in a maximum-security prison, sharing nutritious food and the Gospel with literally hundreds of prisoners. It was significant that a government-run facility in a Buddhist country allowed Christians to serve their prisoners in this way. Through both of these avenues, many came to Christ and are being followed up by the local church. The Agape Center at Smith Mountain Lake provides mentoring, food, clothing, household goods, furniture and more to those in our community who need help through difficult times. Over 300 volunteers serve an average of 2500 individuals per month from Bedford and Franklin Counties. The Agape Center is a partner program of Feeding America Southwest Virginia. It is hard to believe that it is graduation time for our high schoolers and college students. I was thinking about everyone who is graduating, and I recalled my own graduations. The graduation ceremony that stands out in my mind is my college graduation. I remember being overjoyed as I sat there, waiting to receive my diploma. It was a beautiful, warm day in May 2001. As I sat through the commencement speeches and watched my classmates receive their diplomas (one of the downsides to having your last name at the back of the alphabet), I remember being elated at what I had accomplished. I also had other thoughts running through my head. I was trying to remember to grab the diploma with my left hand and shake the Presidents hand with the right. I just knew that I would mess that up. I was also looking forward to the meal afterwards. In other words, I was thinking about everything except the inevitable and most important thing: what would happen next? That reality hit me when graduation wrapped up. I remember standing with my friends on the college quad and just staring at them. Suddenly, we were all going our separate ways to do something else. All I knew was everything was getting ready to change and I was not ready for that. I remember that feeling to this day I felt a sense of doom hanging over my head as I walked to my car. The future was scary, and I did not know how I would navigate it. I wish I would have had someone to hand me the Bible verse I am going to pass along to you. Its from the Old Testament. Joshua 1:7-9 says, Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Joshua was graduating in a manner of speaking. The great Moses had just died, the Israelites were preparing to cross the Jordan into the future that God had laid out for them, and, just like me, everyone was scared and uncertain. Joshua was the new guy to lead them through all of this. So, God told Joshua and the people to be strong and courageous because God would always be with them. Those are pretty good words for our graduates and the rest of us. Graduation is just the first of many changes and new chapters that will knock the socks off us in life. At each twist and turn, remember Gods words to Joshua: do not be afraid, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. That promise has proved to be true for me. Looking back, things have all worked out okay (minus a few bumps in the road). The forks in the road, like graduation, can be overwhelming and challenging. However, the forks are where we get to start something new and amazing! The doctors were mystified. Theyd never seen anything like it. Well try to be discreet about the details, but even the glossed-over version remains gruesome. The boy was covered with open sores. He had a hard time breathing. He had three different types of sexually transmitted diseases. He was also 15 and said hed been this way for two years before he showed up in a hospital in St. Louis. For months, doctors tried everything they knew, but his immune system simply seemed to be shutting down. He never said very much; the hospital staff thought him mentally disabled. All doctors knew was that he was a street kid with the strangest symptoms theyd ever seen. Fifty years ago, May 15, 1969, at 11:20 p.m. central time, the boy died. His name was Robert Rayford, and today we know him as the first confirmed AIDS victim in the United States. That date runs counter to our popular perception of the AIDs crisis that erupted in the early 1980s. A study published in the American Journal of Medicine published in 1984 traced many, though not all, of the early infections to a single source. The definitive book on the early history of AIDs And The Band Played On, by Randy Shilts gave this Air Canada flight attendant an ominous title, Patient Zero. Since then, there have been multiple studies that dispute the Patient Zero theory, because the spread of AIDS wasnt so simple as a single carrier whose job took him from one city to another. However, the disease did spread rapidly in the early 80s, but that was not the first time the virus had appeared. In 1959, a man showed up at a clinic in Leopoldville now Kinsasha in the African nation of Congo with unexplained symptoms. There likely were other victims whose cases simply were filed away and forgotten. In reality, weve had 60 years of AIDs and didnt know it. The Rayford case stands as the first confirmed case in the United States for the same reason that the 1959 case in Congo stands as the first confirmed case in the world the doctors in both cases were so perplexed by the autopsy results that they took samples of blood and tissue and froze them in their labs in hope someday someone could figure out what killed him. That day in the Rayford case came nearly two decades later when in 1987 doctors announced tests showed he had the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDs. The testing in the 1959 Congo case came later and showed the same result. AIDS was a mystery when it first went viral. One Associated Press story carried in The Roanoke Times in 1983 cited a study speculating that it was caused by plant fungus. Thanks to scientists who have studied the molecular history, we now know that HIV had been incubated in primates in Africa since about 30,000 B.C. but didnt affect humans until the early 1900s. To be continued... NORWALK Eli Restrepo had a tense moment Thursday morning and a difficult decision was in his hands. In the gym of Columbus Magnet School, Restrepo, 10, sat at a long table with 19 of his classmates facing the stage, over which a projector screen was broadcasting an additional seven members of his class, each of whom represented an Apollo astronaut. Restrepo held the lofty title of flight director in Columbus 24th annual Young Astronauts mission, an approximate re-enactment and celebration of the 50th anniversary of both the Apollo 11 and 12 lunar landings, called In Vistigiis Apollo 2019, which a group of 27 fifth-graders played out over the course of 24 hours Thursday into Friday. My job is to make sure everything is in check. I have to make key decisions and I have the power to abort, Restrepo said after the ordeal, in which the space capsule was said to be struck by lightning, causing an interruption in the broadcast. It was one in a series of simulated emergencies that the students would be asked to respond to during the mission and Restrepo coolly made the choice not to abort and to carry on. The two-day mission was the culmination of years of work for the fifth-graders. Lessons relating to Young Astronauts Mission Landing are worked into the curriculum from the time students are in first grade. In fifth grade, students choosing to take part begin meeting weekly, working toward the final simulation in May. Its an after school program, but it really is integrated into the whole school fabric. Its woven into who we are, said Commander-in-Chief and Columbus fourth-grade teacher Andrew Pearce. This is one of the strongest fabrics of the school. Its unique. Its unlike anything youll see anywhere. It represents everything great about Columbus, Principal Medard Thomas said Pearce has helmed the operation for close to two decades. He inherited it from the creator of Young Astronauts, former Columbus Principal Arthur Perschino, who died of cancer earlier this year. Thursday and Fridays mission was the first since his death, and Perschinos legacy was honored often during event. A patch commemorating this years mission features the moon, the capsule, five sides celebrating 50 years since the missions, 27 stars for kids in the mission, all with their names, Perschinos name at the top in gold, with a pair of black songs over an image of the moon, in honor of the song that Perschino would sing to his students and which was sung at the landing ceremony Friday morning. The lyrics go: Black socks, they never get dirty, the longer you wear them, the stronger they get. Sometimes, I think I should wash them, but something inside me keeps saying not yet. Its like I was losing a second father, Pearce said of his relationship with Perschino, who was a mentor and a close friend. He was a standup guy in every way and a fabulous principal. If it wasnt for him, this wouldnt have happened. The Friday launch ceremony and all-school assembly was attended by Mayor Harry Rilling, members of the Common Council, Board of Education, Central Office staff, state Reps. Lucy Dathan, D-New Canaan, Terrie Wood, R-Darien, and Travis Simms, D-Norwalk, former Columbus Principal Marilyn Liberatore, parent volunteers and former astronauts, each of whom saluted Pearce as they greeted him. As we look back to the past, for the inspiration for the future, we are reminded not only of the technical skill of the astronauts and controllers of Apollo, but how their dreams fired up the imagination of someone to whom we owe the entire Columbus Young Astronauts program. it is with a great sense of gratitude that we, the members of In Vistigiis Apollo, and indeed all of Columbus, dedicate this mission to Arthur J. Perschino, the great Mr. P, said Noah Welte, 11, one of two public affairs officers, before the landing simulation began. When our astronauts are standing on the lunar surface, we know that Mr. P is looking down on them with a smile in his heart. He set a high bar for all of us, but we know he will be proud of everything the school has accomplished. What followed was a roughly 30-minute landing sequence, led by the students in roles like capcom, surgeon, guidance officer and flight dynamics officer, among others, for which they auditioned and created biographies. The capsule crew members represented astronauts who took part in the actual Apollo missions, including Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Pete Conrad (the program allows capsule crew members to participate in a staged moon walk, in which they read lines spoken by the likes of Armstrong and Conrad). Each disembarked through the mist, provided by fog machines, following the landing to loud cheers from the auditorium. Kix Ryen, a parent volunteer whose son, Keir, was an integrated communications officer, or INCO, said the program teaches far more than science and history to the students. I see it as not just a science program, but also a primer for some real-life skills, Kix Ryen said. Its teaching them so many things beyond science. justin.papp@scni.com; @justinjpapp1; 203-842-2586 The East Norwalk Neighborhood Association will host its next meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday, May 20, in the Community Room of the Marvin Senior Center, 60 Gregory Blvd. The guest speaker will be Norwalk Superintendent of Parks Ken Hughes. He will speak about new parking procedures at Calf Pasture Beach and the status of the Veterans Memorial Park Master Plan implementation. For more information, email Info@eastnorwalk.org. Downtown The citys new poet laureate, Bill Hayden, has announced the formation of a poetry writing and reading workshop, beginning from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Monday, May 20, in the Carnegie Room of the Main Library, 1 Belden Ave. All writers, readers and appreciators of poetry are welcome. Each workshop will give participants the opportunity for informal readings of original poems, or works in progress in a safe space for trying out something new and receiving peer reactions and comments. Participants are also welcome to share a poem written by a favorite poet. Hayden is flexible on the workshops future format, and has ideas which include inviting visiting poets to read from their work, building a workshop around a suggested writing prompt or theme for poems, and giving short presentations on various poetic forms. To RSVP, contact Bill Hayden at poet_laureate@norwalkpl.org. For additional information about library programs, contact Cynde Bloom Lahey, director of library information services, at 203-899-2780 ext. 15133, or clahey@norwalkpl.org. The Green In honor of Jewish American Heritage Month, local historian Eric Chandler will present a new lecture, Jewish Participation in the American Revolution Red, White and Jewish, Sunday, May 19 at 2 p.m. at the Norwalk Historical Societys Mill Hill Historic Park Townhouse, 2 East Wall St. Chandler will share the stories of the Children of Abraham who fought for separation from England, explore the role played by Jews who took up arms and endured the hardships and hazards alongside their Christian neighbors and endangered themselves as intelligence gatherers, toiled to ensure a steady supply of food and war materiel and worked tirelessly as financiers. Although the Jews in Colonial America represented a small minority of the overall population, their contributions, individually and collectively, were significant beyond their meager numbers. Chandler worked for more than 30 years as an underwriter for a leading land title insurance company. He has been involved in American Revolutionary War Living History since 1974. He has portrayed infantry, light infantry, whale-boat raider, and mounted and dismounted dragoons. He is currently serving his third term as a member of the Norwalk Historical Commission and sits on the Norwalk Historical Society Board of Directors. His artistic endeavors included writing and recording a comedy CD, and decades as a musician in local rock n roll and blues bands. Tickets $8. Handicapped and Limited Mobility parking on site only. For general parking, please follow signs to parking across the street. South Norwalk The sixth annual Ninety9Bottles Craft Beer Festival will return to Oyster Shell Park Saturday, June 1, from 2 to 5 p.m. Samples of more than 75 different types of New England-based craft beers will be available, including established favorites and new batches. The event will include live music and food trucks. Price of admission includes a tasting glass and unlimited samples. General admission tickets are $40 before the event and $50 at the door. Pets and kids are not allowed. A portion of the proceeds will go to benefit the Tommy Spinola Memorial Foundation, which in turn donates to local charities and awards scholarships to Norwalk youths who have exemplified the traits that Tommy valued most: kindness, generosity, hard-work, and community service. To learn more please visit spinnersfoundation.org. Let us know whats going on in your neighborhood. Contact staff writer Justin Papp at justin.papp@scni.com or 203-842-2586. Presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., has unveiled a comprehensive gun violence prevention plan, but a New Hampshire woman this week dug deeper than a point-by-point discussion of possible new laws and regulations in an emotional exchange with him. Elizabeth Radecic, of Hooksett, a mother of two children and a gun owner, wanted to know how Booker, a resident of Newarks central ward, would end what she called a culture of apathy permeating the country to the frequent victimization of children in gun violence. Citing figures from the pro-gun control nonprofit organization Everytown for Gun Safety, Radecic told Booker, "Nearly 2,900 children, which is about the how many people died in the World Trade Center, and teens are shot and killed, and nearly 15,600 are shot and injured, every year." An estimated 3 million American children witness gun violence every year, she said. Firearms are the leading cause of death for black children and teens in the United States. Yet, our gun culture is currently anesthetized to children dying needlessly, and I say that as a gun owner. Radecic asked Booker, As president, how would you awaken our national conscience to this culture of apathy about our kids, our most precious resource, being killed? Plans and proposals aside, Radecic wanted to know how Booker, a former city council member and mayor of Newark, and a resident of the central ward, can do what no president has been able to do: rally the nation to a consensus. My children are as beautiful as all American children in my neighborhood, in my community, Booker said. We deal with this violence, not when there are these horrible, horrible mass shootings, but on a regular basis. Booker said there have been multiple shootings in his neighborhood, including one in recent weeks. He brought up the shooting death of his former neighbor, saying Shahad Smith was killed on my block, Booker said -- with an assault weapon in March 2018. He was among three people who were killed in Newark in less than 19 hours. I cant tell you the gruesome reality of living in a community where you see child after child die, and nobody seems to care, Booker said. And whats worse than that, now this is waking up as a reality for all Americans. We have Americans slaughtered in a church. Nothing changes. We have Americans killed at a concert. Nothing changes. Americans killed at a synagogue. Nothing changes. How can we do nothing? Booker asked. In my lifetime, 50 years, we have had more people killed by gun violence in America than every war in our countrys history, from the Revolutionary War to now combined. This is a uniquely American problem, and apathy is not enough. Im tired of thoughts and prayers. In my church, I was taught that faith without works is dead. Booker noted that while African American men and boys are 6% of the nations population, they comprise 50% of its homicide victims. As your president, Im going to bring a fight to this issue like has never been seen before, Booker said. Im going to wake up the moral imagination of this country that we should not be a nation with this kind of carnage. He said his plan calls for commonsense things, adding, This debate should not be framed by the corporate gun lobby, who has twisted and contorted our laws to make us less and less safe. When we are a nation that unifies across political divides, when we love all of our children, and when we act with a more courageous empathy for one another, we can solve problems, Booker said. Its how we won the civil rights movement, by expanding peoples understanding that were all in this together and we need to love one another." At the same time, Booker said his experience as mayor of a city of nearly 300,000 53% black and 30% Latino taught him that ideological purity does not solve problems. He said he would bring the same approach to the White House. The centerpiece of Bookers gun violence program is federal licensing, although he would also require universal background checks and an assault weapons ban and would limit handgun purchases to once each month. Booker said federal licensing is not that much of an intrusion. The only people who should be worried about my comprehensive gun safety plan are gun runners, criminals and the corporate gun lobby, which has been able to shift to a debate that works for them and their sales and their corporate profits and not for the safety of our community." Connecticut is among 15 states that require gun licensing, and Bookers campaign, citing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Kaiser Family Foundation, said researchers found a 40% drop in gun homicides and a 15% drop in gun suicides after the state passed the law. He said the Connecticut licensing program was not creating problems for law-abiding gun owners. The presidential National Security Office head Chung Eui-yong speaks at Cheong Wa Dae, Friday, about a South Korean man who was freed by the United Arab Emirates government after being abducted in July 2018 in Libya by members of a criminal group based in southern Libya. Yonhap A South Korean man who was abducted in Libya last year has been released thanks to a "decisive" role played by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the rescue effort, Cheong Wa Dae announced Friday. The 62-year-old was taken hostage by a group of armed militants on July 6, along with three Filipinos, while working at a desalination plant in western Libya. The man, identified only by his surname, Joo, was freed unharmed on Thursday (Seoul time), according to Chung Eui-yong, head of the presidential National Security Office. Chung said the UAE government played an active role in the release, as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan agreed to provide support for Seoul's related efforts during a summit with President Moon Jae-in in Seoul in late February. He expressed the government's gratitude to several nations for efforts to help win the release. Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE's Armed Forces, left, and Russia's President Vladimir Putin at the signing of the Russia-UAE Strategic Partnership Declaration in the Kremlin, June 1, 2018. TASS-Yonhap NORWALK A Massachusetts woman attacked a man early Friday and then lashed out at responding police officers, according to police. Officers responded to reports of a loud argument between a man and woman in the lobby of Hotel Zero Degrees, 353 Main Ave. Hotel employees told police a man who was bleeding from his face came down to the lobby around 2:30 a.m. and began arguing with a woman on speaker phone. By the time police arrived, the woman he had been arguing with had arrived in person at the hotel. The man told police that he and his female friend, Marianne Giannelli, 34, of Melrose, Massachusetts, had been out in South Norwalk when a verbal dispute got physical. He said that during the fight Giannelli struck him in the face, at which point he left without her. Police said when Giannelli was informed she would be detained, she began to act out and tried to kick an officer. She was eventually arrested and taken to police headquarters, where, police said, she was found to be in possession of a marijuana vaporizer. Giannelli was charged with possession of less than a half-ounce of marijuana, third-degree assault, interfering with an officer and disorderly conduct. She was held on $1,000 bond and given a court date of May 17. The man was taken to Norwalk Hospital where he was treated for his injuries. United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter Jr. sentenced Elmer Alexander Andrade Thursday to prison for 14 and a half years to be followed by a 5-year term of supervised release. Andrade was convicted of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. On Jan. 18, 2018, in Hall County, a Nebraska State Trooper stopped a black Ford Expedition driven by Andrade for a traffic violation. Investigators searched the Expedition and recovered approximately 55 pounds of methamphetamine. Investigators subsequently executed a search warrant at an apartment in Hastings. Among the items seized from the apartment were narcotics packaging material, a scale, police scanners, ledgers, $17,820 and an AR-15 firearm. The case was investigated by the Central Nebraska Drug and Safe Streets Task Force. When she submitted her sample to Ancestry.com, Gorecki didnt know much about DNA. Its more helpful than she realized because the information tells you how much DNA you share with somebody, and then you can estimate how youre related to them, she said. Gorecki and Claassen do not share enough DNA with Karjalainen to be half-siblings. But we do share enough DNA to be half-first cousins. A year ago this month, Claassen, Gorecki and Goreckis daughter flew to Arizona to surprise Karjalainen at her birthday party. It was the first time they saw each other in person. Since then, theyve gotten together seven more times. I feel like our family has bloomed and grown because of this, Gorecki said. Weve gained a really good friend and a good family member. We love her. She has been very supportive. She has blended right in. Karjalainen says it seems like theyve always known each other. Growing up, Karjalainen felt like her interests were different from those of her family. But she shares characteristics with both Claassen and Gorecki. She and Gorecki were surprised to find that, independently, they had bought the same wallet. Police/Sheriff Anyone with information about any crime in the state may call the Grand Island-Hall County Crime Stoppers, (308) 381-8822. Callers will remain anonymous. A reward of up to $1,000 will be paid after law enforcement agencies have determined the seriousness of the crime and the usefulness of the information. Inmate custody status can be obtained by calling the VINE hotline at (877) NE 4 VINE or by visiting www.vinelink.com. Information is available 24 hours a day. If you see a crime happening, call the Grand Island-Hall County Emergency Center 911. Grand Island Police The following felonies were reported: EDWARDSVILLE Artist Li Wang traveled from Florida to visit Father McGivney Catholic High School to share some insight behind his paintings and his career as an artist with the students. Wangs visit was part of the Art on the Squares Artist in Residency outreach program. Other artists visited different schools in the area to show their work as well. It was his first time teaching art to high school students and he described it as being a wonderful experience. Wang told the students that painting is easy, but then explained it used to be very hard for him. He used to paint from photos or images in front of him, but now he is able to paint images he creates in his mind. If I close my eyes, I can do something like that, Wang said as he showed the class his on-the-spot painting. As he painted, Wang taught the class about his usage of different lighting and that he enjoys the contrast between black and white. Wang was born in to a family of artists. He grew up in China, and was raised to become an artist himself. Wang explained to the class that he learned to create traditional Chinese art growing up. Everyday after going to school, he would come home to do family homework, this consisted of Wang painting for over two hours. Wang moved to Florida over 10 years ago. Now he travels throughout the year with his art, where it is featured in more than 20 different shows. His art is displayed and for sale all year in two exhibits in Florida and one in New York. Wangs art will be shown and available for purchase this weekend at Art on the Square in Belleville. Art on the Square begins at 4-9 p.m. Friday and continues from 11 a.m. - 9 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. - 5 p.m Sunday. For more information on Li Wang visit liwangart.com. Reach reporter Bre Booker at bre.booker@edwpub.net National Security Office chief Chung Eui-yong announces the release of a Korean man, who had been held as a hostage in Libya from July 2018, at Cheong Wa Dae, Friday. / Yonhap By Yi Whan-woo A Korean man kidnapped by Libyan rebel forces in July last year has been freed, Cheong Wa Dae said Friday. The 62-year-old man, only identified by his last name Joo, was taken hostage by 10 armed militants while working at a desalination plant in southwestern Libya. He was released unharmed Thursday, along with three Filipinos who were kidnapped with him, according to National Security Office chief Chung Eui-yong, Chung said the government of the United Arab Emirates was behind Joo's release. He said UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan promised President Moon Jae-in to provide assistance for the release of the Korean hostage during their summit in Seoul in late February. The UAE supports the Libyan National Army (LNA), a militia that has been expanding its influence to the outer regions since controlling the eastern part of war-torn Libya. The UAE's "special relations" with the LNA were decisive in freeing Joo, Chung explained. Joo has been transported to the Korean Embassy in the UAE. He had a medical check-up in Abu Dhabi and is reportedly in good health. He will return to Seoul, Saturday. "Joo was freed unharmed yesterday, after being kidnapped on July 6 last year and held as a hostage for 315 days," Chung said during a press briefing. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Intelligence Service (NIS) formed a taskforce after Joo's abduction, and made rescue efforts in cooperation with the internationally-recognized government of Libya and world powers including the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Italy. "The UAE government stepped up, leading to the safe rescue of Joo just as the UAE crown promised President Moon when they met in February," Chung said "The government thanks all our allies that have supported us on this rescue mission. The government and President Moon especially convey a message of gratitude to the UAE government and UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan for their decisive roles." Citing UAE government sources, a Cheong Wa Dae official said there was no ransom in rescuing Joo and that the UAE "capitalized on its influence in the LNA-controlled region as well as its influence with tribes there in negotiations." Korea has been operating the Cheonghae anti-terrorism unit in the waters off Somalia as part of U.N. efforts to fight piracy in international sea lanes. When asked why the Cheonghae Unit was not mobilized to rescue Joo, Chung said, "There were too many risk factors to consider, such as the unstable political situation in Libya." "Still, our government is making sure that the inhumane criminal act of kidnapping foreigners is never acceptable in the international community," he added. Meanwhile, Joo thanked President Moon and the government. He also apologized for "the hardship caused to many" in their rescue efforts. Joo is known to have worked in Libya for decades. Seoul imposed travel restrictions on Libya in 2014 but he reportedly could not easily leave the country. Thirty-eight Korean citizens were staying in Libya when Joo was abducted last year. The Korean government asked all of them to return home but four of them, citing livelihood reasons, remain there. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Duncan Graham (The Jakarta Post) Malang, East Java Fri, May 17, 2019 More than 16 million Australians will go to polls for the federal election this Saturday. By comparison with Indonesias razzmatazz last month, the neighbors are playing tiddlywinks. That doesnt mean the Ozzie system is slicker. If the figures are close between the incumbent Liberal-National coalition and the Australian Labor Party challenger, the result may take longer to determine than Indonesias presidential race. Its often written that Australians have to vote, as do citizens of Bulgaria, Gabon and Greece. Wrong. We must go to the booth, be marked as present, collect the ballot papers and retire to the private cubicle. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin A. Kurniawan Ulung (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 17, 2019 12:02 955 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa873863b4e 1 Books #art,#art-book,#literature,#biography,#artist,#Italy,#RomualdoLocatelli,#Indonesia,#GianniOrsini Free First president Sukarno was a big fan of Italian maestro Romualdo Locatelli, who lived in the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia, in 1939. Learning of the rarity of original paintings by Locatelli and other renowned artists in Indonesia, the president asked a number of rising young painters, including Trubus Soedarsono, to replicate them in the 1960s. His purpose was not forgery, but to introduce Indonesias art scene to the world through copies of his collection. Sukarno fell for him after seeing two Locatelli paintings at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta and the Bogor Palace in West Java. However, he never had a chance to meet the Italian artist as Locatelli went missing in the Philippines in 1943 under mysterious circumstances. The two paintings Harrowing a Field in Java in the Presidential Palace and Reaping Rice in the Bogor Palace were exhibited at the National Gallery in Jakarta two years ago. These two are among the 38 paintings featured in a new book, Romualdo Locatelli: Eternal Green under an Eternal Sun. Biography: Author Gianni Orsini holds his book on Italian artist Romualdo Locatelli. The book includes details on Locatellis brief yet eventful time in Southeast Asia. (A. Kurniawan Ulung/-) Written by Dutch author Gianni Orsini, it is a biography of the Italian artist, which includes the details of Locatellis brief yet eventful stay in Southeast Asia during the World War II era. The title sounds a little bit poetic. It was actually Locatellis own description of Java, Orsini said in a discussion held at the books launch during the recent Art Moments Jakarta fair. Orsini said Locatelli was once asked about his feelings for Java in an interview. His answer was that he was blown away not only by the beauty of the landscape of the island but also by its friendly and lovable people. Java is a paradise, Orsini quoted Locatelli as saying. As indeed it is: eternal green under an eternal sun, and the people wearing the suns smile on their faces always. Truly, I feel as if in paradise. Locatelli's paintings from Java and Bali are by far his rarest and thus most expensive and sought-after works. Orsini, who spent five years researching and finishing the book, said that Indonesian painters, including maestro Basoeki Abdullah, looked up to Locatelli. When holding a painting exhibition in 1947, reporters suggested that Basoeki had been inspired by Locatellis work. Born on April 4, 1905 in Bergamo, northern Italy, Locatelli grew up in an artistic family. From when he was a teenager he helped his father, fresco and decorative artist Luigi Locatelli, in creating fresco paintings in churches. He then studied art at the Academia Carrara in Bergamo. In 1925, the career of the 20-year-old Locatelli as a portrait painter took off in Italy. He was then nominated for the Prince Umberto Grand Prize, a prestigious award for artists in Italy. He liked to paint indigenous people while traveling throughout Italy and North Africa. He was later renowned in his home country for painting senior Italian religious, royal and political figures. In an exhibition in Rome in 1938, he was asked by Dutch people who lived in Bandung, West Java, to come over to the Dutch East Indies to paint portraits and landscapes. With his wife, he arrived in Batavia, now Jakarta, in January 1939 and later moved to Bali. In July 1940, they went to Manila in the Philippines. It was in Manila that he tragically disappeared at the age of 37 in very mysterious circumstances, said Orsini, a graduate of Delft University of Technology. Locatelli had no political engagement, but he may have been mistakenly regarded a spy in the political turmoil in the Philippines during World War II. Orsini assumes he was detained, but who seized him remained a mystery. Orsini, who has researched Indonesian paintings by Western artists for 20 years, said the main challenge he faced during the process of writing the book was to actually find Locatellis paintings. During his time in Southeast Asia, Locatelli was prolific. He could do three paintings in a week, Orsini said. Many of Locatellis paintings, however, were lost or destroyed, particularly in the attack that Japan launched on the Philippines in 1941, which destroyed a warehouse in which his work was stored. In Southeast Asia, an original painting by Locatelli, Portrait of a Young Balinese Girl, can be seen in a gallery in the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, and another, Balinese Dancer, at the Pasifika Museum in Bali. In Europe, there are a number of museums that have Locatelli paintings in their collection, but none are exhibited, Orsini said. He added that some of Locatellis paintings are held by private collectors and not always accessible to the public. 'Javanese Dancer' by Romualdo Locatelli (Courtesy of Gianni Orsini/-) One of Locatellis most important paintings in private hands is The Dancing Girl Ratini, which has been renamed Javanese Dancer. Orsini assumed the two paintings in the two Indonesian palaces were bought by Dutch nobleman Tjarda van Starkenborgh Stachouwer, who was the last Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies. He said that according to his research, Stachouwer was among visitors to a Locatelli exhibition at the Bataviasche Kunstkring in 1939. These two paintings were among the most expensive Javanese paintings in the Batavia exhibition, Orsini said, adding that Stachouwer later asked Locatelli to paint his daughters. After Indonesia became an independent country, these two paintings remained in the palaces. Orsini does not know why this was so, but assumes that Stachouwer was asked to leave the artworks. He was not sure whether Sukarno bought them from the Dutch statesman before he returned to the Netherlands. The author hopes his book will reignite interest in Locatelli. His work is frequently targeted by forgers, Orsini said. (ste) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Josa Lukman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 17, 2019 The fashion industrys obsession with seasonal cycles feels like a relic with the advent of fast fashion, especially in perpetually humid Indonesia. With fast fashions cheap offerings popping up everywhere, one would understandably long for the days where clothing was built to last, standing strong against the ravages of time and trend. Designer Ivan Gunawan knows this well, but he is tackling another sense of nostalgia for a hip Idul Fitri collection. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Claude Casteran (Agence France-Presse) Paris, France Fri, May 17, 2019 23:08 954 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa873885cab 2 Art & Culture united-states,art,sculpture,Jeff-Koons,artist Free US artist Jeff Koons, whose "Rabbit" fetched $91.1 million at auction in a record for a living artist, has regularly attracted scandal across a career lived in the full glare of the media. Explicit Koons shocked the art world in the early 1990s with the "Made in Heaven" series of works depicting himself in sexually explicit poses with the Italian porn star Cicciolina, whom he married in 1991. He and Ilona Staller -- Cicciolina's real name -- who was also a one-time member of the Italian parliament, divorced in the glare of the tabloids in 1994. Plagiarism Koons has regularly been accused of plagiarism, particularly over a 1988 series of sculptures called "Banality" but he defends himself as an artist of appropriation. In 1992, he was found guilty of copyright infringement in the United States for basing the sculpture "String of Puppies" (1988) on a black-and-white photograph by Art Rogers called "Puppies". In 1993, he lost another court case for having represented Odie, a personality in the Jim Davies "Garfield" comic strip, in his "Wild Boy and Puppy" (1988). In 2017, Koons came under fire in Ukraine after unveiling a 14-meter-high inflatable "Seated Ballerina" in New York that many critics said was a ripoff of a porcelain statuette by Ukranian Oksana Zhnikrup (1931-1993). Also in 2017, a Paris court ruled he had copied a 1970 picture by French photographer Jean-Francois Bauret as the basis for his sculpture "Naked" (1988). The following year another court in Paris said he had copied a 1980s advertisement for clothing chain Naf Naf for his "Fait d'Hiver" (1988), which shows a pig standing over a woman lying on her back. Read also: Jeff Koons 'Rabbit' sculpture sets $91.1 million record for a living artist Culture shock In 2008, Koons took France's Chateau of Versailles by storm with an exhibition in its illustrious apartments of 17 riotous art works including a bright red inflatable "Lobster" (2003) and "The Pink Panther" (1988), a sculpture of the comic strip figure wrapped around a semi-naked blond woman. While enormously popular with the public, there were some complaints that it was an "affront" to French heritage, with a cluster of protesters demanding its relocation to Disneyland. The self-proclaimed French heir of Louis XIV, Prince Charles-Emmanuel de Bourbon-Parme, attempted to secure an emergency court injunction to halt the exhibition. Unwanted bouquet In 2016, Koons proposed to sculpt a "Bouquet of Tulips" for France in remembrance of the victims of terror attacks in 2015 and 2016. But the monumental work of bronze, stainless steel and aluminium -- measuring 10 meters high and weighing 33 tons -- was controversial, including because of its price tag of 3.5-million-euros. A group of artists and gallery owners objected in an open letter that described Koons as an "emblem of industrial art which is spectacular and speculative". There was also anger over his demand that the work be displayed on the esplanade of the contemporary art museum Palais de Tokyo, which faces the Eiffel Tower. In 2018, Paris city officials said they had agreed it would be installed at the Petit Palais museum. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 17, 2019 22:39 954 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa873884d6c 4 Food food,restaurant,restaurants-in-Jakarta,suhoor,meals,iftar,Ramadan-2019,ramadan,recommendations,lifestyle Free If you are a newcomer to Jakarta and happen to be fasting this Ramadan, the first thing to do is identify where you can have your sahur (predawn meal). Many eateries are closed during the day and open starting from the maghrib (sunset prayer) call to prayer until sahur time but some operate 24 hours a day. Here are several places that serve delectable sahur around the city, as compiled by kompas.com. Nasi Kapau Kramat Raya The renowned nasi Kapau (Kapau-style rice) center in the city, Jl. Kramat Raya, Senen, Central Jakarta is open from about 2 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. The area, famous for its many nasi Kapau stalls, offers an array of delicious Minang cuisine. Jakartans have been well-acquainted with this area since the 1970s, although it wasnt until 1980 that the citys small and medium enterprise agency started managing the stalls. Pro tip: Look for special dishes only sold by Kapau-style vendors such as itik lado mudo (duck cooked in green chili), tambunsu (cow intestine filled with eggs and tofu) and bubur kampiun (sweet porridge-style dessert). Warteg Warmo Having existed since 1970, Warteg Warmo is still a late-night establishment famous among South Jakartans and celebrities, as back in the day, it was among the very few places that operated 24 hours. Head to Jl. Tebet Timur Raya No. 1D and find the legendary warteg (Tegal-style eatery). It sells home-style food that has Tegal-style cooking from Central Java, which includes the basic steamed rice, eggs, a selection of chicken and beef dishes, as well as vegetables. What sets Warmo apart from any other regular warteg is its wide selection of food. Pro tip: For those too lazy to step outside in the wee hours, Warteg Warmo is available to order on app-based food delivery services, which often offer promotional packages. RM Ampera 2 Tak If youre more into Sundanese-style food that features fresh herbs as condiments, RM Ampera 2 Tak on Jl. Cikini Raya is open 24 hours and is ready to serve you at sahur time. Just choose whichever dish you want and wait for it to be reheated. Pro tip: Those interested in visiting this place to have a full Sundanese-style sahur experience, look for the building with bamboo-woven features on its walls, you wont miss it. Bubur Kwang Tung Those looking for Chinese-style comfort food might opt for a warm congee dish to consume for sahur at Bubur Kwang Tung. Those residing in South Jakarta can go to the branch on Jl. Wolter Monginsidi, while those coming from the north or central area may want to visit the closer Pecenongan branch. The 24-hour halal restaurant serves many types of Chinese congee, from chicken to seafood, as well as other regular dishes such as fried rice, chicken and many more. Pro tip: Aside from its amazing selection of congee, try the kailan dua rasa (two-flavored Chinese kale) and ask for the whole portion to be fried crispy. (asw) Wolter Monginsidi branch Pecenongan branch Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 17, 2019 16:57 954 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa873878563 4 National raja-ampat,electricity,generator-set,diesel Free After 35 years of waiting, residents of Harapan Jaya village in Misool district, Raja Ampat regency, West Papua, can finally use electricity provided by state-owned power provider PLN. Residents on the island had relied on their own generator sets for decades--during which they had to spend up to seven hours on a speedboat to buy fuel in the regency's trade hub of Waisai on Waigeo Island. "Electricity provided by PLN has helped residents with their daily activities, as some of them don't own generator sets," Harapan Jaya village head Ali Sapua said on Thursday, as quoted by kompas.com. Raja Ampat is known the world over for its natural beauty, especially the beaches and the sea. The regency comprises of hundreds of islands, mostly uninhabited. Misool Island is one of large islands in the regency. He added that, with PLN-provided electricity, residents could cut their living costs. PLN started its service in Harapan Jaya and four other villages in Misool: Fafanlap, Yellu, Gamta and Magey on Tuesday. To supply electricity to the five villages, the company operates four diesel-fueled power plants with a capacity of up to 240 kilowatts. A total of 373 customers from the villages have access to the electricity for 12 hours, from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. The manager of PLNs customer service unit in Sorong, Albert Safaria, said the company was planning to serve more villages. The company currently serves 23 of 117 villages in Raja Ampat regency. (ars) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Rizal Harahap and Fadli (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta/Pekanbaru/Batam Fri, May 17 2019 The monitoring of people arriving by air and sea from Singapore has been heightened in Pekanbaru, Riau, and in Batam, the Riau Islands, after the city-state reported its first human case of the rare monkeypox virus. Singapore reported over the weekend that it had identified a case of monkeypox brought in by a Nigerian man. The man has been hospitalized in an isolation ward to prevent the virus from spreading. Twenty-two other people he had been in contact are also being kept in isolation. State-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura (AP) II, which oversees airports in western Indonesia, said it was cooperating with the port health office (KKP) to heighten monitoring at its 13 international airports. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 17, 2019 14:45 954 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa873872e0d 1 City marijuana,drug-abuse,confiscation,arrest,smuggling,Banten Free The attempt to smuggle 300 kilograms of marijuana among medical waste in Banten has been considered a new method of tricking security officers. The National Narcotics Agency (BNN) arrested three suspects in Cilegon on Wednesday, identified as Dodi, Misbah and Jainudin, who were thought to have tried to smuggle the marijuana from Aceh. The 300 kg of marijuana was delivered via land to Cilegon, BNNs drug eradication deputy head Insp. Gen. Arman Depari said as quoted by wartakota.tribunnews.com. He said the agency arrested them after probing further into another drug smuggling case that they had recently handled. On May 5, the agency arrested two men for allegedly attempting to distribute 400 kilograms of dried marijuana from Aceh in Depok, West Java. We received information from the suspect we arrested in Depok that there would be another attempt to smuggle marijuana to Cilegon, he said. Further investigations led the BNN to arrest Dodi at a hotel in Cilegon. The investigator raided a box truck [driven by Dodi] and found 10 plastic bags containing dried marijuana that weighed 300 kg. The marijuana was hidden among medical waste. This is a new method to trick security officers. But we foiled the attempt, he said. Arman went on to explain that Dodi was going to hand over the marijuana to Misbah in front of the hotel. After [Misbah] and his partner [Jainudin] received the items, the investigators arrested the two. So, three suspects have now been arrested, he said. All suspects and evidence were taken to the agencys building in Cawang, East Jakarta, for further investigation. Arman said the three suspects could face the death penalty or life imprisonment in accordance with the 2009 law on narcotics. (das) Cho Young-dae, a Catholic priest who is suing former dictator Chun Doo-hwan for libel in a case involving his uncle, the deceased Father Cho Bi-oh, speaks outside Gwangju District Court, Jan. 7. Chun called Father Cho Bi-oh, an eyewitness who testified about soldiers firing machine guns from military helicopters in the 1980 Gwangju Democratic Uprising, a "liar" and "Satan" in his 2017 memoir. Yonhap By Lee Suh-yoon For Father Cho Young-dae, the ongoing libel suit against a former dictator has more at stake than just his uncle's honor. "The things Chun said about Father Cho Bi-oh (Cho's uncle) in his memoir, it's defamation not just against Cho but also the clergy and the people of Gwangju," he said in a phone interview Tuesday, days before the 39th anniversary of the 1980 Gwangju Democratic Uprising. In a controversial memoir published in 2017, former President Chun Doo-hwan called Cho's uncle "a shameless liar" for his testimony of aerial machine gun attacks on Gwangju residents during the uprising. Hundreds of people were beaten, stabbed or shot to death in the brutal military crackdown on the pro-democracy movement, which Chun referred to as a "riot," branding student protesters as military personnel planted by North Korea. Cho Young-dae, right, poses with his uncle Cho Bi-oh in front of Sohwa Sister's House, a care facility for women with mental disabilities that the two supported, in this January 2008 photo. The older Cho passed away in September 2016. Courtesy of Cho Young-dae Father Cho Bi-oh, who passed away in 2016, raised the younger Cho from the age of 12 after his father passed away. The junior Cho, now 57, became a member of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gwangju, following his uncle, and is currently the provost at Yongbong-dong Catholic Church. "Lawyers from the May 18 civic groups first made the suggestion (for the libel suit), so we did, compelled by a historical calling to put Chun Doo-hwan back on trial," Cho said. The previous time Chun was put on trial in 1996, he was given the death sentence later reduced to a lifetime jail term by an appeals court for his 1979 military coup and the 1980 Gwangju Massacre. He was released the following year on a special pardon by the newly elected President Kim Dae-jung in a gesture of political reconciliation. To this day, Chun continues to deny any responsibility for the military's bloody crackdown in Gwangju. In a 1995 investigation into Chun's crimes, Father Cho Bi-oh testified that he saw machine gunners in military helicopters open fire on civilians as he was leaving Honam-dong Church with other priests, May 21, 1980. Some Gwangju residents including those who were formerly hospitalized with gunshot wounds attended a hearing in the libel case Monday, giving vivid account of the aerial attacks. On the same day, a former intelligence agent for the U.S. military in Korea at the time gave public testimony saying Chun made a secret trip to Gwangju and met with military officials stationed there May 21, the day the military helicopters started shooting. Chun Doo-hwan fights his way back to his car after a libel suit hearing at Gwangju District Court, March 11. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul Two eyewitness survivors of military helicopters firing on pro-democracy protesters during the 1980 Gwangju Democratic Uprising speak outside Gwangju District Court, Monday, after testifying in a libel hearing against former President Chun Doo-hwan. Yonhap Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 17, 2019 12:33 955 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa87386533f 1 Business Boeing-737-MAX,software,update,Crash Free Boeing has announced that it has completed updating software for the 737 MAX, along with associated simulator testing and engineering test flights. We have completed all of the engineering test flights for the software update and are preparing for the final certification flight, said Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg in a media statement received on Friday. The software update was conducted after a two crashes involving the 737 MAX airplane: one in Addis Ababa in March operated by Ethiopian Airlines and one off the north coast of Java in October 2018 operated by Lion Air. According to a company media release, Boeing flew 737 MAX with updated MCAS software for more than 360 hours on 207 flights. The statement says Boeing is providing additional information to address Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requests that include details on how should pilots interact with the airplane controls and displays in different flight scenarios. Were committed to providing the FAA and global regulators all the information they need, and to getting it right. [...] The accidents have only intensified our commitment to our values, including safety, quality and integrity, said Muilenburg. The statement says that Boeing had developed enhanced training and education materials that are being reviewed with the FAA, global regulators and airline customers to support return-to-service and longer term operations. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Theresia Sufa (The Jakarta Post) Bogor Fri, May 17, 2019 21:09 954 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa87388075c 1 National JAD,Jamaah-Ansharut-Daulah,bogor,Densus-88,National-Police,general-elections,KPU,vote-counting Free The National Police's antiterrorism squad, Densus 88, raided a suspects house in Cibinong district of Bogor, West Java, on Friday afternoon, arresting a 51-year-old man identified as E alias AR. Bogor Police chief Andi Moch. Dicky said the police had found explosive materials like nitroglycerine and triacetone triperoxide and a ready homemade explosive device. They also confiscated cooking pots and nails from the house as well as books on jihad and bomb-making. Earlier, National Police spokesperson M. Iqbal said 29 terrorism suspects had been arrested in May alone. They are believed to have been working under Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), an outlawed group linked to the Islamic State group. "The JAD [members] hid a wanted person in Lampung and planned a terror attack on a crowd on May 22 using a bomb," Iqbal said as quoted by kompas.com. Earlier, police said the terrorist network wanted to attack the General Elections Commission (KPU) building in Jakarta on May 22, the day when the KPU is slated to announce the results of the recent elections. Security analyst Sidney Jones from the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict said the risk of a terrorist attack on May 22 was now low. "I think the likelihood of a terror attack on May 22 is low, since the police seem to have foiled the planned attack from the Bekasi-Lampung cell. Unfortunately, there is always a small chance that another cell has been plotting something similar, so we can't be complacent," she told The Jakarta Post on Friday. Iqbal said police had arrested 68 terrorism suspects so far this year, with most arrested in May. (evi) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Arya Dipa (The Jakarta Post) Bandung Fri, May 17, 2019 17:17 954 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa87387bdd6 1 Politics Cirebon,cirebon-regent,general-elections,regional-leaders,pilkada,regional-leader-election,KPK,Corruption-Eradication-Comission,bribery Free West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil inaugurated inactive Cirebon regent Sunjaya Purwadisastra as a regent for a second term on Friday in Gedung Sate in Bandung. But after 10 minutes, Ridwan dismissed Sunjaya from his position because the latter is a defendant in a bribery case. Governor Ridwan said he did this for administrative reasons. He explained that the bribery case was at the trial stage and as governor he had to give Sunjaya his political rights in line with the law and a Home Ministry regulation on regional leaders. In June 2018, the election results showed that incumbent Sunjaya and running mate Imron Rosyadi had won the election. However, in October last year, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested him in a sting operation for alleged bribery for top official positions in his administration. Along with him, the KPK arrested Gatot Rachmanto, then-secretary for the Cirebon Public Works and Spatial Planning Agency. The judges will deliver their decision on May 22 at the Bandung Corruption Court. The KPK seized nearly Rp 386 million (US$26,652) in the operation. Prosecutors demanded seven years imprisonment and a Rp 400 million fine. Shortly after the operation, Sunjaya was dismissed as regent and the government appointed Dicky Saromi as acting regent. Sunjaya was supposed to start his second term in March. However, the Home Ministry postponed his inauguration after the general election. The ceremony is in line with Article 164 in Law No. 10/2016, Ridwan said. The article is about a regent elect who has been named a defendant during an inauguration ceremony. They would get inaugurated but immediately after be dismissed as regent, the governor said. Sunjaya got a permit to attend his brief inauguration from the corruption court's judges. Ridwan later inaugurated Imron as acting regent. The governor told Imron to support the central governments plan to develop Cirebon, Patimban in Subang and Kertajati in Majalengka as a special economic zone. After the ceremony, Sunjaya returned to a detention center under a heavy police escort. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Devina Heriyanto (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 17, 2019 Earlier this year, the government quietly fixed a decades-old typo in its official documents. The Home Ministry issued on Feb. 6 a letter to announce that the correct spelling of Buddhism in Indonesian is "Buddha" and not "Budha" as is written on many identity cards (KTPs) of Indonesian Buddhists. This might seem like a small gesture. But it took years for the Buddhist community in Indonesia to get the government to fix the spelling. I dont know whether it was because of the complicated bureaucracy or because there are only a few Buddhists in this country, but it took years to fix the misspelling, Council of Buddhist Communities (Walubi) vice chairman Jandi Mukianto told The Jakarta Post in March. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login TheJakartaPost Please Update your browser Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below. Just click on the icons to get to the download page. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Vela Andapita (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 17 2019 The Jakarta administration has directed Owners and Tenants Associations (P3SRS) of apartment complexes to hand over management rights to residents, with the city threatening sanctions against those that fail to comply. Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan issued a gubernatorial decree on guidelines for P3SRSs in November last year amid legal disputes between residents and P3SRSs, the members of which are mostly representatives of developers. After almost seven months from the date it was issued, only 71 out of 195 P3SRSs across the capital have complied with the regulation, according to data from the Jakarta Housing Agency. The regulation stipulates that P3SRS members that are representatives of developers must be replaced by residents. P3SRSs that fail to comply with the regulation could receive formal warnings from the city administration and have their legal feasibility certificates retracted. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Coffee production in Indonesia, the worlds third-largest grower of robusta beans favored by instant drinks makers like Nestle SA, will probably climb to the largest in four years in 2019, boosting global supplies and potentially further reducing costs for caffeine addicts. Farmers in the Southeast Asian country may harvest 11.5 million bags, or 690,000 metric tons, in coming months, according to the median of estimates from four traders compiled by Bloomberg. Thats an increase of more than 5 percent from last year, data from the US Department of Agriculture show. The weather was supportive for cherry development, Hutama Sugandhi, chairman of the Indonesia Coffee Exporters Association, said in a phone interview on Wednesday. Modest rainfall last year provided sufficient water for crops to produce good quality beans, he said. The harvest began in April and will peak in June or July, Sugandhi said. Golden Triangle The provinces of Lampung, Bengkulu and South Sumatra in the south of Sumatra island are the main robusta areas, producing about 75 percent of the countrys output. Beans from the region are shipped from Panjang port in Lampung. The arabica variety is mostly grown in northern Sumatra and Java. Farmers in the region known as the Golden Coffee Triangle have harvested about 20 percent of their beans, according to Moelyono Soesilo, owner of PT Sumber Kurnia Alam, a Java-based trader. Rising supplies have cut prices of export grade robusta by 5 percent to $1,540 a ton this week from a month earlier, he said. Deliveries to Panjang port more than doubled to 5,000 tons on Monday from a week earlier as farmers sold beans before the years main Islamic festival next month. Farmers released fresh beans from the new harvest because they need money for Ramadan and Idul Fitri despite lower prices, Soesilo said. Ample global supplies have been piling pressure on world prices, cutting costs for roasters. Benchmark arabica futures traded in New York fell to 88 cents a pound this month, the lowest since 2005, while robusta futures in London slumped to $1,290 a ton, the weakest in nine years. Robusta for July delivery lost 2.9 percent to $1,335 on Thursday. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Arya Dipa (The Jakarta Post) Bandung Fri, May 17, 2019 11:37 955 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa873862d97 1 National Dialita,choir,Gwangju-Human-Rights-Award,South-Korea,1965-tragedy,1965-mass-killing Free The Dialita Choir, a group of survivors of the 1965 tragedy in Indonesia, is being honored by the May 18 Memorial Foundation in South Korea with a special 2019 Gwangju Prize for Human Rights for "showing the path to reconciliation and healing through music". The ceremony is slated for May 18 in Gwangju in South Korea. Chief of the May 18 Memorial Foundation, Lim Seon-suk said Indonesia had experienced historical turmoil since independence in 1945, with warring ideologies and competition for power. This contention culminated in the September 1965 alleged failed coup detat, which was followed by the purging of many Indonesians through extra-judicial seizure, torture and executions. This purge effected hundreds of thousands of Indonesians and was never officially acknowledged by the government. Since then, survivors and their families continue to suffer deep stigma and discrimination, said Lim. Dialita Choir members sing to support fellow survivors as well as for self-healing. Its songs convey a message of peace and solidarity, in the hope that it will educate the country about its forgotten past, in particular the younger generation, Lim went on. The special prize is bestowed by the May 18 Memorial Foundation, which was formed to commemorate the thousands of victims of a bloody protest from May 18 to 27, 1980 in South Korea. The event has become known as the Gwangju Democratic Uprising. The foundation, established in 1994 by the survivors of the uprising, has bestowed human rights awards since 2000. This prize goes to individuals who have made the greatest contribution to human rights and democracy or an organization that has had a significant struggle and contributed to the improvement and advancement of human rights, democracy and peace in the their own country in Asia, the website of the foundation says. The special prize, awarded twice yearly since 2011, is given to those who work for the improvement of human rights by means of journalism, culture and literature. The head of the Dialita Choir, Uchikowati Fauzia, said the award was the first it had ever received. This is an acknowledgement of Dialitas work and fight for human rights through music and culture. This is not just an award, this is recognition, said the 67 year old woman. Dialita, which stands for di atas umur lima puluh tahun or above 50 years old, said she would receive the award, accompanied by Indonesian human rights activists Zaenal Muttaqien and Miriam Nainggolan. The all-women choir also conveys human rights messages through its work. It released its first album in 2016, titled Dunia Milik Kita (The World is Ours), which has 10 songs. The choir collaborated with young artists. The album was met with critical acclaim and Rolling Stone Indonesia magazine named the album among 2016s top-10 best albums. Since then, more young people have come to know Dialita, she said. The selection committee of the May 18 Memorial Foundation will present the main award to Joanna K. Carino from the Philippines. Lim said the foundation recognized Carinos fight against militarism and human rights violations against indigenous communities. The selection committee said in a statement that the Dialita Choir had shown the path to reconciliation and healing through its music, an inspiration to world citizens who yearned for peace and democracy. In the past, the award has been given to Xanana Gusmao from Timor Leste, Wardah Hafidz from Indonesia and the Bersih movement from Malaysia. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 17, 2019 12:58 955 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa87386961a 1 City Idul-Fitri,exodus,Kampung-Rambutan,bus-terminal,public-space,RPTRA-Jakarta Free The Kampung Rambutan bus terminal in East Jakarta is welcoming Idul Fitri by providing travelers with a child-friendly public place (RPTRA). Idul Fitri, expected to fall on June 5 and 6 this year, is marked by an exodus of Muslims who wish to celebrate the occasion with their family back home. "We will provide a child-friendly public place so that children will feel more comfortable while waiting for the bus to their hometown," Kampung Rambutan bus terminal service head Thofik said on Thursday as quoted by tempo.co. He added that the RPTRA would be built in unused space inside the bus terminal. "Later, it will also feature playgroup equipment such as swings, a slide and much more. In addition to the RPTRA, the bus terminal plans to improve its infrastructure and facilities for the convenience of bus passengers, such as more seats and benches in the waiting areas and an information center. Additional officers will also be deployed to help passengers feel more secure, especially at night. (sau) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 17, 2019 17:51 954 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa87387c83e 4 National e-ID,graft,Agus-Martowardojo,finance-minister,Golkar,KPK Free The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) questioned on Friday former finance minister Agus Martowardojo as a witness in the multitrillion rupiah e-ID corruption case. Agus, also a former Bank Indonesia governor, was questioned as a witness in the commissions investigation into graft suspect Golkar Party lawmaker Markus Nari. He refused to comment upon his arrival at the KPK building in Jakarta on Friday as reported by Antara. The KPK had summoned him on Tuesday last week but he failed to appear for questioning. The antigraft body named Markus a suspect in two cases pertaining to the Rp 5.9 trillion (US$ 407 million) procurement of e-ID cards. Markus is suspected of marking up the budget for an e-ID project at the House of Representatives. He allegedly accepted Rp 4 billion from Home Ministry official Irman. Markus was also named a suspect for perjury and allegedly attempted to obstruct the KPKs investigation into the e-ID graft case. He allegedly intimidated a trial witness, former Hanura Party lawmaker Miryam S. Haryani, into retracting her testimony. The Golkar politician is the second politician to be named a suspect in the case after former House speaker Setya Novanto, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The e-ID graft case caused Rp 2.3 trillion in state losses. (ars) Park, who was charged with murdering psychiatrist Lim Se-won, is escorted to the Seoul Central District Court to attend a court review of a request for an arrest warrant for him in this January file photo. Korea Times file By Kim Rahn A man was sentenced to 25 years in jail, Friday, for killing a psychiatrist at a Seoul hospital last year. The Seoul Central District Court imposed the prison term on the man, surnamed Park, 31, for stabbing doctor Lim Se-won at Kangbuk Samsung Hospital to death Dec. 31 during a consultation. Prosecutors earlier sought a life sentence, but the court did not accept this, saying his psychiatric condition was an underlying cause of the crime, and he needed treatment for this. Calling Lim a respected psychiatrist, the court said he sustained the attack after accepting Park's request for a consultation although he had not made an appointment. "Park's crime gave unspeakable pain and shock to the bereaved family members, who have to suffer from the pain for the rest of their lives," the court said. "Park claims he murdered the victim in self-defense and shows no sense of remorse at all." But it said that in deciding the sentence, it had to take his mental health into consideration. The court also ordered Park to be given psychiatric treatment during his confinement and to wear an electronic anklet after being released to track his whereabouts, saying he could commit other crimes. Park, who had been hospitalized there several years before for bipolar disorder, said he committed the crime as Lim called security after he requested him to remove "a small bomb planted inside his head." In earlier hearings, the prosecution called for a life sentence, saying severe punishment was required even though Park's mental condition was unstable. "Park locked the door of the consultation room and stabbed Lim multiple times, and the attacks were so vicious as to damage the victim's bones. The crime was premeditated and cruel," a prosecutor said in a previous hearing. Park's lawyer, appointed by the state, asked for the court to recognize Park's mental condition. "He believed the hospital staff had conspired to make him a main culprit of World War III. He also thought a small bomb in his head would explode at any time," the lawyer said. Following the murder, the government changed regulations to oblige large-sized hospitals and psychiatric clinics to install emergency bells and emergency exits to cope with possible attacks on medical staff by patients. Punishment for people attacking medical staff has also been made tougher, and a person found guilty of killing a staff member will receive a minimum of five years in prison. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 17, 2019 19:17 954 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa87387e150 1 Politics #2019GeneralElections,#politics,Bogor-Forum,Prabowo-Subianto,anies-baswedan,absence,Democrat Free The Gerindra Party and the Democratic Party (Dems) are again finding themselves on opposite sides of the table over Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, who has been under the spotlight for not joining his peers at Wednesday's gathering for reconciliation after the hard-fought presidential election. Gerindra and the Dems have often been at odds throughout the election, although they are in the coalition backing Prabowo. In Anies' defence, Prabowo campaign spokesman Andre Rosiade even claimed that the event was akin to "campaigning for the President", as it was mostly attended by regional leaders and young public figures who supported Joko Jokowi Widodo. The spokesman hails from the Gerindra Party, which backed Anies in the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election alongside the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS). Andre made the comment after outspoken Dems member Andi Arief pointed out that Anies was "noticeably absent" at the gathering, which was also attended by Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, the eldest son of Dems patron and former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Andi said that Agus had proven his mettle by joining the call for the country to maintain unity after the election, which had apparently divided the nations political elite, intellectuals and religious figures. My friend @aniesbaswedan should not have been silent and kept playing it safe, Andi tweeted on his account while referring to the governor's Twitter handle in an apparent jab. Gerindra's Andre subsequently took to Twitter to criticize the Dems for "insulting" the governor. The Democrats did not support @aniesbaswedan [in the election] but why they are so noisy because the Jakarta governor focuses on working instead of campaigning for the presidential election like what other regional leaders did in Bogor, he tweeted. Andre continued that it was strange that the Dems derided Anies for missing the gathering, which was attended by regional leaders who had supported Jokowi and were eyeing the ministerial seats in Jokowis Cabinet. Mas [mister] @aniesbaswedan doesnt want to sign up as a minister anyway, he said. Meanwhile, Bogor Mayor Bima Arya said he had invited Anies to the event at the Balai Kirti Presidential Museum in Bogor, West Java, but that Anies had to attend another official engagement in Jakarta. Relations between the leaders of Gerindra and the Dems have been strained, especially after Susilo criticized Prabowos open rally in Central Jakarta a week before the April 17 election. The Dems has also maintained that the party would wait for the official announcement on the election result from the General Elections Commission (KPU) before taking any action. This is in stark contrast to Prabowo, who has claimed victory for himself multiple times since election day, despite the quick count results and ongoing KPU vote tally showing Jokowi in the lead. Furthermore, Jokowi recently met with Agus at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, prompting speculations that the Dems might be joining the ruling coalition. Regional leaders who attended the Bogor gathering include West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil, Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo, West Nusa Tenggara Governor Zulkieflimansyah, and East Java Deputy Governor Emil Dardak. Yenny Wahid, the daughter of former president Abdurrahman Gus Dur Wahid, also attended the event. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 17, 2019 16:50 954 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa873877d8e 1 Business Inalum,China,visit,downstream-business,Rini-Soemarno Free State mining holding company Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (Inalum) is looking to cooperate with the metal industry in China to accelerate downstream mining operations. Inalum president director Budi G. Sadikin said on a recent visit to China led by State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Rini Soemarno, delegates met chief executive officers from metal companies. [We] are looking for opportunities for cooperation, which is in line with our strategic plan to accelerate the implementation of downstream mining operations, said Budi in a press statement received on Friday. In three of Chinas cities -- Beijing, Inner Mongolia and Shanghai -- the delegates met representatives of several industries: the Metallurgical Corporation of China, Beijing Easpring Material Technology, coal gasification company Dalu Chemicals, cobalt chemical manufacturer Huayou and Contemporary Amperex Technology Battery. Rini stressed the need to accelerate the implementation of downstream mining operations to add value to mining products. The higher the added value of our mining products, the greater the benefits, Rini said on Thursday. In December, Inalum through PT Bukit Asam, the holding member, signed a head of agreement on a coal gasification project with state-owned energy holding Pertamina, fertilizer manufacturer PT Pupuk Indonesia and chemical producer PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical. On her visit, Rini was accompanied by ministry undersecretary for mining, strategic industries and media affairs Fajar Harry Sampurno, undersecretary for financial, survey and consulting businesses Gatot Trihargo and expert staffer Wianda Pusponegoro. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 17, 2019 14:33 954 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa87387281a 4 City #KPK,#GraftCase,auction,former-regent,Fuad-Amin,assets Free The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is scheduled to auction seized assets of graft convict Fuad Amin, the former regent of Bangkalan, East Java. "The KPK is scheduled to auction assets seized from graft convict Fuad Amin, who was found guilty of corruption and money laundering," KPK spokesman Febri Diansyah said in a written statement on Friday. One of the 14 seized assets is a house on a 2,345-square-meter plot of land worth Rp 33.6 billion (US$2.36 million) in Cipinang Cempedak subdistrict, Jatinegara, East Jakarta. Among the 14 items to be auctioned are land, a house, an apartment and a motorcycle worth Rp 63.28 billion in total. An announcement about the auction was made on lelang.go.id. The online auction is scheduled to close on May 28 at 11 a.m. The KPK is cooperating with the Jakarta III State Assets and Auction Services Agency (KNKPL) to hold the auction. Fuad was charged in 2015 with accepting a Rp 18.05 billion bribe from PT Media Karya Sentosa (MKS) and was sentenced to eight years in prison by the Jakarta Corruption Court. (sau) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Srinagar, India Fri, May 17, 2019 21:39 954 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa873884930 2 World #India,#religion,Muslim,killed,hindu,Extremists,cow,lynching Free Indian police said Thursday they are probing a suspected fresh case of a Muslim man being killed by so-called Hindu cow vigilantes. Cows are revered by Hindus and according to Human Rights Watch some 44 people died in cow-related violence by Hindu vigilantes between May 2015 and December last year. Police said that a group of Muslim men transporting horses became involved in an altercation in a remote mountainous area of Indian-administered Kashmir before dawn. Nayeem Ahmed Shah, thought to be 50, was shot in the head and died on the spot, police said, while another man Yasin Hussain accompanying him was injured. The attackers fled the scene after the firing, Hussain told reporters. "We are investigating the angle of cow vigilantism," inspector general of police for the region, M K Sinha told AFP, adding seven suspects were taken into custody for questioning. Angry locals, who say the shooting was carried out by Hindu vigilantes, protested and threw stones at police and damaged several vehicles, demanding the attackers be handed over to them. Police fired tear gas before authorities imposed a curfew in the area and deployed hundreds of government forces personnel to prevent religious clashes and the violence from spreading. Hindus consider cows sacred and their slaughter is banned across much of India, including the Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir. But beef is openly sold across many parts of the state where resentment against Indian rule is widespread. Critics say that extremists have been emboldened by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) coming to power nationally in 2014 under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In 2017 his government tried to ban the cattle trade for slaughter nationwide, only for it to be rejected by the Supreme Court. Modi, 68, is running for a second term in elections that end on Sunday with results due four days later. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Asip A. Hasani (The Jakarta Post) Tulungagung, East Java Fri, May 17, 2019 21:31 954 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa873883a8d 1 National Tulungagung,East-Java,PDI-P,Councilors,general-elections,Legislative-Council,legislative-seats Free The speaker of Tulungagung Legislative Council (DPRD) in East Java, Supriyono, who has been named a suspect by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in a graft case, garnered the most votes in last months election. The General Elections Commission (KPU) in Tulungagung announced the vote count results in the regency, showing that Supriyono got 10,192 votes. Thats the highest number of votes for Tulungagung Legislative Council, Tulungagung KPU head, Mustofa, told The Jakarta Post on Friday. Earlier this week, the KPK announced that Supriyono, the head of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) branch in Tulungagung, was named a suspect in a bribery case relating to passing the bylaw on the regional budget from 2015 to 2019. The KPK accused him of accepting Rp 4.88 billion (US$337,479) in kickbacks to speed up the budget deliberation. The case also implicated former regent Syahri Mulyo, who was sentenced to 10 years in jail for graft. The deputy regent, Maryoto Birowo, who has been the acting regent, was also questioned by the KPK as a witness in the same case. The second-highest number of votes went to Sunarko from the PDI-P with 9,833 while Abdulah Ali Munib from the National Awakening Party (PKB) came in third-highest with 8,728 votes. Secretary of Tulungagung PDI-P, Bondan Djumani, said it would provide legal assistance for Supriyono. Bondan said Supriyonos leadership had helped the PDI-P to increase its tally of seats to 13 from 12. There are 50 seats in Tulungagung DPRD. (evi) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Washington, United States Fri, May 17, 2019 14:31 954 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa87387117e 2 World trump,homosexuality,presidency,US Free Donald Trump says it's "great" that a gay Democratic challenger, Pete Buttigieg, is in the 2020 presidential race. A previously little known mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Buttigieg has raced to prominence as one of the top contenders in a crowded Democratic field -- and as the first major presidential candidate to be openly homosexual. "I think it's absolutely fine, I do," Trump told Fox News in an excerpt released Thursday of an interview airing Sunday. "I think it's great. I think that's something that perhaps some people will have a problem with. I have no problem with it whatsoever. I think it's good," Trump said. In this file photo taken on September 26, 2016 Sound Bend Indiana Mayor Peter Buttigieg talks about Republican Vice-presidential candidate Mike Pence in front of potential voters at a Hillary Clinton debate watching party for the LGBT community in Chicago, Illinois. He is a longshot candidate, but South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg said January 23, 2019 he is jumping into the burgeoning 2020 Democratic field challenging Donald Trump, aiming to become the first openly gay presidential nominee. Should he win, the 37-year-old wunderkind, a US Navy reservist who took leave from his mayoral duties to serve in Afghanistan, would also be America's youngest-ever commander in chief. Buttigieg announced that he has formed a presidential exploratory committee, a key opening step to formally launching a bid. (AFP/Derek Hankle) Buttigieg is married and if he won the White House -- still a very big if -- his husband Chasten would likely be known as the "first gentleman." Whether Buttigieg gets his party's nomination or not, his bid has already made him and Chasten the country's most prominent gay couple. Trump, whose right-wing base is broadly hostile to gay marriage, has delivered a mixed message on his attitude to gay rights over the years. Topics : trump homosexuality presidency US Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Washington, United States Fri, May 17, 2019 10:10 955 db1d47cf6ffbed4060cffaa87385ecee 2 World #USA,#DeathExecutions,men,execution,murder,wife Free A Tennessee man who killed his wife and an Alabama man convicted of a quadruple murder were executed by lethal injection Thursday. Donnie Edward Johnson, 68, was convicted in 1984 of murdering his wife, Connie Johnson, in Memphis, Tennessee, by stuffing a plastic garbage bag down her throat and suffocating her. Michael Brandon Samra, 41, was convicted in 1998 for his involvement in the murders of Randy Duke, Duke's girlfriend Dedra Mims Hunt, and Hunt's six-year-old and seven-year-old daughters. Samra, who is described as being of "borderline intelligence" in court documents, was 19 years old at the time of the 1997 murders in Pelham, Alabama. He carried out the slayings with Duke's 16-year-old son, Mark Duke, who was angry because his father had denied him the use of his truck. Randy Duke and Dedra Mims Hunt were shot to death while the two young girls had their throats slit. Mark Duke was also sentenced to death but his sentence was changed to life in prison after the US Supreme Court ruled in 2005 that offenders who were under 18 years old at the time of their crimes should not be executed. Samra had appealed his death sentence on the grounds that the death penalty should not be applied to offenders who were under 21 years old at the time of their crimes but the Supreme Court has declined to raise the age. His lawyers had also asked Alabama Governor Kay Ivey to grant Samra clemency on the same grounds. But she refused, saying Thursday's execution showed "justice has been delivered" and that "Alabama does not tolerate murderous acts of any nature." In Tennessee, Johnson asked Governor Bill Lee to stay his execution because he had been redeemed through Seventh-Day Adventist religious practice during his time in prison. Despite support for clemency from the head of his church, Catholic bishops and the daughter of his victim, Lee declined. Before his execution, Johnson said, "I commend my life into your hands. Thy will be done. In Jesus's name I pray. Amen." There were five previous executions in the United States this year, three in Texas, one in Georgia and one in Alabama. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 17, 2019 With the announcement on the final results of the election expected next week, young and rising politicians have called on members of society, including the countrys elites, to uphold peace and unity so as to prevent any potential post-election clashes at the grassroots level. The move, which has been described by many as another attempt to diffuse political tensions, came after presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto publicly refused to accept the KPU's final result of the presidential election, which is expected to show that incumbent Joko Jokowi Widodo has been reelected to the presidency. A number of relatively young regional leaders and children of two former presidents gathered at the Balai Kirti Museum, which is part of the Bogor Palace compound in West Java, on Wednesday, during which they talked about the post-election situation and expressed hope that a peaceful climate would be maintained. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Arya Dipa (The Jakarta Post) Bandung Sat, May 18 2019 The Dialita Choir, a group of survivors of the 1965 tragedy in Indonesia, is being honored by the May 18 Memorial Foundation in South Korea with a special 2019 Gwangju Prize for Human Rights for showing the path to reconciliation and healing through music. The ceremony is slated for May 18 in Gwangju in South Korea. Chief of the May 18 Memorial Foundation, Lim Seon-suk said Indonesia had experienced historical turmoil since independence in 1945, with warring ideologies and competition for power. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, May 18 2019 Taking no chances: A terror suspect arrives at the National Police headquarters under tight security in Jakarta on Friday. Between January and April, 68 terror suspects linked with the Jamaah Ansharut Daulah were arrested.(JP/Seto Wardhana) The government is anticipating potential trouble ahead of the wrap-up of the official vote tally on May 22, amid reports that supporters of losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto are planning to take to the streets to challenge the election result. Security officials fear street protests may descend into violence after the discovery of an apparent plot by a local terrorist cell linked to the Islamic State (IS) movement to exploit the situation with an attack, even though analysts have cast doubt on such a scenario materializing. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Former Vice Justice Minister Kim Hak-ui remains silent as reporters question him about bribery allegations, at the Seoul Central District Court, Thursday. The court reviewed whether to issue an arrest warrant for him, and issued one later the same day. Yonhap By Bahk Eun-ji Former Vice Justice Minister Kim Hak-ui, 63, was arrested, late Thursday night, over his alleged acceptance of bribes and involvement in a sex scandal. The arrest came six years after the allegations first emerged in March 2013. The third investigation unveiled fresh allegations of bribery and he was arrested, fueling suspicions that two previous investigations in 2013 and 2014, which cleared him of all suspicions, were poorly conducted and probably interfered with by Cheong Wa Dae, that supported Kim at the time. The Seoul Central District Court issued an arrest warrant for him, saying he was a flight risk and was likely to destroy evidence. Kim is accused of receiving around 130 million won ($109,080) in kickbacks between 2006 and 2008 and sexual services over 100 times paid for by building contractor Yoon Jung-cheon, as well as taking about 40 million won from another businessman surnamed Choi. Of the 130 million won, 100 million won allegedly lent to a woman surnamed Lee by Yoon who claimed Kim and other men raped her at a sex party at Yoon's holiday home in Wonju, Gangwon Province. When Yoon demanded Lee pay back the 100 million won in 2008, Kim allegedly urged him to forgive the loan in an attempt to prevent her from disclosing the rape in return. Yoon allegedly did so in return for Kim's promise to give him favors in future legal issues. The court recognized this as a bribe. Yoon also told prosecutors that he had hired at least six prostitutes for Kim. But the prosecution did not include the rape and sex service acceptance allegations in its request for the arrest warrant for now, because Kim was cleared of the suspicions in two earlier investigations. Prosecutors plan to keep investigating the allegations and collect more evidence. Kim, who had denied all the allegations and claimed he did not know Yoon, belatedly backed down at the court review on his arrest warrant saying he did know Yoon; but he still denied accepting bribes and sex services. He partly admitted to accepting money from Choi. The court said he was likely to flee, considering his March attempt to leave for Thailand. At the time prosecutors imposed an emergency overseas travel ban on him and he was stopped from leaving the country at a boarding gate at Incheon International Airport. Following the arrest, criticism has grown about the two former investigations, in which police and the prosecution cleared him of the sex allegations and did not even look into the bribery charges, citing a lack of evidence. The current team is investigating the prosecutors who were in charge of the case in 2013 and 2014. It has been alleged that the prosecution tried to tone down the investigations following pressure from Cheong Wa Dae under Park Geun-hye. The current team is looking into the alleged interference with the investigation and plan to question those involved, particularly Kwak Sang-do, then a senior presidential secretary for civil affairs and now a main opposition Liberty Korea Party lawmaker. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, May 18 2019 Having felt the impact of the sea-level rise and coastal inundation associated with climate change, Indonesia now wants to become an observer at the Arctic Council. Established in 1996, the Arctic Council is an intergovernmental organization that promotes cooperation between Arctic countries in the resource-rich region and has been trying to balance the challenge of climate change with the economic opportunities of a warming Arctic, such as new shipping routes and the exploration of untapped oil and gas reserves. The council is made up of eight Arctic nations: Iceland, Russia, Canada, the United States, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland. Observer status, however, is open to non-Arctic states approved by the council at its ministerial-level meeting held every two years. The last ministerial meeting was held in Oslo from May 6 to 7. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login 9 hours ago Despite supply issues and omicron, holiday sales rise 8.5% Holiday sales rose at the fastest pace in 17 years, even as shoppers grappled with higher prices, product shortages and a raging new COVID-19 variant in the last few weeks of the season, according to one spending measure. Mastercard SpendingPulse, which tracks all kinds of payments including cash and debit cards, reported Sunday that holiday sales had risen 8.5% from a year earlier. Read Article This photo from Dec. 1, 2015, shows The Associated Press' North Korea Bureau Chief Eric Talmadge in Pyongyang, North Korea. AP-Yonhap By Foster Klug Eric Talmadge, who as North Korea bureau chief for The Associated Press tenaciously chronicled life and politics in one of the world's least-understood nations, has died. He was 57. Talmadge died this week in Japan after suffering a heart attack while running. A decades-long resident of Japan with deep expertise on Asian security and military issues, Talmadge seemed to have found his ideal job when he was appointed in 2013 to lead the AP bureau in Pyongyang, North Korea's capital. From his base in Tokyo, he traveled almost monthly to report on the nuclear-armed country's remarkable evolution under its young leader, Kim Jong Un, who took over after his father died in 2011. "For years, Eric's sharp work in North Korea has helped shape how the entire world saw a country that many of us knew little about," said Sally Buzbee, AP's executive editor. "He took that responsibility very seriously, and it was never far from his mind." In this Dec. 3, 2015 photo The Associated Press' North Korea Bureau Chief Eric Talmadge, left, speaks to village elder Song Hong Ik, center, about his experience as a young boy during the Korean War on Ryongyon-ri hill in Kujang county, North Korea, via a translator. AP-Yonhap Talmadge was one of only a few international journalists with regular access to North Korea, where the AP established a video news office in 2006 and a text and photo bureau in 2012. With his frequently exclusive on-the-ground view, Talmadge latched onto and reveled in the small, telling details that upended widespread Western stereotypes about North Korea. There were few journalists more insightful about the North's push to develop atomic weapons capable of striking the United States. But Talmadge also filled the AP wire with stylishly written stories of daily life, often seeded with traces of his bone-dry sense of humor. He wrote about a beer festival in Pyongyang, where "brews are cheap and carry the ruling family's seal of approval." He wrote about the millions of North Koreans using mobile phones and the popularity of a game called "Boy General," describing it as "a spinoff of a new TV animation series that is both beautifully produced and genuinely fun to watch." His intelligent, curious eye also regularly seized on the moments that often got lost or ignored in the frenzied coverage of the long-running nuclear standoff between Washington and Pyongyang. "He saw meaning in everything he came across," said Ian Phillips, AP's vice president for international news. In this Saturday, Oct. 10, 2015 photo The Associated Press' North Korea Bureau Chief Eric Talmadge stands in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang as the country prepares to hold one of its biggest celebrations for the 70th anniversary of its ruling party's creation. AP-Yonhap In 2014, Talmadge wrote of a weeklong road trip through North Korea unprecedented for foreign reporters that stopped at the forest-covered Kaema Plateau, known as the "Roof of Korea." He showed readers the "blink-and-you-miss-them villages," the government propaganda slogans that covered posters, murals, banners and stones, and the isolated truck stops where elderly folks sat on weed-covered embankments and smoked hand-rolled cigarettes. "It's quite possible," he wrote, that "none of them had ever seen an American before." Talmadge was equally probing when it came to covering politics and nuclear tensions. His muscular observations and analysis about the country were drawn from reporting that faced frequent obstacles from a government that sometimes treated media access and coverage as a peril to the regime. Along the way, he became one of the key public faces of independent journalism in North Korea. Talmadge was candid about the constraints of reporting in North Korea: No interviewing random people; no photos of checkpoints or military installations; no breaking away from ever-present government minders, "even on the loneliest of lonely highways." This May 2010 photo shows Associated Press reporter Eric Talmadge in Bankgok, Thailand, during clashes between anti-government protesters and Thai soldiers. AP-Yonhap In an example of the clear-eyed wit that often appeared in even his most technical reporting on military hardware, he wrote that the road trip's preapproved route, "to no one's surprise, didn't include nuclear facilities or prison camps." Ted Anthony, who as AP's Asia-Pacific news director supervised Talmadge from 2014 to 2018 and accompanied him on multiple trips to Pyongyang, said Talmadge once warned him: "Don't ever think you really understand the North. It has more corners than anyplace I've ever been." "Eric was utterly certain that with enough work and curiosity and stick-to-it-iveness, he could genuinely help the world understand North Korea. And he did," Anthony said. "He wanted to reach people who'd never really thought much about the country, and he would pull out all the stops to show them the North Korea they never knew existed, and make them think critically about it." Born in Renton, Washington, Talmadge spent much of his life in Japan, where he was a high-school exchange student. Fluent in Japanese, he appeared often on Japanese TV as a commentator on North Korea. He was an avid bowler and meditator, and loved riding his bike and swimming. He was the author of a 2006 book, "Getting Wet: Adventures in the Japanese Bath." He is survived by his wife, Hisako, and two grown children, Sara and Eugene. Talmadge joined the AP in Tokyo in 1988 after working for the Mainichi Shimbun, one of Japan's national newspapers. This Monday, May 9, 2016 photo shows The Associated Press' North Korea Bureau Chief Eric Talmadge in front of the April 25 House of Culture where the party congress is held in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang. AP-Yonhap He reported throughout Asia for the AP and was a major contributor to the news agency's award-winning coverage of the deadly earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in 2011, and the nuclear disaster that happened in its aftermath. Before becoming Pyongyang bureau chief, he led a team of AP journalists focused on military and security issues in the Asia-Pacific region, while also serving as the news editor for the Tokyo bureau. But Talmadge seemed especially suited to reporting in North Korea. His Instagram and Twitter accounts were filled with images of cute kids mobbing him in Pyongyang on their way home from school, with shots of the city's pizza delivery services and aerobics classes and, of course, with video of mesmerizing rows of goose-stepping soldiers. One video tweet from Yokohama, where he made his home, showed sightseeing boats gliding beneath the ephemeral cherry blossoms of early spring: "Because everything isn't about where I have to go for work." Talmadge's sense of humor shone through even in his internal AP memos on the Pyongyang bureau's operations. A picture of a chain-smoking 19-year-old chimpanzee mentions dryly that the ape smokes about a pack a day: The Pyongyang zoo officials "insist, however, that she doesn't inhale." In this Feb. 21, 2016 photo The Associated Press' North Korea Bureau Chief Eric Talmadge works in his hotel room overlooking the skyline of the North Korean capital in Pyongyang. AP-Yonhap Chinese model or Bangladeshi model? About to consolidate itself as fashions industry productive hub, Ethiopia is in front of a crossroad about deciding which is the best model to rise its textile industrial muscle. It could be to diversify, to extend values chain and looking for the added value while ignoring humans rights, or stall themselves in the confection looking for a social agreement. Confection industry has rapidly grown in Ethiopia, because the Asiatic manufacturers, in the majority Chinese, saw the country as the relay of Bangladesh, Cambodia and Vietnam. With a wage of 26 monthly dollars, its labor costs converts this country in the most competitive, against the 95 dollars of Bangladesh or Myanmar, according to the report Made in Ethiopia, challenges of the garment industry new frontier, from New York University (NYU). Clothing items already represents the forth category that Ethiopia is currently exporting. The coffee is leading the foreign sales with 839 million dollars. It is followed by the colza, with 424 million dollars, and the flowers, whose exportations generate 229 million dollars. Foreign clothing sales contribute 125 million dollars. As well as in China or Bangladesh, the textile will be the driving force to bring the Ethiopian economy from the primary sector to the secondary. The challenge is how to do it, as stated by reports authors. Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world, with an average annual income of 783 dollars and a population of 105 million of inhabitants, of which is estimated that the 23% of them are under the poverty level. The countrys government firmly committed to the textile in 2014, with the construction of its first specific industrial park for the sector. As it received a good feedback from Asiatic manufacturers and the arrival of the first occidental companies, like H&M or PVH, the countrys government planned thirty more until 2025. That first complex, Hawassa Industrial Park, employs 25,000 people, but the goal is to arrive until 60,000 workers, in different shifts. Production costs have been until now the main attractive of the country, which is facing its two first challenge: an uprising social tension and an increase of the costs because of countrys dependence to the raw material import. Reports authors alert of a social powder keg if the Ethiopian government resists establishing a minimum wage in line with the standard of living. The 26 monthly dollars of textile's sector sum an annual income of 312 dollars, half of the average per capita income of the country. Bangladesh and Cambodia finally progressed in labor rights in order to continue supplying to retails biggest occidental giants. On the other hand, despite Ethiopia being a cotton production country, is lacking of textiles value chain, and is dependent to raw materials import. The progress of various industrial processes has been the key into that countries like China or Turkey, despite having a higher salary base, are continuing to be competitive. However, the cotton crop within the African country is also going downwards, for the benefit of other agricultural products, as sugar or sesame, with higher market prices. The authors of the report give recommendations to countrys government to underpin its textile industry, like designing an strategic long term plan, establish a minimum wage and improve in infrastructures and bureaucracy. They also suggest to foreigner manufacturers and western groups of distribution to define work policies in line with the social and economic countrys reality, to construct more bedrooms for workers with subsidized rents, to train workers and empower them in technical positions and to create works council to guarantee the correct factories operation. By Lee Min-hyung Former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for non-partisan cooperation in handling the fine dust issue during a visit to the National Assembly, Friday. Ban, who now serves as head of the nation's special taskforce to fight fine dust, met main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) Chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn and requested the party's active role in tackling the problem. "Issues such as fine dust and climate change should not be the subject of factional disputes," Ban said, adding no ideological conflicts should ensue in handling them. "The thing is how we can reduce the level of fine dust in the air by utilizing science and technology." In the meeting with Hwang, Ban raised the need for the LKP to step up efforts with other parties to resolve the air pollution issue. Ban spoke with Hwang for about 30 minutes. He then had a conversation with National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang and asked for Assembly support to handle the dust issue in a more organized and swift manner. On May 2, Ban also visited the Assembly to meet ranking members and discuss the issue with other party leaders. They included Lee Hae-chan, chairman of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, Sohn Hak-kyu, chief of the minor opposition Bareunmirae Party, and Justice Party leader Lee Jung-mi. This month marks the return of Cannes Film Festival, and to celebrate we're taking a trip down memory lane and looking at the most iconic on-screen looks in film history. Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) Image credit: Trailer screenshot, via Wikimedia Commons From Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly to Diane Keaton as Annie Hall, fashion places a huge part in shaping a character - and it's often the outfits that we remember when we've left the cinema. Costume designers don't get the credit that they deserve, but they help create and shape a character just as much as the director does. via GIPHY When Kate Hudson as Andie Anderson saunters down the stairs in a sunshine yellow satin dress. Despite the rest of the outfits in the film being slightly questionable (the early 2000s were a dark time for style), this dress really is one that has withstood the test of time. Designed by the film's costume designer Karen Patch, the backless dress was teamed with the $5 million Isadora diamond from Harry Winston. The dress is also present in the famous "You can't lose something you never had!" breakup scene. If you're going to get dumped at least do it whilst dripping in Harry Winston. via GIPHY It would be immoral to do a list of the best film looks without including this one. Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly walking down the streets of Fifth Avenue, clad in Givenchy, is a truly iconic moment in pop culture. The entire wardrobe in the film is incredible, with Hepburn switching through an array of Givenchy looks. In 2006, over four decades after the film was released, the floor-length silk black dress sold at auction for 467,200! via GIPHY "Are you wearing the Ch-" "Chanel boots? Yeah, I am!" When Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway), the dowdy, put-upon assistant to Miranda Priestley, returns to the office dresses head to toe in designer brands, her fellow assistant Emily (Emily Blunt) can't believe her eyes. The chic blazer and mini skirt combo were a far cry away from Andy 'Can you please spell Gabanna?' Sach's usual wardrobe. The stand-out piece was of course THE.CHANEL.BOOTS - a pair of thigh-high leather stilettos that cemented her transition from not to hot. via GIPHY Created by costume designer Jacqueline Durran, the green dress that Keira Knightley wears in Atonement is one of the most beloved onscreen dresses of all time. Set in the 1930s, the dress is modern but still true to the era. A backless gown held together with tiny spaghetti straps, and of course the incredible emerald green fabric. Green is not a popular choice on screen, but according to Durran the film's director Joe Wright specifically requested it. via GIPHY A best fashion moments in film list without mentioning Clueless? AS IF! When the film was released in the mid-nineties Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone) became an instant fashion icon. The film's costumes were created by Mona May, but this suit in question was a Dolce & Gabbana original. she wears in the film was replicated by Iggy Azalea for her Fancy music video, and it's a favourite for celebrities come Halloween. via GIPHY Another cult classic look is this one from Marilyn Monroe. The white gown she wears in The Seven Year Itch as synonymous with Monroe as her blonde hair.where Monroe stands over a New York subway crate and struggles to sustain her modesty is one of the most iconic in cinematic history. Designed by William Travilla, who dismissed it as "that silly little dress", it sold for $4.6 million at auction back in 2011. via GIPHY The scene where Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) screams "Elaaaaaaine!!!!" at the top of his voice in the attempt to stop the wedding of his former girlfriend is one of infamy. When Elaine Robinson (Katherine Ross) ditches her husband to be and runs off with Benjamin (even though he's been sleeping with her mother) her dress is what steals the show. As the original runaway bride, Elaine wears a long-sleeved lace dress, complete with a veil, created by the film's costume designer Patricia Zipprodt. via GIPHY What is a 90s romantic comedy without a dramatic makeover montage scene? After Laney (Rachael Leigh Cook) is transformed into prom queen material,l shows her walking down the stairs in slow motion to Six Pence None The Richer's Kiss Me. The red mini dress she wears is quintessentially 90s, but is a look that we wouldn't mind wearing these days! via GIPHY A modern classic, the outfits in Lady Bird are just perfect. When Lady Bird (Saoirse Ronan) finally ditches her no good boyfriend (the 'hella tight' Kyle, played by Timothee Chalamet) and makes up with her BFF Julie (Beanie Feldstein), all eyes are on the outfits. In the film, Ladybird finds her perfect dress at the thrift store in amongst a heated argument with her mother. The pink prom dress is ostentatious and over the top, true to the 2002 setting. Costume designer April Napier said she looked to shows such as Dawson's Creek for her inspiration. via GIPHY "For never was story of more woe, than this of Juliet and her Romeo." One thing that wasn't woeful in Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of the classic tale was the costumes. Although the film stayed faithful to the play in terms of the script, the costumes and music were much more modern. The scene where Romeo (Leonardo Dicaprio) and Juliet (Claire Danes) first meet is one that has gone down in fashion history. Juliet is dressed as an angel, in a white dress complete with wings - whilst Romeo is her literal knight in shining armour. Divine. via GIPHY Wes Anderson's films often skyrocket to cult status, and The Royal Tenenbaums was no exception. Gwyneth Paltrow's stint as the aloof Margot Tenenbaum is perhaps her most iconic role. The fur coat, Lacoste polo dress and Hermes Birkin bag are a dream combination and it's not hard to see how she's become such a well-loved character. via GIPHY When Sandy (Olivia Newton-John)to her good girl Sandra Dee persona and rocked up to Danny in a full leather look complete with red lipstick and a blow dry... we knew she meant business.that Newton-John had to be sewn into them. Despite the films' questionable morals (never change yourself for a man... ever) this look is one we'll never forget. via GIPHY Pretty Woman is one of those films where any one of the lead characters' outfits could appear on this list. For her role as Vivien, Julia Robert's most iconic look could be one of many. There's the brown polka dot dress at the races, and the dress she wears to stomp into the shop on Rodeo Drive and tell them they've madeThe most memorable outfit, however, is the one she wears at. Tye dye, a ring cut out, blonde wig and thigh high boots - it's SO 90s and SO good. via GIPHY Just thinking about the scene where Allie (Rachel McAdams) and Noah (Ryan Gosling) reunite after years apart could bring a tear to the dryest of eyes. The scene has everything you'd want from a romantic drama, and of course, ends with a dramatic kiss in the rain. The best part, however? Allie's dress. The powder blue button-down pencil dress worn by McAdams is typical of the 1940s setting, and earlier in the film she wears it with a matching headscarf. Despite the restrictive style of the tight skirt, Allie still manages to run absolutely everywhere - so not only is it chic, it's practical too. via GIPHY Characters don't come more stylish than Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah-Jessica Parker) and her most famous look actually comes from the spin-off film rather than the series.using a pair of shoes, he, of course, chooses Manolo Blahniks. They might not technically be a full outfit, but the sapphire blue Hangisi pumps have reached icon status, and it's all thanks to SATC. We can't think of anything better than being proposed to with a pair of Manolos, but one person who wasn't a fan of the scene was. "I really hate corny stuff and it could be because I'm a little bit of a cynic. Like, the whole thing at the end of the movie in the shoe closet - hated it" via GIPHY Questionable director aside, Annie Hall is a character whose style choices inspired a whole generation. Fashion designer Alexa Chung has cited Diane Keaton's seminal character as one of her fashion inspirations. Annie Hall's masculine style takes androgynous to a new level, and she wears three-piece suits complete with a tie as casual wear. She was the original 'cool girl' and her wardrobe is a big reason for that. via GIPHY Hands up if you bought a pair of dungarees after watching Mamma Mia!? Before Lily James took on the role of Donna Sheridan, her dungarees were filled by acting legend Meryl Streep. Her waist-length blonde hair, laid back linen shirts and bare feet make us want to drop everything and move to Greece immediately. These are just a few of the most iconic looks on the silver screen - there are of course many more, and will continue to be more for as long as cinema exists. It's hard to choose favourites, but it's pretty hard to beat that green dress from Atonement. Lead image credit: Photo shows a robotic arm working at a lithium battery company in Xinyu, east Chinas Jiangxi province, May 15, 2019. (Photo by Zhao Chunliang/Peoples Daily Online) China has full confidence in its economic growth as its overall momentum of long-term stability and progress remains unchanged, despite the declining traditional competitiveness, the downward economic pressure and the increasing uncertainties of the global economy. Stability is a distinct feature of Chinas economic and social development. Over the recent years, China has seen continuously advancing supply-side structural reform and improved economic quality and efficiency, as well as the much bigger role played by consumption in fueling economic growth. At the same time, the three critical battles including forestalling and defusing major risks, precision poverty alleviation and pollution prevention and control have got off to a good start. The new growth drivers have grown rapidly. Since this May, Mitsubishi Corporation has quartered its Asian chemical business in Shanghai, and the construction of SEG Automotive Global R&D Center commenced at Changsha national economic and technical development zone. Warren Buffet, whose company has already made huge investment in China, said that he would expand his investment in the country. These have all indicated the firm confidence of the foreign enterprises and business leaders in Chinese economy. The confidence comes from the fundamentals for sound and stable growth. Over the past 40 years of reform and opening up, Chinas economic volume has grown bigger and bigger with better development conditions and solid material foundation. Thanks to the huge resilience, potential, and ample space for maneuver of the Chinese economy, the country is able to withstand any test and turbulence. Facing complex and grim domestic and international landscape, China has maintained its GDP growth within a range from 6.4 percent to 6.8 percent for 14 consecutive quarters. Facts have scotched the rumor that China has lost its speed and seen cliff-like drop in economic growth. Though the worlds second largest economy is experiencing a slowdown in its growth, it still sees increasingly stronger momentum of high-quality development. By and large, it is staying on an upward trajectory of stable growth. The confidence comes from the solid industrial foundation. As the worlds largest manufacturer, China has the most complete industrial system. Though some traditional advantages of Chinese industries are dwindling and a few companies have shifted away their investment from the country, most on the industrial chains are enjoying solid development in China thanks to the close cooperation between upper- and lower-stream sectors, the complementarity between different industries, and the inter-regional industrial transfer. The Chinese industries are no doubt offering valuable opportunities for enterprises as long as the latter could foster new advantages and cope with the new pattern of division. The confidence comes from the powerful dynamism of the industrial upgrading. The new economic drivers released by the reform and opening up are creating more energy for Chinas economic development. New technologies represented by 5G are experiencing rapid development; new industries and technologies such as the high-speed rail, new energy vehicles and the aerospace are seeing fast growth; new business models including artificial intelligence and internet economy are also flourishing. By deepening supply-side structural reform, addressing overcapacity, bolstering areas of weakness, lowering cost and taking multiple measures to improve environment, China is now embracing a wider path of high-quality development. Various analyses, examples and indicators have proved that Chinas economy has a bright future, and optimistic forecast for Chinas development has strong support. As a major trading partner of over 130 countries, China is not only an important factory of the world, but also a major market that opens to all. In the face of a rising protectionist trend and tendency for unilateralism, China has enough strength to address economic challenges, and Chinese people have strong confidence in reform and development. While strengthening exchanges with traditional trade partners, China has actively expanded cooperation with new partners in new areas. Statistics showed that over the past five years, the trade volume between China and countries along the Belt and Road has exceeded $6 trillion. As the circle of friends grows, China will deliver more fruitful outcomes in cooperation with countries across the world. If we think we can, our course would succeed even if it takes moving mountains and filling oceans, said Chinese President Xi Jinping, quoting the remarks by famous Chinese politician Sun Yat-sen. China is bound to overcome any difficulties and challenges, and create bigger miracles amid high-quality development as long as it maintains strategic composure, comprehensively deepens reform and opening up, and focuses on running its own affairs under the strong leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core. Chung Eui-yong, chief of the National Security Office, speaks in a media briefing at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, Friday. Yonhap Businesspeople allowed to visit Gaeseong By Lee Min-hyung South Korea will stick to its plan to provide food aid to North Korea, as this should be seen from a humanitarian perspective regardless of the country's recent provocations, National Security Office (NSO) chief Chung Eui-yong said Friday. "The issue of providing food aid to North Korea should be reviewed from the viewpoint of compatriots without regard to national security," Chung told reporters at Cheong Wa Dae The Ministry of Unification said it plans to provide $8 million in food aid in partnership with international relief organizations, such as the World Food Programme and the United Nations Children's Fund. This comes amid skepticism toward the aid plan after a series of short-range missile and "unidentified projectile" tests this month. Some media outlets reported Friday the United States Forces Korea (USFK) concluded these were short-range ballistic missile launches. Chung, however, denied the report, saying that this was not the official stance of the USFK. "South Korea and the U.S. are still analyzing the details of what the projectiles were, and this is the official position of the allies," Chun said. Pyongyang's recent moves were in sharp contrast to those from last year when North Korean leader Kim Jong-un took part in a series of summits to discuss peace on the Korean Peninsula. Baby Jumbo is dead PHUKET: The Phuket Zoo baby elephant Jumbo, just three years old, has died from a digestive tract infection despite an international campaign calling for him to be taken into care for better protection. animalstourismdeath By Tanyaluk Sakoot Friday 17 May 2019, 01:00PM Phuket livestock officers inspect baby Jumbos health at Phuket Zoo last month. Photo: DLD Jumbo was so weak that he collapsed under his own weight and broke both his back legs while trying to lift himself free from mud in a special area created for him where he could recover, explained Zoo Manager Pichai Sakunsorn. Veterinarians from the Phuket Provincial Office of the Department of Livestock Development (DLD) advised us to keep a close eye on his health because he was becoming weak from an infection. The vets came to check on him and provided him medical treatment, but he was not getting better. His condition kept deteriorating, so he we had him taken to the Elephant Hospital in Krabi, where he was admitted on April 17, he said. A staffer at the Elephant Hospital Southern Thailand in Krabi, operated by the National Elephant Institute, confirmed to The Phuket News this week that Jumbo died three days later. The staffer, who declined to be named publicly, confirmed that Jumbo was a legally registered elephant carrying microchip number 122767173A, born on Dec 8, 2015 and originally from Hua Hin. He was not able to stand and both his back legs showed swelling, so we had a vet x-ray his legs and found that both legs were broken, the staffer explained. Jumbo has now been buried on hospital grounds, the staffer added. Phuket DLD Chief Manas Thepparuk confirmed that Jumbo was the same elephant that had previously been referred to as both Dodo and Ping Pong. He apologised for the confusion. Suriya Tanthaweewong, the board director of Phuket Zoo Co Ltd involved with zoo operations, emotional on the phone, also confirmed, We had only one baby elephant here at the zoo. Mr Manas when called by The Phuket News on Tuesday said he was not aware that Jumbo had died. I had been told that he was at the Elephant Hospital, and I thought that I would have been informed if Jumbo had died, he said. Zoo Manager Mr Pichai, speaking openly about Jumbo, countered plainly, I did inform the Phuket DLD about Jumbos death. Now informed, Mr Manas told The Phuket News on Tuesday that his officers would investigate Jumbos death and take any legal action deemed necessary. A veterinarian at the Elephant Hospital involved in providing care for Jumbo explained that in her opinion Jumbo did not die of abuse or neglect. The vet also discounted elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV), a type of herpesvirus that can cause a highly fatal hemorrhagic disease when transmitted to young Asian elephants. An associated National Elephant Institute Elephant Hospital in Lampang had a baby elephant die of EEHV only earlier this month. Jumbo did not show any signs of EEHV. He had an infection in his digestive tract that resulted in Jumbo suffering constant diarrhea, which caused other health complications, including the fact that his body was not absorbing nutrients as it should, which made him very weak," the vet explained. I believe that the cause of Jumbos condition may have resulted from him being born premature. Also, Jumbo liked bananas and other sweet foods. He refused to eat enough fibre-rich food to remain healthy, she said. Regarding how Jumbo came to sustain two broken legs, the vet told The Phuket News that the debilitating injuries arose from a horrible accident. It was the worst, she said. I talked with the mahout who looked after Jumbo. The accident happened on April 13. Jumbos front legs became stuck in some mud while he was holding himself up with his back legs on dry ground. First, he tried to lift himself out with his back right leg, but the bone was too thin and too brittle, and the stress on it caused it to break. So he tried to push himself out of the mud with his back left leg, and that broke, too, she said. They managed to get him out of the mud, but at that stage they did not know his back legs were broken. The zoo vet provided care for him from April 13 to 17, but as the swelling did not subside they brought him here [to the Elephant Hospital], she said. Jumbo arrived here on April 17. He could not stand and was very weak. We discovered that his back legs were broken and provided medical treatment, but on April 19 he ate very little and he passed away at 3am on April 20, she explained. Mr Manas confirmed that Phuket Zoo under its permit has the right to keep the elephants it already has and uses to perform dance shows and tricks for tourists. Phuket Zoo can even acquire a new baby elephant if they choose to, he added. That is up to them. They have the right to do so, Mr Manas said. Meanwhile, Zoo Manager Mr Pichai, like Mr Suriya, also appeared to be deeply saddened by Jumbos passing. Nobody wants to lose something they love. We did the best we could do to protect him, he said. Mr Pichai denied allegations that Jumbo was being treated inappropriately, Questioning why even unscrupulous elephant owners would abuse an elephant to the point of death, Mr Pichai, still emotional, pointed out, This elephant baby was worth more than B1 million. Jumbo became the focus of a media storm earlier this year when animal welfare group Moving Animals launched an online campaign to have Jumbo who they nicknamed Dumbo removed from the zoos care for better protection. The campaign gained international recognition, with stories covered by the UKs Independent, Daily Mail, Mirror and The Sun, as well as Afton Bladet of Sweden and la Repubblica in Italy. (See stories here and here.) Activists preparing for an event to mark the May 18 Gwangju Uprising reenact a street broadcast, which protesters held back in 1980, in front of the old South Jeolla provincial government building, Friday, a day before the 39th anniversary of the pro-democracy movement. /Yonhap Government clamps down on surging illegal Thai migration BANGKOK: The Labour Ministry is stepping up measures to curb the growing number of Thai nationals intending to live and work illegally in South Korea, as the number of illegal Thai immigrants in South Korea has soared to 140,000. immigrationpolice By Bangkok Post Friday 17 May 2019, 09:35AM Labour authorities inspect the registration of Thai workers who want jobs in South Korea, in Pathum Thani province last year. Photo: Pattarapog Chatpattarasill The ministrys Department of Employment has told officials at its checkpoint at Suvarnabhumi airport set up to weed out Thais suspected of intending to work illegally overseas to impose stricter screening measures for passengers flying to South Korea, department director-general, Phetcharat Sin-auy, said. Despite the tough screening in place, between 100 and 150 passengers travelling to South Korea are denied entry each day and forced to return to Thailand on suspicion of intending to seek to work illegally, she said. Many of them are well-dressed and too well-groomed to be suspected here of intending to sneak through immigration checks and live and work illegally over there, she said. Some even have forged documents to back their claims that they were travelling to South Korea to attend professional training courses, she said. Only when the documents were verified, did department officials at the Suvarnabhumi airport checkpoint discover they were totally fake, she said. Labour authorities now find it difficult to strike a balance between barring passengers from travelling to South Korea if they suspect them of attempting to work illegally there and preventing themselves from being sued by passengers in the event suspicions prove groundless, she said. According to the Labour Ministry, the Thai labour attache in South Korea has expressed concern over the growing number of Thai nationals intentionally living and working illegally in South Korea. As many as 140,000 such people are in South Korea where they can earn at least B50,000 a month, which is considered attractive to many Thai workers. Many people dream of earning a high income such as this in South Korea. However, many of them end up becoming victims of work placement scams after being told by so-called agents to pay large sums of money for bogus work placement services advertised on social media, said Ms Phetcharat. Her department has been monitoring these illegal work placement services, which has led to arrests in more than 20 cases, she said. The department is screening work placement advertisements on sites such as Facebook and working with the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society and the police in both blocking these adverts and tracking down the people running them. Read original story here. Phuket man arrested for role in Thalang Riot posts B500k bail PHUKET: The 21-year-old man arrested in Bangkok and brought back to Phuket to face charges for his alleged role in the Thalang Riot more than three years ago has been released by police after posting B500,000 bail. By Eakkapop Thongtub Friday 17 May 2019, 11:38AM Setthawut Tangjit, 21, posted B500,000 bail at Thalang Police Station yesterday evening (May 16). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Setthawut Tangjit a first-year engineering student at Southeast Asia University in Bangkok, was arrested by Crime Suppression Division officers on Tuesday. He was brought to Phuket to have the charges read to him at Thalang Police Station, where the riot took place on Oct 11, 2015. He arrived at 5:30pm yesterday (May 16), confirmed Capt Kraisorn Boonprasop of Thalang Police. He acknowledged the charges named in the arrest warrant, and he posted bail by submitting a Chanote land title deed as surety, he added. Under arrest warrant No. 844/2558 issued by the Phuket Provincial Court on Nov 18, 2015, Mr Setthawut stands accused of: Uniting with 10 or more people to engage in violence and threatening to use Taking action that causes chaos in the country Burning of public property and chattels Uniting with others to cause property damage Uniting with others to assault officials who are acting in accordance with their duties Uniting with others to invade government buildings Uniting with others to obstruct traffic on a public road Next, Mr Setthawut will be questioned by investigators, Capt Kraisorn said. Thalang Police Chief Col Teerawat Liamsuwan confirmed to The Phuket News yesterday that he was aware that Mr Setthawut had denied the charges and told police in Bangkok that he was not even in Phuket at the time of the riot. Instead, Mr Setthawut said he was on holiday in Nakhon Sri Thammarat at the time. (See story here.) During the riot, which lasted through the night of Oct 11, 2015, hundreds of protesters torched cars and hurled bricks at Thalang Police Station in retaliation for two local teenagers dying in a motorbike chase by police allegedly pursuing the teens to arrest them for drugs. Several police officers were injured in the melee. (See story here.) The four police officers involved in the botched drugs arrest that resulted in the deaths of Pathomwat Panarak, 22, and Thanaporn Kantakien, 17 and consequently sparked the riot remained on active duty. The four officers Lt Suchart Luecha, Snr Sgt Maj Prasai Phuengphol, L/Cpl Kanthaphol Khongnukate and L/Cpl Phanuwit Kaewsang were quickly transferred from Thalang Police Station and the deaths of Mr Pathomwat and Mr Thanaporn were promptly ruled as an accident. (See story here.) Phuket Marine Office to destroy abandoned Chinese fishing boats PHUKET: All marine operators have been warned to keep clear of Tha Chatchai Pier in the Chong Bpark Phra canal separating Phuket from the mainland while officers from the Phuket Marine Office break apart five Chinese fishing boats left abandoned at the pier. marine By The Phuket News Friday 17 May 2019, 04:59PM The notice issued by the Phuket Marine Office marked where teh five abandoned Chinese fishing boats will be broken apart. Image: Google Maps / Phuket Marine Office The warning came in a notice issued by Chief Phuket Marine Office Wiwat Chitchertwong today (May 17). All forms of water transport are to stay away from the area where the boats will be destroyed. The work will from Sunday onward, Mr Wiwat wrote. We will seal off the area near Tha Chatchai Pier by marking the area with red buoys, he added. Mr Wiwat gave the co-ordinates of location of the deconstruction area as 8.195929 N, 98.302283 E. The five fishing boats have remain unused at the pier for about 10 years, Mr Wiwat said. They are legal fishing boats. The operators did not commit any crimes, but the boats have remained abandoned for a long time, he said. The boats are just taking up mooring spaces at the pier, and so the owner in China has given the Thai representative permission for the boats to be destroyed, he said. We are following Section 121 of the Navigation in Thai Waters Act 1979. We must warn other vessels to stay away for safety while the fishing boats are being destroyed, he added. Senior monks jailed for fraud BANGKOK: The Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases has sentenced a former abbot of Wat Sam Phraya and his secretary to six years and three years in jail, respectively, for laundering money budgeted to promote Buddhism into their own pockets. By Bangkok Post Friday 17 May 2019, 09:11AM Monks from Wat Sam Phraya walk out of the Criminal Court building after attending the court ruling against their two former senior monks on Thursday (May 17). Photo: Chanat Katanyu Phra Phrom Dilok, then the abbot of Wat Sam Phraya, is arrested at his temple in Phra Nakhon district on May 24, 2018. Photo: Wassayos Ngamkham The court ruled on Thursday (May 17) former Phra Promdilok and former Phra Attakit Sophon had siphoned some B4 million of the B5 million budget from the National Office of Buddhism (NOB) to the accounts of Wipaporn Udomchokpiti. The NOB earmarked B5 million between 2013 and 2014 to Wat Sam Phraya, part of the B72 million budget for all temples nationwide to support projects promoting Buddhism. The money was transferred to the woman in three separate transactions between December 2013 and January 2014, according to the prosecutions documents. The judges dismissed claims by the two former senior monks they thought the money was allocated to the temple for the construction of two buildings. The court sentenced the former monk to six years and his close aide three years with no suspended terms. Former Phra Prom Dilok and former Phra Attakit Sophon were arrested by the Crime Suppression Division in May last year during the nationwide campaign to crack down on monks allegedly embezzling money to support religious activities at their temples. Former Phra Prom Diloks layman name is Auen Klinsalee and his secretarys name is Somsong Attakit. The two were defrocked and detained at the Bangkok Remand Prison after the arrest. Their lawyer Kosol Saisuwan said after the ruling that his clients would appeal to a higher court. The ruling was the second in a string of court cases against alleged corrupt monks. In April, Phra Khru Kitti Phatcharakhun, the abbot of Wat Lat Khae in Chon Daen district of Loei, was sentenced to 26 years in prison on the same charges. He was later defrocked and jailed. Read original story here. THAI profits take Q1 nosedive BANGKOK: Thai Airways International Plc (THAI) has blamed the appreciation of the baht, the US-China trade war and the closure of Pakistani airspace for an 83% dive in its year-on-year first-quarter profits. Friday 17 May 2019, 08:54AM The national carrier on Thursday (May 16) announced its financial statement for the first quarter of this year. It reported a net profit of B456 million, down from a B2.7 billion profit in the first three months of last year. It posted revenue of B49.7bn, down 6.9% on the same period last year. THAI president Sumeth Damrongchaitham said the fall is caused by the strong appreciation of the baht against major currencies, which made it impossible for the airline to raise air ticket prices. Although the bahts appreciation helped lower some expenses, including loan payments and lease payments for aircraft and engines, this benefit remains minimal, he said. The trade war between the United States and China also took a toll on the airlines cargo business, which saw earnings drop 12.9%, Mr Sumeth said. The airline was also affected by the closure of Pakistani airspace in late February following clashes with India, Mr Sumeth said, noting THAI aircraft needed to make detours, which pushed up fuel costs. The airspace has since been partially opened. According to the THAI president, the airline utilised an average of 90 aircraft during the first quarter, four fewer than in the same period last year. The airline plans to sell products on its website and mobile app in September to increase revenue. Read original story here. Southern Pines, NC (28387) Today Areas of patchy fog early. Partly cloudy skies in the morning will give way to cloudy skies during the afternoon. High 72F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Mostly cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low 58F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Human Service Agency provides critical services to Watertown area The staff at Human Service Agency provides an incredible level of service considering the resource restraints that the agency operates under here in Watertown. Two ladies prepare for a reenactment of the May, 19, 1980, pro-democracy uprising in Gwangju on the eve of its 39th anniversary, Friday. Yonhap Concerns rise over Hwang Kyo-ahn's planned visit, May 18 By Yi Whan-woo The leaders of four of the five major parties, with the exception of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), gathered in Gwangju, Friday, on the eve of the 39th anniversary of the May 18 Democratization Movement in 1980. They joined events held to commemorate the victims of a military crackdown at the sites of protests 39 years ago in downtown Gwangju. LKP Chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn and floor leader Rep. Na Kyung-won, instead, joined a rally in Daejeon to continue to protest against President Moon Jae-in. This was the fifth in a series of nationwide rallies organized by the LKP since Hwang was elected the party's leader in February. Hwang plans to visit Gwangju tomorrow to attend an anniversary ceremony, along with the leaders of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), the Bareunmirae Party, the Party for Democracy and Justice and the Justice Party. The citizens of Gwangju, however, largely opposed Hwang's visit, being resentful at the party's lack of action against a number of LKP lawmakers who recently made derogatory remarks about participants in the uprising. Hwang was met with fierce protests when he first visited Gwangju as LKP chairman, May 3. They believe the party is associated with attempts by far-right groups to distort the movement and justify a crackdown on the protesters. "The leaders of the DPK, the Bareunmirae Party, the Party for Democracy and Justice and the Justice Party honored the victims and called for justice in uncovering the truth hidden behind the 1980 massacre," said an organizer of the festival held on the eve of the anniversary. Prior to the festival in downtown Gwangju, the political leaders went on a march with 1,000 citizens. They walked along the streets where unarmed civilians stood against Chun's rule before they were attacked by paratroopers with tanks and helicopters. In Daejeon, Hwang was joined by LKP floor leader Na Kyung-won and other major party officials, chanting "Stop Moon Jae-in, the people will judge him." Hwang insisted on going to Gwangju, saying "It's my duty as the leader of the main opposition party." "I won't step out of the way but will face difficulty head-on. If I am rebuked by the citizens of Gwangju, I will certainly take it." Hwang said his party should no longer "emotionally hurt the victims of the Gwangju Democratization Movement," adding, "The uprising should be assessed in the right manner and measures should be taken accordingly. He said the party was taking steps punish lawmakers Kim Jin-tae, Lee Jong-myeong and Kim Soon-rye, who have stirred up controversy by distorting facts and defaming the Gwangju Democratization Movement and its participants. NORRISTOWN More than four dozen Montgomery County residents learned the hard way that a request to report for jury duty is not an invitation it is a summons and should be taken seriously. A total of 57 people were ordered to appear before Montgomery County Judge Garrett D. Page on Friday for juror contempt hearings to explain why they ignored summonses to report for jury duty between September 2018 and April 2019. The people that we brought in missed jury duty at least two, some maybe three or four times, and were given many chances and we received no responses. Thats how they end up on the juror contempt list, explained Marge Cesare, first deputy of the county jury board. Thirty-two of the 57 accused juror scofflaws didnt even show up for Fridays hearings and Page issued bench warrants against them. Three others were excused from appearing for cause, including medical reasons. Those who dont satisfy the bench warrants risk being taken into custody by sheriffs deputies to be physically brought before a judge. Of the 22 people who did show up for their hearings, 17 admitted that they willfully disobeyed a jury summons and were fined $50. They also got a new date to report for jury duty. Page warned the residents that if they dont show up for their new jury duty report dates the fines will range between $200 and $500. This is important stuff. You cant disobey a court order to appear for jury duty, Page said. Not everything is a hardship. You still have to show. Five county residents demanded full-fledged contempt hearings. When the judge asked one Horsham woman why she ignored two jury summonses to appear she responded, My mail gets stolen all the time. I didnt get it. Judge Page said without evidence to support her claim, the presumption was that the summonses were received and he fined the woman $100. Its unfair, the woman said as she left the courtroom, tears welling in her eyes. Once the residents pay their fines, the contempt rulings are cleared from their records. Four others also were found in contempt and were fined between $100 and $200. One truck driver said he was in Boston on a delivery run but admitted he never called the jury board to explain his absence. Another man told the judge he didnt believe he spoke English well enough to be on a jury but the judge pointed out the man was clearly conversing in the courtroom on Friday. Cesare and Liz Gerstein, a jury marshalling assistant, said officials will work with residents who have legitimate excuses as to why they cant appear. But residents need to call the jury board to address a summons and not just ignore it. They can pick a second date. Were flexible, Gerstein said. If you have a problem when you first get the notice call us and let us know whats going on, dont just ignore it. If they have a legitimate excuse we try to work with them. Were not out to get them, Cesare added. The two elected jury commissioners, Merry Woods and Joanne Olszewski, also were present in court for the hearings. Officials hope to hold contempt hearings every six months for those who ignore summonses. Cesare said the message to county residents is clear. This is not an invitation, it is a summons, Cesare said. The song features John and Egerton took turns to sing a verse before coming together for the choruses. It is also the only one on the soundtrack album where John's vocals are featured. Egerton sings most of the tracks by himself and other cast members join in wherever appropriate. John insisted that Egerton should do his own singing because he felt that it would contribute a lot to his overall acting. "It was so important that the music I composed and recorded had to be sung by Taron, John firmly explained. "I wanted his interpretation of me, through Bernie's lyrics and my music - not just acting." The soundtrack album arrives on the 24th May, a few days earlier before the film hits New Zealand screens this 30th May with advanced screenings on 25th May. OTTAWA - U.S. President Donald Trumps administration agreed Friday to drop its punitive and controversial tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, ending a bitter dispute between historic allies and removing a key obstacle to ratifying the new North American trade pact. Canada and the U.S. both say they will now work together in the coming weeks to get legal approval of the new continental trade deal a reboot of the original, 25-year-old NAFTA, which Trump has staked much of his political reputation on either replacing or ripping up. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau framed his victory lap carefully so as not to offend the mercurial U.S. president, who called him weak and dishonest after last years G7 summit in Quebec a nadir on Canada-U.S. relations that came at the height of cross-border tensions over trade and tariffs, Trumps preferred lever when it comes to foreign relations. This is just pure good news for Canadians, Trudeau said Friday during a previously unscheduled, last-minute visit to a Stelco plant in Hamilton, Canadas steel-manufacturing capital. Families will know that their jobs are just a little more secure. Trudeau avoided mentioning China by name the country that the U.S. and Canada must now carefully monitor, under the terms of the agreement, to prevent cheap foreign steel from being dumped into North America. Canada is embroiled in a political crisis with China, which has jailed two Canadian men on national-security grounds and imposed a death sentence on a third for drug smuggling. The breakthrough was good news politically for an embattled Liberal government that is heading into a federal election in October and must win seats in vote-rich Ontario, where Conservative Premier Doug Ford has mounted a public campaign against the federal carbon tax. Ford issued a statement, without naming Trudeau, that said he was pleased on behalf of his provinces workers that the tariffs were coming off. The deal is a foreign policy win for Trudeau, whose oversight of Canadas most important international relationship has been complicated by a bellicose American president unafraid of flinging personal insults, accusing a key neighbour of threatening national security and accusing Canadian farmers of taking advantage of unfair trading practices. We stayed strong because thats what workers were asking ... thats what Canadians were saying, Trudeau said. These tariffs didnt make sense around national security. They were hurting Canadian consumers, Canadian workers, and American workers and American consumers. We did make the commitment to work with the United States on watching how the industry is evolving and making sure that were not becoming victims of global pressures on our steel industry. Global Affairs Canada says the tariffs will be removed within two days, while Canada has also agreed to drop all of its retaliatory measures and legal actions against the U.S. at the World Trade Organization. The deal prompted U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence to announce plans to meet with Trudeau in Ottawa May 30 in hopes of advancing the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement as swiftly as possible. This is WIN for all three nations, Pence tweeted. Prior to speaking to journalists, Trudeau toured the Stelco facility and met workers to break the news directly to them first. He was joined by several cabinet ministers, including Freeland and Finance Minister Bill Morneau. Word of the agreement began to trickle out Friday amid reports that U.S. negotiators had backed off long-standing demands for a hard limit on imports of Canadian steel and aluminum, part of an effort to keep cheap Chinese product out of the country. Last May, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the tariffs were necessary to prevent a flood of cheap Chinese steel into the U.S. through its NAFTA partner countries, and conceded they were aimed at accelerating trade talks. Canada responded with dollar-for-dollar countermeasures on $16 billion worth of American imports. The Commerce Department said Friday the resolution was good news for American farmers who had been hit with retaliatory tariffs from Canada. We have a great relationship with Canada and the prime minister we have a great relationship, but theyve been charging us extremely high tariffs, Trump said, adding that he hoped Congress would approve the new trade pact quickly now that the tariffs were removed. For some, however, the scars will linger. Bruce Heyman, former president Barack Obamas ambassador to Canada, said the decision is good news, but that Trump owes Canada an apology for the way its been treated. He is like the arsonist who lights the fire, puts it out and declares some kind of victory ... like hes the saviour, Heyman said. Trudeau offered a shout-out to Canadian unions for their support, and said it helped the government hold firm to U.S. demands that it submit to quotas before lifting the tariffs. Ending tariffs means Canadians can get back to work, Hassan Yussuf, the president of the Canadian Labour Congress, said on Twitter. The Trudeau government branded the tariffs as illegal, absurd and insulting, warning that Canada and Mexico would struggle to ratify new deal, which Trump has branded the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, with the levies still in place. Ottawa has also been working to demonstrate to Washington that it has taken steps to stem the flow of cheaper Chinese metals into Canada. But Canada stood firm with the U.S. on one key, related point: it has steadfastly refused to agree to quotas or other limits on its exports to get the tariffs lifted. The agreement says the U.S. and Canada will establish a process for monitoring steel and aluminum trade between them. It says the two countries will consult if theres a surge of steel or aluminum imports beyond historic volumes of trade over a period of time and gives the countries the right re-impose 25 per-cent duties on steel and 10-per cent on aluminum. Toronto trade lawyer Lawrence Herman said its too soon to predict whether Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives will ratify the new North American trade pact. But it looks like some sense of sanity has prevailed in the White House at long last, helped along the way by huge pressure from the U.S. private sector that found these surcharges to be very hurtful. HALIFAX - A large, open-pit gold operation located in the historic Nova Scotia mining district of Moose River has been sold to an Australian firm. A news release issued earlier this week says St Barbara mining has acquired Atlantic Gold Corp., with plans to raise further capital for a possible listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Shareholders are receiving $2.90 per share for a total equity value of $722 million under terms of the takeover. The company has been mining gold in open pit operations at the Touquoy mine and has mapped out four deposits in some of the provinces long-dormant underground gold districts. The modern mines differ vastly from the underground shafts which once honeycombed the area, and made Moose River the world-famous site of a 1936 cave-in and rescue. The Touquoy operation, just a 90-minute drive from Halifax, relies on huge volumes of ore going through mass crushing and leaching to draw out the tiny amounts of gold. They are then melted into gold bars on the site. The growth of the mining in Nova Scotia near a major population centre and shipping facilities has been held up as a signal that strong gold prices and lower-cost open pit operations are capable of giving abandoned mining areas a fresh lease on life. However, local residents and environmental groups have expressed concern about how water stored in holding ponds will be treated prior to their return to local watersheds on the Eastern Shore. The Eastern Shore Forest Watch Association has argued nitrogen in the effluent in part from the explosives may lead to unnatural enrichment of surrounding waters, leading to potential fish kills. In addition, the movement of ore by heavy trucking to the crushing site has generated criticism due to noise and dust levels. The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency has been examining the impacts of the second open pit, the Beaver Dam project, which would have trucks carrying ore over rural highways to Touquoy. MONTREAL - SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. has cancelled the sale of part of its stake in 407 International Inc. to the OMERS pension plan but will sell the stake to one or both of the other owners of the Ontario toll highway. The Montreal-based company said Friday the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, which already owns a 40 per cent stake in 407 International Inc., has exercised its right of first refusal. Cintra Global S.E., a Spanish company that owns a 43.23 per cent stake in the toll highway, has also sought to exercise its right of first refusal, but SNC disputes its ability to do so under the circumstances. The dispute in headed to the Ontario Superior Court with a hearing set for June 21. However, the companies have agreed that following the courts initial decision, SNC-Lavalin will be permitted to sell the stake to either CPPIB alone or both CPPIB and Cintra under similar terms it agreed to with OMERS. OMERS had agreed to buy a 10.01 per cent stake in 407 International Inc. for $3 billion plus an additional $250 million over 10 years, conditional on certain financial targets. SNCs position is that Cintra agreed in 2002 to waive its right of first refusal involving purchasers that do not have competing interests in relation to construction, operations, asset management of, and investment in road or airport infrastructure projects other than solely as a financial investor such as a pension or superannuation fund. However, Cintra claims that OMERS is a competitor and does not fall within the waivers exception for financial investors. SNC-Lavalin remains confident in its position that Cintras claims and arguments are entirely without merit and that Cintra does not have the right to disrupt or participate in either the original sale transaction between SNC-Lavalin and OMERS, or in the sale transaction between SNC-Lavalin and CPPIB, SNC said in a statement. Companies in this story: (TSX:SNC) President Donald Trump said the U.S. will lift steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada and Mexico, boosting efforts to encourage lawmakers to ratify a new North American trade deal. Im pleased to announce that weve just reached an agreement with Canada and Mexico and will be selling our product into those countries without the imposition of tariffs or major tariffs, Trump said at an event Friday. Hopefully Congress will approve the USMCA quickly. In a joint statement Friday, Canada said it will lift retaliatory duties on U.S. products as part of the deal, which will take effect within two days. Mexican Deputy Foreign Minister Jesus Seade, in a Twitter post, welcomed Trumps removal of the duties. Both nations suggested it would open the way for their lawmakers to approve the new trade pact. The move will lift the 25 per cent steel and 10 per cent aluminum tariffs the U.S. placed on the two trading neighbours almost a year ago in the name of national security. The decision sparked tit-for-tat duties from Canada and Mexico on U.S. farming goods and other products, and became an obstacle for lawmakers in all three nations to ratifying the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. As part of the agreement, the U.S. will be able to reimpose the tariffs on metals imports if not enough is done to prevent any surge of metals imports beyond historical levels. The nations have also agreed to ramp up efforts to trace where the metals have come from originally, to stop the diversion of shipments from other nations to dodge tariffs. Read more: Trump lifts tariffs on Mexico, Canada, delays auto tariffs Trump delays auto tariffs amid other trade fights Trumps tariffs about fear China is laughing at us and not strategy The enforcement system will aim to advantage primary steel and aluminum producers in the three-nation trading bloc to ensure that the metal is melted, poured or smelted regionally. Steel tariffs U.S. steelmakers and aluminum producers rebounded off Fridays lows on optimism that the measures will prevent excess supply from flooding their domestic markets. A S&P gauge of 13 steelmakers pared losses to 2.4 per cent in New York. The index was down as much as 3.3 per cent earlier. Alcoa Corp., the largest U.S. aluminum producer, declined 1.9 per cent, after sliding as much as 2.5 per cent. Canadian producer Stelco Holdings Inc. climbed more than 11 per cent. The tariffs have stood in the way of getting Trumps new North American trade deal approved by Congress, and ratified in Canada and Mexico. Republican senators, led by Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa, have emphasized the urgency of approving USMCA, and the importance of removing existing tariffs and avoiding new ones. The tariffs on steel and aluminum and our counter measures represented significant barriers to moving forward with the new Nafta agreement, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at a steel plant in Hamilton in a hastily called announcement Friday. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said on Twitter that hell meet with Trudeau in Ottawa on May 30 discuss advancing USMCA. U.S. business groups and some lawmakers praised the agreement, saying it would help farmers and gather momentum at home for the passage of the USMCA. This move, coupled with the lifting of retaliatory duties, will bring immediate relief to American farmers and manufacturers, said Tom Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. This action delivers a welcome burst of momentum for the USMCA in Congress, and we urge the administration and Congress to continue their efforts to chart a path toward its approval as soon as possible. Ron Wyden, a Democratic Senator from Oregon, said the tariffs had caused real hardship, and I am glad that we can get back to the business of growing and making things in the United States and shipping them to customers in North America and beyond. Read more about: EDMONTONAlberta Senator Paula Simons doesnt drink appropriate enough for a member of Canadas house of sober second thought but after her swing vote torpedoed a senate committees endorsement of Bill C-48, garnering applause from her conservative counterparts, she made an exception. Last night I had a Tom Collins, Simons said. What I really needed was a big bowl of ice cream. Wednesday night, the Senates transportation and communications committee rejected the bill, dubbed the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, in a 6-6 vote, with Simons voting last. According to Senate rules, a tie results in a defeat of whatever is being proposed. If passed into law, the bill would ban oil tanker traffic along British Columbias north coast, from the northern tip of Vancouver Island to the Alaska border, forbidding tankers carrying more than 12,500 tonnes of oil from loading or unloading in the exclusion zone, either directly at ports or using other ships as intermediaries. Next week, the committee will return a report to the Senate advising it not to forward the Bill to the House of Commons. So we havent killed the bill, Simons explained. But Ive tripped it. Read more: Federal oil tanker ban bill defeated in Senate, but legislation not dead Kenney urges Senate committee to scrap oil tanker ban bill Albertas Notley urges senators to toss tanker ban bill in the garbage Her decision came down to two rejected amendments, forwarded by Quebec Senator Julie Miville-Dechene, that Simons felt should have been part of the bill. The first amendment would have exempted the Nisgaa First Nation from the ban. The First Nation is located on the northern tip of B.C. near the Alaska border, and exempting the group would open up the possibility of a deep water port in the exclusion zone. Simons favoured the first amendment because it didnt run roughshod over the rights of the Nisgaa, who said to us that they did not feel that they had been properly consulted. However, the amendment was rejected. The second rejected amendment required approval of the Trans Mountain expansion project for the bill to come into force, a reasonable compromise, Simons noted, since it would have at least allowed Alberta oil access to the Pacific. The only amendment the committee passed, and one that Simons favoured, would have made the ban an actual moratorium that could be reviewed. But that alone wasnt enough for me, Simons explained. I really needed all three amendments to have come back to Albertans and said, Look, this is a problematic bill, but I fought really hard to make it better. And when I realized that wasnt going to happen, I made a very, very hard decision. In Alberta, the committee vote earned applause on both sides of the floor, since the bill, thought to target the provinces energy sector, would throttle petroleum exports to international markets. At a press conference in Calgary, Premier Jason Kenney said the bill would attack Albertas vital economic interests, and thanked the senators who voted against it. On Thursday, he added, the government will present a motion to the legislature calling on the Senate to oppose and kill Bill C-48. In a statement to Star Edmonton, Matt Dykstra, a spokesperson for Albertas New Democratic Party said the opposition was also pleased by the outcome. Albertas energy industry is critical to the well-being of every Canadian, he said. The Alberta NDP Opposition will take every opportunity to continue making that case to Canadians. Tim McMillan, CEO and president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Produces, said there was no rationale for the government to proceed with the bill, maintaining that it would permanently take away Canadas opportunity to move our energy products to growing international markets in Asia. Simons said she did not vote based on ideology or pressure from industry or elected officials in her home province. She said she voted her conscience. What did weigh on her, however, was her role as an Independent Senator, and at the risk of having the experimental reform appear dysfunctional, she said she was acting in the best interests of the region. Its not her only job in in the upper chamber, she added, but its the one she needed to do last night. If I couldnt justify this bill to Albertans, I couldnt justify voting in favour of it. With files from The Canadian Press Read more about: EDMONTONAs Stan Mantik works his shift at the tavern in Kelliher, population 217, a man overhears him talking with a reporter about the story thats cast a national spotlight over the tiny Saskatchewan community. In Kelliher, the man calls out with a laugh, they hold their KKK rallies on Saturday nights, dont you know. Its small-town Saskatchewan, Mantik tells Star Edmonton matter-of-factly over the phone. Hell, lets face it, the last Ku Klux Klan rally (here) was in Lemberg, Saskatchewan in 1964. White sheets and all on main street. Kelliher made headlines more recently after a local resident flew a Nazi flag over their home. And despite the reaction at the tavern, not everyone is taking it lightly. Last weekend, after people complained about the flag, police spoke to the resident, who reportedly agreed to remove it when it stopped raining and was safe to do so. Then, on Saturday, a First Nations man posted a video on Facebook showing himself setting the flag on fire. The flag has cast a shadow over the town but its also underscored what some have described as long-simmering racial tensions of a different stripe. Read more: Mounties in Saskatchewan investigating video of Nazi flag-burning Opinion | Tanya Talaga: The legacy of Colten Boushie is that Canadian justice means something entirely different for Indigenous peoples Opinion | Shree Paradkar: Our reaction to injustice for Colten Boushie is a reflection of our soul as individuals and Canadians The flag flying, and more importantly the reaction to it, illustrate the longstanding chasm that exists between Indigenous peoples and white settlers in Saskatchewan, and how raw the issue still is, said James Daschuk, an associate professor at the University of Regina. Kelliher has several First Nations nearby the Muskowekwan First Nation is about 20 kilometres northwest but the split between settler and First Nations communities is rooted in much more than proximity, Daschuk said. In the Saskatchewan countryside you can have an Indigenous community within kilometres of a white community, and these two communities really dont know each other, understand each other, sometimes dont have anything to do with each other, he said. Mantik described the village as insular people tend to stick to their own groups, he said, particularly those with Ukrainian or Polish ancestry, and many are suspicious of businesses owned by people from outside the community. If you move into town like I did you get shunned. This town is very clique-ish, very clan-ish not with the white sheet (kind), Mantik said wryly. Several Kelliher residents expressed anger to Star Edmonton about the flag incident. Others, like Mantik, said its been blown out of proportion. Me, I dont care, Mantik said. I dont care if he put up an ISIS flag. But some of the villages residents cared enough about the flag to complain to RCMP. And one First Nations man cared enough to take matters into his own hands. Considering the amount of First Nation kids that attended that school in that town I did it for not only them but for us and First Nation people, reads a comment on a Facebook profile that posted the viral video. A man identified by several people as the resident of the home where the flag was flying did not respond to a request for comment. The relationship between Saskatchewan settlers and First Nations has been polarized since before the province was formed, through the 1900s when Indigenous peoples were incarcerated in their own reserves, Daschuk said. But theres a demographic shift that is deepening the divide. As Canadians of European ancestry age, First Nations youth are the among fastest-growing and youngest demographic in the country. The dynamic is nothing new in Saskatchewan. Daschuk pointed to the case of Leo LaChance, a First Nations man who was shot and killed from behind a door in a Prince Albert pawn shop owned by Carney Nerland, a member of a white supremacy group, in 1991. Nerland later pleaded guilty to manslaughter and received a four-year sentence, which drew outrage. More recently, Colten Boushie was shot and killed by farmer Gerald Stanley for trespassing onto his land. Stanley was found not guilty of second-degree murder. The verdict was slammed by Boushies family as a miscarriage of justice. Eleanore Sunchild, a lawyer from Thunderchild First Nation with a law office in Battleford, has seen the racial divide in Saskatchewan firsthand. She is currently representing Boushies family in a civil claims lawsuit against Stanley and the RCMP. She said the Stanley acquittal was a turning point in the province, because it sent the message that a farmers property rights were more important than an Indigenous life. Its not getting any better, Sunchild said. But the racists are being louder because they feel they can be now very open in their views and nothing will happen to them. Consequently, Indigenous people now feel unsafe in Saskatchewan, she added. And I think that theyre justified. Back in Kelliher, local business owner Varian Carson said he can appreciate why people in town were angered by the flag, especially those who lost ancestors in the Second World War. I dont know why a person would even hang a sign like that in town here, with all the Ukrainian and Polish people that are here, Carson said. As for the relationship between settlers and First Nations people in town, Carson said its unfriendly. They dont like natives really. I mean theres a few living in town here They got to come here to cash their treaty cheques, he said. Gerald Faye, owner of Club15 Cheers Tavern in Kelliher, said he doesnt think the village is unfriendly or clique-ish. He said theres a strong German and Metis community in Kelliher and the villages residents are friendly, inclusive and welcoming. I think we got pretty much every nationality here thats in the world, pretty close, Faye said. Well, I dont think we have any Muslims. He said there are racists in every town, hes heard people express views from a bygone era in his own establishment. I know some people that come in here and theyre sorry Hitler lost the war, Faye said. And Ive known these people all their lives. While Nazi sympathies or jokes about Ku Klux Klan rallies may seem off kilter in 2019, to Daschuk, its clear Saskatchewan is still reckoning with its racism problem. For the last 120 years, theres been a gap in understanding between the settler population and the Indigenous peoples Theres been such a history of racial oppression in Saskatchewan and we cant deny it. Sunchild said she has seen a deep divide between white and Indigenous peoples throughout the prairies, but said rural, small-town Saskatchewan is probably the worst because the two groups have limited contact in many areas of the province. She said the Nazi flag flying incident should have been considered incitement of hatred, a hate crime in the criminal code, and that police were complicit in the status quo. And I think people are comfortable with that here. But its got to change, otherwise things are going to get worse, Sunchild said. I dont want to say everyones racist in Saskatchewan because theyre not, she added. But people need to speak up when they see something ... Like the hanging of that Nazi flag, thats a symbol of hatred. That should not have been allowed. On Wednesday, RCMP said they were investigating the latest development of the flag being burned and did not have further updates. Read more about: Pradeep Anurag Reddy knows what it is like to live a double life. The 26-year-old from Hyderabad, India, kept his homosexuality secret from his family for years eventually coming up with an elaborate plan that included moving to Canada in 2014 to escape the shame and fear of violence that comes with being gay back home. It was a freeing decision for Reddy who has flourished into a proud gay South Asian man in his new home in Toronto. He believes many men and women in Torontos South Asian LGBTQ+ community live two separate lives. In fact, some of the victims of serial killer Bruce McArthur were of South Asian descent like Reddy and may have kept their sexuality a secret, often pursuing same-sex encounters through dating apps. Reddy is surprised many are still choosing to live double lives in the open society he moved to specifically for that freedom. To give courage to gay South Asian men hiding their true sexuality, so they would not resort to fleeing their country as he had, Reddy came out publicly in a Facebook post in February. People need to know they dont need to be ashamed of their sexuality, that theres nothing wrong with them, Reddy says. They should feel proud to be who they are. Growing up in a religious Indian family, Reddy constantly felt shame for being attracted to men. He knew he was different but didnt know any other gay men. He often went to church and prayed to become normal. He tried to turn his feelings by dating women but that didnt work. After years of desperately trying not be gay, he had enough of not living his truth. With no one to confide in, Reddy told his family he wanted to study in Canada. His real goal was to explore his sexuality in a more progressive country. The day Reddys visa was approved, he broke down in tears on the balcony of his home in India. He was sad but believed Canada would allow him to be himself. And so, Reddy arrived in Toronto in December 2014. He recalls with clarity meeting his first gay friend at the Toronto college where he was studying arts management. I was curious to know where he lives and asked if he has a girlfriend, Reddy says. I was trying to be as straight as possible and to my surprise, he said, No, Im gay. And I said, Oh wow, Im gay, too. It was the first time Reddy came out and it was a liberating experience. He talked about it so casually and openly, said Reddy. Now, I think everyone should talk about it like that. As Reddy met others in the gay community, he wondered out loud about meeting men to date. My friend pulled out his phone and told me to swipe right or left, Reddy says. It was incredible. I literally felt like a bird who had just escaped his cage. Meeting other gay men has given Reddy the strength and confidence to become, albeit slowly, the proud gay man he is today. Emboldened by his new sense of self, Reddy was in Toronto for about three months when he came out to his brother via a Skype call to India. His brother responded by asking if he became gay in Toronto and Reddy confided that it was because he was gay he had moved here. His brother, who initially was upset that Reddy felt he couldnt tell anyone back home, now lives with him in Toronto. If someone I knew had come out publicly as gay when I was in India, maybe I wouldnt have self-shamed, worried about my sexuality or secretly ran away to another country, Reddy says. Maybe I would have at least tried to come out to my close friends. He waited a year before telling his mother, also on Skype, and it wasnt until 2016, during the last day of a trip to India that Reddy came out to his father. He didnt reject him, as Reddy had feared, but he didnt get the response he was hoping for either. It was great that they didnt react negatively initially, he says of his parents response. And I appreciated that they tried to understand. But I also saw them struggle to choose between my happiness and the shame they would face from relatives and others in their society. His parents consider homosexuality a disease and while they offered support, telling him he could live how he wished in Canada, they asked him to keep his sexuality a secret from relatives and friends. Reddy refused. What about all the people in India who cant escape to another country like me? Reddy has not returned home since that visit. He came out to his extended family in 2017. This (stigma) can only be changed by living openly, happily, and unapologetically as who I am, he says. Everyone in my life will get to know that there is nothing wrong with me. There is a lot of homophobia within the South Asian community that needs to be addressed, agrees Haran Vijayanathan, an openly gay South Asian LGBTQ+ advocate and executive director of the Alliance for South Asian Aids Prevention. Two of McArthurs victims, Skandaraj Navaratnam and Kirushna Kanagaratnam, were from Sri Lanka, as is Vijayanathan, but the possibility that the men were closeted gay men was not mentioned in the South Asian news media, says Vijayanathan, who began his career at the alliance as a Tamil outreach worker in 2003. None of the South Asian news media organizations spoke to anything related to this at all because it related to the gay community, which is quite disturbing and problematic, Vijayanathan says. Many South Asians in Toronto and perhaps South Asian countries find it difficult to come out because they dont have role models in media or society, says Vijayanathan. He certainly didnt have any. Vijayanathan was born in Sri Lanka and raised in Winnipeg. He believes that had his family not moved to Canada when he was 5 years old, he would either be dead for being homosexual or be married to a woman and have children due to social pressure. Theyre vulnerable for a reason, they dont have any support, they dont have a community they belong to, or if they do, they feel that they cant belong to that community, he says. In many South Asian families, coming out as gay often means losing respect and tarnishing the family name within their society. Having a gay brother could even make it difficult for younger siblings to wed into a Tamil-speaking family, he says. The toll it takes on the individual is not taken into consideration. On Reddys coming out Facebook post, which has more than 100 likes and comments, Reddy wrote that he hasnt seen his family in three years and that his parents are still learning to accept his sexuality. They still fear losing face in their community. A few of his relatives met his mom to cry and give her their sympathy. But many people from Reddys church and neighbourhood in India reacted positively. Reddy found sharing their comments with his parents helped a little. I constantly remind my parents that we dont need the people who are not happy for me and my life, he said. I have to keep telling them that they can let go of the people who are reacting negatively, regardless of who they are. Reddy has met several closeted men at LGBTQ+ support groups, living dual lives as happy married heterosexual men while having extramarital affairs with same-sex partners. Many South Asians believe homosexuality is a phase, he says. Since writing that post, several gay individuals in India have privately come out to Reddy. He says these are the best experiences hes had since coming out. He is honoured to be the person with whom they can finally openly talk about their feelings and he hopes they will have the strength not to run away as he did once they come out. Vijayanathan points out that those who live in the closet do so because they dont feel they have the support of their community. Coming out is really based on the individual and what kinds of support they need and not necessarily when you come out, Vijayanathan says. But many people, must navigate how to come out, if they should come out and to whom, he adds. Reddy, who feels fortunate to have family who havent completely shut him out, recently became a permanent resident of Canada and has no plans to move back to India just yet. The response hes received for his Facebook post prompted him to continue creating awareness in support of the South Asian LGBTQ+ community and regardless of where he is, he hopes to use social media to help anyone else struggling to come out. Ive met many South Asian gay men who are out, and lots of straight people who are slowly changing their perception towards the LGBTQ+ community, Reddy says. But, its still not where it should be. As more people come out and speak about their experience, it will bring more awareness, change and acceptance so that coming out isnt a nightmare, he says. If a few years from now someone wants to come out theyll know Anurag is also gay, that his family, friends, church and neighbourhood are fine with him, Reddy says. They wont have to feel ashamed or scared to be themselves. Read more about: EDMONTONThe Alberta government has imposed a fire ban and restrictions on off-highway vehicle use in the northern half of the province. The government says the decision was made due to the growing threat of wildfires. The areas affected include public land west and north of Slave Lake, north of Lac La Biche up to north of Fort McMurray, west of Peace River and north to the Northwest Territories boundary. The order includes a ban on recreational off-highway vehicles. All fire permits are suspended in the fire ban areas. Devin Dreeshen, minister of agriculture and forestry, says windy conditions, along with continued warm and dry weather, have increased the risk of wildfire throughout the region. This fire ban will ensure the safety of Albertans and their communities as well as protecting our forests by reducing that risk, he said Thursday in a release. The wildfire threat forecast for Friday is listed as extreme in some areas, including north of Lesser Slave Lake. Indigenous people are exempt from the off-highway vehicle restriction if used on reserve lands. Essential industry-related activities that require the use of off-highway vehicles can be exempted from the ban with the approval of a local forest officer. Read more about: Members of the Korean Women Workers Association stage a rally at Gwanghwamun Square, central Seoul, Friday, to call for an end to the wage gap between men and women, saying women's average pay is about 60 percent that of men. /Yonhap POMPANO BEACH, FLA.Florida police say they have arrested a 28-year-old man in connection with the murder of an elderly Quebec couple found dead in March in their mobile home in Pompano Beach, north of Fort Lauderdale. The Broward County Sheriffs Office said Thursday in a news release they arrested Quinton Johnson for the murder of 80-year-old Marc and 78-year-old Rita Gagne. Police found the couples bodies in their bedroom on March 22. A Florida medical examiner said they died as a result of blunt-force trauma to the head and ruled their deaths as homicides. Police said they arrested Johnson on April 1, 2019, in connection with the shooting and robbing of another man at a bank machine. The Broward County Sheriffs Offices said forensic evidence placed Johnson at the scene of the Gagne murders. Johnson is currently in a Broward County Sheriffs Office jail. He has a long criminal history of occupied burglaries and grand theft and had been released from prison in February 2019, after serving a seven-year sentence, the police force said in a statement. News reports indicated the couple were from St-Come-Liniere, Que., about 120 kilometres southeast of Quebec City. The Gagnes Florida neighbours had said the couple split their time between the Pompano Beach area and Quebec. Read more about: PARISCanada intends to introduce a new digital charter to combat hate speech, misinformation and online electoral interference, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told a technology conference in Paris on Thursday. Trudeaus announcement, made during a speech at the VivaTech conference, an international summit that brings together startups and technology leaders, was short on specifics as to the charters contents. But the prime minister said hes confident the framework his government will propose will restore the faith of citizens while holding online platforms accountable. We look forward to working alongside internet companies, but indeed, if they do not choose to act, we will be forced to continue to act in ways that protect Canadians and we will have more to say about the kinds of tools we will be using in the coming weeks and months, Trudeau said. Canadians expect us to keep them safe, whether its in real life or online, and we will do just that. Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains is expected to provide more details at a summit on digital governance in Ottawa in late May. Social media and combating online extremism were at the top of the agenda as Trudeau finished up his two-day trip to France. As various countries signed on to the Christchurch Call on Wednesday, many social-media companies, including Facebook, Google and Twitter, pledged to step up their efforts to prevent their platforms from being used to spread hatred, help extremist groups organize and broadcast attacks. In Christchurch, New Zealand, in March, a gunman used Facebooks livestreaming feature to show himself shooting worshippers at a mosque, the beginning of a two-stage attack that ultimately killed 51 people. The video was quickly posted and reposted on numerous other sites. The man accused in the attacks allegedly posted a long manifesto beforehand, including numerous references to online conspiracy theories and hateful memes. Some countries, notably the United States, were absent from the summit in Paris, raising concerns about the curtailing of freedom of expression and freedom of the press as reasons not to join the pledge. But Trudeau told a news conference that many countries supported the global pledge, including host country France, Britain, Australia and Japan. Global co-ordination is a necessary part of combating online extremism, he said, and thats part of the reason he announced Canadas digital charter while abroad. We know that we need to move forward in real and tangible ways to make sure that our citizens are kept safe online as well as in real life, Trudeau said. In addition to a working lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron, Trudeau met with New Zealands Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern earlier Thursday. Ardern praised Canadas efforts, saying it was one thing to offer condolences following the Christchurch mosque attacks, but it was quite another to turn those words into actions in Paris. Trudeau and Ardern discussed online violence and extremism in their respective countries, but also broached trade and security commitments around the world. We are like-minded nations, but we need to make sure we are sending the message that the efforts we are undertaking are all in parallel with also supporting a free, open and secure internet and that those expressions of freedom of speech can live in harmony with what we are trying to do with the work against violent extremism and terrorism, Ardern said. Following a bilateral meeting and working lunch, Trudeau and Macron spoke to reporters briefly outside the presidential Elysee Palace. The two are expected to meet again in Normandy in a few weeks and later this summer at the G7 meeting in Japan. Trudeau said he was heartbroken during a visit to Pariss fire-ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral on Wednesday, but was inspired by the work and courage of firefighters who were able to salvage much of the building. He repeated a pledge Wednesday to offer any support needed in the rebuilding of the landmark church on Wednesday, he offered Canadian steel and softwood lumber to those efforts. Later Thursday, Trudeau met with Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, also on the issue of combating online extremism. ST. JOHNS, N.L.Voters in Newfoundland and Labrador registered their frustration with traditional politics Thursday by reducing the incumbent Liberals to minority status a rare event in the provinces history. The last time a sitting government won less than a majority was in 1971 when the provinces first premier, Joey Smallwood, failed to win his seventh consecutive majority government. With all polls reporting, Premier Dwight Balls Liberals had won 20 of the legislatures 40 seats, the Tories led by political rookie Ches Crosbie took 15, the New Democrats won three and two Independents were elected. On the national level, the Liberals tepid win is significant because it ends a string of victories by right-leaning parties over sitting governments four of them Liberal in the last five provincial elections. Ball, a former pharmacist, struck a conciliatory tone in a victory speech that focused on his commitment to work with other members of the legislature. He never mentioned the partys loss of majority status. It is important that we work together for the good of all the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, he told a crowd in Corner Brook. I will continue to welcome collaboration within the house of assembly. Read more: Liberals try to resist blue wave as Newfoundland and Labrador goes to polls More than 21,000 cast votes in Newfoundland and Labrador advance poll Newfoundland leaders square off in first TV debate of provincial election The premier went on to remind supporters how the Liberals have worked hard to cope with a dire economic landscape. We have overcome the worst financial situation that this province has ever faced, he said, referring to the fact that the provinces economy has sputtered since world oil prices plummeted in 2014. In 2015, when his party was elected, Ball promised no public service layoffs and no tax increases. But the provinces bleak economic outlook led him to break both of those promises, causing a public backlash. With a population of 525,000, Newfoundland and Labradors debt is more than $13 billion the heaviest per capita burden in the country. And its debt-to-GDP ratio considered a good benchmark of economic health stands at 47 per cent, by far the worst in Canada. After his muted victory speech, the 62-year-old premier shifted gears and took aim at Crosbie. Lets keep in mind that the electorate spoke tonight, Ball told reporters. Ches Crosbie didnt get what he was looking for. He ran a very dirty campaign. Crosbie, the 65-year-old son of former federal cabinet minister John Crosbie, delivered an ominous-sounding speech in St. Johns, predicting Balls government would be defeated within a year. The tide is going out on the Ball Liberal government, he said in a monotone. We now have a situation of constitutional instability The popular vote is extremely close, within a razors edge. Crosbie said he would soon be speaking to the newly elected New Democrats and Independents. I am not conceding victory to the Liberals, he said. They will have to struggle to hang on to power. With the Liberals just one seat shy of the 21 needed for a majority, the opposition parties dont have enough seats to topple the government. And the Liberals will be looking for ways to reach that magic number. Speculation has already focused on the two elected Independents, Eddie Joyce and Paul Lane. Both were once members of the Liberal caucus, though Lane also served as a Tory. As well, a recount will be held in the riding of Labrador West, where an NDP candidate defeated Liberal cabinet minister Graham Letto by five votes. Ball won his riding in western Newfoundland. Crosbie won his riding in St. Johns, and NDP Leader Alison Coffin, a former economics professor, also won in the capital. When the provincial election was called, the Liberals held 27 seats in the 40-seat legislature, the Tories had eight, the New Democratic Party held two and there were three Independents. The Liberals were considered front-runners at the beginning. But the Tories closed the gap toward the end of the race. In the end, the Liberals took 44 per cent of the popular vote and the Tories 43 per cent. The NDP was a distant third at 6 per cent. There were no Green candidates in the race, but nine Independents were in the running. The NDP fielded only 14 candidates, saying they werent prepared for a snap election call. During the campaign, Ball stressed that the provinces economic picture had improved by citing an increase in employment over the past year. Statistics Canada figures show 7,000 more people were working in the province in March when compared with the same month last year. Ball also promised he would balance the provinces books by the end of his term in office, the same deadline promised by Crosbie. The Liberals have pledged to scrap the tax on auto insurance and draft a new autism action plan. As for Crosbie, it appears the electorate wasnt won over by his pledge to do things differently he even referred to himself as a new broom. Part of the problem was that his Conservatives have taken much of the blame for delays and blown budgets plaguing the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project, still under construction in central Labrador. The megaproject, which the previous Tory government approved in late 2012, is two years behind schedule, and the projected cost has doubled to more than $12.7 billion. Crosbie has been stung by forecasts suggesting residential electricity rates will double by 2021 to pay off the project. As well, an ongoing public inquiry has hurt the Tories. Since last fall, former Tory cabinet ministers and premiers have testified about alleged mismanagement and cost overruns. Crosbies campaign also had its share of glitches. Less than a week before the vote, Crosbie announced that Tory candidate Michael Normore would be ejected from caucus if he won his riding in Labrador. Normore had used social media to say he was opposed to legal abortion and same-sex marriage views incompatible with the partys positions. Normore lost Thursday. REGINAA Saskatchewan man who was the victim of a notorious pedophile says its disgusting and a risk to the public that his abuser has a profile on a pen-pal website for inmates. Zach Miller, now 24, was 10 years old when he was abducted and sexually assaulted by Peter Whitmore in 2006. Whitmore already had a record as a prolific sex offender who posed a high risk to reoffend when he kidnapped Miller and a 14-year-old boy from Manitoba. He locked them in an abandoned farm house near Kipling, Sask., for two days and abused them repeatedly before he was arrested following a police standoff. Whitmore is serving a life sentence. The post on Canadian Inmates Connect says Whitmore is lonely, has cancer and is seeking friendship. I am a very caring and loving person who cannot begin to describe my loneliness. I hope you will take the time and get to know me and allow me the privilege of getting to know you, the post reads. I will never be released ... this is by my choice. Miller, who had a publication ban lifted on his name in 2015 so he could share his story, thinks Whitmore is being manipulative. Every time he comes up, hes trying to make people forget that hes a bad guy ... Im frankly getting tired of it, Miller said. Its absolutely disgusting. Why are we letting someone like this talk to people out there? You dont know who hes going to be talking to. You dont know whos going to talk to him. A spokeswoman for Child Find Saskatchewan said the agency is concerned because the post does not include information about Whitmores pedophilia. The profile says the 48-year-old is behind bars for kidnapping and sexual assault. It says he is 14 years into his sentence at the Bath Institution, a medium-security facility in Ontario. On a human level ... who would want to correspond with somebody who has been incarcerated for 20 years for being a pedophile and victimizing numerous children? asked Child Finds Sue Ramsay. Court documents filed as part of Whitmores past cases outline how prison psychologists have characterized him as a manipulative liar, unwilling to admit that hed ever harmed anyone. Miller said he understands prisoners have a right to communication, but he wants websites to vet users to ensure offenders who have a history of preying on the vulnerable are not welcome. The profile lists Whitmores hobbies as playing video games and collecting photographs of people, castles and homes from the Victorian era. I have numerous health problems, including leukemia. I use a walker for stable mobility due to problems with my legs and feet due to diabetes, the profile says. Although many inmates on the site are listed as single and interested in forming relationships with women, Whitmores profile says hes looking for long-lasting friendship with men and women. Melissa Fazzina of Toronto runs Canadian Inmates Connect and said she understands some victims may be upset to read an offenders profile. She charges inmates $35 for an annual membership to the site. While she requires prisoners to be honest about their convictions, their profiles dont list specifics of their crimes, she said. If you want all the details, you have to Google them or ask them. Fazzina, a woman and a mother, said crimes such as Whitmores dont sit well with her. It comes down to its a human right for anybody whos incarcerated, regardless of what theyre in prison for, its a human right for them to join the website and correspond with people who want to correspond with them. Catherine Latimer, executive director of the John Howard Society, says child-sex offenders have a tough time in prison and are often isolated. She believes its important for them to have relationships with people other than criminals. You want them to have some pro-social, non-criminal contacts and to reinforce that pro-social way of living, she said. In a statement, Correctional Service Canada noted that inmates incoming and outgoing mail is opened and searched to ensure it is free of contraband. Whitmore isnt the only infamous criminal to post a profile on the website. Justin Bourque, who shot dead three Mounties in Moncton, N.B., in 2014, described himself in a profile as a blue-collar dude with a passion for music. Luka Magnotta, who killed and dismembered a university student in Montreal in 2012, had a profile that said he was looking for his prince charming. OTTAWAThe RCMP says a Canadian-based company that peddled an illicit trove of 1.5 billion user names and associated passwords has pleaded guilty to criminal charges. In a news release, the Mounties say Defiant Tech admitted in court Friday to trafficking in identity information and possession of property obtained by crime a year after charges were laid in the probe. The investigation began three years ago, when the RCMP learned the website LeakedSource was being hosted on servers in Quebec. The website, now shut down, had a total of some three billion pieces of data for sale, earning the company about $247,000. The Mounties say they had valuable help from the Dutch national police and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation on the probe. At a January 2018 news conference announcing the charges, the RCMP said the force believed that several Canadians were affected there was no precise number and might still be at risk due to the information being available online through various dark-web sites. The extensive database was assembled using personal information stolen by hackers in recent years from domains like networking site LinkedIn and extramarital-affair hub ashleymadison.com, the police force said. Read more about: ST. JOHNS, N.L.Newfoundland and Labradors premier sounded a contrite and co-operative tone Friday, amid all signs that his Liberal government will survive despite being reduced to a minority in Thursdays election. The NDP and the two Independent members indicated no appetite for bringing down Premier Dwight Balls Liberals, who held on to 20 of the legislatures 40 seats one shy of a majority. Ches Crosbies Tories won 15 seats, the New Democrats took three, and Independents won two. Crosbie, who suggested late Thursday he planned to try to topple the government, sounded a different tone on Friday, while politicians outside the red and blue camps told The Canadian Press they would rather avoid another imminent election. In an interview Friday afternoon, Ball said hes heard the voters loud and clear on the desire for a more collaborative House of Assembly. He didnt say what in particular he would do differently this time around, but said hes looking forward to the challenge of leading a more collaborative government. Read more: Liberals re-elected with minority government in Newfoundland and Labrador vote The message that I took from them as leader of the political party and premier of this province was Premier, I want to see you work more closely with other parties, with all members of the House of Assembly, Ball said by phone on Friday. Ive accepted that message and I humbly thank them for the direction that theyve given to me, and thats exactly what Im going to do. No meeting or discussions had taken place by Friday afternoon, but Ball said he reached out to several newly elected members and hes open to discussions over the long weekend. In an interview, NDP Leader Alison Coffin said another election within the next year would be destructive and unnecessarily slow the provinces economy. At this point I dont think that we need to rush for any more upheaval. I think we need to do a fair bit of work, she said. Maybe the election will happen sooner but not necessarily in a year. Crosbie posted a statement on Twitter on Friday afternoon apologizing for not congratulating Ball in his election night remarks and suggested he would be taking the premier to task on his promises. I congratulate Premier Ball on his 20 seat plurality, which entitles him to meet the House of Assembly and seek the confidence of the House, Crosbie said. I look forward to working with him to advance the interests of Newfoundland and Labrador, including his commitment to the vital interest of attaining budgetary balance and recovery by 2022-23. Thats a different tone from his speech on Thursday, when Crosbie said he would not concede, and predicted Balls government would not survive the year. Crosbie described the results Thursday as a situation of constitutional instability and said he would be reaching out to Independent and NDP members in the coming days. They will have to struggle for the next months and years to hang on to power, he said of the Liberals on election night. Crosbie postponed a scheduled media appearance Friday until next week. Speculation has also focused on the two elected Independents, Eddie Joyce and Paul Lane, both former Liberals. Lane, who also previously sat as a Tory, said in an interview Friday that he was asked to join all the provinces political parties before the election and his answer is still a firm no. He said hes willing to work with the Liberals but plans to remain unaffiliated so he can hold the government to account. Lane said he was disappointed in Crosbies call to topple the government, saying another election goes against the needs and wishes of the people who are seeking solutions to more serious problems. Im willing to collaborate, I dont want to bring down the government ... the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, they dont want another election. They want us to actually act like intelligent adults, roll up our sleeves and work together, Lane said. This partisan foolishness has got to stop. Lane said hes not interested in being Speaker of the House because it would give the Liberals a majority, and he cant hold government accountable from the Speakers chair. Eddie Joyce, who was ejected from the Liberal party and cabinet last year over bullying allegations, said hed be willing to work with any elected member, but would not be joining any party. Joyce said hes not interesting in joining Crosbies fight to topple the government, after Crosbie made comments last year that Joyce had issues and wouldnt be a good fit for the PC party. Hes an opportunist, thats all, Joyce said. Im telling you right now, Ches Crosbie, I will not be working with you to topple the government. Perhaps the biggest victors were Coffin and the NDP, who had no incumbents in the race and candidates in just 14 ridings but rallied to claim three seats, including one for Coffin, a political rookie. Coffin said Friday she is open to working together with the Liberals in areas of common ground. If (a) minority government really is interested in true debate and actually solving the problems that exist instead of putting Band-Aids over them, and theyre willing to talk, then I think we have the real potential for getting a lot of work done here, she said. Having the balance of power, that really puts New Democrats in a very, very good position and I think that will force us into collaboration a little bit more, she said. Ball said that while minority governments are unusual in Newfoundland and Labrador, he plans to learn from other jurisdictions in the region that have recently elected them. Ball said hes used to collaborating and welcomes the debates to come in the legislature. But Ball said theres no reason to change the provincial budget, which was tabled one day before the writ dropped, because it was presented to voters during the campaign and the government was re-elected. The premier said everything comes down to the confidence vote around the budget. Right now the last thing people in our province would want to see is another election coming right on the heels of this one, he said. SHELBURNE, ONT.A 65-year-old dentist practising in Shelburne, Ont. is facing charges after alleged sexual offences involving a co-op student. The Shelburne Police Service alleges the offences took place between November 2018 and February 2019. They say the dentist worked at the Small Town Family Dental Clinic. Police allege the dentist sexually assaulted the student as well as offered money and other rewards for sexual services. He currently faces one count each of sexual assault, sexual exploitation and communicating with a person under 18 for sexual purposes. Police say there may be more victims and are urging anyone with information to come forward. Im starting my last Long Ride. After riding more than 20,000 kilometres from Calgary to Ushuaia, Argentina (July 8, 2012-July 8, 2017), I will now head back to Calgary, where it all began. I start from Fairbanks, Alaska, (May 17 departure) with two wild horses from the southern Okanagan Valleys Penticton Indian Band: Smokey, a seven-year-old grey firecracker that I broke to ride, lent by master horseman Eeron Stelkia; and Mac, a colossal dun standing at 17 hands lent by Jim McCrae, a fellow Canadian Long Rider. Ill end at the Calgary Stampede rodeo, July 3, 2020. These horses have the instincts you need to survive this ride, said Sara Turner, a Canadian who I met in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, with her mustang Honey during my ride in 2013. Back in Penticton running her own fair-trade coffee shop, Turner was instrumental to the planning of this ride. You will inspire more people to ride these horses, Filipe, said Turner. This is so important. Wild horses have lived in Western Canada for hundreds of years, they helped build this great nation and contributed to the Second World War both as riding and pack animals, and food. Yet they dont have a right of place in the land they inhabit. With many people calling for the removal of these pests. It sure would be great to see more of these horses going to good homes, said Stelkia while we worked with Smokey in Osoyoos, B.C., Canadas only desert. Stelkia used to capture and train wild horses and sell them to riders all over Canada. But in recent years, the only customer buying is the meat man. At the sales these horses go for $400 to the slaughterhouse. For my two wild horses, fate will be different. Big Mac, Smokey and I will ride through grizzly-bear-infested forests, along raging Yukon rivers and across some of the hairiest mountain passes in the Americas. During Northern Canadas daunting winter, we will find a ranch to hunker down for a few months till spring. At 25, when I rode out of the Centennial Stampede Rodeo on that scorching July morning in 2012, I had never gone on a Long Ride before. I had no idea where I would sleep that night, never mind how I would actually manage to make it to Brazil alive. All my equipment had to fit in my pack saddle and weigh less than 150 pounds. I travelled for 803 days, mostly alone, to my hometown in Brazil with the bare minimum. From my toothbrush to my underwear, to camera equipment, to horse medication, everything had to have a real value or it stayed behind. This meant that if we couldnt find water, my horses and I didnt drink. It was both dangerous and painful especially the solitude I endured at certain points. On this expedition, things will be different. I will be accompanied by Clara Davel, who I met in Patagonia en route to Ushuaia. The 24-year-old Argentine loves horses and is an adventurer like me. Of course Im going with you, this is a dream, said Davel when I asked her to drive the support vehicle during the first months of planning. Thanks to a 1990 Ford Econoline donated by Marie and Rocky Aitken of Claresholm, Alta., south of Calgary, we will carry panels to build a corral for the horses every night, plus water, feed and hay, and I will be able to sleep in a real bed and have a real shower. After spending two weeks training Smokey, who threw Stelkia off twice and me nearly a thousand times, and getting big Mac in shape, Clara and I made the 3,500-kilometre drive to Alaska. Along the way I was able to pinpoint the major obstacles we will encounter on our ride south. We saw 16 bears, four moose, six herds of buffalo, helicopter-sized mosquitos, several dangerously narrow mountain passes and too many long bridges. When we finally arrived in Palmer, Alaska, after five days on the road and only three minutes before a motivational talk I gave at the University of Anchorage, I felt more alive than ever. Alaska is wildly free and awe-inspiring. I cant wait to cross this final frontier at 4 km/h and 30 kilometres a day. I cant wait to step into the wild and see it all from the back of a horse. THE GOAL My last Long Ride is a celebration of western heritage, agriculture and the horse. Through the 12 nations Ive crossed, I received help from farmers and ranchers nearly every day. I have spent more than 1,200 days, on the road living like a saddle tramp: castrating calves in southern Alberta, cutting hay in Montana, moving cattle in Mexico and branding with the gauchos of Argentina. This intimate contact with these stalwarts of the land showed me how hard these men and women work to feed the world and the values they hold dear. I was also able to see how marginalized farmers and ranchers are in todays society. I am a third-generation cowboy who was on horseback before I could walk. I want to show folks in cities big and small the human connection to animals and the land still found in ranches and farms throughout the Americas. And the importance of this connection for the future of our species and our planet. We need to reconnect with our natural world, now more than ever. Filipe Masetti Leite is a Brazilian journalist/cowboy/adventurer. His long rides raise funds for the Barretos Childrens Cancer Hospital. He is the best-selling author of Long Ride Home. Read more about: WINNIPEGA woman says she helped hide another womans dead body in a barrel filled with chemicals because the man accused in the killing had total control over her after years of abuse. He probably could have told me to try and catch the sun and I would have done it, Holley Sullivan, 30, told jurors Friday at Perez Clevelands first-degree murder trial. Cleveland, 46, has pleaded not guilty in the death of 42-year-old Jennifer Barrett, whose body was found in a barrel behind their Winnipeg home in 2016. Earlier this week, court heard that Cleveland shared the house with his adult daughter and five women who were described in court by one of them as sister wives. Sullivan started dating Cleveland after they met while working at a call centre in Toronto in 2010. She was 21 and he was 36. She told court she didnt know he was also in a relationship with another woman until she moved in with them the following year. Perez was very charming, she said. Yet, she described years of physical violence in the household. Read more: Woman tells Winnipeg murder trial how sister wife was abused Accused in death of Winnipeg woman found in barrel had control over five women, Crown alleges GRAPHIC WARNING: The rest of this story contains details that may disturb some readers. On one occasion, he threatened her with a meat cleaver while she was stripped naked and wrapped in duct tape, Sullivan said. Another time, he tied her to a bed and attempted to sexually assault her with a hot curling iron. One of Barretts family members left the courtroom as other graphic abuse was detailed the use of crossbows and the staging of a so-called kill room from the television show Dexter. Sullivan said Clevelands favourite phrase was: If you cannot listen, then you must feel. He also threatened to hurt her family if she ever tried to leave, she said. Court heard that the unusual group which Barrett joined in 2012 moved to Winnipeg in 2014. Soon after, Sullivan was jailed for a credit card scam that she said she did at Clevelands behest. By her release in 2016, two more women had joined the group, including Jessica Reid, 36, who testified Thursday about similar beatings in the home. Clevelands lawyer has argued that Reid was jealous of Barretts relationship with Cleveland and acted violently toward Barrett. Reid is also charged with being an accessory after the fact, but her case has not yet gone to trial. Perez had an uncanny knack of making them think the abuse he inflicted on them was their fault, Sullivan testified. She told court that in August 2016, Cleveland punished Barrett over several days in the basement of their house because he believed she was cheating on him. The marks of extreme violence were all over Barretts body, said Sullivan, who added she helped the woman shower because she couldnt lift her arms. She was literally black and blue from head to toe. Cleveland later told her that Barrett had died and asked her and Reid to dispose of the body, Sullivan said, because she had a diploma in forensic biotechnology. She told court she researched liquid cremations online, and she and Reid placed Barretts body in a barrel with a mix of drain cleaner and water. They also heated up the barrel with a blowtorch to speed up decomposition. Sullivan told the jury she lived with Cleveland for a few months after Barretts death, then went to a womens shelter. He said to me that Jen was an accident, but he was going to kill me intentionally and enjoy it, Sullivan said. The trial is to continue on Tuesday with her cross examination by the defence. Read more about: One of the three men wanted for the murder of a 26-year-old man fatally shot in Rexdale earlier this month has turned himself in, Toronto police said in a Friday news release. Police issued a Canada-wide warrant for three GTA men Wednesday after Blain Gerrado Grindley was found dead at a townhouse near John Garland Blvd. and Humber College Blvd. on May 1. Andrae Douse, 21, of Mississauga turned himself in to police shortly after the warrant was issued, police said. Douse has been charged with first-degree murder and appeared in court Thursday. At a Wednesday news conference, Toronto police homicide Det. Steve Henkel said officers conducted extensive video canvasing and witness interviews in Toronto and the GTA after the shooting. The investigation is continuing. It is far from over, Henkel told reporters Wednesday. Canada-wide warrants for Dayne Sitladeen, 27, of Mississauga, and Michael Smith, 29, of Brampton both still at large remains in effect, police said. Police are continuing to appeal for witnesses. Anyone with information has been asked to contact police at 416-808-7400 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477). Grindleys death was the 22nd homicide in Toronto so far this year. Including him, 18 men and six women have been killed in the city in 2019. They are: Ian Dyer, 36, who was stabbed to death in a Toronto Community Housing building near Danforth and Midland Aves. on Jan. 6. Leigh Min, 34, was arrested two days later and charged with first-degree murder. Lorraine Kerubo Ogoti, 30, who was stabbed to death in an eighth-floor unit of a Scarborough apartment building on Jan. 8. Her boyfriend, Mowlid Hassan, 40, was found dead outside the building. Police have concluded Ogotis death was a murder-suicide. Aseel Yehya, 18, who was shot dead on Elmhurst Dr. near Redwater Dr. in Etobicoke on Jan. 9 after police said a dark-coloured vehicle approached him. Lingathasan Suntharamoorthy, 36, who was shot dead in an apartment building near Dundalk Dr. and Antrim Cres. on Jan. 12. Hanh (Hana) Nguyen, 41, who was stabbed to death at her home near Jane St. and St. Clair Ave. W., on Jan. 24. Austin Le, 40, was found at the scene and charged with second-degree murder. Veronika Mrhova, 24, who was shot while sitting in a Mercedes-Benz near Lake Shore Blvd. and Silver Moon Dr. early on Feb. 10. She died in hospital five days later. Dean Howlett, 25, who was shot dead in an apartment building on Lawrence Ave. E. west of Kingston Rd. in Scarborough on Feb. 12. Naod Tsegazab, 22, of Toronto, was later charged with second-degree murder. Nicklus McKain, 18, who was shot near 18 John Garland Blvd., near Kipling Ave. and Albion Rd., in Rexdale on Feb. 24. He died in hospital. Jason Otis Lewis, 47, who was found dead at an apartment on Broadway Ave., near Yonge St. and Eglinton Ave. E. on March 4. An autopsy found he died of blunt-force trauma. Quentin Luke Lewis, 42, was arrested two days later and charged with second-degree murder. Nashwan Yonan, 32, who was shot at a gas station at Eglinton Ave. E. and Avenue Rd. shortly after midnight on March 8. He died in hospital nearly two weeks later on March 21. Police are looking for a suspect. Martin Anthony Johnson, 51, who was shot dead at a North York apartment complex near Keele St. and Sheppard Ave. W. on March 11. Jennyfer Lachappelle, 41, who was found dead on at an apartment near Davenport Rd. and Symington Ave. on March 13. Andrew Gerber, 38, has been charged with second-degree murder. Friends said Gerber and Lachappelle were in a relationship and may have been engaged. Helen Fronczak, 79, who was found dead at an apartment near Kipling Ave. and Eglinton Ave. W. on March 19. Larry Fronczak, 80, has been charged with second-degree murder. Jerome Belle, 22, who was shot near Dundas West subway station in the Junction on March 20. He died in hospital. Police are searching for at least one male suspect. Rae Cara Carrington, 51, who was stabbed to death in the PATH system near King St. W and Bay St. on April 10. Her son, Duncan ONeil Sinclair, 19, of Toronto, was arrested two days later and charged with first-degree murder. Wilfred Kent Truman, 77, who was killed in his home near Eglinton Ave. W. and Black Creek Dr. on April 15. Kyle Truman, 49, of Toronto, has been charged with first-degree murder. Jermaine Gerard Skeete, 34, who was shot at 571 Vaughan Rd. near Oakwood Ave. on April 21. He later died in hospital. Lawrence Taylor Gannon, 28, who was shot on Ivy Green Cres., near Brimorton Dr. and Orton Park Rd., in Scarborough on April 28. He died in hospital two days later. Police are looking for a suspect. Premachchandran Sundaralingam, 53, who was found injured inside a home near Renforth Dr. and Rathburn Rd. on April 28. Police later determined he had been injured in an altercation. He died in hospital the next day. Richard Turner, 48, of Toronto, was arrested on May 2 and has been charged with manslaughter, aggravated assault and threatening death. Blain Gerrado Grindley, 26, who was shot dead in Rexdale near John Garland Blvd. and Humber College Blvd. on May 1. Justin Kyle Ezeard, 23, who was shot dead at a commercial establishment near Steeles Ave. W. and Islington Ave. on May 3. Brendon Bowler, 17, who was stabbed to death near Sir Wilfrid Laurier Collegiate Institute near Guildwood Pkwy. and Livingston Rd. on May 6. Emmett Carew, 18, and Cheddi Itwaroo, 20, both of Toronto, were each charged with second degree murder. In 2018, Toronto broke its record for homicides in a single year, with 96 in total. By Colin H. Kahl and Jon B. Wolfsthal John Bolton, President Donald Trump's national security adviser, is leading the United States in a dangerous direction. In February, it was Bolton who reportedly pressed Trump to take an uncompromising line on denuclearization with North Korea's Kim Jung-un, leading to a fruitless summit and an escalation of tensions. More recently, Bolton has taunted the Iranian regime, including issuing a dire warning last week of impending U.S. military action. And, closer to home, he has become the point person for the administration's efforts to oust Nicolas Maduro's government in Venezuela. While these may seem like disconnected responses to pressing global events, they are not. Rather, they reflect Bolton's long-standing grudges against North Korea, Iran and Cuba (Maduro's patron), and his deeply held beliefs regarding the futility of diplomacy, the benefits of regime change, and the wisdom of military action. Bolton an unrepentant champion of the disastrous Iraq war has never met a rogue state he didn't want to isolate, topple and attack and North Korea has long been at the top of his hit list. In the 1990s, Bolton argued strongly against negotiations to head off North Korea's fledgling nuclear weapons program. As undersecretary of state for arms control and international security in the George W. Bush administration, Bolton worked to ensure that the 1994 Agreed Framework that froze North Korea's nuclear efforts was killed at the first opportunity, opening the way for steady advancement of the country's nuclear program. Since then, Bolton has regularly opined about the futility of negotiations with Pyongyang and advocated military action and regime change. Indeed, Bolton's last major op-ed before entering the Trump administration last year made the case for a preventive war against North Korea. Now, advising a president who desperately wants to cut a deal with Kim Jung-un, Bolton has done everything he can to make that deal harder to achieve. Bolton's hard line toward Pyongyang is perhaps only surpassed by his fixation on Iran. During a trip to Israel a month before the 2003 Iraq invasion, Bolton told Israeli officials that once Saddam Hussein was dealt with, the United States should turn its sights to Iran. And over the last decade, countless Bolton op-eds, Fox News appearances and speeches have called for attacking Iran and supporting regime change there. In January 2018, even as international inspectors repeatedly confirmed that Iran was complying with its nuclear obligations, Bolton dismissed the value of the nuclear deal and argued that America's policy should instead be to end the regime before its 40th anniversary in 2019. During Trump's first year in office, national security adviser H.R. McMaster and then-Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis urged the president to remain within the nuclear deal. But once Bolton took up residence in the White House in April 2018, he egged on Trump to jettison the agreement and re-impose crippling sanctions. A month later, Trump obliged. This February, apparently disappointed that the Iranian regime had made it to its 40th birthday, Bolton posted an ominous video in which he warned Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: "I don't think you'll have many more anniversaries to enjoy." And last week, in response to alleged intelligence suggesting Iranian proxies might be preparing attacks on U.S. troops, Bolton issued a statement declaring a surge of American military assets to the Middle East and threatening Iran with "unrelenting force." In our own hemisphere, Bolton has also championed the Trump administration's efforts to unseat the Maduro regime in Venezuela. Two weeks ago, as opposition leader Juan Guaido made a bold bid to rally the Venezuelan military to remove Maduro, Bolton took to Twitter, warning senior Venezuelan officials that "Your time is up. This is your last chance." In this instance, Bolton's bellicosity is mostly a proxy for his long-standing animus toward Cuba. (As far back as 2002, Bolton manipulated intelligence to accuse Cuba of developing biological weapons, while also claiming it was in league with Iran and Libya to threaten U.S. interests.) Today, Bolton sees the Maduro government as Cuba's cat's-paw and a conduit for Havana's influence in Latin America. Maduro's demise is therefore viewed as a useful means of weakening another nemesis. During a speech in Miami in November, Bolton declared that the Trump administration's ultimate goal was to confront the "troika of tyranny" in the hemisphere, which includes Cuba alongside Venezuela and Nicaragua. Given Trump's stated desire for deal-making and his campaign promises to eschew regime change and new foreign wars, Bolton's agenda would seem to be very much at odds with that of his boss. Asked about the divide during an impromptu press briefing Thursday, Trump said Bolton "has strong views on things, but that's OK. I actually temper John, which is pretty amazing, isn't it?" Yet, on North Korea, Iran and Venezuela, it appears Bolton's preferences, not Trump's, are winning out. In March 2018, when Trump decided to hire Bolton, he reportedly joked with McMaster that Bolton was "going to get us into a war." In recent days, he has repeated that warning. But Trump is wrong. If Bolton achieves his long-standing ambitions, he won't get us into a war it will be "wars," plural. Colin H. Kahl co-directs the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University. Jon B. Wolfsthal is a senior advisor to Global Zero. They both held national security positions in the Obama administration. Their commentary appeared in the Los Angeles Times. It was distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Police have arrested a suspect after a driver was shot and crashed his vehicle in the Danforth last week, though a second suspect remains at large, Toronto police said Friday. On May 10 around 10 p.m., a 34-year-old man was stopped at a traffic light in the area of Bloor St. E. and Castle Frank Rd. when a white hatchback pulled up and shots were fired into the mans vehicle, according to a release. Police spokesperson David Hopkinson said the man sustained injuries and fled the scene, eventually becoming unconscious, possibly due to blood loss, and crashed his vehicle down the road. Police say the man was found in serious condition and was immediately taken to hospital. After receiving assistance from the community, police say they searched an East York home and seized a white hatchback, a 9 mm firearm and a magazine. Maliq Crush, 26, of Toronto was arrested Wednesday and appeared in court this week. He is charged with attempted murder and is also facing seven firearms-related charges. Investigators believe theres a second suspect who was inside the hatchback. Theyve asked anyone with information to contact police at 416-808-5100 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-8477. There were at least four other reported shooting incidents that took place overnight May 10: Around 8 p.m., police responded to reports of gunshots in the area of McCowan Rd. and Eglinton Ave. E. There were no injuries reported, and police found no evidence of firearm discharge in the area. At around 1:30 a.m., police received a call that a man in a van shot at another vehicle at Birchmount Rd. and Lawrence Ave. E. Hopkinson said police found a white vehicle after the incident, but declined to comment on whether the two were related. At about the same time roughly 1:50 a.m. a man walked into a downtown hospital with gunshot wounds after a shooting at an unknown location, police said. The man is in non-life-threatening condition, Hopkinson said. Just before 2:30 a.m., police received reports that a gun was fired when two men got into an altercation at a sports bar at Victoria Park Ave. and Surrey Ave., south of Lawrence Ave. E. Shell casings were found on scene but no one was hurt, Hopkinson said. The crash in the Danforth happened not far from where a shooting spree began last July that left two people dead and 13 hurt. The shooter, identified as Faisal Hussain, 29, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound following an exchange of fire with police. Hopkinson told the Star, in my experience, and I see these cases throughout the city, shootings in the Danforth are not very common. Toronto police released a photograph Friday of a man arrested earlier this week for luring a 14-year-old girl with sexually explicit material over social media out of concern there may be other victims. Police charged Jared Battieste, 30, of Toronto with two counts of underage sexual exploitation charges Wednesday after officers from the Child Exploitation Section executed a search warrant in the area of Eglinton Ave. W. and Avenue Rd. The warrant came following reports that a man with the handle jaytopsir allegedly lured a 14-year-old girl on social media. Police said in a Friday news release that Battieste appeared in court earlier this week. Investigators are still asking anyone with information to contact police at 4168088500 or anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 416222TIPS (8477). LONDONBipartisan talks on extricating Britain from the European Union collapsed Friday, when the opposition Labour Party pulled out, ending the latest attempt to salvage the beleaguered Brexit process and leaving it in a familiar state of deadlock. In a letter to Prime Minister Theresa May, the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, wrote that the negotiations have now gone as far as they can, blaming the governments weakness for the latest stalemate. For six weeks, discussions between ministers in the Conservative government and senior Labour figures had failed to break the Brexit impasse, which has wrecked the leadership of Prime Minister Theresa May and provoked a sharp backlash against both major parties from disenchanted voters who vented their anger in recent local elections. May has been unable to unite her party behind the Brexit agreement she negotiated with the European Union, leading her to turn to Labour for support. But that has produced nothing except increasingly urgent calls from fellow Conservatives for her to step down. On Thursday, she announced that she would set out a timetable for her departure next month, and Conservatives whose Brexit views are even further from Labours are vying to succeed her. That had made Labour ever more nervous that any agreement it reached with May would be torn up by her successor. On international currency markets the British pound has fallen as traders fret that Britains next prime minister might try to leave the bloc without any agreement, or hold an unpredictable general election. The ending of negotiations set off a predictable blame game Friday. While the talks have been conducted in good faith, we have been unable to bridge important policy gaps between us, Corbyn wrote in his letter. Even more crucially, the increasing weakness and instability of your government means there cannot be confidence in securing whatever might be agreed between us. May blamed divisions within a Labour Party that is trying to keep faith both with voters that support Brexit and those who oppose it. There isnt a common position in Labour about whether they want to deliver Brexit or have a second referendum and try to reverse it, she said at a campaign stop in Bristol. The breakdown came as little surprise, since both parties are badly split on Brexit, and neither leader has much room to manoeuvre. Many Conservative lawmakers were angry about the talks with Labour, and many Labour lawmakers had voiced discontent at taking part in negotiations designed to help May get Brexit over the line. Nonetheless the collapse is yet another setback for a prime minister who has suffered a remarkable string of defeats and been hounded by members of her own party to leave. Parliament has voted three times to reject her Brexit plan, which would keep Britain closely tied to the European Union at least until the end of 2020 but then extract it from the blocs main economic structures. She said this week that she would attempt a fourth vote on her plan early next month. May had hoped to lure Labour with the prospect that Britain could stay at least temporarily in a type of customs union with the bloc, thereby eliminating the need for tariffs and many border checks on goods flowing between Britain and continental Europe. But that did not prove enough to tempt a Labour Party that favours retaining closer ties to the European Union to protect the economy. It had argued that May had not offered enough concessions or effective safeguards to ensure that her successor could not tear up any agreement. Britons will vote in elections to the European Parliament on Thursday, almost three years after they opted in a referendum to quit the bloc. May now has to gird herself for results that could prove disastrous. One recent poll has her Conservatives trailing both the Brexit Party, led by the hard-line Brexiteer Nigel Farage, and the anti-Brexit Liberal Democrats. But voters are expected to punish the Labour Party too, and Mays last, faint hope of pushing her Brexit plan through Parliament is that a shock to the two main parties might galvanize lawmakers into supporting her deal. Pressure on May and Corbyn to reach a deal increased this month after local elections that were bad for both parties. While the Conservatives lost 1,300 seats in local municipalities, Labour failed to take advantage, shedding around 80 itself. Though Corbyn, a lifelong Euroskeptic, argued that a deal needed to be reached, his partys divisions have made that outcome difficult. A very large faction in the Labour Party opposes Brexit and wants a second referendum on any deal, so any agreement with the Conservatives would have risked straining loyalty to a breaking point. Following the failure of the talks with Labour, the government is expected to seek a consensus in Parliament on the way ahead by holding votes on different options, though previous efforts to do so have failed. May wants the Labour Party to agree to abide by the outcome of such votes, but there is little incentive for the opposition to sign up to an outcome that it cannot control. And, without the support of Labour, that process looks doomed to leave Brexit at its customary impasse. Read more about: WASHINGTONThe U.S. and Canada have agreed to remove tariffs on each others steel and aluminum and all related retaliatory tariffs, eliminating a major source of friction between the two countries and a key obstacle to the ratification of a new free-trade agreement. The tariffs will be gone within two days, according to a joint statement issued Friday afternoon. U.S. President Donald Trumps administration had insisted for months that the tariffs on Canada would not be lifted unless quotas were imposed in their place. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau objected, and Trump accepted an agreement that does not include quotas. Instead, the two governments settled on a variety of other measures. They said they would create a shared system for monitoring surges in trade of steel and aluminum products. If imports of a particular product are found to have surged meaningfully beyond historic volumes of trade over a period of time, either country can request a consultation with the other, then impose tariffs on that individual product not the whole steel or aluminum industry at once. The other country can then impose retaliatory tariffs, but only on other products in the same industry. They also committed to vaguer provisions aimed at keeping low-cost Chinese steel from being sent through Canada to the U.S. The provisions will prevent the importation of steel and aluminum that is unfairly subsidized and/or sold at dumped prices, prevent the transshipment of steel and aluminum made outside of Canada or the United States to the other country, and treat steel that is melted and poured in North America separately from products that are not, the statement said. Trudeau described the agreement as just pure good news for Canadians, for families, as they head into that long weekend. A lot of people were talking about whether we would accept quotas, whether we would accept certain restrictions, and we stayed strong, he said during an appearance with steelworkers in Hamilton. The U.S. and Mexico announced Friday that they had also reached a deal. Trump had faced pressure to rescind the tariffs from not only Canada and Mexico but from his own party and voters. Trudeaus government had warned Trump that Parliament would not vote to approve a replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement, one of the presidents top policy priorities, if the tariffs remained in place. Senior Republican legislators told him that Congress also needed the tariffs removed before voting, and farmers and business groups in Trump-friendly states complained that they were being hurt by retaliatory tariffs from Canada and Mexico. Trudeau did not offer a specific timeline for Canadian ratification, but he said he is very optimistic were going to be able to move forward move forward well in the coming weeks. Aluminum Association of Canada chief executive Jean Simard hailed the tariff deal as Christmas all over again. Simard said his group has long asked for a joint monitoring process. He said the provision allowing for possible future tariffs makes a lot of sense, since it limits the possible tariffs to specific products rather than permitting new levies on the entire industry, and he applauded Trudeaus team for refusing to accept tariffs or quotas. It wouldve been so easy to give in to get pressure off their back, he said. The dispute began in 2018, when Trump controversially used a national security provision of U.S. trade law to impose a 25 per cent tariff on steel and 10 per cent tariff on aluminum from Canada, Mexico and other countries. Trudeau responded with equivalent tariffs on U.S. steel and aluminum, plus 10 per cent tariffs on dozens of unrelated products produced in parts of the country critical to Trumps political coalition. Trump, who had made a vocal case that his tariffs were succeeding, did not specifically discuss the deal in his Friday speech to U.S. realtors, referring to a new agreement with Canada and Mexico but leaving it unclear whether he was talking more generally about the new NAFTA he again urged Congress to pass. Vice-President Mike Pence tweeted about the tariff deal and announced a May 30 visit to Ottawa. Congress is a far bigger ratification challenge than Parliament. While the tariffs are a key impediment to getting the new NAFTA approved in the U.S., several other hurdles will remain. The Democrats who control the House of Representatives have demanded changes to provisions on intellectual property protections for certain sophisticated pharmaceuticals known as biologics, and they have demanded new provisions to allow for stronger enforcement of labour standards. Trumps tariffs have tested the bilateral relationship with Canada, especially during the NAFTA negotiations last year. Trudeau had called the tariffs illegal and insulting, arguing that Canadian industry should never be considered a national security threat to the United States. Trump had taken offence to Trudeaus pushback, at one point dispatching senior aides to publicly disparage the prime minister. Trump had initially suggested that he was merely using the tariffs to increase his leverage in NAFTA talks. But he then made clear that he saw the tariffs as effective policy in their own right, calling himself a tariff man and crediting the tariffs for a revival of the U.S. steel industry. Supporters of the tariffs argued that they have resulted in major factory investments and more than 10,000 steel and aluminum jobs being created or saved. Critics noted that the tariffs harm the far larger number of people who work for companies that use the steel and aluminum the tariffs have made more expensive, plus millions of consumers and shareholders. Tariffs are taxes on imports. They are paid by the importer. For example, under Trumps 25 per cent tariff on Canadian steel, an American company buying $100 worth of Canadian steel pays the U.S. government $25. With files from Tonda MacCharles Read more about: ALGIERS, Algeria - Protesters flooded the streets of Algeria for the 13th straight Friday, climbing atop police vans that were blocking the main demonstration site in the capital in a bold show of defiance. Security forces earlier fired tear gas into the crowd in Algiers to keep them out of the central post office plaza, but lifted their barricades after protesters climbed onto the roofs of their vehicles. Tens of thousands of people came out in Algiers and other cities in the North African nation for a pro-democracy movement that started Feb. 22, despite the daylong fasting required by the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. They reiterated demands that Algerias interim leader leave office and the countrys July 4 presidential election be scrapped. Long-time former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika stepped down April 2, pressured by protests and the powerful army chief. The protests were triggered by Bouteflikas plan to seek a fifth term after 20 years in office despite a 2013 stroke after which he was rarely seen in public. Protesters now want other top officials, including interim President Abdelkader Bensalah, to leave office to ensure a new era for Algeria, which has been run since independence from France in 1962 by a generation that fought in the war. The mobilization must continue, said sociologist Mohamed Henned. However, he added that there must be political and institutional (structures) for this citizens movement to ensure success for the transitional phase they seek. Army chief Ahmed Gaid Salah, who is also targeted by some protesters, has insisted on the need to hold a presidential vote on July 4, the date set by the interim leader, to respect the constitution. MANAGUA, Nicaragua - Seventeen people who were arrested in previous anti-government protests were wounded in a prison disturbance in which a 57-year-old Nicaraguan-American dual national was shot dead, a lawyer for several inmates said Friday. Attorney Yonarqui Martinez also said three student protest leaders were among those hurt, and alleged that Eddy Montes Praslin was shot in the back and murdered. There is proof of this, no legitimate defence exists, Martinez said via Twitter. Nicaraguan authorities have accused the inmates of causing a serious disturbance Thursday at La Modelo prison north of the capital, Managua. President Daniel Ortegas government reported Montes death and said six prison workers had been injured, but did not say anything about inmates being hurt. U.S. Ambassador Kevin Sullivan expressed sadness at Montes death and said he met with his family Friday and conveyed the U.S. governments condolences. They deserve a comprehensive and credible account of this unjustifiable use of lethal force against an unarmed political prisoner, Sullivan said via Twitter. He met with Nicaragua foreign minister Denis Moncada and demanded a full investigation into the incident. A U.S. State Department official reiterated the governments call for the release of all political prisoners. The lack of justice for these prisoners and for the hundreds of innocent civilians killed by Ortegas security and parapolice forces show the regimes utter disregard for human life and democratic freedoms, the official said. Worried family members gathered outside La Modelo on Friday seeking information about their loved ones. They tell us everything is calm, but we cannot believe that when there was a death, said Jacqueline Valdivia, mother of student leader Nahiroby Olivas, one of those listed as wounded. Authorities later allowed a group of mothers inside. Emerging they described finding their sons bruised, wounded and broken, and said they had not been hospitalized. All the boys are totally wrecked, said Yesenia Estrada, the mother of Byron Corea Estrada, another student leader. Estrada alleged that guards used not only bullets but rifle bayonets against the prisoners. The government has said prisoners rushed guards inside the facility and struggled with one of them with clear intentions of taking away his service weapon, and Montes was shot in the melee. Contradicting that account, Valdivia said the disturbance started when guards insulted several prisoners in the recreation yard. In the exchange of words, a guard fired from a tower which led others to attack the prisoners, she said. Corporacion radio, a station critical of Ortegas government, said four people were in serious condition from gunshot wounds and attributed the injuries to armed police and guards. Corporacion published photos apparently taken in the prison yard showing bandaged men with bruises, welts, black eyes and cuts on the head, face, arms and back, as well as spent shell casings and used tear gas canisters. Martinez said the disturbance took place in a section of La Modelo that holds hundreds of people whom the opposition and human rights groups say are political prisoners who were arrested for opposing the government. Ortega officials allege that opposition protests were tantamount to an attempted coup and have called the demonstrators terrorists. The International Committee of the Red Cross, which had personnel inside the lockup at the time, confirmed the existence of wounded prisoners but has offered few details about what happened. The ICRC said that prison officials had asked it to mediate a problematic situation in several cellblocks, and that it had facilitated the exit of wounded prisoners who were treated by prison medical staff. Montes, a U.S. citizen, was arrested last November and accused of terrorism, aggravated robbery, illegal possession of weapons and disruption of public order. According to Nicaraguan local media, authorities alleged he had looted a police clinic and robbed and burned city hall in the northern city of Matagalpa. La Prensa newspaper said Montes was known to fellow prisoners as the pastor for performing nighttime religious services. Some young people staged a small protest on property of the Managua Cathedral; police deployed patrols and riot officers around the area. The incident is the latest chapter in over a year of political crisis. Protests against social security reforms began in April 2018 and grew in scope to demand Ortegas exit from office and early elections. The demonstrations were put down forcibly by security forces and armed, pro-government militias, with at least 325 people killed in the crackdown, more than 2,000 wounded and over 52,000 who fled the country, according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The government and the opposition opened talks on resolving the crisis in February, but those have stalled and there has been little consensus on issues such as the release of jailed protesters. SANTIAGO, Chile - Trade ministers and officials from Singapore, Japan and New Zealand are highlighting the benefits to their countries of a Pacific Rim trade agreement formed after President Donald Trump abandoned the Trans-Pacific Partnership. When Trump rejected the Trans-Pacific Partnership after he took office in 2017, the 11 nations remaining amended the pact to enable it to take effect without Washingtons participation. They created the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP, which took effect late last year. In Chile, ministers said Thursday that in its first quarter of validity, the pact had increased their exports and raised expectations of economic growth. The officials are attending an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting. Japans parliamentary vice-minister of foreign affairs, Kiyoto Tsuji, said that with the approval of the CPTPP, his countrys economy is expected to grow 1.5%, while New Zealand trade minister David Parker said his countrys trade with Japan grew 25% and with Canada 8.4%. Singapore trade and industry minister Chan Chun Sing called the agreement an important part of international trade ... to resist protectionism. RIO DE JANEIRO - Pope Francis accepted Friday the resignation of a Brazilian bishop who is under investigation by local authorities. The Vatican announced the resignation of Bishop Vilson Dias de Oliveira and named Archbishop Orlando Brandes of Aparecida as a temporary replacement to run the Limeira diocese in Sao Paulo. The Vatican did not provide details on why de Oliveira resigned, but at age 60, he is well below bishops usual retirement age of 75. The statement included a letter, entitled I feel small, signed by the bishop. Dear brothers and sisters, in these last months we have faced all kinds of crosses, through attacks on our particular Church of Limeira, myself and several priests, the letter read. He did not, however, go into any details about why he was resigning. The Sao Paulo prosecutors office confirmed the polices investigations but did not comment further. According to local news outlets, de Oliveira is investigated for extortion, illicit enrichment and the coverup of alleged cases of sexual harassment. MACHURUCUTO, Venezuela - For all the heated talk coming from Washington about President Nicolas Maduro being a Cuban puppet, there was a time when Cuban troops really did try to take control of Venezuela or at least a remote coconut-strewn tropical beach. Fifty-two years ago this month an expeditionary force of 12 guerrillas departed from the communist-run island and days later landed in this sleepy fishing village with the goal of spreading Fidel Castros revolution to South America. The incursion condemned at the time as a Cuban invasion was a resounding failure. Of the four Cuban guerrillas transporting the mission, one drowned when their inflatable raft overturned while the others were captured by a military patrol tipped off about the landing by a CIA mole. Within a year, the insurgency, which included eight Venezuelans who evaded capture, was wiped out. Fast-forward a half century and Venezuelas socialist government would welcome what past governments condemned as invaders with a red carpet a fact not lost on the U.S., which has accused Cuba of being Maduros main prop in power as the economy around him falls apart. No one has done more to support the corrupt Maduro regime than Cuba, Vice-President Mike Pence said in a policy speech this month. The people of Venezuela are essentially Cubas hostage. But the reality of Cuban influence in Venezuela is more nuanced. The extraordinarily tight alliance between the two countries was forged when Castro counselled Hugo Chavez following a failed 2002 coup. Venezuela has since sent an estimated $30 billion worth of oil to Cuba in exchange for Havana dispatching tens of thousands of medical workers and other government employees, including intelligence and military advisers, according to defectors. While nobody doubts the strong ideological alliance, U.S. estimates of as many as 25,000 Cuban troops on the ground have been denied by Cuba and seem wildly exaggerated even to some in the U.S. intelligence community. There are no troops, Carlos Fernandez de Cossio, Cubas director general of U.S. affairs, said in a recent interview in Washington. Cuba does not participate in military operations nor in security operations in Venezuela. Whats not in doubt is Cubas strategic interest in Venezuela something that traces its roots to the Machurucuto (pronounced ma.tju.?u.KU.to) incident. A straggling visitor to the depressed town of 500 would never know from the boarded-up beach kiosks and decaying fishing boats that it was briefly a flashpoint in the Cold War fight against communism. It was chosen as a beachhead because of its proximity to a jungled mountain range stretching toward Caracas that was a major centre of guerrilla activity. Ana Morffe, one of the few elderly residents who remember the incident, said she didnt even know what a guerrilla was at the time. But unbeknownst to her, one of the young fighters sneaked through an open window of her house while she was out washing clothes at the river and cooked himself a meal. I didnt see him, but he surely saw me, said the 75-year-old. Hector Perez Marcano, one of the surviving members of the expedition, said Castros support stemmed from an overriding interest in Venezuelas oil. A little more than two weeks after Castro rode into Havana triumphantly in 1959, he flew to Caracas, where massive crowds lined highways to get a glimpse of the bearded revolutionary whose defeat of the U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista would inspire a new generation of Latin American leftists. A few years later, Marcano and a few dozen Venezuelans travelled to Cuba for military training. He said the idea of deploying by sea came directly from Castro at a meeting on the top floor of the Habana Libre hotel during the first Tricontinental Conference of revolutionaries from Africa, Asia and Latin America. Almost 18 months later, Castro was present when the rebels shipped out from Santiago de Cuba at 6 a.m., handing each member of the expedition a Rolex watch the ultimate all-terrain aid for any revolutionary worth his salt, he told them. A year earlier, another landing squad with 15 Cuban guerrillas, including a highly-decorated war hero who would go on to command Castros troops in Ethiopia and Angola, landed covertly in western Falcon state. Back then (for Fidel) Venezuela was the crown jewel of Latin America, said Marcano. The impact of the clandestine intervention was immediately felt: an emergency meeting of regional diplomats was convened in Washington and Venezuela broke off diplomatic relations with Havana. It would take seven years for them to be restored. Marcano, an opponent of Maduro, said Venezuelas petro-diplomacy over the past decade has been at the service of Cubas interests. What Fidel was unable to accomplish in the 1960s through armed conflict he was able to do now using Chavez and Venezuela as a tool for hemispheric domination, said Marcano. William Izarra was a recent graduate of Venezuelas air force academy when he was sent to Machurucuto and asked to interrogate one of the Cuban subversives, Antonio Briones, in a field tent set up on the beach. Trained under the influence of U.S. national security doctrine to despise communists, he was instead amazed by the firmness of Briones revolutionary ideals, which contrasted with his soft green eyes and serene demeanour. I thought a communist was someone with horns and a tail, said Izarra, who is now a member of Venezuelas ruling socialist party and teaches course on Marxism. But it turned out the devil was actually an angel. When he showed up the next day, Briones was lying dead on the beach, his face ripped off. How he was killed remains a mystery. But Izarra credits the brief encounter with the Cuban rebel for a political epiphany. Over the ensuing two decades, hed work clandestinely to spread leftist ideology inside the barracks, eventually joining forces with coup-plotters led by then-Lieutenant Chavez. He disputes Marcanos view that Cuba is pulling Maduros strings, and worries that as Venezuelas political crisis attracts more international attention the U.S. is magnifying the role played by Cuba in something akin to the Cold War hysteria. Theres a real push to return to anti-communist ideology in which Cuba is identified as the source of all evil, he said. In Machurucuto, opinions about the Cubans vary. A plaque dedicated by Izarra and other government supporters in 2006 has since been stolen. Chavez, despite an almost encyclopedic knowledge and passion for history, never visited the town as president, reflecting some of the nationalist sensibilities that compete for support of socialism inside the ruling party. Cubas government has been far more generous. Theres a town in western Cuba named for Briones, as well as a military medal emblazoned with his image. Meanwhile, for many town residents, their only contact with the one-time aggressors is at a hospital in a nearby city where Cuban doctors treat them for free albeit with alarmingly scant medical supplies. Morffe, despite surviving on a pension thats barely enough to afford a kilo of meat, still supports Maduro, blaming instead the people hes surrounded himself with for the countrys sorry state. She said Venezuelans need to learn from Cuba, which suffered severely following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of generous subsidies, as it struggles to confront its own hardships. They talk to you, theyre our friends, said Morffe of the Cuban doctors. The little we have is because of them. -- Follow Goodman on Twitter: https://twitter.com/APjoshgoodman By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS Amid a widening food shortfall affecting up to 40 percent of its population, North Korea has resumed testing short-range missiles in a risky bid for humanitarian aid and political attention. The rocket tests, which don't directly violate U.N. resolutions or prior diplomatic agreements, are nonetheless seen as a tactical step to revive Pyongyang's strategic objective of breaking tough economic sanctions and towards reaching a wide-ranging diplomatic deal with the United States. The firing of two volleys of short-range rockets appears a blunt reminder that the quaintly titled Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) patience is running short for resumed negotiations with the United States and South Korea. Though there have been no long range ballistic missile firings nor nuclear weapons tests since the Trump Administration entered into negotiations with Kim Jong-un eighteen months ago; the looming threat from Pyongyang remains that the regime is willing to incrementally up the ante for attention, international standing, and possibly a deal. The DPRK desperately needs to break the international sanctions stranglehold on its economy stemming from Pyongyang's threatening behavior towards South Korea, Japan and the U.S. The North's nuclear tests and reckless ballistic missile firings and bombastic threats to target neighboring countries and the United States, led to a dangerous military showdown with Washington early in the Trump Administration. Fortunately the 2018 South Korean Winter Olympics allowed for intra-Korean diplomacy to stem the crisis and to set the stage for the DPRK/U.S. Singapore Summit last June. The crisis has three components; food shortages, economic sanctions, and a nuclear disarmament deal. T rocket firings are a tactic to gain attention. A recent U.N. report form the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Program paints a grim picture of North Korea's harvest. According to the report, the DPRK is facing its worst harvest in a decade; up to 10 million people face food insecurity. A combination of drought, fertilizer and irrigation shortages and the effects of sanctions have made an already bad situation worse. Given the systematic shortfalls of the state agricultural system, there's a recipe for a looming disaster. A severe drought in Panama has resulted in lower water levels in the Panama Canal, forcing some shippers to limit the amount of cargo their largest ships carry so they can safely navigate the waterway. The last five months have been the driest dry season in the history of the canal, said Carlos Vargas, the Panama Canal Authoritys executive vice president for environment, water and energy. The canal an engineering masterwork that provides a shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific handles about 5 per cent of maritime trade. Any hiccup in its operation can ripple through the global economy and affect the United States, the origin or destination for much of the canals traffic. And those problems may become more commonplace as the climate changes. Earlier this year, the authority imposed draft limits on ships, forcing some to lighten their loads to ride higher in the water so they will not run aground. Although the dry season has ended and rains have returned, some restrictions will remain through the summer, Vargas said. Such restrictions may have to be imposed more frequently if, as scientists expect, climate change leads to more extreme storms and dry periods. The drought is linked to an El Nino that developed early this year and is expected to continue into the fall. During an El Nino, warmer-than-normal surface waters in the equatorial Pacific can affect weather patterns in many parts of the world, including rainfall in Central America. El Nino events occur every two to seven years, on average, and have been noticed for centuries. They have led to canal restrictions in the past. Already, four of the most intense storms and several of the worst droughts since the canal opened 105 years ago have occurred in the past decade, said Robert F. Stallard, a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute who has studied water issues in Panama for decades. Planning for more extreme weather in the future is the way things have to go, Stallard said. The authority imposed the limits in February, as the drought took hold and levels in the two lakes that supply water to the canal began to fall. The limits affected only very large ships using the canals newest locks, which opened in 2016. An average of about seven ships a day use those locks. The canal authority posts the restrictions well in advance, so shippers can calculate loads that will enable their ships to transit the 50-mile canal. Otherwise excess cargo has to be off-loaded in Panama. Since the February announcement, the maximum allowable draft has been reduced five times. As of May 28 the maximum will be 43 feet, 7 feet lower than usual. Vargas said that as of that date smaller ships that use the canals old locks will also be affected, as the maximum allowable draft for those locks will fall from 39 1/2 feet to 38 1/2. About 25 ships use the old locks every day. Because canal tariffs are based partly on cargo loads, the limits have so far cost the canal authority about $15 million (U.S.), a relatively small amount when compared with overall revenues of more than $2 billion a year. Vargas said the restrictions will be lifted gradually, probably beginning in June. By mid-September, he said, even ships with the deepest drafts should be able to use the waterway without having to reduce their cargo. Draft restrictions have been imposed before, during previous El Nino years, and have sometimes caused greater revenue losses. Stallard said the impact of the drought this year was reduced in part because of heavy rains last fall. Managing water has always been a critical part of canal operations, but became even more important with the construction of the larger locks. Each time a ship transits the canal about 50 million gallons of fresh water are lost through the locks to the oceans. That water comes from the two artificial lakes, Gatun through which ships pass as part of the canal and Alajuela. The lakes also provide water for much of Panamas growing population. Canal operators try to store enough water in the rainy season to operate the canal fully during the dry season. As this year has shown, that is not always possible. Even in normal years, saving water is a priority the new locks, for example, have special basins that conserve about half the water used each time a ship passes through the canal. But the rainy season has its own challenges. In December 2010, torrential rains caused the lakes to overflow; the resulting flooding forced the canal to be closed for a day. Too much water inundating the system can also damage locks and other infrastructure. Vargas said the authority has a team of meteorologists, scientists and engineers who forecast and plan how to handle water extremes, and their skills will be used even more as the climate changes. As for the long-term threat to the canal, Vargas said the solution is more water. We have no doubt that we need to build more reservoirs, he said. We think they are the most effective way to mitigate climate change. But adding new reservoirs would be a costly and lengthy undertaking. There is no more water available from the Chagres River watershed, which supplies Gatun and Alajuela. New water would have to come from watersheds that are farther from the canal, requiring the construction of tunnels as well as dams. Read more about: KOLKATA, India - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken his ruling partys fight to the state of West Bengal, where it hopes to retain a majority in staggered general elections concluding this week by diluting the strength of a formidable opponent, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The battle pitting the Bharatiya Janata Partys Hindu nationalism against Banerjees Trinamool Congress Partys big-tent politics has come to a head in the state, which stretches from the Himalayas in the north to the Bay of Bengal in the south and shares a language and border with Muslim-majority Bangladesh. That border is another battleground: the BJP has backed a bill that would make it easier to deport millions of Bangladeshis who migrated to India since Bangladeshs 1971 independence while easing a path to citizenship for Hindus, Sikhs, Parsees and Jains conspicuously non-Muslim who arrived from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Banerjee, the states top elected official, has called the bill a conspiracy to make more people stateless refugees. While Modi has made divisive veiled references to Indias Muslim community, which comprises about 14% of Indias 1.3 billion people, Banerjee studied Islamic history, quotes the Quran and successfully backed a Muslim candidate for mayor of Kolkata, the states capital. Banerjee in 2011 unseated nearly three decades of communist party rule in West Bengal, a state of 100 million people, a quarter of whom are Muslim, and eyes a chance to go to New Delhi as the oppositions candidate for prime minister. Mamata Banerjee has a vital spot. She has really taken Modi head-to-head despite Modis strong standing nationally, said Himanshu Roy, a political science professor and senior fellow at the New Delhi-based Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. She is very fierce against Modi. She ousted the leftists in the state and is now using the same tactic to keep Modi away from any major success in this election, he said. At the national level, Modis primary rival is Congress party President Rahul Gandhi, the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty that has produced three prime ministers. With 900 million registered voters, the election is the worlds largest democratic exercise. Over the seven phases of voting staggered over six weeks, 543 seats in the Lok Sahba, Indias lower house of Parliament, will be decided at about a million polling stations. A party needs 272 seats a simple majority to form a government. The BJP won 282 seats in 2014, but appears unlikely to win as many in these elections. It is aiming for at least 200 seats this time with regional parties making up the balance, according to Modi biographer and political commentator Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay. Banerjee could find herself playing the role of kingmaker, he said. There is a very distinct possibility for Mamata if she holds onto Bengal, he said, adding that she could also temper Modis move toward the right. Under Modi, cow vigilantes, in the name of protecting Hinduisms sacred symbol, have attacked more than 280 people and lynched three dozen Muslims for consuming beef or working in slaughterhouses, Human Rights Watch said in a recent report. After BJP defeats last year to the Congress party in state assembly elections in key places including Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattishgarh, the party shifted its focus to the east. The BJP is hoping to shore up its losses in the so-called Hindi heartland by increasing its standing in West Bengal. The contest there intensified in the lead-up to the final phase of Indias marathon elections, with rival groups fighting with sticks and rocks and setting vehicles on fire, prompting the Election Commission to take the unprecedented step of curtailing campaigning by a day to avoid any further clashes that could undermine Sundays polls. Exchanging epithets with increasing vitriol, Modi has called Banerjee, 68, a speed-breaker, accusing her of slowing the central governments development projects. She has called him a fascist and expressed a desire to seal his mouth with surgical tape for telling lies. The TMC won 34 of 42 seats up for grabs in West Bengal in the 2014 elections while the BJP picked up only two. But the ruling party is making headway in the state by uniting voters opposed to Banerjee, according to Sanjay Kumar, a political scientist at the New Delhi-based Centre for the Study of Developing Societies. Anti-Mamata votes have crystallized the force of the BJP in West Bengal, Kumar said. Banerjee has an edge with minority voters, who, according to Kumar, BJP found it didnt need in the 2014 elections and whose votes it hasnt tried to mobilize five years later. Mohammed Quamruzzaman, president of the All Bengal Minority Youth Federation, said Muslims are experiencing an existential crisis in India. We dont want development of our community anymore, we dont press for education for our children anymore, our main concern is safety and security of our people, he said. We are worried about our survival. Everything has changed for us over the last five years. ___ Schmall reported from New Delhi. JAKARTA, Indonesia - Indonesia is deploying 32,000 security personnel in the capital, Jakarta, after warnings of a possible militant attack during the official announcement of presidential election results next week, police said Friday. National Police spokesman Muhammad Iqbal said police have apprehended 29 people this month who planned to set off bombs during expected street protests when the official vote count is announced by May 22. He told a news conference that the suspects were members of Jemaah Anshorut Daulah, a local militant network affiliated with the Islamic State group, and have confessed that they planned attacks during the release of the election results. The network of almost two dozen extremist organizations has been implicated in numerous attacks in Indonesia in the past three years and was designated a terror organization by the U.S. in 2017. Iqbal urged people not to hold street rallies and avoid mass gathering on the day of the announcement for their safety. He said the police counterterrorism squad has arrested 60 suspected militants so far this year and seven others were killed when they resisted arrest. In March, the wife of an Islamic militant arrested for allegedly plotting attacks in Jakarta detonated a bomb during a siege of their home in North Sumatra, killing herself and her 2-year-old child. Another police spokesman, Dedi Prasetyo, said police and military personnel will set up a security cordon around the headquarters of the Election Supervisory Agency and the Electoral Commission in downtown Jakarta. At the news conference, police presented 10 handcuffed suspects wearing black ski masks and orange prisoner uniforms. A long table in front of them was filled with items confiscated by police, including explosive materials, knifes, ammunition and jihadist books. Indonesia, the worlds most populous Muslim-majority nation, is an outpost of democracy in a Southeast Asian neighbourhood of authoritarian governments. It held the biggest single-day election on April 17 to elect a president and national and regional parliaments. Vote counts from five independent survey groups showed incumbent President Joko Widodo with a clear lead over Prabowo Subianto, a general during the era of the Suharto military dictatorship who warned Indonesia would fall apart without his strongman leadership. Subiantos insistence that he was on course for victory, and his allegations of fraud, have led to speculation in some quarters that he might be trying to himself fix the results or would refuse to concede. That would put pressure on the countrys democratic institutions and could possibly lead to violence. His supporters recently held street rallies to call for fairness and vigilance in the vote counting, as the government warned that efforts to cast doubt on the outcome could amount to treason. TOKYO - Nissan proposed Friday adding Renaults chief executive, Thierry Bollore, to its board, as well as several outsiders, to strengthen its governance following the arrest of its former chairman, Carlos Ghosn. The Japanese automakers proposals will be put to a shareholder vote at a meeting set for June. Yokohama-based Nissan Motor Co. said it will retain Hiroto Saikawa as its chief executive and a board member. It also wants to add Sony Interactive Entertainments chairman, Andrew House, and Nihon Michelin Tires chairman, Bernard Delmas, to the board. Nissans proposal calls for an 11-member board, including seven outside directors. The board now has eight members, including Jean-Dominique Senard, chairman at French alliance partner Renault SA, who was approved by shareholders earlier this year. Ghosn is facing financial misconduct charges. He says he is innocent. A Nissan governance committee set up after Ghosns arrest recommended adding more independent outside directors to oversee the companys compensation and auditing. Nissan sees the re-establishment of a highly robust corporate governance structure as imperative, Nissan said in a statement. With the lessons from the recent executive misconduct still fresh, Nissan resolves to rigorously pursue separation of supervisory and executive functions. Governance experts say Nissan lagged behind other major Japanese companies in governance measures, such as having outside board directors and instituting checks on compensation. Renault owns 43 per cent of Nissan and the Japanese automaker owns 15 per cent of Renault. The French automaker sent Ghosn to Nissan in 1999 to help rescue it from the brink of bankruptcy. Under his guidance over the next two decades it was transformed into one of the most successful auto alliances in the industry. Earlier this week, Nissan reported its profit for the fiscal year that ended in March plunged to about half of what it was the previous year. It is projecting a further deterioration in its earnings. ___ Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama On Instagram https://www.instagram.com/yurikageyama/?hl=en SEOUL, SOUTH KOREASouth Korea said Friday that it would provide $8 million in humanitarian aid to help North Koreas malnourished children and pregnant women, as the North faces severe drought and a food crisis caused by its worst harvest in a decade. The sum represents funds that the South had originally planned to donate in 2017, through the World Food Program and the United Nations Childrens Fund. But the donation was shelved after North Korea launched a ballistic missile over Japan that year and Shinzo Abe, Japans leader, argued for delaying it. South Korea made it clear Friday that it did not regard the current stalemate in talks over the Norths nuclear program as a reason to deny the aid. Our governments position is that it will provide humanitarian assistance for North Korean people regardless of the political situation, the countrys Unification Ministry said in a statement. The World Food Program and the Food and Agriculture Organization announced this month that about 10 million North Koreans, or 40 per cent of the population, were facing severe food shortages after the country suffered its worst harvest in a decade last fall. And North Korea said Wednesday that it was experiencing its worst drought in 37 years, raising fears that crops due to be harvested next month, like wheat and barley, will also suffer. No reports of widespread starvation have emerged from North Korea, which was ravaged by famine in the 1990s. But UN relief agencies have warned of a crisis in the coming months if no proper and urgent humanitarian actions are taken. The South Korean aid package is expected to include $4.5 million to help the World Food Program provide nutrition-rich food supplies to North Korean hospitals and day care facilities, as well as $3.5 million for UNICEF projects supplying vaccines, medicine and malnutrition treatment to children and pregnant women. President Moon Jae-ins government hopes goodwill gestures like the aid package will help persuade North Korea to return to dialogue with the United States. It has said that U.S. President Donald Trump supports the idea of the South providing humanitarian aid. But Moons government has also feared that South Koreas conservative opposition would accuse it of coddling the North if it provided a larger aid package, especially with North Korea having resumed short-range missile tests. South Korean conservatives argue that the North has squandered resources on its nuclear arms program that it should have used to help its people. This is a time to stop aid if there is any going to the North, not to provide it, Jun Hee-kyung, a spokeswoman for the conservative Korea Liberty Party, said Friday after the aid package was announced. She accused Moon of irresponsible appeasement. The United Nations has imposed a series of tough sanctions on the North over its nuclear program since 2016, banning the export of coal, iron ore and other key North Korean products, as well as sharply cutting oil imports. Those sanctions have deprived the government of important sources of income, as well as undercutting its ability to import food. North Koreas leader, Kim Jong Un, has been hoping to win relief from sanctions in return for partial dismantlement of his countrys nuclear weapons facilities. Trump refused such an offer in February at his second meeting with Kim, in Vietnam, demanding that the North relinquish all its nuclear weapons. The talks have since been stymied. North Koreas resumption of short-range missile tests last week has been widely seen as a warning that it may return to more ambitious missile launches unless sanctions are eased. Kim has given Washington until the end of the year to show more flexibility, indicating that his country will otherwise seek an alternative to diplomacy. The UN sanctions do not prohibit humanitarian aid to the North. But as its nuclear and missile work has escalated in recent years, international relief agencies have been unable to collect substantial donations for chronically malnourished children and nursing mothers in the North. Moons conservative predecessors had sharply curtailed humanitarian aid in response to the Norths nuclear and missile tests. But Moon, a political liberal, has backed humanitarian aid along with other forms of engagement with the North since taking office in May 2017. His government gave the North $1 million worth of pesticides last year, the Souths first direct governmental aid to the country since 2010. Moons government also said Friday that it would let South Korean businesspeople visit the industrial complex in Kaesong, a North Korean border town, that was jointly operated by the Koreas until Moons immediate predecessor shut it down in 2016. The executives want to assess the condition of their factories at the complex, which was run with North Korean labour. Read more about: PARIS - A longtime chief of the Basque militant separatist group ETA has been jailed in France, a day after his arrest in a French Alpine town ended 17 years on the run. A French judicial official said Josu Ternera, the most wanted ETA member since 2002, was transferred to Paris, formally notified of the arrest warrant and ordered jailed. The official wasnt authorized to speak publicly. Ternera was arrested Thursday in the town of Sallanches. He was convicted in absentia in 2017 in France for involvement in a terrorist group and sentenced to eight years in prison. He has the right to request a new trial. Spain says it will ask France to extradite Ternera to stand trial for alleged crimes against humanity and multiple killings before he completes a French sentence. ETA, whose initials stand for Basque Homeland and Freedom in the Basque language, killed more than 850 people during its decades-long violent campaign to create an independent state in northern Spain and southern France. The militant group gave up its arms in 2017 and disbanded last year after being weakened by efforts to dismantle its operations and arrest its leaders. Ternera was one of the negotiators who sat down with Spanish government envoys for talks to try to end the groups activities in the mid-2000s. His voice was identified as one of two ETA members who read a statement announcing the groups dismantling on audio recordings released on May 3, 2018. Mayor Jean-Marc Peillex of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains said Ternera had been housed in the village of Saint Nicolas de Veroce, on the outskirts of his town. He speculated Friday that police were searching for accomplices who helped hide the long-time fugitive. Who helped him? Who were the people around him? Were they aware? Were they not aware? the mayor said. He also said an area popular with tourists is easy to hide in. French President Emmanuel Macron, touring the French Basque city of Biarritz ahead of a G-7 summit, was asked about the possibility of freedom for Ternera, whose real name is Jose Antonio Urruticoetxea Bengoetxea. He replied Political reconciliation does not mean amnesty. ___ Jamey Keaten in Saint-Gervais-les-Bains contributed. BERLIN - Activists in Berlin have added a life vest to the German capitals well-known Molecule Man statue to raise awareness of the perilous plight of migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean into Europe. Protesters climbed the 100-foot tall artwork, which towers out of the Spree river in downtown Berlin, to adorn the statue Friday with the orange vest, while a boat with the slogan 5 years 18,248+? Lives Taken sailed nearby. The group says its also highlighting the work of volunteer organizations that have deployed their own boats to rescue migrants in need of help. The action comes a week after U.N. migration officials said as many as 70 migrants died when their boat capsized in the Mediterranean. Molecule Man, by American artist Jonathan Borofsky, depicts three people joining in the centre. LONDON - Talks between Britains Conservative government and the opposition Labour Party seeking a compromise over Brexit broke down without agreement Friday, plunging the country back into a morass of uncertainty over its departure from the European Union. Each side blamed the other for the collapse. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said the talks with Prime Minister Theresa Mays government had gone as far as they can. We have been unable to bridge important policy gaps between us, Corbyn said in a letter to May released by Labour. And with May set to announce within weeks that she plans to step down, Corbyn said divisions within the ruling Conservative Party meant its a government that is negotiating with no authority and no ability, that I can see, to actually deliver anything. But May said divisions within the Labour Party had contributed to the breakdown. In particular, we have not been able to overcome the fact that there isnt a common position in Labour about whether they want to deliver Brexit or hold a second referendum, which could reverse it, she said. Mays spokesman, James Slack, confirmed the two sides had not reached complete agreement and that no further talks were planned. The two sides have held weeks of negotiations to try to agree upon terms for Brexit that can win support in Parliament. The talks began after British lawmakers rejected Mays divorce deal with the EU three times. But the Conservatives and the left-of-centre Labour differ on how close an economic relationship to seek with the EU after the U.K. leaves the bloc. Labour wants to stick close to EU rules in order to guarantee seamless trade, while the government wants a looser relationship that would leave Britain freer to strike new trade deals around the world. Britain was due to leave the EU on March 29, but amid the political impasse in the country, the EU extended the Brexit deadline until Oct. 31. That deadlock has deepened this week with the breakdown of the cross-party talks and intensifying pressure on May from within the Conservative Party to quit. Pro-Brexit Conservatives are furious that Britain hasnt yet left the EU, almost three years after voters backed Brexit in a referendum. Many of them blame May and want her replaced with a more staunchly pro-Brexit leader such as former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. On Thursday, May agreed to set out a timetable for her departure early next month, raising the prospect that Britain will get a new prime minister before it leaves the EU. Her resignation, when it comes, will trigger a party leadership contest in which any Conservative lawmaker can run. The winner will become party leader and prime minister of the U.K. without the need for a general election. Several members of Mays Cabinet have already started unofficial leadership campaigns, including Johnson, who told a business event Thursday that of course Im going to go for it. The prime minister said she was considering a series of votes in Parliament on different Brexit options to see if any can gain majority backing. May also plans to make a fourth attempt to get lawmakers backing for Brexit terms by putting a withdrawal agreement bill to a vote during the week of June 3. She says that if it passes, Britain could leave the EU in July, well before the October deadline set by the bloc. May said Friday that British lawmakers will be faced with a stark choice: that is to vote to ... deliver Brexit, or to shy away again from delivering Brexit with all the uncertainty that that would leave. But its unclear how the government plans to persuade a majority of lawmakers to back Mays EU divorce terms, since few on either side of the Brexit divide seem prepared to change their positions. Pro-Brexit politicians think the withdrawal agreement keeps Britain bound too closely to the EUs rules, while pro-Europeans think it relinquishes many of the benefits of EU membership. Corbyn said Friday that without significant changes, we will continue to oppose the governments deal, as we do not believe it safeguards jobs, living standards and manufacturing industry in Britain. ___ Gregory Katz in London contributed. ___ Follow APs full coverage of Brexit at: https://www.apnews.com/Brexit BUDAPEST, Hungary - Hungarys prime minister has confirmed his countrys plans to buy medium-range air defence missiles from the United States. Viktor Orban said Friday on state radio that it is too soon to give more details about the deal, but that the construction of the modern Hungarian army is happening now. Orban said he asked President Donald Trump during his White House visit on Monday to help expedite U.S.-Romanian co-operation regarding the extraction of natural gas in the Black Sea, to involve Exxon, which could help Hungary diversify its gas sources. Orban said he belongs to a group of elected leaders including Trump and the leaders of Israel, India, Poland and Italy who put their own countrys interests first ... and expressly oppose building a world government. DAMASCUS, Syria - Several explosions were heard in the Syrian capital Damascus on Friday night as the countrys air defences opened fire on objects coming from the direction of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, state media reported. State news agency SANA quoted an unnamed military official as saying that Syrian air defences discovered hostile targets coming from the direction of the Quenitra region on the edge of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The news agency said Syrian air defences shot down several objects. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, reported three explosions southwest of Damascus. It added that it was not immediately clear if the explosions were caused by Israeli airstrikes or surface-to-surface missiles. The Observatorys chief, Rami Abdurrahman, told The Associated Press that the strikes targeted the area of Kiswa, which is home to positions and storage sites for Iranian and Lebanons Hezbollah forces allied with Syrias government. Last month, SANA said an Israeli airstrike on a military position in central Syria wounded six soldiers and destroyed several buildings. Israeli military officials declined to comment on the report Friday, but Israel recently acknowledged striking Iranian targets in Syria. Iran is an ally of Damascus and has offered military advisers and sent militiamen and material support to help President Bashar Assads government forces in the eight-year civil war. Israel considers Iran a national security threat and says it wont tolerate Irans presence on its borders. Seoul should surmount higher hurdle to defeat US buyout fund Hana Financial Group has won a complete victory in a $1.4-billion international arbitration suit against Lone Star Funds over the purchase of KEB Hana Bank, formerly known as the Korea Exchange Bank (KEB). It said Wednesday that the International Court of Arbitration (ICA) under the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) had informed Hana of the ruling in its favor on all counts. The ICA finding for Hana Financial is significant in that the ruling has recognized and exposed the U.S. buyout fund's greed to the world. The ill-fated relations among the Seoul government, Lone Star and Hana Financial go back to 2006. In March that year, the National Assembly filed a charge against Lone Star with the prosecution concerning the suspected sale of KEB Hana Bank for an unreasonably low price. In 2011, the Supreme Court finally issued a guilty verdict on Lone Star on the charge of manipulating the stock price of KEB's credit card unit to buy the bank at a much cheaper price. While the trial was ongoing, Lone Star signed a deal to sell its 51.02-percent stake in KEB to Hana for 4.68 trillion won ($3.92 billion). There were several price adjustments later to reduce the final price by 773.2 billion won. The National Tax Service also collected a withholding tax of 391.6 billion won. The ruling prompted the Texas-based private equity fund to file for a 5.3-trillion-won investor-state dispute (ISD) arbitration claim against the Korean government in 2012. Experts are divided over the effect the ICA ruling will have on the ISD ruling, which will come as early as next month. Some say it will help the government by revealing Lone Star's unwarranted claims and greed. Others, however, warn against complacency, noting that the ICA and ISD cases are quite different in terms of priority and process. We hope the government will mobilize all means and resources available to win the case against Lone Star, which has long been notorious here for its ruthless and predatory pursuit of windfalls. BEIRUT - In the event of war with the United States, Iran will not be alone. That message was delivered by the leader of Lebanons Hezbollah militant group to a mass rally in Beirut in February marking the 40th anniversary of Irans Islamic Revolution. If America launches war on Iran, it will not be alone in the confrontation, because the fate of our region is tied to the Islamic Republic, Hassan Nasrallah said. From Lebanon and Syria to Iraq, Yemen, and the Gaza Strip, Tehran has significantly expanded its footprint over the past decade, finding and developing powerful allies in conflict-ravaged countries across the Middle East. Hezbollah is one of the most prominent members of the self-styled axis of resistance, armed groups with tens of thousands of Shiite Muslim fighters beholden to Tehran. Iran has used such groups in the past to strike its regional foes, and could mobilize them if the latest tensions with the United States lead to an armed conflict dramatically expanding the battlefield. Heres a look at Tehrans allies in the Mideast: HEZBOLLAH The militia, whose Arabic name translates into Party of God, was established by Irans Revolutionary Guard during Lebanons civil war in the 1980s. Today it is among the most effective armed groups in the region, extending Irans influence to Israels doorstep. In a paper for the Brookings Institute earlier this year, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman described the group as revolutionary Irans most successful export and Tehrans multi-purpose tool. Hezbollah was formed to combat Israel following its invasion of Lebanon in 1982. It waged an 18-year guerrilla war against Israeli forces, eventually forcing them to withdraw from Lebanon in 2000. Six years later, it battled Israel to a bloody stalemate in a monthlong war. Today, the group has an arsenal of tens of thousands of rockets and missiles that can reach deep into Israel, as well as thousands of highly disciplined and battle-hardened fighters. Hezbollah has fought alongside government forces in Syria for more than six years, gaining even more battlefield experience and expanding its reach. At home, the groups power exceeds that of the Lebanese armed forces, and along with its allies has more power than ever in the parliament and government. Despite the rhetoric, Hezbollah says it is not seeking another war with Israel, and it is not likely to join in any regional confrontation at least not in the early stages unless provoked. Hezbollah has lost hundreds of fighters in Syria, exacting a heavy toll on the Shiite community from which it draws most of its support. ___ THE HOUTHIS Yemens Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, swept down from the north and captured the capital, Sanaa, in 2014. A Saudi-led coalition entered the conflict on the side of the government the following year. The war has since killed tens of thousands of people and generated the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. Saudi Arabia views the Houthis as an Iranian proxy, and along with Western nations and U.N. experts has accused Tehran of providing arms to the rebels, including the long-range missiles they have fired into Saudi Arabia. Iran supports the rebels but denies arming them. The Houthis have given up little ground since the coalition entered the war, and have targeted the Saudi capital, Riyadh, with long-range missiles. Earlier this week they claimed a drone attack that shut down a major oil pipeline in Saudi Arabia, which responded with airstrikes on Yemens rebel-held capital that killed civilians. ___ IRAQ MILITIAS Iran has trained, financed, and equipped Shiite militias in Iraq that battled U.S. forces in the years after the 2003 invasion and remobilized to battle the Islamic State group a decade later. The groups include Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Kataeb Hezbollah and the Badr Organization, all three led by men with close ties to Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the leader of Irans elite Quds Force and the architect of Tehrans regional strategy. The militias fall under the umbrella of Iraqs Popular Mobilization Forces, a collection of mostly Shiite militias that were incorporated into the countrys armed forces in 2016. Together they number more than 140,000 fighters, and while they fall under the authority of Iraqs prime minister, the PMFs top brass are politically aligned with Iran. U.S. forces and the PMF fought side-by-side against Islamic State militants after Iraqs parliament invited the U.S. back into the country in 2014. But now that the war is largely concluded, some militia leaders are calling on U.S. troops to leave again, threatening to expel them by force if necessary. This week, the U.S. ordered all nonessential government staff to leave Iraq, amid unspecified threats in the region said to be linked to Iran. ___ GAZA MILITANTS Iran has long supported Palestinian militant groups, including Gazas Hamas rulers and particularly the smaller Islamic Jihad group. Hamas fell out with Iran after the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, losing millions of dollars in monthly assistance. The group today is in a severe financial crisis; its employees and public servants in Gaza have not been paid full salaries in years. Tehran is said to have continued its military support to Hamas armed wing, but the group appears to get most of its aid from Qatar, making it less likely that it would rally to Tehrans side in a regional conflict. Islamic Jihad, another Sunni militant group, is seen as much closer to Iran but still not as deeply intertwined as Hezbollah or other groups. Hamas and Islamic Jihad launched hundreds of rockets from Gaza during a bout of fighting with Israel earlier this month. Israel accused Islamic Jihad of triggering the violence, which was the worst since a 2014 war. The movement did not deny the Israeli accusations. __ Associated Press writers Philip Issa in Baghdad and Fares Akram in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, contributed to this report. BAGHDAD - When U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sat down with Iraqi officials in Baghdad last week as tensions mounted between America and Iran, he delivered a nuanced message: If youre not going to stand with us, stand aside. The message, relayed to The Associated Press by two Iraqi government officials, underscores Iraqs delicate position: Its government is allied with both sides of an increasingly contentious confrontation. As tensions escalate, there are concerns that Baghdad could once again get caught in the middle, just as it is on the path to recovery. The country hosts more than 5,000 U.S. troops, and is home to powerful Iranian-backed militias, some of whom want those U.S. forces to leave. The big question is how Iraqi leaders will deal with (their) national interests in a country where loyalty to external powers is widespread at the expense of their own nation, Iraqi political analyst Watheq al-Hashimi said. If the state cannot put these (Iranian-backed militias) under control, Iraq will become an arena for an Iranian-American armed conflict. Despite the escalation of rhetoric by both sides, President Donald Trump has said he doesnt want a war with Iran and has even said he is open to dialogue. But tension remains high, in part given the regions fraught history. For Iraq to be a theatre for proxy wars is not new. The Shiite-majority country lies on the fault line between Shiite Iran and the mostly Sunni Arab world, led by powerhouse Saudi Arabia, and has long been a battlefield in which the Saudi-Iran rivalry for regional supremacy played out. During Americas eight-year military presence that began with the 2003 invasion of Iraq, U.S. troops and Iranian-backed militiamen fought pitched battles around the country, and scores of U.S. troops were killed or wounded by the militia forces armed with sophisticated Iranian-made weapons. American forces withdrew from Iraq in 2011 but returned in 2014 at the invitation of Iraq to help battle the Islamic State group after it seized vast areas in the north and west of the country, including Iraqs second-largest city, Mosul. A U.S.-led coalition provided crucial air support as Iraqi forces regrouped and drove IS out in a costly three-year campaign. Iranian-backed militias fought alongside U.S.-backed Iraqi troops against IS, gaining outsized influence and power. Now, amid an escalating conflict between the U.S. and Iran, Iraq is once again vulnerable to becoming caught up in the power play. An attack targeting U.S. interests in Iraq would be detrimental to the countrys recent efforts at recovering and reclaiming its status in the Arab world. Earlier this year, Trump provoked outrage in Baghdad when he said he wanted U.S. troops to stay in Iraq so they can watch Iran, suggesting a changing mission for American troops there. On May 8, Pompeo made a lightning, previously unannounced trip to the Iraqi capital following the abrupt cancellation of a visit to Germany, and as the United States had been picking up intelligence that Iran is threatening American interests in the Middle East. The two Iraqi officials said Pompeo relayed intelligence information the U.S. had received about a threat to U.S. forces in Iraq but kept it vague. They said he did not specify the nature of the threat. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to divulge confidential information, said Pompeo told the Iraqis that America did not expect them to side with the U.S. in any confrontation with Iran, but that they should not side against America. In other words, stand aside. A few days later, as U.S.-Iranian tensions continued to rise, the State Department ordered all non-essential, non-emergency government staff to leave the country. U.S. officials said Pompeo told the Iraqis the U.S. had an inherent right to self-defence and would use it if U.S. personnel, facilities or interests are attacked by Iran or its proxies in Iraq or anywhere else. The three officials, who were not authorized to publicly discuss the private meetings in Baghdad and spoke on condition of anonymity, said Pompeo was not contemplating any pre-emptive strikes on Iran or the use of Iraqi territory to stage military operations against Iran. Pompeos message, the officials said, was that the U.S. wants to avoid conflict but would respond or defend itself if necessary. The secretary told reporters on the flight that his meetings with Iraqs president and prime minister were intended to demonstrate U.S. support for a sovereign, independent Iraq, free from the influence of neighbouring Iran. Pompeo also said he wanted to underscore Iraqs need to protect Americans in their country. A general at Iraqs Defence Ministry said Iraq was taking precautionary security measures in light of the information about threats against U.S. interests, although those measures have not reached the highest levels. Iraqi forces are worried that American forces could be targeted by factions loyal to Iran, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. He added that any attack on U.S. troops could come as retaliation if the United States were to carry out a military operation against Iran. The heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S. come a year after Trump pulled America out of Tehrans nuclear deal with world powers and as the White House ordered an aircraft carrier and bombers into the region over a still-unexplained threat from Iran. On Saturday, Iraqi officials said ExxonMobil employees began evacuating an oil field in the southern Iraqi province of Basra while the island nation of Bahrain ordered all it citizens in Iraq and Iran to leave immediately. On Sunday, the United Arab Emirates alleged that four oil tankers off its eastern coast were targeted by sabotage. On Tuesday, Yemens Iran-allied Houthi rebels said they launched seven drones to target Saudi Arabia. The drones stuck pumping stations along the kingdoms crucial East-West Pipeline, causing minor damage, Saudi officials say. On the streets of Baghdad, some shrugged off the rising tensions while others worried their country could be sucked into another war. Aqil Rubaei said he was worried that his country, which has been at war since a year before he was born, will be the place where the U.S. and Iran will settle their accounts. The 38-year-old was born in 1981, a year after Iran and Iraq began their eight-year war and was 9 years old when Saddam Husseins forces invaded Kuwait leading to a destructive war that forced Iraq out of Kuwait and 13 years of crippling sanctions. In 2003, the U.S. invaded and removed Saddam, leading to the rise of extremist groups that culminated in 2014 with the Islamic State group capturing large parts of Iraq and Syria and declaring a so-called caliphate. The war that followed left entire Iraqi cities and towns destroyed until Iraq declared victory in 2017. Iraqi people are fed up with war, said Rubaei inside his cosmetics shop in Baghdads Karrada neighbourhood. We dont want Iraq to become an arena for an Iranian-American war. ___ Associated Press writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report. RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Live ammunition from an F-16 fighter jet that crashed through the roof of a Southern California warehouse was safely destroyed Friday afternoon and miles of closed freeway were reopened. KABC-TV video showed the ordnance blowing up in huge clouds of dirt after being buried in trenches at March Air Reserve Base. A miles-long stretch of Interstate 215 was reopened and evacuations were cancelled for most nearby businesses, although those closest to the warehouse remained off-limits. The F-16 crashed Thursday afternoon after the pilot reported hydraulic problems and started losing control of the aircraft, authorities have said. The plane crashed into a commercial warehouse near the base, which is southeast of Los Angeles. The pilot ejected safely before the crash and was in good condition, McNamara said. The pilots name was not released. The Air National Guard jet, which remained in the warehouse, was carrying a standard armament package, Col. Thomas McNamara, vice commander of the Air Force Reserves 452nd Air Mobility Wing at March Air Reserve Base, said at a news conference. He didnt provide details but the F-16 can carry bombs and missiles. There was no explosion from the crash and no serious injuries among workers at the business. Three trauma patients remained hospitalized in stable condition and 10 others, including sheriffs deputies who entered the warehouse to search for possible victims, were treated for exposure to debris and released, authorities said. Authorities cordoned off an area for 3/4 of a mile (1.21 kilometres) around the scene, including a section of heavily travelled Interstate 215. No residential areas were involved, but the closure affected businesses and adjacent Riverside National Cemetery, authorities said. There were about 30 ceremonies that were going to take place out there today that other arrangements have had to be made, said Bruce Barton, director of emergency management for Riverside County. The crash occurred during a training mission, March Air Reserve Base Deputy Fire Chief Timothy Holliday said. Holiday said it was a miracle the jet didnt cause a fire or explosion. A warehouse worker said he heard a deafening noise before the jet smashed into the building about 65 miles (105 kilometres) from Los Angeles. Next thing I know I just hear this explosion and turn around to the back of the building, and I just seen a burst of flames and just the ceiling started falling through every part of the building, Daniel Gallegos told KABC-TV. I just made a run for it. The F-16 was under the direction of the North American Aerospace Defence Command. The pilot is from the 144th Fighter Wing, an Air National Guard unit based in Fresno, and the F-16 belongs to the South Dakota Air National Guard in Sioux Falls. The base is home to the Air Force Reserve Commands Fourth Air Force Headquarters and various units of the Army Reserve, Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, California Air National Guard and California Army National Guard. __ Antczak reported from Los Angeles. AP writer Robert Jablon contributed. LAS VEGAS - Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris on Thursday cast President Donald Trumps immigration proposal as a short-sighted plan that overlooks immigrant families and categorizes people into a hierarchy. Harris, speaking to members of Nevadas Latino community and Democrats gathered at a Mexican restaurant in Las Vegas, said the plan shifting the green card system to favour those with high-level skills over the relatives of those already in the country is antithetical to American values. This is a nation that was founded on a principle that we articulated in 1776 that we are all equal and should be treated that way, she said. The California senator said that instead of using the power of the presidency to push through an immigration plan with bipartisan support, Trump is instead trying to get support for his vanity project, his proposed U.S-Mexico border wall. Harris also pledged that as president, shed commit to ending federal funding for private prisons and privately-run detention centres and would veto budget bills that included such funding. We are talking about a business model where people are making profit, theyre making money, off the incarceration of other human beings. That should not be a money making venture, Harris said. Harris also knocked Trumps plan earlier Thursday while speaking to members of Nevadas fast-growing Asian American and Pacific Islander community. The senator, speaking at a Vietnamese restaurant in the citys Chinatown district, said the presidents proposal is short-sighted and ignores the fact that family-based immigration is a leading route for those coming from Asian countries to the U.S. Harris, the daughter of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother, also spoke about her South Asian heritage and noted she was the first person of South Asian descent to be elected to the U.S. Senate. Harris said the barriers she and others have broken help to redefine images of who can do what. One attendee asked the senator how she will stand out from the crowded Democratic field, which had 23 contenders on Thursday with the entry of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. She replied by saying she will win because she has served in elected office at the local, state and federal levels and has experience on a wide variety of policies. Almost on every subject that we can discuss, Ive done something, she said. Harris said she wasnt making a criticism of any other candidate but said Democrats are going to want someone with a proven track record of leadership. Not just somebody who can give a beautiful speech. The senator drew on her background as a district attorney and attorney general, saying that Democrats need someone who can debate Trump who has a proven ability to be able to prosecute a case against the policies of this administration. MAITLAND, Fla. - A small airplane made an emergency landing on a Florida highway ramp during rush hour and crashed into a car. News outlets report the plane landed Thursday around 5:30 p.m. on an Interstate 4 on-ramp in Maitland, just north of Orlando. Maitland Police Lt. Louis Grindle says there were no injuries. Grindle says the pilot reported the airplane had run out of fuel. The Greater Orlando Aviation Authority says the aircraft had been heading to Orlando Executive Airport. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating. SALEM, Ore. - The grey wolf is on track for a remarkable comeback after being almost exterminated in the contiguous United States, but a Trump administration proposal to take the iconic symbol of the wild off the endangered species list has exposed divisions among states. California says it opposes delisting the wolf, while Washington state said it agrees. The federal proposal also exposed a rift among top officials in Oregon one of several states where wolves have established breeding packs after wandering across state lines. The debate highlights clashing interests and differing philosophies, with ranchers fearing more livestock will fall prey to wolves and conservationists worrying that wider hunting of the predators might be around the corner. Hunting and trapping wolves is already allowed in Montana and Idaho. At the centre of the debate is, how much more help do wolves need? Washington Fish and Wildlife Director Kelly Susewind told the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently that protecting thriving wolves could expose the Endangered Species Act to legislation weakening protections for species in actual danger of extinction. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said Thursday its critically important to maintain wide-ranging recovery areas for wolves across the West. The challenge is, its not like wolves pay attention to statewide boundaries, Brown said. Her comments came a day after she slapped down a stance by Curtis Melcher, director of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. He wrote to federal officials on May 9, saying his agency supports delisting wolves because the animals no longer meet the definition of an endangered or threatened species. Brown said her office had not been informed that Melcher would take the stance. When she learned of it, she put on the brakes. The state of Oregon and its agencies do not support the delisting of wolves from the federal Endangered Species Act across their range in the 48 contiguous states, Brown wrote in a letter to U.S. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt. A total of 6,500 wolves are believed to roam Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Rocky Mountains and Pacific Northwest. Additional wolves inhabit Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maine, Missouri, Ohio, Utah and Vermont. Collette Adkins, carnivore conservation director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said more than a half-dozen states have no wolf protections on the books. In his letter, Melcher said Oregon had 137 wolves at the end of 2018 a 10% increase over 2017. He also said Oregon is committed to ensuring the progress of the species while minimizing livestock losses. However, his advocacy of federal delisting of wolves brought howls of complaint when it was publicized. U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, an Oregon Democrat, told Melcher in a letter that he was shocked and appalled. I am ashamed by your willingness to throw an incredibly important predator species under the bus in favour of a few private interests that clearly have a different mission than your agency, Blumenauer wrote. Noah Greenwald, endangered species program director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said: Lifting federal protections now would hamper further wolf recovery in Oregon and expose the animals to killing by the state. The federal government has already delisted wolves in the eastern one-third of Washington and Oregon, as well as in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. It contends that grey wolves no longer qualify for federal protection as an endangered or threatened species. Oregon officials have drafted a new state wolf plan aimed at ensuring the conservation of grey wolves as required by Oregon law while protecting the social and economic interests of all Oregonians. Oregon removed wolves from its state endangered species list in 2015. A prime objective of the draft plan is to promote a naturally reproducing wolf population connected to a larger population of wolves and allowing for expansion into other areas of the state. ___ Follow Andrew Selsky on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andrewselsky SAN DIEGO - The U.S. Border Patrol said Friday that it would fly hundreds of migrant families from south Texas to San Diego for processing and that it was considering flights to Detroit, Miami and Buffalo, New York. The flights are the latest sign of how the Border Patrol is struggling to keep up with large numbers of Central American families that are reaching the U.S. border with Mexico, especially in Texas. Moving migrants to less crowded places is expected to distribute the workload more evenly. Flights from Texas Rio Grande Valley to San Diego were to begin Friday and continue indefinitely three times a week, with each flight carrying 120 to 135 people, said Douglas Harrison, the Border Patrols interim San Diego sector chief. We dont have an end date, Harrison told reporters. This is a contingency operation. Weve got to give the people in Rio Grande Valley some relief. Plans to fly from Rio Grande Valley to Detroit, Miami and Buffalo were preliminary, Harrison said. Authorities were researching available airports and the ability for non-profit groups to provide temporary assistance. Already, U.S. authorities are moving four buses a day from the Rio Grande Valley to Laredo, Texas, about 100 miles (160 kilometres) away. There is also a daily flight contracted through U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to Del Rio, Texas, about 275 miles away (440 kilometres) away. Agents in the Rio Grande Valley will collect biographical information and do a medical screening before sending migrants to San Diego on flights contracted by ICE, Harrison said. Migrants will go from San Diego International Airport to a Border Patrol station, where they will be fingerprinted, interviewed and screened again for medical problems. Processing at the station typically takes hours. ICE will decide whether to release or detain the families in San Diego. Its practice since October has been to quickly release families in the U.S. with notices to appear in immigration court. The flights could further strain the San Diego Rapid Response Network, a coalition of religious and civic groups that has provided temporary shelter to asylum-seeking families since large-scale releases began in October. San Diego County has sued the Trump administration to recover costs. The San Diego Rapid Response Network said it would shelter migrants who are flown from Texas, just as the organization has done for thousands of migrants released in California. It said the potential influx underscores the urgent need for a permanent, long-term migrant shelter in San Diego. Short flights cost the federal government about $6,000 each, officials said. It wasnt immediately clear how much longer flights cost. Border Patrol agents do some processing remotely by videoconference, but Harrison said stations in the Rio Grande Valley had run out of room even to do that. San Diego, he said, had room to hold migrants for up to 72 hours and staff to process them, which stations on the northern border lack. Border arrests have surged since the summer to 98,977 in April, nearly three times what they were a year earlier. Nearly seven of every 10 came as families or were children travelling alone. The Rio Grande Valley was by far the busiest corridor, followed by El Paso, Texas. The Border Patrol says it is detaining about 8,000 people at a time in the Rio Grande Valley, double its maximum capacity even with a 500-person tent it opened earlier this month. The agency said Friday it would open four new temporary structures in the Rio Grande Valley that will have generators, lighting, and air conditioning. It released photos showing people lying on grass or pavement outside two of its stations with Mylar sheets for blankets. ___ Associated Press writer Nomaan Merchant in Houston contributed to this report. CLOVIS, Calif. - Two 10-year-old girls having a slumber party fought off a naked man who broke into the California home through a window and sexually assaulted them. A suspect was arrested, police said Thursday. Police Chief Matt Basgall in the Fresno suburb of Clovis commended the girls. They did everything right, he said. The girl who lives in the home and the friend she invited over woke up Sunday as the intruder touched them inappropriately, Basgall said. After fighting him off, they immediately went to a parent and called 911. Timothy Jay Picard, 26, was arrested Wednesday after investigators interviewed witnesses and gathered evidence, Basgall said. Picard was charged with committing lewd and lascivious acts with a minor under 14, first-degree burglary and violating probation. It was not clear whether Picard has an attorney who could speak on his behalf. Picard is on probation in Fresno after being arrested in 2017 for stalking and burglary, Basgall said. The fact that this guy is on probation for doing something similar, it kind makes your blood boil, the chief said. NORTH POLE, Alaska - Travellers have visited the Alaska city of North Pole to show their Christmas spirit at the Santa Claus House and some used the visit to renew their wedding vows, a report said. Princess Cruises has had an annual Santa Cruise trip to North Pole for the past three years, The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported Thursday. A bus operated by the cruise line arrived at the house in the community near Fairbanks Wednesday. Guests were greeted by Paul Brown, operations manager at the Santa Claus House. Its always exciting to see so many of Santas helpers come visit him here at his house in North Pole, Alaska, Brown said. Couples clad in red, white and green renewed wedding vows in the house with help from an ordained minister from Florida dressed as Santa. He got married during the event. ___ Information from: Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner, http://www.newsminer.com NEW YORK - With friends like these, Mayor Bill de Blasio doesnt need enemies. New York Attorney General Letitia James expressed exasperation on the Pod Save America podcast late Thursday over her fellow Democrats decision to run for president. She told the audience that New Yorkers need a mayor who is going to be on the job 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Has the crisis in affordable housing been addressed? No. Has income inequality been addressed? Equal pay for equal work? she asked, with the crowd responding No! after each question. So what is the legacy? What are you running on? she asked. Yes, de Blasio can run for president, she said, but the question is why? Por que? Whats up? Then she smiled and added, But hes a friend, before slumping in her chair in mock exhaustion. James was a de Blasio ally when they served together on the New York City Council. De Blasios 2020 presidential campaign didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. The mayor was asked Friday on his weekly appearance on WNYC radio whether his absence from New York on the presidential campaign trail would hurt the city. Im absolutely convinced that my administration and I can continue to serve this city very, very effectively, he said. I am confident that I am going to be able to get the job done wherever I am. De Blasio was campaigning in Iowa on Friday and was scheduled to be in South Carolina on Saturday. Doubts loom over effectiveness of upcoming summit President Moon Jae-in will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump late next month, according to Cheong Wa Dae. Trump will be visiting Japan to participate in the G20 summit in Osaka, which starts June 28, but the date of his visit to Seoul has not been fixed yet. The meeting will be their eighth summit since Moon took office in May 2017. Their latest one took place in Washington on April 11. The upcoming meeting will be crucial as they will be discussing how to deal with North Korea's latest military activities that have significantly derailed the denuclearization talks between Washington and Pyongyang and raised tension once again on the Korean Peninsula. Much has changed since Moon and Trump met in Washington last month as Pyonyang has gone back to its old ways of resorting to hostile tactics. The North resumed weapons tests this month with leader Kim Jong-un presiding over the launches of short-range missiles. The latest series of provocations are seen as North Korea's show of defiance following the failed second summit between Trump and Kim in February in Vietnam. Both leaders abruptly pulled out of the summit without reaching any agreement on further steps toward North Korea's denuclearization. Despite the North's undesirable activities, the leaders of South Korea and the U.S. are still showing their determination to continue negotiations with the North Korean leader. Their responses to the provocations were rather restrained, with Trump saying that he did not consider them a "breach of trust." President Moon has also not given up hope on getting together with Kim again, although there has not been any response to his continued call for a summit. Now it seems almost impossible for Kim to honor the agreement last year to reciprocate Moon's visit to Pyongyang. During a TV interview to mark his second anniversary in office, Moon stressed that he will actively seek talks with the North and bring Kim forward for negotiations. Cheong Wa Dae's national security advisor Chung Eui-yong said the possibility of sending a special envoy to North Korea was still under consideration during a press conference Thursday. Also Chung said that providing food aid to North Korea will proceed as planned for humanitarian reasons regardless of the security situation. Because of Moon's push for various exchanges with North Korea despite no visible progress on denuclearization, he has been slammed for creating a rift in the U.S.-Korea alliance. He was also criticized during his latest summit with Trump in Washington where the two leaders seemed distant when compared to the seemingly cozy relationship between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Trump. At a critical juncture on the peninsula, it is crucial for Moon to effectively carry out his role as a mediator. Ahead of the Moon-Trump summit, Seoul should do its best to communicate with the North and try to lead it back to negotiations. ST. LOUIS - Bruce Franks Jr., a Ferguson activist who became a prominent urban voice in Missouris largely conservative Legislature, is giving up his House seat, in part due to mental health struggles. Franks was first elected in 2016 when he defeated veteran Democratic lawmaker Penny Hubbard, two years after he led protests in Ferguson after the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown. Franks was also a leader of 2017 protests in St. Louis after a white former police officer was acquitted of killing a black suspect. Franks, a 34-year-old Democrat, announced his resignation Thursday, the next-to-last day of the session. In a statement, Franks said his three years in the Legislature were both incredibly rewarding, and unexpectedly depleting. This past year has been marked by deep personal trauma, from the loss of my best friend and godson to gun violence to the strain that comes from trying to support a family on the salary of an elected official with no financial safety net, Franks said. Ive fought many battles, but none greater than my ongoing struggle with anxiety and depression. This year, for the first time in my life, I decided to get help. After much reflection, I decided to prioritize my health and my family above my political ambition. He cited successes, including passage of a bill that declared youth violence a public health epidemic, and putting millions of dollars in the state budget for youth jobs. But he also raised concerns about the Republican-led Legislature, citing little room for the kind of bipartisanship necessary for meaningful change. In January, St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson began an investigation of a city jobs agency after KMOV-TV reported discrepancies in time sheets submitted by Franks, who did work there as a youth mentor. Franks has denied any wrongdoing and told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch his resignation was unrelated to the investigation. Franks filed for bankruptcy in August. Its unclear how the vacancy will be filled. A message left Friday with a spokeswoman for Gov. Mike Parson was not immediately returned. LOS ANGELES - When season eight of Game of Thrones began, The Associated Press examined the arcs of the major characters who had survived the bloody series until its final season. With Sundays finale of the HBO show looming, heres an update on where those characters stand after an action-packed season of zombie-mobbing, dragon-torching and secret-revealing. Will Daenerys end up ruling the Seven Kingdoms? Jon? Sansa? No one? And how many really want to anymore? Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS throughout. DAENERYS TARGARYEN Is there anything more powerful than the Mother of Dragons aboard her favourite son firebombing the city of Kings Landing into oblivion? Maybe the fan backlash. Daenerys went from flawed heroine to heel in the seasons penultimate episode. That spawned Twitter outrage, a petition demanding a do-over, and perhaps regret among the hundreds of American parents who, according to the Social Security Administration, named their daughters Daenerys or Khaleesi back when she was breaking chains instead of burning innocents. Many viewers, however, thought it a logical, even inevitable, turn of events. The daughter of the Mad King had just seen her best friend beheaded, her longest-serving retainer killed in battle, and her cherished birthright cast in doubt by the man she loves. Now, having conquered the capital, with a ruthless army still intact and her dragon seemingly unstoppable, she has everything she once wanted, except Westeros love. Having horrified her closest allies, will she hang on to it all? Fall to the sword of an angry Stark? Can her conscience return as quickly as it left? JON SNOW Is it possible that after eight seasons, Jon Snow still knows nothing? Even after he rose to become lord commander of the Nights Watch, united enemies to fight the army of the dead, came back from death himself, and learned hes not a bastard but a Targaryen who should be heir to whats left of the Iron Throne, Jon appears to be as confused and aimless as when he began. He refused to force his birthright, yielding power to his queen, aunt and apparent ex-girlfriend Daenerys, and then watched helplessly as she burned Kings Landing and most of its inhabitants. Will he find a way to rise once more and fight back against this destroyer version of Dany? Will he use his newfound dragon-riding skills to somehow hijack Drogon into triumph? Such a heroic end would require more of him, but the narrative of the show has never given up on Jon. ARYA STARK Arya could have wandered into the woods and disappeared halfway through the season and she would have retired a legend. She used her years of assassin training to kill the Night King when all seemed lost at the Battle of Winterfell, snatching the saviour-of-humanity role from her big brother Jon Snow. Shes killed most of those responsible for her mother and brothers slaughter at the Red Wedding. She even lost her virginity on her terms in a moment of mature empowerment rarely afforded to women in this world. (The thousands of parents who named their daughter Arya are feeling just fine.) But her role has become uncertain since. She turned away from her attempt to assassinate Queen Cersei in the last episode, and seemed to have sworn off a life of revenge. But then she became a firsthand witness to Daenerys atrocities. Is there one last name on her kill list? SANSA STARK Sansa sat out the last episode, and she chose the right one to miss, staying safely in the flame-free North at her family home. As the shows ultimate survivor and the character who has grown and learned the most since she started as a prissy princess in waiting it is easy to imagine her as ruler of an independent Winterfell should the finale play out that way. But the major figures of Dany and Jon still stand above her and in her way. BRAN STARK In the shows first episode, Bran was forced to behold a beheading. Since then, seeing things has become his specialty. Hes become desensitized to looking on such horrors, assuming a mystical role as the Three-Eyed Raven, timeless seer of all. Hes played a crucial role at various points in the story this season, revealing to his Jon his true identity, luring the Night King for his sister Arya to kill, and dispensing some essential bits of wisdom. But its hard to imagine him doing anything other than meditating into snowy eternity as the series ends. TYRION LANNISTER Tyrion has become an expert at survival and reinvention, but as Hand of the Queen he has failed miserably this season in trying to rein in Daenerys and steer her toward diplomacy over destruction. He was technically still in Daenerys service when the last episode ended, and in one of very few images revealed of the finale, he is shown walking through the ruins of the city. He could take one last stab at counselling the seemingly now-mad queen, or maybe use his proximity to her to attempt a literal last stab and sacrifice himself to save the realm. CERSEI LANNISTER Cersei stayed at the centre of the action for the first seven seasons but had nearly nothing to do in the eighth, watching from a window and drinking wine as her fate played out. Part of this was by her own design she and her army sat out the Battle of Winterfell with hopes her rivals would be so weakened by the army of the dead that she could hang on to her kingdom. Never a leader who inspired loyalty, she tried to use human shields to hang on to her throne. But Daenerys turned out to be just as ruthless, and that meant Cerseis end. JAIME LANNISTER Jaime found his redemption this season, then decided he didnt want it. He defied his twin sister Cersei and fought gallantly with his former enemies the Starks against the army of the dead. He used his own knighthood to bestow knight status on Brienne of Tarth in one of the most tear-jerking moments in the entire series. Then he and Brienne, who always brought out the best in him, became unlikely lovers. But only briefly. In the end, he wanted what he had declared to be his only need all along, the incestuous love of Cersei. The two of them were crushed under the wreckage of the Red Keep as they embraced, leaving the world touching each other, just as they had entered it. ___ Follow AP Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton on Twitter: https://twitter.com/andyjamesdalton . WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump won the White House pledging to wind down the nations many foreign entanglements and put America First. But as his administration in recent days has sent mixed signals on the prospects of a military conflict with Iran, Trumps campaign trail promise is being put to the test. With the 2020 election approaching, the political pitfalls ahead for the first-term Republican president could be serious. While Trump enjoys overwhelming support from his party, there is little appetite among his loyalists for a new military conflict in the Middle East. Many are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for now, but a string of recent moves has sparked concerns that the administration was beating the drums toward war. Among the possible precursors to military conflict: new sanctions on Irans Revolutionary Guards, the deployment of a U.S. aircraft carrier to the region and public warnings of unspecified intelligence that Iran might strike at American interests. Asked this week if the U.S. was going to war with Iran, Trump said simply: I hope not. Aware of the potential backlash from within his party, the president is trying to play down the possibility of hostilities. He held the door open for negotiations over Irans nuclear program and malign activities in the region amid reports that he was pushing back against his more hawkish advisers preference for a military solution. Prominent Trump supporters offered a pointed warning on Friday about the prospect of a new war, which they view as a direct violation of his America First pledge. It would be a disaster for him and for the country getting into another military engagement in the Middle East, said Corey Stewart, who led Trumps 2016 campaign in Virginia. It does concern me that the president has (national security adviser John) Bolton and a lot of these neocons advising him. Thats clearly not what he ran on and what most Americans want. Foreign policy threatens to be a significant political liability for Trump heading into his 2020 reelection campaign. Overall, 63 per cent of Americans said they disapproved of his job handling foreign policy, according to a January poll conducted by Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Like other issues, the partisan divide was overwhelming: 76 per cent of Republicans approved, while just 8 per cent of Democrats said the same. Yet the Republican Party under Trumps leadership has shifted away from wanting the United States to play an aggressive role in world affairs. Foreign policy hawks in the GOP who have long embraced a muscular foreign policy have been marginalized in recent years, dismissed as globalists. By contrast, Democrats are now far more likely than Republicans to say the U.S. should play a more active role in solving the worlds problems. In the AP poll, 43 per cent of Democrats said they thought the U.S. should be more active abroad, compared to just 13 per cent of Republicans. Trump on Friday sought to blame the media for the sense of mounting unease over Iran. They put out so many false messages that Iran is totally confused, he told a crowd of real estate agents in Washington, complaining about media coverage of his administrations recent moves. I dont know, that might be a good thing. People close to the president acknowledge that an armed conflict in the region is a real possibility. Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr., a Trump confidant, signalled support for a military solution if needed to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon so long as the United States wouldnt take the lead role in a prospective war. Whatever needs to be done to keep Iran from becoming a nuclear power needs to happen, Falwell said in an interview. Im not saying the United States needs to do it. Somebody is going to need to do it. He added: The way that it balances out, it might be Saudi Arabia and Israel that go to war with Iran. J.D. Gordon, director of national security for Trumps first campaign, described Iran as a delicate balance for the president, who is surrounded by advisers who generally agree with his worldview. Preventing an aggressive state sponsor of terrorism from acquiring nuclear weapons through primarily economic and diplomatic pressure isnt as simple as many people would like us to believe, Gordon said. While military conflict would likely be unpopular among Republican voters, the politics on Iran are nuanced. For years, Republicans railed against the multination pact struck under former President Barack Obama to remove economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for the countrys pledge to abandon its nuclear program. Trump last year withdrew from the deal, thrilling Israel and anti-Obama conservatives at home while troubling European allies who insisted it was working. Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the hawkish Foundation for Defence of Democracies, said Iran takes a paramount position in Trumps worldview, with the president believing the country poses a particularly destructive threat. I think one should never discount the political calculation, which is that he knows a significant part of his base, including tens of millions of evangelical Christians, agree with him, Dubowitz said. The passionate opposition to the Iran deal among Trumps core supporters affords him some room to manoeuvr amid the military buildup, even if America First conservatives oppose an outright war. I havent met anybody who thinks we shouldnt take an incredibly hard line against Iran, said Mark Meckler, an early leader in the tea party movement. At the same time, he said, Nobody believes theres going to be a war. What Trump promised in regards to our foreign policy is America First, Meckler continued. Hes doing that. ___ Peoples reported from New York. ___ Follow Miller and Peoples on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ZekeJMiller and https://twitter.com/sppeoples JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - The Latest on Missouris proposed ban on abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy (all times local): 8:35 p.m. Missouri Democratic lawmakers are slamming a bill to ban abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy. House Minority Leader Crystal Quade says theres no liberty in Missouri when government strips women of control of their own bodies. She says its shameful and scary that there are no exceptions for rape or incest, only for medical emergencies. Senate Democratic Minority Leader Gina Walsh called the bill unconstitutional, although Republican supporters say it was drafted to withstand court challenges. Democratic Sen. Jill Schupp says she believes the measure goes against the U.S. Supreme Courts landmark Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion. But she says she expects parts of the wide-ranging bill to be upheld. ___ 6:20 p.m. The Missouri Section of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says it strongly opposes the threat of criminal penalties for delivering evidence based, necessary health care. Missouri legislators on Friday approved a swath of restrictions on abortions that would punish doctors with up to 15 years in prison if they provide the procedure from the eighth week of pregnancy onward. The doctors said in a statement that the legislation would force them to decide between their patients needs and facing criminal proceedings. It urged the state government to allow them to practice medicine freely and without the threat of criminal punishment. The measure would not punish the pregnant woman. ___ 2:30 p.m. A Missouri state lawmaker says he misspoke on the House floor when he referred to consensual rapes during a highly charged debate on a bill to ban abortions at eight weeks, including in cases of rape and incest. Republican Rep. Barry Hovis said in the chamber Friday that most of the sexual assaults he handled before retiring from law enforcement werent strangers jumping out of the bushes but instead date rapes or consensual rapes. Abortion-rights supporters who attended the debate hissed in response. Hovis, of Missouris southeastern Bootheel region, told the Associated Press he had meant to say date rapes or consensual or rape. When pressed on whether that made sense in the context of the rest of his sentence, he said he believes there is no such thing as consensual rape. ___ 1:20 p.m. A Missouri state lawmaker was met with hisses when he used the phrase consensual rape during a highly charged House debate on a bill that would ban abortions at eight weeks, including in cases of rape and incest. Republican Rep. Barry Hovis, of Cape Girardeau, said in the chamber Friday that most of the sexual assaults he handled before retiring from law enforcement werent strangers jumping out of the bushes but instead date rapes or consensual rapes. Abortion-rights supporters who attended the debate hissed in response. St. Louis-area Democratic Rep. Raychel Proudie later assured the House that there is no such thing as consensual rape. Hovis office hasnt returned a message seeking comment. Lawmakers passed the bill 110-44. The comment was reminiscent of former Rep. Todd Akin, who lost the states U.S. Senate race in 2012 after saying womens bodies can prevent pregnancy in cases of legitimate rape. ____ 12:45 p.m. Protesters against a Missouri bill banning abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy disrupted debate and marched through the halls of the state capitol. Dozens of abortion-rights supporters were told to leave the House visitors galleries Friday after interrupting debate with chants of when you lie, people die and womens rights are human rights. They then marched through the halls, stopping to chant outside Gov. Mike Parsons office before circling around the House chamber. They chanted Vote no, now as the Republican-led House was passing the legislation, then switched to chants of shame, shame, shame. The legislation now goes to Parson, a Republican, who is expected to sign it into law. ___ 12:05 p.m. Missouris Republican-led Legislature has approved a ban on abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy, and GOP Gov. Mike Parson is expected to sign it. House lawmakers gave the sweeping abortion bill final approval Friday. The proposed ban allows exceptions only in medical emergencies, not cases of rape or incest. The Missouri legislation comes after Alabamas governor signed a bill Wednesday making performing an abortion a felony in nearly all cases. Republican-led legislatures around the U.S. are imposing new abortion restrictions, hoping more conservative justices will overturn the U.S. Supreme Courts landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion. Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio and Georgia have approved bans on abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can occur in about the sixth week of pregnancy. ___ 11:30 p.m. Thursday Missouris Republican-led House is expected to pass a bill to ban abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy and the states GOP governor is likely to sign it. The GOP-led House is set to debate the sweeping abortion bill Friday in the final hours of the 2019 session. The proposed ban allows exceptions only in medical emergencies, not cases of rape or incest. The Missouri legislation comes after Alabamas governor signed a bill Wednesday making performing an abortion a felony in nearly all cases. Republican-led legislatures around the U.S. are imposing new restrictions, hoping more conservative justices will overturn the U.S. Supreme Courts landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion. Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio and Georgia approved bans on abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can occur in about the sixth week of pregnancy. JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - A Missouri state lawmaker said he misspoke on the House floor Friday when he referred to consensual rapes during a highly charged debate on a bill to ban abortions at eight weeks , including in cases of rape and incest Republican Rep. Barry Hovis said in the chamber Friday that most of the sexual assaults he handled before retiring from law enforcement werent strangers jumping out of the bushes. That was one, two times out of 100, he said. Most of them were date rapes or consensual rapes, which were all terrible. Abortion-rights supporters who attended the debate immediately hissed in response. Democratic Rep. Raychel Proudie told colleagues on the House floor that there is no such thing as consensual rape. Hovis, a lawmaker elected in November from Missouris southeastern Bootheel region, later told The Associated Press that he misspoke. He implied that he had meant to say date rapes or consensual or rape. Its my apology if I didnt annunciate the word or, Hovis said. When pressed on whether that explanation made sense in the context of the rest of his sentence, he said that he believes there is no such thing as consensual rape. The comment was reminiscent of former Rep. Todd Akin, who lost the states U.S. Senate race in 2012 after saying womens bodies can ward off pregnancy in cases of legitimate rape. Hovis spoke during a debate on an abortion ban that would be among the most restrictive in the U.S. if enacted. House members voted 110-44 to send the bill to Republican Gov. Mike Parson, who is expected to sign it. The measure includes exceptions only for medical emergencies. Doctors would face five to 15 years in prison for violating the eight-week cutoff. Women who receive abortions wouldnt be prosecuted. EDMOND, Okla. - Officials from an Oklahoma City suburb where police fatally shot a black, unarmed teenager while he was naked say they wont meet with his parents. Edmonds city manager and police chief signed a letter dated Friday in which they declined to speak with the parents of Isaiah Lewis because they have hired an attorney and the investigation of his death is ongoing. Vicki and Troy Lewis also requested a meeting with the mayor, who didnt sign the response. The parents attorney, Andrew M. Stroth, says Lewis race may have factored into his death. Police say 17-year-old Lewis died April 29 after two officers who had been following the teen shot him after he broke into a house. Authorities say he attacked the officers, who initially used a stun gun to subdue him but shot him when that didnt work. DETROIT - A Michigan man who spent 45 years in prison before he was exonerated of murder will receive $1.5 million from the state, the attorney generals office said Friday. Richard Phillips, 73, was exonerated in 2018, becoming the longest-serving U.S. inmate to be cleared. Hes been selling his prison paintings to raise money while waiting to learn whether he would be compensated under a Michigan law that pays the wrongly convicted. We have an obligation to provide compassionate compensation to these men for the harm they suffered, Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement. Her office agreed to pay $780,000 to Neal Redick, who served nearly 16 years in prison for criminal sexual conduct in Genesee County. The complainant recanted, and the conviction was thrown out in 2007. Ray McCann will receive $40,000. He served 20 months in jail and prison after feeling pressured to plead no contest to perjury in a homicide investigation in St. Joseph County. The conviction was thrown out in 2017, two years after another man confessed to the killing. Michigan lawmakers still need to put more money into the fund. Phillips had long declared his innocence in a fatal shooting in the Detroit area in 1971. The Innocence Clinic at University of Michigan law school learned that a co-defendant in 2010 told the parole board that Phillips had absolutely no role. Someone who is exonerated based on new evidence can qualify for $50,000 for every year spent in prison. Phillips would appear to qualify for more than $2 million, based on 45 years behind bars. But hes being paid only for 30 years because he was serving a separate armed robbery conviction at the same time. Phillips and his legal team said he was wrongly convicted for that crime, too, but Oakland County prosecutors havent cleared him. The attorney generals office made a decision to pay him every penny hes currently owed. I am very happy with how things have turned out, said Phillips attorney, Gabi Silver. ___ Follow Ed White at http://twitter.com/edwhiteap CHICAGO - A mother plotted for months to acquire a newborn before she and her daughter strangled a pregnant Chicago woman and cut her baby from her womb using a butchers knife, prosecutors said Friday as they revealed gruesome new details about the case. Marlen Ochoa-Lopez, 19, was lured to the home where Clarisa Figueroa lived with her daughter, Desiree, by Facebook postings offering free baby clothes. When she arrived, the daughter showed her a photo album of her late brother to distract her as her mother started trying to strangle her with a cord, prosecutor Jim Murphy said. When Ochoa-Lopez managed to get her fingers under the cord, Clarisa Figueroa yelled at her 24-year-old daughter Youre not doing your f---ing job! The daughter then pried Ochoa-Lopezs fingers from the cord one by one while her mother continued to strangle the teen for another five minutes, Murphy said. Once Ochoa-Lopez showed no signs of life, Clarisa Figueroa cut her open with a butchers knife, removed the placenta and the baby, then put the baby in a bucket with the umbilical cord still attached, said Murphy, reading from court documents . The plot may have originated in late 2018, when Clarisa Figueroa told her family she was pregnant and later posted on Facebook an ultrasound and photos of a room decorated for a baby. Desiree Figueroa was surprised, Murphy said, because her mother had previously had her fallopian tubes tied to prevent pregnancy. Prosecutors highlighted that Clarisa Figueroa made the announcement about being pregnant not long after one of her adult sons had died of natural causes. Clarisa Figueroa connected with Ochoa-Lopez on March 5 via a Facebook page for pregnant women. Who is due in May? Clarisa Figueroa asked in one message. Where is the May mammas at? Ochoa-Lopez, seven months pregnant at the time, responded, and Clarisa Figueroa made the offer of free clothes, prosecutors said. When Clarisa Figueroa first asked her daughter to help her kill someone to get a baby, the daughter initially said no, Murphy said. He also revealed publicly for the first time that Desiree Figueroa is four months pregnant. They first met with Ochoa-Lopez around April 1, though she left unharmed that day. Desiree Figueroa had told her boyfriend about her mothers intention to kill Ochoa-Lopez, and he warned her he would call police if they harmed the young woman. The prosecutor said Clarisa Figueroa later told the boyfriend the whole scheme had been an April Fools joke. Ochoa-Lopez was killed when she returned a second time on April 23. After killing her, the mother and daughter allegedly wrapped her in a blanket and put the body into a large plastic bag. They then dragged it outside and placed it in a garbage can in a hidden area next to their garage on Chicagos Southwest Side, about 4 miles from Ochoa-Lopezs own home, according to authorities. Clarisa Figueroa then called 911, claiming that she had just delivered her own newborn baby and that it was not breathing, authorities said. When first responders arrived, the child was blue. They tried to resuscitate the infant and transported Clarisa Figueroa and the boy to a nearby hospital. When she went to the hospital, doctors who examined her found no signs consistent with a woman who had just delivered a baby. She also had blood on her arms, hands and face that authorities later determined was from Ochoa-Lopez, prosecutors said. It was not clear whether the hospital contacted police. In a statement issued Friday, Christ Medical Center in suburban Oak Lawn declined to comment, citing federal and state regulations. Oak Lawn police said they were not contacted about Figueroa by the medical centre or any other agency, including the Chicago Police Department. The boy remained hospitalized Friday in grave condition and was not expected to survive, police said. Cook County Judge Susana Ortiz denied bond to the Figueroas, who are charged with murder, saying she felt the presumption is great that they committed a heinous and brutal murder and that they pose a real and present danger to the community. She also denied bond to Clarisa Figueroas boyfriend, 40-year-old Piotr Bobak, who is charged with the concealment of a homicide. The mothers lawyer asked Ortiz to place the Figueroas in protective custody for their safety from other inmates, given the nature of the case. The Figueroas stood calmly during the hearing. As they left, the mother glanced back at the crowded gallery, where the victims friends and relatives packed the spectator benches. The arrests came three weeks after the disappearance of Ochoa-Lopez, whose decaying body was discovered this week with the cord still around her neck. Police did not connect Ochoa-Lopezs disappearance and the 911 call about the baby until May 7, when friends of the teen directed detectives to her social media account, which showed she had communicated with Clarisa Figueroa. At the same time, Clarisa Figueroa had started a GoFundMe campaign for the funeral of what she said was her dying baby, said Sara Walker, a spokeswoman for Ochoa-Lopezs family. Police then conducted DNA tests, which showed that Ochoa-Lopez and her husband, Yiovanni Lopez, were actually his parents, Walker said. When police arrived to question Clarisa Figueroa, her daughter told them that her mother was in the hospital with some kind of leg injury, before adding that she had just delivered a baby, Brendan Deenihan, deputy chief of detectives, said Thursday. Police then searched the neighbourhood and found Ochoa-Lopezs car a few blocks away. On Tuesday they returned with a search warrant. Ochoa-Lopezs mother, Raquel Uriostegui, said her daughter was born in Mexico and came to the United States when she was 2. My daughter was a very joyful girl. She had a lot of dreams, Uriostegui said. She wanted to do great things, like all of us, added her husband, Yiovanni Lopez. ___ Associated Press writer Sara Burnett and videojournalist Noreen Nasir contributed to this report. ___ Follow Michael Tarm on Twitter:https://twitter.com/mtarm . LOS ANGELES - A blowout at a Los Angeles natural gas well in 2015 that led to the largest-known release of methane in U.S. history was the result of a corroded pipe casing, safety failures by a utility and inadequate regulations, according to an investigation report released Friday. Southern California Gas Co. failed to investigate previous well failures at the Aliso Canyon storage field and didnt adequately assess its aging wells for disaster potential before the Oct. 23, 2015, blowout, the report released by the California Public Utilities Commission said. The disaster led to stricter state regulations and improved policies that would have addressed most of the causes, the report found. Robert Bea, an engineering professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said the report shows the blowout was a predictable and preventable disaster and likened it to oil spills, a dam spillway collapse and deadly wildfires he said were due in part to failures by regulators. Collectively, we seem to be using reactive risk mismanagement: Patch and Pray, Watch it Fail, Fix it Fast, Return to Business As Usual As Soon As Possible, Bea said. Several of my colleagues who live in other countries have called this approach as stuck in stupid. The blowout lasted nearly four months and was blamed for sickening thousands of Los Angeles residents, who moved out of their Porter Ranch homes to escape a sulfurous stench and a medley of maladies including headaches, nausea and nose bleeds. Blade Energy Partners, which conducted the yearslong investigation, said the company should have been able to plug the leak sooner. SoCalGas has spent more than $1 billion on the blowout with the majority going to temporarily relocate 8,000 families, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The utility still faces more than 390 lawsuits on behalf of approximately 48,500 people. Residents who live nearby the gas storage field continue to complain about health problems and many, along with some environmental groups, want the facility shut down. This root cause analysis highlights gross negligence by SoCalGas and the failure to conduct basic inspections to determine safety of a highly dangerous operation, Alexandra Nagy, director of Food & Water Watch California, said in a statement. Nothing short of the immediate shut down of Aliso Canyon will protect residents from harm. The field the largest of its kind in the West at the time of the blowout stores natural gas in retired oil wells, some dating to the 1940s. It injects gas more than a mile underground into the porous reservoir where crude was once found. The report criticized inadequate regulations at the time, which allowed the company to inject and withdraw gas into the field through an internal pipe and the casing that surrounded it. The casing was originally designed as a safety barrier for oil production, but was being used to pump greater volumes of gas in and out of the field under high pressure. It was that type of casing that ultimately ruptured due to corrosion from water and microbes. Gas seeped up through the earth and eventually blew a gaping crater around the well. Seven attempts to plug the well were tried over weeks, but none worked. The report said workers failed to conduct proper modeling tests in advance of the so-called kill attempts and didnt use dense enough fluid and at a high enough rate to accomplish the task. The report also said the company lacked systems to protect wells from corrosion and surveillance to monitor them in real time. Investigators found there had been 60 casing leaks before the incident that presented risks to safety and the environment but investigations into their causes were never conducted. Furthermore, external corrosion on production casing had been identified in several wells, the report said. Based on the data reviewed by Blade, no investigation of the causes was performed, and, therefore, the extent and consequences of the corrosion in the other wells was not understood. Regulations also failed to require inspections of the thickness of casing walls and those tests were not routinely conducted by the utility. The well that ruptured was on a list of 20 old wells the company identified in 1988 to determine their condition. Over a two-year period, however, the well was not among the seven tested, which found corrosion on five had worn away 20% to 60% of the wall thickness of their casings. SoCalGas in a press release said the report showed it was in compliance with state regulations at the time of the blowout and it touted its safety enhancements since. New requirements put into place by state regulators after the blowout led to many of the wells being overhauled and updated and many being sealed. The field is also not allowed to operate at full capacity. Two state regulatory agencies, the CPUC and the Department of Conservations oil and gas division, will use the findings to produce reports of their own that could lead to fines. SoCalGas reached a $120 million court settlement with the state attorney general. It was convicted in Los Angeles Superior Court of failing to quickly report the leak to state authorities and agreed to a $4 million settlement with the Los Angeles County district attorney. PHOENIX - Mothers travelling through Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport will soon have private places to breastfeed. The Arizona Republic reports that the Phoenix City Council this week unanimously approved funding for up to six nursing stations inside Terminal 4, Sky Harbors busiest terminal. The city is earmarking up to $172,000 for the lactation pods made by the company Mamava. Each portable station has a secure door and a seating area inside. Airports must offer nursing stations past security under a federal law that was approved last October. Mayor Kate Gallego asked the city to look into the issue when she was travelling two years ago. Gallego, who had her son while she was a councilwoman, is the citys first elected official to give birth while in office. ___ Information from: The Arizona Republic, http://www.azcentral.com The new Heung Yuen Wai Highway will connect to the Fanling Highway. Photo from South China Morning Post By Ng Kang-chung A major road linking Hong Kong's new border crossing to Shenzhen will open to traffic this month, with the HK$33.7 billion Liantang-Heung Yuen Wai control point also expected to open by the end of the year. The Heung Yuen Wai Highway, which connects the new border control point with the Fanling Highway, is expected to open from 8am on May 26, a Development Bureau spokesman said on Thursday. At about 11km long the road also has two tunnels, including the 4.8km Lung Shan Tunnel, which is the longest road tunnel on land in Hong Kong. The road is one of the core works of the Liantang-Heung Yuen Wai control point project, a key infrastructure project included in the Hong Kong and Macau chapter of China's 12th five-year plan. A view of the Liantang and Heung Yuen Wai Boundary Control Point from above. Photo from South China Morning Post The border crossing aims to strengthen Hong Kong's connectivity within the Greater Bay Area, a development blueprint aimed to link Hong Kong, Macau, and nine mainland cities in Guangdong province to form a innovation and technology hub. Officials said work on the control point is in the final stages and it is expected to open by the end of this year. Ta Kwu Ling rural committee chairwoman Chan Yuet-ming hailed the opening of the highway and the new control point. "With the opening of the new highway, villagers in the northern New Territories can reach Sheung Shui or Fanling in as short as four minutes, instead of the present 15 to 20 minutes," she said. Chan Yuet-ming, Ta Kwu Ling rural committee chairwoman, hailed the impact the new road would have. Photo from South China Morning Post JACKSON, Wyo. - A snowmobile racing event is leaving the Wyoming ski resort town where it has been held for the past two years. The Jackson Hole News and Guide reported Thursday that the Snow King Mountain Resort in Jackson will not host the AMSOIL International Series of Champions Snocross in December. International Series of Champions owner John Daniels says the decision to leave was based on the events low participation caused by the high cost of travel to Teton County. Daniels says he thought the event would connect better with the area, but it had lacklustre attendance for the first two years. Snow King General Manager Ryan Stanley says the race had about 2,500 spectators each year. Stanley says the resort has left the door open for snocross to return. ___ Information from: Jackson Hole (Wyo.) News And Guide, http://www.jhnewsandguide.com DENTON, Texas - A Texas man used a hacksaw to cut off his mothers head before fleeing and leading police on a chase into Oklahoma last week before they arrested him, authorities said. Isaac Israel Warriner, 22, was being held Friday in a Denton County, Texas, jail on charges including the abuse of a corpse. He hasnt been charged with killing his mother, Sarah Warriner, 65, and investigators will consult with the district attorneys office and medical examiners to determine if additional charges will be filed, Denton city police spokeswoman Khristen Jones said. Police in Denton, which is about 35 miles (55 kilometres) northwest of Dallas, were called to an apartment complex May 5 by a neighbour who said Isaac Warriner was acting weird and carrying around cleaning supplies, according to an affidavit. Officers found his mothers headless body and the hacksaw inside the Warriners unit. Her head wasnt found in the apartment and Jones, citing the ongoing investigation, declined to say whether its been located. Authorities believe Sarah Warriner had been dead for at least two days before her body was found. Days earlier, she had taken her son to a Denton hospital after he used a razor to cut his arms, the affidavit said. A nurse called security when Isaac Warriner threatened to kill his mother and himself. Police eventually were called, but he fled the hospital before officers arrived. Isaac Warriner was spotted in his mothers car on May 6 and led police on a chase up Interstate 35 into Oklahoma, where he was arrested and held before being returned Thursday to Denton. Online jail records dont indicate whether he has an attorney. His father, Kenneth Warriner, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram this month that his son suffered a mental breakdown a few months ago. She had allowed him to stay with her after his last rehabilitation stay, Kenneth Warriner said of his ex-wife. He was prescribed psychotic drugs to try and help, but that didnt seem to work. SAN FRANCISCO - The Latest on a California court weighing Trumps plan to seek Pentagon funding for border wall (all times local): 1:40 p.m. Arguments have concluded in a federal courtroom in California where billions of dollars that would allow President Donald Trump to build his border wall is at stake. U.S. District Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. heard arguments in two cases that seek to block the White House from spending money secured for wall construction under Trumps declaration of a national emergency in February. California and 19 other states brought one lawsuit; the Sierra Club and a coalition of communities along the border, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, brought the other. They plaintiffs sought an injunction to block the government from moving forward with its construction plans. The judge said he will make a decision next week. ___ 8:30 a.m. President Donald Trump is moving fast to spend billions of dollars to build a wall on the Mexican border with money secured under his declaration of a national emergency, but he first must get past the courts. On Friday, a federal judge in Oakland, California, will consider arguments in two cases that seek to block the White House from spending Defence and Treasury Department money for wall construction. California and 19 other states brought one lawsuit; the Sierra Club and Southern Border Communities Coalition, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, brought the other. On Thursday, a federal judge in the nations capital will consider a bid by the U.S. House of Representatives to prevent Trump from spending any Defence Department money for a border wall. At stake is billions of dollars that would allow Trump to make major progress on a signature campaign promise heading into his campaign for a second term. WASHINGTON - The Latest on President Donald Trump and U.S. trade tariffs (all times local): 4:50 p.m. Mexicos National Chamber of the Iron and Steel Industry is congratulating the countrys officials on the agreement reached with the United States on ending steel and aluminum tariffs. The chamber says in a statement posted online that it considers the deal a strong and very positive step for industry in the entire region. It also calls it a great advance toward ratifying the new trade deal between Mexico, the United States and Canada. The chamber added Friday afternoon that, As we have reiterated on diverse occasions, free and fair trade in the region favours the competitiveness of North America. __ 4:30 p.m. The office of United State Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer says an agreement reached with Canada and Mexico allows the U.S. to reimpose steel and aluminum tariffs if there is a surge in imports of those products. President Donald Trump had imposed tariffs of 25% on imported steel and 10% on imported aluminum in the name of national security. But that brought retaliation on U.S.-made goods, hitting American manufacturers and farmers. The three nations agreed Friday to drop those tariffs. Lighthizers office says the agreement ending the dispute ensures that if the U.S. does reimpose tariffs, Canada and Mexico must limit retaliation to American steel and aluminum products. The statement describes the agreement as great news for American farmers that continues to protect Americas steel and aluminum industries. __ 4:10 p.m. Mexico is hailing as very satisfactory an agreement with the United States to end U.S. tariffs on Mexican steel and aluminum as well as lift retaliatory measures imposed by Mexico. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obradors office says in a statement that the deal restores commercial exchange free of tariffs for these products. It says both countries will work to prevent imports of the metals at dumping prices, and have agreed to monitor aluminum and steel trade. Lopez Obradors office says both countries also agreed to end pending litigation over the issue before the World Trade Organization. Mexico adds that it consulted with Canada and pushed three-way dialogue regarding the tariffs. __ 4 p.m. Toyota is expressing disappointment that President Donald Trump hasnt taken auto tariffs off the table. Declaring auto imports a threat to U.S. national security, Trump has delayed a decision on auto tariffs for six months, suggesting he could impose them if U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer cant wrangle concessions from Japan and the European Union on auto trade. Toyota called Trumps statement Friday a major set-back for American consumers, workers and the auto industry and said it sends a message to Toyota that our investments are not welcomed, and the contributions from each of our employees across America are not valued. ___ 3:50 p.m. Some business and farm groups are cheering an agreement Friday lifting import taxes on steel and aluminum from Canada and Mexico. In turn, those two nations will eliminate tariffs they imposed on a wide range of U.S. goods, such as pork, whiskey and orange juice. Thomas Donohue, who leads the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, says the move will bring immediate relief to American farmers and manufacturers. David Herring, president of the National Pork Producers Council, said Mexicos 20 per cent retaliatory tariff cost the industry about $1.5 billion annually. Herring says we thank the administration for ending a trade dispute that has placed enormous financial strain on American pork producers. The groups are now turning their attention to efforts to advance a new trade deal to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. ___ 3:25 p.m. Vice-President Mike Pence says hell be travelling to Canada on May 30 to meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in an effort to advance a new trade deal to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. The Trump administration is calling the deal, which includes Mexico, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA. Pence says hell meet with Trudeau to advance the agreement as swiftly as possible. Pence tweets, This is a WIN for all 3 nations! But prospects for passage remain uncertain, as Democrats say changes need to be made to earn their support. Trump announced an agreement Friday to end steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada and Mexico, which some lawmakers said was necessary to gain their support. __ 2:50 p.m. President Donald Trump has announced a deal with Canada and Mexico that would scrap major tariffs, ending a simmering trade dispute that began when the president imposed tariffs on imported steel and aluminum in the name of national security. Trump addressed the agreement while speaking before The National Association of Realtors. He urged Congress to approve a new trade pact between the three nations to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. Trump did not mention the tariffs he imposed last year on steel and aluminum imports. But he said well be selling our product into those countries without the imposition of tariffs, or major tariffs. While the tariffs helped many U.S. steel and aluminum makers, the retaliatory tariffs hurt other sectors of the U.S. economy, such as agriculture. ___ 2:45 p.m. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada stayed strong in asking for a full lift of the Trump administrations tariffs on steel and aluminum. Trudeau said at a steel facility in Hamilton, Ontario, that now that there is a full lift of those tariffs Canada is going to work with the United States on ratification of the new trade agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico. President Donald Trump used a national security justification last year to impose tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. One of the motivations was to pressure Canada and Mexico into agreeing to a rewrite of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The Canadians and Mexicans did go along with a revamped regional trade deal that was to Trumps liking. But the administration refused to lift the taxes on the metals imports anyway. Trudeau says the Trump administrations national security justification didnt make sense and it was hurting workers and consumers in Canada and the United States. ___ 1:50 p.m. The United States has agreed to remove steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada in what was a key roadblock to a new trade deal and a sore point in relations. Canada, in turn, has agreed to scrap the tariffs it imposed in retaliation. In a joint statement on Friday, the two countries said they have agreed to eliminate the tariffs within 48 hours. Sources in the U.S. and Canada said the Trump administration also has reached a deal to remove steel and aluminum tariffs from Mexico. President Donald Trump last year slapped tariffs on imported steel and aluminum from China and a number of other nations, including Canada, invoking a rarely used provision of a 1962 law to claim that the foreign metals posed a threat to U.S. national security. The administration retained the tariffs on Canada and Mexico even after the two countries agreed to Trumps demands to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement, which went into effect in 1994. Removal of those tariffs on Canada has become a key demand for the administration to win support of the reworked trade agreement. ___ 1:40 p.m. The United States has reached a deal to remove steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada and Mexico, while those nations would scrap retaliatory tariffs they imposed on U.S. products. Thats according to sources in the U.S. and Canada who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of an announcement. The deal removes a major hurdle to the passage of a new pact to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs last year of 25 per cent on steel imports and 10 per cent on imported aluminum. He employed a rarely used 1962 law that empowers him to put a levy on products that the Commerce Department determines threaten national security. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau planned a news conference this afternoon after earlier speaking with Trump. ___ 9 a.m. President Donald Trump is delaying any decision to impose tariffs on car and auto part imports, deciding against ratcheting up trade disputes or impacting talks with European nations and Japan. Trump announced his decision to delay for up to six months in a proclamation issued by the White House on Friday. He was required to make a decision on Commerce Department recommendations aimed to protect the U.S. auto industry, based on national security concerns. Trump directed his trade team to pursue negotiations and address the impact that imports are having on the U.S. auto industry and its ability to invest in new research and development that he says is critical to the nations security. Trump says hell decide whether to take further action in 180 days. ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Latest on efforts to reach a budget deal at the Minnesota Capitol (all times local): 5:00 p.m. The Republican-controlled Minnesota Senate is holding off on passing a measure to prevent a state government shutdown if legislative leaders and Democratic Gov. Tim Walz cant agree on a budget deal. Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka told reporters as he left the governors office Friday afternoon he believes the sides are not too far off from an agreement and that theres an opportunity to end the session on time Monday. Gazelka said he couldnt disclose the sticking points because the negotiations are too sensitive. But he says the talks have been professional and honourable. Democratic Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk, who has spoken with Walz but isnt part of the talks, says he thinks its possible to finish on Monday if the top leaders reach an agreement Friday night. ___ 9:45 a.m. The Republican-controlled Minnesota Senate is prepared to pass a measure to prevent a state government shutdown if legislative leaders and Democratic Gov. Tim Walz cant agree on a budget deal. Senate Republicans launched the gambit Thursday evening as talks bogged down among the governor and leaders of the Senate GOP and House Democratic majorities. Senate Finance Committee Chair Julie Rosen said the talks were at somewhat of an impasse. It appears increasingly unlikely that lawmakers can pass their major budget bills before Monday nights adjournment deadline, which means the governor would have to call a special session at some point to finish the work. Sen. Roger Chamberlain describes his lights on bill as an insurance policy for when the current budget runs out June 30. Senate Democrats say its premature. WASHINGTON - Bogged down in a sprawling trade dispute with U.S. rival China, President Donald Trump took steps Friday to ease tensions with Americas allies lifting import taxes on Canadian and Mexican steel and aluminum and delaying auto tariffs that would have hurt Japan and Europe. By removing the metals tariffs on Canada and Mexico, Trump cleared a key roadblock to a North American trade pact his team negotiated last year. As part of Fridays arrangement, the Canadians and Mexicans agreed to scrap retaliatory tariffs they had imposed on U.S. goods. Im pleased to announce that weve just reached an agreement with Canada and Mexico, and well be selling our product into those countries without the imposition of tariffs, or major tariffs, Trump said in a speech to the National Association of Realtors. In a joint statement, the U.S. and Canada said they would work to prevent cheap imports of steel and aluminum from entering North America. The provision appeared to target China, which has long been accused of flooding world markets with subsidized metal, driving down world prices and hurting U.S. producers. The countries could also reimpose the tariffs if they faced a surge in steel or aluminum imports. Earlier Friday, the White House said Trump is delaying for six months any decision to slap tariffs on foreign cars, a move that would have hit Japan and the Europe especially hard. Trump still is hoping to use the threat of auto tariffs to pressure Japan and the European Union into making concessions in ongoing trade talks. If agreements are not reached within 180 days, the president will determine whether and what further action needs to be taken, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement. In imposing the metals tariffs and threatening the ones on autos, the president was relying on a rarely used weapon in the U.S. trade war arsenal Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 which lets the president impose tariffs on imports if the Commerce Department deems them a threat to national security. But the steel and aluminum tariffs were also designed to coerce Canada and Mexico into agreeing to a rewrite of North American free trade pact. In fact, the Canadians and Mexicans did go along last year with a revamped regional trade deal that was to Trumps liking. But the administration had refused to lift the taxes on their metals coming into the United States until Friday. The new trade deal the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement needs approval from legislatures in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Several key U.S. lawmakers were threatening to reject the pact unless the tariffs were removed. And Canada had suggested it wouldnt ratify any deal with tariffs still in place. Thomas Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said the lifting of the tariffs will bring immediate relief to American farmers and manufacturers. Critically, this action delivers a welcome burst of momentum for the USMCA in Congress. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau credited his government for holding out to get the tariffs removed. We stayed strong, he said. Thats what workers asked for. These tariffs didnt make sense around national security. They were hurting Canadian consumers, Canadian workers and American consumers and American workers. Trump had faced a Saturday deadline to decide what to do about the auto tariffs. Taxing auto tariffs would mark a major escalation in Trumps aggressive trade policies and likely would meet resistance in Congress. The United States last year imported $192 billion worth of passenger vehicles and $159 billion in auto parts. I have serious questions about the legitimacy of using national security as a basis to impose tariffs on cars and car parts, Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement Friday. Hes working on legislation to scale back the presidents authority to impose national security tariffs under Section 232. In a statement, the White House said that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has determined that imported vehicles and parts are a threat to national security. Trump deferred action on tariffs for 180 days to give negotiators time to work out deals but threatened them if talks break down. In justifying tariffs for national security reasons, Commerce found that the U.S. industrial base depends on technology developed by American-owned auto companies to maintain U.S. military superiority. Because of rising imports of autos and parts over the past 30 years, the market share of U.S.-owned automakers has fallen. That has caused a lag in research and development spending which is weakening innovation and, accordingly, threatening to impair our national security, the statement said. The market share of vehicles produced and sold in the U.S. by American-owned automakers, the statement said, has declined from 67 per cent in 1985 to 22 per cent in 2017. But the statistics dont match market share figures from the industry. A message was left Friday seeking an explanation of how Commerce calculated the 22 per cent figure. In 2017, General Motors, Ford, Fiat Chrysler and Tesla combined had a 44.5 per cent share of U.S. auto sales, according to Autodata Corp. Those figures include vehicles produced in other countries. Its possible that the Commerce Department didnt include Fiat Chrysler, which is now legally headquartered in The Netherlands but has a huge research and development operation near Detroit. It had 12 per cent of U.S. auto sales in 2017. The Commerce figures also do not account for research by foreign automakers. Toyota, Hyundai-Kia, Subaru, Honda and others have significant research centres in the U.S. Meanwhile, Trump is locked in a high stakes rumble with China. The U.S. accuses Beijing of stealing trade secrets and forcing American companies to hand over technology in a head-long push to challenge American technological dominance. The two countries have slapped tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars in each others products. Talks broke off last week with no resolution. The hostilities between the worlds two biggest economies have weighed heavily the past couple of weeks on the U.S. stock market, threatening a long rally that Trump touted as a vindication of his economic policies. Opening a new front in the trade wars against EU and Japan likely would have worried investors even more. ___ Rob Gillies reported from Toronto and Tom Krisher from Detroit. Darlene Superville, Deb Riechmann and Martin Crutsinger in Washington and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this story. WASHINGTONU.S. President Donald Trumps interactions with Russia are largely a black box. As The Post has reported, he has gone to great lengths to conceal what he has talked about with Russian President Vladimir Putin, even seizing a translators notes and instructing the linguist not to disclose anything to other administration officials. But were about to get a glimpse of just how the two sides talk to one another, when they think nobody is listening. A federal judge on Thursday ordered the release of a transcript of Michael Flynns phone call with Russias ambassador after the 2016 election by May 31. This is the call Flynn would later lie to the FBI about, a crime to which he has pleaded guilty. The question has long been why he felt the need to lie about it. The lie involved his denials that he and the ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, had discussed the Obama administrations newly imposed sanctions. Those sanctions were in response to Russias interference in the 2016 election, and the Trump transition team worried that Russia would poison the well for future relations by responding with a huge sanctions package of its own. According to the Mueller report and other legal filings, Flynn at the very least hinted that Russia might just want to bide its time until Trump was inaugurated. From the Mueller report: (Incoming deputy national security adviser K.T.) McFarland and Flynn discussed the sanctions, including their potential impact on the incoming Trump Administrations foreign policy goals. McFarland and Flynn also discussed that Transition Team members in Mar-a-Lago did not want Russia to escalate the situation. They both understood that Flynn would relay a message to Kislyak in hopes of making sure the situation would not get out of hand. Immediately after speaking with McFarland, Flynn called and spoke with Kislyak. Flynn discussed multiple topics with Kislyak, including the sanctions, scheduling a video teleconference between president-elect Trump and Putin, an upcoming terrorism conference, and Russias views about the Middle East. With respect to the sanctions, Flynn requested that Russia not escalate the situation, not get into a tit for tat, and only respond to the sanctions in a reciprocal manner. The day after the phone call, which was made when Flynn was in the Dominican Republican and intercepted by U.S. officials, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia would respond with its own sanctions package. But just a couple hours after that, Putin overruled that and said there would be no retaliation. The Mueller report states that Flynn told McFarland he believed his phone call had helped. The most obvious potential reason for Flynns lie was that he worried about what it would look like if people knew the incoming administration was trying and circumvent that actions of the present administration not least in a manner involving Russia, which had interfered to help Trump in 2016. There is also a seldom-invoked federal law called the Logan Act that prevents private citizens from conducting diplomacy with foreign governments. According to the Mueller report, both the FBI and the Trump team looked into whether Flynn had violated that law. But apart from the general thrust of the phone call and the tit for tat quote, we dont really know a whole lot about how this conversation transpired. How explicit was that request? Was there some kind of a quid pro quo? Was Trump invoked? Against the backdrop of Trumps friendly public posture toward Russia, the actual phone call could be instructive. If Flynn was kowtowing to Russia in any way, it would really fill out the picture of an incoming administration that wasnt terribly concerned about getting tough on Russia for its 2016 actions. Its important to emphasize that whatever Flynn and Kislyak talked about, though, its not clear that Trump authorized it. While the Mueller report says transition team officials worried about retaliatory sanctions, were aware of Flynns phone call and strategized about what to communicate to Russia, it says the investigation did not identify evidence that the president-elect asked Flynn to make any request to Kislyak. But Trump had indicated publicly that he didnt much appreciate the looming sanctions battle. I think we ought to get on with our lives, he said. And after Putin made his announcement, Trump tweeted, Great move on delay (by V. Putin). This little peek behind the curtain could prove interesting. Read more about: APPLETON, Wis. - A man who got in a gunfight with police that left a city firefighter dead in the crossfire was identified Friday as a Wausau man who had been free on bond pending drug charges. Ruben Houston, 47, died in the Wednesday evening incident that erupted just minutes after police and emergency personnel were summoned to a bus where Houston was thought to be suffering a possible seizure. Police said Houston was walking away after receiving treatment when the situation escalated and Houston traded gunfire with officers. Mitchell F. Lundgaard, 36, a 14-year veteran firefighter, was shot and died of his injuries at a hospital. Its not clear who fired the shot that killed him. Officer Paul Christensen was also hit, but was treated and released from a hospital. A bystander, Brittany Schowalter, 30, was shot and remained in a hospital Friday. Both Christensen and Sgt. Christopher Biese fired at least one shot, police said. They said the total number of rounds would be determined through a continuing investigation being led by the Green Bay Police Department. Court records show that Houston was free on bond pending charges in Fond du Lac County of possession of drugs with intent to sell. He also faced two counts of disorderly conduct in Marathon County. The Post-Crescent of Appleton reported that Houstons criminal record shows convictions for firearms possession, drug possession and other felonies dating to 1990. Other charges included fleeing an officer in 1990; robbery with a dangerous weapon in 1991 in Milwaukee County; and possession of a firearm in 1996, also in Milwaukee, according to the Post-Crescent. He served at least two stints in federal prison. Lundgaard was the first Appleton firefighter in 86 years to die in the line of duty. Monetary support for Lundgaards wife and three children was streaming into a GoFundMe website. Wisconsin native and Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt donated $10,000 to the fund, which was more than halfway toward a $250,000 goal by Friday. Watts father is a retired firefighter. ___ Information from: Post-Crescent Media, http://www.postcrescent.com BOSTON - Two major casino operators are in preliminary talks about the possible sale of one of the largest casinos in the Northeast. Wynn Resorts and MGM Resorts may reach a deal to sell Wynns Boston Harbor casino complex to MGM. This comes as Wynn is about to open the Everett, Massachusetts, casino. In a joint statement Friday, MGM Resorts International and Wynn Resorts said theyve engaged in conversations about the potential sale of Encore Boston Harbor. The companies say the talks wont delay the Everett opening. MGM currently owns a casino in Springfield and would not be allowed to operate two in Massachusetts. State gambling regulators last month levied a $35 million fine on Wynn Resorts but let Wynn keep its casino license after finding executives failed to disclose allegations of sexual misconduct against company founder Steve Wynn. Part of me is skeptical about Alyssa Milanos call for a sex strike. It may be just a publicity stunt. If serious, maybe its only calling for a novel kind of slacktivism, however, lets not shrug it off just yet. Its important not to gloss over some of the nuances of such a call in response to Georgias anti-abortion legislation; specifically, the socio-political contexts that inform it. Milanos message is an opportunity for deliberation and self-questioning: these are imperative for any social movement that seeks transformative action. In her opinion piece on Milanos call for a sex strike, Emma Teitel argued that such a call is problematic because it relegates womens political agency to between their legs. Given the long history of biological determinism the assumption that a person can be wholly understood on the basis of biology and how that idea continues to inform current sexist attitudes and legislation, it makes sense to be wary of a call that asks women to undertake a form of activism that seems bound to their bodies. But, lets not forget that this call isnt sounded in an echo chamber. It emerges from political movements like Me Too, from opposition to Georgias anti-abortion legislation, and the Gilead-like aspirations of many politicians in the United States. With these contexts in mind we should consider how a sex strike intersects with bodily autonomy and choice. A sex strike asks women to reimagine their bodies as sites of resistance. Consider how in a labour strike workers remove their labour because its what the employer both relies upon and takes for granted. The employer, of course, will never admit this because denying the importance of workers labour is an integral part of the employers exploitative strategies. Read more: Ford says his government will not re-open the abortion debate Opinion | Rosie DiManno: Anti-abortion activists are wrong but so is Canadian law Opinion | Emma Teitel: Alyssa Milanos pro-choice sex strike is a gimmick that won't change anyone's mind In the case of a sex strike, sex is what is valued and exploited so it is what is removed. What is it being removed from? The patriarchal structures and ideologies, which implicate and affect both men and women differently but ultimately benefits white heterosexual men, that seek to control and limit sex to reproduction. Coupled with the idea of the traditional nuclear family and capitalism, patriarchal systems have a vested interest in making sure women are isolated to the home and occupied with unpaid domestic labour. Undergirding such a system are heteronormative assumptions and homophobia. Part of Milanos call for a sex strike is that womens bodies are imperiled and must be protected. If you have ever been on strike and part of a picket line, you know that a strike does not mean a workers body is removed from risk, but is sometimes put in harms way. In this regard, we shouldnt assume that a sex strike necessarily shields womens bodies. Here we begin to see some of its limitations. For far too many women, their bodies are already at risk, and it is not by their choice. What forms of meaningful intervention does a sex strike offer these women? This question leads to others like: Who is or isnt participating in this sex strike and why? Are there people who want to participate, but cant? These questions alert us to how a general call out for a sex strike assumes that women engage with and enact feminism in the same way. It also assumes that feminism will look the same for all women without attending to their different social, cultural, racial, and economic positions. So, when Milano states that Our reproductive rights are being erased, we need to ask who is included and excluded when we say Our. We also should keep in mind that, as a celebrity, Milano speaks from a position of privilege that shouldnt be separated from her decision to go on a sex strike. Milanos call for a sex strike may not be taken up, but it does draw a series of connections between sex, politics, and patriarchy. Such a call urges us to think of bodies and sex as political, as entities that should be self-governed but that must constantly confront and contend with the heinous and cruel imposed governance of misogynists. Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, left, says goodbye to U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, center, and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer as they break from meetings at the USTR offices May 10, 2019 in Washington, DC. AFP-Yonhap By Teddy Ng China would rather suspend further trade negotiations with the United States if Washington continues its tough gestures towards Beijing, Chinese state media said. A commentary published by Taoran Notes, a social media account affiliated with Economic Daily, said China would not give an "effective response" to the US if Washington did not show sincerity in resolving the two countries' trade disputes. "If there is no real concrete action by the United States, it will be meaningless for you to come and talk," it said, referring to US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's remarks on Wednesday saying that he would go to Beijing to continue talks. "It is better to suspend the consultation completely and return to the normal working track." The commentary said China had shown its sincerity to resolve the trade deadlock by sending Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He to Washington for negotiations even after US President Donald Trump had decided to raise tariffs on US$200 billion of Chinese imports from 10 per cent to 25 per cent. China's Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Gao Feng gestures during a press conference in Beijing, capital of China, May 16, 2019. Xinhua-Yonhap But the US had kept up its tough stance towards Beijing, it said, after Washington also introduced restrictions on Chinese telecoms company Huawei. "The US does not show any sincerity in continuing talks," it said. "Instead, it is extending its pressure tactics. The US on one hand says it engages in talks, but on the other hand keeps using petty tricks to destroy the atmosphere for talks." The commentary came after Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng said China was not aware of Mnuchin's planned trip and felt regret that the US had "unilaterally and continuously escalated the trade conflict". Mnuchin, speaking in a congressional hearing, said he would most likely go to Beijing in the near future to continue discussions. Trump, meanwhile, is expected to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, next month. Beijing's willingness to retaliate should not be underestimated, it said. In this Nov. 9, 2017, file photo, U.S. President Donald Trump, right, chats with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. AP-Yonhap Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus announcement that Ottawa will be unveiling a Digital Charter is a key milestone in countering terrorist and extremist content online. This has quickly become one of the worlds most complex policy challenges affecting public safety. Those who attended this weeks Christchurch Call meeting including the Prime Minister, state leaders and tech companies need not look far for evidence of the link between online radicalization and real-world violence. In the nine months leading up to last Octobers Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, the attacker posted more than 700 antisemitic messages on social media. Five minutes before police were called to the atrocity, he posted that he cant sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, Im going in. When the Christchurch mosque shooter livestreamed his attack, 200 people watched as it unfolded. Within 24 hours, the video had been uploaded onto Facebook more than 1.5 million times. A global audience watched a hate-inspired massacre of Muslims at worship. We have barely scratched the surface in comprehending, let alone countering, the harnessing of technology by violent extremists. The two terrorists mentioned above, whose names I refuse to perpetuate, were not solely motivated by the vanity of displaying their evil actions to the world (a trait they share with many serial killers). They sought to pour new toxin into the ideological cesspool from which they drank, aiming to inspire others to transform hate into violence. The Pittsburgh shooters comment about optics was in response to a debate within the underworld of online antisemitism over how violence can help or hinder the white supremacist agenda. Like the New Zealand shooters video, his final message was aimed not at his victims, but at those within his ideological camp and vulnerable individuals who may be persuaded to enter it. In a chilling admission, the San Diego County synagogue shooter reportedly cited the Pittsburgh and Christchurch attackers as a source of inspiration. There is something familiar about our grappling to contain a technology that, like fire, possesses immense potential to both heal and destroy. With every leap forward in scientific progress there is a learning curve as society adapts to capabilities once unimaginable. That journey is not always pleasant or pain-free. We are now struggling along a learning curve on online hate and radicalization. Legal tools developed in the 1960s are inconsistently and infrequently used against online incitement and hate propaganda. Major social media providers enact ad hoc solutions, such as targeted de-platforming of extremists. However meaningful and well-meaning, this suggests improvisation rather than long-term strategy. This is why the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) has, since the Pittsburgh attack, mobilized thousands of Canadians to email the government to call for a national strategy on online hate and radicalization. We have done so in partnership with a diversity of targeted communities, including Muslim, Christian, Sikh, and LGBTQ+ groups, among others. It is deeply encouraging that the government will launch such a strategy in the form of a Digital Charter. This will provide a framework for social media companies to address radicalization and other challenges, with the potential for meaningful accountability measures. While details have yet to be unveiled, hate and radicalization aspects of the Digital Charter should be anchored in three principles. First, it must recognize that this challenge is not confined to any one ideology. White supremacists, violent Islamist extremists (such as ISIS), and those from other radical movements have used online platforms to spread terrorism. The framework, which should be developed in concert with social media and stakeholders from targeted communities, must counter those who incite violence regardless of their ideology. Second, there is a legitimate debate between industry self-regulation and government regulation. Whatever approach is adopted, it must be developed in a way that maximizes consensus among Canadians in support of this initiative. This is too important to become a partisan issue. If regulatory or legal tools are misconceived or misused, they risk delegitimizing this effort. This would undermine the goal of keeping Canadians safe. The primary target of legal intervention must be those who promote violence or systematically disseminate hate propaganda. Third, while authorities must be able to intercept those described above, not every problem is a nail that requires the hammer of the law. Counter-speech and social accountability is generally the best remedy for those who casually or ignorantly air offensive views. Recognizing that Canadians overwhelmingly reject hate and extremism, the government should enlist an online citizenry to constructively engage those susceptible to radicalization. Freedom of expression may prove one of our best tools against those who would cheapen this freedom by peddling violent extremism. Ten years ago, the 26-year-old armed conflict ended in Sri Lanka and yet peace has not yet been achieved. As we mark this solemn anniversary on May 18, the prospects for peace and security have never been dimmer. Having claimed victory in the armed conflict in 2009, the Sri Lankan government could have enacted measures to achieve peace. The president at the time, Mahinda Rajapaksa, instead further traumatized those who survived the armed conflict by placing the 300,000 Tamil civilians who survived Mullivaikal (the sliver of land where the armed conflict ended) in open prison camps. With an over presence of members from the Sri Lankan military in these prison camps, many Tamil civilians were tortured, sexually abused, and further victimized. Months later, as civilians were released, many were unable to return to their traditional lands as they were occupied by the military. The military continues to occupy civilian lands in the North and East of the Island. Family members who saw their loved ones surrender to the Sri Lankan army during the final hours of the conflict have never heard from them again. Instead, these families of the disappeared have been on a never ending search for answers. Those who were detained under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act continue to languish in prison a place rampant with systematic and widespread torture and abuse. These civilians continue to live in highly militarized environments with constant reminders that peace has eluded their lives. Hence, those who survived Mullivaikal continue to live in limbo, without any answer, or justice to the atrocities committed. In these 10 years the Sri Lankan governments meagre attempts to build confidence, seek justice and ultimately attain peace have proven to be disingenuous. The United Nations Human Rights Council established an investigation into allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in 2014. In 2015, the UN investigation concluded that war crimes and crimes against humanity occurred on the island. Following these conclusions and as a result of sustained international pressure, the Sri Lankan government committed to establishing a domestic hybrid legal process to investigate and prosecute these allegations. The government of Sri Lanka has not been forthcoming in its commitment to enact domestic laws covering war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The Sri Lankan government failed to seize the opportunity to transform the Sri Lankan state to ensure that it reflects the multi-lingual, multi-ethnic, and multi-religious nature of its polity. Rather, 10 years onward, Sri Lanka failed to capture and address the root causes of the conflict, first and foremost, between the Tamil people and the Sri Lankan state, and second, among other minorities on the island. The unitary state structure fails to ensure that the Tamil population in the Northern and Eastern provinces are afforded even basic decision-making powers over their land, language, culture and policing, let alone a robust federal framework where the Tamil population could have self-determination over matters. This structure also reinforces the primacy of the Sinhala language and the Buddhist religion within the constitution. In these 10 years, these realities were reinforced, both by action and in words. The Easter Sunday attack on Christian churches, and the ensuing attacks and targeting of the Muslim population have changed the terrain on the island. It is not that these fault lines were not already alive, but the Easter Sunday attacks highlighted the abject failure of the Sri Lankan state to protect minorities. The investigation that followed reveals further lapses within the Sri Lankan security structure and its dysfunctional government. The full potential of Sri Lanka cannot be met if the state and its people do not recognize the true nature of the state. The current state structure does not work. The current leadership, and those leaders in waiting, lack the bold leadership required to ensure that justice is served, a new political pact is established, and minorities on the island are protected. The current majoritarian Sinhala/Buddhist state structure have not served the island well, and in order to move forward, the state must reflect the needs and aspirations of all of the people on the island. Ten years on, the island cannot afford a bloodbath. It needs to seek truth, ensure accountability, deliver justice and rework its polity. Otherwise, failure to learn from history may risk repeating it. Gary Anandasangaree is a human rights activist and is the Liberal Member of Parliament for Scarborough-Rouge Park. Read more about: When a house is on fire, you dont monitor it. You sound the alarm and get to work to extinguish the blaze. So what is the Ontario government doing in the face of alarming reports that billions of dollars of dirty money is being laundered through real estate transactions in the province each year? Launching a study? Calling an inquiry, as the government of British Columbia did this week? Establishing a transparent land registry system that would prevent criminals from hiding their ill-gotten gains behind numbered companies with post office box addresses? None of the above. Instead, in the face of a call this week from the Ontario Real Estate Association for the Ford government to establish a transparent ownership registry for property in a bid to curb money laundering, Finance Minister Vic Fedeli had only this to say: Its something well continue to monitor. Thats it? The fact is, money laundering in the real estate market is not a victimless crime. It drives up the cost of housing for everyone, driving workers out of the city while ballooning mortgages have pushed household debt to record levels. A transparent land registry should be a no-brainer to combat money laundering, says the real estate associations CEO, Tim Hudak, who finds it unthinkable that drug and arm dealers are recycling their cash in our province. How do we know? Because other governments and anti-corruption organizations have done the leg work for Ontario to find that out. Last week, for example, the B.C. government released two reviews into money laundering that focused on its effects on that provinces real estate market. One found that $5 billion of the $7 billion in dirty money that was laundered through B.C.s economy last year found its way into the real estate market, driving up the cost of buying a home by 5 per cent (upwards of 20 per cent in Vancouver). The situation could be worse in Ontario, if the reports findings are correct. Thats because the expert panel that wrote the report found that province is second only to Alberta as a home for money laundering in Canada. It estimated that $8.2 billion was laundered in Ontario in 2015. And its estimate for money laundering across the country in 2018 was $47 billion. If that sounds like a lot, its nothing compared to the $130 billion in dirty money the C.D. Howe Institute concluded earlier this month was being laundered across this country, much of it in real estate. Indeed, a report released in March by Transparency International Canada, an anti-corruption not-for-profit organization, found that since 2008 more than $20 billion in anonymous money has entered the GTA real estate market. While the results of these studies are debatable and the wide discrepancies in numbers point to the difficulty in pinpointing exactly how much money is being laundered, one thing is clear: Canada has long been seen as an easy place to launder money, making this country a haven for drug lords, arms dealers and sex traffickers. Even foreign aid that Canada delivers to needy countries can find its way back here, laundered through real estate by corrupt officials. In fact, Transparency International has long urged Canada to beef up measures it agreed to when it signed onto a series of principles on whats known as beneficial ownership transparency put forward by the G20 in 2014. So where to start? With B.C.s example. It recently introduced a Land Owner Transparency Act to create a public real estate registry that will clearly state who owns what. If it works like similar land transparency registries in other countries, it will substantially drive down money laundering in the province. For example, cash purchases of luxury real estate by anonymous companies dropped by 70 per cent in areas where the U.S. Department of Justice imposed a requirement that purchasers reveal their identities. But transparent land registries are just one way to limit money laundering in the real estate market. Enforcing rules is another. Real estate agents, for example, should be reporting suspicious transactions to Canadas financial watchdog, known as FINTRAC. But, as the Star found, Canadian real estate agents submitted suspicious transaction reports in less than 0.008 per cent of property sales made between 2013 and 2017. Thats despite the fact cash payments for homes are not uncommon. Its not that a transparent land registry and better reporting to FINTRAC will stop money laundering. There are always other avenues. For example, earlier studies done for the B.C. government found money being laundered through car dealerships and casinos another area where Ontario is vulnerable, considering that it operates 71 gambling facilities from casinos to race tracks. But a transparent land registry is a good place to start. The Ford government should stop merely monitoring whatever that may mean and start acting. Doug Fords failed brand of conservatism, Letters, May 14 Gordon Simpson is absolutely correct. The last real Progressive Conservative premier was Bill Davis. If Premier Doug Fords caucus had any true convictions about what is best for Ontario and Toronto, they could band together and put pressure on Ford to do the right thing. If they dont, they are painted with the same brush as Ford. Lillian Shery, Toronto Read more about: VANCOUVERThe crisis in Canada-China relations deepened Thursday as Beijing ordered the formal arrest of two detained Canadians on still-unspecified national-security violations and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned China is a growing threat. Trudeau told reporters in Paris that China is defying international norms around the world and vowed to keep enlisting international allies to protest Chinas actions, in spite of Beijings caution against making irresponsible remarks. We continue to take the safety of the Canadians detained arbitrarily in China with the utmost priority, Trudeau said. One of the things we see increasingly around the world is that the Chinese government is not following the same kinds of rules and principles that the large majority of democracies follow in regards to rules-based order, in regards to international relations, the prime minister said. In its latest move, the Chinese government confirmed Thursday that former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor have been formally arrested and transferred from a shadowy residential surveillance centre to separate state prisons on pending charges of secretly gathering or illegally providing state secrets for foreign forces. Kovrig and Spavor are in the hands of powers far above the prosecutors who are officially assigned to their cases, said Margaret K. Lewis, professor of law at Seton Hall University School of Law, who specializes in criminal justice in mainland China. On the surface, the process is following the criminal procedure law. But there is no doubt that people much higher up are really calling the shots. Given the formal, constitutional alignment between the Chinese judiciary and state interests, its clear Beijing will continue to use Kovrig and Spavor as a bargaining chip, agreed Charles Burton, a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institutes Centre for Advancing Canadas Interests Abroad. Theres no question that anything to do with Spavor and Kovrigs (possible) sentencing is not going to be based on the decision of a judge but will be dictated by a policy decision on the part of the (Chinese Communist) Party, said Burton, an expert on Chinese domestic and international politics. Aside from confessions made under duress, Chinese authorities will almost certainly have little evidence to support charges of espionage, he said, meaning the fate of Beijings foreign policy objectives may have a great deal to do with the ultimate fates of Kovrig and Spavor. Trudeau discussed his China concerns with French President Emmanuel Macron and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern while in Paris. And within the past week he twice spoke to U.S. President Donald Trump and once to Vice-President Mike Pence about the stakes for detained Canadians, as the U.S. and China engage in an escalating trade war and Canada becomes collateral damage. The Trump administration has targeted Chinese tech giant Huawei in that trade war, accusing it of violating U.S. spying and banking laws. Canada complied with a U.S. request to arrest Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou for extradition to face charges in one case enraging the Chinese, who upped the ante. China detained Kovrig and Spavor, sentenced two other Canadians to face the death penalty for drug trafficking and put the brakes on certain Canadian canola and pork exports. But Trudeau insists he will not interfere in the Canadian court case of Meng Wanzhou even as Beijing takes a tougher stance. His government is calling for the immediate release of Kovrig and Spavor, and thanked its allies in the cause who have spoken in support of these detained Canadians and the rule of law. In a statement, it listed Australia, the EU, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Netherlands, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Spain, Denmark, NATO and the G7 as supporters. We have to stand together to show were not going to change our principles and values or the way we behave, particularly when it comes to the independence of our judicial system because the Chinese government has decided to behave arbitrarily and detain Canadians, said Trudeau in Paris. We will continue to make it known to China their actions are unacceptable. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Thursday that Kovrigs and Spavors arrests were according to law. They call this rule of law but its rule by law, said a former Canadian ambassador to China, Guy Saint-Jacques. Unfortunately this makes things more complicated, he said. Saint-Jacques said he had hoped that the U.S. and China would reach a deal that would have included returning our two Canadians. Now that this has become a remote possibility ... its difficult for them to punish the Americans, so its easier for them to come after us. For Kovrig and Spavor, their arrests may have a counterintuitive result: an end to the isolation, daily interrogations and sunlight deprivation suffered to date. Before their formal arrests, the two Canadians spent over five months in residential surveillance at a designated location a form of detention that can last for up to half a year, often taking place in black jails undisclosed to the public. A former detainee in residential surveillance described his experience to the Star in harrowing detail in December 2018. For three weeks in 2016, Swedish human-rights worker Peter Dahlin was held in China in a padded room, guarded by two men he wasnt allowed to talk to, and subjected to interrogations and sleep deprivation. The sounds of guards beating other prisoners carried into his cell, and he believes guards wanted to make sure he heard the assaults. Kovrigs employer, foreign policy think tank International Crisis Group, confirmed Thursday he had not yet been allowed access to a lawyer or his family. The pairs formal arrest doesnt mean that will change anytime soon, Lewis said. Because the men face allegations related to state security, Chinese authorities are under no legal obligation to provide them access to lawyers while the investigation continues. Burton suggested the mens transfer to a prison may in some ways be encouraging. Granted, theyre in their separate prisons, living in cells crowded with many criminals, but in terms of their conditions, they presumably will have opportunity for exercise and have opportunity for socializing with their fellow inmates, he said. Yet their plight is more perilous now that they are in a formalized legal process. Once charges are laid, Lewis said, suspects in the Chinese justice system are convicted almost without exception. And depending on what they are charged with, the Canadians could face the death penalty. She agreed a death penalty is one possible outcome but cautioned that with so many unknowns still looming its impossible to know what to expect. Its possible theoretically that death can be applied, but theres a huge range of possible punishments, Lewis said. We just dont know enough about how the severity of the specific allegations are going to come out. Conservative House leader Candice Bergen targeted Trudeau in the House of Commons over the international fallout. Clearly, the Prime Ministers approach to China is not working, she said. When will he stop acting like a coward, pick up the phone and do something about this. Rebuked by the Speaker, Bergen withdrew the word coward but the Conservatives put the blame squarely on the prime ministers weak approach to China. Former ambassador David Mulroney, in an op-ed in The Globe and Mail, called for a reset of the Canada-China relationship, and in an interview with CBC, former Canadian diplomat Ben Rowswell, of the Canadian International Council, agreed. He said China is showing a new and ugly face to the world and throwing its weight around. But he doubted a phone call from Trudeau to the Chinese president would change anything, saying that Canada instead needs to leverage its power with allies. Asked at what point he would call on the Chinese president personally, Trudeau said Thursday, We will always only do what we know can help Canadians. And he rejected the Conservatives urging to immediately ban Huawei from developing Canadas 5G wireless networks, saying he will take the advice of Canadas security agencies. This is not a political decision. It has to be a decision based on our collective understanding of how we can keep our citizens safe while at same time giving them choice and competitive technologies when they are available. With files from Jeremy Nuttall Read more about: Ontarios independent fiscal watchdog is sounding the alarm. Noting the previous Liberal administration spent $16.5 million on what she considers to be partisan ads last year, auditor general Bonnie Lysyk wants the Progressive Conservatives to strengthen the Government Advertising Act. The Liberal government watered down that law in 2015, and that change took the discretion away from the office, taking away our independence pretty much from this process and requiring us to pretty much be a rubber stamp, Lysyk said. The result is that her office now must approve an ad even if its factually inaccurate, she said. From my offices perspective, that is just a paper-pushing exercise that has created additional work versus a value-add for the taxpayer. The act creates the optics that we are performing a useful function to save taxpayer dollars being spent on partisan advertising, but we are not doing that. While in opposition, the Tories promised to return the auditors power to veto advertising by amending the legislation. But after 11 months in office, Premier Doug Fords government has no immediate plans to tighten the restrictions. Instead, the Tories have gone on a multimillion dollar advertising blitz attacking the federal Liberal carbon-pricing measures with TV and radio commercials that Lysyk warns would not pass muster under the previous law. The reason weve continued the practice of commenting on the old rules is because ... the public ... would be assured that we would consider the issue of partisan and have discretion over that, she told the legislatures standing committee on public accounts Wednesday. Thats the way it had functioned for many years. Lysyk said she advised the PC government that its new carbon-pricing ad, which hit airwaves last week, would not have been compliant under rules that were in place until 2015. They are well aware of our views, but theyve continued, obviously, to issue the ads in compliance with the current legislation and are using that as a basis of publishing it, she said. On Wednesday, Treasury Board President Peter Bethlenfalvy would only say the Tories are reviewing the advertising act. Theres a lot to review. Were busy, he said. The TV commercial depicts nickels pouring out of a gas pump nozzle, heating vents and supermarket shelves to show how carbon-pricing affects fuel and food prices. But it does not mention federal tax rebates designed to offset higher fuel costs. For a family of four, those will rise from $307 this year to $718 annually by 2022. Thats a net gain of $70 per household that year. The program, which is designed curb greenhouse gas emissions that scientists say contribute to climate change, is being bankrolled by big industrial polluters. NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said its absolutely disgraceful the Tories are not keeping the promise they made in opposition to curb such publicly funded partisan ads. Its not in their interest to make the change that they promised they were going to make, said Horwath. Former premier Kathleen Wynnes Liberals loosened the act four years ago, stripping the auditor of a veto for factual accuracy, tone, context, and whether an ad was politically partisan. The rules originally came into effect in 2004 under Liberal premier Dalton McGuinty. Robert Benzie is the Star's Queen's Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie Read more about: CRANBROOK, B.C.Theres no room for doubt that a former leader in a fundamentalist Christian sect that practises polygamy in Bountiful, B.C., knew that an underage girl who he removed from Canada to be married in the United States would be subject to sexual contact, a judge said Friday. James Oler was found guilty of removing a 15-year-old girl from the community to the United States to be married to an older member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 2004. In delivering her decision, Justice Martha Devlin of the B.C. Supreme Court said Oler saw with substantial certainty that the girl would be expected to consummate the marriage immediately in order to fulfil her role in bringing forward children in line with the divine mandate. Entering (the girl) into an ordinary marriage would leave no doubt, but as here, entering her into a plural marriage that is imperative to her salvation, leaves even less room, she said. Sentencing is scheduled for July 15. The ruling brings to an end a lengthy court process. Oler was acquitted in 2017 by a judge who was not convinced he did anything within Canadas borders to arrange the girls transfer. But the B.C. Court of Appeal overturned the decision, saying that proof of wrongdoing in Canada was not necessary and ordered a new trial. Read more: Woman testifies about life in British Columbia polygamist community B.C. polygamy sentence will be a wake-up call, some experts say, but others disagree Opinion | Rosie DiManno: The courts have spoken on polygamy but not everyone is listening Oler was self-represented and did not call any witnesses or make a case in his defence during the retrial. He sat quietly as Devlin delivered her decision in the small courtroom in Cranbrook and declined to comment outside. Lawyer Joe Doyle, who served as a friend of the court to ensure a fair trial, argued that a four-day gap in the girls whereabouts is enough to dispute whether she was removed from Canada in 2004. Devlin said she had to wrestle to a conclusion whether the evidence established the girls presence in Canada during that time, and specifically on the day that Warren Jeffs, the churchs prophet and president, ordered Oler to deliver her for the marriage. This is the linchpin of this retrial, Devlin said. But a perfect reconstruction of the girls movement was not required of the Crown and Devlin found it would strain credulity to suggest the girl travelled to the United States ahead of a group driving from Canada, she said. If the girl had already been in the United States, its more likely that she would have been sent directly to meet Jeffs rather than back to a site near the border where witness accounts placed her the day before her marriage. The community also doesnt allow young women to travel without supervision, so Devlin said its very unlikely that the girl would have crossed the border on her own. Reason, logic and human experience applied to the evidence does not convince me otherwise, Devlin said. Special prosecutor Peter Wilson argued that Oler should have known the girl would be subject to sexual activity following her marriage based on the nature of church doctrine and the disempowered role of women in the faith. During the trial, Devlin admitted into evidence contested records that were seized from a headquarters of the religious group. The marriage and priesthood records kept by the church had been seized by U.S. law enforcement when a search warrant was executed at the Yearning for Zion ranch in Texas in 2008. The court heard the priesthood records included audio dictations by Jeffs. One priesthood record describes a phone call that Jeffs made to Oler on June 23, 2004, ordering him to bring the child to the United States to be married. The court heard the girls marriage was documented by the records kept by Jeffs. Oler originally stood trial alongside Emily Blackmore and her husband Brandon Blackmore. Both were convicted of taking a 13-year-old girl across the border to marry a member of the same sect. Read more about: Pruvo(NEW YORK) -- Memorial Day is fast approaching and with it, the unofficial start of the summer travel season. If you haven't booked your summer vacation yet, here are three sites worth checking out. Pruvo Pruvo turns hotel booking on its head by saving the consumer money after they've already booked their room. According to the site, hotel prices drop, on average, 40 percent after a person has already booked. But who has the time to keep checking back, cancelling and rebooking the same hotel room? That's where Pruvo comes in. After you've made your free cancellation/fully refundable hotel reservation on any web site, email the confirmation to save@pruvo.com. If the price drops, the customer receives an email. The company helps them rebook their exact same room at a cheaper rate. The savings for the customer is the difference between the original price and the new price Pruvo found them. The company claims more then $2 million in savings so far. One recent example included a hotel reservation at the Courtyard Daytona Speedway. Originally booked on Booking.com, Pruvo was able to find the customer the exact same room for $125 less. Under Canvas If you love the idea of camping but hate the ideas of, you know, actually camping, Under Canvas is for you. The company runs luxury campsites around national parks. Each luxury campsite is made up of safari-inspired canvas lodging tents, which can hold up to seven people and are furnished with plush mattresses, luxe linens and a wood burning stove. Locations include: Yellowstone and Glacier in Montana; Moab and Zion in Utah; Mount Rushmore in South Dakota; Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee; the Grand Canyon; and Tucson, Arizona. Rates starting from $189 per night. Under Canvas has launched a #paywhatyoucan social campaign to make travel more accessible and affordable this summer. Anyone can apply on the Under Canvas site and the company said all applications will be considered for a reduced-price "glamping" vacation. Applications are due June 4. Follow @undercanvasofficial for more details. Cruisesheet Cruising is unlike any other form of travel and, for the novice, the pricing structure and add-ons can be hard to untangle. That's where Cruisesheet comes in. The site claims to be the only cruise agency that shows the actual, total price, including tax and port fees, avoiding surprises at checkout. For those looking for the lowest possible prices, Cruisesheet is the only cruise agency that lets you sort by cost per day, including taxes and fees. The site currently has cruises from $32 per day. A current list of the best deals can be found here. Copyright 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Dress Rehearsal Scene: On Don Quixote's Deathbed. Shengquan Jin as Miguel De Cervantes (Don Quixote), Yudun Wang as Cervantes' Servant (Sancho), Taicheng Li as Padre, Yunchan Zhou as The Housekeeper on 18th, Dulcinea (Aldonza) on 19th, Aileen Jialing Wu as Duke/Dr. Sanson Carrasco, and Hailun Zhou as Antonia. The Mandarin version of the classic musical Man of La Mancha, which is originally in English, will hit the stage on May 18 and 19 at Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Peter Norton Symphony Space, in New York City. With a book by Dale Wasserman, lyrics by Joe Darion, and music by Mitch Leigh, this musical Man of La Mancha is an adaption from Wasserman's 1959 teleplay I, Don Quixote, which is in turn inspired by Miguel de Cervantes' tremendously important 17th-century novel Don Quixote. This musical uses the structure of "a play within a play" to intertwine the adventurous experience of Don Quixote, the "mad" knight, and the mentality of Cervantes. This structure allows the audience to travel back and forth in time, thus transcending the boundary of space and temporality, and vividly presents this classic story to the audience in this modern context. Dress Rehearsal Scene: Don Quixote at the Inn. Shengquan Jin as Miguel De Cervantes (Don Quixote), Yudun Wang as Cervantes' Servant (Sancho), Dan Herlen as Governor, and Manli Li as Maria/Fermina. As one of the most enduring works of musical theatre, the original 1965 Broadway production of Man of La Mancha ran for 2,328 performances and won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and has even been revived four times on Broadway. With its incredible influence, this musical has played in many other countries around the world, with productions in various languages, including Mandarin. The Mandarin version of Man of La Mancha produced by Seven Ages with the script adapted by Cheng He has expanded the Mandarin musical market in China and has presented more than 400 performances. Yihui Shen, the producer of this Mandarin version of Man of La Mancha, talked about the project began. "I was so upset at the beginning of this year to know that the Mandarin version of Man of La Mancha which has brought me so much joy and amazement, was closing in China. I don't want to see this Mandarin version end its life, just like Don Quixote in the play. I believe this work should have a larger space to extend its influence and empower more people 'to reach the unreachable start!' (a quote from the play). I have met many great people working on musicals in New York but haven't found an opportunity to gather us together. So, I told myself, this project could be a start." The experience of participating in this production means a lot to the team, which is mostly made up of Chinese students studying in New York. The music director Kun Liu said, "Producing the Mandarin version of this musical, on the one hand, provides the Chinese community in New York an opportunity to appreciate the charm of musicals in Mandarin and on the other hand, this project enables us, who work on Chinese musicals in New York, to strengthen our bond." Dress Rehearsal Scene: Aldonza and Muleteers. Daiyao Zhong as Dulcinea (Aldonza) on 18th, The Housekeeper on 19th, Siyuan Cai as Pedro, Zihao Liu as Anselmo, Tsui C Wang as Tenorio, and Yu Xia as Jose/Paco. Zhenyu Yao (Victor), the director of this production, also shared how the experience working on this project resonates with the story of Cervantes, one of the main characters in the play, "Seeing Cervantes put on a play and create a world in front of fellow prisoners mirrors the process of the work we do as theatre artists. We create something out of nothing. We build worlds out through inspiration and collaboration." This highly anticipated Mandarin version of Man of La Mancha carries with it the aspirations of many talented and passionate young people. Shen told us that because they were in a foreign country where they knew that they could reproduce such a classic musical in their native language, everyone was so excited. At the time, one team member was heard saying, "We feel so filled with strength. We are undefeatable." The team wanted to allow as many people as possible to be involved in the upcoming production, and wish to provide the potential audience with a series of opportunities such as open rehearsals, to engage with the production process to move musical theater away from the label of "niche artform", and implement the idea of "theatre for all". Dress Rehearsal Scene: Golden Helmet. ShengquanJin as Miguel De Cervantes (Don Quixote), Yudun Wang as Cervantes' Servant (Sancho), and Kaidi Li as Barber. The author Sicheng Luo currently studies Comparative Literature and Translation Track at Brown University, and will graduate in 2020. LORTON, Va. - Maxsa Innovations, a small business selling electronic gadgets on the outskirts of Washington, was already reeling from the U.S.-China trade war when it realized it had a third superpower to manage: Amazon. Maxsa, which manufactures many of its products in China, had to start paying 25 percent more to import some goods after the United States introduced tariffs on Chinese-made products last summer. Faced with higher costs, Maxsa says it managed to persuade several small U.S. retailers to pay roughly 20 percent more for the company's wares. But its biggest customer, Amazon, drove a much harder bargain. Amazon, which buys products from Maxsa and then sells them to consumers, initially rejected Maxsa's attempt to charge more for a laser-guided parking aid called Park Right, forcing Maxsa to cut off sales to the online retailer. (Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.) "Please do what you can to help get this through," Maxsa founder Skip West pleaded in a January email to Amazon, part of an exchange reviewed by The Washington Post. "I felt horrible turning down $18,000 in orders this week." As President Donald Trump ramps up his trade war with China, other consumer-product companies report similar struggles getting big retailers to budge. With the internet driving ruthless price competition among Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot and others, large retailers are loath to pay more or to raise their own prices. That leaves importers of Chinese goods caught between the trade war and Americans' quest for the best possible deal. "Retailers are all about everyday low prices. They want to protect consumers, but they also want to protect their sales," said Jason Trice, president of Jasco Products, a lighting and electronics seller in Oklahoma City. "The Walmarts of the world don't just roll over." Small and midsize manufacturers without much ability to negotiate price increases with retailers and distributors say they have been absorbing much of the tariff costs themselves. Jasco, a third-generation family-run business that designs products in the United States and manufactures in China, has had to cut in half monthly bonus payments to its 400 employees and donate less to charity, Trice said. Until last week, Jasco was facing 10 percent tariffs on goods representing 80 percent of its sales. Then Trump raised those tariffs to 25 percent. Man & Machine, a Landover, Maryland, seller of waterproof computer keyboards, is cutting one workday out of every two weeks to avoid laying people off. "I said, 'We're not going to meet payroll if we keep going like this,' " said founder and chief executive Clifton Broumand. Scosche Industries, an Oxnard, California, electronics maker, says tariffs cost the company about half of its profits last year. Profit-sharing payments to employees have fallen to close to zero, and the company is desperately attempting to shift production from China to Vietnam, chief executive Roger Alves said. After two months of negotiation, Amazon agreed to pay Maxsa 5.5 percent more for three versions of Park Right - a device that attaches to a garage ceiling and beams a laser to a fixed spot below, helping people park in tight spaces. "Companies of all sizes throughout the supply chain are adjusting to increased costs resulting from new tariffs," Amazon said in an emailed statement. "We're working closely with our vendors to try to make this adjustment as smooth as possible." It declined to comment on its dealings with Maxsa. Home Depot and the National Retail Federation declined to comment. Walmart did not respond to a request for comment. West, a gizmo enthusiast named Small Business Executive of the Year by the Consumer Technology Association in 2016, founded Maxsa in 2003. He and his wife, Beth Citrin, run the company from their home in Northern Virginia, where they employ six people. Many of the company's products are electronic, including a motion-sensing lantern that lights up when a person approaches a home's front door. Others are lower-tech, including the Escaper Buddy, a pair of plastic orange tracks that give drivers traction to dislodge their cars from snow or mud. Says Maxsa's website: "Never stay stuck again!" A natural salesman who has hawked his wares on QVC, West immediately began showing off his products during a visit to the company's warehouse in Lorton, Virgina, this week. "If you want to add a light outside your house and you don't have an electrician you want to spend $300 for - two screws, four C-cell batteries, it's a motion activated light!" he said, brandishing a lantern. Thousands of boxes from China and Taiwan were stacked in neat rows, waiting to be loaded onto UPS trucks and sent off to retailers. Maxsa sells to a variety of distributors and auto-related websites, but over the years Amazon has become its most important customer. So in November, several months after the tariffs took effect, Maxsa asked Amazon for a price increase of roughly 20%. Some companies use Amazon's platform to sell their wares directly to consumers. Maxsa has a more traditional arrangement, with Amazon buying goods from it and reselling them. Amazon sells about 100 Maxsa products, about half of which Maxsa makes in China. But the gadgetmaker limited its price-increase request to several versions of Park Right, which fell under a tariff category of goods used for "electrical signaling, safety or traffic control." The gizmo is one of Maxsa's top sellers, with Amazon ordering hundreds a week. "I'm amazed how many people have trouble parking," West told The Post. Maxsa initially submitted its request online, through an Amazon portal, and waited for a response. When it did not hear back immediately, Maxsa decided to stop selling Park Right devices to Amazon, rejecting the retailer's weekly emailed requests to order the product at the old prices. West said he is not sure Amazon really noticed. "We literally stopped selling to them to show them how serious we were, and it didn't seem to matter that much," he said. "We're a little drop in the bucket to them." Eventually, Amazon rejected the price-increase request, West said. So Maxsa asked an outside marketing firm to contact Amazon in mid-January with a more modest request - an increase of 13 to 14%. When Amazon did not reply, the marketing firm followed up six days later. "My vendor is really in a tough spot with these items," the firm wrote on Jan. 24. "Can you, please, help us push the tariff price increases through, today/tomorrow?" Four days later, an Amazon manager replied with bad news. He could not approve such a large increase, he said, especially considering that Amazon's cost to purchase the device was considerably higher than Maxsa's cost to import it. The manager said Amazon could pay 3% more. West decided to take over the email exchange, replying the same day. "Please allow these increases of 13-14% to go through so we can start selling [to] Amazon again," he wrote. Amazon stuck to its 3 percent offer, calling it a fair share of the burden. The Amazon manager also mistakenly referred to Park Right as falling under a 10 percent tariff - prompting West to immediately set him straight. The tariff was 25%, not 10, he wrote. He also offered a reassurance: "Of course if the tariffs go away we will lower our prices," West said. Amazon thanked him for the clarification and said its internal policies dictated that price increases for products facing a 25 percent tariff should not exceed 5%. After a few more exchanges West managed to nudge that up to 5.5%, but Amazon said it would go no further. West accepted the offer and started shipping the Park Right again. As a UPS truck departed from Maxsa's warehouse with a load of boxes for Amazon this week, West said Amazon's pricing affects what other big retailers pay. Maxsa is negotiating a deal with another large retailer, he said, "and they have to be clear they can sell for less than Amazon." Amazon is "the benchmark," he said, "and everyone sets against it." John McAfee, the eccentric antivirus pioneer known for publicity stunts and brushes with the law, announced he must "go dark" on Twitter, where he frequently comments on cryptocurrencies and has recently said government forces are out to get him. "Developing events have made it necessary for John McAfee to go dark," someone wrote on his account Thursday. "Please be advised that this account will be operated by staff until further notice." McAfee and his wife didn't immediately respond to messages seeking comment. About 14 hours later his Twitter account posted a photo of him and @theemrsmcafee "in their new backyard." President Donald Trump on Friday announced a delay in imposing tariffs on imported vehicles and parts from the European Union, Japan and other nations for 180 days to pursue negotiations, avoiding opening another front in his tariff battle with some of America's key allies. The Commerce Department submitted its findings in February to the president after conducting a probe into whether car imports pose a national-security threat. Trump had until Saturday to decide how to respond, including whether to impose tariffs or defer any action. In a proclamation released in Washington, Trump said he agreed with the conclusion by Commerce that imports of cars and certain auto parts harm national security. The order, however, softened language contained in an earlier draft seen by Bloomberg, which had sought to reach "agreements that limit or restrict" exports of autos and auto parts from the EU, Japan and other nations -- suggesting the U.S. could seek to impose quotas. Instead, the White House order on Friday had less pointed wording, directing the U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to pursue negotiations of agreements "to address the threatened impairment of the national security." "Domestic conditions of competition must be improved by reducing imports," the proclamation stated. Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler pared declines in Frankfurt following Trump's proclamation. General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles opened lower in New York trading. The order indicated that Canada, Mexico and South Korea would not face any tariffs because they had already negotiated deals with the Trump administration. "I have also considered the renegotiated United States-Korea Agreement and the recently signed USMCA, which, when implemented, could help to address the threatened impairment of national security," it said. Canada and Mexico negotiated side letters to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement that spare them from new U.S. duties on cars, subject to a cap. The U.S. renegotiated a trade deal with South Korea last year, which included a provision to double the number of cars U.S. automakers can sell in the Asian nation without restrictions from local safety standards. The EU and Japan have rejected the idea of quotas, even those that allow for some growth like the arrangements that Mexico and Canada negotiated with the U.S. in the Nafta talks. Commerce started the investigation last year under Section 232 of a 1960s trade law, the same provision the administration used to slap tariffs on steel and aluminum. The car probe covered imports of vehicles including SUVs, vans and light trucks, as well as auto parts. The delay may avoid a major escalation of tensions with U.S. allies as the administration faces a deepening trade war with China, which is disrupting supply chains and casting a cloud over the global economy. The move will allow more time for the Trump administration to continue ongoing negotiations for trade accords with the EU and Japan, major car exporters to the U.S. who have staged lobbying campaigns against any tariffs. Trump has used the threat of auto tariffs of as much as 25% to gain leverage in those talks. Companies and governments from Europe to Asia have warned Trump that tariffs on car imports would hurt the U.S. economy and disrupt the global auto industry. "Current tariffs have added cost, reduced the industry's global competitiveness, and created tremendous uncertainty resulting in slowed investment and growth," said John Bozzella, the president of Global Automakers, trade group that represents automakers and suppliers based outside the U.S., in a statement on Thursday. The National Automobile Dealers Association estimates that the tariffs would add as much as $2,270 to the cost of U.S.-built cars and $6,875 to the cost of imported cars and trucks. - - - Bloomberg's Andrew Mayeda and Craig Trudell contributed. ALTON Alton Steel, Inc. has taken delivery of a refurbished Kieserling WDH125 bar peeler. In February, the ASI board approved the $700,000 project. The equipment complements ASIs existing offerings of hot-rolled, SBQ cut-to-length bars and bar-in-coil capability added just in April 2018. The Kieserling brand holds a premier reputation for equipment in this category, said Jim Hrusovsky, President/CEO. We are pleased to acquire this unit, which is in excellent condition, along with its complement of material handling equipment. Site preparation has been underway for several months and the foundations are now complete. The project is on schedule for a July run-off and is intended to be ready for orders in August. With about 250 employees, Alton Steel sells steel to manufacturers and distributors throughout the U.S. For more details visit altonsteel.com. Giles Clarke | UNOCHA via Getty Images Illinois Conservation Police officers are urging boaters to take safety precautions on the water this summer as a part of the National Safe Boating Week that starts today. Among other precautions, officers are reminding boat operators to stay sober and carry proper safety equipment, including life jackets, while they are on the water. GODFREY Aside from a smattering of evident supporters, Lewis and Clark Community Colleges 200-seat Trimpe Building was filled Tuesday to near-capacity with students, employees and citizens calling for the colleges new board chairman, David Heyen, to resign following outrage spurred by multiple Facebook posts viewed as anti-Muslim, inaccurate and incendiary. Im David Heyen, he read from a pre-written statement. I am relatively new to the concept of social media. I shared some posts in order to generate conversation about various topics on my personal Facebook page. He continued, This wasnt done in my official capacity as a trustee. This is now being used as a distraction by a small faction of people who are not happy that Ive asked tough questions of the trustees and sought to hold the administration accountable, and provide transparency in the spending of tax dollars. He read that he aimed to help the administration become the best community college in the state, while being fiscally responsible. He said the college has more than $130 million in long-term debt and criticized the salaries paid by the college and alluded to non-bid contracts given to associates of the administration. We refused to be distracted, he said. Prior to the meeting, between 75 and 100 protesters gathered on campus, calling for Heyens resignation over the posts. The colleges communications office last week issued a direct rebuke of the chairmans social media conduct. A statement, in part, read, Lewis and Clark remains committed to modeling our core values of service, respect, responsibility, compassion and integrity. These comments and posts do not represent the culture of Lewis and Clark. An action item on the agenda called for the board to submit an official, yet merely advisory, call for Heyen to resign. Trustee Dwight Werts, in a read statement, said he feared Heyens rhetoric would sacrifice the future and accreditation of the college. He said the institution is built on diversity and inclusiveness and said Heyens actions were in direct conflict with Lewis and Clarks mission. If this institution is as important to Mr. Heyen as it is the rest of us, he should resign from this board, Werts said. Heyen ally and new Trustee Kevin Rust called for due process in the matter, as college officials are conducting their own investigation into Heyens conduct. Also a Heyen ally and Vice Chairman Julie Johnson said she considered the criticism against Heyen a criminality and an attempt to destroy his character. She urged people to speak to those close to Heyen to know who he is as a person. The way this situation has played out really scares me, she said. It makes me wonder who they will try to silence next. The remark attracted laughter and jeers from the crowd. Heyen responded by calling on college security officers to remove those making the disturbance but they made no reaction to the order, and the meeting continued. The measure to compel Heyen to resign failed with the help of Heyen himself who did not recuse himself from the vote, despite the inherent presence conflict, and in-line votes from Johnson, Rust and other board newcomer, Charles Hanfelder. Trustees Robert Watson, Brenda Walker McCain and Dwight Werts, who have served on the board since 1977, 1999 and 2009, respectively. The same vote parted with the approval of a measure to modify board policies that McCain said would shift personnel power away from President Dale Chapman to the board and its staunch majority. Its against everything we learned in board training, she said. Watson asked for an extension to read the bill, as the board was give 48 hours to give it a look, and it was released on Mothers Day. That motion was denied. EAST ALTON A Collinsville man has been sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to aggravated cruelty to animals. William Ledbetter, 51, was one of two men police said were seen Oct. 18 in East Alton stomping on something and placing it in a dog food bag. A witness called police and gave a description of one of the men. EDWARDSVILLE A committee of five Madison County Board members was appointed Wednesday as a go between with the states attorneys 0ffice on several pieces of pending litigation. After a two-hour executive session at Wednesdays county board meeting, Mike Walters, R-Godfrey; Don Moore, R-Troy; Mick Madison, R-Bethalto, Bruce Malone, D-Alton; and Mike Parkinson, D-Granite City, were named to represent the board on specific legal matters. The group was appointed to expedite procedural issues with pending litigation, according to Madison County States Attorney Tom Gibbons. He said their discussions with his office would fall under attorney-client privilege and not be subject to the Illinois Open Meetings Act. Part of the reason for the group is to avoid calling a special county board or executive committee meeting every time the Madison County States Attorneys Office needs to discuss litigation or receive approval to file documents. Gibbons said two current cases the court fight between Auditor Rick Faccin and the administration over access to financial records, now working its way through the Madison County Courthouse, and a federal lawsuit filed by former Madison County Community Development Director Kristen Poshard over her firing have created the need. While the county is named in numerous lawsuits, it is generally because the county has the ultimate authority to settle and pay the suits, according to Gibbons. In these cases the county board is an actual party to the suit because it approved a resolution for the Auditors Office to provide the financial information to the administration; and approved Poshards firing. In other business, the board: Approved a $200,000 loan to the city of Edwardsville for the planned Plummer Family Park. In April the county board approved a $750,000 loan for the park construction. The April loan was under Madison County Community Developments Urban Development Action Grant; the proposed loan is under the PEP program. Approved $180,000 for the countys share of the cost of construction of the Friedel Bridge carrying Albers Lane over Rocky Branch Creek in Bethalto. Approved a number of appointments, including: the reappointment of Madison County Engineer Mark Gvillo, Phillip Taylor to the Madison County Board of Review, Phillip A. White to the Madison County Housing Authority, Charles F. Johansen to the Wood River Drainage and Levee District, and Alan Schaake to the Glen Carbon Fire Protection District. The appointment of Dr. James Perulfi to the Madison County Health Advisory Committee was pulled from the agenda. Approved a proclamation declaring May Motorcycle Awareness Month in Madison County. Reach reporter Scott Cousins at 618-208-6447. A former defense and intelligence contractor who sold classified documents to the Chinese government, and then claimed that he was actually working a reverse sting to expose Chinese spying methods, was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison for delivering U.S. secrets to a foreign government. Kevin P. Mallory, 62, of Leesburg, Virginia, is an Army veteran who also worked for the Central Intelligence Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency, and had a top-secret security clearance until he stopped working as a CIA contractor in 2012. He then launched his own consulting business. But five years later, Mallory's business was failing, and prosecutors said he was in danger of losing his $900,000 home in Leesburg. In February 2017, he was contacted on the social networking site LinkedIn by a recruiter for the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, a think tank that prosecutors believe is a front for Chinese spy activity. Mallory then made two trips to China, was given a modified mobile phone by Chinese officials to conduct secret chats, and was paid a total of $25,000 in cash in exchange for documents, the evidence showed. The government said eight of those documents contained classified information, though it was not clear whether six of them were ever actually sent. "Your object is to gain information, and my object is to be paid for it," Mallory said in one message to the Chinese, according to court filings. Then in May 2017, Mallory approached the CIA to tell the agency about his operation, saying he was being recruited by Chinese intelligence. He turned over the modified mobile phone, where the FBI found his messages with the Chinese. Mallory claimed he had handed over only two "essentially worthless" unclassified white papers on policy in exchange for the $25,000, his lawyers said. Prosecutors said that the documents were considered secret and related to Americans working undercover for the CIA, and that Mallory had once been their handler. Prosecutors noted that Mallory had previously been accused of sharing classified information with a defense contractor in 2010, while trying to start his consulting business, and his security clearance was revoked. Mallory's lawyers argued in a sentencing brief that he "provided extremely valuable intelligence to the United States, namely a Samsung cell phone containing a covert communication application used by Chinese intelligence." They said the value of what Mallory provided to the United States far exceeded the value of what he provided to the Chinese, and the courtroom was then closed Friday to allow both sides to discuss that information in detail, though members of the CIA, the DIA and the FBI were allowed to remain. Mallory spoke only briefly Friday in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. "My love for my country has never wavered," he said. "I love my family very deeply." His attorneys had advised him not to discuss the case itself pending an appeal. Mallory was arrested in June 2017 and elected to take his case to trial, which was closely watched by representatives of several intelligence agencies. In June 2018, a jury convicted Mallory on all four espionage counts presented by the government. U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis then dismissed two of the counts involving the actual delivery of the documents, because prosecutors hadn't proved that Mallory was within the Eastern District of Virginia when the documents were sent. But his conviction on a charge of conspiracy to gather or deliver defense information to aid a foreign government remained. Voluntary federal sentencing guidelines called for a life sentence for Mallory. But Ellis said he didn't impose that because no intelligence assets were revealed to the Chinese. "If I had concluded that sources had been compromised," the judge said, "I would impose a far more severe sentence." Ellis said he imposed 20 years, plus a concurrent five-year sentence for lying to the FBI, to send a message that "if you choose to play footsie with another country, and give information to another country, you have made a decision to commit a crime." Mallory is one of three former intelligence officers charged in recent years with helping China. Jerry Chun Shing Lee, a former CIA case officer long suspected in the intelligence community of being a mole for the Chinese government, pleaded guilty this month in Virginia and will also be sentenced by Ellis. Ron Rockwell Hansen, a former Defense Intelligence Agency officer, pleaded guilty in Utah in March in connection with his attempted transmission of defense information to China. "Unfortunately, this case is not an isolated incident," Assistant Attorney General John Demers said after Mallory's conviction last year. "The Chinese government is a sophisticated and determined adversary." Illinois child welfare agency is so intent on keeping children with their parents even when they have strong evidence of abuse that it has sometimes left those children in grave danger, a study released Wednesday found. Gov. J.B. Pritzker ordered the study of the Department of Children and Family Services Intact Family Services unit after the recent deaths of three children. That unit is responsible for overseeing households in which children are left at home after allegations of abuse or neglect. Illinois has been lauded for having one of the lowest foster care entry rates of any state in the U.S. Yet researchers found a profound failure to communicate within the department; overburdened staffers; staffers so convinced that prosecutors wouldnt agree with requests to remove children from homes that they didnt bother to ask; and cases in which evidence and suspicions of abuse or neglect were brushed aside. Keeping children with their families is a laudable goal, said Michael Cull, one of the studys authors. But over time for a variety of reasons it becomes an overriding priority that leads to decisions that (the agency) may not even know they are making. The study by the University of Chicagos Chapin Hall research center was ordered before last months beating death of A.J. Freund, a 5-year-old whose parents are charged with first-degree murder. Nonetheless, issues surrounding his short life and violent death from extensive contact the family had with child welfare workers to a determination that there wasnt credible evidence to support placing the boy in protective custody even though he suggested his mother was responsible for bruises on his body are examined by the researchers. Illinois is not the only state with a child welfare system under fire. In fact, according to the study, the rate of death due to child maltreatment in Illinois in 2016 2.16 per 100,000 children was actually a bit lower than the national figure of 2.36 per 100,000 children. Some 501 children died between 2014 and 2018 while being involved with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services or previously involved with it. In one case, allegations of abuse were determined unfounded because the welts that an investigator had seen on a childs torso were no longer visible when the child was examined at the hospital. That same case also illustrates just how toothless Illinois child welfare system is. According to the report, the childs mother, who had a history of domestic abuse, agreed not to allow her boyfriend near her children only to simply not honor the informal agreement and give her boyfriend further access to her children. The report does not include the names of the children, but one of the three children whose deaths prompted the study was allegedly killed by his mothers boyfriend. Another major problem is that investigators and case workers are often in the dark about the extent of the problems in households where abuse or neglect is alleged. In two cases in which children were killed, Both families had extensive history with DCFS but reviews noted a substantial amount of history was inaccessible due to cases being expunged or purged, the researchers wrote. Absent such details, child welfare staffers are forced to rely on familys accurate self-reporting on their history, the report said. At the same time, important information sometimes does not make it to the case workers whose job it is to monitor and manage the families. In two recent cases in which the children who died were allowed to remain in the home but under the agencys supervision, there was no evidence of ongoing collaboration between investigators and Intact Family Services case managers. According to the study, most Intact Family Services cases are handled by private providers, with the state keeping only the high risk cases. While not critical of the private providers, the study found that because the pay rate decreases after the six months that intact cases are expected to last, the process to extend the initial rate, which requires justification and approval, is not often pursued. Further complicating the matter is that the department also sends high-risk cases to private providers when its caseload is too high, said one of the lead authors of the study, Dana A. Weiner. The departments director, Marc D. Smith, acknowledged that children who remain in their home after allegations of abuse or neglect are in greater danger than any other children his agency deals with. Intact is the place where the risk is the highest, Smith said at a media briefing on the study. Chapin Hall made a number of recommendations, including making it more difficult to close Intact Family Services cases. Researchers also recommend improving the quality of supervision and beefing up communication throughout the child welfare system. While Illinois low removal rate has received national (positive) attention, it is nonetheless important to retain a critical lens when examining risk and safety in each individual cases, the report says. School supplies for some classes in the Canadian Yukon include headlamps, sleeping bags, snow boots and hiking boots. It helps to know how to drive a snowmobile or ATV. Regular classes involve getting out on the land. The area is steeped in First Nations culture, and education about indigenous peoples is a mandatory part of the curriculum. A bison hunt is a common field trip. Students and teachers from Porter Creek Secondary School in Whitehorse - Yukon's only city, with 25,000 of the province's 35,000 people - killed a 1,500-pound bison during a hunt on a field trip in March, and feasted on its meat with classmates and parents earlier this month. Three teachers and three government guides led eighth and 10th grade students on a four-day trip into the wilderness filled with camping, hiking, ice fishing and bison-stalking. "The Yukon is a very unique place in Canada where outdoor education with these type of trips are still happening," Terry Milne, a teacher who helped plan the trip, said in a phone interview. "Part of the importance of hunting trips like this is teaching hunting ethics. Hunting is a huge part of the culture here. You can't grow and farm things up here like you can other places. Hunting is an important part of providing food and living sustainably." This was Porter Creek's first school-sponsored hunting trip. The excursions are usually organized by the nearby elementary school, teachers said, so older students can partner with younger ones. But when that trip fell through this school year, teachers saw a high school-only trip as a way to combine lessons from multiple classes - geography, history, First Nations education, math and others - into a field trip. "These skills that kids learn growing up in this environment, they're important," teacher Brad Gustafson said. The group planned to traverse miles of terrain on snowmobiles while looking for bison, but unseasonably warm weather before the trip melted much of the snow pack. Instead, they rented fat-tire bicycles, a common mode of transportation, and set off, hoping the bikes normally used for recreation could carry them through mountainous passes and over frozen lakes. By the first morning of the trip, it was clear they worked, and the bikes were quiet enough to allow the group to successfully find a bison nearby. Hunters in recent years have complained the animals have grown too wise to hunters. Though bison are native to Yukon, the provincial government says they were "extirpated" from the region 800 years ago. A herd of 170 was reintroduced to Yukon from Alberta in the 1980s, and the herd has since grown to close to 1,500 animals. The government encourages locals to hunt bison to maintain a stable population size, and sometimes complains that hunters haven't taken enough of the bovines in a season, according to the CBC. "They are really difficult to hunt," Milne said. "A lot of the time you're just looking for them. You're hiking, you're using your binoculars and tracking the ground. And then you find them and they're up somewhere you wouldn't expect, and you think, how did a bison get up there?" But by the end of their first day of hiking, teacher Alexandra Morrison and a government hunting guide spotted the bison they'd been tracking all day as the group trekked back down a mountain on the way to camp. Morrison, one of the group's two designated shooters, took the animal from 80 yards away. The group hiked to the animal and held a moment of thanks, each person placing their hands on the bison and expressing gratitude. Then as night fell, they switched on their headlamps and field dressed the animal, bringing the tenderloin back to camp for a midnight snack. During the recent community feast, dishes included the animal's heart and tongue, along with more traditional cuts of meat. "It was amazing," Morrison said. "The northern lights were out. The wolves were howling in the distance. It was the most wonderful, respectful experience." EDITORS NOTE: This is a weekly column provided by the Great Rivers & Routes Tourism Bureau that discusses the impact of tourism on our region. I must admit that I was utterly impressed with the taste of not only our special Farmhouse 66 Collaboration Brew this week, but more importantly the professionalism and cooperation of our five local craft brewers. Old Bakery Beer Company, Peel Brewing, Grafton Brewhaus, Recess Brewing and Old Herald Brewery & Distillery, were all happy to join forces, ideas and promotions to celebrate our region and the craft industry. Great Rivers & Routes Craft Beer Week 2019 was a success. If you missed out, some of the brewers may have left over on tap, but thats a chance. If you do find it, try it fast. If they are already out, try another seasonal brew and dream about next years collaboration! We continue to welcome international guests to town this past week, with groups from China, UK and Germany again! We also welcomed a special presentation from our friends at the Looking for Lincoln Heritage Area and our 16th president Abraham Lincoln. Mother Nature started working with us slowly this week as the rivers continue to inch down. Argosy Casino was able to open and much of the water is going back into the banks of the Mississippi, Illinois and Missouri rivers. Lets hope it stays that way. This has been one of the longest flood periods on record. Not to mention, it has also been a crest record in some parts, but certainly in the top 7 of all recorded floods. This weekend, you can support one impacted business, the Grafton Winery as they celebrate their annual Blues Fest at the Vineyard location at Eckerts! Show your support and sip some wine and enjoy the day long sounds of some of the best blues music in the Midwest! Or, if youve been itching to drive the Route 66 alignment from Springfield to St. Louis, this weekend is their annual passport day event. Be sure to stop in towns like Virden, Litchfield, Carlinville, Staunton, Hamel, Mt. Olive, Edwardsville, Collinsville, Glen Carbon and more! Almost each town along the way will have a pit stop for you to enjoy the nostalgia of the Route 66 era! Mamma Mia comes to the stage at the Alton Little Theater and our haunted tours are in full swing. Also, Cahokia Mounds will be celebrating kids day this weekend with lots of great activities for all ages! We can find so much to see and do in this region of great rivers and routes. Check out all of the possibilities at www.RiversandRoutes.com. And, dont forget about the Memorial Day holiday coming up soon! Edwardsvilles Bonifest and Collinsvilles new Memorial Day Fireworks celebration are all on tap. See you around the great rivers and routes! Stawar is president and CEO of the Great Rivers & Routes Tourism Bureau, which works for the vested interests of hospitalitypartners in Madison, Jersey, Greene, Calhoun, Montgomery and Macoupin counties. WASHINGTON - District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, said she opposes President Donald Trump's plan to put himself at the center of a redesigned Fourth of July celebration in the nation's capital, expressing concerns about what could be major logistical changes and the resulting strain on police and emergency services. During an interview Thursday, Bowser said she would prefer that the event on the Mall - which has not undergone wholesale changes to its planning since the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 - remain in its current format. "We are very happy to host the nation's fireworks here every year, and over the years it's become a pretty well-oiled machine," Bowser said. "That is our primary concern: How do people have a good time, celebrate and be safe on the Mall and getting home." The Washington Post reported last week that Trump wants to overhaul the nation's premier Independence Day event, which attracts hundreds of thousands of people and is broadcast live on national television. The president wants to move the massive fireworks display from its usual place on the Mall and perhaps deliver a speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The news ignited fears among the president's critics that he might try to transform one of Washington's most popular and nonpartisan traditions into what would effectively be a campaign rally. Some Democratic lawmakers said his appearance could inject partisan and divisive notes into what is normally a celebration of national unity. Trump has become intimately involved in planning the details of the new event, which would be called "A Salute to America," administration officials told The Post. For the city, however, the president's designs entail a host of planning headaches. The president's appearance would require moving the fireworks to a new location. Federal officials said last week that the likely new launch spot would be West Potomac Park, less than a mile southwest of the usual location near the Washington Monument. That could require a new police presence in that area, Bowser said, as well as additional security to cover the president's movements to and from the Mall for his speech. "If we have to put more police to cover his movements, more police for the fireworks and an additional location for police where the fireworks are going to get set off, that puts a strain on us," Bowser said. "We won't allow it to impact neighborhood safety. So the chief will have to think about if he needs additional resources." The closure of roads for Trump's travel could affect visitors' access to nearby Metro stations, which are heavily used on that day, as bus service is typically limited and parking is nearly impossible. D.C. Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice Kevin Donahue said the relocation of the fireworks could also have "ripple effects" on where the crowd gathers as people jostle for a better view of the show. "Anytime you're dealing with fireworks I think you have to be very careful, and a system of setting off the fireworks with that many thousands of people has worked for us pretty well," Bowser said. "We're concerned about that. And anytime you move the president, if the president is moving during that time, figuring out how to get people in and out . . . could be problematic." Asked whether she would prefer that the event remain as is, Bowser simply said: "Yes." "The president can speak at any event that he wants to speak at," she added. "And my great hope would be that he recognizes that the event is a unifying event that celebrates the birthday of our nation." White House Deputy Press Secretary Judd Deere said planning for the event among federal agencies is moving forward. "President Trump loves America and wants to help all Americans celebrate our Nation's Independence on July 4," Deere wrote in an email. "The White House, along with the National Park Service and the Department of Interior, continue to make preparations for the day's activities." Trump lashed out at D.C. officials after the collapse of his last effort to organize a marquee patriotic event centered on himself and his supporters. In August, after Trump canceled a military parade in the District amid concerns about its high cost, the president blamed the city in a tweet. "The local politicians who run Washington, D.C. (poorly) know a windfall when they see it," Trump wrote on Twitter. "When asked to give us a price for holding a great celebratory military parade, they wanted a number so ridiculously high that I cancelled it." Bowser responded with her own tweet: "Yup, I'm Muriel Bowser, mayor of Washington DC, the local politician who finally got thru to the reality star in the White House with the realities ($21.6M) of parades/events/demonstrations in Trump America (sad)." Donahue said federal officials have been "verbally briefing" the District's law enforcement and fire and emergency medical services agencies on the evolving Fourth of July plans. However, final details for the event have not been shared, and no cost estimates have been produced. Terrence Gainer, a former executive assistant police chief for the District, said the sudden changes sought by the president will be difficult, but not impossible, to pull off. "This will be painful to manage," said Gainer, who oversaw the city's July 4 security plans in the aftermath of 9/11. However, he said the city's long experience with hosting protests and large events such as the presidential inauguration showed they could rise to the challenge. If the president speaks, officers will have to anticipate a boisterous, rally-like atmosphere similar that of a campaign event, Gainer said. That would require tighter security, with more roads, transit and bridges closed. "He's sure to be a gigantic draw," Gainer said. "There's going to be a lot more people. . . . It's just going to be a lot of work. A lot more people to move. A lot more law enforcement. It's going to be a huge event. Apparently that's what [Trump] likes." Kim Dine, a former assistant D.C. police chief and former chief of the U.S. Capitol Police, likened preparing for July 4 as "being in a ballet," with "police as the conductor." "There are so many agencies and jurisdictions that have to be coordinated," he said. "It's not as simple as locking down this area or that area. There has to be a plan . . . if the president comes, that adds another host of concerns, in terms of traffic and safety." - - - The Washington Post's Juliet Eilperin, Josh Dawsey and Marissa Lang contributed to this report. We are at the time of year when commencement speakers are delivering charges to our college graduates that they hope will help them go forth and accomplish. Some will describe golden possibilities to repair the world. Others might be more pragmatic and offer practical advice about getting started. Whether it is inspirational or instructional guidance, I believe the three most important words we can say to our college graduate is, Embrace the zigzag. Why a sloppy zigzag when a drive on the autobahn can be so much more exciting? My advice comes from the opportunity I had to help twenty-somethings tell their stories. They wrote their piece to find their peace, and the process taught us some simple wants of this group, which include: Contributing to the world in some meaningful way: Paychecks were important but not sufficient. Aligning meaning and compensation was difficult. Applying their creativity and their personal stamp: Baby-boomers like me grew up following marching orders, but this group prefers to personalize their work in the context of an organizations mission. Learning by doing: Formal education is not valued anywhere near as highly as real-life experience (importance rating 6.6 versus 9.2 on a scale of 1 to 10 in At My Pace survey). Building their brand: In a world where the ladder is rickety, and the gig economy is thriving, our newly minted graduates know that they need to build their brand to be self-reliant. Staying healthy: The gap between expectations and reality is chock full of rejection, anxiety and depression. Some of this is on us who protected our kids from experiencing rejection and instead fed them a bowl of promises and potential. So why embrace the zigzag? Because it is the best way to figure things out incrementally. Zigzags tamp down expectations and allow us to experience a range of views, a few steps at a time. We get smarter along the way. A few stories of twenty-something zigzagging illustrate my point. Meet Daniel, who is a software engineer by day and fantasy writer by night. Since graduating college, he has worked at a company that leads the market in online shopping (guess who), then went to a start-up that focused on environmental sustainability, and is now thinking that he cant possibly write the book inside him if he doesnt quit work and hole up. Daniel wrote a few chapters awhile back and made them accessible to an online community. Before he knew it, he had 1,000 readers, which is a great beginning for building an authors platform. However, because life is never simple, he is weighing an offer to work at an elite technology company (think search engine) or stay home, write his novel and offer an after-school coding camp to ease finances. Someway, somehow, Daniel will zag his way into writing while keeping his finances and software skills on solid ground. Then there is Kimberly, who as an attorney left law so that she could advocate for deeply held causes such as access to health care and sex worker rights. In her 20s, she came out and describes herself as a consensually non-monogamous, polyamorous person living with my family my two life partners. Beyond how she defines her personal life, Kimberlys zigzag has included being a tight-rope-walker instructor, a yoga teacher and a forensic anthropologist. This fall, she will be entering a doctoral program in sociology to investigate the ways that law interacts with alternative family structures the perfect symbiosis of her beliefs and training. At 32, Kimberly has found passion and peace and looks forward to making her mark and advancing her beliefs with a legal basis. Finally, meet Carla. When I first met Carla she was harkening to a moment in her life where she was a recent college graduate with no money and piecemeal work. Living in Chicago and trying to make ends meet, she nannied, worked as a temp at Groupon, fought depression, and spent her free time just walking, because walking is free. Carla decided she needed a new beginning and moved to Colorado, whose great outdoors was appealing. The transition was difficult. She began at a well-established company where she felt pigeonholed and dissatisfied. Eventually she moved to a start-up where she developed project management and other technical skills and co-started a philanthropy program. For the first time in her life, she can envision a career path and is happy that, I no longer feel anxious or overwhelmed. My take-away from these stories and others is that embracing the zigzag is the best advice we can offer. Even if the process means skinned knees and bruised egos, the experiences will serve our college graduates well. They will learn in the way that works for them best, and just like Daniel, Kimberly and Carla, their zigzag will bring them to a place of belonging. Jill Ebstein is the editor of the At My Pace series of books and the founder of Sized Right Marketing, a Newton, Massachusetts, consulting firm. She wrote this for InsideSources.com. When I speak on college campuses, I ask students to write the amount of debt they anticipate graduating with on a slip of paper. In a recent class of 25 undergraduates at Boston College, just eight will graduate without debt, either because of full scholarships or family wealth. For the rest, an imposing debt looms $40,000 on average, but with six reporting more than $150,000. Can you imagine being 22 and having $150,000 in debt? This is generational abuse. Previous generations were propelled forward by free or very low-cost higher education at land-grant universities and robust free college systems in states like California and New York. Entrepreneur Dariel Garner attended both undergraduate and graduate school at University of California, Berkeley, free between 1968 and 1975. I got a world-class education for free, he told me. Within decades, hed amassed a multi-million dollar fortune from several enterprises. Garner blames the withdrawal of state support for public higher education as a driving factor for the ballooning debt of todays grads. We used to tax the rich and invest in public goods like affordable higher education, said Garner. Today, we cut taxes on the rich and then borrow from them. Overall state funding for public colleges has fallen $7 billion below its 2008 level. Colleges have cut faculty and increased tuition and fees, effectively shifting the bills onto students and their families. Many students drop out, unable to finish their schooling due to rising costs. Putting tens of millions families into debt servitude serves no economic or societal purpose. Its damaging not only to individual finances but to society and the economy as a whole. A mountain of research shows that student debt is tripping up the next generation, just as they attempt to hit their earnings stride. Student debt delays household formation, discourages entrepreneurship and public service, and thwarts homeownership, among other forms of wealth building. No wonder a shrinking percentage of college graduates feel their degree is a ticket to the middle class, according to a long-running survey of U.S. social attitudes. According to the Federal Reserve, monthly student loan payments increased from $227 in 2005 to $393 in 2016. More than 44 million households are saddled with student debt averaging in excess of $37,000. The total student debt burden of $1.5 trillion now exceeds total credit card debt, and is only second to consumer mortgages. One in five of these loans are in default. And those who attended predatory for-profit institutions are disproportionately likely to fall behind on their student loan payments. The only beneficiary of this debacle is a parasitical student loan industry a leech on the economy. Nearly all Democratic presidential candidates have put forward plans to address the issue. There is more consensus about the need to go big on college affordability than ever, observed Mark Huelsman, a policy researcher at Demos. Senator Elizabeth Warren has a comprehensive plan to reduce existing student debt and establish universal free public college. The enormous student debt burden weighing down our economy isnt the result of laziness or irresponsibility, she said. Its the result of a government that has consistently put the interests of the wealthy and well-connected over the interests of working families. Warrens plan would cancel up to $50,000 in student loan debt for households with income under $100,000 and provide some debt relief for households with incomes up to $250,000. She also proposes a new federal investment in public higher education that would eliminate the cost of tuition and fees at every public college, splitting the costs with states. The one-time debt cancellation plan and universal free tuition going forward would be paid for by a 2% annual wealth tax on households with fortunes of more than $50 million. Students in California have put forward a similar plan to restore Californias estate tax, a levy paid only by households with wealth of more than $5 million, to reduce tuition for 2.2 million California students at public institutions. These are good ideas. Ending the generational abuse of student debt will expand educational opportunity, unburden our young people, and boost the economy for all. Chuck Collins directs the Program on Inequality at the Institute for Policy Studies and co-edits Inequality.org. Hes the author of Born on Third Base. He wrote this for InsideSources.com. I must admit that I was utterly impressed with the taste of not only our special Farmhouse 66 Collaboration Brew this week, but more importantly the professionalism and cooperation of our five local craft brewers. Old Bakery Beer Company, Peel Brewing, Grafton Brewhaus, Recess Brewing and Old Herald Brewery & Distillery, were all happy to join forces, ideas and promotions to celebrate our region and the craft industry. Great Rivers & Routes Craft Beer Week 2019 was a success. If you missed out, some of the brewers may have left over on tap, but thats a chance. If you do find it, try it fast. If they are already out, try another seasonal brew and dream about next years collaboration! We continue to welcome international guests to town this past week, with groups from China, UK and Germany again! We also welcomed a special presentation from our friends at the Looking for Lincoln Heritage Area and our 16th President Abraham Lincoln. Job Title: Dispenser Organisation: Uganda Christian University (UCU) Duty Station: Mukono, Uganda Reports to: Director Medical Service About US: Uganda Christian University was founded when the historic Bishop Tucker Theological College was promoted as a university in 1997. Bishop Tucker Theological College trained clergy and educators during its 84-year history from 1913-1997. The local chief, Hamu Mukasa, granted land for the college to operate in Mukono. International partnerships were part of the Colleges missionary history. The Church Mission Society teamed with Ugandan leaders and others to assure the College had the necessary intellectual and other capital. By the late 1990s, the Church of Uganda sought to have a broader impact on society through the higher education not only of clergy but of other professionals as well. Uganda Christian University was established in 1997. Job Summary: The Dispenser will provide an accurate, timely, and qualitative dispensing service to the registered patients at Allan Galpin Health Centre. Key Duties and Responsibilities: Responsible for safety and custody of drugs of AGHC. To dispense medication as stated on prescriptions, maintaining accurate dispensing records and ensuring that the medication is labeled with the correct drug name, strength, quantity, directions for use, patients name and includes any additional required information. Adhere to practice, policies and procedures for dispensing medicines. Maintain adequate stock levels of medicines, checking expiry dates and storage conditions. Maintain dispensary equipment and ensure that they are in a good state of working order. Using the Clinical Master computer system to ensure that all relevant information is recorded within individual patient records. Ensure the safe disposal of returned and expired medications. Maintain and order for stock of dispensary and any other related items. Adhere to all aspects of the Health and Safety Control of Substances Hazardous to Health, ensuring good hygiene, cleanliness and a safe environment in the dispensary. Maintain the integrity and security of the dispensary by admitting only authorized personnel and ensuring that all medicines are stored appropriately. Liaise with members of the clinical team regarding medication for individual patients. Communicate effectively and regularly with other members of the dispensing team to ensure accurate exchange of information relating to patients and their medication. At all times maintain absolute confidentiality. Be pro-active in developing new initiatives in the dispensary. Supervise the Kampala Campus dispensing operation. Perform any other official duties that may be assigned by the supervisor. Qualifications, Skills and Experience: The applicant must hold a Diploma in Dispensing from a recognized Institution of higher learning. A minimum of two (2) years experience working in a reputable Hospital or Registered Health Centre. Should be a person of high integrity and a good work ethic. Computer literacy skills Should be able to work under pressure to meet deadlines. Excellent interpersonal skills especially when dealing with staff, students and visitors, and a good team player. Should be willing and able to work outside the normal working hours. Should be a committed Christian. Hold a valid practicing license from Allied Health Professionals Council. How to Apply: All qualified candidates should send two (2) copies of an application letter clearly demonstrating suitability together with updated Curriculum Vita and two (Academic, Leadership, Pastoral) references. Please attach copies of academic and professional certificates and transcripts on each application. Send to: The Director, Human Resource & Administration Uganda Christian University, Pilkington Building, P.O. Box 4, Mukono, Uganda Email to: jobs@ucu.ac.ug NB: Applications sent online should have all the attachments as ONE PDF document otherwise they will not be considered. Deadline: 24th May 2019 by 5:00 pm For more of the latest jobs, please visit https://www.theugandanjobline.com or find us on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UgandanJobline Job Title: Licensed Customs Broker Organisation: CJ Smart Cargo Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda About US: CJ Smart Cargo is a one-step intelligent logistics solution provider in the world. Based on its core businesses, such as EPC project logistics, Heavy Lift, Marine Engineering, Logistics, Ro-Ro vehicle and innovative businesses, such as Oversea Warehouse, Factory Relocation, CJ Smart Cargo can provide customized, integrated and intelligent logistic service. It is also the general contractor at the strategy of One Belt and One Road and launches the first platform of EPC supply chain to provide the data service for the relative companies of One Belt and One Road with the support of government and scientific research institution. Job Summary: The Licensed Customs Broker will prepare customs documentation and ensure that shipments meet all applicable laws to facilitate the import and export of goods. Determine and track duties and taxes payable and process payments on behalf of client. Sign documents under a power of attorney. Represent clients in meetings with customs officials and apply for duty refunds and tariff reclassifications. Coordinate transportation and storage of imported goods. Key Duties and Responsibilities: high-volume entries, or multiple container loads. Obtain line releases for frequent shippers of low-risk commodities,high-volume entries, or multiple container loads. Sign documents on behalf of clients, using powers of attorney. shipping routes. Provide advice on transportation options, types of carriers, orshipping routes. obtaining bonds. Post bonds for the products being imported or assist clients inobtaining bonds. Insure cargo against loss, damage, or pilferage. Contract freight forwarders for destination services. imported or exported products. Arrange for transportation, warehousing, or product distribution ofimported or exported products. Suggest best methods of packaging or labelling products. invoices, certificates of origin, and cargo control documents. Request or compile necessary import documentation, such as custominvoices, certificates of origin, and cargo control documents. reading current literature, attending meetings or conferences, or conferring with colleagues. Stay abreast of changes in import and export laws or regulations byreading current literature, attending meetings or conferences, orconferring with colleagues. tariffs and excise taxes. Quote duty and tax rates on goods to be imported, based on federaltariffs and excise taxes. Prepare papers for shippers to appeal duty charges. Pay, or arrange for payment of, taxes and duties on shipments. Monitor or trace the location of goods. expedite clearing of cargo. Maintain relationships with customs brokers in other ports toexpedite clearing of cargo. Inform importers and exporters of steps to reduce duties and taxes. goods through customs and quarantine. Confer with officials in various agencies to facilitate clearance ofgoods through customs and quarantine. Classify goods according to tariff coding system. Calculate duty and tariff payment owed on shipments. refunds. Apply for tariff concessions or for duty drawbacks and otherrefunds. insurance requirements, quotas, or other custom-related matters. Advise customers on import and export restrictions, tariff systems,insurance requirements, quotas, or other custom-related matters. customs regulations, laws, or procedures. Prepare and process import and export documentation according tocustoms regulations, laws, or procedures. Clear goods through customs and to their destinations for clients. Qualifications, Skills and Experience: must hold a bachelors degree, preferably in a related area like business, supply chain management or transportation. The ideal applicant for the CJ Smart Cargo Licensed Customs Broker jobmust hold a bachelors degree, preferably in a related area like business,supply chain management or transportation. Forwarding Practicing Certificate is a must. A Customs Clearance Certificate/ East Africa Customs and FreightForwarding Practicing Certificate is a must. A minimum of two years of work experience in a related field. How to Apply: All candidates should send their applications and updated CVs online to the following email address; prossy.nakisozi@cjsmartcargo.com NB: Only short-listed candidates will be contacted. For more of the latest jobs, please visit https://www.theugandanjobline.com or find us on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UgandanJobline Job Title: Programme Associate (2 Job Careers) Organization: United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Duty Station: Uganda Grade: SC6 About US: The UN World Food Programme (WFP) is the United Nations frontline agency against world hunger. It is the largest and longest serving humanitarian agency in Uganda. Currently WFP focuses on three priority areas: Saving lives in Emergencies; Building Resilience through Predictable Safety Nets; Improving Nutrition & Mother-and Child Health; and Supporting Small Holder Farmers to Access Markets. WFP has operations in various parts of the Country. Job Summary: The Programme Associate will provide effective specialized support and technical analyses to policy and programme activities that effectively meet food assistance needs. Key Duties and Responsibilities: implementation of various activities and processes within the specific area of work supporting alignment with wider programme policies and guidelines. Provide technical support and assist in the development andimplementation of various activities and processes within the specificarea of work supporting alignment with wider programme policies andguidelines. defined programmes to ensure that the various activities are performed within the established targets following WFPs policies and procedures. Provide specialized project management support to specific and/ordefined programmes to ensure that the various activities are performedwithin the established targets following WFPs policies and procedures. reports and data analysis (e.g. food assistance needs, resource utilization, programme status, performance) and highlight trends/issues ensuring deliverables adhere to corporate standards and quality control. Within the specific area of responsibility, prepare a range ofreports and data analysis (e.g. food assistance needs, resourceutilization, programme status, performance) and highlight trends/issuesensuring deliverables adhere to corporate standards and quality control. specific technical area of work (e.g. assistance programmes, food security and vulnerability assessments) and consistency of information presented to stakeholders. Ensure and/or perform accurate, timely recording of data within thespecific technical area of work (e.g. assistance programmes, food securityand vulnerability assessments) and consistency of information presented tostakeholders. collaboration, implementation and monitoring of ongoing project activities. Liaise with internal counterparts to support effectivecollaboration, implementation and monitoring of ongoing projectactivities. government institutions to perform accurate food security analyses and to ensure efficient delivery of food assistance. Coordinate and communicate with local partners, agencies, NGOs andgovernment institutions to perform accurate food security analyses and toensure efficient delivery of food assistance. national government within the specific technical area. Support the capacity building of WFP staff, cooperating partners andnational government within the specific technical area. queries and problems within a specific technical area of responsibility. Act as a point of contact for resolution of a range of operationalqueries and problems within a specific technical area ofresponsibility. practical advice and guidance, to contribute to delivering objectives to agreed standards and deadlines. Oversee and/or review the work of other support staff, providingpractical advice and guidance, to contribute to delivering objectives toagreed standards and deadlines. able to quickly respond and deploy needed resources to affected areas at the onset of the crisis. Follow standard emergency preparedness practices to ensure WFP isable to quickly respond and deploy needed resources to affected areas atthe onset of the crisis. Qualifications, Skills and Experience: (WFP) Programme Associate job placement should hold a Bachelors degree in Social Work and Social Administration, Social Sciences, Development Studies, Education, Rural development or any other related field, obtained from a recognized institution; The ideal candidate for the United Nations UN World Food Programme(WFP) Programme Associate job placement should hold a Bachelors degree inSocial Work and Social Administration, Social Sciences, Development Studies,Education, Rural development or any other related field, obtained from arecognized institution; A minimum of five (5) years of relevant working experience. Good knowledge and skills in using MS Office applications; Excellent command of English language is vital; Fluency in local language used in South Western Uganda is a must VAM, etc.). Previous experience working with technical teams (i.e. nutrition,VAM, etc.). Should have contributed to implementation of programmes. discussions. The incumbent must have observed or assisted with policydiscussions. Competencies: Programme Lifecycle & Food Assistance: variables and contextual factors that affect food assistance problems and programmes throughout the lifecycle to inform quality programme design or re-design. Demonstrates ability to identify keyvariables and contextual factors that affect food assistance problems andprogrammes throughout the lifecycle to inform quality programme design orre-design. Transfer Modalities (Food, Cash, Vouchers): under guidance, food assistance programmes deploying the full range of transfer modalities with an understanding of basic principles guiding modality selection and implementation. Demonstrates ability to implement,under guidance, food assistance programmes deploying the full range oftransfer modalities with an understanding of basic principles guidingmodality selection and implementation. Broad Knowledge of Specialized Areas and data and their relevance to food assistance programmes. : Understands basic technical conceptsand data and their relevance to food assistance programmes. Emergency Programming: implementation and realignment of high quality emergency programmes. Displays capacity to provide inputs into the development,implementation and realignment of high quality emergency programmes. Strategic Policy Engagement w/Government principles of engagement with government counterparts at the national or local level. : Understands and applies basicprinciples of engagement with government counterparts at the national orlocal level. NB: Female applicants and qualified applicants from developing countries are especially encouraged to apply How to Apply: All candidates who desire to join the United Nations World Food Programme are encouraged to submit their applications online at the link below. Click Here Deadline: 26th May 2019 For more of the latest jobs, please visit https://www.theugandanjobline.com or find us on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UgandanJobline MARGARET WEEDEN, Chariho, Girls Track, Senior; Weeden won two events for the Chargers in the first meet of the season. Weeden was first in the high jump (5-0) and the long jump 15-1. ANNE DRAGO, Stonington, Girls Basketball, Senior; Drago scored 39 points in three games as Stonington started the season 1-2. Drago had 16 in a loss to Fitch, 12 in a win against Griswold and 11 in a defeat to Ledyard. SYDNEY HAIK, Westerly, Girls Basketball, Sophomore; Haik scored 14 points as the Bulldogs opened the season with a victory over Cumberland. Haik had three 3-pointers, five assists and five steals. ZANE BREWER, Wheeler, Boys Basketball, Freshman; Brewer scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the Lions season-opening win over Grasso Tech. Brewer followed that with 18 points and five rebounds in a loss to Hale-Ray. Vote View Results Nicholas Rowland-Jones lost 20,000 to an APP scam last year. It took him 6 months but after a fight he got his money back It's becoming a sadly familiar story. A customer is called on a Thursday evening from a number that matches their own bank's call centre by someone who already knows their name, account details and 'every detail of recent transactions, direct debits, recent payees and standing orders'. The customer is quizzed about a recent, potentially fraudulent, transaction they haven't made and convinced their card has been cloned. This is perhaps made more plausible by the fact their card had previously been cloned. They are then told the person on the phone will freeze their account, in order to allow them to go through security and transfer their money into a 'safe' account. And there goes the money, into the hands of authorised push payment fraudsters who took 354million from Britons last year. This is what happened to 36-year-old Nicholas Rowland-Jones last November, when he was tricked into transferring 20,000, including overdrafts of 5,000 and 4,000, from two NatWest accounts over to fraudsters. The money, police told him, travelled through the account of 'a small bank in Birmingham' before being sold on as cryptocurrency, passing through 15 further accounts and ending up in Ukraine. At that point the police lost trace of it, and NatWest said his losses wouldn't be refunded. 'NatWest told me I was liable for the loss and that interest charges would be made against the 4,000 and 5,000 overdrafts,' said Mr Rowland-Jones. The charges were due to start 30 days after Nick reported the scam, with NatWest saying the money was unrecoverable from both accounts. He said he pleaded 'every month' with the bank in an effort to try and get the overdraft charges cancelled, and 'even visited my local branch where an advisor spent over an hour on the phone to various departments to see what could be done'. 'Every department refused to help, and their parting comment was go to Citizens' Advice and left me in tears leaving the branch,' he added. The teacher from Durham said as the months wore on, 'I ended up visiting my GP and getting anti-depressants worried about paying my bills with my partner being on maternity leave.' Just 83million of the 354million lost to APP fraud in 2018 was clawed back, and banks frequently refuse to reimburse victims because they have themselves transferred the money to a fraudster, even if they did so unwittingly. All the signs suggested Nick's story was heading for a similar conclusion, yet happily there was a twist in the tale. 'I researched online a lot of horrifying stories, similar to mine where overdrafts had been taken, loans applied for and life savings stolen, all with striking resemblance to my case,' he recounts. 'This proved this is not a one-off scam and many people have been affected.' Nick wrote to the Financial Ombudsman Service in early December, complaining that banks ought to be doing more to protect customers and warn them of scams, and that they should take responsibility to reimburse victims. After getting in touch with the FOS, Nick said NatWest 'admitted' that they had no idea how the fraudster got hold of his details. He added: 'I argued these scams have been going on for years with no warnings about them to customers, and my details were compromised in some way. 'I said that the bank should inform its customers as soon as they're aware of any new scams taking place.' Six months on from being scammed, appealing to the FOS and fighting off overdraft charges, NatWest informed Nick he was being refunded all of the 20,000 he was scammed out of, along with 500 in overdraft fees. The bank also paid him 300 compensation for the stress caused to him by the incident. He said: 'I was very grateful for the people who shared their stories which helped me massively in writing my complaint to the FOS and fighting to get my money back. 'Initially I was too embarrassed and ashamed to tell people but now I want to share my story to try and help others in any way I can.' This is Money asked both NatWest and the Financial Ombudsman for comment. Money Mail reported in January that the FOS has overhauled how it deals with fraud complaints and is making it harder for banks to throw out customer complaints. NatWest said it couldn't comment on Nick's case specifically, but a spokesperson for the bank said: 'We know fraudsters are using increasingly sophisticated techniques to get customers to reveal their security information and to convince them to make payments from their accounts. 'To protect our customers, we invest heavily in our security systems and processes and we work continuously to improve fraud and scam detection. If a customer does become a victim of a fraud or scam they have our full support, and we always look at each case on an individual basis. 'We'd like to remind all customers to remain vigilant, especially from cold callers asking you to move money to safe accounts. 'We would never ask you to move money in this way, nor will it ever ask you to reveal codes generated on a card reader.' Want to get into the head of what it takes to be a traffic police officer and how they operate? That's what What Car? has done in an exclusive interview with a former traffic cop who has shone some light on the day-to-day demands of enforcing the law on our roads. Shaun Cronin served with Dorset Police for 30 years - two-thirds of those in the traffic and operations division in cars and on motorcycles - and gave an insight into the mindset of those patrolling our roads in blues and twos. Secrets of a traffic cop: Retired road traffic officer Shaun Cronin - who served with Dorset Police for 30 years - explains how the police identify dangerous motorists The difference between getting a ticket and not can be down to sheer luck While many motorists assume the police have to meet a routine quota of tickets administered to law-breaking drivers, Mr Cronin revealed that it usually came down to the discretion of the officer who pulls you over. 'Its a myth that police officers have a target. Youre not there to tick a box,' he explained. 'Not everyone deserves a ticket and no traffic officer takes pleasure in booking someone.' He went on to explain that a word of warning can have a bigger impact on individuals, and during his career he would be understanding with certain situation. 'I might have stopped a driver with a defective light bulb, but if they were genuinely surprised to find it was blown, Id have been the first to change it for them,' he explained. What makes you look suspicious to traffic cops? Many officers have an interest in cars and bikes themselves, and as a result develop a 'nose' for when a vehicle might not be roadworthy. If your car is showing signs of damage, faults or blatant neglect, the chances are that you'll be pulled over. Obviously, erratic and dangerous driving behaviour won't help your chances, we'd imagine. Many traffic officers are petrolheads themselves, so they'll know when a car looks unroadworthy and potentially lethal What annoys traffic cops most? It appears there's one motoring offence that winds up police officers, and it's one that remains fairly prevalent today. '[Drivers] talking on their phone, whether holding it or hands free, but the worst was drivers texting,' Mr Cronin told the motoring magazine. 'You soon learned to spot them, even when they had it low down in their lap. Their body language would give it away.' He added that cops were glad to see the recent increase in penalties for those caught using their phones while in control of a car and said it should be 'as socially unacceptable as drink driving'. Motorists on the phone are the biggest annoyance to road traffic officers - and for good reason The most common mistake made by drivers involved in crashes is... Having attended countless accident scenes, the retired policeman explained that there was one recurring factor at the root of most collisions. That is motorists driving too fast for and not paying enough attention. Note this is not the same as speeding, you can still be driving too fast and within the speed limit - it is all about reading the conditions, the traffic and considering what you are doing. He explained: 'Theyd say the other car just suddenly pulled out. The truth was, it was always there to be seen if only theyd been going slower and had looked.' The common issue witnessed frequently by coppers is impatience, especially when drivers are trying to overtake slower moving vehicles, such as HGVs. Speed and a lack of concentration are the most common cause of accidents, Mr Cronin revealed How to be a better driver Mr Cronin says there would be fewer road collisions if more drivers were polite and friendly rather than aggressive and unwilling to share the road equitably. 'Also, where its safe and you have a clear view, open up the road by relaxing your lane discipline and positioning the car so you have an even better view and can straighten out corners,' he went on to add. Police numbers are down as more cameras are used to enforce traffic laws. But nothing can compare to the interaction between an officer and an individual, the retired cop said Coppers are better than cameras With police numbers dropping significantly in recent years - down by almost a quarter in the last seven years - due to the wider use of cameras for road enforcement, Mr Cronin said nothing can replace the effectiveness of an officer conversing with a driver. Shares in troubled Metro Bank jumped by 26 per cent today after it struck a 375million rescue deal last night. The lender, which admitted customers have been scrambling to withdraw their money amid fears for its future, raised the cash by issuing new stock at 500p per share almost 90 per cent less than the 4040p peak it hit in March last year. Metro had planned to raise 350million but said demand was so strong among investors it raked in an extra 25million. Shares in the bank rose by 18.5 per cent to 635.66p in morning trading, to end the week 26 per cent higher. Life line: Metro's founder, flamboyant US billionaire Vernon Hill, is putting in 5m while Donaldson is forking out 350,000 and finance chief David Arden will buy 75,000 of stock Sources close to the bank claimed that investors controlling more than $1billion (780million) wanted to take part. Metro also revealed last night that a weekend panic over its stability had led to savers withdrawing funds, but that the situation is stabilising. Shares have tanked since January when it revealed a major accounting error. They dropped again during trading yesterday, by 8.1 per cent, or 47.5p, to 536.5p. A mix of existing and new backers have pumped in money to support the bank, with Metro's bosses agreeing to hand over cash themselves as part of the deal. And it will slash up to 120million of annual costs. How the Mail forced the bank to come clean in January Chief executive Craig Donaldson will be hoping the agreement ends widespread concern over Metro's financial health, sparked by a revelation in January that it had miscalculated the riskiness of some property loans. But the firm risked being labelled disingenuous as it sought to partly blame its troubles on a weak economy. It also took aim at watchdogs for imposing a string of costly rules a claim likely to raise hackles at the Bank of England where Metro is already thought to be treading on thin ice. In an announcement released after markets closed, the bank said: 'The macro-economic backdrop in the UK has been particularly challenging over recent quarters and Metro Bank has not been immune to these pressures.' The economy grew by a robust 0.5 per cent in the first three months of the year, and employment is at record highs. Metro did concede that its problems were also partly due to the mistake over loans. There were long queues at some branches last weekend after rumours were spread on messaging service WhatsApp that Metro Bank was going bust The Mail exposed how this error was discovered by regulators at the Bank of England, not Metro's own staff as it had initially suggested. This triggered further questions over bosses' credibility. Ordinary savers picked up on the problems at the weekend, resulting in long queues at some branches after rumours were spread on messaging service WhatsApp that it was going bust. A spokesman for the lender said: 'As may have been expected, Metro Bank experienced a short period of deposit net outflows following the intense press speculation between May 10 and 13. The position is stabilising.' Metro raised the 375million by 8pm last night through a quickfire issue of new stock overseen by investment banks RBC, Jefferies and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. Metro's chairman and founder, flamboyant US billionaire Vernon Hill, 73, is putting in 5million while Donaldson is forking out 350,000 and its finance chief David Arden will buy 75,000 of stock. Non-executive directors will stump up another 405,000 between them. The bank also said it plans to save up to 75million by slashing costs in branches and at its head office. It is already cutting 70 jobs in its commercial lending arm, and would not be drawn on whether further positions could go. Up to 45million more will be saved by opening smaller branches in future. The 500p offer price is 6.8 per cent lower than Metro's closing share value last night, even after months of falls, suggesting investors drove a hard bargain before agreeing to take part. New stock will account for 43 per cent of the total shares in the bank, meaning any investors who do not take part will see a steep cut in the size of their existing stakes. Once the deal has gone through, attention is likely to turn to the future of Hill and Donaldson. Even before the drama of the past few days, investors were seeking management change at Metro and those calls are likely to intensify. There are also questions over whether City regulators will demand fresh blood at the top of the bank. Easyjet swung to a loss of 275million in its first half, for which it blamed rising fuel costs and Gatwick's drone incident over Christmas. The budget airline also said Brexit-related uncertainty and a slowdown in Europe are likely to hit revenues slightly in the coming months, but still expected annual profits to be in line with expectations. Shares in the FTSE 100 company rose today to close 5.3 per cent higher at 10.25p. First half loss: EasyJet was hit by higher fuel costs and London Gatwick's drone incident The drone incident at Gatwick, which caused hundreds of flights to get cancelled just before Christmas, saw the airline book a 10million loss. Meanwhile, higher fuel costs mean average cost per seat went up 3.9 per cent to 56.66 in the six months to the end of March. Total revenue was up 7.3 per cent to 2.34billion, due to capacity growth and favourable foreign exchange rates. However, revenue per seat fell by 6.3 per cent to 50.71 in the period amid rising costs. Load factor, which indicates how efficiently an airline fills seats and generates revenue, was down 1 per cent to 90.1 per cent. Growth was also held back by the timing of Easter, as well as comparison to last year when Monarch's bankruptcy and Ryanair cancellations benefited EasyJet, the airline said. Looking ahead, easyJet said that uncertainty from Brexit and the wider economic slowdown in Europe are hitting forward bookings, which are down 3 per cent at 72 per cent. It also said it expects fuel costs to rise by 25-60million this year. Chief executive Johan Lundgren said he was 'pleased' with the results despite 'tougher trading conditions' as the airline kept costs under control. He added: 'We are well-equipped to succeed in this more difficult market through a number of short term customer and trading initiatives for the summer; measures to improve our operational resilience; and by focusing on what is most important to customers - value for money, punctuality and great customer service. All this is underpinned by a market leading balance sheet.' EasyJet's loss comes as the airline and travel sector in general feel the pressure of lower margins, and rising oil prices. Easyjet shares have spent the last four weeks declining steadily, down about 28 per cent since March. 'Tougher trading conditions': easyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren Michael Hewson at CMC Markets said: 'Today's first half update has merely served to reinforce the difficult operating environment in the travel sector'. 'The company also warned that they hadn't seen a post Brexit extension pickup in bookings despite anecdotal reports in April of a surge in holiday bookings. With Brexit unresolved management had low expectations for the remainder of 2019. 'Despite the pessimism about the rest of the year there has been relief that the outlook hasn't changed that much since the airline warned on profits a few weeks ago, and this has seen the shares rebound modestly.' Neil Wilson at Markets.com said: 'We've had a lot of consolidation in the sector in the last two years but we should expect more to come. In the meantime the major airlines will do their best to compete away margins.' 'To be fair to EasyJet it was up against some pretty tough prior-year comparisons as last year it benefitted from certain one-offs like Ryanair's scheduling debacle and the collapse of Monarch.' The Midlands is home to six of the ten worst-performing areas in Britain for annual income from pensions, research has revealed. Based on the most recent figures available from HM Revenue & Customs for 2016-17, at 10,400 a year Leicester West has the lowest average annual pension payouts - including state pension- of all 650 constituencies in the country. The basic annual state pension was 6,203.60 in 2016/17, which means that the average Leicester West pensioner was receiving about 4,000 in private pension income. At the other end of the spectrum, those in the City and Westminster areas of London can expect to rake in 23,700 more a year from their pensions, enjoying a retirement income of around 34,100. Pension incomes: The best and worst places for pension incomes in the country London, where salaries are significantly higher than elsewhere in the country, comprises 70 per cent of the top places for annual pension incomes, the figures from Salisbury House Wealth show. For instance, in Chelsea and Fulham average annual pension incomes come in at around 31,700 a year, while in neighbouring Kensington residents can look forward to around 25,100 a year. Meanwhile, in the Coventry North East constituency, the average annual income from individual pensions comes in at around the 11,600 mark, and in Erdington, Birmingham, the figure is marginally higher at 12,500. The annual pension income figures are based on payments from workplace pensions, state pensions, other retirement products such as annuities and drawdowns from pensions. Highest: Areas with the highest annual pension incomes, according to data from 2016-17 While annual pay packets from employment may be the driving force behind future pension incomes, in terms of the amount people can afford to pay into their pension pots, there are other factors at play. According to Salisbury House Wealth, the areas with the lowest average annual employment income are Dwyfor Meirionnydd, which has an average pension income of 19,700, and Blackley and Broughton, which both enjoy annual pension incomes of around 21,000. Overall, all the country's figures show that the level of annual pension income is 'relatively low', the authors of the research claim. Tim Holmes, managing director of Salisbury House Wealth, said: 'A decent level of income in retirement can be achieved through a few simple steps. Lowest: Areas with the lowest annual pension incomes, according to 2016-17 data 'By starting early, paying in what you can, and doing so on a regular basis you can go a long way to improving your prospects of a comfortable retirement which is what everyone wants.' 'There is a wealth of options available to help you grow you pension pot, from ISAs to SIPPs.' Concern: 58% of Britons who are not yet retired are worried about their retirement finances Rich: In Westminster, London, the average annual pension income is over 34,000 Findings by Dutch bank ING published earlier this year revealed that one in 10 people think they will be forced to continue working until they die to make ends meet. The same research showed that around 58 per cent of Britons who are not yet retired are worried about their retirement finances. While auto enrolment has encouraged millions more people to save into a workplace pension, minimum contribution levels remain relatively low. On 6 April, the minimum contributions staff and employers pay into workplace pensions increased, bringing the total minimum contribution up to 8 per cent. But, pensions experts claim even 8 per cent of salary falls far short of what people need to save for old age and suggest total contributions need to be 15 per cent of someone's annual pay packet. iShares Global Materials ETF's stock was trading at $52.26 on March 11th, 2020 when Coronavirus reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization. Since then, MXI shares have increased by 70.6% and is now trading at $89.17. View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19. The following companies are subsidiares of Boston Scientific: 34 Biomedical Merger Corp., 9357-1867 Quebec Inc., Acurate Industria e Comercio Ltda., Advanced Bionics, Advanced Stent Technologies, American Medical Systems, American Medical Systems Europe B.V., Apama Medical, Apama Medical Inc., Asthmatx, Atritech, Augmenix, Augmenix Inc., Augmenix K.K., BSC International Medical Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., BSC Medical Device Technology (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., BTG, BTG Australasia Pty Ltd, BTG Europe B.V., BTG IM Holdings Ltd., BTG International (Holdings) Limited, BTG International Asia Limited, BTG International Canada Inc., BTG International Germany GmbH, BTG International Healthcare Inc., BTG International Healthcare LLC, BTG International Healthcare Limited, BTG International Inc., BTG International Limited, BTG Limited, BTG Management Services Limited, BTG Medikal Limited Sirketi, Bard Electrophysiology, Barosense, Biocompatibles Inc., Biocompatibles International Limited, Biocompatibles UK Limited, Boston Scientific (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Boston Scientific (South Africa) Proprietary Limited, Boston Scientific (Thailand) Ltd., Boston Scientific (UK) Limited, Boston Scientific AG, Boston Scientific Argentina S.A., Boston Scientific Asia Pacific Pte. 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Smith M.D. Inc., Roxwood Medical Inc., SNS Merger Corp, Sadra Medical, Sadra Medical Inc., Securus Medical Group, Securus Medical Group Inc., Special K Merger Corp., StarMedTec, Stream Enterprises LLC, Symetis, Symetis SA, Target Therapeutics, Target Therapeutics Inc., The LumenR Tissue Retractor System, Veniti, Veniti Inc., VertiFlex, Vertiflex Inc., Vessix Vascular, Xlumena, Zuma Investment Pty Ltd, iogyn, nVision Medical, and nVision Medical Corporation. Some kids are unwanted, so you either kill them now or kill them later. That quote is from an Alabama state Democratic representative, John Rogers, during debate about an abortion bill. He went on to say, You bring them into the world unwanted, unloved, then send them to the electric chair. He said this during the same week in which all of Israel had a period of silence to remember the millions who were exterminated during the Holocaust. He said it while a play, All Our Children, is running in lower Manhattan, at the Sheen Center, about Nazi Germanys systematic killing of 100,000 or so people with disabilities who were deemed unworthy of life. Playwright Stephen Unwin called the program the logical extension of the eugenics movement, which had attracted support from a wide range of people, many with impeccable liberal credentials, across Europe and the United States. By early 1941, Unwin explains, 5,000 children, many only a few months old, with a wide range of conditions Down syndrome, idiocy, cerebral palsy and so on had been assessed, registered and murdered. Initially, their parents were asked for their consent, and a panel of three medical experts were convened to agree on the course of action. In due course, however, deception and social pressure were deployed, and children were sent to so-called special sections, apparently to receive medical treatment, but instead bussed off to their deaths. I found it impossible to watch All Our Children without crying. Increasingly, Im having the same reaction listening to Democratic politicians of all sorts seemingly falling over one another to outdo themselves in abortion extremism. We seem to have entered a new point in our discussion of the issue, in which euphemisms are giving way to a new boldness. But all the rhetorical evasions in the world cant mask the central question: Do we care to value and protect life or not? No small part of the All Our Children story is about Clemens August Graf von Galen, the Catholic bishop of Munster, who spoke out against the Nazi policy of killing unproductive citizens (and spent years under house arrest for doing so). In one of his sermons, he said: (W)e are dealing with human beings, with our neighbors, brothers and sisters, the poor and invalids unproductive perhaps! But have they, therefore, lost the right to live? Have you or I the right to exist only because we are productive? If the principle is established that unproductive human beings may be killed, then God help all those invalids who, in order to produce wealth, have given their all and sacrificed their strength of body. Sobering words, indeed, and unfortunately, theyre still very relevant to our current cultural moment. We would do well to ponder their ramifications, regardless of our individual political beliefs. All Our Children reminds us of what can happen when all life isnt valued. We can all do our parts to combat an encroaching culture of death we dont need to be playwrights or heroic priests. Currently, some of the excesses of Democratic lawmakers and candidates regarding abortion are routinely being dismissed as evidence of conservative hangups. You dont have to be a conservative pro-lifer to agree that vulnerable lives ought to be protected, that vulnerable mothers must be helped and cherished, and that we must think in terms of more love, not less. (Kathryn Jean Lopez is senior fellow at the National Review Institute, editor-at-large of National Review Online and founding director of Catholic Voices USA. She can be contacted at klopez@nationalreview.com.) A Malta man was arrested Friday after trying to break into a gas station in Clifton Park, State Police said. Police said Harrison Williams, 19, allegedly damaged a glass door and window while trying to break into the USA Gasoline Station on Fire Road. SCHENECTADY Thearse McCalmon recounted a conversation with a young man on a rainy day at Central Park who was surprised to learn she wants to be mayor. "Wait, you're running for mayor, but you're talking to us?" she said the youngster told her. It was one of several stories about teens, including some starring her children, that McCalmon, a Democrat seeking to challenge incumbent Gary MCarthy, shared Thursday evening with an audience of about two dozen people at the Schenectady County Library's main branch. Bill Hill, 62, lamented the high property taxes he pays and that his Upper Union Street neighborhood has no homeowners under the age of 50, and that all their children are leaving Schenectady. "We don't have enough to keep them," said McCalmon who described youngsters as "untapped resources" in the community, adding that elected officials need to do a better job listening to adolescents. McCalmon, a Queens native and married mother of four, said Schenectady has turned into a city of haves and have-nots and sometimes gets a bad rap. "We are not only segregated socially, we are also segregated economically," said McCalmon, who said some officials have likened her to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, an insurgent Democratic New York congresswoman. "We have that stereotype connected to the name of Schenectady." McCalmon contends the city needs to invest more in small businesses and not be "so anxious to attract big businesses and give them tax breaks." The city needs to be stop knocking down buildings, she said, and instead re-invest in them "with the people who live here." "Use what we have to build what we need, stop tearing them down," she said. McCalmon, 41, acknowledged she has not held elected office before but has "worked closely with a lot of politicians, " including state Sen. Neil Breslin. She has multiple degrees, including a master's in education and history and moved to the Electric City in 2003. She railed against major building projects downtown and in Hamilton Hill, noting that some people are priced out and they've confided in her that they don't feel welcome in some of those places. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. "Exactly how are you figuring out these rents? Because they are not reflective of the community," she added. McCalmon is proposing negotiating a community benefits package so future developments would feature something to benefit neighborhood folks. "I am no longer going to ask for change to happen, that's why I'm running, I'm no longer asking or waiting," she said. Afterward, McCalmon said McCarthy, who is seeking a third term, has refused to debate her. He did not return a call to his cell phone Thursday night seeking comment. Boeing says it has finished with its updates to the flight-control software implicated in two deadly crashes involving its 737 Max, moving a step closer to getting the plane back in the sky. Aviation regulators still have more questions about how pilots interact with the plane's controls under different circumstances, and Boeing says it is providing that information. The Federal Aviation Administration, foreign regulators and airlines are reviewing Boeing's plans for additional pilot training, the company said Thursday. The next major step is a certification flight with FAA representatives. That flight has not yet been scheduled. In crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia, an automated system called MCAS mistakenly turned the noses of the planes down in response to faulty readings from a single sensor. Pilots were unable to regain control; 346 people died. Boeing has delivered about 370 Max jets around the world, but they have been grounded since mid-March. That is causing airlines to cancel flights heading into the busy summer travel season. Boeing has disclosed an initial financial hit of $1 billion to fix the plane, and new Max jets are parked at its Seattle-area factory and elsewhere because deliveries have stopped. Boeing engineers have been working on the software update for more than six months far longer than they expected having started shortly after the Oct. 29 crash of a Max operated by Indonesia's Lion Air. The changes will link an anti-stall feature in the flight-control system to two sensors instead of one and will push the nose down less often and less powerfully. Chicago-based Boeing said it has flown 207 test flights with the new software. "We're making clear and steady progress and are confident that the 737 Max with updated MCAS software will be one of the safest airplanes ever to fly," Chairman and CEO Dennis Muilenburg said in a statement. Boeing developed the Max early this decade to compete with a jet from its European rival Airbus that was winning over airline customers with its better fuel efficiency. Critics say Boeing rushed the design of the Max; the company disputes that. Relatives of passengers killed in the crashes and safety advocates are concerned that the plane could carry passengers again even before investigations into the crashes are completed. "They are rushing," said Nadia Milleron, whose daughter, Samya Stumo, was on the Ethiopian Airlines Max that crashed March 10. "That's the reason that we had this crash. Safety is first; we need to finish the investigations." Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Federal officials say that American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines flew tens of thousands of flights with the Max and reported no unusual incidents with MCAS. Boeing has implied that the Lion Air and Ethiopian pilots did not react properly to the plane's automatic downward pitch of the nose failing to disconnect MCAS in the first case, flying too fast to control the plane in the second. The extent of additional pilot training is emerging as a key issue. Boeing believes that computer-based training the type that could be done on iPads is sufficient for pilots who know how to fly older versions of the 737, and a panel of FAA pilot experts agrees. Some foreign regulators and safety experts say pilots should practice responding to the new software in flight simulators a requirement that would delay the plane's return by weeks or months. Paul Hudson, president of the travel-consumer group FlyerRights.org, said Boeing and the FAA seem determined to resist simulator training. Any FAA plan to let the Max fly without first requiring simulator training for pilots "makes light of the chain of events that caused these two crashes," he said, "and will illustrate the FAA's continued priority for commercial expediency over safety." The view over Sydney's harbor is postcard-perfect. Long blue fingers of water reach into the metropolis, creating peaceful mini-harbors cluttered with sailing ships. Yellow ferries and gleaming yachts crisscross the harbor, surrounded by a city of cliffs, palms, evergreens and, beyond, the famous beaches of Bondi and Manly. The Opera House, ceramic sails unfurled, sits at the heart an architectural marvel and a survivor of cost overruns and political backbiting that now, half a century later, is Sydney's Eiffel Tower. Soaring above it all is a steel arch bridge, the largest and widest of its kind in the world, carrying traffic in eight lanes, trains in two and joggers and cyclists in two others. It also is a span that sets hearts pounding. Two decades ago, a member of the Young Presidents' Organization decided to escort visiting company chiefs on a climb to the top of that bridge to take in the best view in Sydney. He turned it into a business, and more than 3 million people have made the climb, day and night, summer and winter. It is perversely, some might say described not only as an adventure for people willing to pay more than $200, but also as a cure for what ails you, if what ails you is a fear of heights. The highest point is 440 feet above the water. They haven't lost a single climber, the people of Bridge Climb Sydney like to say. But, as with so many marketing pitches, that isn't the whole story. I admit to some nervousness as two friends and I approached our appointment for a climb earlier this year. We had chosen the "twilight climb," beginning just before 6 p.m. We had spent the previous two days exploring Sydney taking a ferry to Manly and walking along scenic Bondi Beach and those nearby, beloved by surfers. My traveling companions were friends from my L.A. suburb. We have been taking short vacations together for two decades, stealing time from busy work schedules with short jet-lag-be-damned trips to faraway locales. Machu Picchu in Peru was our first adventure, followed by Iguazu Falls in South America, Petra in Jordan, Delhi and the Taj Mahal in India, Mexico City and, most recently, Tibet. The Bridge Climb was my friend Rich's idea. I don't like heights, but I agreed to go along. As we roamed the city taking photos in the days leading to our climb, the bridge was a constant backdrop, streams of climbers visible from miles away. When the evening of the climb arrived, we checked in at the southern end of the bridge. Each climbing group is limited to 12, with a guide. We began by filling out legal release forms, not exactly confidence-inspiring, but a feature of our modern world. We also blew into a breathalyzer. No one can summit with an alcohol level of 0.05 percent or more a little more than half of what it takes to put you on the wrong side of the law when driving in California. Adam, our guide, and his helpers stripped us of all of our earthly possessions sunglasses, watches, hats, money, billfolds, iPhones. (One climber got to keep his hearing aids.) We changed into blue Star Trek-like jumpsuits and were outfitted with harnesses and a circular plastic device to hook to the guy wires on the bridge. We put on headlamps and tied handkerchiefs around our wrists to ward off flop sweat. We climbed sets of steep steel stairs indoors to get a feel for what we were about to face. Finally, we were each given a wireless headset so we could hear our leader on the bridge. An hour had passed by the time our band emerged onto long, narrow wooden planks already 30 feet or so above street level and started our march on the span, beginning with a walk along a catwalk above the passing traffic. Adam, formerly a police officer, told us about the bridge and the landmarks visible across the harbor. "Only" six workers had died falling into the water during construction in the 1920s and early '30s, he said. That didn't provide much comfort. We eventually arrived at the spot over the water where the bridge begins its upward arch. We climbed four steep ladders, about 25 rungs in all, to reach the starting point for the stairway that would take us to the summit. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. At the top of the stairs, Adam turned to me: "You OK, mate?" As if. I asked: "Does anyone ever turn back?" "All the time," he said. "At this point in the climb, I've had them crying in a puddle on the stairs." That's why, he added, other guides are stationed at the top of the stairs to take the less-than-happy folks back down. But, he added, "You look all right to me, mate." I briefly imagined the scene an able-bodied adult begging to be taken back to terra firma. Somehow, that didn't seem right. So on I went. As we climbed the arch step by step to the top, I tried to recall the instructions I'd read online: Don't look down (not easy, of course, because you have to look at your feet on the stairs) and breathe. I found myself holding my breath anyway and began thinking, "Is this supposed to be fun?" But I kept climbing, hooked to the steel guy wire by a piece of plastic that I doubted would support my weight if I ended up dangling over the water. My friends Rich and Steve, happily oblivious to the danger, chattered with Adam about how high we were, and the guide kept pointing out sights in the water way down below. At the summit, underneath giant Australian flags unfurled in a 20 mph wind, the view across the harbor was captivating. A sea plane passed just 50 feet overhead. Birds flew well below us. We could see the beaches beyond the harbor and planes taking off from the airport 8 miles away. We turned left to walk across the top of the bridge and watch the sun plunge beneath the water. TROY A former Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute student who was taken into federal custody in March after trying to purchase a gun in Saratoga County has left the country ahead of what could have been deportation proceedings. Peiching Dong, who was picked up by the FBI and then turned over to immigration authorities, was on May 3 granted voluntary departure status, which allowed him to return to his native Shanghai, said Khaalid Walls, northeast regional communications director for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement service. "He voluntarily departed, which gives him the opportunity to come back," said Mark Sacco, Dong's lawyer. Sacco added that Dong was ultimately listed as withdrawing from RPI. "He went to JFK and a couple of days later he flew home," said Sacco. Sacco said Dong may eventually want to return to the U.S. to continue his studies but not at RPI. Dong ran afoul of his student visa terms after FBI agents brought him to the RPI dean's office on March 14. He was initially told he would no longer be a student at RPI. Without being in school, his visa became void. RPI hasnt commented on the case other than saying that the student was no longer enrolled in the school. There is a school policy against having weapons on campus. The freshman chemistry and physics major had taken an Uber ride to the Saratoga Weapons and Tactical gun shop in Malta looking to buy what the proprietor said was a high-end gun. After Dong allegedly told him he had a switchblade illegal in New York the store owner called authorities out of what he described as an abundance of caution. FBI agents took Dong into custody, though no criminal charges were filed. After his trip to the dean's office, FBI agents took him to the Rensselaer County jail; ICE agents then transported him to the agency Batavia holding center in western New York, The incident riled the normally placid RPI campus, and school officials put out a notice saying Dong had been attempting to purchase an assault rifle. Assault rifles are illegal in New York, and it remains unclear why the school described it as such. More for you RPI student who tried to buy gun faces deportation Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. School officials also stressed they had found no guns or ammunition on campus as a result of the incident. This wasnt the first episode in which an international student has gotten in trouble for an interest in guns: In a similar incident in 2018, a Chinese student at Virginia Polytechnic Institute was taken into ICE custody after he purchased an AR-15 assault-style weapon as well as an illegal magazine, according to published reports. The Virginia school had been the scene of a 2007 massacre in which a senior armed with two handguns shot and killed 32 people before turning a gun on himself. Sacco, Dong's lawyer, decried what he viewed as a situation where the law enforcement bureaucracy spiraled out of control. "I think it was just a knee-jerk reaction," he said. rkarlin@timesunion.com 518 454 5758 @RickKarlinTU New York I.M. Pei, the versatile, globe-trotting architect who revived the Louvre with a giant glass pyramid and captured the spirit of rebellion at the multi-shaped Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, has died at age 102. Pei's death was confirmed Thursday by Marc Diamond, a spokesman for the architect's New York firm, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. One of Pei's sons, Li Chung Pei, told The New York Times his father had died overnight. Pei's works ranged from the trapezoidal addition to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., to the chiseled towers of the National Center of Atmospheric Research that blend in with the reddish mountains in Boulder, Colorado. His buildings added elegance to landscapes worldwide with their powerful geometric shapes and grand spaces. Among them are the striking steel and glass Bank of China skyscraper in Hong Kong and the Fragrant Hill Hotel near Beijing. His work spanned decades, starting in the late 1940s and continuing through the new millennium. Two of his last major projects, the Museum of Islamic Art, located on an artificial island just off the waterfront in Doha, Qatar, and the Macau Science Center, in China, opened in 2008 and 2009. Pei painstakingly researched each project, studying its use and relating it to the environment. But he also was interested in architecture as art and the effect he could create. "At one level my goal is simply to give people pleasure in being in a space and walking around it," he said. "But I also think architecture can reach a level where it influences people to want to do something more with their lives. That is the challenge that I find most interesting." Pei, who as a schoolboy in Shanghai was inspired by its building boom in the 1930s, immigrated to the United States and studied architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. He advanced from his early work of designing office buildings, low-income housing and mixed-used complexes to a worldwide collection of museums, municipal buildings and hotels. He fell into a modernist style blending elegance and technology, creating crisp, precise buildings. His big break was in 1964, when he was chosen over many prestigious architects, such as Louis Kahn and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, to design the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library in Boston. At the time, Jacqueline Kennedy said all the candidates were excellent, "But Pei! He loves things to be beautiful." The two became friends. A slight, unpretentious man, Pei developed a reputation as a skilled diplomat, persuading clients to spend the money for his grand-scale projects and working with a cast of engineers and developers. Some of his designs were met with much controversy, such as the 71-foot faceted glass pyramid in the courtyard of the Louvre museum in Paris. French President Francois Mitterrand, who personally selected Pei to oversee the decaying, overcrowded museum's renovation, endured a barrage of criticism when he unveiled the plan in 1984. Many of the French vehemently opposed such a change to their symbol of their culture, once a medieval fortress and then a national palace. Some resented that Pei, a foreigner, was in charge. But Mitterrand and his supporters prevailed and the pyramid was finished in 1989. It serves as the Louvre's entrance, and a staircase leads visitors down to a vast, light-drenched lobby featuring ticket windows, shops, restaurants, an auditorium and escalators to other parts of the vast museum. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. "All through the centuries, the Louvre has undergone violent change," Pei said. "The time had to be right. I was confident because this was the right time." Another building designed by Pei's firm the John Hancock Tower in Boston had a questionable future in the early 1970s when dozens of windows cracked and popped out, sending glass crashing to the sidewalks, during the time the building was under construction. A flurry of lawsuits followed among the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co., the glass manufacturer, and Pei's firm. A settlement was reached in 1981. No challenge seemed to be too great for Pei, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which sits on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. Pei, who admitted he was just catching up with the Beatles, researched the roots of rock 'n' roll and came up with an array of contrasting shapes for the museum. He topped it off with a transparent tent-like structure, which was "open like the music," he said. In 1988, President Reagan honored him with a National Medal of Arts. He also won the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize, 1983, and the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal, 1979. President George H.W. Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992. Pei officially retired in 1990 but continued to work on projects. Two of his sons, Li Chung Pei and Chien Chung Pei, former members of their father's firm, formed Pei Partnership Architects in 1992. Their father's firm, previously I.M. Pei and Partners, was renamed Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. The museum in Qatar that opened in 2008 was inspired by Islamic architectural history, especially the 9th century mosque of Ahmed ibn Tulun in the Egyptian capital of Cairo. It was established by the tiny, oil-rich nation to compete with rival Persian Gulf countries for international attention and investment. Ieoh Ming Pei was born April 26, 1917, in Canton, China, the son of a banker. He later said, "I did not know what architecture really was in China. At that time, there was no difference between an architect, a construction man, or an engineer." SARATOGA SPRINGS The city Planning Board voted to seek a 30-day extension to decide on a change to zoning that would pave the way for Saratoga Hospital to build a 75,000-square foot office building in what is now a residential neighborhood. Thursday's vote came after dozens of residents who oppose the move as well as hospital personnel who want to see the change go forward spoke for an hour at a standing-room only meeting. The crowd, who spilled out into the hallway and sat on the floor, listened to hospital personnel argue that the expansion is a necessity for quality medical care. They spoke of lives saved, children born and convenient and expedited medical care in the event of an emergency. Kevin P. Ronayne, vice president of operations and facilities, said the change is zoning is essential so that the hospital can grow. "We are growing and continue to grow," Ronayne said. "We have nine offices in the city. We pay upwards of $750,000 in rent. We need more doctors and we have no place to put them. There is no place for us to grow." However, the majority of the people at the meeting oppose the change of zoning from residential to institutional because it would destroy their quiet neighborhood. Holding up signs such as "Please Protect our Neighborhood" and "Neighbors Say: Do No Harm," they begged the planning board to not destroy their neighborhood by allowing a medical office building with 300 parking spots on 8.52 acres. West side resident Alice Smith said there is reason for zoning and that it should be respected. "What does it mean if a powerful institution can change residential zoning?" Smith said. "Zoning rules cannot be cast aside. Protect our homes and neighborhoods." The zoning change is one of 18 proposed to the city map. The changes are part of aligning city's comprehensive plan adopted in 2015 with the zoning map. The changes, as recommended by city's consultants, Camiros Ltd., have already been approved by the Saratoga County Planning Board. Residents opposed to the change cite traffic, noise and lights among their concerns. Others, like those who live in the Birch Run neighborhood, said the proposed parking lot would back up to their now backyard decks. Those on Morgan Street say that the road is small and is already too busy with traffic. Former Public Safety Commissioner Chris Mathiesen urged the board to not recommend the zoning change. He said the City Council did vote unanimously to accept the comprehensive plan and zoning changes. However, he said this change was a mistake. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. "We went over the many details of the plan and approved it unanimously," Mathiesen said. "But we did not look at it as carefully as we should have. It seemed to make sense at the time we approved it. But once we looked at the plan and the impact it would have, I think it would be better to expand the hospital elsewhere." Both the neighbors and the hospital had their attorneys present. Matthew Jones, speaking for the hospital, said that unanimous vote in 2015 had no pushback from neighbors. Claudia Braymer said the change would "negatively impact the neighborhood." Melissa Klotz said that the hospital needs to look at alternatives. "Overall , the community benefits from Saratoga Hospital's long-term success," Klotz said. "But their success falls disproportionately on the residents of the neighborhood. We are paying an incredible price. They have alternatives. We have no alternatives." Vincent DeLeonardis, the city attorney, said the City Council will vote on the board's extension next week, Tuesday, May 21. SCHENECTADY - Antonino Ferrara choked up as his wife told him over the phone Friday that their comatose son opened his eyes completely. "So, you said to him, 'If you understand me, close your eyes, and he did?' " he asks his wife, Adriana. "Oh my God! Good sign." He pleads with her to let their 34-year-old son, Davide Ferrara, rest. But those hopeful moments have been few and far between for the Schenectady family since getting an early morning call about two weeks ago that Ferrara was at Albany Medical Center Hospital after being attacked during a night out with friends in Saratoga Springs. Police spokesman Lt. Robert Jillson said the May 2 assault against Davide Ferrara is "convoluted" and involved more than one person. There have been no arrests, he said, noting the case's complexity. "It's a detailed investigation," Jillson said. "We put a lot of time into it. It's not clear cut what happened." Jillson said Ferrara was out with a group of men and at some point in the night encountered another group of men who were likely involved in the beating. The fight, he said, started on Caroline Street and worked its way up to Broadway and onto Church Street where it ended near the Saratoga Springs Post Office. That's where Ferrara was found. He said police have interviewed witnesses and pursued leads. He said they've reviewed surveillance video. "We met with the family," Jillson said. "I understand why they are frustrated. Their son is not in good shape. But my guys and gals have been pounding the pavement." Jillson said evidence in the case will be handed over to Saratoga County District Attorney Karen Heggen next week for review. "There has been no lack of effort," Jillson said. Antonino Ferrara, who owns 'Nino Hairstyling', a barber shop in Schenectady, goes to work to pay the bills and as a distraction from the ordeal the family is going through, he said. Still, it's never too far from his mind. Ferrara, who is from Sicily, is frustrated by the pace of the police probe and can't understand why no one seems to have helped out his son, who owns his own heating and cooling business, Ferrara Energy. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. "I can't sleep at night and I come (to the shop) to let something out of my mind," he said." Why it takes so long, the guy is out enjoying himself and my son is in a coma." Ferrara, 76, said what the family knows so far is that Davide and his buddies stopped at a bar for a drink after dinner. While there, Ferrara, said a man was apparently staring at Davide. "My son says, why are you staring at me?" said Ferrara. "Before you know it they were outside." He said his wife and other son Daniele, 44, are at the hospital "morning to night" caring for Davide. He joins them after work. Daniele Ferrara spoke with two friends who were supposedly with his Davide, but they both give different stories about what happened, the father said. Daniele could not be reached. He said police visited his wife and son Thursday to brief them on the investigation. This is not the first time the city police have faced criticism over its handling of an investigation. When Darryl Mount Jr. died after running from police on Aug. 31, 2013, police insisted an investigation revealed Mount was accidentally injured when he fell from scaffolding. But Mount's family feared he was injured by police and asked for an outside probe. Chief Gregory Veitch later admitted under oath that no internal investigation was ever done. The SAT, the college entrance test taken by about 2 million students a year, is adding an adversity score to the test results that is intended to help admissions officers account for factors like educational or socioeconomic disadvantage that may depress students scores, the College Board, the company that administers the test, said Thursday. Colleges have long been concerned with scoring patterns on the SAT that seem unfavorable to certain racial and economic groups higher scores have been found to correlate with the student coming from a higher-income family, having better-educated parents, and being white or Asian rather than black or Hispanic. David Coleman, chief executive of the College Board, has described a trial version of the tool, which has been field-tested by 50 colleges, in recent interviews. The plan to roll it out officially, to 150 schools this year and more broadly in 2020, was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. More for you What it takes to get into California's top universities The adversity score would be a number between 1 and 100, with an average student receiving a 50. It would be calculated using 15 factors, like the relative quality of the students high school and the crime rate and poverty level of the students home neighborhood. The score would not be reported to the student, only to college officials. Admissions officers have struggled for years to find ways of gauging the hardships that students have had to overcome, and to predict which students will do well in college despite lower test scores. Weve got to admit the truth, that wealth inequality has progressed to such a degree that it isnt fair to look at test scores alone, Coleman recently told The Associated Press. You must look at them in context of the adversity students face. The new tool could potentially give colleges a way of doing that. But at the same time, it could invite a backlash from more affluent, white and Asian families and from students who do well on the test and worry that their adversity score will put them at a disadvantage. The plan comes at a time when universities like Harvard, Yale, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Texas at Austin face challenges to their affirmative action policies, either in the courts or through federal investigations. Many admissions officers are preparing for the possibility that a newly conservative Supreme Court could take a hard line on the use of race in admissions decisions. The College Board says race is not factored into adversity scores. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. To address concerns about the fairness of standardized tests, a growing number of colleges have made it optional rather than mandatory for applicants to submit scores from the SAT or the other main standardized entrance test, the ACT. The reputation of the SAT test has been tarnished recently by the college admissions cheating scandal, which led to criminal charges against more than 50 people, including actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin. Prosecutors said the defendants took part in a fraudulent scheme to get children into coveted universities like the University of Southern California, Yale and Stanford. Federal prosecutors said the scheme, led by a charismatic admissions consultant, included tactics like obtaining phony certifications of disability so that students could take the SAT alone with extra time, paying off a test proctor to change test answers afterward, and in some cases paying a ringer to take the whole test for a student. This article originally appeared in The New York Times TROY Mayor Patrick Madden told the City Council Thursday night the city must study the fire departments operations and needs to modernize to meet the demands of a changing community. We have woefully neglected the fire department for the last two decades, Madden said. We need to took at our fire department, the services we provide. The council was meeting as the Finance Committee to hear Firefighter Eric Wisher, president of the Troy Uniformed Firefighters Association Local 86, speak about spending $330,000 to buy a second set of turnout gear for the departments 110 firefighters. Council President Carmella Mantello had called the meeting to address the unions safety concerns. The mayor said his administration has met with an outside consultant to discuss the fire department. He said the city will have to seek requests for proposals from consultants to select one to complete a comprehensive review. The fire departments staffing levels, the condition of the deteriorating firehouses, the equipment, safety, and training must be studied, Madden said. The mayor sent a letter to the firefighters union outlining the steps his administration is taking to improve the condition of the current turnout gear and to prepare for the future. Fire Chief Eric Madden said the department had introduced new protocols for cleaning equipment after fires to protect firefighters health. We share a goal of creating a department which meets the current and future needs of the community while providing the greatest possible protection to our firefighters in the most cost effective manner for our taxpayers. This is an ambition undertaking but necessary in my view, Madden wrote in the letter. Wisher said the department needs at least 10 more firefighters. He urged the city to buy the second set of turnout gear to protect firefighters from carcinogens they would be exposed to from wearing wet dirty gear. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. While Madden said he was open to sharing services with the neighboring Cohoes, Green Island and Watervliet fire departments, Wisher said, absolutely not. Wisher said Troy must maintain its department and not risk reducing services. The discussion of the turnout gear arose from last weeks fires that destroy the Alpha Lanes bowling alley in Lansingburgh and a warehouse on the East Side off Pawling Avenue. Firefighters battled the bowling alley fire in the morning then had to fight the warehouse blaze in the late afternoon. Firefighters wore the same gear to both fires. Both Wisher and Madden touched on the poor condition of three of the citys six firehouses. The Lansingburgh Fire Station, built in the 1970s, needs to be replaced. The North Street Fire House has problems with leaking sewage. The Campbell Avenue Fire Stations showers dont work. As a result firefighters have to go to other stations to get cleaned up after fighting a fire. May 17, 2019 In its current state, England is scheduled to leave the EU on April 12th, 2019. But despite threats of resignations and snap elections, the UKs Brexit deal appears to be stuck between a rock and a hard place. And although the British people have spoken, the parliament seems to be divided and any further deadlock could compel May to resign. In the meantime, the Brexit has affected virtually all facets of life in the UK from Irish unionist pessimism to the mental health of those affected. Luck of the Irish One of the most difficult Brexit-related pills to swallow is the Irish border. Over 20 years ago, in 1998, Great Britain and Northern Ireland signed the Good Friday Agreement. In the agreement, the hard border between England and Northern Ireland was diminished. The environment of the current Brexit negotiations could threaten that peace process. When the UK leaves, the 500 kilometer border between Britain and Northern Ireland will become the new border between England and the EU. The Irish unionists are the most vehemently resisting any return to the days before the GFA as the result will likely hurt their trade capabilities with the UK. These developments could affect the value of the GBP/USD or hundreds of other CFD assets that can be traded on the Vestle platform. The backstop Neither England nor Northern Ireland wants to return to the days of military checkpoints between the two regions. Therefore, the UK and the EU have agreed to implement something called a backstop. The backstop is a plan that ensures that there will not be a hard border between the two entities despite the nature of any final deal. The emotional toll EU citizens residing in the United Kingdom could be the first to be affected by the current Brexit fiasco. Ms. Van Deurzen, a professor of psychology at Middlesex University said that immediately following the historic leave vote back in 2016, European residents who were living in London suddenly felt unwelcome in the UK. Several of her patients even reported sleep deprivation as well as loss of appetite in lieu of the anti EU sentiment. They also experienced extreme mood swings. Van Deurzen explains that the same anxiety has returned this year in the form of loss of hope, delusional outbursts and an inability to carry out everyday tasks Can Brexit be cancelled? In theory, the UK government could cancel the Brexit but as explained above, it would be difficult. The European Court of Justice has allowed the UK to nullify Article 50 with or without the blessing of the 27 member states. If they did that, they would effectively remain in the EU. However, the EU has requested that before April 12th, the UK must indicate a way forward. An emergency summit has been set on April 10th. Meanwhile, an online petition requesting the cancellation of Article 50 received more than six million signatures. The legally-binding document includes a 39bn debt owed by the UK (to the EU). It also covers the status of UK citizens living in the European Union and vice versa, as well as discusses a border with Northern Ireland. That said, the situation can change at any moment. Many traders follow the Vestle news portal, Bloomberg (News - Alert) and other news services to stay up to date. So where does it stand? Following many months of intense negotiations, a 585-page withdrawal deal has been reached between the UK and the EU. This document dictates the terms of the separation between the two entities. Additionally, a 26-page statement on future relations has been drawn up. Unlike the withdrawal agreement, this statement is not legally binding. Instead, it covers more of the long-term understandings including defense, security and trade. The materials contained on this document have been created in cooperation with Vestle and should not in any way be construed, either explicitly or implicitly, directly or indirectly, as investment advice, recommendation or suggestion of an investment strategy with respect to a financial instrument, in any manner whatsoever. CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 87% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. Any indication of past performance or simulated past performance included in this document is not a reliable indicator of future results. Full disclaimer: https://www.vestle.com/legal/analysis-disclaimer.html May 17, 2019 Good companies exist everywhere, but great companies are much harder to find. The select few that are able to thrive are the ones that balance making a quality product with the other tenants of business. After all, a company can only be as strong as the workforce it employs and the workplace it fosters. Of course, without a truly well made and thoroughly tested product or service, any company is destined to fail. However, good products may also fail if a company is not building an environment to support those who provide the services they offer. When companies build out infrastructure to make and maintain happy and productive employees, they are far more likely to succeed. With that in mind, here are some often overlooked ways companies can and should be supporting employees. Providing Up to Date Equipment and Training An employees job and expectations will vary place to place, but what wont change is the expectation of quality from those that are hired. One way to help employees succeed in that goal is when businesses give their employees the latest tools for their job. When companies run on outdated tools and philosophies, it hurts both the employees and their output. It doesnt matter if employees need the latest software or updated commercial kitchen equipment to ensure they can have healthy meals at workif a company doesnt give their employees the best resources, the employees cant truly give their best work. Companies and their owners should carefully analyze how each piece of new technology they might invest in benefits their practice to determine whats best for an individual office. At the same time, they should be updating their supplies with a certain regularity. This can make their employees feel confident in what theyre working with. Nurturing a Communication Driven Environment The next invaluable thing companies should foster in their workplaces is communication. Communication should, in theory, be a truly universal principle at every company. But in reality, it is lacking from many workplaces. Companies that create opportunities for their employees to communicate in a variety of ways without fear of repercussion or workplace shame are companies that are destined for success. For truly productive dialogues to occur, there should be a multitude of ways to share information and make sure everyone is in the loop in a workplace. Additionally, there should be no fear of retaliation from an employee if a team member shares information that the company or another team member might not like. Ultimately, open communication and the spread of information allows a business to thrive. It ensures people feel secure and knowledgeable at their jobs. When people feel secure and valued, they can put their best efforts toward making high-quality work. Laying Out the Workspace in a Productive Way Lastly, when companies attempt to support their employees, an oft-overlooked factor is the layout of their workspaces. An effective workspace layout can minimize both distractions and time lost for transition periods of employees between tasks. In a restaurant, this can mean rearranging the flow of movement in the kitchen to reduce a servers time inside the pass. This can also include stopping the practice of hot-desking in a tech office to cut down on the time spent on the morning shuffle for employees. Ultimately, it is up to companies and their owners to find a place and arrangement that suits their goals. Considering a workspaces layout is something that can support employees without them even realizing it. All in all, every situation may require unique solutions, but at their core, all of the issues can be addressed by the same principles of valuing and supporting their employees in one way or another. [May 17, 2019] C2MI and Varitron inaugurate the first Advanced Manufacturing Centre in Canada dedicated to electronic card assembly and printed electronics BROMONT, QC and SAINT-HUBERT, QC, May 17, 2019 /CNW Telbec/ - C2MI and Varitron are proud to officially announce the opening of the first Advanced Manufacturing Centre in Canada dedicated to electronic card assembly and printed electronics. Set in the C2MI research centre facility in Bromont, the Advanced Manufacturing Centre will offer state-of-the-art equipment in the printed electronics, circuit assembly, nano protection and advanced cooling fields, as well as an integrated supply chain leading to high-volume production. This announcement was made during CPES2019, the largest Canadian conference on printable, flexible and hybrid electronics (FHE), hosted in Bromont on May 16 and 17 by intelliFLEX. A unique faciliy to accelerate the development of emerging technologies The goal of this new facility is to ensure that companies in every market segment remain primary suppliers, offering new products, new possibilities and new applications so that they stay at the forefront of the supply-and-demand process. Highly skilled teams from both industry and academia will assist companies with their product development and process design while staying focused on high-volume production targets in the different solutions they advance. Companies can have access to a la carte services or bring to the table an idea that has yet to be tested and developed, using the full array of services from conception to commercialization. A strong incentive for foreign companies to use the Advanced Manufacturing Centre's services is the Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) Policy that requires companies awarded defence contracts to do business in Canada. The Advanced Manufacturing Centre project, a total investment of 6.5 M$, was made possible with the collaboration of the Universite de Sherbrooke and Varitron for scientific contribution and is financed by the Ministere de l'Economie et de l'Innovation du Quebec (3 M$) and C2MI (2.1 M$) while equipment suppliers contributed up to 1.4 M$ in added-value capabilities. "The Advanced Manufacturing Centre will be key to keeping Canadian companies a step ahead of the competition by accelerating the development of innovative solutions and products in order for them to reach the market faster. As a research and development Centre, one of our main roles are to make sure we have the equipment in our facility that ensure the competitiveness of our clients and members, no matter what their industrial sector is," said Normand Bourbonnais, C2MI's CEO. "This Advanced Manufacturing Centre is a stepping stone toward ensuring that the innovation ecosystem has access to cutting-edge facilities, state-of-the-art equipment and the latest scientific expertise to accelerate its technological development," commented Michel Farley, President and CEO of Varitron. "Varitron is proud to see this project come to life after more than four years of planning and fine-tuning." About C2MI The MiQro Innovation Collaborative Centre is an international beacon with a unique infrastructure dedicated to the rapid commercialization of electronic products developed by key players from the industry. Embedded electronics are becoming more pervasive in all sectors of the economy and society, microelectronics is a significant vector for wealth creation. C2MI is the largest electronics systems research and development centre in Canada. The Centre provides a unique model of collaboration where the synergy between industrial and academia partners is necessary, even essential to the development of new generation market driven products. C2MI is a Centre of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR) whose role is to enable prototyping to accelerate commercialization. Visit: www.c2mi.ca About Varitron Ranked among the leading EMS (electronic manufacturing services) companies in Northeastern North America (4 locations, 400 employees), Varitron is a leader in electronic product design & assembly operating in most leading-edge industries such as smart grids, military, optics, aeronautics, transportation, security, telecommunications, automated systems and medical support. Varitron's success depends on its team of experts and dedicated professionals. The company attaches great importance to the satisfaction of its customers and is firmly committed to meeting their objectives while respecting their requirements. www.varitron.com SOURCE C2MI - Varitron [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 17, 2019] For Second Year, Funding is Available to Address Homelessness in Delaware FHLBank Pittsburgh and the Delaware State Housing Authority (DSHA) are partnering for a second year to fund programs across the state that work to address homelessness. FHLBank Pittsburgh is providing $700,000 toward the effort, which is called Home4Good, and DSHA is providing $500,000, for a total contribution of $1.2 million in 2019. "FHLBank is pleased to again partner with DSHA on this important community program," said John Bendel, FHLBank's Senior Director of Community Investment. "Home4Good's flexibility and focus on innovative initiatives continue to help Delaware organizations assist individuals who are homeless or at risk of homelessness." As in 2018, funding will be distributed as grants to organizations with programs that help people retain or find housing, as well as those that provide supportive services. Interested groups are advised to submit proposals for Home4Good funding directly to DSHA. All applicants team with FHLBank member financial institutions to further develop relationships that can help meet the service provider's future funding needs, which is a long-term benefit of Home4Good. Submitted proposals will be considered for funding by FHLBank Pittsburgh and DSHA. "The organizations who were awarded Home4Good funding in the first round are making a difference in the lives of so many Delawareans, and we are thrilled to be able to provide another year of support for the program thanks to our partnership with FHLBank Pittsburgh," said DSHA Director Anas Ben Addi. "I encourage organizations throughout our state to submit proposals for this next round of funding so we can continue our efforts to help individuals and families facing homelessness find permanent housing." Many organizations qualify to apply for funding, including local governments, nonprofits, housing authorities and others. Successful Home4Good applicants will offer program that prevent or reduce homelessness, collaborate with others to address established housing goals and have a track record of success. The deadline for service providers to apply for 2019 funding is Aug. 22. Interested organizations can participate in an informational stakeholders meeting on Monday, June 10, at 1 p.m. at Delaware Technical Community College's Terry Campus in Dover, Delaware. Organizations interested in participating in the meeting can contact Angie Lord at [email protected]. Additional information about Home4Good is available at www.fhlb-pgh.com and at destatehousing.com. Interested organizations can also contact Kate Swanson at [email protected] or Jessica Eisenbrey at [email protected] for details. About FHLBank Pittsburgh As an intermediary between global capital markets and local lenders, FHLBank Pittsburgh provides readily available liquidity, as well as affordable housing and community development opportunities, to member financial institutions of all sizes in Delaware, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The Bank is part of the Federal Home Loan Bank System, which was established by Congress in 1932 and serves as a reliable source of funds for housing, jobs and growth in all economic cycles. To learn more, visit www.fhlb-pgh.com. About the Delaware State Housing Authority The Delaware State Housing Authority (DSHA), formed in 1968, is dedicated to providing quality, affordable housing opportunities and appropriate supportive services to low- and moderate-income Delawareans. In addition to its role as the State's Housing Finance Agency, DSHA is unique in that it also serves as a Public Housing Authority and acts as a Community Development and Planning Agency. As a Public Housing Authority, DSHA receives funding from HUD to build, own and operate public housing in Kent and Sussex counties, two of Delaware's three counties. For more information about the Delaware State Housing Authority, please call (888) 363-8808 or visit our website at www.destatehousing.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190517005332/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 16, 2019] Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP Continues Investigation on Behalf of 3M Company Investors Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP ("GPM") announces the continuation of its investigation on behalf of 3M (News - Alert) Company ("3M" or the "Company") (NYSE: MMM) investors concerning the Company and its officers' possible violations of federal securities laws. If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate. If you wish to learn more about this action, or if you have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Lesley Portnoy, Esquire, at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9224, or by email to [email protected], or visit our website at www.glancylaw.com. On April 25, 2019, 3M disclosed its first quarter 2019 financial and operating results, which fell considerably short of market expectations, and lowered its full-year earnings guidance to a range of $9.25 to $9.75 per share, compared to its prior outlook of $10.45 to $10.90 per share. The Company announced a $548 million charge in the quarter to resolve current and future litigation, reflecting a reserve of $235 million for "certain environmental matters and litigation" and an additional $313 million to address current and expected coal mine dust lawsuits in Kentucky and West Virginia. Moreover, the Company announced plans to cut 2,000 jobs worldwide due to a slower-than-expected 2019. On this news, the Company's share price fell $28.36 per share, more than 12%, to close at $190.72 per share on April 25, 2019, thereby injuring investors. If you purchased 3M securities, have information or would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Lesley F. Portnoy, Esquire, of GPM, 1925 Century Park East, Suite 2100, Los Angeles, California 90067 at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9224, by email to [email protected], or visit our website at www.glancylaw.com. If you inquire by email please include your mailing address, telephone number and number of shares purchased. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190516006137/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 16, 2019] Fastly Prices Initial Public Offering SAN FRANCISCO, May 16, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fastly, Inc. (Fastly), provider of an edge cloud platform, today announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 11,250,000 shares of Class A common stock at a price to the public of $16.00 per share. In addition, Fastly has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1,687,500 shares of Class A common stock at the initial public offering price less underwriting discounts and commissions. The shares are expected to begin trading on The New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol FSLY on May 17, 2019. BofA Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, and Credit Suisse are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering. William Blair, Raymond James, Baird, Oppenheimer & Co., Stifel, Craig-Hallum Capital Group and D.A. Davidson & Co. are acting as co-managers for the offering. The offering is being made only by means of a prospectus. Copies of the final prospectus, when available, may be obtained from: BofA Merrill Lynch, NC1-004-03-43, 200 North College Street, rd floor, Charlotte, NC 28255-0001, Attn: Prospectus Department, or by email at [email protected] ; Citigroup Global Markets Inc. c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, New York 11717, or by telephone at (800) 831-9146; and Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Attention: Prospectus Department, Eleven Madison Avenue, 3rd floor, New York, NY 10010, or by telephone at (800) 221-1037, or by email at [email protected] . A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with, and declared effective by, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. Source: Fastly Inc. Press Relations Elaine Greenberg [email protected] (415) 259-9924 Investor Relations Adriel Lares [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 16, 2019] CommerceWest Bank Joined the Association for Corporate Growth to Celebrate Middle Market Companies CommerceWest Bank (OTCBB:CWBK) joined the Association for Corporate Growth to celebrate middle market companies. The annual awards gala honored companies in Orange (News - Alert) County and the Inland Empire that had outstanding growth and leadership in their industries. The Association for Corporate Growth is a trusted network of business leaders that share knowledge, insights, and business opportunities with each other. Mr. Ivo Tjan, CEO of CommerceWest Bank commented, "It is great to be able to honor some of our clients that received award nominations, as well as other local business leaders that are innovating and creating dynamic work environments." He continued, "CommerceWest Bank is proud to partner with ACG and support forward thinking businesses that are making a difference in our communities." CommerceWest Bank is a California based full service commercial bank with a unique vision and culture of focusing exclusively on the business community. Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Irvine, California. The Bank serves businesses throughout the state with an emphasis on clients in Orange County, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Riverside Counties. We are a full service business bank and offer a wide range of commercial banking services, including concierge services, remote deposit solution, online banking, mobile banking, lines of credit, working capital loans, commercial real estate loans, SBA loans, and treasury management services. Mission Statement: CommerceWest Bank will create a complete banking experience for each client, catering to businesses and their specific banking needs, while accommodating our clients and providing them high-quality, low stress and personally tailored banking and financial services. Please visit www.cwbk.com to learn more about the bank. "BANK ON (News - Alert) THE DIFFERENCE" View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190516005020/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 17, 2019] SodaStream "Says Goodbye" in New Campaign With Game of Thrones Actors Kristian Nairn AKA "Hodor", Thor Bjornsson AKA "The Mountain" and Hannah Waddingham AKA "Septa" join together to say goodbye to plastic bottles TORONTO, May 17, 2019 /CNW/ - SodaStream Canada today unveiled its newest video campaign "Say Goodbye" featuring Game of Thrones actors Thor Bjornsson AKA "The Mountain," Hannah Waddingham AKA "Septa" and Kristian Nairn AKA "Hodor." In the video, the actors struggle with single-use plastic bottles in everyday situations realizing they should say goodbye to them. This campaign once again emphasizes SodaStream's environmental message. "We are always looking for fun and exciting ways to convey the message that we can enjoy fresh sparkling beverages in a planet-friendly way," said SodaStream CEO Daniel Birnbaum. "We encourage consumers to say goodbye to single-use plastic and hello to reusable solutions and as a bonus, they will also avoid unnecessary, painful schlepping." The video is a special remake of an existing SodaStream Campaign from 2017. It's not the first time each of the GOT stars have appeared in a SodaStream video, but this time the company chose to unite them for a final goodbye. Watch the new "Say Goobye" video. "As a fan of SodaStream and an advocate for the environment myself, I always welcome an opportunity to help SodaStream spread their environmental message about single-use plastic," commented Kristian Nairn. "This time I got to do it with my two friends, Thor and Hannah, which makes it even better!" About SodaStream SodaStream is the No. 1 sparkling water brand in the world. SodaStream enables consumers to easily transform ordinary tap water into sparkling water in seconds. SodaStream Sparkling Water Makers offer a highly differentiated and innovative alternative to consumers of bottled and canned carbonated soft drinks so that they can enjoy their favorite beverages without single-use plastic bottles. One SodaStream carbonating bottle can save up to thousands of single-use plastic bottles and cans. The products are environmentally friendly, promote health and wellness, cost effective, and are customizable and fun to use. Products are available at more than 80,000 retail stores across 46 countries. To learn more about how SodaStream makes water exciting and follow SodaStream on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube, visit www.SodaStream.ca. SOURCE SodaStream Canada [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 17, 2019] Pearson India to Focus on B2C Business to Accelerate Growth NEW DELHI, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- - Aims to have 50% B2C portfolio in the next 2 years - Launches MyInsights - First-of-its-kind adaptive assessment module for IIT-JEE entrance exam In line with the growing need for self-development and adaptive learning, Pearson India, the digital learning company, aims to strengthen its presence in the B2C segment through a host of existing products and new launches. Targeting to build a robust B2C portfolio of 50% over the next 2 years, the company is poised to make a giant leap in the B2C segment with its innovative product line. As digital disruption in the education sector is heavily underway, students now expect new, predominantly digital and cohesive ways of learning. In line with the B2C strategy, Pearson India has launched a first-of-its-kind adaptive assessment module - MyInsights - to aid students in preparing effectively for their IIT JEE entrance exam. Keeping the learners at the core, MyInsights offers assessments and time-based tests to adjust to the learners' ability level and provide a personalized score and specific learning path for students to master the topic. It assesses (identify generic and specific gaps), measures (the clarity of conceptual understanding) and analyzes students' performance in a convenient way by bringing value to the learners. Powered by the algorithm that adapts to each learner's level of knowledge, the innovative product will provide a unique learnig path to support students with their IIT JEE preparation. Commenting on the development Vikas Singh, Managing Director, Pearson India said, "We have a formidable presence across all segments of education and now we are looking at creating a pipeline of innovative digital solutions, well-suited for learners. Our newly launched product MyInsights is an innovative platform that combines contextualized learning with world-class technology to offer better learning outcomes for IIT JEE aspirants. According to recent data, 11 lakh students appear for IIT JEE every year, however, less than 1% make it to the campus gates. IIT JEE examination is a crucial step for every engineering aspirant in the country and it requires them to have a clear understanding of the concepts, which will now be facilitated by MyInsights. This launch is a critical component of our B2C strategy for the Indian market and we will continue to add new consumer-centric products to strengthen our business in the country." In the fast-moving world, where tailored products and customer experience are a competitive advantage, Pearson India also offers PTE Academic and Pearson Professional Programmes that help students realize their dream of studying abroad and professionals to upskill and reskill to progress in their career respectively. About Pearson India Founded in 1844, Pearson is the world's learning company, with 35,000 employees across 70 countries worldwide. We have expertise in educational courseware and assessment, and a range of teaching and learning services powered by technology. Our mission is to help people make progress through access to better learning. We believe that learning opens opportunities, creating fulfilling careers and better lives. Our unique insight and world-class expertise comes from our long history of working closely with teachers, learners, researchers, authors, and thought leaders. Our products and services are used by millions of teachers and learners around the world every day. We are organized around three key stages of learning - a) K-12, b) Higher education and test preparation and c) Vocational and professional education. Established in India since 1998, Pearson has introduced its wide range of products and services in educational institutes as well as directly to the learners. To know more about us visit in.pearson.com and follow us on http://www.facebook.com/PearsonIn and https://twitter.com/PearsonIn. Media Contact : Bhavya Suri [email protected] +91-8802999046 Pearson India [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] China vowed to provide $1 million to aid scholars under 35 years old to conduct research on the Silk Road, which aims to promote education in a bid to push forward the dialogue between civilizations. International students who study in China and Chinese students perform before the opening of Safeguarding the diversity of Asian civilization, on May 15, which was part of the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations. Photo: GT/Zhao Yusha An agreement to sponsor young scholars was signed during the parallel session, Safeguarding the diversity of Asian civilizations, on May 15, which was part of the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations. It was signed by Tian Xuejun, Chinese vice Minister of Education and Nada Al-Nashif, UNESCO Assistant Director-General of Social and Human Sciences. This is the first international academic sponsorship project in social sciences between China and UNESCO. The sponsorship aims to push forward communication among different civilizations and provide support for academic research about the Silk Road. Much is needed to be done in order to push forward dialogue among Asian countries, which involves deepening the education exchange between Asian countries, said Chen Baosheng, Chinas Education Minister, at the event. Education can also play a role in pushing forward the dialogue between civilizations, Chen noted. He mentioned that China has enhanced its support for Silk Road scholarships, and the number of students from Asian countries in China has greatly increased. There were 295,000 students from other Asian countries coming to study China in 2018, and the number of Chinese students studying in Asian countries increased as well, said Chen. About 97,000 Chinese students were studying in Asian countries in 2018, he said. Lee Byong-hyun, chairperson of the UNESCO's Executive Board, said UNESCOs Routes of Dialogue program has been going on for almost 40 years. As one of its flagship projects, UNESCO is reviving dialogue among countries along the historic Silk Road, bringing people across countries and continents through an online platform, which is generously supported by China and other countries. Ambassadors from Asian countries, such as Afghanistan, Cambodia and Iraq, also attended the session, along with professors from non-Asian countries such as the US. Chen said that China is undertaking the worlds largest-scale education system and is moving to modernize it. Meanwhile, China has established educational ties with all Asian countries, and actively cooperated with many Asian universities. Other Asian countries are more than welcome to benefit from Chinas rapid development in education, he said. He also said that China encourages other Asian countries to recognize each others academic qualifications, to exchange educational experiences and cultivate talent for each other. [May 17, 2019] Gopher Protocol Files for International Patent Protection San Diego, CA, May 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- Gopher Protocol Inc. (OTCQB: GOPH) ("Gopher, or the Company), a company specializing in the development of Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled networking and tracking technologies, including its GopherInsight global mesh network technology platform for both mobile and fixed solutions, announced today that it has filed this week for international patent protection (PCT) for its database sharing and management patent. This technology is targeted to work within Gopher's private, secured communication protocol, enabling vast database handling and management between Gopher's devices. This patent is protecting one of Gopher's essential IP components which is targeted to work also within its Avant! AI engine. Using Gopher's proprietary gNET protocol, devices are sharing/exchanging vast amount of data in a proprietary method. This proprietary database management system also adds a significant layer of cyber security to Gopher's network, eliminating possible hacking into the network. This method will be working in conjunction with Gopher's granted Patch patent. The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) is an international patent law treaty that provides a unified procedure for filing patent applications to protect invention in each of its contracting states. A patent application filed under the PCT is called an international application, or PCT application. "We are seeking international patent protection for our advanced database management invention," stated Dr. Danny Rittman, Gophers CTO. "By filing an international patent application under the PCT, we simultaneously seek protection for our database invention in a very large number of countries. This is one of Gopher's important intellectual properties as it defines a method and system for huge database handling and sharing in real time. This method is going to be the base of our systems through our private, secured communication protocol, gNET. Gopher's devices and applications are exchanging data via this database system which enables high security and protecting for our network. This is our core IP for real-time applications like autonomous driving, military/security, robotics and derived IoT applications. The system manages database of all types including media, text, graphical, and securing the information within few encryption layers against malicious activities, enabling reliable, safe and private operation. Thesystem works with our proprietary integrated circuit (IC) technology within mobile devices and is AI supervised. Gopher intends to integrate its database sharing and management technology within all of its tracking and GEO devices for civil and military/security applications. Now, we are seeking to protect our patent's methodologies, concepts and approaches, worldwide." The Company has released a technology review that was filed as Form 8-K with the SEC - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1471781/000173112219000209/0001731122-19-000209-index.htm As a reminder, Gopher intends to use its Avant! AI technology to govern security and vast data processing for its systems. As such, the Company has released its Avant! AI mobile app, now available for download for Android - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gopherprotocol.avantai and iOS mobile devices - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/avant-ai/id1457305862?mt=8. About Gopher Protocol Inc. Gopher Protocol Inc. (OTCQB: GOPH) (Gopher) (http://gopherprotocol.com/) is a development-stage company which considers itself a native IoT creator, developing Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled mobile technology platforms. Gopher has a portfolio of Intellectual Property that, when commercialized, will include smart microchips, mobile and security applications and protocols, and supporting cloud software. Gophers system envisions the creation of a global mesh network. The core of the system will be its advanced microchip technology that can be installed in any mobile or fixed device worldwide. Gopher envisions this system as a low-cost, secure, private mesh network between any enabled devices, providing shared processing, advanced mobile database management/sharing and enhanced mobile features as an alternative to traditional carrier services. https://www.avant-ai.net Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors as disclosed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission located at their website (http://www.sec.gov). In addition to these factors, actual future performance, outcomes, and results may differ materially because of more general factors including (without limitation) general industry and market conditions and growth rates, economic conditions, governmental and public policy changes, the Companys ability to raise capital on acceptable terms, if at all, the Companys successful development of its products and the integration into its existing products and the commercial acceptance of the Companys products. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release and these views could change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date of the press release. Contact: Dr. Danny Rittman, CTO Gopher Protocol Inc. Media: [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 17, 2019] International Stem Cell Corporation Announces Operating Results for the Quarter Ended March 31, 2019 CARLSBAD, Calif., May 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- International Stem Cell Corporation (OTCQB:ISCO) ( www.internationalstemcell.com ) ("ISCO" or "the Company"), a California-based clinical stage biotechnology company developing novel stem cell-based therapies and biomedical products, today provided a business update announcing operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2019. "In Q1 2019 we recently achieved a major milestone in the world's first approved human pluripotent stem cell-based clinical trial for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. We completed enrollment and treatment of all patients with our lead therapeutic product ISC-hpNSC cells. Based on the available data, we believe that the therapy is safe and well tolerated, meeting the primary endpoint of the phase 1 clinical trial. In connection with the conclusion of the treatment phase of the study, we anticipate the clinical trial-related expenses to significantly decrease," commented Andrey Semechkin, PhD., CEO and Co-Chairman of ISCO. Q1 2019 Financial Highlights Consolidated revenue for the first quarter of 2019 was $2.2 million, a decrease of 15% compared to the consolidated revenue of $2.6 million for the first quarter of 2018. Combined operating income for the quarter ended March 31, 2019 from our two wholly owned revenue generating subsidiaries was $169,000, a decrease of 73% compared to $631,000 in the first quarter of 2018. Net loss for ISCO was $906,000 for the first quarter of 2019 compared to a net loss of $830,000 million for the first quarter in 2018, an increase of 9 %. Recent Clinical Trial Highlights ISCO completed subject enrollment in its phase 1 clinical trial of ISC-hpNSC for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. The fourth subject of the third cohort, who was the twelfth and final subject of the phase 1 clinical study, was successfully transplanted with the highest dose of ISC-hpNSC cells. Presented interim clinical results at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting in Philadelphia, PA. About International Stem Cell Corporation International Stem Cell Corporation is focused on the therapeutic applications of human parthenogenetic stem cells (hpSCs) and the development and commercialization of cell-based research and cosmetic products. ISCO's core technology, parthenogenesis, results in the creation of pluripotent human stem cells from unfertilized oocytes (eggs). hpSCs avoid ethical issues associated with the use or destruction of viable human embryos. ISCO scientists have created the first parthenogenetic, homozygous stem cell line that can be a source of therapeutic cells for hundreds of millions of individuals of differing genders, ages and racial background with minimal immune rejection after transplantation. hpSCs offer the potential to create the first true stem cell bank, UniStemCell. ISCO also produces and markets specialized cells and growth media for therapeutic research worldwide through its subsidiary Lifeline Cell Technology ( www.lifelinecelltech.com ), and stem cell-based skin care products through its subsidiary Lifeline Skin Care ( www.lifelineskincare.com ). For more information, please visit http://internationalstemcell.com/ or contact: To subscribe to receive ongoing corporate communications, please click on the following link: http://www.b2i.us/irpass.asp?BzID=1468&to=ea&s=0 To like our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter for company updates and industry related news, visit: www.facebook.com/InternationalStemCellCorporation and www.twitter.com/intlstemcell Safe harbor statement Statements pertaining to anticipated developments and company achievements, expected clinical studies (including timing and results), anticipated protection from patents, and trends in clinical trial related expenses, and other opportunities for the company and its subsidiaries, along with other statements about the future expectations, beliefs, goals, plans, or prospects expressed by management constitute forward-looking statements. Any statements that are not historical fact (including, but not limited to statements that contain words such as "will," "believes," "plans," "anticipates," "expects," "estimates,") should also be considered to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, risks inherent in the development and/or commercialization of potential products, regulatory approvals, need and ability to obtain capital, application of capital resources among competing uses, and maintenance of intellectual property rights. Actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements and as such should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect the Company's business, particularly those mentioned in the cautionary statements found in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update forward-looking statements. International Stem Cell Corporation and Subsidiaries Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (in thousands, except share data and par value) March 31, December 31, 2019 2018 Assets (Unaudited) Cash $ 615 $ 1,075 Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $12 957 651 Inventory, net 1,460 1,501 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 480 543 Total current assets 3,512 3,770 Non-current inventory 792 805 Property and equipment, net 652 469 Intangible assets, net 2,700 2,674 Right-of-use asset 933 Deposits and other assets 74 78 Total assets $ 8,663 $ 7,796 Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity Accounts payable $ 806 $ 458 Accrued liabilities 959 579 Operating lease liability, current 294 Related party payable 1,009 2,045 Advances 250 250 Fair value of warrant liability 1,148 1,745 Total current liabilities 4,466 5,077 Long-term deferred rent 182 Operating lease liability, net of current portion 1,011 Total liabilities 5,477 5,259 Commitments and Contingencies Stockholders' Equity Series B Convertible Preferred stock, $0.001 par value, 5,000,000 shares authorized, 250,000 and December 31, 2018, respectively Series D Convertible Preferred stock, $0.001 par value, 50 shares authorized, 43 issued and outstanding, with liquidation preference of $4,320 Series G Convertible Preferred stock, $0.001 par value, 5,000,000 shares authorized, issued and outstanding, with liquidation preference of $5,000 5 5 Series I-1 Convertible Preferred stock, $0.001 par value, 2,000 shares authorized, 814 issued and outstanding, with liquidation preferences of $814 Series I-2 Convertible Preferred stock, $0.001 par value, 4,310 shares authorized, issued and outstanding with liquidation preference of $4,310 Common stock, $0.001 par value, 120,000,000 shares authorized, 7,533,083 and 6,933,861 shares issued and outstanding at March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively 8 7 Additional paid-in capital 110,742 109,188 Accumulated deficit (107,569 ) (106,663 ) Total stockholders' equity 3,186 2,537 Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $ 8,663 $ 7,796 International Stem Cell Corporation and Subsidiaries Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (in thousands, except per share data) (Unaudited) Three Months Ended March 31, 2019 2018 Revenues Product sales $ 2,218 $ 2,633 Total revenues 2,218 2,633 Expenses Cost of sales 841 825 Research and development 653 811 Selling and marketing 692 708 General and administrative 1,521 1,474 Total expenses 3,707 3,818 Loss from operations (1,489 ) (1,185 ) Other income (expense) Change in fair value of warrant liability 597 355 Interest expense (14 ) (2 ) Miscellaneous income 2 Total other income (expense), net 583 355 Loss before provision for income taxes (906 ) (830 ) Provision for income taxes Net loss $ (906 ) $ (830 ) Net loss applicable to common stockholders $ (906 ) $ (830 ) Net loss per common share-basic $ (0.12 ) $ (0.14 ) Net (loss) per common share-diluted $ (0.12 ) $ (0.14 ) Weighted average shares-basic 7,400 6,136 Weighted average shares-diluted 7,400 6,136 Contacts: International Stem Cell Corporation Russell A. Kern, PhD Phone: 760-940-6383 Email: [email protected] Joe Green Investor Relations Edison Inc. [email protected] +1 (646) 653-7030 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 17, 2019] Technological innovations, global partnerships key to eliminating poverty, hunger BEIJING, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- A video story presented by China.org.cn on Global Solicitation and Challenge Prize on Best Poverty Reduction Practices: The 3rd annual International Seminar on Global Poverty Reduction Partnerships organized by three Rome-based UN agencies (RBAs) -- The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the World Food Programme (WFP) -- together with the International Poverty Reduction Center in China (IPRCC) and China Internet Information Center (CIIC), was held Wednesday in the margins of the Expo for International Cooperation (EXCO 2019) in Rome, Italy. It focused on the role of technological innovations and global partnerships in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), accelerating poverty reduction and eradicating hunger. This year's seminar discussed how to better use technological innovations in rural areas to promote inclusive and sustainable development, promote food security, nutrition, sustainable agriculture, gender equality and reduce rural poverty. Partnerships, with a special focus in South-South and Triangular Cooperation, were highlighted as key to promoting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Deputy Executive Director of WFP, Amir Abdulla, speaking on behalf of the RBAs, highlighted the role of partnerships to achieving the SDGs in several domains around the world, and how the use of technology improves the lives of the most disadvantaged communities in rural areas. "I'm glad that this year's seminar is focusing on technological innovations to help accelerate poverty reduction and achieve zero hunger. We need to continue working in a collaborative way to bridge the increasing gap of technology gains between developed/developing countries, rural/urban areas and disadvantaged communities," Abdulla said. He also noted that one initiative that is increasingly generating synergies between public and private actors is e-commerce to connect farmers with value chains and markets at a global scale. This has proven to reduce rural poverty, by increasing farmer's incomes and productivity and creating jobs. Xia Gengsheng, vice minister of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Reduction and Development, said that in the past six years, China has made decisive victories in the battle against poverty. Based on current standards, China has lifted 82.39 million rural poor out of poverty, with the rural poor population down from 98.99 million in 2012 to 16.6 million in 2018. The poverty rate has decreased from 10.2% to 1.7%. He emphasized in light of the international experience and China's practices in poverty reduction, the last miles of poverty reduction efforts are the hardest. "We need to continue to push forward with all efforts, fight against poverty with perseverance, consolidate current achievements and reduce poverty for more people. We will never give up during the battle," he said. Xia noted that the Chinese government is working on the post-2020 strategy for poverty reduction. "We will take into account China's current context and learn from international successful experiences. We will promote cooperation with international agencies such as the FAO, IFAD and WFP, so that we can better explore measures to address relative poverty and promote China's poverty alleviation cause in a sustainable manner." Tang Shengyao, director of the Office of South-South and Triangular Cooperation of FAO speaking on behalf of the RBAs, highlighted during his remarks the importance of this seminar for disseminating successful experiences on the use of technological innovations for rural development. He indicated that sharing these innovations is useful for all development actors. He also added that the seminar serves as a platform for raising awareness on the key role that global partnerships play in sustainable development, which is at the core of South-South and Triangular Cooperation, and pointed out that the engagement of new actors such as developing banks and private sector is key for sharing knowledge about technological innovations that contribute to meet the 2030 Agenda. During the seminar, the result of the Global Solicitation and Challenge Prize on Best Poverty Reduction Practices was presented, with the list of the first compilation of 24 poverty reduction case studies released, out of all the 110 best case studies on the shortlist, announced by Xue Lisheng, vice editor-in-chief of CIIC. Xue said, the campaign was jointly launched by seven organizations, including the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, FAO, IFAD, WFP, IPRCC and CIIC, in May 2018 in Beijing. Among 820 case studies received in total, 645 Chinese ones were received, introducing various poverty reduction approaches, such as through tourism, financial poverty alleviation, poverty reduction for vulnerable groups and poverty reduction through employment and entrepreneurship. International organizations and research institutions contributed 175 international case studies from over 30 countries, including Brazil, the Philippines, Colombia, Pakistan, Haiti, Ghana, Cambodia, Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria, Laos, Malaysia, etc. Some participants introduced their poverty reduction practices on the seminar. Ni Limin, the director of Alibaba Poverty Relief Fund said, the company fights against poverty in the aspects of education, health, women, ecology, and e-commerce, to help poverty-stricken regions eradicate poverty and to explore a sustainable and participatory "Internet + poverty relief" model. "We will leverage more social resources so that more enterprises, institutions, and the public can join the fight against poverty," Ni added. He Zhiwei, county mayor of Horqin Zuoyi Rear Banner (County), Inner Mongolia of China, stressed that scientific and targeted measures should be adopted to reduce poverty in areas with frail ecological environment and severe land desertification. "It is important to improve the living environment and production conditions, foster leading ecological industries and increase income of people in poverty in a sustainable way," he said. Yao Li, the founder and chairperson of BN Vocational School said that efficient charitable vocational education can provide high-quality educational resources for poor and vulnerable young people, thereby improving their ability to get a job and increase income. Ashwani K. Muthoo, director of Global Engagement and Multilateral Relations Division of IFAD, said, "This is a very commendable initiative, because it does give an opportunity for China and the global community to learn from the practices and experiences of people who are actually implementing activities on the grounds. We can identify best practices that can be replicated and scaled in other contexts. We can also explore, further deepen and understand what those innovations are and to see how they can be adopted in other countries and other context." Melanie Ullrich, external relations officer, European Representative Office of ADB said, "With unremitting efforts, the PRC has made remarkable achievement in the past 40 years. China's successful experience in reducing poverty has also generated a bulk of knowledge to share with the rest of the developing world. It could be the immediate, tangible contribution that China can make to the global commitment to end poverty and achieve sustainable development by 2030. The Global Solicitation and Challenge Prize on Best Poverty Reduction Practices is very fruitful and allows more countries to learn from China's experience." As the third seminar of its kind since 2017, this year's seminar has received support from various parties, with a growing number of partners along the way. More than 200 people from governments, international organizations, private sector, civil society and academia attended the seminar. List of the first compilation of best poverty reduction case studies (In no particular order) Title of the case study Submission organization Bringing laborers out of poverty with vocational education -- A case study on poverty reduction by using a "pedicure" training program in Ziyang County Human Resources and Social Security Bureau of Ziyang County, Shaanxi Province, China Poverty reduction through ecological protection and ecological compensation -- A case study of ecological poverty alleviation in Horqin Zuoyi Rear Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Office of the CPC Committee of Horqin Zuoyi Rear Banner, China and Inner Mongolia Minzu University Breaking the cycle of generational poverty through charitable vocational educationA case study of poverty alleviation through the BN Vocational School Model China Institute for Poverty Reduction, Beijing Normal University The path of "Internet + Poverty Alleviation" based on China's national conditions - A case study of poverty alleviation practices of Alibaba in five fields Alibaba Group Chinese herbal medicine industry promotes the development of poverty-stricken areas--A case study of Rhodiola cultivation by INOHERB for poverty alleviation INOHERB Cosmetics Co., Ltd. Big data and the fight to reduce poverty in Binzhou, Shandong Province Binzhou Municipal Leading Group Office for Poverty Alleviation and Development, Shandong Province, China Creating seasonal jobs to increase income of poverty-stricken workforce: A case study on seasonal jobs and cooperation between Fuzhou and Dingxi cities Employment Promotion Division of Human Resources and Social Security Bureau of Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China Poverty Alleviation Resettlement (PAR) program A case study on poverty alleviation by relocation and resettlement in Linxi County of Inner Mongolia ("Relocation +") Poverty Alleviation Office of Linxi County, Inner Mongolia, China Motivating poverty-stricken households by "lending gazelles" instead of "donating gazelles" A case study on poverty alleviation by developing a Mongolian gazelle breeding industry in Nanjiang County, Sichuan Province The Working Group on Poverty Alleviation designated by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in Nanjiang County, Sichuan Province Searching for a feasible pathway for sustainable agricultural development and income increases for farmers World Bank Give play to the leading role of communities in China's poverty alleviation -Enlightenment from World Bank financed sustainable development project in China's poor rural areas World Bank Connect smallholder farmers to markets -- Case study of purchase for progress World Food Programme Shanxi Integrated Agricultural Development Project Asian Development Bank Yunnan Integrated Road Network Development Project Asian Development Bank Public-Private-Producer Partnership brings smallholder farmers on board to sustainable poverty reduction A case study of tea industry development in Shiyan Prefecture International Fund for Agricultural Development E-finance vouchers support agribusiness A case study of Kenya by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) International Fund for Agricultural Development Rural development in the Arabian Peninsula - Technology transfer to enhance rural livelihoods and natural resource management in the Arabian peninsula International Fund for Agricultural Development Agricultural Innovation Marketplace: Knowledge-sharing initiative to boost agricultural innovation in LAC and African countries International Fund for Agricultural Development Rural entrepreneurship resource centers: Giving entrepreneurs the skills and tools to build their ideas into businesses International Fund for Agricultural Development Knowledge-sharing radio broadcasts help female farmers thrive: Adding female voices to agricultural radio programmes empowered communities in four African countries International Fund for Agricultural Development Tool banks in rural India: Empowering women through better access to agricultural tools International Fund for Agricultural Development Certificate scheme provides access to finance in Paraguay: A new way to access collateral for loans International Fund for Agricultural Development Strengthen the coverage of agricultural risks through agricultural insurance A case study of Senegal Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Enhancing farmers' skills through participatory trainings at Farmer Field School: Case of Rong'an County, Guangxi Province, China Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Plant Protection Station of Rong'an County Technological innovations, global partnerships key to eliminating poverty, hunger http://p.china.org.cn/2019-05/16/content_74790389.htm About China.org.cn Founded in 2000, China Internet Information Center (China.org.cn/China.com.cn) is a key state news website under the auspices of the State Council Information Office, and is managed by China International Publishing Group. We provide round-the-clock news service in ten languages. With users from more than 200 countries and regions, we have become China's leading multi-lingual news outlet introducing the country to the outside world. We are one of the country's authoritative outlets for government press releases and are authorized to cover various major events. "Live Webcast" is our online webcasting service to present State Council Information Office press conferences in both Chinese and English languages. We are reputed for timely and accurate delivery of news and information, and wide interactions with audiences. In addition, we are authorized to publish and live broadcast major events and press conferences of ministries, local government agencies and institutions as well as enterprises. In the era of mobile internet, we endeavor to create an array of products for mobile devices headed by the multilingual WAP platform and the mobile APP. We also use Chinese and international social media to publish information for different user groups. In the future, CIIC will continue to offer authoritative information about China, tell China's stories, voice China's opinions, and introduce a vivid, panoramic and multicultural China to the world through multi-language, multi-media and multi-platforms. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/technological-innovations-global-partnerships-key-to-eliminating-poverty-hunger-300852250.html SOURCE China.org.cn [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 17, 2019] JinkoSolar Wins Intersolar Award 2019 for its Swan Bifacial Module MUNICH, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. (the "Company," or "JinkoSolar") (NYSE: JKS), one of the largest and most innovative solar module manufacturers in the world, today announced that it won the Intersolar Award 2019 in the Photovoltaics category for its Swan bifacial module with transparent backsheet from DuPont. The Intersolar Award is presented annually to companies making a substantial contribution to the success of the industry, honoring technological innovations and groundbreaking solutions using photovoltaic-related technologies. The Intersolar Award Jury recognized the Company's Swan bifacial module for its comprehensive performance quality with its Cheetah bifacial half-cut cell technology, as well as novel utilization of transparent backsheet, making it more lightweight than glass-glass modules. With an output of up to 400W, the modules are ideal for PV power plants given that they are optimized to ensure a low levelized cost of electricity (LCOE). JinkoSolar also offers a linear 30-year performance warranty, setting a new standard for power output, energy yield, reliability and LCOE. Frank Niendorf, JinkoSolar General Manager Europe, commented, "This prestigious award is a great honor for our company and speaks to the high level of innovation that we constantly strive to achieve. Our Swan module builds on our core Cheetah cell technology and combines a number of innovations. The power increase, mounting method compatibility, lighter weight, and improved shading-response performance ensure that the module will stand out in an increasingly competitive market. Overall, this product is yet another example of our ongoing efforts to develop better solutions that address the constantly increasing demands for quality and technology in the post-subsidy era." About JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. JinkoSolar (NYSE: JKS) is one of the world's largest and foremost solar module manufacturers. JinkoSolar disributes its solar products and sells its solutions and services to a diversified international utility, commercial and residential customer base in China, the United States, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, Chile, South Africa, India, Mexico, Brazil, the United Arab Emirates, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, and other countries and regions. JinkoSolar has built a vertically integrated solar product value chain, with an integrated annual capacity of 9.7 GW for silicon wafers, 7.0 GW for solar cells, and 10.8 GW for solar modules, as of December 31, 2018. JinkoSolar has over 12,000 employees across its 7 production facilities globally, 15 oversea subsidiaries in Japan, Korea, Singapore, India, Turkey, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Australia and United Arab Emirates, and global sales teams in China, United Kingdom, France, Netherlands, Spain, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Ukraine, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Costa Rica, Colombia, Panama and Argentina. To find out more, please see: www.jinkosolar.com Safe Harbor Statement This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements 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, 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" and similar statements. Among other things, the quotations from management in this press release and the Company's operations and business outlook, contain forward-looking statements. Such statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in JinkoSolar's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual report on Form 20-F. Except as required by law, the Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. For investor and media inquiries, please contact: Mr. Russell Su JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. Tel: +86 21-5183 3095 Email: [email protected] View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jinkosolar-wins-intersolar-award-2019-for-its-swan-bifacial-module-300852256.html SOURCE JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 17, 2019] Jenzabar Partners with Gray Associates to Deliver Best-in-Class Academic Program Analytics BOSTON, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Jenzabar, a leading technology innovator in higher education serving the new student, today announced a new partnership with Gray Associates, higher education thought leaders in data insights and academic program portfolio strategy. This exciting new partnership allows Jenzabar to incorporate Gray Associate's industry-leading academic program analytics, market research, decision-making processes, and services into the Jenzabar Program Analytics offerings. Gray Associates leverages rigorous research, proprietary databases, and advanced analytical techniques to forecast students' academic program decisions, quantify competitive pressures, and evaluate the economics of current and potential new academic programs. The combined data solutions and analysis provide the deep strategic insight and market knowledge to help colleges reach informed decisions. "The question of which programs academic institutions should offer is more complex than a simple analysis of cost, program popularity, or potential for return on investment," said Meghan Turjanica, Product Manager for Analytics at Jenzabar. "Jenzabar and Gray Associates help institutions navigate which offerings and programs are the best fit for their students, community, mission, and institutional financial health." Through the prtnership with Gray Associates, Jenzabar now delivers Analytics Models that evaluate an institution's portfolio of programs. The models include a SaaS tool designed to evaluate revenue, direct cost, and contribution margin for each current program. It also includes a SaaS platform that enables institutions to analyze the attractiveness of local and national markets for over 1,000 academic programs. Importantly, this system includes data on student demand, as well as employer needs and competitive intensity. With this data, Gray's experts help colleges assess how to free-up funds trapped in failing programs, invest in current or new programs, and ultimately increase enrollment. "We work with institutions to provide data, analysis, and strategic direction that is tailored to their specific circumstances so they can confidently determine which programs they should start, stop, sustain, or grow," said Bob Atkins, CEO of Gray Associates. "Our combined services and tools provide colleges with the data and facilitated processes to help them make tough decisions, investments, and program changes." "With this partnership, clients can create the right mix of programs with ease and confidence, and leave behind much of the data gathering and guessing," said Turjanica. The partnership with Gray Associates is part of the Jenzabar Analytics portfolio launched last month. About Gray Associates Gray Associates, Inc., a higher education consulting firm, helps clients develop fact-based institutional and marketing strategies to maximize outcomes for students, the school, and its constituencies. Gray uses proprietary analytical techniques and an industry-leading database combining information on inquiry volumes, demographics, competition, and employment, to help faculty and school leadership develop institutional strategies, select programs, pick locations, and prepare curricula. About Jenzabar Created out of a passion for education and a vision for technology, Jenzabar offers disruptive, innovative software solutions and services that empower student's success and helps higher education institutions meet the demands of the modern student. Over 1,350 higher education campuses harness Jenzabar solutions for improved performance across campus and a more personalized and connected experience for the student. For further information, please visit www.jenzabar.com or on twitter @Jenzabar or LinkedIn. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jenzabar-partners-with-gray-associates-to-deliver-best-in-class-academic-program-analytics-300852182.html SOURCE Jenzabar [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 17, 2019] Revel Introduces Point of Sale Solution Designed Specifically for Pizzeria Owners Revel Systems, a cloud-based point of sale (POS) and complete business management platform, today announced a new Pizza solution for Revel Enterprise and Revel Essentials. The Revel Pizza solution is part of the company's strategy to deliver targeted solutions to key verticals, and will be on display at the National Restaurant Association ("NRA") Show 2019, May 18-21 at McCormick Place (booth 1413) in Chicago, IL. The new Revel Pizza solution includes a series of preconfigured templates that accelerate the implementation timeline and simplify ongoing system management. The templates help with key capabilities such as building menus and developing staffing schedules. Pizzeria menus are complex in their structure, as they need to account for customized orders, including multiple toppings, and sauce choices, as well as various sizing options. The Revel Pizza solution simplifies this process, while also making it easy for staff to make updates. With more customers looking to place online orders, from either the web or mobile devices, the Revel Pizza solution simplifies the ordering experience with an intuitive user interface that is easy to navigate and only requiresa few clicks for a customer to complete an order. Additionally, the solution's end-to-end workflow management ensures online orders are filled quickly and accurately, while keeping the customer informed throughout the process - creating a positive user experience. "We chose Revel because it was cloud-based, cost-effective, and offered greater flexibility than our legacy system. Revel was able to map half-and-half toppings and half-and-half specialty pizzas, and the way the modifiers worked within Revel was better than the complicated matrix that had to be engineered by our previous POS," said Michael Petrilli, Vice President at 1100 Group, which owns and operates several pizzerias throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. "Additionally, given the importance of online ordering, having Revel do it for us means that we get to capture all of that revenue as opposed to giving 10% to a third-party." The Revel Pizza solution world-class delivery management capabilities make it easy to track orders from start to finish. Drivers will also benefit dramatically from being able to process dozens of tips in a matter of seconds. The kitchen will become much more efficient with a kitchen display system (KDS) that can be customized to meet the needs of the typical stations within a pizzeria. Whether its processing pizzas, calzones, or salads, each station can have a dedicated order flow that makes it easy to manage work volume. "The pizza industry is experiencing unprecedented change and challenging competition because of consumer expectations which require additional technology," said Chris Lybeer, chief strategy officer at Revel. "Using substantial customer and consumer input, we spent significant time building a solution that meets the specific and unique needs of pizzerias, and supports the rapidly evolving demands of digital consumers." Revel's new pizza solution also supports inventory management in real time by maintaining a precise view of inventory down to the ingredient level. Users can track topping ingredient levels with every order processed and determine variances based on what's expected compared to what is used. In addition, pizzerias can remember their customers' favorite pie choices with Revel's built-in customer-relationship management (CRM). Pizzerias offering loyalty programs will benefit from the solution's fully automated registration process that makes signing up customers fast and easy. About Revel Systems Revel Systems powers the ambitions of restaurants and retailers with a robust cloud-based point of sale (POS) and business management system. The Revel Essentials solution, which has been deployed at thousands of customer locations, is designed for the needs of small chains or single sites. The Revel Enterprise solution is tailored for large chains and leads the industry with a broad footprint of national, big brand customer implementations. Improving day-to-day operations and fueling merchant growth, Revel's streamlined ecosystem helps customers seize their future by pairing an intuitive POS with powerful management tools on a single platform. Founded in 2010 with major offices in Atlanta, Lithuania, and San Francisco, Revel is a leading member of the Apple (News - Alert) Enterprise Mobility Program. For more information, please visit http://revelsystems.com/ or call (415) 744-1433. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190517005049/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 17, 2019] Expert from The Standard to Present at IBI-PBGH Regional Forum Dan Jolivet, workplace possibilities consultant for The Standard, is presenting May 21 at the Integrated Benefits Institute and Pacific Business Group on Health's Regional Forum. The daylong symposium, taking place at the Marriott Union Square in San Francisco, will focus on best practices to improve behavioral health care, access and experience through enhancements in benefit design, onsite clinic-based services, employee assistance programs and absence management. Jolivet will join a panel of experts to present Expanding Access - New Paths to Mental Well-Being. Together, they will highlight appropriate digital and telehealth solutions, how to promote resilience and overall well-being, key employer tools and resources, and integration improvements with absence management. Expanding Access - New Paths to Mental Well-Being Presented by: Dan Jolivet, workplace possibilities consultant, The Standard Sean McBride, head of partnerships, Lyra Health Rachelle Taylor, U.S. benefits consultant, NetApp John Tumeh, M.D., APA Foundation &Center for Workplace Mental Health Advisory Council Member Moderator: Olivia Ross, associate director, PBGH Employers Centers for Excellence May 21, 2019 1:50 - 2:50 p.m. Marriott Union Square, 480 Sutter St., San Francisco, CA (News - Alert) 94108 https://www.ibiweb.org/mental-health-is-bigger-than-mental-health/. If you would like to speak to Jolivet about the topics of behavioral health, improving employee well-being or resources for employers, please reach out to Justin Smith at [email protected]. About The Standard The Standard is a family of companies dedicated to helping you achieve financial well-being and peace of mind. In business since 1906, we are a leading provider of financial protection products and services for employers and individuals. Our products include group and individual disability insurance, group life, dental and vision insurance, voluntary (employee-paid) benefits, absence management services, and retirement plans and annuities for employers and individuals. For more information about The Standard, visit www.standard.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. The Standard is the marketing name for StanCorp Financial Group, Inc., and its subsidiaries: Standard Insurance Company, The Standard Life Insurance Company of New York, Standard Retirement Services, Inc., StanCorp Mortgage Investors, Inc., StanCorp Investment Advisers, Inc., StanCorp Real Estate, LLC, and StanCorp Equities, Inc. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190517005041/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 17, 2019] Wave Business Expands Seattle Network with Deployment at H5 Data Centers H5 Data Centers, a national colocation and wholesale data center provider, today announced the network expansion of Wave Business, a leading provider of business-class broadband services, to its Seattle data center. Wave Business represents an important additional carrier now available at the carrier neutral data center, located at 1000 Denny Way in downtown Seattle. "Access to Wave's network is a big win for H5 Data Centers' growing customer base and carrier-neutral ecosystem seeking more resilient carrier access," said Josh Simms, CEO for H5 Data Centers. "Wave's deep-count fiber network across the nation can provide competitive fiber backhaul solutions to leading enterprises seeking state-of-the-art data center facilities." H5 Data Centers' Seattle location is served by multiple metro and international carriers that complement the 293,000 square-foot data center. Wave will support H5 Data Centers' growing customer base of Fortune 500 enterprises, content delivery networks (CDNs) and cloud service providers, that seek to improve their mission critical operations. "Wave is excited to partner with H5 Data Centers to build diverse fiber routes into 1000 Denny Way. The combination of this new downtown Seattle data center presence and our national fiber footprint offers additional choices for our customers," said Paul Koss, SVP, Carrier\Wholesale, Wave Business. H5 Seattle Data Center Highlights: 293,000 SF data center in owntown Seattle Private colocation suites, customized cages or individual cabinets One of the most efficient data center designs in Seattle Diverse carrier access to the Westin Building Ability to support power densities of 15+ kW per cabinet About Wave Buisness Wave Business is a leading provider of fiber infrastructure and broadband solutions along the West Coast. It delivers custom fiber networks, high-capacity Internet access, data transport, and phone services for businesses of all sizes, school districts, and government agencies. Wave Business, RCN Telecom Services, LLC,and Grande Communications operate as a single business solutions organization and delivers competitive fiber services in seven of the top 10 largest metro areas throughout the United States About H5 Data Centers H5 Data Centers is one of the leading privately-owned data center operators in the United States with over 2 million square feet of data center space under management. The company designs and engineers flexible and scalable data center solutions to address the core infrastructure and edge requirements of its customers. H5 Data Centers operates data centers in Albuquerque, Ashburn, Atlanta, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Denver, Phoenix, Quincy, San Antonio, San Jose, San Luis Obispo, and Seattle. For more information, visit www.H5DataCenters.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190517005054/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Intelligent Waves Awarded Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) in Support of Defensive Cyber Operations Intelligent Waves LLC, a service-disabled veteran-owned small business, announced it was awarded an Eagle Shield Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) by the U.S. Army in support of Defensive Cyber Operations (DCO). The U.S. Army's cyber mission of maintaining cyberspace security and operations requires the integration of complementary systems and advanced technologies to support Cyber Protection Teams (CPTs) worldwide. With a five-year performance period, the BPA addresses the need for flexible, scalable and responsive changes driven by the evolving threat landscape, technological innovations and availability of cyberspace solutions. Under the terms of the contract, Intelligent Waves will support DCO programs and the Department of Defense (DoD) cyber community by prviding program management support services for cyber-related, non-traditional procurement activities. The work aims to expand DCO capabilities and equip cyberspace defenders with enhanced abilities in the future. "Intelligent Waves brings PEO-EIS a unique portfolio of skills to support US Army DCO procurement efforts," says Matthew Stern, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for Intelligent Waves. "Our portfolio includes such diverse elements as expertise in DCO operations and analysis, unmatched talent in providing secure communications to elite military units, and deep understanding of the requirements related to the Army's DCO Programs of Record. We look forward to a partnership to deliver PM DCO with the skills, abilities and operational experience for the successful Program Management of the current and future Defensive Cyber Weapon Systems in the US Army arsenal." Eagle Shield BPA is open for ordering in support of Program Executive Office Enterprise Information Systems (PEO EIS), Project Manager Defensive Cyber Operations (PM DCO), U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM), ARCYBER, Headquarters, Department of the Army (HQDA), Chief Information Officer/G6 (CIO G6), Program Executive Office Command, Control and Communications-Tactical (PEO C3T), and Program Executive Office Intelligence, Electronic Warfare & Sensors (PEO IEW&S). About Intelligent Waves Founded in 2006, Intelligent Waves LLC is an end-to-end information technology solutions provider. Excelling in enterprise systems engineering, cloud computing, cyber, mobility, and operations and intelligence analytics, we deploy secure technologies and digital strategies to drive innovation for our customers. For more information, visit www.intelligentwaves.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190517005362/en/ [May 17, 2019] EQUITY ALERT: Rosen Law Firm Announces Investigation of Securities Claims Against Dynagas LNG Partners LP - DLNG, DLNG-PA, DLNG-PB Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, announces it is investigating potential securities claims on behalf of shareholders of Dynagas LNG Partners LP (NYSE: DLNG, DLNG-PA, DLNG-PB) resulting from allegations that Dynagas may have issued materially misleading business information to the investing public. On November 15, 2018, Dynagas issued a press release disclosing that two of its vessels entered extended charter contracts at "lower rates compared with the previous charter contracts." On this news, shares of Dynagas fell $1.07 or over 13.7% to close at $6.69 per share on November 16, 2018. On January 25, 2019, Dynagas announced that it would be cutting its quarterly distribution by 75% as it was "necessary in order to retain more of the cash generated from the Partnership's long term contracts to maintain a steady cash balance." On this news, shares of Dynagas fell $1.11 or over 27.6% to close at $2.91 per share on January 28, 2019. Rosen Law Firm is preparing a class action lawsuit to recover losses suffered by Dynagas investors. If you purchased shares of Dynagas please visit the firm's website at http://www.rosenlegal.com/cases-register-1576.html to join the class action. You may also contact Phillip im of Rosen Law Firm toll free at 866-767-3653 or via email at [email protected] or [email protected]. Follow us for updates on LinkedIn (News - Alert): https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm, on Twitter (News - Alert): https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook (News - Alert): https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/. Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 3 each year since 2013. Rosen Law Firm has secured hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. ------------------------------- Contact Information: Laurence Rosen, Esq. Phillip Kim, Esq. The Rosen Law Firm, P.A. 275 Madison Avenue, 34th Floor New York, NY 10016 Tel: (212) 686-1060 Toll Free: (866) 767-3653 Fax: (212) 202-3827 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] www.rosenlegal.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190517005371/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 17, 2019] Wabtec Shareholders Approve Company Proposals at Annual Meeting Wabtec (NYSE: WAB) shareholders today elected two directors and approved other company proposals at its annual meeting in Pittsburgh. Directors elected were: William E. Kassling and Albert J. Neupaver. In addition, shareholders ratified the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for the 2019 fiscal year, and approved proposals relating to executive and Board compensation. About Wabtec Corporation Wabtec Corporation is a leading global provider of equipment, systems, digital solutions and value-added services for freight and transit rail. Drawing on nearly four centuries of collective experience across Wabtec, GE Transportation and Faiveley Transport, the company has unmatched digital expertise, technological innovation, and wold-class manufacturing and services, enabling the digital-rail-and-transit ecosystems. Wabtec is focused on performance that drives progress, creating transportation solutions that move and improve the world. The freight portfolio features a comprehensive line of locomotives, software applications and a broad selection of mission-critical controls systems, including Positive Train Control (PTC). The transit portfolio provides highly-engineered systems and services to virtually every major rail transit system around the world, supplying an integrated series of components for buses and all train-related market segments that deliver safety, efficiency and passenger comfort. Along with its industry-leading portfolio of products and solutions for the rail and transit industries, Wabtec is a leader in mining, marine and industrial solutions. Wabtec has approximately 27,000 employees in facilities throughout the world. Visit the company's new website at: www.WabtecCorp.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190517005451/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 17, 2019] KBRA Releases New Update on Bermuda Bermuda was removed from the European Union's (EU) blacklist for tax havens on May 17. This update is a follow-up to a Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA) research note released on March 19, shortly after Bermuda was placed on the list. The EU has noted that Bermuda adopted the requisite amendments to its Economic Substance Regulation too late to be considered for the EU's Economic and Financial Affairs Council meeting held on March 12, as previously noted on KBRA's earlier statement, prompting its inclusion on the blacklist. The EU has also noted that further clarification of policy needs to be received concerning economic substance regarding collective investment funds, and this is expected by end-December 2019. KBRA has maintained Bermuda's rating of A+/K1+ (Stable Outlook) throughout the blacklist period, which has now been largely resolved to Bermuda's benefit. The speedy removal of Bermuda from the list and the apparent modest associated financial implications have had a limited impact on KBRA's credit analysis. KBRA will continue to monitor the credit ratings of Bermuda,including progress on the unresolved issue relating to collective investment funds. To access the full report on KBRA's sovereign ratings of Bermuda, click here. CONNECT WITH KBRA Twitter LinkedIn Download the iOS App YouTube About KBRA and KBRA Europe KBRA is a full-service credit rating agency registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as an NRSRO. In addition, KBRA is designated as a designated rating organization by the Ontario Securities Commission for issuers of asset-backed securities to file a short form prospectus or shelf prospectus. KBRA is also recognized by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners as a Credit Rating Provider, and is a certified Credit Rating Agency (CRA) by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). Kroll Bond Rating Agency Europe Limited is registered with ESMA as a CRA. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190517005482/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 17, 2019] Seng Yee Lau Decodes Tencent's Global Innovation Model at the China Business Forum 2019 LONDON, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Tencent and London Business School (LBS) collaborated for the first time in developing the Innovation and Agility at Tencent's WeChat case study, which has been officially added to the LBS curriculum on May 16. This is a first in Tencent's collaboration with LBS, with hopes for further exchanges in business theory and practice, talent development and other areas in the future. Seng Yee Lau, Senior Executive Vice President and Chairman of Group Marketing and Global Branding at Tencent expressed, "Openness, partnership and sharing, have become the value consensus in the digital era. With the digital wave sweeping across the global, China's innovations are getting attention now more than ever. Tencent is in discussion with LBS to actively explore opportunities in this context." The WeChat case study is developed by a top international business school for the first time, based on in-depth interviews with Allen Zhang, Senior Executive Vice President, President of Weixin Group, as well as early members of the WeChat team and other senior executives. The case study development is the first undertaking within Tencent's "Global Business School Cooperation Program", which was launched in 2018 with the goals of openly sharing Tencent's business innovations and practices, collaborating with the world's top business schools, exploring opportunities for joint research on cutting-edge business ideas, aiding the development of the industry, and enabling global talent development and exchange. Seng Yee Lau was invited to attend the China Business Forum 2019 hosted by LBS. As a representative of China's Internet technology sector, Lau shared his perspectives on the topic of "China's innovations". A flagship event of the school, the Forum builds bridges between the political, business, and academic sectors of the two nations. It is one of the largest and most influential business forums in Europe today. An important topic at this year's China Business Forum, "Created in China" is becoming a topic of global attention. Lau expressed that support on a national-strategy level has been the foundation, with the development of Internet technology providing a boost; the borderless nature of the Internet means technology created in China can be shared globally. He believes "Created in China" is driven by innovations, and shared how Tencent seizes the opportunities of the modern era and continues to innovate in business, ecosystems, and society. At the business level, Tencent is eeply rooted in internet-based technology and culture. "The exploration of basic research and cutting-edge technology have profoundly shaped past technology revolutions in human history. Tencent doesn't just rely on its own strengths, but also joins the business and academic sectors in contributing to the advancement of science and technology together," Lau said. Tencent continues to invest in pioneering technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, and robotics and promote technological innovation and application in various fields. It also encourages young scientists to dedicate themselves to basic scientific research. To this end, the Tencent Foundation has committed 1 billion RMB in funding (approximately 112 million GBP) and teamed up with renowned scientists to establish the "Xplorer Prize." Through industry investment, Tencent also works extensively with partners in various sectors all around the world, constantly exploring innovations and breakthroughs in disruptive technologies. No matter how advanced technology is, however, culture is irreplaceable, Lau noted. Tencent's commitment extends to fostering the new culture of the digital age. Tencent subsidiary China Literature brings together 7.3 million readers and is China's largest digital reading platform, as well as online literary creation platform. Similarly, in the digital culture fields of music, video, gaming, and more, Tencent has maintained its industry leadership through platform innovation. At the ecosystem level, Tencent enables innovation across businesses and sectors through its open and jointly created ecosystems. Lau shared industry innovation practices from China, such as how China Southern Power Grid was able to cut the time needed for a data sorting task from over one month to just a few days, thanks to Tencent Cloud AI computer vision technology. In retail, the YH Super Species supermarkets have placed QR codes on product labels so that consumers can scan and pay through a WeChat Mini Program, enabling them to quickly shop and be on their way, which significantly improves operational efficiency in retail. Lau noted that, "Tencent will be a good 'digitalization assistant' for all businesses and sectors providing new forms of infrastructure such as cloud computing, big data analytics, and AI capabilities; stimulating partners to create their own digital innovations; and building a digital ecosystem and community together." At the societal level, Tencent follows the vision of "technology for good", helping to build a sustainable world. "Innovation is only a means Tencent hopes that with the help of technological innovation, a smarter, more sustainably developed innovative society can be built," said Lau. "That's why we're advocating in our industry and in society for 'technology for good' using technology to solve problems from medical to educational or even address global challenges such as those relating to food, water, or the environment." Lau gave the example of how Tencent used computer vision technology to develop the AI Medical Innovation System, which helps doctors interpret diagnostic images. To date, it has read over a hundred million images, with an accuracy rate of 96%, making it an AI system that saves lives. Tencent AI Lab also worked with agricultural experts to create an agricultural AI system that improves the agricultural output and resource utilization. The system improves output by more than five times as compared with human-managed planting, and it won second place at the 2018 Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge. As the first Chinese internet product to break 1 billion monthly active users, WeChat is Tencent's most iconic exemplar, and now a case study in a top business school's curriculum. "Tencent's open sharing of WeChat's innovations and practices, together with analysis by LBS and subsequent research with top students around the world, will contribute to the advancement of global business thinking and the building of a more inclusive digital future," said Professor Julian Birkinshaw, Deputy Dean at London Business School and Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship. "The value of the WeChat case study is not just in its representation of China's innovation. WeChat also demonstrates an advanced level of global innovation, which sets an example to entrepreneurs and is a research subject for innovators." Against the backdrop of Chinese innovations going global in recent years, Tencent has accelerated its establishment of international collaborations, adapting its business strengths in a new model of overseas expansion. In May 2018, Tencent and the UK Department for International Trade signed a Memorandum of Understanding to boost the rapid development of the cultural creative industries through digital means, working with the British Tourist Authority, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Springer Nature, and other organizations and enterprises. The initial set of collaborations focused on the three major areas of film and television, art, and gaming. In January 2019, Tencent and the France National Museums Union (RMN) established a strategic cooperation. Based on Tencent's New Cultural Creativity experience and digital capabilities, Tencent and RMN are carrying out a deeper cooperative exploration in the domain of cultural exchanges, as well as traditional cultural inheritance and innovation. Together, they also launched the "Global Digital Museums for National Treasures" program to digitize precious Chinese relics in international museum collections, using the power of the Internet to enable more Chinese people to overcome borders to enjoy their country's historical treasures and experience traditional cultures. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/seng-yee-lau-decodes-tencents-global-innovation-model-at-the-china-business-forum-2019-300852565.html SOURCE Tencent [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 17, 2019] LBS Case Study: Innovation and Agility at Tencent's WeChat LONDON, May 17, 2019 /CNW/ -- London Business School introduced its latest case study "Innovation and Agility at Tencent's WeChat" in its Strategy and Innovation Class. The case represents the beginning of a partnership between the school and Tencent. Both sides will explore deeper cooperation in terms of business thinking and practices, cultivation of talent, and cultural exchange. Professor Julian Birkinshaw, Deputy Dean at London Business School and Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, commented that the value of the WeChat case study is not just in providing an understanding of the successes and failures of WeChat itself, but as a window into innovation in Tencent, and Chinese tech companies as a whole. Tencent's openness to sharing the innovation practices in WeChat with students around the world, coupled with the research insights provide by LBS, will contribute to the advancement of global business thinking and the building of a more inclusive digital future. Dickie Liang-Hong Ke, the co-author of the case study and Sloan Fellow at the London Business School commented: "The move from 'Copy to China' to 'Copy from China' is an obvious trend. The innovation and agility seen at Tencent's WeChat are very valuable assets for other companies in their quest of innovation." One for All, All for One The case study holds up WeChat as a classic example of a product evolving from application to platform, and then becoming an industry standard. WeChat was originally a social app, which in the early stage, earned a huge number of users by continuously improving and optimizing its features" says Dickie Liang-Hong Ke. "Then WeChat adapted its open strategy, launched the Official Accounts and created the WeChat Pay ecosystem, and thus successfully converted itself from a social networking app to an influential platform. In 2017, Mini Programs was launched, and quickly became an industry de-facto standard. The tipping point came when WeChat opened up its platform, allowing third-party businesses and individuals to co-create content and services for free to better serve WeChat users. It became a true One-For-All-All-For-One app, in which WeChat provided ready-to-use developer tools and set up clear rules and regulations, allowing everyone to contribute to WeChat services and benefit from doing so. While most of its competitors in China and around the world wre anxious to find a route to profitability, WeChat was considering users' needs first and crafting an excellent design. Being a platform app is by no means an easy ride. Renjie Hu, head of Tencent Guangzhou Office, recalls: "When we talked to other businesses in those early years (about opening up our platform for free), they said we were 'Buddha-like' in that we kept helping others, but we have also benefited it's like honeybees benefiting from the honey while pollinating the flowers." Coherence Goes First WeChat was born in a bunker where the app's creator Allen Zhang and a team of ten developers created the product. Allen's management style was informal and interactive, he enjoyed rolling up his sleeves and sitting together with a team of software engineers, going through new features, trying to optimize the product. Everyone on the team, from senior management to interns, could offer their thoughts on new innovations. To maintain the coherence of the product, Allen would set the tone for all subsequent features. The team built up a very consistent value. In its growth from a team of ten to two thousand, WeChat has always kept a flat organizational structure. According to the case study, Allen and the management team have brought down the 2,000-strong team to multiple smaller units of 100-150 people maximum. Breaking down the organization in this way helped with speed and ownership. As a platform app with multiple features, WeChat's coherence is the other key factor to its success. In terms of the innovation process, WeChat has applied the top-down style more frequently. The research team found out that the saying "Allen Zhang decides" is brought up frequently when interviewing WeChat team members. "Clear authority and ownership at the top", concludes Professor Julian Birkinshaw in the case study, "If you allow everyone to add their own favourite features, you end up with a complex and messy product." An early member of WeChat, mentions that this top-down approach is particularly important for entirely new products. "When we are trying to create something revolutionary, a bottom-up process would tear it apart. Users need to be given an extremely clear concept with precise information and that needs a single architect." When it comes to incremental innovation, more bottom-up innovation was encouraged, with the optimization of the Red Packet function in WeChat Pay and the newly developed feature Top Stories offering good examples. WeChat's head of HR shares: "The middle-level management needs to have more capacity to take up the slack. We have many department managers who grew up together with Allen, and they are very clear about his mode of operation. Similarly, they will inherit his thinking and models that they pass downwards. In the process, that inheritance is very important to make sure that uniformity with Allen is preserved." WeChat Go Global Talking about the future growth, Allen shares his view: "WeChat has reached one billion users, but actually, we've never thought that the number of users was particularly importantwe care more about how to provide our existing users with more services. This is a more important question. To find and then respond to future demand is what we need to do the most." "Going global" is agreed to be a practical way to grow. As WeChat's pioneer for international expansion, WeChat Pay overseas has a team building relationships with foreign businesses and regulators, in order to make WeChat Pay available for use in foreign markets. WeChat Pay is now available in 49 markets outside of the Chinese mainland, supporting cross-border payment transactions in 16 currencies. According to the latest data, in the year of 2018, the monthly average transaction volume saw an increase of 500% year-on-year, while the total transaction value increased 400%. Meanwhile, the number of service providers witnessed a year-on-year increase 300%, and the number of merchants accepting WeChat Pay increased 700%. "In the past five years, the progress of mobile payment technology development in China has received global attention, and the digitization of all walks of life has continued at a rapid pace. The real driving force behind this is not just a payment tool, but also the supports of third-party service providers from the various industries. They are the true representatives of digital innovation in China," says Peiku Li, Vice-President of WeChat Pay. The wide variety of functions available within the WeChat Ecosystem will help overseas merchants to smoothly accelerate the digitalization process, in order to better serve Chinese tourists overseas. In terms of potential growth areas, the case study's co-author Dickie Liang-Hong Ke says "WeChat now has one billion of the world's seven billion potential users, the growth potential in user number can be limited, especially in China. However, there are many other possibilities, for example, the creation of new services, and the exploration and application of new technologies are all possibilities. The change in the technology of human computer interface, such as VR, can present both challenges and opportunities. WeChat must always think about what direction the next disruptive technology will come from." View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lbs-case-study-innovation-and-agility-at-tencents-wechat-300852568.html SOURCE WeChat [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 17, 2019] Think Global Forum NYC The Think Global Forum is set to return to the United States on May 20, 2019. The event takes place in New York City and will be hosted at the Irish Consulate on Park Avenue, with special guest, Daniel Mulhall, Ambassador of Ireland to the United States. The Think Global Forum NYC is co-sponsored by Enterprise Ireland (News - Alert) - represented by Hannah Webb, SVP, and hosted by Vistatec - represented by Unn Villius, Chief Sales Officer, Jill Goldsberry, Director of Sales and Priscillia Charles, Communications Director, Think Global Forum. The Think Global Forum is particularly delighted that Daniel Mulhall, Ambassador of Ireland to the United States of America will deliver the opening address for what is expected to be a unique opportunity to share and discuss ideas about the future of our industry. "I'm very excited to host this event together with our partners in Enterprise Ireland, and particularly honored that Ambassador ulhall will open the Think Global Forum in addition to joining us for dinner. I love New York, and the location of the consulate is the perfect spot to take in the city as an additional perk," said Unn Villius. Speakers at the Think Global Forum NYC event include: Daniel Mulhall, Ambassador of Ireland to the United States Yuka Kurihara, Director of Globalization, Pitney Bowes Jeff Marques, Sr. Program Manager, Globalization, Adobe (News - Alert) Hannah Webb, Senior Vice President, Business and Consumer Services, Talent Management and BPO, Enterprise Ireland The forum will cover many interesting topics, including the special relationship between Ireland and the USA, global eCommerce, and the importance of client-vendor relationships. The afternoon event will be followed by a private dinner reception with Ambassador Mulhall and guests from a wide range of leading organizations. "This is going to be a very special Think Global Forum in New York. We are looking forward to welcoming forum members, speakers, and guests for what promises to be a terrific event," added Simon Hodgkins, Founder, Think Global Forum. This will be the first forum in New York City where VIP guests will be welcomed to the Irish Consulate - located in the heart of the city, just a few minutes from the historical Rockefeller Center. This Think Global Forum follows hot on the heels of other events such as the Think Global Forum London and Los Angeles, which took place in London on May 15, 2019, and Los Angeles on April 15, 2019. To learn more or to join the Think Global Forum, please visit: https://www.thinkglobalforum.org. About Think Global Forum The Think Global Forum is a community of global individuals including forum participants, industry experts, speakers and Forum Executives. The Think Global Forum is designed to provide insights and thought leadership in the context of Technology, Travel, Manufacturing, Life Sciences, Retail, eCommerce and a growing number of sectors around the world. The forum offers keen insights into the here and now and, most importantly, the future. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190517005509/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 17, 2019] Halo Labs Announces Conversion of Debentures into Common Shares Halo Labs Inc. ("Halo" or the "Company") (NEO: HALO, OTCQX: AGEEF, Germany: A9KN) provides an update on recent conversions of the Company's 8% unsecured convertible debentures (the "Debentures"). Since completion of the Company's offering of the Debentures on April 4, 2019, the Company has issued an aggregate of 10,521,469 common shares pursuant to the conversion of Debentures. The conversions have had the effect of reducing the Company's debt by CAD$6.9MM. Halo now has an outstanding share count of 181,062,305. Kiran Sidhu, Chief Executive Officer of Halo, comments: "We are pleased by the recent conversion of the Debentures into common shares. As more of the debentures are converted, Halo's debt burden is reduced, and our liquidity is increasing." ABOUT HALO LABS Halo is a cannabis extraction company that develops and manufactures quality cannabis oils and concentrates, which are the fastest growing segments in the cannabis industry. Halo has expertise in all major cannabis manufacturing processes, leveraging proprietary processes and products, and has produced over 3.5M grams of oils and concentrates since inception. The forward-thinking company is led by a strong management team with deep industry knowledge and blue-chip experience. The Company is currently operating in California and Oregon as well as Nevada with our partner Just Quality. The Company has also begun operations in Lesotho Africa through a strategic partnership. With a consumer-centric focus, Halo will continue to market innovative branded and private label products across multiple product categories. For further information regarding Halo, see Halo's disclosure documents on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Cautionary Note Regarding 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 Halo's beliefs regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of Halo's 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 is not limited to, the expected timing and amount of convertible debt that converts to common shares and Halo's business generally. By identifying such information and statements in this manner, Halo is 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 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, Halo has made certain assumptions. Although Halo 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 Halo does not undertake 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 Halo or persons acting on its behalf is expressly qualified in its entirety by this notice. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190517005501/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 17, 2019] Robbins Arroyo LLP: Jumia Technologies AG (JMIA) Sued for Misleading Shareholders Shareholder rights law firm Robbins Arroyo LLP announces that purchasers of Jumia Technologies AG (NYSE: JMIA) filed a class action complaint against the company for alleged violations of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 between April 12, 2019 through May 9, 2019. Jumia operates a pan-African e-commerce platform. View this information on the law firm's Shareholder Rights Blog: https://www.robbinsarroyo.com/jumia-technologies-ag/ Jumia Accused of Fraudulent Activities According to the complaint, Jumia completed its IPO in April 2019 for net proceedsof approximately $280.2 million. Less than a month after, Citron Research issued a research report announcing that "Jumia is a Fraud" that "deserves immediate SEC (News - Alert) attention." According to the Citron Report, while media in the U.S. naively anointed Jumia the "Amazon of Africa," numerous articles have been issued in its home country of Nigeria claiming widespread fraud. An investigation by Nigerian news reporters described Jumia as a company "struggling to survive over internal fraudulent activities" and "filled with many shady deals." Citron Report further notes that just prior to the IPO, Jumia issued a confidential investor presentation in October 2018 with financial metrics that significantly differ from its registration documents. When the truth was revealed, Jumia's ADSs declined approximately 28% on heavy trading volume over a two-day period, from $33.11 per ADS on May 8, 2019 to $24.50 per ADS on May 10, 2019. Jumia Healthcare Solutions Shareholders Have Legal Options Concerned shareholders who would like more information about their rights and potential remedies can contact attorney Leo Kandinov at (800) 350-6003, [email protected], or via the shareholder information form on the firm's website. Robbins Arroyo LLP is a nationally recognized leader in shareholder rights law. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in shareholder derivative and securities class action lawsuits, and has helped its clients realize more than $1 billion of value for themselves and the companies in which they have invested. Attorney Advertising. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190517005544/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 17, 2019] Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP Announces Investigation on Behalf of Metro Bank PLC Investors (MBNKF) Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP ("GPM") announces an investigation on behalf of Metro Bank PLC ("Metro Bank" or the "Company") (OTC: MBNKF) investors concerning the Company and its officers' possible violations of federal securities laws. If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate. If you wish to learn more about this action, or if you have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Lesley Portnoy, Esquire, t 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9224, or by email to [email protected], or visit our website at www.glancylaw.com. On May 1, 2019, Metro Bank announced that it lost some large commercial and partnership customers following a disclosure earlier in the year of an accounting error in the Company's risk-weighted assets, as well as adjustments made for the Company's full year 2018 results. On this news, the Company's share price fell $1.69 per share, or over 16%, to close at $8.76 on May 2, 2019, thereby injuring investors. If you purchased Metro Bank securities, have information, or would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Lesley Portnoy, of GPM, 1925 Century Park East, Suite 2100, Los Angeles, CA (News - Alert) 90067 at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9224, or visit our website at www.glancylaw.com. If you inquire by email please include your mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190517005550/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning was ordered back to jail Thursday for refusing to testify to a grand jury, even after telling a judge she'd rather "starve to death" than cooperate with prosecutors.U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga ordered her to remain incarcerated at the Alexandria jail either until she agrees to testify or until the grand jury's term expires in 18 months. JACKSON COUNTY, MO (KCTV) - On Thursday, a Jackson County deputy pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor of careless and imprudent driving in connection with a crash that happened last year. Sean R. Stoff, a 34-year-old from Blue Springs, pleaded guilty to the class A misdemeanor of operating a motor vehicle in a careless and imprudent manner involving an accident. Bruce Franks Will Resign From Missouri House To Focus On His Mental Health State Rep. Bruce Franks will step down from his St. Louis-based seat, citing a need to deal with his anxiety and depression. The Democrat said he still wants to make his mark on St. Louis' politics, even though he'll no longer be in elected office. He's also hoping his spotlight on mental health will resonate. Most of our readers might disagree with his progressive politics but there's no denying his BRAVERY in talking about mental health and bowing out in order to heal -- A path that most don't have the courage to undertake.Read more: Rumors of an entry-level Koenigsegg have been around for some time now, and while the automaker has addressed those rumors in the past, development of the model hasnt progressed as fast as youd expect from an automaker thats known for building the fastest production car in the world. But the time has finally come. Koenigsegg high-volume entry-level model is expected to arrive in 2020 as the Swedish company shifts its focus from building low-volume supercars into the supercar mainstream, all with the goal of attracting new customers to the fold. Details about the entry-level supercar are still under wraps, but it is believed that each model will cost between 700,000 and 800,000. Thats around $900,000 and $1 million based on current exchange rates. Itll still be expensive, but its a far cry from the $3 million record-breakers and road-destroyers that Koenigsegg is famous for. Youll still need to break the bank, but not as much as youd have to Koenigseggs Hybrid V-8 Supercar For a company that made its bones building some of the most insane and most expensive supercars on the planet, Koenigseggs decision to divert from that blueprint still comes as a bit of a surprise for a lot of people. But its also a smart move on the companys part, especially if the goal is to attract new customers that have been priced out of buying any of Koenigseggs past exotics. Its not a new strategy, either. Koenigsegg CEO Christian von Koenigsegg has had plans to diversify the companys lineup in his back pocket as early as 2014. It took a bit of time for these plans to come to fruition, but now it looks like Koenigsegg is full steam ahead with the development of an entry-level model that will only cost somewhere in the range of $900,000 to $1 million. As absurd as that sounds, there is a lot of truth to it, too. Koenigsegg is one of the most exclusive auto brands in the world. Since its inception in 1994, the Swedish automaker has stayed true to its low-volume, super-expensive car roots. The price tag for each Koenigsegg has rarely if ever dropped below seven figures. The automakers latest masterpiece, the Koenigsegg Jesko, has a price tag of around $2.8 million to $3 million. These kinds of prices are par for the course for Koenigsegg and its clients. It helps explain why, in the 25 years that it has been around, Koenigsegg has maintained an aura of invincibility that very few automakers have come to threaten. That business plan has served Koenigsegg well, but its also had its drawbacks, including the inability to expand its customer base beyond those who can throw away $2 to $3 million without breaking any sweat. Koenigsegg wants new customers to inject fresh life to the company. The automaker identified a way to do that by tapping into the age-old strategy not really of building cars that it can sell for $900,000 to $1 million. Koenigseggs plan also received a shot in the arm when it secured new money from Chinese-owned New Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) its the company that now owns the assets of Saab to the tune of a $166 million investment. The partnership between the two sides was cemented earlier this year. In addition to the $166 million investment, NEVS also secured a 20-percent stake in Koenigseggs parent company. In exchange, more investments are expected to arrive to help jumpstart Koenigseggs plans to develop new models for new and untapped segments. This is all to say that Koenigsegg now has the resources to build its entry-level model, which has actually been in development since 2017. Its just that, now, Koenigsegg, in the words of its CEO, now has much more muscles and much more jobs, and that was what I was looking for. So, now that the entry-level Koenigsegg is on its way, what can we expect from it? The company has offered very little in the way of details other than the expected cost to buy one. It did say that the NEVS deal will help accelerate the cars development, opening the door for Koenigsegg to present it sometime in the first half of 2020, most likely at next years Geneva Motor Show. As far as the car itself is concerned, it is expected to carry an advanced version of Koenigseggs beyond reliable 5.0-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 engine thats capable of burning pure alcohol to help reduce emissions and improve power density. Some form of electrification will also be involved, thus creating a hybrid setup that will utilize a slate of new technologies, including Freevalve ABs involvement. The engineering firm and sister company to Koenigsegg developed a free valve system that helps the intake and exhaust valves to be controlled without the use of camshafts. Not only does this help lower fuel consumption, but it also reduces emissions and improves the engines overall performance. If development goes according to plan, this hybrid setup could be more advanced and more powerful than the current system Koenigsegg is using on the Jesko. Thats a scary thought when you consider that the current setup already produces 1,600 horsepower and 1,100 pound-feet of torque. However, dont expect the new entry-level model to be more powerful than the Jesko. That would run counter to Koenigseggs goal of pricing the model at or around $1 million. If anything, we can look at the Koenigsegg Regera, which currently stands as the automakers mainstream model with 80 models slated for production. The Regera costs $2 million, or twice the amount Koenigsegg wants to set for its new entry-level model. The Regera features a similar hybrid system that produces close to 1,500 horsepower and boasts a number of state-of-the-art technologies, including the worlds first fully foldable, active, top-mounted rear wing. Perhaps this new model will end up as a simpler version of the Regera. I know that simpler carries a different connotation when were talking about Koenigsegg, but, at this point, all possibilities should at least be considered. Unfortunately, none of these plans are expected to turn Koenigsegg into a full-volume automaker. Thats still not in the cards, and the company is more than happy to remain a niche car brand in the foreseeable future. But it did build only 18 units in 2018, a far cry from its goal of building somewhere in the vicinity of around 100 units per year. This new model, with the aid of new investments and new technologies, should help Koenigsegg achieve that goal in the coming years. For now, though, all we can do is wait for this entry-level model to arrive and see what the entry-level term means to Koenigsegg. 2020 Koenigsegg Jesko drivetrain specifications Engine Koenigsegg twin turbo aluminium 5,0L V8, 4 valves per cylinder, flat-plane crankshaft, double overhead camshafts, dry sump lubrication Compression: 8.6:1 Bore: 92 mm Stroke: 95.25 mm Sequential, multipoint fuel injection with individual cylinder pressure sensors and back pressure sensors Closed loop individual combustion and lambda control, twin ceramic ball bearing turbo chargers with Koenigsegg response system. 1.7 bar boost pressure (2.2 bar with E85) Dry sump lubrication. Carbon fiber intake manifold with optimised intake tracts Tig-welded ceramic coated 0.8 mm wall thickness inconel exhaust system manifold with merge collector Total engine weight: 189 kg OUTPUT Gasoline: 955 kW (1280 hp) at 7800 rpm, redline at 8500 rpm. E85: 1195 kW (1600 hp) Torque: 1000 Nm from 2700 to 6170 rpm Max torque: 1500 Nm at 5100 rpm Dimensions Total length: 4610mm Total width: 2030mm Total height: 1210mm Ride Height: 70-100mm front, 75-100mm rear Front lifting system activated: +50mm Wheelbase: 2700mm Fuel capacity: 72 litres Luggage compartments: 100 l front, 50 l rear Dry weight: 1320kg Curb weight: 1420kg Further reading Read our full review on the 2020 Koenigsegg Jesko. Read our in-depth review of the 2017 Koenigsegg Regera Check out our full review of the 2010 Koenigsegg Agera The Koenigsegg One:1 is only one of the five things that TopSpeeds Kirby Garlitos is thankful or today. Check out the full list at TopSpeed.com Check out our full review of the 2015 Koenigsegg One:1 Source: Autocar Visiting Jordan throughout the month of Ramadan is a rare chance to expertise native life and culture, and it's in contrast to the other time of the year. The holy month is thought as an amount of religious discipline for Muslims, however, it's conjointly unbelievably gala with family gatherings, ornamental lights, late-night show, and amusement. For the foremost half, the touristry trade is business as was common. However, some services - like alcohol sales - and gap hours area unit perceptibly affected, therefore it's knowing to be ready. Here's what travelers will expect to encounter in Jordan throughout Ramadan. What is Ramadan? Ramadan is that the most sacred month for Muslims. in line with Muslim tradition, it's believed that God disclosed the primary verses of the religious text throughout the ninth month of the Muslim calendar, therefore every year, Muslims observe this with abstinence (fasting) from sunrise to sunset for the whole month. however, there's additional to Ramadan than rejection food and drinks throughout the daytime. several Muslims contribute to charities, participate in extra prayers, pay time with family and devote themselves to reading and taking note of recitations of the religious text. A typical Ramadan day starts with suhoor, the meal eaten before the sunrise and 1st prayer. Between sun up and sun down, Muslims abstain from uptake, drinking (even water) and smoking. throughout the day, locals are also off his guard, making ready food for iftar (literally which means 'breakfast', the meal is eaten once sunset), praying and specializing in their religious observance, such a large amount of outlets, businesses, and government offices have reduced hours of operation. some of the hours before sunset, the streets awake - and might get quite jam-packed - as families stream intent on buy tamarind juice, sweets and different iftar provide. It's conjointly common to deliver a meal to those less lucky. At sunset, the muadhdhin calls Muslims to worship al-Maghrib, the prayer that straightaway follows sunset, so it's time to interrupt the quick. Some can merely drink water and eat dates so that they will go on to prayer before sitting down for the massive iftar meal. Others can eat iftar so pray. What to expect throughout Ramadan in Jordan Travelers aren't duty-bound to follow the abstinence and prayer schedule; however, it's going to influence your plans. Here are a unit several things to stay in mind if you're a movement to Jordan throughout the Muslim holy month. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 Passenger traffic up 6.8% YoY in Argentina and 2.1% in Italy, partially offset by declines in Brazil and Uruguay Corporacion America Airports S.A. (NYSE: CAAP), the largest private sector airport operator in the world by number of airports, reported today preliminary year-over-year passenger traffic growth of 1.8% in April 2019. Passenger Traffic, Cargo Volume and Aircraft Movements Highlights Statistics Apr'19 Apr'18 % Var. YTD19 YTD18 % Var Domestic Passengers (thousands) 3,725 3,462 7.6% 15,255 14,034 8.7% International Passengers (thousands) 2,233 2,341 -4.6% 8,809 9,073 -2.9% Transit Passengers (thousands) 633 668 -5.2% 2,954 3,010 -1.9% Total Passengers (thousands) 6,590 6,471 1.8% 27,019 26,118 3.4% Cargo Volume (thousand tons) 36.7 35.5 3.5% 141.5 134.0 5.6% Total Aircraft Movements (thousands) 68.5 70.9 -3.4% 281.2 284.3 -1.1% Passenger Traffic Overview Total passenger traffic in April 2019 slowed to 1.8% YoY from 2.6% YoY last month. Growth of 6.8% in Argentina and 2.1% in Italy, further supported by growth across most other countries of operations, was partially offset by declines in Brazil and Uruguay. The Company faced easier comps in April as the Easter holidays this year fell in April, while in 2018 they fell in March. In Argentina, total passenger traffic growth of 6.8% YoY, was mainly driven by an 18.1% growth in domestic passengers benefiting from the launch of several new routes and the addition of new airlines during 2018 and 2019, together with a mix-shift to domestic from international travel by local passengers. International passenger traffic fell 12.1% reflecting continued challenging macro conditions. During April, Flybondi continued to add new domestic routes connecting Neuquen Airport with Mendoza and Cordoba airports, Salta Airport with Cordoba and Rosario airports, and Tucuman Airport with Rosario Airport, further increasing connectivity in the country. In addition, low cost airline JetSmart begun domestic operations with routes from El Palomar Airport to Mendoza and Cordoba airports and from Salta Airport to Neuquen, Cordoba and Mendoza airports. Also in April, the remaining regional flights were migrated from Aeroparque to Ezeiza Airport, with the exception of flights to/from Montevideo and Punta del Este, in Uruguay. In Italy, passenger traffic increased 2.1%, driven by growth of 6.0% at Florence Airport reflecting easier comps as last year traffic was impacted by Air France pilots strike. This month, traffic benefited from the Easter Holiday effect together with the good performance of TAPs connecting flight to Lisbon and the additional flights to Madrid by Iberia. In addition, SAS airlines started operations at Florence airport, with a new connection to Copenhagen with three weekly flights. Also, Air Arabia Maroc started operations at Pisa airport, with a new route to Casablanca, Morocco. In Brazil, passenger traffic declined 7.8%, impacted by cancellation of certain routes at several Brazilian airports by Avianca Brasil, and, to a lesser extent, a reduction in less profitable routes and frequencies by LATAM Airlines as it seeks to optimize operations at Brasilia Airport. By contrast, Gol airlines announced the addition of several frequencies over the coming months, in line with its strategy of expanding operations at Brasilia airport. In Ecuador, passenger traffic increased 10.2%, with international passenger traffic at Guayaquil Airport up 5.8%, mainly attributed to the additional frequencies by COPA and Jet Blue, started earlier this year. Cargo Volume and Aircraft Movements Cargo volume increased 3.5% in April 2019, mainly as a result a 63.1% increase in Brazil, offset by a decline of 12.7% in Argentina, related to the continued challenging macroeconomic conditions. Aircraft movements decreased 3.4% in April 2019, mainly as a result of a 15.9% decline in Brazil. Summary Passenger Traffic, Cargo Volume and Aircraft Movements Apr'19 Apr'18 % Var. YTD19 YTD18 % Var Passenger Traffic (thousands) Argentina 3,320 3,109 6.8% 14,280 13,356 6.9% Italy 736 721 2.1% 2,156 2,119 1.8% Brazil 1,474 1,599 -7.8% 6,443 6,565 -1.9% Uruguay 176 181 -3.1% 818 866 -5.5% Ecuador 392 382 2.7% 1,497 1,410 6.2% Armenia 217 213 2.1% 796 737 8.0% Peru 275 267 3.1% 1,028 1,066 -3.5% TOTAL 6,590 6,471 1.8% 27,019 26,118 3.4% Cargo Volume (tons) Argentina 18,825 21,563 -12.7% 74,881 81,955 -8.6% Italy 1,285 838 53.3% 4,365 3,495 24.9% Brazil 8,639 5,297 63.1% 32,163 19,379 66.0% Uruguay 2,547 2,397 6.3% 8,642 9,153 -5.6% Ecuador 3,316 3,423 -3.1% 14,629 13,468 8.6% Armenia 1,704 1,553 9.7% 5,262 5,028 4.7% Peru 389 384 1.2% 1,579 1,549 2.0% TOTAL 36,704 35,456 3.5% 141,522 134,027 5.6% Aircraft Movements Argentina 35,553 35,474 0.2% 151,443 148,899 1.7% Italy 6,864 6,590 4.2% 21,016 20,475 2.6% Brazil 12,714 15,118 -15.9% 53,465 59,868 -10.7% Uruguay 2,375 2,615 -9.2% 11,712 13,563 -13.6% Ecuador 6,834 6,640 2.9% 27,470 24,629 11.5% Armenia 1,744 1,976 -11.7% 7,070 6,891 2.6% Peru 2,383 2,474 -3.7% 9,029 9,941 -9.2% TOTAL 68,467 70,887 -3.4% 281,205 284,266 -1.1% Daily News Delivery Join your colleagues and stay up to date on the latest Travel industry news and trends. Subscribe 2021 Travel Industry Wire Rainforest Cruises, a premier provider of exotic river cruise travel packages, is announcing new boutique Mekong River and Irrawaddy River cruises in the Southeast Asia (TRAVPR.COM) UNITED STATES - May 17th, 2019 - Rainforest Cruises, a premier provider of exotic river cruise travel packages, is pleased to announce new cruise itineraries along the Mekong River and Irrawaddy River. A river cruise in Cambodia, Vietnam or Myanmar is an ideal way to tour these emerging destinations. These cruises cover vast distances in areas where infrastructure is still developing, and visit numerous destinations, allowing for an intimate look at life on the river as it was centuries ago, with the unspoiled beauty of ancient temples, surrounding landscape, and local people. Rainforest Cruises is offering exclusive cruise deals with select Mekong River and Irrawaddy River cruises. Offers include: Save $300 per person in 2019 aboard the Indochine River Cruises and the Toum Tiou River cruise Save 20% off aboard the Aqua Mekong on Early-Bird bookings Get 2 Nights Free at the Hotels des Arts in Saigon, or at the Sofitel Angkor in Siem Reap Save up to 30% off select Irrawaddy River cruise itineraries aboard the Anawrahta River Cruise in Myanmar "Building on our success in the Amazon and Galapagos, we believe expanding our offering to Southeast Asia is a natural fit. Southeast Asia is rich in cultural, archeological and biological treasures with numerous navigable rivers. Additionally, vessels available in the region are world-class, and allow for guests to visit several countries in a single itinerary." Jeremy Clubb, Director of Rainforest Cruises The Mekong Navigator offers an outstanding selection of 34 spacious and indulgent suites with meticulous attention to every modern detail and comfort. Guest will experience an unforgettable 8-Day journey along the Mekong River. The ancient temples of Angkor Wat, the spectacular Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, a water blessing by the monks of Wat Arang and the French architecture of the Opera House in Ho Chi Minh City are only a few itinerary highlights. The Indochine II cruise offers longer itineraries ranging from 9-day to 11-days with custom land tour extension options to Hanoi and Ha Long Bay, covering the highlights of Northern Vietnam. About: Rainforest Cruises is a boutique travel company specializing in adventure cruises on the Amazon River, Galapagos Islands, Mekong and Irrawaddy River. As travel experts, Rainforest Cruises provides the finest collection of cruises and tours, at unbeatable prices in South America and Southeast Asia. Rainforest Cruises has been featured in Fodor's Best Cruises, as well as many other top news sources: USA Today, NY Times, Travel & Leisure, Bloomberg, among others. ### Treehugger and our third-party partners use cookies and process personal data like unique identifiers based on your consent to store and/or access information on a device, display personalized ads and for content measurement, audience insight, and product development. To change or withdraw your consent choices for Treehugger.com, including your right to object where legitimate interest is used, click below. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page. These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data. List of Partners (vendors) rchopra@tribunemail.com Mumbai, May 17 The rupee declined by 29 paise to 70.32 against the US dollar in opening trade on Friday as crude oil prices firmed up and US-China trade-related concerns weighed on investor community. Forex traders said besides the US-China trade concerns, foreign fund outflows also kept pressure on the Indian rupee. The rupee opened weak at 70.22 at the interbank forex market and then fell further to 70.32, down 29 paise over its last close. The rupee had settled at 70.03 against the US dollar on Thursday. However, a positive opening in domestic equities supported the local unit and restricted the fall. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.30 per cent to USD 72.84 per barrel. Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital markets, pulling out Rs 953.23 crore on Thursday, as per provisional data. PTI shalender@tribune.com New Delhi, May 16 Homebuyers and lenders of debt-laden Jaypee Infratech today started voting on state-owned NBCCs bid to acquire Jaypee Groups realty firm and complete the construction of over 20,000 flats. The voting process will end on Sunday and the outcome would be declared on May 20. The financial creditors would vote for the second time on the resolution plan for Jaypee Infratech, a subsidiary of Jaiprakash Associates Ltd (JAL). On May 3, the financial creditors rejected Mumbai-based Suraksha Realtys bid through voting process. As many as 13 banks represent 40.71% voting rights in the Committee of Creditors (CoC) while over 23,000 homebuyers have around 59% vote. A majority of homebuyers are likely to vote in favour of the NBCCs bid but many also fear that lenders may reject it as they do not want to take up to 60% haircut against their claim of Rs 9,782 crore, sources had said. Earlier this week, the CoC decided to put on vote the revised offer of NBCC, with homebuyers favouring the voting process while bankers dissenting. Bankers had opposed putting the NBCCs bid to vote and pitched for further negotiations. Banks even made a plea before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) for a stay on the voting process, but did not get relief. In its revised offer, NBCC has proposed infusion of Rs 200 crore equity capital, transfer of 950 acres worth Rs 5,000 crore as well as Yamuna Expressway to banks and completion of flats construction by July 2023 in order to settle an outstanding claim of Rs 23,723 crore of financial creditors. The bankers opposition came against the backdrop of NBCC on Monday ruling out dilution of certain conditions, including exemption from tax liability, in its revised offer. PTI editorial@tribune.com Sandeep Rana Tribune News Service Chandigarh, May 16 A strong cup of tea and quick perusal of newspapers, Congress candidate for the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat is all set for the days rallies. There are some good and some not so good news, he observes, as he steps out. In UT villages, he talks of development issues lal dora, water and sanitation. In the city, he speaks of Metro, leasehold system, sanitation and the Centre cutting City Beautifuls budget. Modi was in power. What did he do for Chandigarh? The citys budget was slashed. It was neglected. If elected, I will first work on getting more funds from the Centre. There will be zero tolerance on the sanitation issues and I will accord top priority to Metro, he says. After a visit to Sector 52, he heads for Guru Ka Langar Eye Hospital in Sector 18 and interacts with patients and doctors. Bansal then returns to his Sector 28 residence decked up with party flags. Party workers inside are busy preparing for the election. Bansal goes to his office room where journalists and party workers are waiting. He quickly goes through the days schedule. At 11:40 am, he has to reach PU to interact with professors and senators. Short of time, he requests journalists to accompany him to PU even as his phone rings incessantly. I am not interested in the university politics, but the university itself, he remarks. As he reaches PU, people have already gathered to receive him. Some NSUI leaders shake hands with him while a few touch his feet. Senior Congress leader raises national issues, the Centre demolishing democratic institutions, demonetisation and GST and the unfulfilled Rs 15 lakh promise. On nationalism, he tells the gathering, They failed on issues. So they switched to the narrative of patriotism. They are seeking votes in the name of martyrs and questioning others patriotism. He leaves the PU for home for lunch. Some rest and the youth wing of All-India Aggarwal Sammelan is there to meet him. Before he settles down, a number of major public interactions are lined up. He goes to Pushpak Society in Sector 49 and later to Sector 56 where two-time Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda had reached to campaign for him. Later, he campaigns in Sector 40 and Ram Darbar. At his evening interactions, atmosphere at the venue is charged up with people, donning Congress caps and holding party flags, raise slogans in his and the partys favour. His last event of the day ends around 10 pm and he reaches home half an hour later. I wish before retiring to bed around 11 pm, I could read books, which I normally do. But I am already very tired and have to get up early in the morning, he signs off. editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Chandigarh, May 16 A woman Lok Sabha candidate from the city has complained of receiving intimidating and vulgar messages on her mobile phone by an unknown sender. In her complaint to the police, she stated that the accused sent her threatening messages on WhatsApp, asking her to stop campaigning. Sources said the sender introduced himself as a member of a mainstream party. The accused first claimed to be a Congress worker and later said he was from BJP. Thereafter, he claimed to be affiliated to AAP, the sources added. Sources said the accused also sent morphed objectionable pictures of the victim on her WhatsApp, which were immediately deleted. The victim, however, managed to take a screenshot of the message, a printout of which was given to the police. On her complaint, a case under Sections 507 (criminal intimidation by an anonymous communication) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 67 and 67-A of the Information Technology (IT) Act was registered against the unidentified accused at the Mauli Jagran police station. The police said it seemed that the accused had procured the mobile SIM on a fake identity. They had started investigating the case, they added. Niraj Srivastava Niraj Srivastava Former ambassador to Syria The war in Syria, currently in its eighth year, appears to be moving towards its endgame, though some important issues remain to be resolved. However, they do not include a regime change, which was the primary objective of the West-Gulf combine, which started this war in March 2011, at the height of the so-called Arab Spring. That turned out to be more of an Arab Winter, thanks to the West and Gulf (W&G), which hijacked the historic opportunity to destroy Libya, murder Qaddafi, and replace a democratically elected government in Egypt by a dictator. However, Syria, led by Bashar al-Assad, remained a thorn in the flesh of many. The Arab Spring appeared to be a good opportunity to get rid of him. In any case, he had been on the hit list of the US for a long time, as disclosed by Gen Wesley Clarke, former Supreme Commander of NATO in Europe. Clarke made this revelation in a public interview in March, 2007 (available on YouTube). Syria (along with Libya, Iran, Sudan, Iraq, Somalia and Lebanon) was identified for a regime change by the US as early as in 2001. So, in March 2011, foreign mercenaries, trained, armed and paid by the W&G (which included the US, the UK, France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE) started appearing in Syrian towns close to the Syrian-Jordanian border. Daraa was one of them. The first demonstration in Syria against the Assad regime took place in Daraa in March, 2011. Many armed foreign fighters infiltrated the crowds and started shooting at the Syrian security forces, killing more than 80 of them. The Syrians fired back at them, in self-defence. Some demonstrators were caught in the crossfire and killed. This is what the W&G wanted. They announced that Assad was killing his own people. This model of a regime change was later successfully used in March 2014 in Kiev, Ukraine. However, things did not go according to plan in Syria. Assad, who enjoyed the support of the overwhelming majority of his people, did not cave in. Instead, he decided to fight the foreign-backed mercenaries and quickly announced several far-reaching political and economic reforms. However, the W&G wanted nothing short of a regime change. And thus began a long and destructive war, resulting in the deaths of over half a million people, mostly Syrians, and displacement of around eight million, including five million who fled Syria and ended up in refugee camps in Turkey and Lebanon. More than a million of them later undertook a risky journey to Greece, from where they travelled to countries in continental Europe, triggering a refugee crisis in 2015-16. That was when the West started feeling the heat from its misadventure in Syria. The war in Syria, which began in 2011, gathered momentum in the next four years, during which the W&G pumped weapons and jihadi fighters into the country. They wanted to topple Assad and establish a Salafist Principality on the Syrian-Iraqi border. The Syrian government, helped by Hezbollah and Iranian Revolutionary Guards, was fighting with its back to the wall. The situation became critical by mid-2015 when the regime was faced with the prospect of defeat. By that time, Al-Qaeda (also known as the Nusra Front) and the Islamic State (ISIS) had entered Syria in strength. While weapons were funded by the Gulf, fighters and training were supplied by Turkey and the West. It was then that Assad turned to Russia for help, which agreed to do so in September 2015. Syria and Iran are the soft underbellies of Russia, which believed that if Assad were toppled, Iran would be the next target. The Russian air force intervened in Syria, changing the course of the war. It was not long before the Russians controlled the skies of Syria, and through relentless bombing disrupted the supply lines of the foreign fighters. On the ground, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), helped by Hezbollah and Iranian forces, gradually began the process of re-taking important population centres and other strategic assets. Aleppo, the largest city in Syria, was taken by the SAA in December 2016. At the UN, Russia and China repeatedly vetoed resolutions which would have authorised direct western intervention in Syria. They had learned a bitter lesson in Libya. Other victories followed, and by 2018, all major cities and provinces in Western Syria (except Idlib) were under the control of Assads forces. It became clear that a regime change was not going to happen in Syria. The West had failed to achieve its main objective. And therein lies the strategic importance of the Syrian war. This was the first time that the US and its allies were militarily defeated by the Syrians, Russians, Iranians and Hezbollah in a war. However, the war is not yet over. The province of Idlib, home to tens of thousands of Haii Tahrir al Sham (HTS) (formerly Nusra Front and al-Qaeda) and other jihadi fighters, is not under the control of Assads forces. Almost one-third of Syria, east of the Euphrates river, is controlled by the US with the help of the Syrian Kurds, who are their foot soldiers. This is the area where most of Syrias oilfields are located. Russia has set in motion the Astana Peace Process, under which Russia, Iran, and Turkey hold regular consultations to demilitarise the hotspots in the country and restore Syria's territorial integrity. The restoration of Idlib to the government is currently being negotiated. It may take some more time, but Assad is determined to recover it from the militants. Even though Trump has announced the withdrawal of US forces from Syria, so far only a partial withdrawal has taken place. The Kurdish areas in northeastern Syria are controlled by the US and Turkey, which has inserted some of its armed forces in the region, in the hope of annexing it. The Syrians are determined to recover these areas and Russia has emphatically reaffirmed Syrias territorial integrity. It remains to be seen how and when they eject the US and Turkey from Syria. The war in Syria is one of the biggest and most important wars of the 21st century, resulting in untold death and destruction. As explained above, it also marks an inflexion point in contemporary geopolitics. The two most powerful countries in the world the US and Russia fought a semi-proxy war, prompting one expert to call it World War III, on a limited scale. India provided diplomatic support to the internationally recognised Assad government throughout the war. The Indian embassy continued to function in Damascus. The then MoS for External Affairs MJ Akbar visited Damascus in August 2016. However, Indian oil companies, which were operating in eastern Syria, are awaiting the return of normalcy to resume their operations. The reconstruction of Syria, estimated to cost around $250 billion, has begun. Indian companies would do well to explore economic opportunities in Syria, just as Russian, Iranian, and Chinese companies are doing. Views are personal M Rajivlochan M Rajivlochan Member, state higher education council, chandigarh Knowledge is a key resource for the growth of any business. In times of capitalism, businesses have achieved quantum jumps in productivity through research. Research that was done by people not directly connected with businesses. Therefore, it seems amazing that the Indian state hesitates to fund research while the true benefit of research can only be had if it is done on a large enough scale. Research has never been able to claim even 1% of the GDP for investment. But, there is a downside to investing in research and innovation. The success rate of ideas and innovations in the real world is very low. For every idea that works, there are thousands that do not. To take outlier one example, the drug company Pfizer had been working on a promising heart drug for over a decade in 2006. It had pumped in nearly a billion dollars into developing and testing the drug. And then it found out that the drug had led to 82 deaths. It caused heart problems instead of solving them. Pfizer pulled the plug on the drug and all trials were stopped. It was a costly lesson. The world is littered with such stories of failed research. In India, industries and industry associations refuse to pay such high-sunk costs. Hence the need for the government to step in. We only need to remember all illustrious people in the history of science and invention who died unsung. Today, every student knows about the science of heredity and that Gregor Mendel, the Austrian monk, was the father of that science. Mendel did his experiments on pea plants for eight years and when he published his work in the 1860s, there was hardly any response. Historians of science have said perhaps people at that time were looking for whether new species could be produced from existing ones, hence there was little market for the processes by which specific traits were transmitted within the same species. It was 40 years after his death that his ideas received wide recognition. Had he been asked to seek funds from a private benefactor, he and many others like him, would have been unable to do that kind of research. It is only governments that can have the kind of long-term perspective which enables high-end research, whether in the basic sciences or applied sciences, to fructify. Cutting-edge research is too important to be left entirely to market mechanisms. It is here that we need the government to step in and provide real time support, financial and otherwise, for research into the sciences and society. It is governments that can best invest in building the wealth of the nation. Given that Indian industry has been reluctant to pursue research goals, it is reasonable for governments to look towards funding research. If only the brain power of a thousand-odd universities, whether government or private, could be mobilised! Figures for 2016-17 show that the higher education sector gets about 3.8% of Indias annual expenditure on science research of an estimated Rs 1,04,864 crore. And yet, all these universities and colleges put together account for 33% of the annual output in terms of research papers and publications. In respect of patents, the figures are even more telling. For 2016-17, 45,444 applications were filed in India for patents. Only 29% of these applications came from Indian applicants, the remaining patents were from foreign companies/nationals in India. No private institution in India even came close to the figure of 1,840 patents filed by a single US major, Qualcomm. When we consider the minimal funding made available to institutions of higher education, their performance is, indeed, commendable. It is in the nature of knowledge institutions to generate knowledge. If these institutions could be provided more research funds and set free of excessive controls, there is a fair chance that they will create great value for society. There also has to be a sense that research on society and research in science and technology are two different things. Research in social sciences and humanities focuses on the warts of society. That is inevitable in a society polarised along multiple lines and researchers believe that findings can be used to either undermine the existing government or provide it with ideological support. The thing to demand from these scientists is to, one, adhere strictly to the principles of science and scientific evidence testing; and two, to provide doable solutions and insights into the problems. A stellar example here is the researches of Prof Vasant Shinde on the Harappan culture. It ends up providing us invaluable insight into the continuities that mark Indian culture and civilisation across the entire subcontinent. It enables us to transcend the intractable question of who we as a nation are. He has effectively reconstructed important strands of the Indian identity. But, before that research began, no one could have possibly predicted such an outcome. shriaya.dutt@tribuneindia.com Melbourne, May 17 A Perth-based Indian restaurant has been fined a whopping 25,000 Australian dollars for multiple food regulation breaches. The Curry Club Indian Restaurant on South Street and its owner Nilish Dokhe were convicted after the restaurant fell short on a number of fronts when it came to cleanliness and not providing appropriate hand washing facilities. The restaurant was found breaching seven food acts, including failure to store food properly protecting it from the likelihood of contamination, failure to maintain food premises to a standard of cleanliness and failure to clean and sanitise food contact surfaces. Health inspectors during their visit to the restaurant last December found non-compliance in relation to sewage and water disposal, mouldy cutting boards and a lack of hot water and soap, The West Australian reported. A spokesman for the City of Fremantle said inspectors found a number of breaches, including an open spoon drain that had been cut across the floor and was covered in mould and slime. "Waste water was also observed leaking directly onto the floor in the main kitchen from drainage pipes located under the sink," he said. Waste water appeared to spill from the wash sink, drains and bucket trap and flow around into the cool room, posing a further risk of cross contamination, the spokesman said, adding that a number of chopping boards used for food preparation were warped and mouldy. The spokesman said a chest freezer was observed to be rusty, mouldy and full of old food scraps, while the cool room door was covered in a build-up of dirt, mould and grease. Drainage pipes under the sink were mouldy and slimy, while no hot water, hand soap or hand towels were available. There was also no chemical sanitiser used to clean food contact surfaces, the dishwasher was not working and several dirty and mouldy dishwashing racks were found. A manhole cover in the ceiling was missing, leaving a large opening directly into the ceiling space, the spokesman said. The breaches amounted to a fine of 25,000 dollars for the restaurant. The report quoted the restaurant owner Dokhe as saying that he was not on site during the inspection, however, ensured the kitchen was cleaned to the proper standard the next day. Other issues identified in an improvement notice issued by the city's health officers, such as cracked tiles, were fixed in the following weeks. PTI rchopra@tribunemail.com Washington, May 17 A Silicon Valley-based IT company has filed a lawsuit against the US government for denying the most sought-after H-1B visa to a highly qualified Indian professional, terming the renunciation arbitrary and a clear abuse of discretion. Xterra Solutions alleged in its lawsuit that the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) improperly denied H-1B visa to Praharsh Chandra Sai Venkata Anisetty, 28, whom it had hired as a Business System Analyst. The companys H-1B petition on behalf of Anisetty was denied on the sole ground that the job offered to him did not qualify as an H-1B specialty occupation, the lawsuit said. The denial is not supported by substantial evidence in the record, is contrary to established legal precedent, and is arbitrary, capricious and constitutes a clear abuse of discretion, the company alleged and urged the Northern District of California US District Court to set aside the USCIS order. The H1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China. The most sought-after visa has an annual numerical limit cap of 65,000 visas each fiscal year as mandated by the US Congress. The first 20,000 petitions filed on behalf of beneficiaries with a US masters degree or higher are exempt from the cap. Anisetty holds a Bachelors degree in Engineering (Electronics and Communication Engineering) as well as a Masters of Science degree in Information Technology and Management from the University of Texas at Dallas. He currently holds valid H-4 dependent status through his wife, the principal beneficiary of an H-1B application. From 2014 to 2016, Anisetty held valid F-1 non-immigrant status as a student enrolled in the information technology and management masters program at Texas University. Later, he also participated in Curricular Practical Training, an employment-training programme with an established academic curriculum in the form of cooperative education programmes offered by sponsoring employers through agreements with F-1 students universities. The company asserted that Anisettys current position as a Business Systems Analyst meets one or more of the criteria for an H-1B specialty occupation. USCISs decision dated February 19, 2019 denying Xterras H-1B petition, filed on behalf of Anisetty, was arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and not in accordance with the law, the lawsuit said. The USCIS gave no explanation as to why, despite Xterras significant evidentiary submissions in its request for evidence, documenting that Anisettys position as a Business Analyst met all four criteria for a specialty occupation, it denied Xterras petition to change Anisettys status to that of the principal beneficiary of an H-1B petition, it said. The company alleged that the USCIS acted arbitrarily and capriciously in finding that the current position offered to the Indian professional did not meet criterion that a baccalaureate or higher degree or its equivalent is normally the minimum requirement for entry into the particular position. PTI sanjiv@tribunemail.com The Kolkata violence and the unprecedented curtailment of campaigning in West Bengal have emerged as the defining moments of the 2019 Lok Sabha poll battle, which will be remembered mostly for the wrong reasons irrespective of which party (parties) forms the next government. Over the past six weeks, electioneering has been vituperative as well as vindictive. The level of the discourse has plummeted to new lows, with decorum and restraint being conspicuous by their absence. Chor, goonda and dhokhebaaz are some of the milder names top leaders have called each other. The clashes between supporters of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the BJP on Tuesday night laid bare the alarming extent of polarisation in West Bengal. The thin veneer of civilised campaigning was ripped apart when a bunch of goons no matter which party they belonged to smashed a bust of social reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, and that too on the campus of a college that bears his exalted name. Adding insult to injury, rival groups are now busy appropriating the legacy of this towering figure of Bengali Renaissance. PM Modi has announced that a grand statue of Vidyasagar would be installed at the same spot to give a befitting reply to TMC workers. Not the one to mince words, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee says her state has enough resources to rebuild the bust and doesnt need the BJPs money for the purpose. West Bengal is a prestige turf for the BJP, which is going all out to upset the TMC applecart. The latter had swept the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in the state, winning 34 seats out of 42, while the saffron party had to settle for just two. With the firebrand Didi projecting herself as a prime ministerial candidate, the confrontation between the two parties has reached a crescendo. Amid the nasty tug-of-war, the Election Commission is being accused of failing to ensure a level playing field. Walking a tightrope has perhaps never been so tough for the beleaguered poll conductor. The voter, in turn, finds himself in the unenviable position of choosing the lesser evil. editorial@tribune.com Saurabh Malik Tribune News Service Chandigarh, May 16 Nine years after the naked body of a girl was found in the backyard of a house, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has upheld the life sentence slapped on her father in an honour killing case. The victims mother had initially given the case the colour of rape and murder by claiming that an unidentified person had entered their house from the adjoining roof. The HC, during the course of trial, was however told that there was no roof adjoining the victims house. The case was placed before the Division Bench of Justice Rajiv Sharma and Justice Harinder Singh Sidhu after convict Ranbir moved the High Court against the state of Haryana, challenging his conviction. He was sentenced to life term by the Rohtak Additional Sessions Judge in October 2014. The Bench was told that initially, a case under Sections 302 (murder) and 376 (rape) of the IPC was registered on the statement of the victims mother, an anganwari helper. Section 376 was deleted from the FIR after investigation brought out that the victim was not raped. The mother, in her supplementary statement, said her daughter was talking to her friend for about an hour on the roof before her husband went up. He lost his cool after the daughter insisted on marrying the boy she was talking to. She added that her husband murdered the girl to save familys honour and tore her clothes before throwing her off the roof. Speaking for the Bench, Justice Sharma asserted that the body was found near the house of the accused. He was required to explain the circumstances under which the body was found close to the house. The mothers initial statement that the accused-father had gone to the office could not be believed, more particularly when the girl had gone missing. Justice Sharma added there would have been commotion in case an unidentified person had entered the house. The girl would have raised the alarm. Referring to the deposition of witnesses who turned hostile, Justice Sharma added there was no law that the statement of a hostile witness was to be discarded in its entirety. The prosecution has proved the case against the appellant beyond reasonable doubt, Justice Sharma added while dismissing his appeal as bereft of merit. Testimony falls apart editorial@tribune.com nit Dhawan and Ravinder Saini Tribune News Service Rohtak, May 16 A pall of gloom descended on Behalba in Rohtak district as the news of Sepoy Sandeep Malik having attained martyrdom reached the village today. Sepoy Sandeep Malik (27), who laid down his life battling terrorists in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, was to come to his native village on a one-month leave on May 26 but destiny had other plans for him. Having spent three years in Pulwama, Sandeep of the 18 Grenadiers had been transferred to Sri Ganganagar (Rajasthan) in April but he had not been relieved due to some official reasons. His last day of duty in Pulwama had to be May 25 and we were eagerly waiting to meet him on May 26 but the Almighty perhaps was not in favour of that, said the sepoys inconsolable father Satbir Malik, a farmer. Satbir said the family had spoken to Sandeep around 8 pm on Wednesday. Sandeep had disconnected the phone stating that he had to go on duty and would talk the next day. During conversation, he didnt give any hint about any operation, he added. The grief-stricken father said they learnt about the incident around 11 am when they saw villagers slowly gathering outside their house. The sepoys devastated mother Bala Devi said she was proud of her son for sacrificing his life for the nation. We did not know that the telephonic conversation with Sandeep on Thursday evening would be the last, she tearfully said. Sandeep also leaves behind his wife Neeru, whom he married two years ago Raju Malik, the sepoys younger brother, said Sandeep had been passionate about the Army since his childhood. My tau (fathers elder brother) is a retired Army officer while my two uncles are serving in the BSF, Raju said The martyrs body is likely to arrive in the village on Friday. shalender@tribune.com Saurabh Malik Tribune News Service Chandigarh, May 16 To arrest the flow of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today directed Haryana to invoke the provisions of a law that provide for preventive detention of persons, including foreigners, for a period ranging between one and two years. We also suggest Haryana to make special enactment to check effectively nefarious activities of drug cartels/syndicates within a reasonable time, Division Bench of Justice Rajiv Sharma and Justice Harinder Singh Sidhu asserted. Calling for enforcement of the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1988, the Bench said drug cartels and syndicates were involved in procurement and distribution of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. Their activities not only posed a serious threat to the health and welfare of the people, but also caused irreparable damage to the national economy. Speaking for the Bench, Justice Sharma added the drug cartels and syndicates were, rather, running a parallel economy. Their members were involved in other nefarious activities as well, including illegal supply of weapons and fake currency. The kingpins were rarely hauled up as only couriers and peddlers were apprehended. There were stringent provisions in the NDPS Act, but the cartels and syndicates were still operating. Referring to the provisions of the 1988 Act, Justice Sharma added it was enacted by Parliament to provide for detention in certain cases to prevent illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. Justice Sharma added it empowered the Central government or its officer not below joint secretarys rank and the state government or its officer not below secretarys rank to direct upon satisfaction the detention of a person for preventing him from engaging in illicit traffic in narcotic drugs, if found necessary. Underscoring the safeguards, Justice Sharma added that in case of the state government or its officer, it was required to forward a report on the order to the Central government within 10 days. The detention order could be executed at any place in India in the manner provided for the execution of warrants of arrest under the CrPC. Commenting on judicial powers to pass such orders, Justice Sharma said it was settled law that the court ordinarily could not direct the making of a particular enactment. But the court could suggest to the legislature the enactment of a law in exceptional cases. editorial@tribune.com nit Dhawan Tribune News Service Rohtak, May 16 A report submitted by the Assistant Returning Officer (ARO)-cum-Rohtak SDO (Civil) on Tuesday regarding a complaint of intimidation of voters has given a clean chit to Minister of State for Cooperatives Manish Grover. Ironically, on the basis of the AROs report, an FIR had been registered against Grover and former Congress MLA from Rohtak BB Batra and an SIT had been constituted to probe the case. The election agent of Congress nominee for Rohtak Lok Sabha seat, Deepender Singh Hooda, had lodged a complaint with the Election Commission (EC), alleging that Grover, along with a number of musclemen, had entered several polling booths at Rohtak and intimidated voters on polling day. The ARO said the statements of the presiding officers, sector supervisor and sector magistrate were recorded. They have stated that no such incident occurred at Booth No. 142, 143, 146, 149 and 150, the inquiry report states. As per the report, Kulbir Singh, the presiding officer of Booth No 145, has stated that Grover went to the booth around 11 am and enquired about the procedure of making polling agents. While Grover was returning, Batra entered the booth from the exit door and an altercation broke out between the two. They left the booth leveling allegations against each other. It did not hinder the polling process and no objection/ complaint was lodged by any polling agent, the presiding officer has said. editorial@tribune.com Mandi, May 16 The district administration of Lahaul-Spiti has airlifted EVMs to the snowbound Spiti valley in Army choppers on Wednesday. Due to the closure of the Kunzum Pass, which connects Keylong with the Spiti valley, the administration deployed two Army choppers for the purpose. The pass receives a heavy snowfall during winters, which cuts off the Spiti valley from Manali and Keylong. Lahaul-Spiti DC Ashwani Kumar Chaudhari said all arrangements had been made for the free and fair elections in Lahaul-Spiti, where 23,641 voters would exercise their franchise on May 19. There are 94 polling stations and a majority of these have been connected with roads. Special arrangements have been made for the ease of person with disabilities to ensure the maximum voting percentage, he said. TNS editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Shimla, May 16 Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad today lambasted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for demonetisation and described him as the biggest destroyer of jobs in the country. The Congress leader, who was here to campaign for party leaders, alleged that in his five-year tenure, Modi had introduced several anti-farmer, anti-worker, anti-youth, anti-woman and anti-Dalit policies. He alleged that Modi would be known for his maximum trips abroad. Addressing a press conference, he said, Modi had come as an asset for the BJP in 2014, but today he has become a liability as he has put the countrys economy on a ventilator. Though Azad was ambivalent on the performance of the Congress in the Lok Sabha poll, he claimed that it would be a non-BJP and non-NDA government at the Centre after the election results were declared on May 23. Azad said the PM Fasal Bima Yojana had benefited just 45 per cent farmers, whereas insurance companies had made a profit of Rs 3,000 crore. Although Modi talked about doubling farmers income by 2022, the fact is that the agricultural sector growth rate has declined to 1.88 per cent under the NDA regime from 3.84 per cent under the Congress regime, the Congress leader alleged. He said the Beti bachao, beti padhao had remained a slogan only as the government had squandered Rs 155 crore on publicity and image-building out of Rs 280 crore meant for the scheme in 2018-19. uttara@tribuneindia.com Tribune News Service Mandi, May 17 Over 2,000 tourists have been left stranded near Manali after a landslide cut off their route back into the tourist town on Friday, authorities said. The landslide occurred beyond Gulaba, authorities said, leaving some 600 tourist vehicles stranded between Gulaba and Marhia place that is 36 km from Manali. Heavy rain on Friday reportedly forced authorities to restrict tourists to Marhi. Authorities allow tourists up to Marhi until Rohtang Passwhich is some 15 km awayis opened up for the summer. Kullu administration was supposed to open Rohtang up for tourists on May 15. With Border Roads Organisations machinery posted near Rohtang Pass also cut off, the local administration said clearing the road was likely to take longer than usual. Manalis Sub Divisional Magistrate Ashwani Kumar said he expected vehicular traffic to be restored in two hours. Meanwhile, some tourists have begun to walk down toward Manali, authorities said. editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Srinagar, May 16 The Army paid tributes to Sepoy Sandeep who was killed in a gunfight in south Kashmirs Pulwama district on Thursday. Three militants of the Jaish-e-Mohammad were also killed in the gunfight. In a solemn ceremony at the Badamibagh Cantonment, Chinar Corps chief Lt Gen KJS Dhillon and soldiers of all ranks paid homage to the martyr on the behalf of a proud nation, an Army statement said. In a show of solidarity, representatives from other security agencies also paid their last respects to the martyr, he added Sepoy Sandeep (28) sustained bullet injuries during a fierce operation at Delipura village of Pulwama district. He was provided immediate first aid and evacuated to 92 Base Hospital, but unfortunately he succumbed to his injuries. Sepoy Sandeep, who had joined the Army in 2012, belonged to Behlba village of Maham tehsil in Rohtak district of Haryana. He is survived by his wife. editorial@tribune.com Majid Jahangir Tribune News Service Srinagar, May 16 Crushing the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) has been at the heart of the counter-militancy strategy of security forces post Pulwama, with bulk of their cadres, including top commanders, having been neutralised this year so far. In the first four months, at least 70 militants, including 30 from the Jaish, have been killed in different operations across Kashmir. While the militant casualties have been high compared to the last year which recorded the highest number of militant fatalities since 2008, forces too have suffered immensely and lost 58 of their men in militant actions. The deadliest attack since the eruption of militancy was carried out on February 14 when a local suicide bomber of the Jaish rammed his car into a forces convoy, killing 40 CRPF personnel. According to official figures, out of the 70 militants killed, 52 were locals, an indicator as to how local elements are now dominating the militant scene in Kashmir. The local commander killed included Mudasir Khan, 25, who was accused of being the main conspirator of the Pulwama bombing. While the Jaish has been the focus of anti-militancy operations as the group had the potential to carry out deadly attacks, forces have also killed 20 militants of the militant group Hizbul Mujahideen, 14 militants of the Lashkar-e-Toiba and five of the Al-Badr group. Out of the 70 militants killed till April, over 60 per cent have been killed in four districts of south Kashmir Anantnag, Kulgam, Pulwama and Shopian that have been the hotbed of militancy after the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani in 2016. Out of the 44 militants killed in south Kashmir, 32 were killed in two volatile districts of Pulwama and Shopian. The two districts continue to be a major headache for the security grid. According to figures, in the first four months, security forces lost 58 of their men in Kashmir, which included 44 CRPF men, eight army men and six policemen. Nearly 35 security men, including a Brigadier, a Deputy Inspector General of police and some senior officers, were injured in gunfights. Out of the 58 forces men, 49 were killed in south Kashmir. Last year, 23 security men were killed till April-end. There has also been a decline in the civilian causalties in Kashmir this year. At least 13 civilians have got killed, out of them four were killed in law and order situations and seven by suspected militants. A 12-year-old boy, allegedly held hostage by ultras, was killed during a gunfight in north Kashmir. The incident had sparked widespread outrage. In the first four months of the last year, 35 civilians were killed. Out of them 22, were killed in law and order situations, mostly near encounter sites. A senior security officer in Kashmir said there had been less deterioration in the law and order situation in the first four months compared to last year. There has been always a strategy and that is to follow the standard operating procedures and show maximum restraint. In the first four months following this, there have also been less civilian casualties. Besides, our men are well-trained and briefed regularly to maintain restraint in any situation, said CRPFIG, Srinagar, Ravideep Singh Sahi. editorial@tribune.com Amit Khajuria Tribune News Service Jammu, May 16 The Line of Control (LoC) has been unusually quiet for the past six days, a rarity after the high-level tension and exchange of fire from both sides since the Balakot strikes in February. This is being attributed to some kind of understanding between the Indian and Pakistan armies to foster de-escalation of the situation on the border that divides Jammu and Kashmir between India and Pakistan. There has not been even a single incident of firing from across the LoC for the past week, and accordingly, there was no reason for the security forces to retaliate, an Army source told The Tribune on the condition of anonymity. We retaliate only when we are provoked and targeted by the other side, he said. Post the Balakot strikes on February 26 in which the Indian Air Force had targeted a terror camp run by the Jaish-e-Mohammad, the LoC had erupted, mostly in the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch. The Pakistan army had violated the ceasefire violation for nearly 200 times and its action left several civilians, including children, dead or injured. The Indian retaliatory action had left many military assets of the Pakistan army demolished. The Pakistan army had also suffered heavy casualties. Sources said the Directors Generals of Indian and Pakistan armies had spoken to each other through their established channels of communication and talked about de-escalating the situation on the LoC. The sources, however, said they were keeping their fingers crossed because Pakistan was capable of breaching the ceasefire agreement anytime. The Indian and Pakistan armies had entered into an agreement in November 2003 to cease all hostilities on the LoC. Pak may violate truce anytime Sources said the Directors Generals of Indian and Pakistan armies had spoken through their established channels of communication and talked about de-escalating the situation on the LoC. The sources, however, said they were keeping their fingers crossed because Pakistan was capable of breaching the ceasefire agreement anytime editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service srinagar, May 16 A lesser-known party in the Valley, the Shiv Sena Balasaheb Thackeray, on Thursday extended a hand of friendship to the people as part of efforts to expand footprints in Kashmir. We have come with a message of friendship for the people of Kashmir... we want that the regional parties should strengthen brotherhood between Jammu and Kashmir as a wedge has been created between the two regions, said Manish Sahni, general secretary of the Shiv Sena Balasaheb Thackeray, J&K unit, while addressing a press conference here. Nine other party members, mostly from Jammu, were also present on the occasion. Asserting that the people of the Jammu and Kashmir regions should work together for development and restoration of peace, Sahni said the parties should not fan regional divide and instead concentrate on addressing basic issues like unemployment. On the party stand on Article 370, he said the issue should be settled in the court and parties should avoid playing politics in this regard. Sahni said their party was for holding of the Assembly elections at the earliest but demanded that Jammu be given equal seats. editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Srinagar, May 16 A youth (23), who was injured during protests against the alleged rape of a three-year-old girl in north Kashmirs Pattan area on Monday, succumbed to his injuries at a Srinagar hospital on Wednesday night. The deceased has been identified as Arshad Ahmad Dar, a resident of Chenbal village in Baramulla districts Pattan area. Arshid was admitted to the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) in Srinagar on Monday and succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday night. He had multiple pellet injuries in the head, said Dr Farooq Jan, SKIMS medical superintendent. Fearing tension after the death of the youth, the authorities reduced the speed of the internet in the region and put in place strict security arrangements in north Kashmir to prevent protests. Meanwhile, students from dozens of schools in Srinagar continued their protest on Thursday against the minors rape, demanding capital punishment to the alleged rapist. The incident has triggered massive clashes in the region since Sunday. Dozens of civilians and over 40 security personnel have been injured in clashes. The police have already constituted a Special Investigation Team to probe the rape case even as the administration vowed exemplary punishment to the guilty. Governor Satya Pal Malik has also promised speedy investigation in the case. vinaymishra188@gmail.com Manpriya Singh What are the odds against a motorbike journey that traverses 22 countries in 40 days? Many, one would think. But once the imagination starts rolling, does the incredibility of the challenges start seeping in? Terrain, visas, duties on the motorbikes and more! On an average, we did 400 kilometres a day, on some days it would be 600 kilometres too and given the hostile terrain at some places, those days wed clock in only 100 to 150 kilometres, says Azadwinder Singh, a member of the Sikh Motorcycle Club, Canada, has just gotten started with the how and what of their world trip, Canada to Punjab by road! A journey undertaken by the members of the club to commemorate 550th birth anniversary of Baba Nanak and to spread his message of unity and humanity, and also raise funds for Khalsa Aid. We started with the journey on April 3 from Vancouver from where we flew to London with our motorcycles aboard the same flight, adds Jatinder Singh Chauhan, another of the total six bikers and how from hereon they hit the road with the aim of reaching Punjab in less than 40 days, checking off first the countries and cities across Europe. Thereafter we entered Turkey, from whereon we travelled via Iran to enter Pakistan and finally, we reached the Wagah border on May 11. And it all kicked off by first crossing Canada and USA by road! Talking about Pakistan Well, what you set out to achieve is what you get. All set out to spread the message of humanity, humanity is what they found. Quite aware of the ongoing tension with Pakistan, nevertheless, this was a journey they undertook with a clear motive - to overlook differences, conflicts and anything that divides the human race. Wherever we went, we received immense love and appreciation. Pakistan was no different. People went out of their way to welcome us. So much so that it actually became difficult to give money wherever we spent, adds Jatinder Singh. As for the other countries, several Sikhs world over still battle the confused identity with Arabs. In some parts of Turkey, Romania and Serbia, they didnt know anything about a Sikh. In fact, they had never seen one before! But that didnt mean they faced racism of any kind. Oh people were unbelievably warm and welcoming. They wanted selfies, asked questions and some even felt our beards. Calling all the riders A club that started with a humble four to five members in 2003, now proudly boasts of 100 to 125 members. Even though the name is Sikh Riders Club, one of the tenets of Sikhism is equality and humanity, so in sync with that philosophy we are a secular club. Anyone from any religion, community or race is welcome to join, provided they follow the rules and guidelines applicable to all members. Time out Love for riding is one thing, all-consuming passion quite another. Which is why they thought of giving direction to their love of riding and made sacrifices along the way. All of us have taken two months from our construction, transport and several other businesses in Canada. One of us is an engineer and he even quit his job, but once the organisation became aware of the cause, they accepted his leave as well. Giving into the will, the way obediently followed. Choose the right gear Apart from the divine intervention that they credit for the success of the trip, its the planning that paid off. Choosing the right motorcycle is one of the key factors. One has to understand that for a journey like this there will be wide range of weather conditions, terrains and road conditions so the bikes have to withstand all that. Their parts have to be widely available and then things like proper gear, knee caps and safety jackets, says Jasmeet Pal Singh, another rider on board. manpriya@tribunemail.com shriaya.dutt@tribuneindia.com New York, May 17 Superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who engaged in a candid interview with American talk show host David Letterman, says he was thrilled and honoured to share his story with one of the most famous talk show personalities. "I've watched David Letterman's late-night talk show for years and I'm a huge fan of his style of interviewing. I'm thrilled, and honoured to share my story with him. "That this is on Netflix is even more special - I'm working with the team on various projects and it's always been exciting partnering with them," Shah Rukh, who will make his appearance on Letterman's show "My Next Guest Needs No Introduction", said in a statement issued on Friday. Shah Rukh took to Twitter, where he shared a photograph of himself along with Letterman. He thanked the talk show host for making him feel like himself. "No more footprints... this is The Abominable Snowman!! Before Batman and Spiderman, there is Mr. Letterman thanks for your generosity. Had too much fun being interviewed. Not because it was about me but because you were kind enough to make me feel I can be me. You are an inspiration sir," he captioned the image. No more footprints...this is The Abominable Snowman!! Before BatMan & SpiderMan, there is Mr. LetterMan @Letterman Thx for ur generosity. Had 2 much fun being interviewed.Not becos it was about me but becos u were kind enough to make me feel I can be me. U r an inspiration sir. pic.twitter.com/8MkFpWJ0WK Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) 17 May 2019 The show will be presented as a stand alone special on Netflix and combines two interests for which Letterman is known for in-depth conversations with extraordinary people, and in-the-field segments expressing his curiosity and humour. After interviewing SRK in front of a live audience, Letterman said: "The best part of this job that Netflix has been happy to provide for me is to meet people. And after each one of these sessions I think to myself, it is a very smart, very lovely person from whom I have learned things. You would maybe be at the top of that list." He has hosted the first season of the series featuring names such as former US President Barack Obama, actor George Clooney, Pakistan Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai, hip-hop star Jay-Z, actress Tina Fey and radio producer Howard Stern. The second season will include conversations between Letterman and Kanye West, Ellen Degeneres, Tiffany Haddish, Lewis Hamilton and Melinda Gates. IANS shalender@tribune.com Having criss-crossed the length and breadth of the country to drum up support for the Congress, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, AICC general secretary in charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, believes the ruling BJP and its leaders will pay for their arrogance, which reflects in their policies of demonetisation and poorly implemented Goods and Services Tax. In an exclusive interview to The Tribune reporter Geetanjali Gayatri, she talks on varied issues, including her foray into active politics, her impressions of the government and the need to keep the focus on development. Excerpts: You have travelled all over the country seeking votes for the Congress what has been the takeaway from these public interface and travels? The biggest takeaway is that in the last five years the public has struggled deeply and instead of being the resolver of public issues, this government has created more issues that have led to increased suffering. When I talk to farmers, they tell me they dont get the right price for their produce and in states like Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh they are dealing with the massive menace of stray cattle grazing on their fields with absolutely no support from the government. The youth are facing a job crisis. Policies like Notebandi and the convoluted structure of GST have deepened this crisis. The fact is that this government does not hear the voice of the people. 12000 farmers have committed suicide and thousands of farmers came to Delhi asking only that the Prime Minister should hear them out but he didnt have five minutes to spare for them. What are the real issues that go beyond the political narrative that has unfolded this election that touches the life of every common man? How can issues that touch the common man be beyond the political narrative? The true political narrative is and remains the common man and the issues he faces. There can be no political narrative that does not involve the everyday issues of the common man. If, for reasons of commerce or politics, the media and the BJP choose to create a narrative that is removed from the public and the common man, they will see the result of this in time. Because the common man is interested in resolving his day to day problems rather than in knowing which Prime Minister did what sixty years back? I dont believe any political narrative can be removed from the issues that the common man faces every day. The BJP sees itself as not only the torch bearer of nationalism but the epitome of patriotism too. What does nationalism mean to you? I believe the BJPs version of nationalism is limited by their narrow minded and restrictive ideology. I think true nationalism and true patriotism cannot come without a deep respect for democracy and equality. I dont see that respect for either democracy or equality in the BJP and its ideology. What has compelled your entry into active politics and hectic campaigning after remaining behind the scenes and managing elections for all these years? Firstly I realised that the way I understood my life and relationship to politics was flawed. So that changed. Secondly I felt that if I sat at home and did nothing when I have the capacity to do something, however small it may be, about the fact that every democratic institution is being attacked, that our constitution is being tampered with, then I would be a coward. I could not live with my own cowardice. Fundamentally I also realised that it was cowardice not choice. I had thought that it was a choice, I thought my living a personal life, a so called private life meant that I had made that choice. But it was an illusion. It was a life dependent on politics and I was refusing to see that dependence. When I saw that dependence I realised how flawed my thinking was. My brother made me see this clearly. Who is Priyanka Gandhi? Not the daughter, or the sister or the wife but Priyanka the person? Im just a simple human being trying to make sense of my life like everybody else is. How has 2019 election added to the evolution of Congress president Rahul Gandhi as a leader? Where do you see him and the Congress post May 23? An entire machinery was created by the BJP in order to carry out a vicious and particularly personalised attack on my brother. The objective was to malign him and portray of him a character completely far removed from whom he actually is. And yet, to be honest Im not saying this because he is my brother, but as a political leader he is more evolved than many leaders I have come across. He understands our country, its religions, its politics and the geo politics of the world at great depth. Aside from this, within the universe of politics and power, he has realised his own insignificance in spiritual terms and therefore his politics has actually become in a sense, free of ego, free of himself. Can you explain this further For example, I have seen a lot of criticism of my brother for the speech he made about power in Jaipur and it was said that he was reluctant, he didnt want power, and the question was raised that how can a politician not desire power as if this was somehow a shortcoming. But all those discussions actually escaped the essence of what he was saying. They missed the truth. And the truth is, its not about desiring power or rejecting power. A true leader is able to annihilate himself and become representative of his people, he is able to stand truthfully for the voice of the people. He understands that his own power emanates from outside himself, from the people he represents. I think he is on this path and I dont see any other leader in India who is in on the same path with the same clarity of purpose. Being a woman and being in politics, why do you think there arent enough women in it? Its tough for a woman to rise to a position in a male centric society. Its a much bigger struggle for her than it is for a man. I really admire all women who are in politics, whichever party they are in. Because I can see what it takes for them to be where they are and its perhaps hundred times more than what it took a man to get there and politics is a very demanding profession. Women have a thousand other responsibilities that society expects them to be conscientious about at the same time as they are doing their jobs. A woman is expected to be a mother, a wife, and look after her home even while she manages demands from her professional life. Women struggle against an oppressive and unequal society. I think women are hugely under-represented in Indian politics and this needs to change. How do you respond to this recent controversy the PM created by dragging your fathers name into this election? Im not the least interested in what the PM thinks of my father. Its completely irrelevant. He didnt even meet my father. I know who my father was and I know the truth about my father and what the Prime Minister or anyone before or after him says is irrelevant to me. And its irrelevant to this election as well. I am not going to participate in this discussion. You and Congress have made it very clear that in your speeches all that you dont approve of BJP and the way of PM Narendra Modi. If you have to name one good thing in him what would it be? I think you are asking the wrong person. Where do you think the Congress party faltered in the last few years that the BJP has become as powerful as it has? I think perhaps towards the end of UPA-2, my brother has said this somewhere, that there was a certain arrogance that crept in, and perhaps it was that arrogance that needed to be corrected and the people corrected it. Now I see an arrogance hundred fold in the BJP and I believe that the people of India are about to correct it as well. What is the way out of this empty rhetoric the country finds itself caught in as politicians exchange barbs in the middle of hectic campaigning. Can these speeches be ground to choose the next government? I think its a mixture of two, three things. Its a mixture of issues that the politicians raise specifically to distract people from the fact that they have not been able to deliver, and the fact that the media itself, people in your profession deliberately choose to highlight these issues. So when you ask me questions very often the questions are actually irrelevant to the election and politics but they are centred on these sort of issues. So I think its the collective responsibility of both the media and the politician to remain focused on issues of development and issues that people relate to in their daily lives. I also believe that the public has a role in defining this. They must insist on answerability, delivery and demand that political parties spell out their policies during election time and must not allow themselves to be swayed by trivialities. Ultimately the correction for all this lies in democracy. How difficult it has been to juggle family life with politics and do you see more of this in coming times? Its not difficult at all. Its not difficult for me to move between family life and politics. Personally, my children wanted me to be in politics. My son often teased me about wasting my political skills resolving differences between the cook, the carpenter and the electrician! They have made an immense effort to be supportive of me in these last few months. My son is abroad studying but he keeps abreast of events at home and often sends me encouraging messages or teases me. My daughter was used to having me by her side constantly so my being so busy with politics has brought about a big change in her life, but she has also been a great strength for me. Whenever I have free time I spend it with them and sometimes I bring them with me so that we can be together. So I dont find it that difficult actually. editorial@tribune.com Chandigarh, May 16 The fifth International Army Scout Masters Competition, to be held at Jaisalmer from July 24 to August 17, will showcase combat training and promote camaraderie amongst the contestants, facilitate sharing of best practices as well as develop military and technical cooperation between the participating nations. Mechanised infantry scout teams of eight countries, including Russia which is the founding member of this format of international army games, are participating in the event. The other countries are Armenia, Belarus, China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Zimbabwe and host India. It is for the first time that India is hosting and participating in the event, a statement issued here today said. TNS pardeepdhull@gmail.com Bhopal, May 17 A Madhya Pradesh BJP functionary was suspended from the primary membership of the party for uploading an objectionable post about Mahatma Gandhi and dubbing him Pakistans father of the nation. State BJP chief Rakesh Singh has suspended the primary membership of Anil Saumitra, who was the partys media sampark departments state convener, with immediate effect, informed BJP state media in-charge Lokendra Parashar in a press release. In a Facebook post on Thursday night, Saumitra claimed, He (Gandhiji) was the father of the nation, but of Pakistan, there were millions of sons like him in India some worthy and some worthless. Parashar said action was taken as Saumitra had breached party discipline, adding that the latter was given seven days to clarify. After action on him by the BJP, Saumitra Friday claimed, The concept of Pakistan was prepared by Britishers and its promulgators were Nehru (first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru) and Jinnah (Mohammed Ali Jinnah), who were in a hurry to become prime ministers. This process was blessed by Mahatma Gandhi. Justifying his stand, he added, Since Pakistan was carved out due to the silent blessings of Mahatma Gandhi, so he could be Rashtrapita of Pakistan. India was a nation since sanatan period, several saints and sages were its sons. So, this nation could have sons and not a father. Father of nation is a European concept, Gandhi could be a good son but, in known history, there is no father of nation in India, Saumitra claimed. PTI rchopra@tribunemail.com New Delhi, May 17 As campaigning for the 2019 general election wound down on Friday, the BJP was pushed into a corner and forced to ask three of its leaders to explain their comments on Mahatma Gandhis assassin Nathuram Godse, as the Congress questioned the Prime Ministers silence on the row. The Pandoras box opened on Thursday with BJPs Bhopal Lok Sabha candidate and Malegaon blast accused Pragya Singh Thakur lauding Godse as a patriot and issuing an apology at night saying she respected him and his work for the country could not be forgotten. No matter how much Modi ji tried to hide Godses violent mask with Gandhi ji spectacles, but Mahatma Gandhi had said I believe and it has been my experience of many times that no matter how much a person calls himself able but his hidden bad deeds do come to the fore, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said. Godse killed Mahatma Gandhi in 1948, but from 2014-19, Modi jis extremist supporters and followers have killed Indias soul repeatedly by calling Godse a patriot, he said. The Modi-Shah duo uses Gandhi in propaganda, but is Godse-wadi in beliefs, he said. As controversy raged on the last day of campaigning, BJP president Amit Shah said the party had taken a serious note of the statements from Union minister Anantkumar Hegde, Pragya Thakur and its Karnataka MP Nalin Kumar Kateel. Stating that the comments were against the partys ideology, Shah asked the partys disciplinary committee to submit a report on the issue in 10 days for further action. They have withdrawn their statements and also apologised. However, their remarks are against the decorum of public life and the BJP and also against the partys ideology. Taking a serious note of their remarks, the party has decided to send them to the disciplinary committee, Shah said on Twitter. Later, Shah said at a press conference, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi alongside him, that the partys disciplinary committee has issued a notice to them and has given 10-days time to respond. We will immediately decide on appropriate action on them after that, Shah said. The party went into damage control, sensing the comments by the three could hurt the partys image and its poll prospects in the last 59 seats that vote on Sunday. Over the last year or so, the BJP has been promoting itself as a torchbearer of Gandhis ideals and legacy, which has long been the Congress domain. Congress leader Kapil Sibal questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modis silence on Pragyas remarks and said he could only pray for the country. In a tweet, Sibal said, When Sadhvi Pragya says: Godse a Deshbakht and Modi is silent with Vidyasagars statue a victim of the violence I can only pray for my country and hope that one day the silent majority will keep violence at bay. His party colleague, former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah, stepped into the debate to say Godse, who killed the Father of the Nation in January 1948, was inspired by the RSS ideology. Godse was inspired by Sangh Pariwars ideology & so is Pragya. Former killed our Mahatma & the latter killed Mahatmas children. Pragya who calls Godse a patriot is endorsed by @narendramodi. Is this the sign of an attempt to proliferate Sanghs hatred based ideology, he tweeted. As the row over Thakurs remarks escalated, BJPs MP from Karnataka Nalin Kumar Kateel compared Godse with former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. Godse killed one, Kasab killed 72, Rajiv Gandhi killed 17,000. You judge who is more cruel in this?? Kateel tweeted on Thursday, equating Godse, 26/11 convict Ajmal Kasab and Rajiv Gandhi. Union minister Hegde, who also found himself in the news with a purported tweet justifying Godses action, claimed his account was hacked. My Twitter account has been breached twice in the past one week and certain tweets have been posted on my timeline which has been discarded and deleted. Regret the posts attributed to me. My account was hacked since yesterday. There is no question of justifying Gandhi jis murder. There can be no sympathy or justification of Gandhi jis murder. We all have full respect for Gandhi jis contribution to the nation, he posted. Earlier, Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) founder Kamal Haasan had stoked a controversy saying free Indias first extremist was a Hindu, referring to Godse. Dear MNM family and fans, this is an acid test for our decorum and demeanour. Do not listen to their noises and be drawn into their violence, the actor-politician said amid incidents such as hurling of stones and footwear during his bypoll campaign in Chennai. Campaigning for Indias seven-phase elections ends on Friday evening. The last day of polling is May 19 and the votes will be counted on May 23. PTI editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 16 At a time when opposition parties are alleging that the Election Commission has been playing a partisan role in view of its decisions related to West Bengal, a BJP delegation today met poll panel officials and sought action against TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee for calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah awwal darje ke goonde (goons of the highest order). Talking to the media after meeting the EC officials, Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said, We urged the poll panel to act against Mamata. She has called the Prime Minister and our party president do goonde (two goons). This is violation of social decency as well of the model code of conduct. We have demanded immediate action against her. Besides Javadekar, the BJP delegation comprised Union Ministers Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Vijay Goel and Rajya Sabha MP Anil Baluni. Do goonde hain, ek Modi aur ek Amit Shah. Dono awwal darje ke goonde hain. (There are two goons. One is Modi and the other is Amit Shah. Both are goons of the highest order), Banerjee is reported to have said on Tuesday after visiting Vidyasagar College, where a bust of social reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was vandalised following violent clashes during Amit Shahs roadshow in Kolkata. The BJP leaders also demanded detention of history-sheeters ahead of the seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha elections in the state on Sunday. Until they (history-sheeters) are arrested, polling cannot be held peacefully. The Election Commission needs to take appropriate action, Javadekar said. editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 16 The CBI today announced that its probe into the Bofors case pertaining to the alleged Rs 64-crore kickbacks in the purchase of the Swedish artillery guns would continue. In a statement, the agency said, In view of certain revelations made by one Michael Hershman, the CBI sought the permission of the trial court to conduct further investigation in the Bofors case. It said, on May 8, the court had observed that when independent right and power is available with the CBI to further investigate the matter on their own and if in their wisdom, it was necessary to do so then, why still such application is being filed in the court. After obtaining legal opinion, the CBI filed an application on May 16 in the court stating that for conducting further investigation under Section 173(8) of the CrPC, permission of the court is not mandatorily required and an intimation to the court in this regard will suffice, the statement read, which went on to add: The probe in the Bofors case will continue. The CBIs response came after it withdrew from a Delhi court its application to seek permission to further probe the politically sensitive Rs 64-crore Bofors payoff case. editorial@tribune.com New Delhi, May 16 Top Congress leadership today ripped into the BJP for Pragya Thakurs Godse was a patriot remark. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra sought the BJP to clarify its stand on the remarks, saying Bapus killer was a patriot. Hey Ram...Distancing yourself from your candidate is not enough. Nationalistic luminaries of the BJP, have the guts to spell out your stand. Vadra asked the BJP to spell out its stand on nationalism even as the Congress sought an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah. Congress media head Randeep Surjewala said the PM should say sorry for the reprehensible comments by the Bhopal parliamentary nominee of the BJP. TNS gspannu7@gmail.com Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 17 Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday claimed that the Congress has managed to dismantle the idea of Narendra Modi in the past five years. He also mocked the prime minister for holding his first press conference just days before polling ends. BJP chief Amit Shah and Modi held a press conference at the party headquarters at the same time when Gandhi addressed the media at the Congress head office. Gandhi said he wont second guess the people of India on the upcoming results and would respond to the issue of the prime minister only after that. Dont get impatient. Wait till May 23. I will not prejudge the people of India, Gandhi said on a range of queries on who will form the next government and if the Congress would be open to the question of prime ministership. If you ask me the same question in different ways I am not going to change my answer, he said. Gandhi also said he didnt think leaders of regional parties such as Mamata Banerjee, Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav or Chandrababu Naidu and others will support a BJP government. He was answering a question on whether parties that fought independently in elections would work together after May 23 should the situation warrant. I respect the decision of Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav to contest in Uttar Pradesh on their own. But these parties are our ideological co-travellers, he said, indicating that the anti-BJP parties could come together post elections. Gandhi also took jibes at PM Narendra Modi for accompanying BJP chief Amit Shah to a press conference and said, I hope the PM answers my question. Why didnt he debate me on Rafale? Gandhi earlier called PMs presence at a press conference unprecedented and very impressive. Gandhi also said the Congress had done well as an opposition party and played A grade role as an opposition despite low numbers in the Lok Sabha. Why did the prime minister not accept my challenge for a debate on the Rafale issue, asked Gandhi. Answering a question, he asserted that the philosophy of Shah and Modi cannot be the philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi also said that the Election Commissions role in these polls has been biased and it has issued orders keeping in mind Modis schedule. The Congress president also thanked party workers for the election campaign. Im not Narendra Modi, wont ignore experience. The Congress will benefit from Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singhs experience, he said. PM Modi will again do some distract India event, but country wont get distracted, he said. The Congress has tried to protect institutions from PM Modi and BJP, he said. With PTI shalender@tribune.com Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 16 A hitherto disunited Opposition today came together to condemn what it called Election Commissions arbitrary curtailment of West Bengal campaign period and said the process of appointment of election commissioners needed a thorough review. A multi-party delegation comprising leaders of the Congress, TDP and Aam Aadmi Party petitioned the Chief Election Commissioner in the matter today and alleged the commission had unilaterally taken a harsh decision to extend the silence period in Bengal by 20 hours at the expense of non-BJP and non-NDA parties. The delegation leaders said after meeting the CEC that though the commission heard their plea, it did not give them satisfactory answers. We told the commission that their order to curtail the campaign period in Bengal by 20 hours without trying to get to the bottom of the truth behind arson in the state day before was at the expense of non-BJP and non-NDA parties. We openly said the BJP instigated the violence in the roadshow that led to the act of vandalism of the statue of national icon Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. If only the EC looked at the camera evidence, it would get to the truth, but the EC declared a unilateral moratorium on campaign without hearing the non-BJP and non-NDA parties that will now bear the brunt. We also told the EC that their order benefitted the BJP, Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi said after the meeting. He was accompanied by Ahmed Patel, Jairam Ramesh and K Raju of the Congress; K Rama Mohana Rao of the TDP and Sanjay Singh of the AAP. Earlier today, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee thanked a host of Opposition leaders for standing in solidarity with the people of Bengal against the EC action. She said the people would give a befitting reply to the saffron party. Through the day today, the Congress, BSP, SP, TDP, DMK, RJD, NC and LJD backed the stand taken by Mamata Banerjee in a show of Opposition unity. The Congress was the first to express solidarity with Banerjee and said ECs order prohibiting campaigning in West Bengal by 20 hours and restricting it to 10 pm today was a dark spot on Indias democracy and a parting gift to PM Modi who did two rallies in Bengal today. shalender@tribune.com Geetanjali Gayatri Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 16 Terming the role played by the Election Commission of India throughout the poll season as a tragedy, AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said the custodian itself had miserably failed to protect the voice of the people. Speaking to The Tribune here today, Priyanka said the EC had been unfair in its dealings and decisions and had abdicated its responsibility. She was referring to the controversy surrounding the EC clean chits to PM Narendra Modi as also its inaction over complaints by the Congress and its decision curtailing the campaigning in West Bengal. Alleging the Constitution had been tampered with and institutions attacked, she said the BJP and its governments view on patriotism was constricted. Candid in her admission that a certain amount of arrogance had crept into the UPA-2 towards the fag end of its term, she said, I see the same kind of arrogance, but 100 times more, in the BJP. It will be their undoing as well. She alleged the Modi government had failed to address the common mans issues and was resorting to lowly discourse to hide its failures. The focus has to be development despite the diversionary tactics of the government and its leaders. The public must seek accountability and answers for non-performance and unfulfilled promises, she said. rchopra@tribunemail.com Chennai, May 17 Facing severe backlash over his recent Hindu extremist remarks, Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) founder Kamal Haasan on Friday claimed that the very term 'Hindu' was not a native description, but only a foreign coinage. Neither the Alwars nor the Nayanmars, the famed Vaishnavite and Shaivite saints, had made any note on 'Hindu,' he said in a statement uploaded on Twitter. The citizens were identified only as 'Indians' and confining it to religion was "erroneous," he said. "There has been no mention of 'Hindu' by the 12 Alwars or Nayanmars. We were christened Hindu by Mughals or those (foreign) rulers who predated them," he said. The British, who ruled the nation, "endorsed" that coinage, he said. "While we have so many of our own identities, it is ignorant to have something given to us by non-native as name and faith," he added. While the identity "Indian is recent," it was "eternal", the MNM chief said. "It is erroneous, in terms of commerce, politics and spirituality, for us to try to confine our vast country into religion," Haasan said. "To put it in layman's terms, living in harmony has a million benefits," he said referring to a Tamil saying. Earlier, stoking a controversy, Haasan had said "free India's first extremist was a Hindu", referring to Nathuram Godse, who shot dead Mahatma Gandhi. "I am not saying this because this is a Muslim dominated area, but I am saying this before a statue of Gandhi. Free India's first extremist was a Hindu, his name is Nathuram Godse. There it (extremism) starts," he had said in bypoll bound Aravakurichi. The remarks had resulted in a major row, with the BJP and AIADMK tearing into Haasan, even as cases were filed against him in Tamil Nadu and Delhi. However, the Congress' state unit and rationalist outfit Dravidar Kazhagam backed him. Haasan also said he was not afraid of being arrested but warned any such action would escalate tensions. The MNM founder said the remarks made during the Aravakurichi Assembly segment bypoll campaign meet on Sunday were not made for the first time, even as he asserted that every religion has its own terrorists and this shows that all religions have their extremists. The actor-politician, who had filed an anticipatory bail after an FIR was registered in Aravakurichi in Karur district for his remarks, said he had made similar comments in Chennai during the Lok Sabha election campaign but it was being taken note of now by those people whose confidence is dipping. Let me tell you terrorists abound all religions...every religion has its own terrorists and we cannot claim that we are sanctimonious and we have not done that. History shows you that all religions have their extremists, he told reporters here, adding that his focus on Sundays campaign speech was on maintaining harmony. Asked if he had filed an anticipatory bail plea in the Madras High Court fearing arrest, Haasan replied in the negative. I dont fear arrest but I have got campaigning to do. Let them arrestbut if they arrest me tensions will escalate. This is not my request but an advice, he said. With regard to police denying permission for him to undertake campaigning in Sulur Assembly constituency in Coimbatore, the MNM chief said if there was a problem then why the bypoll cannot be postponed. PTI rchopra@tribunemail.com New Delhi, May 17 A JNU student allegedly committed suicide on Friday by hanging himself from a ceiling fan in a study room of the university, police said. They said they were informed about the incident around 11.30 am. The MA 2nd year student of the prestigious university was rushed to a nearby hospital where the doctors declared him brought dead, a senior police officer said. Police and crime team are at the spot and further details are awaited. PTI pardeepdhull@gmail.com Patna, May 17 The Modi lahar (wave) of 2014 has degenerated into kahar (disaster) in the last five years and the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar is all set to blow away the BJP-led NDA, actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha claimed here on Friday. He said in the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, too, where his wife has been fielded by the SP-BSP combine, though the Congress is contesting separately, the BJP will be similarly swept away. Mahagathbandhan un logon ke parkhachche udaa dega (grand alliance will blow them away), Sinha, who seeks to retain his Patna Sahib seat on a Congress ticket, said at a press conference here on the final day of campaign. He is pitted against Union minister Ravishankar Prasad on Patna Sahib seat that will see voting on May 19. Lambasting the BJP, which he quit last month ending nearly three decades of association, for claiming that Sinha had been unhappy over not getting a ministerial berth in the Narendra Modi government, the actor, who is fondly called Bihari Babu, quipped this is tantamount to chori oopar se seenazori (commit a wrongdoing and then brazen it out). Let us, for a moment, assume that I had issues over not getting a ministerial berth. Now could the one-man show and two-man army (a term Sinha has been using to describe the BJP under Modi and Amit Shah) explain why it treated badly stalwarts like L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, he asked. Sinha, who was flanked by party colleague and former Union minister Subodh Kant Sahay, his twin sonsLuv and Kushbesides other leaders of the Mahagathbandhan which includes RJD, RLSP, HAM and VIP, said: The BJP should also explain why an intellectual giant like Arun Shourie, who was with the party, is now so bitterly opposed to it. And what led Yashwant Sinha, who was once such a powerful leader, to quit the party in disgust. Their problem was, I was speaking the truth. I was speaking about the huge inconvenience caused to the people and harm done to the economy through demonetization. I was speaking against the shoddy implementation of the GST, which has made our traders suffer. And I was asking the government to come clean on the Rafale deal, the second-term MP from Patna Sahib said. At yesterdays road show held by Rahul Gandhi, where the turnout was historic and the enthusiasm verged on hysterical, somebody teased me with the question Chhenu aaya tha (did Chhenu come). I said I was not sure but Chowkidaar chor hai certainly reverberated through the air. Chhenu aaya tha is a popular dialogue from the old movie Mere Apne wherein Sinha had played the role of the antagonist named Chhenu, a street ruffian fond of delivering pungent one-liners. Sinha showered praise on coalition partners for making the road show a success and lambasted the BJP for meting out ill- treatment to jailed RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, who is serving sentences in fodder scam cases. The slogan jail ka taala tootega, Lalu Yadav chhootega (the padlock on the jails gate will be prised open and Lalu will be set free) would soon become a reality, he hoped. The BJP once bragged it was going to get 400 plus. Now it has scaled down its bluster by 100 seats. Seriously speaking, we are confident of Congress emerging as the single largest party and we acknowledge that states like Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Orissa, where we do not have an alliance with the dominant regional parties, will play a major contributory role in formation of the next government, Sinha said. He ducked queries about the possibility of Rahul Gandhi becoming the Prime Minister, saying we will discuss that at meetings of Opposition parties scheduled in New Delhi on May 21 and then again after results are out on May 23. We do not believe in the BJP-style of authoritarian leadership. Sonia Gandhi had ample support for taking up the top post after the 2004 General Election, but she decided otherwise in national interest, the former Union minister remarked. PTI pardeepdhull@gmail.com Mumbai, May 17 The Maharashtra Cabinet on Friday gave its approval to promulgate an ordinance to amend the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Reservation Act, 2018, to provide reservation to Maratha students in post-graduate medical courses. The Cabinet also gave its approval to reimburse the fees to the candidates from the general category, who will be affected following the promulgation of the ordinance. A minister said the general category students can seek admission under management quota in private colleges. The Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court had disallowed to grant 16 per cent reservation to Maratha community for admissions to post-graduate medical courses on the grounds that the admission process had begun much earlier. The Supreme Court had upheld the high courts decision. Talking to reporters after the Cabinet meeting, Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil said the draft of the ordinance is being sent to the Governor for promulgation. The ordinance will provide relief to those students who had already got admission under Maratha quota, but were affected after the process was stayed by the court. Now, the third round of the admission would start, he said. Those students from the general category, who will be affected, should try for admissions in private colleges and the government will reimburse their fees, he said. The students from open/general category should seek management quota and the government will assist them, Patil added. According to him, the state government will approach the Supreme Court to extend the admission time frame from May 25 to 31. We will also seek additional 213 seats in the medical courses, he said. A meeting has been scheduled on May 21 on this issue, the minister said, adding that demand from other states is also being addressed to. We will move the court to seek reservation be appliedfor the additional seats, he said. The minister also said the state government will file caveats in the Bombay High Court and its Aurangabad and Nagpur benches and the apex court to ensure the ordinance is not challenged. Meanwhile, a statement from the Chief Ministers Office (CMO) said the Cabinet also reviewed the drought situation, El Nino effect, weather-related predictions, water storage in various dams, fodder availability and seeds stock. Currently, 5,493 tankers are in operation in 4,331 villages. Rs 162 crore have been given for fodder camps. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis directed to speed up issuance of ration cards in rural areas, especially in drought-prone areas. He also directed the local administration to ensure more works under the Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS). PTI shalender@tribune.com Shubhadeep Choudhury Tribune News Service Kolkata, May 16 Campaigning in West Bengal ended in a bitter note with PM Narendra Modi and CM Mamata Banerjee locked in a blame game over vandalisation of the bust of Bengali icon Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar during BJP chief Amit Shahs roadshow in Kolkata. Addressing a rally earlier in the day, Mamata ended her campaign with a massive padyatra in Kolkata (South). Modi, who addressed two rallies, blamed TMC workers for breaking the bust. At a rally in Mathurapur, he said, It was TMC goons who were involved in vandalism. They were the ones to desecrate the bust of Vidyasagar. Police officers are trying to wipe out evidence of the incident to protect TMC goons, who have made Bengal hell. He demanded exemplary punishment for the guilty. Didi has lost her cool in the face of imminent defeat. Frustrated, she is threatening me she will put me behind bars, the PM said. Referring to Mamatas nephew and TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, he claimed the aunt-nephew jodi is looting Bengal. In an oblique reference to Mamatas rapport with Muslim voters, he declared: While the BJP is committed to upholding and safeguarding the traditional culture of Bengal, Mamata Banerjee is interested only in catering to the sentiments of infiltrators from across the border. He addressed another meeting at Dum Dum. Mamata, rejecting the PMs offer to rebuild the bust, said Bengal had enough resources for the task. At a rally in Mandirbazar, she said, Modi has promised to rebuild the Vidyasagar statue in Kolkata. But why should we take their (BJPs) money, Bengal has enough resources. The BJP has destroyed 200-year-old heritage of West Bengal. Those supporting the party will not be accepted by society, she warned. Hitting out at the saffron party over its social media posts, the TMC supremo said the BJP had been spreading canards to instigate riots. Campaigning for nine seats in the final phase of polling on Sunday was to end on Friday, but was advanced by 24 hours in view of the violence during Shahs rally. A livid Mamata alleged this was done to help Modi. rchopra@tribunemail.com Nagpur, May 17 Naxals have called for a bandh in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra on May 19 to protest against the killings of two fellow women in an encounter last month, police said. Naxals had put up banners in some villages in Etapalli tehsil of Gadchiroli on Wednesday night, in which they gave the bandh call, an official from Gadchiroli superintendent of police (SP) office said on Thursday. In the banners, the Naxals alleged that the killings of the women cadres--Ramco alias Kamla Narote and Shilpa Durvaby the securtiy forces on April 27 was an infringement of their constitutional rights. The ultras said in the banners that as a mark of protest against the encounter killings, a bandh should be observed in Gadchiroli on May 19, the official said. The two women Naxals were killed in an encounter in Gunderwahi forest in Gadchiroli when commandos of C-60 squad, polices anti-Naxal unit, were combing the area. Ramco and Durva were carrying rewards of Rs 16 lakh and Rs 4 lakh on their heads respectively, police said. PTI shalender@tribune.com Anup Dutta Bhopal, May 16 BJPs Bhopal Lok Sabha candidate and Malegaon blast accused Pragya Singh Thakur today labelled Mahatma Gandhis assassin Nathuram Godse a deshbhakt (a patriot), inviting sharp criticism from the Opposition. Under fire, she tendered an apology later in the day, saying she respected Mahatma Gandhi as his work for the country cannot be forgotten. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted: Bapus killer was a patriot. Hey Ram...Distancing yourself from your candidate is not enough. Nationalistic luminaries of the BJP, have the guts to spell out your stand. Pragya was quoted as saying, Godse was a deshbhakt, he is and will remain a deshbhakt. Those calling him a terrorist will be given a befitting reply in this election. She was responding to a question during a roadshow. Pragyas statement was condemned by her own party in New Delhi and in Madhya Pradesh. The BJP headquarters asked her to publicly apologise for the remark. The BJP does not agree with this statement, we condemn it. The party will ask a clarification. She should apologise publicly for the statement, BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao said. The state BJP too distanced itself from her remark, saying the killer of Mahatma Gandhi cant be a deshbhakt. shriaya.dutt@tribuneindia.com Pune, May 17 A government school teacher, accused of molesting at least 12 minor girls, has been sent to police custody for three days till Saturday, an official said on Friday. Vikram Shankar Potdar, 42, has been booked under various sections of the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSCO) Act and the Indian Penal Code, said investigating officer Chitra Choudhary. "Following a complaint and an internal probe, the accused was arrested on charges of molesting 12 girls for around six months at the Zilla Parishad Girls School No.2 in Lohegaon," Choudhary told IANS. The molestation incidents, mostly during lunch break, continued for so long as Potdar allegedly threatened the victims, all in Class VI, aged around 12. According to the police, the girls complained that he used to "touch them inappropriately" and warned them against informing anyone. However, a few months ago, one of the victims gathered courage and confided her plight to the Education Officer of Haveli, Nilima M. Mehetre. Taking serious note, a committee was formed to probe the matter which found credence to the charges against Potdar and the police complaint was registered on Wednesday. IANS editorial@tribune.com Yash Goyal Thanagaji (Rajasthan), May 16 After meeting the Alwar gangrape victim and her family privately for over 30 minutes, Congress president Rahul Gandhi today said she would get Nyay (justice) and the accused would be punished soon. I have come here not to do politics. This is an emotional cause. I was here to meet the victim and her family and whatever they told me was from the core of their heart. I assured them of action, Gandhi said. The family has told me some personal matters, which I cant disclose, but I can say for sure that serious action will be taken against those found responsible for the crime, he said. He said such crimes against bachhi, mata aur behen should not be tolerated. Gandhi was accompanied by CM Ashok Gehlot, Deputy CM Sachin Pilot and AICC general secretary Avinash Pandey. On being asked if he would meet other rape victims too in Alwar district, he said: That is not in my programme as I have to hold a rally in Bihar that I cant delay right now. The CM said: The police will file a challan (chargesheet) in this case in a court within seven days. I assure that a government job would be given to either the victim or a member of her family. Considering the rising crime rate in Alwar, we have decided to create one more post for the Superintendent of Police in the district. On April 26, six miscreants accosted the woman and her husband on the Thanagazi-Alwar bypass and took them to an isolated place, where they allegedly raped her in front of him. harinder@tribunemail.com Ruchika M Khanna Tribune News Service Khuaspura (Anandpur Sahib), May 16 The family of BSP founder Kanshi Ram has been sidelined by the party, but they remain vote-seekers amongst the Dalits for other political parties. While one part of the Dalit leaders family living in this village has extended support to Congress candidate Manish Tewari, other siblings of the iconic Dalit leader have decided against being used by politicians during elections. BSP chief Mayawati, who came to support her three party candidates (contesting on Anandpur Sahib, Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar seats) at Nawanshahr recently, neither invited her mentors family, nor went to meet them. Kanshi Rams sister, Swaran Kaur, who lives in Pirthipur village near here, was earlier being projected by the Bhim Army to contest on a BSP ticket. However, she refused saying the party has gone in wrong hands. I support BSP as a party because it was established by my veerji. But I am not supporting any party. They just want to capitalise on my brothers political legacy and sway voters in his name, she told The Tribune. Before the 2017 Assembly elections, she was approached by AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal, but she declined his offer. Anandpur Sahib constituency has a sizeable Dalit population, estimated to be above 10% of the total voters. The family of the Dalit leader still holds a sway amongst this segment of voters, which is the reason for the politicians scramble to get the family on their side. Though the total vote share of the BSP in Punjab in 2014 Lok Sabha polls was just 1.9%, the BSP candidate from Anandpur Sahib, KS Makhan, had got over 69,000 votes. In 2014 General Election, Kanshi Rams younger brother, Dalbara Singh, had extended support to Akali Dal candidate Prem Singh Chandumajra, who won the seat. This time, Dalbara Singh has extended support to the Congress candidate. The BSP has fielded Sodhi Vikram Singh, a businessman, from this constituency. On day he filed his nomination, he started his procession from Sri Kanshi Ram Community Hall here, but since then has not met the family. Sitting in his humble residence here, surrounded by portraits of Kanshi Ram, including some pictures of the leader with Mayawati, Dalbara Singh says: We do not have a cordial relationship with Mayawati, and we will not side with the party till she seeks our forgiveness. Kanshi Rams family has been daggers drawn with BSP supremo Mayawati since Kanshi Rams death in 2006. Such is the enmity that Dalbara Singh had floated his own party in 2008 (Bahujan Sangharsh Party) and also fielded candidates in UP, but the outfit fizzled out soon. At Khuaspura, the youngsters only know of Kanshi Ram through the fables they have heard from the family elders. Only two symbols of Kanshi Rams legacy here are a blue elephant shaped (symbol of BSP) water tank atop the house of Dalbara Singh and a community hall named after him. Over the years, the family too seems to have gone into quiet oblivion, to be remembered by politicians and used to woo vote bank only during election time. editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Ropar, May 16 People of Brahman Majra village near Nurpur Bedi have announced to opt for NOTA while casting their vote on Sunday. After a meeting held at the village this morning, villagers said politicians from all parties had failed to provide education and health facilities in the area. They said such meetings also would be held in other villages of the area to convince people to opt for NOTA. Narinder Singh, a leader of the Punjab Students Union from the village, said there were nearly 150 villages in the Nurpur Bedi area for which only one hospital was set up by the state government. This hospital lacks manpower as well as diagnostic facilities due to which a majority of patients are referred to Ropar, he said. Our village school was elevated from elementary to middle eight years ago. But the government failed in appointing required number to teachers due to which parents withdrew their wards from the school following which the school was again converted to elementary school, he said. Other villagers said parties instead of talking about the problems being faced by them had resorted to mudslinging on each other. Nobody was talking about suicides by farmers or unemployment, they added. editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Chandigarh, May 16 Senior Cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on Thursday backed his wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu over her statement on the denial of ticket for the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat. Rallying around his wife for her allegations that she was denied ticket at the behest of Capt Amarinder Singh and partys state affairs incharge Asha Kumari, Sidhu said, My wife has much courage and moral authority that she will never lie. This is my reply. The Congress leader said this at a press conference here on Thursday. On May 14, Navjot Kaur had stated that the CM and partys state affairs incharge had ensured that she does not get the ticket from the Amritsar parliamentary constituency. My ticket from Amritsar was denied on the grounds that I cannot win because of the last years Amritsar train mishap. Terming her allegations as baseless, the CM had stated that she had been offered the ticket from Bathinda, which she denied. Following this, Sidhu had been under fire from leaders for not campaigning in Punjab, before he showed up at Priyanka Gandhis rally in Bathinda on May 14. On Sidhus absence from campaigning in the state, the CM had said, Its not my job or anyone elses to call him up. It is his responsibility to campaign for the party here. Does he need a special car to pick him up? If he is campaigning in the entire country, what prevents him from coming here? Meanwhile, answering a query as to why mafias were still operating despite the party, in its manifesto, had promise to eradicate the same, Sidhu said, I have prepared a report on sand mining and proposed reasonable rates. The report is lying with the Chief Minister. He has overriding powers. On cable mafia, he said he had taken up the draft of Act to regulate the cable TV business at least 85 times with the government. I just wanted that we should have enough power to know about the number of connections. I am not complaining, but I will defeat the vested interests. Earlier, Sidhu took on the Badals over the issue of farm debt waiver, claiming that the SAD-BJP government had failed in settling a single rupee of farmers loan, despite bringing the Punjab Settlement of Agricultural Indebtedness Act, 2016. My ticket from Amritsar was denied on the grounds that I cannot win because of the last years Amritsar train mishap. Navjot Kaur Sidhu, Congress Leader My wife has much courage and moral authority that she will never lie. This is my reply. Navjot Singh Sidhu, Cabinet Minister editorial@tribune.com Ravi Dhaliwal Tribune News Service Gurdaspur, May 16 Cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu took up the cudgels on behalf of Congress candidate Sunil Jakhar by holding an impressive rally at the Hanuman chowk, right in the heart of the city, and urged the gathering not to be swayed by glamour and stardom and instead caste votes in the name of developmental initiatives taken by Jakhar even since he was elected MP in a byelection in 2017. Mimicking the PM in his usual style, the minister, whose second visit to Gurdaspur in the last one week has come as a shot in the arm for Jakhar, said Modi was as good an actor as anyone could be. For the last five years he has deceived the public with his acting qualities. He has done nothing concrete at the ground level and the two most notable achievements of Modi were imposition of the GST and demonetisation. Going by the crowd at todays rally and the one that assembled in Pathankot for Priyanka Gandhis roadshow a few days ago, it seems that the Jakhar-Deol battle is going to be tough. Towards the end of his speech, Sidhu urged the crowd to vote for Jakhar because it was a question of his turban. I will feel ditched if Jakhar does not do an encore of 2017 when he won the bypoll hands down by 1.93 lakh votes. Vote for development and not for glamour. In a related development, Dharmendra launched a diatribe against Jakhar saying the MP was talking a bit too much and was doing precious little at the ground level. Jakhar, however, refused to be drawn into the controversy. Dharmendra was very well-known to my father Balram Jakhar. He even campaigned for my father when he contested the Sikar (Rajsthan) seat in 1984. I have not spoken even a single word against Dharmendra and will not do so in future too. Elections come and go but relationships, once forged, last forever, he said. gspannu7@gmail.com Tribune News Service Chandigarh, May 17 Barely 48 hours before the parliamentary polls, actor-turned-politician Sunny Deol on Friday moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court for deployment of paramilitary forces for meeting any eventuality. But his plea was disposed of by a Division Bench of the High Court after the Election Commission of India claimed action had already been taken in the matter. Taking on record the ECIs statement through its counsel Namit Kumar, the Bench of Justice Daya Chaudhary and Justice Sudhir Mittal asserted: In view of the action taken by the respondents, no further direction is required to be issued in this petition and the present petition is disposed of accordingly. Sunny Deol aka Ajay Singh Deol had through his counsel Pankaj Jain sought directions to the ECI and another respondent to declare Gurdaspur parliamentary constituency as super sensitive being prone to violence. Describing Gurdaspur as a border constituency, Jain contended that it had witnessed poll violence during the panchayat polls conducted in December last year. He added that it was a prestigious constituency as the petitioner was a popular figure contesting elections against the state president of the Indian National Congress. The Bench was also told that a detailed representation through mail was sent on May 14 but action was not taken. Taking a note of his averments, the Bench issued notice of motion to the ECI and the other respondent for post lunch session. On asking of the court, Namit Kumar and Additional Solicitor-General of India Satya Pal Jain accepted the notice. Appearing before the Bench, Kumar submitted that representation sent by the petitioner was already under active consideration. During hearing of the case, a written communication received by the counsel was placed before the Bench. It clearly shows that action on the representation of the petitioner has already been taken, the Bench observed. Among other things, it said 111 out of 1826 booths were categorised as critical. Another 467 booth were shown as vulnerable. Regarding the allotment of Central Armed Paramilitary Force, it said 24 companies had been allotted for the parliamentary constituency. Apparently satisfied with the measures, the Bench disposed of the plea. sanjiv@tribunemail.com NEW DELHI, May 16 (PTI)-India has taken up with the Yahya Khan Government all the issues flowing from the Tashkent Declaration, which had been taken up with the earlier regime, including a bilateral machinery to settle outstanding issues, proposed by PM Indira Gandhi on the last New Year Day, according to official sources. It was, however, too early to expect the new regime to positively respond to the pleas for talks. Referring to the Radio Pakistan report last night quoting the visiting Iranian PM as having reiterated Iranian Governments support for the fight of self-determination of the people of Kashmir, these sources said the Iranian Premier while endorsing the U.N. resolutions on the Indo-Pakistan disputes, had expressed hope that Pakistan and India would settle their outstanding disputes bilaterally through peaceful negotiation. pardeepdhull@gmail.com Beijing, May 17 The United States must show sincerity if it is to hold meaningful trade talks, China said on Friday, after US President Donald Trump dramatically raised the stakes with a potentially devastating blow to Chinese tech giant Huawei. China has yet to say whether or how it will retaliate against the latest escalation in trade tension, although state media has taken an increasingly strident tone, with the ruling Communist Partys Peoples Daily publishing a front-page commentary that evoked the patriotic spirit of past wars. Chinas currency slid to its weakest in almost five months, although losses were capped after sources told Reuters that the central bank would ensure the yuan did not weaken past the key 7-per-dollar level in the immediate term. The worlds two largest economies are locked in an increasingly acrimonious trade dispute that has seen them level escalating tariffs on each others imports in the midst of negotiations, adding to fears about risks to global growth and knocking financial markets. Foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang, asked about state media reports suggesting there would be no more US-China trade talks, said China always encouraged resolving disputes between the two countries with dialogue and consultations. But because of certain things the US side has done during the previous China-US trade consultations, we believe if there is meaning for these talks, there must be a show of sincerity, he told a daily news briefing. The United States should observe the principles of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, and they must also keep their word, Lu said, without elaborating. On Thursday, Washington put telecoms equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, one of Chinas biggest and most successful companies, on a blacklist that could make it extremely difficult for the telecom giant to do business with US companies. That followed Trumps decision on May 5 to increase tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, a major escalation after the two sides appeared to have been close to reaching a deal in negotiations to end their trade battle. Wheel of destiny China can be expected to make preparations for a longer-term trade war with the United States, said a Chinese government official with knowledge of the situation. Indeed, this is an important moment, but not an existential, live-or-die moment, the official said. In the short term, the trade situation between China and the United States will be severe, and there will be challenges. Neither will it be smooth in the long run. This will spur China to make adequate preparations in the long term. The impact of trade friction on Chinas economy is controllable, the state planner said on Friday, pledging to take countermeasures as needed, Meng Wei, a spokeswoman for the National Development and Reform Committee (NDRC), told a media briefing. The South China Morning Post, citing an unidentified source, reported that a senior member of Chinas ruling Communist Party said the trade war with the United States could reduce Chinas 2019 growth by 1 percentage point in the worst-case scenario. Wang Yang, the fourth-most senior member of the Communist Partys seven-member Standing Committee, the top decision-making body, told a delegation of Taiwan businessmen on Thursday that the trade war would have an impact but would not lead to any structural changes, the paper said, citing an unidentified source who was at the meeting. One company that says it has been making preparations is Huaweis Hisilicon unit, which purchases US semiconductors for its parent. Its president told staff in a letter on Friday that the company had been secretly developing back-up products for years in case Huawei was one day unable to obtain the advanced chips and technology it buys from the United States. Today, the wheel of destiny has turned and we have arrived at this extreme and dark moment, as a super-nation ruthlessly disrupts the worlds technology and industry system, the company president said in the letter. The letter was widely shared on Chinese social media, gaining 180 million impressions in the few hours after it was published on the Weibo microblogging site. Go Huawei! Our countrys people will always support you, wrote one Weibo user after reading the letter. Reuters gspannu7@gmail.com Paris, May 17 Six European consumer rights associations said on Friday they have asked national authorities to look into illegal practices by firms using the AliExpress site of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. Buyers in European countries enjoy the right to return goods within two weeks and get clear warranty information about the minimum 2-year warranty period, rules that platforms that host third-party sellers have sometimes found difficult to enforce. Consumer rights groups in Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain asked their national regulators to look into practices on AliExpress, which mostly hosts Chinese sellers. If Alibaba wants to trade on the European market, it must respect the rules that apply here. That is not negotiable, said Sandra Molenaar, head of the Dutch consumer association Consumentenbond. The Consumentenbond also noted that AliExpress terms and conditions force consumers to go to arbitration in Hong Kong if they have any dispute, while EU laws give them the right to go to courts in their own country. French consumer group UFC-Que Choisir meanwhile said that French clients were not being provided with documentation in French. Frances DGCCRF anti-fraud office said it took the complaint seriously, as did AliExpress. We will look attentively at the complaint which we have received and we are ready to engage in discussions with the European Commission and competent authorities, the company told AFP. We respect the rights of consumers and we are very attentive to their concerns. The complaints came a day after Alibabas founder Jack Ma was in Paris for a tech conference, where he wryly suggested Europe should spend more time fixing problems than creating laws and rules. If you think the tech revolution is a problem, I am sorry to say that it has just started, said Ma. If you think it is an opportunity, it is only beginning. One thing changes: your mentality. On Wednesday, Alibaba announced its net profit more than tripled to USD 3.8 billion in the first quarter. AFP vermaajay1968@gmail.com Tokyo, May 16 Iran is committed to its obligations under an international nuclear deal despite the US withdrawal from the landmark agreement, its foreign minister said on Thursday, calling the reimposition of sanctions by Washington unacceptable. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif made the comments in a meeting with his Japanese counterpart in Tokyo as tensions rise in the Middle East, fuelling concerns that the United States and Iran are heading for conflict. Iran is exercising maximum restraint in spite of the fact the United States withdrew from (the) JCPOA last May, Zarif said at the start of his meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono. He was referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action signed in 2015 by the United States, Iran and other countries, under which Tehran curbed its uranium enrichment capacity and won sanctions relief in return. President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the nuclear deal last year and is ratcheting up sanctions on Iran, aiming to strangle its economy by ending its international sales of crude oil. Japan was a major buyer of Iranian oil for decades before the sanctions. An attack on four oil tankers in the Gulf on Sunday, for which no one has claimed responsibility, and Saudi Arabias announcement on Tuesday that armed drones hit two of its oil pumping stations have raised tensions. The United States withdrew staff from its embassy in Iraq on Wednesday out of apparent concern about perceived threats from Iran, with U.S. sources saying they believe Tehran encouraged the attacks on the oil tankers. Reuters Irans Zarif says no possibility of talks with US: Kyodo Irans foreign minister said on Thursday there was no possibility of negotiations with the United States to reduce spiralling tensions, Japans Kyodo news agency reported. No, there is no possibility for negotiations, the news agency cited Mohammad Javad Zarif as telling the media in Tokyo, where he was meeting Japanese officials. Kyodo said the comment was in response to a question on whether he would be open to bilateral talks with Washington aimed at easing tensions Uranium production will be increased Iran is preparing to increase enriched uranium and heavy water production as part of its decision to stop some commitments made under the nuclear deal, an official said Thursday. The process of increasing the capacity and production pace of enriched uranium and heavy water has started since the day the president (Hassan Rouhani) ordered it, Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for Irans Atomic Energy Organisation, told the semi-official ISNA news agency.On May 8, Rouhani announced that Iran would stop observing restrictions on stocks of enriched uranium and heavy water agreed under the 2015 nuclear deal. shriaya.dutt@tribuneindia.com Los Angeles, May 17 An F-16 fighter jet returning to March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley of California in the US has crashed into a building after its pilot was ejected, the media quoted base officials as saying. The jet slammed into the side of a commercial building off the base, on Van Buren Boulevard, about 3.45 pm on Thursday, March Air Reserve Base Deputy Fire Chief Timothy Holliday was quoted as saying. The Riverside County Sheriff's Department confirmed on Twitter that the crash occurred around Van Buren and the 215 Freeway, Xinhua news agency reported. The pilot was ejected and being medically evaluated. "Multiple agencies responding. Please stay out of area and clear emergency vehicles," the department tweeted. Details on the crash and the pilot's condition have not been disclosed. Authorities did not have details on any other injuries. IANS pardeepdhull@gmail.com London, May 17 The captain of HMS Queen Elizabeth, the British Royal Navys largest and most powerful warship, has been stripped of his command for allegedly misusing an official car on weekends, media reports said on Friday. The Royal Navy confirmed that Commodore Nick Cooke-Priest, 50, had been reassigned to a new role, without giving a reason. But Navy sources told the BBC that his removal was over his use of a car of the Ministry of Defence for personal trips. A new commanding officer has been appointed to the aircraft carrier, the report said. It is believed that major Royal Navy warships and their captains are loaned a car for use on official duties. However, according to The Sun, an official investigation found he had used the Ford Galaxy as if it was his own and found him guilty of an error of judgement. The HMS Queen Elizabeth, commissioned in 2017, is the lead ship of the Queen Elizabeth class of aircraft carriers, the largest warships ever built for the Royal Navy. It is capable of carrying up to 40 aircraft. The report noted that while the offence may appear relatively minor, it was felt that his position had become untenable and that the commanding officer must be beyond reproach. A Royal Navy spokesman said: We can confirm Captain Nick Cooke-Priest has been reassigned to a new role. We can only say that management action is ongoing and it would therefore be inappropriate to comment further, he said. Commodore Cooke-Priest, who joined the Royal Navy in 1990, had been in command of HMS Queen Elizabeth since October. A former Royal Navy Captain told Sky News: This was an honest mistake that should have been dealt with swiftly at flotilla level. It wasnt and has now escalated far too far. The navy hasnt got enough people as it is - they certainly shouldnt be dismissing their very best, the former officer was quoted as saying. PTI monicakchauhan@gmail.com Kathmandu, May 17 An Indian climber has died in Nepal while descending the summit of Mount Makalu during an expedition to the world's fifth highest mountain, an official said Friday, days after two mountaineers from the country perished in the Himalayan nation. Narayan Singh died at camp 4 on Thursday night while climbing down from the 8,485-meter summit, Nepal Tourism Ministry official Mira Acharya said. "Indian climber Narayan Singh died in Mt Makalu. He died at camp 4 while descending the summit," Acharya told PTI. Two Indian climbers from West Bengal - Biplab Baidya (48) and Kuntal Karar (46) - died in Nepal on Wednesday due to high altitude sickness near the summit of Mount Kanchenjunga, the world's third tallest peak. Another climber from Chile is missing from above Camp IV of Mount Kanchenjunga since Wednesday evening. Makalu is the fifth highest mountain in the world. It is located in the Mahalangur Himalayas 19-kilometer southeast of Mount Everest, on the border between Nepal and Tibet Autonomous Region, China. Hundreds of climbers flock each year to Nepal - home to several of the world's highest mountains, to scale Himalayan peaks during the spring season that begins around March and ends in June. PTI vermaajay1968@gmail.com Washington: NASA's Moon orbiting spacecraft has spotted the impact site of the Israeli Beresheet spacecraft on a region of the Moon called "Sea of Serenity" where it crash landed on April 11. SpaceIL, a non-profit organization, attempted to land its spacecraft on top of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in the ancient volcanic field on the nearside of the Moon on April 11. IANS Prince Harry wins damages over photos of home London: Britain's Prince Harry on Thursday settled for "substantial damages" and an apology from a news agency that hovered over his home in a helicopter, taking photos directly into his living room and bedroom earlier this year.Lawyers for the Duke of Sussex told the UK High Court that the photographs showed the Oxfordshire home's interior and "very seriously undermined" his safety. The images, which were taken in January and published in UK newspapers and online, showed the living area, dining area and "directly into the bedroom". PTI Khumalo first black African woman to scale Everest Johannesburg: South African mountaineer Saray Khumalo on Thursday became the first black woman from the continent to reach Mount Everests summit. Khumalo has been mountaineering for charity and awareness purposes for about six years, as she has been raising funds for the education of her country's children. "A short while ago, Saray N'kusi Khumalo reached the top of the world. IANS vermaajay1968@gmail.com Sanaa, May 16 The Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen carried out several air strikes on the Houthi-held capital Sanaa on Thursday after the Iranian-aligned movement claimed responsibility for drone attacks on Saudi oil installations. The Sanaa strikes targeted nine military sites in and around the city, residents said. Rubble filled a populated street lined by mud-brick houses, a journalist on the scene said. A crowd of men lifted the body of a women, wrapped in a white shroud, into an ambulance. The Houthi-run Masirah TV channel quoted the Houthi health ministry as saying six civilians, including four children, had been killed and 52 wounded, including two Russian women working in the health sector. A coalition spokesman did not immediately respond to the medias request for comment. Reuters shriaya.dutt@tribuneindia.com Dubai, May 17 A small plane involved in upgrading a runway at Dubai International Airport crashed Thursday night, killing four people and halting traffic at the world's busiest airport for international travel for nearly an hour. Authorities gave no explanation for what caused the crash of the Diamond DA62 aircraft with a tail number belonging to Flight Calibrations Service Ltd. of Shoreham, England. The UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority said the three British citizens and one South African on the plane were killed. Early Friday morning, police, paramedics and flight investigators worked at the crash site, some 8 kilometers southeast of the airport in Mushrif Park near the city-state's water reservoirs. Police told Associated Press journalists they could not visit the crash site, which was hidden from view by sand dunes. The airport, home to long-haul carrier Emirates, is the world's busiest for international travel. It halted flights from 7:36 pm until 8:22 pm over the crash. Flight Calibrations Service announced in November it signed a contract to work on the airport's "navaids," the beacons around an airport that show pilots where runways are and how to land on them. Dubai International Airport later told The Associated Press that the plane "was being used to calibrate the approach systems" at the airport. An employee at Flight Calibrations Services, which has two Diamond DA62s stationed in the United Arab Emirates, declined to comment on the crash Thursday night. The work comes as Dubai has shut down its southern runway for resurfacing and replacing the light and support infrastructure. It closed on April 16 and officials hope to reopen it on May 30. Dubai has cut back on some of its scheduled flights and redirected others to Al Maktoum Airport at Dubai World Central, the city's second airport. Dubai is a major city in the United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula. The city-state's last major aircraft incident happened on August 3, 2016. An Emirates Boeing 777-300 coming from Thiruvananthapuram, India, crash landed, but no lives were lost among its 300 passengers and crew. A firefighter was killed in a subsequent explosion of Flight EK521. AP Photo via 36Kr Coal-fired power plants in China are looking toward digitalization for industrial transformation and upgrade, as the nation continues to restrict overcapacity and set high environmental protection goals. The pledge to cut overcapacity was reiterated once again in a joint notice released by the National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and National Energy Administration. Almost 50% of coal-fired power plants had a deficit last year, a result of the disequilibrium between the lower prices of electricity relative to that of coal, China Electricity Council said in the report, which was released in late January. At the end of 2018, the installed capacity of coal-fired power plants reached 1.01 billion kilowatts, accounting for 53% of the installed gross capacity of China. Artificial Intelligence is a core technology for a successful digital transformation and offers tremendous opportunities for all industries. We are excited to work with Chinese customers on their most urgent topics to make production more efficient, Dr. Roland Busch, chief technology officer of Siemens AG, said to the audience at the Siemens Innovation Day China in Chengdu, southwest Chinas Sichuan province, on May 15. The German powerhouse said it has joined hands with Chinese energy giant China Resources Power to set up a remote operation center that can supervise and analyze the efficiency and conditions of units in remote power plants. The system, which uses AI, big data, and cloud computing, can increase efficiency by selecting the highest efficient units and prevent possible malfunctions in order to reduce maintenance. The system will be employed in eight power plants in eastern Chinas Jiangsu province, whose annual power generation can support the daily use of 15 million households. For more efficient environmental protection measures, some power plants choose to reach out to companies from other industries. In the city of Luzhou in Sichuan province, Chuannan Power Generation is using lime mud, a kind of waste from paper mills, in the desulfurization process of its coal-fired units, which reduces the disposal cost of solid waste in paper mills and the desulfurization cost of coal-fired power plants. THE Ministry of Health reported that 30 people succumbed to the Covid-19 virus yesterday. The latest deaths took the death toll this month to 610. The ministry identified the deceased as seven elderly men, eight elderly women, eight middle-aged men, six middle-aged woman and one young adult woman. T&Ts overall death toll now stands at 2,768. The Ministry said 16 patients had multiple comorbidities. Nine patients had one comorbidity and five patients had no known medical conditions. This was my gig of the festival (Tony Dudley-Evans) Luc Ex Assemblee with Rachel Musson (foreground) Photo Credit and Peter Bastian The Europajazz Festival in Le Mans has been celebrating its 40th birthday. Throughout its existence, it has been shrewdly helmed by Armand Meignan. Round-ups from Oliver Weindling (first part of the festival) and Tony Dudley-Evans: OLIVER WEINDLING: This years programme showed how over the years Armand Meignan has annually balanced various elements: a continuity and awareness of musicians who have played at the festival regularly (such as, this year, John Surman, Barre Phillips and Michel Portal), commissioning of new projects from younger musicians (such as a Tom Waits tribute by Hasse Poulsen), and music which is just plain great (such as a trio formed by Le Mans resident Paul Rogers). I attended the first three days of the main festival climax for this year, and it started with a young band: Gone to the Dogs (Extended). A local band of guitar, bass, drums which has been expanded to include a trumpet and saxophone. Energetic and danceable, they immediately endeared themselves to me by playing a tune called Vortex. From there on, they merged jazz old and new, for example in reworking the Ornette Coleman classic Rambling. En route, they sounded like a band who might be playing at a bal populaire of 2019, and brought in electronic and even hip hop elements. The venue where they played, La Fonderie, is one of three that the festival uses. Here there is a chance for more diverse musical styles, almost more experimental and wide-ranging. So I also heard an evocative duo from Finland, with trumpeter Verneri Pohjola and percussionist Mika Salo blending looping and distortion to create a moving evocation of the spirituality and vastness of the North. I had heard them last year at the Sudtirol Festival in the modern art museum and had enjoyed it then, but, in this context, the music seemed to float and we floated with it! Paul Rogers Photo Credit: Michel Legeay/ Europajazz The third of the gigs that I heard there was of a trio put together with long-standing favourite of the improvised scene, Paul Rogers, playing his trademark bass of 7 strings and 14 sympathetically resonating. He played with two musicians from Berlin, Olaf Rupp on guitar and Frank Paul Schubert on soprano sax (whom we have heard in London with Mark Sanders). Starting with a sound and approach akin to 20th century contemporary music, they moved into territory more reminiscent of the improv scene occupied by Evan Parker and Derek Bailey. Paul himself has been resident in Le Mans for more than a decade. His own playing is mesmerising, understanding every nuance of his special instrument and giving the music a special drive and rhythm. Triple bass. L-R: Paolo Damiani and Daniele Roccato and Bruno Chevillon Photo Credit: Michel Legeay/ Europajazz Bass players, in fact, played a major role in the festival. Too often, the bass hides at the back of the band, as the line of last defence. In another of the spaces, the medieval collegiale Saint-Pierre-la-Cour, it was possible every lunchtime to hear acoustic sets. I had missed a highly-regarded gig by Claude Tchamitchian, but was able to hear a special trio of basses, including Bruno Chevillon, Paolo Damiani and Daniele Roccato. Each in turn brought a unique take on the role of the instrument, not just as a pure plucked or bowed, but also percussive and prepared in different ways. Perhaps it is a special awareness of bass players from their usual context of anchors of their bands, but throughout there seemed to be a momentum and implicit pulse that could lead us through. This was even more clearly shown by a solo performance by one of the true legends of the instrument, Barre Phillips. A mesmerising performance where he showed clearly how the bass works as a solo. Frequently melodic, but gradually he showed the other effects that can be achieved on the instrument. The acoustics of the College picked out every nuance. Meanwhile, another of the friends of the festival who appeared in the large hall of the Abbaye dEpau, was also a close partner of Barre Phillips John Surman (from the trio with Stu Martin, reprised with Tony Buck three years ago). Again he had the audience mesmerised in a solo performance that started on bass clarinet and ended with him dancing around the hall playing The Keel Row. Another focus of the festival was having three masters of bass clarinet, not just Mr Surman. There was Michel Portal, who refused to be cowed by his age of 83, and revelled in the chance to play with guitarist Lionel Loueke. A beautiful tone, and great imagination and interplay. A true great and a privilege to get to hear him. Meanwhile, another premiere was that of Louis Sclavis, on bass clarinet as well a normal Bb, with cellist Bruno Ducret. They played a duo concert in the College which ran through a whole range of compositions by both musicians. The cello is, I am pleased to say, becoming an instrument used more and more for this music. It has a range which complements the clarinet. Ducret, who follows worthily in a lineage following Vincent Courtois and from a family steeped in improvisation, was unfazed by working with Sclavis who is in such control of his instrument that even his improvisations sound as though-composed. TONY DUDLEY-EVANS : I had previously attended the Europa Jazz Festival in the late 90s when three British pianists, John Taylor, Howard Riley and Keith Tippett, played solo piano sets. This year British jazz was reasonably well represented with John Surmans solo saxophone, clarinet and wooden pipe set, Paul Rogers improvised set with the German Olaff Rapp and Frank Paul Schubert (see Ollie Weindlings comments above) and Rachel Musson appearing with Luc Exs Assemblee. Interestingly, only Rachel Musson is resident in UK now. The festival seems to have broadened out quite a bit since the 90s and the focus is on up-and-coming French and European artists as well as this year celebrating well-known artists who had appeared in the early years of the festival. One such is Archie Shepp who had appeared in duo with Horace Parlan in 1981, in 2000 with a quintet paying tribute to Billie Holiday and in 2004 in a quartet with Claudine Amina Myers. I suspect he played more adventurous sets in those days; this year in the Abbaye Royale de l Epau playing with his regular French quartet, he started with Ellingtons Dont Get Around Much Anymore and played a fairly conservative set with plenty of space for members of the quartet. There were flashes of his more avant-garde side, but these were few. Nonetheless, he and the quartet were extremely well received by a packed venue. Much more interesting was Luc Exs set with his Assemblee with Luc on bass, Hamid Drake on drums, Rachel Musson and Ab Baars on saxophones. Luc and Hamid provided a really strong rhythm foundation, and both Ab and Rachel wove intricate lines over these rhythms. At certain times the two horns seemed be competing with the rhythm instruments, and forging their own separate path, thus creating a contrast that was immensely stimulating. This was my gig of the festival. Before I set off for Le Mans, I received a number of comments asking whether the bands would be playing for 24 hours and at high speed. The final concert of the festival featuring Emile Parisien, initially with his regular quartet and then with a large ensemble of 11 of the top French players set up to mark the 40th Year of the festival, did bring these comments to mind. It was a long concert at over three hours and Emile Parisien does play at breakneck speed. There was a danger at times of the large ensemble becoming a party band, but they mostly avoided this with a good choice of material, including a number of compositions by Joachim Kuhn (not present) and strong solos from Parisien himself, Michel Portal, Vincent Peirani and Fabrice Martinez. Barre Phillips iPhone snap by Oliver Weindling CONCLUSIONS It says a lot about the festival that the musicians performed with such elan and positivity. Armand has over the years shown all the features that make a festival like that work. Respect for quality, but not forgetting the new things. Venues and festivals need long-term continuity its where the music shows its life and energy. And there is no automatic renewal system here, so that the baton can be passed and the festival then evolve. We wait expectantly.(Oliver) Jazz Europa is a very enjoyable festival; it has a nicely varied programme with good venues. Its a relaxed festival that allows time for one to have a good lunch and explore the fascinating old Plantagenet city. (Tony) Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has designated January 2022 as the point in time for commencement of a policy that would insist that all Government workplaces would require vaccinated workers. He has seen the reluctance and hesitation of many people both in public and private life who continue to refuse the jabs for several reasons, whether it be scientific or non-scientific, or for religious or personal reasons. Cars / Yachts Home to Raja Ampat, West Papua in Indonesias far east is the countrys first Conservation Province, so is focused on sustainable development May 17, 2019 | By Yacht Style One of the worlds most biodiverse regions, West Papua has been declared Indonesias first-ever conservation province after the provincial parliament approved legislation. The newly established West Papua Conservation Province is based on a first-of-its-kind legal framework that puts sustainable development and conservation at the forefront of any economic activity or development, according to Conservation International. Situated at the western end of the large island of New Guinea, West Papua covers the two western peninsulas of Birds Head and Bomberai, as well as nearby islands. It neighbours the Indonesian province of Papua, itself west of Papua New Guinea, which occupies the eastern side of the island. West Papua has a population of 870,000 and is home to nearly 1,800 species of fish and 75 per cent of the worlds hard corals. With 90 per cent forest cover, its home to one of the worlds most important intact rainforests, much of which remains unexplored. The West Papua Conservation Province will protect the most intact marine and terrestrial ecosystems remaining in Indonesia, promote the development of sustainable livelihoods, and recognise the rights of indigenous peoples. The legislation comes more than three years after West Papua declared it would set out to become a conservation province and is a significant shift in moving towards more sustainable development. Pieter Kodjol, Chairperson of the West Papua Regional Representative Council, said: The special regional regulation on sustainable development is to ensure that development in West Papua is carried out in accordance with environmental rules while ensuring community well-being. Conservation International has worked in the province for well over a decade and consulted with then-Governor Abraham Ataruri on the initial declaration in late 2015. Jennifer Morris, President of Conservation International, said: In vital biodiverse places like West Papua, the stakes are high and the margin for error slim, so reconciling development and conservation is something we must get right. Now the world can look to West Papua for a new global standard. This legislation helps demonstrate that protecting the earths ecosystems unlocks value for sustainable development and livelihoods. Its a blueprint for development and conservation that benefits everyone on earth. A key part of the new policy includes the empowerment of Papuans through the protection of natural resource rights and provision of equitable and sustainable development. About 80 per cent of Papuans live rurally and rely on nature for their livelihoods. www.conservation.org - The first robot citizen made a debut in the Transform Africa Summit with a remarkable speech - President Uhuru Kenyatta was among the dignitaries who witnessed the rare utterances of Sophia the humanoid robot - The robot called on collaboration between humans and Artificial intelligence entities to fully explore technological possibilities A section of African leaders including President Uhuru Kenyatta were left in awe after being addressed by a humanoid robot during one of the largest ICT forums. The humanoid robot, known as Sophia, stole the show during the Transform Africa Summit in Rwanda with its prowess in not only the English language, but public speaking in general. READ ALSO: David Ndii claims Huduma Namba will soon be rendered useless just like colonial Kipande A video accessed by TUKO.co.ke shows Sophia making some remarks on the state of technology in the continent during the opening ceremony alongside Rwanda President Paul Kagame. "If we work together humans and robots can build a prosperous and harmonious world. We don't have to look very far to see how artificial intelligence is already shaping societies and economies for the better," Sophia the robot said. READ ALSO: Nairobi family appeals for help to find 15-year-old daughter who went missing on way to school READ ALSO: DusitD2 attack: Police arrest woman suspected to be Veronica Kemunto Sophia added that the technological sector in Africa had massive potential which, if utilised efficiently, would place the continent on the world map. Right here in Rwanda, you have cashless payments for public transport, ride hailing apps for safety and online services to access government services, the robot added. The fact that Sophia addressed over 4000 delegates including top business leaders, seasoned entrepreneurs, industry captains, start-ups and political leaders meant its speech was one which had a multi-national reach. Uhuru, as TUKO.co.ke reported, announced his departure to Rwanda on the two-day summit following mass speculation of his whereabouts from Kenyans. The president was in the company of Kagame as well as the Mali head of state in the forum which was dubbed Boosting Africas Digital economy. Sophia the Robot was first came into existence in 2017 as the Worlds first Robot citizen. Over the years it has grown to be a media favorite, gaining interviews with big names in the media sector worldwide. Founder of Hanson Robotics David Hanson, who has a worldwide reputation of creating human-like robots, created Sophia in a design inspired by late British actress Audrey Hepburn. Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news Raila Odinga's die hard fan: Source: TUKO.co.ke - Kerugoya Hospital came under scrutiny following revelations of unhygienic conditions at the facility - Following probe into the matter, the doctors' union barred the facility from admitting patients - The clergy asked the union to allow the facility to admit patients - They said the situation had improved following intervention from the county government Church leaders in Kirinyaga county have now turned to God in an attempt to salvage Kerugoya Hospital following revelations of poor hygienic conditions. On Thursday, May 17, led by Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) Bishop Joseph Karimi Kibucwa, the leaders held an interdenominational prayer at the facility. READ ALSO: Goodies come pouring for selfless Murang'a man who single-handedly carved 1 kilometre road for residents Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) Bishop Joseph Karimi Kibucwa led the leaders for an interdenominational prayer at the facility. Photo: Citizen Source: UGC READ ALSO: Safaricom restores M-pesa services after 2 hour outage The clergy asked the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentist Union (KMPDU) to allow the hospital admit patients, saying the facility had been thoroughly cleaned. "We are requesting KMPDU board to allow patients to be admitted at the hospital, the situation is affecting the residents who have to go to private facilities that most of them cannot afford. Besides, we are satisfied the situation has improved greatly," said Kibucwa. The hospital was barred from admitting patients after a report by KMPDU indicated it was understaffed and lacked basic equipment such as weighing scales, BP machines and pulse oximeters. READ ALSO: Kenyan newspapers review for May 17: Court orders Moi to pay widow KSh 1b for grabbed land The union took the initiative of investigate after complains from the public, patients and employees of the hospital emerged. The damning report further indicated the health facility which is at the level of a county referral hospital had a poorly equipped laboratory with most of the available tools found to be malfunctioning. "The laboratory is not able to perform basic tests such as full haemogram and urinalysis due to obsolete machines and lack/inadequacy of necessary reagents," read the report. One of the image shot showing the unhygienic condition of Kerugoya hospital. Photo: Daily Nation Source: UGC READ ALSO: Jalang'o: Siwezi kumchumbia mwanamke asiyekunywa pombe Despite having ordered her county staff to clean up the facility, Governor Anne Waiguru accused politicians and senior medical officers of trying to sabotage her administration in the wake of the health crisis. The county boss said she formed a task force to investigate the crisis and one of the recommendations which she noted was also given by the doctors' union was that disciplinary action should be taken against officers who colluded to paralyse operations. The reports recommend how we can improve the situation at the hospital. It also calls for disciplinary action against officers who colluded to paralyse operations at the hospital, she said. Do you have an inspirational story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Follow us on Telegram: Tuko news Source: TUKO.co.ke An Owasso student graduated from Ottawa University. Morgan Grammer joined 131 other students from the Kansas residential campus to walk the stage during the schools 154th commencement ceremony, held in the Fredrikson Chapel on Saturday, May 11. Twenty-two students earned graduate degrees while 109 students earned their undergraduate degrees. Several students also graduated with honors and/or distinction within their discipline. Grammer earned a Master of Business Administration in Leadership Development. At Ottawa, students who graduate cum laude must achieve a 3.5 to 3.799 GPA on a 4.0 scale. Magna cum laude honors require a 3.8 to 3.899 GPA. For the highest honors, summa cum laude, students must achieve a 3.9 or higher GPA. To qualify for honors, students must complete 40 semester credit hours in residence. Distinction in the comprehensive examination or project is earned by students at Ottawa and judged by faculty. For most of this past decade, Oklahoma has failed to provide adequate funding to our public schools. Until things finally came to a head last year, the majority of office holders in this building blocked efforts to generate the revenues necessary to make sure our children were truly being given the educational opportunities necessary to prepare them for an increasingly global and competitive workforce. Too many politicians turned a blind eye as schools were forced to continually increase class sizes to unmanageable levels. Too many teachers left Oklahoma for better paying jobs, forcing record emergency certifications just to get adults in the classrooms to take over for professional educators. Too many schools were forced to keep textbooks in use that were worn, torn and outdated and in many schools there are not even enough text books for students to be able to take them home at night to study or do homework. It has impacted many schools abilities to provide technology. Its impacted their ability to hire and retain support staff. Three medical students from Owasso are going above and beyond to inspire others. Sheridan Evans, Shelby Rauh and Brandon Hunter are first-year medical students at the Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences and are assisting with Operation Orange, a mobile medical school summer camp. Oklahoma suffers from poor health, ranking 47th in the nation in 2018 in overall health according to the United Health Foundation. Oklahoma has dropped four spots since 2017. Its poor health status can be attributed to the shortage of primary care physicians. To combat this problem, OSU Center for Health Sciences established Operation Orange, a one-day medical camp for high school students in grades 9-12. This program strives to inspire students to pursue a career in the medical field. Several OSU osteopathic medical students including Evans, Rauh and Hunter will visit six cities and allow students to engage in a variety of activities to experience a day in the life of an OSU medical student. The budget also fully funds the Oklahoma Department of Transportations 8-Year Construction Work Plan to maintain and build new roads and bridges and provides an additional $30 million for the County Improvements for Roads and Bridges (CIRB) Program on top of their annual $120 million budget. Lawmakers also provided a $3 million increase to the Rural Economic Action Plan (REAP) for economic development in rural communities, a $1 million increase for county extension offices and $19 million for the governors Quick Action Closing Fund, which helps attract new businesses to Oklahoma. House Republicans had several priorities at the start of the 2019 legislative session that we based on conversations we had with voters on the doorsteps during the summer, said House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka. Those priorities included another teacher pay raise on top of the historic pay raise we provided last session, more money for the classroom on top of the large investment we made to public education last session, reestablishing our county infrastructure investment plan, more resources devoted toward rooting out waste and inefficiencies in government spending and increasing our savings to be better prepared for future economic downturns. We have accomplished all of those goals with this budget agreement. Tulsa Drillers: The Tulsa Drillers return for home games this week at ONEOK Field. Tulsa will host Arkansas at 7:05 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 1:05 p.m. Sunday. Stay for a post-game fireworks display Friday. For tickets and information, visit tulsadrillers.com. Tulsa International Mayfest: Tulsa International Mayfest, the annual arts festival featuring juried artists from across the country, live music, food vendors and more, returns this weekend. In its 47th year, Tulsa International Mayfest will move from the citys central business district downtown to the Tulsa Arts District. The festival runs from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. For more information, visit tulsamayfest.org. The Hop Jam: A unique celebration of beer and music, The Hop Jam celebrates the artisanal beer movement in Oklahoma, as well as the Oklahoma music scene. It returns for the sixth year from 2-9:30 p.m. Sunday in the Tulsa Arts District. Founders and pop-rock trio Hanson will once again headline this years festival. Other performers include Phantom Planet, The Weeks, Wilderado, Joshua & The Holy Rollers, Duncan Fellows and others. The craft beer tasting runs from 3-7 p.m. and music from 3-9:30 p.m. For more, visit thehopjam.com. Dittus got his early training at Eskimo Joes in Stillwater and became associated as a supporter of local music when he founded Blue Rose Cafe in Brookside in 1991. (He helped open the current Blue Rose Cafe on Riverside Drive but has no connection to it today.) Earlier ventures also included Steamroller Blues & BBQ. Duane Monks, who has been with Dittus throughout his previous ventures, runs the kitchen. He did a fabulous job with the menu, Dittus said. Added Dawn, You wouldnt believe how many dishes we tried to get just what we wanted. Probably hundreds. Swamp House is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. all week. The kitchen closes at 10 p.m. Were working on a late-night menu, but it isnt ready yet, Dittus said. The Swamp House is the latest addition to the revitalization of the area, spearheaded by Church Studio owners Teresa Knox and her husband, Ivan Acosta. The Coffee Blues and Mangos Cuban Cafe opened earlier. Freeway Cafe already was established there. The enthusiasm from the host locations has been really inspiring, Koch said. I have personally gone out and visited all of the host locations to identify where the best spots are and, overwhelmingly, from the host locations, what I am getting is a real understanding of what our objective is, and thats to connect with the public in giving them an opportunity to experience art and music. They really are understanding that we want to get the piano where the public is in a way that is inviting for them to play so that we can have opportunities for these magical moments that we think will really be created. U.S. pulls staff from Iraq amid tensions in Mideast BAGHDAD The U.S. on Wednesday ordered all nonessential government staff to leave Iraq, and Germany and the Netherlands both suspended their military assistance programs in the country in the latest sign of tensions sweeping the Persian Gulf region over still-unspecified threats that the Trump administration says are linked to Iran. Recent days have seen allegations of sabotage targeting oil tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, a drone attack by Yemens Iranian-allied Houthi rebels, and the dispatch of U.S. warships and bombers to the region. At the root of this appears to be President Donald Trumps decision a year ago to pull the U.S. from Irans nuclear deal with world powers, embarking on a maximalist sanctions campaign against Tehran. In response, Irans supreme leader issued a veiled threat Tuesday, saying it wouldnt be difficult for the Islamic Republic to enrich uranium to weapons-grade levels. A Tulsa community leadership group unveiled plans for a forthcoming project that would honor and memorialize victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre on the grounds of a historic city church. The Tulsa Community Remembrance Coalition announced Friday that it is working with the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama, for an outdoor memorial to be erected at Vernon African Methodist Episcopal Church, 311 N. Greenwood Ave., to further inform the public about the events that occurred nearly a century ago. For far too long it was kept a secret, the Rev. Robert Turner of Vernon AME Church said in reference to the massacre, which is also referred to as the Tulsa race riot. The slaughter, the looting, the murder and massacre of innocent children, women, and men has left a stain on this city. If we truly seek to remove that stain and truly want to be one Tulsa, it is incumbent that we expose that secret. The coalition also will lead a project to collect soil from sites that have been documented as areas where lynchings took place. That initiative, organizers said, is scheduled to take place this summer. The Regents were well aware of Harrozs capabilities from the thorough vetting done by the presidential search committee last year. It was through that process we were reminded how contagious his passion and enthusiasm are and how seriously he takes accountability and responsibility. In his eight years as dean of the OU College of Law, Harroz has proven himself an effective leader and administrator with a collaborative leadership style that helped the school achieve distinction in virtually everything it does from rankings, student success and being best-value, to volunteerism, fundraising and innovation. We know there are other challenges ahead and, thanks to the process and team that Jim Gallogly put in place, we believe we will turn the corner on financial issues. Tremendous progress was made in the last year thanks to President Gallogly. Over $47.5m in cost-savings were identified; tuition was held flat at the same time granting much overdue pay raises to our deserving faculty. Our university is in a better place today because of Jim. We thank Jim for his support during this transition and look forward to working with Joe as interim president knowing that he will be effective in advancing OUs mission while continuing to build on its now solid financial foundation. Tulsa police arrested a man Thursday who reportedly faked his own kidnapping to garner sympathy from an ex-girlfriend and then evaded officers after he was confronted. Darrius Steve Roberts was taken into custody after police determined that a series of messages he submitted to the Tulsa Police Department Facebook page earlier in the day related to his possible abduction were not credible. The Tulsa Police Department took hundreds of phone calls and Facebook tags and posts about the possible kidnapping and possible murder, investigators state in a probable cause affidavit. Approximately 20 detectives began searching Tulsa and turning up leads as to Roberts whereabouts. Officer Danny Bean said the departments special investigations, homicide and fugitive warrants units responded to Roberts social media posts that claimed he was in danger of great bodily harm and being held captive. Following a citywide police response, Roberts was eventually located at a residence in the 2000 block of East Pine Street, Bean said. After observing officers at the scene, Roberts reportedly jumped out of a window and attempted to flee the area on foot. OKLAHOMA CITY A Bartlesville woman has been indicted on charges alleging she embezzled more than $65,000 from a domestic violence and sexual assault shelter, which abruptly closed in late December. Deanna Rachel Long, 54, was an employee of the Family Crisis and Counseling Center, which shut down in Bartlesville before Christmas last year. Founded in May 1982, the center was the only certified domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking agency in Washington and Nowata counties. The Oklahoma Attorney Generals Office served as a major funding source for the shelter. The center also relied on state contracts, state grants and donations before its sudden closure. The states multicounty grand jury indicted Long on six counts of embezzlement Thursday after hearing evidence in Oklahoma City this week. The indictment alleges she drew money from the agencys account by fraudulently depositing or cashing checks. Investigators reportedly found that she charged thousands of dollars in personal expenses to the centers credit card. The Oklahoma Department of Human Services has been found to be providing its best overall performance to date, but national experts charting its progress warn that the situation for foster children in need of therapeutic care will continue to worsen without new efforts by the state. Since the outset of this reform, DHS has seen a 77 percent decline in specialized foster homes for children in DHS custody who need therapeutic care, and without urgent, aggressive action, the situation will worsen, an oversight panel comprising three national experts, called co-neutrals, stated in a new report released Friday. The experts chart the Department of Human Services progress every six months on 31 performance measures of the state child-welfare system. For the first time, DHS was found to have made good faith efforts in 29 of the 31 measures. The assessments are part of the Pinnacle Plan, the name for the settlement agreement of a 2008 federal class-action lawsuit against the Department of Human Services that alleged abuses of state foster children. Citizens United was bad for the American democracy, and it would be bad for the Cherokee democracy, Hoskin said. Applying Citizens United would take us down the road of dark money. With election reform, we need to be careful, Lay said. We just havent figured it out yet. Im seeing some things in this election that I dont really agree with, including the use of LLCs and other issues like that. The three also disagreed on the direction they want Cherokee Nation Businesses, the tribes economic arm, to take in the future. About 40 percent of CNBs revenue comes from nongaming entities, including government contracts across the country and in a handful of foreign countries, prompting Walkingstick to call for those positions to be relocated to northeastern Oklahoma. The jobs arent in the heart of the Cherokee Nation, Walkingstick said. We need these contracts here to put our people to work. One of the few subjects all three men agreed on was the need for more doctors, nurses and behavioral health staff within the tribes 14-county jurisdictional area, both in general and specifically to address the opioid epidemic. To be crystal clear, neither the candidate nor his father or any member of the Hoskin or Warner families have received or will receive compensation from CF or the campaigns, the statement says. Cherokee Future is registered to Chuck Hoskin Sr., father of Hoskin Jr. and a longtime state representative. Hoskin Sr. was term-limited in 2018 and now is the mayor of Vinita. In the letter Hoskin Sr. described Cherokee Future as a vendor that supplies campaign services to clients who run for public office. It cites a 2013 tribal attorney generals opinion that a candidate for elective office may retain the services of professional campaign firms to assist the candidate in the management of his or her campaign. Hembree and his office also are preparing for an Election Commission hearing Friday morning on whether to disqualify David Walkingstick from the principal chief race. After investigating a complaint filed by a Hoskin-Warner campaign staffer, Hembree has alleged that Walkingstick illegally coordinated with and accepted in-kind donations from a corporation Cherokees for Change established by one of his former campaign staffers. Pawnee County prosecutors charged a Tulsan with two counts of manslaughter after a fatal collision on Wednesday near Pawnee. Prosecutors charged Rubin Dewayne Richardson, 58, with two counts of first-degree manslaughter on Thursday, according to court records. Richardson was driving a black 1999 Lexus northbound around 10:40 a.m. Wednesday on Oklahoma 18 and allegedly ran a stop sign, according to an Oklahoma Highway Patrol report. The Lexus, occupied by three passengers, was struck by a 2007 Chevrolet pickup driven by an 82-year-old Hallett man. The pickup was traveling south on U.S. 64, according to the report. Two passengers in the Lexus Tammy Liggins, 50, and Agnes Madden, 78, both of Tulsa were pronounced dead at area hospitals, according to the report. Another passenger, Louella Madden, was hospitalized with various injuries. Troopers state in the report that the Hallett mans condition was apparently normal at the time of the collision and that Richardsons condition remains under investigation. Health care is one of several big policy initiatives Stitt said he wants to take up during the off season the eight months when the Legislature is not in session. In fact, judging from statements before and during Fridays meeting, the next Legislative session is likely to bring more change to state government than the current one. And the current one has been pretty seismic. Stitt has achieved or appears to be about to achieve almost all of his major legislative priorities, including greater control of agencies and their heads by the governor. But he has not settled on leaders for some of the largest agencies, including the Department of Human Services and the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, which administers the states Medicaid program. On Friday, Stitt said he has held back on some initiatives until he and his advisers have a chance to dig in to the inner workings of state government. For now, Stitts approach to the governors job seems to agree with GOPers. Fridays attendance was said to be by far the largest in memory for the Tulsa Republican Club, and his words seemed to go over well. The applause after he spoke was louder than when he was introduced, at any rate. Consider semiconductors as a case in point. These are the tiny computer chips that govern virtually all digital services. At present, U.S. firms are the world leaders in semiconductor design and technology, accounting for roughly half of all world revenues in chip sales (46% in 2017), according to data from the Semiconductor Industry Association, an industry trade group. Other countries lag, the association reports. South Korean firms are second with 22% of world sales, followed by companies from Japan at 10%, the European Union at 9%, Taiwan at 6% and China at 5%. The United States also has a trade surplus in semiconductors, which is the fourth largest U.S. export, behind aircraft, refined oil products and crude oil. In 2018, the U.S. trade surplus in semiconductors was $4.5 billion, the association says. But China has vowed to expand its global market share by constructing new semiconductor plants (called fabs) and embracing the latest chip-making technologies. Its unclear how much, if at all, Chinas plans rely on technologies stolen or coerced from U.S. firms. Late last year, the Justice Department indicted a Chinese firm, Fujian Jinhua, for allegedly stealing trade secrets from a major U.S. chipmaker, Micron. In the antiquated name of the war on drugs, an $8.3 billion chunk of the U.S. economy has been frozen out of the financial sector, creating more public safety issues than it prevents. Rules meant to fight illegal drug trafficking are making targets of businesses that operate legally and with the blessings of the citizens. The Associated Press reports that legislation pending in Congress would allow pot businesses to access loans, lines of credit and other banking services, while sheltering financial institutions from prosecution for handling pot-linked money. The attorneys general argue that the current law creates an underground economy that is unable to track potential financial crimes. Frankly, theres no scientific or public safety reason to continue classifying marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug. Congress should force the DEA to reclassify the drug to reflect contemporary standards. If nearly 57% of the voters in Oklahoma are ready for State Question 788, surely Congress can recognize that the drug doesnt belong on federal law enforcements list of the most dangerous drugs. But, failing that, Congress should remove barriers to legal marijuana banking in the name of good sense and public safety. Subscribe to Daily Headlines Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Editors note: The first quote is credited to advertising owner Charles Rosner in a 1967 poster campaign for a now-defunct anti-poverty service program named VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America). The phrase was, If youre not part of the solution, youre part of the problem. It is often wrongly attributed to African American political activist Eldridge Cleaver but was used in a 1968 speech by Black Panthers co-founder Bobby Seale, reported by The New York Times. The second quote comes from Matthew 7:5: You hypocrite! First, remove the beam out of your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck out of your brothers eye. (World English Bible version) The man who helped to end apartheid in South Africa, and saw Trinidad and Tobago as the true rainbow nation, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is dead. South Africa's two Nobel Peace laureates former President Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Tutu visited Trinidad in May 2004 According to the Security Service of Ukraine, 258 people are currently considered missing in Donbas. The Ukrainian president's authorized representative for the peaceful settlement of the situation in Donbas, Ukraine's representative in the humanitarian subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), Iryna Gerashchenko, stated this in a report released on Thursday. "According to the Joint Center for Coordination of Search, Release of Captives, Hostages and Location of Missing Persons in the area of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (now the Joint Forces Operation) at the Security Service of Ukraine, 258 people are considered missing in Donbas," the report says. According to Gerashchenko, since 2015 the Ukrainian side has insisted on the introduction of a trilateral search mechanism for missing persons with the participation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (Ukraine-Russia-ICRC), however, the Russian Federation refuses this proposal. As reported, First Vice Speaker of the Parliament of Ukraine Iryna Gerashchenko informed on May 16 that she had written a statement as the presidential commissioner for the peaceful settlement of the situation in Donbas and a representative of Ukraine in the humanitarian subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group with a request to dismiss her from these positions. ish | By Chris Zang Whether its held inside or outside, before the Universitywide commencement or after, graduates of the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) have learned one thing about the Party in the Park during its five-year history. Its fun! I made it, a beaming Michelle Peralta exclaimed, arms raised, after arriving at Plaza Park on May 16. Health and wellness educator in Campus Life Services at UMB, she had just earned her masters in public health from the School of Medicine. She was one of dozens of robed graduates who filled the park between the Carey School of Law and the School of Social Work for the midday celebration. (View a photo gallery on Facebook and see a video below.) The 2019 graduates of the University of Maryland, Baltimore celebrate their academic accomplishments with food, fun, and dancing at Party in the Park. Its been very rewarding to work here for the past five years but also go to school and work full time, Peralta said. Ive had amazing mentors here. Also the UMBrella womens group, URecFit, the Wellness Hub, and Campus Life Services. The weather cooperated, unlike the year before, when the party moved into the SMC Campus Center. Its a good atmosphere, especially when we can hold this outside, said DJ Marvalous, who provided the music for the fourth year in a row. Keeping smiles on peoples faces. Thats what this is all about. When he played the Cha-Cha Slide even the food servers from CulinArt got into the act, swaying back and forth. It made the wait for foods such as chicken and veggie sliders and all-beef hotdogs more bearable. Nearby, the platform party from the morning commencement enjoyed the celebration in the VIP tent. This is a convenient stop between commencement and convocation. Im going to sprint there soon, said Susan Gorschboth, munching on chips just after earning her Doctor of Nursing Practice. A nurse for 25 years who earned her RN at the School of Nursing in 1997, she said the DNP would complete her coursework. Along with music and food, family was a big part of Party in the Park. The best part is just food and family, said Samuel Dastrup, a School of Dentistry grad, whose 20-month-old daughter Adrie loved playing with his mortarboard cap under one of the tents with tables. Im joined by my wife Shayla and 10 others, mom and dad, brothers. Its a great party. In addition to games like cornhole and Connect Four, a photo booth, and a charging station, for the first time there was a social media lounge run by Communications and Public Affairs. Tributes poured in and appeared on the screens in the lounge, like the Maryland Poison Center at the School of Pharmacy posting ConGRADulations from the MD Poison Center. We are so proud to employ 12 UM Baltimore alums including 2 from MD Nursing and 10 from UMSOP. The Oriole Bird and Poe from the Ravens made the rounds, greeting graduates and their guests. The UMB Police showed off their new uniforms. We keep hearing you guys look great! said Cpl. Thomas Darnell Jr., who was patrolling with Eduardo Edouazin. There is free food, said Andrew Yousef, standing with his fellow School of Dentistry grad Leili Zamini. Taking pictures with all the greenery, added Zamini when asked what she liked best about the party. And the musics really good. This is better than I thought it would be. You get to be here with your friends and family and celebrate our hard work and achievements, said Xiomara Larios, who had just graduated from the School of Social Work. Showing off the area was part of the appeal for some. Theyve never been in the Baltimore area before, said School of Nursing grad Kianoush Mohajeri, who was joined by her mother, sister, and niece. For the first time Party in the Park followed, rather than preceded, the Universitywide commencement, which was moved from Friday afternoon to Thursday morning to increase attendance. Like the morning ceremony, the party swelled from bigger crowds with the food line stretching part way through the park. Ive seen this on my way to school all these years, said Jan Sieluk, who had just earned his PhD from the Graduate School. Its so much better being here as a graduate, added a smiling Sieluk, who works for Merck in Pennsylvania. A native of Poland, Sieluk said his 5 years at UMB provided more than he expected. Of course, they taught the science stuff you need to know, but it also prepares us to join the market and be ready to face the challenges in the emerging health care system and pharmacometrics, said Sieluk, who was joined by family friend and mentor Eric Beve. It also taught me to be very respectful and humble. It was a great lesson of humility in my life, one I actually needed. So now I feel like a different person, ready to move on. His wasnt the only long-distance story. Ali Tajzad looked a little jetlagged after a 15-hour-plus flight from Dubai the night before to see his sister, Tania Tajzad, graduate from the School of Pharmacy (SOP). I was crying all day. Usually I dont get teary, but I havent slept for 48 hours, said Ali. I just love her. Responded his sister, Youre so sweet. Tania Tajzad has made the most of her time at SOP, not only earning her PharmD but also serving as philanthropy chair for Phi Delta Chi (we raised over $2,000 for St. Jude Childrens Hospital) and secretary in ACCP, the clinical pharmacy organization. UMB outgrew my expectations, she said. When you first start out you think you know what you want until you see all of the opportunities that are there. Its not until that point that you realize youve been gifted with these opportunities. After she passes her pharmacy boards, she hopes to work in hospital and industry practice. We lost our mother to cancer, Ali Tajzad said. [My sister] wants to commit herself to people fighting cancer. Patricia Fanning contributed to this article. A Yemeni child stands in a bombed-out house in the Old City of Sana'a, Yemen, February 2017. UNHCR/Mohammed Hamoud UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is deeply saddened at reports of deaths and injuries of civilians, including refugees, when strikes hit Sanaa City, Yemen, on Thursday. Refugees are known to be among those injured and affected. A Somali refugee woman and her daughter are among those now receiving critical treatment in hospital. Incidents like this which result in the tragic loss of civilian life and injury continue to illustrate the fact that the war in Yemen is taking a brutal toll on the civilian population. Civilians must be protected and parties to the conflict must ensure adherence to their obligations enshrined under International Humanitarian Law. There are more than 275,000 refugees and asylum-seekers in Yemen, most of whom, more than 90 per cent, originate from Somalia. The situation for refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants in Yemen, which was already precarious, has deteriorated significantly as a result of the conflict. In response to demand from Somali refugees for help in returning home from Yemen, UNHCR initiated the Assisted Spontaneous Returns programme in 2017. Returning refugees are being assisted by UNHCR and partners, including IOM, with documentation, transportation and financial support in Yemen to facilitate the journey, as well as return and reintegration assistance upon arrival in Somalia. On Monday 13 May, 105 refugees departed from the Port of Aden to the Port of Berbera, Somalia, as part of the programme, bringing the total number of refugees who have returned home through the program to date to 4,068. For more information on this topic, please contact: A Rohingya refugee family are interviewed by a UNHCR registration officer at Kutupalong refugee settlement, Bangladesh, April 2019. UNHCR/Will Swanson Over a quarter of a million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar have now been jointly registered and provided with identity cards by the Bangladesh authorities and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. Rohingya refugees sheltering in Bangladesh are stateless. Despite living in Myanmar for generations, the Rohingya lost their citizenship following a change in Myanmar laws in 1982. Today, more than 900,000 Rohingya refugees are in crowded settlements in Coxs Bazar, 741,000 of these being people who have fled from Myanmar since August 2017. The registration exercise, which began in June 2018, is about safeguarding the right of Rohingya refugees to be able to return home voluntarily to Myanmar in future. So far, the Government and UNHCR have registered 270,348 refugees (59,842 families) in the settlements in Coxs Bazar district. Each day, over 4,000 refugees are registered at six different locations, where more than 450 staff are working long hours with the goal of completing the process by late 2019. Comprehensive registration is important for improving the accuracy of data on refugees in Bangladesh. It provides national authorities and humanitarian organizations with a better understanding of the population and their needs. Data will facilitate the planning of programmes and the targeting of assistance to where it is needed most, particularly for people in acute need, such as women and children heading families and people with disabilities. Included in refugee registration is basic biodata and other important information, including on family links. UNHCR uses a Biometric Identity Management System (BIMS) that captures unique data, including fingerprints and iris scans. At the end of the process, refugees receive an ID card that includes a photo and key information, such as name, date of birth and place of birth. The card also indicates Myanmar as the country of origin. All refugees over the age of 12 receive the card, and families also receive an attestation showing the details of all family members, including younger children. Information on the document is in English and Bengali, to facilitate interactions with national authorities. UNHCR developed the documents in cooperation with the Bangladeshi government, and the ID cards and attestations carry both the government and UNHCR logos. UNHCR and the Bangladeshi authorities meet regularly with members of the refugee community, including imams, elders, teachers and other leaders, to explain the benefits of registration and respond to questions and concerns. Outreach teams composed of refugee volunteers go into the community to talk about the registration process and encourage people to register. Rohingya refugees are living in an environmentally fragile part of Bangladesh that is prone to natural disasters. With the cyclone season underway and the monsoon season approaching, registration will also help reunite families in case they get separated during storms. A Joint Response Plan (JRP) launched in February 2019 seeks to raise US$920 million for humanitarian needs of Rohingya refugees and vulnerable Bangladeshi host communities in 2019. As of mid-May the JRP is just under 18 cent funded (US$165.2 million). This is deeply worrying given that we are approaching the second half of 2019. It is vital that humanitarian agencies receive early and flexible funding in order to continue delivering lifesaving assistance and to improve the living conditions for refugees and host communities in Bangladesh. For more information on this topic, please contact: Nasima Aktar is among hundreds of thousands of stateless Rohingya many of whom have spent a lifetime without official documentation for whom getting an official identity card is a significant step. We want documents for Rohingyas. This is our document, says Aktar, who recently received a plastic identity card bearing her basic biodata, photo and country of origin in a registration drive in Bangladesh. There are more than 900,000 Rohingya refugees like Nasima living in crowded settlements in southeast Bangladesh of whom an estimated 741,000 have fled a violent crackdown by the Myanmar military since August 2017. Having an identity is a basic human right ... its also an incredible step into a more dignified life. Despite living in Myanmar for generations they were not able to acquire formal citizenship and documentation that comes with this, leaving them stateless and deprived of basic rights. She is now among more than a quarter of a million Rohingya refugees who have been registered in a push since June last year by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, in support of the Bangladesh government, in an effort that also helps to safeguard their right to voluntarily return home to Myanmar. Having an identity is a basic human right, said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi during a recent visit to Coxs Bazar. And remember: many of these people, all their life, did not have a proper identification. So, for them, its also an incredible step into a more dignified life. To date, a total of 270,348 refugees have been registered in the settlements of Ukhia and Teknaf Upazilas. On average, over 4,000 refugees are being registered a day in the exercise, with the aim of concluding the registration of all those in the settlements late this year. A young Rohingya refugee from Myanmar has her iris scanned as a part of a registration exercise at Kutupalong refugee settlement, Bangladesh. UNHCR/Will Swanson A Rohingya refugee family visit a UNHCR registration site at Kutupalong refugee settlement, Bangladesh. UNHCR/Will Swanson The exercise also improves the accuracy of data on refugees in Bangladesh, which will help the authorities and humanitarian partners to better understand the needs of the refugee population. It will allow them to plan and target assistance more effectively, particularly for vulnerable groups such as children, women, and those with disabilities. Refugees are registered using biodata and biometric data, including fingerprints and iris scans to provide them with a unique identity. At the end of the registration process, refugees receive a plastic ID card that includes a photo, and basic information such as date of birth and gender. Only refugees over the age of 12 receive the card but families also receive an attestation showing the details of all family member. All information on the documents is in English and Bengali and indicates Myanmar as the country of origin. The documents were developed in cooperation with the Bangladesh government and carries both government and UNHCR logos. They understand that this exercise has nothing to do with forcible return, UNHCR registration officer Nurul Rochayati explains. "This exercise is to establish their protection in here, and to establish their right to return. They will return when theyre safe, in safety and dignity. To better explain the benefits of registration, UNHCR and the Bangladesh authorities in recent months held meetings with the community including with leading Rohingya figures, such as imams, elders and teachers. Community outreach teams, that include refugees, go out regularly to talk about the registration process and encourage people to attend. With the cyclone season underway, registration will also help reunite families in case they get separated during storms. The prime minister stressed that up to date, there are no obstacles, which could be delaying the process. The Ukrainian Government insists and demands from NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine to approve and implement the necessary decisions that will allow the Government to complete the process of unbundling of the state-run company by the end of this year following the model, approved in July 2016 and based on Ukraine's commitments to the European Energy Community. Speaking at the meeting of the Coordinating Council for energy reforms, Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman stressed the 2016 model of unbundling takes into account all the requirements of international partners of Ukraine and requires neither any changes to the legislation, nor any other actions that could delay the process of unbundling of gas transmission function by Naftogaz of Ukraine. Meanwhile, effective unbundling will be a guarantee for the formation of an independent, and certified under the European requirements, operator of the Ukrainian gas transit system. The existence and operation of such an operator will enable strengthening the position and role of Ukraine in the negotiation process with the Russian Federation to continue the transit and preserve the Ukrainian gas transport system from 2020, according to the Government portal. "One of the objectives I put before the leadership of Naftogaz of Ukraine in July 2016, and later the Company's Supervisory Board, was to fully implement the decisions on the unbundling, which enable the GTS certified operator to fully comply with the obligations of the Third Energy Package," Groysman said. "By force of circumstances, I can assert that the work of NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine on this issue has failed. We have engaged in a number of talks and issues, but Naftogaz of Ukraine has not approved any decisions that would be taken as part of the implementation of the Government's commissions. The OU (Full ownership unbundling) model is the most relevant and unique, which can be implemented by the end of 2019. Today is May. Since July 2016, Naftogaz of Ukraine has lost time to achieve the (then set) goals." Read alsoNaftogaz CEO: Russia may halt gas transit via Ukraine even before Nord Stream 2 completed PM stressed that up to date there are no obstacles, especially of a legal nature, which could be delaying the unbundling under the defined model. Participants of the Coordination Council, including officials, representatives of the Energy Directorate of the European Commission, the World Bank, heads of the international financial institutions' agencies, agreed to this position. They also noted it was urgent to start the process of transferring assets to the GTS operator, in accordance with the Government-approved plan, as well as involving international partners in the joint management of the gas transit system. UNIAN memo. In early November 2016, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted a decision to create a new operator of Ukraine's GTS, namely PJSC Mahistralni Gazoprovody Ukrainy (Trunk Gas Pipelines). At the same time, Naftogaz's management created a new subsidiary, the Operator of the Ukrainian GTS, within the structure of state-run Ukrtransgaz, which is wholly owned by Naftogaz. Naftogaz believes that the establishment of a new legal entity and the involvement of a European partner in its management is necessary for European companies to be able to buy gas on the eastern border of Ukraine and transfer it to the European market, preserving transit volumes after the current contract with Gazprom expires. On February 4, 2019, NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine registered a new company, LLC Operator of the Gas Transmission System of Ukraine, which is wholly owned by Ukrtransgaz JSC, as part of unbundling. Outgoing President Poroshenko signs decree on 5G in Ukraine 21:53, 17.05.19 1934 The 5G standard is to be launched in 2020. The diplomats reiterated their claim voiced earlier that the language law "narrows the rights of national minorities because it takes away the earlier granted right to use their native language." The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary on May 16 issued a statement regarding the signing by President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko of Law "On the Functioning of the Ukrainian Language as a State Language". Hungarian diplomats called the law "relevant to Petro Poroshenko's spirit," and expressed the hope that after President-elect of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky takes office, "problematic issues" Hungary believes exist regarding the Hungarian national minority in Ukraine could be resolved, Radio Liberty reports. "We are interested in restoring balanced and friendly relations between Hungary and Ukraine, and we hope that the newly elected president will be open to this," the statement said. The diplomats reiterated their claim voiced earlier that the language law "narrows the rights of national minorities because it takes away the earlier granted right to use their native language." Read alsoHungarian government official brands Ukrainian education law "semi-Fascist" As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on May 15 signed into law bill No. 5670-d on ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the national language. The law provides that citizens of Ukraine be in command of Ukrainian as the language of their citizenship. It is noted that the state shall organize Ukrainian language courses for adults and provide an opportunity for citizens of Ukraine to learn the national language free of charge if they had no such opportunity. According to the law, a person seeking Ukrainian citizenship is obliged to pass a Ukrainian language test. However, individuals who perform military service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and are given a state award and those whose citizenship of Ukraine is of state interest for the country have the right to acquire Ukrainian citizenship without taking the language test, but remain obliged to master it within one year from the date they were granted Ukraine's citizenship. Earlier, commenting on the new legislation, the president said: "The law on the Ukrainian language does not mean that we want to 'put pressure' on any other language. This is definitely not the case. This law means we must protect our language. For it will be protected in no place in the world, except Ukraine," Poroshenko added. The law is not applicable to the sphere of private communication and religious ceremonies. "I do not want Ukraine to again be the subject of U.S. presidential elections," Lutsenko stresses. Ukraines prosecutor general said he had no evidence of wrongdoing by U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden or his son, despite recent allegations by President Donald Trumps lawyer Rudy Giuliani. The controversy stems from diplomatic actions by Biden while his son, Hunter Biden, sat on the board of Burisma Group, one of the country's biggest private gas companies. As vice president, Biden pursued an anti-corruption policy in Ukraine in 2016 that included a call for the resignation of the country's top prosecutor who had previously investigated Burisma, Bloomberg reports. Yuriy Lutsenko, the current prosecutor general, said that neither Hunter Biden nor Burisma were now the focus of an investigation. He added, however, that he was planning to offer details to U.S. Attorney General William Barr about Burisma board payments so American authorities could check whether Hunter Biden paid U.S. taxes on the income. "I do not want Ukraine to again be the subject of U.S. presidential elections," Lutsenko said in an interview Tuesday in his office in Kyiv. "Hunter Biden did not violate any Ukrainian laws -- at least as of now, we do not see any wrongdoing. A company can pay however much it wants to its board." He said if there is a tax problem, it's not in Ukraine. Read alsoPGO's statements claiming Zlochevsky probes closed by anti-corruption watchdog "manipulation" NABU chief Sytnyk The prosecutor laid out a more detailed explanation about what was under investigation by his office after a flurry of diverging reports. While the prosecutor's office hasn't reopened a case against Burisma, it is pursuing information about the company's owner in connection with a long-running criminal investigation of another mogul who fled the country five years ago. That matter concerns a transaction unrelated to Hunter Biden, he volunteered. In recent weeks, Rudy Giuliani, the U.S. president's personal lawyer, has said that Joe Biden had a conflict of interest when he pressed Ukraines officials to crack down on corruption. Giuliani said that Biden could have been trying to help his sons business dealings and that Ukraine needs to investigate. Those comments have brought fresh scrutiny of Ukraine's prosecutors and whether they are now investigating matters related to Burisma or taking other steps to curry favor with the U.S. administration. Read alsoTeam Zelensky comment on Giuliani's canceled Ukraine trip Back in March 2016, Biden threatened to withhold $1 billion in loan guarantees if Ukraine failed to address corruption and remove its Prosecutor General, Viktor Shokin, who soon after left office amid widespread calls for his dismissal. Though Shokin had begun a probe into Burisma, it was dormant when he departed, according to a former prosecutor. "At the end of the day, Shokin submitted his own resignation," Lutsenko said. The "operation" lasted less than 24 hours before ending very abruptly. Within the first two days after the downing of Malaysian airliner MH17 on July 17, 2014, Russian internet trolls had posted at least 65,000 tweets trying to blame Ukraine for the disaster in a concentrated "false flag" operation, but one that was already belated and, ultimately, pointless given the evidence of Russian involvement. The trolls had already, fleetingly, followed the militants in Donbas and Russian television in boasting that the militants had shot down a Ukrainian military plane. Those reports make the record-breaking attempt by internet trolls to shift the blame onto Ukraine even more incriminating, the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group wrote. Two Dutch researchers, Robert van der Noordaa and Coen van de Ven, have carried out a vital study into disinformation about MH17, with the first half focusing on the Twitter activities of the so-called Internet Research Agency, otherwise known as the Russian troll factory. The IRA, with around 400 employees, is reportedly funded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a person with a serious criminal record who owes his present billionaire status to his close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, KHPG wrote. Although Twitter made 9 million tweets available in 2018 in connection with concerns about interference in the U.S. elections, this study, published by De Groene Amsterdammer, shows that the greatest surge in troll activity was, in fact, over MH17. There has been nothing since to match the activity on the day of the MH17 downing and the next two days. Read alsoDutch PM Rutte discusses MH17 probe with Ukraine's President-elect Zelensky It is telling, although no surprise, that the first tweets gave a quite different message. Within minutes of the plane's downing, Russian television and other media reported that the militants in Donbas had downed a Ukrainian military airplane, and even showed the video footage. The footage began being removed, as well as some of the incriminating texts, swiftly as Moscow realized all that it had to conceal. No Ukrainian plane was shot down that day, and the footage that the Russian funded, armed and manned militants had shared, was demonstrably that of the shooting down of MH17. There was similar confusion of narratives on Twitter. The first tweets did say that a Ukrainian plane had been shot down, and that the militants were behind this. Then at 17:40 Kyiv time (18 minutes after the plane was hit), a troll retweeted a Federal News Agency report indicating that the plane that had "crashed" was a Malaysian airliner. One rather sleepy troll at 18:14 reported that a Ukrainian AN26 (military plane) had been shot down, but used the hashtag #MH17! Three minutes later, at 18:17, the trolls began both blaming Ukraine and trying to cast doubt as to who was behind the disaster. The first tweet with this new version asks in Russian "how long will the junta shed blood" and also has the MH17 hashtag. There were more and more of these anti-Ukrainian tweets, and by the morning of July 18, the key claim touted was that Ukraine had itself shot down MH17 as "provocation." By around 11:00 (Kyiv time), three hashtags in Russian had been launched: # ("Kyiv downed the Boeing"); # ("Kyiv's provocation") and # ("Kyiv, tell the truth"). 71% of all tweets from the troll factory (almost 41,000) went out with at least one of these hashtags on July 18, and almost 25,000 the following morning. This "operation" had thus lasted less than 24 hours before ending very abruptly. Although the trolls would continue to write about MH17, it was never again with such intensity, and never using those hashtags. The activities were also different from the norm in that the trolls actually wrote their own messages, rather than simply retweeting or copy-tasting the views they wanted to push. That is what they normally do on other subjects, such as the terrorist attack in Brussels or the debate regarding vaccination. Here the trolls either wrote their own tweets, or made up texts on LiveJournal (a platform actively used by the troll factory, and then shared the links to those on Twitter. The study found that 14% of all troll factory tweets on the day after the downing of MH17 gave links to LiveJournal. More than a third of those retweeted stories have since been removed. Read alsoMH17 tragedy: Largest class-action lawsuit filed against Putin The authors of the study illustrate the techniques used by the troll factory with the most popular story on July 18. This was a blog from somebody called Katya Timofeeva who reported that a supposed Spanish air traffic controller, called Carlos, had tweeted shortly after the plane was downed that he had spotted two fighter jets near MH17. Within six minutes of the tweet from Timofeeva, who does not herself have many followers, it had been retweeted almost a hundred times. There are no grounds for believing this to have been mere chance. The Spanish RT (the Kremlin-funded Russia Today channel which broadcasts in many countries) was swift to interview "Carlos," whom they claimed had worked for five years at Kyiv's air traffic control. In March 2018 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty provided proof that the individual was not called "Carlos" and was no air traffic controller. He had proved to be an ex-convict, prosecuted both in Romania where he was living, and in Spain, for fraud. It is no accident that such effort has been expended on disinformation about MH17, as well as why Russia used its power of veto in the UN Security Council to block an international investigation into the disaster. On May 24, 2018, the Joint Investigation Team [JIT] published an absolutely damning report which concluded that "the Buk missile which downed Malaysian airliner MH17 on 17 July 2014 came from the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile brigade which is a unit of the Russian army from Kursk in the Russian Federation." "JIT presumes that within the 53rd brigade and within the circle around it, people have knowledge about the operation in which that particular BUK-TELAR was deployed and about the persons that were involved in it." JIT had already stated back in September 2016 that the Buk missile which downed Malaysian airliner MH17 over militant-controlled territory in Ukraine came from Russia. It now clearly identified its source as directly linked with the Russian Armed Forces and said that the combination of features it studied to reach its conclusion is "so special that that can be considered as a fingerprint". Read alsoRussia accused of hacking attempts into MH17 crash investigation This is surely direct proof that Russia supplied weapons used to down a civilian airliner, in violation of both the 1971 Montreal Convention and the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism. The latter is of particular importance given the case brought by Ukraine against Russia at the UN International Court of Justice [ICJ] at the Hague. Russia is already also facing two class-action suits before the European Court of Human Rights. Both groups of applicants complain under Article 2 (the right to life) that Russia is responsible for the downing of flight MH17 and the death of their relatives, either directly or through the acts of Russian separatists under their control. The applicants also accuse Russia of failing to conduct a proper investigation and to bring those responsible for the downing of MH17 to justice, as well as of refusing to cooperate with the investigations led by the Dutch Safety Board and the Joint investigation team in the Netherlands. An organizing committee has been formed. Outgoing Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has signed a decree on the inauguration of President-elect Volodymyr Zelensky. Decree No. 228 has been published on the president's website and relates to ensuring the holding of events in connection with the inauguration of the president-elect of Ukraine. "To properly organize events related to the inauguration of the newly elected president of Ukraine, I decree: 1. To form an Organizing Committee to ensure the holding of events related to the inauguration of the newly elected president of Ukraine (hereinafter referred to as the Organizing Committee); To approve the personal composition of the Organizing Committee; The Organizing Committee shall approve a plan for organizing and holding the events related to the inauguration of the president-elect of Ukraine within a two-day period; Read alsoKremlin comments on prospects for Putin's arrival in Kyiv to attend Zelensky's inauguration 2. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine shall, in accordance with the established procedure, take measures to invite foreign delegations (representatives of the diplomatic corps) to participate in events related to the inauguration of the president-elect of Ukraine and resolve issues related to their stay in Ukraine; 3. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine shall take additional measures to ensure public order during the preparation and holding of events related to the inauguration of the newly elected president of Ukraine; 4. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the State Administration of Affairs shall ensure financial, material and technical support of events related to the inauguration of the president-elect of Ukraine; Read alsoPoroshenko enacts Ukraine's language law 5. The State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine shall provide wide media coverage of events related to the inauguration of the president-elect of Ukraine; 6. The Decree shall enter into force on the day of its publication." As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukrainian lawmakers have set the inauguration of President-elect Volodymyr Zelensky for May 20. The event will start at 10:00 Kyiv time. As reported earlier, parliamentary elections have been scheduled for the end of October 2019. People's Front faction's council has unilaterally adopted a decision for the faction to withdraw from a "European Ukraine" parliament coalition. After the move, the parliament will have a month to form a new coalition, LB.ua reports. Even if a new coalition is not created, president-elect Volodymyr Zelensky will not be able to dissolve parliament as legislation says this shall not be done earlier than six months before the scheduled elections. After the faction meeting, MP Ihor Lapin said the faction will gain legal grounds to withdraw from coalition after the faction head makes a relevant statement from parliament rostrum, according to Strana.ua. Read alsoZelensky's spox names prerequisites giving new president opportunity to dissolve Parliament As reported earlier, parliamentary elections have been scheduled for the end of October 2019. At the same time, Team Zelensky repeatedly suggested an option of dissolving the parliament and appointing snap elections. Shevchuk also believes the CCU move in the case has become "an element of a smear campaign" launched against him. Former Head of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine (CCU) Stanislav Shevchuk, who was dismissed May 14, says the CCU's canceling of the Criminal Code article on illegal enrichment during this year's presidential campaign was purely a "coincidence". "We had long been considering the issue, exchanging projects, and coordinating them. And it was a coincidence that the votes were gained at the moment when the presidential campaign began. But I don't see any direct connection here," Shevchuk told Hromadske. The ex-official says this is not the only article covering corruption-related crimes, therefore the claim that, having recognized the article as unconstitutional, the Constitutional Court destroyed the anti-corruption efforts, is groundless. Shevchuk also believes the abolition of the article on illegal enrichment has become "an element of a smear campaign" launched against him. "We made this decision, and someone started spreading a word that it was the chairman of the court who was responsible for the decision, that he submitted it, lobbied it, and timed it deliberately," Shevchuk said, suggesting that this "could as well be used to dismiss me from the top post." Read alsoYanukovych-appointed judge Shaptala tapped to head Ukraine's Constitutional Court Shevchuk is positive that, despite public criticism, the court made the right decision, and it does not matter when it was adopted. As was earlier reported, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, on a motion of 59 Ukrainian MPs, declared unconstitutional Article 368-2 of the Criminal Code (illegal enrichment) since its provisions "do not comply with the principles of the rule of law and the presumption of innocence." This decision has caused concern on the part of the IMF, as well as the U.S. and British embassies in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko submitted a bill to the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, which is set to restore the Article in a revised edition. In turn, MPs filed more than 10 alternative initiatives. They say all member states, including Russia, must have equal participation in statutory organs. As the Council of Europe (CoE) is celebrating its 70th anniversary, over 30 Foreign Affairs Ministers from the 47 member states have declared that all member states should be entitled to participate on an equal basis in the Committee of Ministers and in the Parliamentary Assembly, the two statutory organs of the Council of Europe. This could lead to the lifting of sanctions off the Russian Federation, whose delegation has been deprived of the right to vote in PACE, while its representatives excluded from all the governing bodies of the Assembly over Russia's aggression against Ukraine. During an annual meeting of CoE foreign ministers in Helsinki, the Ministers reaffirmed the importance of the Organisation as a unique platform for dialogue and co-operation, the CoE said in a press release. At the same time, they stressed that one of the fundamental obligations of member states is to pay their contributions to the ordinary budget. Moreover, they would welcome that delegations of all member states be able to take part in the next June partsession of the Parliamentary Assembly, considering the importance of the elections of the Secretary General and of judges to the European Court of Human Rights. Read alsoRussia allows possibility of pulling out of human rights convention "While dialogue between the Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly has increased, the Ministers underlined the need for co-ordinated action, in order to strengthen the Organisation's ability to react more effectively in situations where a member state violates its statutory obligations or does not respect the standards, fundamental principles and values upheld by the Council of Europe," reads the report. As UNIAN reported earlier, in January, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjorn Jagland, expressed his hope that the CoE statutory bodies would find a mechanism for preserving Russia's membership in the organization. At the April 2014 session of PACE, the Russian delegation was deprived of the voting right and had its representatives expelled from all governing bodies over the Crimea annexation. Since then, the Russian Federation has boycotted meetings of the Assembly, demanding that their rights be fully renewed. In June 2017, Russia refused to pay membership fees to the Council of Europe for 2017 until the powers of its delegation to PACE are resumed in full. Since January 2018, the campaign has been ongoing promoting the return of the Russian delegation to the PACE. He plans to announce the decision on Friday, May 17, sources say. Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov intends to resign. According to theBabel, citing sources in the Presidential Administration, he plans to announce the decision on Friday, May 17. Read alsoG7 ambassadors call on Poroshenko to ensure smooth transition of power Turchynov's press service neither confirmed nor denied the report. Earlier, Ukrainian presidential representative in parliament Iryna Lutsenko submitted a letter of resignation. The official event is scheduled for May 20. Representatives of the Russian Federation have not been invited to Ukrainian President-elect Volodymyr Zelensky's swearing-in ceremony. "The Russian Federation has not been invited to the event. We've invited our partners and those states that, of course, actively cooperate with Ukraine, are our partners," Press Secretary of Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Kateryna Zelenko said, according to the 112.Ukraine news outlet. Read alsoPoroshenko signs decree on Zelensky's inauguration As reported by UNIAN, the Verkhovna Rada scheduled an official ceremony for Zelensky's swearing-in in parliament for Monday, May 20. The event is to begin at 10:00 Kyiv time. It is known that NATO Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy Alejandro Alvargonzalez and Vice President of the European Commission for the Energy Union Maros Sefcovic are scheduled to attend the inauguration. Their presence at the event was also confirmed by the President of Lithuania, the President of Hungary, the former President of Germany and the Prime Minister of Moldova. Japan also decided on its representative for attending Zelensky's inauguration ceremony. The Joint Forces' report also specifies enemy losses. Russia's hybrid military forces in the past 24 hours mounted 13 attacks on Ukrainian army positions in Donbas, with one Ukrainian soldier reported as killed in action, and another one as wounded in action. "One Ukrainian soldier was killed in action and another one was wounded in the past day. Each enemy provocation saw an adequate response. According to intelligence reports, one occupier was killed and another four were wounded," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation said in an update posted on Facebook as of 07:00 Kyiv time on May 17, 2019. Read alsoCzech Foreign Minister condemns Czech Communist MP's visit to Russia-occupied Donetsk Russian occupation forces opened fire from 120mm and 82mm mortars, weapons installed on infantry fighting vehicles, grenade launchers of various types, heavy machine guns, and small arms. Under attack came Ukrainian positions near the town of Maryinka, and the villages of Vodiane, Opytne, Novotroyitske, Kamianka, Pavlopil, Bohdanivka, Zolote-4, and Novozvanivka. "From midnight on Friday, Russia-led forces attacked Ukrainian positions near the village of Hnutove, using heavy machine guns and small arms. There were no casualties among the Ukrainian military [on Friday]," the report said. Khargone : Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday said he will never forgive BJP candidate Pragya Singh Thakur for insulting Mahatma Gandhi by calling his assassin Nathuram Godse a true patriot. Modi told a TV channel during his last rally here ahead of the last phase of voting in the Lok Sabha polls, Modi also said her comments were detrimental to society. "The remarks made about Gandhiji or Nathuram Godse are very bad and very wrong for society," he said. "She has sought an apology but I would never be able to forgive her fully," he added. Earlier Friday, BJP president Amit Shah said remarks on Mahatma Gandhis assassin by three BJP leaders Thakur, Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde and Karnataka MP Nalin Kumar Kateel were not in line with the partys ideology. Shah had said the partys disciplinary committee has sought an explanation from them in 10 days. PTI This Is a Recession Indicator No One Is Talking Aboutand Its Flashing Red The yield curve isnt the only sign recession is coming. Rising corporate misconduct says the same. Business scandals seem to peak at the end of every growth cycle. I think thats because CEOs are human, and humans get overconfident when everything is going well. In the late 1980s, we had the savings & loan crisis, followed by recession in 199091. The early 2000s brought both a deep recession and scandals at Enron, Tyco, WorldCom, and others. The Great Recession exposed Bernie Madoffs fraud scheme. A couple of years earlier, commodity broker Refco went bankrupt after its CEO had concealed millions in bad debts. Allegations of negligence and/or misconduct at public companies now seem to be growing again In Trouble A few examples Boeing (BA) is under federal criminal investigation for the safety certification of its best-selling 737 MAX airliner. Two fatal crashes appear related to software features that either didnt work right or werent revealed to airlines or pilots. The Federal Trade Commission may fine Facebook (FB) up to $5 billion for violating promises it made in a 2011 investigation for mishandling user data. Other investigations are underway too. Goldman Sachs (GS) and two of its former employees face criminal charges in Malaysia over corruption and money laundering with the countrys sovereign wealth fund, called 1MDB. Top executives may have approved some of the illegal transactions. Managers and the founder of Insys Therapeutics (INSY) were convicted last week of paying doctors to prescribe the companys opioid drugs to patients who didnt need them. Insys also misled insurance companies to get higher payments. Tesla (TSLA) founder Elon Musk faced contempt charges for tweeting non-public and possibly misleading information about the company. He reached a settlement with the SEC and escaped criminal liability, for now. Wells Fargo (WFC) is where to begin? Two consecutive CEOs have now resigned after a fake account scheme that surfaced in 2016. Assorted other offenses ranging from mortgages to foreign currency trading have the bank in hot water. This isnt just a US trend. Former Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi chairman Carlos Ghosn faces Japanese charges for underreporting his pay and diverting company assets for personal use. The once-celebrated executives reputation is now gone, and he may face prison time. I could go on, but you get the idea. C-Level Incompetence and Buybacks Shareholders pay CEOs big bucks to make well-considered, quality decisions that benefit the company. A lot of that money is apparently not buying the results it was supposed to. So go up the food chain. The boards who hired these CEOs seem not to have made good choices, either. Why anyone would own shares in such companies, I dont know. For many, its probably because they only care about a rising stock price. And theyve been getting it. But if the stock is rising not because the business is well-run but because it is borrowing money to buy back its own shares, the gains wont last. And thats exactly what has happened. According to Goldman Sachs (among the offenders listed above, so savor the irony), repurchases were the largest source of equity demand over the last decade. All this brings us to a really awkward, uncomfortable macro question. Breeding Incompetence When we read in the news that Company X is making some kind of big change, we make assumptions. Maybe we think its a bad idea, but we figure the companys leadership has chosen as wisely as possible. That isnt necessarily true if the company faces little or no competition. Maybe the executives dont care because theyre getting paid regardless. This is a growing problem, as John Mauldin has been writing. A small handful of companies now dominate entire sectors of the economy. Heres what John wrote in Thoughts from the Frontline last month (read the full issue here): Competition is an economic lubricant. The machine works more efficiently when all the parts move freely. We get more output from the same input, or the same output with less input. Take away competition and it all begins to grind together. Eventually friction brings it to a halt sometimes a fiery one. The normal course of events, when politicians and central banks dont intervene, is for companies to grow their profits by delivering better products at lower prices than their competitors. It is a dynamic process with competitors constantly dropping out and new ones appearing. Joseph Schumpeter called this creative destruction, which sounds harsh but its absolutely necessary for economic growth. With creative destruction now scarce as zombie companies refuse to die and monopolies refuse to improve, we also struggle to generate even mild economic growth. I think those facts are connected. Indeed, they are connected. And that makes corporate corruption and incompetence a problem for everyone. I think some of this is a consequence of size as well. Todays largest companies are so huge, and involved in so many different things, that no one is really in charge. So its no wonder they do crazy things. Such conditions havent ended well in the past. Wed best hope for better luck this time. The Great Reset: The Collapse of the Biggest Bubble in History New York Times best-seller and renowned financial expert John Mauldin predicts an unprecedented financial crisis that could trigger in the next five years. Most investors seem completely unaware of the relentless pressure thats building right now. Learn more here. By Patrick_Watson 2019 Copyright Patrick_Watson - 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. Stock Markets Rally Hard Is The Volatility Move Over? Many traders are watching the recent 3-day rally thinking this is the end of the downside price move and targeting new entry positions for the eventual upside price breakout. Were here to warn you that our ADL predictive modeling system is suggesting we could see more volatility over the next 45+ days before a price breakout sets up. Our Adaptive Dynamic Learning (ADL) predictive modeling system is something we like to keep away from public view for the most part. It is not something we share with the public often because it tends to show quite a bit of information about the future to skilled eyes. Today, you are going to get a glimpse of the ADL system on Weekly and Monthly TRAN charts to help you understand what to expect over the next 45+ days. The ADL predictive modeling system is capable of learning from past price action and modeling price DNA markers based on a custom inference engine we created for this utility. That means it is capable of learning from any chart, any interval, any price data and any type of price activity while mapping the price data, technical data and corresponding future price activity into what we call and DNA price chain. After that mapping process is complete, we are able to ask it to show us what it has found and how current price bars align with the DNA mapping to show us what is likely for the future. This Monthly TRAN ADL chart shows two ADL DNA Marker data points. The first data point, April 2018, consisted of 12 unique ADL price instances and suggests a moderate upside price bias may continue until near the end of July or early August 2019. August 2019 appears to be a price anomaly setup with a target price level near 10,000 for that month. Thus, August 2019, or any time 30 days from that month, could be very volatile. The second data point originates from June 2018 and consists of 4 unique ADL price instances. The lack of ADL price instances (4 vs 12) is not as important as the predicted outcome of this DNA marker. ADL instances with small numbers of matching instances tend to be unique price data something that is not seen in price that often and somewhat rare. This ADL data point is predicting a moderate upside price bias until June/July 2019, then the DNA marker is telling us that a downward price bias should start and that these future predictions do not have a strong probable outcome. This means August through November 2019 could be very volatile and result in unexpected price actions. This next chart is a Weekly TRAN ADL chart that suggests 2 or 3 more weeks of moderate upside price bias before a big decline in prices headed into June 2019. If we follow the DASH lines on this chart and count the weeks going forward, it appears June 2019 will result in a moderate price decline toward the recent lows possibly a bit lower. Then it appears the TRAN will stall near 10,200 possibly moving a bit higher near the middle/end of July. After that, the ADL predictive modeling system is suggesting that the TRAN will break down below the 10,200 level and potentially head much lower towards the 9,600. The timing of this is interesting because it suggests the current US/China trade issues will not result in more price decline for the next 30+ days. Yes, well like to see more price rotation, but the potential for a massive price decline over this span of time is rather muted. We may see a retest of the 10,200 level near Mid-June, but price should find support at that time and recover towards the 10,400 to 10,500 level near early July. Mid to End July looks very weak where price may break aggressively lower, below 10,200 and attempt to target the 9,600 level. This next chart is a Weekly TRAN chart showing our Adaptive Fibonacci price modeling system. The Fibonacci price modeling system is one of our standard analysis tools. This utility is suggesting that price weakness may set up a Descending Flag formation over the next few weeks/months. This type of pattern suggests that a breakout move will result after the apex is reached. The YELLOW trend line on this chart may become a downside price target if our ADL predictions are correct and the TRAN price breaks down toward the 9,600 level or lower. Take another look at the end of the first, Monthly ADL chart. See those YELLOW upside ADL arrows on the right side of the chart? Those are the current ADL predictions for October, November, December 2019. This prediction suggests that the Apex Breakout move at the end of the Descending Flag formation will be an upside price breakout sometime near the end of 2019. Be prepared for another increase in volatility in Early June and Early/Mid July. Our predictive modeling systems are suggesting a breakdown in price will happen near these dates and this downside move should result in increased VIX/Volatility when the breakdown happens. This does not appear to be the BIG CRASH that everyone is talking about. It appears to be a normal price pattern setup as weakness settles in and the TRAN appears to retest the 10,000 level (support) with the potential of moving slightly below this level. Weve just highlighted what our predictive modeling system is currently proposing will happen over the next 6+ months in the TRAN. If you know anything about the TRAN, you should be able to translate this into a trading road-map for the next 6+ months in the US markets. What is the value of having something like the ADL being able to look into the future and see what is likely to happen 4 to 6+ months into the future? Visit www.TheTechnicalTraders.com to learn how we deploy these proprietary tools for our members to help them find and execute better trades. This is proving to be an incredible trading year for traders who follow our trade alerts newsletter. For active swing traders, you are going to love our daily trading analysis. On May 1st we talked about the old saying goes, Sell in May and Go Away! and that is exactly what is happening now right on queue. In fact, we closed out our SDS position on Thursday for a quick 3.9% profit and our other new trade started Thursday is up 20% already. Second, my birthday is only three days away and I think its time I open the doors for a once a year opportunity for everyone to get a gift that could have some considerable value in the future. Right now I am going to give away and shipping out silver rounds to anyone who buys a 1-year, or 2-year subscription to my Wealth Trading Newsletter. I only have 4 left as they are going fast so be sure to upgrade your membership to a longer-term subscription or if you are new, join one of these two plans, and you will receive: 1-Year Subscription Gets One 1oz Silver Round FREE (Could be worth hundreds of dollars) 2-Year Subscription Gets TWO 1oz Silver Rounds FREE (Could be worth a lot in the future) I only have 13 more silver rounds Im giving away so upgrade or join now before its too late! SUBSCRIBE TO MY TRADE ALERTS AND GET YOUR FREE SILVER ROUNDS! Happy May Everyone! 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. (Photo/Shaanxi Daily) Lately, Wang Ping from Hebei province has been worried about her daughter, who spends too much time watching short videos on her mobile phone. This habit has already affected her studies. Short videos apps are very popular nowadays. By the end of December 2018, the number of short video viewers in China had reached 648 million. Along with this booming industry comes concerns about youngsters' addiction to short videos. A survey conducted by the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League revealed that 20 percent of teenagers said they "always" watch short videos and nearly 10 percent use these apps "several times every day". Due to poor time management and self-control, teenagers are likely to spend too much time on these apps. Liu Mengfei, a contract researcher on digital media at Beijing Normal University, pointed out that some short videos tend to recommend relevant content based on the users' preference. However, parents have a right to be concerned, as unhealthy content has been found on a number of short video apps. Since teenagers haven't formed a sound set of values, this content may set a bad example for teenagers and mislead them. In addition, staring at a cell phone for an extended period of time is harmful to youngsters' eyesight. To deal with this new obsession with short videos, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) introduced anti-addiction trial projects on some of the country's most popular short video platforms. With the new in-app anti-addiction system, teenagers are guided to enter the "adolescent mode" whenever they open the short video app. Under the mode, certain functions of the apps are disabled, inappropriate content is blocked and the length and slots of a user's time online are both limited. Kuaishou app has established a team of around 300 members to filter unhealthy content for adolescents. However, the system has only been introduced on some major short video apps such as Douyin, Kuaishou and Huoshan, and other lesser-known apps are still available to teenagers. If teenagers don't choose the "adolescent mode", they can still access unhealthy content. Engr. Daroo Khan Achakzai, President FPCCI has left for Kyrgyz Republic to attend the meeting of the Business Council of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to be held in Bishkek.All member countries of SCO including China, Russia, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Kazakhstan will attend the Business Forum and the Business Council meeting ISLAMABAD (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th May, 2019) Engr. Daroo Khan Achakzai, President FPCCI has left for Kyrgyz Republic to attend the meeting of the Business Council of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to be held in Bishkek.All member countries of SCO including China, Russia, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Kazakhstan will attend the Business Forum and the Business Council meetings. The theme of the business forum is "SCO, Expanding Cooperation Borders" and the theme of the business council meeting is "Prospects of developing of design cooperation within the activities of business councils of SCO" which will be inaugurated by the President of Kyrgyz Republic Jheenbekov Sooronbay Jheenbekovich and First Vice Prime Minister of Kyrgyz Republic Boronov Kubatbek Ayilchievich. The host country will also make presentations on Investment opportunities in Kyrgyz Republic. There will be plenary discussion sessions on "Trade and Investment Cooperation, Legislative Aspects and Initiatives" and Investments and Export Today" while President FPCCI will speak in 1st plenary session highlighting economic prospects of Pakistan particularly in the backdrop of CPEC. The President FPCCI will also emphasize on the need of promotion of economic cooperation among the member states of SCO besides inviting them for their participation in the projects of CPEC particularly in Special Economic Zones. NUR-SULTAN (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th May, 2019) SULTAN, May 17 (Sputnik) - The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) hopes that the agreements on creating free trade zones with Singapore and Serbia will be signed in 2019, Tatyana Valovaya, Member of the board (Minister) on the Main Areas of Integration and Macroeconomics at the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), said on Friday. "We hope that this year the agreements with Singapore and Serbia will be completed and the documents will be signed," Valovaya said during a press conference at the Sputnik Kazakhstan multimedia press center. Valovaya noted that many countries call for deeper cooperation with the EAEU. "We understand that the agreement on [creating] a free trade zone is not the only format. We have other interaction formats and they have shown their effectiveness, for example, memorandums of cooperation between the EAEU and a number of countries," she stated, adding that the bloc may sign a memorandum agreement with Indonesia this year. In April, the trade minister of the EAEU, Veronika Nikishina, said that the bloc and Serbia concluded talks on creating a free trade zone. She added that similar talks with Singapore were nearing completion and a corresponding agreement was also expected this year. The Eurasian integration process was slow in 1990s, but accelerated in 2000s when Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan set up the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) that functioned in 2000-2014. In 2010, the Eurasian Customs Union was established. Finally, the Treaty on the EAEU was officially signed in 2015. The organization provides for free movement of goods, services, capital and labor, determined by the union's treaty and international agreements. The member states include Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia. According to the data from the union's website, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the whole bloc is about $1.9 trillion. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius said that his country does not support the decision of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe that may lead to Russia's return to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), according to the ministry's' Friday statement MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th May, 2019) Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius said that his country does not support the decision of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe that may lead to Russia 's return to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe PACE ), according to the ministry's' Friday statement. "The Minister noted that Lithuania did not support the decision of the Committee of Ministers that would open the way for Russia's unilateral return to PACE. According to him, the Council of Europe has to rely on rules, while Russia should be the first to take constructive action if it wishes to return to PACE," the statement reads. Earlier in the day, the committee issued a statement which stressed that members of the Council of Europe had equal rights to participate in the Committee and PACE. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that the committee has agreed that Russia should stay in PACE. Also on Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed hope that crisis over the Russian delegation's participation in the assembly would end after the PACE session in June. The Russian delegation to PACE was barred from voting and taking part in the assembly's governing bodies in 2014 following the controversy around the Crimea issue. In 2017, Russia stopped paying its membership fees to the council. In October 2018, European Council's Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland announced that Russia would face expulsion from the council if it did not pay its contributions for two years, according to the organization's charter. However, in April, PACE members adopted a resolution urging Russia to form a delegation, pay its membership fees and return to the assembly. Moscow, however, has demanded guarantees that it will be regranted the right to vote before it returns. (@FahadShabbir) A group of North Macedonia's opposition lawmakers suggested on Friday that all legislators take a mandatory drug test amid a scandal involving an independent BELGRADE (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th May, 2019) A group of North Macedonia 's opposition lawmakers suggested on Friday that all legislators take a mandatory drug test amid a scandal involving an independent. A phone call record published on social media last month appeared to be of Pavle Bogoevski, an ally of the ruling Social Democratic Union, ordering a batch of cocaine or cannabis oil for his ailing friend. "The speaker of the Assembly has never commented and will not comment on statements by groups of lawmakers. Once this initiative has been documented and officially submitted to his cabinet Speaker [Talat] Xhaferi will comment on it," the speaker's cabinet said. The group of seven legislators, who proposed the drug test, was expelled last year from the Balkan nation's biggest opposition party, VMRO-DPMNE, for rebelling against its decision not to back Macedonia's name change. The AUA's Fundamentals in Urology course is designed to ensure urology residents and urologic advanced practice providers (NPs and PAs) have an adequate foundation in the basic pathophysiology of clinical urology. The most popular AUA course for residents, Fundamentals in Urology welcomes hundreds of attendees each year, looking to expand their education and gain a fundamental knowledge of the "why" behind a broad expanse of general urologic conditions.Indianapolis, Indiana, United States UW Restarts Career Technical Teacher Education Program A program to train career technical education teachers for Wyoming high schools is being revived, following action by the University of Wyoming Board of Trustees. The board voted today (Thursday) to restart admissions in the UW Career Technical Teacher Education (CTE) Program, which had been eliminated due to budget reductions in 2017. The action maintains the program for two years, during which time a task force will work to re-envision the CTE degree in collaboration with Wyoming community colleges and other key education stakeholders. The programs persistently low enrollments, averaging 2.5 graduates per year over a decade, required us to act when the university was called upon to reduce its biennial budget by $42 million in 2016, College of Education Dean Ray Reutzel says. Since that time, legislators, school districts and other constituents have made it clear just how important it is for us to graduate career technical educators, and we are responding accordingly. The College of Education aims to develop and propose a newly revised, broadened and distance-delivered Career Technical Teacher Education Program as a 3+1 degree program in consultation with community colleges, the Wyoming Professional Teaching Standards Board (PTSB), the Wyoming Department of Education and the Wyoming School University Partnership. The newly developed program will have to be reviewed and approved by the PTSB for initial licensure, and also approved through UWs new degree approval process by no later than May 2021, so it can be ready to admit students statewide by fall 2021. A Catholic Church and some of the faithful in Burkina Faso Members of the Regional Episcopal Conference of West Africa have issued a statement in which they pledge to work together to combat terrorism and pave the way to peace in the region. By Linda Bordoni West African church leaders are calling for unity to counteract the violence perpetrated against Christian churches and communities in the region and build a peaceful society. Burkina Faso and Niger, in particular, are reeling from a spate of jihadist attacks against Catholics in which many have died and churches and catholic symbols have been destroyed. In the past week at least 10 people, including a priest, were killed by unknown assailants during attacks against Catholics in Burkina Faso, while a priest in Niger was injured in his parish in Niamey Diocese close to the Burkina Faso border. Plenary Assembly Gathered in Ouagadougou for its 3rd Plenary Assembly, Bishops of the Regional Episcopal Conference of West Africa (RECOWA) said it is together, in synergy, that violence will be overcome and that the people will emerge victoriously. The Plenary is taking place in Burkina Fasos capital city from 13 to 20 May. It was scheduled to focus on the theme of New Evangelization and Integral Human development in the Church, but issues pertaining to the violence have taken center stage. Noting that his brother bishops are present for the plenary present despite the current climate of insecurity, the Archbishop of Ouagadougou and President of the Burkina Faso-Niger Episcopal Conference, Cardinal Philippe Ouedraogo, said The presence of the Bishops of our sister Churches demonstrates the living solidarity between the communities of West Africa and the world. The Lord is here with us and we will win, he said The Church's contribution to peace and social cohesion Some civil authorities are also present at the meeting. One representative of the Economic Community of West African States praised the Church's intention to contribute to peace and social cohesion. This effort is all the more necessary, he said, because, as the President of Burkina Faso said following the recent attacks, terrorists are trying to unleash inter-municipal and now inter-religious conflicts. Christians have been killed for their faith, without any other reason, by people who have no morals or ethics, he said. The Bishops of Poland invite Archbishop Charles Scicluna to hold a study day on the protection of young people and children. His visit comes amid public outcry over a documentary on clerical abuse. By Vatican News The Apostolic Nuncio to Poland, Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio, has expressed the closeness and solidarity of the Holy Father towards victims of abuse, according to the ad interim Director of the Holy See Press Office, Alessandro Gisotti, who was responding to questions put to him by reporters on Friday. Archbishop Charles Scicluna, Adjunct Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, is set to visit Poland in June at the request of the Polish Bishops. In 2018, the country's Bishops invited him to conduct a study day on the protection of minors during the Plenary Assembly of the Polish Bishops' Conference, on June 13th, in Swidnica. Archbishop Scicluna's visit comes on the heels of a recently-released documentary which has provoked public debate about clerical sexual abuse in the country, though the invitation was extended months ago. Tell No One contains testimony from men and women who say they were molested or raped by priests when they were minors. Archbishop Wojciech Polak, of Gniezno, told a TV program on Thursday that the revelations will help to cleanse the Church, and has apologized to victims. If the Church is currently going through difficulties, serious challenges, even a crisis, they all serve the Churchs cleansing, he told TVN24. American ballet dancer and actress. Born on May 16, 1937, in Taylorville, Illinois, Yvonne Craig started her career as a dancer and was a member of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in the 1950s when her family moved to the Oak Cliff neighborhood in Dallas, Texas.Yvonne began her acting career in movies like, andbefore making guest appearances in shows like, and. Some of her earliest television roles was in an episode of the TV seriesproduced in 1958. She played alongside Neil Hamilton, who played her stepfather.Yvonne Craig rose to prominence in the 1960s when she appeared with Cesar Romero inwhile she also played Batgirl and a daughter to Commissioner Gordon in the television seriesproduced in 1966. She was one of the finest characters from the television series and that helped her to gain fame and wealth. As Batgirl she wore a purple and yellow outfit and rode a purple motorcycle with white lace trimCraigs role as Batgirls was, however, shortlived as Batman was cancelled in 1968. Craig moved into television and appeared in several series like, among others. She appeared five times on, portraying five separate girlfriends for the titular character between 1959 and 1962.She also appeared alongside Elvis Presley in movies likeandwhile her acting portfolio further improved with sci-film. Her memorable role came on Star Trek as Marta. From 2009 to 2011, she voiced Grandma on an animated childrens show titledDespite her amazing roles in TV series and as a dancer, Craig never finished school. She attended Sunset High School in Dallas, but technically didnt graduate because she lacked one P.E. credit. When asked why she said: It was my fault, I wouldnt dress, and I wouldnt play. I always had an excuse.When Craig was done with acting, she ventured into private business. She was a co-producer of industrial shows for a short while before she turned to her new career as a real estate broker.Yvonne Craig published an autobiography calledin 2000. She appeared in the documentary filmThis amazing personality died on August 17, 2015, leaving behind asset that is worth about $5 million. She died at age 78 at her home in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California. She was reported to have had metastatic breast cancer that had spread to her liver. Members of a rescue team work at the site of a building collapse in Shanghai on May 16, 2019. (Photo: AFP/Hector Retamal) The accident happened at around 11.30am in Shanghai's Changning district. The roof of the two-storey building caved in on construction workers, trapping them under the rubble. About 21 people have been pulled out of the debris and rushed to hospital, according to official Xinhua news agency. A verified account run by China's emergency ministry showed pictures of rescue personnel pulling bloodied and dust-coated workers out from amid piles of rubble, toppled concrete pillars and shattered wooden beams. The low-rise building had previously been used as a dealership for Mercedes-Benz cars, the fire rescue bureau said. Chinese media reports said it was being redeveloped as a mixed-use arts and innovation site. A local resident told AFP she was taking a nap when her bed suddenly began shaking, as if in an earthquake. She then heard a loud bang. "I thought it was an explosion at first," said the woman, who declined to give her name or to comment further. The bureau did not announce any deaths nor provide details on injuries. Authorities quickly sealed off the area with a huge security presence, preventing journalists from getting close. The city government did not say why the building collapsed. Chinese media reports said the structure was around 3,000 square metres in area. Aerial pictures on social media indicated that the roof of about half of the building collapsed. China has seen numerous building collapses in recent years, typically blamed on low-quality construction and the flouting of safety rules. At least 20 people were killed in 2016 when a series of crudely-constructed multi-storey buildings that were packed with migrant workers collapsed in the eastern city of Wenzhou. C.P. Vietnam (left), the Department of Animal Health (middle), and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (right) shaking hands on the deal On May 15, at the Binh Phuoc Peoples Committee, the Department of Animal Health under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and C.P. Vietnam Corporation, and the Binh Phuoc Department of Agriculture and Rural Development signed a co-operation agreement to develop a safe chicken production chain for local consumption and export in 2019-2020. The project aims to develop a closed loop production chain to exclude the chance of diseases in line with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), contributing to the sustainability of the husbandry industry and the improvement of the value of local products, while boosting supply for the local market and export. The $200 million project will be developed by C.P. Vietnam Corporation with the annual capacity of 50 million chickens, equaling nearly one million chickens per week. At present, C.P. Vietnam has been developing three factories in Becamex Binh Phuoc Industrial Park in Chon Thanh district, including a food processing plant, hatchery plant, slaughtering and processing plant, going to be accomplished soon. All segments in the production chain have been applied Industrial 4.0 technology. Safe chicken meat is expected to be released in the local market and be exported to Japan, South Korea, and Singapore from April 2020. The animal feed plant at Becamex Binh Phuoc Industrial Park Moreover, the project also directly creates more than 3,000 jobs, as well as benefits farmers who take part in the chain. Additionally, small-scale livestock farmers in the disease-free buffer zone will also benefit from the policy of vaccination against diseases in a radius of more than 10km. Director general of the Department of Animal Health Pham Van Dong expressed hope that the disease-free zone would be expanded into a disease-free commune, district, and then town in Binh Phuoc. The project fits the strategy and policy of the government on strengthening and developing safe and epidemic-free breeding zones. Over the past few months, African swine fever (ASF) has been spreading and causing significant losses for the economy. However, the disease is often detected at small-scale livestock farms. Thereby, it is necessary to develop disease-free zones with the participation of large corporations to establish hi-tech and safe farming areas, and closed loop production chains from breeding pigs, animal food, and processing clean and safe products. C.P. Vietnams representative said that after 25 years of doing business successfully in the country, this is a good opportunity to confirm the position of Vietnamese agricultural products on the international market. Vice Chairman of the Binh Phuoc Peoples Committee Huynh Anh Minh also highly appreciated the safe chicken production chain project to improve the quality and value of agricultural products of the province, as well as accelerate the forming of disease-free zones in districts and towns. The project will be deployed in Binh Phuoc provinces Chon Thanh district, Binh Long town, Hon Quan district, Dong Phu district, and Dong Xoai city. Vietnamese and Cuban enterprises met and discussed co-operation opportunities at the Cuba-Viet Nam business forum held in the capital city of Havana, Cuba on Wednesday (local time).-VNA/VNS Photo Le Ha He made the remark at a Cuba-Viet Nam business forum in Havana on Wednesday (local time) that attracted more than 100 representatives of both countries enterprises. The official stressed that the two sides boast huge potential for enhancing economic and trade relations, especially in healthcare, biotechnology, agriculture, tourism and communications. Cuba is facing difficulties, including in financial resources and payment in foreign currencies. Therefore, its government is working to improve the efficiency of the use of existing resources, promote exports and attract more foreign investment, he said. For his part, Vietnamese Ambassador to Cuba Nguyen Trung Thanh said he believes with the countries friendship, political resolve, agreements and support mechanisms being perfected, the current uptrend in the bilateral trade will be maintained to reach the target of US$500 million before 2022. He also noted difficulties as well as success stories in bilateral economic ties, reiterating that the Vietnamese people always stand by the side of the Cuban people and consider each success of the Caribbean nation as their own. At the forum, Vice Chairman of the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vo Tan Thanh presented economic policies of Viet Nam and some of the countrys achievements over 30 years of reforms. Following the event, Vietnamese and Cuban businesses met to discuss co-operation in oil and gas, legal services, printing and packaging, environmental services, construction and real estate, agriculture and food processing, fertiliser and pharmaceutical products. Auchan leaves Vietnam due to fierce competition in the retail market Earlier on Wednesday, Auchan Retail CEO Edgar Bonte told Les Echos that the group had decided to sell its 18 stores in Vietnam. These Vietnam outlets currently generate a revenue of EUR45 million ($50.4 million). As reported by Reuter, the French retailer had said in March that it was conducting a review of its loss-making markets, such as Italy and Vietnam where it has faced tough market conditions. The exit from Vietnam follows Auchans deal earlier this week to sell almost all of the activities of its loss-making Auchan Retail Italia arm to Conad, the Italian co-operative retail group. As reported by Le Monde, Auchan Retail will leave Vietnam before the summer, where it is the last Western distributor since the departure of Casino in 2016. The announcement was made in Tuesday morning. We launched it four years ago and we have not found the economic model matching the Vietnamese market, said an internal source. Auchan started developing its first supermarket chain in Vietnam in 2015. As of present, the chain has 18 supermarkets in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Tay Ninh. Dinh Vu polyester plant in Haiphong Information related to PetroVietnam's acquisition of over 34.2 million shares of Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) and Phong Phu Corporation in PVTex, such as procedures for the transfer of shares, related regulations, who decided the transfer, as well as the related groups and individuals will all be investigated by the functional authorities, according to thanhnien.vn. The Government Inspectorate has issued the conclusion of the inspection at Dinh Vu polyester plant where they noted signs of irregularities in the capital contribution and capital transfer to PVTex. Specifically, in 2007, PetroVietnam signed a co-operation agreement with Vinatex to implement the Dinh Vu polyester project in Hai Phong with the total initial investment of $324.8 million. The legal entity established by PetroVietnam and Vinatex to manage the project as well as the projects investor is PVTex, with, PetroVietnam holding 39 per cent, Vinatex 19 per cent, Phong Phu Corporation 5 per cent, while the rest belonged to other shareholders. In 2009, with shareholders approving PVTexs proposal to increase PetroVietnams capital contribution ratio to 56 per cent, and agreed that six shareholders would divest their 17 per cent holding in PVTex. After this, PVTex only had five shareholders, including PetroVietnam, Vinatex, Phong Phu Corporation, PetroVietnam Finance Corporation (PVFC), and PetroVietnam Fertilizer and Chemicals Corporation. Notably, since the establishment of PVTex, according to regulations, within 90 days from the date of issuance of the Business Registration Certificate, Vinatex was supposed to make its capital contribution, but it failed to do so. In addition, PetroVietnam also lent VND229.6 billion ($9.98 million) to Vinatex and VND82 billion ($3.57 million) to Phong Phu to contribute charter capital to PVTex. These were among the transactions the Haiphong Police Department requested PetroVietnam to clearly explain. In 2016, the Government Inspectorate discovered that PVTex had not completed the appraisal or made careful calculations about the project, which resulted in the project costing more than $363 million, far higher than the total initial investment of $324.8 million. According to initial calculations, the Dinh Vu polyester project would recoup investment after eight years and eight months. However, the results from the trial run to commercial operations were continuously losses. The total loss during the three years (2012-2014) was VND1.47 trillion ($64 million), and by the end of 2015, the plant stopped operating completely, according to Tienphong.vn. After that, the long-delayed Dinh Vu polyester plant officially resumed the operation of its draw texturised yarn (DTY) manufacturing workshop on April 18 last year. Although PVTex suffered heavy losses, in December 2014, PetroVietnam received all the shares of Vinatex and Phong Phu Corporation in the polyester project. According to the Government Inspectorate, in 2013, the prime minister approved the PetroVietnam Restructuring Scheme for 2012-2015, which required PetroVietnam to reduce its ownership ratio in PVTex from 56 to at least 36 per cent. Therefore, PetroVietnams acquisition of the shares of Vinatex and Phong Phu Corporation at the unit price of VND10,000 ($0.43) while PVTex was in heavy losses has caused heavy debts and losses to PetroVietnam and were contrary to the PMs directions. Meanwhile, PetroVietnam has just appointed Le Manh Hung, deputy general director as its new general director, replacing Nguyen Vu Truong Son who has just resigned. This appointment may have caused concerns about a subsequent human resources crisis because PetroVietnam assigned Le Manh Hung to be in charge of PVTex, and so far his responsibility in the loss of thousands of billions of VND in Dinh Vu polyester project have yet to be clarified by the authorities. Vietnamese lawmakers are hard-pressed to navigate between old and new, vacillating between ride-hailing apps and traditional taxi companies While the Ministry of Transport (MoT) maintained its proposal that all ride-hailing firms have to affix taxi signs to the top of their vehicles, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) opposes the proposal. The MoJ has recently sent an official dispatch No.1354/BTP-PLDSKT to the MoT to provide feedback for the latest amended draft decree, which would replace Decree No.86/2014/ND-CP on business conditions for automobile transportation. Accordingly, the MoJ suggests removing the clause that would require ride-hailing cars below nine seats such as the ones Grab, Go-Viet, and FastGo use to install signs saying contract vehicle. The MoJ says that this provision is unnecessary as all kinds of contract vehicles are already equipped with taxi badges, showing that they are contract vehicles. The MoJ requested more time to clarify the nature of ride-hailing apps like Grab and come up with the appropriate management solutions and ensure fair and transparent competition. It is clear that the fierce battle between traditional and disruptive businesses is causing a headache for policymakers in Vietnam. The booming ride-hailing industry including the likes of Grab, Go-Viet, FastGo, and Be brings tremendous benefits to both consumers and taxi partners but is shaking up the traditional taxi industry. With the rise of ride-hailing services, some traditional taxi firms and associations are resorting to anti-competitive practices to battle with rivals and slow down the fast-paced development of disruptive businesses. Some traditional firms blamed their losses and ineffective performance on their rivals instead of innovating themselves to remain competitive. Meanwhile, traditional taxi associations and unions continue to fight disruptive businesses with misleading information and untrue accusations. Some taxi firms are mixing up the concepts of GrabTaxi and GrabCar to accuse Grab of violating regulations. The misleading information that fails to clearly differentiate services based on Grabs licenses will adversely affect Grabs operations. This is a sign of anti-competitive practices and goes against international competition law. According to Julien Brun, managing partner of CEL Consulting, the battle between traditional taxi companies and platforms like Grab is not unique to Vietnam. Many other countries, including the US where the model has been developed first through Uber, had to resolve this legislation ambiguity. The underlying trade-off behind such a decision is ensuring that the traditional taxi companies can maintain a decent level of activities while allowing other companies to innovate in order to offer better value for money to consumers. Such a case highlights the challenge for disruptive businesses that follow a completely new economic model, one which does not perfectly fit the legislative framework. Should the framework evolve or should companies try to fit into pre-cast moulds? Politically, it is about the balance between favouring innovation versus ensuring compliance, he added. Ngo Thanh Tung, managing partner of Vietnam International Law Firm ( VILAF), said that Grab is not a transportation service because it does not own cars, but an IT platform which drivers can register to use. The ride-hailing app provide a solution for freelance drivers to earn legitimate income. There are no provisions prohibiting Grab from providing these services in Vietnam. Citing the lawsuit between Grab and Vinasun, he noted that this sets an unprecedented case reflecting the mindset of the judicial system on new business trends and creativity, a legal fight between the new and the old, between short-sighted protectionism and competition, between the fearful and the brave. In the battle, anti-competitive practices will cause a devastating impact on a brand's revenue and prestige, making the country less attractive in the eyes of foreign investors. It could even affect investor confidence in Vietnam, resulting in slow foreign inflows in the country. Lawyer Truong Thanh Duc, chairman of Vietnamese law firm Basico, stated that traditional taxis and associations can be sued for anti-competitive practices damaging rivals reputation, assets, and earnings. In this case, Vinasun and other traditional taxi firms can be sued for affixing banners on their cabs to protest against ride-hailing firms like Grab and Uber. With the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) already in effect and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) expected to be ratified next year, Vietnam needs to make greater efforts to ensure full compliance with the FTAs. Among them, there are regulations to limit the states intervention in e-commerce activities like ride-hailing apps. Before the proposed rules can come into force, legislators will need to carefully consider whether the current legal framework falls in line with Vietnams FTA commitments and does not stunt the countrys efforts to embrace new technology in Industry 4.0. Mitsui promises to provide knowhow and technology to boost the management and operations of Minh Phu Minh Phu Seafood JSC (MPC) on May 16 announced Resolution No.04/2019/NO-HDQT of its Board of Directors (BoD) approving the issuance of ordinary MPC shares to MPM Investments Pte., Ltd. at the unit price of VND50,630 ($2.2). Therefore, upon the completion of this issuance, MPC will collect VND3.037 trillion ($132 million) in proceeds. In addition, Le Van Quang, MPCs chairman, said that the strategic partner, could buy shares from his family members, according to VnEconomy. On May 15, Le Van Diep and Chu Van An, members of the BoD cum deputy directors of MPC, and Le Thi Minh Quy registered selling 10.2 million MPC shares to a strategic partner. The specific volumes the three individuals registered to sell were 3.93 million, 2.22 million, and 4 million shares, respectively. These shares are equivalent to 7.3 per cent of the share volume in circulation. All three transactions are expected to be implemented from May 20 to June 20. It is known that Le Thi Minh Quy is the daughter of chairman Le Van Quang and Chu Thi Binh, who is also a member of the BoD and deputy general director of MPC. Le Van Diep is Le Van Quang's younger brother and Chu Van An is Binh's brother. If MPM successfully buys the MPC shares offered by Le Van Quangs family members, it will become the biggest shareholder of MPC. MPM has been registered on February 19 this year, with registered address in the ASO building in Singapore. Mitsui has a long-standing presence in Vietnam and maintains offices in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. The company operates a diverse portfolio of business in the areas of steel, minerals & metals, energy, chemicals, food & retail, consumer services, information technology, and infrastructure. Mitsuis core activities in Vietnam include import, export, and investment, and the company often works in partnership with leading Vietnamese and international companies. MPM is a subsidiary of Mitsui & Co., Ltd., one of the largest and most prominent global trading and investment companies. Founded in Japan in 1947. On its website, Mitsui announced to acquire a 31.5 per cent equity interest in MPC. Explaining the choice, Mitsui wrote that MPC owns two processing plants and shrimp farms with an area of 900 hectares in southern Vietnam. MPC has built a strong position by vertically integrating all stages from shrimp farming to processing and sales. MPCs extensive range of products, including value-added products, are exported to around 50 countries, notably the US and Japan. The company accounts for approximately 20 per cent of Vietnam's total shrimp exports. In 2013, Mitsui invested in Minh Phu Hau Giang JSC (MPHG), a processing plant affiliated with Minh Phu. Since then, Mitsui has contributed to optimising the management and operations of MPHG. By investing in the parent company, Mitsui will be able to apply the initiatives developed at MPHG to the entire Minh Phu Group and leverage its global sales networks to expand the Vietnamese companys sales. Mitsui will also help Minh Phu to achieve further growth through the application of digital technology, including AI in fisheries and processing plants, and the enhancement of the efficiency of its shrimp supply chain extending from farm to market. Mitsui has identified nutrition a agriculture as a new growth area under its medium-term management plan. Global demand for sustainable proteins is expanding as the population grows and the middle class expands globally. Through this investment, Mitsui will continue its efforts to improve the productivity, stability, and sustainability of supply, while adding value to food products. In addition, MPCs BoD approved Resolution No.04b/2019/NQ-HDQT on purchasing nearly 26.7 million existing shares (31 per cent) at MPHG from Mitsui. The total purchase value of the shares is VND871.8 billion ($37.9 million). MPHG is the biggest subsidiary of MPC with the charter capital of VND867 billion ($37.7 million). Bui Quang Huy, general director of Nhat Cuong Mobile On May 14, the investigation agency under the Ministry of Public Security (MoPS) started prosecution and arrested Bui Quang Huy (45), general director of Nhat Cuong Technic Co., Ltd., for the charge of smuggling (Article 188 of the Criminal Code 2015) and offences against regulations of the law on accounting that lead to serious consequences (Article 221). Eight other defendants have been arrested for the same charges. Huy has been accused for leading the crime organisation and directing cross-border smuggling, and using two accounting books to hide the revenue of trillions of dongs. The investigation agency seized thousands of smartphones, iPad, and accessories for the investigation Five days ago, on May 9, 2019, the agency searched nine stores and warranty centres of Nhat Cuong Mobile, and seized dozens of boxes of documents and phones. The Nhat Cuong Mobile chain has been closed since then. The agency also announced expanding the investigation to clarify the violations of the nine defendants and others, as well as seize property and assets. For the charge of smuggling, Huy and the eight other defendants will be proposed 12-20 years in prison and 3-12 years for the charge of offences against regulations of the law on accounting that lead to serious consequences. The investigation agency seized a lot of evidence from Nhat Cuong Mobile stores on May 9 Nhat Cuong Mobile is the brand of Nhat Cuong Technic Co., Ltd., and started operations in 2001 as a phone repair shop. The company has nine retail stores and a warranty centre in Hanoi, and one ERP centre in Ho Chi Minh City. In its registration certificate, Nhat Cuong's charter capital is VND38 billion ($1.65 million), and Bui Quang Huy is the legal representative of both the company and Nhat Cuong Software, which was established in 2016 to develop numerous IT projects in Hanoi like residential database and online residency software. The Texhong nonwowen textile factory in Quang Ninh A few days ago, locals have reported that the nonwoven textile factory project in Hai Ha Seaport Industrial Zone of Texhong Industrial Park Vietnam Limited Company (under China's Texhong Textile Group) is starting construction without certificate. According to the Quang Ninh Economic Zones Management Authority, the nonwoven fabric factory project has received the investment certificate last November. However, there remain other administrative procedures to be completed, the project has began construction in early 2019 and has completed several components. The construction does not even stop at nights Pham Xuan Dai, Chairman of the Hai Ha District People's Committee, told thanhnien.com.vn that the project is under the management of the Quang Ninh Economic Zones Management Authority, so the committee cannot ask the corporation to halt construction. The representative of the Quang Ninh Department of Natural Resources and Environment also confirmed to local media that the company has yet to submit the environmental impact assessment report to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. "The ministry has just established the appraisal council to assess the environmental impact of this project on March 19, 2019, but has not issued a final decision yet," a leader of the Quang Ninh Department of Natural Resources and Environment told local media. Texhong continued the construction even after receiving a specific order from the local EZ management authority On April 8, the Quang Ninh People's Committee ordered the Chinese company to stop the project, but Texhong Industrial Park Vietnam has not complied with the order. Nguyen Manh Tuan, director of the Quang Ninh Economic Zones Management Authority, told local media, "We have made a record and asked the investor to stop construction, as well as reported to the Quang Ninh People's Committee because they are foreign investors." By the observation of the media, from May 8 to 12, the construction continued day and night. The nonwoven fabric factory of Texhong Industrial Park Vietnam is located in Hai Ha Seaport Industrial Zone on an area of 27 hectares with the total investment of $260 million. This is part of a series of coastal projects of Texhong Textile Group near the Vietnamese-Chinese border in Quang Ninh's Mong Cai city and Hai Ha district. A garment factory in Dong Nai Province. Vietnamese enterprises are closely watching the escalating US-China trade war and fear possible impacts on their business.-VNA/VNS Photo The US recently raised tariffs on US$200 billion worth of Chinese products to 25 per cent from 10 per cent and has started the process of slapping tariffs on another $300 billion worth of Chinese goods. China has announced higher tariffs on thousands of US goods in retaliation. Pham Hai Long, general director of Argex Saigon Foodstuffs JSC, which exports processed foodstuff and seafood to the US and imports feedstock from China, told Nguoi Lao Dong (The Labourers) newspaper: The depreciation of the Chinese yuan, the appreciation of the US dollar against currencies globally and the strong fluctuations in the USD/VND exchange rate have all affected local exporters. [Vietnamese] export companies benefit from the depreciation of the dong, but if the exchange rate goes up strongly, importers will have to pay high prices, affecting demand, and Vietnamese enterprises are also affected. Therefore, the important thing now is for the Government not to let it fluctuate too strongly, he said. Pham Ngoc Hung, deputy chairman of the HCM City Union of Business Associations, said Viet Nam should benefit from the escalation in the trade war, including in terms of exports. The trend of Chinese and other foreign firms switching their investments from China to other markets, including Viet Nam, would provide a fillip to many sectors in Viet Nam, he said. The industrial and commercial property sectors are forecast to grow faster, there would be higher demand for labour and enterprises in supporting industries would get large manufacturers as customers, he said. But the trick is in actually exploiting these advantages, and strengthen links between local enterprises and foreign investors to build brands for the formers products and exports, he added. In a media interview recently, Nguyen Quoc Khanh, chairman of the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of HCM City, said: To avoid the impact of the trade war, many Chinese enterprises have shifted their investments to Viet Nam, helping boost the development of the woodworking sector. But the shift also poses challenges to Vietnamese firms since they will have to encounter fierce competition from the Chinese in many areas, from getting human resources and land to prices. Most local firms are still young and lack much experience. This requires Vietnamese firms to make more efforts in their business. The association plans to help local firms develop by help them with training human resources, promoting furniture brands in international markets and seeking customers, he said. Asked if the increase in Viet Nams furniture exports to the US could attract higher tariffs, he said: The US does not want to have a high trade deficit with any country. Our furniture exports to the US can increase further, but our import of machinery and timber from this market has also gone up. Currently Viet Nam is the second largest importer of US hardwood in Asia. Hung and many companies raised the concern that Chinese manufacturers could ship half-finished products to Viet Nam for finishing and exporting to the US under Vietnamese labels. Vietnamese companies should stay alert and not get involved with this, while authorised agencies should closely monitor such activities because if the US detects this, it might impose taxes, they said. According to the Foreign Investment Agency, this year China has been the biggest foreign investor in Viet Nam, with US$1.3 billion in 187 projects and $116 million in existing ones. Cambodias Minister of Interior Minister Sar Kheng on Thursday said the National Police achieved success last year in cracking down on an illegal insurgent group that had intended to topple the legitimate government of the long-ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP). Speaking at a ceremony to mark the 74th anniversary of the formation of the Cambodias National Police, Sar Kheng did not identify the supposed insurgent group by name, but appeared to refer to the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP), whose members have fled or were arrested after the party was banned ahead of last years general elections. I admire and offer a high evaluation of the achievements and successes that National Police forces made in 2018, he told a crowd of gathered police officers. Particularly in controlling and solving all security matters with professionalism, preventing and mitigating tricks and activities that were harmful to the society that the illegal insurgents caused with the ill intention of toppling Cambodias legitimate government, and grabbing power in violation of Cambodias constitution and the principles of multiple democracy, Sar Kheng said. Human rights groups and Western governments, however, considered the banning of the CNRP, the arrest of its leader Kem Sokha, and arrests and harassment of many other CNRP members last year a death blow to Cambodias faltering multiparty democracy, which had been in place since the 1993 peace accords. Cambodias National Police chief Gen. Neth Savoeun told his officers that they had done a good job last year, scoring unspecified victories in suppressing a color revolution, protecting national sovereignty, and combating illegal migration and drug trafficking. Cambodian military and police officers have long been considered highly partisan, with Human Rights Watch warning last year that scores of officers were members of the CPP, some of whom have publicly stated they would resort to violence should the CNRP win the elections. Government officials, the army and police have at times claimed that the CNRP and other activists aim to carry out supposed illegal, extra-parliamentary actions and mass demonstrations to bring about a color revolution against the long-ruling CPP. Meas Ny, an independent political commentator, told VOA Khmer that such rhetoric from government ministers and the countrys top cop was not based on any evidence about an impending color revolution, while it was considered threatening for the roughly 3 million voters who supported the CNRP in 2013 general elections. North Korea accused the United States of robbery Tuesday and demanded the immediate return of a cargo ship seized for allegedly violating international sanctions. In a statement in the official Korean Central News Agency, North Koreas foreign ministry warned of unspecified consequences in response to the U.S. seizure of the vessel.. U.N. agencies are expressing anger and sadness at the deaths and injuries of dozens of civilians, including children, hit by airstrikes on the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, Thursday night. This is just the latest tragedy to hit Yemen, which has been at war for more than four years.The U.N. human rights office reports nearly 7,000 civilians have been killed and 10,800 wounded as of November 2018. Most of the deaths and injuries are due to aerial bombardments by the Saudi-led coalition, it reports. Saudi Arabia entered the civil conflict in March 2015 in support of the Yemeni government, which is locked in a fight for power with the Houthi rebels, who are backed by Iran. A spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Jens Laerke, said preliminary reports indicate five children were killed and 16 wounded by the airstrike.He says a number of health workers are among dozens of other casualties. "The injured, including the children, were rushed to hospital for medical treatments," Laerke said. "There are several hospitals functioning there. Two of them are being provided with support from humanitarian partners and they have received the wounded." A Somali refugee woman and her daughter reportedly are among the injured receiving critical treatment. The U.N. refugee agency reports Somalis comprise more than 90% of the 275,000 refugees and asylum-seekers in Yemen. UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic said the already precarious situation of asylum-seekers and migrants in Yemen has deteriorated significantly as a result of the conflict. "Incidents like these obviously result in tragic loss of civilian life and injury and continue to illustrate the fact that the war in Yemen is taking a brutal toll on the civilian population," he said. "We add our voice to the calls that civilians must be protected and parties to the conflict must ensure adherence to their obligations enshrined under the international Humanitarian Law." The United Nations calls Yemen the world's worst humanitarian crisis.It reports nearly 80% of the country's population of 24 million needs humanitarian assistance and protection. Unfortunately, aid agencies report the security situation and lack of access are hampering their ability to reach the millions of people in desperate need of aid.Another problem is the lack of support from the international community.The U.N. reports its $4.2 billion appeal to assist more than 20 million Yemenis is only 21% funded. Australias opposition leader said he wants to win elections Saturday for his Australian political hero whose death overshadows the final days of campaigning. The death of former Prime Minister Bob Hawke at his Sydney home Thursday has turned the national focus to the legacy of his center-left Labor Party government, which modernized the Australian economy from 1983 until 1991. The immensely popular 89-year-old had given his imprimatur to opposition leader Bill Shorten, who opinion polls suggest is the favorite to win the election. Win for Bob Shorten said Friday that Hawke had given him his blessing when they last met at Hawkes home last week. Bob was generous in his last remarks to me, and he said we were doing really well and he was very proud of me, Shorten told Nine Network television. I already feel a responsibility to millions of people to win. But sure, I want to do it for Bob as well. I dont want to let his memory down, Shorten added. Many commentators believe Hawkes death at such a crucial time in the five-week campaign is a blow to the conservative Liberal Party-led coalitions chances of winning a third three-year term. Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday described Hawke as Labors best prime minister. He was beyond politics. All Australians could connect with Bob Hawke, Morrison told Nine. That I think was his great charm and his great strength and that enabled him to take the country with him on quite a number of important things. Long-serving prime minister Hawke was Australias third longest-serving prime minister and the longest-serving Labor prime minister. He was ousted by his own party during a recession in 1991. But the economic reforms he made are often cited as a major reason that Australia has not had a recession since. Morrison said Friday the election result is going to be incredibly close. An opinion poll published in The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper on Friday showed Labor ahead of the conservatives 51% to 49%. But the difference is within market researcher Ipsos Australias 2.3 percentage-point margin of error. The poll was based on a nationwide telephone survey of 1,842 voters this week from Sunday to Wednesday. Final campaign pitches Shorten invoked the memory of another Labor hero Thursday when he made his final campaign pitch in the same western Sydney venue where party leader Gough Whitlam gave what has been remembered as his Its Time speech in 1972. Its Time was also the campaign slogan. Weeks after his speech, Labor won its first federal election victory since 1946 and Whitlam became a reforming prime minister. Morrison accused Labor of indulging in self-congratulation with the reminder of the Whitlam victory. Whitlam, who died in 2014, is remembered for sweeping reforms including government-funded universal health care and free university education. But he is also remembered for financial mismanagement that led to his government being fired in 1975 by the Australian governor-general, who represents Australias head of state, British Queen Elizabeth II. Brexit talks appear to have collapsed a day after British Prime Minister Theresa May set out a timetable for her exit from office the latest sign of a government in tatters. Britain's Labor party head Jeremy Corbyn has sent a letter to May saying the Brexit talks have "gone as far as they can" because of the instability of her government and its refusal to change its position. The two major British parties have been at a stalemate for weeks over a deal outlining the conditions by which Britain will withdraw from the European Union. The deadline for withdrawal was originally set for March 29, but the revised date to give time for more negotiation is Oct. 31. Corbyn said in his letter to the prime minister that the two parties "have been unable to bridge important policy gaps between us." He added, "Even more crucially, the increasing weakness and instability of (May's) government means there cannot be confidence in securing whatever might be agreed" between the Tory and Labor parties. Corbyn also told reporters Friday there is no chance of ratifying even a partial Brexit deal by July. May has said the process is hampered by a lack of consensus among Labor party members about whether they want to deliver Brexit or hold a new referendum in hopes of stopping it. Parliament has rejected May's plan in three separate votes and is set to hold another vote in early June. While May has promised some tweaks to the bill before the next vote, the plan is not expected to undergo any radical changes meaning the impasse between the lawmakers likely is to remain unchanged. Conservative lawmaker and former London mayor Boris Johnson, who has led the Brexit movement and supports leaving the EU even without a plan in place, has announced he will stand for the prime minister's position after May vacates it. A Chinese official denies allegations by activists that Chinas government is blocking Muslim religious practices in the restive Xinjiang region during the holy month of Ramadan. A Chinese diplomat in neighboring Pakistan said Beijing has put only partial restrictions on Ramadan activities, not a total ban on fasting by the Uighur minority in Xinjiang. Theres no blanket ban. Thats Western propaganda, Lijian Zhao, the deputy chief of mission at Chinas embassy in Islamabad, told VOA. Zhao said that Xinjiang residents were free to fast during Ramadan and that restrictions were limited to those with official responsibilities to ensure their religious practices did not interfere with their public duties. Restrictions are with the Communist Party members, who are atheists; government officials, who shall discharge their duties; and students who are with compulsory education and hard learning tasks, he said. Chinese officials do not disclose how many people fall under those categories. But the groups would include as many as two million Uighurs who are believed to be undergoing compulsory education in prison camps in Xinjiang. The diplomat's comments come as human rights activists and Uighur advocacy groups have expressed concern about the Chinese government's widening its repression of thousands of Uighurs as they joined millions of Muslims from around the world to fast during Ramadan, which began May 5 and continues for a month. Tougher restrictions Dolkun Isa, the head of the Germany-based World Uighur Congress, told VOA that Uighurs who are working in the public sector and students are asked to appear daily at canteens during lunch or they will be accused of secretly fasting and hiding extremist tendencies. Disputing Zhaos assertion that the restrictions were limited, the exiled Uighur leader Isa said government workers were also forced to take home food and share with their family members. Other common Muslim practices, such as attending prayer and wearing a headscarf, are also banned for local residents. In some cases, Uighur employees are forced to take home pork and ordered to share with their families, said Isa. The restrictions on Ramadan have been in place every year since 2016, but they are especially hard this year. Separatist movement The vast region of deserts and mountains in the northwest is home to nearly 22 million people and has the greatest concentration of Muslims in China, estimated to be about 11 million Uighurs and other Turkic Muslim minorities. Conflict in the region is not new. The Chinese government has for decades suppressed a separatist movement by Uighurs to establish an independent state called East Turkestan. Uighurs accuse the government of forcing demographic changes by settling millions of Han Chinese in the region. The government in Beijing has in recent years faced growing international condemnation over the detention of more than a million minority Uighurs and other Muslims in so-called re-education camps. Detention camps Earlier this month, Randall Schriver, who leads Asia policy at the U.S. Department of Defense, said that the estimated number of detainees could be closer to 3 million citizens. The Communist Party is using the security forces for mass imprisonment of Chinese Muslims in concentration camps, Schriver said at a Pentagon briefing. The term concentration camps is generally associated with the death camps operated by Nazi Germany in 1940s. Chinese officials, however, say that their measures in Xinjiang are needed to combat the threat of terrorism and that the camps are nothing but vocational training centers. They are asking the U.S. to stop interfering in their domestic affairs. We urge the relevant U.S. individual to respect the fact, abandon bias, exercise prudence in words and deeds, stop interfering in Chinas domestic affairs, and earnestly contribute to mutual trust and cooperation between us, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang at a press briefing last week. Shuang said their measures at vocational and educational training institutions operate according to law and they endorse all ethnic group members with positive social effects. Anti-terror law In December 2015, China passed its controversial anti-terror law, which according to Human Rights Watch gave government agencies enormous discretionary powers. The governments April 2017 regulations to prevent extremism drew international outcry, with critics saying they violated basic human rights and religious freedom. According to the state-run newspaper China Daily, the regulations forbid people in the region from wearing full-face coverings and long beards. They also prohibit them from choosing names in an abnormal way or rejecting or refusing state products and services that include radio and television programming. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has pardoned hundreds of prisoners and a prominent journalist who had criticized the country's establishment. Journalist Abdel Halim Qandil was pardoned after receiving a three-year jail sentence following a December 2017 conviction for "insulting the judiciary," the official journal of the Arab Republic of Egypt reported Thursday. Qandil was tried on the same charges with 17 other defendants, including ousted Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi. Qandil, an opponent of the Muslim Brotherhood, supported the coup against Morsi in 2013. Despite his support of el-Sissi's government, the 65-year-old journalist was detained, banned from travel, and had his newspaper confiscated. He was convicted of insulting the judiciary following a 2011 television interview when he criticized it and the military for their handling of a corruption case against former President Hosni Mubarak. Since coming to power in 2013 after Mubarak's ouster, el-Sissi has waged a harsh crackdown on dissent, arresting thousands of mostly Islamist and secular activists and curtailing freedoms that were won after the 2011 rebellion. The pardons repeal all verdicts and related jail sentences that were handed down since 2013 and coincide with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when authorities traditionally release prisoners as a goodwill gesture. Human Rights Watch estimates at least 60,000 people have been arrested in Egypt on political grounds since el-Sissi came to power. El-Sissi has denied there are any political prisoners in the North African country. Former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn told the special counsel's office that people connected to the Trump administration and Congress contacted him about his cooperation with the Russia investigation. That's according to a court filing from prosecutors Thursday that describes the extent of Flynn's cooperation with the probe. The document says Flynn and his attorneys received communications from unidentified people connected to the administration and Congress that "could have affected both his willingness to cooperate and the completeness of that cooperation.'' Prosecutors say Flynn provided a voicemail recording of one such communication. Flynn is awaiting sentencing after admitting to lying to the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States. As anticipation builds for the next-generation mobile communications or 5G, security has become a heated topic. The U.S. government has launched an unprecedented campaign urging countries to ban one of the key makers of equipment for the new network, China-based telecom titan Huawei. But Huawei is vowing to refuse to assist any country in spying and even claims it would rather go out of business. VOA's Bill Ide recently visited the company's headquarters in China's southern city of Shenzhen. Editor's note: We want you to know what's happening, why and how it could impact your life, family or business, so we created a weekly digest of the top original immigration, migration and refugee reporting from across VOA. Questions? Tips? Comments? Email the VOA immigration team: ImmigrationUnit@voanews.com. A man with a 'plan' The immigration story that got scads of U.S. media attention this week was a White House proposal to overhaul, to alter the countrys immigration system. Since the president cant make those changes himself, these are just ... ideas ... for the moment, publicly announced by President Donald Trump on Thursday. And they really boil down to two themes hes continuously favored: building more of a border wall, and increasing so-called skilled immigration. He also wants to end one of the most high-profile U.S. immigration programs the unique Diversity Visa lottery. Congress doesnt seem to be in any rush, though, to turn these ideas into legislative reality. Dadaab at risk As Kenya attempts once more to close Dadaab, refugees who have grown up in the camp wonder where home would be if the only one they've ever known is shut down. "We do not have a nice place back in our country," one refugee told VOA. "We have been here for almost 27 years." Marriage a la carte U.S. authorities accused nearly 100 people of participating in a Texas-based immigration-marriage fraud ring. The operation allegedly linked U.S. citizens with foreigners looking to emigrate and largely focused on Vietnam. Refugee camp lobbying In a Bangladesh refugee camp, with no signs of significant repatriation on the horizon, committees are forming to advocate for residents' rights. The mini-lobbying groups don't have decision-making powers, but they are raising issues with the government and U.N. that otherwise might go unheard. From the feds: China's retaliatory measures against the United States in their ongoing trade war have raised questions about the limitations of Beijing's ability to fight back. Beijing's retaliation did not match the size of Washington's action of raising tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods from 10% to 25%. China has imposed additional taxes on a wide range of American goods worth $60 billion. But Beijing has left out some crucial goods from enhanced taxation. They include technology-related products and farm commodities like soy beans. Most of the American products covered by additional taxation will see tariffs rising to 15-20% while only a few will be taxed at 25%. "Beijing wants to minimize the domestic economic impact caused by tariff retaliation. Thus, commodities that might cause greater domestic repercussions have been excluded," said Zhengyuan Bo, the Beijing-based analyst for consulting firm GRisk. U.S. pork takes a hit But China is showing its muscle in other ways. Chinese buyers are cutting back on imports of American pork to the extent of $6.5 billion. This will seriously hurt U.S. pork farmers because China is the second biggest importer of American pork. Few expected China to take this measure at a time when its domestic pig farms have been hit by African swine fever. Some reports said Chinese pig breeders are at risk of losing one-third of their livestock. "As a result of the African swine flu outbreak in China, the supply of pork has been affected. In April, pork prices surged by 14.4 percent. In order to push down prices, China will need to import more pork," said Max Zenglein, head of economic research at the Mercator Institute for China Studies, or Merics, in Berlin. But imports may prove to be difficult because Beijing has cut down on imports from the U.S. and neighboring Vietnam has also been hit by the pig disease. China's Communist leaders are gauging the extent of sacrifices that Chinese consumers are willing to make at a time when the country in engaged in a bitter trade war, analysts said. Technology mostly off-limits China is in no mood to take chances with the supply of crucial American technology, which is essential for the survival and growth of hundreds of Chinese companies and joint ventures involving local and U.S. firms. This is why Beijing has spared many technology-related products in its decision to impose additional taxes. "Technology is one of the core issues that Beijing is targeting to support high-value jobs and eventually push up the income curve, much like Japan and Korea," said Mark Tanner, managing director of research firm China Skinny. On top of these measures, China has offered the advantage of tax exclusion for domestic companies that have been hardest hit by the U.S. trade action. The government will subsidize some of the additional import costs, particularly in the import of technology related products. Non-tariff aggression Analysts said China may have limited capability for tit-for-tat taxing of U.S. goods, but it has other equally strong ways of pressuring Washington. One of them is its ability to get the Chinese public to adhere to what the authorities want, even if they have to reduce purchases of highly taxed American goods. "China doesn't have to reduce demand for foreign products through tariffs. It can simply direct that purchases be stopped," said Doug Barry, an executive with U.S.-China Business Council. Zenglein of Merics said, "Although China imports less from the U.S., American companies are heavily invested in the market and generate significant profits there. This gives China considerable leverage." Chinese authorities also could consider putting pressure on American businesses operating in China by cutting back on its own buying of U.S. products. Beijing recently moved away from buying U.S.-made Boeing aircraft after two accidents and enhanced its purchase of Airbus jets made in France. "China also has non-tariff options for making life distressing for U.S. business people, such as more frequent inspections, costly audits, national security reviews and other forms of harassment," Barry said. Barry said the U.S. industry is heavily dependent on Chinese manufacturers for a wide range of goods and parts, which cannot be easily substituted by supplies from other countries. Chinese companies are accustomed to the requirements of American users after decades of mutual dealings something other markets cannot learn in a hurry, he said. The question remains, however, whether Beijing would use this as leverage, because cutting off supplies from China would hurt its companies and cause large-scale disruptions and unemployment. Narendra Modi left journalists disappointed on Friday as he refused to answer questions at what Indian media had billed as his first-ever press conference as prime minister. At the event in New Delhi, two days before the end of India's mammoth election, Modi made a statement but then deflected journalists' questions to the president of his party sat next to him. "I am a disciplined soldier, party president is supreme," Modi told one of two reporters who asked him a direct question. "I have answered your question. It is not necessary for the PM to answer every question," Shah, president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) told the journalist. Modi, 68, is notoriously shy of the media, having never given a press conference since becoming prime minister of the world's largest democracy in 2014. Critics say Modi knows in advance what he will be asked in television interviews and that the questions are soft and often fawning. Voting in India's almost seven-week election ends on Sunday with results due on Thursday. Polls, although unreliable, predict Modi will be re-elected but with a reduced majority. "The people have decided that this government should continue. Our government introduced a new culture of governance in India," Modi told Friday's event. In the event of war with the United States, Iran will not be alone. That message was delivered by the leader of Lebanons Hezbollah militant group to a mass rally in Beirut in February marking the 40th anniversary of Irans Islamic Revolution. If America launches war on Iran, it will not be alone in the confrontation, because the fate of our region is tied to the Islamic Republic, Hassan Nasrallah said. From Lebanon and Syria to Iraq, Yemen, and the Gaza Strip, Tehran has significantly expanded its footprint over the past decade, finding and developing powerful allies in conflict-ravaged countries across the Middle East. Hezbollah is one of the most prominent members of the self-styled axis of resistance, armed groups with tens of thousands of Shiite Muslim fighters beholden to Tehran. Iran has used such groups in the past to strike its regional foes, and could mobilize them if the latest tensions with the United States lead to an armed conflict -- dramatically expanding the battlefield. Heres a look at Tehrans allies in the Mideast: Hezbollah The militia, whose Arabic name translates into Party of God, was established by Irans Revolutionary Guard during Lebanons civil war in the 1980s. Today it is among the most effective armed groups in the region, extending Irans influence to Israels doorstep. In a paper for the Brookings Institute earlier this year, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman described the group as revolutionary Irans most successful export and Tehrans multipurpose tool. Hezbollah was formed to combat Israel following its invasion of Lebanon in 1982. It waged an 18-year guerrilla war against Israeli forces, eventually forcing them to withdraw from Lebanon in 2000. Six years later, it battled Israel to a bloody stalemate in a monthlong war. Today, the group has an arsenal of tens of thousands of rockets and missiles than can reach deep into Israel, as well as thousands of highly disciplined and battle-hardened fighters. Hezbollah has fought alongside government forces in Syria for more than six years, gaining even more battlefield experience and expanding its reach. At home, the groups power exceeds that of the Lebanese armed forces, and along with its allies has more power than ever in the parliament and government. Despite the rhetoric, Hezbollah says it is not seeking another war with Israel, and it is not likely to join in any regional confrontation -- at least not in the early stages -- unless provoked. Hezbollah has lost hundreds of fighters in Syria, exacting a heavy toll on the Shiite community from which it draws most of its support. The Houthis Yemens Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, swept down from the north and captured the capital, Sanaa, in 2014. A Saudi-led coalition entered the conflict on the side of the government the following year. The war has since killed tens of thousands of people and generated the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. Saudi Arabia views the Houthis as an Iranian proxy, and along with Western nations and U.N. experts has accused Tehran of providing arms to the rebels, including the long-range missiles they have fired into Saudi Arabia. Iran supports the rebels but denies arming them. The Houthis have given up little ground since the coalition entered the war, and have targeted the Saudi capital, Riyadh, with long-range missiles. Earlier this week they claimed a drone attack that shut down a major oil pipeline in Saudi Arabia, which responded with airstrikes on Yemens rebel-held capital that killed civilians. Iraq militias Iran has trained, financed, and equipped Shiite militias in Iraq that battled U.S. forces in the years after the 2003 invasion and remobilized to battle the Islamic State group a decade later. The groups include Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Kataeb Hezbollah and the Badr Organization, all three led by men with close ties to Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the leader of Irans elite Quds Force and the architect of Tehrans regional strategy. The militias fall under the umbrella of Iraqs Popular Mobilization Forces, a collection of mostly Shiite militias that were incorporated into the countrys armed forces in 2016. Together they number more than 140,000 fighters, and while they fall under the authority of Iraqs prime minister, the PMFs top brass are politically aligned with Iran. U.S. forces and the PMF fought side-by-side against Islamic State militants after Iraqs parliament invited the U.S. back into the country in 2014. But now that the war is largely concluded, some militia leaders are calling on U.S. troops to leave again, threatening to expel them by force if necessary. This week, the U.S. ordered all nonessential government staff to leave Iraq, amid unspecified threats in the region said to be linked to Iran. Gaza militants Iran has long supported Palestinian militant groups, including Gazas Hamas rulers and particularly the smaller Islamic Jihad group. Hamas fell out with Iran after the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, losing millions of dollars in monthly assistance. The group today is in a severe financial crisis; its employees and public servants in Gaza have not been paid full salaries in years. Tehran is said to have continued its military support to Hamas armed wing, but the group appears to get most of its aid from Qatar, making it less likely that it would rally to Tehrans side in a regional conflict. Islamic Jihad, another Sunni militant group, is seen as much closer to Iran but still not as deeply intertwined as Hezbollah or other groups. Hamas and Islamic Jihad launched hundreds of rockets from Gaza during a bout of fighting with Israel earlier this month. Israel accused Islamic Jihad of triggering the violence, which was the worst since a 2014 war. The movement did not deny the Israeli accusations. A senior member of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard Corps said Friday Iranian short-range missiles can "easily" reach warships in the Persian Gulf, according to the semi-official Fars news agency. Revolutionary Guard deputy chief Mohammad Saleh Jokar's comments came amid rising tensions with the United States. The U.S. has increased its military presence in the region by deploying additional ships and tightened sanctions against Iran to counter alleged threats from the Islamic Republic. The gulf is one of the world's most strategic waterways, through which one-third of the world's oil supply is transported. Jokar warned the U.S. "cannot afford the costs of a new war" and that a conflict would adversely affect global oil supplies. "If a war happens, the world will suffer," he added. Jokar's remarks came as Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif engaged in intense diplomatic efforts to preserve Iran's nuclear deal with world powers. During a visit to China Friday, Zarif criticized world leaders, saying "supportive statements" are not enough to save the agreement. "If the international community feels that this accord is a valuable achievement, then it should take practical steps just like Iran does," Zarif told IRNA, Iran's official news agency. "The meaning of practical steps is fully clear: Iran's economic relations should be normalized." The U.S. pulled out of a 2015 nuclear deal last year and imposed tough sanctions that have weakened Iran's economy, including a move to cut off Iranian oil exports. The five remaining signatories of the deal, the European Union, Britain, China, France and Russia, have since tried to preserve it. Iran warned last week it would start enriching uranium at higher levels again if a new nuclear agreement has not been reached by July 7. U.S. President Donald Trump has said publicly he wants a diplomatic solution, but Iranian officials are not convinced. Iranian General Rasool Sanaeirad said imposing sanctions while pursuing talks is like "pointing a gun at someone demanding friendship," Iran's semi-official Mehr news agency reported. That sentiment was echoed by Iranian ambassador to the United Nations Majid Takht-e-Ravanchi, who told CBS the U.S. "want(s) to have the stick in their hands, trying to intimidate Iran at the same time calling for a dialog." The killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Turkey last year raised international awareness of the dangers of reporting on human rights abuses. But as Khashoggi's fiancee told lawmakers Thursday, the lack of a U.S. response to his death endangers journalists worldwide. VOA's congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson has more from Capitol Hill. The lower house of the Missouri General Assembly passed a bill on Friday to prohibit women from seeking an abortion after the eighth week of pregnancy, days after Alabama enacted the most restrictive abortion law in the United States. The House of Representatives gave its final legislative approval in a 110-44 vote after protesters were removed from the public gallery. Missouri senators overwhelmingly approved the legislation Thursday. Republican Gov. Mike Parson is expected to sign the bill into law. He has said he would make Missouri "one of the strongest pro-life states in the country." The bill allows for an abortion after the eighth week only in the case of medical emergencies. On Wednesday, Alabama banned abortions at any time, with the same exception. Similar laws have been proposed in more than a dozen other states as Republican-controlled legislatures push to restrict the rights of women to terminate their pregnancies. Renewed efforts to roll back Roe v. Wade, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide in 1973, have been emboldened by two judicial appointments by President Donald Trump that have given conservatives a solid majority on the court. At a time when U.S. rates of abortion have sharply declined, the appointments have put fresh energy into the political struggle between religious conservatives and others who believe fetuses should have rights comparable to those of babies after birth, and those who see such restrictions as an infringement on women's rights. The re-energized debate coincides with the run-up to the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Abortion-rights activists argue that rolling back 45 years of legal precedent to criminalize abortion would endanger women who seek dangerous illegal abortions. Health risk? U.S. abortion-rights activists have vowed to go to court to block enforcement of the Alabama law, which is scheduled to take effect in six months. The Missouri bill passed the Senate on Thursday in a party-line vote, with 24 Republicans supporting it and 10 Democrats opposed. In common with the Alabama bill, it would outlaw abortion even in the case of rape or incest and make violations by doctors punishable by prison sentences. The measure would not make women who seek out the procedure subject to criminal prosecution, although opponents of the statute said it was ambiguous about the criminal liability of a woman accused of inducing her own miscarriage. The measure also would ban abortions altogether except for medical emergencies should the Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade. As of May, lawmakers have introduced legislation to restrict abortions in at least 16 states this year. Governors in four have signed bills into law banning the procedure if an embryonic heartbeat can be detected, generally considered to be as early as six weeks. Some Republicans pushing for abortion restrictions acknowledge they are deliberately doing so to instigate court challenges that will ultimately force the Supreme Court to reconsider Roe v. Wade. The ruling held that the due process clause of the 14th Amendment provides a fundamental right to privacy that protects a woman's right to abortion. It also allowed states to place restrictions on the procedure from the time a fetus could viably survive outside the womb. The opinion stated that viability is usually placed at about seven months, or 28 weeks, but may occur earlier. A U.S. military airstrike in Afghanistans embattled southern Helmand province has mistakenly killed at least 17 government forces and wounded 14 others. A local security official requesting anonymity Friday confirmed to VOA the casualty toll, saying the deadly strike occurred just outside the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah, where police forces were battling Taliban insurgents. Attaullah Afghan, head of the provincial council in Helmand, told VOA a highway police battalion commander was also among those killed in the friendly fire. Earlier, the Afghan Interior Ministry had said in a statement that the clashes killed at least eight policemen and injured 11 others, noting an investigation was underway to determine whether an airstrike or insurgents inflicted the casualties. The ministry said the U.S.-led Resolute Support military coalition carried out the air raid at the request of Afghan partners to assist in fighting off a large-scale Taliban attack in Nahr-e-Saraj district and noted Afghan forces had also inflicted heavy casualties on the insurgents. An American military spokesman, Col. Dave Butler, confirmed to VOA that Afghan forces requested precision air support during heavy fighting with the Taliban. They reported and confirmed the areas were clear of friendly forces. Unfortunately, they were not and a tragic accident resulted. Afghan Security Forces, as well as Taliban fighters, were killed in the strikes, Butler said. We're examining the miscommunication to ensure it is not repeated. We regret this tragic loss of life of our partners and are committed to improvement every day with every mission, said the U.S. military spokesman. A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, in a statement claimed that shortly after its fighters assaulted the police base west of Lashkar Gha, an American airstrike struck the installation, killing 35 security forces. Ahmadi said four senior Afghan police commanders were among the dead. The insurgent groups battlefield claims are often inflated. The Taliban controls or influences most of the districts in the largest Afghan province where American military routinely conducts airstrikes in support of local forces battling to regain lost territory. Stepped up insurgent attacks across the country during the past week have reportedly killed around 90 pro-government forces and dozens of Afghan civilians. The Taliban has also captured new territory, including Shamulzayi district in the troubled southern Zabul province. The United States is holding direct negotiations with the Taliban to bring an end to the war and to try to encourage the insurgents to engage in an intra-Afghan peace dialogue. But Washington has so far not reported any significant progress toward ending years of hostilities in Afghanistan. While Islamic State fighters in Syria and Iraq have largely been forced underground, the terror group's other fighters along with its media operatives appear intent on surging, combining an increase in attacks with ramped-up output on social media. The strategy comes as little surprise to U.S. officials who have long warned the fight against IS would not end with the collapse of its self-declared caliphate in March. But the wave of propaganda, following the deadly Easter Sunday bombing in Sri Lanka and the release of a new video from IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, seems to be making an impact. "ISIS media, like Nashir News, has upped its production," according to Chelsea Daymon, a terrorism and security researcher at American University, using an acronym for the terror group. "Among supporters, there's been a lot of chatter about the [Islamic] state being back," she said. "The Sri Lanka attacks as well as the Baghdadi video have provided a lot of moral support for them." Analysis by the SITE Intelligence Group shows that in the past several weeks IS has claimed responsibility for attacks in at least 13 countries, not including Syria and Iraq. New provinces Additionally, it has announced new provinces in Pakistan and India, both of which had previously been categorized under the Afghan-centered IS-Khorasan province. Just a few weeks earlier, IS announced the creation of a Central African province, praising an attack on army barracks in the Democratic Republic of Congo, killing three soldiers. Analysts say the heavy focus on areas outside the terror group's collapsed caliphate is no accident. "It seems ISIS, via its propaganda approach, are trying to convince that they are far from physically defeated," Raphael Gluck, co-founder of Jihadoscope, a company that monitors online activity by Islamist extremists, told VOA. Gluck said much of the terror group's online activity appears to be picking up on the themes laid out by IS leader Baghdadi in his video, released April 29, when he called on followers to exhibit "steadfastness" in what he described as a "battle of attrition." "Editorials and articles in its weekly newspaper suggest a newer guerrilla-style approach, wearing down enemies by carrying out smaller attacks," Gluck said, adding there are also lots of suggestions that the self-declared caliphate is "gone but not forever." "Photo essays that used to appear more frequently are appearing less often but nevertheless showing daily life marking the end of a day of Ramadan fasting, executing enemies perhaps the sort of propaganda that makes some wonder: Are they really all that defeated and so landless?" he said. More execution images IS and IS-affiliated outlets have likewise played up Baghdadi's call for vengeance. "There's a big uptick in execution images," said American University's Daymon, talking about both official and semiofficial sources of IS propaganda. "For a long time, there was a lack of photo reports on executions, but stuff has gotten more gruesome," she said. "Violent images send a message of power and vengeance." IS supporters are likewise trying to project their strength on venues like Telegram. One poster shared by the IS-linked Muharir al-Ansar showed French President Emmanuel Macron handcuffed in an orange jumpsuit as an executioner with a knife looms behind him. Others showed Russian President Vladimir Putin dead and promised imminent attacks against the U.S. and Britain, seemingly minimizing IS's losses in Syria, Iraq and in places like Libya and Afghanistan, where its cells have been repeatedly targeted by the U.S. and coalition partners. But even if IS followers are not capable of making good on such threats, analysts say it may not matter because the target audience is not the West but rather potential IS adherents. All of this, said Michael S. Smith II, a terrorism analyst and teaching fellow in Johns Hopkins University's Global Security Studies program, "can have a cumulative effect of demonstrating Islamic State is a viable enterprise that remains worthy of support." Russia on Thursday presented a draft resolution to the Security Council accusing the UN's chemical weapons watchdog, the OPCW, of politicization just before a new probe begins of chemical attacks in Syria. The draft text, seen by AFP, states that the Council where Russia holds veto power is the only international body that can impose measures on countries that violate the Chemical Weapons Convention. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) agreed last year to set up a mechanism that would identify the perpetrators of chemical attacks, a move bitterly opposed by Russia and Syria. Russian proposal The proposed resolution notes "with concern the continuing politicization of the work of the OPCW and growing deviation from the established practice of taking consensus-based decisions." UN diplomats said the Russian proposal was aimed at keeping the OPCW in check as it pushes ahead with the investigation to uncover those behind chemical weapons use in Syria. "What it's really about of course is the Russians trying to strangle OPCW," said a diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The West pushed through the new blaming powers after OPCW reports confirmed chemical weapons use in Syria, as well as a nerve agent attack on Russian former double agent Sergei Skripal in the English city of Salisbury in March 2018. "The Russian rationale is to weaken the OPCW and the Chemical Weapons Convention, with an eye on Syria but also Salisbury," said another diplomat. Time frame for resolution It remained unclear when the draft resolution would be put to a vote. UN resolutions require nine votes and no vetoes to be adopted in the council. The proposed resolution is backed by China, diplomats said. "This looks like a desperate bid to prevent further confirmation that the Syrian government, like ISIS, repeatedly used chemical weapons in violation of international law," said Louis Charbonneau, UN director for Human Rights Watch. The Russian mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment. OPCW chief Fernando Arias said in March that the new investigation of chemical attacks in Syria would begin in the coming weeks. Western countries are calling on the team to start work on identifying the culprits behind a deadly attack in the Syrian town of Douma in April 2018. Missile strike The United States, Britain and France launched a one-off missile strike on Syria in April last year in response to the use of chemical weapons in Douma. The OPCW said in a report that chlorine was likely used in that attack, which killed more than 40 people, but Russia and Syria have rejected those findings. Douma attack The report did not specify who was behind the Douma attack as it was not in the OPCW's mandate at the time. In 2015, the council unanimously agreed to establish the OPCW-UN joint investigative mechanism (JIM) to identify those responsible for chemical attacks in Syria. But in late 2017, Russia vetoed a bid to renew the mandate of the JIM after the panel blamed the Syrian government for chlorine attacks and for using sarin in a deadly assault on the town of Khan Sheikhun that same year. Russia has used its veto 12 times at the council to shield its Syrian ally from international action. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said Thursday that his panel would vote on "enforcement action'' against Attorney General William Barr or the Justice Department next week, another escalation in the standoff between Congress and President Donald Trump's administration over documents and testimony. Schiff is scheduling the vote after the Justice Department missed a Wednesday deadline to hand over an unredacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The department also declined to hand over what Schiff described as "a dozen narrow sets of documents'' that were referred to in the report. He said he requested those documents in order to gauge whether the department was acting in good faith. "The deadline came and went without the production of a single document, raising profound questions about whether the department has any intention to honor its legal obligations,'' Schiff said. He would not say whether "enforcement action'' meant a vote to hold Barr in contempt, as the House Judiciary Committee did last week, or some sort of civil action. Democrats have also been suggesting they might impose fines through what's called inherent contempt of Congress. Schiff, D-Calif., said he encouraged the Justice Department to cooperate before the vote occurs. "If they don't demonstrate some good faith we will be forced to compel them to honor their legal commitments,'' he said. Earlier Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said "nothing is off the table'' in pushing the White House to comply with subpoenas for information, including fines. Pelosi, D-Calif., said she hoped it wouldn't come to that. But she called the White House counsel's Wednesday letter to the Judiciary Committee resisting all requests for information "a joke'' and "beneath the dignity of the president of the United States.'' White House counsel Pat Cipollone sent a 12-page letter to the committee chairman, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., labeling congressional investigations as efforts to "harass'' Trump in the wake of Mueller's probe. The letter said that current and former administration officials would not be permitted to testify and that the administration would fight subpoenas as Democrats moved to investigate Trump's presidency and finances. Cipollone also argued in the letter that Congress was a legislature, not a law enforcement body, and did not have a right to pursue most investigations. Nadler responded to Cipollone with his own letter Thursday evening, saying the White House's refusal to comply was "astounding and dangerous.'' He said a Justice Department opinion that says a president can't be indicted holds the president above the law, so Congress "is therefore the only branch of government able to hold the president to account.'' The Judiciary Committee "urgently requires the subpoenaed material to determine whether and how to proceed with its constitutional duty to provide checks and balances on the president and executive branch,'' Nadler said, adding that the panel needed to better understand Russia's efforts to try to influence the 2016 election. Pelosi also noted that one of the constitutional purposes of congressional investigations was impeachment. "It doesn't mean you're going on an impeachment path,'' Pelosi said. "It means if you had the information, you might.'' She said House Democrats aimed to "subpoena friendly,'' then "subpoena otherwise.'' The breakaway state of Somaliland is preparing to celebrate 28 years since it declared independence from Somalia. No country recognizes Somaliland as a sovereign nation, but in the capital, preparations for the celebration are under way. Inside a boardroom in the Somaliland parliament, legislator Abdurahman Atan explained his country's struggle for international recognition. "There's a legitimate case for Somaliland to be recognized, a legitimate case to look at what has been done, legitimate case about the yearnings of Somaliland people to be free and independent," he said. "They have a right to do so and a right to be part of the international community." Outside, the streets of Hargeisa were receiving a face lift ahead of Saturday, when thousands of people will gather at independence square to celebrate the anniversary of the independence declaration. Despite the lack of international recognition, Somalilanders like Hargeisa student Mohamed Abdullahi are looking forward to the day. "According to ourselves we are independent, and that's why we are proud and very happy to see many people celebrating this historic day," Abdullahi said. Trader Ahmed Adan felt the same, calling the independence celebration a "very great day." Briefly independent before Somaliland, a former British colony, briefly gained independence in 1961. Five days later, it merged with Somalia after Mogadishu gained independence from Italy. After years of conflict and the ouster of former Somali dictator Mohamed Siad Barre, Somaliland declared independence in 1991. Somaliland now has its own police, army and currency, and has held regular elections for parliament and a president. It enjoys relative peace and stability, unlike Somalia, where African troops are helping the government fight al-Shabab and Islamic State militants. But without recognition, Somaliland cannot get foreign aid, and its economy is largely dependent on diaspora remittances. Atan rejects the idea that other African countries will break apart if the world recognizes Somaliland. "They are talking about Pandora's box," Atan said. "If, for example, they recognize Somaliland, they think other African regions will also ask for independence, but that's not true." He noted that Somaliland was an independent country before joining Somalia. Every year, Somaliland invites representatives of foreign governments to Hargeisa to lobby its case. This year is no different, and Violet Akurut, vice chair of the Ugandan parliament's foreign relations committee, has indicated support. "If our country, our president, recognizes Somaliland, it will be so easy for Uganda to lobby at the African Union for the recognition of Somaliland," Akurut said. U.N., AU envision reunion However, the United Nations and the African Union have refused to recognize Somaliland as an independent country. Their position is that once Somalia is peaceful and has a working central government, then the two can be reunited. Hargeisa resident Mohammed Baarwani wants none of that. "The Somaliland people decided to withdraw that unity from Somalia," Baarwani said. He hopes that someday, the rest of the world will recognize that fact. Juhyun Lee contributed to this report. SEOUL -- As U.S. President Donald Trump intensifies his trade battle with China, one of the hardest-hit countries could be South Korea. Asias fourth-largest economy, South Korea is especially vulnerable to the tariff war because of its reliance on foreign trade -- in particular, exports to its two biggest trading partners: China and the United States. After U.S.-China trade talks broke down, Trump last week raised tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, and threatened to do so with $300 billion more. China retaliated with tariffs on $60 billion of U.S. goods. The trade war escalation, which rattled markets and threatened to hold back global growth, comes at an especially bad time for South Korea, whose economy unexpectedly contracted in the first quarter. South Korea is particularly vulnerable, says Xu Xiao Chun, an economist who monitors South Korea for Moodys Analytics. Its not inconceivable that you could see a second consecutive quarter of contraction of GDP, which would make it a technical recession. Trade war exacerbates tech woes As the world's leading producer of memory chips that go into consumer electronics, such as cellphones and computers, South Korea benefited from years of rapid and consistent growth in the global smartphone market. But global demand for smartphones has plateaued. That, combined with a slowdown in China and sluggish global growth, has hurt South Koreas export-driven economy. In April, South Koreas exports declined for the fifth consecutive month, falling 2% compared to the same period a year earlier. South Koreas economy was already going down the wrong path... but the latest escalation in the trade war really puts a spanner (obstacle) in the works, Xu said. South Korea was always likely to be hurt by the U.S.-China trade war just by virtue of its proximity to China, its biggest trading partner and top export destination. South Koreas exports to China could be cut by about $1.3 billion a year, said An Sung-bae with the state-run Korea Institute for International Economic Policy. But the U.S.-China tariffs also pose a more specific threat to South Koreas crucial semiconductor industry. Heres how it works: South Korea sends semiconductors to China, where they are placed into smartphones and other electronics. China then ships many of those assembled products to the United States. Trumps tariffs could drastically raise the price of those electronics. For example, the cost of an iPhone XS could go up by around $160 if Trump follows through on all his tariff threats, one analyst at Morgan Stanley estimated. Those higher prices would result in fewer shipments of electronics from China to the United States. Which means South Korea would be selling a lot fewer semiconductors to China. That could put a major dent in South Koreas economy, since semiconductors make up nearly half of its total shipments to China. Companies that mainly target the Chinese market will suffer... and the South Korean export business relies heavily on the Chinese market, said Mun Byung-Ki, a senior researcher at the Korea International Trade Association. A bright spot? But some analysts say the situation may not be that dire. One reason: even if South Korean exports to China decline, it may make up the gap by shipping more products to the United States -- a situation that could potentially provide a major boom for South Koreas tech industry. Alex Holmes, a Singapore-based analyst at Capital Economics, says that already may be happening. Though South Korea's overall export numbers are suffering, its shipments to the United States are growing, he says. Thats particularly the case for Korean electronics that fall under U.S. tariffs. Those tariffed goods have well out-performed non-tariffed items, Holmes says, which suggests that U.S. companies have already switched suppliers as a result of tariffs. The increased shipments to the United States almost cover the equivalent hit South Korea has taken as a result of the tariffs, Holmes adds. Manufacturing shift? The tariffs could also have a long-term impact on manufacturing in Asia, as companies shift their production bases away from China as a way to shield themselves from the trade war. A growing number of Asian companies, including some South Korean memory chipmakers, have already begun shifting their manufacturing centers to fast-growing and cheaper countries in Southeast Asia. If South Korea wants to find cheaper factories in say Vietnam or one of the ASEAN countries, it could make its money back or potentially even grow more than it would have if it relied on Chinese manufacturing, Xu said. "But those sort of actions take a lot of time, a lot of capital, and there is a lot of risk involved. With no end in sight to the U.S.-China trade tensions, its a pattern that could be repeated, threatening China's reputation as a low-cost production base. The knock-on effect of this trade war will be to locate a lot more production capabilities in other countries in Asia, Xu said. A South Korean and three Filipinos have been freed following months of captivity in Libya, Seoul and Abu Dhabi said Friday. The release of the hostages was mediated by the United Arab Emirates, which worked with the self-styled Libyan National Army led by commander Khalifa Hifter. Since last month, Hifters forces have been battling in western Libya, trying to take the capital of Tripoli and have been locked in heavy fighting in and around the city with militias loosely allied with a U.N.-supported government. Several Arab countries, including the UAE and Egypt are backing Hifter. The UAEs foreign ministry said the four hostages, who were held captive by unnamed armed groups in Libya, have been released thanks to intensive efforts made by the UAE in coordination with Hifters forces. Civil engineers The four are civilian engineers who were working at a desalination plant in Libya, the ministry said in a statement. Upon receiving requests from the Philippines and South Korea, the UAE communicated with the Libyan National Army to work on releasing them and to ensure their safety, the statement said. South Koreas presidential office issued a similar announcement. Presidential national security adviser Chung Eui-yong said in a televised briefing that South Korea thanks the UAE government for the rescue efforts. The UAE ministry said the four were airlifted to Abu Dhabi before being taken to their home countries. Chung said the 62-year-old South Korean national surnamed Joo was freed after 315 days of captivity. An initial medical checkup showed Joo has no major health problems; he was to return home on Saturday. Both UAE and South Korean announcements didnt provide details about how the hostages were set free or which armed groups held them. The pro-Hifter Al Marsad news website reported Friday that the hostages were moved from one criminal gang to another before Hifters forces located and freed them. No other details were reported. Wildfires are often discovered by aircraft pilots, drivers or spotters in observation towers. Increasingly, remote sensors on the ground, in the air and on board satellites are alerting authorities when fires break out, and experts say technology will increasingly be a part of the future of firefighting. A blaze that raged last August in a canyon near Los Angeles threatened vital communications links. Remote cameras gave firefighters crucial information to save the installations, said Troy Whitman of Southern California Edison, an electric utility company. Whitman serves as a liaison with firefighting agencies, and he shares information from a new camera network that Edison installed throughout much of its service area. Those 13 million hectares are challenging, he said, "mountains, deserts, very remote areas where fires may not be detected for minutes, sometimes even days in the forest if it's a lightning strike." Electronic lookouts More than 100 cameras provide a view of 60 percent of the company's service area in Southern and Central California. More cameras are on their way, all monitored in an operations center in suburban Los Angeles, where remote spotters watch computer monitors and meteorologists track weather data from remote sensing stations. Fires up and down the U.S. West Coast are getting fiercer, and 10 of California's 20 most destructive blazes have occurred since 2015. A California report last month, "Wildfires and Climate Change," said the state's fire season has become nearly year-round, and one-quarter of the California's population lives in fire-prone areas. "Climate is changing," said Brian Chen, who manages Edison's wildfire mitigation efforts. "We've had many years of drought leading up to this, which has caused millions of trees across the state to die or be weakened because of disease," he added. "We've also had a history of fire suppression policy, which has not kept our forests healthy," he said. More residents are also living closer to wilderness areas, in places like Paradise, a once idyllic northern California town destroyed by wildfire in November. At least 85 people died and 14,000 homes were destroyed by the so-called Camp Fire, which investigators announced Wednesday was sparked by the transmission lines of another utility, Pacific Gas and Electric. At least half of the state's most destructive 20 fires have been caused by power lines or electrical equipment, and spread because they started in isolated areas that were difficult for firefighters to reach. California fire officials say electrical mishaps account for a smaller proportion of all wildfires, and blame others on careless debris burning, out-of-control campfires, arson or smoking. Southern California Edison is upgrading its infrastructure, replacing bare transmission lines with insulated cables. Pacific Gas and Electric also plans to install new cameras and weather stations. Both companies face lawsuits over recent wildfires, and Pacific Gas and Electric filed for bankruptcy in January, facing billions of dollars in claims. Destructive fires are also tracked by NASA, the U.S. space agency, which also monitors the health of our planet using "aircraft observations from manned aircraft and unmanned aircraft," said Vince Ambrosia of NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. He says the main focus today, however, is on satellite data retrieved by NASA and its partners, including the European Space Agency, and shared with the public and global firefighters. The information helps before, during and after a wildfire. "We can do active fire detection," said Natasha Stavros of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "We can also do observations of the type of vegetation that's there," she said, assessing moisture content and how readily vegetation will burn. She says an instrument called GEDI has been sent to the International Space Station to measure levels of biomass, the trees and brush that provide fuel for fires, by monitoring how forests store and release carbon. Other satellites track the height of flames and the spread of smoke and other pollutants. Airborne and space-based sensors provide real-time data, and NASA and its partner agencies have built a "long-term collection library going back to the 1980s to look at transitioning stages of wildfires throughout our last 50 years or so," Ambrosia said. Experts say that fire is part of nature's ecosystem, but fire season is getting longer and fires more intense, and remote sensing helps firefighters deal with the challenge. The last month's California report on wildfires recommends increased use of advanced imaging from the air and space, artificial intelligence to enhance data analysis, and a more comprehensive approach to fire prevention and response. A record number of 8.34 million university graduates are set to enter the Chinese job market this summer amid escalating trade tensions between Washington and Beijing. Observers say that as Chinas export-dependent economy braces for more hits from tariff hikes, which U.S. President Donald Trump recently imposed, the countrys job markets will be tighter for everyone including fresh graduates. And the impact of a job mismatch among college graduates has long weighed on their actual employment rate at only 52% this year, according to a recent survey. That means more than 4 million graduates will soon join the ranks of those unemployed, although many of them may opt to pursue higher education, the survey found. Tightening job market Graduate employment has always been problematic in China. Given the current situation with the trade war, I think we should expect it to be even more so this year, said Geoffrey Crothall, spokesperson at China Labor Bulletin. And theres always been a mismatch between the expectations of graduates, the reality of the job markets and particularly the expectations of employers, he added. Graduates will either take longer to find a job or settle with one that has lower pay or poor career prospects, Crothall said. Making matters worse, the number of job opportunities in China is on the wane as China tries to move away from labor-intensive industries, said Wang Zhangcheng, head of the Labor Economics Institute at the Zhongnan University of Economics and Law. The transformation of industrial structure and the U.S.-China trade war [is making the situation worse]. Also, Chinas economy no longer grows at a fast pace. Instead, it has matured with mid- to low-paced growths. Under such circumstances, the demand for labor has declined, Wang said. Plus, many jobs have been replaced by robots as a result of the development of artificial intelligence in the past two years. That surely adds pressure on job seekers, he added. Fewer jobs, more seekers A recent report by Renmin University of China (RUC) and career platform Zhaopin.com found that the number of job seekers in China grew 31% year-on-year in the first quarter the highest growth in workers since 2011 -- while the number of job vacancies shrank by 11% at the same time. Chinas job market prosperity index has dropped to a record low since 2014, it concluded. However, the latest available state statistics paint a slightly different picture. Official data showed that Chinas surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas stood at 5.2% in March, down 0.1 percentage points from February. Analysts described the countrys job markets as stable overall although the surveyed unemployment rate in 31 major cities went up 0.1 percentage points month-on-month, to 5.1% in March the highest since late 2016. Still, Chinas State Council has made saving jobs one of its top policy priorities since late last year, offering incentives for firms with no or few layoffs and subsidies for internships or on-the-job training. And college graduates remain a focal point of the councils employment stabilization plan, along with migrants and laid-off workers. Distorted graduate employment China used to boast a graduate employment rate of more than 90% as universities rushed graduates to sign so-called tripartite employment agreements with potential employers. Any refusal may risk their chances of thesis defense or diplomas. Such agreements are nonbinding on the employers to offer jobs, but distort the overall graduate employment rate, which has allowed universities to attract new students a fraud that the Ministry of Education now forbids. In a recent notice, the ministry has disallowed universities from withholding graduates degree certificates if they refuse to sign such agreements. In spite of the ban, graduates still complain about being forcefully employed. On Weibo, Chinas Twitter-like microblogging platform, one user wrote, Our school still forces you to sign the agreements. The career adviser calls every day, pulling a long face. Another student from Rizhao Polytechnic in Shandong province noted, Those who have signed the agreements have completed their thesis defense while many of us who havent signed the agreements can do nothing but wait. One user urged that unless the government writes the ban into law and imposes penalties, no universities would comply. Job mismatch Another cause of concern for graduate employment is the long-standing mismatch between the knowledge and skills students have acquired from years of studies in universities, and the private sectors actual job requirements, professor Wang said. Given the shifts of production paradigms and widening structural gaps in labor forces allocations, many of our universities have set up professional courses which may not keep up with the changing [requirements] of the labor markets. That leads to the scenario that many graduates may not find the right career fit for their skills, the professor said. As a solution, the education ministry has encouraged universities to focus on fundamentals by providing multifaceted cultivation of talents, so graduates leaving school will meet what different jobs require. One of the crown jewels of U.S. President Donald Trumps real estate empire generated millions of dollars in revenue last year, reinforcing questions about the presidents businesses profiting from foreign and state government officials. The luxury Trump International Hotel Washington, housed in the historic Old Post Office Pavilion building, brought in nearly $41 in million last year, a tad higher than the previous year, according to Trumps latest financial disclosure form filed with the Office of Government Ethics and released Thursday. The disclosure, required of all senior government officials, offers a snapshot of Trumps debts, assets and income in broad ranges across hundreds of businesses he owns. In all, Trump reported income of at least $434 million for 2018, a decline from at least $450 million reported for 2017. Not all Trump properties saw their revenue go up last year, however. Income at Mar-a-Lago, Trumps Winter White House in Palm Beach, Fla., fell $2.5 million to $22.7 million, according to the disclosure. Conflicts of interest Since taking office, the real estate mogul-turned-president has faced persistent criticism over his refusal to divest his assets, a decision critics say has created conflicts between his business and political interests. Opened in late 2016, Trumps Washington hotel, just blocks from the White House, is one of the most high-profile in his portfolio of hospitality properties and frequently attracts diplomats, corporate executives and other deep-pocketed guests. It has become a lightning rod for those critics who have accused the president of illegally profiting from foreign diplomats and state government officials who frequent the property. To ameliorate those concerns, Trump pledged before entering the White House to donate all foreign government profits at his hotels to the U.S. Treasury. In 2017, the Trump Organization voluntarily turned over more than $150,000 in profits from foreign governments to the Treasury, the company said last year. The company hasnt said how much if any it donated last year. Still, questions remain about whether Trump remains in violation of a clause of the U.S. Constitution that prohibits officials from accepting gifts or emoluments from foreign and state government officials without congressional approval. In 2017, more than 200 Democratic members of Congress as well as the attorneys general of the District of Columbia and Maryland filed lawsuits against Trump, accusing him of violating the Constitutions foreign and domestic emoluments clauses. The presidents legal team has rejected the argument and sought to get the lawsuits dismissed. Last month, a federal judge in the case brought by congressional members ruled they could move ahead with their lawsuit. Just how much of the revenue at Trumps Washington hotel comes from foreign and state government officials remains unclear. Several foreign embassies have reportedly hosted functions there at a cost of several hundred thousand dollars. Potential violation Scott Amey, the general counsel for the Project on Government Oversight, a Washington-based ethics watchdog, said those suing Trump can cite the revenue at the Old Post Office to argue that there is a potential violation here. Ultimately, though, the U.S. Supreme Court may have to intervene in the case and decide what an emolument is, Amey said. There are some legal arguments being made by Trumps team that hotel revenues and income arent considered an emolument, he said. The controversy over emoluments is one of several questions surrounding Trumps business interests. The New York Times reported earlier this month that Trumps businesses lost more than $1 billion between 1985 and 1994, allowing him to avoid paying taxes for eight of those 10 years. Trump called the report a highly inaccurate Fake News hit job, tweeting that real estate developers in the 1980s and 1990s were entitled to massive write-offs and depreciation. Trump, breaking with a recent presidential tradition, refused to release his tax returns during the 2016 presidential campaign, saying he was under audit by the Internal Revenue Service. Democrats in the House of Representatives have subpoenaed Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig to turn over Trumps personal tax filings for the past six years to the House Ways and Means Committee by Friday. Mnuchin has signaled he wont comply with the subpoena. In his financial disclosure form last year, Trump disclosed that he had reimbursed his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, between $100,000 and $250,000 for unspecified expenses incurred in 2016, an apparent reference to the $130,000 in hush money Cohen paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels during the campaign. Cohen told members of Congress in March that in the end he received $420,000 from Trump, more than triple the amount he had paid Daniels. Trumps latest financial disclosure doesnt account for the discrepancy. Uganda is marking International AIDS Candlelight Memorial Day with activities to remember the estimated 2 million Ugandans who have died of the disease. While the government and development partners have increased campaigns for HIV awareness, however, the stigma and discrimination attached to the disease keep many Ugandans fearful from learning of or talking about their HIV status, says those who carry the virus. Twenty-five-year-old Namanya Martin Paul was born with HIV. Having lost his father to AIDS at the age of 2, he only learned about his status at age 10 when his mother, also HIV positive, was attending antenatal care. His other three siblings were then found to be HIV-positive. Paul was forced to change schools due to discrimination until he made a decision to open up. Its not easy. Theres a particular point in time where a nurse got to know my situation, where I was keeping my medication and she actually, like, made it very open to school," Paul said. "So, I called for a school parade and told these people, this is who I am. Am living with HIV, am taking my medication. And, you need to support me. The International AIDS Candlelight Memorial Day is one of the world's oldest and largest grassroots mobilization campaigns for HIV awareness. According to the Uganda AIDS Commission, the country records 50,000 new infections annually, about one-third of them being young people. Sarah Nakku, the U.N. AIDS community mobilization adviser, says many infected people are careful about revealing their status. We do have laws that discriminate against people living with HIV. ... That instead of allowing people to come out openly," Nakku said. "Incidentally, people decide to hide because they do not want to fall victims of the law. We also have schools where discrimination does happen. If you dont tap into the teachers, this young person cannot be supported to adhere on treatment. In 2018, the government launched an initiative that demands every institution, both government and private, address the needs of HIV-positive people as part of its workplace policy. Dr. Nelson Musoba, director-general of the Uganda AIDS Commission, says that even though the government has set up more effective measures to curb the disease, Ugandans need to be more careful about exposing themselves to HIV. So, we also have the pre-exposure prophylaxis, which the HIV-negative partner takes to ensure that they remain HIV-negative. Theres research going on, on vaccines, on other treatments, but we need to stay alive for us to benefit from those technologies. We cant afford to be reckless just because theres treatment," Musoba said. The Ministry of Health says Uganda is close to achieving its "90-90-90" target, set in 2014. The aim is for 90 percent of people living with HIV to know their status, 90 percent who test positive to enroll in care and treatment, and 90 percent of those in treatment to achieve "viral load suppression" -- that is, for the virus to become inactive. The United Nations condemned attacks on health facilities in Syria's northwest Idlib province Friday and warned that a military offensive there by the Bashar al-Assad regime with Russian support risked "catastrophic humanitarian fallout" if it continued. "Since late April, this escalation in violence has reportedly killed and injured over a hundred civilians and further displaced 180,000," U.N. political chief Rosemary DiCarlo told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council. "The aerial bombardment is alarming, including the use of barrel bombs on populated areas." In September, a deal was struck with the assistance of Russia and Turkey to make Idlib a "de-escalation" zone. The area is now largely controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly known as Jubhat al-Nusra), a U.N.-listed terrorist group that has links to al-Qaida. More than 3 million Syrians live in Idlib, many of them displaced from other parts of the country, and the U.N. has warned for months that a full-scale military operation there against the terrorists risked triggering a humanitarian catastrophe. "The international community agrees that the presence of HTS in Idlib must be addressed," DiCarlo said, referring to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham by its initials. "But with 3 million civilians in close quarters, combating terrorism cannot be allowed to supersede obligations under international law." Especially troubling is the surge in attacks on hospitals and schools in recent weeks. The United Nations says 17 schools have been damaged or destroyed and at least 18 health facilities have been hit with aerial bombs, shelling or other fighting within the de-escalation zone. "Some facilities have been hit twice. Other hospitals are closing for fear of being attacked," said U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock. He told the council that in all, 49 health facilities had partly or totally suspended their activities, leaving tens of thousands of people without access to health care. Protected sites Medical facilities have special protections under the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law, and targeting them can be a war crime. In Syria, as in other conflicts, humanitarians give the details of some hospital locations to the warring parties so they can avoid targeting them, leaving the British ambassador questioning whether such protective mechanisms are failing or whether certain parties are deliberately using the information to target sensitive civilian infrastructure. "I'd like to know, since we know that Russia and Syria are the only countries that fly planes in the area," Ambassador Karen Pierce said. "And if the answer is the Russian and Syrian air forces, I call on both ambassadors here today to give us an assurance that the attacks will stop, and there will be no more deliberate targeting of civilians in this manner in facilities that every single member of the international community has a duty to protect." Russian, Syrian denials "We categorically reject accusations of violations of international humanitarian law," Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the council. "Not the Syrian army, not the space and air force of Russia, are conducting hostilities against civilians or civilian infrastructure. Our goal is the terrorists." He said Russia refused to consider terrorists "untouchable" and would continue to target them. Syria's envoy echoed that, saying there were "no random attacks" against civilians, just military operations to root out terror groups and liberate civilians from their grasp. The United States imposed sanctions on Friday on 11 Mexicans, including a judge and a former governor, over their involvement with drug trafficking organizations, the Treasury Department said. Ten groups were also designated in the sanctions related to two drug trafficking operations including the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) and the Los Cuinis Drug Trafficking Organization (Los Cuinis), Treasury said in a statement. The magistrate judge, Isidro Avelar Gutierrez, accepted bribes from drug trafficking organizations in exchange for favorable rulings for their senior members, it said. The former governor of the Mexican state of Nayarit, Roberto Sandoval Castaneda, was designated for corruption activities including accepting bribes and misappropriating state funds, Treasury said. Officials such as Isidro Avelar Gutierrez and Roberto Sandoval Castaneda callously enrich themselves at the expense of their fellow citizens, said Sigal Mandelker, Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. Whether they are receiving bribes from narcotics trafficking organizations or engaging in a variety of other illicit activities, these and other corrupt officials will face serious consequences including being cut off from the U.S. financial system. The Treasury action was coordinated with Mexican officials. A senior member of the CJNG cartel, Gonzalo Mendoza Gaytan, who is also known as El Sapo, was sanctioned over kidnappings and numerous killings. His wife, Liliana Rosas Camba, was sanctioned for handling business activities and laundering drug money, Treasury said. Three of Sandoval Castanedas family members were sanctioned for holding his ill-gotten assets in their names, it said. The sanctions were designated under the Kingpin Act and the Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, which targets human rights and corruption abuses, Treasury said. U.S. President Donald Trump held a closed meeting Thursday with Swiss President Ueli Maurer at the White House. The White House said Trump expressed his "gratitude for Switzerland's role in facilitating international mediation and diplomatic relations on behalf of the United States." Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif visited Japan, where he accused the U.S. of "escalations." VOA's Zlatica Hoke reports U.S. lawmakers voiced their concerns about the standoff with Tehran. The United Nations said on Friday at least 18 health centers have been attacked in the past three weeks in northwestern Syria, prompting a confrontation between western powers and Russia and Syria at the Security Council over who is to blame. While the area is nominally protected by a Russian-Turkish deal agreed in September to avert a new battle, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces backed by Russians have launched an offensive on the last major insurgent stronghold. Some three million civilians are at risk, the United Nations said. "Since we know that Russia and Syria are the only countries that fly planes in the area, is the answer ... the Russian and Syrian air forces?" Britain's U.N. Ambassador Karen Pierce said to the 15-member council on where the blame lay. Acting U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Jonathan Cohen said Russia and Syria were responsible for the attacks on the health centers. He said it was "most alarming" that several of the centers attacked were on a list created by Russia and the United Nations in an attempt to protect them. Pierce said it would be "absolutely grotesque" if health facilities that provided their locations were "finding themselves being the authors of their own destruction because of deliberated targeting by the regime." Russian U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said the Syrian and Russian forces were not targeting civilians or civilian infrastructure and questioned the sources used by the United Nations to verify attacks on health centers. "We categorically reject accusations of violations of international humanitarian law," Nebenzia told the council. "Our goal is the terrorists." An array of insurgents have a foothold in northwestern Syria - Idlib province and a belt of territory around it. The most powerful is the jihadist Tahrir al-Sham, the latest incarnation of the former Nusra Front which was part of al Qaeda until 2016. U.N. aid chief Mark Lowcock told the Security Council he did not know who was responsible, but "at least some of these attacks are clearly organized by people with access to sophisticated weapons including a modern air force and so called smart or precision weapons." Lowcock said 49 health centers had partially or totally suspended activities, some for fear of being attacked, while 17 schools have been damaged or destroyed and many more closed. He said that in the past three weeks up to 160 people have been killed and at least 180,000 people displaced. U.N. political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo warned the Security Council: "If the escalation continues and the offensive pushes forward, we risk catastrophic humanitarian fallout and threats to international peace and security." More than half of India's 1.3 billion people are younger than 25. In the ongoing general elections, almost 15 million voters between 18 and 19 are expected to cast their ballots for the first time. Politically aware and vocal, India's youth have emerged as a significant constituency for most political parties. VOA's Ritul Joshi explores the issues that matter most to these young voters and which political party stands to benefit the most from their support. The Afrobytes and Viva Tech conferences in Paris this week have provided an opportunity to look at the progress that high-tech startups have made in Africa, where fundraising is booming. According to Partech Africa, a venture capital firm, 146 startups in 19 African countries raised $1.16 billion for African digital entrepreneurs in 2018. Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa received 78% of the total funding, with Egypt close behind. In French-speaking Africa, Senegal is the leading hub with $22 million raised in four deals. Compared with their Anglophone peers, Africa's Francophone countries operate in smaller markets, and lack capital and mentors. A key: Seeking advice Marieme Diop, a venture capital investor at Orange Digital Ventures, said that "unfortunately in Francophone Africa, it is not in our DNA. People who succeed in business or in electing positions do not necessarily reach back to help their peers to show them how to be successful. In the Anglophone world, it is a must for anyone who wants to start something: seeking advice. So the gap is not only financial" between the regions. Africa is seen by many as the next frontier for venture capital, with its booming population and mobile-first economy. That's why Google, Facebook and PayPal participated in Paris in Afrobytes 2019. "We do not want people globally to see African high-tech as an exotic stuff," said Afrobytes CEO Ammin Youssouf. "We want to be heard and talk about AI, blockchain, what is happening in Silicon Valley, because it has an impact on us. We already have brilliant minds in Africa, especially in tech, to have those conversations." Unlike the global trend, where men dominate the high-tech industry, women are leading the movement in Africa. "Actually, what we see in the statistics is that women's involvement and participation on in the African continent is much higher than what you would find in New York, for example, or San Francisco," said Ben White, chief executive officer of venture capital platform VC4Africa, who has been supporting startups on the continent for more than 10 years. "I think it is an advantage. It also means having women investors who are very sensitive to gender-related questions and can also ensure that the system we are building is inclusive." Governments' role Governments in Africa are trying to regulate the activity and even support the sector. Forty Senegalese startups last November secured a total of $2 million in government funding. But some experts say governments lack the skills needed to pick good investments. Kenza Lahlou, co-founder and managing partner at Outlierz Ventures, said the public sector "should not invest [in startups]. States should build funds of funds. We have that in Morocco in partnership with the World Bank. The government started Innov Invest, to invest in local venture capitalist funds, to lower the risk for local funds." With a population expected to reach 1.4 billion people by 2021, and a continent that will put about 1 billion smartphones into use within two years, Africa is a promising area for the world's leading high-tech and telecom companies. South Africa has urged Zimbabwe to look for a mediator to facilitate meaningful dialogue between President Emmerson Mnangagwa and opposition parties as Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Nelson Chamisa on Friday snubbed a launch of the Political Actors Forum in the countrys capital, Harare. South Africas ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mphakama Mbete, made the call when he addressed delegates attending the meeting, who included Mnangagwa, MDC-T president Thokozani Khupe and scores of other opposition party leaders and civic society representatives. Mbete said, For credibility the leadership of Zimbabwe wishes to consider a facilitator outside Zimbabwe. We as a region we will be ready to propose names from the African continent. At this point we would like to appeal to the political formations, to the political leaders who are now yet part of the political dialogue to join the national dialogue. Zimbabwe is currently facing an economic crisis stemming from lack of foreign direct investment, capital constraints in reviving collapsing industries, an unpredictable financial system, high investment risk factors and other issues. Mbetes call was embraced by the MDC led by Nelson Chamisa, who has criticized Mnangagwas political dialogue with small opposition parties, which he thinks are seeking relevance in Zimbabwe following their dismal performance in the 2018 general elections. MDC spokesperson Jacob Mafume praised Mbete, saying the Zimbabwean president should engage in direct talks with Chamisa facilitated by an eminent person from outside Zimbabwe in order to tackle the current economic crisis. In any dialogue there are some people who are supposed to mediate. Engaging these small parties is a waste of time, it wont take us anyway as it wont resolve the current economic crisis in Zimbabwe. We are surprised that Mnangagwa wants to pursue this kind of dialogue to the extent that people will start eating baboons while wallowing in poverty. "The economic situation is bad in Zimbabwe and continues to deteriorate. Chamisa says he is prepared to engage in any meaningful dialogue mediated by a person from outside Zimbabwe so that he will talk with Mnangagwa about moving the country forward so that there are jobs and people can live a normal life. Mnangagwa, who officially launched the Political Actors Dialogue Forum aimed at creating harmony among all stakeholders in the country, could not immediately react to Mbetes call for an external mediator. He told people attending the meeting that unity was key in developing Zimbabwe. Let us all come to the big tent of unity Let us all come to this tent to spread love, peace and harmony as we develop our country Speaking at the same meeting, Khupe urged Chamisa to embrace the Forum, saying that would help in the transformation of Zimbabwe, which is currently ranked by some international organizations as one of the poorest nations in the world. The MDC still maintains that Chamisa beat Mnangagwa in the last presidential election though the Constitutional Court ruled that the president won the poll Funeral Announcements A daily list of current funeral annoucements as heard on KXRA 1490 AM/100.3 FM News Updates The daily news, sports, and events delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria. Sports Update This current sports headlines delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria. Upcoming Events This email is the events of the area delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria. Breaking News The big news. Sent only as it happens. The Big Bang Theory The Change Constant; The Stockholm Syndrome Season 12 Episodes 23 and 24 Editors Rating 4 stars * * * * Previous Next Photo: Michael Yarish/CBS/Warner Bros. Yes, yes, yes, Sheldon and Amy won the Nobel Prize for their super-asymmetry work, which means that story line that sometimes stretched our patience throughout the final season paid off in as grand a way as it could. Congratulations, Shamy. But the real point of The Big Bang Theorys two-part series finale, and last weeks episode, and the whole series for that matter, is that this group of friends whove become, as Sheldon sweetly said during his Nobel acceptance speech, family, has grown and evolved in ways big and small across 12 seasons. Thats what you hope any set of characters does throughout a series, especially one that runs for this long, but its especially poignant that this group did because they were each not-so-socially-adept on their own in the beginning. And in the earliest days, not so much as a group, either. Sheldon, of course, was the most socially challenged of them all, unable to read the most blatant examples of sarcasm, and even more unable to behave gracefully in interactions with other humans that involved anything other than something science-related. Even then, Sheldon, who once bragged to Penny that he had a working knowledge of the entire universe and everything it contains simply didnt know how to talk to people. He knew even less about how to listen to them, connect with them, and empathize with them. In the second half of the series finale, after he has yet again failed to step outside himself something that, to be fair, his relationship and subsequent marriage to Amy has helped along slowly but surely to recognize the important life events of those around him, Sheldons friends have had it with him. Howard and Bernadette have left their children alone with Stuart and Denise so they can accompany Sheldon and Amy to Sweden to see them accept their Nobel. Penny and Leonard have put their own life-changing news on hold Pennys pregnant! so as not to steal the Nobel thunder, and on the flight to Sweden, Pennys spending a lot of time in the bathroom. Sheldon thinks shes gotten some sort of bug, which may get him and his fellow Nobel winners sick. He panics. When Leonard and Penny decide to tell him the truth to calm him down, hes calmed, but fails to offer so much as a congrats before heading back to his seat. Its all about him, and even when a very hurt Leonard confronts him about his lack of excitement for his friends, Sheldons first reaction is to question if its even good news. After all, he says, Penny didnt want to have children. Admittedly, I was sorta wondering how this became good news all of a sudden, too, since as recently as earlier this season, Penny most definitely did not want children, and it was a prickly point of her relationship with Leonard. Still, bringing this up right after a very selfish reaction to the pregnancy news was not the act of a best friend. By the time the three couples and Raj make it to their swanky hotel in Sweden, Penny and Leonard want to hop on the next plane back to California. So do Howard and Bernie, whose news of some potential drama with their kids is also met with a selfish reaction by Sheldon. As he and Amy are donning their best duds (opera gown and tiara for her, tux with tails for him) for the Nobel ceremony, Amy tells him he has broken their friends hearts with his callous behavior. I didnt mean to, he says, genuinely taken aback at this news. I know! Amy says. You never mean to. Its the only reason people tolerate you. Sheldon: Does that include you? Amy: Sometimes, yeah. This harsh truth bomb on what is the happiest day of his professional life (a day, Young Sheldon viewers learn in that shows season-two finale, that was forecast by his scientist friend and mentor Dr. Sturgis) breaks Sheldons heart because he recognizes that its true. Its why he puts aside the dozens of pages of a Nobel acceptance speech hed labored over to share some pithy sentiments about how the accomplishment was not solely his own, but something that came as he was encouraged, sustained, inspired, and tolerated by his wife, and the greatest group of friends anyone ever had. He not only name-checks his friends, who decided to stay and celebrate his and Amys honor, but he also asks each of them to stand as he acknowledges and thanks them. Its a satisfying moment for the whole gang, and it leads to a final scene in which all the friends, back in what is now Leonard, Penny, and Hofstadter-Baby-to-Bes apartment, are sitting around the living room, eating takeout dinner and laughing together, as an acoustic version of the seriess theme song is sung by the Barenaked Ladies. Its a tidy and fitting ending to the core groups and the seriess emotional arc, but its surrounded by a bunch of little grace notes that made The Big Bang Theorys final send-off a satisfying one. So lets take a quick sprint through some of the other high points of the last three episodes, bullet-point style: Kevin Sussmans Stuart has been reliably hilarious, with some of the best delivered lines of the series, but hasnt gotten a lot of wins as a character since he joined the show as the owner of the local comic-book shop in season two. But it was a nice send-off in last weeks The Maternal Conclusion when he and girlfriend/fellow comic-book nerd Denise decided to move in together. Amys stylish makeover is a great final evolution for that character. She saw herself as dowdy in photos that popped up online after the publicity following the Nobel announcement, and when Raj found her crying in the bathroom at work, he encouraged her to spend some of her Nobel winnings on herself. A lovely haircut and some flattering new threads seemed to give her an extra bit of confidence, and theres nothing wrong with that. Amy had been established as a respected, accomplished scientist even before the Nobel win. If the makeover gave her just that much more pride, you go, Amy Farrah Fowler Cooper. Also in The Maternal Conclusion, Leonard confronts his mother, Beverly (the always great Christine Baranski), about how hes felt ignored by her his whole life, but then decides hes going to forgive her instead, and accept her for who she is. Shes so touched by his honesty and his forgiveness that she embraces him, hinting at the possibility of a new closeness in their relationship. The apartment buildings elevator was repaired! And as the gang prepared to leave for the airport to go to Sweden, they tried to cram all their luggage and themselves into it. It apparently didnt occur to the geniuses to make two trips instead, they filled the elevator with their bags and took themselves down the stairs. Though Rajs relationship with Anu grew on me, it never felt like they were super compatible or truly in love, so his bromantic moment with Howard when Howie told him he shouldnt move to London and propose to Anu just because she was moving there for work, that there was a better match waiting for him was a satisfying end to the Anu story line and a satisfying moment for the best friends. On the other hand, of all the main characters, Raj got the least satisfying send-off, mainly because he didnt really get one at all. Sure, its fun that he met Sarah Michelle Gellar on the plane ride to Sweden, and that he got to take Buffy as his not-date to the Nobel ceremony, but its sad that his characters big ending is that hes going to continue being the seventh wheel to the three married couples. It doesnt come as a total surprise; a few years ago, producer Steve Molaro said in an interview that Raj might not find his true love. Every group of friends has one, Molaro said, that guy that never settles down, even if he might really want to. Perhaps, but if nothing else, at least its an excuse for a reunion a few years down the prime-time road. Theor-ems Big ups to the elevator being repaired, but two things I was also hoping for a resolution to: Pennys maiden name (Im just going to assume its Lane), and the introduction of Howards father. It would have made for a great guest-star casting if nothing else. Ditto Bernadettes mom. Not to get too nitpicky, because both Leonard and Penny did seem happy about her pregnancy, but this development felt a little out of left field. Again, she was still pretty conflicted about motherhood in the middle of season 12. One more shout-out to the Young Sheldon season finale, which put an extra little touch of sweetness on the mother ships series finale. In the episode, Sheldon plans a listening party for the Nobel Prize ceremony on the radio, and is crushed that none of his schoolmates show up to share his excitement. As he sits in his garage, in which hes lined up boxes of cereal and bowls and milk for the soiree, he worries hes always going to be alone, and alone in his appreciation of such things. But then, as Diana Ross & the Supremes Someday Well Be Together plays, a montage shows young Leonard, young Howard, young Raj, young Bernadette, young Penny, and young Amy, promising what we already know, that he wont. VULTURE NEWSLETTER Keep up with all the drama of your favorite shows! 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. Booksmart doesnt officially premiere until May 24, but Annapurna wants you to meet Molly and Amy, your new dorky teen best friends, right now. The movie studio has released the first six minutes of Olivia Wildes directorial debut online early, giving you an introduction to Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Devers overachieving Southern California high-school seniors, whove started to worry that theyve held back from having as much fun in high school as they could have. As you can see from the trailer, their pursuit of fun goes more than a little overboard, involving shenanigans at several grad parties. Repressed overachievers of America, this is your moment! Related Photo: Stitcher The camera often lies, or at the very least obscures. That idea is at the heart of Running From Cops, the third season of documentarian Dan Taberskis Headlong podcast. It follows last years gorgeous end-times-study-meets-memoir Surviving Y2K and 2017s delirium-catalyzing Missing Richard Simmons. Its also his most journalistically pressing effort, tackling one of Americas thorniest epistemological quandaries: policing and the media. Running From Cops, which was produced at around the same time as Surviving Y2K, takes the form of a six-part sociological examination of Cops, the reality-television phenomenon, still going strong, that debuted three decades ago, developed a massive broadcast following, and forged an undeniable legacy. Cops provided viewers with the voyeuristic thrill of a viscerally real look into everyday policing, delivering the goods in the form of verite shaky-cam footage. Of course, American reality television being what it is, the world of policing as presented in Cops was essentially a crudely moralistic fun-house-mirror version of the real deal. Illustrating that discrepancy makes up the meat and potatoes of Taberski & Co.s efforts in Running From Cops, and the team digs into the task with painstaking aplomb. They watched hundreds of hours of Cops episodes to create an analyzable database of televised arrests. They interviewed onscreen and offscreen protagonists: producers, police officers, people arrested on camera. They talked to media-studies professors and critics to unpack the shows many complicated layers of meaning. All this in order to sketch the complex web of incentives, power, and motivations that fuel Cops bizarre existence. How, exactly, does something like this come to be? How did it become so influential? And what has it done to the people its touched? What Taberski and his team find is unsettling, though perhaps not shocking. It should come as no surprise that Cops portrays hard-luck communities and communities of color as more characterized by criminality than they actually are, and that it reinforces conceptions of certain groups as being distinctly delinquent. Where Running From Cops does feel especially revelatory is in the way it details the nuts and bolts of how the show is made. For example, the police forces depicted often have the power to sign off on final edits. Indeed, Running From Cops paints the relationship between the show and the police as virtually a full creative partnership (#brandedcontent, anyone?). In the third episode, Taberski discusses a moment a few years ago when Cops was criticized by a civil-rights group and others for disproportionately portraying black and brown individuals as criminals. The show responded by ramping up ride-alongs in largely white communities like Portland, Oregon, and Spokane in a frantic search for white criminals, white hotheads, white trash, white something, you know?, in the words of Stephen Chao, one of the executives who green-lit the show. Such a strategy did ultimately bring the shows depiction of criminality more in line with national averages. But, as Taberski points out, its a wildly inelegant solution. Understandably, Running From Cops often feels like its merely scratching the surface of a much larger problem. Cops, along with its equally problematic descendant Live PD, is the distillation of a toxic combination of corporate interest and state propaganda. And though I might miss the absence of a more personal narrative, of the kind that characterized Headlongs previous seasons, Taberskis structural investigations yield important insights into our relationship to law and order in this country. Twelve Baylor University professors have been honored with Outstanding Faculty Awards for teaching, scholarship and contributions to the academic community for the 2018-19 academic year. The award comes from the Baylor facultys colleagues. The Outstanding Faculty Awards recognize the best all-around professors based on teaching capabilities, research achievement, effective community service, time spent with students, civic involvement and church involvement, including non-tenure track, tenured and tenure track faculty. Each outstanding faculty honoree receives a $2,500 cash award, a citation by his or her department and recognition at spring commencement. This years committee was chaired by Carrie Arroyo, senior lecturer in the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work. Recognized are: Teaching (tenured) Matt Cordon, J.D. Professor of law and director of the Legal Writing Center, Baylor Law School. Andrew Arterbury, Ph.D. Associate professor of Christian Scriptures, Truett Seminary. Two University High School theater students, Leslie Cazares, a senior, and Cassady Copas, a junior, qualified for the International Thespian Societys (ITS) national competition, the International Thespian Festival, to be held June 24-29 in Lincoln, Nebraska. The students qualified in the organizations technical theater individual events category for their creative work and technical abilities that supported recent school theatrical productions. To qualify for the national competition, the students had to first earn a superior rating at their local or regional chapter or conference. Achieving a superior rating involves creativity and talent, as well as following the detailed design specifications set forth by the competition guidelines. At the competition, the students presented their projects and answered questions in front of the judges and other competitors. Cazares presented her set design for the play Bob: A Life in Five Acts. Copas presented her design and costume construction of Christines dress from Phantom of the Opera. The Texas Association of School Boards Executive Search Services is conducting the superintendent search. TASB helped Waco ISD with its previous superintendent search, and under the firms contract, this search will be free to the district, minus expenses, because Nelson did not stay with the district for two years. Veteran educator Hazel Rowe is serving as interim superintendent until a permanent replacement is hired. The board named her interim superintendent March 28, the same day it rehired TASB. Board members briefly discussed characteristics they want to see in the next superintendent Thursday, including the willingness to listen and learn and interact well with staff and community and a proven record of developing successful and effective professional relationships with businesses and community groups. I think thats what were looking for somebody willing to go out there and listen and do that interaction with the community, board President Pat Atkins said. The day after Scotts death, investigators learned Moody police had taken a report of a stolen SUV matching the description of the SUV caught on camera. The person who reported it stolen told police Stanford had gotten into an argument about money Stanford owed for the SUV, according to the affidavit. The reporting party informed law enforcement that Mr. Stanford told him that he was going to Waco to get his money, the affidavit states. (Police) learned Mr. Stanford left Moody approximately (9 p.m.) and was accompanied by Hughes. Stanford had arranged to buy an illegal substance at the University Club Apartments from a former coworker, according to the affidavit. The former coworker and Scott went outside to meet Stanford when he communicated that he had arrived, according to the affidavit. The coworker noticed that the back windows of the SUV were covered with towels and was hesitant to get inside the vehicle, the affidavit states. PJ making a comment scared money dont make money entered the vehicle. The back-seat occupant put a gun to Scotts head, and the coworker took off to his apartment and told a friend that they got PJ. A Hewitt man is facing felony charges after authorities reported finding child pornography images on electronic devices at his home. George Henry Gemmell, 53, was arrested Thursday after meeting at the Hewitt police station with investigators from the Texas Office of the Attorney General. State investigators said Gemmell was linked to an IP address that was used to share child pornography. Investigators seized digital storage devices from his home in the 500 block of Karen Drive and found multiple images of child pornography at the house. Devices will be examined by forensic investigators, the AG's Office said. "During an interview, Gemmell, who works as a security guard, admitted that he downloaded and viewed child pornography," the AG's office stated in a press release. Gemmell was booked on five third-degree felony charges of child pornography possession and remained Friday at McLennan County Jail, with bond listed at $15,000. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Mitch McConnells Senate has almost completely given up on legislating. Last Thursday, the Senate took one vote: to confirm a judge. On Wednesday, the chamber took seven votes: All were on cloture and final confirmation for another judge and for three executive branch nominees. Three votes on Tuesday? More of the same. And a single vote on Monday was on cloture for a judge who was then confirmed on Tuesday. Thats 12 votes for the week, none of them on legislation. In fact, since April 2, the Senate has taken 50 votes, and all but one of them the failed veto override on the Yemen resolution were on nominations or the nomination process. And before that, beginning with the final vote on Feb. 12 and going through April 1, there were only 10 legislative votes (out of 23 total votes). So thats only 11 legislative votes over three months. To be fair, a handful of measures have passed without a recorded vote over that period. S.693, the National POW/MIA Flag Act, went through by unanimous consent on May 2. HR 1222, the Target Practice and Marksmanship Training Support Act, did the same on April 30. So if a bill is insignificant enough and no one objects, the Senate is still capable of acting on it. We must have an affordable and reliable energy supply. Keeping Californias lights on requires a grid that can ramp up electricity generation at high-demand times and quickly supply energy to those who need it. Thats why a diversified energy portfolio, including natural gas, is so important to the states energy future. Natural gas creates electricity that can be dispatched quickly by plant operators. The same cant be said about wind and solar as both rely on natural elements that are impossible to predict. Consider last summers heatwave. On July 6, energy demand peaked from about 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at 45,000 megawatts, according to a Manhattan Institute scholar. However, wind-energy production had peaked at around 12 a.m. that morning and solar was at its highest around 1:25 p.m. By 10 p.m, when electricity demand was still abnormally high at 40,000 megawatts, solar production and wind generation stood at zero and 2,700 megawatts, respectively. The facility in Cumberland, Va., is owned by an Indianapolis-based firm that provides research-related services for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. (PETA) Records at the facility showed that in a seven-month period, more than 300 puppies died of unknown causes, federal officials said. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) said Wednesday that the pipeline would result in water-quality violations, including those caused by kicking up hazardous metals and disturbing seabed habitats. The denial was without prejudice, meaning the company can reapply. Williams said in a separate statement that the DEC had raised a minor technical issue with the application, which it will resubmit quickly. A natural salesman who has hawked his wares on QVC, West immediately began showing off his products during a visit to the companys warehouse in Lorton, Va., this week. If you want to add a light outside your house and you dont have an electrician you want to spend $300 for two screws, four C-cell batteries, its a motion activated light! he said, brandishing a lantern. Thousands of boxes from China and Taiwan were stacked in neat rows, waiting to be loaded onto UPS trucks and sent off to retailers. With the auto tariff decision deferred and a key USMCA obstacle defused, the president is free to concentrate on the stalled talks with China. One week after breaking down in a dispute over U.S. complaints that China had reneged on its commitments, no dates for the resumption of bargaining have been announced. As new life is being breathed back into this venerable coastline, the resurrection is coming in fits and starts, and in an entirely new form that is far more unstable and unpredictable than the one infused by government cash in the 1960s. Today, the new space age is built on the fortunes of private enterprise, subject to the whims of the economy. And like the next chapter of Americas grand adventure in space, the future of the Space Coast is far from guaranteed. 6) Skate ravioli resurrects a taste of Alma Cocina Latina, where I was introduced to Limardos cooking, informed as much by his travels around the world (Dubai, Hong Kong, Paris) as a private chef as by his time in Venezuela, where the food borrows from Italy, Spain and West Africa. Plantains help create the dough for the fish-stuffed, sea urchin-topped, squid ink-sauced pasta, based on a childhood memory for the chef: My grandmother made ravioli de chuchos every Sunday. Her grandson adds a crisp flourish seafood paper, hovering over the pasta. There is no shortage of available technology on the market to track kids of all ages. These devices are like virtual harnesses. HereO (GPS, $199 plus a $4.95 monthly subscription) and My Buddy Tag (Bluetooth, $39.99) are watches for kids that connect to apps on parents smartphones; they will pinpoint a childs exact location. HereO even allows you to set zones so parents are alerted if a child leaves a designated area. AngelSense ($229 plus $30 to $50 per month) is a popular and comprehensive child-tracking system used for both younger and older kids. Parents not only know where their children are at all times, they can determine whether kids will be late or are in an unfamiliar place. Parents also can communicate with kids and listen in on them. It does come with a hefty monthly price tag, and some might argue it has a Big Brother vibe, but it was developed out of necessity by the parent of a child with autism. Whimsy is a cornerstone of yet another bar, the Dead Canary, which is in a former club on a stretch behind the pedestrian-heavy thoroughfares. Its discreet door is marked with a fire exit sign and a feather painted above a buzzer. The bar with its grim name and charming decor (birdcages, maps, vintage posters) is a tribute to Waless mining heritage, when canaries were sent into the coal mines to test carbon dioxide levels, as owner and manager Mark Holmes explained to me. Welsh pride defines the clever cocktail list, which is designed as a folder of business cards, each one appearing to belong to a Welsh personality actors, politicians, athletes, writers and featuring a matching drink. It turns logic on its head, Verheyden-Hilliard said. They were actually protecting and standing up for the Vienna Convention, which is exactly what the State Department is supposed to be doing. Instead, they were charged with interfering with its mission. As we wrap up the school year, it is critical to ensure that our students are educated about and understand the hurtful impact of anti-semitic and racist images and words, Townsend wrote. Our goal is to bring our community together, to address the issue, and not allow these hateful acts to divide us. Before Brown, schoolchildren were told where they could and could not go to school based on the color of their skin, Roberts wrote. The school districts in these cases have not carried the heavy burden of demonstrating that we should allow this once again even for very different reasons. We recognize the struggle is not over and there are more battles to fight in the Supreme Court on this road to justice, but our families are emboldened by knowing that they are on the right side of history the only question is whether all this countrys institutions can be certain of the same, said Gustavo Torres, executive director of CASA de Maryland, the immigrant organization that was the lead plaintiff in the case. On Monday, Chukuka and Belotti were charged with felony murder and distribution of a controlled substance, among other charges, police said. Chukuka is incarcerated in Fairfax on unrelated charges, police said; Belotti, described as a white male, 5-foot-9, 140 pounds with a thin build, short brown hair and blue eyes, remains at large. What we have to do is work together . . . to make sure that this is really going to lift all ships, she told her colleagues. Whether you are the person who works in the store, or the person who owns the store . . . this body owes it to the state of Maryland to make sure that we did the right thing. In its statement late Thursday, the police department said it understood the concerns of the council members and others and had immediately opened an Internal Affairs investigation once the incident came to light. The Department has been gathering further information and data as well as evaluating training and policies as the investigation and review of the incident proceeds, the statement read. The requests for information by members of the Council and others, while not routine, will be handled consistent with laws and policies applicable to the release of information. Were not in the business of uselessly sacrificing animals, Dr. Bailey said. But were forced to make a choice. We can either decide to continue to let these otherwise healthy human babies die because they are born with only half of their heart, or we can intervene, and, in so doing, sacrifice some lesser form than our own human species. Roger Mitchell Jr., the Districts chief medical examiner, said he hopes a better understanding of victims backgrounds will help officials discuss where policies can be improved to decrease fatalities due to violence. He said the group will look at each victim to see where this person came into contact with the system and was there an opportunity for the system to have engaged differently or better, and might that have led to a different outcome. Prosecutors had argued that Robinson whom they said was excited to go to cash a winning lottery ticket flew around a curve at more than twice the posted advised speed and lost control of her car. The vehicle burst through the restaurant wall going at least 75 mph, according to trial evidence. Then in May 2017, Mallory approached the CIA to tell the agency about his operation, saying he was being recruited by Chinese intelligence. He turned over the modified mobile phone, where the FBI found his messages with the Chinese. Mallory claimed he had handed over only two essentially worthless unclassified white papers on policy in exchange for the $25,000, his lawyers said. Prosecutors said that the documents were considered secret and related to Americans working undercover for the CIA, and that Mallory had once been their handler. The jury deliberated for about three days. Earlier in the week, the jurors told Judge Todd E. Edelman that they could not reach a unanimous decision. The judge ordered them to continue deliberating. Then on Thursday, about four hours before they announced that they had a verdict, the jurors again said they were at an impasse. The judge gave them additional instructions and sent them back to deliberate. In follow-up interviews, even residents who say they want relief from downtowns chronic gridlock which slows traffic to 15 miles per hour or less for several hours each day do not want to pay tolls for it. Several said they fear it would amount to another tax with no guarantee of road improvements or better public transit. They also questioned how the tolls would be collected and spent, and how such a policy would affect low-income residents. Celinda Lake, a veteran Democratic political strategist, said the House majoritys focus on health care reflects that its the best issue for Democrats and was the top priority among Democratic voters in 2018. So youve got a ton of people [in the House] who made a commitment on that and want to be able to show when they go home that they got something done, Lake said. Carter goes home after hip surgery: Former president Jimmy Carter was released from a Georgia hospital Thursday morning after undergoing surgery for a broken hip. Carter, 94, plans to continue recuperating at his home in rural Plains, spokeswoman Deanna Congileo said. Carter's wife, Rosalynn Carter, who had been admitted to the hospital Wednesday for observation and testing after she "felt faint," went home with her husband. Jimmy Carter suffered a broken hip Monday as he was leaving to go turkey hunting. Congileo said he will undergo physical therapy as part of his recovery. She said Carter also plans to teach his regular Sunday school class this weekend at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains. Brazil prosecutor seeks suspension of gun decree: The federal prosecutor's office in Brazil has filed a lawsuit seeking to suspend a May 7 decree by President Jair Bolsonaro that loosens gun and ammunition regulations, saying it "leaves loopholes, or even directly contradicts what was guided by the law in effect." The case is the second major legal challenge against the overhaul. Last week, Brazil's high court ruled that Bolsonaro needed to provide more information after the opposition filed a petition calling the decree an "abuse of regulatory power by the executive." The May 15 Wednesday Opinion essay by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), The House should stand up to a toxic boycott, conflated anti-Semitism with anti-Zionism as it criticized the BDS boycott, divest, sanction movement. While they cynically described anti-Semitic massacres in the United States, Mr. McConnells negative view of gun control is clear. There was no hint of acknowledging the two-state solution that Israels current right-wing coalition has dismissed as it pursues an aggressive settlement policy. The authors views seem aimed at the evangelical Christians who favor Israels current policy as they hope for the Messiahs next coming. It appears Mr. McConnell and Mr. McCarthy merely are looking at the 2020 election. Aside from this claim about the presidents history, Mr. Robinson offered no basis for inferring bad-faith negotiating on the part of the United States. However, Mr. Trump does not own a patent either on pivoting away late in a negotiation process or losing the nerve to strike a watershed deal either of which may have occurred on the Chinese side. Indeed, the May 7 front-page article U.S. says China reneged on trade commitments asserted it was China that backed off: Chinese demands to water down provisions in the deal were delivered to the administration late last week, infuriating the president. Why not go all the way? was the rhetorical question posed by the founder of the Alabama Pro-Life Coalition, who helped craft the bill passed by the Republican-controlled legislature and signed into law by Gov. Kay Ivey (R). The bill is overarching in its restrictions: It bans abortions at every stage of pregnancy, subjects doctors who perform abortions to felony charges with sentences of up to 99 years in prison and provides no exceptions for rape or incest, only for cases in which the mothers life is at serious risk. As has been pointed out, a man who raped and impregnated a woman could potentially face less time in prison than the doctor who performed a medical procedure to end the pregnancy. The attack threatens to trigger a humanitarian catastrophe larger than any that Syria has yet seen. Tens of thousands of the civilians in Idlib are refugees from other parts of the country. In many cases, they were bused there by the Assad regime under deals to obtain the surrender of other rebel towns. An attempt to retake the province by force would trigger a massive new wave of refugees that could swamp Turkey and perhaps extend to Europe, which is still suffering the political aftershocks from the mass arrival of Syrians in 2015. Why does it matter? Because Sellner represents a curious phenomenon in European politics: the far-right middleman. Unlike the neo-Nazis of old, the Identitarians dont wear jackboots, dont shave their heads, dont lurk in the shadows. They have slick websites, professional videos and formal organizations in several European countries, including Britain, France and Germany, as well as Austria. They attract attention with happenings interrupting a play performed by refugees and pouring fake blood on the stage rather than just marching and shouting. They claim they arent racists, that they respect all cultures and insist that they just want to preserve their own. Quietly, they maintain links with extremists like Tarrant while also socializing with the now-mainstream politicians of the far-right Austrian Freedom Party, which is a part of the current Austrian ruling coalition. And, in practice, they are steadily pushing racist, conspiratorial thinking from the fringes of the Internet into the political mainstream and not just in Austria. We are restoring deterrence while working toward a new and better deal. We lost deterrence under the Iran deal. This policy course correction was unavoidable and long overdue, said Brian Hook, the U.S. special representative for Iran. The Trump administration has tried to intensify the pressure on Iran by withdrawing from the nuclear deal, reimposing sanctions, trying to force Irans oil exports to zero and designating the Revolutionary Guard Corps a foreign terrorist organization. I told Mr. Trone I was disappointed that his forum was one-sided and no real solution was offered, just more gun control laws that dont work. He asked if I had any solutions. I said, yes, take away kids social media accounts, violent TV, movies and video games, put God back in schools, and do something to curb sex and drugs in schools. But what stood out to all in attendance that day was the presence of an Army sergeant sent to represent the Reserve Officers Training Corps. ROTC sponsored two scholarships at this high school in the outer suburbs of Washington: one for $169,000 and another for $160,000. I searched the Internet for information about a similar program at the State Department and found none. While one can only applaud the students who received these scholarships, I cant help but wonder just how many of these are being issued throughout the country to future reserve officers this year. In the 19th centurys second half, fear and loathing of Catholic immigrants were ubiquitous and forthright. In 1854, Massachusettss governor and all but three members of the legislature were members of the anti-Catholic Know-Nothing party, and the legislatures Nunnery Committee searched for underground dungeons in convents. Protestantism was effectively a semi-established religion, widely taught in public schools with hymn singing and readings from the King James version of the Bible. And many states enacted constitutional provisions such as Montanas, adopted in 1889 and readopted in the 1972 constitution: There shall be no direct or indirect appropriation or payment of public monies for any sectarian purpose or to aid any institution controlled in whole or in part by any church, sect, or denomination. In April, Gregory promised that transparency would be at the top of his agenda, a positive sign after the past year. Last June, McCarrick the citys archbishop from 2001 to 2006 and one of the churchs best-known leaders was credibly accused of sexually abusing a teenager earlier in his career. In the months that followed, further allegations arose against him involving abuse of seminarians, new priests and boys as young as 11 years old. McCarricks successor, Cardinal Donald Wuerl , reported at least one such accusation to the Vatican. He similarly was confused about how a doctor, who under the law would face imprisonment for assisting with an abortion, would discern between the identical symptoms of a woman miscarrying (which would still be legal) and one having a medication-induced abortion. The burden of proof would be on the prosecution, he said thus opening the 25 percent of pregnancies that end in miscarriages to law enforcement probes. One sees this drive to inflame and divide in the way they talk about existing abortion laws. In his State of the Union address, President Trump solidly in the cynics camp spoke of babies ripped from the mothers womb moments before birth and killed. However, in 2007, the Supreme Court actually upheld a nationwide ban on the procedure he so morbidly referenced. Nor has there ever been an unlimited right to abortion, as proponents of the crackdown claim. The high courts landmark 1992 abortion ruling plainly stated that women may choose an abortion before the fetus is viable outside the womb but the state can regulate abortion after viability, as long as the regulations dont impose an undue burden on women. The one common aspect of Trumps foreign policy, however, has been that it has provoked a vigorous nationalist response abroad. Take China, where the government has gone on the offensive and denounced what it sees as the United States aggressive trade demands. Beijings state-controlled television network recently featured a commentary that tied U.S. tactics to previous foreign efforts to subjugate China. If you want a trade war, the anchor said, well fight you until the end. After 5,000 years of wind and rain, what hasnt the Chinese nation weathered? That clip, in addition to being aired on Chinas main TV news channel, has been watched online more than 99 million times. Can this be repeated in 2020 by a woman running for president? Voting down-ballot is very different from voting at the top of the ticket. Women face unique challenges seeking executive office that men dont, according to research by the Barbara Lee Family Foundation, which specializes in helping elect women to executive office. Womens strengths of collaboration, compromise and civility help them win down-ballot offices where group decision-making is key. But women face a competency test for executive decision-making essentially a yes-or-no question about whether they can be commander in chief that men dont face for the highest offices, which is one reason women make up only 21 percent of the nations mayors, 18 percent of governors and 5 percent of Fortune 1000 chief executives. For women, its a thin line between proving oneself capable and being seen as a bitch essentially unlikable. But the simple truth is that, at a minimum, 55 percent of those in state prison have been convicted of a violent crime and more than half of these people, or nearly 30 percent of the total prison population, have been found guilty of murder, manslaughter, rape or sexual assault, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Slightly less than 15 percent are incarcerated for drug crimes, even though most Americans believe the figure to be about 50 percent. (Drugs play a bigger role in the federal prison system, but that holds only about 10 percent of all prisoners; most incarcerated people are in state prison.) Yet after the disaster, my fellow commissioners, as well as many in Congress and the nuclear industry, fretted that the proposed new U.S. reactors might never be built, because Fukushima would focus too much attention on the potential downsides. Westinghouse and the new plant owners worried that acknowledging the need for reforms would raise even more concern about the safety of reactors. The industry wanted the NRC to say that everything was fine and nothing needed to change. So my colleagues on the commission and supporters of the industry pushed to license the first of these projects without delay and stonewalled implementation of the safety reforms. My colleagues objected to making the staff report public. I ultimately prevailed, but then the lobbying intensified: The industry almost immediately started pushing back on the staff report. They lobbied the commission and enlisted allies in Congress to disapprove, water down or defer many of the recommendations. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi issued a decree on Friday pardoning 560 prisoners, including young people and prisoners with health problems. Prominent journalist Abdel-Halim Qandil was among those pardoned based on their medical condition. Qandil was sentenced to in October 2017 to three years in prison for insulting the judiciary and criticising court rulings. His sentence was upheld in October 2018. The Friday decree, which was published in the official gazette on Friday, grants him compassionate release based on his medical condition, All those pardoned were convicted in cases between 2013 and 2017. Under the Egyptian constitution, the president can issue pardon decrees for prisoners who have received final court rulings that cannot be further appealed. Search Keywords: Short link: Now on its second renaming exercise, the Office of Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention currently consists of eight staff (with four other positions left unfilled) and a budget of $2.6 million, his statement said. The office once reported to the secretary, he added, but now must go through at least four layers of bureaucracy to get there. In the second conversation, an attorney for Trump tried to learn whether Flynn had any problematic information about the president after Flynns attorney signaled his client might begin cooperating with Muellers investigators. The attorney was John Dowd, then a private attorney for the president, according to people familiar with the episode. The special counsel was then threatening to charge Flynn with lying to FBI agents about his call to the ambassador. Dowds voice mail was scrutinized as Muellers investigators probed whether the president engaged in obstruction of justice to try to thwart the probe, and whether he deployed his aides to assist him. There's no doubt in my mind that we are all going to come to a point [where more has to be done] including the speaker, said Rep. Marcia L. Fudge (Ohio), a senior Democrat. We respect her leadership and we respect her strategic sense about how these things work, her political sense. But I think we're all getting to a point where we know something more has to be done. Meanwhile, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), whose panel already voted to hold Barr in contempt for defying its separate subpoena for the report and underlying materials, sent a letter to White House Counsels Office on Thursday rejecting its call for him to end his investigations into wrongdoing by President Trump and his associates. The two men have some similarities, though both might recoil at that notion. Both love to attack the press. Both were seen as outsiders with little chance at winning their races. Both are unpopular in New York and think people outside the city will see them more favorably. Neither plunges deeply into minutiae they run, and both have supreme self-confidence, according to people close to them. The girl and her mother had arrived in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua when they were rescued by Mexican immigration authorities, said an official at the National Migration Institute, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak to the press. My fellow Australians, the door to a better, bolder and more-equal future stands ajar, Shorten said. The chance for a smarter, more progressive Australia is before us. The choice for Australia to be a leader in the world is ours to make. And the power is in your hands. Afghan officials in Kabul and Helmand gave conflicting information on the number of casualties, saying that between eight and 18 Afghan personnel were killed and that 14 others were wounded. They said the incident, which took place during a ground battle on the Kabul-Kandahar highway, was under investigation. Taiwans new law grants same-sex couples the right to marry outside its civil code, which governs marriage rights for heterosexual couples. This was done to comply with the 2017 court ruling as well as the November referendum, in which voters decided that the civil code should restrict marriage to being between a man and a woman. Corbyns Labour sought the softest sort of Brexit, one that would have kept Britain so closely aligned with E.U. customs rules and tariffs that it probably would have been unable to seek its own independent trade deals with countries such as the United States, China and India. That was a red line for May and a Brexit that hard-liners would never approve. 2. Meghan is a feminist, an American from California, and so it was rumored/reported in the British press that she wanted to have a home birth (audible tsk-tsking), with a helping hand from a midwife, not a bunch of men in suits. (Didnt matter that most British mums have babies with midwives). In justifying their decisions to not provide Congress with sensitive briefings, administration officials have cited concerns that lawmakers may disclose the information to the media. In March, for instance, when Pompeo was asked during a public hearing why lawmakers were unable to secure a briefing on the status of Afghanistan peace talks, he said that the success of those negotiations depends on every one of those partners having confidence that what they say will not end up in The Washington Post. Virgin Australia will cut back routes and capacity as new chief executive Paul Scurrah wrestles with rising costs and sluggish demand that have wiped out the airline's expected profit for the year. Virgin on Friday revealed its expected full-year underlying earnings would be $100 million below last year's result which would plunge it to at least a $35.6 million loss. Virgin Australia has warned it will record a loss in fiscal 2019. Credit:Bloomberg The airline blamed "fuel and foreign exchange headwinds" for the downgrade and warned weak demand could cause the loss to blow out even further. The news increases the pressure on Mr Scurrah who has held the job for less than two months. Labor has vowed to initiate "a better national discussion" about Australias increasingly complicated relationship with its largest trading partner, China, if it wins Saturdays federal election. And Foreign Minister Marise Payne has touted the Coalitions record ahead of the poll, saying the government has "set out what is the most comprehensive and progressive foreign policy agenda in a generation". Labor's foreign affairs spokeswoman, Penny Wong, says Australia needs a more sophisticated conversation about China. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer Despite rising trade tensions between Washington and Beijing, foreign policy has featured little in this election campaign. But Labor's foreign affairs spokeswoman, Penny Wong, said Labor would "provide the leadership needed to define and navigate the new phase of the relationship with China". "I think its important for us to have ... a better national understanding and a better national discussion about both the complexity and the consequential nature of our relationship with China," she said. Millions of voters have sent a message at this election that they have heard enough from the nations politicians. The fact that more than four million Australians will have cast their ballots before polling day proves they do not need another word from any political leader to make up their minds. And that is no bad thing. The political parties may agonise over the soaring rate of early voting as if it is a threat to future elections, but the only threat is to their old ways of doing business. Voters have no reason to care about that. Illustration: Simon Letch Credit: So the election campaign ends with a jaded electorate telling Scott Morrison and Bill Shorten they have been steadily losing their audience for weeks. The empirical evidence can be measured by the boxload when all those ballot papers are taken out of storage and counted on Saturday night. The complaints about early voting are already under way and an inquiry is certain after the election, no matter who wins. There will be pressure on the Australian Electoral Commission to cut the early voting period from three weeks to two. Perth residents have contacted WAtoday with increasing anger at the people, processes and controversial decisions of the state's planning system. They have made allegations about the powerbrokers of the industry and the public service, and voiced their confusion and despair about the processes frequently shrouded in secrecy. The four-part Tangled Web series launching Monday is the result of a three-month investigation by journalists Emma Young and Hamish Hastie. We have examined the approvals and knockbacks of ten of Perths most high-profile developments, combed the resumes of the industrys biggest players, talked to the experts. A third of Australians surveyed in a huge global drug study said they used prescription opioids in the past year, the highest number of all countries surveyed. Globally, half of people using prescription opioids said they took them to get high. About three Australians a day die from drug overdoses involving opioids. It's a grim number that far outstrips the lives taken by heroin. Most opioids are given to people over 65. But the new survey data suggests many younger people are using them as well. The data comes from 123,814 people who responded to the Global Drug Survey, released on Thursday. The survey is done online and anyone can submit answers. About 8000 Australians responded, versus 35,030 Germans. Because of this, it cannot be used to estimate drug use in a population. London: The Brexit talks between the British government and Labour opposition have collapsed, leaving the country stuck in its democratic deadlock over its departure from the European Union. The talks had been intended to fashion a Brexit plan that would win the support of both sides of politics most likely a softer version of Prime Minister Theresa Mays original deal struck with Brussels. But Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called a halt, blaming the governments increasing weakness and instability. It came a day after a senior Tory MP group met with May to pin down a promise that she would set a timetable to quit, after one more go at getting Brexit through Parliament in early June. London: Shortly before she died, an ancient relative of mine turned her misty blue eyes on me and asked: "Have you ever had an abortion?" The question came out of the blue - we were halfway through our cucumber sandwiches - and my nerve failed me. "No," I lied. "I've had lots," she said contentedly. "I've never felt guilty about it. Though sometimes I wonder what those children would have looked like." I keep thinking about her blunt confession this week. In Alabama, 25 male senators have just passed a near-total ban on abortion. Pro-choice campaigners on both sides of the Atlantic are, rightly, aghast. A 2-year-old boy from Guatemala, apprehended with his family at the southern border, died in Texas on Tuesday after being released from U.S. custody. The death comes as authorities continue to raise warnings about the dangerous conditions faced by thousands of migrants traveling to the U.S. through Mexico. Last year Border Patrol recorded 283 migrant deaths along the southern border. The boy and his family were arrested by U.S. authorities after crossing the border in El Paso, Texas, several weeks ago, according to a Customs and Border Protection official. After three days in CBP custody, the boys mother told border agents he was sick and the family was taken to the hospital outside El Paso where he was diagnosed with pneumonia. UN High Representative for the Alliance of Civilisations Miguel Moratinos was in Cairo for talks with the grand imam of Al-Azhar this week. He spoke to Dina Ezzat about the efforts to protect religious freedoms and sites It has been really devastating to see the eruption of violent extremism that has been targeting places of worship and killing scores of innocent worshippers. The world cannot just stand by not doing anything about this, said Miguel Moratinos, UN high representative for the Alliance of Civilisations, in Egypt for a visit this week. Moratinos spoke in Cairo as part of a wider tour to communicate with religious leaders in pursuit of plans to protect the worlds religious sites. We saw what happened in New Zealand with the bloody attack on the mosques, and we saw what happened in Sri Lanka with the bloody attack on the Catholic churches, and then again on the synagogue in California. This is not something that the world can live with, he said. The core of the problem was clear, he added. Whether the perpetrator is an individual or a group, it is terror and violence that come from the rejection and the hatred of the other. There was a need for action on two parallel paths: combating a culture of hatred and violence and working out plans to protect all the worlds religious sites against violent manifestations of rejection and hatred, because we cannot let the world lose its religious sites to the madness of the terrorists. During his visit in Cairo, Moratinos met with Ahmed Al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar, to discuss ideas on how to work on a plan for the protection of the religious sites. He has some very clear and important ideas that he shared with me, and I find that we can work on them together, he said. Moratinos left Cairo at the weekend for Rome, where he was to meet the leaders of the Vatican as part of a wider dialogue with religious leaders. We are in the very early stages of formulating a plan, but we have a clear concept that relates to the need to work on national programmes and legislation that can provide protection for religious sites against the kind of horrible attacks we have seen during the past weeks and months, he said. Moratinos said that the issues of the protection of religious sites and the promotion of inter-faith dialogue to underline the need for the acceptance of others had been a subject of talks held by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during a visit to Egypt earlier this year. With his own mandate initiated in January this year, Moratinos has also been in touch with the leaders of other faiths to pursue plans that will have a universal character and will come with clearly defined national commitments. The challenge is huge because we have to draw up maps of the sites from all the faiths that need to be protected, Moratinos said. Of course, every single site is important and the life of every single worshipper is valuable, but clearly there are particular sites that the world cannot possible lose to suicide attacks. Member states of the UN will have to take action, he said. Member states will have to work to make sure that hate speech is controlled particularly on social media and that the awareness of the need to protect these sites is firmly underlined. We cannot accept that Silicon Valley escapes its responsibility, because the perpetrators of the violence have used information technology to execute and promote their crimes. We need to strip them of this ability, Moratinos said. There is no clear timeframe for the completion of the maps of the sites to be protected, but Moratinos is hopeful a blueprint will be ready for the UN General Assembly meetings towards the end of September. We need to have proper consultations to make sure that what we agree on will be executed by the member states with dedication and faith, he said. Moratinos realises that there are tough issues at stake, including the case of religious minorities that have been subject to hatred or rejection in their own communities. Part of the mandate I am working on is to promote the protection and inclusion of minorities, but to do this one has to be sure about the real volume of the violations that any particular minority is going through and to find the right way to talk to the governments concerned about the protection of this minority, he said. Whether the Muslims of China or the Christians of the Middle East, Moratinos is convinced that each case must be approached independently and tactfully. For example, one cannot compare the situation in Sri Lanka, where there has been a civil war for years, to the situation in New Zealand. In China, one needs to learn the facts, he said. Moratinos acknowledged political conflicts as a catalyst for violence or terror. He also acknowledged the rise of extreme right-wing politics in many countries of the world today as another reason for the rise of hatred and anger. However, he argued that the world could not wait for conflicts to be resolved before it acted on the protection of religious sites, because unfortunately resolving these conflicts or facing these politics could take years. We need to act on a step-by-step approach, he said. The right to religious freedom and belief is a universally acknowledged human right, and we need to add another inherent right, which is the right to pray safely and in peace, he added. The UN Alliance of Civilisations was launched in 2005, and as High Representative Moratinos has been committed to forging partnerships with a wide range of stakeholders, including religious leaders, representatives of civil society organisations, youth, women, media professionals, and the business community. For the plan of action we are currently working on, we will be joining hands with all possible stakeholders because the commitment of governments cannot work without the help of all the actors concerned, he concluded. *A version of this article appears in print in the 16 May, 2019 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: UN action to protect religion Search Keywords: Short link: by Dr. Donald M. McCartney, D.M. The teaching profession, we all may agree, is not what it used to be. In fact, in its early days, teaching, for many, particularly people of colour, was the profession of choice. Teaching was and still is the "mother" of all professions. I challenge anyone to show me profession or trade that was not impacted or influenced by teachers. Despite its former preeminant position, the profession is, like the "old grey mare" not what it used to be. One does not have to look too far or search too deeply to discover the reasons why this most noblest of profession has become so lacklustre. There are many reasons for the decline of the teaching profession. However, for the purpose of this post, I will list a few of the reasons why the teaching profession is in decline and doing the electric slide to nowhere. First and foremost is the fact that, in many jurisdictions, teachers are at the very bottom of the proverbial barrel when it comes to remuneration. In this regard, teachers are treated like the country cousins of lawyers and doctors. Another factor that has caused the decline of the teaching profession is that the requirements for becoming a teacher are, in many instances, lower than the requirements to become a doctor or a lawyer. A third factor that has taken the teaching profession on a journey to nowhere is the fact that teachers are under constant attack by policymakers who have no clue as to what it takes to be a teacher. Then there are the inept bureaucrats who give "teeth" as it were, to the ineptitude of the policy makers without "raising an eyebrow" or their voices. Add to the siege, under which these unarmed "soldiers" must toil on a daily basis, the physical and mental abuse of students and parents. Then, as if the abuse, of students and parents, is not enough, these shell shocked veterans of the unending war have to do battle with some school administrators who are unsupportive, insensitive, uncaring, lacking in the finer points of art of humanity, and respect for the dignity of these embattled personnel on the front line of the daily battle of trying to educate children who are disrespectful, ill-mannered, lacking in the fundamentals of the social graces that oil the wheels of life, and like their parents are akin to barbarians at the gate. In 2016, I attended the graduating and hooding ceremony at Nova Southeastern University. The President of Nova Southeastern University, in his address, lamented the fact that one thousand teachers, in the Broward District, had resigned from their positions. The President's remarks about the departure of students from the District, while informative, was an indication that there was a haemorrhage of teachers. There was no indication given why the teachers had left the district. It appears to me that perhaps nobody in the District cared sufficiently to find the reasons for the departure of so many teachers. Someone has to care. There need to be reasons for the apparent haemorrhage of teachers because if it continues, the District will become anaemic and eventually be placed on life support. Indeed, if the system is broken, it needs to be re-evaluated, repaired, or replaced with a system that can retain its teachers in the best interest of the students who is served by the District. Just releasing numbers regarding the departure of teachers, without having reasons or rationale for those departures, makes absolutely no sense. I suspect that the District knows the reasons, but does not want to release them for fear that releasing that information would prove deleterious to the District. Of course, knowing the reasons is one thing; making improvements to prevent a further occurrence of the haemorrhage would be a step in the right direction. Today's teachers are not totally faultless. There are under many teachers who are themselves creating the quagmire in which they find themselves. In many instances, the manner in which some teachers dress and present themselves, as professionals, leaves much to be desired. Tardiness and absenteeism are rampant. However, given the aforementioned points, it is sometimes understandable why some teachers delay returning to the "battlefield" for as long as they can. There is a failure of teachers to recognize their strength in numbers. Teachers must understand that the system neither schools can operate without them. Each teacher must come to the realization that he or she is a part of the system, and as a consolidated and concentrated group, they are the system. However, as the system, teachers must recognize and be prepared to be the professionals that they are and were meant to be. It is the only way that the other players in the system will respect teachers as professional with an important and influential role to play in educating the students who are placed in their charge. Teachers must come to the table of education, each day, prepared and ready to teach. Failure to be prepared to teach indicates a lack of discipline, which is modelled for students. Just as students are expected to be prepared for class and do their homework, teachers must practice what they preach and model the behaviour that they wish to see in their students. A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to read of the resignation of two teachers who, from all reports, were dedicated to the profession they had chosen. Reading the accounts of why these two teachers walked away from the profession and children whom hey both loved highlighted the reasons why many teachers are leaving the profession. Their stories pointed very clearly to the fact that there are dedicated, professional teachers who are leaving the profession. One of the teachers was from South Carolina, and the other was from Florida. A cursory reading of the reasons for their departure from the teaching profession was quite revealing. Sariah McCall from South Carolina, in her letter of resignation, in part wrote, "The systemic abuse and neglect of education and other public service workers in the State of South Carolina should have its citizens enraged. The unrealistic demands and all consuming nature of the profession are not sustainable. I am still a human being. There was no time to be a functioning human being and give this job all the attention and love it deserves. This is a career, with its never-ending list of 'extra duties and responsibilities' that we are not given the resources for completing....I have compared the systemic expectations of the profession to the list of signs of abuse provided by the Domestic Abuse Hotline.if you replace " he" with "public education," it would almost match perfectly with what we are going through across America....I had to put my family and my health over my career." On the one hand, Johnathan Carroll, a Social Studies teacher from Florida recently announced that he was leaving the teaching profession because there were things for which he did not sign up when he commenced teaching twenty years ago. Mr Carroll, in part, wrote, "I think of what I thought I would be doing as a teacher. Opening minds, debating history, inspiring the next generation to reach higher, and learn from the past. But education had become something else. I think of all the things I did not sign up for....So, I guess this is it...I am leaving the field of education. I have had so many wonderful memories. But it has become a toxic profession...Knowing where it is safe to hide in my classroom. Feeding and clothing my students. Buying my own supplies...Being told that if students fail, it is my fault. While what Ms McCall and Mr Carroll have expressed highlights some of the issues confronting teachers, their expressions seem to only scratch the surface of the problems confronting the human factor in education. This seems to be, in the Western Hemisphere, a problem, not without a solution, but a reality which the policymakers and bureaucrats do not want to face. They (the policymakers and the bureaucrats)do not want to face cleaning up the problems because they are of their own making through the knee jerk response to the problems of the past, which now have come back to haunt them in the present and for the foreseeable future. Let me close on this note. I have just recently severed my ties as an Adjunct Professor with a South Florida University, which is a private institution. While the problems there are different, never-the-less, they are serious problems. Sadly, for me as Roman Catholic of long standing, the institution is one that operates under auspices of the Roman Catholic Church. Secondly, I warn the officials responsible for education in The Bahamas not to follow the trends in the United States or any other jurisdiction without a thorough examination of the research related the trends. Even after reviewing the trends, no matter how favourable the results may appear to be, there must be in-depth wide-ranging discussions with all relevant stakeholders. In those discussions, any recommended changes must take into account the culture, social morays, general history, specifically the history and development of education in The Bahamas. It must be remembered that what is " sauce for the goods is not always good for the gander. Finally, methinks that there are those in the United States who recognized that the country has gone too far to left in education, but despite its might, wealth, and power, there is no solution on the horizon except to dismantle the monster that has been created and start from scratch....Now that will be putting the snake in the hen house...!!! The views expressed are those of the author, and not necessarily those of WeblogBahamas.com (which has no corporate view) or its Authors. On July 4, 1942, the year after Pearl Harbor, This is the Army, a revue with sketches and songs about life in the service, opened at the Broadway Theater. Part-way through, a slight figure wearing a World War I uniform walks on from stage left to engulfing applause. He begins to sing in a croaky, barely audible voice Oh, how I hate to get up in the morning, with its suggestions of murdering the bugler. This was Irving Berlin, the Russian immigrant who composed God Bless America, the Jew who wrote White Christmas and Easter Parade, the New Yorker who so proud of the Statue of Liberty in the harbor celebrated her in a show called Miss Liberty, where he musicalized Emma Lazarus poem on the statues base: Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Himself born poor, he parlayed his rise from selling newspapers on the Lower East Side to wealth and an apartment on Beekman Place. He was, in short, a one-man argument for welcoming refugees eager to partake of the American Dream. Berlin lived till age 101 (1888-1989) and, in his time, was the greatest of all popular composers, playing a leading role in the evolution of ragtime (Alexanders Ragtime Band), jazz (Blue Skies), pop (Cheek to Cheek), movies (Be Careful, Its My Heart) and theater (Theres No Business Like Show Business). In all, he wrote music and lyrics for more than 1,500 songs, including 20 Broadway shows and 15 films. He earned all of 75 cents from the sale of his first song, 1907s Marie From Sunny Italy (My sweet Marie from sunny Italy / Oh how I do love you / Say that youll love me, love me, too / Forever more I will be true). He got better. For 60 years Berlin was the it thing, said Hershey Felder, whose one-man show on the composer comes to the Westport Country Playhouse this July. Speaking by phone, Felder admitted, Some called his work kitschy and corny, wearing emotions on his sleeve and so forth. To me, its a lot about what happens when you live so long and the world passes you by. Felder, born in Canada and married to Kim Campbell, the first female prime minister of that nation, performs a plethora of musical tributes throughout the world. In addition to Berlin, names like Gershwin, Debussy, Chopin, Beethoven, Bernstein, Liszt and Tchaikovsky are in his repertoire, as well as The Great American Song Book Sing-along. He adapted and directed The Pianist of Willesden Lane, seen last season at the Playhouse. He also composes, operates a full service production company and has been a scholar-in-residence at Harvard Universitys Department of Music. I have an affinity for people who take nothing its air and they create something beautiful, he said. How could you not appreciate something like that? They make the world a more beautiful place. An accomplished pianist, Felder tackles Berlin with his own flourishes. But Berlin himself was not a trained musician. Indeed, he could play piano only in F-sharp, favoring the black keys. His compositions were then transposed by others. He played in one key because he had no serious music training, but he had a natural ability for music, said Felder. He had a perfect ear. After all, his father was a cantor and gave his son singing lessons, a skill Berlin used by becoming a singing waiter (in a Chinatown saloon). At any rate, some people can have all the technical training in music and its meaningless. Felders tribute, Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin, which The New Yorker called lovely, stems from the true-life story of carolers who used to stand outside Berlins apartment house to serenade the composer. Although crotchety in his advancing years, Berlin eventually invited them in where, the tale goes, he served them hot chocolate. Felders evening takes off from that incident, linking compositions to worldwide events. This is the Army was itself a first, integrating whites and blacks in the same unit. For Berlin was a staunch advocate of civil rights, honored in 1944 by the National Conference of Christians and Jews for advancing the aims of the conference to eliminate religious and racial conflict. When I learned his story, I was very touched by it, said Felder. This immigrant who comes from this place in Russia where theyre burning down his house and he comes here and sees the Statue of Liberty. He wanted to give back a gift to America for the life it gave him. And it was genuine. Although his two wives (his first died young) were not Jewish, he maintained his Jewishness his entire life, said Felder, and never stopped speaking Yiddish. He supported humanitarian causes which are, of course, also Jewish causes. Berlins talents and contributions will outlast those of most musicians. He was an incredible force, said Felder, who had the ability to take the average persons feelings and thoughts and with simple words create such poetry. And tell stories that are just really, really beautiful. To me, thats miraculous. Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin is at Westport Country Playhouse, 25 Powers Court, Westport, July 16-Aug. 3. Call 203-227-4177 or visit westportplayhouse.org. Norwalk resident David Rosenbergs column on the local theater scene appears monthly. News Wherever you throw me, I will stand an inspiring motto for those who feel tossed about by the uncertainties, fears and pain associated with two years of Covid Senior Compliance Officer, Washington, United States Organization: World Bank Country: United States City: Washington, United States Office: World Bank HQ Washington Closing date: Saturday, 25 May 2019 Senior Compliance Officer Job #: req2687 Organization: World Bank Sector: Other Grade: GG Term Duration: 3 years 0 months Recruitment Type: International Recruitment Location: Washington, DC Required Language(s): English Preferred Language(s): Closing Date: 5/25/2019 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC Description Established in 1944, the WBG is one of the worlds largest sources of funding and knowledge for development solutions. In fiscal year 2018, the WBG committed $67 billion in loans, grants, equity investments and guarantees to its members and private businesses, of which $24 billion was concessional finance to its poorest members. It is governed by 188-member countries and delivers services out of 120 offices with more than 16,000 staff located globally. The WBG consists of five specialized institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), and the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). IBRD and IDA are commonly known as the World Bank, which is organized into six client-facing Regional Vice-Presidencies, several corporate functions, and - as of July 1, 2014 - has introduced fourteen Global Practices (GPs) as well as five Cross-Cutting Solution Areas (CCSAs) to bring best-in-class knowledge and solutions to regional and country clients. The Compliance Vice Presidency (CMP) of the IBRD, under the Vice President, Compliance, is responsible for establishing and overseeing the World Banks privacy framework under the WBG Privacy Policy. In May 2018, the World Bank Group (WBG) has adopted a high-level, principles based privacy policy reflecting international privacy standards (the Privacy Policy), which must be implemented within two years. The World Bank intends to create a new and uniform privacy framework covering new and existing policies and procedures, as well as a uniform privacy management strategy. The privacy program should be supported by technology solutions. The CMP is looking to recruit a Sr. Compliance Officer to support the Chief Data Privacy Officer in developing and implementing the privacy program. Duties and Accountabilities: The Sr. Compliance Officer will have a unique opportunity to work in an office which combines entrepreneurial spirit with the long-standing tradition of an international organization. The successful candidate will get first hand insight into the setup of a brand-new unit in the World Bank and contribute to an environment which welcomes independent initiative and pro activity, taking responsibility for work flows, and finding solutions to issues which arise along the way. The successful candidate will report to the Chief Data Privacy Officer and will perform tasks as assigned by the Chief Data Privacy Officer. The primary responsibility of the Sr. Compliance Officer is to provide technical support to the Chief Data Privacy Officer in her function to oversee the compliance of the World Bank with the WBG Policy on Personal Data Privacy. These tasks include the following: 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. ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Pilots and others using navigation systems throughout Interior Alaska may experience disruption due to Air Force training, officials said. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 16/5/2019 (955 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Pilots and others using navigation systems throughout Interior Alaska may experience disruption due to Air Force training, officials said. Eielson Air Force Base is conducting GPS signal-jamming exercises through May 24 that may disrupt navigation systems, The Anchorage Daily News reported Thursday. The tests will happen on weekdays between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., the Air Force said in a statement. Civilian pilots are most likely to be affected by GPS signal loss during the exercise periods, said Air Force Lt. Kayshel Trudell. Pilots reliant on GPS-based navigation systems are training to contend with situations where an adversary might jam their signal. The training is part of a joint-force exercise called Northern Edge 2019 to prepare U.S. troops for crises in the western Pacific and Indian Ocean regions. "The goal of this training is not to inconvenience people, but to ensure our military forces are ready to operate were they to face a loss of GPS in a real world situation," Trudell said. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. The tests will be centred southwest of Eielson base near Delta Junction, 95 miles (153 kilometres) southeast of Fairbanks. Aircraft impact will vary depending on altitude and distance from the test facility. Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport is about 209 nautical miles (387 kilometres) from the jamming centre, putting it within the affected radius. The base has a contingency plan to cut power to the jamming equipment if safety issues arise, Trudell said. Motorists using in-vehicle navigation or smartphone navigation apps may lose signals intermittently. ___ Information from: Anchorage Daily News, http://www.adn.com NEW YORK - I.M. Pei (PAY), the versatile, globe-trotting architect who revived the Louvre with a giant glass pyramid and captured the spirit of rebellion at the multi-shaped Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, has died at age 102. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 16/5/2019 (955 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A woman cools off her legs in the Louvre fountain next to the Pei-designed Pyramid in Paris. (Michel Euler / The Associated Press files) NEW YORK - I.M. Pei (PAY), the versatile, globe-trotting architect who revived the Louvre with a giant glass pyramid and captured the spirit of rebellion at the multi-shaped Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, has died at age 102. Pei's death was confirmed Thursday by Marc Diamond, a spokesman for the architect's New York firm, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. One of Pei's sons, Li Chung Pei, told The New York Times his father had died overnight. Pei's works ranged from the trapezoidal addition to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., to the chiseled towers of the National Center of Atmospheric Research that blend in with the reddish mountains in Boulder, Colorado. His buildings added elegance to landscapes worldwide with their powerful geometric shapes and grand spaces. Among them are the striking steel and glass Bank of China skyscraper in Hong Kong and the Fragrant Hill Hotel near Beijing. FILE - In this Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016, file photo, Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei smiles as he accepts the Lifetime Achievement Award during the 2016 Asia Game Changer Awards ceremony in New York. Pei, the globe-trotting architect who revived the Louvre museum in Paris with a giant glass pyramid and captured the spirit of rebellion at the multi-shaped Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, has died at age 102, a spokesman confirmed Thursday, May 16, 2019. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) His work spanned decades, starting in the late 1940s and continuing through the new millennium. Two of his last major projects, the Museum of Islamic Art, located on an artificial island just off the waterfront in Doha, Qatar, and the Macau Science Center, in China, opened in 2008 and 2009. Pei painstakingly researched each project, studying its use and relating it to the environment. But he also was interested in architecture as art and the effect he could create. "At one level my goal is simply to give people pleasure in being in a space and walking around it," he said. "But I also think architecture can reach a level where it influences people to want to do something more with their lives. That is the challenge that I find most interesting." Pei, who as a schoolboy in Shanghai was inspired by its building boom in the 1930s, immigrated to the United States and studied architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. He advanced from his early work of designing office buildings, low-income housing and mixed-used complexes to a worldwide collection of museums, municipal buildings and hotels. He fell into a modernist style blending elegance and technology, creating crisp, precise buildings. FILE - In this March 29, 1989, file photo, Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei laughs while posing for a portrait in front of the Louvre glass pyramid, which he designed, in the museum's Napoleon Courtyard, prior to its inauguration in Paris. Pei, the globe-trotting architect who revived the Louvre museum in Paris with a giant glass pyramid and captured the spirit of rebellion at the multi-shaped Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, has died at age 102, a spokesman confirmed Thursday, May 16, 2019. (AP Photo/Pierre Gleizes, File) His big break was in 1964, when he was chosen over many prestigious architects, such as Louis Kahn and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, to design the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library in Boston. At the time, Jacqueline Kennedy said all the candidates were excellent, "But Pei! He loves things to be beautiful." The two became friends. A slight, unpretentious man, Pei developed a reputation as a skilled diplomat, persuading clients to spend the money for his grand-scale projects and working with a cast of engineers and developers. Some of his designs were met with much controversy, such as the 71-foot (22-meter) faceted glass pyramid in the courtyard of the Louvre museum in Paris. French President Francois Mitterrand, who personally selected Pei to oversee the decaying, overcrowded museum's renovation, endured a barrage of criticism when he unveiled the plan in 1984. Many of the French vehemently opposed such a change to their symbol of their culture, once a medieval fortress and then a national palace. Some resented that Pei, a foreigner, was in charge. FILE - This May 21, 2013, file photo shows the exterior of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, designed by architect I.M. Pei. Pei, the globe-trotting architect who revived the Louvre museum in Paris with a giant glass pyramid and captured the spirit of rebellion at the multi-shaped Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, has died at age 102, a spokesman confirmed Thursday, May 16, 2019. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan, File) But Mitterrand and his supporters prevailed and the pyramid was finished in 1989. It serves as the Louvre's entrance, and a staircase leads visitors down to a vast, light-drenched lobby featuring ticket windows, shops, restaurants, an auditorium and escalators to other parts of the vast museum. "All through the centuries, the Louvre has undergone violent change," Pei said. "The time had to be right. I was confident because this was the right time." Another building designed by Pei's firm the John Hancock Tower in Boston had a questionable future in the early 1970s when dozens of windows cracked and popped out, sending glass crashing to the sidewalks, during the time the building was under construction. A flurry of lawsuits followed among the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co., the glass manufacturer, and Pei's firm. A settlement was reached in 1981. No challenge seemed to be too great for Pei, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which sits on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. Pei, who admitted he was just catching up with the Beatles, researched the roots of rock 'n' roll and came up with an array of contrasting shapes for the museum. He topped it off with a transparent tent-like structure, which was "open like the music," he said. In 1988, President Reagan honoured him with a National Medal of Arts. He also won the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize, 1983, and the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal, 1979. President George H.W. Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992. Pei officially retired in 1990 but continued to work on projects. Two of his sons, Li Chung Pei and Chien Chung Pei, former members of their father's firm, formed Pei Partnership Architects in 1992. Their father's firm, previously I.M. Pei and Partners, was renamed Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. The museum in Qatar that opened in 2008 was inspired by Islamic architectural history, especially the 9th century mosque of Ahmed ibn Tulun in the Egyptian capital of Cairo. It was established by the tiny, oil-rich nation to compete with rival Persian Gulf countries for international attention and investment. Ieoh Ming Pei (YEE-oh ming) was born April 26, 1917, in Canton, China, the son of a banker. He later said, "I did not know what architecture really was in China. At that time, there was no difference between an architect, a construction man, or an engineer." 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. Pei came to the United States in 1935 with plans to study architecture, then return to practice in China. However, World War II and the revolution in China prevented him from coming back. During the war, Pei worked for the National Defence Research Committee. As an "expert" in Japanese construction, his job was to determine the best way to burn down Japanese towns. "It was awful," he later said. In 1948, New York City real estate developer William Zeckendorf hired Pei as his director of architecture. During this period, Pei worked on many large urban projects and gained experience in areas of building development, economics and construction. Some of his early successes included the Mile High Center office building in Denver, the Kips Bay Plaza Apartments in Manhattan, and the Society Hill apartment complex in Philadelphia. Pei established his own architectural firm in 1955, a year after he became a U.S. citizen. He remained based in New York City. Among the firm's accomplishments are the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. Pei's wife, Eileen, who he married in 1942, died in 2014. A son, T'ing Chung, died in 2003. Besides sons Chien Chung Pei and Li Chung Pei, he is survived by a daughter, Liane. Many thousands of Canadians follow a migratory route each year down to the Excited States of America. We generally call these creatures snowbirds as they flock off each fall. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/5/2019 (954 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Opinion Many thousands of Canadians follow a migratory route each year down to the Excited States of America. We generally call these creatures "snowbirds" as they flock off each fall. Perhaps, its the welcoming access to free health care, the open and inclusive government and political climate, or the all-you-can-eat buffets that draw these coveys to crowd into airplanes and automobiles. More likely its the weather thats the attraction. At any rate, the Canadian snowbird must be aware that there are limits to the amount of time that such an "alien" can spend in the U.S., and as those limits are approached, the Internal Revenue Service wants to hear from you, or it will decide that you must start filing U.S. tax returns. You dont want that, so heed the June 15 deadline for filing IRS Form 8840 the "Closer Connection Exception Statement for Aliens." Any Canadian who has a "substantial presence" in the U.S. as calculated by a weighted average of the days spent in the U.S. over the past three years must file this form to prove a closer connection to Canada than to the U.S. The IRS then gives you permission to keep filing Canadian taxes only. (I say "permission" in theoretical terms, as they dont actually communicate back unless they want something more from you.) There is also an annual six-month limit to the stay of a foreign person in the U.S., under the terms of the B-2 visa that is the actual set of rules under which snowbirds visit the United States. Good news on that front is that the Canadian Snowbird Association (CSA) has been lobbying the U.S. Congress to extend that limit to 240 days, and to create a "Canadian Retiree Visa" unique to Canadians and the needs of snowbirds. The CSA was successful in these efforts, as the previous session of Congress saw the introduction of the Canadian Snowbird Visa Act, HR 3513, sponsored by Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Republican from New York and 41 other congresspeople from both parties. Eligible Canadians would be 50 or older, maintain a Canadian residence, otherwise be "not inadmissible or deportable" from the United States, and cannot engage in employment in the U.S. This bill would also grant such people non-resident alien tax status, which could conceivably do away with the Form 8840 requirement each year. As near I can tell and Im no expert on these things it appears to have been sent to committee or died on the order paper this past December. It must be passed by Congress and the Senate in order to become law. We hope it will be reintroduced and move forward, given its bipartisan support. 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. Speaking of support, I would encourage any snowbird to become a member of the Canadian Snowbird Association. The potential benefits include a creative currency exchange program; travel, health and home insurance plans designed for people who are absent from their homes each year; a quarterly magazine with helpful hints; and events in Florida, Arizona and Southern California each winter. Membership also supports the lobbying and advocacy work, which is focused on easing punitive laws and regulations in a variety of states. Although the best summer weather in the world is about to hit Manitoba, dont forget about that June 15 deadline, if that pertains to you. Dollars and Sense is meant as an introduction to this topic and should not in any way be construed as a replacement for personalized professional advice. David Christianson, BA, CFP, R.F.P., TEP, CIM is recipient of the Fellow of FPSC Distinction, and repeatedly named a Top 50 financial advisor in Canada. He is a portfolio manager and senior vice-president with Christianson Wealth Advisors at National Bank Financial Wealth Management, and author of the book Managing the Bull, A No-Nonsense Guide to Personal Finance. Any hopes of getting corn and soybean planting back on track in the U.S. may be washed away starting today as a pair of storms threaten to deliver a one-two punch of soaking rain and tornadoes across the Great Plains and Midwest through next week. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/5/2019 (954 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Any hopes of getting corn and soybean planting back on track in the U.S. may be washed away starting today as a pair of storms threaten to deliver a "one-two punch" of soaking rain and tornadoes across the Great Plains and Midwest through next week. As much as three to five inches of rain will soak soils from South Dakota and Minnesota south to Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas, according to the U.S. Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Md. "The severe weather starts on Friday and continues for several days after that," said Marc Chenard, a senior branch forecaster at the Weather Prediction Center. "Another one arrives early next week Sunday into Monday. It is kind of like a one-two punch with multiple days of severe weather and heavy rainfall." Floods and drenching rains have mired planting progress across the Great Plains, Mississippi Delta and Midwest for months with corn, soybeans, cotton and rice all lagging behind the five-year average through May 12, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture weekly crop progress report released Monday. The grass is greener for grazing cattle, though. The extra rain has led to deep, rich pastures, said Troy Vetterkind, owner of Vetterkind Cattle Brokerage in Thorp, Wis. That means animals could stay on fields longer, which may curb some meat production and be mildly supportive for markets, he said. Pasture conditions in the U.S. were 63 per cent good or excellent in the week ending May 12, compared with just 43 per cent the prior year, according to the Department of Agriculture. Farmers across the central U.S. that raise crops, however, have been looking for stretches of dry weather to plant seeds. For some, the clock is ticking away. In Iowa, for example, corn needs to be planted by the end of May and beans by mid-June, Mike Naig, the states secretary of agriculture, said by telephone Friday. "There is some time here," he said. "If we get some sunny days and the conditions are right, our farmers can move very quickly and get a lot of acres planted. I am still hopeful. As we look to the end of the month, we are going to see things really break open. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. The weather hasnt been on the side of U.S. farmers since last summer, delivering rural communities another blow amid a multi-year downturn in prices and a yearlong trade war with China. The contiguous U.S. had its third wettest year on record in 2018 and the heavy rain and snow has continued into 2019, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information in Asheville, N.C. Last years saturated soils froze in place through winter leaving melting snow and early rains this year no place to go, said Brad Rippey, a Department of Agriculture meteorologist in Washington. This set up widespread flooding along many rivers, including the Mississippi, Missouri and Red River of the North. Chenard said another week of rain could push those rivers above their banks again. Since then, there has been little let-up from a parade of storms, said Jim Rouiller, chief meteorologist at Energy Weather Group in Philadelphia. High-pressure ridges have set up across southwestern Canada and the Pacific Northwest, along with another in the Atlantic, which has left a low-pressure trough stretching from the southern Great Plains to the Great Lakes that has acted as a storm boulevard. "I see this going at least into the first part of June, Rouiller said. Bloomberg News The newest of a growing number of industrial residents in CentrePort is Techtop Canada Inc., a Canadian-Chinese joint venture company that distributes industrial electrical motors. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 16/5/2019 (955 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The newest of a growing number of industrial residents in CentrePort is Techtop Canada Inc., a Canadian-Chinese joint venture company that distributes industrial electrical motors. The company, based in the Greater Toronto Area, has distribution and sales offices in Toronto, Montreal, Moncton, N.B., and Burnaby, B.C., but company vice-president Shane Hickey said without boots on the ground (and equipment on hand), it was not getting a lot of traction in the Manitoba market. "We do have some customers in Manitoba, but we believe there is a lot more market to be had in central Canada that we could not get at from Ontario or B.C. because the distance was too great," Hickey said. The companys motors are made in China. They are built with a capacity of up to 250 horsepower and are used in industrial applications across many vertical sectors from oil and gas to garage doors and commercial and industrial HVAC systems, from packaging lines in manufacturing settings to escalators and baggage carousels. "With our products, if a line is down, they need something right away and having stock on hand locally is very helpful," Hickey said of the decision to open in Winnipeg. "On top of that, it also gives us access to northern Ontario," he said. The company has hired a couple of veteran salespeople with experience in Techtops target markets and intends to hire a handful more employees over the coming months. 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. It is moving into a 6,000-square-foot space in a new multi-tenant building in the Brookside Business Park. Robert Scaletta, senior vice-president, industrial, at Shindico Realty Inc., said, "They have leased a great unit in a brand-new multi-unit complex. That building is fully leased now and because the demand is so high, weve already started construction on a brand-new 83,000-square-foot building next door. In the near future, we expect Techtop to have a lot of new neighbours moving in." Diane Gray, the CEO of CentrePort, said Techtop is a good example of companies that benefit from the CentrePort location. In addition to importing products from the West Coast across the country, Hickey said it is not uncommon for the company to ship products by air to customers who need to access mission-critical products quickly. Being located in the inland port allows Techtop to be in close proximity to rail which brings its products in from the Port of Vancouver many trucking companies located at CentrePort, and Winnipeg Richardson International Airport, where they can send rush orders off by air cargo. martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca MONTREAL - Quebec's Davie shipyard is in line to receive a contract for the construction of two East Coast ferries, the federal government announced Friday. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/5/2019 (954 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. An overall view of the Davie shipyard is shown on Friday, December 14, 2018 in Levis, Quebec. Quebec's Davie shipyard is in line to receive a contract for the construction of two East Coast ferries, the federal government announced Friday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot MONTREAL - Quebec's Davie shipyard is in line to receive a contract for the construction of two East Coast ferries, the federal government announced Friday. 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. Ottawa will issue an Advance Contract Award Notice to the Chantier Davie, Transport Minister Marc Garneau said in a statement. That type of notice is awarded to a company the government believes is the only such firm capable of performing the work. Any other company that thinks it can meet the contract requirements has 15 days to notify the federal government. But Davie vice-president Frederick Boisvert said in an interview Friday he thinks it's done deal. Ottawa's maritime strategy states that ships bought by the federal government must be built in the country. The other major shipyards in Canada in Vancouver and Halifax are overloaded with work, Boisvert said. Seaspans Vancouver Shipyards and Irving Shipbuilding in Halifax received contracts under the Conservative government worth tens of billions of dollars to build military vessels while Davie was left out. Garneau's statement said Ottawa concluded that "Chantier Davie is the only known Canadian shipyard with the capacity, recent experience and capability to build these ferries in the required timeframe." The two new ships will replace MV Madeleine, which ferries passengers between Iles-de-la-Madeleine, Que., and Souris, P.E.I., as well as MV Holiday Island, which ferries people between Wood Islands, P.E.I., and Caribou, N.S. HALIFAX - A large, open-pit gold operation located in the historic Nova Scotia mining district of Moose River has been sold to an Australian firm. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/5/2019 (954 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Excavators work at Atlantic Gold Corporation's Touquoy open pit gold mine in Moose River Gold Mines, N.S. on Tuesday, June 6, 2017. A large, open-pit gold operation located in the historic district Nova Scotia mining district of Moose River has been sold to an Australian multinational firm.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan HALIFAX - A large, open-pit gold operation located in the historic Nova Scotia mining district of Moose River has been sold to an Australian firm. A news release issued earlier this week says St Barbara mining has acquired Atlantic Gold Corp., with plans to raise further capital for a possible listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Shareholders are receiving $2.90 per share for a total equity value of $722 million under terms of the takeover. The company has been mining gold in open pit operations at the Touquoy mine and has mapped out four deposits in some of the province's long-dormant underground gold districts. The modern mines differ vastly from the underground shafts which once honeycombed the area, and made Moose River the world-famous site of a 1936 cave-in and rescue. The Touquoy operation, just a 90-minute drive from Halifax, relies on huge volumes of ore going through mass crushing and leaching to draw out the tiny amounts of gold. Ready, Pet, Go! Leesa Dahl looks at everything to do with our furry, fuzzy, feathered, fishy (and more!) pet friends. Arrives in your inbox each Monday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. They are then melted into gold bars on the site. The growth of the mining in Nova Scotia near a major population centre and shipping facilities has been held up as a signal that strong gold prices and lower-cost open pit operations are capable of giving abandoned mining areas a fresh lease on life. However, local residents and environmental groups have expressed concern about how water stored in holding ponds will be treated prior to their return to local watersheds on the Eastern Shore. The Eastern Shore Forest Watch Association has argued nitrogen in the effluent in part from the explosives may lead to unnatural enrichment of surrounding waters, leading to potential fish kills. In addition, the movement of ore by heavy trucking to the crushing site has generated criticism due to noise and dust levels. The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency has been examining the impacts of the second open pit, the Beaver Dam project, which would have trucks carrying ore over rural highways to Touquoy. LOS ANGELES - A blowout at a Los Angeles natural gas well in 2015 that led to the largest-known release of methane in U.S. history was the result of a corroded pipe casing, safety failures by a utility and inadequate regulations, according to an investigation report released Friday. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/5/2019 (954 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. LOS ANGELES - A blowout at a Los Angeles natural gas well in 2015 that led to the largest-known release of methane in U.S. history was the result of a corroded pipe casing, safety failures by a utility and inadequate regulations, according to an investigation report released Friday. Southern California Gas Co. failed to investigate previous well failures at the Aliso Canyon storage field and didn't adequately assess its aging wells for disaster potential before the Oct. 23, 2015, blowout, the report released by the California Public Utilities Commission said. FILE - In this Feb. 18, 2016, file photo, SoCalGas CEO Dennis Arriola takes questions from the media during the announcement that the Porter Ranch gas leak has been permanently sealed during a news conference in Chatsworth, Calif. An investigation into the cause of the largest-known release of methane in the U.S. faults a California utility for the way it maintained its natural gas storage field before the massive 2015 blowout. The report released Friday, MAY 17, 2019, by the California Public Utilities Commission says Southern California Gas Co. did not assess its wells for disaster potential and did not investigate previous ruptures. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File) The disaster led to stricter state regulations and improved policies that would have addressed most of the causes, the report found. Robert Bea, an engineering professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said the report shows the blowout was a "predictable and preventable disaster" and likened it to oil spills, a dam spillway collapse and deadly wildfires he said were due in part to failures by regulators. "Collectively, we seem to be using 'reactive risk mismanagement': Patch and Pray, Watch it Fail, Fix it Fast, Return to Business As Usual As Soon As Possible," Bea said. "Several of my colleagues who live in other countries have called this approach as 'stuck in stupid.'" The blowout lasted nearly four months and was blamed for sickening thousands of Los Angeles residents, who moved out of their Porter Ranch homes to escape a sulfurous stench and a medley of maladies including headaches, nausea and nose bleeds. Blade Energy Partners, which conducted the yearslong investigation, said the company should have been able to plug the leak sooner. SoCalGas has spent more than $1 billion on the blowout with the majority going to temporarily relocate 8,000 families, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The utility still faces more than 390 lawsuits on behalf of approximately 48,500 people. Residents who live nearby the gas storage field continue to complain about health problems and many, along with some environmental groups, want the facility shut down. "This root cause analysis highlights gross negligence by SoCalGas and the failure to conduct basic inspections to determine safety of a highly dangerous operation," Alexandra Nagy, director of Food & Water Watch California, said in a statement. "Nothing short of the immediate shut down of Aliso Canyon will protect residents from harm." The field the largest of its kind in the West at the time of the blowout stores natural gas in retired oil wells, some dating to the 1940s. It injects gas more than a mile underground into the porous reservoir where crude was once found. The report criticized inadequate regulations at the time, which allowed the company to inject and withdraw gas into the field through an internal pipe and the casing that surrounded it. The casing was originally designed as a safety barrier for oil production, but was being used to pump greater volumes of gas in and out of the field under high pressure. It was that type of casing that ultimately ruptured due to corrosion from water and microbes. Gas seeped up through the earth and eventually blew a gaping crater around the well. Seven attempts to plug the well were tried over weeks, but none worked. The report said workers failed to conduct proper modeling tests in advance of the so-called kill attempts and didn't use dense enough fluid and at a high enough rate to accomplish the task. The report also said the company lacked systems to protect wells from corrosion and surveillance to monitor them in real time. Investigators found there had been 60 casing leaks before the incident that presented risks to safety and the environment but investigations into their causes were never conducted. "Furthermore, external corrosion on production casing had been identified in several wells," the report said. "Based on the data reviewed by Blade, no investigation of the causes was performed, and, therefore, the extent and consequences of the corrosion in the other wells was not understood." 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. Regulations also failed to require inspections of the thickness of casing walls and those tests were not routinely conducted by the utility. The well that ruptured was on a list of 20 old wells the company identified in 1988 to determine their condition. Over a two-year period, however, the well was not among the seven tested, which found corrosion on five had worn away 20% to 60% of the wall thickness of their casings. SoCalGas in a press release said the report showed it was in compliance with state regulations at the time of the blowout and it touted its safety enhancements since. New requirements put into place by state regulators after the blowout led to many of the wells being overhauled and updated and many being sealed. The field is also not allowed to operate at full capacity. Two state regulatory agencies, the CPUC and the Department of Conservation's oil and gas division, will use the findings to produce reports of their own that could lead to fines. SoCalGas reached a $120 million court settlement with the state attorney general. It was convicted in Los Angeles Superior Court of failing to quickly report the leak to state authorities and agreed to a $4 million settlement with the Los Angeles County district attorney. SELKIRK Selkirk and Peguis have struck a major new deal -- only two centuries after the last one, the 1817 Selkirk Treaty. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 16/5/2019 (955 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. SELKIRK Selkirk and Peguis have struck a major new deal -- only two centuries after the last one, the 1817 Selkirk Treaty. Peguis First Nation revealed Thursday it is building a $5 million strip mall in the City of Selkirk -- its first major investment in the city that once abutted its reserve before the band was relocated north. "This comes about as part of our relationship with the people of Selkirk dating back to 1817" when Chief Peguis and Lord Selkirk signed the Selkirk Treaty, said current Peguis Chief Glenn Hudson. "Today, we're repatriating our lands and our traditional homeland of the St. Peter's Reserve," Hudson said at the construction site for the mall, on the commercial strip of newer Manitoba Avenue. The history of the occasion was not lost on Mayor Larry Johannson either. "Lord Selkirk and Chief Peguis are looking down on this and saying it's about time," said Johannson. "I think they would be beaming that we're working this closely together." The Peguis band's 7,000 square-foot-mall mall is a two-pronged development. At the same time, it is building a 14,000 square foot mall at 1065 Portage Avenue for $6.5 million. Both malls are on schedule to open by the end of July. The Selkirk mall will house a gas bar, convenience store, pharmacy, chronic care centre, and cannabis store. It will create about 60 jobs. Johannson said the city has no qualms about approving a cannabis retailer. "We welcome it," he said. "It's legal and there are opportunities there." The Peguis cannabis store is associated with Denver-based MJardin Group, the largest legal cultivator of marijuana in the United States. MJardin is also affiliated with Growforce Holdings, which is converting the former Maple Leaf meatpacking plant in Transcona into an indoor cannabis farm. MJardin has been hired to provide management services for the Peguis cannabis operation. A name for the store has not yet been approved. The chronic care facility, to be run by Toronto-based firm Clinic Network Canada, also uses cannabis as medicine in treatment of long-term pain like rheumatoid arthritis. The clinic will also have a mobile health unit to service people on Peguis reserve, about 180 kilometres north of Selkirk. The band has been working with Interlake-East Regional Health Authority and the federal First Nation and Inuit Health Branch to gain the approval of Clinic Network treatments. Clinic Network President Wayne Cockburn said the treatment centres don't add to health care costs but rather alleviate hospitals from providing long-term treatment. "Hospitals are for acute care," he said. Hudson said the mall is being built with no government money whatsoever. The band is using debt financing for the majority of the cost. Selkirk's part in the deal is to provide infrastructure like water and waste hookup. In 2009, the band received $127 million in compensation for the illegal expropriation of its reserve in East Selkirk, which saw it relocated to north of Fisher Branch. 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. Hudson said the City of Selkirk is an important location for Peguis members historically but also today. About 600 band members live in the city, he said. The band will be either a 49 or 51 per cent partner with the tenant businesses and will own the building. Hudson said the business plan was drafted by the Peguis Development Corp. and the Chief Peguis Investment Corporation. The band aims to eventually declare the site an urban reserve. Johannson said the Peguis mall location is "one of the best lots on Manitoba Avenue and one of the last lots available." It's only a start for Peguis investment in Selkirk, Hudson said. The band owns six parcels of land just north of the city and plans to turn them into residential housing, he said. Selkirk is enjoying a growth spurt unlike any seen in half a century. A residential development that could be worth $55 million was announced earlier this year. The city also boasts a newly-minted $100 million Selkirk Regional Health Centre. bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca WASHINGTON - The Latest on President Donald Trump and U.S. trade tariffs (all times local): Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/5/2019 (954 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. President Donald Trump speaks at the National Association of REALTORS Legislative Meetings and Trade Expo, Friday, May 17, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) WASHINGTON - The Latest on President Donald Trump and U.S. trade tariffs (all times local): 4:50 p.m. Mexico's National Chamber of the Iron and Steel Industry is congratulating the country's officials on the agreement reached with the United States on ending steel and aluminum tariffs. The chamber says in a statement posted online that it considers the deal "a strong and very positive step for industry in the entire region." It also calls it "a great advance" toward ratifying the new trade deal between Mexico, the United States and Canada. The chamber added Friday afternoon that, "As we have reiterated on diverse occasions, free and fair trade in the region favours the competitiveness of North America." __ 4:30 p.m. The office of United State Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer says an agreement reached with Canada and Mexico allows the U.S. to reimpose steel and aluminum tariffs if there is a "surge" in imports of those products. President Donald Trump had imposed tariffs of 25% on imported steel and 10% on imported aluminum in the name of national security. But that brought retaliation on U.S.-made goods, hitting American manufacturers and farmers. The three nations agreed Friday to drop those tariffs. Lighthizer's office says the agreement ending the dispute ensures that if the U.S. does reimpose tariffs, Canada and Mexico must limit retaliation to American steel and aluminum products. The statement describes the agreement as "great news for American farmers" that continues to protect America's steel and aluminum industries. __ 4:10 p.m. Mexico is hailing as "very satisfactory" an agreement with the United States to end U.S. tariffs on Mexican steel and aluminum as well as lift retaliatory measures imposed by Mexico. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's office says in a statement that the deal restores "commercial exchange free of tariffs for these products." It says both countries will work to prevent imports of the metals at dumping prices, and have agreed to monitor aluminum and steel trade. Lopez Obrador's office says both countries also agreed to end pending litigation over the issue before the World Trade Organization. Mexico adds that it consulted with Canada and pushed three-way dialogue regarding the tariffs. __ 4 p.m. Toyota is expressing disappointment that President Donald Trump hasn't taken auto tariffs off the table. Declaring auto imports a threat to U.S. national security, Trump has delayed a decision on auto tariffs for six months, suggesting he could impose them if U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer can't wrangle concessions from Japan and the European Union on auto trade. Toyota called Trump's statement Friday "a major set-back for American consumers, workers and the auto industry" and said it "sends a message to Toyota that our investments are not welcomed, and the contributions from each of our employees across America are not valued." ___ 3:50 p.m. Some business and farm groups are cheering an agreement Friday lifting import taxes on steel and aluminum from Canada and Mexico. In turn, those two nations will eliminate tariffs they imposed on a wide range of U.S. goods, such as pork, whiskey and orange juice. Thomas Donohue, who leads the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, says the move "will bring immediate relief to American farmers and manufacturers." David Herring, president of the National Pork Producers Council, said Mexico's 20 per cent retaliatory tariff cost the industry about $1.5 billion annually. Herring says "we thank the administration for ending a trade dispute that has placed enormous financial strain on American pork producers." The groups are now turning their attention to efforts to advance a new trade deal to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. ___ 3:25 p.m. Vice-President Mike Pence says he'll be travelling to Canada on May 30 to meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in an effort to advance a new trade deal to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. The Trump administration is calling the deal, which includes Mexico, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA. Pence says he'll meet with Trudeau to advance the agreement as swiftly as possible. Pence tweets, "This is a WIN for all 3 nations!" But prospects for passage remain uncertain, as Democrats say changes need to be made to earn their support. Trump announced an agreement Friday to end steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada and Mexico, which some lawmakers said was necessary to gain their support. __ 2:50 p.m. President Donald Trump has announced a deal with Canada and Mexico that would scrap "major tariffs," ending a simmering trade dispute that began when the president imposed tariffs on imported steel and aluminum in the name of national security. Trump addressed the agreement while speaking before The National Association of Realtors. He urged Congress to approve a new trade pact between the three nations to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. Trump did not mention the tariffs he imposed last year on steel and aluminum imports. But he said "we'll be selling our product into those countries without the imposition of tariffs, or major tariffs." While the tariffs helped many U.S. steel and aluminum makers, the retaliatory tariffs hurt other sectors of the U.S. economy, such as agriculture. ___ 2:45 p.m. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada stayed strong in asking for a full lift of the Trump administration's tariffs on steel and aluminum. Trudeau said at a steel facility in Hamilton, Ontario, that now that there is a full lift of those tariffs Canada is going to work with the United States on ratification of the new trade agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico. President Donald Trump used a national security justification last year to impose tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. One of the motivations was to pressure Canada and Mexico into agreeing to a rewrite of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The Canadians and Mexicans did go along with a revamped regional trade deal that was to Trump's liking. But the administration refused to lift the taxes on the metals imports anyway. Trudeau says the Trump administration's national security justification didn't make sense and it was hurting workers and consumers in Canada and the United States. ___ 1:50 p.m. The United States has agreed to remove steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada in what was a key roadblock to a new trade deal and a sore point in relations. Canada, in turn, has agreed to scrap the tariffs it imposed in retaliation. In a joint statement on Friday, the two countries said they have agreed to eliminate the tariffs within 48 hours. Sources in the U.S. and Canada said the Trump administration also has reached a deal to remove steel and aluminum tariffs from Mexico. President Donald Trump last year slapped tariffs on imported steel and aluminum from China and a number of other nations, including Canada, invoking a rarely used provision of a 1962 law to claim that the foreign metals posed a threat to U.S. national security. The administration retained the tariffs on Canada and Mexico even after the two countries agreed to Trump's demands to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement, which went into effect in 1994. Removal of those tariffs on Canada has become a key demand for the administration to win support of the reworked trade agreement. ___ 1:40 p.m. The United States has reached a deal to remove steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada and Mexico, while those nations would scrap retaliatory tariffs they imposed on U.S. products. That's according to sources in the U.S. and Canada who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of an announcement. The deal removes a major hurdle to the passage of a new pact to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs last year of 25 per cent on steel imports and 10 per cent on imported aluminum. He employed a rarely used 1962 law that empowers him to put a levy on products that the Commerce Department determines threaten national security. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau planned a news conference this afternoon after earlier speaking with Trump. ___ 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. 9 a.m. President Donald Trump is delaying any decision to impose tariffs on car and auto part imports, deciding against ratcheting up trade disputes or impacting talks with European nations and Japan. Trump announced his decision to delay for up to six months in a proclamation issued by the White House on Friday. He was required to make a decision on Commerce Department recommendations aimed to protect the U.S. auto industry, based on national security concerns. Trump directed his trade team to pursue negotiations and address the impact that imports are having on the U.S. auto industry and its ability to invest in new research and development that he says is critical to the nation's security. Trump says he'll decide whether to take further action in 180 days. WASHINGTON - Bogged down in a sprawling trade dispute with U.S. rival China, President Donald Trump took steps Friday to ease tensions with America's allies lifting import taxes on Canadian and Mexican steel and aluminum and delaying auto tariffs that would have hurt Japan and Europe. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/5/2019 (954 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. President Donald Trump arrives at John F. Kennedy Airport Thursday, May 16, 2019, in New York. Trump is in New York for a fundraiser. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) WASHINGTON - Bogged down in a sprawling trade dispute with U.S. rival China, President Donald Trump took steps Friday to ease tensions with America's allies lifting import taxes on Canadian and Mexican steel and aluminum and delaying auto tariffs that would have hurt Japan and Europe. By removing the metals tariffs on Canada and Mexico, Trump cleared a key roadblock to a North American trade pact his team negotiated last year. As part of Friday's arrangement, the Canadians and Mexicans agreed to scrap retaliatory tariffs they had imposed on U.S. goods. "I'm pleased to announce that we've just reached an agreement with Canada and Mexico, and we'll be selling our product into those countries without the imposition of tariffs, or major tariffs," Trump said in a speech to the National Association of Realtors. In a joint statement, the U.S. and Canada said they would work to prevent cheap imports of steel and aluminum from entering North America. The provision appeared to target China, which has long been accused of flooding world markets with subsidized metal, driving down world prices and hurting U.S. producers. The countries could also reimpose the tariffs if they faced a "surge" in steel or aluminum imports. In Washington, some were urging Trump to take advantage of the truce with U.S. allies to get even tougher with China. "China is our adversary," said Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb. "Canada and Mexico are our friends. The president is right to increase pressure on China for their espionage, their theft of intellectual property, and their hostility toward the rule of law. The president is also right to be deescalating tension with our North American allies." Earlier Friday, the White House said Trump is delaying for six months any decision to slap tariffs on foreign cars, a move that would have hit Japan and the Europe especially hard. Trump still is hoping to use the threat of auto tariffs to pressure Japan and the European Union into making concessions in ongoing trade talks. "If agreements are not reached within 180 days, the president will determine whether and what further action needs to be taken," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement. Cars for export and import are stored in front of containers on Thursday, May 16, 2019 at the harbor in Bremerhaven, Germany, with 2 million vehicles per annum one of the largest automobile hubs in the world. US President Donald Trump is delaying any decision to impose tariffs on car and auto-part imports for now. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner) In imposing the metals tariffs and threatening the ones on autos, the president was relying on a rarely used weapon in the U.S. trade war arsenal Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 which lets the president impose tariffs on imports if the Commerce Department deems them a threat to national security. But the steel and aluminum tariffs were also designed to coerce Canada and Mexico into agreeing to a rewrite of North American free trade pact. In fact, the Canadians and Mexicans did go along last year with a revamped regional trade deal that was to Trump's liking. But the administration had refused to lift the taxes on their metals coming into the United States until Friday. The new trade deal the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement needs approval from legislatures in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Several key U.S. lawmakers were threatening to reject the pact unless the tariffs were removed. And Canada had suggested it wouldn't ratify any deal with tariffs still in place. Thomas Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said the lifting of the tariffs "will bring immediate relief to American farmers and manufacturers. Critically, this action delivers a welcome burst of momentum for the USMCA in Congress." Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau credited his government for holding out to get the tariffs removed. "We stayed strong," he said. "That's what workers asked for. These tariffs didn't make sense around national security. They were hurting Canadian consumers, Canadian workers and American consumers and American workers." Trump had faced a Saturday deadline to decide what to do about the auto tariffs. Taxing auto tariffs would mark a major escalation in Trump's aggressive trade policies and likely would meet resistance in Congress. The United States last year imported $192 billion worth of passenger vehicles and $159 billion in auto parts. "I have serious questions about the legitimacy of using national security as a basis to impose tariffs on cars and car parts," Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement Friday. He's working on legislation to scale back the president's authority to impose national security tariffs under Section 232. In a statement, the White House said that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has determined that imported vehicles and parts are a threat to national security. Trump deferred action on tariffs for 180 days to give negotiators time to work out deals but threatened them if talks break down. In justifying tariffs for national security reasons, Commerce found that the U.S. industrial base depends on technology developed by American-owned auto companies to maintain U.S. military superiority. Because of rising imports of autos and parts over the past 30 years, the market share of U.S.-owned automakers has fallen. That has caused a lag in research and development spending which is "weakening innovation and, accordingly, threatening to impair our national security," the statement said. The market share of vehicles produced and sold in the U.S. by American-owned automakers, the statement said, has declined from 67% in 1985 to 22% in 2017. But the statistics don't match market share figures from the industry. A message was left Friday seeking an explanation of how Commerce calculated the 22%. In 2017, General Motors, Ford, Fiat Chrysler and Tesla combined had a 44.5% share of U.S. auto sales, according to Autodata Corp. Those figures include vehicles produced in other countries. 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. It's possible that the Commerce Department didn't include Fiat Chrysler, which is now legally headquartered in The Netherlands but has a huge research and development operation near Detroit. It had 12% of U.S. auto sales in 2017. The Commerce figures also do not account for research by foreign automakers. Toyota, Hyundai-Kia, Subaru, Honda and others have significant research centres in the U.S. Meanwhile, Trump is locked in a high stakes rumble with China. The U.S. accuses Beijing of stealing trade secrets and forcing American companies to hand over technology in a head-long push to challenge American technological dominance. The two countries have slapped tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars in each other's products. Talks broke off last week with no resolution. The hostilities between the world's two biggest economies have weighed heavily the past couple of weeks on the U.S. stock market, threatening a long rally that Trump touted as a vindication of his economic policies. Opening a new front in the trade wars against EU and Japan likely would have worried investors even more. ___ Rob Gillies reported from Toronto and Tom Krisher from Detroit. Darlene Superville, Deb Riechmann and Martin Crutsinger in Washington and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this story. ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Voters in Newfoundland and Labrador registered their frustration with traditional politics Thursday by reducing the incumbent Liberals to minority status a rare event in the province's history. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 16/5/2019 (955 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Ches Crosbie, leader of the Provincial Progressive Conservative party in front of his campaign bus in St. John's on Sunday, May 12, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Daly ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Voters in Newfoundland and Labrador registered their frustration with traditional politics Thursday by reducing the incumbent Liberals to minority status a rare event in the province's history. The last time a sitting government won less than a majority was in 1971 when the province's first premier, Joey Smallwood, failed to win his seventh consecutive majority government. With all polls reporting, Premier Dwight Ball's Liberals had won 20 of the legislature's 40 seats, the Tories led by political rookie Ches Crosbie took 15, the New Democrats won three and two Independents were elected. On the national level, the Liberals' tepid win is significant because it ends a string of victories by right-leaning parties over sitting governments four of them Liberal in the last five provincial elections. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau congratulated Ball in a tweet Thursday night. "I look forward to continuing our work together to keep growing the province's economy and creating good, middle-class jobs." Trudeau said. Ball, a former pharmacist, struck a conciliatory tone in a victory speech that focused on his commitment to work with other members of the legislature. He never mentioned the party's loss of majority status. Residents arrive to vote in the provincial election at Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church in Deer Lake, Newfoundland and Labrador on Thursday, May 16, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan "It is important that we work together for the good of all the people of Newfoundland and Labrador," he told a crowd in Corner Brook. "I will continue to welcome collaboration within the house of assembly." The premier went on to remind supporters how the Liberals have worked hard to cope with a dire economic landscape. "We have overcome the worst financial situation that this province has ever faced," he said, referring to the fact that the province's economy has sputtered since world oil prices plummeted in 2014. In 2015, when his party was elected, Ball promised no public service layoffs and no tax increases. But the province's bleak economic outlook led him to break both of those promises, causing a public backlash. With a population of 525,000, Newfoundland and Labrador's debt is more than $13 billion the heaviest per capita burden in the country. And its debt-to-GDP ratio considered a good benchmark of economic health stands at 47 per cent, by far the worst in Canada. After his muted victory speech, the 62-year-old premier shifted gears and took aim at Crosbie. "Let's keep in mind that the electorate spoke tonight," Ball told reporters. "Ches Crosbie didn't get what he was looking for. He ran a very dirty campaign." Crosbie, the 65-year-old son of former federal cabinet minister John Crosbie, delivered an ominous-sounding speech in St. John's, predicting Ball's government would be defeated within a year. Premier Dwight Ball makes his way through the crowd after winning the provincial election in Corner Brook,Newfoundland and Labrador on Thursday, May 16, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan "The tide is going out on the Ball Liberal government," he said in a monotone. "We now have a situation of constitutional instability .... The popular vote is extremely close, within a razor's edge." Crosbie said he would soon be speaking to the newly elected New Democrats and Independents. "I am not conceding victory to the Liberals," he said. "They will have to struggle ... to hang on to power." With the Liberals just one seat shy of the 21 needed for a majority, the opposition parties don't have enough seats to topple the government. And the Liberals will be looking for ways to reach that magic number. Speculation has already focused on the two elected Independents, Eddie Joyce and Paul Lane. Both were once members of the Liberal caucus, though Lane also served as a Tory. As well, a recount will be held in the riding of Labrador West, where an NDP candidate defeated Liberal cabinet minister Graham Letto by five votes. Ball won his riding in western Newfoundland. Crosbie won his riding in St. John's, and NDP Leader Alison Coffin, a former economics professor, also won in the capital. When the provincial election was called, the Liberals held 27 seats in the 40-seat legislature, the Tories had eight, the New Democratic Party held two and there were three Independents. The Liberals were considered front-runners at the beginning. But the Tories closed the gap toward the end of the race. In the end, the Liberals took 44 per cent of the popular vote and the Tories 43 per cent. The NDP was a distant third at six per cent. There were no Green candidates in the race, but nine Independents were in the running. The NDP fielded only 14 candidates, saying they weren't prepared for a snap election call. During the campaign, Ball stressed that the province's economic picture had improved by citing an increase in employment over the past year. Statistics Canada figures show 7,000 more people were working in the province in March when compared with the same month last year. Ball also promised he would balance the province's books by the end of his term in office, the same deadline promised by Crosbie. The Liberals have pledged to scrap the tax on auto insurance and draft a new autism action plan. As for Crosbie, it appears the electorate wasn't won over by his pledge to do things differently he even referred to himself as "a new broom." 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. Part of the problem was that his Conservatives have taken much of the blame for delays and blown budgets plaguing the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project, still under construction in central Labrador. The megaproject, which the previous Tory government approved in late 2012, is two years behind schedule, and the projected cost has doubled to more than $12.7 billion. Crosbie has been stung by forecasts suggesting residential electricity rates will double by 2021 to pay off the project. As well, an ongoing public inquiry has hurt the Tories. Since last fall, former Tory cabinet ministers and premiers have testified about alleged mismanagement and cost overruns. Crosbie's campaign also had its share of glitches. Less than a week before the vote, Crosbie announced that Tory candidate Michael Normore would be ejected from caucus if he won his riding in Labrador. Normore had used social media to say he was opposed to legal abortion and same-sex marriage views incompatible with the party's positions. Normore lost Thursday. Concordia Hospital is still on track to lose its emergency room by the end of June, but the Pallister government is attempting to soften the blow for residents of northeast Winnipeg. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 16/5/2019 (955 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Concordia Hospital is still on track to lose its emergency room by the end of June, but the Pallister government is attempting to soften the blow for residents of northeast Winnipeg. On Thursday, Health Minister Cameron Friesen announced Concordia's ER will be transformed into an urgent care centre in the next four to six weeks. The move represents a shift for the Progressive Conservatives, who, until recently, had maintained their city hospital reorganization plan was sound and proceeding on schedule. However, two weeks ago, Friesen announced the government had brought in health consultant Dr. David Peachey to review the second phase of the plan. Over the weekend, the consultant, whose report to the province two years ago had served as the blueprint for change, delivered his recommendations to the minister, which were accepted by the government. Peachey recommended an urgent care centre for Concordia, rather than the proposed walk-in clinic, in the wake of the loss of the institution's emergency room. The plan to transform the ER at Seven Oaks General Hospital to an urgent care centre in September will remain in place. In his original report to government, Peachey had recommended the city have three ERs and three urgent care centres; the government is now following that advice. (Victoria General Hospital's ER was converted to an urgent care centre last fall.) However, the expert recommended a six-month pause on all other proposed changes, including the reallocation of beds at various sites and changes in cardiac care and intravenous care. Winnipegs ER changes Concordia CONVERT TO URGENT CARE ( JUNE 2019) Seven Oaks CONVERT TO URGENT CARE (SEPTEMBER 2019) Victoria CONVERT TO URGENT CARE HSC REMAINS OPEN St. Boniface REMAINS OPEN Grace REMAINS OPEN Misericordia CLOSED Graeme Bruce / Winnipeg Free Press Source: WRHA Winnipegs ER changes Concordia Victoria Seven Oaks CONVERT TO URGENT CARE ( JUNE 2019) CONVERT TO URGENT CARE (SEPTEMBER 2019) CONVERT TO URGENT CARE HSC St. Boniface Grace REMAINS OPEN REMAINS OPEN REMAINS OPEN Misericordia CLOSED Graeme Bruce / Winnipeg Free Press; Source: WRHA Winnipegs ER changes Seven Oaks CONVERT TO URGENT CARE (SEPTEMBER 2019) Concordia HSC CONVERT TO URGENT CARE (JUNE 2019) REMAINS OPEN St. Boniface Grace Misericordia REMAINS OPEN REMAINS OPEN CLOSED Concordia Hospitals ER was slated for a full closure in June and was to be converted into a walk-in clinic. It will instead be a urgent care centre after pushback from the community. Victoria CONVERT TO URGENT CARE Graeme Bruce / Winnipeg Free Press; Source: Winnipeg Regional Health Authority "I would emphasize there is no road map when it comes to fundamental health-care system change," Friesen told a news conference at the Manitoba Legislative Building. "Transformation of the health-care system is complex. There are bound to be challenges along the way." The health minister also admitted the revised plan for Concordia and the pause placed on other planned changes came about, at least in part, due to "gaps" the health system has discovered in its data collection and analysis. Responsibility for that work will now shift from individual hospitals and the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority to the new provincial health authority, Shared Health. Timeline April 2017 The Manitoba government announces the first wave of sweeping changes to the health-care system, which includes closing Concordia Hospital's ER. The Winnipeg hospital will continue offering orthopedic care and geriatric rehabilitation services, plus acting as a transitional point for patients waiting to get into personal care homes. click to read more April 2017 The Manitoba government announces the first wave of sweeping changes to the health-care system, which includes closing Concordia Hospital's ER. The Winnipeg hospital will continue offering orthopedic care and geriatric rehabilitation services, plus acting as a transitional point for patients waiting to get into personal care homes. June 2018 The province says it will replace Concordia's ER with a walk-in clinic in 2019, to be open 365 days a year, 12 hours a day. Then-health minister Kelvin Goertzen notes the government listened to area residents who wanted to see a continued walk-in service at the hospital. May 2019 After asking consultant Dr. David Peachey to review the pace of changes to the health-care system thus far, the government changes tack again on Concordia. At Peachey's urging, the province will convert the hospital's ER into an urgent care centre within four to six weeks. Close "There were gaps in the way that information was being shared. There were gaps in the way that medical providers and front-line workers were not being able to get their concerns across," Friesen said. Opposition leaders quickly denounced the government's announcement, while the Manitoba Nurses Union called the prescription for Concordia a "half-measure." NDP Leader Wab Kinew strode into the media briefing room seconds after Friesen departed to blast the government's amended blueprint. MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Wab Kinew, Leader of the MB NDP and Leader of the Opposition "Well, from the same team that brought you a failing health-care plan for Manitoba, here comes Take 2," he said. "The governments going to try again, but its clear that the plan that they brought forward last time was a disaster." Kinew noted many Concordia employees have already left their jobs for other opportunities, due to the hospital's pending ER closure. "And now theyre supposed to do a 180 (degrees) with four to six weeks before the ER closes at Concordia? Ask yourself: why is this happening? Is it happening because this is whats in the best interests of patients who need care in Manitoba? Or is this just happening because (Premier Brian) Pallister is worried about how hes going to do in the next election?" What's the difference? Emergency: Patients should call 911 and/or visit an emergency room (open 24-7) if they (or someone they know) are having a stroke, experiencing facial weakness or extremity weakness; having a heart attack or chest pain; unable to wake up or unconscious; having a sudden severe headache or confusion; experiencing a seizure or severe head injury; having severe difficulty breathing or trouble speaking; experiencing uncontrolled or severe bleeding; having major trauma, like the loss of a limb; undergoing a severe allergic reaction or burns. click to read more Emergency: Patients should call 911 and/or visit an emergency room (open 24-7) if they (or someone they know) are having a stroke, experiencing facial weakness or extremity weakness; having a heart attack or chest pain; unable to wake up or unconscious; having a sudden severe headache or confusion; experiencing a seizure or severe head injury; having severe difficulty breathing or trouble speaking; experiencing uncontrolled or severe bleeding; having major trauma, like the loss of a limb; undergoing a severe allergic reaction or burns. Winnipeg hospitals with emergency departments: Health Sciences Centre, St. Boniface Hospital, Grace Hospital, Concordia Hospital (until June 2019), Seven Oaks General Hospital (until September 2019). Urgent Care: Urgent care centres are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and meant to address urgent but not life-threatening health concerns. Those include: illnesses, injuries or infections; dehydration; cuts that won't stop bleeding; injured limbs that may be broken or sprained. Winnipeg hospitals with urgent care centres: Victoria General Hospital, Concordia (after June 2019), Seven Oaks General (after September 2019) Unsure where to go? If your not sure whether to visit emergency, urgent care or another clinic option, call Health Links at 204-788-8200 or 1-888-315-9257 for advice. Close Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont also attributed the government's change of pace to politicking, noting: "Were going into an election, so theyre playing defence." The Pallister government appeared not to listen to hundreds of Manitobans who previously told it not to close Concordia's ER, choosing instead to listen to the advice of an outside consultant, Lamont said. "The idea that you can fix something while youre demolishing it at the same time is completely ridiculous... Theyre trying to paper over all the cracks in their plan." The nurses union said converting Concordia to an urgent care centre still leaves northeast Winnipeg and the surrounding communities underserved, and won't alleviate the pressure that's been put on remaining emergency departments. "Changing the plan this late in the process also creates real human resources challenges, as many nurses have already selected new positions in different areas," MNU president Darlene Jackson said in a statement. Debbie Boissonneault, president of CUPE Local 204, which represents support workers at Concordia, said the announcement brings yet more uncertainty. The union had been informed in December that 23 full-time staff would be laid off, she said. A bumping process took place with more senior workers being allowed to stay at the hospital. But others have moved on to new jobs. Friesen acknowledged staffing at Concordia will be a challenge. He said that is why the government moved quickly to communicate its revised plan. He also expressed the opinion the decision to open a 24-7 urgent care centre at Concordia should alleviate concerns by orthopedic surgeons at the hospital, who feared their patients would lack adequate medical backup. larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca jessica.botelho@freepress.mb.ca 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. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 16/5/2019 (955 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Pedestrian safety took centre stage at city hall as councillors discussed lowering residential speed limits and expanding school-zone driving restrictions. Councillors clashed over whether Winnipeg is doing enough to develop a comprehensive road-safety plan. PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES City Councillor for Transcona, Shawn Nason. In the shadow of a deadly first half of 2019 six pedestrians have been killed in the city thus far Coun. Shawn Nason (Transcona) said he plans to table a motion on Monday, seeking to reduce residential speed limits throughout Winnipeg. The rookie councillor is also planning to call for an expansion of school-zone driving restrictions that would result in reduced speed limits year-round for 12 hours per day. "With regards to residential (neighbourhoods), Im open to having dialogue on either reducing it to 40 or 30 (kilometres per hour)," Nason told reporters following Thursdays monthly city council meeting. "I think thats a good dialogue to have, and I think that would go towards reducing risks on residential streets and not having a major impact on people getting around the city." Research shows dropping the speed limit to 30 km/h from 50 km/h would add an additional 48 seconds for every kilometre travelled during a commute, Nason said. Thats not an unreasonable delay, he said. Other Canadian municipalities are looking at similar measures. Vancouver is in the process of piloting 30-km/h speed limits in residential zones, while Edmonton city council is discussing the possibility of lowering its limits in such neighbourhoods. Nason said Winnipeg council has repeatedly looked at it over the years, yet no action has been taken. "I get tired when people use reports as a crutch. As a council, it sounds like we can say, Lets go this route. The reports have been done. I think its high time we take some action on this and show some leadership," he said. So far this year, eight pedestrians have been killed in Manitoba. In an average year, there are 12 pedestrian deaths in Manitoba, officials said. On Wednesday night, a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle in an alleged hit-and-run on Portage Avenue near the Viscount Gort Hotel. The victim was taken to hospital in critical condition, but was subsequently upgraded to stable. The Winnipeg Police Service said a suspect turned himself in shortly after the collision. During Thursdays meeting, Coun. Janice Lukes (Waverley West) repeatedly questioned Coun. Matt Allard (St. Boniface), chairman of the public works committee, about when the city will have its own "comprehensive road-safety strategy." 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. Three attempts by Lukes to have the question answered and to get a firm timeline nailed down were sidestepped. Instead, Allard repeatedly pointed to the fact the city subscribes to the provinces "Towards Zero" strategy, while highlighting piecemeal initiatives the municipal government has been implementing in the past year. Efforts aimed at getting people to drive slower and safer werent limited to city hall. Manitoba Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler held a news conference Thursday to warn motorists to slow down while passing construction sites and crews that are working outside. "A lot of pedestrians are becoming fatalities on our roads, and it is a really serious issue that we have to address. We just had two fatalities again on a road in just the last 48 hours," Schuler said. A man and a woman were struck and killed while crossing Nairn Avenue at Panet Road on Tuesday. kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca Ryan Thorpe Reporter Ryan Thorpe likes the pace of daily news, the feeling of a broadsheet in his hands and the stress of never-ending deadlines hanging over his head. Read full biography Eight months after the legalization of cannabis in this country, some parents are still struggling to find their footing when it comes to discussing the drug with their teenage kids. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/5/2019 (954 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Opinion Eight months after the legalization of cannabis in this country, some parents are still struggling to find their footing when it comes to discussing the drug with their teenage kids. Thats not to say the conversation around cannabis hasnt always been a challenging one. After all, even when cannabis was illegal, it was still readily available. In fact, the numbers show that one in five Canadian teenagers between the ages of 15 and 19 used cannabis in the past year. And we know the rate of use among youth between the ages of 15 and 24 is twice as high as those 25 years of age and older. But it is also fair to say that legalization people over the age of 19 can now walk into an upscale store to buy the drug has added a new dimension to the discussion. Teenagers say they start using cannabis for various reasons, including peer pressure, to deal with stress, to help get to sleep and to stimulate their appetite. They also have a lot of misconceptions about cannabis. Many think its a benign drug, that they cant become addicted, that its safe to use with alcohol and that its safe to use and drive. But scientific evidence tells us that none of these things are true. It also tells us that regular cannabis use among those between the ages of 15 and 24 is associated with an increased risk of long-term psychotic symptoms, plus increased anxiety and depression over time. Teens and young adults are particularly at risk for the negative effects cannabis use has on their developing brains during adolescence, especially in the areas of impulse control, regulating their emotions and problem-solving. So how do you talk to your teenager about the potential dangers associated with cannabis? The Cannabis Talk Kit, produced by non-profit Drug Free Kids Canada, is a good place to start. It has all kinds of information, including a detailed guide on how to talk to your kids and live video talks with teenage volunteers that allow you to "practise" how to have a conversation with your own kid about cannabis. Among other things, the guide suggests you should keep an open mind when talking to your kids. Dont judge or condemn them if they are thinking of, or are already using cannabis. Put yourself in their shoes. Ask about why they feel they need to use cannabis and express concern and support. Resist the urge to lecture, as nothing shuts teens down faster. This means you should avoid telling them that using cannabis is stupid or bad, or that you disapprove of their behaviour. Instead, focus on them. Talk to them about how cannabis is harmful for their health and brain, and how you are worried and concerned about them. Your teen might need to warm up to the idea of having a conversation about drug use. Ask them if their friends at school talk about cannabis. If they still dont want to talk, tell them youll be there when they have things on their mind. Ready, Pet, Go! Leesa Dahl looks at everything to do with our furry, fuzzy, feathered, fishy (and more!) pet friends. Arrives in your inbox each Monday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. The guide also provides tips on how to respond in difficult situations. For example, if your teenager tells you that they are only using cannabis once in a while and that it is not a big deal, perhaps you could respond by pointing out that using the drug even a little could pose a problem because their brain is still developing. This will get them to think about the future and how they can set boundaries around drug use. Sometimes, their questions may rattle you. For example, a teen might challenge you on your own behaviour, including drinking alcohol or using cannabis. They might see you come home from work and pour a drink or smoke a joint in order to relax. One way to respond is to reflect on your own habits. Its important to think about the effect your behaviour may be having on your kid. Remember, you are one of the most powerful influences in your childs life. For more helpful information, visit drugfreekidscanada.org, download the guide and watch the videos. Sukhy Mann is a consultant with the Manitoba Parent Line, a telephone health information service with the Provincial Health Contact Centre at the Misericordia Health Centre. If you are looking for helpful parenting information, call 204-945-4777 or toll-free 1-877-945-4777. A woman who says she helped Perez Adaryll Cleveland dispose of a dead body told a Winnipeg jury after 6 1/2 years in an abusive relationship, she would have done anything he asked. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/5/2019 (954 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A woman who says she helped Perez Adaryll Cleveland dispose of a dead body told a Winnipeg jury after 6 1/2 years in an abusive relationship, she would have done anything he asked. "I don't know how to explain it. I went through many years of being with this guy, and I was under a severe amount of emotional control. I mean, he probably could have told me to try and touch the sun and I would have done it," Holley Sullivan testified Friday during Cleveland's first-degree murder trial. Jennifer Barrett tried to run away before she died, but returned to the home she lived in with her accused killer and five other woman, according to testimony from one of the women who lived there. (Facebook) Cleveland, 46, has pleaded not guilty in the August 2016 death of 42-year-old Jennifer Barrett. He is standing trial in the Court of Queen's Bench before Chief Justice Glenn Joyal and a jury of seven men and five women. Barrett and Sullivan were two of Cleveland's five "wives," the jury was told, although Sullivan said she never had any kind of contract with the man she met while working in a Toronto call centre in 2010. Sullivan was one of six women living with Cleveland in a Waverley Heights home (including his adult daughter) when Barrett died. Sullivan testified she didn't see Cleveland attacking Barrett, but she heard screams coming from the basement. Before she died, Barrett tried to run away, Sullivan said. Dispatched by Cleveland to look for Barrett, she said she checked women's shelters, the airport and bus station. Barrett returned to the home about 18 hours later. Sullivan said she convinced Barrett to come back inside because Cleveland had told her the attacks would stop. Barrett was already badly beaten "black and blue" all over and she couldn't lift her arms, Sullivan said. Barrett went to Cleveland's bedroom in the basement, Sullivan said, and she never saw her alive again. A few days later, she said Cleveland told her Barrett was dead, and instructed her to get rid of the body. Perez Adaryll Cleveland had five 'wives' and is accused of killing one of them, Jennifer Barrett, and getting two of the others to get rid of the body. Now 30 years old and serving a three-year prison sentence for acting as an accessory to murder after the fact, Sullivan was a university student studying science when she met Cleveland. He enlisted her help after Barrett's death because of her education, Sullivan said, and she found herself researching "liquid cremation." Members of Barrett's family watched in the courtroom gallery Friday as Sullivan described an eight-day process of trying to speed up the decomposition of the former nurse's body. She used drain cleaner, a propane heater and a steel barrel, which was moved into the backyard of 38 Forest Lake Dr. Police found the barrel and Barrett's DNA when they searched the house Dec. 1, 2016, about a month after Cleveland and the other women had already cleared out. Investigators were unable to determine how Barrett died. On the witness stand, Sullivan described the days-long torture and interrogations she said Cleveland subjected her to over the years, often spurred by jealousy and paranoia. During the first of those violent assaults, he duct taped her hands and feet, cut her thighs with a meat cleaver, and demanded the names and addresses of her family members and threatened to hunt them down if she ever tried to get away. The threat stayed with her as the group moved around the country, she said, listing a litany of domestic violence incidents to the jury: Cleveland once tied her to a bed and tried to sexually assault her with a hot curling iron; a scar on her right cheek is the result of him using a boxcutter and threatening to cut her eye out. Holley Sullivan described how she tried to speed up the decomposition of the former nurse's body, which was left in this steel barrel. (Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench handout) "If you cannot listen, then you must feel," Sullivan said Cleveland would often tell her. Her testimony shed light on the inner workings of the group. Sullivan said she was often the only one of the women who went to work, and her role was to complete "missions" to fund the rest of the household. She would hop from service job to service job, skimming debit cards along the way, and then use the fraudulently-obtained card numbers in the United States. When she was arrested on fraud charges in Winnipeg and had to serve 14 months in provincial jail, she said Cleveland blamed her for "ruining his life" and told her she owed him $80,000 for his retirement. Before her release in June 2016, Sullivan said there was "very little" drug use in the house. Afterward, Cleveland and almost all of the women were using meth, she testified. She, too, developed a daily meth habit. During the time she was disposing of Barrett's body, Sullivan said she was awake for eight days in a row, while Cleveland was staying at a hotel. The basement at 38 Forest Lake Dr., where Jennifer Barrett was beaten to death. (Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench handout) Crown prosecutor Chris Vanderhooft asked her why she didn't call police once he was out of the house, and why she continued to see him daily at various hotels around Winnipeg when he went into hiding. "That was the first time in my life I was probably most scared of him than I ever was, right? I didn't know what else to do, so I just did what he said," she testified. 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. After Barrett's death, Sullivan said Cleveland became convinced she was part of a conspiracy to ruin him. He and the rest of the women abandoned the Forest Lake Drive home and moved into a place on Magnus Avenue. Sullivan said she was tortured in the basement there for several days, until she managed to escape in November 2016. "He said to me that Jen was an accident, but he was going to kill me intentionally and enjoy it," Sullivan testified. She is to be cross-examined Tuesday by Cleveland's defence lawyer, Steven Brennan. katie.may@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @thatkatiemay The blue-white-and-red Icelandic flag was raised at city hall Friday morning during a ceremony with Icelands President Gudni Th. Johannesson and Canadian-born first lady Eliza Reid. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/5/2019 (954 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The blue-white-and-red Icelandic flag was raised at city hall Friday morning during a ceremony with Icelands President Gudni Th. Johannesson and Canadian-born first lady Eliza Reid. Johannesson and Reid are in Winnipeg to attend the annual convention of the Icelandic National League of North America, which is marking its 100th anniversary. There are about 16,000 members of Winnipeg's large Icelandic community, and Johannesson used his speech to reference the common immigrant story of moving to a new land but remaining close to the heritage of the homeland. "It makes us Icelanders proud (and) privileged to feel and sense that here in Canada and also the U.S., we have these descendants of Icelanders who immigrated, who cherish and value the connection with the old land, who cherish and treasure their cultural heritage." Johannesson said Iceland is a country of poets and he quoted lyrics from Bruce Cockburns One Day I Walk, which he said reflected the immigrants story: "One day I walk in flowers, One day I walk on stones; Today I walk in hours, One day I shall be home." A crowd of about 50 people gathered outside city hall for the morning event. Flag raisings are a common occurrence at city hall but Mayor Brian Bowman noted it usually doesnt involve the president of a foreign country. 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. Icelands presidency is largely a ceremonial role, similar to Canadas Governor General, established in 1944 when Iceland became a republic and replaced the role of king. The post is occupied in four-year terms by a candidate elected by popular vote. An academic and historian, Johannesson, 50, was elected in 2016 in the fallout of the Panama Papers scandal that tarnished the reputation of his predecessor, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, whose wifes family business was found to have avoided paying taxes through the use of tax havens in the British Virgin Islands. Johannesson said he and his wife will be spending the weekend in Winnipeg. "We look forward to cherishing our heritage together in a positive and inclusive manner as we look positive towards the future." aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca The visit by Representative Case was the first of its kind by a US congress member to the Egyptian Parliament in three years. Gamal Essam El-Din reports Edward Case, the US Representative for the state of Hawaii and a member of the US Congress's Appropriations Committee, visited Egypt's parliament this week. A press statement said Case's visit was the first of its kind to the Egyptian parliament in three years. "The last time US congressmen visited Egypt's parliament was three years ago," said the statement. Representative Case met with Kamal Amer, the head of parliaments defence and national security committee, and Karim Darwish, the head of the parliament's foreign affairs committee. "They discussed the importance of strategic relations between Egypt and the United States and the ongoing close cooperation between the two countries on a number of issues," said the statement, adding that "the meeting also covered Egypt's influential role in the Middle East, particularly in the area of fighting terrorism and finding solutions for regional problems." "They also emphasised the importance of holding joint meetings and discussions on a regular basis between Egyptian MPs and US congressmen in the coming period," said the statement. Search Keywords: Short link: Andrew Swan, the last member of the so-called Gang of Five to hold a seat in the Manitoba legislature, has announced he will retire from politics when the next election is called. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/5/2019 (954 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Andrew Swan, the last member of the so-called Gang of Five to hold a seat in the Manitoba legislature, has announced he will retire from politics when the next election is called. Swan, a 15-year MLA and former justice minister, said Friday he will not seek another term. His constituency of Minto is disappearing due to electoral boundary changes that will be in place for the next election. Swans departure will mark the end of an era for the Manitoba NDP, which is still recovering from the deep divisions suffered as a result of an unsuccessful attempt to replace former premier Greg Selinger as leader. 'In talking with the people in my life that I love, I decided it was time to step away from elected life and do something else' This coming November will mark five years since Swan and fellow dissident ministers Theresa Oswald, Jennifer Howard, Stan Struthers and Erin Selby, resigned from cabinet citing concerns about Selingers leadership. The rebellion sparked a leadership contest that saw Selinger defeat Oswald by fewer than three dozen votes. Swan, 50, who practised law for 14 years before entering politics, said he has no immediate plans other than filling out his term as MLA. He was the only rebel minister to seek re-election in 2016, winning Minto with a plurality of more than 1,900 votes, the largest margin of victory by any opposition candidate. "I had a number of discussions with my friends and family and decided after 15 years in the legislature that its probably a good time to try something else," he said. Oswald is CEO of Doctors Manitoba, the lobby group for Manitoba physicians. Selby, who ran unsuccessfully for the NDP federally in Saint Boniface-Saint Vital in 2015, is director of education and training for United Food and Commercial Workers Local 832. Howard is in Ottawa working as chief of staff to federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh. Struthers, who is retired, has kept a low profile since he was accused early last year of inappropriately touching women while he served in government. Swan had hoped to make the transition to federal politics this year but lost the NDP nomination in Winnipeg Centre on March 31 to educator and activist Leah Gazan. He had been rumoured to be considering a run in the newly configured constituency of St. James, but he decided a couple of weeks after his failed federal bid to retire from politics. "In talking with the people in my life that I love, I decided it was time to step away from elected life and do something else," he said. NDP Leader Wab Kinew said Swan "has been one of the most dynamic and hard-working MLAs the New Democratic Party has ever had." Swan has been one Kinews most able critics in the legislature, taking pride in his ability to get under Brian Pallisters skin over the premiers time spent in Costa Rica and other issues. Certainly, the NDP will miss Swans experience and institutional knowledge. 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. "I think the fact that hes stepping away is another blow to a caucus that really cant afford too many more blows these days," said Brandon University political scientist Kelly Saunders. Saunders said her sense is that the NDP is not yet healed from the divisions of five years ago, and that the caucus "is as fractured as it ever has been" under Kinew. She said Kinew relies quite heavily for advice and guidance on MLAs Nahanni Fontaine and Bernadette Smith, while other caucus members feel shut out. Meanwhile, Swan said this week that his only regret about the 2014 rebellion is that it failed. Even if the NDP had not won the 2016 election under Oswald, the Progressive Conservative majority would have been "much smaller," he said, and "Manitobans would have been spared a lot of the pain of the Pallister government." larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca A Sagkeeng First Nation man who had his two second-degree murder charges dropped by the Crown two years ago has now been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the same double homicide. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 16/5/2019 (955 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A Sagkeeng First Nation man who had his two second-degree murder charges dropped by the Crown two years ago has now been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the same double homicide. Jason Andrew Bruyere was charged on May 7 with the slayings of 35-year-old Steven Chevrefils and 43-year-old Jody Brown at a home in St. Georges on Feb. 28, 2017. Shezna Cynthia Guimond is the daughter Claude Francis Guimond, who was charged in December. (Facebook) Bruyere, 28, was originally charged within days of what RCMP say were targeted shootings with two counts of second-degree murder, but the Crown suddenly stayed both charges a day later. Now Bruyere has been charged with the homicide offence that alleges the slayings were planned and premeditated. "It was a very large investigation over two-and-a-half years with thousands of hours spent on it," said RCMP Cpl. Laura Ledrew from the force's major crimes service. Another person, Shezna Cynthia Guimond, 22, of Sagkeeng, was also charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the slayings. Claude Guimond is the former principal of Sagkeeng Anicinabe High School. (Files) RCMP said Guimond is the daughter of 54-year-old Claude Francis Guimond, who was charged with the offences on Dec. 13, 2018, and remains charged with first-degree murder. Claude Guimond is the former principal of Sagkeeng Anicinabe High School at Sagkeeng. Ledrew would not confirm if Bruyere and Shezna Guimond were a couple, only that they were known to each other. About a year after the charges against Bruyere were stayed, the RCMP created Project Distort, a dedicated team that included dozens of officers from specialized units and local detachments to investigate the homicides, she said. Steven Chevrefils, 35, was shot and killed in St. Georges on Feb. 28, 2017. (Facebook) Police wouldn't divulge any techniques the force used during the operation, including whether or not a Mr. Big sting was used, but Ledrew said they don't anticipate any more arrests on the matter. At the time of Bruyere's first arrest, many in the community said they had a hard time believing he was responsible for the slayings because he and the victims were good friends. A woman who was in the house at the time, and was on the main floor when she was hit in the back of her head by a bullet shot from the basement, didn't believe Bruyere had anything to do with it, even though he was in the basement at the time. Jody Brown, 43, was shot and killed at a home in St. Georges on Feb. 28, 2017. (Facebook) The woman, who feared for her safety and didn't want to be named, said she had known Bruyere since he was a child and believed he was in "the wrong place at the wrong time." Bruyere, who goes by Andrew, has no history of violent crime and his criminal record consists only of a driving under the influence and speeding offence committed together in 2009. kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca 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. OTTAWA The Trudeau government has delayed approval of Manitoba Hydros transmission line to Minnesota due to the premiers spat with the Manitoba Metis Federation, the Free Press has learned. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 16/5/2019 (955 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. OTTAWA The Trudeau government has delayed approval of Manitoba Hydros transmission line to Minnesota due to the premiers spat with the Manitoba Metis Federation, the Free Press has learned. The decision will likely add costs to a $453-million project, and highlights a clash over how much Indigenous consultation major projects require. The federal cabinet had a Thursday deadline on whether to approve the Manitoba-Minnesota power line. It instead signed an order-in-council to extend its cutoff by a month, in the hopes the province can rectify its feud with the MMF. "Following requests from Indigenous communities, and to ensure we meet our duty to consult, we have extended the timeline for a decision until June 14," wrote Alexandre Deslongchamps, a spokesman for Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi. "Following requests from Indigenous communities, and to ensure we meet our duty to consult, we have extended the timeline for a decision until June 14." Natural Resources Minister spokesman Last year, the Manitoba government reneged on a tentative deal Manitoba Hydro negotiated that would have given the federation $67.5-million in exchange for not contesting the project during its assessment process. The National Energy Board (NEB) approved the project last November, but had used the federations testimony from before Premier Brian Pallister refused to approve the deal last March. MMF President David Chartrand has argued that means the project is proceeding without proper consent a view that Ottawa fears might have enough credibility in a court challenge. MMF president David Chartrand. (Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press files) "It has become clear through our consultations that agreements offered by Manitoba Hydro to Indigenous communities, and then discontinued by the Manitoba government, were critical for Indigenous support for this project. It is also clear that this decision has affected Indigenous groups support for the project," wrote Deslongchamps. Last month, the Pallister government announced it had approved an environmental licence for the transmission line, leaving federal approval as the last major step before construction. Hydro has crafted an "accelerated construction schedule" in the hope of bringing the line into service by June 2020. Chartrand had urged Ottawa not to give it the green-light, claiming Pallister "backstabbed" the Metis. The premier has said it was inappropriate for the federation to suspend the rights of future generations in exchange for "persuasion money," an argument Chartrand rejects. On Wednesday, Chartrand reiterated threats to sue both Manitoba and Ottawa if it approved the project, which he said hed personally raised with Sohi. "If they sign off, I will take the Liberal government to court, no doubt," he said. "They would put themselves in a very precarious position legally." If they sign off, I will take the Liberal government to court, no doubt. They would put themselves in a very precarious position legally." David Chartrand This is the second time Trudeaus cabinet has opted to delay its decision on the project. In a month, it can issue another delay, approve the project, reject it, or refer it back to the NEB. Government sources said the Liberals believe the project doesnt need another NEB review. Rather, Ottawa has to show it exercised its "duty to consult" by trying hard enough to get Indigenous buy-in, even if the project proceeds without MMF support. Pallister has previously warned that any delay will add to construction costs; his office projected a year of delays would cost taxpayers $200 million. Not all of the construction is slated for the summer, with Hydro needing to build some parts in the winter atop frozen bogs. 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. Federal sources suggested the Manitoba government has provided some but not all documentation Ottawa requested for its review. The Liberals did not inform the Pallister government of its decision, which will likely be published next week. "Ill have more on that to say tomorrow," the premier told reporters Thursday morning. Premier Brian Pallister (Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press files) Pallister noted the project is supposed to help the continent use more green energy, and that Minnesota Power is in the final stages of constructing its side of the line. Neither Sohi nor Pallister were available for afternoon interviews. The premier's spokesman wrote in an email that the government feels its achieved all requirements for Indigenous consultation and plans to abide by the NEBs conditions for the project. "If the federal government is serious about fighting climate change, while supporting necessary economic development, it needs to move this project forward now," wrote David von Meyenfeldt. The transmission line follows the traditional homeland of the Red River Colony. A 2016 Supreme Court case ruled that Metis can file land claims. If the federation launches the first of such claims, it would likely delay the transmission project for years. If the federal government is serious about fighting climate change, while supporting necessary economic development, it needs to move this project forward now." Premier Brian Pallister's spokesman The project is part of a rift between Ottawa and Manitoba over the extent to which major projects require Indigenous input. Last November, Pallister chided the federal government for allowing its assessment agency to consult widely over the Interlake flood-channel outlets. The project aims to link Lake Manitoba and Lake St. Martin but communities along the Nelson River, as far as 500 kilometres downstream, are part of the review. The 500-kilovolt transmission line has been in the works for five years, and is expected to displace carbon emissions while bringing in millions to provincial coffers. With files from Martin Cash and Jessica Botelho-Urbanski dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca In one way, this Colombian drama follows the familiar arc of the drug-lord saga: a man rises in wealth and power as his emotional and moral foundations give way. Everything he has supposedly done for the people he loves ends up destroying them. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/5/2019 (954 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. In one way, this Colombian drama follows the familiar arc of the drug-lord saga: a man rises in wealth and power as his emotional and moral foundations give way. Everything he has supposedly done for the people he loves ends up destroying them. In Birds of Passage (in the Wayuu language and Spanish, with subtitles), the standard narco-mythology is subverted by a fresh context. Citing real-life events from the 1960s to 1980s among the Wayuu Indigenous people of Colombias Guajira region, filmmakers Ciro Guerra and Cristina Gallego (who previously teamed on the astonishing Embrace of the Serpent) have crafted something specific and epic and wholly unusual. Rapayet (Jose Acosta) has been raised partly among the "alijuna" (a term meaning outsiders but also translated as "one who does harm"). Returning to his clan, he sees Zaida (Natalia Reyes) and courts her according to Wayuu ritual. He makes a fatal decision, however, regarding the dowry negotiated by Ursula (Carmina Martinez), Zaidas powerful mother. Financing the traditional dowry in a non-traditional way, he and his friend Moises (Jhon Narvaez) broker a hefty marijuana sale to some stoners in the American Peace Corps. "Weed is the worlds happiness," the easygoing Moises says. "Their happiness," says the wary Rapayet, glancing at the heedless hippies celebrating their score. Its significant that the film upends the Hollywood approach, with the Americans remaining hazy figures on the periphery of the story. A minor transaction gradually builds into a massive criminal enterprise, and we get a sense of that machinery the bribery, the gun-toting henchmen, the turf wars, the tense standoffs, the planes flying in and out. In an unorthodox story choice, though, the crime-drama stuff is secondary. Notably, scenes of violence a staple of the genre from Scarface to Narcos are deliberately downplayed, either seen from a distance or depicted only in their sad and destructive aftermath. Blond Indian Films Rapayet (left) courts Zaida in a traditional Wayuu ritual. Gallego and Guerra are more interested in cultural violence, in particular the corrupting effect of the influx of drug money on Rapayets family and community. Honour codes, held in place for generations in order to preserve peace, are challenged by the transactional nature of unchecked capitalism. At one point, atonement for drug-related murder within the clan is reduced to a surcharge per kilogram of marijuana. At another point, in what feels a bit too much like a cheap gangster-film cliche, we see Zaidas hot-headed wastrel brother violate social taboos with terrible consequences. Ready, Pet, Go! Leesa Dahl looks at everything to do with our furry, fuzzy, feathered, fishy (and more!) pet friends. Arrives in your inbox each Monday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. As the story heads toward its climax, Rapayet, Zaida and their children are living in an isolated mansion in the middle of the desert, its modernist baroque excess rising to almost surreal levels. In one poignant scene, the camera pans across the couples elaborate gilded bedroom set to the simple traditional Wayuu hammock, tucked in the corner, where they actually sleep. The cast is made up of mostly novice or non-professional actors, with mixed results. Acosta isnt a compelling presence, though that might be by design, Rapayet coming across as well-intentioned but in some crucial sense weak. Martinez as the family matriarch, on the other hand, embodies a complicated nexus of forces, with Ursulas instinct to protect her family colliding with her keen-eyed sense of its dissolution. Shes astonishing. There have been some issues about the films accuracy, from historians questioning its portrayal of Indigenous participation in Colombias Bonanza Marimbera (or Marijuana Bonanza) of the 1970s to irked defenders of the American Peace Corps. In light of the filmmakers decision to preface the film with a statement asserting it is rooted in true events, those objections are valid. Still, everything after that statement evokes not documentary realism but fable-like storytelling. With striking cinematography, stately pacing and a formal and distant tone, Birds of Passage has a stark simplicity. The film is structured as a series of cantos, with a framing device suggesting it is a song for the dead, a lament for "a great family that destroyed itself." This is a drug-war tale reduced to an elemental form, one that feels both classical and new. alison.gillmor@freepress.mb.ca The Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) government has introduced "An Act respecting the laicity of the State. This is the latest attempt by a Quebec government to enact secularism legislation. The bill will prohibit civil servants in positions of authourity from wearing religious symbols at work. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/5/2019 (954 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Opinion The Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) government has introduced "An Act respecting the laicity of the State." This is the latest attempt by a Quebec government to enact secularism legislation. The bill will prohibit civil servants in positions of authourity from wearing religious symbols at work. One can understand Quebecs historical concern about religion, given the overwhelming presence of the Catholic church in the past. However, religious institutions are no longer that dominant. In a recent Pew Research Centre study, 64 per cent of Canadians say religion plays a less important role today. Preserving French culture is also important. It enriches not only Quebec but all of Canada. However, Bill 21 is a cautionary tale. The proposed law may have real unintended consequences. Rather than protecting French culture and safeguarding the public against religious coercion, it may enact a new dominant and coercive state-directed civil religion. Bill 21 has met with widespread opposition and protest. Constitutional scholars and legal experts argue that it violates Canadas Charter of Rights and Freedoms particularly Section 2(a) regarding freedom of religion. Academics, teachers' federations, the Canadian Bar Associations Quebec branch, womens organizations, Jewish, Christian and Muslim organizations are all opposed. Bill 21 is based on Laicite, a French version of secularism. Laicite is often equated with the concept of the separation between church and state. However, there is an important difference. The French academic Michael Troper points out freedom of religion in some countries is an inherent natural or civil right. This is how many Canadians understand this right under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In France under Laicite, public freedom to practise religion is granted to citizens by the laws of the state. Religion is strictly a private matter. As in Bill 21, these public freedoms of separation, equality, conscience/religion are delivered by a secular and neutral state. Secular state neutrality is a questionable assumption. Who still believes that even well-intentioned states are neutral on issues of identity and religion? We only need to recall the painful reminders of residential schools in Canada, the "Sixties Scoop," the Chinese head tax, the internment of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War, turning away Jewish refugees in 1939 and the treatment of the LGBTTQ* community, to mention only a few examples. Politics requires governments to exercise power. Politics comes with inevitable human conflicts. Governments do not like competition, particularly from faith communities that may challenge them. Whether intended or not, there is a real temptation by political leaders to use domination and coercion to overcome opposition. Taming and privatizing religious voices is not new for political leaders. With democracy in retreat and strongman politics increasing globally, this may be even truer today. What does it mean to behave faithfully in public? This is a question facing not just Quebec. There are angry voices across Canada more than willing to use heavy-handed laws against religious and ethnic communities. Domination and coercion in the public arena are not acceptable whether by people of faith, business leaders, economists, politicians, leaders of charitable organizations or anyone else. The way to address concerns of domination and coercion is not by trying to just banish religion from public life. 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. Faith and religious communities make a useful contribution to public life. They provide meaning, purpose and ultimately direction for citizens and politicians facing tough decisions. They mobilize help for people in need in our communities. They motivate people to make donations, volunteer in charitable organizations and even run for political office. They can help communities celebrate and grieve in public moments of joy and tragedy. Faith is unavoidably public. Religious freedom is not freedom from responsibility. Rather, behaving faithfully in public is freedom to take responsibility for the rights and well-being of others. Religious freedom safeguards this public role for people of faith. Quebec might lead the way with another approach based on equality. Quebec has a diverse and dynamic public life. Build on that dynamic diversity by enlisting faith communities, business, labour and civil society to safeguard together the public arena. In a positive way, people from these sectors can scrutinize and hold each other accountable against domination and coercion from any group. Honouring religious freedom and behaving faithfully in public not only protects the rights of individuals, but also safeguards the integrity of democratic governments. In the 1940s, renowned theologian Reinhold Niebuhr reminded, "(Humanitys) capacity for justice makes democracy possible; but (humanitys) inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary." David Pfrimmer is professor emeritus and a fellow at the Centre for Public Ethics at Martin Luther University College at Wilfrid Laurier University. Green parties and other ecological parties are much more successful than you might think if you only ever read about Canadian politics. A Green party elected its first member to a national parliament in Switzerland in 1979. Since then, Greens have elected representatives and even been included in governments in all sorts of developed democracies. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/5/2019 (954 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Opinion Green parties and other ecological parties are much more successful than you might think if you only ever read about Canadian politics. A Green party elected its first member to a national parliament in Switzerland in 1979. Since then, Greens have elected representatives and even been included in governments in all sorts of developed democracies. Green party popularity makes intuitive sense, given increasing public concern about climate change. As climate change becomes a top-of-mind concern for more and more people, we might expect that they would turn to parties that are defined by their commitment to addressing the issue. Recent research conducted by political scientists Zack P. Grant and James Tilley shows that Greens do better in wealthier states that have low rates of unemployment. Green voters, according to Grant and Tilley, tend to be "young, highly educated members of the new middle class," which suggests that the Greens may be a party of the future. Canada is a wealthy developed democracy, but the Greens have not yet had their breakthrough in national politics. Sure, the Greens are a resilient, stubborn minor party. But Canadian history is littered with examples of minor parties that were born, experienced some success (in some cases, much more so than the Greens) and then disappeared. In contrast, the Greens have seen some real victories in provincial politics. The most important example is in British Columbia: after winning roughly 17 per cent of the vote in the last provincial election, the Greens entered a governing coalition with the provincial NDP. And the Prince Edward Island election held only a few weeks ago resulted in the Greens coming in second and forming the official Opposition in that provinces legislature. Last week, the Greens scored another historic win when candidate Paul Manly won a federal byelection in the Vancouver Island seat of Nanaimo-Ladysmith, stealing the riding from the NDP. Manly won with a respectable 37.3 per cent of the vote and an impressive margin of victory. The second-place Tory candidate received 24.8 per cent. For the time being, the Greens have spooked the Liberals and, especially, the NDP. The concern is that a new contender on the left will split the progressive vote in the next federal election, allowing Andrew Scheers Conservatives to win more seats and form a government as a result. The NDP, in particular, should engage in a little soul-searching in the wake of this B.C. result. Despite selecting a strong local candidate, the NDPs share of the vote in the byelection dropped by 10 per cent from the last election and the party finished in third place. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. The big question is, do these recent victories suggest that the Greens are heading for a breakthrough in the next federal election? I have doubts. Most importantly, Canadas single-member plurality (SMP) electoral system will continue to bedevil the Greens and other minor parties. The system is designed to produce majority government by giving big parties a boost and small parties a penalty. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau won 40 per cent of the vote in the last election, but the SMP rewarded him with 54 per cent of the seats in Parliament. That bonus came at the expense of small and minor parties such as the Green party, which are typically penalized when votes are translated into seats. Political scientists call this a mechanical effect of SMP, which punishes small parties. One way parties can avoid this is to concentrate support in certain regions. The Greens, who hold two seats on Vancouver Island, are likely learning this. If the party concentrates its efforts on a small number of winnable seats rather than on satisfying the quaintly Canadian notion that they must run a campaign that is national in scope, they might just score a breakthrough. But SMP also exercises psychological effects on voters. Even if Canadians prefer small parties such as the Greens and would like to vote for them, they may balk at the idea of "wasting their vote": casting their ballots for a party that they think has little hope of winning. In this case, a hypothetical progressive voter who would love to vote for the Greens might nevertheless vote for the Liberals or the NDP solely to prevent a Conservative victory. Strategic voting can be terribly damaging for small parties. Are the Greens up to the challenge? Maybe. But consider the following: both the Conservative and Liberal parties have existed in various forms and have been winning elections in Canada since the 1800s. Think about that. How much has Canada changed over the past 100 years? The country would be unrecognizable to the countrys early politicians, yet we still have the same major parties. The Greens may be the party of the future, but the Liberals and Conservatives are the parties of a past that seemingly just wont die. Royce Koop is an associate professor and head of the political studies department at the University of Manitoba. In the race to roll back womens rights in the United States, Alabama has taken the lead. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 16/5/2019 (955 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. In the race to roll back womens rights in the United States, Alabama has taken the lead. This week, the southern state earned the dubious distinction of having the most restrictive abortion law in the United States: a near-total ban, blocking women from terminating a pregnancy at any point, for any reason, except if the womans health is at serious risk. On Wednesday, Republican Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed the bill into law. "This legislation stands as a powerful testament to Alabamians deeply held belief that every life is precious and that every life is a sacred gift from God," she said in a statement to the New York Times. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signs the states abortion bill. (Hal Yeager / Alabama Governors Office) The Alabama law is an extreme measure. There are no exceptions in cases of rape or incest, and the law also criminalizes abortion for doctors, who could face up to 99 years in prison for providing a legal medical procedure 84 years longer than a maximum sentence for rape. Alabama may now have the most strict abortion law in the U.S., but it is not an outlier. North Dakota, Georgia, Ohio, Kentucky and Mississippi have also passed aggressive abortion restrictions this year. Eleven more states are considering six-week abortion bans in 2019. A day after Alabama, Missouri passed a bill that would ban abortion after eight weeks. Louisiana is also set to move on legislation. These so-called fetal-heartbeat bills prohibit abortion as soon as the fetuss heartbeat can be detected, which is usually around six or seven weeks roughly when most women find out they are pregnant. Thats by design: making an abortion impossible to get is an effective ban. Heartbeat bills were once a fringe idea among radical anti-abortion activists, and have almost always been ruled unconstitutional by the courts. Now, some are getting passed. Protesters rally against the abortion bill outside of the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Ala. (Mickey Welsh / The Montgomery Advertiser) The current rush to legislate is part of a systematic campaign to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling recognizing a womans constitutional right to choose. Reversing the protections enshrined by Roe v. Wade could radically alter the lives of women in the United States. Want more great journalism? Get our best news and features delivered in your inbox every weekday evening. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Politicians who oppose abortion have been trying to erode Roe v. Wade since the day it was handed down, but the Trump administrations recent push to install conservative judges most notably, with the appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court of justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh has been an accelerant. And the passage at the state level of extreme legislation that will be challenged all the way to the Supreme Court is the next step on the way to anti-abortion Republicans ultimate endgame. In the view of abortion-rights activists, womens reproductive rights arent just being rolled back; they are under attack. Outlawing abortion does not result in fewer abortions. It results in botched procedures and women getting sick and dying from infection. It results in deferred dreams and keeps women in poverty. The politicians whose legislation forces women to give birth are often the same ones who dont believe in funding comprehensive sex education, or providing accessible contraception, or developing a child-care strategy. When Ms. Ivey says "every life is precious," its clear she doesnt mean the lives of the living girls and women who will be harmed by this law. Alabamas new law, and others like it across the U.S., signal a fundamental realignment of Americas political and judicial underpinnings one that many Canadians will be watching closely as the political winds on this side of the border also continue to change. DAMASCUS, Syria - Several explosions were heard in the Syrian capital Damascus on Friday night as the country's air defences opened fire on "objects" coming from the direction of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, state media reported. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 17/5/2019 (954 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. DAMASCUS, Syria - Several explosions were heard in the Syrian capital Damascus on Friday night as the country's air defences opened fire on "objects" coming from the direction of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, state media reported. State news agency SANA quoted an unnamed military official as saying that Syrian air defences discovered "hostile targets" coming from the direction of the Quenitra region on the edge of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The news agency said Syrian air defences shot down several "objects." Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, reported three explosions southwest of Damascus. It added that it was not immediately clear if the explosions were caused by Israeli airstrikes or surface-to-surface missiles. The Observatory's chief, Rami Abdurrahman, told The Associated Press that the strikes targeted the area of Kiswa, which is home to positions and storage sites for Iranian and Lebanon's Hezbollah forces allied with Syria's government. Last month, SANA said an Israeli airstrike on a military position in central Syria wounded six soldiers and destroyed several buildings. Israeli military officials declined to comment on the report Friday, but Israel recently acknowledged striking Iranian targets in Syria. Iran is an ally of Damascus and has offered military advisers and sent militiamen and material support to help President Bashar Assad's government forces in the eight-year civil war. Israel considers Iran a national security threat and says it won't tolerate Iran's presence on its borders. Theres a new superintendent in town. Thursday night, school board members chose Annette Freiheit as the next leader of Winona Area Public Schools. Freiheit, currently the head of Minneapolis-suburb Pine City Public Schools, told board members in her finalist interview that her first 100 days as superintendent would be focused on listening, visibility and relationship building. She brings a background heavy in community connections; at her Pine City post, she organized joint meetings with the city and county governments, working with those entities to address the needs of students living in poverty. She beat out James Wagner, superintendent of a Wyoming school district, and Pelican Rapids School District superintendent Randi Anderson to clinch the role. Freiheit is a 1983 Winona State University graduate and told the Daily News Thursday night that she has long loved the community. I always feel like Im coming home, she said. Though Pine City is a significantly smaller district than Winona, board members praised Freiheit's genuine nature, collaborative leadership style, acknowledgement of areas where she needed growth and commitment to honoring teachers in the classroom. The unanimous decision was reached after only a short period of deliberation and little disagreement. Freiheit also received the highest score of the three candidates on the second-round interview and assessment form filled out by board members. "I think she's willing to walk with us and learn with us and grow with us," said member Tina Lehnertz. Added Jim Schul: "I think teachers are going to love her. I think the community is going to love her." Board chair Nancy Denzer noted that Freiheit will be the only of the three candidates to wrap up a full contract with her school district before moving on to Winona. Freiheit is believed to be the first female hired as superintendent of Winona Area Public Schools. Kelly Halvorsen served as interim superintendent after Stephen West resigned in January 2017. Prior to her superintendents role, Freiheit spent 13 years as a principal in Hayfield Community Schools. That district closed a school building while she was there, she said, lending her intimate knowledge of the wounds that can create within a community and what it will take to heal them. Freiheit also said that while learning to navigate a larger school district will require time and organization, working for a smaller one left her well-equipped to wear many hats and understand different peoples roles. As principal, for example, she was also coordinating curriculum and testing. Taking deep dives into data and identifying strengths and areas for improvement will be critical, she said, but just as critical is listening to staff, administration, students and families with their boots on the ground. I like to learn about where things are at Its more about the people around me than about myself, Freiheit said Thursday. MSBA representatives who helped guide the superintendent search, which started in earnest in March, told the board that the unanimous vote was a good sign of more collaboration ahead. Freiheit replaces Rich Dahman, who announced earlier this year he would retire as superintendent at the end of the school year. Love 5 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 John Borman spent most of his life trying to bring attention to causes and people who needed it the most. Before a Winona City Council meeting next month, he will be posthumously awarded the 2019 John Latsch Human Rights Award. Borman died April 7 from complications related to a traumatic brain injury sustained in May 2013. He was 73. The John Latsch Human Rights Award will be presented to his family. Borman was a Vietnam War veteran, a lawyer and a person that cared deeply for human rights here in Winona County and around the world. He was also a member of the Winona Human Rights Commission for several years and helped with the creation of the Winona-Dakota Unity Alliance. John was a caring person who strived to improve human rights for people around the world and in our own backyard, Human Rights Commission chair Jacob Grippen said. I served with him on the commission and I am saddened that this award will be posthumous. We are glad some of his family members can attend the presentation. Thank you John for your tireless work. Borman enlisted in the Marine Corps and flew 126 missions during two tours in Vietnam as a helicopter gunner and armorer. He graduated from the University of Minnesota, worked as a community organizer, then enrolled at Notre Dame Law School, graduating in 1979. He got a clerkship with District Judge Glenn Kelley in Winona, where he got the bug to be a country lawyer. Even so, Borman joined Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi, a prestigious Minneapolis law firm, where he rose to partner. After 16 years, he returned to Winona to live out his dreams. By all accounts, Borman dreamed big. He became known as an outstanding legal strategist, said Dan OLeary, a Sunfish Lake attorney and colleague. Although he certainly won many more cases than he lost, he was not afraid to lose and often took on a case with slim odds of winning because someone had a story that needed to be told, OLeary said. Borman traveled to Tunisia, Israel and the Palestinian territories, and published reports about his findings. After a stroke led to his early retirement in 2000, he focused on truth and reconciliation projects in Peru, Liberia and at home through the Winona-Dakota Unity Alliance. Working through the Ohio-based DOVE Fund, Borman also helped veterans resolve their feelings about war. He helped raise money to build schools in Vietnam, including the first school for the blind there. Dan Browning of the Star Tribune contributed to this story. Dan Browning of the Star Tribune contributed to this story. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 With nearly 60 performances scheduled during two days, the La Crosse portion of the Mid West Music Festival is set to rock the Coulee Region this week with top notch regional acts plus breaking new bands and artists from places like Boston, Philadelphia, Nashville and Los Angeles. Festival Director Parker Forsell has scouted many of the artists appearing here either in Nashville or at other music festivals and he vouches for the quality of the bands ultimately chosen. Now in its 10th year, the MWMF gathers more than 5,500 musicians in La Crosse and Winona during two weekends (the Winona portion of the festival was held May 3-4). Encore! Re-live the 2019 Mid West Music Fest run in Winona with these photos, videos and stories Great weather, good crowds and music that never seemed to stop. The 2019 Mid West Music Fest rocked downtown Winona for two solid days. Re-liv While it might seem like a lot of bands, Forsell said, these were winnowed down from around 1,000 bands in all. He added that the festival is a rare opportunity for Coulee Region music lovers to see talent theyd normally have to travel hundreds of miles to hear. Part of what were trying to do is get the bands that are just breaking out right now, Forsell said. Were considered a secondary market by the bigger agencies. Theyll say, Why should we send a band to La Crosse? Thats why its such a rare treat to see, for example, a band like Ruby Boots, named Artist to Watch at Nashvilles Americana Festival or The Sea The Sea, an upstate New York indie folk-pop band that, according to the Huffington Post, features two of the loveliest male-female voices you might ever hear this or any other year. IF YOU GO WHAT: 10th annual Mid West Music Fest, La Crosse portion WHEN: Friday and Saturday, May 17-18 WHERE: Downtown La Crosse and Oktoberfest grounds TICKETS: Tickets on sale May 17 and 18 at the Oktoberfest grounds for $25 for one day or $45 for both days. Also, for those able to go to only one venue, entry is $15 via credit/debit card at each ticketed venue (no cash). Kids under 12 get in free (most venues are all ages) PARKING: Available at Oktoberfest grounds Although theres quite a bit of folk scheduled for the MWMF this year, one of the best things about the event is the variety of genres represented and the plentiful opportunities to discover new bands or styles of music you might not have even known you liked. Besides folk, there are bluegrass, pop, punk, soul, jazz, electronic, honky tonk, rock, reggae and even swing bands on the schedule. And, of course, many of the bands incorporate elements of those styles while adding their own twists. The Hooten Hallers, to cite just one example, are a threesome from Columbia, Missouri, with an unusual lineup of lap steel, drums and bass saxophone. Theyll veer from blues to a country ballad with three-part harmony to a raucous dance number all in the same set. The Hooten Hallers and Ruby Boots perform Friday evening at tent stages on the Oktoberfest grounds. Two such outdoor stages were added this year, something that wasnt possible in previous years when the festival was held in April. After last years late-season snowstorm created havoc for organizers, the festival has been moved to May and organizers are confident thats a better fit for both musicians and fans. For those who havent experienced the MWMF before, its a delight for music lovers. Bands only play one set of about an hour at each of the eight venues. That means youre probably going to hear the most crowd-pleasing tunes from every artist. Meanwhile, one of the best things about the festival is that if the music youre hearing at any one place isnt your cup of tea, you can easily move to the next venue and see something completely different. After all, its only a short walk from the Root Note to the Cavalier, the Grand Hotel Ballroom or the Charmant. Fans who do a little bit of homework ahead of time will enjoy the festival even more. The MWMF has the full schedule and a Spotify link on its webpage (midwestmusicfest.org) where you can listen to cuts from the various bands or you can look them up yourself on YouTube. Also new this year are shops at the Oktoberfest Grounds. Forsell calls it a festival within a festival. Those shops will be a blend of local artist offerings and vintage items. In addition, two youth stages will be set up on the Oktoberfest grounds with kid-friendly attractions like puppet shows and something called The Dangerous Fun Show. Still, good music will be the main attraction. Critically acclaimed bands from other parts of the country like Denvers Great American Taxi or Philadelphias Mo Lowda and the Humble will be sharing stages with local and regional favorites like Andy Hughes, TUGG, The Last Revel, Reed Grimm and Porcupine. It should be a memorable two days and Forsell noted that theres a special kind of vibe thats associated with this kind of festival. Because they play only one set, bands get a rare chance to hang out afterward with their contemporaries or discover new bands themselves. Plus, audiences tend to be enthusiastic and not as jaded as they might be in a bigger city. For artists coming from a place like Nashville, it might be their first time in a river town, Forsell said. People tell us theres just a different kind of energy here. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Sauk County Sheriff Chip Meister said in a press release Wednesday that his office received a call around 3 a.m. that day of a suspicious person laying on a porch outside a residence in the town of Merrimac. Authorities identified that person as Martin, who Meister said stole a vehicle from the same homeowners. Meister said authorities responded and located Martin on a dead end street near Lake Wisconsin. As officers approached the vehicle, Martin fled by driving off-road with officers in pursuit. Officers pursued the vehicle into Sauk City as Martin drove at a high rate of speed and took shortcuts through yards, Meister said. The pursuit was terminated due to the danger it presented to the public, Meister said. But a short time later, the stolen vehicle was found abandoned in an alley in Sauk City. Several officers deployed K-9 teams and used drones to conduct a ground search. Authorities then located Martin in a pop-up camper in the area where he abandoned the vehicle, Meister said. Martin is in the custody of the Sauk County Sheriffs Office. Several charges are pending in Sauk County was well as other jurisdictions. One legal entanglement for the city of Mayville has come to an end. The city dropped its appeal in a case involving the Glacier Ridge landfill south of town, operated by Advanced Disposal. The city sued Advanced Disposal, Dodge County, the town of Hubbard, the village of Kekoskee and the Waste Facility Siting Board over how many members it would have on the board that guides negotiations as the landfill is due to expand to extend its life a few years past 2025. The city only received one member on the board and was seeking more. A Dodge County judge affirmed that Mayville should only receive one, and the city appealed, but has since withdrawn the appeal. Mayor Rob Boelk said that the city reached a settlement with the landfill. The settlement will continue a $40,000 road maintenance fee until the landfill closes and there will be a study on alternate truck routes to reduce traffic on John Street. The settlement also includes an odor management plan with approval from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. The city will also get the first opportunity to treat the landfills leachate, which is liquid from the landfill that drains from the facility. Treating the leachate could be a revenue source for Mayville. iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF's stock was trading at $25.60 on March 11th, 2020 when Coronavirus (COVID-19) reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, EWU shares have increased by 28.5% and is now trading at $32.90. View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19. Andeavor Logistics LP operates as a diversified midstream company in the United States. The company's Terminalling and Transportation segment comprises the Northwest pipeline system, including a regulated common carrier products pipeline running from Salt Lake City, Utah to Spokane, Washington and a jet fuel pipeline to the Salt Lake City International Airport; a regulated common carrier refined products pipeline system connecting its refinery to its terminals in Anchorage, Alaska; tankage and related equipment at the refinery; and crude oil and refined products terminals and storage facilities in the western, and southwest and midwestern U.S. This segment also consists of marine terminals in California and Washington; a rail-car unloading and petroleum coke handling facilities; marine terminals; a manifest rail facility; an asphalt trucking operation; a petroleum coke handling and storage facility; asphalt terminalling and processing services; and other pipelines, which transport products and crude oil from its refineries to nearby facilities in Salt Lake City and Los Angeles. Its Gathering and Processing segment includes crude oil and natural gas, NGLs, and produced water gathering systems in the Bakken Shale/Williston Basin area of the Bakken Region, the Green River Basin, the Rockies Region, the Permian Basin System, and the Four Corners System, as well as crude trucking operations, and gas processing and fractionation complexes. The company's Wholesale segment consists of bulk petroleum distribution facilities and a fleet of refined product delivery trucks. Tesoro Logistics GP, LLC operates as the general partner of the company. The company was formerly known as Tesoro Logistics LP and changed its name to Andeavor Logistics LP in August 2017. Andeavor Logistics LP was founded in 2010 and is based in Findlay, Ohio. Read More Bank of America Corp. is a bank and financial holding company, which engages in the provision of banking and nonbank financial services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth and Investment Management, Global Banking, Global Markets, and All Other. The Consumer Banking segment offers credit, banking, and investment products and services to consumers and small businesses. The Global Wealth and Investment Management provides client experience through a network of financial advisors focused on to meet their needs through a full set of investment management, brokerage, banking, and retirement products. The Global Banking segment deals with lending-related products and services, integrated working capital management and treasury solutions to clients, and underwriting and advisory services. The Global Markets segment includes sales and trading services, as well as research, to institutional clients across fixed-income, credit, currency, commodity, and equity businesses. The All Other segment consists of asset and liability management activities, equity investments, non-core mortgage loans and servicing activities, the net impact of periodic revisions Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Illinois Tool Works: A V Co 1 Limited, A V Co 2 Limited, A V Co 3 Limited, ACCU-LUBE Manufacturing GmbH - Schmiermittel und -gerate -, AIP/BI Holdings Inc., Accessories Marketing Holding Corp., Advanced Molding Company Inc., Allen Coding GmbH, Allen France SAS, Alpine Automation Limited, Alpine Engineered Products, Alpine Holdings Inc., Alpine Systems Corporation, Anaerobicos S.r.l., AppliChem GmbH, Arylux Hungary Elektromechanikus Alkatreszgyarto Kft, Avery Berkel France, Avery India Limited, Avery Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Avery Weigh Tronix, Avery Weigh-Tronix (Suzhou) Weighing Technology Co. Ltd., Avery Weigh-Tronix Finance Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix Holdings Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix International Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix LLC, Avery Weigh-Tronix Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix Properties Limited, Azon Limited, B.C. Immo, Beijing Miller Electric Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Berkel (Ireland) Limited, Berrington UK, Brapenta Eletronica Ltda., Brooks Instrument (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Brooks Instrument B.V., Brooks Instrument GmbH, Brooks Instrument KFT, Brooks Instrument Korea Ltd., Brooks Instrument LLC, Buell Industries Inc., CAPMAX Logistica S.A. de C.V., CCI Realty Company, CFC Europe GmbH, CS (Australia) Pty Limited, CS (Finance) Europe S.a.r.l., CS Mexico Holding Company S DE RL DE CV, CSMTS LLC, Calvia Spolka z Ograniczona Odpowiedzialnosci, Capital Ventures (Australasia) S.a r.l, Capmax Logistica S.A. de C.V., Celeste Industries Corporation, Coeur, Coeur (Shanghai) Medical Appliance Trading Co. Ltd, Coeur Asia Limited, Coeur Holding Company, Coeur Inc., Compagnie Hobart, Compagnie de Materiel et d'Equipements Techniques-Comet, Constructions Isothermiques Bontami C.I.B., Crane Carrier Company, Despatch Industries, Diagraph Corporation Sdn. Bhd, Diagraph ITW Mexico S. de R.L. De C.V., Diagraph Mexico S.A. DE C.V., Dongguan Ark-Les Electric Components Co. Ltd., Dongguan CK Branding Co. Ltd., Dorbyl U.K. (Holdings) Limited, Duo Fast de Espana S.A.U., Duo-Fast Korea Co. Ltd., Duo-Fast LLC, E.C.S. d.o.o., ECS Cable Protection Sp. Zoo, ELRO (Holding) AG, ELRO Grosskuchen GmbH, ELRO-WERKE AG, Elga Skandinavian AS, Elro Group, Eltex-Elektrostatik-Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Envases Multipac S.A. de C.V., Eurotec Srl, FEG Investments L.L.C., Fasver, Filtertek, Filtertek De Mexico Holding Inc., Filtertek De Mexico S.A. de C.V., GC Financement SA, Gamko B.V., Gun Hwa Platech (Taicang) Co. Ltd., HOBART Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Hartness International, Hobart (Japan) K.K., Hobart Andina S.A.S., Hobart Brothers International Chile Limitada, Hobart Brothers LLC, Hobart Dayton Mexicana S. de R.L. de C.V., Hobart Food Equipment Co. Ltd., Hobart Foster Belgium, Hobart International (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Hobart Korea LLC, Hobart LLC, Hobart Nederland B.V., Hobart Sales & Service Inc., Hobart Scandinavia ApS, Hobart Techniek B.V., Horis, ILC Investments Holdings Inc., ITW (China) Investment Company Limited, ITW (Deutschland) GmbH, ITW (EU) Holdings Ltd., ITW (European) Finance Co. Ltd., ITW (European) Finance II Co. Ltd., ITW (European) Finance III Co. Ltd., ITW (Ningbo) Components & Fastenings Systems Co. Ltd., ITW AEP LLC, ITW AOC LLC, ITW Aircraft Investments Inc., ITW Alpha Sarl, ITW Ampang Industries Philippines Inc., ITW Appliance Components EOOD, ITW Appliance Components S.A. de C.V., ITW Appliance Components S.r.l.a, ITW Appliance Components d.o.o., ITW Australia Holdings Pty Ltd, ITW Australia Property Holdings Pty Ltd., ITW Australia Pty Ltd, ITW Automotive Components (Chongqing) Co. Ltd., ITW Automotive Components (Langfang) Co. Ltd., ITW Automotive Japan K.K., ITW Automotive Korea LLC, ITW Automotive Parts (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, ITW Automotive Products GmbH, ITW Automotive Products Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Bailly Comte, ITW Befestigungssysteme GmbH, ITW Belgium, ITW Brazilian Nominee L.L.C., ITW Building Components Group Inc., ITW CER, ITW CP Distribution Center Holland BV, ITW CS (UK) Ltd., ITW Canada Inc., ITW Celeste Inc., ITW Chemical Products Ltda, ITW Chemical Products Scandinavia ApS, ITW Colombia S.A.S., ITW Construction Products (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ITW Construction Products (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., ITW Construction Products AB, ITW Construction Products AS, ITW Construction Products ApS, ITW Construction Products CZ s.r.o., ITW Construction Products Italy Srl, ITW Construction Products OU, ITW Construction Products OY, ITW Contamination Control (Wujiang) Co. Ltd., ITW Contamination Control B.V., ITW Covid Security Group Inc., ITW DS Investments Inc., ITW DelFast do Brasil Ltda., ITW Delta Sarl, ITW Denmark ApS, ITW Dynatec, ITW Dynatec Adhesive Equipment (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., ITW Dynatec GmbH, ITW Dynatec Kabushiki Kaisha, ITW EAE B.V., ITW EAE Mexico S de RL de CV, ITW EF&C France SAS, ITW EF&C Selb GmbH, ITW Electronic Business Asia Co. Limited, ITW Electronic Components/Products (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ITW Electronics (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., ITW Epsilon Sarl, ITW Espana S.A., ITW FEG Hong Kong Limited, ITW FEG do Brasil Industria e Comercio Ltda., ITW Fastener Products GmbH, ITW Finance Designated Activity Company, ITW Finance Europe S.A., ITW Fluids and Hygiene Solutions Ltda., ITW Food Equipment Group LLC, ITW France Finance Alpha S.A.S., ITW GH LLC, ITW GSE ApS, ITW GSE Inc., ITW Gamma Sarl, ITW German Management LLC, ITW Global Investments Holdings LLC, ITW Global Investments Holdings Y Compania Sociedad en Comandita por Acciones, ITW Global Investments II Inc., ITW Global Investments Inc., ITW Global Tire Repair Europe GmbH, ITW Global Tire Repair Inc., ITW Global Tire Repair Japan K.K., ITW Graphics (Thailand) Ltd., ITW Graphics Asia Limited, ITW Graphics Italy S.R.L. in liquidazione, ITW Great Britain Investment & Licensing Holding Company, ITW Group France (Luxembourg) S.ar.l., ITW HLP Thailand Co. Ltd., ITW Holding Quimica B.C. S.L. Sole Shareholder Company, ITW Holdings Australia L.P., ITW Holdings I Limited, ITW Holdings II Limited, ITW Holdings III Limited, ITW Holdings IV Limited, ITW Holdings IX Limited, ITW Holdings Inc., ITW Holdings UK, ITW Holdings V Limited, ITW Holdings VI Limited, ITW Holdings VII Limited, ITW Holdings VIII Limited, ITW Holdings X Limited, ITW Holdings XI Limited, ITW Hungary Finance Beta Kft, ITW ILC Holdings I Inc., ITW IPG Investments LLC, ITW Imaden Industria e Comercio Ltda., ITW India Private Limited, ITW International Holdings LLC, ITW Invest Holding GmbH, ITW Ireland Holdings Unlimited Company, ITW Ireland Unlimited Company, ITW Italy Finance Srl, ITW Italy Holding Srl, ITW Japan Ltd., ITW Korea LLC, ITW LLC & Co. KG, ITW Limited, ITW Lombard Holdings Inc., ITW Lys Fusion S.r.l., ITW M FILMS II LLC, ITW MH LLC, ITW Meritex Sdn. Bhd., ITW Metal Fasteners S.L., ITW Mexico Holding Company S. De R.L. de C.V., ITW Mexico Holdings LLC, ITW Morlock GmbH, ITW Mortgage Investments II Inc., ITW Mortgage Investments III Inc., ITW Mortgage Investments IV Inc., ITW Netherlands Administration BV, ITW Netherlands Beta B.V., ITW Netherlands Finance Alpha BV, ITW New Universal LLC, ITW New Zealand, ITW Novadan Sp. Z.o.o., ITW PPF Brasil Adesivos Ltda., ITW Packaging Technology (China) Co. Ltd., ITW Participations S.a r.l., ITW Pension Funds Trustee Company, ITW Performance Plastic (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ITW Performance Polymers & Fluids Japan Co. Ltd., ITW Performance Polymers & Fluids Korea Limited, ITW Performance Polymers & Fluids OOO, ITW Performance Polymers (Wujiang) Co. Ltd., ITW Performance Polymers ApS, ITW Performance Polymers and Fluids Group FZE, ITW Peru S.A.C., ITW Philippines Holdings LLC, ITW Poly Mex S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Polymers Sealants North America Inc., ITW Pronovia s.r.o., ITW Pte. Ltd., ITW Qufu Automotive Cooling Systems Co. Ltd., ITW Real Estate Germany GmbH, ITW Residuals III L.L.C., ITW Residuals IV L.L.C., ITW Rivex, ITW SMPI, ITW SPG Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Simco-Ion (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., ITW Slovakia s.r.o., ITW Spain Holdings S.L., ITW Specialty Film LLC, ITW Specialty Films France, ITW Specialty Materials (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., ITW Spraytec, ITW Sverige AB, ITW Sweden Holding AB, ITW Test & Measurement Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, ITW Test & Measurement GmbH, ITW Test and Measurement Italia Srl, ITW Test and Measurement Services Industry and Trade Ltd., ITW Texwipe Philippines Inc., ITW Thermal Films (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ITW UK, ITW UK Finance Beta Limited, ITW UK Finance Delta Limited, ITW UK Finance Gamma Limited, ITW UK Finance Limited, ITW UK Finance Zeta Ltd., ITW UK II Limited, ITW Universal II LLC, ITW Welding, ITW Welding AB, ITW Welding GmbH, ITW Welding Products B.V., ITW Welding Products Group FZE, ITW Welding Products Group S. DE R.L. De C.V., ITW Welding Products Italy Srl, ITW Welding Products Limited Liability Company, ITW Welding Produtos Para Solgdagem Ltda., ITW Welding Servicios Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Welding Singapore Pte. Ltd., ITW de France, ITW do Brasil Industrial e Comercial Ltda., Ideal Molding Technologies LLC, Illinois Tool Works (Chile) Limitada, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) Nederland B.V., Illinois Tool Works Norway AS, Impar Comercio E Representacoes Ltda., Industrie Plastic Elsasser GmbH, Inmobiliaria Cit. S.A. de C.F., Innova Temperlite Servicios S.A. de C.V., Innovacion y Transformacion Automotriz S.A. de C.V., Instron (Shanghai) Ltd., Instron (Thailand) Limited, Instron Brasil Equipamentos Cientificos Ltda., Instron Foreign Sales Corp. Limited, Instron France S.A.S., Instron GmbH, Instron Holdings Limited, Instron International Limited, Instron Japan Company Ltd., Instron Korea LLC, International Leasing Company LLC, International Truss Systems Proprietary Limited, Isolenge - ITW Sistemas de Isolamento Termico Ltda., KCPL Mauritius Holdings, Kester, Kester Components (M) Sdn. Bhd., Kleinmann GmbH, Krafft S.L., Loma Systems, Loma Systems (Canada) Inc., Loma Systems BV, Loma Systems sro, Lombard Pressings Limited, Lumex Inc., Lys Fusion Poland Sp. z.o.o., M&C Specialties (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., M&C Specialties Co., MAGNAFLUX GmbH, MEHB Holdings Limited, MGHG Property LLC, MOA Enterprises Inc, Manufacturing Avancee S.A., Meritex Technology (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Meurer Verpackungssysteme GmbH, Miller Electric Mfg. LLC, Miller Insurance Ltd., NDT Holding LLC, NOVADAN APS, Norden Olje AB, North Star Imaging Europe, North Star Imaging Inc., Nova Chimica S.r.l., Orbitalum Tools GmbH, PENTA-91 OOO, PR. A. I. Srl, PT ITW Construction Products Indonesia, Pacific Concept Industries Limited (Enping), Panreac Quimica S.L., Paslode Fasteners (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Peerless Machinery Corp., Penta Dnepr LLC, Penta Sever OOO, Penta Volga OOO, Polyrey, Premark FEG L.L.C., Premark HII Holdings LLC, Premark International, Premark International LLC, Prolex Sociedad Anonima, QSA Global Inc., Quimica Industrial Mediterranea S.L., Ramset Fasteners (Hong Kong) Ltd., Rapid Cook LLC, Refrigeration France, S.E.E. Sistemas Industria E Comercio Ltda., ST Mexico Holdings LLC, Sealant Systems International Inc., Sentinel Asia Yuhan Hoesa, Shanghai ITW Plastic & Metal Co. Ltd, Simco (Nederland) B.V., Simco Japan Inc., Societe de Prospection et dInventions Techniques SPIT, Speedline Holdings I Inc., Speedline Holdings I LLC, Speedline Technologies GmbH, Speedline Technologies Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Speedline Technologies Mexico Services S. de R.L. de C.V., Stokvis Celix Portugal Unipessoal LDA, Stokvis Danmark ApS, Stokvis Holdings S.A.R.L., Stokvis Promi s.r.o, Stokvis Prostick Tapes Private Limited, Stokvis Tapes (Hong Kong) Co. Limited, Stokvis Tapes (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Stokvis Tapes (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., Stokvis Tapes (Taiwan) Co. Ltd., Stokvis Tapes (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., Stokvis Tapes BVBA, Stokvis Tapes Benelux B.V., Stokvis Tapes Deutschland GmbH, Stokvis Tapes France, Stokvis Tapes Italia s.r.l., Stokvis Tapes Limited, Stokvis Tapes Limited Liability Company, Stokvis Tapes Norge AS, Stokvis Tapes Oy, Stokvis Tapes Polska Sp Z.O.O., Stokvis Tapes Sverige AB, Stolvis Holdings II S.A.R.L., Technopack Industria Comercio Consultoria e Representacoes Ltda., Teknek (China) Limited, Teknek (Japan) Limited, Teksaleco Ltd., The Miller Group Ltd, Thirode Grandes Cuisines Poligny, Tien Tai Electrode (Kunshan) Co. Ltd., Tien Tai Electrode Co. Ltd., Unichemicals Industria e Comercio Ltda., VR-Leasing Sarita GmbH & Co. Immobilien KG, VS European Holdco BV, Valeron Strength Films B.V.B.A., Veneta Decalcogomme S.r.l., Versachem Chile S.A., Vesta, Vesta (Guangzhou) Catering Equipment Co. Ltd, Vesta Global Limited, Viltronics Soltec, Vitronics Soltec B.V., Wachs Canada Ltd., Wachs Subsea LLC, Weigh-Tronix Canada ULC, Weigh-Tronix UK Limited, Wilsonart International Holdings LLC, Wynn Oil (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd., Wynn's Automotive France, Wynn's Belgium BVBA, Wynn's Italia Srl, Wynn's Mekuba India Pvt Ltd, ZF TRW (Engineered Fasteners and Components), and Zip-Pak International B.V.. There is not enough analysis data for CNOOC. 4.0 Community Rank Outperform Votes CNOOC has received 306 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.) Underperform Votes CNOOC has received 207 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.) Community Sentiment CNOOC has received 59.65% outperform votes from our community. MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about CNOOC and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe CEO will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe CEO will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days. Previous Next Broker, Underwriting, MSR Products; Bank, Lender, and Credit Union News A capital markets friend relayed this note recently received from an LO. When do you think stated pick-a-pay products will come back? I have some borrowers with LTVs less than 70% who could really use that. Can you find us a program to offer? Huh? Pick-a Pik-a-chu? As over a thousand capital markets folks head to New York this weekend to tax their livers and hear, yet again, another set of titillating GSE reform updates at the MBA Secondary conference that are heard at every conference, there is investor chatter as always, like PHH re-entering the mandatory business. At least one associated group is optimistic. U.S. homebuilders are becoming significantly more confident after a sharp downturn last year. The monthly confidence index of the National Association of Home Builders has risen 3 points in May to 66, the highest mark in seven months. Lender Products and Services Mortgage brokers know that competing on rate alone is a losing proposition. You need to offer products, benefits, and advice that go beyond price. To fulfill your role as the financial expert they are looking for, you need to start with WHY they came to you in the first place. Discussing saving money AND what will they do with those savings. Regardless of what their goal is, YOURgage from Quicken Loans Mortgage Services (QLMS) can help clients reach it faster and easier. YOURgage lets you and your client chose any loan term from eight to 30 years. A clients daughter going to college in 12 years may call for cash flow then, or a client wanting a lower rate but retiring in nine years can have a nine-year mortgage! A YOURgage is one way that QLMS can help you provide value, in addition to the savings. Call your AE now to run through a few more scenarios where your clients can benefit from a YOURgage, or for new brokers connect with QLMS here to learn about products to help your clients. Caliber Home Loans, Inc. is the #2 purchase lender among non-banks (IMF), and is excited to announce a national expansion of its renovation lending program. The renovation product gives Caliber customers the opportunity to include minor cosmetic updates all the way to major renovations into one loan at closing. Caliber customers avoid high rate 2ndmortgages and HELOCs and enjoy the convenience of one loan with the improvements included at the time of close. Renovation Purchase loans from Caliber can help pay for repairs, remodeling or renovation required to improve ones home. Renovation financing options from Caliber include FHA 2013(k), FHA 203(H), HomeStyle Renovation and VA Renovation loans. A diverse and current portfolio of products is why Caliber is one of the fastest-growing mortgage companies in America! How do you identify the right partner when evaluating mortgage outsourcing? Everest Group recently awarded Accenture Credit Services its top designation of Leader in its PEAK MatrixTM for Mortgage BPO ranking of 20 providers, based on Accentures market success and delivery capability. The report cited Accentures well-rounded consulting capabilities and a broad-based mortgage presence and Accentures success in capitalizing on several mortgage tools and technology solutions to serve its clients. As a trusted provider for retail, correspondent, and wholesale channels, Accentures deep domain expertise and robust processing capabilities helps clients accelerate business outcomes and grow in todays unpredictable market. Accentures global operations and 50-state SAFE Act licensing helps lenders increase their ability to focus on the customer experience, reduce costs to originate, and improve cycle time. For those of you attending the MBA Secondary Market Conference in New York, please come by the Liberty Room at the Marriott Marquis Monday or Tuesday, or click here to confirm a specific time for us to meet. Questions on HUDs latest changes on DPA program requirements? Check out TMS latest DPAssistant Update to help find DPA programs that follow the latest requirements regarding program jurisdiction. Its so great to have a handy list of over 125 DPA programs across the country. Find the list here. Simplify your underwriting process with Loan Product Advisorasset and income modeler (AIM). Through the expertise of third-party service providers, AIM automates the manual processes of assessing borrower assets and income. AIM reduces the burden of traditional documentation, speeds up the loan origination process and helps you close loans faster. Freddie Mac is working hard to bring you solutions that create efficiencies for your business and improve the borrower experience - giving you a competitive edge. These capabilities are available now. Gain greater efficiency in your underwriting processes with AIM- get The Freddie EdgeSM. M&A, Credit Union, and Bank News Banks thats where all the money is, right? The CEO of LendingClub said the online lending company is evaluating applying for a banking charter while online brokerage firm Robinhood Markets Inc. has applied for a bank charter with the OCC. Going the other way, ConnectOne Bank ($5.5B, NJ) will acquire New Yorks online business lending marketplace BoeFly which reports over $6.7B in transactions through its online matching platform connecting borrowers with lenders. PNC Bank ($371B, PA) will sell about $9B in assets of its investment management business to Federated Investors for about $52mm. Summit Community Bank ($2.2B, WV) will sell its insurance unit to the Hilb Group LLC. Investment banking company Stifel Financial Corp. will acquire investment bank, Mooreland Partners, and given that Stifel owns Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, adding Mooreland doubles the size of its technology practice. Open Mortgage, a multi-channel mortgage lender has acquired Premier Home Mortgage, a lender that specializes in financing homes in rural and small-town America, in a deal that's expected to add $300 million in loan value to the company. What depository M&A deals have been announced in recent weeks? Brazilian bank Banco Bradesco ($361B) will acquire BAC Florida Bank ($2.3B, FL) for about $500mm. In Wisconsin AbbyBank ($503mm) will acquire State Bank ($28mm), Time Federal Savings Bank ($586mm) will acquire River Cities Bank ($256mm, and two bank holding company Lake Shore III Corp ($318mm) will acquire First American Bank ($131mm) in stock (100%) for an undisclosed sum. In Kansas Intrust Bank ($5.2B) will acquire First Bank of Newton ($188mm). Down in Florida MIDFLORIDA CU ($3.5B) will acquire Community Bank and Trust of Florida ($733mm) in an all-cash deal. BancFirst ($7.7B, OK) headed south and will acquire Pegasus Bank ($624mm, TX) for $122mm in cash (100%). Up in Minnesota Merchants Bank ($1.7B) will acquire The First National Bank of Northfield ($206mm). In North Carolina First-Citizens Bank & Trust Co ($36B) will acquire Entegra Bank ($1.6B) for $219.8mm in cash. (Entegra will also cancel a strategic merger of equals it entered into in January with SmartFinancial.) In Arkansas Chambers Bank ($844mm) will acquire River Town Bank ($134mm), and in nearby Alabama CB&S Bank, Inc. ($1.7B) will acquire PrimeSouth Bank ($247mm). Teachers CU ($3.2B, IN) will acquire New Buffalo Savings Bank ($120mm, MI) for $21.3mm in cash (100%) or 1.29x tangible book. In Mississippi Hancock Whitney Bank ($29B) will acquire MidSouth Bank ($1.7B) for $213mm in stock (100%) equal to 1.4x tangible book. In Nashvilles neck of the woods Centennial Bank ($463mm) will acquire Chester County Bank ($72mm), and in Jimmy Carters home state Colony Bank ($1.3B) will acquire the mortgage business of Planters First Bank ($334mm). A while back Zelman served as exclusive sell-side investment banker to Highland in connection with its sale to Berkshire Hathaways Clayton Properties Group. This transaction aligned Highland with the nations largest and best-capitalized housing organization in Clayton, along with natural entry-level product compatibility, geographic fit complimentary to Claytons existing builder portfolio, exceptional cultural alignment, and a shared dedication to customer experience and service. Through this ninth acquisition since 2015, Clayton has positioned itself as one of Americas largest on-site homebuilding organizations. Capital Markets Compass Analytics has a lot of exciting updates to show you at MBA Secondary next week. Visit Booth #518, meet with a Sales Director or contact Compass to learn about how new Loan Level MSR capabilities can help you make better decisions about servicing pricing and values in your pipeline. Compass also has news about the latest servicing co-issue bidding capabilities, its recent white paper that discusses an important option for managing loan sales, and the comprehensive MI pricing coverage available through CompassPPE. MAXEX, LLC, a residential mortgage loan exchange, announced the closing of a Series B investment round that was led by AGNC Ventures, an affiliate of AGNC Investment Corp. and included the participation of Moore Asset Backed Fund, LP and other repeat institutional and private investors. AGNC is the largest internally-managed mortgage real estate investment trust and an active investor in residential mortgage assets. Turning to rates up a little, down a little, and yesterday they were up a little with the 10-year ending yielding 2.41%. The release of better/stronger-than-expected April Housing Starts and Philadelphia Fed Survey didnt help. Initial claims levels remained consistent with a tight labor market, which should translate into another month of solid nonfarm payrolls. On the trade front, China's Ministry of Commerce spokesperson, Gao Feng, called on the United States to cancel tariffs on imports from China in order to avoid causing a "recession-like" impact on the world economy. In Europe, the European Commission fined Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, RBS, Barclays, and MUFG a total of $1.20 billion for colluding in the spot foreign exchange market. Separately, British Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal is reportedly on track for another defeat in the House of Commons. Todays economic calendar is all at 7AM PT when leading indicators and Michigan sentiment will be released. We also have several Fed speakers, including Vice Chair Clarida, New York Fed President Williams, and Philadelphias Harper. And theres Trumps speech to NARs Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo in Washington, D.C. We begin today with Agency MBS prices better by .125 versus Thursdays close and the 10-year yielding 2.36%. Employment and Promotions Spring EQ Wholesale, the nation's premier wholesale second mortgage lender, offering 95% CLTV combos (purchase or refinance) and 100% CLTV standalone fixed rate second mortgages, and who pays 1.5% in LPC on every loan, continues its GROWTH. Joining the team are the following Senior Account Executives: Colleen Coleman in IL, IN, IA, MI, and WI, and Kristen Faidley in Minnesota and covering the entire country. Spring EQ Wholesale continues to hire Inside Account Executives in Philadelphia, and Outside Account Executives in the Northeast, and the Southeast regions and interested applicants should apply here. In addition, any brokers, banks and credit unions looking to partner should apply here. GSF Mortgage Corporation is excited to offer FNMAs new initiative, MH Advantage Loans, a great alternative for aspiring homebuyers. MH Advantage is a new homeownership option that offers innovative and affordable financing on specially designated manufactured homes that feature site-built characteristics. GSF Mortgage Corporation is one of the few lenders offering this product as a Single Close Construction to Permanent loan up to 95% LTV. Single Close Construction loan programs offered are, FHA-96.5% LTV, USDA-100% LTV, VA-100% LTV, and Conventional up to 95% LTV. All programs are single settlement without the need to requalify the borrower after the initial closing. GSF Mortgage Corporation offers more choices to our customers than most lenders, allowing borrowers to buy or build their dream home. If you are an Originator with construction experience, please contact our VP of Retail, Frank Papaleo, for information on this opportunity. BSI Financial Services added three new members to its management team: Jean-Marc Eichner and Adam Rider have joined the company as senior vice president of loan services and vice president of accounting, respectively, while Natalie Owens as has been promoted to director of business development. Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corporation Limited, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, markets, and sells medical device products and systems worldwide. It provides its products for use in acute and chronic respiratory care, and surgery, as well as the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in the home and hospital. The company offers Airvo 2, a humidified nasal high flow system; Optiflow, a nasal high flow therapy; and F&P 850 System, a noninvasive and invasive ventilation system. It also provides infant respiratory products, such as resuscitation, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy, and nasal high flow therapy products. In addition, the company offers hospital products, including humidification products, breathing circuits, chambers, masks, nasal cannulas, surgical, accessories, and interfaces; and homecare products that include masks, CPAP devices, software and data management products, humidifiers, and accessories. Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corporation Limited was founded in 1934 and is headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand. Read More The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. is an insurance and financial services company. The company provides life insurance, group and employee benefits, automobile and homeowners insurance and business insurance, as well as investment products, annuities, mutual funds, and college savings plans. It operates through the following segments: Commercial Lines, Personal Lines, Property & Casualty Other Operations, Group Benefits and Hartford Funds. The Commercial Lines segment provides workers compensation, property, automobile, liability and umbrella coverage under several different products, primarily throughout the U.S., within its standard commercial lines, which consists of The Hartford's small commercial and middle market lines of business. The Personal Lines segment includes automobile, homeowners and home-based business coverage to individuals across the U.S. The Property & Casualty Other Operations segment includes certain property and casualty operations, currently managed by the company, that have discontinued writing new business and substantially all of the company's asbestos and environmental exposures. The Group Benefits segment offers group life, accident and disabi Read More Ibstock plc manufactures and sells clay and concrete building products and solutions primarily in the United Kingdom. Its principal products include clay bricks, brick components, concrete roof tiles, concrete stone masonry substitutes, concrete fencing, pre-stressed concrete, and concrete rail products. The company provides facing bricks, walling stones, architectural masonry products, cast stones, facade systems, and retaining walls, as well as lintels, sills, and arches; and cladding solutions; roof tiles, chimneys, soffits, and roofing accessories; and fencings, caps and copings, bollards, balustrades, path edgings, and urban landscaping products. It also offers floor beams, door steps, gully surrounds, screed rails, insulated floorings, and hollowcore products; and rail and infrastructure products, such as troughing, cable theft protection, boards, blocks, bases, catchpits, and inspection chambers. In addition, the company offers engraving, cutting, and bonding services; floor beam and block design, supply, and fitting solutions; bespoke concrete products; and staircases and lift shafts services. Its products are used in new build housing; repair, maintenance, and improvement; and infrastructure markets. The company sells its products under the Forticrete, Supreme, Anderton, and Longley brands to customers in the construction industry. Ibstock plc was founded in 1825 and is headquartered in Ibstock, the United Kingdom. Read More Royal Bank of Canada operates as a diversified financial service company worldwide. The company's Personal & Commercial Banking segment offers checking and savings accounts, home equity financing, personal lending, private banking, indirect lending, mutual funds and self-directed brokerage accounts, guaranteed investment certificates, credit cards, and payment products and solutions; and lending, leasing, deposit, investment, foreign exchange, cash management, auto dealer financing, trade products, and services to small and medium-sized commercial businesses. This segment offers financial products and services through branches, automated teller machines, and mobile sales network. Its Wealth Management segment provides a suite of advice-based solutions and strategies to high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals, and institutional clients. The company's Insurance segment offers life, health, home, auto, travel, wealth, annuities, and reinsurance advice and solutions; and creditor and business insurance services to individual, business, and group clients through its field sales force, advice centers, and online, as well as through independent insurance advisors and affinity relationships. Its Investor & Treasury Services segment provides asset, cash management, transaction banking, and treasury services to institutional clients; correspondent banking and trade finance services for financial institutions; and short-term funding and liquidity management services. The company's Capital Markets segment offers corporate and investment banking, as well as equity and debt origination, distribution, sale, and trading services for corporations, institutional investors, asset managers, governments, and central banks. Royal Bank of Canada has a strategic partnership with Royal College Of Physicians & Surgeons Of Canada to support the needs of Canada's medical specialists. The company was founded in 1864 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Read More Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. provides technical, professional, and construction services. The company's Aerospace, Technology, Environmental and Nuclear segment offers scientific, engineering, construction, nuclear, environmental, and technical support services to the aerospace, defense, technical, and automotive industries. Its Buildings, Infrastructure and Advanced Facilities segment develops/rehabilitates plans for highways, bridges, transit, tunnels, airports, railroads, intermodal facilities, and maritime or port projects; develops or rehabilitates critical water resource systems, water/wastewater conveyance systems, and flood defense projects; and provides engineering design, construction management, design build, and operations and maintenance. This segment also designs and constructs buildings; offers consulting, engineering, procurement, construction management, and delivery services for life sciences clients; and provides services relating to modular construction and other consulting and strategic planning services, as well as offers services in containment, barrier technology, locally controlled environments, building systems automation, off-the-site design, and fabrication of facility modules. The company's Energy, Chemicals and Resources segment offers services relating to onshore and offshore oil and gas production facilities, processing facilities, gathering systems, and transmission pipelines and terminals; feasibility/economic studies, technology evaluation, conceptual engineering, front end loading, detailed engineering, procurement, construction, maintenance, and commissioning services; and engineering, procurement, and construction solutions. This segment also provides services, such as manufacturing complex, expansions, modifications, and management of plant relocations; construction management and field construction services; and services to operate and maintain facilities. The company was founded in 1947 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Read More Keyera Corp. engages in the energy infrastructure business in Canada. It operates through Gathering and Processing, Liquids Infrastructure, and Marketing segments. The company's Gathering and Processing segment owns and operates raw gas gathering pipelines and processing plants, which collect and process raw natural gas, remove waste products, and separate the economic components primarily natural gas liquids; and provides condensate handling services. It has approximately 4,400 kilometers of gathering pipelines; and holds interests in 14 active gas plants in Alberta. The company's Liquids Infrastructure segment provides processing, fractionation, storage, transportation, liquids blending, and terminalling services for natural gas liquids (NGLs) and crude oil through a network of facilities that include underground NGL storage caverns, above ground storage tanks, NGL fractionation and de-ethanization facilities, pipelines, rail and truck terminals, liquids blending facilities, and the Alberta EnviroFuels facility. It also produces iso-octane. The company's Marketing segment engages in the marketing of propane, butane, condensate and iso-octane, as well as liquid blending activities. The company was formerly known as Keyera Facilities Income Fund and changed its name to Keyera Corp. in January 2011. Keyera Corp. was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Quest Diagnostics: AmeriPath, AmeriPath Cincinnati Inc. (OH), AmeriPath Cleveland Inc. (OH), AmeriPath Consolidated Labs Inc. (FL), AmeriPath Florida LLC (DE), AmeriPath Hospital Services Florida LLC (DE), AmeriPath Inc. (DE), AmeriPath Indianapolis PC (IN), AmeriPath Kentucky Inc. (KY), AmeriPath Lubbock 5.01(A) Corporation (TX), AmeriPath New York LLC (DE), AmeriPath Texas Inc. (DE), AmeriPath Tucson Inc. (AZ), American Medical Laboratories, American Medical Laboratories Incorporated (DE), Associated Clinical Laboratories L.P. (PA), Associated Clinical Laboratories of Pennsylvania L.L.C. (PA), Athena Diagnostics, Athena Diagnostics Inc. (DE), Blueprint Genetics, Blueprint Genetics FZ-LLC (UAE), Blueprint Genetics Inc. (DE), Blueprint Genetics Oy (Finland), California Laboratory Associates, Cape Cod Healthcare - Business, Celera, ClearPoint Diagnostic, Clearpoint Diagnostic Laboratories LLC (TX), Cleveland HeartLab, Cleveland HeartLab Inc. (DE), Clinical Laboratory Partners, Colorado Pathology Consultants P.C. (CO), ConVerge Diagnostic Services, Consolidated DermPath Inc. (DE), DFW 5.01(a) Corporation (TX), DGXWMT JV LLC (DE), Dermatopathology of Wisconsin S.C. (WI), Diagnostic Laboratory of Oklahoma LLC (OK), Diagnostic Pathology Services Inc. (OK), Diagnostic Reference Services Inc. (MD), ExamOne Canada Inc. (New Brunswick), ExamOne LLC (DE), ExamOne World Wide Inc. (PA), ExamOne World Wide of NJ Inc. (NJ), Focus Diagnostics, HemoCue, Hoffman M.D. Associated Pathologists Chartered (NV), Institute for Dermatopathology Inc. (PA), Isabella Street Urban Renewal LLC (NJ), Kailash B. Sharma M.D. Inc. (GA), Kilpatrick Pathology P.A. (NC), LabOne, LabOne LLC (MO), LabOne of Ohio Inc. (DE), Laboratorio de Analisis Biomedicos S.A. (Mexico), Lancet Labs, MACL, Med Fusion LLC (TX), Med fusion, MedPlus, Mid America Clinical Laboratories LLC (IN), Nomad Massachusetts Inc. (MA), Nuclear Medicine and Pathology Associates (GA), Ocmulgee Medical Pathology Association Inc. (GA), Pathology Building Partnership (MD) (gen. ptnrshp.), PeaceHealth Laboratories, PhenoPath Laboratories, PhenoPath Laboratories PLLC (WA), Q Squared Solutions Holdings LLC (DE), Q Squared Solutions Holdings Limited (UK), Quest Diagnostics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. (China), Quest Diagnostics Brasil Holdings Ltd. (UK), Quest Diagnostics Clinical Laboratories, Quest Diagnostics Clinical Laboratories Inc. (DE), Quest Diagnostics Domestic Holder LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics HTAS India Private Limited (India), Quest Diagnostics Health & Wellness LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics Holdings Incorporated (DE), Quest Diagnostics Holdings Ltd. (UK), Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (MD), Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NV), Quest Diagnostics India Private Limited (India), Quest Diagnostics Infectious Disease Inc. (DE), Quest Diagnostics International Holdings Limited (UK), Quest Diagnostics International LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics Investments LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics Ireland Limited (Ireland), Quest Diagnostics LLC (CT), Quest Diagnostics LLC (IL), Quest Diagnostics LLC (MA), Quest Diagnostics Massachusetts LLC (MA), Quest Diagnostics Mexico Holding Company Trust (Mexico), Quest Diagnostics Mexico S de RL de CV (Mexico), Quest Diagnostics Nichols Institute (CA), Quest Diagnostics Nichols Institute Inc. (VA), Quest Diagnostics Receivables Inc. (DE), Quest Diagnostics Subsidiary Holdings Ltd. (UK), Quest Diagnostics TB LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics Terracotta LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics Venture LLC (PA), Quest Diagnostics Ventures LLC (DE), Quest Diagnostics do Brasil Ltda. (Brazil), Quest Diagnostics of Pennsylvania Inc. (DE), Quest Diagnostics of Puerto Rico Inc. (PR), Quest HealthConnect LLC (CA), ReproSource, Reprosource Fertility Diagnostics Inc. (MA), Solstas Lab Partners, Sonora Quest Laboratories LLC (AZ), Specialty Laboratories Inc. (CA), Summit Health, UMass Memorial Medical Center - Anatomic Pathology Outreach Laboratory Business, Unilab Corporation, and Unilab Corporation (DE). innogy SE operates as an energy company in Europe. The company operates in two divisions, Grid & Infrastructure and Retail. The Grid & Infrastructure division is involved in the operation of gas distribution network in Croatia, as well as electricity distribution network in Poland and Hungary; and water business. The Retail division sells electricity and gas. The company serves residential, commercial, industrial, and corporate customers, as well as distributors. innogy SE has a strategic partnership with Nordex. The company was formerly known as RWE International SE and changed its name to innogy SE in September 2016. innogy SE was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Essen, Germany. innogy SE is a subsidiary of E.ON Verwaltungs SE. Read More Royal Dutch Shell plc operates as an energy and petrochemical company worldwide. The company operates through Integrated Gas, Upstream, Oil Products, Chemicals segments. It explores for and extracts crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids; markets and transports oil and gas; produces gas-to-liquids fuels and other products; and operates upstream and midstream infrastructure necessary to deliver gas to market. The company also markets and trades natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), crude oil, electricity, carbon-emission rights; and markets and sells LNG as a fuel for heavy-duty vehicles and marine vessels. In addition, it trades in and refines crude oil and other feed stocks, such as gasoline, diesel, heating oil, aviation fuel, marine fuel, biofuel, lubricants, bitumen, and sulphur; produces and sells petrochemicals for industrial use; and manages oil sands activities. Further, the company produces base chemicals comprising ethylene, propylene, and aromatics, as well as intermediate chemicals, such as styrene monomer, propylene oxide, solvents, detergent alcohols, ethylene oxide, and ethylene glycol. Royal Dutch Shell plc was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands. Read More Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust PLC is a closed-ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by Baillie Gifford & Co Ltd. The fund is co-managed by Baillie Gifford & Co. It invests in public equity markets of countries across the globe. The fund seeks to invest in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors. The fund invests in growth stocks of companies. It focuses on factors such as strength of management, competitive position, customer perspective, prospects for sales and margins, current and potential valuation to create its portfolio. The fund benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the FTSE All World Index. Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust PLC was formed in 1909 and is domiciled in the United Kingdom. Read More Severn Trent Plc operates as a water and sewerage company in England and Wales. It operates through two segments, Regulated Water and Waste Water, and Business Services. The Regulated Water and Waste Water segment offers water and waste water services to approximately 4.6 million households and businesses in the Midlands and Wales. The Business Services segment provides sludge treatment and related renewable energy generating services; and generates renewable energy from anaerobic digestion, crop, hydropower, wind turbines, and solar technology. It also provides contract services to municipal and industrial clients in the United Kingdom and Ireland; and the United Kingdom Ministry of Defense for design, build, and operation of water and waste water treatment facilities and networks, as well as services to developers. In addition, this segment manages and sells land; and offers developer, property search, and others services. The company was founded in 1974 and is headquartered in Coventry, the United Kingdom. Read More Genworth Financial, Inc. is a financial services company, which engages in the provision of insurance, wealth management, investment and financial solutions. It operates through the following segments: U.S. Mortgage Insurance, Australia Mortgage Insurance, U.S. Life Insurance, and Runoff. The U.S. Mortgage Insurance segment offers mortgage insurance products predominantly insuring prime-based, individually underwritten residential mortgage loans. The Australia Mortgage Insurance segment offers flow mortgage insurance and selectively provides bulk mortgage insurance that aids in the sale of mortgages to the capital markets and helps lenders manage capital and risk. The U.S. Life Insurance segment offers long-term care insurance products as well as service traditional life insurance and fixed annuity products in the United States. The Runoff segment includes the results of non-strategic products which are no longer actively sold but continue to service its existing blocks of business. Its non-strategic products primarily include variable annuity, variable life insurance, institutional, corporate-owned life insurance and other accident and health insurance products. The company was fo Read More Tallgrass Energy, LP, through its subsidiaries, provides crude oil transportation services to customers in Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, and the surrounding regions of the United States. The company operates through three segments: Natural Gas Transportation; Crude Oil Transportation; and Gathering, Processing & Terminalling. It also provides natural gas transportation and storage services for customers in the Rocky Mountain, Midwest, and Appalachian regions; natural gas and crude oil gathering and processing services for customers in Wyoming; and natural gas liquids (NGLs) transportation services in Northeast Colorado and Wyoming. In addition, the company offers water business services, including freshwater transportation, and produced water gathering and disposal in Colorado, Texas, Wyoming, and North Dakota; crude oil storage and terminalling services in Colorado, Oklahoma, and Kansas; and marketing services for NGLs and crude oil. The company was formerly known as Tallgrass Energy GP, LP and changed its name to Tallgrass Energy, LP in June 2018. Tallgrass Energy, LP was founded in 2013 and is based in Leawood, Kansas. Read More Rayonier Advanced Materials, Inc. engages in the production and sale of cellulose products, which is a natural polymer commonly used in the production of cell phone and computer screens, filters, and pharmaceuticals. It operates through the following segments: High Purity Cellulose, Forest Products, Paperboard, Pulp and Newsprint, and Corporate. The High Purity Cellulose segment manufacture and market high purity cellulose, which is sold as either cellulose specialties or commodity products in U.S., Canda, and France. The Forest Products segment manufacture and market construction-grade lumber in North America through seven sawmills located in Canada. The Paperboard segment comprises paperboard products. The Pulp and Newsprint segment involves in the production of pulp and newsprint in Canada. The Corporate segment consists senior management, accounting, information systems, human resources, treasury, tax, and legal administrative functions that provide support services to the operating business units. The company was founded in 1926 and is headquartered in Jacksonville, FL. Read More Marlen Ochoa-Lopez attended her classes at Latino Youth High School last month and planned to pick up her 3-year-old at day care later that afternoon. But first, the 19-year-old, who was nine months pregnant, stopped by a home in Chicago to pick up some baby items, police said. That was on April 23, the last day she was seen alive. Her body was found Tuesday in a garbage can in the backyard of the woman who'd offered her the baby supplies, police said. Ochoa-Lopez had been strangled with a cable, and her unborn baby forcibly removed from her womb, Deputy Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan said. The baby boy is hospitalized in grave condition. An appeal for a baby stroller Before Ochoa-Lopez went missing, she appealed to mothers on a Facebook group called "Help A Sister Out." She needed a double stroller for her toddler and the baby on the way, according to the posts. The high school student wrote that she was jobless and short on cash, and was willing to buy, trade or simply accept a donation. A woman responded with an offer of new baby clothes and other unused items, and asked Ochoa-Lopez to message her privately. Ochoa-Lopez had bought other baby items from her in the past, police said. The woman, Clarisa Figueroa, 46, and her daughter, Desiree Figueroa, 24, were charged Thursday with first-degree murder and aggravated battery of a child less than 13 years old, police said. Figueroa's boyfriend, Piotr Bobak, has been charged with concealing the death of a person and one felony count of concealing a homicidal death. The three suspects are due in court Friday, CNN affiliate WGN reported. "Words really cannot express how disgusting and thoroughly disturbing these allegations are," Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said. An agonizing search for answers Ochoa-Lopez's anguished relatives searched for her for three weeks. Her husband tried to immediately report her missing to the police, but was told to come back in 72 hours, according to the family's pastor, Jacobita Cortes. He did and the family hired a private investigator, who Cortes said helped find Ochoa-Lopez's car near the home where her body was found. They also turned to the local church for help in reaching out to the community at large, plastering the neighborhood with missing persons fliers. Residents last week started calling the church to report that they had seen the young mother enter the house where she was found dead. They said that one of the women who lived there, in her 40s, suddenly had a baby without ever appearing to be pregnant, according to Cortes. Ochoa-Lopez's father, Arnulfo Ochoa, said there were opportunities to find his daughter sooner. "(The private detective) went into that (Facebook) page and found all the information, and he gave it to the police. But even then, they took too long to get there," Ochoa said at a news conference Thursday. The same day Ochoa-Lopez went missing, the Chicago Fire Department received a call about a newborn in distress at the home where her body was eventually found, authorities said. For the three weeks she was missing, Ochoa-Lopez's baby boy had already been forcibly removed from her womb and was hospitalized along with a woman who claimed to be his mother, according to fire department spokesman Larry Langford. "There's going to be anger associated," Johnson told reporters. "When things of this nature occur, the first thing people do is look in retrospect, what could we have done to maybe prevent this? I know our detectives do the best they can." A break in the case The break in the case came May 7, police said. A friend of the victim told detectives about her Facebook exchanges with Figueroa before she vanished. But Ochoa-Lopez's family said they notified authorities about her interaction with the woman much sooner. Detectives visited the Figueroa home last week after learning of the Facebook contact between the two women. Desiree Figueroa told them her mother was in the hospital for problems with her legs. Then she revealed that her mother had just delivered a baby, authorities said. When investigators interviewed the elder Figueroa, she denied the victim came to her house on April 23 but she admitted to meeting her in the past. Suspicious, detectives subpoenaed hospital records and began to collect DNA samples from the baby, his biological father and Figueroa. The DNA matched the baby's father, said Cortes of Adalberto Memorial United Methodist Church. A confession and questions On Tuesday, armed with a search warrant, crime lab officers searched the house. Detectives discovered bleach and cleaning solutions in the home, along with evidence of burned clothing and blood on the floors of the living room, bathroom and a hallway, according to Deenihan. "They are finding remains of burned clothes, they are finding some blood indication on the living room carpet, some blood indication on the hallway, some blood indication on the bathroom floor," police said. Ochoa-Lopez's body was found in a garbage can in the yard, along with the cable used to strangle her and other evidence. Desiree Figueroa told detectives she helped her mother strangle her, police said. The motive for the killing is under investigation, but the superintendent said he believes the suspect wanted to raise the child as her own. Figueroa lost a son who was in his 20s to natural causes in 2017. Ochoa-Lopez's mother, Raquel Uriostegui, broke down after identifying her body. "I want justice for my daughter, my only daughter," she said. "This can't stay like this." A woman from Holland Patent who was injured in a car accident at a young age is winning a national award. Kristen Parisi was in a car accident when she was 5 years old. She says she fell asleep in the car, and when she woke up, she was in the hospital. Due to that accident, Parisi is disabled from the waist down, and permanently in a wheelchair. "Disability knows no gender, it knows no ethnicity, religion, age, nothing," said Parisi. In February 2018, Parisi quit her full-time job and now focuses on writing and advocating for people with disabilities. "I thought maybe sharing my experience through writing and advocacy, it might help other people as well as kind of help myself," Parisi said. In 2018, Parisi worked on a project with the Today Show called "We Want a Voice." That project is earning her and production team the Gracie Award. "Its just cool and its very humbling," Parisi said. "I feel very, very, very, very fortunate." The Gracie Awards are awards presented by the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation in America, to celebrate and honor women in the media. This award has been won by people like Barbara Walters, Martha Stewart, and Betty White. Although Parisi has struggled her whole life, and still does today, she does not let her disability define her. She says her wheelchair is just a tool to get around. "Some days are really great, and others are terrible," Parisi said. "I'm a person, I'm not my disability, my disability really at the end of the day is only a small fraction of who I am." Now Parisi is advocating for others with a situation similar to hers, and hoping that they too, do not let their disability define them. "It would just be great if we got to live in a world where just because you had a disability, didn't mean that somebody was going to look at you different or assume that you couldn't do things." HERKIMER, N.Y. -- Herkimer County Community College honors the Class of 2019 at their commencement ceremony Friday. A total of 463 students have turned their tassels, and received their associates degrees in various fields. The next step is the workforce or continued education, but Friday night a celebration! Frankfort, N.Y. - J-B-F Stainless, which moved its local facility into the Frankfort 5S Business Park last December is getting a grant from New York State in the sum of $680,000. Senator Jim Seward announced the Empire State Development Corporation grant on Thursday. Seward says the money will assist JBF Stainless with the financing for its move, which he says helped save 27 jobs and create 10 new ones, "We need to create more job opportunities in New York State and this public-private partnership is accomplishing that priority in Herkimer County. JBF Stainless has made a commitment to our local economy and is worthy of state support as they grow and create new jobs." The New York State Public Authorities Control Board (PACB) approved a number of economic development grants for projects across the state this week including this one. The new 38,750 square foot manufacturing facility for JBF Stainless in Frankfort cost a total of $3.8 million. Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayyeb told Ambassador Adams that he welcomes cooperation with British cultural and educational institutions, stressing that Al-Azhar opens its doors to all races and cultures Related Egypt's Al-Azhar condemns drone attack on Saudi oil stations The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmed El-Tayyeb received on Friday the British Ambassador to Egypt Sir Geoffrey Adams to discuss means of enhancing cooperation between the world's leading Sunni Islamic institution and the British government. Ambassador Adams wished the grand imam and all Muslims greetings on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan. Adams affirmed to El-Tayyeb that the British government is keen on increasing cooperation with Al-Azhar in various cultural, religious and scientific fields, expressing his country's aspiration to benefit from Al-Azhar as the most trusted Islamic reference in British society. El-Tayyeb said that Al-Azhar is keen on helping its students learn other languages, and providing them with the opportunity to interact with different cultures and civilisations, inorder to convey the message of Al-Azhar to the whole world. The grand imam said he welcomes cooperation with British cultural and educational institutions, stressing that Al-Azhar opens its doors to all races and cultures. El-Tayyeb affirmed Al-Azhars readiness of to receive Muslim imams from Britain to train them on confronting radical and terrorist ideas and spreading the culture of peace and coexistence in their society. Search Keywords: Short link: Nauru is an island nation found in Micronesia, one of the subregions of Oceania. The country occupies an area of 8.1 square miles which is currently the third smallest state following the Vatican City and Monaco. It is the smallest state in the South Pacific Ocean. Nauru has a population of 11,347 people. In 2017, Nauru GDP on purchasing power parity was $160 million and per capita GDP on purchasing power parity of $12,052. Some of the leading industries in Nauru include phosphate mining, coconut products, and offshore banking. The economy of the island nation of Nauru is dominated by mining of phosphate and internet banking services which is also an emerging sector in the country. Due to the country's small size and limited natural resources, agriculture contributes an extremely small part of the country's economy, and therefore the country is not self-sufficient in food. Although the nation is an island, it has no fishing industry. Agriculture Industry The agriculture industry accounts for a small portion of the GDP and 2010, fisheries, forestry, and agriculture, in general, accounted for 6% of the GDP, while in 1995 agriculture was accounting for 5% of the GDP. Widespread mining in the country has left only 20% of the land suitable for agricultural practices. Besides, the country experiences frequent droughts and native agricultural knowledge has also been lost. The country's agricultural industry is limited and there are no formal commercial agricultural undertakings other than subsistence farming. Only food crops, mainly coconut trees, are primarily cultivated in individual farms in area surrounding the small island lake of Buada lagoon. Another major problem facing agriculture in the country includes the underfunding and the little formal training of agriculture. Other agricultural crops grown in small farms include sugarcane and there are also farmers who keep pigs and chicken mainly for domestic consumption. According to FAO, the availability of water is also one of the critical limiting factors for agriculture growth and as a result, the country imports most of its food items from other countries. Mining Industry Mining of phosphate in Nauru has dominated the country's economy since it was discovered in the 20th century. The largest mines of phosphate are found in the central part of the island, in the region known as Topside. Since the 1920s, until the country gained its independence in 1968, Nauru was an administrative region of Australia and the mining of phosphate in the country was operated and owned by the British Phosphate Commission (BPC). After independence, the country established the Nauru Phosphate Corporation which took over the mining of the mineral in the island. Nauru had the largest phosphate deposits in the world and the country exports most of its phosphate to South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, and Indonesia among other countries. The country's primary phosphate deposits were depleted in 2006 and mining ceased the same year. However, deep layer mining of the secondary phosphate resumed the following year and they are expected to be exhausted in the next 30 years. Phosphate mining in the country has had a huge environmental impact leaving about 80% of Nauru's land area destroyed and unsuitable for any other activity, even for residential development. Tourism Tourism in Nauru is extremely small because it does not have many tourist attractions compared to its neighboring Pacific Island nations. The country is remote and is relatively expensive to access. Similarly, tourist facilities are limited. Nauru only has two hotels and it has no resorts. However, the government is trying to develop the tourism industry to diversify its economy which has been relying on phosphate for a long time. Some of the leisure activities include deep sea fishing that is offered by different local businesses which are privately owned and boats are available for charter. Wreck diving and scuba diving are not available because the equipment is not easily obtainable in Nauru. Financial Services The island nation of Nauru has well-developed internet-based banking which has attracted more than 400 registered banks. The banking industry in Nauru is characterized by lack of taxes and banking secrecy which has attracted numerous banks. The cost of establishing a bank in the country is about $5,680 and registration and renewal fees of about $4,980 every year. Nauru has been accused, particularly by the government of Russia, to have accepted more than $70 billion in deposits from criminal organizations such as the Russian Mafia. The United States has also accused Nauru of laundering money which was illegally obtained. Typically the money is transferred through the Nauru Banks. The United States at one time threatened to abolish the right of Nauru to trade in US dollars, but in 1999 Nauru committed to cleaning up its banking industry. Challenges Facing Nauru Some of the greatest challenges facing the island nation of Nauru is rehabilitating extensively damaged landscape as a result of the mining of phosphate and trying to diversify the economy to replace the income generated from phosphate mining. When the government anticipated depletion of phosphate deposits, it invested in trust funds hoping to cushion the country in the transition period and to provide economic future to the country. It is estimated that the country invested in the fund about $100 million to $800 million. Most of the assets are in stocks and real estate as well as bonds in the overseas countries particularly in Australia, Fiji, and Hawaii. However, there have been numerous allegations of corruption and mismanagement of the trust fund. In 1989, Nauru took a case to the International Court of Justice against Australia for failing to take any remedial actions against environmental damage as a result of phosphate mining. A settlement was finally reached out-of-court for Australia to rehabilitate some of the areas in Nauru. National Separatist call for bandh over civilian killing in J&K Srinagar, May 17 (IANS) | Publish Date: 5/17/2019 10:59:54 AM IST A separatist-called protest shutdown on Friday over civilian deaths during an anti-terror operation found support in the valley as shops, public transport, businesses and educational institutions remained closed here in the city and other places in Jammu and Kashmir. Nine people comprising five militants, two civilians and two soldiers were killed in two gunfights in the valley on Thursday. The Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik had called for the shutdown alleging loss of innocent Kashmiri lives at the hand of security agencies. Authorities ordered the closure of schools and colleges to prevent any untoward incidents. Post graduate entrance test scheduled for the day was also postponed by the University of Kashmir. Heavy deployments of police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have been made at all vulnerable places in Srinagar and other districts. Regional US envoy meets Mizoram CM , discusses health, infrastructure AIZAWL, MAY 17 (AGENCIES) | Publish Date: 5/17/2019 11:14:21 AM IST US Ambassador to India Kenneth Ian Juster has called on Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga to discuss possible areas of cooperation in road infrastructure besides health care, reports Northeast Now news. Ambassador Kenneth along with US Consul General in Kolkata Patti Hoffman arrived here on Thursday on a two-day visit. Juster yesterday (Thursday) held meeting with the chief minister at the latters residence and discussed state policies and possible areas of cooperation especially in road infrastructure and health care, said a statement issued from CMO. An official of Mizoram government said that strengthening cooperation in tourism and creating more avenues for higher education in the US for students from the northeastern states also figured in the discussion. The US Ambassador also interacted with the senior functionaries of Shalom, an NGO working on HIV/AIDS, human rights, nutrition, prisoners issues, womens empowerment and youth affairs. The US envoy held meeting with church leaders at Synod office here and senior officials of Excise and Narcotics Department, the statement added. Juster, after his appointment as the 25th US Ambassador to India in November 2017, had visited other North Eastern states including Assam and Tripura. Clara Campos is a representative of the Julian Assange Defence Committee (JADC). For the last seven years, Clara and other members of the JADC maintained a vigil outside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. The vigil continued until the day that Assange was illegally seized, arrested and dragged out of the Embassy by British police on April 11. Clara spoke at the May 12 public meeting in London, hosted by the Socialist Equality Party, in defence of Assange and courageous whistleblower Chelsea Manning. Her remarks on their campaign are published below. Clara Campos For years we stood vigil outside the Ecuadorian Embassy in support of WikiLeaks Publisher Julian Assange witnessing the Embassy siege by the Metropolitan Police, in full force, the face and arms of the British state, as it kept him trapped and surveilled. The intention is clear--his arrest and silencing, and collecting all information relating to his publishing operation with a view of stopping him. They did not stop him. Julian Assange remained fierce in his defence of WikiLeaks publishing and continuing to produce that fruit of knowledge that gives us hope for a better world. From crimes committed on the battlefield or the dark corners of government, from the bowels of prisons where torture and horror crushes bones and souls, to the ways in which modern secret services monitor and hack into our lives, WikiLeaks has been there inviting our society to take a good look of what is being done in our name. Armed with that knowledge we can defend ourselves and the human rights we the people have fought long and hard to uphold. We in return must be fierce in the defence of Julian Assange. His brutal arrest on the 11th of April intensifies his Arbitrary Detention further. We must act now in mobilising to free him. He is one of us. But what can we do as citizens in his defence? What can we do when we witness the state deploying the security, diplomatic and even judicial resources in this assault on one of us? The answer is simple, we follow our conscience and let it guide our steps and turn to one another encouraging each other to be brave and act upon our conscience. And our actions are political as we project our opinions and will on the democratic process, we function in. We are organising rallies, public meetings, protests, and raise money for his defence. We write letters and visit our Members of Parliament; we pack out the public galleries at his court appearances and file complaints when the judge violates our constitutional rights and closes them. We protest outside the courts and mobilise whatever skill we each and every one of us possesses in this fight for justice. Please join our mailing list and well invite you to join our solidarity campaign. A full report of the London public meeting can be read here The speech delivered to the meeting by Socialist Equality Party (UK) National Secretary Chris Marsden can be read here Canadas Liberal government has issued a series of inflammatory warnings about the alleged danger of foreign interference in the countrys federal election due this October. This reactionary campaign has the twin aims of legitimizing censorship of social media and the internet and whipping up hostility against Russia, which Ottawa, like its longstanding partner Washington, views as a strategic adversary. Speaking at a G7 foreign ministers meeting held in Brittany, France April 5-6, with the purported aim of establishing common norms to thwart foreign powers from destabilizing democracies, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland stated, Our judgment is that interference [in the federal election] is very likely and we think there have probably already been efforts by malign foreign actors to disrupt our democracy. At a news conference the same day, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that countries like Russia are behind a lot of the divisive campaigns that have turned our politics even more divisive and more anger-filled than they have been in the past. He added that his government is determined to be incredibly vigilant in the face of this threat. Who does Trudeau think he is kidding? The reality is that Canada, like the United States, does not require a foreign power to increase divisions in political life. The pro-war, pro-austerity policies pursued by successive federal and provincial governments of all political stripes have led to a rapid acceleration of economic insecurity and social inequality and the militarization of Canadas foreign policy. These developments are opposed by broad sections of the population, who rightly view the entire political establishment as corrupt hirelings of the super-rich and big business. This opposition is beginning to find expression in protests organized by young people and workers through social media, independently of the trade unions and establishment parties, as in the case of the recent series of student walkouts and demonstrations against the savage social spending cuts imposed by the Ontarios Doug Ford-led hard-right government. The real reason for Freeland and Trudeau invoking the spectre of Russian interference is to advocate for and legitimize measures aimed at muzzling this growing social opposition. In doing so, they are working with Canadas imperialist allies to both establish mechanisms for state censorship and to conscript the giant social media companies and internet providers to voluntarily police content. Trudeau was one of the heads of government to attend the Christchurch call summit in Paris co-hosted Wednesday by French President Emmanuel Macron and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. The summit discussed ways that capitalist governments can more closely collaborate with tech firms like Facebook and Twitter to clamp down on vaguely-defined extremist content. (See: HYPERLINK "https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/05/16/chri-m16.html" France hosts Christchurch call summit to intensify internet censorship ) Last month, the Communications Security Establishmentwhich is part of the US National Security Agency-led Five Eyes global spying network and as such deeply involved in US imperialisms wars and efforts to subvert leftist movements around the worldpublished an update to a 2017 report titled Cyber Threats to Canadas Democratic Process. The report claims that it is very likely Canadian voters will encounter foreign cyber interference ahead of, and during, the 2019 general election. It asserts that cyber threat activity against democracy in the United States and Europe has raised concerns about similar threats to Canada, and charges that a small number of nation-states have undertaken the majority of the cyber activity against democratic processes worldwide. The references to the US and Europe make it unmistakably clear what is involved. In the United States, the Democrats have been waging a neo-McCarthyite campaign against Trump for over two years, making bogus claims that he is too soft towards Russia and that Moscow meddled in the 2016 election to help him win office. Although no evidence has been produced to back up these spurious claims, they have been deployed to slander anti-establishment views as Russian propaganda, and to beat the drums for censorship of social media and a more aggressive stance against Moscow. Egged on by the US Congress, Facebook has blocked and deleted hundreds of pages associated with campaigns against police violence and other social issues. Meanwhile, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, whose organization published documents exposing US imperialist war crimes and Hillary Clinton as a tool of Wall Street, has been branded a Russian stooge by the corporate-controlled media. After being seized by British police last month from his asylum in Ecuadors London embassy, Assange is threatened with rendition to the US, where he is all but certain to confront espionage charges that carry the death penalty. The Canadian ruling elite is laying the groundwork for a no less ruthless clampdown on social opposition. Tech giant Facebook, owner of the social networking app Instagram, recently announced that it would ban several far-right groups and figures in Canada from its platformsincluding last year's Toronto mayoral candidate Faith Goldyas part of the companys crackdown on users who espouse white nationalism and who organize hate, activities that violate its community standards. The political views of Goldy, a former contributor to the far-right news outlet Rebel Media, are deeply reactionary and must be implacably opposed. Their suppression by the social media monopoly Facebook working in close collaboration with the state, however, sets a dangerous precedent. The defence of democratic rights cannot and must not be entrusted to an authoritarian partnership between government and big tech. If they are allowed to arrogate the power to dictate what is permissible speech in the name of countering ambiguously worded catch-all threats like organized hate, sooner rather than later their apparatus of censorship will be turned against the working class and left-wing opposition to the capitalist profit system. In addition to its close ties to the tech giants, the Trudeau government is deepening its collaboration with the military and intelligence apparatus to suppress oppositional viewpoints. Earlier this year, the Minister of Democratic Institutions, Karina Gould, along with Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Minister Ralph Goodale and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, unveiled a plan to defend Canadian democracy from threats, including foreign interference. A critical election incident public protocol team has been assembled to alert the public to threats that may be disruptive of Octobers vote and the election campaign that will precede it. Significantly, some of the personnel participating in the Canadian ruling elites campaign against foreign interference in the 2019 election were previously involved in stoking the anti-Russia hysteria in the United States. Janis Sartsa high-ranking, Latvian NATO official who last year provided supposed expert testimony about Russian interference to the US Senate Intelligence Committeehas been repeatedly cited in the media cautioning about Russian meddling in Canada and Moscows attempts to erode the cohesion of the broader NATO alliance and undermine Canadian policy in Europe. On top of the cynical effort to justify a crackdown on freedom of speech with references to the need to defend democracy, the Canadian ruling elites demonization of Russia and China serves as propaganda to legitimize its military build-up and aggression on the world stage. The Liberals are committed to hiking military spending by over 70 percent by 2026, and following on from the actions of the Harper Conservative government have integrated Canada ever more deeply into the US military-strategic offensives against China, Russia, Venezuela, and in the Middle East. Canada has played a leading role in inciting tensions with Russia, backing the US-orchestrated fascist-spearheaded 2014 coup in Ukraine. That regime-change operation brought to power a pro-imperialist, ultra-nationalist regime in Kiev. After Russia responded by annexing Crimea, Canada positioned itself as a leader in NATOs military buildup in Eastern Europe. Recently, the Liberal government renewed Canadas military mission in Ukraine for a further three years. In Trudeaus words, the Canadian troops are deployed there to train Ukrainian soldiers to liberate Ukrainian territory, i.e. wage war on the Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. Ottawa has also announced the extension to 2023 of its troop deployment in Latvia, where Canadian forces lead one of the four NATO battlegroups that are meant to threaten Russia along its western border. Last Decembers politically-motivated arrest of Meng Wangzhou has underscored that Ottawa is also determined to do Washingtons bidding in its deepening economic and military conflict with China. Meng, the chief financial officer of Chinese tech giant Huawei, was essentially kidnapped by Canadian authorities in Vancouver last December on trumped-up charges of illegally doing business with Iran. She now faces the prospect of extradition and a possible 30-year US prison sentence. The Trudeau governments treatment of Meng is in keeping with Canadas rapidly expanding military involvement in the Asia-Pacific, where it is working in close alliance with the US to isolate and prepare for war with China. Whistleblower Chelsea Manning was jailed by a federal judge in Alexandria, Virginia for contempt of court for the second time since March, after she again refused to testify before a grand jury impaneled to bring frame-up charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Federal Judge Anthony Trenga rejected two motions submitted by Mannings lawyers to quash the subpoena and disclose any evidence of unlawful electronic surveillance by the government. An appointee of President George W. Bush who ruled in favor of Trumps xenophobic anti-Muslim travel ban, Trenga instead ordered Manning to be jailed immediately after a two-hour hearing. On top of imprisonment, he vindictively imposed fines of $500 per day if she does not testify after a month of confinement and $1,000 a day after two months. According to her attorneys, the piling on of a coercive financial penalty is highly unusual, typically reserved for compelling testimony from representatives of corporations, not individuals. Manning has courageously insisted on principle that she will never testify before any grand jury about her possible contacts with Assange and WikiLeaks or anything else. I would rather starve to death than to change my opinion in this regard, Manning told Judge Trenga during the public portion of Thursdays hearing. She added, And when I say that, I mean that quite literally. Asked during a press conference before the hearing how long she was prepared keep refusing to answer questions before a grand jury, Manning replied resolutely, Forever, indefinitely. Assange currently faces extradition to the United States from the UK on a hacking charge for allegedly seeking to assist Manning to crack a password so she could remain anonymous on a military computer network. Based on the evidence and interviews that have been made public, Manning on Thursday criticized the case against Assange as bananas. The journalist is currently being held in the maximum security Belmarsh Prison, known as Britains Guantanamo, after being sentenced to 50 weeks in prison on a bail-jumping charge related to long-discredited rape allegations in Sweden. Assange was illegally snatched from the Ecuadorian embassy in London on April 11 when his asylum status was revoked after seven years by the government of Lenin Moreno. He also now faces possible extradition to Sweden, after the preliminary investigation into the rape allegations was reopened on Monday. The persecution of Assange and Manning comes amid a frenzied war fever, as the Trump administration simultaneously threatens Iran and Venezuela and escalates its trade war with China. Hand in hand with an intensifying campaign to censor the internet, the effort to silence Assange and Manning is aimed at crushing dissent and preventing the development of a mass anti-war movement. Manning spent 62 days in the Alexandria City Jail before being released last week after the term of that grand jury expired. Even before she was released, however, she was served with a subpoena to appear before a new grand jury on Thursday. Manning was given just one week of freedom to spend with her friends and family before being cruelly thrown back into federal detention. The former Army Specialist is being persecuted by the Trump administration for the role she played in exposing US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan by leaking secret and sensitive documents to WikiLeaks in 2010. She has already served seven years of a 35-year sentence in a military prison, including a year in solitary confinement. Her sentence was commuted by President Barack Obama in 2017 on the very last day of his second term in office, in an effort to paper over his administrations record of pursuing whistleblowers. However, Obama refused to grant a full pardon, which would have cleared Mannings criminal record. Prior to Thursdays hearing, Manning told the press: I think that this is ultimately an attempt to place me back in confinement. I think that the questions are the same questions I was asked before the court martial seven eight years ago. There is nothing new. Theyre not asking anything new. Theres no new information they are trying to get from me. Ultimately the goal here is to re-litigate the court martial, from my perspective. They didnt like the outcome. I got out. So, this is a way to place me back into confinement. Mannings attorney, Moira Meltzer-Cohen, addressed the media after Manning was returned to jail, expressing her disappointment and reiterating that her client would not betray her convictions by testifying. In 2010, Chelsea made a principled decision to let the world see the true nature of modern asymmetric warfare, Meltzer-Cohen said. It is telling that the United States has always been more concerned with the disclosure of those documents than with the damning substance of the disclosures. The American government relies on the informed consent of the governed, and the free press is the vigorous mechanism to keep us informed. It is a point of pride for this administration to be publicly hostile to the press. Grand juries and prosecutions like this one broadcast an expanding threat to the press and function to undermine the integrity of the system according to the governments own laws. This administration is also obsessed with undercutting the legacy of President Barack Obama, from reversing health care policy to Chelsea Mannings commutation. It is up to the press to stand up for themselves, to stand up for the practice of journalism, and to stand up for Chelsea in the same manner she has consistently stood up for the press. The response of the establishment media and the Democratic Party to Mannings re-incarceration has been to maintain their silence. Neither the New York Time s nor the Washington Post carried reports of her latest detention on their front pages in the hours after the news broke. When contacted by the World Socialist Web Site for a comment on the arrest of Manning, Senator Bernie Sanders Washington DC press office continued the 2020 presidential candidates complicit silence. The senator has not made any statements on Julian Assange or Chelsea Manning, a staffer confirmed. The same is the case for Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib, both members of the Democratic Socialists of America, neither of whom, as of this writing, had made a statement on their social media accounts about Mannings latest incarceration. There was no response to a request from the WSWS for a statement from Tlaibs office, and Ocasio-Cortezs office was unreachable by phone. While they have been abandoned by the Democrats and the mainstream press, Manning and Assange have the support of millions of workers and young people around the world. This support must be developed into a conscious political movement. Demonstrations, meetings and teach-ins should be organized in every city to demand their freedom and an end to their persecution by the US government. On Saturday, May 18, the Socialist Equality Party (Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei, SGP) in Germany will hold the central meeting of its European election campaign in Berlin. Candidates and leading representatives of the SGP and its European sister parties will speak on the fight against militarism, war, nationalism and the rise of the extreme right, the defence of democratic and social rights, and the perspective of the United Socialist States of Europe. Prior to the meeting, the SGP will hold a rally in front of the British Embassy in Berlin at 11:00 a.m. to demand the freedom of Julian Assange. Both the founder of WikiLeaks and US whistleblower Chelsea Manning are being persecuted for exposing the war crimes of the ruling elite. Assanges arrest in London and his threatened extradition to the US represent an attack on the democratic rights of all. At the rally, speakers from around the world will take a stand against militarism and war and for freedom of expression. At the central meeting, which starts at 3:00 p.m. at the Alte Feuerwache in Berlin-Kreuzberg, Peter Schwarz will address the acute danger of war against Iran and explain why only an international socialist movement of the working class against both European and American militarism can counter the danger of a Third World War. Schwarz is a leading member of the SGP and editor of the WSWS in German. Chris Marsden, the national secretary of the Socialist Equality Party in the UK, will speak in defence of Julian Assange and the importance of the current international campaign to defend the democratic rights of the working class. Alex Lantier, the national secretary of the Socialist Equality Party in France, will address the yellow vest movement and its significance for the international class struggle. Christoph Vandreier, the SGPs leading candidate in the European election and author of Why Are They Back? Historical Falsification, Political Conspiracy and the Return of Fascism in Germany, will explain why the far right is on the rise in Germany and Europe and why the struggle against such forces requires the building of a socialist movement in the working class. The last speaker, SGP national secretary and European election candidate Ulrich Rippert, will explain why the struggle for socialism requires a thorough knowledge of the strategic experiences of the working-class movement over the past centuryknowledge embodied in the history of the International Committee of the Fourth International. The ICFI has carried out a decades-long defence of the perspective of world socialist revolution against Stalinism, social democracy and numerous pseudo-left currents. This has laid the foundation for politically arming the new generation of workers now being drawn into social and political struggles and for the building of the Fourth International as the new mass socialist party of the working class. Rally in defence of Julian Assange Saturday, May 18, 2019, 11:00 a.m. British Embassy Wilhelmstrae 70/71 10117 Berlin SGP central election meeting Saturday, May 18, 2019, 3:00 p.m.Alte Feuerwache Axel-Springer-Strae 40/41 10969 Berlin-Kreuzberg Workers at the Faurecia auto parts plant in Saline, Michigan, 45 miles west of Detroit, voted by 97 percent in favor of strike action to reverse the pattern of pay cuts and concessions on medical benefits, working conditions and safety that have long dominated the auto parts industry. The contract for 1,100 hourly workers at the plant expires on May 31. The overwhelming strike vote on May 5 is a rebuke to the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, which has colluded with the Big Three automakersGeneral Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysleras they used spin-offs, corporate bankruptcies and takeovers to attack workers and drastically lower the costs of parts for their assembly plants. The vote occurs less than four months before contracts expire for 155,000 Big Three workers in mid-September. With the exposure of Fiat Chryslers bribing of the UAW, workers are more determined than ever to overturn decades of UAW-backed concessions, including the imposition of two-tier wages and vast expansion of temporary part-time employees who pay union dues but have no rights. The Saline plant, which employs around 1,100 hourly workers, used to be owned by Ford and then its Visteon parts spin-off before declaring bankruptcy in 2009 to gut the pay and pensions of the former Ford workers. While the factory produces parts for a number of automakers, it is primarily focused on supplying Fords North American assembly operations with trim pieces, instrument panels, door panels, consoles, and other internal plastic parts. Faurecia, a giant French-owned multinational, took over the plant in 2012. It produces seating, interiors, electronics and emission controls from Mexico to China and Brazil to Japan and South Korea and specializes in plant takeovers wherever investors see a chance to squeeze increased profits from the workforce. The companys annual financial report makes the motives for its corporate model crystal clear. Global sales of 17.5 billion ($1.9 billion) last year were up 7 percent against those of 2017. Net income increased by a whopping 17 percent to 701 million ($785 million), which represents Earnings Per Share of 5.11 ($5.72). Managers proposed a dividend payout to their wealthy shareholders of 1.25 ($1.40) per share, or 24 percent of earnings, for a net increase of 14 percent against a year ago. In the face of universal unrest on the part of the workforce, the local executive of the scandal-ridden UAW tried to get ahead of the opposition by feigning support for the workers. Hopefully this is a sign from the membership that they stand unified and had enough with concessions and job loss, Local 892 officials posted on Facebook. They continue, The ball is now in the UAW internationals hands, adding, Does the Solidarity House stand unified in solidarity with its members or Wall Street? The local officials are only trying to cover their own hides. They know the answer is Wall Street, and that the UAW will do everything to prevent a strike that would quickly disrupt production at Ford and inspire Big Three autoworkers to take joint action. Faurecia workers have not forgotten how the UAW and the company blocked a strike in 2015, nor how the deal struck by the two parties was soon breached, with Faurecia revoking the workers' Blue Cross/Blue Shield health insurance with not the slightest resistance from the union. I want better insurance in this upcoming contract, said Wanda, a worker at the plant. With the insurance we have now, we have to call in before it pays for anything. We didn't have to go through that previously with Blue Cross. But they took that away from us. This month's contract negotiations take place in the wake of the conviction of UAW Vice President Norwood Jewell on charges of asking for and accepting tens of thousands of dollars in bribes during the 2015 contract negotiations between Fiat Chrysler and the UAW. The lessons of the Jewell scandal are clear to Faurecia workers. I don't think the UAW should negotiate for us, period, Wanda said. Because they're in bed with the company. They're not trying to help us; they're trying to help themselves. Another worker agreed. The way everything operates, the UAW has got to have something worked out with the higher-ups of the company. The workers are strong, but the workers and the union right now are two different things, Wanda added. Workers at the French-owned conglomerate also rejected the endless promotion of nationalism by the UAW, the Trump administration and the Democrats, and their claims that foreign workersnot the capitalist exploitersare to blame for low wages and vanishing jobs throughout the auto industry. It has nothing to do with the Mexican workers, Wanda continued. They're just like us. They want a good job. They want to work hard. What's the problem with them working hard? I have no problem with anybody of any color or nationality. We all bleed red. Workers in Matamoros, Mexico earlier this year rebelled against the company-controlled unions and organized independent strike committees to fight sweatshop conditions and poverty wages in the maquiladora plants. They also marched to the US border across from Brownsville, Texas to call for the support of American workers. Wanda envisions a unified movement of the working class, one that does not leave workers isolated in their separate plants. The unions are not trying to help us like they should be, she said. When one union goes on strike, we are all supposed to go on strike. We are supposed to stick together as brothers and sisters worldwide. It doesn't matter where we are located, we need to stick together as one. The UAW is not negotiating a contract at Faurecia but conspiring with the corporation to increase the exploitation of Faurecia workers and lower labor costs even further, thereby setting a precedent to attack all autoworkers. That is why the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter urges Faurecia workers to form independent rank-and-file committees, to take the negotiations and struggle out of the hands of the corrupt UAW. These committees must prepare workers to strike when the contract expires and to reach out to all autoworkers to prepare a common fight. George Galloway was forced to admit publicly that he will not be standing as a candidate for the Brexit Party in the June 6 Peterborough by-election. Coming after weeks in which he refused to say whether he was intending to stand as an independent, his failed attempt to represent Nigel Farages party is not only confirmation of his own nationalist politics. It is indicative of how an entire layer of the ex-Stalinists and pseudo-left have become part of a new right. On May 8, Galloway tweeted, I tried to persuade @Nigel_Farage to support my candidacy in #Peterborough to emphasise the broad democratic alliance the campaign must be and balance the candidatures of Ms Widdecombe and Ms Rees-Mogg. Now that the #Brexit Party have named their candidate I have withdrawn my own. The Brexit Party is the recently founded vehicle of Farage, the former leader of the far-right UK Independence Party (UKIP). Galloway made known his intention to stand in the election in a May 1 tweet, in which he wrote only, I intend to stand in the forthcoming parliamentary by-election in Peterborough. More follows. ... On April 17, he had already tweeted that he planned to back Farages party in the upcoming European elections, tweeting, Given the nature of Labours Euro-fanatic candidates list and the crucial juncture we have reached in the fight for the full implementation of the #Brexit referendum result and for one-time only I will be supporting @NigelFarage in next months elections. @TheBrexitParty The first indication that he actually planned to stand as a Brexit Party candidate was in a May 1 tweet from Pippa Crerar, the Daily Mirror political editor, who wrote that Galloway tells me that he has approachedNigel Farage directly to say he wants to stand in Peterborough by-election for his Brexit Party. But if not selected, he could stand as an independent. Galloway tweeted the following day, If elected as the MP for #Peterborough my first priority will be to help secure the full implementation of the #Brexit decision made overwhelmingly by the people there in 2016. I believe Im the best placed candidate to do so and the one whod make the biggest impact in the House. For the next week there was radio silence, during which time he must have been in intense discussions with Farage trying to convince him of the need for a left fig leaf. His pitch is indicated by his tweet citing the high profile enjoyed by Thatcherite former MP Ann Widdecombe and Annunziata Rees-Mogg, sister of Jacob, the backbench leader of the Conservative Brexiteers. Annunziata proudly boasts that she joined the Tory Party at the age of five. On May 9, the Brexit Party announced that it would stand a local millionaire and lifelong Tory supporter, Mike Greene, as its Peterborough candidate. Greene made his fortune in the retail industry and in providing consultancy services to corporations including Conoco, Shell, Phillips and Spar. Greenes candidature appeared to be a partial compromise on Farages part, as it had been rumoured that he favoured either Rees-Mogg or Widdecombe. Galloways polite reference to Ms Widdecombe and Ms Rees-Mogg barely scratches the surface regarding the right-wing pedigree of Farages party. While the ex-Labour MP was pleading to be a candidate, it was reported that Noel Matthews, the Brexit Party national election agent and a former UKIP candidate, had defended the fascist Tommy Robinson as being persecuted and had written, Islamophobia is a silly, made up word. A candidate for the Brexit Party in the North East of England, John Tennant, had defended the use of a Nazi slogan in the European parliamentdirected at German Social Democratic Party leader Martin Schulz by a UKIP MEP, Geoffrey Bloom. The treasurer of the Brexit Party, Michael McGough, was forced to stand down from any senior role after it emerged he said of three senior Labourites who have Jewish backgroundsEd and David Miliband and Peter Mandelsonthat they had shallow UK roots or were devoid of UK roots. Tennant said many survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire were illegal aliens enjoying an amnesty. No one should accept Galloways line that supporting the Brexit Party in the European elections is for one-time only. He is set firmly on a right-wing trajectory. He played a pivotal role in alliance with Farage and UKIP in the 2016 EU referendum campaign. Launching the Grassroots Out campaign, Gallowaywhose nationalist agenda and support for Brexit are derived from his political origins as a Stalinist embraced Farage and lined up with representatives of the arch-Thatcherite wing of the Tory Party as he issued the call, Left, right, left, right, forward march together. In the face of substantial opposition even among his own supporters on social media, Galloway has defended spending weeks in discussions with Farage, literally begging the Brexit Party leader to be on his platform. After being rejected, he tweeted to the Brexit Party leader, No hard feelings. The following dayduring Farages 34th appearance on the BBCs Question Time current affairs panel showGalloway commented that Farage is 3-0 up so far against the other politicians. He retweeted a gushing comment from another individualin honour of Farages partyafter one poll showed that it could win a higher percentage in the European Election than the Conservatives and Labour combined: The Brexit Party has mobilized and is like Shermans march to Atlanta. Unstoppable as predicted by @georgegalloway weeks before many other commentators. Galloway is only the most prominent representative of the right-wing political orientation of sections of the pseudo-left, made under the guise of putting forward a patriotic but still supposedly left Brexit. Another advocate is Paul Embery, a Fire Brigades Union Executive Council member. On March 29, the day the UK was set to leave the EUbefore further extensions were grantedEmbery was a featured speaker at the pro-Farage Leave Means Leave demonstration in London. Galloway is joined in his support for the Brexit Party by no fewer than four former members of the now-defunct Revolutionary Communist Party/ Living Marxism tendency Claire Fox, Alka Sehgal Cuthbert, James Heartfield and Stuart Waitonwho have all been selected as candidates for the Brexit Party. The RCP emerged in the 1970s as a faction of Tony Cliffs state-capitalist International Socialist group, now the Socialist Workers Party. It spawned the right-wing libertarian Institute of Ideas, which is the moving force behind the Spiked website that is infamous for advocating the line of the political right on every major issue. Galloways pseudo-left backers in the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) were panicked by his moves to back the Brexit Party, as it represents a further devastating exposure of their own rotten politics. The SWP previously allied themselves with Galloway in the Respect Party, after Galloway was expelled from Labour by Tony Blair for his opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In the EU referendum, the SWP, while not joining Farages own campaign, endorsed Brexit under the guise of supporting a Lexit (Left Brexit). After describing the right-wing bona fides of the Brexit Party, it declared when Galloway announced his backing for it that people with more genuine left-wing credentials have been taken in by Farages ploy, most notablyand tragicallyGeorge Galloway. This is a rotten over-up. There is no tragedy in Galloways political trajectory, only confirmation of the reactionary character of left nationalism. As the Socialist Equality Party insisted in its statement calling for an active boycott of the 2016 referendum, The first responsibility of a socialist is to oppose the mixing of class banners. In the referendum, this means rejecting all appeals for working people to fall in behind one or another faction of the bourgeoisie who are fighting between themselves solely over which strategy best upholds the interests of British imperialism. To do otherwise and to in any way endorse the nationalist and pro-capitalist agendas espoused by both the remain and leave campaigns sows dangerous political confusion, weakening the political defences of the working class at a time when the noxious fumes of nationalism, anti-migrant xenophobia and militarism are polluting the UK, Europe and the entire world. Students and workers spoke to the WSWS this week about why they came to the Socialist Equality Partys final election public meetings in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane what they regarded as the most important issues discussed at them. In Sydney, Christina, a Western Sydney University social work student, said: Christina I came to the meeting after discussing opening up international borders and Marxist theory with an SEP member. I wanted to know more about how the imperialist powers use immigrants to conquer and divide. This is so prevalent in the work that I do and the things that I study, and I wanted to immerse myself with understanding that. I studied Marxist theory at university and have done some of my own reading. I have also been very much aware of Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning and their impact on freedom of speech. They have been denounced by many people in power who obviously see what they have done as a massive threat to their hold on power. I found it really surprising that no other party had taken a stand, because it seems like something so important to our democratic rights. They are staying silent, because to shine a light on what Assange and Manning have revealed would uncover many other cruel things that our governments do. Christina referred to the statistics on the huge levels of unemployment in Sydneys western suburbs that Oscar Grenfell, the SEPs candidate for Parramatta, reported to the meeting. The statistics didnt surprise me because as a member of the working class, I see that all the time. People continue to lose their jobs and the workforce has become casualised. You are just living from employment to employment. Its been a reality in my world. What your party is trying to do is an operation on a grand scale, but considering the number of people of the working class it also sounds do-able, if workers can recognise the power that they hold. I heard about the Mexican workers coming to the borders and uniting with American workers a few months ago, so I think that people are dissatisfied with governments and how the current regime is operating, and people want control back in how they live. Michael, a young worker and part-time student, referred to the refusal of Labor and Liberal-National governments alike to address climate change. I havent been able to see the difference between them as long as Ive been living here. Nothing feels like its going to change. Im actually at a point where I dont even care which party gets voted in. I just want to see a new party so that something changes. The biggest things that are impacting the climate are the fossil fuel corporations and the mining companies. The wealthiest people in the country are controlling these industries, so the governments are scared to oppose them. Theyre very short-sighted. They seem to only plan for the next three years between each vote. There doesnt appear to be any kind of goal for a better future for the planet. Thats why young people are protesting and not going to school. People are really seeing [climate change] as a problem, but the politicians are just focussed on the money and ignoring them, thinking that the masses are idiots. Nothings going to change until we all stick together and stand up. On Julian Assange, Michael said: Hes a hero to people. The fact that [the political establishment] is silent is scary to me, because that means that theres influence on our politicians that people cant even explain. There must be some kind of vested interest behind siding with the American military. Salman At the Melbourne meeting, held in the northern working-class suburb of Broadmeadows, Salman commented: The gap between the capitalist class and the working class is widening. It is going to be a very challenging situation for the working class. The working class pays the taxes, but that money is being poured into the pockets of the capitalists, who are being backed up by the governments. So the only solution for the working class is what the SEP is saying: campaign internationally. The working class of every country has to synergise. The only way forward is for the working class in every country to unite. Julian Assange revealed the crimes of the US in Afghanistan and in Iraq. He unveiled these crimes to the entire world. It is our duty to stand by him, and to unite the working class of the entire world to put pressure on these governments to release him. He deserves justice. If the US succeeds in their persecution of Assange, it will be the responsibility of the Australian, British and Ecuadorian governments as well. The responsibility of any government is to protect its citizens from injustice. Assange has revealed the conspiracies of governments, which the mainstream media cannot do, since it is in the pay of these governments. The working class can only find the truth out from alternative sources, such as social media, and above all from the WSWS. Matt Matt, an IT worker, formerly from Iran, said: I have supported Assange for a long time. He is doing everything that journalists should dothey should disclose everything. He has the right, and he has to do that. Governments dont want to inform the population. They support censorship. It isnt just the US. Almost all governments are the same. They want to rule the people. When some facts are disclosed they cant rule so easily. At the meeting at Goodna, in the Brisbane electorate of Oxley, Gulshan, a Griffith University student and part-time cleaner, also spoke about the importance of defending Julian Assange. For a system to be democratic, it needs to be transparent. Transparency comes with exposing unfair situations. That is exactly the what Julian Assange has done. He wanted transparency and he was silenced. Therefore this system is not transparent. Gulshan Gulshan, originally from Azerbaijan, said the persecution of Assange related to the issue of war. If the system was sophisticated, it would never use war to solve its problems in any way. The most sophisticated societies use education to resolve problems. They dont resort to physical force. Our future is in the hands of people who have the wrong way of resolving issues. They have profit interests, as well as human greed. The way they act makes us suffer. We are the suffering class. Therefore we need to stand up. We need to emphasise basic human dignity and the need for equality, which comes with that. The root of the problem is that these ruling people treat things like commodities, rather than communities. It is absolutely vital that we have meetings like this in working-class areas. People need to understand their rights and what equality really means, in the true sense. Having this meeting, as a party, is one step ahead towards the goal of achieving equality. Please keep doing this, it is a great thing. Peter Peter, an injured worker, said he thought the meeting was excellent. He commented: Its important that you guys are going out and getting the truth out there. Every worker needs to know what was being said here. The way you guys explained why they are going after Assange in order to suppress freedoms was exactly right. The working people need Assange, and need to defend him. Whether they are young or old, wherever they are from, whatever their background is, they need him, or they are not going to know anything about whats going on in the world. Asked what had convinced him to come to the meeting, Peter said: It was your candidate telling me that he had no truck with the other parties, and the usual rubbish they put out. I was instantly attracted by his defence of Assange, and telling me that the only way forward was for workers all over the world was to be united. None of our problems can be solved without all of us coming together. Formerly an Australian soldier, Peter added: I am against war, we are invading other peoples and stealing whats theirs, or destroying them. Thats what creates the refugee crisis too. It forces people to flee their homes. Asked about the climate strikes by school students, Peter commented: I absolutely support them, and Im not surprised at all that they are out. Its a social outcry from the heart. They know that the rich billionaires and corporations dont care about young people. To the rich, all young people are specks of dust to be crushed by the chariot wheel. Young people know all about the pollution, they breathe it every day, and know theres no solution being offered by the politicians and corporations. Authorised by James Cogan for the Socialist Equality Party, Suite 906, 185 Elizabeth Street, Sydney, NSW, 2000. On Wednesday, WSWS reporters visiting Minuwangoda, a bustling town in the Gampaha district of Sri Lanka, discovered a ghost town. The town, with many Muslim-owned shops, is located 50 kilometres from Colombo in the Western Province. It has been devastated by an anti-Muslim rampage by Sinhala racist thugs. Fully armed Sri Lankan army soldiers and police special task force officers are now protecting this town along the Colombo highway, after a rampage carried out with the direct or indirect backing of the police and military. The attack lasted several hours on Monday evening, before and after a curfew imposed by the government. Military in the burned area Other areas that came under attack included Chilaw, Nikaweratiya, Kuliyapitiya, Hettipola, Bingiriya, Kobeigane and Wariyapola. Kotramulla and Thummodera in the Naththandiya area experienced severe violence. All are located in the north-western province. One 45-year-old Muslim was killed by thugs at Kotramulla. Many were injured. As WSWS reporters visited Minuwangoda, acting defence minister Ruwan Wijewardena toured the area with Muslim ministers, a day after Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe also toured the town. Town residents spoke with contempt of their promises of protection for the people. Attacked mosque Minuwangoda town is deserted. Apart from police and soldiers, only a few shopkeepers remain. Two cafes named Halal and Faus and over 50 Muslim-owned shops selling clothes, shoes and electronics were totally destroyed, as well as the Sinhala-owned Siripathi Dress Point and Echo shops. Windows and doors at a mosque at the centre of town were broken. The Diamond Pasta plant, Sri Lankas largest pasta-producing factory employing 500 workers, was also gutted. About 30 persons in the factory during the attack jumped from the windows to save their lives. Almost all Muslim shops were closed for Ramadan prayers when the attack took place. Goons broke the shops locks, looted valuables and finally burnt them down. Siripathi at his shop The owner of the Mohideen Shoe Palace told the WSWS, Most of the attackers came from outside. Goods worth hundreds of thousands of rupees are now burnt to ashes. At Amra Tex, near our shop, denim trousers worth tens of millions were looted before the shop was burned. The owner of Jewel Moon lamented, Most of our business is done in the festive season. Now, a huge amount of money has to be paid to wholesalers from whom we bought the goods. All the shop owners asked how they were to repay their bank loans after the destruction. Muslim shopkeepers and store workers mostly live in Galoluwa, about one kilometre from the town. After the attack, security forces surrounded the area and intimidated people. Around the Eksath Junction area, 30 Muslim families houses were damaged by goons. A worker said, Soldiers came in black clothes, covering faces in black. Knocking doors with their guns, they shouted obscenities, saying Thambio (Muslims). When we came out of houses they fired at the ground to intimidate us. All children in the village are still nervous. Mobs broke the gate to attack the house Police searched the entire Galoluwa area two weeks ago but found nothing suspicious. The worker added, Ordinary Muslim people have no connection with any violence. The bomb attacks were carried out by those who have links to ISIS. We thoroughly condemn their attack. The rampage followed the April 21 terror bombing of three churchestwo in Colombo and one in the outskirtsand three luxury hotels, killing over 250 and injuring 500, bombings allegedly carried out by ISIS and the National Thowheeth Jammaath (NTJ) Islamist group. Sahabdeen, 65, who supports his children and grandchildren by selling cheap snacks, said his house was attacked with stones: I have two daughters and a son. They are married. One of the married ones has a three-wheeler but does not get enough business. I bear most of the family expenses. Our house does not have even proper electricity. What is expected by attacking us? Sahabdeen holding a stone thrown by thugs Another person said, The Minuwangoda urban council chairman, government and opposition ministers and MPs traded blame for the attacks. But no one came when we were hit, and shops were burned. A group of workers explained their view of the international situation to the WSWS. One said the American imperialists build up terrorist organisations like Al Qaeda and ISIS and use them to manipulate resource-rich Middle East countries like Iraq: America said that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. These were all lies. Recently, Libya and Syria were destroyed. Millions of people have been turned into refugees. In history, there have been conspiracies to bring pro-American governments to power. When another worker asked why the Sri Lankan government invites US intelligence agencies like the CIA and FBI to Sri Lanka to investigate the bombings, the first replied, This government also works with America. Halal hotel WSWS reporters discussed Washingtons war drive against China and its regime-change operation in 2015 to oust ex-President Mahinda Rajapakses regime, which it saw as too closely aligned with China. Rajapakse is not an opponent of imperialism, however, and now is reaching out to Washington. A small businessman said, We thought security forces were there to preserve peace. But we were hit with guns. Children were terrorized with filthy words. The media does not show these things. WSWS reporters explained the Sri Lankan ruling elites chauvinist politics. Anti-Tamil discrimination culminated in a 30-year communal war with the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Now, every capitalist government notoriously sends state forces, police and thugs against the workers and oppressed, using the method of divide and rule to suppress struggles of the workers and oppressed masses. Still burning shop After the April 21 bombings, the communal propaganda of the bourgeois political establishment and capitalist media promoted anti-Muslim attacks across Sri Lanka to divide workers along communal lines. These attacks were well organised with behind-the-scenes support of established political parties. Dayasiri Jayasekera, a prominent MP in Kurunegala district and secretary of President Maithripala Sirisenas Sri Lanka Freedom Party, was filmed going to Bingiriya police and securing the release of several arrested persons. He later held a press conference, claiming that he was there only to quell unrest. Madumadhawa Aravinda, an ally of Rajapakse and leader of Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU), was also caught on video. He later said he was there on his way to another area. Namal Kumara, a notorious chauvinist tied to the establishment, and Amith Weerasinghe of the Mahasohon Balakaya militia, implicated in racist violence in Digana last March, were arrested by police. Nearly 100 have been arrested in the past three days. In the past, such people have been promptly released. Burnt down shops In a Twitter message on Wednesday, Rajapakse urged all members of any political party, including that of his, to maintain law and order and not to aggravate the already sensitive situation. This is effectively an admission of the involvement of ruling class parties. Like ruling classes in every country facing an upsurge of class struggle, the Sri Lankan ruling elite is rapidly turning to authoritarian forms of rule. President Sirisena, the government and defence establishment ignored advanced warnings of the terrorist attack, which is now being used to impose antidemocratic measures, including a draconian state of emergency, and suppress class struggles and rural unrest. All the established parties have rubber-stamped these measures, based on their own police-state agenda. The army then takes the upper hand. Workers must oppose anti-Muslim violence and propaganda, the state of emergency, and unite across ethnic lines, build their own action committees and fight for a workers and peasants government on the basis of the struggle for international socialism. We are publishing the speech of Oscar Grenfell, a leading member of the Socialist Equality Party (Australia) and national convenor of the International Youth and Students for Social Equality, at the May 12 public meeting in London in defence of jailed WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange and courageous whistleblower Chelsea Manning. Grenfell is standing as a candidate for the SEP in the 2019 Australian federal election for the House of Representatives seat of Parramatta in Sydney. He spoke via internet connection from Sydney. Oscar Grenfell speaking at the Free Assange Rally in Sydney on March 3, 2019 Its a great privilege to speak at this meeting, which is viewed by everyone in the SEP Australia, and by WikiLeaks supporters here, as an important step forward in the global fight to prevent Julian Assanges extradition to the US, and to secure his complete freedom. Since April 11, discussion of the illegal termination of Assanges political asylum and his brutal arrest has understandably focused on the role of the Ecuadorian, British and US governments in this historic crime. I want to stress, however, that there is another government that bears central culpability for the persecution of Assange: that is the current Australian government, and all of its predecessors since 2010. If any Australian government had fulfilled its undeniable legal obligations to protect Assange, an Australian citizen and journalist pursued for his exposure of war crimes, he would not be locked up in Belmarsh prison, facing the prospect of an extraordinary rendition to the US. In a number of cases, Australian governments, acting as a result of mass pressure from below, have secured the release of Australian citizens from unjust and arbitrary detention abroad. In the case of Julian Assange they have not. They have done the opposite, actively collaborating in the US-led vendetta against him. In 2010, when senior US politicians were openly calling for Assanges assassination, the Greens-backed Labor government of Julia Gillard publicly denounced him. Gillard declared that the foundation stone of WikiLeaks publications was an illegal act, an assertion she was never able to substantiate, and pledged to assist the attempts by the American intelligence agencies to destroy it. Assange was compelled to seek asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in 2012, under conditions of an unprecedented political and legal assault against him, because he knew that the Australian Labor government would throw him to the wolves. This violation of Assanges fundamental rights as an Australian citizen has been continued by every government since. His arrest, on April 11, was met with pro forma statements by Liberal-National government ministers and opposition Labor MPs that they would provide him with unspecified consular assistance, committing them to nothing. Neither party condemned the brutal actions of the British police, or the attempts by the Trump administration to prosecute a journalist for carrying out his professional duty to the worlds population. The real attitude of the entire political establishment was summed up by deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek. She reshared a Tweet, just hours after the arrest, which declared that Assange had worked as the agent of a proto fascist state, Russia, to undermine democracy and that his supporters were cultists. In other words, Labor is reading from the script of the CIA and that notorious warmonger and corrupt representative of Wall Street, Hillary Clinton. Assange was arrested just hours after an Australian federal election, to be held on May 18, was called. One might think that the prospect of an Australian journalist being sent to Guantanamo Bay or into the clutches of the CIA torturers, for publishing the truth, would have been a major focus in the election campaign. However, official political discussion is not shaped by reason, objectivity and honesty, but by naked class interest. The persecution of Assange was mentioned only a handful of times following his arrest, then the issue has been buried by all of the parliamentary parties. It is no exaggeration to state that outside of the protests and meetings held by our party and by politically unaffiliated WikiLeaks supporters, there have been no events to discuss the dire situation confronting Assange, much less to organise a fight in his defence. It is not just the two major parties. The Greens broke years of official silence about Assange, releasing a statement the day after his arrest formally opposing the prospect of his extradition to the US. At the same time, Greens MPs lent credibility to the bogus Swedish allegations, obscuring the fact that Assange was never charged with a crime in that country and that they were a political frame-up. Since then, for more than three weeks, Greens MPs have literally not mentioned Assanges name in the countless television and radio interviews they have given. Instead, they have been busy calling for greater collaboration with Labor, and hailing the record of the Gillard government. The Australian media has played a shameful role. They bestowed Assange with a Walkley Award, the highest honour in Australian journalism, in 2011. Since then they have slandered him, and trumpeted every lie of the intelligence agencies to discredit him. Now, they have adapted themselves to the Trump administration. They have discovered that Assange, whom they hailed as a trailblazing publisher in 2011, is in fact not a journalist. Their argument boils down to the fact that he is not employed by multi-billion-dollar media conglomerates and that he publishes evidence of government crimes, while they suppress such evidence. The pseudo-left organisations, such as Socialist Alternative, have similarly abandoned Assange. They largely stopped mentioning him, years ago, when they began supporting the US-led regime-change operations in Libya, Syria and the Ukraine, that WikiLeaks was exposing. These organisations, like their British counterparts, are not waging any campaign in Assanges defence. The universal line-up of the political establishment here expresses the same social processes that are at work in Britain and everywhere else. Australia is riven by class antagonisms, and the ruling elite is turning towards authoritarian and police-state measures to suppress social opposition. All of the official parties, and the media, are committed to the US-military alliance and to American imperialisms advanced preparations for war with China, which WikiLeaks has done much to expose. The attitude towards Assange, among millions of workers, students and young people is the polar opposite. They view him as a hero, who is being ruthlessly attacked for revealing them the truth. I will cite two examples. Last year, a worker in Brisbane initiated a petition, calling on the Australian government to secure Assanges return to Australia, with a guarantee against extradition to the US. In early April, it had roughly 35,000 signatures. Within a week of Assanges arrest, that number had grown to 110,000. And late last month, WikiLeaks supporter Somerset Bean started a crowdfunding project, to plaster Australia with posters calling for Assange to be brought home. The initial target was $5,000. It was reached within hours. A subsequent target of $10,000 was also rapidly surpassed. Most of the donations are by ordinary people, chipping in small amounts of their money. Over the past 18 months, the SEP in Australia has held a series of protests, demanding the Australian government intervene to secure Assanges freedom. We have been very proud that they have been addressed not only by our national secretary James Cogan, but by world-renowned fighters for civil liberties, including John Pilger, Consortium News editor-in-chief Joe Lauria and Professor Stuart Rees. These events have evoked a powerful response from workers, students and young people. We have stressed that we are not issuing a plaintive appeal to the Australian government, or to any of the official parties. Their participation in the attacks on Assange demonstrate that they are enemies of democratic rights and of the working class. We have explained that an Australian government will only fulfil its obligations to Assange if it is forced to do so by a mass movement from below. Amid a resurgence of the class struggle, and immense support for the WikiLeaks founder, the objective basis for such a movement exists. It is our task, in collaboration with our comrades in the International Committee of the Fourth International and all supporters of democratic rights, to build it. Authorised by James Cogan for the Socialist Equality Party, Suite 906, 185 Elizabeth Street, Sydney, NSW, 2000. The following is an edited version of the speech delivered by Michael Smith, who joined the Socialist Equality Party last year, to the partys election public meeting in the Brisbane electorate of Oxley on May 15. In this election, the Socialist Equality Party is the only party telling the working class the truth: that there is no basis for reform of the capitalist system. It is now a fact of life for working class families, young people, students and retirees that their living conditions are being destroyed. Many households are on the precipice of out-and-out poverty. The Labor party and the trade unions are telling workers that a Labor government would give families a fair go. In truth, the Labor party has worked in conjunction with the unions to oversee a vast transfer of wealth from the bottom to the top end of society. Michael Smith (left), with SEP candidate for Oxley Mike Head and a local worker Wages are stagnating or going backwards. Unemployment or underemployment is continually increasing across the country. While the official unemployment rate sits at 5 percent, a more reliable rate is provided by Roy Morgan research, which puts the rate at 9.6 percent. Roy Morgan also reveals underemployment rates at 8.6 percent. This means that around 2.5 million Australian workers, or 18.2 percent of the workforce, are either jobless or under-employed. These figures are even sharper across the western and southwestern suburbs of Brisbane. Official unemployment rates continue to hover around 20 percent in this region, which is up to four times the national average. In Wacol, it is 21.5 percent; in Inala-Richlands 18.4, in Goodna 12.5 and in Redbank Plains 10.3. It is even worse in some nearby areas, such as Logan Central on 26.5, Riverview 22.5, Woodridge 21.2 and Rocklea-Acacia Ridge 19.3. For younger people the jobless rate is much higher. When you take into account those classified as not in the labour force, the proportion of people between 20-24 years of age who do not have a job is over 30 percent. A huge impact on families has also been the increase in part-time or casual employment. This means people can easily be sacked and cannot plan for the future. Nearly every worker we have met during the election campaign is casual, despite sometimes working for many years for their company. One forklift driver from South Africa, for example, said he was still casual after five years. Another worker, an indigenous man, was sacked by Lindens, a construction supplier company, after six weeks as a casual. A large factor has been the near-closure of what used to be one of the biggest employers in the regionthe Redbank railway workshops. The Queensland Labor government of Premier Anna Bligh privatised the workshops and Queensland Rail freight services, handing them over to Aurizon, which has slashed thousands of jobs ever since. The destruction of manufacturing jobs has been overseen by the trade unions. They have all backed the Labor governments, and prevented angry workers from launching industrial action to fight privatisations. This goes back as far as the Hawke governments privatisation of the Commonwealth Bank and Qantas in the 1980s. In our election manifesto, we call for urgent action on climate change. A recent UN scientific report documents the unprecedented decline in global biodiversity that has alarming implications for human health, prosperity and long-term survival. More than one million species of plants and animals are at risk of extinctionmany within just a few decades. This is because of decades of rampant destruction of the planets forests, oceans, soils, watersheds and air. In this area, residents have been fighting Labor and Liberal National Party governments alike over a toxic waste dump. According to documents obtained from the Department of Environment, thousands of tonnes of soil contaminated with toxic substances such as arsenic, cyanide, mercury, lead, asbestos, heavy metals and radionuclides have been dumped at Transpacifics New Chum site. Transpacific Waste Management has been operating one of the largest landfill waste dumps in Australia at New Chum since 2003. New Chum is between the suburbs of Riverview, Dinmore, Bundamba, Ebbw Vale and Collingwood Park. According to Transpacifics own documents, even after the dump has ceased operations, the site will produce dangerous gases, which could escape to the surrounding area for many years. As our election manifesto explains, there is no possibility of halting dangerous pollution or arresting climate change under the capitalist system and its free market dominated by the drive for private profit. The growing threat to the future of the planet derives from the operation of this system. Real action to arrest global warming necessitates conscious economic planning, on a national and international scale. This can be developed only in political struggle against all the parties of the political establishmentLabor, Liberal and the Greensthat defend the profit interests of the major corporations, financial institutions and their own national state. To sum up, for the working class, there is no way out of this quagmire of social and environmental devastation through the election of either a Labor or Liberal government. To combat these conditions, the SEP calls for a vast redistribution of wealth to secure the social rights of all, including the right to a stable and decent-paying job, a living retirement income, free and high-quality public education and health care, affordable housing, and access to culture and the arts. These social rights cannot be achieved without ending the domination of a financial and corporate oligarchy over economic life. The major banks, mining transnationals, retail conglomerates, pharmaceutical corporations and communications and energy giants must be expropriated and placed under public ownership and the democratic control of the working class. It is this perspective that we take forward to the election. We call on all people; workers, young people, professionals and retirees to join our election campaign, take up the fight for socialism and join the Socialist Equality Party. Authorised by James Cogan for the Socialist Equality Party, Suite 906, 185 Elizabeth Street, Sydney, NSW, 2000. As US warships steam towards Iran and the Pentagon considers plans to deploy 120,000 troops to the region, bitter conflicts are erupting between Washington and the European Union. On Monday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo barged uninvited into an EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels and attempted to browbeat his European allies into backing Washingtons regime-change policy in Iran. The same day, the Spanish press reported on a secret Pentagon letter denouncing the EUs plans to establish a European army. The decision to leak the letter, two weeks after the EU had received it, was bound up with the acute war crisis. In the letter, the Pentagon did not mince words. Declaring itself deeply concerned over the EU army project, it warned of a dramatic step back in US-EU ties and threatened to cut off cooperation with European arms manufacturers. It added that the EUs plans could revive the tense discussions that dominated our contacts 15 years ago on European defense initiatives, when Berlin and Paris publicly opposed the illegal US-led invasion of Iraq at the United Nations. Such threats make clear that US-EU tensions involve more than continuing EU support for the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which the US repudiated a year ago, or Trumps threats to impose tariffs on European automobile exports. NATO was a pillar of the post-World War II order, formed in 1949, four years after the end of the war, and directed against the Soviet Union. It now faces disintegration as the fight between the United States and the European imperialist powers for access to markets, natural resources and strategic advantage, which twice led the capitalist system to world war in the 20th century, violently reemerges in the 21st. After the Stalinist bureaucracy dissolved the Soviet Union in 1991, US imperialism sought to counteract its economic decline by utilizing its military power. It launched wars, with the support of some or all of the EU powers, from Iraq to Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria. A decade after the 2008 Wall Street crash, however, as the US economic position continues to weaken, the conflicts between US and European imperialist policy are more and more unbridgeable. The EU increasingly charts its policy over vocal US objections. Various European powers are signing up for Chinas Eurasian infrastructure Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), integrating the Chinese firm Huawei into EU telecommunications networks, and opposing US nuclear weapons deployments to Europe following Washingtons scrapping of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty with Russia. The Pentagon sees these policies, taken collectively, as a threat to US world hegemony. Plans for an EU army led by Paris and, above all, Berlin, which has abandoned its post-World War II military restraint and remilitarized its foreign policy, cause alarm among US strategists. In an article in Foreign Affairs titled The New German Question, Robert Kagan writes: The breakdown of the European balance of power helped produce two world wars and brought more than ten million US soldiers across the Atlantic to fight and die in those wars Think of Europe today as an unexploded bomb, its detonator intact and functional, its explosives still live. The Trump administration is responding by trying to radically reorganize Eurasian geopolitics, beginning with war and regime change in Iran. Leon Trotskys analysis of US imperialism in 1928, a year before the Wall Street crash that ushered in the Great Depression, reads like an analysis of the contemporary situation: In the period of crisis the hegemony of the United States will operate more completely, more openly, and more ruthlessly than in the period of boom. The United States will seek to overcome and extricate herself from her difficulties and maladies primarily at the expense of Europe, regardless of whether this occurs in Asia, Canada, South America, Australia, or Europe itself, or whether this takes place peacefully or through war. As the world is brought face to face with a new volcanic eruption of US imperialism, it is critical to grasp the nature of the emerging war and have a strategy to oppose it. A US war with Iran, a country with more than twice the population and four times the size of Iraq, would lead to losses far larger than the already horrific toll of the 2003 war against Baghdad: over one million Iraqi civilians killed and tens of thousands of US, British, Spanish, Italian and other NATO casualties. Even more rapidly than the ongoing Syrian proxy warin which Washington, the Persian Gulf oil sheikdoms, the EU powers, Turkey, Iran, Russia and China have all intervenedit would escalate towards all-out regional and global war. The danger of a catastrophic nuclear conflagration is very real. The decisive question is the building of an international anti-war movement in the working class. The war drive against Iran is unfolding amid an international upsurge of class struggle across the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, Europe and America. The past 18 months have seen mass Iranian workers protests against austerity, a wave of teachers strikes organized independently of the pro-capitalist trade unions in the United States, the rebellion of auto parts workers in Mexico, and the yellow vest movement in France. This upsurge has escalated in 2019 with the outbreak of a national teachers strike in Poland and mass antigovernment protests in Algeria. This emerging movement can develop only if it links the struggle against austerity to opposition to militarism and war, and does so on an international scale, uniting the working class against both US and European imperialism. When mass international anti-war protests erupted before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the media and a layer of middle-class pseudo-left parties encouraged illusions that the Democratic Party in the US and German and French imperialism would restrain the Bush administration. This proved disastrously false. Not only did the Democrat Obama continue the wars and launch new ones in Libya and Syria, but the EU powers have since plunged hundreds of billions of euros into their own militaries in an attempt to compete with the US in plundering the worlds resources. The old certainties of the postwar order no longer apply, German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared on Wednesday, adding that China, Russia and the United States force us time and again to find common positions. She explained, Germany, France and Britain are taking a different approach from the US on the question of the Iran agreement As far as defense cooperation is concerned, we are making good progress. The EU powers operations are no less predatory than those of US imperialism. Fearing above all the growing challenge from the working class, they no longer bother to posture as opponents of US wars of aggression at the United Nations, as in 2003. While Paris violently represses the yellow vests and Germanys Grand Coalition government promotes the neofascist AfD and protects right-wing extremist professors who whitewash the crimes of Hitler and German militarism, all of the EU regimes impose austerity on the workers to fund their armies. The British International Institute for Strategic Studies estimates that if Washington leaves NATO, Europe will be obliged to spend $110 billon on a naval buildup and $357 billion on a land army. The critical task is to arm the resurgent movement of the international working class with a political program to fight war and the capitalist system that gives rise to it. In its 2016 statement Socialism and the Fight Against War, the International Committee of the Fourth outlined the principled basis of the new international anti-war movement: *The struggle against war must be based on the working class, the great revolutionary force in society, uniting behind it all progressive elements in the population. *The new anti-war movement must be anti-capitalist and socialist, since there can be no serious struggle against war except in the fight to end the dictatorship of finance capital and the economic system that is the fundamental cause of militarism and war. *The new anti-war movement must therefore, of necessity, be completely and unequivocally independent of, and hostile to, all political parties and organizations of the capitalist class. *The new anti-war movement must, above all, be international, mobilizing the vast power of the working class in a unified global struggle against imperialism. The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) held successful public meetings this week in working-class electorates in Sydney, Cessnock, Melbourne and Brisbane where the party is running candidates in this years federal election. The SEP has a total of eight candidatesfour for Senate positions and four for lower house seats. The events, which were the final meetings in the SEPs federal election campaign, were attended by an important cross-section of workers, professionals, young people, students and retirees. All the partys candidates addressed the meetings, provoking serious discussions on the partys socialist and anti-war program and its role in the international campaign for the release of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange and US whistleblower Chelsea Manning. The Sydney meeting, which was held in Merrylands was addressed by Oscar Grenfell, the SEPs candidate for the lower house seat of Parramatta; Richard Phillips, the partys New South Wales Senate candidate; and long-standing SEP National Committee member Nick Beams. In Melbourne, Peter Byrne, the SEP candidate for Calwell spoke, along with Tessa Pietsch and Jason Wardle, who are both running for the Senate, and SEP National Committee member Linda Tenenbaum. Max Boddy speaking at the Cessnock meeting Max Boddy, the SEPs candidate for the Hunter electorate, addressed the Cessnock meeting as did John Davis, who is running for the Senate, and SEP Assistant National Secretary Cheryl Crisp. In Brisbane, Mike Head, the partys candidate for Oxley, and Michael Smith, a young working-class SEP member, spoke. The SEPs lower house candidates gave detailed reports on the desperate social conditions, rising poverty and increasingly polluted and unhealthy environment facing workers and youththe result of the big business programs of Liberal-National and Labor governments alike. Audiences listened intently as the candidates detailed how these attacks had been imposed by the unions and why the SEP was the only party in the elections telling the truththat there is no basis for piecemeal reform of the profit system. The only way to fight these attacks, the speakers warned, was through the independent mobilisation of the working class against capitalism and on the basis of the socialist and internationalist program advanced by the SEP and its Trotskyist co-thinkers in the International Committee of the Fourth International. Addressing the Cessnock meeting, SEP assistant national secretary Cheryl Crisp reviewed the international context in which the Australian election was being held and, in particular the Trump administrations trade war threats against China. The US is demanding China become an economic semi-colony of the United States and that this onslaught is not confined to China, she said. History has shown where this leads. It is the road to warworld war, which could involve the use of nuclear weapons and we are already well down this road, she added. The anti-China witch-hunts stoked in Australia by the Coalition government, and supported by Labor, are part of the preparations by the political elite for war. The glorification of ANZAC Day is part of the same process. The foreign interference laws, bulldozed through parliament last year and supported by Labor, could be deployed to criminalise anti-war activities, to persecute political organisations with international affiliations, and to suppress whistleblowers and journalists who expose government crimes, Crisp said. At the Merrylands meeting, Oscar Grenfell, who joined the SEP when he was at high school and is the national convenor of the International Youth and Students for Social Equality, warned that the Labor Party, the unions and the entire political establishment were attempting to hoodwink the population while preparing for even-deeper austerity measures. To head off the upheavals that are brewing, and to divert workers behind the political establishment, Labor is making a phony populist pitch. If one examines any of their spending promises, it is clear that they are just smoke and mirrors. Almost all of Labors health funding pledges, for instance, are over six years, meaning that its entirely possible not a cent of the money will ever go to a hospital After the election, we can anticipate a period of social and political upheaval. Australia is not exceptional. The mass struggles of the working class that are emerging in Europe and the US will find their expression here, sooner rather than later. The critical issue is to build a revolutionary leadership in the working class, to guide these struggles and take them forward to fight for a workers government and socialism, said. Oscar Grenfell addressing the Merrylands meeting Also addressing the Merrylands meeting, Nick Beams, a longstanding member of the SEP National Committee, referred to government and big business concerns about the increasing hostility of masses of people to capitalism. This leftward shift, he continued, was manifested in the new wave of working-class strikes globally and organised in opposition to the trade union apparatuses. Objective processes, resulting from the veritable breakdown of the capitalist mode of production, are driving masses of people into struggle, he said. The response of the ruling elites everywhere, he said, was to promote extreme right-wing politics and fascist elements, and step up direct attacks on democratic rights. The escalating assault on basic rights is personified by the persecution of Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning, he added. The speaker explained that the SEPs election intervention was to prepare the working class for the tumultuous struggles that would erupt in the aftermath of the election. He pointed to the attempts of pseudo-left organisations, such as the Victorian Socialists, to promote illusions in Labor and the unions and keep workers and youth trapped within the stranglehold of parliamentary politics. He warned that deep-felt hostility to the existing order could only go forward if guided by a worked-out revolutionary perspective. Workers need a program, but that does not arise spontaneously, no matter how great the intensity of the hostility to capitalism and the extent of the movement against it. The so-called excesses of capitalism, he said, are not like warts on a face which can be simply cut off while leaving the basic structure in place. They are endemic to the very operation of a system which has, as Trotsky explained, has entered its death agony, and which will drag mankind into the abyss if it is not overturned by the working class. Extended question and answer sessions followed all the meeting reports. Audience members raised a range of issues, including how to fight the attack on democratic rights; union corruption; the situation confronting Assange and Manning and how to win young people to the revolutionary party. A number of people volunteered to distribute SEP material on election day. More than $2,200 was donated to the partys election fund at last weeks meetings, an important indication of the serious response by audiences and bringing the total collected at public meetings to over $5,000 during the brief three-week election campaign. The authors also recommend: Workers and youth discuss Julian Assange, social conditions and war at SEP election meetings [17 May 2019] Authorised by James Cogan for the Socialist Equality Party, Suite 906, 185 Elizabeth Street, Sydney, NSW, 2000. A student organization at New York University that opposes Israeli policy toward the Palestinian people has become the subject of a coordinated attack by pro-Zionist organizations, the universitys own administration and the national media. In late April, New York University (NYU) student and former president of the Zionist club Realize Israel, Adela Cojab, filed a civil rights complaint with the Department of Education (DOE) denouncing the university for promoting extreme antisemitism by awarding the Presidents Service Award to the pro-Palestinian activist group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) in April. The accusation dovetails with an international right-wing campaign to slander left-wing individuals and organizations who oppose the policies of the Israeli state toward Palestinians as anti-Semitic and blaming those that criticize the Zionist project for the rise in anti-Semitic attacks. The stated purpose of the NYU Presidents Service Award is the recognition of students and student organizations for their commitment to civic engagement and service in local communities. SJP was one of 150 students and student organizations to receive the award this semester. After the decision was denounced by Zionist clubs on campus, NYU President Andrew Hamilton failed to attend the award ceremony, citing his busy schedule. Subsequently, he came out in opposition to the club receiving the award. Cojab filed the complaint against NYU with the DOEs Office of Civil Rights claiming that the university was in violation of Title VI for discrimination based on colors, and national origins. Her letter states that giving a humanitarian award to SJP is equivalent to giving such an award to the Ku Klux Klan, or any other racist organization, and also refers to the SJP as a terror-affiliated anti-Semitic network. Neal Sher, a former executive director of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the largest pro-Israel lobbying group in Washington, is representing Cojab. He has stated publicly that the purpose of the lawsuit is to shake things up at NYU and that it could result in the university losing federal funding or being hit with all kinds of sanctions. The accusations against SJP flip reality on its head: the pro-Palestinian group has regularly been the target of far-right Zionist provocations, and in the 20162017 academic year, the NYU chapter received multiple anonymous death threats. Cojabs complaint draws on an incident last year when two SJP members were arrested after disturbing a dance party hosted by Realize Israel in Washington Square Park, across the street from NYUs lower Manhattan campus. The complaint also references other events and peaceful protests held by SJP and claims several times that SJP has ties to various terrorist organizations. Prior to the filing of the letter of complaint with the DOE, similar denunciations of the decision to give the award to SJP appeared in the national press. On April 22, Susan Shapiroan author and graduate of NYU, who currently teaches classes at the universitywrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal and demanded that NYU rescind an honor given for discrimination, bigotry and bias, and condemn all injustice, not just the kind thats politically correct this week. Shapiro in her piece manages, in a single paragraph, to defame as anti-Semitic all those that criticize Israel and amalgamate these views with those of openly neo-Nazi elements. She writes, The NYU Jewish Center received threats; swastikas were found in a residence hall. The student government passed an anti-Israel BDSboycott, divestment and sanctionsresolution. NYU activists confronted a pregnant Chelsea Clinton and insanely blamed her for the massacre at a New Zealand mosque because she criticized Rep. Ilhan Omars anti-Semitic slurs. Hamilton responded to Shapiro in another op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, stating, Had it been up to me, SJP would not have received the award because the clubs behavior has been divisive. The politics of the BDS movement are of a limited protest character, seeking to channel disgust with Israels crimes against the Palestinian people into a campaign to convince the imperialist powers to pressure Tel Aviv into changing its policies. It has nonetheless provoked a frenzied reaction from the Israeli government and its Zionist supporters, who concoct the lie that such politics are by definition anti-Semitic. The attacks on SJP are part of an international campaign to intimidate anyone who condemns Israels ceaseless violence against Palestinians as anti-Semitic and responsible for the rise in violence against Jews. This is particularly the case in the continued attack against Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar for calling attention to the influence of the Zionist lobby within Congress. Following her remarks, the entire political establishment, including the Democratic Party, denounced her, and in March put a bill to a vote that essentially targeted Omar without calling her out by name. Republicans in Congress are now proceeding to target Representative Rashida Tlaib, a Michigan Democrat, by willfully twisting her words in order to portray them as heinous anti-Semitic comments. On March 16, at NYUs vigil for the victims of the fascist attack on a mosque in New Zealand, two NYU studentsincluding SJP club president Leen Dweikconfronted Chelsea Clinton for her attacks on Ilhan Omar. Following this confrontation, both students were publicly denounced by Donald Trump Jr. and New York Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio, as well as other political figures. The students were also maligned in a variety of national and international publications. While the NYU administration in undoubtedly concerned that the complaint to the DOE could impact the universitys fundingboth in terms of federal funding and donations from wealthy individualsit also provides a justification for the university to suppress political discussion, particularly left-wing and socialist views, on campus. Since the complaint was filed, Hamilton and William Berkley, chair of NYUs Board of Trustees, have denounced the recently passed resolution by faculty in NYUs Department of Social and Cultural Analysis (SCA) to end cooperation with the NYU Tel Aviv, the universitys study abroad location in Israel. Hamilton and Berkley have referred to the resolution as deplorable and claim it could endanger academic freedom. The SCAs resolution specifically cites Israels policies that make it difficult for individuals of Palestinian descent to travel to Israel to participate in the program, as well as recently passed laws that prohibit critics of Israel from entering the country. The SCA facultys resolution is not binding. The response of the administration takes place within a broader political context, where any defense of Palestinian rights is falsely equated with anti-Semitism and used to attack left-wing views. As an institution with close ties to Wall Street, the military and Washingtons political establishment, these attacks find acute form at NYU. This is clearly the case with the ability for two Zionist clubs to host Bret Stephens, a right-wing Zionist and columnist for the New York Times, who has said that Palestinians have a blood fetish. During his talk, Stephens equated opposition to Israel with the growth in anti-Semitism and the fostering of far-right forces under the Trump administration. He claimed that Donald Trump has legitimized a set of ideas that bring the extremists that much closer to the mainstream. In the same way that progressives on the left, by legitimizing anti-Zionism, have brought anti-Semitism closer to the fold so theres a kind of mirror-like process. It should be recalled that in 2017 Trump claimed that there were very fine people among the fascist rioters in Charlottesville, Virginia, who marched through the streets chanting Jews will not replace us. He has since reaffirmed this claim last month stating that he had responded perfectly to the question on Charlottesville. According to the Anti-Defamation League, anti-Semitic incidents have been on the rise since 2013, with the largest number ever recorded in 2017, the first year of the Trump administration. In that year there were 1,986 recorded incidents, a 57 percent increase over 2016. Stephenss statements at NYU echo the attacks on British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn as anti-Semitic as well as the disgusting claims by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, as he visited far-right Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that the Nazis were a leftist movement. The duplicitous campaign by Zionist organizations, university administrations, the media and bourgeois politicians to label left-wing opposition to Israel as anti-Semitism has contributed to the growth of a reactionary and dangerous climate within academia. While the SJP is denounced and threatened for its protest activities, the right-wing extremist Jorg Baberowskia German professor at Humboldt University, who has claimed Hitler was not viciouscan receive $300,000 in funding from Princeton University without any backlash, least of all from Zionist and pro-Israel professors at that and other institutions. The latest slanders against SJP are part of a broad and coordinated attempt to suppress the emerging anti-war movement of students and workers both in the US and internationally. The former leader of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) and deputy prime minister in the government of Jose Luis Zapatero, Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, died last Friday at the age of 67 after suffering a stroke. Rubalcabas death has become the occasion for his universal glorification at the hands of the Spanish political establishment and media. The pro-PSOE El Pais wrote that Rubalcaba possessed the best characteristics of a public servant. El Mundo headlined its editorial Rubalcaba, a life in the service of Spain. El Espanol described him as one of the most important figures in the post-Franco era. ABC linked him to constitutional loyalty, statesmanship and national harmony. Acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (PSOE) asserted that Rubalcabas best attribute was statesmanship, adding: Now, before time enlarges his figure even more, we can say that he occupies a place of honour in the history of Spain. Former right-wing Popular Party (PP) Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy called Rubalcaba a statesman in Spains most decisive moments. All the major leaders of the pseudo-left Podemos party, including Pablo Iglesias, sent their condolences to Rubalcabas immediate family and the Socialist [i.e., PSOE] family. The PP, PSOE, Podemos, United Left and Citizens suspended electoral activities for the local and regional electoral campaigns. The following day, party leaders, mayors, journalists, Royals and Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa visited the funeral chapel. If Rubalcabas death was transformed into such an occasion, it was because his career faithfully reflected the rightward evolution of the entire political establishment. In his social origins, pro-capitalist outlook and defence of murderous repression, he epitomizes the qualities the Spanish and European ruling elite see as desirable in a politician amid the shift to authoritarian rule that has followed the police crackdown on the October 2017 Catalan independence referendum. Rubalcaba was born in 1951 in Solares, Cantabria, to a privileged, conservative family. His father fought as an aviator under fascist General Francisco Franco during the Civil War. Soon after he was born, Rubalcabas family moved to one of Madrids wealthiest areas, the Salamanca district. He attended the Colegio del Pilar School, an elite school, which has produced many politicians, businessmen, diplomats and journalists during and after the Franco dictatorship, including former PP Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, former Foreign Affairs Minister and Secretary General of NATO Javier Solana and Juan Luis Cebrian, founder of El Pais. Rubalcaba said he joined politics due to the Francoite polices torture and murder of student activist Enrique Ruano in 1969. I will remember this episode all my life, for me it meant a before and after to the point that the death of Ruano led me to politics, he told El Confidencial. This did not prevent Rubalcaba from attending the 2012 funeral of Manuel Fraga, propaganda minister under Franco and founder of the PP, who led the disinformation campaign about Ruanos assassination in 1969. Rubalcaba joined the PSOE in 1974, the year Felipe Gonzalez ousted the old PSOE leadership amid revolutionary struggles in neighbouring Portugal. Gonzalezs young renovators, as they were known, received support from factions of the Francoite state who saw them as an instrument to suppress the growing radicalisation of the working class and preserve capitalist rule. The PSOE received extensive financial support from the US State Department and Germanys Social Democratic Party via its Friedrich Ebert Foundation, which paid the PSOE for full-time staff, rent, training, conferences and Gonzalezs trips around Europe. When the PSOE took office in 1982 under Gonzalez, Rubalcaba rose to become education minister in 1992. The following year he was named minister for the prime ministers office and relations with Spains houses of parliament. During Gonzalezs government, the PSOE emerged as the main party of bourgeois rule, with much of the capitalist oligarchy that emerged under Franco becoming adamant PSOE supporters. For 14 years, the PSOE carried out policies of austerity and wardestroying thousands of jobs, cutting wages and dismantling existing national regulations rooted in the autarkic character of the Franco regime. It led Spain into official membership in NATO, the European Union and talks setting up the euro currency. Above all, Rubalcaba played a key role in covering up the state-sponsored Anti-terrorist Liberation Groups (GAL), i.e., death squads, that murdered a total of 29 people and left another 30 wounded, mostly linked to the Basque armed group ETA. The scandal implicated the Minister of Interior and top members of the PSOE government, including Gonzalez himself. Rubalcaba infamously dismissed the GAL as an invention of El Mundo, the right-wing newspaper that exposed the scandal. Rubalcaba played a major role in the next PSOE government of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero from 2004 to 2011. As head of the PSOE in parliament and then of the Interior Ministry, he oversaw the PSOEs reactionary measures. These included the imposition of the largest austerity package since Francos death, two labour reforms, pensions cuts and wage cuts on civil servants, and the sending of troops to break a wildcat strike by air traffic controllers in December 2010. The policies led to the PSOEs defeat in the 2011 elections. Rubalcaba then succeeded Zapatero as general secretary before resigning in 2014 amidst the worst electoral results the PSOE ever obtained. He announced then he would leave politics and returned to his former job as a lecturer. Rubalcaba also joined the editorial board of El Pais, where he supported the 2016 internal PSOE putsch that ousted his successor, Sanchez, for opposing attempts to install a minority PP government. El Pais was the main mouthpiece of the campaign against Sanchez. As the WSWS noted, the putsch spearheaded by Rubalcabas friend Gonzalez against Sanchezworked out in backroom deals with big business, the intelligence services, and the Spanish rightis not an accident or a betrayal of the PSOEs principles. It is the expression of the PSOEs historic role over the last half century as an instrument of capitalist rule. Rubalcaba once again came to prominence in October 2017, defending King Felipe VIs speech hailing mass repression unleashed against peaceful voters and activists in the Catalan independence referendum that left over 1,000 injured. Rubalcaba was a reactionary defender of Spanish imperialism. The fact that the entire ruling establishment, including Podemos, hails such a sinister PSOE bureaucrat points to the deep shift to the right that predominates throughout official politics, and the gulf separating them from workers. He is hailed as a model of what they all want to be: right-wing bureaucrats who effortlessly renounce whatever principles they ever had to line up behind state repression. Millions of workers and youth look at the PSOEs record with disgust, however. On Sunday, thousands of supporters of the Basque team Real Sociedad yelled Rubalcaba, murderer! during the final match against Atletico de Madrid. This was barely reported in the press. On Thursday at noon, United States law enforcement officials, some of them helmeted and wearing flak jackets and carrying battering rams, forced their way into the Venezuelan embassy in Washington, D.C., detaining four anti-war activists who had been residing there. The activists, Kevin Zeese, Margaret Flowers, Adrienne Pine and David Paul, part of a group calling themselves the Embassy Protection Collective (EPC), had been invited to stay inside the Venezuelan embassy over a month ago by the elected and internationally recognized government of President Nicolas Maduro. The raid against the embassy was carried out in flagrant violation of international laws governing diplomatic relations between states and is of a piece with the reckless and illegal actions taken by the Trump administration in an effort to force a regime change in Venezuela, home to the largest proven oil reserves on the planet. According to the Washington Post, Federal law enforcement officers, including several in fatigues wearing tactical gear, entered the building through a back door and conducted a sweep with police dogs. After more than an hour, police brought the activists into a driveway hidden from the view of protesters and the news media Hundreds of armed security forces were involved in the operation, including elements of the US Secret Service, the Metropolitan Police and the State Departments Diplomatic Security Service. The Post noted that ambulances and personnel with stretchers had been assembled at the embassy in the lead-up to the raid. As of this writing it is unclear if any of the detained activists were injured. The four are due to face charges in U.S. federal court Friday relating to their occupation, including the supposed interference with the diplomatic mission of officials representing U.S. puppet and self-appointed interim president Juan Guaido. Trespassing charges have not been brought, apparently because the lease for the building is in the name of the Maduro government. As of Friday, representatives of the US puppet Guaido are due to take possession of the embassy. In a statement dripping with cynicism, Guaido-appointed ambassador Carlos Vecchio, a U.S. State Department asset, declared The usurpation has ended It has taken time and effort, but we have complied with the Venezuelan people. Infinite thanks to the Venezuelan diaspora for their sacrifice. Next liberation: Venezuela. Speaking to the press, the Collectives legal counsel, constitutional lawyer Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, stated of the raid and arrests: This is an extraordinary step by the Trump administration and frankly, one that has been supported by every politician that has remained silent. They dont have to take a position on the government of Venezuela, they do have to take a position in defense of diplomacy, of the Vienna Convention, of international law. That is what is at issue with this seizure and this entrance today. The lawyer stated that the embassy raid had been a State Department operation that had been carried out by State Department personnel. Verheyden-Hilliard declared: This is sending a message to embassies and diplomatic missions all over the world that any host country can make the decision that if it disagrees or does not like the leadership of another country it can simply appoint someone else, say that they are recognizing another person as the leader, and then seize and enter an embassy. Pseudo-left representatives of U.S. imperialism, such as Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and House Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, declined to issue so much as a tweet in opposition to the seizure of the embassy by U.S. security forces. This is in line with their defense of the Trump administrations drive for regime change in Venezuela. In February, Sanders solidarized himself with the phony opposition of Guaido and his supporters, who have sought to promote a military coup against the bourgeois nationalist government of Nicolas Maduro. For her part, Representative Ocasio-Cortez pledged in an interview two weeks ago with the National Review to toe the line of the Democratic Party, declaring, I defer to caucus leadership on how we navigate this. In February, Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced she had decided to recognize Juan Guaido, president of the National Assembly, as the interim president until full, fair and free elections can be held, and that Nicolas Maduros regime of repression must be condemned swiftly by the full international community. Prior to the raid, EPC activists had faced a police-backed siege of the property, with right-wing Guaido supporters blocking, physically attacking and harassing activists delivering supplies. Last week, in a move demonstrating the U.S. governments disregard for international law, electrical power to the embassy was cut along with the buildings water supply. On Tuesday, an eviction notice was delivered to EPC members which bore no markings indicating its authenticity. According to Consortium News, the document appeared to have been written by the Guaido faction but was posted and read by D.C. police as if it were a document from the U.S. government. On Wednesday, the U.S. government issued warrants for the detainment of the EPC members, presaging Thursdays events. The treatment of the collective by the Trump administration has been denounced internationally. On Sunday, the National Lawyers Guild issued a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, the United Nations and others, which states, the United States government, through various law enforcement agencies, has condoned and protected violent opponents in support of an attempted siege of the Embassy. In so doing, the U.S. government is creating a dangerous precedent for diplomatic relations with all nations. Verheyden-Hilliard, the legal counsel for the activists, spoke on the Trump administrations fears of the potential for a broader movement of the population: This is a direct response to a growing view in the United States that more and more people were standing in support of diplomacy, more and more people were standing in support of peace. People dont want to see another war; they dont need to see the United States government waging another illegal war. The lawyer noted this to be the case despite a lot of the press coverage [of the embassy occupation, which] has not been forthright. Much of it has been extremely biased and ... not accurate. The people who have been here inside of the embassy have been peaceful. The people who have supported them inside of the embassy have been peaceful. The assaults that we have [seen], the violence the noise from the sirens, the flashing lights and the use of strobes ... these are all nonlethal weapons that were being authorized for use No action was taken by American law enforcement to stop the illegal actions. Vecchio has no standing as a Venezuelan diplomat and represents a government that exists only in the regime-change propaganda of US imperialism. Rather, he is a leader of Guaidos far-right Voluntad Popular (Popular Will) party, wanted in Venezuela for inciting violence. He is scheduled to meet early next week with officers of the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), which oversees US military operations in Latin America. Earlier this week, he said that he would discuss with the US military brass plans to advance in strategic and operational planning with the priority goal of stopping our people's suffering and restoring democracy. This direct turn to the US military follows Guaidos abortive April 30 coup attempt, which failed to produce any significant fissures in Venezuelas armed forces or elicit any significant popular support. Since then, backing for the self-proclaimed and US-backed interim president has visibly waned, with barely a few hundred people turning out for a demonstration Guaido called last Saturday. Absent popular support or backing from any major faction of the Venezuelan military, Guaido appears to be banking on a direct US military intervention. The assault on the Venezuelas embassy in Washington may well be a warning that a violent assault is being prepared on the country itself. The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) calls on workers, students and young people to register your support for a socialist and internationalist alternative to war, budget cuts and authoritarianism, by voting for our candidates in the Australian federal election. The SEP is standing to build a revolutionary, socialist movement of the working class against the entire parliamentary establishment and the capitalist system that it defends. The election campaign has been dominated by lies, evasions and mudslinging. Amid global economic, geo-political and social upheaval, none of the major issues confronting the working class has been discussed by any of the official parties, or the media. There has been a complete blackout of Australias central role in the US confrontation with China, which threatens a catastrophic war. This is despite the fact that the election has been held under conditions of a sharp escalation of the Trump administrations trade war measures and military provocations against Beijing. Nothing has been said about the imminent danger of US wars against Iran and Venezuela that could escalate into region-wide or global military conflicts. Nor has there been any mention of the role of successive governments, Labor and Coalition alike, in aligning Australia with a vast US military build-up throughout the Asia-Pacific. All the official parties have supported the expansion of US basing arrangements and the integration of the Australian military into the US war machine, in defiance of mass hostility of workers and youth to militarism and war. By their silence on the spate of geopolitical crises that have erupted during the campaign, Labor, the Coalition and the Greens have again confirmed that they are pro-war parties committed to the US alliance and to participating in American imperialisms predatory wars. They have also signalled their support for the suppression of democratic rights and anti-war opposition, by their ongoing refusal to defend Julian Assange. Following his brutal arrest by British police on April 11, Assange faces the prospect of extradition to the US for his role in exposing war crimes, mass surveillance and global diplomatic conspiracies. An SEP rally in Melbourne defending Julian Assange The SEP has been the only party to hold meetings and protests during the election to demand that the government fulfil its responsibilities to Assange as an Australian citizen, by securing his return to Australia with a guarantee against extradition to the US. The persecution of Assange is the spearhead of a broader assault on the democratic rights of the working class. Last year Labor and the Coalition came together to pass foreign interference laws abolishing whistleblower protections and creating the conditions for the illegalisation of anti-war activity. The legislation was introduced on the basis of a McCarthyite-style witchhunt against Chinese nationals, student groups and Australian politicians as agents of Beijing. The real target of these police-state measures is the working class. Amid a deepening social crisis, the ruling elite is preparing to suppress mass working-class struggles, like those that have erupted internationally. This election has been the most anti-democratic in Australian history. It has been held in the wake of the purging from parliament of MPs entitled to dual citizenship, on the nationalist grounds that they may have an allegiance to a foreign power. The reactionary constitutional provisions, supported by all of the official parties, exclude almost half the population from standing for office. Australian capitalism is mired in a deepening slowdown amid a collapse of the speculative property bubble in Australia, a slump in its top market, China, and worsening global economic turbulence. All of the official parties are pledging to the corporate elite that they will make the working class pay for this deepening crisis. The Coalition is declaring that it will slash tax rates for big business and the rich. Labor, and the unions, are making a cynical populist pitch aimed at diverting social anger behind the big business two-party system. Bill Shorten has made hypocritical denunciations of inequality and corporate tax evasion. Labors election promises, however, are a case of smoke and mirrors. Much of its healthcare funding, for instance, is to be rolled out over six years, meaning it is possible that little of Labors utterly inadequate spending promises will reach a hospital in the next term of government. As in every previous election, budget promises will be junked after polling day. All of Labor and the Coalitions campaign pledges are based on fanciful predictions of economic growth. The reality was demonstrated by the Reserve Banks decision last Friday to slash its gross domestic product (GDP) growth prediction for the current financial year from 2.5 percent to 1.75 percentone of the worlds largest downgrades in recent economic forecasts. Labor has made clear that a Shorten government will intensify the onslaught on the working class. Shorten has repeatedly invoked the legacy of the Hawke and Keating governments of the 1980s, which deregulated the economy and destroyed hundreds of thousands of jobs. He has pledged a budget surplus greater than the Coalition and called for a summit with big business and the unions to deepen the assault on jobs, wages and conditions. The Greens are calling for greater collaboration with Labor. They are hailing their de facto coalition with the Gillard Labor government from 2010-13, which aligned Australia with US plans for war with China, slashed welfare, healthcare and education and reopened the offshore concentration camps imprisoning refugees in the Pacific. This election is also marked by the emergence of a host of right-wing populist and even fascistic parties. These organisations, including Clive Palmers United Australia Party, Pauline Hansons One Nation and Fraser Annings Conservative National Party, are being actively promoted and legitimised by the political and media establishment. Their role is to channel mounting social anger behind reactionary nationalism and xenophobia and to create a right-wing base that can be mobilised against the working class. The SEP alone has told the working class the truth. Whichever parties form the next government, official politics will shift ever further to the right. The incoming government will seek to implement sweeping austerity measures and expand Australias participation in US-led wars. This agenda will inevitably encounter growing social and political opposition from below. Strikes and protests, suppressed for decades by the corporatised unions, will reemerge. But anger, alienation and raw militancy are not enough. Workers must draw political lessons from the experiences they have passed through. The first is that there is no way forward through the existing political set-up, or any of the parties committed to it. The claims that Labor and the Greens are a lesser-evil, peddled by pseudo-left organisations, such as Socialist Alliance, Socialist Alternative and the Victorian Socialists, are lies. These are tried and tested parties of big business. For their part, the various minor parties and independents seek to shackle workers and young people to the sclerotic parliamentary establishment. The worsening social and political crisis will only be resolved through the conscious intervention of the working class into political life. The SEP is fighting to build a mass revolutionary movement of the working class aimed at nothing less than the reorganisation of society from top to bottom, to meet social need, not private profit. We are fighting for a workers government that would implement socialist policies, including placing the banks and the corporations under public ownership and democratic workers control. Trillions of dollars must be allocated to fund universal, free, high-quality healthcare and education, and to guarantee the social right to a well-paid, full-time job for all workers. The military-intelligence apparatus, used to prosecute predatory wars abroad and suppress the working class at home, must be dismantled. The billions allocated to these instruments of war and repression should be diverted to resolving the deepening social crisis facing the working class. This is a global struggle, requiring the unification of workers all over the world, in opposition to the nationalism whipped up by the ruling class to divide the working class. The SEP is the only party which defends the right of all people to live and work wherever they choose, with full citizenship rights, in opposition to the reactionary program of border protection defended by every other party. In this election, the SEP appeals to workers to vote for our candidates in the Senate and in House of Representatives. The SEP is standing in the Senate in New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria, and in the House of Representatives seats of Parramatta in Sydney, Hunter near Newcastle, Calwell in Melbourne and Oxley in Brisbane. The SEP does not allocate preferences to any other party, or engage in the horse-trading that is the stock in trade of every other outfit contesting the election. Due to the anti-democratic compulsory preferencing system, those seeking to cast a valid vote for the SEP should place a one next to our candidates, and then number your remaining preferences, in line with the requirements of the Australian Electoral Commission. Above all, we appeal to all students, young people and workers, who want to fight for a future against war, dictatorship, austerity, and capitalism to study the SEPs program, join our party and build it as the new revolutionary leadership of the working class. Authorised by James Cogan for the Socialist Equality Party, Suite 906, 185 Elizabeth Street, Sydney, NSW, 2000. The savage bombing of a civilian neighborhood in the heart of Yemens capital, Sanaa, on Thursday signals another escalation of the extreme war tensions provoked by US imperialism in the Persian Gulf. The airstrikes claimed the lives of at least six civilians, including four children, all of them members of the same family. The Yemeni Health Ministry put the number wounded at 71, including 27 children, 17 women and 27 men. Witnesses at the scene saw a crowd of men pulling bodies from a demolished apartment bloc, lifting the body of a lifeless child and that of a woman wrapped in a white shroud. The number killed is expected to rise given the severity of wounds caused by the bombing and as the inhabitants of Sanaa continue to dig through the rubble with their bare hands. Shortages of medicines and medical supplies resulting from the US-backed blockade of Yemen also hinder adequate treatment of the wounded. Saudi bombs and missiles fell on Sanaas densely populated residential neighborhoods in the early morning hours of Thursday, with the greatest destruction wrought at the intersection of Rabat and Rakas streets. I know the street, Yemeni journalist Afrah Nasser told Al Jazeera. There are no military targets there. There is no excuse for the Saudi-led coalition. It was a deliberate and systematic bombardment attacking civilians. The Saudi-led war on Yemen is now in its fifth year, launched after Houthi rebels drove out the corrupt government of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, a puppet of Riyadh and Washington, in 2014. It has created the worst humanitarian crisis on the planet in what was already the poorest country in the Arab world. Riyadh has been able to wage this bloody campaign only thanks to uninterrupted support from Washington, beginning under the Obama administration and continuing under Trump, which has provided the jets and bombs used to murder Yemeni civilians, midair refueling to allow continuous airstrikes, intelligence on targets and support from the US Navy for a barbaric blockade that has cut off food, medicine and other basic supplies. A congressional resolution calling for an end to direct US military support for the Saudi-led slaughter was vetoed by President Donald Trump last month, with proponents of the measure having nowhere near the two-thirds majority needed to overturn the veto. Since then, Democratic politicians, who backed the legislation as an empty political ploy aimed at corralling broad antiwar sentiment, have fallen silent on the ongoing US-backed war crimes in Yemen. Washington backs the Saudi-led war as part of its broader buildup toward war against Iran, which has seen over the past week and a half the dispatch to the region of a battleship-carrier strike group, led by the USS Abraham Lincoln, and a bomber task force, including nuclear-capable B-52s. This has been followed by the deployment of the amphibious assault warship USS Arlington carrying US Marines, warplanes and landing craft, as well a Patriot missile battery. Tensions have been further escalated by the highly provocative decision to withdraw all non-essential personnel from the gigantic US embassy in Baghdad, based on claims that are not only unsubstantiated, but have been debunked by a top British general in the US coalition, of an imminent threat from Iranian-backed militias. The Saudi airstrikes on Sanaa came just two days after the Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for a drone attack that struck pumping facilities on Saudi Arabias main east-west oil pipeline, calling it retribution for the ceaseless attacks on Yemeni civilians. The Saudi monarchy, whose air war has killed an estimated 80,000 civilians while demolishing schools, hospitals, factories and housing, denounced the drone attackwhich claimed not a single lifeas an act of terrorism and a war crime. Riyadh insisted that the drone strikes had been ordered by the regime in Tehran, a charge that the Houthi-led government in Sanaa vehemently denied. We are not agents for anyone, said Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, the head of the governing Supreme Revolutionary Committee. We make decisions independently and do not take orders for drones or anything else. Both the US and Saudi governments have long claimed, without providing a shred of evidence, that Iran has shipped arms to the Houthi forces, despite the maintenance of a naval blockade that has kept even food supplies from getting into the country. The real concern of both US imperialism and its principal ally in the Arab world is that any government in Yemen that is not fully controlled by Riyadh poses a threat to the reactionary monarchical dictatorship of the House of Saud. The Saudi monarchys attitude toward the war buildup in the Persian Gulf was spelled out in an editorial published Thursday by Arab News, an English-language broadsheet that serves as a propaganda outlet for the regime. It called for the US to carry out surgical strikes against Iran. It stated: Our point of view is that they must be hit hard. They need to be shown that the circumstances are now different. We call for a decisive, punitive reaction to what happened so that Iran knows that every single move they make will have consequences. On Wednesday, the head of the UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF) delivered a harrowing report to the UN Security Council on the effects of the US-backed, Saudi-led war on Yemens children. Citing an official tally of 7,300 children killed outright by the violence, Henrietta Fore acknowledged that the actual numbers are no doubt higher. Referring to a Saudi air strike that tore apart a girls school in Sanaa last month, she said, Imagine the pain endured by the families of the 14 children who never made it home. She reported that a child is dying of preventable causes in Yemen every 10 minutes, that 360,000 suffer severe acute malnutrition and that fully half of the countrys children under fiveor 2.5 millionhave stunted growth, an irreversible condition. Fores report was followed by UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock, who told the Security Council that the specter of famine still looms over Yemen, with 10 million people surviving only on emergency food relief, and that 300,000 people have been affected with cholera in the first four months of this year alone, compared to 370,000 for the whole of 2018. The immense human suffering wrought by US imperialism and the Saudi regime in Yemen over the past four years would be rapidly eclipsed by a war against Iran, which would drag in the entire region and threaten to ignite a third world war. Arshad Khan By Express News Service Over the last few months, Indias automobile sector has started to accelerate its shift towards cleaner and more efficient fuel technology. Two of the markets top passenger vehicle (PV) makers Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) and Tata Motors have already announced their plans to curtail the production of diesel-powered vehicles from next year, while many other players are gearing up to meet the upcoming implementation of BS-VI emission norms and upping their alternate fuel game. According to experts, the fuel option which is likely to benefit from a departure of diesel engines in the near future is the much cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG), with studies claiming that it will power 30-50 per cent of four wheelers within the next 10 years. ALSO READ | Maruti Suzuki to stop making diesel cars from April 2020 Besides CNG, hybrid electric technology and fully electric vehicles (EV) are also gaining traction in the country. Many automakers are now coming up with hybrid options for their new vehicles, with the latest being the British carmaker MG Motor, whose first car in India the Hector will come with a 48-volt mild-hybrid architecture. It also claims that this will enable its SUV to give best-in-class fuel efficiency in the segment and reduce emissions by up to 12 per cent. On the other hand, Maruti Suzuki, which at present offers Ertiga, sedan Ciaz and Baleno with mild hybrid systems, is gearing up to launch a mild hybrid version of the S-Cross. The carmakers managing director Kenichi Ayukawa recently said that the government should encourage hybrid vehicles to boost localisation of EV components. ALSO READ | With diesel being shunned, CNG all set to get a boost Our cars are almost completely localised; the residual imports are mostly electrical parts and so further localisation of electric car and electric components is very important If we encourage hybrid vehicles then the volume of these core components goes up and we will be able to achieve much higher depth of localisation, he said. Ayukawas comment refers to the localisation clause in the Faster Adoption of Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme, which makes it mandatory for automakers to have 50 per cent localisation to avail benefits. On the EV front, a number of carmakers are readying themselves to launch lithium battery-powered vehicles, and by the end of next year almost every carmaker is likely to have offered EV options to consumers so inclined. On the infrastructure side too, a number of players are engaging in setting up charging stations. READ HERE | Mahindra & Mahindra to deploy 50 electric vehicles on Uber platform For instance, Japanese electric major Panasonic which recently launched its EV charging service- Nymbus has set a target of catering to a million EVs in the next five years. Fleet operators such as Ola have already announced initiatives to operate one million electric vehicles in the country by 2021. State to seek death penalty in Lovell murder case State to seek death penalty in Lovell murder case LOVELL (WNE) The Big Horn County Attorneys Office will be pursuing the death penalty in a homicide case involving a man from Lovell. In a recent filing with the court, County Attorney Marcia Bean conveyed to the court that her office would pursue the death penalty in the case involving Donald Joe Crouse. Crouse is charged with the first-degree murder of Carol Jean Barnes on Jan. 4, 2018. The last execution carried out in Wyoming was Mark Hopkinson in 1992. Wyomings last death row inmate, Dale Eaton, had his sentence overturned by a federal judge in 2014. There is a current motion from Crouses current attorney, Timothy Blatt, to reschedule the trial set for June 3. His reasons include that Crouse is seeking another mental examination and the need for another public defender that has experience with death penalty cases. Crouse waived his right to a speedy trial. Action to be taken against student behind school threat RIVERTON (WNE) The 14-year-old student accused of making a threat against Riverton High School will be suspended or even expelled, Fremont County School District 25 superintendent Terry Snyder said Tuesday. He identified the girl as an RHS freshman but said he could not share her name or talk about the specific disciplinary actions issued. In a press release Friday, Snyder said the girl had published a "series of posts" anonymously on Instagram making fun of other people on the RHS campus. A second student, in an attempt to identify her, suggested the derogatory posts might keep her from "shooting up the school." In response, the girl responded with a message that contained "an eyewink emoji" and the date May 15. Riverton Police Department chief Eric Murphy characterized the threat as "vague at best" but said in a Friday statement that his agency was taking the situation "very seriously," with plans to station extra officers at all Riverton schools as a result of the incident. In an email sent to staff Friday after the girl had been identified, Snyder said there still will be additional police presence in the district Wednesday "as a precaution." His email indicated that the student had "confessed" to making the threat. "I am so thankful for this outcome," he wrote. "Keeping you and the kids safe is important to all of us. Former Buffalo chamber CEO sentenced BUFFALO (WNE) Former Buffalo Chamber of Commerce CEO Angela Fox was sentenced in Fourth Judicial District Court on Monday to two to five years in prison. Fox had been found guilty of three counts of felony theft in a jury trial in Buffalo in January 2019. Judge William Edelman sentenced Fox to two to five years for each count of felony theft, to run consecutively. Edelman suspended all but 90 days of the sentence. Edelman also ordered Fox to serve 10 years of supervised probation until restitution in the amount of $16,601 is paid to the chamber. At the conclusion of her sentencing hearing, Fox was taken into custody by the Johnson County Sheriff's Office to begin her 90-day sentence in the Johnson County Detention Center as a crowded courtroom looked on. Fox was found guilty of three counts of felony theft for making unauthorized personal charges on chamber credit cards. Those purchases include charges at a wedding boutique in Billings, Montana, and a ring from a jewelry store in Billings. Other charges to the chamber credit card include a $1,846 charge to the Occidental Hotel; and a $732 charge to the Roosevelt Hotel and Spa, located in New Orleans. There were also charges for two airline tickets purchased for Fox's husband, Thom Gabrukiewicz, who was not an employee of the chamber but traveled with Fox, totaling $1,041.60, according to the affidavit. Teenager killed in accident near Riverton RIVERTON (WNE) A 16-year-old Ethete girl died Saturday after being involved in a traffic incident on U.S. Highway 26 just west of Riverton. Officials confirmed the deceased was Triston Addison. Fremont County Sheriff's Office reports indicate the incident that led to her death was reported at about 3:35 a.m. Saturday on U.S. Highway 26. Fremont County Coroner's Office chief deputy coroner Erin Ivie said Addison did not die at the scene, but she would not release a time of death. There will be no autopsy on the victim's body, Ivie said. Ivie did not release a cause of death for Addison pending an investigation in conjunction with the Wyoming Highway Patrol and Bureau of Indian Affairs. Further information was unavailable Tuesday from the Wyoming Highway Patrol. The crash remains under investigation. NWC facing layoffs with budget crunch POWELL (WNE) With falling enrollments and diminishing support from the state, Northwest College is facing a crunch as it plans its fiscal year 2020 budget. As a result of the shortfall, layoffs are likely. Stefani Hicswa, NWC president, said the college wouldnt have any specifics on the reductions in force such as how many positions and which departments would be impacted until the NWC Board of Trustees meets in June to review a balanced budget. Its not entirely certain the layoffs will occur, but the discussion at Mondays board meeting suggested theyre highly probable. It really stinks, but its work we have to do, Hicswa told the board. We dont have a choice. NWC is projecting a $1.6 million cut to its operating budget for fiscal year 2020, which is an 8 percent drop from last years budget. In fiscal year 2017, the college was hit with an 11.5 percent budget reduction, which led to some reductions in personnel. A total of 19 positions were eliminated, all but four of which were cut through early retirements or leaving open positions unfilled. The bulk of the budget cuts in that year were non-personnel. Since NWC cut so much from its operating budget in fiscal year 2017, Hicswa said there arent as many non-personnel cuts to be made this time around. G&F: Elk in Bighorn Forest clear of brucellosis SHERIDAN (WNE) Elk from the Bighorn National Forest have clean bills of health from the brucellosis presence a few years ago, according to Wyoming Game and Fish Departments Tim Thomas. Each year, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department monitors the distribution and prevalence of brucellosis within the states elk population, according to a handout presented by Thomas. Approximately 10,000 blood collection kits are assembled and mailed to elk hunters successful in acquiring limited quota licenses within target surveillance areas. The program began in 1991 and throughout the program, more than 17,000 blood samples have been analyzed. A total of 1,559 elk blood samples were tested in the 2018 surveillance of the Bighorn Mountains area with 1,529 of them being suitable for testing. There were no positive tests for brucellosis in the 2018 sampling. Brucellosis is a bacterial infection that spreads from animals to people, according to the Mayo Clinic. The local Game and Fish started testing for the infection in 2011. The first time brucellosis was present in the Bighorn Mountains was in 2012, thought to be carried over through elk herds from the Big Horn Basin and greater Yellowstone area. Thomas said everyone has calmed down about the potential of the infection spreading, as it has not been detected in the last two years in the area. By PTI NEW DELHI: With each of the Indian airlines vying for a maximum share of the Jet Airways' foreign flying rights, Civil Aviation Secretary P S Kharola said Friday the ministry will create a transparent standard operating procedure (SOP) to allocate these rights on a temporary basis. "We had asked airlines to confirm their requirement of (domestic) slots and (international) traffic rights. Their requests have been officially logged in. Our people will do an analysis now and we will evolve a transparent SOP based on which the rights will be given," Kharola said. He was speaking to reporters after holding a meeting -- which was focused on the temporary allocation of foreign flying rights of Jet Airways -- Friday morning with senior executives of the Indian airlines. The airfares have risen dramatically on many international routes since Jet Airways suspended its operations on April 17. The central government, therefore, is planning to allocate Jet Airways' international flying rights to other airlines such as IndiGo, Air India, SpiceJet, GoAir and Vistara. Kharola said all airlines have made requests to get international flying rights. "Air India always gets (international flying rights) on priority, and we have given them a few routes," he added. He clarified that allocation of such rights would be temporary and subject to Jet Airways' revival. With Jet Airways out of picture, Air India remains the only airline in the country that has wide-body aircraft to operate non-stop long-haul flights to areas such as Europe and the United States. However, other Indian airlines have major international expansion plans and, therefore, each of them is trying to get maximum share of Jet Airways' foreign flying rights, a senior government official said on the condition of anonymity. The official added the Centre has already allocated 480 domestic slots -- out of 750 that were vacated due to Jet Airways' suspension of operations -- to other airlines. Generally, after negotiation between two countries, a bilateral aviation framework is signed between them that specifies the maximum number of passengers one country's airlines can fly to another per week. This weekly seat entitlement is termed as foreign flying rights. Once the bilateral aviation framework is signed, both the countries are free to allocate foreign flying rights to their respective airline companies. The Prime Minister's Office chief has hailed this week's meeting between Viktor Orban and Donald Trump as "an outstanding diplomatic achievement". At a regular press briefing, Gergely Gulyas said Hungary had balanced, good ties with all leading world powers with which economic and political cooperation was significant. Parliament is expected to approve a new bilateral defence cooperation pact with the US in the session after the European Parliament elections. He noted that Hungary was in the middle of reforming its military so that the country can join the ranks of NATO member states whose defence spending reaches 2% of GDP. Hungarys defence budget is expected to reach 1.6% of GDP next year, he said, adding that the 2% target was likely to be met by 2023. Hungary intends to buy the equipment necessary for the reform from NATO allies, he said, adding that the government was in talks with multiple member states. On the subject of US measures aimed at slashing his countrys trade deficit, Gulyas said it was good news that the EU was in 2nd place behind China in terms of the size of their trade surplus with the US. But, he added, if the US and the EU failed to reach a trade deal, US measures could hurt Hungarys economy. MTI Photo: Koszticsak Szilard The Public Development Council of Budapest proposed the demolition of the overpass which passes over Nyugati ter in Budapests Sixth District, Budapest mayor Istvan Tarlos told Kossuth Radio on Wednesday. The May 14 proposal was made because the overpass is very ugly. The proposal must be endorsed by the city council and the government, but recommendations by the development council are typically approved, he added. The plans were developed by Fomterv and the frequency of tram lines No. 4 and 6 can be maintained, Tarlos said. MTI Photo: Jaszai Csaba This video below shows an idea of how the traffic could look like after the demolition of the overpass: Sometimes we choose the way the world sees us. "This is the box my parents want for me. This is who my parents want me to be. A shining star I dont want to disappoint my parents, but this is not my box." "Black box - indestructible. Jewelry box - plain on the outside, shiny on the inside. Sometimes our box is defined by others - our parents, our friends, our enemies. A box built by others can feel small, confined, impossible." How do we handle the boxes imposed upon us because of our gender? From peer pressure? From parent pressure? Do we have to live with our box for the rest of our lives? Can we change? BBIS Drama group will present the vignette play 'Box', a play by Lindsay Price at the French Institute, Budapest before they travel to Veszprem on May 24th to perform at the 11th National English Language Drama Festival. BBIS welcome you to attend! TIckets: HUF 2000 available from BBIS front office and also on the door on the evening of the performance. Date & time: Monday, 20 May from 18:00-19:00 Venue: French Institute 1011 Budapest, Fo utca 17. Egypts Al-Azhar, the world's leading Sunni Islamic institution, condemned on Friday the terrorist attack that targeted a checkpoint on the border region between Niger and Mali, resulting in the death of 28 soldiers. Al-Azhar said in a statement that the perpetrators of such terrorist attack were "stripped of humanity and do not respect the sanctity of blood," stressing that all divine religions reject the targetting of the innocent. The statement called for the unification of international efforts to "eliminate terrorism and rid the world of its evils." Al-Azhar offered deep condolences to the people and government of Niger, wishing peace and stability to the whole world. Search Keywords: Short link: By PTI NEW DELHI: India has begun a probe into alleged dumping of digital printing plates from China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam on a complaint by a domestic manufacturer, a commerce ministry notification said. The probe is being carried out by the directorate general of trade remedies (DGTR) on an application filed by Technova Imaging Systems for the imposition of anti-dumping duty on imports of 'digital offset printing plates' from the five countries. If established that alleged dumping has caused material injury to the domestic manufacturer, the DGTR would recommend imposition of anti-dumping duty on the imports. The final call to impose the duty would be taken by the finance ministry. In a notification, DGTR said it has "sufficient evidence of dumping" of the plates from certain companies of these five countries. "The authority hereby initiates an investigation into the alleged dumping, and consequent injury to the domestic industry to determine the existence, degree and effect of alleged dumping and to recommend the amount of anti-dumping duty, which if levied, would be adequate to remove injury to the domestic industry," it said. It noted that there was sufficient evidence to show that the normal value of the plates in these countries is higher than the ex-factory export price, indicating that the product is being dumped into the Indian market by exporters of these five nations. The period of investigation covers July 2018 to March 2019. However, it would also analyse the data of the previous three years (2015-18). The product is used in the printing industry for transferring data as an image (dot patterns or text) onto paper or on tin sheets or poly films. In international trade parlance, dumping happens when a firm exports an item to other country at a rate lower than the price of that product in its domestic market. Dumping impacts the price of that product in the exporting country, hitting margins and profits of manufacturing firms. According to global trade norms, a country is allowed to impose tariffs on such dumped products to provide a level-playing field to domestic manufacturers. The duty is imposed only after a thorough investigation by a quasi-judicial body, like DGTR in India. In its probe, the directorate has to conclude whether the dumped products are impacting domestic industries. The imposition of anti-dumping duty is permissible under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) regime. The duty is aimed at ensuring fair trading practices and creating a level playing field for domestic producers vis-a-vis foreign producers and exporters. India is one of the most attractive markets for global producers due to its large middle-class population. China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam are key trading partners of India. Amanda Knox to Return to Italy for First Time Since She Was Falsely Convicted of Murdering Roommate Amanda Knox is returning to Italy. Knox, 31, will return to the country for the first time since she was convicted and imprisoned but later acquitted of the murder of her roommate, Meredith Kercher. She will be attending a conference that will be organized by Italy Innocence Project, an organization that helps people who have been convicted of crimes they did not commit. She will speak about the role of the media in criminal proceedings. Knox announced the upcoming appearance on Twitter. The Italy Innocence Project didnt yet exist when I was wrongly convicted in Perugia, she wrote. Im honored to accept their invitation to speak to the Italian people at this historic event and return to Italy for the first time. The Italy Innocence Project didn't yet exist when I was wrongly convicted in Perugia. I'm honored to accept their invitation to speak to the Italian people at this historic event and return to Italy for the first time.https://t.co/MGorAiDgKJ Amanda Knox (@amandaknox) May 7, 2019 Knox expressed a desire to return to Italy during a 2017 interview with PEOPLE. Perugia is probably the least welcome place for me in the entire world, she told PEOPLE. And thats scary. But the only way that Im going to come full circle is by physically, literally, coming full circle. Knox was an American student studying abroad in Perugia in 2007 when she was accused of brutally murdering her roommate, Meredith Kercher, who was found dead in her bedroom on November 2. It was a dramatic case that saw controversial twists for years to come. Knox and her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were both convicted for the murder of Kercher, 21, a British exchange student who lived with Knox in Perugia. Prosecutors alleged the crime had taken place during a sex game run amok, though hard evidence against the young couple was scant. Story continues Knox and Sollecito spent four years in prison before their convictions were overturned in 2011. However, the pair were convicted again in absentia in 2013 before being acquitted again in 2015. 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. Amanda Friedman Related: Amanda Knox, Four Years After Acquittal: Her Life Today I am tremendously relieved and grateful for the decision of the Supreme Court of Italy, Knox said when her conviction was definitively overturned by Italys highest court on March 27, 2015, according to the New York Times. The knowledge of my innocence has given me strength in the darkest times of this ordeal. In January 2019, the European Court of Human Rights ordered Italy to pay $20,000 in damages to Knox for failing to provide her legal assistance during her initial questioning after Kerchers murder, according to the AP. Rudy Guede, a Perugia-based bartender, is currently serving a 16-year sentence for Kerchers murder. 'Tortured For No Reason': Miniature Horse Found Shot and Dismembered in Missouri Miniature Horse Found Shot and Dismembered in Missouri Quigley, a four-year-old miniature horse, was a local favorite in the small Missouri city of Bethany. Last year, the 30-inch horse dressed up for the elementary school kids as Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer and during the homecoming parade he donned a convict costume. He had the prettiest blue eyes, Quigleys owner Steve Tharp tells PEOPLE. Everybody loved him. But on Sunday afternoon, Tharp found Quigley dead shortly after the horse didnt come to the gate for his dinner feeding. The horse had been shot through the neck and was also found missing an eye, ear and genitals and his lower abdomen was skinned. You wouldnt believe what that boy looked like, Tharp says. They knew how to skin. His ear was cut off at the base. And they cut his left eye out. Tharp says he believes Quigley was killed sometime Saturday night. Quigley | GoFundMe Whoever did this, he says, just walked right up to him. He probably thought he was going to pet him and give him a treat, he says. He was the sweetest little thing. In a message on Facebook, the Bethany Police Department said they had opened up an investigation into the horses death. A report has been created and all leads are being followed up, the post reads. The police department didnt return PEOPLEs call for comment. Tharp believes that the person who mutilated Quigley is local. A GoFundMe page called Justice for Quigley has been set up to raise funds for a reward. I just want justice for our boy, Tharp says, noting that he and his wife Lisa will not stop until they get it. People dont realize this isnt about a horse, this is our baby, he says. The things they had done to him were unreal. We dont want this to happen to other people. If they can do that to him, they are going to do it to someone else. How do we know one day it wont be a kid? Anyone with information about Quigleys death is asked to contact Bethany police at 660-425-3199. Arkansas Woman Posing as Deputy to Spring Boyfriend from Jail An Arkansas woman was sentenced to 15 years in prison for masquerading as a California police officer so she could get her boyfriend out of jail. Maxine Feldstein, 31, pleaded guilty earlier this week in Washington County Circuit Court to forgery in the second-degree, third-degree escape and second-degree misdemeanor criminal impersonation in the jail escape plot. It was very well-planned and very well-executed, Fourth Judicial District Chief deputy prosecuting attorney Mieka Hatcher tells PEOPLE. Planning and executing an escape is a serious crime. Feldsteins attorney could not be reached for comment. Authorities say Feldstein and her boyfriend Nicholas Lowe, 24, concocted the escape plan after both were arrested last July and taken to the Washington County jail. Feldstein was arrested for possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and was released the following day, according to the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Lowe was kept in jail because of a police hold out of Ventura County, California, Hatcher says. While Lowe was in jail, he allegedly told Feldstein to alert jail officials that California was having issues with overcrowding and all low-priority extraditions have been suspended, according to a police probable cause affidavit, reports KTHV. 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. Feldstein then contacted the jail claiming to be Deputy Kershaw with the Ventura County Sheriffs Office and gave a deputy a fake document which released the jail hold on Lowe, according to KTHV. Jailers learned that Feldstein was lying two days later when a real Ventura County Sheriffs deputy contacted them about when he would be picking up Lowe, KFSM reports. Once they began their investigation when they realized what happened, they reviewed phone calls and jail visits and thats when they discovered the plan, Hatcher says. Story continues The couple was arrested in Fayetteville one month after the escape. Lowe pleaded guilty to third-degree escape in January and was sentenced to one year in prison, KNWA reports. According to Hatcher, Feldstein received 10 years for the forgery conviction and five years for the escape conviction. Explaining the discrepancy of the sentences to PEOPLE, Hatcher says Feldstein was on parole after felony drug convictions. He was in custody and he simply suggested that she do this, Hatcher says. She adds, She actually did everything. She impersonated a sheriff deputy. She forged the document. He escaped because she carried out the plan. Warning: You dont have to be a genius to know that the following contains spoilers for Thursdays series finale of The Big Bang Theory. If you havent watched yet, use your head. We know it all started with a big bang. But how did The Big Bang Theory not only end but end its celebrated 12-season run in such a way that TVLine boss Michael Ausiello was moved to call the series finale immensely satisfying, consistently hilarious and, at times, refreshingly dark? Read on and find out! Related stories Big Bang Theory: Ranking the 10 Best Recurring Characters, From Professor Proton to Wil 'Wheatonnnnn!' Ratings: Survivor Finale Up Year-Over- Year, Chicago Med Hits 4-Episode High big-bang-theory-recap-series-finale-season-12-episode-24 OUR NAMES WILL BE LINKED TOGETHER FOREVER | The first episode of the two-parter, The Change Constant, began with Sheldon and Amy awaiting the phone call that would inform them whether theyd won the Nobel Peace Prize for physics for their paper on super-asymmetry. When the wait dragged on (and on) and Sheldon nodded off, Leonard and Penny fought over which of them would get to slap him to wake him up hed given permission, after all. Before Leonard could do the deed he had earned it after so many years as Sheldons roommate! Kripke called pretending he was Sweden. Smart as Sheldon was, he was fooled by his nemesis accent! Then, at last, the call came, and hurrah! The couple did win! Only Sheldons response was so unenthusiastic What if Im dreaming? that at that point Leonard went ahead and slapped him! Turned out, Sheldon wasnt as comfortable with scientific-superstar status as hed always imagined hed be. As the congratulatory texts came in from his entire family (including his brothers ex-wives), and the press started hounding him and Amy, he chafed at the sudden attention. He even ran from reporters outside their apartment building. At work, the dean prepped Raj, Howard and Leonard to refer to Sheldon and Amy merely as quirky when asked by the press. Shortly thereafter, Howard happened upon a reporter looking for Sheldon for their scheduled interview and presented himself as a viable alternative the brainiacs best friend. Meanwhile, Raj found Amy crying: She hated how frumpy she looked in a picture that she saw posted on the Internet. Why not use some of her prize money to get a makeover? Raj asked. Later, at the Wolowitzes, Bernadette asked Howard why that article on Sheldon was really all about her husband, and he suggested that the next article about Amy could be all about Bernadette if she just played her cards right. Story continues big bang theory recap series finale season 12 episode 24 THERES NO EARL GREY, YOU FILTHY LIAR | Sheldon was bemoaning to Leonard how everything was changing when Raj arrived at Leonard and Pennys place and introduced Amy 2.0 new wardrobe, new hairdo She looked amazing! And Sheldon hated it. Put it back the way it was, he cried. Amy was the one constant that he had left, and now, even she was changing! Needless to say, Amy was crushed. As Sheldon and Leonard followed her as she ran across the hall, Sheldon said that he couldt take any more change. So naturally, at that very moment, Penny emerged from the elevator holy crap! It was finally working! This is a nightmare! cried Sheldon before running down the stairs only to be met there by Penny, whod just taken the speedier elevator. He wanted to be alone but also needed a ride, so sure, Penny could drive him. The duo wound up at the Cheesecake Factory, where Sheldon admitted that everything was changing too quickly, and that was why he objected to Amys new look. In response, Penny reminded him that hed changed a lot since they first met and hed handled all that change. So she was sure that he was going to be able to handle all this, too. (Hilariously, during their talk, we got a peek at Howard and Bernadette on TV telling CNN about how Sheldon and Amy were their best friends.) Meanwhile, Leonard and Raj cheered up Amy and reassured her that she deserved to enjoy her accomplishments however she saw fit. Finally, one thing led to another, and Leonard decided that he was done accommodating Sheldons whims. In fact, he was going to move the molecular model that his former roommate had forbidden him to touch apparently with good reason: When Leonard did touch it, all the little balls fell off! As The Change Constant neared its conclusion, Penny got Sheldon to take the elevator upstairs with him. This is wild! he exclaimed when it began to move. big-bang-theory-recap-series-finale-season-12-episode-24 THIS MAY BE THE GLUE TALKING, BUT THAT WAS A VERY PLEASANT 139 HOURS | The Stockholm Syndrome began two months later with Sheldon and Leonard reassembling the molecular model as Penny and Amy came in, fresh from their fittings for their dresses for the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. Amy called it the best day of her life since the dressmaker had had to take in her dress and let out Pennys! When Amy lured Sheldon to their apartment, Leonard had to ask Penny: Did Amy suspect anything yet about their secret pregnancy? Apparently, theyd conceived after she came home tipsy from her Cheesecake Factory date with Sheldon and attacked him. At the Wolowitzes, Howard and Bernadette were wringing their hands over leaving their kids for the first time and OMG, for the first time, we actually saw Halley and Neil! Stuart and Denise would babysit while they were in Stockholm what could possibly go wrong? Of course, Howard and Bernadette werent the only characters who needed childcare: Raj did, too. Luckily, Bert agreed to watch Cinnamon while he was away. At Sheldon and Amys, the former was trying and failing to get his super-long speech down to 90 minutes. Amy had an idea: How about taking out the retaliatory references to all the people Sheldon felt had wronged him over the years? This was a time for celebration, after all as evidenced by the tiara she tried on. Later, at Leonard and Pennys, Sheldon and Amy laid down the law for their friends, intensely going over their trip itinerary and reminding the gang that once they stepped off that plane in Stockholm, theyd all be ambassadors er, for Sheldon and Amy! In other words, Penny couldnt get drunk. That was OK, she didnt like to drink on airplanes, said the notorious tippler, trying to lay the groundwork for her to reject alcohol without revealing that she was pregnant. Please, cracked Bernadette. Ive seen you drink in the shower. Cue Howard leering at the idea of them having showed together in 3, 2 (Did anyone else expect the elevator to break anew the way they stuffed it with luggage on their way to the airport?) big bang theory recap series finale season 12 episode 24 YOURE RIGHT, I CANT CATCH THAT | Though the group was flying business class, the skies seemed anything but friendly. Howard freaked about how far away he and Bernadette were from the kids and tried to freak out his wife, too. (Risky business, even thinking about upsetting Bernadette!) When Penny kept running to the bathroom to throw up, Sheldon worried that she had some kind of contagion and was going to get everyone sick. The whole trip could be ruined! When he ran panicking to Leonard, Leonard relented and admitted to his oldest friend that Penny was expecting. Whew, said Sheldon. He couldnt catch that! (Relieved, he then told Amy.) Nearby, Raj asked Howard if the woman sitting next to him with an eye mask on looked like Sarah Michelle Gellar to him. As a matter of fact, she did, Howard said (though we never got to see her full face). Off Sheldons disinterest in Pennys pregnancy, Leonard lit into his buddy. To hell with you and your Nobel Prize, Leonard finally said. At the same time, Amy questioned Penny about why she hadnt confided in her and Bernadette found out, too. In Stockholm, things went from comically bad to worse. Not only was Leonard still steamed at Sheldon, but Penny wasnt just throwing up anymore, she was having crazy cravings, too. (Pickled herring and salted cod eesh!) When Howard and Bernadette Skyped with Stuart, he tried not to let on that he probably wasnt going to win a nomination for Babysitter of the Year. Ultimately, though, he admitted that during a game of hide and seek, hed uh, lost one of the kids. Oh, and Halley had lost a tooth during a tumble down the stairs. When Howard then told Sheldon that he and Bernadette had to go back home and would miss the ceremony, his reaction was so trademark-self-absorbed that it confirmed for Howard that he had made the right call. Sheldon didnt deserve to have them there. Leonard decided that hed had enough, and he and Penny were leaving, too. big bang theory recap series finale season 12 episode 24 IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT, HE HAS BEEN KIND OF OUR PRACTICE KID | Before the ceremony, Amy tore into Sheldon for breaking their friends hearts and driving them away. And she knew he hadnt meant to do it. Thats the only reason people tolerate you! she cried. People at times including her. Meanwhile, Leonard decided that he still wanted to see Sheldon win his prize. Howard called, and he and Bernadette were staying, too. So when we got to the ceremony, the whole gang was there. So was Sarah Michelle Gellar? Yep, that was her sitting next to Raj and, despite his holding her hand, not on a date with him. After Amy encouraged girls never to give up on any dream they had of becoming a scientist, Sheldon took his turn at the dais. Moved to see his friends in the crowd, Sheldon ditched the speech that he had planned to deliver and instead made up on the spot a super-sweet, funny, heartfelt one during which he thanked his family and, one by one, all of his friends his other family. Hilariously, he also noticed as he looked down the row, Is that Buffy the Vampire Slayer? I have been encouraged, sustained, inspired and tolerated not only by my wife but by the greatest group of friends anyone ever had, said Sheldon, introducing Raj, Bernadette, astronaut Howard, and my two dearest friends in the world, Penny and Leonard. I was there the moment Leonard and Penny met, said Sheldon, recalling that Leonard had told him their kids someday would be smart and good-looking which was great since she was expecting. My family doesnt even know, Penny laughed. Before he was through, Sheldon apologized for being a jerk and told the group that in his own way, he loved them all. (Sniffle.) Finally, in the last seconds of the last episode, an acoustic version of the theme song played over the sweetest of tableaus: one last look at the gang talking and hanging out eating Chinese food in Leonard and Pennys living room. (And the last vanity card: It read simply The End.) So, do you think the series finale was a, ahem, Big success? Was it everything Ausiello promised it would be and more or less? Grade it in the poll below, then hit the comments. Launch Gallery: The Big Bang Theory Series Finale Photos Sign up for TVLine's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Brazils Grupo Globo and Sony Pictures Television have closed a milestone multi-title production-distribution alliance to co-develop and co-produce two English-language scripted dramas, with a third project forthcoming, all aimed squarely at global markets. The pioneering alliance was announced Friday at this years LA Screenings. Related stories The Mediapro Studio, Sony Pictures Television, Seal Co-Dev, Co-Pro Deal Globo Evolves Into Media Tech Company Brazil-based and SPT-backed Floresta, is set to co-produce the ambitious new drama series with Globo Studios. SPT will have global distribution rights outside of Brazil.SPT will most probably mix own distribution on Sony channels and sales to third party networks. We are blessed with some great networks and Im sure some of them will be excited by these projects, but in other territories well also be looking outside of the Sony networks, said Wayne Garvie, president international production, Sony Pictures Television. Globo plans to broadcast the dramas on its free-to-air channel in primetime and on Grupo Globos platforms. At Globo, both productions will be overseen by Monica Albuquerque, head of development, and Silvio de Abreu, head of drama. Executive production is by Florestas Elisabetta Zenatti and Globo Studios Ricardo Waddington. The partnership marks Globos and indeed Florestas entry into high-end international English-language series production. First up in productions are, appropriately, two true Brazilian stories that highlight the countrys impact on the world stage, be it through heroism or scandal. A limited historical series with, the partners promise in a statement Friday, lavish production, is The Angel of Hamburg inspired by the extraordinary life of Aracy de Carvalho, a Brazilian clerk at the Brazilian Consulate in Hamburg married to the acclaimed writer Joao Guimaraes Rosa, who secretly helped hundreds of Jews escape to Brazil during the Nazi regime in Germany. Story continues The eight one-hour episode series is written by Mario Teixeira (Crashing into the Future, Lady Revolution) and Rachel Anthony (Ransom, Mistresses),who will fine-tune the writing for the Anglo-American market, Albuquerque said. The Angel of Hamburg will be directed by Jayme Monjardim (The Clone2) will direct. It will feature an international cast including Brazilian talents, said Abreu. The Angel of Hamburg is a powerful real life story, full of action and heroism, about a great love born amid the horrors and misery of the Third Reich,Abreu said. He added: The story sheds light on the bravery of a Brazilian woman who disobeyed orders of her own government and risked her own life to help hundreds of Jews from ending up in concentration camps. Rio Connection tells the real-life story of European gangsters who established Brazil as the single most important organized crime hub for trafficking heroin into the U.S. in the 1970s. The ongoing collaboration between Sony and Globo to create premium English-language series from Brazil, a real first for both of us, has been a terrific meeting of creative minds, and we look forward to the production phase later this year, said Garvie, calling the two series the latest examples of our commitment to tell compelling, locally relevant stories that have universal appeal and can resonate with audiences around the world. The production of The Angel of Hamburg and Rio Connection is one more step Globo has taken in its pursuit of becoming an international player in the production of high-end drama and short-format content. We believe in the universal appeal of these stories and in the power they have to move audiences on a global scale, added Globo CEO Carlos Henrique Schroeder. Besides our national talents, Globo Studios offers a robust production structure, with innovative infrastructure and investments in technology, which enable us to turn ideas ours and those of our partners into high quality reality, he added. Co-productions allow partners to achieve a scale in production to compete with global rivals. In the case of Globo, the Sony deal is about much more, however. It is also understood that Globo is in talks to broach production partnership with other partners. This is a very important partnership which will bring us enormous learning opportunities and, without a doubt, will not be the last one, Schroeder said. The deal rolls off a thoroughgoing overhaul of Globos development proceses. That includes, under Albuquerque, the creation of two Screenwriters Houses, eight lines of series development and in-house training for writers in the art of creating returning series. All the initiatives to review our processes and place artistic development center stage to the creative process have this objective: To lead us down new paths, identify the best projects and work with potentially great ideas and talents that are capable of appealing to people irrespective of where they are, Albuquerque commented. The deal is also an important development for Sony as well. The Angel of Hamburg is certainly one of our biggest productions in Latin America, and its certainly the biggest co-production we have undertaken in Brazil, Garvie commented. Thats why this feels like an important milestone for the development of our Brazilian production company, Floresta. Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. N.C. Woman Shot to Death by Stranger Says Friend of the Victim On Tuesday afternoon, emergency dispatchers in Rowan County, North Carolina, received a call from a driver who was headed to the hospital because his friend had been shot multiple times in the car. The victim, Mya Miller, 19, who has a 10-month-old son, was subsequently pronounced dead at the Novant Rowan Medical Center in Salisbury, North Carolina, according to a press release issued by the Salisbury Police Department. The driver, Leroy Truesdale, told local news station WSOC that they were at a stop light when a car allegedly driven by Jeffrey Hooker Jr. pulled up beside them. [He] waved and she waved back and we didnt think much of it, Truesdale said. She didnt know him. Neither one of us did. Ive never seen this man a day in my life. A few blocks later, Hooker allegedly got out of his car, walked up to Millers window and began shooting before driving off, Truesdale said. At about 9:15 p.m., dispatchers received several 911 calls about a separate shooting where witnesses described a man shooting into a vehicle and home, according to the press release. Officers were in the area and quickly spotted a vehicle that matched the suspects vehicle from the homicide and conducted a traffic stop and took Jeffrey Wayne Hooker Jr, age 32 of Salisbury, into custody for shooting into an occupied vehicle, the press release stated. Hooker was eventually charged with murder and a second count of shooting into an occupied vehicle. He is currently being held in Rowan County Jail without bond. It wasnt immediately clear if he has entered a plea or retained an attorney who could comment on his behalf. 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. Truesdale and members of her family are wondering why a stranger would want to kill Miller, leaving her son without his mother. Every time Id see her, it was her and her son and they were always so happy and loving, Truesdale told the local station. She was always there for me. She was there for a lot of people. She didnt bother anybody. Story continues The news station reports that investigators are still trying to determine a motive. PEOPLEs call to the police department was not immediately returned. A GoFundMe page has been launched to help the family with funeral expenses. Anyone with information is asked to call the Salisbury-Rowan Crime Stopper Hotline at 1-866-639-5245. Photo credit: Boston Globe - Getty Images From Esquire (Permanent Musical Accompaniment To The Last Post Of The Week From The Blog's Favourite Living Canadian) There are days on which I think that every Democratic political consultant should be placed on a slow-moving, fast-melting ice floe and shoved off in the general direction of Greenland. In a week in which the issue of women's rights ignited like it hasn't ignited in decades, we get this morass of piffle in the Washington Examiner. Also, for god's sake, don't listen to academics, either. Women presidential candidates face double pressures, according to Louisiana State University political communication assistant professor Nichole Bauer. First, they risk being perceived as not forceful enough to become the next occupant of the Oval Office. Secondly, they cannot be considered too aggressive out of fear of alienating voters. "They have to fit into this image of what being a president looks like," Bauer said. "They have to seem to be the cookie baker in chief and the commander in chief at the same time," she added, referring in part to the famous comment Hillary Clinton made about baked goods as Bill Clinton campaigned for the White House in 1992. "I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas," she said. Jesus H. Christ on a Hibachi, that quote is 27 goddamn years old. I know that Hillary Rodham Clinton is the super-villain of the past few decades, but can't we let her up on that one at least? The quotes from the consultants are even worse, and one of them is a longtime friend of mine. With an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll in February finding 84% of Americans were comfortable with a woman becoming the party's pick to take on President Trump next year, Boston-based Democratic strategist Mary Ann Marsh objected to the idea that their efforts to appear more feminine were retro or submissive."I think that media perception or characterization is demeaning, patronizing, and misogynistic," Marsh said. "Women have to be many things every day. They don't have one job, they have multiple jobs. If you ask, most kids in America would say their mother fed them last night. That's not the 1950s. That's 2019." But San Francisco-based Democratic strategist Donnie Fowler, who was mindful of not "mansplaining," said the political reality was every contender has to compete in the electorate he or she has rather than the one they ideally want. Story continues "Yes, there still is gender bias among Democrats and the record number of women candidates running for the nomination must overcome that in their own way - but authentically, absolutely uncontrived and completely true to who they are," Fowler said. "The question is whether the politicians are the most important part of rectifying that or whether it's up to the voters themselves." Here's a tip for the more devout members of the Church of the Savvy (h/t Jay Rosen): how about not cooperating with pieces like this? Someone from the Washington Examiner calls and says, "Hey, what's going on with the dames in aprons running for president?" And you reply, "I'm sorry. I don't respond to telephone solicitations. Peddle your fish down the block." It won't win me a seat at the National Press Club bar, but that's what I'd do. Or blow an air-horn into the phone. Photo credit: MANDEL NGAN - Getty Images Oh, look. Missouri has joined the parade. And here's a picture of two happy men. From NBC News: "Until the day that we no longer have abortions in this country, I will never waiver in the fight for life," Parson said during a rally Wednesday. Good for you, man. The new law comes with the usual ration of political chickenshit. Under the bill, which passed in the House by 110 to 44, doctors who perform an abortion after the eight-week cutoff could face five to 15 years in prison. Women who receive abortions would not be criminally penalized. The new law also comes with the usual ration of brainless misogyny. From CNN: "Most of my rapes were not the gentlemen jumping out of the bushes that nobody had ever met. That was one or two times out of one hundred. Most of them were date rapes or consensual rapes, which were all terrible, but I sat in court - sat in court - when juries would struggle with those types of situations where it was a 'he-said she-said,' and they would find the person not guilty. Unfortunately, if it really happened, but I had no control over that, because it was a judge or a jury making those decisions. But we'll just say someone is sexually assaulted. They have eight weeks to make a decision." (The gentleman later gave the Kansas City Star a clarification that was on the right side of plausible, but it doesn't make the rest of what he said any less horrible.) That loud, grinding noise you hear is the sound of the gender gap expanding again. Photo credit: Christian Gooden - AP So far, Bill DeBlasio has brought one thing to the 2020 presidential campaign-good, old-fashioned New York contempt for the Manhattan grifter in the White House. I don't think he should be running, but sneering at El Caudillo del Mar-a-Lago in an idiom he can understand brings something to the race that none of the other candidates can, and probably gets so far up the latter's nose that it can clear his sinuses. Meanwhile, this comment by Pete Buttigieg about the Alabama abomination seems to me to be intolerably mild. To see in Alabama that if someone is raped and she seeks an abortion, the doctor who treats her will be penalized with a longer prison term than her rapist makes me question whether the discussion about freedom in this country has gone off the rails." I admit. Thus far, I have proven immune to Mayor Pete's charms. And when I line up the questions prompted in my mind by the Alabama law, the question about freedom in this country and where it is with regard to the rails is way down the list behind, "Who are these gomers?" and "Why in hell did we fight the Civil War?" Photo credit: Scott Olson - Getty Images CNN found a woman who experienced the president*'s deal-making art first-hand. Sapol said that a woman selling condos at the resort met with her and showed her brochures of what the resort would look like - and they came complete with an endorsement from Trump himself that guaranteed people would have the time of their lives at his new resort. Whatever Donald Trump touches turns fantastically gold, Sapol said in explaining her reason for buying the condo. But the resort was never built and Sapol lost all the money she invested. On the site of where the hotel was supposed to be constructed is a giant hole in the ground - and nothing more. America 2021. Coming soon to a country near you. Weekly WWOZ Pick To Click: "That's A Plenty" (Nellie Lutcher): Yeah, I pretty much still love New Orleans. Weekly Visit To The Pathe Archives: Here's the latest in early 20th-century mail-sorting technology. Why is the post office in an open field? Don't ask silly questions. History is so cool. Is it a good day for dinosaur news, Phys.org? It's always a good day for dinosaur news! "Looking at the bones of the foot, it was clear that Rhoetosaurus walked with an elevated heel, raising the question: how was its foot able to support the immense mass of this animal, up to 40 tonnes?" Mr Jannel said. "Our research suggests that even though Rhoetosaurus stood on its tiptoes, the heel was cushioned by fleshy pad." "We see a similar thing in elephant feet, but this dinosaur was at least five times as heavy as an elephant, so the forces involved are much greater." Put on your high-heeled dinos, and your wig-hat on your head! They lived-and walked-then to make us happy now. The Committee had a hunch that the idea of this administration*'s forcing someone to take a citizenship test was enough of an assault on irony that Top Commenters would jump all over it. Top Commenter Fran Fried did not disappoint. I wish more media critters would pay attention to the loathsome creature behind the curtain. Miller is what would happen if Squidward and Roy Cohn had a hate child. There is no denying this. Well-played, Top Commenter. Here are some genetically engineered Beckhams, 77.11 in total. I'll be back on Monday to begin another week of sifting the rubble. Be well and play nice, ya bastids. Stay above the snake-line, and try not to wear an apron for photos. Respond to this post on the Esquire Politics Facebook page here. ('You Might Also Like',) Photo credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI - Getty Images From Esquire Joe Biden kicked up a fuss the other day by saying something...un-smart. (Ex-tree! Ex-tree! Read allaboutit!) He suggested that the current president* is a historical one-off and that, once we are rid of him and have fumigated the White House thoroughly, the normal routine of governing the country will resume and everybody can have drinks with each other at the end of the day. If there is one issue that desperately needs litigating in the Democratic Party's primary process it is this: Resolved: this presidency* is the logical outcome of 40 years of modern conservatism and its effect on the Republican Party. If it wasn't this guy, it would've been somebody else. It is pointless for any Democratic candidate to run for any office without acknowledging this fact. We've been banging this tin drum around the shebeen here since it opened, but not enough people have embraced the truth of it. (An aside: I really like some of my Never Trump brethren, but they should go back to their own party and clean out the stables. During an election year, and especially during the Democratic primaries, as far as I'm concerned, they all can take a seat.) The problem is the party, and what it's become. Photo credit: Dirck Halstead - Getty Images The party is the problem, because of what it's become-a vehicle for bigotry, religious fanaticism, rigged elections, retrograde social policies, renegade plutocracy, staggering wealth inequality, scientific ignorance, reflexive stupidity, violent populism, white supremacy, and a view of the American electorate that is all switch and no bait. (Did I miss anything?) Three times since 1981, the Republicans have produced a president who basically embodied all of these things, just to varying degrees. Ronald Reagan played fast and loose with the truth; is that business about trees causing air pollution really any nuttier than whatever it was that El Caudillo del Mar-a-Lago tweeted at 5 a.m. this morning? George W. Bush launched a war on false pretenses and made this a nation that tortures people and is proud of it. Is that any better than what's going on at the border now? The question isn't how the Republicans produced this particular disaster of a president*. The question is what took them so long. Story continues And it is a root and branch thing, too. The federal judiciary is salted thick now with judges who will reinforce in the law all that is destructive in conservative politics. That Alabama state legislature that passed that horrific assault on women's rights? You watch. At least two of those cats will be in Congress within the next decade. These people and these policies have something close to an unbreakable lock on the United States Senate. And there is no sign within the Republican power elite that anyone is willing or able to control what the party has become. There's no Frankenstein, hauling his ass over the polar ice to chase down the monster that has escaped the lab. Photo credit: STEPHEN JAFFE - Getty Images The only possible way to change the Republican Party is to force it to answer for itself, over and over again. One of the biggest mistakes ever made in American politics, as the redoubtable Driftglass reminds us almost daily, was the Democratic Party's blunder in letting the Republican Party off the hook for the various catastrophes wrought by the administration of C-Plus Augustus. Iraq, Katrina, and the Economic Collapse should have been hung around Republican necks in the same way, and for the same reasons, that Democratic politicians had to talk for 20 years about the mannequin the Republicans made out of George McGovern, whom Bobby Kennedy once called the most decent man in the Senate. This cannot be allowed to happen again. If a Democrat is elected in 2020, that person should use all the powers of the office to demonstrate once and for all that the prion disease afflicting the Republicans now has reached terminal stage and that the GOP is a mad dog, snapping at phantoms in midair, and endangering the public health and welfare. Mitch McConnell should be made an object of anger and ridicule, and that work should come from the top. The mad dog is at the door. Respond to this post on the Esquire Politics Facebook page here. ('You Might Also Like',) You can wait around and hope for a bigger, badder burst of action fireworks than John Wick: Chapter 3 Parabellum, but youd be kidding yourself. Wick 3, starring Keanu Reeves in the role he was born to play, hits you so hard in the thrill zone that instead of feeling exhausted when director Chad Stahelski calls a halt at 130 minutes, youre panting for Chapter 4. Parabellum, by the way, is Latin for prepare for war. As if any fan is prepped for less. Number three picks up right where the previous movie left off: Wick is still the hit man no one will let retire. Fate keeps pulling him back in. In his 2014 origin story, the retired killer-for-hire was infuriated because the bad guys stole his prized 1969 Mustang and then killed his puppy. In the 2017 sequel, the antihero had acquired a new pet and new enemies at the High Table, a society of the criminal elite. But Wick broke the rules. Not the dress code even in furious battle, Wick is always elegantly attired in a dark suit and tie. But he did the unforgivable by slaying a man at the Continental, a chic Manhattan hotel for the creme de la creme of assassins run by Winston (Ian McShane, dispensing martini-dry wit), who strictly enforces the rule that there will be no business conducted at the Continental. Ever. For breaking that ordinance, Wick is now excommunicado, with a $14 million price on his head. Every killer-for-hire, skilled and amateur, is out to take him down. Theres one on every corner kind of like Starbucks. Related stories The Tao of Keanu Reeves, From 'Whoa!' to 'John Wick' Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter Detail New 'Bill and Ted' Movie Hows that for a plot starter? Its a headscratcher that it took four writers to concoct the mostly dialogue-free exchanges. No matter. Its the bristling beauty of the fight sequences that electrify the series, with cinematographer Dan Laustsen and editor Evan Schiff performing well beyond the call of duty. Cue a gun-fu battle at the New York Public Library that belongs in the time capsule for all-time great cinematic death matches. High praise to Reeves, who trained in judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and to Stahelski, who worked as a stunt double for Reeves on The Matrix films and stages the stunts with a choreographic skill unseen since the glory days of John Woo. Story continues Speaking of ballet, Anjelica Huston shows up as a dance mistress with eyes that flash like threats and a reluctance to help this fugitive escape his fate. But when Wick flashes the marker she gave him You are bound and I am owed she spirits him off to Morocco. Enter Halle Berry as Sofia, not for the romance you might expect being that theyre in Casablanca, but to fulfill another favor. Years ago, Wick had rescued Sofias daughter from a fate worse than well, you get the drift. She seems indifferent to his fate until the bad guys attempt to kill her German shepherds. Of course the pet haters must die. No animal shelter anywhere offers more love and protection to dogs than the Wick series. Why are so many of Johns friends reluctant to help him? Because the High Table will exact vicious revenge on anyone who lifts a finger to advance his cause. Even Laurence Fishburne Morpheus to Reeves Neo cant use his power as king of the Bowery bums to assist. The watchdog on Wicks case, a.k.a. the Adjudicator, is played by Asia Kate Dillon Taylor Mason on Billions and the nonbinary actor brings just the right blend of mirth and menace to the role. The main action kicks in when Wick returns to New York and attempts to clear his name. The Adjudicator is having none of it, bringing on a sushi chef named Zero (Mark Dacascos, superb at winking insolence) to carve Wick to pieces with the help of two sous-chefs (Cecep Arif Rahman and Yayan Ruhian). Fists, knives, guns and anything handy are the weapons of choice as they pursue Wick from Grand Central Station (watch out, kids!) to the glass offices at the Continental. Just when you think youve seen it all, Reeves and Stahelski pull out all the stops. Yes, the ending is a shameless cliffhanger. It doesnt matter. The wow factor in Parabellum is off the charts. Sign up for Rolling Stones Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Kim Khloe Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian are taking Turks and Caicos even better than they took Miami. The KUWTK stars shared a throwback pic from their recent family trip to the Bahamas and spent some extra time recreating a pose from their 2009 spin-off series, Kourtney & Khloe Take Miami. Its been 10 years but KoKo, 34, and Kourt, 40, look even better now. The fit sisters are both clearly comfortable in their own skin, showing off their bikini bodies wearing revealing two pieces. Theyre Sisters Not Saints, Kourt captioned the shot. Kourtney Kardashian photos Khloe looks fantastic, showing all that hard work has paid off. The Revenge Body star flaunted her curves in a cheetah-print and chunky gold jewels, while Kourtney glowed in a metallic lilac string set. Its hard to believe its been a decade since the sisters ran the streets in the Sunshine State, but you wouldnt know it by their recent snap. And were not the only ones who think Khloe and Kourtney are killing the IG game with this pic because Hollywoods A-list is filling up their comments. Bella Hadid wrote Amazing, Emma Ratajkowski simply used the heart eyes emojis, and good friend La La Anthony commented, Well damn! Kourtney Kardashian photos The post Khloe & Kourtney Kardashian Recreate Iconic Bikini Shot, Look Even Hotter Now appeared first on The Blast. By Express News Service BENGALURU: Coconut shells and discarded teacups have turned into breeding grounds for dengue mosquitoes in the city, said Dr Sherif, state research officer, National Vector Borne Disease Control programme. He was speaking at the National Dengue Day programme organised by the state Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, at Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI) in KR Road. Speaking on the dismal state of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), he said the citys 135 wards make for 26 per cent of the states dengue cases. ASHA workers visit houses twice a month in order to control the breeding of dengue mosquito in residential areas, he said. He spoke about the massive reduction in the number of cases in the past two years and the general publics involvement in awareness programmes and jathas. RT Features has pulled off quite a feat. The producer of Call Me By Your Name and The Witch has three films debuting in Cannes Film Festivals official selection, a nearly unheard-of accomplishment. Its a dream, said Rodrigo Teixeira, the production companys founder. We shot three films last year and all three films are premiering in Cannes. Related stories Bob Dylan's 'Blood on the Tracks' Album Getting Movie Treatment Martin Scorsese's Sikelia Prods., RT Features Join Forces on 'Port Authority,' 'Murina' (EXCLUSIVE) The movies in question include Danielle Lessovitzs Port Authority, a story of sexual identity set in New Yorks ballroom scene; Karim Ainouzs The Invisible Life Of Euridice Gusmao, a drama about two sisters that spans three decades; and Robert Eggers The Lighthouse, a black-and-white horror film starring Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe. Thats not the only way that Teixeira made a splash at this years festival. He also announced plans to make James Grays Armageddon Time, a coming-of-age drama that will feature Donald and Fred Trump as characters. Gray and Teixeira are wrapping up work on a film that may be the biggest project yet for RT Features, Ad Astra, a science-fiction story with Brad Pitt as a solar-system traveling engineer. The film is a departure for Gray who tends to tell stories such as We Own the Night and The Immigrant that are grounded in reality. James found his space in the genre, said Teixeira. His space is more in the Kubrick world than the George Lucas world. I think he made something great. Founded in 2005 and based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, RT Features has carved out a niche by making or financing movies such as Ira Sachs Love is Strange or Noah Baumbachs Mistress America that hail from top auteurs and have a bespoke quality. They arent the kind of movies that are being made by major studios, which prefer to finance superhero flicks. But though they span a range of genres, from hilarious comedies to slices of social realism, Teixeira thinks they have a connective tissue. Story continues Its a difficult time, he said. Films need to talk about some political aspect or social aspect. If you dont have that the film is going to lose importance and it wont stand out from the blockbusters. At Cannes, Teixeiras calendar is filled with premieres and meetings, but not even the glitziest red carpet or splashiest party could pull him away from the Game of Thrones finale next Sunday. He got a French friend to buy a French iPad and set him up with an account so he can find out what goes down in Westeros. Im not going to miss it, said Teixeira. If I read spoilers, Id go crazy. Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Missing W. Va. Girl, 15, Is Found Dead as Moms Boyfriend Is Charged: 'She Was a Sweetheart' Mother's Boyfriend Charged in W. Va. Teen's Murder The body of a West Virginia teen whod been missing for more than a week was found on a steep cliff near the top of a mountain Thursday night, and police allege her moms boyfriend killed her. On Thursday, Andy McCauley, 41, of Berkeley Springs, was charged with the murder of Riley Crossman, 15, also of Berkeley Springs, Morgan County Sheriff K.C. Bohrer announced at a press conference Thursday. McCauley had been a suspect since day one, Bohrer said, local station WHSV reports. McCauley has not yet entered a plea and remains held at the Morgan County Jail. It is unclear if he has retained an attorney who can speak on his behalf. Police have not yet discussed a possible motive or disclosed the details surrounding Rileys death. On May 8, her mother reported her daughter missing when she failed to show up at Berkeley Springs High School, the sheriff said in a release. Andy McCauley, 41 It's been almost a week since Morgan County teen Riley Crossman was first reported missing. There will be a coordinated search effort on Wednesday, May 15 at 9 a.m. https://t.co/c2VAWDxSVU WDVM-TV (@WDVMTV) May 13, 2019 Police launched a massive search as federal, state and local law enforcement agencies from surrounding towns and an army of volunteers helped them look for Riley in vacant buildings, abandoned vehicles, the woods and bodies of water, the release says. On Thursday morning, after a large search, her body was found positioned over an embankment in a rural mountain road section of Tuscarora Pike near the mountain top, Bohrer said, West Virginia Metro News reports. Riley Crossman, 15 | Riley Crossman/Facebook The West Virginia Medical Examiners Office will conduct an autopsy on Friday to positively identify the body, confirm the cause of death and to determine how long the body had been on the cliff, local station WHSV reports. Story continues Hours after Rileys remains were found, state police took McCauley into custody in Martinsburg, West Virginia Metro News reports. Bohrer said at the press conference that before his arrest, McCauley had been under surveillance at his job site. 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. On Thursday night, a prayer vigil was held in Rileys memory at Berkeley Springs State Park. She was able to love, show compassion to kids, that I wish all students could do at her age when I had her in sixth grade, her former teacher, Josh Rider, who is a pastor, said, the Herald-Media reports. Rileys friends and classmates spoke about how much she meant to them. She was a sweetheart to me, her friend, Elizabeth Tasker, told the Herald-Media. She always had a way to put a smile on my face. I could tell her anything and she kept it between us. Photo credit: Zach Gibson - Getty Images From Esquire As John Mitchell, realizing that he was busted, once said to Carl Bernstein: "Good god." From CNBC, via the Washington Post: Nadler, who would preside over impeachment proceedings in the House, also expressed frustration with Attorney General William P. Barr during the interview with CNBC, at one point calling him just a liar and alleging that Barr mischaracterized the special counsels findings on coordination between Russia and Trumps campaign during the 2016 election. Nadler, whose committee is planning hearings with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III and key witnesses in his investigation, was asked by CNBCs John Harwood about the timing of any potential impeachment proceedings that might follow. Some Democrats have argued that Trump obstructed Muellers probe and should be held accountable. It depends on what comes out, Nadler said. It depends where the American people are, whether they want to go that way or not. I dont want to make it sound as if were heading for impeachment. Probably were not. After Harwood noted that hes heard from other House Democrats who think impeachment proceedings will be launched eventually, Nadler said: Maybe. Its hard. I dont know. Will the Democrats ever learn a) how to message and b) that the press, no matter what conservatives say, is not their friend? Photo credit: Drew Angerer - Getty Images Right now, the Republicans are moving implacably on all fronts to discredit any official account of both how the Russian ratfcking helped the president* win and also to discredit (and stop) any further investigation into how big a crook the Russians helped install in the White House. The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee is advising the president*'s son to ignore congressional subpoenas and, just yesterday, in federal court, the president*'s lawyers essentially argued that Congress has no right to investigate the president* over anything. And this is the kind of dithering we get from the guy who chairs the only committee that can bring impeachment charges against a criminal presidency*? To hell with knives and gunfights. This is bringing a pea-shooter to Omaha Beach. Story continues I think Nadler is a decent chairman. I don't think he has any illusion about the ferocity of the forces arrayed against him. But, dammit, he holds the majority on the House Judiciary Committee and there is power in that. Spectacularly, it gets worse. Nadler said that in his view, Trump can be impeached for only two things: misuse of presidential power while president or for cheating in the election that gave him the presidency. Other than that, if he did something terrible before he was president, he robbed the bank, thats not impeachable, Nadler said. Its a crime, but its not impeachable. Nadler also said he considers Trump a con man but argued that that is not grounds for impeachment either. He is thoroughly dishonest. He lies all the time. We know that. None of those are grounds for impeachment, Nadler said. Theyre grounds for defeating him for reelection. So, technically, if the country had elected Whitey Bulger instead of George H.W. Bush in 1988, Whitey's career as a serial-killing gangster would not have been grounds for impeachment unless he strangled someone in the East Room after having been inaugurated? Also, if the president* did cheat in the election in order to win it, and the House impeached him for it, it would be impeaching him because "he did something terrible before he was president." Nadler's argument doesn't even make sense, and that's in addition to the fact that he narrowed the grounds on which he might wield his considerable clout unnecessarily and voluntarily. For the first time, I find myself siding with those people who believe that, ultimately, the House will chicken out of its constitutional duty and, because of that, I find myself siding with people who believe that the president*'s re-election chances are better than anyone thinks. Respond to this post on the Esquire Politics Facebook page here. ('You Might Also Like',) Offset was reportedly present at an Atlanta studio during a drive-by shooting earlier this week. According to TMZ, the Migos rapper, 27, was at the recording studio when the shooting took place on Wednesday evening. Citing law enforcement sources, the outlet reported that Offset was gone by the time police responded to the shooting, and that the police have not spoken to him yet as they continue their investigation. TMZ went on to report that the shooting took place shortly after Offset had gone outside for a few minutes. A rep for Offset did not immediately respond to PEOPLEs request for comment. RELATED: Offset Gushes Over Wife Cardi Bs Feathered, Maroon Met Gala Gown: WOW! Although the Atlanta Police Department did not confirm to PEOPLE whether Offset was present during the shooting, they did confirm that police responded to a call of shots fired on Wednesday around 9:05 p.m. Upon arrival, officers spoke with the reporting party, who advised that while he and others were at the location, occupants of a dark SUV started to shoot towards the building, the police statement reads. The shooting resulted in damage to three vehicles, the building and the window of an apartment in the area, the statement continues. It was initially reported that someone was shot in the leg, but officers were unable to locate a gunshot victim. The shooting is currently under investigation. RELATED VIDEO: Offset on Botched Public Apology to Wife Cardi B Last Year: Thats Just Me Being Vulnerable The shooting took place over two weeks after a warrant for Offsets arrest was reportedly issued in Georgia. According to WSB-TV and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, police in the town of Sandy Springs issued a warrant for criminal damage to property after the Migos rapper allegedly smacked a cell phone out of a mans hand at a local Target store during an incident that took place on Monday, April 22. Story continues Kiari Cephus is being exploited by a type of person looking for his 15 minutes of fame and eventual payday. This incident, which took place when he was trying to buy items for his youngest child, was not reported to the police for four days, Offsets attorney Drew Findling told PEOPLE exclusively. This so-called victim took to social media for an extended 15 minutes of fame. There has been no investigation, and nothing has been shown to indicate Mr. Cephus is the cause of any damage to this persons property. This felony warrant is disgraceful and this case should be dismissed. The 18-year-old man, identified as Richard Andrew Junior Gibbons, had apparently taken his phone out to take a video with Offset a move that didnt sit well with the 27-year-old emcee. Gibbons later told TMZ that Offset told him to get that fin phone out of my face. In footage obtained by WSB-TV reporter Mike Petchenik, Offset can be seen knocking the device out of Gibbonss hand. Sandy Springs police declined PEOPLEs request for comment. Offset appeared to respond to the news via Twitter, writing in a since-deleted note: HARDEST THING I EVER DONE WAS BEING A BLACK MEN (TARGET) AND A RAPPER (TARGET) s is crazy !!! EXCLUSIVE: Ricardo Darin-starrer An Unexpected Love is one of a handful of films going global for Argentine outfit FilmSharks. Guido Ruds label has sold remake rights for Juan Veras film to Recifilm for France and BTF for Mexico. The film has to date been sold to more than 45 countries by sales outfit and remake rights specialist FilmSharks. A Chinese theatrical deal is said to be in advanced discussions. Mercedes Moran (El Angel) stars opposite Argentine superstar Darin (The Secret In Their Eyes) in the rom-com about a marriage tested by their son leaving home. The film opened last years San Sebastian Film Festival. Related stories Ricardo Darin-Marcedes Moran Rom-Com 'An Unexpected Love' Sells To HBO Latino For U.S. Pay TV -- EFM FilmSharks has also struck remake deals on swinger comedy 2+2 , which is from the same writer duo as An Unexpected Love. Pacts have been signed with Pirueta Films for Spain, BTF for Mexico, and with Brazilian producer-distributor Paris Entretenimento, owned by Paris Filmes. A U.S. remake is also said to be in discussions. Director Diego Kaplans film is about a couple of swingers who try to convince their best friends to join their fun. Meanwhile, hit Spanish comedy Lord Give Me Patience from 2017 has secured a remake deal with Brazils Clube Filmes. In the Alvaro Diaz Lorenzo-directed comedy, an ultraconservative family father must spend a weekend with his dysfunctional children for the burial of his wife. In a separate deal, FilmSharks has also taken all remake rights to successful Spanish thriller The Aura (El Aura) by Fabian Bielinsky (Nine Queens). Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. A cafeteria worker at Mascoma Valley Regional High School in New Hampshire was rehired over a month after she was terminated for letting a child at school get $8 worth of food for free. Employee Bonnie Kimball told CNN that she has known the boys parents since she was a child, and as expected, he later brought in what he owed. But according to the news outlet, Kimball was fired by Cafe Services, the food services company for which she worked, a week later on April 4. Kimball said the district manager said to her, Do you understand what you did was wrong? That was theft. On Friday, Fresh Picks, the school division of Cafe Services, told PEOPLE in a statement that they had a recent situation where an employee violated school and company policy in dealing with our food service and our district manager made a decision he felt was right at the time. But after consulting with the school district about the current policies for handling transactions with students, we are going to offer to rehire our recently terminated employee and provide her back pay and we will work with the school district to revise policies and procedures regarding transactions, the company added. We will then work with our manager on those policies. Kimball did not immediately return PEOPLEs request for comment. RELATED: School Reverses Policy Giving Sandwiches Instead of Hot Lunch to Students with Debt After Backlash Her termination letter which was provided to CNN allegedly says that on March 28, a District Manager was on-site and witnessed a student coming through the line with multiple food items that you did not charge him for. This [is] in strict violation of our Cash Handling Procedures, the Schools Charge Policy and Federal Regulation governing free meals. Your final has been processed and disbursed to you. Kimball told The Valley News that for five years she drove to the school from her home in Canaan Village. Story continues We didnt even call it work, she told the newspaper last month. We got up in the morning, we took care of our families and we went to take care of the kids. Speaking about the day she rang up the student, Kimball said he didnt have any money on his account. So, I have a district manager here, my boss has told me, Dont cause any scenes with the contract, and I quietly said, Tell [your] mom you need money,' she told The Valley News. After the student said, Okay, will do, he went to eat and the manager asked Kimball what the student had on his plate, she claimed. According to the newspaper, people in the community have since stepped up to support her, including two fellow workers who quit in protest. These guys really took care of our kids. They put our kids first and their focus was really our kids, Christina Moodie, whose son attends the high school, told The Valley News. I know Bonnie went above and beyond for the kids. Prior to being rehired, Kimball told the newspaper she was struggling with being let go. Im just dealing with so much right now: the public, paperwork. One minute Im mad, and the next minute, I just want to forget it all happened, she said. I guess Im mourning my job. Prince Harry Duke of Sussex and Meghan Meghan Markle and Prince Harrys royal baby is less than two weeks old, and now his birth certificate has finally been revealed. The Duchess and Duke of Sussex welcomed their son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, on May 6. According to the birth certificate, Markle, whose occupation is listed as Princess of the United Kingdom, gave birth at Portland Hospital in London. The document also lists the former actress as Rachel Meghan Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex. Twitter / @AnnaWhitelock As The Blast reported, Archie weighed 7lbs 3oz and made his debut to the public just two days later. This is the first child for the couple, who will be celebrating their one-year wedding anniversary this weekend. Baby Archie is now 7th in line for the throne, just behind his daddy. The post See Baby Archies Royal Birth Certificate! appeared first on The Blast. IndieWireFallTV Its about time that two-time supporting actor Oscar winner Mahershala Ali (Green Book and Moonlight) got a lead role, and his troubled Arkansas cop, Wayne Hays, was a game-changer for Season 3s True Detective on HBO. The fact that Ali got to play Hays at three different stages of his life: his thirties, forties, and seventies, made it a more remarkable achievement as we got to witness the personal impact of the macabre murder mystery. The three faces of Hays became a study in hope, futility, and dementia as he is consumed by the case. And the masterful makeup and hair work aided in Alis powerful performance. Related stories Mahershala Ali Convinced 'True Detective' Creator to Make Season 3 Lead a Black Man 'True Detective': Directing Helped Nic Pizzolatto Stop Micromanaging and See the Bigger Picture Beginning with his grandfather as a point of reference, Ali collaborated with makeup artists Debi Young and Mike Marino and hairstylist Lawrence Davis to create a unified look that suited him best. He asked me to come do this project with him and we talked early on about the aging makeup, said Young. I told him I didnt want it to look over-aged. The great thing is he had his grandfather and we spent a lot of time with his photographs to use as a model. In particular, when he was in this dementia stage, they wanted to show the problems in his marriage and being worried about the caseand that kind of breakdown of yourself when going through that kind of illness. Young wanted to keep the youthfulness in the actors skin, and applied grapeseed oil as a moisturizer. They decided that Hays, a Vietnam vet who was an expert tracker, didnt age much between his thirties and forties (in the 80s and 90s). I saw him as a free spirit before the case, Young said, but then we saw the stress on his face, so I did subtle highlights and shadows. Then, for the 1990s makeup, I did a touch more of a nasolabial fold and some more shadows. Hes married with children and has some more stress and then being stifled at work on the investigation. Story continues For the hair, Davis and Ali studied his grandfather and were also inspired by a photo of Sidney Poitiers detective Virgil Tibbs from In the Heat of the Night. They applied it to the 1980s and went for a tapered hairstyle with a wig. For the 90s, they discarded the wig and went with more of a military cut, which was shorter and slightly fuller on the sides, and weaved in some more gray. I found the most interesting part was that he essentially stayed together with his look, Davis said. I thought it was important to keep the rhythm going with his hair as well. For the last stage of makeup for the character in his seventies, Marino applied strategic prosthetics that didnt interfere with Alis appearance. He drew on Rick Bakers influential work on The Nutty Professor for how old age makeup should be colored, and Dick Smiths groundbreaking makeup for F. Murray Abrahams Salieri in Amadeus. Dick had connected the old neck and cheeks together, and then he used minor pieces around the eye and forehead areas to keep a lot of F. Murrays face and nose in the makeup, leaving lots of pieces of his face normal and then integrating them in, he said. That was really my approach with Ali. Rick built on what Dick had accomplished with silicon encapsulated pieces tinted toward the skin tone. Marino, whos also friends with Ali, discussed the look and aging process of his dark skin. The actor wanted to stay away from too many wrinkles or other softer, puffier signposts. Meanwhile, Young matched the foundation colors to the prosthetics, particularly around the nose and mouth. They wanted to show the breakdown of his mind but allow the actor to carry off the impact of memory loss in the way he moved his eyes. He wore nine prosthetics every day in his latest stage, Marino said. It was forehead and eye bags, corners of the outside of the eyes, inside of his eyes, the center of the brow, a furrow piece, and a neck that connected the cheeks. Ali also had a predominantly gray wig that went over his short hair, but Davis avoided the typical look with no balding or receding hairline. For Marino, the highlight of the elderly Ali was when he visits his former partner, played by Stephen Dorff (who required an extra prosthetic piece for his balding head), and asks him to rejoin the case. The stars were aligned, he said. How often do you see heavily filmed, in closeup and natural light, prosthetic makeup on two guys in that are highly recognizable? It was a very emotional scene that had them in tears. This cant look phony. Sign up for Indiewire's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The Pitch: Its been a year since Fleabag (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), the endlessly sardonic protagonist of the Amazon series in her name, had the big blowout with her sister Claire (Sian Clifford). It was really quite a mess, if youll recall. Its rough when your sister insinuates that sleeping with your best friends boyfriend may have been the very thing that killed her. So it makes sense that Fleabags been keeping to herself at the good ol guinea-pig-themed cafe. But the second season brings the whole family back together for a truly joyous occasion: Dad (Bill Paterson) is getting remarried, and the series picks up with the engagement celebration at an upscale London restaurant. Needless to say, the family is faring no better. As if the bride-to be Godmother (Olivia Colman) isnt insufferable enough, Claires husband Martin (Brett Gelman) has gone from obnoxious to outright cruel; when one of the sisters miscarries in the restaurants bathroom mid-dinnner, he suggests that the kid swam away on purpose. The only relief to all of the tension is that Dad and his fiancee have invited the familys priest (Andrew Scott) along, a charming Irish chap who swears like a sailor. It turns how hes the least offensive of the bunch, and Fleabag even starts to fall for him before the night is over. As the days leading up to the wedding tick down, Fleabag attempts to face down the past, while scrambling toward some kind of a future. Fleabag in 2019: The first season of Fleabag was largely successful because it pulled off its big reveal the moment when all the threads of the narrative came together for a momentous punch in the gut with such disarming perfection. It was something of a revelation that a comedy show based on quick, snarky asides and bracingly sexual humor could also deal in profound emotional impact. The second season sustains that tone, with the series still taking barbed potshots; Claire brags about her lawyers high success rate, given that he defends rapists. But the shows transgression is most apparent in the moments when it takes some of the most taboo gendered topics imaginable and doesnt make a joke. Story continues Where series like Broad City celebrate the occasional grossness of the female body by making us laugh (Ilana taking a cheese grater to her dry feet, for instance), Fleabag takes a different approach. Amid comedy it deals with the grief of a miscarriage and the unexpected celebration of menopause (through a new friend Fleabag makes) in a way thats at once casual and poignant. Its poignant in the way it mimics what real life could and should look like: a woman insists her sister go to the hospital, when all she wants to do is hide her failure as a woman; an older woman tells a thirtysomething to celebrate her bodys future changes in a way that feels sacred. Fleabag has a way of handling female pain both with and without punchlines, giving a reprieve from the humor to offer a reminder that what defines women is also what unites them. About That Fourth Wall: Theres nothing a great many critics hate more than a gimmick for the sake of a gimmick, but what creator/star Phoebe Waller-Bridge does with the typically overused fourth-wall dramatic device throughout Fleabag, especially in the new episodes, is remarkable. Talking to the camera projects a certain narcissism, but in the first season of Fleabag, the series maximized that trait for both comic effect and character insight. Its hilarious when a fully capable Waller-Bridge tells us what shes thinking, and then in the next beat says something entirely different to the person with whom shes in mid-conversation. That is, until it isnt. At one point, The Priest (his given name) begins to notice her doing it. He doesnt hear the words shes telling the audience, at least not exactly, but he pauses and asks, Where did you go just now? These moments reveal that weve been allowed into Fleabags life for a purpose, that shes been breaking the fourth wall as a coping mechanism for grief. Shes lost her best friend. Shes often estranged from her family. We, the audience, are a way for her to avoid total, abject loneliness. Its hard to imagine a better way to represent being 30 today then a series about slowly losing the relationships that grounded you, while simultaneously uncovering your capacity to make it on your own, as an adult, without the safety nets of parents or siblings or teachers or a fake audience. Gaining My Religion: The promotional material for the latest season shows Fleabag juxtaposed into a religious Renaissance-style painting, with a guinea pig poised on her angelic shoulder. Religion, the most unexpected of topics for Fleabag, plays a central role in the new season, another way in which the series breaks with expectations. (Remember that the pilot began with a monologue about hastily preparing for a booty call.) It also delivers one of the most compassionate, nuanced onscreen views of religion in recent memory. Yes, its funny that The Priest seems to be the only one other than Fleabag whos allergic to the pretense of acting like everything is swell when its not. But after the first episode, Scotts character is fleshed out in unexpected ways, and it comes as a refreshing surprise that the point of his character is not to take cheap shots at the religious. He represents a modern kind of religion, one less concerned with committing to an ascribed set of rules and more concerned with something higher. The Priest, who happens to be a very attractive and down-to-earth thirtysomething who breaks long-held stereotypes by relating to Fleabag like a normal person, demonstrates a brand of religion thats not about keeping a tally of wrongs. The presence of his character suggests that what really matters in life is being truly tuned into people, and into yourself. Its understanding what you really want. Its about opening yourself up to the vulnerability of being seen and seeing others. It might be exactly what Fleabag needs not religion, per se, but the feeling of human connection it promises. Its often the only thing that can jolt us back into the land of the living after a long foray in the cold, despairing wilderness of grief. The Verdict: Anecdotally, I kept thinking about another female-fronted show while watching this season of Fleabag, from a different streaming service: Netflixs Russian Doll. What came to mind was the seeming contradiction of critics simultaneously loving the show and expressing trepidation about a second season. It just wrapped things up so well; why ruin that? The same could be said for any admirer of Fleabag, after its first season. Wasnt the story complete? Where could the show go now? As it turns out, Fleabag pivots toward the ugly process of healing. We often forget that the stories of real life dont end with a big reveal; usually, its just about learning to pick up the pieces and try again. Fleabag is a hilarious series, and also one with a lot to say about grieving and trying and failing and trying and failing and trying again. A self-deprecating title can be deceiving. Wheres It Playing? All six episodes of the second season are now available on Amazon. Trailer: Good Morning America Duchess Kate surprised royal-watchers by showing off her piano skills at a Christmas concert Friday. The Duchess of Cambridge joined Tom Walker for a performance of "For Those Who Can't Be Here" during the concert, "Together at Christmas," which was televised in the U.K. The duet was recorded at Westminster Abbey on Thursday, according to Town and Country magazine. Kate, 39, organized the concert, which also featured performances by Leona Lewis and Ellie Goulding, to show her gratitude to community leaders in the U.K. She added in her introduction that she also wanted to "recognize those whose struggles perhaps have been less visible, too." By Express News Service BENGALURU: Following The New Indian Express report on 85-year-old Devakiyamma, who has been struggling to make ends meet, a retired bank employee, an engineer and a Bahrain-based philanthropist have jointly offered to lend her a helping hand. Deserted by her eight children, Devakiyamma has been running a petty shop in Rajajinagar. However, the money she earns is not enough for her. On Mothers Day, TNIE had highlighted her plight in an article titled Lone 85-year-old with eight kids runs shop with grit and a smile. She was left to fend for herself after her husband passed away 16 years ago. Retired bank employee and JP Nagar resident PDVS Mani (78) told TNIE: After reading the story, I sent the link to my engineer friend Natesan and my nephew Balaji. Both of them agreed to help her. I will be meeting Devakiyamma on Saturday to check what kind of help she needs the most. We will not want her to stay in any old age home as she is still working. We may help her with home rent or setting up a shop, he added. Devakiyamma had earlier said: If someone helps me with an alternative place, I will be grateful. My only wish now is to run the shop at a decent place. My children do not take care of me. But I have self-respect and want to earn till my last breath. Barr says review of Russia investigation raising more questions, calls Pelosi claim he lied to Congress 'laughable' originally appeared on abcnews.go.com In his first television interview, Attorney General William Barr said his initial review of the origins of the Russia probe has produced more questions than adequate answers. (MORE: New details emerge in Michael Flynn's cooperation with Mueller probe ) "It wasn't handled in the ordinary way that investigations or counter intelligence activities are conducted. It was sort of an ad hoc small group. Most of these people are no longer with the FBI or the CIA, or the other agencies involved," Barr told Fox News' Bill Hemmer in the interview that aired Friday morning. The attorney general said that he wouldn't "speculate" if there was "spying" on the Trump campaign as President Donald Trump, who nominated him, has said repeatedly, including in a tweet Friday morning. My Campaign for President was conclusively spied on. Nothing like this has ever happened in American Politics. A really bad situation. TREASON means long jail sentences, and this was TREASON! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 17, 2019 Barr told Congress last month he believed "spying did occur." "I don't want to speculate," Barr said. "What I will say is I've been trying to get answers to questions and I found that a lot of the answers have been inadequate and I have also found that some of the explanations I've gotten don't hang together. In a sense I have more questions today than I did when I first started," he continued. "The fact of the matter is [special counsel] Bob Mueller did not look at the government's activities. He was looking t whether or not the Trump campaign had conspired with the Russians. He was not going back and looking at the counter intelligence program," Barr said. "And we have a number of investigations underway that touch upon it. The main one being the office of inspector general that's looking at the FISA warrants. But as far as I'm aware, no one has really looked across the whole waterfront," he continued. Story continues PHOTO: Attorney General William Barr testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on 'The Justice Department's Investigation of Russian Interference with the 2016 Presidential Election' on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images) He said it's important to look into what the government was doing at the time. "I think people have to find out what the government was doing during that period. If we're worried about foreign influence for the very same reason we should be worried about whether government officials abused their power and put their thumb on the scale and so I'm not saying that happened. But I'm saying that we have to look at that." The review that the U.S. Attorney in Connecticut is doing is not a criminal investigation. (MORE: 'Did you bring your handcuffs?' Attorney General Barr asks Speaker Pelosi ) PHOTO: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi walks behind President Donald Trump and Attorney General William Barr as they all attend the 38th Annual National Peace Officers Memorial Service on Capitol Hill, May 15, 2019. (Carlos Barria/Reuters) Barr also called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's charge he lied under oath to Congress and committed a crime 'laughable.' "I think it's a laughable charge and I think it's largely being made to try to discredit me partly because they may be concerned about the outcome of a review of what happened during the election. But obviously you can look at the face of my testimony and see on its face there is nothing inaccurate about it," Barr said. He said that he was ready to be the new target for Democrats. "I thought I was in a position where this kind of criticism really wouldn't bother me very much." (MORE: Dems vote to hold AG in contempt as Trump asserts privilege over full Mueller report ) Barr called the contempt charge recommendation passed by the Democratic-led House Judiciary Committee "part of the circus." "It's part of the usual political circus that's being played out. It doesn't surprise me," he said, adding he doesn't feel threatened. Barr also said he was surprised that Robert Mueller didn't come to conclusion on whether President Trump committed obstruction of justice . "The function of a prosecutor is to make a call one way or the other," he said, adding they discussed it before Barr released his initial conclusions about the Mueller report. He made similar comments in his Senate testimony. Barr said the witness tampering allegation against the president was based on a "misconception" about his conversation with then White House counsel Donald McGahn. "He was not asked to change his testimony. That was a reaction to a press story in The New York Times that claimed that Trump had told him to fire Mueller. And Trump -- I'm going by what the report said, I'm not arguing the case. But Trump was mad at the word fire and claimed he never directed McGahn to fire Mueller," Barr said. "And in fact elsewhere the report does say that McGahn was told by Trump to talk to [then-Deputy Attorney General Rod] Rosenstein to complain about conflicts of interest that Mueller had and have Mueller removed for conflicts of interest. There is a difference. If you remove someone for conflict of interest presumably someone else will be put in to continue the investigation. And what Trump was being accused of in the "New York Times" was outright directing the firing of Mueller." On the Steel dossier, Barr says that it was 'unusual' for that to be the basis of an investigation. "Well, that's one of the questions that were going to have to look at, it's unusual to have opposition research like that one that on it's face had a number of clear mistakes and jejune analysis and to use that to conduct counterintelligence against an American political campaign. I'm not sure what role it played but that's something we have to look at," he continued. The review being conducted by the U.S. Attorney in Connecticut, John Dunham, is not a criminal probe. Barr said there were some "very strange developments" between election day and inauguration day that the Department of Justice wants to look into those, but wouldn't go into specifics. He did highlight a Jan. 6, 2017 meeting between the president and intelligence chiefs and "the leaking of information subsequent to that meeting." The attorney general responded to criticism of his claims that the Trump White House had cooperated with Mueller given that Trump did not do an interview with the special counsel, saying it was "more than satisfactory." "Mueller decided not to force the issue with the president, so he made that judgment. And I did say the White House cooperated. What I was referring to was the truly unprecedented delivery of information in the form of millions of pages of documents and the ability to interview White House staff including the president's White House counsel with no holds barred. No privileged claimed at point or anything. So, that was unprecedented and that's what I was referring to when I said the White House," Barr said. When asked about the president's use of the term "witch hunt," he said he was comfortable with it. "Because at the time he was saying he was innocent and that he was being falsely accused. And if you're falsely accused, you would think that something was a witch hunt. I have to say when you step back and look at this, two-and-a-half years of his administration -- three years of the Trump campaign and first part of his administration -- he has been hammered for something -- for allegedly conspiring with the Russians. We now know that was simply false," Barr said. "I use what words I use and it was an investigation. But I think if I had been falsely accused, I would be comfortable saying it was a witch hunt." Both Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray have rejected that term, saying the investigation was legitimate. (MORE: FBI Director Wray splits with Attorney General Barr on use of 'spying' to describe bureau's investigations ) Democrats "don't know what they're talking about" when they accuse him of being Trump's lawyer, he said. Asked if he thought other attorneys general had acted as the president's lawyer, Barr responded, "I think at times [Eric Holder] did act that way but attorneys general are frequently accused of that," Barr said. "Attorneys general are accused of being that way. I don't know what they're referring to. When I was up for confirmation, I promised that I was going to make the report available, I didn't have to, the report was supposed to be confidential. I said I would air on the side of transparency I got it out. Minimal redactions, every American can read it until their heart's content and make up their mind about it." When asked about former FBI Director James Comey criticizing him, Barr didn't answer directly. "I've noticed the talking point. Barr's legacy is being upset because of his service in this administration,' he said, referring to himself in the third person."I don't think those people are really concerned about my legacy," he said. Barr did the Fox interview in El Salvador where he was scheduled to promote what he says is the success of the partnership the government there has with the United States in fighting gang violence both in El Salvador and in the U.S. "We've been able to charge over 7,000 members of MS-13 and the 18th Street gang. It is a great partnership we have with them and it is helping us in the United States because MS-13 gang members that we can get down here are not going to be coming up to the United States," he continued. F-16 that crashed into building was armed with live ammo: Official originally appeared on abcnews.go.com The F-16 fighter jet that crashed into a warehouse next to March Air Reserve Base in Southern California on Thursday was armed with live ammunition it needed as part of its NORAD alert mission, according to a defense official. The weapons aboard the fighter jet have now been secured and will be disposed of, the official said. No one was killed in Thursday's crash but 12 people in the warehouse received treatment for minor injuries. The pilot of the F-16 jet was able to eject safely before the plane struck a commercial warehouse located close to the airbase's runway. The aircraft did not explode on impact even though the aircraft was armed with live munitions and any fire that may have occurred was suppressed by the warehouses sprinkler system. "The NORAD alert aircraft was flying with a standard armament configuration as part of its Operation Noble Eagle commitments," a defense official said, referring to the name of the NORAD alert mission to protect the nations skies following the 9/11 attacks. The types of munitions aboard the aircraft could not be disclosed due to operational security commitments, the official said. But the "armament has been secured and will be disposed of in accordance with Air Force policies and regulations," said the official. PHOTO: An F-16 fighter jet crashed into a building near the runway at March Reserve Air Force Base, May 16, 2019. (KABC) Though capable of carrying two bombs, the F-16 would likely only carry air-to-air missiles like the AIM-9 sidewinder missile and AIM-120 AMRAAM for an alert mission. Every effort is being made to ensure that the publics safety is being met, Col. Tom McNamara, the vice commander of the 452nd Air Mobility Wing at March Air Reserve Base, said at a news conference Friday. Due to the nature of this type of an incident the recovery process is extremely involved," he added. "Our [explosive ordnance] disposal team is on site and is working through the situation at this time." Story continues There were 12 minor injuries caused by debris in the building, according to Capt. Fernando Herrera from Cal Fire and the Riverside County Fire Department. People who worked in the building were evacuated, according to officials. Plane crash into building, pilot ejected and being medically evaluated. Please stay away from area and clear from emergency vehicles until directed otherwise. Updates to follow. Riverside County Sheriff's Dept (@RSO) May 16, 2019 "Every pilot that flies a fighter aircraft that has an ejection seat has to make that decision before they even start that jet up: When am I going to eject? and not to wait too long to know when the airplane is no longer flyable and they need to get out," said retired Col. Steve Ganyard, former deputy assistant secretary of state and ABC News contributor. PHOTO: An F-16 fighter jet crashed into a building near the runway at March Reserve Air Force Base, May 16, 2019. (KABC) The unit flying the alert mission is a combination of pilots and aircraft from California and South Dakota Air National Guard units. The pilot belongs to the 144th Fighter Wing of the California Air National Guard. The aircraft is part of the South Dakota Air National Guard in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. PHOTO: An F-16 Fighting Falcon from Holloman's 8th Fighter Squadron, takes off down the runway, April 10, 2019, on Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in New Orleans, La. (Airman 1st Class Kindra Stewart/U.S. Air Force) As a precaution, a part of Highway 215 that abuts the base has been closed. How did 'Game of Thrones' finale stack up to these 12 other shows' finales? originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com (SPOILERS AHEAD) As "Game of Thrones" came to a stunning close Sunday night, fans had been dying to know how the series would end. But were they satisfied? Its always difficult to close an iconic show, but reception for season eight hasnt been all positive and that continued after last night's finale. Reviews were critical of the finale's slow pace, the death of an icon maybe too early in the night and some very loose threads left by the last episode's storyline. This show is also special in that it's one of the first to finish before the books that inspired it. So fans may get a second chance when George R.R. Martin gets around to writing the final book. But no matter what you thought about the ending to "Thrones," here are a few finales over the years from iconic shows that range from the beloved to the disliked to ones that aged surprisingly well over time. 'M*A*S*H,' 1983 As the show centered on the conflicts during the Korean War came to a close, the lead character, Hawkeye (Alan Alda), is seen undergoing treatment in a psychiatric hospital after suffering a nervous breakdown. Others in the gang, like B.J. (Mike Farrell), are heading home after getting his discharge, though he will later find out its been rescinded. Also, Klinger (Jamie Farr) has fallen in love with a local Korean refugee. After it seems like everyone will be going their separate ways, the camp is relocated following a skirmish and they find themselves back together. Hawkeye is able to overcome the incident that sent him to the psychiatric hospital at the beginning of the episode, saving a childs life in the process, and a final ceasefire is set up to end the war. In the end, Klinger is married as their camp is taken down following the war and as Hawkeye is leaving on the helicopter, he looks down to see "GOODBYE" written in rocks from his dear friend B.J. This scene has become iconic since it aired. Story continues The finale is regarded as one of the most popular ever on TV, drawing a total of more than 121 million viewers in the U.S. The finale held the record for most watched TV event ever until 2010, when the Super Bowl beat it out. PHOTO: The cast of 'Mash' salute in a publicity still, circa 1975. (Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images) 'Newhart,' 1990 Bob Newhart has said that his real-life wife, Ginnie, was the brains behind the big twist in the series' last episode, though producers have said otherwise. Regardless, it is often seen as one of the most memorable finales in TV history. In the last few minutes of "Newhart," in which Newhart played innkeeper Dick Loudon, he wakes up in the bedroom of his "Bob Newhart Show" character, Dr. Bob Hartley, and next to Hartley's wife, Emily. "Honey! Wake up, you won't believe the dream I just had," he says to her. "I was an innkeeper in this crazy little town in Vermont. Nothing made sense in this place." 'Dallas,' 1991 In this modern take on "It's a Wonderful Life," J.R. (Larry Hagman) has lost it all and is living destitute, disowned by family and friends. The episode features J.R. debating whether or not to take his own life. But he's also visited by a spirit, who shows him what his life would be like if he had never existed. Sound familiar? The twist is that the spirit tries to convince him to shoot himself and later reveals he's not from heaven but from hell. In the end, the audience hears a gunshot, but does not see if J.R. shot himself. The resolution does not come until some years later in the "Dallas" reunion movie in 1996. The cliffhanger episode brought in the best ratings for the show in five years and is one of the most-watched finales in history. PHOTO: In a scene from the American television series 'Dallas, cast members gather on the porch of a large house, Dallas, Texas, 1981. (Cbs Photo Archive/Getty Images) 'Seinfeld,' 1998 More than 76 million viewers tuned in to see the last episode of "Seinfeld," and boy was it a doozy. In the two-part special, the gang is all heading to Paris on a private jet before Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) and George (Jason Alexander) begin to work on their big new show about nothing. Kramer (Michael Richards) causes the jet to start crashing, which compels Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) to tell Jerry her true feelings. Before they all meet their demise, however, the plane makes an emergency landing. While stuck in this small town, they witness a carjacking and instead of helping the man, they crack jokes. Little do they know, the town has a duty to rescue law and they are arrested. The second part is their trial, where all the classic characters from past seasons come back to testify how terrible they all are. In the end, they are all found guilty and sent to jail. For such an iconic show, it was a pretty zany way to end and the reception was mixed. PHOTO: The cast of 'Seinfield.' From left, Michael Richards as Cosmo Kramer, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Elaine Benes, Jerry Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander as George Costanza. (George Lange/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)) 'Friends,' 2004 One of the most highly-anticipated finales came in May, 2004 when "Friends" wrapped after 10 seasons on NBC. More than 52 million people tuned in to see Ross (David Schwimmer) and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) get back together and Monica (Courteney Cox) and Chandler (Matthew Perry) adopt twins and move out of New York City. While many found the ending to be satisfying Schwimmer said in an interview that it was "exactly what I had hoped" the neat, happy endings had some critics rolling their eyes. PHOTO: From left, Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay, Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani, Anna Faris as Erica, Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing, Courteney Cox as Monica Geller-Bing appear in an episode of 'Friends.' (NBC via Getty Images) 'Sex and the City,' 2004 When "Sex and the City" came to a close in 2004, fans were on the edge of their seats to find out whether Sarah Jessica Parker's Carrie Bradshaw would end up with Aleksandr Petrovsky (Mikhail Baryshnikov) or Mr. Big (Chris Noth). When Mr. Big, who throughout the show's six seasons, had been emotionally unavailable to Carrie, surprises her in Paris and wins her over by finally telling her, "You're the one," some cheered, while others felt cheated. Candace Bushnell, whose book inspired the series, fell into the latter category, as did series creator Darren Star. "For me, in a way and I didn't [write] those last episodes if you're empowering other people to write and produce your show, you can't...say certain things," he said in a 2016 Kindles Singles interview, excerpted by E! News. "At a certain point, you've got to let them follow their vision. But I think the show ultimately betrayed what it was about, which was that women don't ultimately find happiness from marriage. Not that they can't. But the show initially was going off script from the romantic comedies that had come before it. That's what had made women so attached." Parker, however, told Yahoo Lifestyle that she liked the ending. "I dont think of it as someone diminishing herself by letting a man marry her it always felt that she had arrived at that on her own," she said. Regardless, fans on both sides of the aisle agreed that it was a thrill to finally see Big's name John! in Carrie's bedazzled phone, and they got even more of an understanding of the characters' relationship in the two films the show spawned. PHOTO: From left; Kirsten Davis, as Charlotte York, Sarah Jessica Parker, as Carrie Bradshaw, Cynthia Nixon, as Miranda Hobbes and Kim Cattrall, as Samantha Jones, star in 'Sex and the City.' (New York Daily News Archive/Richard Corkery/NY Daily News via Getty Images) 'Six Feet Under,' 2005 "Six Feet Under" centers on a family who runs a funeral home in Los Angeles, and so it was only appropriate that it end by showing how each of the main characters dies. The emotional, seven-minute montage kicks off with Lauren Ambrose's character, Claire, driving away to start a new life on the east coast, and as she turns onto the freeway, the future plays out, set to Sia's "Breathe Me." Alan Ball, the series creator and writer-director of the episode, told Vulture that the idea for what has been heralded as one of the best endings in TV history seemed like a joke when it was first pitched. "Somebody said, "We should just kill everybody" I wish I could remember which other writer it was who pitched this, because it wasnt me and everybody laughed. And then whoever it was said, "No, Im serious. We should jump ahead in time and see everybody at the moment of their death." At which point I went, "Of course." I mean, thats the perfect way to end this show. How else could you do it?" he said. 'The Sopranos,' 2007 If you were a fan of "The Sopranos" and saw this finale live, then odds are you'll never forget the Sunday night it aired. In the last episode, "Made in America," Tony (James Gandolfini) is nearing the end of his violent reign as boss of New Jersey and loose ends are being tied up. In the final scene, the four members of the immediate family plan on meeting at a diner like old times. With "Don't Stop Believin'" blasting on the jukebox, it seems like an ordinary family dinner could play out, or something more sinister could occur. And then, as Tony's daughter, Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler), makes her way into the diner, the screen turns black. The ending was so shocking that thousands of HBO subscribers thought their cable went out that night and called the network to find out what went wrong. Though series creator David Chase has never given a clear answer about how to interpret that moment, including whether Tony was killed, he has made a few comments over the years since. He told USA Today, "If he didnt die that night hes going to die very soon. And the problem is the same: there are the number of minutes in life and they go like this. Theyre gone. And you dont know when its coming. Thats all I wanted to say." In another interview, he further explained the ending, saying that he wanted to convey "the idea of how short life is and how precious it is. The only way I felt I could do that was to rip it away." 'Lost,' 2010 "Lost" was a series steeped in mystery, and fans hoped that in the finale, some of the zillions of questions raised over its six seasons would finally be answered. The final scenes split the audience, and there is still debate as to what happened. However, those who were upset were incensed. Co-creator Damon Lindelof has since shot down one popular theory (no, the characters weren't dead, he said) and acknowledged a regret he has from that time. "One of the biggest mistakes that [co-showrunner] Carlton [Cuse] and I made was going radio silent right after the 'Lost' finale," Lindelof told Quartz. "We had been so accessible, and then suddenly we werent. If we had been out in front of it right after that finale aired, Im not sure it would have changed peoples reaction to it, but it looked like we were hiding. We werent but thats what it looked like." PHOTO: Evangeline Lilly and Josh Holloway in a scene from 'Lost.' (Mario Perez/ABC) 'Breaking Bad,' 2013 In an almost universally beloved ending to an equally beloved show, the "Breaking Bad" finale left us with so much resolution and hope. After Walter White (Bryan Cranston) betrayed and left Jesse (Aaron Paul) to be captured, kidnapped and tortured for who knows how long, the drug kingpin helps his former sidekick escape in a heroic, somewhat redeeming fashion. In the process, White is shot and killed but not before he squashes old beef, leaves his family with his remaining fortune and gives Jesse his freedom. 'How I Met Your Mother,' 2014 The world watched with baited breath as it was finally revealed how Ted (Josh Radnor) not only met the kids' mother (Cristin Milioti), but how things ended up over the years. Sadly, fans were not all that pleased to find out the show killed off the mother some years later and that the real ending had Ted back together with Robin. "How I Met Your Aunt Robin" and other spoof titles were tweeted out after the finale. Even the daughter tells Ted that his entire story was about Robin, who is now divorced from his best friend Barney. It was an odd twist that left fans feeling a bit cheated. PHOTO: From left, Jason Segel, Alyson Hannigan, Cobie Smulders, Neil Patrick Harris and Josh Radnor on an episode of 'How I Met Your Mother.' (Monty Brinton/CBS via Getty Images) 'Mad Men,' 2015 Throughout "Mad Men," Don Draper (Jon Hamm) was a man of mystery and in the final scene of "Mad Men," he's depicted finally getting a moment of peace, having fled his life and responsibilities in New York City to meditate on a cliff in California. As a bell dings and he breathes deeply, the advertising genius turns his mind to what else work. The next thing we see: the famous Coca-Cola commercial, "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing," which we're to believe Draper created. The reaction was mixed. "The people who find that ad corny, they're probably experiencing a lot of life that way, and they're missing out on something," creator Matthew Weiner reportedly said in an interview with A.M. Homes. "I don't think there's enough empathy right now in the world." Trump campaign doesn't want this pro-Trump super PAC's help, the group is doing it anyway originally appeared on abcnews.go.com The Trump campaign is continuing its unprecedented fight to ensure President Donald Trump's deep-pocketed supporters know there's only one campaign-approved pro-Trump super PAC to donate to in 2020 -- and now they're targeting a PAC run by former 2016 campaign staffer Corey Stewart. "It is disappointing, but I'm not that surprised. They're very controlling. They want to control everything," Stewart, who now leads the Keeping America Great super PAC, told ABC News when asked about the Trump campaign filing a notice of disavowal with the Federal Election Commission a few weeks back. Erin Perrine, deputy communications director for the Trump campaign, told ABC News it is "unconscionable" that Stewart would continue to raise money by "[tricking] people into thinking they are directly supporting the President's reelection." "I'm starting to feel like an abused dog who keeps getting kicked trying to help the president out," Stewart said. (MORE: Trump campaign issues statement blasting rogue fundraising groups after Trump ally group accused of false advertising) The Trump team has even taken steps to legally distance itself from Stewart's Keeping America Great PAC. PHOTO: Virginia GOP senatorial hopeful, Corey Stewart, gestures during a news conference at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., on Feb. 22, 2018. (Steve Helber/AP FILE) Back in March, the campaign filed a notice of disavowal with the Federal Election Commission directly aimed at Stewart's super PAC. But Stewart, who ran against Virginia Sen.Tim Kaine in 2018, said that despite the Trump campaign's harsh words and FEC filings he will continue to raise funds to support the president's reelection. Earlier this year, Stewart, a failed 2018 Republican Senate candidate who has been accused of "stoking white supremacists," took control over the super PAC that previously raised $120,000 supporting U.S. Rep. Dave Brat's unsuccessful congressional race in Virginia during the 2018 midterms. All of the funding last time around came from Florida donor William Cooley. Story continues And now, under Stewart, who was fired by the Trump campaign in 2016, the super PAC says it will work to raise even more money than its 2018 primary haul in hopes of helping to reelect Trump. "We do expect that we're going to be a big player in 2020," Stewart said. But last week, the Trump campaign took an extraordinary step to ensure pro-Trump donors send their dollars to only the America First Action super PAC, which is run by close Trump allies, including former Small Business Administrator Linda McMahon. The letter, blasting "any organization that deceptively uses the President's name, likeness, trademarks, or branding and confuses voters," followed news that former Trump deputy campaign manager David Bossie had raised millions of dollars using the president's likeness through his Presidential Coalition organization. Bossie called the report "fake news brought to you by a collaboration of the biased liberal media and unabashed left-wing activists." Stewart initially told ABC News that he didn't believe the campaign's stern statement denouncing rogue fundraising groups was aimed at him because "we're not a scam PAC." "It's a very, very different thing from the Bossie PAC," Stewart said. "Bossie raised mostly small donations. People thought that it was associated with the Trump campaign. We're not even close to that, and almost everything that we've raised is from one big donor. We're not a scam PAC." But while Stewart says his super PAC has raised a total of $11,400 for 2020 so far, almost all of which is from its founder, Cooley, the organization is looking to attract other big-dollar donors and contributions later in the year. And despite Stewart's claim that he's not interested in the small donor game, the PAC's website isn't shy about asking for them, which the Trump campaign appears particularly concerned about. "We're not using the president's likeness to raise money," Stewart argued when asked about the super PAC's website using the president's likeness to raise money. "Support president Trump," reads text plastered over a glossy image of the president at a campaign rally, above a large "donate" button on the front page of his website. Regardless of Stewart's confusion, the Trump campaign doesn't seem ready to give an inch on this and is continuing to push donors to just the sole approved super PAC, America First Action PAC. "While America First is an independent organization, we are honored to have the trust and confidence of President Trump," Brian Walsh, President of America First Action PAC told ABC News in a statement. "That's the way it is. It is disappointing," Stewart said. "I'm really starting to get fed up with this." ABC News' Soo Rin Kim contributed to this report Forrest Gump fans, you're going to want to mark your calendars this June. At participating theaters nationwide, the Academy Award-winning flick will return to the big screen in honor of its 25th anniversary courtesy of Fathom Events on June 23rd and June 25th. Originally released in 1994, the much celebrated film stars Tom Hanks, Sally Field, Gary Sinise, Robin Wright, Mykelti Williamson, and others, touching on themes of hope, love, and perseverance. Set in Alabama, Vietnam, and beyond, we've certainly quoted a line or two from Forrest, Bubba, and the crew on more than one ocassion. WATCH: Tom Hanks Had the Best Response to This Nashville Couples Wedding Invite Starting this Sunday, May 19th through Wednesday, May 22nd, Fathom Events, in partnership with Turner Classic Movies, is bringing back another Southern classic, Steel Magnolias, to theaters across the country to celebrate the film's 30th anniversary. So correction, ladies: You're going to want to mark your calendars for this May and June. THE PELLICANO BRIEF: There was a sweet scent of Italy in the London air this week, as Brioni reopened its flagship on Bruton Street, with Negronis on tap and an airy, elegant shopfit. Nearby, on Carlos Place, Pellicano Hotels staged a fashionable takeover of the Matchesfashion town house chefs and all. Matches Ulric Jerome and Natalie Kingham, along with Marie-Louise Scio of Pellicano Hotels and the stylist Robert Rabensteiner, kicked off The Grand Tour Italy, a collaboration that will see Matches take a vacation edit of clothing to a pop-up shop on a Thirties yacht set to sail between the three Pellicano coastal hotels Il Pellicano in Tuscany, La Posta Vecchia in Rome, and Il Mezzatorre on the island of Ischia in May and June. Related stories Bocconi Luxury and Retail Forum Weighs on Industry's Future Trends Accessories Designer Alvaro Gonzalez Revives Rodo, an Italian Sleeping Beauty Matchesfashion.com's Fashion Frieze Frames Scio and Rabensteiner also worked on a Curated By edit of clothing that adorned the ground floor of the townhouse during the cocktail, which drew guests including Bella Freud, Jane McFarland, Kim Sion, Dena Giannini, Stephen Doig, Daniela Agnelli, Fiona Scarry, Zoe Suen, Niomi Smart, Julia Hobbs, Flora Johnston, and Daisy de Villeneuve. We chose everything we wanted to wear, said the sparky Scio, who was practically dancing around the ground floor with joy. Dressed in a black Bella Freud dress with little puff shoulders and big gold earrings, she was also corralling guests up the steps to take a look at the famous Matches vending machine, which had been filled with Pellicano and Matches themed postcards, stickers, notebooks and matchboxes. Upstairs in the town house cafe, chefs whod flown in from Il Pellicano hotel were replicating some of their signature dishes, including octopus in tomato sauce with Italian mashed potato with olive oil, not butter fat pasta tubes with Amatriciana sauce, seabass, and tall glasses filled with tiramisu. It was beyond delicious, but may not have been ideal for anyone planning to slip into the Oseree high-rise metallic bikini, or the Reina Olga swimsuit, from Scios new capsule collection, anytime soon. Sign up for WWD's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Why is May 2019 different from all other months? Its Jewish American Heritage Month for one, a period that feels especially important to mark given the rising insecurity coursing through Jewish American life. Because visibility is more important than ever before, Refinery29 brings you our celebration of Jewish American culture. Lchaim! Ahead of her wedding this June, 26-year-old Tirzah Gestetner has done all the things expected of a modern bride-to-be. She has decided on a location: Thailand, which is close to her native Australia, where her family still lives. She has picked out her flower arrangements. She has finalized her set dinner menus, and, of course, she's got the perfect dress. But now, one month from the big day, she has one final and rather momentous decision to make: her wig. Within Gestetner's own Orthodox Jewish family, the tradition has been that after a woman gets married, she will cover her hair. Many Orthodox women do this with scarves, but others, like Gestetner, have grown up seeing the matriarchs in their family wear sheitels, which is the Yiddish term for a wig worn by a married Orthodox Jewish woman. "I used to try my moms wigs on, and it was like, Oh my god, Im gonna look like this when I get married," Gestetner says. "Currently, its gone from excitement to like, Oh, now I have to cover my hair. Well, now I don't know if I want to do that. I love my hair!" To find a sheitel that fits her personal style, which she will start wearing the day after her wedding, Gestetner drove five minutes from her home in Crown Heights, Brooklyn to Zelda Hair, a bright wig shop with more than 20,000 followers on Instagram. According to its owner, 28-year-old Zelda Volkov, it sells approximately 600 wigs a year, with more than half of its customers looking for wigs for religious reasons. When we visited the shop on a foggy Friday in late March, it was clear that Zelda Hair is popular for a few reasons. First, it caters to a younger audience; the shop posts on Instagram several times a day, and often tags the Insta-famous women who frequent its location. Gestetner knew the shop because her two sisters, who run the popular modest fashion brand The Frock, also get their wigs there. With prices ranging between $2,200 to $5,500, the wigs are a far cry from the more common dark bobs often associated with sheitels. Volkov crafts styles that range from multicolored mermaid waves to trendy tousled brunette lobs, which Volkov says are the best-selling units at the moment. Story continues Zelda Hair's popularity among young Orthodox Jewish women, who fly across the country and sometimes even the world to shop there, makes it the center of a conversation currently being had in Orthodox Judaism: To wig or not to wig? While it was once seen as more of a rule or a community standard than a choice, these young women are exploring their options when it comes to covering their hair, effectively creating their own unique relationships with these wigs and how they decide to wear them. As with many aspects of Judaism, there is debate over what a sheitel really represents and who it is really for. "One of the conversations within Jewish law has declared a womans hair to be nakedness and part of the alluring nature of the effeminate," Rabbi Avram Mlotek, a Modern Orthodox-ordained rabbi who teaches in Manhattan, says. Indeed, in the Jewish religious law text the Talmud, it is declared that "hair on a woman is ervah, " or essentially, "nakedness and impropriety" that should be covered once a woman is married. The tradition of married Orthodox Jewish women covering their hair has been around for thousands of years, with women first using a cloth or a veil. It wasn't until the 16th century that Jewish women in Italy popularized the idea of wearing a wig as a covering, which actually ended up causing a huge debate among rabbis, who both condemned and condoned the practice of wearing them on modesty grounds. Zelda Volkov sources hair from Ukraine, then styles it into modern wigs. Photographed by Sharon Pulwer. But today, even as the debate over wigs remains unsettled across Orthodox communities (the fastest-growing denomination within Judaism), sheitels are reportedly more popular than ever. Why? Rabba Melissa Scholten-Gutierrez, an Orthodox rabbi who teaches in Atlanta and always covers her hair with a hat or wig, says many communities are looking to modernize. "The Modern Orthodox community values the blending of a deep commitment to Jewish life and being integrated into society," says Rabba Melissa, adding that wig options have vastly improved in the last few years. "The wigs allow someone to take part in the mitzvah of covering and still feel like theyre not losing their identity." But there's another reason why some Jewish women are looking to wigs rather than caps and scarfs. With anti-Semitism in America on the rise and anti-Semitic assaults up a staggering 105% since 2017, Rabba Melissa says she's had conversations with women who see wigs as a safer option. "People are afraid of talking about their fears, but I have had a few conversations with women who have expressed how they can pass under the radar more with a wig than those who wear other head coverings," she says. Wigs allow someone to take part in the mitzvah of covering and still feel like theyre not losing their identity. While every Orthodox community's expectations around sheitels are different as is every woman's relationship to these wigs there remains a prevailing question: Can you believe in your own agency as a woman, consider yourself a feminist, and cover your hair? Today, some women argue that yes, you absolutely can. For them, it is a choice that they make for themselves and their faith, rather than something that feels like an order. It can also have little to do with their husbands at all. Cover Story Zelda Hair was actually born out of Volkov's uneasy feelings about having to wear a wig in the first place. "At 19, I got married, and I had a really bad relationship with my wig," Volkov, who no longer wears wigs because she is divorced, says. "I felt so pressured, and I ended up with a short black bob. I went from looking 15 to 45 overnight." For the first three years of her marriage, Volkov looked at that wig as a burden, and finally took it upon herself at 22 to start crafting wigs of her own that more closely resembled her own long, wavy, blonde hair. In 2016, she opened Zelda Hair as an alternative to the stereotypically dark and outdated wig shops in her neighborhood, where there is a lively Orthodox Jewish community. The reaction was electric, drawing a diverse clientele who were looking for not just a stylish, natural-looking wig, but sometimes also an Instagram-ready statement piece. Among them was Shira Shenberger, who chose to dye her sheitel sky blue. "I got married and I was doing what I thought was the right thing to do," Shenberger, 29, says of her early years wearing a sheitel. "It wasn't a choice or a question. Whereas today, it's very much a choice that I make and something that I actively want to do." Shenberger's sheitel is now an on-trend rainbow look, with blue and purple dyes swirling into yellow tips. "For me, my wig represents total love," Shenberger says. "I think that its very different from other people, because they have brown or blonde hair, and when they want to leave their house, theyll put another layer of brown or blonde on top of it. For me, when I decide to wear it, its a full transformation." Shenberger doesn't always wear her wig. She dons caps and scarves and even a hoodie in colder weather and feels just fine. For Adina Sash, a 30-year-old Orthodox Jewish activist who recently ran for City Council in Flatbush, Brooklyn, its a similar story. Some mornings, she feels like wearing a wig, which she bought at Zelda to match her naturally thick, brown hair. Other days, not so much. "Theres so much more chargedness with the decision," Sash says. "It comes with thinking about community, expectation, female roles as a mother, female roles as a free, uninhibited female. Its such a hard decision to make. My relationship with my wigs is very fluid. Its constantly changing." When Sash got married at 18, she shocked her family by initially being firmly anti-wig. "I come from a line of women who strictly cover their hair," Sash says. "And I told my parents, 'Im not doing it. It feels like its squashing my identity. And they were like, 'What did we do wrong?' And I was like, 'No, what did you do right?'" As the years have passed, Sash has come to wear wigs more frequently, most recently to connect better with voters who are from Orthodox communities. "Its not just about myself, but also about the women I represent when I speak publicly," she says. "I feel like I owe it to them and I owe it to my tribe. If I want to represent the female Orthodox population, I feel like its respectful to wear a wig. But while women like Shenberger and Sash are exercising their choices around covering their hair when they see fit, other young women are trying to stay committed to covering at all times. Olivia Garcia, 24, fixes the leopard-print scarf she uses to cover her hair when she's not wearing a wig. Photographed by Sharon Pulwer. Take Olivia Garcia, a 24-year-old newlywed from Baltimore who entered the shop looking to get the cap in her wig sized down. Garcia is actually the first woman in her immediate family to wear wigs, telling us that she only came to learn about Judaism beyond bagels and lox in college, where she became more observant. At first, Garcia admits, the wigs were something that I really freaked out about. It wasnt until last year, after Garcia got engaged and found Zelda Hair on Instagram, that she became convinced that a wig could actually work for her. I was really happy here because they make you feel good, says Garcia, who now covers her hair every single day. As I grew more observant, I realized I wanted a husband who wanted me to cover my hair, and I really wanted to as well. I struggled with, Am I just conforming to these norms? Or am I really doing this for me? I came to the realization that it was both of those things, and it was OK because thats the religious path that Ive chosen. Although sheitels are associated with married women, there are unmarried women who wear them as well. Rochel Cohen, a 35-year-old mother of two who's the head of sales at Zelda Hair, takes wearing wigs seriously despite being divorced for eight years now. Her reasons for doing so stem from the fact that she dislikes her natural hair texture, and because of community expectations. "The Chabad rabbis in our community do not give permission for a woman to take off their hair covering if they have children," says Cohen, who notes that other rabbis in other communities do give permission. "In the community here, all the women cover their hair, and it may embarrass their children if their mom is walking around without a head covering. I very much value that. We have very religious schools here. I don't want my kids to feel any different." At Zelda Hair, wigs vary from tight blonde curls to trendy brunette lobs. Photographed by Sharon Pulwer. Tradition, Tradition For most, tradition also fuels the decision. "My mother covered her hair, and her mother covered her hair, and her mother covered her hair," says Shaina Wiess, a 39-year-old mother of four who flew in from Los Angeles to re-style her wig. "Who am I to take something that was so special to my great-grandmother, my grandmother, and my mother, and break that beautiful tradition when it was something that was given to me?" Despite feeling that way now, Wiess was close to ditching wigs entirely after 20 years of wearing them. In her words, they just made her feel unlike herself, and she had a hard time finding a wig that matched her naturally strawberry-blonde hair. Wigs also caused Wiess anxiety because she was the only Orthodox woman at her catering job, and she didnt want her coworkers at the time to know she was wearing one. Zelda Hair solved that problem for her, creating a wig that matches the color and texture of her hair exactly. "Without it, I feel naked," Wiess says. "It symbolizes that I'm married. It symbolizes where I come from, where I am, and where I'm going. Its so much more than just a thing that sits on my head. Its a tradition I want to give to my children so they can also wear it with pride." While Wiess has had two decades to ruminate on what her wig means to her, 26-year-old Gestetner is just getting started. To ease her way into this tradition, Gestetner has chosen to go with what's called a "fall," which will sit on the top of her head to cover the crown while allowing her chestnut-brown hair to be nearly completely visible underneath. "Im moving away from what my hair means to me now and what showing my hair to the world means," Gestetner says. "When I get married, I don't know how its going to feel every day. Maybe I'll want to put a scarf or a cap on sometimes. Im gonna figure that out as I start wearing it." Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here? A Chic New Skin-Care Brand Just Launched At Target & Everything's Under $20 Lipstick, Hair Dye, & Power How Beauty Is Fueling A Revolution In North Korea Gina Rodriguez Got The Perfect Post-Wedding Hair Makeover For Summer On Friday, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsors official birth certificate was released. The newborn royals parents are both listed on the document Rachel Meghan Markle and His Royal Highness Henry Charles Albert David Duke of Sussex as well as their occupations. Its Meghans job, noted as Princess of the United Kingdom, that has people scratching their heads. WINDSOR, ENGLAND - MAY 08: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, pose with their newborn son during a photocall in St George's Hall at Windsor Castle on May 8, 2019 in Windsor, England. The Duchess of Sussex gave birth at 05:26 on Monday 06 May, 2019. (Photo by Dominic Lipinski - WPA Pool/Getty Images) While Prince Harry has officially held the title ofPrince Henry of Wales since his birth (although hes gone by Duke of Sussex since his wedding), Meghan, whos been called Meghan, Duchess of Sussex since her marriage on May 19, 2018, has never officially been referred to as Princess Meghan. However, as the wife of Prince Harry, Meghan is entitled to use the female equivalent to his title therefore she can go by Her Royal Highness Princess Henry of Wales. The birth certificate of Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, son of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who was born at the Portland Hospital in London. (Photo by Jonathan Brady/PA Images via Getty Images) However, much like her sister-in-law the Duchess of Cambridge, Meghan goes by her duchess title. Although it has never been confirmed by the royal family, its believed the Princess of Wales title is not used because of its link to Diana, Princess of Wales, who died tragically in a car crash in 1997. It is likely this is why Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, the second wife of Prince Charles, does not use the princess title either. Neither the Duchess of Cambridge nor the Duchess of Sussex will be able to go by the title Princess Catherine or Princess Meghan in their own right. This is a privilege reserved by those of royal birth, such as Prince Harrys cousins, Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice. Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. On Tuesday night, a group of 25 white men in Alabama passed the nations most radical abortion ban, making it a felony to perform one at any point in a womans pregnancy, even in cases of rape and incest. Afterwards, this merry band of Republican state senatorsnone of whom have medical degreesexchanged fist bumps outside the chamber in celebration of threatening actual doctors with up to 99 years in prison for a safe and common medical procedure. It followed a number of anti-abortion state laws to pass this year in Georgia, Ohio, Mississippi, and elsewhere. Throughout the evening, the sponsor of the bill, state senator Clyde Chambliss, displayed his cluelessness about womens bodies. Im not trained medically so I dont know the proper medical terminology and timelines, he admitted during the debate. But from what Ive read, what Ive been told, theres some period of time before you can know a woman is pregnant. Thats the man leading the charge to regulate womens wombs in Alabama. Chambliss was not the only medically ignorant man to insert himself into abortion politics this year. Representative John Becker, the sponsor of Ohios anti-abortion bill, suggested that in the event of an ectopic pregnancya dangerous medical condition in which the fertilized egg implants outside the uterusdoctors can just replant the zygote into the uterus. That procedure doesnt exist. An anti-abortion legislator in Idaho thought that a woman could conduct a gynecological exam by swallowing a camera, apparently confusing the uterus with the stomach. Conservative pundit Ben Shapiro tried to explain to women that Georgias bill banning abortion at the fetal heartbeat, before most women even realize theyre pregnant, is not effectively ban. It's not a 'backdoor ban.' It is a ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, just like it says it is, he chided Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, then confusing a six-week pregnancy with a six-week embryo (pregnancy is counted before fertilization). Then conservative Catholic blogger Matt Walsh chimed in with the most puzzling take of all: that a 12-year-old rape victim should be forced to deliver the baby in order to prove said rape, lest the "evidence" be destroyed in an abortion. (Nevermind that fetal tissue from an abortion, and also the pregnancy of a minor itself, could also be used as evidence of rape.) Story continues The science of fertility, pregnancy, and childbirth is complicated stuff. With this spate of anti-abortion laws, promulgated by many men who dont understand anything about women's health, theres been a lot of confusion about what these laws do, how pregnancy and abortion work, and what happens next. Here we clear up some common misunderstandings. Conception Is Not Pregnancy Many abortion opponents consider conception to be the point at which the procedure should be criminalized. Conception happens the moment the sperm fertilizes the egg. The fertilized egg, or zygote, takes five or six days to travel up her fallopian tube and then implants into the wall of her uterus. But doctors calculate pregnancy from the first day of a woman's last menstrual cycle, which includes the weeks prior to conception. A law granting legal rights to a zygote would affect the legality of the morning-after pill, which can work by preventing a zygote from implanting, and in vitro fertilization, in which frozen zygotes that a woman doesnt use are often discarded. The latter issue came up during the debate in Alabama, because the law as written is vague. It defines a person to include an unborn child in utero at any stage of development, regardless of viability. Chambliss insisted in debate that the ban would not apply until the woman is known to be pregnant. He said a zygote frozen through IVF would not count as a person under the law because its not in a woman. Shes not pregnant. In other words, the point is not to save the life of a clump of cells at any stage of development, but to control a womans ability to do so. Morning-After Pills Aren't a Replacement for Abortion Many women use emergency contraception. But it is only about 95 percent effective at preventing a pregnancy if taken within 24 hours of unprotected sex and 89 percent effective if taken within 72 hours. And it costs up to $60 at the pharmacy if you dont have insurance that covers it, which can be prohibitive for some peopleespecially, say, a 14-year-old who has just been raped, doesnt want to tell anyone, and doesn't have a drivers license. Plus, women arent always immediately aware that the condom broke, or that their regular birth control failed, or that any number of other potential mishaps may have occurred in time to make use of that back-up plan. Heartbeat Bills Target Clumps of Cells Georgia, Ohio, Kentucky, and Mississippi have all passed legislation this year banning abortion as soon as the fetal heartbeat can be detected, which occurs about six weeks into pregnancy. In an interview with Wired, Jennifer Kerns, an ob-gyn at UC San Francisco and director of research in obstetrics and gynecology at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, described it as a group of cells with electrical activity." At that stage of gestation, the fetus is a 3- to 4-millimeter long, partially organized clump of cells with no discernible cardiovascular system. Since doctors count pregnancy from about a month prior to a woman missing her period, this means that a woman would only have a legal window of about two weeks after a missed period to realize she is pregnant, and then schedule and have an abortion. Periods do not run like Swiss trains. They are often late, sometimes we dont even notice that theyre late, and sometimes they disappear altogether. It takes, even in a high-access state, at least a week to access abortion care after scheduling a procedure, and it can take much longer in rural areas and anti-abortion states with few clinics. A Guttmacher Institute study found that 7 percent of patients have to wait more than two weeks to have a procedure, which would push them past the legal limit in these states. Thats why a heartbeat bill is effectively an abortion ban. Women Have Already Been Criminally Penalized by Anti-Choice Legislation This recent crop of bills aim to criminalize doctors who perform abortions, not the women who have them. But that doesnt mean women are immune to prosecution. The Alabama bill says makes performing an abortion a felony, but does not particularly address women who perform abortions on themselves in the absence of safe and legal options. There is already a history in the United States of women being jailed for abortions, even miscarriages, and some cases for experiencing complications during birth. Purvi Patel of Indiana was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2013 for feticide after she said she had a miscarriage. The prosecution successfully claimed that she had illegally used the abortion pill to end her pregnancy, despite that fact that no trace of the medication was found in her system. Her conviction was later overturned. Pregnant women have also been charged or penalized for falling down stairs, refusing C-sections, and eating a poppy seed bagel that tripped up an opiate drug test. Abortion Is Still Legal in the States That Passed Abortion Bans The laws would not take effect until 2020, but they are sure to be temporarily blocked by the courts before then. The Supreme Court has ruled in two landmark cases, Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, that states cant impose an undue burden on womens ability to seek abortion until the fetus is viable, which happens at about 22 weeks of pregnancy. That means these laws are blatantly unconstitutional. And thats the whole point of them. Abortion opponents are hoping that one of these laws will work its way up through the lower courts and get picked up by the big one, so that a theoretical Alabama v. United States eventually replaces Roe and gives states free reign to legislate the procedure as they see fit. Just this week, in a case unrelated to abortion, Franchise Tax Board of California v. Hyatt, Justice Clarence Thomas, writing the decision for the five-conservative majority bloc, premised his argument against precedent, leading many court watchers to believe that they are setting the stage for overturning Roe. Now that President Trump has appointed two conservatives, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, to the court and tipped it to the right, Roe is squarely in danger. But until the high court weighs in, women in red states can continue to make abortion appointments as they did before. What Can I Do to Help? Vote. And help make it easier for other people to vote. The abortion battle is being fought in states, which are heavily gerrymandered in favor of the GOP. Even pro-choice states which havent enshrined abortion rights in their constitutions could be vulnerable to a federal ban on abortion, passed by a Republican Congress, if Roe is overturned. Local races are as important as national ones. The most important thing to understand about abortion is that no one is able to make that decision better than a woman and her doctor. Pregnancy and childbirth are dangerous; women are far more likely to die during or after a live birth than from the complications of an abortion. Men without medical degrees dont write laws about heart surgery or colonoscopies, and they should also stop playing politics with womens health. Laura Bassett is a freelance journalist writing about politics, gender, and culture. Originally Appeared on GQ By Express News Service CHENNAI: Ashok Leyland, an automobile manufacturing major, has bagged an order from Senegal, an African nation, to supply 400 minibuses worth 10.06 million euros, said a statement issued by the company on Thursday. It has received the order from Senbus Industries, a company assembling buses in Dakar, capital of Senegal. The statement from the company said the order was obtained after the successful operation of 475 buses to Senegals Dakar Dem Dikk. Eagle 916 bus, which has been developed exclusively for Africa, will be supplied to Senegal. The bus features superior technology of inline pump with Euro III emission norms, manoeuvrability and fuel-efficiency. Dakar will start receiving buses towards the end of June this year. This project will provide mobility solutions to the country by expanding reach and covering the remote areas through AFTU, a leading private bus association of operator groups that run buses extensively across Senegal. We are very pleased to receive this order from Senbus Industries. This order will be a starting phase to connect rural remote areas of Senegal to urban cities and to promote sustainable mobility. This will further empower the private transport sector in Senegal under AFTU, Ashok Leyland vice-president (Project and Defence Sales, International Operations) Arijit Dutta Chowdhury said. Photo credit: Iconic - Getty Images From ELLE Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas reunited in Cannes today as Chopra continues her first visit to the Cannes Film Festival ever. The actress is in the French city to promote documentary film 5B, which is about the AIDS epidemic in San Francisco. She and Jonas were shot walking around the city in the afternoon, both coordinating in light blue and white. Chopra was in a gorgeous blue dress with a white belt and hat, while Jonas complemented her in a cream two-piece suit and a pale blue top with white sneakers. Photo credit: Iconic - Getty Images The two were shot being affectionate, with Chopra and Jonas holding each other's hand as they walked around town and being generally handsy. When in France and in love... Photo credit: Iconic - Getty Images Chopra made her red carpet debut solo yesterday. The actress stepped out during the Rocketman premiere red carpet, wearing a stunning Roberto Cavalli dress with Chopard jewels. It's not clear yet whether Jonas and Chopra will be on the red carpet together tonight. If they do go together, it would be a big moment for them as a couple: their first Cannes premiere ever together. Photo credit: George Pimentel - Getty Images Chopra gave a brief interview to Page Six yesterday, where she talked about married life and why she doesn't ask her new sister-in-law Sophie Turner for Game of Thrones spoilers. Being married to Jonas, its so different. I love it, Chopra said. As for why she doesn't ask the real-life Sansa what her fate on Game of Thrones is, Chopra explained she empathizes with Turner's situation. Im an actor, I understand the stress around it, she said. Ive never asked, because I wouldnt want to put her in that position. ('You Might Also Like',) Photo credit: Instagram/@tanfrance From ELLE Tan France may be the resident fashion guru on Netflix's Queer Eye, but soon he will be lending his expert advice to a new group of hopefuls-18 to be exact. France and Alexa Chung are set to host a new unscripted, 10 epiosde fashion competition series (think Project Runway meets...Tan France) on Netflix titled Next in Fashion. On the show 18 aspiring designers will compete in a series of fashion challenges and activities that focus on "a different trend or design style that has influenced the way the entire world dresses," according to The Hollywood Reporter. Compared to other fashion competition shows, Next In Fashion's 18 designers are no amateurs and have already worked with major brands and celebrities. At the end of the competition, the winner will be awarded $250,000 to jumpstart their own fashion career and possibly get the chance to collaborate with retail behemoth Net-a-Porter. Joining France and Chung are stylist and fashion editor Elizabeth Stewart-who is responsible for styling Hollywood faves Julia Roberts, Gal Gadot, Jessica Chastain and more- and Eva Chen, director of fashion partnerships at Instagram, who will be guest judges, along with several other names to be announced. Robin Ashbrook and Yasmin Shackleton will be executive producing Next in Fashion. Netflix has yet to announce an official release date for the series but we can still see France in Queer Eye, streaming now on Netflix. ('You Might Also Like',) The fundamental flaws in school dress codes have Gen Z students taking action for the right to express themselves. With social media and the internet being their main connections to the world, they are protesting, starting online petitions and creating websites and hashtags to make their case. A high school in Hawaii with a strict code for prom dresses pushed a student to start a petition charging the restrictions with being discriminating and insulting to girls. A student in Pennsylvania spoke out against a discriminatory commencement ceremony rule. In New Jersey, after a student refused to take off a head wrap, she and her mother went viral on social media. In Arkansas, Laura Orsi started a website and movement on social media called PassTheSkirt, which encourages students to wear skirts and shorts that are shorter than the rule, post a photo with the hashtag, and then pass the clothing to someone of a different race or gender. And a mom in Texas called out a school district for its "sexist" dress code. Photo credit: Rocky89 From ELLE A $25 vape juice robbery gone terribly wrong resulted in the murder of an 18-year-old Colorado all-state rugby player last week, just days before he was set to graduate from high school. According to the affidavit of an Arapahoe County Sheriff's deputy obtained by ELLE.com, Lloyd Chavez was shot on May 8 outside of his home in Centennial, Colorado, and later died in the hospital. He attempted to identify his killer in the final moments of his life, telling authorities before undergoing unsuccessful emergency surgery that the person who shot him was a junior at Cherokee Trial High School in Aurora named "Kenny." After conducting a series of interviews with witnesses, friends, and neighbors, authorities filed arrest warrants for Chavez's classmates 16-year-old Demarea Mitchell, 17-year-old Dominic Stager, 17-year-old Kenneth Gallegos, and 17-year-old Juliana Serrano. The teens allegedly hatched a scheme to rob Chavez of vape juice, but ended up killing him. They have all been charged with first-degree murder. Even though the suspects are charged as adults, they are being held at the Marvin W. Foote Youth Services Center in Centennial, ELLE.com confirms. Serrano allegedly gave conflicting statements to police, but ultimately admitted to visiting Chavezs house with the three other teens to steal vape juice, which he promoted the sale of on his Snapchat. According to the affidavit, she initially said there were no plans to rob Chavez, but later admitted that had been the plan the whole time. Serrano allegedly gave Chavez $25 for the supplies, but he didnt have the promised products. That's when someone brought out a .22 caliber and fatally shot Chavez, according to authorities. The teens fled the scene of the crime without any of the vape juice. Serrano and Stager are reportedly in court on June 3. Gallegos has a status conference scheduled for May 20, while Mitchells is set for June 10, according to ABC 7. Story continues Lloyd was an amazing young man who had his whole life ahead of him, Chavez' cousin, Angie Lilyblade, wrote on Facebook in a tribute post. Chavezs death came just two weeks after the Denver Post lauded his father for rescuing an injured woman from her car after a multi-vehicle crash on Interstate 70. The late teen's friends and family have set up a Facebook page called The Life of Lloyd IV to share memories and photos of him. A celebration of his life is scheduled for this weekend. ('You Might Also Like',) Video Produced by Gaby Levesque and Kayla Jardine The near-total abortion ban passed by the Alabama Legislature and signed into law this week was a major topic of conversation among students at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. A nonscientific sampling of students found that not only had all of them heard about the ban, but most worried about the new law fearing its effects on classmates, women statewide and their school. The ban is the strictest one passed anywhere in the 46 years since the Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that there is a constitutional right to abortion. Even though we knew that this was coming, its shocking to me just how restrictive and inhumane it is, Abba Mellon, the student president of Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity at the school, told Yahoo News Kayla Jardine. This bill is very extreme, and it affects my viewpoint of living in the state itself, said senior Melanie Parker. Im not planning on living here after I graduate. The Alabama Human Life Protection Act makes abortion illegal at every stage of pregnancy, even in cases of incest or rape, unless the mothers life is in danger. It also makes the penalty for providing an abortion up to 99 years in prison. Many said that while they consider themselves pro-life, this law goes too far. I wouldnt personally have an abortion myself. However, I am not here to judge other people, Im just here to support people in what they do, said Ashlynne Rivers, a senior. Noting that the vote in the Alabama Senate was 25 to 6, with the majority being all white, Republican and male, Rivers added, As a man, they dont understand what a woman goes through. She predicted that the law is just going to cause unsafe abortions, because youre not going to stop it. Others speculated that the law would cause prospective students to think twice before matriculating at U of A, where more than half the students are from out of state. A lot of people who might have come here might not now, said Claire Martin, a junior. Mellon agreed: In the past few years weve been in the spotlight for things that are not good. First with Jeff Sessions, then with Roy Moore, now with this. And its really frustrating for me because theres so much good stuff thats happening in Alabama. Cairo (AFP) - Amnesty International voiced concern Friday of a new crackdown against rights activists in Egypt after authorities arrested two government critics this week. The rights watchdog said the arrest of labour rights lawyer Haytham Mohamdeen and former political activist Mostafa Maher "has raised fears that the Egyptian authorities might be embarking on a fresh crackdown targeting peaceful dissent or individuals with history of activism". "These latest arrests have reignited a climate of fear amongst independent activists and human rights organisations about a renewed assault by the Egyptian authorities on the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly," Amnesty's Magdalena Mughrabi said in a statement. Mohamdeen was released from prison in October on probation, after five months of detention on charges of inciting peaceful protests, Amnesty said. On Monday he was summoned by the police and arrested "after being wrongfully accused of violating his probation terms", it said. The following day, plainclothes police officers went to Maher's home and arrested him. On Thursday prosecutors ordered the pair remanded in custody for 15 days for allegedly "aiding a terrorist group in achieving its goals," the London-based human rights organisation said. Amnesty called on Egyptian authorities to release the pair "immediately and unconditionally", saying their detention is "arbitrary" and the charges against them "vague and has no credible basis". Rights groups regularly criticise Egypt for curbing freedom of expression and crushing dissent. Since the army overthrew elected Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, authorities have cracked down on dissent, effectively banning protests and jailing liberal and secular activists as well as Islamists. Authorities insist the measures are necessary to maintain stability and counter terrorism. Montreal (AFP) - The number of people seeking asylum in Canada more than tripled over a two-year period and reached a monthly peak in August 2017 when thousands crossed illegally from the US, Statistics Canada said on Friday. Since Donald Trump took office as US president in January 2017 pledging a hard line on immigration, Canada has faced a spike in asylum seekers who walked across the border, some braving biting cold and dangerous treks. "The recent increase in the number of asylum claimants is partly explained by the rise in irregular migrants," Statistics Canada said in a report, referring to people who cross into the country outside of official entry points. Claims jumped from 16,058 in 2015 to 50,389 in 2017. They rose even higher, to 55,023, in 2018. A monthly peak of 8,801 asylum requests was reached in August 2017, Statistics Canada said. Haitians, with 7,787 claimants, were the largest group that year, followed by Nigerians and US citizens. Thousands of Haitians fled the United States in the summer of 2017 before the Trump administration's formal revocation in November that year of Temporary Protected Status granted to 59,000 nationals of the Caribbean country after a 2010 earthquake. Canada's previous peaks in asylum claims occurred in 2001, with more than 44,000, and 2008, when almost 37,000 people requested protection. Under a Canada-US agreement, asylum seekers must file their claim in the country they arrive in. But this rule does not apply to those who reach Canada by avoiding official border crossings, who are then assured of having their application examined by the authorities. Of the 50,389 asylum claims received by Canada in 2017, 12,234 were accepted, 10,930 were rejected, and 27,225 are pending, according to Statistics Canada data. By Tamara Mathias (Reuters) - Boeing Co said on Thursday it had completed a software update for its 737 MAX jets, which have been grounded worldwide since March after they were involved in two fatal crashes. The planemaker said it was in the process of submitting a plan on pilot training to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and would work with the regulator to schedule its certification test flight. The FAA is planning a meeting on May 23 in Fort Worth, Texas, with regulators from around the world to update them on reviews of Boeing's software fix and on pilot training. Aviation regulators from other countries will have to assess Boeing's proposed fixes and clear the aircraft to fly in other regions independently of the FAA. It is unclear when the 737 MAX aircraft will return to service, but U.S. airlines have said they hope the jets will fly this summer. Southwest Airlines Co and American Airlines Group Inc, the two largest U.S. operators of the MAX, have pulled the jets from their schedules until Aug. 5 and Aug 19, respectively. The airlines, which must still decide on pilot training, have said they would use the jets as spare planes if they are approved for flight before those dates. The FAA said on Thursday that Boeing had not yet submitted its final software package for approval. On Wednesday, acting FAA Administrator Dan Elwell said he expected Boeing to make its formal submission for its software update in the next week or so. The 737 MAX was grounded following a fatal Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed all 157 on board just five months after a similar crash of a Lion Air flight killed 189 people. Boeing hopes the software upgrade and associated pilot training will add layers of protection to prevent erroneous data from triggering a system called MCAS, which was activated in both the planes before they crashed. The planemaker said it had completed simulator testing and engineering test flights as well as developed training and education materials, which were now being reviewed by the FAA, global regulators and airline customers. To date, Boeing has flown the 737 MAX with updated software for more than 360 hours on 207 flights, the company said https://boeing.mediaroom.com/news-releases-statements?item=130434. (Reporting by Tamara Mathias in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Tracy Rucinski; Editing by Anil D'Silva) DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) A Yemen rebel drone strike this week on a critical Saudi oil pipeline shows that the otherwise-peaceful sandy reaches of the Arabian Peninsula now are at risk of similar assault, including an under-construction nuclear power plant and Dubai International Airport, among the world's busiest. U.N. investigators said the Houthis' new UAV-X drone, found in recent months during the Saudi-led coalition's war in Yemen, likely has a range of up to 1,500 kilometers (930 miles). That puts the far reaches of both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the two main opponents of the Iranian-allied Houthi rebels in Yemen, within reach of drones difficult to detect and track. Their relatively simple design, coupled with readily available information online, makes targeting even easier, analysts say. "These installations are easily findable like on Google Earth," said Tim Michetti, an expert on illicit weapons technology with experience in Yemen. "Once you get in the vicinity, that alone has that kind of effect of showing that the reach is there." The drone attacks come amid heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S., a year after President Donald Trump pulled America out of Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers. The White House has ordered an aircraft carrier and bombers into the region over a still-unexplained threat from Iran, while nonessential employees at U.S. diplomatic posts in Iraq have been ordered to leave the country. On Sunday, the United Arab Emirates alleged four oil tankers off its eastern coast were targeted by sabotage. On Tuesday, the Houthis say they launched seven drones to target Saudi Arabia. The drones stuck pumping stations along the kingdom's crucial East-West Pipeline, causing minor damage, Saudi officials say. A satellite photo obtained by The Associated Press of one of the pumping stations showed two black marks near where the pipeline passes that weren't there the day before. Story continues In the months after the March 2015 start of the war in Yemen, Houthi rebels began using drones in combat. The first appeared to be off-the-shelf, hobby-kit-style drones. Later, versions nearly identical to Iranian models turned up. Iran denies supplying the Houthis with weapons, although the U.N., the West and Gulf Arab nations say Tehran does. The rebels have flown drones into the radar arrays of Saudi Arabia's Patriot missile batteries, according to Conflict Armament Research, disabling them and allowing the Houthis to fire ballistic missiles into the kingdom unchallenged. Some have been used for surveillance purposes, while others have been loaded with explosives and ball bearings to deadly effect. In January, a bomb-laden Houthi drone detonated at a military parade near Aden, killing at least six people, including the commander of military intelligence for Yemen's internationally recognized government. Saudi officials haven't offered any photographs of the sites attacked, nor given any explanation of what kind of drone the Houthis used Tuesday. However, the UAV-X is a likely culprit. The drone, with a wingspan of 4.5 meters (14.7 feet), has a V-shaped tail fin. It's powered by a rear-mounted engine and has been found with what appears to be extra fuel tanks welded it to, a U.N. panel of experts found. It carries a 18-kilogram (40-pound) warhead. The drone is likely programmed to strike a specific latitude and longitude and cannot be controlled once out of radio range, Michetti said. In the case of Tuesday's attack, the latitude and longitude of the pumping stations could be easily found online. The U.N. put the drone's maximum range at 1,500 kilometers. "It would give credence to the claims by the Houthis that they have the capability to hit targets such as Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and Dubai," the U.N. panel said. For Saudi Arabia, that range puts the oil fields of its Eastern Province in range. Saudi Aramco declined to comment when reached by the AP. In the neighboring UAE, an immediate target is the under-construction Barakah nuclear power plant, which is deep in its western desert. The $20 billion, four-reactor plant being built with help from South Korea, has been considered a target by the Houthis since December 2017, when they claimed without offering evidence to have fired a cruise missile at it, something immediately denied by the UAE. Asked about the possible drone threat, the UAE's Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation said it had "in place regulations to ensure the protection of the nuclear power plant from all kinds of threats, including physical or cyberattacks," without elaborating. Also within reach is the skyscraper-studded city of Dubai, a crucial link in worldwide global travel. Dubai International Airport bills itself as the world's busiest for international travel. Officials at the airport declined to comment, referring the AP to the UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority. The authority did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Houthis have claimed without evidence to have targeted both airports in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, something denied by authorities. Speaking to journalists Wednesday night, a top Emirati diplomat sought to play down the danger faced by the federation of seven sheikhdoms, while still acknowledging the threats to regional stability. "We live in a region where we can't come and be happy because we are the only house in the neighborhood that has not been arsoned or burgled," said Anwar Gargash, the UAE's minister of state for foreign affairs. ___ Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP . By Express News Service HYDERABAD: A resident of Talab Katta in the city, who was rescued from Malaysia after the intervention of the Ministry of External Affairs but landed straight in Tamil Nadu jail for possession of a duplicate VISA to Malaysia, has been released and sent back to Hyderabad. He started back to the city two days ago after spending two weeks in Tiruchirapalli jail. 24-year-old Shamsher Ahmed had gone to Malaysia in search of employment in 2017. He was approached by an agent and was offered a job in Kuala Lumpur to work as a packer with Beyonics Technology, for 2000 Malaysian Ringet. He wanted to return as he was being paid only 1000 Ringets as opposed to 2000 Ringets, said Amjed Ullah Khan of MBT, who had approached the MEA on behalf of Ahmeds family. However he was not allowed to return as his visit visa changed to an employment visa, said Khan. Ahmeds father, Mohammed Chand wrote to the Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj to take action. After much persuasion, he was sent back to India. However, once he landed in Tamil Nadu, he was arrested by authorities for travelling with a duplicate visa. It was later found that the agent had sent him to Malaysia with a duplicate visa. The decision of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka on May 17, 1954 is perhaps the most famous of all Supreme Court cases, as it started the process ending segregation. It overturned the equally far-reaching decision of Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896. In the Plessy case, the Supreme Court decided by a 7-1 margin that separate but equal public facilities could be provided to different racial groups. In his majority opinion, Justice Henry Billings Brown pointed to schools as an example of the legality of segregation. The most common instance of this is connected with the establishment of separate schools for white and colored children, which has been held to be a valid exercise of the legislative power even by courts of States where the political rights of the colored race have been longest and most earnestly enforced, he said. The lone dissenter, Justice John Marshall Harlan, wrote, In my opinion, the judgment this day rendered will, in time, prove to be quite as pernicious as the decision made by this tribunal in the Dred Scott Case (referencing the controversial 1857 decision about slavery). Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens, he added. The Plessy decision institutionalized Jim Crow laws that allowed racial segregation to continue for decades. By 1951, the issue was heading back to the Court for review, and the outlook didnt look promising for the forces that had united to overturn the Plessy decision. The NAACP and its attorney, Thurgood Marshall, had been litigating segregation in court for years and had won some isolated victories. The Brown case was actually a combination of five cases involving segregation at public schools in Kansas, Delaware, Virginia, South Carolina, and the District of Columbia. Oliver Brown, the father of lead plaintiff Linda Brown, sued on her behalf after Linda was refused admission to an all-white secondary public school in Topeka, Kansas. Story continues The justices who first heard the case in 1953 were divided. Chief Justice Fred Vinson, from Kentucky, wasnt convinced that Plessy should be overturned on constitutional grounds. Several other justices were undecided and possibly leaning toward upholding Plessy. Four justices seemed to be committed to overturning Plessy, but five votes were needed, and there were concerns about a divided court. Another concern was about how the Brown decision, if it overturned segregation, could be enforced in 19 states and the District of Columbia without widespread violence. The court decided in June 1953 to hear additional arguments in the case later in the year. But in September 1953, Chief Justice Vinson died suddenly from a heart attack. President Dwight Eisenhower had promised the next Supreme Court opening to the politically powerful Earl Warren, the former Governor of California. Warren was appointed Chief Justice and the court met in a private session in December to discuss the Brown case. Two justices took notes of the meeting, which indicate that Warren made a powerful opening statement that made it clear the Court was heading toward the end of segregation. Warren talked about the abilities of Marshall and the legal team from the NAACP. If oral argument proved anything, the arguments of Negro counsel proved that they are not inferior. I dont see how we can continue in this day and age to set one group apart from the rest and say that they are not entitled to exactly the same treatment as all others, Warren said. At present, my instincts and tentative feelings would lead me to say that in these cases we should abolish, in a tolerant way, the practice of segregation in public schools, he said. Warren also made it clear he would work with the justices to find unanimity and uniformity, even if we have some differences. Two justicesRobert Jackson and Stanley Reedhad concerns about the Supreme Court making a decision that would be better left to Congress. There were also questions about Marshalls arguments, which referred much to the sociological evidence about the damage caused by segregation (and not as much to prior case law). On May 17, 1954, Warren read the final decision: The Supreme Court was unanimous in its decision that segregation must end. In its next session, it would tackle the issue of how that would happen. We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of separate but equal has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal, Warren said. The announcement made international headlines and more than a few newspapers saw the decision as vindication for Justice Harlans dissent in the 1896 Plessy case. Not long after the Brown decision, in October 1954, Justice Robert Jackson died and President Eisenhower picked his replacement from the Second Circuit Court: Judge John Marshall Harlan, the grandson and namesake of the famous dissenter. By Yawen Chen and Se Young Lee BEIJING (Reuters) - China on Thursday slammed a decision by the U.S. government to put telecom equipment giant Huawei on a blacklist and said it will take steps to protect its companies, in a further test of ties as the economic heavyweights clash over trade. China is strongly against other countries imposing unilateral sanctions on Chinese entities, a Commerce Ministry spokesman said, stressing that the United States should avoid further damaging Sino-U.S. trade relations. The crackdown on Huawei came as U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he would visit China soon for more trade talks. Hopes for a deal to end their trade war have been thrown into doubt after the world's two biggest economies raised tariffs on each other's goods in the past week. The U.S. Commerce Department said on Wednesday it was adding Huawei Technologies Co and 70 affiliates to its so-called "Entity List" in a move that bans the Chinese company from acquiring components and technology from U.S. firms without prior U.S. government approval. President Donald Trump separately on Wednesday signed an executive order barring U.S. firms from using telecom equipment made by companies deemed to pose a national security risk. The order did not specifically identify any country or company, but U.S. officials have previously labeled Huawei a "threat" and lobbied allies not to use Huawei network equipment in next-generation 5G networks. "China has emphasized many times that the concept of national security should not be abused, and that it should not be used as a tool for trade protectionism," Gao Feng, spokesman at the Chinese commerce ministry, told reporters. "China will take all the necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights of Chinese firms." U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Trump backed the decision to "prevent American technology from being used by foreign-owned entities in ways that potentially undermine U.S. national security or foreign policy interests." In response, Huawei, which denies its products pose a security threat, said it was "ready and willing to engage with the U.S. government and come up with effective measures to ensure product security." It said restricting Huawei from doing business in the United States would "limit the U.S. to inferior yet more expensive alternatives, leaving the U.S. lagging behind in 5G deployment and eventually harming the interests of U.S. companies and consumers." Putting constraints on Huawei's supply chain could also delay its procurement of components and parts needed to help Chinese telecom operators roll out 5G in China, Jefferies wrote in a note, unless Beijing manages to negotiate with Washington to help Huawei get out of "jail". "Assuming the U.S. export ban on Huawei remains unresolved for the next 12-24 months, we highly doubt if China would stick to its timetable of building 5G aggressively," the U.S. brokerage wrote. The sanctions on Huawei were also likely to have ramifications beyond the company itself, rattling the global tech supply chain, analysts said. China is also angry about Canada's arrest of Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou in December. Meng faces extradition to the United States on charges that she conspired to defraud global banks about Huawei's relationship with a company operating in Iran. She and the company deny the charges. Also on Thursday, China's Foreign Ministry announced the formal arrest of two Canadian citizens who have been detained shortly after Meng's arrest. While Canada says China has made no specific link between the detentions of the two men and Meng's arrest, experts and former diplomats say they have no doubt it is using their cases to pressure Canada. UNCERTAIN OUTLOOK Trump had softened his trade rhetoric on Tuesday and insisted talks had not collapsed. He also announced plans to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at a G20 summit in Japan late next month. When asked about media reports that the two leaders had to meet face to face to resolve the trade dispute, Gao said those reports were not true. He added that he had no information on any plans for a U.S. trade delegation to visit China. Foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang, asked if China had invited U.S. officials for more talks, said China always advocated resolving disputes through dialogue. "Negotiations and consultations, to have meaning, must be sincere," Lu told reporters at a separate daily briefing. "First, there must be mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit. Second, one's word must be kept, and not be capricious." TARIFF ESCALATION As negotiations toward resolving the U.S.-China trade war stalled last week, the United States ramped up the pressure by raising tariffs on a list of $200 billion worth of Chinese imports to 25% from 10%. China retaliated with higher tariffs on a revised list of $60 billion worth of U.S. products. Trump has threatened to launch 25% tariffs on another $300 billion worth of Chinese goods. "The tariff hike by the United States will only bring greater difficulties to the consultations," Gao said. "We urge the United States to cancel the wrong practices as early as possible, avoiding greater losses to Chinese and American companies and consumers, and causing a 'recession-like' impact on the world economy." Three differences remain between the two countries, according to China. China believes tariffs were the genesis of the trade dispute, and that all tariffs must be eliminated in order to reach a deal. The second issue centers on the additional volume of U.S. goods that China will agree to buy, Vice Premier Liu He, China's lead trade negotiator, said last week without giving details. The third is over how balanced the text of the draft agreement of the trade deal should be, he said. "To reach any agreement, China's three core concerns must be properly resolved," Gao said. (Reporting by Yawen Chen and Se Young Lee; Additional reporting by Michael Martina; Writing by Ryan Woo; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore & Kim Coghill) BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the powerful BDI industry association distanced themselves on Thursday from the U.S. government's decision to put Chinese telecom equipment giant Huawei Technologies on a blacklist. China has slammed the U.S. move and threatened to take its own steps to protect its companies, in a further test of ties as the economic heavyweights clash over trade. "Europe needs to maintain its own course," the BDI said, adding that the European Union would decide independently which companies it would allow to build 5G network infrastructure. "Europe must not be dragged into the trade dispute between China and the United States," it added. Merkel, asked during a news conference about the U.S. decision on Huawei, said Germany would stick to its position that companies bidding in the country's 5G auction must meet criteria set by the government. Germany in March set tough rules for vendors supplying telecoms network equipment, but stopped short of singling out Huawei for special treatment due to concerns over its ties to the Chinese government. The BDI urged the German government and the European Commission, the EU's executive body, to stick to the planned auction procedure and quickly agree joint security standards. "German industry quickly needs legal and planning certainty in 5G expansion," the BDI said. It called for Europe-wide coordination on security specifications, which would be independent of equipment manufacturers. (Reporting by Michael Nienaber; Editing by Kirsten Donovan) BERLIN (Reuters) - European countries said on Thursday they wanted to preserve Iran's nuclear deal and rejected "ultimatums" from Tehran, after Iran relaxed restrictions on its nuclear program and threatened moves that might breach the 2015 international pact. Iran's announcement on Wednesday, related to curbs on its stockpiling of nuclear materials, was in response to U.S. sanctions imposed following President Donald Trump's withdrawal of the United States from the accord with Tehran a year ago. Iran's initial moves do not appear to violate the accord yet. But President Hassan Rouhani said that unless the world powers which signed the deal protect Iran's economy from U.S. sanctions within 60 days, Iran would start enriching uranium beyond limits set in the agreement. "We reject any ultimatums and we will assess Iran's compliance on the basis of Iran's performance regarding its nuclear-related commitments ...," read a statement issued jointly by the European Union and the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany, co-signatories of the deal. "We are determined to continue pursuing efforts to enable the continuation of legitimate trade with Iran," they said, adding that this included getting a special purpose vehicle aimed at enabling non-dollar business with Iran off the ground. In response, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a Twitter post that EU countries should uphold their obligations in the nuclear deal with Iran and normalize economic ties despite U.S. sanctions, "instead of demanding that Iran unilaterally abide by a multilateral accord". The nuclear deal required Iran to curb its uranium enrichment capacity to head off any pathway to developing a nuclear bomb, in return for the removal of most international sanctions. A series of more intrusive U.N. inspections under the deal have verified that Iran is meeting its commitments. Iran has always denied that it was seeking a nuclear weapon and says it wants to abide by the nuclear deal. The Trump administration argues that the nuclear deal was flawed because it is not permanent, does not address Iran's missile program and does not punish Iran for what Washington considers meddling in regional countries. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo alluded to that in a statement on Thursday. "To date the regimes default option has been violence, and we appeal to those in Tehran who see a path to a prosperous future through de-escalation to modify the regime's behavior," Pompeo said. "Our restraint to this point should not be mistaken by Iran for a lack of resolve," Pompeo said. Iran nuclear deal - https://tmsnrt.rs/2WqRqfI TRUMP RENEWS TALKS APPEAL Trump, who has previously expressed a willingness to meet Iranian leaders to no avail, on Thursday renewed that appeal in an impromptu news conference at the White House. "They should call. If they do, we're open to talk to them," Trump said. He also said he could not rule out a military confrontation given the heightened tensions. Trump declined to say what prompted him to deploy the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier group to the region over what was described as unspecified threats. In an MSNBC interview, the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations Majid Takht Ravanchi said: "All of a sudden he decided to leave the negotiating table ... What is the guarantee that he will not renege again?" He dismissed U.S. allegations of an Iranian threat as "fake intelligence" comparing it to the run-up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. The commander overseeing U.S. naval forces in the Middle East told Reuters on Thursday that American intelligence showing a threat from Iran will not prevent him from sending an aircraft carrier through the vital Strait of Hormuz, if needed. "I am not in a war-plan footing and have not been tasked to do so," U.S. Vice Admiral Jim Malloy, commander of the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet, said in a phone interview. "However we are absolutely ready to respond to any aggression against the United States, partners in the region, or our interests." The Trump administration has ratcheted up sanctions this month, effectively ordering all countries to halt all purchases of Iranian oil or face their own sanctions. The move creates a dilemma for Washington's European allies which say they share its concerns about Iranian behavior but think the Trump administration's tactics are likely to backfire. The European allies believe Trump's campaign to isolate the Islamic Republic plays into the hands of Tehran hardliners and undermines pragmatists within the Iranian leadership who want to open the country up to the world. French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday called for the nuclear deal to be extended to cover other issues of concern to the West, such as Iran's regional policies and ballistic missiles, rather than jettisoned. "Leaving the 2015 nuclear agreement is a mistake because it is undoing what we have already done. That's why France is remaining and will remain a part of it and I deeply hope that Iran will remain," Macron said. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the EU wants to avoid an escalation in the dispute and Tehran must recognize that it is in its own interests to remain committed to the deal. European countries have tried to develop a system to allow outside investors to do business with Iran while avoiding falling foul of U.S. sanctions. But in practice this has failed so far, with all major European firms that had announced plans to invest in Iran saying they would no longer do so. A spokesman for Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation said on Thursday Tehran's goal was to bring the agreement "back on track". But Tehran has also maintained that it will leave the deal, known as the JCPOA, unless it receives more economic support as envisaged by the 2015 pact. "We have not left the JCPOA so far, but we have put such a move on our agenda and that would happen step by step," Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi was quoted as saying by state-run PressTV on Wednesday night. Supporters of the nuclear deal, including Trump's predecessor Barack Obama and European allies, say the pact extends the time it would take Iran to make a nuclear weapon if it decided to do so, and guarantees that it would be caught. Lifting sanctions, they argue, would show ordinary Iranians the benefits of cooperating with the world and make it more difficult for hardliners to roll back reforms. (Reporting by Madeline Chambers, Andreas Rinke, Bozorgmehr Sharafedin, Steve Holland and Phil Stewart; Writing by Peter Graff and Grant McCool; Editing by Mark Heinrich and James Dalgleish) By Mariya Gordeyeva and Alla Afanasyeva NUR-SULTAN/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Kazakh oil flowing via Russia to be loaded on tankers at the Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga has been contaminated and Kazakhstan plans to seek compensation from Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft, a senior Kazakh energy official said. Russia's oil export flows have been disrupted since April, when high levels of organic chloride were found in crude pumped via the Druzhba pipeline to Ust-Luga and other European countries. Six tankers with 598,000 tonnes of tainted oil were loaded at Ust-Luga, Kazakh Deputy Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Aset Magaulov told Reuters. "First, companies that sold the oil will talk to buyers about a discount, then ... (Kazakh pipeline operator) Kaztransoil will have separate talks with Transneft," Magaulov said. Neither Transneft nor the Russian energy ministry replied to a Reuters request for comment. Magaulov added that two separate tankers with 199,000 tonnes of clean Kazakh oil were loaded from Ust-Luga between May 10 and May 15. Russia's energy ministry said earlier that clean oil had started to be loaded at Ust-Luga. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak said on Thursday that Transneft would compensate all parties for losses incurred from contaminated oil if they could prove the damage, while the first European refinery declared force majeure. "Based on the oil agreement with Transneft, given the fact that we supplied clean oil but it got contaminated ... there should be compensation from Transneft," Magaulov said. Kazakhstan, which produces around 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil, is the second-biggest oil producer among former Soviet countries after Russia. Kazakhstan exports around 12 percent of its oil via Russia's Ust-Luga. Magaulov said a preliminary agreement had been reached with buyers under which they would take the contaminated oil at a discount. However, talks on such a discount are continuing and there is no estimate of potential compensation. Story continues ExxonMobil, Chevron, Eni, CNPC and Lukoil are among the international companies producing oil in Kazakhstan. The Druzhba pipeline splits in Belarus into a northern spur to Poland and Germany and a southern leg via Ukraine to Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic. Only Hungary has resumed test flows to see whether its refinery equipment can withstand the contaminated oil. Druzhba can pump 1 million bpd, or 1 percent of global oil demand. Ukraine and Belarus have said they will ask Transneft for compensation. CLEANING UP On Thursday, Russia's Kozak said it would take 22 days to clean one branch of Druzhba and seven days for the other, without specifying which was which. Meanwhile, Poland has increased seaborne oil imports and Czech refiner Unipetrol will start drawing the second batch of an emergency loan of crude from state reserves overnight. France's Total has suspended operations at some units of its 230,000-bpd Leuna refinery in Germany for technical checks following the Russian contamination. Total said it was trying to manage any long-term supply complications and planned to resume operations on Saturday using crude sent via the Polish port of Gdansk. Russian oil production remained under pressure due to the pipeline debacle. Output from May 1-16 fell to 11.156 million bpd, below the 11.18 million bpd level set in a supply-limiting deal with producer group OPEC, two industry sources said. Before the contamination, sources indicated Moscow wanted to pump more from July along with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which was considering whether to raise output if Venezuelan and Iranian supply dropped further. A panel of OPEC and non-OPEC ministers meets on Sunday in Saudi Arabia to discuss the market and make recommendations. The group, known as OPEC+, gathers in June to decide whether to renew the supply-cutting deal. (Reporting by Mariya Gordeyeva in NUR-SULTAN and Alla Afanasyeva in MOSCOW; Additional reporting by Jan Lopatka in PRAGUE; Gleb Gorodyankin and Olesya Astakhova in MOSCOW; Bate Felix in PARIS; Writing by Katya Golubkova; Editing by Dale Hudson) MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australians go to the polls on Saturday to choose between extending the six-year rule of the conservative Liberal-National coalition or electing the center-left Labor party. The coalition has been trailing Labor in opinion polls for years but the gap has narrowed during the campaign. Following are some key facts about the two men leading their parties, Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Labor's Bill Shorten. SCOTT MORRISON, LEADER OF LIBERAL PARTY: ** Born in 1968 in Sydney's eastern suburbs, Morrison earned an honors degree in Applied Economic Geography and later had management positions in Australia and New Zealand's tourism industries and in the Liberal party. ** Morrison became prominent in 2013 when, as immigration minister, he enforced the government's hard-line strategy of offshore detention and processing centers for asylum seekers. ** Treasurer from September 2015 to August 2018, Morrison emerged as a surprise leader after a right-wing uprising forced Malcolm Turnbull from office. ** A strident supporter of traditional energy industries, Morrison brought a lump of coal to the parliament in 2017 and taunted the opposition by saying: "This is coal. Don't be afraid. Don't be scared. It won't hurt you." ** Morrison is a Pentecostal Christian and told parliament his beliefs are personal and not a political agenda. He and his wife of 29 years live in Sydney with their two daughters. BILL SHORTEN, LABOR LEADER: ** A native of Melbourne, Shorten and his non-identical twin brother were born in 1967 and spent their childhoods in the southern city's suburbs. ** Shorten earned a bachelor of laws degree from Monash University and later completed an MBA at the Melbourne Business School. He spent most of his early career rising through workers' union ranks. ** His public profile was boosted in 2006 when two miners were trapped underground in a mine in Beaconsfield, Tasmania. As union secretary, Shorten became the unofficial spokesman for the families and the community in the two weeks before the men were rescued. ** A Labor member since the age of 17, Shorten became opposition leader after the party was voted out of office in 2013. ** Shorten, raised Catholic, converted to Anglicanism before marrying his second wife in 2009. He lives with his family in Melbourne. Asked in 2014 how long he had wanted to become prime minister, he said: "I don't remember now." (Reporting by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Paul Tait) Rome (AFP) - Families with children saved in the Mediterranean by the German charity Sea-Watch were given permission to land in Italy Friday, despite the interior minister's "closed ports" policy. "Italian authorities have informed us of their availability to disembark families on board: children, mothers, fathers," Sea-Watch said on Twitter, two days after it rescued 65 migrants in distress off Libya. Crew aboard the Dutch-flagged Sea-Watch 3 had warned the migrants needed medical and psychological care. Seven children were disembarked, along with seven mothers, three fathers and an injured man, the interior ministry said. Save the Children had appealed earlier Friday for an end to the odyssey of those who had risked the perilous crossing from North Africa to seek safety in Europe. As the Italian coast guard began transferring the families to the island of Lampedusa, the charity insisted the remaining migrants should be allowed off too. "All lives are equal, and have the right to a port of safety. "If Italy's not willing to do so, the EU must shoulder its responsibilities and find a solution," it said on Twitter. On Wednesday, far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini had issued a snap directive banning the Sea Watch vessel from entering Italian territorial waters, saying "our ports are and remain closed" -- a statement he repeated Friday. Brussels (AFP) - Next week's European parliamentary election will set the scene for a summer-long political battle over Brussels' most powerful posts, with Germany and France at loggerheads over who takes the top spot. The apparent frontrunner to replace Jean-Claude Juncker as president of the European Commission is German MEP Manfred Weber, the candidate of the EPP, the main centre-right bloc in the assembly. But Weber's main sponsor, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, is at odds with French President Emmanuel Macron who opposes him, and EU capitals don't want to cede the decision to parliament. "If Germany doesn't get the Commission because of France, then France won't get it either," predicted a well-placed Brussels insider, playing down the chances of EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier getting the nod. This could open the door for someone else, possibly the outgoing EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager, the former Danish minister and breakout star of the Juncker administration. If she does get the job she will become the first woman to hold the EU's top post. Vestager is not a member of the European parliament, but she has been nominated by the liberal ALDE group, which is expected to swell in size and power with the arrival of members from Macron's centrist movement. This democratic fig-leaf could be enough to quiet supporters of the so-called "spitzenkandidat" process, under which the leader of the biggest group -- probably Weber's EPP -- should get the prize. "The chancellor would support Vestager's candidacy, because parliament will insist that the nominee come from one of the political groups," the senior political source said. - 'The lack of understanding is total' - Several parliamentary sources confirmed to AFP that no nominee "pulled from the hat" without having gone through the motions of the spitzenkandidat campaign would be acceptable to the European parliament members (MEPs). Story continues But the eventual president's group would not have to have won the biggest share of seats, as long as he or -- this year more likely -- she has support on the all-powerful European Council of national leaders. Until recently, it had been said in Brussels that Barnier might emerge after the elections as a compromise candidate. The respected negotiator is in Merkel's EPP and hails from Macron's France. But last week when the EU leaders met in the Romanian mountain town of Sibiu, Merkel did not appreciate it when Macron publicly spoke against Weber and against the spitzenkandidat process itself. "We shouldn't compromise on the least bad candidate," Macron said, in remarks seen as a swipe at both Merkel's conservative ally Weber and the current Commission chief and former EPP candidate Juncker. Already, at the previous European summit Macron infuriated his colleagues by his opposition to extending Britain's deadline for negotiating Brexit -- with Barnier his only high-profile backer. After Sibiu, Merkel has admitted in an interview that sometimes she and Macron "wrestle" over issues, and Brussels insiders describe this as a polite euphemism for a "terrible" relationship. "The lack of understanding is total," one said. Among the other candidates for the top EU job are Dutchman Frans Timmermans who leads the Social Democrats' campaign. He is currently the first Vice-President of the European Commission and deputy to Juncker. - Horse-trading - More than 400 million Europeans are eligible to vote in a series of parallel elections between Thursday and Sunday, after which group leaders will negotiate new voting blocks in Strasbourg. But the national leaders will want to steal a march on parliament and impose their own choices for the top jobs -- so the European Council will meet almost immediately on May 28. There, they will launch the hunt not only for someone to replace Juncker at the Commission, but also former Polish premier Donald Tusk as chairman of the leaders' council. Other prime jobs up for grabs will be those held by a trio of Italians: High Representative for foreign relations, Federica Mogherini, Mario Draghi at the European Central Bank and EU parliamentary speaker Antonio Tajani. Brussels officials are keen that the senior posts be fairly spread around the continent in geographical terms, and that horsetrading between the leaders and parliament will determine their ideological bent. But many, including Vestager herself, have insisted that this time women should be given a fair shake. After the May 28 meeting, Tusk has set himself the task of putting together a list of nominees to be approved at the planned European Council summit on June 20 and 21. "I will do my best to build more balance than today," Tusk said in Sibiu. By Express News Service HYDERABAD: A Hyderabadi man who was held responsible for death of two colleagues in an accident in Uganda and directed to pay hefty compensation to the families of the deceased, has returned home. Mohammed Saleem Uddin was working as a branch manager in a medical company for the last six years. His stay in Uganda took an ugly turn on May 3 of 2018. He had sent his co-workers, Mobashir Ahmed (a Pakistani national) and Omugisha Gerald (a Ugandan national) in his car for official work. However, on their way back due to heavy rain they met with an accident at Kabwohe. The car toppled over a cliff and both the occupants along with car were burnt. The company held Saleem responsible for the incident and filed a case against him. He was him to pay a heavy amount of money to the deceaseds families, said Amjed Ullah Khan of MBT who helped the family of Saleem Uddin to approach the Ministry of External Affairs. His mother Shaheen Sultana through Khan wrote to Sushma Swaraj, Minister for External Affairs, requesting help. After much persuasion by the Indian High Commission in Kampala, Uganda on the local police and the company, he got back his passport and he returned home to Hyderabad. By Makini Brice and David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin defied a congressional subpoena seeking six years of President Donald Trump's tax returns on Friday, all but guaranteeing a federal court battle with Congress over the records. In a widely expected move, Mnuchin rejected a demand for the documents from House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, saying the panel lacks "a legitimate legislative purpose" for obtaining the tax records that Democrats view as critical to their efforts to investigate Trump and his presidency. "We are unable to provide the requested information in response to the committee's subpoena," Mnuchin said in a letter to Neal, released ahead of a 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT) deadline for delivering the documents. Neal later issued a statement, saying he was "consulting with counsel on how best to enforce the subpoenas moving forward." Hours earlier, the Democratic chairman had said he was inclined to turn to federal court to obtain Trump's tax returns, if the administration missed the deadline. "We will likely proceed to court as quickly as next week," Neal had told reporters. Asked whether he would also pursue contempt charges against administration officials, Neal told reporters: "I don't see that right now as an option. I think that the better option for us is to proceed with a court case." Trump's refusal to cooperate in numerous congressional probes of him, his family and his presidency is forcing Democrats, who control the House of Representatives, to look to the courts to enforce their oversight powers under the U.S. Constitution. The likely decision to avoid contempt proceedings disappointed some Democrats on Neal's tax panel. "This is a way for some congressmen to go south on the issue: leave it to the courts. It really absents us from our responsibilities," said Representative Bill Pascrell, who helped lead the push to obtain Trump's tax returns. OTHER DEMOCRATS MOVE TOWARD CONTEMPT Unlike Neal, other top Democrats faced with administration defiance over inquiries have moved toward contempt charges. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler's panel voted last week to recommend that the House cite Attorney General William Barr with contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena for U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller's unredacted Russia investigation report. Trump's decision to assert executive privilege over Mueller-related material last week has stymied efforts by Democrats to get current and former members of the executive branch to testify, including Mueller himself, according to congressional aides. Democrats had sought to have Mueller testify by May 23, but sources familiar with the matter said on Friday that Mueller was unlikely to appear before the committee. Democrats could move forward with more contempt citations as early as next week. Nadler has threatened to hold former White House counsel Don McGahn in contempt, if he fails to show up for a hearing slated for Tuesday. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff is also planning "enforcement action" against the Justice Department over a separate Mueller-related subpoena. Democratic leaders are considering bundling separate contempt citations into a single House of Representatives package to bring to a floor vote later this year. On Wednesday, White House counsel Pat Cipollone sent a letter to Nadler, saying Congress has no right to conduct a "do-over" of Mueller's Russia probe, and that it would not participate in his committee's investigation. But congressional pressure on Trump is only expected to intensify. Schiff's committee meets on Monday to release closed-door testimony by former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, who is in prison. Cohen talked to the panel in March about issues including Trump's involvement in pursuing a Moscow tower project during the 2016 presidential election. Trump at the time publicly denied any links to Russia. On Thursday, House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings announced another probe into the Trump administration, targeting what Cummings called "secret ethics waivers" allowing political appointees to continue working on matters they worked on before entering government. In a statement, Cummings said he had requested that the administration turn over copies of waivers for political appointees to let them conduct official business, despite potential conflicts of interest. (Reporting by Makini Brice and David Morgan; additional reporting by Mark Hosenball; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Bill Berkrot) Fashion brand Monki is opening up the conversation around mental health with its latest collection. The label, which is part of the Swedish H&M Group, has teamed up with the non-profit organization Mental Health Europe for a second time in a bid to encourage discussion about the topic. The collaboration comprises a series of three short films based on different emotions, spanning feeling happy, feeling sad and feeling everything simultaneously. The videos, which offer practical tips aimed at improving mental well-being, are accompanied by four limited-edition t-shirts emblazoned with the statement Embrace your feels' and a longer message focusing on self-care. The shirts will launch in Monki stores worldwide and online from mid-May. "Empowering young women is at the core of everything we do at Monki," said Jennie Dahlin Hansson, Managing Director, Monki, in a statement. "We are very proud to continue our collaboration with Mental Health Europe, and hope to encourage our community to express themselves and their feelings without fear." Mental health is becoming an increasingly mainstream topic of conversation among fashion and beauty brands. Earlier this year, the cosmetics giant Revlon also joined the conversation when it teamed up with supermodel Adwoa Aboah's Gurls Talk' platform to launch three self-care Revlon X Gurls Talk' makeup kits. NEW YORK (AP) New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio plans to visit a pair of early voting states ahead of an expected entry into the crowded 2020 Democratic presidential race. De Blasio is scheduled to appear Thursday on ABC's "Good Morning America." A spokeswoman says he will travel to Iowa later in the day and will hold events in that state Friday and in South Carolina on Saturday. The spokeswoman, Olivia Lapeyrolerie, declined to confirm that de Blasio is entering the race. But the mayor has been saying publicly for months that he's considering a run and has said that he will announce his decision this week. He made several previous campaign-style trips to states expected to play a role in the Democratic nominating process. So far, his potential candidacy has generated little enthusiasm from hometown constituents. A recent Quinnipiac University poll found 76% of New York City voters said they believed de Blasio shouldn't run. Newspapers have poked fun at de Blasio's presidential ambitions, noting that while he won two mayoral elections by large margins and can cite real achievements, including expanding free public prekindergarten citywide, he's also developed a reputation for political bumbling. De Blasio has remained undaunted by the obstacles and said he believes he has a message that can resonate with Americans. On Monday, de Blasio seemed to be laying the groundwork for an announcement by holding a news conference in the lobby of Trump Tower to blame the skyscraper for contributing to air pollution. But the attention-grabbing location also drew supporters of President Donald Trump who jeered and heckled the mayor as he hollered to make himself heard. Afterward, de Blasio exchanged insults on Twitter with the president's son Eric Trump, who called the news conference "childish." By joining the race, de Blasio could hope to claim a role on the national stage that has eluded him as mayor. When he took office in 2014, de Blasio seemed briefly poised to become a leading voice for an emerging left wing of the Democratic Party. But liberal enthusiasm faded over his first term, partly because of political missteps at home and the emergence of bigger names elsewhere. He could face obstacles trying to distinguish himself in a crowded field. New York City mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday announced a run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, joining a large field of 22 other candidates. As president I will take on the wealthy. I will take on the corporations. I will not rest until this government serves working people, de Blasio said in his announcement video message. Doesnt matter if you live in a city or a rural area, a big state, small state. Doesnt matter what your ethnicity is. People in every part of this country felt stuck or even like theyre going backwards. De Blasio reminded voters that he raised New York Citys minimum wage to $15 per hour and fought to provide workers with guaranteed paid sick leave and health care. He also touted that New York sent lawyers to the border to assist undocumented immigrants in dealing with the Trump administration and took steps to fight climate change when Trump pulled out of the Paris climate agreement. The Democratic mayor, who is serving his second term, also did not mince words on the current president, calling President Trump a bully and saying he must be stopped. Im a New Yorker. Ive known Trumps a bully for a long time, de Blasio said. I know how to take him on. Dont back down in the face of a bully, confront him . . . Ive beaten him before and I will do it again. Trump wasted no time clapping back at the mayor of his home city, tweeting that de Blasio is the worst mayor in the U.S., and New York City hates him. He is a JOKE, but if you like high taxes & crime, hes your man, the president wrote. Over three-fourths of New York City voters said de Blasio should not bother running for president, according to a Quinnipiac University poll. Bill de Blasio is a liberal extremist who wants the government to control everything from your health care to what you eat, Republican National Committee Communications director Michael Ahrens said in a statement. Americans can rest assured that he wont win, but unfortunately his socialist policies fit right in with the rest of his comrades in the race. Story continues The new presidential candidate plans to hit the campaign trail Thursday in Iowa and will travel to South Carolina this weekend. More from National Review KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) U.S. airstrikes killed 17 policemen by mistake during a battle with insurgents in the country's southern Helmand province, Afghan and U.S. military officials said on Friday. Attaullah Afghan, head of the provincial council, said the airstrikes took place around 9 p.m. local time Thursday outside the province's capital of Lashkar Gah, during clashes between Afghan police and the Taliban. Afghan added 14 policemen were also wounded in the strikes. Deadly incidents of friendly fire in U.S. military support for its Afghan allies have happened before, but are not common. Afghanistan's beleaguered security forces come under near daily attacks by Taliban insurgents even as the U.S. is trying to broker a peace deal to end nearly 18 years of war. A U.S. military spokesman, Col. Dave Butler, said the airstrike was called in by Afghan security forces who were taking heavy fire from Taliban fighters. Before dropping the bombs, Butler said the U.S. along with its allies on the ground sought to ensure the area was clear of friendly forces. An Afghan coordination force reported the targeted areas were safe from fellow personnel. "Unfortunately, they were not and a tragic accident resulted," Butler said in a written reply to an Associated Press request for information on the deaths. He said both Afghan security forces and Taliban were killed in the strike. "We're examining the miscommunication to ensure it is not repeated," said Butler. "We regret this tragic loss of life of our partners and are committed to improvement every day with every mission." Helmand's governor, Mohammad Yasin, said Afghan authorities were also investigating. A Taliban statement claimed U.S. forces were behind the incident. In the last year, the number of U.S. airstrikes has risen, most often in response to Afghan requests for assistance, but also in an intensified campaign against Islamic State group militants, who are mostly headquartered in eastern Afghanistan. A higher frequency of U.S. airstrikes has led to more civilian deaths, according to U.N. reports. A quarterly estimate by the U.N. issued recently said more civilians were killed by Afghan and U.S. forces than by insurgents in the first months of 2019. Louisiana is the latest state expected to sign an abortion ban into law. Earlier this week (May 29) the state's House of Representatives passed a "heartbeat bill," per NBC News, that would ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detectable, which is around six weeksbefore many women even know they're pregnant. The bill has already passed the state's senate, and Governor John Bel Edwards, an antiabortion Democrat, has said that he will sign the legislation into law. That would make Louisiana the latest state to pass a bill positioned to challenge Roe v. Wadethe Supreme Court case that established a woman's right to an abortion in 1973in the courts after Missouri, Georgia, and Alabama passed similar bills earlier this month. Here's a breakdown of all the states with recent restrictive abortion legislation. Louisiana Like Missouri's law, the Louisiana bill does not make exceptions for pregnancies that result from rape or incest (the house voted down an amendment that would have) but does include one for pregnancies deemed "medically futile." "In 2015 I ran for governor as a pro-life candidate after serving as a pro-life legislator for eight years," Edwards said in a statement. "As governor, I have been true to my word and my beliefs on this issue. As I prepare to sign this bill, I call on the overwhelming bipartisan majority of legislators who voted for it to join me in continuing to build a better Louisiana that cares for the least among us and provides more opportunity for everyone." Missouri On May 24, Missouri governor Mike Parson signed a divisive bill banning abortions after eight weeks of pregnancyeven in cases of rape, incest, or human traffickinginto law. Doctors who perform the procedure could face up to 15 years in prison. "My administration will execute the laws the legislature passes, and this pro-life administration will not back down," he told reporters before signing the bill, according to the Kansas City Star. Story continues Missouri's newly minted law also contains a "trigger" provision that will ban abortion outright if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, which legalized a womans right to the procedure without undue government interference nationwide. It also contains additional restrictions that would remain in effect if the two-month threshold is thrown out by the courts, as has happened in other states. It does include an exception for medical emergencies that might threaten a woman's health. "Politicians are putting the health and lives of Missouri women at risk in their race to make our state the one that overturns Roe v. Wade at the Supreme Court, MEvie Mead, director of policy and organizing for Planned Parenthood Advocates in Missouri, said in a statement. "These bans on safe, legal abortion will have real costsexpensive legal costs and human costs for the women and families who need reproductive health care." Alabama On May 15, Alabama governor Kay Ivey signed into law an abortion bill that would outlaw the procedure as soon as the moment of conception with exceptions only if the mother's health is at risk. An amendment that would have carved out additional exceptions for cases of rape and incest failed. Under this law, doctors could face up to 99 years in prison if they performed an abortion and could be sentenced to up to 10 years for even attempting to administer one. "Today, I signed into law the Alabama Human Life Protection Act, a bill that was approved by overwhelming majorities in both chambers of the Legislature," Governor Ivey said in a statement. "To the bill's many supporters, this legislation stands as a powerful testament to Alabamians' deeply held belief that every life is precious and that every life is a sacred gift from God." Read more about it here. Georgia Earlier in May, Georgia's so-called heartbeat bill was signed into law by Governor Brian Kemp, banning abortions starting at the moment when doctors can detect a fetal heartbeat, around six weeks post-conception. At that point many women do not yet know they are pregnant. (The previous law in Georgia allowed abortions up to 20 weeks.) Exceptions are allowed to prevent harm to the woman and in cases of rape or incest in which a police report has been filed. The new bill also criminalizes the procedure itself, which means that a woman who terminates her pregnancy could face life in prison or even the death penalty. "Our job is to do what is right, not what is easy," Kemp said. "We are called to be strong and courageous, and we will not back down." The law, which would take effect in 2020, is expected to face immediate challenges in the court. Read more about it here. Ohio After being vetoed twice by former Republican governor John Kasich, the state's version of a "heartbeat bill" was signed into law by Governor Mike DeWine in April. It makes no exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. Similar to Georgia's, the Ohio law bans abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, and the ACLU and other pro-choice groups in the state are mounting a court challenge. Kellie Copeland, director of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio, described the situation as "a dystopian nightmare where people are forced to continue pregnancies regardless of the harm that may come to them or their family," per CBS News. This post will be updated as new details emerge. Originally Appeared on Glamour By Ben Blanchard and David Shepardson WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) - China struck a more aggressive tone in its trade war with the United States on Friday, suggesting a resumption of talks between the world's two largest economies would be meaningless unless Washington changed course. The tough talk capped a week that saw Beijing unveil fresh retaliatory tariffs, U.S. officials accuse China of backtracking on promises made during months of talks and the Trump administration level a potentially crippling blow against one of China's biggest and most successful companies. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang, asked about state media reports suggesting there would be no more trade negotiations, said China always encouraged resolving disputes with the United States through dialogue and consultations. "But because of certain things the U.S. side has done during the previous China-U.S. trade consultations, we believe if there is meaning for these talks, there must be a show of sincerity," he told a daily news briefing. CNBC, citing sources, said the trade talks had stalled and the next round of discussions was "in flux." The United States raised Beijing's ire this week when it announced it was putting Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, the worlds biggest telecoms equipment maker, on a blacklist that could make it extremely hard to do business with U.S. companies. China has yet to say whether or how it will retaliate, although its state media is sounding an increasingly strident note. The ruling Communist Party's People's Daily published on Friday a front-page commentary that evoked the patriotic spirit of the country's past wars. "The trade war can't bring China down. It will only harden us to grow stronger," it said. Global stocks, which rebounded this week on the prospect of another round of U.S.-China talks, suffered a fresh bout of selling and China's yuan slid to its weakest against the U.S. dollar in almost five months. Prices of U.S. government debt were trading higher. Story continues The increasingly acrimonious trade dispute has rattled investors who fear that the countries are careening dangerously down a track that will badly damage global supply lines and put the brakes on an already slowing world economy. The South China Morning Post, citing an unidentified source, reported that a senior member of China's Communist Party said the trade war could reduce China's 2019 economic growth by 1 percentage point in the worst-case scenario. "Both sides might need some prodding, but weve had a very clear opportunity for one side or the other ... to say this isn't going to work ... and neither side did," said Derek Scissors, an expert on Sino-U.S. economic relations at the American Enterprise Institute think tank, who put the chance of a deal this year at over 50/50. AUTO TARIFFS U.S. President Donald Trump, who has embraced protectionism as part of an "America First" agenda aimed at rebalancing global trade, has accused China of backing out of a deal earlier this month that would have ended the 10-month dispute. Earlier this month, Reuters reported China had backtracked on commitments to change its laws to resolve core U.S. complaints about theft of intellectual property, forced technology transfers and other practices. Trump punctuated two days of talks in Washington last week with a decision to raise tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports to 25 percent from 10 percent. The negotiations ended in a stalemate. On Monday, Beijing said it would raise its tariffs on a revised list of $60 billion in U.S. goods effective June 1. Trump, in turn, said he is considering slapping tariffs on the remaining $300 billion in Chinese imports to the United States. The U.S. president also continues to dangle the possibility of imposing tariffs of up to 25% on imported cars and parts, a move that could be devastating for a number of U.S. trading partners, including Japan and Germany. The White House said on Friday that Trump's decision on auto tariffs would be delayed by up to six months to allow more time for trade talks with the European Union and Japan. Trump faced a Saturday deadline to make a decision. It added, however, that the U.S. president agreed with findings by the U.S. Commerce Department that imported vehicles and parts can threaten U.S. national security, a designation likely to anger some U.S. allies. Automakers have strongly opposed the tariffs, saying they would hike prices and threaten thousands of U.S. jobs. There is also strong opposition in the U.S. Congress, with many prominent members of Trump's Republican Party rejecting the idea. U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, praised the administration's decision to delay the auto tariffs. "Positive step. The pressure must be strong on China, not on our allies who we should encourage to join us in confronting China," Schumer tweeted. The United States and Canada also announced on Friday a deal to remove tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminium in exchange for new curbs to keep dumped metals from China and other nations out of the U.S. market. The Mexican president's office later said Mexico had reached a similar deal with the United States. The metals tariffs were an aggravation for the Canadian and Mexican governments and had been a major hurdle to enacting the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the deal that would replace the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Gao Liangping in Beijing and David Shepardson in Washington; Additional reporting by Steve Scherer in Ottawa, Anthony Esposito in Mexico City, Lewis Krauskopf in New York and David Lawder, Alexandra Alper, and Doina Chiacu in Washington; Writing by Paul Simao; Editing by Susan Thomas and James Dalgleish) By ANI CANNES: Bollywood Actor Deepika Padukone looked exquisite in a cream gown with an exaggerated chocolate brown bow by designer Peter Dundas, as she walked the red carpet at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival on Thursday. The actor who walked the red carpet as part of an international beauty brand kept sharing her journey on Instagram, right from takeoff from India. "Here we go... #Cannes2019" she commented. Deepika Padukone. (Photo | Twitter) Deepika Padukone. (Photo | ANI) Padukone, has been a regular at the Film Festival for a few years now and has been lauded for her red carpet appearances. In the first of the reportedly many red carpet appearance of her in this year's Film Festival, the 33-year-old sported on point make up with kohl-rimmed eyes and a high ponytail. Previously, she had also posted a picture of her boarding pass with the caption, "& then this...had to be done! Here we Go...Ooops...." Padukone's husband actor Ranveer Singh commented on all the pictures posted by Deepika. In other snaps, the diva was spotted rocking her chic look at the airport in France. She wore a white button-down shirt, paired with a chambray shirt and loose denim pants. She accessorised her look with polarized black shades and red stiletto heel. Simple red lips and centre parted straight hair completed her look. Last year, Deepika wore an origami gown from Ashi Studio's Summer/Spring 2018 Collection. In another look, she wowed fashionistas in a sleeveless figure-hugging Zuhair Murad gown with plunging neckline and fully beaded in white shimmering stones with a matching cape. She has also flaunted designs by Prabal Gurung and Marchesa at Cannes At this year's Met Gala Deepika wore a stunning strapless pink coloured gown by Zac Posen and resembled a life-size Barbie doll. She opted for a retro hairdo and teamed it up with a gorgeous embellished headband. She accessorised her outfit with a pair of pink diamond earrings and a statement cuff. The stunner rounded off her look with an oxblood lip colour and pink smokey eyes. Last year Deepika was spotted in pink gown: Deepika Padukone in Cannes 2018. (Photo | Twitter) On the work front, Deepika will be next seen in Meghna Gulzar's 'Chhapaak', which is based on the life of acid attack survivor -- Laxmi Agarwal. The movie also stars Vikrant Massey in a key role. By David Lawder and Susan Heavey WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration hit Chinese telecoms giant Huawei with severe sanctions on Wednesday, adding another incendiary element to the U.S.-China trade dispute just as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he would visit China soon for more talks. The Commerce Department said it was adding Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and 70 affiliates to its "Entity List" - a move that bans the company from acquiring components and technology from U.S. firms without government approval. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement that President Donald Trump backed the decision to "prevent American technology from being used by foreign owned entities in ways that potentially undermine U.S. national security or foreign policy interests." Trump earlier in the day signed an executive order barring U.S. companies from using telecommunications equipment made by firms deemed to pose a national security risk. While the order did not specifically name any country or company, U.S. officials have previously labeled Huawei a "threat" and lobbied allies not to use Huawei network equipment in next-generation 5G networks. Huawei, which denies its products pose a security threat, said it was "ready and willing to engage with the U.S. government and come up with effective measures to ensure product security." It said restricting Huawei from doing business in the United States would "limit the U.S. to inferior yet more expensive alternatives, leaving the U.S. lagging behind in 5G deployment and eventually harming the interests of U.S. companies and consumers." Speaking at a U.S. Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing, Mnuchin characterized two days of high-level talks with Chinese officials in Washington last week as constructive. "My expectation is that we will go to Beijing at some point in the near future to continue those discussions," he said. "There's still a lot of work to do." Story continues He did not say when his China trip might take place. Shares in Huawei suppliers in China skidded on the news as markets opened in Asia, with Luxshare Precision Industry down as much as 6.1%. Shares in smaller Chinese Huawei rival ZTE Corp also tumbled. The Trump administration's rhetoric toward China had cooled in recent days after another round of tit-for-tat tariffs between the world's two largest economies and a selloff on global stock markets. On Tuesday, Trump denied talks with China had collapsed and sounded an optimistic note about the chance of a deal, saying he had an "extraordinary" relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping, whom he plans to meet at a G20 summit in Japan next month. Trump also urged China to buy more U.S. farm products. U.S. agricultural goods have been targeted by China's retaliatory tariffs, and American farmers, a key political constituency for Trump, are worried. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has paid $8.52 billion directly to farmers as part of a 2018 aid program designed to offset losses from tariffs imposed by China and other trading partners, a spokesman for the agency said on Wednesday. The Trump administration had pledged up to $12 billion in aid to help offset losses resulting from Chinese tariffs. GRAPHIC - Trickle down tariffs: https://tmsnrt.rs/2WIu31i TARIFF PAIN Trump, who has embraced protectionism as part of an "America First" agenda, has railed against what many U.S. and European officials and companies describe as China's unfair trade practices, including forced technology transfers and intellectual property theft. But trading partners and close allies in Europe, North America and Asia are also in the U.S. administration's sights. Mnuchin said the United States was close to resolving a dispute over steel and aluminum tariffs imposed on Canada and Mexico last year as the three countries renegotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer met with Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland in Washington on Wednesday to discuss the tariffs and other issues related to the U.S.-Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA), which replaced NAFTA. The three countries have not yet ratified the new deal. After her meeting with Lighthizer, Freeland declined to say whether the two countries were close to a deal. But she told reporters later that ratification of the agreement would be difficult as long as the tariffs remain in place. "When it comes to Canada it has still been the case for us that as long as the tariffs remain in place ratification would be very, very problematic," she said on Capitol Hill. Jesus Seade, Mexican deputy foreign minister for North America, told Reuters on Wednesday that Mexico was close to resolving its part in the tariffs dispute but wanted Canada to be in a similar position before completing the deal. Three Trump administration officials told Reuters that Trump was expected to delay a decision on imposing tariffs on imported cars and parts by up to six months, avoiding opening yet another front in his global trade battles. The decision to delay was expected to be made on Friday, officials and automakers said. The tariffs of up to 25 percent on cars and parts could have a devastating impact on Japan and countries in the European Union, particularly Germany. Global stock markets, which have swooned in the past week over the rising trade tensions, gained ground on Wednesday after the reports of the planned delay. GRAPHIC - U.S.-China tariff war and the S&P 500: https://tmsnrt.rs/2WA1LWX 'ADVERSE CONSEQUENCES' As negotiations toward resolving the U.S.-China dispute stalled last week, the United States ratcheted up the pressure by increasing tariffs on a list of $200 billion worth of Chinese imports to 25% from 10%. China retaliated on Monday with higher tariffs on a revised list of $60 billion worth of U.S. products. Trump could launch 25% tariffs on another $300 billion worth of Chinese goods when he meets Xi next month. He has not ruled out imposing punitive levies on all of China's imports to the United States. Another escalation could disrupt global supply lines and damage a slowing world economy. Beijing is vowing not to succumb to U.S. pressure. But on Wednesday, China reported surprisingly weaker growth in its retail sales and industrial output in April. Data out of the United States showed U.S. retail sales fell in April as households cut back on purchases of motor vehicles and other goods, pointing to a slowdown in economic growth after a boost from exports and inventories in the first quarter. Other data showed a drop in U.S. industrial production. The U.S. Congress is uneasy about the potential consequences of tariffs on the economy. House of Representatives Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said U.S. consumers were in the "same boat as farmers" and would end up having to bear the burden of the tariffs. Consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity. (Reporting by David Lawder, Susan Heavey, Humeyra Pamuk, Amanda Becker, Alex Alper and David Shepardson in Washington; Additional reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa and Sijia Jiang in Hong Kong; Writing by Paul Simao and Sonya Hepinstall; Editing by Susan Thomas, Cynthia Osterman, Peter Cooney and Himani Sarkar) By David Brunnstrom WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on a Chechen group and five people, including at least three Russians, over allegations of human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings and the torture of LGBTI people. The sanctions against the Terek Special Rapid Response Team in the Chechen Republic and the five were announced by the U.S. Treasury under the Magnitsky Act. They included suspects in the deaths of Russian whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky and Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov. The 2012 Magnitsky Act is named after the 37-year-old Russian auditor and imposes visa bans and asset freezes on officials linked to his death in prison 2009. Those targeted on Thursday included Elena Anatolievna Trikulya and Gennady Vyacheslavovich Karlov, members of the Russian state's Investigative Committee, whom the U.S. said "participated in efforts to conceal the legal liability for the detention, abuse, or death" of Magnitsky. Abuzayed Vismuradov, commander of the Terek Special Rapid Response Team in Chechnya, was accused of "being responsible for extrajudicial killings, torture, or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights" against those seeking to expose illegal activity by Russian government officials. The U.S. Treasury said Vismuradov was in charge of an operation that "illegally detained and tortured individuals on the basis of their actual or perceived LGBTI status." LGBTI is an acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex. The Treasury named Sergey Leonidovich Kossiev as being responsible for extrajudicial killings and torture as head of a penal colony in the Republic of Karelia and the fifth person, Ruslan Geremeyev, was accused of acting on behalf of the head of Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, in a matter relating to extrajudicial killings and torture. The Treasury statement said Russian investigators had twice tried to bring charges against Geremeyev as the possible organizer of the 2015 murder of Nemtsov, but were blocked by the head of the Investigative Committee. Nemtsov, one of President Vladimir Putin's most vocal critics, was shot and killed near the Kremlin in 2015. In 2017, a court sentenced a man to 20 years in jail for his murder but Nemtsov's allies called the investigation a cover-up and said those who ordered the assassination remained at large. The Russian Embassy in Washington said in a statement that U.S. sanctions under the Magnitsky Act "are at odds with the international law." It said Russia would respond with "reciprocal measures." The Magnitsky sanctions have been a point of tension between Moscow and Washington, which are far apart on a wide range of global issues and U.S. allegations of Russian interference in U.S. elections. The latest U.S. move follows a frosty visit to Russia this week by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who said Washington would brook no interference in the 2020 U.S. presidential election and wanted Moscow to take action to show there would be no repeat of its suspected 2016 meddling. Magnitsky was arrested and died after discovering a $230 million tax fraud scheme, according to U.S. authorities. His supporters say the Russian state murdered him by denying him adequate medical care after he was imprisoned on tax evasion charges. The Kremlin denies the allegation. The Treasury statement said officials in Chechnya had launched a series of purges of people they believed to be LGBTI and several were believed to have died as a result. "They have rounded up dozens of people on these grounds, some of whom have disappeared, with others returned to their families barely alive from beatings and with their captors outing them to families and encouraging the families to carry out so-called honor killings," the statement said. (Reporting by Tim Ahmann and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Tom Brown and Grant McCool) (Adds Iranian foreign minister comments, Iran stops some accord commitments, paragraphs 8-11) * U.S. fears Iranian threat against troops in Iraq * Tehran dismisses U.S. 'psychological warfare' * Germans, Dutch also halt military missions in Iraq * U.S. believes Iran encouraged Sunday tanker attacks By John Davison and Mark Hosenball BAGHDAD/WASHINGTON, May 15 (Reuters) - Helicopters ferried U.S. staff from the American embassy in Baghdad on Wednesday out of apparent concern about perceived threats from Iran, which U.S. sources believe encouraged Sunday's attacks on four oil tankers in the Gulf. The sabotage of the tankers, for which no one has claimed responsibility, and Saudi Arabia's announcement on Tuesday that armed drones hit two of its oil pumping stations have raised concerns Washington and Tehran may be inching toward conflict. A U.S. government source said American security experts believe Iran gave its "blessing" to tanker attacks, which hit two Saudi crude oil tankers, a UAE-flagged fuel bunker barge and a Norwegian-registered oil products tanker off Fujeirah near the Strait of Hormuz. The source said the United States believes Iran's role was one of actively encouraging militants but indicated the United States does not now have evidence that Iranian personnel played any direct operational role. Iran's Foreign Ministry has called the tanker attacks "worrisome and dreadful" and called for an investigation. There has been a marked increase in U.S.-Iranian tensions since U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to try to cut off all of Iran's oil exports and to designate its Revolutionary Guards as a "foreign terrorist organization." Trump, who last year abandoned the 2015 international nuclear accord with Iran, believes the economic pressure will force Tehran to accept more stringent limitations on its nuclear and missile programs as well as on its support for proxies in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. Story continues Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called the increasing U.S. sanctions "unacceptable" but said Tehran remained committed to its obligations under the nuclear accord. "We exercise maximum restraint in spite of the fact the United States withdrew," Zarif said as he met his Japanese counterpart, Taro Kono, in Tokyo. Under the accord negotiated by Trump's predecessor Barack Obama, Iran agreed to curb its uranium enrichment capacity, a potential pathway to a nuclear bomb, in return for sanctions relief. Earlier on Wednesday, the ISNA news agency reported that an Iranian atomic energy official said Iran has officially stopped some commitments under the pact, and has no limit from now for production of enriched uranium and heavy water. Iran's decision does not appear to violate the nuclear deal yet. U.S. SHRINKS DIPLOMATIC PRESENCE U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a surprise visit to Baghdad last week after U.S. intelligence showed Iran-backed Shi'ite militias positioning rockets near bases housing U.S. forces, according to two Iraqi security sources. Pompeo told Iraq's top brass to keep the militias, which are expanding their power in Iraq and now form part of its security apparatus, in check, the sources said. If not, the United States would respond with force. Helicopters took off throughout the day from the vast U.S. embassy compound near the Tigris River in Baghdad, carrying non-emergency staff out, according to an Iraqi source and a diplomatic source inside Baghdad's fortified Green Zone. The Iraqi source said U.S. staff were headed for a military base at Baghdad airport. A U.S. official told Reuters late on Wednesday that the evacuation was complete. Trump is sending an aircraft carrier group, B-52 bombers and Patriot missiles to the Middle East to counter what the United States calls a heightened threat from Iran to U.S. soldiers and interests in the region. Iran described the U.S. moves as "psychological warfare," and a British commander cast doubt on U.S. military concerns about threats to its roughly 5,000 soldiers in Iraq, who have been helping Iraqi security forces fight Islamic State. The U.S. State Department said employees at both the U.S. embassy in Baghdad and its consulate in Erbil, capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, were being pulled out immediately due to safety concerns. It was unclear how many were affected, and there was no word on any specific threat. Visa services were suspended at the heavily-fortified U.S. missions. Germany, which has 160 soldiers in Iraq, and the Netherlands which has 169 military and civilian staff, suspended military training operations, citing regional tensions. 'DANGEROUS SITUATION' The attack on the tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, through which one fifth of the world's oil consumption flows, appeared designed to test the resolve of the United States and its Sunni Muslim allies without triggering a war, analysts said. "This is a pin-prick event, a little needle-like jab at the maritime trade going into the Strait of Hormuz," said Gerry Northwood, chairman of risk management and security firm MAST. Both the United States and Iran have said they do not want war, and Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said on Tuesday he had indications "things will end well" despite the rhetoric. Iraq is one of few countries with close ties to both the United States and Iran. It has said it will keep strong ties with Iran, and also with the United States and Arab neighbors, some of whom, such as Saudi Arabia, consider Tehran a rival. The United States, which had a large troop presence in Iraq from 2003-2011 after invading to topple dictator Saddam Hussein, sent troops back there in 2014 to help fight Islamic State. Iran has close ties to powerful Iraqi political parties and supports powerful Shi'ite militia groups. "I think we are now in a quite dangerous situation where a miscalculation by either side could lead us into conflict," U.S. Senator Chris Coons, a Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told CNN in an interview on Wednesday. (Reporting by John Davison and Ahmed Rasheed in Baghdad, Raya Jalabi in Erbil and Mark Hosenball in Washington; Additional reporting by Susan Heavey, Makini Brice and Phil Stewart in Washington; Babak Dehghanpisheh in Geneva; Tassilo Hummel and Sabine Siebold in Berlin; Kiyoshi Takenaka in Tokyo; and Anthony Deutsch and Toby Sterling in Amsterdam; Writing by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Grant McCool) pranab mondal By Express News Service KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjees decision to thrust two popular Tollywood faces into the unforgiving arena of electoral politics has set the stage for a mouthwatering, three-way battle for Jadavpur and Basirhat Lok Sabha constituencies. It took many Jadavpur voters by surprise when Mamata fielded Mimi Chakrabarty, a Tollywood A-lister but a political novice, in a high profile constituency that has sent the likes of former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, Netaji Subhas Chandra Boses niece Krishna Bose and Mamata herself to the Lower House. Once a Left stronghold, the CPM has pinned its hopes on former mayor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya to turn the tide of Jadavpurs voting sentiment back in its favour. The BJP has hedged its bets on turncoat Trinamool MP from Bolpur, Anupam Hazra. Home to countless refugees from erstwhile East Bengal, Jadavpur has a mix of urban and rural populations and had been a CPM fortress for long. In 1984, Mamata made her debut from here and inflicted a surprise defeat on Somnath Chatterjee. This time, Trinamool chief is hoping that her gamble with the Tollywood star will reap a similar dividend. CPM leaders in Kolkata said the party has pitted a stalwart candidate in Bhattacharya because, despite the partys weak organisation and support base, it believes Jadavpur can throw up a pleasant surprise. If voters are allowed to exercise their franchise freely, I am confident I will win. Trinamool supporters are threatening urban voters saying if they do not vote in favour of their candidate, essential services like water supply will be cut off, Bhattacharya said. Hazra, who started his poll campaign late, said, In Jadavpur, theres a strong anti-Trinamool wave and I have a feeling that I will by a huge margin. FOLLOW OUR FULL ELECTION COVERAGE HERE Trinamool leaders are banking on rural voters, as the party did well in last years panchayat polls. Despite a mass protest in Bhangar two years ago over alleged forcible land acquisition for setting up a power grid project, the ruling party won all the rural bodies in the area in 2018 panchayat elections. The other celeb candidate, actor Nusrat Jahan, is Trinamools trump card in Basirhat Lok Sabha constituency in North 24-Parganas district. The district had seen several communal flare-ups in the recent past. The 2017 riots in Baduria kept the area tensed for several days before law and order was restored. This time, Basirhat is all set to see a fierce fight between the Trinamool and BJP. The Trinamool won the Lok Sabha seat twice but the party changed its candidates repeatedly. By fielding Nusrat, Trinamool hopes to woo young voters and a considerable section of the minority community as well. However, Basirhat is one of the seats in Bengal where the BJP is eyeing a win, as it has made significant inroads into the region along the India-Bangladesh border. The area has also courted infamy over alleged cases of cattle smuggling. Repeated incidents of communal discord is believed to have resulted in a clear polarisation of voters in Basirhat. Banking on it, the BJP has fielded a strong candidate in Sayantan Basu, the general secretary of the party in West Bengal. The Lok Sabha constituency has around 40% minority voters. Voters in Basirhat counted the costs of the state governments appeasement policy towards a particular community., Basu said. Barasat Lok Sabha constituency, a Left bastion-turned-Trinamool-stronghold, had seen a remarkable turn of events in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The BJP increased its electoral support by almost 18%, thereby denting the vote banks of both the Trinamool and the Forward Bloc. The BJP has pitted Mrinal Kanti Debnath against Trinamools Kakali Ghosh Dastidar, who is contesting for the third consecutive time. The Trump administration is considering taking military action against Iran, reportedly prepping up to 120,000 troops to counter Iranian-back forces in Iraq and Syria. Some administration officials have pushed for action against "identified credible threats" from Iran. President Trump has sent mixed signals in comments and Tweets. Do you feel military action is needed against Iran? You voted: Have you been touched by this issue? Is one of your friends or family members among the vanished? Do you think law enforcement has done enough to solve these cases? Share your thoughts here. By PTI AHMEDABAD: Criticising the BJP government in Gujarat over the recent incidents of wedding processions of Dalits being stopped by some sections of the society, Bhim Army founder Chandrashekhar Azad Friday issued a warning saying such atrocities will no longer be tolerated. Talking to reporters here, Azad said 'jungle raj' is prevailing in Gujarat as members of the Scheduled Caste (SC) community are deprived of their fundamental rights given by the Constitution. ALSO READ : Gujarat Dalits face boycott after bridegroom rides horse "I came to Gujarat because many incidents of atrocities on Dalits have happened recently. It seems that Constitutional provisions do not apply in Gujarat. Article 15 of the Constitution, which protects all the citizens from discrimination, has been removed by the Gujarat government," said Azad alias Ravan. Not just for taking out wedding processions, Dalits in Gujarat were persecuted for keeping moustache and suffixing 'Sinh' in their names, he said. "They are still not allowed to visit temples. This is nothing but 'jungle raj'. I want to tell the government that Dalits will not tolerate this insult anymore. We want the government to wake up and come to its senses," he added. ALSO READ: Clash in Gujarat village after Patidars stall Dalit wedding procession The Bhim Army chief added that he would visit all those villages of Gujarat where wedding processions of Dalit grooms were stopped. These incidents took place at Lhor village in Mehsana, Sitvada village in Sabarkantha and at Khambhisar in Arvalli district. The recent round of violence between Israel and militants in the Gaza Strip felt futile, especially in comparison to earlier flare-ups over the past decade. The two-day clash ended with a feeling that the situation was exactly as it was a week before the fighting broke out. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter The other players involved also ended up looking grim. Egypt was the one that negotiated the ceasefire, but it seems its hold on Palestinian organizations is not limitless. The Palestinian Authority was entirely absent from this round, exemplifying the near zero power it has over the Gaza Strip. The UN envoy to the region tried to take part in negotiations, but his impact was hardly felt. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar (Photo: AFP) Even the Islamic Jihad, pictured lately as the unruly factor in the Strip that has an increasing impact on decision making, wasn't able to notch up any major military achievements, let alone civilian ones. Qatar seems to be the only player that came out of this flare-up with something to show. The oil-rich Gulf country was widely depicted as the one who officially ended the clashes, with the handing of $480 million to the Palestinians some to the Strip and some to the Palestinian Authority. The dramatic move makes Qatar look like more than just a force that keeps the Gaza Strip stable. It also seems to be a patron of the PA, which recently declined Israeli-collected tax revenues, as Jerusalem deducted the sums Ramallah pays to families of Palestinian terrorists incarcerated. This resulted in a dire financial situation, that caused some 160,000 PA public servants to suffer a pay cut. Israelis don't have a positive image of Qatar, and identify it with the Muslim Brotherhood. Hamas leaders found refuge in the country, and statesman in Qatar enjoy close relationships with Hamas officials in Gaza and around the world. Al Jazeera, the Qatari-owned news channel, is widely known for its fierce messages against Israel, albeit with a softer approach in recent years. A Qatari-funded neighborhood in Khan Yunis, the Gaza Strip (file photo) (Photo: AFP) And finally, Erdogan's Turkey is a favored ally of Qatar and the two regimes have close ties. Despite all that, Qatar is essential for Israel. It leads the civil restoration of the Gaza Strip, which in turn creates political stability, and its emissaries relay messages between Israel and Hamas. Qatari money allows Israel to maneuver between decisions it has made, such deducting sums PA tax revenues, and its desire not to be drawn in to another round of violence caused by the dire financial crisis. Egypt also understands the complexity of the Qatari role, and has agreed to include its fund in the broad arrangement they are pushing for in the Strip, despite their deep hostility for the Gulf country. Qatar's moves are based on realpolitik; beyond its desire to prove its regional power and its enemies' weakness primarily Saudi Arabia it wants to flaunt its usefulness to the world and to the US. All this in an attempt to ease its isolation that resulted from its clash with the rest of the Arab world in 2017. Qatar, the Persian Gulf (Photo: AP) The Qatari check could also help move Trump's "deal of the century" forward. It appears to be a hint to the US that Qatar is able to use money to pressure the PA into diplomatic decisions, a move that Saudi Arabia was supposed to fill but ultimately was unable to meet. Israel must be cautious given the broad international interests at stake in the Palestinian arena, which are often in conflict with one another. It should use the Qatari funds and the relief it gives Gaza as a measure to reach short-term calm and delay the next flare-up as much as possible. It also has to learn how to maneuver better the other international forces that influence Hamas. On the long run, Israel must maneuver wisely between its interest that Qatar remains active in the Palestinian scene, and the fact that this involvement could hamper Israeli relationship with other Arab countries, primarily with Saudi Arabia. A Qatari petrol truck on its way to the Gaza Strip (file photo) (Photo: Reuters) Israel should also attempt, with its limited power, to help ease the tensions between Qatar and the Arab world, which harms Israel's interests and the interests of its friends in the Middle East and allows the Iranian nuclear threat to grow. Michael Milstein is head of the Palestinian Studies Forum in the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies in Tel Aviv University. King Abdullah II of Jordan has already complained three times that he failed to obtain any information from the Trump administration about the peace plan dubbed the deal of the century when he went to Washington two months ago. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter When Abdullah tried to extract some information about Jordans role in the long-delayed proposal, the Americans apparently were extremely evasive and didnt give him any details. King Abdullah II of Jordan with US President Donald Trump at the White House (Photo: AP) Thus, unlike Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi - who is quite certain not only of his countrys role in the peace agreement but also in his relations with Washington - Abdullah has no one to consult with on this issue. After an Arabic daily Kuwaiti newspaper, Al-Qabas, revealed a secret plan meant to harm the top officials in the Jordanian government, Abdullah embarked on a mission to make a series of dramatic changes. These changes included replacing the head of Jordanian intelligence, dismissing senior officials in the royal palace and ordered Jordans Prime Minister Omar al-Razzaz to fire seven of his ministers. All in the hopes that these changes would make Jordan a suitable partner for Washington. King Abdullah II of Jordan and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (Photo: AFP) Sources in Amman say that Israelis were the ones who leaked the information about the secret plan to topple the Jordanian regime to the Kuwaiti paper, in order to make it clear to Abdullah whom he really depends on. The days when Israeli prime ministers shared valuable intelligence with the Jordanian king - and begged the Americans to provide the kingdom with more financial aid - are long gone. Jordan, to this day and despite the difficulties, continues to worry about Israels security. King Abdullah II of Jordan at an Arab League conference in Tunisia (Photo: AP) Furthermore, despite Jerusalem and Amman being out of contact, the security cooperation between the two states continues, because there is a deep sense of understanding - very rare for in our volatile region - between the senior security officials of both sides. The relationship between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Abdullah are especially complicated. Abdullah recently revealed that Netanyahu had apparently asked to visit his palace for a quick photo-op two days before the elections. In return, Abdullah claims, Netanyahu promised to put in a good word at the White House for the Jordanians. King Abdullah with Benjamin Netanyahu in Amman in 2014 (Photo: GPO) The king, however - unlike in the previous elections - vehemently refused. Abdullah said he didnt want to make empty statements and also didnt want photo-ops with Netanyahu that would infuriate the Jordanian public. The public is already furious about the dire economic situation in the country and the deteriorating relations with the rest of the Arab world. Financial aid promised by Saudi Arabia and the US was much smaller than expected. Bashar Assads regime terrifies Abdullah, Iraq is occupied by the Iranians, while the phone from Jerusalem has stopped ringing altogether. And unless decision-makers in Jerusalem, Washington and the Gulf states realize that the king is indeed important, they may have to face the fallout of economic collapse in the small kingdom. What do Jerusalem, Beit Shemesh, Safed, Beitar Illit and Bnei Brak have in common? They are all ultra-Orthodox cities, and all hold the Israeli record for measles outbreaks. Other cities with a large Haredi majority Tiberias and Modi'in Ilit are also at the top of the chart. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter While it's clear the ultra-Orthodox public leads the anti-vaccination trend, Dr. Menahem Chaim Breier, vice chair at the Mayanei Hayeshua Medical Center in Bnei Brak, is certain there is nothing ideological about Haredi people choosing not to vaccinate their children. A Haredi mother in Brooklyn passes by a poster in Yiddish calling on the public to get vaccinated (Photo: AFP) (Photo: AFP) According to Breier, a sense of naivety and a belief that "God will stop diseases and not vaccines" are outdated perceptions of the ultra-Orthodox public. The members of the community are keen to look after themselves, says Breier, referring to the religious law that states one must "take care of his life." Measles outbreak NY's ultra-Orthodox believed to be source of measles outbreak Tzipi Shmilovitz Community leaders fear outbreak of anti-Semitism and call on their members to vaccinate kids warning of disinformation about dangers New York's ultra-Orthodox believed to be source of measles outbreak So what is it that makes the ultra-Orthodox public susceptible to anti-vaccine propaganda? The lifestyle of the ultra-Orthodox community, says Dr. Breier, is behind the measles epidemic. The fact that the community keeps to itself and doesn't mix with other sectors of the population makes fake news a lot easier to spread, and the truth much more difficult to expose. This is backed by some evidence: the more a Haredi community is cut off from national media, the more measles cases it has suffered in the recent outbreak. For instance, the extremely insular Satmar Hassidic community in New York has a higher rate of measles outbreaks than other Haredi communities. "This sect of bastards (who preach against vaccinations) can have a field day in such communities, since the ultra-Orthodox are far less exposed to the media," says Breier. "They feed lies to the rabbis and the public and distribute ridiculous pamphlets. These are people with mental issues, they're officially mental." A public health campaign in the U.S. calling on the public to get vaccinated against measles (Photo: AFP) "They'll say that vaccinations aren't kosher," says Breier. "I told this to Torah sages and they burst out laughing. Since when do we care about the kosher status of materials injected into our arms, rather than things we eat?" Another factor that makes the rates of measles higher in the ultra-Orthodox public is the high fertility rate. "It's crowded in the homes, it's crowded in the synagogues, in the educational institutions. People are in close proximity all day, and mothers are prone to postpone things (such as medical appointments) because of busy schedules," says Breier. "They dont even have time to go and get vaccinated." Brooklyn Yeshiva students (Photo: Shutterstock) According to Breier, the Haredi public also has fewer medical facilities in their communities, which he attributes to governmental failure. "They have more children and less nurses," he says. "The treasury is to blame for that." Breier, who devotes his career to implementing healthy habits in the ultra-Orthodox community, has very senior rabbis on his side: they help him send the message to his patients that it's their duty to protect themselves and their health, and that there is a religious commandment to get vaccinated against measles. He says that there is another religious duty that justifies getting vaccinated, and that is to avoid harming others by putting them in danger. Another important reason to get vaccinated, says Breier, is not to encourage anti-Semitism. He says anti-Semites use every excuse to prove that Jews spread disease a common Medieval blood libel and the current measles outbreak in New York could back these ancient lies. "Rabbis repeatedly say that the Health Ministry's guidelines about vaccinations have rabbinical backing," Breier says, calling on the Haredi public to go out and get vaccinated, so that the measles outbreak can finally be halted. Hamas issued a statement thanking British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn for his support of the Palestinians and for his condemnation of Israel's actions on the Gaza border. They also thanked him for his participation in events marking Nakba day. Jewish American author Herman Wouk, whose World War Two experiences provided the foundation of his best-seller "The Caine Mutiny" and two epic novels about the war, died on Friday at the age of 103, according to media reports. Wouk, whose "War and Remembrance" and "The Winds of War" were turned into popular television mini-series in the 1980s, died in his sleep at his home in Palm Springs, California, his literary agent, Amy Rennert, told the Associated Press. The German parliament voted on Friday to condemn as anti-Semitic a movement that calls for economic pressure on Israel to end the occupation of Palestinian land, grant Arab citizens equal rights and recognize the right of return of Palestinian refugees. Poland's president condemned "chauvinism and hate through a nationalist lens" in a letter to his Israeli counterpart published on Friday, after a man spat on Poland's ambassador to Israel earlier this week. The incident in Tel Aviv on Tuesday has already drawn condemnation from the Polish government at a time of rising tensions between the two countries over Holocaust retitution. "These sorts of positions need to be condemned, and harshly punished," Poland's President Andrzej Duda wrote in the letter published on his website, adding that he would condemn any anti-Semitic behaviour in Poland. BERLIN - The German parliament voted on Friday to condemn as anti-Semitic a movement that calls for economic pressure on Israel over its policies on the Palestinians. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter In a move welcomed by Israel, a majority of lawmakers in the Bundestag voted in favour of a motion to label the international Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement as an entity that uses anti-Semitic tactics to fulfill its political goals. A protest calling for the boycott of Israel (Photo: Haggai Dekel) Securing Israel's survival has been a priority for Germany since the defeat of the Nazi regime that committed the Holocaust, in which an estimated six million Jews were murdered. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the Bundestag decision in a statement on Twitter. "I hope that this decision will bring about concrete steps and I call upon other countries to adopt similar legislation," he said in a statement in Hebrew on Twitter. (BDS) . . Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) May 17, 2019 The BDS condemned the motion as anti-Palestinian. "The German establishment is entrenching its complicity in Israel's crimes of military occupation, ethnic cleansing, siege and apartheid, while desperately trying to shield it from accountability to international law," it said on Twitter. Lawmakers from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party abstained during the symbolic vote. They had submitted their own motion calling for a total ban of the BDS in Germany. That motion was defeated. Angela Merkel and Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem (Photo: AP) A majority of the far-left Die Linke party voted against the motion. The party also submitted its own proposal, which called to oppose the BDS and commit the German government to work toward a political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on UN Security Council resolutions. Its motion was also defeated. The latest battle between the BDS and the Israeli government has been over the Eurovision Song Contest final, which takes place in Tel Aviv on Saturday. In the run-up to the event, the BDS has called on artists, music fans and broadcasters to avoid the event, arguing it amounts to "whitewashing" Israel's policies toward Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The hosts of the Eurovision in Israel at the second semi-final of the competition in Tel Aviv With Friday's Bundestag motion, Germany has effectively backed Israel's position that international boycotts are discriminatory and anti-Semitic. The motion said a BDS campaign calling for Israeli products to be labeled with "Don't Buy" stickers was reminiscent of the Nazi-era boycott of Jewish businesses, known in German as "Judenboykott", which used slogans such as: "Don't buy from Jews." A protest calling for the boycott of Israel (Photo: Haggai Dekel) "It (the motion) has broader European significance given that BDS makes no attempt to build coexistence and peace between Israel and all of its neighbors," he wrote on Twitter. Syrian state media is reporting that several explosions were heard in the capital Damascus as the country's air defenses opened fire on "objects" coming from the direction of Israel. The news agency said Syrian air defenses shot down several "objects." Several explosions were heard in the Syrian capital Damascus on Friday night as the country's air defenses opened fire on "objects" coming from the direction of the Israeli Golan Heights, state media reported. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter State news agency SANA quoted an unnamed military official as saying that Syrian air defenses discovered "hostile targets" coming from the direction of the Quenitra region on the edge of the Israeli Golan Heights. Explosions in the skies over Damascus The news agency said Syrian air defenses shot down several "objects." The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, reported three explosions southwest of Damascus. It added that it was not immediately clear if the explosions were caused by Israeli airstrikes or surface-to-surface missiles. The Observatory's chief, Rami Abdurrahman, told The Associated Press that the strikes targeted the area of Kiswa, which is home to positions and storage sites for Iranian and Lebanon's Hezbollah forces allied with Syria's government. Last month, SANA said an Israeli airstrike on a military position in central Syria wounded six soldiers and destroyed several buildings. Israeli military officials declined to comment on the report Friday, but Israel recently acknowledged striking Iranian targets in Syria. Iran is an ally of Damascus and has offered military advisers and sent militiamen and material support to help President Bashar Assad's government forces in the eight-year civil war. Israel considers Iran a national security threat and says it won't tolerate Iran's presence on its borders. By PTI HYDERABAD: Condemning a TIME magazine article which described Prime Minister Narendra Modi as 'divider in chief', BJP leaders in Telangana Friday said the prime minister, in reality, is a "unifier, integrator and harmoniser". "The press conference is to condemn the article written by a UK citizen, a Pakistani Muslim, on Narendra Modi," Karuna Gopal, BJP national manifesto sub-committee member, told reporters here. BJP takes serious objection to the portrayal of Modi as a "divider" and "communal bigot", she said. A nation-wide protest is being launched against the magazine and the author of the article, she said. The article distorted facts and presented "lopsided, skewed information about India, its development parameters, Narendra Modi's focus," she said. The timing of the article is totally objectionable, she added. "Don't you think this article is going to influence the electoral outcome?" she said. Modi is not a divider and is, in fact, a "unifier, harmoniser and an integrator," Gopal said. She said Modi visited northeastern states 30 times in four-and-half years and transformed the region with transportation (airports, rail and bridges), telecom and tourism plans. The Modi government's schemes, such as Jan Dhan Yojana, 'Ujwala', 'MUDRA' and 'Swachh Bharat', benefited all sections of society, including Muslims, Christians and backward sections, she said. "How dare this author label the Honourable Prime Minister of the country, the largest democracy of the world, a bigot and a communal bigot that too?," she said. "If you see this (development work), can anyone believe the Prime Minister is one (a bigot)? No one can question the intention behind all his development schemes. He is empowering every person in the country," she said. If Modi is a communal bigot, then why would Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates honour him with civilian awards, she asked. "Why would countries like America and France accept him wholeheartedly?" "So, Muslims have accepted him internationally. Christians have accepted him. It is just one or two journalists who have written a completely negative article at the time of elections to influence its outcome with malafide intentions," she said. Gopal said protests would be taken up on the article and that she herself plans to file a PIL in the Supreme Court. At the press meet, Gopal and her colleagues held copies of the TIME magazine and tore the portion of the cover page which had the "divider" word on it. They displayed placards saying Modi is a "unifier, integrator and harmoniser". Replying to a query, Gopal said: "If you see the leaning, you would certainly believe our opposition it is an opposition triggered article" A previous article on Modi in the same magazine had facts and figures, she said. By RICHARD JENKINS [email protected] IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP Visitors to Black River Harbor will need to pay if they bring a vehicle to the harbors day-use area after Ottawa National Forest officials implemented a user fee for harbor visitors this week. As of Wednesday, visitors to the harbor will have to pay a daily fee of $5 per vehicle or purchase an annual pass sticker for $30. The good thing about this money is that 85 percent of it is returned directly to the forest, said Lisa Klaus, a spokeswoman for the Ottawa National Forest. For us, that means we can put some m... Today Mostly cloudy skies early will become partly cloudy later in the day. High 63F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph. Tonight Clear skies with a few passing clouds. Low 48F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Tomorrow Partly cloudy skies. High 63F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph. A ruckus erupted at actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan's public meeting in Aravakurichi, Karur district of Tamil Nadu, on Thursday night after two miscreants allegedly hurled eggs and stones at the dais. No one was injured in the incident and Haasan was escorted safely. However, tension has prevailed in the district. Police took two persons, suspected to have attacked Haasan, away for questioning. Meanwhile, Karur Superintendent of Police V Vikraman rushed to the spot to pacify the agitated Makkal Needhi Maiam ((the party founded by Haasan) workers and urged them to disperse. However, the cadre demanded police action. The police tried to disperse the crowd and assured them that action will be taken. The incident comes a day after footwear was hurled towards a vehicle from which Haasan was addressing an election meeting in the Tirupparankundram Assembly constituency on Wednesday evening. Amid all the incidents, Haasan asked his fans to maintain decorum and "not to be drawn into the violence". "Dear MNM family and fans, this is an acid test for our decorum and demeanour. Do not listen to their noises and be drawn into their violence," he said in a tweet. "They are extremists who are slighted by the Truth. Naalai Namadhey! (Tomorrow belongs to us), " he added. Dear MNM family and fans, this is an acid test for our decorum and demeanour. Do not listen to their noises and be drawn into their violence. They are extremists who are slighted by the Truth. Naalai Namadhey! Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) May 16, 2019 The MNM president recently courted controversy when he referred to Nathuram Godse as 'independent India's first terrorist was a Hindu.' However, on Wednesday, he clarified his remark on Godse while also blaming the media for taking his comments out of context. Haasan said, People are getting angry for what I said at Aravakurichi. What I have said is the historical truth. I am not trying to pick a fight with anybody. Live TV Lashing out at the media he said, Without listening fully to whatever I had spoken, they have used one particular portion and used it against me. I said it only once, but the media picked the wrong portion and cut its head and tail so that it can be twisted in any manner, and they played it hundreds of times. Whatever IPC sections they have booked me on, the media is equally responsible. The Madras High Court on Thursday reserved its order on the anticipatory bail petition filed by Haasan over his remark. New Delhi: The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) on Friday nabbed a juvenile with 5 live bullets during baggage screening at Mayur Vihar Phase 1 metro station. The teenager, who is a resident of Surajpur village in Noida, was arrested around 4:00 PM today. Delhi: Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) nabbed a juvenile with 5 live round during baggage screening at Mayur Vihar Phase 1 metro station around 3:55 pm today. Investigation underway pic.twitter.com/iDa56U05fz ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2019 Live TV Sharing more details, the CISF officials said, A teenage boy was arrested on Friday in a metro station for allegedly carrying five live bullets in his bag.'' ''The juvenile was arrested by the CISF personnel at Mayur Vihar Phase-I metro station around 4 pm after the baggage scanner detected the bullets,'' they added. The accused was then handed over to the local police by the CISF for further investigation. Carrying arms and ammunition in Delhi Metro is banned. New Delhi: The Intelligence input on Friday warned against terrorists plans to carry out an attack on Srinagar and Awantipora air bases in Jammu and Kashmir, government sources said. Following the warning, security forces have been put on high alert in and around these bases. The attack may be carried out on or before the occasion of Islamic Battle of Badr. It was the first military victory of the Prophet Muhammad and falls on 23rd of this month. The report just comes a day after encounters took place between army jawans and terrorists in Pulwama and Shopian, respectively, on Thursday. Live TV Six terrorists were killed in the encounters while two soldiers also lost their lives. Reports suggested that Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which claimed responsibility for the dastardly Pulwama attack on jawans in February 2019, is planning the attack on the air bases. Forty CRPF personnel were killed in Pulwama. A convoy of vehicles carrying the jawans on the Jammu Srinagar National Highway was attacked by a vehicle-borne suicide bomber in the Pulwama district.